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 THE WORKS 
 
 OF 
 
 FRANCIS BACON
 
 THE RU,HTE HOKUURABit 
 
 .ORDT. HlGHfc. CMAMCEGJUPVK OF ENGLANOE. 
 
 i 
 and one of bis Ma 11 most hon b -- privic counseil.
 
 THE 
 
 WORKS 
 
 FRANCIS BACON, 
 
 BARON OF VERULAM, VISCOUNT ST. ALBANS, AND 
 LORD HIGH CHANCELLOR OF ENGLAND. 
 
 Collected anD 
 
 BY 
 
 JAMES SPEDDING, M. A. 
 
 OF TRINITY COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE; 
 
 ROBERT LESLIE ELLIS, M.A. 
 
 LATE FELLOW OF TRINITY COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE; 
 AND 
 
 DOUGLAS DENON HEATH, 
 
 BABRISTER-AT-LAW; LATE FELLOW OF TRINITY COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE. 
 
 VOLUME I. 
 
 BOSTON: 
 HOUGHTON, MIFFLIN AND COMPANY. 
 
 Htfcrmfc
 
 UVKBSIDE, CAXBRIDOS: 
 
 SIBBBOTYPED AND PRISTED BT 
 C. 0. HOUOHTON AND COOXUIT
 
 USS 
 
 rt 70158 
 
 HISTORY AND PLAN 
 
 OF 
 
 THIS EDITION. 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA 
 SANTA BARBARA COLLEGE LIBRARY 
 
 BACON'S works were all published separately, and 
 never collected into a body by himself ; and though he 
 had determined, not long before his death, to distribute 
 them into consecutive volumes, the order in which they 
 were to succeed each other was confessedly irregular ; 
 a volume of moral and political writings being intro- 
 duced between the first and second parts of the Inr 
 stauratio Magna, quite out of place, merely because 
 he had it ready at the time. 1 In arranging the col- 
 lected works therefore, every editor must use his own 
 judgment. 
 
 Blackbourne, the first editor of an Opera Omnia? 
 took the Distributio Opens as his groundwork, and 
 endeavoured first to place the various unfinished por- 
 
 1 " Debuerat sequi Novum Organum : interposui tamen Scrtpta mea Mo- 
 nilia et Politica, quia magis erant in promptu. . . . Atque hie tomus (ut 
 diximus) interjectus est et non ex ordine Instaurationis." Ep. ad Fid- 
 fentium, Opuscula, p. 172. 
 
 2 Francisci Baconi. cfc., Opera Omma, quatuor voluminibus comprehend. 
 Londini, MDCCXXX.
 
 VI HISTORY AND PLAN 
 
 tions of the Instauratio Magna in the order in which 
 they would have stood had they been completed ac- 
 cording to the original design ; and then to marshal 
 the rest in such a sequence that they might seem to 
 hang together, each leading by a natural transition 
 to the next, and so connecting themselves into a kind 
 of whole. But the several pieces were not written 
 with a view to any such connexion, which is alto- 
 gether forced and fanciful ; and the arrangement has 
 this great inconvenience it mixes up earlier writ- 
 ings with later, discarded fragments with completed 
 works, and pieces printed from loose manuscripts 
 found after the aiithor's death with those which were 
 published or prepared for publication by himself. 
 Birch, the original editor of the quarto edition in 
 five volumes 1 which (reprinted in ten volumes oc- 
 tavo) has since kept the market and is now known 
 as the " trade edition," followed Blackbourne's ar- 
 rangement in the main, though with several varia- 
 tions which are for the most part not improvements. 
 The arrangement adopted by Mr. Montagu 2 is in 
 these respects no better, in all others much worse. 
 M. Bouillet, in his (Euvres Philosophiques de Fran- 
 fois Bacon? does not profess to include all even of 
 the Philosophical works ; and he too, though the 
 best editor by far who has yet handled Bacon, has 
 
 1 The Works of Francis Bacon, &c., in five volumes. London, 1763. 
 8 The Works of Francis Bacon, Lord Chancellor of England. A D9W 
 edition by Basil Montagu, Esq. London, 1825-34. 
 Paris, 1834
 
 OF THIS EDITION. Vll 
 
 aimed at a classification of the works more system- 
 atic, as it seems to me, than the case admits, and has 
 thus given to some of the smaller pieces a promi- 
 nence which does not belong to them. 
 
 In the edition of which the first volume is here 
 offered to the public, a new arrangement has been 
 attempted ; the nature and grounds of which I must 
 now explain. 
 
 When a man publishes a book, or writes a letter, 
 or delivers a speech, it is always with a view to 
 some particular audience by whom he means to be 
 understood without the help of a commentator. Giv- 
 ing them credit for such knowledge and capacity as 
 they are presumably furnished with, he himself sup- 
 plies what else is necessary to make his meaning 
 clear ; so that any additional illustrations would be 
 to that audience more of a hindrance than a help. 
 If however his works live into another generation or 
 travel out of the circle to which they were original- 
 ly addressed, the conditions are changed. He now 
 addresses a new set of readers, differently prepared, 
 knowing much which the others were ignorant of, 
 ignorant of much which the others knew, and on 
 both accounts requiring explanations and elucidations 
 of many things which to the original audience were 
 sufficiently intelligible. These it is the proper busi- 
 ness of an editor to supply. 
 
 This consideration suggested to me, when con- 
 salted about a new edition of Bacon, the expediency
 
 Viii HISTORY AND PLAN 
 
 of arranging his works with reference not to sul> 
 ject, size, language, or form but to the different 
 classes of readers whose requirements he had in view 
 when he composed them. So classified, they will be 
 found to fall naturally into three principal divisions. 
 First, we have his works in philosophy and general 
 literature; addressed to mankind at large, and meant 
 to be intelligible to educated men of all generations. 
 Secondly, we have his works on legal subjects ; ad- 
 dressed to lawyers, and presuming in the reader such 
 knowledge as belongs to the profession. Thirdly, we 
 have letters, speeches, charges, tracts, state-papers, 
 and other writings of business ; relating to subjects 
 so various as to defy classification, but agreeing in 
 this they were all addressed to particular persons 
 or bodies, had reference to particular occasions, as- 
 sumed in the persons addressed a knowledge of the 
 circumstances of the time, and cannot be rightly 
 understood except in relation to those circumstances. 
 In this division every thing will find a place which 
 Joes not naturally fall into one of the two former ; 
 and thus we have the whole body of Bacon's works 
 arranged in three sufficiently distinguishable classes, 
 which may be called for shortness, 1st, The PHILO- 
 SOPHICAL and LITERARY ; 2nd, The PROFESSIONAL ; 
 &nd 3rd, The OCCASIONAL. 
 
 In each of these there is work for an editor to do, 
 but the help he can render differs in the several 
 cases both in nature and amount, and requires qual
 
 OF THIS EDITION. IX 
 
 ifications differing accordingly. To understand and 
 illustrate the Philosophical works in their relation to 
 this age, a man must be not only well read in the 
 history of science both ancient and modem, but him- 
 self a man of science, capable of handling scientific 
 questions. To produce a correct text of the Profes- 
 sional works and supply what other help may be 
 necessar^ for a modern student, a man must be a 
 lawyer. To explain and interpret the Occasional 
 works, and set them forth in a shape convenient for 
 readers of the present generation, a man must have 
 leisure to make himself acquainted by tedious and 
 minute researches among the forgotten records of the 
 time with the circumstances in which they were 
 written. Now as it would not be easy to find any 
 one man in whom these several qualifications meet, 
 it was thought expedient to keep the three divisions 
 separate, assigning each to a separate editor. It was 
 agreed accordingly that the Philosophical works should 
 be undertaken by Mr. Robert Leslie Ellis ; the Pro- 
 fessional works by Mr. Douglas Denon Heath ; the 
 Occasional and the Literary works by me ; each di- 
 vision to be made complete in itself, and each editor 
 to be solely responsible for his own part of thr 
 work. 
 
 Such was our original arrangement. It \vas con- 
 cluded in the autumn of 1847; and Mr. Ellis, whose 
 part was to come first, had already advanced so far 
 that lie expected to have it ready for the press with-
 
 X HISTORY AND PLAN 
 
 in another half year, when unhappily about the end 
 of 1849 he was seized with a rheumatic fever, which 
 left him in a condition of body quite incompatible 
 with a labour of that kind. At which time, though 
 the greater portion was in fact done, he did not con- 
 sider any of it fit to be published as it was ; many 
 blanks having been left to be filled up, and some 
 doubtful notes to be corrected, in that general re- 
 vision which the whole was to have undergone be- 
 fore any part were printed. It was long before he 
 could finally resolve to abandon his task. As soon 
 as he had done so, he handed all his papers over 
 to me, with permission to do with them whatever I 
 thought best. And hence it is that my name ap- 
 pears in connexion with the Philosophical works ; 
 with which otherwise I should not have presumed 
 to meddle. 
 
 As soon however as I had arranged and examined 
 his papers, I felt that, however imperfect they might 
 be compared with his own ideal and with what he 
 would himself have made them, they must on no ac- 
 count be touched by anybody else ; for that if any 
 other man were allowed to make alterations in them, 
 without notice, according to his own judgment, the 
 reader could have no means of knowing when he was 
 reading the words of Mr. Ellis and when those of his 
 editor, and so their peculiar value would be lost. Per- 
 fect or imperfect, it was clear to me that they must be 
 kept as he left them, clear of all alien infusion ; and
 
 OF THIS EDITION. XI 
 
 not Knowing of any one who was likely to take so 
 imich interest or able to spend so much time in the 
 matter as myself, I proposed to take his part into my 
 own hands and edit it ; provided only that I might 
 print his notes and prefaces exactly as I found them ; 
 explaining the circumstances which had prevented him 
 from completing or revising them, but making no alter- 
 ation whatever (unless of .errors obviously accidental 
 which I might perhaps meet with in verifying any of 
 the numerous references and quotations) without his 
 express sanction. That the text should be carefully 
 printed from the proper authorities, and all the biblio- 
 graphical information supplied which was necessary to 
 make the edition in that respect complete, this I 
 thought I might venture to promise. And although 
 I could not undertake to meddle with purely scientific 
 questions, for which I have neither the acquirements 
 nor the faculties requisite, or to bring any stores of 
 learning, ancient or modern, to bear upon the various 
 subjects of inquiry, although I had no means, I say, 
 of supplying what he had left to be done in those de- 
 partments, and must therefore be content to leave the 
 work so far imperfect, yet in all matters which lay 
 within my compass I promised to do my best t< 
 complete the illustration and explanation of the text ; 
 adding where I had anything to add, objecting where 
 I had anything to object, but always distinguishing as 
 vny own whatever was not his. 
 
 To this proposal he agreed, as the best course that
 
 Xll HISTORY AND PLAN 
 
 could be taken in the circumstances. Early in 1853 
 I took the work in hand ; and in the three volumes 
 which follow, the reader will find the result. 
 
 The things then for which in this division I am to 
 be held responsible are 
 
 1st. All notes and prefaces marked with my initials, 
 and all words inserted between brackets, or otherwise 
 distinguished as mine. 
 
 2dly. The general distribution of the Philosophical 
 works into three parts, whereby all those writings 
 which were either published or intended for publication 
 by Bacon himself as parts of the Great Instauration 
 are (for the first time, I believe) exhibited separately, 
 and distinguished as well from the independent and 
 collateral pieces which did not form part of the main 
 scheme, as from those which, though originally designed 
 for it, were afterwards superseded or. abandoned. 
 
 Sclly. The particular arrangement of the several 
 pieces within each part; which is intended to be ac- 
 cording to the order in which they were composed; 
 a point however which is in most cases very dif- 
 ficult to ascertain. 
 
 For the grounds on which I have proceeded in each 
 case, and for whatever else in my part of the work re- 
 quires explanation, I refer to the places. But there 
 are two or three particulars in which this edition differs 
 from former ones, and which may be more conven 
 vently explained here.
 
 OF THIS EDITION. xiii 
 
 In the third and last division of the entire works, 
 according to the scheme already explained, every au- 
 thentic writing and everj intelligibly reported speech 
 of Bacon's (not belonging to either of the other divis- 
 ions) which can be found in print or in manuscript 
 will be set forth at full length, each in its due chron- 
 ological place ; with an explanatory narrative running 
 between, in which the reader will be supplied to the 
 best of my skill and knowledge with , all the informa- 
 tion necessary to the right understanding of them. In 
 doing this, since the pieces in question are very 
 numerous, and scattered with few and short intervals 
 over the whole of Bacon's life, I shall have to entei 
 very closely into all the particulars of it ; so that this 
 part when finished will in fact contain a complete biog- 
 raphy of the man, a biography the most copious, 
 the most minute, and by the very necessity of the case 
 the fairest, that I can produce ; for any material mis- 
 interpretation in the commentary will be at once con- 
 fronted and corrected by the text. The new matter 
 which I shall be able to produce is neither little nor 
 unimportant ; but more important than the new matter 
 is the new aspect which (if I may judge of other minds 
 by my own) will be imparted to the old matter by this 
 manner of setting it forth. I have generally found 
 that the history of an obscure transaction becomes 
 ulear as soon as the simple facts are set down in the 
 order of their true dates , and most of the difficulties 
 presented by Bacon's life will be found to disappear
 
 XIV HISTORY AND PLAN 
 
 when these simple records of it are read in then 
 natural sequence and in their true relation to the 
 business of the time. By this means a great deal of 
 controversy which would disturb and encumber the 
 narrative, and help to keep alive the memory of much 
 ignorant and superficial criticism which had better be 
 forgotten, will I hope be avoided. And until this is 
 done I do not think it desirable to attempt a summary 
 biography in the ordinary form. Such a biography 
 may be easily added, if necessary, in a supplemental 
 volume ; but I am persuaded that the best which could 
 be written now would be condemned afterwards as 
 altogether unsatisfactory. 
 
 It is true however, that a reader, before entering on 
 the study of an author's works, wants to know some- 
 thing about himself and his life. Now there exists a 
 short memoir of Bacon, which was drawn up by Dr. 
 Rawley in 1657 to satisfy this natural desire, and pre- 
 fixed to the Resusdtatio, and is still (next to Bacon's 
 own writings) the most important and authentic evi- 
 dence concerning him that we possess. The origin of 
 Dr. Rawley's connexion with Bacon is not known, but 
 it must have begun early. It was in special compli- 
 ment to Bacon that he was presented on the 18th of 
 January, 1616-17, (being then 28 years old,) to the 
 rectory of Landbeach ; a living in the gift of Benet's 
 College, Cambridge. 1 Shortly after, Bacon becoming 
 
 1 " Ad quara prsesentatus fuit per honorand. virum Franciscura Bacon 
 |iil. Regiae maj. advocatum generalem, ?jusdem vicariae [rectoriae] pro hac
 
 OF THIS EDITION. XV 
 
 Lord-Keeper selected him for his chaplain ; and during 
 the last five years of his life, which were entirely occu- 
 pied with literary business, employed him constantly 
 as a kind of literary secretary. Nor did the connexion 
 cease with life ; for after Bacon's death Rawley was 
 intrusted by the executors with the care and publica- 
 tion of his papers. Rawley's testimony must therefore 
 be regarded as that of a witness who, however favour- 
 
 O ' 
 
 able and affectionate, has the best right to be heard, 
 as speaking not from hearsay but from intimate and 
 familiar knowledge during many years and many 
 changes of fortune ; and as being moreover the only 
 man among Bacon's personal acquaintances by whom 
 any of the particulars of his life have been recorded. 
 This memoir, which was printed by Blackbourne, with 
 interpolations from Dugdale and Tenison, and placed 
 in front of his edition of 1730, but is not to be found 
 I think in any more modern edition, I have printed 
 entire in its original shape ; adding some notes of my 
 own, by help of which it may serve a modern reader 
 for a sufficient biographical introduction. 
 
 The Latin translation of it, published by Rawley 
 in 1658 as an introduction to a little volume entitled 
 Opuscula Philosophica, and now commonly prefixed to 
 the DeAugmentis Scientiarum, I have thought it super- 
 fluous to reproduce here ; this edition being of little 
 
 Bm'ca vice, ratione concessionis magistri et sociorum Coll. C. C. (uti assere- 
 Datur) patronus." Collections prefixed to Blackbourne's edition 1730, L 
 218. Bacon's father was a member and benefactor of Beliefs; which 
 accounts for this compliment.
 
 XVI HISTORY AND PLAN 
 
 use to those who cannot read English, and the transla- 
 tion being of no use to those who can. And this 
 brings me to the second innovation which I have 
 ventured to introduce. 
 
 Bacon had no confidence in the permanent vitality 
 of English as a classical language. " These modern 
 languages," he said, " will at one time or other play 
 the bankrupts with books." Those of his works 
 therefore which he wished to live and which were 
 not originally written in Latin, he translated or caused 
 to be translated into that language " the universal 
 language," as he called it. This, for his own time, 
 was no doubt a judicious precaution. Appearances 
 however have greatly changed since ; and though it 
 is not to be feared that Latin will ever become ob- 
 solete, it is certain that English has been rapidly gain- 
 ing ground upon it, and that of the audience whom 
 Bacon woxild in these days have especially desired to 
 gather about him, a far greater number would be ex- 
 cluded by the Latin dress than admitted. Consider- 
 ing also the universal disuse of Latin as a medium of 
 oral communication, and the almost universal disuse 
 of it as a medium of communication in writing, even 
 among learned men, and the rapid spreading of Eng- 
 lish over both hemispheres, it is easy to predict which 
 of the two languages is likely to play the bankrupt 
 first. At any rate the present edition is for the Eng- 
 lish market. To those who are not masters of Eng- 
 lish it offers few attractions; while of those who are,
 
 OF THIS EDITION. XV11 
 
 not one I suppose in a hundred would care to read 
 a translation even in Baconian Latin, when he had 
 the choice of reading the original in Baconian Eng- 
 lish. And since the translations in question would 
 increase the bulk of this work by four or five hundred 
 pages and the cost in proportion, it has been thought 
 better to leave them out. 
 
 In one respect, it is true, they have a value inde- 
 pendent of the English originals. Having been made 
 later and made under Bacon's own eye, the differ- 
 ences, where they are greater than can be naturally 
 accounted for by the different idiom and construction 
 of the languages, must be considered as corrections ; 
 besides which, when the meaning of the original is 
 obscure or the reading doubtful, they serve sometimes 
 as a glossary to decide it. This being an advantage 
 which we cannot afford to sacrifice, I have thought 
 it my duty in all instances to compare the translation 
 carefully with the original, and to quote in foot-notes 
 those passages in which the variation appeared to be 
 material ; and as this is a labour which few readers 
 would take upon themselves, I conceive that by the 
 course which I have adopted the English student will 
 be a gainer rather than a loser. 
 
 I have also departed from the practice of former 
 editors in not keeping the Latin and English works 
 separate. Such separation is incompatible with the 
 chronological arrangement which I hold to be far 
 preferable. *I see no inconvenience in the change 
 
 VOL. J. 2
 
 XV111 HISTORY AND PLAN 
 
 which is at all material; and I only mention it here 
 lest any future publisher, out of regard to a super- 
 ficial symmetry, should go back to the former prac- 
 tice and so destroy the internal coherency of the 
 present plan. 
 
 It may be thought perhaps that in arranging the 
 works which were to form parts of the Great Instaura 
 tion, I ought to have followed the order laid down in 
 the Distributio Operis, marshalling them according to 
 their place in the scheme rather than the date of com- 
 position ; and therefore that the De Augmentis Scien- 
 tiarum which was meant to stand for the first part, 
 should have been placed before the two books of the 
 Novum Organum, which were meant for the com- 
 mencement of the second. But the truth is that not 
 one of the parts of the Great Instauration was com- 
 pleted according to the original design. All were more 
 or less abortive. In every ore of them, the De Aug- 
 mentis and the Novum Organism itself not excepted, 
 accidental difficulties, and considerations arising out of 
 the circumstances of the time, interfered more or less 
 with the first intention and induced alterations either 
 in form or substance or both. They cannot be made 
 to fit their places in the ideal scheme. It was the 
 actual conditions of Bacon's life that really moulded 
 them into what they are ; and therefore the most nat- 
 ural order in which they can be presented is that in 
 which they stand here ; first, the Distributio Operis, 
 Setting forth the perfect work as he had Conceived it in
 
 OF THIS EDITION. XIX 
 
 his mind, and then the series of imperfect and irregular 
 efforts which he made to execute it, in the order in 
 which they were made. 
 
 The text has been corrected throughout from the 
 original copies, and no verbal alteration (except in case 
 of obvious errors of the press) has been introduced into 
 it without notice. The spelling in the English works 
 has been altered according to modern usage. I have 
 endeavoured however to distinguish those variations 
 which belong merely to the fashion of orthography 
 from those which appear to involve changes in the 
 forms of words. Thus in such words as president (the 
 invariable spelling in Bacon's time of the substantive 
 which is now invariably written precedent, and valuable 
 as showing that the pronunciation of the word has not 
 changed), prejudice, fained, mathematiques, chymist, 
 &c., I adopt the modern form ; but I do not substitute 
 lose for leese, politicians for politiques, external for ex- 
 terne, Solomon for /Salomon, accommodated for the past 
 participle accommodate; and so on ; these being changes 
 in the words themselves and not merely in the manner 
 of writing them. In the spelling of Latin words there 
 are but few differences between ancient and modern 
 usage ; but I have thought it better to preserve the 
 original form of all words which in the original are 
 always or almost always spelt in the same way ; as 
 fcelix, author, chymista, chymicus, $*c. 
 
 In the matter of punctuation and typography, though 
 I have followed the example of all modern editors ic
 
 XX HISTORY AND PLAN 
 
 altering at discretion, I have not attempted to reduce 
 them entirely to the modern form ; which I could not 
 hare done without sometimes introducing ambiguities 
 of construction, and sometimes deciding questions of 
 construction which admit of doubt. But I have 
 endeavoured to represent the effect of the original 
 arrangement to a modern eye, with as little departure 
 as possible from modern fashions. I say endeavoured ; 
 for I cannot say that I have succeeded in satisfying 
 even myself. But to all matters of this kind I have 
 attended personally ; and though I must not suppose 
 that my mind has observed everything that my eyes 
 have looked at, I am not without hope that the text 
 of this edition will be found better and more faithful 
 than any that has hitherto been produced. 
 
 It was part of our original design to append to the 
 Philosophical works an accurate and readable transla- 
 tion of those originally written in Latin ; at least of so 
 much of them as would suffice to give an English 
 reader a complete view of the Baconian philosophy. 
 Mr. Ellis made a selection for this purpose. Arrange- 
 ments were made accordingly ; and a translation of the 
 Novum Organum was immediately begun. As succes- 
 sive portions were completed, they were forwarded in 
 the first instance to myself ; were by me carefully ex- 
 amined ; and then passed on to Mr. Ellis, accompanied 
 with copious remarks and suggestions of my own in 
 the way of correction or improvement. Of these cor-
 
 OF THIS EDITION. XXI 
 
 rections Mr. Ellis marked the greater part for adop- 
 tion, improved upon others, added many of his own, 
 and then returned the manuscript to be put into shape 
 for the printer. But as he was not able to look over it 
 again after it had received the last corrections, and as 
 the translator did not wish to put his own name to it, 
 and as this edition was to contain nothing for which 
 somebody is not personally responsible, I have been 
 obliged to take charge of it myself. In my final revis- 
 ion I have been careful to preserve all Mr. Ellis's cor- 
 rections which affect the substance and sense of the 
 translation. In matters which concern only the style 
 and manner of expression, I have thought it better to 
 follow my own taste ; a mixture of different styles be- 
 ing commonly less agreeable to the reader, and mine 
 (as the case now stands) being necessarily the predom- 
 inating one. For the same reason I have altered at 
 discretion the translation of the prefaces, &c. which 
 precede the Novum Organum ; which were done by 
 another hand, and have not had the advantage of Mr. 
 Ellis's revision. For those which follow, the translator 
 (Mr. Francis Headlam, Fellow of University College, 
 Oxford) will himself be responsible. 
 
 Though this volume is already twice as thick as I 
 would have had it, I must add a few words concern- 
 ing the portraits of Bacon ; a subject which has not 
 received the attention which it deserves, and upon 
 tthich, if picture-dealers and collectors and inheritors
 
 XX11 HISTORY AND PLAN 
 
 of family portraits would take an interest in it, some 
 valuable light might probably be thrown. 
 
 The portrait in the front of the volume is taken 
 from an old engraving by Simon Pass ; which came, 
 (as Mr. Smith of Lisle Street informed me, from 
 whom I bought it some years ago,) out of a broken- 
 up copy of Holland's Baziliologia. 1 The original has 
 a border, bearing the words HONORATISS : D s . FRAN- 
 
 CISCUS BACON : EQUES AU : MAG : SIGILL : ANGL : 
 
 CUSTOS. Above are his arms, with the motto MONITI 
 MELIORA. Below the chancellor's bag, on which the 
 left hand rests. These accessories, as being presuma- 
 bly the /device of the engraver and not suitable to the 
 modern style which has been preferred for the copy, 
 have been dispensed with ; but the inscription under- 
 neath has been copied verbatim, 2 and enables us to 
 fix the date of the work. Bacon was created Lord 
 Chancellor on the 4th of January, 1617-18, and 
 Baron Verulam on the 12th of the following July; 
 and as it is not to be supposed that his newest title 
 would have been omitted on such an occasion, we 
 
 1 This work was published in 1618 ; and though one would not expect 
 from the title to find Bacon there, Brunet mentions a copy in the Biblioth. 
 du Roi at Paris " qui, outre les portraits qui composent ordinairement le 
 recueil, renfenne encore d'autres portraits du meme genre, representants 
 des reines, des princes du sang, et des seigneurs de la cour des Rois Jacques 
 I er et Charles I 1 "," &c. The copy in the British Museum has no portrait 
 of Bacon ; but as the plates are not numbered, and there is no table of 
 sontents, one cannot be sure that any copy is perfect. 
 
 2 The righte Honourable S r Frauncis Bacon knight, Lorde high* 
 Chancellour of Englande and one of his Ma tie most hon ble privie Coon* 
 tell
 
 OF THIS EDITION. XX111 
 
 may infer with tolerable certainty that the engraving 
 was published during the first half of the year 1618. 
 Below this inscription are engraved in small letters 
 the words " Simon Passceus sculpsit L. Are to be 
 sould by John Sudbury and George Humble at the signe 
 of the white horse in Pope's head Ally" The plate 
 appears to have been used afterwards for a frontis- 
 piece to the Sylva Sylvarum, which was published in 
 1627, the year after Bacon's death. At least I have 
 a copy of the second edition of that work (1628) in 
 which the same print is inserted, only with the border 
 and inscription altered; the title which originally sur- 
 rounded it, together with the Chancellor's bag and the 
 names of the engraver and publishers, being erased ; 
 the coat of arms altered ; and the words underneath 
 being changed to The right Hon b!e Francis Lo. Verulam, 
 Viscount iS' Alban. Mortuus 9 Aprilis, Anno Dni 
 1626, Annoq. Aetat* 66. It is probable that the rapid 
 demand for the Sylva Sylvarum wore out the plate ; 
 for none of the later editions which I have seen con- 
 tain any portrait at all ; and that which was prefixed 
 to the Resuscitatio in 1657, though undoubtedly meant 
 to be a fac-simile of Simon Pass's engraving, has been 
 so much altered in the process of restoration, that I 
 took it for a fresh copy until Mr. Holl showed me 
 that it was only the old plate retouched. The lower 
 part of the face has entirely lost its individuality and 
 physiognomical character; the outline of the right 
 cheek has not been truly followed; that of the nose
 
 XXIV HISTORY AND PLAN 
 
 has lost its shapeliness and delicacy ; and the first line- 
 and-half of the inscription underneath has apparent- 
 ly been erased in order to give the name and titles in 
 Latin. Nevertheless the adoption by Dr. Rawley of 
 this print sufficiently authenticates it as a likeness at 
 that time approved ; only the likeness must of course 
 be looked for in the plate as Simon Pass left it, not 
 ?n restorations or copies. This Mr. Holl has endeav- 
 oured faithfully, and in my opinion very successfully, 
 to reproduce ; it being understood however that his 
 aim has been to give as exact a resemblance as he 
 could, not of the old engraving (the style of which 
 has little to recommend it), but of the man whom 
 the engraving represents. 
 
 I selected this likeness by preference, partly because 
 original impressions are scarce, and none of the others 
 'which I have seen give a tolerable idea of it ; whereas 
 the rival portrait by Van Somer is very fairly repre- 
 sented by the engraving in Lodge's collection ; but 
 chiefly because I have some reason to suspect that it 
 was made from a painting by Cornelius Janssen, and 
 some hope that the original is still in existence and 
 that this notice may lead to the discovery of it. Jans- 
 sen is said to have come over to England in 1618, the 
 year in which, as I have said, the engraving must have 
 been published. Bacon did sit for his portrait to some- 
 body (but it may no doubt have been to Van Somer) 
 about that time ; at least 33, was " paid to the pic- 
 ture drawer for his Lp's picture," on the 12th of Sep-
 
 OF THIS EDITION. XXV 
 
 tember, 1618 l Now I have in my possession an en- 
 graving in mezzotinto, purporting to be a portrait of 
 Bacon, representing him in the same position and at- 
 titude, and the same dress (only that the figure on 
 the vest is different), and having a similar oval frame 
 with the same kind of border. In the left-hand cor- 
 ner, where the painter's name is usually given, are 
 the words Cornelius Johnson pinxit. The engraver's 
 name is not stated ; but there is evidence on the face 
 of the work that he was a poor performer. In all 
 points which require accuracy of eye and hand, and 
 a feeling of the form to be described, it differs much 
 from Pass's work, and is very inferior ; but in those 
 which the most unskilful artist need never miss, 
 such as the quantity of face shown, the disposition of 
 the hair, and generally what may be called the com- 
 position of the picture, there is no more difference 
 between the two than may be well accounted for by 
 the difficulty which is often found in ascertaining the 
 true outlines of the obscure parts of a dark or dam- 
 aged picture, or by the alterations which an engraver 
 will often introduce when the size of his plate obliges 
 him to cut off the lower part of the figure. The hat, 
 for instance, which is dark against a dark background, 
 sits differently on the head ; sits in fact (in the mez- 
 zotint) as it could not possibly have done in nature ; 
 and the flap of the brim follows a somewhat different 
 line, though the irregularity is of the same kind ; also 
 1 See a book of accounts preserved in the State Paper Office.
 
 XXVI HISTORY AND PLAN 
 
 the light and shadow are differently distributed over 
 the folds of the frill ; the fur hangs differently ; the 
 figure is cut off too short to admit the hand ; and the 
 ribbon round the neck, the lower part of which is con- 
 cealed in Pass's print, is changed into a George and 
 Garter. 1 But such varieties as these are of ordinary 
 occurrence in copies of the same picture by different 
 hands ; especially where one copier is attending chiefly 
 to the outlines of the forms without caring to represent 
 the effect of the picture (the practice I think of en- 
 gravers in Simon Pass's time), and the other is at- 
 tending to the effect of the picture without caring, or 
 without being able, to preserve the individual details, 
 according to the practice of the popular engravers of 
 the eighteenth century ; whereas in two independent 
 and original" portraits of the same face the correspond- 
 encies which I have mentioned can hardly occur. But 
 however that may be, this mezzotinto appears at least 
 to prove that when it was made there was in existence 
 a portrait which somebody believed to be a portrait of 
 Bacon by Cornelius Johnson, that is (no doubt) Cor- 
 aelius Janssen. When it was made becomes therefore 
 an interesting question ; and I regret to say that it is 
 a question which I have no data for determining, be- 
 yond the fact that it is in mezzotinto (an art of com- 
 paratively modern invention) ; that it was " sold by 
 J. Cooper in James Street Covent Garden ; " and 
 
 1 If the original picture really has this badge, we may conclude, I sup- 
 pose, that it was uot a portrait of Bacon at all. And I should not be very 
 much surprised if it turned out to be a Charles I.
 
 OF THIS EDITION. XXV11 
 
 that there was an English engraver called Richard 
 Cooper, who flourished about the year 1763, and 
 among whose engravings a portrait of Francis Bacon 
 Lord Keeper and Chancellor is mentioned as one. 1 
 
 With reference to this subject of portraits, I may 
 add that the various engravings of Bacon are all (with 
 one exception which I will mention presently) derived 
 directly or through successive copies from one or other 
 of two originals. One is Simon Pass's print ; the fea- 
 tures of which may be traced through many genera- 
 tions of copies, each less like than its predecessor ; 
 though always to be identified by the hat with irregu- 
 lar brim curving upwards towards the sides, and bound 
 with a scarf. The other is a portrait by Van Somer ; 
 the same I suppose that Aubrey saw at Gorhambury 
 in 1656 ; which has become the parent of two separate 
 families ; one wearing a hat with a brim describing a 
 regular curve doivnivards towards the sides, which suf- 
 ficiently distinguishes it from Pass's portrait; the other 
 without any hat ; the composition being in other re- 
 spects the same. Of both these the originals are at 
 Gorhambury ; and they are both ascribed to Van 
 Somer. But the latter is so very inferior to the 
 former in every quality of art, that unless there be 
 some evidence of the fact more to be relied on than 
 an ordinary family tradition, I shall never be able to 
 believe that it is by the same hand. It seems to me far 
 more probable that at some later period when the fash- 
 1 See Bryan's Painter & and Engravers.
 
 XXV111 HISTORY AND PLAN 
 
 ion of painting people with the head covered had gone 
 out, some one, wishing to have a .portrait of Bacon 
 without his hat, employed the nearest artist to make 
 a copy of Van Somer's picture (Van Somer himself 
 died in 1621, two or three years after it was painted, 
 about the time when Bacon was in the Tower) with 
 that alteration ; and that this is the work he produced. 
 That he was not a skilful artist is sufficiently apparent 
 from the execution of those parts which were intended 
 to be copies ; the peculiar character and expression of 
 eyebrows, eyes, nose and mouth, being entirely missed ; 
 and the whole handling being weak and poor, and with- 
 out any sense of form. Moreover the hair is of a dif- 
 ferent texture ; and although we have neither any 
 description nor any drawing of the upper part of Ba- 
 con's full-grown head, we know what it was like in 
 his boyhood from two very admirable representations, 
 quite independent of each other and yet exactly agree- 
 ing ; and it is plain that such a head could never have 
 grown into a shape at all like that which the painter 
 has invented. 
 
 However, they were both called portraits by Van 
 Somer ; and the first (which is a very good work, as 
 5ar as the painting goes) was engraved by Houbraken ; 
 the last by Vertue. Unfortunately, these two artists, 
 whose style of execution made them very popular and 
 gave them almost a monopoly of English historical por- 
 traiture in the 18th century, were both utterly with- 
 out conscience in the matter of likeness. And though
 
 OF THIS EDITION. xxix 
 
 many of their works are brilliant specimens of effect in 
 line-engraving, yet regarded as likenesses of the men, 
 they are all alike worse than worthless. The original 
 from which Vertue's engraving of Bacon was taken, 
 being itself destitute of all true physiognomical char- 
 acter, is indeed represented well enough. But if any 
 one wishes to form a notion of Bacon's face as in- 
 terpreted by Van Somer, he must consult the more 
 modern engraving in Lodge's collection, which is at 
 least a conscientious attempt to translate it faithfully ; 
 Houbraken's can only mislead him. 
 
 The other engraving to which I have alluded as not 
 derived from either of the originals above mentioned, 
 is the small head engraved for Mr. Montagu's edition 
 of Bacon's works. This was taken from a miniature 
 by Hilliard then in the possession of John Adair Haw- 
 kins, Esq., representing Bacon in his eighteenth year ; 
 a work of exquisite beauty and delicacy. But here 
 also, I regret to say, the laudable attempt to bring an 
 image of it within reach of the general public has been 
 attended with the same infelicity. The engraver has 
 so completely failed to catch either expression, feature, 
 character, or drawing, that I think no one can have 
 .nce seen the original without wishing, in justice both 
 to subject and artist, that no one who has not seen it 
 may ever see the copy. 
 
 Judging from the issue of Mr. Montagu's attempt to 
 obtain an engraving of this miniature, it is perhaps for- 
 tunate that he did not fulfil the intention which he
 
 XXX HISTORY AND PLAN OF THIS EDITION. 
 
 announced of giving an engraving of a bust in terra 
 cotta representing Bacon in his twelfth year, which is 
 at Gorhambuiy, in the possession of the Earl of Veru- 
 lam. But this also is a work of great merit, and ex- 
 tremely interesting. It is coloured, and (like Hilliard's 
 miniature) shows the head. I have been told by artists 
 that it is probably of Italian workmanship ; and cer- 
 tainly the work of an accomplished sculptor, who had 
 a delicate perception of form and character. A faith- 
 ful representation of it would be one of the most 
 valuable contributions which could be made to our 
 collections of the faces of memorable men. 
 
 There are other portraits of Bacon in existence, but 
 I have not myself seen any which can be relied upon 
 as authentic or which appear to have any independent 
 value. If the foregoing remarks should be the means 
 of bringing any such out of their hiding-places, I shall 
 think them well bestowed ; and I need scarcely add 
 that I should be most happy to receive any communi- 
 cation on the subject, and to afford what help I can 
 towards putting them in their true light. 
 
 JAMES SPEDDING. 
 60. Lincoln's Inn Fields, January, 1857.
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 THE FIRST VOLUME. 
 
 PA91 
 
 LIFE OF THE RIGHT HONOURABLE FRANCIS BACON, 
 BARON OF VERULAM, BY WILLIAM RAWLEY, D. D. 83 
 
 PHILOSOPHICAL WORKS. 
 
 GENERAL PREFACE TO THE PHILOSOPHICAL WORKS, 
 BY ROBERT LESLIE ELLIS . . . . .61 
 
 PART I. 
 
 WORKS PUBLISHED, OR DESIGNED FOR PUBLICATION, AS 
 PARTS OP THE INSTAURATIO MAGNA. 
 
 NOVUM ORGANUM. 
 
 PREFACE TO THE NOVUM ORGANUM, BY ROBERT LES- 
 LIE ELLIS 131 
 
 INSTAURATIO MAGNA 195 
 
 ^Prsefatio 199 
 
 Distributio Open's . . . . . . .212 
 
 PARS SECUNDA OPERIS, QU.E DICITUR NOVUM ORGANUM 231 
 
 Praefatio 233 
 
 Aphorism! de Interpretatione Naturae et Regno Hom- 
 
 inis 241 
 
 Liber Secundus Aphorismorum de Interpretatione 
 
 Naturae sive de Regno Hominis . . . 341
 
 THE 
 
 LIFE 
 
 OF 
 
 THE EIGHT HONOUKABEE 
 
 FRANCIS BACON, 
 
 BARON OF VERULAM, VISCOUNT ST. ALBANS. 
 
 BY 
 
 WILLIAI EAWLEY, D,D. 
 
 HIS LORDSHIP'S FIRST AND LAST CHAPLAIN AND OP LATB HIS 
 MAJESTIES CHAPLAIN IN ORDINARY. 
 
 [This is the title of an edition printed in 1670, after Dr. Rawley's death, 
 nd prefixed to the ninth edition of the Sylva Sylvarum. The text of the 
 Life itself is taken from the second edition of the Resuscitatio, the latest 
 with whicn Rawley had anything to do. I have, however, modernised the 
 \pelling; altered at discretion the typographical arrangement as to capitals, 
 italics, and punctuation, which is very perplexing to a modern eye and has 
 uothing to recommend it; and added the notes. /. S.] 
 
 VOL. I. 3
 
 THE LIFE 
 
 OF 
 
 THE HONOURABLE AUTHOR. 1 
 
 FRANCIS BACON, the glory of his age and nation, the 
 adorner and ornament of learning, was born in York 
 House, or York Place, in the Strand, on the two and 
 twentieth day of January, in the year of our Lord 
 1560. His father was that famous counsellor to Queen 
 Elizabeth, the second prop of the kingdom in his time, 
 Sir Nicholas Bacon, knight, lord-keeper of the great 
 seal of England ; a lord of known prudence, sufficiency, 
 moderation, and integrity. His mother was Anne, one 
 of the daughters of Sir Anthony Cook ; unto whom 
 the erudition of King Edward the Sixth had been com- 
 mitted ; a choice lady, and eminent for piety, virtue, 
 and learning ; being exquisitely skilled, for a woman, 
 
 1 This Life was first published in 1657, as an introduction to the volume 
 entitled " Resuscitatio ; or bringing into public light several pieces of the 
 works, civil, historical, philosophical, and theological, hitherto sleeping, of 
 the Right Honourable Francis Bacon, Baron of Verulam, Viscount St. Al- 
 ban; according to the best corrected copies." Of this volume a second edi- 
 tion, or rather a re-issue with fresh titlepage and dedication, and several 
 iheets of new matter inserted, appeared in 1661; the "Life of the Honour- 
 able Author" being prefixed as before, and not altered otherwise than by 
 the introduction of three new sentences ; to make room for which two leaves 
 were cancelled. A third edition was brought out in 1671 by the original 
 publisher, containing a good deal of new matter; for which however Dr 
 Raw ley, who dh d in 1667, is not answerable.
 
 36 DR.. RAWLEY'S LIFE OF BACON. 
 
 in the Greek and Latin tongues. These being the 
 parents, you may easily imagine what the issue wa? 
 like to be ; having had whatsoever nature or breeding 
 could put into him. 
 
 His first and childish years were not without some 
 mark of eminency ; at which time he was endued with 
 that pregnancy and towardness of wit, as they were 
 presages of that deep and universal apprehension which 
 was manifest in him afterward ; and caused him to be 
 taken notice of by several persons of worth and place, 
 and especially by the queen ; who (as I have been in- 
 formed) delighted much then to confer with him, and 
 to prove him with questions ; unto whom he delivered 
 himself with that gravity and maturity above his years, 
 that Her Majesty would often term him, The young 
 Lord-keeper. Being asked by the queen how old he 
 was, he answered with much discretion, being then but 
 a boy, That he was two years younger than Her Majes- 
 ty's happy reign; with which answer the queen was 
 much taken. 1 
 
 At the ordinary years of ripeness for the university, 
 or rather something earlier, he was sent by his father 
 to Trinity College, in Cambridge, 2 to be educated and 
 bred under the tuition of Doctor John White-gift, then 
 master of the college ; afterwards the renowned arch- 
 bishop of Canterbury ; a prelate of the first magnitude 
 
 1 This last sentence was added in the edition of 1661. The substance of 
 it had appeared before in the Latin Life prefixed to the Opuscula Philo- 
 tophica in 1658, which is only a free translation of this, with a few correc- 
 tions. 
 
 2 He began to reside in April 1573' was absent from the latter end of 
 August 1574 till the beginning of March, wnile the plague raged; and left 
 the university finally at Christmas 1575, being then on the point of sixteen. 
 See Whitgift's accounts, printed in the British Magazine, vol. xxxii. p 
 365., and xxxiii. p. 444.
 
 DR. RAWLEY'S LIFE OF BACON. 37 
 
 for san3Lty, learning, patience, and .humility ; under 
 whom he was observed to have been more than an 
 ordinary proficient in the several arts and sciences. 
 Whilst he was commorant in the university, about six- 
 teen years of age, (as his lordship hath been pleased 
 to impart unto myself), he first fell into the dislike 
 of the philosophy of Aristotle ; not for the worth- 
 lessness of the author, to whom he would ever as- 
 cribe all high attributes, but for the unfruitfulness of 
 the way ; being a philosophy (as his lordship used to 
 say) only strong for disputations and contentions, but 
 barren of the production of works for the benefit of 
 the life of man ; in which mind he continued to his 
 dying day. 
 
 After he had passed the circle of the liberal arts, his 
 father thought fit to frame and mould him for the arts 
 of state ; and for that end sent him over into France 
 with Sir Amyas Paulet then employed ambassador 
 lieger into France ; 1 by whom he was after awhile 
 held fit to be entrusted with some message or adver- 
 tisement to the queen ; which having performed with 
 great approbation, he returned back into France again, 
 with intention to continue for some years there. In 
 his absence in France his father the lord-keeper died, 2 
 having collected (as I have heard of knowing persons) 
 a considerable sum of money, which he had separated, 
 with intention to have made a competent purchase of 
 land for the livelihood of this his youngest son (who 
 was only unprovided for ; and though he was the 
 youngest in years, yet he was not the lowest in his 
 
 1 Sir Amyas landed at Calais on the 25th of September 1576, and sue- 
 teeded Dr. Dale as ambassador in France in the following February. See 
 Burghleifs Diary, Murdin, pp. 7t8, 779. 
 
 2 In February 1578-9.
 
 38 DR. EAWLEY'S LIFE OF BACON. 
 
 father's affection) ; but the said purchase being unac- 
 complished at his father's death, there came no greater 
 share to him than his single part and portion of the 
 money dividable amongst five brethren ; by which 
 means he lived in some straits and necessities in his 
 younger years. For as for that pleasant site and man- 
 or of Gorhambury, he came not to it till many years 
 after, by the death of his dearest brother, Mr. Anthony 
 Bacon, 1 a gentleman equal to him in height of wit, 
 though inferior to him in the endowments of learning 
 and knowledge ; unto whom he was most nearly con- 
 joined in affection, they two being the sole male issue 
 of a second venter. 
 
 Being returned from travel, he applied himself to 
 the study of the common law, which he took upon him 
 to be his profession ; 2 in which he obtained to great ex- 
 cellency, though he made that (as himself said) but as 
 an accessary, and not his principal study. He wrote 
 several tractates upon that subject : wherein, though 
 some great masters of the law did out-go him in bulk, 
 and particularities of cases, yet in the science of the 
 grounds and mysteries of the law he was exceeded 
 by none. In this way he was after awhile sworn of 
 the queen's council learned, extraordinary ; a grace (if 
 I err not) scarce known before. 3 He seated himself, 
 
 1 Anthony Bacon died in the spring of 1601. See a letter from Mr. John 
 v hainberlain to Sir Dudley Carlton, in the State Paper Office, dated 27th 
 May 1601. 
 
 2 He had been admitted de societate mtroi-um of Gray's Inn on the 27th 
 of June 1576 ; commenced his regular career as a student in 1579 ; became 
 "utter barrister" on the 27th of June 1582; bencher in 1586; reader in 
 1588; and double reader in 1600. See Harl. MSS. 1912, and Book of Or 
 ders, p. 56. 
 
 8 In the Latin version of this memoir, for "after a while" Rawley substi- 
 tutes nondum tirocinium in lege egressus, by which he seems to assign a
 
 DR. RAWLEY'S LIFE OF BACON. 39 
 
 for the commodity of his studies and practice, amongst 
 the Honourable Society of Gray's-Inn, of which house 
 he was a member ; where he erected that elegant pile 
 or structure commonly known by the name of The 
 Lord Bacon's Lodgings, which he inhabited by turns 
 the most part of his life (some few years only ex- 
 cepted) unto his dying day. In which house he 
 carried himself with such sweetness, comity, and gen- 
 erosity, that he was much revered and beloved by the 
 readers and gentlemen of the house. 
 
 Notwithstanding that he professed the law for his 
 livelihood and subsistence, yet his heart and affection 
 
 very early period as the date of this appointment. But I suspect he was 
 mistaken, both as to the date and the nature of it. The title he got no 
 doubt from a letter addressed by Bacon to King James, about the end of 
 January 1620-1. " You found me of the Learned Council, Extraordinary, 
 without patent or fee, a kind of individuum vagum. You established me 
 and brought me into Ordinary." Coupling this probably with an early but 
 undated letter to Burghley, in which Bacon thanks the queen for " appro- 
 priating him to her service," he imagined that the thanks were for the ap- 
 pointment in question. This however is incredible. A copy of this letter 
 in the Landsdowne Collection gives the date, 18 October 1580; at which 
 time Bacon had not been even a student of law for more than a year and a 
 half, and could not therefore have been qualified for such a place; still less 
 could such a distinction have been conferred upon him without being much 
 talked of at the time and continually referred to afterwards. Moreover, we 
 have another letter of Bacon's to King James, written in 1606, in which he 
 speaks of his " nine years' service of the crown." This would give 1597 as 
 the year in which he began to serve as one of the learned council ; at which 
 time it was no extraordinary favour, seeing that he had been recommended 
 for solicitor-general three or four years before, both by Burghley and Eger- 
 ton. It appears however to have been no regular or formal appointment. 
 He was not sworn. He had no patent; not even a written warrant. His 
 tenure was only ratlone verbi rcgii Elizahetfue (see Rymer, A. D. 1604, p. 
 121.). Elizabeth, who " looked that her word should be a warrant," chose 
 to employ him in the business which belonged properly to her learned 
 council, and he was employed accordingly. His first service of that 
 nature, the first at least of which I find any record, was in 1594. In 
 1597 he had come to be employed regularly, and so continued till the end 
 ;>f the reign, and was familiarly spoken of as " Mr. Bacon of the learmd 
 Council."
 
 40 DR. BAWLET'S LIFE OF BACON. 
 
 was more carried after the affairs and places of estate ; 
 for which, if the majesty royal then had been pleased, 
 he was most fit. In his younger years he studied the 
 service and fortunes (as they call them) of that noble 
 but unfortunate earl, the Earl of Essex ; unto whom 
 he was, in a sort, a private and free counsellor, and 
 gave him safe and honourable advice, till in the end 
 the earl inclined too much to the violent and precipi- 
 tate counsel of others his adherents and followers ; 
 which was his fate and ruin. 1 
 
 His birth and other capacities qualified him above 
 others of his profession to have ordinary accesses at 
 court, and to come frequently into the queen's eye, 
 who would often grace him with private and free com- 
 munication, not only about matters of his profession or 
 business in law, but also about the arduous affairs of 
 estate ; from whom she received from time to time 
 great satisfaction. Nevertheless, though she cheered 
 him much with the bounty of her countenance, yet she 
 never cheered him with the bounty of her hand ; hav- 
 ing never conferred upon him any ordinary place or 
 
 1 The connexion between Bacoh and Essex appears to have commenced 
 about the year 1 590 or 1591, and furnishes matter for a long story too long 
 to be discussed in a note. His conduct was much misunderstood at the. 
 time by persons who had no means of knowing the truth, and has been 
 much misrepresented since by writers who cannot plead that excuse. The 
 case is not however one on which a unanimous verdict can be expected.- 
 Always, where choice has to be made between fidelity to the state and fidel- 
 ity to a party or person, popular sympathy will run in favour of the man 
 who chooses the narrower duty ; for the narrower duty is not only easier to 
 comprehend, but, being seen closer, appears the larger of the two. But 
 though sentiments will continue to be divided, facts may be agreed upon ; 
 and for the correction of all errors in matter of fact, I must refer to the 
 Occasional Works, where the whole story will necessarily comi out in full 
 detail. In the mean time I may say for myself that I have no fault to find 
 fc-ith Bacon for any part of his conduct towards Essex, and I think many 
 leople will agree with me when they see the case fairly stated.
 
 DR. RAWLEY'S LIFE OF BACON. 41 
 
 means of honour or profit, save only one dry reversion 
 of the Register's Office in the Star Chamber, worth 
 about 1600^. per annum, for which he waited in expec- 
 tation either fully or near twenty years ; l of which hia 
 lordship would say in Queen Elizabeth's time, That it 
 was like another man's ground buttalling upon his house, 
 which might mend his prospect, but it did not fill his 
 barn; (nevertheless, in the time of King James it fell 
 unto him) ; which might be imputed, not so much to 
 Her Majesty's averseness and disaffection towards him, 
 as to the arts and policy of a great statesman then, 
 who laboured by all industrious and secret means to 
 suppress and keep him down ; lest, if he had risen, he 
 might have obscured his glory. 2 
 
 But though he stood long at a stay in the days of his 
 mistress Queen Elizabeth, yet after the change, and 
 coming in of his new master King James, he made a 
 great progress ; by whom he was much comforted in 
 places of trust, honour, and revenue. I have seen a 
 letter of his lordship's to King James, wherein he 
 makes acknowledgment, That he was that master to 
 him, that had raised and advanced him nine times ; 
 thrice in dignity, and six times in office. His offices (as 
 I conceive) were Counsel Learned Extraordinary 3 to 
 
 1 The reversion, for which he considered himself indebted to Burghley, 
 was granted to him in October 1589. He succeeded to the office in July 
 1608. In the Latin version Rawley adds that he administered it by deputj'. 
 
 2 The person here alluded to is probably his cousin Robert Cecil, who, 
 though he always professed an anxiety to serve him, was supposed (appar- 
 ently not without reason) to have thrown obstacles secretly in the way of 
 his advancement. 
 
 8 See note 3. p. 38. Rawley should rather have said "counsel learned, no 
 longer extraordinary.'' 1 It is true indeed that King James did at his first 
 entrance confirm Bacon by warrant under the sign manual in the same 
 office which he had held under Elizabeth by special commandment. But 
 it was the "establishing him and bringing hira into ordinary" frith a salr
 
 42 DR. RAWLEY'S LIFE OF BACON. 
 
 His Majesty, as he had been to Queen Elizabeth ; 
 King's Solicitor-General ; His Majesty's Attorney- 
 General ; Counsellor of Estate, being yet but Attor- 
 ney ; Lord-Keeper of the Great Seal of England ; 
 lastly, Lord Chancellor ; which two last places, though 
 they be the same in authority and power, yet they dif- 
 fer in patent, height, and favour of the prince ; since 
 whose time none of his successors, until this present 
 honourable lord, 1 did ever bear the title of Lord Chan- 
 cellor. His dignities were first Knight, then Baron 
 of Verulam; lastly, 'Viscount St. Alban ; besicfes other 
 good gifts and bounties of the hand which His Majesty 
 gave him, both out of the Broad Seal and out of the 
 Alienation Office, 2 to the value in both of eighteen 
 hundred pounds per annum ; which, with his manor 
 of Gorhambury, and other lands and possessions near 
 thereunto adjoining, amounting to a third part more, 
 he retained to his dying day. 
 
 Towards his rising years, not before, he entered into 
 a married estate, and took to wife Alice, one of the 
 daughters and coheirs of Benedict Barnham, Esquire 
 and Alderman of London ; with whom he received a 
 sufficiently ample and liberal portion in marriage. 3 
 Children he had none ; which, though they be the 
 
 ary of 40Z., which he reckons as first in the series of advancements. This 
 was in 1604. He was made solicitor in 1607, attorney in 1613, counsellor 
 of state in 1616, lord-keeper in 1617, lord chancellor in 1618. His suc- 
 cessive dignities were conferred respectively in 1603, 1618, and 1620-1. 
 
 1 Sir Edward Hyde, made Lord Chancellor June 1. 1660. This clause 
 was added in 1661; the leaf having been cancelled for the purpose. 
 
 2 Here the paragraph ended in the first edition. The rest was added in 
 16P1. 
 
 8 It appears, from a manuscript preserved in Tenison's Library, that he 
 had about 220J. a-yenr with his wife, and upon her mother's death was to 
 Vave about 140J. a-year more.
 
 DE. EAWLEY'S LIFE OF BACON. 43 
 
 means to perpetuate our names after our deaths, yet he 
 had other issues to perpetuate his name, the issues of 
 his brain ; in which he was ever happy and admired, as 
 Jupiter was in the production of Pallas. Neither did 
 the want of children detract from his good usage of his 
 consprt during the intermarriage, whom he prosecuted 
 with much conjugal love and respect, with many rich 
 gifts and endowments, besides a robe of honour which 
 he invested her withal ; which she wore unto her dying 
 day, being twenty years and more after his death. 1 
 
 The last five years of his life, being withdrawn from 
 civil affairs 2 and from an active life, he employed 
 
 1 By the " robe of honour " is meant, I presume, the title of viscountess. 
 It appears however that a few months before Bacon's death his wife had 
 given him some cause of grave offence. Special provision is made for her 
 in the body of his will, but revoked in a codicil, "for just and great causes," 
 the nature of which is not specified. Soon after his death she married Sir 
 John Underwood, her gentleman-usher. She was buried at Eyworth in 
 Bedfordshire on the 29th of June 1650. 
 
 2 On the 3rd of May 1621, Bacon was condemned, upon a cha/ge of cor- 
 ruption to which he pleaded guilty, to pay a fine of 40.000?.; to be impris- 
 oned in the Tower during the king's pleasure; to be for ever incapable of 
 sitting in parliament or holding office in the state; and to be banished for 
 life from the verge of the court. From that time his only business was to 
 find means of subsistence and of satisfying his creditors, and to pursue his 
 studies. 
 
 His offence was the taking of presents from persons who had suits in his 
 court, in some cases while the suit was still pending; an act which un- 
 doubtedly amounted to corruption as corruption was defined by the law. 
 The degree of moral criminality involved in it is not so easily ascertained. 
 To judge of this, we should know, First, what was the understanding, open 
 or secret, upon which the presents were given and taken, for a gift, 
 though it be given to a judge, is not necessarily in the nature of a bargain 
 to pervert justice : Secondly, to what extent the practice was prevalent at 
 the time, for it is a rare virtue in a man to resist temptations to which all 
 his neighbours yield: Thirdly, how far it -was tolerated, for a practica 
 may be universally condemned and yet universally tolerated ; people may 
 be known to be guilty of it and yet received in society all the same 
 Fourthly, how it stood with regard to other abuses prevailing at the same 
 tone, for it is hard to reform all at once, and it is one thing for a man to 
 eave a single abuse unreformed while he is labouring to remove or resist
 
 44 DR. RAWLEY'S LIFE OF BACON. 
 
 wholly in contemplation and studies a thing where* 
 Df his lordship would often speak during his active life, 
 as if he affected to die in the shadow and not in the 
 light ; which also may be found in several passages of 
 his works. In which time he composed the greatest 
 part of his books and writings, both in English and 
 Latin, which I will enumerate (as near as I can) in 
 the just order wherein they were written : l The His- 
 tory of the Reign of King Henry the Seventh ; Abceda- 
 
 greater ones, and another thing to introduce it anew, or to leave all as it 
 was, making no effort to remove any. Now all this is from the nature of 
 the case very difficult to ascertain. But the whole question, as it regards 
 Bacon's character, must be considered in connexion with the rest of his po- 
 litical life, and will be full}' discussed in its place in the Occasional works; 
 where all the evidence I can find shall be faithfully exhibited. In this 
 place it may be enough to say that he himself always admitted the taking 
 of presents as he had taken them to be indefensible, the sentence to be just, 
 and the example salutary; and yet always denied that he had been an un- 
 just judge, or " had ever had bribe or reward in his eye or thought when 
 he pronounced any sentence or order; " and that I cannot find any reason 
 for doubting that this was true. It is stated, indeed, in a manuscript of Sir 
 Matthew Hale's, published by Hargrave, that the censure of Bacon " for 
 many decrees made upon most gross bribery and corruption .... gave 
 such a discredit and brand to the decrees thus obtained that they were 
 easily set aside;" and it is true that some bills were brought into the 
 House'of Commons for thefnirjjose of setting aside such decrees; but 1 can- 
 not find that any one of them reached a third reading; and it is clear from 
 Sir Matthew's own argument that he could not produce an instance of one 
 reversed by the House of Lords ; and if any had been reversed by a royal 
 commission appointed for the purpose (which according to his statement 
 was the only remaining way), it must surely have been heard of; yet 
 where is the record of any such commission? Now if of all the decrees so 
 discredited none were reversed, it is difficult to resist the conclusion that 
 they had all been made bond Jide with regard only to the merits of the 
 cases, and were in fact unimpeachably just ; and we may believe that 
 Bacon pronounced a true judgment on his own case when he said to hia 
 friends (as I find it recorded in a commonplace book of Dr. Rawley's in 
 the Lambeth Library), " I was the justest judge that was in England these 
 fty years; but it was the justest censure in parliament that was these two 
 hundred years." 
 
 1 In the Latin version Rawley adds, quamprcesens observavi; which givei 
 this Us'.' a peculiar value.
 
 DR. RAWLEY'S LIFE OF BACOX. 45 
 
 rium Natures, or a Metaphysical piece which is lost ; l 
 Historia Ventorum; Historia Vitce et Mortis; Historia 
 Densi et Han, not yet printed ; 2 Historia Gravis et 
 Levis, which is also lost ; 3 a Discourse of a War with 
 Spain; a Dialogue touching an Holy War ; the Fable 
 of the New Atlantis ; a Preface to a Digest of the Laws 
 of England; t/ie beginning of the History of the Reign 
 of King Henry the Eighth; De Augmentis Scientiarum 
 or the Advancement of Learning, put into Latin, 4 with 
 several er^richments and enlargements ; Counsels Civil 
 and Moral, or his book of Essays, likewise enriched and 
 enlarged ; the Conversion of certain Psalms into English 
 Verse; the Translation into Latin of the History of King 
 Henry the Seventh, of the Counsels Civil and Moral, 5 of 
 
 1 A fragment of this piece was recovered and printed by Tenison in the 
 Baconiana ; and will appear in this edition* after the Hist&ria Ventorum, 
 which it was intended to accompany. 
 
 2 This was true in 1657 ; but it was printed the next year in the Opuscula 
 Philosophica ; and, therefore, for "not yet printed," the Latin version sub- 
 stitutes jamprimum typis mandata. In the edition of 1661 a corresponding 
 alteration ought to have been made in the English, but was not; and as 
 the words occur in one of the cancelled leaves they must have been left by 
 oversight. 
 
 8 This was probably the tract which Grater says he once had in his 
 hands, and which he describes as merely a skeleton, exhibiting heads of 
 chapters 7iot filled up. " De Gram et Levi in manibus hnbui inlegrum et 
 grande wlumen, sed quod, prater nudam delineates fabriete compagem ex 
 titutis materiam prout earn conceperat Baconus absolveniibus, nihil descrip- 
 tions continebat." See his letter to Rawley, May 29. 1652, in the Ba- 
 coniana, p. 223. 
 
 4 In this edition* I have placed the De Augmentis before the Historia Ven- 
 torum ; because, though published after, it was prepared and arranged, and 
 in that sense composed, before. And in this view I am supported by a 
 light variation which is introduced here in the Latin version, viz. " Inter- 
 vcuerat opus de Augmentis Scientiarum," &c. 
 
 We learn also from the Latin version that Bacon worked at the transla- 
 tion of the Advancement of Learning himself : in quo e lingua vernacula, 
 proprio Murte, in Latinam transferendo honoratissimus auctor plurimum 
 lesudarit. 
 
 * These were the Essays as they appeared in the third and last edition
 
 46 DR. RAWLEY'S LIFE OF BACON. 
 
 the Dialogue of the Holy War, of the Fable of the New 
 Atlantis, for the benefit of other nations ; * his revising 
 of his book De Sapientid Veterum ; Inquisitio de Mag- 
 nete ; Topica Inquisitionis de Luce et Lumine ; both 
 these not yet printed ; 2 lastly, Sylva Sylvarum, or the 
 Natural History. These were the fruits and produc- 
 tions of his last five years. His lordship also designed, 
 upon the motion and invitation of his late majesty, to 
 have written the reign of King Henry the Eighth ; but 
 that work perished in the designation merely, God not 
 lending him life to proceed farther upon it than only in 
 one morning's work ; whereof there is extant an ex 
 ungue leonem, already printed in his lordship's Mis- 
 cellany Works. 
 
 There is a commemoration due as well to his abili- 
 ties and virtues as to the course of his life. Those 
 abilities which commonly go single in other men, 
 though of prime and observable parts, were all con- 
 joined and met in him. Those are, sharpness of wit, 
 memory, judgment, and elocution. For the former 
 three his books do abundantly speak them ; which 3 
 with what sufficiency he wrote, let the world judge ; 
 but with what celerity he wrote them, I can best tes- 
 tify. But for the fourth, his elocution, I will only set 
 down what I heard Sir Walter Raleigh once speak of 
 
 but he gave them a weightier title when he had them translated into " the 
 general language:" exinde dicii, sermonesjideles, sive interiora rerum. 
 
 1 The Latin version adds, apud quos expeti audiverat. 
 
 2 These words are omitted in the Latin version, and must have been left 
 by oversight in the edition of 1661; for they occur in one of the cancelled 
 eaves; and the works in question had been printed in 1G58. The error 
 is the more worth noticing because it shows that wherever the English 
 wid the Latin differ, the Latin must be regarded as the later and better 
 Minority. 
 
 The Latin version adds, ut de Julio Ccetare Hirtitu.
 
 DR. RAWLEY'S LIFE OF BACON. 47 
 
 him by way of comparison (whose judgment may well 
 be trusted), That the Earl of Salisbury was an excellent 
 speaker, but no good penman ; that the. Earl of North- 
 ampton (the Lord Henry Howard*) was an excellent pen- 
 man, but no good speaker ; but that Sir Francis Bacon 
 was eminent in both. 
 
 I have been induced to think, that if there were a 
 beam of knowledge derived from God upon any man 
 in these modern times, it was upon him. For though 
 ne was a great reader of books, yet he had not his 
 knowledge from books, 1 but from some grounds and 
 notions from within himself; which, notwithstanding, 
 he vented with great caution and circumspection. His 
 book of Instauratio Magna z (which in his own ac- 
 count was the chiefest of his works) was no slight 
 imagination or fancy of his brain, but a settled and 
 concocted notion, the production of many years' labour 
 and travel. I myself have seen at the least twelve 
 copies of the Instauration, revised year by year one 
 after another, and every year altered and amended in 
 the frame thereof, till at last it came to that model 
 in which it was committed to the press ; as many liv- 
 ing creatures do lick their young ones, till they bring 
 them to their strength of limbs. 
 
 In the composing of his books he did rather drive at 
 a masculine and clear expression than at any fineness 
 or affectation of phrases, and would often ask if the 
 
 !'. e. not from books only: Ex libris tamen soils scientiam suam depromp- 
 tisse haudquaquam concedere licet. 
 
 2 For Instauratio Magna in this place, and also for Instauration a few 
 lines further on, the Latin version substitutes Novum Organum. Rawley 
 when he spoke of the Instauration, was thinking, no doubt, of the volume 
 in which the Novum Organum first appeared, and which contains all the 
 pieces that stand in this edition [Complete Works] before the Dt Auy-
 
 48 DR. RAWLEY'S LIFE OF BACON. 
 
 meaning were expressed plainly enough, as being out 
 that accounted words to be but subservient or minis- 
 terial to matter, and not the principal. And if his 
 style were polite, 1 it was because he would do no 
 otherwise. Neither was he given to any light .con- 
 ceits, or descanting upon words, but did ever purposely 
 and industriously avoid them ; for he held such things 
 to be but digressions or diversions from the scope in- 
 tended, and to derogate from the weight and dignity 
 of the style. 
 
 He was no plodder upon books; though he read 
 much, and that with great judgment, and rejection of 
 impertinences incident to many authors ; for he would 
 ever interlace a moderate relaxation of his mind with 
 his studies, as walking, or taking the air abroad in his 
 coach, 2 or some other befitting recreation ; and yet he 
 would lose no time, inasmuch as upon his first and im- 
 mediate return he would fall to reading again, and so 
 suffer no moment of time to slip from him without 
 some present improvement. 
 
 His meals were refections of the ear as well as of the 
 stomach, like the Noctes Atticce, or Convivia Deipno- 
 sophistarum, wherein a man might be refreshed in his 
 mind and understanding no less than in his body. 
 And I have known some, of no mean parts, that have 
 professed to make use of their note-books when they 
 have risen from his table. In which conversations, 
 and otherwise, he was no dashing man, 3 as some men 
 
 1 The Latin version adds : Siquidem apud noslrates eloquii Anglicani arti- 
 fex habitus est. 
 
 2 In the Latin version Rawley adds gentle exercise on horseback and 
 playing at bowls: Equitationem, mm citam sed lentam, ylaborum lusum, el ia 
 genus exercitia. 
 
 8 The word dash is used here in the same sense in which Costard uses it 
 'n Love's Labour's Lost: " There, an't please you; a foolish, mild man; as
 
 DR. RAWLEY'S LIFE OF BACON. 49 
 
 are, but ever a countenance!' and fosterer of another 
 man's parts. Neither was he one that would appro- 
 priate the speech wholly to himself, or delight to outvie 
 others, but leave a liberty to the co-assessors to take 
 their turns. Wherein he would draw a man on and 
 allure him to speak upon such a subject, as wherein 
 he was peculiarly skilful, and would delight to speak. 
 And for himself, he contemned no man's observations, 
 but would light his torch at every man's candle. 
 
 His opinions and assertions were for the most part 
 binding, and not contradicted by any ; rather like 
 oracles than discourses ; which may be imputed either 
 to the well weighing of his sentence by the scales of 
 truth and reason, or else to the reverence and esti- 
 mation wherein he was commonly had, that no man 
 would contest with him ; so that there was no argu- 
 mentation, or pro and con (as they term it), at his 
 table : or if there chanced to be any, it was carried 
 with much submission and moderation. 
 
 I have often observed, and so have other men of 
 great account, that if he had occasion to repeat 
 another man's words after him, he had an use and 
 faculty to dress them in better vestments and apparel 
 than they had before ; so that the author should find 
 his own speech much amended, and yet the substance 
 of it still retained ; l as if it had been natural to him to 
 
 honest man, look you, and soon dashed: " Rawley means that Bacon was 
 not a man who used his wit, as some do, to put his neighbours out of 
 countenance : Convivantium neminem aut olios colloquentium pudore suffun- 
 ilere floi-ice sibi duxit, sicut nonnulli gestiunt. 
 
 1 This is probably the true explanation of a habit of Bacon's which 
 seems at first sight a fault, and perhaps sometimes is; and of which a great 
 many instances have been pointed out by Mr. Ellis; a habit of inaccurate 
 quotation. In quoting an author's words, especially where he quotes 
 them merely by way of voucher for his own remark, or in acknowledgment 
 
 VOL. I. 3
 
 50 DR. RAWLEY'S LIFE OF BACON. 
 
 use good forms, as Ovid spake of his faculty of versify- 
 ing* 
 
 " Et quod tentabam scribere, versus erat." 
 When his office called him, as he was of the king's 
 
 * O 
 
 council learned, to charge any offenders, either in crim- 
 inals or capitals, he was never of an insulting and 
 domineering nature over them, but always tender- 
 hearted, and carrying himself decently towards the 
 parties (though it was his duty to charge them home), 
 but yet as one that looked upon the example with the 
 eye of severity, but upon the person with the eye of 
 pity and compassion. And in civil business, as he 
 was counsellor of estate, he had the best way of ad- 
 vising, not engaging his master in any precipitate or 
 grievous courses, but in moderate and fair proceedings : 
 the king whom he served giving' him this testimony, 
 That he ever dealt in business suavibus modis; which 
 was the way that was most according to his own heart: 
 
 Neither was he in his time less gracious with the 
 subject than with his sovereign. He was ever accept- 
 able to the House of Commons * when he was a mem- 
 
 tf the source whence he derived it, or to suggest an allusion which may 
 give a better effect to it, he very often quotes inaccurately. Sometimes, 
 no doubt, this was unintentional, the fault of his memory; but more fre- 
 quently, I suspect, it was done deliberately, for the sake of presenting the 
 substance in a better form, or a form better suited to the particular occa- 
 sion. In citing the evidence of witnesses, on the contrary, in support cf a 
 narrative statement or an argument upon matter of fact, he is always fery 
 careful. 
 
 1 The Latin version adds, in quo scepe peroravit, non sine magno applat.su ; 
 n statement of the truth of which abundant evidence may be found in all 
 the records which remain of the proceedings of the House of Commons 
 The first parliament in which he sate was that of 1584: after which he sate 
 in every parliament that was summoned up to the time of his fall. 
 
 As an edition of Bacon would hardly be complete unless it contained 
 Bon Jonson's famous description of his manner of speaking, I shall insert 
 it here : '' Yet there happened in my time one noble speaker, who was
 
 DR. RAWLEY'S LIFE OF BACON. 51 
 
 ber thereof. Being the king's attorney, and chosen to 
 a place in parliament, he was allowed and dispensed 
 with to sit in the House ; which was not permitted 
 to other attorneys. 
 
 And as he was a good servant to his master, being 
 never in nineteen years' service (as himself averred) 
 rebuked by the king for anything relating to His 
 Majesty, so he was a good master to his servants, 
 and rewarded their long attendance with good places 
 freely 1 when they fell into his power ; which was the 
 cause that so many young gentlemen of blood and 
 quality sought to list themselves in his retinue. And 
 if he were abused by any of them in their places, it 
 was only the error of the goodness of his nature, but 
 the badges of their indiscretions and intemperances. 
 
 This lord was religious : for though the world be 
 apt to suspect and prejudge great wits and politics to 
 have somewhat of the atheist, yet he was conversant 
 with God, as appeareth by several passages through- 
 out the whole current of his writings. Otherwise he 
 
 o 
 
 should have crossed his own principles, which were, 
 That a little philosophy maketh men apt to forget G-od, 
 as attributing too much to second causes ; but depth of 
 philosophy bringeth a man back to Grod again. Now I 
 
 full of gravity in his speaking. His language (where he could spare or 
 pass by jt. jest) was nobly censorious. No man ever spake more neatly, 
 more pressly, more weightily, or suffered less emptiness, less idleness, in 
 what he uttered. No member of his speech but consisted of his own 
 graces. His hearers could not cough, or look aside from him, without loss. 
 He commanded where he spoke ; and had his judges angry and pleased at 
 bis devotion. No man had their affections more in his power. The fear 
 of every man that heard him was, lest he should make an end ' Dis- 
 coveries: under title Dominus Verulamius. 
 
 1 Gratis, in the Latin version ; t. e. without taking any money for them ; 
 in unusual thing in Bacon's time, when the sale of offices was a principal 
 ource ot all great men's incomes.
 
 52 DR. RAWLEY'S LIFE OF BACON. 
 
 am sure there is no man that will deny him, or 
 account otherwise of him, but to have him been a 
 deep philosopher. And not only so ; but he was able 
 to render a reason of the hope which was in him, which 
 that writing of his of the Confession of the Faith doth 
 abundantly testify. He repaired frequently, when his 
 health would permit him, to the service of the church, 
 to hear sermons, to the administration of the sacrament 
 of the blessed body and blood of Christ ; and die.d in 
 the true faith, established in the church of England. 
 This is most true he was free from malice, which 
 (as he said himself) he never bred nor fed. 1 He was no 
 revenger of injuries; which if he had minded, he had 
 both opportunity and place high enough to have done 
 it. He was no heaver of men out of their places, as 
 delighting in their ruin and undoing. He was no 
 defarner of any man to his prince. One day, when a 
 great statesman was newly dead, that had not been his 
 friend, the king asked him, What he thought of that lord 
 which was gone? he answered, That he would never 
 have made His Majesty's estate better, but he ivas sure 
 
 1 "He said he had breeding swans and feeding swans; but for malice, he 
 neither bred it nor fed it." From a commonplace book of Dr. Rawley's in 
 vhe Lambeth Library. "Et posso dir," says Sir Tobie Matthew, in his 
 dedication to Cosmo de' Medici of an Italian translation of the Esstys and 
 Vnpientia Veterum, 1618, " et posso dir con verita (per haver io havute 
 
 * honore di pratticarlo molti anni, et quando era in minoribus, et hora 
 quando sta in colmo et fiore della sua grandezza) di non haver mai sco- 
 perto in lui animo di vendetta, per qualsivoglia aggravio che se gli fosse 
 futto; ne manco sentito uscirgli di bocca parola d' ingiuria contra veruno 
 die mi paresse venire da passione contra la tal persona; ma solo (et questo 
 ^ncora molto scarsamente) per giudicio fattone in sangue freddo. Non 
 gia la sua grandezza quel che io ammiro, ma la sua virtu; non sono li 
 favoii fattimi da lui (per infiniti che siano) che mi hanno posto il cuore in 
 quest! ceppi et catene in che mi ritrovo; ma si bene il suo procedere in coin 
 nuine; che se egli fosse di conditione inferiore, non potrei manco honorarU 
 
 se mi fosse temico io dovrei con tutto cio amar et procurar di servirlo."
 
 DR. RAWLEY'S LIFE OF BACON. 53 
 
 he would have kept it from being worse ; which was the 
 worst he would say of him : which I reckon not among 
 his moral, but his Christian virtues. 
 
 His fame is greater and sounds louder in foreign parts 
 abroad, than at home in his own nation ; thereby veri- 
 fying that divine sentence, A. prophet is not without hon- 
 our, save in his own country, and in his own house. Con- 
 cerning which I will give you a taste only, out of a 
 letter written from Italy (the storehouse of refined 
 wits) to the late Earl of Devonshire, then the Lord 
 Candish : I will expect the new essays of my Lord Chan- 
 cellor Bacon, as also his History, with a great deal of 
 desire, and whatsoever else he shall compose : but in par- 
 ticular of his History I promise myself a thing perfect 
 and singular, especially in Henry the Seventh, where 
 he may exercise the talent of his divine understanding. 
 This lord is more and more known, and his books here 
 more and more delighted in; and those men that have 
 more than ordinary knowledge in human affairs, esteem 
 Mm one of the most capable spirits of this age; and he 
 is truly such. Now his fame doth not decrease with 
 days since, but rather increase. Divers of his works 
 have been anciently and yet lately translated into 
 other tongues, both learned and modern, by foreign 
 j>ens. Several persons of quality, during his lordship's 
 life, crossed the seas on purpose to gain an opportu- 
 nity of seeing him and discoursing with him ; whereof 
 one carried his lordship's picture from head to foot 1 
 over with him into France, as a thing which he fore- 
 saw would be much desired there, that so they might 
 enjoy the image of his person as well as the images 
 V)f his brain, his books. Amongst the rest, Marquis 
 
 i This picture was presented to him by Bacon himself, according to the 
 vatin version.
 
 54 DR. RAWLEY'S LIFE OF BACON. 
 
 Fiat, a French nobleman, who came ambassador into 
 England, in the beginning of Queen Mary, wife to 
 King Charles, was taken with an extraordinary desire 
 of seeing him ; for which he made way by a friend ; 
 and when he came to him, being then through weak- 
 ness confined to his bed, the marquis saluted him with 
 this high expression, That his lordship had been ever to 
 him like the angels; of whom he had often heard, and 
 read much of them in books, but he never saw them. Af- 
 ter which they contracted an intimate acquaintance, 
 and the marquis did so much revere him, that besides 
 his frequent visits, they wrote letters one to the other, 
 under the titles and appellations of father arid son. As 
 for his many salutations by letters from foreign wor- 
 thies devoted to learning, I forbear to mention them, 
 because that is a thing common to other men of learn- 
 ing or note, together with him. 
 
 But yet, in this matter of his fame, I speak in the 
 comparative only, and not in the exclusive. For his 
 reputation is great in his own nation also, especially 
 amongst those that are of a more acute and sharper 
 judgment ; which I will exemplify but with two tes- 
 timonies and no more. The former, when his History 
 vf King Henry the Seventh was to come forth, it was 
 delivered to the old Lord Brook, to be perused by 
 him ; who, when he had dispatched it, returned it 
 to the author with this eulogy, Commend me to my 
 lord, and bid him take care to get good paper and ink, 
 for the work is incomparable. The other shall be that 
 of Doctor Samuel Collins, late provost of King's Col- 
 lege in Cambridge, a man of no vulgar wit, who af- 
 firmed unto me, 1 That when he had read the book of the 
 
 1 In the Latin version Rawley has thought it worth while tc add that 
 this may have been said playfully: Sive festive sive scrio.
 
 DR. RAWLEY'S LIFE OF BACON. 55 
 
 Advancement of Learning, he found himself in a case 
 to begin his studies anew, and that he had lost all the 
 time of his studying before. 
 
 It hath been desired, that something should be sig- 
 nified touching his diet, and the regimen of his health, 
 of which, in regard of his universal insight into nature, 
 he may perhaps be to some an example. For his diet, 
 it was rather a plentiful and liberal diet, as his stomach 
 would bear it, than a restrained ; which he also com- 
 mended in his book of the History of Life and Death. 
 In his younger years he was much given to the finer 
 and lighter sort of meats, as of fowls, and such like ; 
 but afterward, when he grew more judicious, 1 he pre- 
 ferred the stronger meats, such as the shambles af- 
 forded, as those meats which bred the more firm and 
 substantial juices of the body, and less dissipable ; upon 
 which he would often make his meal, though he had 
 other meats upon the table. You may be sure ho 
 would not neglect that himself, which he so much ex- 
 tolled in his writings, and that was the use of nitre ; 
 whereof he took in the quantity of about three grains 
 in thin warm broth every morning, for thirty years 
 together next before his death. And for physic, he 
 did indeed live physically, but not miserably ; for he 
 took only a maceration of rhubarb, 2 infused into a 
 draught of white wine and beer mingled together for 
 the space of half an hour, once in six or seven days, 
 immediately before his meal (whether dinner or sup- 
 per), that it might dry the body less ; which (as he 
 aid) did carry away frequently the grosser humours 
 
 1 More judicious (that is) by experience and observation: experientid 
 edoctus is the expression in the Latin version. 
 
 2 In the Latin version Rawley gives the quahtity : Rhabarbari sesqvi- 
 Irachmatn.
 
 56 DR. RAWLEY'S LIFE OF BACON. 
 
 of the body, and not diminish or carry away any of 
 the spirits, as sweating doth. And this was no griev- 
 ous thing to take. As for other physic, in an ordi- 
 nary way (whatsoever hath been vulgarly spoken) 
 he took not. His receipt for the gout, which did 
 constantly ease him of his pain within two hours, is 
 already set down in the end of the Natural History. 
 
 It may seem the moon had some principal place in 
 the figure of his nativity : for the moon was never in 
 her passion, or eclipsed, 1 but he was surprised with a 
 sudden fit of fainting ; and that, though he observed 
 not nor took any previous knowledge of the eclipse 
 thereof; and as soon as the eclipse ceased, he was 
 restored to his former strength again. 
 
 He died on the ninth day of April in the year 1626, 
 
 1 Lord Campbell (who appears to have read Rawley's memoir only in the 
 Latin, where the words are quoties luna defecit sive eclipsin passa est), suppos- 
 ing , defecit to mean waned, discredits this statement, on the ground that 
 " no instance is recorded of Bacon's having fainted in public, or put off the 
 hearing of any cause on account of the change of the moon, or of any ap- 
 proaching eclipse, visible or invisible." . And it is true that ifdefectus lunce 
 meant a change of the moon, or even a dark moon (which it might have 
 meant well enough if the Romans had not chosen to appropriate the word 
 to quite another meaning); the accident must have happened in public too 
 often to pass unnoticed. But Rawley was too good a scholar to misapply 
 30 common a word in that way. He evidently speaks of eclipses only, 
 and of eclipses visible at the place. Now it is not at all likely that lunar 
 eclipses visible at Westminster would have coincided with important 
 Susiness in which Bacon was conspicuously engaged, often enough (even 
 if he did faint every time) to establish a connexion between the two phe- 
 nomena. Of course Rawley's statement is not sufficient to prove the 
 reality of any such connexion ; but there is no reason to suppose it an 
 invention, and the fact of the fainting-fits may be fairly taken, I think 
 is evidence of the extreme delicacy of Bacon's temperament, and its sen- 
 sibility to the skiey influences. That Bacon himself never alluded to this 
 relation between himself and the moon is easily accounted for by suppos- 
 \pg that he was not satisfied of the fact. He may have observed the co- 
 incidence, and mentioned it to Rawley; and Rawley (whose common- 
 place book proves that he had a taste for astrology) may have believed 
 n the physical connexion, though Bacon himself did not.
 
 DR. RAWLEY'S LIFE OF BACON. 57 
 
 .*t the early morning of the day then celebrated for 
 our Saviour's resurrection, in the sixty-sixth year of 
 his age, at the Earl of Arundel's house in Highgate, 
 near London, to which place he casually repaired 
 about a week before ; God so ordaining that he should 
 die there of a gentle fever, accidentally accompanied 
 with a great cold, whereby the defluxion of rheum 
 fell so plentifully upon his breast, that he died by 
 suffocation ; and was buried in St. Michael's church 
 at St. Albans ; being the place designed for his burial 
 by his last will and testament, both because the body 
 of his mother was interred there, and because it was 
 the only church then remaining within the precincts 
 of old Verulam : where he hath a monument erected 
 for him in white marble (by the care and gratitude 
 of Sir Thomas Meautys, knight, formerly his lordship's 
 secretary, afterwards clerk of the King's Honourable 
 Privy Council under two kings) ; representing his 
 full portraiture in the posture of studying, with an 
 inscription composed by that accomplished gentleman 
 and rare wit, Sir Henry Wotton. 1 
 
 FRANC1SCUS BACON, BARO DE VERULAM, S 1 . ALBANI VIC"* 1 * 
 
 SEC NOTIORIBUS TITULIS 
 
 8CIENTIARUM LUMEN FACUNDLE LEX 
 
 SIC SEDEBAT. 
 
 QUI POSTQUAM OMNIA NATURALIS SAPIENTIJl 
 
 ET CIVILIS ARCANA EVOLVISSET 
 
 NATURAE DECRETUM EXPLEVIT 
 
 COMPOSITA SOLVANTUB 
 
 AN. DNI M.DC.XXVI. 
 
 LXVI. 
 
 TANTI VIRI 
 MEM. 
 
 THOMAS MEAUTU8 
 
 8UPERSTITIS CULTOR 
 DEFUNCT! ADMIRATOB 
 3 * TJ T>
 
 58 DR. RAWLEY'S LIFE OF BACON. 
 
 But howsoever his body was mortal, yet no doubt 
 his memory and works will live, and will in all proba- 
 bility last as long as the world lasteth. In order to 
 which I have endeavoured (after my poor ability) 
 to do this honour to his lordship, by way of conduc- 
 ing to the same.
 
 PHILOSOPHICAL WORKS. 
 
 PART I. 
 
 GENERAL PREFACE TO THE PHILOSOPHICAL 
 
 WORKS, AND PREFACE TO THE 
 
 NOVUM ORGANUM. 
 
 ROBERT LESLIE ELLIS.
 
 BACON'S PHILOSOPHICAL WORKS. 
 
 BY ROBERT LESLIE ELLIS. 
 
 (1.) OUR knowledge of Bacon's method is much 
 less complete than it is commonly supposed to be. Of 
 the Novum Organum, which was to contain a complete 
 statement of its nature and principles, we have only 
 the first two books ; and although in other parts of 
 Bacon's writings, as for instance in the Cogitata et Visa 
 de Interpretatione Naturce, many of the ideas contained 
 in these books recur in a less systematic form, we yet 
 meet with but few indications of the nature of the sub- 
 jects which were to have been discussed in the others. 
 It seems not improbable that some parts of Bacon's 
 system were never perfectly developed even in his own 
 mind. However this may be, it is certain that an at- 
 tempt to determine what his method, taken as a whole, 
 was or would have been, must necessarily involve a 
 conjectural or hypothetical element ; and it is, I think, 
 chiefly because this circumstance has not been suffi- 
 ciently recognised, that the idea of Bacon's philosophy 
 has generally speaking been but imperfectly appre- 
 hended.
 
 62 GENERAL PREFACE TO 
 
 (2.) Of the subjects which were to have occupied 
 the remainder of the Novum Organum we learn some- 
 thing from a passage at the end of the second book. 
 
 " Nunc vero," it is said at the conclusion of the doc- 
 trine of prerogative instances, " ad adminicula et rectifi- 
 cationes inductionis, et deinceps ad concreta, et latentes 
 processus, et latentes schematismos, et reliqua quae aph- 
 orismo xxi ordine proposuimus, pergendum." On re- 
 ferring to the twenty-first aphoi'ism we find a sort of 
 table of contents of the whole work. " Dicemus ita- 
 que primo loco, de praerogativis instantiarum ; secundo, 
 de adminiculis inductionis ; tertio, de rectificatione in- 
 ductionis ; quarto, de variatione inquisitionis pro natura 
 subjecti ; quinto, de praerogativis naturarum quatenus 
 ad inquisitionem, sive de eo quod inquirendum est prius 
 et posterius ; sexto, de terminis inquisitionis, sive de 
 synopsi omnium naturarum in universe ; septimo, de 
 deductione ad praxin, sive de eo quod est in ordine ad 
 hominem ; octavo, de parascevis ad inquisitionem ; pos- 
 tremo autem, de scala ascensoria et descensori& axioma- 
 tum." Of these nine subjects the first is the only one 
 with which we are at all accurately acquainted. 
 
 (3.) Bacon's method was essentially inductive. He 
 rejected the use of syllogistic or deductive reasoning, 
 except when practical applications were to be made of 
 the conclusions, axiomata, to which the inquirer had 
 been led by a systematic process of induction. " Log- 
 ica quse nunc habetur inutilis est ad inventionem sci- 
 
 entiarum Spes est una in inductione vera."- 
 
 It is to be observed that wherever Bacon speaks of an 
 " ascending " process, he is to be understood to mean 
 induction, of which it is the character to proceed from 
 
 1 Nov. Org. i. 11. and 14.
 
 THE PHILOSOPHICAL WORKS. 63 
 
 tliat which is nobis notius to that which is notius simpli- 
 riter. Contrariwise when he speaks of a descent, he 
 always refers to the correlative process of deduction. 
 Thus when in tho Partis secundce Delineatio he says, 
 ..." meminerint homines in inquisitione activ& ne- 
 cesse esse rem per scalam descensoriam (cujus usum hi 
 contemplative, sustulimus) confici : omnis enim operatic 
 in individuis versatur quse infimo loco sunt," we are 
 to understand that in Bacon's system deduction is only 
 admissible in the inquisitio activa ; that is, in practical 
 applications of the results of induction. Similarly in 
 the Distributio Operis he says, " Rejicimus syllogis- 
 mum ; neque id soliim quoad principia (ad quae nee 
 illi earn adhibent) sed etiam quoad propositiones me- 
 dias." Everything was to be established by induction. 
 " In constituendo autem axiomate forma inductionis 
 alia quam adhuc in usu fuit excogitanda est, eaque 
 non ad principia tantum (quse vocant) probanda et 
 invenienda, sed etiam ad axiomata minora, et media, 
 denique omnia." 1 
 
 (4.) It is necessary to determine the relation in 
 which Bacon conceived his method to stand to ordinary 
 induction. Both methods set out " a sensu et particu- 
 laribus," and acquiesce " in maxime generalibus ; " 2 
 but while ordinary induction proceeds " per enum- 
 eration em simplicem," by a mere enumeration of 
 particular cases, " et precario concludit et periculo 
 exponitur ab instantia contradictoriS,," the new 
 method " naturam separare debet, per rejectiones et 
 exclusiones debitas ; et deinde post negativas tot quot 
 sufficiunt super affirmativas concludere." 3 A form of 
 induction was to be introduced, " quse ex aliquibus 
 generaliter concludat ita ut instantiam contradictoriana 
 i Nov. Org. i. 105. 2 NOV. Org. i. 22. Nov. Org. i. 105-
 
 64 GENERAL PREFACE TO 
 
 inveniri non posse demonstretur." 1 In strong contrast 
 with this method stands " the induction which the logi- 
 cians speak of," which " is utterly vicious and incom- 
 petent." ..." For to conclude upon an enumeration 
 of particulars, without instance contradictory, is no 
 conclusion, but a conjecture." ..." And this form, 
 to say truth, is so gross, as it had not been possible for 
 wits so subtile as have managed these things to have 
 offered it to the world, but that they trusted to their 
 theories and dogmaticals, and were imperious and scorn- 
 ful towards particulars." 2 We thus see what is meant 
 by the phrase " quot sufficiunt" in the passage which 
 has been cited from the Novum Organum ; it means 
 " as many as may suffice in order to the attainment of 
 certainty," it being necessary to have a method of in- 
 duction, " quae experientiam solvat et separet, et per 
 exclusiones et rejectiones debitas necessario concludat." 3 
 Absolute certainty is therefore one of the distinguishing 
 characters of the Baconian induction. Another is that 
 it renders all men equally capable, or nearly so, of at- 
 taining to the truth. " Nostra vero inveniendi scientias 
 ea est ratio ut non multum ingeniorum acumini et ro- 
 bori relinquatur ; sed quae ingenia et intellectus fere 
 exaequet;" 4 and this is illustrated by the difficulty of 
 describing a circle libera manu, whereas every one can 
 do it with a pair of compasses. " Omnino similis est 
 nostra ratio." The cause to which this peculiarity is 
 owing, is sufficiently indicated by the illustration : the 
 
 1 Cogitate et Visa, 18. 
 
 2 Advancement of Learning. The corresponding passage in the De Augm. 
 is in the 2nd chap, of the 5th book. 
 
 8 Pistrib. Operis, 10. 
 
 4 Nov. Org. i. 61., and comp. i. 122. Also the Inquisitio legitima da 
 Uotu, and Valerius Terminus, c. 19.
 
 THE PHILOSOPHICAL WORKS. 65 
 
 method " exaaquat ingenia," " cum omnia per certia- 
 simas regulas et demonstrationes transigat." 
 
 (5.) Absolute certainty, and a mechanical mode 
 of procedure such that all men should be capable of 
 employing it, are thus two great features of the Ba- 
 conian method. His system can never be rightly 
 understood if they are neglected, and any explanation 
 of it which passes them over in silence leaves unex- 
 plained the principal difficulty which that system pre- 
 sents to us. But another difficulty takes the place of 
 *,he one which is thus set aside. It becomes impossible 
 to justify or to understand Bacon's assertion that his 
 method was essentially new. " Nam nos," he says in 
 the preface to the Novum Organum, " si profiteamur 
 nos meliora afferre quam antiqui, eandem quam illi 
 viam ingressi, nulla verborum arte efficere possimus, 
 quin inducatur quasdam ingenii, vel excellentiae, vel 
 facultatis comparatio, sive contentio. . . . Verum cum 
 per nos illud agatur, ut alia omnino via intellectui ape- 
 riatur illis intentata et incognita, commutata tota jam 
 ratio est," &c. He elsewhere speaks of himself as 
 being ' in hac re plane protopirus, et vestigia nullius 
 sequutus." l Surely this language would be out of 
 place, if the difference between him and those who had 
 gone before him related merely to matters of detail ; 
 as, for instance, that his way of arranging the facts of 
 observation was more convenient than theirs, and his 
 way of applying an inductive process to them more 
 systematic. And it need not be remarked that induc- 
 tion in itself was no novelty at all. The nature of the 
 act of induction is as clearly stated by Aristotle as by 
 any later writer. Bacon's design was surely much larger 
 
 i Nov. Org. i. 113.
 
 66 GENERAL PREFACE TO 
 
 than it would thus appear to have been. Whoever 
 considers his writings without reference to their place 
 in the history of philosophy will I think be convinced 
 that he aimed at giving a wholly new method, a 
 method universally applicable, and in all cases infal- 
 lible. By this method, all the knowledge which the 
 human mind is capable of receiving might be attained, 
 and attained without unnecessary labour. Men were 
 no longer to wander from the truth in helpless uncer- 
 tainty. The publication of this new doctrine was the 
 Temporis Partus Masculus ; it was as the rising of a 
 new sun, before which " the borrowed beams of moon 
 and stars " were to fade away and disappear. 1 
 
 (6.) That the wide distinction which Bacon con- 
 ceived to exist between his own method and any which 
 had previously been known has often been but slightly 
 noticed by those who have spoken- of his philosophy, 
 arises probably from a wish to recognise in the history 
 of the scientific discoveries of the last two centuries 
 the fulfilment of his hopes and prophecies. One of his 
 early disciples however, who wrote before the scientific 
 movement which commenced about Bacon's time had 
 assumed a definite form and character I mean Dr. 
 Hooke has explicitly adopted those portions of Ba- 
 con's doctrine which have seemingly been as a stum- 
 bling-block to his later followers. In Hooke's General 
 Scheme or Idea of the Present State of Natural Philos- 
 ophy? which is in many respects the best commentary 
 on Bacon, we find it asserted that in the pursuit of 
 
 1 See, for instance, the Prtefatio Generalis, where Bacon compares his 
 method to the mariner's compass, until the discovery of which no wide sea 
 tould be crossed ; an image probably connected with his favourite device 
 f a ship passing through the pillars of Hercules, with the motto " Pltu 
 iltra." 
 
 2 l'ubl'<shed posthumously in 1705.
 
 THE PHILOSOPHICAL WORKS. 67 
 
 Knowledge, the intellect " is continually to be assisted 
 by some method or engine which shall be as a guide to 
 regulate its actions, so as that it shall not be able to act 
 amiss. Of this engine no man except the incompar- 
 able Yerulam hath had any thoughts, and he indeed 
 hath promoted it to a very good pitch." Something 
 however still remained to be added to this engine or 
 art of invention, to which Hooke gives the name of 
 philosophical algebra. He goes on to say, " I cannon 
 doubt but that if this art be well prosecuted and made 
 use of, an ordinary capacity with industry will be able 
 to do very much more than has yet been done, and to 
 *how that even physical and natural inquiries as well 
 as mathematical and geometrical will be capable also 
 of demonstration ; so that henceforward the business 
 of invention will not be so much the effect of acute 
 wit, as of a serious and industrious prosecution." 1 
 Here the absolute novelty of Bacon's method, its de- 
 monstrative character, and its power of reducing all 
 minds to nearly the same level, are distinctly recog- 
 nised. 
 
 (7.) Before we examine the method of which Bacoi 
 proposed to make use, it is necessary to determine the 
 nature of the problems to which it was, for the most 
 part at least, to be applied. In other words, we must 
 endeavour to determine the idea which he had formea 
 of the nature of science. 
 
 Throughout his writings, science and power are 
 spoken of as correlative " in idem coincidunt ; " and 
 the reason of this is that Bacon always assumed that 
 the knowledge of the cause would in almost all cases 
 
 o 
 
 enable us to produce the observed effect. Wo shall see 
 i Present State of Nat. Phil. pp. 6, 7.
 
 68 GENERAL PREFACE TO 
 
 hereafter Low this assumption connected itself with the 
 whole spirit of his philosophy. I mention it now be- 
 cause it presents itself in the passage in which Bacon's 
 idea of the nature of science is most distinctly stated. 
 " Super datum corpus novam naturam, sive novas na 
 turas, generare et superinducere, opus et intentio est 
 humanae potentiae. Datas autem naturae formam, sive 
 differentiam veram, sive naturam naturantem, sive fon- 
 tem emanationis, (ista enim vocabula habemus quaa ad 
 indicationem rei proxime accedunt) invenire, opus et 
 intentio est humanse scientiao." This passage, with 
 which the second book of the Novum Organum com- 
 mences, requires to be considered in detail. 
 
 In the first place it is to be remarked, that natura 
 signifies " abstract quality," it is used by Bacon in 
 antithesis with corpus or " concrete body." Thus the 
 passage we have quoted amounts to this, that the scope 
 and end of human power is to give new qualities to 
 bodies, while the scope and end of human knowledge 
 is to ascertain the formal cause of all the qualities of 
 which bodies are possessed. 
 
 Throughout Bacon's philosophy, the necessity of 
 making abstract qualities (naturaa) the principal object 
 of our inquiries is frequently insisted on. He who 
 studies the concrete and neglects the abstract cannot 
 be called an interpreter of nature. Such was Bacon's 
 judgment when, apparently at an early period of his 
 life, he wrote the Temporis Partus Masculus ; T and in 
 the Novum Organum he has expressed an equivalent 
 
 * Mr. Ellis alludes, I think, to the De Interjyretatione Nature* Sentential 
 KIT., which M. Bouillct prints as part of the Temporis Partus Masculus, 
 My reasons for differing with M. Bouillet on this point, and placing it by 
 itself, and assigning it a later date, will be found in a note to Mr. Ellw'i 
 T*refac6 tc the Novum Organum. J. S.
 
 THE PHILOSOPHICAL WORKS. 69 
 
 opinion : " quod iste modus operandi, (qui naturas in- 
 tuetur simplices licet in corpore concrete) procedat ex 
 iis quas in natura sunt constantia et aeterna et catholica, 
 et latas prsebeat potential humanas vias." 1 Quite in 
 accordance with this passage is a longer one in the Ad- 
 vancement of Learning, which I shall quote in extenso, 
 as it is exceedingly important. " The forms of sub- 
 stances, I say, as they are now by compounding and 
 transplanting multiplied, are so perplexed as they are 
 not to be inquired ; no more than it were either possi- 
 ble or to purpose to seek in gross the forms of those 
 sounds which make words, which by composition and 
 transposition of letters are infinite. But on the other 
 side to inquire the form of those sounds or voices which 
 make simple letters is easily comprehensible, and being 
 known induceth and manifesteth the forms of all words 
 which consist and are compounded of them. In the 
 same manner, to inquire the form of a lion, of an oak, 
 of gold nay of water, of air is a vain pursuit; 
 but to inquire the forms of sense, of voluntary mo- 
 tion, of vegetation, of colours, of gravity and levity, 
 of density, of tenuity, of heat, of cold, and all other 
 natures and qualities which like an alphabet are not 
 many, and of which the essences upheld by matter of 
 all creatures do consist, to inquire, I say, the true 
 forms of these, is that part of metaphysique which we 
 now define of." And a little farther on we are told 
 that it is the prerogative of metaphysique to consider 
 " the simple forms or difference of things " (that is to 
 say, the forms of simple natures), " which are few in 
 number, and the degrees and co-ordinations whereof 
 make all this variety." 
 
 1 Nov. Org. ii. 5.
 
 70 GENERAL PREFACE TO 
 
 We see from these passages why the study of sim- 
 ple natures is so important namely because they are 
 comparatively speaking few in number, and because, 
 notwithstanding this, a knowledge of their essence 
 would enable us, at least in theory, to solve every 
 problem which the universe can present to us. 
 
 As an illustration of the doctrine of simple natures, 
 we may take a passage which occurs in the Silva Sil- 
 varum. " Gold," it is there said, " has these natures : 
 greatness of weight, closeness of parts, fixation, pliant- 
 ness or softness, immunity from rust, colour or tinc- 
 ture of yellow. Therefore the sure way, though most 
 about, to make gold, is to know the causes of the sev- 
 eral natures before rehearsed, and the axioms concern- 
 ing the same. For if a man can make a metal that 
 hath all these properties, let men dispute whether it be 
 gold or no." 1 
 
 Of these simple natures Bacon has given a list in the 
 third book of the De Augmentis. They are divided 
 into two classes : schematisms of matter, and simple 
 motions. To the former belong the abstract qualities, 
 dense, rare, heavy, light, &c., of which thirty-nine are 
 enumerated, the list being concluded with a remark 
 that it need not be carried farther, " neque ultra rera 
 extendimus." The simple motions and it will be 
 observed that the word " motion " is used in a wide 
 and vague sense are the motus antitypi, which se~ 
 cures the impenetrability of matter ; the motus nexus, 
 commonly called the motus ex fuga vacui, &c. ; and of 
 these motions fourteen are mentioned. This list how- 
 jver does not profess to be complete, and accordingly 
 in the Novum Organum (ii. 48.) another list of sim- 
 
 1 Compare Nov. Org. ii. 5.
 
 THE PHILOSOPHICAL WORKS. 71 
 
 pie motions is given, in which nineteen species are 
 recognised. 
 
 The view of which we have now been speaking 
 namely, that it is possible to reduce all the phenomena 
 of the universe to combinations of a limited number 
 of simple elements is the central point of Bacon's 
 whole system. It serves, as we shall see, to explain 
 the peculiarities of the method which he proposed. 
 
 (8.) In what sense did Bacon use the word 
 " Form ? " This is the next question which, in con- 
 sidering the account which he has given of the nature 
 of science, it is necessary to examine. I am, for rea- 
 sons which Avill be hereafter mentioned, much disposed 
 to believe that the doctrine of Forms is in some sort 
 an extraneous part of Bacon's system. His peculiar 
 method may be stated independently of this doctrine, 
 and he has himself so stated it in one of his earlier 
 tracts, namely the Valerius Terminus. It is at any 
 rate certain, that in using the word " Form " he did 
 not intend to adopt the scholastic mode of employing 
 it. He was much in the habit of giving to words 
 already in use a new signification. " To me," he re- 
 marks in the Advancement of Learning, " it seemeth 
 best to keep way with antiquity usque ad aras, and 
 therefore to retain the ancient terms, though I some- 
 dmes alter the uses and definitions." And thus though 
 he has spoken of the scholastic forms as figments of the 
 human mind, 1 he was nevertheless willing to employ 
 the word " Form " in a modified sense, " praesertim 
 quum hoc vocabulum invaluerit, et familiariter oc- 
 currat." 2 He has however distinctly stated that in 
 speaking of Forms, he is not to be understood to speak 
 
 i Nov. Org. i. 51. 2 Nov. Org. ii. 2.
 
 72 GENERAL PREFACE TO 
 
 of the Forms " quibus hominum contemplationes et 
 cogitation es hactenus assueverunt." l 
 
 As Bacon uses the word in his own sense, we must 
 endeavour to interpret the passages in which it occurs 
 by means of what he has himself said of it ; and this 
 may I think be satisfactorily accomplished. 
 
 We may begin by remarking that in Bacon's sys- 
 tem, as in those of many others, the relation of sub- 
 stance and attribute is virtually the same as the relation 
 of cause and effect. The substance is conceived of as 
 the causa immanens of its attributes, 2 or in other words 
 it is the formal cause of the qualities which are re- 
 ferred to it. As there is a difference between the 
 properties of different substances, there must be a cor- 
 responding difference between the substances them- 
 selves. But in the first state of the views of which 
 we are speaking this latter difference is altogether 
 unimaginable : " distincte quidem intelligi potest, sed 
 non explieari imaginabiliter." 8 It belongs not to nat- 
 ural philosophy, but to metaphysics. 
 
 These views however admit of an essential modifi- 
 cation. If we divide the qualities of bodies into two 
 classes, and ascribe those of the former class to sub- 
 stance as its essential attributes, while we look on those 
 of the latter as connected with substance by the rela- 
 tion of cause and effect that is, if we recognise the 
 distinction of primaiy and secondary qualities the 
 state of the question is changed. It now becomes pos- 
 sible to give a definite answer to the question, Whereir. 
 
 1 Nov. Org. ii. 17. 
 
 2 See Zimmerman's Essay on the Monadology of Leibnitz, p. 86. (Vien- 
 a, 1807). 
 
 * Leibnitz De ipsa Xatura.
 
 THE PHILOSOPHICAL WORKS. 78 
 
 uoes the difference between different substances, corre- 
 sponding to the difference between their sensible quali- 
 ties, consist? 
 
 The answer to this question of course involves a ref- 
 erence to the qualities which have been recognised as 
 primary ; and we are thus led to the principle that in 
 the sciences which relate to the secondary qualities of 
 bodies the primary ones are to be regarded as the causes 
 of the secondary. 1 
 
 This division of the qualities of bodies into two 
 classes is the point of transition from the metaphysical 
 view from which we set out to that of ordinary phys- 
 ical science. And this transition Bacon had made, 
 though not perhaps with a perfect consciousness of 
 having clone so. Thus he has repeatedly denied the 
 truth of the scholastic doctrine that Forms are incog- 
 noscible because supra-sensible ; 2 and the reason of this 
 is clearly that his conception of the nature of Forms 
 relates merely to the primary qualities of bodies. For 
 instance, the Form of heat is a kind of local motion 
 of the particles of which bodies are composed, 3 and 
 that of whiteness a mode of arrangement among those 
 particles. 4 This peculiar motion or arrangement cor- 
 responds to and engenders heat or whiteness, and this 
 in every case in which those qualities exist. The state- 
 ment of the distinguishing character of the motion or 
 arrangement, or of whatever else may be the Form of 
 a given phenomenon, takes the shape of a law ; it is 
 the law in fulfilling which any substance determines 
 the existence of the quality in question. It is for this 
 
 1 Whewell, Phil. Ind. Science, [book iv. ch. i.j 
 
 2 See Scaliger, Exercit. in Cardan. 
 
 8 [Nov. Org. ii. 20.] * [Valerius Torarnus, ii. 1.] 
 
 VOL. i. 4
 
 74 GENERAL PEEFACE TO 
 
 "eason that Bacon sometimes calls the Form a law ; he 
 has done this particularly in a passage which will be 
 nentioned a little farther on. 
 
 With the view which has now been stated, we shall 
 I think be able to understand every passage in which 
 Bacon speaks of Forms ; remembering however that 
 as he has not traced a boundary line between primary 
 and secondary qualities, we can only say in general 
 terms that his doctrine of Forms is founded upon tho 
 theory that certain qualities of bodies are merely sub- 
 jective and phenomenal, and are to be regarded as 
 necessarily resulting from others which belong to sub- 
 stance as its essential attributes. In the passage from 
 which we set out, 1 the Form is spoken of as vera dif- 
 ferentia, the true or essential difference, as natura 
 naturans and as the fons emanationis. The first of 
 these expressions refers to the theory of definition by 
 genus and difference. The difference is that which 
 gives the thing defined its specific character. If it be 
 founded on an accidental circumstance, the definition, 
 though not Incorrect if the accident be an inseparable 
 one, will nevertheless not express the true and es- 
 sential character of its subject ; contrariwise, if it 
 involve a statement of the formal cause of the thing 
 defined. 
 
 The second of these phrases is now scarcely used, 
 except in connexion with the philosophy of Spinoza. It 
 had however been employed by some of the scholastic 
 writers. 2 It is always antithetical to natura naturata, 
 and in the passage before us serves not inaptly to ex- 
 
 1 [Nov. Org. ii. 1.] 
 
 > See Vossius, De Vitiis Serm. in voce Naturare; and Castanafcus, Distino 
 tones in roc. Natura.
 
 THE PHILOSOPHICAL WORKS. 76 
 
 press the relation in which the Form stands to the phe- 
 nomenal nature which results from it. 
 
 The phrase fons emanationis does not seem to require 
 any explanation. It belongs to the kind of philosophi- 
 cal language which attempts, more or less successfully, 
 to give clearness of conception by means of metaphor. 
 It is unnecessary to remark how much this is the case 
 in the later development of scholasticism. 
 
 A little farther on in the second book of the Novum 
 Organum than the passage we have been considering, 
 namely in the thirteenth aphorism, Bacon asserts 
 that the " forrna rei " is " ipsissima res," and that the 
 thing and its Form differ only as " appurens et existens, 
 aut exterius et interius, aut in ordine ad hominem et in 
 ordine ad universum." Here the subjective and phe 
 nomenal character of the qualities whose form is to be 
 determined is distinctly and strongly indicated. 
 
 The principal passage in which the Form is spoken 
 of as a law occurs in the second aphorism of the same 
 book. It is there said that, although in nature noth- 
 ing really exists (vere existat) except " corpora indi 
 vidua edentia actus puros individuos ex lege," yet that 
 in doctrine this law is of fundamental importance, and 
 that it and its clauses (paragraph!) are what he means 
 when he speaks of Forms. 
 
 In denying the real existence of anything be>ide 
 individual substances, Bacon opposes himself to the 
 scholastic realism ; in speaking of these substances as 
 " edentia actus," he asserts the doctrine of the essential 
 activity of substance ; by adding the epithet " puros " 
 he separates what Aristotle termed ivr\^ iai fr m mer e 
 motions or /av^o-eis, thereby by implication denying the 
 objective reality of the latter ; and, lastly, by using the
 
 fb GENERAL PREFACE TO 
 
 word "individuos," he implies that though in contem- 
 plation and doctrine the form law of the substance 
 (that is, the substantial form) is resoluble into the 
 forms of the simple natures which belong to it, as 
 into clauses, yet that this analysis is conceptual only, 
 and not real. 
 
 It will be observed that the two modes in which 
 Bacon speaks of the Form, namely as ipsissima res and 
 as a law, differ only, though they cannot be reconciled, 
 as two aspects of the same object. 
 
 Thus much of the character of the Baconian Form. 
 That it is after all only a physical conception appears 
 sufficiently from the examples already mentioned, and 
 from the fact of its being made the most important 
 part of the subject-matter of the natural sciences. 
 
 The investigation of the Forms of natures or ab- 
 stract qualities is the principal object of the Baconian 
 method of induction. It is true that Bacon, although 
 he gives the first place to investigations of this nature, 
 does not altogether omit to mention as a subordinate 
 part of science, the study of concrete substances. The 
 first aphorism of the second book of the Novum Orga- 
 num sufficiently explains the relation in which, as he 
 conceived, the abstract and the concrete, considered as 
 objects of science, ought to stand to one another. This 
 relation corresponds to that which in the De Augmentis 
 [iii. 4.], he had sought to establish between Physique 
 and Metaphysique, and which he has there expressed 
 by saying that the latter was to be conversant with the 
 formal and final causes, while the former was to be 
 confined to the efficient cause and to the material. It 
 may be asked, and the question is not easily answered, 
 Of what use the study of concrete bodies was in Ba
 
 THE PHILOSOPHICAL WORKS. 77 
 
 con's system to be, seeing that the knowledge of the 
 Forms of simple natures would, in effect, include all 
 that can be known of the outward world? I believe 
 that, if Bacon's recognition of physique as a distinct 
 branch of science which was to be studied apart from 
 metaphysique or the doctrine of Forms, can be ex- 
 plained except on historical grounds, that is, except 
 by saying that it was derived from the quadripartite 
 division of causes given by Aristotle, 1 the explana- 
 tion is merely this, that he believed that the study of 
 concrete bodies would at least at first be pursued more 
 hopefully and more successfully than the abstract in- 
 vestigations to which he gave the first rank. 2 
 
 However this may be, it seems certain that Bacon's 
 method, as it is stated in the Novum Organum, is pri- 
 marily applicable to the investigation of Forms, and that 
 when other applications were made of it, it was to be 
 modified in a manner which is nowhere distinctly ex- 
 plained. All in fact that we know of these modifica- 
 tions results from comparing two passages which have 
 been already quoted ; 3 namely the two lists in which 
 Bacon enumerates the subjects to be treated of in the 
 atter books of the Novum Organum. 
 
 It will be observed that in one of these lists the sub- 
 ject of concrete bodies corresponds to the " variation 
 of the investigation according to the nature of the sub- 
 ject" in the other, and from this it seems to follow that 
 Bacon looked on his method of investigating Forms as 
 the fundamental type of the inductive process, from 
 which in its other applications it deviated more or less 
 
 1 For an explanation of vhich, see note on De Augmentis, iii. 4 [Co.-n 
 llete Works]. J. S. 
 
 '* See, in illustration of this, Nov. Org. ii. 5. 
 8 Vide supra, 2.
 
 T8 GENERAL PREFACE TO 
 
 according to the necessity of the case. This being un- 
 derstood, we may proceed to speak of the inductive 
 method itself. 
 
 (9.) The practical critei'ium of a Form by means of 
 which it is to be investigated and recognised, reduces 
 itselt to this, that the form nature and the phenome- 
 nal nature (so to modify, for the sake of distinctness, 
 Bacon's phraseology) must constantly be either both 
 present or both absent ; and moreover that when either 
 increases or decreases, the other must do so too. 1 Set- 
 ting aside the vagueness of the second condition, it is 
 to be observed that there is nothing in this criterium to 
 decide which of two concomitant natures is the Form 
 of the other. It is time that in one place Bacon re- 
 quires the form nature, beside being convertible with 
 the given one, to be also a limitation of a more general 
 nature. His words are " natura alia quae sit cum na- 
 tura data convertibilis et tamen sit limitatio natures 
 notions instar generis veri." 2 Of this the meaning 
 will easily be apprehended if we refer to the case of 
 heat, of which the form is said to be a kind of motion 
 motion being here the natura notior, the more gen- 
 eral natura, of which heat is a specific limitation : for 
 tvherever heat is present there also is motion, but not 
 vice vers&. Still the difficulty recurs, that there is 
 nothing in the practical operation of Bacon's method 
 which can serve to determine whether this subsidiary 
 condition is fulfilled ; nor is the condition itself alto- 
 gether free from vagueness. 
 
 To each of the three points of that which I have 
 called the practical criterium of the Form corresponds 
 one of the three tables with which the investigation 
 
 l Nov. Dig. ii. 4, 13, 16. * Nov. Org. ii. 4
 
 THE PHILOSOPHICAL WORKS. 79 
 
 commences. The first is the table " essentiae et pra> 
 sentiae," and contains all known instances in which the 
 given nature is present. The second is the table of 
 declination or absence in like case (declinationis sive 
 absentiae in proximo), and contains instances which re- 
 spectively correspond to those of the first table, but in 
 which, notwithstanding this correspondence, the given 
 nature is absent. The third is the table of degrees or 
 comparison (tabula graduum sive tabula comparativaB), 
 in which the instances of the given nature are arranged 
 according to the degree in which it is manifested in 
 each. 
 
 It is ea. c y to see the connexion between these ta- 
 bles, which are collectively called tables of appearance, 
 " comparentiae," and the criterium. For, let any in- 
 stance in which the given nature is present (as the sun 
 in the case of heat, or froth in the case of whiteness) 
 be resolved into the natures by the aggregation of 
 which our idea of it is constituted ; one of these na- 
 tures is necessarily the form nature, since this is always 
 .o be present when the given nature is. Similarly, 
 the second table corresponds to the condition that the 
 Form and the given nature are to be absent together, 
 and the third to that of their increasing or decreasing 
 together. 
 
 After the formation of these tables, how is the pro- 
 cess of induction to be carried into effect ? By a 
 method of exclusion. This method is the essential 
 point, of the whole matter, and it will be well to show 
 how much importance Bacon attached to it. 
 
 In the first place, wherever he speaks of ordinary 
 induction and of his own method he always re marks 
 hat the former proceeds " per enumerationem sim-
 
 80 GENERAL PREFACE TO 
 
 plicem," that is, by a mere enumeration of particular 
 cases, while the latter makes use of exclusions and 
 rejections. This is the fundamental character of his 
 method, and it is from this that the circumstances 
 which distinguish it from ordinary induction neces- 
 sarily follow. Moreover we are told that whatever 
 may be the privileges of higher intelligences, man can 
 only in one way advance to a knowledge of Forms : 
 he is absolutely obliged to proceed at first by negatives, 
 and then only can arrive at an affirmative when the 
 process of exclusion has been completed (post omnim- 
 odam exclusionem). 1 The same doctrine is taught 
 in the exposition of the fable of Cupid. For according 
 to some of the mythographi Cupid comes forth from an 
 egg whereon Night had brooded. Now Cupid is the 
 type of the primal nature of things ; and what is said 
 of the egg hatched by Night refers, Bacon affirms, most 
 aptly to the demonstrations whereby our knowledge of 
 him is obtained ; for knowledge obtained by exclusions 
 and negatives results, so to speak, from darkness and 
 from night. We see, I think, from this allegorical 
 fancy, as clearly as from any single passage in his 
 writings, how firmly fixed in his mind was the idea 
 of the importance, or rather of the necessity, of using 
 a method of exclusion. 
 
 It is not difficult, on Bacon's fundamental hypoth- 
 esis, to perceive why this method is of paramount im- 
 portance. For assuming that each instance in which 
 the given nature is presented to us can be resolved intc 
 (and mentally replaced by) a congeries of elementary 
 natures, and that this analysis is not merely subjective 
 or logical, but deals, so to speak, with the very essence 
 
 1 Nov. Ore. ii. 15.
 
 THE PHILOSOPHICAL WORKS. 81 
 
 of its subject-matter, it follows that to determine the 
 form nature among the aggregate of simple natures 
 which we thus obtain, nothing more is requisite than 
 the rejection of all foreign and unessential elements. 
 We reject every nature which is not present in every 
 affirmative instance, or which is present in any nega- 
 tive one, or which manifests itself in a greater degree 
 when the given nature manifests itself in a less, or 
 vice versa. And this process when carried far enough 
 will of necessity lead us to the truth ; and meanwhile 
 every step we take is known to be an approximation 
 towards it. Ordinary induction is a tentative process, 
 because we chase our quarry over an open country ; 
 here it is confined within definite limits, and these 
 limits become as we advance continually narrower and 
 narrower. 
 
 From the point of view at which we have now ar- 
 rived, we perceive why Bacon ascribed to his method 
 the characters by which, as we have seen, he conceived 
 vhat it was distinguished from any which had previ- 
 ously been proposed. When the process of exclusion 
 has been completely performed, only the form nature 
 will remain ; it will be, so to speak, the sole survivor 
 of all the natures combined with which the given na- 
 ture was at first presented to us. There can therefore 
 be no doubt as to our result, nor any possibility of con- 
 founding the Form with any other of these natures. 
 This is what Bacon expresses, when he says that the 
 first part of the true inductive process is the exclusion 
 of every nature which is not found in each instance 
 where the given one is present, or is found where it is 
 jot present, or is found to increase where the given 
 nature decreases, or vice versa. And then, he goes 
 
 4*
 
 82 GENERAL PREFACE TO 
 
 on to say, when this exclusion has been duly per- 
 formed, there will in the second part of the process 
 remain, as at the bottom, all mere opinions having 
 been dissipated (abeuntibus in fumum opinionibus vola- 
 tilibus), the affirmative Form, which will be solid and 
 true and well defined. 1 The exclusion of error will 
 necessarily lead to truth. 
 
 Again, this method of exclusion requires only an 
 attentive consideration of each " instantia," in order 
 first to analyse it into its simple natures, and secondly 
 to see which of the latter are to be excluded pro- 
 cesses which require no higher faculties than ordinary 
 acuteness and patient diligence. There is clearly no 
 room in this mechanical procedure for the display of 
 subtlety or of inventive genius. 
 
 Bacon's method therefore leads to certainty, and 
 may be employed with nearly equal success by all men 
 who are equally diligent. 
 
 In considering the only example which w r e have of 
 its practical operation, namely the investigation of the 
 form of heat, 2 it is well to remark a circumstance which 
 tends to conceal its real nature. After the three tables 
 of Comparentia, Bacon proceeds to the Exclusiva, and 
 concludes by saying that the process of exclusion can- 
 not at the outset (sub initiis) be perfectly performed. 
 He therefore proposes to go on to provide additional 
 assistance for the mind of man. These are manifestly 
 to be subsidiary to the method of exclusions ; they are 
 to remove the obstacles which make the Exclusiva de- 
 fective and inconclusive. But in the meanwhile, and 
 {is it were provisionally, the intellect may be permitted 
 to attempt an affirmative determination on the subject 
 i Nov. Org. ii. 16 2 Nov. Org. ii. 1120.
 
 THE PHILOSOPHICAL WORKS. 83 
 
 before it : " Quod genus tentamenti Permissionem 
 Intellectus, sive Interpretationem inchoatam, sive Vin- 
 derniationem primam, appellare consuevimus." The 
 phrase Permissio Intellectus sufficiently indicates that 
 in this process the mind is suffered to follow the course 
 most natural to it ; it is relieved from the restraints 
 hitherto imposed on it, and reverts to its usual state. 
 In this Vindemiatio we accordingly find no reference 
 to the method of exclusion : it rests immediately on the 
 three tables of Comparentia ; and though of course it 
 does not contradict the results of the Exclusiva, yet on 
 the other hand it is not derived from them. If we lose 
 sight of the real nature of this part of the investigation, 
 which is merely introduced by the way " because truth 
 is more easily extricated from error than from confu- 
 sion," we also lose sight of the scope and purport of the 
 whole method. All that Bacon proposes henceforth to 
 do is to perfect the Exclusiva ; the Vindemiatio prima, 
 though it is the closing member of the example which 
 Bacon makes use of, is not to be taken as the type 
 of the final conclusion of any investigation which he 
 would recognise as just and legitimate. It is only a 
 parenthesis in the general method, whereas the Ex- 
 clusiva, given in the eighteenth aphorism of the second 
 book, is a type or paradigm of the process on which 
 every true induction (inductio vera) must in all cases 
 depend, 
 
 It may be well to remark that in this example of the 
 process of exclusion, the table of degrees is not made 
 use of. 
 
 Bacon, as we have seen, admits that the Exclusiva 
 must at first be in some measure imperfect ; for the 
 Exclusiva, being the rejection of simple natures, cannot
 
 84 GENERAL PREFACE TO 
 
 be satisfactory unless our notions of these iiatures *re 
 just and accurate, whereas some of those which o-,cur 
 in his example of the process of rejection are ill-defined 
 and vague. 1 In order to the completion of his method, 
 it is neces. Q iry to remove this defect. A subsidiary 
 method is required, of which the object is the formation 
 of scientific conceptions. To this method also Bacon 
 gives the name of induction ; and it is remarkable that 
 induction is mentioned for the first time in the Novum 
 Organum in a passage which relates not to axioms but 
 to conceptions. 2 Bacon's induction therefore is not a 
 mere eVaywyr?, it is also a method of definition ; but 
 of the manner in which systematic induction is to be 
 employed in the formation of conceptions we learn 
 nothing from any part of his writings. And by this 
 circumstance our knowledge of his method is rendered 
 imperfect and unsatisfactory. We may perhaps be per- 
 mitted to believe that so far as relates to the subject of 
 which we are now speaking, Bacon never, even in idea, 
 completed the method which he proposed. For of all 
 parts of the process of scientific discovery, the for- 
 mation of conceptions is the one with respect to which 
 it is the most difficult to lay down general rules. The 
 process of establishing axioms Bacon had succeeded, at 
 least apparently, in reducing to the semblance of a 
 mechanical operation ; that of the formation of concep- 
 tions does not admit of any similar reduction. Yet 
 these two processes are in Bacon's system of co-or- 
 dinate importance. All commonly received general 
 scientific conceptions Bacon condemns as utterly worth- 
 
 1 Nov. Org. ii. 19.; and compare i. 15., which shows the necessity of f- 
 omplete reform. 
 4 Nov. Org. i. 14., and comp. i. 18.
 
 THE PHILOSOPHICAL WORKS. 85 
 
 less. 1 A complete change is, therefore, required; yet 
 of the way in which induction is to be employed in 
 order to produce this change he has said nothing. 
 
 This omission is doubtless connected with the kind 
 of realism which runs through Bacon's system, and 
 which renders it practically useless. For that his 
 method is impracticable cannot I think be denied, if 
 we reflect not only that it never has produced any re- 
 sult, but also that the process by which scientific truths 
 have been established cannot be so presented as even 
 to appear to be in accordance with it. In all cases 
 this process involves an element to which nothing cor- 
 responds in the tables of comparence and exclusion ; 
 namely the application to the facts of observation of a 
 principle of arrangement, an idea, existing in the mind 
 of the discoverer antecedently to the act of induction. 
 It may be said that this idea is precisely one of the 
 naturae into which the facts of observation ought in 
 Bacon's system to be analysed. And this is in one 
 sense true ; but it must be added that this analysis, if 
 it be thought right so to call it, is of the essence of the 
 discovery which results from it. To take for granted 
 that it has already been effected is simply a petitio prin- 
 cipii. In most cases the mere act of induction follows 
 as a matter of course as soon as the appropriate idea 
 has been introduced. If, for instance, we resolve Kep- 
 ler's discovery that Mars moves in an ellipse into its 
 constituent elements, we perceive that the whole diffi- 
 culty is antecedent to the act of induction. It con- 
 sists in bringing the idea of motion in an ellipse intc 
 connexion with the facts of observation ; that is, in 
 howing that an ellipse maybe drawn through al* the 
 
 1 Nov. Org. i. 15, 16
 
 86 GENERAL PREFACE TO 
 
 observed places of the planet. The mere act of induc- 
 tion, the cTraywyr;, is perfectly obvious. If all the ob- 
 served places lie on an ellipse of which the sun is the 
 focus, then every position which the planet successively 
 occupies does so too. This inference, which is so ob- 
 vious that it must have passed through the mind of the 
 discoverer almost unconsciously, is an instance of in- 
 duction " per enumerationem simplicem ; " of which 
 kind of induction Bacon, as we have seen, has said 
 that it is utterly vicious and incompetent. 
 
 The word realism may perhaps require some ex- 
 planation. I mean by it the opinion, which Bacon 
 undoubtedly entertained, that for the purposes of in- 
 vestigation, the objects of our thoughts may be re- 
 garded as an assemblage of abstract conceptions, so 
 that these conceptions not only correspond to realities, 
 which is of course necessary in order to their having 
 any value, but may also be said adequately to represent 
 them. In his view of the subject, ideas or conceptions 
 (notiones) reside in some sort in the objects from which 
 we derive them ; and it is necessary, in order that the 
 work of induction may be successfully accomplished, 
 that the process by which they are derived should be 
 carefully and systematically performed. But he had 
 not perceived that which now at least can scarcely be 
 doubted of, that the progress of science continually re- 
 quirestthe formation of new conceptions whereby new 
 principles of arrangement are introduced among the 
 results which had previously been obtained, and that 
 from the necessary imperfection of human knowledge 
 our conceptions never, so to speak, exhaust the essence 
 of the realities by which- they are suggested. The 
 motion of an alphabet of the universe, of which Bacon
 
 THE PHILOSOPHICAL WORKS. 87 
 
 has spoken more than once, must therefore be given 
 up ; it could at best be only an alphabet of the present 
 state of knowledge. And similarly of the analysis into 
 abstract natures on which the process of exclusion, as 
 we have seen, depends. No such analysis can be used 
 in the manner which Bacon prescribes to us; for every 
 advance in knowledge presupposes the introduction of 
 a new conception, by which the previously existing 
 analysis is rendered incomplete, and therefore erroneous. 
 
 We have now, I think, succeeded in tracing the 
 cause both of the peculiarities of Bacon's method, and 
 of its practical inutility. Some additional information 
 may be derived from an examination of the variations 
 with which it is presented in diffei'ent parts of his writ- 
 ings ; less however than if we could arrange his 
 smaller works in chronological order. Nevertheless 
 two results, not without their value, may be thus ob- 
 tained ; the one, that it appears probable that Bacon 
 came gradually to see more of the difficulties which 
 beset the practical application of his method ; and the 
 other, that the doctrine of Forms is in reality an ex- 
 traneous part of his philosophy. 
 
 (10.) In the earliest work in which the new method 
 of induction is proposed, namely, the English tract en- 
 titled Valerius Terminus, no mention is made of the 
 necessity of correcting commonly received notions of 
 simple natures. The inductive method is therefore 
 presented in its simplest form, unembarrassed with that 
 which constitutes its principal difficulty. But when 
 we advance from Valerius Terminus to the Partis 
 wcundce Delineatio et Argumentum, which is clearly of 
 a later date, we find that Bacon has become aware of 
 Uie necessity of having some scientific method for the
 
 88 GENERAL PREFACE TO 
 
 due construction of abstract conceptions. It is there 
 said that the " pars informans," that is, the descriptions 
 of the new method, will be divided into three parts 
 the ministration to the senses, the ministration to the 
 memory, and the ministration to the reason. In the first 
 of these, three things are to be taught ; and of these 
 three the first is how to construct and elicit from facts a 
 duty formed abstract conception (bona notio) ; the sec- 
 ond is how the senses may be assisted ; and the third, 
 how to form a satisfactory collection of facts. He 
 then proposes to go on to the other two ministrations. 
 Thus the construction of conceptions would have 
 formed the first part of the then designed Novum Or- 
 ganum ; and it would seem that this arrangement was 
 not followed when the Novum Organum was actually 
 written, because in the meantime Bacon had seen that 
 this part of the work involved greater difficulties than 
 he had at first supposed. For the general division into 
 " ministrationes " is preserved in the Novum Organum? 
 though it has there become less prominent than in the 
 tract of which we have been speaking. In the minis- 
 tration to the senses, as it is mentioned in the later 
 work, nothing is expressly included but a good and 
 sufficient natural and experimental historia ; the theory 
 of the formation of conceptions has altogether disap- 
 peared, and both this ministration and that to the 
 memory are postponed to the last of the three, which 
 contains the theory of the inductive process itself. 
 We must set out, Bacon says, from the conclusion, 
 and proceed in a retrograde order to the other parts 
 of the subject. He now seems to have perceived that 
 v Jie theory of the formation of conceptions and thaf 
 
 i Nov. Org. ii. 10
 
 THE PHILOSOPHICAL WORKS. 89 
 
 of the establishment of axioms are so intertwined to- 
 gether, that the one cannot be presented independently 
 of the other, although in practice his method abso- 
 lutely requires these two processes to be carried on 
 separately. His view now is, that at first axioms must 
 be established by means of the commonly received 
 conceptions, and that subsequently these conceptions 
 must themselves be rectified by means of the ulterior 
 aids to the mind, the fortiora auxilia in usum intellectus, 
 of which he has spoken in the nineteenth aphorism of 
 the second book. But these fortiora auxilia were never 
 given, so that the difficulty which Bacon had once pro- 
 posed to overcome at the outset of his undertaking 
 remained to the last unconquered. The doctrine of 
 the Novum Organum (that we must first employ com- 
 monly received notions, and afterwards correct them) 
 is expressly laid down in the De Interpretatione Naturae 
 Sentential Duodecim. 1 Of this however the date is 
 uncertain. 
 
 It is clear that while any uncertainty remains as to 
 the value of the conceptions (notiones) employed in 
 the process of exclusion, the claim to absolute immu- 
 nity from error which Bacon has made on behalf of 
 his general method, must be more or less modified ; 
 and of this he seems to have been aware when he 
 wrote the second book of the Novum Organum? 
 
 (11.) Thus much of the theory of the formation of 
 conceptions. With regard to the doctrine of Forms, 
 it is in the first place to be observed that it is not men- 
 tioned as a part of Bacon's system, either in Valerius 
 Terminus or in the Partis secundce Delineatio, or in the 
 De Interpretatione Naturce /Sentential Duodecim, although 
 
 1 Vide viii. of this tract 2 Nov. Org. ii. 19
 
 90 GENERAL PREFACE TO 
 
 in the two last-named tracts the definition of science 
 which is found at the outset of the second book of the 
 Novum Organum is in substance repeated. This defi- 
 nition, as we have seen, makes the discovery of Forms 
 the aim and end of science ; but in both cases the word 
 form is replaced by causes. It is however to be ad- 
 mitted that in the Advancement of Learning, published 
 in 1605, Forms are spoken of as one of the subjects of 
 Metaphysique. Their not being mentioned except ex 
 obliquo in Valerius Terminus is more remarkable, be- 
 cause Bacon has there given a distinct name to the 
 process which he afterwards called the discovery of the 
 Form. He calls it the freeing of a direction, and re- 
 marks that it is not much other matter than that which 
 in the received philosophies is termed the Form or 
 formal cause. Forms are thus mentioned historically, 
 but in the dogmatic statement of his own view they 
 are not introduced at all. 1 
 
 The essential character of Bacon's philosophy, name- 
 ly the analysis of the concrete into the abstract, is 
 nowhere more prominent than in Valerius Terminus. 
 It is there said " that every particular that worketh 
 any effect is a thing compounded more or less of di- 
 verse single natures, more manifest and more obscure, 
 and that it appeareth not to whether (which) of the 
 natures the effect is to be ascribed." 2 Of course 
 the great problem- is to decide this question, and the 
 method of solving it is called " the freeing of a direc- 
 tion." In explanation of this name, it is to be ob- 
 served that in Valerius Terminus the practical point 
 
 1 1 refer to my preface to Valerius Terminus for an illustration of som 
 tf the difficulties ol this very obscure tract. 
 2 Val. Ter. c. 17.
 
 THE PHILOSOPHICAL WORKS. 91 
 
 of view predominates. Every instance in which a 
 given nature is produced is regarded as a direction for 
 its artificial production. If air and water are mingled 
 together, as in snow, foam, &c., whiteness is the result. 
 This then is a direction for the production of white 
 ness, since we have only to mingle air and water to- 
 gether in order to produce it. But whiteness may be 
 produced in other ways, and the direction is therefore 
 not free. We proceed gradually to free it by rejecting, 
 by means of other instances, the circumstances of this 
 which are unessential : a process which is the exact 
 counterpart of the Exclusiva of the Novum Organum. 
 The instance I have given is Bacon's, who developes it 
 at some length. 
 
 Here then we have Bacon's method treated entirely 
 from a practical point of view. This circumstance is 
 worthy of notice because it serves to explain why 
 Bacon always assumes that the knowledge of Forms 
 would greatly increase our command over nature, that 
 it " would enfranchise the power of man unto the 
 greatest possibility of works and effects." It has been 
 asked what reason Bacon had for this assumption. 
 " Whosoever knoweth any Form," he has said in the 
 Advancement, " knoweth the utmost possibility of su- 
 perinducing that nature upon any variety of nature." 
 Beyond question, the problem of superinducing the 
 nature is reduced to the problem of superinducing the 
 Form ; but what reason have we for supposing that the 
 one is more easy of solution than the other ? If we 
 knew the Form of malleability, that is, the conditions 
 which the intimate constitution of a body must fulfil 
 in order that it may be malleable, does it follow that 
 <re could make glass so? So far as these questions
 
 92 GENERAL PREFACE TO 
 
 admit of an answer, Valerius Terminus appears to sug 
 gest it. Bacon connected the doctrine of Forms with 
 practical operations, because this doctrine, so to speak, 
 represented to him his original notion of the freeing of 
 a direction, which, as the phrase iiseif implies, had alto- 
 gether a practical significance. 
 
 Even in the Novum Organum the definition of the 
 Form is made to correspond with the praeceptnm ope- 
 randi, or practical direction. 1 The latter is to be " cer- 
 tum, liberum, et disponens sive in ordine ad actionem." 
 Now a direction to produce the Form as a means of 
 producing the given nature is certain, because the pres- 
 ence of the Form necessarily determines that of the 
 nature. It is free, because it requires only that to be 
 done which is necessary, since the nature can never be 
 present unless its Form is so too. Thus far the agree- 
 ment between the practical and the scientific view is 
 satisfactory. But to the third property which the 
 practical direction is to possess, namely its being in 
 ordine ad actionem, or such as to facilitate the pro- 
 duction of the proposed result, corresponds the condi- 
 tion that the Form is to be " the limitation of a more 
 general nature ; " that is to say, the Form presents it- 
 self as a limitation of something more general than the 
 given nature, and as determining, not merely logically 
 but also causatively, the existence of the latter. At 
 this point the divergence between the practical and the 
 scientific view becomes manifest ; practical operations 
 do not, generally speaking, present to us anything anal- 
 ogous to the limitation here spoken of, and there is no 
 reason to suppose that it is easier to see how this limi- 
 
 1 Nov. Org. ii. 4., which is tLa best comment on the dictum, Knowledgi 
 power.
 
 THE PHILOSOPHICAL WORKS. 93 
 
 ration is to be introduced than to see how the original 
 problem, the l apxfjs TrpoKci/Ao/oj', may be solved. But 
 this divergence seems to show that the two views are in 
 their origin heterogeneous ; that the one contains the 
 fundamental idea of Bacon's method, while the other 
 represents the historical element of his philosophy. We 
 shall however hereafter have occasion to suggest con 
 sideratiDns which may seem to modify this conclusion 
 
 (12.) In a survey of Bacon's method it is not ne- 
 cessary to say much of the doctrine of prerogative 
 instances, though it occupies the greater part of the 
 second book of the Novum Organum. It belongs to 
 the unfinished part of that work ; at least it is prob- 
 able that its practical utility would have been explained 
 when Bacon came to speak of the. Adrninicula Induc- 
 lionis. 
 
 Twenty-seven kinds of instances are enumerated, 
 (vhich are said to excel ordinary instances either in 
 their practical or their theoretical usefulness. To the 
 word instance Bacon gives a wide range of signification. 
 It corresponds more nearly to observation than to any 
 other which is used in modern scientific language. 
 
 o o 
 
 Of some classes of these instances collections are t 
 be made for their own sake, and independently of any 
 investigation into particular natures. Such, for in- 
 stance, are the instantiae conformes ; Bacon's exam- 
 ples of which are mostly taken from comparative 
 anatomy. One of them is the analogy between the 
 fins of fishes, the feet </ quadrupeds, and the feet 
 and wings of birds ; another, the analogy of the beak 
 of birds and the teeth of other animals, &C. 1 
 
 1 Nov. Org. ii. 27. It does not seem that Bacon added much to what h 
 Aristotle on the subject of these analogies.
 
 94 GENERAL PREFACE TO 
 
 The other classes of prerogative instances have es- 
 pecial reference to particular investigation, and are to 
 be collected when individual tables of comparence are 
 formed. 
 
 It would seem from this that the theory of preroga- 
 tive instances is intended to guide us in the formation 
 of these tables. But it is difficult to see how the cir- 
 cumstances which give any instance its prerogative 
 could have been appreciated a priori. An instantia 
 crucis, 1 to take the most celebrated of all, has its dis- 
 tinguishing character only in so far as it is viewed with 
 reference to two contending hypotheses. In forming 
 at the outset of an inquiry the appropriate tables, noth- 
 ing would have led the interpreter to perceive its pecu- 
 liar value. 
 
 This theory, whatever may be its practical utility, 
 may supply us with new illustrations of the importance 
 in Bacon's method of the process of exclusions. 
 
 At the head of the list and placed there, we may 
 presume, from the importance of the end which they 
 promote stand the instantia3 solitaria , whose prerog- 
 ative it is to accelerate the Exclusive,. 2 These are 
 instances which exhibit the given nature in subjects 
 which have nothing in common, except that nature 
 itself, with the other subjects which present it to us. 
 Thus the colours shown by the prism or by crystals 
 are a solitary instance of colour, because they have 
 nothing in common with the fixed colours of flowers, 
 gems, &c. Whatever therefore is not independent of 
 the particular constitution of these bodies must be ex- 
 cluded from the form of colour. 
 
 Next to the instantise solitariae are placed the instan 
 
 1 Nov. Org. ii. 36 8 Nov. Org. ii. 22.
 
 THE PHILOSOPHICAL WORKS. 95 
 
 tiae migrantes, which show the given nature in the act 
 of appearing or of disappearing ; as when glass, being 
 pounded, becomes white. Of these it is said that they 
 not only accelerate and strengthen the Exclusiva, but 
 also confine within narrow limits the Affirmative, or 
 Form itself, by showing that it is something which is 
 given or taken away by the observed change. A little 
 farther on Bacon notices the danger in these cases of 
 confounding the efficient cause with the Form, and 
 concludes by saying " But this is easily remedied by 
 a legitimately performed Exclusiva." 
 
 Other remarks to the same effect might be made 
 with reference to other classes of instances ; but these 
 are probably sufficient. 
 
 I shall now endeavour to give an account of Ba- 
 con's views on some questions of philosophy, which are 
 not immediately connected with the reforms he pro- 
 posed to introduce. 
 
 (13.) It has sometimes, I believe, been supposed that 
 Bacon had adopted the atomic theory of Democritus. 
 This however is by no means true ; but certainly he 
 often speaks much more favourably of the systems of 
 the earlier physicists, and especially of that of Democ- 
 ritus, than of the philosophy of Plato and Aristotle. 
 In doing this he may, perhaps, have been more or less 
 influenced by a wish to find in antiquity something 
 with which the doctrines he condemned might be con- 
 trasted. But setting this aside, L is certain that these 
 S3 r stems were more akin to his own views than the doc- 
 trine of the schools of which Socrates may be called 
 the founder. The problems which they proposed were 
 essentially physical, given certain material first prin-
 
 9(3 GENERAL PREFACE TO 
 
 siples, to determine the origin and causes of all phe- 
 nomena. They were concerned, for the most part, with 
 that which is accessible to the senses, or which would 
 be so if the senses were sufficiently acute. In this they 
 altogether agree with Bacon, who, though he often 
 speaks of the errors and shortcomings of the senses, 
 yet had never been led to consider the question which 
 stands at the entrance of metaphysical philosophy, 
 namely whether the subjective character of sensation 
 does not necessarily lead to scepticism, if no higher 
 grounds of truth can be discovered. The scepticism 
 of Protagoras, and Plato's refutation of it, seemed to 
 him to be both but idle subtleties. Plato, Aristotle, 
 and their followers, were in his opinion but a better 
 kind of sophists. What Dionysius said to Plato, that 
 his discourse was but dotage, might fitly be applied to 
 them all. 1 
 
 It cannot be denied, that to Bacon all sound philos- 
 ophy seemed to be included in what we now call the 
 natural sciences ; and with this view he was naturally 
 led to prefer the atomic doctrine of Democritus to any 
 metaphysical speculation. Every atomic theory is an 
 attempt to explain some of the phenomena of matter 
 by means of others ; to explain secondary qualities by 
 means of the primary. And this was what Bacon 
 himself proposed to do in investigating the Forms of 
 simple natures. Nevertheless he did not adopt the 
 peculiar opinions of Democritus and his followers. In 
 the Nbvuw Organum he rejects altogether the notion of 
 a vacuum and that of the unchangeableness of matter. 2 
 His theory of the intimate constitution of bodies doe? 
 
 I Redargut. Phil, et Nov. Org. i. 71. * 
 
 8 Nov. Org. ii. 8. Compare Cogit. De Nat. Rerum
 
 THE PHILOSOPHICAL WORKS. 97 
 
 not, lie remarks, relate to atoms properly so called, but 
 only to the actually existing ultimate particles. Bacon 
 cannot therefore be said to be a follower of Democri- 
 tus, though he has spoken of him as being, of .all the 
 Greek philosophers, the one who had the deepest in- 
 sight into nature. 1 
 
 But though Bacon was not an atomist, he was what 
 has been called a mechanical physiologist. Leibnitz's 
 remark that the restorers of philosophy 2 all held the 
 principle that the properties of bodies are to be ex- 
 plained by means of magnitude, figure, and motion 
 (a statement which envelopes every such theory of 
 matter as that of Descartes, together with the old 
 atomic doctrine), is certainly true of Bacon. 
 
 (14.) The opinion which Bacon had formed as to 
 the class of subjects which ought to be included in 
 Summary Philosophy (the English phrase by which 
 he renders the expression he sometimes uses, namely 
 prima philosophia), is worthy of attention. 
 
 In the writings of Aristotle, the first philosophy 
 denotes the science which since his time has been 
 called metaphysics. It is the science of first princi- 
 ples, or as he has himself defined it, the science of 
 that which is, as such. In the first book of the Meta- 
 physics we find a proof of the necessity of having such 
 a science, distinct from and in a manner superior to 
 all others. 
 
 Bacon, adopting Aristotle's name, applied it differ- 
 ently. With him, the first philosophy is divided into 
 two parts. Of these the first is to be a receptacle of 
 
 1 Nov. Org. i. 51.; also Farm. Teles, and Dem. Phil. 
 
 2 Namely, the Cartesians, Verulam, Hobbes, &c. See his lettei to Tho- 
 masius, p. 48. of the edition of his philosophical works by Erdmann. 
 
 VOL. i. 5
 
 98 GENERAL PREFACE TO 
 
 the axioms which do not belong exclusively to particu- 
 lar sciences, but are common to more than one ; while 
 the second is to inquire into the external or adventi- 
 tious conditions of existences such as the much and 
 the little, the like and the unlike, the possible and im- 
 possible, &c. 
 
 In illustration of the contents of the first part, 
 Bacon quotes several axioms which are applicable in 
 more than one science. Of these the first is, " tf to 
 unequals are added equals, the sums are unequal," 
 which is a mathematical principle, but which, Bacon 
 says, referring to the distinction laid down by Aris- 
 totle between commutative and distributive justice, 
 obtains also in moral science; inasmuch as it is the 
 rule by which distributive justice must be guided. 
 The next is, " Things which agree with a third, agree 
 with one another," which is also a mathematical 
 principle, but yet, differently stated, forms the foun- 
 dation of the theory of syllogism. Thus far Bacon's 
 doctrine does not materially dissent from Aristotle's, 
 who has taught the necessity of recognising in all 
 sciences two kinds of principles, those which are 
 proper to the subject of each science, and those which, 
 connecting themselves with the doctrine of the cate- 
 gories, are common to all. The last are in his nomen- 
 clature axioms, though Bacon, following probably Ra- 
 inus, who in his turn followed Cicero and the Stoics, 
 gives a much more general sense to this word ; and 
 it is to be remarked that Aristotle has given as an 
 instance of an axiom the first of the two which I have 
 quoted from Bacon, or at any rate another which is 
 in effect equivalent to it. But most of the instances 
 which Bacon goes on to give are of a different nar
 
 THE PHILOSOPHICAL WORKS. 99 
 
 hire. They are not derived from the laws of thought, 
 but on the contrary involve an empirical element, and 
 therefore are neither self evident, nor capable of an a 
 priori proof. Thus the axiom that " a discord resolved 
 into a concord improves the harmony," is, Bacon says, 
 not only true in music, but also in ethics and the doc- 
 trine of the affections. But this axiom is in its literal 
 sense merely a result of observation, and its application 
 to moral subjects is clearly only analogical or tropical. 
 Again, that " the organs of the senses are analogous 
 to instruments which produce reflection," is, Bacon 
 says, true in perspective, and also in acoustics; being 
 true both of the eye and ear. Here we have a result 
 of observation which is made to enter into two differ- 
 ent sciences simply in virtue of the classification em- 
 ployed. For this axiom, if true, properly belongs to 
 physiology, and neither to perspective nor to acoustics ; 
 though in a secondary and derivative manner a portion 
 of the truth it includes may be introduced into these 
 sciences. And so on. There is however one of these 
 axioms which is of higher authority : " Quantum na- 
 turae nee minuitur nee augetur : " which, Bacon says, 
 is true not only in physics, but also in natural theology, 
 if it be stated in a modified form ; viz. if it be said that 
 it belongs to Omnipotence to make something out of 
 nothing, or vice versa. Of this axiom it may be re- 
 marked, that it is common to physics and natural 
 theology simply because the subjects of these sciences 
 are, in some measure, common to both ; wherein it 
 differs from the Aristotelian conception of an axiom. 
 But it is of more interest to observe, that this axiom 
 of which the truth is derived from our notion of sub- 
 stance, and which can never be established by an
 
 100 GENERAL PREFACE TO 
 
 empirical demonstration, is constantly quoted by Ba- 
 con as a principle of incontestable truth ; of which his 
 theory of specific gravities is in some sort only an 
 application. 
 
 The question arises both with regard to this axiom 
 and to the others, In what manner Bacon supposed 
 that they ought to be demonstrated ; or, if he thought 
 they required no demonstration, in what manner he 
 conceived that the mind apprehended their truth ? 
 He has certainly affirmed in express terms that there 
 can be only two ways of arriving at truth, namely 
 syllogism and induction ; both of which are manifestly 
 inapplicable to some at least of the principles which he 
 includes in the philosophia prima. But whether he 
 would have admitted that this dictum admits of ex- 
 ception in relation to these cases, or on the other 
 hand had not been led to consider the nature of the 
 difficulty which they present, we have, I think, no 
 means of deciding. It is to be observed that the 
 philosophia prima is spoken of as a collection (recep- 
 taculum) of axioms a phrase which implies that it is 
 not a science in itself, having its own principles and 
 an independent development, but that, contrariwise, 
 it derives from the contributions of other sciences the 
 dements of which it is composed. Of the second part 
 we are unable to speak more definitely than of the 
 itrst. It is obviously a reflexion of the Aristotelian 
 doctrine of the categories, 1 from which, however, 
 Bacon intended to contrast it by requiring that the 
 w conditiones entium," which he has doubtless called 
 transcendent from their applicability to all classes of 
 
 1 Trendelenberg has accordingly quoted the passages in the De Augmentit 
 wh.ch relate to it, in the historical part of his work on the categories.
 
 THE PHILOSOPHICAL WOEKS. 101 
 
 objects, should be treated not logically but physi- 
 cally. 1 
 
 But then what are the questions to be resolved in 
 this mode of treating them? Bacon gives some ex- 
 amples of the discussions which ought to occupy this 
 part of philosophy. The first is, why there is so much 
 of one kind of substance, and so little of another 
 why, for instance, so much more iron in the world 
 than gold, &c. This belongs to the inquiry " de multo 
 et parvo." Again, in treating " de simili et diverse," 
 it ought to be explained why between dissimilar species 
 are almost always interposed others which partake of 
 the nature of both, and form, as it were, ambiguous 
 species for instance, bats between birds and quadru- 
 peds, or moss between corruption and plants, &c. 
 The difficulty however which I have already men- 
 tioned in speaking of the other part of the philosophia 
 prima recurs with reference to this, namely by what 
 method were the questions here proposed to be an- 
 swered? If by induction, by induction on what 
 data? and if not, by what other way of arriving at 
 truth ? 
 
 The illustrations which Bacon has given, and per- 
 haps his way of looking at the whole subject, connect 
 themselves with what has recently been called palae- 
 tiology. The questions which Bacon proposes are 
 questions as to how that which actually exists, and 
 which in the present order of things will continue to 
 exist, came into being whether abruptly or by slow 
 transitions, and under what agency. He seems to 
 point, though from a distance, to discussions as to 
 the formation of strata and the succession of species. 
 
 1 De Augmeutis iii. 4. 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA 
 SANTA BARBARA COLLEGE LIBRARY
 
 102 GENERAL PREFACE TO 
 
 Yet on the other hand the discussion on Like and 
 Unlike was to include at least one portion of a differ- 
 ent character, namely why, in despite of the maxim 
 " similia similibus gaudent," iron does not attract iron 
 but the magnet, nor gold gold, but quicksilver. 
 
 (15.) Another subject, sufficiently interesting to be 
 here mentioned, though less connected with Bacon's 
 general views, is the doctrine which he entertained 
 touching the nature of the soul. He distinguishes in 
 several parts of his writings between the animal soul, 
 common, at least in kind, to man and to the brutes, 
 and the immortal principle infused by the divine favour 
 into man only. 1 To the latter he gave the name of 
 spiraculum, which was of course suggested by the text, 
 " Spiravit in faciem ejus spiraculum vitse." M. Bouil- 
 let, in his edition of Bacon's philosophical works, 2 con- 
 demns this doctrine of man's having two souls, and 
 goes on to remark that Bacon was led to adopt it in 
 deference to the opinions of the schoolmen, and that it 
 is also sanctioned by S. Augustine. In these remarks 
 he is much less accurate than usual ; the truth being 
 that the doctrine of the duality of the soul is con- 
 demned very strongly by S. Augustine and by the 
 schoolmen, and that there is no doubt as to the source 
 from which Bacon derived it, namely from the writ- 
 ings of Telesius. The notion of a lower soul, distinct 
 in essence from the higher principle of man's nature, 
 is in reality much older than Telesius. We find it for 
 instance among the Manichees a circumstance which 
 makes it singular that S. Augustine should have been 
 supposed to countenance it. Both in his work D 
 
 1 De Augmentis iv. 3. 
 
 2 (Euvres Philosophiques de Bacon. Paris 1834. J. 8.
 
 THE PHILOSOPHICAL WORKS. 103 
 
 Ecclesice Dogmatibus, and nearly in the same words 
 in that De Animd, he rejects in the most precise and 
 accurate manner the doctrine of two distinct souls, 
 affirming that there is but one, which is at once the 
 principle of nutrition, of sensation, and of reason. In 
 opposing the tenets of the Manichaeans, he has more 
 than once condemned the same doctrine, though less at 
 length than in the works just mentioned. The school 
 men also peremptorily rejected the doctrine which M. 
 Bouillet has affirmed that Bacon derived from them. 
 Thus S. Thomas Aquinas says, " Impossibile est in 
 uno homine esse plures animas per essentiam differen 
 tes, sed una tantum est anima intellectiva quae vege 
 tativae et sensitive et intellectivae officiis fungitur." ] 
 And this follows at once from the received opinion, 
 that the soul is joined to the body as its form (ut forma 
 unitur corpori). It would be easy to multiply cita- 
 tions to the same effect ; but as no schoolman could 
 venture to contradict an emphatically expressed opin- 
 ion of S. Augustine, it appears unnecessary to do so. 2 
 
 Telesius of Cozensa, whom Bacon has commended 
 as " the best of the novellists," was one of the Italian 
 reformers of philosophy. Tennemann's remark that 
 the reform which he attempted to introduce was but 
 
 1 S. Thorn. Prim. Q. 76. a. 3. Concl. 
 
 2 With what bold ignorance the schoolmen are sometimes spoken of is 
 *ell seen in Dr. Gutwauer's preface to his edition of Leibnitz De Prin- 
 npio Individui. The sixth proposition in the Corollarium attached to this 
 disputation is as follows : " Hominis solum una est anima quse vegetati- 
 vam et sensitivam virtualiter includat." The learned Doctor declares that 
 m this statement Leibnitz set himself in direct opposition to the schoolmen, 
 and that it contains the germ of Leibnitz's own psychology; the statement 
 being almost a literal transcript of that of St. Thomas Aquinas. Sum. i. 
 Q. 76. a. 3., to which I have already referred. Leibnitz scarcely thought 
 that in following the Angelic Doctor, he was protesting against scholas- 
 jcism.
 
 10-4 GENERAL PREFACE TO 
 
 partial, as having reference only to the natural sciences, 
 is not altogether accurate, but it describes with suffi- 
 cient correctness the general character of his writings. 
 They contain an attempt to explain all phenomena, 
 including those of animal life, on the hypothesis of the 
 continuous conflict and reciprocal action of two formal 
 principles, heat and cold. His other doctrines are 
 either subordinated to this kind of dualism, or are 
 merely the necessary complements of a system of phi- 
 losophy. In proposing to inquire into the nature and 
 origin of the soul, he had no other end in view than to 
 arrive at an explanation of the phenomena of sensa- 
 tion, voluntary motion, &c., which should be in accord- 
 ance with his fundamental hypothesis. He therefore 
 sets out from the physiological point of view ; and in 
 order to explain the phenomena of animal and vegeta- 
 ble life, refers them to an indwelling spiritus, or animal 
 soul, which in plants resides in the bark and fibres, and 
 in animals in the white and exsanguine parts of the 
 body, the bones being however excepted. 1 The ani- 
 mal and vegetable souls are in essence alike, but the 
 latter is " paulo quam qui in animalibus inest crassior." 
 In both cases the origin of this anima is the same ; it 
 is educed from the seed (educta ex semine), and is to 
 all intents as truly material as any other part of the 
 body. 
 
 In the application of these views to the soul of man, 
 Telesius was met by considerations of another order. 
 The soul educed ex semine, was (like the body which 
 it animated, and of which it was only the subtlest por- 
 tion) propagated by generation ; whereas it was decided 
 by orthodox theology that souls are not ex traduce, dc 
 
 l De Rerura Nat. v. 1. et vi. 26.
 
 THE PHILOSOPHICAL WORKS. 105 
 
 not pass from parent to child in the way Telesius must 
 have supposed. The soul is a gift, which after death 
 is to return to Him who gave it. I do not conceive 
 that Telesius's attempt to co-ordinate this doctrine with 
 his own views arose merely from a wish to avoid the 
 imputation of heresy. His writings are, I think, free 
 from that tone of mocking deference to authority by 
 which those of many of his contemporaries are disfig- 
 ured. They have, on the contrary, much of the mel- 
 ancholy earnestness which characterises those of his 
 disciple Campanella. The difference between the fac- 
 ulties of men and brutes appeared to him to be such 
 that merely a subtler organisation of the spiritus would 
 be insufficient to account for it. Man's higher faculties 
 are to be ascribed to a higher principle, and this can 
 only be conceived of as a divinely formed soul. The 
 question as to the relation between the two souls may 
 be presented under two aspects, namely what are the 
 faculties in man which ought to be ascribed to each of 
 them ? and again are these two souls wholly indepen- 
 dent, and if not, how are they connected ? The crite- 
 rion by which Telesius would decide what ought to be 
 reserved as the peculiar appanage of the divinely cre- 
 ated soul, appears to be this that which in man is 
 analogous to the faculties we recognise in brutes ought 
 to be ascribed to the principle by which they are ani- 
 mated and which we possess in common with them. 
 Whatever** on the contrary, seems peculiar to man, 
 uore especially the sense of right and wrong, which 
 la the foundation of all morality, ought to be ascribed 
 to the principle which it is our prerogative to possess. 1 
 As to the connexion between the two, Telesiua 
 
 1 De Rerum Naturii, y. 2. 
 5*
 
 106 GENERAL PREFACE TO 
 
 decides " both on grounds of human reason and from 
 the authority of Scripture " that they cannot be wholly 
 independent of each other, and he accordingly affirms 
 that the divinely created soul is the Form of the whole 
 body, and especially of the spiritus itself. That the 
 soul is the Form of the body he could not without heresy 
 deny, 1 although he condemns Aristotle for saying so ; 
 asserting that Aristotle refers to the spiritus, and not 
 to the true soul, with which probably he was unac- 
 quainted. 2 The tendency of these views is towards 
 materialism ; the immaterial principle being annexed 
 to the system, as it were, ab extra. Accordingly Te- 
 lesius's disciple Donius, whom Bacon has more than 
 once referred to, omits it altogether. 8 
 
 Comparing the views of Telesius with those of 
 Bacon, we see that in both the duality of the soul is 
 distinctly asserted, and that in both the animal soul 
 is merely material. 4 Our knowledge of the divinely 
 derived principle must rest principally on revelation. 
 Let this knowledge be drawn, he counsels us, from the 
 same fountain of inspiration from whence the substance 
 of the soul itself proceeded. 
 
 Bacon rejects or at least omits Telesius's formula, 
 that this higher soul is the Form of the body a for- 
 mula to which either in his system or that of Telesius 
 no definite sense could be attached. He differs from 
 
 1 The collection known as the Clementines contains an authoritative de- 
 cision on this point. " Ut quisque deinceps asserere defendere aut tenere 
 oertinaciter praesumpserit, quod anima rationalis non sit forma corporis hu- 
 mani per se et essentialiter tanquam hsereticus sit censendus." I quote 
 from Vulpes on Duns Scotus, Disp. 46. a. 5. To this decision Telesim 
 leems to allude, De Rer. Nat. v. 40. Campanella has expressly mentioned it 
 
 2 De Rer. Nat. v. 3. 
 
 8 See his De Nat. Hominis. 
 
 * Proceeding e matricibus elementorum, De Augm. iv. 3.
 
 THE PHILOSOPHICAL WORKS. 107 
 
 his predecessor in this also, that with him the spiritus 
 is more a physiological and less a psychological hypoth- 
 esis than with Telesius it is at least less enwrapped 
 in a psychological system than we find it in the De 
 Rericm Naturd. 
 
 On the other hand, he has not, I think, recognised 
 so distinctly as Telesius or Carapanella the principle 
 that to the rational soul alone is to be referred the idea 
 of moral responsibility ; and the fine passage on the 
 contrast of public and private good in the seventh book 
 of the De Augmentis seems to show (if Bacon meant 
 that the analogy on which it is based should be accepted 
 as anything more than an illustration) that he con- 
 ceived that something akin to the distinction of right 
 and wrong is to be traced in the workings, conscious 
 or unconscious, of all nature. 
 
 (16.) We are here led to mention another subject, 
 on which again the views of Telesius appear to have in- 
 fluenced those of Bacon. That all bodies are animated, 
 that a principle of life pervades the whole universe, 
 and that each portion, beside its participation in the life 
 of the world, has also its proper vital principle, are doc- 
 trines to which in the time of Bacon the majority of 
 philosophical reformers were at least strongly inclined. 
 The most celebrated work in which they are set forth 
 is perhaps the De Sensu Rerum of Campanella. The 
 share which it had in producing the misfortunes of his 
 ife is well known, and need not here be noticed. 
 
 In one of his letters to Thomasius, 1 Leibnitz points 
 out how easy the transition is from the language which 
 the ichoclmen held touching substantial forms and the 
 workings of nature to that of Campanella : " Ita reditui 
 
 1 P. 18. of Erdmann's edition of his philosophical works.
 
 108 GENERAL PREFACE TO 
 
 ad tot deunculos quot formas substantiates et Gentilem 
 prope polytheismum. Et certe omnes qui de sub- 
 stantiis illis incorporalibus corporum loquuntur non 
 possunt mentem suam explicare nisi translatione a Men- 
 tibus sumpta". Hinc enim attributus illis appetitus vel 
 instinctus ille naturalis ex quo et sequitur cognitio nat- 
 uralis, hinc illud axioma: Natura nihil facit frustra, 
 omnis res fugit sui destructionem, similia similibus 
 gaudent, materia appetit formam nobiliorem, et alia id 
 genus. Quum tamen revera in natura nulla sit sapi- 
 entia, nullus appetitus, ordo vero pulcher ex eo oriatur, 
 quia est horologium Dei." To the censure implied in 
 these remarks Aristotle is himself in some measure 
 liable, seeing that he ascribed the various changes 
 which go on around us to the half-conscious or uncon- 
 scious workings of an indwelling power which pervades 
 all things, and to which he gives the name of Nature. 
 Nature does nothing in vain and of things possible 
 realises the best, but she does not act with conscious 
 prevision. She is, so to speak, the instinct of the uni- 
 verse. 
 
 It is on account of these views that Bacon charges 
 Aristotle with having set aside the doctrine of a prov- 
 idence, by putting Nature in the place of God. 1 Nev- 
 ertheless Bacon himself thought it possible to explain 
 large classes of phenomena by referring them, not cer- 
 tainly to the workings of Nature, but to the instincts 
 and appetites of individual bodies. His whole doctrine 
 of simple motions is full of expressions which it is very 
 difficult to understand without supposing that Bacon 
 had for the time adopted the notion of universally dif- 
 fused sensation. Thus the " motus nexus " is that in 
 
 1 De Aug. iii. 4.
 
 THE PHILOSOPHICAL WORKS. 10'J 
 
 virtue of which bodies, as delighting in mutual contact, 
 will not suffer themselves to be separated. All bodies, 
 we are told, abhor a solution of continuity, and the 
 rising of cream is to be explained by the desire of homo- 
 geneous elements for one another. 
 
 The distinction which Bacon has elsewhere taken 
 between sensation and perception, which corresponds 
 to Leibnitz's distinction between apperception and per- 
 ception, does not appear to accord with these expres- 
 sions. He there asserts that inanimate bodies have 
 perception without sensation. But such words as desire 
 and horror implj not only a change worked in the body 
 to which they are applied in virtue of the presence of 
 another, but also a sense of that presence, that is, in 
 Bacon's language, not only perception but sensation. 
 
 The contrast between the expressions I have quoted 
 and those of which he made use in other parts of 
 his writings, is remarkable. In stating the doctrine of 
 simple motions, he speaks as if all phenomena were to 
 be explained by means of the desires and instincts of 
 matter, every portion of which is more or less conscious- 
 ly sentient. But in other passages we find what at 
 first appears to be a wholly different view, namely that 
 phenomena are to be explained by the site, form, and 
 configuration of atoms or ultimate particles, capable 
 neither of desire nor fear, and in all their motions 
 simply fulfilling the primary law impressed on them 
 by Providence. 
 
 Nevertheless there is here no real inconsistency. For 
 Bacon, following Telesius, ascribed all the phenomena 
 of animal life to the spiritus, which, though it is the 
 jubtlest portion of the body which it animates, is not- 
 withstanding as truly material as any other part. In
 
 110 GENERAL PREFACE TO 
 
 every body, whether animated or not, dwells a portion 
 of spirit, and it was natural therefore to ascribe to it 
 some share of the powers which the more finely consti- 
 tuted spirits of animals were supposed to possess. How 
 far however this analogy between animate and inani- 
 mate bodies ought to be carried, was a doubtful ques- 
 tion ; and we need not be surprised to find that Bacon 
 sometimes denies and sometimes appears to admit that 
 the latter as well as the former are, to a certain extent 
 at least, consciously sentient. But in all cases he pro- 
 posed to explain the phenomena of animal life by means 
 of the ultimate constitution of matter. Thus such 
 phenomena as the rising of cream, the subsidence of 
 the lees of wine, the clinging of gold leaf round the 
 finger, &c., were to be explained in the first instance 
 by the instincts and appetites of portions of matter, 
 and afterwards to receive a deeper and more funda- 
 mental explanation when these instincts and appetites 
 were themselves shown to result from the site, form, 
 and configuration of the ultimate particles of which all 
 bodies are composed. 
 
 To the doctrine of universally diffused sensation, so 
 far as he adopted it, Bacon was led by the writings of 
 many of his contemporaries, and in particular by those 
 of Telesius. Brucker has remarked, and with perfect 
 truth, that this doctrine is stated as distinctly, though 
 not so conspicuously, by Telesius as by Campanella. 
 Added to which this doctrine serves to explain phenom- 
 ena of which, without it, no explanation could readily 
 be given. Thus Bacon is much disposed to ridicule 
 Gilbert for the pains he had bestowed on the subject 
 of electrical attraction, affirming that it is merely the 
 "esult of the power which friction possesses to excite
 
 THE PHILOSOPHICAL WORKS. Ill 
 
 the appetite of bodies for contact. This appetite " ae- 
 rem non bene tolerat, sed aliud tangibile mavult." 
 
 (17.) Bacon's opinion as to Final Causes has often 
 been discussed. It seems however scarcely necessary 
 to refute the interpretation which on no just grounds 
 has been given to the phrase, " causarum finalium 
 inquisitio tanquain virgo Deo consecrata nihil parit." * 
 Nihil parit, as the context plainly shows, [means simply 
 non parit opera] . 2 Bacon is speaking of the classifica- 
 tion of physics and metaphysics the one being the 
 science of the material and efficient cause, and the 
 other containing two parts, namely the doctrine of 
 forms and the doctrine of final causes. To physics 
 corresponds in practical application mechanica or me- 
 chanics to metaphysics, magia or natural magic. 
 But magia corresponds to metaphysique because the 
 latter contains the doctrine of Forms ; that of final 
 causes admitting from its nature of no practical appli- 
 cation. It is this idea which Bacon has expressed by 
 saying that the doctrine in question is, as it were, a 
 consecrated virgin. 
 
 It is not sufficiently remarked that final causes have 
 often been spoken of without any reference to a benev- 
 olent intention. When it is said that the final cause of 
 a stone's falling is " locus deorsum," the remark is at 
 least but remotely connected with the doctrine of an 
 intelligent providence. We are to remember that Ba- 
 con has expressly censured Aristotle for having made 
 ttse of final causes without referring to the fountain 
 
 1 De Augm. iii. 5. See note on the place. J. 8. 
 
 2 I have supplied these words to complete the sentence, which ends ab- 
 ruptly at the bottom of a page, a fresh page having apparently been substi- 
 tuted for that which originally followed. /. 8.
 
 112 GENERAL PREFACE TO 
 
 from which they flow, namely the providence of the 
 Creator. And in this censure he has found many to 
 concur. 
 
 Again, in any case in which the benevolent intention 
 can be perceived, we are at liberty to ask by what 
 means and according to what laws this benevolent 
 intention is manifested and made efficient. If this 
 question is not to be asked, there is in the first place an 
 end of physical science, so far as relates to every case 
 in which a benevolent intention has been or can be 
 recognised ; and in the second, the argument a posteri- 
 ori founded on the contrivance displayed in the works 
 of creation is entirely taken away. 
 
 This is, in effect, what Bacon says in the passage of 
 the De Augmentis in which he complains of the abuse 
 of final causes. If, he affirms, the physical cause of 
 any phenomenon can be assigned as well as the final, 
 so far is this from derogating from our idea of the di- 
 vine wisdom, that on the contrary it does but confirm 
 and exalt it. " Dei sapientia effulget mirabilius cum 
 natura aliud agit, providentia aliud elicit, quam si sin- 
 gulis schematibus et motibus naturalibus providentiae 
 characteres essent impressi." l And a little farther on 
 he expresses an opinion which we shall do well always 
 to remember, namely that so far is the study of phys- 
 ical causes from withdrawing men from God and provi- 
 dence, that on the contrary those who have occupied 
 themselves in searching them out have never been able 
 to find the end of the matter without having recourse 
 at length to the doctrine of divine providence. 
 
 In one respect Bacon seems to have overlooked the 
 advantage which is to be derived from the study of 
 
 i De Aug. iii. 4.
 
 THE PHILOSOPHICAL WORKS. 113 
 
 final causes. In the sciences which relate to animal 
 and vegetable life, the conviction that every part of the 
 organisation has its appropriate function which con- 
 duces to the well-being of the whole, serves not only to 
 direct our thoughts to the wisdom of the Creator, but 
 also to guide our investigation into the nature of the 
 organisation itself. 
 
 (18.) It will now, I think, be well to attempt to 
 arrange the fundamental ideas of Bacon's system in the 
 order in which, as we may conceive, they presented 
 themselves to his mind. To do this will necessarily 
 involve some degree of repetition ; but it will enable 
 us to form a better idea of the scope and spirit of his 
 philosophy. 
 
 When, at the outset of his philosophical life, he 
 looked round on the visible universe, it would seem 
 that to him the starry heavens, notwithstanding the 
 grandeur of the spectacle they present to us, were of 
 less interest than things on earth. The stars in their 
 courses declare the glory of God ; but, excepting the 
 great lights which rule the day and night, they exert 
 no conspicuous influence on the welfare of mankind. 
 And on the other hand it is certain that we can in no- 
 wise affect the causes by which these phenomena are 
 produced. But on the earth beneath, and in the 
 waters under the earth, Nature is perpetually working 
 in ways which it is conceivable that we may be able to 
 imitate, and in which the beneficence of the Creator, 
 wherein His glory is to us chiefly visible, is everywhere 
 to be traced. "Wherever we turn, we see the same 
 spectacle of unceasing and benevolent activity. From 
 toe seed of corn Nature developes the stalk, the blade,
 
 114 GENERAL PREFACE TO 
 
 and the ear, and superinduces on the yet immature 
 produce the qualities which make it fit for the suste- 
 nance of man. And so, too, animal life is developed 
 from its first rudiments to all the perfection which it is 
 capable of attaining. And though this perfection is 
 necessarily transitory, yet Nature, though she cannot 
 perpetuate the individual, yet continues the species by 
 unceasing reproduction. 
 
 But the contemplation of God's works, glorious as 
 they are, is not the whole of man's business here on 
 earth. For in losing his first estate he lost the domin- 
 ion over the creatures which was its highest privilege, 
 and ever since has worn out few and evil days, exposed 
 to want, sickness, and death. His works have all been 
 vanity and vexation of spirit, his labour nearly profit- 
 less, his knowledge for the most part useless. Is his 
 condition altogether hopeless, or may it not be possible 
 to soften, though not to set aside, the effects of the 
 primal curse ? To this question Bacon unhesitatingly 
 made answer, that of His great mercy God would bless 
 our humble endeavours to restore to suffering human- 
 ity some part at least of what it had lost ; and thus he 
 has more than once described the instauration of the 
 sciences as an attempt to regain, so far as may be, that 
 of which the Fall deprived us. 
 
 A deep sense of the misery of mankind is visible 
 throughout his writings. The principal speaker in the 
 Hedargutio Philosophiarum, and the son [father] of 
 Solomon's House in the New Atlantis, both express 
 Bacon's idea of what the philosopher ought to be ; and 
 of both it is said that their countenance was as the 
 countenance of one who pities men. Herein we see 
 *he reason why Bacon has often been called an utili-
 
 THE PHILOSOPHICAL WORKS. 115 
 
 rarian ; not because he loved truth less than others, but 
 because he loved men more. 
 
 The philosopher is therefore not merely to contem- 
 plate the works of the Creator, but also to employ the 
 knowledge thus obtained for the relief of man's estate. 
 If- we ask how this is to be done, we find, Bacon tells 
 us (and here he still seems to recur to the idea that the 
 new philosophy is to be in some sort a restoration to 
 man of his original condition), that as no one can enter 
 into the kingdom of heaven "nisi sub persona infantis," 
 so, too, in order to obtain a real and fruitful insight 
 into Nature, it is necessary to become as a little child, 
 to abnegate received dogmas and the idols by which 
 the mind is most easily beset, and then to follow with 
 childlike singleness of purpose the indications which 
 Nature gives us as to how her operations are per- 
 formed. For we can command Nature only by 
 obeying her ; nor can Art avail anything except as 
 Nature's handmaiden. We can affect the conditions 
 under which Nature works ; but things artificial as 
 well as things natural are in reality produced not by 
 Art but Nature. Our power is merely based upon 
 our knowledge of the procedure which Nature follows. 
 She is never really thwarted or controlled by our oper- 
 ations, though she may be induced to depart from her 
 usual course, and under new and artificial conditions to 
 produce new phenomena and new substances. 
 
 Natural philosophy, considered from this point of 
 view, is therefore only an answer to the question, How 
 does Nature work in the production of phenomena ? 
 When, to take a trivial instance, she superinduces yel- 
 lowness on the green leaf, or silently and gradually 
 transforms ice into crystal, we ask how are these
 
 116 GENERAL PREFACE TO 
 
 changes brought about ? what conditions are neces- 
 sary and sufficient in order that the phenomena we 
 observe may be engendered ? If we knew what these 
 conditions are, we might ourselves be able to determine 
 their existence, and then the corresponding phenomena 
 would necessarily follow, since the course of Nature is 
 absolutely uniform. 
 
 At this point of the development of Bacon's system, 
 the question of method would naturally present itself 
 to him. Having determined what the object of our 
 inquiries is to be, we must endeavour to find a way of 
 attaining it. 
 
 For this end Bacon, as we have seen, proposes to 
 examine all the cases in which the phenomenon to be 
 reproduced has been observed, and to note all the con- 
 ditions which in each case accompany its production. 
 Of all these those only can be necessary which are uni- 
 versally concomitant. Again he proposes to observe 
 all the cognate cases in which, though certain of the 
 conditions before mentioned are present, they are not 
 accompanied by the required phenomenon. By these 
 two classes of observations all the superfluous condi- 
 tions may be rejected, and those which remain are 
 what we seek. Wherever we can determine their ex- 
 istence we can produce the phenomenon in question. 
 
 This process is what Bacon calls, in Valerius Termi- 
 nus, the freeing of a direction, and in his later writings 
 the investigation of the Form. 
 
 His thinking that this process would in all cases, or 
 even generally, be successful, arose from his not hav- 
 ing sufficiently appreciated the infinite variety and com- 
 plexity of Nature Thus he strongly condemns as most 
 falso and pernicious the common opinion that the num
 
 THE PHILOSOPHICAL WORKS. 117 
 
 oer of individual phenomena to be observed is sensibly 
 infinite, and commends Democritus (a commendation 
 which seems rather to belong to Lucretius) for having 
 perceived that the appearance of limitless variety which 
 the first aspect of Nature presents to us disappears on a 
 closer inspection. 
 
 The transition from this view of Nature to the idea 
 that it was possible to form an alphabet of the uni- 
 verse, and to analyse all phenomena into their real 
 elements, is manifestly easy. 
 
 By the new method of induction it would be possible 
 to ascertain the conditions requisite and sufficient for 
 the production of any phenomenon ; and as this de- 
 termination was meant chiefly to enable us to imitate 
 Nature, or rather to direct her operations, Bacon was 
 naturally led to assume that the conditions in question 
 would be such that it would in all cases be possible to 
 produce them artificially. Now the power of man is 
 limited to the relations of space. He brings bodies 
 together, he separates them ; but Nature must do the 
 rest. On the other hand the conditions of the exist- 
 ence of any phenomenon must be something which in- 
 heres more closely in the essence of the substance by 
 which that phenomenon is exhibited than the phenome- 
 non itself. And this something is clearly the inward 
 configuration of the substance ; that is, the form and 
 arrangement &c. of its ultimate particles. Whiteness, 
 for instance, depends on an even arrangement of these 
 oarticles in space ; and herein we perceive a perfect 
 analogy between what man can do and what Nature 
 requires to be done. The familiar processes of the arts 
 consist simply in giving particular forms to portions of 
 matter, in arranging them and setting them in motioD
 
 118 GENERAL PREFACE TO 
 
 according to certain rules. Between arranging stones 
 so as to form a house, and arranging particles so as to 
 produce whiteness, there is no difference but that of 
 scale. So in other cases. The difference of scale once 
 set aside, it seemed to follow that the knowledge of the 
 Form would in all cases lead to great practical results. 
 
 Thus far of the end which the new philosophy 
 proposes to itself, and of the method which it must 
 employ. The next question relates to the mode of 
 procuring and arranging the materials on which thi8 
 method is to work. In this part of the subject we 
 again perceive the influence of Bacon's opinion touch- 
 ing the limitedness of Nature. No one acquainted 
 with the history of natural philosophy would think it 
 possible to form a collection of all the facts which are 
 to be the materials on which any science is to operate, 
 antecedently to the formation of the science itself. 
 
 In the first place, the observations necessary in order 
 to the recognition of these facts would never have 
 been made except under the guidance of some precon- 
 ceived idea as to the subject of observation ; and in the 
 second, the statement which embodies the result of ob- 
 servation always involves some portion of theory. Ac- 
 cording to the common use of language, it is a fact and 
 not a theory that in ordinary refraction the sine of the 
 angle of incidence is to the sine of the angle of refrac- 
 tion in a given ratio. But the observations on which 
 this statement is based, and the statement itself, presup- 
 pose the recognition of a portion of the theory of light, 
 namely that light is propagated in straight lines in 
 other words, they presuppose the conception of a ray 
 Nor would these observations have been made but for 
 the idea in the mind of the observers that the magni-
 
 THE PHILOSOPHICAL WORKS. 119 
 
 lude of the angle of refraction depends on that of the 
 angle of incidence. 
 
 As we advance farther in any science, what we call 
 facts involve more and more of theory. Thus it is 
 a fact that the tangent of the angle of polarisation is 
 equal to the index of refraction. But no one could 
 have made the observations which prove it, or have 
 stated their result in words, without a distinct concep- 
 tion, first of the law of refraction, and secondly of the 
 distinguishing character of polarised light. 
 
 The history of science and the nature of the case 
 concur in showing that observation and theory must go 
 on together; it is impossible that the one can be 
 completed before the other begins. Now although 
 Bacon did not think that observation and experiments 
 might altogether be laid aside when once the process 
 of interpretation had begun (we see on the contrary 
 that one of the works of Solomon's House was the 
 trying of experiments suggested by previously obtained 
 conclusions), he certainly thought it possible so to 
 sever observation from theory that the process of col- 
 lecting facts and that of deriving consequences from 
 them might be carried on independently and by differ- 
 ent persons. This opinion was based on an imperfect 
 apprehension of the connexion between facts and the- 
 ories ; the connexion appearing to him to be merely 
 an external one, namely that the former are the ma- 
 terials of the latter. With these views that which has 
 been already noticed touching the finiteness of Nature, 
 namely that there are but a finite and not very large 
 number of things which for scientific purposes require 
 to be observed, 1 is altogether in accordance. 
 
 l Pee the Phatnomena Universi, and the Partis secundse Del.. &e.
 
 120 GENERAL PREFACE TO 
 
 The facts on which the new philosophy was to be 
 based, being conceivable apart from any portion of 
 theory, and moreover not excessively numerous, they 
 might be observed and recorded within a moderate 
 length of time by persons of ordinary diligence. 
 
 If this registering of facts were made a royal work, 
 it might, Bacon seems to have thought, be completed 
 in a few years : he has at least remarked that unless 
 this were done, the foundation of the new philosophy 
 could not be laid in the lifetime of a single generation. 
 The instauration, he has said in the general preface, is 
 not to be thought of as something infinite and beyond 
 the power of man to accomplish ; nor does he believe 
 that its mission can be fully completed (rem omnino 
 perfici posse) within the limits of a single life. Some- 
 thing was therefore left for posterity to do ; and prob- 
 ably the more Bacon meditated on the work he had in 
 hand, the more was he convinced of its extent and 
 difficulty. But the Distributio Opens sufficiently shows 
 that he believed, when he wrote it, that the instaura- 
 tion of the sciences might speedily become an opus 
 operatum. Of the Historia Naturalis on which it was 
 to be based he there speaks, not less than of the Novum 
 Organum, as of a work which he had himself accom- 
 plished, " Tertia pars operis complectitur Phaenom- 
 ena Universi," not " complecti debet." Doubtless 
 the preface was written before the work itself was 
 commenced ; still if he had not thought it possible to 
 make good what he here proposes to do, he would have 
 expressly said so. 1 
 
 1 The sixth part, containing the new philosophy itself, is spoken of at th 
 end of the Distributio as at least an inchoate work, which others must finish. 
 but to which he hope? to give " initia non contemnenda."
 
 THE PHILOSOPHICAL WOKKS. 121 
 
 In a letter to Fulgenzio, written probably w.ien Ba- 
 con was "dagli anni e dafortuna oppresso," he remarks 
 that " these things " (the instauration of the sciences) 
 require some ages for the ripening of them. But 
 though he despaired of completing his design himself, 
 and oven thought that some generations must pass be- 
 fore it received its consummation, yet he always re- 
 garded it as a thing which sooner or later would be 
 effectually accomplished, and which would thenceforth 
 remain as a K-r^/xa es det. His instauration of the sciences 
 had a definite end, in which when it was once attained 
 it would finally acquiesce ; nor is there anything in his 
 writings to countenance the assumption which has been 
 often made, that in his opinion the onward progress of 
 knowledge was to continue throughout all time. On 
 the contrary, the knowledge which man is capable of 
 might, he thought, be attained, not certainly at once, 
 but within the compass of no very long period. In 
 this doubtless he erred ; for knowledge must always 
 continue to be imperfect, and therefore in its best es- 
 tate progressive. 
 
 Bacon has been likened to the prophet who from 
 Mount Pisgah surveyed the Promised Land, but left it 
 for others to take possession of. Of this happy image 
 perhaps part of the felicity was not perceived by its 
 author. For though Pisgah was a place of large pros- 
 pect, yet still the Promised Land was a land of defi- 
 nite extent and known boundaries, and moreover it was 
 certain that after no long time the chosen people would 
 be in possession of it all. And this agrees with what 
 Bacon promised to himself and to mankind from the 
 instauration of the sciences. 
 
 A truer image of the progress of knowledge may 
 
 VOL. I. 6
 
 122 GENERAL PREFACE TO 
 
 DC derived from the symbol which, though on other 
 grounds, Bacon himself adopted. Those who strive 
 to increase our knowledge of the outward universe 
 may be said to put out upon an apparently boundless 
 sea : they dedicate themselves 
 
 ' To unpathed waters undreamed shores ; " 
 
 and though they have a good hope of success, yet they 
 know they can subdue but a small part of the new 
 world which lies before them. 
 
 (19.) In this respect then, as in others, the hopes 
 of Francis Bacon were not destined to be fulfilled. 
 It is neither to the technical part of his method nor 
 to the details of his view of the nature and prog- 
 ress of science that his great fame is justly owing. 
 His merits are of another kind. They belong to the 
 spirit rather than to the positive precepts of his phi- 
 losophy. 
 
 He did good service when he declared with all the 
 weight of his authority and of his eloquence that the 
 true end of knowledge is the glory of the Creator and 
 the relief of man's estate. The spirit of this declara- 
 tion runs throughout his writings, and we trust has 
 worked for good upon the generations by which they 
 have been studied. And as he showed his wisdom in 
 coupling together things divine and human, so has he 
 shown it also in tracing the demarcation between them, 
 and in rebuking those who by confounding religion 
 and philosophy were in danger of making the one 
 heretical and the other superstitious. 
 
 When, not long before Bacon's time, philosophy 
 freed itself from the tutelage of dogmatic theology, 
 it became a grave question how their respective claims
 
 THE PHILOSOPHICAL WOKKS. 123 
 
 .o authority might be most fitly co-ordinated. It waa 
 to meet, perhaps rather to evade, this question, that 
 the distinction between that which is true in philos- 
 ophy and that which is true in religion was proposed 
 and adopted. But it is difficult to believe that the 
 mind of any sincere and truth-loving man was sat- 
 isfied by this distinction. Bacon has emphatically 
 condemned it. " There is," he affirms, " no such 
 opposition between God's word and his works." Both 
 come from Him who is the father of lights, the foun- 
 tain of all truth, the author of all good ; and both are 
 therefore to be studied with diligence and humility. 
 To those who wish to discourage philosophy in ordei 
 that ignorance of second causes may lead men to refei 
 all things to the immediate agency of the first, Bacon 
 puts Job's question, "An oportet mentiri pro Deo," 
 will you offer to the God of truth the unclean sacrifice 
 of a lie ? 
 
 The religious earnestness of Bacon's writings be- 
 comes more remarkable when we contrast it with the 
 tone of the most illustrious of his contemporaries. 
 Galileo's works are full of insincere deference to au- 
 thority and of an affected disbelief in his own discov- 
 eries. Surely he who loves truth earnestly will be 
 slow to believe that the cause of truth is to be served 
 by irony. But we must not forget the difference be- 
 tween the circumstances in which the two men were 
 placed. 
 
 Next to his determination of the true end of natural 
 philosophy and of the relation in which it stands to nat- 
 ural and to revealed theology, we may place among 
 Bacon's merits his clear view of the essential unity of 
 icience. He often insists on the importance of this
 
 GENERAL PREFACE TO 
 
 idea, and has especially commended Plato and Par- 
 menides for affirming " that all things do by scale 
 ascend to unity." The Creator is holy in the multi- 
 tude of his works, holy in their disposition, holy in 
 their unity : it is the prerogative of the doctrine of 
 Forms to approach as nearly as possible towards the 
 unity of Nature, and the subordinate science of 
 Physics ought to contain two divisions relating to 
 the same subject. One of these ought to treat of 
 the fh'st principles which govern all phenomena, and 
 the other of the fabric of the universe. 1 All classifi- 
 cations of the sciences ought to be as veins or mark- 
 ings, and not as sections or divisions ; nor can any 
 object of scientific inquiry be satisfactorily studied 
 apart from the analogies which connect it with other 
 similar objects. 
 
 But the greatest of all the services which Bacon 
 rendered to natural philosophy was, that he perpetu- 
 ally enforced the necessity of laying aside all pre- 
 conceived opinions and learning to be a follower of 
 Nature. These counsels could not to their full extent 
 be followed, nor has he himself attempted to do so. 
 But they contain a great share of truth, and of truth 
 never more needful than in Bacon's age. Before his 
 time doubtless the authority of Aristotle, or rather 
 that of the scholastic interpretation of his philosophy 
 Was shaken, if not overthrown. Nevertheless the sys- 
 tematising spirit of the schoolmen still survived, and 
 of the reformers of philosophy not a few attempted 
 to substitute a dogmatic system of their own for that 
 from which they dissented. 
 
 Nor were these attempts unsuccessful. For men 
 
 1 The latter is in effect what is now called Kosmos.
 
 THE PHILOSOPHICAL WORKS. 125 
 
 gtill leaned upon authority, and accepted as a test 
 of truth the appearance of completeness and scien- 
 tific consistency. This state of things was one of 
 transition ; and probably no one did more towards 
 putting an end to it than Bacon. To the dealers 
 in systems and to their adherents he opposed the 
 solemn declaration, that they only who come in their 
 own name will be received of men. He constantly 
 exhorted the seeker after truth to seek it in intercourse 
 with Nature, and has repeatedly professed that he was 
 no founder of a sect or school. He condemned the 
 arrogance of those who thought it beneath the dignity 
 of the philosopher to dwell on matters of observation 
 and experiment, and reminded them that the sun 
 " seque palatia et cloacas ingreditur ; nee tamen pol- 
 luitur." We do not, he continues, erect or dedicate 
 to human pride a capitol or a pyramid; we lay the 
 foundations in the mind of man of a holy temple, 
 whereof the exemplar is the universe. Throughout 
 his writings the rejection of systems and authority is 
 coupled with the assertion, that it is beyond all things 
 necessary that the philosopher should be an humble fol- 
 lower of Nature. One of the most remarkable parts 
 of the Novum Organum is the doctrine of Idola. It 
 is an attempt to classify according to their origin the 
 false and ill-defined notions by which the mind is 
 .wmmonly beset. They come, he tells us, from the 
 nature of the human mind in general, from the pecu- 
 jarities of each man's individual mind, from his inter- 
 course with other men, from the formal teaching of 
 the received philosophies. All these must be re- 
 nounced and put away, else no man can enter into 
 \he kingdom which is to be founded on the knowl-
 
 126 GENERAL PREFACE TO 
 
 edge of Nature. 1 Of the four kinds of idols Mersenne 
 has spoken in his Verit des Sciences, published in 
 1625, as of the four buttresses of the Organum of 
 Verulam. This expression, though certainly inaccA- 
 rate, serves to show the attention which in Bacon's 
 time was paid to his doctrine of idola. 2 
 
 His rejection of syllogistic reasoning in the proposed 
 process for the establishment of axioms, was not without 
 utility. In the middle ages and at the reform of phi- 
 losophy the value of the syllogistic method was unduly 
 exalted. Bacon was right in denying that it was possi- 
 ble to establish by a summary process and a priori the 
 first principles of any science, and thence to deduce by 
 syllogism all the propositions which that science could 
 contain ; and though he erred in rejecting deductive 
 reasoning altogether, this error could never have ex- 
 erted any practical influence on the progress of science, 
 while the truth with which it was associated was a 
 truth of which his contemporaries required at least to 
 be reminded. The reason of his error seems to have 
 been that he formed an incorrect idea of the nature 
 of syllogism, regarding it rather as an entirely artificial 
 process than as merely a formal statement of the steps 
 necessarily involved in every act of reasoning. How- 
 ever this may be, it is certain that whenever men 
 attempted to set aside every process for the discovery 
 of truth except induction, they must always have been 
 led to recognise the impossibility of doing so. 
 
 Lastly, the tone in which Bacon spoke of the future 
 destiny of mankind fitted him to be a leader of the age 
 
 1 Nov. Org. i. 68. The word idolon is used by Bacon in antithesis to 
 idea. He does not mean by it an idol or false object of worship. 
 a Comcare Gassendi, Inst. Log.
 
 THE PHILOSOPHICAL WORKS. 127 
 
 m which he lived. It was an age of change and of 
 hope. Men went forth to seek in new-found worlds 
 for the land of gold and for the fountain of youth ; 
 they were told that yet greater wonders lay within 
 their reach. They had burst the bands of old au- 
 thority ; they were told to go forth from the cave 
 where they had dwelt so long, and look on the light 
 of heaven. It was also for the most part an age of 
 faith; and the new philosophy upset no creed, and 
 pulled down no altar. It did not put the notion of 
 human perfectibility in the place of religion, nor de- 
 prive mankind of hopes beyond the grave. On the 
 contrary, it told its followers that the instauration of 
 the sciences was the free gift of the God in whom their 
 fathers had trusted that it was only another proof 
 of the mercy of Him whose mercy is over alJ his 
 works.
 
 PHILOSOPHICAL WORKS. 
 
 PART I. 
 
 WORKS PUBLISHED, OR DESIGNED FOR PUBLICATION, AS PARTS 
 OF THE INSTAURATIO MAGNA J 
 
 Consilium est universum opus Instaurationis potius promorere in multis quam 
 perficere in paucis : hoc perpetuo maxiino cum ardore (qualem Deus mentibus ut 
 plane confldimus addere solet) appetentes ; ut quod adhuc nunquam tentatum sit 
 id ne jam frustra tentetur. Auctoris Monitum, 1622.
 
 NOVUM ORGANUM. 
 
 NOTE. 
 
 MR. ELLIS'S preface to the Novum Organum was written when 
 he was travelling abroad and had not his books of reference about 
 him. He was at work upon it the night he was taken ill at Men- 
 tone, and was not afterwards able either to finish or to revise it. 
 I have added a page or two at the end, by which the analysis of 
 the first book is completed. Of the second book it was not neces- 
 sary to say anything ; the subject of it being Bacon's method, 
 which has been fully discussed in the General Preface. A few 
 bibliographical inaccuracies of little consequence in themselves I 
 have corrected, either in notes or by the insertion of words within 
 brackets. These were merely oversights, hardly avoidable in the 
 first draft of a work written in such circumstances. But there 
 are also a few opinions expressed incidentally in which I cannot 
 altogether concur, though they have evidently been adopted de- 
 liberately. With regard to these (Mr. Ellis not being in a con- 
 dition to enter into a discussion of them) I had no course but to 
 explain the grounds of my dissent, and leave every man to decide 
 for himself upon the questions at issue. To avoid inconvenient 
 interruptions however, I have thrown my arguments into an ap- 
 pendix, and contented myself in the foot notes with marking the 
 particular expressions which I hold to be questionable. J. S.
 
 PREFACE TO THE NOVUM ORGANUM. 
 
 BY ROBERT LESLIE ELLIS. 
 
 THE Novum Organum was published in 1620. Cer- 
 tain prolegomena to the whole of the Instauratio were 
 prefixed to it, namely a Prooemium beginning " Fran- 
 ciscus de Verulamio sic cogitavit," a dedication to King 
 James, a general preface, and an account, entitled Dis- 
 tributio Operis, of the parts of which the Instauratio 
 was to consist. Of these the Novum Organum is the 
 second ; the De Augmentis, which was not then pub- 
 lished, occupying the place of the first. Accordingly 
 in most editions of Bacon's works the prolegomena are 
 prefixed, not to the Novum Organum, but to the De 
 Augmentis ; and this is doubtless their natural place. 
 Nevertheless as Bacon's general design was not com- 
 pleted, it seems better to allow them to remain in their 
 original position, especially as in the Prooemium Bacon 
 explains why he publishes one portion of the Instaura- 
 tio apart from the rest. " Decrevit," he there says, 
 speaking of himself, " prima qua3que quse perficere 
 licuit in publicum edere. Neque haec festinatio am- 
 bitiosa fait, sed sollicita, ut si quid illi humanitus accid- 
 eret, exstaret tamen designatio quasdam ac destinatio 
 rei quam animo complexus est," &c. 
 
 After the Prooemium and the dedication we come to
 
 132 PREFACE TO 
 
 the Prsefatio Generalis, in which Bacon speaks of the 
 unprosperous state of knowledge and of the necessity 
 of a new method ; and then follows the Distributio 
 Operis. The Instauratio is to be divided into six por- 
 tions, of which the first is to contain a general survey 
 of the present state of knowledge. In the second men 
 are to be taught how to use their understanding aright 
 in the investigation of Nature. In the third all the 
 phenomena of the universe are to be stored up as in 
 a treasure-house, as the materials on which the new 
 method is to be employed. In the fourth examples are 
 to be given of its operation and of the results to which 
 it leads. The fifth is to contain what Bacon had ac- 
 complished in natural philosophy without the aid of his 
 own method, but merely " ex eodem intellectus usu 
 quern alii in inquirendo et inveniendo adhibere consue- 
 verunt." It is therefore less important than the rest, 
 and Bacon declares that he will not bind himself to the 
 conclusions it contains. Moreover its value will alto- 
 gether cease when the sixth part can be completed, 
 wherein will be set forth the new philosophy the 
 result of the application of the new method to all the 
 phenomena of the universe. But to complete this, the 
 last part of the Instauratio, Bacon does not hope : he 
 speaks of it as a thing " et supra vires et ultra spes 
 nostras collocata." 
 
 The greater part of the plan traced in the Distri- 
 butio remained unfulfilled. Not to speak of the last 
 division of the Instauratio, no part of Bacon's writings 
 can properly be referred either to the fourth or fifth, 
 except two prefaces which are found among the frag- 
 ments published by Gruter. 1 To the fifth division 
 
 1 Francisci Baconi de Verulamio Scripta in natural! et universal] Phil-
 
 THE NOVUM . ORGANUM. 133 
 
 however M. Bouillet 1 is disposed to refer several of 
 Bacon's philosophical writings ; as, for instance, the 
 tracts entitled De Fluxu et Refluxu Maris, and Thema 
 Cceli. But though they correspond with the descrip- 
 tion which Bacon gives of the contents of the fifth part 
 of the Instauratio, there is no reason to suppose that 
 they would have been comprised in it. They were 
 written a considerable time before the publication of 
 the Novum Organum ; the Thema Cceli being clearly 
 of the same date as the Descriptio Grlobi intellectually 
 written in 1612, 2 and the De Fluxu et Refluxu Maris 
 being probably written before Bacon had become ac- 
 quainted with Galileo's theory of the tides. This 
 theory was published in 1616 ; and it is reasonable to 
 suppose that Bacon, who speaks of it in the Novum 
 Organum^ would have mentioned it in the De Fluxu, 
 if the latter had not been written either before it was 
 published, or but a short time afterwards. 3 These 
 tracts, and the others which M. Bouillet mentions, are 
 clearly occasional writings not belonging to the circuit 
 of the Instauratio. 
 
 osophia. Amst. 1653. For a particular account of this volume, see my 
 preface to Part III.* J. S. 
 
 1 (Euvres Philosophiques de Bacon, publie'es d'apres les textes originaux, 
 avec notice, sommaires et e'claircissemens, par M. N. Bouillet. Paris, 1834. 
 J. S. 
 
 2 See the Preface to the Descriptio Gkibi inteUectualis.* J. S. 
 
 8 That the De Fluxu was written before the Thema Ccdi is almost proved 
 by the allusion to it in the following passage: " Verum hujusce rei demon- 
 gtrationes et evidentias in anticipatione nostra de fluxu et refluxu maris 
 plene tractavimus." I say almost proved, because Bacon in writing a piece 
 which was designed to come after another which was not yet written, would 
 sometimes refer to that other as if it were already done. But it is not likely 
 that he should have done so here; for in any general scheme the Thema 
 Cadi would have come before the De Fluxu. In a letter to Bacon, dated 
 14th April 1619, Tobie Matthew speaks of Galileo's having answered Ba- 
 ton's discourse touching the flux and reflux of the sea : but he alludes ap- 
 parently to a discourse of Galileo's on that subject which had never been 
 printed. J. S. 
 
 [Complete Works.]
 
 134 PREFACE TO 
 
 To the fourth part have been referred the Historia 
 Ventorum, the Historia Vitce et Mortis, &c. This 
 however is contrary to Bacon's description of them 
 in the dedication to Prince Charles prefixed to the 
 Historia Ventorum. They are there spoken of as 
 the "primitiae Histories nostrae naturalis." Even the 
 general title with which the Historia Ventorum and 
 the titles of five other Historias were published, shows 
 that they belong not to the fourth but to the third part 
 of the Instauratio. It is as follows : Historia Nat- 
 uralis ad condendam Philosophiam, sive Phcenomena 
 Universi, quce est Instaurationis Magnce pars tertia. 
 It is moreover manifest that as the fourth part was 
 to contain applications to certain subjects of Bacon's 
 method of induction, these treatises, in which the 
 method is nowhere employed, cannot belong to it. 
 M. Bouillet, though he justly dissents from Shaw's 1 
 arrangement, by whom they are referred to the fourth 
 part, nevertheless commits an error of the same kind 
 by introducing into this division of the Instauratio a 
 fragment on Motion, published by Gruter with the 
 title Filum Labyrinihi, sive Inquisitio legitima de 
 Motu. This fragment, which is doubtless anterior 
 to the Novum Organum, contains many thoughts and 
 expressions which are found more perfectly developed 
 either in the Novum Organum itself, or in the Dis- 
 tributio Operis. It is not to be supposed that Bacon, 
 after thus expressing himself in the Distributio 
 k 'Neque enim hoc siverit Deus ut phantasiae nostrae 
 somnium pro exemplari mundi edamus ; sed potius 
 
 1 The Philosophical Works of Francis Bacon, Baron of Verulam, &c. 
 methodised and made English from the Originals, by Peter Shaw, M.D 
 London, 1733. J. 8.
 
 THE NOVUM ORGANUM. 135 
 
 benigne faveat ut apocalypsim ac veram visionem 
 vestigiorum et sigillorum Creatoris super creaturas 
 scribamus " would have repeated this remarkable 
 sentence with scarcely any alteration in another part 
 of the Instauratio ; l nor that he would have repeated 
 in a somewhat less finished form the whole substance 
 of the hundred and twenty-fifth aphorism of the first 
 book of the Novum Organum. Yet we must admit 
 this improbable supposition, if we decide on giving to 
 the Inquisitio legitima the place which M. Bouillet 
 has assigned to it. The truth is, that many of Ba- 
 con's shorter tracts preserved by Gruter and others 
 are merely, so to speak, experimental fragments, of 
 which the substance is embodied in his more finished 
 writings. 
 
 Of the fourth and fifth parts of the Instauratio 
 nothing, as I have already remarked, has been pre- 
 served except the prefaces, if indeed any other por- 
 tion of them ever existed. But of the third, though 
 it is altogether incomplete, we have nevertheless large 
 fragments. Two years after the publication of the 
 Novum Organum Bacon published the Historia Natu- 
 ralis ad condendam Philosophiam, which has been al- 
 
 1 I doubt whether this argument can be safely relied upon. Among the 
 works which were certainly meant to stand as part of the Instauratio sev- 
 eral remarkable passages occur twice and more than twice. But there are 
 other grounds for concluding that the Inquisitio de Motu was written soon 
 after the Cogitata et Visa (1607). In the Commentarius solutus, a kind of 
 diary which will be printed among the Occasional Works,* I find the fol 
 lowing entry under the date July 26. 1608 : " The finishing the 3 tables 
 De Motu, De Galore et Frigore, De Sono." After which follow (July 27.' 
 several pages of notes for an Inquisitio legitima de Motu. It would seem 
 that this Inquisitio was designed originally to be the example in which the 
 new method was to be set forth (see last section of Cogitata et Visa), but 
 that the Inquisitio de Galore et Frigore was afterwards preferred; probably 
 as more manageable. J. 8. 
 
 * [Not included in this edition.]
 
 136 PREFACE TO 
 
 ready mentioned. In this however only the Historia 
 Ventorum is contained in extenso; and of the five 
 other Histories of which Bacon speaks in the dedica- 
 tion, and of which he proposed to publish one every 
 month, only two are now in existence, namely the 
 Historia Vitce et Mortis, published in 1623, and the 
 Historia Densi et Ran which is contained in Rawley's 
 Opuseula varia posihuma, published in 1658. Of the 
 other three, namely the Historise Gravis et Levis, Sym* 
 pathice et Antipathies Rerum, and Sulphuris Mercurii el 
 Salis, we have only the prefaces, which were published 
 in the same volume as the Historia Ventorum. 
 
 These Historiae, and the Sylva Sylvaram, published 
 soon after Bacon's death by Rawley, are the only 
 works which we are entitled to refer to the third 
 part of the Instauratio. With respect to the former 
 we have the authority of Bacon's own title page and 
 dedication ; and Rawley's dedication of the latter to 
 King Charles shows that it is included under the 
 general designation of Historia Naturalis ad conden- 
 dam PMlosophiam. 1 
 
 Other tracts however, of more or less importance, 
 have been placed in the third part of the Instauratio, 
 as for instance a fragment, published by Rawley in 
 1658, entitled Historia et Inquisitio prima de Sono et 
 Auditu et de Formd Soni et latente processu Soni, sive 
 Sylva Soni Auditus. But the substance of this frag- 
 ment occurs also in the Sylva Sylvarum, and therefore 
 
 1 " The whole body of the Natural History, either designed or written 
 by the late lord Viscount St. Albans, was dedicated to Your Majesty in 
 the book De Ventis, about four years past, when Your Majesty was prince, 
 BO as there needed no new dedication of this work, but only in all humble- 
 ness to let Your Majesty know that is yours." Dedication to the King of 
 Vie Sylva Sylvarum.
 
 THE NOVUM ORGANUM. 137 
 
 it cannot have been Bacon's intention to publish both 
 as portions of his Historia Naturalis. It is probable 
 that the Historia de Sono et Auditu was originally 
 written as a portion of the general scheme of natural 
 history 1 which was to form the third part of the 
 Instauratio ; but it is certainly superseded by the 
 Sylva Sylvarum, and is therefore not entitled to the 
 position which has generally been assigned to it. So, 
 too, the Historice Naturalis ad condendam PhilosopJiiam 
 Prcefatio destinata? published by Grater, is clearly 
 irreconcilable with the plan laid down in the dedica- 
 tion to Prince Charles of the Historia Naturalis. For 
 Bacon's intention when he wrote the preface which 
 Gruter has published was plainly to commence his 
 Natural History by treating of density and rarity, 
 and not of the natural history of the winds. Subse- 
 quently he changed his plan ; and the first published 
 portion of the third part of the Instauratio is, as we 
 have seen, the Historia Ventorum. But this change 
 of plan plainly shows that he had determined to 
 cancel the fragment preserved by Gruter. When- 
 ever what an author publishes or prepares for publi- 
 cation supersedes or contradicts unpublished &nd un- 
 finished papers, these ought beyond all question to 
 be set aside, and if published at all to be published 
 
 1 It was probably the table De Sono referred to in the Commentariut 
 tolutus, July 26. 1608 (see note 1. p. 135.), and designed, like the tables 
 De Motu and De Calore et Frigore, for an example of the new method. 
 J. S. 
 
 2 See Bouillet, vol. ii. p. 264. The preface in question is the introduc- 
 tion to the Tabula Exporrectionis et Expanswnis Materice, a rudiment of 
 the Historia Densi et Rari. It was published by Gruter, before the His- 
 toria Densi et Rari appeared, among the Impetus Philosophici : with the 
 title, Phcenomena Universi ; sive Historia Naturalis ad condendam Philoto- 
 vhiam. Prcefatio. M. Bouillet gives the preface only. The whole tract at 
 given by Gruter will be found in Part III. of this edition. * J. S, 
 
 * [Complete Works.]
 
 138 PREFACE TO 
 
 apart from his other writings. Against some of the 
 other fragments included in the third part of the 
 Instauratio there is no such direct evidence as there 
 is against those of which we have been speaking ; but 
 it only gives rise to needless confusion to mix up with 
 what we know it was Bacon's intention to publish 
 as portions of his Historia Naturalis, loose fragments 
 touching which we have no information whatever. 
 
 From what has been said it is manifest that what 
 we possess of the third part of the Instauratio is 
 merely a fragment for the Sylva Sylvarum, a mis- 
 cellaneous collection of observations gathered for the 
 most part out of books, nowise completes Bacon's 
 general design. In truth it is a design which cannot 
 be completed, there being no limit to the number of 
 the " Phenomena universi " which are potentially if 
 not actually cognisable; and it is to be observed that 
 even if all the facts actually known at any instant 
 could be collected and systematised (and even this is 
 plainly impossible), yet still Bacon's aim would not 
 be attained. For these facts alone would be insuffi- 
 cient as materials for the sixth part of the Instauratio, 
 in which was to be contained all the knowledge of Na- 
 ture man is capable of. Every day brings new facts 
 to light not less entitled than those previously known 
 to find a place in a complete description of the phe- 
 nomena of the universe. 1 From many places in Ba- 
 
 1 This would be true, I think, of all new facts which were not ohviously 
 reconcilable with laws previously known. But is it not conceivable that so 
 complete a knowledge might be attained of the laws of Nature, that it could 
 not be increased or affected by the discovery of any new/art in Nature? 
 If we had as complete a knowledge of other laws of Nature as we have of 
 gravitation, for instance, new facts would still come to light, but with re- 
 ipect to the laws themselves they would all say the same thing,
 
 THE NOVUM ORGANDM. 139 
 
 con's writings it appears, as I have elsewhere re- 
 marked, that he had formed no adequate conception 
 of the extent and variety of Nature. In a letter to 
 R. P. Baranzan, who had apparently remarked by 
 way of objection to Bacon's scheme of philosophy 
 that a complete natural history would be a work 
 of great extent and labour, Bacon observes that it 
 
 O ' 
 
 would perhaps be sixfold as voluminous as that of 
 Pliny. We have here therefore a sort of estimate 
 of the limits which, in his judgment, the third part 
 of the Instauratio would not exceed. What now 
 exists of it is perhaps one twentieth in magnitude of 
 this estimate. 
 
 Even the second part of the Instauratio, the Novum 
 Organum itself, is incomplete. The second book con- 
 cludes with the doctrine of prerogative instances. But 
 in its twenty-first aphorism a number of subjects are 
 mentioned of which this doctrine is the first, the 
 last being the " Scala ascensoria et descensoria axiom- 
 atum." Neither this, nor any of these subjects after 
 the first, except the last but one, is anywhere discussed 
 in Bacon's writings ; and our knowledge of his method 
 is therefore incomplete. Even the penultimate divis- 
 ion of the Novum Organum which was published along 
 with the first two books, and which treats " de par- 
 ascevis ad inquisitionem," has all the appearance of 
 being a fragment, or at least of being less developed 
 than Bacon had intended it to be. 
 
 fore bring no new knowledge. Every new application of mechanical 
 power contains some new fact more or less connected with gravitation ; 
 yet unless a machine can be made which shall produce results not only 
 new (i. e. such as had never been produced' before) but inexplicable by 
 he received theory of gravitation, are we not entitled to say that we know 
 all that can be known about gravitation? J. S.
 
 140 PREFACE TO 
 
 The first part of the Instauratio is represented, not 
 inadequately, by the De Augmentis, published about 
 three years after the Distributio Operis and the Novum 
 Organum. It is a translation with large additions of 
 the Advancement of Learning, published in 1605 ; and 
 if we regard the latter as a development of the ninth 
 cbapter of Valerius Terminus, which is an early frag- 
 ment containing the germ of the whole of the Instau- 
 ratio, 1 the De Augmentis will appear to belong naturally 
 to the great work of which it now forms the first and 
 
 O 
 
 only complete portion. In the preface prefixed to it by 
 Rawley it is said that Bacon, finding " the part relat- 
 ing to the Partitions of the Sciences already executed, 
 though less solidly than the dignity of the argument 
 demanded, . . . thought the best thing he could do 
 would be to go over again what he had written, and to 
 bring it to the state of a satisfactory and completed 
 work. And in this way he considers that he fulfils the 
 promise which he has given respecting the first part of 
 the Instauration." 2 
 
 From this general view of the different parts of the 
 Instauratio, as described in the Distributio Operis, we 
 proceed to consider more particularly the Novum Or- 
 ganum. Although it was left incomplete, it is never- 
 theless of all Bacon's works that upon which he be- 
 stowed the most pains. In the first book especially 
 every word seems to have been carefully weighed ; and 
 
 1 I should rather say, the germ of all that part of the Instauratio which 
 treated of the Interpretation of Nature. For I cannot find in the Valerius 
 Terminus any traces of the first part, of which the Advancement of Learn- 
 ing was the germ. See Note A. at the end. J. S. 
 
 2 My own reasons for thinking that the De Augmentis did not form part 
 of the original design, together with the circumstances which, as I suppose, 
 determined Bacon to enlarge that design so as to take it in, will be explainei 
 \n the preface to the De Augmentis [Complete Works]. J. 8.
 
 THE NOVUM OKGANUM. 141 
 
 it would be hard to omit or to change anything without 
 injuring the meaning which Bacon intended to convey. 
 His meaning is not always obvious, but it is always ex- 
 pressed with singular precision and felicity. His chap- 
 lain, Rawley, says that he had seen among his papers 
 at least twelve yearly revisions of the Nbvum Orga- 
 num. 1 Assuming, which there is no reason to doubt, 
 that this statement may be relied upon, it would seem 
 to follow that the composition of the Novum Organum 
 commenced in 1608. And this agrees tolerably well 
 with the circumstance that the Gogitata et Visa was 
 sent to Bodley in 1607, as we learn from the date of 
 Bodley's reply to it. If we suppose that the tract pub- 
 lished with this title by Gruter is the same as that which 
 was sent to Bodley, a passage near the end acquires a 
 significance which has not I think been remarked. In 
 the Cogitata et Visa Bacon speaks of the considerations 
 whereby he had been led to perceive the necessity of a 
 reform in philosophy, and goes on to say that the ques- 
 tion as to how his new method might be most fitly given 
 to the world had been much in his thoughts. " Atque 
 diu," he proceeds, " et acriter rem cogitanti et perpen- 
 denti ante omnia visum est ei tabulas inveniendi, sive 
 legitimas inquisitionis formulas ... in aliquibus subjectis 
 
 1 " Ipse reperi in archivis Dominationis suse a utographa plusminus du- 
 odecim Organi now, de anno in annum elaborati et ad incudem revocati ; et 
 singulis annis ulteriore lima subinde politi et castigati." In the preceding 
 sentence, he calls it " multorum annorum et laboris improbi proles." Aue- 
 toris Vita, prefixed to the Opuscula varia posthuma, 1658. In the English 
 Life prefixed to the Resuscitatio, which was published the year before, he 
 says " I myself have seen at the least twelve copies of the Instauration ; re- 
 vised year by year, one after another; and every year altered and amendeil 
 in the frame thereof." I doubt whether we can fairly infer from these ex- 
 pressions that these twelve several copies were made in twelve several 
 fears; but substantially they bear out the inference drawn from them. 
 -J. 8.
 
 142 PREFACE TO 
 
 proponi tanquam ad exemplum et operls descriptionem 
 fere visibilem. 1 . . . Visuin est autem, nimis abruptura 
 esse ut a tabulis ipsis docendi initium sumatur. Itaque 
 idonea quaedam praefari oportuisse, quod et jam se fecisse 
 arbitratur." It was Bacon's intention therefore when 
 he wrote the Cogitata et Visa, and when apparently 
 some years later 2 he communicated it to Bodley, to 
 publish an example of the application of his method to 
 some particular subject an intention which remained 
 unfulfilled until the publication of the Novum Orc/a- 
 num. We may therefore conjecture that it was about 
 this time that Bacon addressed himself to the great 
 work of composing the Novum Orgcmum;^ .and this 
 agrees with what Rawley says of its having been twelve 
 years in hand. This view also explains why the whole 
 
 1 In the Commentarius solutus, under date July 26, 1608, 1 find the follow- 
 ing memorandum: " Seeing and trying whether the B. of Canterb. may 
 not be affected in it, being single and glorious, and believing the sense. 
 
 " Not desisting to draw in the Bp. Awnd. [Bishop Andrews, probably] 
 being single, rich, sickly, and professor to some experiments : this after the 
 table of motion or some other in part set in forwardness." 
 
 Some other memoranda in the same place relate to the gaining of phy- 
 sicians, and learning from them experiments of surgery and physic ; which 
 explains the epithet "sickly" in the above extract. J. S. 
 
 2 Bodley' s answer is dated Feb. 19. 160T; i. e. 1607-8; in which he says, 
 "I must tell you, to be plain, that you have very much wronged yourself 
 and the world, to smother such a treasure so long in your coffer." But I 
 do not think we can infer from this that the Cogitata et Visa had been 
 written " some years " before. Bodley may only allude to his having kept 
 such thoughts so long to himself. J. S. 
 
 8 In the Commentarius solutus, under date July 26 1608, 1 find the fol- 
 lowing memorandum : " The finishing the Aphorisms, Clavis interpreter 
 lionis, and then setting forth the book," and in the same page, a little after, 
 " Imparting my Cogitata et Visa, with choice, utvidebitur." The aphorisms 
 here spoken of may have been the "Aphorismi et Consiliade auxiliis mentis 
 et accensione luminis naturalis ; " a fragment containing the substance of the 
 first, second, and third aphorisms of the first book of the Novum Organum, 
 and the first, third, and sixteenth of the second. Clavis interpretations 
 was probably the name which was afterwards exchanged for Novum Or- 
 yanum. J. S.
 
 THE NOVUM ORGANUM. 143 
 
 substance of the Cogitata et Visa is reproduced in the 
 first book of the Novum Organum ; for this tract was 
 designed to be an introduction to a particular example 
 of the new method of induction, such as that which we 
 find near the beginning of the second book. Bacon's 
 purpose in writing it was therefore the same as that 
 which he had in view in the first book of the Novum 
 Organum, namely to procure a favourable reception 
 for an example and illustration of his method. What 
 has been said may be in some measure confirmed by 
 comparing the Cogitata et Visa with an earlier tract, 
 namely the Partis secundce Delineatio et Argumentum. 
 When he wrote this tract Bacon did not propose to set 
 forth his method merely by means of an example ; on 
 the contrary, the three ministrations to the sense, to the 
 memory, and to the reason, of which the last is the new 
 method of induction, were to be set forth in order and 
 didactically. Whereas in the Novum Organum Bacon 
 remarks, " incipiendum est a fine " (that is, the method 
 of induction must be set forth before the method of 
 collecting facts and that of arranging them so as best to 
 assist the memory) ; and having said this, he goes on 
 at once to his example, namely, the investigation of 
 the Form of heat. Thus it appears that after Bacon 
 had not only decided on writing a great work on the 
 reform of philosophy, but had also determined on divid- 
 ing it into parts of which the second was to contain 
 the exposition of his new method, he in some measure 
 changed his plan, and resolved to set forth the essential 
 and operative part of his system chiefly by means of 
 an example. This change of plan appears to be marked 
 by the Cogitata et Visa, a circumstance which makes 
 this tract one of the most interesting of the precursors 
 of the Novum Organum.
 
 144 PREFACE TO 
 
 That the Partis secundce Delineatio is earlier than 
 the Cogitata et Visa appears plainly from several con- 
 siderations which M. Bouillet, who expresses a contrary 
 opinion, seems to have overlooked. In the first place, 
 whole sentences and even paragraphs of the Cogitata et 
 Visa are reproduced with scarcely any alteration in the 
 Novum Organum; whereas this is by no means the case 
 with any passage of the Partis secundce Delineatio. But 
 as it may be said that this difference arises from the 
 different character of the two tracts, of which the one 
 is simply a summary of a larger work, whereas the more 
 developed style of the other resembles that of the No- 
 vum Organum, it may be well to compare them some- 
 what in detail. 
 
 In speaking of the prospects which the reform of 
 philosophy was to open to mankind, Bacon thus ex- 
 presses himself in the Novum Organum : "Quinetiam 
 prudentia civilis ad consilium vocanda est et adhibcnda, 
 quaB ex praescripto diffidit, et de rebus humanis in dete- 
 rius conjicit." The corresponding sentence in the Cog- 
 itata et Visa is, " Consentaneum enim esse, prudentiam 
 civilem in hac parte adhibere, quse ex praescripto diffidit 
 et de humanis in deterius conjicit." Again, in the 
 Partis secundce Delineatio the same idea is thus ex- 
 pressed, " Si quis sobrius (ut sibi videri possit), et civi- 
 lis prudentise diffidentiam ad haec transferens, existimet 
 haec qua? dicimus votis similia videri," &c. Here the 
 somewhat obscure phrase " civilis prudentise diffiden- 
 tiam " is clearly the germ of that by which it is re- 
 placed in the other two passages, namely, " prud'entia 
 civilis qua3 ex prsescripto diffidit." Again, in the Partis 
 tecundoR Delineatio Bacon affirms that ordinary induc- 
 tion " puerile quiddam est et prpcario concludit, peric-
 
 THE NOVUM ORGANUM. 145 
 
 ulo ab instantia contradictorii exposita : " in the Cogi* 
 tata ei Visa, that the logicians have devised a form of 
 induction " admodum simplicem et plane puerilem, qua3 
 per enumerationem tantum procedat, atque propterea 
 precario non necessario concludat." The clause " quee 
 per enumerationem tantum procedat," which adds 
 greatly to the distinctness of the whole sentence, is 
 retained in the Distributio Operis, in which it is said 
 that the induction of the logicians, " quae procedit per 
 enumerationem simplicem, puerile quiddam est, preca- 
 rio concludit, et periculo ab instantia contradictori& ex- 
 ponitur." To take another case : in the Partis secundce 
 Delineatio, Bacon, speaking of those who might object 
 to his frequent mention of practical results as a thing 
 unworthy of the dignity of philosophy, affirms that 
 they hinder the accomplishment of their own wishes. 
 " Quin etiam illis, quibus in contemplationis amorem 
 effusis frequens apud nos operum mentio asperum quid- 
 dam atque ingratum et mechanicum sonat, rnonstrabi- 
 mus quantum illi desideriis^, suis propriis adversentur, 
 quum puritas contemplationum atque substructio et in- 
 ventio operum prorsus eisdem rebus nitantur, ac simul 
 perficiantur." In the Cogitata et Visa, this sentence 
 recurs in a modified and much neater form : "Si quis 
 autem sit cui in contemplationis amorem et veneratio- 
 nem effuso ista operum frequens et cum tanto honore 
 mentio quiddam asperum et ingratum sonet, is pro 
 certo sciat se propriis desideriis adversari ; etenim in 
 natura, opera non tantum vitse beneficia, sed et veritatis 
 pignora esse." On comparing these two sentences, it 
 is difficult to believe that Bacon would have omitted 
 the antithesis with which the latter ends in order to 
 introduce the somewhat cumbrous expressions which
 
 146 PREFACE TO 
 
 correspond to it in the former, especially as we find this 
 antithesis reproduced, though with another context, in 
 the Novum Organum. " Opera ipsa," it is there said, 
 " pluris facienda sunt quatenus sunt veritatis pignora 
 quam propter vitae commoda." l 
 
 These instances will probably be thought sufficient to 
 justify us in concluding that the Partis secundcB .De- 
 lineatio, in which no mention is made of the plan of 
 setting forth the new method of induction by means 
 of an example, is of earlier date than the Cogitata et 
 Visa, in which this plan, actually employed in the No- 
 vum Organum, is spoken of as that which Bacon had 
 decided on adopting. This question of priority is not 
 without interest ; for if the Partis secundce Delineatio 
 is anterior to the Cogitata et Visa, the general plan of 
 the Instauratio must have been formed a considerable 
 time before 1607, about which time Bacon probably 
 commenced the composition of the Novum Organum. 
 If we could determine the date of Valerius Terminus, 
 we should be able to assign limits within which the 
 formation of this plan, so far as relates to the division 
 of the work into six portions, may be supposed to lie. 
 For the first book of Valerius Terminus was to include 
 all that was to precede the exposition of the new 
 method of induction, which was to be the subject of 
 the second ; that is, it was to comprehend, along with 
 the first part of the Instauratio, 2 the general reflexions 
 und precepts which form the subject of the first book 
 
 1 Nov. Org. i. 124. It is well to mention that some of the expressions in 
 this aphorism which do not occur in the Cogitata et Visa will be found in the 
 Partis secundce Delineatio. But it will be observed that I am only compar- 
 ing passages which occur in all three works. Of the greater general resem 
 blance of the Cogitata ct Visa to the Novum Organum there can be nc 
 question. 
 
 2 Query. See Note A. at the end, 1. J. 8.
 
 THE NOVUM ORGANUM. 147 
 
 of the Novum Organum. Nor does it appear that Va- 
 lerius Terminus was to contain anything corresponding 
 to the last four parts of the Instauratio ; l it was a 
 work, as its title 2 shows, on the Interpretation of 
 Nature ; that is, it was to be a statement of Bacon's 
 method, without professing either to give the collection 
 of facts to which the method was to be applied, or the 
 results thereby obtained. Unfortunately, there appears 
 to be no evidence tending to enable us to assign the 
 time at which (or not long after it) Valerius Terminus 
 was written. That it is earlier than the Advancement 
 of Learning seems to follow from the circumstance that 
 Bacon, when he wrote it, designed to include in a 
 single chapter the general survey of human knowledge 
 which in the Advancement is developed into two books. 9 
 Bacon has on all occasions condemned epitomes, and it 
 is therefore altogether improbable that after writing the 
 Advancement of Learning he would have endeavoured 
 to compress its contents, or even those of the second 
 book, within the limits proposed in Valerius Terminus. 
 On the other hand, we may suppose that before writing 
 the Advancement he had not seen how much he had to 
 say on the subject to which it relates. We may con- 
 clude therefore, on these and other grounds, that Vale- 
 rius Terminus was written some time before 1605 : 
 how much before cannot be known ; but as by com- 
 paring the Partis secundce Delineatio and the Cogitata 
 et Visa with the Novum Organum we have seen reason 
 to conclude that the general plan of the Instauratio 
 was formed before Bacon had decided on propounding 
 
 1 Query. See Note A. at the end, 2. J. S. 
 
 2 " Valerius Terminus of the Interpretation of Nature; with the Anno- 
 tations of Hermes Stella. A few fragments of the first book, viz.," &c. 
 
 Query. See Note A. at the end, 1. J. 8.
 
 148 PREFACE TO 
 
 his method by means of an example, so by comparing 
 the first-named of these threo works with Valerius Ter- 
 minus, we perceive that the idea of the work on the 
 Interpretation of Nature, that is, on the new method 
 of induction, was anterior in Bacon's mind to that of 
 the Instauratio. 
 
 And this conclusion is confirmed by all we know of 
 Bacon's early writings. In the earliest of all, (if we 
 assume that the Temporis Partus Masculus, published 
 by Gruter, 1 is the same as the Temporis Partus Maxi- 
 mus mentioned by Bacon in his letter to Fulgenzio,) 
 the most prominent notion is that true science consists 
 in the interpretation of Nature a phrase by which 
 Bacon always designates a just method of induction. 
 But nothing is said either there or in any early frag- 
 ment whereby we are led to suppose that Bacon then 
 thought of producing a great work like the Instauratio. 
 On the contrary, in the J)e Interpretatione Natures 
 Procemium he proposes to communicate his peculiar 
 method and the results to which it was to lead, only 
 to chosen followers ; giving to the world merely an 
 exoteric doctrine, namely the general views of science 
 which afterwards formed the substance of the Cogitata 
 et Visa and ultimately of the first book of the Novum 
 Organum? 
 
 From what has been said it follows that we should 
 fcrm an inadequate conception of the Novum Organum 
 if we were to regard it merely as a portion of the In- 
 stauratio. For it contains the central ideas of Bacon's 
 system, of which the whole of the Instauratio is only 
 the developement. In his early youth Bacon formed 
 
 i Say rather, " the several tracts collected by M. Bouillet under the title 
 Temporis Partus Masculus." See Note A. at the end, 3. J. 8. 
 See Note A. at the end, 4. J. S.
 
 THE NOYUM ORGANUM. 149 
 
 the notion of a new method of induction, and from that 
 time forth this notion determined the character of all 
 his speculations. Later in life he laid the plan of a 
 great work, within the limits of which the materials to 
 which his method was to be applied and the results 
 thereby to be ob lain eel might be stored up, together 
 with a statement of the method itself. But of this 
 great plan the interpretation of Nature was, so to speak, 
 the soul, the formative and vivifying principle ; not 
 only because Bacon conceived that the new method 
 only could lead to the attainment of the great ends 
 which he had in view, but also because it was the pos- 
 session of this method which had suggested to him the 
 hopes which he entertained. 1 There seems some rea- 
 son to believe that his confidence in his peculiar method 
 of induction did not increase as he grew older ; that is 
 to say, he admits in the Novum Organum that the in- 
 terpretation of Nature is not so much an artificial pro- 
 cess as the way in which the mind would naturally 
 work if the obstacles whereby it is hindered in the 
 pursuit of truth were once set aside. 2 So that his pre- 
 
 1 1 quite agree in this, but not quite on the same grounds. In Note A. at 
 the end of this preface, the reader will find a statement, too long for a foot- 
 note, of such points in the foregoing argument as I consider disputable. It 
 ras the more necessary to point them out, because the arrangement of the 
 j.deces in this edition, for which I am responsible, will otherwise create a 
 difficulty ; being in some respects inconsistent with the opinions here ex- 
 pressed. J. S. 
 
 2 Nov. Org. i. 130. " Est enim Interpretatio verum et naturale opus men- 
 ds, demptis iis quse obstant." But compare the following passage in Vale- 
 rius Terminus, c. 22. " that it is true that interpretation is the very natural 
 md direct intention, action, and progression of the understanding, de- 
 livered from impediments. And that all anticipation is but a reflexion 
 or declination by accident." So that if we may infer from the passage in 
 the Novum Organum that his confidence had abated, we must suppose that 
 when he wrote the Valerius Terminus it had not risen to its height. But foi 
 uy own part I doubt whether his opinion on th ; s> p-'-nt ever changed. J. S.
 
 150 PREFACE TO 
 
 cepts are, he says, not of absolute necessity : " necessi- 
 tatem ei (arti interpretationis scilicet) ac si absque esL 
 nil agi possit, aut etiam perfectionem non attribuimus," 
 an admission not altogether in the spirit of the 
 earlier writings in which the art of interpretation is 
 spoken of as a secret of too much value to be lightly 
 revealed. 1 
 
 If it be asked why Bacon determined on propound- 
 ing his method by means of an example, the answer is 
 to be sought for in the last paragraphs of the Cogitata 
 et Visa. He seems to have thought that it would thus 
 obtain a favourable reception, because its value would 
 be to a certain extent made manifest by the example 
 itself. Likewise he hoped in this way to avoid all 
 occasion of dispute and controversy, and thought that 
 an example would be enough to make his meaning un- 
 derstood by all who were capable of understanding it. 
 " Fere enim se in eS. esse opinione, nempe (quod quis- 
 piam dixit) prudentibus haec satis fore, imprudentibus 
 autem ne plura quidem." 
 
 His expectations have not been fulfilled, for very 
 few of those who have spoken of Bacon have under- 
 stood his method, or have even attempted to explain 
 its distinguishing characteristics, namely the certainty 
 of its results, and its power of reducing all men to one 
 common level. 
 
 Another reason for the course which he followed 
 .nay not improbably have been that he was more or 
 less conscious that he could not demonstrate the valid- 
 
 1 Not, I think, as a secret of too much value to be revealed, but as an 
 argument too abstruse to be made popular. See Note B. at the end, where 
 t have endeavoured to bring together all the evidence upon which the pre- 
 sumption in the text is founded, and to show that it proves either too much 
 rtoo little. 1. S.
 
 THE NOVUM ORGANUM. 151 
 
 ity, or at least the practicability, of that which he 
 proposed. The fundamental principle in virtue of 
 which alone a method of exclusions can necessarily 
 lead to a positive result, namely that the subject matter 
 to which it is applied consists of a finite number of 
 elements, each of which the mind can recognise and 
 distinguish from the rest, cannot, it is manifest, be for 
 any particular case demonstrated a priori. Bacon's 
 method in effect assumes that substances can always be 
 resolved into an aggregation of a certain number of 
 abstract qualities, and that their essence is adequately 
 represented by the result of this analysis. Now this 
 assumption or postulate cannot be made the subject of 
 a direct demonstration, and probably Bacon came grad- 
 ually to perceive more or less the difficulties which it 
 involves. But these difficulties are less obvious in 
 special cases than when the question is considered 
 generally, and on this account Bacon may have de- 
 cided to give instead of a demonstration of his method 
 an example of its use. He admits at the close of the 
 example that the operation of the method is imperfect, 
 saying that at first it could not but be so, and implying 
 that its defects would be removed when the process of 
 induction had been applied to rectify our notions of 
 simple natures. He thus seems to be aware of the in- 
 herent defect of his method, namely that it gives no 
 assistance in the formation of conceptions, and at the 
 same time to hope that this would be corrected by 
 some modification of the indueti"e process. But of 
 what nature this modification is to be he has nowhere 
 stated ; and it is to be remarked that in his earliest 
 writings the difficulty here recognised is not even men- 
 tioned. In Valerius Terminus nothing is said of the
 
 152 PREFACE TO 
 
 necessity of forming correct notions of simple natures, 
 the method of exclusions then doubtless appearing 
 to contain all that is necessary for the investigation oi 
 Nature. 
 
 Bacon may also have been influenced by other con- 
 siderations. We have seen that he was at first unwil- 
 ling that his peculiar method should become generally 
 known. In the De Interpretatione Naturce Procemium 
 he speaks of its being a thing not to be published, but 
 to be communicated orally to certain persons. 1 In 
 Valerius Terminus his doctrine was to be veiled in an 
 abrupt and obscure style, 2 such as, to use his own ex- 
 pression, would choose its reader, that is, would re- 
 main unread except by worthy recipients of its hidden 
 meaning. This affected obscurity appears also in the 
 Temporis Partus Masculus. In this unwillingness 
 openly to reveal his method Bacon coincided with 
 the common feeling of his own and earlier times. In 
 the middle ages no new discovery was freely published. 
 All the secrets, real or pretended, of the alchemists 
 were concealed in obscure and enigmatic language ; 
 and to mention a well-known instance, the anagram 
 in which Roger Bacon is supposed to have recorded 
 his knowledge of the art of making gunpowder is so 
 obscure, that its meaning is even now more or less 
 doubtful. In Bacon's own time one of the most re- 
 markable discoveries of Galileo that of the phases 
 of Venus was similarly hidden in an anagram, 
 
 1 See Note B. at the end, extract 4th, and the concluding remarks in 
 which I have explained my own view of the kind of reserve which Bacon 
 at this time meditated. /. S. 
 
 2 See the same note, extract 1st. I cannot think it was by " abruptness 
 ind obscurity " that he proposed to effect the desired separation of readen 
 either in Valerius Terminus or in the Temporis Partus Masculus. J. 8.
 
 THE NOVUM ORGANUM. 153 
 
 though the veil in this case was more easily seen 
 through. This disposition to conceal scientific dis- 
 coveries and methods is connected with the views 
 which in the middle ages were formed of the nature 
 of science. To know that which had previously been 
 unknown was then regarded as the result not so much 
 of greater industry or acuteness as of some fortunate 
 accident, or of access to some hidden source of infor- 
 mation : it was like finding a concealed treasure, of 
 which the value would be decreased if others were 
 allowed to share in it. Moreover the love of the mar 
 vellous inclined men to believe in the existence of 
 wonderful secrets handed down by tradition from for- 
 mer ages, and any new discovery acquired something 
 of the same mysterious interest by being kept back 
 from the knowledge of the vulgar. Other causes, 
 which need not here be detailed, increased this kind 
 of reserve ; such as the dread of the imputation of un- 
 lawful knowledge, the facility which it gave to decep- 
 tion and imposture, and the like. 
 
 The manner in which Bacon proposed at one time 
 to perpetuate the knowledge of his method is also in 
 accordance with the spirit of the middle ages. In the 
 writings of the alchemists we meet continually with 
 stories of secrets transmitted by their possessor to one 
 v r more disciples. Thus Artefius records the conver- 
 sation wherein his master, Boemund, transmitted to 
 him the first principles of all knowledge ; and it is 
 remarkable that in this and similar oases the disciple 
 \s called "mi fili " by his instructor a circumstance 
 which shows from what source Bacon derived the 
 phrase " ad filios," which appears in the titles of sev- 
 eral of his early pieces. Even in the De Augmentis 
 
 7*
 
 It) 4 PREFACE TO 
 
 the highest and most effectual form of scientific teach- 
 ing is called the " methodus ad filios." * 
 
 When he wrote the Cogitata et Visa, Bacon seems 
 to have perceived 2 how much of vanity and imposture 
 had always been mixed up with this affectation of con- 
 cealment and reserve. " Reperit autem," he there 
 says, " homines in rerum scientia quam sibi videntur 
 adepti, interdum proferenda interdum occultanda, famae 
 
 1 Lib. vi. c. 2. I cannot think however that the merit of this method had 
 anything to do with secresy. For the distinctive object of it is stated to be 
 the " continuatio et ulterior progressus " of knowledge ; and its distinctive 
 characteristic, the being " solito apertior." Its aim was to transfer knowl- 
 edge into the mind of the disciple in the same form in which it grew in 
 the teacher's mind, like a plant with its roots on, that it might continue to 
 grow. Its other name is " traditio lampadis," alluding to the Greek torch- 
 race; which was run, as I understand it, not between individuals, but be- 
 tween what we call sides. Each side had a lighted torch; they were so 
 arranged that each bearer, as he began to slacken, handed it to another who 
 was fresh ; and the side whose torch first reached the goal, still a-light, was 
 the winner. The term "filii," therefore, alludes, I think, to the successive 
 generations, not who should inherit the secret, but who should carry on the 
 work. Compare the remarks in the Sapientia Veterwn (Fab. xxvi. near 
 the end,) upon the torch-races in honour of Prometheus. " Atque continet 
 in se monitum, idque prudentissimum, ut perfectio scientiarum a successi- 
 
 one, non ab unius alicujus pernicitate aut facultate, expectetur Atque 
 
 optandum esset ut isti ludi in honorem Promethei, sive humana? naturae, 
 instaurarentur, atque res certamen, et (emulationem, et bonam fortunam re- 
 ciperet; neque ex unius cujuspiam face tremula atque agitata penderet." 
 To me, I must confess, the explanation above given of Bacon's motives for 
 desiring a select audience seems irreconcilable both with the objects which 
 he certainly had in view and with the spirit in which he appears to have 
 pursued them. "Fit audience, though few," he no doubt desired; and I 
 tan easily believe that he wished not only to find the fit, but also to ex- 
 tlude the unfit. But the question is, whether his motive in so selecting 
 and so limiting his audience was unwillingness to part with his treasure, or 
 solicitude for the furtherance of his work. To decide this question I have 
 brought together all the passages in which he speaks of the " singling and 
 adopting " of the " fit and legitimate reader." But the collection, with the 
 remarks which it suggests, being too long for a foot-note, I have placed 
 them at the end of this preface. See Note B. J. S. 
 
 2 See Note B., extract 7th. But observe that in the 1st, 3rd, and 4th, h 
 shows himself quite as sensible of the vanity and imposture which such 
 ecresy had been made to subserve. J. 8.
 
 THE NOVUM ORGANUM. 155 
 
 et ostentationi servire ; quin et eos potissimum qui 
 minus solida proponunt, solere ea quse afferant obscura 
 et ambigua luce venditare, ut facilius vanitati suae velitl- 
 care possint.' ' The matter which he has in hand, he 
 goes on to say, is one which it were nowise fitting to 
 defile by affectation or vain glory ; but yet it cannot 
 be forgotten that inveterate errors, like the delusions 
 of madmen, are to be overcome by art and subtlety, 
 and are always exasperated by violence and opposition. 
 The result of this kind of dilemma is that the method 
 is to be propounded in an example, a decision in 
 which it is probable that he was still more or less in- 
 fluenced by the example of those whom he here con- 
 demns. 
 
 Thus much of the connexion between the plan of 
 the Nbvum Organum and that which Bacon laid down 
 in the Cogitata et Visa. That there is no didactic ex- 
 position of his method in the whole of his writings has 
 not been sufficiently remarked by those who have 
 spoken of his philosophy ; probably because what he 
 himself regarded as a sort of exoteric doctrine, namely 
 the views of science contained in the first book of the 
 Nbvum Organum, have received much more attention 
 than the method itself, which is nevertheless the car- 
 dinal point of his whole system. Bacon is to be re- 
 garded, not as the founder of a new philosophy, but as 
 the discoverer of a new method ; at least we must 
 remember that this was his own view of himself and 
 of his writings. 
 
 I proceed to give some account of the structure of 
 the Novum Organum and of the parts into which it 
 may be most conveniently divided. 
 
 After the preface, in which Bacon professes that it is
 
 156 PREFACE TO 
 
 not his intention to destroy the received philosophy, 
 but rather that from henceforth there should be two 
 coexisting and allied systems, the one sufficient for 
 the ordinary purposes of life, and such as would satisfy 
 those who are content with probable opinions and com- 
 monly received notions ; the other for the sons of sci- 
 ence, who desire to attain to certainty and to an in- 
 sight into the hidden things of Nature, we come 
 to the Novum Organum itself; which commences with 
 some weighty sentences concerning the relation of 
 Man to Nature. The first aphorism, perhaps the most 
 often quoted sentence in the Novum Organum, occurs 
 twice in the fragments published by Gruter ; namely 
 in the Aphorismi et Consilia de Auxiliis Mentis, and 
 again in a less perfect form in the De Interpretations 
 Naturae Sententice XII., both which fragments are in- 
 cluded [by M. Bouillet] 1 under the title Temporis 
 Partus Masculus, though they are clearly of different 
 dates. The wording of the aphorism in the former is 
 almost precisely the same as in the Novum Organum. 
 In all three places man is styled " naturae minister et 
 interpres." He is naturae interpres, because in every 
 object which is presented to him there are two things 
 to be considered, or rather two aspects of the same 
 thing, one the phenomenon which Nature presents 
 to the senses the other the inward mechanism and 
 action, of which the phenomenon in question is not 
 only the result but also the outward sign. To pass 
 therefore from the phenomenon to its hidden cause is 
 to interpret the signs which enable us to become ac- 
 quainted with the operations of Nature. Again, he is 
 the minister naturae, because in all his works he can 
 
 1 Not so ind.ided by Gruter. See note A. at the end, 3. J. 8.
 
 THE NOVUM ORGANUM. 157 
 
 only arrange the things with which he deals in the 
 order and form which Nature requires. All the rest 
 comes from her only ; the conditions she requires hav- 
 ing been fulfilled, she produces new phenomena accord- 
 ino- to the laws of her own action. Thus the two 
 
 O 
 
 words minister and interpres refer respectively to works 
 and contemplation to power and knowledge the 
 substance of Bacon's theory of both being compressed 
 into a single phrase. The third and fourth aphorisms 
 are developments of the first ; the second relating not 
 to the theory of knowledge, but to the necessity of 
 providing helps for the understanding. 
 
 Then follow (5 10.) reflections on the sterility of 
 the existing sciences, and (11 17.) remarks on the 
 in utility of logic. In (14.) Bacon asserts that every- 
 thing must depend on a just method of induction. 
 From (18.) to (37.) he contrasts the only two ways 
 in which knowledge can be sought for; namely anti- 
 cipations of Nature and the interpretation of Nature. 
 In the former method men pass at once from partic- 
 ulars to the highest generalities, and thence deduce 
 all intermediate propositions ; in the latter they rise 
 by gradual induction and successively, from particu- 
 lars to axioms of the lowest generality, then to in- 
 termediate axioms, and so ultimately to the highest. 
 And this is the true way, but as yet untried. 
 
 Then from (38.) to (68.) Bacon developea the doc- 
 trine of idols. It is to be remarked that he uses the 
 word idolon in antithesis to idea, the first place where 
 it occurs being the twenty-third aphorism. "Non 
 leve quiddam interest," it is there said, "inter hu- 
 manaj mentis idola et divinse mentis ideas." He no- 
 where refers to the common meaning of the word,
 
 158 PREFACE TO 
 
 namely the image of a false god. Idols are with him 
 " placita quaedam inania," or more generally, the false 
 notions which have taken possession of men's minds. 
 The doctrine of idols stands [he says] in the same 
 relation to the interpretation of Nature, as the doc- 
 trine of fallacies to ordinary logic. 
 
 Of idols Bacon enumerates four kinds, the idols 
 of the tribe, of the cave, of the market-place, and of 
 the theatre ; and it has been supposed that this classi- 
 fication is borrowed from Roger Bacon, who in the be- 
 ginning of the Opus Majus speaks of four hindrances 
 whereby men are kept back from the attainment of 
 true knowledge. But this supposition is for several 
 reasons improbable. The Opus Majus was not printed 
 until the eighteenth century, and it is unlikely that 
 Francis Bacon would have taken the trouble of read- 
 ing it, or any part of it, in manuscript. 1 In the first 
 place there is no evidence in any part of his works 
 of this kind of research, and in the second he had no 
 high opinion of his namesake, of whom he has spoken 
 with far less respect than he deserves. The only 
 work of Roger Bacon's which there is any good rea- 
 son for believing that he was acquainted with is a 
 tract on the art of prolonging life, which was pub- 
 lished at Paris in 1542, and of which an English 
 translation appeared in 1617. The general resem 
 
 1 1 can hardly think that he would have omitted to look into a work like 
 the Opus Majus, if he had had the opportunity. But it is very probable 
 that no copy of it was procurable ; possible that he did not even know of 
 its existence. The manner in which he speaks of Roger Bacon in the 
 Temporis Parties Masculus, as belonging to the " utile genus " of experi- 
 mentalists, " qui de theoriis non admodum solicit! mechanica quddam sub 
 tilitate rerum inventarum exlensiones prehendunt" seems rather to imply 
 that he knew of him at that time chiefly by his reputation for mechanical 
 \nventions. J, S.
 
 THE NOVUM ORGANUM. 159 
 
 blancc between the spirit in which the two Bacons 
 speak of science and of its improvement is, notwith- 
 standing what has sometimes been said, but slight. 
 Both no doubt complain that sufficient attention has 
 not been paid to observation and experiment, but that 
 is all ; and these complaints may be found in the writ- 
 ings of many other men, especially in the time of 
 Francis Bacon. Nothing is more clear than that thft 
 essential doctrines of his philosophy among which 
 that of idols is to be reckoned are, so far as he 
 was aware, altogether his own. There is moreover 
 but little analogy between his idols and his namesake's 
 hindrances to knowledge. The principle of classifi- 
 cation is altogether different, and the notion of a real 
 connexion between the two was probably suggested 
 simply by there being the same number of idols as of 
 hindrances. 1 It is therefore well to remark that in 
 the early form of the doctrine of idols there were 
 only three. In the Partis secundce Delineatio the idols 
 wherewith the mind is beset are said to be of three 
 kinds : they either are inherent and innate or adsci- 
 titious ; and if the latter, arise either from received 
 opinions in philosophy or from wrong principles, of 
 demonstration. This classification occurs also in Va- 
 lerius Terminus. 2 
 
 1 That the two may be the more conveniently compared, I have quoted 
 Roger Bacon's exposition of his " offendicula," in a note upon the 39th 
 aphorism, in which the names of the four " Idols " first occur. How slight 
 the resemblance is between the two may be ascertained by a very simple 
 test. If you are already acquainted with Francis Bacon's classification, 
 try to assign each of the " oifendicula " to its proper class. If not, try by 
 the help of Roger's classification to find out Francis's. J. 8. 
 
 2 Not in Valerius Terminus. It occurs in the Distributio Operis, and 
 may be traced though less distinctly in the Advancement and the De Aug- 
 nentii. See Note C. at the end. /. 8.
 
 160 PREFACE TO 
 
 The first of these three classes corresponds to the 
 first and second of those spoken of in the Novum Or- 
 ganuim. The idols of the tribe are those which be- 
 long, as Aristotle might have said, to the human 
 mind as it is human, the erroneous tendencies com- 
 mon more or less to all mankind. The idols of the 
 cave arise from each man's mental constitution : the 
 metaphor being suggested by a passage in the [open- 
 ing of the seventh book of Plato's Republic.] l Both 
 classes of extraneous idols mentioned in the Partis 
 secundce Delineatio are included in the idola theatri, 
 and the idola fori correspond to nothing in the earlier 
 classification. 2 They also are extraneous idols, but 
 result neither from received opinions nor erroneous 
 forms of demonstration, but from the influence which 
 words of necessity exert. They are called idols of 
 the market-place because they are caused by the daily 
 intercourse of common life. "Verba," remarks Ba- 
 con, " ex captu vulgi imponuntur." 
 
 It is only when we compare the later with the ear- 
 lier form of the doctrine of idols that we perceive the 
 principle of classification which Bacon was guided by, 
 namely the division of idols according as they come 
 from the mind itself or from without. 3 In the Novum 
 Organum two belong to the former class and two to 
 
 1 Mr. Ellis had written " in the of Aristotle." But the words 
 of the De Augmentis (v. 4.) (" de specu Platonis ") prove that it was the 
 passags in Plato which suggested the metaphor. /. S. 
 
 2 i. e. in the classification adopted in the Partis secundce Delineatio ; for 
 they correspond exactly with the third kind of fallacies cr false appear- 
 ances mentioned in the Advancement, and with the idols of the palace in 
 Valerius Terminus. And I think they were meant to be included among 
 the " Inhaerentii et Innata " of the Delineatio. See Note C. J. S. 
 
 8 Rather, I think, as they are separable or inseparable from our nature 
 ind Condition in life. See Note C. J. S.
 
 THE NOVUM ORGANUM. 161 
 
 the latter, so that the members of the classification 
 are better balanced 1 than in the previous arrange- 
 ment : in both perhaps we perceive a trace of the 
 dichotomizing principle of Ramus, one of the seem- 
 ing novelties which he succeeded in making popular. 2 
 After -enumerating the four kinds of idols, Bacon 
 gives instances of each (45 67.} ; and speaking in 
 (62.) of idols of the theatre, introduces a triple clas- 
 sification of false philosophies, to which he seems to 
 have attached much importance, as we find it referred 
 to in many parts of his writings. False philosophy is 
 sophistical, empirical, or superstitious; sophistical, when 
 it consists of dialectic subtleties built upon no better 
 foundation than common notions and every-day ob- 
 servation ; empirical, when it is educed out of a few 
 experiments, however accurately examined ; and su- 
 perstitious, when theological traditions are made its 
 basis. In the Cogitata et Visa he compares the ra- 
 tional philosophers (that is, those whose system is 
 sophistical, the name implying that they trust too 
 much to reason and despise observation) to spiders 
 whose webs are spun out of their own bodies, and the 
 empirics to the ant which simply lays up its store and 
 uses it. Whereas the true way is that of the bee, 
 which gathers its materials from the flowers of the 
 field and of the garden, and then, ex propria facultate, 
 elaborates and transforms them. 3 The third kind of 
 
 1 Compare the Distributio Operis, where the classification is retained, 
 with the Novum Organum, where it is not alluded to, and I think it will 
 be seen that Bacon did not intend to balance the members in this way. 
 See Note C. at the end. J. S. 
 
 2 Bacon alludes to Ramus in the De Augmentis vi. 2., " De unica methodo 
 et dichotomiis perpetuis nil attinet dicere. Fuit enim nubecula quaedaux 
 ioctrinse quse cito transiit: res certe simd. et scientiis damnosissima," &c. 
 
 8 In the Advancement of Learning and the De Augmentis, the schoolmen
 
 162 PREFACE TO 
 
 false philosophy is not here mentioned. In the Nbvum 
 Organum Bacon perhaps intended particularly to refer 
 to the Mosaical philosophy of Fludd, who is one of 
 the most learned of the Cabalistic writers. 1 
 
 In (69.) Bacon speaks of faulty demonstrations as 
 the defences and bulwarks of idols, and divides the 
 common process for the establishment of axioms and 
 conclusions into four parts, each of which is defective. 
 He here describes in general terms the new method 
 of induction. In the next aphorism, which concludes 
 this part of his subject, he condemns the way in 
 which experimental researches have commonly been 
 carried on. 
 
 The doctrine of idols seems, when the Nbvum Or- 
 ganum was published, to have been esteemed one of 
 its most important portions. Mersenne at least, the 
 earliest critic on Bacon's writings, his Certitude des 
 Sciences having been published in 1625, 2 speaks of 
 the four idols, or rather of Bacon's remarks upon 
 them, as the four buttresses of his philosophy. In 
 Bacon's own opinion this doctrine was of much im- 
 portance. Thus in the De Interpretatione Naturae 
 Sententice Duodecim he says, in the abrupt style of 
 his earlier philosophical writings, " Qui primum et 
 
 in particular are compared to the spider; a passage which has been mis- 
 understood by a distinguished writer, whose judgments seem not unfre- 
 quently to be as hastily formed as they are fluently expressed, and who 
 conceives that Bacon intended to condemn the study of psychology. 
 
 In speaking of the field and the garden, Bacon refers respectively to ob- 
 servations of Nature and artificial experiment; an instance of the "curiosa 
 felicitas" of his metaphors. 
 
 1 Fludd's work, entitled Philosophia Moysaica, was published in 1638. 
 
 2 In the Biagraphle Universelle (Mersenne) it is incorrectly said that this 
 work was published in 1636, and an idle story is mentioned that it was in 
 reality written, not by Mersenue. but by Lord Herbert of Cherbury, a 
 Itory sufficiently refuted by its scrupulous and submissive orthodoxy.
 
 THE NOVUM ORGANUM. 163 
 
 ante alia omnia animi motus human! penitus non ex- 
 plorarit, ibique scientiae meatus et errorum sedes ac- 
 curatissime descriptas non habuent, is omnia larvata 
 et veluti incantata reperiet ; fascinum ni solvent in- 
 terpretari non poterit. 1 
 
 From (71.) to (78.) he speaks of the signs and 
 tokens whereby the defects and worthlessness of the 
 receded sciences are made manifest. The origin of 
 these sciences, the scanty fruits they have borne, the 
 little progress they have made, all testify against them ; 
 as likewise the confessions of the authors who have 
 treated of them, and even the general consent with 
 which they have been received. " Pessimum," says 
 Bacon, " omnium est augurium, quod ex consensu cap- 
 itur in rebus intellectualibus." 2 
 
 From (78.) to (92.) Bacon speaks of the causes of 
 the errors which have hindered the progress of science ; 
 intending thereby to show that there is no reason to 
 doubt the value of the reform which he is about to 
 propose, because though in itself seemingly plain and 
 obvious it has nevertheless remained so long un thought 
 of. On the contrary, there is, he affirms, good reason 
 for being surprised that even now any one should have 
 thought of it. 
 
 The first of these causes is the comparative shortness 
 of the periods which, out of the twenty-five centuries 
 which intervene between Thales and Bacon's own 
 
 1 So also in the Valerius Terminus, c. 17. : " That if any have had or shall 
 have the power and resolution to fortify and inclose his mind against all 
 anticipations, yet if he have not heen or shall not be cautioned by the 
 full understanding of the nature of the mind and spirit of man, and therein 
 of the seats, pores, and passages both of knowledge and error, he hath not 
 been, nor shall not be, possibly able to guide or keep on his course aright." 
 - J. S. 
 
 8 He however excepts matters political and religious.
 
 164 PREFACE TO 
 
 time, have been really favourable to the progress of 
 science. The second, that even during the more fa- 
 vourable times natural philosophy, the great mother 
 of the sciences, has been for the most part neglected ; 
 men having of late chiefly busied themselves with the- 
 ology, and among the Greeks and Romans with moral 
 philosophy, " quae ethnicis vice theologiae erat." More- 
 over, even when men occupied themselves the most 
 with natural philosophy (Bacon refers to the age of 
 the early Greek physicists), much time was wasted 
 through controversies and vain glory. Again, even 
 those who have bestowed pains upon natural philos- 
 ophy have seldom, especially in these latter times, 
 given themselves wholly up to it. Thus, natural phi- 
 losophy having been neglected and the sciences there- 
 by severed from their root, it is no wonder that their 
 growth has been stopped. 
 
 Another cause of their scanty progress is, that their 
 true end, the benefit and relief of man's estate, has not 
 been had in remembrance. This error Bacon speaks 
 of in the Advancement as the greatest of all, coupling 
 however there with the relief of man's estate the glory 
 of the Creator. Again, the right path for the advance- 
 ment of knowledge has not only been neglected but 
 blocked up, men having come not only to neglect expe- 
 rience but also to despise it. Also the reverence for 
 antiquity has hindered progress ; and here Bacon re- 
 peats the remark he had made in the Advancement, 
 that antiquity was the world's youth, and the latter 
 times its age. 1 
 
 1 This remark is in itself not new; we read, for instance, in the book of 
 Esdras, that the world has lost its youth, and that the times begin to wax 
 old. Nor is it new in the application here made of it. Probably several 
 writers in the age which preceded Bacon's had already made it, for in that
 
 THE NOVUM ORGANUM. 165 
 
 Again, the progress of science has been hindered 
 by too much respect for what has been already accom- 
 plished. And this has been increased by the ap- 
 pearance of completeness which systematic writers on 
 science have given to their works, and also by the vain 
 and boastful promises of some who have pretended to 
 reform philosophy. Another reason why more has not 
 been accomplished, is that so little has been attempted. 
 
 To these hindrances Bacon adds three others, su- 
 perstitious bigotry, the constitution of schools, univer- 
 sities, and colleges, and the lack of encouragement ; 
 and then concludes this part of the subject with that 
 which he affirms to have been the greatest obstacle of 
 all, namely despair of the possibility of progress. To 
 remove this, he goes * on to state the grounds of hope 
 for the future,- a discussion which extends from (93.) 
 to (115.). 
 
 " Principium autem," he begins, " sumendum a 
 Deo ; " that is to say, the excellence of the end pro- 
 posed is in itself an indication that the matter in hand 
 is from God, nor is the prophecy of Daniel concern- 
 ing the latter times to be omitted, namely that many 
 shall go to and fro and knowledge shall be increased. 
 Again, the errors committed in time past are a reason 
 
 age men were no longer willing to submit to the authority of antiquity, and 
 still felt bound to justify their dissent. Two writers may at any rate be 
 mentioned by whom the thought is as distinctly expressed as by Bacon, 
 namely Giordano Bruno and Otto Casmann; the former in the Cena di 
 Centre, the latter in the preface to his Problemata Marina, which was pub- 
 lished in 1596, and therefore a few years later than the Cena, with which 
 however it is not likely that Casmann was acquainted. Few writers of 
 celebrity comparable to Bruno's appear to have been so little read. 
 
 I have quoted both passages in a note on the corresponding passage in 
 [the first book of] the De Augmentis: tin? in the Cena di Cenere was first 
 noticed by Dr. Whewell. See his Philosophy of the Inductive Sciences^ ii. 
 iM.
 
 166 PREFACE TO 
 
 for hoping better things in the time to come. He 
 therefore sets forth these errors at some length (95 
 107.). This enumeration begins with the passage al- 
 ready mentioned [as occurring in the Cogitata et Visa], 
 in which the true method is spoken of as intermediate 
 to those of the dogmatic! or rationales, and of the em- 
 pirici. There will be, he concludes, good ground for 
 hope when the experimental and reasoning faculties are 
 more intimately united than they have ever yet been. 
 So likewise when natural philosophy ceases to be al- 
 loyed with matter extraneous to it, and when any one 
 can be found content to begin at the beginning and, 
 putting aside all popularly received notions and opin- 
 ions, to apply himself afresh to experience and par- 
 ticulars. And here Bacon introduces an illustration 
 which he has also employed elsewhere, comparing the 
 regeneration of the sciences to the exploits of Alexan- 
 der, which were at first esteemed portentous and more 
 than human, and yet afterwards it was Livy's judg- 
 ment that he had done no more than despise a vain 
 show of difficulty. Bacon then resumes his enumera- 
 tion of the improvements which are to be made, each 
 of which will be a ground of hope. The first is a bet- 
 ter natural history than has yet been composed ; and it 
 is to be observed that a natural history which is de- 
 signed to contain the materials for the instauration 
 of philosophy differs essentially from a natural history 
 which has no such ulterior end : the chief difference is, 
 that an ordinary natural history does not contain the 
 experimental results furnished by the arts. In the sec- 
 ond place, among these results themselves there is a 
 great lack of experimenta lucifera, that is of experi- 
 ments which, though not practically useful, yet serve
 
 THE NOVUM ORGANUM. 167 
 
 to give light for the discovery of causes and axioms : 
 hitherto men have busied themselves for the most part 
 with experimenta fructifera, that is experiments of use 
 and profit. Thirdly, experimental researches must be 
 conducted orderly and according to rule and law, and 
 not as hitherto in a desultory and irregular manner. 
 Again, when the materials required have been col- 
 lected, the mind will not be able to deal with them 
 without assistance and memoriter: all discoveries ought 
 to be based upon written records " nulla nisi de 
 scripto inventio probanda est." This is what Bacon 
 calls experientia litterata, 1 his meaning apparently be- 
 ing that out of the storehouse of natural history all the 
 facts connected with any proposed subject of investiga- 
 tion should be extracted and reduced to writing before 
 anything else is done. Furthermore, all these facts 
 must not only be reduced to writing, but arranged 
 tabularly. In dealing with facts thus collected and 
 arranged, we are to regard them chiefly as the mate- 
 rials for the construction of axioms, our path leading us 
 upwards from particulars to axioms, and then down- 
 wards from axioms to works ; and the ascent from par- 
 ticulars to axioms must be gradual, that is axioms of 
 a less degree of generality must always be established 
 before axioms of a higher. Again a new form of in- 
 duction is to be introduced ; for induction by simple 
 
 1 " Ilia vero in usura veniente, ab experientia facia demum literatd, me- 
 lius sperandum." In Montagu's edition littratd is printed incorrectly with 
 a capital letter; which makes it seem as if the experientia facto, literata 
 here spoken of were the same as the experientia quam vocamus liter atam in 
 Aph. 103. But they are, in fact, two different things ; the one being op- 
 posed to experience which proceeds without any written record of its re- 
 sults; the other to vaga experientia et se tantum sequent experience which 
 proceeds without any method in its inquiries. See my note on Aph. 101 
 ICompleti Works, I. 310]. J'. 8.
 
 168 PREFACE TO 
 
 enumeration is childish and precarious. But true in- 
 duction analyses nature by rejections and exclusions, 
 and concludes affirmatively after a sufficient number of 
 negatives. And our greatest hope rests upon this way 
 of induction. Also the axioms thus established are tc 
 be examined whether they are of wider generality than 
 the particulars employed in their construction, and if 
 so, to be verified by comparing them with other facts, 
 " per novorum particularium designation em, 1 quasi fide- 
 jussione quadam." Lastly, the sciences must be kept 
 in connexion with natural philosophy. 
 
 Bacon then goes on (108 114.) to state divers 
 grounds of hope derived from other sources than those 
 of which he has been speaking, namely, the errors 
 hitherto committed. The first is that without any 
 method of invention men have made certain notable 
 discoveries ; how many more, then, and greater, by 
 the method now to be proposed. Again, of discoveries 
 already made, there are many which before they were 
 made would never have been conceived of as possible, 
 which is a reason for thinking that many other things 
 still remain to be found out of a nature wholly unlike 
 any hitherto known. In the course of ages these too 
 would doubtless some time or other come to light ; but 
 by a regular method of discovery they will be made 
 known far more certainly and in far less time, 
 propere et subito et simul. Bacon mentions particularly, 
 as discoveries not likely to have been thought of be- 
 forehand, gunpowder, silk, and the mariner's compass ; 
 remarking that if the conditions to be fulfilled had been 
 
 1 1 understand designatio here to mean discovery. The test of the truth 
 Df the axiom was to be the discovery by its light of new particulars. Set 
 Valerius Terminus, ch. xii., quoted in not* on Aph. 106 [Complete Works, 
 1. 113]. J. S.
 
 THE NOVUM ORGANDM. 169 
 
 stated, men would have sought for something far more 
 akin than the reality to things previously known : in 
 the case of gunpowder, if its effects only had been de- 
 scribed, they would have thought of some modification 
 of the battering-ram or the catapult, and not of an ex- 
 pansive vapour ; and so in the other cases. He also 
 mentions the art of printing as an invention perfectly 
 simple when once made, and which nevertheless was 
 only made after a long course of ages. Again, we may 
 gain hope from seeing what an infinity of pains and 
 labour men have bestowed on far less matters than that 
 now in hand, of which if only a portion were given to 
 the advancement of sound and real knowledge, all diffi- 
 culties might be overcome. This remark Bacon makes 
 with reference to his natural and experimental history, 
 which he admits will be a great and royal work, and 
 of much labour and cost. But the number of partic- 
 ulars to be observed ought not to deter us ; on the con- 
 trary, if we consider how much smaller it is than that 
 of the figments of the understanding, we shall find 
 even in this grounds for hope. To these figments, 
 commenta ingenii, the phaenomena of Nature and the 
 arts are but a mere handful. Some hope too, Bacon 
 thinks, may be derived from his own example ; for if, 
 though of weak health, and greatly hindered by other 
 occupations, and moreover in this matter altogether 
 " protopirus " and following no man's track nor even 
 communicating these things with any, he has been able 
 somewhat to advance therein, how much may not be 
 hoped for from the conjoined and successive labours of 
 men at leisure from all other business ? Lastly, though 
 the breeze of hope from that new world were fainter 
 than it is, still it were worth while to follow the ad-
 
 170 PREFACE TO 
 
 venture, seeing how great a reward success would 
 bring. 
 
 And here (115), Bacon says, concludes the pulling- 
 down part, pars destruens, of the Instauration. It 
 consists of three confutations-; namely, of the nat- 
 ural working of the mind, of received methods of 
 demonstration, and of received theories or philoso- 
 phies. In this division we perceive the influence of 
 the first form of the doctrine of Idols. As the Nbvum 
 Organum now stands, the pars destruens cannot be 
 divided into thi'ee portions, each containing one of 
 the confutations just mentioned. Thus, for instance, 
 the doctrine of Idols, which undoubtedly forms a dis- 
 tinct section of the whole work, relates to all three. 
 Errors natural to the mind, errors of demonstration, 
 errors of theory, are all therein treated of; and Bacon 
 then goes on to another part of the subject, in which, 
 though from a different point of view, they are all 
 again considered. The sort of cross division here 
 introduced is explained by a passage in the Partis 
 secundcB Delineatio, in which the doctrine of Idols is 
 introduced by the remark, " Pars destruens triplex 
 est secundum triplicem naturam idolorum quae men- 
 tern obsident." And then, after dividing idols into the 
 three classes already mentioned, he proceeds thus : 
 " Itaque pars ista quam destruentem appellamus tribus 
 redargutionibus absolvitur, redargutione philosophia- 
 rum, redargutione demonstrationum, et redargutione 
 rationis humane nativae." When the doctrine of 
 Idols was thrown into its present form it ceased to 
 afford a convenient basis for the pars destruens ; and 
 accordingly the substance of the three redargutionea 
 is in the Nbvum Organum less systematically set forth
 
 THE NOVUM ORGANUM. 171 
 
 than Bacon purposed that it should be when he wrote 
 the Partis secundce Delineation It is to be remarked 
 that Redargutio Philosophiarum is the title of one of 
 the chapters in the third and last of the tracts pub- 
 lished by Gruter with the title Temporis Partus Mas- 
 culus? and that it is also the title of a tract published 
 [by Stephens in 1734, and reprinted] by Mallet [in 
 1760 3 ], and evidently of a later date than the other 
 of the same name. 
 
 From (116) to (128) Bacon endeavours to obviate 
 objections and unfavourable opinions of his design. 
 In the first place he plainly declares that he is no 
 founder of a sect or school, therein differing from the 
 ancient Greeks, and from certain new men, namely 
 Telesius, Patricius, and Severinus. Abstract opinions 
 
 1 I think this apparent discrepancy may be better explained. It appears 
 to me that the number of idols was originally three, the Tribe, the Cave, 
 and the Market-place ; all belonging to the ratio humana nativa ; fallacies 
 innate or inherent in the human understanding, to be guarded against, 
 but not to be got rid of; and that a fourth was added afterwards, but of 
 quite a different kind ; consisting of fallacies which have no natural affin- 
 ity to the understanding, but come from without and may be turned out 
 again ; impressions derived from the systems which men have been taught 
 to accept as true, or from the methods of, demonstration which they have 
 been taught to rely upon as conclusive. These are the Idols of the Thea- 
 tre, and the sole objects of the two Redargutiones which stand first in the 
 Delineatio, and last in the Novum Organum. If this be true, the Redargu- 
 tio rationis humance natives (or I should rather say, the part of the Novum 
 Organum which belongs to it) extends from the 40th to the 60th aphorism ; 
 and the Redargutio Philosophiarum and Demonstrationum from the 61st to 
 the 115th. For a fuller explanation and justification of this view, see 
 tfoteC. J. S. 
 
 2 Say rather, " is the title prefixed by M. Bouillet to the second chapter 
 of the fragment printed by Gruter with the heading Tradendi modus legiti- 
 mus." I cannot find that M. Bouillet had any authority for giving it this 
 title, more than the tenor of the chapter itself, which shows that it fits. 
 7. S. 
 
 8 A small portion of it was printed by Gruter at the end of the Partis 
 tecundce Delineatio [and it seems to have been the beginning of the Part 
 tccunda itself].
 
 172 PREFACE TO 
 
 on nature and first principles are in his judgment of 
 no great moment. Nor again does he promise to 
 mankind the power of accomplishing any particular 
 or special works for with him works are not de- 
 rived from works nor experiments from experiments, 
 but causes and axioms are derived from both, and 
 from these new works and, experiments are ulti- 
 mately deduced ; and at present the natural history 
 of which he is in possession is not sufficient for the 
 purposes of legitimate interpretation, that is, for the 
 establishment of axioms. Again, that his Natural 
 History and Tables of Invention are not free from 
 errors, which at first they cannot be, is not a matter 
 of much importance. These errors, if not too numer- 
 ous, will readily be corrected when causes and axioms 
 have been discovered, just as errors in a manuscript 
 or printed book are easily corrected by the meaning 
 of the passage in which they occur. Again, it may 
 be said that the Natural History contains many com- 
 monplace things ; also many things mean and sordid ; 
 and lastly many things too subtle to be of any use. 
 To this a threefold answer is to be given. In the first 
 place, rare and notable things cannot be understood, 
 much less new things brought to light, unless the 
 causes of common things and their causes' causes be 
 duly examined and searched out. Secondly, what- 
 ever is worthy of existence is also worthy to be 
 known ; for knowledge represents and is the image 
 of existence. Lastly, things apparently useless are 
 in truth of the greatest use. No one will deny that 
 light is useful, though it is not tangible or material. 
 And the accurate knowledge of simple natures is as 
 'right, and gives access to all the secrets on which
 
 THE NOVUM ORGANUM. 173 
 
 works depend, though in itself it is of no great 
 use. 
 
 Again it may be thought a hard saying that all sci- 
 ences and authors are at once to be set aside together. 
 But in reality this is both a more modest censure 
 and one that carries with it a greater show of reason 
 than any partial condemnation. It implies only that 
 the errors hitherto committed are fundamental, and 
 that they have not been corrected because as yet 
 they have not been sufficiently examined. It is no 
 presumption if any man asserts that he can draw a 
 circle more truly with a pair of compasses than an- 
 other can without ; and the new method puts men's 
 understandings nearly on the same level, because 
 everything is to be done by definite rules and dem- 
 onstrations. Bacon anticipates also another objection, 
 that he has not assigned to the sciences their true and 
 highest aim ; which is the contemplation of truth, 
 not works, however great or useful. He affirms that 
 he values works more inasmuch as they are signs and 
 evidences of truth than for their practical utility. It 
 may also, he continues, be alleged that the method of 
 the ancients was in reality the same as ours, only that 
 after they had constructed the edifice of the sciences 
 they took away the scaffolding. But this is refuted 
 both by what they themselves say of their method, 1 
 and by what is seen of it in their writings. Again 
 he affirms that he does not inculcate, as some might 
 suppose, a 2 [final suspension of judgment, as if the 
 
 1 I have adopted here the correctior introduced into the text of the pres- 
 tut edition. 
 
 2 Mr. Ellis had -mitten thus far when the fever seized him. The remain 
 ing pages which complete the analysis of the first book, are mine. J 8.
 
 174 PREFACE TO 
 
 tnind were incapable of knowing anything ; that if he 
 enjoins cautioi; and suspense it is not as doubting the 
 competency of the senses and understanding, but for 
 their better information and guidance ; that the method 
 of induction which he proposes is applicable not only 
 to what is called natural philosophy, as distinguished 
 from logic, ethics, and politics, but to every depart- 
 ment of knowledge ; the aim being to obtain an insight 
 into the nature of things by processes varied according 
 to the conditions of the subject ; and that in declaring 
 that no great progress can be expected either in knowl- 
 edge of truth or in power of operation by the methods 
 of inquiry hitherto employed, he means no disrespect 
 to the received arts and sciences, but fully recognises 
 them as excellent in their proper place and use, and 
 would have them honoured and cultivated accord- 
 ingly. 
 
 These explanations, together with some remarks 
 (129), by way of encouragement to followers and fel- 
 low-labourers, on the dignity, importance, and grandeur 
 of the end in view, bring the preliminary consider- 
 ations to a close, and clear the way for the exposition 
 of the art of interpretation itself; which is commenced, 
 but not completed, in the second book. What this art 
 was, has been fully discussed in the general preface, 
 and it is not necessary therefore to follow the subject 
 further here. Only it is important to remark that 
 whatever value Bacon may have attached to it, he cer- 
 tainly did not at this time profess to consider it either 
 as a thing absolutely necessary, or even as the thing 
 most necessary, for any real progress in science. In 
 the concluding aphorism of the first book he distinctly 
 warns the reader that the precepts which he is about
 
 THE NOVUM ORGANUM. 175 
 
 to give, though he believes them to be very useful and 
 sound, and likely to prove a great help, are not offered 
 either as perfect in themselves or as so indispensable that 
 nothing can be done without them. Three things only- 
 he represents as indispensable : 1st, ut " justam natures et 
 experientiae historian! prsesto haberent homines atque in 
 et sedulo versarentur ; " 2nd, " ut receptas opiniones et 
 notiones deponerent : " 3rd, " ut mentem a generalissi- 
 mis et proxtmis ab illis ad tempus cohiberent." These 
 three conditions being secured, the art of interpretation 
 (being indeed the true and natural operation of the 
 mind when freed from impediments) might, he thinks, 
 suggest itself without a teacher : " fore ut etiam vi pro- 
 pria et genuina mentis, absque ali& arte, in formam nos- 
 tram interpretandi incidere possent ; est enim interpre- 
 tatio verum et naturale opus mentis, demptis iis quae 
 obstant : " an admission which helps to account for the 
 fact that during the five years which he afterwards de- 
 voted to the developement of his philosophy, he applied 
 himself almost exclusively to the natural history ; leav- 
 ing the exposition of his method of interpretation still 
 incomplete. For it cannot be denied that, among the 
 many things which remained to be done, the setting 
 c orward of the Natural History was, according to this 
 view, the one which stood next in order of importance. 
 fn furtherance of the two other principal requisites, he 
 Aad already done what he could. Every motive by 
 which men could be encouraged to lay prejudices aside, 
 and refrain from premature generalisations, and apply 
 themselves to the sincere study of Nature, had already 
 been laid before them. It remained to be seen whether 
 ^is exhortations would bring other labourers into the 
 Geld ; but in the mean time the question lay between
 
 176 PREFACE TO 
 
 the completion of the Novum Organum, which was not 
 indispensable, and the commencement of the collection 
 of a Natural History, which was; and when he found 
 that other labourers did not come forward to help, he 
 naturally applied himself to the latter.]
 
 THE NOVUM ORGANUM. 177 
 
 NOTES 
 
 NOTE A. 
 
 I THOUGHT it better not to interrupt the reader with notes 
 during the progress of the foregoing argument, but as some points 
 are assumed in it upon which I shall have to express a different 
 opinion hereafter, it may be well to notice them, here ; the rather 
 because I fully concur in the conclusion notwithstanding. 
 
 1. It is assumed that the first book of Valerius Terminus was 
 designed to comprehend a general survey of knowledge, such as 
 forms the subject of the second book of the Advancement of Learn- 
 ing and of the last eight books of the De Augmentis Scientiarum, 
 as well as the general reflexions and precepts, which form the 
 subject of the first book of the Novum Organum ; to compre- 
 hend in short the whole first part of the Instauratio, together 
 with the introductory portion of the second. 
 
 This is inferred from the description of the "Inventary" which 
 was to be contained in the tenth chapter of Valerius Terminus, 
 as compared with the contents of the second book of the Ad- 
 vancement of Learning. 
 
 Now my impression is that this Inventary would have corre- 
 sponded, not to the second book of the Advancement, but only 
 to a certain Invenlarium opum humanarum which is there, and 
 also in the De Augmentis (iii. 5), set down as a desideratum ; 
 And which was to/ be, not a general survey of all the departments 
 of knowledge, but- merely an appendix to one particular depart- 
 ment ; that, namely, which is called in the Advancement Naturalis 
 Magia, sive Physica operativa major; 1 and in the Catalogus De- 
 
 1 See margin. It is to be observed that in Montagu's edition of th 
 Advancement the titles in the margin are by some strange negligence on: l- 
 ted ; so that the correspondence between the two Inventaries was the more 
 easily overlooked. 
 
 8
 
 178 NOTES TO PREFACE TO 
 
 tideralorum at the end of the De Augmcntis, Magia Natural^ 
 sive Deductio formarum ad opera. 
 
 The grounds of this conclusion will be explained fully in their 
 proper place. 1 It is enough at present to mark the point as 
 disputable ; and to observe that if this argument fails, there seems 
 to be no reason for thinking th'at anything corresponding to the 
 first part of the Instauratio entered into the design of Valerius 
 Terminus; also that the principal ground here alleged for con- 
 cluding that Valerius Terminus was written some time before the 
 Advancement a conclusion which involves one considerable dif- 
 ficulty is taken away. 
 
 2. It is assumed also that Valerius Terminus was not to con- 
 tain anything corresponding to the last four parts of the Instau- 
 ratio, but was to be merely " a statement of Bacon's method, 
 without professing to give either the collection of facts to which 
 the method was to be applied, or the results thereby obtained." 
 
 This appears to be inferred chiefly from the title viz. "Of 
 the Interpretation of Nature." 
 
 Now it seems to me that this argument proves too much. For 
 I find the same title given to another unfinished work the 
 Temporis Partus Masculus of which we happen to know that 
 it was meant to be in three books ; the first to be entitled Per- 
 politio el applicatio mentis; the second, Lumen Natures, sen for- 
 mula Jnterpretationis ; the third, Natura illuminata, sive Veritas 
 Rerum. The first would have corresponded therefore to the 
 first book of the Novum Organum ; the second, being a state- 
 ment of the new method, to the second and remaining books; the 
 third, being a statement of the application of the new method, to 
 the sixth and last part of the Instauratio. It would seem from 
 this that when Bacon designed the Temporis Parlus Masculus, he 
 had conceived the idea of a work embracing the entire field of the 
 Jnstauratio, (the first part only excepted), though less fully de- 
 veloped and differently distributed. And I see no sufficient reason 
 for supposing that the design of the Valerius Terminus was less ex- 
 tensive. 
 
 3. " The Temporis Partus Masculus published by Gruter " ia 
 spoken of as probably or possibly " the same as the Tempora 
 Partus Maximus mentioned by Bacon in his letter to Fulgen- 
 eio," and if so, the earliest of all his writings. 
 
 1 See my note at the end of Mr. Ellis's preface to Valerius Termimtt.
 
 THE NOVUM ORGANUM. 179 
 
 Now the writing or rather collection of writings here alluded 
 to is that published not by Gruter but by M. Bouillet ; in whose 
 edition of the " (Euvres Philosophiques " the title Temporis Par- 
 tus Masculus is prefixed to four distinct pieces. 1. A short 
 prayer. 2. A fragment headed Aphorismi et Consitia de auxiliis 
 mentis et accenxione luminis naturalis. 3. A short piece entitled 
 De Inlerpretatione Natural sentential duodecim. 4. A fragment 
 in two chapters headed Tradendi modus leghimus. It is true 
 that from the manner in which M. Bouillet has printed them, 
 any one would suppose that he had Gruter's authority for col- 
 Jecting them all under the same general title. But it is not so. 
 In Gruter's Scripta philosophica the title Temporis Partus Mas- 
 -.ulus appears in connexion with the first, and the first only. The 
 last has indeed an undoubted claim to it upon other and better 
 authority. But I can find no authority whatever for giving it to 
 the other two. If therefore the resemblance of the names be 
 thought a sufficient reason for identifying the Partus Masculus 
 with the Partus Maximus, that identity must be understood as 
 belonging to the first and fourth only. The grounds of that 
 opinion and of my own dissent from it will be discussed in the 
 proper place. With regard to the argument now in hand, 
 (viz. whether Bacon, when he wrote the Temporis Partus Mas- 
 culus, had yet thought of producing a great work like the In- 
 stauratio) it is enough perhaps to observe that at whatever 
 period or periods of his life these four pieces were composed, 
 they all belong to the second part of the Instauratio ; not as pref- 
 aces or prospectuses, but as portions of the work itself; and that 
 if none of them contain any allusion to the other parts, the same 
 may be said of the first book of the Nooum Organum itself; and 
 therefore that we cannot be warranted in concluding from that 
 fact that the plan of the Instauratio had not yet been conceived. 
 
 4. It is assumed that the work which Bacon contemplated when 
 he wrote the De Interpretatione Naturce Prnoemium would not have 
 contained the new method and its results (these being, according 
 to his then intention, to be communicated only to chosen follow- 
 ers), but merely the general views of science which form the sub- 
 ject of the first book of the Novum Organum. 
 
 This seems to be gathered from what he says in the Prooemium 
 concerning the manner in which the several parts of the work 
 were to be published : " Publicandi autem ista ratio ea est, ut qu
 
 180 NOTES TO PREFACE TO 
 
 ad ingeniorum correspondentias captandas et menlium areas pur- 
 gandas pertinent, edantur in vulgus et per ora volitent: reliqua 
 per manus tradantur cum electione et judicio:" the "reliqua" 
 being, as appears a little further on, " ipsa Interpretation!* for- 
 mula et inventa per eandem:" from which it seems to be inferred 
 that the exposition of the new method was not only not to be pub- 
 lished along with the rest of the work, but to be excluded from it 
 altogether; to be kept as a secret, and transmitted orally. The 
 grounds of this opinion I shall examine more particularly in a 
 subsequent note with reference to another question. The ques- 
 tion with which we are now dealing is only whether at that time 
 Bacon can be supposed to have " thought of producing a great 
 work like the Instauratio : " upon which I will only say that as 
 an intention not to publish does not imply an intention not to 
 write, so neither does an intention to write imply an intention to 
 publish. And since there is nothing in the Partis secundaz De- 
 lineatio from which we can infer that even then he intended to 
 publish the whole, I do not see how we can infer that the design 
 of composing a great work like the Instauratio had been conceived 
 in the interval between the writing of these two pieces. For as 
 in the one case he may not have intended to publish what we 
 know he did intend to write, so in the other he may have intended 
 to write what we know he did not intend to publish. And indeed 
 though the Prooemium stands in Gruter's volume by itself and we 
 cannot know to which of Bacon's projected works on the Inter- 
 pretation of Nature it was meant to be prefixed, there is none 
 which it seems to fit so well as the Temporis Parlus Masculus. 
 Now the Temporis Partus Masculus, as we know from the titles 
 of the three books above quoted, was to contain both the formula 
 Inter prelationis and the inventa per eandem. 
 
 All these points will be considered more at large when I come 
 to state the grounds upon which I have assigned to each tract its 
 place in this edition. In the meantime I am unwilling to let any 
 conclusion of importance appear to rest upon them ; and in the 
 present case all inferences which are in any way dependent upon 
 the assumptions which I have noticed as questionable may I think 
 be freely dispensed with. That to bring in a new method of In- 
 duction was Bacon's central idea and original design, and that the 
 idea of an Instauratio Magna came after, may in the absence of
 
 THE NOVUM ORGANUM. 181 
 
 all evidence to (he contrary be safely enough inferred from his 
 own words in the Advancement of Learning ; where after report- 
 ing a deficiency of the first magnitude in that department of 
 knowledge which concerns the invention of sciences, a de- 
 ficiency proved by the barrenness and accounted for by the 
 viciousness and incompetency of the method of induction then in 
 use, he adds, " This part of Invention, concerning the Inven- 
 tion of Sciences, I purpose, if God give me leave, hereafter to 
 propound ; having digested into two parts ; whereof the ane I 
 term Experientia Literata, and the other Interprctatio Naturae ; 1 
 the former being but a degree and rudiment of the latter. But 
 I will not dwell too long nor speak too great upon a promise." 
 This " Interpretatio Naturae " can have been nothing else there- 
 fore than a new method of induction to supply the place of the 
 vicious and incompetent method then in use ; and since among all 
 the reported " deficiencies " this is the only one which he himself 
 proposes to supply, for of the others he merely gives specimens 
 to make his meaning clear, we may, I think, safely conclude that 
 this and no other was the great work which he was meditating 
 when he wrote the Advancement of Learning. His expressions 
 moreover seem to imply that this work was already begun and 
 in progress; and seeing that the Valerius Terminus answers the 
 description both in title and (so far as the first book goes, which 
 is all we know of it) in contents also, why may we not suppose 
 that it was a commencement or a sketch of the very work he 
 speaks of, and that of the fragment which has been preserved 
 part was written before and part after? a supposition probable 
 enough in itself, and by which at least one difficulty, which I shall 
 mention hereafter, 2 is effectually removed. 
 
 As an additional reason for thinking that the idea of the In- 
 Btauratio Magna was of later date than that of a work on the Inter- 
 pretation of Nature, I may observe that the name Instauratio does 
 not occur in any of Bacon's letters earlier than 1609. The earli- 
 est of his compositions in which it appears was probably the Partis 
 Instaurationia secundce Delineatio et Argwnentum ; but of this the 
 date cannot be fixed with any certainty ; and as Gruter is our 
 vnly authority for it, and the word Instauratio appears in the 
 
 1 The corresponding passage in the De Augmentis calls it " Interpretatio 
 Naturae sive Novum Oryanum." 
 
 2 See my note at the end of Mr. Ellis's Preface to the Valerias Terminal
 
 182 NOTES TO PREFACE TO 
 
 title only, not in the body of the work, we cannot even be sure 
 that it was originally there. If Gruter found a manuscript headed 
 " Partis secundae Delineatio, &c.," and evidently referring to the 
 parts of the Instauratio Magna, he was likely enough to insert the 
 word silently by way of explanation. 
 
 NOTE B. 
 
 THE question is, how far, by what means, and with what 
 Bacon at one time wished to keep his system secret 
 
 Let us first compare all the passages in which such an intention 
 appears to be intimated, or such a practice alluded to; taking them 
 fn chronological order, as far as our knowledge of the dates of his 
 various writings enables us to do so. These which follow are all 
 that I have been able to find. 
 
 1. Valerius Terminus. Ch. 18. 
 
 " That the discretion anciently observed, though by the prece- 
 dent of many vain persons and deceivers abused, of publishing 
 part and reserving part to a private succession, and of publish- 
 ing in such a manner whereby it may not be to the taste or capac- 
 ity of all, but shall as it were single and adopt his reader, is not to 
 be laid aside; both for the avoiding of abuse in the excluded, and 
 the strengthening of affection in the admitted." 
 
 And again (Ch. 11.), 4i To ascend further by scale I do forbear, 
 partly because it would draw on the example to an over-great 
 length, but chiefly because it would open that which in this work 1 
 determine to reserve." 
 
 2. Advancement of Learning. 
 
 " And as Alexander Borgia was wont to say of the expedition 
 of the French for Naples, that they came with chalk in their 
 hands to mark up their lodgings, and not with weapons to fight 
 o I like better that entry of truth which cometh peaceably with 
 chalk to mark up those minds which are capable to lodge and 
 karbour it, than that which cometh with pugnacity and conten- 
 tion."
 
 THE NOVUM OKGANUM. 183 
 
 3. Advancement oj Learning. 
 
 "Another diveisity of method there is, [he is speaking of the 
 different methods of " tradition," i. e. of communicating and trans- 
 mitting knowledge] which hath some affinity with the former, used 
 in sotna cases by the discretion of the ancients, but disgraced since 
 by the impostures of many vain persons, who have made it as a 
 false light for their counterfeit merchandises; and that is, enigmat- 
 ical and disclosed. The pretence whereof [that is, of the enigmat- 
 ical method] is to remove the vulgar capacities from being admit- 
 ted to the secrets of knowledges, and to reserve them to selected 
 auditors, or wits of such sharpness as can pierce the veil." 
 
 4, Procemium de Interpretatione Natures. 
 
 " Publicandi autem ista ratio ea est, ut quae ad ingeniorum cor- 
 respondentias captandas et mentium areas purgandas pertinent, 
 edantur in vulgus et per ora volitent; reliqua per manus tra- 
 dantur cum electione etjudicio. Nee me latet usitatum et tritum 
 esse impostorum artificium, ut quaedam a vulgo secernant nihilo iis 
 ineptiis quas vulgo propinant meliora. Sed ego sine omni impos- 
 tura, ex providentia sana prospicio, ipsam interpretationis formu- 
 lam et inventa per eandem, intra legitima et optata ingenia clausa, 
 vegetiora et munitiora futura." 
 
 5. De Interpretatione Natures Sententice XII. 
 De moribus Inlerprelis. 
 
 " Sit etiam in scientia quam adeptus est nee occultanda nee 
 proferenda vanus, sed ingenuus et prudens : tradatque inventa 
 non ambitiose aut maligne, sed modo primum maxime vivaci et 
 vegeto, id est ad injurias temporis munitissimo, et ad scientiam 
 propagandam fortissimo, deinde ad errores pariendos innoceu- 
 Hssituo, et ante omnia qui sibi legitimum lectorem seponat." 
 
 6. Temporis Partus Masculus. C. 1. 
 
 " An tu censes cum omnes omnium mentium aditus ac meatus 
 obscurissimis idolis, iisdemque alte haerentibus et inustis, obsessi et 
 obstruct*! sint, veris Rerum et nativis radiis sinceras et politas areas 
 adesse ? Nova invenienda est ratio qua mentibus obductissimis 
 'llabi possimus. Ut enim phreneticorum deliramenta arte et in- 
 jenio subvertuntur, vi et contentione eSerantur, omnino ita in
 
 184 NOTES TO PREFACE TO 
 
 hftc universal! insania mos gerendus est. Quid ? leviores illae 
 conditiones, quae ad legitimum scientise tradendae modum perti- 
 nent, an tibi tarn expeditae et faciles videntur? ut modus innocens 
 Bit ; id est nulli prorsus errori ansam et occasionem praebeat ? ut 
 vim quandam insitam et innatam habeat turn ad fidem concilian- 
 dam, turn ad pellendas injurias temporis, adeo ut scientia ita trad- 
 ita, veluti planta vivax et vegeta, quotidie serpat et adolescat? 
 ut idoncum et legitimum sibi lectorem seponat et quasi adoptett" 
 
 7. Cogitata et visa. 
 
 " Itaque de re non modo perficiendS sed et communicand& et 
 trademia, (quS par est curi) cogitationem suscipiendam esse. 
 Reperit autem homines in rerum scientia quam sibi videntur 
 adept!, interdum proferenda interdum occultanda, f'amae et osten- 
 tation! servire : quin et eos potissimum qui minus solida propo- 
 nunt solere ea quae adferunt obscurE et ambigua luce venditare, 
 ut facilius vanitati suae velificare possint. Putare autem se id 
 tractare quod ambitione aliqua aut affeotatione polluere minime 
 dignum sit; sed tamen necessario eo decurrendum esse (nisi forte 
 rerum et animorum valde imperitus esset, et prorsus inexplorato 
 viam inire vellet) ut satis meminerit, inveteratos semper errores, 
 tanquam phreneticorum deliramenta, arte et ingenio subverti, vi 
 et contentione efferari. Itaque prudential et morigeratione qu&- 
 dam utendutn (quanta cum sirnplicitate et candore conjungi 
 potest) ut contradictiones ante extinguentur quam excitentur. 
 . . . . Venit ei itaque in mentem posse aliquid simplicius 
 proponi, quod in vulgus non editum, saltern tamen ad rei tarn salu- 
 taris abortum arcendum satis fortasse esse possit. Ad hunc finem 
 parare se de natural opus quod errores minima asperitate des- 
 truere, et ad hominum mentes non turbide accedere possit ; quod 
 et facilius fore, quod non se pro duce gesturus, sed ex naturS 
 lucem praebiturus et sparsurus sit, ut duce postea non sit opus." 
 
 8. Redargulio Philosophiarum (the beginning of the Pars secunda^ 
 following the Delineatio.) 
 
 " Oomem violentiam (ut jam ab initio profess! sumus) abesse 
 volumus : atque quod Borgia facete de Carol! octavi expeditione 
 in Ttaliam dixit ; Gallos venisse in manibus cretam tenentes qufi 
 diversoria notarent, non arma quibus perrumperent ; similem quo 
 jutj iuventorum nostrorum et rationem et successum animo pr>
 
 THE NOVUM ORGANUM. 185 
 
 cipimus; nimirum ut potius animos hominum capaces el idoneos 
 teponere et subire possint, quam contra sentientibus molesta sink" 
 
 9. Novum Organum. I. 35. 
 
 " Dixit Borgia de expeditione Gallorum in Italiam, eos venisse 
 cum cretS in manibus, ut diversoria notarent, non cum armis, ut 
 perrumperent : Itidein et nostra ratio est ; ut doctrina nostra ani- 
 mos idoneos et capaces subintret; confutationum enim nullus est 
 usus, ubi de principiis et ipsis notiouibus atque etiain de forinia 
 demonstrationum dissentimus." 
 
 10. De Augmentis Scientiarum. VI. 2. 
 
 " Sequitur aliud methodi discrinien, priori [methodo ad filios, 
 etc.], intentione affine, reipsS fere contrarium. Hoc enim habet 
 utraque methodus commune, ut vulgus auditorum a selectis separet; 
 illud oppositum, quod prior introducit niodum tradendi solito aper- 
 tiorem ; altera, de qua jam dicemus, occultiorem. Sit igitur dis- 
 crimen tale, ut altera methodus sit exoterica, altera acroamatica. 
 Etenim quam antiqui adhibuerunt praecipue in edendis libris dif- 
 ferentiam, earn nos transferimus ad ipsum modum tradendi. Quin 
 etiam acroamatica ipsa apud veteres in usu fuit, atque prudenter et 
 cum judicio adhibita. At acroamaticum sive aenigmaticum istud 
 dicendi genus posterioribus temporibus dehonestatum est a plurimis, 
 qui eo tanquam lumine ambiguo et fallaci abusi sunt ad merces 
 suas adulterinas extrudendas. Intentio autem ejus ea esse videtur, 
 ut traditionifi involucris vulgus (profanum scilicet) a secrelis scien- 
 tiarum summoceatur; atque illi tantutn admittantur qui aut per ma- 
 nus magistrorum parabolarum interpretationem nacti sunt, aut pro- 
 prio ingenii acumine et subtilitate intra velum penetrare possint? 
 
 These are all the passages I have been able to find, in which 
 the advantage of keeping certain parts of knowledge reserved to 
 a select audience is alluded to. And the question is whether the 
 reserve which Bacon contemplated can be justly compared with 
 that practised by the alchemists and others, who concealed their 
 discoveries as " treasures of which the value would be decreased 
 \f others were allowed to share in it." 
 
 Now I would observe in the first place that though the expres- 
 rion " single and adopt his reader," or its equivalent, occurs in all 
 nese passages, and that too in immediate reference to the method
 
 186 NOTES TO PREFACE TO 
 
 of delivery or transmission, yet in many of them the object of so 
 singling and adopting the reader was certainly not to keep the 
 knowledge secret; for many, indeed most, of them relate to that 
 part of the subject which Bacon never proposed to reserve, but 
 which was designed " edi in vulgus et per ora volitare." The part 
 which he proposed to reserve is distinctly defined in the fourth 
 extract as " ipsa interpretationis formula et inventa per eandem ;" 
 the part to be published is "ea quae ad ingeniorum correspon- 
 dentias captandas et mentium areas purgandas pertinent." Now 
 it is unquestionably to this latter part that the second, the eighth, 
 and the ninth extracts refer. " Primo enirn," he says, in the 
 Partis secundce Delineatio, " mentis area sequanda et liberanda 
 ab eis quze hactenus recepta sunt." This he calls Pars destruens ; 
 and proposes to begin with the Redargutio Philosopkiarum, from 
 the introduction to which the eighth extract is taken. And the 
 other two must of course be classed with it. Thus the " animi 
 capaces et idonei " which he wishes " seponere et subire," are 
 clearly identified with the minds marked up with chalk as capa- 
 ble of lodging and harbouring the truth, which are spoken of in 
 the Advancement. 
 
 Next to the Pars destruens came the Pars prceparans, the ob- 
 ject of which was to prepare men's expectations for what was 
 coming, and by dislodging erroneous preconceptions to make their 
 minds ready for the reception of the truth. To this part belongs 
 the seventh extract ; and if the seventh, then the sixth, which evi- 
 dently corresponds to it ; and if the sixth, then the fifth, which is 
 but the sixth condensed. Or if there be any doubt about the cor- 
 respondence between the seventh and sixth, it will I think be re- 
 mo%ed by comparing them both with the following passage which 
 winds up the description of the Pars prceparans in the Partis se- 
 cundce Delineatio. 
 
 " Quod si cui supervacua videatur accurata ista nostra quam 
 adhibemus ad mentes prseparandas diligentia, atque cogitet hoc 
 quiddam esse ex pompa et in ostentationem compositum ; itaque 
 cupiat rein ipsam missis ambagibus et prjestructionibus simpliciter 
 exhiberi ; certe optabilis nobis foret (si vera esset) hujusmodi in- 
 gimulatio. Utinam enim tarn proclive nobis esset difficultates et 
 impedimenta vincere quam fastum inanem et falsum apparatum 
 deponere. Verum hoc velimus homines existiment, nos haucl 
 jiexplorato viam in tanta solitudine inire, praesertim cum argu-
 
 THE NOVUM ORGANUM. 187 
 
 mentura hujusmodi prse manibus habeamus quod tractandi impe- 
 ritia perdere et veluti exponere nefas sit. Itaque ex perpenso et 
 perspeoto tain rerum quam animorum statu, duriores fere aditu* 
 ad hominum mentes quam ad res ipsas inveuimus, ac tradendi 
 labores inveniendi laboribus baud aiulto leviores experimur, atque, 
 quod in intellectualibus res nova fere est, moreui gerimus, et tarn 
 nostras cogitationes quara aliorum simul bajulamus. Omne enim 
 idolurn vanum arte atque obsequio ac debito accessu subvertitur, 
 vi et contentione atque incursione subita et abrupta eff'eratur. 
 . . . . Qua in re accedit et alia qusedam difijcultas ex mor- 
 ibus nostris non parva, quod constantissimo decreto nobis ipsi san- 
 civimus, ut candoreni nostrum et simplicitatem perpetuo retinea- 
 mus, nee per vana ad vera aditum quaeramus; sed ita obsequio 
 nostro moderemur ut tamen non per artificium aliquod vafrum 
 aut imposturam aut aliquid simile imposturse, sed tantummodo per 
 ordinis lumen et novoruni super saniorem partem veterum soller- 
 tem insitionem, nos nostrorum votorum compotes fore speremus." 
 
 Now all this was to precede and prepare for the exposition of 
 the method of induction itself the " formula ipsa interpretations " 
 which alone it was proposed to reserve ; and therefore we must 
 understand the legitimus lector of the fifth and sixth extract, as 
 corresponding with the " animus capax et idoneus " of the eighth 
 and ninth ; and with the mind " chalked and marked up " by truth 
 as " capable to lodge and harbour it," of the second ; and we must 
 not suppose that the process of singling and adopting the fit reader 
 was to be effected by any restraint in communication, or any ob- 
 scurity in style, which should exclude others ; but by presenting 
 the truth in such a shape as should be least likely to shock preju- 
 dice or awaken contradiction, and most likely to win its way into 
 those minds which were best disposed to receive it The object 
 was to propagate knowledge so that it should grow and spread: 
 the difficulty anticipated was not in excluding auditors, but in 
 finding them. 1 
 
 1 It may be worth while perhap3 to compare with these passages an ex- 
 pression which Bacon uses in his letter to Dr. Playfere, proposing to him 
 to translate the Advancement of Learning into Latin; where a similar mean- 
 ing is conveyed under another image. " Wherefore since I have only 
 taken upon me to ring a bell to call other wits together, which is the mean- 
 ist office, it cannot but be consonant to my desire to have that bell heard 
 *s far as can be. And since they are but sparks which can work but upon 
 matter prepared, I have the more reason to wish that those sparks may
 
 188 NOTES TO PREFACE TO 
 
 Thus I conceive that six out of the ten passages under con- 
 sideration must be set aside as not bearing at all upon the question 
 at issue. Of the four that remain, two must be set aside in like 
 manner, because though they directly allude to the practice of 
 transmitting knowledge as a secret from hand to hand, they con- 
 tain no evidence that Bacon approved of it. These are the third 
 and the last, and come respectively from the Advancement cf Learn- 
 ing, one of his earliest works, and from the De Avgmentix Scien- 
 tiarum, one of his latest. In both these works the object being 
 to show in what departments the stock of knowledge then exist- 
 ing was defective, the various methods which have been or may 
 be adopted for the transmission of knowledge are pointed out aa 
 a fit subject of inquiry, and the secret or enigmatical or acroa- 
 matic method is described among the rest ; but it is described only, 
 not recommended. 
 
 There remain therefore only the first and the fourth extracts to 
 be considered : and it is true that in both of these Bacon intimates 
 an intention to reserve the communication of one part of his 
 philosophy the "formula ipsa interpretationis et inventa per 
 eandem" to certain fit and chosen persons. May we infer 
 from the expressions which he there uses, that his object was to 
 prevent it from becoming generally known, as being a treasure 
 which would lose its value by being divulged ? Such a supposi- 
 tion seems to me inconsistent not only with all we know of his 
 proceedings, purposes, and aspirations, but with the very expla- 
 nation with which he himself accompanies the suggestion. The 
 fruits which he anticipated from his philosophy were not only in- 
 tended for the benefit of all mankind, but were to be gathered in 
 another generation. Is it conceivable that at any time of his life 
 he would have willingly foregone the aid of any single fellow 
 labourer, or that anything could have been more welcome than 
 the prospect of a rapid and indefinite increase of those " legitima 
 et optata ingenia " in whose hands it might be expected to thrive 
 and spread ? But setting general probabilities aside, let us look 
 at the reasons which he himself assigns for the precaution which 
 he meditates. Ask why in Valerius Terminus he proposes to re- 
 serve part of his discovery to " a private succession ? " His an- 
 swer is, first "for the prevention of abuse in the excluded;" that 
 
 fly abroad, that they may the better find and light upon those minds and fpiriti 
 that are apt to be kindled."
 
 THE NOVUM OEGANUM. 189 
 
 is, bee ause if it should fall into incapable and unfit hands it will 
 be misused and mismanaged : secondly, " for the strengthening of 
 affection in the admitted ; " that is, because the fit and capable 
 will take more interest in the work when they feel that it is com- 
 mitted to their charge. Ask again why in the Procemium he pro- 
 poses to keep the Formula of interpretation private, " intra 
 iegitima et optata ingenia clausa ? " The answer is to the same 
 effect it will be " vegetior et munitior;" it will flourish better 
 and be kept safer. And certainly if we refer to any of the many 
 passages in which he has either enumerated the obstructions which 
 had hitherto hindered the progress of knowledge, or described the 
 qualifications, moral and intellectual, and the order of proceeding, 
 which he considered necessary for the successful prosecution of 
 the new philosophy, we may easily understand why he anticipated 
 more hindrance than help from a popular audience. 
 
 Upon a review of the evidence therefore I see no reason to sus- 
 pect that he had any other motive for his proposed reserve than 
 that which he himself assigns ; and I think we may conclude that 
 he meant to withhold the publication of his Formula, not " as a 
 secret of too much value to be lightly revealed," but as a subject 
 too abstruse to be handled successfully except by the fit and few. 
 
 NOTE C. 
 On some changes in Bacon's treatment of his doctrine of Idols, 
 
 " WHEN the doctrine of Idols " (says Mr. Ellis) " was thrown 
 into its present form " [i. e. the form in which it appears in the 
 Novum Organum, as contrasted with that in which it appears in 
 the Partis secundce Delineatio~], " it ceased to afford a convenient 
 basis for the pars destruens, and accordingly the substance of the 
 three Redargutiones is in the Novum Organum less systematically 
 let forth than Bacon purposed that il should be when he wrote the 
 Partis secundce Delineatio." 
 
 That the argument is set forth in the Novum Organum less sys- 
 tematically than Bacon originally intended, is no doubt true ; for 
 when he wrote the " Partis secundae Delineatio et Argumentum,"
 
 190 NOTES TO PREFACE TO 
 
 he meant to handle the subject regularly and completely, or (as he 
 would himself have expressed it) "in Corpore tractatus justi;" 
 and this in the entrance of the Novum Organum, which is the 
 " Pars secunda " itself, we are expressly warned not to expect 
 " Sequitur secunda pars Instaurationis, quag artein ipsam inter- 
 pretandi Naturam et verioris ad operation is Intellectus exhibet : 
 neque earn ipsam tamen in Corpore tractatus justi; sed tantum di- 
 gestam per summas, in ApJiorismos." A succession of aphorisms, 
 not formally connected with each other, was probably the most 
 convenient form for setting forth all that was most important in 
 those parts of his work which he had ready ; for without binding 
 him to exhibit them in regular and apparent connexion, it left him 
 at liberty to make the connexion as perfect and apparent as 
 he pleased. But it has one disadvantage : the divisions between 
 aphorism and aphorism tend to conceal from the eye the larger di- 
 visions between subject and subject. And hence arises the appear- 
 ance (for I think it is only an appearance) of a deviation from the 
 plan originally marked out for the treatment of the pars deslruens. 
 Between the publication of the Advancement of Learning and the 
 composition of the Novum Organum, the doctrine of Idols under- 
 went one considerable modification ; but not, I think, the one here 
 supposed. That modification was introduced before the Partis 
 secunda; Delineatio was drawn up ; and after that I cannot find 
 evidence of any substantial change. 
 
 I will first exhibit the successive aspects -which the doctrine 
 assumes, and then give what I suppose to be the true history of 
 them. 
 
 In the Advancement of Learning, the Idols, native and adven- 
 titious, of the human mind are distributed into three kinds ; not 
 distinguished as yet by names, but corresponding respectively to 
 those of the Tribe, the Cave, and the Market-place. In Valerius 
 Terminus, they are distributed into four kinds: the Tribe, the 
 falace (corresponding with the Market-place), the Cave, and the 
 Theatre. In the Partis secunda: Delineatio they are distributed 
 again into three, but classified quite differently. The two great 
 divisions of Adventitious and Native are retained : " aut adscititia 
 Bunt . . . nimirum quae immigrarunt in mentem, &c., aut ea quae 
 menti ipsi et substantiae ejus inhaerentia sunt et innata ; " but the 
 subdivisions are entirely changed ; the Adventitious being here 
 divided into two kinds, neither of which is recognised at all in the
 
 THE NOVUM ORGANUM. 191 
 
 Advancement; the Native, which are divided into two kinds in the 
 Advancement* not being divided at all here, but classed together 
 as one. In the Advancement we find nothing corresponding to the 
 Idols of the Theatre, to which belong both the kinds of adventitious 
 Idols mentioned in the Delineatio those derived ex pliilosopho* 
 rum placitis, and those derived ex perversis legibus demonfttra' 
 tionum ; in the Delineatio we find nothing corresponding to the 
 Idols of the Market-place, which among those mentioned in the 
 Advancement are alone entitled to be classed as adventitious. Thus 
 the difference between the two appears at first to be total and rad- 
 ical, amounting to an entire rearrangement of all the classes. In- 
 stead of Idols of the Tribe, the Cave, and the Market-place, we 
 find Idols of the Philosophies, the Demonstrations, and the Human 
 Mind. 
 
 But the truth is that Bacon, being now engaged in laying out 
 the large outlines of his subject, omits the minor distinctions which 
 belong to the development of it in detail, and leaves the particular 
 distribution and description of those " fallacies and false appear- 
 ances" which are "inseparable from our nature and condition in 
 life" those namely which he had spoken of in the Advancement 
 to be handled in the work itself. Having however, as he came 
 into closer contact with his subject, foreseen the opposition which 
 he must expect from prejudices and false appearances of another 
 kind prejudices which had no root in the mind itself, which were 
 not " inseparable from our nature and condition in life," mere 
 immigrants and strangers that had come in and might be turned 
 out, namely, the belief in received systems and attachment to 
 received methods of demonstration, he had resolved to deal with 
 these first ; and therefore introduces them as a separate class, di- 
 viding them into two parts and assigning to each what we may 
 ^all a separate chapter. These he afterwards called Idols of the 
 Theatre, and treated them in the manner proposed ; with this dif- 
 ference only that he placed them last instead of first, and ran 
 the two chapters into one. 
 
 This being allowed, it will be found that the one substantial 
 change which the doctrine of Idols underwent was the admission 
 of these Idola Theatri into tLe company, and that there is no real 
 difference between the form of that doctrine as indicated in the 
 Delineatio and as developed in the Novum Orpanum. 
 
 The only difficulty which this view of the subject presents is one
 
 192 NOTES TO PREFACE TO 
 
 which may be probably enough accounted for as an oversight of 
 Bacon's own. I mean the classification of the Idola Fori, the 
 source of which is no doubt extraneous, among the natives. 
 Bacon was never very careful about subtle logical distinctions, 
 and in this case his attention had not as yet been specially called 
 to the point. For in the Advancement of Learning, though the 
 great division between Native and Adventitious appears to be 
 recognised in the margin, there is no hint of it in the text, the 
 particular Idols not being arranged with any reference to those 
 two general heads ; while in Valerius Terminus the larger division 
 is not alluded to at all, and the order in which the four Idols are 
 there enumerated, the first and third being of one class, the sec- 
 ond and fourth of the other, seems to prove that no such classi- 
 fication was then in his mind. Besides, it is to be remembered that 
 the Idola Fori, however distinct in their origin, are in their nature 
 and qualities much nearer akin to the other two than to the Idola 
 Theatri. For though they come from without, yet when they are 
 once in they naturalise themselves and take up their abode along 
 with the natives, produce as much confusion, and can as hardly be 
 expelled. Philosophical systems may be exploded, false methods 
 of demonstration may be discarded, but intercourse of words is 
 " inseparable from our condition in life." 
 
 At any rate, let the logical error implied be as large as it may, it 
 is certain that Bacon did in fact always class these three together. 
 Wherever he mentions the Idols of the Market-place with any 
 reference to classification, they are grouped with those of the 
 Tribe and the Cave, and distinguished from those of the Theatre. 
 In the Temporis Partus Masculus, c. 2. (which is I think the earli- 
 est form of the Redaryutio Philosophiarum though probably of later 
 date than the Delineatio) we find " Nam Idola quisque sua (non 
 jam scenes dico, sed praecipue fori et specus "), &c. In the De 
 Augmentis Scientiarum where the four kinds of Idols are enumer- 
 ated by name and in order, the line of separation is drawn not 
 between the two first and the two last (as it would have been if 
 Bacon had meant to balance the members of his classification on 
 the "dichotomising principle," as suggested by Mr. Ellis, p. 161.), 
 but between the three first and the fourth ; the Idola Fori being 
 classed along with the Idola Tribus and Specus, as " quae plane 
 obsident mentem, neque evelli possunt," the Idola Theatri being 
 broadly distinguished from them, as " quae abncgari possunt et
 
 THE NOVUM ORGANUM. 193 
 
 deponi," and which may therefore for the present be set aside. In 
 the Novum Organam itself, though the divisions between aphorism 
 and aphorism tend, as I have said, to obscure the divisions of sub- 
 ject, yet if we look carefully we shall see that the line of demarca- 
 tion is drawn exactly in the same place, and almost as distinctly. 
 For after speaking of the three first kinds of Idol, Bacon proceeds 
 (Aph. 61.), "At Idola Theatri innata non sunt [like those of the 
 Tribe and Cave] nee occulto insinuata in Intellectum [like those 
 of the Market-place], sed ex fabulis theoriarum et perversis legibus 
 demonstrationum plane indita et recepta." Lastly, in the Diatri- 
 butio Operis, where the particular Idols are not mentioned by 
 name, but the more general classification of the Delineatio is 
 retained, it is plain that under the class Adscititia he meant to 
 include the Idols of the Theatre only (" adscititia vero immi- 
 grftrunt in mentes hominum, vel ex philosophorum placitis et sec- 
 tis, vel ex perversis legibus demonstrationum ") and therefore 
 he must still have meant to include the Idols of the Market-place, 
 along with the two first, under the class Innata. 
 
 It is worthy of remark however that,- in the Novum Organum 
 itself, the distinction between Adscititia and Innata disappears. 
 And the fact probably is that when he came to describe the several 
 Idols one by one, he became aware both of the logical incon- 
 sistency of classing the Idola Fori among the Innata, and of the 
 practical inconvenience of classing them among the Adscititia, 
 and therefore resolved to drop the dichotomy altogether and 
 range them in four co-ordinate classes. And it is the removal 
 of this boundary line which makes it seem at first sight as if 'be 
 arrangement were quite changed, whereas it is in fact only in- 
 verted. According to the plan of the Partis secundce Delineatic 
 and also of the D'istributio Operis, the confutation of the Immi- 
 grants, that is, the Redargutio Philosophiarum and Redargutio 
 Demonstrationum,, was to have the precedence, and the confu- 
 tation of the Natives, that is, the Redargutio Rationis humance 
 natives, was to follow. As it is, he begins with the last and 
 ends with the first. And the reason of this change of plan is 
 not difficult to divine. The Redargutio Philosophiarum, as he 
 handles it, traverses a wider and more various field, and rises 
 gradually into a strain of prophetic anticipation, after which the 
 Redargutio Rationis would have sounded flat.
 
 SIC COGITAVIT; 
 TALEMQUE APUD SE RATIONEM INSTITUIT, 
 
 QUAM VIVENMBCS ET POSTEEIS NOTAM FIEM 
 IPSOKUM INTEEESSE PUTAVIT. 
 
 CUM illi pro comperto esset intellectum humanum sibl ipsi ne- 
 gotium facessere, ncque auxiliis veris (quce in hominis potestate 
 sunf) uti sobrie et commode; unde multiplex rerum ignoratio et 
 ex ignoratione rerum detrimenta innumera : omni ope conniten- 
 dum existimavit, si quo modo commercium istud Mentis et Rerum 
 (cui vix aliquid in (err is, out saltern in terrenis, se ostendit simile) 
 restitui posset in integrum, aut saltern in melius deduci. Ut vero 
 errores qui invaluerunt, quique in ceternum invalituri sunt, alii 
 post alios (si mens sibi permittatur) ipsi se corrigerent, vel ex vi 
 intellectus propria vel ex auxiliis atque adminiculis dialectics, 
 nulla prorsus suberat spes ; propterea quod notiones rerum primes, 
 quas mens liaustu facili et supino excipit recondit atque accumu- 
 lat (unde reliqua omnia fluunC), vitiosce sint et confusce et temere 
 a rebus, abstractor ; neque minor sit in secundis et reliquis libido 
 et inconstant la ; ex quo fit, ut unwersa ista ratio humana, qua 
 vtimur quoad inquisitionem naturae, non bene congesta et cedificata 
 sit, sed tanquam moles aliqua magnifica sine fundamento. Dum 
 enim falsas m.entis vires mirantur homines et celebrant, veras 
 ejusdem quce esse posxint (si debita ei adhibeantur auxilia, atque 
 ipsa rebus morigera sit, nee impotenter rebus insultef) prcetereunl 
 et perdunt. Restabat illud unum ut res de integro tentetur me- 
 lioribus prcesidiis, utque fiat scientiarum et artium atque omnis 
 humana} doctrines in universum Instauratio, a debitis excitata fun- 
 damentis. Hoc vero licet aggressu infinitum quiddam videri powit 
 ac supra vires mortales, tamen idem tractatu sanum invenietur ac 
 sobrium, magis quam ea quce adhuc facia sunt. Exitus enim
 
 196 
 
 hujus ret est nonnullus. In iis vero quce jam Jiunt circa scien- 
 
 tias, est vertigo qucedam et agitatio perpetua et circulus. Neque 
 
 ettm fugit quanta in soliludine versetur hoc experimentum, et 
 
 quam durum et incredibile sit ad faciendum fidem. Nihilorrunus, 
 
 nee rem nee seipsum deserendum putavit, quin viam quce una hu- 
 
 mance mend pervia est tentaret atque iniret. Prcestat enim prin- 
 
 cipium dare rei quce exitum habere possU, quam in iis quce exi- 
 
 tum nullum habent perpetua contentione et studio implicari. Vice 
 
 autem contemplative viis illis activis decantatis fere respondent; 
 
 ut altera, ab initio ardua et dijfici/is, desinat in apertum; alter a, 
 
 primo intuitu expedita et proclivis, ducat in avia et prcecipitia. 
 
 Quum autem incertus esset quando hcec alicui posthac in mentem 
 
 ventura sint / eo potissimum usus argumento, quod neminem 
 
 hactenus incenit qui ad similes cogitationes animum applicuerit ; 
 
 decrevit prima quceque quce perftcere licuit in publicum edere. 
 
 Neque hcec festinatio ambitiosa /uiV, serf sollicita; ut si quid ilh 
 
 humanitus accideret, extaret tamen designatio qucedam ac desti- 
 
 natio rei quam animo complexus est; utque extaret simul 
 
 signum aliquod honestce suce et propensce in generis 
 
 humani commoda voluntatis. Certe aliam quam- 
 
 cunque ambitionem inferiorem duxit re quam 
 
 prce manibus habuit. Aut enim hoc quod 
 
 agitur nihil est, out tantum, ut 
 
 merilo ipso contentum esse 
 
 debeat nee fructum 
 
 extra aucerere.
 
 8ERENISSIMO 
 POTENTISSIMOQUE PRINCIPI AC DOMINO NOSTBO, 
 
 J A C OB 0, 
 
 DEI GBATIA 
 
 MAGK& BRITANNIA, FRANCIS, ET HIBERNLE REGI, 
 
 FIDEI DEFENSORI, ETC. 
 
 Serenissime Potentissimeque Rex, 
 
 POTERIT fortasse Majestas tua me furti incusare, quod tan- 
 turn temporis quantum ad haec sufficiat negotiis tuis suifuratus sim. 
 Non habeo quod dicam. Temporis enim non fit restitutio ; nisi 
 forte quod detractum fuerit temporis rebus tuis, id memoriae nomi- 
 nis tui et honor! saeculi tui reponi possit ; si modo haec alicujus sint 
 pretii. Sunt certe prorsus nova ; etiam toto genere : sed descripta 
 ex veteri admodum exemplari, mundo scilicet ipso, et natura re- 
 rum et mentis. Ipse certe (ut ingenue fatear) soleo aestimare hoc 
 opus magis pro partu temporis quam ingenii. Illud enim in eo 
 solummodo mirabile est, initia re! et tantas de iis quse invaluerunt 
 suspiciones alicui in mentem venire potuisse. Caetera non illiben- 
 ter sequuntur. At versatur proculdubio casus (ut loquimur) et 
 quiddam quasi fortuitum non minus in iis quae cogitant homines 
 quam in iis quae agunt aut loquuntur. Verum hunc casum (de 
 quo loquor) ita intelligi volo, ut si quid in his quas atFcro sit 
 boni, id immensse misericordiae et bonitati divinae et fcelicitati 
 temporum tuorum tribuatur: cui et vivus integerrimo affectu 
 servivi, et mortuus fortasse id effecero, ut ilia posteritati, nova
 
 198 EPISTOLA DEDICATORIA. 
 
 hac accensa face in philosophise tenebris, praelucere possint 
 
 Merito autem temporibus regis omnium sapientissimi et doctis- 
 
 simi Regeneratio ista et Instauratio scientiarum debetur. Su- 
 
 perest petitio, Majestate tua non indigna, et maxime omnium 
 
 faciens ad id quod agitur. Ea est, ut quando Salomonem in plu- 
 
 rimis referas, judieiorum gravitate, regno pacifico, cordis latitu- 
 
 dine, librorum denique quos composuisti nobili varietate, etiam hoc 
 
 ad ejusdem regis exemplum addas, ut cures Historiam Naturalem 
 
 et Experimentalem, veram et severam (missis philologicis), et quae 
 
 sit in ordine ad condendam philosophiam, denique qualem suo loco 
 
 describemus, congeri et perfici : ut tandem post tot mundi aetates 
 
 philosophia et scientiae non sint amplius pensiles et aereae, sed 
 
 solidis experientiae omnigenae, ejusdemque bene pensitatae, 
 
 nitantur fundamentis. Equidem Organum praebui ; 
 
 verum materies a rebus ipsis petenda est. 
 
 Deus Opt. Max. Majestatem tuam 
 
 diu servet incolumern. 
 
 Serenissimce Majestati face 
 
 Servus devinctissimus, 
 
 et devotissimus, 
 
 FRANCISCUS VERULAM, 
 CANCELLARIUS.
 
 FEANCISCI DE VERULAMIO 
 INSTAURATIO MAGNA. 
 
 PR^EFATIO. 
 
 De statu scientiarum, quod non sit fcelix out majorem in modum 
 
 auctus ; quodque alia omnino quam prioribus cognita. 
 
 fuerit via aperienda sit intellectui humano, et 
 
 alia comparanda auxilia, ut mens 
 
 suo jure in rerum naturam 
 
 uti possit. 
 
 VIDENTUR nobis homines nee opes nee vires suas 
 bene nosse ; verum de illis majora quam par est, de his 
 minora credere. Ita fit, ut aut artes receptas insanis 
 pretiis aestimantes nil amplius quaerant, aut seipsos plus 
 sequo contemnentes vires suas in levioribus consumant, 
 in iis quae ad summam rei faciant non experiantur. 
 Quare sunt et suae scientiis columnae tanquam fatales ; 
 cum ad ulterius penetrandum homines nee desiderio 
 nee spe excitentur. Atque cum opinio copiae inter 
 maximas causas inopiae sit; quumque ex fiducia prae- 
 sentium vera auxilia negligantur in posterum ; ex usu 
 est, et plane ex necessitate, ut ab illis quas adhuc in- 
 venta sunt in ipso operis nostri limine (idque relictis 
 ambagibus et non dissimulanter) honoris et admira- 
 tionis excessus tollatur; utili monito, ne homines eorum
 
 100 PRJEFATIO. 
 
 aut copiam aut utilitatem in majus accipiant 1 aut 
 celebrent. Nam si quis in omnem illam librorum 
 varietatem qua artes et scientiae exultant diligentius 
 introspiciat, ubique inveniet ejusdem rei repetitiones 
 infinitas, tractandi modis diversas, inventione praeoc- 
 cupatas ; 2 ut omnia primo intuitu numerosa, facto 
 examine pauca reperiantur. Et de utilitate aperte 
 dicendum est, sapientiam istam quam a Graecis potis- 
 simum hausimus pueritiam quandam scientiae videri, 
 atque habere quod proprium est puerorum, ut ad gar- 
 riendum prompta, ad generandum invalida et immatura 
 sit. Controversiarum enim ferax, operum effoeta est. 
 Adeo ut fabula ilia de Scylla in literarum statum, 
 qualis habetur, ad vivum quadrare videatur ; quae vir- 
 ginis os et vultum extulit, ad uterum vero monstra 
 latrantia succingebantur et adhaerebant. Ita habent 
 et scientiae quibus insuevimus generalia quaedam blan- 
 dientia et speciosa, sed cum ad particularia ventum sit, 
 veluti ad partes generationis, ut fructum et opera ex se 
 edant, turn contentiones et oblatrantes disputationes ex- 
 oriuntur, in quas desinunt, et quse partus locum obti- 
 nent. Praeterea, si hujusrnodi scientiaa plane res mortua 
 non essent, id minime videtur eventurum fuisse quod 
 per multa jam saecula usu venit, ut illas suis immotae 
 fere haereant vestigiis, nee incrementa genere humano 
 digna sumant : eo usque, ut saepenumero non solum as- 
 sertio maneat assertio sed etiam quaestio maneat quaes- 
 tio, et per disputationes non solvatur sed figatur et 
 alatur, omnisque traditio et successio disciplinarum rep- 
 raesentet et exhibeat personas magistri et auditoris, non 
 
 1 Exaggerate. 
 
 2 Anticipated, so far as relates to originality of invention. (One of Ba- 
 con's antitheses between " inventione " and " modis tractandi." )
 
 PRJSFATIO. 201 
 
 inventoris et ejus qui inventis aliquid eximium adjiciat. 
 In artibus autem mechanicis contrarium evenire vide- 
 mus ; quae, ac si aurae cujusdam vitalis forent participes, 
 quotidie crescunt et perficiuntur, et in primis authori- 
 bus rudes plerunque et fere onerosae et informes ap- 
 parent, postea vero novas virtutes et commoditatem 
 quandam adipiscuntur, eo usque, ut citius studia homi- 
 num et cupiditates deficiant et mutentur, quam illae ad 
 culmen et perfectionem suam pervenerint. Philosophia 
 contra et scientias intellectuales, statuarum more, ado- 
 rantur et celebrantur, sed non promoventur. Quin 
 etiam in priino nonnunquam authore maxime vigent, 
 et deinceps degenerant. Nam postquam homines dedi- 
 titii facti sint et in unius sententiam (tanquam pedarii 
 senatores) coierint, scientiis ipsis amplitudinem non ad- 
 dunt, sed in certis authoribus ornandis et stipandis servili 
 officio funguntur. Neque illud afFerat quispiam, scien- 
 tias paullatim succrescentes tandem ad statum quendam 
 pervenisse, et turn demum (quasi confectis spatiis legiti- 
 mis) in operibus paucorum sedes fixas posuisse ; atque 
 postquam nil melius inveniri potuerit, restare scilicet ut 
 quae inventa sint exornentur et colantur. Atque optan- 
 dum quidem esset haec ita se habuisse. Rectius illud et 
 verius, istas scientiarum mancipationes nil aliud esse 
 quam rem ex paucorum hominum confidentia et reliquo- 
 rum socordia et inertia natam. Postquam enim scientiae 
 per partes diligenter fortasse excultse et tractatae fuerint, 
 turn forte exortus est aliquis, ingenio audax et propter 
 methodi compendia acceptus et celebratus, qui specie te- 
 nus artem constituent, revera veterum labores corrupe- 
 rit. Id tamen posteris gratum esse solet, propter usum 
 operis expeditum et inquisitionis novae taedium et impa- 
 tientiam. Quod si quis consensu jam inveterate tan-
 
 202 PILEFATIO. 
 
 quam temporis judicio moveatur, sciat se ratione admo- 
 dum fallaci et infirma niti. Neque enim nobis magna 
 ex parte notum est, quid in scientiis et artibus, variis 
 saeculis et locis, innotuerit et in publicum emanarit ; 
 multo minus, quid a singulis tentatum sit et secreto 
 agitatum. Itaque nee temporis partus nee abortus ex- 
 tant in fastis. Neque ipse consensus ejusque diutur- 
 nitas magni prorsiis aestimandus est. Utcunque enim 
 varia sint genera politiarum, unicus est status scien- 
 tiarum, isque semper fuit et mansurus est popularis. 
 Atque apud populum plurimum vigent doctrinae aut 
 contentiosae et pugnaces aut speciosae et inanes, quales 
 videlicet assensum aut illaqueant aut demulcent. Ita- 
 que maxima ingenia proculdubio per singulas aetates 
 vim passa sunt ; dum viri captu et intellectu non 
 vulgares, nihilo secius existimationi suae consulentes, 
 temporis et multitudinis judicio se submiserint. Qua- 
 mobrem altiores contemplationes si forte usquam emicu- 
 erint, opinionum vulgarium ventis subinde agitatae sunt 
 et extinctae. Adeo ut Tempus, tanquam fluvius, levia 
 et inflata ad nos devexerit, gravia et solida demerserit. 
 Quin et illi ipsi authores qui dictaturam quandam in 
 scientiis invaserunt et tanta confidentia de rebus pro- 
 nuntiant, cum tamen per intervalla ad se redeunt, ad 
 querimonias de subtilitate naturae, veritatis recessibus, 
 rerum obscuritate, causarum implicatione, ingenii hu- 
 mani infirmitate, se convertunt ; in hoc nihilo tamen 
 modestiores, cum malint communem hominum et rerum 
 conditionem causari quam de seipsis confiteri. Quin 
 illis hoc fere solenne est, ut quicquid ars aliqua non 
 attingat id ipsum ex eadem arte impossibile esse statu- 
 ant. Neque vero damnari potest ars, quum ipsa dis- 
 ceptet et judicet. Itaque id agitur, ut ignorantia etiam
 
 PK^EFATIO. 203 
 
 ab ignominia liberator. Atque quae tradita et recepta 
 sunt ad hunc fere modum se habent : quoad opera 
 sterilia, quaestionum plena ; incrementis suis tarda et 
 languida ; perfectionem in toto simulantia, sed per 
 partes male impleta ; delectu autem popularia et au- 
 tlioribus ipsis suspecta, ideoque artificiis quibusdam 
 munita et ostentata. 1 Qui autem et ipsi experiri et se 
 scientiis addere earumque fines proferre statuerunt, nee 
 illi a receptis prorsus desciscere ausi sunt, nee fontes re- 
 rum petere. Verum se magnum quiddam consequutos 
 putant si aliquid ex proprio inserant et adjiciant ; pru- 
 denter secum reputantes, se in assentiendo modestiam, 
 in adjiciendo libertatem tueri posse. Verum dum opi- 
 nionibus et moribus consulitur, mediocritates istae lau- 
 datse in magnum scientiarum detrimentum cedunt. Vix 
 enim datur authores simul et admirari et superare. Sed 
 fit aquarum more, quae non altius ascendunt quam ex 
 quo descenderunt. Itaque hujusmodi homines emen- 
 dant nonnulla sed parum promovent, et proficiunt in 
 melius non in majus. Neque tamen defuerunt, qui ausu 
 majore omnia integra sibi duxerunt, et ingenii impetu 
 usi, priora prosternendo et destruendo aditum sibi et 
 placitis suis fecerunt ; quorum tumultu non magno- 
 pere profectum est ; quum philosophiam et artes non re 
 ac opere amplificare, sed placita tantum permutare at- 
 que regnum opinionum in se transferre contenderint ; 
 exiguo sane fructu, quum inter errores oppositos er- 
 randi causae sint fere communes. Si qui autem nee 
 alienis nee propriis placitis obnoxii, sed libertati faven- 
 tes, ita animati fuere ut alios secum simul quaerere 
 
 1 So selected as to favour popular notions, while at the same time their 
 truth is doubted even by those who propound them, on which account they 
 are fenced round and set forth with sundry artifices.
 
 204 PILEFATIO. 
 
 cuperent ; illi sane affectu honesti, sed conatu invalidi 
 fuerunt. Probabiles enim tantum rationes secuti vi- 
 dentur, et argumentorum vertigine circumaguntur, et 
 promiscua qua3rendi licentia severitatem inquisitionis 
 enervarunt. Nemo autem reperitur, qui in rebus ipsis 
 et experientia moram fecerit legitimam. Atque non- 
 nulli rursus qui experientias undis se commisere et fere 
 mechanici facti sunt, tamen in ipsa experientia errat- 
 icara quandam inquisitionem exercent, nee ei l certS 
 lege militant. Quin et plerique pusilla qusedam pensa 
 sibi proposuere, pro magno ducentes si unum aliquod 
 inventum eruere possint ; institute non minus tenui, 
 quam imperito. Nemo enim rei alicujus naturam in 
 ipsa re recte aut fbeliciter perscrutatur ; verum post 
 laboriosam experimentorum variationem non acquiescit, 
 seel invenit quod ulterius quaarat. Neque illud imprimis 
 omittendum est, quod oinnis in experiendo industria 
 statim ab initio opera qusedam destinata prsepropero et 
 intempestivo studio captavit ; fructifera (inquam) ex- 
 perimenta, non lucifera, quaesivit; nee ordinem divinum 
 imitata est, qui primo die lucem 2 tantum creavit, eique 
 unum diem integrum attribuit ; neque illo die quic- 
 quam materiati operis produxit, verum sequentibus 
 diebus ad ea descendit. At qui summas dialecticae 
 partes tribuerunt atque inde fidissima scientiis praesidia 
 comparari putarunt, verissime et optime viderunt in- 
 tellectum humaiium sibi permissum merito suspectum 
 esse debere. Verum infirmior omnino est malo medi- 
 
 1 In its service. 
 
 2 The light created on the first day is by many divines supposed to be 
 not a corporeal but a spiritual light. This is the doctrine of S. Augustine; 
 who however does not say that those who adopt a contrary opinion are 
 necessarily wrong. This idea of a spiritual light was developed at great 
 length in connexion with the theory of the nature and cognition of angels.
 
 FILEFATIO. 205 
 
 cina ; nee ipsa mail expers. Siquidem dialectica quae 
 recepta est, licet ad civilia et artes quae in sermone 
 et opinione positae sunt rectissime adhibeatur, naturae 
 tamen subtilitatem longo intervallo non attingit ; et 
 prensando quod non capit, ad errores potius stabiliendos 
 et quasi figendos quam ad viam veritati aperiendam 
 valuit. 
 
 Quare, ut qua? dicta sunt complectamur, non videtur 
 hominibus aut aliena fides aut industria propria circa 
 scientias hactenus foeliciter illuxisse ; prassertim quum et 
 in demonstrationibus et in experimentis adhuc cognitis 
 parum sit praesidii. JEdificium autem hujus universi 
 structura sua, intellectui humano contemplanti, instar 
 labyrinthi est ; ubi tot ambigua viarum, tarn fallaces 
 rerum et signorum similitudines, tarn obliquas et im- 
 plexae naturarum spiras et nodi, undequaque se osten- 
 dunt. Iter autem sub incerto sensus lumine, interdum 
 affulgente interdum se condente, per experientiae et 
 rerum particularium sylvas perpetuo faciendum est. 
 Quin etiam duces itineris (ut dictum est) qui se offe- 
 runt, et ipsi implicantur, atque errorum et errantium 
 numerum augent. In rebus tarn duris, de judicio 
 hominum ex vi propria, aut etiam de felicitate fortuita, 
 desperandum est. Neque enim ingeniorum quanta- 
 cunque excellentia, neque experiendi alea saepius repe- 
 tita, ista vincere queat. Vestigia filo regenda sunt : 
 omnisque via, usque a primls ipsis sensuum percep- 
 tionibus, certa ratione munienda. Neque ha3c ita 
 accipienda sunt, ac si nihil omnino tot saeculis, tantis 
 laboribus, actum sit. Neque enim eorum quaa inventa 
 sunt nos poenitet. Atque antiqui certe, in iis quae in 
 ingenio et meditatione abstracta posita sunt, mirabiles 
 se viros praestitere. Verum quemadmodum saeculis
 
 206 PILEFATIO. 
 
 prioribus, cum homines in navigando per stellarum 
 tantum observationes cursum dirigebant, veteris sane 
 continentis oras legere potuerunt, aut maria aliqua 
 minora et mediterranea trajicere ; priusquam autem 
 oceanus trajiceretur et novi orbis regiones detegeren- 
 tur, necesse fuit usum acus nauticae, ut ducem viaB 
 magis fidum et certum, innotuisse : simili prorsus ra- 
 tione, qua3 hucusque in artibus et scientiis inventa 
 sunt, ea hujusmodi sunt ut usu, meditatione, obser- 
 vando, argumentando, reperiri potuerint ; utpote quae 
 sensibus propiora sint et communibus notionibus fere 
 subjaceant ; antequam vero ad remotiora et occul- 
 tiora naturae liceat appellere, necessario requiritur ut 
 melior et perfectior mentis et intellectus humani usus 
 et adoperatio introducatur. 
 
 Nos certe, seterno veritatis amore devicti, viarum 
 incertis et arduis et solitudinibus nos commisimus ; et 
 divino auxilio freti et innixi, mentem nostram et contra 
 opinionum violentias et quasi instructas acies, et contra 
 proprias et internas haesitationes et scrupulos, et con- 
 tra rerum caligines et nubes et undequaque volantes 
 phantasias, sustinuimus ; ut tandem magis fida et se- 
 cura indicia viventibus et posteris comparare possemus. 
 Qua in re si quid profecerimus, non alia sane ratio 
 nobis viam aperuit quam vera et legitima spiritus hu- 
 mani humiliatio. Omnes enim ante nos, qui ad artes 
 inveniendas se applicuerunt, conjectis paulisper in res 
 et exempla et experientiam oculis, statim, quasi inven- 
 tio nil aliud esset quam qugedam excogitatio, spiritus 
 proprios ut sibi oracula exhiberent quodammodo invo- 
 carunt. Nos vero inter res caste et perpetuo versantes, 
 intellectum longius a rebus non abstrahimus quam ut 
 rerum imagines et radii (ut in sensu fit) coire pos-
 
 PILEFATIO. 207 
 
 sint ; l unde fit, ut ingenii viribus et excellentiae non 
 multum relinquatur. Atque quam in inveniendo ad- 
 hibemus humilitatem, eandem et in docendo sequuti 
 sumus. Neque enim aut confutation um triumphis, aut 
 antiquitatis advocationibus, aut authoritatis usurpatione 
 quadam, aut etiam obscuritatis velo, aliquam his nos- 
 tris inventis majestatem imponere aut conciliare cona- 
 raur ; qualia reperire non difficile esset ei, qui nomini 
 suo non animis aliorum lumen affundere conaretur. 
 Non (inquam) ullam aut vim aut insidias hominum 
 judiciis fecimus aut paramus ; verum eos ad res ipsas 
 et rerum fbedera adducimus ; ut ipsi videant quid habe- 
 ant, quid arguant, quid addant atque in commune con- 
 ferant. Nos autem si qua in re vel male credidimus, 
 vel obdormivimus et minus attendimus, vel defecimus 
 in via et inquisitionem abrupimus, nihilominus iis mo- 
 dis res nudas et apertas exhibemus, ut errores nostri, 
 antequam scientia3 massam altius inficiant, notari et 
 
 1 To explain the illustration of which Bacon here makes use, it is in the 
 first place to be remarked that radius is not to be rendered by ray, but by 
 visual cone. "Radium visualem speciem rei visibilis dicimus: non ut lineam 
 aut superficiem mathematicam profundo carentem, sed corporalem et py- 
 ramidalem, cujus basis in re visa et conus in oculo videntis est." Marg. 
 Phil. x. 2. c. 11. Again Telesius, whose theory of vision was adopted by 
 Bacon, says, " qua? a re quas spectator relucet lux universa quidem unum 
 in pupilla coit in punctum," thus forming the "radius" just mentioned. 
 Lastly Telesius goes on to say, " ab illarum [rerum sc.] puncto quovis ilia 
 [lux sc.] relucet, et vel ubi in unum coit punctum universa ibi fit, itaque 
 et rerum a quibus relucet imagines et ipsae [sic enim legendum] in eodem 
 fiunt puncto." These "imagines " then are therefore in some unexplained 
 manner borne along by the light which constitutes the visual cone, and ex- 
 ist virtually if not formally at the apex from which the light dispersing in 
 an inverse cone falls ultimately (still bearing them with it) on the vitreous 
 humour, which is in this system the sphere of vision. Bacon's expressions 
 therefore amount simply to this, that the eye must be at a certain distance 
 from the object in order that an effectual visual cone may be formed. He 
 does not speak either of optical images or of rays, in the senses which we 
 attach to those words. See Teksius, De Rerum Naturd, vi. c. 23 and 24.
 
 208 PR^FATIO. 
 
 separari possint ; atque etiam ut facilis et expedita sit 
 laborum nostrorum continuatio. Atque hoc modo inter 
 empiricam et rationalem facultatem (quarum njorosa et 
 inauspicata divortia et repudia omnia in humana familia 
 turbavere) conjugium verum et legitimum in perpet- 
 uum nos firmasse existimamus. 1 
 
 Quamobrem, quum haec arbitrii nostri non sint, in 
 principle operis, ad Deum Patrem, Deum Verbuin, 
 Deum Spiritum, preces fundimus humillimas et arden- 
 tissimas, ut humani generis serumnarum memores et 
 peregrinationis istius vita3 in qua dies paucos et malos 
 terimus, novis suis eleemosynis, per manus nostras, 
 familiam humanara dotare dignentur. Atque illud 
 insuper supplices rogamus, ne humana divinis offici- 
 ant, neve ex reseratione viarum sensus et accensione 
 niajore luminis naturalis aliquid incredulitatis et noctis 
 animis nostris erga divina mysteria oboriatur : sed 
 potius, ut ab intellectu puro, a phantasiis et vanitate 
 repurgato et divinis oraculis nihilominus subdito et 
 prorsus dedititio, fidei dentur quse fidei sunt. Pos- 
 tremo, ut scientiae veneno a serpente infuso, quo ani- 
 mus humanus tumet et inflatur, deposito, nee ahum 
 sapiamus nee ultra sobrium, sed veritatem in chari- 
 tate colamus. 
 
 Peractis autem votis, ad homines conversi, qua3clam 
 et salutaria monemus et asqua postulamus. Monemus 
 primum (quod etiam precati sumus) ut homines sen- 
 sum in officio, quoad divina, contineant. Sensus enim 
 (instar solis) globi terrestris faciem aperit, coelestis 
 daudit et obsignat. 2 Rursus, ne hujusce mali fuga 
 
 1 This is one of the passages which show that Bacon did not imagine 
 that the empirical faculty was the only thing to be considered in the phi- 
 losophy of science, but that he recognised another coordinate element. 
 
 2 This image, which in the Advancement of Learning and in the De Aug-
 
 PRJEFATIO. 209 
 
 in contrarium peccent ; quod certe fiet, si naturae in- 
 quisitionem ulla ex parte veluti interdicto separatara 
 putant. Neque enim pura ilia et immaculata scientia 
 naturalis, per quam Adam nomina ex proprietate rebus 
 imposuit, principium aut occasionem lapsui dedit. Sed 
 ambitiosa ilia et imperativa scientiae moralis, de bono 
 ot malo dijudicantis, cupiditas, ad hoc ut Homo a 
 Deo deficeret et sibi ipsi leges daret, ea demum ratio 
 atque modus tentationis fuit. De scientiis autem quse 
 naturam contemplantur sanctus ille philosophus pro- 
 nuntiat, Grloriam Dei esse celare rein; gloriam regis 
 autem rent invenire : non aliter ac si divina natura 
 innocenti et benevolo puerorum ludo delectaretur, qui 
 ideo se abscondunt ut inveniantur ; atque animam hu- 
 inanam sibi collusorem in hoc ludo pro sua in homines 
 indulgentia et bonitate cooptaverit. Postremo omnes 
 in universum monitos volumus, ut sciential veros fines 
 cogitent ; nee earn aut animi causa petant, aut ad 
 
 mentis Bacon quotes from "one of Plato's school," is taken from Philo 
 Judseus, perhaps the most poetical of the Neo-Platonists. " Post exortum 
 ejus [soils scilicet] illustrantur in terris omnia, in coelo vero celantur; e 
 diverse, post ejus occasum sidera quidem promicant, terrestria vero cuncta 
 obtegtmtur umbris supervenientibus : ad eundem modum res nostrae se 
 habent; quoties sensuum splendor tanquam sol oritur, tune scientia? reverS 
 coelestes occultantur: quoties autem ad occasum accedit, tune fulgentissimae 
 virtutum stella? se proferunt, quando etiam mens ipsa re nulla velante fit 
 sensibilis." Philo. Jud., Quod somnia mittantur a Deo. (I quote from the 
 version of Gelenius.) 
 
 Nearly the same idea appears to be expressed in the Bhagavad Gita, 
 li. 69. : 
 
 Welche jedem Gesch'dpf Nacht ist, in der wacht der Gesammelte ; 
 In der jeglich Geschbpf wachet, ist des schauenden Weisen Nacht. 
 
 S. W. v. HumboldPs Works, i. 84 
 
 Which might be thus rendered in the Latin of the middle ages : 
 
 In nocte creaturse vigilat interims homo ; 
 Cum autem vigilat creatura, contemplative nox est. 
 VOL. I. 14
 
 210 PILEFATIO. 
 
 contentionem, aut ut alios despiciant, aut ad commo- 
 dum, aut ad famam, aut ad potentiam, aut hujusmodi 
 inferiora ; sed ad raeritura et usus vitse ; eamque in 
 charitate perficiant et regant. Ex appetitu enim 
 potentiae angeli lapsi sunt ; ex appetitu scientiae, 
 homines ; sed charitatis non est excessus ; neque an- 
 gelus aut homo per earn unquam in periculum 
 venit. 
 
 Postulata autem nostra quae afferimus talia sunt. 
 De iiobis ipsis silemus : de re autem quae agitur pet- 
 imus, ut homines earn non opinioncm sed opus esse 
 cogitent ; ac pro certo habeant, non sectae nos alicu- 
 jus aut placiti, sed utilitalis et amplitudinis humanae 
 fundamenta moliri. Deinde ut suis commodis aequi, 
 exutis opinionum zelis et prasjudiciis, in commune 
 consulant ; ac ab erroribus viarum atque impedimen- 
 tis, nostris prassidiis et auxiliis, liberati et muniti, la- 
 borum qui restant et ipsi in partem veniant. Prae- 
 terea, ut bene sperent ; neque Instaurationem nostram, 
 ut quiddam infinitum et ultra mortale, fingant et animo 
 concipiant ; quum revera sit infiniti erroris finis et ter- 
 minus legitimus ; mortalitatis autem et humanitatis non 
 sit immemor ; quum rem non intra unius aetatis cur- 
 riculum omnino perfici posse confidat, sed successioni 
 destinet ; denique scientias, non per arrogantiam in 
 humani ingenii cellulis, sed submisse in mundo ma- 
 jore quaerat. Vasta vero ut plurimum solent esse, 
 quae inania : solida contrahuntur maxime, et in parvo 
 sita sunt. Postremo etiam petendum videtur (ne forte 
 quis rei ipsius periculo nobis iniquus esse velit) ut 
 videant homines, quatenus ex eo quod nobis asserere 
 necesse sit (si modo nobis ipsi constare velimus) de 
 his nostris opinandi aut sententiam ferendi sibi jus
 
 PRJEFATIO. 211 
 
 permissum putent: quum nos omnem istam rationem 
 
 humanam praematuram, anticipantem, et a rebus tem- 
 
 ere et citius quam oportuit abstractam, (quat- 
 
 enus ad inquisitionem naturse) ut rem 
 
 variam et perturbatara et male ex- 
 
 tructam rejiciamus. Neque po&- 
 
 tulandum est ut ejus judicio 
 
 stetur, quae ipsa in ju- 
 
 dicium vocatur.
 
 DISTRIBUTIO OPERIS. 
 
 Ejus constituuntur Paries sex. 
 
 Prima ; Partitions Sdentiarum. 
 
 Secunda ; Novum Organum^ sive Indicia de Interpre* 
 
 tatione Naturce. 
 Tertia ; Phcenomena Universi, sive IRstoria Naturalis 
 
 et Experimentalis ad condendam Philoso- 
 
 phiam. 
 
 Quarta ; Scala Intellectus. 
 Quinta ; Prodromi, sive Anticipationes Philosophice Se- 
 
 cundce. 
 Sexta ; Philosophic* Secunda, sive Scientia Activa. 
 
 Singularum Arguments,. 
 
 PARS autem instituti nostri est, ut omnia, quantum 
 fieri potest, aperte et perspicue proponantur. Nuditas 
 enira animi, ut olim corporis, innocentiae et simplicita- 
 tis comes est. Pateat itaque primo, ordo operis atque 
 ratio ejus. Partes operis a nobis constituuntur sex. 
 
 Prima pars exhibet scientise ejus sive doctrinae in 
 cujus possessione humanum genus hactenus versatur, 
 Summam, sive descriptionem universalem. Visum 
 enim est nobis etiam in iis quae recepta sunt non- 
 nullam facere mqram : eo nimirum consilio, ut facilius 
 et verteribus perfectio et novis aditus detur. Pan enim
 
 DISTRIBUTIO OPERIS. 213 
 
 fere studio ferimur et ad vetera excolenda et ad ulte- 
 riora assequenda. Pertinet etiam hoc ad faciendam 
 fidem : juxta illud, Non accipit indoctus verba scientice, 
 nisi prius ea dixeris quce versantur in corde e/jus. Ita- 
 que scientiarum atque artium receptarum oras legere, 
 necnon utilia quaedam in illas importare, tanquam in 
 transitu, non negligemus. 
 
 Partitiones tamen Scientiarum adhibemus eas, quae 
 non tantum jam inventa et nota, sed hactenus omissa 
 et debita, complectantur. Etenim inveniuntur in globo 
 intellectuali, quemadmodum in terrestri, et culta pariter 
 et deserta. Itaque nil mi rum videri debet, si a divisioni- 
 bus usitatis quandoque recedamus. Adjectio eninl, dum 
 totum variat, etiam partes earumque sectiones neces- 
 sario variat : receptae autem divisiones receptae summae 
 scientiarum, qualis nunc est, tantum competunt. 
 
 Circa ea vero quas ceu omissa notabimus, ita nos 
 gerenms, ut non leves tantum titulos et argumenta 
 concisa eorum qua? desiderantur proponamus. Nam 
 siquid inter omissa retulerimus (modo sit dignioris 
 subjecti) cujus ratio paulo videatur obscurior, adeo 
 ut merito suspicari possimus homines non facile intel- 
 lecturos quid nobis velimus aut quale sit illud opus 
 quod animo et cogitatione complectimur, perpetuo 
 nobis curaa erit aut praecepta hujusmodi operis confici- 
 endi aut etiam partem operis ipsius jam a nobis con- 
 fectam ad exemplum totius subjungere ; ut in singulis 
 aut opera aut consilio juvemus. Etenim etiam ad nos- 
 tram existimationem, non solum aliorum utilitatem, 
 pertinere putavimus, ne quis arbitretur levem aliquarn 
 de istiusmodi rebus notionem mentem nostram per- 
 strinxisse, atque esse ilia quae desideramus ac prensa- 
 mus tanquam votis similia. Ea vero talia sunt, quorum
 
 214 DISTRIBUTED OPERIS. 
 
 et penes homines (nisi sibi ipsi desint) potestas plane 
 sit, et nos apud nosmet rationem quandarn certam et 
 explicatam habeamus. Neque enim regiones metiri 
 animo, ut augures, auspiciorum causa : sed intrare, ut 
 duces, promerendi studio, 1 suscepimus. Atque hcec pri- 
 ma operis pars est. 
 
 Porro prsetervecti artes veteres, intellectum huma- 
 num ad trajiciendum instruemus. Destinatur itaque 
 parti secundae, doctrina de meliore et perfectiore usu 
 rationis in rerura inquisitione, et de auxiliis veris intel- 
 lectus : ut per hoc (quantum conditio humanitatis ac 
 mortalitatis patitur) exaltetur intellectus, et facultate 
 amplificetur ad naturae ardua et obscura superanda. 
 Atque est ea quam adducimus ars (quam Interpretatio- 
 nem Naturae appellare consuevimus) ex genere logicae ; 
 licet plurimum, atque adeo immensum quiddam, inter- 
 sit. Nam et ipsa ilia logica vulgaris auxilia et prsesidia 
 intellectui moliri ac parare profitetur: et in hoc uno 
 consentiunt. Differt autem plane a vulgar! rebus pra> 
 cipue tribus : viz. ipso tine, ordine demonstrandi, et in- 
 quirendi initiis. 
 
 Nam huic nostrae scientiae finis proponitur, ut inveni- 
 antur non argumenta sed artes, nee principiis consenta- 
 nea sed ipsa principia, nee rationes probabiles sed desig- 
 nationes et indicationes Operum. Itaque ex intentione 
 diversa diversus sequitur effectus. Illic enim adversa- 
 rius disputatione vincitur et constringitur, hie natura 
 opere. 
 
 Atque cum hujusmodi fine conveniunt demonstrati- 
 onum ipsarum natura et ordo. In logica enim vulga- 
 ri opera fere universa circa Syllogismum consumitur. 
 1 Purposing to deserve well of their country.
 
 DISTRIBUTIO OPERIS. 215 
 
 De Inductione vero Dialectic! vix serio cogitasse viden- 
 tur ; levi mentione earn transmittentes, et ad disputan- 
 di formulas properantes. At nos demonstrationem per 
 syllogi.smum rejicimus, quod confusius agat, et naturam 
 emittat e manibus. Taraetsi enim nemini dubium 
 esse possit quin, quas in medio termino conveniunt, ea 
 et inter se conveniant (quod est matliematicas cujusdam 
 certitudinis) : nihilominus hoc subest fraudis, quod syl- 
 logismus ex propositionibus constet, propositiones ex 
 verbis, verba autein notionum tesserae et signa sint. 
 Itaque si notiones ipsae mentis (quae verborum quasi 
 anima sunt, et totius hujusmodi structurae ac fabricae 
 basis) male ac temere a rebus abstractas, et vagae, nee 
 satis definitae et circuinscriptaa, denique multis modis 
 vitiosas fuerint, omnia ruunt. Rejicimus igitur syllo- 
 gismum ; neque id solum quoad principia (ad quae nee 
 illi earn adhibent) sed etiam quoad propositiones me- 
 dias, quas educit sane atque parturit utcunque syllo- 
 gism us, sed operum steriles et a practica remotas et 
 plane quoad partem activam scientiarum incompetentes. 
 Quamvis igitur relinquamus syllogismo et hujusmodi 
 demonstrationibus famosis ac jactatis jurisdictionem in 
 artes populares et opinabiles (nil enim in hac parte mo- 
 vernus), tamen ad naturam rerum Inductione per omnia, 
 et tarn ad minores propositiones quam ad majores, uti- 
 mur. Inductionem enim censemus earn esse demon- 
 strandi formam, quae sensum tuetur et naturam premit 
 et operibus imminet ac fere immiscetur. 
 
 Itaque ordo quoque demonstrandi plane invertitur. 
 Adhuc enim res ita geri censuevit ; ut a sensu et par- 
 ticularibus primo loco ad maxime generalia advoletur, 
 tanquam ad polos fixos circa quos disputationes vertan- 
 tur ; ab illis cagtera per media deriventur : via certe
 
 216 DISTRIBUTIO OPERIS. 
 
 compendiaria, sed prsecipiti, et ad naturam impervia, 
 ad disputationes vero proelivi et accommodata. At 
 secundura nos, axioraata 1 continenter et gradatim ex- 
 citantur, ut non nisi postremo loco ad generalissima ve- 
 niatur : ea vero generalissima evadunt non notionalia, 
 sed bene terminita, et talia quas natura ut revera sibi 
 notiora agnoscat, 2 quaeque rebus hasreant in medullis. 
 
 At in forma ipsa quoque inductionis, et judicio quod 
 per earn fit, opus longe maximum movemus. Ea enim 
 de qua dialectici loquuntur, quae procedit per enumera- 
 tionem simplicem, puerile quiddam est, et precario con- 
 cludit, et periculo ab instantia contradictoria exponitur, 
 et consueta tantum intuetur, nee exitum repent. 
 
 Atqui opus est ad scientias inductionis forma tali, 
 quae experientiam solvat et separet, et per exclusiones 
 ac rejectiones debitas necessario concludat. Quod si 
 
 1 Bacon's way of using the word "axioma " as if it were equivalent to 
 "enuntiatum" or "propositio" he derived from Peter Ramus. Hasse, an 
 early commentator on Ramus, remarks that the word is used in the same 
 way by Cicero, who probably took it from the Stoics. 
 
 2 Aristotle everywhere distinguishes between that which is prior and 
 more known in the order of nature, and that which is prior and more known 
 with respect to ourselves. Thus in the Posterior Analytics, i. 2., he says: 
 "Priora autem et notiora dupliciter dicuntur: neque enim idem est prius 
 natura et prius quantum ad nos pertinet; neque idem quod notius natura 
 et quod nobis notius. Dico enim, quantum ad nos, et priora et notiora esse 
 qua; a sensu propius ; per se vero ac simpliciter, et priora et notiora quse lon- 
 gius absunt; quo quid autem magis universale eo est remotius, ac singula 
 quaeque sunt proxima." The schoolmen, misled by the ambiguity of the 
 Greek dative, substitute for "notius natura," 7-5 fyvaei yvupipuTepov , "no- 
 tius natura;," as if Aristotle had spoken of Nature's knowledge in oppo- 
 sition to ours. The phrase in the text involves the same metaphor. It 
 may be translated " Such as Nature would recognise as being really her 
 first principles." "Notius natura" is equivalent to St. Thomas's expres- 
 sion " prius per viam perfectionis." See with respect to the subject of this 
 note, and especially to the origin and meaning of the phrases a priori and 
 a posteriori, Trendelenburg Elementa iMg. Aristot. 81. 
 
 Bartholdy's rendering is merely founded in error: " dass es die Natur fur 
 einen wirklichen Beweis einer innigern Bekanntschaft mil ihr anerkennen 
 muss."
 
 DISTRIBUTIO OPERIS. 217 
 
 judicium illud vulgatum dialecticorum tarn operosum 
 fuerit, et tanta ingenia exercuerit ; quanto magis labo 
 randum est in hoc altero, quod non tantum ex mentis 
 penetralibus, sed etiam ex naturae visceribus extrahitur ? 
 
 Neque tamen hie finis. Nam fundamenta quoque 
 scientiarum fortius deprimimus et solidamus, atque 
 initia inquirendi altius sumimus, quam adhuc homines 
 fecerunt: ea subjiciendo examini, quae logica vulgaris 
 tanquam fide aliena recipit. Etenim dialectici princi- 
 pia scientiarum a scientiis singulis tanquam mutuo 
 sumunt : rursus, notiones mentis primas venerantur : 
 postreino, informationibus immediatis sensus bene dis- 
 positi acquiescunt. At nos logicam veram singulas 
 scientiarum provincias majore cum imperio quam penes 
 ipsarum principia sit debere ingredi decrevimus, atque 
 ilia ipsa principia putativa ad rationes reddendas com- 
 pellere quousque plane coiistent. 1 Quod vero attinet 
 ad notiones primas intellectus; nihil est eorum quae 
 intellectus sibi permissus congessit, quin nobis pro sus- 
 pecto sit, nee ullo modo ratum, nisi npvo judicio se 
 stiterit et secundum illud pronuntiatum fuerit. Qui- 
 netiam sensus ipsius informationes multis modis excu- 
 timus. Sensus enim fallunt utique, sed et errores suos 
 indicant : verum errores praesto, indicia eorum longe 
 petita sunt. 
 
 Duplex autem est sensus culpa: aut enim destituit 
 nos aut decipit. Nam primo, plurimae sunt res quae 
 sensum etiam recte dispositum nee ullo modo impedi- 
 tum effugiunt; aut subtilitate totius corporis, aut par- 
 tium minutiis, aut loci distantia, aut tarditate atque 
 etiam velocitate motus, aut familiaritate objecti, aut alias 
 
 1 On the relation of philosophy to the sciences, I may refer to an interest- 
 ing essay by Ritter in the Berlin Transactions.
 
 218 DISTRIBUTIO OPERIS. 
 
 ob causas. Neque rursus, ubi sensus rem tenet, prehen- 
 siones ejus admodum firmaa sunt. Nam testimonium 
 et informatio sensus semper est ex analogia hominis, 
 non ex analogia universi : l atque magno prorsus errore 
 asseritur, sensum esse mensuram rerum. 
 
 Itaque ut his occurratur, nos multo et fido ministe- 
 rio auxilia sensui undique conquisivimus et contraxi- 
 mus, ut destitutionibus substitutiones, variationibus rec- 
 tificationes suppeditentur. Neque id molimur tarn 
 instrumentis quam experimentis. Etenim experimen- 
 torum longe major est subtilitas quam sensus ipsius, 
 licet instrumentis exquisitis adjuti; (de iis loquimur 
 experimentis, quaB ad intentionem ejus quod quseritur 
 perite et secundum artem excogitata et apposita sunt.) 2 
 Itaque perceptioni sensus immediatas ac propriae non 
 multum tribuimus : sed eo rem deducimus, ut sensus 
 tantum de experimento, experimentum de re judicet. 
 Quare existimamus nos sensus (a quo omnia in natu- 
 
 1 The phrase "est ex analogia" is to be rendered (giving to " analogia" 
 a wider signification than that which it ordinarily has) by " has reference 
 to: " just as in the dictum, " materia non est cognoscibilis nisi ex analogia 
 (or per analogiain) formic;" "except by reference to form." It seems 
 not improbable that this way of using the word was suggested by the pas- 
 sage in the Physics which gave rise to the dictum I have quoted. Aristotle 
 says, Phys. i. 7., " 'H 6e vrroKei/jvr/ tyvoif, imarriTT/ Kara avakoyiav in 
 which however the word is really used in its usual sense, since Aristotle goes 
 on to say that this vr oi;eifj.evrj yvaif stands in the same relation to ovaia 
 that bronze does to a statue, or wood to a couch; thus illustrating the nature 
 of matter by referring to the subject-matter of an artificial form. Bacon 
 elsewhere uses the phrase "in ordine ad" just as he here uses " ex analo- 
 gia; " and on the other hand S. Thomas says, referring to the passage just 
 cited, " Materia non est scibilis nisi in ordine ad formam, ut dicit Philoso- 
 phus primo Physieorum ; " so that the two phrases seem equivalent. See 
 S. Thomas, De Naturd Material, c. 2., compared with the tract De jmncipia 
 individuationis. 
 
 That the meaning of the word Analogy was misconceived by S. Thomas, 
 by Duns Scotus, and by the schoolmen in general, is pointed out by Zaba- 
 rella, De prim, rerum materid, i. 4. 
 
 2 [Compare Nov. Org. ii. 36. 1. S.]
 
 DISTRIBUTIO OPERIS. 219 
 
 ralibus petenda sunt, nisi forte libeat insanire) antistites 
 religiosos, et oraculorum ejus non imperitos interpretes, 
 nos praestitisse : ut alii professione quadam, nos re ipsa, 
 sensum tueri ac colere videamur. Atque hujusmodi sunt 
 ea quae ad lumen ipsum naturae ejusque accensionem et 
 immissionem paramus: quae per se sufficere possent, si 
 intellectus humanus aequs et instar tabulae abrasae esset. 
 Sed cum mentes hominum miris modis adeo obsessae 
 sint ut ad veros rerum radios excipiendos sincera et 
 polita area prorsus desit, necessitas quaedam incumbit 
 ut etiam huic rei remedium quaerendum esse pute- 
 mus. 
 
 Idola autem a quibus occupatur mens, vel Adscititia 
 sunt vel Innata. Adscititia vero immigrarunt in men- 
 tes hominum, vel ex philosophorum placitis et sectis vel 
 ex perversis legibus demonstrationum. At Innata in- 
 hserent naturae ipsius intellectus, qui ad errorem longe 
 proclivior esse deprehenditur quam sensus. Utcunque 
 enim homines sibi placeant et in admirationem mentis 
 humanae ac fere adorationem ruant, illud certissimum 
 est: sicut speculum inaequale rerum radios ex figura 
 et sectione propria immutat, ita et mentem, cum a 
 rebus per sensum patitur, in notionibus suis expedi- 
 endis et comminiscendis haud optima fide rerum na- 
 turae suam naturam inserere et irnmiscere. 
 
 Atque priora ilia duo Idolorum genera segre, pos- 
 trema vero haec nullo modo, evelli possunt. 1 Id tan- 
 turn relinquitur, ut indicentur, atque ut vis ista mentis 
 insidiatrix notetur et convincatur ; ne forte a destruc- 
 tione veterum novi subinde errorum surculi ex ipsa 
 mala complexione mentis pullulent, eoque res recidat, 
 
 1 The priora duo are the Idols of the Theatre, which include both kinds. 
 The postrema hcec are the Idols of the Tribe, the Cave, and the Market- 
 place. Compare De Aug. Sci. v. 4. ; and see Note C. at the end of the 
 o,.,^ 7 <j
 
 220 DISTRIBUTIO OPERIS. 
 
 ut errores non extinguantur sed permutentur ; veruin 
 e contra ut illud tandem in aeternum ratum et fixum 
 sit, intellectum nisi per inductionera ej usque formam 
 legitimam judicare non posse. Itaque doctrina ista de 
 expurgations intellectus ut ipse ad veritatem habilis sit, 
 tribus redargutionibus absolvitur: redargutione philo- 
 sophiarum, redargutione demonstrationum, et redargu- 
 tione rationis humanae native. 1 His vero explicatis, 
 ac postquam demum patuerit quid rerum natura, quid 
 mentis natura ferat, existimamus nos thalamum Men- 
 tis et Universi, pronuba divina bonitate, stravisse et 
 ornasse. Epithalamii autem votum sit, ut ex eo con- 
 nubio auxilia humana et stirps inventorum qua3 neces- 
 sitates ac miserias hominum aliqua ex parte doment 
 et subigant, suscipiatur. 2 Hcec vero est opens pars se- 
 cunda. 
 
 At vias non solum monstrare et munire, sed inire 
 
 1 Compare Aph. 115, where these three Redargutiones are enumerated in 
 the inverse order ; in which order they are treated. This shows that the 
 Distributio Opens was written before Bacon had decided upon the arrange- 
 ment of the Novum Organum. See Note C. at the end of the Preface. 
 J. S. 
 
 2 The received reading is suscipiatur, which seems erroneous, but may 
 perhaps be defended. [I have myself very little doubt that Bacon wrote 
 suscipiatur, not snscipiantur. If it be ever allowable to make a verb which 
 depends upon two nominatives agree with the last only (which I think it 
 sometimes is), there was a reason for doing so in this case; an ambiguity 
 as well as a jingle being thereby avoided. In an earlier form of this pas- 
 sage (which will be found in the Partis Inslaurationis secundce Dtlineatio), 
 the verb is in the singular, as here; though in that place it depends directly 
 upon the plural nominative "auxilia humana," and therefore cannot be de- 
 fended. In the Redargutio Philosophiarum it appears again in still another 
 shape. There we have two nominatives, one singular and one plural, as 
 here; but the plural coming last, the verb is in the plural, " ut ex illo 
 connubio, non phantasiae monstra, sed stirps heroum, quae monstra domel 
 et extinguat, hoc est iuventa salutaria et utilia ad necessitates humana! 
 (quantum fieri datur) debellandos et relevandos, suscipiantur. Hoc epitha- 
 iamii votum sit." J. /S.]
 
 DISTKIBUTIO OPERIS. 221 
 
 quoque consilium est. Itaque tertia pars opens com- 
 plectitur Phcenomena Universi; hoc est, omnigenam 
 experientiam, atque historiam naturalem ejus generis 
 quae possit esse ad condendam philosophiam ftmda- 
 mentalis. Neque enim excellens aliqua demonstrandi 
 via sive naturam interpretandi forma, ut mentem ab 
 errore et lapsu defendere ac sustinere, ita ei materiam 
 ad sciendum praebere et subministrare possit. Verum 
 iis quibus non conjicere et hariolari, sed invenire et 
 scire propositum est, quique non simiolas et fabulas 
 mundorum comminisci, sed hujus ipsius veri mundi 
 naturam introspicere et velut dissecare in animo ha- 
 bent, omnia a rebus ipsis petenda sunt. Neque huic 
 labori et inquisitioni ac mundanse perambulationi, ulla 
 ingenii aut meditationis aut argumentationis substitutio 
 aut coinpensatio sufficere potest ; non si omnia omnium 
 ingenia coierint. Itaque aut hoc prorsus habendum, 
 aut negotium in perpetuum deserendum. Ad hunc 
 vero usque diem ita cum hominibus actum est, ut 
 minime mirum sit si natura sui copiam non faciat. 
 
 Nam primo, sensus ipsius informatio, et deserens et 
 fallens ; observatio, indiligens et inaequalis et tanquam 
 fortuita ; traditio, vana et ex rumore ; practica, operi 
 intenta et servilis ; vis experimentalis, caeca, stupida, 
 vaga, et prasrupta ; denique historia naturalis, levis et 
 inops, vitiosissimam materiam intellectui ad philoso- 
 phiam et scientias congesserunt. 
 
 Deinde, praepostera argumentandi subtilitas et ven- 
 tilatio serum rebus plane desperatis tentatur reme- 
 dium, nee negotium ullo modo restituit aut errores 
 separat. Itaque nulla spes majoris augmenti ac pro- 
 gressus sita est, nisi in restauratione quadam scien- 
 tiarum.
 
 222 DISTRIBUTED OPERIS. 
 
 Hnjus autem exordia omnino a natural! historia 
 sumenda sunt, eaque ipsa novi cujusdam generis et 
 apparatus. Frustra enim fuerit speculum expolire, si 
 desint imagines ; et plane materia idonea prseparanda 
 est intellectui, non solum prossidia fida comparanda. 
 Differt Vero rursus historia nostra (quemadmodum 
 logica nostra) ab ea quae habetur, multis rebus : fine 
 sive officio, ipsa mole et congerie, dein subtilitate, 
 etiam delectu et constitutione in ordine ad ea quae 
 sequuntur. 
 
 Primo enim earn proponimus historiam naturalem, 
 quaa non tarn aut rerum varietate delectet aut prae- 
 senti experimentorum fructu juvet, quam lucem in- 
 ventioni causarum affundat, et philosophise enutri- 
 candgs primam mammam praebeat. Licet enim opera 
 atque activam scientiarum partein praecipue sequamur, 
 tamen messis tempus expectamus, nee museum et sege- 
 tem herbidam demetere conamur. Satis enim scimus, 
 axiomata recte inventa tota agmina operum secum tra- 
 here, atque opera non sparsim sed confertim exhibere. 
 Intempestivum autem ilium et puerilem affectum, ut 
 pignora aliqua novorum operum propere captentur, 
 prorsus damnamus et amovemus, ceu pomum Atalantas 
 quod cursum retardat. Atque Historiae nostrae Natu- 
 ralis officium tale est. 
 
 Quoad congeriem vero, conficimus historiam non so- 
 lum naturae liberas ac solutae (cum scilicet ilia sponte 
 fluit et opus suum peragit), qualis est historia coeles- 
 tium, meteororum, terrae et maris, mineralium, plan- 
 tarum, animalium ; sed multo magis naturae constrictae 
 et vexatas ; nempe, cum per artem et ministerium hu- 
 manum de statu suo detruditur, atque premitur et fin- 
 gitur. Itaque omnia artium mechanicarum, omnia
 
 DISTRIBUTIO OPERIS. 223 
 
 operativse partis liberalium, omnia practicarum com- 
 plurium quae in artem propriam non coaluerunt, ex- 
 perimenta (quantum inquirere licuit et quantum ad 
 finem nostrum faciunt) perscribimus. Quin etiam 
 (ut quod res est eloquamur) fastum hominum et spe- 
 oiosa nil morati, multo plus et operas et praesidii in 
 hac parte quam in ilia altera ponimus; quandoquidem 
 natura rerum magis se prodit per vexationes artis quam 
 in libertate propria. 
 
 Neque Corporum tantum historiam exhibemus ; sed 
 diligentiffi insuper nostrae esse putavimus, etiam Virtu- 
 turn ipsarum (illarum dicimus quae tanquam cardinales 
 in natura censeri possint, et in quibus nature primor- 
 dia plane constituuntur, utpote materias primis passion- 
 ibus ac desideriis, viz. Denso, Raro, Calido, Frigido, 
 Consistent^ Fluido, Grravi, Levi, aliisque baud paucis) 
 historiam seorsum comparare. 1 
 
 Enimvero ut de subtilitate dicamus, plane conquiri- 
 mus genus experimentorum longe subtilius et simplicius 
 quam sunt ea quae occurrunt. Complura enim a tene- 
 bris educimus et eruimus, qua? nulli in mentem venis- 
 set investigare, nisi qui certo et constant! tramite ad 
 inventionem causarum pergeret ; cum in se nullius 
 magnopere sint usus ; ut liquido appareat, ea non 
 propter se quaesita esse ; sed ita prorsus se habeant 
 ilia ad res et opera quemadmodum literae alphabeti 
 se habeant ad orationem et verba ; quae licet per se 
 inutiles eaedem tamen omnis sermonis elementa sunt. 
 
 In delectu autem narrationum et experimentorum 
 
 1 The whole tendency of Bacon's method led him to give the first place 
 to inquiries relating to abstract qualities of the nature of those which he 
 here mentions. We shall have occasion to remark on this point in connex- 
 ion with several passages in the second book of the Novum Organum.
 
 224 DISTRIBUTIO OPERIS. 
 
 melius hominibus cavisse nos arbitramur quam qui 
 adhuc in historia naturali versati sunt. Nam oinnia 
 fide oculata aut saltern perspecta, et summa quadam 
 cum severitate, recipimus ; ita ut nil referatur auctum 
 miraculi causa, sed quae narramus a fabulis et vani- 
 tate casta et intemerata sint. Qninetiam et recepta 
 quaeque ac jactata mendacia (quae mirabili quodam 
 neglectu per saecula multa obtinuerunt et inveterata 
 sunt) nominatim proscribimus et notamus ; ne scien- 
 tiis amplius molesta sint. Quod enim prudenter anim- 
 advertit quidam, fabulas et superstitiones et nugas quas 
 nutriculae pueris instillant, mentes eorum etiam serio 
 depravare : ita endem nos movit ratio* ut solliciti atque 
 etiam anxii simus ne ab initio, cum veluti infantiam 
 philosophise sub historia naturali tractemus et curemus, 
 ilia alicui vanitati assuescat. At in omni experimento 
 novo et paulo subtiliore, licet (ut nobis videtur) certo 
 ac probato, modum tamen experiment! quo usi sumus 
 aperte subjungimus ; ut, postquam patefactum sit quom- 
 odo singula nobis constiterint, videant homines quid 
 erroris subesse et adhasrere possit, atque ad probationes 
 magis fidas et magis exquisitas (si quse sint) expergis- 
 cantur : denique ubique monita et scrupulos et cau- 
 tiones aspergimus, religione quadam et tanquam exor- 
 cismo omnia phantasmata ejicientes ac cohibentes. 
 
 Postremo, cum nobis exploratum sit quantopere ex- 
 perientia et historia aciem mentis human as disgreget, 
 et quam difficile sit (praesertim animis vel teneris vel 
 praeoccupatis) a principio cum natura consuescere, ad- 
 jungimus saepius observationes nostras, tanquam primas 
 quasdam conversiones et inclinationes ac veluti aspectus 
 historiae ad philosophiam ; ut et pignoris loco homini- 
 bus sint eos in historiae fluctibus perpetuo non detentos
 
 DISTRIBUTIO OPERIS. 225 
 
 iri, utque cum ad opus intellectus deveniatur omnia 
 sint magis in procinctu. Atque per hujusmodi (qualem 
 describimus) Historiam Naturalem, aditum quendam 
 fieri posse ad naturam tutum et commodum, atque 
 materiam intellectui praeberi probam et praeparatam, 
 censemus. 
 
 Postquam vero et intellectum fidissimis auxiliis ac 
 prassidiis stipavimus, et justum divinorum operum exer- 
 citum severissimo delectu comparavimus ; nil amplius 
 superesse videtur, nisi ut philosophiam ipsam aggre- 
 diamur. Attamen in re tarn ardua et suspensa, sunt 
 quaedam quae necessario videntur interponenda ; partim 
 docendi gratia, partim in usum praesentem. 
 
 Horum primum est, ut exempla proponantur in- 
 quirendi et inveniendi secundum nostram rationem ac 
 viam, in aliquibus subjectis reprsesentata : sumendo ea 
 potissimum subjecta quae et inter ea quae quaeruntur 
 sunt nobilissima et inter se maxime di versa; ut in 
 unoquoque genere exemplum non desit. Neque de iis 
 exemplis loquimur quas singulis praeceptis ac regulis 
 illustrandi gratia adjiciuntur (hoc enim in secunda 
 parte operis abunde praestitimus) ; sed plane typos in- 
 telligimus et plasmata, quae universum mentis proces- 
 sum atque inveniendi continuatam fabricam et ordinem, 
 in certis subjectis, iisque variis et insignibus, tanquam 
 sub oculos ponant. Etenim nobis in men tern venit, in 
 mathematicis, astante machina, sequi demonstrationem 
 facilem et perspicuam ; contra absque hac commoditate, 
 omnia videri involuta et quam revera sunt subtiliora. 
 Itaque hujusmodi exemplis quartam partem .nostri operis 
 attribuimus : quae revera nil aliud est, quam secundae 
 partis applicatio particularis et explicata. 
 
 VOL. I. 15
 
 226 DISTREBUTIO OPERIS. 
 
 At quinta pars ad tempus tantum, donee reliqua per- 
 ficiantur, adhibetur ; et tanquam foenus redditur, usque 
 dum sors haberi possit. Neque enim finem nostrum ita 
 petimus occaecati, ut quae occurrunt in via utilia negli- 
 gamus. Quamobrem quintam partem operis ex iis con- 
 ficimus quae a nobis aut inventa aut probata aut addita 
 sunt ; neque id tamen ex rationibus atque praescriptis 
 interpretandi, sed ex eodem intellectus usu quern alii 
 in inquirendo et inveniendo adhibere consueverunt. 
 Etenim cum, ex perpetua nostra cum natura consue- 
 tudine, majora de meditationibus nostris quam pro 
 ingenii viribus speramus ; turn poterunt ista veluti 
 tabernaculorum in via positorum vice fungi, ut mens 
 ad certiora contendens in iis paulisper acquiescat. At- 
 tamen testamur interim, nos illis ipsis, quod ex vera 
 interpretandi forma non sint inventa aut probata, teneri 
 minime velle. Istam vero judicii suspensionem non est 
 quod exhorreat quispiam, in doctrina quae non simplici- 
 ter nil sciri posse, sed nil nisi certo ordine et certa via 
 sciri posse, asserit; atque interea tamen certos certi- 
 tudinis gradus ad usum et levamen constituit, donee 
 mens in causarum explicatione consistat. Neque enim 
 illae ipsas scholae philosophorum qui Acatalepsiam sim- 
 pliciter tenuerunt inferiores fuere istis quse pronun- 
 tiandi licentiam usurparunt. Illae tamen sensui et 
 intellectui auxilia non paraverunt, quod nos fecimus, 
 sed fidem et authoritatem plane sustulerunt ; quod 
 longe alia res est, et fere opposita. 
 
 Sexta tandem pars operis nostri (cui reliquae inservi- 
 unt ac ministrant) earn demum recludit et proponit 
 philosophiam, quae ex hujusmodi (qualem ante docui- 
 mus et paravimus) inquisitione legitima et casta et
 
 DISTEIBUTIO OPERIS. 227 
 
 severa educitur et constituitur. Hanc vero postremam 
 partem perficere et ad exitum perducere, res est et su- 
 pra vires et ultra spes nostras collocata. Nos ei initia 
 (ut speramus) non contemnenda, exitum generis hu- 
 mani fortuna dabit, qualem forte homines in hoc rerum 
 et animorum statu haud facile animo capere aut metiri 
 queant. Neque enim agitur solum foelicitas contem- 
 plativa, sed vere res humanse et fortunes, atque omnis 
 operum potentia. Homo enim naturae minister et 
 interpres tantum facit et intelligit, quantum de naturae 
 ordine, opere vel mente, observaverit : nee amplius 
 scit, aut potest. Neque enim ullae vires causarum 
 catenam solvere aut perfringere possint, neque natura 
 aliter quam parendo vincitur. Itaque intentiones gem- 
 inas ilhe, humanae scilicet Scientice et Potentice, vere 
 in idem coincidunt ; et frustratio operum maxime fit ex 
 ignoratione causarum. 
 
 Atque in eo sunt omnia, siquis oculos mentis a rebus 
 ipsis nunquam dejiciens, earum imagines plane ut sunt 
 excipiat. Neque enim hoc siverit Deus, ut phantasiae 
 nostrae somnium pro exemplari mundi edamus : sed po- 
 tius benigne faveat, ut apocalypsim ac veram visionem 
 vestigiorum 1 et sigillorum creatoris super creaturas 
 scribamus. 
 
 Itaque Tu Pater, qui lucem visibilem primitias crea- 
 turae dedisti, et- lucem intellectualem ad fastigium ope- 
 rum tuorum in faciem hominis inspirasti ; opus hoc, quod 
 a tua bonitate profectum tuam gloriam repetit, tuere et 
 rege. Tu postquam conversus es ad spectandum opera 
 
 1 This application of the word "vestigia" is constantly made by th 
 schoolmen. Thus St. Thomas Aquinas : " In rationalibus creaturis esl 
 imago Trinitatis, in cseteris vero creaturis est vestigium. Trinitatis, in quan- 
 tum in eis inveniuntur aliqua quas reducuntur in divinas personas." 
 Summa Theolog. l ma pars, q. 45. art. 7.
 
 228 DISTRIBUTED OPERIS. 
 
 quse fecerunt manus tuae, vidisti quod omnia essent 
 bona valde ; et requievisti. At homo conversus ad op- 
 era quas fecerunt manus suae, vidit quod omnia essent 
 vanitas et vexatio spiritus ; nee ullo modo requievit. 
 Quare si in operibus tuis sudabimus, facies nos visionis 
 tuas et sabbati tui participes. 1 Supplices petimus, ut 
 haec mens nobis constet ; utque novis elee- 
 mosynis, per manus nostras et aliorum 
 quibus eandem mentem largi- 
 eris, familiam humanam 
 dotatam velis. 
 
 1 Compare this with. St. Augustine's prayer at the close of the Confes- 
 sions. " Domine Deus pacem da nobis (omnia enim praestitisti nobis), 
 pacem quietis, pacem Sabbati, Sabbati sine vespera. Omnis quippe iste 
 ordo pulcherrimus rerum valde bonarum modis suis peractis transiturus est, 
 et mane quippe in eis factum est et vespera. Dies autem Septimus sine 
 vespera est, nee habet occasum, quia sanctificasti eum ad permansionem 
 sempiternam, ut id quod tu post opera tua bona valde, quamvis ea quietus 
 feceris, requievisti septimo die, hoc prseloquatur nobis vox libri tui, quod et 
 nos post opera nostra, ideo bona valde quia tu nobis ea donasti, sabbato 
 vitse seternse requiescamus in te." Conf. xiii. 35 6. 
 
 Compare also the line with which the Faerie Queene breaks off: 
 
 " that [q. thou?] great Sabbaoth God graunt me that Sabbaoth sight."
 
 DEEST 
 
 PARS PRIMA INSTAURATIONIS, 
 
 QU^E COMPLECTITUB 
 
 PARTITIONES SCIENTIARUM. 
 
 Illce tamen ex Secundo Libro de Progressibus faciendis in Doctrina 
 
 Divina et Humana, nonnulla ex parte 
 
 peti possuntJ- 
 
 SEQUITUR 
 
 SECUNDA PARS INSTAURATIONIS, 
 
 qUM ARTEM IPSAM 
 
 Interpretandi Naturam, et verioris adoperalionis Intellectus exhibet : 
 
 neque earn ipsam tamen in Corpore tractatus justi, 
 
 sed tantum digestam per summas, in 
 
 Aphorismos.% 
 
 1 This is omitted in the common editions of Bacon's collected works (in 
 all, I believe, except Montagu's); the De Augmentis Scientiarum, with the 
 title " Instauralionis Magnce pars prima" prefixed on a separate leaf, being 
 
 2 This explains a certain discrepancy between the design of the second 
 part, as set forth in the Distributio Operis, and the execution of it in the 
 Novum Organum. The Distributio, like the Delineatio, was probably writ- 
 ten when Bacon intended to work it out in a regular and consecutive trea- 
 tise, and represents the idea of the work more perfectly than the work 
 itself. See note on Distr. Op. p. 220. /. S.
 
 230 
 
 substituted for it. And it is true that Bacon did afterwards decide upon 
 supplying this deficiency by a translation of the Advancement of Learning 
 enlarged; that he produced the De Augmenlis Scientiarum with that inten- 
 tion and understanding; and that though the original edition does not bear 
 " Instaurationis Magnce pars prima" on the titlepage, yet in Dr. Rawley's 
 reprint of it in 1638 those words were inserted. Nevertheless this notice is 
 of importance, as showing that when Bacon published the Novum Organum 
 he did not look to a mere enlargement of the Advancement of Learning as 
 satisfying the intention of the pars prima ; for if he had, he would have 
 referred to the work itself, not to the second book only. He meant, no 
 doubt, to reproduce the substance of it in a different form. And my own 
 impression is that the Descriptio Globi Intettectttalis was originally designed 
 for this place, and that he had not yet abandoned the hope of completing 
 it; but that soon after, fortune gone, health shaken, assistance not to be 
 commanded, and things of more importance remaining to be done, he 
 found he had not time to finish it on so large a scale, and therefore resolved 
 to enlarge the old house instead of building a new one. J. 8.
 
 PARS SECUNDA OPERIS, 
 
 NOVUM ORGANUM, 
 
 SITE 
 
 INDICIA VERA 
 
 DE INTERPRETATIONE NATURE.
 
 PE^FATIO. 
 
 Qui de natura tanquam de re explorata pronuntiare 
 ausi sunt, sive hoc ex animi fiducia fecerint sive ambi- 
 tiose et more professorio, maximis illi philosophiam et 
 scientias detrimentis affecere. Ut eriim ad fidem faci- 
 endam validi, ita etiam ad inquisitionem extinguendam 
 et abrumpendam efficaces fuerunt. Neque virtute pro- 
 pria tantum profuerunt, quantum in hoc nocuerunt, 
 quod aliorum virtutem corruperint et perdiderint. Qui 
 autem contrariam huic viam ingressi sunt atque nihil 
 prorsus sciri posse asseruerunt, sive ex sophistarum 
 veterum odio sive ex animi fluctuatione aut etiam ex 
 quadam doctrinae copia in hanc opinionem delapsi sint, 
 certe non contemnendas ejus rationes adduxerunt ; 
 veruntamen nee a veris initiis sententiam suam deri- 
 varunt, et studio quodam atque affectatione provecti, 
 prorsus modum excesserunt. At antiquiores ex Grsecis 
 (quorum scripta perierunt) inter pronuntiandi jactan- 
 tiam et Acatalepsice desperationem prudentius se sus- 
 tinuerunt: atque de inquisitionis. difficultate et rerum 
 obscuritate saepius querimonias et indignationes mis- 
 centes, et veluti fraenum mordentes, tamen propositum 
 urgere atque naturae se immiscere non destiterunt ; 
 consentaneum (ut videtur) existimantes, hoc ipsum 
 (videlicet utrum aliquid sciri possit) non disputare,
 
 234 PRjEFATIO. 
 
 sed experiri. Et taraen illi ipsi, impetu tan turn in- 
 tellectus usi, regulam non adhibuerunt, sed omnia in 
 acri meditatione et mentis volutatione et agitatione 
 perpetua posuerunt. 
 
 Nostra autem ratio, ut opere ardua, ita dictu facilis 
 est. Ea enim est, ut certitudinis gradus constituamus, 
 sensum per reductionem quandam tueamur, 1 sed mentis 
 opus quod sensum subsequitur plerunque rejiciamus ; 
 novam autem et certam viam, ab ipsis sensuum percep- 
 tionibus, menti aperiamus et muniamus. Atque hoc 
 proculdubio viderunt et illi qui tantas dialecticae partes 
 tribuerunt. Ex quo liquet, illos intellectui adminicula 
 quaesivisse, mentis autem processum nativum et spon- 
 te moventem, suspectum habuisse. Sed serum plane 
 rebus perditis hoc adhibetur remedium ; postquam 
 mens ex quotidiana vitae consuetudine, et auditionibus 
 et doctrinis inquinatis occupata, et vanissimis idolis 
 obsessa fuerit. Itaque ars ilia dialecticae, sero (ut 
 diximus) cavens neque rem ullo modo restituens, ad 
 errores potius figendos quam ad veritatem aperieudam 
 valuit. Restat unica salus ac sanitas, ut opus mentis 
 universum de integro resumatur ; ac mens, jam ab ipso 
 principle, nullo modo sibi permittatur, sed perpetuo 
 regatur ; ac res veluti per machinas conficiatur. Sane 
 si homines opera mechanica nudis manibus, absque in- 
 strumentorum vi et ope, aggressi essent, quemadmodum 
 opera intellectualia nudis fere mentis viribus tractare 
 
 1 The word "reductio " appears to be used much as in modern scientific 
 language ; that is, as nearly equivalent to correction ; as when we speak 
 of redlining observations, &c., by which is meant the applying to them of 
 certain principles of correction : I should translate the clause in which it 
 occurs by " we guard the sense from error by a certain method of correc- 
 tion;" a translation which accords with what is said infra, I. 69., with 
 respect to the short-comings and errors of the senses.
 
 PE^FATIO. 235 
 
 non dubitarunt, parvas admodum fuissent res quas 
 movere et vincere potuissent, licet operas enixas atque 
 etiam conjunctas praestitissent. Atque si paulisper mo- 
 rari, atque in hoc ipsum exemplum, veluti in speculum, 
 intueri velimus ; exquiramus (si placet) si forte obelis- 
 cus aliquis magnitudine insignis ad triumphi vel hujus- 
 modi magnificentiae decus transfer endus esset, atque 
 id homines nudis manibus aggrederentur, annon hoc 
 magnae cujusdam esse dementia? spectator quispiam rei 
 sobrius fateretur ? Quod si numerum augerent opera- 
 riorum, atque hoc modo se valere posse confiderent, 
 annon tanto magis ? Sin autem delectum quendam 
 adhibere vellent, atque imbecilliores separare, et robus- 
 tis tantum et vigentibus uti, atque hinc saltern se voti 
 compotes fore sperarent, annon adhnc eos impensius 
 delirare diceret ? Quin etiam si hoc ipso non contend, 
 artem tandem athleticam consulere statuerent, ac om- 
 nes deinceps manibus et lacertis et nervis ex arte bene 
 unctis et medicatis adesse juberent, annon prorsus eos 
 dare operam ut cum ratione quadam et prudentia 
 insanirent, clamaret? Atque homines tamen simili 
 malesano impetu et conspiratione inutili feruntur in 
 intellectualibus ; dum ab ingeniorum vel multitudine 
 et consensu vel excellentia et acumine magna sperant, 
 aut etiam dialectica (quae quaedam athletica censeri 
 possit) mentis nervos roborant ; sed interim, licet tanto 
 studio et conatu, (si quis vere judicaverit) intellectum 
 nudum applicare non desinunt. Manifestissimum au- 
 tem est, in omni opere magno, quod manus hominis 
 praestat, sine instruments et machinis, vires nee singu- 
 lorum intendi nee omnium coire posse. 
 
 Itaque ex his quae diximus praemissis, statuimus duas 
 esse res de quibus homines plane monitos volumus, ne
 
 236 PB^EFATTO. 
 
 forte illae eos fugiant aut praetereant. Quarum prima 
 hujusmodi est; fieri fato quodam (ut existiinamus) 
 bono, ad extinguendas et depellendas contradictiones 
 et tumores animorum, ut et veteribus honor et reve- 
 rentia intacta et imminuta maneant, et nos destinata 
 perficere et tamen modestiae nostraa fructum percipere 
 possimus. Nam nos, si profiteamur nos meliora afferre 
 quam antiqui, eandem quam illi viam ingressi, nulla 
 verborum arte efficere possimus, quin inducatur quaa- 
 dam ingenii vel excellentiaa vel facultatis comparatio 
 sive contentio ; non ea quidem illicita aut nova ; quid- 
 ni enim possimus pro jure nostro (neque eo ipso alio, 
 quam omnium) si quid apud eos non recte inventum 
 aut positum sit, reprehendere aVit notare ? sed tamen 
 utcunque justa aut permissa, nihilominus impar fortasse 
 fuisset ea ipsa contentio, ob virium nostrarum modum. 
 Verum quum per nos illud agatur, ut alia omnino via 
 intellectui aperiatur illis intentata et incognita, com- 
 mutata jam ratio est ; cessant studium et partes ; nos- 
 que indicis tantummodo personam sustinemus, quod 
 mediocris certe est authoritatis, et fortunas cujusdam 
 potius quam facultatis et excellentiae. Atque haec 
 moniti species ad personas pertinet ; altera ad res 
 ipsas. 
 
 Nos siquidem de deturbanda ea quas nunc floret 
 philosophia, aut si quae alia sit aut erit hac emendatior 
 aut auctior, minime laboramus. Neque enim officimus, 
 quin philosophia ista recepta, et aliae id genus, disputa- 
 tiones alant, sermones ornent, ad professoria munera et 
 vitae civilis compendia adhibeantur et valeant. Quin 
 etiam aperte significamus et declaramus, earn quam nos 
 adducimus philosophiam ad istas res admodum utilem 
 non futuram. Non praesto est, neque in transitu
 
 PILEFATIO. 237 
 
 capitur, neque ex praenotionibus intellectui blanditur, 
 neque ad vulgi captum nisi per utilitatem et effecta 
 descendet. 
 
 Sint itaque (quod foelix faustumque sit utrique parti) 
 duae doctrinarum emanationes, ac duae dispensationes ; 
 duae similiter contemplantium sive philosophantium tri- 
 bus ac veluti cognationes ; atque illae neutiquam inter 
 se inimicas aut alienae, sed foederatae et mutuis auxiliis 
 devinctae : sit denique alia scientias colendi, alia inve- 
 niendi ratio. Atque quibus prima potior et acceptior 
 est, ob festinationem, vel vitas civilis rationes, vel quod 
 illam alteram ob mentis infirmitatem capere et cora- 
 plecti non possint (id quod longe plurimis accidere 
 necesse est), optamus ulf iis foeliciter et ex voto succe- 
 dat quod agunt, atque ut quod sequuntur teneant. 
 Quod si cui mortalium cordi et curae sit, non tantum 
 inventis haerere atque iis uti, sed ad ulteriora pene- 
 trare ; atque non disputando adversarium, sed opere 
 naturam vincere ; denique, non belle et probabiliter 
 opinari, sed certo et ostensive scire ; tales, tanquam 
 veri scientiarum filii, nobis (si videbitur) se adjungant ; 
 ut omissis naturae atriis, quae infiniti contriverunt, adi- 
 tus aliquando ad interiora patefiat. Atque ut melius 
 intelligamur, utque illud ipsum quod volumus ex nomin- 
 ibus impositis magis familiariter occurrat, altera ratio 
 sive via Antieipatio Mentis, altera Interpretatio Naturce, 
 a nobis appellari consuevit. 
 
 Est etiam quod petendum videtur. Nos certe cogi- 
 tationem suscepimus et curam adhibuimus, ut quae a 
 nobis proponentur non tantum vera essent, sed etiam 
 ad animos hominum (licet miris modis occupatos et 
 interclusos) non incommode aut aspere accederent. 
 Veruntamen aequum est, ut ab hominibus impetremus
 
 238 PRJEFATIO. 
 
 (in tanta praesertim doctrinarum et scientiarum restau- 
 
 ratione) ut qui de hisce nostris aliquid, sive ex sensu 
 
 proprio, sive ex authoritatum turba, sive ex demonstra- 
 
 tionum formis (quae nunc tanquam leges quaedam judi- 
 
 ciales invaluerunt), statuere aut existimare velit, ne id 
 
 in transitu et velut aliud agendo facere se posse speret ; 
 
 sed ut rem pernoscat ; nostram, quam describimus et 
 
 munimus, viam ipse paullatim tentet ; subtilitati rerum 
 
 quae in experientia signata est assuescat ; pravos denique 
 
 atque alte haerentes mentis habitus tempestiva et 
 
 quasi legitima mora corrigat ; atque turn 
 
 demum (si placuerit) postquam 
 
 in potestate sua esse cceperit, 
 
 judicio suo utatur. 
 
 . SEQUITUR 
 
 PARTIS SECUND^: SUMMA, 
 
 DIGESTA 
 
 IN APHORISMOS.
 
 PARTIS SEGUNDJE SUMMA, 
 
 DIGESTA IN 
 
 APHOEISMOS.
 
 APHORISMI 
 
 DE INTERPRETATION NATURE 
 ET REGNO HOMINIS. 
 
 APHORISMUS 
 
 i. 
 
 HOMO, Naturae minister ] et interpres, tantum facit 
 et intelligit quantum de Naturae ordine re vel mente 
 observaverit, nee amplius scit aut potest. 
 
 IT. 
 
 Nec manus nuda nee intellectus sibi permissus mul- 
 tum valet ; instrumentis et auxiliis res perficitur ; qui- 
 bus opus est non minus ad intellectum quam ad manum. 
 Atque ut instrumenta manus motum aut cient aut re- 
 gunt, ita et instrumenta mentis intellectui aut sugge- 
 runt aut cavent. 
 
 in. 
 
 Scientia et potentia humana in idem coincidunt, quia 
 ignoratio causae destituit effectum. Natura eniin non 
 nisi parendo vincitur ; 2 et quod in contemplatione in 
 star causae est, id in operatione instar regulae est. 
 
 1 That the physician is "naturae minister," $i>aeu<; vnrjpeTijf, 'is quoted 
 more than once from Hippocrates by Galen, xv. 369. xvi. 35. (Kuhn): the 
 first passage in his commentary on Hippoc. De Aliment, iii., the second 
 in his do. De Humor, i. 
 
 2 This antithesis was probably suggested by Publius Syrus's gnome: 
 " Casta ad virum matrona parendo imperat." 
 
 VOL. i. 16
 
 242 NOVUM ORGANUM. 
 
 IV. 
 
 Ad opera nil aliud potest homo, quam ut corpora 
 naturalia admoveat et amoveat ; reliqua Natura intus 
 transigit. 1 
 
 v. 
 
 Solent se immiscere naturae (quoad opera) mechan- 
 icus, mathematicus, medicus, alchymista, et magus ; 
 sed omnes (ut nunc sunt res) conatu levi, successu 
 tenui. 
 
 VI. 
 
 Insanum quiddam esset, et in se contrarium, existi- 
 mare ea quae adhuc nunquam facta sunt fieri posse, nisi 
 per modos adhuc nunquam tentatos. 
 
 vn. 
 
 Generationes mentis et manus numerosse admodum 
 videntur in libris et opificiis. Sed omnis ista varie- 
 tas sita est in subtilitate eximia, et derivationibus pau- 
 carum rerum quaa innotuerunt ; non in numero Axi- 
 omatum. 
 
 vm. 
 
 Etiam opera, quas jam inventa sunt, casui debentur 
 et experientiae magis quam scientiis : scientiae enim, 
 quas nunc habemus, nihil aliud sunt quam quaedam 
 concinnationes rerum antea inventarum ; non modi 
 inveniendi, aut designationes novorum operum. 
 
 IX. 
 
 Causa vero et radix fere omnium malorum in scien- 
 tiis ea una est ; quod dum mentis humanaa vires falso 
 
 1 For some remarks upon the first four Aphorisms, see the Preface, p. 
 156. J. S.
 
 NOVUM ORGANUM. 243 
 
 miramur et extollimus, vera ejus auxilia non quse- 
 ramus. 
 
 x. 
 
 Subtilitas naturse subtilitatem sensus et intellectus 
 multis partibus superat; ut pulchrse illae meditationes 
 et speculationes humanae et causationes res male-sana 
 sint, nisi quod non adsit qui advertat. 1 
 
 XI. 
 
 Sicut scientiae quaB nunc habentur inutiles sunt ad 
 inventionem operum ; ita et logica quaa nunc habetur 
 inutilis est ad inventionem scientiarum. 
 
 XII. 
 
 Logica quas in usu est ad errores (qui in notionibus 
 vulgaribus fundantur) stabiliendos et figendos valet, 
 potius quam ad inquisitionem veritatis ; ut magis dam- 
 nosa sit quam utilis. 
 
 XIII. 
 
 Syllogismus ad principia scientiarum non adhibetur, 
 ad media axiomata frustra adhibetur, cum sit subtili- 
 tati naturae longe impar, Assensum itaque constringit, 
 non res. 
 
 XIV. 
 
 Syllogismus ex propositionibus constat, propositiones 
 ex verbis, verba notion um tesserae sunt. Itaque si 
 notiones ipsae (id quod basis rei est) confusae sint et 
 temere a rebus abstractae, nihil in iis quae superstruun- 
 tur est firmitudinis. Itaque spes est una in inductione 
 vera. 
 
 1 That is, they must from the nature of the case be so far from the truth, 
 that, if we could but compare them with the reality, they would seem like 
 the work of men not in their senses. J. S.
 
 244 NOVUM ORGANUM. 
 
 XV. 
 
 In notionibus nil sani est, nee in logicis nee in phys- 
 icis ; non Substantia, non Qualitas, Agere, Pati, ipsum 
 Esse, bonae notiones sunt ; multo minus Grave, Leve, 
 Densum, Tenue, Humidum, Siccum, Gt-eneratio, Corrup- 
 tio, Attrahere, Fugare, Hlementum, Materia, Forma, et 
 d genus ; sed omnes phantasticae et male terminatae. 
 
 XVI. 
 
 Notiones infimarum specierum, Hominis, Cards, Co- 
 lumbce, et prehensionum immediatarum sensus, Oalidi, 
 Frigidi, Albi, Nigri, non fallunt magnopere ; quae 
 tamen ipsae a fluxu materiae et commistione 1 rerum 
 quandoque confunduntur ; reliquae omnes (quibus hom- 
 ines hactenus usi siint) aberrationes sunt, nee debitis 
 modis a rebus abstractae et excitatae. 
 
 xvn. 
 
 Nee minor est libido et aberratio in constituendis 
 axiomatibus, quam in notionibus abstrahendis ; idque 
 in ipsis principiis, quae ab inductione vulgari pendent. 
 At multo major est in axiomatibus et propositionibus 
 inf'erioribus, quae educit syllogismus. 
 
 XVIII. 
 
 Quae adhuc inventa sunt in scientiis, ea hujusmodi 
 sunt ut notionibus vulgaribus fere subjaceant ; ut vero 
 
 l [ Commissione in the original edition. J. 8.] From the context it is 
 clear that Bacon means that the union of bodies of different kinds, by giv- 
 ing rise to new qualities and species intermediate to those for which we 
 have recognised names, tends to confuse our ideas of the latter. I think 
 therefore we ought to read "commistione" for " commissione." [The 
 word commistio is used elsewhere by Bacon; see for instance II. 13. 34. 
 J. S.]
 
 NOVUM ORGANUM. 245 
 
 ad interiora et remotiora natures penetretur, necesse 
 est ut tarn notiones quam axiomata magis certa et 
 munita via a rebus abstrahantur ; atque omnino melior 
 et certior intellectus adoperatio in usum veniat. 
 
 XIX. 
 
 Duae viae sunt, atque esse possunt, ad inquirendam 
 et inveniendam veritatera. Altera a sensu et partic- 
 ularibus advolat ad axiomata maxime generalia, atque 
 ex iis principiis eorumque immota veritate judicat et 
 invenit axiomata media ; atque haec via in usu est : 
 altera a sensu et particularibus excitat axiomata, as- 
 cendendo continenter et gradatim, ut ultimo loco per- 
 veniatur ad maxime generalia ; quae via vera est, sed 
 intentata. 
 
 xx. 
 
 Eandem ingreditur viam (priorern scilicet) intellec- 
 tus sibi permissus, quam facit ex ordine dialecticae. 
 Gestit enim mens exilire ad magis generalia, ut ac- 
 quiescat ; et post parvam moram fastidit experien- 
 tiam. Sed haec mala demum aucta sunt a dialec- 
 tica, ob pompas disputationum. 
 
 XXI. 
 
 Intellectus sibi permissus, in ingenio sobrio et pa- 
 tiente et gravi (prsesertim si a doctrinis receptis non 
 impediatur), ten tat nonnihil illam alteram viam, quae 
 recta est, sed exiguo profectu ; cum intellectus, nisi 
 regatur et juvetur, res inasqualis sit, et omnino inliab- 
 ilis ad superandam rerum obscuritatem. 1 
 
 1 1 should be inclined to translate this clause, " since the intellect, if it 
 be not guided and assisted, acts irregularly (res inaequalis sit), and is al- 
 together unequal to overcoming the obscurity of nature." Thus in 60. 
 we meet with a similar use of the adverb " inasqualiter : " "temere et
 
 246 NOVUM ORGANUM. 
 
 XXII. 
 
 Utraque via orclitur a sensu et parti cularibus, et ac- 
 quiescit in maxime generalibus ; sed immensum quid- 
 dam discrepant ; cum altera perstringat tantum ex- 
 peri entiam et particularia cursim, altera in iis rite et 
 ordine versetur ; altera rursus jam a principio con- 
 stituat generalia quaedam abstracta et inutilia, altera 
 gradatim exurgat ad ea quae revera naturae sunt no- 
 tiora. 1 
 
 XXIII. 
 
 Non leve quiddam interest inter humanas mentis 
 idola et divinaa mentis ideas ; hoc est, inter placita 
 quaedam inania et veras signaturas 2 atque impressiones 
 factas in creaturis, prout inveniuntur. 
 
 XXIV. 
 
 Nullo modo fieri potest, ut axiomata per argumen- 
 
 insequaliter a rebus abstracta" "rashly and irregularly abstracted from 
 their objects." Or perhaps, though this translation would not be free from 
 objection, inaequalis might be rendered " inadequate " or unequal to the 
 matter in hand. 
 
 1 This phrase is a scholastic mistranslation of the Aristotelian phrase 
 rrj <pvaei yvupi/j.uTepov i. e. naturally better known, or naturally better 
 fitted to be the object of knowledge. It is difficult to render the phrase 
 accurately either into Latin or into English, because in neither language is 
 there an adjective corresponding to the Greek yvupt^of ; " notus " and 
 " known " being of course participles, and immediately suggesting the 
 question, "known to whom?" [See note on Distrib. Operis, p. 216. In 
 his English writings, Bacon seems to use the word " original " as equiva- 
 lent to " naturae notius." Compare the instruction for "freeing a direc- 
 tion," in the Valerius Terminus, with the " praeceptuin verum et perfectum 
 operand!," m the Nov. Org. ii. 4. ; where the rule that " the nature dis- 
 covered be more original than the nature supposed and not more secondary 
 or of the like degree," in the one, corresponds with the precept "Forma 
 vera talis sit ut naturam datam ex fonte aliquo essentise deducat, quse inest 
 pluribus et notior est naturae (ut loquuntur) quam ipsa forma," in the 
 other. J. S.] 
 
 2 See note on Distr. Op. p. 227. J. 5.
 
 NOVUM OEGANUM. 247 
 
 tationem constituta ad inventionem novorum operum 
 valeant ; quia subtilitas naturae subtilitatem argumen- 
 tandi multis partibus superat. Sed axiomata a par- 
 ticularibus rite et ordine abstracta nova particularia 
 rursus facile indicant et designant ; itaque scientias 
 reddunt activas. 
 
 XXV. 
 
 Axiomata quaa in usu sunt ex tenui et manipulari 
 experientia et paucis particularibus, quae ut plurimum 
 occurrunt, fluxere ; et sunt fere ad inensuram eorum 
 facta et extensa : ut nil mirum sit, si ad nova particu- 
 laria non ducant. Quod si forte instantia aliqua non 
 prius animadversa aut cognita se offerat, axioma dis- 
 tinctione aliqua frivola salvatur, ubi emendari ipsura 
 verius foret. 
 
 XXVI. 
 
 Rationem humanam qua utimur ad naturam, Antici- 
 pationes Naturce (quia res temeraria est et prasmatura), 
 at illam rationem qua3 debitis modis elicitur a rebus, 
 Interpretationem Naturce, docendi gratia vocare con- 
 suevimus. 
 
 XXVII. 
 
 Anticipationes satis firmae sunt ad consensum ; quan- 
 doquidem si homines etiam insanirent ad unum modum 
 et conformiter, illi satis bene inter se congruere possent. 
 
 XXVIII. 
 
 Quin longe validiores sunt ad subeundum assensum 
 Anticipationes quam Interpretationes ; quia ex paucis 
 collects, iisque maxime quse familiariter occurrunt, 
 intellectum statim perstringunt et phantasiam implent : 
 ubi contra Interpretationes, ex rebus admodum variis et 
 multum distantibus sparsim collects, intellectum subito
 
 248 NOVUM ORGANUM. 
 
 percutere non possunt ; ut necesse sit eas, quoad opin- 
 iones, duras et absonas, fere instar mysteriorum fidei, 
 videri. 
 
 xxix. 
 
 In scientiis quae in opinionibus et placitis fundatae 
 sunt, bonus est us us Anticipationum et Dialecticae; 
 quando opus est assensum subjugare, non res. 
 
 XXX. 
 
 Non, si omnia omnium aetatum ingenia coierint et 
 labores contulerint et transmiserint, progressus mag- 
 nus fieri poterit in scientiis per Anticipationes ; quia 
 errores radicales, et in prima digestione mentis, ab 
 excellentia functionum et remediorum sequentium non 
 curantur. 
 
 XXXI. 
 
 Frustra magnum expectatur augmentum in scientiis 
 ex superinductione et insitione novorum super vetera ; 
 sed instauratio facienda est ab imis fundamentis, nisi 
 libeat perpetuo circumvolvi in orbem, cum exili et 
 quasi contemnendo progressu. 
 
 XXXII. 
 
 Antiquis authoribus suus constat honos, atque adeo 
 omnibus ; quia non ingeniorum aut facultatum indu- 
 citur comparatio, sed vise; nosque non judicis sed 
 indicis personam sustinemus. 
 
 XXXIII. 
 
 Nullum (dicendum enim est aperte) recte fieri po- 
 test judicium nee de via nostra, nee de iis quae secun- 
 dum earn inventa sunt, per Anticipationes (rationem 
 scilicet quae in usu est) ; quia non postulandum est
 
 NOVDM OEGANUM. 249 
 
 ut ejus rei judicio stetur, quae ipsa in judicium vo- 
 catur. 
 
 XXXIV. 
 
 Neque etiam tradendi aut explicandi ea quse adduci- 
 mus facilis est ratio ; quia quse in se nova sunt intelli- 
 gentur tanien ex analogia veterum. 1 
 
 XXXV. 
 
 Dixit Borgia de expeditions Gallorura in Italiam, 
 eos venisse cum creta in manibus ut diversoria nota- 
 rent, non cum armis ut perrumperent : 2 itidem et 
 nostra ratio est, ut doctrina nostra animos Jdoneos 
 et capaces subintret ; confutationum enim nullus est 
 usus, ubi de principiis et ipsis notionibus, atque etiam 
 de formis demonstrationum, dissentimus. 
 
 XXXVI. 
 
 Restat vero nobis modus tradendi nnus et simplex, 
 ut homines ad ipsa particularia et eorum series et 
 ordines adducamus ; et ut illi rursus imperent sibi ad 
 tempus abnegationem Notionum, et cum rebus ipsis 
 consuescere incipiant. 
 
 1 For the meaning of "analogia" see note on the Distr. Op. p. 218. 
 /. 5. 
 
 2 " Diceva in quei tempi Papa Alessandro sesto che i Francesi havevano 
 corso 1' Italia con gli speroni di legno et presola col gesso : dicendo cosl 
 perche pigliando essi gli alloggiamenti nelle citta loro furieri segnavano 
 le porte delle case col gesso; et cavalcando per loro diporto i gentil' hu- 
 omini per le terre a sollazzo usavano di portare nelle scarpette a calcagni 
 certi stecchi di legno appuntati, delli quali in vece di speroni si servivano 
 per andare le cavalcature." Nardi, Vita di Malespini, [1597,] p. 18. 
 
 In an epitome of the history of Charles the Eighth, which will be found 
 in the "Archives curieuses" of Cember, vol. i. p. 197., and which was ap- 
 parently written about the beginning of the seventeenth century, the re- 
 mark ascribed to Alexander the Sixth by Nardi and Bacon is mentioned 
 as a popular saying.
 
 250 NOVUM ORGANUM. 
 
 XXXVII. 
 
 Ratio eorum qui acatalepsiam tenuerunt, et via nos- 
 tra, initiis suis quodammodo consentiunt ; exitu im- 
 mensura disjunguntur et opponuntur. Illi enim nihil 
 sciri posse simpliciter asserunt ; nos non multum sciri 
 posse in natura, ea quae nunc in usu est via : verum 
 illi exinde authoritatem sensus et intellectus destruunt ; 
 nos auxilia iisdem excogitamus et subministramus. 
 
 XXXVIII. 
 
 Idola et notiones falsse quae intellectura humanum 
 jam occuparunt atque in eo alte haerent, non solum 
 mentes hominum ita obsident ut veritati aditus diffi- 
 oilis pateat ; sed etiam dato et concesso aditu, ilia 
 rursus in ipsa instauratione scientiarum occurrent et 
 molesta erunt, nisi homines praemoniti adversus ea se 
 quantum fieri potest muniant. 
 
 XXXIX. 
 
 Quatuor sunt genera Idolorum quaa mentes huma- 
 nas obsident. lis (docendi gratia) nomina imposu- 
 imus ; ut primum genus, Idola Tribus ; securidum, 
 Idola Specus ; tertium, Idola Fori ; quartum, Idola 
 Theatri vocentur. 1 
 
 1 These four idols have been compared to the four hindrances to truth 
 enumerated by Roger Bacon. These are, the use of insufficient authority, 
 custom, ^popular opinions, and the concealment of ignorance and display 
 of apparent knowledge. The last two may be likened to the idols of the 
 market-place and the theatre. But the principle of the classification is 
 different. [See on this subject the Preface, p. 159. Roger Bacon's words 
 are as follows: 
 
 " Quatuor vero maxima sunt comprehendendse veritatis offendicula, qua 
 omnem quemcunque sapientem impediunt, et vix aliquem permittunt ad 
 verum titulum sapientia? pervenire : viz. fragilis et indigna? auctoritatis ex-
 
 NOVUM ORGANUM. 251 
 
 XL. 
 
 Excitatio Notionum et Axiomatum per Inductionem 
 veram, est certe proprium remedium ad Idola arcenda 
 et summovenda ; sed tamen indicatio Idolorum inagni 
 est usus. Doctrina enim de Idolis similiter se habet ad 
 Interpretationem Naturae, sicut doctrina de Sophisticis 
 Elenchis ad Dialecticam vulgarem. 
 
 XLI. 
 
 Idola Tribus sunt ftmdata in ipsa natura humana, 
 atque in ipsa tribu seu gente hominum. Falso enim 
 asseritur, sensum humanura esse mensuram rerum ; l 
 quin contra, omnes perceptiones tarn sensus quam 
 mentis sunt ex analogia hominis, non ex analogia uni- 
 versi. Estque intellectus humanus instar speculi in- 
 sequalis ad radios rerum, qui suam naturam naturae 
 rerum immiscet, eamque distorquet et inficit. 
 
 XLII. 
 
 Idola Specus sunt idola hominis individui. Habet 
 enim unusquisque (praeter aberrationes naturae hu- 
 man ae in genere) specum sive cavernam quandam 
 individuam, quae lumen naturae frangit et corrumpit ; 
 
 emplum, consuetudinis diuturnitas, vulgi sensus imperiti, et proprise ig- 
 norantise occultatio cum ostentatione sapientise apparentis. His omnis 
 homo involvitur, omnis status occupatur. Nam quilibet singulis artibus 
 vitse et studii et omnis negotii tribus pessimis ad eandem conclusionem 
 utitur argumentis: scil. hoc exemplificatum est per majores, hoc consue- 
 
 tum est, hoc vulgatum est, ergo tenendum Si vero hsec tria 
 
 refellantur aliquando magnified rationis potentia, quartum semper in 
 promptu est et in ore cujuslibet, ut quilibet ignorantiam suam excuset, et 
 licet nihil dignum sciat illud tamen magnificet imprudenter [impuden- 
 ter?] et sic saltern suse stultitise infelici solatio veritatem opprimat et eli- 
 dat." Opus Majus, 1. i. J. S.~\ 
 1 Protagoras. See Hippias Major.
 
 252 NOVDM ORGANUM. 
 
 vel propter naturam cuj usque propriam et singula- 
 rem ; vel propter educationem et conversationein cum 
 aliis; vel propter lectionem librorum, et authoritates 
 eorum quos quisque colit et miratur ; vel propter diffe- 
 rentias impressionum, prout occurrunt in animo pra> 
 occupato et prsedisposito aut in animo aequo et sedato, 
 vel ejusmodi ; ut plane spiritus humanus (prout dis- 
 ponitur in hominibus singulis) sit res varia, et omnino 
 perturbata, et quasi fortuita : unde bene Heraclitus, 
 homines scientias quaerere in minoribus mundis, et 
 non in majore sive communi. 1 
 
 XLIII. 
 
 Sunt etiam Idola tanquam ex contractu et societate 
 humani generis ad invicem, quse Idola Fori, propter 
 hominum commercium et consortium, appellamus. 
 Homines enim per sermones sociantur; at verba ex 
 captu vulgi imponuntur. Itaque mala et inepta ver- 
 borum impositio miris modis intellectum obsidet. 
 Neque definitiones aut explicationes, quibus homines 
 docti se munire et vindicare in nonnullis consueve- 
 runt, rem ullo modo restituunt. Sed verba plane 
 vim faciunt intellectui, et omnia turbant; et homines 
 ad inanes et innumeras controversias et commenta 
 deducunt. 
 
 XLIV. 
 
 Sunt denique Idola quse immigrarunt in animos 
 hominum ex diversis dogmatibus philosophiarum, ac 
 etiam ex perversis legibus demonstrationum ; quae 
 Idola Theatri nominamus ; quia quot philosophise 
 receptae aut inventae sunt, tot fabulas productas et 
 
 1 See Sextus Empiricus, Adversus Logicos, i. 133. ; and compare ii. 
 186. of the same treatise.
 
 NOVUM ORGANUM. 253 
 
 actas censemus, quae mundos eiFecerunt fictitios et 
 scenicos. Neque de his quae jam habentur, aut etiam 
 de veteribus philosophiis et sectis, tantum loquimur; 
 cum complures aliae ejusmodi fabulse componi et con- 
 cinnari possint ; quandoquidem errorum prorsus diver- 
 sorum causse sint nihilominus fere communes. Neque 
 rursus de philosophiis universalibus tantum hoc intellig- 
 imus, sed etiam de principiis et axiomatibus compluri- 
 bus scientiarum, quae ex traditione et fide et neglectu 
 invaluerunt. Verum de singulis istis generibus idolo- 
 rum fusius et distinctius dicendum est, ut intellectui 
 humano cautum sit. 
 
 XLV. 1 
 
 Intellectus humanus ex proprietate sua 2 facile sup- 
 ponit majorem ordinem et sequalitatem in rebus quam 
 invenit; et cum multa sint in natura monodica 3 et 
 plena imparitatis, tamen affingit parallela et corre- 
 spondentia et relativa quaa non sunt. Hinc commenta 
 ilia, in coelestibus omnia moveri per circulos perfectos, 
 lineis spiralibus et draconibus 4 (nisi nomine tenus) 
 
 1 Here, according to the tripartite distribution of the "Pars Destruens" 
 mentioned in the 115th aphorism, begins the first Redargutio Redargutio 
 Rationis Humanse Nativae. J. S. 
 
 2 That is " in accordance with the homogeneity of its own substance," 
 or as Bacon expresses it in 52., "ex aequalitate substantial spiritus hu- 
 mani." 
 
 8 The word which Bacon intends to use is, of course, "monadica; " but 
 throughout his writings he has fallen into the error of which the text affords 
 an instance. 
 
 4 It does not appear in what sense Bacon uses the word " draco." In its 
 ordinary acceptation in old astronomy, it denoted the great circle which is 
 approximately the projection on the sphere of the moon's orbit. The as- 
 cending node was called the caput draconis, and the descending the cauda 
 draconis. The same terms were occasionally applied to the nodes of the 
 planetary orbits. It is not improbable that Bacon intended to complain of 
 the rejection of spirals of double curvature, or helices, which traced on the
 
 254 NOVUM ORGANUM. 
 
 prorsus rejectis. Hinc elementum ignis cum orbe suo 
 introductura est, ad constituendam quaternionem cum 
 reliquis tribus, quae subjiciuntur sensui. 1 Etiam ele- 
 mentis (qua3 vocant) imponitur ad placitum decupla 
 proportio excessus in raritate ad invicem : 2 et hujus- 
 modi somnia. Neque vanitas ista tantum valet in dog- 
 matibus, verum etiam in notionibus simplicibus. 
 
 XLVI. 
 
 Intellectus humanus, in iis quae semel placuerunt 
 (aut quia recepta sunt et credita, aut quia delectant), 
 alia etiam omnia traliit ad sunragationem et consen- 
 sum cum illis ; et licet major sit instantiarum vis et 
 copia quae occurrunt in contrarium, tamen eas aut non 
 observat aut contemnit aut distinguendo summovet et 
 rejicit, non sine magno et pernicioso praejudicio, quo 
 
 surface of the sphere might represent inequalities in latitude. Compare 
 (Nov. Org. II. 48.) what is said of the variations of which the " motus rota- 
 tionis spontaneus " admits. 
 
 1 The orb of the element of fire was sup- 
 posed to lie above that of the element of air, 
 and therefore might be said " non subjici 
 sensui." The quaternion of elements fol- 
 lows directly from the quaternion of ele- 
 mentary qualities ; namely, hot, cold, moist, 
 dry. For these may be combined two and 
 
 two in six different ways ; two of these ' ^ 
 
 combinations are rejected as simply con- 
 tradictory (viz. hot and cold, moist and 
 
 dry) ; and to each of the other combinations corresponds one of the four ele 
 ments. The diagram will illustrate. 
 
 2 This doctrine of the decupla ratio of density of the elements was sug- 
 gested by a passage in Aristotle [De Gen. et Cor. ii. 6.] . It is found in all 
 books of mediaeval physics. Cf. the Margarita Philosophic, ix. c. 4., or 
 Alsted's Encyclopaedia, where it is thus expressed : " Proportio elementortim 
 ad se invicem ratione transmutationis est decupla, ratione magnitudinis non 
 satis explorata." The transmutability of one element into another is an 
 essential part of the Peripatetic doctrine of elements. It is found also in 
 the Timasus.
 
 NOVUM ORGANUM. 255 
 
 prioribus illis syllepsibus authoritas maneat inviolata. 
 Itaque recte respondit ille, qui, cum suspensa tabula in 
 templo ei monstraretur eorum qui vota solverant quod 
 naufragii periculo elapsi sint, atque interrogando prem- 
 eretur anne turn quidem deorum numen agnosceret, 
 qusesivit denuo, At ubi sint illi depicti qui post vota 
 nuncupate/, perierint ? l Eadem ratio est fere omnis 
 superstitionis, ut in astrologicis, in somniis, omnibus, 
 nemesibus, et hujusmodi ; in quibus homines delectati 
 hujusmodi vanitatibus advertunt eventus ubi implentur, 
 ast ubi fallunt (licet multo frequentius) tamen negli- 
 gunt et praetereunt. At longe subtilius serpit hoc ma- 
 lum in philosophiis et scientiis ; in quibus quod semel 
 placuit reliqua (licet nmlto firmiora et potiora) inficit 
 et in ordinem redigit. Quinetiam licet abfuerit ea 
 quam diximus delectatio et vanitas, is tamen humano 
 intellectui error est proprius et perpetuus, ut magis mo- 
 veatur et excitetur affirmativis quam negativis ; cum 
 rite et ordine aequum se utrique praebere debeat ; quin 
 contra, in omni axiomate vero constituendo, major est 
 vis instantias negativaa. 
 
 XLVII. 
 
 Intellectus humanus illis quae simul et subito mentem 
 ferire et subire possunt maxime movetur ; a quibus 
 phantasia impleri et inflari consuevit ; reliqua vero 
 modo quodam, licet imperceptibili, ita se habere fingit 
 et supponit, quomodo se habent pauca ilia quibus mens 
 obsidetur ; ad ilium vero transcursum ad instantias 
 remotas et heterogeneas, per quas axiomata tanquam 
 igne probantur, tardus omnino intellectus est et inhab- 
 
 1 This story is told of Diagoras by Cicero, De Nat. Deor. in., and of Di- 
 ogenes the Cynic by Diogenes Laertius.
 
 256 NOVUM ORGANUM. 
 
 ills, nisi hoc illi per duras leges et violentum imperium 
 imponatur. 
 
 XLVIH. 
 
 Gliscit intellectus humanus, neque consistere aut 
 acquiescere potis est, sed ulterius petit ; at frustra. 
 Itaque incogitabile est ut sit aliquid extremum aut 
 extimum mundi, sed semper quasi necessario occurrit 
 ut sit aliquid ulterius : l neque rursus cogitari potest 
 quomodo seternitas defluxerit ad hunc diem ; cum dis- 
 tinctio ilia quae recipi consuevit, quod sit infinitum a 
 parte ante et a parte post, nullo modo constare possit ; 
 quia inde sequeretur, quod sit unum infinitum alio infi- 
 nito majus, atque ut consumatur infinitum, et vergat 
 ad finitum. Similis est subtilitas de lineis semper divis- 
 ibilibus, 2 ex impotentia cogitationis. At majore cum 
 pernicie intervenit haec impotentia mentis in inventione 
 causarum : nam cum maxime universalia in natura 
 positiva esse debeant, quemadmodum inveniuntur, ne- 
 que sunt revera causabilia; tamen intellectus humanus, 
 nescius acquiescere, adhuc appetit notiora. Turn vero 
 ad ulteriora tendens ad proximiora recidit, videlicet ad 
 causas finales, quae sunt plane ex natura hominis potius 
 quam universi ; 3 atque ex hoc fonte philosophiam miris 
 
 1 Thus Leibnitz derived from the principle of sufficient reason a proof of 
 the infinite extent of the universe, alleging that if it were of finite dimen- 
 sions no reason could be given for its occupying any one region of space 
 rather than any other. 
 
 2 In the phrase " subtilitas de lineis semper divisibilibus," reference is 
 made to Aristotle, who in several places in his writings (particularly in the 
 tract irepl aro/iuv ypa^druv) maintains that in theory every magnitude is 
 divisible sine limite. 
 
 3 This censure appears to be expressed without sufficient limitation ; for 
 it is difficult to assent to the assertion that the notion of the final cause, 
 considered generally, is more ex natur& hominis than that of the efficient. 
 The subject is one of which it is difficult to speak accurately; but it may 
 be said that wherever we think that we recognise a tendency towards a
 
 NOVUM ORGANUM. 257 
 
 modis corruperunt. Est autem seque imperiti et lev- 
 iter philosophantis, in maxime universalibus causam 
 requirere, ac in subordinates et subalternis causam non 
 desiderare. 1 
 
 XLIX. 
 
 Intellectus humanus luminis sicci non est ; 2 sed re- 
 cipit infusionem a voluntate et affectibus, id quod gen- 
 erat Ad quod vult scientias. Quod enim mavult homo 
 verum esse, id potius credit. Rejicit itaque difficilia, 
 ob inquirendi impatientiam ; sobria, quia coarctant 
 spem ; altiora naturae, propter superstitionem ; lumen 
 experientise, propter arrogantiam et fastum, ne videa- 
 tur mens versari in vilibus et fluxis ; paradoxa, propter 
 opinionem vulgi ; denique innumeris modis, iisque in- 
 
 fulfilment or realisation of an idea, there the notion of the final cause comes 
 in. It can only be from inadvertence that Professor Owen has set the doc- 
 trine of the final cause as it were in antithesis to that of the unit} 7 of tvpe: 
 by the former he means the doctrine that the suitability of an animal to its 
 mode of life is the one thing aimed at or intended in its structure. It can- 
 not be doubted that Aristotle would htive recognised the preservation of the 
 type as not less truly a final cause than the preservation of the species or 
 than the well-being of the individual. The final cause connects itself with 
 what in the language of modern German philosophy is expressed by the 
 phrase " the Idea in Nature." 
 
 1 eari yap U7ra5ei;cr(a TO pri yi,yi>uaKeiv rivuv 6ti fyjTEiv atrodei^Lv KCU 
 rivwv ov <5, oA<jf [tev yap airavTuv udvvarov uirodetjiv elvai elf uneipov 
 yup uv padifri wore piS* ovrwf elvcu air66eit;iv. Metaph., iii. 4. 
 
 2 Heraclitus apud Plut, De Esu Carnium. This doctrine of Idols is 
 spoken of with great disrespect by Spinoza. He asserts that neither Des 
 Cartes nor Bacon ever perceived the true source of error, and adds : " De 
 Bacone parum dicam, qui cle hac re admodum confuse loquitur, et fere nihil 
 probat, sed tantum narrat : " and concludes by saying, " quas adhuc alias 
 causas adsignat (he has just enumerated three of the Idols of the Tribe) 
 facile omnes ad unicam Cartesii reduci possunt; scilicet quia voluntas hu- 
 mana est libera et latior intellectu; sive, ut ipse Verulamius magis confuse 
 loquitur, quia intellectus luminis sicci non est, sed recipit infusionem a 
 voluntate." See Spinoza to Oldenburg, ep. 2. vol. ii. p. 146. of Bruder's 
 edition. 
 
 . VOL. i. 17
 
 258 KOVUM ORGAXUM. 
 
 terdum imperceptibilibus, affectus intellectum imbuit et 
 inficit. 
 
 L. 
 
 At longe maximum impedimentum et aberratio in- 
 tellectus humani provenit a stupore et incompetentia 
 et fallaciis sensuum ; ut ea quae sensum feriant, illis 
 quae sensum immediate non feriunt, licet potioribus, 
 praeponderent. Itaque contemplatio fere desinit cum 
 aspectu ; adeo ut rerum invisibilium exigua aut nulla 
 sit observatio. Itaque omnis operatic spirituum in cor- 
 poribus tangibilibus inclusorum latet, et homines fugit. 
 Omnis etiam subtilior meta-schematismus in partibus 
 rerum crassiorum (quern vulgo alterationem vocant, 
 cum sit revera latio per minima) latet similiter: et 
 tamen nisi duo ista quae diximus explorata fuerint et 
 in lucem producta, nihil magni fieri potest in natura 
 quoad opera. Rursus ipsa natura aeris communis et 
 corporum omnium quae aerem tenuitate superant (qua? 
 plurima sunt) fere incognita est. Sensus enim per se 
 res infinna est et aberrans ; neque organa ad amplifican- 
 dos sensus aut acuendos multum valent ; sed omnis 
 verior interpretatio naturae conficitur per instantias, et 
 experimenta idonea et apposita ; ubi sensus de exper- 
 imento tantum, experimentum de natura et re ipsa 
 judicat. 
 
 LI. 
 
 Intellectus humanus fertur ad abstracta propter na- 
 turam propriam, atque ea qua? fluxa sunt fingit esse 
 constantia. Melius autem est naturam secare, quam 
 abstrahere ; J id quod Democriti schola fecit, quae 
 magis penetravit in naturam quam reliquae. Materia 
 
 1 "Naturam secare," to dissect nature into her constituent parts; " Natu- 
 ram abstrahere," to resolve nature into abstractions.
 
 NOVUM ORGAN UM. 259 
 
 potius considerari debet, et ejus schematismi et meta- 
 schematismi, atque actus purus, et lex actus sive mo- 
 tus ; Formas enim commenta animi human! sunt, nisi 
 libeat leges illas actus Formas appellare. 
 
 m. 
 
 Hujusmodi itaque sunt Idola, quse yocamus Idola 
 Tribus ; quae ortum habent aut ex asqualitate sub- 
 stantiae spiritus humani ; l aut ex praeoccupatione ejus ; 
 aut ab angustiis ejus ; aut ab inquieto motu ejus ; aut 
 ab infusione affectuum ; aut ab incompetentia sen- 
 suum ; aut ab impressionis modo. 
 
 Lin. 
 
 Idola Specus ortum habent ex propria cujusque 
 natura et animi et corporis ; atque etiam ex educa- 
 tione, et consuetudine, et fortuitis. Quod genus licet 
 sit varium et multiplex, tamen ea proponemus in qui- 
 bus maxima cautio est, quaeque plurimum valent ad 
 polluendum intellectum ne sit purus. 
 
 LIV. 
 
 Adamant homines scientias et comtemplationes par- 
 ticulares ; aut quia authores et inventores se earum 
 credunt ; aut quia plurimum in illis operae posue- 
 runt, iisque maxime assueverunt. Hujusmodi vero 
 homines, si ad philosophiam et contemplationes uni- 
 versales se contulerint, illas ex prioribus phantasiis 
 detorquent et corrumpunt ; id quod maxime con- 
 spicuum cernitur in Aristotele, qui naturalem suam 
 
 1 Compare Advanc. of Learning: "That the spirit of man being of an 
 equal and uniform substance doth usually suppose and feign in nature a 
 greater equality and uniformity than is in truth." J. S.
 
 260 NOVUM ORGANUM. 
 
 philosophiam logicae suae prorsus mancipavit, ut earn 
 fere inutilem et contentiosam reddiderit. Chymico- 
 rum autem genus, ex paucis experiments fornacis, 
 philosophiam constituerunt phantasticam et ad pauca 
 spectantem. Quinetiam Gilbertus, postquam in con- 
 templationibus magnetis se laboriosissime exercuisset, 
 confinxit statim philosophiam consentaneam rei apud 
 ipsum prsepollenti. 
 
 LV. 
 
 Maximum et velut radicale discrimen ingeniorum, 
 quoad philosophiam et scientias, illud est; quod alia 
 ingenia sint fortiora et aptiora ad notandas rerum 
 differentias, alia ad notandas rerum similitudines. In- 
 genia enim constantia et acuta figere contemplationes 
 et morari et haerere in ornni subtilitate differentiarum 
 possunt : ingenia autem sublimia et discursiva etiam 
 tenuissimas et catholicas rerum similitudines et agnos- 
 cunt et componunt, Utrumque autem ingenium facile 
 labitur in excessum, prensando aut gradus rerum aut 
 umbras. 
 
 LVI. 
 
 Reperiuntur ingenia alia in admirationem antiqui- 
 tatis, alia in amorem et amplexum novitatis effusa ; 
 pauca vero ejus temperamenti sunt ut modum tenere 
 possint, quin aut quae recte posita sunt ab antiquis 
 convellant, aut ea contemnant quae recte afferuntur 
 a novis. Hoc vero magno scientiarum et philosophise 
 detrimento fit ; quum studia potius sint antiquitatis 
 et novitatis, quam judicia; veritas autem non a felici- 
 tate temporis alicujus, quae res varia est, sed a lumine 
 naturae et experientiae, quod aeternum est, petenda est. 
 Itaque abneganda sunt ista studia, et videndum ne 
 intellectus ab illis ad consensum abripiatur.
 
 NOVUM ORGANUM. 261 
 
 LVH. 
 
 Contemplationes naturae et corpormn in simplici- 
 tate sua, intellectum frangunt et comminuunt : 1 con- 
 templationes vero naturae et corporum in compositione 
 et configuratione sua, intellectum stupefaciunt et sol- 
 vunt. 2 Id optime cernitur in scliola Leucippi et Demo- 
 criti, 3 collata cum reliquis philosophiis. Ilia enim ita 
 versatur in particulis rerum, ut fabricas fere negligat : 
 reliquae autem ita fabricas intuentur attonitae, ut ad 
 simplicitatem naturae non penetrent. Itaque alter- 
 nandae sunt contemplationes istae et vicissim sumendae ; 
 ut intellectus reddatur simul penetrans et capax, et 
 evitentur ea quae diximus incommoda atque Idola ex 
 iis provenientia. 
 
 LVIH. 
 
 Talis itaque esto prudentia contemplativa in arcendis 
 et summovendis Idolis Specus ; quae aut ex praedom- 
 inantia, aut ex excessu compositionis et divisionis, aut 
 ex studiis erga tempora, aut ex objectis largis et mi- 
 nutis, maxime ortum habent. Generaliter autem pro 
 suspecto habendum unicuique rerum naturam contem- 
 planti, quicquid intellectum suum potissimum capit et 
 detinet ; tantoque major adhibenda in hujusmodi placi- 
 tis est cautio, ut intellectus servetur aequus et purus. 
 
 LIX. 
 
 At Idola Fori omnium molestissima sunt ; quae ex 
 ftedere verborum et nominum se insinuarunt in intel- 
 
 1 i. e. Break up the understanding and distract it in minute observation 
 of the parts. J. S. 
 
 2 . e. Astonish and dissolve it in a vain endeavour to take in the whole. 
 -J. S. 
 
 8 That is, in the Atomists.
 
 262 NOVUM ORGANUM. 
 
 lectum. Credunt enim homines rationem suam ver- 
 bis imperare ; sed fit etiam ut verba vim suam super 
 intellectum retorqueant et reflectant ; quod philoso- 
 phiam et scientias reddidit sophisticas et inactivas. 
 Verba autem plerunque ex captu vulgi induntur, 
 atque per lineas vulgari intellectui maxime conspic- 
 uas res secant. Quum autem intellectus acutior aut 
 observatio diligentior eas lineas transferre velit, ut 
 illae sint magis secundum naturam, verba obstrepunt. 
 Unde fit ut magnae et solennes disputation es hominum 
 doctorum saepe in controversias circa verba et nomina 
 desinant ; a quibus (ex more et prudentia mathemati- 
 corum) incipere consultius foret, easque per defini- 
 tiones in ordinem redigere. Quae tamen definitiones, 
 in naturalibus et materiatis, huic malo mederi non 
 possunt ; quoniam et ipsae definitiones ex verbis con- 
 stant, et verba gignunt verba : adeo ut necesse sit ad 
 instantias particulares earumque series et ordines re- 
 currere ; ut mox dicemus, quum ad modum et ra- 
 tionem constituendi notiones et axiomata deventum 
 fuerit. 
 
 IX. 
 
 Idola quae per verba intellectui imponuntur duorum 
 generum sunt. Aut enim sunt rerum nomina quae 
 non sunt (quemadmodum enim sunt res quae nomine 
 carent per inobservationem, ita sunt et nomina quae 
 carent rebus per suppositionem phantasticam) ; aut 
 sunt nomina rerum quae sunt, sed confusa et male 
 terminata, et temere et inaequaliter a rebus abstracta. 
 Prioris generis sunt Fortuna, Primum Mobile, Plan- 
 etarum Orbes, Elementum Ignis, et hujusmodi com- 
 menta, quae a vanis et falsis theoriis ortum habent.
 
 NOVUM ORGANUM. 263 
 
 Atque hoc genus Idolorum facilius ejicitur, quia per 
 constantem abnegationem et antiquationem theoriarum 
 exterminari possunt. 
 
 At alterum genus perplexum est et alte hasrens ; 
 quod ex mala et imperita abstractione excitatur. Ex- 
 empli gratia, accipiatur aliquod verbum (Humidum, 
 si placet), et videamus quomodo sibi constant qua? per 
 hoc verbum significantur ; et invenietur verbum istud 
 Humidu,m nihil aliud quam nota confusa diversarum 
 actionum, qua3 nullam constantiam aut reductionem 
 patiuntur. Significat enim et quod circfl, aliud corpus 
 facile se circumfundit ; et quod in se est indetermi- 
 nabile, nee consistere potest ; et quod facile cedit un- 
 dique ; et quod facile se dividit et dispergit ; et quod 
 facile se unit et colligit ; et quod facile fluit et in motu 
 ponitvir ; et quod alteri corpori facile adhaeret, idque 
 madefacit ; et quod facile reducitur in liquidum, sive 
 colliquatur, cum antea consisteret. Itaque cum ad 
 hujus nominis praBdicationem et impositionem ventum 
 sit, si alia accipias, flamma humida est ; si alia accip- 
 ias, aer humidus non est ; si alia, pulvis minutus hu- 
 midus est ; si alia, vitrum humidum est ; ut facile 
 appareat istam notionem ex aqua tantum et commu- 
 nibus et vulgaribus liquoribus, absque ulla debita veri- 
 ficatione, temere* abstractam esse. 
 
 In verbis autem gradus sunt quidam pravitatis et 
 erroris. Minus vitiosum genus est nominum substan- 
 tial alicujus, praesertim specierum infimarum et bene 
 deductarum (nam notio Oretee, Luti, bona ; Terra3 
 mala) ; vitiosius genus est actionum, ut Generare, 
 Corrumpere, Alterare : vitiosissimum qualitatum (ex- 
 ceptis objectis sensus immediatis), ut Gravis, Levis, 
 Tenuis, Densi, etc. ; et tamen in omnibus istis fieri
 
 234 NOVUM ORGANUM. 
 
 non potest, quin sint alias notiones aliis paulo meliores, 
 prout in sensum human urn incidit rerum copia. 1 
 
 LXI. 
 
 At Idola Theatri innata non sunt, nee occulto in- 
 sinuata in intellectum ; sed ex fabulis theoriarum et 
 perversis legibus demonstrationum plane indita et re- 
 cepta. In his autem confutationes tentare et suscip- 
 ere consentaneum prorsus non est illis quae a nobis 
 dicta sunt. Quum enim nee de principiis consentia- 
 mus nee de (Jemonstrationibus, tollitur omnis argu- 
 mentatio. Id vero bono fit fato, ut antiquis suus con- 
 stet honos. Nihil enim illis detrahitur, quum de via 
 omnino quaBstio sit. Claudus enim (ut dicitur) in via 
 antevertit cursorem extra viam. Etiam illud mani- 
 festo liquet, currenti extra viam, quo habilior sit et 
 velocior, eo majorem contingere aberrationem. 
 
 Nostra vero inveniendi scientias ea est ratio, ut non 
 multum ingeniorum acumini et robori relinquatur ; 
 sed quae ingenia et intellectus fere exsequet. Quern ad- 
 modum enim ad hoc, ut linea recta fiat aut circulus 
 perfectus describatur, multum est in constantia et ex- 
 ercitatione manus, si fiat ex vi manus propria ; sin 
 autem adhibeatur regula aut circinus, parum aut nihil ; 
 omnino similis est nostra ratio. Licet autem confuta- 
 tionum particularium nullus sit usus, de sectis tamen 
 et generibus hujusmodi theoriarum nonnihil dicendum 
 est ; atque etiam paulo post de signis exterioribus, 
 quod se male habeant ; et postremo de causis tantae 
 
 1 Here, according to the tripartite distribution of the subject mentioned 
 in aphorism 115, the first of the three Redargutiones ends. The following 
 aphorisms from 61 to 115 contain the two others, Redargutio Philosophia- 
 rum and Redargutio Demonstrationum, which are not kept quite separate. 
 The 69th and 70th aphorisms belong especially to the last. J. S.
 
 NOVUM ORGANUM. 205 
 
 infelicitatis et tarn diuturni et generalis in errore con- 
 sensus ; ut ad vera minus difficilis sit aditus, et in- 
 tellectus humanus volentius expurgetur et Idola di- 
 mittat. 
 
 LXII. 
 
 Idola Theatri, sive theoriarum, multa sunt, et multo 
 plura esse possunt, et aliquando fortasse erunt. Nisi 
 enim per multa jam saecula hominum ingenia circa re- 
 ligionem et theologian! occupata fuissent, atque etiam 
 politiae civiles (praesertim monarchic) ab istiusmodi 
 novitatibus, etiam in contemplationibus, essent aversae ; 
 ut cum periculo et detrimento fortunarum suarum in 
 illas homines incumbant, non solum praemio destituti, 
 sed etiam contemptui et invidise expositi ; cornplures 
 alia3 proculdubio philosophiarum et theoriarum sectse, 
 similes illis quas magna varietate olim apud Graecos 
 floruerunt, introductae fuissent. Quemadmodum enim 
 super phasnomena aetheris plura themata coeli confingi 
 possunt ; similiter, et multo magis, super phaenomena 
 philosophias fundari possunt et constitui varia dogmata. 
 Atque hujusmodi theatri fabulae habent etiam illud 
 quod in theatre poetarum usu venit, ut narrationes 
 fictae ad scenam narrationibus ex historia veris concin- 
 niores sint et elegantiores, et quales quis magis vellet. 
 
 In genere autem, in materiam philosophies sumitur 
 aut multum ex paucis aut parum ex multis ; ut utrin- 
 que philosophia super experientiae et naturalis historiae 
 nimis angustam basin fundata sit, atque ex paucioribus 
 quam par est pronunciet. Rationale enim genus phi- 
 losophantiuhi ex experientia arripiunt varia et vulgaria, 
 eaque neque certo comperta nee diligenter examinata et 
 pensitata ; reliqua in meditatiorie atque ingenii agita- 
 tione ponunt.
 
 23:3 NOVUM ORGANUM. 
 
 Est et aliud genus philosophantium, qui in paucis 
 experitnentis sedulo et accurate elaborarunt, atque inde 
 philosophias educe re et confingere ausi sunt ; reliqua 
 miris raodis ad ea detorquentes. 
 
 Est et tertium genus eorum, qui theologiam et tra- 
 ditiones ex fide et veneratione immiscent ; inter quos 
 vanitas nonnullorum ad petendas et derivandas scien- 
 tias a Spiritibus scilicet et Geniis deflexit ; ita ut stirps 
 errorum, et philosophia falsa, genere triplex sit : So- 
 phistica, Empirica, et Supers titiosa. 
 
 LXIII. 
 
 Primi generis exemplum in Aristotele maxime con- 
 spicuum est, qui philosophiam naturalem dialectica sua 
 corrupit ; quum mundum ex categoriis effecerit ; ani- 
 mae humana?, nobilissimae substantise, genus ex voci- 
 bus secundae intentionis tribuerit ; l negotium Densi et 
 Rari, per quod corpora subeunt majores et minores di- 
 mensiones sive spatia, per frigidam distinctionem Actus 
 et Potentiae 2 transegerit; motum singulis corporibus 
 unicum et proprium, 3 et si participent ex alio motu id 
 aliunde moveri, asseruerit ; et innurnera alia, pro arbit- 
 rio suo, naturaa rerum imposuerit : magis ubique sollic- 
 
 1 This censure refers to Aristotle's definition of the soul, De Anima, ii. 
 1 M jj npuT7) tvTetexeia auftarof <f>vaiKOV opyavutov, in which the word 
 Entelecheia is, as the scholastic commentators remark, assigned as the 
 genus to which the soul is referred. 
 
 2 The " frigida distinctio actus et potentiae" refers apparently to the Phys. 
 Ausc. iv. c. 5. ; where it is said that water is air in poteiitia, and vice vers&. 
 The possibility of their reciprocal transmutation Bacon does not appear to 
 have doubted of. [With reference to this censure of Aristotie, see the pref- 
 ace to the Historia Densi et. Ran. J. <S.] 
 
 8 " Simplicis corporis simplicem esse motum " is an important principle in 
 Aristotelian physics, as one of the bases on which the system of the uni- 
 verse was made to depend. See, for instance, Melanchthon's Initia Doctr. 
 Physicce, p. 41.
 
 NOVUM OKGANUM. 267 
 
 itus quomodo quis respondendo se explicet, et aliquid 
 reddatur in verbis positivum, quam de interna rerura 
 veritate ; quod etiam op time se ostendit in compara- 
 tione philosophic ejus ad alias philosophias quae apud 
 Grascos celebrabantur. Habent enim Homoiomera An- 
 axagorse, Atomi Leucippi et Democriti, Coelum et Ter- 
 ra Parmenidis, Lis et Amicitia Empedoclis, Resolutio 
 corporum in adiaphoram naturam ignis et Replicatio 
 eorundem ad densum Heracliti, aliquid ex philosopho 
 naturali, et rerura naturam et experientiam et corpora 
 sapiunt ; ubi Aristotelis Physica nihil aliud quam dia- 
 lecticse voces plerunque sonet ; quam etiam in Meta- 
 physicis sub solenniore nomine, et ut magis scilicet 
 realis, non nominalis, retractavit. Neque illud quen- 
 quam moveat, quod in libris ejus de animalibus, et in 
 problematibus, et in aliis suis tractatibus, versatio fre- 
 quens sit in experimentis. Ille enim prius decreverat, 
 neque experientiam ad constituenda decreta et axiomata 
 rite consuluit ; sed postquam pro arbitrio suo decrevis- 
 set, experientiam ad sua placita tortam circumducit et 
 captivam ; ut hoc etiam nomine magis accusandus sit, 
 quam sectatores ejus mcderni (scholasticorum philoso- 
 phorum genus) qui experientiam omnino deseruerunt. 
 
 LXIV. 
 
 At philosophise genus Empiricum placita magis de- 
 formia et monstrosa educit, quam Sophisticum aut ra- 
 tionale genus ; quia non in luce notionum vulgarium 
 (quae licet tenuis sit et superficialis, tamen est quodam- 
 modo universalis et ad multa pertinens) sed in pauco- 
 rum experimentorum angustiis et obscuritate funclatum 
 est. Itaque talis philosophia iliis qui in hujusmodi ex- 
 perimentis quotidie versantur atque ex ipsis phantasiam
 
 268 NOVUM ORGANUM. 
 
 contaminarunt probabilis videtur, et quasi certa ; csete- 
 ris, incredibilis et vana. Cujus exemplura notabile est 
 in chymicis, eorumque dogmatibus ; alibi autem vix 
 hoc tempore invenitur, nisi forte in philosophia Gil- 
 berti. Sed tamen circa Imjusmodi philosophias cautio 
 nullo modo praetermittenda erat ; quia mente jam praav- 
 idemus et auguramur, si quando homines, nostris mon- 
 itis excitati, ad experientiani se serio contulerint (va- 
 lere jussis doctrinis sophisticis), turn deraum propter 
 praematuram et praeproperain intellectus festinationem, 
 et saltum sive volatum ad generalia et rerum prin- 
 cipia, fore ut magnum ab hujusmodi philosophiis peric- 
 ulum immineat ; cui malo etiam nunc obviam ire 
 debemus. 
 
 LXV. 
 
 At corruptio philosophiae ex Superstitione et theolo- 
 gia admista, latius omnino patet, et plurimum mali in- 
 fert, aut in philosophias integras aut in earum partes. 
 Humanus enim intellectus non minus impressionibus 
 phantasiae est obnoxius, quam impressionibus vulgarium 
 notionum. Pugnax enim genus philosophias et Sophisti- 
 curn illaqueat intellectum : at illud alterum phantasti- 
 cum et tumidum, et quasi Poeticum, magis blanditur 
 intellectui. Inest enim homini qusedam intellectus am- 
 bitio, non minor quam voluntatis ; praesertim in inge- 
 niis altis et elevatis. 
 
 Hujus autem generis exemplum inter Graecos illuces- 
 cit, praecipue in Pythagora, sed cum superstitione ma- 
 gis crassa et onerosa conjunctum ; at periculosius et 
 subtilius in Platone, atque ejus schola. Invenitur eti- 
 am hoc genus mali in partibus philosophiaram reliqua- 
 rum, introducendo formas abstractas, et causas finales, 
 et causas primas ; omittendo saepissime medias, et hu-
 
 NOVUM ORGANUM. 2G9 
 
 jusmodi. Huic autem rei surama adhibenda est cautio. 
 Pessima enim res est errorum Apotheosis, et pro peste 
 intellectus habenda est, si vanis accedat veneratio. 
 Huic autem vanitati nonnulli ex modernis summa 
 levitate ita indulserunt, ut in primo capitulo Geneseos 
 et in libro Job et aliis scripturis sacris, philosophiam 
 naturalem fimdare conati sint; inter viva qucerentes 
 mortua. Tantoque magis haec vanitas inhibenda venit 
 et coercenda, quia ex divinorum et humanorum male- 
 sana admistione non solum educitur philosophia phan- 
 tastica, sed etiam religio haeretica. Itaque salutare 
 admodura est, si mente sobria fidei tantum dentur quae 
 fidei sunt. 1 
 
 LXVI. 
 
 Et de malis authoritatibus philosophiarum, qu93 ant 
 in vulgaribus notionibus, aut in paucis experimentis, 
 aut in superstitione fundataa sunt, jam dictum est. 
 Dicendum porro.est et de vitiosa materia contempla- 
 tionum, prassertim in philosophia naturali. Inficitur 
 autem intellectus humanus ex intuitu eorum quas in 
 artibus mechanicis fiunt, in quibus corpora per com- 
 positiones aut separationes ut plurimum alterantur ; 
 ut cogitet simile quiddam etiam in natura rerum uni- 
 versali fieri. Unde fluxit commentum illud Elemen- 
 torum, atque illorum concursu, ad constituenda corpora 
 naturalia. Rursus, quum homo naturae libertatem 2 
 contempletur, incidit in species rerum, animalium, 
 plantarum, mineralium ; unde facile in earn labitur 
 cogitationem, ut existimet esse in natura quasdam 
 
 1 Compare Kepler's phrase: "Missum faciat Spiritum Sanctum, neque 
 ilium in scholas physicas cum ludibrio pertrahat." De Stella Mortis 
 Prcefat. 
 
 2 That is, nature acting freely, in opposition to nature constrained by the 
 conditions of our experiments.
 
 270 NOVUM ORGAXUH. 
 
 formas rerum primarias, quas natura educere molitur, 
 atque reliquam varietatem ex impedimentis et aberra- 
 tionibus naturae in opere suo conficiendo, aut ex diver- 
 sarum specierum conflictu et transplantatione alterius 
 in alteram, provenire. Atque prima cogitatio quali- 
 tates primas elementares, secunda proprietates occultas 
 et virtutes specificas, nobis peperit ; l quarum utraque 
 pertinet ad inania contemplationum compendia, in qui- 
 bus acquiescit animus et a solidioribus avertitur. At 
 medici, in secundis rerum qualitatibus et operationibus, 
 attrahendi, repellendi, attenuandi, inspissandi, dilatandi, 
 astringendi, discutiendi, maturandi, et hujusmodi, ope- 
 ram praastant meliorem ; atque nisi ex illis duobus 
 (quae dixi) compendiis (qualitatibus scilicet elemen- 
 taribus, et virtutibus specificis) ilia altera (quae recte 
 notata sunt) corrumperent, reducendo ilia ad primas 
 qualitates earumque mixturas subtiles et incommensu- 
 rabiles, aut ea non producendo cum majore et diligen- 
 tiore observatione ad qualitates tertias et quartas, sed 
 contemplationem intempestive abrumpendo, illi multo 
 melius profecissent. Neque hujusmodi virtutes (non 
 dico eaedem, sed similes) in humani corporis medicinis 
 tantum exquirenda? sunt ; sed etiam in caeterorum cor- 
 porum naturalium mutationibus. 
 
 Sed multo adhuc majore cum malo fit, quod quies- 
 centia rerum principia, ex quibus, et non moventia, per 
 quce, res fiunt, contemplentur et inquirant. Ilia enim 
 ad sermones, ista ad opera spectant. Neque enim vul- 
 
 l The elementary qualities are four in number, hot, cold, dry, moist; 
 and it is by combining them two and two that the Peripatetic conception 
 of the nature of each element is formed. Thus fire is hot and diy, water 
 cold and moist, &c. All the other qualities of bodies, which result from 
 the combination and mutual modification of the elementary and primary 
 qualities, were called secondary qualities.
 
 NOVUM ORGANUM. 271 
 
 gares illae differentiae Motus, quae in naturali philo- 
 sophia recepta notantur, Generationis, Corruptions, 
 Augmentationis, Diminutionis, Alterationis, et Latio- 
 nis, ullius sunt pretii. 1 Quippe hoc sibi volunt ; si 
 corpus, alias non mutatum, loco tamen moveatur, hoc 
 Lationem esse ; si manente et loco et specie, qualitate 
 mutetur, hoc Alterationem esse ; si vero ex ilia muta- 
 tione moles ipsa et quantitas corporis non eadem ma- 
 neat, hoc Augmentationis et Diminutionis motum esse ; 
 si eatenus mutentur ut speciem ipsam et substantiam 
 mutent et in alia migrent, hoc Generationem et Cor- 
 ruptionem esse. At ista mere popularia sunt, et nullo 
 mode in naturam penetrant ; suntque mensurae et pe- 
 riodi tantum, non species motus. Inuunt enim illud 
 hucusque, et non quomodo vel ex quo fonte. Neque 
 enim de corporum appetitu, aut de partium eorum pro- 
 cessu, aliquid significant ; sed tantum quum motus ille 
 rem aliter ac prius, crasso modo, sensui exhibeat, inde 
 divisionem suam auspicantur. Etiam quum de causis 
 motuum aliquid significare volunt, atque divisionem 
 ex illis instituere, differentiam motus naturalis et vio- 
 lenti, maxima cum socordia, introducunt ; quae et ipsa 
 omnino ex notione vulgari est ; cum omnis motus vio- 
 lentus etiam naturalis revera sit, scilicet cum externum 
 efficiens naturam alio modo in opere ponet quam quo 
 prius. 
 
 At hisce omissis ; si quis (exempli gratia) observav- 
 erit, inesse corporibus appetitum contactus ad invicem, 
 ut non patiantur unitatem naturae prorsus dirimi aut 
 abscindi, ut vacuum detur ; aut si quis dicat, inesse 
 corporibus appetitum se recipiendi in naturalem suam 
 
 1 In tie Physics, Aristotle does not reckon Generation and Corruption as 
 kinds of motion. Bacon's enumeration is that given in the Categories.
 
 272 NOVUM ORGANUM. 
 
 dimensionem vel tensuram, ut si ultra earn aut citra 
 earn comprimantur aut distrahantur, statim m veterem 
 sphaeram et exporrectionem suam se recuperare et re- 
 mittere moliantur ; aut si quis dicat, inesse corporibus 
 appetitum congregationis ad massas connaturalium suo- 
 rum, densorum videlicet versus orbem terrae, tenuiorum 
 et rariorum versus ambitum coeli ; hsec et hujusmodi 
 vere physica sunt genera motuum ; at ilia altera plane 
 logica sunt et scholastica, ut ex hac collatione eorum 
 manifesto liquet. 
 
 Neque minus etiam malum est, quod in philosophiis 
 et contemplationibus suis, in principiis rerum atque 
 ultimitatibus naturae investigandis et tractandis opera 
 insumatur ; cum omnis utilitas et facultas operandi in 
 mediis consistat. Hinc fit, ut abstrahere naturam 
 homines non desinant, donee ad materiam potentialem 
 et inforraem ventum fuerit ; nee rursus secare naturam 
 desinant, donee perventum fuerit ad atomum ; qua?, 
 etiainsi vera essent, tamen ad juvandas hominum for- 
 tunas parum possunt. 1 
 
 LXVII. 
 
 Danda est etiam cautio intellectui de intemperantiis 
 philosophiarum, quoad assensum praebendum aut cohi- 
 bendura ; quia hujusmodi intemperantiae videntur Idola 
 figere, et quodammodo perpetuare, ne detur aditus ad 
 ea summovenda. 
 
 Duplex autem est excessus : alter eorum qui facile 
 pronunciant, et scientias reddunt positives et magis- 
 trales ; alter eorum qui Acatalepsiam introduxerunt, et 
 
 1 The construction of this sentence is somewhat abrupt. The relative 
 qiue must be referred to some such antecedent as " doctrines of this char- 
 acter;" and for possunt we ought to read possent. For the antithesis be- 
 tween abstrahere and secare, see 51. The first part of Bacon's censure 
 refers to Aristotle.
 
 NOVUM OEGAXUM. 273 
 
 inquisitionem vagam sine termino; quorum primus in- 
 tellectum depritnit, alter enervat. Nam Aristotelis 
 philosophia, postquam ceteras philosophias (more Otto- 
 manorum erga fratres suos) pugnacibus confutationibus 
 contrucidasset, de singulis pronunciavit ; et ipse rursus 
 quaBstiones ex arbitrio suo subornat, deinde conficit ; ut 
 omnia certa sint et decreta ; quod etiam apud succes- 
 siones suas valet, et in usu est. 
 
 At Platonis schola Acatalepsiam introduxit, primo 
 tanquam per jocum et ironiam, in odium veterum soph- 
 istarum, Protagora?, Hippiae, et reliquorum, qui nihil 
 tarn verebantur quam ne dubitare de re aliqua videren- 
 tur. 1 At Nova Aeademia Acatalepsiam dogmatizavit, 
 et ex professo tenuit. Qua3 licet honestior ratio sit 
 quam pronunciandi licentia, quum ipsi pro se dicant se 
 minime confundere inquisitionem, ut Pyrrho fecit et 
 Ephectici, sed habere quod sequantur ut probabile, 
 licet non habeant quod teneant ut verum ; tamen post- 
 quam animus humanus de veritate invenienda semel 
 desperaverit, omnino omnia fiunt languidiora : ex quo 
 fit, ut deflectant homines potius ad amoenas disputa- 
 tiones et discursus, et rerum quasdam peragrationes, 
 quam in severitate inquisitionis se sustineant. Verum 
 quod a principio diximus, et perpetuo agimus, sensui et 
 intellectui humano eorumque infirmitati authoritas non 
 est deroganda, sed auxilia praabenda. 
 
 LXVIIT. 
 
 Atque de Idolorum singulis generibus, eorumque 
 apparatu jam diximus ; quae omnia constant! et solenni 
 
 1 " Turn Velleius, fidenter sane, ut solent isti, nihil tarn verens quam ne 
 dubitare aliqua de re videretur; tanquam mode ex Deorum concilio et ex 
 Epicuri intermundiis descendisset ; Audite, inquit," &c. Cic. De Nat. 
 Deor. i. c. 8. 
 
 VOL. i. 18
 
 274 NOVUM ORGANUM. 
 
 decreto sunt abneganda et renuncianda, et intellectus 
 ab iis omnino liberandus est et expurgandus ; ut non 
 alius fere sit aditus ad regnura hominis, quod funda- 
 tur in scientiis, quam ad regnum coelorum, in quod, 
 nisi sub persona infantis, intrare non datur. 
 
 LXIX. 
 
 At pravas demonstrationes, Idolorum veluti muniti- 
 ones quaadam sunt et praesidia ; eaeque quas in dialec- 
 ticis habemus id fere agunt, ut mundum plane cogita- 
 tionibus humanis, cogitationes autem verbis, addicant 
 et mancipent. Demonstrationes vero potentia quadam 
 philosophiae ipsa3 sunt et scientiae. Quales enim eae 
 sunt, ac prout rite aut male institutae, tales sequuntur 
 philosophise et contemplationes. Fallunt autem et in- 
 competentes sunt eae quibus utimur in universo illo 
 processu qui a sensu et rebus ducit ad axiomata et 
 conclusiones. Qui quidem processus quadruplex est, 
 et vitia ejus totidem. Primo, impressiones sensus 
 ipsius vitiosaa sunt ; sensus enim et destituit et fallit. 
 At destitutionibus substitutiones, fallaciis rectificationes 
 debentur. Secundo, notiones ab impressionibus sen- 
 suum male abstrahuntur, et interminatae et confusae 
 sunt, quas terminatas et bene finitas esse oportuit. 
 Tertio, inductio mala est, quae per enumerationem 
 simplicem priucipia concludit scientiarum, non adhib- 
 itis exclusionibus et solutionibus,' sive separationibus 
 naturae debitis. Postremo, modus ille inveniendi et 
 probandi, ut primo principia maxime generalia constit- 
 uantur, deinde media axiomata ad ea applicentur et 
 probentur, errorum mater est et scientiarum omnium 
 calamitas. Verum de istis, quae jam obiter perstringi- 
 mus, fusius dicemus, cum veram interpretandte naturae
 
 NOVUM ORGANUM. 275 
 
 viam, absolutis istis expiationibus et expurgationibus 
 mentis, proponemus. 
 
 LXX. 
 
 Sed demonstratio longe optima est experientia ; modo 
 haereat in ipso experimento. Nam si traducatur ad 
 alia quae similia existimantur, nisi rite et ordine fiat 
 ilia traductio, res fallax est. At modus experiendi 
 quo homines nunc utuntur caecus est et stupidus. Ita- 
 que cum errant et vagantur nulla via certa, sed ex 
 occursu rerum tantum consilium capiunt, circumferun- 
 tur ad multa sed parum promovent ; et quandoque 
 gestiunt quandoque distrahuntur ; et semper inveniunt 
 quod ulterius quaarant. Fere autem ita fit, ut homi- 
 nes leviter et tanquam per ludum experiantur, vari- 
 ando paululum experimenta jam cqgnita ; et si res non 
 succedat, fastidiendo et conatum deserendo. Quod si 
 magis serio et constanter ac laboriose ad experimenta 
 se accingant, tamen in uno aliquo experimento eruendo 
 operam collocant ; quemadmodum Gilbertus in mag- 
 nete, chymici in auro. Hoc autem faciunt homines 
 institute non minus imperito quam tenui. Nemo enim 
 alicujus rei naturam in ipsa re foeliciter perscrutatur, 
 sed amplianda est inquisitio ad magis communia. 
 
 Quod si etiam scientiam quandam et dogmata ex 
 experimentis moliantui*, tamen semper fere studio pra> 
 propero et intempestivo deflectunt ad praxin ; non tan- 
 tum propter usum et fructum ejusmodi praxeos, sed ut 
 in opere aliquo novo veluti pignus sibi arripiant, se non 
 inutiliter in reliquis versaturos ; atque etiam aliis se 
 venditent, ad existimationem meliorem comparandam 
 de iis in quibus occupati sunt. Ita fit ut, more Ata- 
 lantaa, de via decedant ad tollendum aureum pomum ; 
 interim vero cursum interrumpant, et victoriam emit=-
 
 276 NOVUM ORGANUM. 
 
 tant e manibus. Verum in experientiae vero curriculo, 
 eoque ad nova opera producendo, Divina Sapientia 
 omnino et ordo pro exemplar! sumenda sunt. Deus 
 autem primo die creationis lucem tantum creavit, eique 
 operi diem integrum attribuit ; nee aliquid materiati 
 
 operis eo die creavit. Similiter et ex omnimoda ex- 
 ...... 
 
 penentia, primura mventio causarum et axiomatum 
 
 verorum elicienda est ; et lucifera experimenta, non 
 fructifera quaerenda. Axiomata autem recte inventa 
 et constitute, praxin non strictim sed confertim in- 
 struunt, et operum agmina ac turmas post se trahunt. 
 Verum de experiendi viis, quae non minus quam vise 
 judicandi obsessae sunt et interclusae, postea dicemus ; 
 impraesentiarum de experientia vulgari, tanquam de 
 mala demonstratione, tantum loquuti. Jam vero pos- 
 tulat ordo rerum, ut de iis quorum paulo ante men- 
 tionem fecimus signis, quod philosophise et contem- 
 plationes in usu male se habeant, et de causis rei 
 primo intuitu tarn mirabilis et incredibilis, quaedam 
 subjungamus. Signorum enim notio praeparat assen- 
 sum : causarum vero explicatio tollit miraculum. Qua3 
 duo ad extirpationem Idolorum ex intellectu faciliorem 
 et clementiorem multurn juvant. 
 
 LXXI. 
 
 Scientiae quas habemus fere a Graecis fluxerunt. 
 Quae enim scriptores Romani aut Arabes aut recen- 
 tiores addiderunt, non multa aut magni momenti sunt ; 
 et qualiacunque sint, fundata sunt super basin eorum 
 quae inventa sunt a Grascis. 1 Erat autem sapientia 
 
 1 M. Chasles appears to have shown this with respect to the principle of 
 position in arithmetic. We derive it, according to him, not from the Hin- 
 doos or Arabs, but from the Greeks. It is remarkable that the Chinese 
 have from the earliest times known how to express any number by means 
 of a few characters.
 
 NOVUM OEGANUM. 277 
 
 Grsecorum professoria, et in disputationes effusa: quod 
 genus inquisition! veritatis adversissimura est. Itaque 
 nomen illud Sophistarum, quod per contemptum ab 
 iis qui se pliilosophos haberi voluerunt in antiquos rhet- 
 ores rejectum et traductum est, Gorgiam, Protagoram, 
 Hippiam, Polum, etiam universo generi competit Pla- 
 toni, Aristoteli, Zenoni, Epicure, Theophrasto, et eorum 
 successoribus, Chrysippo, Carneadi, reliquis. Hoc tan- 
 turn intererat ; quod prius genus vagum fuerit et mer- 
 cenarium, civitates circumcursando, et sapientiam suara 
 ostentando, et mercedem exigendo ; alterum vero solen- 
 nius et generosius, quippe eorum qui sedes fixas hab- 
 uerunt, et scholas aperuerunt, et gratis pliilosophati 
 sunt. Sed tamen utrumque genus (licet castera dis- 
 par) professorium erat, et ad disputationes rem de- 
 ducebat, et sectas quasdam atque haereses philosophic 
 instituebat et propugnabat: ut essent fere doctrinae 
 eorum (quod non male cavillatus est Dionysius in 
 Platonem) Verba otiosorum senum ad imperitos juvenes. 1 
 At antiquiores illi ex Graecis, Empedocles, Anaxagoras, 
 Leucippus, Democritus, Parmenides, Heraclitus, Xe- 
 nophanes, Philolaus, reliqui, (nam Pythagoram, ut su- 
 perstitiosum, omittimus,) scholas (quod novimus) non 
 aperuerunt ; sed majore silentio, et severius, et sim- 
 plicius, id est, minore cum affectatione et ostentatione, 
 ad inquisitionem veritatis se contulerunt. Itaque et 
 melius, ut arbitrainur, se gesserunt ; nisi quod opera 
 eorum a levioribus istis, qui vulgari captui et affectui 
 magis respondent ac placent, tractu temporis extincta 
 sint : tempore (ut fluvio) leviora et magis inflata ad 
 nos devehente, graviora et solida mergente. Neque 
 tamen isti a nationis vitio prorsus immunes erant : sed 
 
 1 oi "hbyoi aav yepovTiuai,. Diog. Laert. in Platon. c. 18.
 
 278 NO YUM ORGANUM. 
 
 in ambitionem et vanitatem sectae condendae et aurae 
 popularis captandae nimium propendebant. Pro des- 
 perata autem habenda est 'veritatis inquisitio, cum ad 
 hujusmodi inania deflectat. Etiam non omittendum 
 videtur judicium illud, sive vaticinium potius, sacerdo- 
 tis ^Egyptii de Grascis : quod semper pueri essent, neque 
 haberent antiquitatem scientice, aut scientiam antiquita- 
 tis. 1 Et certe habent id quod puerorum est ; ut ad 
 garriendum prompti sint, generare autem non possint : 
 nam verbosa videtur sapientia eorum, et operum ster- 
 ilis. Itaque ex ortu et gente philosophise quae in usu 
 est, quse capiuntur signa bona non sunt. 
 
 LXXII. 
 
 Neque multo meliora sunt signa quas ex natura tem- 
 poris et 33tatis capi possunt, quam quae ex natura loci 
 et nationis. Angusta enim erat et tenuis notitia per 
 illam aetatem, vel temporis vel orbis : quod longe pes- 
 simum est, prsesertim iis qui omnia in experientia 
 ponunt. Neque enim mille annorum historian!, quae 
 digna erat nomine historic, habebant ; sed fabulas et ru- 
 rnores antiquitatis. Regionum vero tractuumque mundi 
 exiguam partem noverant ; cum omnes hyperboreos, 
 Scythas, omnes occidentales, Celtas, indistincte appel- 
 larent: nil in Africa ultra citimam ^Ethiopiae partem, 
 nil in Asia ultra Gangem, multo minus Novi Orbis 
 provincias, ne per auditum sane aut famam aliquam 
 certam et constantem, nossent ; imo et plurima climata 
 et zonae, in quibus populi infmiti spirant et degunt, tan- 
 quam inhabitabiles ab illis pronuntiata sint : quinetiam 
 peregrinationes Democriti, Platonis, Pythagoras, non 
 longinquae prefecto sed potius suburbanse, ut magnum 
 
 1 Timaeus, p. 22. b. 'E^Ajjvef uel naldef iare, yipuv 6s "ETiXijv OVK lari.
 
 NOVGM ORGANUM. 279 
 
 aliquid celebrarentur. Nostrls autem temporibus et 
 Novi Orbis partes complures et veteris orbis extrema 
 undique innotescunt ; et in infinitum experimentorum 
 cumulus excrevit. Quare si ex nativitatis aut geniturae 
 tempore (astrologorum more) signa capienda sint, nil 
 magni de istis philosophiis significari videtur. 
 
 LXXIII. 
 
 Inter signa nullum magis certum aut nobile est, 
 quam quod ex fructibus. Fructus enim, et opera in- 
 venta, pro veritate philosophiarum velut sponsores et 
 fidejussores sunt. Atque ex philosophiis istis Graeco- 
 rum, et derivationibus earum per particulares scientias, 
 jam per tot annorum spatia vix unum experimentum 
 adduci potest, quod ad hominum statum levandum et 
 juvandum spectet, et philosophise speculationibus ac 
 dogmatibus vere acceptum referri possit. Idque Celsus 
 ingenue ac prudenter fatetur ; nimirum experimenta 
 medicinae primo inventa fuisse, ac postea homines circa 
 ea philosophatos esse et causas indagasse et assignasse ; 
 non ordine inverso evenisse, ut ex philosophia et causa- 
 rum cognitione ipsa experimenta inventa aut deprompta 
 essent. 1 Itaque mirum non erat, apud JEgyptios (qui 
 rerum inventoribus divinitatem et consecrationem at- 
 tribuerunt) plures fuisse brutorum animalium imagines 
 quam hominum : quia bruta animalia, per instinctus 
 naturales, multa inventa pepererunt ; ubi homines ex 
 
 1 " Repertis deinde medicinae remediis homines de rationibus eorum dis- 
 serere ccepisse : nee post rationem medicinam esse inventam, sed post in- 
 ventam medicinam rationem esse quaesitam." Celsus, Prcefatio. 
 
 But this remark is not made by Celsus as the expression of his own opin- 
 jon ; on the contrary it occurs in his statement of the views entertained by 
 the empirical school of medicine, to which he is decidedly opposed. The 
 error of citing Celsus as an authority for it is repeated in several parts of 
 Bacon's works. [See among others De Augmentis, v. 2. J. S.]
 
 280 NOVUM ORGANUM. 
 
 sermonibus et conclusionibus rationalibus pauca aut 
 nulla exhibuerint. 
 
 At chymicorum industria nonnulla peperit ; sed tan- 
 quam fbrtuito et obiter, aut per experimentorum quan- 
 dam variationem (ut mechanic! solent,) non ex arte 
 aut theoria aliqua ; nam ea quam confinxerunt, ex- 
 perimenta magis perturbat quam juvat. Eorum etiam 
 qui in magia (quam vocant) natural! versati sunt, pauca 
 reperiuntur inventa ; eaque levia et imposturas propiora. 
 Quocirca quemadmodum in religione cavetur, ut fides 
 ex operibus monstretur ; idem etiam ad philosophiam 
 optime traducitur, ut ex fructibus judicetur et vana 
 habeatur quas sterilis sit ; atque eo magis si, loco fruc- 
 tuum uvse et olivse, producat disputationum et conten- 
 tionum car duos et spinas. 
 
 LXXIV. 
 
 Capienda etiam sunt signa ex incrementis et pro- 
 gressibus philosophiarum et scientiarum. Quae enim 
 in natura fundata sunt crescunt et augentur : quse au- 
 tem in opinione, variantur non augentur. Itaque si 
 istse doctrinae plane instar plantae a stirpibus suis re- 
 vulsse non essent, sed utero naturas adhaarerent atque 
 ab eadem alerentur, id minime eventurum fuisset, quod 
 per annos bis mille jam fieri videmus, nempe ut scien- 
 tiaa suis liaareant vestigiis et in eodem fere statu mane- 
 ant, neque augmentum aliquod memorabile sumpse- 
 rint ; quin potius in primo authore maxime floruerint, 
 et deinceps declinaverint. In artibus autem mechan- 
 icis, quae in natura et experientiae luce fiindatge sunt, 
 contra evenire videmus : quae (quamdiu placent) veluti 
 spiritu quodam repletae continue vegetant et crescunt ; 
 primo rudes, deinde commodae, postea excultae, et per- 
 petuo auctae.
 
 NOVUM ORGANUM. 281 
 
 LXXV. 
 
 Etiam aliud signum capiendum est (si modo signi 
 appellatio huic competat; cum potius testimonium sit 
 atque adeo testimoniorum omnium validissimum) ; hoc 
 est propria confessio autliorum, quos homines mine 
 sequuntur. Nam et illi qui tanta fiducia de rebus pro- 
 nuntiant, tamen per intervalla cum ad se redeant, ad 
 querimonias de naturae subtilitate, rerum obscuiitate, 
 humani ingenii infirmitate, se convertunt. Hoc vero 
 si simpliciter fieret, alios fortasse qui sunt timidiores 
 ab ulteriori inquisitione deterrere, alios vero qui sunt 
 ingenio alacriori et magis fidenti ad ulteriorem pro- 
 gressmn acuere et incitare possit. Verum non satis 
 illis est de se confiteri, sed quicquid sibi ipsis aut ma- 
 gistris suis incognitum aut intactum fuerit id extra ter- 
 minos Possibilis ponunt, et, tanquam ex arte, cognitu 
 aut factu impossibile pronuntiant : summa superbia et 
 invidia, suorum inventorum infirmitatem in naturae 
 ipsius calumniam et aliorum omnium desperationem 
 vertentes. Hinc schola Academiae Novas, quae Acat- 
 alepsiam ex professo tenuit, et homines ad sempiter- 
 nas tenebras damnavit. Hinc opinio, quod Format 
 sive versa rerum differentia (quae revera sunt leges 
 actus puri *) inventu impossibiles sint, et ultra homi- 
 nem. 2 Hinc opiniones illae in activa et operativa 
 parte ; calorem solis et ignis toto genere differre ; ne 
 
 1 Compare II. 2. "Licet enim in natura nihil vere existat prseter cor- 
 pora individua edentia actus puros ex lege. &c. Earn autem legem ej usque 
 paragraphos Formarum nomine iutelligimus." And for an explanation 
 of the meaning of " actus purus " see the General Preface, p. 75. J. S. 
 
 2 The doctrine of the incognoscibility of forms is quoted by Boyle and 
 Sennert. See the "Quid sint qualitates occultae" of the latter, from Scali- 
 ger's Exertitationes in Cardanum, a work which seems to have been 
 very generally read.
 
 282 NOVUM ORGANUM. 
 
 scilicet homines putent, se per opera ignis aliquid simile 
 iis quae in natura fiunt educere et fonnare posse. Hinc 
 illud : compositionem tantum opus hominis, mistionem 
 vero opus solius naturae esse : l ne scilicet homines 
 sperent aliquam ex arte corporum naturalium gene- 
 rationem aut transformationem. Itaque ex hoc signo 
 homines sibi persuaderi facile patientur, ne cum dog- 
 matibus non solum desperatis sed etiam desperation! 
 devotis fortunas suas et labores misceant. 
 
 LXXVI. 
 
 Neque illud signum praetermittendum est ; quod 
 tanta fuerit inter philosophos olim dissensio et schola- 
 rum ipsarum varietas : quod satis ostendit viam a sensu 
 ad intellectum non bene munitam fuisse, cum eadem 
 materia philosophiae (natura scilicet rerum) in tam 
 vagos et multiplices errores abrepta fuerit et distracta. 
 Atque licet hisce temporibus dissensiones et dogma- 
 turn diversitates circa principia ipsa et philosophias in- 
 tegras ut plurimum extinctae sint ; tamen circa partes 
 philosophiae innumerae manent quaestiones et contro- 
 versise ; ut plane appareat, neque in philosophiis ipsis 
 neque in modis demonstrationum aliquid certi aut 
 sani esse. 
 
 LXXVII. 
 
 Quod vero putant homines in philosophia Aristotelis 
 magnum utique consensum esse ; cum post illam edi- 
 tam antiquorum philosophise cessaverint et exoleverint, 
 ast apud tempora quae sequuta sunt nil melius inven- 
 tum fuerit; adeo ut ilia tam bene posita et fundata 
 
 l The reference, is to Galen, who in his treatise De, Natural. Facultatibus 
 contrasts the inwardly formative power of nature with the external opera- 
 tions of art. See note on Temporis Parlus Masculus. J. S.
 
 NOVUM ORG-VNUM. 283 
 
 videatur, ut utrumque tempus ad se traxerit : primo, 
 quod de cessatione antiquarum philosophiarum post 
 Aristotelis opera edita homines cogitant, id falsum 
 est ; din enim postea, usque ad tempora Ciceronis et 
 saecula sequentia, manserunt opera veterum pliiloso 
 phorum. Sed temporibus insequentibus, ex inunda- 
 tione barbarorum in imperium Romanum postquam 
 doctrina humana velut naufragium perpessa esset, tum 
 demum philosophies Aristotelis et Platonis, tanquam 
 tabulae ex materia leviore et minus solida, per fluctus 
 temporum servatae sunt. Illud etiam de consensu 
 fallit homines, si acutius rem introspiciant. Verus 
 enim consensus is est, qui ex libertate judicii (re 
 prius explorata) in idem conveniente consistit. At 
 numerus longe maximus eorum qui in Aristotelis phil- 
 osophiam consenserunt, ex praejudicio et authoritate 
 aliorum se illi mancipavit; ut sequacitas sit potius et 
 coitio, quam consensus. Quod si fuisset ille verus 
 consensus et late patens, tantum abest ut consensus 
 pro vera et solida authoritate haberi debeat, ut eti- 
 am violentam praesumptionem inducat in contrarium. 
 Pessimum enim omnium est augurium quod ex con- 
 sensu capitur in rebus intellectualibus ; exceptis di- 
 vinis et politicis, in quibus suffragiorum jus est. 1 
 Nihil enim multis placet, nisi imaginationem feriat, 
 aut intellectum \ 7 ulgarium notionum nodis astringat, 
 ut supra dictum est. Itaque optime traducitur illud 
 Phocionis a moribus ad intellectualia ; ut statim se 
 examinare debeant homines, quid erraverint aut 
 
 i Bacon does not mean that the votes of a majority are necessarily valid 
 in matters of divinity or politics, but merely that, from the nature of the 
 case, the argument ex consensu has more weight in these than in purely 
 scientific questions.
 
 284 NOVUM ORGANUM. 
 
 caverint, si multitudo consentiat et complaudat^ Hoc 
 signum igitur ex aversissimis est. Itaque quod signa 
 veritatis et sanitatis philosophiarum et scientiarum quae 
 in usu sunt, male se habeant ; sive capiantur ex origin- 
 ibus ipsarum, sive ex fructibus, sive ex progressibus, 
 sive ex confessionibus authorum, sive ex consensu ; 
 jam dictum est. 
 
 LXXVIII. 
 
 Jam vero veniendum ad causas errorum, et tarn 
 diuturnae in illis per tot saecula morse ; quae plurimae 
 sunt et potentissimae : ut tollatur omnis admiratio, haec 
 quae adducimus homines hucusque latuisse et fugisse ; 
 et maneat tantum admiratio, ilia nunc tandem alicui 
 mortalium in mentem venire potuisse, aut cogitationem 
 cujuspiam subiisse: quod etiam (ut nos existimamus) 
 felicitatis magis est cujusdam, quam excellentis alicujus 
 facultatis ; ut potius pro temporis partu haberi debeat, 
 quam pro partu ingenii. 
 
 Primo autem tot saeculorum numerus, vere rem 
 reputanti, ad magnas angustias recidit. Nam ex 
 viginti quinque annorum centuriis, in quibus me- 
 moria et doctrina liominum fere versatur, vix sex 
 centurias seponi et excerpi possunt, quaa scientiarum 
 feraces earumve proventui utiles fuerunt. Sunt enim 
 non minus temporum quam regionum eremi et vasti- 
 tates. ' Tres . enim tantum doctrinarum revolutiones 
 et periodi recte numerari possunt: una, apud Gras- 
 cos ; altera, apud Romanes ; ultima, apud nos, occi- 
 dentales scilicet Europae nationes : quibus singulis vix 
 duae centuriae annorum merito attribui possunt. Media 
 mundi tempora, quoad scientiarum segetem uberem aut 
 laetam, infbelicia fuerunt. Neque enim causa est, ut vel 
 
 1 Plutarch in Phocion, c. 8.
 
 NOVUM ORGANUM. 285 
 
 Arabum vel Scholasticorum mentio fiat : qui per inter- 
 media tempora scientias potius contriverunt numerosis 
 tractatibus, quam pondus earura auxerunt. Itaque 
 prima causa tain pusilli in scientiis profectus ad an- 
 gustias temporis erga illas propitii rite et ordine re- 
 fertur. 
 
 LXXIX. 
 
 At secundo loco se offert causa ilia magni certe per 
 omnia momenti : ea videlicet, quod per illas ipsas aetates 
 quibus hominum ingenia et literce maxime vel etiam 
 mediocriter floruerint, Naturalis Philosophia minimam 
 partem humange operae sortia sit. Atque haec ipsa 
 nihilominus pro magna scientiarum matre haberi de- 
 bet. Omnes enim artes et scientias ab hac stripe re- 
 vulsaa, poliuntur fortasse et in usum " effinguntur, sed 
 nil admodum crescunt. At manifestum est, postquam 
 Christiana fides recepta fuisset et adolevisset, longe 
 maximam ingeniorum prasstantissimorum partem ad 
 Theologiam se contulisse ; atque huic rei et amplis- 
 sima praemia proposita, et omnis generis adjumenta 
 copiosissime subministrata fuisse : atque hoc Theolo- 
 giae studium praecipue occupasse tertiam illam partem 
 sive periodum temporis apud nos Europaeos occiden- 
 tales ; eo magis, quod sub idem fere tempus et literae 
 florere et controversies circa religionem pullulare ccep- 
 erint. At aevo superiori, durante periodo ilia secunda 
 apud Roman os, potissimae philosophorum meditationes 
 et industries in Morali Philosophia (quae Ethnicis vice 
 Theologiae erat) occupatae et consumptae fuerunt : etiam 
 summa ingenia illis temporibus ut plurimum ad res civ- 
 iles se applicuerunt, propter magnitudinem imperii Ro- 
 mani, quod plurimorum hominum opera indigebat. At 
 ilia aetas, qua Naturalis Philosophia apud Grascos max-
 
 286 NOVUM ORGANUM. 
 
 ime florere visa est, particula fuit temporis minime 
 diuturna; cum et antiquioribus temporibus septem illi 
 qui sapientes nominabantur, omnes (praeter Thaletem) 
 ad Moral era Philosophiam et civilia se applicuerint ; 
 et posterioribus temporibus postquam Socrates philoso- 
 pliiam de coelo in terras deduxisset, adhuc rnagis in- 
 valuerit Moralis Philosopliia, et ingenia hominum a 
 Naturali averterit. 
 
 At ipsissima ilia periodus temporis in qua inquisi- 
 tiones de natura viguerunt, contradictionibus et novo- 
 rum placitorum ambitione corrupta est, et inutilis red- 
 dita. Itaque quandoquidem per tres istas periodos 
 Naturalis Philosopliia majorem in modum neglecta aut 
 impedita fuerit, nil mirum si homines parum in ea re 
 profecerint, cum omnino aliud egerint. 
 
 LXXX. 
 
 Accedit et illud, quod Naturalis Philosophia, in iis 
 ipsis viris qui ei incubuerint, vacantem et integrum 
 hominem, praasertim his recentioribus temporibus, vix 
 nacta sit ; nisi forte quis monachi alicujus in cellula, 
 aut nobilis in villula lucubrantis, exemplum adduxerit : 
 sed facta est demum Naturalis Philosophia instar tran- 
 situs cujusdam et ponti-sternii ad alia. 
 
 Atque magna ista scientiarum mater mira indignitate 
 ad officia ancillae detrasa est; quse medicinas aut mathe- 
 maticis operibus ministret, et rursus quas adolescentiurn 
 immatura ingenia lavet et imbuat velut tinctura qua- 
 darn prima, ut aliam postea foelicius et commodius ex- 
 cipiant. Interim nemo expectet magnum progressum 
 in scientiis (prassertim in parte earum operativa), nisi 
 Philosophia Naturalis ad scientias particulares producta 
 fuerit, et scientias particulares rursus ad Naturalem
 
 NOVUM ORGANUM. 287 
 
 Philosophiara reductae. Hinc enim fit, ut astronomia, 
 optica, musica, plurimae artes mechanicse, atque ipsa 
 raedicina, atque (quod quis magis miretur) philoso- 
 phia moralis et civilis, et scientiae logicae, nil fere ha- 
 beant altitudinis in profundo ; sed per superficiem et 
 varietatem rerum tan turn labantur : quia postquam 
 particulares istse scientiae dispertitae et constitutes fue- 
 rint, a Philosophia Naturali non amplius alantur ; quse 
 ex fontibus et veris contemplationibus motuum, radi- 
 orum, sonorum, texturas et schematismi corporum, af- 
 fectuum, et prehensionum intellectualium, novas vires 
 et augmenta illis impertiri potuerit. Itaque minime 
 mirum est si scientias non crescant, cum a radicibus 
 suis sint separatae. 
 
 LXXXI. 
 
 Rursus se ostendit alia causa potens et magna, cur 
 scientise parum promoverint. Ea vero haec est ; quod 
 fieri non possit, ut recte procedatur in curriculo, ubi 
 ipsa meta non recte posita sit et defixa. Meta autem 
 scientiarum vera et legitima non alia est, quam ut do- 
 tetur vita humana novis inventis et copiis. At turba 
 longe maxima nihil ex hoc sapit, sed meritoria plane est 
 et professoria ; nisi forte quandoque eveniat, ut artifex 
 aliquis acrioris ingenii et gloriae cupidus novo alicui in- 
 vento det operam ; quod fere fit cum facultatum dispen- 
 dio. At apud plerosque tantum abest ut homines id 
 sibi proponant, ut scientiarum et artium massa augmen- 
 tum obtineat, ut ex ea quae prsesto est massa nil amplius 
 sumant aut quaerant, quam quantum ad usum profes- 
 sorium aut lucrum aut existimationem aut hujusmodi 
 compendia convertere possint. Quod si quis ex tanta 
 multitudine scientiam affectu ingenuo et propter se 
 expetat; invenietur tamen ille ipse, potius contempla-
 
 288 NOVUM ORGANUM. 
 
 tionum et doctrinarum varietatem, quam veritatis seve- 
 ram et rigidam inquisitionem sequi. Rursus, si alius 
 quispiam fortasse veritatis inquisitor sit severior; taraen 
 et ille ipse talem sibi proponet veritatis conditionem, 
 quas menti et intellectui satisfaciat in redditione cau- 
 sarum rerum quae jampridem sunt cognitae ; non earn 
 quas nova operum pignora et novam axiomatum lucem 
 assequatur. Itaque, si finis scientiarum a nemine ad- 
 huc bene positus sit, non minim est si in iis quae sunt 
 subordinata ad finem, sequatur aberratio. 
 
 LXXXH. 
 
 Quemadmodum autem finis et meta scientiarum male 
 posita sunt apud homines ; ita rursus etiamsi ilia recte 
 posita fuissent, viam tamen sibi delegerunt omnino er- 
 roneam et imperviam. Quod stupore quodam animum 
 rite rem reputanti perculserit ; non ulli mortalium curae 
 ant cordi fuisse, ut intellectui humano, ab-ipso sensu et 
 experientia ordinata et bene condita, via aperiretur et 
 niuniretur ; sed omnia vel traditionum caligini, vel argu- 
 mentorum vertigini et turbini, vel casus et experiential 
 vagaa et inconditae undis et ambagibus permissa esse. 
 Atque cogitet quis sobrie et diligenter, qualis sit ea via 
 quam in inquisitione et inventione alicujus rei homines 
 adhibere consueverunt ; et primo notabit proculdubio in- 
 veniendi modum simplicem et inartificiosum, qui homin- 
 ibus maxime est familiaris. Hie autem non alius est, 
 quam ut is qui se ad inveniendum aliquid comparat et 
 accingit, primo quae ab aliis circa ilia dicta sint inquirat 
 et evolvat ; deinde propriam meditationem addat, atque 
 per mentis multam agitationem spiritum suum pro- 
 prium sollicitet, et quasi invocet, ut sibi oracula pan- 
 dat ; quse res omnino sine fundamento est, et in opin- 
 ionibus tantum volvitur.
 
 NOVUM ORGANUM. 289 
 
 At alius quispiam dialecticam ad inveniendum ad- 
 vocet, quas nomine tenus tantum ad id quod agitur 
 pertinet. Inventio enim dialecticae non est principior 
 rum et axiomatum praecipuorum, ex quibus artes con- 
 stant, sed eorum tantum quas illis consentanea videntur. 
 Dialectica enim magis curiosos et importunos, et sibi 
 negotium facessentes, eamque interpellates de proba- 
 tionibus et inventionibus principiorum sive axiomatum 
 primorum, ad fidem, et veluti sacramentum cuilibet arti 
 prasstandum, notissimo responso rejicit. 
 
 Restat experientia mera, quae, si occurrat, casus ; si 
 quaesita sit, experimentum nominatur. Hoc autem 
 experientiaa genus nihil aliud est, quam (quod aiunt) 
 scopse dissolutae, 1 et mera palpatio, quali homines noctu 
 utuntur, omnia pertentando, si forte in rectam viam 
 incidere detur ; quibus multo satius et consultius foret 
 diem praestolari, aut lumen accendere, et deinceps viam 
 inire. At contra, verus experientiaa ordo primo lumen 
 accendit, deinde per lumen iter demonstrat, incipiendo 
 ab experientia ordinata et digesta, et minime praspostera 
 aut erratica, atque ex ea educendo axiomata, atque ex 
 axiomatibus constitutis rursus experimenta nova ; quum 
 nee verbum divinum in rerum massam absque ordine 
 operatum sit. 
 
 Itaque desinant homines mirari si spatium scientia- 
 rum non confectum sit, cum a via omnino aberraverint ; 
 relicta prorsus et deserta experientia, aut in ipsa (tan 
 
 i i. e. a besom without a band. " Scopas dissolvere proverbio dicitur, 
 rem aliquam prorsus inutilem reddere ; nam scopse solutse nullse sunt.'' 
 Facciolati. I do not remember any proverbial expression which answers 
 to this in English; but the allusion is to the want of combination and co- 
 herency in these experiments. They are the "Experimenta omnigena 
 absque ulla serie aut methodo tentata." (De Augm. v. 2.), and are op- 
 posed to the " Experientia Literata," or " Experientia certa lege procedens 
 seriatim et continenter," spoken of in aphorisms 100 and 103. J. 8> 
 
 VOL. I. 19
 
 290 NOVUM OEGANUM. 
 
 quam in labyrintho) se intricando et circumcursando ; 
 cum rite institutus ordo per experientiae sylvas ad aperta 
 axiomatum tramite constant! ducat. 
 
 LXXXIII. 
 
 Excrevit autem mirum in modum istud malum, ex 
 opinione quadam sive aestimatione inveterata, venim 
 tumida et damnosa ; minui nempe mentis humanae 
 majestatem, si experimentis, et rebus particularibus 
 sensui subjectis et in materia determinatis, diu ac mul- 
 tum versetur : praesertim quum liujusmodi res ad in- 
 quirendum laboriosae, ad meditandum ignobiles, ad 
 dicendum asperae, ad practicam illiberales, numero 
 infinitae, et subtilitate tenues esse soleant. Itaque jam 
 tandem hue res rediit, ut via vera non tantum deserta, 
 sed etiam interclusa et obstructa sit ; fastidita experi- 
 entia, nedum relicta, aut male administrata. 
 
 LXXXIV. 
 
 Rursus vero homines a progressu in scientiis detinuit 
 et fere incantavit reverentia antiquitatis, et virorum 
 qui in philosophia magni habiti sunt authoritas, atque 
 deinde consensus. Atque de consensu superius dic- 
 tum est. 
 
 De antiquitate autem, opinio quam homines de ipsa 
 fovent negligens omnino est, et vix verbo ipsi congrua. 
 Mundi enim senium et grandaevitas pro antiquitate 
 vere habenda sunt ; quae temporibus nostris tribui de- 
 bent, non juniori aetati mundi, qualis apud antiques 
 fiiit. Ilia enim aetas, respectu nostri antiqua et major, 1 
 respectu mundi ipsius nova et minor fiiit. Atque re- 
 vera quemadmodum majorem rerum humanarum noti- 
 
 1 See note on De Augm. lib. i. near the middle.
 
 NOVUM ORGANUM. 291 
 
 tiam et maturius juclicium ab homine sene exspectamus 
 quam a juvene, propter experientiam et rerum quas 
 vidit et audivit et cogitavit varietatem et copiam ; 
 eodem modo et a nostra aetate (si vires suas posset, et 
 experiri et intendere vellet) majora multo quam a 
 priscis temporibus expectari par est ; utpote setate 
 mundi grandiore, et infinitis experiraentis et observa 
 tionibus aucta et cumulata. 
 
 Neque pro nihilo sestimandum, quod per longinquas 
 navigationes et peregrinationes (quas sasculis nostris 
 increbuerunt) plurima in natura patuerint et reperta 
 sint, qua? novam philosophic lucem immittere possint. 
 Quin et turpe hominibus foret, si globi materialis trao 
 tus, terrarum videlicet, marium, astrorum, nostris tem- 
 poribus immensum aperti et illustrati sint ; globi autem 
 intellectualis fines inter veterum inventa et angustias 
 cohibeantur. 1 
 
 Authores vero quod attinet, summae pusillanimitatis 
 est authoribus infinita tribuere, authori autem authorum 
 atque adeo omnis authoritatis, Tempori, jus suum dene- 
 gare. Recte enim Veritas Temporis filia dicitur, non 
 Authoritatis. Itaque mirum non est si fascina ista 
 antiquitatis et authorum et consensus, hominum vir- 
 tutem ita ligaverint, ut cum rebus ipsis consuescere 
 (tanquam maleficiati) non potuerint. 
 
 1 Compare Gampanella: " Quapropter invidi sunt aut ingenio et fide in 
 Deum exigui qui putant in Aristotele et aliis philosophis antiquis quiescen- 
 dum, nee ultra quaerendum : praesertim post evangelii lucem, et novi orbis 
 ac stellarum inventionem, qua prisci caruerunt, sicut et luce fidei quae per- 
 ficit in nobis naturam supra ethnicos non deprimit sub eorum jugo; cum 
 eorum philosophia sit catechismus et nostra sit perfecta doctrina, teste Cy- 
 rillo : unde in mundo qui est liber Dei et sapientia [q. sapientiae ?] meliua 
 legere poterimus, si gratiam quae est in nobis non negligamus." Apolog. 
 pro Galileo.
 
 292 NOVUM ORGANUM. 
 
 LXXXV. 
 
 Neque solura admiratio antiquitatis, authoritatis, et 
 consensus, hominum industriam in iis quae jam invents 
 sunt acquiescere compulit ; verum etiam operum ipso- 
 rum admiratio, quorum copia jampridem facta est 
 humano generi. Etenim quum quis rerum varieta- 
 tem, et pulcherrimum apparatum qui per artes me- 
 chanicas ad cultum humanum congestus et'introductus 
 est, oculis subjecerit, eo certe inclinabit, ut potius ad 
 opulentise humanae admirationem quam ad inopiae sen- 
 sum accedat ; minime advertens primitivas hominis 
 observationes 1 atque naturae operationes (quae ad om- 
 nem illam varietatem instar animae sunt, et primi 
 motus) nee multas nee alte petitas esse ; caetera ad 
 patientiam hominum tantum, et subtilem et ordinatum 
 manus vel instrumentorum motum, pertinere. Res 
 enim (exempli gratia) subtilis est certe et accurata 
 confectio horologiorum, talis scilicet, quae ccelestia in 
 rotis, pulsum animalium in motu successivo et ordi- 
 nato, videatur imitari ; quae tamen res ex uno aut al- 
 tero naturae axiomate pendet. 
 
 Quod si quis rursus s.ubtilitatem illam intueatur qua3 
 ad artes liberales pertinet ; aut etiam earn quaB ad cor- 
 porum naturalium praeparationem per artes mechanicas 
 spectat, et hujusmodi res suspiciat ; veluti inveritionem 
 motuum coelestium in astronomia, concentuum in mu- 
 sica, literarum alphabet! (quae etiam adhuc in regno 
 Synarum in usu non sunt) in grammatica ; aut rursus 
 in mechanicis, factorum Bacchi et Cereris, hoc est, prae- 
 
 1 "Primitivas hominis observationes " maybe rendered "primary re 
 suits of observation." The word hominis is merely used in antithesis to 
 natures in the next clause.
 
 NOVUM .ORGANUM. 293 
 
 parationum vihi et cervisise, panificiomm, aut etiam 
 mensse delitiarum, et distillationum et similium ; ille 
 quoque si secum cogitet, et animum advertat, per qiian- 
 tos temporum circuitus (cum haec omnia, prseter distil- 
 lationes, 1 antiqua fuerint) haec ad earn quam nunc 
 habemus culturam perducta sint, et (ut jam de horo- 
 logiis dictum est) quam parum habeant ex observa- 
 tionibus et axiomatibus naturae, atque quam facile, et 
 tanquam per occasiones obvias et contemplationes in- 
 currentes, ista inveniri potuerint ; ille (inquam) ab 
 omni admiratione se facile liberabit, et potius humanae 
 conditionis miserebitur, quod per tot saecula tanta fuerit 
 rerum et inventorum penuria et sterilitas. Atque haec 
 ipsa tamen quorum nunc mentionem fecimus inventa, 
 philosophia et artibus intellectus antiquiora fuerunt. 
 Adeo ut (si verum dicendum sit) cum hujusmodi 
 scientiae rationales et dogmaticse inceperint, inventio 
 operum utilium desierit. 2 
 
 Quod si quis ab officinis ad bibliotbecas se conver- 
 terit, et immensam quam videmus librorum varietatem 
 in admiratione habuerit, is examinatis et diligentius 
 introspectis ipsorum librorum materiis et contentis, ob- 
 stupescet certe in contrarium ; et postquam nullum 
 dari finem repetitionibus observaverit, quamque hom- 
 ines eadem agant et loquantur, ab admiratione varie- 
 
 1 It has been said that Person affirmed that distillation was known to the 
 ancients. Dutens of course maintains that it was; but the passage he 
 quotes from Dioscorides merely refers to sublimation. The word alembic 
 is, as he remarks, a compound of the Arabic article with the Greek word 
 a/j.01%, operculum ; thus resembling in formation the word '' almagest " 
 and some others. But no valid conclusion can be drawn from hence. See 
 Dutens, Origine des Decouvertes, &c., p. 187. of the London edition. See 
 a very interesting account of the history of distillation in Humboldt's Ex- 
 amen critique de V Histoire de la Geographic, &c., vol. ii. p. 306. 
 
 2 Thus we find Aristotle speaks of philosophy as having sprung up aftef 
 all the wants of life were satisfied. See the beginning of the Metaphysics.
 
 294 NOVUM ORGANUM. 
 
 tatis transibit ad miraculum indigentiae et paucitatis 
 earum rerum qua3 hominum mentes adhuc tenuerunt 
 et occuparunt. 
 
 Quod si quis ad intuendum ea qua? magis curiosa 
 habentur quam sana animum submiserit, et Alchymis- 
 tarum aut Magorum opera penitius introspexerit, is 
 dubitabit forsitan utrum risu an lachrymis potius ilia 
 digna sint. Alchymista enim spem alit aeternam, atque 
 ubi res non succedit errores proprios reos substi-tuit ; 
 secum accusatorie reputando, se aut artis aut authorum 
 vocabula non satis intellexisse, unde ad traditiones et 
 auriculares susurros animum applicat ; aut in practice 
 SU33 scrupulis et momentis aliquid titubatum esse, 1 
 unde experimenta in infinitum repetit ; ac interim quum 
 inter experimentorum sortes in quasdam incidat aut ipsa 
 facie nova aut utilitate non contemnenda, hujusmodi 
 pignoribus animum pascit, eaque in majus ostentat et 
 celebrat ; reliqua spe sustentat. Neque tamen negan- 
 dum est, Alchymistas non pauca invenisse et inventis 
 utilibus homines donasse. Verum fabula ilia non male 
 in illos quadrat, de sene qui filiis aurum in vinea de- 
 fossum (sed locum se nescire simulans) legaverit ; unde 
 illi vineaB fodiendae diligenter incubuerunt, et aurum 
 quidem nullum repertum, sed vindemia ex ea cultura 
 facta est uberior. 
 
 At naturalis Magiae cultores, qui per rerum Sym- 
 pathias et Antipathias omnia expediunt, ex conjecturis 
 otiosis et supinissimis, rebus virtutes et operationes 
 admirabiles affinxerunt ; atque si quando opera ex- 
 hibuerint, ea illius sunt generis, ut ad admirationem et 
 
 1 That is, that something has gone wrong in his manipulations, either 
 in weighing his materials, or because the moment of projection has been 
 missed.
 
 NOVUM ORGANUM. 295 
 
 novitatem, non ad fructum et utilitatem, accommodata 
 sint. 
 
 In superstitiosa autem Magia (si et de hac dicendum 
 sit) illud imprimis animadvertendum est, esse tantum- 
 modo certi cujusdam et definiti generis subjecta, in qui- 
 bus artes curiosae et superstitiosse, per omnes nationes 
 atque estates atque etiam religiones, aliquid potuerint 
 aut luserint. Itaque ista missa faciamus : interim nil 
 mirum est si opinio copias causam inopias dederit. 
 
 LXXXVI. 
 
 Atque bominum admirationi quoad doctrinas et artes, 
 per se satis simplici et prope puerili, incrementum ac- 
 cessit ab eorum astu et artificio qui scientias tractave- 
 runt et tradiderunt. Illi enim ea ambitione et affec- 
 tatione eas proponunt, atque in eum modum efformatas 
 ac veluti personatas in hominum conspectum producunt, 
 ac si illae omni ex parte perfectae essent et ad exitum 
 perductae. Si enim methodum aspicias et partitiones, 
 illae prorsus' omnia complecti et concludere videntur 
 quas in illud subjectum cadere possunt. Atque licet 
 membra ilia male impleta et veluti capsulae inanes sint, 
 tamen apud intellectum vulgarem scientiae formam et 
 rationem integrae prae se ferunt. 
 
 At primi et antiquissimi veritatis inquisitores, meliore 
 fide et fato, cognitionem illam, quam ex rerum contem- 
 platione decerpere et in usum recondere statuebant, in 
 aphorismos, sive breves easdemque sparsas nee methodo 
 revinctas sententias, conjicere solebant ; neque se artem 
 universam complecti simulabant aut profitebantur. At 
 eo quo nunc res agitur modo, minime mirum est si 
 homines in iis ulteriora non quaerant, quae pro perfectis 
 et numeris suis jampridem absolutis traduntur.
 
 296 NOVUM ORGAN UM. 
 
 LXXXVII. 
 
 Etiam antiqua magnum existimationis et fidei incre- 
 mentum acceperunt, ex eorum vanitate et levitate qui 
 nova proposuerunt ; praesertim in Philosophies Naturalis 
 parte activa et operativa. Neque enim defuerunt hom- 
 ines vaniloqui et pliantastici, qui partim ex credulitate, 
 partim ex impostura, genus humanum promissis onera- 
 runt : vitae prolongationem, senectutis retardationem, 
 dolorum levationem, naturalium defectuum reparatio- 
 nem, sensuum deceptiones, affectuum ligationes et in- 
 citationes, intellectualium facultatum illuminationes et 
 exaltationes, substantiarum transmutationes, et motuum 
 ad libitum roborationes et multiplicationes, aeris impres- 
 siones et alterationes, coelestium influentiarum deduc- 
 tiones et procurationes, rerum futurarum divinationes, 
 remotarum repraesentationes, occultarum revelationes, 
 et alia complura pollicitando et ostentando. Veruin de 
 istis largitoribus non multum aberraverit qui istiusmodi 
 judicium fecerit, tantum nimirum in doctrinis philoso- 
 phise inter horum vanitates et veras artes interesse, 
 quantum inter res gestas Julii Caesaris aut Alexandri 
 Magni et res gestas Amadicii ex Gallia aut Arthuri ex 
 Britannia in histories narrationibus intersit. Inveniun- 
 tur enim clarissimi illi imperatores revera majora ges- 
 sisse quam umbratiles isti heroes etiam fecisse fingantur ; 
 sed modis et viis scilicet actionum minime fabulosis et 
 prodigiosis. Neque propterea aBquum est veras memo- 
 rias fidem derogari, quod a fabulis ilia quandoque laesa 
 sit et violata. Sed interim minime mirum est si prop- 
 ositionibus novis (praesertim cum mentione operum) 
 magnum sit factum praejudicium per istos impostores 
 qui similia tentaverunt ; cum vanitatis excessus et fas-
 
 NOVUM OEGANUM. 297 
 
 tidium etiam nunc omnem in ejusmodi conatibus mag- 
 nanimitatern destruxerit. 
 
 LXXXVIII. 
 
 At longe majora a pusillanimitate, et pensomm quae 
 humana industria sibi proposuit parvitate et tenuitate, 
 detrimenta in scientias invecta sunt. Et tamen (quod 
 pessimum est) pusillanimitas ista non sine arrogantia et 
 fastidio se offert. 
 
 Primum enim, omnium artium ilia reperitur cautela 
 jam facta familiaris, ut in qualibet arte authores artis 
 suae infirmitatem in naturae calumniam vertant ; et 
 quod ars ipsorum non assequitur id ex eadem arte im- 
 possibile in natura pronunciant. Neque certe damnari 
 potest ars, si ipsa judicet. Etiam philosophia quae nunc 
 in manibus est, in sinu suo posita quaedam fovet, aut 
 placita, quibus (si diligentius inquiratur) hoc homini- 
 bus omnino persuaderi volunt ; nil ab arte vel hominis 
 opere arduum, aut in naturam imperiosum et validum, 
 expectari debere ; nt de heterogenia caloris astri et ig- 
 nis, et mistione, superius dictum est. Qua3 si notentur 
 accuratius, omnino pertinent ad humanae potestatis cir- 
 cumscriptionem malitiosam, et ad quaBsitam et artificio- 
 sam desperationem, quas non solum spei auguria turbet, 
 sed etiam omnes industrial stimulos et nervos incidat 
 atque ipsius experientiae aleas abjiciat ; dum de hoc 
 tantum solliciti sint, ut ars eorum perfecta censeatur ; 
 gloria? vanissimae et perditissimas dantes operam, scilicet 
 ut quicquid adhuc inventum et comprehensum non sit, 
 id omnino nee inveniri nee comprehendi posse in futu- 
 rum credatur. At si quis rebus addere se 1 et novum 
 
 1 Compare Redargutio Philosophiarum, "Quare missis istis philoso- 
 phiis abstractis, vos et ego, filii, rebus ipsis nos adjungamus; " and Praefatio,
 
 298 NOVUM ORGANUM. 
 
 aliquod reperire conetur, ille tamen omnino sibi pro- 
 ponet et destinabit unum aliquod inventing (nee ultra) 
 perscrutari et ei'uere ; ut magnetis naturam, maris flux- 
 urn et refluxum, thema coeli, et hujusmodi, quae secret! 
 aliquid habere videntur et hactenus parum foeliciter 
 tractata sint : quum summae sit imperitiae, rei alicujus 
 naturam in se ipsa perscrutari ; quandoquidem eadem 
 natura, quae in aliis videtur latens et occulta, in aliis 
 manifesta sit et quasi palpabilis, atque in illis admira- 
 tionem, in his ne attentionem quidem moveat ; ut fit in 
 natura consistentise, quae in ligno vel lapide non nota- 
 tur, sed solidi appellatione transmittitur, neque amplius 
 de fuga separationis aut solutionis continuitatis inquiri- 
 tur : at in aquarum bullis eadem res videtur subtilis et 
 ingeniosa ; quae bullaa se conjiciunt in pelliculas quas- 
 dam in hemisphaerii formam curiose effictas, ut ad mo- 
 mentum temporis evitetur solutio continuitatis. 
 
 Atque prorsus ilia ipsa quae liabentur pro secretis, in 
 aliis liabent naturam manifestam et communem ; quae 
 nunqiiam se dabit conspiciendam, si liominum experi- 
 menta aut contemplationes in illis ipsis tantum versen- 
 tur. Generaliter autem et vulgo, in operibus mechanicis 
 habentur pro novis inventis, si quis jampridem inventa 
 subtilius poliat, vel ornet elegantius, vel simul uniat et 
 componat, vel cum usu commodius copulet, aut opus 
 majore aut etiam minore quam fieri consuevit mole vel 
 volumine exhibeat, et similia. 
 
 Itaque minime minim est si nobilia et genere hu- 
 mano digna inventa in lucem extracta non sint, quum 
 
 p. 203. of this volume, " Qui autem et ipsi experiri et se scienliis addere, 
 earumque fines proferre, statuerunt, nee illi a receptis prorsus desciscere 
 ausi sunt," &c. "Addere se" (says Heyne, Virg. Georg. i. 513.) " vulgari 
 usu est adjungere se, accedere. . . . Inde si idem fit cum impetu, irruere, 
 instare, inexeiv." J- &
 
 NOVUM ORGANUM. 299 
 
 homines hujusmodi exiguis pensis et puerilibus content! 
 et delectati fuerint ; quinetiam in iisdem se niagnum 
 aliquod sequutos aut assequutos putaverint. 
 
 LXXXIX. 
 
 Neque illud praetermittendum est, quod nacta sit 
 Pliilosophia Naturalis per omnes states adversarium 
 molestum et difficilem ; superstitionem nimirum, et ze- 
 lum religionis cascum et immoderatum. Etenim videre 
 est apud Graecos, eos qui primum causas naturales ful- 
 minis et tempestatum insuetis adhuc hominum auribus 
 proposuerunt, impietatis in deos eo nomine damnatos : 
 nee multo melius a nonnullis antiquorum patrum re- 
 ligionis Christianas exceptos fuisse eos, qui ex certissimis 
 demonstrationibus (quibus nemo hodie sanus contra- 
 dixerit) terram rotundam esse posuerunt, atque ex con- 
 sequent! antipodas esse asseruerunt. 
 
 Quinetiam ut nunc sunt res, conditio sermonum de 
 natura facta est durior et magis cum periculo, propter 
 theologorum scliolasticorum summas et methodos ; qui 
 cum theologian! (satis pro potestate) in ordinem re- 
 degerint et in artis formam effinxerint, hoc insuper 
 effecerunt, ut pugnax et spinosa Aristotelis philosophia 
 corpori religionis plus quam par erat immisceretur. 1 
 
 Eodem etiam spectant (licet diverso modo) eorum 
 commentationes, qui veritatem christianae religionis ex 
 
 1 Compare Kepler in the introduction to his great work De Stella M artis: 
 " In theologia quidem authoritatum, in Philosophia vero rationum esse 
 momenta ponderanda. Sanctus igitur Lactantius qui terram negavit esse 
 rotundam : Sanctus Augustinus qui rotunditate concessa negavit tamen An- 
 tipodas: Sanctum Officium hodiernorum qui exilitate terras concessa negant 
 tamen ejus rnotum : at magis mihi sancta Veritas qui terram et rotundam et 
 Antipodibus circumhabitam et contemptissimae parvitatis esse et denique per 
 sidera ferri, salvo Doctorum ecclesias respectu, ex philosophia demonstro." 
 See for a defence of St. Boniface, touching the story of the Antipodes and 
 Virgilius Bishop of Saltzburg, Fromondus De Orbe Terrce Immobili, c. 4.
 
 300 NOVUM ORGANUM. 
 
 principiis et authoritatibus philosophorum deducere et 
 confirmare haucl veriti sunt ; fidei et sensus conjugium 
 tanquam legitimum multa pompa et solennitate cele- 
 brantes, et grata rerum varietate animos hominum 
 permulcentes ; sed 'interim divina humanis impari con- 
 ditione permiscentes. At in hnjusmodi misturis theo- 
 logise cum philosophia, ea tantum quae nunc in philoso- 
 phia recepta sunt comprehenduntur ; sed nova, licet in 
 melius mutata, tantum non summoventur et extermi- 
 nantur. 
 
 Denique invenias ex quorundam theologorum im- 
 peritia aditum alicui philosophies, quamvis emendatae, 
 pene interclusum esse. Alii siquidem simplicius sub- 
 verentur ne forte altior in naturam inquisitio ultra 
 concessum sobrietatis terminum penetret ; traducentes 
 et perperam torquentes ea qua? de divinis mysteriis 
 in scripturis sacris adversus rimantes secreta divina 
 dicuntur, ad occulta naturae quaa nullo interdicto pro- 
 hibentur. Alii callidius conjiciunt et animo versant, 
 si media ignorentur, singula ad manum et virgulam 
 divinam (quod religionis ut putant maxime intersit) 
 facilius posse referri : quod nihil aliud est quam Deo 
 per mendacium gratificari velle. Alii ab exemplo met- 
 uunt, ne motus et mutationes circa philosophiam in 
 religionem incurrant ac desinant. Alii denique sol- 
 liciti videntur, ne in naturae inquisitione aliquid in- 
 veniri possit quod religionem (praBsertim apud indoc- 
 tos) subvertat, aut saltern labefactet. At isti duo 
 posteriores metus nobis videntur omnino sapientiam 
 animalem sapere ; ac si homines, in mentis sua3 re- 
 cessibus et secretis cogitationibus, de firmitudine relig- 
 ionis et fidei in sensum imperio diffiderent ac dubita- 
 rent ; et propterea ab inquisitione veritatis in natural-
 
 NOVUM ORGANUM. 301 
 
 ibus periculum illis impendere metuerent. At vere 
 rem reputanti Pbilosophia Naturalis, post verbum Dei, 
 certissima superstitionis medicina est ; eademque prob- 
 atissimum fidei alimentum. Itaque merito religioni 
 donatur tanquam fidissima ancilla : cum altera volun- 
 tatem Dei, altera potestatem manifestet. Neque enim 
 erravit ille qui dixit, Erratis, nescientes scripturas et 
 potestatem Dei: 1 informationem de voluntate et med- 
 itationem de potestate nexu individuo commiscens 
 et copulans. Interim minus mirum est si Naturalis 
 Philosophiae incrementa cohibita sint, cum religio, quae 
 plurimum apud animos hominum pollet, per quorun- 
 dam imperitiam et zelum incautum in partem contra- 
 riam transient et abrepta fuerit. 
 
 xc. 
 
 Rursus in moribus et institutis scholarum, academi- 
 arum, collegiorum, et similium conventuum, quae doc- 
 torum hominum sedibus et eruditionis culturse destinata 
 sunt, omnia progressui scientiarum adversa inveniun- 
 tur. Lectiones enim et exercitia ita sunt disposita, ut 
 aliud a consuetis haud facile cuiquam in mentem 
 veniat cogitare aut contemplari. Si vero unus aut 
 alter fortasse judicii libertate uti sustinuerit, is sibi 
 soli hanc operam imponere possit ; ab aliorum autem 
 consortio nihil capiet utilitatis. Sin et hoc toleraverit, 
 tamen in capessenda fortuna industriam hanc et mag- 
 nanimitatem sibi non levi impedimento fore experietur. 
 Studia enim hominum in ejusmodi locis in quorundam 
 authorum scripta, veluti in carceres, conclusa sunt ; 
 a quibus si quis dissentiat, continuo ut, homo turbidus 
 et rerum novarum cupidus corripitur. At magnum 
 
 i Matt. xxii. 29.
 
 302 NOVUM ORGANUM. 
 
 certe discrimen inter res civiles et artes ; non enhn 
 idem periculum a novo motu et a nova luce. Verum 
 in rebus civilibus mutatio etiam in melius suspecta est 
 ob perturbationem ; cum civilia auctoritate, consensu, 
 fama, et opinione, non demonstratione, nitantur. In 
 artibus autem et scientiis, tanquam in metalli-fodinis, 
 omnia novis operibus et ulterioribus progressibus cir- 
 cumstrepere debent. Atque secundum rectam ratio- 
 nem res ita se habet, sed interim non ita vivitur ; sed 
 ista, quam diximus, doctrinarum administratio et poli- 
 tia scientiarum augmenta durius premere consuevit. 
 
 xci. 
 
 Atque insuper licet ista invidia cessaverit ; tamen satis 
 est ad cohibendum augmentum Scientiarum, quod hu- 
 jusmodi conatus et industries praemiis careant. Non 
 enim penes eosdem est cultura scientiarum et pras- 
 mium. Scientiarum enim augmenta a magnis utique 
 ingeniis proveniunt ; at pretia et praemia scientiarum 
 sunt penes vulgus aut principes viros, qui (nisi raro 
 admodum) vix mediocriter docti sunt. Quinetiam hu- 
 jusmodi progressus non solum prasmiis et beneficentia 
 hominum, verum etiam ipsa popular! laude, destituti 
 sunt. Sunt enim illi supra captum maximae partis 
 hominum, et ab opinionum vulgarium ventis facile 
 obruuntur et extinguuntur. Itaque nil mirum si res 
 ilia non foeliciter successerit, quae in honore non fuit. 
 
 xcn. 
 
 Sed longe maximum progressibus scientianim et no- 
 vis pensis ac provinciis in iisdem suscipiendis obstacu- 
 lum deprehenditur in desperatione hominum, et sup- 
 positione Impossibilis. Solent enim viri prudentes et
 
 NOVUM ORGANUM. 303 
 
 severi in hujusmodi rebus plane diffidere: naturae ob- 
 scuritatem, vitae brevitatem, sensuum fallacias, judicii 
 infirmitatem, experimentorum difficultates, et similia 
 secum reputantes. Itaque existimant esse quosdam 
 scientiarum, per temporum et aetatum mundi revolu- 
 tiones, fluxus et refluxus ; cum aliis temporibus cres- 
 cant et floreant, aliis declinent et jaceant : ita tamen, 
 ut cum ad certum quendani gradum et statum per- 
 venerint, nil ulterius possint. 
 
 Itaque si quis majora credat aut spondeat, id putant 
 esse cujusdam impotentis et immaturi animi ; atque 
 hujusmodi conatus, initia scilicet laeta, media ardua, 
 extrema confusa habere. Atque cum hujusmodi cogi- 
 tationes eae sint quae in viros graves et judicio praestan- 
 tes facile cadant, curandum revera est lie rei optimae et 
 pulcherrimas amore capti severitatem judicii relaxemus 
 aut minuamus ; et sedulo videndum quid spei afrulgeat, 
 et ex qua parte se ostendat ; atque auris levioribus spei 
 rejectis, eae quae plus firmitudinis habere videntur om- 
 nino discutiendae sunt et pensitandae. Quinetiam pru- 
 dentia civilis ad consilium vocanda est et adhibenda, 
 quae ex prasscripto diffidit, et de rebus humanis in de- 
 terius conjicit. Itaque jarn et de spe dicendum est; 
 praesertim cum nos promissores non simus, nee vim aut 
 insidias hominum judiciis faciamus aut struamus, sed 
 homines manu et sponte ducamus. Atque licet longe 
 potentissimmn futurum sit remedium ad spem impri- 
 mendam, quando homines ad particularia, praesertim 
 in Tabulis nostfis Inveniendi digesta et disposita (quae 
 partim ad secundam, sed multo magis ad quartam In- 
 staurationis nostrae partem pertinent), adducemus; cum 
 hoc ipsum sit non spes tantum, sed tanquam res ipsa : 
 tamen ut omnia clementius fiant, pergendum est in
 
 304 NOVUM ORGANUM. 
 
 institute nostro de praeparandis hominum mentibus; 
 cujus praeparationis ista ostensio spei pars est non ex- 
 igua. Nam absque ea, reliqua faciunt magis ad con- 
 tristationem hominum (scilicet ut deteriorem et vili- 
 orem habeant de iis quas jam in usu sunt opinionem 
 quam nunc habent, et SUSB conditionis infortunium 
 plus sentiant et pernoscant), quam ad alacritatem ali- 
 quam inducendam, aut industriam experiendi acuen- 
 dam. Itaque conjecturae nostrae, quae spem in hac 
 re faciunt probabilem, aperiendas sunt et prseponendae : 
 sicut Columbus fecit, ante navigation em illam suam 
 mirabilem maris Atlantici, cum rationes adduxerit cur 
 ipse novas terras et continentes, prseter eas quaa ante 
 cognitae fuerunt, inveniri posse confideret: quae ra- 
 tiones, licet primo rejectee, postea tamen experimento 
 probatse sunt et rerum maximarum causae et initia 
 fuerunt. 
 
 XCIII. 
 
 Principium autum sumendum a Deo : l hoc nimirum 
 quod agitur, propter excellentem in ipso boni naturam, 
 manifeste a Deo esse, qui author boni et pater luminum 
 est. In operationibus autem divinis, initia quaeque 
 tenuissima exitum certo trahunt. Atque quod de 
 spiritualibus dictum est, regnum Dei non venit cum 
 observatione, id etiam in omni majore opere provi- 
 dentiaa divinas evenire reperitur ; ut omnia sine strep- 
 itu et sonitu placide labantur, atque res plane aga- 
 tur priusquam homines earn agi putent aut advertant. 
 Neque omittenda est prophetia Danielis de ultimis 
 mundi temporibus : Multi pertransibunt et multiplex 
 erit scientia : manifeste innuens et significans esse in 
 fatis, id est in providentia, ut pertransitus mundi (qui 
 1 'E/c Atdf dp^w/ie7)?o. Aratus, Phaenom. 1. 1.
 
 NOVUM ORGANUM. 305 
 
 per tot longinquas navigationes impletus plane aut jam 
 in opere esse videtur) et augmenta scientiarum in ean- 
 dem aetatem incidant. 
 
 xciv. 
 
 Sequitur ratio omnium maxima ad faciendam spem ; 
 nempe ex erroribus temporis prasteriti et viarum ad- 
 huc tentatarum. Optima enim est ea reprehensio, 
 quatn de statu civili haud prudenter administrate quis- 
 piam his verbis complexus est : Quod ad prceterita pes- 
 simum est^ id ad futura optimum videri debet. Si enim 
 vos omnia quce ad officium vestrum spectant prcestitissetis, 
 neque tamen res vestrce in meliore loco essent, ne spes 
 quidem ulla reliqua foret eas in melius provehi posse. 
 Sed cum rerum vestrarum status non a vi ipsa rerum 
 sed ab erroribus vestris male se Jiabeat, sperandum est, 
 illis erroribus missis aut correctis, magnam rerum in 
 melius mutationem fieri posse. 1 Simili modo, si homi- 
 nes per tanta annorum spatia viam inveniendi et co- 
 lendi scientias tenuissent, nee tamen ulterius progredi 
 potuissent, audax proculdubio et temeraria foret opinio, 
 posse rem in ulterius provehi. Quod si in via ipsa 
 erratum sit, atque hominum opera in iis consumpta 
 in quibus minime oportebat, sequitur ex eo, non in 
 rebus ipsis difficultatem oriri, quae potestatis nostrae 
 non sunt, sed in intellectu human o ejusque usu et 
 applicatione, quse res remedium et medicinam suscipit. 
 Itaque optimum fuerit illos ipsos errores proponere : 
 quot enim fuerint errorum impedimenta in praeterito, 
 tot sunt spei argumenta in futurum. Ea vero licet 
 in his quae superius dicta sunt non intacta omnino 
 
 1 Demosthenes : see the first Philippic, p. 40. ; and the third, p. 112. Ed. 
 Reisk. 
 
 VOL. i. 20
 
 306 NOVUM ORGANUM. 
 
 fuerint, tamen ea etiam nunc breviter verbis nudis 
 ac simplicibus repra3sentare vi.sum est. 
 
 xcv. 
 
 Qui tractaverunt scientias aut Empirici aut Dog- 
 matici fuerunt. Empirici, formicae more, congerunt 
 tantum et utuntur ; Rationales, aranearum more, telas 
 ex se conficiunt : 1 apis vero ratio media est, quse ma- 
 teriam ex floribus horti et agri elicit, sed tamen earn 
 propria facilitate vertit et digerit. Neque absimile 
 philosophise verum opificium est ; quod nee mentis 
 viribus tantum aut prsecipue nititur, neque ex historia 
 naturali et mechanicis experimentis prasbitam mate- 
 riam, in memoria integram, sed in intellectu mutatam 
 et subactam, reponit. Itaque ex harum facultatum 
 (experimentalis scilicet et rationalis) arctiore et sanc- 
 tiore foedere (quod adhuc factum non est) bene speran- 
 dum est. 
 
 xcvi. 
 
 Naturalis Philosophia adhuc sincera non invenitur, 
 sed infecta et corrupta : in Aristotelis schola per logi- 
 cam, in Platonis schola per theologiam naturalem ; in 
 secunda schola Platonis, Procli et aliorum, per mathe- 
 maticam ; quas philosophiam naturalem terminare, non 
 generare aut procreare debet. At ex philosophia nat- 
 urali pura et impermista meliora speranda sunt. 
 
 xcvu. 
 
 Nemo adhuc tanta mentis constantia et rigore in- 
 ventus est, ut decreverit et sibi imposuerit, theorias 
 
 roiif Xoyovf TUV diateicTiKuv rolf TUV upa%viuv vfd 
 e"iK<i&v, oi>6ev {ttv ^p^fftpwf, /Uav 6s TexvtKove (perhaps xpnaipotz and 
 ). Stobaeus, Floril. 82. Compare De, Augmentis, v. 2.
 
 NOVUM ORGANUM. 307 
 
 et notiones communes penitus abolere, et intellectum 
 abrasum et acquum ad particularia de integro applicare. 
 Itaque ratio ilia humana quam habemus, ex multa fide 
 et multo etiam casu, nee non ex puerilibus quas primo 
 hausimus notionibus, farrago quaBdam est et congeries. 
 
 Quod si quis a?tate matura et sensibus integris et 
 mente repurgata se ad experientiam et ad particularia 
 de integro applicet, de eo melius sperandum est. At- 
 que hac in parte nobis spondernus fortunam Alexandri 
 Magni : neque quis nos vanitatis arguat, antequam ex- 
 iturn rei audiat, quae ad exuendam omnem vanitatem 
 spectat. 
 
 Etenim de Alexandro et ejus rebus gestis jEschines 
 ita loquutus est : Nos certe vitam mortalem non vivimus ; 
 sed in hoc nati sumus, ut posteritas de nobis portenta 
 narret et prcedicet : perinde ac si Alexandri res gestas 
 pro miraculo habuisset. 1 
 
 At sevis sequentibus Titus Livius melius rem advertit 
 et introspexit, atque de Alexandro hujusmodi quippiam 
 dixit : Eum non aliud quam bene amum vana con- 
 temnere? Atque simile etiam de nobis judicium fu- 
 turis temporibus factum iri existimamus : nos nil magni 
 fecisse, sed tantum ea quce pro magnis habentur mi- 
 noris fecisse. Sed interim (quod jam diximus) non est 
 spes nisi in regeneratione scientiarum ; ut ese scilicet ab 
 Experientia certo ordine excitentur et rursus condan- 
 tur : quod adhuc factum esse aut cogitatum nemo (ut 
 arbitramur) affirmaverit. 
 
 XCVIIl. 
 
 Atque Experientiae fundamenta (quando ad hanc 
 
 1 JSschines, De Corona, p. 72. Ed. H. Stpphan. 
 
 2 Lib. ix. c. 17.
 
 308 NOVUM ORGANUM. 
 
 omnino deveniendum est) aut nulla aut admodum in- 
 firma adhuc fuerunt ; nee particularium sylva et mate- 
 ries, vel numero vel genere vel certitudine, informando 
 intellectui competens aut ullo modo sufficiens, adhuc 
 quassita est et congesta. Sed contra homines docti 
 (supini sane et faciles) rumores quosdam Experientiae, 
 et quasi famas et auras ejus, ad philosophiam suam 
 vel constituendam vel confirmandam exceperunt, atque 
 illis nihilominus pondus legitimi testimonii attribuerunt. 
 Ac veluti si regnum aliquod aut status non ex literis et 
 relationibus a legatis et nuntiis fide-dignis missis, sed ex 
 urbanorum sermunculis et ex triviis, consilia sua et ne- 
 gotia gubernaret ; omnino talis in philosophiam admin- 
 istratio, quatenus ad Experientiam, introducta est. Nil 
 debitis modis exquisitum, nil verificatum, nil numera- 
 tum, nil appensum, nil dimensum in Natural! Historia 
 reperitur. At quod in observatione indefinitum et 
 vagum, id in informatione fallax et infidum est. Quod 
 si cui hsec mira dictu videantur et querelas minus justae 
 propiora, cum Aristoteles, tantus ipse vir et tanti regis 
 opibus subnixus, tarn accuratam de Animalibus histo- 
 riam confecerit, atque alii nonnulli majore diligentia 
 (licet strepitu minore) multa adjeceriut, et rursus alii 
 de plantis, de metallis, et fossilibus, historias et narra- 
 tion es copiosas conscripserint ; is sane non satis atten- 
 dere et perspicere videtur quid agatur in praesentia. 
 Alia enim est ratio Naturalis Historic qua? propter se 
 confecta est ; alia ejus qua? collecta est ad informan- 
 dum intellectum in ordine ad condendam philosophiam. 
 Atque has dua3 historian turn aliis rebus, turn praecipue 
 in hoc differunt ; quod prima ex illis specierum natu- 
 ralium varietatem, non artium mechanicarum experi- 
 menta, contineat. Quemadinodum enim in civilibus
 
 NOVUM ORGANUM. 309 
 
 ingenium cuj usque et occultus animi aff'ectuumque sen- 
 sus melius elicitur cum quis in perturbatione ponitur, 
 quam alias : simili modo, et occulta naturaa magis se 
 produnt per vexationes artium, quam cum cursu suo 
 meant. Itaque turn demum bene sperandum est 
 de Naturali Philosophia, postquam Historia Naturalis 
 (quie ejus basis est et fundamentum) melius instructa 
 fuerit ; antea vero minime. 
 
 xcix. 
 
 Atque rursus in ipsa experimentorum mechanicorum 
 copia, summa eorum quas ad intellectus informationem 
 maxime faciunt et juvant detegitur inopia. Mechanicus 
 enim, de veritatis inquisitione nullo modo sollicitus, non 
 ad alia quam quas operi suo subserviunt aut animum 
 erigit aut manum porrigit. Turn vero de scientiarum 
 ulteriore progressu spes bene fundabitur, quum in His- 
 toriam Naturalem recipientur et aggregabuntur com- 
 plura experimenta, quaa in se nullius sunt usus, sed ad 
 inventionem causarum et axiomatum tantum faciunt ; 
 quaa nos lucifera experimenta, ad differentiam fructif- 
 erorum, appellare consuevimus. Ilia autem miram 
 habent in se virtutem et conditionem ; hanc videlicet, 
 quod nunquam fallant aut frustrentur. Cum enim ad 
 hoc adhibeantur, non ut opus aliquod efficiant sed ut 
 causam naturalem in aliquo revelent, quaquaversum 
 cadunt, intentioni aaque satisfaciunt ; cum quaestionem 
 terminent. 
 
 c. 
 
 At non solum copia major experimentorum quserenda 
 est et procuranda, atque etiam alterius generis, quam 
 adhuc factum est ; sed etiam methodus plane alia et 
 ordo et processus continuanda? et provehendas Experi-
 
 310 NOVUM ORGANUM. 
 
 entise introducenda. Vaga enim Experientia et se tan- 
 turn sequens (ut superius dictum est) mera palpatio est, 
 et homines potius stupefacit quam informat. At cum 
 Experientia lege certa procedet, seriatim et continen- 
 ter, de scientiis aliquid melius sperari poterit. 
 
 ci. 
 
 Postquam vero copia et materies Historise Naturalis 
 et Experientiae, talis qualis ad opus intellectus sive ad 
 opus philosophicum requiritur, praesto jam sit et parata ; 
 tamen nullo modo sufficit intellectus, ut in illam mate- 
 riem agat sponte et memoriter ; non magis, quam si 
 quis computationem alicujus ephemeridis memoriter se 
 tenere et superare posse speret. Atque hactenus tamen 
 potiores meditationis partes quam scriptionis in inveni- 
 endo fuerunt ; neque aclhuc Experientia literata l facta 
 est : atqui nulla nisi de scripto inventio probanda est. 
 Ilia vero in usum inveniente, ab Experientia facta 
 demum literata melius sperandum. 
 
 en. 
 
 Atque insuper cum tantus sit particularium numerus 
 et quasi exercitus, isque ita sparsus et diffusus, ut intel- 
 lectum disgreget et conrundat, de velitationibus et levi- 
 bus motibus et transcursibus intellectus non bene speran- 
 dum est ; nisi fiat instructio et coordinatio, per tabulas 
 
 1 "Experientia literata" does not appear to be used here in the same 
 sense as in Aph. 103., or in the De Augmenlis, v. 2. : " Cum quis experi- 
 menta ornnigena absque ulla serie aut methodo tentet, ea demum mera est 
 palpatio: cum vero nonnulla utatur in experimentando directione et or- 
 dine, perinde est ac si manu ducatur. Atque hoc ipsum est quod per Ex- 
 perientiam Literatam intelligimus." Here it is used merely for a mode of 
 experimenting in which the results are recorded in writing. The " experi- 
 entia literata" of the De Augmentls answers to the " experientia certa lege 
 procedens" of the last aphorism. J. 8.
 
 NOVUM ORGANUM. 311 
 
 inveniendi idoneas et bene dispositas et tanquam vivas, 
 eorum quae pertinent ad subjectum in quo versatur in- 
 quisitio, atque ad harura tabularum auxilia praeparata 
 et digesta raens applicetur. 
 
 era. 
 
 Venim post copiam particularium rite et ordine vel- 
 uti sub oculos positorum, non statim transeundum est 
 ad inquisitionem et inventionem novorum particularium 
 aut operuin ; aut saltern, si hoc fiat, in co non acqui- 
 escendum. Neque enim negamus, postquam omnia 
 omnium artium experimenta collecta et digesta fuerint 
 atque ad unius hominis notitiam et judicium pervene- 
 rint, quin ex ipsa traductione experimentorum unius 
 artis in alias multa nova inveniri possint ad humanam 
 vitam et statum utilia, per istam Experientiam quam 
 vocamus Literatam ; l sed tamen minora de ea speranda 
 sunt ; rnajora vero a nova luce Axiomatum ex particu- 
 laribus illis certa via et regula eductorum, quae rursus 
 nova particularia indicent et designent. Neque enim 
 in piano via sita est, sed ascendendo et descendendo ; 
 ascendendo primo ad Axiomata, descendendo ad Opera. 
 
 civ. 
 
 Neque tamen permittendum est, ut intellectus a par- 
 ticularibus ad axiomata rernota et quasi generalissima 
 (qualia sunt principia, quae vocant, artium et rerum) 
 saliat et volet ; et ad eorum immotam veritatem axiom- 
 ata media probet et expediat : quod adhuc factum est, 
 prono ad hoc impetu naturali intellectus, atque etiam 
 ad hoc ipsum, per demonstrationes qua3 fiunt per syllo- 
 
 1 Here " experientia literata" is the same as in the De Augmentis. See 
 the last note. J. S.
 
 312 NOVUM ORGANUM. 
 
 gismum, jampridera edocto et assuefacto. Sed de sci- 
 entiis turn demum bene sperandum est, quando" per 
 scalam veram, et per gradus continues et non intermis- 
 sos aut hiulcos, a particularibus ascendetur ad axiom- 
 ata minora, et deinde ad media, alia aliis superiora, et 
 postremo demum ad generalissima. Etenim axiomata 
 infima non multum ab experientia nuda discrepant. 
 Suprema vero ilia et generalissima (quae habentur) 
 notionalia sunt et abstracta, et nil habent solidi. At 
 media sunt axiomata ilia vera et solida et viva, in 
 quibus humanae res et fortunaa sitae sunt ; et supra 
 haec quoque, tandem ipsa ilia generalissima ; talia scil- 
 icet quae non abstracta sint, sed per base media vere 
 limitantur. 1 
 
 Itaque bominum intellectui non plumae addendae, sed 
 plumbum potius et pondera ; ut cohibeant omnem sal- 
 turn et volatum. Atque hoc adbuc factum non est; 
 quum vero factum fuerit, melius de scientiis sperare 
 licebit. 
 
 cv. 
 
 In constituendo autem axiomate, forma Inductionis 
 alia quam adhuc in usu fuit excogitanda est; eaque 
 non ad principia tan turn (quae vocant) probanda et 
 invenienda, sed etiam ad axiomata minora et media, 
 denique omnia. Inductio enim quas procedit per enu- 
 merationem simplicem res puerilis est, et precario con- 
 cludit, et periculo exponitur ab instantia contradictoria, 
 et plerumque secundum pauciora quam par est, et ex 
 his tantummodo quae prsesto sunt, pronunciat. At In- 
 ductio quD3 ad inventionem et demonstrationem scien- 
 tiarum et artium erit utilis naturam separare debet, per 
 
 1 That is, of which these intermediate axioms are really limitations, '. e. 
 particular cases.
 
 NOVUM OEGANUM. 313 
 
 rejectiones et exclusiones debitas ; ac deinde, post neg- 
 ativas tot quot sufficiunt, super affirmativas concludere ; 
 quod adhuc factum non est, nee tentatum certe, nisi 
 tantummodo a Platone, qui ad excutiendas defmitiones 
 et ideas, hac certe forma inductionis aliquatenus utitur. 1 
 Verum ad hujus inductionis, sive demonstrationis, in- 
 structionem bonam et legitimam, quamplurima adhi- 
 benda sunt quae adhuc nullius mortalium cogitationem 
 subiere; adeo ut in ea major sit consumenda opera, 
 quam adhuc consumpta est in syllogismo. Atque hujus 
 inductionis auxilio, non solum ad axiomata invenienda, 
 verum etiam ad notiones terminandas, utendum est. 2 
 Atque in hac certe Inductione spes maxima sita est. 
 
 cvi. 
 
 At in axiomatibus constituendis per hanc induc- 
 tionem, examinatio et probatio etiam facienda est, 
 utrum quod constituitur axioma aptatum sit tantum 
 et ad mensuram factum eorum particularium ex qui- 
 bus extrahitur ; an vero sit amplius et latius. Quod 
 si sit amplius aut latius, videndum an earn suam am- 
 plitudinem et latitudinem per novorum particularium 
 designationem, quasi fide-jussione quadam, firmet ; 3 ne 
 
 1 This is one of many passages which show that Bacon was very far from 
 asserting that he was the first to propose an inductive method. It is re- 
 markable that M. de St. Hilaire in his translation of the treatise De Anima 
 of Aristotle has repeated the popular assertion that Bacon claimed to be the 
 first discoverer of induction. 
 
 2 "Ad notiones terminandas " may be rendered " in order to the forma- 
 tion of conceptions." This passage, especially when compared with the 
 14th Aphorism, shows that Bacon contemplated a twofold application of 
 induction, though he has left nothing on the subject of the formation of 
 conceptions. 
 
 3 The meaning of this will be made clearer by comparing it with the 
 following passage in Valerius Terminus : 
 
 " That the discovery of new works or active directions not known before
 
 314 NOVUM ORGANUM. 
 
 vel in jam notis tantum hasreamus, vel laxiore fortasse 
 complexu umbras et formas abstractas, non solida et 
 determinate in materia, prensemus. Hsec vero cum 
 in usum venerint, solida turn demum spes merito afful- 
 serit. 
 
 cvn. 
 
 Atque hie etiam resumendum est, quod superius 
 dictum est de Naturali Philosophia producta, et scien- 
 tiis particularibus ad earn reductis, ut non fiat scissio 
 et truncatio scientiarum ; nam etiam absque hoc minus 
 de progressu sperandum est. 
 
 CVIII. 
 
 Atque de desperatione tollenda et spe facienda, ex 
 prseteriti temporis erroribus valere jussis aut rectifi- 
 catis, jam dictum est. Videndum autem et si quaB 
 alia sint quee spem faciant. Illud vero occurrit ; si 
 hominibus non quserentibus, et aliud agentibus, multa 
 utilia, tanquam casu quodam aut per occasionem, in- 
 venta sint ; nemini dubium esse posse, quin iisdem 
 quserentibus et hoc agentibus, idque via et ordine, non 
 impetu et desultorie, longe plura detegi necesse sit. 
 Licet enim semel aut iterum accidere possit, ut quis- 
 piam in id forte fortuna incidat, quod magno conatu 
 et de industria scrutantem antea fugit; tamen in sum- 
 is the only trial to be accepted of; and yet not that neither in case where 
 one particular giveth light to another, but where particulars induce an 
 axiom or observation, which axiom found out discovereth and designeth 
 new particulars. That the nature of this trial is not only on the point 
 whether the knowledge be profitable or no, but even upon the point 
 whether the knowledge be true or no. Not because you may always con- 
 clude that the axiom which discovereth new instances is true; but con- 
 trariwise you may safely conclude that, if you discover not any new in- 
 stance, it is vain and untrue. That by new instances are not alwaj's to 
 be understood new recipes, but new assignations; and of the diversity be- 
 tween these two." Val. Ter., abridgment of the 12th chapter of the first 
 book. J. S.
 
 NOVUM ORGANUM. 315 
 
 ma rerum proculdubio contrarium invenitur. Itaque 
 longe plura et meliora, atque per minora intervalla, a 
 ratione et industria et directione et intentione hominum 
 speranda sunt, quam a casu et instinctu animalium et 
 hujusmodi, quae hactenus principium inventis dederunt. 
 
 cix. 
 
 Etiam illud ad spem trahi possit, quod nonnulla ex 
 his quae jam inventa sunt ejus sint generis ut antequam 
 invenirentur baud facile cuiquam in mentem venisset 
 de iis aliquid suspicari ; sed plane quis ilia ut impos- 
 sibilia contempsisset. Solent enim homines de rebus 
 novis ad exemplum veterum, et secundum phantasiam 
 ex iis praeceptam et inquinatam, hariolari ; quod genus 
 opinandi fallacissimum est, quandoquidem multa ex his 
 quaa ex fontibus rerum petuntur per rivulos consuetos 
 non fluant. 
 
 Veluti si quis, ante tormentorum igneorum inven- 
 tionem, rem per efFectus descripsisset, atque in hunc 
 modum dixisset : inventum quoddam detectum esse, 
 per quod muri et munitiones quaeque maximae ex longo 
 intervallo concuti et dejici possint ; homines sane de 
 viribus tormentorum et machinarum per pondera et 
 rotas et hujusmodi arietationes et impulsus multipli- 
 candis, multa et varia secum cogitaturi fuissent ; de 
 vento autem igneo, tarn subito et violenter se ex- 
 pandente et exsufflante, vix unquam aliquid alicujus 
 imagination! aut phantasias occursurum fuisset; utpote 
 cujus exemplum in proximo non vidisset, 1 nisi forte 
 in terras motu aut fulmine, quae, ut magnalia naturae 
 et non imitabilia ab homine, homines statim rejecturi 
 fuissent. 
 
 i As a thing to which he had seen nothing immediately analogous.
 
 316 NOVUM ORGANUM. 
 
 Eodem modo si, ante fill bombycini inventionem, 
 quispiam hujusraodi sermonem injecisset : esse quod- 
 dam fill genus inventum ad vestium et supellectilis 
 usum, quod filum linteum aut laneuin tenuitate et ni- 
 hilorninus tenacitate, ac etiam splendore et mollitie, 
 longe superaret ; homines statim aut de serico aliquo 
 vegetabili, aut de animalis alicujus pilis delicatioribus, 
 aut de avium plumis et lanugine, aliquid opinaturi fuis- 
 sent ; verum de vermis pusilli textura, eaque tarn co- 
 piosa et se renovante et anniversaria, nil fuissent certe 
 commenturi. Quod si quis etiam de vermi verbum 
 aliquod injecisset, ludibrio certe futurus fuisset, ut qui 1 
 novas aranearum operas somniaret. 
 
 Similiter, si ante inventionem acus nauticae quispiam 
 hujusmodi sermonem intulisset: inventum esse quoddam 
 instrumentum, per quod cardines et puncta coeli exacte 
 capi et dignosci possint ; homines statim de magis exqui- 
 sita fabricatione instrumentorum astronomicorum, ad 
 multa et varia, per agitationem phantasiae, discursuri 
 fuissent ; quod vero aliquid inveniri possit, cujus motus 
 cum coelestibus tarn bene conveniret, atque ipsum tamen 
 ex coelestibus non esset, sed tantum substantia lapidea 
 aut metallica, omnino incredibile visum fuisset. At- 
 que haec tamen et similia per tot mundi setates homines 
 latuerunt, nee per philosophiam aut artes rationales 
 inventa sunt, sed casu et per occasionem ; suntque. 
 illius (ut diximus) generis, ut ab iis qua3 antea cognita 
 fuerunt plane heterogenea et remotissima sint, ut prse- 
 notio aliqua nihil prorsus ad ilia conducere potuisset. 
 
 Itaque sperandum omnino est, esse adhuc in natures 
 sinu multa excellentis usus recondita, quas nullam cum 
 jam inventis cognationem habent aut parallelismum, 
 sed omnino sita sunt extra vias phantasise ; quai tamen
 
 NOVUM ORGANUM. 317 
 
 adhuc inventa non sunt; quae proculdubio per multos 
 saeculorum circuitus et ambages et ipsa quandoque 
 prodibunt, sicut ilia superiora prodierunt ; sed per 
 viam quam nunc tractaraus, propere et subito et siinul 
 repraesentari l et anticipari possunt. 
 
 ex. 
 
 Attamen conspiciuntur et alia inventa ejus generis 
 quae fidem faciant, posse genus humanum nobiKa in- 
 venta, etiam ante pedes posita, praeterire et transilire. 
 Utcunque enim pulveris tormentarii vel fili bombycini 
 vel acus nautioae vel sacchari vel papyri vel similium 
 inventa quibusdam rerum et naturae proprietatibus niti 
 videantur, at certe Imprimendi artificium nil habet 
 quod non sit apertum et fere obvium. Et nihilominus 
 homines, non advertentes literarum modulos difficilius 
 scilicet collocari quam literae per motum man us scri- 
 bantur, sed hoc interesse, quod literarum moduli semel 
 collocati infinitis impressionibus, literae autern per ma- 
 num exaratae unicae tantum scriptioni, sufficiant ; aut 
 fortasse iterum non advertentes atramentum ita in- 
 spissari posse, ut tingat, non fluat ; praesertim literis 
 resupinatis et impressione facta desuper; hoc pulcher- 
 rimo invento (quod ad doctrinarum' propagationem 
 tantum facit) per tot saecula caruerunt. 
 
 Solet autem mens humana, in hoc inventionis cur- 
 riculo, tarn laeva saepenumero et male composita esse, 
 
 1 I. e. to be presented at once, before the regular time. Thus Pliny, 
 31.2., "Thespiarum fons conceptus mulieribus reprcesentat ; " i. e. makes 
 them conceive at once. And Cicero, Ep. ad Fam. v. 16., " neque debemus 
 expectare temporis medicinam, quam reprcesentare ratione possimus." 
 And again Phil. 2., " Corpus libenter obtulerim, si reproesentari morte mea 
 libertas civitatis potest; " i. e. to be recovered at once; or at least the re- 
 covery hastened. Many other examples are given by Facciolati, showing 
 that this was a very common use of the word. J. S.
 
 318 NOVUM ORGANUM. 
 
 ut primo diffidat, et paulo post se contemnat ; atque 
 primo incredibile ei videatur aliquid tale inveniri posse, 
 postquam autem inventum sit, incredibile rursus vide- 
 atur id homines tamdiu fugere potuisse. Atque hoc 
 ipsum ad spem rite trahitur; superesse nimirum ad- 
 huc magnum inventorum cumulum, qui non solum 
 ex operationibus incognitis eruendis, sed et ex jam 
 cognitis transferendis et componendis et applicandis, 
 per earn quam diximus Experientiam literatam de- 
 duci possit. 
 
 CXI. 
 
 Neque illud omittendum ad faciendam spem : repu- 
 tent (si placet) homines infinitas ingenii, temporis, 
 facultatum expensas, quas homines in rebus et studiis 
 longe minoris usus et pretii collocant ; quorum pars 
 quota si ad sana et solida verteretur, nulla non diffi- 
 cultas superari possit. Quod idcirco adjungere visum 
 est, quia plane fatemur Historias Naturalis et Experi- 
 mentalis collectionem, qualem animo metimur et qua- 
 lis esse debet, opus esse magnum, et quasi regium, et 
 inultae operae atque impensae. 
 
 cxn. 
 
 Interim particularium multitudinem nemo reformi- 
 det, quin potius hoc ipsum ad spem revocet. Sunt 
 enim artium et naturae particularia Phaenomena ma- 
 nipuli instar ad ingenii commenta, postquam ab ev- 
 identia rerum disjuncta et abstracts fuerint. Atque 
 hujus vise exitus in aperto est, et fere in propinquo ; 
 alterius exitus nullus, sed implicatio infinita. Homi- 
 nes enim adhuc parvam in Experientia moram fece- 
 runt, et earn leviter perstrinxerunt, sed in meditati- 
 onibus et commentationibus ingenii infinitum tempus
 
 NOVUM ORGANUM. 319 
 
 contriverunt. Apud nos vero si esset praesto quis- 
 piam qui de facto naturae ad interrogata responderet, 1 
 paucorum annorum esset inventio causarum et scienti- 
 arum omnium. 
 
 CXIII. 
 
 Etiam nonnihil hominibus spei fieri posse putamus 
 ab exemplo nostro proprio ; neque jactantiae causa 
 hoc dicimus sed quod utile dictu sit. Si qui diffi- 
 dant, me videant, hominem inter homines setatis me83 
 civilibus negotiis occupatissimum, nee firma admodum 
 valetudine (quod magnum habet temporis dispendium), 
 atque in hac re plane protopirum, et vestigia nullius 
 sequutum, neque hasc ipsa cum ullo mortalium com- 
 municantem, et tamen veram viam constanter ingres- 
 sum et ingenium rebus submittentem, haec ipsa ali- 
 quatenus (ut existimamus) provexisse ; et deinceps 
 videant, quid ab hominibus otio abundantibus, atque 
 a laboribus consociatis, atque a temporum successione, 
 post haec indicia nostra expectandum sit ; praesertim 
 in via quae non singulis solummodo pervia est (ut fit 
 in via ilia rational!), sed ubi hominum labores et operas 
 (praesertim quantum ad experientiae collectarn) optime 
 distribui et deinde componi possint. Turn enim homi- 
 nes vires suas nosse incipient, cum non eadem infiniti, 
 sed alia alii praestabunt. 
 
 cxiv. 
 
 Postremo, etiamsi multo infirmior et obscurior aura 
 spei ab ista Nova Continents spiraverit, 2 tamen omnino 
 
 1 The allusion is to judicial examination on interrogatories. Naturae is 
 to be construed with de facto, and not with interrogata. "Interrogata 
 naturae" cannot be rendered our " interrogations of nature," which is Mr. 
 Wood's translation. 
 
 2 Bacon refers to what Peter Martyr Anghiera has related, that Colum-
 
 320 NOVUM ORGANUM. 
 
 experiendum esse (nisi velimus animi esse plane ab- 
 jecti) statuimus. Non enim res pari periculo non 
 tentatur, et non succedit ; cum in illo ingentis boni, 
 in hoc exiguae humanae operas, jactura vertatur. Ve- 
 rum ex dictis, atque etiam ex non dictis, visum est 
 nobis spei abunde subesse, non tantum homini strenuo 
 ad experiendum, sed etiam prudenti et sobrio ad cre- 
 dendum. 
 
 cxv. 
 
 Atque de desperatione tollenda, quae inter causas 
 potentissimas ad progressum scientiarum remorandum 
 et inhibendum fuit, jam dictum est. Atque simul 
 sermo de signis et causis errorum, et inertia? et igno- 
 rantias quae invaluit, absolutus est ; praesertim cum 
 subtiliores causae, et quae in judieium populare aut ob- 
 servationem non incurrunt, ad ea quae de Idolis animi 
 human! dicta sunt referri debeant. 
 
 Atque hie simul pars destruens Instaurationis nos- 
 trae claudi debet, quae perficitur tribus redargutioni- 
 bus; redargutione nimirum Humance Rationis Nativce 
 
 3 o 
 
 et sibi permissaa ; 1 redargutione Demonstrationum ; et 
 redargutione Theoriarum, sive philosophiarum et doc- 
 trinarum quae receptae sunt. Redargutio vero earuin 
 talis fuit qualis esse potuit ; videlicet per signa, et 
 evidentiam causarum ; cum confutatio alia nulla a no- 
 bus observing the west-winds which blow at certain times of the year on 
 the coast of Portugal, came to the conclusion that there must be land to 
 generate them. 
 
 i For an explanation of this passage, as connected with the first form of 
 the doctrine of Idols when they were divided into three kinds to each of 
 which one of these confutations corresponded, see the preface. In compar- 
 ing it with the corresponding passages in the Partis secundce delineatio, and 
 the Distributio operis, it will be observed that the order of the confutations 
 is inverted. The first of these redargutions extends from the 40th to the 
 60th aphorism ; the other two, which are not kept distinct, end here. 
 J. S.
 
 NOVUM ORGANUM. 321 
 
 bis (qui et de principiis et de demonstrationibus ab 
 aliis dissentimus) adhiberi potuerit. 
 
 Quocirca tempus est, ut ad ipsam artem et normam 
 Interpretandi Naturam veniamus ; et tamen nonnihil 
 restat quod praevertendum est. Quum enim in hoc 
 primo Aphorismorum libro illud nobis proppsitum sit, 
 ut tarn ad intelligendum quam ad recipiendum ea quas 
 sequuntur mentes hominum praeparentur ; expurgata 
 jam et abrasa et aequata mentis area, sequitur ut 
 mens sistatur in positione bona, et tanquam aspectu 
 benevolo, ad ea quae proponemus. Valet enim in re 
 nova ad pragjudicium, non solum praeoccupatio fortis 
 opinionis veteris, sed et praeceptio sive praefiguratio 
 falsa rei quae affertur. Itaque conabimur efficere ut 
 habeantur bonae et veraB de iis quas adducimus opin- 
 iones, licet ad tempus tantummodo, et tanquam usura- 
 rias, 1 donee res ipsa pernoscatur. 
 
 cxvi. 
 
 Primo itaque postulandum videtur, ne existiment 
 homines nos, more antiquorum Graecorum, aut quo- 
 rundam novorum hominum, Telesii, Patricii, Seve- 
 rini, 2 sectam aliquam in philosophia condere velle. 
 Neque enim hoc agimus ; neque etiam multum inter- 
 esse putamus ad hominum fortunas quales quis opin- 
 iones abstractas de natura et rerum principiis habeat ; 
 neque dubium est, quin multa hujusmodi et vetera 
 
 1 Compare Distr. Op., p. 226. : " At quinta pars ad tempus tantum, 
 donee reliqua perficiantur, adhibetur; et tanquam foenus redditur usque 
 dum sors haberi possit." See also the next aphorism, in which the same 
 expression occurs. 
 
 2 See De Aug. iv. 3. for a rather fuller mention of these philosophers, and 
 the note upon the passage.' See also, for Telesius, the preface to Fabula 
 Ccdi et Cupidinis ; for Patricius, the Descriptio Globi intellectualis ; for Sev- 
 erinus, the Temperis Partus Masculus. /. S. 
 
 VOL. I. 21
 
 322 NOVUM ORGANUM. 
 
 revocari et nova introduci possint ; quemadmodura et 
 compltira themata coeli supponi possunt, quae cum 
 phaenomenis sat bene conveniunt, inter se taraen dis- 
 sentiunt. 
 
 At nos de hujusmodi rebus opinabilibus, et simul 
 inutilibus, non laboramus. At contra nobis consti- 
 tutum est experiri, an revera potentiae et amplitu- 
 dinis humanae firmiora fundamenta jacere ac fines in 
 latius proferre possimus. Atque licet sparsim et in 
 aliquibus subjectis specialibus, longe veriora habea- 
 mus et certiora (ut arbitramur) atque etiam magis 
 fructuosa quam quibus homines adhuc utuntur, (quae 
 in quintam Instaurationis nostrae partem congessi- 
 mus,) tamen theoriam nullam universalem aut inte- 
 gram proponimus. Neque enim huic rei tempus ad- 
 huc adesse videtur. Quin nee spem habemus vitse 
 producendae ad sextam Instaurationis partem (qua? 
 philosophies per legitimam Naturae Interpretationem 
 invent* destinata est) absolvendam ; sed satis habe- 
 mus si in mediis sobrie et utiliter nos geramus, atque 
 interim semina veritatis sincerioris in posteros sparga- 
 nius, atque initiis rerum magnarum non desimus. 
 
 cxvu. 
 
 Atque quemadmodum sectse conditores non sumus, 
 ita nee operum particularium largitores aut promis- 
 sores. Attamen possit aliquis hoc modo occurreie ; 
 quod nos, qui tarn saepe operum mentionem faciamus 
 et omnia eo trahamus, etiam operum aliquorum pig- 
 nora exhibeamus. Verum via nostra et ratio (ut saepe 
 perspicue diximus et adhuc dicere juvat) ea est ; ut 
 non opera ex operibus sive experimenta ex experi- 
 mentis (ut empirici), sed ex operibus et experimentis
 
 NOVUM ORGANUM. 323 
 
 causas et axiomata, atque ex causis et axiomatibus 
 rursus nova opera et experimenta (ut legitimi Naturae 
 Interpretes), extrahamus. 
 
 Atque licet in tabulis nostris inveniendi (ex quibus 
 quarta pars Instaurationis consistit), atque etiam ex- 
 emplis particularium (quas in secunda parte addux- 
 imus), atque insuper in observationibus nostris super 
 historian! (quse in tertia parte operis descripta est), 
 quivis vel mediocris perspicaciae et solertiaa complurium 
 operum nobilium indicationes et designationes ubique 
 notabit ; ingenue tamen fatemur, historian! naturalem 
 quam adhuc habemus, aut ex libris aut ex inquisitione 
 propria, non tarn copiosam esse et verificatam, ut legit- 
 imise Interpretation! satisfacere aut ministrare possit. 
 
 Itaque si quis ad mechanica sit magis aptus et paratus, 
 atque sagax ad venanda opera l ex conversatione sola 
 cum experiments, ei permittimus et relinquimus illam 
 industriam, ut ex historia nostra et tabulis multa tan- 
 quarn in via decerpat et applicet ad opera, ac veluti 
 fcenus recipiat ad tempus, donee sors haberi possit. 
 Nos vero, cum ad majora contendamus, moram omnem 
 praeproperam et praematuram in istiusmodi rebus tan- 
 quam Atalantas pilas (ut saepius solemus dicere) dam- 
 namus. Neque enim aurea poma pueriliter affectamus, 
 sed omnia in victoria cursus artis super naturam poni- 
 mus ; neque museum aut segetem herbidam demetere 
 festinamus, sed messem tempestivam expectamus. 
 
 ex vin. 
 Occurret etiam alicui proculdubio, postquam ipsam 
 
 1 Compare Temporis Partus Mascuius: "Siquidera utile genus eorum 
 est qui de theoriis non admodum solicit!, mechanica quadam subtilitate 
 rerum inventarum extensiones prehendunt; qualis est Bacon." J. S.
 
 324 NOVUM ORGANUM. 
 
 historiam nostram et inventionis tabulas perlegerit, ali- 
 quid in ipsis experimentis minus certum, vel omnino 
 falsum ; atque propterea secum fortasse reputabit, fun- 
 damentis et principiis falsis et dubiis inventa nostra niti. 
 Verum hoc nihil est ; necesse enim est talia sub initiis 
 evenire. Simile enim est ac si in scriptione aut impres- 
 sione una forte litera aut altera perperam posita aut 
 collocata sit ; id enim legentem non multum impedire 
 solet, quandoquidem errata ab ipso sensu facile corri- 
 guntur. Ita etiam cogitent homines multa in historia 
 naturali experimenta falso credi et recipi posse, qua3 
 paulo post a causis et axiomatibus inventis facile ex- 
 punguntur et rejiciuntur. Sed tamen verum est, si in 
 historia naturali et experimentis magna et crebra et 
 continua fuerint errata, ilia nulla ingenii aut artis foelic- 
 itate corrigi aut emendari posse. Itaque si in historia 
 nostra naturali, qua? tanta diligentia et severitate et fere 
 religione probata et collecta est, aliquid in particulari- 
 bus quandoque subsit falsitatis aut erroris, quid tandem 
 de naturali historia vulgari, quaa prse nostra tarn negli- 
 gens est et facilis, dicendum erit ? aut de philosophia et 
 scientiis super hujusmodi arenas (vel syrtes potius) 
 sedificatis? Itaque hoc quod diximus neminem mo- 
 veat. 
 
 cxix. 
 
 Occurrent etiam in historia nostra et experimentis 
 plurimae res, primo leves et vulgatae, deinde viles et illi- 
 berales, postremo nimis subtiles ac mere speculative, et 
 quasi nullius usus : quod genus rerum, hominum studia 
 avertere et alienare possit. 
 
 Atque de istis rebus quas videntur vulgatae, illud 
 homines cogitent ; solere sane eos adhuc nihil aliud 
 agere, quam ut eorum quae rara sunt causas ad ea quae
 
 NOVUM ORGANUM. 325 
 
 frequenter fiunt referant et accommodent, at ipsorum 
 quae frequenter eveniunt nullas causas inquirant, sed ea 
 ipsa recipiant tanquam concessa et admissa. 
 
 Itaque non ponderis, non rotationis coelestium, non 
 caloris, non frigoris, non luminis, non duri, non mollis, 
 non tenuis, non densi, non liquid!, non consistentis, non 
 animati, non inanimati, non similaris, non dissimilaris, 
 nee demum organici, causas quaerunt; sed illis, tan- 
 quam pro evidentibus et manifestis, receptis, de ceteris 
 rebus quae non tarn frequenter et familiariter occurrunt 
 disputant et judicant. 
 
 Nos vero-, qui satis scimus nullum de rebus raris aut 
 notabilibus judicium fieri posse, multo minus res novas 
 in lucem protrahi, absque vulgarium rerum causis et 
 causarum causis rite examinatis et repertis, necessario 
 ad res vulgarissimas in historiam nostram recipiendas 
 compellimur. Quinetiam nil magis philosophise offe- 
 cisse deprehendimus quam quod res quae familiares sunt 
 et frequenter occurrunt contemplation em hominum non 
 morentur et detineant, sed recipiantur obiter, neque 
 earum causa? quaeri soleant : ut non saepius requiratur 
 informatio de rebus ignotis, quam attentio in notis. 
 
 cxx. 
 
 Quod vero ad rerum vilitatem attinet, vel etiam tur- 
 pitudinem, quibus (ut ait Plinius) honos praefandus 
 est ; 1 eas res, non minus quam lautissimae et pretiosissi- 
 mae, in historiam naturalem recipiendae sunt. Neque 
 propterea polluitur naturalis historia : sol enim seque 
 palatia et cloacas ingreditur, neque tamen polluitur. 
 
 1 " Reruin natura, hoc est, vita narratur, et hsec sordidissima sui parte, ut 
 plurimarum rerum aut rusticis vocabulis aut externis, imo barbaris, etiam 
 cum honoris praefatione ponendis." Plin. Hist. Nat. i. ad init. Compare 
 also Aristot. De Part. Animal, i. 5.
 
 326 NOVUM ORGANUM. 
 
 Nos autem non Capitolium aliquod aut Pyramidem 
 hominum superbiae dedicamus aut condimus, sed tern- 
 plum sanctum ad exemplar mundi in intellectu humane 
 fundamus. Itaque exemplar sequimur. Nam quicquid 
 essentia dignum est, id etiam scientia dignum, quae est 
 essentiae imago. At vilia aeque subsistunt ac lauta. 
 Quinetiam, ut e quibusdam putridis materiis, veluti 
 musco et zibetho, aliquando optimi odores generantur ; 
 ita et ab instantiis vilibus et sordidis quandoque eximia 
 lux et infbrmatio emanat. Verum de hoc nimis multa ; 
 cum hoc genus fastidii sit plane puerile et effoemina- 
 tum. 
 
 cxxi. 
 
 At de illo omnino magis accurate dispiciendum ; 
 quod plurima in historia nostra captui vulgari, aut 
 etiam cuivis intellectui (rebus praesentibus assuefacto), 
 videbuntur curiosae cujusdam et inutilis subtilitatis. 
 Itaque de hoc ante omnia et dictum et dicendum est ; 
 hoc scilicet ; nos jam sub initiis et ad tempus, tantum 
 lucifera experimenta, non fructifera quasrere ; ad ex- 
 emplum creationis divinas, quod saepius diximus, quae 
 primo die lucem tantum produxit, eique soli unum 
 integrum diem attribuit, neque illo die quicquam ma- 
 teriati operis immiscuit. 
 
 Itaque si quis istiusmodi res nullius esse usus putet, 
 idem cogitat ac si nullum etiam lucis esse usum censeat, 
 quia res scilicet solida aut materiata non sit. Atque 
 revera dicendum est, simplicium naturarum cogni- 
 tionem bene examinatam et definitam instar lucis esse ; 
 quae ad universa operum penetralia aditum prasbet, 
 atque tota agmina operum et turmas, et axiomatum 
 nobilissimorum fontes, potestate quadam complectitur 
 et post se trahit ; in se tamen non ita magni usus est.
 
 NOVUM ORGANUM. 327 
 
 Quin et literarum elementa per se et separatim nihii 
 significant nee alicujus usus sunt, sed tamen ad omnis 
 sermonis compositionem et apparatum instar materise- 
 primas sunt. Etiam semina rerum potestate valida, usu 
 (nisi in processu suo) nihili sunt. Atque lucis ipsius 
 radii dispersi, nisi coeant, beneficium suum non imper- 
 tiuntur. 
 
 Quod si qnis subtilitatibus speculativis ofFendatur, 
 quid de scholasticis vil'is dicendum erit, qui subtilitati- 
 bus immensum indulserunt ? quse tamen subtilitates in 
 verbis, aut saltern vulgaribus notionibus (quod tantun- 
 dem valet), non in rebus aut natura consumptae fue- 
 runt, atque utilitatis expertes erant, non tantum in 
 origine, sed etiam in consequentiis ; tales autem non 
 fuerunt, ut haberent in praesens utilitatem nullam, sed 
 per consequens infmitam ; quales sunt ese de quibus 
 loquimur. Hoc vero sciant homines pro certo, omnem 
 subtilitatem disputationum et discursuum mentis, si ad- 
 hibeatur tantum post axiomata inventa, seram esse et 
 prseposteram ; et subtilitatis tempus verum ac propri- 
 um, aut saltern prsecipuum, versari in pensitanda ex- 
 perientia et inde constituendis axiomatibus ; nam ilia 
 altera subtilitas naturam prensat et captat, sed nun- 
 quam appreliendit aut capit. Et verissimum certe est 
 quod de occasione sive fortuna dici solet, si transfe- 
 ratur ad naturam : videlicet, earn a fronte comatam, ab 
 occipitio calvam esse. 
 
 Denique de contemptu in naturali historia rerum aut 
 vulgarium, aut vilium, aut nimis subtilium et in origin- 
 ibus suis inutilium, ilia vox mulierculas ad tumidum 
 principem, qui petition em ejus ut rem indignam et 
 majestate sua inferiorem abjecisset, pro oraculo sit ; 
 Desine ergo rex esse : quia certissimum est, impe-
 
 328 ' NOVUM ORGA.NUM. 
 
 rium in naturam, si quis hujusmodi rebus ut nimie 
 exilibus et minutis vacare nolit, nee obtineri nee geri 
 posse. 
 
 cxxn. 
 
 Occurrit l etiam et illud ; mirabile quiddara esse et 
 durum, quod nos omnes scientias atque omnes authores 
 simul ac veluti uno ictu et impetu summoveamus : 
 idque non assumpto aliquo ex antiquis in auxilium et 
 praesidiurn nostrum, sed quasi viribus propriis. 
 
 Nos autem scimus, si minus sincera fide agere voluis- 
 semus, non difficile fuisse nobis, ista quae afferuntur vel 
 ad antiqua saecula ante GraBCorum tempora (cum sci- 
 entiae de natura magis fortasse sed tamen majore cum 
 silentio floruerint, neque in Graecorum tubas et fistulas 
 adhuc incidissent), vel etiam (per partes certe) ad ali- 
 quos ex Graecis ipsis referre, atque astipulationem et 
 honorem inde petere : more novorum hominum, qui 
 nobilitatem sibi ex antiqua aliqua prosapia, per genealo- 
 giarum favores, astruunt et affingunt. Nos vero rerum 
 evidentia freti, omnem commend et imposturae condi- 
 tionem rejicimus ; neque ad id quod agitur plus inter- 
 esse putamus, utrum quae jam invenientur antiquis olim 
 cognita, et per rerum vicissitudines et sascula occiden- 
 tia et orientia sint, quam hominibus curae esse debere, 
 utrum Novus Orbis fuerit insula ilia Atlantis et veteri 
 mundo cognita, an nunc primum reperta. Rerum 
 enim inventio a naturae luce petenda, non ab antiqui- 
 tatis tenebris repetenda est. 
 
 Quod vero ad universalem istam reprehensionem at- 
 
 tinet, certissimum est vere rem reputanti, earn et magis 
 
 probabilem esse et magis modestam, quam si facta fuis- 
 
 set ex parte. Si enim in primis notionibus errores radi- 
 
 1 So in the original edition. I think it should be occurret. J. S.
 
 NOVUM ORGANUM. 329 
 
 cati non fuissent, fieri non potuisset quin nonnulla recte 
 inventa alia perperam inventa correxissent. Sed cum 
 errores fundamentales fuerint, atque ejusmodi ut homi- 
 nes potius res neglexerint ac prseterierint, quam de illis 
 pravum aut falsum judicium fecerint ; minime mirum 
 est, si homines id non obtinuerint quod non egerint, 
 nee ad metam pervenerint quam non posuerint aut col- 
 locarint, neque viam emensi sint quam non ingressi sint 
 aut tenuerint. 
 
 Atque insolentiam rei quod attinet ; certe si quis 
 manus constantia atque oculi vigore lineam magis rec- 
 tam aut circulum magis perfectum se describere posse 
 quam alium quempiam sibi assumat, inducitur scilicet 
 facultatis comparatio : quod si quis asserat se adhibita 
 regula aut circumducto circino lineam magis rectam 
 aut circulum magis perfectum posse describere, quam 
 aliquem alium vi sola oculi et manus, is certe non ad- 
 modum jactator fuerit. Quin h.oc quod dicimus non 
 solum in hoc nostro conatu primo et incoeptivo locum 
 habet ; sed etiam pertinet ad eos qui huic rei posthac 
 incumbent. Nostra enim via inveniendi scientias ex- 
 asquat fere ingenia, et non multum excellentiae eorum 
 relinquit: cum omnia per certissimas regulas et de- 
 monstrationes transigat. Itaque hasc nostra (ut saspe 
 diximus) foelicitatis cujusdam sunt potius quam facul- 
 tatis, et potius temporis partus quam ingenii. Est 
 enim certe casus aliquis non minus in cogitationibus 
 humanis, quam in operibus et factis. 
 
 CXXIII. 
 
 Itaque dicendum de nobis ipsis quod ille per jocum 
 dixit, praesertim cum tarn bene rem secet : fieri non po- 
 test ut idem sentiant, qui aquam et qui vinum bibant.
 
 330 - NOVDM ORGASTUM. 
 
 At caeteri homines, tarn veteres quam novi, liquorem 
 biberunt crudem in scientiis, tanquam aquara vel sponte 
 ex intellectu manantem, vel per dialecticara, tanquam 
 per rotas ex puteo, haustam. At nos liquorem bibimus 
 et propinamus ex infinitis confectam uvis, iisque ma- 
 turis et tempestivis, et per racemos quosdam collectis 
 ac decerptis, et subinde in torculari pressis, ac postremo 
 in vase repurgatis et clarificatis. Itaque nil mirum si 
 nobis cum aliis non conveniat. 
 
 cxxiv. 
 
 Occurret proculdubio et illud : nee metam aut sco- 
 pum scientiarum a nobis ipsis (id quod in aliis repre- 
 hendimus) verum et optimum praefixum esse. Esse 
 enim contemplationem veritatis omni operum utilitate 
 et magnitudine digniorem et celsiorem : longam vero 
 istam et sollicitam moram in experientia et materia 
 et rerum particulariuna fluctibus, mentem veluti humo 
 affigere, vel potius in Tartarum quoddam confusionis et 
 perturbationis dejicere ; atque ab abstracts sapientiae 
 serenitate et tranquillitate (tanquam a statu multo di- 
 viniore) arcere et summovere. Nos vero huic rationi 
 libenter assentimur ; et hoc ipsum, quod innuunt ac 
 prseoptant, praecipue atque ante omnia agimus. Ete- 
 nim verum exemplar mundi in intellectu humano 
 fundamus ; quale invenitur, non quale cuipiam sua 
 propria ratio dictaverit. Hoc autem perfici non potest, 
 nisi facta mundi dissectione atque anatomia diligentis- 
 sima. Modulos vero ineptos mundorum et tanquam 
 simiolas, quas in philosophiis phantasiae hominum ex- 
 truxerunt, omnino dissipandas edicimus. Sciant itaque 
 homines (id quod superius diximus) quantum intersit 
 inter humanae mentis Idola, et divinas mentis Ideas.
 
 NOVUM ORGANUM. 331 
 
 Ilia enim nihil aliud sunt quam abstractiones ad placi- 
 tum : hee autem sunt vera signacula Creatoris super 
 creaturas, prout in materia per lineas veras et exquisi- 
 tas imprimuntur et terminantur. Itaque ipsissimse res 
 sunt (in hoc genere) veritas et utilitas : 1 atque opera 
 ipsa pluris facienda sunt, quatenus sunt veritatis pig- 
 nora, quam propter vitse commoda. 
 
 cxxv. 
 
 Occurret fortasse et illud : nos tanquam actum agere, 
 atque antiques ipsos eandem quam nos viam tenuisse. 
 Itaque verisimile putabit quispiam etiam nos, post tan- 
 turn motum et molitionem, deventuros tandem ad ali- 
 quam ex illis philosophiis quse apud antiques valuerunt. 
 Nam et illos in meditationum suarum principiis vim 
 et copiam magnam exemplorum et particularium para- 
 
 1 Compare Partis Instaurationis Secundce Delineatio : " Quinetiara illis 
 quibus in contemplationis amorem eiFusis frequens apud nos operum mentio 
 asperum quiddam et ingratum et mechanicum sonat, monstrabimus quan- 
 tum illi desideriis suis propriis adversentur. cum puritas contemplationum 
 atque substructio et inventio operum prorsus eisdem rebus nitantur et simul 
 perfruantur." In a corresponding passage in the Cogitata et Visa we find, 
 instead of the last clause, " etenim in natura Opera non tantum vitae bene- 
 ficia sed et veritatis pignora esse. . . Veritatem enim per Operum indica- 
 tionem magis quam ex argumentatione aut etiam ex sensu et patefieri et 
 probari. Quare unam eandemque rationem et conditionis humanai et mentis 
 dotandce esse." 
 
 Compare also Nov. Org. ii. 4. : " Ista autem duo pronuntiata, Activum 
 et Contemplativum, res eadem sunt ; et quod in operando utilissimum id in 
 sciendo verissimum." 
 
 I do not think that the use of ipsissimce here can be justified : if the mean- 
 ing be (as I think it must) that truth ai)d utility are (in this kind) " the 
 very same things." If ipsissimce be used correctly, the meaning must be 
 that things themselves, the very facts of nature, are truth and utility both. 
 But in that case we should expect " et veritas et utilitas.'' Mr. Ellis pro- 
 poses to, render the phrase thus: " Truth and utility are in this kind the 
 very things we seek for." But to me it seems less probable that Bacon 
 would have expressed such a meaning by such a phrase than that he used 
 the wold ipsissimos incorrectly in the sense I have attributed to it. J. 8.
 
 332 NOVUM ORGANDM. 
 
 visse, atque in commentarios per locos et titulos diges- 
 sisse, atque inde philosophias suas et artes confecisse, et 
 postea, re comperta, pronuntiasse, et exempla ad fidem 
 et docendi lumen sparsim addidisse ; sed particularium 
 notas et codicillos ac commentarios suos in lucem edere 
 supervacuum et molestum putasse ; ideoque fecisse quod 
 in aedificando fieri solet, nempe post aedificii structuram 
 machinas et scalas a conspectu amovisse. Neque aliter 
 factum esse credere certe oportet. Verum nisi quis 
 omnino oblitus fuerit eorum qua3 superius dicta sunt, 
 huic objection! (aut scrupulo potius) facile respondebit. 
 Formam enim inquirendi et inveniendi apud antiques 
 et ipsi profitentur, 1 et scripta eorum prae se ferunt. Ea 
 autem non alia fuit, quam ut ab exemplis quibusdam et 
 particularibus (additis notionibus communibus, et for- 
 tasse portione nonnulla ex opinionibus receptis qua? 
 maxime placuerunt) ad conclusiones maxime generates 
 sive principia scientiarum advolarent, ad quorum veri- 
 tatem immotam et fixam conclusiones inferiores per 
 media educerent ac probarent ; ex quibus artem con- 
 stituebant. Turn demum si nova particularia et exem- 
 pla mota essent et adducta quse placitis suis refragaren- 
 tur, ilia aut per distinctiones aut per regularum suarum 
 explanationes in ordinem subtiliter redigebant, aut de- 
 mum per exceptiones grosso modo summovebant : at 
 rerum particularium non refragantium causas ad ilia 
 principia sua laboriose et pertinaciter accomniodabant. 
 Verum nee historia naturalis et experientia ilia erat, 
 quam fuisse oportebat, (longe certe abest,) et ista advo- 
 latio ad generalissima omnia perdidit. 
 
 
 
 1 " Profitemur" in the original edition; obviously a misprint. Compare 
 the corresponding passage in Jnquisitio legitima de Motu,
 
 NOVUM ORGANUM. 333 
 
 CXXVI. 
 
 Occurret et illud: nos, propter inhibitionem quari- 
 dam pronuntiandi et principia certa ponendi donee per 
 medios gradus ad generalissima rite perventum sit, sus- 
 pensionem quandara judicii tueri, atque ad Acatalep- 
 siam rem deducere. Nos vero non Acatalepsiam, sed 
 JSucatalepsiam meditamur et proponimus : sensui enim 
 non derogamus, sed ministramus ; et intellectum non 
 contemnimus, sed regimus. Atque melius est scire 
 quantum opus sit, et tamen nos non penitus scire 
 putare, quam penitus scire nos putare, et tamen nil 
 eorum quas opus est scire. 
 
 CXXVII. 
 
 Etiam dubitabit quispiam, potius quam objiciet, utrum 
 nos de Naturali tanturn Philosophia, an etiam de scien- 
 tiis reliquis, Logicis, Ethicis, Politicis, secundum viam 
 nostram perficiendis loquamur. At nos certe de uni- 
 versis hgec qua3 dicta sunt intelligimus : atque quemad- 
 modum vulgaris logica, quae regit res per Syllogismum, 
 non tantum ad naturales, sed ad omnes scientias per- 
 tinet ; ita et nostra, qua? procedit per Inductionem, 
 omnia complectitur. Tarn enim historian! et tabulas 
 inveniendi conficimus de Ira, Metu, et Verecundia, 
 et similibus ; ac etiam de exemplis rerum Civilium : 
 nee minus de motibus mentalibus Memoria3, Compo- 
 sitionis et Divisionis, 1 Judicii, et reliquorum : quam de 
 Calido et Frigido, aut Luce, aut Vegetatione, aut si- 
 milibus. 2 Sed tamen cum nostra ratio Interpretandi, 
 
 1 Synthesis and analysis ? 
 
 2 This passage is important because it shows that Bacon proposed to ap- 
 ply his method to mental phenomena; which is in itself a sufficient refuta- 
 tion of M. Cousin's interpretation of the passage in which, when censuring
 
 334 NOVUM ORGANUM. 
 
 post historiam praeparatam et ordinatam, non mentis 
 tantum motus et discursus (ut logica vulgaris), sed et 
 rerum naturam intueatur ; ita mentem regimus, ut ad 
 rerum naturam se, aptis per omnia modis, applicare 
 possit. Atque propterea multa et di versa in doctrina 
 Interpretationis praecipimus, quae ad subjecti de quo 
 inquirimus qualitatem et conditionem, modum inveni- 
 endi nonnulla ex parte applicent. 
 
 At illud de nobis ne dubitare quidem fas sit ; utrum 
 nos philosopliiam et artes et scientias quibus utimur 
 destruere et demoliri cupiamus : contra enim, earum 
 et usum et cultum et honores libenter amplectimur. 
 Neque enim ullo modo officimus, quin istae quae inval- 
 uerunt et disputationes alant, et sermones ornent, et 
 ad professoria munera ac vitae civilis compendia adhib- 
 eantur et valeant ; denique, tanquam numismata quae- 
 dam, consensu inter homines recipiantur. Quinetiam 
 significamus aperte, ea quse nos adducimus ad istas res 
 non multum idonea futura ; cum ad vulgi captum de- 
 duci omnino non possint, nisi per effecta et opera tan- 
 tum. At hoc ipsum quod de affectu nostro et bona 
 voluntate erga scientias receptas dicimus quam vere 
 profiteamur, scripta nostra in publicum edita (praeser- 
 tim libri de Progressu Scientiarum) fidem faciant. Ita 
 que id verbis amplius vincere non conabimur. Illud 
 interim constanter et diserte monemus ; his modis qui 
 in usu sunt nee magnos in scientiarum doctrinis et con- 
 templatione progressus fieri, nee illas ad amplitudinem 
 operum deduci posse. 
 
 the writings of the schoolmen, he compares them to the self-evolved web 
 of the spider. I have elsewhere spoken more at length of this passage. 
 [See p. 161. J
 
 NOVUM ORGANUM. 335 
 
 CXXIX. 
 
 Superest ut de Finis excellentia pauca dicamus. Ea 
 si prius dicta fuissent, votis similia videri potuissent : 
 sed spe jam facta, et iniquis praejudiciis sublatis, plus 
 fortasse ponderis habebunt. Quod si nos omnia per- 
 fecissemus et plane absolvissemus, nee alios in partem 
 et consortium laborum subinde vocaremus, etiam ab 
 hujusmodi verbis abstinuissemus, ne acciperentur in 
 praedicationem meriti nostri. Cum vero aliorum in- 
 dustria acuenda sit et animi excitandi atque accen- 
 dendi, consentaneum est ut quaedam hominibus in 
 mentem redigamus. 
 
 Primo itaque videtur inventorum nobilium introduc- 
 tio inter actiones humanas longe primas partes tenere : 
 id quod antiqua saecula judicaverunt. Ea enim rerum 
 inventoribus divinos honores tribuerunt ; iis autem qui 
 in rebus civilibus merebantur (quales erant urbium 
 et imperiorum conditores, legislatores, patriarum a diu- 
 turnis malis liberatores, tyrannidum debellatores, et his 
 similes), heroum tantum honores decreverunt. Atque 
 certe si quis ea recte conferat, justum hoc prisci saeculi 
 judicium reperiet. Etenim inventorum beneficia ad 
 universum genus humanum pertinere possunt, civilia 
 ad certas tantummodo hominum sedes : hasc etiam non 
 ultra paucas estates durant, ilia quasi perpetuis tem- 
 poribus. Atque status emendatio in civilibus non sine 
 vi et perturbatione plerumque procedit : at inventa 
 beant, et beneficium deferunt absque alicujus injuria 
 aut tristitia. 
 
 Etiam inventa quasi novas creationes sunt, et divi- 
 norum operum imitamenta ; ut bene cecinit ille :
 
 336 NOVUM ORGAN UM. 
 
 " Primum frugiferos foetus mortalibus segris 
 Dididerant quondam praestanti nomine Athense; 
 Et RECREAVERUNT vitam, legesque rogarunt." 1 
 
 Atque videtur notatu dignum in Solomone ; quod 
 cum imperio, auro, magnificentia operum, satellitio, 
 famulitio, classe insuper, et nominis claritate, ac sum- 
 ma hominum adrniratione floreret, tamen nihil horum 
 delegerit sibi ad gloriam, sed ita pronuntiaverit : Glo- 
 riam Dei esse, celare rem; gloriam regis, investigare 
 rem. 2 
 
 Rursus (si placet) reputet quispiam, quantum inter- 
 sit inter hominum vitam in excultissima quapiam Eu- 
 ropae provincia, et in regione aliqua Novae Indiae max- 
 ime fera et barbara : ea 3 tantum differre existimabit, 
 ut merito hominem homini Deum esse, non solum prop- 
 ter auxilium et beneficium, sed etiam per status com- 
 parationem, recte dici possit. Atque hoc non solum, 
 non coslum, non corpora, sed artes praestant. 
 
 Rursus, vim et virtutem et consequentias rerum in- 
 ventarum notare juvat : quss non in aliis manifestius 
 occurrunt, quam in illis tribus quae antiquis incognitas, 
 et quarum primordia, licet recentia, obscura et ingloria 
 sunt : Artis nimirum Imprimendi, Pulveris Tormen- 
 tarii, et Acus Nauticae. Haec enim tria rerum faciem 
 et statum in orbe terrarum mutaverunt : primum, in 
 re literaria ; secundum, in re bellica ; tertium, in navi- 
 gationibus: unde innumerae rerum mutationes sequu- 
 tae sunt ; ut non imperium aliquod, non secta, non 
 Stella, majorem efficaciam et quasi influxum super res 
 humanas exercuisse videatur, quam ista mechanica 
 exercuerunt. 
 
 Prseterea non abs re fuerit, tria hominum ambitionis 
 
 1 Lucretius, vi. 1-8. 2 Prov. xxv. 2. 8 So in the original edition.
 
 NOVUM ORGANUM. 337 
 
 genera et quasi gradus distinguere. Primum eorum, 
 qui propriam potentiam in patria sua amplificare cupi- 
 unt ; quod genus vulgare est et degener. Secundum 
 eorum, qui patriae potentiara et imperium inter hu- 
 manum genus amplificare nituntur; illud plus certe 
 habet dignitatis, cupiditatis baud minus. Quod si quis 
 humani generis ipsius potentiam et imperium in rerum 
 universitatem instaurare et amplificare conetur, ea pro- 
 culdubio ambitio (si modo ita vocanda sit) reliquis et 
 sanior est et augustior. Hominis autem imperium in 
 res, in solis artibus et scientiis ponitur. Naturae enim 
 non imperatur, nisi parendo. 
 
 Prseterea, si unius alicujus particularis inventi util- 
 itas ita homines affecerit, ut eum qui genus humanum 
 universum beneficio aliquo devincire potuerit homine 
 majorem putaverint ; quanto Celsius videbitur tale ali- 
 quid invenire, per quod alia omnia expedite inveniri 
 possint ? Et tamen (ut verum omnino dicamus) quem- 
 admodum luci magnam habemus gratiam, quod per 
 earn vias inire, artes exercere, legere, nos invicem dig- 
 noscere possimus ; et nihilominus ipsa visio lucis res 
 prasstantior est et pulchrior, quam multiplex ejus usus : 
 ita certe ipsa contemplatio rerum prout sunt, sine super- 
 stitione aut impostura, errore aut confiisione, in seipsa 
 magis digna est, quam universus inventorum fructus. 1 
 
 Postremo siquis depravationem scientiarum et artium 
 ad malitiam et luxuriam et similia objecerit ; id nem- 
 inem moveat. Illud enim de omnibus mundanis bonis 
 dici potest, ingenio, fortitudine, viribus, forma, divitiis, 
 luce ipsa, et reliquis. Recuperet modo genus humanum 
 jus suum in naturam quod ei ex dotatione divina com- 
 
 1 This is one of the passages -which show how far Bacon was from what 
 is now called a utilitarian. 
 
 VOL. i. 22
 
 338 NOVUM ORGANUM. 
 
 petit, et detur ei copia : usum vero recta ratio et sana 
 religio gubernabit. 
 
 cxxx. 
 
 Jam vero tempus est ut artera ipsam Interpretandi 
 Naturam proponamus : in qua licet nos utilissima et 
 verissima prsecepisse arbitremur, tamen necessitatem 
 ei absolutam (ac si absque ea nil agi possit) aut etiam 
 perfectionem non attribuimus. Etenim in ea opinione 
 sumus ; si justam Naturae et Experientiae Historiam 
 praesto haberent homines, atque in ea sedulo versa- 
 rentur, sibique duas res imperare possent ; unam, ut 
 receptas opiniones et notiones deponerent ; alteram, 
 ut mentem a generalissimis et proximis ab illis ad 
 tempus cohiberent ; fore ut etiam vi propria et gen- 
 uina mentis, absque alia arte, in formam nostram In- 
 terpretandi incidere possent. Est enim Interpretatio 
 verum et naturale opus mentis, demptis iis quae ob- 
 stant : x sed tamen pmnia certe per nostra praecepta 
 erunt magis in procinctu, et multo firmiora. 
 
 Neque tamen illis nihil addi posse affirmamus : sed 
 contra, nos, qui mentem respicimus non tan- 
 turn in facultate propria, sed quatenus 
 copulatur cum rebus, Artem in- 
 veniendi cum Inventis ad- 
 olescere posse, stat- 
 uere debemus. 
 
 1 Corapare Valerius Terminus, ch. 22. : " That it is true that interpreta- 
 tion is foe very natural and direct intention, action, and progression of the 
 understanding, delivered from impediments; and that all anticipation is 
 but a deflexion or declination by accident." Also Adv. of Learn. (2d 
 book): " For he that shall attentively observe how the mind doth gather 
 this excellent dew of knowledge, like unto that which the poet speaketh of, 
 Aerii mellis ccdestia dena, distilling and contriving it out of particulars nat- 
 ural and artificial, as the flowers of the field and garden, shall find that 
 the mind of herself by nature doth manage and act an induction much 
 better than they describe it." J. 8.
 
 LIBER SECUNDUS 
 
 APHORISMORUH.
 
 LIBER SECUNDUS 
 APHORISMORUM 
 
 OB 
 
 OTERPRETATIONE NATURE 
 
 SIVE DE 
 
 REGNO HOMINIS. 
 
 APHORISMUS 
 
 i. 
 
 SUPER datum corpus novam naturam sive novas 
 naturas generare et superinducere, opus et intentio 
 est humanse Potentiae. Datae autem naturae For- 
 mam, sive differentiam veram, sive naturam naturan- 
 tem, 1 sive fontem emanationis (ista enim vocabula 
 
 1 This is the only passage in which I have met with the phrase natura 
 naturans used as it is here. With the later schoolmen, as with Spinoza, it 
 denotes God considered as the causa iinmanens of the universe, and there- 
 fore, according to the latter at least, not hypostatically distinct from it. (On 
 the Pantheistic tendency occasionally perceptible among the schoolmen, 
 see Neander's Essay on Scotus Erigena in the Berlin Memoirs.) Bacon 
 applies it to the Form, considered as the causa immanens of the properties 
 of the body. I regret not having been able to trace the history of this 
 remarkable phrase. It does not occur, I think, in St. Thomas Aquinas, 
 though I have met with it in an index to his Summa ; the passage referred 
 to containing a quotation from St. Augustine, in which the latter speaks 
 of " ea natura quae creavit omnes caeteras instituitque naturas." ( V. St. 
 Aug., De Trin. xiv. 9.) Neither does it occur, so far as I am aware, where 
 we might have expected it, in the De Divisione Natures of Scotus Erigena. 
 Vossius, De Vitiis Latini Sermonis, notices its use among the schoolmen, 
 but gives no particular reference.
 
 342 NOVUM ORGANUM. 
 
 habemus quas ad indicationem rei proxime accedunt) 
 invenire, opus et intentio est humanae Scientiae. 1 At- 
 que his operibus primariis subordinantur alia opera 
 duo secundaria et inferioris notas ; priori, transforma- 
 tio corporum concretorum de alio in aliud, intra ter- 
 minos Possibilis ; 2 posteriori, inventio in omni genera- 
 tione et motu latentis processus, continuati ab Efficiente 
 manifesto et materia manifesta usque ad Formam indi- 
 tam ; et inventio similiter latentis schematismi corpo- 
 rum quiescentium et non in motu. 3 
 
 n. 
 
 Quam infoeliciter se habeat scientia humana quas in 
 usu est, etiam ex illis liquet quse vulgo asseruntur. 
 Recte ponitur; Vere scire, esse per Oausas scire. 
 Etiam non male constituuntur causas quatuor; Ma- 
 teria, Forma, Efficiens, et Finis. At ex his, Causa 
 Finalis tantum abest ut prosit, ut etiam scientias cor- 
 rumpat, nisi in hominis actionibus ; Format inventio 
 habetur pro desperata ; Efficiens vero et Materia 
 (quales quaeruntur et recipiuntur, remotas scilicet, 
 absque latenti processu ad Formam) res perfunctoriaa 
 
 1 See General Preface, 7. p. 67. 
 
 2 The possibility of transmutation, long and strenuously denied, though 
 certainly on no sufficient grounds, is now generally admitted. "There 
 was a time when this fundamental doctrine of the alchemists was opposed 
 to known analogies. It is now no longer so opposed to them, only some 
 stages beyond their present development." Faraday, Lectures on Non- 
 Metallic Elements, p. 106. 
 
 8 In this aphorism Bacon combines the antithesis of corpus and natura, 
 the concrete and the abstract, with the antithesis of power and science, and 
 thus arrives at a quadripartite classification. To translate, as Mr. Craik 
 has done, "natura" by " natural substance" involves the whole subject 
 in confusion. 
 
 In the last sentence continuati may be translated " continuously carried 
 on." The word is often thus used: as in the dictum "mutatio nil aliud 
 est quam successiva et continuata formse adquisitio."
 
 NOVUM ORGANUM. 343 
 
 sunt et superficiales, et nihili fere ad scientiam veram 
 et activam. Neque tamen obliti sumus nos superius 
 notasse et correxisse errorera mentis humanae, in def- 
 erendo Formis primas essentias. 1 Licet enira in na- 
 tura nihil vere existat praeter corpora individua eden- 
 tia actus puros individuos ex lege ; in doctrinis tamen, 
 ilia ipsa lex, ejusque inquisitio et inventio atque expli- 
 catio, pro fundamento est tarn ad sciendum quam ad 
 operandum. Earn autem legem, ejusque paragraphos, 
 Formarum nomine intelligimus ; 2 praesertim cum hoc 
 vocabulum invaluerit et familiariter occurrat. 
 
 ill. 
 
 Qui causam alicujus naturae (veluti albedinis aut 
 caloris) in certis tantum subjectis novit, ejus Scientia 
 imperfecta est ; et qui effectual super certas tantum 
 materias (inter eas quae sunt susceptibiles) inducere 
 potest, ejus Potentia pariter imperfecta est. At qui 
 Efficientem et Materialem causam tantummodo novit 
 (qua3 causae fluxae sunt, et nihil aliud quam vehicula 
 et causes Formam deferentes in aliquibus), 3 is ad nova 
 inventa, in materia aliquatenus simili et praeparata, 
 pervenire potest, sed rerum terminos altius fixos non 
 movet. At qui Formas novit, is naturaa unitatem in 
 materiis dissimillimis complectitur. Itaque quae ad- 
 hue facta non sunt, qualia nee naturae vicissitudines 
 
 1 [I. 51. " Formse enim commenta animi humani sunt, nisi libeat 
 leges illas actus Formas appellare."] Translate, " We have noted and 
 corrected as an error of the human mind the opinion that forms give ex- 
 istence." Bacon alludes to the maxim " forma dat esse." 
 
 2 See General Preface, p. 75. The paragraphs of a law are its sections 
 or clauses. It is difficult to attach any definite meaning to Mr. Wood's 
 translation of paragraphos, " its parallels in each science." 
 
 8 i. e. " which are unstable causes, and merely vehicles and causes 
 which convey the form in certain cases."
 
 344 NOVUM ORGANUM. 
 
 neque experimentales industries neque casus ipse in 
 actum unquam perduxissent, neque cogitationem hu- 
 manam subitura fuissent, detegere et producere potest. 
 Quare ex Formarura inventione sequitur Contempla- 
 tio vera et Operatio libera. 
 
 IV. 
 
 Licet viae ad potentiam atque ad scientiam huma- 
 nam conjunctissimae sint et fere esedeni, tamen propter 
 perniciosara et inveteratam consuetudinem versandi in 
 abstractis, tutius omnino est ordiri et excitare scientias 
 ab iis fundamentis quae in ordine sunt ad partem ac- 
 tivam, atque ut ilia ipsa partem contemplativam signet 
 et determinet. Videndum itaque est, ad aliquam natu- 
 ram super corpus datum generandam et superinducen- 
 dam, quale quis praeceptum aut qualem quis directio- 
 nem aut deductionem maxime optaret ; idque sermone 
 simplici et minime abstruse. 
 
 Exempli gratia ; si quis argento cupiat superinducere 
 flavum colorem auri aut augmentum ponderis (servatis 
 legibus materise 1 ), aut lapidi alicui non diaphano clia- 
 phaneitatem, aut vitro tenacitatem, aut corpori alicui 
 non vegetabili vegetationem ; videndum (inquam) est, 
 quale quis praeceptum aut deductionem potissimum sibi 
 dari exoptet. Atque primo, exoptabit aliquis procul- 
 dubio sibi monstrari aliquid hujusmodi, quod opere non 
 frustret neque experimento fallat. Secundo, exoptabit 
 quis aliquid sibi praescribi, quod ipsum non astringat et 
 coerceat ad media quaedam et modos quosdam operandi 
 particulares. Fortasse enim destituetur, nee habebit 
 facultatem et commoditatem talia media comparandi et 
 procurandi. Quod si sint ' et alia media et alii modi 
 1 That is, with a corresponding decrease of volume.
 
 NOVUM ORGANUM. 345 
 
 (praeter illud praeceptum) progignendae tails naturae, ea 
 fortasse ex iis erunt quae sunt in operands potestate ; a 
 quibus nihilominus per angustias praecepti excludetur, 
 nee fructum capiet. Tertio, optabit aliquid sibi mons- 
 trari, quod non sit asque difficile ac ilia ipsa operatic de 
 qua inquiritur, sed propius accedat ad praxin. 
 
 Itaque de praecepto vero et perfecto operandi, pro- 
 nuntiatum erit tale ; ut sit cerium, liberum, et disponens 
 vive in ordine ad actionem. Atque hoc ipsum idem est 
 cum inventione Formaa verae. Etenim Forma naturae 
 alicujus talis est ut, ea posita, natura data infallibiliter 
 sequatur. Itaque adest perpetuo quando natura ilia 
 adest, atque earn universaliter affirmat, atque inest 
 omni. Eadem Forma talis est ut, ea amota, natura 
 data infallibiliter fugiat. Itaque abest perpetuo quando 
 natura ilia abest, eamque perpetuo abnegat, atque inest 
 soli. Postremo, Forma vera talis est, ut naturam da- 
 tain ex fonte aliquo essentiae deducat quae inest pluri- 
 bus, et notior est naturae 1 (ut loquuntur) quam ipsa 
 Forma. Itaque de axiomate vero et perfecto sciendi, 
 pronuntiatum et praeceptum tale est ; ut inveniatur na- 
 tura alia, quce sit cum natura data convertibilis, et tamen 
 sit limitatio naturae notions,' instar generis veri? Ista 
 
 1 See note on Distrib. Operis, p. 216. 
 
 2 Let us adopt, for distinctness of expression, the theory commonly 
 known as Boscovich's, a theory which forms the basis of the ordinary 
 mathematical theories of light, of heat, and of electricity. This theory 
 supposes all bodies to be constituted of inextended atoms or centres of 
 force, each of which attracts or repels and is attracted or repelled by all the 
 rest. All the phenomena of nature are thus ascribed to mechanical forces, 
 and Ul the differences which can be conceived to exist between two bodies, 
 $pld, say, and silver, can only arise either from the different configu- 
 ration of the centres of force, or from the different law by which they act on 
 one another. 
 
 Assuming the truth of this theory, the question, why are some bod- 
 ies transparent and others not so in other words, what is the essentia? 
 cause of transparency which is precisely what Bacon would call the form
 
 346 NOVUM ORGANUM. 
 
 autem duo pronuntiata, activum et contemplativum, res 
 eadem sunt ; et quod in Operando utilissimum, id in 
 Sciendo verissimum. 
 
 v. 
 
 At prseceptum sive axioma de transformatione cor- 
 porum, duplicis est generis. Primum intuetur corpus, 
 tit turmam sive conjugationem naturarum simplicium : 
 ut in auro haec conveniunt ; quod sit flavum ; quod sit 
 ponderosum, ad pondus tale ; quod sit malleabile aut 
 ductile, ad extensionem talem ; quod non fiat volatile, 
 nee deperdat de quanto suo per ignem ; quod fluat 
 fluore tali ; quod separetur et solvatur modis talibus ; 
 et similiter de cseteris naturis, quse in auro concurrunt. 
 Itaque hujusmodi axioma rem deducit ex Formis natu- 
 rarum simplicium. Nam qui Formas et modos novit 
 superinducendi flavi, ponderis, ductilis, fixi, fluoris, so- 
 lutionum, et sic de reliquis, et eorum graduationes et 
 modos, videbit et curabit ut ista conjungi possint in 
 aliquo corpore, unde sequatur transformatio in aurum. 1 
 
 of transparency, is to be answered by saying that a certain configuration 
 of the centres of force, combined with the existence of a certain law of 
 force, constitutes such a system that the vibrations of the luminiferous 
 ether pass through it. What this configuration or this law may be, is a 
 question which the present state of mathematical physics does not enable 
 us to answer; but there is no reason a priori why in time to come it may 
 not receive a complete solution. If it does, we shall then have arrived at a 
 knowledge, on Boscovich's theory, of the form of transparency. Those 
 who are acquainted with the recent progress of physical science know that 
 questions of this kind, so far from being rejected as the questions of a mere 
 dreamer, are thought to be of the highest interest and importance, and that 
 no inconsiderable advance has already been made towards the solution of 
 *ome at least among them. 
 
 1 " On pourroit trouver le moyen de contrefaire 1'or en sorte qu'il satisfe- 
 roit a toutes les 6preuves qu'on en a jusqu'ici; mais on pourroit aussi 
 de'couvrir alors une nouvelle maniere d'essai, qui donneroit le moyen de 
 distinguer 1'or naturel de cet or fait par artifice .... nous pourrions avoir 
 une definition plus parfaite de 1'or que nous n'en avons pre'sentement." 
 Leibnitz, Nouv. Ess. sur I' Entendement, c. 2.
 
 NOVUM ORGANUM. 347 
 
 Atque hoc genus operand! pertinet ad actionem prima- 
 riam. Eadein enim est ratio generandi naturam unam 
 aliquam simplicem, et plures ; nisi quod arctetur magis 
 et restringatur homo in operando, si plures requirantur, 
 propter difficultatem tot naturas coadunandi ; quae non 
 facile conveniunt, nisi per vias naturae tritas et ordina- 
 rias. Utcunque tamen dicendum est, quod iste modus 
 operandi (qui naturas intuetur simplices, licet in cor- 
 pore concrete) procedat ex iis quas in natura sunt con- 
 stantia et aeterna et catholica, et latas praebeat potentiae 
 humanaB vias, quales (ut nunc sunt res) cogitatio hu- 
 mana vix capere aut reprassentare possit. 
 
 At secundum genus axiomatis (quod a latentis pro- 
 cessus inventione pendet) non per naturas simplices 
 procedit, sed per concreta corpora, quemadmodum in 
 natura inveniuntur, cursu ordinario. Exempli gratia ; 
 in casu ubi fit inquisitio, ex quibus initiis, et quo modo, 
 et quo processu, aurum aut aliud quodvis metallum aut 
 lapis generetur, a primis menstruis aut rudimentis suis 
 usque ad mineram perfectam ; aut similiter, quo pro- 
 cessu herbae generentur, a primis concretionibus succo- 
 rum in terra, aut a seminibus, usque ad plantain forma- 
 tam, cum universa ilia successione motus, et diversis et 
 continuatis naturae nixibus ; similiter, de generatione 
 ordinatim explicata animalium, ab initu ad partum ; et 
 similiter de corporibus aliis. 
 
 Enimvero neque ad generation es corporum tan turn 
 spectat haec inquisitio, sed etiam ad alios motus et opi- 
 ficia naturae. Exempli gratia ; in casu ubi fit inquisitio, 
 de universa serie et continuatis actionibus alimentandi, 
 a prima receptione alimenti ad assimilationem perfec- 
 tam ; aut similiter de motu voluntario in animalibus, a 
 prima impressione imaginations et continuatis nixibus
 
 348 NOVUM ORGANUM. 
 
 spiritus usque ad flexiones et motus artuum ; aut de 
 explicate motu linguse et labiorum et instrumentorum 
 reliquorum usque ad editionera vocum articulatarum. 
 Nam hsec quoque spectant ad naturas concretas, sive 
 collegiatas et in fabrica ; et intuentur veluti consuetu- 
 dines naturae particulares et speciales, non leges fun- 
 damentales et communes, quae constituunt Formas. 
 Veruntamen omnino fatendum est, rationem istam vi- 
 deri expeditiorem et magis sitam in propinquo, et spem 
 injicere magis, quam illam primariam. 
 
 At pars Operativa similiter, quae huic parti Contem- 
 plativse respondet, operationem extendit et promovet ab 
 iis quae ordinario in natura inveniuntur ad quaedam 
 proxima, aut a proximis non admodum remota ; sed 
 altiores et radicales operationes super naturam pendent 
 utique ab axiomatibus primariis. Quinetiam ubi non 
 datur homini facultas operandi, sed tantum sciendi, ut 
 in coelestibus (neque enim ceditur homini operari in 
 coelestia, aut ea immutare aut transformare), tamen 
 inquisitio facti ipsius sive veritatis rei, non minus quam 
 cognitio causarum et consensuum, ad primaria ilia et 
 catholica axiomata de naturis simplicibus (veluti de 
 natura rotationis spontaneae, attractionis sive virtutis 
 magneticae, et aliorum complurium quae magis com- 
 munia sunt quam ipsa coelestia) refertur. Neque enim 
 speret aliquis terminare quaestionem utrum in motu 
 diurno revera terra aut coelum rotet, nisi naturam 
 rotationis spontaneaa prius comprehenderit. 
 
 VI. 
 
 i 
 
 Latent autem Proeessus, de quo loquimur, longe alia 
 res est quam animis hominum (qualiter nunc obsiden- 
 tur) facile possit occurrare. Neque euim intelligimus
 
 NOVUM ORGANUM. 349 
 
 mensuras quasdam aut signa aut scalas processus in 
 corporibus spectabiles; sed plane processum continua- 
 tion, qui maxima ex parte sensum fugit. 
 
 Exempli gratia ; in omni generatione et transforma- 
 tione corporum, inquirendum quid deperdatur et evolet, 
 quid maneat, quid accedat ; quid dilatetur, quid con- 
 trahatur ; quid uniatur, quid separetur ; quid continue- 
 tur, quid abscindatur ; quid impellat, quid impediat ; 
 quid dominetur, quid succumbat ; et alia complura. 
 
 Neque hie rursus, haec tantum in generatione aut 
 transformatione corponim quaerenda sunt ; sed et in 
 omnibus aliis alterationibus et motibus similiter inqui- 
 rendum quid antecedat, quid succedat ; quid sit incita- 
 tius, quid remissius ; quid motum praebeat, quid regat ; 
 et liujusmodi. Ista vero omnia scientiis (quse nunc 
 pinguissima Minerva et prorsus inhabili contexuntur) 
 incognita sunt et intacta. Cum enim omnis actio nat- 
 uralis per minima transigatur, aut saltern per ilia quse 
 sunt minora quam ut sensum feriant, 1 nemo se naturam 
 regere aut vertere posse speret, nisi ilia debito modo 
 comprehenderit et notaverit. 
 
 VII. 
 
 Similiter, inquisitio et inventio latentis schematismi 
 in corporibus res nova est, non minus quam inventio 
 latentis processus et Formae. 2 Versamur enim plane 
 
 1 i. e. Every natural action depends on the ultimate particles of bodies, 
 or at least on parts too small to strike the sense. 
 
 2 The distinction between the Latent Process and Latent Schematism 
 in the absolute way in which it is here stated, involves an assumption which 
 the progress of science will probably show to be unfounded; namely, that 
 bodies apparently at rest are so molecularly. Whereas all analogy and 
 the fact that they act on the senses by acting mechanically on certain def- 
 erent media combine to show that we ought to consider bodies even at 
 rest as dynamical and not as statical entities. On this view there is no
 
 350 NOVUM ORGANUM. 
 
 adhuc in atriis naturae, neque ad interiora paramus 
 aditum. At nemo corpus datum nova natura dotare 
 vel in novum corpus fceliciter et apposite transmutare 
 potest, nisi corporis alterandi aut transformandi bonam 
 habuerit notitiam. In modos enim vanos incurret, aut 
 saltern difficiles et perversos, nee pro corporis natura in 
 quod operatur. Itaque ad hoc etiam via plane est ape- 
 rienda et munienda. 
 
 Atque in anatomia corporum organicorum (qualia 
 sunt hominis et animalium) opera sane recte et utiliter 
 insumitur, et videtur res subtilis et scrutinium naturae 
 bonum. At hoc genus anatomise spectabile est, et 
 sensui subjectum, et in corporibus tantum organicis 
 locum habet. Verum hoc ipsum obvium quiddam est 
 et in promptu situm, pree anatomia vera schematism! 
 latentis in corporibus quae habentur pro similaribus : l 
 praesertim in rebus specificatis 2 et earum partibus, ut 
 ferri, lapidis ; et partibus similaribus plantse, anima- 
 lis ; veluti radicis, folii, floris, carnis, sanguinis, ossis, 
 etc. At etiam in hoc genere non prorsus cessavit 
 industria humana ; hoc ipsum enim innuit separatio 
 
 difficulty in understanding the nature of what appear to be spontaneous 
 changes, because every dynamical system carries within itself the seeds of 
 its own decay, except in particular cases; that is, the type of motion so 
 alters, with greater or less rapidity, that the sensible qualities associated 
 with it pass away. The introduction of the idea of unstable equilibrium in 
 connexion with organic chemistry, was a step in the direction which molec- 
 ular Physics will probably soon take. 
 
 1 i. e. that are thought to be of uniform structure made up of parts 
 similar to one another. 
 
 2 i. e. in things that have a specific character. In Bacon's time only 
 certain things were supposed to belong to natural species, all others being 
 merely elementary. A ruby has a specific character, is specificatum ; com- 
 mon stone or rock non ita ; they are mere modifications of the element 
 earth, &c. A " specific virtue " is a virtue given by a thing's specific 
 character, transcending the qualities of the elements it consists of. [See 
 note on De Auyrn. ii. 3.]
 
 NOVUM ORGANDM. 351 
 
 corporum similarium per distillationes et alios solu- 
 tionum modos, ut dissimilaritas compositi per congre- 
 gationera partium homogenearum appareat. 1 Quod 
 etiam ex usu est, et facit ad id quod quaerimus ; licet 
 ssepius res fallax sit ; quia complures naturae separa- 
 tioni imputantur et attribuuntur, ac si prius substitis- 
 sent in composito, quas revera ignis et calor et alii 
 modi apertionum de novo indunt et superinducunt. 
 Sed et haec quoque parva pars est operis ad invenien- 
 dum Schematismum verum in composito ; qui Schema- 
 tismus res est longe subtilior et accuratior, et ab operi- 
 bus ignis potius confunditur quam eruitur et elucescit. 
 
 Itaque facienda est corporum separatio et solutio, 
 non per ignem certe, sed per rationem et Inductionem 
 veram, cum experimentis auxiliaribus ; et per compara- 
 tionem ad alia corpora, et reductionem ad naturas sim- 
 plices et earum Formas quae in composito conveniunt 
 et complicantur ; et transeundum plane a Vulcano ad 
 Minervam, si in animo sit veras corporum texturas et 
 Schematismos (unde omnis occulta atque, ut vocant, 
 specifica proprietas et virtus in rebus pendet; unde 
 etiam omnis potentis alterationis et transformationis . 
 norma educitur) in lucem protrahere. 
 
 Exempli gratia ; inquirendum, quid sit in omni cor- 
 pore spiritus, quid essentiae tangibilis ; atque ille ipse 
 spiritus, utrum sit copiosus et turgeat, an jejunus et 
 paucus ; tenuis, aut crassior ; magis aereus, aut igneus ; 
 acris, aut deses ; exilis, aut robustus ; in progressu, aut 
 in regressu ; abscissus, aut continuatus ; consentiens 
 cum externis et ambientibus, aut dissentiens ; etc. Et 
 similiter essentia tangibilis (quse non pauciores recipit 
 
 1 That the complex structure of the compound may be made apparent 
 by bringing together its several homogeneous parts.
 
 352 NOVTJM ORGANUM. 
 
 difFerentias quam spiritus) atque ejus villi et fibrae et 
 omnimoda textura, rursus autem collocatio spiritus per 
 corpoream rnolem, ejusque pori, meatus, venaB et cel- 
 lulae, et rudimenta sive tentamenta corporis organic!, 
 sub eandem inquisitionem cadunt. Sed et in his quo- 
 que, atque adeo in omni latentis schematismi inventione, 
 lux vera et clara ab Axiomatibus primariis immittitur, 
 quaa certe caliginem omnem et subtilitatem discutit. 
 
 VIII. 
 
 Neque . propterea res deducetur ad Atomum, qui 
 praesupponit Vacuum et materiam non fluxara (quorum 
 utrumque falsum est), sed ad particulas veras, quales 
 inveniuntur. Neque rursus est quod exhorreat quis- 
 piam istam subtilitatem, ut inexplicabilem ; sed contra, 
 quo magis vergit inquisitio ad naturas simplices, eo 
 magis omnia erunt sita in piano et perspicuo ; trans- 
 late negotio a multiplici in simplex, et ab incommen- 
 surabili ad commensurabile, et a surdo ad computabile, 
 et ab infinite et vago ad definitum et certuna ; ut fit 
 in elementis literarum et tonis concentuum. Optime 
 autem cedit inquisitio naturalis, quando physicum ter- 
 minatur in mathematico. At rursus multitudinem aut 
 fractiones nemo reformidet. In rebus enim quae per 
 numeros transiguntur, tarn facile quis posuerit aut cogi- 
 taverit millenarium quam unum, aut millesimam par- 
 tem unius quam unum integrum. 
 
 IX. 
 
 Ex duobus generibus axiomatum quas superius posita 
 sunt, oritur vera divisio philosophise et scientiarum ; 
 translatis vocabulis receptis (quae ad indicationem rei 
 proxime accedunt) ad sensum nostrum. Videlicet, ut
 
 NOVUM ORGANUM. 353 
 
 inquisitio Formarum, quae sunt (ratione certe, et sua 
 lege *) seternse et immobiles, constituat Metaphysicam ; 
 inquisitio vero Effieientis, et Materice, et Latentis Pro- 
 cessus, et Latentis Sehematismi (quaB omnia cursum 
 naturae communem et ordinarium, non leges funda- 
 mentales et aeternas respiciunt) constituat Physicam : 
 atque his subordinentur similiter practicae duas ; Phys- 
 icas Mechanica ; Metaphysicae (perpurgato nomine) 
 Magia, propter latas ejus vias et majus imperium in 
 naturam. 
 
 x. 
 
 Posito itaque doctrinae scopo, pergendum ad praecepta ; 
 idque ordine minime perverse aut perturbato. Atque 
 indicia de Interpretatione Naturae complectuntur partes 
 in genere duas ; primam de educendis aut excitandis 
 axiomatibus ab experientia ; secundam de deducendis 
 aut derivandis experimentis novis ab axiomatibus. Prior 
 autem trifariam dividitur ; in tres nempe ministrationes ; 
 ministration em ad Sensum, ministrationem ad Memo- 
 riam, et ministrationem ad Mentem sive Rationem. 2 
 
 1 "In principle at least and in their essential law:" meaning that God 
 could change them, but that this change would be above reason and a 
 change of the law of the form, otherwise unchangeable. The phrase is a 
 saving clause. Perhaps we should read " ratione sua et lege" in their 
 principle and law. 
 
 2 Compare Partis secundce Ddineatio ; and for an explanation, of the dis- 
 crepancy see General Preface, 10. According to the order proposed in 
 the Delineatio, the ministratio ad sensum was to contain three parts, of which 
 the first two are not mentioned here : namely, 1st, " Quomodo bona notio 
 constituatur et eliciatur, ac quomodo testatio sensus, quse semper est ex 
 analogia hominis, ad analogiam mundi reducatur et rectificetur ; " 2dly, 
 " Quomodo ea quae sensum effugiunt aut subtilitate totius corporis, aut 
 partium minutiis, aut loci distantia, aut tarditate vel etiam velocitate 
 motus, aut familiaritate objecti, aut aliis, in ordinem sensus redigantur; ac 
 insuper in casu quo adduci non possunt, quid faciendum, atque quomodo 
 huic destitution! vel per instruments, vel per graduum observationem pe- 
 ritam, vel per corporum proportionatorum ex sensibilibus ad insensibilia 
 
 VOL. i. 23
 
 354 NOVUM ORGANUM. 
 
 Primo enim paranda est Historia Naturalis et Ex- 
 perimentalis, sufficiens et bona ; quod fundamentum 
 rei est ; neque enim fingendum aut excogitandum, sed 
 inveniendum, quid natura faciat aut ferat. 
 
 Historia vero Naturalis et Experimentalis tarn varia 
 est et sparsa, ut intellectual confundat et disgreget, nisi 
 sistatur et compareat ordine idoneo. Itaque formandae 
 sunt Tabulse et Coordinationes Instantiarum, tali modo 
 et instructione ut in eas agere possit intellectus. 
 
 Id quoque licet fiat, tamen intellectus sibi permissus 
 et sponte movens incompetens est et inhabilis ad opi- 
 ficium axiomatum, nisi regatur et muniatur. Itaque 
 tertio, adhibenda est Inductio legitima et vera, quae 
 ipsa Clavis est Interpretationis. Incipiendum autem 
 est a fine, et retro pergendum ad reliqua. 1 
 
 XI. 
 
 Inquisitio Formarum sic procedit; super naturam 
 datam primo facienda est comparentia 2 ad Intellectum 
 omnium Instantiarum notarum, quse in eadem natura 
 conveniunt, per materias licet dissimillimas. Atque 
 hujusmodi collectio facienda est historice, absque con- 
 
 indicationes, vel per alias vias ac substitutiones, sit subvenieridum." I 
 suppose Bacon had now determined to transfer these to the third minis- 
 tration the minis/ratio ad Rationem ; and to treat of them under the heads 
 udminicula et reclificationes inductionis. See infra, 21. ; and observe that 
 the full exposition of the Instantue supplement^ and Instantuz persecanles 
 (both of which belong to the second of the two parts above mentioned) was 
 reserved for the section relating to the adminicula Inductionis. See 42, 
 43. J. S. 
 
 1 i. e. Of this, which is the last (namely the method of interpretation by 
 induction based on exclusions), we must speak first, and then go back to 
 the other ministrations. 
 
 2 This is properly a law term, and is equivalent to " appearance " in such 
 phrases as " to enter an appearance," &c. It is also said to be used for 
 the vadimonium given to secure an appearance on an appointed day. See 
 Ducange in voc.
 
 NOVDM ORGANUM. 355 
 
 templatione praefestina, aut subtilitate aliqua majore. 
 Exempli gratia ; in inquisitione de Forma Calidi. 
 
 Itistantice convenientes in natura Calidi. 
 
 1. Radii solis, praesertim aestate et meridie. 
 
 2. Radii solis reflexi et constipati, ut inter monies, 
 aut per parietes, et maxime omnium in speculis com- 
 burentibus. 
 
 3. Meteora ignita. 
 
 4. Fulmina comburentia. 
 
 5. Eructationes flammarum ex cavis montium, etc. 
 
 6. Flamma omnis. 
 
 7. Ignita solida. 
 
 8. Balnea calida naturalia. 
 
 9. Liquida ferventia, aut calefacta. 
 
 10. Vapores et fumi ferventes, atque aer ipse, qui 
 fortissimum et furentem suscipit calorem, si concluda- 
 tur ; ut in reverberatoriis. 1 
 
 11. Tempestates aliquse sudae per ipsam constituti- 
 onem ae'ris, non habita ratione temporis anni. 
 
 12. Aer conclusus et subterraneus in cavernis non- 
 nullis, praesertim hyeme. 
 
 13. Omnia villosa, ut lana, pelles animalium, et plu- 
 magines, habent nonnihil teporis. 
 
 14. Corpora omnia, tarn solida quam liquida et tarn 
 densa quam tenuia (qualis est ipse aer), igni ad tempus 
 approximata. 
 
 15. Scintillas ex silice et chalybe per fortem percus- 
 sionem. 
 
 16. Omne corpus fortiter attritum, ut lapis, lignum, 
 pannus, etc. ; adeo ut temones et axes rotarum aliquan- 
 
 1 That is, furnaces in which the flame is made to return on itself by im- 
 peding its direct course.
 
 356 NOVUM ORGANUM. 
 
 do flaramam concipiant ; et mos excitandi ignis apud 
 Indus Occidentales fuerit per attritionem. 
 
 17. Herbae virides et humidae siraul conclusae et con- 
 trusaa, ut rosae, pinsae 1 in corbibus ; adeo ut foenum, 
 si repositum fuerit madidum, ssepe concipiat flammam. 2 
 
 18. Calx viva, aqua aspersa. 
 
 19. Ferrum, cum primo dissolvitur per aquas fortes 
 in vitro, idque absque ulla admotione ad ignem : et 
 stannum similiter, etc., sed non adeo intense. 
 
 20. Animalia, prassertim et perpetuo per interiora ; 
 licet in insectis calor ob parvitatem corporis non depre- 
 hendatur ad tactum. 
 
 21. Fimus equinus, et hujusmodi excrementa anima- 
 lium recentia. 
 
 1 Pis in the original edition. 
 
 2 " That seeds when germinating, as they lie heaped in large masses, 
 evolve a considerable degree of heat, is a fact long known from the malting 
 of grain; but the cause of it was incorrectly sought for in a process of fer- 
 mentation. To Giippert ( Ueber Warmeentmckelung in der lebenden Pflanze) 
 is due the merit of having demonstrated that such is not the case, but that 
 the evolution of heat is connected with the process of germination. Seeds 
 of very different chemical composition (of different grains, of Hemp, Clover, 
 Spergula, Brassica, &c. ), made to germinate in quantities of about a pound, 
 became heated, at a temperature of the air of 48 66, to 59 120 Fahr. 
 
 " It was likewise shown by Goppert that full-grown plants also, such as 
 Oats, Maize, Cyperus esculentus, Hyoscyamus, Sedum acre, &c., laid together 
 in heaps and covered with bad conductors of heat, cause a thermometer 
 placed among them to rise about 2 7 (Spergula as much aa 22) above 
 the temperature of the air. . . . 
 
 " A very great evolution of heat occurs in the blossom of the Aroidea. 
 This is considerable even in our Arum maculatum, and according to Dutro- 
 chet's researches (Comptes rendus, 1839, 695.) rises to 25 27 above the 
 temperature of the air. But this phenomenon is seen in a far higher degree 
 in Colocasia odora, in which plant it has been investigated by Brongniart 
 (Nouv. Ann. d. Museum, iii.), Vrolik and Vriese (Ann. des Sc. Nat., sec. 
 ser. v. 134.), and Van Beek and Bersgma ( Obs. thermo-elect. s. Felev. de 
 tempered, des Fleurs d. Colocas. odor. 1838). These last observers found the 
 maximum of heat 129, when the temperature of the air was 79." Mohl 
 On the Vegetable Cell, translated by Arthur Henfrey, Lond. 1852, pp. 101. 
 and 102.
 
 NOVUM ORGANUM. 357 
 
 22. Oleum forte sulphuris et vitriol! exequitur opera 
 caloris, in linteo adurendo. 
 
 23. Oleum origani, et hujusmodi, exequitur opera 
 caloris, in adurendis ossibus dentium. 
 
 24. Spiritus vini fortis et bene rectificatus exequitur 
 opera caloris ; adeo ut, si albumen ovi in eum injiciatur, 
 concrescat et albescat, fere in modum albuminis cocti ; 
 et panis injectus torrefiat et incrustetur, ad modum 
 panis tosti. 1 
 
 25. Aromata et herbas calidae, ut dracunculus, nastur- 
 tium vetus, etc. licet ad manum non sint calida (nee 
 integra, nee pulveres eorum), tamen ad linguam et 
 palatum parum masticata percipiuntur calida, et quasi 
 adurentia. 
 
 26. Acetum forte, et omnia acida, in membro ubi 
 non sit epidermis, ut in oculo, lingua, aut aliqua alia 
 parte vulnerata, et cute detecta, dolorem cient, non 
 multum discrepantem ab eo qui inducitur a calido. 
 
 27. Etiam frigora acria et intensa inducunt sensum 
 quendam ustionis ; 
 
 1 The analog}' which Bacon here remarks, arises probabty, in the second 
 instance, from the desiccative power due to the strong affinity of alcohol for 
 water. The French chemist Lassaigne found, I believe, that alcohol ex- 
 tracted a red colouring matter from unboiled lobster shells; but I am not 
 aware that the modus operand! has in this case been explained. But by far 
 the most remarkable case of what may be called simulated heat, is furnished 
 by the action of carbonic acid gas on the skin. Of late years baths of this 
 gas have been used medicinally ; but M. Boussingault long since remarked 
 the sensation of heat which it produces. He states that at Quindiu in New 
 Granada there are sulphur works, and that at various points nearly pure 
 carbonic acid gas escapes from shallow excavations in the surface, contain- 
 ing, however, a trace of hydro-sulphuric acid; that the temperature of this 
 issuing stream of gas is lower than the external air, but that the sensation 
 is the same as that produced by a hot-air bath of perhaps from 40 to 45 or 
 48 centigrade (104 to 118 Fahr.). As this effect has not been noticed in 
 carbonic acid gas prepared artificially, it is probable that it requires Cor its 
 production the gas to be in motion ; so that the necessary conditions are not 
 present when the hand is inserted into a jar of the gas.
 
 358 NOVUM ORGANUM. 
 
 " Nee Borese penetrabile frigus adurit." 1 
 
 28. Alia. 
 
 Hanc Tabulam Essentice et Prcesentice appellare con- 
 sue vimus. 
 
 XII. 
 
 Secundo, facienda est comparentia ad Intellectum 
 Instan tiarum quae natura data privantur: quia Forma 
 (ut dictum est) non minus abesse debet ubi natura 
 abest, quam adesse ubi adest. Hoc nero infinitum esset 
 in omnibus. 
 
 Itaque subjungenda sunt negativa affirmativis, et pri- 
 vationes inspiciendae tantum in illis subjectis quae sunt 
 maxime cognata illis alteris in quibus natura data inest 
 et comparet. Hanc Tabulam Declinationis, sive Ab- 
 sentia; in proximo, appellare consuevimus. 
 
 Instantice in proximo, quce privantur natura Oalidi. 
 Ad instantiam 1. Lunge et stellarum et cometarum radii 
 
 primam of- , . 
 
 firmativam, non inveniuntur cahdi ad tactum : qumetiam 
 
 Instantia pri- . . ...... 
 
 ma negativa observari solent acernma trigora in plemlumis. 
 
 vel subjunc- 
 
 tiva. At stellas nxae majores, quando sol eas subit 
 
 aut iis approximating existimantur fervores solis augere 
 et intendere ; ut fit cum sol sistitur in Leone, et diebus 
 canicularibus. 
 
 Ad 2m 2.. 2. Radii solis in media (quam vocant) re- 
 gione aeris non calefaciunt ; cujus ratio vulgo non male 
 redditur ; quia regio ilia nee satis appropinquat ad cor- 
 pus solis, unde radii emanant, nee etiam ad terram, 
 unde reflectuntur. Atque hoc liquet ex fastigiis inonti- 
 
 1 Virg. Georg. I. 93. 
 
 2 M. Melloni has recently succeeded in making sensible the moon's cal- 
 orific rays.
 
 NOVUM ORGA^UM. 359 
 
 urn (nisi sint praealti), ubi nives perpetuo durant. Sed 
 contra notatum est a nonmillis, quod in cacumine Picus 
 de Tenariph, atque etiam in Andis Peruvise, ipsa fas- 
 tigia montium nive destituta sint ; nivibus jacentibus 
 tantum inferius in ascensu. Atque insuper aer illis 
 ipsis verticibus montium deprehenditur minime frigidus, 
 sed tenuis tantum et acer ; adeo ut in Andis pungat et 
 vulneret oculos per nimiam acrimoniam, atque etiam 
 pungat os ventriculi, et inducat vomitum. Atque ab 
 antiquis notatum est, in vertice Olympi tantam fuisse 
 aeris tenuitatem, ut necesse merit illis qui eo ascende- 
 rant secum deferre spongias aceto et aqua madefactas, 
 easque ad os et nares subinde apponere, quia aer ob 
 tenuitatem non sufficiebat respirationi : 1 in quo vertice 
 etiam relatum est, tantam fuisse serenitatem et tranquil- 
 litatem a pluviis et nivibus et ventis, ut sacrificantibus 
 literae descriptae digito in cineribus sacrificiorum super 
 aram Jovis, manerent in annum proximum absque ulla 
 perturbatione. 2 Atque etiam hodie ascendentes ad ver- 
 
 1 i. e. It was insufficient for the cooling of the blood, which according to 
 Aristotle was the end of respiration. 
 
 2 Aristotle seems to be the first person who mentions this notion. See 
 the Problems xxvi. 36. ; where however he speaks of Athos and oi TOIOVTOI, 
 and not of Olympus. The passages on the subject are to be found in Ide- 
 ler's Meteorologia veterum Grcecorum el Romanorum (Berlin, 1832), at p. 81. 
 Compare his edition of the Meteorologies of Aristotle, where he has given 
 in extenso the passage in which Geminus speaks in the same manner of 
 Mount Cyllene in Arcadia, and also a similar statement made by Philopo- 
 nus with respect to Olympus. The whole class of stories seem (as Ideler 
 following Lobeck remarks) to have somewhat of a mythical character. G. 
 Bruno apparently confounded Philoponus with Alexander Aphrodisiensis, 
 when in the Cena di Cenere he asserted that the latter mentions the sacri- 
 fices on the top of Olympus. In the passage on the subject in which we 
 might expect to find him doing so, namely in his Commentary on the Me- 
 teorologies, i. c. 3., he does not specify any particular mountain. 
 
 That there is no wind nor rain on Olympus is mentioned as a common 
 opinion by St. Augustin, De Civ. Dei, xvi. 27. Compare Dante, Purg. 
 xxviii. 112.
 
 360 NOVUM ORGANUM. 
 
 ticem Picus de Tenariph eo vadunt noctu et non inter- 
 diu ; et paulo post ortum solis monentur et excitantur 
 a ducibus suis ut festinent descendere, propter pericu- 
 lum (ut videtur) a termitate aeris, ne solvat spiritus et 
 suffocet. 1 
 
 Ad 2m 3a. Reflexio radiorum solis, in regionibus prope 
 circulos polares, admodum debilis et inefficax invenitur 
 in calore : adeo ut Belgae, qui hybernarunt in Nova 
 Zembla, 2 curn expectarent navis suae liberationem et de- 
 obstructionem a glaciali mole (quae earn obsederat) per 
 initia mensis Julii spe sua frustrati sint, et coacti sca- 
 pha? se committere. Itaque radii solis directi videntur 
 parum posse, etiam super terram planam ; nee reflexi 
 etiam, nisi multiplicentur et uniantur ; quod fit cum sol 
 magis vergit ad perpendiculum ; quia turn incidentia 
 radiorum facit angulos acutiores, ut lineae radiorum sint 
 magis in propinquo : ubi contra in magnis obliquitati- 
 
 1 Lest the animal spirits should swoon and be suffocated by the tenuity 
 of the air. 
 
 2 This of course refers to Barentz's expedition in search of a North-East 
 passage. He passed the winter 1596-7 at Nova Zembla. [In Barentz's 
 first voyage, 1594, he was stopped by the ice on the 13th of July, and 
 obliged to return. In his third voyage, 1596, his first considerable check 
 was on the 19th of July ; after which he only succeeded in coasting round 
 the northern point of Nova Zembla till the 26th of August, where the ship 
 stuck fast and they were forced to leave her and winter on the island, and 
 return in their boats in the beginning of June 1597. See the letter signed 
 by the company : " Three Voyages by the North-East, &c.," Hackluyt 
 Society, 1853, p. 191. This letter was begun on the 1st of June : " Having 
 till this day stayed for the time and opportunity in hope to get our ship 
 loose, and now are clean out of hope thereof, for that it lieth shut up and 
 enclosed in the ice," &c. : and ended on the 13th, "notwithstanding that 
 while we were making ready to be gone, we had great wind out of the west 
 and north-west, and yet find no alteration nor bettering in the weather, and 
 therefore in the last extremity we left it." This narrative, written by Ger- 
 rit de Veer, one of the party, was first published in Dutch in 1598 ; trans- 
 lated into Latin and French the same year; into Italian in 1599; into 
 English in 1609. See Introduction, p. cxviii. " Per initia mensis Junii," 
 would have been more accurate. J. 5.]
 
 NOVUM ORGANUM. 361 
 
 bus solis anguli sint valde obtusi, et proincle linese radi- 
 orum magis distantes. Sed interim notandum est, mul- 
 tas esse posse operationes radiorum solis, atque etiam ex 
 natura Calidi, quse non sunt proportionate ad tactum 
 nostrum : adeo ut respectu nostri non operentur usque 
 ad calefactionem, sed respectu aliorum nonnullorum 
 corporum exequantur opera Calidi. 
 
 Ad 2m 4a. JT [^ hujusmodi experimentum. Accipiatur 
 speculum l fabricatum contra ac fit in speculis combu- 
 rentibus, et interponatur inter manum et radios solis ; 
 et fiat observatio, utrum minuat calorem solis, quemad- 
 modum speculum comburens eundem auget et intendit. 
 Manifestum est enim, quoad radios opticos, prout fab- 
 ricatur speculum in clensitate inaequali respectu medii 
 et laterum, ita apparere simulachra magis diffusa aut 
 magis contracta. Itaque idem videndum in calore. 
 
 Ad 2am 6. Fiat experimentum diligenter, utrum per 
 specula comburentia fortissima et optime fabricata radii 
 lunse possint excipi et colligi in aliquem vel minimum 
 gradum teporis. Is vero gradus teporis si fortasse nimis 
 subtilis et debilis fuerit, ut ad tactum percipi et depre- 
 hendi non possit, confugiendum erit ad vitra ilia qua? 
 indicant constitutionem aeris calidam aut frigidam ; ita 
 ut radii lunae per speculum comburens incidant et ja- 
 ciantur in summitatem vitri hujusmodi ; atque turn 
 notetur si fiat depressio aquae per teporem. 
 
 Ad 2m 6.1. Practicetur etiam vitrum comburens super 
 calidum 2 quod non sit radiosum aut luminosum ; 3 ut 
 
 1 " Speculum,'' used for lens. Read " specillum," the common word, il 
 passes very easily into u ; and probably the transition was more facile in 
 the cursive hand. 
 
 2 So in the original; qy. corpus calidum. J, S. 
 
 8 Mersenne says the greater number of the experiments mentioned in the 
 second book of the Novum Organum had already been made, and mentions
 
 362 NOVUM ORGANUM. 
 
 ferri et lapidis calefactt sed non igniti, aut aquas ferven- 
 tis, aut similium ; et notetur utrum fiat augmentum et 
 intentio calidi, ut in radiis solis. 
 
 Ad2m7. Practicetur etiam speculum comburens in 
 flamma communi. 
 
 Ad 2am 8*. Cometaram (si et illos numerare inter me- 
 teora libuerit) 1 non deprehenditur constans aut mani- 
 festus effectus in augendis ardoribus anni, licet siccitates 
 ssepius inde sequi iiotatse sint. Quinetiam trabes et 
 columns lucidse et cliasmata et similia apparent sa3pius 
 temporibus hybernis quam sestivis ; et maxime per in- 
 tensissima frigora, sed conjuncta cum siccitatibus. Ful- 
 mina tamen et coruscationes et tonitrua raro eveniunt 
 hyeme, sed sub tempus magnorum fervorum. At stella? 
 (quas vocant) cadentes existimantur vulgo magis con- 
 stare ex viscosa aliqua materia splendida et accensa, 
 quam esse naturae igneas fortioris. Sed de hoc inquira- 
 tur ulterius. 
 
 Ad4m9a. Sunt qusedam coruscationes quae prasbent 
 lumen sed non urunt ; 683 vero semper fiunt sine 
 tonitru. 
 
 Ad5'>io<. Eructationes et eruptiones flammarum in- 
 veniuntur non minus in regionibus frigidis quam cali- 
 dis; ut in Islandia et Groenlandia ; quemadmodum et 
 arbores per regiones frigidas magis sunt quandoque 
 inflammabiles et magis piceaa ac resinosae quam per 
 regiones calidas ; ut fit in abiete, pinu, et reliquis ; ve- 
 
 particularly, as if he had himself tried it, the reflexion of all kinds of heat 
 by a burning mirror. He also asserts that light is always accompanied by 
 heat. De la Verite des Sciences (1625). p. 210. 
 
 1 That there was no reason for supposing comets to be more than merely 
 meteoric exhalations is the thesis maintained, and doubtless with great 
 ability, by Galileo in his Saggiatore, the true view, or at least a nearer 
 approach to it, having been propounded by the Jesuit Grossi. Bacon per- 
 haps alludes to this controversy.
 
 NOVUM ORGANUM. 363 
 
 rum in quali situ et natura soli hujusmodi emptiones 
 fieri soleant, ut possimus Affirmative subjungere Nega- 
 tivam, non satis qusesitum est. 
 
 Ad6>iia. Omnis flamma perpetuo est calida magis 
 aut minus, neque omnino subjungitur Negativa ; et ta- 
 men referunt ignem fatuum (quern vocant), qui etiam 
 aliquando impingitur in parietem, 1 non multum habere 
 caloris ; fortasse instar flamme spiritus vini, quae cle- 
 mens et lenis est. Sed adhuc lenior videtur ea flamma 
 qua3 in nonnullis historiis fidis et gravibus invenitur ap- 
 paruisse circa capita et comas puerorum et virgin um ; 
 qua? nullo modo comas adurebat, sed molliter circum 
 eas trepidabat. Atque certissimum est, circa equum 
 in itinere sudantem noctu et suda tempestate apparuisse 
 quandoque coruscationem quandam absque manifesto 
 calore. Atque paucis abhinc annis, notissimum est et 
 pro miraculo quasi habitum gremiale cnjusdam puella3 
 paulo motum aut fricatum coruscasse ; quod fortasse 
 factum est ob alumen aut sales quibus gremiale tinctum 
 erat paulo crassius haerentia et incrustata, et ex frica- 
 tione fracta. Atque certissimum est saccharum omne, 
 sive conditum (ut vocant) sive simplex, modo sit du- 
 rius, in tenebris fractum aut cultello scalptum corus- 
 care. Similiter aqua marina et salsa noctu interdum 
 invenitur remis fortiter percussa coruscare. "Atque 
 etiam in tempestatibus spuma maris fortiter agitata 
 noctu coruscat ; quam coruscationem Hispani pulmonem 
 marinum vocant. 2 De ilia flamma autem quam anti- 
 
 1 i. e. Which sometimes even settles on a wall. 
 
 2 The phrase "pulmo marine" is as much Italian as Spanish, except 
 of course, that in Italian " pulmo " is replaced by '' polmo," and is merely 
 a translation of nvevfiuv duhuaaioc, which is used by Dioscorides, De Ma- 
 ter-id Medica, ii. 39. The luminous appearance arises apparently from ser- 
 pent medusae, which in texture are like the substance of the lungs, from
 
 364 NOVUM ORGANUM. 
 
 qui nautae vocabant Castorem et Pollucem, et modem! 
 Focum Sancti Ermi? qualem calorem habeat non satis 
 quaesitum est. 
 
 Ad 7"> i2. Omne ignitum ita ut vertatur in ruborem 
 igneum etiam sine flamma perpetuo calidum est, neque 
 huic Affirmatives subjungitur Negativa ; sed quod in 
 proximo est videtur esse lignum putre, quod splendet 
 noctu neque tamen deprehenditur calidum ; et squamae 
 piscium putrescentes, quas etiam splendent noctu, nee 
 inveniuntur ad tactum calidae ; neque etiam corpus 
 cicindelae aut muscae (quam vocant Luciolam) cali- 
 dum ad tactum deprehenditur. 
 
 Ad sn is*. De balneis calidis, in quo situ et natura soli 
 emanare soleant non satis quassitum est ; itaque non 
 subjungitur Negativa. 
 
 Ad9<ni4a. Liquidis ferventibus subjungitur Negativa 
 ipsius liquidi in natura sua. Nullum enim invenitur 
 liquidum tangibile quod sit in natura sua et maneat 
 constanter calidum, sed superinducitur ad tempus tan- 
 turn calor, ut natura ascititia : 2 adeo ut quae potestate 
 et operatione sunt niaxime calida, ut spiritus vini, olea 
 aromatum chymica, etiam olea vitrioli et sulphuris, et 
 similia, quae paulo post adurunt, ad primum tactum 
 sint frigida. Aqua autem balneorum naturalium ex- 
 cepta in vas aliquod et separata a fontibus suis defer- 
 
 which circumstance they derive the name which Dioscorides gives them. 
 Cf. De Aug. iv. 3. 
 
 1 " lume vivo, que a maritiraa gente 
 Tern por santo em tempo de tormenta." 
 
 Os Lusindus de Camoes, canto v. est. 18. 
 I take this quotation from Humboldt's A'usmos, ii. p. 122. 
 
 2 E converse, calor is not a natura adscititia to solids. In modern phys- 
 ics this distinction would be altogether without a meaning. That a hot 
 liquid returns after a while to a cold state, was adduced as an argument for 
 the existence of substantial forms.
 
 NOVUM ORGANUM. 365 
 
 vescit perinde ac aqua igne calefacta. At verum 
 est corpora oleosa ad tactum paulo minus esse frigida 
 quam aquea ; ut oleum minus quam aqua, sericum mi- 
 nus quam linteum. Verum hoc pertinet ad Tabidam 
 Ghraduum de Frigido. 
 
 Adio<ni5'. Similiter vapori fervido subjungitur Nega- 
 tiva naturae ipsius vaporis, qualis apud nos invenitur. 
 Etenim exhalationes ex oleosis, licet facile inflammab- 
 iles, tain en non inveniuntur calidae, nisi a corpore 
 calido recenter exhalaverint. 
 
 Ad item lea. Similiter aeri ipsi ferventi subjungitur Neg- 
 ativa naturae aeris ipsius. Neque enim invenitur apud 
 nos ae'r calidus ; nisi fuerit aut conclusus, aut attritus, 
 aut manifeste calefactus a sole, igne, aut aliquo alio 
 corpore calido. 
 
 Ad nm i7. Subjungitur Negativa tempestatum frigi- 
 darum magis quam pro ratione temporis anni, quaa 
 eveniunt apud nos flante Euro et Borea ; quemadmo- 
 dum et contrariae tempestates eveniunt flante Austro 
 et Zephyro. Etiam inclinatio ad pluviam (praeser- 
 tim temporibus hyemalibus) comitatur tempestatem 
 tepidam ; at gelu contra frigidam. 
 
 Ad i2<"n 18=>. Subjungitur Negativa aeris conclusi in ca- 
 vernis tempore aestivo. At de acre concluso omnino dil- 
 igentius inquirendum. Primo enim non absque causa 
 in dubitationem venit qualis sit natura aeris quatenus 
 ad calidum et frigidum in natura sua propria. Recipit 
 enim ae'r calidum manifesto ex impressione coelestium ; 
 frigidum autem fortasse ab expiratione terras ; et rursus 
 in media (quam vocant) regione aeris a vaporibus frig- 
 idis et nivibus ; ut nullum judicium fieri possit de aeris 
 natura per aerem qui foras est et sub dio, sed verius 
 foret judicium per aerem conclusum. Atqui opus est
 
 366 NOVUM ORGANUM. 
 
 etiani ut aer concludatur in tali vasi et materia quse 
 nee ipsa imbuat aerem calido vel frigido ex vi propria 
 nee facile admittat vim aeris extranei. Fiat itaque ex- 
 perimentum per ollam figularem multiplici corio obduc- 
 tam ad muniendam ipsam ab acre extraneo, facta mora 
 per tres aut quatuor dies in vase bene occluso; depre- 
 hensio autem fit post apertionem vasis vel per manum 
 vel per vitrum graduum ordine applicatum. 
 
 Adi3ami9a. Subest similiter dubitatio, utrum tepor in 
 lana et pellibus et plurais et hujusmodi fiat ex quodam 
 exili calore inhserente, quatenus excernuntur ab ani- 
 malibus ; aut etiam ob pinguedinem quandam et oleosi- 
 tatem, quae sit naturse congruae cum tepore ; vel plane 
 ob conclusionem et fractionem aeris, ut in articulo prae- 
 eedente dictum est. Videtur- enim omnis aer abscissus 
 a continuitate aeris forinseci habere nonnihil teporis. 
 Itaque fiat experimentum in fibrosis quae fiunt ex lino ; 
 non ex lana aut plumis aut serico, qua? excernuntur ab 
 animatis. Notandum est etiam, omnes pulveres (ubi 
 manifesto includitur aer) minus esse frigidos quam 
 corpora integra ipsorum ; quemadmodum etiam ex- 
 istimamus omnem spumam (utpote quae aerem contin- 
 eat) minus esse frigidam quam liquorem ipsum. 
 
 Adi4m20". Huic non subjungitur Negativa. Nihil 
 enim reperitur apud nos sive tangibile sive spiritale 
 quod admotum igni non excipiat calorem. In eo ta- 
 men differunt, quod alia excipiant calorem citius, ut 
 aer, oleum, et aqua ; alia tardius, ut lapis et metalla. 
 Verum hoc pertinet ad Tabttlam Giraduum. 
 
 Adi5m2i. Huic Instantiae non subjungitur Negativa 
 alia, quam ut bene notetur non excitari scintillas ex 
 silice et clialybe aut alia aliqua substantia dura nisi ubi 
 excutiuntur minutise aliquae ex ipsa substantia lapidis
 
 NOVUM ORGANUM. 367 
 
 vel metalli, neque aerem attritum unquam per se gen- 
 erare scintillas, ut vulgo putant ; quin et ipsas illae 
 scintilla ex pondere corporis igniti magis vergunt deor- 
 sum quam sursum, et in extinctione redeunt in quan- 
 dam fuliginem corporeara. 
 
 Adi6n>22. Existimamus huic instantise non subjungi 
 Negativam. Nullum enim invenitur apud nos corpus 
 tangibile quod non ex attritione manifesto calescat ; 
 adeo ut veteres somniarent non inesse coelestibus 
 aliam viam aut virtutem calefaciendi nisi ex attri- 
 tione ae'ris per rotationem rapidam et incitatam. 1 
 Verum in hoc genere ulterius inquirendum est utrum 
 corpora quae emittuntur ex machinis (qualia sunt 
 pilse ex tormentis) non ex ipsa percussione contra- 
 hant aliquem gradum caloris ; adeo ut postquam de- 
 ciderint inveniantur nonnihil calida. At aer motus 
 magis infrigidat quam calefacit; ut in vends et folli- 
 bus et flatu oris contracti. Verum hujusmodi motus 
 non est tarn rapidus ut excitet calorem, et fit secun- 
 dum totum, non per particulas ; ut mirum non sit, 
 si non generet calorem. 
 
 Ad i7> 23*. Circa hanc instantiam facienda est inqui- 
 sitio diligentior. Videntur enim herbse et vegetabilia 
 viridia et humida aliquid habere in se occulti caloris. 
 Hie vero calor tarn tenuis est ut in singulis non per- 
 cipiatur ad tactum, verum postquam ilia adunata sint 
 
 1 See Arist. Meteorol. i. c. 2. sub finem; or De Ccelo, n. c. 7. It seems 
 probable that Aristotle was influenced by a wish to secure the doctrine of 
 the eternity of the universe, which he saw would be put in peril if celestial 
 heat were ascribed to anything akin to combustion. We now know that 
 the generation of heat, whether by friction, combustion, or otherwise, 
 involves a loss of vis viva, and it is difficult to avoid the conclusion that 
 the material universe sprang, at a finite distance of time ago, out of some- 
 thing wholly and inconceivably different from itself. Nothing is more 
 remarkable than the way in which ontology here forces itself into physics.
 
 368 NOVUM ORGANUM. 
 
 et conclusa, ut spiritus ipsorum non expire! in aerem 
 sed se invicem foveat, turn vero oritur calor mani- 
 festus, et nonnunquam flarnma in materia congrua. 
 
 Adisn>24. Etiam circa hanc instantiam diligentior 
 facienda est inquisitio. Videtur enim calx viva aqua 
 aspersa concipere calorem vel propter unionem caloris 
 qui antea distrahebatur (ut ante dictum est de herbis 
 conclusis), vel ob irritationem et exasperationem spiri- 
 tus ignei ab aqua, ut fiat quidam conflictus et antipe- 
 ristasis. Utra vero res sit in causa facilius apparebit 
 si loco aquse immittatur oleum ; oleum enim seque ac 
 aqua valebit ad unionem spiritus inclusi, sed non ad 
 irritationem. Etiam faciendum est experimentum la- 
 tius tarn in cineribus et calcibus diversorum corporum, 
 quam per immissionem diversorum liquorum. 
 
 Adi9<"n25a. Huic instantiae subjungitur Negativa ali- 
 orum metallorum quae sunt magis mollia et fluxa. 
 Etenim bracteolaa auri solutae in liquorem per aquam 
 regis nullum dant calorem ad tactum in dissolutione ; 
 neque similiter plumbum in aqua forti ; neque etiam 
 argentum vivum (ut memini) ; sed argentum ipsum 
 parum excitat caloris, atque etiam cuprum (ut mem- 
 ini), sed magis manifesto stannum, atque omnium 
 maxime ferrum et chalybs, quae non solum fortem 
 excitant calorem in dissolutione, sed etiam violentam 
 ebullitionem. 1 Itaque videtur calor fieri per conflic- 
 tum, cum aquae fortes penetrant et fodiunt et divel- 
 lunt partes corporis, et corpora ipsa resistunt. Ubi 
 vero corpora facilius cedunt vix excitatur calor. 
 
 Ad20am26>. Calori animalium nulla subjungitur Neg- 
 ativa, nisi insectorum (ut dictum est) ob parvitatem 
 
 1 This ebullition is of course not the result of the heat, but arises from 
 the disengagement of gas during the action of the acid on the metal.
 
 N07DM ORGANUM. 369 
 
 corporis. Etenim in piscibus collatis ad animalia ter- 
 restria magis notatur gradus caloris quam privatio. 
 In vegetabilibus autem et plantis nullus percipitur 
 gradus caloris ad tactum, neque in lachrymis ipso- 
 rum, neque in medullis recenter apertis. At in ani- 
 malibus magna reperitur diversitas caloris, turn in 
 partibus ipsorum (alius est enim calor circa cor, alius 
 in cerebro, alius circa externa), turn in accidentibus 
 eorum, ut in exercitatione veliementi et febribus. 
 
 Ad2iam27a. Huic instantiae vix subjungitur Negativa. 
 Quinetiam excrementa animalium non recentia mani- 
 feste habent calorem potentialem, ut cernitur in im- 
 pinguatione soli. 
 
 Ad 22m et 23w> 28. Liquores (sive aquae vocentur sive 
 olea) qui habent magnam et intensam acrimoniam 
 exequuntur opera caloris in divulsione corporum, 
 atque adustione post aliquam moram ; sed tamen ad 
 ipsum tactum manus non sunt calidi ab initio. Ope- 
 rantur autem secundum analogiam 1 et poros corpo- 
 ris cui adjunguntur. Aqua enim regis aurum solvit, 
 argentum minime ; at contra aqua fortis argentum 
 solvit, aurum minime ; neutrum autem solvit vitrum ; 
 et sic de casteris. 
 
 Ad24am29. Fiat experimentum spiritus vini in lignis, 
 ac etiam in butyro aut cera aut pice ; si forte per 
 calorem suum ea aliquatenus liquefaciat. Etenim 
 instantia 24 a ostendit potestatem ejus imitativam ca- 
 loris in incrustationibus. Itaque fiat similiter exper- 
 imentum in liquefactionibus. Fiat etiam experimen- 
 
 1 This is another instance of the large sense given to the word analogia. 
 Aqua regia is a mixture of nitric and hydrochloric acids. Its power of 
 dissolving gold is ascribed by Davy to the liberation of chlorine by the 
 mutual action of the two acids. The different result in the case of silver 
 arises from the insolubility of chloride of silver. 
 VOL. i. 24
 
 370 NOVUM ORGANUM. 
 
 turn per vitrum graduum sive calendare quod conca- 
 vum sit in summitate sua per exterius ; et immittatur 
 in illud concavum exterius spiritus vini bene rectifica- 
 tus, cum operculo ut melius contineat calorem suum ; 
 et notetur utrum per calorem suum faciat aquam des- 
 cendere. 
 
 Ad 25n so*. Aromata, et herbae acres ad palatum, mul- 
 to magis sumptae interius, percipiuntur calida. Viden- 
 dum itaque in quibus aliis materiis exequantur opera 
 caloris. Atque referunt nautae, cum cumuli et massae 
 aromatum diu conclusae subito aperiuntur, periculum 
 instare illis qui eas primo agitant et extrabunt a febri- 
 bus et inflammationibus spiritus. 1 Similiter fieri pote- 
 rit experimentum, utrum pulveres hujusmodi aroma- 
 tum aut herbarum non arefaciant laridum et carnem 
 suspensam super ipsos, veluti fiimus ignis. 
 Ad26">3ia. Acrimonia sive penetratio inest tarn frigi- 
 dis, qualia sunt acetum et oleum vitrioli, quam calidis, 
 qualia sunt oleum origani et similia. Itaque similiter 
 et in animatis cient dolorem, et in non animatis divel- 
 lunt partes et consumunt. Neque huic instantiae sub- 
 jungitur Negativa. Atque in animatis nullus reperi- 
 tur dolor nisi cum quodam sensu caloris. 
 Ad27am32a. Communes sunt complures actiones et 
 calidi et frigidi, licet diversa admodum ratione. Nam 
 et nives puerorum manus videntur paulo post urere ; 
 et frigora tuentur carnes a putrefactione, non minus 
 quam ignis ; et calores contralmnt corpora in minus, 
 quod faciunt et frigida. Verum base et similia oppor- 
 tunius est referre ad Inquisitionem de Frigido. 
 
 1 In the Annals of Philosophy a case is mentioned in which the effluvia 
 rising on the opening of a large bark-store at Guayra were sufficiently 
 powerful to cure a bad fever.
 
 NOVUM ORGANUM. 371 
 
 XIII. 
 
 Tertio facienda est Comparentia ad Intellectum in- 
 stantiarum in quibus natura de qua fit inquisitio inest 
 secundum magis et minus ; sive facta comparatione 
 incrementi et decrement! in eodem subjecto, sive facta 
 comparatiqne ad invicem in subjectis diversis. Cum 
 enim Forma rei sit ipsissima res ; neque differat res 
 a Forma, aliter quam differunt apparens et existens, 
 aut exterius et interius, aut in ordine ad hominem et 
 in ordine ad universum ; l omnino sequitur .ut non 
 recipiatur aliqua natura pro vera Forma, nisi per- 
 petuo decrescat quando natura ipsa decrescit, et simil- 
 iter perpetuo augeatur quando natura ipsa augetur. 
 Hanc itaque tabulam Tabulam Graduum sive Tabulam 
 Comparatives appellare consuevimus. 
 
 Tabula Grraduum sive Comparatives in Calido. 
 
 Primo itaque dicemus de iis quae nullum prorsus 
 gradum caloris habent ad tactum, sed videntur ha- 
 bere potentialem tantum quendam calorem, sive dis- 
 positionem et praeparationem ad calidum. Postea de- 
 mum descendemus ad ea quse sunt actu sive ad tactum 
 calida, eorumque fortitudines et gradus. 
 
 1. In corporibus solidis et tangibilibus non inve- 
 nitur aliquid quod in natura sua calidum sit originali- 
 ter. Non enim lapis aliquis, non metallum, non sul- 
 phur, non fossile aliquod, non lignum, non aqua, non 
 cadaver animalis, inveniuntur calida. Aquaa autem 
 
 1 " Res" is to be taken in a general sense, so as to include not only sub- 
 stances, but also what Bacon calls naturae. It is therefore not to be trans- 
 lated as if it were synonymous with corpus ; and in fact in a subsequent 
 passage (II. 50.) "res" and "corpus " are, so to speak, placed in opposi- 
 tion to each other. " Rerum formae et Corporum schematism!."
 
 372 NOVUM ORGANUM. 
 
 calidse in balneis videntur calefieri per accidens, sive 
 per flammam aut ignem subterraneum, quails ex 
 .ZEtna et montibus aliis compluribus evomitur, sive 
 ex conflictu corporum, quemadmodum calor fit in 
 ferri et stanni dissolutionibus. Itaque gradus caloris 
 in inanimatis, quatenus ad tactum humanum, nullus 
 est ; veruntamen ilia gradu frigoris diflferunt ; non 
 enim aeque frigidum est lignum ac metallum. Sed 
 hoc pertinet ad Tabulam Grraduum in Frigido. 
 
 2. Attamen quoad potentiales calores et praepara- 
 tiones ad flammam, complura inveniuntur inanimata 
 admodum disposita, ut sulphur, naphtha, petrelseum. 1 
 
 3. Quae antea incaluerunt, ut fimus equinus ex an- 
 imali, aut calx aut fortasse cinis aut fuligo ex igne, 
 reliquias latentes quasdam caloris prioris retinent. Ita- 
 que fiunt quasdam distillationes et separationes corpo- 
 rum per sepulturam in fimo equino, atque excitatur 
 calor in calce per aspersionem aquae ; ut jam dictum 
 est. 
 
 4. Inter vegetabilia non invenitur aliqua planta sive 
 pars plantae (veluti lachryma aut medulla) quae sit ad 
 tactum humanum calida. Sed tamen (ut superius dic- 
 tum est) herbae virides conclusae calescunt ; atque ad 
 interiorem tactum, veluti ad palatum aut ad stomachum 
 aut etiam ad exteriores partes, post aliquam moram (ut 
 in emplastris et unguentis) alia vegetabilia inveniuntur 
 calida, alia frigida. 
 
 5. Non invenitur in partibus animalium, postquam 
 fuerint mortuae aut separatse, aliquid calidum ad tac- 
 tum humanum. Nam neque fimus equinus ipse, nisi 
 fuerit conclusus et sepultus, calorem retinet. Sed 
 tamen ornnis fimus habere videtur calorem potentialem, 
 
 1 The Latin form of the word is petroleum.
 
 NOVUM ORGANUM. 373 
 
 ut in agrorum impinguatione. Et similiter, cadavera 
 animalium hujusmodi habent latentem et potentialem 
 calorem ; adeo ut in ccemeteriis ubi quotidie fiunt sepul- 
 turae terra calorem quendam occultum colligat, qui 
 cadaver aliquod recenter impositum consumit longe 
 citius quam terra pura. Atque apud orientales tradi- 
 tur inveniri textile quoddam temie et molle, factum ex 
 avium plumagine, quod vi innata butyrum solvat et 
 liquefaciat in ipso leviter involutum. 
 
 6. QuaB impinguant agros, ut fimi omnis generis, 
 creta, arena maris, sal, et similia, dispositionem non- 
 nullam habent ad calidum. 
 
 7. Omnis putrefactio in se rudimenta quaadam exilis 
 caloris habet, 1 licet non hucusque ut ad tactum percip- 
 iatur. Nam nee ea ipsa quae putrefacta solvuntur in 
 animalcula, ut caro, caseus, ad tactum percipiuntur 
 calida ; neque lignum putre,^ quod noctu splendet, 
 deprehenditur ad tactum calidum. Calor autem 
 in putridis quandoque se prodit per odores tetros et 
 fortes. 
 
 8. Primus itaque caloris gradus, ex iis quasi ad tac- 
 tum humanum percipiuntur calida, videtur esse calor 
 animalium, qui bene magnam habet graduum latitudi- 
 nem. Nam infimus gradus (ut in insectis) vix ad tac- 
 tum deprenditur; summus autem gradus vix attingit ad 
 gradum caloris radiorum solis in regionibus et tempor- 
 ibus maxime ferventibus, neque ita acris est quin tole- 
 rari possit a manu. Et tamen referunt de Constantio, 2 
 aliisque nonnullis qui constitutionis et habitus corporis 
 
 1 This is true of eremacausis rather than of real putrefaction. But the 
 distinction belongs to the recent history of chemistry. 
 
 2 The person here referred to is Constantius II., the son of Constantino 
 the Great. The burning heat of the fever of which he died is mentioned 
 by Ammianus Marcellinus, 1. xxi. c. 15.
 
 374 NOVUM ORGANUM. 
 
 admodum sicci fuerunt, quod acutissimis febribus cor- 
 repti ita incaluerint ut manum admotam aliquantulum 
 urere visi sint. 
 
 9. Animalia, ex motu et exercitatione, ex vino et 
 epulis, ex venere, ex febribus ardentibus, et ex dolore, 
 augentur calore. 
 
 10. Animalia in accessibus febrium intermittentium 
 a principio fHgore et horrore corripiuntur, sed paulo 
 post majorem in modum incalescunt ; quod etiam 
 faciunt a principio in causonibus et febribus pestilen- 
 tialibus. 
 
 11. Inquiratur ulterius de calore comparato in di- 
 versis animalibus, veluti piscibus, quadrupedibus, ser- 
 pentibus, avibus ; atque etiam secundum species ip- 
 sorum, ut in leone, milvio, homine; nam ex vulgari 
 opinione, pisces per interiora minus calidi sunt, aves 
 autem maxime calidae ; prassertim columbse, accipitres, 
 struthiones. 1 ; . 
 
 12. Inquiratur ulterius de calore comparato in eo- 
 dem animali, secundum partes et membra ejus diversa. 
 Nam lac, sanguis, sperma, ova, inveniuntur gradu mod- 
 ico tepida, et minus calida quam ipsa caro exterior in 
 animali quando movetur aut agitatur. Qualis vero 
 gradus sit caloris in cerebro, stomacho, corde, et reli- 
 quis, similiter adhuc non est quaesitum. 
 
 13. Animalia omnia, per hyemem et tempestates 
 frigidas, secundum exterius frigent; sed per interiora 
 etiam magis esse calida existimantur. 
 
 14. Calor coelestium,' etiam in regione calidissima at- 
 que temporibus anni et diei calidissiinis, non eum gra- 
 dum caloris obtinet qui vel lignum aridissimum vel 
 
 1 Strnthio commonly means an ostrich, but it seems here to be used for a 
 sparrow. J. 8.
 
 NOVDM ORGANUM. 375 
 
 stramen vel etiain linteum ustum incendat aut adurat, 
 nisi per specula comburentia roboretur ; sed tamen e 
 rebus humidis vaporem excitare potest. 
 
 15. Ex traditione astronomorura ponuntur stella? 
 alias magis, aliaB minus calidae. Inter planetas enim 
 post solera ponitur Mars calidissimus, deinde Jupiter, 
 deinde Venus ; l ponuntur autera tanquam frigidi Luna 
 et deinde omnium maxime Saturnus. Inter fixas au- 
 tem ponitur calidissimus Sirius, deinde Cor Leonis, sive 
 Regulus, deinde Ganicula, etc. 
 
 16. Sol magis calefacit, quo magis vergit ad perpen- 
 diculum sive Zenith, quod etiam credendum est de aliis 
 planetis, pro modulo suo caloris ; exempli gratia, Jovem 
 magis apud nos calefacere cum positus sit sub Cancro 
 aut Leone quam sub Capricorno aut Aquario. 
 
 17. Credendum est solem ipsum et planetas reliquos 
 magis calefacere in perigaeis suis, propter propinquita- 
 tem ad terram, quam in apogseis. Quod si eveniat ut 
 in aliqua regione sol sit simul in perigaso et propius ad 
 perpendiculum, necesse est ut magis calefaciat quam in 
 regione ubi sol sit similiter in periga3O sed magis ad ob- 
 liquum. Adeo ut comparatio exaltationis planetarum 
 notari debeat, prout ex perpendiculo aut obliquitate 
 participet, secundum regionum varietatem. 
 
 18. Sol etiam, et similiter reliqui planets, calefacere 
 magis existimantur cum sint in proximo ad stellas fixas 
 majores ; veluti cum sol ponitur in Leone, magis vici- 
 nus fit Cordi Leonis, Caudae Leonis, et Spicaa Virginis, 
 et Sirio, et Caniculae, quam cum ponitur in Cancro, 
 ubi tamen magis sistitur ad perpendiculum. 2 Atque 
 
 1 By some Venus was accounted cold and moist. Vide Margarita Phil. 
 p. 627. Ptolemy, however, confirms what Bacon says of her. 
 
 2 This astrological fancy was probably suggested by a wish to explain
 
 376 NOVUM ORGANUM. 
 
 credendum est partes coeli majorem infundere calorem 
 (licet ad tactum minime perceptibilem) quo magis 
 ornatse sint stellis, praasertim majoribus. 
 
 19. Omnino calor coelestium augetur tribus modis ; 
 videlicet ex perpendiculo, ex propinquitate sive peri- 
 gaao, et ex conjunctione sive consortio stellarum. 
 
 20. Magnum omnino invenitur intervallum inter ca- 
 lorem animalium ac etiam radiorum coelestium (prout 
 ad nos deferuntur), atque flammam, licet lenissimam, 
 atque etiam ignita omnia, atque insuper liquores, aut 
 aerem ipsum majorem in modum ab igne calefactum. 
 Etenim flamma spiritus vini, praesertim rara nee consti- 
 pata, tamen potis est stramen aut linteum aut papyrum 
 incendere ; quod nunquam faciet calor animalis vel 
 solis, absque speculis comburentibus. 
 
 21. Flammae autem et ignitorum plurimi sunt gra- 
 dus in fortitudine et debilitate caloris. Verum de his 
 nulla est facta diligens inquisitio ; ut necesse sit ista 
 leviter transmittere. Videtur autem ex flammis ilia 
 ex spiritu vini esse mollissima ; nisi forte ignis fatuus, 
 aut flammae seu coruscationes ex sudoribus animalium, 
 sint molliores. Hanc sequi opinamur flammam ex veg- 
 etabilibus levibus et porosis, ut stramine, scirpis, et 
 foliis arefactis, a quibus non multum differre flammam 
 ex pilis aut plumis. Hanc sequitur fortasse flamma ex 
 lignis, prassertim iis quse non multum habent ex resina 
 aut pice ; ita tamen ut flamma ex lignis quas parva 
 sunt mole (quse vulgo colligantur in fascicules) lenior 
 sit quam quas fit ex truncis arborum et radicibus. Id 
 quod vulgo experiri licet in fornacibus quae ferrum ex- 
 why July is hotter than June. In the division of the Zodiac into trigons 
 each of which corresponds to one of the elements, Leo forms one of the 
 corners of the fiery trigon ; and it is moreover the sun's proper sign.
 
 NOVUM ORGANUM. 377 
 
 coquunt, in quibus ignis ex fasciculis et ramis arborum 
 non est admodum utilis. Hanc sequitur (ut arbitra- 
 mur) flamma ex oleo et sevo et cera, et hujusmodi 
 oleosis et pinguibus, quse sunt sine magna acrimonia. 
 Fortissimus autera calor reperitur in pice et resina ; at- 
 que adhuc rnagis in sulphure et caphura, 1 et naphtha 
 et petrelaeo et salibus (postquam materia cruda eru- 
 perit), et in horum compositionibus, veluti pulvere 
 tormentario, igne Graeco (quern vulgo ignem ferura 
 vocant), et diversis ejus generibus, quae tarn obsti- 
 natum habent calorem ut ab aquis non facile extin- 
 guantur. 
 
 22. Existimamus etiam flammam quae resultat ex 
 nonnullis metallis imperfectis esse valde robustam et 
 acrem. Verum de istis omnibus inquiratur ulterius. 
 
 23. Videtur autem flamma fulminum potentiorum. 
 has omnes flammas superare ; adeo ut ferrum ipsum 
 perfectum aliquando colliquaverit in guttas, quod flam- 
 mas illae alterae facere non possunt. 
 
 24. In ignitis autem diversi sunt etiam gradus calo- 
 ris, de quibus etiam non facta est diligens inquisitio. 
 Calorem maxime debilem existimamus esse ex linteo 
 usto, quali ad flammae excitationem uti solemus ; et 
 similiter ex ligno illo spongioso aut funiculis arefactis 
 qui ad tormentorum accensionem adhibentur. Post 
 hunc sequitur carbo ignitus ex lignis et anthracibus at- 
 que etiam ex lateribus ignitis, et similibus. Ignitorum 
 autem vehementissime calida existimamus esse metalla 
 ignita, ut ferrum et cuprum et caetera. Verum de his 
 etiam facienda est ulterior inquisitio. 
 
 25. Inveniuntur ex ignitis nonnulla longe calidiora 
 quam nonnullas ex flammis. Multo enim calidius est 
 
 1 Camphor.
 
 378 NOVUM ORGANUM. 
 
 et magis adurens ferrum ignitum quam flamma spiritus 
 vini. 
 
 26. Inveniuntur etiam ex illis quaa ignita non sunt 
 sed tantum ab igne calefacta, sicut aquae ferventes et 
 ae'r conclusus in reverberatoriis, nonnulla quae superant 
 calore multa ex flammis ipsis et ignitis. 
 
 27. Motus auget calorem ; ut videre est in follibus 
 et flatu ; adeo ut duriora ex metallis non solvantur aut 
 liquefiant per ignem mortuum aut quietum, nisi flatu 
 excitetur. 
 
 28. Fiat experimentum per specula comburentia, in 
 quibus (ut memini) 1 hoc fit, ut si speculum ponatur 
 (exempli gratia) ad distantiam spithamae ab objecto 
 combustibili, non tantopere incendat aut adurat quam 
 si positum fuerit speculum (exempli gratia) ad dis- 
 tantiam semi-spithamae, et gradatim et lente trahatur 
 ad distantiam spithama3. Conus tamen et unio radi- 
 orum eadem sunt, sed ipse motus auget operationem 
 caloris. 2 
 
 29. Existimantur incendia ilia quae fiunt flante vento- 
 forti majores progressus facere adversus ventum quam 
 secundum ventum ; quia scilicet flamma resilit motu 
 perniciore, vento remittente, quam procedit vento im- 
 pellente. 
 
 30. Flamma non emicat aut generatur, nisi detur 
 aliquid concavi in quo flamma movere possit et ludere ; 
 praeterquam in flammis flatuosis pulveris tormentarii, 
 et similibus, ubi compressio et incarceratio flammae 
 auget ejus furorem. 
 
 1 Compare De Calore et Frigore : "And the operation of them [burn- 
 ing-glasses] is, as / remember, first to place them," &c., which seems to 
 prove, not only that Bacon had no burning-glass at hand, but also that 
 he was not familiar with the use of them. J. S. 
 
 2 The only explanation of this is, that the focal length of the lens lay 
 between a span and half a span.
 
 NOVUM OEGANUM. 879 
 
 81. Jncus per malleum calefit admodum ; adeo ut si 
 incus fuerit laminse tenuioris, existimemus illam per 
 fortes et continues ictus mallei posse rubescere, ut fer- 
 rum ignitum ; sed de hoc fiat experimentum. 
 
 32. At in ignitis quae sunt porosa, ita ut detur 
 spatium ad exercendum motum ignis, si cohibeatur 
 hujusmodi motus per compressionem fortem, statim ex- 
 tinguitur ignis ; veluti cum liuteum ustum aut filum 
 ardens candelae aut lampadis aut etiam carbo aut pruna 
 ardens comprimitur per pressorium aut pedis concul- 
 cationem aut hujusmodi, statim cessant operationes 
 ignis. 
 
 33. Approximatio ad corpus calidum auget calorem, 
 pro gradu approximations ; quod etiam fit in lumine ; 
 nam quo propius collocatur objectum ad lumen eo 
 magis est visibile. 
 
 34. Unio calorum diversorum auget calorem, nisi facta 
 sit commistio corporum. Nam focus magnus et focus 
 parvus in eodem loco nonnihil invicem augent calorem ; 
 at aqua tepida immissa in aquam ferventem refrigerat. 
 
 35. Mora corporis calidi auget calorem. Etenim 
 calor perpetuo transiens et emanans commiscetur cum 
 calore praeinexistente, adeo ut multiplicet calorem. 
 Nam focus non aeque calefacit cubiculum per moram 
 semihorae ac si idem focus duret per horam integram. 
 At hoc non facit lumen ; etenim lampas aut candela 
 in aliquo loco posita non magis illuminat per moram 
 diuturnam quam statim ab initio. 
 
 36. Irritatio per frigidum ambiens auget calorem; 
 ut in focis videre est per gelu acre. Quod existima- 
 mus fieri non tantum per conclusionem et contrac- 
 tionem caloris, quse est species unionis, sed per exas- 
 perationem; veluti cum ae'r aut baculum violenter
 
 380 NOVUM ORGANUM. 
 
 comprimitur aut flectitur, non ad punctum loci prioris 
 resilit, sed ulterius in contrarium. Itaque fiat diligens 
 experimentum per baculum vel simile aliquid immissum 
 in flammam, utrum ad latera flammae non uratur citius 
 quam in medio flammae. 
 
 37. Gradus autem in susceptione caloris sunt com- 
 plures. Atque primo omnium notandum est, quam 
 parvus et exilis calor etiam ea corpora quoe caloris 
 minime omnium sunt susceptiva immutet tamen et 
 nonnihil calefaciat. Nam ipse calor manus globu- 
 lum plumbi aut alicujus metalli paulisper detentum 
 nonnihil calefacit. Adeo facile et in omnibus trans- 
 mi ttitur et excitatur calor, corpore nullo modo ad 
 apparentiam immutato. 
 
 38. Facillime omnium corporum apud nos et ex- 
 cipit et remittit calorem aer ; quod optime cernitur in 
 vitris calendaribus. Eorum confectio est talis : 1 ac- 
 cipiatur vitrum ventre concavo, collo tenui et oblon- 
 go ; resupinetur et demittatur hujusmodi vitrum ore 
 deorsum verso, ventre sursum, in aliud vasculum vit- 
 reum ubi sit aqua, tangendo fundum vasculi illius re- 
 cipientis extreme ore vitri immissi, et incumbat paul- 
 lulum vitri immissi collum ad os vitri recipientis, ita 
 ut stare possit ; quod ut commodius fiat, apponatur 
 parum cerse ad os vitri recipientis ; ita tamen ut non 
 penitus obturetur os ejus, ne ob defectum ae'ris suc- 
 cedentis impediatur motus de quo jam dicetur, qui est 
 admodum facilis et delicatus. 
 
 Oportet autem ut vitrum demissum, antequam in- 
 
 1 1 am very much inclined to think that Bacon heard of the vitrum cal- 
 endare from Fludde, or a Fluctibus, as he is called in Latin, who returned 
 from Italy in [1605], and in whose philosophy, built upon certain abstract 
 notions of rarefaction and condensation, perpetual reference is made to the 
 air-thermometer, to which he gives the same name.
 
 NOVUM ORGANUM. 381 
 
 seratur in alterum, calefiat ad ignem a parte superiori, 
 ventre scilicet. Postquam autem fuerit vitrum illud 
 collocatum ut diximus, recipiet et contrahet se aer 
 (qui dilatatus erat per calefactionem), post moram 
 sufficientem pro extinctione illius ascititii caloris, ad 
 talem extensionem sive dimensionem qualis erit aeris 
 ambientis aut coramunis tune temporis quando im- 
 mittitur vitrum, atque attrahet aquam in sursum ad 
 hujusmodi mensuram. Debet autem appendi cliarta 
 angusta et oblonga, et gradibus (quot libuerit) in- 
 terstincta. Videbis autem, prout tempestas diei in- 
 calescit aut frigescit, aerem se contrahere in angustius 
 per frigidum et extendere se in latius per calidum ; id 
 quod conspicietur per aquam ascendontem quando con- 
 trahitur aer, et descendentem sive depressum quando 
 dilatatur aer. Sensus autem aeris, quatenus ad cali- 
 dum et frigidum, tarn subtilis est et exquisitus ut facul- 
 tatem tactus humani multum superet ; adeo ut solis 
 radius aliquis, aut calor anhelitus, multo magis calor 
 manus, super vitri summitatem positus, statim deprimat 
 aquam manifesto. 1 Attamen existimamus spiritum ani- 
 
 1 In consequence of this description of the Vitrum Calendare, the inven- 
 tion of the Thermometer has been ascribed to Bacon ; but without good 
 reason. Fludd was the first to publish an account of the Thermometer; 
 but Nelli says, and (admitting his authorities) truly, that Galileo's inven- 
 tion was anterior to any publication of Fludd's. Nelli speaks of a letter 
 preserved in the library of his family " in copia," which Castelli addressed 
 to Cesarina in 1638. Castelli says that, more than thirty-five years before, 
 Galileo had shown him an experiment which he describes ; namely, the 
 rise of the water into an inverted tube with a bulb at one extremity, when 
 the open end of the tube is put into a vessel of water, and goes on, "del 
 quale effetto il medesimo Signor Galileo si era servito per fabbricare un 
 Istromento da esaminare i gradi del caldo e del freddo." Thus far Cas- 
 telli ; but how long after the original experiment the instrument was made, 
 does not appear from his statement. Nelli also refers to Viviani's Life of 
 Galileo, wherein it is said that Galileo invented the Thermometer between 
 1593 and 1597. It has not, I think, been remarked that the rise of water
 
 382 NOVUM ORGANUM. 
 
 malium magis adhuc exquisitum sensum habere calidi 
 et frigidi, nisi quod a mole corporea impediatur et 
 hebetetur. 
 
 39. Post aerem, existimamus corpora esse maxime 
 sensitiva caloris ea quae a frigore recenter immutata 
 sint et compressa, qualia sunt nix et glacies ; ea enira 
 leni aliquo tepore solvi incipiunt et colliquari. Post 
 ilia sequitur fortasse argentum vivum. Post illud se- 
 quuntur corpora pinguia, ut oleum, butyrum, et similia ; 
 deinde lignum ; deinde aqua ; postremo lapides et nie- 
 talla, quae non facile calefiunt, praesertim interius. .Ilia 
 tamen calorem semel susceptum diutissime retinent ; 
 ita ut later aut lapis aut ferrum ignitum in pelvim 
 aquae frigidae immissum et demersum, per quartam 
 partem horae (plus minus) retineat calorem, ita ut 
 tangi non possit. 
 
 40. Quo minor est corporis moles, eo citius per cor- 
 pus calidum approximatum incalescit ; id quod demon- 
 strat omnem calorem apud nos esse corpori tangibili 
 quodammodo adversum. 
 
 41. Calidum, quatenus ad sensum et tactum hu- 
 man um, res varia est et respectiva ; adeo ut aqua 
 tepida, si man us frigore occupetur, sentiatur esse cal- 
 ida ; sin manus incaluerit, frigida. 
 
 under the circumstances of Galileo's original experiment had already been 
 described in Porta's Natural Magic ; though, as is usually the case with 
 Porta, one cannot be sure whether he had ever actually seen it. " Possu- 
 mus etiam solo calore aquam ascendere facere. Sit dolium supra turrim, vel 
 ligneurn, vel argillaceum aut sereum, quod melius erit, et canalem habeat 
 in medio, qui descenda,t inferius usque ad aquam, et in e& submersus sit, 
 sed adglutinatus, ne respiret. Calefiat vas superius vel sole vel igne, nam 
 aer, qui in alvo continetur, rarefit et foras prolabitur, unde aquam in bullas 
 tumere videbimus, mox absentia solis ubi vas refrigescit, aer condensatur, 
 et quum non sufficiat inclusus aer vacuum replere, accersitur aqua et as- 
 ceudit supra." Porto's Magic, book xix. chap. 4.
 
 NOVUM ORGANUM. 383 
 
 XIV. 
 
 Quam inopes simus historiae quivis facile advertet, 
 cum in tabulis superioribus, praeterquam quod loco his 
 toriae probatse et instantiarum certarum nonnunquam. 
 traditiones et relationes inseraraus (semper tamen ad- 
 jecta dubiae fidei et auctoritatis nota), saspenumero 
 etiam hisce verbis, fiat ezperimentum, vel inquiratu? 
 ulterius, uti cogamur. 
 
 xv. 
 
 Atque opus et officium harum trium tabularum, 
 Comparentiam Instantiarum ad Intellectum vocare 
 consuevimus. Facta autem Comparentia, in opere 
 ponenda est ipsa Inductio. Invenienda est enim super 
 Comparentiam omnium et singularum Instantiarum 
 natura talis, quae cum natura data perpetuo adsit, absit, 
 atque crescat et decrescat ; sitque (ut superius dictum 
 est) limitatio naturae magis communis. 1 Hoc si mens 
 jam ab initio facere tentet affirmative (quod sibi per- 
 missa semper facere solet), occurrent phantasmata et 
 opinabilia et notionalia male terminata et axiomata 
 quotidie emendanda ; nisi libeat (scholarum more) 
 pugnare pro falsis. Ea tamen proculdubio erunt me- 
 liora aut praviora pro facultate et robore intellectus 
 qui operatur. At omnino Deo (Formarum inditori 
 et opifici) aut fortasse angelis et intelligentiis competit 
 Formas per affirmationem immediate nosse, atque ab 
 initio contemplationis. 2 Sed certe supra hominem 
 
 1 That is, a particular case of a more general nature. The force of the 
 last clause may be thus illustrated: If all bodies were more or less lu- 
 minous accordingly as they were more or less hot, the luminous and the 
 hot would be concomitantia, but neither would be the form of the other. 
 [See General Preface, 8. J. S.] 
 
 2 It was, I apprehend, the received doctrine, that whatever knowledge
 
 384 NOVITM ORGANDM. 
 
 est; cui tantum conceditur, procedere primo per Nega- 
 tivas, et postrerao loco desinere in Affirmativas, post 
 omnimodam exclusionera. 
 
 XVI. 
 
 Itaque naturae facienda est prorsus solutio et sepa- 
 ratio, non per ignem certe, sed per mentem, tanquam 
 ignera divinum. Est itaque Inductionis versa opus 
 primum (quatenus ad inveniendas Formas) Rejectio 
 sive Exclusiva naturarum singularum quaa non in- 
 veniuntur in aliqua instantia ubi natura data adest, 
 aut inveniuntur in aliqua instantia ubi natura data 
 abest, aut inveniuntur in aliqua instantia crescere 
 cum natura data decrescat, aut decrescere cum na- 
 tura data crescat. Turn vero post Rejectionern et 
 Exclusivam debitis modis factam, secundo loco (tan- 
 quam in fundo) manebit (abeuntibus in fumum opin- 
 ionibus volatilibus) Forma affirmativa, solida et vera et 
 bene terminata. Atque hoc breve dictu est, sed per 
 multas ambages ad hoc pervenitur. Nos autem nihil 
 fortasse ex iis quae ad hoc faciunt praetermittemus. 
 
 XVII. 
 
 Cavendum autem est et monendum quasi perpetuo, 
 ne, cum tantae partes Formis videantur a nobis tribui, 
 trahantur ea quse dicimus ad Formas eas quibus hom- 
 inum contemplationes et cogitationes hactenus assue- 
 verunt. 
 
 the angelic nature is capable of it attains at once. Thus it is said, " In- 
 feriores substantise intellective, scilicet animae humanae, habent potentiam 
 intellectivam non completam naturaliter, sed completur in iis successive 
 per hoc quod accipiunt species a rebus. Potentia vero intellectiva in sub- 
 stantiis spiritualibus superioribus, id est in angelis, completa est per species 
 intelligibiles connaturales : in quantum habent species intelligi biles conna- 
 turales ad omnia intelligenda qua? naturaliter cognoscere possunt." 8. 
 Thomas, Summa Theol. Ima, q. 45. a 2.
 
 NOVUM ORGAXUM. 385 
 
 Primo enim, de Formis copulatis, quae sunt (ut 
 dixirrius) naturarum simplicium conjugia ex cursu 
 communi universi, ut leonis, aquilae, rosae, auri, et 
 hujusmodi, impraesentiarum non loquimur. 1 Tempus 
 enim erit de iis tractandi, cum ventum fuerit ad La- 
 tentes Processus et Latentes Schematismos, eorumque 
 inventionem, prout reperiuntur in substantiis (quas 
 vocant) seu naturis concretis. 
 
 Rursus vero, non intelligantur ea quae dicimus 
 (etiam quatenus ad naturas simplices) de Formis et 
 ideis abstractis, aut in materia non determinatis aut 
 male determinatis. Nos enim quum de Formis loqui- 
 mur, nil aliud intelligimus quam leges illas et determi- 
 nationes actus puri, quae naturam aliquam simplicem 
 ordinant et constituunt ; ut calorem, lumen, pondus ; 
 in omnimoda materia et subjecto susceptibili. Itaque 
 eadem res est Forma Calidi aut Forma Luminis, et 
 Lex Calidi sive Lex Luminis ; neque vero a rebus 
 ipsis et parte operativa unquam nos abstrahimus aut 
 recedimus. Quare cum dicimus (exempli gratia) in 
 inquisitione Formae Caloris, rejice tenuitatem, aut tenu- 
 itas non est ex Forma Caloris, idem est ac si dicamus 
 potest homo superinducere calorem in corpus densum; 
 aut contra, potest homo aufeire aut arcere calorem a 
 corpore tenui. 
 
 Quod si cuiquam videantur etiam Formae nostrae 
 habere nonnihil abstracti, quod misceant et conjungant 
 heterogenea (videntur enim valde esse heterogenea 
 
 1 Bacon's principle that the form of any substance may be conceived as 
 a combination of the forms which correspond to each of its qualities is well 
 illustrated by the phrase " formae copulatae." The " forma copulata" is the 
 " lex ex qua corpus individuum edit actus puros." Of this law each sec- 
 tion or paragraphus is the " forma alicujus ex naturis simplicibus quae in eo 
 corpore conjunguntur." I have already remarked on Mr. Wood's render- 
 ing of the word "paragraphus" in 2. 
 VOL. I. 25
 
 386 NOVUM ORGANUM. 
 
 calor coelestium et ignis ; rubor fixus in rosa aut 
 similibus, et apparens in iride aut radiis opalii aut 
 adamantis ; mors ex summersione, ex crematione, ex 
 punctura gladii, ex apoplexia, ex atrophia ; et tamen 
 conveniunt ista in natura calidi, ruboris, mortis), is 
 se habere intellectum norit consuetudine et integral- 
 itate rerum et opinionibus captura et detentum. 1 
 Certissimum enim est ista, utcunque heterogenea et 
 aliena, coire in Formam sive Legem earn qua? ordi- 
 nat calorem aut ruborem aut mortem ; nee emanci- 
 pari posse potentiam humanam et liberari a naturas 
 cursu communi, et expandi et exaltari ad efficientia 
 nova et modos operandi novos, nisi per revelationem 
 et inventionem hujusmodi Formarum ; et tamen post 
 istam unionem naturae, quas est res maxime principalis, 
 de naturae divisionibus et venis, tarn ordinariis quam 
 interioribus et verioribus, suo loco postea dicetur. 
 
 XVIII. 
 
 Jam vero proponendum est exemplum Exclusionis 
 sive Rejectionis naturarum, quae per Tabulas Com- 
 parentiae reperiuntur non esse ex Forma Calidi ; illud 
 interim monendo, non solum sufficere singulas tabulas 
 ad Rejectionetn alicujus naturae, sed etiam unam- 
 
 1 The objection here anticipated has actually been made. It has been 
 said that we cannot be sure that any quality always proceeds from the 
 same cause. And in truth, though the axiom " like causes produce like 
 effects," and vice versa, seems to be inseparable from the idea of causation, 
 yet the force of the objection remains. For tfie reference of sensible quali- 
 ties to outward objects involves a subjective element. The same colour, 
 as referred to a substance as the object in which it resides, is a different 
 thing as it is a fixed colour, or prismatic, or epipolar, &c. They agree, it 
 may be said, in the type of undulation ; but viewed as properties of bodies, 
 or with reference to operations on them, they are distinct. And if we 
 could go further into the mechanism of sensation, we should probably 
 recede further both from concrete bodies and from practice.
 
 NOVUM ORGANUM. 387 
 
 quamque ex instantiis singularibus in illis contentis. 
 Manifestum enim est ex iis quae dicta sunt, omnera 
 instantiam contradictoriam destruere opinabile de For- 
 ma. Sed nihilominus quandoque, perspicuitatis causa 
 et ut usus tabularum clarius demonstretur, Exclusivam 
 duplicamus aut repetimus. 
 
 Exemplum Exclmivce, sive Rejectionis Naturarum a 
 Forma Calidi. 
 
 1. Per radios solis, rejice naturam elementarem. 1 
 
 2. Per ignem communem, et maxime per ignes sub- 
 terraneos (qui remotissimi sunt et plurimum interclu- 
 duntur a radiis coelestibus), rejice naturam coelestem. 
 
 3. Per calefactionem omnigenum corporum (hoc 
 est, mineralium, vegetabilium, partium exteriorum 
 animalium, aquas, olei, aeris, et reliquorum) ex ap- 
 proximatione sola ad ignem aut aliud corpus calidum, 
 rejice omnem varietatem sive subtiliorem texturam 
 corporum. 
 
 4. Per ferrum et metalla ignita, quae calefaciunt 
 alia corpora nee tamen omnino pondere aut substantia 
 minuuntur, rejice inditionem sive mixturam substan- 
 tiae alterius calidi. 
 
 5. Per aquam ferventem atque aerem, atque etiam 
 per metalla et alia solida calefacta, sed non usque ad 
 ignitionem sive ruborem, rejice lucem aut lumen. 
 
 6. Per radios lunas et aliarum stellarum (excepto 
 sole), rejice etiam lucem et lumen. 
 
 7. Per Comparativam ferri igniti et flammas spiritus 
 vini (ex quibus ferrum ignitum plus habet calidi et 
 
 1 This refers to the antithesis, almost fundamental in Peripatetic physics, 
 of the celestial and the elementary. Heat, since the sun's rays are hot, 
 cannot depend on the elemental as contradistinguished from the celestial 
 nature.
 
 388 NOVUM ORGANUM. 
 
 minus Jucidi, flamma autem spiritus vini plus lucidi 
 et minus calidi), rejice etiam lucem et lumen. 
 
 8. Per aurum et alia metalla ignita, quse densissimi 
 sunt corporis secundum totum, rejice tenuitatem. 
 
 9. Per aerem, qui invenitur ut plurimum frigidus et 
 tamen manet tenuis, rejice etiam tenuitatem. 
 
 10. Per ferrum ignitum, quod non intumescit mole 
 sed manet intra eandem dimensionem visibilem, rejice 
 motum localem aut expansivum secundum totum. 
 
 11. Per dilatationem aeris in vitris calendariis et 
 similibus, qui movetur localiter et expansive mani- 
 festo neque tamen colligit manifestum augmentum 
 caloris, rejice etiam motum localem aut expansivum 
 secundum totum. 
 
 12. Per facilem tepefactionem omnium corporum, 
 absque aliqua destructione aut alteratione notabili, 
 rejice naturam destructivam aut inditionem violentam 
 alicujus naturae novas. 
 
 13. Per consensum et conformitatem operum simil- 
 ium quoa eduntur a calore et a frigore, rejice motum 
 tarn expansivum quam contractivum secundum to- 
 tum. 
 
 14. Per accensionem caloris ex attrition* corporum, 
 rejice naturam principialem. Naturam principialem 
 vocamus earn quse positiva reperitur in natura, nee 
 causatur a natura praecedente. 1 
 
 i Bacon here anticipates not merely the essential character of the most 
 recent theory of heat, but also the kind of evidence by which it has been 
 established. The proof that caloric does not exist, in other words that 
 heat is not the manifestation of a peculiar substance diffused through na- 
 ture, rests mainly on experiments of friction. 
 
 Mr. Joule and Professor Thomson ascribe the discovery of this proof 
 chiefly to Sir Humphrey Davy (see Beddoes's Contributions to Physical and 
 Medical Knowledge, p. 14.): but though Davy's experiments guard against 
 sources of error of which Bacon takes no notice, the merit of having per-
 
 NOVUM ORGANUM. 389 
 
 Sunt et alias naturae : neque enira Tabulas confici- 
 mus perfectas, sed exempla tantum. 
 
 Omnes et singulae naturae prasdictae non sunt ex 
 Forma Calidi. Atque ab omnibus naturis prsedictis 
 liberatur homo in operatione super Calidum. 
 
 XIX. 
 
 Atque in Exclusiva jacta sunt fundamenta Induc- 
 tionis verae; quae tamen non perficitur donee sistatur 
 in Affirmativa. Neque vero ipsa Exclusiva ullo modo 
 perfecta est, neque adeo esse potest sub initiis. Est 
 enim Exclusiva (ut plane liquet) rejectio naturarum 
 simplicium ; quod si non habeamus adhuc bonas et 
 veras notiones naturarum simplicium, quomodo rec- 
 tificari potest Exclusiva? At nonnullae ex supra- 
 dictis (veluti notio naturae elementaris, notio natures 
 coelestis, notio tenuitatis) sunt notiones vagae, nee bene 
 terminatas. Itaque nos, qui nee ignari sumus nee 
 obliti quantum opus aggrediamur (viz. ut faciamus 
 intellectum humanum rebus et naturae parem), nullo 
 modo acquiescimus in his quaa adhuc praecepimus ; 
 sed et rem in ulterius provehimus, et fortiora auxilia 
 in usum intellectus machinamur et ministramus, quae 
 nunc subjungemus. Et certe in Interpretatione Na- 
 turae animus omnino taliter est praeparandus et for- 
 mandus, ut et sustineat se in gradibus debitis cer- 
 titudinis, et tamen cogitet (prassertim sub initiis) ea 
 quaead sunt multum pendere ex iis quae supersunt. 
 
 ceived the true significance of the production of heat by friction belongs of 
 right to Bacon. 
 
 It is curious that in the essay in which he opposes the doctrine of caloric, 
 Davy endeavours to introduce a new error of the same kind, and to show 
 that light really is a natura principialis, a peculiar substance which in com- 
 bination with oxygen properly so called constitutes oxygen gas, which he 
 accordingly calls phosoxygen.
 
 390 NOVUM ORGANUM. 
 
 XX. 
 
 Attamen quia citius emergit veritas ex errore quam 
 ex confusione, utile putamus ut fiat permissio intellec- 
 tui, post tres tabulas Comparentiae Primse (quales posui- 
 mus) factas et pensitatas, accingendi se et tentandi opus 
 Interpretationis Naturae in affirmativa ; tarn ex instarl- 
 tiis tabularum, quam ex iis quae alias occurrent. Quod 
 genus tentamenti, Permissionem Intellectus sive Inter- 
 pretationem Inchoatam, sive Vindemiationem Primam 
 appellare consuevimus. 
 
 \ 
 Vindemiatio Prima de Forma Calidi. 
 
 Animadvertendum autem est, Formam rei inesse (ut 
 ex iis quae dicta sunt plane liquet) instantiis universis et 
 singulis in quibus res ipsa inest ; aliter enim Forma non 
 esset; itaque nulla plane dari potest instantia contra- 
 dictoria. Attamen longe niagis conspicua invenitur 
 Forma et evidens in aliquibus instantiis quam in aliis ; 
 in iis videlicet, ubi minus cohibita est natura Formae et 
 impedita et redacta in ordinem per naturas alias. Hu- 
 jusmodi autem instantias, Elucescentias vel Instantias 
 Ostensivas appellare consuevimus. Pergendum itaque 
 est ad Vindemiationem ipsam Primam de Forma Calidi. 
 
 Per universas et singulas instantias, natura cujus 
 limitatio est Calor J videtur esse Motus. Hoc au- 
 tem maxime ostenditur in flamma, quae perpetuo 
 movetur ; et in liquoribus ferventibus aut bullien- 
 tibus, qui etiam perpetuo moventur. Atque osten- 
 ditur etiam in incitatione sive incremento caloris 
 facto per motum ; ut in follibus, et ventis ; de quo 
 
 i Of which heat is a particular case.
 
 NOVUM ORGANUM. 391 
 
 vide Instant. 29. Tab. 3. Atque similiter in aliis 
 modis motus, de quibus vide Instant. 28. et 31. 
 Tab. 3. Kursus ostenditur in extinctione ignis et 
 caloris per omnem fortem compressionem, quae 
 fraenat et cessare facit motum ; de qua vide In- 
 stant. 30. et 32. Tab. 3. Ostenditur etiam in hoc, 
 quod omne corpus destruitur aut saltern insigniter ' 
 alteratur ab omni igne et calore forti ac vehementi ; 
 unde liquodo constat, fieri a calore tumultum et 
 perturbationem et motum acrem in partibus inter- 
 nis corporis, qui sensim vergit ad dissolutionem. 
 
 Intelligatur hoc quod diximus de Motu (nempe, ut 
 sit instar generis ad Calorem 1 ), non quod calor generet 
 motum, aut quod motus generet calorem (licet et haac 
 in aliquibus vera sint) ; sed quod ipsissimus Calor, sive 
 quid ipsum Caloris, sit Motus et nihil aliud; limitatus 
 tamen per differentias quas mox subjungemus, post- 
 quam nonnullas cautiones adjecerimus ad evitandum 
 aequivocum. 
 
 Calidum ad sensum res respectiva est, et in ordine ad 
 hominem non ad universum ; et ponitur recte ut effec- 
 tus Caloris tantum in spiritum animalem. Quin etiam 
 in seipso res varia est, cum idem corpus (prout sensus 
 prsedisponitur) inducat perceptionem tarn calidi quam 
 frigidi ; ut patet per Instant. 41. Tab. 3. 
 
 Neque vero communicatio Caloris, sive natura ejus 
 transitiva per quam corpus admotum corpori calido in- 
 calescit, confundi debet cum Forma Calidi. Aliud 
 enim est Calidum, aliud Calefactivum. Nam per mo- 
 tum attritionis inducitur calor absque aliquo calido prae- 
 cedente, unde excluditur Calefactivum a Forma Calidi. 
 
 l i. e. that it is as the genus of which heat is a species.
 
 392 NOVUM ORGANUM. 
 
 Atque etiam ubi calidum efficitur per approximationem 
 calidi, hoc ipsum non fit ex Forma Calidi ; sed omnino 
 pendet a natura altiore et magis communi ; viz. ex 
 natura assimilationis sive multiplicationis sui; de qua 
 facienda est separatim inquisitio. 
 
 At notio ignis plebeia est, et nihil valet ; coraposita 
 enim est ex concursu qui fit calidi et lucidi in aliquto 
 corpore ; ut in flamma communi, et corporibus accensis 
 usque ad ruborem. 
 
 Remoto itaque omni sequivoco, veniendum jam tan- 
 dem est ad Differentias veras quas limitant Motum, et 
 constituunt eum in Formam Calidi. 
 
 PBIMA igitur Differentia ea est ; quod Calor sit 
 motus Expansivus, per quern corpus nititur ad dil- 
 atationem sui, et recipiendi se in majorem sphae- 
 ram sive dimensionem quam prius occupaverat. 
 Hsec autem Differentia maxime ostenditur in flam- 
 ma ; ubi fumus sive halitus pinguis manifesto 
 dilatatur et aperit .se in flammam. 
 
 Ostenditur etiam in omni liquore fervente, qui 
 manifesto intumescit, insurgit, et emittit bullas ; 
 atque urget processum expandendi se, donee verta- 
 tur in corpus longe magis extensum et dilatatum 
 quam sit ipse liquor ; viz. in vaporem aut fumum 
 aut ae'rem. 
 
 Ostenditur etiam in omni ligno et combustibili ; 
 
 O * 
 
 ubi fit aliquando exudatio, at semper evaporatio. 
 
 Ostenditur etiam in colliquatione metallorum, 
 quaa (cum sint corporis compactissimi) non facile 
 intumescunt et se dilatant ; sed tamen spiritus 
 eorum, postquam fuerit in se dilatatus, et majorem 
 adeo dilatationem concupierit, trudit plane et agit
 
 NOVUM ORGANUM. 393 
 
 partes crassiores in liquidum. Quod si etiam calor 
 fortius intendatur, solvit et vertit multum ex iis in 
 volatile. 
 
 Ostenditur etiam in ferro aut lapidibus ; quse 
 licet non liquefiant aut fimdantur, tamen emolliun- 
 tur. Quod etiam. fit in baculis ligni ; qua cale- 
 facta paullulum in cineribus calidis fiunt flexibilia. 
 
 Optime autem cernitur iste motus ina ere, qui 
 per exiguum calorem se dilatat continue et mani- 
 festo ; ut per Instant. 38. Tab. 3. 
 
 Ostenditur etiam in natura contrara Frigidi. 
 Frigus enim omne corpus contrahit et cogit in 
 angustius ; adeo ut per intensa frigora clavi exci- 
 dant ex parietibus, aera dissiliant, vitrum etiam cale- 
 factum et subito positum in frigido dissiliat et fran- 
 gatur. Similiter aer per levem infrigidationem 
 recipit se in angustius ; ut per Instant. 38. Tab. 3. 
 Verum de his fusius dicetur in inquisitione de Fri- 
 gido. 
 
 Neque mirum est si Calidum et Frigidum edant 
 complures actiones communes (de quo vide In- 
 stant. 32. Tab. 2.), cum inveniantur duse ex se- 
 quentibus Differentiis (de quibus mox dicemus) 
 qua3 competunt utrique naturae; licet in hac Dif- 
 ferentia (de qua nunc loquimur) actiones sint ex 
 diametro oppositae. Calidum enim dat motum 
 expansivum et dilatantem, Frigidum autem dat 
 motum contractivum et coeuntem. 
 
 SECUNDA Differentia est modificatio prioris ; ha3c 
 videlicet, quod Calor sit motus expansivus sive 
 versus circumferentiam ; hac lege tamen, ut una 
 feratur corpus sursum. Dubium enim non est
 
 394 NOVUM ORGANUM. 
 
 quin sint motus complures mixti. Exempli gratia , 
 sagitta aut spiculum simul et progrediendo rotat, 
 et rotando progreditur. Similiter et motus Caloris 
 simul est et expansivus et latio in sursum. 
 
 Haec vero Differentia ostenditur in forcipe, aut 
 bacillo ferreo immisso in ignem ; quia si immit- 
 tatur perpendiculariter tenendo manum superius, 
 cito manuin adurit ; sin ex latere aut inferius, 
 omnino tardius. 
 
 Conspicua etiam est in distillationibus per de- 
 scensorium ; quibus utuntur homines ad flores del- 
 icatiores, quorum odores facile evanescunt. Nam 
 hoc reperit industria, ut collocent ignem non subter 
 sed supra, ut adurat minus. Neque enim flamma 
 tantum vergit sursum, sed etiam omne calidum. 1 
 
 Fiat autem experimentum hujus rei in contraria 
 natura Frigidi : viz. utrum frigus non contrahat 
 corpus descendendo deorsum, quemadmodum cal- 
 idum dilatat ' corpus ascendendo sursum. Itaque 
 adhibeantur duo bacilla ferrea, vel duo tubi vitrei, 
 quoad castera pares, et calefiant nonnihil ; et pona- 
 tur spongia cum aqua frigida, vel nix, subter unam, 
 et similiter super alteram. Existimamus enim ce- 
 leriorem fore refrigerationem ad extremitates in eo 
 bacillo ubi nix ponitur supra quam in eo ubi nix 
 ponitur subter; contra ac fit in calido. 
 
 TERTIA Differentia ea est ; ut Calor sit motus, 
 non expansivus uniformiter secundum totum, sed 
 expansivus per particulas minores corporis ; et 
 simul cohibitus et repulsus et reverberatus, adeo 
 
 l This is an instance to show that heat does not descend so rapidly as it 
 ascends through liquids, which is true.
 
 NOVUM ORGANUM. 395 
 
 ut induat motum alternativum et perpetuo trepi- 
 dantem et tentantem et nitentem et ex repercus- 
 sione irritatum ; unde furor ille ignis et caloris 
 ortum habet. 
 
 Ista vero Differentia ostenditur maxime in flam- 
 ma et liquoribus bullientibus ; quae perpetuo trep- 
 idant, et in parvis portionibus tument, et rursus 
 subsidunt. 
 
 Ostenditur etiam in iis corporibus quae sunt tam 
 duras compagis ut calefacta aut ignita non intu- 
 mescant aut dilatentur mole; ut ferrum ignitum, 
 in quo calor est acerrimus. 
 
 Ostenditur etiam in hoc, quod per frigidissimas 
 tempestates focus ardeat acerrime. 
 
 Ostenditur etiam in hoc, quod cum extenditur 
 aer in vitro calendari absque impedimento aut re- 
 pulsione, uniformiter scilicet et sequaliter, non per- 
 cipiatur calor. Etiam in ventis conclusis, licet 
 erumpant vi maxima, tamen non percipitur calor 
 insignis ; quia scilicet motus fit secundum totum, 
 absque motu alternante in particulis. Atque ad 
 hoc fiat experimentum, utrum flamma non urat 
 acrius versus latera quam in medio flammas. 
 
 Ostenditur etiam in hoc, quod omnis ustio tran- 
 sigatur per minutos poros corporis quod uritur ; 
 adeo ut ustio subruat et penetret et fodicet et 
 stimulet, perinde ac si essent infinitae cuspides 
 acus. Itaque ex hoc illud etiam fit, quod omnes 
 aquae fortes (si proportionatae sint ad corpus in 
 quod agunt) edant opera ignis, ex natura sua cor- 
 rodente et pungente. 
 
 Atque ista Differentia (de qua mine dicimus) 
 communis est cum natura frigidi ; in quo cohibetur
 
 396 NOVUM ORGANUM. 
 
 motus contractivus per renitentiam expandendi ; 
 queraadmodum in calido cohibetur motus expan- 
 sivus per renitentiam contrahendi. 
 
 Itaque sive partes corporis penetrent versus inte- 
 rius sive penetrent versus exterius, similis est ratio ; 
 licet impar admodum sit fortitude ; quia non habe- 
 mus hie apud nos in superficie terras aliquid quod 
 sit impense frigidum. Vide Instant. 27. Tab. 9. 1 
 
 QUARTA Differentia est modificatio prioris : hasc 
 scilicet, quod motus ille stimulationis aut penetra- 
 tionis debeat esse nonnihil rapidus et minime len- 
 tus ; atque fiat etiam per particulas, licet minutas ; 
 tamen non ad extremam subtilitatem, sed quasi 
 majusculas. 
 
 Ostenditur haec Differentia in comparatione ope- 
 rum quse edit ignis cum iis quse edit tempus sive 
 setas. jEtas enim sive tempus arefacit, consumit, 
 submit, et incinerat, non minus quam ignis ; vel 
 potius longe subtilius ; sed quia motus ejusmodi 
 est lentus admodum et per particulas valde exiles, 
 non percipitur calor. 
 
 Ostenditur etiam in comparatione dissolutionum 
 ferri et auri. Aurum enim dissolvitur absque ca- 
 lore excitato ; ferrum autem cum vehement! exci- 
 tatione caloris, licet simili fere intervallo quoad 
 tempus. Quia scilicet in auro, ingressus aquae 
 separationis est clemens et subtiliter insinuans, et 
 cessio partium auri facilis ; at in ferro, ingressus 
 est asper et cum conflictu, et partes ferri habent 
 obstinationem majorem. 
 
 Ostenditur etiam aliquatenus in gangraenis non- 
 
 1 So in the original. J. S.
 
 NOVUM ORGANUM. 397 
 
 nullis et mortificationibus carnium ; quae non exci- 
 tant magnum ealorem aut dolorem, ob subtilitatem 
 putrefactionis. 
 
 Atque base sit Prima Vindemiatio, sive Interpretatio 
 inchoata de Forma Calidi, facta per Permissionem In- 
 tellectus. 
 
 Ex Vindemiatione autem ista Prima, Forma sive 
 definitio vera Caloris (ejus qui est in ordine ad univer- 
 sum, non relativus tantummodo ad sensum) talis est, 
 brevi verborum complexu : Color est motus expansivus, 
 cohibitus, et nitens per partes minores. Modificatur 
 autem expansio ; ut expcmdendo in ambitum, nonnihil 
 tamen inclinet versus superiora. Modificatur autem et 
 nixus ille per partes ; ut non sit omnino segnis, sed inci- 
 tatus et cum impetu nonnullo, 1 
 
 1 The Inquisitio de form!, calidi suggests these remarks : 
 
 1st. A great part of it conduces in no way to the result. This may be 
 said to be the natural consequence of the method of inquiry. 
 
 2nd. Heat (caloric) is confounded with the effects of chemical agencies, 
 which are said "exequi opera caloris." 
 
 3rd. A greater source of confusion is the complete absence of any recog- 
 nition of the principle that all bodies tend to acquire the temperature of 
 those about them, and that the difference ad tactum which makes one body 
 feel hotter or colder than another depends not on its being hotter or colder, 
 but on the different degree of facility which they have in communicating 
 their own respective temperature. In consequence of this, it had always 
 been taught that one class of bodies were in their own nature cold, another 
 hot, and so on. All liquids were cold. Experiments with a thermometer 
 would have shown that they were not; but these Bacon did not try, 
 an instance among others how far he was from rejecting all he had been 
 taught. 
 
 Of which remarks we may observe that, of the " Instantise convenientes," 
 13. is an instance of the third, while from 22. to the end exemplify the sec- 
 ond; of the "Instantise in proximo," 14 19. are to be referred to the 
 third; from 27. to the end, to the second. 
 
 4th. Calidum and Frigidum seem to be considered distinct and not cor- 
 relative qualities. 
 
 5th. The adoption of astrological fables about the hot and cold influence
 
 398 NOVUM ORGANUM. 
 
 Quod vero ad Operativam attinet, eadem res est. 
 Nam designatio est talis ; /Si in aliquo corpore naturali 
 
 of the stars and planets [is to be remarked in the Tabula Graduum, 15. et 
 seqq.] 
 
 Then comes the result, that the natura calidi is a motus expansivus 
 This is seen [in air], " Optime cernitur in acre qui per exiguum calorem se 
 dilatat continue et manifesto, ut per Inst. 38. Tab. 3.: " that is, by the in- 
 stance of a vitrum calendare, or air-thermometer. And this is beyond 
 question a good instance. But then in the " exemplum exclusive," 11., 
 we read " Per dilatationem aeris in vitris calendariis et similibus, qui 
 movetur localiter et expansive manifesto, neque tamen colligit manifestum 
 augmentum caloris, rejice etiam motum localem aut expansivum secundum 
 totum." How is this passage to be reconciled with the preceding? For 
 if the example of the vitrum calendare proves anything, it proves a motus 
 expansivus secundum totum; and if, on account of our having no manifest 
 evidence that the air waxes hot when it expands, the example does not 
 prove this, why is it adduced ? The source of this confusion I believe to 
 be that, though Bacon saw reason to affirm expansion to be the essence of 
 the hot, j r et he was perplexed by examples of two kinds: (a) bodies which 
 do not visibly expand when they are heated, e. g. red-hot iron; (/5) bodies 
 which expand without becoming heated, e. g. compressed air when relieved 
 from pressure. For the first difficulty, it might have occurred to him that 
 the hot iron does expand, though not enough to be perceived (except by 
 accurate measurement) to do so ; and if he had followed the indication thus 
 given, he might have been the discoverer of a general and most important 
 law. The difficulty which the second class of phenomena creates ought to 
 have prevented Bacon from assigning expansion as the forma calidi, as 
 being that which must always make a body hot, and without which it could 
 not become so. For it would be too liberal an interpretation to say that the 
 expressions " motus cohibitus et refraanatus," whereby the idea of expansion 
 is qualified, refer to a condition essential in the case of elastic fluids, 
 namely that the expansion- in becoming heated is due to an increased elas- 
 ticity, and not to any decrease of external pressure. Even had the modi- 
 fication required by this class of cases been introduced, there still remains 
 that of liquids whose temperature is below that of maximum density, which 
 is altogether intractable. Of this phenomenon, however, it would be un- 
 reasonable to expect Bacon to have known anything. But setting it aside, 
 if it were affirmed that Bacon, after having had a glimpse of the truth sug- 
 gested by some obvious phenomena, had then recourse, as he himself ex- 
 presses it, to certain " differentiae inanes " in order to save the phenomena, 
 I think it would be hard to dispute the truth of this censure. 
 
 Nevertheless, of the matters contained in the investigation, there are 
 several of considerable interest, though, as has been said, they are not con- 
 nected with the final result. 
 
 The relation between heat and mechanical action has recently become
 
 NOVUM ORGANTJM. 399 
 
 poteris excitare motum ad se dilatandum aut expanderv- 
 dum ; eumque motum ita reprimere et in se vertere, ut 
 dilatatio ilia non procedat cequaliter, sed partim obtineat, 
 partim retrudatur; proculdubio generabis Calidum: non 
 habita rations, sive corpus illucl sit elementare (ut lo- 
 quuntur) sive imbutum a coelestibus ; l sive luminosum 
 sive opacum ; sive tenue sive densum ; sive localiter 
 expansum sive intra claustra dimensionis primas conten- 
 tum ; sive vergens ad dissolutionem sive manens in statu ; 
 sive animal, sive vegetabile, sive minerale, sive aqua, sive 
 oleum, sive aer, aut aliqua alia substantia quaecunque 
 susceptiva motus prsedicti. Calidum autem ad sensum 
 res eadem est ; sed cum analogia, qualis competit sen- 
 sui. 2 Nunc vero ad ulteriora auxilia procedendum est. 
 
 the subject of some very remarkable speculations, derived from the views 
 suggested by S. Carnot in his Reflections sur la Puissance Molrice du Feu. 
 Two views have been propounded. In one (that of S. Carnot himself), 
 mechanical action is regarded as convertible with the transference from 
 body to body of caloric. The other rejects the notion of caloric (the sub- 
 stance of heat) altogether. On this view mechanical action is convertible 
 with the generation of heat; i. e. the raising of a given quantity of a given 
 body from one given temperature to another. Both make use of the axiom 
 "ex nihilo nihil; " and the. conclusions thus obtained, especially in the sec- 
 ond way of considering the subject, which I cannot doubt is the true one, 
 are most remarkable, and the more interesting because they are, so to 
 speak, the interpretation of a maxim whose truth is admitted a priori. 
 
 1 That is, whether the body derive its properties from the primary quali- 
 ties of the elements, or be imbued with specific or virtual qualities through 
 the influence of the heavenly bodies. Thus St. Thomas says: " Sicut enim 
 virtus calefaciendi et infrigidandi est in igne et aqua consequens proprias 
 eorum formas, et virtus, &c., actio intellectualis in homine consequens ani- 
 mam rationalem, ita omnes virtutes et actiones mediorum corporum tran- 
 scendentes virtutes elementorum consequuutur eorum proprias formas, et 
 reducuntur sicut in altiora principia in virtutes corporum coelestium, et ad- 
 huc altius in substantias separatas." De occultis Operibus Natures. 
 
 2 The '* analogia qualis competit sensui " is the " analogia hominis." 
 This appears from the passages where the word occurs in the Distributio 
 Operis, p. 218., and in 40. of this book, near the end. Thus the meaning 
 of the passage is that " calidum ad sensum " is the same as " calidum pel 
 se," only considered subjectively. The clause " sed cum analogia," &c.,
 
 400 NOVUM ORGANUM. 
 
 XXI. 
 
 Post Tabulas Comparentiae Primse et Rejectionera 
 sive Exclusivam, nee non Vindemiationem Primam 
 factam secundum eas, pergendura est ad reliqua auxilia 
 intellectus circa Interpretationem Naturae et Induc- 
 tionem veram ac perfectam. In quibus proponendis, 
 ubi opus erit tabulis, procedemus super Calidum et 
 Frigidum ; ubi autem opus erit tantum exemplis pau- 
 cioribus, procedemus per alia omnia ; ut nee confun- 
 datur inquisitio, et tamen doctrina versetur minus in 
 angusto. 
 
 Dicemus itaque primo loco, de Prcerogativis Instan- 
 tiarum : l secundo, de Adminiculis Inductionis : tertio, 
 de Rectificatione Inductionis : quarto, de Variatione In- 
 quisitionis pro Natura Subjecti : 2 quinto, de Prceroga- 
 tivis Naturarum quatenus ad inquisitionem, sive de eo 
 quod inquirendum est prius et posterius : sexto, de Ter- 
 minis Inquisitionis, sive de synopsi omnium naturarum 
 in universe : septimo, de Deductione ad Praxin, sive 
 de eo quod est in ordine ad Hominem : octavo, de 
 Parascevis ad Inquisitionem : postremo autem, de Scala 
 Ascensoria et Descensoria Axiomatum. 
 
 xxn. 
 Inter Praerogativas Instantiarum, primo proponemus 
 
 may be rendered " but with that kind of reference to man as the per- 
 cipient which belongs to the nature of a perception." 
 
 1 Concerning the doctrine of Prerogative Instances, see General Preface, 
 p. 93. 1. S. 
 
 2 Compare the passage near the end of the last aphorism of this book 
 " Nunc vero ad adminicula et rectificationes inductionis, et deinceps ad con- 
 creta et latentes processus, et latentes schematismos, et camera quae apho- 
 rismo xxi. ordine proposuimus, pergendum ; " and see General Preface 
 p. 77. J. 8.
 
 NOVUM ORGANUM. 401 
 
 Instantias Solitarias. Ese autem sunt Solitariae, quae 
 exhibent naturam de qua fit inquisitio in talibus subjec- 
 tis quae nil liabent commune cum aliis subjectis, praeter 
 illam ipsam naturam ; aut rursus quae non exhibent 
 naturam de qua fit inquisitio in talibus subjectis quae 
 sunt similia per omnia cum aliis subjectis, praeterquam 
 in ilia ipsa natura. Manif'estum enim est quod hujus- 
 mocli instantiae tollant ambages, atque accelerent et 
 roborent Exclusivam ; adeo ut paucae ex illis sint in- 
 star multarum. 
 
 Exempli gratia : si fiat inquisitio de natura Coloris, 
 Instantiae Solitariae sunt prismata, gemmae chrystallinae, 
 quae reddunt colores non solum in se sed exterius supra 
 parietem, item rores, etc. Istae enim nil habent com- 
 mune cum coloribus fixis in floribus, gemmis coloratis, 
 metallis, lignis, etc., praeter ipsum colorem. U"nde 
 facile colligitur, quod Color nil aliud sit quam modi- 
 ficatio imaginis lucis * immissae et receptae ; in priore 
 genere, per gradus diversos incidentias ; in posteriore, 
 per texturas et schematismos varios corporis. Istae 
 autem Instantiae sunt Solitariae quatenus ad similitu- 
 dinBm. 
 
 Rursus in eadem inquisitione, venae distinctae albi 
 et nigri in marmoribus, et variegationes colorum in 
 floribus ejusdem speciei, sunt Instantiae Solitariae. Al- 
 bum enim et nigrum marmoris, et maculae albi et 
 purpurei in floribus garyophylli, 2 conveniunt fere in 
 
 1 Reference is made to Telesius's system of vision. " Lux donata est 
 facultate sese effundendi multiplicandique et aerem propria specie affici- 
 endi, itaque et oculos subeundi." . . . Again, " lux quae res quibus in- 
 sunt [colores] permeat. . . ab ipsarura intingitur coloribus, et eas trans- 
 vecta oculos subit." De Rerum Nat. vii. 31. See also other passages ot 
 the same book. Bacon uses "imago" as equivalent to "species," the 
 word used in the preceding quotation. 
 
 2 Caryophyllea was a flower much cultivated in Holland in the sixteenth 
 
 VOL. i. 26
 
 402 NOVUM ORGANDM. 
 
 omnibus praeter ipsum colorem. Unde facile colligi- 
 tur, Colorem non multum rei habere cum naturis ali- 
 cujus corporis intrinsecis, sed tantum situm esse in 
 positura partium crassiori et quasi mechanica. Istas 
 autem Instantiae sunt Solitaries quatenus ad discrepan- 
 tiam. Utrunque autem genus Instantias Solitarias 
 appellare consuevimus ; aut Ferinas, 1 sumpto vocab- 
 ulo ab astronomis. 
 
 XXIII. 
 
 Inter Praerogativas Instantiarum, ponemus secundo 
 loco Instantias Migrantes. Eae sunt, in quibus natura 
 inquisita rnigrat ad generationem, cum prius non ex- 
 isteret : aut contra migrat ad corruptionem, cum prius 
 existeret. Itaque in utraque antistrophe, instantiaa tales 
 sunt semper gemmae ; vel potius una instantia in motu 
 sive transitu, producta ad periodum adversam. At 
 hujusmodi instantiae non solum accelerant et roborant 
 Exclusivam, sed etiam compellunt Affirmativam sive 
 Formam ipsam in angustum. Necesse est enim ut 
 Forma rei sit quippiam quod per hujusmodi Migra- 
 tionem indatur, aut contra per hujusmodi Migrationem 
 tollatur et destruatur. Atque licet omnis exclusio pro- 
 moveat Affirmativam, tamen hoc magis directe fit in 
 subjecto eodem quam in diversis. Forma autem (ut 
 ex omnibus quse dicta sunt manifesto liquet) prodens 
 
 century; see Lemmius, De MiracuKs (1581), p. 107. (The description 
 Bceins more applicable to the tulip.) The flowers meant are pinks and 
 carnations. 
 
 1 1 believe the word which Bacon here employs is at least very much 
 less used than another of perhaps the same origin for which he has perhaps 
 accidentally substituted it. " Feralis," we read in the Lexicon Mathemati- 
 cum of Vitalis (1668), which appears to give a tolerably complete vocab- 
 ulary of astrological words, " apud astronomos dicitur planeta, quando 
 fuerit in loco ubi nullam cum reliquis familiaritatem habet: quod quidem 
 maximum est detrimentum," &c.
 
 NOVUM ORGANUM. 403 
 
 se in uno ducit ad omnia. Quo autem simplicior 
 fuerit Migratio, eo magis habenda est instantia in 
 pretio. Praeterea Instantiae Migrantes magni sunt 
 usus ad partem operativam ; quia cum proponant For- 
 mam copulatam cum Efficiente aut Privante, perspicue 
 designant praxin in aliquibus ; unde facilis etiam est 
 transitus ad proxima. Subest tamen in illis non- 
 nihil periculi, quod indiget cautione ; hoc videlicet, 
 ne Formam nimis retrahant ad Efficientem, et intel- 
 lectum perfundant vel saltern perstringant falsa opin- 
 ione de Forma ex intuitu Efficientis. Efficiens vero 
 semper ponitur nil aliud esse quam vehiculum sive 
 deferens Formae. 1 Verum huic rei, per Exclusivam 
 legitime factam, facile adhibetur remedium. 
 
 Proponendum itaque est jam exemplum Instantiae 
 Migrantis. Sit natura inquisita Candor sive Albedo: 
 Instantia Migrans ad generationem est vitrum inte- 
 grum et vitrum pulverizatum. Similiter, aqua simplex 
 et aqua agitata in spumam. Vitrum enim integrum 
 et aqua simplex diaphana sunt, non alba; at vitrum 
 pulverizatum et aqua in spuma, alba, non diaphana. 
 Itaque quaerendum quid accident ex ista Migratione 
 vitro aut aquas. Manifestum enim est Formam Al- 
 bedinis deferri et invehi per istam contusiouem vitri et 
 agitation em aquae. Nihil autem reperitur accessisse, 
 praeter comminutionem partium vitri et aquas, et aeris 
 insertionem. Neque vero parum profectum est ad in- 
 veniendam Formam Albedinis, quod corpora duo per 
 se diaphana, sed secundum magis et minus, (aer scili- 
 cet et aqua, aut aer et vitrum,) simul posita per minu- 
 
 1 The causa efficiens is the vehiculum formae, inasmuch as it carries the 
 form into the subject matter on which it acts; in other words it actuates 
 the potential existence of the farm in the subject matter. (Cf. De Aug. 
 iii.4.)
 
 404 NOVUM ORGAXUM. 
 
 tas portiones exhibeant Albedinem, per refractionem 
 inasqualem radiorum lucis. 1 
 
 Verum hac in re proponendum est etiam exemplum 
 periculi et cautionis, de quibus diximus. Nimirum 
 facile hie occurret intellectui ab hujusmodi Efficienti- 
 bus depravato quod ad Formam Albedinis aer semper 
 requiratur, aut quod Albedo generetur tantum per 
 corpora diaphaua ; quae omnino falsa sunt, et per 
 multas Exclusiones convicta. Quin potius apparebit 
 (misso aere et hujusmodi) corpora omnino aequalia 
 (secundum portiones opticas) dare diaphanum ; cor- 
 pora vero inaequalia per texturam simplicem, dare 
 album ; corpora inasqualia secundum texturam com- 
 positam, sed ordinatam, dare reliquos colores, praeter 
 nigrum ; corpora vero inaequalia per texturam com- 
 positam, sed omnino inordinatam et confusam, dare 
 nigrum. 2 Itaque de Instantia Migrante ad genera- 
 tionem in natura inquisita Albedinis, propositum est 
 jam exemplum. Instantia autem Migrans ad corrup- 
 tionem in eadem natura Albedinis, est spuma dissoluta, 
 aut nix dissoluta. Exuit enim albedinem et induit 
 diaphanum aqua, postquam fit integrale sine aere. 
 
 Neque vero illud ullo modo praetermittendum est, 
 quod sub Instantiis Migrantibus comprehendi debeant 
 non tantum illse quae migrant ad generationem et pri- 
 
 1 Bacon would perhaps have given as another illustration of what he has 
 here said the beautiful whiteness of frosted silver, if he had been aware that 
 it is in reality silver foam. It appears that when silver is in a state of fusion 
 a very large quantity of oxygen is condensed on and within its surface, the 
 whole of which escapes at the moment of solidification. This explanation 
 of the appearance of granulated silver is due, I believe, to Gay Lussac. 
 
 2 Compare Valerius Terminus, ch. xi. : "It is then to be understood 
 that absolute equality produceth transparence, inequality in simple order 
 or proportion produceth whiteness, inequality in compound or respective 
 order or proportion produceth other colours, and absolute or orderless in- 
 equality produceth blackness." J. S.
 
 NOVUM ORGANDM. 405 
 
 vationem, 'sed etiam illse quae migrant ad majorationem 
 et minorationem ; cum illae etiain tendant ad inveni- 
 endam Formam, ut per definitionem Forma? superius 
 factam et Tabulam Graduum manifesto liquet. Itaque 
 papyrus, quae sicca cum fuerit alba est, at madefacta 
 (excluso acre et recepta aqua) minus alba est et 
 magis vergit ad diaphanum, similem habet ration em 
 cum instantiis supradictis. 
 
 XXIV. 
 
 Inter Praerogativas Instantiarum, tertio loco pone- 
 mus Instantias Ostensivas, de quibus in Vindemiatione 
 Prima de Calido mentionem fecimus ; quas etiam Elu- 
 cescentias, sive Instantias Liberatas et Prcedominantes, 
 appellare consuevimus. Ea3 sunt, quse ostendunt na- 
 turam inquisitam nudam et substantivam, atque etiam 
 in exaltatione sua aut summo gradu potentiae suaa ; 
 emancipatam scilicet, et liberatam ab impedimentis, 
 vel saltern per fortitudinem suae virtutis dominantem 
 super ipsa, eaque supprimentem et coercentem. Cum 
 enim omne corpus suscipiat multas naturarum Formas 
 copulatas et in concrete, fit ut alia aliam retundat, 
 deprimat, frangat, et liget ; unde obscurantur Formse 
 singular. Inveniuntur autem subjecta nonnulla in qui- 
 bus natura inquisita pra3 aliis est in suo vigore, vel per 
 absentiam impediment! vel per praedominantiam vir- 
 tutis. Hujusmodi autem instantiae sunt maxime osten- 
 sivas Formae. Verum et in his ipsis instantiis adhi- 
 benda est cautio, et cohibendus impetus intellectus. 
 Quicquid enim ostentat Formam, eamque trudit, ut 
 videatur occurrere intellectui, pro suspecto habendum 
 est, et recurrendum ad Exclusivam severam et dili- 
 gentem.
 
 406 NOVUM ORGAN UM. 
 
 Exempli gratia ; sit natura inquisita Calidum. In- 
 stantia Ostensiva motus expansionis, quae (ut supe- 
 rius dictum est) portio est praecipua Formae Cali- 
 di, est vitrum calendare aeris. Etenim flamma, li- 
 eet manifesto exhibeat expansionem, tamen propter 
 monientaneam extinctionem non ostendit progressum 
 expansionis. Aqua autem fervens, propter facilem 
 transitionem aquae in vaporem et aerem, non tarn 
 bene ostendit expansionem aquas in corpore suo. Rur- 
 sus ferrum ignitum, et similia, tantum abest ut pro- 
 gressum ostendant, ut contra per retusionem et frac- 
 tionem spiritus per partes compactas et crassas (quae 
 domant et fraBiiant expansionem) ipsa expansio non sit 
 omnino conspicua 1 ad sensum. At vitrum calendare 
 clare ostendit expansionem in acre, et conspicuam et 
 progredientem et durantem, neque transeuntem. 
 
 Rursus, exempli gratia ; sit natura inquisita Pondus. 
 Instantia Ostensiva ponderis, est argentum vivum. 
 Omnia enim superat pondere magno intervallo, prae- 
 ter aurum ; quod non multo gravius est. 1 At prae- 
 stantior instantia est ad indicandam Formam Ponderis 
 argentum vivum quam aurum ; quia aurum solidum 
 est et consistens, quod genus referri videtur ad den- 
 sum ; at argentum vivum liquidum est et turgens spir- - 
 itu, et tamen multis partibus exuperat gravitate dia- 
 mantem, et ea quse putantur solidissima. Ex quo 
 ostenditur Formam Gravis sive Ponderosi dominari 
 simpliciter in copia materise, et non in arcta corn- 
 page. 
 
 1 This mistake occurs also in the Historia Demi et Rari. According to 
 Bacon, the density of mercury is to that of gold as thirty-nine is to forty, 
 nearly ; the real ratio being as little more than as -seven to ten. The way 
 in which his experiments were made accounts for a large part of this error. 
 See the preface to the Historia Den&i et Rari.
 
 NOVUM ORGANUM. 407 
 
 XXV. 
 
 Inter Praerogativas Instantiarum ponemus quarto 
 loco Instantias Clandestinas, quas etiam Instantias Cr&- 
 pusculi appellare consuevimus. Eae sunt veluti op- 
 positas Instantiis Ostensivis. Exhibent enim naturam 
 inquisitam in infima virtute, et tanquam in incunabu- 
 lis et rudimentis suis ; tentantem et tanquam primo 
 experientem, sed sub contraria natura latentern et 
 subactam. Sunt autem hujusmodi instantiae magni 
 omnino momenti ad inveniendas Formas ; quia sicut 
 Ostensivae ducunt facile ad differentias, ita Clandes- 
 tinae ducunt optime ad genera ; id est, ad naturas illas 
 communes quarum naturae inquisitae nihil aliud sunt 
 quam limitationes. 
 
 Exempli gratia ; sit natura inquisita Consistens, sive 
 se determinans ; cujus contrarium est Liquidum, sive 
 fluens. Instantiae Clandestinae sunt illas quae exhibent 
 gradum nonnullum debilem et infimum Consistentis in 
 fluido ; veluti bulla aquae, quae est tanquam pellicula 
 quaedam consistens et determinata, facta ex corpore 
 aquae. Similiter stillicidia, quas, si adfuerit aqua quae 
 succedat, producunt se in filum admodum tenue, ne dis- 
 continuetur aqua ; at si non detur talis copia aquae quae 
 succedere possit, cadit aqua in guttis rotundis, quae est 
 figura quae optime aquam sustinet contra discontinua- 
 tionem. At in ipso temporis articulo cum desinit filum 
 aquae et incipit descensus in guttis, resilit ipsa aqua sur- 
 sum ad evitandam discontinuationem. Quin in metal- 
 lis, quae cum funduntur sunt liquida sed magis tenacia, 
 recipiunt se saspe" guttae liquefactse sursum, atque ita 
 haerent. Simile quoddam est instantia speculorum pue- 
 rilium, qua? solent facere pueruli in scirpis ex saliva, ubi
 
 408 NOVUM ORGANUM. 
 
 cernitur etiam pellicula consistens aquae. At multo 
 melius se ostendit hoc ipsum in altero illo ludicro pue- 
 rili, quando capiunt aquara, per saponem factam paulo 
 tenaciorem, atque inflant earn per calamum cavum, 
 atque inde formant aquam tanquam in castellum bulla- 
 rum ; quae per interpositionem aeris inducit consisten- 
 tiam eo usque ut se projici nonnihil patiatur absque dis- 
 continuatione. 1 Optime autem cernitur hoc in spuma 
 et nive, quae talem induunt consistentiam ut fere secari 
 possint; cum tamen sint corpora formata ex aere et 
 aqua, quaa utraque sunt liquida. Quse omnia non ob- 
 scure innuunt Liquidum et Consistens esse notiones 
 tantum plebeias, et ad sensum ; inesse 'autem revera 
 omnibus corporibus fiigam et evitationem se discontinu- 
 andi ; earn vero in corporibus homogeneis (qualia sunt 
 liquida) esse debilem et infirmam, in corporibus vero 
 quas sunt composita ex heterogeneis, magis esse vividam 
 et fortem ; propterea quod admotio heterogenei constrin- 
 git corpora, at subintratio homogenei solvit et relaxat. 
 
 Similiter, exempli gratia : sit natura inquisita At- 
 tractio, sive Coitio Corporum. Instantia circa Formam 
 ejus Ostensiva maxime insignis est magnes. Contraria 
 autem natura Attrahenti est non Attrahens, licet in 
 substantia simili. Veluti ferrum, quod non attrahit 
 ferrum, quemadmodum nee plumbum plumbum, nee 
 lignum lignum, nee aquam aqua. Instantia autem 
 Clandestina est magnes ferro armatus, vel potius ferrum 
 in magnete armato. Nam ita fert natura, ut magnes 
 armatus in distantia aliqua non trahat ferrum fortius 
 quam magnes non armatus. Verum si admoveatur 
 
 1 Far tougher bubbles than the ordinary kind may be blown in water in 
 which silk cocoons have been steeped. Some curious experiments on this 
 subject are mentioned in Porter on Silk Manufactures (Lardner's Cyclop.).
 
 NOVUM ORGANUM. 409 
 
 ferrum, ita ut tangat ferrum in magnete armato, tune 
 magnes armatus longe majus pondus ferri sustinet quara 
 magnes simplex et inermis, propter similitudinem sub- 
 stantise ferri versus ferrum ; quse operatic erat omnino 
 Clandestina et latens in ferro, antequam magnes acces- 
 sisset. 1 Itaque manifestum est Formam Coitionis esse 
 quippiam quod in magnete sit vividum et robustum, in 
 ferro debile et latens. Itidem notatum est sagittas par- 
 vas ligneas absque cuspide ferrea, emissas ex sclopetis 
 grandibus, altius penetrare in materiam ligneam (puta 
 latera navium, aut similia), quam easdem sagittas ferro 
 acuminatas, propter similitudinem substantiae ligni ad 
 lignum, licet hoc ante in ligno latuerit. Itidem, licet 
 aer ae'rem aut aqua aquam manifesto non trahat in cor- 
 poribus integris, tamen bulla approximata bullse facilius 
 dissolvit bullam quam si bulla ilia altera abesset, ob ap- 
 petitum Coitionis aquse cum aqua et aeris cum acre. 
 Atque hujusmodi Instantiae Clandestine (quse sunt 
 usus nobilissimi, ut dictum est) in portionibus corpo- 
 rum parvis et subtilibus maxime se dant conspiciendas. 
 Quia massae rerum majores sequuntur Formas magis 
 catholicas et generales ; ut suo loco dicetur. 
 
 XXVI. 
 
 Inter Praerogativas Instantiarum ponemus quinto 
 loco Instantias Comtitutivas, quas etiam Manipulares ap- 
 pellare consuevimus. Eae sunt quaa constituunt unam 
 speciem naturae inquisitae tanquam Formam Minorem. 
 Cum enim Formae legitimae (quae sunt semper con- 
 
 1 This explanation of the effect of arming a magnet is wholly unsatis- 
 factory. Before the Novum Organum was published, Galileo had shown 
 that the armature acts by producing a more perfect contact. See the Dia- 
 logi dei Sistemi massimi, Giorn. 3a. p. 440. I quote from the new edition. 
 Firenze 1842.
 
 410 NOVUM ORGANUM. 
 
 vertibiles cum naturis inquisitis) lateant in profundo nee 
 facile inveniantur, postulat res et infirmitas humani in- 
 tellectus ut Formse particulares, quae sunt congregativae 
 Manipulorum quorundam instantiarum (neutiquam vero 
 omnium) in notionem aliquam communem, non negli- 
 gantur, verum diligentius notentur. Quicquid enim 
 unit naturam, licet modis imperfectis, ad inventionem 
 Formarum viam sternit. Itaque instantiae qu33 ad hoc 
 utiles sunt non sunt contemnendas potestatis, sed ha- 
 bent nonnullam Praerogativam. 
 
 Verum in his diligens est adhibenda cautio, ne intel- 
 lectus humanus, postquam complures ex istis Formis 
 particularibus adinvenerit atque inde partitiones sive 
 divisiones natures inquisitae confecerit, in illis omnino 
 acquiescat, atque ad inventionem legitimam Formae 
 Magnae se non accingat, sed prassupponat naturam 
 velut a radicibus esse multiplicem et divisam, atque 
 ulteriorem naturae unionem, tanquam rem supervacuae 
 subtilitatis et vergentem ad merum abstractum, fas- 
 tidiat et rejiciat. 
 
 Exempli gratia; sit natura inquisita Memoria, sive 
 Excitans et Adjuvans memoriam. Instantiae Constitu- 
 tivae sunt, ordo sive distributio, quae manifesto juvat 
 memoriam ; item Loci in memoria artificial!, qui aut 
 possunt esse loci secundum proprium sensum, veluti 
 janua, angulus, fenestra, et similia, aut possunt esse 
 personae familiares et notae, aut possunt esse quidvis ad 
 placitum (modo in ordine certo ponantur), veluti ani- 
 malia, herbae ; etiam verba, literae, characteres, personae 
 historic.33, et caetera ; licet nonnulla ex his magis apta 
 sint et commoda, alia minus. Hujusmodi autem Loci 
 memoriam insigniter juvant, eamque longe supra vires 
 naturales exaltant. Item carmina facilius haerent et
 
 NOVUM ORGANUM. 411 
 
 discuntur memoriter quam .prosa. Atque ex isto Ma- 
 nipulo trium instantiarum, videlicet ordinis, locorum ar- 
 tificialis memorise, et versuum, constituitur species una 
 auxilii ad Memoriam. Species autem ilia Abscissio In- 
 finiti recte vocari possit. Cum enim quis aliquid remi- 
 nisci aut revocare in memoriam nititur, si nullam prae- 
 notionem habeat aut perceptionem ejus quod quserit, 
 quaerit certe et molitur et hac iliac discurrit, tanquam 
 in infinite. Quod si certam aliquam praenotionem ha- 
 beat, statim abscinditur infinitum, et fit discursus me- 
 moriae magis in vicino. In tribus autem illis instantiis 
 quas superius dictae sunt, praenotio perspicua est et certa. 
 In prima videlicet, debet esse aliquid quod congruat 
 cum ordine ; in secunda debet esse imago quae relatio- 
 nem aliquam habeat sive convenientiam ad ilia loca cer- 
 ta ; in tertia, debent esse verba quae cadant in versum ; 
 atque ita abscinditur infinitum. Alias autem instantiae 
 dabunt hanc alteram speciem ; ut quicquid deducat In- 
 tellectuale ad feriendum Sensum (quse ratio etiam prae- 
 cipue viget in artificial! memoria) juvet Memoriam. 
 Alias instantiae dabunt hanc alteram speciem ; ut quae 
 faciunt impressionem in affectu forti, incutientia scilicet 
 metum, admirationem, pudorem, delectationem, juvent 
 Memoriam. Alias instantiaa dabunt hanc alteram spe- 
 ciem ; ut quae maxime imprimuntur a mente pura et 
 minus praeoccupata ante vel post, veluti quae 'discuntur 
 in pueritia aut quae commentamur ante somnum, etiam, 
 primae quaeque rerum vices, magis haereant in Memoria. 
 Aliae instantiae dabunt hanc alteram speciem ; ut multi- 
 tude circumstantiarum sive ansarum juvet Memoriam ; 
 veluti scriptio per partes non continuatas, lectio, sive 
 recitatio voce alta. Alias denique instantiae dabunt 
 hanc alteram speciem ; ut quse expectantur et atten-
 
 412 NOVUM ORGANUM. 
 
 tionem excitant melius hasreant quam quae prsetervolant. 
 Itaque si scriptura aliquod vicies perlegeris, non tarn 
 facile illud memoriter disces quam si illud legas decies, 
 tentando interim illud recitare, et ubi deficit memoria 
 inspiciendo librum. Ita ut sint veluti sex Formae Mi- 
 nores eorum quae juvant Memoriam ; videlicet abscissio 
 infiniti ; deductio intellectual is ad sensibile ; impressio 
 in affectu forti ; impressio in mente pura ; multitude 
 ansarum ; prseexpectatio. 
 
 Similiter, exempli gratia ; sit natura inquisita Gustus, 
 sive Gustatio. Instantiae quae sequuntur sunt Constitu- 
 tivaa : videlicet, quod qui non olfaciunt sed sensu eo a 
 natura destituti sunt, non percipiant aut gustu distingu- 
 ant cibum rancidum aut putridum, neque similiter allia- 
 tum aut rosatum, aut hujusmodi. Rursus, ilH qui per 
 accidens nares habent per descensum rheumatis ob- 
 structas, non discernunt aut percipiunt aliquid putridum 
 aut rancidum aut aqua rosacea inspersum. Rursus, qui 
 afficiuntur hujusmodi rheumate, si in ipso momento 
 cum aliquid foetidum aut odoratum habent in ore sive 
 palato emungant fortiter, in ipso instanti manifestam 
 perceptionem habent rancidi vel odorati. Quae instan- 
 tiae dabunt et constituent hanc speciem, vel partem 
 potius, gustus ; ut sensus gustationis ex parte nihil aliud 
 sit quam olfactus interior, transiens et descendens a na- 
 rium meatibus superioribus in os et palatum. At con- 
 tra, salsum et dulce et acre et acidum et austerum et 
 amarum, et similia, haec (inquam) omnia asque sentiunt 
 illi in quibus olfactus deest aut obturatur, ac quisquam 
 alius ; ut manifestum sit sensum gustus esse compositum 
 quiddam ex olfactu interiori et tactu quodam exquisite ; 
 de quo nunc non est dicendi locus. 
 
 Similiter, exempli gratia ; sit natura inquisita Com-
 
 NOVUM ORGANUM. 413 
 
 mumcatio Qualitatis absque Commistione Substantiae. 
 Instantia Lucis dabit vel constituet unam speciem 
 Communicationis ; Calor vero et Magnes alteram. 
 Communicatio enim lucis est tauquam momentanea, 
 et statim perit, amota luce originali. At calidum 
 et virtus magnetica, postquam tramissa fuerint vel 
 potius excitata in alio corpore, haerent et manent ad 
 tempus non parvum, amoto primo movente. 
 
 Denique magna est omnino Prasrogativa Instanti- 
 arum Constitutivarum, ut quae plurimum faciant et 
 ad definitiones (praesertim particulares), et ad divis- 
 iones sive partitiones naturarum ; de quo non male 
 dixit Plato, Quod habendus sit tanquam pro Deo, qui 
 definire et divider e bene sciat. 1 
 
 XXVII. 
 
 Inter Praerogativas Instantiarum ponemus sexto loco 
 InstantiaB Conformes, sive Proportionatas ; quas etiam 
 Parallelas, sive Similitudines Physicas, appellare con- 
 suevimus. Eae vero sunt, quaa ostendunt similitudi- 
 nes et conjugationes rerum, non in Formis Minoribus 
 (quod faciunt Instantiae Constitutive) sed plane in 
 concrete. Itaque sunt tanquam primi et infirm 
 gradus ad unionem Naturae. Neque constituunt ali- 
 quod axioma statim ab initio, sed indicant et obser- 
 vant tantum quendam consensum corporum. Atta- 
 
 1 Bacon perhaps refers to the passage in the Philebus, in which tlie reso- 
 lution of articulate sounds into their elements is referred to re rig $edf 
 Are KOL tieiof uv&puno^. Compare Jamblichus (apud Stobaeum, 81.): 
 Qeoc j]v Tif (if uTiijftug 6 K.a.Tadei%a<; TTJV dia^eKTM^v nal narani pjia^ roif 
 avdpunoii;. [Mr. Kitchin, in his edition of the Novum Organum (Oxford, 
 1855), which I did not see till this was in type, refers to the Phcedrus, 
 266. a., TOVTUV drj lyuye abroq re Ipaar^f TCJV diaipeasuv nai awayu\uv 
 .... kav re nva a)Juov K. T. 'K. TOVTOV diuicu Karomode fier' l%viov utrre 
 &EOIO, which is undoubtedly the passage alluded to. J. S.]
 
 414 NOVUM ORGANUM. 
 
 men licet non multum promoveant ad inveniendas 
 Formas, nihilominus magna cum utilitate revelant 
 partium universi fabricam, et in membris ejus exer- 
 cent veluti anatomiam quandam ; atque proinde veluti 
 manu-ducunt interdum ad axiomata snblimia et nobilia, 
 praesertim ilia quse ad mundi configurationem perti- 
 nent, potius quam ad naturas et Formas simplices. 
 
 Exempli gratia ; Install tiae Conformes sunt quae 
 sequuntur : speculum, et oculus ; et similiter fabrica 
 auris, et loca reddentia echo. Ex qua conformitate, 
 praeter ipsam observationem similitudinis, quae ad mul- 
 ta utilis est, proclive est insuper colligere et formare 
 illud axioma ; videlicet, organa sensuum et corpora 
 quae pariunt reflexiones ad sensus esse similis naturae. 
 Rursus ex hoc ipso admonitus intellectus non aegre 
 insurgit ad axioma quoddam altius et nobilius. Hoc 
 nimirum ; nihil interesse inter consensus sive sympa- 
 thias corporum sensu prseditorum, et inanimatorum 
 sine sensu, nisi quod in illis accedat spiritus animalis 
 ad corpus ita dispositum, in his autem absit. Adeo 
 ut quot sint consensus in corporibus inanimatis, tot 
 possint esse sensus in animalibus, si essent perfbra- 
 tiones in corpore animato ad discursum spiritus ani- 
 malis in membrum rite dispositum, tanquam in or- 
 ganum idoneum. Et rursus, quot sint sensus in 
 animalibus, tot sint proculdubio motus in corpore in- 
 animate ubi spiritus animalis abfuerit; licet necesse 
 sit multo plures esse motus in corporibus inanimatis 
 quam sensus in animatis, propter paucitatem organo- 
 rum sensus. Atque hujus rei ostendit se exemplnm 
 valde manifestum in doloribus. Etenim quum sint 
 plura genera doloris in animalibus et tanquam varii 
 illius characteres (veluti alius est dolor ustionis, alius
 
 NOVUM ORGANUM. 415 
 
 frigoris intensi, alius puncturae, alius compressionis, 
 alius extensionis, et similium), certissimum est omnia 
 ilia, quoad motum, inesse corporibus inanimatis ; vel- 
 uti ligno aut lapidi, cum uritur, aut per gelu constrin- 
 gitur, aut pungitur, aut scinditur, aut flectitur, aut 
 tunditur, et sic de aliis; licet non subintrent sensus, 
 propter absentiam spiritus animalis. 
 
 Item Instantise Conformes (quod mirum fortasse 
 dictu) sunt radices et rami plantarum. Omne enim 
 vegetabile intumescit, et extrudit partes in circum- 
 ferentiam, tarn sursum quam deorsum. Neque alia 
 est differentia radicum et ramorum, quam quod radix 
 includatur in terra, et rami exponantur aeri et soli. 1 
 Si quis enim accipiat ramum tenerum et vegetum 
 arboris, atque ilium reflectat in aliquam terra? par- 
 ticulam, licet non cohaereat ipsi solo, gignit statim 
 non ramum, sed radicem. Atque vice versa, si 
 terra ponatur superius, atque ita obstruatur lapide 
 aut aliqua dura substantia ut planta cohibeatur nee 
 possit frondescere sursum, edet ramos in aerem de- 
 orsum. 
 
 Item Instantiae Conformes sunt gummi arborum, et 
 plerasque gemmae rupium. Utraque enim nil aliud 
 sunt quam exudationes et percolationes succorum ; in 
 primo genere scilicet, succorum ex arboribus; in se- 
 cundo, ex saxis ; unde gignitur claritudo et splendor 
 in utrisque, per percolationem nimirum tenuem et 
 accuratam. Nam inde fit etiam, quod pili animalium 
 non sint tarn pulchri et tarn vividi coloris quam avium 
 
 1 In many plants part of the stem grows underground, while in others 
 part at least of the root is above the surface. The true distinction has 
 relation to the functions of the two organs. There is nothing in the root 
 analogous (except under special circumstances) to buds or nodes, and 
 consequently no true ramification.
 
 416 NOVUM ORGANUM. 
 
 plumae complures; quia succi non tarn delicate perco- 
 lantur per cutem quam per calamum. 
 
 Item Instantiae Conformes sunt scrotum in animali- 
 bus masculis, et matrix in femellis. Adeo ut nobilis 
 ilia fabrica per quam sexus differunt, (quatenus ad 
 animalia terrestria) nil aliud videatur esse, quam se- 
 cundum exterius et interius ; 1 vi scilicet majore caloris 
 genitalia in sexu masculo protrudente in exterius, 
 ubi in femellis nimis debilis est calor quam ut hoc 
 facere possit ; unde accidit quod contineantur inte- 
 rius. 
 
 Item Instantiae Conformes sunt pinnae piscium, et 
 pedes quadrupedum, aut pedes et alae volucrum ; qui- 
 bus addidit Aristoteles quatuor volumina in motu ser- 
 pentum. 2 Adeo ut in fabrica universi motus viven- 
 tium plerumque videatur expediri per quaterniones 
 artuum sive flexionum. 
 
 Item dentes in animalibus terrestribus, et rostra in 
 avibus, sunt Instantiae Conformes ; unde manifestum 
 est, in omnibus animalibus perfectis, fluere duram 
 quandam substantiam versus os. 
 
 Item non absurda est Similitude et Conformitis 
 ilia, ut homo sit tanquam planta inversa. Nam radix 
 nervorum et facultatum animalium est caput ; partes 
 autem seminales sunt innmae, non computatis extrem- 
 itatibus tibiarum et brachiorum. At in planta, radix 
 
 1 This remark seems to have been suggested by a similar passage in 
 Telesius, De Rerum Naturd, vi. 18.: "Masculo .... magnus datus 
 est calor, qui et membrum genitale foras propellat et sanguinem multum 
 beneque omnem compactum conficiat, &c. Fceminse autem . . . languens 
 inditus est calor, qui neque genitale vas foras propellere nee e semine spiri- 
 tum educere queat." The doctrine however of this passage was first taught 
 by Galen, from whom Telesius derived it. See Galen, De Usu Partium, 
 xiv. 6. 
 
 2 De Anim. Incessu, i. 7.
 
 NOVUM ORGANUM. 417 
 
 (quae instar capitis - est) regulariter infimo loco col- 
 locatur; semina autem supremo. 1 
 
 Denique illud omnino praecipiendum est et saepius 
 monendum ; ut diligentia hominum in inquisitione et 
 congerie Naturalis Historiae deniceps mutetur plane, 
 et vertatur in contrarium ejus quod nunc in usu est. 
 Magna enim hucusque atque adeo curiosa fuit homi- 
 num industria in notanda rerum varietate atque ex- 
 plicandis accuartis animalium, herbarum, et fossilium 
 difFerentiis ; quaram plerasque magis sunt lusus naturae 
 quam serioa alicujus utilitatis versus scientias. Faciunt 
 certe hujusmodi res ad delectationem, atque etiam 
 quandoque ad praxin ; verum ad introspiciendam na- 
 turam parum aut nihil. Itaque convertenda plane 
 est opera ad inquirendas et notandas rerum similitu- 
 dines et analoga, tarn in integralibus quam partibus. ' 
 Illae enim sunt quas naturam uniunt, et constituere 
 scientias incipiunt. 2 
 
 Verum in his omnino est adhibenda cautio gravis 
 et severa ; ut accipiantur pro Instantiis Conformibus 
 
 1 On the other hand, one is tempted to trace an analogy between the 
 flower in plants and the skull in man and vertebrate animals in general: 
 each occurring at the end of the axis of development, and each consisting of 
 four segments whorls or vertebrae. But by far the most remarkable 
 analogy between plants and animals relates to the mode of development 
 of their tissues, which, there is reason to believe, were all primarily formed 
 from cells. The evidence in favour of this proposition is perhaps not yet 
 quite complete. 
 
 It is curious that, after it had been established in the case of plants, 
 Schleiden conceived that in this unity of original structure he had found 
 a character peculiar to vegetable life, so that the analogy between plants 
 and animals seemed to be impaired by the discovery. 
 
 2 " Natura infinita est, sed qui symbola animadverterit omnia intelliget, 
 licet non omnino," are the words of a great poet, who perhaps also is en- 
 titled to be called a great philosopher. They form the motto of one of the 
 happiest illustrations of what Bacon meant by instantia conformis, the 
 Parthenogenesis of Professor Owen. 
 
 VOL. i. 27
 
 418 NOVUM ORGANUM. 
 
 et Proportionatis, illae quae denotant Sirailitudines (ut 
 ab initio diximus) Physicas ; id est, reales et substan- 
 tiates et immersas in natura, non fortuitas et ad spe- 
 ciem ; multo minus superstitiosas aut curiosas, quales 
 naturalis magise scriptores (homines levissimi, et in 
 rebus tarn seriis quales nunc agimus vix nominandi) 
 ubique ostentant; magna cum vanitate et desipientia, 
 inanes similitudines et sympathias rerum describentes 
 atque etiam quandoque affingentes. 
 
 Verum his missis, etiam in ipsa configurations 
 mundi in majoribus non sunt negligendae Instantise 
 Conformes ; veluti Africa, et regio Peruviana cum 
 continente se porrigente usque ad Fretum Magellan- 
 icum. Utraque enim regio habet similes isthmos et 
 similia promontoria, quod non temere accidit. 1 
 
 Item Novus et Vetus Orbis ; in eo quod utrique 
 orbes versus septentriones lati sunt et exporrecti, ver- 
 sus austrum autem angusti et acuminati. 
 
 Item Instantise Conformes nobilissimaa sunt frigora 
 intensa in media (quam vocant) aeris regione, et ignes 
 acerrimi qui saape reperiuntur erumpentes ex locis sub- 
 terraneis ; quae duse res sunt ultimitates et extrema ; 
 naturae scilicet Frigidi versus ambitum coeli, et naturae 
 Calidi versus viscera terrae ; per antiperistasin, sive re- 
 jectionem natura? contrariae. , , 
 
 Postremo autem in axiomatibus scientiarum notatu 
 digna est Conformitas Instantiarum. Veluti tropus 
 rhetorical, qui dicitur Praeter Expectatum, conformis 
 
 1 A. von Humboldt has pointed out the conformity of the opposite shores 
 of the Atlantic the approximate correspondence between the projections 
 on each side and the recesses on the other. But Bacon apparently com- 
 pares not the opposite but the corresponding coasts of Africa and America. 
 C. Concepcion would correspond to C. Negro; but the parallelism is not 
 verv close.
 
 NOVUM ORGANUM. 419 
 
 est tropo musicae, qui vocatur Declinatio Cadentige. Si 
 militer, postulatum mathematicum, ut quce eidem tertio 
 cequalia sunt etiam inter se sint cequalia, conforme est 
 cum fabrica syllogismi in logica, qui unit ea quaa con- 
 veniunt in medio. 1 Denique multum utilis est in 
 quamplurimis sagacitas qusedam in conquirendis et in- 
 dagandis Conformitatibus et Similitudinibus Physicis. 
 
 XXVIII. 
 
 Inter Praarogativas Instantiarum, ponemus septimo 
 loco Instantias Monodicas; 2 quas etiam Irregulares sive 
 Heteroclitas (sumpto vocabulo a grammaticis) appellare 
 consuevimus. Ess sunt, quae ostendunt corpora in con- 
 crete, quse videntur esse extravagantia et quasi abrupta 
 in natura, et minime convenire cum aliis rebus ejusdem 
 generis. Etenim Instantiae Conformes sunt similes al- 
 terius, at Instantise Monodicaa sunt sui similes. Usus 
 vero Instantiarum Monodicarum est talis qualis est 
 Instantiarum Clandestinarum : viz. ad evehendam et 
 uniendam naturam ad invenienda genera sive com- 
 munes naturas, limitandas postea per differentias veras. 
 Neque enim desistendum ab inquisitione donee proprie- 
 tates et qualitates, quae inveniuntur in hujusmodi rebus 
 quaa possunt censeri pro miraculis natures, reducantur 
 
 1 The importance of the parallel here suggested was never understood 
 until the present time, because the language of mathematics and of logic 
 has hitherto not been such as to pennit the relation between them to be rec- 
 ognised. Mr. Boole's Laws of Thought contain the first development of 
 ideas of which the germ is to be found in Bacon and Leibnitz; to the latter 
 of whom the fundamental principle that in logic a 2 = a was known (v. Leib- 
 nitz, Philos. Works, by Erdmann, 1840, p. 130). It is not too much to say 
 that Mr. Boole's treatment of the subject is worthy of these great names. 
 
 Other calculuses of inference (using the word in its widest sense), besides 
 the mathematical and the logical, yet perhaps remain to be developed ; but 
 this is a subject on which it is impossible here to enter. 
 
 2 Monadicas. See note 3. p. 253. J. S.
 
 420 NOVUM ORGANUM. 
 
 et comprehendantur sub aliqua Forma sive Lege certa ; 
 ut irregularitas sive singularitas omnis reperiatur pen- 
 dere ab aliqua Forma Communi ; miraculum vero illud 
 sit tandem solummodo in differentiis accuratis et gradu 
 et concursu raro, et non in ipsa specie ; ubi nunc con- 
 templationes hominum non procedant ultra quam ut 
 ponant hujusmodi res pro secretis et magnalibus natu- 
 rae, et tanquam incausabilibus, et pro exceptionibus 
 regularum generalium. 
 
 Exempla Instantiarum Monodicarum sunt, sol et 
 luna, inter astra ; magnes, inter lapides ; argentum 
 vivum, inter metalla ; elepbas, inter quadrupedes ; sen- 
 sus veneris, inter genera tactus ; odor venaticus in 
 canibus, inter genera olfactus. Etiam S litera apud 
 grairimaticos, habetur pro Monodica; ob facilem com- 
 positionem quam sustinet cum consonantibus, aliquando 
 duplicibus, aliquando triplicibus ; quod nulla alia litera 
 facit. Plurimi autem faciendae sunt hujusmodi instan- 
 tise ; quia acuunt et vivificant inquisitionem, et meden- 
 tur intellectui depravato a consuetudine et ab iis quae 
 fiunt plerunque. 
 
 XXIX. 
 
 Inter Praarogativas Instantiarum, ponemus loco oc- 
 tavo Instantias Deviantes ; errores scilicet naturae, et 
 vaga, ac monstra: ubi natura declinat et deflectit a 
 cursu ordinario. Differunt enim Errores naturae ab 
 Instantiis Monodicis in hoc ; quod Monodicae sint mi- 
 racula specierum, at Errores sint miracula individuo- 
 rum. Similis autem fere sunt usus ; quia rectificant 
 intellectum adversus consueta, et revelant Formas 
 Communes. Neque enim in his etiam desistendum 
 ab inquisitione donee inveniatur causa hujusmodi de- 
 clinationis. Veruntamen causa ilia non exurgit ad
 
 NOVUM ORGANUM. 421 
 
 Formam aliquam proprie, sed tantura ad latentem 
 processum ad Formam. Qui enim vias naturae noverit, 
 is deviationes etiam facilius observabit. At rursus, qui 
 deviationes noverit, is accuratius vias describet. 1 
 
 Atque in illo differunt etiam ab Instantiis Monodicis, 
 quod multo magis instruant praxin et operativam. 
 Nam novas species generare arduum admodum foret ; 
 at species notas variare, et inde rara multa ac inusitata 
 producere, minus arduum. Facilis autem transitus est 
 a miraculis naturae ad miracula artis. Si enim depre- 
 hendatur semel natura in variatione sua, ej usque ratio 
 manifesta fuerit, expeditum erit eo deducere naturam 
 per artem quo per casum aberraverit. Neque solum eo, 
 sed et aliorsum ; cum errores ex una parte monstrent 
 et aperiant viam ad errores et deflexiones undequaque. 
 Hie vero exemplis non est opus, propter eorundem co- 
 piam. Facienda enim est congeries sive historia natu- 
 ralis particularis omnium monstrorum et partuum natu- 
 rae prodigiosorum ; omnis denique novitatis et raritatis 
 et inconsueti in natura. Hoc vero faciendum est cum 
 severissimo delectu, ut constet fides. Maxime autem 
 habenda sunt pro suspectis quse pendent quomodocun- 
 que a religione, ut prodigia Livii : nee minus, quaa 
 inveniuntur in scriptoribus magias naturalis, aut etiam 
 alchyrniae, et hujusmodi hominibus ; qui tanquam proci 
 sunt et amatores fabularum. Sed depromenda sunt 
 ilia ex gravi et fida historia, et auditionibus certis. 
 
 XXX. 
 
 Inter Praerogativas Instantiarum, ponemus loco nono 
 Instantias Limitaneas; quas etiam Participia vocare 
 consuevimus. Eaa vero sunt, quae exhibent species 
 
 1 See Owen, On the Nature of Limbs, p. 54.
 
 422 NOVUM ORGANUM. 
 
 corporum tales, quas videntur esse compositae ex specie- 
 bus duabus, vel Rudimenta inter speciem unam et alte- 
 ram. Has vero Instantiae inter Instantias Monodicas 
 sive Heteroclitas recte numerari possunt : sunt enim 
 in universitate reruni rarae et extraordinariae. Sed 
 tamen ob dignitatem seorsira tractandse et ponendse 
 sunt ; optime enim indicant compositionem et fabricam 
 rerum, et innuunt causas numeri et qualitatis specierum 
 ordinariarum in universe, et deducunt intellectum ab 
 eo quod est, ad id quod esse potest. 
 
 Harum exempla sunt, muscus, inter putredinem et 
 plantam ; cometae nonnulli, inter Stellas et meteora 
 ignita ; pisces volantes, inter aves et pisces ; vespertil- 
 liones, inter aves et quadrupedes ; etiam 
 
 " Simia quam similis turpissima bestia nobis; " 1 
 
 et partus animalium biformes et commisti ex speciebus 
 diversis, et similia. 
 
 XXXI. 
 
 Inter Praerogativas Instantiarum ponemus decimo 
 loco Instantias Potestatis, sive Fascium (sumpto voca- 
 bulo ab insignibus imperii), quas etiam Ingenia, sive 
 Manus Hominis appellare consuevimus. Ese sunt opera 
 maxime nobilia et perfecta, et tanquam ultima in una- 
 quaque arte. Cum enim hoc agatur prascipue ut na- 
 tura pareat rebus et commodis humanis ; consentaneum 
 est prorsus, ut opera quae jampridem in potestate homi- 
 nis fuerunt (quasi provincial antea occupatse et subac- 
 tae) notentur et numerentur ; praesertim ea quas sunt 
 maxime enucleata et perfecta ; propterea quod ab istis 
 proclivior et magis in propinquo sit transitus ad nova et 
 hactenus non inventa. Si quis enim ab horum contem- 
 1 Ennius, quoted by Cicero.
 
 NOVUM ORGANUM. 423 
 
 platione attenta propositum acriter et strenue urgere 
 velit, fiet certe ut aut producat ilia paulo longius, aut 
 deflectat ilia ad aliquid quod finitimum est, aut etiaro 
 applicet et transferat ilia ad usum aliquem nobiliorem. 
 
 Neque hie finis. Verum quemadmodum ab operibus 
 naturas raris et inconsuetis erigitur intellectus et ele- 
 vatur ad inquirendas et inveniendas Formas quae etiam 
 illorum sunt capaces, ita etiam in operibus artis egregiis 
 et admirandis hoc usu-venit ; idque multo magis ; quia 
 modus efficiendi et operandi hujusmodi miracula artis 
 manifestus ut plurimum est, cum plerunque in mira- 
 culis naturse sit magis obscurus. Attamen in his ipsis 
 cautio est adhibenda vel maxime, ne deprimant scilicet 
 intellectum et eum quasi humo affigant. 
 
 Periculum enim est, ne per hujusmodi opera artis, 
 quae videntur velut summitates quaedam et fastigia in- 
 dustriae humanae, reddatur intellectus attonitus et liga- 
 tus et quasi maleficiatus quoad ilia, ita ut cum aliis con- 
 suescere non possit, sed cogitet nihil ejus generis fieri 
 posse nisi eadem via qua ilia efiecta sunt, accedente 
 tantummodo diligentia majore et praeparatione magis 
 accurata. 
 
 Contra illud ponendum est pro certo : vias et modos 
 efficiendi res et opera quae adhuc reperta sunt et notata, 
 res esse plerunque pauperculas ; atque omnem poten- 
 tiam majorem pendere et ordine derivari a fontibus 
 Formarum, quarum nulla adhuc inventa est. 
 
 Itaque (ut alibi diximus) J qui de machinis et arie- 
 tibus, quales erant apud veteres, cogitasset, licet hoc 
 fecisset obnixe atque astatem in eo consumpsisset, nun- 
 quam tamen incidisset in inventum tormentorum igneo- 
 rum operantium per pulverem pyrium. Neque rursus, 
 1 1. 109.
 
 424 NOVUM ORGANUM. 
 
 qui ill lanificiis et serico vegetabili observationem suam 
 et meditationem collocasset, unquam per ea reperisset 
 naturam vermis aut serici bombycini. 
 
 Quocirca omnia inventa quae censeri possunt magis 
 nobilia (si animum advertas) in lucem prodiere nullo 
 modo per pusillas enucleationes et extensiones artium, 
 sed onmino per casuui. Nihil autem rejpraesentat l aut 
 aiiticipat casum (cujus mos est ut tantum per longa 
 sascula operetur) praster inventionem Formarum. 
 
 Exempla autem hujusmodi instantiarum particularia 
 nihil opus est adducere, propter copiam eorundem. Nam 
 hoc omnino agendum ; ut visitentur et penitus introspi- 
 ciantur omnc-s artes mechanicae, atque liberales etiam 
 (quatenus ad opera), atque inde facienda est congeries 
 sive historia particularis, tanquam magnalium et operum 
 magistralium et maxime perfectorum in unaquaque ip- 
 sarum, una cum modis efFectionis sive operationis. 
 
 Neque tamen astringimus diligentiam, quae adhiben- 
 da est in hujusmodi collecta, ad ea quaa censentur pro 
 magisteriis et arcanis alicujus artis tantum, atque mo- 
 vent adinirationem. Admiratio enim proles est rari- 
 tatis ; siquidem rara, licet in genere sint ex vulgatis 
 naturis, tamen adinirationem pariunt. 
 
 At contra, quae revera admirationi esse debent prop- 
 ter discrepantiam quae inest illis in specie collatis ad 
 alias species, tamen si in usu familiari prassto sint levi- 
 ter notantur. Debent autem notari Monodica artis, 
 non minus quam Monodica naturae ; de quibus antea 
 diximus. 2 Atque quemadmodum in Monodicis naturae 
 posuimus solem, lunam, magnetem, et similia, quae re 
 vulgatissima sunt sed natura tamen fere singular! : 
 idem et de Monodicis artis faciendum est. 
 i See note, p. 317. 2 II. 28.
 
 NOVUM ORGANUM. 425 
 
 Exempli gratia ; Instantia Monodica artis est papy- 
 rus ; res admodum vulgata. At si diligenter animum 
 advertas, materiae artificiales aut plane textiles sunt per 
 fila directa et transversa ; qualia sunt pannus sericus, 
 aut laneus, et linteus, et hujusmodi ; aut coagmentan- 
 tur ex succis concretis ; qualia sunt later, aut argilla 
 figularis, aut vitrum, aut esmalta, aut porcellana, et 
 similia ; quas si bene uniantur splendent, sin minus, 
 indurantur certe, sed non splendent. Attamen omnia 
 talia, qua? fiunt ex succis concretis, sunt fragilia, nee 
 ullo modo haerentia et tenacia. At contra, papyrus est 
 corpus tenax, quod scindi et lacerari possit ; ita ut imi- 
 tetur et fere semuletur pellem sive membranam alicujus 
 animalis, aut folium alicujus vegetabilis, et hujusmodi 
 opificia naturae. Nam neque fragilis est, ut vitrum ; 
 neque textilis, ut pannus ; sed habet fibras certe, non 
 fila distincta, omnino ad modum materiarum naturali- 
 um ; ut inter artificiales materias vix inveniatur simile 
 aliquod, sed sit plane Monodicum. 1 Atque prseferenda 
 sane sunt in artificialibus ea quse maxime accedunt 
 ad imitationem naturae, aut e contrario earn potenter 
 regunt et invertunt. 
 
 Rursus, inter Ingenia et Manus Hominis, non pror- 
 sus contemnenda sunt prsestigiae et jocularia. Non- 
 nulla enim ex istis, licet sint usu levia et ludicra, tamen 
 informatione valida esse possunt. 
 
 Postremo, neque omnino omittenda sunt superstitiosa, 
 et (prout vocabulum sensu vulgari accipitur) magica. 
 Licet enim hujusmodi res sint in immensum obrutae 
 grandi mole mendaciorum et fabularum, tamen inspi- 
 ciendum paulisper si forte subsit et lateat in aliquibus 
 
 1 It is curious that Bacon should not have remarked that all the qualities 
 icre mentioned belong to felt as well as to paper.
 
 426 NOVUM ORGANUM. 
 
 earum aliqua operatic naturalis ; ut in fascino, et forti- 
 ficatione imaginationis, et consensu rerum ad distans, 
 et transmissione impressionum a spiritu ad spiritum 
 non minus quam a corpore ad corpus, et similibus. 
 
 XXXII. 
 
 Ex iis quae ante dicta sunt, patet quod quinque ilia 
 instantiarum genera de quibus diximus (viz. Instan- 
 tiarum Conformium, Instantiarum Monodicarum, In- 
 stantiarum Deviantium, Instantiarum Limitanearum, 
 Instantiarum Potestatis) non debeant reservari donee 
 inquiratur natura aliqua certa (quemadmodum instan- 
 tia3 reliquaa, quas primo loco proposuimus, nee non 
 plurimae ex iis quas sequentur, reservari debent) ; sed 
 statim jam ab initio facienda est earuna collectio, tan- 
 quam historia quaedam particularis ; eo quod digerant 
 ea quse ingrediuntur intellectum, et corrigant pravam 
 complexionem intellectus ipsius, quern omnino necesse 
 est imbui et infici et demum perverti ac distorqueri ab 
 incursibus quotidianis et consuetis. 
 
 Itaque adhibendae sunt ese instantise tanquam prae- 
 parativum aliquod, ad rectificandum et expurgandum 
 intellectum. QuicquicJ. enim abducit intellectum a 
 consuetis aequat et cornplanat aream ejus ad recipien- 
 dum lumen siccum et purum notionum verarum. 
 
 Quin etiam hujusmodi instantias sternunt et praestru- 
 unt viam ad operativam ; ut suo loco dicemus, quando 
 de Deductionibus ad Praxin sermo erit. 
 
 XXXIII. 
 
 Inter Prasrogativas Instantiarum ponemus loco un- 
 decimo Instantias Comitatus, atque Hostiles; quas etiam 
 Tnstantias Propositionum Fixarum appellare consuevi-
 
 NOVUM ORGANUM. 427 
 
 mus. Eae sunt instantias, quae exhibent aliquod corpus 
 sive concretum tale, in quo natura inquisita perpetuo 
 sequatur tanquam comes quidam individuus ; aut con- 
 tra, in quo natura inquisita perpetuo fugiat atque ex 
 comitatu excludatur, ut hostis et inimicus. Nam ex 
 hujusmodi instantiis formantur propositiones certae et 
 universales, aut affirmativas aut negativae ; in quibus 
 subjectum erit tale corpus in concrete, praedicatum vero 
 natura ipsa inquisita. Etenim propositiones particu- 
 lares omnino fixce non sunt, ubi scilicet natura inquisita 
 reperitur in aliquo concrete fluxa et mobilis, viz. acce- 
 dens sive acquisita, aut rursus recedens sive deposita. 
 Quocirca particulares propositiones non habent Pra3- 
 rogativam aliquam majorem, nisi tantum in casu Mi- 
 grationis, de quo antea dictum est. Et nihilominus, 
 etiam particulares illae propositiones comparatae et col- 
 lataa cum universalibus multum juvant ; ut suo loco 
 dicetur. Neque'tamen, etiam in universalibus istis 
 propositionibus exactam aut absolutam affirmationem 
 vel abnegationem requirimus. Sufficit enim ad id quod 
 agitur etiamsi exceptionem nonnullam singularem aut 
 raram patiantur. 
 
 Usus autem Instantiarum Comitatus est ad an- 
 gustiandam Affirmativam Forma?. Quemadmodum 
 enim in Instantiis Migrantibus angustiatur Affirma- 
 tiva Formae ; viz. ut necessario poni debeat Forma rei 
 esse aliquid quod per actum ilium Migrationis inditur 
 aut destruitur; ita etiam in Instantiis Comitatus angus- 
 tiatur Affirmativa Forma? ; ut necessario poni debeat 
 Forma rei esse aliquid quod talem concretionem cor- 
 poris -subingrediatur, aut contra ab eadem abhorreat ; 
 ut qui bene norit constitutionem aut schematismum 
 hujusmodi corporis non longe abfuerit ab extrahenda 
 in lucem Forma naturas inquisitaa.
 
 428 NOVUM ORGANUM. 
 
 Exempli gratia ; sit natura inquisita Calidum. In- 
 stantia Comitatus est flamma. Etenim in aqua, aere, 
 lapide, metallo, et aliis quamplurimis, calor est mobilis, 
 et, accedere potest et recedere ; at omnis flamma est 
 calida, ita ut calor in concretione flammae perpetuo se- 
 quatur. At Instantia Hostilis Calidi nulla reperitur 
 apud nos. Nam de visceribus terras nihil constat ad 
 sensum ; sed eorum corporum quaa nobis nota sunt 
 nulla prorsus est concretio quas noil est susceptibilis 
 caloris. 
 
 At rursus, sit natura inquisita Consistens. Instantia 
 Hostilis est aer. Etenim metallum potest fluere, potest 
 consistere ; similiter vitrum ; etiam aqua potest con- 
 sistere, cum conglaciatur : at impossible est ut ae'r 
 unquam consistat, aut exuat fluorem. 
 
 Verum de instantiis hujusmodi Propositionum Fixa- 
 rum supersunt duo monita, quse utilia sunt ad id quod 
 agitur. Primum, ut si demerit plane universalis Af- 
 firmativa aut Negativa, illud ipsum diligenter notetur 
 tanquam non-ens ; sicut fecimus de Calido, ubi univer- 
 salis Negativa (quatenus ad entia quae ad nostram no- 
 titiam pervenerint) in rerum natura deest. Similiter, 
 si natura inquisita sit ^Sternum aut Incorruptibile, 
 deest Affirmativa universalis hie apud nos. Neque 
 enim prasdicari potest -ZEternum aut Incorruptibile de 
 aliquo corpore eorum quae infra coelestia sunt, aut su- 
 pra interiora terras. Alterum monitum est, ut proposi- 
 tionibus universalibus, tain affirmativis quam negativis, 
 de aliquo concrete, subjungantur simul ea concreta quas 
 proxime videntur accedere ad id quod est ex non-en- 
 tibus ; ut in calore, flammae mollissimae et minimum 
 adurentes ; in incorruptibili, aurum, quod proxime 
 accedit. Omnia enim ista indicant terminos naturas 
 inter ens et non-ens; et faciunt ad circumsc 1 ptiones
 
 NOVUM ORGANUM. 429 
 
 Formarum, ne gliscant et vagentur extra conditiones 
 materiae. 
 
 xxxiv. 
 
 Inter Prserogativas Instantiarum, ponemus loco duo- 
 decimo ipsas illas Instantias Subjunctivas, de quibus 
 in superiori aphorismo diximus ; quas etiam Instantias 
 Ultimitatis sive Termini appellare consuevimus. Neque 
 enim hujusmodi instantiae utiles sunt tantuih, quatenus 
 subjunguntur propositionibus fixis; verum etiam per se, 
 et in proprietate sua. Indicant enim non obscure veras 
 sectiones naturae, et mensuras rerum, et illud Quousque 
 natura quid faciat et ferat, et deinde transitus naturae 
 ad aliud. Talia sunt, aurum, in pondere ; ferrum, in 
 duritie ; cete, in quantitate animation! ; canis, in odore ; 
 inflammatio pulveris pyrii, in expansione celeri ; et alia 
 id genus. Nee minus exhibenda sunt ea quae sunt ulti- 
 ma gradu infimo, quam quae supremo ; ut spiritus vini, 
 in pondere ; x sericum, in mollitie ; vermiculi cutis, in 
 quantitate animalium ; et caetera. 
 
 XXXV. 
 
 Inter Prasrogativas Instantiarum, ponemus loco.deci- 
 mo tertio Instantias Foederis sive Unionis. Eae sunt, 
 quae confundunt et adunant naturas quae existimantur 
 esse heterogeneae, et pro talibus notantur et signantur 
 per divisiones receptas. 
 
 At Instantiae Foederis ostendunt operationes et ef- 
 fectus quae deputantur alicui ex illis heterogeneis ut 
 propria, competere etiam aliis ex heterogeneis ; ut con- 
 vincatur ista heterogenia (quae in opinione est) vera 
 
 1 Although precise directions for making ether were given by Valerius 
 Cordus in 1544, yet it is said to have remained unnoticed until it was re- 
 discovered in the eighteenth century. Bacon's want of acquaintance with 
 't, implied in this and other passages, is therefore not surprising.
 
 430 NOVUM ORGANUM. 
 
 non esse aut essentialis, sed nil aliud esse quam mo- 
 dificatio naturae communis. Optimi itaque sunt usus 
 ad elevandum et evehendum intellectual a differentiis 
 ad genera; et ad tollendum larvas et simulachra re- 
 rum, prout occurrunt et prodeunt personatae in sub- 
 stantiis concretis. 
 
 Exempli gratia : sit natura inquisita Calidum. Om- 
 nino videtur esse divisio solennis et authentica quod 
 sint tria genera caloris ; viz. calor coelestium, calor 
 animalium, et calor ignis ; quodque isti calores (prae- 
 sertim unus ex illis comparatus ad reliquos duos) sint 
 ipsa essentia et specie, sive natura specifica, differentes 
 et plane heterogenei ; quandoquidem calor coelestium 
 et animalium generet et foveat, at calor ignis contra 
 corrumpat et destruat. Est itaque Instantia Foederis 
 experimentum illud satis vulgatum, cum recipitur ra- 
 mus aliquis vitis intra domum ubi sit focus assiduus, 
 ex quo maturescunt uvse etiam mense integro citius 
 quam foras ; ita ut maturatio fructus etiam pendentis 
 super arborem fieri possit scilicet ab igne, cum hoc 
 ipsum videatur esse opus proprium solis. 1 Itaque ab 
 
 1 The regular use of artificial heat in green-houses and conservatories 
 was not known in Bacon's time. In the Maison Champetre, an encyclo- 
 paedia of gardening and agriculture published in 1607, nothing is said of it; 
 nor is there anything on the subject in the writings of Porta, though in his 
 Nat. Mag. he has spoken of various modes of accelerating the growth of 
 fruits and flowers. In the Kylva Sylvarum (412.), however, Bacon speaks 
 of housing hot-country plants to save them, and, in the Essay on Gardens, 
 of stoving myrtles. The idea of what are now called green-houses was 
 introduced into England from Holland about the time of the Revolution. 
 The orangery at Heidelberg, formed, I believe, about the middle of the 
 seventeenth century, is said to be the earliest conservatory on record. 
 
 It is related that Albertus Magnus, entertaining the emperor at Cologne 
 during the winter, selected for the place of entertainment the garden of his 
 monastery. Everything was covered with snow, and the guests were much 
 inclined to be discontented; but when the feast began, the snow cleared 
 away; the trees put forth, first leaves, then blossoms, then fruit; and the
 
 NOVUM ORGANUM. 431 
 
 hoc initio facile insurgit intellectus, repudiata hetero- 
 genia essential!, ad inquirendum quae sint differentiae 
 illae quae revera reperiuntur inter calorem solis et ignis, 
 ex quibus fit ut eoruin opera tiones sint tarn dissimiles, 
 utcunque illi ipsi participent ex natura communi. 
 
 QuaB differentiae reperientur quatuor ; viz. primo 
 quod calor solis respectu caloris ignis sit gradu longe 
 clementior et lenior ; secundo, quod sit (praesertim 
 ut defertur ad nos per ae'rem) qualitate multo humi- 
 dior ; tertio (quod caput rei est) quod sit summe inaB- 
 qualis, atque accedens et auctus, et deinceps recedens 
 et diminutus ; id quod maxime confert ad generationem 
 corporum. Recte enini asseruit Aristoteles 1 causam 
 principalem generationum et corruptionum quae fiunt 
 hie apud nos in superficie terrae, esse viam obliquam 
 solis per zodiacum ; unde calor solis, partim per vicis- 
 situdines diei et noctis, partim per successiones aestatis 
 et hyemis, evadit miris modis inaequalis. Neque tamen 
 desinit ille vir id quod ab eo recte inventum fuit sta- 
 tim corrumpere et depravare. Nam ut arbiter scilicet 
 naturaa (quod illi in more est) valde magistraliter as- 
 signat causam generationis accessui solis, causam au- 
 tem corruptionis recessui : cum utraque res (accessus 
 videlicet solis et recessus) non respective, sed quasi 
 indifferenter, praabeat causam tarn generation! quam cor- 
 ruption! ; quandoquidem inaequalitas caloris generation! 
 et corruption! rerum, sequalitas conservation! tantum, 
 
 climate became that of summer. This glorious summer, which had thus 
 abruptly succeeded to the winter of their discontent, lasted only till the 
 conclusion of the feast, when everything resumed its former aspect. It 
 would be a fanciful explanation, and I know not whether it has ever been 
 suggested, to say that Albertus Magnus really entertained the emperor in 
 a conservatory, and only led his guests through the garden. See, for the 
 story, Grimm's DeiUsche Sagen. 
 1 Meteorologia, i. 14.
 
 432 NOVUM ORGANUM. 
 
 ministret. Est et quarta differentia inter calorem solis 
 et ignis, magni prorsus momenti ; viz. quod sol ope- 
 rationes suas insinuet per longa temporis spatia, ubi 
 operationes ignis (urgente hominum impatientia) per 
 breviora intervalla ad exitum perducantur. Quod si 
 quis id sedulo agat, ut calorem ignis attemperet et 
 reducat ad gradum moderatiorem et leniorem (quod 
 multis modis facile fit), deinde etiam inspergat et ad-, 
 misceat nonnullam humiditatem, maxime autem si 
 imitetur calorem solis in insequalitate, postremo si 
 moram patienter toleret (non certe earn qua3 sit pro- 
 portionata operibus solis, sed largiorem quam homines 
 adhibere solent in operibus ignis), is facile missam 
 faciet heterogeniam illam caloris, et vel tentabit vel 
 exaequabit vel in aliquibus vincet opera solis, per calo- 
 rem ignis. Similis Instantia Foederis est resuscitatio 
 papilionum ex frigore stupentium et tanquam emortu- 
 arum, per exiguum teporem ignis ; ut facile cemas 
 non magis negatum esse igni vivificare animantia quam 
 maturare vegetabilia. Etiam inventum illud celebre 
 Fracastorii de sartagine acriter calefacta, qua circun- 
 dant "medici capita apoplecticorum desperatorum, 1 ex- 
 pandit manifesto spiritus animales ab humoribus et 
 obstructionibus cerebri compresses et quasi extinctos, 
 illosque ad motum excitat, non aliter quam ignis ope- 
 ratur in aquam aut ae'rem, et tamen per consequens 
 vivificat. Etiam ova aliquando excluduntur per ca- 
 lorem ignis, id quod prorsus imitatur calorem anima- 
 
 1 It is mentioned in the life of Fracastorius, that when dying of apoplexy, 
 and speechless, he made signs for the application of a cucurbita (or cupping- 
 vessel) to his head, remembering the remarkable cure which he had effected 
 in the case of a nun at Verona. It is scarcelj' necessary to remark that 
 " dry cupping," as it is called, acts simply by partially removing the press- 
 ure of the atmosphere: the heat applied to the vessel has no other effect 
 than that of rarefying the air it contains.
 
 NOVUM ORGANUM. 433 
 
 iem ; et complura ejusmodi ; ut nemo dubitare possit 
 quin calor ignis in multis subjectis modificari possit ad 
 imaginem caloris ccelestium et animaliurn. 1 
 
 Similiter sint naturae inquisitae Motus et Quies. 
 Videtur esse divisio solennis atque ex intima philoso- 
 phia, quod corpora naturalia vel rotent, vel ferantur 
 recta, vel stent sive quiescant. Aut enim est motus 
 sine termino, aut static in termino, aut latio ad ter- 
 minuni. At motus ille perennis rotationis videtur 
 esse coelestium proprius ; statio sive quies videtur com- 
 petere globo ipsi terras ; at corpora caetera (gravia quae 
 vocant et levia, extra loca scilicet connaturalitatis suae 
 sita) feruntur recta ad massas sive congregationes simi- 
 lium ; levia sursum, versus ambitum cceli ; gravia de- 
 orsum, versus terrain. Atque ista pulchra dictu sunt. 
 
 At Instantia Foederis est cometa aliquis humilior ; 
 qui cum sit longe infra coelum, tamen rotat. Atque 
 commentum Aristotelis 2 de alligatione sive sequaci- 
 tate cometae ad astrum aliquod jampridem explosum 
 est ; non tantum quia ratio ejus non est probabilis, sed 
 propter experientiam manifest-am discursus et irregu- 
 laris motus cometarum per varia loca cosli. 
 
 At rursus alia Instantia Foederis circa hoc subjec- 
 tum est motus ae'ris ; qui intra tropicos (ubi circuli 
 rotationis sunt majores) videtur et ipse rotare ab ori- 
 ente in occidentem. 
 
 Et alia rursus instantia foret fluxus et refluxus maris, 
 si modo aqua3 ipsae deprehendantur ferri motu rota- 
 tionis (licet tardo et evanido) ab oriente in occiden- 
 
 1 Bacon's rejection of the essential heterogeneity of the three species of 
 heat is apparently taken from Telesius, De, Rtrum Nat. vi. 20. IVlesius 
 remarks, as Bacon does, that eggs may be hatched, and insects apparently 
 iead restored to life, by means of artificial heat. 
 
 2 Meteorol. i. 4. 
 
 VOL. I. 28
 
 434 NOVDM ORGANDM. 
 
 tern ; ita tamen ut bis in die repercutiantur. Itaque, 
 si haec ita se habeant, manifestum est motum istum 
 rotationis non terminari in coelestibus, sed communi- 
 cari aeri et aquae. 
 
 Etiam ista proprietas levium, nimirum ut ferantur 
 sursum, vacillat nonnihil. Atque in hoc sumi potest 
 pro Instantia Foederis bulla aquae. Si enim aer fuerit 
 subter aquam, ascendit rapide versus superficiem aquas, 
 per motum ilium plagae (quam vocat Democritus) per 
 quam aqua descendens percutit et attollit aerem sur- 
 sum ; non autem per contentionem aut nixum aeris 
 ipsius. Atqui ubi ad superficiem ipsam aquse ventum 
 fuerit, turn cohibetur aer ab ulteriore ascensu, per 
 levem resistentiam quam reperit in aqua, non statim 
 tolerante se discontinuari : ita ut exilis admodum sit 
 appetitus aeris ad superiora. 
 
 Similiter sit natura inquisita Pondus. Est plane 
 divisio recepta, ut densa et solida ferantur versus cen- 
 trum terras, rara autem et tenuia versus ambitum coeli ; 
 tanquam ad loca sua propria. Atque loca quod at- 
 tinet, (licet in scholis hujusmodi res valeant) plane 
 inepta et puerilis cogitatio est, locum aliquid posse. 
 Itaque nugantur philosophi cum dicant quod, si per- 
 forata esset terra, corpora gravia se sisterent quando 
 ventum esset ad centrum. Esset enim certe virtu- 
 osum plane et efficax genus nihili, aut puncti niathe- 
 matici, quod aut alia afficeret, aut rursus quod alia 
 appeterent: corpus enim non nisi a corpore patitur. 
 Verum iste appetitus ascendendi et descendendi aut 
 est in schematismo corporis quod movetur, aut in 
 sympatbia sive consensu cum alio corpore. Quod si 
 inveniatur aliquod corpus densum et solidum, quod 
 niliilominus non feratur ad terrain, confunditur hujus-
 
 NOVUM ORGANUM. 435 
 
 modi divisio. At si recipiatur opinio Gilberti, quod 
 magnetica vis terras ad alliciendum gravia non ex- 
 tendatur ultra orbem virtutis suae (quse operatur sem- 
 per ad distantiam certam, et non ultra), 1 hocque pei 
 aliquam Instantiam verificetur, ea demum erit Instan- 
 tia Foederis circa hoc subjectum. Neque tamen oc- 
 currit imprassentiarum aliqua instantia super hoc certa 
 et inanifesta. Proxime videntur accedere cataractae 
 coeli, quae in navigationibus per Oceanum Atlanticum 
 versus Indias utrasque saepe conspiciuntur. Tanta enim 
 videtur esse vis et moles aquarum quae per hujusmodi 
 cataractas subito effunditur, ut videatur collectio aqua- 
 rum fuisse ante facta, atque in his locis haesisse et man- 
 sisse ; et postea potius per causam violentam dejecta et 
 detrusa esse, quam naturali motu gravitatis cecidisse ; 
 adeo ut conjici possit, corpoream molem densam atque 
 compactam in magna distantia a terra fore pensilem 
 tanquam terram ipsam, nee casuram nisi dejiciatur. 
 Verum de hoc nil certi affinnamus. Interim in hoc 
 et in multis aliis facile apparebit, quam inopes simus 
 
 1 In Gilbert's philosophy, the earth's magnetic action is not distinguished 
 from gravity. Thus he says : " Partes vero primariorum globorum integris 
 
 alligatae sunt, in illos naturali desiderio incumhunt Non autemestap- 
 
 petitusaut inclinatio ad locum, aut spatium, aut terminum; sed ad corpus, ad 
 fontem, ad matrem, ad principium ubi uniuntur, conservaiitur, et a periculis 
 vagse partes revocatte quiescunt omnes. Ita tellus aliicit magnetica omnia, 
 turn alia omnia in quibus vis magnetica primaria desiit materiae ratione ; qua 
 inclinatio in terrenis gravitas dicitur." De Mundo,u. c. 3. Again, that the 
 magnetic action of the earth or of a magnet is confined to a definite orb ap- 
 pears from a variety of passages. See De Magnete, ii. c. 7., and the definitions 
 prefixed to this work. Gilbert distinguished between the " orb of virtue," 
 which includes the whole space through which any magnetic action extends, 
 and the " orb of coition," which is "totum illud spatium per quod mini- 
 mum magneticum per magnetem movetur." He asserts that the orb of 
 the magnetic virtue extends to the moon, and ascribes the moon's in- 
 equalities to the effects it produces (De Mundo, ii. c. 19.). In the preced- 
 ing chapter he remarks, " Luna magnetice alligatur terra, quia facies ejus 
 semper versus terram."
 
 436 NOVUM ORGANDM. 
 
 historiae naturalis ; cum loco instantiarum certarum non- 
 nunquam suppositiones afferre pro exemplis cogamur. 
 
 Sirniliter sit natura inquisita Discursus Ingenii. Vi- 
 detur omnino divisio vera, rationis humanae et solertiae 
 brutorum. Attamen sunt nonnullae instantiae actionum 
 quae eduntur a brutis, per quas videntur etiam bruta 
 quasi syllogizare ; ut memorise proditum est de corvo, 
 qui per magnas siccitates fere enectus siti conspexit 
 aquam in trunco cavo arboris ; atque cum non daretur 
 ei intrare propter angustias, non cessavit jacere multos 
 lapillos, per quos surgeret et ascenderet aqua ut bibere 
 posset ; quod postea cessit in proverbium. 
 
 Similiter sit natura inquisita Visibile. Videtur om- 
 nino esse divisio vera et certa, lucis, quae est visibile 
 originale et primam copiam facit visui, et coloris, qui 
 est visibile secundarium et sine luce non cernitur, ita 
 ut videatur nil aliud esse quam imago aut modificatio 
 lucis. 1 Attamen ex utraque parte circa hoc videntur 
 esse Instantiae Foederis ; scilicet, nix in magna quanti- 
 tate, et flamma sulphuris ; in quaruin altera videtur 
 esse color primulum lucens, in allera lux vergens ad 
 colorem. 
 
 xxxvi. 
 
 Inter Praerogativas Instantiarum, ponemus loco de- 
 cimo quarto Instantias Crucis ; translate vocabulo a 
 Crucibus, quaa erectae in biviis indicant et signant via- 
 rum separationes. Has etiam Instantias Dedsorias et 
 Judiciales, et in casibus nonnullis Instantias Oraculi et 
 Mandati, appellare consuevimus. Earum ratio talis 
 
 1 The doctrine of this passage seems to be taken from Telesius, De Re- 
 nan Natura, vii. c. 31. : " Sensus ipse primo illam [lucem] et per se visi- 
 lem colores siquidem visiles, at secundo a luce loco et lucis omnino opera 
 visiles declarat."
 
 NOVUM ORGANUM. 437 
 
 est. Cum in inquisitione naturas alicujus intellectus 
 ponitur tanquam in asquilibrio, ut incertus sit utri 
 naturarum e duabus, vel quandoque pluribus, causa 
 naturae inquisitae attribui aut assignari debeat, proptei 
 complurium naturarum concursum frequentem et or- 
 dinarium, Instantiaj Crucis ostendunt consortium unius 
 ex naturis (quoad naturam inquisitam) fidum et indis- 
 solubile, alterius autem varium et separabile ; unde 
 terminatur qu92stio, et recipitur natura ilia prior pro 
 causa, missa altera et repudiata. Itaque hujusmodi in- 
 stantiae sunt maximaa lucis, et quasi magnaa auctori- 
 tatis ; ita ut curriculum interpretationis quandoque in 
 illas desinat, et per illas perficiatur. Interdum autem 
 Instantiaj Crucis illae occurrunt et inveniuntur inter 
 jampridem notatas ; at ut plurimum novae sunt, et de 
 industria atque ex composite quaesitae et applicataa, et 
 diligentia sedula et acri tandem erutae. 1 
 
 Exempli gratia ; sit natura inquisita Flnxus et Re- 
 fluxus Maris, ille bis repetitus in die atque sexhorarius 
 in accessibus et recessibus singulis, cum differentia non- 
 nulla quae coincidit in motum lunae. Bivium circa 
 hanc naturam tale est. 
 
 Necesse prorsus est ut iste motus efficiatur, vel ab 
 aquarum progressu et regressu, in modum aquae in 
 pelvi agitatae, quae quando latus unum pelvis alluit de- 
 serit alterum ; vel a sublatione et subsidentia aquarum 
 e profundo, in modum aqua? ebullientis et rursus sub- 
 sidentis. Utri vero causas fluxus et refluxus ille assig- 
 nari debeat, oritur dubitatio. Quod si recipiatur prior 
 assertio, necesse est ut cum sit fluxus in mari ex una 
 
 - These are instances of the experiments spoken of in the Distributio 
 Operis, "quae ad intentionem ejus quod quaeritur perite et secundum ar- 
 tem excogitata et apposita sunt." (p. 218.) /. S.
 
 438 NOVUM ORGANUM. 
 
 parte fiat sub idem tempus alicubi in mari refluxus ex 
 alia. Itaque ad hoc reducitur inquisitio. Atqui obser- 
 vavit Acosta, cum aliis nonnullis (diligenti facta inqui- 
 sitione), quod ad litora Floridas et ad litora adversa 
 Hispaniae et Africae, fiant fluxus maris ad eadem tem- 
 pera, et refluxus itidem ad eadem tempora ; nou contra, 
 quod cum fluxus fit ad littora Florida, fiat refluxus ad 
 littora Hispaniae et Africae. 1 Attamen adhuc diligen- 
 tius attendenti, non per hoc evincitur motus attollens, 
 et abnegatur motus in progressu. Fieri enim potest, 
 quod sit motus aquarum in progressu, et nihilominus 
 inundet adversa littora ejusdem alvei simul ; si aquas 
 scilicet illae contrudantur et compellantur aliunde, 
 quemadmodum fit in fluviis, qui fluunt et refluunt ad 
 utrumque littus horis iisdem, cum tamen iste motus 
 liquido sit motus in progressu, nempe aquarum ingre- 
 dientium ostia fluminum ex mari. Itaque simili modo 
 fieri potest, ut aquae venientes magna mole ab Oceano 
 Orientali Indico compellantur et trudantur in alveum 
 Maris Atlantici, et propterea inuiident utrumque latus 
 simul. Quaerendum itaque est, an sit alius alveus per 
 quern aquae possint iisdem temporibus minui et refluere. 
 Atque praesto est Mare Australe, Mari Atlantico neu- 
 tiquam minus, sed potius magis latum et extensum, 
 quod ad hoc sufficere possit. 
 
 Itaque jam tandem perventum est ad Instantiam 
 Crucis circa hoc subjectum. Ea talis est : si pro certo 
 inveniatur, quod cum fit fluxus ad littora adversa tarn 
 Floridae quam Hispaniae in Mari Atlantico, fiat simul 
 
 1 Compare the De Fluxu et Refluxu Maris. I have not been able to find 
 this statement in Acosta, who speaks of the synchronism of the tides on the 
 opposite sides of South America, as shown by the meeting of the tidal 
 waves in the Straits of Magellan, (iii. 14.)
 
 NOVUM ORGANUM. 439 
 
 fluxus ad littora Peruviae et juxta dorsum Chinse in 
 Mari Austral! ; turn certe per hanc Instantiam Deciso- 
 riam abjudicanda est assertio quod fluxus et refluxua 
 maris, cle quo inquiritur, fiat per motum progressivum : 
 neque enim relinquitur aliud mare aut locus, ubi possit 
 ad eadem tempora fiei'i regressus aut refluxus. Com- 
 modissime autem hoc sciri possit, si inquiratur ab inco- 
 lis Panamas et Limae (ubi uterque Oceanus, Atlanticus 
 et Australis, per parvum Isthmum separantur), ut-rum 
 ad contrarias Isthmi partes fiat simul fluxus et refluxus 
 maris, an e contra. Verum haec decisio sive abjudi- 
 catio certa videtur, posito quod terra stet immobilis. 
 Quod si terra rotet, fieri fortasse potest ut ex inaequali 
 rotatione (quatenus ad celeritatem sive incitationem) 
 terrae et aquarum maris, sequatur compulsio violenta 
 aquarum in cumulum sursum, quae sit fluxus ; et relax- 
 atio earundem (postquam amplius cumulari non susti- 
 nuerint) in deorsum, quae sit refluxus. Verum de hoc 
 facienda est inquisitio separatim. Attamen etiam hoc 
 supposito illud aeque manet fixum, quod necesse sit fieri 
 alicubi refluxum maris ad eadem tempora quibus flunt 
 fluxus in aliis partibus. 
 
 Similiter, sit natura inquisita posterior ille motus ex 
 duobus quos supposuimus, videlicet motus maris se at- 
 tollens et rursus subsidens ; si forte ita accident ut 
 (diligenti facto examine) rejiciatur motus alter, de quo 
 diximus, progressivus. Turn vero erit trivium circa 
 hanc naturam tale. Necesse est ut motus iste, per 
 quern aquae in fluxibus et refluxibus se attollunt et rur- 
 sus relabuntur, absque aliqua accessione aquarum alia- 
 rum quae advolvuntur, fiat per unum ex his tribus 
 modis ; vel quod ista aquarum copia emanet ex interi- 
 oribus terras et rursus in ilia se recipiat ; vel quod non
 
 440 NOVUM ORGANDM. 
 
 sit aliqua amplior moles aquarum, sed quod esedein 
 aqua? (non aucto quanto suo) extendantur sive rare- 
 fiant, ita ut majorem locum et dimensionem occupent, 
 et rursus se contrahant ; vel quod nee copia accedat 
 major nee extensio amplior, sed e^dem aquaa (prout 
 sunt tarn copia quam densitate aut raritate) per vim 
 aliquam magneticam desuper eas attrahentem et evo- 
 cantem, et per consensum, se attollant et deinde se 
 remittant. Itaque reducatur (si placet) jam inquisitio 
 (missis duobus illis motibus prioribus) ad hunc ulti- 
 mum ; et inquiratur si fiat aliqua talis sublatio per con- 
 sensum sive vim magneticam. Atqui primo manifestum 
 est universas aquas, prout ponuntur in fossa sive cavo 
 maris, non posse simul attolli, quia defuerit quod suc- 
 cedat in fundo ; adeo ut si foret in aquis aliquis hujus- 
 modi appetitus se attollendi, ille ipse tamen a nexu 
 rerum, sive (ut vulgo loquuntur) ne detur vacuum, 
 fractus foret et cohibitus. Relinquitur, ut attollantur 
 aqua& ex aliqua parte, et per hoc minuantur et cedant 
 ex alia. Enimvero rursus necessario sequetur ut vis 
 ilia magnetica, cum super totum operari non possit, 
 circa medium operetur intensissime ; ita ut aquas in 
 medio attollat, illae vero sublata3 latera per successio- 
 nem deserant et destituant. 
 
 Itaque jam tandem perventum est ad Instantiam Cru- 
 cis circa hoc subjectum. Ea talis est : si inveniatur 
 quod in refluxibus maris aquarum superficies in mari 
 sit arcuata magis et rotunda, attollentibus se scilicet 
 aquis in medio maris et deficientibus circa latera, quse 
 sunt litora ; et in fluxibus eadem superficies sit magis 
 plana et sequa, redeuntibus scilicet aquis ad priorem 
 suam positionem ; turn certe per hanc Instantiam Deci- 
 soriam potest recipi sublatio per vim magneticam, aliter
 
 NOVUM ORGANUM. 441 
 
 prorsus abjudicanda est. Hoc vero in fretis per lineas 
 nauticas non difficile est experiri ; l videlicet utrum in 
 refluxibus versus medium maris, mare non sit magis 
 altum sive profundum quam in fluxibus. Notandum 
 autem est, si hoc ita sit, fieri (contra ac creditur) ut 
 attollant se aquae in refluxibus, demittant se tantum in 
 fluxibus, ita ut littora vestiant et inundent. 
 
 Similiter, sit natura inquisita Motus Rotationis sponta- 
 neus ; et speciatim, utrum Motus Diurnus, per quern sol 
 et stellae ad conspectum nostrum oriuntur et occidunt, sit 
 motus rotationis verus in coelestibus, aut motus appa- 
 rens in coelestibus, verus in terra. Poterit esse In- 
 stantia Crucis super hoc subjectem talis. Si inveniatur 
 motus aliquis in oceano ab oriente in occidentem, licet 
 admodum languidus et enervatus ; si idem motus re- 
 periatur paulo incitatior in acre, praasertim intra tropi- 
 cos, ubi propter majores circulos est magis perceptibilis ; 
 si idem motus reperiatur in humilioribus cometis, jam 
 factus vivus et validus ; si idem motus reperiatur in 
 planetis, ita tamen dispensatus et graduatus ut quo pro- 
 pius absit a terra sit tardior, quo longius celerior, atque 
 in coelo demum stellato sit velocissimus ; turn certe 
 recipi debet motus diurnus pro vero in coelis, et abne- 
 gandus est motus terras ; quia manifestum erit, motum 
 ab oriente in occidentem esse plane cosmicum et ex 
 consensu universi, qui in summitatibus coeli maxime 
 rapidus gradatim labascat, et tandem desinat et exstin- 
 guatur in immobili, videlicet terra. 2 
 
 1 It is scarcely necessary to remark that wherever soundings are possible, 
 tidal phenomena are derivative, and give no direct information as to the 
 form the ocean would assume if the hypothesis of the equilibrium theory 
 represented the reality. 
 
 2 Nothing shows better than an instance of this kind, the impossibility 
 of reducing philosophical reasoning to a uniform method of exclusion.
 
 442 NOVUM ORGANUM. 
 
 Similiter, sit natura inquisita Motus Rotationis ille 
 alter apud astronomos decantatus, renitens et contra- 
 rius Motui Diurno, videlicet ab occidente in orientem ; 
 quern veteres astronomi attribuunt planetis, etiam coelo 
 stellato ; at Copernicus et ejus sectatores terrae quoque ; 
 et quaeratur utrum inveniatur in rerum natura aliquis 
 talis motus, an potius res conficta sit et supposita, ad 
 compendia et commoditates calculationum, et ad pul- 
 chrum illud, scilicet de expediendis motibus coelestibus 
 per circulos perfectos. Neutiquam enim evincitur iste 
 motus esse in supernis verus et realis, nee per defectum 
 restitutionis planetse in motu diurno ad idem punctum 
 coeli stellati, nee per diversam politatem zodiaci, habito 
 respectu ad polos mundi ; quas duo nobis hunc motum 
 pepererunt. Primum enim phenomenon per antever- 
 sionem et derelictionem optime salvatur ; secundum 
 per lineas spirales ; adeo ut inasqualitas restitutionis et 
 declinatio ad tropicos possint esse potius modificationes 
 motus unici illius diurni, quam motus renitentes aut 
 circa diversos polos. Et certissimum est, si paulisper 
 pro plebeiis nos geramus (missis astronomorum et scho- 
 Ia3 commentis, quibus illud in more est ut sensui in 
 multis immerito vim faciant, et obscuriora malint), ta- 
 lem esse motum istum ad sensum, qualem diximus ; 
 cujus imaginem per fila ferrea (veluti in machina) ali- 
 quando repraBsentari fecimus. 1 
 
 How could the analogical argument in the text be stated in accordance 
 with what Bacon seems to recognise as the only true form of induction, 
 that, namely, which proceeds by exclusion? The argument depends on a 
 wholly non-logical element, the conviction of the unity and harmony of 
 nature. 
 
 1 This passage does the author little credit. He does not seem to have 
 perceived that the resolution of the apparent motion into other simpler mo 
 tions was an essential!}' necessary step before the phenomena could be 
 grouped together in any general law. The transition from the apparent
 
 NOVUM ORGANUM. 443 
 
 Verum Instantia Crucis super hoc subjectum poterii 
 esse talis. Si inveniatur in aliqua historia fide digna, 
 fuisse cometam aliquem vel sublimiorem vel humiliorem 
 qui non rotaverit cum consensu manifesto (licet admo- 
 dum irregulariter) Motus Diurni, sed potius rotaverit 
 in contrarium coeli, turn certe hucusque judicandum est 
 posse esse in natura aliquem talem motum. Sin nihil 
 hujusmodi inveniatur, habendus est pro suspecto, et ad 
 alias Instantias Crucis circa hoc confugiendum. 
 
 Similiter, sit natura inquisita, Pondus sive Grave. 
 Bivium circa hanc naturam tale est. Necesse est ut 
 gravia et ponderosa vel tendant ex natura sua ad cen- 
 trum terrae, per proprium schematismum ; vel ut a mas- 
 sa corporea ipsius terrae, tanquam a congregatione cor- 
 porum connaturalium, attrahantur et rapiantur, et ad 
 earn per consensum ferantur. At posterius hoc si in 
 causa sit, sequitur ut quo propius gravia appropinquant 
 ad terram, eo fortius et majore cum impetu ferantur ad 
 earn ; quo longius ab ea absint, debilius et tardius (ut 
 fit in attractionibus magneticis) ; idque fieri intra spati- 
 um certum ; adeo ut si elongata fuerint a terra tali di- 
 stantia ut virtus terras in ea agere non possit, pensilia 
 mansura sint, ut et ipsa terra, nee omnino decasura. 
 
 Itaque talis circa hanc rem poterit esse Instantia 
 Crucis. Sumatur horologium ex iis quae moventur per 
 pondera plumbea, et aliud ex iis quas moventur per com- 
 pressionem laminas ferreae ; atque vere probentur, ne 
 alterum altero velocius sit aut tardius ; deinde ponatur 
 
 motion to the real motions could never have been made unless the former had 
 been resolved in the manner which Bacon here condemns. From the con- 
 cluding remark no astronomer would have dissented, "talem esse motum ad 
 sensum, qualem diximus." About this there can be no question; but the 
 whole passage shows how little Bacon understood the scope and the value 
 of the astronomy of his own time.
 
 444 NOVUM ORGANUM. 
 
 horologium illud movens per pondera super fastigium 
 alicujus teinpli altissimi, altero illo infra detento ; et 
 notetur diligenter si horologium in alto situm tardius 
 moveatur quam solebat, propter diminutam virtutem 
 ponderum. Idem fiat experimentum in profundis mi- 
 nerarum alte sub terra depressarum, utrum horologium 
 hujusmodi non moveatur velocius quam solebat, prop- 
 ter auctam virtutem ponderum. Quod si inveniatur 
 virtus ponderum minui in sublimi, aggravari in subter- 
 raneis, recipiatur pro causa ponderis attraotio a massa 
 corporea terras. 1 
 
 Similiter, sit natura inquisita Verticitas Acus FerreaB, 
 tacta? magnete. Circa hanc naturam tale erit bivium. 
 Necesse est ut tactus magnetis vel ex se indat ferro ver- 
 ticitalem ad septentriones et austrum ; vel ut excitet 
 ferrum tantummodo et habilitet, motus autem ipse in- 
 datur ex praBsentia terra? ; ut Gilbertus opinatur, et tanto 
 conatu probare nititur. Itaque hue spectant ea quae 
 ille perspicaci industria conquisivit. Nimirum quod 
 clavus ferreus, qui diu duravit in situ versus septentri- 
 
 1 Nothing can be more ingenious than the instantia crucis here proposed. 
 A series of observations were made by Dr. Whewell and Mr. Airy to de- 
 termine the effect on the time of vibration of a pendulum, produced by car- 
 rying it to the bottom of a mine; but, probably from the effect of local 
 attractions, the results were scarcely as satisfactory as might have been 
 expected. In the autumn of 1854, Mr. Airy instituted similar experiments 
 in the Harton Colliery. The}' appear likely to afford more satisfactory re- 
 sults than the older series made at Dolcoath. 
 
 Voltaire cites the passage in the text in support of his remark that " le 
 plus grand service, peut-etre, que F. Bacon ait rendu a la philosophic a e"t4 
 de deviner 1'attraction." But in reality the notion of attraction in one 
 form or other (e. g. the attraction of the sea by the moon) sprang up in the 
 infancy of physical speculation; and it' cannot be affirmed that Bacon's 
 ideas on the subject were as clear as those of his predecessor William 
 Gilbert. (See note on De Aug. ii. 13.) By an error similar to Voltaire's, 
 some of Dante's commentators have claimed for him the credit of being the 
 first to indicate the true cause of the tides. The passage on which thi 
 claim is founded is in the Paradiso, xvi. 82.
 
 NOVUM ORGANUM. 445 
 
 ones et austrum, colligat mora diutina verticitatera, ab- 
 sque tactu magnetis ; ac si terra ipsa, quae ob distan- 
 tiam debiliter operatur (namque superficies aut extima 
 incrustatio terras virtutis magneticae, ut ille vult, expers 
 est), per morarn tamen longam magnetis tactum supple- 
 ret, et ferrum exciret, deinde excitum conformaret et 
 verteret. Rursus, quod ferrum ignitum et candens, si in 
 exstinctione sua exporrigatur inter septentriones et au- 
 strum, colligat quoque verticitatem absque tactu mag- 
 netis ; ac si partes ferri in motu positae per ignitionem, 
 et postea se recipientes, in ipso articulo extinctionis suas 
 magis essent susceptivae et quasi sensitive virtutis ma- 
 nantis a terra quam alias, et inde fierent tanquam ex- 
 citas. Verum base, licet bene observata, tamen non 
 evincunt prorsus quod ille asserit. 1 
 
 Instantia Crucis autem circa hoc subjectum poterit 
 esse talis. Capiatur terrella 2 ex magnete, et notentur 
 poli ejus ; et ponantur poli terrellae versus orientem et 
 occasum, non versus septentriones et austrum, atque ita 
 jaceant ; deinde superponatur acus ferrea intacta, et 
 permittatur ita manere ad dies sex aut septem. Acus 
 vero (nam de hoc non dubitatur) dum manet super 
 magnetem, relictis polis mundi, se vertet ad polos mag- 
 netis ; itaque quamdiu ita manet, vertitur scilicet ad 
 orientem et occidentem mundi. Quod si inveniatur 
 acus ilia, remota a magnete et posita super versorium, 
 statin: se applicare ad septentriones et austrum, vel 
 
 1 See, for these two remarks, the twelfth chapter of the third book of 
 Gilbert's treatise De Magnete. It is illustrated by a curious woodcut, rep- 
 resenting the smith forging a bar of iron, and holding it, as he does so, in 
 the plane of the meridian. 
 
 2 Terrella is a word used by Gilbert to denote a spherical magnet. One 
 >f the fundamental ideas of his philosophy was that the earth was a great 
 magnet ; and a magnet of the same form was therefore called a little earth, 
 or terrella. See, for instance, his treatise De Mngnef.e, ii. cc. 7 & 8.
 
 446 NOVUM ORGANUM. 
 
 etiatn paulatim se eo recipere, turn recipienda est pro 
 causa, prsesentia terras ; sin aut vertatur (ut prius) in 
 orientem et occidentem, aut perdat verticitatem, ha- 
 benda est ilia causa pro suspecta, et ulterius inquiren- 
 dum est. 
 
 Similiter, sit natura inquisita Corporea Substantia 
 Lunas ; an sit tenuis, flammea, sive aerea, ut plurimi 
 ex priscis philosophis opinati sunt ; an solida et densa, 
 ut Gilbertus et multi moderni, cum nonnullis ex anti- 
 quis, tenent. 1 Rationes posterioris istius opinionis funr 
 dantur in hoc maxime, quod luna radios solis reflectat ; 
 neque videtur fieri reflexio lucis nisi a solidis. 
 
 Itaque Instantise Crucis circa hoc subjectum eaa esse 
 poterint (si modo aliquae sint) quas demonstrent reflex- 
 ionem a corpore tenui, qualis est flamma, modo sit cras- 
 sitiei sufficientis. Certe causa crepusculi, inter alias, est 
 reflexio radiorum solis a superiore parte ae'ris. Etiam 
 quandoque reflect! videmus radios solis temporibus ves- 
 pertinis serenis a fimbriis nubium roscidarum, non mi- 
 nori splendore, sed potius illustriori et magis glorioso, 
 quam qui redditur a corpore lunae ; a neque tamen con- 
 stat eas nubes coaluisse in corpus densum aquae. Etiam 
 videmus ae'rem tenebrosum pone fenestras noctu reflec- 
 tere lucem candelas, non minus quam corpus densum. 
 Tentandum etiam foret experimentum immissionis radi- 
 orum solis per foramen super flammam aliquam subfu- 
 scam et caeruleam. Sane radii aperti solis, incidentes in 
 flammas obscuriores, videntur eas quasi mortificare, ut 
 conspiciantur magis instar fumi albi quam flammas. 
 Atque ha3C imprassentiarum occurrunt, qua? sint ex na- 
 
 1 See Gilbert's De Mundo, &c., ii. c. 13 et sqq. 
 
 2 The comparison of the brightness of the moon in the daytime with that 
 of a cloud was ingeniously applied by Bouguer to determine the ratio of the 
 moon's light to the sun's.
 
 NOVUM ORGANUM. 447 
 
 tura Instantiarum Crucis circa hanc rem ; et meliora 
 fortasse reperiri possunt. Sed notandum semper est, 
 reflexionem a flamma non esse expectandarn, nisi a 
 flamma alicujus profunditatis ; nam aliter vergit ad 
 diaphanum. Hoc autem pro certo ponendum, lucem 
 semper in corpore aequali aut excipi et transmitti aut 
 resilire. 
 
 Similiter, sit natura inquisita Motus Missilium, ve- 
 luti spiculorum, sagittarum, globulorum, per aerem. 
 Hunc motum Schola (more suo) valde negligenter 
 expedit ; satis habens, si eum nomine motus violenti 
 a naturali (quern vocant) distinguat; et quod ad 
 primam percussionem sive impulsionem attinet, per 
 illud, (quod duo corpora non possint esse in uno loco, 
 ne fiat penetratio dimensionum,} sibi satisfaciat ; et de 
 processu continuato istius motus nihil curet. At 
 circa hanc naturam bivium est tale : aut iste motus 
 fit ab acre vehente et pone corpus emissum se colli- 
 gente, instar fluvii erga scapham aut venti erga pa- 
 leas ; aut a partibus ipsius corporis non sustinentibus 
 impressionem, sed ad eandem laxandam per succes- 
 sionem se promoventibus. Atque priorem ilium re- 
 cipit Fracastorius, et fere omnes qui de hoc motu 
 paulo subtilius inquisiverunt ; l neque dubium est, 
 
 1 See Fracastorius, De Sympathid et Antlpalhid, c. 4. 
 
 The notion that the air concurred in producing the continued motion of 
 projectiles is found in the Timcevs, p. 80. Plato has been speaking of res- 
 piration, of which his theory is, that the expiration of air through the nos- 
 trils and mouth pushes the contiguous external air from its place, which 
 disturbs that near it, and so on until a circle is formed, whereby, by anti- 
 peristasis, air is forced in through the flesh to fill up the cavity of the chest 
 a circulation of air through the body, in short. On the same principle 
 he would have explained a variety of other phenomena the action of 
 cupping instruments, swallowing, the motion of projectiles, &c. &c. All 
 these, however, after suggesting the explanation, he leaves unexplained. 
 But Plutarch, Qricest. Platan, x. (p. 177. of Reiske's Plutarch) developes a
 
 448 NOVUM ORGAN UM. 
 
 quin sint aeris partes in hac re nonnullae ; sed alter 
 motus proculdubio verus est, ut ex infinitis constat 
 experimentis. Sed inter cameras, poterit esse circa 
 hoc subjectum Instantia Crucis talis ; quod lamina, 
 aut filum ferri paulo contumacius, vel etiam calamus 
 sive penna in medio divisa, adducta et curvata inter 
 pollicem et digitum, exiliant. Manifestum enim est, 
 hoc non posse imputari aeri se pone corpus colligenti, 
 quia fons motus est in medio laminae vel calami, non 
 in extremis. 
 
 Similiter sit natura inquisita motus ille rapidus et 
 potens Expansionis Pulveris Pyrii in flammam ; unde 
 tantae moles subvertuntur, tanta pondera emittuntur, 
 quanta in cuniculis majoribus et bombardis videmus. 
 Bivium circa hanc naturam tale est. Aut excitatur 
 iste motus a mero corporis appetitu se dilatandi, post- 
 quam fuerit inflammatum ; aut ab appetitu mixto spiri- 
 tus crudi, qui rapide fugit ignem, et ex eo circumfuso, 
 tanquam ex carcere, violenter erumpit. Schola autem 
 et vulgaris opinio tantum versatur circa priorem ilium 
 appetitum. Putant enim homines se pulchre philoso- 
 phari, si asserant flammam ex forma elementi necessi- 
 tate quadam donari locum ampliorem occupandi quam 
 idem corpus expleverat cum subiret formam pulveris, 
 atque inde sequi motum istum. Interim minime ad- 
 vertunt, licet hoc verum sit, posito quod flamma gene- 
 retur, tamen posse impediri flammae generationem a 
 tanta mole quae illam comprimere et suffocare queat ; 
 
 similar explanation in each case. I transcribe what he says of projectiles: 
 Ta (5t funrovfieva J3up7j rdv uepa axitfi. fieru TrA^y^f iKireaovra, Koi 
 6ua-r}ffiv. 6 6s neptppeuv biriau, TIJ 6vaiv e^etv uel rf/v Ipijftovftivijv 
 %upav SIUKELV KOI iivaTiljipovv, avvEKETai rC) ei^tf/uevw, TT/V Kinjaiv avve- 
 mraxm'uv. But this explanation is not Plato's, but Plutarch's; though it 
 is probably what Plato would himself have said.
 
 NOVUM ORGANUM. 449 
 
 ut noil deducatur res ad istam necessitatem de qua 
 loquuntur. Nam quod necesse sit fieri expansionem, 
 atque inde sequi emissionem aut remotionem corporis 
 quod obstat, si generetur flamma, recte putant. Sed 
 ista necessitas plane evitatur, si moles ilia solida flam- 
 mam supprimat antequam generetur. Atque videmus 
 flammam, praesertim in prima generatione, mollem 
 esse et lenem, et requirere cavum in quo experiri et 
 ludere possit. Itaque tanta violentia huic rei per se 
 assignari non potest. Sed illud verum ; generationem 
 hujusmodi flammarum flatulentarum, et veluti ven- 
 torum igneorum, fieri ex conflictu duorum corporum, 
 eorumque naturae inter se plane contrariae ; alterius 
 admodum inflammabilis, quae natura viget in sul- 
 phure ; alterius flammam exhorrentis, qualis est spi- 
 ritus crudus qui est in nitro ; adeo ut fiat conflictus 
 mirabilis, inflammante se sulphure quantum potest 
 (nam tertium corpus, nimirum carbo salicis, nil aliud 
 fere praestat quam ut ilia duo corpora incorporet et 
 commode uniat), et erumpente spiritu nitri quantum 
 potest, et una se dilatante (nam hoc faciunt et aer, et 
 omnia cruda, et aqua, ut a calore dilatentur), et per 
 istam fugam et eruptionem interim flammam sulphuris, 
 tanquam follibus occultis, undequaque exufflante. 
 
 Poterant 1 autem esse Instantise Crucis circa hoc sub- 
 jectum duorum generum. Alterum eorum corporum 
 quae maxime sunt inflammabilia, qualia sunt sulphur, 
 caphura, naphtha, et hujusmodi, cum eorum misturis ; 
 quae citius et facilius concipiunt flammam quam pulvis 
 pyrius, si non impediantur ; ex quo liquet appetitum 
 inflammandi per se eflfectum ilium stupendum non ope- 
 rari. Alterum eorum quae flammam fugiunt et exhor- 
 
 1 So in the original. J. 8. 
 VOL. i 29
 
 450 NOVDM ORGANUM. 
 
 rent, qualia sunt sales omnes. Videmus enim, si jaci- 
 antur in ignem, spiritum aqueum erumpere cum fragore 
 antequam flamma concipiatur ; quod etiam leniter fit in 
 foliis paulo contumacioribus, parte aquea erumpente an- 
 tequam oleosa concipiat flammam. Sed maxime cerni- 
 tur hoc in argento vivo, quod non male dicitur aqua 
 mineralis. 1 Hoc enim, absque inflammatione, per erap- 
 tionem et expansionem simplicem vires pulveris pyrii 
 fere adaequat ; quod etiam admixtum pulveri pyrio ejus 
 vires multiplicare dicitur. 
 
 Similiter sit natura inquisita, Transitoria Natura 
 Flammae, et extinctio ejus momentanea. Non enim 
 videtur natura flammea hie apud nos figi et consistere, 
 sed singulis quasi momentis generari, et statim extin- 
 gui. Manifestum enim est, in flammis quae hie conti- 
 nuantur et dui'ant, istam durationem non esse ejusdem 
 flammas in individuo, sed fieri per successionem novae 
 flammae seriatim generatas, minime autem manere ean- 
 dem flammam numero ; id quod facile perspicitur ex 
 hoc, quod, substracto alimento sive fomite flammas, 
 flamma statim pereat. Bivium autem circa hanc na- 
 turam tale est. Momentanea ista natura aut fit re- 
 mittente se causa quae earn primo genuit, ut in lumine, 
 sonis, et motibus (quos vocant) violentis ; aut quod 
 flamma in natura sua possit hie apud nos manere, 
 sed a contrariis naturis circumfusis vim patiatur et 
 destruatur. 
 
 Itaque poterit esse circa hoc subjectum Instantia 
 Crucis talis. Videmus flammas in incendiis majoribus, 
 quam alte in sursum ascendant. Quanto enim basis 
 flammse est latior, tanto vertex sublimior. Itaque vide- 
 
 l It is well known that the expansive force of the vapour of mercury al 
 high temperatures is enormous.
 
 NOVUM ORGANUM. 451 
 
 tur principium extinctionis fieri circa latera, ubi ab aere 
 flamma compriniitur et male habetur. At meditullia 
 flammae, qua3 aer non contingit sed alia flamma undi- 
 que circumdat, eadem numero manent, neque extin- 
 guuntur donee paulatim angustientur ab aere per latera 
 circumfuso. Itaque omnis flarnma pyramidalis est basi 
 circa fomitem largior, vertice autem (inimicante aere, 
 nee suppeditante fomite) acutior. At fumus, angustior 
 circa basin, ascendendo dilatatur, et fit tanquam pyramis 
 inversa ; quia scilicet aer fumum recipit, flammam (ne- 
 que enim quispiam somniet aerem esse flammam accen- 
 sam, cum sint corpora plane heterogenea) comprimit. 
 
 Accuratior autem potent esse Instantia Crucis ad 
 hanc rem accommodata, si res forte manifestari possit 
 per flam mas bicolores. Capiatur igitur situla parva ex 
 metallo, et in ea figatur parva candela cerea accensa ; 
 ponatur situla in patera, et circurnfundatur spiritus vini 
 in modica quantitate, qua? ad labra situla3 non attingat; 
 turn accende spiritum vini. At spiritus ille vini exhi- 
 bebit flammam magis scilicet cseruleam, lychnus can- 
 delse autem magis flavam. Notetur itaque utrum 
 flamma lychni (quam facile est per colorem a flamma 
 spiritus vini distinguere, neque enim flammaB, ut li- 
 quores, statim commiscentur) maneat pyramidalis, an 
 potius magis tendat ad formam globosam, cum nihil 
 inveniatur quod earn destruat aut comprimat. 1 At 
 hoc posterius si fiat, manere flammam eandem numero, 
 quamdiu intra aliam flammam concludatur nee vim 
 inimicam ae'ris experiatur, pro certo ponendum est. 
 
 Atque de Instantiis Crucis ha3C dicta sint. Lon- 
 giores autem in iis tractandis ad hunc finem fuimus, 
 
 1 This experiment is mentioned as actually tried in Syl. Sylvarum, 31 
 [See note on the passage. /. /S.]
 
 452 NOVUM ORGANUM. 
 
 ut homines paulatim discant et assuefiant de natura 
 judicare per Instantias Crucis et experimenta lucifera, 
 et non per rationes probabiles. 
 
 XXXVII. 
 
 Inter Praerogativas Instantiarum, ponemus loco de- 
 cimo quinto Instantias Divortii; quae indicant separa- 
 tiones naturarum earum quas ut plurimum occurrunt. 
 Diff'erunt autera ab Instantiis quae subjunguntur In- 
 stantiis Comitatus ; quia illae indicant separationes 
 naturae alicujus ab aliquo concrete cum quo ilia famili- 
 ariter consuescit, hae vero separationes naturae alicnjus 
 ab altera natura. Differunt etiam ab Instantiis Crucis ; 
 quia nihil determinant, sed monent tantum de separa- 
 bilitate unius naturae ab altera. Usus autem earum 
 est ad prodendas falsas Formas, et dissipandas leves 
 contemplationes ex rebus obviis orientes ; adeo ut ve- 
 luti plumbum et pondera intellectui addant. 
 
 Exempli gratia : sint naturae inquisitae quatuor na- 
 turae illae, quas Contubernales vult esse Telesius, 1 et 
 tanquam ex eadem camera ; viz. Calidum, Lucidum, 
 Tenue, Mobile sive promptum ad motum. At plurimae 
 inveniuntur Instantiaa Divortii inter ipsas. Aer enim 
 tenuis est et habilis ad moturn, non calidus aut lucidus ; 
 
 i The fundamental idea of Telesius's philosophy is, that heat and cold 
 are the great constituent principles of the universe, and that the antithesis 
 between them corresponds to that which he recognises between the sun and 
 the earth: " Omnino calidus, tenuis, candidus, mobilisque est Sol; Terra 
 contra frigida, crassa, immobilis, tenebricosaque .... unum Sol in terrain 
 emittens calorem ejus naturam facultatesque et conditiones ex ea deturbat 
 omnes, suasque ei indit; et eodem ferme modo quo Sol terrain, etiam calor 
 quivis, vel qui e commotis contritisque enascitur rebus, qnse corripit exu- 
 peratque immutare videtur; frigus scilicet ex iis, ejusque facultates condi- 
 tionesque omnes, crassitiem, obscuritatem, immobilitatem, deturbare, et so 
 ipsum iis, propriasque facultates conditionesque omnes, tenuitatem, albe- 
 linem et mobilitatem, indere videtur." De Rerum NaturA, i. c. 1
 
 NOVUM ORGANUM. 453 
 
 luna lucida, absque calore ; aqua fervens calida, absque 
 lumine ; motus acus ferreas super versorium pernix et 
 agilis, et tamen in corpore frigido, denso, opaco ; et 
 complura id genus. 
 
 Similiter sint naturae inquisitae Natura Corporea et 
 Actio Naturalis. Videtur enim non inveniri actio 
 naturalis, nisi subsistens in aliquo corpore. Attamen 
 possit fortasse esse circa hanc rtm Instantia nonnulla 
 Divortii. Ea est actio magnetica, per quam ferrum 
 fertur ad magnetem, gravia ad globum terrae. Addi 
 etiam possint aliae nonnullae operation es ad distans. 
 Actio siquidem hujusmodi et in tempore fit, per mo- 
 menta non in puncto temporis, et in loco, per gradus et 
 spatia. Est itaque aliquod momentum temporis, et ali- 
 quod intervallum loci, in quibus ista virtus sive actio 
 haeret in medio inter duo ilia corpora quae motum cient. 
 Reducitur itaque contemplatio ad hoc ; utrum ilia cor- 
 pora quae sunt termini motus disponant vel alterent 
 corpora media, ut per successionem et tactum verum 
 labatur virtus a termino ad terminum, et interim sub- 
 sistat in corpore medio ; an horum nihil sit, praeter cor- 
 pora et virtutem et spatia ? Atque in radiis opticis et 
 sonis et calore et aliis nonnullis operantibus ad distans, 
 probabile est media corpora disponi et alterari ; eo ma- 
 gis, quod requiratur medium qualificatum ad deferen- 
 dam operationem talem. At magnetica ilia sive coitiva 
 virtus admittit media tanquam adiaphora, nee impeditur 
 virtus in omnigeno medio. Quod si nil rei habeat vir- 
 tus ilia aut actio cum corpore medio, sequitur quod 
 sit virtus aut actio naturalis ad tempus nonnullum et 
 hi loco nonnullo subsistens sine corpore ; cum neque 
 subsistat in corporibus terminantibus, nee in mediis, 
 Quare actio magnetica potent esse Instantia Divortii
 
 454 NOVUM ORGANUM. 
 
 circa natnram corpoream et actionem naturalem. Cui 
 hoc adjici potest tanquam corollarium aut lucrum non 
 prastermittendum : viz. quod etiam secundum sensura 
 philosophanti sumi possit probatio 1 quod sint entia et 
 substantiae separata? et incorporeae. Si enim virtus et 
 actio naturalis, emanans a corpore, subsistere possit ali- 
 quo tempore et aliquo loco omnino sine corpore ; prope 
 est ut possit etiam emanare in origine sua a substantia 
 incorporea. Videtur enim non minus requiri natura 
 corporea ad actionem naturalem sustentandam et deve- 
 hendam, quam ad excitandam aut generandam. 
 
 XXXVIII. 
 
 Sequuntur quinque ordines instantiarum, quas uno 
 vocabulo generali Instantias Lampadis sive Informa- 
 tionis Primce appellare consuevimus. Eae sunt quoe 
 auxiliantur sensui. Cum enim omnis Interpretatio 
 Naturas incipiat a sensu, atque a sensuum perceptioni- 
 bus recta, constanti, et munita via ducat ad percep- 
 tiones intellectus, quas sunt notiones verae et axiomata, 
 necesse est ut quanto magis copiosae et exactas fuerint 
 repraesentationes sive praebitiones ipsius sensus, tanto 
 omnia cedant facilius et fbelicius. 
 
 Harum autem quinque Instantiarum Lampadis, pri- 
 mae roborant, ampliant, et rectificant actiones sensus 
 'mmediatas : secunda? deducunt non-sensibile ad sensi- 
 oile ; 2 tertiae indicant processus continuatos sive series 
 earum rerum et motuum qnae (ut plurimum) non no- 
 tantur nisi in exitu aut periodis ; quartae aliquid sub- 
 stituunt sensui in meris destitutionibus; quintae excitant 
 
 1 . e. a proof furnished by merely human philosophy. 
 a . e. make manifest things which are not directly perceptible, by means 
 of others which are.
 
 NOVUM ORGANUM. 4/)5 
 
 attentionem sensus et advertentiam, atque una limitant 
 subtilitatem rerum. De his autem singulis jam dicen- 
 dum est. i 
 
 xxxix. 
 
 Inter Praerogativas Instantiarum, ponemus loco deci- 
 mo sexto Instantias Januce sive Portce : eo enim nomine 
 eas appellamus quse juvant actiones sensus immediatas. 
 Inter sensus autem manifestum est partes primas tenere 
 Visum, quoad informationem ; quare huic sensui pra> 
 cipue auxilia conquirenda. Auxilia autem triplicia esse 
 posse videntur ; vel ut percipiat non visa ; vel ut ma- 
 jore intervallo ; vel ut exactius et distinctius. 
 
 Primi generis sunt (missis bis-oculis et hujusmodi, 
 quae valent tantum ad coiTigendam et levandam in- 
 firmitatem visus non bene dispositi, atque ideo nihil 
 amplius informant) ea quae nuper inventa sunt perspi- 
 cilla ; quaB latentes et in visi biles corporum minutias, et 
 occultos schematismos et motus (aucta insigniter speci- 
 erum magnitudine) demonstrant ; quorum vi, in pulice, 
 musca, vermiculis, accurata corporis figura et linea- 
 menta, necnon colores et motus prius non conspicui, 
 non sine admiratione cernuntur. Quinetiam aiunt 1 
 lineam rectam calamo vel penecillo descriptam, per hu- 
 jusmodi perspicilla inaequalem admodurn et tortuosam 
 cerni ; quia scilicet nee motus manus, licet per regu- 
 lam adjutae, nee impressio atramenti aut coloris revera 
 ffiqualia existant ; licet illaa inaequalitates tarn minutae 
 sint ut sine adjumento hujusmodi perspicillorum con- 
 spici nequeant. Etiam superstitiosam quandam ob- 
 Bervationem in hac re (ut fit in rebus novis et miris) 
 
 1 Compare Aph. xiii. 28. " Specula comburentia, in quibus (ut memini) 
 hoc fit," &c. It would appear from the passage in the text that Bacon had 
 not even seen one of the newly invented microscopes. J. S.
 
 456 NOVUM ORGANUM. 
 
 addiderunt homines : viz. quod hujusmodi perspicilla 
 opera naturae illustrent, artis dehonestent. Illud vero 
 nihil aliud est quam quod texture naturales multo sub- 
 tiliores sint quam artificiosre. 1 Perspicillum enim illud 
 ad minuta tantum valet : quale perspicillum si vidisset 
 Democritus, exiluisset forte, et modum videndi atomum 
 (quern ille invisibilem omnino affirmavit) inventum 
 fuisse putasset. 2 Verum incompetentia hujusmodi per- 
 spicillorum, praeterquam ad minutias tantum (neque ad 
 ipsas quoque, si fuerint in corpore majusculo), usum rei 
 destruit. Si enim inventum extendi posset ad corpora 
 majora, aut corporum majorum minutias, adeo ut tex- 
 tura panni lintei conspici posset tanquam rete, atque 
 hoc modo minutiae latentes et inaequalitates gemmarum, 
 liquorum, urinarum, sanguinis, vulnerum, et multarum 
 aliarum rerum, cerni possent, magnas proculdubio ex 
 eo invento commoditates capi possent. 
 
 Secundi generis sunt ilia altera perspicilla quae me- 
 morabili conatu adinvenit Galilaeus ; quorum ope, tan- 
 quam per scaphas aut naviculas, aperiri et exerceri pos- 
 sint propiora cum coalestibus commercia. Hinc enim 
 constat, galaxiam esse nodum sive coacervationem stel- 
 larum parvarum, plane numeratarum et distinctarum ; 
 de qua re apud antiques tantum suspicio fuit. Hinc 
 demonstrari videtur, quod spatia orbium (quos vocant) 
 
 1 Leibnitz goes as far as to say, " La matiere arrange'e par une sagesse 
 divine doit etre essentiellement organise'e partout; . . . il y a machine 
 dans les parties de la machine naturelle a 1'infini." Sur le Principe de 
 Vie, p. 431. of Erdmann's edition. 
 
 2 Democritus maintained that the atom was .wholly incognisable by the 
 senses. Thus Sextus Empiricus mentions him along with Plato as having 
 held the doctrine /wva TU VOTJTU ahq&q elvcu. ; the reason in the case of 
 Democritus being that his atoms, which alone he recognised as realities 
 possessed Ttaarjf <ucn?7/7-^f noiorrjTof eprjfiov Qiiaiv. Sext. En> Adver$ 
 Logicos, ii. 6.
 
 NOVUM ORGANUM. 457 
 
 planetarum non sint plane vacua aliis stellis, sed quod 
 coelum incipiat stellescere antequam ad coelum ipsum 
 stellatum ventum sit ; licet stellis minoribus quam ut 
 sine perspicillis istis conspici possint. Hinc choreas 
 illas stellarum parvarum circa planetam Jovis (unde 
 conjici possit esse in motibus stellarum plura centra) 
 intueri licet. Hinc inasqualitates luminosi et opaci in 
 luna clistinctius cernuntur et locantur ; adeo ut fieri 
 possit qusedam seleno-graphia. Hinc macula3 in sole, 
 et id genus : omnia certe inventa nobilia, quatenus 
 fides hujusmodi demonstrationibus tuto adhiberi possit. 1 
 Quse nobis ob hoc maxime suspectse sunt, quod in istis 
 paucis sistatur experimentum, neque alia cornplura in- 
 vestigatu a?que digna eadem ratione inventa sint. 2 
 
 1 Galileo often mentions the attempt which many of the Peripaticians 
 made to set aside all arguments founderl on his discoveries with the, tele- 
 scope, by saying that they were mere optical delusions. J. C. La Galla, in 
 his dissertation De Phcenominis in Orbe Lunce, has a section entitled " De 
 Telescopii Veritate," in which, though an Aristotelian, he has nevertheless 
 admitted that this objection is untenable. 
 
 2 Compare this with the passage in the Descriptio Globi Intellectualis (c. 
 v.) where Bacon speaks of Galileo's invention and discoveries (the first- 
 fruits of which had just been announced) in a strain of more sanguine ex- 
 pectation : " Atque hoc inceptum et fine et aggressu nobile quoddam et 
 humano genere dignum esse existimamus : eo magis quod hujusmodi hom- 
 ines et ausu laudandi sint et fide; quod ingenue et perspicue proposuerunt, 
 quomodo singula illis constiterint Superest tantum constantia, cum mag- 
 na judicii severitate, ut et instrumenta mutent, et testium numerum auge- 
 ant, et singula et saepe experiantur, et varie; denique ut et sibi ipsi objiciant 
 et aliis patefaciant quid in contrarium objici possit, et tenuissimum quemque 
 scrupulum non spernant; ne forte illis eveniat, quod Democriti et aniculae 
 suse evenit circa ficus mellitas, ut vetula esset philosopho prudentior, et 
 magnx et admirabilis speculationis causse subesset error quispiam tenuis et 
 ridiculus." From this passage, written eight years before, we may learn 
 (I think) why it was that Bacon had now begun to doubt how far these 
 observations could be trusted. Believing, as lie did, that all the received 
 theories of the heavens were full of error, as soon as he heard that by 
 means of the telescope men could really see so much further into the heav- 
 ens than before, he was prepared to hear of a great number of new and 
 unexpected phenomena; and his only fear was that the observers, instead
 
 458 NOVUM ORGANUM. 
 
 Tertii generis sunt bacilla ilia ad terras mensurandas, 
 astrolabia, et similia ; quae sensum videndi non am- 
 pliant, sed rectificant et dirigunt. Quod si sint aliae 
 instantiae quae reliquos sensus juvent in ipsorum ac- 
 tionibus immediatis et individuis, tamen si ejusmodi 
 sint quae informationi ipsi nihil acldant plus quam jam 
 habetur, ad id quod nunc agitur non faciunt. Itaque 
 earum mentionem non fecimus. 
 
 XL. 
 
 Inter Praerogativas Instantiarum, ponemus loco de- 
 cimo septimo Instantias Citantes, sumpto vocabulo a 
 foris civilibus, quia citant ea ut compareant quae prius 
 non comparuerant ; quas etiam Instantias Evocantes 
 appellare consuevimus. Eae deducunt non-sei,sibile ad 
 sensibile. 
 
 Sensum autem fugiunt res, vel propter distantiam 
 objecti locati ; vel propter interceptionem sensus per 
 corpora media ; vel quia objectum non est habile ad 
 impressionem in sensu faciendam ; vel quia deficit 
 quantum in objecto pro feriendo sensu ; vel quia tern- 
 pus non est proportionatum ad actuandum sensum ; 
 vel quia objecti percussio non toleratur a sensu ; vel 
 quia objectum ante implevit et possedit sensum, ut 
 novo motui non sit locus. Atque haec prascipue ad 
 visum pertinent, et deinde ad tactum. Nam hi duo 
 sensus sunt informativi ad largum, atque de commu- 
 
 of following out their observations patiently and carefully, would begin to 
 form new theories. But now that nine years had passed since the discovery 
 of Jupiter's satellites, the spots in the sun, &c., and no new discovery of 
 importance had been announced, he wondered how it could be that men 
 seeing so much further should be able to see so little more than they did, 
 and began to suspect that it was owing to some defect either in the instru- 
 ment or in the methods of observation. J. S.
 
 NOVUM ORGANUM. 459 
 
 nibus objectis ; ubi reliqui tres non informent fere nisi 
 immediate et de propriis objectis. 
 
 In primo genere non fit deductio ad sensibile, nisi 
 rei quae cerni non possit propter distantiam adjiciatur 
 aut substituatur alia res quae sensum inagis e longinquo 
 provocare et ferire possit : veluti in significations re- 
 rum per ignes, campanas, et similia. 
 
 In secundo genere fit deductio, cum ea quae interim 
 propter interpositionem corporum latent, nee commode 
 aperiri possunt, per ea quse sunt in superficie, aut ab 
 interioribus effluunt, perducuntur ad sensum : ut status 
 humanorum corporum per pulsus, et urinas, et similia. 
 
 At tertii et quart! generis deductiones ad plurima 
 spectant, atque undique in rerum inquisitione sunt con- 
 quirendaa. Hujus rei exempla sunt. Patet quod aer, 
 et spiritus, et hujusmodi res quae sunt toto corpore te- 
 nues et subtiles, nee cerni nee tangi possint. Quare in 
 inquisitione circa hujusmodi corpora deductionibus om- 
 nino est opus. 
 
 Sit itaque natura inquisita Actio et Motus Spiritus 
 qui includitur in corporibus tangibilibus. Omne enim 
 tangibile apud nos continet spiritum invisibilem et in- 
 tactilem. eique obducitur atque eum quasi vestit. Hinc 
 fons triplex potens ille et mirabilis processus spiritus 
 in corpore tangibili. Spiritus enim in re tangibili, 
 emissus, corpora contrahit et desiccat ; detentus, cor- 
 pora intenerat et colliquat ; nee prorsus emissus nee 
 prorsus detentus, informat, membrificat, assimilat, ege- 
 rit, organizat, et similia. Atque base omnia deducuntur 
 ad sensibile per effectus conspicuos. 
 
 Etenim in omni corpore tangibili inanimato, spiritus 
 inclusus primo multiplicat se, et tanquam depascit partes 
 tangibiles eas quse sunt maxime ad hoc faciles et prae-
 
 460 NOVUM ORGANUM. 
 
 paratae, easque digerit et conficit et vertit in spiritum, 
 et deinde una evolant. Atque haec confectio et mul- 
 tiplicatio spiritus deducitur ad sensura per diminu- 
 tionem ponderis. In omni enim dessicatione, aliquid 
 defluit de quanto ; neque id ipsum ex spiritu tantum 
 praeinexistente, sed ex corpore quod prius fuit tangi- 
 bile et noviter versum est: spiritus enim non ponderat. 
 Egressus autem sive emissio spiritus deducitur ad sen- 
 sibile in rubigine metallorum, et aliis putrefactionibus 
 ejus generis qua3 sistunt se antequam pervenerint ad 
 rudimenta vita3 ; nam ilia 1 ad tertium genus processus 
 pertinent. Etenim in corporibus magis compactis spiri- 
 tus non invenit poros et meatus per quos evolet; itaque 
 cogitur partes ipsas tangibiles protrudere et ante se 
 agere, ita ut illae simul exeant ; atque inde fit rubigo, 
 et similia. At contractio partium tangibilium, post- 
 quam aliquid de spiritu fuerit emissum (unde sequitur 
 ilia desiccatio), deducitur ad sensibile turn per ipsam 
 duritiem rei auctam, turn multo magis per scissuras, 
 angustiationes, corrugationes, et complicationes cor- 
 porum, quse inde sequuntur. Etenim partes ligni de- 
 siliunt et angustiantur ; pelles corrugantur ; neque id 
 solum, sed (si subita fuerit emissio spiritus per calorem 
 ignis) tantum properant ad contractionem ut se com- 
 plicent et convolvant. 
 
 At contra, ubi spiritus detinetur, et tamen dilatatur 
 et excitatur per calorem aut ejus analoga (id quod fit in 
 corporibus magis solidis aut tenacibus), turn vero cor- 
 pora emolliuntur, ut ferram candens ; fluunt, nt metalla ; 
 liquefiunt, ut gumrni, cera, et similia. Itaque contrarias 
 illaa operationes caloris (ut ex eo alia durescant, alia li- 
 quescant) facile conciliantur ; quia in illis spiritus emitti- 
 
 1 " Illae " in the original edition, which must be wrong.
 
 NOVUM ORGANDM. 461 
 
 tur, in his agitatur et detinetur : quorum posterius est 
 actio propria caloris et spiritus ; prius, actio partium 
 tangibilium tanturn per occasionem spiritus emissi. 
 
 Ast ubi spiritus nee detinetur prorsus nee prorsus 
 emittitur, sed tantum inter claustra sua tentat et ex- 
 peritur, atque nacta est partes tangibiles obedientes et 
 sequaces in promptu, ita ut quo spiritus agit eae simul 
 sequantur ; turn vero sequitur efformatio in corpus 
 organicum, et raembrifieatio, et reliquae actiones vita- 
 les, tarn in vegetabilibus quam in animalibus. Atque 
 ha3C maxime deducuntur ad sensum per notationes dili- 
 gentes primorum incoeptuum et rudimentorum sive 
 tentamentorum vitae in animalculis ex putrefactione 
 natis : ut in ovis formicarum, vermibus, muscis, ranis 
 post imbrem, etc. Requiritur autem ad vivificationem 
 et lenitas caloris et lentor corporis ; ut spiritus nee 
 per festinationem erumpat, nee per contumaciam par- 
 tium coerceatur ; quin potius ad cerae modum illas 
 plicare et effingere possit. 
 
 Rursus, differentia ilia spiritus, maxime nobilis et 
 ad plurima pertinens, (viz. spiritus abscissi, ramosi 
 simpliciter, ramosi simul et cellulati ; ex quibus prior 
 est spiritus omnium corporum inanimatorum, secun- 
 dus vegetabilium, tertius animalium), per plurimas in- 
 stantias deductorias tanquam sub oculos ponitur. 
 
 Similiter patet, quod subtiliores texturse et schematis- 
 ini rerum (licet toto corpore visibilium aut tangibilium) 
 nee cernantur nee tangantur. Quare in his quoque per 
 deductionem procedit informatio. At differentia sche- 
 matismorum maxime radicalis et primaria sumitur ex 
 copia vel paucitate materiae quae subit idem spatium 
 sive dimensum. Reliqui enim schematismi (qui refe- 
 runtur ad dissimilaritates partium quae in eodem cor-
 
 462 NOVUM ORGANUM. 
 
 pore continentur, et collocationes ac posituras earun- 
 dem) prae illo altero sunt secundarii. 
 
 Sit itaque natura inquisita Expansio sive Coitio Ma- 
 teriae in corporibus respective : viz. quantum materiae 
 impleat quantum dimensum in singulis. Etenim nil ve- 
 rius in natura quam propositio ilia gemella, ex, nihilo nihil 
 fieri, neque quicquam in nihilum rediyi ; verum quan- 
 tum ipsum materiae sive summam totalem constare, nee 
 augeri aut minui. 1 Nee illud minus verum, ex quanta 
 illo materice sub iisdem spatiis sive dimensionibus, pro 
 diverzitate corporum, plus et minus contineri ; ut in aqua 
 plus, in aere minus; adeo ut si quis asserat aliquod 
 contentum aquas in par contentum ae'ris verti posse, 
 idem sit ac si dicat aliquid posse redigi in nihilum ; 
 contra, si quis asserat aliquod contentum aeris in par 
 contentum aquae verti posse, idem sit ac si dicat ali- 
 quid posse fieri ex nihilo. Atque ex copia ista et pau- 
 citate materiae notiones illse Densi et Rari, quae varie 
 et promiscue accipiuntur, proprie abstrahuntur. A&- 
 sumenda est et assertio ilia tertia, etiam satis certa : 
 quod hoc de quo loquimur plus et minus materiae in 
 corpore hoc vel illo ad calculos (facta collatione) et 
 proportiones exactas aut exactis propinquas reduci 
 possit. Veluti si quis dicat inesse in dato contento 
 auri talem coacervationem materise, ut opus habeat 
 spiritus vini, ad tale quantum materiae aequandum, spa- 
 tio vicies et semel majore quam implet aurum, non 
 erraverit. 
 
 Coacervatio autem materiae et rationes ejus dedu- 
 cuntur ad sensibile per pondus. Pondus enim respon- 
 
 1 It is worth remarking that Bacon here asserts as absolutely certain a 
 maxim which is assuredly no result of experience. The same doctrine u 
 as distinctly, though not so emphatically, asserted by Telesins, i. c. 6.
 
 NOVUM ORGANUM. 463 
 
 det copise materige, quoad partes rei tangibilis ; spiri- 
 tus autem, et ejus quantum ex materia, non venit in 
 computationem per pondus ; levat enim pondus potius 
 quam gravat. At nos hujus rei tabulam fecimus sa- 
 tis accuratam ; in qua pondera et spatia singulorum 
 metallorum, lapidum prsecipuorum, lignorum, liquo- 
 rum, oleorum, et plurimorum aliorum corporum tarn 
 naturalium quam artificialium, excepimus; 1 rem poly- 
 chrestam, tam ad lucem informationis quam ad nor- 
 mam operationis ; et quae multas res revelet om- 
 nino praeter expectatum. Neque illud pro minimo 
 habendum est, quod demonstret omnem varietatem 
 quaa in corporibus tangibilibus nobis notis versatur (in- 
 telligimus autem corpora bene unita, nee plane spon- 
 giosa et cava et magna ex parte aere impleta) non 
 ultra rationes partium 21 excedere : tam finita scilicet 
 est natura, aut saltern ilia pars ejus cujus usus ad nos 
 maxime pertinet. 
 
 Edam diligentiae nostrae esse putavimus, experiri si 
 forte capi possint rationes corporum non-tangibilium 
 sive pneumaticorum, respectu corporum tangibilium. 
 Id quod tali molitione aggressi sumus. Phialam vitream 
 accepimus, quaa unciam fortasse unam capere possit ; 
 parvitate vasis usi, ut minori cum calore posset fieri 
 evaporatio sequens. Hanc phialam spiritu vini im- 
 plevimus fere ad collum ; eligentes spiritum vini, quod 
 per tabulam priorem eum esse ex corporibus tangibili- 
 bus (quae bene unita, nee cava sunt) rarissimum, et 
 minimum continens materiae sub suo dimenso, obser- 
 varirnus. Deinde pondus aqua cum phiala ipsa ex- 
 
 1 For a full account of the methods of determining specific gravities em- 
 ployed respectively by Porta, Ghetaldo, and Bacon, see preface to Sistoria 
 Derm et Rari. J. S.
 
 464 NOVUM ORGANUM. 
 
 acte notavimus. Postea vesicam accepimus, quge circa 
 duas pintas contineret. Ex ea aerem omnem, quoad 
 fieri potuit, expressimus eo usque ut vesicae anibo la- 
 tera essent contigua : etiam prius vesicam oleo oblevi- 
 mus cum fricatione leni, quo vesica esset clausior : ejus, 
 si qua erat, porositate oleo obturata. Hanc vesicam 
 circa os phialas, ore phialse intra os vesicae recepto, 
 fortiter ligavimus ; filo parum cerato, ut melius ad- 
 haeresceret et arctius ligaret. Turn demum phialam 
 supra carbones ardentes in foculo collocavimus. At 
 paulo post vapor sive aura spiritus vini, per calorem 
 dilatati et in pneumaticum versi, vesicam paulatim suf- 
 flavit, eamque universam veli instar undequaque ex- 
 tendit. Id postquam factum fait, continue vitrum ab 
 igne removimus, et super tapetem posuimus ne frigore 
 disrumperetur ; statim quoque in summitate vesicae 
 foramen fecimus, ne vapor cessante calore in liquo- 
 rem restitutus resideret, et rationes confunderet. Turn 
 vero vesicam ipsam sustulimus, et rursus pondus ex- 
 cepimus spiritus vini qui remanebat. Inde quantum 
 consumptum fuisset in vaporem seu pneumaticum com- 
 putavimus ; et facta collatione quantum locum sive 
 spatium illud corpus implesset quando esset spiritus 
 vini in phiala, et rursus quantum spatium impleverit 
 postquam factum fuisset pneumaticum in vesica, ra- 
 tiones subduximus ; ex quibus manifesto liquebat, cor- 
 pus istud ita versum et mutatum expansionem centuplo 
 majorem quam antea liabuisset acquisivisse. 
 
 Similiter sit natura inquisita Calor aut Frigus ; ejus 
 nempe gradus, ut a sensu non percipiantur ob debilita- 
 tem. Haec deducuntur ad sensum per vitrum calen- 
 dare, quale superius descripsimus. Calor enim et frigus, 
 ipsa non percipiuntur ad tactum ; at calor aerem expan-
 
 NOVUM ORGANUM. 465 
 
 dit, frigus contraliit. Neque rursus ilia expansio et con- 
 tractio aeris percipitur ad visum ; at aer ille expansus 
 aquam deprimit, contractus attollit ; ac turn demum fit 
 deductio ad visum, non ante, aut alias. 
 
 Similiter sit natura inquisita Mistura Corporum ; viz. 
 quid liabeant ex aqueo, quid ex oleoso, quid ex spiritu, 
 quid ex cinere et salibus, et hujusmodi ; vel etiam (in 
 particular}) quid habeat lac butyri, quid coaguli, quid 
 seri, et hujusmodi. Haec deducuntur ad sensum per ar- 
 tificiosas et peritas separationes, quatenus ad tangibilia. 
 At natura spiritus in rpsis, licet immediate non perci- 
 piatur, tamen deprehenditur per varies motus et nixus 
 corporum tangibilium in ipso actu et processu separa- 
 tionis suse ; atque etiam per acrimonias, corrosiones, et 
 diversos colores, odores, et sapores eorundem corporum 
 post separationem. Atque in hac parte, per distilla- 
 tiones atque artificiosas separationes, strenue sane ab 
 hominibus elaboratum est ; sed non multo foelicius 
 quam in caeteris experimentis, quse adhuc in usu sunt : 
 modis nimirum prorsus palpatoriis, et viis cascis, et ma- 
 gis operose quam intelligenter ; et (quod pessimum est) 
 nulla cum imitatione aut aemulatione naturae, sed cum 
 destructione (per calores vehementes aut virtutes nimis 
 validas) omnis subtilioris schematismi, in quo occultaa 
 rerum virtutes et consensus praecipue sitas sunt. Ne- 
 que illud etiam,' quod alias monuimus, hominibus in 
 mentem aut observationem venire solet in hujusmodi 
 separationibus : hoc est, plurimas qualitates, in corpo- 
 rum vexationibus tarn per ignem quam alios modos, 
 indi ab ipso igne iisque corporibus quae ad separationem 
 adhibentur, quae in composito prius non fiierunt ; unde 
 mirae fallaciae. Neque enim scilicet vapor universus, 
 qui ex aqua emittitur per ignem, vapor aut aer antea 
 
 VOL. i. 30
 
 466 NOVUM ORGANUM. 
 
 fiiit in corpore aquae ; sed factus est maxima ex parte 
 per dilatationem aquas ex calore ignis. 
 
 Similiter in genere omnes exquisitae probationes 
 corporum sive naturalium sive artificialium, par quas 
 vera dignoscuntur ab adul tennis, meliora a vilioribus, 
 hue referri debent : deducunt enim non-sensibile ad 
 sensible. Sunt itaque diligenti cura undique conqui- 
 rendse. 
 
 Quintum vero genus latitantiae quod attinet, mani- 
 festum est actionem sensus transigi in motu, motum in 
 tempore. Si igitur motus alicujus corporis sit vel tarn 
 tardus vel tarn velox ut non sit proportionates ad mo- 
 menta in quibus transigitur actio sensus, objectum om- 
 nino non percipitur ; ut in motu indicis horologii, et 
 rursus in motu pilse sclopeti. Atque motus qui ob tar- 
 ditatem non percipitur, facile et ordinario deducitur ad 
 sensum per summas motus ; qui vero ob velocitatem, 
 adhuc non bene mensurari consuevit ; sed tamen pos- 
 tulat inquisitio naturae ut hoc fiat in aliquibus. 
 
 Sextum autem genus, ubi impeditur sensus propter 
 nobilitatem objecti, recipit deductionem, vel per elon- 
 gationem majorem objecti a sensu ; vel per hebetatio- 
 nem objecti per interpositionem medii talis, quod ob- 
 jectum debilitet, non annihilet ; vel per admissionem 
 et exception em objecti reflexi, ubi percussio directa sit 
 nimis fortis ; ut solis in pelvi aquae. 
 
 Septimum autem genus latitantias, ubi sensus ita one- 
 ratur objecto ut novae admissioni non sit locus, non ha- 
 bet fere locum nisi in olfactu et odoribus ; nee ad id 
 quod agitur multum pertinet. Quare de deductionibus 
 non-sensibilis ad sensibile, haec dicta sint. 1 
 
 1 An excellent instance of the " deductio nonsensibilis ad sensibile " [in 
 the second kind] occurs in the experiments recently made by Messrs. Hop-
 
 NOVUM ORGANUM. 467 
 
 Quandoque tamen deductio fit non ad sensum homi- 
 nis, sed ad sensum alicujus alterius animalis cujus sen- 
 sus in aliquibus humanum excellet : ut nonnullorum 
 odorum, ad sensum canis ; lucis, quae in aere non ex- 
 trinsecus illuminato latenter existit, ad sensum felis, 
 noctuae, et hujusmodi animalium qua? cernunt noctu. 
 Recte enim notavit Telesius, etiam in aere ipso inesse 
 lucem quandam originalem, licet exilem et tenuem, et 
 maxima ex parte oculis hominum aut plurimorum ani- 
 malium non inservientem ; quia ilia animalia, ad quo- 
 rum sensum hujusmodi lux est proportionata, cernant 
 noctu ; id quod vel sine luce fieri, vel per lucem inter- 
 nam, minus credibile est. 
 
 Atque illud utique notandum est, de destitutionibus 
 sensuum eorumque remediis hie nos tractare. Nam 
 fallaciae sensuum ad proprias inquisitiones de sensu et 
 sensibili remittend sunt ; excepta ilia magna fallacia 
 sensuum, nimirum quod constituant lineas rerum 1 ex 
 analogia hominis, et non ex analogia universi ; quae 
 non corrigitur nisi per rationem et philosophiam uni- 
 versalem. 
 
 XLI. 
 
 Inter Praerogativas Instantiarum, ponemus loco deci- 
 mo octavo Instantias Vice, quas etiam Instantias Itine- 
 
 kins and Joule for determining the melting-point of substances subjected 
 to great pressure. The substance acted on is enclosed in a tube out of reach 
 and sight. But a bit of magnetized steel has previously been introduced 
 into it, and is supported by it as long as it remains solid. A magnetic 
 needle is placed beside the apparatus, a certain amount of deviation being, 
 of course, produced by the steel within the tube. The moment the temper- 
 ature reaches the melting-point, the steel sinks ; and its doing so is indi- 
 cated by the motion of the needle. 
 
 1 This phrase may, I think, be rendered " trace the outlines of outward 
 objects." I have already remarked on the meaning of "ex analogia." 
 [See note on Distributio Operis, p. 218. J. S.]
 
 68 NOVUM ORGANUM. 
 
 rantes et Instantias Articulatax appellare consuevimus. 
 Eae sunt quae indicant naturae motus gradatim continu- 
 atos. Hoc autem genus instantiarum potius fugit ob- 
 servationem quam sensum. Mira enim est hominum 
 circa hanc rem indiligentia. Contemplantur siquidem 
 naturam tantummodo desultorie et per periodos, et 
 postquam corpora fuerint absoluta ac completa, et non 
 in operatione sua. Quod si artificis alicujus ingenia et 
 industriam explorare et contemplari quis cuperet, is 
 non tantum materias rudes artis atque deinde opera 
 perfecta conspicere desideraret, sed potius praesens esse 
 cum artifex operatur et opus suum promovet. Atque 
 simile quiddam circa naturam faciendum est. Exempli 
 gratia ; si quis de vegetatione plantarum inquirat, ei 
 inspiciendum est ab ipsa satione seminis alicujus (id 
 quod per extractionem, quasi singulis diebus, seminum 
 quae per biduum, triduum, quatriduum, et sic deinceps, 
 in terra manserunt, eorumque diligentem intuitum, fa- 
 cile fieri potest), quomodo et quando semen intumes- 
 cere et turgere incipiat et veluti spiritu impleri ; deinde 
 quomodo corticulam rumper'e et emittere fibras, cum 
 latione nonnulla sui interim sursum, nisi terra fuerit 
 admodum contumax ; quomodo etiam emittat fibras, 
 partim radicales deorsum, partim cauliculares sursum, 
 aliquando serpendo per latera, si ex ea parte inveniat 
 terram apertam et magis facilem ; et complura id ge- 
 nus. Similiter facere oportet circa exclusionem ovo- 
 rum ; ubi facile conspici dabitur processus vivificandi 
 et organizandi-, et quid et quae partes fiant ex vitello, 
 quid ex albumine ovi, et alia. Similis est ratio circa 
 animalia ex putrefactione. 1 Nam circa animalia per- 
 
 1 The epithet perfecta is generally given to those animals which cannot 
 result from putrefaction. Caesalpinus, in the Qttcsstiones Peripat. v. 1.,
 
 NOVUM OEGANUM. 469 
 
 fecta et terrestria, per exectiones foetuum ex utero, 
 minus humanum esset ista inquirere ; nisi forte per oc- 
 casiones abortuum, et venationum, et similium. Om- 
 nino igitur vigilia quaedam servanda est circa naturam, 
 ut quse melius se conspiciendam prsebeat noctu quam 
 interdiu. Istse enim contemplationes tanquam noc- 
 turnse censeri possint, ob lucernse parvitatem et per- 
 petuationem. 
 
 Quin et in inanimatis idem tentandum est ; id quod 
 nos fecimus in inquirendis aperturis liquorum per ig- 
 nem. 1 Alius enim est modus aperturae in aqua, alius 
 in vino, alius in aceto, alius in omphacio ; 2 longe alius 
 in lacte, et oleo, et cseteris. Id quod facile cernere 
 erat per ebullitionem super ignem lenem, et in vase 
 vitreo, ubi omnia cerni perspicue possint. Verum haee 
 brevius perstringimus, fusius et exactius de iis sermones 
 habituri cum ad inventionem Latentis rerum Processus 
 ventum erit. Semper enim memoria tenendum est, 
 nos hoc loco non res ipsas tractare, sed exempla tan- 
 turn adducere. 
 
 maintains that all animals may result from putrefaction, and that this was 
 the doctrine of Aristotle. The same opinion had, I believe, been advanced 
 by Averrois. That mice may be produced by equivocal generation is as- 
 serted, as a matter not admitting of dispute, bv Cardan, De Rerum Varie- 
 late. Csesalpinus refers to the same instance, but less confidently than 
 Cardan. It is worth remarking that Aristotle, though he speaks of the 
 great fecundity of mice, and even of their being impregnated by licking 
 salt, does not mention the possibility of their being produced by putrefac- 
 tion. (De Hist. Animal, vi. 37. Problem, x. 64.) Paracelsus, De Rerum 
 Generatione, affirms that all animals produced from putrefaction are more 
 or less venomous. Telesius's opinion is that the mora perfect animals can- 
 not result from putrefaction, because the conditions of temperature neces- 
 sary to their production cannot be fulfilled except by means of animal 
 heat. 
 
 1 " Apertura " means the same thing as " expansio." 
 
 2 Wine made of sour grapes. (Pliny, xiv. 18. and elsewhere.) It is prob- 
 ably to be rendered verjuice, as it is by Lemmius.
 
 470 NOYUM ORGANUM. 
 
 XLII. 
 
 Inter Praerogativas Instantiarum, ponemus loco de- 
 cimo nono Instantias Supple menti, sive Substitutionis ; 
 quas etiam Instantias Perfugii appellare consuevimus. 
 Eae sunt, quae supplent informationem ubi sensus plane 
 destituitur ; atque idcirco ad eas confugimus cum in- 
 stantiae propriae haberi non possint. Dupliciter autem 
 fit substitutio ; aut per Graduationem, aut per Analo- 
 ga. Exempli gratia ; non invenitur medium quod in- 
 hibeat prorsus operationem magnetis in movendo fer- 
 rum ; non aurum interpositum, non argentum, non 
 lapis, non vitrum, lignum, aqua, oleum, pannus aut 
 corpora fibrosa, ae'r, flamma, et caetera. Attamen per 
 probationem exactam fortasse inveniri possit aliquod 
 medium quod hebetet virtutem ipsius plus quam ali- 
 quod aliud, comparative et in aliquo gradu ; veluti 
 quod non trahat magnes ferrum per tantam crassitiem 
 auri quam per par spatium aeris ; aut per tan turn ar- 
 gentum ignitum quam per frigidum ; et sic de simili- 
 bus. Nam de his nos experi men turn non fecimus ; sed 
 sufficit tamen ut proponantur loco exempli. Similiter 
 non invenitur hie apud nos corpus quod non suscipiat 
 calidum igni approximatum. Attamen longe citius 
 suscipit calorera ae'r quam lapis. Atque talis est sub- 
 stitutio quae fit per Gradus. 
 
 Substitutio autem per Analoga, utilis sane, sed minus 
 certa est ; atque idcirco cum judicio quodam adhiben- 
 da. Ea fit cum deducitur non-sensibile ad sensum, 
 non per operationes sensibiles ipsius corporis insensi- 
 bilis, sed per contemplationetn corporis alicujus cognati 
 sensibilis. 1 Exempli gratia ; si inquiratur de Mistura 
 
 1 Du Bois Raymond's Researches in Animal Electricity give a good ex-
 
 NOVUM ORGANUM. 471 
 
 Spirituura, qui sunt corpora non-visibilia, videtur esse 
 cognatio quaedam inter corpora et fomites sive alimenta 
 sua. Fomes autem flammae videtur esse oleum et pin- 
 guia ; aeris, aqua et aquea : flammae enim multiplicant 
 se super halitus olei, aer super vapores aquas. Viden- 
 dum itaque de mistura aquae et olei, quae se manifestat 
 ad sensum ; quandoquidem mistura aeris et flammei 
 generis fugiat sensum. At oleum et aqua inter se per 
 compositionem aut agitationem imperfecte admodum 
 miscentur ; eadem in herbi's, et sanguine, et partibus 
 animalium, accurate et delicate miscentur. Itaque 
 simile quiddam fieri possit circa misturam flammei et 
 ae'rei generis in spiritalibus ; quae per confusionem 
 simplicem non bene sustinent misturam, eadem tamen 
 in spiritibus plantarum et animalium misceri videntur ; 
 praesertim cum omnis spiritus animatus depascat hu- 
 mida utraque, aquea et pinguia, tanquam fomites suos. 
 Similiter si non de perfectioribus misturis spiritalium, 
 sed de compositione tantum inquiratur ; nempe, utrum 
 facile inter se incorporentur, an potius (exempli gratia) 
 sint aliqui venti et exhalationes, aut alia corpora spiri- 
 talia, quas non miscentur cum ae're communi, sed tan- 
 tum haerent et natant in eo, in globulis et guttis, et 
 potius franguntur ac comminuuntur ab acre quam in 
 ipsum recipiuntur et incorporantur ; hoc in acre com 
 muni et aliis spiritalibus, ob subtilitatem corporum, 
 percipi -ad sensum non potest ; attamen imago quaedam 
 hujus rei, quatenus fiat, concipi possit in liquoribus ar- 
 genti vivi, olei, aquae ; atque etiam in acre, et fractions 
 ejus, quando dissipatur et ascendit in parvis portiun- 
 
 ample of this. He constructed what may be called an electrical model of 
 a muscle, and succeeded in obtaining an illustration not only of his funda- 
 mental result, namely that any transverse section is negative with respect to 
 any longitudinal one, but also of the more complicated relations between 
 two different portions of the same section.
 
 472 NOVUM ORGANUM. 
 
 culis per aquam ; atque etiam in fumis crassioribus ; 
 denique in pulvere excitato et haerente in aere ; in qui- 
 bus omnibus non fit incorporatio. Atque repraasentatio 
 praedicta in hoc subjecto non mala est, si illud primo 
 diligenter inquisitum fuerit, utrum possit esse talis he- 
 terogenia inter spiritalia qualis invenitur inter liquida ; 
 nam turn demum haec simulacra per Analogiam non 
 incommode substituentur. 
 
 Atque de Instantiis istis Supplementi, quod diximus 
 informationem ab iis hauriendam esse, quando desint 
 instantiae propriae, loco Perfugii ; nihilominus intelligi 
 volumus, quod illae etiam magni sint usus etiam cum 
 propriae instantiae adsint; ad roborandam scilicet infor- 
 mationem una cum propriis. Verum de bis exactius 
 dicenius quando ad Adminicula Indactionis tractanda 
 sermo ordine dilabetur. 
 
 XLIII. 
 
 Inter Praerogativas Instantiarum, ponemus loco vi- 
 cesimo Instantias Persecantes ; quas etiam Instantias 
 Vellicantes appellare consuevimus, sed diversa ratione. 
 Vellicantes enim eas 'appellamus, quia vellicant intel- 
 lectum ; Persecantes, quia persecant naturam ; unde 
 etiam illas quandoque Instantias Democriti nominamus. 
 Eae sunt, quaa de admirabili et exquisita subtjlitate na- 
 turae intellectum submonent, ut excitetur et expergisca- 
 tur ad attentionem et observationem et inquisitionem 
 debitam. Exempli gratia; quod parum guttulae atra- 
 menti ad tot literas vel lineas extendatur ; quod ar- 
 gentum, exterius tan turn inauratum, ad tantam lon- 
 gitudinern fili inaurati continuetur ; x quod pusillus 
 
 1 Dr. Woolaston's method for obtaining wires of extreme fineness was per- 
 haps suggested by the circumstance mentioned in the text. He enclosed
 
 NOVUM OKGANUM. 473 
 
 vermiculus, qualis in cute invenitur, habeat in se spiri- 
 tum simul et figuram dissimilarem partium ; quod pa- 
 rum croci etiam dolium aquae colore inficiat ; quod pa- 
 rum zibethi l aut aromatis longe majus contentum aeris 
 odore ; quod exiguo suffitu tanta excitetur nubes fumi ; 
 quod sonorum tarn accuratae differentiaB, quales sint 
 voces articulatae, per aerem undequaque vehantur, at- 
 que per foramina et poros etiam ligni et aquae' (licet 
 admodum extenuatae) penetrent, quin etiam repercu- 
 tiantur, idque tarn distincte et velociter ; quod lux et 
 color, etiam tanto ambitu et tarn perniciter, per corpora 
 solida vitri, aquae, et cum tanta et tarn exquisita varie- 
 tate imaginum permeent, etiam refringantur et reflec- 
 tantur ; quod magnes per corpora omnigena, etiam 
 maxime compacta, operetur. Sed (quod magis mirum 
 est) quod in his omnibus, in medio adiaphoro (quale est 
 aer) unius actio aliam non magnopere impediat ; nempe 
 quod eodem tempore per spatia aeris devehantur et visi- 
 bilium tot imagines, et vocis articulatas tot percussiones, 
 et tot odores specificati, ut violae, rosae ; etiam calor et 
 frigus et virtutes magneticae ; omnia (inquam) simul, 
 uno alterum non impediente, ac si singula haberent vias 
 et meatus suos proprios separates, neque unum in alte- 
 rum impingeret aut incurreret. 
 
 Solemus tamen utiliter hujusmodi Instantiis Perse- 
 cantibus subjungere instantias, quas Metas Persecationis 
 appellare consuevimus ; veluti quod in iis quae diximus, 
 una actio in diverse gen ere aliam non perturbet aut im- 
 pediat, cum tamen in eodem genere una aliam domet et 
 extinguat : veluti, lux solis, lucem cicindelae ; sonitus 
 bombardaa, vocem ; fortior odor, delicatiorem ; inten- 
 
 a gold wire in a cylinder of silver, drew them out together, and then dis- 
 solved away the silver by means of warm nitrous acid, 
 l Civet. "
 
 474 NOVUM ORGAN UM. 
 
 sior calor, remissiorem ; lamina ferri interposita inter 
 magnetem et aliud ferrum, operationem magnetis. Ve- 
 rum de his quoque inter Adminicula Inductionis erit 
 proprius dicendi locus. 
 
 XLIV. 
 
 Atque de instantiis quae juvant sensum, jam dictum 
 est ; quae praecipui usus sunt ad partem Informativam. 
 Informatio enim incipit a sensu. At universum ne- 
 gotium desinit in Opera ; atque quemadmodum illud 
 principium, ita hoc finis rei est. Sequentur itaque in- 
 stantiae praecipui usus ad partem Operativam. Eae 
 genere duae sunt, numero septem ; quas universas, ge- 
 nerali nomine, Instantias Practicas appellare consuevi- 
 mus. Operativae autem partis, vitia duo ; totidemque 
 dignitates instantiaruhi in genere. Aut enim fallit ope- 
 ratio, aut onerat nimis. Fallit operatic maxime (prae- 
 sertim post diligentem naturarum inquisitionem) prop- 
 ter male determinatas et mensuratas corporum vires et 
 actiones. Vires autem et actiones, corporum circum- 
 scribuntur et mensurantur, aut per spatia loci, aut per 
 momenta temporis, aut per unionem quanti, aut per 
 praedominantiam virtutis ; quae quatuor nisi fuerint 
 probe et diligenter pensitata, erunt fortasse scientiae 
 speculatione quidem pulchrae, sed opere inactivae. In- 
 stantias vero quatuor itidem quae hue referuntur, uno 
 nomine Instantias Mathematicas vocamus, et Instantias 
 Mensurce. 
 
 Onerosa autem fit praxis, vel propter misturam re- 
 rum inutilium, vel propter multiplicationem instrumen- 
 torum, vel propter molem materiae et corporum quae ad 
 aliquod opus requiri contigerint. Itaque eae instantiae 
 in pretio esse debent, quae aut dirigunt operativam ad
 
 NOVUM ORGANUM. 475 
 
 ea quaa maxime hominum intersunt ; aut quae parcunt 
 instrumentis ; aut quae parcunt materiae sive supellectili. 
 Eas autem tres instantias qu33 hue pertinent, uno no- 
 mine Instantias Propitias sive Benevolas vocamus. Ita- 
 que de liis septem instantiis jam sigillatim dicemus ; 
 atque cum iis partem illam de Prserogativis sive Dig- 
 nitatibus Instantiarum claudemus. 
 
 XLV. 
 
 Inter Praerogativas Instantiarum, ponemus loco vice- 
 simo primo Instantias Virgce, sive Radii; quas etiam 
 Instantias Perlationis, vel de Non Ultra appellare con- 
 suevimus. Virtutes enim rerum et motus operantur et 
 expediuntur per spatia non indefinita aut fortuita, sed 
 finita et certa ; quaa ut in singulis naturis inquisitis te- 
 neantur et notentur plurimum interest Practices, non 
 solum ad hoc, ut non fallat, sed etiam ut magis sit 
 aucta et potens. Etenim interdum datur virtutes pro- 
 ducere, et distantias tanquam retrahere in propius ; ut 
 in perspecillis. 
 
 Atque plurimae virtutes operantur et afficiunt tantum 
 per tactum manifestum ; ut fit in percussione corporum, 
 ubi alterum non summovet alterum, nisi impellens im- 
 pulsum tangat. Etiam medicinee quae exterius appli- 
 cantur, ut unguenta, emplastra, non exercent vires suas 
 nisi pe,r tactum corporis. Denique objecta sensuum 
 tactus et gustus non feriunt nisi contigua organis. 
 
 Sunt et alias virtutes quae operantur ad distantiam, 
 verum valde exiguam, quarum paucae adhuc notatae 
 sunt, cum tamen plures sint quam homines suspicen- 
 tur; ut (capiendo exempla ex vulgatis) cum succinum 1 
 aut gagates 2 trahunt paleas ; bullaa approximates sol- 
 l Amber. 2 Jet
 
 476 NO YUM ORGANUM. 
 
 vunt bullas ; medicinse nonnullse purgativse eliciunt 
 humores ex alto, 1 et hujusmodi. At virtus ilia mag- 
 netica per quam ferrum et magnes, vel magnetes in- 
 vicem, coeunt, operatur intra orbem virtutis certum, 
 sed parvum ; ubi contra, si sit aliqua virtus magnetica 
 emanans ab ipsa terra (paulo nimirum interiore) super 
 acum ferream, quatenus ad verticitatem, operatic fiat 
 ad distantiam magnam. 
 
 Rursus, si sit aliqua vis magnetica quae operetur per 
 consensum inter globum terras et ponderosa, aut inter 
 globura lunae et aquas maris (quas maxime credibilis 
 videtur in fluxibus et refluxibus semi-menstruis 2 ), aut 
 inter coeluin stellatum et planetas, per quam evocentur 
 et attollantur ad sua apogaea ; hsec omnia operantur ad 
 distantias admodum longinquas. Inveniuntur et qua> 
 dam inflammationes sive conceptiones flammae, quae fiunt 
 ad distantias bene magnas, in aliquibus materiis ; ut re- 
 ferunt de naphtha Babylonica. 3 Galores etiam insinuant 
 se per distantias amplas, quod etiam faciunt frigora; 
 adeo ut habitantibus circa Canadam moles sive massse 
 
 1 Bacon here speaks in accordance with the medical theory in which the 
 brain is the origin and seat of the rheum, which descends from thence and 
 produces disease in other organs a theory preserved in the word catarrh. 
 Certain purgatives were supposed to draw the rheum down. 
 
 2 It is worth remarking that Galileo speaks contemptuously of the notion 
 that the moon exerts any influence on the tides. His strong wish to ex- 
 plain everything mechanically led him in this instance wrong, as a simi- 
 lar wish has led manj' others. It arose, not unnaturally, from a reaction 
 against the unsatisfactory explanations which the schoolmen were in the 
 habit of deducing from the specific or occult properties of bodies. Even 
 Leibnitz, in his controversy with Clarke, shows a tendency towards an ex- 
 clusive preference of a mechanical system of physics, though in other parts 
 of his writings he had spoken favourably of the doctrine of attraction, and 
 though his whole philosophy ought, one would think, to have made him 
 indifferent to the point in dispute. In a system of pre-established harmony, 
 action by contact is as merely apparent as action at a distance. 
 
 8 Strabo, xvi. p. 742. Pliny, ii. 109.
 
 NOVUM ORGANUM. 477 
 
 glaciales, quas abrumpuntur et natant per oceanum sep- 
 tentrionalem et deferuntur per Atlanticum versus illas 
 oras, percipiantur et incutiant frigora e longinquo. 
 Odores quoque (licet in his videatur semper esse quae- 
 dain emissio corporea) operantur ad distantias notabiles; 
 ut evenire solet navigantibus juxta litora Floridae, aut 
 etiam nonnulla Hispaniae, ubi sunt sylvae totae ex ar- 
 boribus limonum, arantiorum, 1 et hujusmocli plantarum 
 odoratarum, aut frutices rorismarini, majoranae, et simi- 
 lium. 2 Postremo radiationes lucis et impressiones sono- 
 rum operantur scilicet ad distantias spatiosas. 
 
 Verum haec omnia, utcunque operentur ad distantias 
 parvas sive magnas, operantur certe ad finitas et naturae 
 notas, 4 ut sit quiddam Non Ultra; idque pro rationibus, 
 aut molis seu quanti corporum ; aut vigoris et debili- 
 tatis virtutum ; aut favoribus' et impedimentis medio- 
 rum ; quaa omnia in computationem venire et notari 
 debent. Quinetiam mensuraa motuum violentorum 
 (quos vocant), ut missilium, tormentorum, rotarum, 
 et similium, cum haa quoque manifesto suos habeant 
 limites certos, notandae sunt. 
 
 Inveniuntur etiam quidam motus et virtutes contra- 
 rise illis quas operantur per tactum et non ad distans ; 
 quae operantur scilicet ad distans et non ad tactum ; et 
 rursus, quae operantur remissius ad distantiam mino- 
 rem et fortius ad distantiam majorem. Etenim visio 
 non bene transigitur ad tactum, sed indiget medio et 
 distantia. Licet meminerim me audisse ex relatione 
 cujusdam fide digni, quod ipse in curandis oculorum 
 
 1 [So in the original edition.] Qy. aurantiorum ? 
 
 2 To the same purpose Milton, Paradise Lost, iv. 99. : 
 
 As when to them who sail 
 Beyond the Cape of Hope, &c. 
 8 i. e. fixed in the nature of things.
 
 478 NOVUM ORGANUM. 
 
 suorum cataractis (erat autem cura talis, ut immittere- 
 tur festuca qusedam parva argentea intra primam oculi 
 tunicam, quae pelliculam illam cataractse removeret et 
 truderet in angulum oculi) clarissime vidisset festucam 
 illam supra ipsam pupillam moventem. Quod utcun- 
 que verum esse possit, manifestum est majora corpora 
 non bene aut distincte cerni nisi in cuspide coni, 1 
 coeuntibus radiis objecti ad nonnullam distantiam. 
 Quin etiam in senibus oculus melius cernit remoto ob- 
 jecto paulo longius, quam propius. In missilibus autem 
 certum est percussionem non fieri tarn fortem ad distan- 
 tiam nimis parvam, quam paulo post. Hsec itaque et 
 similia in mensuris motuum quoad distantias notanda 
 sunt. 
 
 Est et aliud genus mensurse localis motuum, quod 
 non praetermittendum est. Illud , vero pertinet ad 
 motus non progressivos, sed sphaericos ; hoc est, ad 
 expansionem corporum in majorem sphaeram, aut con- 
 tractionem in minorem. Inquirendum enim est inter 
 mensuras istas motuum, quantam compressionem aut 
 extensionem corpora (pro natura ipsorum) facile et 
 libenter patiantur, et ad quern terminum reluctari in- 
 cipiant, adeo ut ad extremum Non Ultra ferant ; ut 
 cum vesica inflata comprimitur, sustinet ilia compres- 
 sionem nonnullam aeris, sed si major fuerit, non patitur 
 aer, sed rumpitur vesica. 
 
 At nos hoc ipsum subtiliore experimento magis ex- 
 acte probavimus. Accepimus enim campanulam ex 
 metallo, leviorem scilicet et tenuiorem, quali ad excipi- 
 endum salem utimur ; eamque in pelvim aquse immisi- 
 mus, ita ut deportaret secum aerern qui continebatur in 
 concavo usque ad fundum pelvis. Locaveramus autem 
 
 1 That is, the eye being at the apex of the visual cone.
 
 NOVUM OKGANUM. 479 
 
 prius globulum in fundo pelvis, super quern campanula 
 imponenda esset. Quare illud eveniebat, ut si globulus 
 ille esset minusculus (pro ration e concavi), reciperet se 
 aer in locum minorem, et contruderetur solum, non 
 extruderetur. Quod si grandioris esset magnitudinis 
 quam ut aer libenter cederet, turn aer majoris pressur* 
 impatiens campanulam ex aliqua parte elevabat, et in 
 bullis ascendebat. 
 
 Etiam ad probandum qualem extensionem (non mi- 
 nus quam compressionem) pateretur aer, tale quippiam 
 practicavimus. Ovum vitreum accepimus, cum parvo 
 foramine in uno extreme ovi. Aerem per foramen ex- 
 uctione forti attraximus, et statim digito foramen illud 
 obturavimus, et ovum in aquam immersimus, et dein 
 digitum removimus. Aer vero tensura ilia per exuc- 
 tionem facta tortus et magis quam pro natura sua dila- 
 tatus, ideoque se recipere et contrahere nitens (ita ut 
 si ovum illud in aquam non fuisset immersum, aerem 
 ipsum traxisset cum sibilo), aquam traxit ad tale quan- 
 tum quale sufficere posset ad hoc, ut aer antiquam re- 
 cuperaret sphseram sive dimensionem. 1 
 
 Atque certum est corpora tenuiora (quale est aer) 
 pati contractionem nonnullam. notabilem, ut dictum 
 est ; at corpora tangibilia (quale est aqua) multo 
 segrius et ad minus spatium patiuntur compressionem. 
 Qualem autem pati?.tur, tali experimento inquisivimus. 
 
 Fieri fecimus globum ex plumbo cavum, qui duas 
 circiter pintas vinarias contineret ; eumque satis per 
 
 1 This explanation is wholly unsatisfactory. The principle upon which 
 the true explanation depends, namely the pressure of the atmosphere, was, 
 it seems tolerably certain, first suggested by Torricelli. If the experiment 
 were performed in vacuo, no water would enter the egg, unless the egg 
 were plunged to a considerable depth into the water, or unless the vacuum 
 within it were more perfect than could be produced in the manner de- 
 scribed.
 
 480 NOVUM ORGANUM. 
 
 latera crassum, ut majorem vim sustineret. In ilium 
 aquam immisimus, per foramen alicubi factum ; atque 
 foramen illud, postquam globus aqua impletus fuisset, 
 plumbo liquefacto obturavimus, ut globus deveniret 
 plane consolidatus. Dein globum forti malleo ad duo 
 latera adversa complanavimus ; ex quo necesse fuit 
 aquam in minus contrahi, cum sphaera figurarum sit 
 capacissima. Deinde, cum malleatio non amplius suffi- 
 ceret, aegrius se recipiente aqua, molendino 1 seu torcu- 
 lari usi sumus ; ut tandem aqua, impatiens pressures 
 ulterioris, per solida plumbi (instar roris delicati) ex- 
 stillaret. Postea, qiiantum spatii per earn compres- 
 sionem imminutum foret computavimus ; atque tan- 
 tarn compressiqnem passam esse aquam (sed violentia 
 magna subactam) intelleximus. 2 
 
 1 Molendinum is properly a Low Latin word for a mill-house ; here used 
 for a press. 
 
 2 This is perhaps the most remarkable of Bacon's experiments; and it is 
 singular that it was so little spoken of by subsequent writers. Nearly fifty 
 years after the publication of the Navum Organum, an account of a similar 
 experiment was published by Megalotti, who was secretary of the Accade- 
 mia del Cimento at Florence; and it has since been familiarly known as 
 the Florentine experiment. I quote his account of it. " Facemmo lavorar 
 di getto una grande ma sottil palla d' argento, e quella ripiena d' acqua 
 raffreddata col ghiaccio serramo con saldissime vite. Di poi cominciammo 
 a martellarla leggiermente per ogni verso, onde ammaccato 1' argento (il 
 quale per la sua crudezza non comporta d' assottigliarsi e distendersi come 
 farebbe 1' oro raffinato, o il piombo. o altro metallo piu dolce) veniva a ri- 
 strignersi, e scemare la sua interna capacita, senza che 1' acqua patisse una 
 minima compressione, poiche ad ogni colpo si videa trasudare per tutti i 
 pori del metallo a guisa d' argento vivo il quale da alcuna pelle premuto 
 minutamente sprizzasse." Saggi di naturali Esperienzefatte nelt Accade- 
 mia del Cimento, p. 204. Firenze, 1667. The writer goes on to remark that 
 the absolute incompressibility of water is not proved by this experiment, 
 but merely that it is not to be compressed in the manner described. But 
 the experiment is on other grounds inconclusive. 
 
 It is to be remarked that Leibnitz, Nouveartx Essais, in mentioning the 
 Florentine experiment, says that the globe was of gold (p. 229. Erdmann), 
 whereas the Florentine academicians expressly say why they preferred sil- 
 ver to either gold or lead.
 
 NOVUM ORGANUM. 481 
 
 At solidiora, sicca, aut magis compacta, qualia sunt 
 lapides et ligna, nee non metalla, multo adhuc mino- 
 rem compressionem aut extensionem, et fere imper- 
 ceptibilem ferunt; sed vel ftactione, vel progressione, 
 vel aliis pertentationibus se liberant ; ut in curvatio- 
 nibus ligni aut metalli, horologiis moventibus per com- 
 plicationem laminae, missilibus, malleationibus, et in- 
 numeris aliis motibus apparet. Atque hsec omnia 
 cum mensuris suis in indagatione natures notanda et 
 exploranda sunt, aut in certitudine sua, aut per sesti- 
 mativas, aut per comparativas, prout dabitur copia. 
 
 XLVI. 
 
 Inter Prserogativas Instantiarum, ponemus loco vi- 
 cesimo secundo Instantias CurricuU, quas etiam In- 
 stantias ad Aquam appellare consuevimus ; sumpto 
 vocabulo a clepsydris apud antiques, in quas infunde- 
 batur aqua, loco arenas. Ese mensurant naturam per 
 momenta temporis, quemadmodum Instantice Virgce 
 per gradus spatii. Omnis enim motus sive actio na- 
 turalis transigitur in tempore ; alius velocius, alius 
 tardius, sed utcunque momentis certis et naturse notis. 
 Etiam illse actiones quae subito videntur operari, et 
 in ictu oculi (ut loquimur), deprehenduntur recipere 
 majus et minus quoad tempus. 
 
 Primo itaque videmus restitutiones corporum ccele- 
 stium fieri per tempora numerata ; etiam fluxus et re- 
 fluxus maris. Latio autem gravium versus terram et 
 levium versus ambitum coeli, fit per certa momenta, 
 pro ratione corporis quod fertur, et medii. 1 At velifi- 
 
 1 Galileo had shown, before the year 1592, that the resistance of the air 
 being set aside, all bodies fall with equal velocity. He left Pisa in that 
 year in consequence of the disputes which were occasioned by this refuta- 
 tion of the Aristotelian doctrine, that the velocity is as the weight. 
 
 VOL. I. 31
 
 482 NOVUM ORGANUM. 
 
 cation es navium, motus animalium, perlationes missi- 
 lium, omnes fiunt itidem per terapora (quantum ad 
 Bummas) numerabilia. Calorem vero quod attinet, 
 videmus pueros per hyemem man us in flamma lavare, 
 nee tamen uri ; et joculatores vasa plena vino vel 
 aqua, per motus agiles et aequales, vertere deorsum 
 et sursum recuperare, non effuso liquore ; et multa 
 hujusmodi. Nee minus ipsas compressiones et dilata- 
 tiones et eruptiones corporum fiunt, alise velocius, aliae 
 tardius, pro natura corporis et motus, sed per momenta 
 certa. Quinetiam in explosione plurium bombardarum 
 simul, qua3 exaudiuntur quandoque ad distantiani tri- 
 ginta milliarium, percipitur sonus prius ab iis qui prope 
 absunt a loco ubi fit sonitus, quam ab iis qui longe. 
 At in visu (cujus actio est pernicissima) liquet etiam 
 requiri ad eum actuandum momenta certa temporis ; 
 idque probatur ex iis quae propter motus velocitatem 
 non cernuntur ; ut ex latione pilae ex sclopeto. Velo- 
 cior enim est praetervolatio pila3 quam impressio spe- 
 ciei ejus quae deferri poterat ad visum. 1 
 
 Atque hoc, cum similibus, nobis quandoque dubi- 
 tationem peperit plane monstrosam ; videlicet, utrum 
 coeli sereni et stellati facies ad idem tempus cerna- 
 tur quando vere existit, an potius aliquanto post ; et 
 utrum non sit (quatenus ad visum coelestium) non 
 minus tempus verum et tempus visum, quam locus 
 verus et locus visus, qui notatur ab astronomis in 
 parallaxibus. 2 Adeo incredibile nobis videbatur, spe- 
 cies sive radios corporum coelestium per tarn immensa 
 spatia milliarium subito deferri posse ad visum; sed 
 
 1 i. e. the ball flies past in less time than the image conveyed to the sight 
 requires to make an impression. 
 a t. e. which is taken account of in the correction for parallaxes.
 
 NOVUM ORGANUM. 483 
 
 potius debere eas in tempore aliquo notabili delabi. 
 Verum ilia dubitatio (quoad majus aliquod interval- 
 lum temporis inter tempus verum et visum) postea 
 plane evanuit ; reputantibus nobis jacturam illain in- 
 finitam et diminutionem quanti, quatenus ad apparen- 
 tiam, inter corpus stellas verum et speciem visam, 
 quae causatur a distantia ; atque simul notantibus ad 
 quantam distantiam (sexaginta scilicet ad minimum 
 milliariorum) corpora, eaque tantum albicantia, subito 
 hie apud nos cernantur ; cum dubium non sit lucem 
 coelestium, non tantum albedinis vividum colorem, 
 verum etiam ornnis flammae (quae apud nos nota 
 est) lucem, quoad vigorem radiationis, multis parti- 
 bus excedere. Etiam immensa ilia velocitas in ipso 
 corpore, quse cernitur in motu diurno (quae etiam 
 viros graves ita obstupefecit ut mallent credere mo- 
 tum terras), facit motum ilium ejaculationis radiorum 
 ab ipsis (licet celeritate, ut diximus, mirabilem) magis 
 credibilem. Maxime vero omnium nos inovit, quod 
 si interponeretur intervallum temporis aliquod nota- 
 bile inter veritatem et visum, foret ut species per 
 nubes interim orientes et similes medii perturbationes 
 interciperentur ssepenumero, et confunderentur. 1 At- 
 que de mensuris temporum simplicibus haec dicta sint. 
 
 1 1 do not know how to understand this passage without attributing to 
 Bacon a confusion of ideas which seems hardly credible. For surely the 
 very thing which he supposes laould happen if there were a perceptible 
 interval between the veritas and the visus, that is to say, between the time 
 when a star (for instance) is at a given point and the time when we see it 
 there, in other words, if the image took any time in coming to the eye, 
 this very thing does actually happen as often as the star is hidden by a cloud 
 or dimmed by a vapour: the species, to use his own word, are intercepted or 
 confused. If, indeed, the force of the rays were diminished, and this I 
 suppose would be one consequence of diminished velocity, the thing 
 would happen more frequently, because there would be more obstructions 
 which they could not overcome : they would be intercepted or confused by
 
 484 NOVUM ORGANUM. 
 
 Verum non solum quaerenda est mensura motuuin 
 et actionum simpliciter, sed multo magis comparative : 
 id enim eximii est usus, et ad plurima spectat. Atque 
 videmus flammam alicujus tormenti ignei citius cerni, 
 quam sonitus audiatur ; licet necesse sit pilam prius 
 aerem percutere, quam flamma quae pone erat exire 
 potuerit ; fieri hoc autem propter velociorem trans- 
 actionem motus lucis, quam soni. Videmus etiam 
 species visibiles a visu citius excipi quam dimitti ; 
 unde fit quod nervi fidium, digito impulsi, dupli- 
 centur aut triplicentur quoad speciem, quia species 
 nova recipitur, antequam prior demittatur; ex quo 
 etiam fit, ut annuli rotati videantur globosi, et fax 
 ardens, noctu velociter portata, conspiciatur caudata. 1 
 Etiam ex hoc fundamento inasqualitatis motuum quoad 
 velocitatem, excogitavit Galilaeus causam fluxus et 
 refluxus maris ; rotante terra velocius, aquis tardius ; 
 ideoque accumulantibus se aquis in sursum, et deinde 
 per vices se remittentibus in deorsum, ut demonstratur 
 in vase aqua? incitatius movente. 2 Sed hoc commentus 
 
 media which they now pass through. But the force being the same, and 
 the stream continuous, the lime of passage could make no difference in this 
 respect. In another respect, namely the facility of observation, it would 
 make a very great difference ; and it is remarked by Brinkley that, if the 
 velocity of light had been much less than it is, astronomy would have been 
 all but an impossible science. But that is another matter. J. S. 
 
 1 Of the phenomena which he here enumerates Bacon undoubtedly gives 
 the right explanation, though in the case of vibrating strings his explana- 
 tion is not altogether complete. The distinct or quasi-distinct images to 
 which he refers correspond to limiting positions of the vibrating string. 
 
 2 This account of Galileo's theory of the tides is inaccurate. In this 
 theory the tides are caused by the varying velocity of different points of 
 the earth's surface, arising from the composition of the earth's two motions, 
 namely that about its axis, and that in its orbit. Bacon does not seem to 
 have perceived that both these motions are essential to the explanation. 
 That the earth's being in motion might be the cause of the tides, had been 
 suggested before the time of Galileo by Csesalpinus in the QiuEstiones Pe- 
 ripateticee, iii. 5. It is odd that Patritius, in giving an account of all the
 
 NOVUM ORGANUM. 485 
 
 est concesso non concessibili (quod terra nempe move- 
 atur), ac etiam non bene informatus de oceani motu 
 sexhorario. 
 
 At exemplum hujus rei de qua agitur, videlicet de 
 comparativis mensuris motuum, neque solum rei ipsius, 
 sed et usus insignis ejus (de quo paulo ante loquuti 
 sumus), eminet in cuniculis subterraneis, in quibus 
 collocatur pulvis pyrius ; ubi immensae moles terras, 
 aedificiorum, et similium, subvertuntur, et in altum 
 jaciuntur, a pusilla quantitate pulveris pyrii. Cujus 
 causa pro certo ilia est, quod motus dilatationis pul- 
 veris, qui impellit, multis partibus sit pernicior, quam 
 motus gravitatis per quern fieri possit aliqua resistentia; 
 adeo ut primus motus perfunctus sit, antequam motus 
 adversus inceperit ; ut in principiis nullitas qusedam sit 
 resistentiae. Hinc etiam fit, quod in omni missili, 
 ictus, non tarn robustus quam acutus et celer, ad per- 
 lationem potissimum valeat. Neque etiam fieri potu- 
 isset, ut parva quantitas spiritus animalis in animalibus, 
 praesertim in tarn vastis corporibus qualia sunt balaenae 
 aut elephanti, tantam molem corpoream flecteret et 
 regeret, nisi propter velocitatem motus spiritus, et 
 hebetudinem corporeae molis, quatenus ad expedien- 
 dam suam resistentiam. 
 
 Denique, hoc unum ex praecipuis fundamentis est 
 experimentorum magicorum, de quibus mox dicemus ; 
 ubi scilicet parva moles materise longe majorem su- 
 perat et in ordinem redigit: hoc, inquam, si fieri 
 
 theories which had in his time been devised to explain the cause of the 
 tides (see his Pancosmia, 1. 28.), does not mention Caesalpinus's, though 
 it was published some years before his own work. Galileo perhaps alludes 
 to Csesalpinus in his letter to Cardinal Orsino, dated 8th January, 1616. 
 See, for remarks on Caesalpinus's doctrine, the Problemata Marina of Cas- 
 mann, published in 1596. Casmann's own theory is that of expansion.
 
 486 NOVUM OEGANUM. 
 
 possit anteversio motuum per velocitatem unius, ante- 
 quam alter se expediat. 
 
 Postremo, hoc ipsum Prius et Posterius in omni 
 actione natural! notari debet ; veluti quod in infusione 
 rhabarbari eliciatur purgativa vis prius, astrictiva post; 
 simile quiddam etiam in infusione violarum in acetum 
 experti sumus ; ubi primo excipitur suavis et delicatus 
 floris odor ; post, pars floris magis terrea, quae odorem 
 eonfundit. Itaque si infundantur violae per diem inte- 
 grum, odor multo languidius excipitur ; quod si infun- 
 dantur per partem quartam horse tantum, et extrahan- 
 tur ; et (quia paucus est spiritus odoratus qui subsistit 
 in viola) infundantur post singulas quartas horse violae 
 novae et recentes ad sexies ; turn demum nobilitatur in- 
 fusio, ita ut licet non rnanserint violae, utcunque reno- 
 vatae, plus quam ad sesquihoram, tamen permanserit 
 odor gratissimus, et viola ipsa non inferior, ad annum 
 integrum. Notandum tamen est, quod non se colligat 
 odor ad vires suas plenas, nisi post mensem ab infu- 
 sione. In distillationibus vero aromatum macerato- 
 rum in spiritu vini patet quod surgat primo phlegma 
 aqueum et inutile, deinde aqua plus habens ex spiritu 
 vini, deinde post aqua plus habens ex aromate. Atque 
 hujus generis quamplurima inveniuntur in distillationi- 
 bus notatu digna. Verum hasc suffieiant ad exempla. 
 
 XLVII. 
 
 Inter Praerogativas Instantiarum, ponemus loco vice- 
 simo tertio Instantias Quanti, quas etiam Doses Natures 
 (sumpto vocabulo a Medicinis) vocare consuevimus. 
 Eae sunt quae mensurant virtutes per Quanta corporum, 
 et indicant quid Quantum Gorporis faciat ad Modum 
 Vtrtutis. Ac primo sunt quaedam virtutes quae non
 
 NOVUM ORGANUM. 487 
 
 subsistunt nisi in Quanto Cosmico, hoc est, tali Quanto 
 quod habeat consensum cum configuratione et fabrica 
 universi. Terra enim stat ; partes ejus cadunt. Aquge 
 in maribus fluunt et refluunt ; in fluviis minime, nisi 
 per ingressum maris. Deinde etiam omnes fere vir 
 tutes particulares secundum multum aut parvum cor 
 poris operantur. Aquas largse non facile corrumpun- 
 tur; exigua? cito. Mustum et cervisia maturescunt 
 longe citius, et fiunt potabilia, in utribus parvis, quam 
 in doliis magnis. Si herba ponatur in majore portione 
 liquoris, fit infusio, magis quam imbibitio ; 1 si in mi- 
 nore, fit imbibitio, magis quam infusio. Aliud igitur 
 erga corpus humanum est balneum, aliud levis irrora- 
 tio. Etiam parvi rores in acre nunquam cadunt, sed 
 dissipantur et cum acre incorporantur. Et videre est 
 in anhelitu super gemmas, parum illud humoris, quasi 
 nubeculam vento dissipatam, continue solvi. Etiam 
 frustum ejusdem magnetis non trahit tantum ferri, 
 quantum magnes integer. Sunt etiam virtutes in qui- 
 bus parvitas Quanti magis potest ; ut in penetrationi- 
 bus, stylus acutus citius penetrat, quam obtusus ; ada- 
 mas punctuatus sculpit in vitro ; et similia. 
 
 Verum non hie morandum est in indefinitis, sed 
 etiam de rationibus Quanti corporis erga modum vir- 
 tutis inquirendum. Proclive enim foret credere, quod 
 rationes Quanti rationes virtutis adaequarent ; ut si 
 pila plumbea unius unciae caderet in tali tempore, pila 
 unciarum duaram deberet cadere duplo celerius, quod 
 falsissimum est. Nee eaedem rationes in omni genere 
 virtutum valent, sed longe divers.se. Itaque hae men- 
 surse ex rebus ipsis petendaa sunt, et non ex verisimili- 
 tudine aut conjecturis. 
 
 1 Absorption.
 
 488 NOVUM ORGANUM. 
 
 Denique in orani inquisitione naturae Quantum cor- 
 poris requiratur ad aliquod effectum, tanquam dosis, 
 notandum ; et cautiones de Nimis et Parum asper- 
 gendse. 
 
 XLVIII. 
 
 Inter Praerogativas Instantiarum, ponemus loco vice- 
 simo quarto Instantias Luctce; quas etiam Instantias 
 Prcedominantice appellare consuevimus. Eae indicant 
 praedominantiam et cessionem virtuturn ad invicem ; 
 et quae ex illis sit fortior et vincat, quae infirmior et 
 succumbat. Sunt enim motus et nixus corporum com- 
 positi, decompositi, et complicati, non minus quam cor- 
 pora ipsa. Proponemus igitur primum species prae- 
 cipuas motuum sive virtutum activarum ; ut magis 
 perspicua sit ipsarum comparatio in robore, et exinde 
 demonstratio atque designatio Instantiarum Luctae et 
 Prasdominantiae. 
 
 Motus Primus sit Motus Antitypice^ materias, quae 
 inest in singulis portionibus ejus ; per quern plane an- 
 nihilari non vult : ita ut nullum incendium, nullum 
 pondus aut depressio, nulla violentia, nulla denique aetas 
 aut diuturnitas temporis possit redigere aliquam vel mini- 
 mam portionem materiae in nihilum ; quin ilia et sit ali- 
 quid, et loci aliquid occupet, et se (in qualicunque neces- 
 sitate ponatur) vel formam mutando vel locum liberet, 
 vel (si non detur copia) ut est subsistat ; neque unquam 
 res eo deveniat, ut aut nihil sit, aut nullibi. Quern' Mo- 
 tum Schola (quae semper fere et denominat et definit 
 res potius per effectus et incommoda quam per causas 
 interiores) vel denotat per illud axioma, quod Duo cor- 
 pora non possint esse in uno loco ; vel vocat motum Ne 
 fiat penetratio dimensionum. Neque hujus motus ex- 
 
 1 This term was first used by Aristotle.
 
 NOVUM ORGANUM. 489 
 
 empla proponi consentaneum est : inest enim omni 
 corpori. 
 
 Sit Motus Secundus, Motus (quern appellamus) 
 Nexus ; per quern corpora non patiuntur se ulla ex 
 parte sui dirimi a contactu alterius corporis, ut quae 
 mutuo nexu et contactu gaudeant. Quern motum 
 Schola vocat Motum Ne detur vacuum : veluti cum 
 aqua attrahitur sursum exuctione, aut per fistulas ; 
 caro per ventosas ; aut cum aqua sistitur nee effluit 
 in hydriis perforatis, nisi os hydriae ad immittendum 
 aerem aperiatur; et innumera id genus. 
 
 Sit Motus Tertius, Motus (quern appellamus) Liber- 
 tatis ; per quern corpora se liberare nituntur a pres- 
 sura aut tensura praater-naturali, et restituere se in di- 
 mensum corpori suo conveniens. Cujus motus etiam 
 innumera sunt exemplar veluti (quatenus ad libera- 
 tionem a pressura) aquae in natando, aeris in volando ; 
 aquas in remigando, aeris in undulationibus ventorum ; 
 laminas in horologiis. Nee ineleganter se ostendit 
 motus aeris compressi in sclopettis ludicris puerorum, 
 cum alnum aut simile quiddam excavant, et infarciunt 
 frusto alicujus Tadicis succulentae, vel similium, ad 
 utrosque fines ; deinde per embolum l trudunt radi- 
 cem vel hujusmodi farcimentum in foramen alterum ; 
 unde emittitur et ejicitur radix cum sonitu ad foramen 
 alterum, idque antequam tarigatur a radice aut farci- 
 mento citimo, aut embolo. Quatenus vero ad libera- 
 tionem a tensura, ostendit se hie motus in ae're post ex- 
 uctionem in ovis vitreis remanente ; in chordis, in corio, 
 et panno ; resilientibus post tensuras suas, nisi tensuras 
 illae per moram invaluerint, etc. Atque hunc motum 
 Schola sub nomine Motus ex Forma Elemenli innuit : 
 
 f, anything introduced [a ramrod?].
 
 490 NOVUM ORGANUM. 
 
 satis quidem inscite, cum hie motus non tan turn ad 
 aerem, aquam, aut flammam pertineat, sed ad omnem 
 diversitatem consistentiae ; ut ligni, ferri, plumbi, panni, 
 membranae, etc., in quibus singula corpora suae habent 
 dimensionis modulum, et ab eo aegre ad spatium ali- 
 quod notabile abripiuntur. Venim quia Motus iste 
 Libertatis omnium est maxime obvius, et ad infinita 
 spectans, consultum fuerit eum bene et perspicue dis- 
 tinguere. Quidam enim valde negligenter confundunt 
 hunc motum cum gemino illo motu Antitypioe et Nexus; 
 liberationem scilicet a pressura, cum motu Antitypiae ; 
 a tensura, cum motu Nexus ; ac si ideo cederent aut 
 se dilatarent corpora compressa, ne sequeretur pene-. 
 tratio dimensionum ; ideo resilirent et contraherent se 
 corpora tensa, ne sequeretur vacuum. Atqui si ae'r 
 compressus se vellet recipere in densitatem aquae, aut 
 lignum in densitatem lapidis, nil opus foret penetra- 
 tione dimensionum ; et nihilominus longe major posset 
 esse compressio illorum, quam ilia ullo modo patiuntur. 
 Eodem modo si aqua se dilatare vellet in raritatem aeris, 
 aut lapis in raritatem ligni, non opus foret vacuo ; et ta- 
 men longe major posset fieri extensio eorum, quam ilia 
 ullo modo patiuntur. Itaque non reducitur res ad 
 penetrationem dimensionum et vacuum, nisi in ultimi- 
 tatibus condensationis et rarefactionis : cum tamen isti 
 motus longe citra eas sistant et versentur, neque aliud 
 sint .quam desideria corporum conservandi se in con- 
 sistentiis suis. (sive, si malint, in formis suis), nee ab 
 iis recedendi subito, nisi per modos suaves ac per con- 
 sensum alterentur.. At longe magis necessarium est 
 (quia multa secum trahit), ut intimetur hominibus, 
 motum violentum (quern nos Mechanicum, Democri- 
 tus, qui in motibus suis primis expediendis etiam infra
 
 NOVUM ORGANUM. 491 
 
 mediocres philosoplios ponendus est, motum Plagce 
 vocavit) nil aliud esse quam Motum Libertatis, scili- 
 cet a compressione ad relaxationem. Etenim in omrii 
 sive simplici protrusione sive volatu per aerem, non fit 
 summotio aut latio localis, antequatn partes corporis 
 prseter-naturaliter patiantur et comprimantur ab im- 
 pellente. Turn vero partibus aliis alias per succes- 
 sionem trudentibus, fertur totum ; nee solum progre- 
 diendo, sed etiam rotando simul ; ut etiam hoc modo 
 partes se liberare, aut magis ex asquo tolerare possint. 
 Atque de hoc Motu hactenus. 
 
 Sit Motus Quartus, motus cui nomen dedimus Motus 
 Hyles : qui motus antistrophus est quodammodo Motui, 
 de quo diximus, Libertatis. Etenim in Motu Liber- 
 tatis, corpora novum dimensum sive novam sphasrarn 
 sive novam dilatationem aut contractionem (haec enim 
 verborum varietas idem innuit) exhorrent, respuunt, 
 fugiunt, et resilire ac veterem consistentiam recupe- 
 rare'totis viribus contendunt. At contra in hoc Motu 
 Hyles, corpora novam sphasram sive dimensum ap- 
 petTint ; atque ad illud libenter et propere, et quando- 
 que valentissimo nixu (ut in pulvere pyrio) aspirant. 
 Instrumenta autem hujus motus, non sola certe, sed 
 potentissima, aut saltern frequentissima, sunt calor et 
 frigus. Exempli gratia : aer, si per tensuram (velut 
 per exuctionein in ovis vitreis) dilatetur, magno labo- 
 ret desiderio seipsum restituendi. At admoto calore, 
 e contra appetit dilatari, et concupiscit - 1 novam sphse- 
 ram, et transit et migrat in illam libenter tanquam in 
 novam formam (ut loquuntur) ; nee post dilatationem 
 'nonnullam de reditu curat, nisi per admotionem frigid! 
 ad earn invitetur ; quae non reditus est, sed transmu- 
 
 1 Concupiscet, in the original. J. S.
 
 492 NOVUM ORGANUM. 
 
 tatio repetita. Eodem modo et aqua, si per compres- 
 sionem arctetur, recalcitrat ; et vult fieri qualis fuit, 
 scilicet latior. At si interveniat frigus intensum et 
 continuatum, mutat se sponte sua et libenter in con- 
 densationem glaciei ; atque si plane continuetur frigus, 
 nee a teporibus interrumpatur (ut fit in speluncis 
 et cavernis paulo profundioribus), vertitur in cry- 
 stallum l aut materiam similem, nee unquam resti- 
 tuitur. 
 
 Sit Motus Quintus, Motus Continuationis. Intelli- 
 gimus autem non continuationis simplicis et primariae, 
 cum corpore aliquo altero (nam ille est Motus Nexus) ; 
 sed continuationis sui, in corpore certo. Certissimum 
 enira est, quod corpora bmnia solutionem continuitatis 
 exhorreant ; alia magis, alia minus, sed omnia aliqua- 
 tenus. Nam ut in corporibus duris (veluti chalybis, 
 vitri) reluctatio contra discontinuationem est maxime 
 robusta et valida, ita etiam in liquoribus, ubi cessare 
 aut languere saltern videtur motus ejusmodi, tamen 
 non prorsus reperitur privatio ejus ; sed plane inest 
 ipsis in gradu tanquam infimo, et prodit se in experi- 
 mentis plurimis ; sicut in bullis, in rotunditate gutta- 
 rum, in filis tenuioribus stillicidiorum, et in sequacitate 
 corporum glutinosorum, et ejusmodi. Sed maxime 
 omnium se ostendit appetitus iste, si discontinuatio 
 tentetur usque ad fractiones minores. Nam in mor- 
 tariis, post contusionem ad certum gradum, non am- 
 
 l Pliny, xxxvii. 9. Also Seneca, Natural Questions. Though this ac- 
 count of the origin of crystals is of course erroneous, yet there is a class 
 of crystals which have been shown to occupy the volume which their 
 water of crystallisation would in the state of ice; so that their other con- 
 stituents may in some sort be said to take up no space. This curious 
 analogy with -ice was proved by Playfair and Joule in a very considera- 
 ble number of cases. See Phil. Mag. Dec. 1845.
 
 NOVUM ORGANUM. 493 
 
 plius operatur pistillum ; aqua non subintrat rimas 
 minores ; quin et ipse aer, 'non obstante subtilitate 
 corporis ipsius, poros vasorum paulo solidiorum non 
 pertransit subito, nee nisi per diuturnam insinua- 
 tionem. 
 
 Sit Motus Sextus, motus quern nominamus Motum 
 ad Lucrum, sive Motum Indigentice. Is est, per quern 
 corpora, quando versantur inter plane heterogenea et 
 quasi inimica, si forte nanciscantur copiam aut commo- 
 ditatem evitandi ilia heterogenea et se applicandi ad 
 magis cognata, (licet ilia ipsa cognata talia fuerint quae 
 non habeant arctum corisensum cum ipsis) tamen sta- 
 tim ea amplectuntur, et tanquam potiora malunt ; et 
 lucri loco (unde vocabulum sumpsimus) hoc ponere 
 videntur, tanquam talium corporum indiga. Exempli 
 gratia : aurum, aut aliud metallum foliatum non delec- 
 tatur acre circumfuso. Itaque si corpus aliquod tan- 
 gibile et crassum nanciscatur (ut digitum, papyrum, 
 quidvis aliud), adhasret statim, nee facile divellitur. 
 Etiam papyrus, aut pannus, et hujusmodi, non bene 
 se habent cum acre qui inseritur et commistus est in 
 ipsorum poris. Itaque aquam aut liquorem libenter 
 imbibunt, et aerem exterminant. Etiam saccharum, 
 aut spongia infusa in aquam aut vinum, licet pars ip- 
 sorum emineat et longe attollatur supra vinum aut 
 aquam, tamen aquam aut vinum paulatim et per gra- 
 dus attrahunt in sursum. 
 
 Unde optimus canon sumitur aperturas et solutionum 
 corporum. Missis enim corrosivis et aquis fortibus, 
 quse viam sibi aperiunt, si possit inveniri corpus propor- 
 tionatum et magis consentiens et amicum corpori 
 alicui solido quam illud cum quo tanquam per neces- 
 sitatem commiscetur, statim se aperit et relaxat cor-
 
 494 NOVUM ORGANTJM. 
 
 pus, et illud alterum intro recipit, priore excluso aut 
 summoto. Neque operator aut potest iste Motus ad 
 Lucrum solummodo ad tactum. Nam electrica ope- 
 ratic (de qua Gilbertus et alii post eum tantas ex- 
 citarunt fabulas) non alia est quam corporis per frica- 
 tionem levem excitati appetitus ; qui aerem non bene 
 tolerat, sed aliud tangibile mavult, si reperiatur in 
 propinquo. 
 
 Sit Motus Septimus, Motus (quern appellamus) Oon- 
 gregationis Majoris ; per quern corpora feruntur ad 
 massas connaturalium suorum : gravia, ad globum ter- 
 ras ; levia, ad ambitum coeli. Hunc Schola nomine 
 Motus Naturalis insignivit : levi contemplatione, quia 
 scilicet nil spectabile erat ab extra quod eum motum 
 cieret; (itaque rebus ipsis innatum atque insitum puta- 
 vit) ; aut forte quia non cessat. Nee mirum : semper 
 enim prsesto sunt ccelum et terra ; cum e contra causae 
 et origines plurimorum ex reliquis motibus interdum 
 absint, interdum adsint. Itaque hunc, quia non inter- 
 mittit sed casteris intermittentibus statim occurrit, per- 
 petuum et proprium ; reliquos ascititios posuit. Est 
 autem iste motus revera satis infirmus et hebes, tan- 
 quam is qui (nisi sit moles corporis major) caeteris mo- 
 tibus, quamdiu operantur, cedat et succumbat. Atque 
 cum hie motus hominum cogitationes ita impleverit ut 
 fere reliquos motus occultaverit, tamen parum est quod 
 homines de eo sciunt, sed in multis circa ilium errori 
 bus versantur. 
 
 Sit Motus Octavus, Motus Congregationis Minoris ; 
 per quern partes homogeneae in corpore aliquo separant 
 se ab heterogeneis, et coeunt inter sese ; per quern 
 etiam corpora integra ex similitudine substantiae se 
 amplectuntur et fovent, et quandoque ad distantiam
 
 NOVUM ORGANUM. 495 
 
 aliquam congregantur, attrahuntur, et conveniunt : 
 veluti cum in lacte flos lactis post moram aliquam su- 
 pematat ; in vino faeces et tartarum subsidunt. Neque 
 enim base fiunt per motum gravitatis et levitatis tan- 
 turn, ut aliae partes summitatem petaiit, aliae ad imum 
 vergant ; sed multo magis per desiderium homogene- 
 orum inter se coeundi et se uniendi. Differt autem 
 iste motus a Motu Indigentias, in duobus. Uno, quod 
 in Motu Indigentiae sit stimulus major natures malignae 
 et contrariae ; at in hoc motu (si modo impedimenta 
 et vincula absint) uniuntur partes per amicitiam, licet 
 absit natura aliena quaB litem moveat : altero, quod arc- 
 tior sit unio, et tanquam majore cum delectu. In illo 
 enim, modo evitetur corpus inimicum, corpora etiam 
 non admodum cognata concurrunt ; at in hoc coe'unt 
 substantiae, germana plane similitudine devinctse, et 
 conflantur tanquam in unum. Atque hie motus om- 
 nibus corporibus compositis inest ; et se facile conspi- 
 ciendum in singulis daret, nisi ligaretur et fraenaretur 
 per alios corporum appetitus et necessitates, qua? istam 
 coitionem disturbant. 
 
 Ligatur autem motus iste plerumque tribus modis : 
 torpore corporum ; fraeno corporis dominantis ; et motu 
 externo. Ad torporem corporum quod attinet ; certum 
 est inesse corporibus tangibilibus pigritiam quandam 
 secundum magis et minus, et exhorrentiam motus lo- 
 calis ; ut, nisi excitentur, malint statu suo (prout sunt) 
 esse contenta quam in melius se expedire. Discutitur 
 autem iste torpor triplici auxilio : aut per calorem, 
 aut per virtutem alicujus cognati corporis eminen- 
 tem, aut per motum vividum et potentem. Atque 
 primo quoad auxilium caloris ; hinc fit, quod calor 
 pronuntietur esse illud quod separet Heterogenea, con-
 
 496 NOVUM ORGANUM. 
 
 greget Homogenea. Quam definitionem Peripatetico- 
 rum merito derisit Gilbertus ; dicens earn esse perinde 
 ac si quis diceret ac definiret hominem illud esse quod 
 serat triticum et plantet vineas : esse enim definitionem 
 tantum per effectus, eosque particulares. 1 Sed adhuc 
 magis culpanda est' ilia definitio ; quia etiam effectus 
 illi (quales quales sunt) non sunt ex proprietate caloris, 
 sed tantum per accidens 2 (idem enim facit frigus, ut 
 postea dicemus), nempe ex desiderio partium homoge- 
 nearum coeundi ; adjuvante tantum calore ad discu- 
 tiendum torporem, qui torpor desiderium illud antea 
 ligaverat. Quoad vero auxilium virtutis inditse a cor- 
 pore cognato ; illud mirabiliter elucescit in magnete 
 armato, qui excitat in ferro virtutem detinendi ferrum 
 per similitudinem substantial, discusso torpore ferri per 
 virtutem magnetis. Quoad vero auxilium motus ; con- 
 spicitur illud in sagittis ligneis, cuspide etiam lignea ; 
 quae altius penetrant in alia ligna quam si fuissent ar- 
 matas ferro, per similitudinem substantial, discusso tor- 
 
 1 For the definition we may refer to the Margarita Philosophies, xi. 3. 
 It is founded on a passage in the De Gen. et Corr. ii. 2. Gilbert's censure 
 on it is to be found in his posthumous work De Mundo nostro sublunari Phi- 
 losophia nova, which was published by Gruter in 1651, long after the death 
 of Bacon. It seems however, as Gruter remarks, that the work, which he 
 suggests may have been written before the treatise De Magnete, published 
 in 1600, had been read in manuscript by " viri magni et famae celeberri- 
 mae." "Illi perspicace in Physicis prsesertim ingenio baud pcenitendae in 
 evolvendo operae testimonium dederunt, quod integrum excussisse censean- 
 tur, et aliqua a vulgaribus opinionibus abhorrentia calculo suo comprobata 
 hinc sparsim citent; " in which I do not doubt that Gruter refers to Bacon. 
 Bacon's quotation seems to have been made from imperfect memory, as the 
 words of the original are: "quid illud ostendit aut quse ilia differentia 
 ab effectu tantum in quibusdam corporibus, congregam homogenea et dis- 
 gregans heterogenea ? ac si diceres hominem animal esse carduos et sentes 
 evellens, et fruges serens, cum istud sit agricolse studium." De Mundo, 
 &c., i. c. 26. 
 
 2 1. e. they arise indirectly.
 
 NOVUM OEGANUM. 497 
 
 pore ligni per motum celerem : de quibus duobus 
 experimentis etiam in aphorismo de Instantiis Clan- 
 destinis diximus. 
 
 Ligatio vero Motus Congregationis Minoris, quse fit 
 per frsenum corporis dominantis, conspicitur in solu- 
 tione sanguinis et urinarurn per frigus. Quamdiu 
 enim repleta fuerint corpora ilia spiritu agili, qui sin 
 gulas eorum partes cujuscunque generis ipse ut domi 
 nus totius ordinat et cohibet, tamdiu non coeunt homo- 
 genea l propter frsenum ; sed postquam ille spiritus 
 evaporaverit, aut suffocatus fuerit per frigus, turn so- 
 lutae partes a fraeno coeunt secundum desiderium suum 
 naturale. Atque ideo fit, ut omnia corpora quae con- 
 tinent spiritum acrem (ut sales, et hujusmodi) durent 
 et non solvantur, ob fraenum permanens et durabile 
 spiritus dominantis et imperiosi. 
 
 Ligatio vero Motus Congregationis Minoris, quas fit 
 per motum externum, maxime conspicitur in agitationi- 
 bus corporum per quas arcetur putrefactio. Omnis 
 enim putrefactio fundatur in congregatione homoge- 
 neorum ; unde paulatim fit corruptio prioris (quam 
 vocant) formae, et generatio novas. Nam putrefacti- 
 onem, quse sternit viam ad generationem novae formae, 
 praecedit solutio veteris ; quae est ipsa coitio ad homo- 
 geniam. Ea vero si non impedita fuerit, fit solutio 
 simplex ; sin occurrant varia quaa obstant, sequuntur 
 putrefactiones quae sunt rudimenta generationis novae. 
 Quod si (id quod nunc agitur) fiat agitatio frequens 
 per motum externum, turn vero motus iste coitionis 
 (qui est delicatus et mollis et indiget quiete ab exter- 
 nis) disturbatur et cessat ; ut fieri videmus in innume- 
 
 1 [" Heterogenea " in the original edition] ; clearly a wrong reading: the 
 sense requires "homogenea." 
 VOL. i. 32
 
 498 NOVUM ORGANUM. 
 
 ris; veluti cum quotidiana agitatio aut profluentia aquae 
 arceat putrefactionem ; venti arceant pestilentiam aeris ; 
 grana in granariis versa et agitata maneant pura ; om- 
 nia denique agitata exterius non facile putrefiant in- 
 terius. 
 
 Superest,ut non omittatur coitio ilia partium corpo- 
 rum, unde fit praecipue induratio et desiccatio. Post- 
 quam enim spiritus, aut humidum in spiritum versura, 
 evolaverit in aliquo corpore porosiore (ut in ligno, 
 osse, membrana, et hujusmodi), turn partes crassiores 
 majore nixu contralmntur et coeunt, unde sequitur 
 induratio aut desiccatio : quod existimamus fieri, non 
 tarn ob Motum Nexus, ne detur vacuum, quam per 
 tnotum istum amicitige et unionis. 
 
 Ad coitionem vero ad distans quod attinet, ea inf're- 
 quens est et rara ; et tamen in pluribus inest quam qui- 
 bus observatur. Hujus simulacra sunt, cum bulla sol- 
 vat bullam ; medicamenta ex similitudine substantiae 
 trahant humores ; chorda in diversis fidibus ad uniso- 
 num moveat chordam ; et hujusmodi. Etiam in spiri- 
 tibus animalium hunc motum vigere existimamus, sed 
 plane incognitum. At eminet certe in magnete, et 
 ferro excito. Cum autem de motibus magnetis loqui- 
 mur, distinguendi plane sunt. Quatuor enim virtutes 
 sive operationes sunt in magnete, quae non confundi, sed 
 separari debent; licet admiratio hominum et stupor eas 
 commiscuerit. Una, coitionis magnetis ad magnetem, 
 vel ferri ad magnetem, vel ferri exciti ad ferrurn. Se- 
 cunda, verticitatis ejus ad septentriones et austrum, at- 
 que simul declinationis ejus. Tertia, penetrationis ejus 
 per aurum, vitrum, lapidem, omnia. Quarta, commu- 
 nicationis virtutis ejus de lapide in ferrum, et de ferro 
 in ferrum, absque communicatione substantias. Verum
 
 NOVUM ORGANUM. 499 
 
 hoc loco de prima virtute ejus tantum loquimur, videli- 
 cet coitionis. Insignis etiam est motus coitionis argenti 
 vivi et auri ; adeo ut aurum alliciat argentum vivum, 
 licet confectum in unguenta ; atque operarii inter vapo- 
 res argenti vivi soleant tenere in ore frustum auri, ad 
 colligendas emissiones argenti vivi, alias crania et ossa 
 eorum invasuras ; unde etiam frustum illud paulo post 
 albescit. Atque de Motu Congregationis Minoris haec 
 dicta sint. 
 
 Sit Motus Nonus, Motus Magneticus ; qui licet sit 
 ex genere Motus Congregationis Minoris, tamen si ope- 
 retur ad distantias magnas et super massas rerum mag- 
 nas, inquisitionem meretur separatam ; praesertim si 
 nee incipiat a tactu, quemadmodum plurhni, nee per- 
 ducat actionem ad tactum, quemadmodum omnes mo- 
 tus congregativi ; sed corpora tantum eleve.t, aut ea 
 intumescere faciat, nee quicquam ultra. Nam si luna 
 attollat aquas, aut turgescere aut intumescere faciat 
 humida ; aut coelum stellatum attrahat planetas versus 
 sua apogaea ; aut sol alliget astra Veneris et Mercurii, 
 ne longius absint a corpore ejus quam ad distantiam 
 certam ; videntur hi motus nee sub Congregatione 
 Majore nee sub Congregatione Minore bene collocari ; 
 sed esse tanquam congregativa media et imperfecta, 
 ideoque speciem debere constituere propriam. 
 
 Sit Motus Decimus, Motus Fugce ; motus scilicet 
 Motui Congregationis Minoris contrarius ; per quern 
 corpora ex antipathia fugiunt et fugant inimica, seque 
 ab illis separant, aut cum illis miscere se recusant. 
 Quamvis enim videri possit in aliquibus hie motus esse 
 motus tantum per accidens aut per consequens, respectu 
 Motus Congregationis Minoris, quia nequeunt coire ho- 
 mogenea nisi heterogeneis exclusis et remotis ; tamen
 
 500 NOVDM ORGANUM. 
 
 ponendus est motus iste per se, et in speciem constitu- 
 endus, quia in multis appetitus Fugae cernitur magis 
 principalis quam appetitus Coitionis. 
 
 Eminet autem hie motus insigniter in excretionibus 
 animalium ; nee minus etiam in sensuum nonnullorum 
 odiosis objectis, praecipue in olfactu et gustu. Odor 
 enim foetidus ita rejicitur ab olfactu, ut etiam inducat 
 in os stomachi motum expulsionis per consensum ; sapor 
 amarus et horridus ita rejicitur a palato aut gutture, ut 
 inducat per consensum capitis conquassationem et hor- 
 rorem. Veruntamen etiam in aliis locum habet iste 
 motus. Conspicitur enim in antiperistasibus nonnul- 
 lis ; ut in ae'ris media regione, cujus frigora videntur 
 esse rejectiones naturae frigidae ex confiniis coelestium ; 
 quemadmodum etiam videntur magni illi fervores et 
 inflammationes, quaa inveniuntur in locis subterraneis, 
 esse rejectiones naturae calida? ab interioribus terrae. 
 Calor enim et frigus, si fuerint in quanto minore, se 
 invicem perimunt ; sin fuerint in massis majoribus et 
 tanquam justis exercitibus, turn vero per conflictum se 
 locis invicem summovent et ejiciunt. Etiam tradunt 
 cinamomum et odorifera, sita juxta latrinas et loca 
 foetida, diutius odorem retinere ; quia recusant exire et 
 commisceri cum fo3tidis. Certe argentum vivum, quod 
 alias se reuniret in corpus integrum, prohibetur per sa- 
 livam hominis, aut axungiam porci, aut terebinthinam, 
 et hujusmodi, ne partes ejus coeant ; propter malum 
 consensum quern habent cum hujusmodi corporibus ; 
 a quibus undique circumfusis se retrahunt ; adeo ut 
 fortior sit earum Fuga ab istis interjacentibus quam 
 desiderium uniendi se cum partibus sui similibus ; 
 id quod vocant mortificationem argenti vivi. Etiam 
 quod oleum cum aqua non misceatur, non tantum in
 
 NOVUM ORGANUM. 501 
 
 causa est differentia levitatis, sed malus ipsorum con- 
 sensus : ut videre est in spiritu vini, qui cum levior sit 
 oleo, tamen se bene miscet cum aqua. At maxime 
 omnium insignis est Motus Fugse in nitro, et hujusmodi 
 corporibus crudis, quse flammam exhorrent ; ut in pul- 
 vere pyrio, argento vivo, necnon in auro. Fuga vero 
 ferri ab altero polo magnetis a Gilberto bene notatur 
 non esse Fuga propria, sed conformitas, et coitio ad si- 
 tum magis accommodatum. 1 
 
 Sit Motus Undecimus, Motus Assimilationis, sive 
 Multiplicationis sui, sive etiam Crenerationis Simplids. 
 Generationem autem Simplicem dicimus non corporum 
 integralium, ut in plantis, aut animalibus ; sed corpo- 
 rum similarium. 2 Nempe per hunc motum corpora si- 
 milaria vertunt corpora alia affinia, aut saltern bene dis- 
 posita et prseparata, in substantiam et naturam suam; 
 ut flamma, quse super halitus et oleosa multiplicat se, 
 et generat novam flammam ; ae'r, qui super aquam 
 et aquea multiplicat se, et generat novum aerem ; 
 spiritus vegetabilis et animalis, qui super tenuiores 
 partes tarn aquei quam oleosi in alimentis suis mul- 
 tiplicat se, et generat novum spiritum ; partes solidaa 
 plantarum et animalium, veluti folium, flos, caro, os, et 
 sic de casteris, quaa singulae ex succis alimentorum as- 
 sirnilant et generant substantiam successivam et epiu- 
 siam. Neque enim quenquam cum Paracelso delirare 
 juvet, qui (distillationibus suis scilicet occaecatus) nu- 
 tritionem per separationem tantum fieri voluit ; quod- 
 
 1 " Ita coitio magnetica actus est magnetis et ferri, non actio unius, utri- 
 usque ^TcAf^eta non epyov, avvevTehexeia et conactus potius quam sympa- 
 thia; antipathia nulla est proprie magnetica. Nam fuga et declinatio ter- 
 minorum, sive conversio totius, utriusque actus est ad unitatem, a conactu 
 et CTwevre/lf^eia amborum." Gilbert, De, Magnete, ii. c. 4. 
 
 2 f. e. bodies of uniform texture.
 
 502 NOVDM ORGANUM. 
 
 que in pane vel cibo lateat oculus, nasus, cerebrum, 
 jecur ; 1 in succo terras radix, folium, flos. Etenim 
 sicut faber ex rudi massa lapidis vel ligni, per separa- 
 tionem et rejectionem superflui educit folium, florem, 
 oculum, nasum, manum, pedem, et similia ; ita archce- 
 um ilium fabrum internum ex alimento per separatio- 
 nem et rejectionem educere singula membra et partes 
 asserit ille. Verum missis nugis, certissimum est partes 
 singulas, tain similares quam organicas, in vegetabilibus 
 et animalibus, succos alimentorum suorum fere com- 
 munes, aut non multum diversos, primo attrahere cum 
 nonnullo delectu, deinde assimilare, et vertere in na- 
 turam suam. Neque Assimilatio ista, aut Generatio 
 Simplex, fit solum in corporibus animatis, verum et 
 inanimata ex hac re participant ; veluti de flamma et 
 
 1 1 have not been able to find any passage in Paracelsus which altogether 
 corresponds to this remark ; and in his Modus Pharmacandi the process of 
 digestion is described without reference to the Archeus ; nor is it said that 
 each member " latet in pane vel cibo." " Hoc scimus, quod cujusque 
 membri uutrimentum latitet in pane, carne, et in aliis similiter." " Quot 
 vero modis et quibus, necnon qua ratione membris corporis nutrimentum 
 dividatur, nos ignoramus; hoc tantum scimus, rem ita se habere ut dixi- 
 mus." De Mod. Pharm. v. p. 233. (I use the edition of 1603). 
 
 Bacon has, however, correctly stated (he general doctrine that alimenta- 
 tion is by separation ; and again Paracelsus affirms that " officium vero Ar- 
 chei est in microcosmo purum ab impure separare." De Morbis Tarta- 
 reis, iii. 195. The truth is that Paracelsus's views are so often repeated and 
 varied in the course of his writings, that it is difficult to know how far his 
 opinions are represented by any particular passage. 
 
 It is well to remark that, to a certain extent, the theory here so decidedly 
 condemned has, by the recent progress of organic chemistry, been shown 
 to be true. Nothing seems better established than that the nitrogenised 
 components of animal bodies are derived from the corresponding elements 
 of their food. With respect to fat, it is, I believe, a prevailing opinion at 
 present, that animals have the power of converting into it the starch or sugar 
 of their food ; and the production of butyric acid by fermentation, has been 
 regarded as at least an illustration of the transformation. One of the 
 highest authorities on such a subject, however, I mean M. Boussingault, 
 was, at least a few years ago, of a different opinion. He regarded animal 
 fat as the representative of the fatty matters contained in the food.
 
 NOVUM ORGANUM. 503 
 
 acre dictum est. Quinetiam spiritus emortuus, 1 qui in 
 omni tangibili animate continetur, id perpetuo agit, ut 
 partes crassiores digerat et vertat in spiritum, qui de- 
 inde exeat ; unde fit diminutio ponderis et exsiccatio, 
 ut alibi diximus. Neque etiam respuenda est in As- 
 similatione accretio ilia, quam vulgo ab alimentatione 
 distinguunt ; veluti cum lutum inter lapillos concrescit, 
 et vertitur in materiam lapideam ; squammse circa 
 dentes vertuntur in substantiam non minus duram 
 quam sunt dentes ipsi, etc. Sumus enim in ea opini- 
 one, inesse corporibus omnibus desiderium assimilandi, 
 non minus quam coeundi ad homogenea ; verum ligatur 
 ista virtus, sicut et ilia, licet non iisdem modis. Sed 
 modos illos, necnon solutionem ab iisdem, omni diligen- 
 tia inquirere oportet, quia pertinent ad senectutis refo- 
 cillationem. Postremo videtur notatu dignum, quod in 
 novem illis motibus, de quibus diximus, corpora tantum 
 naturae suas conservationem appetere videntur ; in hoc 
 decimo autem propagationem. 2 
 
 Sit Motus Duodecimus, Motus Exdtationis ; qui mo- 
 tus videtur esse ex genere Assimilationis, atque eo no- 
 mine quandoque a nobis promiscue vocatur. Est enim 
 motus diffiisivus, et communicativus, et transitivus, et 
 multiplicativus,* sicut et ille ; atque effectu (ut pluri- 
 
 1 Bv " spiritus emortuus " Bacon understands that which in the Historia 
 Vita et Mortis he has called " spiritus mortualis." The fourth of his Ca- 
 nones Mobiles, in the Histoi-ia, &c. is this : "In omnibus animatis duo 
 sunt genera spirituum, spiritus mortuales quales insunt inanimatis, et su- 
 peradditua spiritus vitalis." The former are such as " insunt in carne, osse, 
 membrana, et cffiteris separatis et mortuis." I do not think there is any 
 distinct trace of this doctrine of a spiritus mortualis in Paracelsus. In his 
 tract De Viribus Membrorum, i. c. 1., he describes the functions of the 
 spiritus vitse in relation to the different organs, without referring to any in- 
 dwelling non-vital spirit (vol. iii. p. 1. of his Philosophy). 
 
 2 The first "motus" which Bacon mentions does not relate to concrete 
 bodies ("corpora "), but to matter in general. The "Motus Assimilatio- 
 nis " is therefore the tenth of those which relate to "corpora," though it is 
 the eleventh in the general arrangement.
 
 504 NOVUM ORGANUM. 
 
 mum) consentiunt, licet efficiendi modo et subjecto dif- 
 ferant. Motus enim Assirnilationis procedit tanquam 
 cum imperio et potestate ; jubet enim et cogit assimila- 
 tum in assimilantem verti et mutari. At Motus Excita- 
 tionis procedit tanquam arte et insinuatione et furtim : 
 et invitat tantum, et disponit excitatum ad naturam 
 excitantis. Etiam Motus Assimilationis multiplicat et 
 transformat corpora et substantias ; veluti, plus fit flam- 
 mas, plus aeris, plus spiritus, plus carnis. At in Motu 
 Excitationis, multiplicantur et transeunt virtutes tan- 
 tum ; et plus fit calidi, plus magnetic!, plus putridi. 
 Eminet autem iste motus prascipue in calido et frigido. 
 Neque enim calor diffundit se in calefaciendo per com- 
 municationem primi caloris ; sed tantum per Excita- 
 tionem partium corporis ad motum ilium qui est Forma 
 Calidi ; de quo in Vindemiatione Prima de Natura 
 Calidi diximus. Itaque longe tardms et difficilius ex- 
 citatur calor in lapide aut metallo quam in aere, ob in- 
 habilitatem et impromptitudinem corporum illorum ad 
 motum ilium ; ita ut verisimile sit posse esse interius 
 versus viscera terras materias quge calefieri prorsus re- 
 spuant ; quia ob condensationem majorem spiritu illo 
 destituuntur a quo Motus iste Excitationis plerunque 
 incipit. Similiter magnes induit ferrum nova partium 
 dispositione et motu conformi ; ipse autem nihil ex vir- 
 tute perdit. Similiter fermentum panis, et flos cervi- 
 sise, et coagulum lactis, et nonnulla ex venenis, excitant 
 et invitant motum in massa farinaria, aut cervisia, aut 
 caseo, aut corpore humano, successivum et continua- 
 tum ; non tarn ex vi excitantis quam ex prsedispositione 
 et facili cessione excitati. 1 
 
 l The theory here proposed is nearly equivalent to the most recent views 
 on the same subject, as the following passage will sufficiently show. It is 
 obvious that both statements, however much of truth they may involve,
 
 NOVUM ORGANUM. 505 
 
 Sit Motus Decimus Tertius, Motus Impressionis ; 
 qui Motus est etiam ex genere Motus Assimilationis, 
 estque ex diffusivis motibus subtilissimus. Nobis autem 
 visum est eum in speciem propriam constituere, propter 
 differentiam insignem quam habet erga riores duos. 
 Motus eiiim Assimilationis simplex corpora ipsa trans- 
 format ; ita ut si tollas primum movens nihil intersit 
 ad ea quse sequuntur. Neque enim prima accensio in 
 flammam, aut prima versio in aerem, aliquid facit ad 
 flammam aut aerem in generatione succedentem. Si- 
 militer, Motus Excitationis omnino manet, remote pri- 
 mo movente, ad tempora bene diuturna ; ut in corpore 
 calefacto, remote primo calore ; in ferro excito, remoto 
 magnete ; in massa farinaria, remoto fermento. At 
 Motus Impressionis, licet sit diffusivus, et transitivus, 
 tamen perpetuo pendere videtur ex primo movente ; 
 adeo ut sublato a*it cessante illo statim deficiat et pere- 
 at ; itaque etiam momento, aut saltern exiguo tempore, 
 transigitur. Quare Motus illos Assimilationis et Ex- 
 citationis, Motus Grenerationis Jbvis, quia generatio ma- 
 net, hunc autem motum Motum Grenerationis Saturni, 
 
 are indefinite and unsatisfactory. It is not said whether the new proper- 
 ties engendered depend upon new types of motion or new arrangements, 
 though the latter is probably Liebig's opinion. 
 
 " All the phenomena of fermentation, when taken together, establish the 
 correctness of the principle long since recognised by Laplace and Berthol- 
 let, namely, that an atom or molecule, put in motion by any power whatever, 
 may communicate its own motion to another atom in contact with it. 
 
 " This is a dynamical law of the most general application, manifested 
 everywhere when the resistance or force opposing the motion, such as the 
 vital principle, the force of affinity, electricity, cohesion, &c., is not suf- 
 ficiently powerful to arrest the motion imparted. 
 
 " This law has only recently been recognised as a cause of the altera- 
 tions in forms, and properties which occur in our chemical combinations ; 
 and its establishment is the greatest and most enduring acquisition which 
 chemical science has derived from the study of fermentation." Litbig't 
 Letters on Chemistry, p. 209.
 
 506 NOVUM ORGANUM. 
 
 quia natus statim devoratur et absorbetur, appellare 
 consuevimus. Manifestat se vero hie motus in tribus ; 
 in lucis radiis ; sonorum percussion ibus ; et magneticis, 
 quatenus ad communicationem. 1 Etenim amota luce, 
 statim pereunt colores et reliquae imagines ejus ; amota 
 percussione prima et quassatione corporis in'de facta, 
 paulo post perit sonus. Licet enim soni etiam in medio 
 per ventos tanquam per undas agitentur ; tamen dili- 
 gentius notandum est quod sonus non tarn diu durat 
 quam fit resonatio. 2 Etenim impulsa campana, sonus 
 ad bene magnum tempus continuari videtur; unde quis 
 facile in errorem labatur, si existimet toto illo tempore 
 sonum tanquam natare et haerere in acre ; quod falsis- 
 simum est. Etenim ilia resonatio non est idem sonus 
 numero, sed renovatur. Hoc autem manifestatur ex 
 sedatione sive cohibitione corporis percussi. Si enim 
 sistatur et detineatur campana fortiter et fiat immobilis, 
 statim perit sonus nee . resonat amplius ; ut in chordis, 
 si post primam percussionem tangatur chorda, vel di- 
 gito ut in lyra, vel calamo ut in espinetis, statim desinit 
 resonatio. Magnete autem remoto statim ferrum deci- 
 dit. Luna autem a mari non potest removeri ; nee 
 terra a ponderoso dum cadit. Itaque de illis nullum 
 fieri potest exp eri men turn ; sed ratio eadem est. 
 
 Sit Motus Decimus Quartus, Motus Configurationis, 
 aut Situs ; per quern corpora appetere videntur, non 
 coitionem aut separationem aliquam, sed situm, et col- 
 locationem, et configurationem cum aliis. Est autem 
 iste motus valde abstrusus, nee bene inquisitus. Atque 
 in quibusdam videtur quasi incausabilis ; licet revera 
 (ut existimamus) non ita sit. Etenim si quaeratur cur 
 
 1 i. e. as regards the communication of influence. 
 
 2 . e. the original sound does not last all the time the resonance goes on.
 
 NOVUM OEGANUM. 507 
 
 potius coelum volvatur ab oriente in occidentem quam 
 ab occidente in ortentem ; aut cur vertatur circa polos 
 positos juxta Ursas potius quam circa Orionem, aut ex 
 alia aliqua parte coeli ; videtur ista qusestio tanquam 
 quaBdam extasis, cum ista potius ab experientia, et ut 
 positiva l recipi debeant. At in natura profecto sunt 
 qusedam ultima et incausabilia ; verum hoc ex illis non 
 esse videtur. Etenim hoc fieri existimamus ex qua- 
 darn harmonia et consensu mundi, qui adhuc non venit 
 in observationem. 2 Quod si recipiatur motus terras ab 
 occidente in orientem, esedem manent quaestiones. Nam 
 et ipsa super aliquos polos movetur. Atque cur tan- 
 dem debeant isti poli collocari magis ubi sunt quam 
 alibi ? 3 Item verticitas, et directio, et declinatio mag- 
 netis ad hunc motum referuntur. Etiam inveniuntur 
 in corporibus tarn naturalibus quam artificialibus, prae- 
 sertim consistentibus et non fluidis, collatio quaedam et 
 positura partium, et tanquam villi et fibra3, quae dili- 
 genter investigandae sunt; utpote sine quarum inven- 
 tione corpora ilia commode tractari aut regi non pos- 
 sunt. At circulationes illas in liquidis, per quas ilia 
 dum pressa sint, antequam se liberare possunt, se in- 
 vicem relevant, ut compressionem illam ex sequo tole- 
 rerit, Motui Libertatis verius assignamus. 
 
 1 '. e. as merely positive facts. 
 
 2 The most striking instance of this kind of harmony is the circumstance 
 that all the movements of the solar system are in the same general direc- 
 tion, viz., from west to east. Laplace has attempted to calculate the proba- 
 bility that this uniformity is the result of a common cause determining the 
 direction of their movements; but these numerical estimations of the prob- 
 ability of the truth of any induction are, on several accounts, altogether 
 unsatisfactory. 
 
 8 This passage shows that Bacon was not aware that the poles are not 
 fixed (collocati) anywhere; in other words, that he was not acquainted 
 with the precession of the equinoxes ; an additional proof how little of 
 his attention had been given to mathematical physics.
 
 508 NOVUM ORGANUM. 
 
 Sit Motus Decimus Quintus, Motus Pertransitionis, 
 sive Motus, secundum Meatus : per quern virtutes cor- 
 porum magis aut minus impediuntur aut provehuntur 
 a mediis ipsonim, pro natura corporum et virtutum 
 operantium, atque etiam medii. Aliud enim medium 
 luci convenit, aliud sono, aliud calori et frigori, aliud 
 virtutibus magneticis, necnon aliis nonnullis respec- 
 tive. 
 
 Sit Motus Decimus Sextus, Motus Regius (ita enim 
 eum appellamus) sive Politicus; per quern partes in cor- 
 pore aliquo prsedomin antes et imperantes reliquas partes 
 fraenant, domant, subigunt, ordinant, et cogunt eas 
 adunari, separari, consistere, moveri, collocari, non ex 
 desideriis suis, sed prout in ordine sit et conducat ad 
 bene esse partis illius imperantis ; adeo ut sit quasi 
 Regimen et Politia qusedam, quam exercet pars regens 
 in partes subditas. Eminet autem bic motus praecipue 
 in spiritibus animaliurn, qui motus omnes partium re- 
 liquarum, quamdiu ipse in vigore est, contemperat. 
 Invenitur autem in aliis corporibus in gradu quodam 
 inferiore ; quemadmodum dictum est de sanguine et 
 urinis, quae non solvuntur donee spiritus, qui partes 
 earum commiscebat et cohibebat, emissus fuerit aut 
 suffocatus. Neque iste motus omnino spiritibus pro- 
 prius est, licet in plerisque corporibus spiritus dominen- 
 tur ob motum celerem et penetrationem. Veruntamen 
 in corporibus magis condensatis, nee spiritu vivido et 
 vigente (qualis inest argento vivo et vitriolo) repletis, 
 dominantur potius partes crassiores ; adeo ut nisi frae- 
 num et jugum hoc arte aliqua excutiatur, de nova ali- 
 qua hujusmodi corporum transformatione minime spe- 
 randum sit. Neque vero quispiam nos oblitos esse 
 existimet ejus quod mine agitur ; quia cum ista series
 
 NOVUM ORGANUM. 509 
 
 et distributer motuum ad nil aliud spectet, quam ut 
 illorum Praedorainantia per Instantias Luctae melius 
 inquiratur, jam inter motus ipsos Praedominantiae men- 
 tionem faciamus. Non enim in descriptione Motus 
 istius Regii, de Praedominantia motuum aut virtutum 
 tractamus, sed de Praadominantia partium in corpori- 
 bus. Haec enim ea est Prasdominantia, quse speciem 
 istam motus peculiarem constituit. 
 
 Sit Motus Decimus Septimus, Motus Rotationis 
 Spontaneus ; per quern corpora motu gaudentia, et 
 bene collocata, natura sua fruuntur, atque seipsa se- 
 quuntur, non aliud, et tanquam proprios petunt am- 
 plexus. Etenim videntur corpora aut niovere sine 
 termino ; aut plane quiescere ; aut ferri ad terminum, 
 ubi pro natura sua aut rotent aut quiescant. Atque 
 quaa bene collocata stint, si motu gaudeant, movent per 
 circulum : motu scilicet aeterno, et infinite. Quae bene 
 collocata sunt, et motum exhorrent, prorsus quiescunt. 
 Quae non bene collocata sunt, movent in linea recta 
 (tanquam tramite brevissimo) ad consortia suorum 
 connaturalium. 1 Recipit autem Motus iste Rotationis 
 
 1 This passage is wholly in accordance with the Peripatetic system of 
 physics. But the modifications which Bacon goes on to enumerate, to 
 which, as he conceives, the eternal circular motions of the heavenly bodies 
 may be subject, are sufficient to destroy the whole a priori argument in 
 favour of such a system of astronomy as that which we find in the twelfth 
 book of the Metaphysics. It has not been sufficiently observed that the 
 Ptolemaic system is no less at variance with the Peripatetic philosophy 
 than the heliocentrical. The attempts of Turrianus and Fracastorius to 
 construct what may be called an orthodox system of astronomy that is 
 one in which all the motions should take place in circles of which the earth 
 is the centre was suggested chiefly, as we learn from the Homocentrica ot 
 the latter, by the wish to reconcile astronomy and philosophy. It had no 
 scientific value, since it left all the phenomena of variations of parallax and 
 apparent diameter unexplained, or, at any rate, gave an explanation of 
 them which no astronomer would accept. It was nevertheless favour- 
 ably received by the systematic Peripaticians. See, for instance, Fla-
 
 510 NOVUM OEGANUM. 
 
 differentias novem. Primam, centri sui, circa quod 
 corpora movent ; secundam, poloram suorum, supra 
 quos movent ; tertiam, circumferential sive ambitus 
 sui, prout distant a centro ; quartain, incitationis suse, 
 prout celerius aut tardius rotant ; quintam, consequu- 
 tionis motus sui, veluti ab oriente in occidentem, aut 
 ab Occidents in orientem ; sextam, declinationis a cir- 
 culo perfecto per spiras 'longius aut propius distantes a 
 centro suo ; septimam, declinationis a circulo perfecto 
 per spiras longius aut propius distantes a polis suis ; 
 octavam, distantly propioris aut longioris spirarum sua- 
 rum ad invicem ; nonam et ultimam, variationis ipso- 
 rum polorum, si sint mobiles ; quae ipsa ad rotationem 
 non pertinet, nisi fiat circulariter. 1 Atque iste motus 
 communi et inveterata opinione habetur pro proprio 
 coelestium. Attamen gravis de illo motu lis est inter 
 nonnullos tarn ex antiquis quam modernis, qui Rotatio- 
 nem terrae attribuerunt. At multo fortasse justior mo- 
 vetur controversia (si modo res non sit omnino extra 
 controversiam), an motus videlicet iste (concesso quod 
 terra stet) coeli finibus contineatur, an potius descen- 
 dat, et communicetur aeri et aquis. Motum autem 
 Rotationis in missilibus, ut in spiculis, sagittis, pilis 
 sclopetorum, et similibus, omnino ad Motum Liber- 
 tatis rejicimus. 
 
 Sit Motus Decimus Octavus, Motus Trepidationis, 
 cui (ut ab astronomis intelligitur) non multum fidei 
 
 minius, De prima Philosoph. Paraph, p. 119. (I quote the Basle edition 
 of 1557.) 
 
 1 1 believe the sense is that unless we restrict ourselves to circular mo- 
 tion, that is, unless we reject the sixth and seventh species of variation, it 
 will not be necessary for us to suppose the poles themselves to be movable : 
 in other words, that the phenomena of which we could by this hypothesis 
 give an account may be adequately represented without it by means of 
 spirals.
 
 NOVUM ORGANUM. 511 
 
 adhibemus. 1 Nobis autern corporum naturalium appe- 
 titus ubique serio perscrutantibus occurrit iste motus ; 
 et constitui debere videtur in speciem. Est autem hie 
 motus veluti asternse cujusdam captivitatis. Videlicet 
 ubi corpora non omnino pro natura sua bene locata, et 
 tamen non prorsus male se habentia, perpetuo trepi- 
 dant, et irrequiete se agant, nee statu suo contenta, nee 
 ulterius ausa progredi. Talis invenitnr motus in corde 
 et pulsibus animalium ; et necesse est ut sit in omni- 
 bus corporibus, quae statu ancipiti ita degunt inter com- 
 moda et incommoda, ut distracta liberare se tentent, 
 et denuo repulsam patiantur, et tamen perpetuo experi- 
 antur. 
 
 Sit Motus Decimus Nonus et postremus, motus ille 
 cui vix nomen motus competit, et tamen est plane mo- 
 tus. Quern motum, Motum Decubitus, sive Motum 
 Exhorrentice Motus, vocare licet. Per hunc motum 
 terra stat mole sua, moventibus se extremis suis in me- 
 dium ; non ad centrum imaginativum, sed ad union em. 
 Per hunc etiam appetitum omnia majorem in modum 
 condensata motum exhorrent, atque illis pro omni appe- 
 titu est non moveri ; et licet infinitis modis vellicentur 
 
 1 The name of trepidation was given by the Alphonsine astronomers to a 
 motion by which they imagined the starry heaven to be affected, and in 
 virtue of which its equinoxes described small circles of nine degrees radius 
 about those of the ninth or next superior orb. To account for this motion 
 they introduced a tenth orb. The phenomenon, however, thus accounted 
 for was altogether imaginary, although it is true that the length of the 
 tropical year, by supposed variations of which the idea of trepidation was 
 suggested, is not rigorously constant. It may be questioned whether Ba- 
 con's hesitation to accept the astronomical motion of trepidation had any 
 better foundation than his doubts whether the proper motions of the plan- 
 etary orbs were anything more than "res confictw et suppositae." The 
 question of the existence or non-existence of trepidation could only be de- 
 cided by a person conversant with the details of the received system of 
 astronomy.
 
 512 NOVUM ORGANUM. 
 
 et provocentur ad motum, tamen naturam suam (quoad 
 possunt) tuentur. Quod si ad motum compellantur, 
 tamen hoc agere semper videntur ut quietem et statum 
 suum recuperent, neque amplius moveant. Atque circa 
 hoc certe se agilia prasbent, et satis perniciter et rapide 
 (ut pertaesa et impatientia omnis morse) contendunt. 
 Hujus autem appetitus imago ex parte tantum cerni 
 potest ; quia hie apud nos, ex subactione et concoctione 
 coelestium, 1 omne tangibile non tantum non condensa- 
 tion est ad ultimitatem, sed etiam cum spiritu nonnullo 
 miscetur. 
 
 Proposuimus itaque jam species sive elementa sim- 
 plicia motuum, appetituum, et virtutum activarum, quae 
 sunt in natura maxime catholica. Neque parum scien- 
 tias naturalis sub illis adumbratum est. Non nega- 
 mus tamen et alias species fortasse add! posse, atque 
 istas ipsas divisiones secundum veriores rerum venas 
 transferri, denique in minorem numerum posse redigi. 
 Neque tamen hoc de divisionibus aliquibus abstractis 
 intelligimus : veluti si quis dicat corpora appetere vel 
 conservationem, vel exaltationem, vel propagationem, 
 vel fruitionem naturae suae ; aut si quis dicat motus 
 rerum tendere ad conservationem et bonum, vel uni- 
 versi, ut Antitypiam et Nexum ; vel universitatum 
 magnarum, ut Motus Congregationis Majoris, Rota- 
 tionis, et Exhorrentias Motus ; vel formarum specia- 
 lium, ut reliquos. Licet enim hasc vera sint, tamen 
 nisi terminentur in materia et fabrica secundum veras 
 lineas, speculativa sunt, et minus utilia. Interim suffi- 
 cient et boni erunt usus ad pensitandas Praedominan- 
 tias virtutum et exquirendas Instantias Luctae; id quod 
 nunc agitur. 
 
 1 In illustration of this phrase, see note 1. p. 399.
 
 NOVUM ORGANUM. 513 
 
 Etenim ex his quos proposuimus motibus alii prorsus 
 sunt invincibiles ; alii aliis sunt fortiores, et illos ligant, 
 fraenant, disponunt ; alii aliis longius jaculantur ; alii 
 alios tempore et celeritate praevertunt; alii alios fovent, 
 roborant, ampliant, accelerant. 
 
 Motus Antitypite omnino est adamantinus et invin- 
 cibilis. Utrum vero Motus Nexus sit invincibilis adhuc 
 haeremus. Neque enim pro certo affirmaverimus utrura 
 detur Vacuum, sive coacervatum sive permistum. 1 At 
 de illo nobis constat, rationem illam, propter quarn 
 introductum est Vacuum a Leucippo et Democrito 
 (videlicet quod absque eo non possent eadem corpora 
 complecti et implere majora et minora spatia), falsam 
 esse. Est enim plane plica materice complicantis et 
 replicantis se per spatia, inter certos fines, absque inter- 
 positione Vacui ; neque est in acre ex vacuo bis millies 
 (tan turn enim esse oportet) plus quam in auro. 2 Id 
 
 1<l Vacuum permistum," KEVOV axupiarov, is vacuum diffused through 
 the interstices of any portion of matter. By " vacuum coacervatum," 
 Ktvdv KexupiaftEvov, is meant clear empty space. See, for this distinction, 
 Aristotle, Phijs. iv. 7. Hero of Alexandria, whom Bacon mentions more 
 than once, approves of those who admit the former kind of vacuum and 
 reject the latter. See the Introduction to his Spiritalia. 
 
 [It is perhaps worth observing that in the fable entitled " Cupido sive 
 Atomus (De Sap. Vet. xvii.), where the theory of a vacuum is mentioned, 
 this distinction was not introduced till Bacon revised the work in his later 
 years. The passage which stands thus in the original edition (1609) 
 "Quisquis autem atomum ponit et vacuum, necessario virtutem atomi ad 
 distans introducit" is altered, in the edition published by Rawley after 
 Bacon's death, to " Quisquis autem atomum asserit atque vacuum (licet 
 istud vacuum intermistum ponat, non segregatum) necessario," &c. 
 J. S.] 
 
 2 " Ex vacuo bis millies " is to be rendered " two thousand times as 
 much of vacuity." Bacon (vid. supra, n. 40.) thought spirit of wine a 
 hundred times denser than its own vapour, and gold twenty-one times 
 denser than spirit of wine. In the Historia Densi et Sari, he remarks that 
 air is at least a hundred-fold rarer than water ; and from the table there 
 given it appears that the specific density of gold is to that of water as 
 1000 to 56, nearly. Hence he must have estimated the density of gold at 
 VOL. i. 33
 
 514 NOVUM ORGANUM. 
 
 quod ex potentissimis corporum pneumaticorum virtuti- 
 bus (quaa aliter tanquam pulveres minuti natarent in 
 vacuo^), et multis aliis demonstrationibus, nobis satis 
 liquet. Reliqui vero Motus regunt et reguntur invi- 
 cem, pro rationibus vigoris, quanti, incitationis, ejacu- 
 lationis, necnon turn auxiliorum turn impediraentorum 
 quae occurrunt. 
 
 Exempli gratia : magnes armatus nonnullus detinet 
 et suspendit ferrum, ad sexagecuplum pondus ipsius ; 
 eo usque dominatur Motus Congregationis Minoris 
 super Motum Congregationis Majoris ; quod si majus 
 fuerit pondus, succumbit. Vectis tanti roboris subleva- 
 bit tantum pondus ; eo usque dominatur Motus Liber- 
 tatis super Motum Congregationis Majoris ; sin majus 
 fuerit pondus, succumbit. Corium tensum ad tensu- 
 ram talem non rumpitur ; eo usque dominatur Motus 
 Continuationis super Motum TensuraB ; quod si ulterior 
 fuerit tensura, rumpitur corium, et succumbit Motus 
 Continuationis. Aqua per rimam perforationis talis 
 effluit ; eo usque dominatur Motus Congregationis Ma- 
 joris super Motum Continuationis ; quod si minor fuerit 
 rima, succumbit, et vincit Motus Continuationis. In 
 pulvere sulphuris solius immissi 1 in sclopetum cum 
 pila, et admoto igne, non emittitur pila ; in eo Motus 
 
 1900-fold that of air. Now, if we take the same weight of air and of g >ld, 
 it is clear that, neglecting the space occupied by the solid matter, supposed 
 equally dense, of each, the ratio of their densities is the same as that of the 
 " vacua permista " which they respectively contain, and that if we take 
 the solid matter into account the " ex vacuo" in the case of air must bear 
 a larger ratio than that of the densities to the " ex vacuo " of gold; so that 
 we may take it in round numbers to be as two thousand to one, as in the 
 text. 
 
 The passage .is important as showing that Bacon, notwithstanding his 
 frequent mention of Democritus, did not adopt the atomic philosophy, 
 though he did not absolutely reject the physical part of it. 
 
 1 [So in the original edition.] The true reading seems to be " immisso."
 
 NOVUM ORGANUM. 515 
 
 Congregationis Majoris vincit Motum Hyles. At in 
 pulvere p} 7 rio immisso vincit Motus Hyles in sulphure, 
 adjutus Motibus Hyles et Fugae in nitro. Et sic de 
 cseteris. Etenim Instantiaa Luctae (quse indicant Prse- 
 dominantiam Virtutum, et secundnm quas rationes et 
 calculos praedominentur et succumbant) acri et sedula 
 diligentia undique sunt conquirendae. 
 
 Etiam modi et rationes ipsius succumbentiae inotuum 
 diligenter sunt introspiciendae. Nempe, an omnino ces- 
 sent, vel potius usque nitantur, sed ligentur. Etenim 
 in corporibus hie apud nos, nulla vera est quies, nee in 
 integris nee in partibus ; sed tantum secundum appa- 
 rentiam. Quies autem ista apparens causatur aut per 
 Equilibrium, aut per absolutam Praedominantiam Mo- 
 tuum. Per ^Equilibrium, ut in bilancibus, quae stant 
 si aequa sint pondera. Per Prasdominantiam, ut in hy- 
 driis perforatis, ubi quiescit aqua, et detinetur a decasu, 
 per Prasdominantiam Motus Nexus. Notandum tamen 
 est (ut diximus) quatenus nitantur motus illi succum- 
 bentes. .Etenim si quis per luctam detineatur extensus 
 in terra, brachiis et tibiis vinctis, aut anter detentis ; 
 atque ille tamen totis viribus resurgere nitatur ; non est 
 minor nixus, licet non proficiat. Hujus autem rei con- 
 ditio (scilicet utrum per PraBdominantiam motus suc- 
 cumbens quasi annihiletur, an potius continuetur nixus, 
 licet non conspiciatvir), quae latet in conflictibus, ap- 
 parebit fortasse in concurrentiis. Exempli gratia ; fiat 
 experimentum in sclopetis, utrum sclopetus, pro tanto 
 spatio quo emittat pilam in linea directa, sive (ut vulgo 
 loquuntur) in puncto bianco, debiliorem edat percus- 
 sionem ejaculanclo in supra, ubi Motus Ictus est sim- 
 plex, quam desuper, ubi Motus Gravitatis concurrit 
 cum Ictu.
 
 516 NOVUM ORGANUM. 
 
 Etiam canones Praedominantiarum qui occurrunt 
 colligendi sunt. Veluti, quod quo communius est bo- 
 num quod appetitur, eo Motus est fortior: ut Motus 
 Nexus, qui respicit communionem universi, fortior est 
 Motu Gravitatis, qui respicit communionem densorum. 
 Etiam quod appetitus qui sunt boni privati, non prae- 
 valent plerunque contra appetitus boni magis publici, 
 nisi in parvis quantis. Quae utinam obtinerent in 
 civilibus. 
 
 XLIX. 
 
 Inter Prserogativas Instantiarum ponemus loco vi- 
 cesimo quinto Instanttas Innuentes ; eas scilicet, quae 
 commoda hominum innuunt aut designant. Etenim 
 ipsum Posse et ipsum Scire naturam humanam am- 
 plificant, non beant. Itaque decerpenda sunt ex uni- 
 versitate rerum ea qua? ad usus vitae maxime faciunt. 
 Verunvde iis erit magis proprius dicendi locus, cum 
 Deductiones ad Praxim tractabimus. Quinetiam in 
 ipso opere Interpretationis circa singula subjecta, 
 locum semper Ohartce Humanoe, sive CJiartce Opta- 
 tivoe, assignamus. Etenim et quasrere et optare non 
 inepte, pars scientiae est. 
 
 L. 
 
 Inter Prasrogativas Instantiarum ponemus loco vi- 
 cesimo sexto Instantias Polychrestas. Eaa sunt, quae 
 pertinent ad varia et saepius occurrunt ; ideoque operas 
 et novis probationibus haud parum parcunt. Atque 
 de instrumentis ipsis atque ingeniationibus proprius 
 erit dicendi locus, cum Deductiones ad Praxim et 
 Experimentandi Modos tractabimus. Quinetiam quae 
 adhuc cognita sunt et in usum venerunt, in Historiis 
 Particularibus singularum artium describentur. In
 
 NOVUM ORGANUM. 517 
 
 praesenti autem subjungemus quaadam catholica circa 
 ea pro exemplis tantum Polychresti. 
 
 Operatur igitur homo super corpora naturalia (prae- 
 ter ipsam admotionem et amotionern corporum simpli- 
 cem) septem prascipue modis : nempe, vel per exclu- 
 sionem eorum qua3 impediunt et disturbant ; vel per 
 compressiones, extensiones, agitationes, et hujusmodi ; 
 vel per calorem et frigus ; vel per moram in loco 
 convenient! ; vel per fraenum et regimen motus ; vel 
 per consensus speciales ; vel per alternationem tem- 
 pestivam et debitam, atque seriem et successionem 
 horum omnium ; aut saltern nonnullorurn ex illis. 
 
 Ad primum igitur quod attinet ; aer communis qui 
 undique prassto est et se ingerit, atque radii crele- 
 stium, multum turbant. Quaa itaque ad illorum ex- 
 clusionem faciunt, merito haberi possint pro Poly- 
 chrestis. Hue igitur pertinent materies et crassities 
 vasorum, in quibus corpora ad operationem praaparata 
 reponuntur. Similiter, modi accurati obturationis va- 
 sorum, per consolidationem et lutum sapientice, ut lo- 
 quuntur chymici. Etiam clausura per liquores in 
 extimis, utilissima res est ; ut cum infundunt oleum 
 super vinum aut succos herbarum, quod expandendo 
 se in summitate instar operculi, optime ea conservat 
 illaasa ab aere. Neque pulveres res malas sunt ; qui, 
 licet contineant aerem permistum, tamen vim aeris 
 coacervati et circumfusi arcent; ut fit in conserva- 
 tione uvarum et fructuum intra arenam, et farinam. 
 Etiam cera, mel, pix, et hujusmodi tenacia, recte 
 obducuntur ad clausuram perfectiorem, et ad summo- 
 vendum aerem et coelestia. Etiam nos experimentum 
 quandoque fecimus, ponendo vas, necnon aliqua alia 
 corpora, intra argentum vivum, quod omnium longe
 
 518 NOVUM ORGANUM. 
 
 densissimum est ex iis quae circumfundi possunt. Quin- 
 etiam specus et cavernae subterraneas magni usus sunt 
 ad prohibendum insolationem et aerera istum apertum 
 prasdatorium ; qualibus utuntur Germani Septentrio- 
 nales pro granariis. Necnon repositio corporum in 
 fundo aquarum ad^ hoc spectat, ut memini me quip- 
 piam audisse de utribus vini demissis in profundura 
 puteum, ad infrigidationem scilicet ; sed casu et per 
 neglectum ac oblivionem ibidem rernanentibus per 
 multos annos, et deinde extractis ; unde vinum fac- 
 tum est non solum non vapidum aut emortuum, sed 
 multo magis nobile ad gustum, per commixtionem par- 
 tium suarum (ut videtur) magis exquisitam. Quod 
 si postulet res ut corpora demittantur ad fundum 
 aquarum, veluti intra fluvios aut mare, neque tamen 
 aquas tangant, nee in vasibus obturatis concludantur, 
 sed ae're tantum circumdentur ; bonus est usus vasis 
 illius quod adhibitum est nonnunquam ad operandum 
 subter aquis super navigia demersa, ut urinatores diu- 
 tius manere possint sub aquis, et per vices ad tempus 
 respirare. Illud hujusmodi erat. Conficiebatur doli- 
 um ex metallo concavum, quod demittebatur asquabi- 
 liter ad superficiem aquae, atque sic deportabat totum 
 aerem qui continebatur in dolio secum in fundum ma- 
 ris. Stabat autem super pedes tres (instar tripodis), 
 qui longitudinis erant aliquanto minoris statura homi- 
 nis ; ita ut urinator posset cum anhelitus deficeret, 
 immittere caput in cavum dolii, et respirare, et de- 
 inde opus continuare. Atque audivimus inventam 
 esse jam machinam aliquam naviculae aut scaphae, 
 quas bomines subter aquis vehere possit ad spatia non- 
 nulla. 1 Verum sub tali vase, quale modo diximus, 
 1 According to Beckmann, the first distinct mention of the diving-bell,
 
 NOVUM ORGANUM. 519 
 
 corpora quasvis facile suspend! possint ; cujus causa 
 hoc experimentum adduximus. 
 
 Est et alius usus diligentis et perfectae clausurse 
 corporum : nempe, non solum ut prohibeatur aditus 
 aeris per exterius (de quo jam dictum est), verum 
 etiam ut cohibeatur exitus spiritus corporis, super quod 
 fit operatic per interius. Necesse est enim ut operanti 
 circa corpora naturalia constet de summis suis : viz. 
 quod nihil expirarit aut effluxerit. Fiunt enim pro- 
 fundse alterationes in corporibus, quando, natura pro- 
 hibente annihilationem, ars prohibeat etiam deperdi- 
 tionem aut evolationem alicujus partis. Atque hac 
 de re invaluit opinio falsa (quas si vera esset, de ista 
 conservatione summae certae absque diminutione esset 
 fere desperandum) : viz. spiritus corporum, et aerem 
 majori gradu caloris attenuatum, nullis vasorum clau- 
 stris posse contineri, quin per poros vasorum subtili- 
 ores evolent. Atque in hanc opinionem adducti sunt 
 homines per vulgata ilia experimenta, poculi inversi 
 super aquam cum candela aut charta inflammata, ex 
 quo fit ut aqua sursum attrahatur; atque similiter 
 ventosarum, quae super flammam calefactas trahunt 
 carnes. Existimant enim in utroque experimento 
 aerem attenuatum emitti, et inde quantum ipsius mi- 
 nui, ideoque aquam aut carnes per Nexum succedere. 
 Quod falsissimum est. Aer enim non quanta dimi- 
 nuitur, sed spatio contrahitur ; neque incipit motus 
 iste successionis aquas, antequam fiat extinctio flammas 
 aut refrigeratio aeris ; adeb ut medici, quo fortius at- 
 trahant ventosae, ponant spongias frigidas 1 aqua ma- 
 
 at least in modern times, is to be found in Fainsius, as quoted by Schott. 
 Fainsius gives an account of some Greeks who exhibited a diving-bell at 
 Toledo, before Charles the Fifth and his court, in 1538. 
 
 1 The right reading is doubtless ''frigida; " but the sense is obvious.
 
 520 NOVUM ORGANUM. 
 
 defactas super ventosas. Itaque non est cur homines 
 multum sibi metuant de facili exitu aeris ant spiri- 
 tuum. Licet enim verum sit etiam solidissima cor- 
 pora habere suos poros, tamen asgre patitur aer aut 
 spiritus commiiiutionem sui ad tantam subtilitatem ; 
 quemadmodum et aqua exire recusat per rimam mi- 
 nusculam. 
 
 De secundo vero modo ex septem praedictis illud 
 imprimis notandum est, valere certe compressiones et 
 hujusmodi violentias ad inotum localem, atque alia 
 id genus, potentissime ; ut in machinis et missilibus ; 
 etiam ad destructionem corporis organici, atque earum 
 virtutum quae consistunt plane in motu. Omnis enim 
 vita, immo etiam omnis flamma et ignitio destruitur 
 per compressiones ; ut et omnis machina corrumpitur 
 et confunditur per easdem. Etiam ad destructionem 
 virtutum quae consistunt in posituris, et dissimilaritate 
 partium paulo crassiore ; ut in coloribus (neque enim 
 idem color floris integri et contusi, neque succini in- 
 tegri et pulverizati) ; etiam in saporibus (neque 'enim 
 idem sapor pyri immaturi, et ejusdem compressi ac 
 subacti ; nam manifesto dulcedinem majorem conci- 
 pit). Verum ad transformationes et alterationes no- 
 biliores corporum similarium non multum valent istae 
 violentias ; quia corpora per eas non acquirunt consis- 
 tentiam aliquam novam constantem et quiescentem, sed 
 transitoriam, et nitentem semper ad restitutionem et 
 liberationem sui. Attamen non abs re foret hujus rei 
 facere experimenta aliqua diligentiora ; ad hoc scilicet, 
 utrum condensatio corporis bene similaris (qualia sunt 
 aer, aqua, oleum, et hujusmodi), aut rarefactio similiter 
 per violentiam indita, possint fieri constantes et fixae 
 et quasi mutatae in naturam. Id quod primo experi-
 
 NOVDM ORGANUM. 521 
 
 endum per moram simplicera ; deinde per auxilia et 
 consensus. Atque illud nobis in promptu fuisset (si 
 modo in men tern venisset), cum aquam (de qua alibi) 
 per malleationes et pressoria condensavimus, antequam 
 erumperet. Debueramus enim sphaeram complanatam 
 per aliquot dies sibi permisisse, et turn demum aquam 
 extraxisse ; ut fieret experimentum, utrum statim im- 
 pletura fuisset talem dimensionem, qualem habebat 
 ante condensationem. Quod si non fecisset aut sta- 
 tim, aut certe paulo post, constans videlicet facta vi- 
 deri potuisset ista condensatio ; sin minus, apparuisset 
 factam fuisse restitutionem, et compressionem fuisse 
 transitoriam. Etiam simile quiddam faciendum erat 
 circa extensionem aeris in ovis vitreis. Etenim de- 
 buerat fieri, post exuctionem fortem, subita et firma 
 obturatio ; deinde debuerant ova ilia manere ita ob- 
 turata per nonnullos dies ; et turn demum experien- 
 dum fuisset, utrum aperto foramine attractus fuisset 
 aer cum sibilo, aut etiam attracta fuisset tanta quan- 
 titas aquas post immersionem, quanta fuisset ab initio, 
 si nulla adhibita fuisset mora. Probabile enim, aut 
 saltern dignum probatione est, haec fieri potuisse et 
 posse ; propterea quod in corporibus paule magis dis- 
 similaribus similia efficiat mora temporis. Etenim 
 baculum per compressionem curvatum post aliquod 
 tempus non resilit ; neque id imputandum est alicui 
 deperditioni ex quanto ligni per moram ; nam idem 
 fiet in lamina ferri (si augeatur mora), quas non est 
 expirabilis. Quod si non succedat experimentum per 
 moram simplicem, tamen non deserendum est nego- 
 tium, sed auxilia alia adhibenda. Non enim parum 
 lucri fit, si per violentias indi possint corporibus na- 
 turae fixse et Constantes. Hac enim ratione aer possit
 
 "522 NOVUM OEGANUM. 
 
 verti in aquam per condensations, et complura alia id 
 genus. Dominus enim est homo motuum violentorum, 
 magis quam cseterorum. 
 
 At tertius ex septem modis, refertur ad magnum 
 illud organum, tarn naturae quam artis, quoad ope- 
 randum ; videlicet calidum et frigidum. Atque in 
 hac parte claudieat plane potentia humana, tanquam 
 ex uno pede. Habemus enim calorem ignis, qui ca- 
 loribus solis (prout ad nos deferuntur) et caloribus 
 animalium quasi infinitis partibus potentior est et in- 
 tensior. At deest frigus, nisi quale per tempestates 
 hyemales, aut per cavernas, aut per circundationes 
 nivis et glaciei, haberi potest: quod in comparatione 
 asquari potest cum calore fortasse solis meridiano in 
 regione aliqua ex torridis, aucto insuper per reverbe- 
 rationes montium et parietum : nam hujusmodi utique 
 tarn calores quam frigora ab animalibus ad tempus 
 exiguum tolerari possunt. Nihili autem sunt fere 
 prse calore fornacis ardentis, aut alicujus frigoris 
 quod huic gradui respondeat. Itaque omnia hie 
 apud nos vergunt ad rarefactionem, et desiccationem, 
 et consumptionem : nihil fere ad condensationem et 
 intenerationem, nisi per misturas et modos quasi spu- 
 rios. Quare InstantiaB Frigoris omni diligentia snnt 
 conquirend* ; quales videntur inveniri in expositione 
 corporum super turres quando gelat acriter ; in ca- 
 vernis subterraneis ; circundationibus nivis et glaciei in 
 locis profundioribus, et ad hoc excavatis ; demissione 
 corporum in puteos ; sepulturis corporum in argento 
 vivo et metallis ; immersione corporum in aquis, qua3 
 vertunt ligna in lapides ; defossione corporum in terra 
 (qualis fertur apud Chinenses esse confectio porcel- 
 lanse, ubi massas ad hoc factse dicuntur manere intra
 
 NOVUM ORGANUM. 523 
 
 terrain per quadraginta aut quinquaginta annos, et 
 transmitti ad haeredes, tanquam minerae quffidam arti- 
 ficiales) ; et hujusmodi. Quinetiam qua3 interveniunt 
 in natura condensationes, factae per frigora, similiter 
 sunt investigandoB ; ut, causis eorum cognitis, trans- 
 ferri possint in artes. Quales cernuntur in exuda- 
 tione marmoris et lapidum ; in rorationibus super vitra 
 per interius fenestrarum, sub auroram, post gelu noc- 
 tis ; in originibus et collectionibus vaporum in aquas 
 sub terra, unde saepe scaturiunt fontes ; et quaecun- 
 que sunt hujus generis. 
 
 Inveniuntur autem, praeter ilia quae sunt frigida ad 
 tactum, quaedam alia potestate frigida, quae etiam con- 
 densant ; veruntaraen operari videntur super corpora 
 animalium tan turn, et vix ultra. Hujus generis se 
 ostendunt multa in medicinis et emplastris. Alia au- 
 tem condensant carnes et partes tangibiles ; qualia 
 sunt medicamenta astringentia, atque etiam inspissan- 
 tia ; alia condensant spiritus ; id quod maxime cer- 
 nitur in soporiferis. Duplex autem est modus con- 
 densationis spirituum, per medicamenta soporifera, sive 
 provocantia somnum : alter per sedationem motus ; 
 alter per fugam spirituum. Etenim viola, rosa sicca, 
 lactuca, et hujusmodi benedicta sive benigna, per va- 
 pores suos amicos et moderate refrigerantes, invitant 
 spiritus ut se uniant, et ipsorum acrem et inquietum 
 motum compescunt. Etiam aqua rosacea, apposita ad 
 nares in deliquiis animae, spiritus resolutos et nimium 
 relaxatos se recipere facit, et tanquam alit. At opiata 
 et eorum affinia spiritus plane fugant, ex qualitate sua 
 maligna et inimica. Itaque si applicentur parti ex- 
 teriori, statim aufugiunt spiritus ab ilia parte, nee 
 amplius libenter influunt: sin sumantur interius, va-
 
 524 NOVUM ORGANUM. 
 
 pores eorum, ascendentes ad caput, spiritus in ven- 
 triculis cerebri contentos undequaque ftigant ; cumque 
 se retrahant spiritus neque in aliam partem effugere 
 possint, per consequens coeunt et condensantur ; et 
 quandoque plane extinguuntur et sufFocantur ; licet 
 rursus eadem opiata moderate sumpta, per accidens 
 secundarium (videlicet condensationem illam quse a 
 coitione succedit), confortent spiritus, eosque reddant 
 magis robustos, et retundant eorum inutiles et incen- 
 sivos 1 motus, ex quo ad curas morborum, et vitas 
 prolongationem baud parum conferant. 
 
 Etiam prasparationes corporum ad excipiendum Fri- 
 gus non sunt omittendaa ; veluti quod aqua parum 
 tepida facilius conglacietur quam omnino frigida, et 
 hujusmodi. 
 
 Praeterea, quia natura Frigus tarn parce suppeditat, 
 faciendum est quemadmodum pharmacopeias solent; 
 qui quando simplex aliquod haberi non possit, ca- 
 piunt succedaneum ejus, et quid pro quo, ut vocant; 
 veluti lignum aloes pro xylobalsamo, 2 cassiam pro 
 cinamomo. Simili modo diligenter circumspicien- 
 dum est, si quse sint succedanea frigoris ; videlicet 
 quibus modis fieri possint condensationes in corpori- 
 bus, aliter quam per frigus, quod illas efficit ut opus 
 suum proprium. Illaa autem condensationes videntur 
 intra quaternum numerum (quantum adhuc liquet) 
 contineri. Quarum prima videtur fieri per contni- 
 sionem simplicem ; quae parum potest ad densitatem 
 constantem (resiliunt enim corpora) sed nihilominus 
 forte res auxiliaris esse queat. Secunda fit per con- 
 
 1 Exciting. 
 
 2 Xylobalsamum is the technical name of the twigs of the tree which 
 yields the balm of Gilead.
 
 NOVUM ORGANUM. 525 
 
 tractionem partium crassiorum in corpore aliquo, post 
 evolationem aut exitum partiura tenuiorum, ut fit in 
 indurationibus per ignem, et repetitis extinctionibus 
 metallorum, et similibus. Tertia fit per coitionem 
 partium homogenearum, quae sunt maxime solidae in 
 corpore aliquo, atque antea fuerant distractae, et cum 
 minus solidis commistae : veluti in restitutione mer- 
 curii sublimati, qui in pulvere longe majus occupat 
 spatium quam mercurius simplex, et similiter in omni 
 repurgatione metallorum a scoriis suis. Quarta fit per 
 consensus, admovendo quae ex vi corporum occulta 
 condensant ; qui consensus adhuc raro se ostendunt ; 
 quod mirum minime est, quoniam antequam inventio 
 succedat Formarum et Schematismorum, de inqui- 
 sitione consensuum l non multum sperandum est. 
 Certe quoad corpora animalium, dubium non est 
 quin sint complures medicinae, tarn interius quam ex- 
 terius sumptae, quae condensant tanquam per consen- 
 sum, ut paulo ante diximus. Sed in inanimatis rara 
 est hujusmodi operatio. Percrebuit sane, tarn scriptis 
 quam fama, narratio de ai-bore in una ex insulis sive 
 Terceris sive Canariis (neque enim bene memini), 
 quaa perpetuo stillat ; adeo ut inhabitantibus nonnul- 
 lam commoditatem aquas praebeat. 2 Paracelsus au- 
 tem ait, herbam vocatam Rorem Soils meridie et fer- 
 vente sole rore impleri, cum alise herbas undique sint 
 
 1 Consensus is equivalent 
 
 2 This wonderful tree is described in Jonston's Dendrographia, published 
 at Frankfort in 1669. See book the tenth, c. 4. One of the authorities he 
 refers to is Cardan (De variet. rerum)^ from whom not improbably Bacon 
 derived the story. The tree is said to be found in the island of Ferro- 
 Cardan, with more than usual caution, remarks, at the close of the account 
 he gives of it: "Sed postquam hoc tot scriptores affirmant, fieri potest ut 
 tale aliquid contingat, sed modus nondum perspectus est." De rerun 
 variet. vi. c. 22. Compare Oviedo in Ramusio, iii. 71. a.
 
 526 NOVUM ORGANUM. 
 
 siccae. 1 At nos utramque narrationem fabulosam esse 
 existimamus. Omnino autem illae instantiae nobilissimi 
 forent usus, et introspectione dignissimaa, si essent verse. 
 Etiam rores illos mellitos, et instar mannas, qui super 
 foliis quercus inveniuntur mense Maio, non existima- 
 mus fieri et densari a consensu aliquo, sive a proprie- 
 tate folii quercus ; sed cum super aliis foliis pariter 
 cadant, contineri scilicet et durare in foliis quercus 
 quia sunt bene unita, nee spongiosa, ut plurima ex 
 aliis. 
 
 Calorem vero quod attinet, copia et potestas nimi- 
 rum homini abunde adest; observatio autem et iri- 
 quisitio deficit in nonnullis, iisque maxime necessa- 
 riis, utcunque spagyrici se venditent. Etenim caloris 
 intensions opificia exquiruntur et conspiciuntur ; re- 
 missions vero, quoB maxime in vias natura? incidunt, 
 non tentantur, ideoque latent. Itaque videmus per 
 vulcanos istos qui in pretio sunt, spiritus corporum 
 magnopere exaltari, ut in aquis fortibus, et nonnullis 
 aliis olesis chymicis ; partes tangibiles indurari, et 
 emisso volatili, aliquando figi ; partes homogeneas 
 separari ; etiam corpora heterogenea grosso modo in- 
 corporari et commisceri ; maxime autem compages 
 corporum compositorum et subtiliores schematismos 
 destrui et confundi. Debuerant autem opificia calo- 
 ris lenioris tentari et exquiri ; unde subtiliores mi- 
 sturas et schematism! ordinati gigni possint et educi, 
 ad exemplum natures et imitationem operum solis ; 
 quemadmodum in aphorismo de Instantiis Foederis 
 quaedam adumbravimus. Opificia enim nature trans- 
 
 1 1 have not been able to find this in Paracelsus. It seems, however, to 
 accord with his theory of dew, namely, that it is an exudation from the 
 sun and stars ; the suppression of which would lead to the formation of ad- 
 ditional suns.
 
 NOVUM ORGANUM. 527 
 
 iguntur per longe minores portiones, et posituras magis 
 exquisitas et varias, quara opificia ignis, prout nunc 
 adhibetur. Turn vero videatur homo revera auctus 
 potestate, si per calores et potentias artificiales opera 
 naturse possint specie reprsesentari, virtute perfici, 
 copia variari ; quibus addere oportet acceleratiopem 
 temporis. Nam rubigo ferri longo tempore procedit, 
 at versio in crocum Martis subito ; et similiter de 
 aerugine et cerussa ; christallum longo tempore con- 
 ficitur, vitrum subito conflatur ; lapides longo tem- 
 pore concrescunt, lateres subito coquuntur, etc. In- 
 terim (quod nunc agitur) omnes diversitates caloris 
 cum effectibus suis respective diligenter et Industrie 
 undique sunt colligendae et exquirendae : coelestium, 
 per radios suos directos, reflexos, refractos, et unitos 
 in speculis comburentibus ; fulguris, flammae, ignis 
 carbonum ; ignis ex diversis materiis ; ignis aperti, 
 conclusi, angustiati et inundantis, denique per diver- 
 sas fabricas fornacium qualificati ; ignis flatu exciti, 
 quieti et non exciti ; ignis ad majorem aut minorem 
 distantiam remoti ; ignis per varia media permeantis : 
 calorum liumidorum, ut balnei Marias, 1 fimi, caloris 
 animalium per exterius, caloris animalium per inte- 
 rius, foeni conclusi : calorum aridorum, cineris, calcis, 
 arenas tepidae ; denique calorum cujusvis generis cum 
 gradibus eorum. 
 
 1 This is properly "balneum maris;" that is, a mode of communicating 
 heat to any substance by putting it into a vessel which is placed in another 
 containing water. The latter being put on the fire, the former and its con- 
 tents become gradually and moderately heated. The reason of the name 
 is obvious. From " balneum maris " the French made by a kind of trans- 
 lation (the final s not being sounded) " bain marie; " and the form in the 
 text is, I think, merely a retranslation of the French phrase, the meaning of 
 the second word being mistaken. Balneum Marise is however, I believe, 
 a common phrase with old writers on chemistry.
 
 528 NOVUM ORGANUM. 
 
 Prsecipue vero tentanda est inquisitio et inventio 
 effectuum et opificiorum caloris accedentis et receden- 
 tis graduatim, et ordinatim, et periodice, et per debita 
 spatia et moras. Ista enim ingsqualitas ordinata revera 
 filia coeli * est, et generationis mater ; neque a calore 
 aut vehement!, aut praecipiti, aut subsultorio, aliquid 
 magni expectandum est. Etenim et in vegetabilibus 
 hoc manifestissimum est ; atque etiam in uteris anima- 
 lium magna est caloris inaequalitas, ex motu, somno, 
 alimentationibus et passionibus foemellarum .quas uterum 
 gestant ; denique in ipsis matricibus terrae, iis nimirum 
 in quibus metalla et fossilia efformantur, locum habet 
 et viget ista insequalitas. Quo magis notanda est insci- 
 tia aliquorum alchymistarum ex reformatis, 2 qui per 
 calores sequabiles lampadum et hujusmodi, perpetuo 
 uno tenore ardentium, se voti compotes fore existima- 
 runt. Atque de opificiis et effectibus caloris hasc dicta 
 sint. Neque vero tempestivum est ilia penitus scrutari 
 antequam Rerum Formae et Corporum Schematism! 
 ulterius investigati fuerint, et in lucem prodierint. 
 Turn enim quaerenda et adoperanda et aptanda sunt 
 instrumenta, quando de exemplaribus constiterit. 
 
 Quartus modus operandi est per moram, qua3 certe 
 et promus et condus naturae est, et quaedam dispen- 
 satrix. Moram appellamus, cum corpus aliquod sibi 
 permittitur ad tempus notabile, munitum interim et 
 defensum ab aliqua vi externa. Turn enim motus in- 
 testini se produnt et perfieiunt, cum motus extranei 
 et adventitii cessant. Opera autum astatis sunt longe 
 subtiliora quam ignis. Neque enim possit fieri talis 
 
 1 i. e. of the heavens, physically ; because of the varying warmth of the 
 seasons. 
 
 2 i. e. of the reformed school.
 
 NOVUM ORGANUM. 529 
 
 clarificatio vini per ignem, qualis fit per moram ; ne- 
 que etiam incinerationes per ignem tarn sunt exquisitse, 
 quam resolutiones et consumptiones per saecula. In- 
 corporationes etiam, et mistiones subitge et prsecipitatas 
 per ignem, longe inferiores sunt illis, quae fiunt per 
 moram. At dissimilares et varii schematism!, quos 
 corpora per moras tentant (quales sunt putredines), 
 per ignem aut calorem vehementiorem destruuntur. 
 Illud interim non abs re fuerit notare ; motus corpo- 
 rum penitus conclusorum habere nonnihil ex violento. 
 Incarceratio enim ilia impedit motus spontaneos cor- 
 poris. Itaque mora in vase aperto plus facit ad sepa- 
 rationes ; in vase penitus clauso ad commistiones ; in 
 vase nonnihil clauso, sed subintrante aere, ad putrefac- 
 tiones ; utcunque de opificiis et effectibus moraa undi- 
 que sunt diligenter conquirendae instantiae. 
 
 At regimen motus (quod est quintus ex modis ope- 
 randi) non parum valet. Regimen autem motus vo- 
 camus, cum corpus aliud occurrens corporis alterius 
 motum spontaneum impedit, repellit, admittit, dirigit. 
 Hoc vero plerunque in figuris et situ vasorum con- 
 sistit. Etenim conus erectus juvat ad condensatio- 
 nem vaporum in alembicis ; at conus inversus juvat 
 ad defsecationem sacchari in vasis resupinatis. Ali- 
 quando autem sinuatio requiritur, 1 et angustiatio, et 
 dilatatio per vices, et hujusmodi. Etiam omnis perco- 
 latio hue spectat ; scilicet cum corpus occurrens, uni 
 parti corporis alterius viam aperit, alteri obstruit. Ne- 
 que semper percolatio aut aliud regimen motus fit per 
 extra ; sed etiam per corpus in corpore : ut cum lapilli 
 immittuntur in aquas ad colligendam limositatem ipsa- 
 rum ; syrupi clarificantur cum albuminibus ovorum, ut 
 
 1 As in a still. 
 VOL. I. 34
 
 530 NOVUM ORGANUM. 
 
 crassiores partes adhaerescant, et postea separari possint. 
 Edam huic regimini motus satis leviter et inscite at- 
 tribuit Telesius figuras animalium, ob rivulos scilicet 
 et loculos matricis. 1 Debuerat autem notare similem 
 efformationem in testis ovorum, ubi non sunt rugae aut 
 inaequalitas. At verum est regimen motus efforma- 
 tiones perficere in modulis et proplasticis. 2 
 
 Operationes vero per consensus aut fugas (qui sextus 
 modus est) latent saepenumero in profundo. Ist83 enim 
 (quas vocant) proprietates occultae, et specificae, et 
 sympathiae, et antipathies, sunt magna ex parte cor- 
 ruptelaa philosophiae. Neque de consensibus rerum in- 
 veniendis multum sperandum est, ante inventionem 
 Formarum et schematismorum simplicium. Consen- 
 sus enim nil aliud est quain symmetria Formarum et 
 Schematismorum ad invicem. 
 
 Atqui majores et magis catholici rerum consensus 
 non prorsus obscuri sunt. Itaqua ab iis ordiendum. 
 Eorum prima et summa diversitas ea est ; ut quasdam 
 corpora copia et raritate rnateriae admodum discrepent, 
 schematismis consentiant : alia contra copia et raritate 
 materiae consentiant, schematismis discrepent. Nam 
 
 1 Telesins's doctrine of the formation of the embryo is essentially the 
 same as Galen's, namely that a system of arteries &c. must be first of all 
 formed in the germ, and that these, by applying themselves to correspond- 
 ing parts on the surface of the matrix, determine the channels through 
 which nourishment is supplied, and therefore (mediately) the development 
 of the different members of the foetus. But it does not seem that he would 
 have admitted that the smoothness of the shells of eggs was an objection 
 to his theory. At any rate, he illustrates it by reference to the appear- 
 ances presented by an egg opened during incubation. De rerum naturd, 
 vi. c. 4. and 40. 
 
 2 The proper word for what we call a model is " proplasma," which is 
 used in a Latin form by Pliny. I have not seen any authority for such an 
 adjective as " proplasticus." What Bacon means is not exactly a model, 
 but a mould for casting.
 
 NOVUM ORGANUM. 531 
 
 non male notatum est a chymicis, in principiorum suo- 
 rum triade, sulphur et mercurium 1 quasi per universi- 
 tatem rerum perraeare. (Nam de sale inepta ratio est, 
 sed introducta ut possit comprehendere corpora terrea, 
 sicca, et fixa.) At certe in illis duobus videtur con- 
 sensus quidam natures ex maxime catholicis conspici. 
 Etenim consentiunt sulphur ; oleum, et exhalatio pin- 
 guis ; flamma ; et fortasse corpus stellaa. Ex altera 
 parte consentiunt mercurius ; aqua et vapores aquei ; 
 aer ; et fortasse aether purus et interstellaris. Attamen 
 istae quaterniones geminae, sive magnse rerum tribus 
 (utraque intra ordines suos) copia materiae atque den- 
 sitate immensum differunt, sed schematismo vakle con- 
 veniunt; ut in plurimis se produnt. At contra metalla 
 diversa copia et densitate multum conveniunt (prae- 
 sertim respectu vegetabilium, etc.), sed schematismo 
 multifariam differunt ; et similiter vegetabilia et ani- 
 malia diversa schematismis quasi infinitis variantur, sed 
 intra copiam materiae sive densitatem paucorum gra- 
 duum continentur. 
 
 Sequitur consensus maxime post priorem catholicus, 
 videlicet corporum principalium et fomitum suorum ; 
 videlicet menstruorum, 2 et alimentorum. Itaque ex- 
 
 1 This triad is the fundamental point of Paracelsus's chemical and medi- 
 cal philosophy. See his works throughout, and particularly the tract De 
 tribus primis essentiis, contained in the third book of his philosophical 
 works. 
 
 2 By "menstrua" are meant the substances out of which any species of 
 mineral is generated, or, in other words, the causa materialis of its exist- 
 ence. See, on the generation of metals and other minerals, the fourth and 
 fifth books of Agricola's work De ortu et causis fossilium. He gives an 
 account of the opinions of Aristotle, Theophrastus, &c. In modern chem- 
 istry the word menstruum is nearly equivalent to solvent. By the school 
 of Paracelsus the word is used so vaguely that it is difficult to determine 
 what idea they attached to it, or how they derived their sense of the word 
 from its original signification. When the word is used as in the text, the
 
 532 NOVUM ORGANUM. 
 
 quirendum, sub quibus climatibus, et in qua tellure, et 
 ad quam profunditatem metalla singula generentur ; et 
 similiter de gemmis, sive ex rupibus, sive inter mineras 
 natis ; in qua glelja terrse, arbores singulas, et frutices, 
 et herbse potissimum proveniant, et tanquara gaudeant ; 
 et insimul quae impinguationes, sive per stercorationes 
 cujuscunque generis, sive per cretam, arenam maris, 
 cineres, etc., maxime juvent ; et quae sint ex his pro 
 varietate glebarum magis apta3 et auxiliares. Etiam 
 insitio et inoculatio arborum et plantarum, earumque 
 ratio, quaa scilicet plantae super quas foelicius inseran- 
 tur, etc., multum pendet de consensu. In qua parte 
 non injucundum foret experimentum quod noviter au- 
 divimus esse tentatum, de insitione arborum sylves- 
 trium (quas hucusque in arboribus "hortensibus fieri 
 consuevit), unde folia et glandes majorem in modura 
 amplificantur, et arbores fiunt magis umbrosas. Simi- 
 liter, alimenta animalium respective notanda sunt in 
 genere, et cum negativis. Neque enim carnivora sus- 
 tinent lierbis nutriri ; unde etiam Ordo 'Folitanorum 
 (licet voluntas humana plus possit quam animantium 
 caeterorum super corpus suum), post experientiam 
 factam (ut aiunt), tanquam ab humana natura non 
 tolerabilis, fere evanuit. 1 Etiam materise diversae 
 
 metaphor seems to be taken from the Aristotelian theory of generation, in 
 which Kara rrjv npurrjv iikrjv kariv q TUV Karafirjviuv <j>vaif. 
 
 ^Bacon doubtless refers to the austerities of the order of Feiiillans. Jean 
 de la Barriere, after holding the Cistercian abbey of Feiiillans in commen- 
 dam for eleven years, renounced the world in 1573, and in the course of a 
 few years introduced a most austere rule of life into the abbey of which he 
 was the head. His monks knelt on the floor during their refections, and 
 some of them were in the habit of drinking out of skulls. They abstained 
 from eggs, fish, butter, oil, and even salt, and confined themselves to pottage 
 made of herbs boiled in water, and bread so coarse and black that beasts 
 refused to eat of it. After a while they gave up wine also. Clement VIII. 
 permitted the society to draw up constitutions for the establishment of their
 
 NOVUM ORGANUM. 533 
 
 putrefactionum, unde anirnalcula generantur, notandae 
 sunt. 
 
 Atque consensus corporum principalium crga subor- 
 dinata sua (tales enim ii possint censeri quos notavi- 
 mus) satis in aperto sunt. Quibus addi possunt sen- 
 suum consensus erga objecta sua. Qui consensus cum 
 manifestissimi sint; bene notati et acriter excussi, etiam 
 aliis consensibus qui latent magnani praebere possint 
 lucem. 
 
 At interiores corporum consensus et fugae, sive ami- 
 citiae et lites (tsedet enim nos fere vocabulorum sym- 
 pathise et antipathic, propter superstitiones et inania), 
 aut falso ascriptae, aut fabulis conspersae, aut per neg- 
 lectum raras admodum sunt. Etenini si quis asserat 
 inter vineam et ' brassicam esse dissidium, quia juxta 
 sata minus laete proveniunt, praesto ratio est : 1 quod 
 utraque planta succulenta ' sit et deprsedatrix, unde al- 
 
 rule. By these the excessive rigour of their way of life was checked, which 
 was done in obedience to the Pope, and in consequence of the deaths ot 
 fourteen monks in a single week at Feiiillans. These constitutions were 
 ratified in 1595. Assuming, of which there seems no doubt, that the Foli- 
 tani of Bacon are the Feiiillans, I may remark that the latinised form of 
 Feuillans used is Fuliensis, as an adjective; the proper style of the society 
 being " Congregatio Cistertiomonastica B. Mariae Fuliensis." I have not 
 seen the work of Morotius to which Helyot, from whom the preceding ac- 
 count is taken, refers; but in that of C. Henrique, also mentioned by He- 
 lyot, I do not find any authority for Folitani. It is probable that Bacon's 
 chief information on the subject was gathered orally during his residence in 
 France, before the Feuillans had ceased from their first love. The expres- 
 sion "ordo . . . fere evanuit" must be taken to mean that the severe rule 
 that they had at first was given up. See Helyot, Hist, des Ordres Monastir 
 ques, iv me partie, c. 38. Spondanus, An. 1586, iv. For some particulars of 
 the early history of the Abbey of Feuillans, and especially for the will of 
 Jean de la Barriere, see Voyage Litteraire de deux Benediclins, ii. p. 16. 
 
 1 On account apparently of this enmity between the vine and the cabbage, 
 the latter was thought to prevent intoxication. See Lemmius, De occultis 
 naturae miraculis, ii. 17. On the subject of similar enmities, see the same 
 work, iv. 10. ; or Cardan's treatise, De rerum varietate, and particularly the 
 Fheatrum sympatheticum.
 
 534 NOVUM ORGANUM. 
 
 tera alteram defraudat. Si quis asserat esse consensum 
 et amicitiam inter segetes et cyaneum, aut papaver 
 sylvestre, quia herbae illae fere non proveniunt nisi in 
 arvis cultis : debuit is potius asserere dissidium esse 
 inter ea, quia papaver et cyaneus emittuntur et cre- 
 antur ex tali succo terras qualem segetes reliquerint 
 et repudiaverint ; adeo ut satio segetum terram prae- 
 paret ad eorum proventum. Atque hujusmodi falsa- 
 rum ascriptionum magnus est numerus. Quoad fa- 
 bulas vero, illa3 omnino sunt exterminandae. Restat 
 tenuis certe copia eorum consensuum, qui certo probati 
 sunt experimento ; quales sunt magnetis et ferri, atque 
 auri et argenti vivi, et similium. At in experimentis 
 chymicis circa metalla inveniuntur et alii nonnulli ob- 
 servatione digni. Maxima vero frequentia eorum (ut 
 in tanta paucitate) invenitur in medicinis nonnullis, 
 quaa ex proprietatibus suis occultis (quas vocant) et 
 specificis, respiciunt aut membra, aut humores, aut 
 mort^os, aut quandoque naturas individuas. Neque 
 omittendi sunt consensus inter motus et affectus lunae 
 et passiones corporum inferiorum, prout ex experimentis 
 agricultures, nauticas, et medicinaa, aut alias cum de- 
 lectu severo et sincere colligi et recipi possint. Verum 
 instantiae universae consensuum secretiorum quo magis 
 sunt infrequentes, eo majori cum diligentia sunt inqui- 
 rendse, per traditiones, et narrationes fidas et probas ; 
 modo hoc fiat absque ulla levitate, aut credulitate, sed 
 fide anxia et quasi dubitabunda. Restat consensus 
 corporum modo operandi tanquam inartificialis, sed usu 
 polychrestus, qui aullo modo omittendus est, sed sedula 
 observatione investigandus. Is est coitio sive unio cor- 
 porum, proclivis aut difficilis, per compositionem, sive 
 appositionem simplicem. Etenim corpora nonnulla fa
 
 NOVUM ORGANUM. 535 
 
 cile et libenter commiscentur et incorporantur, alia 
 autem asgre et perverse : veluti pulveres melius in- 
 corporantur cum aquis ; calces et cineres, cum oleis ; 
 et sic de similibus. Neque tantum sunt colligendae 
 instantias propensionis aut aversionis corporum erga 
 misturam, sed etiam collocationis partium, et distri- 
 butionis, et digestionis, postquam commista sint ; deni- 
 que et prasdominantiae post misturam transactam. 
 
 Superest ultimo loco ex modis septem operandi, sep- 
 timus et postremus ; operatic scilicet per alternationem 
 et vicissitudines priorum sex ; de quo antequam in sin- 
 gulos illos paulo altius fuerit inquisitum, tempestivum 
 non foret exempla proponere. Series autem sive ca- 
 tena hujusmodi alternationis, prout ad singula effecta 
 accommodari possit, res est et cognitu maxime diiBcilis, 
 et ad opera maxime valida. Summa autem detinet et 
 occupat homines impatientia hujusmodi tarn inquisiti- 
 onis, quam praxeos ; cum tamen sit instar fili laby- 
 rinthi, quoad opera majora. Atque base sufficiant ad 
 exemplum Polychresti. 
 
 LI. 
 
 Inter Praerogativas Instantiarum, ponemus loco vi- 
 cesimo septimo atque ultimo Instantias Magicas. Hoc 
 nomine illas appellamus, in quibus materia aut efficiens 
 tenuis aut parva est, pro magnitudine operis et effectus 
 qui sequitur ; adeo ut etiamsi fuerint vulgares, tamen 
 sint instar miraculi ; alias primo intuitu, alias etiam 
 attentius contemplanti. Has vero natura ex sese sub- 
 ministrat parce ; quid vero factura sit sinu excusso, et 
 post inventionem Forrnarum, et Processuum, et Sche- 
 matismorum, fiituris temporibus apparebit. At ista 
 effecta Magica (quantum adhuc conjicimus) fiunt tri-
 
 536 NOVUM ORGANUM. 
 
 bus modis : aut per multiplicationem sui, ut in igne, 
 et venenis, quae vocant specifica ; necnon in motibus, 
 qui transeunt et fortificantur de rota in rotam ; aut per 
 excitationem sive invitationem in altero, ut in magnete, 
 qui excit acus innumeras, virtute nullatenus deperdita 
 aut diminuta ; aut in fermento, et hujusmodi ; aut per 
 anteversionem motus, ut dictum est de pulvere pyrio, 
 et bombardis, et cuniculis : quorum priores duo modi 
 indagationem consensuum requirunt ; tertius, mensurae 
 motuum. Utrum vero sit aliquis modus mutandi cor- 
 pora per minima (ut vocant), et transponendi subtili- 
 ores materiae schematismos (id quod ad omnimodas cor- 
 porum transformationes pertinet, ut ars brevi tempore 
 illud facere possit, quod natura per multas ambages 
 molitur), de eo nulla hactenus nobis constant indicia. 
 Quemadmodum autem in solidis et veris aspiramus ad 
 ultima et summa ; ita vana et tumida perpetuo odimus, 
 et quantum in nobis est profligamus. 
 
 LH. 
 
 Atque de Dignitatibus sive Praerogativis Instantia- 
 rum hsec dicta sint. Illud vero monendum, nos in 
 hoc nostro Organo tractare logicam, non philosophiam. 
 Sed cum logica nostra doceat intellectum et erudiat ad 
 hoc, ut non tenuibus mentis quasi claviculis rerum 
 abstracta captet et prenset (ut logica vulgaris), sed 
 naturam revera persecet, et corporum virtutes et actus, 
 eorumque leges in materia determinatas inveniat; ita 
 ut non solum ex natura mentis, sed ex natura rerum 
 quoque hsec scientia emanet ; mirum non est, si ubique 
 naturalibus contemplationibus et experimentis, ad ex- 
 empla artis nostrae, conspersa fuerit et illustrata. Sunt 
 autem (ut ex iis quae dicta sunt patet) Praerogativae
 
 NOVUM ORGANUM. 537 
 
 Intantiarum numero 27 ; nominibus, Instantiae Soli- 
 tariae : Instantiae Migrantes : Instantise Ostensivae : 
 Instantiae Clandestinae : Instantiae Constitutivae : In- 
 stantiae Conformes : Instantiae Monodicas : Instantiae 
 Deviantes: Instantiae Limitaneaa: Instantiae Potestatis: 
 Instantias Comitatus et Hostiles : Instantiae Subjunc- 
 tivae : Instantiae Foederis : Instantiae Crucis : Instantiae 
 Divortii : Instantia?. Januae : Instantiae Citantes : In- 
 stantiae Viae: Instantias Supplement!: Instantiae Per- 
 secantes: Instantiae Virgae: Instantiae Curriculi: Doses 
 Naturae : Instantiae Luctae : Instantiae Innuentes : In- 
 stantiae Polychrestae : Instantias Magicae. Usus autem 
 harum instantiarum, in quo instantias vulgares excel- 
 lunt, versatur in genere aut circa partem informativam ; 
 aut circa operativam ; aut circa utramque. Atque 
 quoad informativam, juvant illae aut sensum, aut intel- 
 lectum. Sensum, u,t quinque Instantiae Lampadis : 
 Intellectum, aut accelerando Exclusivam Formae, ut 
 Solitariae ; aut angustiando et propius indicando Affir- 
 mativam Formae, ut Migrantes, Ostensivae, Comitatus, 
 cum Subjunctivis ; aut erigendo intellectum, et ducen- 
 do ad genera et naturas communes ; idque aut imme- 
 diate, ut Clandestinae, Monodicae, Foederis ; aut gradu 
 proximo, ut Constitutive ; aut gradu infimo, ut Con- 
 formes ; aut rectificando Intellectum* a consuefis, ut 
 Deviantes ; aut ducendo ad Formam Magnam, sive 
 Fabricam Universi, 1 ut Limitaneae ; aut cavendo de 
 Formis et causis falsis, ut Crucis et Divortii. Quod 
 vero ad Operativam attinet ; illae practicam aut desig- 
 nant ; aut mensurant ; aut sublevant. Designant aut 
 ostendendo a quibus incipiendum, ne actum agamus, 
 ut Instantiae Potestatis ; aut ad quid aspirandum, si 
 1 That is, the constitution (or cosmos) of the universe.
 
 538 NOVUM ORGANUM. 
 
 detur facultas, ut Innuentes : mensurant quatuor illae 
 Mathematicae : sublevant Polychrestae et Magicse. 
 
 / O 
 
 Rursus ex istis instantiis 27, nonnullarum (ut supe- 
 rius diximus de aliquibus) facienda est collectio jam ab 
 initio, nee expectanda particularis inquisitio naturarum. 
 Cujus generis sunt Instantiae Conformes, Monodicae, 
 Deviantes, Limitaneae, Potestatis, Januse, Innuentes, 
 Polychrestae, Magicas. Hae enim aut auxiliantur et 
 medentur intellectui et sensui, aut instruunt praxin in 
 genere. Reliquae turn demum conquirendae sunt, cum 
 conficiemus Tabulas Comparentias ad opus Interpretis 
 circa aliquam naturam particularem. Sunt enim in- 
 stantiae Praerogativis istis insignitae et donatae animae 
 instar, inter vulgares instantias comparentiae ; et ut ab 
 initio diximus, paucae illarum sunt vice nnrltarum ; 
 quocirca cum Tabulas conficimus, illse omni studio 
 sunt investigandae, et in Tabulas referendae. Erit 
 etiam earum mentio necessaria in iis quae sequuntur. 
 Praeponendus itaque erat earum tractatus. Nunc vero 
 ad adminicula et rectificationes Inductionis, et deinceps 
 ad con ere ta, et Latentes Processus, et Latentes Sche- 
 matism os, et reliqua quae Aphorismo 21. ordine propo- 
 suimus, pergendum ; ut tandem (tanquam curatores 
 probi et fideles) tradamus hominibus fortunas suas 
 emancipate intetlectu, et facto tanquam majore ; unde 
 necesse est sequi emendationem status hominis, et am- 
 pliation em potestatis ejus super naturam. Homo enim 
 per lapsum et de statu innocentiae decidit, et de regno 
 in creaturas. Utraque autem res etiam in hac vita 
 nonnulla ex parte reparari potest ; prior per religio- 
 nem et fidem, posterior per artes et scientias. Neque 
 enim per maledictionem f'acta est creatura prorsus et 
 ad extremum rebellis. Sed in virtute illius diploma-
 
 NOVUM ORGANUM. 539 
 
 tis, 1 In sudore vultus comedes panem tuum, per labores 
 
 varies (non per disputationes certe, aut per otiosas ce- 
 
 remonias magic'as) tandem et aliqua ex parte 
 
 ad panem homini praebendum, id 
 
 est, ad usus vitse humanse 
 
 subigitur. 
 
 1 " Diploma" may be rendered "charter." 
 
 Finis Libri Secundi Novi Organi. 
 
 RITD OF VOL. 1.
 
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