3. if"

B AC O N'S

NOVUM ORGANUM

EDITED

WITH INTRODUCTION, NOTES, ETL\

THOMAS FOWLER, D.D., F.S.A.

PRESIDENT OF CuRPUS CHRISTI COLLEGE

WYKEHAM PROFESSOR OF LOGIC IN THE UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD
AND HONORARY DOCTOR OF LAWS IN THE UNIVERSITY OF EDINBURGH

SECOND EDITION
Corrected and Revised

AT THE CLARENDON PRESS
MDCCCLXXXIX

PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION.

THIS Edition of the Novum Organum is intended
to supply a want which, I think, must often have
been felt by students namely, a commentary, which,
besides explaining the difficulties of the work (by
no means few or small), should also present Bacon
in his relations to the History of Philosophy, Logic,
and Science. That I have fully succeeded in meet-
ing this want, I cannot flatter myself, but, at least,
I have spared no pains in the attempt, consistent
with the brevity imposed on me by the limits of
a single volume. Throughout my Notes and In-
troduction I have had two objects in view one to
execute as complete an edition as possible of my
author, the other to produce a work of educational
value to the student of philosophy, or, generally, of
the history of thought and science. Where these
two objects have at all interfered with each other,
instead of sacrificing one, I have endeavoured to
combine both. Thus, the frequent references to
Bacon's other writings, and what I may call the

vi PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION.

antiquarian portions of the work, would hardly have
been necessary for merely educational purposes. On
the other hand, if I could always have relied on the
co-operation of a mature student, some of the refe-
rences and many, perhaps, of the explanations might
have been spared. But, as a rule, I think, the results
aimed at by the two objects have pretty nearly
coincided, and I have thought it, at least, safer
to err on the side of offering too much elucidation
rather than too little.

The position of Bacon mid-way, as it were, between
Scholasticism, on one side, and Modern Philosophy
and Science, on the other, is so interesting that I
cannot but think that much has even still to be learnt
from the study of his works, and especially of this,
the chief and most influential of them all. Not
only is the Novum Organum a collection of fine
sayings and suggestive remarks, but a knowledge of
it is indispensable to the student of the History either
of Logic, of Philosophy, or of the Physical Sciences.
Moreover, it furnishes an excellent starting-point in
the history of any of these subjects, whether we wish
to go backwards or forwards. But this very fact
renders it essential that it should be accompanied
with a copious commentary, both to point out the
objects of interest, and to institute comparisons with
what the reader has seen or will see elsewhere. Nor
is the interest of the work simply historical. As I
have pointed out in the section of the Introduction
devoted to that subject, its present value to the student
of philosophy or logic is also, I believe, by no means
inconsiderable.

PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION. vii

That many of Bacon's individual maxims and
doctrines may be found in other authors of the period
I am fully aware, and have not failed elsewhere to
notice ; but there is no other writer who brings
together his stores in such rich abundance, who
clothes his sentiments in such felicitous language, or
who, I believe, is so truly representative of the hopes
and aspirations, of the thoughts and tendencies of that
remarkable time.

Those subjects which could not conveniently be
treated within the compass of notes, and were still
of too much importance to be omitted, I have dis-
cussed at some length in the Introduction. In the
preliminary remarks to this portion of my work, I
have stated my reasons for writing in detached
sections rather than for offering a general appreciation
of Bacon's doctrines and position.

I have only annotated the Novum Organum itself,
though I have thought it would be interesting to
print the preliminary pieces which appeared with it
on its first publication. The text of these pieces, as
well as of the work itself, is re-produced after the
First Edition, with the exception of several altera-
tions in the punctuation and the frequent substitution
of small for capital letters. The annotation of the
minor pieces would merely have resulted in much
useless repetition.

The Index to the Text is based on Mr. Kitchin's
(as that also is based on the Index appended to the

viii PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION.

Oxford Edition of 1813), though I have introduced
many alterations and additions. With the Index to
the Text is incorporated the Index to the Notes.
This is, for the most part, in English, as the other
is, for the most part, in Latin. The admixture of
English and Latin in the same Index presents, it
must be confessed, a somewhat motley appearance,
but I trust that this defect will be more than out-
weighed by the facility for reference which is afforded
by such an arrangement. When a word occurs in
the Notes only, it is printed in Italics ; when it occurs
in the Text only, or both in the Text and the Notes,
it is printed in the ordinary Roman type.

I have thought it desirable to draw up a separate
Index to the Introduction.

It only remains to express my obligations to
previous writers on the same subject, and to the
friends who have assisted me in my work. I have
read, or, at least, consulted all the annotated editions
of the Novum Organum and all the dissertations on
Bacon's Logic or Philosophy, to which I have been
able to obtain access. To these works I have,
wherever there was occasion, expressed my obligations,
but I must here specially select, for more particular
acknowledgment, the magnificent Edition of Bacon's
Works by Ellis and Speckling, the French Edition
by M. Bouillet, the Edition of the Novum Organum
by Mr. Kitchin (whose generosity m allowing me
to replace it by the present edition demands my
special thanks), the works on Bacon's Philosophy

PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION. ix

by De Remusat and Kuno Fischer, Mr. Macvey
Napier's Essay on Bacon, and Professor Playfair's
Preliminary Dissertation in the Encyclopaedia Bri-
tannica. With reference to previous writers generally,
I may here take occasion to remark that, where any
explanation, reference, authority, &c., mentioned by
them, had previously occurred to me or would cer-
tainly have occurred to me in the course of composition,
I have not thought it necessary to make any special
acknowledgment, or to adopt inverted commas, but,
where this has not been the case, I believe I have
almost invariably done so. The question of literary
property is always a difficult one, but I have certainly
not consciously or deliberately appropriated what is
not my own.

I have to thank Mr. Spedding for the uniform
courtesy with which he has answered any questions
relative to the literary department of my work,
Professors Rolleston and Clifton, who have occa-
sionally supplemented my own somewhat defective
knowledge of scientific facts, my colleagues, Mr. W.
Warde Fowler and Mr. N. Bodington, Fellows of
Lincoln College, who have given me much valuable
assistance in revising the proofs and suggesting cor-
rections, during the progress of the work, as well as
Mr. J. A. Stewart, late Senior Student of Ch. Ch., and
Mr. J. Cotter Morison, who have performed the same
service for me with regard to detached portions of the
book. But my thanks are especially due to Professor
H. J. S. Smith, who, notwithstanding his numerous
engagements, has kindly revised my proofs, and
frequently given me the benefit of his very valuable

x PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION.

advice and assistance. Had his other pursuits ad-
mitted of it, I know of no one who, from his varied
accomplishments, was better fitted to undertake the
task of editing the Novum Organum than Professor
Smith himself.

LINCOLN COLLEGK,
Feb. 4, 1878.

PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION.

THE present edition has been carefully revised, and
I trust will be found as free from errors and inaccura-
cies as the nature of such a work permits. Amongst
other friends I have to thank, for various corrections
and suggestions, the late Mr. Mark Pattison, Mr.
By water of Exeter College, Mr. Case of Corpus
Christi College, and my cousin, the Rev. J. T. Fowler
of Hatfield Hall, Durham.

The most important alterations or additions in this
Edition occur in the passage on the relation of Bacon
to Harvey (p. 28) ; in that on Bacon's modified adop-
tion of the Triad of Paracelsus (p. 29) ; in that on the
tenacity with which many English mathematicians still
adhered to the Cartesian system after the publication
of Newton's discoveries (p. 36) ; in the statement of
the practical aspect of Bacon's doctrine of Forms
(p. 58) ; in the introduction of a note on Bacon's
rejection of metaphysics in the ordinary acceptation
of the term (p. 67); in a reference, as connected with
Aristotle's habits of observation, to Dr. William Ogle's
Translation of the De Partibus Animalium (p. 70) ;
in the passages on Aristotle's doctrine of Induction
(p. 87) ; in a considerable addition to the foot-note on

xii PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION.

traces of Bacon's influence to be found in the works
of Locke (p. 99) ; in the introduction of additional
matter on the testimonies to Bacon of Vico (p. 109)
and Comenius (pp. 109-10) and of a new paragraph
on the testimony of Barrow (pp. 120-1); in the addi-
tion of a new paragraph (marked 6th) on the Nature
of Bacon's Influence on Science, pointing out more
definitely, than I seem to have done in the First
Edition, what I regard as the most distinctive feature
in Bacon's reform of Logic (pp. 128-9) ! m sonie cor-
rections of and several additions to the Section on the
Bibliography of the Novum Organum ; and, lastly, in
the introduction of, or in additions to or modifications
of, the following foot-notes l : p. 192, notes 1,2; p. 194,
n. 7; p. 198, n. 16 ; p. 206, u. 31 ; pp. 211-12, ;/. 42 ;
pp. 222-3, n - 7o; P- 228, n. 83; p. 236, n. 6; p. 243,
n. 26; p. 245, 11. 32; p. 251, n. 52; p. 253, n. 59;
p. 258, 11. 73; p. 259, n. 74; p. 284, n. 38; p. 296,
n. 62 (new note) ; p. 310, n. 4 and n. 7 ; p. 315, n. 20 ;
p. 347, 11. 19 ; p. 355, n. 42 ; p. 357, n. 47; p. 358,
" 53 ; PP- 361-3, n. 62 ; p. 374, 11. 6 ; p. 386, 11. 42 ;
p. 393, 11. 64 ; p. 409, 11. 17; p. 425, n. 6 1 ; p. 440,
" 97 : P- 453, n. 37 ; p. 460, n. 57 ; p. 487, n. 27 ;
p. 488, n. 31 ; p. 491, 11. 37; p. 492, 11. 42 ; p. 496,
n. 50; p. 500, 11. 58; p. 509, n. 83; p. 559, n. 53 ;
p. 566, 11. 74; p. 576, 11. 8.

As it appears to me that differences between authors
are, as a rule, better discussed in their works than in
the pages of newspapers or magazines, I avail myself

1 The references, throughout, are to the ne\v, not to the old, edition.
In some cases the notes are altogether new.

PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION. xiii

of this opportunity to reply to certain strictures recently
passed by Dr. Abbott, in his work, entituled ' Francis
Bacon ' (Macmillan and Co., 1885), on a small work of
my own, bearing the same title, which was published
in Messrs. Sampson Low and Co.'s Series of English
Philosophers, in 1881. Nor is my rejoinder irrelevant
to the present occasion, as much of the discussion bears
on points common to my smaller work and the Intro-
duction to the Novum Organum.

The most important difference between myself and
Dr. Abbott turns on our respective views of Bacon's
' moral system.' And I cannot but think that, as in
many other controversies, the real issue is largely ob-
scured by the ambiguous use of terms. The passages in
Dr. Abbott's Edition of Bacon's Essays, which origin-
ally gave occasion to our controversy, occur in Ch. 5
of his Introduction (Vol. I, pp. 136, 7), and are to the
following effect : ' But it is through Machiavelli, most
of all, that we arrive at a clear understanding of Bacon's
moral system. For, however Bacon may disown his
master and rebel against some of the blunt and logical
Machiavellian dicta, yet Machiavelli was unquestion-
ably Bacon's guide, if not in theoretical, at all events
in practical morality.' And, again, 'The morality of the

Essays, which are eminently practical, is the

pure and simple morality of Machiavelli.' These
statements I criticised in my ' Francis Bacon,' pp. 41
45, and Dr. Abbott has replied to my criticisms in an
Appendix to his ' Francis Bacon/ pp. 457-60, under
the very ambiguous title ' Professor Fowler's Defence
of Bacon's Morality.' This last term covers no less
than three distinct conceptions, which Dr. Abbott does

xiv PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION.

not appear to me to have clearly discriminated, namely,
Bacon's theory of Ethics, his practical maxims, and
his own conduct. It is clearly with the first of these
conceptions that, writing on Bacon in his capacity of
a ' Philosopher ' (for it is in a series of ' English
Philosophers' that I am treating of him), I am mainly
concerned. And if any of my readers, who is in-
terested in the subject of Bacon's theory of Moral
Philosophy, will take the trouble to refer to the pas-
sage cited (as it exists in extenso in my own work, and
not in the extremely inadequate compression of it,
cited, however, as if it were continuous and exhaustive,
which is presented by Dr. Abbott), I think he can
hardly fail to arrive at the same conclusion with myself
that, in ethical theory at least, ' Bacon's place is, surely,
not with the small class of moralists, who, like Machia-
velli, Hobbes, and Mandeville, appeal only, or mainly,
to the selfish instincts of mankind, or to the reflexions
of a cool self-love, but with that far larger class who

recognise benevolent principles of action as co-ordinate
with and often controlling those which merely regard
ourselves.' But that Dr. Abbott's strictures on Bacon's
' morality' cover his ethical theory seems plain from the
expression ' moral system,' as well as from the saving
clause ' if not in theoretical, at all events in practical
morality,' which can only bear the meaning that, while
Machiavelli was unquestionably Bacon's guide in
practical morality, it is open to question whether he was
not also Bacon's cfuide in theoretical morality as well.

As to the practical maxims of conduct which appear
in the Essays and elsewhere, though I am far less
concerned with these than with Bacon's philosophical

PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION. xv

position in relation to ethics, I may offer a few brief
considerations in opposition to, or extenuation of, the
severe censures passed by Dr. Abbott. In the first
place, if I mistake not, even within the sphere of
' practical morality/ the passages which dictate a
generous and open line of conduct are largely pre-
ponderant over those which suggest, or seem to sug-
gest, a self-seeking, mean, or crooked policy. Over
against the Essay ' Of Simulation and Dissimulation,'
for instance, we ought, in all fairness, to place the
Essays 'Of Truth/ and ' Of Wisdom for a Man's Self.'
Then, as to those passages which betray the less
generous side of Bacon's practical teaching, there are
two considerations which the modern reader is very apt
to ignore, but which it is most pertinent to the matter
in issue that he should bear in mind. First, these
passages mostly bear on the conduct of life in politics
and diplomacy, departments of activity in which
candour, truthfulness, and fair dealing are not even
now so general as to give us much occasion for triumph
over our ancestors. Even in this department of
practical morals, there is no doubt that the growth
of public sentiment has brought about a certain im-
provement, but, after all, it may be questioned whether
the great difference, in this respect, bet\veen Bacon's
time and our own, is not that men then openly avowed
the motives and devices which they now at least pay
the homage to virtue of concealing from others and
often, perhaps, even from themselves. That open deal-
ing as between rival statesmen and rival nations was
a counsel of perfection, which, however desirable, was
not altogether attainable, might well be taken for

xvi PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION.

granted in the courts and camps of the sixteenth and
seventeenth centuries ; and a writer so analytic, and,
I may add, so candid as Bacon was certain to bring
out this dark side of political morality in bold relief,
though with him its recognition is most distinctly the ex-
ception and not the rule, while, with Machiavelli, it is
the postulate and basis of his entire system. Another
observation, which should never be lost sight of in
reading any of Bacon's writings, is the tendency, which
he shared with many authors of his generation, to lay
peculiar emphasis on the particular aspect of a subject
with which he happened, at the time, to be dealing.
All qualifications and countervailing considerations are,
for the moment, kept out of sight, and the object is to
place before the reader a particular point of view in its
strongest colours. What Bacon himself would have

called a ' Marino; instance ' of this mode of treatment

o o

is to be found in the Temporis Partus Masculus (see
Introduction, pp. 8, 9), where he sets himself to 'dis-
course scornfully of the philosophy of the Grecians.'
Another good instance is to be found in the ' Antitheta '
in the sixth Book of the De Augmentis (see especially
E. and S., vol. I, p. 688, etc.). But instances of this
kind abound in Bacon's works, and we need not go
further than the Novum Organum to find our examples,
such as are notably the attacks on Aristotle or Gilbert
and the apparent depreciation of syllogistic logic.
Hence, there is, perhaps, no author with regard to
whom it is so necessary to lay together the various
utterances on a subject, as scattered throughout his
works, before arriving at a definite estimate of his real
opinions.

PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION. xvii

The question as to the morality of Bacon's own
conduct, in the various passages of his life, will pro-
bably continue to divide biographers, historians, and
reviewers to the world's end. His was, no doubt, a
complex character, and the events and persons, that
constituted his surroundings, rendered, in his case, the
conduct of life peculiarly difficult. But, as regards
both his character and his acts, I believe that the good
largely preponderated over the evil, nor can I, on these
points, accept the guidance of Dr. Abbott, as free from
hostile bias. To me it appears of great importance to
the fame and credit of Bacon, as well as to the cause
of historical truth, that even ' readers of limited leisure '
should not ' be prepared to accept ' Dr. Abbott's book
' on its own merits as a fairly complete account of the
life and works of Bacon,' but that they should supple-
ment their studies by the perusal, at least, of Professor
Gardiner's article in the Dictionary of National Bio-
graphy and of Mr. Spedding's ' Account of the Life
and Times of Francis Bacon ' (London, Triibner and
Co., 1878). The latter work, which appeared four
years later than the last volume of the ' Letters and
Life,' not only contains an abridgment, supervised by
Mr. Spedcling himself, of his larger work, but, in some
places, new matter of importance, and it appears to me
unfortunate, in the interests of that not inconsiderable
class of readers who wish to see both sides of a ques-
tion, that Dr. Abbott makes no reference either to this
work or to the valuable series of papers contributed
by Mr. Spedding to Vols. XXVII and XXVIII of the
Contemporary Review, under the titles of the ' Latest
Theory about Bacon ' and ' Lord Macaulay's Essay on

xviii PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION.

Bacon examined.' These papers were occasioned by
Dr. Abbott's Introduction to his Edition of Bacon's
Essays, and he replies to the series more immediately
concerning himself in the June number of 1876 (Vol.
XXVIII). Dr. Abbott's more leisurely readers will
clo well to turn to these additional materials for form-
ing a judgment on the controverted points of Bacon's
life.

The most telling portion of Dr. Abbott's Appendix
on ' Professor Fowler's Defence of Bacon's Morality'
is, doubtless, that in which he alludes to Bacon's self-
revelations in the ' Commentarius Solutus.' Some of
these revelations are certainly not of a pleasant
character, but, without dwelling on the question how
far the reputation of many of the rising lawyers and
politicians even of our own time might be affected
by a similar photograph of their inmost thoughts and
most secret aims, I may ask the reader of Dr. Abbott's
pages to suspend his judgment till he has at least
taken account of the considerations adduced, in ex-
planation or extenuation, by Mr. Spedding in his ' Life
and Times of Francis Bacon,' Vol. I, pp. 528-550, or
the 'Letters and Life,' Vol. IV, pp. 18-37.

Of Dr. Abbott's minor criticisms of my views on
Bacon's philosophy, the most important is that in
which (p. 405) he demurs to my supposition that Bacon,
in his later years, was less disposed, than in earlier life,
to accept, on authority and without reservation, the
dogmas of the Church ('Francis Bacon,' p. 182; Intro-
duction to Novum Organum, p. 47), and to my argu-
ment founded on the omission, in his later work the

PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION. xix

De Augmentis, of certain passages on the nature and
attributes of God, which occur in his earlier work The
Advancement of Learning. Dr. Abbott thinks that
the omissions and modifications in the De Augmentis,
as compared with the fuller and more definite theo-
logical statements in the Advancement, are intended
to avoid giving offence to Bacon's Roman Catholic
readers on the continent. But it so happens that the
passages to which I refer are not such as could have
given offence to Roman Catholic readers, and hence
I cannot see how either my position or my argument
is affected by Dr. Abbott's remarks.

This is hardly the place in which to discuss with
Dr. Abbott matters exclusively affecting Bacon's life or
personal character. But I may, perhaps, be allowed to
point out that, notwithstanding Dr. Abbott's apparent
surprise (pp. xv, 320) at my theory 2 that 'the root
from which all Bacon's errors and misfortunes
sprang ' was carelessness in money-matters, leading
to constant pecuniary difficulties, and, as a natural
result, to undue office-seeking and an inordinate
craving for preferment, his own account on p. 321 is
perfectly consistent with mine, providing only that we
bear in mind the well-known psychological fact that
habits formed in early life often continue to act with
undiminished, or even increased force, though the
specific circumstances which gave birth to them have
ceased to operate. Unqualified statements, however, of
this nature are usually erroneous, and, perhaps, I may

2 I can hardly, however, claim originality for this theory, which was
probably suggested by a passage occurring at the end of Mr. Spedding's
' Life and Times of Francis Bacon ' as well as of the ' Letters and Life.'

xx PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION.

here be permitted to substitute for the word ' all ' the
more qualified expression 'most of his errors and
misfortunes. With this qualification, I believe the
statement to be true.

CORPUS CHRISTI COLLEGE,
Dec. i, 1888.

CONTENTS.

PAGE

PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION v

PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION xi

INTRODUCTION ...... i

i. DATES OF THE LEADING EVENTS IN BACON'S LIFE, AND

OF THE FIRST PUBLICATION OF HIS PRINCIPAL WRITINGS 3

2. THE OBJECT OF THE NoVUM ORGANUM . . 5
3. RELATION OF THE NOVUM ORGANUM TO THE MORE

IMPORTANT OF BACON'S OTHER PHILOSOPHICAL WORKS 6

4. WAS THE NOVUM ORGANUM WRITTEN IN LATIN? . 12

5. BACON'S GENERAL PHILOSOPHICAL OPINIONS . . 14

6. BACON'S SCIENTIFIC ATTAINMENTS AND OPINIONS, WITH
SPECIAL REFERENCE TO THE STATE OF KNOWLEDGE IN

HIS TIME . . . . . .22

7. BACON'S RELIGIOUS OPINIONS . . . .44

8. THE MEANING ATTACHED BY BACON TO THE WORD
' FORM ' (INCLUDING A NOTE ON THE ' FOUR CAUSES '
OF ARISTOTLE) . . . . -54

9. BACON'S METHOD OF EXCLUSIONS . . . 60

10. BACON'S REJECTION OF FINAL CAUSES IN PHYSICS . 64

n. THE CAUSES OF ARISTOTLE'S FAILURE IN HIS PHYSICAL

RESEARCHES . . . . .68

12. THE REACTION AGAINST THE AUTHORITY OF ARISTOTLE 72

13. ANTICIPATIONS OF BACON'S METHOD AND TEACHING . 86

14. BACON'S INFLUENCE ON PHILOSOPHY AND SCIENCE, IN-
CLUDING THE TESTIMONIES OF EARLY WRITERS TO
HIM ... ... 98

15. PRESENT VALUE OF BACON'S LOGICAL WORKS . . 131

1 6. OPPONENTS OF BACON . . . . 135

17. BIBLIOGRAPHY OF THE NOVUM ORGANUM . . 145

xxii CONTENTS.

PAGE

PRELIMINARY PIECES (PREFACES TO THE INSTAURATIO MAGNA

AND Novoi ORGANUM, DISTRIBUTIO OPERIS, ETC.) . 157

SUMMARY OF BOOK I . . . . .190

BOOK I . . . . . . .191

SUMMARY OF BOOK II . . . . .342

BOOK II . . . . 343

INDEX TO INTRODUCTION . . . . 603

INDEX TO TEXT AND NOTES . . . 609

NOVUM ORGANUM.

INTRODUCTION.

T N the various sections of this Introduction, which will be of the
nature of what are commonly called Prolegomena, I propose
to discuss a number of questions which, either from their im-
portance or from want of space, I have found it inconvenient to
treat in the notes. Many of these have been selected for me, by
the circumstance that they have been the points on which the con-
troversies in respect to Bacon's writings or philosophy have mainly
turned. It was impossible to pass them over in silence, and some
of them seemed to demand a fuller treatment than they had hitherto
received. Hence the length of several of the sections, such as those on
Bacon's Influence, the Anticipations of his teaching, &c. Other ques-
tions have been selected by me more spontaneously, on account of their
importance to a due understanding of Bacon's position as a reformer
of logic and science. Such are those on the present value of Bacon's
writings, on his general philosophical opinions, on the meaning he
attaches to the word ' Form,' on his method of Exclusions, &c. But,
with reference to all the sections alike, I must warn the reader that I
have studied thoroughness of treatment even at the expense of occa-
sional prolixity. A general sketch of Bacon's philosophy and a general
appreciation of its merits and its relation to other systems are to be
found in almost every History of Philosophy, and I have not thought
it desirable to add to the number of such accounts already existing.
But it has appeared to me that a more complete treatment than is usual
of special questions, mainly connected with the Novum Organum
or its history, might be not only a real contribution to the large
amount of literature we already possess on the subject, but also the
best introduction to the intelligent study of this edition. In adopting

2 INTRODUCTION.

this course, I have assumed in my readers a certain amount of
acquaintance with the history of philosophical speculation, as well as
with the outlines of logic. But to readers, who do not come to the
study of the book with this amount of acquirement, I cannot think
that an edition, worth the putting out, could be of any service.

The arrangement of the Sections has been a matter of some
difficulty, as several of them stand in little relation to those that pre-
cede or follow. On the whole, I have thought it most convenient,
keeping apart as far as possible the expository sections from those
which are mainly historical, and bringing together those which stand
in any close connexion, to adopt the following order :

i. Dates of the leading events in Bacon's Life, and of the first
publication of his principal writings.

2. The object of the Novum Organum.

3. Relation of the Novum Organum to the more important of
Bacon's other philosophical works.

4. Was the Novum Organum written in Latin ?

5. Bacon's general philosophical opinions.

6. Bacon's scientific attainments and opinions, with special
reference to the state of knowledge in his time.

7. Bacon's religious opinions.

8. The meaning attached by Bacon to the word ' Form ' (in-
cluding a note on the ' Four Causes ' of Aristotle).

9. Bacon's method of Exclusions.

10. Bacon's rejection of Final Causes in Physics.

ii. The causes of Aristotle's failure in his physical researches.

12. The reaction against the authority of Aristotle.

13. Anticipations of Bacon's Method and Teaching.

14. Bacon's Influence on Philosophy and Science, including the
Testimonies of early writers to him.

15. Present Value of Bacon's Logical Works.

1 6. Opponents of Bacon.

17. Bibliography of the Novum Organum.

* ** Short summaries of the contents of Books I and II are
prefixed to those Books respectively.

DATES OF EVENTS AND PUBLICATIONS.

I. DATES OF THE LEADING EVENTS IN BACON'S LIFE,
AND OF THE FIRST PUBLICATION OF HIS PRINCIPAL
WRITINGS.

Jan. 22, 1560-1.
April, 1573.

June 27, 1575.

Sept. 25, 1576.

March 20, 1578-9.

June 27, 1582.

1583.

Nov. 23, 1584.
1586.

J597-
Feb. 1 600- 1.

1601.

Born at York House .....

Entered at Trinity College, Cambridge

Admitted ' de societate magistrorum ' at Gray's
Inn . .......

Accompanies Sir Amias Paulet to Paris

Returns to England .....

Admitted Utter Barrister of Gray's Inn

First essay on the Instauration of Philosophy,
which he called Temporis Partus Maximus,
composed about ......

Begins public life. Takes his seat as Member
for Melcombe in Dorsetshire

Becomes a Bencher of Gray's Inn

Acquaintance with Essex begins about

Edition of the Essays in their earliest shape

Arraignment of Essex ....

' Declaration of the Practices and Treasons
attempted and committed by Robert late Earl
of Essex ' .......

Death of Elisabeth and Accession of James March 24, 1602-3.

Publication of the Advancement of Learning Oct. 1605.

Gunpowder Plot ..... Nov. 5, 1605.

Marriage to Alice Barnham . . May 10, 1606.

Appointed Solicitor General . . . June 25, 1607.

[' It was probably about this time that Bacon finally settled the
plan of his " Great Instauration," and began to call it by that name.'
Spedding's Letters and Life, vol. iii. p. 363.]

Composition of the Cogitata et Visa .

Composition of the Novum Organum pro-
bably begun .......

An instalment of the Instauratio Magna (pro-
bably the Redargutio Philosophiarum) sent to
Toby Matthew

Publication of De Sapientia Veterum .

Publication of the Essays in their second form

Appointed Attorney General

Returned Member for Cambridge University

B 2

Summer of 1607.

1608.

Oct. 10, 1609.
End of 1609.
Oct. 12, 1612.
Oct. 28, 1613.
April 2, 1614.

4 INTRODUCTION.

Peacham's case ...... 1614-15.

Admitted Privy-Councillor .... June 9, 1616.

Appointed Lord Keeper .... March 7, 1616-17.

Appointed Lord Chancellor .... Jan. 4, 1617-18.

Created Baron Verulam .... July 12, 1618.

Execution of Raleigh .... Oct. 29, 1618.

Publication of the Novum Organum . . Oct. 12, 1620.

Created Viscount St. Alban's . . . Jan. 27, 1620-1.

Meeting of Parliament .... Jan. 30, 1620-1.

Sentence of the House of Lords . . May 3, 1621.

Retires to Gorhambury .... June 23, 1621.

Limited pardon sealed by the King, probably in Nov. 1621.

Publication of the History of Henry VII . End of March,i622.

Publication of the first monthly instalment
of the Natural and Experimental History

Historia Ventorum ..... November, 1622.

Publication of another instalment Historia

Vitae et Mortis ...... Jan. 16223.

Publication of the De Augmentis . . Oct. 1623.

Death of James I ..... March 27, 1625.

Publication of the third Edition of the Essays,

much enlarged . . . . . . 1:625.

Death .... April 9 (Easter Sunday), 1626.

Publication of the Sylva Sylvarum and New
Atlantis, by Rawley . . . . . . . 1627.

Publication of ' Certaine Miscellany Works '
by Rawley . . . . . . . . . 1629.

Publication of the Opera Moralia et Civilia by
Rawley . ......... 1638.

Publication of the Remains ... . 1648.

Publication of Isaac Gruter's Collection . . . J653-

Publication of the Resuscitatio by Rawley . . . J 657.

Publication of the Opuscula varia posthuma
by Rawley 1658.

Publication of the Second Edition of the
Resuscitatio, containing new matter . . . . 1661.

Publication of the Third Edition of the
Resuscitatio, after Rawley's death, also contain-
ing new matter . . . . . . . . 1671.

OBJECT OF THE NOVUM ORGANUM. 5

Publication of Baconiana by Tenison . . . 1679.

Publication of Letters and Remains by Stephens . 1702.

(Second Collection) . . . 1734-

Publication of Letters, Speeches, &c. by Birch . 1763-4.

2. ON THE OBJECT OF THE NOVUM ORGANUM.

THE object of the Novum Organum, and of Bacon's philosophy
in general, is, stated summarily, to enlarge the dominion of man,
' Regnum Hominis ' as he phrases it, by increasing his knowledge
of Nature and his power over her operations. This end can only
be accomplished, he conceives, by freeing the mind from its false
prejudices, especially its habit of blind submission to authority, and
thus bringing it face to face with the facts of Nature. But these facts
are themselves of little use, unless sifted, compared, and employed as
stepping-stones to generalisations from which other facts can be legiti-
mately deduced. Hence, the need of a new method of Induction,
which shall not merely accumulate but select instances on certain
rational principles, draw legitimate inferences from them, and thus
guarantee the truth of those first principles from which our deductive
reasoning proceeds. This more scientific form of Induction it is
more especially the aim oif the Novum Organum to supply, but,
previously to laying down any rules for it or exemplifying its em-
ployment, it is necessary to insist on its importance, to free the
mind from those obstacles which might prevent it from having
recourse to this assistance, to point out the sources of our errors
in the past, and to shew what hopes may be conceived of the future.
The preliminary task is undertaken in Book I. The formal ex-
position of the method begins in Book II, but the work, as left by
Bacon, is not completed.

This brief summary may be useful to the student, and, therefore,
I place it at the head of the Introduction. But it appears to me
undesirable to expand it, as, otherwise, I should be anticipating the
words of my author as well as rendering necessary several explana-
tions which would now needlessly delay and weary the reader, but
which I shall offer from time to time, in their proper place, as the
work proceeds.

6 INTRODUCTION.

3. RELATION OF THE NOVUM ORGANUM TO THE MORE
IMPORTANT OF BACON'S OTHER PHILOSOPHICAL WORKS.

IN his letter to Father Fulgentio, which Mr. Spedding refers to
1625 *, Bacon says : 'Equidem memini me, quadraginta abhinc annis,
juvenile opusculum circa has res confecisse, quod magna prorsus
fiducia et magnifico titulo "Temporis Partum Maximum" inscripsi.'
This statement would shew that, at or about the early age of twenty-
five, Bacon had already begun to contemplate the Renovation of
Science. But the first form in which this idea occurred to him
seems to have been to write a great work on the Interpretation of
Nature, that is, on the new method of Induction 2 . Of this pro-
jected work, we have some fragments in Valerius Terminus, the
whole or the greater part of which seems to have been written about
1603 or 1604 3 . It is needless to add that Bacon's idea was after-
wards far more fully carried out, in part at least, by the Novum
Organum. Of the much more extended scheme of the Great
Instauration in six parts, we have the first intimation 4 in the Partis
Instaurationis Secundae Delineatio et Argumentum, which Mr.
Spedding thinks ' may be referred with tolerable confidence to the
year 1606 or 1607 5 ,' and certainly to some time prior to the com-
position of the Cogitata et Visa, which, in its first form, seems to
have been composed in the summer or autumn of 1607 r> . Both
these works are interesting as covering much of the same ground
as the Novum Organum, and may profitably be compared with it
and with one another.

Of the Great Instauration, no part, as Mr. Ellis truly says, can be
regarded as absolutely complete, though the first part, the Parti-
tiones Scientiarum, pointing out what had been done and what
remained to be done in the various sciences, is more adequately
represented than any other. This part is contained in the De Aug-

1 Spedding's Letters and Life, vol. vii. pp. 530-533.

2 Ellis and Spedding's Edition of Bacon's Works, vol. i. pp. 82, 83.

:! See a discussion on the date of this work by Mr. Spedding, E. and S., vol. iii.
pp. 206-213.

' But it does not follow that Bacon had not long before formed the design. See
Mr. Spedding's remarks on this subject, vol. i. pp. 103-106. The name Instaura-
tio, he tells us, does not occur in any of Bacon's letters till 1609 (-p. 107).

"' Vol. iii. p. 544.

b See E. and S., vol. iii. p. 589 ; Spedding's Letters and Life, vol. iii. pp. 365,
366. The Cogitata et Visa seems to have undergone much subsequent cor-
rection.

RELATION TO BACON'S OTHER WORKS. 7

mentis, published in 1623 (about three years after the publication of
the Novum Organum), and founded on a previous work, written in
English and published in 1605, entitled, Of the Proficience and
Advancement of Learning. When the latter work was written,
Bacon had probably not yet matured his conception of the Great
Instauration. There is a fragment of a work on the same subject,
intermediate in date between these two, first published by Gruter
in 1653, entitled Descriptio Globi Intellectualis. This tract, which
may be referred to about the year 1612, was designed on a larger
scale than either of the two already referred to. The part worked out
is mainly on Astronomy, and appended to it is another tract, entitled
Thema Coeli, giving a provisional account of Bacon's own astrono-
mical views, and evidently forming part of the same work. Por-
tions of the tract entitled Valerius Terminus, referred to in the last
paragraph, also go over the same ground as the Advancement and
the De Augmentis.

The second part of the Great Instauration, or the proper method
of interpreting Nature, was evidently the one (if we except the sixth,
which was to be the crown of the whole, and the gradual work of
posterity) to which Bacon attached the greatest importance. It is
mainly represented by the Novum Organum, though preliminary
drafts of portions of this work are to be found in parts of the
Valerius Terminus, and in the Partis Secundae Delineatio, the
Cogitata et Visa, the Temporis Partus Masculus, and the Filum
Labyrinthi sive Inquisitio Legitima de Motu, to say nothing of
smaller pieces, such as De Interpretatione Naturae Sententiae Duo-
decim, &c. The scheme of the Valerius Terminus does not appear
to extend beyond the first and second parts of the Great Instaura-
tion, and another peculiarity is that what in the Novum Organum
is called the investigation of the form is there (ch. n) called the
freeing of a direction. In the Partis Secundae Delineatio we have,
as already noticed, the first intimation of the six parts of the Great
Instauration, but neither there nor in Valerius Terminus does the
idea yet seem to have occurred to Bacon of setting forth his meaning
mainly by means of an example. This plan is announced at the
end of the Cogitata et Visa 7 , and is worked out in the second book

7 ' Atque diu et acriter rem cogitanti et perpendenti, ante omnia visum est
ei Tabulas Inveniendi, sive legitimae Inquisitionis formulas in aliquibus subjectis,
proponi tanquam ad exemplum et operis descriptionem fere visibilem.' E. and S.,
vol. iii. p. 619. The example first selected by Bacon was Motion. See the Filum
Labyrinthi, sive Inquisitio Legitima de Motu, printed by Ellis and Spedding in

8 INTRODUCTION.

of the Novum Organum. On the other hand, in the Partis Secundae
Delineatio, as Mr. Spedding remarks in his Preface to that work
(vol. iii. p. 544), ' the description of the Ministratio ad Rationem
adds something to what we otherwise know concerning those parts
of the inductive process which were to have been developed in the
third book of the Novum Organum.' Appended to the Delineatio
in Ellis and Spedding's Edition is a tract called Redargutio Philo-
sophiarum 8 , which, says Mr. Spedding, ' may be considered as the
first chapter of the second part of the Instauratio, as it was then
designed.' It consists, as its name implies, of an attack upon pre-
ceding systems of philosophy, and, though designed to be part of
the work of which the Delineatio is the sketch, was probably not
composed till some time afterwards 9 . Closely resembling the
Redargutio, but far more arrogant in its tone, is the extant portion
of another work entitled Temporis Partus Masculus, sive De Inter-
pretatione Naturae Libri Tres. Of this work the first and second
chapters only exist, the second, as Mr. Spedding thinks, written at a
considerable interval after the first, though before the Redargutio.
This second chapter goes over the same ground as the Redargutio
and the aphorisms on the Idola Theatri in the Novum Organum,
but is written in a peculiarly arrogant, not to say insolent, tone.
Mr. Spedding conjectures, I think rightly, that this arrogance and
exaggeration are to be explained on the supposition that Bacon was
making an experiment in the art of commanding attention and
winning disciples 10 . If he spoke loud enough, and used sufficiently
strong language, he thought he might compel men to listen to him.

vol. iii. p. 621, &c. This piece is followed in Ellis and Spedding's Edition by a
iough and imperfect draught of an enquiry on Heat and Cold, written probably in
1608.

8 In Isaac Gruter's Edition, only a small portion of the Redargutio (namely to
the words ' in chorum receptis,' E. and S., vol. iii. p. 561) follows the Delineatio.
But in the Appendix to Mallet's Life of Bacon (1760), the same tract, with the
title, beginning at the words ' Dum haec tractarcm' (E. and S., p. 558), is printed
for the first time from the Harleian MSS. Thus, the two copies over-lap, and
Mr. Spedding has restored the tract by piecing them together.

'' See Mr. Spedding's Preface, vol. iii. pp. 544-546.

1J In the Preface to the Delineatio (p. 545), Mr. Spedding quotes, amongst
others, the two following entries from Bacon's Diary (the Commentarius Solutus),
dated July 26, 1608 :

' Discoursing scornfully of the philosophy of the Grecians, with some better
respect to the /Egyptians, Persians, Caldees, and the utmost antiquity, and the
mysteries of the poets.'

' Comparing the case with that which Livy sayeth of Alexander, Nil aliud quam
bene ausus vana contemnere.'

RELATION TO BACON'S OTHER WORKS. 9

To me the whole performance seems to have a strained and almost
theatrical character.

The composition of the Novum Organum (as I have shewn in the
section on its Bibliography) appears to have been commenced about
1608. When the first edition appeared in 1620, it was preceded by
the piece beginning, ' Franciscus de Verulamio sic cogitavit,' a Dedi-
cation to the King, a Preface to the Instauratio Magna (of which,
though only the second part, it was the first instalment), the Distri-
butio Operis (that is, the plan of the whole Instauration), and a
Preface peculiar to itself. It was followed by a small tract, entitled
Parasceue ad Historiam Naturalem et Experimentalem, printed, by
anticipation, as a sort of specimen or, possibly, resume of the penulti-
mate part of the Novum Organum, promised in ii. 21. Finally the
volume is closed by a Catalogus Historiarum Particularium Se-
cundum Capita, or list of desiderata in the specific materials for
induction.

The Novum Organum, I need hardly remark, is only a fragment
of the much larger work which Bacon contemplated under that title,
as adequately representing the second part of the Great Instauration.
The enumeration of the parts wanting will be found in Book ii.
Aph. 21, and, again, though less distinctly, in Aph. 52. Nevertheless,
though only a fragment, the Novum Organum, and especially the first
Book, is the most carefully written of all Bacon's philosophical works.
According to Rawley 11 , it was written out twelve several times, and
we have just seen by what a number of essays the final effort was
preceded. Moreover, as describing the new method of which the
renovation of knowledge was to be the result, it was the keystone
of Bacon's entire system.

The Third Part of the Great Instauration is designated Phaeno-
mena Universi, sive Historia Naturalis et Experimentalis ad con-
dendam Philosophiam, and was to contain a collection of arranged
and sifted materials on w r hich the method of induction was to work.
Of this part, even according to Bacon's limited conception of the
extent and variety of nature, we have only a very small portion, and,
according to a juster estimate of the boundless extent of the ' Phaeno-
mena Universi,' that portion might almost be described as infini-
tesimal. Such as it is, however, it is contained mainly in the
Historia Ventorum, the Historia Vitae et Mortis, the Historia Densi
et Rari, the Sylva Sylvarum, and the New r Atlantis. In the year 1622

11 See the Life prefixed to the Opuscula as well as that prefixed to the
Resuscitatio.

10 INTRODUCTION.

Bacon published a small volume entitled Historia Naturalis, <Scc.,
quae est Instaurationis Magnae Pars Tertia. In the beginning of
the Dedication, he thus describes his design and the character of the
present instalment : ' Primitias Historiae nostrae Naturalis Celsitudini
tuae humillime offero. Rem mole perpusillam, veluti Granum Sinapis :
sed tamen pignus eorum, quae Deo volente sequentur. Obstrinximus
enim nos ipsos tanquam voto, singulis nos mensibus, ad quos Dei
bonitas (cujus agitur Gloria tanquam in cantico novo) vitam nostram
produxerit, unam aut plures ejus partes, prout fuerint magis aut
minus arduae aut copiosae, confecturos et edituros. Moti etiam
fortasse erunt alii, nostro exemplo, ad similem industriam : praesertim
postquam penitus perspexerint, quid agatur. Nam in Historia Natu-
rali bona, et bene instituta, claves sunt et Scientiarum et Operum.'
This volume contains only general prefatory remarks, the Historia
Ventorum, and an Aditus to each of the following proposed treatises :
Historia Densi et Rari ; Historia Gravis et Levis ; Historia Sym-
pathiae et Antipathiae Rerum ; Historia Sulphuris, Mercurii, et Salis ;
and Historia Vitae et Mortis. These five ' Historiae ' were to follow
the Historia Ventorum at intervals of a month. It appears that the
volume containing the Historia Ventorum was published about the
beginning of November, 1622 ; the Historia Vitae et Mortis about
the end of the following January, 1622-3 12 . T ne reason for bringing
out the latter book before the four intermediate ones is stated to be
' propter eximiam rei utilitatem ; in qua vel minima temporis jactura
pro pretiosa haberi debet.' The Historia Densi et Rari did not
appear till the publication of Dr. Rawley's Opuscula Varia Posthuma
in 1658. It goes over a good deal of the same ground as a tract,
entitled Phaenomena Universa, published by Gruter in i653 ls . The
remaining three subjects Bacon does not appear to have handled, at
least in separate treatises.

The Sylva Sylvarum, which is a miscellaneous collection of obser-
vations and experiments, taken mainly from books, was not published
till after Bacon's death. It was edited by Rawley in 1627, Bacon
having died in 1626. Interesting in many respects as this collection
is, it is the least creditable of Bacon's philosophical works, and has
furnished Liebig and other antagonists with many of their most
effective weapons. In fact, as Bacon is reported by Rawley to have
said himself, 'if he should have served the glory of his own Name, he

'- See a note by Mr. Speckling, E. and S., vol. ii. p. 3.

13 On the relation between these; two works, see a note by Mr. Speckling, vol. ii.
p. 229.

RELATION TO BACON'S OTHER WORKS. II

had been better not to have published this Natural History.' In my
remarks on Liebig, under the section headed ' Opponents of Bacon,'
I have spoken at greater length on this subject.

Appended to the Sylva Sylvarum in Rawley's Edition is the
New Atlantis, a work also then for the first time published. This is
deservedly one of the most popular of Bacon's works ; it bears the
stamp of his genius as much, perhaps, as anything which he wrote ;
and, lastly, it is credited, and I conceive justly so, with having, to
a large extent, suggested the foundation and programme of our
own Royal Society, if not of several foreign scientific associations as
well. Its relation to the Sylva Sylvarum cannot be better described
than in the language of Mr. Spedding : ' The New Atlantis seems to
have been written in 1624, and, though not finished, to have been
intended for publication as it stands. It was published accordingly
by Dr. Rawley in 1627, at the end of the volume containing the
Sylva Sylvarum ; for which place Bacon had himself designed it, the
subjects of the two being so near akin ; the one representing his idea
of what should be the end of the work which in the other he sup-
posed himself to be beginning. For the story of Solomon's House is
nothing more than a vision of the practical results which he antici-
pated from the study of natural history diligently and systematically
carried on through successive generations 14 .'

Amongst the ' Impetus Philosophici ' which occupy the latter part
of Gruter's volume are two small pieces entitled Scala Intellectus
sive Filuni Labyrinthi and Prodromi sive Anticipationes Philoso-
phiae Secundae. These were intended as Prefaces to the fourth and
fifth parts of the Instauratio respectively. Whether anything more
relating to these parts is extant seems open to doubt. Possibly the
Inquisitio Legitima de Motu sive Filuni Labyrinthi may be an
' exemplar ' belonging to the fourth part, but Mr. Spedding inclines to
think that it was designed originally as the example of method for the
second part of the Instauration, and subsequently abandoned for the
Inquisitio de Forma Calidi. As respects the fifth part, however,
Mr. Spedding seems disposed to admit to a place among the Pro-
dromi the treatises entitled De Fluxu et Refluxu Maris, De Prin-
cipiis atque Originibus, Cogitationes de Natura Rerum, and Thema
Coeli, of which last I have already spoken in connexion with the
Descriptio Globi Intellectualis.

To the sixth part of the Great Instauration, namely Philosophia

14 E. and S., vol. iii. p. 121.

13 INTRODUCTION.

Secunda, sive Scientia Activa, which, in its full extent, was to be the
work of posterity, Bacon hoped himself to supply ' initia non con-
temnenda.' For any special treatise, however, which can be referred
to this head, we search in vain amongst his works. Nor is this
fact without its explanation. The Scientia Activa was to depend
on the knowledge of ' Forms,' but how far Bacon was from having
attained to a knowledge of ' Forms,' and how vague was the concep-
tion which he often attached to this term, will be only too familiar to
the attentive student of the Xovum Organum. The story which he
applies to the Alchemists '"' of the old man who bequeathed to his
sons a piece of gold hidden in a vineyard applies also, in no small
measure, to himself. Fie did not discover 'Forms,' but he did what
was of tar more value to posterity; he recalled men to the observation
of facts, gave an impulse to the study of nature, and, if not the
founder of the Inductive Method, at least contributed more than any
other man to its wider, more correct, and more fruitful employment.

4. WAS THE XOVUM ORGAXUM WRITTEN
IX LATIN ?

IN one of his articles in the Allgemeine Zeitung (Nov. 3, i863\
Liebig asserts roundly that Bacon wrote none of his works in Latin;
that they were translated by people who knew nothing of the subjects
ot which they treated, and, as Bacon was not very clear upon them
himself, we may imagine the result ! In another article (March 6,
1864), he is especially angry with Sigwart for having called in
question this assertion, and reiterates dogmatically the statement
that all the Latin works of Bacon required the intervention of a
translator. The proof is a letter from Bacon to Dr. Playfer of
Cambridge (given in Spedding's Life and Letters, vol. iii. pp. 300,
3011, requesting him to undertake the translation of the Advance-
ment of Learning. Liebig argues that, if, at the age of forty-six
(he should have said ahoiit the age of forty-six or forty-seven; for
there is nothing enabling us to fix the exact date of this letter), and
when he had but few engagements, Bacon did not recognise his
aptitude for translating his first scientific work into Latin, it is hardly
likely that he would possess this aptitude in his sixtieth year, when he
held high office under the Crown, and was immersed in business.
Now, there is nothing whatever in Bacon's letter to Playfer which

WAS THE NOV. ORG. WRITTEN IN LATIN? 13

either asserts or implies inaptitude to write Latin. And, as to being
but little engaged in business, Bacon, if not already actually appointed
Solicitor General 16 , was using all his influence to obtain the office,
and was certainly recognised, on all sides, as amongst the foremost
men both at the Bar and in Parliament. How little idea Liebig could
have had of the pressure of public life in England, of the nature
of the office of Solicitor General, or of the state of public business
at this time, it is quite unnecessary for me to point out to any
English reader. Moreover, Bacon's mind was already full of his
philosophical projects and of the great revolution which he was to
accomplish in the study of nature. Was it likely that he would waste his
time in turning into Latin a work which already existed in English ?

Such is the exceedingly slender character of the negative evidence
on which we are required to accept the very sweeping assertion,
that Bacon could not write Latin and that all his works were
originally composed in English !

But, with respect to the Novum Organum, it happens that we pos-
sess positive evidence to the contrary. Archbishop Tenison (writing
in 1678) states distinctly: 'The Second Part of his Great Instaura-
tion (and so considerable a part of it, that the name of the whole is
given to it) is his Novum Organum Scientiarum, written by himself
in the Latin Tongue 17 .' And, to make this evidence the more
weighty, it comes immediately after a description of the negotiations
between Bacon and Playfer about the translation of the Advancement
of Learning, and a criticism of the translation of the De Augmentis
into English by Dr. Gilbert Wats. The evidence of Tenison I
regard as almost conclusive, but it is as well, perhaps, to mention one
or two subsidiary arguments. Hume (History of England, vol. vi.
p. 191) states, in a criticism of Bacon's style, which shews how
partial and superficial such judgments ordinarily are : ' Most of his
performances were composed in Latin ; though he possessed neither
the elegance of that, nor of his native tongue.' Nor, till the time
of Liebig (who certainly had no special means of knowledge), am
I aware that any one ever questioned the Latin composition of the
Novum Organum as well" as of several of Bacon's other works.

16 Bacon was finally, after much delay in filling up the appointment, made
Solicitor General on June 25, 1607. Playfer died, Feb. 2, 1608-9. The letter of
Bacon to Playfer was, according to Mr, Speddir.g. ' certainly written " somewhile "
after November 1605, when the Advancement of Learning was published ( a good
while since,' according to Bacon himself), and certainly not after July 1608.'

17 Baconiana, pp. 28, 29.

14 INTRODUCTION.

Then, as M. Bouillet remarks, many of the fragments and smaller
pieces, such as the Sententiae Duodecim, the Temporis Partus
Masculus, the Inquisitio de Motu, &c., are written in Latin, and
it is hardly likely that Bacon would have thought it worth while to
have these imperfect essays translated for him.

Again, I may mention that the MS. of the Cogitata et Visa,
which I have personally inspected, is corrected throughout in Bacon's
own hand-writing, and in such a manner as to shew that he was
perfectly familiar with the proprieties of Latin composition 18 . More-
over, in the Commentarius Solutus, or Bacon's Common-Place Book,
now in the British Museum (Add. MS. 27,278), the entries are made
almost indifferently in English and Latin.

Lastly, the Latin of, at least, the First Book of the Novum
Organum, rugged and unclassical as it often is 19 , seems to me so
distinctly to bear the mark of genius, and of the same kind of
genius that we find stamped on Bacon's English expression, that
I should feel it very difficult to refer it to any of the men who sur-
rounded Bacon rather than to Bacon himself.

5. BACON'S GENERAL PHILOSOPHICAL OPINIONS.

BACON was not the founder of a philosophical school. Indeed,
there is no character which he would himself have more emphatically
repudiated. ' Primo itaque postulandum videtur, ne existiment ho-
mines, nos, more antiquorum Graecorum, aut quorundam novorum
hominum, sectam aliquam in philosophia condere velle 2 ".' But,
though not the founder of any special school of philosophy, it seems
to me unquestionable that his exposition of his method, and, perhaps,
also individual expressions in his writings, contributed in no small
degree to the creation of what is commonly called the empirical

' v It inav be noticed that in Bacon's letter to Andrewes (Spedding's Letters and
Life, vol. iv. j>. 141 . lie asks his correspondent 'to mark unto in e whatsoever shall
seem unto you either not current in the style,' Sec. This is hardly the language of
a man \vho was not himself responsible for the style. Cp. the Postscript to Bodley's
Letter to Bacon, published in 'Remains,' pp. $5-87.

1 ' That Bacon had formed for himself an ideal of Latin composition, for the pur-
poses for which he required it, and an ideal just such as we find exemplified in the
Novum Organum, is plain fiom the account given by Tenison (Baconiana, p. 26)
of his discontent with I)r. I'layfer's performance: ' Upon this great occasion he'
(I>r. 1'layfer ' would lie over-accurate; and he sent a Specimen of such superfine
Latinity that the Lord llacon did not encourage him to labour further in that work,
in the penning of which he desired not so much neat and polite, as clear, masculine,
r.iul apt expression.' - u Nov. Org. i. 116.

BACON'S PHILOSOPHICAL OPINIONS. 15

school of English philosophy. As, however, I have discussed this
question in the sections on the Influence and Value of Bacon's
writings, it is unnecessary that I should also dwell upon it here. It
may be enough to say that, like Socrates, he rather gave an impulse
and suggested lines of thought to others, than elaborated a definite
system of his own.

But, at the same time, it is interesting to ask what the opinions of
Bacon were, so far as we can gather them, on the controverted ques-
tions of psychology, ontology, and ethics. Now, as to what, for want
of a better name, may be called ontological or metaphysical questions,
the questions, namely, which relate to the origin and essential nature
of matter and mind, and the relation between the two, his ordinary
attitude is that of a disinterested, if not a contemptuous, silence.
The passage just cited proceeds as follows: 'Neque enim hoc agimus;
neque etiam multum interesse putamus ad hominum fortunas quales
quis opiniones abstractas de natura et rerum principiis habeat; neque
dubium est, quin multa hujusmodi et vetera revocari et nova introduci
possint; quemadmodum et complura themata coeli supponi possunt,
quae cum phaenomenis sat bene conveniunt, inter se tamen dissen-
tiunt.' A deep sense of the unprofitable character of these specula-
tions has, indeed, been a characteristic not of the Baconian philosophy
only, but of British philosophy in general, which, with a healthy instinct,
has usually either avoided them altogether or discussed them solely with
the view of shewing that they lie outside the limits of human knowledge.
An apparent exception is, perhaps, to be found in Bacon's constant re-
currence to the doctrines of the Atomists, as to the atoms and the void.
But these, properly speaking, are questions of physics rather than of
metaphysics. On the standing feud between what are, somewhat
uncouthly, called the Idealists, the Materialists, and the Dualists, there
is, so far as I am aware, no formal discussion in Bacon's writings,
unless we count the passage in the De Principiis atque Originibus
(E. and S., vol. iii. p. no\ in which, quite sincerely as I believe, he
adopts the scriptural doctrine of creation out of nothing by the omni-
potent power of God. ' Tria enim videntur esse dogmata quae
scimus ex fide circa hanc rem. Primo, quod materia creata sit ex
nihilo. Secundo, quod eductio systematis fuerit per verbum ofnni-
potentiae, neque quod materia se ipsa eduxerit e chao in schema-
tismum ilium. Tertio, quod schematismus ille (ante praevaricationem)
fuerit optimus ex iis quae materia (qualis creata erat) suscipere posset.
At philosophiae illae ad nullum horum adscendere potuerunt. *
In his itaque fidei atque ejus firmamentis standum.'

1 6 INTRODUCTION.

The fact is that Bacon lived too early or too late to take any serious
part in these metaphysical discussions. In their scholastic form they
had become discredited, and their new form, under which they were to
exercise so much of the best thought of the two succeeding centuries,
had not yet been impressed on them by the genius of Descartes.
Bacon assumes the ordinary distinction of mind and matter, an
universe of objects to be known and a thinking subject capable, with
due care and discipline, of attaining to a knowledge of them, without,
apparently, troubling himself as to the ulterior questions, what is
knowledge, how can I become conscious of that which is not myself,
and what are the ultimate meaning and relation of the two terms in
this comparison.

On questions of psychology, as distinct from metaphysics, we find
a fair number of passages in Bacon's writings. The most important
perhaps of these are those in which, following Telesius 21 , he asserts
the duality of the human soul. Man, according to this doctrine (which
is stated most fully in De Augmentis, iv. 3), has two souls, one
peculiar to himself, the rational soul which he derives from the
breath of God, the other, shared by him in common with the brutes,
the irrational soul, which comes from ' the wombs of the elements.'
' Yeniamus ad doctrinam de Anima Humana ; e cujus thesauris
omnes caeterae doctrinae depromptae sunt. Ejus duae sunt partes ;
altera tractat de Anima Rational!, quae divina est ; altera de Irra-
tionali, quae communis est cum brutis. Notavimus autem paulo
superius (ubi de Form is loquebamur) differentes illas duas Anima-
rum emanationes, quae in prima utriusque creatione se dant conspici-
endas ; nimirum, quod altera ortum habuerit a Spiraculo Dei, altera e
Matricibus Klementorum. Nam de Animae Rationalis generatione
primitiva ita ait Scriptura, Formavit hominem dc linw tcrrae, et spiravit
in facicm cjus sfiracuhim vitac. At generatio Animae Irrationalis,
sive Brutorum, farta est per verba ilia, Producat aqua ; Frodiicat
terra ; haec autem Anima (qualis est in homine) Animae Rationali
nrganum tantum est. atque originem habct et ipsa quoque, quemad-
modum in brutis, e limo terrae. Neque enim dictum est, Formavit
corpus homiiiis de liino ferrae, seel Formavit hominem ; intcgrum scilicet
hominem, exrepto illo spiraculo. Quamobrem partem primam doc-
trinae goneralis circa Animam Humanam, doctrinam de Spiraculo

BACON'S PHILOSOPHICAL OPINIONS. 17

appellabimus ; Secundam vero, doctrinam de Anima Sensibili sive
Producta. Neque tamen, cum hactenus Philosophiam solam tracte-
mus (quippe Sacram Theologiam in fine operis collocavimus) parti-
tionem istam a Theologia mutuaremus, nisi etiam cum principiis
Philosophiae conveniret. Plurimae enim et maximae sunt Animae
Humanae praecellentiae supra animas brutorum, etiam philosophanti-
bus secundum sensum manifestae. Ubicunque autem tot et tantarum
invenitur excellentiarum symbolum, ibi merito semper constitui debet
differentia specifica. Itaque nobis non nimium placet confusa ilia et
promiscua philosophorum de Animae Functionibus tractatio ; ac si
Anima Humana gradu potius quam specie discriminata esset ab
anima brutorum; non aliter quam sol inter astra, aut aurum inter
metalla.' This theory of the material generation of the lower soul
may not unnaturally have contributed to the formation of materialistic
hypotheses as to the nature of the soul in general amongst Bacon's
successors, with whom the twofold division disappeared, remote as I
believe this conclusion to have been from his own views 22 .

The enquiry into the 'substance' of the rational soul is a matter
rather for theology than philosophy ; ' ab eadem inspiratione divina
hauriatur [cognitio de Substantia Animae Rationalis], a qua Substantia
Animae primo emanavit.' But the doctrine concerning the sensible
or produced soul is a fit subject of enquiry in philosophy, even as
regards its substance. 'Anima siquidem Sensibilis sive Brutorum
plane substantia corporea censenda est, a calore attenuata et facta
invisibilis.' It is, in fact, compounded of flame and air (' ex natura
flammea et aerea conflata ') 2S . This soul, which, in man, is merely
the instrument of the rational soul, might more fitly be termed ' Spirit.'

Quitting these theories, which to us appear so strange, we may
note Bacon's enumeration of the principal faculties (' Facultates
Animae ') : ' Intellectus, Ratio, Phantasia, Memoria, Appetitus, Vo-
luntas, denique universae illae, circa quas versantur scientiae Logicae
et Ethicae 2 V Of these faculties he says we ought, in the ' Doctrina
de Anima,' to discuss (' tractare ') the ' Origines,' ' idque physice '
(or, as we should now say, ' psychologically '), ' prout animae innatae
sint et adhaereant.' ' In hac parte,' he adds, ' nihil egregii (ut nobis

22 The materialistic tendency of Bacon's philosophy is, I think, exaggerated by
Lange. See Geschichte des Materialismus, 2nd ed., vol. i. pp. 194-199, and other
places. Lange, who seems too ready to accept Liebig's conclusions, does scant
justice to Bacon's merits.

23 De Augm. iv. 3. E. and S., vol. i. p. 606.
2! Id. p. 607.

!g INTRODUCTION.

videtur) adhuc repertum est.' The faculties of Memory, Imagin-
ation, and Reason are made the basis of the general divisions of
Learning into History, Poetry, and Philosophy. 'Intellectus' or
Understanding seems to be the generic term including Memory,
Imagination, and Reason 25 . As distinct from the ' Doctrina de
Anima ' (or, as we should now say, Psychology), there are two arts
which treat of the use and objects of the mental faculties. These
are Logic and Ethic. ' Logica de Intellectu et Ratione ; Ethica
de Yoluntate, Appetitu, et Aflectibus disserit : altera Decreta, altera
Actiones progignit.' Imagination exercises the functions of a mes-
senger or intermediary in both departments, that of Reason and that
of Will. ' Nam Sensus idola omnigena Phantasiae tradit, de quibus
postea Ratio judicat : at Ratio vicissim idola electa et probata
Phantasiae transmittit, priusquam fiat executio decreti "V

It may be noticed that the sharp line of demarcation drawn here
and in similar passages between the offices of the so-called 'faculties'
was a common feature of the philosophy of the seventeenth and
eighteenth centuries, and has only been replaced in comparatively
recent times by a more just appreciation of the complexity of our
various mental operations and of the number of elements which go
to make up some even of those psychical acts which at first sight
appear the simplest.

Passing over the very curious remarks which Bacon makes on
'Natural Divination' and 'Fascination' (the two 'appendices,' as he
calls them, to the part 'De Facultatibus Animae'), I may direct special
attention to the distinction which he draws between Perception and
Sense, a distinction which he notes as deficient 'in this doctrine.'
This distinction is not the same as that drawn by later philosophers
between Perception and Sensation 2T , but corresponds rather with that

-"' Sex- Advancement of Learning, bk. ii. ^E. and S., vol. iii. p. 329} : 'The parts
of human learning have reference to the three parts of Man's Understanding, which
is the .-eat of learning: History to his Memory, Poesy to his Imagination, and
Philosophy to his Reason.' Jn the corresponding part of the De Augmentis (lib.
ii. cap. i., the \\ord ' Undemanding ' is replaced by 'Anima Rationalist But,
almost immediately afterwards, ' Intellectus ' or Understanding seems to be used as
n generic term, tor sense is called the 'door of the understanding' (intellectus
jamia . and then the intellectual processes which follow on the impressions of sense
are enumerated as Memory, Imagination, and Reason. I do not know of any pas-
sage in IJaeon's works, \\here 'intellectus' or understanding is employed in the
specific sense appropriated to i-oCs by Plato and Aristotle, as the faculty which
apprehends the first principles of knowledge.

" I >e Augmentis, lib. v. cap. I.

" 1 confess that I cannot understand how De Rc'musat can have been so utterly

ACON'S PHILOSOPHICAL OPINIONS. 19

between unconscious or reflex actions and conscious affections. As
instances of the former, he gives the attraction of the magnet, the
union of two bubbles, &c., in the case of insensible bodies, and, in
the case of sensible bodies, the digestion of food, the beating of the
heart and pulse, &c.

That the only source of our ordinary knowledge is to be found in
experience Bacon seems to assume throughout his works 28 , though he
never, so far as I recollect, attempts to ascertain the conditions of
experience or to analyse it into the elements of which it consists.
The source of some portions of our knowledge, such as that of ' the
substance of the rational soul' 29 ' and of moral principles 3o , is referred
to Divine Inspiration, but this, I think, is usually the inspiration of
the Bible, given once for all, rather than any constant illumination
specially imparted to the individual. In one place, however, at least,
(De Augm. lib. ix. ; E. and S. vol. i. p. 83 1 3I ), he does undoubtedly refer
our moral sentiments to a sort of divine influence, acting immediately
and without any dependence on the ordinary avenues of knowledge.
' Notandum tamen, Lumen Naturae duplici signification accipi ;
primo, quatenus oritur ex sensu, inductione, ratione, argumentis,
secundum leges coeli ac terrae ; secundo, quatenus animae humanae
interne affulget instinctu, secundum legem conscientiae ; quae
scintilla quaedam est, et tanquam reliquiae, pristinae et primitrvae
puritatis. In quo posteriore sensu praecipue particeps est anima
lucis nonnullae ad perfectionem intuendam et discernendam legis
moralis; quae tamen lux non prorsus clara sit, sed ejusmodi ut
potius vitia quadamtenus redarguat, quam de officiis plene informet.'
Here we seem to have a third source of knowledge, corresponding
almost exactly with what Butler calls 'conscience 32 ,' in addition to
the ' Sense ' and ' Divine Inspiration ' (there confined to Theology)

mistaken (see p. 270, n. i), as to suppose that Bacon uses these terms in the same
sense as Reid and Stewart.

2S See, for instance, Nov. Org. i. 19-22; De Augm. iii. I ad init. : ' Omnis
enim scientia duplicem sortitur informationem. Una inspiratur divinitus, altera

oritur a sensu Partiemur igitur scientiam in Theologiam et Philosophiam ; '

Distributio Operis (reprinted in this edition), 'Sensus, a quo omnia in naturalibus
petenda sunt, nisi forte libeat insanire.'

29 De Augm. iv. 3 (E. and S., vol. i. p. 6o6\

30 De Augm. vii. 3 (vol. i. p. 732) ; ix. (pp. 830, 831 \

31 Cp. Advancement of Learning, bk. ii. 'E. and S., vol. iii. p. 479).

32 This faint glimmering, as it were, of a primitive light may be one of the
excellencies of the Rational Soul, spoken of in De Augm. iv. 3 ad init. : ' Plurimae
enim et maximae sunt Animae Humanae praecellentiae supra animas brutorum,
etiarn philosophantibus secundum sensum nianifestae.'

C 2

20 INTRODUCTION.

which are spoken of as if they were the sole sources at the beginning
of I)e Augmentis, bk. iii.

It is impossible not to see in these speculations, crude as some of
them are, the beginnings of much of the later English psychology
which became so famous in the hands of Locke, Hume, Reid, and
others. Besides the points already noticed I might also draw atten-
tion to the conception that Logic, Ethics, and Politics ought to be
treated inductively R3 , the striking contribution towards a theory of
Memory and Association which occurs in Novum Organum, ii. 26,
and, above all, the invaluable Aphorisms in the first book of the
Xovum Organum on the Idola Tribus and the Idola Specus 34 .

Bacon's Moral Philosophy is mainly contained in the seventh book
of the I)e Augmentis, and has, perhaps, hardly received the attention
which it deserves. As Logic treats of the Intellect, Ethics treats of
the \Yill ; ". 'Voluntatem gubernat recta ratio, seducit bonum ap-
parens. Voluntatis stimuli affectus ; ministri, organa et motus
voluntarii.' Ethics may be divided into two principal doctrines, one
treating of the exemplar or image of good, the other (to which he
gives the fanciful title of ' Georgica Animi ') of the regulation and
culture of the mind. He finds fault with previous philosophers for
not having carried their enquiries deeper, by searching for the roots
of good and evil, and the very fibres of those roots ; ' Ante omnia,
si Xaturam Rerum non minus quam Axiomata Moralia consuluis-
scnt, doctrinas suas minus prolixas, magis autem profundas reddi-
dissent ;v '.' Good is either public or private, and the appetite to
both these kinds of good is native to the human mind, and, indeed,
to everything which exists. ' Inditus est atque impressus unicuique
rei appetitus ad duplicem Naturam Boni : alteram, qua res Totum
quiddam est in seipsa ; alteram, qua est Pars Totius alicujus Majoris.

1; See Novum Organum, i. 127.

' On the connexion between the mind and body, and the localisation of various
moral qualities and intellectual faculties, see a curious passage in l)e Augmentis,
iv. i. especially towards the end.

In I >e Augment!-;, vi. 3 ;K. and S., vol. i. p. 671% there is a good statement
<>! the respective ends of Logic and Ethics: 'Finis cnim Dip.lecticae est docere
turmam aigunientoruin, ad pracMdia intellectus, non ad insidias. Finis itidem
I.'hicac alKciii^ ita componere, tit rationi militent, non autem earn invadant.'

At the >-ime time, he nowhere expressly discusses the fundamental questions
ol Morals, such as the grounds of Moral Obligation or the nature of the Moral
I'aculty, unless, indeed, we make an exception in favour of the few words devoted
to tlie interims instinctus/ referred to just above.

BACON'S MORAL PHILOSOPHY. 21

Atque posterior haec ilia altera dignior est et potentior ; cum tendat
ad conservationem Formae Amplioris. Nominetur prima Bonum
Individuate sive Suitatis ; posterior Bonum Communionis? Those
of my readers who are at all acquainted with the subsequent develop-
ment of Moral Philosophy in England will not fail to find in this
sentence the germ of one of the leading ideas in the systems of
Shaftesbury, Hutcheson, and many other English writers.

With the more minute divisions of Good, and with the details of
Bacon's moral system generally, I need not trouble the reader, who
can easily consult this part of the De Augmentis for himself 37 .

There are, however, one or two points which deserve special
notice. Thus, Bacon, like all other English writers, down, I believe,
to the time of Hobbes, makes morality ultimately dependent on
theology. Ethics is the hand-maid of theology, and, though it may
contain much useful instruction within its own limits, it must always
be subservient to the master-science. ' Quod si quis objiciat ani-
morum curationem Theologiae Sacrae munus esse, verissimum est
quod asserit ; attamen Philosophiam Moralem in famulitium Theolo-
giae recipi instar ancillae prudentis et pedissequae fidelis, quae ad
omnes ejus nutus praesto sit et ministret, quid prohibeat ? Etenim
quemadmodum in Psalmo habetur, quod oculi ancillae perpetuo ad
manus dominae respidufit, cum tamen minime dubium sit, quin haud
pauca ancillae judicio et curae relinquantur ; eodem modo et Ethica
obsequium Theologiae omnino praestare debet, ejusque praeceptis
morigera esse; ita tamen ut et ipsa, intra suos limites, haud pauca
sana et utilia documenta continere possit 38 .' Of course, this point of
view is hardly consistent with the comprehension of ethics under the
sciences admitting of an inductive treatment 30 , but, then, at this
stage in the history of ethical thought, we must not expect con-
sistency, except in writers, like Hobbes, who had devoted special
attention to the ultimate grounds of moral and political ideas. An
inconsistency of another kind may be found in Bacon's anxiety to
liberate natural philosophy from the control of theology, notwith-
standing his readiness to subordinate to that science moral philo-
sophy and, as we have seen, even a portion of psychology.

It may be noticed also that Bacon finds a special argument for the
divine origin of the Christian religion in its marked preference of the

37 I have treated more largely of Bacon's Moral Philosophy in my ' Francis
Bacon' (Sampson Low and Co., 1881). See pp. 169-175, and compare pp. 41-45.

38 De Augmentis, vii. 3. '"'' See Nov. Org. i. 127.

22 INTRODUCTION.

common to the individual good. ' Nulla omnibus saeculis reperta
est vel philosophia vel secta vel religio vel lex aut disciplina, quae in
tantum Communionis Bonum exaltavit, Bonum vero Individuale de-
pressit, quantum Sancta Fides Christiana; unde liquido pateat unum
eundemque Deum fuisse, qui creaturis leges illas Naturae, hominibus
vero legem Christianam dedisset 40 .'

It is a remark very characteristic of Bacon's point of view that the
superiority of the public to the private good determines the contro-
versy as to the relative advantages of the practical and contemplative
life in favour of the former. For the reasons, he says, adduced by
Aristotle in favour of the latter have respect only to private good
and the pleasure or dignity of the individual. Nor, if the monastic
life had been regarded as merely and strictly contemplative, could
any doubt on this question have ever arisen in the church : ' Con-
templativam vero quod attinet meram, et in seipsa terminatam,
quaeque radios nullos sive caloris sive luminis in societatem huma-
nam diffundat ; nescit earn certe Theologia 4 V

In concluding this section, I must again remind the reader that
Bacon's merit does not consist in his philosophical teaching in the
proper sense of the term, but in his assertion of the necessity of a
new method, of a new range of studies, of a new spirit of enquiry.
He was a logician, in the widest and fullest sense of the word.
A philosopher he did not claim to be ; and, though I believe that
his works exerted a very powerful influence on the philosophical
speculations of the two succeeding centuries, a philosopher, in the
strict sense of the term, he was not.

6. lUCON'S SCIENTIFIC ATTAINMENTS AND OPINIONS,
WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO THE STATE OF KNOW-
LEDGE IN HIS TIME.

OF the many charges brought against Bacon, as a philosopher
and a reformer of science, there are three, connected with the present
subject, which it would be vain to deny, though, in the course of
this enquiry, we may find something to plead in extenuation of them.
1 he first is that he was a Dilettante in science. The second, that
he was imperfectly acquainted with the existing state of knowledge.

I >e Auinneiitis, vii. I.

DC Au^'in. vii. i (E. and S., vol. i. pp. 718, 719".

BACON'S SCIENTIFIC ATTAINMENTS. 23

The third, that he grossly exaggerated the defects of his own time,
which, in spite of all that he says, was really one of great and
fruitful intellectual activity.

This section (which must necessarily be far briefer than its im-
portance demands, though I trust that its omissions will, to a great
extent, be supplied in the notes on the Novum Organum itself) cannot
be more appropriately commenced than by the following sketch of
Bacon's errors and omissions, traced, it must be remembered, by
the not unfriendly hand of Mr. Spedding 42 :

' It is impossible, I think, to read Mr. Ellis's remarks upon those
parts of his works in which he comes in contact with what we call the
exact sciences, mathematics, for instance, and mechanics, and not
to feel that in the faculty of distinguishing differences, the faculty
whose office is (as he describes it in the Novum Organum, i.^figere
contemplationes, et morari et haerere in omni subtilitate differentia rum,
he was (comparatively at least) deficient. This appears both from
the imperfect account of the existing condition of those sciences
which he gives in the De Augmentis Scientiarum, no notice being
there taken of some of the most important advances which had been
made by the writers immediately preceding him ; and from his own
experiments and speculations upon subjects which required their help.
Though he paid great attention to Astronomy, discussed carefully
the methods in which it ought to be studied, constructed for the
satisfaction of his own mind an elaborate theory of the heavens, and
listened eagerly for the news from the stars brought by Galileo's
telescope, he appears to have been utterly ignorant of the discoveries
which had just been made by Kepler's calculations 43 . Though he
complained in 1623 of the want of compendious methods for facili-
tating arithmetical computations, especially with regard to the doctrine

42 Preface to the De Interpretation Naturae Prooemium, vol. iii. pp. 510-512.
The whole of this Preface is very interesting. Mr. Spedding ascribes Bacon's
mental defects and his ignorance of so many scientific details mainly to the great
predominance, in his mind, of the discursive over the critical faculty, the faculty
which detects the broader resemblances and more striking analogies of things over
that which notes differences and patiently studies particular facts.

* 3 See Mr. Ellis's Preface to the Descriptio Globi Intellectualis. [Vol. iii. pp. 723,
724. ' The treatise De Stella Martis was published in 1609, and became known in
England at least as early as 1610. Harriot, it appears from Professor Rigaud's
account of his papers, was then in correspondence with Kepler, and repeated his
calculations. That Bacon was acquainted with his writings we can hardly believe ;
they bear so directly on the questions which he has discussed that he could scarcely
have neglected to notice them, had he known them even by report.']

24 INTRODUCTION.

of Series, and fully recognised the importance of them as an aid
to physical enquiries ; he does not say a word about Napier's
Logarithms, which had been published only nine years before and
reprinted more than once in the interval 44 . He complained that no
considerable advance had been made in Geometry beyond Euclid,
without taking any'notice of what had been done by Archimedes and
Apollonius 4 ''. He saw the importance of determining accurately the
specific gravities of different substances, and himself attempted to
form a table of them by a rude process of his own, without knowing
of the more scientific though still imperfect methods previously
employed by Archimedes, Ghetaldus, and Porta 46 . He speaks of
the (vprjKu of Archimedes in a manner which implies that he did not
clearly apprehend either the nature of the problem to be solved or

!l See vol. i. p. 577, note 2. [De Augm. iii. 6. 'In Arithmeticis autem, nee
satis varia et cummoda inventa sunt Supputationum compendia, praesertim circa
Pri'gressiones, quarum in Physicis usus est non mediocris.' On this passage Mr.
Ellis observes in his note : ' One would certainly not infer from this remark, to
which there is nothing corresponding in the Advancement of Learning, that Bacon
was aware that, in the interval which had elapsed since its publication, the greatest
of all inventions for facilitating arithmetical computations had been made known.
Napier's Logarithms were published in 1614, and reprinted on the continent in
1620; in which year Gunter's Canon of Triangles was also published. In 1618
Robert Napier's account of his father's method and Briggs's first table of Logarithms
were both published. In the year succeeding that of the publication of the De
Augmentis his larger tables, and probably those of Wingate, made their appearance.'

' These dates are sufficient to show how much the attention of mathematicians was
given to the subject. It would almost seem as if some one, possibly Savile, had
told Bacon what was no doubt true that the application of the doctrine of series
to arithmetical computation was not as yet brought to perfection, and that he had
adopted the remark without understanding the importance of the discovery to
which it referred, and perhaps without being aware that any such discovery had
been made.'

I may add that an English translation of Napier's Logarithms by Edward Wright
\\as pi.bli-hed at London in 1616. and re-published in 1618.]

I'!, ibid., note i. [De Augm. iii. 6. ' Quae duae artes,' sc. Geometria et
Aiithmetica, ' magno certe cum acumine et industria inquisitae et tractatae sunt;
veruntameii et Euclidis laboribus in Geometricis nihil additum est a sequentibus,
quod intervallo tot saeculorum dignum sit ; et doctrina de Solidis nee a veteribus
nee a modcrnis pro rei usu et excellentia instructa et aucta est.']

See Preface to the Historia Densi et Rari, vol. ii. p. 233. [The Archi-

medes 1'iomotus of M:ui;>.us Ghetaldus was published at Rome in 1603. His

1 Imdintj specific gravities has, as Mr. Ellis remarks ,vol. ii. p. 230 ,

remained ia r.sc, with certain modifications and corrections, to the present day.

< inplcte edition of Baptista I'orta's Natural Magic was published at Naples

in i^ij. Many ol the 'experiments' in Bacon's Syiva Sylvarum are said by Mr.

je taken from this work. Bacon, therefore, probably became acquainted

with it between writing the Ilislnia Densi et Rari and the Sylva Sylvarum.]

BACON'S SCIENTIFIC ATTAINMENTS. 25

the principles upon which the solution depended 47 . In reviewing
the progress of Mechanics, he makes no mention either of Archimedes
himself, or of Stevinus, Galileo, Guldinus, or Ghetaldus" 18 . He makes
no allusion to the theory of Equilibrium 49 . He observes that a ball
of one pound weight will fall nearly as fast through the air as a ball
of two, without alluding to the theory of the acceleration of falling
bodies, which had been made known by Galileo more than thirty
years before 50 . He proposes an enquiry with regard to the lever,
namely, whether in a balance with arms of different length but equal
weight the distance from the fulcrum has any effect upon the in-
clination though the theory of the lever was as well understood in
his own time as it is now 51 . In making an experiment of his own
to ascertain the cause of the motion of a windmill, he overlooks an
obvious circumstance which makes the experiment inconclusive, and
an equally obvious variation of the same experiment which would
have shewn him that his theory was false 52 . He speaks of the poles
of the earth as fixed, in a manner which seems to imply that he was
not acquainted with the precession of the equinoxes r ' 3 ; and in another
place of the north pole being above, and the south pole below, as a

47 See Preface to the Historia Densi et Rari, vol. ii. p. 233. [The whole of Mr.
Ellis's Preface to the Historia Densi et Rari is so interesting with reference to this
branch of science, that the student, who has sufficient leisure, should, by all means,
read it.]

48 See vol. i. p. 572, note i. [De Augm. iii. 5. For the contributions of Archi-
medes to mechanical and hydrostatical science, see Whewell's History of the Induc-
tive Sciences, bk. ii. ch. i, and for those of Galileo and Stevinus, bk. vi. chs. 1,2. I
refer to the third edition. For Ghetaldus, who is not mentioned by Whewell or Libri,
or even in the Biographic Universelle, see Mr. Ellis's Preface to the Historia Densi et
Rari, pp. 229-232, and Montucla, ed. of 1799, &c., ii. 5. The work of Guldinus,
De Motu Terrae, &c., was not published till 1622, and his more celebrated work,
Centrobarytica, &c., not till 1635. Hence, Bacon may surely, in this case, be ex-
cused for his ignorance. For an account of Guldinus and his discoveries, see Mon-
tucla, ii. 31-36.]

49 Id. p. 578, note i. [As Mr. Ellis says, this theory is as old as the time of
Archimedes, and, therefore, Bacon's silence is the more remarkable.]

50 Id. p. 625, note 2. [Galileo's experiments on Falling Bodies were made at
Pisa between 1589-1592. It is only fair, however, to Bacon to add that, though
these experiments were known to many scientific men, Galileo did not publish any
account of them till the appearance of his Dialogues in 1632.]

51 Vol. i. p. 638, note 2. [De Augm. v. 3. Topic (10). The principle of the
lever, in fact, had been known from the days of Archimedes (who lived B.C. 287-
212) downwards.]

02 See Preface to Historia Ventorum, vol. ii. p. 6. [The experiments are described
by Bacon in the Historia Ventorum, E. and S., vol. ii. pp. 64, 65.]
63 Vol. i. p. 343, note 3. [Nov. Org. ii. 48 (14).]

2 6 I NT RO DUCT 10 X.

reason why in our hemisphere the north winds predominate over the
south 5 V

' This list, for which I am entirely indebted to Mr. Ellis's prefaces
and notes, might probably be increased; but the instances enumerated
are sufficient to shew not only that Bacon was ill read in the history
of these branches of learning (and yet it was in this direction
that science was making the most real and rapid advances), but
also that upon such subjects his ideas were not clear ; this latter
detect being no doubt the cause of the other ; for where he could not
readily follow the steps of the investigation, he could hardly appreciate
the value of the result.'

To this list, formidable as it is, might be added a number of
beliefs in which Bacon was certainly not superior to the current
opinions of his time. Thus, he is evidently a believer, not only in
Natural but Judicial Astrology, though, it must be owned, with a
certain amount of hesitation and discrimination. See the long
and remarkable passage in I)e Augmentis, lib. iii. cap. 4 (E. and S.,
vol. i. pp. 554-560). After beginning with the very true remark, 'At
Astrologia multa superstitione referta est, ut vix aliquid sanum in ea
reperiatur,' and rejecting various branches of the pretended science,
ho, nevertheless, allows that the study of the stars may enable us to
predict not only natural events, like floods, frosts, droughts, earth-
quakes, ccc., but 'wars, seditions, schisms, transmigrations of peoples,
and, in short, all commotions or great revolutions of things, natural
as well as civil.' ' Xeque Electiones prorsus rejiciendae sunt ; sed
parcius illis quam 1'raedictionibus fidendum. Videmus enim in planta-
tionibus et seminationibus et insitionibus, aetatum lunae observationes
non esse res omnino frivolas'V

To the curious and absurd speculations on ' spirit,' which abound
in the Xovum Organum and elsewhere, and many of which seem to
have been derived from Paracelsus, I shall frequently have occasion
to call attention in the notes. A typical passage may be found in
Xovum Organum, ii. 40.

Though 1'atricius had already, in the most scornful language,

1 \ nl. ii. p. jS, note i. [Hi-toria Ventorum.] I may notice that, in annotating
the atiove quotation, I have invariably preserved Mr. Spedding's foot-notes, or
rather irlrreiiees. giving my own additions within brackets.

( p. Nov. <>rg. ii. ;o <> .5], ' Neque omittendi sunt consensus inter motus et
nfffutii!i lunae, 1 1 passioncs corporum ini'erioruni, prout ex experimentis agriculturae,
nauiicu-, e! maliciime, aut alias, cum delcetu severo ct sincero colligi et recipi
possint. 1

BACON'S SCIENTIFIC OPINIONS. 27

attacked the Peripatetic doctrine of the transmutabilityof the elements,
Bacon evidently believed that air and water, under certain conditions,
were mutually convertible. Thus in the Novum Organum, ii. 48 (i i),
on which see my note, he absurdly speaks of air ' qui super aquani
et aquea multiplicat se, et generat novum aerem,' while air, though
a fixed body in the parts immediately above the earth, is resolved
again into water in the upper regions of the atmosphere r>r> ,

Connected with this idea of the transmutability of air and water
is the strange theory, which he appears to have received without
question, that fountains originate in the condensation of air within
the hollow parts of the earth. See Historia Densi et Rari (E. and S.,
vol. ii. p. 293), and Novum Organum, ii. 50 (3), with my note on
the latter passage.

The transmutability of metals was another fancy which Bacon, in
part at least, accepted. Thus, in the Historia Densi et Rari (E. and
S., vol. ii. pp. 250, 251), though he doubts the possibility of manu-
facturing gold, on account of its great weight and density, he has
great hopes of producing silver by the conversion of lead or quick-
silver : ' Verum versio argenti vivi aut plumbi in argentum (cum
argentum sit illis rarius) habenda est pro sperabili; cum tantum
fixationem et alia quaedam innuat, non densationem.' In the Sylva
Sylvarum (Exps. 326 328), however, though he finds much fault
with many of the fanciful conceits of the Alchemists, his hopes seem
to have risen, and he actually proposes a recipe for the ' making of
gold.' The general question of the transformation of bodies is dis-
cussed in Nov. Org. ii. 5. This fancy, or, as, perhaps, we might
rather call it, sanguine expectation, I am not inclined to visit very
severely on Bacon. Though we may not be able to superinduce the
' forms ' of the various ' simple natures ' which constitute gold, yet,
if we could discover that it was a compound, we might be able to
put together the elements of which it consists, and thus produce it
artificially. Moreover, an error, if such it be 57 , which was shared
with Boyle, whose special business was with this class of questions,
and treated without disrespect by Newton BR , may well be pardoned

56 Cp. Historia Densi et Kari (E. and S., vol. ii. p. 293) with Historia Vitae et
Mortis (E. and S., vol. ii. p. 225).

57 See note on word ' Possibilis ' in Bk. ii. Aph. i.

58 Mr. Macvey Napier (Essay on Bacon, p. 7) calls attention to a letter from
Newton to Oldenburg, then Secretary of the Royal Society, on certain experiments
recently made by Boyle with reference to this subject. This letter, which contains
a gentle criticism of Boyle's investigations, not unmixed with irony, but by no
means treating the problem as an absurd or insoluble one, is printed in the General

2 8 INTRODUCTION.

to Bacon, who did not claim more than a general acquaintance with
the special branches of science.

It appears, at first sight, less excusable, whether we put it down to
lack of curiosity, or to want of sufficient appreciation of its import-
ance, that Bacon makes no mention of Harvey's great discovery of
the Circulation of the Blood. As Harvey began to teach this doctrine
in 1619, and as he was court-physician to James I, it is difficult to
suppose that Bacon had heard nothing of it 59 . The probability is
that, like most of Harvey's contemporaries, he regarded the theory as
hardly worthy of serious discussion. Aubrey tells us he had heard
Harvey say that ' after his booke of the Circulation of the Blood
came out [in 1628], he fell mightily in his practice, and 'twas be-
lieved by the vulgar that he was crack-brained ; and all the physi-
tians were against his opinion, and envyed him 60 .'

Though the true theory of the Motion of Projectiles had not been
distinctly stated till the publication of Galileo's Dialogues on Motion
in 1638, still the speculations of Tartalea, Digges, &c., ought, if they
had been known to Bacon, to have saved him from shewing such
complete ignorance, when treating of the subject, as he exhibits in
Nov. Org. ii. 36 (6), ii. 48 ad fin., and other places 61 . It is curious
that one of the books (the Pantometria, published in 1591), in which
Digges speaks of the compound motion of a projectile, was dedicated
to Bacon's father.

Notwithstanding his frequent criticisms of the Peripatetic doctrine
of Motion, it is plain that Bacon entertained no doubt of the 'latio
gravium versus terrain, et levium versus ambitum coeli l12 ,' or of the

Dictionary, Historical and Critical, based on Bayle, by Bernard, Birch, &c., London,
'735; v l- 'ii- P- 558. In the note on this and the preceding page are several
extracts from Doyle's papers, letters, &c. Boyle was certainly quite as much a
believer in the transmutation of the metals, and on much the same grounds, as
Bacon. Sue some curious passages in his Works, vol. ii. pp. 515, 516 ; vol. iii. p. 621
(ed. ot 1744'. In the former passage, he seems to entertain no kind of doubt that
he has produced silver out of gold, ' or at least a new kind of metal very different
from gold.' lie proceeds to conclude generally 'that there may be a real trans-
mutation of one metal into another, even among the perfectcst and noblest metals,
and that cflected by factitious agents in a short time, and, if I may so speak, after
a mechanical manner.'

IU In the Historia I >en-i et Ran, and in the very part which was probably written
during Bacon's last 'quinquennium,' he thinks it a sufficient account of pulsation in
the heart and arte.ies of animal.-, to say that it is due to the endless and alternate
dilatation and contraction of the spirits. See E. and S., vol. ii. p. 263.

01 Aubrey's Lives, vol. ii. p. 383.
1 See my notes on these two pas-ages, especially the latter.

'' Xov. Org. ii. 46.

BACON'S SCIENTIFIC OPINIONS. 29

existence of bodies having positive levity. In fact, in Nov. Org. ii. 35,
he repeats, in almost the precise words of Aristotle himself, the Aris-
totelian division of what is called ' motion of translation ' ($0/30), and
sums up his account with the words ' Atque ista pulchra dictu sunt.'
And though, with respect to the circular and eternal motion of the
heavenly bodies, he impugns Aristotle's theory in the Descriptio
Globi Intellectualis 6 \ I am not aware of any passage in which it
appears to occur to him that the received division of light and heavy,
and the two kinds of motion founded thereon, may be without
foundation M . At the same time, considering the obscurity of the
views of motion which then prevailed, and the fact that the weight of
the atmosphere had not yet been discovered, we are not here so much
justified in complaining of ignorance, as of a want of that insight
which in a man of Bacon's genius might possibly have been expected.
Connected with these opinions, are the theories that air has no weight,
being indifferent as regards gravity and levity, and that flame and
' living spirits ' are positively light G5 .

Passing to a very different subject, we find that, of the triad of
Paracelsus, sulphur, mercury, and salt, Bacon adopts two principles,
namely sulphur and mercury, as pervading the universe (quasi per
universitatem rerum permeare), and, apparently, as being the ulti-
mate elements of matter (naturas admodum primordiales, et penitis-
simos materiae schematismos ; et inter Formas Primae Classis fere
praecipuas) fiG . The mode in which he traces these principles through
all things in heaven and earth and under the earth appears to us pecu-
liarly absurd. He omits Salt, as compounded of the two others, but,
in doing so, can hardly be said to have improved on the theory of
Valentinus and Paracelsus. In two notes on Nov. Org. ii. 50 (6)

03 See my note to the passage on motion in Nov. Org. ii. 35.

64 He certainly criticises the explanations given (Nov. Org. ii. 35), but he does not
call in question the supposed facts themselves. It should, perhaps, also be men-
tioned that he does not recogni?e in air and similar bodies ' tarn fortis appetitus
petendi superiora, quam putatur.' Historia Densi et Rari (E. and S., vol. ii.

P- 2 55)-

65 Animal spirits, as being compounded of air and flame, are intermediate, in
point of levity, between the two. Sec Historia Densi et Rari 'E. and S., vol. ii.
pp. 255, 256). 'At spiritus vivos acre ipso aliquanto rariores existimamus : turn
quia inflammantur nonnihil ; turn quia diligenter experti sumus, aerem ad minu-

endum aut sublevandum pondtis nihil conferre At cor; us animale vivum

et mortuum gravitate manifesto differunt ; licet hand tantum quantum putantur.
Quare videtur aer pondus non minuere ; spiritus autcm vivus hoc facere.'

60 Cp. Nov. Org. ii. 50 (6) with Aditus ad Historian Sulphuris, Mercurii,
et Salis (E. and S., vol. ii. p. 82 .

INTRODUCTION.

ad init., I have spoken at such length on the history of this dogma,
and the manner in which Bacon presents it in various parts of his
works, that it would be superfluous to say anything further on the
subject in this place.

That in the Sylva Sylvarum (on which, however, see the apologetic
remarks of Rawley in his preface to the work 67 ) Bacon affords his coun-
tenance to many of the most absurd fancies of his time, is a fact so well
known and so universally confessed, that it hardly requires illustration.
I may give as instances, the conceit that the blood-stone is good for
them that bleed at the nose, with the quaere, whether 'the stone
taken out of the toad's head be not of the like virtue, for the toad
loveth shade and coolness c8 ;' the 'report' of 'the writers of natural
magic,' quoted apparently with approval, that ' the heart of an ape,
worn near the heart, comforteth the heart, and increaseth audacity,'
' and that the same heart likewise of an ape, applied to the neck or
head, helpeth the wit, and is good for the falling sickness co ; ' the
statement that ' there be divers sorts of bracelets fit to comfort the
spirits, and they be of three intentions, refrigerant, corroborant, and
aperient 70 ;' the suggestion to 'try the force of imagination upon
staying the working of beer when the barm is put in, or upon the
coming of butter or cheese, after the churning, or the rennet be put
in 71 ;' the sections on the influences of the moon 72 ; the notion thai
water is congealed into crystals . I might, of course, greatly extend
this list, but there is no object in doing so. The reader, who is curious
in such matters, may refer to the tenth century, which is full of
absurdities of this kind. On Bacon's behalf, it may be pleaded that
these were the fancies of his age, from which probably no man of that
time was altogether free 74 . We have only to look into books like
Sir Thomas Browne's 'Vulgar and Common Errors' or the various
works of Joseph Glanville, to see how persistent such notions were
even in the generation after Bacon's death. Moreover, a large
number of them may be grouped under the heads of ' sympathy and
antipathy,' ' force of imagination,' &c., subjects on which peculiarly
obscure ideas prevailed at this time. Lastly, Bacon's very hopeful-

In the section on the Opponents ofBacon, I have transcribed the more impor-
tant part of Kau ley's Apology.

" J - X P- '/>: Cu I'-*!'- 97- s - 7 " Exp. <;6i. 71 Exp. 992.

''' Exps. Sno-?<)7. ' Exp. 3(4. Cp. Nov. Org. ii. 4 S (4).

Some excellent illustrations of the super.-tltious fancies \\hich prevailed in
Bacon's time, and of the strange avidity with which they were swallowed even by
cultivated men, may be foiu.d in 1'attUon'j CasauLon, pp. 497-500.

BACON'S SCIENTIFIC ATTAINMENTS. 31

ness, and his sanguine expectations of what nature had in store for
those who diligently studied her, may have rendered him peculiarly
liable to be imposed on by these ' old wives' fables.'

But far the most important and, perhaps at first sight, the least
excusable of Bacon's scientific errors was his persistent rejection of
the Copernican theory 73 . It seems strange that one who laid claim
to be the great reformer of science should have steadily refused to
admit the greatest reform in scientific conceptions which had been
proposed for many generations, and which had already been before
the world for eighty years. To say nothing of Copernicans before
Copernicus 76 , the views of Kopernik himself were first published in a
letter by Rheticus in 1540, though his great work ' De Revolutionibus
orbium coelestium ' did not see the light till the very day of his death,
May 24, 1543 7? . The precise thesis maintained, it must be re-
collected, was that if the sun be regarded as the immovable centre of
the universe (we now, of course, know that it is not), and the earth
be supposed to have both a diurnal and an orbital motion, the
apparent phenomena of the heavens admit of a far more simple
mathematical explanation than on the received or Ptolemaic system 78 .
Whether this hypothesis represents what really does take place, that
is, whether the mathematical theory is also the true physical theory,
was another question, which might be resolved differently, or left
unresolved, by those who maintained the former. As Professor De

75 M. Bouillet, in a note on Nov. Org. ii. 36, is so much startled with this fact
that he is driven to the supposition that Bacon was deterred from embracing the
Copernican theory by fear of the inconvenient consequences which might thereby
be entailed on him, ' surtout sous un roi aussi devot que Jacques I er .' But this
theory appears to me hardly worth discussion.

76 On which subject, see an excellent article, entitled ' Copernicus in Italy.' in
No. 299 (July, 1877) of the Edinburgh Review. One of the works reviewed is
I precursori del Copernico nell' Antichita. Ricerche Storiche. Di G. V. Schia-
parelli. Milano, 1873.

77 The idea of his system, however, must have occurred to him before 1507. He
informs Paul the Third in his Dedication that he had kept the book by him for
four times the nine years recommended by Horace.

78 With reference to the merely hypothetical character ascribed to his reasoning,
the reader will do well to consult the curious and interesting admonition ' Ad Lec-
torem de Hypothesibus hujus operis ' prefixed to the work. This admonition occurs
in the first, as well as the subsequent editions, but it seems not to have been written
by Copernicus himself. It is not necessary for the hypotheses to be true, or even
probable, ' sed sufficit hoc unu.n, si calculum observationibus congruentem ex-
hibeant.' The office of the astronomer is confined to observation and calculation,
' cum veras causas assequi uulla ratione possit.'

3 2 INTRO D UCTION.

Morgan says 79 , ' the question whether Copernicus himself was a
Copernican in the modern sense of the word is not easily settled.
His phraseology is almost always that of a mathematical Copernican.
In a very few places, and cautiously, he leans to the physical truth
as probable, and to the diurnal motion as more probable than the
orbital.' It was not till the discovery of the satellites of Jupiter by
Galileo in 1609, that the Copernican system could be said to be
recommended by any other important considerations than those of its
simplicity. This important discovery, which was announced to the
world in the Sydereus Nuncius in 1610, irresistibly suggested an
analogy between the small system of Jupiter, now ocularly demon-
strated, and the large system of the Sun, as depicted theoretically by
the followers of Copernicus 80 . From this point the controversy
assumed a new phase, as is evidenced, amongst other things, by the
increased warmth of the dispute. Even still, however, and notwith-
standing the mathematical precision given to the theory by the
investigations of Kepler (whose work De Motibus Stellae Martis
was published in 1609), it cannot be said that, till the laws of formal
astronomy were connected by Newton with the physical laws of matter
and motion, the motions of the earth or its relation to the rest of the
solar system could in any way be regarded as placed beyond the
range of dispute. In Bacon's time, and especially during the earlier
period of his life, men might be well excused who suspended their
judgment, or who even preferred to adhere to the old assumption till
their objections to the new theory were removed. The following
sentences from Mr. De Morgan 81 are so apposite, and read a lesson
so universally useful to us, in estimating the scientific judgments of
men in past ages, that I am sure my readers will be grateful to
me for transcribing them. ' By investing Copernicus with a system
which requires Galileo, Kepler, and Newton to explain it, and their
pupils to understand it, the modern astronomer refers the want of

n to the ordinary books, Dclambre, "YVhcwcll, &c., the student, who
iclination to pursue this subject, is recommended to consult two very
ers !.>y the late Profes.-or De Morgan, one entitled, 'Old Arguments
tii in of the Knrth,' which appeared in the Companion to the British
^/>, the other, which appeared in the same publication for 1855,

entitled ' Notes on the Antegalilean Copcrnicans.'

Kvcn Bacon was sufficiently moved by this discovery to include among his

nifi rmations in the Thcma Coeli (K. and S., vol. iii. p. 780), ' solisequium ex natura

itmpiosa in ignibus intinnioribus Veneris et Mercurii ; cum etiam invcntae sint a

( ialila--<> stellulae crrantes Jovis asseclae.'

< oinpanion to the J'.ritish Almanac for 1855, pp. 21, 22.

BACON'S SCIENTIFIC ATTAINMENTS. 33

immediate acceptance of that system to ignorance, prejudice, and
over adherence to antiquity. No doubt all these things can be traced;
but the ignorance was of a kind which belonged equally to the
partisans and to the opponents, and which fairly imposed on the pro-
pounder of the system the onus of meeting arguments, which, in the
period we speak of, he did not and could not meet. It must be
remembered that, in the sixteenth century, the wit of man could not
imagine how, if the earth moved, a stone thrown directly upwards
would tumble down upon the spot it was thrown from. Easy ex-
periments verify the law of motion which now explains this ; but, to
be proved by experiment, a law must be conceived and imagined.
To be put under discussion, it must be proposed. Now the advocates
of the earth's motion never, before the time of Galileo, even con-
ceived this law, never proposed it, and of course never proved it.'

It is possible to draw up a long list of eminent men, astronomers
and others, anterior to or contemporary with Bacon, who adopted
and taught the Copernican theory. Such were Rheticus, Reinhold,
author of the Prutenic tables (who, however, according to Delambre 82 ,
simply made use of the observations of Copernicus for the purpose of
constructing tables, and gave no opinion as to the motion of either
the earth or the sun), Peter Ramus, Francis Patrizi (Patricius),
Giordano Bruno, Thomas Digges, William Gilbert, Maestlin (who,
however, seems to have been mainly a mathematical Copernican), and,
lastly, Kepler and Galileo themselves. But of these, some, like
Patricius, Bruno, and Ramus, do not seem to have had any very
good reasons for their opinions. Others, like Gilbert 83 , to whom we
may add Patricius, only admitted the diurnal motion of the earth,
and may therefore be claimed by either side. And against this list
we may put the great name of Tycho Brahe 84 (who, however,
having died in 1601, did not live to become acquainted with the dis-
coveries of Galileo), Vieta, the greatest French mathematician of the

* 2 Delambre, Histoire de 1'Astronomie Moderne, tome i. pp. 145, 146 : 'II n'a
rien change aux theories, il n'a songe qu'a perfectionner les nombres.' Still
Delambre thinks that he had a preference for Copernicanism.

f3 See Descriptio Globi Intellectualis (E. and S., vol. iii. p. 742). In accordance
with this opinion, as cited by Bacon and possibly orally communicated to him by
Gilbert, are the silence on the orbital motion observed in the De Magnete, lib. vi.
capp. 3, 4, and the enumeration of the difficulties attending the theory in the
posthumous work, De Mundo Xostro Sublunari, lib. ii. cap. 20.

^ As is well known, Tycho Brahe propounded a system of his own, according
to which the planets, with the exception of the moon, move round the sun. while
the sun itself, with its attendant planets, moves round the earth.

34 INTRODUCTION.

sixteenth century (who, however, also died as early as 1603), Clavius,
who was employed by Gregory XIII to reform the Calendar and
was called the Euclid of his age, probably Edward Wright, and pos-
sibly, from his silence, even Stevinus. Amongst the latest of the
Anti-Copernicans were Thomas Lydiat, who died in 1646, and
Riccioli, who in his Almagestum Novum, published as late as 1651,
enumerated, according to Whewell 85 , fifty-seven Copernican argu-
ments, and pretended to refute them all.

The list of Anti-Copernicans, respectable though it be, is not, it
must be acknowledged, equal in reputation to that of the Coper-
nicans, but then posterity, it must be recollected, is always kinder
to the winning than to the losing side. And even of the Coper-
nicans, as we have seen, some went only half way, while others,
probably, did not feel very confident of the conclusions which they
had embraced. More or less of hesitation as between the two
theories, or rather as between the various theories, was, perhaps,
the commonest state of mind among those who were qualified to
give any opinion 8C , and this sometimes appears to have been the
case, even with Bacon himself, though never to the extent, I believe,
of actually altering the conclusions which he had formed on the
subject in early life.

As to the tone in which Bacon treats this question, I cannot but
think that most readers have been led to conceive an undue pre-
judice against him by the ill-considered statement of Hume, that ' he
rejected, with the most positive disdain, the system of Copernicus "V
That he consistently rejected the system of Copernicus throughout
life, whether as to the annual or as to the diurnal motion, I certainly
believe, as I have pointed out in my notes" 8 ; but, if we except
a passage in his juvenile performance, the Praise of Knowledge,
where he speaks of ' these new carmen who drive the earth about 89 ,'
and another in the Temporis Partus Masculus on , where, as I have so

K5 History of the Inductive Sciences, bk. v. ch. 3. sect. 5.

* Whewell, in proof of the hesitation felt at even a late period, refers to the be-
ginning of the 8th book of Paradise Lost ^first published in 1667'.

* 7 Hume's History of England, Appendix to the Reign of James I.

See notes on Nov. Org. ii. 36 (2", 46, 48 '17). In a note on the first of these
passages, I have combated a statement made by Dr. Whewell (History of the In-
duutive Sciences, 3rd ed., vol. i. Additions, p. 389), that ' it would seem as if Bacon
himself had a leaning to believe the diurnal motion of the earth, when he wrote
this passage.'

M Spedd ing's Letters and Life, i. 124.

' An non vides (fili) turn eccentricorum et epicyclorum ingeniatores, turn terrae

AGON'S SCIENTIFIC OPINIONS. 35

often said, he purposely states his views in an exaggerated form, I do
not think that the tone in which he speaks of the Copernican theory
can at all fairly be described as that of ' positive disdain.' Thus, in
Nov. Org. ii. 35, his language is, 'At motus ille perennis rotationis
videtur esse coelestium proprius ; statio, sive quies, videtur competere
globo ipsi terrae 9 V In ii. 36 (2), he proposes the alternative between
the diurnal motion of the earth and that of the heavens as a subject
of serious enquiry, to which an ' instantia crucis ' may be applied,
though I think there is no doubt as to the side to which he himself
leans. In ii. 46, speaking of the enormous velocity which must be
ascribed to the heavens on the ordinary theory, he says with the
greatest candour, ' quae etiam viros graves ita obstupefecit, ut mallent
credere motum terrae 92 .' Again, in ii. 48 (17), speaking also of the
motion of the heavens, he says : ' Attamen gravis de illo motu lis est
inter nonnullos tarn ex antiquis quam modernis, qui rotationem terrae
attribuerunt.' In the De Augmentis, iv. i (E. and S., vol. i. p. 580),
we have a cautious and discriminating statement, which must have
commended itself to many men at the time : ' Constat similiter sen-
tentiam Copernici de Rotatione Terrae (quae nunc quoque invaluit),
quia phaenomenis non repugnat, ab Astronomicis Principiis non posse
revinci; a Naturalis tamen Philosophiae Principiis, recte positis, posse.'
In the Thema Coeli, though he sums up his opinion at the end, by
saying ' Negant terram rotare,' he speaks, in the body of the work,
as if at one time he had actually hesitated between the two theories :
' Terra itaque stante (id enim nunc nobis videtur verius) 93 .' This work,
however, was written about 1612. In the De Augmentis, published
in 1623, he pronounces himself far more positively: 'harum suppo-
sitionum ' (sc. of the Ptolemaic System) ' absurditas in motum terrae
diurnum (quod nobis constat falsissimum esse) homines impegit 94 .'
Even this statement, however, emphatic as it is, is far from exhibiting
' the most positive disdain.' Lastly, I ought to mention that, in the
Descriptio Globi Intellectualis 95 , Bacon actually advances some very
cogent reasons against the Copernican theory, as it was then stated,

aurigas, aequa et ancipiti phaenomenoram advocatione gaudere?' E. and S., vol.
iii. p. 536.

91 On the real or apparent discrepancy between this passage and one in the
Descriptio Globi lutellectualis, see notes on ii. 35.

92 In the next paragraph, speaking of Galileo's theory of the tides, he adds : ' Sed
hoc commentus est concesso non concessibili (quod terra nempe moveatur).'

93 E. and S., vol. iii. p. 773.

91 De Augm. iii. 4 (E. and S., vol. i. p. 552).
95 E. and S., vol. iii. pp. 740, 741.

D 2

3 6 INTRODUCTION.

reasons indeed so cogent that they are amongst those which have
led to considerable modifications of that theory 9lJ .

I conceive, then, with regard to this point, that, on the whole, I have
made out a case, if not for acquittal, at least for very considerable
mitigation of judgment. Bacon appears, in early life, like the
majority, probably, of even his scientific contemporaries, to have
conceived a strong prejudice against the Copernican theory. In
middle life, he seems for a time to have wavered, or, at least, to have
felt some hesitation, though never, I believe, to the extent of adopting
the theory of the earth's motion. The reasons against the theory,
probably, appeared to him more and more decisive, till at last, with
advancing age, he became positive in his opposition to it. Now,
surely, this is a piece of mental history so common, and one to which
we are all, in turn, so liable, that, before casting our stone at Bacon,
we may at least pause to consider the circumstances of his age, the
attitude with respect to the same question assumed by his contem-
poraries, and the amount of evidence by which the doctrine he
rejected was at that time supported. To parallel cases there is no
limit, but I may specially mention the tenacity with which many
English mathematicians adhered to the Cartesian system long after
the publication of Newton's discoveries (which, unlike those of
Copernicus, possessed demonstrative force), the tardy reception of
those discoveries on the continent of Europe, and the obstinate
resistance offered by Leibnitz to the Newtonian doctrine of Gravi-
tation 1 ' 7 . Not only are we liable, as I have already intimated, to
ascribe to a theory now fully established a degree of perfection and
an amount of evidence which it did not at first possess, and then
express our surprise that it was not at once universally welcomed,

'"'' One of these, the triple motion of the earth, as conceived by Copernicus, seems
to have been amongst the reasons which prevented Gilbert from positively adopting
the theory of the orbital motion, though lie was an enthusiastic adherent of the
theory of the diurnal motion. -See his posthumous work, DC Mundo Xostro
Sublunari, lib. ii. cap. jo.

-' All these cases are mentioned in the last section of Playfair's Dissertation,
after hi.^ account of Newton's discoveries. lie enters at some length on the two
former. For the last 'which appears to me a much stronger case of prejudice, in-
veteracy of habit, or whatever we like to call it, than that of Bacon . the reader
should refer to the letters which passed between Clarke and Leibnitz. The passage
in the text 0:1 the Lnglish mathematicians is stated in a more qualified manner than
in the foimei' edition, and is no longer restricted to Cambridge mathematicians
I was not, when I originally wrote the passage, acquainted with Dr. NYhewcll's
letter in the Museum Criticum, vol. ii. pp. 514-9, for a knowledge of which I am
indebted to Mr. C. \\'oidswoith's vSchoIae Academicae, p. 67.

XACON'S SCIENTIFIC ATTAINMENTS. 37

but we are also given to assume that the almost superstitious rever-
ence with which we now invest the great names of the past ought to
have exercised an equal influence over their contemporaries 98 .

Having dwelt so long on the unfavourable side of the picture,
we may now turn to the more agreeable task of considering the
positive claims of Bacon to recognition in the History of Science.
And, first, I must warn my readers against expecting too much.
Bacon, I have acknowledged, was a Dilettante (or, to speak more
correctly, an Amateur) in science, and, therefore, can hardly be
expected to be a great discoverer. Nor did he lay claim to any such
distinction. His business was, so to speak, with the philosophy and
logic of science, rather than with the body of science itself; what he
hoped to do, was not so much to advance science in his own person,
as to shew others how it might be advanced, and to impel them to
the work. That he was successful in this mission, I think I have
succeeded in shewing elsewhere ". But, if an Amateur, he was an
Amateur of no ordinary kind. The wealth of illustration exhibited
in the Novum Organum and the vast range of subjects reviewed in
the De Augmentis shew a width of knowledge and an universality of
interest which, notwithstanding all the defects we have just been
enumerating, were probably equalled in the case of no other man
then living. What he gained in width, he, of course, to a certain
extent, lost in depth ; for this is the universal law of the human
intellect. He was not a Specialist, and, therefore, cannot be said to
have left a great name in the annals of any particular branch of
science. But, to say nothing of the place which he merits in the
history of Science considered in its totality, he did, I conceive,
throw out many suggestions of rare sagacity even in the particular
sciences, and, in a certain sense, anticipate more recent discoveries.
To some of his more remarkable anticipations of subsequent views or
discoveries I shall now proceed to direct the attention of the reader.

9S It has been frequently remarked that Bacon never mentions Kepler. It is pro-
bable, as Mr. Ellis remarks, that he was not acquainted with Kepler's writings, but
the mere omission of his name would find at least a parallel in the case of Descartes,
who, though long posterior to Bacon, and having frequent occasion to treat of
astronomical questions, makes no reference to Kepler in any part of his works.

I may here take the opportunity of mentioning that the best account and criti-
cism of Bacon's astronomical views in detail is to be found in Mr. Ellis's Preface to
the Descriptio Globi Intellectualis, vol. iii. pp. 715-726.

99 See the section on Bacon's Influence on Philosophy and Science.

3 8 INTRODUCTION.

First of all, in connexion with the subject just discussed at so
much length, I may mention his sagacious and possibly fertile sug-
gestion of the necessity of a closer union between formal and
physical astronomy. ' Nos nulla cum priorum inventorum jactura,
tamen longe majus opus movemus; neque enim calculos aut prae-
dictiones tantum meditamur, sed philosophiam ; earn scilicet, quae
de superiorum corporum non motu solummodo ejusque periodis, sed
substantia quoque et omnimoda qualitate, potestate, atque influxu,
intellectum humanum informare, secundum rationes naturales atque
indubitatas absque traditionum superstitione et levitate, possit ; atque
rursus in motu ipso invenire atque explicare, non quid phaenomenis
sit consentaneum, sed quid in natura penitus repertum atque actu
et reipsa verum sit 1 .' A little further on 2 he draws a distinction
between the objects of philosophy and astronomy : ' De substantia
coelestium inquirit praecipue philosophia, et de causis motus eorum ;
de motu ipso vero et ejus accidentibus, astronomia; de influxu et
potestate, utraque. Debuerat autem esse cautum inter astronomiam
et philosophiam, ut astronomia praeferat hypotheses quae maxima
expeditae ad compendia calculorum ; philosophia vero quae proxime
accedunt ad veritatem naturae. * * * * Itaque cum utraque scientia
(qualis mine habetur) sit res levis et perfunctoria, fortius omnino
figendus est pes ; ac si ista duo, quae propter angustas hominum
contemplationes et usum professorium per tot secula disjungi con-
sueverunt, una atque eadem res sint, atque in unum scientiae corpus
conflata.' Equally or more remarkable is a passage in the De
Augmentis 3 , where, also insisting on the importance of Physical
Astronomy, he compares mere formal astronomy with the stuffed
ox of Prometheus, and insists (a most pregnant idea) on the necessity
of connecting celestial with terrestrial phenomena, of explaining what
takes place in the heavens and what is seen amongst us, the one
by the other. ' Quicunque enim Superlunarium et Sublunarium
conficta divortia contempserit, et Materiae Appetitus et Passiones
maxime Catholicas (quae in utroque globo validae sunt, et universi-
tatem rerum transverberant) bene perspexerit, is ex illis quae apud
nos cernuntur luculentam capiet de Rebus Coelestibus informationem,
et ab iis e contra quae in coelo fiunt hand pauca de Motibus
Inferioribus (qui mine latent) perdiscet ; non tantum quatenus hi ab

1 Dcscriptio Globi Intellectualis, cap. 5 (E. and S., vol. iii. p. 734".

3 Ca P- 7 (PP- 74 8 > 749)-

3 De Augmentis, iii. 4 (E. and S., vol. i. pp. 552-554).

BACON'S SCIENTIFIC ATTAINMENTS. 39

illis regantur, sed quatenus habeant passiones communes. Quamo-
brem hanc partem Astronomiae, quae Physica est, desiderari statuimus.
Earn Astronomiam Vivam nominabimus, ad differentiam bovis illius
Promethei suffarcinati, et solummodo figura tenus bovis.' This
passage might almost be regarded as a prediction not only of the
discoveries of Newton, but of the mode in which he made them.
And, though views of this kind were already beginning to be in the
air, it might be maintained, not without probability, that passages
such as these, so admirably expressed, so full of hope, and so rich
in suggestion, had no inconsiderable share in bringing about the
magnificent results achieved in the studies of astronomy and
mechanics by the next generation. As Dr. Whewell says, ' however
erroneous might be the points of Bacon's positive astronomical creed,
these general views of the nature and position of the science are most
sound and philosophical V

From the consideration of the justness and possible influence of
Bacon's views on the union of physical and formal astronomy and on
the necessity of combining the explanations of celestial and terrestrial
phenomena, we pass by a natural transition to the famous passages
on Attraction. In the Lettres sur les Anglois (1728-1730), which,
though they certainly did not create, undoubtedly did much to revive
the celebrity of Bacon in France, Voltaire says at the end of a long
eulogium : ' Mais ce qui m'a le plus surpris, c'a ete de voir dans
son livre, en termes expres, cette Attraction nouvelle dont M. Newton
passe pour 1'inventeur V And the Article on Bacon in the Diction-
naire Philosophique begins : ' Le plus grand service peut-etre que
Francois Bacon ait rendu a la philosophic a ete de deviner 1'attraction.'
This praise, as I shall presently observe in the section on Bacon's
Influence on Philosophy and Science, I believe to be greatly exag-
gerated, for it was the discovery of the precise Law of Attraction and
its illustration in so many departments of nature rather than the mere
divination of its influence which constituted the peculiar merit of
Newton ; but, at the same time, few, I think, can read the passages
in Bacon, where he alludes to this subject, and fail to recognise their
remarkable character. Even allowing for Gilbert's influence fi , I think
that the passage in Nov. Org. ii. 36 (3), and the Instantia Crucis

* History of the Inductive Sciences, bk. vii. ch. i.

5 Lettre xii.

6 As I remark in my note on the Text, even if the idea was suggested to Bacon
by the work of Gilbert, he ought, at least, to have the credit of having detached the
conception of attraction from that of magnetism.

4 o INTRODUCTION.

there proposed (the reader will do well to study the whole of this
section with care), reflect great credit on Bacon's sagacity, and, even
if they stood alone, would entitle him to some place in the History
of Science 7 . Not only does he suggest the attraction of the earth's
mass as the cause of the fall of heavy bodies, but he adds that, if this
be the cause, the nearer the bodies approach the earth, the more
strongly and with the greater force will they be drawn towards it,
while, the further off they are, the weaker and the slower will be
their motions. Moreover, the experiment proposed is itself very
ingenious, and is, in principle, no other than that recently used in
the series of scientific observations instituted in the Dolcoath and
Harton Collieries 8 . With this passage, which is, however, the most
remarkable, the student may compare what Bacon says on the same
subject in Nov. Org. ii. 35, 37, 48 (9) 9 , in the Aditus ad Historian!
Gravis et Levis (E. and S., vol. ii. p. 80), and in the Descriptio Globi
Intellectualis, cap. 7 (E. and S., vol. iii. p. 762). In the last passage,
it is only fair to add, he refers to Gilbert. I may also add that in the
Sylva Sylvarum, Exp. 704, Bacon shews a just and intelligent con-
ception of the nature of gravity, when he says that it ' is a mere
motion of matter, and hath no affinity with the form or kind.'

On subsidiary points connected with Astronomy, I may adduce as
examples of Bacon's sagacity the fact that he saw that there must be
some reason why the heavens rotate from east to west, or, as we
should put it, why the earth rotates from west to east 10 , the idea of the
possibility of predicting comets 11 , and his recognition of the probable
or possible influence of the moon on the spring and neap tides 12 .

7 See the appreciative remarks of Sir John Herschel in his Discourse on the Study
of Natural Philosophy, 196.

" See the remarks of Sir John Herschel referred to above, and Mr. Ellis's note on
the pas-age. In my own note, I have pointed out certain defects in the experiment
as proposed, when estimated in reference to our present state of knowledge.

" In this passage Bacon actually contemplates the attraction exerted by the sun
upon the planets : ' aut sol alliget astra Veneris et Mercurii, ne longius absint a
corpore ejus, quam ad distantiam certam.'

Nov. Org. ii. 48 (14). For the generalisation, or rather approximate generalisa-
tion, of this proposition, and the probable cause of the phenomenon, see my notes
on the passage.

" De Augmcntis, iv. 3 (E. and S., vol. i. p. 558) : ' Praedictiones fieri possint de
Cometis futuris, cjui (ut nostra fert conjectura) praenunciari possunt, et de omni
genere meteorum,' &c. It must be confessed, however, that he then goes on to
speak of the prediction of wars, seditions, schisms, &c. Moreover, the same ques-
tion was discussed in the time of Seneca, and even earlier. See Nat. Quaest., lib.
vii. capp. 3, 4, 19, 25. The last of these chapters is peculiarly interesting.

See Nov. Org. ii. 45, 48 (9). In my note on the former passage, I have spoken

BACON'S SCIENTIFIC ATTAINMENTS. 41

In Nov. Org. ii. 46, we have the brilliant conjecture that the actual
state of the starry sky precedes by an interval of time that which is
apparent to us, in other words, that light requires time for its trans-
mission. ' Atque hoc, cum similibus, nobis quandoque dubitationem
peperit plane monstrosam ; videlicet, utrum coeli sereni et stellati
facies ad idem tempus cernatur 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. Adeo incredi-
bile nobis videbatur, species sive radios corporum coelestium per tarn
immensa spatia milliarium subito deferri posse ad visum ; sed potius
debere eas in tempore aliquo notabili delabi.' Unfortunately, Bacon
proceeds to explain away his conjecture by arguments almost as
perverse as the thought itself is felicitous 13 .

Amongst Bacon's claims to the recognition of scientific men, a
high place ought to be given to his felicitous illustration of the
' Instantiae Solitariae H ' by the enquiry into the causes of Colour.
The passage, to which, with my notes upon it, I must refer the reader,
might justly be regarded as a striking anticipation of the optical
investigations, afterwards so deservedly celebrated, of Newton.

In connexion with the same subject, I may refer to some inter-
esting speculations on the phenomena of Refraction in Sylva Sylva-
rum, Exps. 761, 762.

Both M. Bouillet and Mr. Ellis rightly call attention to the import-
ance of an experiment, tried with a hollow globe of lead, by which
Bacon attempted to determine the question of the compressibility or
incompressibility of water ls . This experiment has every appearance
of having been original, and certainly preceded by nearly fifty years
the celebrated experiment of a similar nature, usually called the
Florentine experiment, made by the Accademia del Cimento at
Florence. Both experiments were, as we now know, inconclusive,

of Bacon's change of opinion on this subject. On the causes of the semi-diurnal
ebb and flow he seems to have been inclined to adopt an entirely different opinion.
See notes on Nov. Org. ii. 35 and 36 (i).

)3 On the Velocity of Light, see my notes on the passage quoted.

11 Nov. Org. ii. 22.

15 See Nov. Org. ii. 45, 50 (2) ; Historia Densi et Rari (E. and S., vol. ii.
pp. 299, 300). From these passages it appears that Bacon thought he had demon-
strated the compressibility of water. From the Florentine experiment, so far as
any conclusion at all was drawn, it was the opposite one. On the subject generally,
see my notes on Nov. Org. ii. 45.

j2 INTRODUCTION.

but this circumstance does not detract from the ingenuity of con-
ception which suggested them.

Humboldt (Kosmos, vol. ii. pp. 322, 379, 380) compliments Bacon
on having in his Historia Yentorum (which Humboldt dates much
too late) considered the direction of the winds in connexion with
temperature and aqueous phenomena, and having thereby laid the
foundations of a theory of the currents of the atmosphere.

Again, we find, scattered here and there in Bacon's works, pro-
found views of nature, which recent science has done much to
illustrate and confirm. Such is the implied criticism of the ordinary
doctrine of species contained in the passage on Realism in Nov. Org.
i. 66. Such, too, is the opinion on the ultimate constitution of
bodies expressed in his atomic theory 16 , and that on the ultimate
condition of their parts expressed towards the end of Nov. Org.
ii. 48 : 'Etenim in corporibus hie apud nos nulla vera est quies, nee in
integris, nee in partibus ; sed tantum secundum apparentiam.' And,
to give one more instance, there is shewn throughout his works a
wonderful appreciation of the combined unity and variety in Nature,
as well as of the necessity of never losing sight of the one in con-
sidering the other. See, for example, Nov. Org. ii. 17, and the
Ii :stantiae Clandestinae, Monadicae, Deviantes, and Foederis to which
M. Bouillet so appropriately calls attention (he might have added the
Instantiae Conformes and Limitaneae) in his note on that passage.

Bacon's constant references to the new science of Magnetism,
recently almost created by Gilbert, shewed no unwillingness to
accept novel theories, when they did not, as seemed to him to be
the case with the Copernican theory, involve complex and arbitrary
assumptions.

The suggestions and contributions made by Bacon to the sciences
<>\ mind and conduct seem to me neither few nor unimportant. But
to these I have drawn attention in two other sections, that on his
general philosophical opinions and that on his influence on Philosophy
and Science.

I have reserved to the last some remarks on the investigation into
the nature of Heat, which occupies so conspicuous a place in the
\ovum Organum. It is quite true, as Mr. Ellis points out in his
General Preface 1T , that the provisional conclusion adopted by Bacon
in ii. 20, as his Yindemiatio Prima, is not the result of the Method of

Amongst many other places, see Nov. Org. ii. ~, 8.
Vol. i. pp. 36. 3-.

BACON'S SCIENTIFIC ATTAINMENTS. 43

Exclusion, but rests immediately upon the three tables ofComparentia.
Hence it does not pretend to be the result of formal proof, but only a
sort of probable hypothesis based upon the consideration and com-
parison of a large number of instances. Separating, however, the
question of the mode by which it was arrived at from the nature and
value of the conclusion itself, I think Bacon must be credited with
having in a remarkable manner anticipated one of the most beautiful
and important discoveries of modern science. Stripping it of certain
excrescences, the essential part of the conclusion is that Heat is an
expansive motion amongst the minute particles of bodies. And this,
after much speculation and experimentation, and the predominance,
for a long time, of another theory, namely, that heat is a subtle fluid,
called Caloric, is the precise conclusion at which the most eminent
physicists have at length arrived. Professor Tyndall does Bacon the
justice of quoting in an Appendix 18 a considerable portion of the
2oth Aphorism, as illustrating the theory which he has himself so ably
and clearly expounded.

On an impartial investigation, then, of this question ", I think we
must conclude that, while Bacon undoubtedly did not possess any-
extensive or precise acquaintance with any single branch of science,
and while, in some respects, his writings did not keep pace with the
discoveries of the day, his range of vision covered an extraordinarily
vast sweep of knowledge, and his scientific conceptions, and the

18 See the Appendix to ch. 2 of Tyndall's Heat a Mode of Motion. It is only
fair, perhaps, that I should refer to the unfavourable opinion of this example ex-
pressed by Dr. Whewell (Philosophy of Discovery, chs. 15, 16), who pronounces
that ' as an example of the mode of interrogating Nature, it cannot be looked upon
otherwise than as a complete failure.' Exit, though I cannot admit this criticism
as other than very exaggerated even as to the mode of enquiry, with regard to the
result it is surely a sufficient answer that Bacon did, as a matter of fact, divine the
true nature of heat.

19 It must be understood that I have not attempted to give an exhaustive account
either of Bacon's scientific errors or of his scientific claims to recognition. In each
case, I have only attempted to select typical examples, though I think I have in-
cluded nearly all the points of real importance on either side.

Of the invention of the thermometer, ascribed to Bacon by De Vauzelles and
Bottillet, I have said nothing, because 1 think the fact that Bacon, in none of the
places where he makes mention of this instrument, advances any claim to its inven-
tion, is alone a sufficient reason, if not for positively denying his invention of it,
at least for not positively ascribing it to him. Mr. Ellis (in a note on Nov. Org.
ii- J 3 (38) and De Remusat (pp. 34, 35) agree in thinking that the invention has
been ascribed to Bacon without good reason. It was probably due, in the fir^t
instance, to Galileo.

INTRODUCTION.

suggestions which from time to time he throws out, occasionally shew
a marvellous amount of sagacity and penetration. That they were
also fertile in the subsequent History of Science, by raising man's
hopes of what might be achieved, by stimulating to enquiry, and by
actually supplying new points of view in the interpretation of nature,
I can hardly entertain any doubt.

7. BACON'S RELIGIOUS OPINIONS.

Two of the most striking Aphorisms in the First Book of the
Xovum Organum are the 65th and Sgth. In the former, after
speaking of the ' corruptio philosophiae ex superstitione et theologia
admista,' Bacon goes on to say : ' 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 fundare conati sint ; inter
viva quaerentes mortua. Tantoque magis haec vanitas inhibenda
venit, et coercenda, quia ex divinorum et humanorum malesana ad-
mistione, non solum educitur philosophia phantastica, sed etiam
religio haeretica. Itaque salutare admodum est, si mente sobria fidei
tantum dentur quae fidei sunt.' In the latter Aphorism he says,
speaking of the causes of the slight progress hitherto made by men
in the sciences, ' Neque illud praetermittendum est, quod nacta sit
philosophia naturalis per omnes aetates adversarium molestum et
difficilem ; superstitionem nimirum, et zelum religionis caecum et
immoderatum.' And again: 'At in hujusmodi misturis theologiae
cum philosophia, ea tantum, quae nunc in philosophia recepta sunt,
comprehenduntur ; sed nova, licet in melius mutata, tantum non
summoventur et exterminantur.' And he sums up as follows : ' At
vere rein reputanti, philosophia naturalis, post verbum Dei, certissima
superstitionis medicina est ; eadcmque probatissimum fidei alimen-
tuin. Itaque merito religioni donatur tanquam fidissima ancilla :
cum altcra voluntatem Dei, altera potestatem manifestet.'

Now 1 think that these passages, and the complete separation
which he there advocates between theology and science, furnish the
I icst key to Bacon's religious opinions, and, at the same time, afford
an explanation of the almost constant disputes which have been
carried on nearly from his own times to ours as to what the nature of
his religious opinions really was. It is easy to see that a man who

BACON'S RELIGIOUS OPINIONS. 45

penned the above sentences might readily be suspected of harbouring
in his mind a still greater mistrust of theological conclusions than he
overtly expresses ; and it is, at the same time, I think, no less easy to
see, if we know anything of the history of opinion, that the maxims
expressed might in Bacon's age, when speculations of this kind and
the comparison of conclusions arrived at in different branches of
knowledge were comparatively rare, be uttered, even by a man of the
most religious temperament, in perfect good-faith.

I am myself of opinion not only that the religious side of these
Aphorisms expresses Bacon's sincere convictions, but also that he did
not materially dissent from the religious teaching, which was generally
current in his day, on what may be called the fundamental doctrines
of Christianity.

In order to arrive at an independent opinion on this point, I will
ask the reader, who is interested in the question, carefully to compare
the following references (which are, of course, far too long to be
extracted) : Nov. Org. i. 65, 89 ; De Augmentis, lib. i. (E. and S.,
vol. i. pp. 433-437), iii. 2, iii. 4, ix. throughout ; Essays on Unity
in Religion, Atheism, and Superstition ; and, lastly, Bacon's formal
Confession of Faith 20 . Of this last piece, however, it should be
stated that it first appeared in the Remains (1648), and that, as it is
described in the Harleian MS. 21 as by Mr. Bacon, it must have been
written before the summer of 1603. Thus, it may possibly (though
I have no positive reason for saying that it is so) enter into more
minute details of doctrine than Bacon would afterwards have been
disposed to do. To the Christian Paradoxes I do not refer, as being
now known to have been written by another hand 22 .

On carefully considering these and the other passages in which
Bacon alludes to religion, or handles religious subjects, the im-
pression left on my mind may be summed up in the following
conclusions.

i st. Notwithstanding his admiration for the philosophy of Demo-
critus, and his rejection of Final Causes from the domain of Physics,

20 For which see E. and S., vol. vii. pp. 215-226.

21 MS. 1893. fo. i, as referred to by Mr. Spedding.

a Namely by Herbert Palmer. The piece is included in the second part of his
Memorials of Godliness and Christianity. This fact was discovered by the Rev.
Alexander Grosart. Much doubt had previously attached to the piece, in conse-
quence of its not being included in the collections of either Rawley or Tenison,
though it appeared in the Remains of 1648. For the curious history of the piece,
and the various conjectures about it, see De Remusat, p. 150. note I, E. and S.,
vol. vii. p. 289, and, especially, Spcdding's Letters and Life, vol. vi. pp. 129-131.

46 INTRODUCTION.

he retained an unwavering faith in the existence of the Supreme God,
the creator and fashioner of the universe. The following well-known
sentences from the Essay on Atheism (published, it must be recol-
lected, in its corrected form by Bacon's own authority in 1625, the
year before his death) express, I believe, the most sincere convictions
of his heart : ' I had rather believe all the fables in the Legend, and
the Talmud, and the Alcoran, than that this universal frame is with-
out a mind. And therefore God never wrought miracle to convince
atheism, because his ordinary works convince it. It is true, that a
little philosophy inclineth man's mind to atheism; but depth in philo-
sophy bringeth men's minds about to religion. For while the mind
of man looketh upon second causes scattered, it may sometimes rest
in them, and go no further; but when it beholdeth the chain of them,
confederate and linked together, it must needs fly to Providence and
Deity. Nay, even that school which is most accused of atheism
doth most demonstrate religion ; that is, the school of Leucippus
and Democritus and Epicurus. For it is a thousand times more
credible that four mutable elements, and one immutable fifth essence,
duly and eternally placed, need no God, than that an army of infinite
small portions or seeds unplaced should have produced this order
and beauty without a divine marshal.'

2nd. I cannot question that Bacon also accepted the doctrines of a
Divine Providence and a providential order of the world. They are>
in fact, implied in the above passage. But the student will do well
to read the more explicit statement on this subject, contained in De
Augmentis, ii. n 23 . This passage, which, in substance, occurs also
in the Advancement of Learning, must have passed under Bacon's
hands and received his final approval as late as 1622 or 1623.

3rd. If we compare De Augmentis, lib. i. (E. and S., vol. i. pp. 483,
484), lib. iv. cap. i. (p. 585), and lib. iv. cap. 3 (pp. 605, 606), we
shall, I think, conclude that, while Bacon had no doubt as to the
immortality of the soul, he was, like some of the early fathers,
inclined to regard the belief as resting rather on a direct revelation
from God than on a necessary, or perhaps even legitimate, conclusion
of human reason 24 .

Cp. also the passage on the proper sphere of Natural Theology in De Aug-
mcntis, in. 2 : ' Quocirca, quod sit Dcus, quod rernm habenas tractet, quod summe
polens, quod sapiens et praescius, quod bonus, quod remunerator, quod vindex, quod
adorandus, ctiain ex operibus cjus demonstrari et cvinci potcst.'

'" It is notable that in the chapter on Natural Theology, quoted in the last note,
he cioes not mention the doctrine of the Immortality of the Soul, though he certainly

BACON'S RELIGIOUS OPINIONS. 47

4th. With respect to the Christian mysteries, Bacon seems, at least
in his earlier years, to have been inclined to trust himself to the
guidance of the church ; meaning, doubtless, the church as under-
stood by James and Andrewes, which, passing over the intermediate
times of Roman superstition, boasted of its now restored connexion
with the age of the primitive fathers. ' At restat adhuc,' he says, at
the beginning of the last Book of the De Augmentis, 'Theologia
Sacra, sive Inspirata. Veruntamen si earn tractare pergamus, ex-
eundum nobis foret e Navicula Rationis Humanae, et transeundum
in Ecclesiae Navem ; quae sola Acu Nautica Divina pollet ad cursum
recte dirigendum.' How far Bacon's confidence in the ' ship of the
church' was implicit, and without exception, is, I think, somewhat
doubtful. For it is a notable fact (which I have not seen elsewhere
noticed) that the passage on the nature and attributes of God,
including certain statements on the Trinity and the division of the
elect and reprobate, which occurs towards the end of the Advance-
ment of Learning, is altogether left out in the De Augmentis, published
eighteen years afterwards. Nor, generally, do I notice in Bacon's
later works any disposition to enter into details on the more specific
doctrines of religion 23 .

5th. Connected with this fact, is the very wide toleration which he
was evidently ready to concede to dissidents from the more generally

says nothing to intimate any desire of positively excluding it from the sphere of
these enquiries.

25 Macaulay (Essay on Bacon) says, on the whole, very truly : ' He loved to
dwell on the power of the Christian religion to effect much that the ancient philo-
sophers could only promise. He loved to consider that religion as the bond of
charity, the curb of evil passions, the consolation of the wretched, the support of the
timid, the hope of the dying. But controversies on speculative points of theology
seem to have engaged scarcely any portion of his attention. In what he wrote on
Church Government he showed, as far as he dared, a tolerant and charitable spirit.
He troubled himself not at all about Homoousians and Homoiousians, Monothe-
lites and Nestorians. He lived in an age in which disputes on the most subtle
points of divinity excited an intense interest throughout Europe, and nowhere more
than in England. He was placed in the very thick of the conflict. He was in
power at the time of the Synod of Dort, and must for months have been daily
deafened with talk about election, reprobation, and final perseverance. Yet we do
not remember a line in his works from which it can be inferred that he was either
a Calvinist or an Arminian.' I am disposed, however, to think that this description
applies with more complete accuracy to Bacon's later than his earlier state of feel-
ing on these subjects.

Dr. Abbott (' Francis Bacon,' p. 405) criticises the passage in the Text, in which
I have suggested a change of opinion on religious subjects in Bacon's later years.
In the Preface I have explained why I cannot accept his criticism.

48 INTRODUCTION.

received theological opinions. Witness the following passages from
the essay Of Unity in Religion : ' Concerning the Bounds of Unity ;
the true placing of them importeth exceedingly. There appear to be
two extremes. For to certain zelants all speech of pacification is
odious. Is it peace, Jehu ? What hast thou to do with peace 1 turn thee
behind me. Peace is not the matter, but following and party. Con-
trariwise, certain Laodiceans and lukewarm persons think they may
accommodate points of religion by middle ways, and taking part of
both, and witty reconcilements ; as if they would make an arbitrement
between God and man. Both these extremes are to be avoided ;
which will be done, if the league of Christians penned by our Saviour
himself were in the two cross clauses thereof soundly and plainly
expounded : He that is not until us is against us ; and again, He that
is not against us is with us : that is, if the points fundamental and of
substance in religion were truly discerned and distinguished from
points not merely of faith, but of opinion, order, or good intention.
This is a thing may seem to many a matter trivial, and done already.
But if it were done less partially, it would be embraced more generally.'
' Concerning the Means of procuring Unity ; men must beware,
that in the procuring or muniting of religious unity they do not
dissolve and deface the laws of charity and of human society. There
he two swords amongst Christians, the spiritual and temporal ; and
both have their due office and place in the maintenance of religion.
Hut we may not take up the third sword, which is Mahomet's sword,
or like unto it ; that is, to propagate religion by wars or by sanguinary
persecutions to force consciences ; except it be in cases of overt
scandal, blasphemy, or intermixture of practice against the state :
much less to nourish seditions ; to authorise conspiracies and rebel-
lions; to put the sword into the people's hands ; and the like: tending
to the subversion of all government, which is the ordinance of God.
For this is but to clash the first table against the second ; and so to
consider men as Christians, as we forget that they are men. Lucretius
the poet, when lie beheld the act of Agamemnon, that could endure
the sacrificing of his own daughter, exclaimed :

Tantum Rclligio potuit suadere malorum :

What would he have said, if he had known of the massacre in
France, or the powder treason of England ? He would have been
seven times more Epicure and atheist than he was. For as the
temporal sword is to be drawn with great circumspection in cases
ot religion ; so it is a thing monstrous to put it into the hands of

BACON'S RELIGIOUS OPINIONS. 49

the common people. Let that be left unto the Anabaptists, and other
furies. It was great blasphemy when the devil said, I will ascend and
be like the Highest ; but it is greater blasphemy to personate God,
and bring him in saying, / will descend, and be like the prince of
darkness : and what is it better, to make the cause of religion to
descend to the cruel and execrable actions of murthering princes,
butchery of people, and subversion of states and governments ?
Surely this is to bring down the Holy Ghost, instead of the like-
ness of a dove, in the shape of a vulture or raven and set out
of the bark of a Christian church a flag of a bark of pirates and
Assassins. Therefore it is most necessary that the church by doctrine
and decree, princes by their sword, and all learnings, both Christian
and moral, as by their Mercury rod, do damn and send to hell for
ever those facts and opinions tending to the support of the same ; as
hath been already in good part done. Surely in counsels concerning
religion, that counsel of the apostle would be prefixed, Ira hominis
non implet justitiam Dei. And it was a notable observation of a wise
father, and no less ingenuously confessed ; that those which held and
persuaded pressure of consciences, were commonly interessed therein them-
selves for their own ends?

Here we seem to detect the first note of the key which was after-
wards struck with such effect by Chillingworth in his Religion of
Protestants, by Jeremy Taylor in his Liberty of Prophesying, and,
above all, by Locke in his Letters on Toleration. And, like these
writers, Bacon probably did not see the consequences of his own
principles. Like them, he would probably have set limits to Tolera-
tion, nor am I sure that he would not have set precisely the same
limits as Locke, namely, by excluding ' Papists ' on the one side
and 'Atheists' on the other. As in the case of Locke, too, and,
perhaps, of all who advocated Toleration in those days, when the
true principles of Political Philosophy were so imperfectly understood,
Bacon's zeal against persecution and intolerance arose, probably, in
no small measure, from vagueness, uncertainty, or indifference, in his
own religious beliefs.

6th. The indifference of which I have just spoken was, I think,
certainly one of Bacon's characteristics in relation to religious con-
troversies. It was not merely that he saw the hollowness or absurdity
of many of the disputes current in his own day. ' A man that is of
judgment and understanding shall sometimes hear ignorant men
differ, and know well within himself that those which so differ mean
one thing, and yet they themselves would never agree.' ' Men create

50 INTRODUCTION.

oppositions which are not ; and put them into new terms so fixed, as
whereas the meaning ought to govern the term, the term in effect
governeth the meaning - 6 .' A man so acute as Bacon could not
help seeing thus far, but his indifference, I think, extended far beyond
the range of these mere verbal quibbles and scholastic combats. His
indifference was not simply an indifference of the head ; it was an
indifference of the heart. What he really cared for was the advance-
ment of science, the knowledge of nature, the extension of the king-
dom of man 27 . He did not repudiate religion, or even theology;
rather, he was a respectful, though silent, worshipper ; but, like
many another man, he entered the shrine only on occasion, while,
at most times, his business lay far away. There was, perhaps,
a latent feeling that not much knowledge was to be had in these
subjects, numerous and eager as were the workmen engaged in
attempting to extract it ; while, in the wide field of nature, the
harvest was ready, though the labourers were few. And so Bacon
contented himself with working in what appeared to him the more
promising field of labour. He sought God in nature, and there he
recognised, reverenced, and adored Him. The same God was also
to be found in the ark of the Church, and the pages of the Bible :
but Bacon's tastes and pursuits lay another way, and hence, though
he had no inclination to call in question the leading verities of faith,
he received them, always without enthusiasm, and sometimes, even,
with apparent indifference.

7th. This last consideration may afford some explanation of the
two other points to which I shall call attention. One of these is
the evident preference which Bacon accords to Atheism over Super-
stition. ' It were better to have no opinion of God at all, than such
an opinion as is unworthy of him. For the one is unbelief, the
other is contumely : and certainly superstition is the reproach of
the D'jity. Plutarch saith well to that purpose: Surely (saith he) /
had ra flier a great deal men should say there was no suck man at all
as Plutarch, than that they should say that there was one Plutarch that
would eat his children as soon as tJicy were born ; as the poets speak
of Saturn. And as the contumely is greater towards God, so the
danger is greater towards men. Atheism leaves a man to sense, to
philosophy, to natural piety, to laws, to reputation; all which may

BACON'S RELIGIOUS OPINIONS. 51

be guides to an outward moral virtue, though religion were not ; but
superstition dismounts all these, and erecteth an absolute monarchy
in the minds of men. Therefore atheism did never perturb states ;
for it makes men wary of themselves, as looking no further : and
we see the times inclined to atheism (as the time of Augustus Caesar)
were civil times. But superstition hath been the confusion of many
states, and bringeth in a new primum mobile, that ravisheth all the
spheres of government 2 V In this passage, I think, Bacon thoroughly
represents the spirit of his time. The recoil from the superstitions
of the Church of Rome, and especially from the dangers with which
the machinations of that Church seemed to threaten the civil power,
had become, in the reformed countries, so intense, and almost so
unreasoning, that men could conceive of no opinions equally dan-
gerous either to the well-being of the individual conscience or to the
security of the state. It required experiences like those of the French
Revolution to convince men that the dissolution of the restraints of
religion, in minds which from infancy had been accustomed to them,
might be even still more desolating in its effects on morals and
government. And meanwhile, this view, as stated by Bacon, bore
fruit and multiplied. The undiscriminating denunciation of Super-
stition in the seventeenth century, coupled with the freer mode of
enquiry into the fundamentals of religion which marked the close
of the period, terminated in results, which, however much he may
have contributed to them, he would probably have been among the
last to welcome.

8th. The last point which I shall notice is also one which had
a great and undoubted effect on subsequent speculation. The
interests of Bacon, as we have seen, were in the progress of science.
What he, above all things, desired was a clear and unimpeded course
for his favourite pursuit. Now he could never forget (or the divines
and controversialists of his time would never have allowed him to
forget) what he states so emphatically in the Novum Organum- 9 ,
' quod nacta sit Philosophia Naturalis per omnes aetates adversarium
molestum et difficilem ; superstitionem nimirum, et zelum religionis
caecum et immoderatum.' What then so effectual, and what so obvious,
as to declare an entire separation between the spheres of Science and
Theology, of Reason and Faith? Their admixture had made the

28 Essay Of Superstition. Cp. a letter to Toby Matthew on his conversion to
Romanism (Spedding's Letters and Life, vol. iv. p. 10), where we find pretty nearly

he same words as those contained in the beginning of this quotation.

29 i. 89.

E 2

5 2 I NT ROD UCTION.

one fantastic, and the other heretical. The remedy, therefore, was
to put them asunder; to give to reason the things of reason, and
to faith the things of faith. Then, the one would declare the Will
of God, and the other His Power 30 . Nor was the idea of this truce,
I think, suggested solely by the motive of preserving the rights of
science. It was in perfect sincerity, I think, that Bacon wrote,
' Concludamus igitur, Theologiam Sacram ex verbo et oraculis Dei,
non ex lumine naturae aut rationis dictamine, hauriri debere. Scriptum
est enim, Coeli enarrant gloriam Dei ; at nusquam scriptum invenitur,
Coeli enarrant voluntatem Dei 31 .' The method of the Scholastics
had been thoroughly vicious, both in applying Scripture to establish
the principles of science, and in applying reason to establish the
principles of religion. Far different was the procedure recommended
by Bacon both in the one case and the other. ' Quantum vero ad
Illationes, nosse debemus, relinqui nobis usum rationis et ratiocina-
tionis (quoad mysteria) secundarium quendam et respectivum, non
primitivum et absolutum. Postquam enim Articuli et Principia
Religion is jam in sedibus suis fuerint locata, ita ut a rationis examine
penitus eximantur, turn demum conceditur ab illis Illationes derivare
ac deducere, secundum analogiam ipsorum. In rebus quidem na-
turalibus hoc non tenet. Nam et ipsa principia examini subjiciuntur ;
per Inductionem(inquam) licet minime per Syllogismum ; atque eadem
ilia nullam habent cum ratione repugnantiam, ut ab eodem fonte turn
primae propositioncs turn mediae deducantur. Aliter fit in Religione ;
ubi et primae propositiones authypostatae sunt, atque per se sub-
sistentes ; et rursus non reguntur ab ilia Ratione quae propositiones
consequentes dcducit 32 . That it did not occur to Bacon to ask
on what grounds the authority of Scripture itself reposed, may to
us appear strange, but this was not one of the questions which the
men of that age were in the habit of putting. I see no reason
to doubt that Bacon accepted the authority of Scripture as an ultimate
fact, though, as I have already intimated, he may, especially towards

; " Nov. Org. i. 6;, P 9 .

;1 Do Auinncntis, lib. ix. ' E. and S., vol. i. p. 830). Cp. what lie says in the
chapter on Natural Theology (iii. 2) : ' Verum ex intuitu rerum naturalium atque
liumanac rationis principiis. de fidei mysteriis vel ratioeinari vel etiam snadere
vehementius. aut rursus ea curiosius introspLere et ventilare et de modo mysterii
inquirerc, hand tutuni meo judicio fuerit. J)a l-'iiici quae Fidci sunt. *****
<Juan- frustra sudaveiit, qui eoelestia religionis arcana nostrae rationi adaptare
conabitur.'

3J De Auj;m. Lib. ix., 1C. and S , vol. i. pp. 832. 833.

BACON'S RELIGIOUS OPINIONS. 53

the latter period of his life, have felt some hesitation as to the
truth or exactitude of some of the dogmatic inferences which had
been deduced from its language.

This sharp separation of Religion and Science, Faith and Reason,
probably exercised a considerable influence on the turn which these
speculations took amongst Bacon's successors. Hobbes, while he
shewed no disposition to restrict scientific discussions, relegated reli-
gion altogether to the cognisance of the magistrate. It was the duty of
the state to provide a religion for its subjects, and these had nothing
to do but to accept it without doubt, or, at least, without any expres-
sion of doubt. Thus, the sphere of religion was removed altogether
from the arena of discussion, and we seem here to have almost a
parody of some of the principles propounded by Bacon. Pascal,
though whether he was influenced by the writings of Bacon or not
I have no sufficient grounds for determining, attempted to make the
divorce between Faith and Reason complete, in the interests of
Religion, as, at a later period, Hume did, or pretended to do, in the
interests of Philosophy. Locke, though he took a great interest in
theological questions and himself wrote theological works, shews no
disposition either, on the one hand, to question the authority, or even
the infallibility, of the Scriptures, or, on the other hand, to allow
them to exert any influence on his philosophical speculations. Bayle
tries to exaggerate the discrepancies, but, not having the robust
faith of Bacon or Locke, he seems, with some hesitation, ready to
sacrifice the claims of religious belief to the exigencies of human
reason. But, however it may have been with particular individuals,
I cannot question that the general tendency, predominant, especially
in England, till quite recently, to draw a distinct line of demarcation
between the spheres of religion, on the one side, and philosophy and
science, on the other, and to combine a sincere belief in the tradi-
tional teaching of the Bible or the Church with a perfect independ-
ence in the sphere of speculation, is due, in large measure, to the
teaching and example of Bacon. Whether this procedure be or be
not legitimate, this is not the place to enquire 33 .

33 In writing this section, I have, of course, read carefully the considerable por-
tion of his work which Kuno Fischer devotes to the same subject. But my conclu-
sions, many of which agree with his, had almost all been previously arrived at by
an independent study of Bacon's writings.

- 4 INTRODUCTION,

8. THE MEANING ATTACHED BY BACON TO THE
WORD 'FORM 34 .'

WHAT Bacon precisely means by this word ' Form,' is one of the
first questions which must occur to every reader of the Novum
Organum, and it is probably one of the last difficulties which will
be cleared from his path. I was at one time inclined to think that,
in various parts of his works, he attached to it two entirely distinct
meanings, which may be represented roughly by ' cause' and 'essence,'
but, as will appear from the sequel, I am now of opinion that, though
the word has undoubtedly various shades of meaning in different
places, all these admit of derivation from a single conception. The

' * For the sake of those who are unacquainted, or have only a slight acquaintance,
with the philosophy of Aristotle, it is, perhaps, desirable that I should here give a
brief account of the Aristotelian distinction of the Four Causes. These are popu-
larly known as the Material, Formal, Final, and Efficient Causes. Their Greek
equivalents are respectively : for the Material Cause, 77 ^A?; or TO l ov or TO
viroictififi'ov ; for the Formal Cause, TO tldos or j) nopfy-q or TO ri fy elvat or TO
TI tcTi or 77 ovaia ; for the Final Cause, TO ov tveita. or TV TWOS eveKa or TO
T(\cs ; for the Efficient Cause, TO odfv i) dpx^l TTJS Kivrjaeais or TO oOev r) K:VTJO-^
or TO mvovv. Of these, the Formal and Material Cause can only be known in
relation to each other ; thus, the block of marble, which is matter in relation
to the formed statue, itself has form in relation to the quarry from which it
was hewn, and this again in relation to the stuff out of which it was formed,
and so on, till we come to the itpwrrj V\TJ or shapeless matter or matter
without form, which, however, is a mere mental abstraction, having no actual
existence. Nor is matter necessarily body. Tnus ,Phys. II. 3", letters are the
matter of syllables, and the premisses the matter of a syllogism. It_it^i5p! v
that on which form supervenes (TO TJVWV ovTcav dvdyKr] TOVTO, sc. the form, eivat,
An. 1'ost. ii. n) ; and form supervening on matter brings into existence the finished
product, be it the statue, man, life, mind, health, or what not. The^ efficient
cause is that by the instrumentality of which form supervenes upon matter,
as, for instance, in the case of the statue, the sculptor, or, in the case of health,
the medical art, or, in the case of the universe at large, God or voi>s. The
final cause (and it is always assumed by Aristotle that there is one ; ovStv
^art]v rj <j>vais Troiff) is that for_ which the object exists, the end it subserves, as,
for instance, in the case of a statue, the pleasure or improvement of man, in the
case of the bones of an animal, the support of the body and the protection of its
.-olter pails, in the case of the state, the welfare of the citizens, and so on.

The student who requires further infoimation should consult Ueberweg, Zeller, or
some other History of Philosophy. He should also read, with special attention,
1'ii vs. ii. 3 (repeated in Metaph. iv. (v.) 2 , Metaph. i. 3, and An. Post. ii. 1 1. On
the question of the coincidences which sometimes exist amongst these Causes, and
other difficulties, I have not entered. Nor do I think it would be of any service to
draw out the diliereiices of meaning in these terms as employed by Bacon and as
employed by Aristotle. The student, who is even moderately acquainted with both
authors, can easily, if he has the curiosity, do this work for himself.

BACON'S USAGE OF < FORM: 55

best course of proceeding, however, will be, first, to collect the
more important passages in which he attempts either to define the
term, or to state with precision the sense in which he accepts or does
not accept the investigation of ' forms ' as a legitimate branch of his
own philosophy.

The most striking passage of all, perhaps, is that in Nov. Org. i.
51 : ' Intellectus humanus fertur ad abstracta propter naturam pro-
priam. * * * * Materia potius considerari debet, et ejus schematism},
et meta-schematismi, atque actus purus, et lex actus sive motus ;
Formae enim commenta animi humani sunt, nisi libeat leges illas
actus Formas appellare.' In strong contrast with this passage, is that
in De Augmentis, iii. 4 (E. and S., vol. i. pp. 564-568), where he
states 'inventiqnem Formarum ex omnibus scientiae partibus dig-
nissimam esse quae investigetur, si modo fieri possit ut reperiantur.
Ad inventionis possibilitatem vero quod attinet, sunt certe ignavi
regionum exploratores, qui, ubi nil nisi coelum et pontum vident,
terras ultra esse prorsus negant.' This passage (which is far too
long to be quoted at length) is well worthy of the student's attention,
and should be read with care 33 . I may specially refer to the following
points as noteworthy. He speaks of an inveterate opinion, ' Rerum
formas essentiales, seu veras differentias, nulla humana inveniri
diligentia posse.' Plato, a man of a sublime genius, who saw every-
thing as from a high rock, in his doctrine of Ideas perceived that
Forms are the true object of knowledge ; ' utcunque sententiae hujus
verissimae fructum amiserit, Formas penitus a Materia abstractas,
non in Materia determinatas, contemplando etprensando.' ' Quod si
diligenter, serio, et sincere, ad actionem et usum oculos convertamus,
non difficile erit disquirere, et notitiam assequi, quae sint illae formae
quarum cognitio res humanas miris modis locupletare et beare possit.'
The forms of substances (except that of man, whose form, according
to the scriptural expression, seems to be ' spiraculum vitae ') ' ita
perplexae sunt et complicatae, ut aut omnino de iis inquirere frustra
sit, aut inquisitio earum, qualis esse potest, seponi ad tempus, et,
postquam formae simplicioris naturae rite exploratae sint et inventae,
turn demum institui debeat.' We next have the notion that the forms
of simple natures or qualities, such as dense and rare, hot and cold,
heavy and light, &c., like the letters of the alphabet, are only few
in number, that, consequently, the problem of discovering them is

35 The passage is to be found with little variation in the much earlier work, the
Advancement of Learning, published in 1605. See bk. ii. (E. and S., vol. iii.
PP- 355-357)-

56 INTRODUCTION.

not an impossible one, and that, when discovered, we may, by com-
bination of them, arrive at a knowledge of the ' essences and forms '
of all substances. Speaking a little further on of these ' simplices
rerum formae,' or ' formae primae classis,' he says, 'licet numero
paucae, tamen commensurationibus et co-ordinationibus suis omnem
varietatem constituunt.' The efficient cause is distinguished from the
form, as being ' nihil aliud quam vehiculum formae.' Lastly, the
knowledge of the form frees and vastly enlarges human power :
' Causae enim physicae ' (that is, the efficient and material causes)
' novis inventis, in simili materia, lucem et ansam praebent ; at qui
formam aliquam novit, novit etiam ultimam possibilitatem superin-
ducendi naturam illam in omnigenam materiam, eoque minus inter
operandum restringitur et alligatur, vel ad materiae basim, vel ad
conditionem efficientis 36 .'

Returning to the Novum Organum, we find that, in the second
book, Bacon attempts to describe Form by a number of equivalents.
Thus, at the beginning, he says : ' Super datum corpus novam
naturam sive novas naturas generare et superinducere, opus et in-
tentio est humanae potentiae. Datae autem naturae formam, sive
differentiam veram, sive naturam naturantem, sive fontem emanationis
(ista enim vocabula habemus, quae ad indicationem rei proxime
accedunt) invenire, opus et intentio est humanae scientiae.' Again,
in ii. 4, he tells us : ' forma vera talis est, ut naturam datam ex fonte
aliquo essentiae deducat quae inest pluribus et notior est naturae
(ut loquuntur) quam ipsa forma ; ' in other words, it is the ' differentia
vera.' In ii. 20, ad fin. he calls it the ' definitio vera : ' 'Ex Vin-
demiatione autem ista Prima, Forma sive definitio vera Caloris talis
est,' &c. In another place (ii. 13), the form is actually described as
' ipsissima res 3 V Then, there are other passages, where, as in i. 51,
an attempt is made to explain it by means of the word 'law.' Thus,
in ii. 2, we have the passage : ' Licet enim in natura nihil vere existat
praeter corpora individua, edentia actus puros individuos ex lege ;
in doctrinis tamen, ilia ipsa lex, ejusque inquisitio, et inventio, atque
explicatio, pro fundamento est tarn ad sciendum, quam ad operandum.
Earn autem legem, ejusque paragraphos, formarum nomine intelli-

'' The same ideas occur in, perhaps, a still more striking form in Nov. Org.
ii. 3.

' ' Cum enim Forma rei sit ipsissima res ; neque differat res a forma, aliter
<juam different apparens et existens, aut exterius et interius, aut in orcline ad
huminem et in ordine ad universum.' Introduction to Aph. 13. See my note on
the passage.

BACON'S USAGE OF 'FORM.' 57

gimus ; praesertim cum hoc vocabulum invaluerit, et familiariter
occurrat.' Again, in ii. 5, we have the expression 'leges funda-
mentales et communes, quae constituunt formas.' But, perhaps, the
most explicit passage of all is that in ii. 1 7 : ' Nos enim quum de
formis loquimur, nil aliud intelligimus, quam leges illas et determina-
tiones actus puri quae naturam aliquam simplicem ordinant et con-
stituunt, 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.'

Now, these various passages admit, I think, of being ranged under
two classes, according as the word ' Form ' may be replaced by words
like essence, differentia, definition, &c., or by words like law, cause,
&c. 33 In the first class of passages, we may, perhaps, best arrive at
Bacon's meaning by distinguishing the different kinds of attributes
which may be predicated of any substance or quality. Leaving out
purely accidental attributes, which are sometimes predicable and
sometimes not, these may be divided into such as are derived from
other attributes, as effects from causes, and those which, so far as we
can ascertain, are independent and underived. The latter are what
may be called the essential attributes, and, taken together, constitute,
in the most intelligible sense which can be attached to that word, the
essence of the substance, class, or quality 39 . When we attempt to express
the essence in words, we enumerate the essential qualities, or construct
its definition. But the important or characteristic part of the definition
is the differentia ; for the genus may be regarded as already known
before we begin to define, our object being to discover the differentia
or differentiae which distinguish the term defined from certain other
terms which fall under the same genus. We see, then, how, from the
conception of the aggregate of independent and underived (or, as we
might call them, primary] attributes, we are able to explain alike the
expressions of essence, definition, and differentia, whether applied to
a class (as, say, man or horse), or to what is ordinarily called a sub-
stance (as, say, gold), or to a quality (as, say, heat). It is only to
the last of these, however, namely qualities or ' simple natures,' that
Bacon regarded his method as, at least immediately, applicable.

38 There is one passage (i. 75), in which the two meanings are brought together :
' Hinc opinio, quod formae sive verae rerum differentiae (quae revera sunt leges
actus puri) inventu impossibiles sint, et ultra hominem.'

VJ For a further explanation of my meaning and for illustrations of what I have
said in the text, the student may consult the chapters on Heads of Prcdicables and
Definitions in my Deductive Logic.

.- 8 I NT ROD UCTION.

Coming to the seconcfclass of passages, in which the conception of
: law ' predominates, we find that they are founded on the scholastic,
or rather Aristotelian, distinction of potentia and actus, Swapis and
iitpyfia. As this distinction is explained in the notes on i. 51, I may
refer the reader, who is not already acquainted with it, to that place.
The 'form ' is 'lex actus sive motus,' ' lex ilia et determinatio actus
puri quae naturam aliquam simplicem ordinat et constituit in omni-
moda materia et subjecto susceptibili.' The ' form,' then, according
to this mode of representing it, is the law which governs (or, as we
should rather say, expresses) the process by which a quality (or body)
is developed out of its pre-existing conditions. It may be defined
as the law of the development or manifestation or production of any
given quality or body. (Cp. Nov. Org. II. 25 ad. init.) And, if we
take into account the pre-existing conditions as well as the law of
their development, we obtain the conception of ' cause ' in its fullest
extent. We thus see how the word ' form ' may be replaced by ' law '
or ' cause.'

Xow, is it possible to reconcile or bring into any connexion these
two apparently divergent meanings ? The form, we have seen, is,
according to the one conception, the aggregate of the primary or
underived attributes from which the other attributes are derived, as
effects from causes. According to the other conception, it is the law
according to which the phenomenon in question is developed out of
pre-existing conditions, or, taking into account the conditions, it is, in
brief, its cause. But, practically (and the practical interest is with
Bacon, we must recollect, always supreme), these two conceptions
may, if we take a sufficiently sanguine view of human power, be
regarded as leading to the same result. Given the aggregate of
primary and underived attributes, and the phenomenon follows as a
matter of course. Given the pre-existing conditions and the law of
their development, and (on the important assumption that we are
able to further the development of the conditions, that we possess
an ' efficiens ' as a ' vehiculum formae ') we are ourselves able to
produce the effect. Thus, the knowledge of the essence (in the
sense which I have attached to that word) and the knowledge of
the cause are, for all practical purposes, the same' 1 ". If, to take
l':;.con's instances, we know that heat consists in a certain kind of

To this explanation it might certainly be objected that I am confounding laws of
co-existence with laws of succession. Hut then, I think, it might be replied that we
must conceive of the secondary or derived qualities as following on the collocation of
the piiniary or underived qualities, even though the time occupied be infinitesimal.

BACON'S USAGE OF 'FORM? 59

motion, or whiteness in a certain juxtaposition of particles, we are
already acquainted with the law of its development or cause of its
production. Or, to take Lasalle's instance of ' Form ' (which seems
to me a very good one), if we are acquainted with Newton's analysis
of a white ray of light into the several coloured rays of which it is
composed, it is indifferent whether we speak of these rays as consti-
tuting (= being the essence of) whiteness, or as producing ( = being
the cause of) whiteness. And, as substances or concrete bodies were,
according to Bacon's conception, ' formae copulatae,' or combinations
of certain 'simple natures,' a knowledge of the 'essence' would, in
their case also, be equivalent to a knowledge of the 'cause.' So far,
indeed, did Bacon carry this idea that he supposed that, if we could
ever attain (as he did not despair of attaining) to a knowledge of the
various ' simple natures ' which constitute substances, we should be
able, by superimposing them severally, one on the other, to produce
the substance in question. See, for instance, the beginning of the
5th Aphorism of the Second Book of the Novum Organum, which
furnishes a good example both of the simplicity which he ascribed to
Nature and of the sanguine expectations which he had formedof our
ultimate power over its operations.

The great difference which Bacon himself conceived as distinguish-
ing his own doctrine of Forms from that of the Schoolmen was that,
whereas, with them, the ' Form ' simply replaced the thing to be
explained by some empty abstraction, with him, the ' Form ' was to
set forth the several conditions on which the phenomenon was de-
pendent, and thus render possible its artificial production. That
this conception, however obscurely and ambiguously it is often
stated, is an eminently just and fertile one, cannot be doubted.

The reader, who is acquainted with the logic of Aristotle, will not
fail to notice the parallel between Bacon's conception of ' Form,' as
including the ideas of essence, definition, and cause, and that class of
essential definitions in which the cause of the term defined is set forth
in the definition, as, for instance, ri 8' eW! ppovrr) ; v//w/>o? a7rocr/3ewv/ne'-ou
iTvpos fv vfipeaiv (An. Post. ii. 10). To know a thing (that is, to know
its essence) and to know its cause are frequently stated by Aristotle

to be identical. Thus, TO ri f'ariv ei'SeVcu TCIVTO tori KCU 8u\ ri f&Tiv. An.

Post. ii. 2 41 .

11 On the Aristotelian doctrine of Definition, which presents several points of
interest in connexion with what has been said in this section, see the excellent

60 INTRODUCTION.

The reader will find a good account of ' Form ' in Mr. Ellis's
General Preface to the Philosophical Works of Bacon, sect. 8. My
conclusions are in general accordance with his, though I have arrived
at them by a somewhat different route.

9. THE METHOD OF EXCLUSIONS.

BACON evidently regarded this method as the corner-stone of his
system 42 . See, for instance, Nov. Org. i. 69, 105; ii. 15, 16, 19.
To understand his meaning, these passages should be carefully
studied in connexion with each other as well as with the various
places where he speaks of the discovery of Forms.

The complex substances and operations of nature admitted, he
conceived, as we have already seen in the section on ' Forms,' of
being broken up into a few k simple natures,' just as the numerous
words of a language are composed of a small number of simple
sounds or letters. The first business of science, then, was to ascertain
the ' forms ' of these simple natures. This work might, he supposed,
be effected by means of the ' Method of Exclusions.' The number
of ' simple natures ' being limited, and, as he seems to have thought,
at least ultimately ascertainable, if we w r ish to find with what other
nature any given nature is invariably connected (this phrase is mine,
not his) either as an effect or as a species, we have nothing to do
but to go on ascertaining with what natures it is not so connected.
And if we can succeed in excluding all but one, it follows that this
is the nature of which we are in search. ' Est itaque Inductionis
verae opus primum (quatenus ad inveniendas formas) rejectio sive
exclusiva naturarum singularum, quae non inveniuntur in aliqua
instantia, ubi natura data adest ; aut inveniuntur in aliqua instantia,

monograph of Rassow, Aristotelis de Notionis Definitione Doctrina, Berlin, 1843.
Those who have not access to this work may with advantage consult Grote's
Aristotle or the Appendix on Definition in Mansel's Edition of Aldrich.

Mr. Ellis refers to a curious and apt passage in the exposition of the Fable of
Cupid (De Principiis atque Originibus, E. and S., vol. iii. pp. Si, 82) : ' Idque a
parabola ipsa monemur, ubi eleganter fingitur Cupido, ovum Nocte incubante ex-
clusum. * * Aptissime autem refertur illud de ovo Noctis ad demonstrationes
per quas Cupido iste in luccm cditur. Quae enim per affirmativas concluduntur,
videntur partus lucis ; quae vero per negativas et exclusiones, ea tanquam a tene-
bris et nocte cxprimuntur et educuntur. Est autem iste Cupido vere ovum
cxclusum a Nocte ; notitia enim cjus v quac oinnino haberi potest) proceclit per
exclusiones et negativas.'

METHOD OF EXCLUSIONS. 6 1

ubi natura data abest ; aut inveniuntur in aliqua instantia crescere,
cum natura data decrescat ; aut decrescere, cum natura data crescat.
Tumvero post rejectionem et exclusivamdebitismodis factam, secundo
loco (tanquam in fundo) manebit (abeuntibus in fumum opinionibus
volatilibus) forma affirmativa, solida, et vera, et bene terminata * 3 .' In
the present state of knowledge, however, he does not seem to think
this ideal attainable. ' Neque vero ipsa exclusiva ullo modo perfecta
est, neque adeo esse potest sub initiis' (ii. 19). Hence the necessity
not only of the ' Tables,' but also of the ' praerogativae instantiarum '
and other 'aids of the intellect,' in order to complete, as far as
may be, the ' Exclusiva ; ' as well as of some method of clearing up
our conceptions of the ' simple natures ' (which method he like-
wise regarded as inductive, though he says nothing further about it 44 .
See i. 14, 1 8). ' 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, quae adhuc prae-
cepimus : sed et rem in ulterius provehimus, et fortiora auxilia in
usum intellectus machinamur et ministramus ; quae nunc subjun-
gemus 45 .'

Now, perhaps, the first remark that occurs to one in considering
this method is that it seems to be assumed that every 'simple nature'
has some other ' simple nature ' which is its form, or part of its form.
Thus, heat, which is itself a simple nature, is a species of motion, or,
to put the same thing in different words, an effect of motion. Some
of the ' simple natures,' then, are genera or causes of the other
simple natures. But, if so, there must evidently be some one or
more of the ' simple natures ' which cannot be brought under any
genus or cause. This or these, then, have no 'form 4( V

Another remark, already made by Mr. Ellis 4T , is that of the two
concomitant natures, or, as I have put it, of the two natures

4; Nov. Org. ii. 16.

u I am inclined to think that Bacon supposed the work of clearing up our con-
ceptions and that of establishing true axioms would proceed pari passu, though
Mr. Ellis (General Preface, p. 37) is apparently of a different opinion. See my note
on ii. 19.

45 Nov. Org. ii. 19.

40 This, perhaps, may have been the reason why Bacon, in writing the second
book of the Novum Organum, changed his example from Motion to Heat. It
would have been found very difficult to assign the ' form ' of Motion. For this
earlier example of his method, ' Filum Labyrinthi, sive Inquisitio Legitima de
Motu,' see Ellis and Spedding, vol. iii. pp. 621-640.

47 General Preface to the Philosophical Works, p. 33.

6 2 INTRODUCTION.

invariably connected, there is nothing to determine which is the
Form of the other, except the somewhat vague statement that one,
besides being convertible with the other, is a limitation of some
' more general nature : ' ' inveniatur natura alia, quae sit cum natura
data convertibilis, et tamen sit limitatio naturae notioris, instar
generis veri 48 .' It might, however, be asked, how are we to ascer-
tain the genus of which the Form is the limitation and the ' natura
data ' the species ? How, for instance, are we to know that heat is
a species of motion, rather than motion a species of heat? And
still, before we begin to search for the differentia, this preliminary
point must be settled. The best solution, it appears to me, of this
difficulty is to suppose that Bacon was thinking quite as much of
the relation of cause and effect as of that of genus and species, and
that the subsequence in thought of the ' limitation ' (constituting the
species) to the genus which it qualifies should be translated, in order
to express his meaning fully, into the subsequence in time of the
effect to the cause. The question which of two natures is cause, and
which effect, can, of course, always be determined in any individual
instance, if we can ascertain which of the two has preceded the
other.

A third remark is one which I have frequently had occasion to
make in the notes on the early Aphorisms of the Second Book,
namely, that the whole of the enquiry into Form, and, consequently,
the Method of Fxclusions, proceeds on the assumption that every
phenomenon has only one cause, that is to say, is due to only one
set of conditions. Of the ' simple natures ' there is some one, and
one only, which, if it could be found, is the 'Form' of the 'natura
data.' ' Turn vero post rejectionem et exclusivam debitis modis
fartam, sccundo loco * * * mancbit * * * forma affirmativa.' But
the same event, as is so often and so justly insisted on by Mr. Mill,
whenever he has occasion to speak of what he terms ' Plurality of
Causes,' may be due to one set of conditions at one time and to a
different set of conditions at another. (On Bacon's neglect of this
consideration, see Mill's Logic, bk. v. ch. 3. 7.) Hence, though it
is invariably true that the same cause is always followed by the same
effect, the converse proposition that the same effect is always due to
the same cause would frequently be misleading. Of Bacon's criteria
of a Form, therefore, as well as of the exclusion of a Form, some, as

Nov. Org. ii. 4. Cp. A ph. 15.

METHOD OF EXCLUSIONS. 63

I have pointed out in the notes on Aphs. 15 and 16 of Book ii,
are vitiated through his ignoring this circumstance.

I may remark, lastly, that the force of Bacon's argument is much
more apparent, as well as really greater, when stated affirmatively
than negatively. If the connexion between two phenomena or
'natures' satisfies all the requirements of the Inductive Methods (and,
on a liberal interpretation, we may regard all these requirements
as stated in Nov. Org. ii. 15), we are surely justified, without going
through any ' exclusion ' of other natures, in affirming a causal
relation between them. On the other hand, however large the
number of ' natures ' which we can succeed in excluding, we can
hardly ever be certain, in the present state of knowledge or any
which we are likely to attain, that we have excluded all but one.
And, even supposing we are able to attain this certainty, how do
we know, unless we have some positive evidence, that the remaining
nature is the cause or ' form ' of the given nature ? Might they not
both be, so far as our knowledge reaches, ultimate facts of nature,
uniformities of coexistence, like Inertia and Gravity 49 ? That Bacon
should have overlooked this objection to his method is the more
remarkable, when we take into account Aph. 48 of Book i, where he
seems to be warning his readers against the commission of this very
error 50 .

On the whole, it will be seen that Bacon greatly exaggerated the
value of this method, though the elimination of error is undoubtedly
a most important step towards the discovery of truth, and though,
in the course of his exposition, he enunciates a number of rules and
maxims which contain the germ of much which is most valuable in
the modern Theory of Induction.

I cannot close this section without bearing my testimony to the
excellence of Mr. Ellis's remarks on the subject here discussed. See
his 'General Preface to the Philosophical Works,' vol. i. pp. 32-39.
What I have said ought not to prevent the student from having
recourse to this additional assistance on one of the most obscure
topics connected with Bacon's system.

49 See my Inductive Logic, 4th ed., pp. 219, 220 ; and Bain's Inductive Logic,
bk. iii. ch. 3, ' Induction of Co-Existence.'

5U ' At majore cum pernicie intervenit haec impotentia mentis in inventione
causarum : nam cum maxime universalia in natura positiva esse debeant, quemad-
modum inveniuntur, neque sunt revera causabilia ; tamen intellectus humanus.
nescius acquiescere, adhuc appetit notiora. '

64 INTRODUCTION.

10. BACON'S REJECTION OF FINAL CAUSES
IN PHYSICS.

THE true key to Bacon's views on the employment of Final Causes
is to be found in the De Augmentis, iii. 4. They are there rejected
from Physics, but transferred to what Bacon calls ' Metaphysics.'
'Metaphysicae pars secunda est Finalium Causarum inquisitio, quam
non ut praetermissam sed ut male collocatam notamus. Solent
enim inquiri inter Physica, non inter Metaphysica. Quanquam si
ordinis hoc solum vitium esset, non mihi fuerit tanti. Ordo enim
ad illustrationem pertinet, neque est ex substantia scientiarum. At
haec ordinis inversio defectum insignem peperit, et maximam phi-
losophiac induxit calamitatem. Tractatio enim Causarum Finalium
in Physicis inquisitionem Causarum Physicarum expulit et dejecit ;
effecitque ut homines in istiusmodi speciosis et umbratilibus causis
acquiescerent, nee inquisitionem causarum realium et vere Physicarum
strenue urgerent ; ingenti scientiarum detrimento r>1 .' He proceeds
to give instances, and to speak of Aristotle, Plato, Democritus. &c.,
in a passage which is well worthy of the student's attention. He
then continues : ' Neque haec eo dicimus quod Causae illae Finales
verae non sint, et inquisitione admodum clignae, in speculationibus
Metaphysicae; sed quia, dum in Physicarum Causarum possessiones
excummt et irruunt, misere earn provinciam depopulantur et vastant.
Alioquin, si modo intra terminos suos coerceantur, magnopere hal-
lucinantur quicunque eas Physicis Causis adversari aut repugnare
putent.' * * ' Neque vero ista res in dubium vocat Providen-

tiam Divinam, aut ei quicquam derogat, sed potius eandem miris
modi's confirmat et evehit.' : * ' Adeo ut tantum absit ut

Causae Physicae homines a Deo et Providentia abducant, ut contra
potius philosophi illi qui in iisdem eruendis occupati fuerunt nullum
exitum rei reperiant nisi postremo ad Deum et Providentiam confu-
giant.' To these quotations may be added some of the passages quoted
or referred to in the section on Bacon's Religious Opinions, especially
those in the Essay on Atheism and in the De Augmentis, iii. 2.

The student who has carefully considered these passages will,
I think, lie able to form a just estimate of the extent to which Bacon
did and the extent to which lie did not intend to reject the study of
Final Causes from philosophy. lie spoke, I believe, quite seriously,

11 E. and S., vol. i. pp. 568, 569.

REJECTION OF ''FINAL CAUSES! 65

and not with the slightest intention of employing banter, when he
compared the enquiry into Final Causes with a virgin consecrated to
God 52 . We may, he conceived, legitimately contemplate the ends
and objects of the various parts of nature, their relations to one
another, and the harmony of the whole, and so rise to some con-
ception, however faint, of the power and wisdom of Him who framed
the Universe. ' Quod sit Deus, quod rerum habenas tractet, quod
summe potens, quod sapiens et praescius, quod bonus, *****
etiam ex operibus ejus demonstrari et evinci potest 53 .' But then this
enquiry must remain consecrated to the service of God. As soon as
it intrudes into the province of Physics, it is attended with no results ;
nay rather, as it diverts the mind from the enquiry into the efficient
and material causes, the proper objects of physics, it becomes
positively baneful 64 .

Apparently inconsistent, however, with this limitation of the
censure on the pursuit of Final Causes are passages such as that
in Nov. Org. i. 48, where he seems to condemn them generally,
as being ' plane ex natura hominis potius quam universi 5> V

Now, with regard to these passages, I may observe, first, that as
the De Augmentis received Bacon's final supervision after the pub-
lication of the Novum Organum, and as far the most explicit and
elaborate passage on this subject is to be found in that work, we are
bound, if there is any contradiction, to accept Bacon's later and more
detailed rather than his earlier and more casual utterances 5fl .

52 ' Nam Causaram Finalium inquisitio sterilis est, et tanquam virgo Deo conse-
crata nihil parit.' De Augm. iii. 5. ' Nihil parit,' as Mr. Ellis observes in his
note on the passage, simply means ' non parit opera.' This fact will be plain to
any one who will consult the context. Bacon is speaking of the divisions of the
' Doctrina Operativa.' The enquiry into Efficient and Material Causes produces
Mechanics ; that into Formal Causes produces Magic ; that into Final Causes
' nihil parit.'

Dugald Stewart (Elements, Ed. Hamilton, Works, vol. iii.; says that this epi-
grammatic maxim has been, perhaps, oftener quoted, particularly by French
writers, than any other sentence in Bacon's works ; these quotations, he adds, have
generally been made without any reference to the context, and ; consequently, with
considerable misunderstanding of Bacon's meaning.

53 De Augm. iii. 2.

r ' 1 ' At ex his, Causa Finalis tantum abest ut prosit, ut etiam scientias corrampat,
nisi in hominis actionibus.' Nov. Org. ii. 2. See also the passage quoted above
from De Augm. iii. 4.

" Cp. Nov. Org. i. 65, ii. 2.

50 To this remark it might, perhaps, be objected that the passage in the De
Augmentis is little more than a repetition of what appeared in Bacon's earlier
work, the Advancement of Learning, which was first published in 1605. But we

6 6 INTRODUCTION,

In the second place, even though we may regard the analogy of
human actions (which are always directed to some specific end, and
that too one which usually admits of being ascertained without
much difficulty) as wrongly applied to the processes of nature, it does
not follow that there is no plan whatsoever in the operations of
nature, or even that such plan may not, at least in its broad outlines,
admit of being discovered by us. Of the ' work which God worketh
from the beginning to the end,' namely the ' summary law of nature,'
Bacon does indeed declare that ' it may fairly be doubted whether
man's inquiry can attain to it 57 ,' but, at the same time, we may attain
to a sufficiently clear vision of that work to perceive, at least, the
power, the wisdom, and the goodness of the source from which it
issues, foolish and inadequate as may be our guesses with regard
to the details of the scheme. And this, I think, is the answer which
Bacon himself would have made to any one who had charged him
with inconsistency in his different utterances on this, one of the most
difficult questions which presents itself in the course of human
speculation.

It is an entirely distinct question whether Bacon acted rightly in
expelling the consideration of Final Causes so completely as he pro-
posed to do from the domain of Physics, and it is certainly a curious
commentary on his procedure that, at the very time when he was
composing the Novum Organum, Harvey was employing this very
mode of reasoning in the famous researches which resulted in the
discovery of the Circulation of the Blood :8 . Nor would any one, I
presume, now deny that the idea of function, which implies so much
of the idea of Final Cause as is included in the word adaptation
as distinct from design, is a conception absolutely essential to the
successful prosecution of at least one science, that of physiology.
And, even in the higher sciences of psychology, ethics, and politics,
there are few enquirers who can avoid from time to time asking the
question, what purpose does such and such a constituent subserve in
the mental, moral, or social economy. In chemistry, mineralogy,

ki:o\v alike from the testimony of Kawley and from internal evidence that liacon
thoroughly revised the work, as it was undergoing translation, and, moreover, in
this very passage there are several alterations, including the important addition at
the end.

" DC Augm. iii. 4 V.. and S., vol. i. p. 567"*.

Harvey began pr.bliely to teach this doctrine in 1619, though his work on the
subject \\as mil published till i62S. His discovery set out from observing the
action oi the valves in the veins of man}- parts of the body, and enquiring into their
purpose, assuming, oi course, that they had some purpose or other.

REJECTION OF 'FINAL CAUSES. 1 67

and those branches of science to which the word ' physics ' is often
restricted, such enquiries are much rarer, but I question whether there
is any single science, other than mathematical, from which the idea of
adaptation can be strictly and consistently excluded. How we are to
interpret the fact of adaptation is a different question, and one which
by the great mass of scientific enquirers would now be answered in
a far different fashion from what ever occurred to any but a few
isolated thinkers in previous generations. The limits of this Intro-
duction being necessarily restricted, it is enough here simply to allude
to the theory of Evolution, and to works such as those of Mr. Darwin,
Mr. Wallace, and Mr. Herbert Spencer. To prevent, however, any
misconception of my own opinions, I cannot refrain from repeating
here what I have already said in another place, that the main drift of
the arguments employed in Natural Theology is not affected by the
modern theory of Evolution. If I may be allowed to quote myself,
' I am far from denying that the Argument from Final Causes, if it
take sufficient account of the evolution of organisms and their power
of adapting themselves to external circumstances, and if it be based
on the contemplation of Nature as a whole, instead of on that of
individual objects, may admit of being stated in such a form as to
occupy once more an important position in any scheme of Natural
Theology. Bearing in mind these qualifications, it may be perfectly
legitimate to speak, with reference to the universe at large, of design
and a designer, whatever may have been the agency, and however
mysterious and prolonged the process, by which an intelligent
Creator may have worked. Theories of evolution may be so
stated as not to impair, but indefinitely to exalt, our ideas of the
power, wisdom, and benevolence of the Being in whom Nature
had its source 59 .'

My conclusion, then, is, in brief, that Bacon did not intend to ex-
clude the employment of the argument from Final Causes in Meta-
physics (or, as we should now rather say, Natural Theology Gu ), while
his exclusion of it from the domain of physics was far too rigid and

59 Inductive Logic, 4th Ed., p. 338, note.

61 Bacon did not recognise any science of Metaphysics (in the ordinary sense of
that term) as distinct from Natural Theology. See his letter to Father Baranzan
(published in Spedding's Letters and Life of Bacon, vol. vii. pp. 375-7) : ' De
Metaphysica ne sis sollicitus. Nulla enim erit post veram Physicam inventatn ;
ultra quam nihil praeter divina.' Cp. pp. 15, 16 of this Introduction. On p. 64
it will have been seen that he sometimes employed the term in a peculiar sense
of his own.

68 INTRODUCTION.

absolute. In his defence, however, it ought to be pleaded that the
use of this topic in ancient and mediaeval philosophy, as well as in the
writings of Bacon's contemporaries, was often arbitrary, fanciful, and
absurd to the last degree. ' The handling of final causes ' had cer-
tainly ' intercepted the severe and diligent inquiry of all real and
physical causes,' and it might well be maintained that their temporary
expulsion, could it have been effected, would have been a real service
to science. As it was, I believe that the protest of Bacon and
1 )escartes, who was as little tolerant as Bacon himself of this mode
of explaining physical phenomena cl , exerted a decidedly wholesome
influence on the scientific procedure of their successors.

In my Inductive Logic, I have given a large number of instances
of the absurd or misplaced employment of this Argument, which, I
think, will be quite sufficient to shew the pernicious and misleading
effect which, at times, it has exercised. To these and to my general
criticism of the Argument, I must, for the sake of saving space, now
refer the reader G2 .

II. THE CAUSES OF ARISTOTLE'S FAILURE IN HIS
PHYSICAL RESEARCHES.

AMONGST the various causes which have been assigned for Aris-
totle's comparative failure in this branch of his philosophy are the
neglect of facts (or, as it has been otherwise phrased, his disregard of
experience), a partiality for abstract reasoning, a want of distinctness
and of appropriateness to the facts in the Ideas he employs, and the

i;i ' Ita (Icnique nullas unquam rationes circa res naturales a fine, quern Deus aut
natura in iis faciendis sibi proposuit, clesumemus ; quia non tantum nobis debemus
firmware, ut ejus consiliorum partieipes nos esse putemus.' Do Principiis Philoso-
phise, i. 2S. In the Fourth Meditation, after speaking of the difficulty of pene-
trating the divine designs, he continues : ' ex hoc satis etiam scio innumerabilia
ilium posse quorum causas ignorem ; atque oh hanc unicam rationcm to turn illud
cau^arum genus, quod a fine peti solet. in rebus Physicis nullum usurn habere exis-
timo; non enim absque temeritatc me puto posse investigare fines Dei.' It would
not be difficult to maintain that Descartes' views, as expressed in these passages,
\verc influenced by those of liacon.

See Inductive Logic, ^th Ed., pp. 33^-352. The earliest criticism of Bacon's
rejection of Final Causes, which possesses much value or discrimination, is to be
found in Diigahl Stewart's Elements, part ii. subdivision I. ch. 4. sect. 6 (Ed.
Hamilton, ^Yorks, vol. iii. pp. 335- -3,^7). Much of what Stewart says would now
require to be re-cast, in view of the facts and theory of Evolution. liut the
student will still find his remarks of considerable interest.

CAUSES OF ARISTOTLE'S FAILURE IN PHYSICS. 69

absence of verification. Of the first, it may be shewn (as has been
abundantly done by Dr. Whewell in his History of the Inductive
Sciences and by Mr. G. H. Lewes in his work on Aristotle, and as
will be obvious to any one acquainted with Aristotle's physical
treatises), that it is very inaccurately stated. Aristotle, especially in
his History of Animals, has collected a large number of facts, though
the facts may not always be well selected or precisely described. As
to the second charge, not only does it err in vagueness, but it may
be met with a plea of justification. ' Abstract reasoning,' provided
it be properly conducted, is quite as essential a factor of science, as
is the accumulation of facts. The third charge (which is that ad-
vanced by Dr. Whewell 63 ) is certainly well-grounded, but it specifies,
as it appears to me, only one of many causes, while it leaves un-
answered the question, 'Why are Aristotle's ideas inappropriate to
his facts?', one of the very problems to be solved. Nor does it seem
to me that the fourth cause (which is that assigned by Mr. Lewes in
his work on Aristotle) supplies an adequate explanation. For what
is Verification ? It is the confirmation of one mode of proof by
another, as, for instance, of induction by deduction, or of deduction
by induction. But, though Aristotle's reasoning is undoubtedly often
deficient in this respect, and especially in the confirmation of his
a priori arguments by an inductive examination of facts, yet surely
this is not an exhaustive account of the causes which contributed to
render so large a proportion of his physical researches futile.

To me it appears that many circumstances combined to mar his
efforts in this department of philosophy. Without attempting a
complete enumeration, and without pretending that those here given
are always mutually exclusive, I may specify the following :

(i) His observations, though very numerous and often very care-
fully conducted, were not infrequently inaccurate or insufficient,
owing either to his own defects as an observer or, perhaps still
oftener, to his relying too implicitly on the authority of others. I
may refer for instances to some of the cases adduced by Mr. Lewes
in his Aristotle (see, especially, pp. 272, 3, and p. 332\ and by the
author of an exceedingly interesting Article on the Historia Animalium
in the Quarterly Review, No. 233, which, while it does justice to
Aristotle, also freely points out his demerits. See also my Inductive
Logic, 4th Ed., pp. 277-279 64 .

See Dr. Whewell's History of the Inductive Sciences, bk. i. ch. 3. sect. 2.

On the other hand, the student will do well to read, in arrest of judgment on

INTRODUCTION.

(2) Though it cannot be said with truth that Aristotle never tried
experiments, still it must be confessed that he did so very rarely.
The following interesting examples (interesting mainly because they
are so rare) are given by Mr. Lewes. ' He refers to the experiment of
tying or removing the right testis of the male, previous to congress,
in disproof of the hypothesis that the sexes are derived from the right
and left testes. He refers to the experiment of removing the eyes
from young birds, to show that these organs are capable of being
reproduced, a capability not observed in adult birds. Although he
places the seat of motive power in the heart, yet he refers to the
experiment of removing the heart from tortoises, after which they
still continue for some time to move ; and to prove that the nutritive
soul is contained in the centre, he refers to the insects whose heads
and limbs may be removed without destroying their vitality.' Mr.
Lewes adds with regard to the last experiment : ' The fact is incor-
rectly stated. The separated head will live almost as long as the
body ; and I have often found the hinder part of a triton live and
move for hours after its separation from the body.' See Lewes'
Aristotle, pp. 1 1 2, 3. I do not recollect any experiments proposed
by Aristotle in any branch of natural science other than physiology.

(3") He frequently adopted traditional beliefs or stories, some even
which appear to us to be of a ridiculous character, without any further
investigation. To say nothing of the doctrine of the Elements, the
popular notions about gravity and levity, and the like, I may instance
from his physiological works the curious statements about the lion, as,
for example, that it has only one bone in its neck, but no cervical
vertebrae (Hist. An. ii. i (3) ), the story that the hen-partridge
is impregnated by hearing the voice or smelling the breath of the
male bird (I)e Gen. Anim. iii. i (26, kc.) ), and the statement,
adopted probably from Herodotus, that the crocodile moves its upper
jaw (Hist. An. i. 1 1 (10) and iii. 7 (4) ). For additional instances, see
the Article in the Quarterly Review, above referred to. Sometimes, as
in the case of the cranium of the dog, which he supposes to consist of
a single bone (Hist. An. iii. 7 (3) ) it is difficult to say whether the mis-
take is due to defective observation or to the unsuspecting reception
of a popular belief, or, lastly, to over-hasty generalisation.

(4) The fault just noticed was also undoubtedly the cause of many
of Aristotle's errors. Though, perhaps, he was not without the con-

thc extreme carelessness often attributed to Aristotle's habits of observation, Dr.
\\ ilham Ogle's introduction to his translation of the De Partibus Anirmlium.

CAUSES OF ARISTOTLE'S FAILURE IN PHYSICS. 71

ception of scientific induction 65 , yet the form of induction which he
usually employs is that of Simple Enumeration. And, as the enume-
ration of instances must, in most cases, necessarily be scanty, he
naturally lapsed into the habit of generalising on insufficient data.
The selection of instances as distinct from their enumeration (the point
on which Bacon so constantly and emphatically insists) would, doubt-
less, have done much to transform the philosophy of the time, and to
accelerate the progress of science. But it is precisely this difference
which distinguishes modern from ancient induction. As I have else-
where (see Inductive Logic, 4th Ed., pp. 277, &c.) spoken at some
length on this defect in Aristotle's method, I shall not dwell on it in
this place. It may be described, from different points of view, either
as hasty generalisation, or as the use of Inductio per Enumerationem
Simplicem in place of Scientific Induction.

(5) Another most important cause of failure is to be found in
Aristotle's vague use of general terms. Words like motion, hot and
cold, moist and dry, heavy and light, generation and corruption,
natural and unnatural, &c., are employed simply in their popular
acceptation, without any attempt to give them a definite and precise
meaning. The problems proposed for solution being thus wanting
in precision, it is not surprising that the results arrived at are vague
and unscientific. Under this head, cp. Herschel on the Study of
Natural Philosophy, Part ii. ch. 3, and Whewell's History of the
Inductive Sciences, Book i. ch. 2. sect. 2.

(6) Lastly, I may add that Aristotle was often diverted from the study
of facts, and prevented from perceiving the due significance of those
which he did observe, by his eagerness to discover illustrations of his
favourite metaphysical distinctions, such as Swc^uy and eWpyfto, the ten
categories with their subdivisions, the four causes, the different kinds
of motion, and the like. His partiality for assigning the final rather
than the efficient causes of phenomena is specially to be noticed
under this head, as having often led him to the perversion of facts or
to erroneous generalisations. This a priori nsMQ&e, of investigation, the
disposition to look out for illustrations of preconceived maxims or
ideas instead of patiently considering what conclusions the facts lead
to, is peculiarly opposed to the Baconian method and the spirit of
modern science.

Briefly to sum up, Aristotle's collection of facts was often inade-

Gr ' On Aristotle's Induction, see some further remarks, with references, at the
beginning of the section on ' Anticipations of Bacon's Method and Teaching.'

72 INTRODUCTION.

quate either in number or character to form a basis of induction, his
method was often unscientific, his ideas were often vague and indis-
tinct, and his fundamental maxims and distinctions were often
preconceived and assumed rather than gathered from experience and
reasoning 6C .

It should, however, be recollected that scientific ideas, adequate
and appropriate to the explanation of scientific facts, are usually the
slow growth of time, and occur to men only as the sequel of many
unsuccessful efforts. Even had Aristotle's collection of facts been
more complete and accurate than it was, they had hardly been known
sufficiently long to suggest either to him or others the conceptions
which were adequate to connect and explain them. We are not
perhaps justified in expecting the master to have effected more than
he did. The fault was in the scholars, who, instead of carrying on
the master's work, contented themselves with blindly bowing to his
authority, and repeating his maxims. This undiscriminating admira-
tion naturally, in its turn, provoked the reaction, often almost equally
undiscriminating, of which I proceed to treat in the next section.

12. THE REACTION AGAINST THE AUTHORITY
OF ARISTOTLE.

THE violence with which Bacon attacks the person and philosophy
of Aristotle is by no means peculiar to him ; an exaggerated reaction
against the authority of the Aristotelian philosophy was a common
feature of his time and of that immediately preceding it. The
exaggerated reverence for an author not unnaturally leads to an
exaggerated depreciation of him, and the appeal which men were at
one time in the habit of constantly making to the authority of the
great philosopher as a final arbiter of all controversy may, at least,
excuse, if it does not justify, the virulence and bitterness with which
his name was handled by the advocates of a new method and the
exponents of a new learning.

I shall not attempt to describe the varying fortunes of Aristotle

!i Eucken '.quoted by Lange, Geschichte cles Materialismus, and Ed., vol. i.
p. 135 refers Aristotle's failure in his physical researches almost exclusively to the
want of scientific instruments, but, as Lange remarks, the moderns began their work
of discovery with almost exactly the same scientific appliances as the ancients, and
invented the instruments as they proceeded in their researches.

REACTION AGAINST ARISTOTLE. 73

in the schools of the Middle Ages, the gradual diffusion of his works,
the predominant influence which, as a rule, he exercised, or the
occasional protests, followed sometimes by authoritative decrees,
which, on theological grounds, were directed against that influence i;? .
Nor shall I describe the treatment which, as the supposed source of
the scholastic dogmas, the Aristotelian philosophy received at the
hands of the Reformers, who, with the one exception of Melanchthon,
so bitterly, and often so ignorantly, opposed it. As illustrating the
position of Bacon, I am concerned solely with the philosophical
reaction against the Aristotelian method and doctrine, and this it
may be interesting to the reader to see exemplified at some length.

Even so early as the twelfth century, we find John of Salisbury
(b. about 1 1 20, d. 1180) thinking it necessary to warn his readers
that Aristotle had ' erred in many things.' In the curious and
interesting treatise, entitled ' Metalogicus,' he grants, on the one hand,
that Aristotle was pre-eminently ' the philosopher,' and, in the art
of dialectic at least, excelled all others : 'Sed cum singuli suis meritis
splendeant, omnes se Aristotelis adorare vestigia gloriantur, adeo
quidem ut commune omnium philosophorum nomen praeeminentia
quadam sibi proprium fecerit. Nam et autonomatice, id est excel-
lenter, philosophus appellatur c8 .' On the other hand, while re-
commending the study of Aristotle rather than Boethius, he adds :
' Nee tamen Aristotelem ubique plane aut sensisse aut dixisse
protestor, ut sacrosanctum sit, quidquid scripsit. Nam in pluribus,
obtinente ratione et auctoritate fidei, convincitur errasse : siquidem
non modo studiosum quemlibet, sed et Deum ipsum prava posse
committere asserit. ****** Sunt et multi errores ejus, qui in
scripturis tarn ethnicis quam fidelibus poterunt inveniri ; verum in
logica parem habuisse non legitur. Unde sic accipiendus est, ut ad
promovendos juvenes ad gravioris philosophiae instituta doctor sit,
non morum, sed disceptationum 'V

In the next century, Roger Bacon (b. 1214, d. 1292 or 4) used
language of a similar purport, shewing at once a discriminating

67 See, amongst other books, Du Boulay, Historia Universitatis Parisiensis ;
Jourdain, Recherches critiques sur l'age et 1'origine des traductions latines d'Aris-
tote, &c. ; Renan, Averroes et Averroisme ; Haureau, De la Philosophic Scolas-
tique ; Stockl, Geschichte der Philosophic des Mittelalters.

68 Metalogicus, lib. ii. cap. 16. Cp. Polycraticus, lib. vii. cap. 6 : ' Sicut enim
urbs Romam, Maronem poeta cxprimit, sic et philosophi nomen circa Aristotelem
utentium placito contractum est.'

6y Metalogicus, lib. iv. cap. 27.

74 INTRODUCTION.

respect for the authority of Aristotle, a consciousness that this
authority was liable to be strained, and a determination to claim for
himself and his contemporaries the liberty of enquiry and, if need
were, even of dissent. ' Nam de famosis philosophus solus Aristoteles
cum sua familia vocatus est judicio omnium sapientum, quoniam ipse
omnes partes philosophiae digessit secundum possibilitatem sui tem-
poris, sed tamen ad finem sapientiae non pervenit, sicut satis mani-
festabitur inferius 70 .' ' Hie enim praecedentium philosophorum
errores evacuavit, et augmentavit philosophiam, aspirans ad ejus
complementum, quod habuerint antiqui patriarchae, quamvis non
potuit singula perficere. Nam posteriores ipsum in aliquibus cor-
rexerunt, et multa ad ejus opera addiderunt, et adhuc addentur usque
ad finem mundi ; quia nihil est perfectum in humanis inventionibus,
ut in prioribus est expositum. Hunc natura firmavit, utdicit Averroes
in 3 (i de Anima, ut ultimam perfectionem hominis inveniret. Hie
omnium philosophorum magnorum testimonio praefertur philosophis,
et philosophiae ascribendum est id quod ipse affirmavit ; unde nunc
temporis autonomatice Philosophus nominatur, in auctoritate phi-
losophiae, sicut Paulus in doctrina sapientiae sacrae 71 .' ' Et non
crLclo quod Aristoteles plus scivit quam sciunt aliqui sapientes simul
congregati. Non dico quin scivit plura quolibet per se, sed aliquot
simul juncti plura facerent quam ipse fecit, si expensas sufficientes
haberent T 'V In another very remarkable passage, strangely mis-
interpreted by Dr. Jebb, who is implicitly followed by Dr. Whewell 73 ,
Roger P>acon, while praising Aristotle himself as indispensable to
the student of philosophy, complains so bitterly of the inaccuracy
and obscurity of the translations that he says it would have been
better if they had never been made, and, had he power over them,
lie would cause them all to be burnt. ' De qua causa est perversitas
translationis maxime in libris Aristotelis et scientia ejus, quae sunt
fundamentum totius studii sapientiae. Quare qui ignorat ejus labores,
in vanum laborat et littus arat, nccunquam potest in aliis promoveri.
Sic translatae sunt et scientiae communes, ut logica, naturalis phi-
losophia, mathematica, ut nullus mortalis possit aliquid dignum de

"" Opus Majlis, pars i. cap. 3 ;Kd. Jebb, p. 6).

71 Id. pars ii. cap. 8 (Kd. Jebb, p. 36).

7 -' O] us Tn-tium, cap. 36 (Kd. Brewer, p. 117).

' J Both these writers transfer what Bacon says of the translations of Aristotle to
llu: works of Aristotle himself, thus almost grotesquely misrepresenting the senti-
ments of the author. See 1 >r. Jebh's Preface to the Opus Majns, and Dr. YVhewell's
History of the Inductive Sciences, 3rd Ed., vol. i. p. 371.

REACTION AGAINST ARISTOTLE. 75

eis intelligere veraciter, sicut ego expertus sum omnino. ******
Certus igitur sum, quod melius esset Latinis, quod sapientia
Aristotelis non esset translata, quam tali obscuritate et perversitate
tradita, sicut eis qui ponuntur ibi triginta vel quadraginta annos ;
et quanto plus laborant, tanto minus sciunt, sicut ego probavi in
omnibus qui libris Aristotelis adhaeserunt. Unde dominus Robertus,
quondam episcopus Lincolniensis sanctae memoriae, neglexit omnino
libros Aristotelis et vias eorum, et per experientiam propriam, et
auctores alios, et per alias scientias negotiatus est in sapientialibus
Aristotelis ; et melius centies milesies scivit et scripsit ilia de quibus
libri Aristotelis loquuntur, quam in ipsius perversis translationibus
capi possunt. ****** Si enim haberem potestatem super libros
Aristotelis ego facerem omnes cremari, quia non est nisi temporis
amissio studere in illis, et causa erroris et rnultiplicatio ignorantiae,
ultra id quod valeat explicari. Et quoniam labores Aristotelis sunt
fundamenta totius sapientiae, ideo nemo potest aestimare quantum
dispendium accidit Latinis, quia malas translationes receperunt
philosophi 7 V

Passing to the Renaissance, we find a tone of expression very
different from the cautious and discriminative criticism of these early
writers. Men, who had new theories to propound, had become
impatient of the constant appeal to authority, and in their minds
the name of Aristotle was associated with the ideas of inflexible
dogma and unreasoning opposition to enquiry. He was for them
the dictator, the tyrant of the schools, and, till he was dethroned,
there was no hope for any regeneration of science, or even for any
opportunity of fair discussion. Nor, considering the slavish deference
which had long been paid to the name of Aristotle, can this feel-
ing, however exaggerated and unreasoning the form which it often
assumed, be regarded with surprise. It seems to have originated
chiefly amongst the Italian ' novellists,' as they are called by Bacon,
and to have spread rapidly amongst all who were foremost in the
revival either of science or letters. The works of Laurentius Valla,
Rodolphus Agricola, H. C. Agrippa, Ludovicus Vives, Paracelsus,
Nizolius, Ramus, Telesius, Patricius, Giordano Bruno, Campanella,
M. Aur. Severinus, Nicolaus Cabeus 73 , and others, all teem with

74 Compendium Studii, cap. 8 (Brewer's Ed., pp. 468, 9). The whole passage
from which these extracts are taken is very curious and well worth reading.

75 Much more moderate in their strictures were Cardan and Galileo, while
amongst the defenders of Aristotle we may count Pomponatius (b. 1462, d. 1524
or 6) and Caesalpinus (b. 1519, d. 1603).

7 6 INTRODUCTION.

passages indicative of the reaction against Aristotelianism, and ex-
emplifying in various degrees the intensity of feeling, often passing
into a bitterness approximating to personal hatred, with which the
attack on his authority was carried on. Of these passages I proceed
to give some examples, which are both interesting in themselves
and illustrative of the spirit of violent hostility towards the old
learning, and especially towards the name of Aristotle, which is
so frequently evinced in the works of Bacon v \

Laurentius Valla (b. 1406, d. 1457"), in the Preface to his books
on Dialectic, claims the liberty of dissenting from Aristotle, adducing
the example of the older Greek philosophers who had always claimed
the liberty of dissenting even from the leader of their own sect :
' Quo minus ferendi sunt recentes peripatetici, qui nullius sectae
homini interdicunt libertate ab Aristotele dissentiendi ; quasi sophos
hie non philosophus, et quasi nemo hoc antea fecerit.' He then
quotes a number of Greek and Latin authors who had dissented from
Aristotle, and proceeds : 'At caeteri Latini caeteros philosophos pro
asophis habent : unum Aristotelem amplectentes. Quidni ? cum
eum solum cognitum habeant : si modo cognoscere est, non in
propria sed in aliena lingua lectitare, ne dicam non sincera. Non
solum quia plerique ejus libri corrupte translati sunt, sed etiam quia
multa belle dicuntur graece, quae non belle dicuntur latine. Quae
res in plurimos maximosque errores egregia quoque ingenia induxit.
Adde hue ignorationem nostrae. Quotus enim quisque post Boetium
iuit, qui Latinus dici mereatur et non Barbaras? Nam Avicenna et
Averrois plane barbari fuerunt, nostrae linguae prorsus ignari, et
graeca vix tincti. * * Hos ego homines verear ? hos ego

audiam ? vetantes, ne quid in Aristotelem dicam. Hos sibi tantum
sumere patiar ? quod non ipsis Athenis, quod non omnibus philoso-
phis, (juod non cunctis saeculis concederetur. Neque vero mihi
videtur tanti ingenii Aristoteles, ut quasi Achilles Herculesve inter
heroes, aut 'Luna inter sidera, nedum Sol sit aestimandus. *****
At enim composuit plura cmam caeteri Aristoteles. Num. protinus et
praestantiora ? ' He then attacks him as a compiler, who did not
acknowledge the sources of his compilations. The passage, as it
proceeds, furnishes curious evidence of the adoration with which
Aristotle was commonly regarded. ' Composuit plura quam caeteri.

REACTION AGAINST ARISTOTLE. 77

Esto. Num cuncta quam caeteri melius ? Num ita ut nihil alii queant
dicere ? Num ut pro deo habendus sit ? Pudet referre apud quosdam
esse morem initiandi discipulos, et jurejurando adigendi, nunquam
se Aristoteli repugnaturos : genus hominum superstitiosum atque
vecors, et de seipso male meritum : cum se facultate fraudent in-
dagandae veritatis : quos si reprehendere jure optimo possumus, quod
hanc sibi legem imposuerint, qua tandem insectatione castigare
debemus, si hanc legem in alios transferunt ? Quare illis contemptis
ac spretis si qua sunt quae quam in Aristotele melius dici possunt,
ea tentabo ipse melius pro mea virili dicere : non hominis (quod
absit) insimulandi gratia, sed honorandae veritatis.' Throughout the
work, he freely expresses his differences from Aristotle in detail,
using such phrases as 'ineptissima comparatio,' and the like.

Rodolphus Agricola (b. 1443, d. 1485), who, though a native of
the Low Countries, had received his philosophical education in Italy,
praises Aristotle generally, but complains of his obscurity, and claims
the right of forming an independent judgment 7T . His language is
much less incisive than that of Laurentius Valla, but will be read with
interest as affording further evidence of the opinions of the time. ' Ego
Aristotelem summo ingenio, doctrina, eloquentia, rerum peritia,
prudentiaque, et (ut semel dicam) summum quidem hominem, sed
hominem tamen fuisse puto : hoc est, quern et latere aliquid potuerit,
quique, ut non omnia primus invenerit, ita aliis post se invenienda
aliqua reliquerit, qui etiam non omnia quae invenerat crediderit in
vulgus prodenda, et nonnunquam fortasse contradicendi studio, quo
maxima fere tentantur ingenia, non tarn quid ipse sentiret, quam
contra quid alius sensisset, dicendum putaret. Plurima ille recte, sed
et alius aliquid non male. Quo justiorem ego veniam credo illis
esse oportere, si qui fuerunt, qui putarent, non utique illi tanquam
scopulo usquequaque adhaerescendum esse, neque de suis despera-
runt ingeniis : cum ingrati possit et inique de parente omnium natura
existimantis videri, credere ipsam omnia sua in uno illo partu effun-
dentem munera, reliqua posteritati humani generis in omne aevum
sterilem effoetamque manere voluisse.'

In the De Incertitudine et Vanitate Scientiarum (where, however,
it is the business of the author to find fault) Henricus Cornelius
Agrippa (b. 1486, d. 1535), after enumerating the logical works of
Aristotle, proceeds in language which reminds us of some of the
Aphorisms of Bacon : ' quae secuti Peripatetici, opinantur nihil stare,

77 See his De Inventione Dialectica, lib. i. Ed. of 1552, pp. 23, 24.

78 INTRODUCTION.

aut sciri posse, nisi quod syllogizando probetur per Demonstrationem,
earn videlicet, quam depingit Aristoteles, sed tamen nunquam in dog-
matibus suis observavit, cum omnes suae argumentationes ex prae-
suppositis ab eo deducantur, quae secuti omnes isti scientiarum pol-
licitatores, hactenus nullas aut paucissimas veras demonstrationes
dederunt, nedum in naturalibus, sed omnes deducunt illas ex prae-
acceptis, aut ab suo Aristotele aut ab alio, qui ilia prior dixerit,
quorum authoritatem servant sibi pro principiis demonstrationis 78 .'
He then goes on to complain that Aristotle's demonstrations are
either circular or proceed from occult and unknown properties. In
the preceding chapter (De Rhetorica) the old charge of impiety is
renewed against the Aristotelians, while the Platonists are, as sub-
sequently by Bacon, accused of superstition : ' Et qui Aristoteli et
Platoni impensius student, fiunt illi quidem superstitiosi, hi vero impii.'
Ludovicus Vives (b. 1492, d. 1540) was a Spaniard by birth,
though he spent the greater part of his life in France, England 79 , and
Belgium. In his book entitled ' De Causis Corruptarum Artium' he
frequently alludes to Aristotle. Generally speaking, he extols him,
but enlarges on his great obscurity, rendered still more obscure by
the bad literal translations then in vogue. He notes contradictions
in his philosophy, but allows that these are almost unavoidable. In one
place, he offers a curious explanation of Aristotle's obscurity. He had
so bitterly attacked his predecessors that he feared retaliation from his
successors, and therefore purposely made his language ambiguous, in
order to baffle opposition. ' Ea res ' (namely Aristotle's misrepresen-
tation of the opinions of the older philosophers) ' non solum veras
antiquorum sententias nobis ademit, quae fortassis jactura fuisset
tolerabilis, verum, quod est gravius, Aristotelem nobis timidiorem
effecit ad eloquendum quae sentiret, reputantem scilicet quod est in
rnimo: Ab alio expectes, alteri quod feceris"".' Aristotle's treatment
of his predecessors is turned into an argument for subjecting his
own opinions to examination. ' Quid Aristoteles ipse, an non supe-
riorum omnium placita convellere est ausus ? nobis examinare saltern
ac cetisere nefas erit? praesertim quod, ut Seneca sapienter dicit, qui
ante nos ista moverunt, non domini nostri, sed duces sum. Patet

7s Cap. vii. De Dialeetiea.

' ; ' Jle uns nominated by ]!p. Foxe, in 1517, as the first Professor of Latin in his
new foundation, Corpus Christi College, Oxford. I hit, during his residence in
r.ngland, he was thrown into prison by Henry VIII, for having opposed him on
the question of the I)ivorce.

> " Lib. i. llasle Kd. of i-.?~., p. 338.

REACTION AGAINST ARISTOTLE. 79

omnibus veritas, nondum est occupata. Multum ex ilia etiam futuris
relictum est 81 .' The obscurity, ambiguity, and subtlety of Aristotle
is a theme to which he constantly reverts. 'Sed redeo jam ad ea quae
de Aristotelis operibus coeperam dicere. Vicit ille quidem superiores
omnes atque etiam posteros, est autem in definiendo vafer et occultus,
adeo ut pleraque sint idcirco in ejus philosophia incerta et perplexa,
parum etiam vera, dum magis curat, quern in modum reprehensionem
excludat, quam ut asserat verum. * * Sed enimvero neque haec
ipsa Aristotelis volumina potuerunt ' [sc. nominales] ' intelligere, pri-
mum propter locutionem astrictam, et ex brevitate obscuram, hinc
propter intricatas et obliquas sententias, turn etiam ob immodicas sub-
tilitates, quibus Aristoteles plerumque non exacuit ingenia, sed pertur-
bat et frangit, tenebrasque et hallucinationem inducit aciei mentis,
dum conatur minutias quasdam tenuissimas ostendere, et inutiles per
se, et quae intentionem obtutus ingenii subterfugiant ac frustrentur 8 ' 2 .'
More specifically, Vives attacks the logic of Aristotle in terms which
recal to us the language of Bacon, and perhaps still more of Ramus.
After speaking of the dialectical method of Plato's dialogues, and the
germs of logical precepts which are to be found in them, he proceeds:
'Sed indubie Aristoteles earn in artis faciem reduxit, ut et rhetoricam.
Caeterum, quod liceat cum bona venia dicere, praeterquam quod more
suo obscure, et prolixe, etiam parum apte ad usum vel inveniendi
argumenta vel judicandi argumentationes. Nemo est enim, qui,
quantumlibet diligenter lecta et excussa universa Aristotelis logica,
sentiat se instrumentum habere, quo in aliqua ad disserendum materia
argumenta in promptu excogitet 83 .'

Paracelsus (b. 1493, d. 1541), as might be expected from the
eccentricity of his character, attacks Aristotle with more asperity and
coarseness of expression than any of the writers already cited. The
following extracts will suffice as examples of the tone and manner of
his attack :

' Ex Philosophia a primis illico ejus incunabulis muscus excrevit :

81 In libros de Disciplinis Praefatio. Id. p. 325. In the context of this passage,
there are several sentences which remind us of Bacon. Thus, he says that nature
is not effete or exhausted, ' ut nihil prioribus annis simile pariat,' but rather the ex-
perience of the past ought to enable us far to outstrip our predecessors. At the
same time, he claims no superiority for himself, nor does he aim at founding a sect.
' Neque vero ipse aequari me antiquis illis postulo, sed rationes eorum comparari
cum meis.' ' Equidem ut de me uno loquar. nolim quenquam se mihi addicere :
nee autor unquam sectae, nee suasor ero, etiam si in me a verba jurandum sit.'

f ' 2 De Causis Corruptarum Artium, lib. v. Basle Edition of 1555, p. 410.

83 Id. lib. iii. p. 375.

80 INTRODUCTION.

huic postea annati fungi sunt, ceu glandulae in corpore. Aristoteles
et ejus asseclae cum Philosophia idem egerunt, quod feces, quae a
vino terram extrahunt. Et spuma, licet quidem eorum quae olla
continet, pessima sit : nihilominus tamen in loco sublimiori obnitat,
et inferiora meliora obtegit. Hinc etiam, quia melioris obtecti ali-
quem gustum resipit, inter cibos quoque numeratur ilia : sed canum
tamen solum ac felium. Idem hie de vetere quoque Philosophia
censendum est : quae fungos saltern ac spumas tractat, non ipsam,
unde enata est, materiam 84 .'

' Primum autem nos movet justa compellatio nostrorum in Philo-
sophia antecessorum qui operosis laboribus Generationem hominis
descripserunt. Quibus etsi quidem Naturae lex nihil denegavit; illis
tamen eadem nihil quoque largita videtur. Quicquid enim tradiderunt,
id non (ut nostra Philosophia) ex luce rationis enatum est : sed ex
argutiis potius interioris sensus ejus, quern ex nobis ipsis concepimus.
Quibus pro responsione hoc reddimus, ipsos ex stio tantum cerebro
scripsisse, et non ex experientia aut oculari cognitione. Sola enim
experientia et scientia digna est, quae quid in lucem proferat, non vero
autodoxia, et experientia praesumta. Acutus phantastes Aristoteles
de Generatione monumenta non pauca post se reliquit. Is tamen et
in ipsa natura misere seductus et Philosophiae naturalis mire ignarus
exsistit. Acutus tamen in opinionibus erroneis et contra naturam
impingentibus idem ipse fuit, et momentis admodum probabilibus
suam sententiam stabilivit, eamque rationibus prudentibus confirmavit,
ac sententiis artificiosis et jucundis illustravit. Quae tamen si omnia
ita sese praecise in natura haberent quemadmodum blanda ejus verba
supponunt; cm is clariorem unquam in natura lucem desideraret? Sic
et caeteri ipsius asseclae, interpretes et discipuli eidem acumini ac
subtilitati studuerunt, ut multis ambagibus ac artificiosis ingeniosisque
argumentis suas opiniones munirent et stabilirent : Quae tamen
omnia in fundamento naturae nil nisi fumus sunt, ac flos contritus et
flaccidus. Nobis autem ita persuasum est, praeter beatitudinem
aeternam, hominis nihil uspiam nobilius aut praestabilius exstare,
<]iiam naturam cognovisse, ac ab ilia ut a magistra ipsa fundamentum
omnc Philosophiae didicisse. Hoc ut statuimus : sic contra damna-
mus argutias ingeniosas quae se Philosophiam jactant, nee tamen
quicquam aliud (mam opinio speciosa et suis quasi floribus picta et
i-xornata est "V

sl Paradoxomm torn. ii. Opera Omnia, Geneva, 1658, vol. i. p. iSS.
'"' Paradoxomm torn. i. Op. Omn. vol. i. p. 148.

REACTION AGAINST ARISTOTLE. 81

Nizolius (b. 1498, d. 1566) in his 'Anti-Barbarus Philosophicus
sive Philosophia Scholasticorum impugnata 86 ,' first published in 1553,
begins at once with an attack on the received mode of philosophising
and the inordinate importance attached to the works of Aristotle.
The received philosophy, he says, has only been able to maintain
itself through the rudeness of the times and the ignorance of men
' qui quae a quibusdam antiquis et Graecis Scriptoribus, ne dicam
nugatoribus, invenerunt tradita et literis consignata, ea omnia prorsus
temere et sine ulla consideratione receperunt, receptaque approbave-
runt : perinde ac si essent oracula quaedam delphica, aut arcana
divinitus revelata, quae nullo pacto falsa esse possent.' Not content
with this undiscriminating deference, they have made the Logic of
Aristotle as it were the door to all knowledge, and his Physics and
Metaphysics the steps as it were to the summit of wisdom. ' Quae
omnia nos in toto hoc opere usque adeo falsa et a veritate aliena esse
sumus ostensuri, ut contra potius, qui per omnia in veritate investi-
ganda sequatur praecepta Pseudophilosophorum, et Aristoteli soli
ejusque doctrinae in philosophando sit addictus, is nunquam nee
recte philosophari nee perfecte veritatem invenire possit 8 V He
recommends, indeed, that the works of Aristotle should be frequently
read, 'sed cum diligenti consideratione atque judicio,' and praises the
' Ethics, Politics, (Economics, the Books on Animals, and Rhetorics':
' tamen affirmamus et contendimus non multo pauciora vel falsa, vel
inutilia, vel etiam ridicula ab eodem scripta reperiri, ut in majori parte
librorum Naturalium, ac pene in totis Dialecticis, et non paucissimis
Metaphysicis.' He then applies to Aristotle's writings the proverb :
' Ubi bene, nihil melius ; ubi male, nihil pejus 8 ".' When he comes
to detail, his criticisms of Aristotle betray the same kind of impatience
and asperity with which we are familiar in the works of Bacon.
The following may serve as one specimen out of many : ' Quis nisi
mente captus hoc modo proprium assignaret? Sed Aristoteles, ut
librum magnum faceret, nihil praetermittebat, quamvis absurdum et
ridiculum 89 .' At the end of the treatise 90 , there is an unsparing in-
vective against Aristotle, accompanied by an attack on Picus Miran-
dula and others for confining their criticisms to the Commentators on

*'' The alternative title of this work is ' De veris principiis et vera ratione philo-
sophandi contra Pseudo-Philosophos.' It was republished at Frankfort in 1674,
with a preliminary dissertation by Leibnitz.

'' Anti-Barbarus Philosophicus, Prooemium, Ed. Leibnitz, pp. 1,2.

^ Lib. i. cap. i, Ed. Leibnitz, pp. 5, 6.

* Lib. iv. cap. i. * J Lib. iv. cap. S.

8 2 I NT ROD UCTION.

Aristotle, without having the courage to extend them to Aristotle him-
self. The chapter concludes with two warnings 'memoriae mandanda,
et assidue diligenter cogitanda omnibus qui recte philosophari
cupiunt, quorum unum est, Ubicunque et quotcunque Dialectici
Metaphysicique sunt, ibidem et totidem esse capitales veritatis hostes;
alterum vero, Quamdiu in scholis Philosophorum regnabit Aristoteles
iste Dialecticus et Metaphysicus, tamdiu in eis et falsitatem et bar-
bariem, si non linguae et oris, at certe pectoris et cordis regnaturam.'

Over the remaining names on our list we must pass more lightly.
Ramus (b. 1502, or, according to another account, 1515, d. in the
Massacre of St. Bartholomew 1572) marks the climax of the reaction
against Aristotle. He is said to have selected as the thesis for his
Master of Arts' Degree the position that all the dogmas of Aristotle
are false : ' Lutetiae Magisterii titulurn suscepturus, problema hoc
sumpsit ; quaecunque ab Aristotele dicta essent, commentitia esse 01 .'
In this story, however, there is probably some exaggeration. But,
whether this be the case or not, the life, lectures, and works of Ramus
formed one long protest against the ascendency of the Aristotelian
philosophy, and especially of the Aristotelian Logic. One or two
specimens of his diatribes against Aristotle, taken from the Aris-
totelicae Animadversiones, will be sufficient to give an idea of the
vehemence with which he carried on his attack :

' Ars dialectica est imago naturalis dialecticae : in commentariis
autem Aristotelis nihil est ad naturae monitionem propositum : nihil
(si naturae veritatem spectes) non confusum, non perturbatum, non
contaminatum, non foedatum : ars igitur dialectica in commentariis
Aristotelis nulla est" 2 .'

' Hicmihi omnes Musae et Charites sunt implorandae, ut publicam
pestem, et tot jam saeculis corroboratam atque inveteratam aegrotan-
tibus ostendant : phanaticis quibusdam ingeniis persuadeant, ut se
colligant : naturam suam intueantur : dei opt. max. munera, quibus
affect i sunt, suspiciant : * ::: animadvertant ne nimis ingrata

barbaraque impietate divinam munificentiam despiciant, nimiumque
stolido dementique furore non perturbatorem tanti boni, sed erep-
torem : non hostem humani judicii, sed tortorem, carnificemque
diligant. Sic enim verissime profiteri possum, si daemonum omnium
conventum aliqujin princeps ipse tenebrarum de extinguendo doc-
trinae hujus lumine ageret, auditaque singulorum sententia statueret,

1'etn Kami Vita ex J. T. Freigio desoiipta, appended to Milton's Logic.
" Lyons Edition of 1545, p. 7.

REACTION AGAINST ARISTOTLE. 83

non perniciosius, exitiosius, calamitosius quicquam repcrturum, quam
ab uno Aristotele repertum est.

Dii talem terris avertite pestem :

Quid est judicium, o domine Aristoteles, o unice naturae fili, o
deus amentium? sc. dormit. genera judicii quot sunt ? nondum e
somno excitatus est. sed fortasse deus iste per sacerdotem, aut in-
terpretem aliquem loquitur, heus Aristotelei sacerdotes, quoniam deus
vester dormiens nos hie despicit, quid est judicium ? quae sunt judicii
genera ? '

We see from these quotations, which might be multiplied to almost
any extent, that the cautious criticism of the earlier writers has
degenerated into mere abuse, and that often of the most grossly
exaggerated kind.

Bacon in his sixteenth year (September 1576) was sent by his
father into France, in the train of the English Ambassador, Sir Amias
Paulet. There he resided, chiefly in Paris, till his father's death in
March 1578-9 93 . During these two years and a half, he must have
heard much, and heard with curiosity and interest, of the opinions
of Ramus, of the revolt against Aristotle, and of the hopes to be
entertained from the inauguration of a new method of enquiry and
from giving a new direction to scientific study. Hence, it is not
unlikely, as M. Barthelemy Saint-Hilaire 94 suggests, that his sojourn
in Paris, where Ramism was then in the air, may have had a con-
siderable influence in determining the philosophical position which he
afterwards assumed.

At this time, the spirit of revolt against Aristotle was everywhere in
the ascendant. Bernardino Telesio of Cosenza (b. 1509, d. 1588),
whom Bacon pronounced the ' best of the novellists,' and to whom he
makes constant reference throughout his works, invariably criticises
Aristotle with the utmost freedom. The reader who is curious to
see the direction which this criticism takes, and the tone in which it is
conducted, may refer to the Prooemium to the two books ' De Rerum
Natura juxta propria principia,' &c., and to the Dedication prefixed to
the nine books bearing the same title. In the latter writing he says
of the Aristotelian philosophy : ' et sensui, et sibi etiam ipsi, quin et
Deo Opt. Max. passim repugnat.' His tone, however, compared
with that of Ramus, is unusually moderate and respectful 9r '.

5)3 See Spedding's Life and Letters of Bacon, vol. i. pp. 6-8.

94 De la Logique d'Aristote, vol. ii. pp. 265, 6.

95 See, for instance, De Rerum Natura, lib. iii. cap. i : ' Nihil, si in iis [sc. Aris-

G 2

84 INTRODUCTION.

Far the most systematic of the opponents of the Aristotelian phi-
losophy in general was Patrizzi or Patricius (b. 1529, d. 1597)- His
Discussiones Peripateticae are throughout, for the most part, a bitter
attack on the life, works, and opinions of Aristotle. Thus, he fre-
quently breaks out into invectives such as this : ' Quicunque igitur ex
Aristotelis dogmatibus philosophatur, is dialectice philosophatur, non
philosophice, non scientifice, non rerum veritatis, sed Aristotelicorum
placitorum est amator '"''.' And, in another place, after comparing
two contradictory passages from Aristotle, he says : ' Qua re quid in-
constantius? quid tanti nominis philosopho indignius ? Sed licuit
sibi quidquid voluit : et tamen, omnia credita a suis sunt oracula, in
contrariis dogmatibus permultis fides par illi habita 9 V His reasons
for combating the philosophy of Aristotle are given at length in an
Appendix, entituled ' Veritatis Studiosis,' at the end of his ' Nova de
Universis Philosophia.'

Giordano Bruno (b. about 1550, burnt at Rome 1600) was another
of the more prominent opponents of Aristotelianism. He wrote a
special treatise, entituled Acrotismus, seu rationes articulorum physi-
corum adversus peripateticos Parisiis propositorum. In the Dedica-
tion prefixed to this work, he says that he should not have written the
book, had he thought that the University of Paris owed more to
Aristotle, than Aristotle to it. In the celebrated Dialogue, entituled
' La Cena de le Ceneri,' Bruno states that the most enthusiastic ad-
herents of Aristotle ('who are the enemies of those who are not the
friends of Aristotle, who would live and die for Aristotle ') are often
entirely ignorant of the meaning of even the titles of his works (' i
quali non intendono ne anche quel die significano i titoli de libri
d'Aristotele '). He adds that the real question which ought to be
debated between the Aristotelians and their opponents is not whether
a doctrine be old or new, but whether it be true or false fl8 .

Campanella (b. 1568, d. 1639) was an enthusiastic follower of
Telesio, and one of the more outspoken of the anti-Aristotelians. One
of his works, published at Naples in 1591, was entituled Philosophia
sensibus demonstrata ; adversus eos qui proprio arbitratu, non autem

totelis Sententiis] tractandis plus justo intcrdum immoremur, mortales nobis, ut
ignoseant, sed quod a sumnio naturae interprete dissentire audeainus et non
nuniinis instar ilium venerenuir, rogandos esse cxistimamus : qui si illius dictum
audiaiil, ant (actuin imitcntur,' &c.

" ; Disc. I'erip., torn. i. lib. 13, Basle Edition of 1581, p. 170.

' Id. torn. iv. lib. i . p. 7,73.

J * Kdition of 1584, pp. 16, 17.

REACTION AGAINST ARISTOTLE. 85

sensata duce natura philosophati sunt : cum vera defensione Bernard!
Telesii. The Preface to this work, written in 1589, abounds in open
or covert attacks on Aristotle. Campanula's objections to the phi-
losophy of Aristotle were based as much on theological as on philoso-
phical grounds. In a work entituled Disputatio in Prologum Instaura-
tarum Scientiarum ad Scholas Christianas, praesertim Parisienses, the
reader will find a very curious list of these theological objections.

M. A. Severinus 99 (b. 1580, d. 1656), a junior contemporary of
Bacon, and, like Campanella, a follower of Telesius, was mainly a
writer of medical works. One of these is inscribed Antiperipatias,
hoc est adversus Aristoteleos, de respiratione piscium, &c. Like
Bacon, he attacks Aristotle for his treatment of the older Greek
Philosophers. Thus, he quotes with approbation the words of
Cabaeus, the last author on our list, when describing Aristotle as
' adeo male meritus de antiquis, dum semper in pejorem sensum
interpretatur, ut proinde dignus esset, qui ab omnibus male
acciperetur, nee unquam ejus dicta ad bonum sensum traherentur.'

Nicolaus Cabaeus, a Jesuit, in his commentaries on the Meteoro-
logica of Aristotle, published at Rome in 1646, constantly asserts that
we should follow experience and not Aristotle. But, at the same time,
he adopts a far more moderate tone than most of the writers whom
I have hitherto noticed. Thus, in the Preface ' Ad Lectorem ' he
states his position as follows : ' Illud quidem affirmo, longe diversis
finibus contineri fidem et scientiam. Si Aristotelem volumus sapi-
entiae ducem, non abnuo : si doctrinae magistrum, non recuso : si
sapientiae parentem, agnosco in multis, maximisque rebus, et admirer :
si ad illius solum suffragium imus in sententiam, si in illius tantum
pronunciatis conquiescimus, et ejus dicta, absque alia probatione,
nobis sentiendi norma sunt, non admitto : imo dico, qui sic faciunt
longe ab Aristotelis doctrina recedere : qui vult ilium esse Philo-
sophum, et ilium sapientem, qui rerum causas noverit, non qui
alicujus dicta memoriae consecravit.'

These selections, which I have brought down to the time of Bacon
himself, will be sufficient to shew the nature and strength of the
reaction against the philosophy of Aristotle. From his more moderate
critics, or those who complained of the blind submission of his
followers rather than of the tone and method of the master himself,

9 This Severinus must not be confounded with P. Severinus the Dane, of whom
Bacon speaks in the Temporis Partus Mascnlus, in De Augmentis, iii. 4, and pro-
bably in Nov. Org. i. 116.

86 INTRODUCTION.

such as Cardan and Galileo, I have not thought it necessary to
quote.

Bacon's own criticisms, degenerating often into invectives, will be
sufficiently illustrated from the Novum Organum and the parallel
passages which, from time to time, I shall quote from his other
writings.

13. ANTICIPATIONS OF BACON'S METHOD AND
TEACHING.

TAKING the main peculiarities of Bacon's method and teaching to
have been (i) the emphasis with which he insisted on the necessity
of consulting and collecting facts, of going straight to Nature, of
instituting observations and experiments before formulating general
propositions ; (2) the gradual ascent from propositions or axioms of
a lower to those of a higher degree of generality ; (3) the selection
and comparison of instances in place of the old Inductio per Enume-
rationem Simplicem ; (4) the disregard of Authority ; and (5) the
restraint of Fancy : we may proceed to enquire how far, in these and
other less important or more detailed parts of his system, he was
anticipated by preceding writers. Now, it must be confessed at
once that, in many of these respects, the method of Bacon is to be
found embodied in the teaching and example of Aristotle, and even
of Socrates and Plato. Induction of some sort or other, and, con-
sequently, the examination and collection of facts, is as old as
human reasoning. This object gave me pleasure or pain yesterday,
and, therefore, I will pursue or avoid a similar object to-day ; or I
compassed my ends in this way yesterday, and, therefore, I will try
a similar mode again to-day, are amongst the earliest thoughts which
would occur to man. It is, therefore, of course, absurd to represent
Bacon as the author or discoverer of Induction. What logicians
have done is not to invent forms of reasoning, but to analyse,
criticise, and offer rules and cautions for securing the due perform-
ance of those which already exist. Hence, it would be utterly
superfluous to accumulate early instances of inductive reasoning ;
as respects my present purpose, it is quite sufficient to refer to the
trraKTiKin Xo'yoi or mipnftoXr) of Socrates *, and to give a very brief

1 On tliis mode of reasoning and on Plato's method of Exclusions, see my note
on Nov. Org. bk. i. aph. 105.

ANTICIPATIONS OF BACON'S DOCTRINES. 87

account of Aristotle's method, so far as it relates to the present
question.

To my mind nothing can be clearer than that Aristotle bases all
evidence ultimately on the observation of individual facts. See, for
instance, Metaph. i. i, Post. An. ii. 19. And, in accordance with this
doctrine, the ultimate major premiss of any train of deductive
reasoning must itself rest on an induction from particulars. 'E<

Trpoytvu>(TKQfj.ev<t)v 8e natra SiSaovcaXta, axmep Km ei> rots dvaXvTiKols Xeyo/iec'
f) [lev yap 6V eVaytuy^?, rj 8e (ruXXoyicr^KW. H fj.ev Si) eTraycoyiy dp\r] ean (cat
rov Ka&JXou, 6 8e crvXXoyioy/6s K TK>V Ka66\ov. Elcrlv apa dp^al e a>v 6
oriXXoyioyio?, o>v OVK fern truXXoytcr/uos 1 ' fnayooyr) apa. Eth. Nic. vi. 3 (3).
*A.8vvaTov 8e ra KaAJXou decaprjaai p.r] 81 eVayeayr}? . . . eTraxdrjvai 8e prj
e^ot/Tcis OLCrdrjcrLV d8vvarov' ru>i> yap Ka6' exacrroi' 17 at;r$r;<7ts. An. Post.

i. 1 8. Unfortunately, Aristotle went no further in his formal analysis
of induction than to reduce it to the syllogistic type, and, as an
almost necessary consequence of this procedure, he regarded an
exhaustive enumeration of all the instances (Inductio Completa)

as its typical form. Aei 8e voiiv TO r TO e'| imav-ruiv TUIV KaS" fxaaTov
<TvyKtlu,evov' rj yap enayutyrj 8ia iravraw. An. Pr. ii. 23. But, as, in

most cases, it was impossible to satisfy this requirement in practice 2 ,
we find him, as a matter of fact, selecting his instances, and that often
with great skill 3 , though sometimes, it must be confessed, with much
carelessness. (On this and other points connected with Aristotle's
method, cp. 1 1 of this Introduction.) Some of his remarks on the
proper examination of facts or theories are characterised by great

2 He does not always insist on it, even theoretically. See An. Post. i. 31. p. 88 a.
4-5 ; Top. viii. 8. p. 160. b. 3.

3 Ueberweg (System der Logik) rightly calls attention to De Partibus Anima-
lium, iv. 2 (677 a 3O-b i), as shewing that Aristotle was aware, in practice, of
the importance of having regard to causal connexion in framing our generalisations.
The chapter is also interesting as affording examples of the ' negative instances ' to
which Bacon attaches so much importance. At the same time, it is remarkable
for the carelessness of observation which it displays.

My friend Mr. J. A. Stewart of Christ Church has drawn my attention to a re-
markable correspondence between some of the loci in Topics, ii. 10, n, and the
canons of reasoning in modern Inductive Logic. The passage is worth more
attention than it has received.

It may here be noticed that Aristotle also recognises an imperfect form of in-
duction, in the irapabfif^a. or eTrajojjfj ^ropi/n;. See An. Pr. ii. 24.

The student, who wishes to obtain a clear idea of Aristotle's doctrine of In-
duction, will do well to compare the following passages : An. Pr. ii. 23, 24 ; An.
Post. i. i, 2, 3, 18, 31, ii. 5, 19; Top. i. 12, ii. 10, ii, viii. i, 2, 8; Metaph. i. i;
De Part. An. iv. 2 ; Eth. Nic. vi. 3 (3), ii (4-6).

88 INTRODUCTION.

sagacity. Take, for instance, the passage in Eth. vii. i (5) : A *',

SiffTrep firl rSnv aXXtoi/, TtOevras TO. fyaivopiva, K.a\ np>Toi> Sianoprja-avras, ovrat
SfiKvvvcu pd\to-Ta ptv navra TO. ei>8oa u(p\ ravra ra TrdGr], fl 8e p.r], TO TrAftora
KOI Kvpiutrara- cav yap \vr)rai re TO. 8v(TXfpn teal KaTa\fi7rr]Tai ra ei>8oa,

tftetypivov av eiij HKIMM 4 . In his treatises generally, but especially
in the Politics and the Historia Animalium, we find extensive collec-
tions of facts ; nor, as I have shewn elsewhere 5 , did he altogether
neglect experiment. That he was impatient, and even jealous, of
the authority of others 6 , has generally been brought as a charge
against him, and, about the time of the Revival of Letters, was
frequently adduced as an argtimentum ad hominem by those who
were anxious to throw off the bonds of his own authority.

As the works of Aristotle, and specially his logical works, were
constantly being reproduced and commented on during the Middle
Ages, it would be easy, though superfluous, to accumulate from
mediaeval writers passages on the origin of knowledge in the per-
ceptions of the senses (as being, at least, its condition, if not its
source), and on the relation of induction to deduction. It will be
sufficient, as a specimen, to quote the following passages from the
Metalogicus of John of Salisbury (lib. iv. capp. 8, 9), written about
1 1 60: ' Et sic demonstrandi scientiam statuit, ac si sensu corporeo
teneatur, quae ratio indubitata sic esse convincit. Communes enim
conceptiones a singulorum inductione fidem sortiuntur. Impossible
enim est universalia speculari, non per inductionem ; quoniam, ut
ait, quae ex abstractione dicuntur per inductiones ignota nota fiunt.
Inducere autem non habentes sensum, impossibile est. Singular/mm
enim sensus est ; nee contingit ipsorum accipere scientiam, neque
ex universalibus sine inductione, nee per inductionem sine sensu.
Fit ergo ex sensu memoria ; ex memoria multorum saepius iterata,
experimentum ; ab experiments scientiae aut artis ratio manat.
Porro ab arte, quae usu et exercitatione firmata est, provenit facultas
exsequendi ea, quae ex arte gerenda sunt. Sic itaque sensus corporis,
qui prima vis aut primum exercitium animae est, omnium artium
praejacit fundamenta ; et praeexistentem format cognitionem, quae
primis principiis viam non modo aperit, sed et parit.' ' Planum
autem est hoc diligentius inspicienti per singula. Nam cum sensus,

4 Cp. Eth. Nic. i. 8 (i) ; Eth. Eud. i. 6.

r> See 1 1 of this Introduction.

f ' The case of Reason versus Authority has never been better or more tersely put
than by Aristotle, Eth. Nic. i. 6 (i) : dfj.<poiv -yap UVTOIV <pi\oiv, oaiov TrpoTifj.di> TTJI/
u\r]0fiav. Hence the proverb : ' Amicus Plato ; magis arnica veritas.'

ANTICIPATIONS OF BACON'S DOCTRINES. 89

secundum Aristotelem, sit naturalis potentia indicativa rerum, aut
omnino non est aut vix est cognitio, deficiente sensu.'

Fertile, however, as these principles might have been in a different
age, it must be confessed that they bore little fruit in the time of
which I am speaking. It was only men of rare curiosity or of a
singular love of nature, like Albert the Great 7 or our own Roger
Bacon, who saw the supreme importance of interrogating facts or of
basing science upon experience. To the latter of these great names
I shall devote some little space.

First, however, I may remark, by way of parenthesis, that Dr.
Whewell 8 discovers certain resemblances between the mediaeval
mystic Richard of St. Victor (died 1173) and Francis Bacon. Of
these, the most important is the dictum that 'Physical science
ascends from effects to causes, and descends again from causes to
effects 9 .' This, however, appears to me to be one of those incidental
utterances which might easily be made without perceiving, as Bacon
undoubtedly did perceive, its scientific value or the practical con-
sequences to which, if properly developed, it would lead.

The comparison of the speculations of Roger Bacon (who wrote
towards the end of the thirteenth century) with those of his namesake
are specially interesting, and have been made much of by those who
deny or depreciate the originality of the latter 10 . The whole spirit of
his works bears, perhaps, a nearer resemblance to those of Francis
Bacon than can be found in any intermediate writer, but here, of
course, I must confine myself to specific points and to a few typical
quotations.

In the Opus Majus, Part vi. capp. i, 2 (Ed. Jebb, pp. 445, &c.), there
is a striking disquisition on the necessity and utility of experimental
science. The passage is too long to quote at length, but, amongst
other things, he says : ' Sine experientia nihil sufficienter sciri potest.
Duo enim sunt modi cognoscendi, scilicet per argumentum et experi-
mentum. Argumentum concludit et facit nos concludere quaestionem,

7 A good account of the physical speculations of this philosopher will be found
in Pouchet, Histoire des Sciences Naturelles au Moyen Age, and of his relation to
the Scholastic controversies in Haureau, De la Philosophic Scolastique, chs. 17-19.

8 Philosophy of Discovery, pp. 52, 53.

9 ' Physica est quae causas rerum ex suis effectibus, et effectus ex causis depre-
hendit.' Tractatus Exceptionum, lib. i. cap. 7. A little above, he says, ' Physica
tractat de invisibilibus visibilium causis.'

10 See, especially, Pouchet, Histoire des Sciences Naturelles au Moyen Age ou
Albert Le Grand et son epoque, pp. 326-370. I refer to Pouchet as less of a
partisan than many other writers who have handled the same subject.

90 INTRODUCTION.

sed non certificat neque removet dubitationem, ut quiescat animus in
intuitu veritatis, nisi earn inveniat via experientiae; quia multi habent
argumenta ad scibilia, sed quia non habent experientiam, negligunt
ea, nee vitant nociva nee persequuntur bona.' And again : 'Qui ergo
vult sine demonstratione gaudere de veritatibus rerum, oportet quod
experientiae sciat vacare. Nam multa scribunt auctores, et vulgus
tenet per argumenta, quae fingit sine experientia, quae sunt omnino
falsa.' He then proceeds, on the ground of experience, to refute a
number of vulgar errors, such as that the diamond can only be broken
by goat's blood, &c. At the beginning of cap. 2, he says : ' Haec
scientia experimentalis a vulgo studentium est penitus ignorata.' And
a little further on (p. 448) : ' Et haec scientia habet tres magnas prae-
rogativas respectu aliarum scientiarum. Una est quod omnium
illarum conclusiones nobiles investigat per experientiam. Scientiae
enim aliae sciunt sua principia invenire per experimenta, sed "con-
clusiones per argumenta facta ex principiis inventis. Si vero debeant
habere experientiam conclusionum suarum particularem et com-
pletam, tune oportet quod habeant per adjutorium istius scientiae
nobilis.' This last passage distinctly asserts the use of experience
both in establishing the principles of science and in verifying its
conclusions.

To the same effect is the teaching of cap. 13 of the Opus Tertium.
The following passages remind one of Francis Bacon's conception of
Natural Philosophy as the 'mater scientiarum.' 'Sed praeter has
scientias est una perfectior omnibus, cui omnes famulantur, et quae
omnes miro modo certificat : et haec vocatur scientia experimentalis,
quae negligit argumenta, quoniam non certificant, quantumcunque
sint fortia, nisi simul adsit experientia conclusionis.' 'Et haec scientia
certificat omnia naturalia et artificialia in particulari et in propria
disciplina, per experientiam perfectam ; non per argumenta, ut
sciuntiae pure speculativae, nee per debiles et imperfectas experi-
entias, ut scientiae operativae. Et ideo haec est domina omnium
scientiarum praecedentium, et finis totius speculationis.' (Ed. Brewer,
PP- 43-47-)

Again, another point of contact between the two Bacons is the
almost exaggerated importance which they attach to utility as the end
of science. ' Caeterum ante omnia,' says Roger Bacon, ' utilitas
cujuslibct rci consideranda est.' ' Quapropter oportet (mod homo
considcret utilitatem scientiarum antequam aggrediatur singulas divi-
sim prosequendo.' ' Et igitur cogitavi in pracambulo tractatu utili-
tatcs philosopbiae praemittere, ut tune scientiae, quae videntur nihil

ANTICIPATIONS OF BACON'S DOCTRINES. 91

valere, quaerantur cum diligentia et fervore. Et certus sum quod
aliter non est via ad considerandum scientias philosophiae in particu-
lar! et in propria disciplina.' ' Et non est dubium quin quicunque,
quantumcunque sit sapiens, resiliret a primo libro geometriae, nisi
sciret ejus utilitatem ; et sic de aliis scientiis omnibus, ut probavi
centies. Qui enim auscultat quod triangulus habet tres angulos
aequales duobus rectis angulis, et demonstrationem ejus, si nescit
utilitatem, ipse non dabit festucam, immo non dignabitur scire.'
(Opus Tertium, capp. 5, 6, Ed. Brewer, pp. 18-22.)

Both writers alike shew their strength, when repudiating the charge
of novelty. 'Et si obnixe adhuc tertio objiciatur, quod sancti aliqua
redarguunt de his, quae scribo, et Gratianus et alii, respondeo quod
nunquam fuit tempus quin ea, quae de novo proponuntur, habeant
contradictionem, etiam a sanctis et a bonis viris, et a sapientibus in
aliis, licet non in his quae inconvenienter reprobant.' (Opus Tertium,
cap. 9. p. 28.) In the Opus Majus (cap. 6. p. 9), he quotes several
passages from Seneca, to the effect 'quanto juniores tanto perspi-
caciores, quia juniores posteriores successione temporum ingrediuntur
labores priorum.' and then adds : ' Nam semper posteriores addi-
derunt ad opera priorum, et multa correxerunt, et plura mutaverunt,
sicut maxime per Aristotelem patet, qui omnes sententias praece-
dentium discussit.'

The comprehensive view which both these authors took of the
various sciences, and the necessity which they saw of studying them
in their mutual relations, constitute other points of resemblance
between them, as do also the exalted hopes they entertained from the
patient study of nature and its application to the purposes of art.

The four causes of error ('comprehendendae veritatis offendicula,'
Opus Majus, ad init., Opus Tertium, cap. 22) are compared with the
four 'Idola' of the Novum Organum in a note on Book i. Aph. 38.
The resemblance, however, is not very close, and, as I have there
argued, following Mr. Ellis and Mr. Spedding, Francis Bacon is not
likely to have seen the Opus Majus. Nor, I may add, is he likely
to have been acquainted with any of the works of Roger Bacon in
which remarks such as those above quoted are to be found 11 . The

11 Once, and I believe once only, Bacon refers to his namesake, and then in terms
of faint praise. See Temporis Partus Masculus (E. and S., vol. iii. p. 534) : ' Si-
quidem utile genus eorum est, qui de theoriis non admodum solliciti, mechanica
quadam subtilitate rerum inventarum extensiones prehendunt ; qualis est Bacon.'
In the Historia Vitae et Mortis, however, there are traces of his having read
Dr. Dee's translation (published in 1618) of Roger Bacon's tract De po:estate

9 2 INTROD VCTION.

parallelisms, therefore, between the two writers, however close in
some cases, are, I believe, accidental.

Having thus dwelt with some minuteness on the anticipations of
Bacon's teaching to be found in the works of his almost equally
illustrious namesake in the thirteenth century, I may pass more
lightly over the intermediate period.

Passing over about two centuries, during which, it may be noticed,
the precepts and example of Roger Bacon seem to have had little
effect (for the schools were engaged with far different work), we come
to that almost universal genius painter, poet, sculptor, architect,
mechanist, mathematician, Leonardo da Vinci (b. 1452, d. 1519) 12 .
Speaking of certain unpublished manuscripts by him, now in the
Library of the Institute at Paris, Libri (Histoire des Sciences Mathe-
matiques en Italie, tome 3. p. 30) says : ' Souvent on trouve dans le
meme feuillet . . . des preceptes qui sembleraient tires de Bacon, s'ils
n'etaient ecrits longtemps avant la naissance du chancelier d'Angle-
terre.' And again (pp. 55, 56): 'Dans ses notes . . . ce qui frappe
surtout, c'est la methode philosophique qu'il a constamment suivie.

mirabili Artis et Naturae. He may also have read the treatise De retardandis
senectutis accidentibus, which was published in Latin at Oxford in 1590.

12 Hallam, Libri, Whewell, Brewster, and De Remusat, all refer to J. B. Venturi,
Essai sur les Ouvrages Physico-Mathematiques de Leonard de Vinci, Paris, 1799-
A copy of this tract, which is, I believe, very rare, exists in the British Museum,
but I do not know whether the MSS. referred to in it have ever been published in
lull. Whewell quotes from Venturi the following striking maxims :

' " Theory is the general, Experiments are the soldiers. The interpreter of the
artifices of nature is Experience : she is never deceived. Our judgment sometimes
is deceived, because it expects effects which Experience refuses to allow." And again,
" We must consult Experience, and vary the circumstances till we have drawn from
them general rules ; for it is she who furnishes true rules. But of what use, you
nsk, are these rules ; I reply, that they direct us in the researches of nature and the
operations of art. They prevent our imposing upon ourselves and others by pro-
mising ourselves results which we cannot obtain.

' " In the study of the sciences which depend on Mathematics, those who do not
consult nature but authors, are not the children of nature, they are only her grand-
children. She is the true teacher of men of genius. But see the absurdity of men !
They turn up their noses at a man who prefers to learn from nature herself rather
than from authors who are only her clerks."

' In another place, in reference to a particular case, he says, " Nature begins from
the Reason and ends in Experience ; but for all that, we must take the opposite
course ; begin from the Experiment and try to discover the Reason." ' Whewell's
Philosophy of Discovery, pp. 106, 107.

In Ilallam's History of Literature, Part i. ch. 3. sect. 5, to which the student
would do well to refer, there is a still fuller account of Venturi's tract.

ANTICIPATIONS OF BACON'S DOCTRINES. 93

Un siecle avant Galilee et Bacon, pendant qu'on se bornait generale-
ment a commenter les anciens, Leonard a porte le flambeau de la
critique dans toutes les parties de la science, et il a donne les pre"-
ceptes les plus vrais, les plus justes, les plus philosophiques, pour
parvenir a reconnaitre les causes des phenomenes naturels. Brisant
le joug de 1'autorite, combattant les qualites occultes, il proclama
rexpe"rience comme le seul guide sur, et il ne s'en ecarta jamais. II
repete sans cesse que, pour parvenir a la connaissance des pheno-
menes naturels et pour en tirer tout le fruit possible, on doit com-
mencer par Fobservation, passer a 1'experience, et a 1'aide de celle-ci
chercher a determiner la cause, puis formuler une regie et la soumettre
au calcul. Souvent il revient a ce precepte et il montre par de
nombreuses applications toute 1'importance de la philosophie des
sciences.'

It is needless to remark that these manuscript notes of Leonardo
da Vinci can by no possibility have fallen under the eye of Bacon.

Coming now to writers whom Bacon had read, or may have read,
we find H. C. Agrippa (1486-1535), in his De Vanitate Scientiarum
(cap. 7, De Dialectica), accusing the Logicians of his time of either
assuming their first principles or accepting them simply on authority,
' aut ab suo Aristotele, aut abs alio, qui ilia prior dixerit.' But, in the
same chapter, Agrippa, after his manner, inveighs also against those
sciences which are founded on the perceptions of the senses.

Ludovicus Vives (1492-1540) has some remarks worthy of Bacon
himself on the subject of Authority. See Praefatio in libros de Disci-
plinis (Basle Ed. of 1555, vol. i. pp. 324, 325) : ' Neque enim effoeta
est jam vel exhausta natura, ut nihil prioribus annis simile pariat.'
' Quantum enim ad disciplinas percipiendas omnes aditum nobis
inventa superiorum saeculorum aperiunt, et experientia tarn diuturna,
ut appareat posse nos, si modo applicaremus eodem animum, melius
in universum pronunciare de rebus vitae et naturae, quam Aristotelem,
Platonem, aut quenquam antiquorum.' For more to the same effect,
see the last section. Stubbe charges Bacon with having borrowed in
the De Augmentis from this author's treatise, De Causis Corruptarum
Artium, but no one who compares the two books can regard the debt,
if any, as a great one.

The constant appeals to experience made by Paracelsus (1493-
1541) are recognised by Bacon himself in the Temporis Partus
Masculus (E. and S., vol. iii. p. 538): ' Denique Paracelsum et
Severinum [sc. Petrum, 1542-1602], cum tantis clamoribus homines
ad experientiae suggestum convocant, praecones mihi exopto.' He

INTRODUCTION.

goes on, however, to say that the appeal to experience was in itself
by no means sufficient to conduct them to truth. ' Quid igitur ? Num
veritatis compotes isti ? Nihilo minus.' And, towards the end of the
treatise (p. 539), he adds: 'Ego vero (fill), si te jamjam animo ab
idolis non repurgato vertiginosis experientiae ambagibus committerem,
nae tu ducem cito desiderares.' Paracelsus (as I have elsewhere
noticed) is specially emphatic in his rejection of authority.

De Remusat (pp. 388-390), following De Gerando, bestows what
appears to me the most exaggerated praise on a small work, published
at Basle in 1558, by Acontio or Contio, entitled ' De Methodo sive
recta investigandarum tradendarumque artium ac scientiarum ratione.'
It seems to me ridiculous to insinuate, as De Remusat appears to do,
that Bacon was under special obligations to a work, from which, in-
deed, there was little to borrow. The book is, for the time at which it
was written, a clear and useful little treatise on the practical applica-
tions of Logic to study and teaching, but it discusses the four causes,
definition, division, and the like, rather than induction and the kindred
topics of observation, experiment, &c. The only part of it which
admits of comparison with the Novum Organum is pp. 75-78,
Leyden Ed., 1617. Speaking of Division, he says that, before we
divide, we ought to know ' totum ipsum, quod dividendum sit.
Quamobrem, si forte in promptu non sit, indagare illud opportebit ab
aliquorum singularium inspectione.' He then shews how we may
arrive at a knowledge of the whole from an examination of particular
instances, ' abstrahendo semper ilia universa a singularibus.' He
proceeds to say that the likenesses of diverse things are the means
by which we arrive at our knowledge of the whole : ' quamobrem
perscrutari illam similitudinem quam diligentissime in rebus dissimi-
libus nccesse est.' But, surely, this has been a common-place of
logicians from the days of Socrates and Plato downwards.

The principal object of this work seems to be to recommend the
' methodus resolutiva ' or analytic method, the method of working
backwards from the effect to the cause, or the end to the means,
in preference to the 'methodus compositiva ' or synthetic method.

Telesio (1509-1588), whom he himself calls the 'best of the
novellists,' Bacon had no doubt read with great care, and in this
author's works he could not fail to notice the attacks on Aristotle
(referred to in the last section) and the constant appeals to sense
and experience. The very title of the first of Telesius' nine books
'De Rerum Natura' is sufficient to shew the spirit in which he
writes : ' Mundi Constructionem, Corporumque in eo Contentorum

ANTICIPATIONS OF BACON'S DOCTRINES. 95

Magnitudinem, Naturamque non ratione, quod antiquioribus factum
est, inquirendam, sed sensu percipiendam, et ab ipsis habendam
esse rebus.' In the Prooemium to the same work, he speaks, much
in the same tone as Bacon does afterwards, of those who 'veluti
cum Deo de sapientia contendentes decertantesque, mundi ipsius
principia et causas ratione inquirere ausi, et quae non invenerant
inventa ea sibi esse existimantes, volentesque veluti suo arbitratu
mundum effinxere.' And again : ' non scilicet eo usque sibi homines
placere, et eo usque animo efferri oportebat, ut veluti naturae prae-
euntes [compare Bacon's "anticipatio naturae"], et Dei ipsius non
sapientiam modo, sed potentiam etiam affectantes, ea ipsi rebus
darent, quae rebus inesse intuiti non forent, et quae ab ipsis omnino
habenda erant rebus.' In opposition to this ambitious method, he
declares his own intention of following only sense and nature :
'sensum videlicet nos, et naturam, aliud praeterea nihil sequuti
sumus, quae, perpetuo sibi ipsi concors, idem semper et eodem
agit modo, atque idem semper operatur.' In book viii, where he
discusses the nature of knowledge, he lays down, amongst others,
the following propositions : ' Scientiarum omnium et geometriae
ipsius principia a sensu haberi, vel proxima eorum, quae sensu
percepta sunt, similitudine, et conclusiones omnes ex iis pendere '
(cap. 4) ; ' Conclusiones naturales in eo mathematicis praestare,
quod hae a signo omnes, illae vero a propriis causis propriisque
manant principiis.' (cap. 5.) Here, and elsewhere in this Book,
Telesius enunciates the principle of the origin of all knowledge
in the perceptions of the senses, at least as distinctly, if not more
distinctly, than Bacon himself. With regard to individual doctrines,
I shall, from time to time, draw attention in the notes to many
points of agreement between Bacon and Telesius, but I am not
aware that, as regards method, there is anything more to notice
than the general agreement which I have already pointed out.
There is, so far as I am aware, no attempt in the works of Telesius
to analyse induction, or to give any specific rules for its right
conduct.

The origin of knowledge in the perceptions of the senses and the
consequent importance of experience seems to have been a common-
place of philosophers in the sixteenth century. Caesalpinus (1519-
1603) the adherent, and Patricius (1529-1597) the opponent of
Aristotle, are agreed on this point.

Not to multiply quotations needlessly, I shall pass on to Campanella
(1568-1639), whose name is frequently coupled with that of Bacon

96 INTRODUCTION.

by the German writers of the seventeenth century, and who was cele-
brated, in his time, as a disciple of Telesius. In the Preface to one
of his works, entituled Philosophia Sensibus Demonstrata, &c., already
referred to on p. 84, he says : ' Idcirco, cum ea sit rerum ad Sentien-
tem animam intelligentemque adaequata cognitio, ab ipsis procedens
rebus, eo pacto creatis existentibus dispositisque a summo rerum
Conditore, quo pacto esse intelligi debeant ; efficitur, ut a rebus ipsis
sentitis sint accipiendae rerum origines, quantitates, formae, facul-
tates, et facies, ac mutationes, et quales sunt, tales esse decernantur,
minime autem sicut nostra dictat ratio, longe mutabilis ob dissimiles
rerum variabilium inspectiones, modosque in intelligente spiritu re-
servatos. Hinc nos, post assiduam valde quinque annorum lectionem
Antiquorum philosophorum, praecipue Peripateticorum et Platoni-
corum ****** decrevimus rerum naturam ex sensu investi-
gandam esse, cui ipsa talem prompte sese offert, qualis est, et
qualem Deus esse voluit.' (p. i.)

And again, a little further on, he adds : ' Quas ob res Scientiam
de rebus esse considerantes, non de verbis, nee de Aristotelis dictis,
ejusque intellectu et intentione, ab ipsis rebus capiendam censui-
mus, et investigavimus. Itaque decrevimus, modum investigandi
res componere per viam sensus et experientiae, ubi non de
vocibus tractetur, et obscuris dictis, sed de rebus per voces ab ipsis
rebus excerptas, non fictas, et quo pacto sint res investigandae
ab operationibus, faciebus, similitudinibus, et congruentiis earum.'

(P- 3-)

From works written by Bacon's contemporaries copious extracts
might be made on the then pretty familiar themes of the abuse of
authority, and of the necessity of consulting nature and trying
experiments for ourselves. See, for instance, Kepler's Introduction
to the Astronomia Nova, published in 1609, and Galileo's works,
passim ". It will be sufficient to close this section with a brief notice
of the famous work of one of Bacon's countrymen, the celebrated
William Gilbert, father of the sciences of electricity and magnetism.
In the address 'Ad Lectorem Candidum ' prefixed to the treatise 'De
Magnete,' published in 1600, there is much which admits of com-
parison with some of Bacon's Aphorisms. Thus, he contrasts ex-
periments and demonstrations with probable conjectures and ' vulgo
philosophantium placita.' After describing, with much disparage-

' ;l> It should be noticed, however, that the most famous of Galileo's works, the
Dialogo dei Massimi Sistcmi, was not published till 1632.

ANTICIPATIONS OF BACON'S DOCTRINES. 97

ment, the 'tarn vastus Librorum Oceanus, quibus studiosorum
ingenia perturbantur fatiganturque,' he asks : ' Quid ego huic tarn
perturbatae reipublicae literariae aliquid ulterius adjungerem, aut
juratis in aliorum sententias, aut absurdissimis bonarum artium cor-
ruptoribus, literatis idiotis,grammaticis, sophistis, rabulis,et plebeculae
perversae, Philosophiam hanc inclytam, et propter inaudita plurima
quasi novam, et incredibilem damnandam et maledictis dilacerandam
exponerem ? Sed vobis tantum fere philosophantibus viris ingenuis,
qui non ex libris solum, sed ex rebus ipsis scientiam quaeritis,
fundamenta ista magnetica commendavi, novo philosophandi genere.
At si ipsis opinionibus et paradoxis assentire aliquibus visum non
fuerit, videant tamen experimentorum et inventorum, quibus praecipue
floret philosophia omnis, magnam frequentiam : quae multis nostris
curis, vigiliis, et impensis eruta et demonstrata sunt. Illis gaudete,
et in meliores usus, si poteritis, fruimini. Scio, quemadmodum
arduum est vetustis novitatem dare, obsoletis nitorem, obscuris lucem,
fastiditis gratiam, dubiis fidem : ita multo magis novis et inauditis,
contra omnes omnium opiniones, authoritatem aliquam conciliare et
stabilire, difficillimum. Neque illud curamus ; paucis enim philo-
sophandum censuimus.' The ancient Greeks he forbears to call
to his aid. To Aristotle, Ptolemy, Galen, &c., 'suus semper honos
tribuatur.' But our age also has brought to light many things which,
had they been alive, they would freely have embraced. He uses the
expression ' libere philosophari,' and, throughout, extols experiment.
It is needless to add that the body of Gilbert's work furnishes many
examples of bold, ingenious, and apposite experiments.

When we pass in review these and similar writers, we see that the
origin of knowledge in the perceptions of the senses, as taught by Aris-
totle, had been a tradition of the schools, which had been constantly
repeated with more or less of emphasis and more or less conscious-
ness of its significance ; that its corollary, the necessity, for the
purposes of science, of careful observation of facts, had, though more
fitfully, still repeatedly been asserted, and, amongst Bacon's immediate
predecessors and contemporaries, had become almost a common-place
of the more liberal and adventurous investigators of nature. Experi-
ment, too, though more rarely, had been warmly recommended in
theory and successfully adopted in practice. The argument from
Authority (as we have seen, both in this and the last section) had been
combated by many with at least sufficient vehemence, nor had the
fancies and arbitrary hypotheses of philosophers escaped the animad-

9 8 I NT ROD UCT1ON.

versions even of those who were equally ready to give play to their
own imagination. But, so far as I can ascertain, no one had yet
pronounced himself even on these topics with so much point and
force, or in a manner so well calculated to lay hold of the popular
sympathy, as Bacon ; while, with respect to the fertile conception of
a scientific and methodical process of induction, as opposed to that
then in vogue, I have found nothing in any previous writer which
can properly and fairly be said to be an anticipation of the sug-
gestions so abundantly scattered throughout the Novum Organum.
To these conclusions I shall hereafter revert in another section, that
on the Present Value of Bacon's Logical Works.

14. BACON'S INFLUENCE ON PHILOSOPHY AND SCIENCE,
INCLUDING THE TESTIMONIES OF EARLY WRITERS
TO HIM.

ONE who claims to be a Reformer of Scientific Method may
fairly be expected to exert an influence not on this or that branch
of knowledge only, but, though it may be in varying degrees, on
all branches of knowledge alike. For, different as may be its appli-
cations, the fundamental characteristics of Logical Method are the
same in all subjects. And this fact Bacon clearly saw. ' Etiam dubi-
tabit quispiam, potius quam objiciet, utrum nos de Naturali tantum
Philosophia, an etiam de scientiis reliquis, Logicis, Ethicis, Politicis,
secundum viam nostram perficiendis loquamur. At nos certe de
universis haec quae dicta sunt intelligimus : atque quemadmodum
vulgaris logica, quae regit res per Syllogismum, non tantum ad
naturales, sed ad omnes scientias pertinet ; ita et nostra, quae pro-
cedit per Inductionem, omnia complectitur.' (Nov. Org. i. 127.)

We may, therefore, conveniently divide the subject of this section by
asking, ist, what was the influence of Bacon's Reform on Philosophy
(under which head I include all enquiries into the grounds, conditions,
and character of human knowledge and human practice), and 2nd, what
was its influence on Science (a word which I take in its modern
sense, as restricted to enquiries into the constitution and modes of
action of corporeal objects).

"U ith respect to the first question, I can only state strongly my
own belief that the most characteristic school of English psychologists
and moralists, and, through them, a most important school of Euro-

BACON'S INFLUENCE ON PHILOSOPHY.

pean philosophy, in general, has been profoundly influenced by the
method and speculations of Bacon. The main principle of Locke's
Essay, namely that all our ideas are derived from either sensation or
reflexion, appears to rne to be contained in germ in the ist Aphorism
of the Novum Organum, while to the attentive reader there can be
no doubt that his whole mode of treating psychological questions is
thoroughly imbued with the spirit of Bacon's method. It is true that
Locke never mentions Bacon expressly in the Essay 14 , but, as I shall
point out hereafter, the frequent citation of authors' names was not
a fashion of that time. Though the whole of the work might not im-
properly be regarded as a polemic against the philosophy of Descartes,
it is only very seldom that Locke refers to him by name. Again, I
think it would be very difficult for any one, after carefully reading the
7th Book of the De Augmentis and after tracing the obvious applica-
tions of Bacon's principles and method to the science of conduct,
to resist the conclusion that his speculations and, perhaps still more,
his method of investigation are, to a large extent, the source of that
great school of moral philosophy which, numbering men so widely
divergent in many respects as Hobbes and Cumberland, Butler and
Bentham, agrees in basing the rules of conduct on an inductive
examination of the principles of human nature and the consequences
of human actions. English philosophy, or, at least, much the larger
portion of it, seems to me to be thoroughly Baconian in its aims,

14 There is a very probable allusion to Bacon in the discussion on Syllogism,
which occurs in the chapter on Reason (bk. iv. ch. 17. 4) : 'And therefore
Syllogism has been thought more proper for the attaining Victory in Dispute, than
for the Discovery or Confirmation of Truth in fair enquiries.' Cp., amongst other
passages, Nov. Org. i. 13. ' Assensum itaque constringit, non res.' The next
clause, ' And if it be certain that Fallacy can be couched in Syllogisms, as it cannot
be denied, it must be something else, and not Syllogism, that must discover them,'
corresponds with Bacon's frequent pleas for a new Logic which shall test the ' prin-
cipia scientiarum ' themselves. Cp. also Locke's Essay, bk. ii. ch. 12. i, with
Nov. Org. i. 4.

At the beginning of the short work on the Conduct of the Understanding, Locke
justifies his own opinions on the insufficiency of the rules of the ' Logic now in use '
by the authority of the ' great Lord Verulam, who not servilely thinking learning
could not be advanced beyond what it was, because for many ages it had not been,
did not rest in the lazy approbation and applause of what was, because it was ; but
enlarged his mind to what might be.' Throughout this treatise, Bacon's influence
is manifest. At the same time, Locke's emphatic denial of the possibility of attain-
ing, by means of experiment and observation, to any certain knowledge with regard
to the general course of nature (see Essay, bk. iv. ch. 6} would seem to shew either
that he had never read the Second Book of the Novum Organum or that he did
not admit the assumptions on which it proceeds.

H 2

TOO INTRODUCTION.

in its spirit, and in its method. In the eyes of many this may be
a reproach, but, if it be true as a fact, it will go far towards estab-
lishing a conclusion as to the influence of Bacon over, at least, one
large department of investigation.

Before leaving this branch of our subject, it is only fair to mention
one very peculiar circumstance connected with it. Hobbes had, in
early life, been Bacon's secretary, but, though he wrote a work ex-
pressly on 'Computation or Logic,' there is no mention in it of
Induction 15 , of the Baconian method, or of Bacon himself. It is,
perhaps, still more singular that there is no mention of Bacon in
the Epistle Dedicatory to the Elements of Philosophy (Molesworth's
Edition, English Works, vol. i. ad init.), where he refers to Galileo,
Kepler, Harvey, Gassendi, Mersenne, c. Bacon's name, in fact, so
far as I am aware, occurs only twice in the whole of Hobbes' works,
and there without any epithet of praise or blame (see Problemata
Physica, Molesworth's Edition, Latin Works, vol. iv. p. 317; De-
cameron Physiologicum, English Works, vol. vii. p. 112). From the
extent of Hobbes' writings and the intimate personal relations which
had formerly existed between him and Bacon, I can hardly refer
this silence to mere accident. It may have been due to some per-
sonal pique, or the abstract character of Hobbes' mind may have
rebelled against the concrete and inductive spirit of Bacon's philo-
sophy. For it may be noticed that there are few writers on moral
and political questions in whose works the historical spirit is more
conspicuously absent than in Hobbes.

De Remusat draws attention to the silence of Lord Herbert of
Cherbury, but the whole bent of his genius was so different from that
of Bacon, that this fact is hardly surprising.

Spinoza, in a letter written in 1661 (Bruder's Ed., vol. ii. p. 146,
Ep. ii), has some interesting remarks on Bacon. Having been asked
his opinion on Bacon and Descartes, he objects to them, firstly, 'quod
tarn longe acognitione primae causae et origine omnium rerum aber-
rarint ;' secondly, 'quod veram naturam humanae mentis non cogno-
verint :' thirdly, 'quod veram causam erroris nunquam assecuti sint.'
He then proceeds to criticise Bacon's Idola Tribus. In Ep. 42

1 ' I)e Remusat, whose remarks on Hobbes (pp. 405-408) seem to me very just and
interesting, says that, to the best of his belief, the word Induction occurs only once
in Hobbes' writing-;. This mention of it is in a mathematical controversy with
\\allis Molesworth's Kd., Latin Works, vol. iv. p. 179), where he says in a spirit
the very reverse of Baconian : ' Inductio autem demonstratio non est, nisi ubi par-
ticularia omnia enumcrantur, quod hie est impossibile.'

BACON'S INFLUENCE ON SCIENCE. 101

(p. 270), there is another allusion to Bacon : 'Ad haec intelligendum,
saltern quoad methodus exigit, non est opus naturam mentis per
primam ejus causam cognoscere, sed sufficit mentis sive percep-
tionum historiolam concinnare modo illo quo Verulamius docet.'

The second question is, to my mind, much more difficult to answer
than the first, though I can entertain no doubt that Bacon has exerted
a real and beneficial influence on the subsequent progress of science.
The extent of this influence, however, and its precise character are
not easy to determine.

The best mode of proceeding, perhaps, is to lay before the reader,
in chronological order, the testimonies to Bacon's influence and to the
value of his method (the attacks or innuendos of his opponents are
noticed elsewhere), and then to attempt briefly to estimate the direc-
tion in which his influence was exerted and the value historically, as
bearing on the subsequent progress of science, of the rules and
maxims which he enforces.

TESTIMONIES TO THE VALUE OF BACON'S METHOD AND TO HIS
INFLUENCE ON THE PROGRESS OF SCIENCE.

PASSING over the contemporary evidence of Dr. Collins (given in
Rawley's life of Bacon), Ben Jensen, 16 , Sir Henry Wotton 17 , the Uni-

16 Ben Jonson's Discoveries, Works, vol. vii. p. 100, Whalley's Edition, as quoted
by Macvey Napier. I ought to take this opportunity of acknowledging the great
service which has been rendered to me in the composition of this section by
Mr. Napier's Essay. De Remusat (livre iv. ch. 2) reproduces it to a very large
extent.

17 Reliquiae Wottonianae, 3rd Ed., pp. 298-300. And yet this letter to Bacon is
so interesting that I cannot refrain from extracting a portion of it : 'I have your
Lordship's Letters dated the 2oth of October [1620], and I have withal by the
care of my Cousin Mr. Thomas Meawtis, and by your own special favour, three
copies of that Work [the Novum Organum], wherewith your Lordship hath done
a great and ever-living benefit to all the children of Nature, and to Nature herself,
in her utmost extent and latitude : who never before had so noble nor so true an
Interpreter, or (as I am readier to style your Lordship) never so inward a Secre-
tary of her Cabinet : But of your said work (which came but this week to my
hands) I shall find occasion to speak more hereafter, having yet read only the first
Book thereof, and a few Aphorisms of the second. For it is not a banquet, that
men may superficially taste, and put up the rest in their pockets ; but, in truth, a
solid feast, which requireth due mastication. Therefore, when I have once myself
perused the whole, I determine to have it read piece by piece at certain hours in
my domestic College, as an ancient Author : For I have learned thus much by it
already, that we are extremely mistaken in the computation of Antiquity, by search-
ing it backwards, because indeed the first times were the youngest ; especially in
points of natural discovery and experience. ***** I lay a night at Lintz, the

102 INTRODUCTION.

versity of Oxford", &c., as being liable to the objection that it is
merely complimentary or proceeds from persons who had themselves
no intimate acquaintance with science 19 , I proceed at once to cite
Descartes, himself an immediate successor of Bacon, and the ori-
ginator of a very different school of philosophy :

'J'avois oublie a lire un billet que je viens de trouver en votre
lettre, ou vous me mandez avoir envoye ma lettre a M. Mydorga, et
que vous de'sirez savoir un moyen de faire des experiences utiles. A
cela je n'ai rien a dire apres ce que Verulamius en a ecrit, sinon que,'
&c. Au. P. Mersenne 20 , 1631 (CEuvres de Descartes, Ed. Cousin,
vol. vi. p. 182).

'Vous m'avez autrefois mande que vous connoisiez des gens qui se
plaisoient a travailler pour 1'avancement des sciences, jusques a vouloir
meme faire toutes sortes d'experiences a leurs depens : si quelqu'un
de cette humeur vouloit entreprendre d'ecrire 1'histoire des apparences
celestes selon la methode de Verulamius, et que, sans y mettre au-
cunes raisons ni hypothese, il nous decrivit exactement le ciel tel qu'il
paroit maintenant, quelle situation a chaque etoile fixe au respect de
ses voisines * * * * ce seroit un ouvrage qui seroit plus utile au
public qu'il ne semble peut-etre d'abord, et qui me soulageroit de
beaucoup de peine.' Id. 1632, p. 210. In another letter to P.
Mersenne (p. 93), Bacon is also mentioned.

These passages shew not only that Descartes entertained a great

Metropolis of the higher Austria. ***** There I found Kepler, a man famous
in the Sciences, as your Lordship knows, to whom I purpose to convey from hence
one of your Books, that he may see we have some of our own that can honour our
King, as well as he hath done with his Harmonica.'

Izaak \Valton, in his life of George Herbert, borrowing, apparently, the language
of Wotton, speaks of Bacon as ' the great Secretary of Nature and all learning,
Sir Francis Bacon."

ls Given in Baconiana, pp. 204-206.

19 These objections, however, would hardly apply to the evidence which we
obtain incidentally from a letter of Bacon himself to Andrewes (E. and S., vol. vi.
p. I3\ in which he says (in 1622) : 'I have received from many parts beyond the
seas testimonies touching that work [the Novum Organum], such as beyond which
T could not expect at the first in so abstruse an argument.'

'-'' Merscnne himself, in his work La V trite des Sciences (published in 1625^, has
a special chapter on Bacon, in which he maintains against the sceptics that Bacon's
<ystem is intended, not to destroy the authority of the senses and the reason, but to
discover means for arriving at the knowledge of nature and its effects. The Idols
are called the lour buttresses (arcs-botitans) of the Organon. Mersenne criticises
Bacon's attack on Aristotle, and makes several remarks on his individual experi-
ments, as well as on the theological opinions which are expressed in his works.

BACON'S INFLUENCE ON SCIENCE. 103

respect for Bacon, but that he regarded his works as a real contri-
bution to scientific method 21 .

Gassendi (who was, in many respects, a precursor of Locke, and
whom that philosopher appears to have carefully studied) gives in his
book De Logicae Origine et Varietate, cap. 10, a somewhat elaborate
account of the contents of the Novum Organum, while, in cap. u, he
compares it favourably with the Logic of Descartes. In the book De
Logicae Fine, cap. 6, he recurs to the subject. It is plain that he
sympathises warmly with Bacon's aims and efforts : 'Ausu vere
Heroico novam tentare viam est ausus, sperareque fore ut, modo illi
strenue diligenterque insistatur, nova tandem eaque perfecta condi
haberique Philosophia possit.' Descartes is spoken of as imitating
Bacon in the destructive part of his method, and praised accordingly.
But, in the constructive parts, their methods diverged as widely as
could be : ' Non eandem tamen viam est quam Verulamius ingressus ;
sed cum Verulamius auxilia a rebus ad perficiendam Intellectus cogi-
tationem petierit, ipse, omni rerum cogitatione ablegata, censuit in
ipsa cogitatione satis esse praesidii, ut Intellectus possit vi sua in
omnium rerum etiam abstrusissimarum, hoc est non modo corporum,
sed Dei etiam ac Animae, notitiam perfectam venire.'

' In another work ' (I here quote from Mr. Macvey Napier), ' his
valuable account of his celebrated friend Peiresc [contained in vol. v.
of Gassendi's works], there is a passage in which Bacon is mentioned
in a way particularly deserving of notice in the present discussion.
" No man," says Gassendi, speaking of his friend, " made more
observations, or caused more to be made, to the end that at last
some notions of natural things, more sound and pure than those
commonly received, might be collected ; for which reason he admired
the genius, and approved the design of that great chancellor of

21 In M. Baillet's Life of Descartes (published at Paris in 1691), part i. pp. 147-
149, we are told of the regret of Descartes and others at hearing of Bacon's death :
' Cette nouvelle toucha sensiblement ceux qui aspiroient apres le retablissement de
la veritable Philosophic, et qui scavoient que Bacon travailloit a ce grand dessein
depuis plusieurs annees.' The author then proceeds to contrast the grandeur of his
design with the slenderness of his performance, and, like a true disciple, says that
the execution of a design so heroic was reserved for a genius still more extra-
ordinary. Of the actual performance in the Novum Organum he speaks dis-
paragingly : ' Mais ce n'etoit qu'un essay de ses sublimes projets, capable seule-
ment de laisser dans 1'esprit de ses lecteurs une idee tres-grande de ce qu'il faisoit
esperer a la Posterite. Aussi voyons nous qu'il n'y approfondit rien ; que les pro-
positions et les axiomes qu'il y avance sont plutot des avis et des expediens pour
donner des ouvertures a mediter, que des maximes propres a etablir des principes.'
Bayle, in his meagre account of Bacon, refers to this work.

104 INTRODUCTION.

England, Sir Francis Bacon." Now, Peiresc died in 1637, only eleven
years after Bacon. But this is not all. He was the first man in
France, according to Bailly, who deserved the name of an astronomer;
and he, as well as Gassendi (who was also distinguished as an
astronomer), was a correspondent, friend, and admirer of Galileo :
yet we see that Bacon was considered by both as the great leader of
reform in Natural Philosophy.'

Passing over the testimony of Costar (Entretiens de Voiture et de
Costar, p. 173, Ed. de Paris, 1654), as cited by Bayle, who also tells
us that passages collected from the works of Bacon were used by
Costar as the foundation of his Common-Place Book, we come to the
curious little book, entitled Relation d'un Voyage en Angleterre, by
M. Sorbiere (Paris 1664, Cologne 1666).

M. Sorbiere (whose account of England is not altogether flattering)
says : ' De tout temps 1' Angleterre a produit d'excellents esprits, qui
se sont pleus a 1'estude des choses naturelles ; et quand elle n'auroit
donne a cette science que Gilbert, Harvaeus, et Bacon, elle auroit
dequoy le disputer a la France, et a 1'Italie, qui nous ont donne
Galilee, Descartes, et Gassendi. Mais, a dire le vray, Bacon le Chan-
cellier 1'a emporte par dessus tous les autres en grandeur de dessein }
et en cette docte et judicieuse tablature qu'il nous a laissee, pour
reduire utilement en pratique, et tirer hors des disputes de 1'Escole,
ce que Ton a de connoissances de la Nature ; afin de les appliquer a
la mechanique, et en applanir les difficultez que Ton rencontre dans la
vie. Ce grand homme est sans doute celuy qui a le plus puissam-
ment solicite les interests de la physique, et excite le monde a faire
des experiences ' (pp. 63, 64 of Cologne Ed.).

As Mr. Napier, to whom I am indebted for the reference to
Sorbiere, though he only quotes a small portion of the passage,
justly says : This testimony ' is entitled to greater consideration from
Sorbiere having for some time acted as Secretary of one of those
associations of Parisian philosophers in which the Academy of
Sciences had its origin.'

In the Journal des Savans (March 8, 1666), there is a very interest-
ing notice of the Frankfort Edition of Bacon's works. The writer
begins by saying : ' On peut dire que ce grand Chancellier est un de
ceux qui ont le plus contribue a 1'avancement des sciences. Car
reconnaissant que les Anciens nous les ont laissees tres-imparfaites
et que les modernes n'y ont pas fait de grands progrez ; il a com-
pose deux livres pour enseigner par quels moyens on les peut per-
fectionner.' Speaking of the Novum Organum, he says : ' II enseigne

TESTIMONIES TO BACON'S INFLUENCE. 105

une Logique nouvelle, dont le principal but est de montrer la maniere
de faire une bonne Induction, comme la fin principale de la Logique
d'Aristote est de faire un bon syllogisme. Get Ouvrage est excellent,
et cet Auteur 1'a toujours considere comme son chef d'oeuvre : on dit
meme qu'il y a travaille dix-huit ans avant que de le publier.'

Jean Baptiste Du Hamel, the well-known author of the Philosophia
Vetus et Nova, and the first Secretary of the Academy of Sciences, in
his work De Mente Humana, published in 167 2, gives a long account
of the Baconian method (lib. iii. capp. 7-9), and, in speaking of
Induction, says : ' Verulamius primus hoc argumentum tractavit uber-
rime,' ' Hoc argumentationis genus a Verulamio tractatum uberrime
et ab aliis fere neglectum.' It is plain, therefore, that he regarded
Bacon as virtually the author of the Inductive or Experimental
Method.

Bayle (whose Dictionary was first published in 1697) says little
of Bacon, though, as Mr. Napier points out, he says nothing at all,
in the shape of a separate article, of either Galileo or Descartes. But
the meagreness of his account is no proof of disparagement. For he
calls Bacon ' un des plus grans Esprits de son siecle, et 1'un de ceux
qui connurent le plus doctement 1'imperfection ou etoit la Philosophic.'
He adds : ' II travailla fortement aux moiens d'y remedier, et il forma
de tres-beaux plans de reformation. Le public recut favorablement
ses Ouvrages.'

This evidence (which, I believe, might be greatly extended 22 ) is
sufficient to shew that Bacon's name was, at this period, well known
in France, and that his merits were recognised by some of the fore-
most men in philosophy and science. So inaccurate is the statement
of Montucla 23 , accepted by Dugald Stewart, and since frequently
repeated, that the celebrity of Bacon's writings in France hardly dates
back beyond the appearance of the Encyclopedic.

It is unquestionable, however, that the patronage of Voltaire and
the Encyclopaedists did much to extend the study of Bacon's writings,

22 Thus Malebranche, in the Recherche de la Verite (the first volume of which
was published in 1674), livre ii. 2 me partie, ch. 2, quotes from the ' Chancelier
Bacon,' ' ces paroles fort judicieuses : ' ' omnes perceptiones tarn sensus quam mentis
sunt ex analogia hominis,' &c. See Nov. Org. i. 41.

23 Histoire des Mathematiques, Preface, p. ix. (ist Ed.) : ' les cents du Chancelier
Bacon, dont la celebrite en France n'a guere pour date que celle de 1'Encyclopedie.'
It may here be mentioned that a French translation of the De Augmentis appeared
in Paris in 1624, the very year after the first publication of the work, and another
in 1632. On an early MS. translation of the Xovum Organum, which exists in the
Bibliotheque Nationale, see a note on the last section of this Introduction.

I0 6 INTRODUCTION.

besides producing a considerable controversy as to his true meaning
on many questions of philosophy and theology (see section on the
Bibliography of the Novum Organum). Voltaire devoted to Bacon the
twelfth of his Lettres sur les Anglois (1728-1 730), and directed special
attention to the Novum Organum : ' Le plus singulier, et le meilleur de
ses ouvrages, est celui qui est aujourdhui le moinslu, et le plus util; je
veux parler de son Novum Sdentiarum Organum. C'est 1'echafaut
avec lequel on a bati la nouvelle Philosophic, et quand cet edifice
a etc eleve, au moins en partie, 1'echafaut n'a plus etc d'aucun
usage.'

' Le Chancelier Bacon ne connoissoit pas encore la nature, mais il
scavoit et indiquoit tous les chemins qui menent a elle. II avoit
meprise de bonne heure ce que les Universites appelloient la Philo-
sophic, et il faisoit tout ce qui dependoit de lui, afin que ces
compagnies institutes pour la perfection de la raison humaine ne
continuassent pas de la gater par leurs quiddites, leurs horreurs du
vuide, leurs formes substancielles, et tous ces mots impertinens, que
non seulement 1'ignorance rendoit respectables mais qu'un melange
ridicule avec la religion avoit rendu sacres.'

' II est le Pere de la Philosophic experimentale. * * * * En un
mot, personne avant le Chancelier Bacon n'avoit connu la Philo-
sophic experimentale, et de toutes les epreuves physiques qu'on a
faites depuis lui, il n'y en a presque pas une qui ne soit indiquee dans
son livre. II en avoit fait lui-meme plusieurs. * * * * Mais ce qui
m'a le plus surpris, c'a etc de voir dans son livre, en termes expres,
cette Attraction nouvelle dont M. Newton passe pour 1'inventeur.'

In the Dictionnaire Philosophique, Art. Bacon, this letter is repro-
duced, with additions on Attraction, the Article beginning : ' Le plus
grand service peut-etre que Frangois Bacon ait rendu a la philosophic
a ete de deviner 1'attraction.' Though to some extent deserved,
Voltaire's praise on this particular point is, as the readers of the
Novum Organum will easily discover for themselves, greatly exag-
gerated.

Condillac, in the Introduction to his Essai sur 1'Origine des Con-
naissances Humaines (1746), singles out Bacon as, perhaps, the first
who had perceived that all our knowledge has its origin in sense (a
proposition which, in this unqualified form, Bacon would probably not
have accepted). This principle is, he proceeds, 'lefondement d'un
ouvrage dans lequel il donne d'excellens conseils pour 1'avancement
des sciences.' Towards the end of the Essay (2 me Partie, section 2.
ch. 3), his praise rises still higher. Amongst other things, he says :

TESTIMONIES TO BACON'S INFLUENCE. 107

' Personne n'a mieux connu que lui la cause de nos erreurs ; car il a
vu que les idees, qui sont 1'ouvrage de 1'esprit, avaient ete mal faites,
et que, par consequent, pour avancer dans la recherche de la verite",
il fallait les refaire.' * : * ' Bacon proposait une methode trop
parfaite, pour etre 1'auteur d'une revolution, et celle de Descartes
devait reussir, parce qu'elle laissait subsister une partie des erreurs.'
In the Histoire Moderne (which, however, appeared after the publica-
tion of the Encyclopedic), besides passing a high eulogium on Bacon,
he gives a brief summary of a portion of the First Book of the Novum
Organum. See livre xx. ch. 12. It may be worth noticing that
Condillac's objections to Bacon's threefold division of the sciences
are peculiarly acute and effective.

In 1751 appeared the Encyclopedic. This work not only contained
a flattering article on ' Baconisme,' but, in the Discours Preliminaire
by D'Alembert, he is styled ' le plus grand, le plus universel, et le plus
eloquent des Philosophies.' The exaggerated tone here adopted (as,
for instance; ' Bacon, ne dans le sein de la nuit la plus profonde, sentit
que la Philosophic n'etoit pas encore '), as well as the fact that the
Encyclopaedists claimed Bacon as one of themselves, not unnaturally
gave rise to a violent reaction against him, such as we witness in the
work of De Maistre, which will be noticed in a subsequent section.

It is unnecessary to pursue any further the subject of Bacon's
reputation and influence in France, and we now turn to Italy.

That Bacon's works were well known and esteemed in Italy, even
during his lifetime, is plain from the following passage in the Life of
Bacon prefixed by Rawley to his Resuscitatio, published in 1657 :

' His fame is greater and sounds louder in foreign parts abroad,
than at home in his own nation ; thereby verifying that divine
sentence, A prophet is not without honour, save in his oum country,
and in his own house. Concerning 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 Chancellor Bacon, as also his History, ^yith
a great deal of desire, and whatsoever else he shall compose : but in
particular 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 him one of the most capable
spirits of this age ; and he is truly such. Now his fame doth not

10 8 INTRODUCTION.

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 pens.'

Further evidence of the same fact is furnished by Bacon's cor-
respondence with two distinguished Italian ecclesiastics, Father
Baranzan and Father Fulgentio. Bacon's very interesting letter to the
former, who was a young professor of mathematics and philosophy
at Annecy in Savoy, was preserved by J. P. Niceron in his Memoires,
and is reproduced by Mr. Spedding in his seventh volume of Bacon's
Life and Letters, pp. 3/4-378. Baranzan's letter, which called forth
this response, is unfortunately not extant. With Father Fulgentio,
who, according to Archbishop Tenison 24 , was 'a Divine (if I mis-
take not) of the Republic of Venice, and the same who wrote
the Life of his Colleague, the excellent Father Paul,' passed at least
one interchange of letters. Here, again, the letter of Fulgentio is
unfortunately lost, but Bacon's reply is given in Tenison's Baconiana
(pp. 196-200), and in the seventh volume of Spedding's Life and
Letters of Bacon, pp. 531-533.

Attention is drawn by Mr. Napier to a curious and interesting
letter from Toby Matthew to Bacon, dated Brussels, April 4, i6i9 25 ,
in which he connects the name of Bacon with that of Galileo. ' It
may please your Lordship, there was with me this day one Mr.
Richard White, who hath spent some little time at Florence, and is
now gone into England. He tells me, that Galileo had answered
your discourse concerning the flux and reflux of the sea, and was
sending it unto me ; but that Mr. White hindered him, because his
answer was grounded upon a false supposition, namely, that there
was in the ocean a full sea but once in twenty-four hours. But now
I will call upon Galileo again.' As the tract De Fluxu et Refluxu
Maris was not published till it was included in Gruter's collection
of 1653, it must have been communicated to Galileo in manuscript,
thus shewing the interest already taken in Bacon's writings. It is
true, I believe, that Galileo makes no mention of Bacon's works,
but then, as I shall presently have occasion to remark, and as we
have already seen in the case of Locke, the habit of referring to
contemporary or recent writers was at this time comparatively
rare.

Yico, the celebrated Italian Publicist (b. 1668, d. 1744), frequently

' Account of all the Lord Bacon's Works, prefixed to the Baconiana, p. 101.
-' See Spcddiny's Life and Letters of Bacon, vol. vii. pp. 35-37.

TESTIMONIES TO BACON'S INFLUENCE. 109

alludes to Bacon 26 . In the Scienza Nuova (in its second form), lib. ii.
(Works, Milan Ed. of 1836, vol. v. p. 253), he bears this testimony:
' Onde a gran ragione il Verulamio, gran filosofo egualmente e poli-
tico, propone, commenda ed illustra PInduzione nel suo Organo;
et e seguito tuttavia dagli Inghilesi con gran frutto della Sperimentale
Filosofia.' I am indebted for this reference to M. de Remusat, who
cites the French translation published in 1844, p. 165.

Mr. Napier, with the most commendable industry, collects the
German and Dutch testimonies to Bacon from the Frankfort Edition
of Campanella's Realis Philosophia Epilogistica by Tobias Adams in
1623 down to the Compendium Historiae Philosophicae of Buddaeus,
published in 1731. In the Preface to the first-mentioned book, the
aim and method of Campanella are compared with those of Bacon,
' sagacissimus Philosophus ' (who, it must be remembered, was still
alive, and working at the Instauratio Magna), ' quamvis non dubitem
quin longe plura et majora per inductiones diligentiores, quibus ille
insistit, investigari, multaque emendari et elucidari rectius possint.'
The next authority to which Mr. Napier refers is Comenius's Sy-
nopsis Physicae ad lumen divinum reformatae, published in 1643.
This author, who speaks of Bacon (' magnus Verulamius ') in his
Preface with the greatest respect, also couples him with Campanella :
' hos enim Hercules, qui debellandis monstris expurgandisque Augiae
stabulis feliciter admoverunt manus, commonstrasse, et illis, quos
Aristotelicae vane turgidae Philosophiae dementatos tenet authoritas,
opposuisse, sufficiat.' And, again, he describes the Instauratio Magna
as 'opus suspiciendum et quod ego non aliter quam lucidissimum
exorientis novi saeculi Phosphorum intueri soleo.'

The educational works, it may be added, of the last author (b. in
Moravia 1592, d. 1671, many of whose writings were published at
Leszno in Poland) are full of allusions to Bacon, and it is curious
to note how strikingly Baconian in character are many of his thoughts
and modes of expression 2? . If any reader cares to pursue this sub-
ject, he will find an excellent example of what I mean in the Pan-

16 'In the " De Ratione Studiorum," ' says Professor Flint (Vico, p. 31), ' the
influence of Bacon's " De Augmentis Scientiarum " is very apparent. At the time
of writing it, he had been for some time acquainted with Bacon's writings, and had
conceived for them high admiration. Their author he pronounces " an incompar-
able man." Bacon as powerfully attracted as Descartes repelled him.'

27 I am indebted to the late Mr. Mark Pattison for first directing my attention to
these facts with regard to Comenius.

1 1 o I NT ROD UCTION.

.sophici Libri Delineatio (occupying pp. 403-456 of the first Part of
the Opera Didactica, published at Amsterdam, in 1657). Speaking
of rules for distinguishing the true from the false, Comenius says :
1 Atque talem normam in natura scrutanda reperisse visus est Illus-
trissimus Verulamius, artificiosam quandam inductionem, quae revera
in naturae abdita penetrandi reclusa via est. Verum enimvero, quia
haec plurium hominum et seculorum continuatam industriam poscit,
atque adeo turn operosa turn a successu quasi incerto suspensa vide-
tur, fit ut praeclarum inventum a plerisque tanquam inutile contem-
natur.' In a previous passage, he asks : ' Non est nihil, quod Veru-
lamius mirabili suo organo rerum naturas intime scrutandi modum
infallibilem detexit?' This work was published at Oxford in the year
1637, under the title of Conatuum Comenianorum Praeludia.

But what is more remarkable than individual passages is the
general influence of Bacon's writings on the tone and thoughts of
this author.

In 1652, Isaac Gruter, writing to Rawley in reference to a projected
edition of Bacon's works, speaks of them as ' diu faventissimis Eruditi
mundi praeconiis et applausu contestatissimo excepta.' Baconiana,
p. 224.

The famous jurist Puffendorf is quoted by Sir Thomas Pope
Blount (Censura Celebriorum Authorum, p. 635) to the following
effect : ' Sapientissimus quondam Angliae Cancellarius, qui praecipue
nostro saeculo velut classicum cecinisse et signum sustulisse videtur,
ut in rebus philosophicis aliquid ulterius et exquisitius investigaretur
quam quo hactenus Scholarum parietes resonuerant. Sic ut si quae
est pulchrius nostro tempore efflorescentis Philosophiae gratia, isti
viro non minima ex parte debeatur.' Specim. Controvers. cap. i.
sect. 5.

But more important than the testimony of any of these writers is
that of Leibnitz. In the Confessio Naturae contra Atheistas (1668),
he begins : ' Divini ingenii vir Franciscus Baconus de Verulamio
recte dixit,' &c. In his account of his own studies, under the name
of Wilhelmus Pacidius (Opera Philosophica, Ed. Erdmann, pp. 91,
92), he says, ' Interea feliciter accidit ut consilia magni viri Francisci
Baconi, Angliae Cancellarii, de augmentis scientiarum, et cogitata
excitatissima Cardani et Campanellac et specimina melioris philo-
sophiae Kepleri et Galilei et Cartesii ad manus pervenirent.' He,
then, felt himself, as it were, carried into another world (velut in
alium orbem delatus). Again, in the De Stilo Philosophico Nizolii
(p. 61) he describes the 'incomparable Vcrulam ' and other famous

TESTIMONIES TO BACON'S INFLUENCE. in

men as having recalled philosophy ' ex aeris divagationibus aut etiam
spatio imaginario ad terram hanc nostram et usum vitae.' And in
one of his Reflexions, printed under the title of ' Leibnitiana ' (Opera
Philologica, Ed. Dutens, vol. vi. p. 303), where he is comparing the
' ingenium acutum ' with the ' ingenium magnum,' he speaks in terms
which to many will appear exaggerated : ' Etiam in scriptoribus has
differentias agnosco. Quid Cartesio in physicis, Hobbio in moralibus
acutius? At si ille Bacono, hie Campanellae comparetur, apparet
illos humi repere ; hos magnitudine cogitationum, consiliorum, immo
destinationum assurgere in nubes, ac pene humanae potentiae im-
paria moliri. Illi ergo tradendis principiis, hi conclusionibus ad usum
insignibus eliciendis meliores.' It is curious so frequently to find
the name of Bacon coupled by German writers with that of
Campanella.

Not the less important for being discriminating is the very interest-
ing and judicious testimony of the celebrated physicist, Huyghens,
in his annotations on Baillet's Life of Descartes (which work appeared
in 1691). This passage is preserved by Cousin in his Fragments
Philosophiques, tome ii. p. 160, and proceeds as follows: 'Les
modernes, comme Telesius, Campanella, Gilbert, retenoient de mesme
que les Aristoteliciens plusieurs qualites occultes, et n'avoient pas
assez d'invention et de mathematiques pour faire un systeme entier ;
Gassendi non plus, quoyqu'il ait reconnu et decouvert les inepties
des Aristoteliciens. Verulamius a vu de mesme Pinsuffisance de cette
philosophic peripateticienne, et de plus a enseigne de tres bonnes
methodes pour en batir une meilleure a faire des experiences et a s'en
bien servir. II en a donne des exemples assez rares, pour ce qui
regarde la chaleur dans les corps, qu'il conclut n'estre qu'un mouve-
ment des particules qui les composent. Mais au reste il n'entendoit
point les mathematiques et manquoit de penetration pour les choses
de physique, n'ayant pas pu concevoir seulement la possibilite du
mouvement de la terre, dont il se moque comme d'une chose
absurde.' Then follows an estimate of Galileo and Descartes 2 ".

Morhof, in his Polyhistor (torn. ii. lib. 2. cap. i), has a special
chapter entituled : ' Quomodo Historia Naturalis sit instituenda, e
mente Francisci Baconis Verulamii, et ejus sequentium vestigia.'
Here and elsewhere he is profuse in his praise of Bacon.

Boerhaave, who, as Mr. Napier says, was himself an eminent

w For another eulogium on Bacon by Huyghens, see De Remusat, Histoire de
la Philosophic en Augleterre, depuis Bacon jusqu' a Locke, tome i. p. 158.

112

INTRODUCTION.

improver of science in several of its branches, and who was placed
in a situation, which, in a particular manner, enabled him to collect
the general sentiment of Europe upon any point connected with the
history of philosophy, in his Discourse de comparando certo in
Physicis, delivered before the University of Leyden in 1715, pro-
nounced an eulogium on Bacon which it would be difficult to exceed :
' Atque hujus quidem Physices fortunas laudare licet ex quo magnum
Verulamium summo suo bono accepit ! Virum certe ad omnia, quae
scientia humana comprehendi possunt, indaganda facile principem,
et de quo dubites utrum consilio, an exemplo, major fuerit in in-
stauranda deformata Physica. Absque invidia dixero, quidquid
incrementi cepit naturalis historia ab ineunte decimo sexto seculo
in hanc usque horam, omne id acceptum debemus monitis et pre-
ceptis illius viri ; cujus indelibilem memoriam grata colet orbis
perpetuitas.'

Similar is the testimony of Buddaeus (Compendium Historiae
Philosophicae, Ed. of 1731, pp. 409-412) : ' Saeculo decimo septimo
ineunte, nova lux philosophiae, praesertim in scientia naturali, orta
est. Exemplum omnibus praeivit Franciscus Baco de Verulamio, qui,
ut, missis abstractis illis et otiosis speculationibus, ad particularia
descenderent experimentaque instituendo naturam rerum accuratius
contemplarentur, omnibus auctor fuit. Hujus ductum cum multi
sequerentur, dici non potest, quanta ad accuratiorem philosophiam
facta sit accessio.'

Morhof (Polyhistor, torn. i. lib. 2. cap. 7) speaks of a work,
published in Hungary in 1663, by one John Beyer, entitled ' Filum
Labyrinthi vel Cynosura, sive Lux mentium universalis,' &c., in which
the author attempted to expound the Baconian philosophy. ' Verum
obscurat potius Verulamii sensus omnemque philosophiam, quam ut
lumen aliquod accendat.' This fact is interesting as shewing that
the fame of Bacon's philosophical reform had reached even remote
countries like Hungary.

On the possible, or, perhaps, probable influence of Bacon's writings
on the institution of scientific societies abroad, I shall have occasion
to speak in a note on the next division of my subject.

Returning to England, I shall now attempt to shew the influence of
Bacon's writings on the group of men who founded the Royal Society
or were amongst its earliest members, and the estimation in which he
was held by them. This Society, as is well known, originated in certain

BACON'S INFLUENCE ON SCIENCE. 113

informal meetings during the Civil Wars (according to Dr. Wallis in
1645), though it did not receive its Charter of Incorporation till 1662.
Now Bishop Sprat, its earliest historian, in a work written in 1667,
speaks of Bacon, as having ' had the true imagination of the whole
extent of this enterprise, as it is now set on foot.' And then he .
proceeds : ' In whose books there are everywhere scattered the best
arguments, that can be produced for the defence of Experimental
Philosophy; and the best directions that are needful to promote it.
All which he has already adorned with so much art ; that if my desires
could have prevailed with some excellent friends of mine, who engaged
me to this work : there should have been no other Preface to the History
of the Royal Society, but some of his writings.' The passage is too
long to quote at length, but will be found in Dr. Sprat's History of
the Royal Society, pp. 35, 36, and in Tenison's Baconiana, pp. 264-
266. What Sprat, notwithstanding his eulogium of the philosophical
works in general, says of the Sylva Sylvarum is unfortunately very
true : ' He seems rather to take all that comes, than to choose ; and
to heap rather than to register.' ' But,' he adds, though ' he had not
the strength of a thousand men, I do allow him to have had as much
as twenty.'

In another place (p. 144), after complimenting Lord Clarendon
and the other Law Officers of the Crown on their share in drawing
up the Charter of the Royal Society, Sprat goes on to say : ' But
it is enough to declare that my Lord Bacon was a Lawyer, and that
these eminent officers of the Law have completed this foundation of
the Royal Society : which was a work well becoming the largeness of
his Wit to devise, and the greatness of their Prudence to establish.'
The allusion here, I presume, is to the New Atlantis.

In Cowley's Ode to the Royal Society, Bacon's name is equally
prominent :

' Some few exalted Spirits this latter Age has shown,
That lahour'd to assert the Liberty
(From Guardians, who were now Usurpers grown)
Of this Old Minor still, captiv'd Philosophy ;

But 'twas Rebellion call'd to fight

For such a long oppressed Right.
Bacon at last, a mighty man, arose

Whom a wise King and Nature chose

Lord Chancellour of both their Laws,
And boldly undertook the injur'd Pupil's cause.'

He then describes how he chased away Authority,

' Nor suffer' d Living men to be misled

By the vain shadows of the Dead : '
I

! ! 4 INTRO D UCTION.

how he broke the ' Scar-crow Deitie ' of the orchard, how he brought
the mind from words to things, &c.

' From these and all long Errors of the way,
In which our wandring Praedecessors went,
And like th' old Hebrews many years did stray

In Desarts but of small extent,
Bacon, like Moses, led us forth at last,

The barren Wilderness he past,

Did on the very Border stand

Of the blest promis'd Land,
And from the Mountain's Top of his Exalted Wit,

Saw it himself, and shew'd us it.'

It should be noticed that Sprat's book received the sanction of the
Royal Society, and that copies of it were sent by them to foreign
princes and other eminent persons on the continent. Hence Liebig's
sneer at Sprat (Allgemeine Zeitung, March 7, 1864), unless he is
prepared to extend it generally to the members of the Royal Society
at that time, is entirely out of place.

But there is much more evidence to the same effect. The cele-
brated mathematician, Dr. Wallis, in the very interesting Account of
some Passages of his own Life, published in Appendix, Num. xi, to
Hearne's Preface to Peter Langtoft's Chronicle 29 , says : 'About the
year 1645, while I lived in London, * * * * * I had the opportunity
of being acquainted with divers worthy Persons, inquisitive into
Natural Philosophy, and other parts of Humane Learning ; and
particularly of what hath been called the New Philosophy or Ex-
perimental Philosophy.' He then proceeds to give the names of his
associates and their places of meeting. ' Our business was to Dis-
course and consider of Philosophical Enquiries, and such as related
thereunto.' * * 'Some of which were then but New discoveries,

and others not so generally known and imbraced, as now they are,
with other things appertaining to what hath been called The New
Philosophy ; which from the times of Galileo at Elorence, and Sir
Erancis Bacon (Lord Veruiam) in England, hath been much culti-
vated in Italy, Erance, Germany, and other parts abroad, as well as
with us in England.'

In the Dedication to the Royal Society of his Scepsis Scientifica
(1665), Glanvill says: ' Eor you really are what former ages could
contrive but in wish and Romances ; and Solomon's House in the
New Atlantis was a Prophetic Scheme of the Royal Society.' Com-
plimentary allusions to Bacon, whom he evidently regards as the

' 1'or this reference 1 am indebted to Mr. Napier.

INFLUENCE ON THE ROYAL SOCIETY. 115

great light of modern philosophy, are of constant occurrence in
GlanvilPs works. Mr. Napier cites one more, taken from the Plus
Ultra or the Progress and Advancement of Knowledge since the days
of Aristotle (1668), having special reference to the Royal Society.
After several remarks on the philosophy and aims of Bacon, he
proceeds :

' This was a mighty design, groundedly laid, wisely exprest, and
happily recommended by the Glorious Author, who began nobly,
and directed with an incomparable conduct of Wit and Judgment :
But to the carrying it on, it was necessary there should be many
Heads and many Hands, and those formed into an Assembly, that
might intercommunicate their Tryals and Observations, that might
joyntly work, and joyntly consider ; that so the improvable and luci-
ferous Phaenomena, that lie scatter'd up and down in the vast
Champaign of Nature, might be aggregated and brought into a
common store. This the Great Man desired, and form'd a Society of
Experimenters in a Romantick Model, but could do no more ; His
time was not ripe for such performances.'

' These things therefore were consider'd also by the later Virtuosi,
who several of them combined together, and set themselves on work
upon this grand Design 3 V

Oldenburg, the first Secretary of the Society, in Number 22, p. 391
(1666-7), gi ym g an extract from a letter, continues : 'The ingenious
Author of this Letter, as he expresses an extraordinary desire to see
the Store-House of Natural Philosophy more richly fraughted (a
Work begun by the single care and conduct of the excellent Lord
Verulam, and prosecuted by the Joynt-undertakings of the Royal
Society) so,' &c. He frequently alludes to Bacon, as having given
the chief impulse to the study of Experimental Philosophy, as, for
instance, in the Prefaces to the Transactions for 1670, 1672, 1677.
Thus, in the Preface for 1670, he says that 'his greatest Reputation
rebounded first from the most intelligent Forrainers in many parts
of Christendome ; ' in that for 1672, 'when our renowned Lord
Bacon had demonstrated the methods for a perfect Restauration of
all parts of Real knowledge ***** the success became on a
sudden stupendous, and Effective philosophy began to sparkle, and
even to flow into beams of bright-shining Light, all over the World:'
and, lastly, in that for 1677, 'many of the chief Universities in
Christendom have already formed themselves into Philosophical

30 Plus Ultra, pp. 87, 88.
I 2

1 1 6 I NT ROD UCTION.

Societies, and have so largely contributed their aydes to advance the
Lord Bacon's Design for the Instauration of Arts and Sciences, that
it is now become above my abilities,' &c. 31

Boyle, who was himself called a Second Bacon, and who lent
his rooms for the meetings of the Royal Society during the
latter part of its Oxford career, is constant in his allusions to ' our
illustrious Verulam,' 'that profound naturalist the Lord Verulam,' 'so
judicious a friend to philosophy and mankind, as Sir Francis Bacon,'
'our famous experimenter, the Lord Verulam himself,' &c., &c. :ij
See his works, passim. Indeed Boyle seems to have been regarded,
in a special sense, as a disciple of Bacon. In a letter to him, quoted
by Mr. Napier, from Dr. Beal, who was himself elected to the Royal
Society in 1662, the writer says : 'You have particularized, explicated,
and exemplified those fair encouragements and affectionate directions,
which Lord Bacon in a wide generality proposed.' Dr. Seal's letters"' 3 ,
which are somewhat lengthy, are full of allusions to Bacon. Thus,
he speaks of Boyle as 'relieving Lord Bacon's Sylva, and his Novum
Organum, which oft-times want your aid,' and, in another letter, there
is a passage bearing on the connexion between Bacon's designs and
the establishment of the Royal Society : 'And let me say to you,
that if you give these things in charge amongst your acquaintance,
that each man in his way may add to the search of others, then you
do fully prosecute the Yerulamian design ; then our labour is joined

: ' It may here be noticed that Mi'. Xapier quotes Bilchner, whose work I have
not been able to see, as referring the foundation of learned societies throughout
Kurope to the influence of Bacon : ' Sed, quae superest dicenda, supremam, <_t, ut
nobis videtur, proximam condendae Academiae enarrabimus occasionem. Scilicet
po;,tquam, intunte circiter priori saeculo, non inter Britannos solum, sed universi
quoque orbis incolas, immortalitati commendatissimus, Franciscus Baco de Yeru-
lamio. variis risque ad sapientiae normam elucubratissimis scriptis, utilissima emen-
clandae atque instaurandae historiae naturalis dedissct consilia, et absolutissimis
rationibus tirmasset : non Angli modo hand incassum se moneri atquc excitari pas.--i
stint, sed exterac quo(|i;e gentes, imprimis Galli Italique, sanioris consilii patientes,
tanta contentione cum qualibuscunque scientiis generatim, tuna praecipue rerun i
naturalium studio aniimim intendemnt, adeo, ut ex illo tempore visi stint homines
liihil. vel remotissimis naturae visccribus nbstrusum, quod non captis ex Baeonis
nieiite experimentis curiosius rimarentur, relicturi. Atque hie ardor, haec studia
inagnam quoque partem condiderunt Academiarum Societatumque hactenus meino-
ratarum.' Academiae Xaturae Curiosorum Historia, cap. i. 7.

And yet Sir J >avid Brewster, in his Life of Newton (eh. 2~. vol. ii. p. 403 of
ist !'.<]. . says that 'the amiable and indefatigable Boyle treated Bacon with the
.--anic disrespectful .lileiice ' that Newlon did. The silence of Newton I shall discuss
presently.

l'h; s.; are published amongst the Letters from Several Persons to Mr. Bo)!e,
in the hut volume of Boyle's Collected Woiks.

INFLUENCE ON THE ROYAL SOCIETY. 117

and collegiate, and not always running in the narrowness of single
endeavours.' Maclaurin, again, in his Account of Newton's Philo-
sophical Discoveries (p. 61) says: 'It has been observed that
Mr. Boyle was born the same year that Lord Bacon died, as if he
had been destin'd to carry on his plan.'

I come next to Dr. Robert Hooke (b. 1635, d. 1703), who suc-
ceeded Oldenburg as Secretary of the Royal Society, and was
amongst the most distinguished of its early members. Amongst his
Posthumous Works is published one entituled The Present State of
Natural Philosophy and the Method of Improving it, which is
described by Dr. Whewell as an 'attempt to adapt the Novum
Organum to the age which succeeded its publication.' The whole
of this treatise is in the lines of the Novum Organum, and much of it
is a mere translation of its language. And yet Hooke seldom men-
tions Bacon, another proof out of many how little the writers of that
time think it necessary to cite by name the authors from whom they
borrow or to whom they are under obligations. In one place, how-
ever (Posthumous Works, p. 6), he announces his design as follows :
' Some other course therefore must be taken to promote the Search of
Knowledge. Some other kind of Art for Enquiry than what hath
hitherto been made use of, must be discovered ; the Intellect is not to
be suffered to act without its Helps, but 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 incomparable Verulam hath had any thoughts,
and he indeed hath promoted it to a very good pitch ; but there is
yet somewhat more to be added, which he seemed to want time to
compleat.' Hooke's work, like its prototype, was unfinished.

Testimonies of this kind might easily be multiplied to almost any
extent. Such are those of John Evelyn, an early member of the
Royal Society, and celebrated as the author of Sylva, Numismata S4 ,
the well-known Diary, &c. ; of Dr. Joshua Childrey, who, in a letter to
Oldenburg, preserved by Antony Wood 35 , says ' he first fell in love
with the lord Bacon's philosophy in the year 1646,' and who, in 1661,
published a work entitled ' Britannia Baconica, or the Natural Rarities

;u There are constant allusions to Bacon in both these works, especially in the
former : see particularly Numismata, ch. 9. p. 340 ; Sylva, Address to the Reader
(much enlarged in the 3rd Edition).

35 Wood's Athenae Oxonienses, vol. iii. p. 904 (Ed. Bliss, 1817). According to
Wood, the Britannia Baconica, mentioned in the text, suggested to Dr. Plot his
Natural History of Oxfordshire.

i 1 8 I NT ROD UCTION.

of England, Scotland, and Wales, historically related, according to
the precepts of the Lord Bacon ;' together with many other writers
whom it would be tedious to enumerate.

The authorities cited are, however, amply sufficient to prove the
two points which I was anxious to establish : ist, that the foundation
of the Royal Society in England, and possibly also that of some
similar societies on the Continent, was due to the impulse given by
Bacon to the study of experimental science and the plans which he
devised for its prosecution ; 2nd, that some of the more eminent men
who were amongst the earliest members of that society, Wallis, Boyle,
Hooke, &c., were deeply imbued with the spirit of Bacon's teaching,
and ready fully to recognise their obligations to him. If these facts
be established, as I think they are, there can be no question as to the
reality of Bacon's influence on the progress of science in the generation
immediately succeeding his own, whatever we may regard the nature
of that influence as having been 36 .

Nor was the ' New Philosophy ' without its influence on the Uni-
versities, much as those bodies were occupied at this time with other
questions, and deeply rooted as were their prejudices in favour of
the old learning. Even if we pass over the Letter of the University
of Oxford 37 , written on receipt of Bacon's De Augmentis in 1623, in
which he is likened to a literary Hercules, who has further advanced
the pillars of learning, deemed by others immovable, as savouring,
perhaps, too much of official flattery ; and even if we reject, as testi-
mony to himself, and, therefore, perhaps, partial, what he says in his
letter to the King about the reception of the Advancement of

'" For further evidence of Bacon's influence on the group of men who founded
the Royal Society, or were amongst its earliest members, see the section on the
< >pponents of Bacon, under Dr. Henry Stubbe.

' 7 Published in Baconiana, pp. 204-206. The letter is written, throughout, in
the most flattering strain, but, as Mr. Napier remarks, ' this piece of homage was
offered at a time when all motives to interested adulation had been done away by
Bacon's lamentable fall.' The following is a specimen of the language of this
letter : ' Creverunt quidem [musae], et sub calamo tuo, qui, tanquam strenuus lite-
rarum Alcides, Columnas tuas, Mundo immobiles, propria manu in Orbe Scienti-
arum, plus ti/lra statnisti. Euge exercitatissimum Athletam,' &c.

One thing, I confess, I am ambitious of, with hope, which is that after these
beginnings, and the wheel once set on going, men shall sock more truth out of
Christian pens, than hitherto they have done out of heathen. I say with hope,
because I hear my firmer book of the Advancement of Learning is well tasted in
the Imver.-ities here and the English colleges abroad: and this [the Novum
Organum] is the same argument sunk deeper.' Letter to the King, in 1620, printed
in Speddipg's Life and Letters, vol. vii. pp. 119, 120.

INFLUENCE ON THE UNIVERSITIES. 119

Learning ' in the universities here and the English colleges abroad,'
we have still sufficient evidence to shew that his works were producing
a real and perceptible influence.

The ready welcome accorded to the London savans in Oxford in
1648 and 1649 (see Wallis's account), the fact that they were joined
by several Oxford men, and the uninterrupted meetings of the
incipient Royal Society in Oxford till the dispersion of several of its
members in 1658, would alone furnish satisfactory evidence of the
spread of the ' New Philosophy' in one, at least, of the Universities 39 .
But Bp. Sprat expressly tells us (p. 53) that, besides being ' frequented
by some Gentlemen of Philosophical Minds, whom the misfortunes of
the Kingdom and the security and ease of a retirement amongst
Gown-men had drawn thither,' ' the University had, at that time, many
members of its own, who had begun a free way of reasoning,' an
expression which undoubtedly denotes the Baconian, as opposed to
the Aristotelian or traditional method. In describing their meetings,
he proceeds : ' By this means there was a race of young men pro-
vided, against the next age, whose minds, receiving from them their
first impressions of sober and generous knowledge, were invincibly
armed against all the enchantments of Enthusiasm. But what is
more, I may venture to affirm that it was in good measure by the
influence which these Gentlemen had over the rest, that the University
itself, or, at least, any part of its Discipline and Order, was saved
from ruin.'

At a period a little later than the publication of Sprat's book,
Dr. Beal, writing to Boyle, Nov. 27, 1671, has a passage which will
be read with some interest by many Oxford men, and which, as I
have not seen it noticed before, I transcribe at length :

' At my request a young Oxonian prepared me a list of fit, capable,
and hopeful persons, addicted to the design of the Royal Society, and
willing to entertain correspondencies, and to assist in them. They
seemed to me by their qualifications, and number, very considerable ;
some in every college, and in every hall. Only in one college, there

39 And yet the Juniors do not seem, at any rate in some of the Colleges, to have
profited much from this intellectual activity of their seniors. See Locke's account
of the arid and unstimulating character of his studies during the earlier years of his
academical life, as given in his confidences to Lady Masham and Le Clerc (Fox
Bourne's Life of Locke, vol. i. pp. 47, 48). In referring to Mr. Fox Bourne's
work, I must not be supposed to endorse altogether his account of the Oxford cur-
riculum at this time, much of which appears to me (as I have pointed out in my
own Life of Locke, p. 7) to be an ideal construction. Locke, in later years, joined
the scientific circle of which Boyle was the centre.

1 20 I NT ROD UCTION.

was but one named ; but it is excused, that his list was much too
short, and that he wanted time to complete it, and for some reasons
he would not be seen to advise with others for fuller information.
There are excellent professors, some lecturers, and very many students
of useful arts amongst them. And in time they may have their
meetings in some of their publick schools, after fit lectures ; and the
wings of the Stubbians are already broken, and their reputation
withers, as Dr. Bathurst told me.' Boyle's Works, Ed. of 1744,
vol. v. p. 498, b.

Mr. Napier, to whom I am indebted for the two next references,
thinks that the ' new philosophy ' had made still greater progress at
Cambridge. This conclusion is based mainly on a passage in Antony
Wood (Bliss's ed. of the Athenae Oxonienses, 1817, vol. iii. p. 1244),
who, in his Life of Glanvill, 'wonders, considering that that house
[Exeter College] was then one of the chief nurseries for youth in
the university, why he should afterwards lament that his friends did
not first send him to Cambridge, because, as he used to say, that
new philosophy and the art of philosophising were there more than
here in Oxon, and that his first studies in this university did not
qualify him for the world of action and business.' This evidence,
which I have thought better to give in full, may not be of much
value as settling the claims of the rival Universities, but, at all events,
it is sufficient to shew that Cambridge had already a reputation for
the ' new philosophy.' Of this fact, perhaps, we receive additional
testimony in Baker's Reflections upon Learning, first published in
1 699. The author was a Fellow of St. John's College, Cambridge,
ind is now well known for his history of that College, recently pub-
lished and edited by Mr. Mayor. In the former work (Chapter on
Logic), after making some interesting remarks on the Method of
Bacon, he proceeds : ' After the way of free thinking ' (notice, again,
this expression) ' had been lai'd open by my Lord Bacon, it was soon
after greedily follow'd, for the Understanding affects Freedom as well
as the Will, and men will pursue liberty, tho it ends in confusion.'
p. 59. This reflexion, however, may have simply a general reference,
and may not have been specially suggested by the experience of the
writer's own University.

A still stronger indication, than either of these two, of the way
which the ' new philosophy ' had made in Cambridge, in the middle
of the seventeenth century, is to be found in the testimony of Isaac
Barrow (1652), subsequently the first Lucasian Professor of Mathe-
matics, and the immediate predecessor of Newton. In an academical

RELATION OF NEWTON TO BACON. I 21

exercise, written in the above year, when Barrow was about 22
years of age, on the thesis Cartcsiana hypothesis de materid et
motu hand satisfacit praecipuis naturae phaenomenis, he passes the
highest eulogium on Bacon, and shews, as Ur. Whewell says 40 , ' that
he had read the Novum Organum in a careful and intelligent manner,
and presumed his Cambridge hearers to be acquainted with the work.'
The passages in this exercise, referring to Bacon, ' may be regarded,'
as Dr. Whewell also remarks, ' as expressive of the opinions which
were then current among active-minded and studious young
men.'

It would be superfluous to extend this enquiry beyond the point at
which we have now arrived, as, at the end of the seventeenth century,
we are already in the full tide of experimental research, when the fame
and influence of Bacon were, as I believe, universally acknowledged 41 .
But, before I proceed to consider the nature of this influence, it is
necessary that I should entertain a question which has been the occa-
sion of considerable dispute, namely, the cause of the complete, and, as
it has seemed to some, singular silence with regard to Bacon which
is maintained by his illustrious successor, Newton. Some refer it to
contemptuous indifference. Thus, Sir David Brewster, whose judg-
ment De Remusat accepts, roundly asserts that ' Newton would have
enriched science with the same splendid discoveries, if the name and
the writings of Bacon had never been heard of,' and says oddly
enough, as I have already pointed out, that ' Boyle treated him with
the same disrespectful silence 4 V On the other hand, Horace Wai-
pole 43 calls Bacon ' the Prophet of Arts, which Newton was sent
afterwards to reveal,' and Reid 44 speaks of Newton, as ' having, in
the third book of his Principia and in his Optics, had the rules of the
Novum Organum constantly in his eye.' Between these conflicting
views I shall attempt to decide, considering, first, the external evi-
dence of Bacon's influence on Newton, secondly, the internal evidence,
so far as it can be derived from Newton's own writings, and, lastly,

10 For an account of this Dissertation, see Whewell's Philosophy of Discovery,
pp. 177-180.

41 See, for instance, Tatler, No. 267 ; Spectator, No. 554. But the merits and
influence of Bacon were now so much taken for granted, that, naturally enough, less
was probably said about them than in the previous generation.

*'-' Brewster's Life of Newton, vol. ii. p. 403.

43 Royal and Noble Authors, vol. i. p. 162.

44 Reid's Account of Aristotle's Logic, ch. 6. sect. 2 (Hamilton's Ed. of Reid's
Works, p. 712 b).

1 2 2 I NT ROD UCTION.

the interpretation to be put upon his silence with respect to Bacon's
name and works.

Pemberton, in his View of Sir Isaac Newton's Philosophy (1728),
informs us distinctly that Newton ' approved of the following treatise,
a great part of which we read together' (Preface). Now, in the
Introduction to this work, the author almost at once begins to speak
of the irrational method formerly pursued in scientific enquiries, by
' framing conjectures,' ' undertaking intire systems,' ' fathoming at
once the greatest depths of nature,' &c. ' Whereas the only method,
that can afford us any prospect of success in this difficult work, is to
make our enquiries with the utmost caution, and by very slow
degrees.' ' This neglect,' he proceeds, ' of the proper means to
enlarge our knowledge, joined with the presumption to attempt what
was quite out of the power of our limited faculties, the Lord Bacon
judiciously observes to be the great obstruction to the progress of
science. Indeed that excellent person was the first who expressly
writ against this way of philosophising ; and he has laid open at
large the absurdity of it in his admirable treatise, intitled Novum
Organon Scientiarum ; and has there likewise described the true
method, which ought to be followed.' He then goes on to give
a copious account of some portions of the First Book of the Novum
Organum, especially of the 'Duo viae ' (Aph. 19) and the ' Idola,'
and continues : ' But what surprizing advancements in the know-
ledge of nature may be made by pursuing the true course in philo-
sophical enquiries, when those searches are conducted by a genius
equal to so divine a work, will be best understood by considering
Sir Isaac Newton's discoveries.' In attempting to give an account of
the 'principles whereon Sir Isaac Newton proceeds,' the author
evidently has Bacon's method constantly in view, and, in expound-
ing the third of the ' Regulae Philosophandi,' he again mentions him
by name : ' The only caution here required is ***** as the Lord
Bacon very judiciously directs.' Now, supposing Newton to have
seen this Introduction, as seems very probable, the controversy may
be regarded, I think, as determined, and we may, at least, conclude
that Newton would have been ready to acknowledge his obligations
to the precepts and warnings, contained in the First Book of the
Novum Organum.

Maclaurin, again, in his Account of Sir Isaac Newton's Philoso-
phical Discoveries (published, after his death, in 1748^, evidently
regards the connexion between Bacon and Newton as a very close
one. The whole of his remarks on Bacon are well worth attention

RELATION OF NEWTON TO BACON. 123

(see pp. 56-62). I can only give one or two brief extracts. 'Sir
Francis Bacon, Lord Verulam, who was cotemporary with Galileo
and Kepler, is justly held amongst the restorers of true learning, but
more especially the founder of experimental philosophy.' *****
' He proposed his plan in his Instanratio Magna, with so much
strength of argument, and so just a zeal, as renders that admirable
work the delight of all who have a taste for solid learning.' * *
In his Novum Organum ' his chief design is to shew how to make
a good induction, as Aristotle's was to teach how to make a good
syllogism. Had the philosophers, since Lord Verulam's time, adhered
more closely to his plan, their success had been greater : and Sir
Isaac Newton's philosophy had not found the learned so full of
prejudices against it, in favour of some systems lately invented and
mightily extolled by speculative men; that, while all admired the
sublime geometry which shone throughout his work, few for some
time appeared to be disposed to hearken to his philosophy, or in a
condition to judge of it impartially. However, Lord Bacon's ex-
hortations and example had a good effect ; and experimental philo-
sophy has been much more cultivated since his time than in any
preceding period. Geometry and philosophy advanced together at
a great pace, and gave mutual aid to each other.'

Though Newton's works contain no direct reference to Bacon,
there are passages which make it very difficult to suppose that he
was not acquainted with, at least, the first book of the Novum
Organum either through his own reading or through the common
tradition of its teaching. Of the Regulae Philosophandi (^contained
in Horsley's Edition of Newton's Works, vol. iii. pp. 2-4), the third
has already been referred to in my extract from Pemberton. But,
for our present purpose, the fourth is still more to the point. It
runs as follows :

' In Philosophia experimentali, Propositiones ex phaenomenis per
inductionem collectae, non obstantibus contrariis hypothesibus, pro
veris aut accurate, aut quam proxime, haberi debent, donee alia
occurrerint Phaenomena, per quae aut accuratiores reddantur, aut
exceptionibus obnoxiae.'

' Hoc fieri debet, ne argumentum inductionis tollatur per hy-
potheses.'

This rule, both in substance and expression, is thoroughly Baconian,
and, I venture to suggest, could hardly have been stated as it is by
any one not acquainted with the Baconian philosophy.

1 24 INTRODUCTION.

At the end of the third book of the Optics (Horsley's Ed., vol. iv.
pp. 263, 264), there is a longer and fuller passage, much to the same
effect :

' As in Mathematicks, so in Natural Philosophy, the investigation
of difficult things by the method of analysis 45 ought ever to precede
the method of composition. This analysis consists in making ex-
periments and observations, and in drawing general conclusions from
them by induction, and admitting of no objections against the con-
clusions, but such as are taken from experiments, or other certain
truths. For hypotheses are not to be regarded in Experimental
Philosophy. And although the arguing from experiments and ob-
servations by induction be no demonstration of general conclusions ;
yet it is the best way of arguing which the nature of things admits of,
and may be looked upon as so much the stronger, by how much the
induction is more general. And if no exception occur from phae-
nomena, the conclusion may be pronounced generally. But if at any
time afterwards any exception shall occur from experiments ; it may-
then begin to be pronounced, with such exceptions as occur. By
this way of analysis we may proceed from compounds to ingredi-
ents ; and from motions to the forces producing them ; and, in
general, from effects to their causes ; and from particular causes
to more general ones, till the argument end in the most general.
This is the method of Analysis. And the Synthesis consists in
assuming the causes discovered and established as principles, and by
them explaining the phaenomena proceeding from them, and proving
the explanations.'

This passage, while undoubtedly shewing, as it seems to me,
an acquaintance with the Baconian method, is remarkable as denying
to induction the force of demonstration (a limitation which we may,
perhaps, account for from Newton's mathematical habit of mind and
the preponderance of his mathematical pursuits), as well as for the
fact that it does not appear to recognise any other form of induction
than that ' per enumerationem simplicem.' Both these circumstances
incline me to believe that Newton had not studied, or did not
remember, or did not accept the teaching of the early part of the
Second Book of the Novum Organum, though the precepts and
warnings of the First Book, in their most general form, had produced

RELATION OF NEWTON TO BACON. 125

a deep impression upon him and had, in great measure, suggested
to him the aims and methods of his own investigations 4C .

How then are we to account for his silence, as respects the name
and writings of Bacon ? In the first place, I think that the reputation
of Bacon, as a reformer of scientific method, had now become so well
established a fact, and the leading principles of his philosophy so well
known, that explicit reference to him was superfluous. Those who
were constantly engaged in the pursuit of experimental philosophy
now no more thought of referring to Bacon as an authority for the
general principles on which they proceeded, than those engaged
in the disputes of the schools thought of referring explicitly to the
works of Aristotle or their manuals of logic. And yet, in each case,
they would have been perfectly ready to acknowledge the extent of
their obligation, if any doubt had been cast upon it.

In the second place, I must recall to the mind of the reader what
I have already more than once had occasion to mention, namely, the
comparative rarity of references to contemporary or recent writers
amongst the authors of the period of which I am treating. Thus,
we have seen that Locke, though, as I conceive and as is generally
supposed, owing the method and even the leading ideas of his
philosophy to Bacon, never mentions him by name or makes any
direct allusion to his writings. Galileo, as I have already remarked,
was, I believe, equally silent. But, then, Galileo made no mention
of some of the most important discoveries of Kepler, even when it
lay in his way to do so 4T . Again, Kepler is never mentioned by
Descartes, and ' in treating of the rainbow,' says Professor Playfair 4S ,
' Descartes has made no mention of Antonio de Dominis.' I cannot
believe that, in all these cases, the silence is due to either contempt
or vanity or dishonesty, though, then as now, any of these motives

411 Dr. Hippus, the author of the Account of the Novum Organum in the Libiary
of Useful Knowledge (pt. i. p. 10), adopting a remark of Uugald Stewart Elements,
Ed. Hamilton, vol. ii. p. 236), adduces Newton's application of the word ' axiom '
to the Laws of Motion and the higher generalisations of Optics, as a proof
of the influence exercised on him by Bacon's logical phraseology. This argument
may have some weight, but, as I shall point out in a note on Bk. i. Aph. 7, Newton
does not use the word ' axiom ' with so much latitude as does Bacon, and, more-
over, in the manuals of logic which he probably read as a young man, so far from
finding the word restricted, as at present, to self-evident propositions in mathe-
matics, he would find it used as the equivalent of Proposition in general.

47 See, on this subject, some most interesting remarks of Delambre, Histoire de
1'Astronomie Moderne, tome i. pp. 651-653 'ist Ed.\

4S Preliminary Dissertation.

1 2 6 INTRO D UCTION.

may in any particular case have been operative. I am rather inclined
to suppose that the authors of that time, writing for a learned class,
often did not think it necessary to mention books or discoveries which
were familiar to their readers, while we, writing for a more general
public, should be liable to be accused of ignorance or plagiarism, if
we were to observe a similar silence.

Lastly, Newton's tastes and genius lay rather in the way of mathe-
matical science than of experimental philosophy, properly so called.
Bacon's weakness, on the other hand, consisted in his deficiency of
mathematical knowledge, and his consequent incapacity of properly
estimating or criticising those branches of science which were already
expressed, or already admitted of being expressed, in a mathematical
form. Hence, we cannot be surprised if the names of Copernicus,
Galileo, and Kepler had for Newton a greater attraction than that
of Bacon ; though it by no means follows that he regarded him
otherwise than with respect and admiration, or that he would not
have been ready fully to express his obligations to him for having
insisted on raising the superstructure of natural, and therefore ulti-
mately of all science, on the true foundations of observation,
experiment, and induction.

Having now, as I conceive, succeeded in establishing the fact of
Bacon's influence on the progress of science, I have next to ask what
the nature of that influence was. The title of founder or father of
experimental philosophy, ascribed to him by Maclaurin and others,
expresses the nature of his influence in a rough, and, perhaps, a
somewhat exaggerated as well as a somewhat inadequate form, but
one which, I think, is, in the main, true. Instead, however, of
criticising this or similar expressions, it is better that I should state
precisely the conclusions on this subject at which I have myself
arrived.

ist, He called men, as with the voice of a herald 49 , to lay them-
selves alongside of nature, to study her ways, and imitate her processes.
To use his own homely simile, he rang the bell which called the other
wits together : '. Other men indeed had said much the same thing in
whispers or in learned books written for a circle of select readers ;
but Bacon cried it from the house-tops, and invited all men to come

'' Thus, he says of himself (De Augm. iv. i ad init.) : 'Ego cnim buccinator

tantuii],' &c.

' I have only taken upon me to ring a bell to call other wits together.' Letter
to Dr. riasfer, printed in Speckling' s Letters and Life, vol. iii. p. 301.

NATURE OF BACON'S INFLUENCE ON SCIENCE. 127

in freely and partake of the feast. In one word, he popularised the
study of nature.

2nd, He insisted, both by example and precept, on the importance
of experiment as well as observation. Nature, like a witness, when
put to the torture, would reveal her secrets. Experimentation was
undoubtedly common in Bacon's time, but it was generally associated
with the Alchemists, and so, while it suffered in reputation, it was
confined in range. Bacon gave it an extension, a dignity, a popu-
larity which, it is not too much to say, must have materially influenced
the labours of the Royal Society, and the crowning efforts of Boyle
and Newton.

3rd, In both these ways, Bacon recalled men to the study of facts,
and though, in the first instance, he had mainly in view the facts of
external nature, the influence of his teaching soon extended itself, as
he undoubtedly purposed that it should do, to the facts of mind,
conduct, and society. The inductive study of Mental, Moral, and
Political Philosophy, which has been the distinctive characteristic of
the best English thought from the end of the seventeenth century
onwards, is, it seems to me, no less really, though I grant it is less
obviously, a result of the Baconian teaching than the inductive study
of Natural Philosophy.

4th, In order to set men free to study facts, it was necessary to
deliver them from the pernicious subjection to authority, to which they
had so long been enslaved. Here and there throughout the Middle
Ages, a solitary thinker, like Roger Bacon, may have asserted his
independence, and, during the century preceding Bacon's time, the
murmurs of discontent had been becoming loud and frequent, but it
required a clear, shrill voice, like that of the author of the Great
Instauration, effectually to awaken men from their slumber. Bacon
seems to have been thoroughly impressed with the feeling that there
was no hope for human fortunes, unless these bonds could be broken;
and hence the tone of intended and conscious exaggeration with
which he often sets about this task, as is especially the case in the
Temporis Partus Masculus and some parts of the Novum Organum.
Nor can I doubt that his utterances on this subject had far more
influence in producing the intellectual revolution which followed than
the utterances of any one of his predecessors, or, perhaps, than those
of all taken together. It would hardly, I think, be an exaggeration to
compare Bacon, in the intellectual sphere, with Luther, in the sphere
of religion. And, in truth, there was much in common between the
two men. Both of them were intensely impressed with the importance

T 2 8 INTRO D UCTION.

and reality of their mission ; both of them were grimly in earnest ;
both of them spurned all obstacles in existing opinion, and even
exaggerated the differences between themselves and their opponents;
and, lastly, each of them retained, far more than he suspected, the
habits of thought, the more deeply-engrained prejudices, and even
the more misleading forms of expression of his time. Each of them,
in fact, sowed the seed, without knowing altogether clearly what
manner of fruit it was likely to bring forth.

5th, Hardly less important than deliverance from the bondage of
authority was the emancipation of reason from the bewitching en-
chantments of imagination. ' Hypotheses non fingo ' was a maxim
which Newton inherited directly from the teaching of Bacon. And,
though the reaction against hypothesis was carried much too far, and
though Bacon's utterances on this subject, to be serviceable at the
present time, require much rectification, the warning was one which,
in his own time, was sorely needed, and which could hardly be
expressed in language too emphatic. Where authority was wanting,
as if by way of revenge, men seemed to put no limit to the wildness
of their fancies or the extravagance of their suppositions. Now, as
against both authority and hypothesis, Bacon invoked the majesty of
facts. The office of Reason, he was, in effect, constantly saying,
ought not to be limited to an examination of the conclusions and
their dependance on the premisses ; what it ought to insist on doing,
is to examine the premisses themselves. What is required is a new
Logic, a Logic of Induction, which shall do for the premisses what
the old Logic, the Logic of Deduction, does for the conclusions. It
is not enough that the conclusion follows from the premisses ; what
we require to know is whether the premisses themselves be true, and,
unless we can succeed in satisfying this want, we may simply be
multiplying error instead of advancing truth. Had this been the only
lesson which Bacon read to his generation, he would, assuredly, have
deserved to be reckoned amongst the greatest of its benefactors.

6th, Hence, the most distinctive feature in Bacon's conception of
a reformed logic was the profound idea that Induction, instead of
being the loose, vague, and uncertain process, which was then in
vogue, admitted of being presented with the force of demonstration,
and, thereby, if the facts on which it was founded, were true, of
supplying as firm a basis for the premisses, as the premisses, if they
were true, supplied for the conclusion of the syllogism. ' Inductionem
enim censemus earn esse- demonstrandi formam, quae scnsum tuetur
et naturam prcmit et operibus imminet ac fere immiscetur.' Distri-

NATURE OF BACON'S INFLUENCE ON SCIENCE. 129

butio Operis, p. 168. ' Verum ad hujus inductionis, sive demonstra-
tionis, instructionem bonam et legitimam quamplurima adhibenda
sunt, quae adhuc nullius mortalium cogitationem subiere; adeo ut
in ea major sit consumenda opera, quam adhuc consumpta est in
syllogismo.' Novum Organum, Bk. I. Aph. 105. As I have said
elsewhere 51 , ' Inductive Logic, that is, the systematic analysis and
arrangement of inductive evidence, as distinct from the natural in-
duction which all men practise, is almost as much the creation of
Bacon as Deductive Logic is that of Aristotle. It must, however, be
acknowledged that the one left far more to be added and re-modelled
by his successors than did the other.'

7th, But to this Logic of Induction I maintain that Bacon himself
made no contemptible contributions. That our instances require to
be selected and not merely accumulated, was a very true and a very
needful lesson which he was never weary of repeating. And, surely,
in this maxim consists the whole gist of the Inductive Logic. On
what principles we shall select our instances, and by what means we
shall satisfy ourselves of their sufficiency, are other and further ques-
tions, confessedly most difficult to answer, on which we could hardly
expect much detailed or permanently useful information from a
pioneer in this method of inquiry. And yet Bacon is very full on
at least the first of these questions, and much of what he says has,
even still, a value for the student. But we are, in this section, concerned,
we must recollect, not with the present value of his works, but with
their past influence. Now, to the amount of that influence, with respect
to the subject before us, what better testimony can we have than the
repetition of these rules in the next generation by so eminent a man
of science as Dr. Robert Hooke, or the appropriation, emendation,
and formulation of them, as the bases of their own methods, almost
within our own time, by Sir John Herschel and Mr. Mill ? Nor is it
an unimportant consideration that such phrases as 'glaring instance,
'crucial instance,' 'clandestine instance,' 'solitary instance,' and the
like, have become household words in our language, and especially in
the vocabulary of scientific men.

8th, The manner in which he insisted on the subordination of
scientific enquiries to practical aims, namely, the furtherance of man's
estate and the increase of his command over the comforts and con-

51 Francis Bacon, p. 91. The paragraph in the text has been added in the
Second Edition. But, though, in my first Edition. I seem nowhere explicitly to
have enunciated what 1 regard as the distinctive feature in Bacon's reform of logic,
the conception underlies nearly all that I have said on the subject.

130

INTRODUCTION.

veniences of life, is another point in which, I think, Bacon profoundly
influenced succeeding generations. That his view was too exclusive,
and his language exaggerated, I readily own ; but here again, as in
criticising the abuse of authority and imagination, it seems difficult
to deny that his influence was, on the whole, most beneficial. When
we recollect the frivolous character of many of the questions which
men of the most brilliant abilities were then in the habit of disputing,
and the profound misery or discomfort in which the mass of man-
kind, then even more than now, was sunk, we can hardly feel surprise
or regret that a great statesman and a great philosopher should have
suggested the application of man's intellectual endowments to the
improvement of his material condition.

9th, Nor must we forget the hopefulness of Bacon as an important
element in his influence. Men who despair of mankind and of the
future are, happily, seldom successful in persuading others to accept
their advice or their systems. There is a healthy instinct in man
which leads him to believe that the future will be better than the past,
and that the labours of the present generation will not be without
their effect in improving the condition of the next. No man was
ever inspired with this feeling more strongly than Bacon. He stood,
like a prophet, on the verge of the promised land, bidding men leave,
without regret, the desert that was behind them, and enter with
joyfulness and hopefulness on the rich inheritance that was spread
out before them. The sixth part of the Great Instauration, to which
all the rest was subservient, the philosophy itself which was to be
the result of the right employment of the method, he hoped only to
begin. ' The fortune of the human race,' he says, ' will give the
issue ; such an issue, it may be, as in the present condition of things
and of the minds of men cannot easily be conceived or imagined.
For the object in view is not only the contemplative happiness, but
the whole fortunes, and affairs, and powers, and works of men 52 .'

loth, To all these sources of influence we must add the marvellous
language in which Bacon often clothes his thoughts. His utterances
are not infrequently marked with a grandeur and solemnity of tone,
a majesty of diction, which renders it impossible to forget, and
difficult even to criticise them. He speaks as one having authority,
and it is impossible to resist the magic of his voice. Whenever he
wishes to be emphatic, there is the true ring of genius about all that
he says. Hence, perhaps, it is that there is no author, unless it be

52 Distributio Operis, ad fin.

PRESENT VALUE OF BACON'S LOGICAL WORKS. 131

Shakspeare, who is so easily remembered or so frequently quoted.
His phraseology, when most quaint, as in the case of the ' Idols ' and
the ' Instances,' is often most attractive to the reader and most per-
sistent in its hold on the memory. Hence, too, perhaps, it is that
there is no author so stimulating. Bacon might well be called the
British Socrates. Even had his individual precepts been utterly
worthless, many men must have owed their first impulse to the
study of nature, or to independent investigation in general, to the
terse and burning words, issuing, as it were, from the lips of an
irresistible commander, with which he urges them to the work.

Such, I conceive, are the principal modes and directions in which
the influence of Bacon was exercised. It would be easy to add to
these, but they will readily suggest others, and the limits of this
work necessarily compel me to aim at brevity rather than ex-
pansion.

15. PRESENT VALUE OF BACON'S LOGICAL WORKS.

THIS subject has already, to a great extent, been discussed in the
latter part of the last section, and it will be unnecessary here to add
much to what has there been said. The two questions, however,
of Bacon's influence during the past, and the value of his works to
the student at the present time, seem to be so distinct as to require
separate treatment, however much they may run into each other.

The intrinsic value of Bacon's logical works to the student at the
present time, apart from their historical interest, as having, to adopt
the fine saying of Macaulay, ' moved the intellects which have moved
the world,' may be briefly considered under two aspects. The first
is their general effect in guarding, stimulating, and disciplining the
intellect; the second is the amount of definite logical doctrine,
comprised in them, which retains any permanent value.

With regard to the first point, I know no work of the same kind
so stimulating to a young reader, or so likely to foster habits of
cautious and independent investigation, as the First Book of the
Novum Organum. What Bacon says of Plato is pre-eminently true
of himself. He was 'a man of a sublime genius, who took a view of
everything as from a high rock B V Now to the young student nothing
is of so much importance as to be brought into contact with works of

53 De Augm., lib. iii. cap. 4.
K 2

132 INTRODUCTION.

real genius, and there must be many men who recollect the transition
from dry manuals of Logic to the profound and brilliant pages of
Bacon as forming one of the eras in their lives. Maxims such as
these, ' Homo naturae minister et interpres,' ' Scientia et potentia
humana in idem coincidunt,' ' Lucifera experimenta, non fructifera,
quaerenda,' ' Recte veritas temporis filia dicitur, non auctoritatis,'
' Pessima res est errorum apotheosis,' which sparkle on almost every
page, live long in the memory, and insensibly influence our whole
habit of thought. This educational value of the Novum Organum
has never, I think, been sufficiently pointed out, but it seems to me
very real and very important. As I have already noticed under the
last section, there is something about Bacon's diction, his quaintness
of expression, and his power of illustration, which lays hold of the
mind, and lodges itself in the memory, in a way which we hardly
find paralleled in any other author, except it be Shakspeare. And
what are the lessons which he thus effectually communicates ? The
duty of taking nothing upon trust which we can verify for ourselves ;
of rigidly examining our first principles ; of being carefully on our
guard against the various delusions arising from the peculiarities of
human nature, from our various interests and pursuits, from the force
of words, and from the disputes and traditions of the schools; the
duty of forming our conclusions slowly and of constantly checking
them by comparison with the facts of nature and life ; of avoiding
merely subtle and frivolous disputations ; of confining our enquiries to
questions of which the solution is within our power ; and of subordi-
nating all our investigations to the welfare of man and society.
Now, lessons such as these, even though they be stated in a some-
what exaggerated form, are so necessary and so useful, that an author
who presents them in forcible and pointed language will ever retain
his interest and utility for each succeeding generation of learners.

As regards the second of these questions, the amount of definite
logical teaching in Bacon's works which retains a permanent value,
the answer is less easy. I cannot, however, agree with those critics
who seem to think that almost all his individual precepts are either
antiquated or worthless 54 . But, as I have expressed myself fully

4 Not to mention Liebig and Bacon's professed adversaries, we find even De
Remusat saying (p. 254) : ' Bacon n'a point rectifie ou remplace les notions re9iies
qu'il condamne, ou ces conceptions scientifiques des choses, sans lesquelles toute
recherche marche au hasard. Ainsi point de recette sure, point de methode infail-
lible, et le pen d'usage que Ton a fait des formes techniques d'investigation qu'il
recommande en rend Tutilite fort suspecte.'

PRESENT VALUE OF BACON'S LOGICAL WORKS. 133

in the notes on the various details of Bacon's method in the order
in which they occur in the text, it is unnecessary that I should here
do more than make a few very brief and general remarks.

Bacon was undoubtedly inclined to underrate the syllogism, that is to
say, deductive reasoning, but then we must recollect that he regarded
it as his special province to bring out the other side of reasoning, the
inductive branch by which general principles are established rather
than applied. Nor would it be true to say that he ignored the deduc-
tive side of reasoning altogether. Whenever he saw, as he often did
see, its value for the purpose of applying the truths already arrived at
by induction, he seems without hesitation to have assigned it a co-
ordinate rank. Witness, amongst many others, the following pas-
sages : ' Majora vero speranda a nova luce axiomatum, ex particu-
laribus illis certa via et regula eductorum, quae rursus nova parti-
cularia indicent et designent. Neque enim in piano via sita est, sed
ascendendo et descendendo ; ascendendo primo ad axiomata, de-
scendendo ad opera 55 .' ' Mathematica philosophiam naturalem
terminare * * :f * debet 56 .' The seventh of the ' reliqua auxilia
intellectus ' (Nov. Org. ii. 21), which were to succeed the Tables,
was to be entitled ' Deductio ad Praxin.'

The charge against Bacon of having, to a certain extent, detracted
from the value of his method by depreciating hypothesis and neglect-
ing to lay down rules for its legitimate employment, must undoubtedly
be admitted. But then we may plead in extenuation his admission,
however inconsistent, of hypothesis (' Permissio Intellectus ') in ii. 20,
as also in i. 106, and the gross license with which, both in his time and
for some time afterwards, this procedure was employed. If Bacon
is to be censured in this particular, as he undoubtedly is to be, the
censure ought in all fairness to be extended to Newton as well.

The method, recommended by Bacon, of gradual ascent from
particular facts, through axioms of successive degrees of generality, up
to the highest generalisations of all 57 , though not, as I conceive, the
method which has been usually followed by scientific investigators, or
that which would be most likely to contribute to the progress of
science, is, certainly, the most convenient mode of representing the
laws of nature, when once established. Moreover, the successive
steps which led up to, and ultimately established, the Theory of

56 Nov. Org., Bk. i. Aph. 103. 56 Id., Aph. 96.

57 See Nov. Org., Bk. i. Aphs. 19, 104, 105. In my note on Aph. 19, I have
examined this doctrine of Bacon at some length.

INTRODUCTION.

Gravitation were arrived at very nearly in this exact order. To
these considerations I may add that the method proposed by Bacon
has met with the approval of no less distinguished an authority than
Dr. Whewell 5S .

With reference to the 'Tables ' which occupy the beginning of the
Second Book, it must be acknowledged that, however interesting they
may be in the history of Logic, and however much they may have con-
tributed to the precise formulation of inductive reasoning, they are only
rude and imperfect anticipations of the more refined and conclusive
' Canons of Induction ' which we find in the works of Sir John
Herschel, Mr. Mill, and later logicians. Hence, this is a part of
Bacon's Logic which is not of much intrinsic value to a student who
is already familiar with recent treatises. To this consideration
it may be added that the reasoning throughout this part of the
Novum Organum is rendered more or less vague and obscure by
the employment of the term ' Form,' instead of the more precise
expressions, such as Law, Cause, Conditions, &c., by which it is
now replaced.

Of far more intrinsic value to the modern student, as it seems to
me, are some of the ' Praerogativae Instantiarum.' Many of the
expressions employed for the purpose of designating them still form
part of our logical terminology, and it would be very difficult, in
many cases, to describe, more aptly and precisely than Bacon does, the
nature of the reasoning involved in these 'aids of the understanding.
The scientific examples are, generally, far too numerous, and (not-
withstanding the value or interest attaching to some of them) are
often wrongly stated, trivial, or inappropriate, but it appears to me
that less attention than it deserves has been paid to the logical
matter contained in this part of Bacon's work.

The relation of Observation to Experiment and of both to the
more purely rational process of Induction, is well conceived and
stated by Bacon.

To the doctrine of Fallacies, or 'Idola,' I have already alluded
under the first, or more general head, though it might also well be
taken into account in drawing up a list of the special logical doctrines
which are of intrinsic value to the modern student.

It will be seen that I am inclined to attribute to Bacon's logical
rules and maxims much more intrinsic value, even for the purposes

53 See Xuvum Organum Renovatum, bk. ii. ch. 6, and Preface, 3rd Ed., pp. ix, x.

OPPONENTS OF BACON. 135

of students at the present time, than is usually conceded to them,
though I am not prepared to differ substantially from the judgment
of M. de Remusat : ' Ses vues generates restent la preuve la plus
populaire de son ge"nie 59 .'

1 6. OPPONENTS OF BACON.

UNDER this head, I propose only to give some examples of the
various grounds of opposition or disparagement to which the
Baconian philosophy has been subjected, thinking that, though far
from exhaustive, they will be of some interest to the reader.

Perhaps, I ought first to notice a letter from Sir Thomas Bodley
(originally published in Bacon's Remains, 1648, pp. 85-87), 'to Sir
Francis Bacon, about his Cogitata et Visa, wherein he declareth his
opinion freely touching the same.' The writer, who has evidently a
great affection for the old learning, is somewhat scandalised by Bacon's
revolutionary sentiments, and thinks that if we ' come babes ad
regnum naturae, as we are willed by Scriptures to come ad regnum
coelorum, there is nothing more certain than that it would instantly
bring us to Barbarism, and after many thousand years leave us more
unprovided of theoricall furniture than we are at this present.' The
letter is interesting, but it betrays bewilderment and an incapacity to
understand Bacon's dissatisfaction with the existing state of things
or a reform in the sciences such as he projected. It has, in recent
times, been disinterred from oblivion by De Maistre and other
antagonists of Bacon.

Far more pertinent is the unfavourable opinion of Bacon's philo-
sophy expressed by Harvey, as given in Aubrey's Lives (Letters
written by Eminent Persons in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth
Centuries, to which are added Lives of Eminent Men by John
Aubrey Esq., 1813, vol. ii. p. 381) : ' He ' (Harvey) 'had been phy-
sician to the Lord Ch. Bacon, whom he esteemed much for his witt
and style, but would not allow him to be a great philosopher. Said
he to me, " He writes philosophy like a L' 1 Chanceller," speaking
in derision.' Harvey, however, seems to have had a peculiar dislike
of the ' neoteriques,' to whom, we are told on p. 383, he once, in
conversation with the writer, applied a very unsavoury epithet. Nor,

M Bacon, Sa Vie, &c., p. 243.

1 36 I NT ROD UCTION.

perhaps, did he like Bacon personally ; for (p. 226) 'Dr. Harvey told
me his eie was like the eie of a viper.' Be this as it may, the opinion
was not an unnatural nor altogether an unfair one, as expressed by a
man of great eminence, in a particular branch of science, concerning
one who attempted to make all science his province. Then as now,
I presume, the philosopher and the specialist were apt to misunderstand
and undervalue each other.

Mr. Napier refers to a work of Alexander Koss, a voluminous
author, well known to the readers of Hudibras, entitled Arcana
Microcosmi, or the Hid Secrets of Man's Body discovered ; with a
Refutation, amongst other books, of 'Lord Bacon's Natural History,'
1652. (The copy in the Bodleian is the Ed. of 1651, containing only
the refutation of Dr. Browne's Vulgar Errors, and not that of Bacon's
Sylva Sylvarum.) The author says : ' I have cursorily run over my
Lord's New Philosophy,' and ' find that philosophy is like wine, the
older the better to the taste.' He is specially angry with ' these new
Philosophers ' for having ' jumbled the predicaments so together,
that their scholars can never find out the true genus of things.'
Alexander Ross is a very zealous Aristotelian, and, at the end of
his attack on Sir Thomas Browne, 'pities to see so many young
heads, still gaping like chamelions for knowledge, and are never
filled, because they feed upon airy and empty phansies ; loathing the
sound, solid and wholesome viands of Peripatetick wisdom, they
reject Aristotle's pure Fountains, and dig to themselves cisterns that
will hold no water.' ' Let us not wander then any longer with Hagar
in the wild desart.' ' Let Prodigals forsake their husks, and leave
them to swine.'

In Francis Osborn's Miscellany (1659), The Author to the Reader,
there is a curious sentence, shewing how early the charge of Atheism
was directed against Bacon. After speaking of Raleigh having been
branded with the title of an Atheist, 'though a known asserter of God
and providence,' the writer goes on to say: 'A like censure fell to the
share of venerable Bacon, till over-balanced by a greater weight of
glory from Strangers.'

Cudworth, in his Intellectual System (published in 1678), attacks
Bacon for having called in question the received doctrine of Final
Causes. He seems doubtful, however, what interpretation to put on
his words. Thus, having spoken of ' some who have unskilfully
attributed their own Properties to Inanimate Bodies,' he proceeds to
say : ' Of which Fanciful Extravagances if the Advancer of Learning
be understood, there is nothing to be reprehended in this following

OPPONENTS OF BACON. 137

passage of his, Incredibile est quantum agmen Idolorum Philosophiae
immiserit, Naturalium Operationum ad Similitudinem Actionum
Humanarum Reductio. But if that of his be extended further, to
take away all Final Causes from the things of Nature, as if nothing
were done therein for Ends Intended by a Higher Mind, then it is
the very Spirit of Atheism and Infidelity.' For the whole discussion,
see First Edition, pp. 679-683, or the Latin Translation of 1733,
vol. ii. pp. 820-825 ( ca P- 5- 61, 62). Mosheim, who points out that
the allusion is to Bacon, attempts, in his note, to explain 'quare Cud-
worthius toties eximium huncce virum castiget, qui magnam ubique
in scriptis suis supremi Numinis reverentiam et studium testatur C V
There can be little doubt that, in his frequent attacks on the philosophy
of Democritus, Cudworth also glances at Bacon. De Remusat draws
attention to the circumstance that Cudworth did not combat Bacon
by name. ' Par equite ou par respect, il n'en veut pas faire un
adversaire de la verite. Ainsi que Boyle dans sa defense des causes
finales, Cudworth ne nomme point Bacon en soutenant les memes
principes que Boyle, et 1'usage s'est etabli presque sans exception de
ne pas comprendre Bacon dans les attaques dirigees centre sa
doctrine. Compromettre ce nom dans la controverse serait encore
aujourd'hui une sorte d'inconvenance.' De Remusat's Bacon,
p. 409.

One of the most violent antagonists of Bacon and of the Royal
Society (names which, in his mind, were evidently very closely con-
nected) was Dr. Henry Stubbe ; ' the most noted person of his age
that these late times have produced,' says Antony Wood, who has
devoted to him one of the quaintest and most amusing of his Lives 61 .
Stubbe was a turn-coat alike in philosophy, religion, and politics, and
was animated by more even than the usual bitterness of his class.
His diatribes against Sprat, Glanvill, the Royal Society in general,
and Bacon as their philosophical father, are, however virulent, too
dull and rambling to be worth transcription, but specimens of them
may be found in the Legends no Histories (1670), in the Plus
Ultra reduced to a Non Plus (1670), The Lord Bacon's Relation
of the Sweating- Sickness (1671), and An Epistolary Discourse
concerning Phlebotomy (1671). He speaks repeatedly of 'these

60 Dugald Stewart (Elements of the Philosophy of the Human Mind, Ed. Hamil-
ton, vol. ii. pp. 337-339) has some severe remarks on Cudworth, who, he thinks, is
nncandid in his treatment of Bacon. He also points out his carelessness in con-
founding the idola specus and the idola tribus.

61 See Athenae Oxonienses, Ed. Bliss, vol. iii. p. 1069, &c.

j 3 8 IN TROD UCTION.

Baconical Philosophers,' ' this Bacon-faced generation,' &c. (showing,
by the way, pretty conclusively, the influence which was already
supposed to be exercised by Bacon's philosophy), and, as a professed
admirer of the old learning, somewhat inconsistently ' declares that
the Lord Bacon did steal the principal parts of his Novum Organum
out of Aristotle, and only disguised his Suggestions in a new Mode
and Dress.' Similarly, the Advancement of Learning was stolen
from Ludovicus Vives, De causis corruptarum Artium 62 . ' The
only judgment I can make of my Lord Bacon's Actings is that
being so Flagitious, and so ignominiously degraded : He determined
to redeem the Infamy of his past life by amusing the world with
New Projects ; and to gain a Chancellorship in Literature, when he
was excluded from that on the Bench : And to revenge himself of the
Nation whom he had exasperated, by diffusing Heresies in Philosophy,
and creating in the Breasts of the English such a desire of Novelty
as rose up to a contempt of the Ancient Ecclesiastical and Civil
Jurisdiction, and the Old Government as well as Governours of the
Realm : And the Root of all our present Distractions was planted by
his hand.' See 'The Lord Bacon's Relation of the Sweating-Sickness
and Defence of Phlebotomy;' 'Discourse concerning Phlebotomy,'
Preface to the Reader. Abundance of evidence shewing Bacon's
influence on the 'Bacon-faced generation' is supplied in this diatribe.
Thus, 'We acknowledge no Chancellors of Philosophy, Philology,
Medicine, &c.' ' No Law ever made him our Dictator, nor is there
any Reason that concludes him infallible.' ' Let these insulse Ad-
herents of his buy some salt, and make use of more than one grain,
when they read him.' Elsewhere, Stubbe informs his readers that
it is only out of his regard to Physic, Religion, and Education, that he
is led to intermeddle in 'Natural Philosophy,' or the disputes of these
' Experimental Philosophers.'

Passing to the middle of the eighteenth century, when Bacon was
at the zenith of his glory, we find the chorus of approbation broken
by the modified praise rather than the disparagement of Hume. The
weapon which Hume wielded, comparison with philosophers who
have made positive contributions to science, is one which has since

H Having occasion to compare a remedy against the Sweating-sickness given by
Ilolinshed the Chronicler with one given by Bacon, he says: ' The works of the
foimer will he much more valued than the latter by our nation, as long as they
have any judgment. The truth is the Lord Bacon is like great piles; when the
Sun is not high, they cast an extraordinary shadow over the earth, which lesseneth
as the Sun grows verticall.' Legends no Histories, pp. 27, 28.

OPPONENTS OF BACON. 139

been frequently used with effect 63 . I shall give the passage in full,
but, as the various topics have all been discussed in previous sections,
I shall here make no comment upon it.

' The great glory of literature in this island, during the reign of
James, was Lord Bacon. Most of his performances were composed
in Latin ; though he possessed neither the elegance of that, nor of
his native tongue. If we consider the variety of talents displayed by
this man, as a public speaker, a man of business, a wit, a courtier,
a companion, an author, a philosopher, he is justly the object of great
admiration. If we consider him merely as an author and philosopher,
the light in which we view him at present, though very estimable, he
was yet inferior to his cotemporary Galileo, perhaps even to Kepler.
Bacon pointed out at a distance the road to true philosophy: Galileo
both pointed it out to others, and made himself considerable advances
in it. The Englishman was ignorant of geometry : the Florentine
revived that science, excelled in it, and was the first that applied it,
together with experiment, to natural philosophy. The former rejected,
with the most positive disdain, the system of Copernicus : the latter
fortified it with new proofs, derived both from reason and the senses.
Bacon's style is stiff and rigid : his wit, though often brilliant, is also
often unnatural and far-fetched ; and he seems to be the original of
those pointed similes and long-spun allegories, which so much dis-
tinguish the English authors : Galileo is a lively and agreeable,
though somewhat a prolix, writer. But Italy, not united in any single
government, and perhaps satiated with that literary glory which it
has possessed both in ancient and modern times, has too much
neglected the renown which it has acquired by giving birth to so
great a man. That national spirit which prevails among the English,
and which forms their great happiness, is the cause why they bestow
on all their eminent writers, and on Bacon among the rest, such
praises and acclamations, as may often appear partial and excessive C V

The excessive praise bestowed on Bacon by Voltaire and the
Encyclopaedists, though met at first by the argument that they did
not truly represent the views of Bacon, at last provoked a violent
reaction, to which the well-known work of Count Joseph de Maistre
gave expression. This work, entitled Examen de la Philosophic de
Bacon, was published posthumously at Paris and Lyons in 1836,

B3 Besides the works mentioned in this section, see the article on Galileo by
M. Biot in the Biographic Universelle.

64 Hume's History of England, Appendix to the Reign of James I.

1 40 INTRODUCTION.

and has been re-published at least once. To De Maistre Bacon is,
above all things, an atheist, who aggravated his atheism by hypocrisy.
But he is also a mere pretender to philosophy and science, a charlatan,
an impostor. He contributed nothing to science himself, and it is
a mere delusion to suppose that his philosophy has in any way helped
to form those who have done so. It is true that he preaches science,
but, like his Church, when it preaches Christianity, he preaches
without a mission. ' Sa philosophic ressemble a sa religion, qui
proteste continuellement : elle est entitlement negative et ne songe
qu'a contredire.' To Bacon, as its ultimate source, was due all the
atheism, the materialism, the sensualism, the libertinism of the un-
toward generation which had just passed away in France. ' On voit
que Locke est successeur de Bacon (ce qui est incontestable) ; on
voit que Locke a son tour engendra Helvetius, et que tous ces
ennemis du genre humain reunis, y compris Cabanis lui-meme, de-
scendent de Bacon 65 .' With regard to individual works, the De
Augmentis is ' parfaitement nul et meprisable ;' the NovumOrganum
is far more condemnable still, for, independently of the particular
errors with which it swarms, the general aim of the work renders it
worthy of Bedlam (' le rend digne d'un Bedlam '). Towards the end
of this tirade (one of the greatest compliments, perhaps, which Bacon
has ever received), the author appears for a while to relent, but he
soon recovers himself: 'La nature 1'avoit cree bel esprit, moraliste
sense et ingenieux, ecrivain elegant, avec je ne sais quelle veine
poetique f ' (< qui lui fournit sans cesse une foule d'images extremement
heureuses, de maniere que ses ecrits, comme fables, sont encore tres
amusans. Tel est son merite reel, qu'il faut bien se garder de
meconnaitre ; mais des qu'on le sort du ccrcle assez retreci de ses
veritables talens, c'est 1'esprit le plus faux, le plus detestable raison-
neur, le plus terrible ennemi de la science qui ait jamais existe.
One si on veut louer en lui un amant passionne des sciences, j'y
consens encore ; mais c'est 1'eunuque amoureux 07 .'

De Maistre was a furious, though an ingenious, fanatic. We now
come to the attacks of Brewster, Lasson, and Liebig, which, either
from their intrinsic merit or from the position of their authors, require

OPPONENTS OF BACON. 141

more serious attention. As, however, the topics which they start are,
for the most part, dealt with elsewhere, either in the Introduction or
in the notes to this Edition, I shall here confine myself to a very
brief notice of them.

In his Life of Newton (i855) 68 , Sir D. Brewster, irritated apparently
by the injudicious statement of ' some modern writers of celebrity,'
that Newton ' owed all his discoveries to the application of the
principles of Bacon,' maintains a proposition equally extreme, and,
as it seems to me, equally untrue, that he did not ' derive the slightest
advantage from Bacon's precepts.' For what I conceive to be a
refutation of this position, I must refer the reader back to what I
have already said on the relation of Newton to Bacon 6a . Taking
occasion of this incidental mention of Bacon, Brewster goes on to
combat his claims generally as a reformer of science. He argues j
or rather asserts (for, except of the first proposition, he adduces
hardly any proof) : ist, that ' the necessity of experimental research,
and of advancing gradually from the study of facts to the determina-
tion of their cause, is a doctrine which was not only inculcated, but
successfully followed by preceding philosophers ; ' 2nd, that no
testimonies to the value of Bacon's method have been offered by
those who have actually cultivated science ; 3rd, that, as regards
his own investigation into the nature of heat, ' the oracle which he
had himself established refused to give its responses, and the minister-
ing priest was driven with discomfiture from his shrine ; ' 4th, that
' a collection of scientific facts are of themselves incapable of leading
to discovery, unless they contain the predominating fact or relation
in which the discovery mainly resides.' Briefly to reply to these
assertions, the first is, within certain limits and with certain explana-
tions, which, however, require to be given, undoubtedly true ; the
second I conceive that I have already abundantly disproved ; as
to the third, I believe that the 'ministering priest' obtained a far
more luminous answer than oracles are usually in the habit of giving ;
with regard to the last, if Sir D. Brewster means that a mere collection
of facts, without any play of the mind upon them (' permissio intel-
lectus,' as Bacon phrased it, or, as we should say in technical language,
formation of hypotheses), is seldom or never likely to lead to dis-
covery, I cordially agree with him, but then Bacon himself, we must
recollect, was happily inconsistent on this point. Brief as is Sir D.
Brewster's notice of Bacon, it deserves considerable attention, because

6 * See vol. ii. pp. 400-406. M See pp. 121-126.

1 43 I NT ROD UCTION.

his objections anticipated, if indeed they did not suggest, some of
the leading criticisms in the two works which follow.

Lasson's monograph on Bacon (Gustav Lange, Berlin, 1860)
appeared in the Jahresbericht tiber die Louisenstadtische Realschule.
Though it only extends over thirty-two pages, it is the weightiest of
the attacks upon_ Bacon which I have seen. It is written not only
with more moderation, but with more knowledge of Bacon's writings,
and with more sympathy with the philosophical spirit in its relation
to science, than is the violent diatribe of Liebig, to be next noticed.
The writer dwells with much emphasis on the scientific progress
which had been already made in Bacon's time, and maintains that the
reformation of science was not the work of a single man, but
the gradual product of the age. Moreover, the necessity of In-
duction, the appeal to Observation and Experiment, and the practical
aims which should be kept in view in scientific enquiry, had been
insisted on by a host of writers before Bacon gave utterance to them.
Having, thus, combated Bacon's claim to originality, he next proceeds
to an examination of his system. Here, he finds special fault with his
mechanical theory of induction, the manner in which he ignores
the activity of the Understanding (A^erstandesthatigkeit), his criticism
of Final Causes, his conception of Forms, his neglect of quantitative
relations, &c. Lasson, like Liebig, is especially severe on the Sylva
Sylvarum, which he says might have been more appropriately written
in the eleventh than in the seventeenth century. Finally, he puts the
question, ' Was Bacon really a Philosopher,' and he answers that,
in the proper sense of the word, he was not ; he was a genius, but, at
the same time, a Dilettante (ein geistreicher Dilettant). ' Es lasst
sich die Frage stellen, ob er iiberhaupt ein Philosoph gewesen, und
wir denken, die Frage beantwortet sich von selbst in negativem Sinne,
wenn man nic.ht das Wort Philosophic in ungebiihrlich weitem Sinne
fasst. Aus allgemeinen Gesichtspunkten raisonniren ist noch nicht
philosophiren. * * * * * i n a llem diesem kritischen Hochmuth, wie
in der dogmatischen Zuversicht und in dem Unvermogen, Positives
zu schaffen, ist Baco ein rechter Vertreter der grossen Masse, des
ganz unwissenschaftlichen Bewusstseins. ***** Baco ist ein geist-
reicher Dilettant, er hat etwas von Cicero und von Voltaire. Der
beriihmte Harvey hat mit Recht von ihm gesagt : er schreibe iiber
Philosophic, wie ein Lord-kanzler.' That Bacon, however, did great
service in spreading a taste for experimental enquiry and in drawing
the popular attention to the importance of consulting facts, is allowed
throughout the enquiry.

OPPONENTS OF BACON. 143

Liebig's onslaught on Bacon (Ueber Francis Bacon von Verulam)
appeared both in German and in English in 1863, and was followed
by a keen controversy between Liebig and Sigwart. (See the next
section, on the Bibliography of the Novum Organum.) The occasion
of this work was Liebig's annoyance at the rejection of some of his
chemical theories by English agriculturists. Their singular obstinacy
must, he thought, be due to some inherent defect in the English
mind, and this suspicion led him to the study of the English phi-
losophers. When, at last, he came to the works of Bacon, all was
clear. These furnished, if not the source, at least the typical example
of the methods of experiment and reasoning common amongst the
English dilettanti, who had had the temerity to reject his theories.
The study of Bacon thus acquired the charm of a scientific discovery;
the writer, he tells us, went much deeper than before into the subject,
and, hence, the work before us (see Preface to German Edition).

I have no hesitation in saying that this work, which is extremely
bitter in tone, and often very inaccurate, contributes nothing new to
the knowledge or appreciation of Bacon's philosophy. It repeats the
thread-bare arguments employed by Brewster and Lasson, but with
an amount of exaggeration and asperity which is utterly foreign
to the second, and would, I think, have been distasteful even to the
first of these writers. The author is, at times, almost as violent as De
Maistre or Stubbe. Thus (I quote from the English text) : ' Bacon
is conscious that in most instances he is not truthful, and has the
prudence to blunt the weapons of his adversaries beforehand;' 'Vain
self-praise and detraction of others' merit go always hand in hand
with his lordship, just as with other vulgar specimens of humanity;'
'When a boy, he studied jugglery, and his cleverest trick of all, that of
deceiving the world, was quite successful ; ' ' Nature, that had endowed
him so richly with her best gifts, had denied him all sense for truth;'
he is the type ' of the scientific nut-cracker or the dining philosopher,
which, under James I, became the fashion 70 ; ' his scientific investiga-

7 ' In one of the numbers of the Allgemeine Zeitung (Nov. 7, 1863^, Liebig
waxes still more wroth. After describing Bacon's work as a caricature of the
scientific movement of the sixteenth century, and Bacon as following in the path of
science like a shadow, as parodying the calm and clear image of truth by his bur-
lesque contorsions, he compares him successively with a news-hawker, an ape in
soldier's-clothes, and a grinder of scientific instruments, who is unconscious of their
use. Truly, not only are the sins of the fathers visited upon the children, but
those of the children upon the fathers Little can Bacon have anticipated the
penalty he would have to pay for the unenlightened obstinacy of English farmers
in the nineteenth century !

T44

INTRODUCTION.

tions were carried on for the sake of reward ; the ' Historia Vitae
et Mortis ' was written with the view of augmenting his influence over
the King, and was ' intended to justify the inclination of certain
persons about the court for the pleasures of the table, as well as
other appetites, and to diminish their fear of death.' Notwithstanding
all these aspersions, we are told at the end of the article that ' we
must not forget that Bacon, above all others, saw and comprehended
the value and the importance of natural science for the purposes
of life,' while ' Bacon's Essays are unexceptionable documents testi-
fying of his genius and sagacity, as well as of his profound knowledge
and correct appreciation of human relations and the different con-
ditions of men 7 V

Both Liebig and Lasson lay considerable stress on the crude
character of many of the observations and experiments recorded in
the Sylva Sylvarum. It is only fair, therefore, to Bacon's memory to
quote what is said by Rav/ley in his introduction to that work 72 .
' I have heard his lordship often say that, if he should have served the
glory of his own name, he had been better not to have published this
Natural History; for it may seem an indigested heap of particulars,
and cannot have that lustre which books cast into methods have ;
but that he resolved to prefer the good of men, and that which might
best secure it, before anything that might have relation to himself.'
'And I have heard his lordship speak complainingly, that his lord-
ship (who thinketh he deserveth to be an architect in this building)
should be forced to be a workman and a labourer, and to dig the clay
and burn the brick ; and more than that (according to the hard
condition of the Israelites at the latter end), to gather the straw and
stubble over all the fields to burn the bricks withal.' Nor is the Sylva
Sylvarum so contemptible as Bacon's adversaries represent it to be.
It is probably far the best and most complete single collection of
the kind that, up to that time, had been published.

Even Liebig is almost outdone by his French translator, M. de
Tchihatchef (Lord Bacon, Paris, 2nd Ed. 1877). The following may
serve as choice examples of the indignation which Bacon arouses in
the breast of this modern philosopher 73 . ' Paracelse etait presque

71 See Macmillan's Magazine for July and August, 1863.

7 - E. and S., vol. ii. pp. 335-337.

73 M. de Tchihatchef has a wonderful faculty of blundering. The following is
such an amusing instance that I cannot refrain from giving it. Sir Henry Savile,
in the course of lectures which, as first occupant of one of his own chairs, he gave
in Oxford, concluded by saying : ' Exsolvi, per Dei gratiam, Domini Auditores,

BIBLIOGRAPHY OF THE NOVUM ORGANUM. 145

aussi vaniteux, aussi fanfaron, aussi boursouffle que Bacon ; mais
ce qui etablit une difference,' &c. (Preface du Traducteur, p. xxv.)
' Apres de telles preuves, il est done permis de dire maintenant que le
role de Bacon, dans 1'histoire des sciences d'observation, fut a peu
pres celui de Julien 1'Apostat dans 1'histoire du christianisme, et que la
seule place vraiment saillante qu'il occupera dorenavant dans les
fastes du passe est celle du plus hardi et surtout du plus heureux des
mystificateurs connus ; a ce titre il brillera, en les effagant, au-dessus
du comte de Saint-Germain et de Cagliostro.' (Id. p. xxiii.)

These various accusations against Bacon or his philosophy, when
\ve state them in brief, resolve themselves into the following : ist, he
was an atheist; 2nd, he was a plagiarist; 3rd, he was a smatterer ;
4th, his works have had no influence in the subsequent progress
of science ; 5th, his proposed methods of investigation are defective,
if not false, in statement, and inapplicable in practice. As these
different charges are discussed, and my own opinion on them stated,
in other parts of the Introduction, it is unnecessary that I should say
anything further on them in this place.

17. BIBLIOGRAPHY OF THE NOVUM ORGANUM.

THOUGH the first Edition of the Novum Organum did not appear
till the year 1620, we are informed by Dr. Rawley (in the Life of
Bacon, prefixed to the Resuscitatio) that he had himself seen at least
twelve revisions of the work, ' revised year by year, one after another ;
and every year altered and amended in the frame thereof 74 .' If this

promissum, liberavi fidem meam, explicavi pro meo modulo definitiones, petitiones,
communes sententias, et octo priores propositiones Elementorum Euclidis. Hie
annis fes?us, cycles artemque repono.' ^Praelectiones &c., Oxonii, 1621.) Dugald
Stewart somewhere adduces these words as a proof, if I recollect rightly, of the prolix
and elementary teaching of the time, and from him probably (or from Malebranche,
who also refers to them as affording an example of the abuse of the commenta-
torial spirit, De la Recherche de la Verite, livre ii. 2 me partie, ch. 7), though with
some slight exaggeration, Liebig borrows the story. But his translator, having
never probably heard of Sir Henry Savile, and either being very careless or having
a very imperfect knowledge of the German language, alludes to this anecdote as
illustrating the character of the lectures given at this time ' a Seville et a Oxford ' !
74 Cp. the Auctoris Vita, prefixed to the Opuscula Varia posthuma, published in
1658 : ' Ipse reperi in nrchivis Dominationis suae autographa plus minus duodccim
Organi novi, de anno in annum elaborati et ad incudem revocati ; et singulis annis
ulteriore lima subinde politi et castigati.'

1 46 I NT RO DUCT 10 X.

story be accurate, the original composition of the Novum Organum
would be carried back to the year 1608. But the substance of the
First Book is to be found in a work composed at a still earlier period,
the Cogitata et Visa (E. and S., vol. iii. pp. 587-620). This work,
though not published till long after Bacon's death (by Gruter in
1653"), must have been composed as early as the summer or autumn
of 1607, as, in that and the early part of the following year, it is the
subject of a correspondence between Bacon and Sir Thomas Bodley
(Spedding's Life and Letters of Bacon, vol. iii. pp. 365, 366) 75 . Still
earlier, but standing in much less close relation with the First Book
of the XovLim Organum, as it now exists, is the Partis Secundae
Delineatio (E. and S., vol. iii. pp. 541-585), which Mr. Spedding
refers to the year 1606 or 1607. For an account of this, however,
and other preliminary drafts of portions of the Novum Organum, the
student must be referred back to 3 of this Introduction.

The so-called Second Edition of the Novum Organum is a small
duodecimo, published at Amsterdam in 1660, but, between this and
the First Edition, there were copies published at Leyden in 1645 and
i65o 7fi . Except in editions of the Complete Works or the philoso-
phical works of Bacon, I cannot find any Latin Edition of the Novum
Organum between the year 1660 and the YVtirzburg Edition of 1 780 ' 7 .
One appeared at Glasgow in 1803, and another was issued by the
Clarendon Press in 1813. Since that time, Dr. Kitchin's and other
annotated Editions, to be mentioned below, have made the work, in
its separate form, easily procurable.

7: ' A very beautiful manuscript of this work, corrected in Bacon's ONVII hand-
writing a fact which is not only vouched for by Mr. Spedding, but which I have
verified by comparison with a letter in the Bodleian written by Bacon to the King,
April 21, 1621), exists in (Queen's College Library, Oxford.

7 ' ; Bouillct speaks of an Edition, published at Leyden in 1652. I can find no
other trace of this Edition, and think that he must have mistaken for an edition
of the Xovum Organum one of the De Augmentis published at Leyden in that year.
His bibliographical account, generally, is not very accurate. Thus, the Ed. of 1650
f which, like that of 1645, was published by Adr. Wingaerdc s is called an Eb-evir.

In 1638, a little 12 volume was issued at Leyden, entitled Franeisci de Veru-
lamio Ilistoria Xatumlis et Experimentalis De Vends. &c., containing, in addition
to the IIi ; toria Ventorum and other matter, Nov. Org. ii. 11-20 i " De Eorma
Caiidi ' , ii. 4^ -De Motus sivc Virtutis Activac Variis Spcciebus' , and the In-
stanlia Ciucis on the Tides from ii. 36. In the British Museum, there are reprints
of this volume in i64S and 1662. It was translated by R. (',. Gent, London. 16^3.

77 Watt , Hibliotheca Britannica) speaks of an edition in folio, published at
London in 1677, but, a I can find no other trace of tins edition, I suppose he must
refer to the Epitome by M. D. in English, to be noticed presently.

BIBLIOGRAPHY OF THE NOVUM ORGANUM. 147

Of English Translations of the Novum Organum, Peter Shaw's
(which has been frequently reprinted) first appeared in 1725, in his
English Edition of Bacon's works. One made by Mr. W. Wood was
embodied in Montagu's Edition (London, Pickering, 1831), and
re-printed by Pickering in a separate form in 1844, and, again, in
Bonn's Series (Ed. Devey), 1853. A translation of the First Book
only was printed for private circulation by Mr. Glassford, Edinburgh,
1844. Dr. Kitchin's Translation appeared in 1855 (Oxford, Clarendon
Press), that contained in the 4th vol. of Ellis and Spedding's Edition
in 1858 78 , and, lastly, Mr. Andrew Johnson's (Bell and Daldy)
in 1859.

It should be noticed that an English epitome of the Novum Orga-
num 'translated and taken out of the Latin by M.D. B.D.' was
published in 1676 at the end of the tenth Edition of the Sylva
Sylvarum, and was reprinted in the subsequent editions of that
work.

Of published French Translations, I can speak, from personal
inspection 79 , only of those of Lasalle (CEuvres de Francois Bacon,
Chancellier d'Angleterre, traduites par A. Lasalle, Dijon, An 8
[1800]), and of M. Lorquet, which contains only Book i. and portions
of Book ii. The latter work, which is bound up with extracts from
Descartes and Leibnitz, is an Ouvrage autorise par le conseil royal
de 1'instruction, and was published at Paris in 1847.

In the Pantheon Litteraire, there is a collection of the (Euvres
Philosophiques, Morales, et Politiques de Francois Bacon in French
by J. A. C. Buchon, Paris, Desrez, 1838. The translation of the
Novum Organum is taken from Lasalle. The same translation
re-appears, with occasional corrections, and a few meagre notes, in
the less complete collection of the CEuvres de Bacon, Traduction
revue, corrigee, &c., by F. Riaux, 2 vols. Paris, 1843*.

78 In the First Edition, I wrongly ascribed this translation to Mr. Headlam,
having misinterpreted the account given of it in Mr. Spedding's ' Ili.-tory and Plan
of this Edition ' prefixed to the First Volume of E. and S. Mr. Spedding after-
wards informed me that the translation was originally made by an Undergraduate
of Trinity College, Cambridge, but that he was himself responsible for the form
which it ultimately assumed.

79 M. Bouillet refers to a work entitled ' Fragmens txtraits des ceuvres du chan-
cellier Bacon, traduits de Tedition anglaise de P. Shaw,' by Mary Dumoulin, Paris
and Amsterdam, 1765, but I have not been able to find this book even in the
Bibliotheque Nationale. It seems, amongst other thir.gs, to contain a good
analysis of the Novum Organum. See Bouillet, tome ii. Introd., p. Hi.

60 During a visit to the Bibliotheque Nationale in Paiis. shortly prior to the
itsue of my first edition, I found an old French translation in MS. of portions of

L 2

148 INTRODUCTION.

The best German translation, I believe, is Franz Baco's Neues
Organon, Uebersetzt, erlautert, &c., von J. H. von Kirchmann.
Berlin, 1870 (published in Kirchmann's Philosophische Bibliothek).
Previous German translations are those of Bartholdy (ist Book only\
1793; and of Briick, 1830.

I have seen an Italian translation (anonymous) published at
Bassano in 1788: Nuovo Organo delle Scienze di Francesco
Bacone, &c. Traduzione in Italiano, con Annotazioni, &c. Whether
there is any more recent translation, I am not aware.

In the Leipsic edition of the Novum Organum, 1839, a Portuguese
translation of the Obras philosophicas, by Jac. de Castro Sarmento,
is mentioned as having been published in London, with notes, in
3 vols. 4to., in 1731.

A collection of Bacon's works (Bakon. Sobranie Sochinenii), trans-
lated by P. A. Bibiker, was published in Russian, at St. Petersburg,
in 1874.

the Novum Organum, contemporary, I believe, or almost contemporary with the
original publication of the work. It is written in a beautiful hand, very similar to
much of the writing which I have seen in MSS. of Bacon's own time, and not likely.
M. Deprez, one of the gentlemen attached to the Manuscript Department, informed
me, to be later than the early part of the seventeenth century. This MS., which
is numbered Fr. 19,092, formerly belonged to the Coislin Collection and subse-
quently to the Library of St. Germain des Pres. The description of it in the
Catalogue is as follows : ' Ex Bibliotheca MSS. Coisliniana, olim Segueriana, quam
Illustr. Henrictis Du Cambout, Dux de Coislin, Par Franciae, Episcopus Metensis,
&c., Monasteries S. German! a Pratis legavit. An. M Dec. xxxii.' In the Catalogue
of Seguier's Collection of MSS. (Paris, 1686), this MS. is not mentioned.

The piece is entitled Methodes et conceptions du sieur Verulam, Chan pr
d'Angleterre, and begins ' Tableau des belles et rares conceptions de Messire
francois Yeriilam Chan" dc la grand Bretagne touchants le restablissemen des
sciences et I'exp de la methode.' It then proceeds much as in the opening words
of the Great Installation. The order of the pieces in the ist Edition is followed
throughout, including the Deest Pars Prima, &e., which, so far as I am aware,
occurs in no other edition of the seventeenth or eighteenth century. The trans-
lation of the ist Book leaves off at the beginning of the loist Aphorism, a space
being left for the insertion of that and the remaining Aphorisms of the 1st Book.
The 2nd Book is translated as far as the words ' de forma calidi ' in Aph. 11, just
before the commencement of the Tables. There are no blank leaves after this break.

This translation is not, so far as I can ascertain, mentioned by any writer on
Bacon, and the translations of Lasalle and Lorquet bear no signs of its having been
consulted by those authors.

1 am inclined to suspect that this translation may have been made by T- Baudoin,
who published translations of so many other works of Bacon, and who, as appears
from the : Privilege du Roy,' prefixed to his Aphorismes du Droit. had by him a
stock of translations from Bacon, which he contemplated publishing from time to
time.

BIBLIOGRAPHY OF THE NOVUM ORGANUM. 149

Through the kindness of Dr. Neubauer (of the Bodleian Library),
I am able to add that a translation of the first book of the Novum
Organum, in Hungarian, by A. Balogh, together with a biography
and an estimate of Bacon's works and philosophy, was published at
Budapest in 1885. There are also, in the Hungarian language,
reviews of De Remusat and Liebig on Bacon, as well as a treatise
(or ? article) on Bacon's Induction by Greguss (Agoston). The
work of John Beyer (published, in Hungary, in 1663) has been
noticed on p. 112, above.

At Cracow, in 1834, there was published a book entitled Bakona
Metoda Tlumaczenia Natury (the Baconian Method of interpreting
Nature), by Michal Wiszniewski.

There is a Sanskrit version of the Novum Organum, published by
order of the Government of the N. W. provinces, for the use of the
Benares Sanskrit College, and prepared by Pandit Vitthala S'Astn,
Benares, 1852. The materials for this version were published in a
separate form by J. A. Ballantyne at Mirzapore in 1852. 'Each
sentence has been written with the view of being hereafter rendered
into Sanskrit, in order to its eventual reproduction in all the deriva-
tive modern languages of India.'

The first attempt at editing the complete works of Bacon was
made by J. B. Schonwetter and J. Gruter, in their edition in Latin,
issued at Frankfort on the Main in 1665 8I . The I^atin Works were
published by Wettstein at Amsterdam in 1684, and reprinted in
1695 and 1730. There was an edition of the Opera Omnia 'opera
Simonis Johannis Arnoldi' at Leipsic in 1694. An edition in 4 vols.
was issued by J. Blackbourne at London, in 1730. There was a
handsome Edition, with a life by Mallet, issued in 1740, and this
was followed with tolerable rapidity by several others. The ' trade
edition,' in ten volumes octavo, is a reprint of the quarto edition by
Birch, 1763. Finally, we have Basil Montagu's edition, Pickering,

81 Bouillet speaks of a collection of the Latin works of Bacon, edited by Rawley,
which appeared at Amsterdam in 6 vols. in 1663. There seems to have been no
continuous edition, published in 1663, answering to this description, though, in
that and the two or three preceding years, several of Bacon's works were either
reprinted, or published for the first time, by the Elzevirs or Ravesteyn. See Les
Elzevier by Alphonse \Villems, Bruxelles, iFSo, and the General Biographical
Dictionary (Oxford, 1837) fro m tne German of F. A. Ebert. What probably
misled Bouillet is that, in the edition of the De Augmentis, published at Amsterdam
by Ravesteyn in 1662, there is a preface by Rawley in which he speaks of the
volume as 'hunc primum tomum.'

150 INTRODUCTION.

1825-1836, and the truly valuable and splendid edition of Ellis,
Spedding, and Heath, Longmans, 1857, &c. Botiillet's Edition of
the Philosophical Works will be noticed below.

The following are the principal works on Bacon's 'philosophy in
general or the Novum Organum in particular, which have fallen
under my notice. I omit merely popular lectures, or chapters in
Histories of Philosophy, some of the latter of which, however, such,
for instance, as those of Brucker, Lewes, Ueberweg, &c., are of con-
siderable merit. On the other hand, I insert short notices of the
Baconian Philosophy, which would otherwise be likely to escape the
reader's attention.

Voltaire. Lettres sur les Anglois. Lettre XII. About 1728. This
letter is reproduced, with additions, in the Dictionnaire Philosophique.

The Encyclopedic began to appear in 1751. See Discours Pre-
liminaire, pp. 24, 25, and Article on Bacon.

Analyse de la Philosophic du Chancellier Francois Bacon, avec sa
vie, &c. par A. Deleyre. Amsterdam and Paris, 1755; Leyden, 1756.
Only a small portion of this work refers to the Baconian philosophy
properly so called, but in the Preface to the work Le Christianisme
c., noticed below, the author says that Bacon is hardly known to the
majority of men of letters in France, except through this Analysis of
his Philosophy. The book was published anonymously.

Bouillet refers to an Essay on the Philosophy of Bacon by Ulrich,
Berlin, 1780.

In the Encyclopedic Methodique, Philosophic Ancienne et
Moderne, there is a long article on ' Baconisme,' signed by M.
Naigeon, giving a classified account of Bacon's opinions on various
topics. This article, in which the author follows the estimate of
Bacon taken by the Encyclopaedists, appeared in 1791. It incor-
porates most of Deleyre's Analysis.

Le Sage, in a long letter in the Bibliotheque Britannique, Sciences
et Arts, tome ix, Geneva, 1798, brings together a number of quotations
from Bacon, for the purpose of shewing that he did not reject the
enquiry into the general causes of phenomena. In tome viii. of the
same series, there is a letter by Le Sage, not expressly written on
Bacon, but occasionally alluding to or quoting him. Neither of these
articles, however, seems to correspond with the one referred to by
De Remusat (p. 392), as contained in tome viii.

Le Christianisme cle Francois Bacon &c. Nyon, Paris, An 7
(1799). 2 vols. This work was written by the Abbe J. A. Emery, but

BIBLIOGRAPHY OF THE NOVUM ORGANUM. 151

published anonymously. Its object is to vindicate the Christianity
of Bacon against the Encyclopaedists.

Lasalle, noticed above.

Bacon. Tel qu'il est. Berlin, 1800 (a Pamphlet). Precis de la
Philosophic de Bacon. Paris, 1802, 2 vols. Both these works are
by J. A. De Luc, and are directed against Lasalle, who had written
with a strong pre-disposition to find in Bacon the philosophical and
theological principles of the Revolution. De Luc refers to the Abbe
Emery's work, Le Christianisme, &c. It may be noticed that Lasalle
had omitted all those passages in Bacon's works which appeared to
have a religious tendency, calling them contemptuously 'les orenms.' 1

Dugald Stewart's Preliminary Dissertation, Part i. ch. 2. This
Essay first appeared in 1815.

Review of Stewart's Dissertation, Quarterly Review, No. 33, 1817.

Basil Montagu's Review of the Novum Organum in the Retrospec-
tive Review, vols. 3 and 4, 1821.

Playfair's Preliminary Dissertation, 1824. Both this and Stewart's
Dissertation are prefixed to some of the old editions of the Encyclo-
paedia Britannica. From Professor Playfair I find that many sub-
sequent writers borrow, with or without acknowledgement. His
remarks and illustrations are of peculiar value to an Editor of the
Novum Organum.

Destutt de Tracy, Siemens d'Ideologie, De la Logique, 1826.
See Discours Preliminaire and Sommaire Raisonne de 1'Instauratio
Magna. [Though the author criticises severely the details of Bacon's
method, he follows the Encyclopaedists in exaggerating the reform
which Bacon effected. Thus (tome i. p. 380) he says : ' Aussi 1'art
logique a-t-il ete completement errone jusqu'a Bacon.' Of his own
time, De Tracy says : ' Bacon est encore un de ces auteurs beaucoup
plus cites que lus, et beaucoup plus lus qu'entendus.']

Dr. Hippus' Account of the Novum Organum, published, in two
parts, in the Library of Useful Knowledge, 1827, 1828. Much of
this tract is borrowed from Playfair.

Sir John Herschel's Discourse on the Study of Natural Philosophy,
published in Lardner's Cabinet Cyclopaedia, 1831.

Histoire de la Vie et des Ouvrages de Francois Bacon, par J. B.
De Vauzelles. Paris, Levrault, 1833. [M. de Vauzelles promised a
translation of the Works, but this, I believe, never appeared.]

CEuvres Philosophiques de Bacon ; avec Notice, Sommaires, et
Eclaircissemens, par M. N. Bouillet, Paris, Hachette, 1834-5. This
work (in three large volumes) is highly praised by Mr. Ellis and

152

INTRODUCTION.

is founded, throughout, on a conscientious comparison of Bacon's
various writings. It is now out of print. The notes are somewhat
meagre, but it is furnished with valuable Introductions, Summaries, &c.
Joseph De Maistre. Examen de la Philosophic de Bacon. 2 vols.
Paris and Lyons, 1836; republished 1852. [This is a violent attack
on Bacon from an Ultramontane point of view.]

Macaulay's Essay on Bacon, 1837. Published in the July number
of the Edinburgh Review. [Notwithstanding its many defects and
misconceptions, this brilliant Essay deserves an important place in
an enumeration of Baconian literature, as having done much to
revive the popular interest in Bacon's life and works.]

De Baconis Verulamii Philosophia Dissertatio Academica, Parisiis,
1838. (An exercise for the Doctor's Degree by F. Huet.)

Hallam's History of Literature, Part iii. ch. 3. This work first
appeared in 1839.

F. Baconi de Verulamio Novum Organum, opus diu integris suis
partibus desideratum, in usum Juventutis Academicae. Lipsiae,
1839-40. This edition has most copious indices, and is furnished
with a long ' Propylaeum ' by C. G. M. Janj.

Whewell's Philosophy of the Inductive Sciences (or, in the more
recent form of that work, the Philosophy of Discovery). 1840.

[The reader will not fail to remark how very rich the decade
1830-40 is in works on Bacon].

De Vita et Philosophia Francisci Baconi Philosophi (an exercise
for the Doctor's Degree) by Gerrit Wilhelmy. Groningen, 1843.
Craik (G. I,.), Bacon, his Writings and Philosophy. 3 vols. 1844.
Moffett (F. W.), Selections from the Philosophical Works of
Bacon, with notes, &c. Dublin, 1847.

De Gerando, Histoire Comparee des Systemes de Philosophie,
2 me Ed., tome vi. ch. 10. (This part of the work, 'Philosophic
Moderne,' was first published in 1847.) De Remusat (whose work
will be noticed below) is evidently much indebted to De Gerando.

A Discourse of the Baconian Philosophy, by Samuel Tyler of the
Maryland Bar. 2nd Ed. New York, 1850. [I do not know the
date of the ist Ed. The author's object is to shew that 'the Baconian
philosophy is emphatically the philosophy of Protestantism.' He
thinks that, ' when we see how universally the a priori method has
led to error, it would almost appear as though that method were the
very Organon of Satan.']

Extraits du Novum Organum, &c., precedes d'une Introduction,
&c., par Emile Burnouf. Paris, 1850.

BIBLIOGRAPHY OF THE NOVUM ORGANUM. 153

Essay on Lord Bacon by Macvey Napier. Macmillan, 1853.
[This work contains much useful historical information as to the
reception of the Novum Organum, the opposition to it, &c. It was
originally read before the Royal Society of Edinburgh in 1818, and
published in their Transactions.]

English Edition of the De Augmentis and Novum Organum in
Bohn's Series, by Joseph Devey. 1853.

Parallel between Roger Bacon and Francis Bacon in Pouchet's
Histoire des Sciences Naturelles au Moyen Age (pp. 363-369).
Paris, 1853.

Esprit et Methode de Bacon en Philosophic, par G. A. Patru.
Paris and Grenoble, 1854.

Essai sur la Methode de Bacon, par A. Biechy. Toulon, 1855.
[In this short Essay, the author maintains that Bacon's method and
his conception of science are ' dynamist ' or spiritualist as opposed
to materialist.]

Edition of the Novum Organum, with notes, by the Rev. G. W.
Kitchin. Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1855. [This edition, which
has been of great assistance to the present Editor, is frequently
referred to in the notes. See also Preface.]

Edition of the Novum Organum, with English notes, by the Rev.
J. A. Brewer. London, 1856. [Privately printed for the use of
students of King's College, London.]

Fischer (Kuno), Franz Baco von Verulam. Die Realphilosophie
und ihr Zeitalter. Leipzig, 1856. Of this work an English trans-
lation was published by John Oxenford, London, 1857. The original
work has also been re-published, with considerable extensions and
under a new title : Francis Bacon und Seine Nachfolger ; Entwick-
lungsgeschichte der Erfahrungsphilosophie. Leipzig, 1875. [This
work is of great importance in the study of the Baconian philosophy,
and of peculiar interest as containing so favourable an estimate of
Bacon from a foreign writer, belonging himself to a very different
school of thought.]

Bacon, Sa Vie, Son Temps, Sa Philosophic, et Son Influence
jusqu'a nos jours par Charles de Remusat. Paris, 1857. [This work,
like the last, should be diligently perused by every one who wishes to
make a special study of Bacon. M. de Remusat attempts especially
to bring out an ideal side in the Baconian philosophy.]

The magnificent edition of Bacon's works by Ellis, Spedding, and
Heath. The ist vol., containing the Novum Organum and De
Augmentis, appeared in 1857. No student of Bacon's philosophy

T 54 INTRODUCTION.

can now dispense with the five volumes, containing the Philosophical
Works with prefaces and notes, to which such frequent reference is
made in the subsequent pages of this edition.

Ueber Baco's von Verulam wissenschaftliche Principien von A.
Lasson. Berlin, 1860. [This short tract is, to my mind, the most
effective of all the attacks on the Baconian philosophy. It must,
T think, have suggested to Liebig the onslaught which he made three
years subsequently, but it is far more moderate and elevated in tone
than is his diatribe, and shews a far more intimate acquaintance both
with Bacon's doctrines and with the history of philosophy in general.]

Ueber Francis Bacon von Verulam und die Methode der Natur-
forschung, von Justus von Liebig. Munchen, 1863. [This disquisi-
tion is written in a tone of shrill invective, almost as if Bacon were a
personal enemy of the writer. See, for a further account of it, 16
of this Introduction. Liebig was himself so well satisfied with his
performance, that he published it also in an English form, in
Macmillan's Magazine (July and August, 1863). It has been
translated into French, and published with some notes and addi-
tions, by M. De Tchihatchef, Paris, 1866 (2 me Ed., 1877).]

A large part of Franchi's Letture su la Storia della Filosofia
Moderna, Milano, 1863, is devoted to Bacon. [The estimate of him
as a reformer of method and science is, on the whole, unfavourable.]

Liebig's work produced a lively controversy in Germany. He was
answered by Heinrich Bohmer, in a work entitled Ueber Francis
P>acon von Verulam, &c., Erlangen, 1864 ; and also by Sigwart
of Tubingen. Sigwart attacked Liebig's work in the Preussische
Jahrbiicher of 1863, S. 93, &c. To this criticism Liebig replied in
the Allgemeine Zeitung, Nov. 2-7. Sigwart made his rejoinder in
the Preussische Jahrbiicher of 1864, S. 79, &c. Liebig again replied
in Allg. Zeit., March 4-7. M. De Tchihatchef has translated Liebig's
papers in his ' Lord Bacon,' &c., but they add little of what is new
to the original pamphlet.

A similar and independent controversy, though on a much smaller
scale, was carried on in France, in 1866. M. Claude Bernard
(Introduction a la medecine experimcntale, Paris, 1866) attacked
Bacon's claims as a Reformer of Science, and was answered by M.
i'.iul Janet in the Revue des Deux-Mondes of xVpril 15, 1866.

Ueber Bacon von Verulam, bcsonders vom Medicinischcn Stand-
punkte, von Dr. II. von Bamberger. Wiirzburg, 1865.

De Baronis Baronis de Yerulamio Philosophia scripsit Augustus
Dorner. Berlin, 1867.

BIBLIOGRAPHY OF THE NOVUM ORGANUM. 155

Kirchmann's German Translation, with notes, &c., 1870. (See
above, under Translations.)

On the Inductive Philosophy, including a parallel between Lord
Bacon and A. Comte, as philosophers. A Lecture, &c., by A. Elley
Finch. London, Longmans, 1872.

Flaws in the Philosophy of Bacon, by the Rev. John Doherty,
published in the Series of Essays on Religion and Literature edited
by Archbishop Manning, 3rd Series, 1874. [This essay follows in
the lines of De Maistre, though the tone is more moderate.]

'Lord Bacon,' by Michael Walsh. Leipzig, 1875. [This mono-
graph entirely justifies the Author's disclaimer of ' much novelty or
originality.']

The article on Bacon in Vol. iii. (1875) of the last (gth) edition of
the Encyclopaedia Britannica by Mr. Adamson. [This article gives
a good deal of interesting matter within a short compass.]

Lord Bacon's ' Philosophy ' examined, An Essay read at the
Catholic Academy, January, 1877, by the Rev. F. H. Laing, D.I).
[The object of this Essay is to shew, in opposition to the ' modern
" scientifics," ' that, ' like the Luthers, Zwingles, and Cranmers before
him,' Bacon was ' the mere ringleader in a low revolt against the
dominion of the cultivated human intellect.']

' Bacon,' by Thomas Fowler (the present editor), in the series of
' English Philosophers.' Sampson Low and Co. London, 1881.

Mr. F. G. Selby's edition of The Advancement of Learning, for the
use of Indian Students, Bombay, 1882, contains several remarks
bearing on the Novum Organum.

' Bacon,' by R. W. Church, Dean of St. Paul's, in the series of
'English Men of Letters.' Macmillan and Co. London, 1884.

' Francis Bacon,' by Edwin A. Abbott, D.D. Macmillan and Co.
London, 1885. [Some remarks on portions of this work will be
found in the Preface.]

'Wer schrieb das Novum Organum von Francis Bacon?' Eine
kritische Studie von Eugen Reichel. Stuttgart, 1886. [This some-
what heavy brochure, maintaining (apparently in irony) that Bacon
did not really originate the Novum Organum, but put together the
materials left by some previous writer, seems to be intended as a
contribution to the Shakespeare-Bacon controversy, j

FRANCISCUS
DE VERULAMIO

SIC COGITAVIT;
TALEMQUE APUD SE

ralionem instituit, quam Viventibus ct

Posteris notam fieri ipsorwn

intercssc putavit.

CUM illi pro comperto essct intellectum humanum sibi ipsi
negotium facessere, neque auxiliis veris (quae in hominis
potestate sunt) uti sobrie et commode ; unde multiplex rcrum
ignoratio et ex ignoratione re rum detrimenta innumera : omni
ope connitendum existimavit. si quo modo commercium istud
Mentis et Rerum (cui vix aliquid in terris, aut saltern in terrcnis,
se ostendit simile) restitui posset in integrum, aut saltern in
melius deduci. Ut vero errores qui invaluerunt, quique in
aeternum invalituri sunt, alii post alios (si mens sibi permittatur)
ipsi se corrigerent, vel ex vi intellectus propria vel ex auxiliis
atque adminiculis dialccticae, nulla prorsus subcrat spes ;
propterea quod notiones rerum primae. quas mens haustu
facili et supino excipit recondit atque accumulat (undc rcliqua
omnia fluunt), vitiosae sint et confusae et tcmerc a rebus
abstractae ; neque minor sit in secundis et reliquis libido et
inconstantia ; ex quo fit, ut universa ista ratio humana. qua
utimur quoad inquisitioncm naturae, non bene congesta et
aedificata sit, sed tanquam moles aliqua magnifica sine fun-
damento. Dum cnim falsas mentis vires mirantur homines
ct celebrant, veras cjusdcm quac esse possint (si debita ei
adhibeantur auxilia. atque ipsa rebus morigera sit, n ec im-
potenter rebus insultet) praetereunt et perdimt. Rcstabat

ijjS VERULAMIUS SIC COGITAVIT.

illud unum ut res de integro tentetur melioribus praesidiis,
utque fiat scientiarum ct artium atque omnis humanae doc-
trinae in universum Instauratio. a debitis cxcitata fundamentis.
Hoc vero licet aggressu infinitum quiddam videri possit ac
supra vires mortales, tamen idem tractatu sanum invenietur
ac sobrium. magis quam ea quae adhuc facta sunt. Exitus
cnim hujus rei est nonnullus. In iis vero quae jam fiunt
circa scientias. est vertigo quaedam et agitatio perpetua et
circulus. Neque eum fugit quanta in solitudine versetur hoc
experimentum, et quam durum et incredibilc sit ad faciendam
fidem. Nihilominus, ncc rem nee seipsum deserendum ptita-
vit, quin viam quae una humanae menti pervia est tentarct
atque inirct. Praestat enim principium dare rei quae exitum
habere possit. quam in iis quae cxiturn nullum habcnt per-
petua contentione et studio implicari. Viae autem contem-
plativae viis illis activis decantatis fere respondent : ut altcra.
ab initio ardua et difficilis, desinat in apcrtum ; altcra. primo
intuitu expedita ct proclivis. ducat in avia et praecipitia.
Ouum autem inccrtus csset quando haec alicui posthac
in mentem vcntura sint ; eo potissimum usus argumento.
quod ncminem hactcnus invcnit qui ad similes cogitationes
animum applicuerit ; decrevit prima quaeque quae perficere
licuit in publicum cdere. Neque haec festinatio ambi-
tiosa fuit, sed sollicita ; lit, si quid illi humanitus acci-
dcret. cxtarct tamen dcsignatio quaedam ac dcstinatio rei
quam animo complcxus est ; utque cxtaret simul signum ali-
quod honcstac suae ct propensae in generis humani com-
mocla volimtatis. Ccrte aliam quamcunque am-
bitioncm inferiorem duxit re quam prae ma-
nibus habuit. Aut enim hoc quod agi-
tur nihil est. aut tantum. ut me-
rito ipso contcntum esse de-
beat ncc fructum ex-
tra quacrere.

SERENISSIMO

POTENTISSIMOQUE
PRINCIPI AC DOMINO

NOSTRO,

J A C O B O,

DEI GRATIA

MAGNAE BRTTANNIAE,

Franciae, et Hiberniae Regi,

FIDEI Defensori, etc.

Serenissime Potentissimeque Rex,

POTERIT fortasse Majcstas tua me furti incusarc, quod
tantum temporis quantum ad haec sufficiat negotiis tuis suffu-
ratus sim. Non habeo quod dicam. Temporis cnim non fit
restitutio ; nisi forte quod detractum fuerit temporis rebus tuis,
id memoriae nominis tui et honor! saeculi tui reponi possit ; si
modo haec alicujus sint pretii. Sunt certe prorsus nova :
etiam toto gcnere : sed dcscripta ex veteri admodum exem-
plari, mundo scilicet ipso, et natura rerum et mentis. Ipse
certe (ut ingenue fatear) soleo aestimare hoc opus magis pro
partu temporis quam ingenii. Illud enim in co solummodo
mirabile est, initia rei et tantas de iis quae invaluerunt sus-
piciones alicui in mentem venire potuisse. Caetera non illi-
benter 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 quae

160 EPISTOLA DEDICATORIA.

affero sit boni, id immensae misericordiae et bonitati divinac
et foelicitati temporum tuorum tribuatur : cui et vivus integer-
rimo affectu servivi. et mortuus fortasse id effecero, ut ilia
posteritati, nova hac accensa face in philosophiae tcnebris,
praelucere possint. Merito autem temporibus regis omnium
sapientissimi et doctissimi Regeneratio ista et Instauratio
scientiarum debetur. Superest petitio, Majestatc tua non
indigna, et maxime omnium faciens ad id quod agitur. Ea
est, ut quando Salomonem in plurimis referas. judiciorum
gravitate, regno pacifico, cordis latitudine, librorum denique
quos composuisti nobili varietate, etiam hoc ad ejusdem
regis exemplum addas. ut cures Historiam Naturalem et
Experimentalem, veram ct severam (missis philologicis),
et quae sit in ordine ad condendam philosophiam, deni-
que qualem suo loco describemus, congeri et perfici : ut
tandem post tot mundi aetates philosophia et scientiae non
sint amplius pensiles et aereae, scd solidis experientiae
omnigenae, ejusdemque bene pensitatae, nitantur
fundamentis. Equidem Organum praebui ; ve-
rum materies a rebus ipsis petcnda est.
Deus Opt. Max. Majestatem
tuam cliu servet inco-
lumem.

Scrcnissiinac Ulajestati titac

Scr i nis dcvinctissiin its,

ct
devotissimtis,

FRANCISCUS YERULAM
CANCELLARIUS.

FRANCISCI
DE VERULAMIO

INSTAURATIO
MAGNA.

PRAEFATIO.

De statu scientiarum, quod non sit foelix aut majorem in

modum auctus ; quodque alia omnino quam prio-

ribus cognita /uerit via aperienda sit intellec-

tui humano, et alia comparanda auxilia,

ut mcns suo jure in rerum na-

turam uti possit.

VlDENTUR nobis homines nee opes nee vires suas bene
nosse ; verum de illis majora quam par cst, de his minora
credere. Ita fit, ut aut artes reccptas insanis pretiis aesti-
mantes nil amplius quaerant, aut seipsos plus aequo contem-
nentes vires suas in levioribus consumant, in iis quae ad
sumniam rei faciant non experiantur. Quare sunt et suae
scientiis column ae tanquam fatales ; cum ad ulterius pene-
trandum homines nee desiderio nee spe excitentur. Atque
cum opinio copiae inter maximas causas inopiae sit ; quumque
ex fidueia praesentium vera auxilia negligantur in posterum ;
ex usu est, et plane ex necessitate, ut ab illis quae adhuc
inventa sunt in ipso operis nostri limine (idque relictis am-
bagibus et non dissimulanter) honoris et admirationis excessus
tollatur; utili monito, ne homines eorum aut copiam aut
utilitatem in majus accipiant aut celebrent. Nam si quis in

1 62 PRAEFATIO.

omnem illam librorum varietatem qua artes et scientiae ex-
ultant diligentius introspiciat, ubique inveniet ejusdem rei
repetitiones infinitas, tractandi modis diversas, inventione prae-
occupatas ; ut omnia primo intuitu numerosa, facto examine,
pauca reperiantur. Et de utilitate aperte dicendum est,
sapientiam istam quam a Graecis potissimum hausimus pueri-
tiam quandam scientiae videri, atque habere quod proprium
est puerorum, ut ad garriendum 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 virginis os
et vultum extulit, ad uterum vero monstra latrantia succinge-
bantur et adhaerebant. Ita habent et scientiae quibus in-
suevimus generalia quaedam blandientia et speciosa, sed cum
ad particularia ventum sit, veluti ad partes generationis, ut
fructum et opera ex se edant, turn contentiones et oblatrantes
disputationes exoriuntur, in quas desinunt, et quae partus
locum obtinent. Praeterea, si hujusmodi scientiae plane res
mortua non essent, id minime videtur eventurum fuisse quod
per multa jam saecula usu venit, ut illae suis immotae fere
haereant vestigiis, nee incrementa genere humano digna sumant :
eo usque, ut saepenumero non solum assertio maneat assertio
sed etiam quaestio maneat quaestio, et per disputationes non
solvatur sed figatur et alatur, omnisque traditio et successio
disciplinarum repraesentet et exhibeat personas magistri et
auditoris, non inventoris et ejus qui inventis aliquid eximium
adjiciat. In artibus autem mechanicis contrarium evenire
videmus ; quae. ac si aurae cujusdam vitalis forent participes,
quotidie crescunt et perficiuntur, et in primis authoribus rudes
plerunque et fere onerosae et informes apparent, postea vero
novas virtutes et commoditatem quandam adipiscuntur, eo
usque, ut citius studia hominum et cupiditates deficiant et
mutentur, quam illae ad culmen et perfectionem suam per-
vcnerint. Philosophia contra ct scientiae intellectuales, sta-
tuarum more, adorantur et celebrantur, sed non promoventur.
Quin etiam in primo nonnunquam authore maxime vigent, et
deinceps degenerant. Nam postquam homines dedititii facti
sint et in unius sententiam (tanquam pedarii senatorcs) coi-
erint, scientiis ipsis amplitudinem non addunt. sed in ccrtis

PRAEFATIO. 163

authoribus ornandis et stipandis servili officio funguntur.
Neque illud afferat quispiam, scientias paullatim succrescentes
tandem ad statum quendam pervenisse, et turn demum (quasi
confectis spatiis legitimis) in operibus paucorum sedes fixas
posuisse ; atque postquam nil melius inveniri potuerit. restare
scilicet ut quae inventa sint exornentur et colantur. Atque
optandum quidem esset haec ita se habuisse. Rectius illud
et verius, istas scientiarum mancipationes nil aliud esse quam
rem ex paucorum hominum confidentia et reliquorum socordia
et inertia natam. Postquam enim scientiae per partes dili-
genter fortasse excultae et tractatae fuerint, turn forte exortus
est aliquis, ingenio audax et propter methodi compendia ac-
ceptus et celebratus, qui specie tenus artem constituent, revera
veterum labores corruperit. Id tamen posteris gratum esse
solet, propter usum operis expeditum et inquisitionis novae
taedium et impatientiam. Quod si quis consensu jam inve-
terato tanquam temporis judicio moveatur, sciat se ratione
admodum 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 extant in fastis. Neque ipse
consensus ejusque diuturnitas magni prorsus aestimandus est.
Utcunque enim varia sint genera politiarum, unicus est status
scientiarum, isque semper fuit et mansurus est popularis.
Atque apud populum plurimum vigent doctrinae aut con-
tentiosae et pugnaces aut speciosae et inanes, quales videlicet
assensum aut illaqueant aut demulcent. Itaque maxima
ingenia proculdubio per singulas aetates vim passa sunt ; dum
viri captu et intellectu non vulgarcs. nihilo secius existimationi
suae consulentes, temporis et multitudinis judicio se sub-
miserint. Quamobrem altiores contemplationes si forte usquam
emicuerint, opinionum vulgarium ventis subinde agitatae sunt
et extinctae. Adeo ut Tempus, tanquam fluvius, levia et
inflata ad nos devexerit. gravia et solida demerserit. Ouin
et illi ipsi authores qui dictaturam quandam in scientiis in-
vaserunt et tanta confidentia de rebus pronuntiant. cum tamen
per intervalla ad se redeunt, ad querimonias de subtilitate
naturae, veritatis recessibus. rerum obscuritate. causarum

M 2

1 64 PRAEFATIO.

implicatione. ingenii human! infirmitate, se convertunt; in hoc
nihilo tamen modestiores. cum malint communem hominum
et rerum conditionem causari quam de seipsis confiteri. Ouin
illis hoc fere solcnne est. ut quicquid ars aliqua non attingat id
ipsum ex eadem arte impossibile esse statuant. Neque vero
damnari potest ars. quum ipsa disceptet et judicet. Itaquc id
agitur. ut ignorantia etiam ab ignominia liberetur. 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 authoribus ipsis
suspecta, ideoque artificiis quibusdam munita et ostentata.
Qui autem et ipsi experiri et se scientiis addere earumquc
fines proferrc statuerunt, nee illi a receptis prorsus desciscere
ausi sunt, nee fontes rerum petere. Verum se magnum quid-
dam consequutos putant si aliquid ex proprio inserant et
adjiciant ; prudenter secum reputantes, se in assentiendo
modestiam, in adjiciendo libertatem tueri posse. Verum dum
opinionibus et moribus consulitur. mediocritates istae laudatae
in magnum scientiarum detrimentum cedunt. Vix enim datur
authores simul et aclmirari et supcrare. Sed fit aquarum more,
quae non altius asccndunt quam ex quo descenderunt. Itaque
hujusmodi homines emendant nonnulla sed parum promovent,
et proficiunt in mclius non in majus. Neque tamen defuerunt,
qui ausu majorc omnia integra sibi duxerunt. et ingenii impctu
usi, priora prosternendo ct destruendo, aditum sibi et placitis
suis fecerunt; quorum tumultu non magnopere profectum est:
quum philosophiam et artes non re ac opere amplificare. sed
placita tantum pcrmutare atque rcgnum opinionum in sc trans-
ferre contenderint ; exiguo sane fructu. quum inter errorcs
oppositos errandi causac sint fere communes. Si qui autem
nee alienis nee propriis placitis obnoxii, sed libertati favcntes.
ita animati mere ut alios secum simul quaerere cuperent ; illi
sane affectu honesti, sed conatu invalidi fucrunt. Probabilcs
enim tantum rationcs secuti vidcntur, et argumentorum ver-
tiginc circumagimtur, et promiscua quacrendi licentia severita-
tem inquisitionis enervarunt. Xemo autem reperitur, qui in
rebus ipsis et experientia moram fecerit legitimam. Atque
nonnulli rursus qui experientiae undis se commiscre et fere

PRAEFATIO. 165

mechanic! facti sunt, tamen in ipsa experientia crraticam
quandam inquisitionem exercent, nee ei certa lege militant.
Quin et plerique pusilla quaedarn pensa sibi proposuere, pro
magno ducentes si unum aliquod inventum eruere possint ;
institute non minus tcnui, quam imperito. Nemo enim rei
alicujus naturam in ipsa re recte aut foeliciter perscrutatur ;
verum post laboriosam experimentorum variationem non ac-
quiescit, sed invenit quod ulterius quaerat. Neque illud
imprimis omittendum est, quod omnis in experiendo industria
statim ab initio opera quaedam destinata praepropero et
intempestivo studio captavit ; fructifera (inquam) experimenta,
non lucifera, quaesivit ; nee ordinem divinum imitata est, qui
primo die lucem tantum creavit, eique unum diem integrum
attribuit ; neque illo die quicquam 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
intellectum humanum sibi permissum merito suspectum esse
debere. Verum infirmior omnino est malo medicina ; nee
ipsa mali expers. Siquidem dialectica quae recepta est, licet
ad civilia et artes quae in sermone et opinione positae sunt
rectissime adhibeatur, naturae tamen subtilitatem longo in-
tervallo non attingit ; et prensando quod non capit, ad errores
potius stabiliendos et quasi figendos quam ad viam veritati
aperiendam valuit

Ouare, ut quae dicta sunt complectamur, non videtur ho-
minibus aut aliena fides aut industria propria circa scientias
hactenus foeliciter illuxisse ; praesertim quum et in demonstra-
tionibus et in experimentis adhuc cognitis parum sit praesidii.
Aedificium autem hujus universi, structura sua, intellectui
humano contemplanti, instar labyrinthi est ; ubi tot ambigua
viarum, tarn fallaces rerum et signorum similitudines, tarn
obliquae et implexae naturarum spirae et nodi, undcquaque se
ostendunt. Iter autcm 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 offerunt, et ipsi implican-
tur, atque errorum et errantium numerum augent. In rebus
tarn duris, de judicio hominum ex vi propria, aut etiam de

1 66 PRAEFATIO.

foelicitate fortuita, desperandum est. Neque enim ingeniorum
quantacunque excellentia, neque experiendi alea saepius re-
petita, ista vincere queat. Vestigia filo regenda sunt : omnisque
via, usque a primis ipsis sensuum perceptionibus, certa ratione
munienda. Neque haec ita accipienda sunt, ac si nihil omnino
tot saeculis, tantis laboribus, actum sit. Neque enim eorum
quae inventa sunt nos poenitet. Atque antiqui certe, in iis
quae in ingenio et meditatione abstracta posita sunt, mirabiles
se viros praestitere. Verum quemadmodum saeculis prioribus,
cum homines in navigando per stellarum tantum observationes
cursum dirigebant, veteris sane continentis oras legere potue-
runt, aut maria aliqua minora et mediterranea trajicere ;
priusquam autem oceanus trajiceretur et novi orbis regiones
detegerentur, necesse fuit usum acus nauticae, ut ducem viae
magis fidum et certum. innotuisse : simili prorsus ratione, quae
hucusque in artibus et scientiis inventa sunt, ea hujusmodi
sunt ut usu, meditatione, observando. argumentando, reperiri
potuerint ; utpote quae sensibus propiora sint et communibus
notionibus fere subjaceant ; antequam vero ad remotiora et
occultiora naturae liceat appellere, necessario requiritur ut
melior et perfectior mentis et intellectus humani usus et
adoperatio introducatur.

Nos certe, aeterno veritatis amore devicti, viarum incertis et
arduis ct solitudinibus nos commisimus ; et divino auxilio freti
et innixi. mentem nostram et contra opinionum violentias et
quasi instructas acies, et contra proprias et internas haesita-
tiones et scrupulos, et contra rerum caligincs et nubes et
undequaque volantes phantasias, sustinuimus ; ut tandem magis
fida et secura indicia viventibus et posteris comparare posse-
mus. Qua in re si quid profecerimus, non alia sane ratio nobis
viam aperuit quam vera et legitima spiritus humani humiliatio.
Omnes enim ante nos, qui ad artes inveniendas se applicuerunt,
conjectis paulisper in res et exempla et experientiam oculis,
statim, quasi inventio nil aliud esset quam quaedam excogita-
tio. spiritus proprios ut sibi oracula exhiberent quodammodo
invocarunt. Nos vero inter res caste et perpetuo versantes,
intellectum longius a rebus non abstrahimus quam ut rerum
imagines et radii (ut in sensu fit) coirc possint ; unde fit, ut
ingenii viribus ct excel lentiae non multum relinquatur. Atquc

PRAEFATIO. 167

quam in inveniendo adhibemus humilitatem, eandem et in
docendo sequuti sumus. Neque enim aut confutationum
triumphis, aut antiquitatis advocationibus, aut authoritatis
usurpatione quadam, aut etiam obscuritatis velo, aliquam his
nostris inventis majestatem imponere aut conciliare conamur ;
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 foedera adducimus ; ut ipsi videant
quid habeant, quid arguant, quid addant atque in commune
conferant. Nos autem si qua in re vel male credidimus, vel
obdormivimus et minus attendimus, vel defecimus in via et
inquisitionem abrupimus, nihilominus iis modis res nudas et
apertas exhibemus, ut errores nostri, antequam scientiae mas-
sam altius inficiant, notari et separari possint ; atque etiam ut
facilis et expedita sit laborum nostrorum continuatio. Atque
hoc modo inter empiricam et rationalem facultatem (quarum
morosa et inauspicata divortia et repudia omnia in humana
familia turbavere) conjugium verum et legitimum in perpetuum
nos firmasse existimamus.

Quamobrem, quum haec arbitrii nostri non sint, in principio
operis, ad Deum Patrem. Deum Verbum, Deum Spiritum,
preces fimdimus humillimas et ardentissimas, ut humani
generis aerumnarum memores et peregrinationis istius vitae
in qua dies paucos et malos terimus, novis suis eleemosynis,
per manus nostras, familiam humanam dotare dignentur.
Atque illud insuper supplices rogamus, ne humana divinis
officiant, neve ex reseratione viarum sensus et accensione
majore 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
quae fidei sunt. Postremo, ut scientiae veneno a serpente
infuso, quo animus humanus tumet et inflatur, deposito, nee
altum sapiamus nee ultra sobrium, sed veritatem in charitate
colamus.

Peractis autem votis, ad homines conversi, quaedam et
salutaria monemus et aequa postulamus. Monemus primum
(quod etiam precati sumus) ut homines sensum in officio,

i68 PRAEFATIO.

quoad divina. contineant. Sensus enim (instar solis) globi
terrestris faciem aperit, coelestis claudit et obsignat. Rursus,
ne hujusce mali fuga in contrarium peccent ; quod certe fiet,
si naturae inquisitionem ulla ex parte vcluti interdicto sepa-
ratam putant. Neque enim pura ilia et immaculata scientia
naturalis, per quam Adam nomina ex proprietate rebus im-
posuit, principium aut occasionem lapsui dedit. Sed ambi-
tiosa ilia et imperativa scientiae moralis, de bono et malo
dijudicantis, cupiclitas, ad hoc ut Homo a Deo deficerct et
sibi ipsi leges daret, ea demum ratio atque modus tentationis
fuit. De scientiis autem quae naturam contemplantur sanctus
ille philosophus pronuntiat, Gloriam Dei esse celare ran ;
gloriam rcgis aut cut rcm invenire : non aliter ac si divina
natura innocent! et benevolo puerorum ludo delectaretur, qui
ideo se abscondunt ut inveniantur ; atque animam humanam
sibi collusorem in hoc ludo pro sua in homines indulgentia et
bonitate cooptaverit. Postremo omnes in universum monitos
volumus, ut scientiae veros fines cogitent ; nee earn aut animi
causa petant, aut ad contentionem. aut ut alios despiciant, aut
ad commodum, aut ad famam, aut ad potentiam, aut hujus-
modi inferiora ; sed ad meritum et usus vitae ; eamque in
charitate perficiant et regant. Ex appetitu enim potentiae
angeli lapsi sunt ; ex appetitu scientiae, homines ; sed chari-
tatis non est excessus ; neque angelus aut homo per earn
unquam in periculum venit.

Postulata autem nostra quae afferimus talia sunt. De
nobis ipsis silemus : de re autem quae agitur petimus, ut
homines earn non opinionem sed opus esse cogitent ; ac pro
certo habeant. non sectae nos alicujus aut placiti, sed utilitatis
et amplitudinis humanae fundamenta moliri. Deinde ut suis
commodis aequi, exutis opinionum zelis et praejudiciis, in
commune consulant ; ac ab erroribus viarum atque impedi-
mentis, nostris praesidiis et auxiliis, liberal! et muniti, labo-
rum qui restant et ipsi in partern veniant. Praeterea, ut
bcnc sperent ; neque Instaurationem nostram, ut quiddam
infinitum et ultra mortale, fingant et animo concipiant ;
quum rcvcra sit infiniti erroris finis et terminus legiti-
mus ; mortalitatis autem et humanitatis non sit immemor.
quum reni non intra unius aetatis curriculum omnino perfici

PRAEFATIO. 169

posse confidat, sed successioni destinet ; dcnique scientias,

non per arrogantiam in humani ingenii cellulis, sed sub-

misse in mundo majore quaerat. Vasta vero ut plurimum

solent esse, quae inania : solida contrahuntur maxime, et in

parvo sita sunt. Postremo etiam petenclum videtur (ne forte

quis rei ipsius periculo nobis iniquus esse velit) ut videant

homines, quatcnus ex eo quod nobis asserere necesse sit (si

modo nobis ipsi constare velimus) de his nostris opinandi

aut sententiam ferendi sibi jus permissum putent : quum

nos omnem istam rationem humanam praematuram, antici-

pantem, et a rebus temere et citius quam oportuit abstractam,

(quatenus ad inquisitionem naturae) ut rem va-

riam et perturbatam et male extructam

rejiciamus. Neque postulandum est

ut ejus judicio stetur, quae ipsa

in judicium vocatur.

DISTRIBUTIO
O PERIS.

Ejus constituuntur Paries sex.

Prima ; Partitiones Scientiarum.

Secunda ; Novum Organum, sive Indicia de Interpretations

Naturae.
Tertia ; Phaenomena Universi, sive Historia Naturalis et

Experimentalis ad condendam Philosophiam.
Ouarta ; Scala Intellectus.

Qu'nta ; Prodromi, sive Anticipationes Philosophiae Secnndae.
Sexta ; Philosophic*, Secunda, sive Scientia Activa.

Singularum A rgumenta.

PARS autem instituti nostri est, ut omnia, quantum fieri potest,
aperte et perspicue proponantur. Nuditas enim animi, ut olim
corporis, innocentiae et simplicitatis comes est. Patcat itaque
primo ordo operis atquc ratio ejus. Partes operis a nobis
constituuntur sex.

Prima pars exhibet scientiae ejus sive doctrinac in cujus
possessione humanum genus hactenus versatur Summam, sive
descriptionem univcrsalem. Visum cnim est nobis etiam in
iis quae rccepta sunt nonnullam facere moram : eo nimirum
consilio, ut facilius et veteribus perfectio et novis aditus detur.
Pari enim fere studio fcrimur et ad vetera excolenda et ad
ultcriora assequenda. Pertinet etiam hoc ad faciendam fidem:
juxta illud, Non accipit indoctus verba scientiae, nisi prius ea
dixeris qnac 1'crsantnr in corde ejns. Itaque scientiarum atque
artium rcceptarum oras legere, necnon utilia quaedam in illas
importare. tanquam in transitu, non negligemus.

DISTRIBUTIO O PERIS. 171

Partitiones tamen Scientiarum adhibemus eas, quae non
tantum jam inventa et nota, scd hactenus omissa et debita,
complectantur. Etenim inveniuntur in globo intellectuali,
quemadmodum in terrestri, et culta pariter et deserta. Itaque
nil mirum videri debet, si a divisionibus usitatis quandoque
recedamus. Adjectio enim, dum totum variat, etiam partes
earumque sectiones necessario variat : receptae autem divi-
siones receptae summae scientiarum, qualis nunc est, tantum
competunt.

Circa ea vero quae ceu omissa notabimus, ita nos geremus,
ut non leves tantum titulos et argumenta concisa eorum quae
desiderantur proponamus. Nam siquid inter omissa retuleri-
mus (modo sit dignioris subjecti) cujus ratio paulo videatur
obscurior, adeo ut merito suspicari possimus homines non
facile intellecturos quid nobis velimus aut quale sit illud opus
quod animo et cogitatione complectimur, perpetuo nobis curae
erit aut praecepta hujusmodi operis conficiendi aut etiam
partem operis ipsius jam a nobis confectam ad exemplum
totius subjungere; ut in singulis aut opera aut consilio
juvemus. Etenim etiam ad nostram existimationem, non
solum aliorum utilitatem, pertinere putavimus, ne quis arbi-
tretur levem aliquam de istiusmodi rebus notionem mentem
nostram perstrinxisse, atque esse ilia quae desideramus ac
prensamus tanquam votis similia. Ea vero talia sunt, quorum
et penes homines (nisi sibi ipsi desint) potestas plane sit, et
nos apud nosmet rationem quandam certam et explicatam
habearnus. Neque enim regiones metiri animo, ut augures,
auspiciorum causa : sed intrare, ut duces, promerendi studio,

suscepimus.

Atque haec prima operis pars cst.

Porro praetervecti artes veteres, intellectum humanum ad
trajiciendum instruemus. Destinatur itaque parti secundae,
doctrina de meliore et perfectiore usu rationis in rerum inqui-
sitione et de auxiliis veris intellectus : ut per hoc (quantum
conditio humanitatis ac mortalitatis patitur) exaltetur intel-
lectus, et facultate amplificetur ad naturae ardua et obscura
superanda. Atque est ea quam adducimus ars (quam In-
terpretalionem Naturae appellare consuevimus) ex genere
logicae; licet plurimum, atque adeo immensum quiddam,

1 72 DISTRIBUTIO O PERIS.

intersit. Nam et ipsa ilia logica vulgaris auxilia et praesidia
intellectui moliri ac parare profitetur : ct in hoc vino consen-
tiunt. Differt autem plane a vulgar! rebus praecipuc tribus :
viz. ipso fine, ordine demonstrandi, et inquirendi initiis.

Nam huic nostrae scientiae finis proponitur, ut inveniantur
non argumenta sed artes, nee principiis consentanea sed ipsa
principia, nee rationes probabiles sed designationes et indica-
tiones Opcrum. Itaque ex intentione diversa diversus se-
quitur effcctus. Illic enim adversarius disputatione vincitur
et constringitur ; hie natura opere.

Atque cum hujusmodi fine conveniunt demonstrationum
ipsarum natura et ordo. In logica enim vulgari opera fere
universa circa Syllogismum consumitur. De Inductione vero
Dialectic! vix serio cogitasse videntur ; levi mentione earn
transmittentes, et ad disputandi formulas properantes. At
nos dcmonstrationem per syllogismum rejicimus, quod con-
fusius agat, et naturam emittat e manibus. Tametsi enim
nemini dubium esse possit quin, quae in mcdio termino
conveniunt, ea et inter se conveniant (quod est mathematicae
cujusdam certitudinis) : nihilominus hoc subest fraudis, quod
syllogismus ex propositionibus constet, propositiones ex ver-
bis, verba autem 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 abstractae, et vagae, nee satis definitae et circum-
scriptae, denique multis modis vitiosae fuerint, omnia ruunt.
Rejicimus igitur syllogismum ; neque id solum quoad prin-
cipia (ad quae nee ill! cam adhibent) sed etiam quoad pro-
positiones meclias, quas educit sane atque parturit utcunque
syllogismus, sed operum steriles et a practica remotas et
plane quoad partem activam scientiarum incompetentes.
Ouamvis igitur relinquamus syllogismo et hujusmodi demon-
strationibus famosis ac jactatis jurisdictionem in artes popu-
lares ct opinabilcs (nil enim in hac parte movemus). tamen ad
naturam rcrum Inductione per omnia, et tarn ad minores pro-
positiones quam ad majores. utimur. Inductionetn enim cen-
scmus cam esse demonstrandi formam, quae sensum tuetur et
naturam prcmit et operibus imminet ac fere immiscetur.

Itaque ordo quoque demonstrandi plane invertitur. Adhuc

DISTRIBUTIO O PERIS. 173

enim res ita geri consuevit ; ut a sensu et particularibus primo
loco ad maxime generalia advoletur, tanquam ad polos fixos
circa quos disputationes vertantur ; ab illis caetera per media
deriventur : via certe compendiaria, sed praecipiti, et ad
naturam impervia, ad disputationes vero proclivi ct accom-
modata. At secundum nos, axiomata continenter et gra-
datim excitantur, ut nonnisi postremo loco ad generalissima
veniatur : ea vero generalissima evadunt non notionalia, sed
bene terminata, et talia quae natura ut revera sibi notiora
agnoscat. quaeque rebus haereant in medullis.

At in forma ipsa quoque inductionis, et judicio quod per
earn fit, opus longe maximum movemus. Ea enim de qua
dialectic! loquuntur, quae procedit per enumerationem sim-
plicem, puerile quiddam est, et precario concludit, et periculo
ab instantia contradictoria exponitur, et consueta tantum
intuetur, nee exitum reperit.

Atqui opus est ad scientias inductionis forma tali, quae
experientiam solvat et separet, et per exclusiones ac rejec-
tiones debitas necessario concludat. Quod si judicium illud
vulgatum dialecticorum tarn operosum fuerit, et tanta ingenia
exercuerit ; quanto magis laborandum est in hoc altero, quod
non tantum ex mentis penetralibus, sed etiam ex naturae
visceribus extrahitur?

Neque tamen hie finis. Nam fundamenta quoque scientia-
rum 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 principia scientiarum a scientiis singulis tan-
quam mutuo sumunt : rursus, notiones mentis primas vene-
rantur : postremo, informationibus immediatis sensus bene
dispositi acquiescunt. At nos logicam veram singulas scien-
tiarum provincias majore cum imperio quam penes ipsarum
principia sit debere ingredi decrevimus, atque ilia ipsa prin-
cipia putativa ad rationes reddendas compellere quousque
plane constent. Quod vero attinet ad notiones primas intel-
lectus; nihil est eorum quae intellectus sibi permissus congessit,
quin nobis pro suspecto sit, nee ullo modo ratum, nisi novo ju-
dicio se stiterit et secundum illud pronuntiatum fuerit. Quin-
etiam sensus ipsius informationes multis modis excutimus.

174 DISTRIBUTIO OPERIS.

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 imped itum effugiunt ; aut
subtilitate totius corporis. aut partium minutiis, aut loci dis-
tantia, aut tarditate atque etiam velocitate motus, aut familia-
ritate objecti, aut alias ob causas. Neque rursus, ubi sensus
rem tenet, prehensiones ejus admodum firmae sunt. Nam
testimonium et informatio sensus semper est ex analogia
hominis. non ex analogia universt : atque magno prorsus
errore asseritur. sensum esse mcnsuram rerum.

Itaque ut his occurratur, nos multo et fido ministerio
auxilia sensui undique conquisivimus et contraximus, ut
destitutionibus substitutiones, variationibus rectificationes sup-
peditentur. Neque id molimur tarn instrumentis quam ex-
perimentis. Etenim experimentorum longe major est subtilitas
quam sensus ipsius. licet instrumentis exquisitis adjuti; (de iis
loquimur experimentis. quae ad intentionem ejus quod quae-
ritur perite et secundum artem excogitata et apposita sunt).
Itaque perccptioni sensus immediatae ac propriae non multum
tribuimus : sed eo rem deducimus, ut sensus tantum de expe-
rimento, cxperimentum de re judicet. Quare existimamus
nos sensus (a quo omnia in naturalibus petenda sunt, nisi forte
libeat insanire) antistites religiosos, ct oraculorurn ejus non
imperitos interpretes, nos praestitisse : ut alii professione qua-
darn, nos re ipsa, sensum tueri ac colere vidcamur. Atque
hujusrnodi sunt ea quae ad lumen ipsum naturae ej usque
acccnsioncm et immissionem paramus : quae per se sufficcre
posscnt, si intellectus humanus aequus ct instar tabulae
abrasac esset. Sed cum mcntes hominum miris modi's adeo
obscssae sint ut ad veros rerum radios excipicndos sinccra et
polita area prorsus desit, neccssitas quaedam incumbit ut
etiam huic rci remedium quaerendum essc putcmus.

Idola autcm a quibus occupatur mens, vel Adscititia sunt
vcl Innata. Adscititia vero immigrarunt in mcntes hominum,
vel ex philosophorum placitis et scctis vcl ex perversis Icgibus
demonstrationurn. At Innata inhaerent naturae ipsius intel-
lectus, qui ad crrorem longe proclivior esse deprehenditur

DISTRIBUTIO O PERIS. 175

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 expediendis et
comminiscendis haud optima fide rerum naturae suam natu-
ram inserere et immiscere.

Atque priora ilia duo Idolorum genera aegre. postrema vero
haec nullo modo, evelli possunt. Id tantum relinquitur, ut
indicentur, atque ut vis ista mentis insidiatrix notetur et
convincatur ; ne forte a destructione veterum novi subinde
errorum surculi ex ipsa mala complexione mentis pullulent,
eoque res recidat, ut errores non extinguantur sed permu-
tentur ; verum e contra ut illud tandem in aeternum ratum
et fixum sit, intellectual nisi per inductionem ej usque formam
legitimam judicare non posse. Itaque doctrina ista de ex-
purgatione intellectus ut ipse ad veritatem habilis sit, tribus
redargutionibus absolvitur : redargutione philosophiarum, re-
dargutione demonstrationum, et redargutione rationis humanae
nativae. His vero explicatis, ac postquam demum patuerit
quid rerum natura, quid mentis natura ferat, existimamus nos
thalamum Mentis et Universi, pronuba divina bonitate, stra-
visse et ornasse. Epithalamii autem votum sit, ut ex eo con-
nubio auxilia humana et stirps inventorum quae necessitates
ac miserias hominum aliqua ex parte doment et subigant,
suscipiatur. Haec vero est operis pars secunda.

At vias non solum monstrare et munire, sed inire quoque
consilium est. Itaque tertia pars operis complectitur Phaeno-
mena Universi ; hoc est, omnigenam experientiam, atque his-
toriam naturalem ejus generis quae possit esse ad condendam
philosophiam fundamentalis. Neque enim excellens aliqua
demonstrandi via sive naturam interpretandi forma, ut men-
tem 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 pro-
positum est, quique non simiolas et fabulas mundorum com-
minisci, sed hujus ipsius veri mundi naturam introspicere et
velut dissecare in ammo habent, omnia a rebus ipsis petenda

176 DISTRIBUTIO OPER1S.

sunt. Neque huic labor! et inquisitioni ac mundanae peram-
bulationi ulla ingenii aut meditationis aut argumentationis
substitutio aut compensatio 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 ; tra-
ditio, vana et ex rumore ; practica, operi intcnta et servilis ;
vis experimentalis, caeca, stupida, vaga, et praerupta ; denique
historia naturalis, levis et inops, vitiosissimam materiam intel-
lectui ad philosophiam et scientias congesserunt.

Deinde, praepostera argumentandi subtilitas et vcntilatio
serum rebus plane desperatis tentatur remedium, nee negotium
ullo modo restituit aut errores separat. Itaque nulla spes
majoris augment! ac progressus sita est, nisi in restauratione
quadam scientiarum.

Hujus autem exordia omnino a naturali historia sumenda
sunt, eaque ipsa novi cujusdam generis et apparatus. Frustra
cnim fuerit speculum expolire, si desint imagines ; et plane
materia idonea praeparanda est intellectui, non solum praesidia
fida comparanda. Differt vero rursus historia nostra (quem-
admodum 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 cnim earn proponimus historiam naturalem. quae non
tarn aut rcrum varietate delectet aut praesenti experimentorum
fructu juvet, quam lucem invention i causarum affundat, et
philosophiae enutricandae primam mammam pracbeat. Licet
cnim opera atque activam scientiarum partem praecipue sc-
quamur, tamen messis tempus expectamus. nee museum et
segetcm hcrbidam clemetcrc conamur. Satis enim scimus.
axiomata recte inventa tota agmina operum secum trahere,
atque opera non sparsim sed confertim exhibere. Intem-
pestivum autem ilium ct puerilcm affectum, ut pignora aliqua
novorum operum propcrc captentur, prorsus damnamus et
amovcmus, ceu pomum Atalantae quod cursum rctardat.
Atque Historiae nostrae Naturalis officium tale est.

DISTRIBUTIO OPERIS. 177

Quoad congeriem vero, conficimus historiam non solum
naturae liberae ac solutae (cum scilicet ilia sponte fluit et
opus suum peragit), qualis est historia coelestium, meteororum,
terrae et maris, mineralium, plantarum, animalium ; sed multo
magis naturae constrictae et vexatae ; nempe, cum per artem
et ministerium humanum de statu suo detruditur, atque pre-
mitur et fingitur. Itaque omnia artium mechanicarum, omnia
operativae partis liberalium, omnia practicarum complurium
quae in artem propriam non coaluerunt, experimenta (quantum
inquirere licuit et quantum ad finem nostrum faciunt) per-
scribimus. Quin etiam (ut quod res est eloquamur) fastum
hominum et speciosa nil morati, multo plus et operae et
praesidii in hac parte quam in ilia altera ponimus ; quando-
quidem natura rerum magis se prodit per vexationes artis
quam in libertate propria.

Neque Corporum tantum historiam exhibemus ; sed dili-
gentiae insuper nostrae esse putavimus. etiam Virtutum ipsarum
(illarum dicimus quae tanquam cardinales in natura censeri
possint, et in quibus naturae primordia plane constituuntur,
utpote materiae primis passionibus ac desideriis, viz. Denso,
Raro, Calido, Frigido, Consistently Fluido, Gravi, Levi, aliisque
haud paucis) historiam seorsum comparare.

Enimvero ut de subtilitate dicamus, plane conquirimus genus
experimentorum longe subtilius et simplicius quam sunt ea
quae occurrunt. Complura enim a tenebris educimus et erui-
mus, quae nulli in mentem venisset 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 alphabet! se habeant ad ora-
tionem et verba ; quae, licet per se inutiles, eaedem tamen
omnis sermonis elementa sunt.

In delectu autem narrationum et experimentorum melius
homimbus cavisse nos arbitramur, quam qui adhuc in historia
naturali versati sunt. Nam omnia fide oculata aut saltern
perspecta, et summa quadam cum severitate. recipirnus ; ita
ut nil referatur auctum miraculi causa, sed quae narramus a
fabulis et vanitatc casta et intemerata sint. Quinetiam et
recepta quaeque ac jactata mendacia (quae mirabili quodam

178 DISTRIBUTIO O PERIS.

neglectu per saecula multa obtinuerunt et inveterata sunt)
nominatim proscribimus et notamus ; ne scientiis amplius
molesta sint. Quod enim prudenter animadvertit quidam,
fabulas et superstitiones et nugas quas nutriculae pueris instil-
lant mentes eorum etiam serio depravare : ita eadem nos
movit ratio ut solliciti atque etiam anxii simus ne ab initio,
cum veluti infantiam philosophiae sub historia naturali tracte-
mus et curemus, ilia alicui vanitati assuescat. At in omni
experimento novo et paulo subtiliore, licet (ut nobis videtur)
certo ac probato, modum tamen experimenti quo usi sumus
aperte subjungimus; ut, postquam patefactum sit quomodo
singula nobis constiterint. videant homines quid erroris subesse
et adhaerere possit, atque ad probationes magis fidas et magis
exquisitas (si quae sint) expergiscantur : denique ubique mo-
nita et scrupulos et cautiones aspergimus, religione quadam et
tanquam exorcismo omnia phantasmata ejicientes ac cohibentes.
Postremo, cum nobis exploratum sit quantopere experientia
et historia aciem mentis humanae disgreget, et quam difficile
sit (praesertim animis vel teneris vel praeoccupatis) a principio
cum natura consuescere, adjungimus saepius observationes
nostras, tanquam primas quasdam conversiones et inclinationes
ac veluti aspectus historiae ad philosophiam ; ut et pignoris
loco hominibus sint eos in historiae fluctibus perpetuo non
detentos iri, utque cum ad opus intellectus deveniatur omnia
sint magis in procinctu. Atque per hujusmodi (qualem de-
scribimus) 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 praesidiis
stipavimus, et justum divinorum operum exercitum severissimo
delectu comparavimus ; nil amplius superesse videtur, nisi ut
philosophiam ipsam aggrediamur. Attamen in re tarn ardua
et suspensa sunt quaedam quae necessario videntur inter-
ponenda ; partim docendi gratia, partim in usum praesentem.

Horum primum est. ut exempla proponantur inquirendi et
inveniendi secundum nostram rationem ac viam, in aliquibus
subjectis repraesentata : sumendo ea potissimum subjecta quae
et inter ea quae quaeruntur sunt nobilissima et inter se maxime

DISTRIBUTIO OPERIS. 179

diversa ; ut in unoquoque genere exemplum non desit. Neque
de iis exemplis loquimur quae singulis praeceptis ac regulis
illustrandi gratia adjiciuntur (hoc enim in secunda parte operis
abunde praestitimus) ; sed plane typos intelligimus et plasmata,
quae universum mentis processum atque inveniendi continu-
atam fabricam et ordinem. in certis subjectis, iisque variis et
insignibus, tanquam sub oculos ponant. Etenim nobis in
mentem venit, in mathematicis, astante machina, sequi demon-
strationem facilem et perspicuam ; contra, absque hac com-
moditate, omnia videri involuta et, quam revera sunt, subtiliora.
Itaque hujusmodi exemplis quartam partem nostri operis at-
tribuimus : quae revera nil aliud est, quam secundae partis
applicatio particularis et explicata.

At quinta pars ad tempus tantum, donee reliqua perfician-
tur, adhibetur ; et tanquam foenus redditur, usque dum sors
haberi possit. Neque enim finem nostrum ita petimus oc-
caecati, ut quae occurrunt in via utilia negligamus. Quam-
obrem quintam partem operis ex iis conficimus quae a nobis
aut inventa aut probata aut addita sunt ; neque id tamen ex
rationibus atque praescriptis interpretandi. sed ex eodem intel-
lectus usu quern alii in inquirendo et inveniendo adhibere
consueverunt. Etenim cum, ex perpetua nostra cum natura
consuetudine, majora de meditationibus nostris quam pro in-
genii viribus speramus ; turn poterunt ista veluti tabernaculorum
in via positorum vice fungi, ut mens ad certiora contendens in
iis paulisper acquiescat. Attamen 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 sim-
pltciter nil sciri posse, sed nil nisi certo ordine et certa via
sciri posse, asserit ; atque interea tamen certos certitudinis
gradus ad usum et levamen constituit, donee mens in causarum
explicatione consistat. Neque enim illae ipsae scholae phi-
losophorum qui Acatalcpsiam simpliciter tenuerunt inferiores
fuere istis quae pronuntiandi 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.

N 2

180 DISTRIBUT10 PERIS,

Sexta tandem pars operis nostri (cui reliquae inserviunt ac
ministrant) earn demum recludit et proponit philosophiam,
quae ex hujusmodi (qualem ante docuimus et paravimus) in-
quisitione legitima et casta et severa educitur et constituitur.
Hanc vero postremam partem perficere et ad exitum per-
ducere, res est et supra vires et ultra spes nostras collocata.
Nos ei initia (ut speramus) non contemnenda, exitum generis
human! fortuna dabit, qualem forte homines in hoc rerum
et animorum statu hand facile animo capere aut metiri queant.
Neque enim agitur solum foelicitas contemplativa, sed vere
res humanae et fortunae, 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 mtentiones geminae illae.
humanae scilicet Scientiac et Potentiae, 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 potius benigne faveat. ut
apocalypsim ac veram visionem vestigiorum et sigillorum
creatoris super creaturas scribamus.

Itaque Tu Pater, qui lucem visibilem primitias creaturae

dedisti. et lucem intellectualem ad fastigium operum tuorum

in facicm hominis inspirasti ; opus hoc, quod a ttia bonitate

profectum tuam gloriam repetit. tuere et rege. Tu postquam

conversus es ad spectandum opera quae fecerunt manus

tuae, vidisti quod omnia essent bona valde ; et requievisti.

At homo, conversus ad opera quae fecerunt manus suae.

vidit quod omnia essent vanitas et vexatio spiritus ; nee

ullo modo requicvit. Ouare si in operibus tuis sudabi-

mus. facies nos visionis tuae et sabbati tui participcs. Sup-

plices petimus, ut hacc mens nobis constct ; utquc

novis eleemosynis. per manus nostras ct

aliorum quibus candcm mcntcm

largicris. familiam huma-

nam dotatam veli.s.

DEEST PARS PRIMA

INSTAURATIONIS,

QUAE COMPLECTITUR

PARTITIONES SCIENTIARUM.

Illae tamen ex Secundo Libro de Progres-

sibus faciendis in Doctrina Di-

vina et Humana, nonmd-

la ex parte,peti

possunt.

SEQUITUR SECUNDA PARS

INSTAURATIONIS,

QUAE ARTEM IP SAM

Interpretandi Naturam, et verioris adoperatio-

nis Intellectus cxJiibet: neque cam ipsam

tamen in Corpore tractatusjusti,

scd tantuin digestam per

summas. in ApJw-

rismos.

PARS SECUNDA OPERIS,

QUAE DICITUR

N O V U M O R G A N U M.

SIVE

INDICIA VERA

DE INTERPRET ATIONE
NATURAE.

PRAEFATIO.

Qui de natura, tanquam de re explorata, pronuntiare ausi
sunt, sive hoc ex animi fiducia fecerint sive ambitiose et
more professorio, maximis illi philosophiam et scientias
detrimentis affecere. Ut enim ad fidem faciendam validi.
ita etiam ad inquisitionem extinguendam et abrumpendam
efficaces fuerunt. Neque virtute propfia 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 quadarrrdoctrinae copia in hanc opinionem delapsi
sint, certe non contemnendas ejus rationes adduxerunt ;
veruntamen nee a veris initiis sententiam suam derivarunt,
et, studio quodam atque affectatione provecti, prorsus modum
excesserunt. At antiquiores ex Graecis (quorum scripta
perierunt) inter pronuntiandi jactantiam et Acatalepsiae de-
sperationem prudentius se sustinuerunt : atque de inquisitionis
difficultate et rerum obscuritate saepius querimonias et in-
dignationes miscentes, et veluti fraenum mordentes, tamen
propositum urgere atque naturae se immiscere non destit-
erunt ; consentaneum (ut videtur) existimantes, hoc ipsum
(videlicet utrum aliquid sciri possit) non disputare, sed
expend. Et tamen illi ipsi, impetu tantum intellectus 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, sed mentis opus quod
sensum subsequitur plerunque rejiciamus ; novam autem et
certam viam, ab ipsis sensuum perceptionibus, menti aperi-
amus 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 sponte moventem suspectum habuisse. Sed
serum plane rebus perditis hoc adhibetur remedium ; post-
quam mens, ex quotidiana vitae consuetudine, et auditionibus
et doctrinis inquinatis occupata, et vanissimis idolis cbsessa

l86 PRAEFATIO.

fuerit. Itaque ars ilia dialecticae, sero (ut diximus) cavens,
neque rem ullo modo restituens, ad errores potius figendos
quam ad veritatem aperiendam 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
instrumentorum vi et ope, aggressi essent, quemadmodum
opera intellectualia nudis fere mentis viribus tractare non
dubitarunt, parvae admodum fuissent res quas movere et
vincere potuissent, licet operas enixas atque etiam conjunctas
praestitissent. Atque si paulisper morari, atque in hoc ipsum
exemplum, veluti in speculum, intueri velimus ; exquiramus
(si placet) si forte obeliscus aliquis magnitudine insignis ad
triumphi vel hujusmodi magnificentiae decus transferendus
esset, atque id homines nudis manibus aggrederentur, annon
hoc magnae cujusdam esse dementiae spectator quispiam rei
sobrius fateretur? Quod si numerum augerent operariorum,
atque hoc modo se valere posse confiderent, annon tanto
mngis? Sin autem delectum quendam adhibere vellent. atque
imbecilliores separare, et robustis tantum et vigentibus uti.
atque hinc saltern se voti compotes fore sperarent, annon
adhuc eos impensius delirare diceret ? Ouin etiam si hoc ipso
non content!, artem tandem athleticam consulere statuerent,
ac omnes 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 intellectual ibus ; 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) intel-
lectum nudum applicare non desinunt. Manifestissimum
autem est, in omni opere magno, quod manus hominis prae-
stat, sine instruments et machinis vires nee singulorum
intendi nee omnium coire posse.

Itaque ex his quae diximus praemissis, statuimus duas esse
res de quibus homines plane monitos volumus, ne forte illae

PRAEFATIO. 187

eos fugiant aut praetereant. Quarum prima hujusmodi est ;
fieri fato quodam (ut existimamus) bono, ad extinguendas
et depellendas contradictiones et tumores animorum, ut et
veteribus honor et reverentia intacta et imminuta maneant,
et nos destinata perficere et tamen modestiae nostrae fructum
percipere possimus. Nam nos, si profiteamur nos meliora
afferre quam antiqui, eandem quam illi viam ingressi, nulla
verborum arte efficere possimus, quin inducatur quaedam
ingenii vel excellentiae vel facultatis comparatio sive con-
tentio ; non ea quidem illicita aut nova ; quidni enim
possimus pro jure nostro (neque eo ipso alio, quam omnium),
si quid apud eos non recte inventum aut positum sit, repre-
hendere aut 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,
commutata jam ratio est ; cessant studium et partes ; nosque
indicis tantummodo personam sustinemus, quod mediocris
certe est authoritatis, et fortunae cujusdam potius quam
facultatis et excellentiae. Atque haec moniti species ad
personas pertinet : altera ad res ipsas.

Nos siquidem de deturbanda ea quae nunc floret philoso-
phia, aut si quae alia sit aut erit hac emendatior aut auctior,
minime laboramus. Neque enim officimus, quin philosophia
ista recepta, et aliae id genus, disputationes 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 capitur, neque ex praenotionibus intellectui bland-
itur, neque ad vulgi captum nisi per utilitatem et efifecta
descendet.

Sint itaque (quod foelix faustumque sit utrique parti) duae
doctrinarum emanationes, ac duae dispensationes ; duae simi-
liter contemplantium sive philosophantium tribus ac veluti
cognationes ; atque illae neutiquam inter se inimicae aut
alienae, sed foederatae et mutuis auxiliis devinctae : sit
denique alia scientias colendi, alia inveniendi ratio. Atque
quibus prima potior et acceptior est, ob festinationem, vel

1 88 PRAEFATIO.

vitae civilis rationes. vel quod illam alteram ob mentis in-
firmitatem capere et complecti non possint (id quod longe
plurimis accidere necesse est), optamus ut iis foeliciter et ex
voto succedat 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 penetrare ; 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,
aditus aliquando ad interiora patefiat. Atque ut melius
intelligamur, utque illud ipsum quod volumus ex nominibus
impositis magis familiariter occurrat, altera ratio sive via
Anticipatio Mentis^ altera Interpretatio Naturae^ a nobis ap-
pellari consuevit.

Est etiam quod petendum videtur. Nos certe cogitationem
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 (in tanta praesertim doctrinarum et scientiarum
restauratione) ut qui de hisce nostris aliquid, sive ex sensu
proprio, sive ex authoritatum turba, sive ex demonstrationum
formis (quae nunc tanquam leges quaedam judiciales inva-
luerunt), 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 as-
suescat ; pravos denique atque alte haerentes men-
tis habitus tempestiva et quasi legitima mo-
ra corrigat ; atque turn demum (si placue-
rit ), postquam in potestate sua esse coe-
perit, judicio suo utatur.

SEQUITUR

PARTIS SECUNDAE SUMMA,

DIGESTA

IN APHORISMOS.

PARTIS SECUNDAE

SUMMA,

DIGESTA

APHORISMOS.

SUMMARY OF BOOK I.

THE First Book of the Novum Organum, which was designed to be a
sort of introduction to the whole work, is called in the Partis Secundae
Delineatio (Ellis and Spedding, vol. iii. p. 552) 'pars praeparans,' in
opposition to the ' pars informans,' which was to be comprised in the
remaining books. The following brief account of its contents may be
of service to the reader. Aphs. 1-31 consist of certain preliminary remarks,
chiefly on the futility of the methods of enquiry at present in use and
the necessity of a more faithful study of Nature. In Aphs. 32-37, Bacon
makes a kind of apology for the introduction of a new method. Aphs.
38-70 contain the doctrine of the Idola, to which he justly attaches the
utmost importance. ' Primo enim mentis area aequanda, et liberanda
ab eis quae hactenus recepta sunt.' (Partis Secundae Delineatio, Eilis
and Spedding, vol. iii. p. 548.) Then follow the signs, five in number, of
the weakness and inutility of preceding philosophies (Aphs. 71-77). These
are followed by the causes, fifteen in number, of so long continuance in
error (Aphs. 78-92). In the middle of Aphorism 92, he passes on to
the Grounds of Hope in the future progress of Science. These are
twenty-one, and occupy Aphs. 92-1 15. The next three Aphorisms contain
three cautions or warnings. Aphs. 119-121 contain three apologies. Then
follow the answers to four possible objections (Aphs. 122-126). The next
Aphorism is of great importance, as vindicating for the application of his
method not only the field of natural, but also that of moral and mental
science. The remainder of the Book (Aphs. 128-130) consists of certain
miscellaneous remarks, forming the transition to Book ii.

APHORISMI

DE INTERPRETATIONE

NATURAE

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 l .

1 ' Man, the servant and interpreter of Nature, does and understands just
so much as he has discerned concerning the order of nature by observation
or reflexion (or by the observation of things or of himself) : nor does
he know more, or can he do more.'

The precise meaning of the words re vel mente observaverit is not clear.
The distinction intended may be either, as I am inclined to think is the
case, between the observation of facts and the subsequent process of medi-
tation or reflexion on such observation, or between the observation of the
external world and that of our own minds, external and internal perception,
as they have been called. According to either interpretation, the passage
will remind the reader of the main positions in Locke's Essay, to which
it might well serve as a motto. Though the precise meaning of the words
is obscure, the purport of the Aphorism is plain. Man, if he would learn
or do anything, must carefully watch the processes of Nature, must register
and interpret her phenomena. This is his only way either to knowledge
or power.

The same sentence, with a slight variation, occurs towards the end of
the Distributio Operis. Its connexion in that place with the preceding
and succeeding sentences is worthy of notice. ' Neque enim agitur solum
feiicitas contemplativa, sed vere res humanae et fortunae, atque omnis
operum potentia. Homo enim naturae minister et interpres tantum
facit et intelligit, quantum de naturae ordine, opere vel mente, observaverit ;

192 NOVUM ORGANUM.

II.

Nee manus nuda, nee intellectus sibi permissus, multum
valet ; instrumentis et auxiliis res perficitur ; quibus opus
est, non minus ad intellectum, quam ad manum. Atque ut
instrumenta manus motum aut cient aut regunt ; ita et in-
strumenta mentis intellectui aut suggerunt aut cavent.

III.

Scientia et potentia humana in idem coincidunt 2 , quia
ignoratio causae destituit effectum. Natura enim non nisi

parendo vincitur 3 : et quod in contemplatione instar causae
est, id in operatione instar regulae est.

IV.

Ad opera nil aliud potest homo, quam ut corpora natu-
ralia admoveat et amoveat : reliqua natura intus transigit 4 .

nee amplius scit, aut potest. Neque enim ullae vires causarum catenam
solvere aut perfringere possint, neque natura aliter quam parendo vincitur.'

Mr. Bywater has pointed out to me a passage in Galen (ed. Ktihn.
Tom. xv. p. 309) shewing that the expression ' minister naturae ' was used
by Hippocrates, who called the true physician rrjs (frvcrfais v^pe'r^f.

' 2 The same thought is often briefly expressed in English under the
form : ' Knowledge is Power.' (Cp. Hobbes, De Homine, cap. x :
' Scientia potentia est, sed parva ; quia scientia egregia rara est, nee
proinde apparens nisi paucissimis, et in paucis rebus.') It may be re-
marked that Power always implies Knowledge, but Knowledge does not
always give power. To do a thing, we must know how to do it, but there
are some departments of knowledge which, however interesting in them-
selves or valuable as instruments of mental discipline, do not appear to
increase our power over Nature.

Bacon seldom loses any opportunity of insisting on the practical ap-
plications of science. Professor Playfair truly remarks that the want of
connexion between the sciences and arts was one of the principal defects
which Bacon deplored in the philosophy of his time.

:i We must patiently observe Nature, if we wish to acquire any control
over her operations. Our ' rules ' are merely copies and adaptations of
the ' causes ' which we see at work in the external world. The same
sentence, slightly altered, is repeated in Aphorism 129. See note on it in
that place.

4 We cannot create ; we can only combine or separate bodies already
existing. 'In Art,' says Playfair, 'man does nothing more than bring
things nearer to one another, or carry them farther off; the rest is
performed by Nature, and on most occasions by means of which we are
quite ignorant.'

LIB, I. 26. 193

Solent se immiscere naturae (quoad opera 5 ) mechanicus,
mathematicus, medicus, alchemista, et magus ; sed omnes (ut
nunc sunt res) conatu levi, successu tenui G .

VI.
Insanum quiddam esset, et in se contrarium, existimare ea,

5 So far as concerns the active or operative part of knowledge, that is to
say, Art as distinguished from Science.

6 Dr. Kitchin has the following note: 'As to the Mechanician, the
Mathematician and the Physician, Bacon's remarks were being falsified at
the very time he wrote. Mechanics had produced fly-clocks, telescopes,
and other useful contrivances. Mathematics boasted of Kepler and Galileo ;
and the discoveries of Harvey and Gilbert were opening out a new world
for Medical research. But Bacon could scarcely have discerned all this,
and his jealousy' (or, as I should rather say, distrust) 'of his contem-
poraries (cp. I. 54) would scarcely have allowed him to acknowledge
their worth. Besides this he was utterly ignorant of Mathematics (see
Hallam, Lit. Eur. vol. II. iii. 3. 78). Alchemy was certainly thoroughly
empirical and faulty : for " at this time Chemistry seemed to have an
elective attraction for everything that was absurd and unfounded." (Play-
fair.) And Magic, which still exerted great influence, was as bad. Sir
T. Browne, Rel. Med. i. 31, gives some account of it; which is worth
consulting, as it gives the views of a physician and contemporary of
Bacon. Cp. also De Augm. Sc. iii. 5, and Adv. of Learning, Bk. ii.'

In Aph. 85, Bacon distinguishes between Natural and Superstitious
Magic. Natural Magic is treated in the De Augmentis, lib. iii. cap. 5, as
supplementary to the Inquisition of Forms, and vindicated, when dis-
tinguished from the ' false and ignoble kind,' as a legitimate branch of
enquiry. 'Si igitur desiderari earn partem Metaphysicae quae de Formis
agit posuimus, sequitur ut Naturalis etiam Magta, quae ad earn est relativa,
similiter desideretur. Verum hoc loco postulandum videtur, ut vocabulum
istud Magzae, in deteriorem partem jampridem acceptum, antiquo et
honorifico sensui restituatur. Etenim Magia apud Persas pro sapientia
sublimi, et scientia consensuum rerum universalium, accipiebatur ; atque
etiam tres illi reges, qui ab Oriente ad Christum adorandum venerunt,
Magorum nomine vocabantur. Nos vero earn illo in scnsu intelligimus,
ut sit scientia quae cognitionem Formarum Abditarum ad opera ad-
miranda deducat ; atque, quod dici solet, acti-va aim passivis conjungendo
magnalia naturae manifested'

The substance of this Aphorism, greatly expanded, occupies the two
first paragraphs of the Cogitata et Visa. These paragraphs are too long
to be extracted, but they may be read by the student with advantage.
See also Filum Labyrinth! sive Formula Inquisitionis, ad init. (E. and S.,
vol. iii. pp. 496, 497).

194 NOVUM ORGANUM.

quae adhuc nunquam facta sunt, fieri posse, nisi per modos
adhuc nunquam tentatos.

VII.

Generationes mentis et manus numerosae admodura viden-
tur in libris et opificiis. Sed omnis ista varietas sita est in
subtilitate eximia, et derivationibus paucarum rerum, quae
innotuerunt ; non in numero axiomatum 7 .

7 The^wOTd_Axioma^is used by Bacon of any general proposition. In
Aphorism 103, Axiomata are contrasted with 'Opera' and 'particularia.'
In Aphorism 104, he speaks of ' axiomata generalissima ' ('quaiia sunt
principia, quae vocant, artium et rerum'), 'axiomata media,' and
'axiomata minora' or 'infima.' Of the last class he says, ' Etenim
axiomata infima non multum ab experientia nuda discrepant.'

In the works of Aristotle, the word u^ia>/j.a, even when confined to its

logical sense, is employed in no less than three significations. Sometimes

(I) it is used for any proposition whatever, as, for instance, in Topics, ix. or

*--w->N^A_^^xJ~N^ 1 ^_^^'S ta ^-t^'N^ . ^^_^_^ 7

Soph. EL, 24 (ed. Bekker, p. 179 b. 12-15) : ourr; 8' OVK farm, av TLS p) tVt
rov flSfvai dA\' f'n\ TOV elvai rj TTU>S e^etv TO avro di'coua XafJL&dvrj, oiov el o8e
earl TTciTi]p, eaTi de <rdj. Cp. Topics, viii. I (p. 156 a. 23), viii. 3 (p. I59~a.

(2,) 4, 5). Secondly, Aristotle shews that he is aware of the signification in
which the term_ was ern^l^edj3vj]3j^i^j^ajiciaTis, who then, as now, desig-
nated the first principles of their science as 'axioms.' AcKTtov 8e iroTepov
puts ij fTepas fni<TTf]fir)s irepi re TU>V tv TOLS fj.adrjfJLaari KaXovnevuv a ico/.tarcoi' /cat
Ttfpl rrjs oiauis. Metaphysics, iii. 3 (1005 a. 19-21). Cp. Post. An. i. 10.

OJ) Lastly, he employs the term in a peculiarly technical sense of his own, to
designate those ultimate jDrinciples o_r asjSjomptKms which are necessary
not to the knowledge of this or that particular science but to^ajv^Jknow-
ledg^e jvhjit^^ever. In this sense, o^tco/xara are contrasted with deo-eis, the
first principles of this or that particular science. 'AyueVou 8' <'px'l y o-i^XAo-
yii7TLKi]s Qfffiv nei> \eyu> fji> JJLI} ecrri Sei^at, fjit']^ dvdyKr) fX SLV T " v ^ a 6 r jO'"^v<jv
TI' T]V 8' dvdyKr) e^fLV TOV OTLOVV p.ndrjcrop.evoi', d^i'co/ua' eVrt yup ei'ia T< Ltiira'
TOVTO "yap ii.<.'ihicrT eni Tins TOIOVTOIS eiatdiip.fi' ovop.a \eyeiv. An. Post. i. 2
(p. 72 a. 14-18). Cp. i. 10. As an example of 'Axioms' in this sense
may be adduced the ' Law of Contradiction,' which Aristotle describes
(Metaphysics, iii. 3, p. 1005 b. 33, 34! as c/u'cm dp^ij KU\ TWV a\\u>v
diwp.('iTa>i> -navTuv. The Mathematical Axioms arc analogous to the
Logical Axioms, inasmuch as they are common to all those branches of
knowledge which Aristotle included within the sphere of 7roSeiKTno}.

Some logicians, especially those of the school of Ramus, use the word
Axioma as the ejruiva^ejTt^f^T^roj;)^^ Thus Milton (Ars

Logica, li!) ii. cap. 2) defines and defends this use of the word as follows :
'Axioma est dispositio argumcnti cum argumento 1 , qua esse aliquid aut
non cssc indicatur. Axioma sacpe Aristoteli significat propositionem sive

1 'Argumentum autcm cum argumento est id qucd arguit cum eo <|uod arguitur.'

LIB. L 78. 195

VIII.

Etiam opera, quae jam inventa sunt. casui debentur ct
experientiae 8 , magis quam scientiis : scientiae enim, quas
nunc habemus, nihil aliud sunt quam quaedam concinna-
tiones rerum antea inventarum ; non modi inveniendi, aut
designationes novorum operum.

sententiam ita claram, ut quasi digna sit cui propter se fides habeatur.
Alias axioma et propositionem sive sententiam quamlibet pro eodem is
habet : et recte quidem : ut enim sententia a sentio, i. e. existimo vel
arbitror, ita axioma a verbo Graeco quod idem significat, derivatur.
Atque hujus vocis generalem hanc significationem apud veteres Dialecticos
receptam fuisse, ex Cicerone, Plutarcho, Laertio, Gellio, Galeno lib. xvi.
c. 8 etc. constat.' Cicero, following the Stoics, appears invariably to use
the word in this sense. 'Nempe fundamentum dialecticae est, quidquid
enuntietur (id autem appellant dua//a, quod est quasi effatum) aut verum
esse aut falsum.' Acad. II. 29. 'Omne pronuntiatum (sic enim mihi in
praesentia occurrit, ut appellarem a^t'co/xa ; utar post alio, si invenero
melius) id ergo est pronuntiatum, quod est verum aut falsum.' Tusc. i. 7.
Bacon's usage of the word seems to differ from this only in restricting it
to general propositions, that is, in excluding the ' axioma particulare ' and
the ' axioma proprium ' of the Ramists.

The word is frequently restricted to sejf^eyjd^^jroposidons, whether
common to all sciences, or peculiar to some particular science. Thus
Chauvin in his Lexicon Philosophicum defines an Axiom as ' sententia
generalis cuilibet attendenti nota,' and we commonly speak of truths,
which require no proof, as ' axiomatic.'

Newton's use of the word appears to be less general than that of Bacon.
Though he does not restrict it to self-evident propositions, or to those
truths which are common to all sciences, he apjDejy^jjisje^j;xcJ^
of_jJiLJilsLJ2jiSiBl e ^^ Thus, in the Principia,

he speaks of the ' Axiomata sive Leges Motus,' and at the beginning of the
Optics he enumerates five Axioms, such as that ' The Angles of Reflexion
and Refraction lie in one and the same Plane with the Angle of Incidence,'
'The Angle of Reflexion is equal to the Angle of Incidence,' etc. These
first principles would answer to the ' Axiomata Generalissima ' of Bacon.

We have seen that Cicero proposes the word ' pronuntiatum ' as a
translation of a^ico/^a in its more general sense, when used as the equi-
valent of proposition. The words ' maxim.' ' principle,' or ' dignitas '
sometimes replace it in its more restricted senses.

The student will find a long note on the etymology and meaning of
the word 'Axiom' in Hamilton's edition of Reid, pp. 764-6.

s e^neipia, empiricism, mere experience, as distinguished from properly
directed observation and experiment. For a distinction between the
different kinds of experience and their bearing on discover}', see De
Augmentis, lib. v. cap. 2.

O 2

196 NOVUM ORGANUM.

IX.

Causa vero et radix fere omnium malorum in scientiis ea
una est ; quod dum mentis humanae vires falso miramur et
extollimus, vera ejus auxilia non quaeramus.

Subtilitas naturae subtilitatem sensus et intellectus multis
partibus superat 9 ; ut pulchrae illae meditationes et specula-
tiones humanae et causationes 10 res malesana sint, nisi quod
non adsit qui advertat n .

Sicut scientiae 12 , quae nunc habentur, inutiles sunt ad in-

9 Dr. Kitchin here very appositely quotes Aristotle, Metaph. a. i.
"itrcos 8e KOI rijs xaXfTrdr^To? ovarjs Kara Svo rponovs, OVK tv TOIS Tfpa.yp.acnv.
a\\' e v rjp.1v TO aiTiov avrrjs. Q(nrep yap /cat TO TU>V vvKrepiftiov op.p.ciTa Trpos TO
0eyyos e^ei TO pifd' Tjp.epav, OVTO> Kal rrjs ^p.fTpas "^v^s 6 vovs irpbs TO 77;
(pvirei (^avfpwTara TfdvTU>v.

To the same effect we find a passage in Galileo's Dialogo dei Massimi
Sistemi, Giornata Prima (Sir Thomas Salisbury's Translation, pp. 84, 85) :

Sagredns. ' I ever accounted extraordinary madness that of those who
would make human comprehension the measure of what nature hath a
power or knowledge to effect ; whereas on the contrary there is not any
the least effect in Nature, which can be fully understood by the most
speculative wits in the world. This their so vain presumption of knowing
all can take beginning from nothing, unless from their never having known
anything ; for if one hath but once only experienced the perfect knowledge
of one only thing, and but truly tasted what it is to know, he shall perceive
that of infinite other conclusions he understands not so much as one.'

10 A post-classical word. ' Controy^rsie_s.' Du Cange explains it as
' Lis, controversia, placitum,' and, amongst other authorities, quotes Gregor.
Magn. lib. i. epist. 9 : ' Fines, de quibus causatio mota est ; ' Concilium
Arelatense, an. 813. can. 16 : ' Ne in Dominicis diebus publicae mercatae.
neque causationes disceptationesque exerceantur.'

The word occurs in the sense of an ' excuse ' or ' apology ' as early
as the time of Aulus Gellius (' Atque id fecerunt ne causatio ista aegri
corporis perpetuam vacationem daret fidem detrectantibus, jurisque ac-
tiones dcclinantibus,' Noctes Atticae, lib. xx. cap. i), but that does not
seem to be its meaning in this place.

1 \Ye cannot place ourselves sufficiently apart from the crowd in which
we move, to obtain anything like an adequate idea of its eccentricities
and delusions.

12 Aphorisms xi xiv should be considered in connexion with each
other. They contain the sum of Bacon's complaint against the old logic.
Though the scholastic logic recognised Induction as a form of reasoning,

LIB. I. 9 12. 197

ventionem operum ; ita et logica, quae nunc habetur, inutilis
est ad inventionem scientiarum.

XII.

Logica, quae in usu cst, ad errorcs (qui in notionibus
vulgaribus fundantur) stabiliendos et figendos valet, potius
quam ad inquisitionem veritatis ; ut magis damnosa sit, quam
utilis.

it failed to see its importance, and had not attempted to lay down any
rules for its employment. Hence, practically, it was exclusively a syllo-
gistic logic. Now it is the function of syllogism to develope the con-
sequences of a principle, not to examine the principle itself. But, unless
we examine the principle, how can we be certain of the truth of the
consequences ? We may only be multiplying error instead of truth. The
conclusion of every new syllogism may be only one error the more, and,
from the false confidence which the mere reiteration of a proposition
begets in the mind, a principle which at first was received with hesitation
may come to be regarded as unassailable, and be assumed as placed
beyond all doubt. When men have reared a vast superstructure of reason-
ing, they are naturally unwilling to examine the foundations. What is
required, then, not in order to replace, but in order to supplement, the
old logic, is a logic which shall guarantee the premisses as well as the
conclusions, which shall probe the validity of our elementary notions and
first principles, as well as develope their ulterior consequences. Such a
logic Bacon proposed to supply, or at least to inaugurate.

That Bacon recognised the function of the Syllogism as supplementary
to Induction, is evident from several passages of the Novum Organum
itself. But perhaps his most explicit statement on this subject is to be
found in a letter to Father Baranzan (published in Spedding's Letters and
Life of Bacon, vol. vii. pp. 375-7). This letter, which is also interesting
on other accounts, contains the following passage :

'Non est meum abdicare in totum syllogismum. K^s^st^syjlogjsmus
gSi^Jlhjaj3il{s^^

' Ad Mathematica quidni adhibeatur ? Cum fluxus materiae et incon-
stantia corporis physici illud sit, quod inductionem desideret ; ut per earn
veluti figatur, atque inde eruantur notiones bene terminatae.

' De Metaghysicane sis sollicitus. Nullaenim eritpost veram Physicam
inventanT;' ultra quam nihil praeter divina.

' In Ijhysica^prudenter notas, et idem tecum sentio, post notiones primae
classis, et axiomata super ipsas per inductionem bene eruta et terminata,
tuto adhiberi syllogismum, modo inhibeatur saltus ad generalissima, et
fiat progressus per scalam convenientem.'

On the place of Induction in Aristotle's system of logic, I have spoken
in the Introduction.

198 NOVUM ORGANUM.

XIII.

Syllogismus ad principia scientiarum 13 non adhibetur. ad
media axiomata frustra adhibetur u , cum sit 15 subtilitati
naturae longe impar. Assensum itaque constringit, non res.

XIV.

Syllogismus ex propositionibus constat, propositioncs ex
verbis, verba notionum tesserae sunt 1(! . Itaque si notiones
ipsae (id quod basis rei est) confusae sint, et temere a rebus
abstractae ; nihil in iis, quae supcrstruuntur, est firmitudinis.
Itaque spes est una in inductions vera n .

13 The /'x nl ' f Aristotle. That the apxai, being the ultimate major
premisses from which syllogism proceeds, do not themselves admit of
syllogistic proof, is constantly insisted on by Aristotle. See, for instance,
An. 1'ost. i. 2 (72 a. 7)5 <*pXn & fcrriv (woSei^ecos Trpi'trncris apecros, ap.erros 8e
rjs p.1] fVTiv li\\ri -rrporepa. He also constantly insists on the fact that these
ultimate principles must be gained by induction. See, for instance, Ethics,
vi. 3. (3),'EK 7rpoyt.v(0<TKOp.va>i> 8e rracrn Si8ovcaXi'n, axnrep KM fi> rols dva\VTl-
Kols Xeyofj.fi'' i] fiev yap 81 errayoiyf/S) r) 8e truXXoytcr/JW. 'H fj.ev 8rj eVaycoyi)
dpX*l e '" rl Ka ^ T v K-o6o\ov, o 8e (Tv\\oyicrp.bs en TU>V Ka66\ov. Eunv apa upx^i
e'| u>i> o crv\\oyirrp.bs, wv OVK <TTI (rv\\oyicrfj.os' errayaiyi} apa. Amongst Other
decisive passages to the same effect may be specially cited An. Post. ii. 19,
and Mctaph. i. i.

14 For if the principia scientiarum be uncertain, the axiomata media,
which are deduced from them, must, of course, be uncertain as well.
We cannot rely on the truth of the conclusion, till \ve have placed beyond
doubt the truth of the premisses.

;> The reason here assigned applies to both the preceding clauses.

r> For the metaphor, cp. Arist. Soph. El.ch. I.

The spoken or written word, it is true, is only the symbol of the notion in
the mind of the speaker or writer, but could the notion itself be formed or
retained without the use of language ? This or that particular word is, of
course, separable from the corresponding idea (as is shewn by the mere
fact of translation from one language into another), but, without the use
of signs of some kind or other, we could hardly make any progress
in thinking. These considerations, however, do not affect the truth of
Bacon's criticism. Whether we speak of the ultimate constituents of the
syllogism as words or notions, it is essential to all reasoning that we
should have a clear understanding of them.

'' Cp. ii. 19, with the notes on that Aphorism. At first sight, it
may not seem plain why it should be the office of Induction to remedy
the defect of obscure, false, or inadequate notions. But all notions,
\ve must recollect, involve judgments. In forming or attempting to
realise a notion, we really assert a number of propositions. Thus,
if I put before my mind the notion of gold, I think of it as yellow.

LIB. I. 13 17. 199

XV.

In notionibus nil sani est, nee in logicis, nee in physicis :
non substantia^ non gualitas, agere, pati, ipsum esse, bonae
notiones sunt ; multo minus grave, leve, densmn, tenue, humi-
dum, siccnm, generatio, corruptio, attraJiere, fugare, clcmentum,
materia, forma, et id genus ; sed omnes phantasticae et male
terminatae 18 .

XVI.

Notiones infimarum specierum, hominis, canis, coh/mbae,
et prehensionum immediatarum sensus, calidi, frigidi, albi,
nigri, non fallunt magnopere ; quae tamen ipsae a fluxu
materiae et cpjTTrnissione_ rerum quandoque confunduntur 19 :
reliquae omnes (quibus homines hactenus usi sunt) aberra-
tiones sunt, nee debitis modis a rebus abstractae et excitatae.

XVII.

Nee minor est libido et aberratio in constituendis axiomati-
bus, quam in notionibus abstrahendis ; idque in ipsis prin-
cipiis. quae ab inductione vulgari 2!) pendent At multo major 21
est in axiomatibus, et propositionibus inferioribus, quae educit
syllogismus.

malleable, heavy, capable of being exchanged, etc., and, without forming
these judgments, I should not realise the notion. Now, when we are
dealing with Nature, sound judgments, and, therefore, sound notions can
only be gained by observation of facts and a legitimate generalisation from
those facts. We may see from what has been said that the Definition
of natural objects or qualities (as distinct from merely technical terms)
ought always to rest on previous inductions.
" Ill-defined.

19 It must be recollected that there is no breach of continuity in Nature
as there is in our distinctions. Hence, our terms or notions are never
exhaustive or adequately representative of the endless varieties of Nature.
Mr. Ellis proposes to read commistione for commissione. ' From the
context it is clear that Bacon means that the union_f^odigsjpj^jfferent
kmds, by giving 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 " c^mmjsnone " for " com-
missione." '

20 He is alluding to the Inductio per enumerationem simplicem as dis-
tinguished from the Scientific Induction by which he proposes to replace it.

- 1 For, by deducing error from error, we recede further and further
from the truth.

200 NOVUM ORGANUM.

XVIII.

Ouae adhuc inventa sunt in scicntiis, ea hujusmodi sunt, ut
notionibus vulgaribus fere subjaceant : ut vero ad interiora et
remotiora naturae penetretur, necesse est ut tarn notiones
quam axiomata magis certa et munita via a rebus abstra-
hantur, atque omnino mciior ct certior intcllectus adoperatio

in usum veniat.

XIX.

Duae viae 22 sunt, atque esse possunt, ad inquirendam et

-- It should be noticed that even the falsest and flimsiest generalisations
about Nature rest upon some slight basis of fact. After observing a few
particulars, Bacon complains, men usually fly off to the widest gene-
ralisations, and then acquiesce in these, as if they were so many indubitable
truths. But, in considering this frequent source of error, he does not per-
ceive that rapid generalisation is often indispensable to the scientific
enquirer. The fault does not consist so much in making rapid gene-
ralisations as in acquiescing too readily and confidently in them, when
made. The method of gradual and continuous ascent from particulars
to the highest axioms, through all the intermediate steps, which is here
commended by Bacon, is not the method which, for the most part, has
been actually pursued by the most successful investigators of Nature, nor
would its general adoption contribute to the advancement of science.
Provided a hypothesis be regarded simply as a hypothesis, and not assumed
as true without a rigorous investigation, the mere fact of its generality
ought to be no objection to it. Indeed, by stimulating enquiry and
directing its course, it is plain that a very general hypothesis, such as
the theory of universal gravitation, or Laplace's nebular hypothesis, or
the wave-theory of light and sound, or the theory of evolution, or the
theory of final causes, even in its cruder forms, may, whether ultimately
proved to be true or false, be of the utmost service in the investigation
even of small groups of facts. The all-important proviso, of course, is
that, till proi/cd, such a hypothesis must be taken simply quantum 1'aleat,
as a hypothesis and no more. It would be far from an advantage to
science, to restrain the flights of scientific imagination, but the products
of imagination must never be confounded with the results of proof. The
fantastic character of the Ancient Physics was due far less to an exuberant
imagination than to a defective sense of evidence. And the true remedy
was to insist on the necessity of verification rather than on the suppression
of hypothesis.

There is, therefore, a third way of^mvestigation which is not open to
Bacon's animadversions and which is peculiarly the way of genius. It
begins, like the other two, with the observation of particulars, for this
always is and must be the first step, and then, by an effort of imagination,
frames for itself some explanation which has a far wider range of appli-
cation than the special class of phenomena which has been observed.

LIB. I. 18 19. 201

inveniendam veritatem. Altera a sensu et particularibus
advolat ad axiomata maxime generalia, atque ex iis prin-

This axioma maxime generale is regarded as a hypothesis, to be hereafter
proved or disproved, but, meanwhile, it serves as a provisional explanation
of the facts, and stimulates to further investigations. From it may be
deduced a number of axiomata media which admit of being constantly
compared with facts, and thus an ever-increasing experience tends to
prove or disprove the axiom in question. If facts do not agree with
the deductions from the hypothesis, it must be thrown aside as useless
or modified to meet the exceptions ; but if it agree with the facts, there
is a strong presumption in its favour. Even still, however, it must not
be finally admitted as an ascertained truth, till it has been shewn to
conform with the rigorous requirements of the inductive methods, or con-
nected deductively with some still higher generalisations which have been
established on independent grounds. When this final step has been taken,
the axiomata media deduced from it may be accepted with implicit con-
fidence.

Generally speaking, the axioma maxime generale, even when conceived
before the axiomata media, will rest on an induction from these, as its final
proof; as these themselves will probably rest on lower axioms, and so on till
we reach the axioms which rest on an induction from individual facts.
But, in the order of conception, though not in the order of proof, the
axioma maxime generale or one of the highest of the intermediate axioms
usually comes first, and this circumstance it is which distinguishes the
method I am describing from that commended by Bacon.

The history of the Theory of Gravitation supplies an example of a
scientific doctrine, the steps of which were established almost in the exact
order which Bacon recommends. This fact may be seen by consulting
the Inductive Table of Astronomy given in Dr. Whewell's Novum
Organum Renovatum. Moreover, in all sciences this order is the most
convenient mode of representing the laws, when once established, though,
as we have seen, it is by no means that in which they are always actually
established, as a matter of fact. Bearing in mind this qualification, I may
adopt the words of Dr. Whewell :

' We have, indeed, already explained that science consists of Propositions
which include the Facts from which they were collected ; and other wider
Propositions, collected in like manner from the former, and including
them. Thus, that the stars, the moon, the sun, rise, culminate, and set,
are facts included in the proposition that the heavens, carrying with them
all the celestial bodies, have a diurnal revolution about the axis of the
earth. Again, the observed monthly motions of the moon, and the annual
motions of the sun, are included in certain propositions concerning the
movements of those luminaries with respect to the stars. But all these
propositions are really included in the doctrine that the earth, revolving on
its axis, moves round the sun, and the moon round the earth. These
movements, again, considered as facts, are explained and included in the

202 NOVUM ORGANUM.

cipiis eorumque immota veritate judicat et invenit axiomata
media ; atque haec via in usu est. Altera a sensu et particu-
laribus excitat axiomata, ascendendo continenter et gradatim,
ut ultimo loco perveniatur ad maxime generalia ; quae via
vera est, sed intentata.

XX.

Eandem ingreditur viam (priorem scilicet) intellectus sibi
permissus, quam facit ex ordine dialecticae 23 . Gestit enim

statement of the forces which the earth exerts upon the moon, and the
sun upon the earth. Again, this doctrine of the forces of these three
bodies is included in the assertion, that all the bodies of the solar system,
and all parts of matter, exert forces, each upon each. And we might easily
shew that all the leading facts in astronomy are comprehended in the same
generalisation. In like manner with regard to any other science, so far as
its truths have been well established and fully developed, we might shew
that it consists of a gradation of propositions, proceeding from the most
special facts to the most general theoretical assertions.' (Novum Organum
Renovatum, ch. vi. i.)

Even in Astronomy, however, the heliocentric hypothesis had occurred
to the ancients long before the state of their knowledge was sufficient
to supply them with sound arguments for it ; nor, even in the time of
Copernicus himself, was it more than the simplest and most consistent
explanation of known facts.

The student is specially recommended to read Mr. Mill's strictures on
this Aphorism. See Mill's Logic, bk. vi. ch. 5. 5. On the other side, he
may refer to Dr. Whewell's Philosophy of Discovery, ch. xxii. 56-62.

In extenuation of Bacon's error, for such I conceive it to be, may be
pleaded the exceedingly vague and unsatisfactory character of the 'axiomata
maxime generalia ' which were in vogue in his time. As proof of this
circumstance, I may cite the list which Mr. Mill himself gives at the
beginning of the 24th chapter of his Examination of Sir \V. Hamilton's
Philosophy.

Notwithstanding all that is said here and in other places, Bacon himself
had recourse to hypothesis (under the name of ' permissio intellectus ') in
II. 20. The view which he there takes of its relation to Induction is far
more just than that here taken. See my note on the beginning of that
Aphorism.

23 The mind is naturally prone to the false method, and is encouraged in
its tendencies by the use of the vulgar logic, which fails to insist on the
examination of first principles. This proneness of the mind to rest in
first principles, however obtained, and to resent any examination of them,
is due mainly to a combination of pride with mental indolence. We recoil
from the trouble of reviewing what lies at the bottom of so many of our
beliefs, and we are too proud to acknowledge that we have been so long or
so frequently in error. To a certain extent, also, it may be accounted for

LIB. I. 2O 22. 203

mens exsilire ad magis generalia, ut acquiescat ; et post par-
vam moram fastidit experientiam : sed haec mala demum
aucta sunt a dialectica ob pompas disputationum.

XXI.

Intellcctus sibi permissus, in ingenio sobrio et patiente et
gravi (praesertim si a doctrinis receptis non impediatur),
tentat nonnihil illam alteram viam, quae recta est, sed exiguo
profectu ; cum intellectus, nisi regatur et juvetur, res inae-
qualis 24 sit, et omnino inhabilis ad superandam rerum obscuri-
tatem.

XXII.

Utraque via orditur a sensu et particularibus 25 , et acquiescit
in maxime generalibus : sed immensum quiddam discrepant ;
cum altera perstringat tantum experientiam et particularia
cursim ; altera in iis rite et ordine versetur : altera rursus jam
a principio constituat generalia quaedam abstracta et inu-
tilia 2C ; altera gradatim exsurgat ad ea quae revera naturae
sunt notiora 27 .

by the principle of association. We have ourselves repeated, or heard the
maxim repeated by others, so frequently, and in connexion with so many
other propositions which we accept as true, that we can hardly conceive it
being called in question.

4 This word may perhaps be translated ' inadequate,' or perhaps
' irregular,' that is acting sometimes one way, sometimes another. See
Mn Ellis' s note.

' la That, in any case, we begin with particulars furnished by sense, he
takes for granted. Cp. Campanella, Metaphysica, pars i. lib. i. Prooemium :
' Principia enim artis, quae intelligimus, sive sint nomina imperfecte
naturam rei significantia, sive sint definitiones, perfecte eandem signifi-
cantes, sive propositiones universales, a sensu accepimus per inductionem,
quod et Aristoteles in 2 Poster, docet, licet sui oblitus.'

20 Such as that 'Nature does nothing in vain,' ' Nature abhors a vacuum,'
that each body has only one proper motion, and the like.

27 The phrase ' naturae notiora ' is a scholastic mistranslation of Aris-
totle's rtj (pvo-ei -yz-copip-wrfpa, which ought to be translated ' natura notiora;'
rfj (pva-fi or anXws -yi/oopt/xcoTf pa are opposed to iip.lv yz/copi/xcorepa as the
more general to the more particular, as universals to objects of sense.
Amongst other places, see Post. An. i. 2 (p. 71 b. 33 p. 72 a. 5) : Uporepa
S 1 eort tail yva>pip.usTfpa Slews' ou -yap Tavrbv Trporepoi/ rjj (pvcrei Kal TTpos r]fj.a.f
TrpoTfpov, ov8e yfu>pi/j.a>Tfpov Kal rj^iv yvcapijJiuiTfpov. Aeyo) Se Ttpbs f]/j.as p.ev
Trporepa Kal yvcopi/LtcuTepa ra eyyvrfpov rrjs aladrjcrfcus, cnr\o>s Se nporepa Kal
yvo>pifj.o)Tfpa TO. Tropptorepof. "Ecm 8e Troppwrcirco fj.ei> TO. Ka66\ov /i<tXtcrra,

204 NOVUM ORGANUM.

XXIII.

Non leve quiddam interest inter humanae mentis idola - B ,
ct divinae mentis ideas 21 ; hoc est, inter placita quaedam

eyytiTUTo) 8e TCI Kaff exacrra' KOI avTiKtlTtil raOr' dXX^Xois. The Student may
with advantage read Trendelenburg's note on this passage. See notes to
the Elementa Logices Aristoteleae, 19.

Naturally, or in reference to Nature, according to Aristotle's way of
thinking, the universal is prior to the individual, the cause to the effect,
the general law to the particular fact. By or in reference to us, on the
other hand, the individual is better known than the universal, the effect
than the cause, the particular fact than the general law. Nature indeed
may be regarded as ever striving to reproduce the type in the individual,
to represent the general law in its special manifestations, to carry out the
cause into its effects. And so, by a figure of speech, it may be said to
have a better or prior knowledge of that which, in our case, comes last,
and as the result of a variety of mental operations.

Bacon here, as elsewhere, avails himself of the Aristotelian distinction,
but seems to imply that with Aristotle the 777 (pva-fi yvapipwrepa were
mere useless abstractions, while he himself probably understands by the
revera naturae notiora ' those ultimate causes or Forms, out of which,
as a sort of alphabet, he conceived that the various bodies, forces, and
qualities in nature were composed. For the further explanation of these
' Forms,' the student must refer to the Introduction.

Mr. Spedding notices that, in his English writings, Bacon seems to use
the word ' original ' as equivalent to ' naturae notion'

It is interesting to compare with this Aphorism the following passage
of the Distributio Opens: 'At secundum nos, axiomata continenter et
gradatim excitantur, ut nonnisi postremo loco ad generalissima veniatur :
ea vero generalissima evadunt non notionalia, sed bene terminata, et talia
quae natura ut revera sibi notiora agnoscat, quaeque rebus haereant in
medullis.'

2S el'StoXo, ' phantoms ' or ' spectres,' not ' idols ' in the sense of false gods,
as several writers have interpreted it. In the De Augmentis, lib. v. cap. 4,
they are called Imagines sive Idola, and in the second of the Two Books
on the Advancement of Learning, published in 1605, they are spoken of
as ' false appearances that are imposed upon us ' by ' the general nature
of the mind,' by ' words,' etc. For the latter passage, see Ellis and
Spedding's Edition of Bacon's Works, vol. iii. pp. 394-7. Mr. Hallam
(Literature of Europe, part iii. ch. 3. 60) gives some amusing extracts
from the authors who have mistaken the meaning of the word.

'' Are these 'ideas of the divine mind' the' forms' of which Bacon
will speak hereafter ? That God created all things in conformity with
certain ideas, forms, or exemplars in his own mind, as the sculptor fashions
a statue, and that thus, in a certain sense, the world had a pre-existence
in the mind of God, is a commonplace of philosophy and theology. Gp.
Campanella, Metaphysica, pars i. lib. i. Prooemium : ' Propterea nil est

LIB. I, 23 25. 205

mania, et veras signaturas alque impressiones factas in crea-
turis, prout inveniuntur.

XXIV.

Nullo modo fieri potest, ut axiomata per argumentationem
constituta ad inventionem novorum operum valeant ; quia
subtilitas naturae subtilitatem argumentandi multis partibus
superat. Sed axiomata, a particularibus rite et ordine ab-
stracta, nova particularia rursus facile indicant et designant" ;
itaque scientias reddunt activas.

XXV.

Axiomata, quae in usu sunt, ex tenui et manipulari expc-
rientia, et paucis particularibus, quae ut plurimum occurrunt,
fluxere ; et sunt fere ad mensuram eorum facta et extensa :

in mundo, quod non aliquid in mente Dei latens idealiter exprimat.'
One, though probably not the true, interpretation of the Ideal doctrine
of Plato is that the t8u are simply the ideas or typical forms existing
in the mind of God.

By the concluding words of the Aphorism, Bacon probably intends to
intimate, as Dr. Kitchin says, ' that it would be futile for Man to en-
deavour to contemplate any thing abstracted from, and out of its
connexion with, the material world,' that, in fact, our only mode of
ascertaining the ideas of the divine mind is the patient study of the
Book of Nature. The Aphorism might be paraphrased thus : God is
omniscient ; Nature is the reflexion of the mind of God. Man, led
astray by the phantasms in his own mind, has vainly imagined that he
can attain to knowledge, without going to Nature and therein studying
the image of the divine mind. Cp. Aph. 124.

30 Except for the implied limitation to opera, this is the true conception
of the relations of the Inductive and Deductive methods. When the
axioms have been constituted by induction, they should be developed
deductively into all their consequences and then ultimately, if they admit
of it, applied to practice. The science of Mechanics affords an excellent
instance of a science thus constituted, developed, and applied.

The word ' abstracta ' as the equivalent of ^inferred. _by Induction ' is
worthy of notice. The qualities in which a number of individual objects
agree are regarded as ' drawn from ' them, to the exclusion of those in
which they differ, and, therefore, as predicable, in an axiom or proposi-
tion, of the class as a whole. Properly speaking, however, the word
' abstracted ' ought to be applied, not to the qualities on which the attention
is concentrated, but to those which are withdrawn from consideration.
Attention and Abstraction are processes the reverse of and complementary
to each other.

206 NOVUM ORGANUM.

ut nil mirum sit, si ad nova particularia non ducant 31 . Quod
si forte instantia 32 aliqua, non prius animadversa aut cognita,
se offerat, axioma distinctione aliqua frivola salvatur 3a , ubi
emendari ipsum verius foret.

XXVI.

Rationem humanam, qua utimur ad naturam, anticipa-
tioncs naturae'^ (quia res temeraria est et praematura), at
illam rationem, quae debitis modis elicitur a rebus, iutcrpre-
tationcm naturae, docendi gratia, vocare consuevimus.

31 The existing Axioms are founded on a small number of instances,
of common occurrence, and just fit those instances, but are employed as
if they were universally true, other instances to the contrary either not
being taken into account or being explained away by some frivolous dis-
tinction. In^oth^r_^rds,an^empiricalla^y_Js_empJp^

of causation. The student should read, in illustration of this Aphorism,
Mr. Mill's chapter on Empirical La\vs (Mill's Logic, bk. iii. ch. 16). He
will also find some remarks on the same subject in my Inductive Logic,
ch. 4 (4th ed., pp. 220-222).

!2 M. Bouillet draws attention to the fact that ' instantia ' is never used
in Classical Latin, in the sense of ' an instance.' But I think he is wrong
in saying that it is here simply the English word 'instance' (= example)
latinised. Instantia (as a translation of eWrao-ts-) was a technical term of
the schools, and, from the meaning of an ' objection,' which was generally
founded on a single case, would easily pass into that which it usually bears
in Bacon and in modern works generally. In this Aphorism, it seems to
retain the meaning of eWrop-tg or objection.

" Thus, for instance, till the time of Galileo, it was held that bodies fall
to the earth in times inversely proportional to their weights. But some
bodies, as, for example, flame, do not fall, but rise. This exception was
accounted for by the principle of levity, according to which light bodies
tend upwards. The various current divisions of motion, such as natural
and violent motion, simple and compound motion, and the like, easily lent
themselves to frivolous distinctions of this kind.

The desire to patch up a theory by ingenious devices rather than to
review and emend it is well illustrated by the various contrivances of
epicycles and eccentrics by which the ancient astronomers endeavoured
to retain, in spite of all difficulties, the theory of the circular motion
of the heavenly bodies. Another assumption of the ancient astronomy
was that the heavenly bodies must be perfect spheres. When Galileo
discovered, by means of the telescope, the existence of cavities in the
moon, it was asserted, in reply, that they were filled with transparent
crystal.

:i4 Called, in the last paragraph but one of the Preface, anticipationes
mentis. See p. 188.

LIB. I. 26 27. 207

XXVII.

Anticipationes satis firmae sunt ad consensum ; quandoqui-
dem, si homines etiam insanirent ad unum modum et con-
formiter, illi satis bene inter se congruere possent 35 .

85 Uniformity of opinion, even if it extend to universal consent, is no
evidence of truth.

All men alike might be mad, and there might be no one to observe
or point out the fact of their madness. Similar suppositions as to the
possibility of the universality of error are constantly started by Descartes,
and are resolved, in his philosophy, by the consideration of the veracity
of God, who would never have so formed his creatures as to be exposed
to the risk of insuperable deception.

Though this Aphorism is stated in an extravagant form, it suggests two
very important considerations : (i) the > jdatiyjty__oX^uma3_Jcn^wJle^gej
(2) thg_posibility of universal error.

With reference to the first, the student may consult, amongst recent
writings, Sir W. Hamilton's Essay on the Philosophy of the Unconditioned
(published in the ' Discussions '), his Lectures on Metaphysics, Lects.
viii, ix, Mill's Examination of Hamilton, chs. 2, 3, 4, and Grote's Plato,
ch. 26 (ist ed., vol. ii. pp. 322-363). I shall limit myself to a few
remarks, directly suggested by Bacon's supposition. All truth must
be relative to ourselves, that is to the special constitution of the human
faculties. We cannot transcend human consciousness. We cannot do
more than observe phenomena and reflect on the observations made. All
that we know, we can know only through the medium of our own senses
and our own intellect, and hence all knowledge must be relative to our
own cognitive powers. All that we can say, in the last resort, is that a
proposition is true to us. As to what may be true or false to other orders
of beings, differently constituted, we can have no conception, except so
far as we have grounds for supposing that their intelligences and the con-
ditions under which their intelligences work are analogous to our own.
As to ' absolute truth,' or ' truth in itself,' the phrase seems to be entirely
devoid of meaning, the very word ' truth ' implying a percipient or thinking
subject as well as an object of perception or thought. Thus, it is quite
conceivable that beings with different faculties, or brought up amidst a
different set of conditions, might, if they could observe us, suppose us
to be all mad after the same fashion, as we, similarly, should suppose
them to be.

As regards the second consideration, namely, the possibility of universal
error, an important distinction must be drawn. Our immediate perceptions
(when corrected by comparison with each other and with those of other
men) are our ultimate test of truth ; if these deceive us, we have no
other criterion to guide us. But our inferences from these perceptions
not only may be, but frequently are, false, and it has sometimes happened,
as in the belief that the earth was the centre of the solar system, that
all mankind have through several generations been mistaken in the in-

208 NOVUM ORGANUM.

XXVIII.

Ouin longe validiores sunt ad subeundum assensum antici-
patioiics, quam interpretationes ; quia ex paucis collectae,
iisque maximc quae familiariter occurrunt, intellectum statim
perstringunt, et phantasiam implent ; ubi contra, interpreta-
tiones, ex rebus admodum variis et multum distantibus spar-
sim collectae, intellectum subito percutere non possunt ; ut
necesse sit eas, quoad opinioncs 3G , duras ct absonas, fere instar
mysteriorum fidei, videri.

XXIX.

In scientiis, quae in opinionibus et placitis fundatae sunt,
bonus est usus anticipationum et dialecticae ; quando opus est
assensum subjugare, non res 37 .

XXX.

Non, si omnia omnium aetatum ingenia coierint, et labores
contulerint et transrniserint, progressus magnus fieri poterit in

fcrenccs they drew from observed facts. In such cases, the false inference
has often, in the first instance, been drawn by one or a few persons, and
the rest have accepted it implicitly on their authority. Errors of this
kind, however long or universally they may have obtained, need not lead
us to despair as to the possibility of attaining truth. Previous errors
in reasoning have been detected by the employment of the reasoning
process itself, and hence we may fairly suppose that, if there are any
questions now on which all men are mistaken, posterity will be able to
correct our false inferences, as we have corrected those of our ancestors.
The source of our errors itself supplies us with the means of correcting
them.

: ' ; 'So far as concerns the opinions which men have of them,' 'in
common estimation.' Some of the later editions omit the comma after
opiniones, which makes the passage unintelligible.

!l If the allusion be to the moral and political sciences, the passage
must be ironical, as, in Aph. 127, Bacon distinctly states that his method
is applicable to all sciences alike, and he particularly specifies logic,
ethics, and politics. We may, perhaps, represent his thought somewhat
as follows : ' In morals, politics, logic, and sciences of that kind people
care so little for truth and so much for disputation and victory, that we may
leave them to their own method, till they have changed their aims and
point of view. If they wish for truth in these subjects, they must conduct
their enquiries according to the new method, duly combining induction
with syllogism ; but, if they only wish to find arguments for prc-conceived
opinions, let them go on in the old fashion.'

LIB. I. 28 34. 209

scientiis per anticipation es : quia errores radicales, et in prima
digestione mentis, ab excellentta functionum et remediorum
sequentium non curantur.

XXXI.

Frustra magnum expectatur augmentum in scientiis ex
superinductione et insitione novorum super vetera ; scd in-
stauratio facienda est ab imis fundamentis, nisi libeat perpetuo
circumvolvi in orbem, cum exili et quasi contemnendo pro-
gressu.

XXXII.

Antiquis auctoribus suus constat honos, atque adeo
omnibus ; quia non ingeniorum aut facultatum inducitur
comparatio, sed viae ; nosque non judicis, sed indicis " 8 per-
sonam sustinemus.

XXXIII.

Nullum (dicendum enim est aperte) recte fieri potest
judiciurn nee de via nostra. nee de iis quae secundum earn
inventa sunt, per anticipationes (rationem scilicet quae in usu
est), quia non postulandum est ut ejus rei judicio stetur, quae
ipsa in judicium vocatur.

XXXIV.

Neque etiam tradendi aut explicandi ea, quae adducimus,
facilis est ratio ; quia, quae in se nova sunt, intelligentur
tamen ex analogia veterum 31 .

3 ' q ' My object is to shew men the way to truth, not to assume the office
of a judge, and pass sentence on other authors.' This statement is cer-
tainly anything but consistent with the severity of the judgments which
Bacon presently proceeds to pass on the majority of his predecessors and
contemporaries, and specially on Aristotle and the Aristotelians.

The word ' indicis ' throws back light on the title of the work, ' Novum
Organum, sive Indicia vera de Interpretatione Naturae.' ' Indicia' in that
place may be represented by the phrase ' Indications,' or, as Dr. Kitchin
suggests, it may mean ' the opening out of a new way.'

3LI He is calling in question the authority of the court ; hence, it is no
answer to say that the rules of the court are this and that. He questions
the sufficiency of the old logic; hence, it is no answer to say that his
methods are not to be found in the old treatises.

210 NOVUM ORGANUM.

XXXV.

Dixit Borgia de expeditione Gallorum in L aliam, eos
venisse cum creta in manibus. ut diversoria notarent, non
cum armis, ut perrumperent 40 . Itidem et nostra ratio est,
ut doctrina nostra animos idoneos et capaces subintret ;
confutationum enim nullus est usus, ubi de principiis et ipsis
notionibus, atque etiam de formis demonstrationum dissenti-
mus.

XXXVI.

Restat vero nobis modus tradendi unus et simplex, ut
homines ad ipsa particularia et eorum series et ordines addu-
camus ; et ut illi rursus imperent sibi ad tempus abnegationem
notionum, et cum rebus ipsis consucscere incipiant.

XXXVII.
Ratio eorum. qui acatalepsiam 4l tenuerunt et via nostra

40 'This Borgia was Alexander VI, and the expedition of the French
that under Charles VIII, which over-ran Italy in five months, A.D. 1494.'
(Dr. Kitchin's note.) Air. Ellis quotes the following passage from Nardi :
' Diceva in quei tempi Papa Alessandro sesto che i Francesi havevano corso
1 : Italia con gli speroni di legno et presola col gesso : dicendo cosi perche
pigliando cssi gli alloggiamenti nelle citta loro furieri segnavano le porte
delle case col gesso ; et cavalcando per loro diporto i gentil' huomini 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 Malespim, [1597,] p. 18. Air. Ellis adds that
' 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
apparently written about the beginning of the seventeenth century, the
remark ascribed to Alexander the Sixth by Nardi and Bacon is mentioned
as a popular saying.'

41 aK<iTa\r,\lsia. The allusion is to the New Academy, the principal
representatives of which were Arcesniu^and Ccirneji^cs. and which inainly
flourished in the third and second centuries B.C. Fora detailed account of
the doctrines of this school, the reader may refer to any of the more
recent Histories of Greek Philosophy, such as Ueberwcg's or Zcller's.
The following brief notice will enable him to understand Bacon's allusions
to the school here and elsewhere.

The New Academy, which, as its name imports, professed to be an
offshoot of Platonism, may be regarded partly as a development of the
sceptical and negative vein which had, from the first, formed part of
the Platonic impulse, partly as a strong reaction against the dogmatism
of the Stoics. The Stoics had maintained that, besides e/rioTij/xj/, de-

LIB, I. 3537. 311

initiis suis quodammodo consentiunt ; exitu immensum
disjunguntur et opponuntur. Illi enim nihil sciri posse
simpliciter asserunt ; nos, non multum sciri posse in natura,
ea, quae nunc in usu est, via 42 : verum illi exinde authoritatem

monstrable knowledge, and So'a, mere opinion, there is a third and
intermediate kind of knowledge, quite trustworthy, but not demonstrable.
This was called (bavraaia KaraXnimKri or KardAr7\|/-i?. According to the

's*s+-*<***~^^~~^r~~~ > ~ -- ' " ' " -J

Stoics, says Tennemann, 'every original representation is the result of
impressions produced upon the mind, and hence of sensational perceptions ;
and is therefore denominated fyavrairia, visum. Out of these original and
sensational impressions, Reason, a superior and directing power (TO fjjf-
/uoi/iKoV), forms our other representations. The true are styled by Zeno
(ftavTaaiai Kara^TTTiKai, or KuraA^ay, that is, such as are verified by their
correspondence with the object to which they refer, are freely assented
to, and constitute the foundation of science.' The greater part of our
physical and ethical knowledge the Stoics held to be of this intermediate
description. In opposition to this theory, the philosophers of the New
Academy maintained the doctrine of aKaraA^/n, that is the impossibility
of attaining to such KaraXr^eis. According to the ordinary account, which
is that adopted by Bacon, they recognised only one certain proposition,
namely, that nothing can be known with certainty. It was this dogmatic
scepticism (' Nova Academia acatalepsiam dogrnatizavit et ex professo
tenuit ' Aph. 67) which, as is generally supposed, distinguished this school
from the Pyrrhonists, Ephectici, or Sceptics proper. The latter school
endeavoured to maintain an eVo^/) (suspension of judgment) between the
affirmation and negation of propositions, saying that it is impossible to
know whether we know anything or not. The drapn^ia (or imperturb-
ableness of mind) which the realisation of this uncertainty produces is
the supreme end of philosophy.

Ueberweg, however, questions the accuracy of the popular distinction
between the New Academy and the Sceptics. He regards, indeed, the
scepticism of the former as the less thorough-going of the two, but not -
for the reason ordinarily assigned. The philosophers of the New Academy, j
he supposes, differed, in general, from the Sceptics, in not making drapa(',,
the supreme end of philosophy, and, furthermore, in admitting a theory
of probability, which served as a practical guide of life.

This theory of probability recognises three grades. They are derived
respectively from (i) cpai/racr/a tuOavi], our first impression of an object ;
(2) (pavracrin Tridavrj apa Kal direpia-jraa-Tos, the concurrent testimony of our
various impressions ; (3) <fcai'Tatri.a dirfpiaTracrTos KOL Sie^coSeu/xeV??, the same
concurrent testimony, when thoroughly sifted and examined by the reason.
The highest degree of probability takes the place of certainty in other
systems. Bacon alludes to the Academic theory of probability in Aph. 67.

42 It will be noticed that Bacon opposes to the ' nihil sciri posse ' of
the New Academy ' non multum sciri posse,' that he interpolates ' in
natura,' and to ' simpliciter ' opposes ' ea, quae nunc in usu est, via.' ' In

P 2

212 NOVUM ORGANUM.

sensus et intcllectus destruunt ; nos auxilia iisdem excogi-
tamus et subministramus.

XXXVIII.

Idola** et notiones falsae, quae intellectum humanum jam

natura' must not be taken as implying that he thought the old method
sufficient for the moral and political sciences. See note on Aphorism 29.

The contrast which Bacon here draws between himself and the philo-
sophers of the New Academy can hardly fail to remind us of the similar
contrast which has frequently been drawn between Socrates and the
leading Sophists of his time. The method of Socrates began in scepticism,
but its object was to re-establish the foundations of knowledge. Similarly,
Bacon attempts to destroy the credit of the old method of enquiry, only
that he may replace it by a new and surer one. There is a passage in
the Advancement of Learning (bk. i.) in which he says, if not truly, at least
finely : ' if a man will begin with certainties, he shall end in doubts ; but
if he will be content to begin with doubts (' eaque aliquandiu patienter
toleret.' De Augmentis), he shall end in certainties.'

43 Here commences the doctrine of the Idola, which is, perhaps, the
best-known, as it is, certainly, one of the most important parts of the
Ncvum Organum. On the meaning of the word ' Idola,' see the first
note on Aph. 23. Mr. Ellis draws attention to the various forms in
which this doctrine appears in Bacon's different works, but a still more
accurate and elaborate account of the changes is given in a note by
Mr. Spedding. See Ellis and Spedding's Bacon, vol. i. pp. 89-93, an d
Note C (by Mr. Spedding), pp. 113-117. To these sources the reader
who may wish for more information on the subject is referred. It is
sufficient here to state that the Idols in their earlier form (as they appear
in ihe English Treatise on the Advancement of Learning) correspond with
those of the Tribe, the Cave, and the Market-Place, and that ' the one
substantial change which the doctrine of Idols underwent was the admis-
sion of the Idola Theatri into the company.' The doctrine occurs in the
Valerius Terminus, the Advancement of Learning, the Temporis Partus
Masculus, the Partis Secundae Delineatio, the Distributio Operis, and the
De Augmentis, but far the most perfect treatment of it is that in the
Novum Organum. Onjhe classification^of the Idola into groups I shall
say something in a note on the next Aphorism.

It has often been remarked that the doctrine of the Idola was anti-
cipated by Bacon's great namesake, Roger Bacon, who gives a four-fold
classification of ' offendicula, quae omnem quemcunque sapicntem iin-
pediunt.' These are unworthy authority, custom, vulgar opinion, and
concealment of ignorance combined with the ostentation of apparent
wisdom. Mr. Ellis, however (vol. i. pp. 89, 90), argues very justly that
Bacon is not likely to have seen the Opus Majus, which then existed only
in manuscript, and, as Mr. Spedding adds, was probably not procurable,
and possibly even unknown to him ; moreover, the correspondence between

LIB. L 3839. 213

occuparunt, atque in eo alte haerent, non solum mentes
hominum ita obsident, ut veritati aditus difficilis pateat ;
sed etiam dato et concesso aditu, ilia rursus in ipsa instau-
ratione scientiarum occurrent et molesta erunt ; nisi homines
praemoniti adversus ea se, quantum fieri potest, muniant.

XXXIX.

Ouatuor sunt genera idolorum, quae mentes humanas
obsident. lis (docendi gratia) nomina imposuimus : ut
primum genus, idola tribus ; secundum, idola specus ; tertium,
idolafori^; quartum, idola theatri vocentur 45 .

the ' idola ' and the ' ofifendicula ' is very slight. What probably suggested
the idea of the one having been borrowed from the other is the fourfold
division which is common to both, but the ' idola,' as we have seen, were,
in the original form of the doctrine, enumerated as only three.

Roger Bacon's statement and refutation of the ' ofifendicula ' will be
found worked out at great length in the 1st Part of the Opus Majus,
and more briefly in the Opus Tertium, cap. 22. Mr. Spedding has quoted
the opening words of the former passage. I will append those of the
latter, in which there are some interesting variations :

' Ouatuor vero sunt causae generales omnium malorum nostrorum, et
omnem statum a principio mundi corruperunt, et omnem hominem quan-
tumcunque sapientem (praeter Dominum nostrum Jesum Christum et
Beatam Virginem) aliquando extra viam rectam, vel extra ultimam per-
fectionem coegerunt declinare. Et sunt fragilis auctoritatis exempla,
consuetudinis diuturnitas, et sensus multitudinis imperitae, atque prae-
sumptio humanae mentis, qua quilibet nititur suae imperitiae solatium
quaerere, et ea, quae nescit, aut non approbare aut reprobare, et illud
modicum quod scit vel aestimat scire, licet nesciat, gaudet imprudenter
ostentare.' The rest of the chapter (which will be found in Mr. Brewer's
' Fr. Rogeri Bacon Opera quaedam inedita/ pp. 69-73) is very curious and
well worth the attention of the student.

44 Called in Valerius Terminus Idols of the Palace.

45 At the beginning of Aphorism 61, there is a trace of an old classifica-
tion of the Idola into two groups. In introducing the idola theatri, Bacon
uses the words ' At idola theatri innata non sunt, nee occulto insinuata in

1 intellectum ; sed ex fabulis,' &c. These words point to a classification of
I the Idola as innate, including the first three classes, and adventitious, in-
Icluding the last class or idola theatri only. And this classification we find
adopted in the Distributio Operis. ' Idola autem a quibus occupatur mens,
vel Adscititia sunt vel Innata. Adscititia vero immigrarunt in mentes
hominum, vel ex philosophorum placitis et sectis vel ex perversis legibus
demonstrationum. At Innata inhaerent naturae ipsius intellectus, qui ad

errorem longe proclivior esse deprehenditur quam sensus Atque

priora ilia duo Idolortim genera aegre, postrema vero haec nullo modo,

214 NOVUM ORGANUM.

XL.

Excitatio notionum et axiomatum 4 * 3 per inductionem veram
est certe proprium remedium ad idola arcenda et sum-
movenda ; sed tamen indicatio idolorum magni est usus.
Doctrina enim de idolis similiter se habet ad inter pretationem
naturae, sicut doctrina de sophisticis elenchis ad dialecticam
vulgarem 47 .

XLI.

Idola tribus sunt fundata in ipsa natura humana, atque in
ipsa tribu seu gente hominum 48 . Falso enim asseritur,

evelli possunt. Id tantum relinquitur, tit indicentur, atque ut vis ista

mentis insidiatrix notetur et convincatur Itaque doctrina ista de

expurgatione intellectus ut ipse ad veritatem habilis sit, tribus redargu-
tionibus absolvitur : redargutione philosophiarum, redargutione demon-
strationum, et redargutione rationis humanae nativae.' Cp. the Partis
Secundae Delineatio (E. and S., vol. iii. p. 548), and see Mr. Spedding's
remarks in Note C. to the Preface to the Novum Organum (vol. i. pp. 113-
117), where the whole question of the higher classification of the Idola is
carefully considered. This higher classification of Adscititia and Innata
disappears in the Novum Organum, because, as Air. Spedding says, when
Bacon 'came to describe the several Idols one by one, he became aware
both of the logical inconsistency 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.'

40 Bacon regarded Induction as requisite both to give clearness and
precision to our notions and to establish true propositions which might
serve as the basis of subsequent reasoning, whether inductive or deduc-
tive. But, as we have already seen (note to Aph. 14), in order to realise
or test the truth or adequacy of a notion, we must form at least one, and
frequently a number of judgments. When we employ induction, therefore,
'to elicit a notion,' we necessarily also employ it ' to elicit an axiom,' and
hence there is no real distinction between the process of induction or
generalisation as applied to notions and as applied to judgments, propo-
sitions, or axioms.

47 That is to say, it is Bacon's Doctrine of Fallacies, and its function is
to clear the mind of false notions, in order that it may be open to the
reception of true ones.

'" Must we then despair of the possibility of attaining knowledge ? We
cannot, indeed, transcend the limitations of our own faculties, or know
things except in relation to our own bodily and mental constitution ; but
by comparing our impressions and inferences, one with another, and with
those of other men, and, above all, by constantly reviewing and correcting
our conceptions by comparison with the facts of Nature, we are able

LIB. I. 40 41. 215

sensum humanum 40 esse mensuram rerum ; quin contra,
omnes perceptiones, tam sensus quam mentis, sunt ex
analogia hominis, non ex analogia universi 50 . Estque in-

to detect not only the individual peculiarities of our own minds but also
the general tendencies to error which are common to mankind at large.
The mind, though it is beset with phantoms, has not entirely lost the
power of distinguishing between phantoms and realities.

49 If this assertion is meant to represent the dictum of Protagoras, it does
so most inadequately. Protagoras asserted, not that the senses uncontrolled
by reason, but that man, meaning the human faculties generally, was the
measure of all things. Hdvrwv xP r H J - lira>v p-fTpov urdpunros, TU>V p.ei> 6Wcoi> cos
e'crrt, ro>v Se OVK OVTWV ws OVK. eo"rii>. Making due allowance for the relativity
of human knowledge, that is, understanding the maxim in the form,
' Man is to man the measure of all things,' it seems to be not only true but
a truism. And the same remark may be made of the individual form which
the maxim sometimes takes : ' Every man is to himself ti&Q measure of ail
things.' In the Theaetetus, however, where the Protagorcan dictum is
discussed, the theory that Cognition is simply sensible Perception is dis-
cussed also, the two enquiries being confounded, and treated as identical.
That Protagoras never expressly asserted the latter proposition is almost
certain. ' It is not improbable,' says Mr. Grote, ' that the three doctrines'
(namely, that man is the measure of all things, that Cognition is sensible
Perception, and that Nature consists in a perpetual motion, change, or
flux), ' here put together by Plato and subjected to a common scrutiny,
may have been sometimes held by the same philosophers. Nevertheless,
the language of Plato himself shews us that Protagoras never expressly
affirmed knowledge to be sensible Perception : and that the substantial
identity between this doctrine and the different doctrine maintained by
Protagoras, is to be regarded as a construction put upon the two by Plato.'
The student has already, in a previous note, been referred to Mr. Grote's
admirable criticism of the Theaetetus, where the Protagorean dictum, in
its various relations, is discussed at great length and with much acuteness.

That the senses alone are competent to furnish knowledge, without any
subsequent operation of the intellect upon the materials supplied by them,
seems too crude a theory to have ever been seriously entertained except in
the infancy of speculation. It is an entirely different position to assert that
the perceptions of the senses are an essential condition of knowledge, as is
done by Locke, by Kant, and, in fact, by Aristotle, and as appears to
be implied throughout by Bacon himself.

50 The word Analogy is used here, as in Aph. 34, in its more general
sense of ' relation,' and not in either its earlier or later technical sense,
as employed in Logic. For these senses, the student may refer to the
Editor's works on Deductive Logic, pt. iii. ch. i. n. 2, and on Inductive
Logic, ch. 4.

It is the central thought of the Baconian philosophy that we must lay
ourselves, as it were, alongside of nature, and study the facts of the

2i 6 NOVUM ORGANUM.

tellectus humanus instar speculi inaequalis ad radios rerum,
qui suam naturam naturae rerum immiscct, eamque distorquet
et inficit.

XLII,

Idola spccus r ^ sunt idola hominis individui. Habet enim
unusquisque (practer aberrationes naturae humanae in
genere) specum sive cavernam quandam individuam, quae
lumen naturae frangit et corrumpit : vel propter naturam
cujusque propriam et singularem ; vel propter educationem
et conversationem cum aliis ; vel propter lectionem librorum,
et authoritates eorum quos quisque colit et miratur ; vel
propter differentias impressionum 3 prout occurrunt in animo
praeoccupato et praedisposito. aut in animo aequo ct sedato,
vel ejusmodi : ut plane spiritus humanus (prout disponitur
in hominibus singulis) sit res varia, et omnino perturbata, et
quasi fortuita 62 . Unde bene Heraclitus, homines scientias

external world, instead of commencing with our own thoughts, and pro-
jecting these, as it were, on the universe. Man must look without and not
within, if he desires to be truly acquainted with the world around him.
This idea is perfectly just, providing we recollect that, after all, we can
never know things as they are in themselves, but only as they appear
to us. The peculiarities of the human mind generally and of the indi-
vidual mind in particular must, after all our precautions, have their share
in determining the form which our knowledge assumes. By what is true,
we mean, in the last analysis, that which all men might be brought to
acknowledge, if their faculties were in a healthy and vigorous condition,
and if they were supplied with all the materials requisite for forming
a judgment.

Malebranche (Recherche de la Verite, livre ii. 2 mn partie, ch. 2) refers
to these words and the next sentence as ' fort judicieuses.'

51 The metaphor is taken from Plato's Mythe of the Cave, at the
opening of the 7th Look of the Republic. But, as is remarked by Sir
\V. Hamilton (Reid's \Yorks, p. 473, ;/.), the metaphor applies rather to the
Idola Tribus than to the class of fallacies here described ; for by Plato all
mankind, except the few philosophers who have found their way upwards,
are regarded as being bound in the same cave, and as mistaking the
shadows which pass before them for realities. By Bacon, on the other
hand, each man is pictured as dwelling in his own particular cave, and
mistaking his individual impressions for those of mankind at large.

- There is an interesting allusion to the Idola Specus in the Cogi-
tata et Visa (E. and S., vol. iii. p. 607) : ' Ouin ccrtissimum esse, turn
generaliter .... turn etiam cuique ex educatione, studiis, et natura sua,

LIB. I. 42 43. 217

quaerere in minoribus mundis, et non in majore sive com-
muni 53 .

XLIII.

Sunt etiam idola tanquam ex contractu et societate humani
generis ad invicem, quae idola fort 5 *, propter hominum
commercium et consortium, appellamus. Homines enim
per sermones sociantur ; at verba ex captu vulgi impo-
nuntur. Itaque mala et inepta verborum impositio miris
modis intellectum obsidet. Neque definitiones aut explica-
tiones, quibus homines docti se munire et vindicare in
nonnullis consueverunt, rem ullo modo restituunt. Sed verba
plane vim faciunt intellectui, et omnia turbant ; et homines
ad inanes et innumeras controversias et commenta dedu-
cunt 55 .

vim quandam seductoriam et quasi daemonem familiarem adesse, qui
mentem variis et vanis spectris ludat et turbet.' It may be noticed, by the
way, that the use of the word ' spectra,' as the equivalent of ' idola,' affords
a further proof, if any were wanted, of the sense in which Bacon employed
the latter word. Dr. Craik, in proposing to translate 'Idola' as 'spectres,'
calls attention to a passage in Cicero's Letters (Ad Fam. xv. 16), in which
Cicero observes that Catius, the Epicurean, who had lately died, had
given the name of spectra to what Epicurus himself and, before him,
Democritus had called el'ScoXa.

13 Mr. Ellis refers to Sextus Empiricus, Adversus Logicos, i. 133, and
ii. 1 86 (it should be 286).

4 The idols of the market-place (or 'palace,' Valerius Terminus) are so
called, because words (which are the 'tesserae notionum,' Aph. 14) are
the means by which men carry on their ordinary intercourse in the affairs
of life. We exchange words as we exchange wares in the market.

In addition to the sections on the fallacies arising from the ambiguous
use of terms, to be found in almost any treatise on Logic, the student
should read the third book of Locke's Essay, and especially chs. 9, 10, 11,
Dugald Stewart's Philosophy of the Human Mind, pt. i. ch. 4, sects. 4. 5
with Note L, and pt. ii. second subdivision, ch. i. (Of Language), sect. 3,
Mackintosh's Dissertation on the Progress of Ethical Philosophy, Intro-
duction, and Mr. Mill's Logic, bk. iv. chs. 3-6.

55 ' Men take the words they find in use amongst their neighbours ; and,
that they may not seem ignorant what they stand for, use them confidently,
without much troubling their heads about a certain fixed meaning ;
whereby, besides the ease of it, they obtain this advantage, that, as in such
discourses they seldom are in the right, so they are as seldom to be convinced
that they are in the wrong ; it being all one to go about to draw those
men out of their mistakes, who have no settled notions, as to dispossess

2i8 NOVUM ORGANUM.

XLIV.

Sunt denique idola, quae immigrarunt in animos hominum
ex^di_versis_ dogmatibus phi^osophiarum, ac etiam ej5J3versis
legibus d_emonstrationum ; quae idola theatri m nominamus ;
quia quot philosophiae receptae aut inventae sunt, tot fabulas
productas et actas censemus, quae mundos effecerunt fictitios
et scenicos. Neque de his quae jam habentur, aut etiam de
veteribus philosophiis et sectis tantum loquimur, cum com-
plures aliae ejusmodi fabulae componi et concinnari possint ;
quandoquidem errorum prorsus diversorum causae sint nihilo-
minus fere communes. Neque rursus dc philosophiis univer-
salibus tantum hoc intelligimus. sed etiam de principiis et
axiomatibus compluribus scientiarum, quae ex traditione
ct fide et neglectu invaluerunt. Verum de singulis istis
generibus idolorum, fusius et distinctius dicendum est, ut
intellectui humano cautum sit.

XLV.

Tntellectus humanus ex proprictate sua r ' T facile supponit
majorem ordinem et aequalitatem in rebus, quam invenit :
et cum multa sint in natura monodica 58 , et plena imparitatis,
tamen afnngit parallela, et correspondentia, et relativa. quae

a vagrant of his habitation, who has no settled abode. This I guess to be
so ; and every one may observe in himself and others, whether it be, or
no. 1 Locke's Essay, bk. iii. ch. 10. 4.

'" In the Tcmporis Partus Masculus, these are called Idola Scenae.
The title is due in either case to the conceit that systems of philosophy
and modes of demonstration succeed one another, like plays on the stage.

The_ twofold source of these Idola, a.^jfaJ^e_j3hjlosop_hy ('ex diversis
dogmatibus philosophiarum '), and_ajalsejogjc (' ex perversis legibus de-
monstrationum '), should be especially noticed. In the Partis Secundae
Delineatio, these subdivisions of the Idola Theatri are ranked as main
divisions, and the remaining idola are classified together in a single group
as native to the Human Understanding. ' Itaque pars ista, quam de-
struentem appellamus, tribus redargutionibus absolvitur : Redargutione
Philosophiarum ; Redargutione Demonstrationum ; et Redargutione
Rationis Humanae Nativae.' There is the same division in the Dis-
tributio Operis. Cp. note on Aph. 39.

" 'Owing to its peculiar nature.' Cp. ' propter naturam propriam'
at the beginning of Aph. 51.

1 That is, monaclica. Mr. Ellis observes that, throughout his writings,
Bacon has fallen into this error.

LIB. 7. 4445- 219

non stint 59 . Hinc commenta ilia, in coelestibus omnia moveri
per circulos pcrfectos, lineis spiralibus et draconibus G0 (nisi

51J This excessive love of system, or tendency to feign parallels and
similitudes where none exist, is, in a logical classification of the fallacies,
best referred to False Analogy. See Mr. Mill's Logic, bk. v. ch. 5. 6,
and my Inductive Logic, 4th ed. pp. 326-338. The fanciful application of
numbers has always played a great part in fallacious conceptions of this
character. See a curious article on the number Seven in the Classical
Journal, vol. viii. One of the latest instances of the influence exercised
on scientific researches by these speculations is afforded in the case of
Huyghens. ' The attention which Huyghens,' says Professor Playfair (Pre-
liminary Dissertation to the Encyclopaedia Britannica), ' had paid to the
ring of Saturn, led him to the discovery of a satellite of the same planet.
His telescopes were not powerful enough to discover more of them than
one ; he believed, indeed, that there were no more, and that the number
of the planets now discovered was complete. The reasoning by which he
convinced himself is a proof how slowly men are cured of their prejudices,
even with the best talents and the best information. The planets, pri-
mary and secondary, thus made up twelve, the double of six, the first of
the perfect numbers. In 1671, however, Cassini discovered another
satellite, and afterwards three more, making five in all, which the more
perfect telescopes of Dr. Herschell have lately augmented to seven.'

It must be remembered, however, that some of the greatest discoveries
in science have originated in the bold use of Analogy. Thus, the whole
science of Biology has been revolutionised by following out the analogies
between vegetable and animal life, between fossil remains and living
organisms, between the structure, habits, and faculties of the lower animals
and those of men. The extension of the idea of wave-motion to explain
the phenomena of light and sound, and the striking and startling analogies
which have often given the first clue to ascertaining the affinities of
languages, are other instances which will occur to almost every reader.

60 The best commentary on this passage is to be found in the Thema
Coeli (E. and S., vol. iii. pp. 774-5). 'At manifestum est, planetas
non solum impari gradu contendere, sed nee ad idem punctum circuli
reverti, verum defiectere versus austrum et boream, cujus deflexionis
limites sunt tropici ; quae deflexio nobis Circulum Obliquum, et Diversam
Politatem ejus progenuit ; quemadmodum ilia celeritatis inaequalitas
motum ilium Renitentiae. Neque vero hoc etiam commento naturae
rerum opus est, cum recipiendo lineas spirales (id quod proxime accedit
ad sensum et factum) res transigatur, et ista salventur. Atque (quod
caput rei est) spirae istae nil aliud sunt quam defectiones a motu circular!
perfecto, cujus planetae sunt impatientes. Prout enim substantiae dege-
nerant puritate, et explicatione, ita degenerant et motus.'

The whole passage from which this extract is taken is interesting, as
shewing the immature character of Bacon's astronomical theories.

In a note on this Aphorism, Mr. Ellis says : ' It does not appear in what
sense Bacon uses the word "draco." In its ordinary acceptation in old

220 NOVUM ORGANUM.

nomine terms) prorsus rejectis. Hinc elementum ignis cum
orbe suo introductum est ad constituendum quaternionem
cum reliquis tribus, quae subjiciuntur sensui G1 . Etiam ele-
mentis (quae vocant) imponitur ad placitum decupla pro-
portio 62 excessus in raritate ad invicem; et hujusmodi somnia.
Neque vanitas ista tantum valet in dogmatibus, verum etiam
in notionibus simplicibus 3 .

XLVI.

Intellectus humanus in iis quae semel placuerunt (aut quia
recepta sunt et credita, aut quia delectant), alia etiam omnia

astronomy, it denoted the great circle which is approximately the projection
on the sphere of the moon's orbit. The ascending 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 surface of the sphere,
might represent inequalities in latitude. Compare (Nov. Org. ii. 48)
what is said of the variations of which the "motus rotationis spontaneus"
admits.'

Cp. a passage in the De Augmentis, lib. iii. cap. 4 (E. and S., vol. i.
p. 552), where Bacon complains: 'At vix quisquam est, qui inquisivit
causas physicas turn de . . . . turn de motuum obliquatione, vel per spiras se
versus tropicos texendo et retexendo, vel per sinuationes quas Dracones
vocant.'

01 The four elements were imagined as having each its natural place,
earth being lowest and fire highest. As the orb of fire is above that of
aii, it is too remote from us to be an object of sense.

62 This doctrine which prevailed throughout the Schools, though entirely
unsupported by evidence and even in spite of the evidence of the senses,
owes its origin to a mistaken interpretation of a passage in Aristotle,
De Generatione et Corruptione, ii. 6 (p. 333 a. 16-34). The student, on
referring to the passage, will find that the ' decupla ratio ' is only put
hypothetically, for the sake of example : ' oiov el e' {J&aro? KOTv\r]s eler
tlepos 8fKa ; ' ' oiov el KOTV\TJ v8aros 'icrov dvvarai \j/v)(eiv Kai Sexa depos.
The order of the elements would, of course, be earth, water, air, fire. A
fifth element was added by Aristotle and the Peripatetics, which was
regarded as peculiar to the celestial regions and as being the material
of which the heavenly bodies were composed. It was called aether. See,
for instance, Meteorologica, i. 3 ; De Coelo, i. 3. Cp. note on the words
' ut Gilbertus' in ii. 36 (5).

G ' ! As, for instance, in the personification of inanimate objects, in
anthropomorphic conceptions of Gocl, and the manner in which we attri-
bute to Nature designs and modes of operation analogous to those which
we experience amongst men.

LIBER /. 46. 221

trahit ad suffragationem et consensum cum illis 4 : et licet
major sit instantiarum vis et copia, quae occurrunt in contra-
rium ; tamen eas aut non observat, aut contemnit, aut distin-
guendo summovet et rejicit, non sine magno et pernicioso
praejudicio, quo prioribus illis syllepsibus c5 authoritas maneat
inviolata. Itaque recte respondit ille c(i , qui, cum suspensa
tabula in templo ei monstraretur eorum qui vota solverant.
quod naufragii periculo elapsi sint, atque interrogando pre-
meretur, anne turn quidem Deorum numen agnosceret, quae-
sivit denuo, At ubi stint illi depicti qui post vota nuncupata
perierint? Eadem ratio est fere omnis superstitionis, ut in
astrologicis, in somniis, ominibus, nemesibus, et hujusmodi :
in quibus homines delectati hujusmodi vanitatibus advcrtunt
eventus, ubi implentur ; ast ubi fallunt, licet multo frequentius.
tamen negligunt et praetereunt. At longe subtilius serpit
hoc malum in philosophiis et scientiis ; in quibus quod semel
placuit reliqua (licet multo 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 moveatur et excitetur affirma-
tivis quam negativis ; cum rite et ordine aequum se utrique
praebere debeat ; quin contra, in omni axiomate vero consti-
tuendo, major est vis instantiae negativae u7 .

64 This tendency, when we have once formed an opinion, to attach
greater importance to affirmative instances, in support of it, than to
negative instances, in contradiction of it, is rightly classed by Mr. Mill
under the Fallacies of Non-observation of instances. See Mill's Logic,
bk. v. ch. 4. 3, and my Inductive Logic, 4th Edition, pp. 251-257. For
instances of the Fallacy, the reader is referred to those works.

3; ' cri'\\r)\lsis, a conception.

66 Diagoras, surnamed the Atheist, according to Cicero, De Natura
Deorum, iii. 37, where another story to the same purport is told.
Diogenes Laertius tells the story, with a slight variation, of Diogenes
the Cynic, but adds that it is also told of Diagoras the Melian : dav^a^ovros
Tivus TCI fv ^,afj.odpuKrj dvadfjfj.nTn, efprj, HoAXo) av eir) TrAe/w, et (cat 01 /j.i)
a<io8fVT(s di>eTL0f(rav. ol 8e TOVTO Awyopou (f)a<r\ rov M^Xiov.

67 A single negative instance, if it admit of no explanation, is sufficient
to upset a theory, or, at the least, it ought to cause us to suspend our
judgment, till we are able either to explain the exception, or to modify
the theory in accordance with it, or else to accumulate such an amount of
negative evidence as to justify us in rejecting the theory altogether. The
negative instance, even where it does not upset a theory, is often peculiarly

222 NOVUM ORGANUM.

XLVII.

Intellectus humanus illis, quae simul et subito mentem
ferire et subire possunt, maxime movetur ; a quibus phan-
tasia implcri et inflari consuevit : reliqua vero modo quodam,
licet imperceptibili, ita se habere fingit et supponit, quomodo
se habent pauca ilia quibus mens obsidetur 08 ; ad ilium vero
transcursum ad instantias remotas et heterogeneas ', per quas
axiomata tanquam igne probantur, tardus omnino intellectus
est, et inhabilis, nisi hoc illi per duras leges et violentum
imperium imponatur.

XLVIII.

Gliscit intellectus humanus, neque consistere aut acquies-
cere potis est, sed ulterius petit; atfrustra 70 . Itaque incogi-

valuable, in calling attention to a counteracting cause. This, for example,
was the case with the deflexions of the planet Uranus, which, being
inexplicable by known causes, directed the attention of astronomers to
the existence of a hitherto undiscovered planet, the planet now called
Neptune. An example, on the other hand, of a theory which was upset
by a single negative instance, is the old doctrine that bodies fall to the
ground in times inversely proportioned to their weights ; the experiments
of Galileo from the leaning tower of Pisa once and for ever put an end
to this delusion.

Bacon may possibly, however, be referring to the method of Exclusions,
of which \ve shall hear so much in the Second Book. On this method, see
Introduction, 9.

" The mind is unduly influenced by sudden and simultaneous impres-
sions. A familiar example of this tendency is the unreasoning alarm often
produced by railway accidents, accidents in mines, collieries, etc. Such
accidents, especially if two or more occur about the same time, ' fill the
imagination ' and excite an alarm out of all proportion to the actual risk
incurred.

t;: ' Thus, the phenomena of electricity are exhibited on a grand scale in
thunder and lightning, which ' strike the mind suddenly and simultaneously,'
but the study of these instances alone would never have led to the
discovery of those singular and subtle laws of electricity which have been
gathered from the ' remote and heterogeneous instances ' that could have
occurred only to the patient student of nature.

'" The restless ambition of the intellect is one of the impediments to
the attainment of truth. The mind ever desires to penetrate further
and further into the nature and causes of things ; but in vain. And hence,
feeling its helplessness, it falls back upon itself, and supposes the processes
of nature to be carried on with the same ends and in the same manner as
the works of man.

The first sentence of tins Aphorism might almost be adopted as the

LIBER /. 47 48. 223

tabile est ut sit aliquid extremum aut extimum mundi, sed
semper quasi necessario occurrit ut sit, aliquid ulterius 71 .

motto of Kant's Kritik der Reinen Vernunft, which attempts to shew the
powerlessness of the human intellect in dealing with the ultimate pro-
blems of Metaphysics, while the attraction which they exercise on it is so
great, that it cannot refrain from attempting their solution.

This Aphorism touches on a number of philosophical difficulties which
it would be impossible within the limits of a work like the present to dis-
cuss fully or satisfactorily. I shall confine myself to a brief statement of
my own opinions and to such references as I think likely to be of real use
to the student.

71 The mind is unable to think of the totality of space as finite ; for, at
whatever point we mentally place ourselves, we cannot but think of some
point beyond it. Moreover, if space be finite, it must be bounded by some
figure, that is to say, the totality of space must, on this supposition, have
some shape or other ; but, whether we regard it as spherical, cubical, or
of any other shape, there must be some space beyond it in relation to
which it is said to be of this or that shape, and in which it is contained.
Hence, the proposition that Space (in its totality) is finite or bounded,
involves a contradiction in terms ; for bounded space must have some
space beyond it. But, though we are thus compelled to think of space
as infinite, can we conceive infinite space ? We certainly cannot realise,
imagine, or picture to ourselves infinite space, for it would take an infinity
of time to do so. But this circumstance constitutes no valid reason why
we should refuse to affirm a proposition, the only alternative of which has
been proved to be self-contradictory. We are compelled, therefore, to
assert the proposition that Space is not finite, or, in other words, that
Space is infinite.

Similarly, we cannot think of time as having had a beginning, for then
there would be a time before time ; or as about to have an end, for then
there would be a time after time. Hence, we are compelled to affirm
an infinity of time, as we were before compelled to affirm an infinity of
Space.

Again, though we are as little able to picture to our minds the process of
infinitesimal subdivision as that of infinite addition, we are compelled by
considerations, similar to those which we have already gone through, to
affirm the infinite divisibility of both lines and matter. A line, however
small, must have two ends, and so be capable of bisection ; an atom must
have an upper and an under side, and so be capable of division.

The questions on which I have so briefly touched, and the very concep-
tion of infinity itself, have been the occasion of much controversy. The
student, who wishes to acquaint himself with the main outlines of these
discussions, will do well to read the chapter on 'Infinity' in Locke's
Essay (bk. ii. ch. 17 ) ; Kant's Kritik der Reinen Vernunft, Transcen-
dentale Dialektik, bk. ii. ch. 2 (Die Antinomic der Reinen Vernunft),
where the antinomies or contradictions connected with Cause and God
are discussed, as well as those connected with Space, Time, and Matter ;

224 NOVUM ORGANUM.

Neque rursus cogitari potest quomodo aeternitas defluxerit
ad hunc diem ; cum distinctio ilia, quae recipi consuevit, quod
sit infinitiim a partc ante et a parte post, nullo modo constare
possit ; quia inde sequeretur, quod sit unum infinitum alio
infinite majus, atque ut consumatur infinitum, et vergat ad
finitum 72 . Similis est subtilitas de lineis semper divisibilibus,
ex impotentia cogitationis. At majore cum pernicie inter-
venit haec impotentia mentis in inventione causarum : nam
cum maxime universalia in natura positiva 73 esse debeant,

Sir W. Hamilton's Lectures on Metaphysics, Lecture 38 ; Mr. Mill's
Examination of Hamilton, ch. 6 ; and, lastly, as a defence of Sir W.
Hamilton and a reply to Mr. Mill, Dr. Mansel's ' Philosophy of the Con-
ditioned.' The student of Kant will derive great assistance from consult-
ing, on this subject, the work of Mr. Caird on ' The Philosophy of Kant,'
pt. ii. chs. 16, 17. It must be recollected, however, that Mr. Caird's
criticisms of Kant, and the extensions which he endeavours to give to Kant's
philosophy, are made entirely from the Hegelian stand-point. Much of
the difficulty and confusion experienced in dealing with these questions
would be avoided, if the student could keep clearly before his mind the
fact that the term ' infinite ' simply expresses the negation of ' finite.'
For ' that alone,' says Locke, ' is infinite, which has no bounds ; and that
the Idea of Infinity, in which our thoughts can find none.' And again,
that is an infinite space or number 'which, in a constant and endless
inlarging and progression, the mind can in thought never attain to.'
Essay, bk. ii. ch. 17. 8.

72 Bacon's criticism is unfortunate and could only arise from his
ignorance of mathematics. In reasoning on ' infinities,' it is a first
principle that the addition or subtraction of any finite quantity, however
large, may, in comparison with infinity, be neglected. oc +a = ex. This
formula is entirely independent of the value which we assign to n, pro-
vided it be finite.

With regard to the distinction between infinitum a partc ante and in-
finitum a parte post, it seems to me that it is not only perfectly legi-
timate, but that it suggests the only way in which the mind can attempt
to picture to itself either infinity of time or infinity of space. We
mentally take our position at some particular point or moment, usually the
present, and try to conceive of an endless regress or an endless progress,
as the case may be, from that point or moment. The endless progress is
the infinitum a parte ante, the endless regress the infinitum a parte post.
3 This passage is obscure, but its meaning appears to be that there
are certain great laws of nature, or pauses, or, as J3acon would probably
have said, ' forms,' in which we ought to acquiesce as ultimate expla-
nations of facts. Such, to take instances from modern science, may,
perhaps, be the law of gravity, the law of inertia, and the laws of chemical
combination. Now Bacon can hardly mean that these laws, causes, or

LIB. /. 49. 225

quemadmodum inveniuntur, neque sunt revera causabilia ;
tamen intellectus humanus, nescius acquiescerc, adhuc appetit
notiora 74 . Turn vero, ad ulteriora tendens, ad proximiora
recidit, videlicet ad causas finales 75 , quae sunt plane ex
natura hominis, potius quam universi : atque ex hoc fonte
philosophiam miris modis corruperunt. Est autem aeque
imperiti et leviter philosophantis, in maxime universalibus
causam requirere, ac in subordinatis et subalternis 7G causam
non desiderare.

XLIX.

Intellectus humanus luminis sicci non est 77 ; sed recipit

forms are themselves, as a matter of fact, due to no other cause, but what
he does probably mean is that it is in vain for us to inquire into their
cause ; to us they are and must be ultimate facts, to be taken for granted,
and it is mere idle speculation to try and trace the course of nature
beyond them. Cp. with this passage, II. 48 (14), and specially De
Augmentis, lib. ix. (E. and S., vol. i. p. 833. 1. 10, etc.) See also Intro-
duction, p. 63.

The word ' positiva ' may be translated ' absolute ' or ' ultirnate.' It
seems intended to express the opposite of ' relative ' or ' dependent,'
that is, relative to or dependent on other causes. These facts are ' to
be taken for granted ' instead of ' to be explained.'

74 That is, natura notiora or ' still more general laws.'

76 For the meaning of the expression ' Final Causes,' the reader may
refer to the first foot-note on 8 of the Introduction, and, for Bacon's
criticism of the doctrine, to 10.

Man projects his own aims and ideas on the Universe, and regards
God or Nature as acting in the same way in which he wonld act him-
self. Thus, instead of accommodating his thoughts to Nature, he accom-
modates Nature to his own thoughts. Compare what is said by one of the
interlocutors in Galileo's Third Dialogue : ' Great, in my judgment, is the
folly of those who would have had God to have made the World more
proportional to the narrow capacities of their reason, than to his immense,
yea infinite power.' (Sir Thomas Salusbury's Translation, p. 335.)

" ; A logical term, denoting particular propositions in relation to their
corresponding universals. Thus, Some X is Y is 'subaltern' to All X is Y.

Mr. Ellis very appropriately quotes Arist. Metaph. iii. 4 (1006 a. 6-9).
ecrTi yap aTraiSfvcria TO /J.r) yiyi>a>crK(Lv -rivatv 8fl ^rjre'iv dnodeL^iV Kal Tivooi' on Of i.
<j\a>s p.ei> yap a-rravTW ativvarov a.Tr68fiiv eivai' els (irreipov yap av J3a8ioi, S><TTf
fj.rj8' ourcoy tlvai an(>8eiii>.

77 Compare the often-quoted maxim of Heraclitus ; ai'r? griprj ^v*'?
cro<pa>TaTT) or aZrj ^vyr] (rofpcuTurr] Kal dpiar^. The authorities for these
maxims are given in Ritter and Preiler's Historia Philosophiae. 2nd ed.,
p. 26.

226 NOVUM ORGANUM.

infusionem a voluntate et affectibus, id quod general ad quod
vnlt scientias : quod enim mavult homo verum esse, id
potius credit 71 . Rejicit itaque difficilia, ob inquirendi im-
patientiam ; sobria, quia coarctant spem ; altiora naturae,
proptcr superstitionem 80 ; lumen experientiae, propter arro-
g-antiam et fastum, ne videatur mens versari in vilibus et

O }

fluxis ; paradoxa, propter opinionem vulgi ; denique innu-
meris modis, iisque interdum imperceptibilibus, affectus
intellcctum imbuit et inficit.

At longe maximum impedimentum et aberratio intellectus
humani provenit a stupore et incompetentia et fallaciis
sensuum 81 ; ut ea, quae sensum fcriunt, illis, quae sensum
immediate non feriunt, licet potioribus, praeponderent. Itaque
contemplatio fere dcsinit cum aspectu ; adeo ut rerum in-
visibilium exigua aut nulla sit observatio. Itaque omnis

T " Capricious or arbitrary.

79 Bacon means that the Will and the Affections often exert an influ-
ence in warping our judgments. Familiar illustrations are the obstinacy
with which men defend opinions to which they have once committed
themselves, and the jealousy and repugnance with which they are apt to
receive those of their antagonists or rivals. It was a saying of Archbishop
Whately, that men are much more anxious to have truth on their side,
than to be on the side of truth.

It does not appear to me that Bacon either states or implies that, if the In-
tellect were freed from the warping influences of the Will and the Affections,
its conclusions would be infallibly true. A later school of English moralists,
of whom Dr. Samuel Clarke is the principal representative, maintained
the doctrine that the Affections are the sole cause of moral aberrations,
but to ascribe this or any similar theory to Bacon would involve an ana-
chronism and be inconsistent with the language of the preceding Aphorisms.

Spinoza, in his brief criticism of Bacon's philosophy (sec his letter to
Oldenburg, Epist. 2, ed. Brucler, vol. ii. pp. 146, 7), makes special reference
to this Aphorism.

" The thought is that Superstition makes men afraid of enquiring into
the ' deep things ' of nature, and so determines them to refer to the action
or intentions of a First Cause, what is really due to second causes.

1 It is, perhaps, almost superfluous to remark that, since Bacon's time,
the ' dulness, incompetency, and deceptions ' of the senses have been, to
a great extent, remedied by the discovery of new instruments, by methods
of corrections, and by a more careful discrimination between our original
perceptions and the subsequent operations of the intellect upon them.

LIB. I. 50. 227

operatio spirituum 82 in corporibus tangibilibus inclusorum
latet, et homines fugit. Omnis etiam subtilior meta-sche-
matismus 83 in partibus rerum crassiorum (quern vulgo altera-

82 This idea of * spirits ' shut up in bodies, inanimate as well as animate,
is of frequent occurrence in the 2nd Book. See, for instance, the 7th and
4oth Aphorisms, where some of the statements and speculations are very
curious. Immediately borrowed, perhaps, from Paracelsus, or taken gene-
rally from the physical philosophy of the day, this doctrine seems to
have had a peculiar attraction for Bacon. ' The idea,' says Mr. Ellis
(Preface to the Historia Vitae et Mortis, E. and S., vol. ii. p. 94), 'on
which Bacon's theory of longevity is founded, namely, that the principle of
life resides in a subtle fluid or spirit which permeates the tangible parts of
the organisation of plants and animals, seems to be coeval with the first
origin of speculative physiology. Bacon was one of those by whom this
idea was extended from organised to inorganic bodies : inal^substances,
according to him, resides a portjon of spirit which manifests_itse!f only in
its operations, being altogether intangible and without weight. This
doctrine appeared to him to be of most certain truth, but he has nowhere
stated the grounds of his conviction, nor even indicated the kind of
evidence by which the existence of the spiritus is to be established. In
living bodies he conceived that two kinds of spirits exist : a crude or
mortuary spirit, such as is present in other substances ; and the animal
or vital spirit, to which the phenomena of life are to be referred. To
keep this vital spirit, the wine of life, from oozing away, ought to be the
aim of the physician who attempts to increase the number of our few and
evil days.'

This physical, or rather metaphysical, theory of a subtle, invisible, and
intangible fluid or ether, permeating every material substance, whether
animate or inanimate, may be regarded as a curious survival of a primi-
tive, fetichistic era, when men literally believed that every object around
them was animated or possessed by a soul or ' spirit ' similar to their own,
and that this soul or spirit was itself a material, though it might be an
invisible, substance. The student will find some most interesting and
suggestive remarks on this subject in Dr. Tylor's Primitive Culture, vol. ii.
chs. 14, 15.

83 Bacon appears to have adopted a theory of the ultimate constitution
of matter, in some respects similar to that of the Atomists (see especially
Bk. ii. Aph. 8) ; and hence his partiality for the school of Democritus.
He rejected, however, the hypothesis of a vacuum, and it does not appear
whether his atoms (or rather particles, as he preferred to call them)
differed in material or only in shape and arrangement. Any way, all mate-
rial objects, he conceived, if only we could penetrate to their ultimate
structure or constitution, would be found to consist of a number of small
particles, arranged in some definite manner with reference to each other.

I This arrangement, as it escapes detection, is called La tens Sc/icinat/sinus^ \
\ and any change in it is termed Met a- Schematising ; moreover, as the [

Q 2 "

228 NOVUM ORGANUM.

tionem vocant, cum sit revera latio per minima 84 ) 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 (quae
plurima sunt), fere incognita est. Sensus enim per se res
infirma est, et aberrans : neque organa ad amplificandos
sensus aut acuendos multum valent ; sed omnis verier inter-
pretatio naturae conficitur per instantias, et experimenta
idonea et apposita ; ubi sensus de experimento tantum, ex-
perimentum de natura et re ipsa judicat.

LI.

Intellectus humanus fertur ad abstracta propter naturam
propriam ; atque ea, quae fluxa sunt, fingit esse constantia.
Melius autem est naturam secare, quam abstrahere 85 ; id quod
Democriti schola fecit, quae magis penetravit in naturam,
quam reliquae. Materia potius considerari debet, et ejus
schematismi, et meta-schematismi, atque actus purus 8G , et lex

internal process by which such change takes place is unknown to us, it
is called Latens Procesms. (See Bk. ii. Aphs. 6, 7 ; and cp. ii. 48 ad fin.,
where Bacon contests Democritus' theory of the rigidity or unchangeability
of the atoms.)

84 It follows from Bacon's theory of the ultimate constitution of matter
that any alteration (nAXoiWt?) in a body is simply a motion amongst the
minute particles, a change in their arrangement, ' latio per minima.'

85 It is better to dissect nature by means of analysis, than to form
abstract theories about her, which have no foundation in fact or experi-
ment. The work of 'abstraction,' that is of forming abstract or general
theories, is, of course, indispensable in the interpretation of nature, but it
ought to follow and not precede the work of ' dissection,' that is, the
minute examination and interrogation of natural facts. It is on account
of its patience or supposed patience in the investigation of nature that
the school of Leucippus and Democritus seems to have been preferred by
Bacon to the other schools of antiquity.

8G This expression is the scholastic equivalent for the Aristotelian term
fvepyeia or evrf\e^(ia as opposed to Swapis, and, as such, may either mean
actual, as opposed to possible motion, growth, or development, or actual, as
opposed to possible existence. For a di-vafiis may either be a possibility of
motion (taking that word in the wide sense in which it is employed by
Aristotle), or a possibility of existence. If it be a possibility of existence,
the existence itself, when realised, is called an eWpyeia or eWeXe'^e ia. But.

LIB. I. 5152. 229

actus sive motus ; formae enim commenta animi humani
sunt 87 , nisi libeat leges illas actus formas appellare.

LIT.

Hujusmodi itaque sunt idola, quae vocamus idola tribus :
quae ortum habent aut ex aequalitate substantiae spiritus

if it be a possibility of motion, we have two cases, according as the motion
or process is (i) an end in itself, or (2) results in something beyond itself,
an t'pyw TI. Now, in the first case, as, for instance, in walking for the
sake of exercise, the actual as opposed to the possible motion may be in-
differently called a Kivrja-is, an fvepyeia, and, though hardly with equal pro-
priety, an eVreAe'xeia. In the second case, suppose we take house-building
as our instance, we have (a) the mere Swapis or possibility of house-
building, (/3) the process itself, otVoSo/wKq, (-y) the result, TO epyov, the house.
Here, 01*080/111*07, the process, ought strictly speaking to be called a wi^o-ir,
but it is also called, though with less propriety, an tvepyeia. or even an
ta ; but the end or result, the house itself, can only be said to exist
or eWeXe^ei'a, and the latter expression seems the more appropriate
of the two. The terms evfpyeia and fWeAe'^eia are often used interchange-
ably by Aristotle, but, strictly speaking, it would seem that cvepytia (e'v
should be appropriated to a motion which is an end in itself, while
ia (ev reXei extiv) ought to be appropriated to the result of a motion
or process, or to actual as opposed to possible existence.

On this distinction, the student is specially recommended to read Tren-
delenburg's first note to De Anima, bk. ii. ch. i, and to compare the passages
in Aristotle's works, where the terms tvepyfia and eVreXe^eia occur. He
should notice particularly Metaph. viii. 6 and Eth. vii. 14 (8). Sir Alex-
ander Grant treats of this distinction at some length in one of the Essays
appended to his edition of Aristotle's Ethics.

' Actus Purus,' in the present passage, may mean either the process of
development by which one material substance passes into another or the
final result which follows from the meta-schematismus, that is to say, the
change in its structure. Thus, the actus purus might either be the process
by which the acorn passes into the oak or iron into rust, or it might be the
oak or the rust itself. Conformably with these alternatives, ' lex actus sive
motus ' may denote either the law governing the process by which the
final result is attained, or the law expressing the conditions of the result
itself, that is to say, it may denote either a dynamical law or a statical
law. I am inclined to think that, in this place, it has the former meaning^
Cp. Introduction, Section 8.

^ 7 He here alludes to the iSe'at of Plato, which were conceived as having
a supra-sensible existence independent of and out of relation to matter.
He himself adopts the phrase ' Forms,' but in a peculiar sense of his own,
which I have discussed at length in the scciion of the Introduction just
referred to.

230 NOVUM ORGANUM.

humani 88 ; aut ex praeoccupatione ejus ; aut ab angustiis
ejus; aut ab inquieto motu ejus; aut ab infusione affectuum ;
aut ab incompetentia sensuum ; aut ab impressionis modo 89 .

LIII.

Idola spccns ortum habent ex propria cuj usque natura et
animi et corporis ; atque etiam ex educatione, et consuetudine,
et fortuitis. Quod genus, licet sit varium et multiplex,
tamen ea proponemus, in quibus maxima cautio est, quaeque
plurimum valent ad polluendum intellectum, ne sit purus.

LIV.

Adamant homines scientias et contemplationcs particulares :
aut quia authores et inventores se earum credunt ; aut quia
plurimum in illis operae posuerunt, iisque maxime assuevcrunt.
Hujusmodi vero homines, si ad philosophiam et contcmpla-
tiones universales se contulerint, illas ex prioribus phantasiis
dctorquent, et corrumpunt ; id quod maxime conspicuum
cernitur in Aristotele, qui naturalem suam philosophiam
logicae suae prorsus mancipavit, tit earn fere inutilem et con-
tentiosnm rcddiderit . Chymicorum autem genus, ex paucis

** By this singular expression he appears to mean that the human mind,
being of an uniform substance, is inadequate to represent the inequalities
and varieties of nature, and hence that it feigns uniformities and analogies
which do not exist. Cp. Aphs. 41 and 45.

These words must refer to the last Aphorism, though the meaning of
the reference is not altogether clear. We are 'impressed' with the general
and abstract relations of things rather than with their minute structure.
The reason at once seizes on or even ' anticipates ' the former, while the
latter is concealed from the observation of the senses.

"' Compare the far more vehement attack on Aristotle in Tcmporis
Partus Masculus, cap. 2 (E. and S., vol. iii. pp. 529, 530) : ' Itaque
citetur Aristotelcs, pessimus sophista, inutili subtilitate attonitus, verborum
vile ludibrium. Ausus etiam, turn cum forte mcns humana ad veritatem
aliquam casu quopiam tanquam secunda tempcstate dclata acquiesceret,
injicere durissimas animis compcdes, artemque quandam insaniac com-
ponere, nosque verbis addicere.' Bacon, however, is not always consistent
in his abuse of Aristotle. Sometimes he speaks of him in terms of eulogy,
as, for instance, in Aph. 98 and in the following passage of the Redargutio
Philosophiarum : 'Itaque hos duos viros, Platonem et Aristotclcm, si quis
inter maxima mortalium ingenia non numerat aut minus pcrspicit aut
minus aequus cst.'

The specific charge against Aristotle that he subordinated his natural

LIB. L 5354- 231

experiments fornacis, philosophiam constituerunt phantas-
ticam. et ad pauca spcctantem 01 : quinetiam Gilbertus, post-
quam in contemplationibus magnetis se laboriosissime cxer-
cuisset, confinxit statim philosophiam consentaneam rei apud
ipsum.praepollenti 2 .

philosophy to his logic is undoubtedly founded in part on his partiality for
the technical forms and terminology of the syllogism. This circumstance
often obscures his argument (as we may see even in the 6th and yth Books
of the Ethics), and also often has a tendency to divert his attention from
the arbitrary or questionable character of the principles on which his
reasoning proceeds. But, under the phrase ' logicae suae,' Bacon probably
includes not only 'logic' properly so called, but also the metaphysical dis-
tinctions which are of such frequent occurrence in Aristotle's works.
Instead of explaining physical phenomena in their true relations or by
reference to their true causes, Aristotle frequently, if not generally, deems
it sufficient to bring them under his metaphysical distinctions of Suj/n^uts and
eWp-yeto, matter, form, and privation, the four causes, the ten categories,
the different kinds of motion, and the like. Of this tendency we have
a notable instance in the De Coelo, where we should naturally expect to
find a careful account of observed facts with reference to the earth and
the heavenly bodies ; instead of this account, we have interminable
discussions on substance, qualities, the various kinds of motion, and other
topics of a like metaphysical character. The title of this treatise, how-
ever, was not given by Aristotle himself.

91 Bacon frequently refers to the ' Chemists' or 'Alchemists,' and gene-
rally in the same terms. See Aphs. 64 and 73. They are criticised at
length, both on their practical and speculative side, in the Redargutio
Philosophiarum (E. and S., iii. 575, 576). There is also an interesting
notice of them in the De Augmentis, lib. i. (vol. i. p. 457)-

In the word ' phantasticam,' he probably has specially in view the
speculations of Paracelsus and his school ; in the expression ' ad pauca
spectantem ' the narrow range of objects, such as the transformation of
metals and the discovery of the elixir vitae, to which the Chemists or
Alchemists of that time confined their attention.

Professor Playfair, in a passage already referred to, says (Encycl.
Brit., Prcl. Diss.) : 'Chemistry in this state might be said to have an
Elective Attraction for all that was most absurd and extravagant in the
other parts of knowledge.'

92 William Gilbert of Colchester (1540-1603), Court-Physician to Queen
Elisabeth and author of the celebrated treatise ' De Magncte ' published
in 1600, was really the founder of the sciences of Electricity and Mag-
netism. It is, however, indisputable that he regarded his discoveries as
admitting of a wider application than was really the case. Thus, he
assigned to magnetism some of the phenomena which were afterwards
explained by gravitation.

Gilbert (who is repeatedly referred to by Bacon both in the Xovum

232 NOVUM ORGANUM.

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 93 . Ingenia enim constantia et
acuta figere contemplationes, et morari, et haerere in omni
subtilitate differentiarum possunt ; ingenia autem sublimia et
discursiva etiam tenuissimas et catholicas rerum similitudines
et agnoscunt et componunt : utrumque autem ingenium facile
labitur in excessum, prensando aut gradus rerum, aut umbras.

LVI.

Repcriuntur ingenia alia in admirationem antiquitatis 94 , alia
in amorem et amplexum novitatis effusa ; pauca vero ejus
temperament! sunt, ut modum tenere possint, quin aut quae
recte posita sunt ab antiquis convellant, aut ea contemnant

Organ um and elsewhere) is mentioned with more respect in Bk. ii.
Aph. 35, and with considerable respect in Bk. ii. Aph. 36. Mr. Spedding
observes (vol. iii. p. 516) : ' Bacon praises him both for his industry and
his method ; censuring him only for endeavouring to build a universal
philosophy upon so narrow a basis.' Thus, in the following quaint passage
(from the 'Aditus ad Historian! Gravis et Levis,' E. and S., vol. ii. p. So),
he combines both praise and blame : ' Itaque vires magneticas non inscite
introdaxit Gilbertus, sed et ipsc factus magnes ; nimio scilicet plura quam
oportct ad illas trahens, et navcm aedificans ex scalmo.'

3 This Aphorism is suggestive of an important psychological fact. The
tendency to note resemblances and the tendency to note differences rarely
co-exist in an equal degree. Men who have a tendency to note resemblances
rather than differences have an imaginative, and frequently a philosophical
or poetical turn of mind ; men who have a tendency to note differences
rather than resemblances have a logical or critical turn of mind. Plato,
Shakspeare, and Bacon himself (though he claims to unite both faculties ;
see De Interpretationc Naturae Prooemium, E. and S., vol. iii. p. 518)
furnish good instances of the one tendency, Aristotle of the other. As
literature accumulates, and thought tends to lose its freshness, men seem
to be apt to note differences rather than resemblances. Logic and
criticism advance at the expense of poetry and creative philosophy.

\\ it has frequently been denned as a faculty of noticing remote
resemblances.

The student may compare with this Aphorism a passage in Kant's
Kritik der Reincn Yernunft, Anhang zur transcendentalen Dialcktik, ed.
Hartenstein, vol. iii. p. 442 (Meiklejohn's English Translation, p. 401).

j4 See Apia. 84, and the notes on that Aphorism.

LIB. I. 5559- 233

quae recte afferuntur a novis. Hoc vero magno scientiarum et
philosophiae detrimento fit, quum studia potius sint antiqui-
tatis et novitatis, quam judicia : veritas autem non a felicitate
temporis alicujus, quae res varia est ; sed a lumine naturae et
experie.ntiae, quod aeternum est, petenda est. Itaque abne-
ganda sunt ista studia ; et videndum, ne intellectus ab illis
ad consensum abripiatur.

LVII.

Contemplationes naturae et corporum in simplicitate sua
intellectum frangunt et comminuunt ; Contemplationes vero
naturae et corporum in compositione et configuratione sua
intellectum stupefaciunt et solvunt 95 . Id optime cernitur in
schola Leucippi et Democriti, 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 alternandae sunt
Contemplationes istae, et vicissim sumendae ; ut intellectus
reddatur simul penetrans et capax ; et evitentur ea, quae
diximus, incommoda, atque idola ex iis provenientia.

LVIII.

Talis itaque esto prudentia contemplativa in arcendis et
summovendis idolis specus ; quae aut ex pracdominantia, aut
ex excessu compositionis et divisionis, aut ex studiis erga
tempora, aut ex objectis largis et minutis, maxime ortum
habent. Generaliter autem pro suspecto habendum unicuique
rerum naturam contemplanti quicquid intellectum suum potis-
simum capit et detinet ; tantoque major adhibenda in hujus-
modi placitis est cautio, ut intellectus servetur aequus et purus.

LIX.

At idola fori omnium rnolestissima sunt ; quae ex foedere

95 These are bold, and somewhat harsh, metaphors. By exclusive
attention to the ultimate constitution of nature, in its minute particles,
the human intellect is, as it were, broken, and frittered away : on the
other hand, by the attempt to grasp nature as a whole, it evaporates and
is lost in amazement. The precept with which the Aphorism concludes,
commending the combination of minute research with general speculations,
is of the utmost practical importance, and could hardly be stated in more
felicitous language than that in which Bacon has presented it.

234 NOVUM ORGANUM.

verborum et nominum 9G se insinuarunt in intellectum. Cre-
dunt enim homines, rationem suam verbis imperare. Sed fit
etiam ut verba vim suam super intellectum retorqueant et
reflectant ; quod philosophiam et scientias reddidit sophisticas
et inactivas. Verba autem plerunque ex captu vulgi induntur,
atque per lineas vulgari intellectui maxime conspicuas res
secant 97 . 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 disputationes hominum doctorum saepe in contro-
versias circa verba et nomina desinant 8 ; a quibus (ex more
et prudentia mathematicorum) incipere consultius foret, easque
per definitiones in ordinem redigere. Quae tamen defini-
tiones, in naturalibus et materiatis, huic malo mederi non
possunt 90 : quoniam et ipsae definitiones ex verbis constant,

flc i p rom th e association of words and names with things.' For refer-
ences illustrative of the Idola Fori, see notes on Aph. 43.

' 7 Cp. Cogitata et Visa, E. and S., vol. iii. p. 599. It sometimes happens
that a word only partly expresses the conception which we wish to
convey ; sometimes it expresses more. There is a similar defect in the
distinctions which we attempt to express by two or more contrasted words,
such as organic and inorganic, animal and vegetable, rational and irra-
tional, virtue and vice, science and art, and the like. Such words require
constant rectification and definition, in order to make them express exactly
what we wish to express and no more. Words, as Bacon says, are inherited
from vulgar use, and hence there is often the greatest difficulty in attach-
ing to them any precise, scientific sense, nor, even when this is done, will
men always agree to accept or employ them in the sense thus attached to
them.

'" We need only instance such words as idea, sense, cause, reason,
substance, etc., in mental philosophy, and cause, force, form, essence,
motion, etc., in physical philosophy. The truth of this remark as applied
to the questions agitated in morals, politics, and theology will be familiar
to every student.

" J Considerable confusion has arisen in the discussion of questions
relating to scientific method from not observing that Definitions are of
a very different character and occupy a very different position in the
moral and physical sciences, on the one hand, and in the mathematical
sciences, on the other. In Mathematics, the inductions by which we gain
the most fundamental truths with respect to space and number are
peculiarly simple and are performed with such rapidity and, for the most
part, at so early an age, that we are hardly conscious of having ever gone
through them. Hence, we are able almost at once to construct definitions

LIB. I. 60. 235

et verba gignunt verba : adeo ut necesse sit ad instantias
particulares, earumque series et ordines, recurrere ; ut mox
dicemus, quum ad modum et rationem constituendi notiones
et axiomata deventum fuerit.

LX.

Idola, quae per verba intellectui imponuntur, duorum
generum sunt 1 ; aut enim sunt rerum nomina, quae non sunt

for the purpose of explaining the most important distinctions which we
either find obtruded on our notice, or think it desirable to establish.
Moreover, these definitions, when constructed, do not pretend to represent
concrete facts but only certain abstract relations of figures and numbers.
That such relations exist, if not strictly, at least approximately, no one
disputes ; they can generally be expressed in a few words, which adequately
and exhaustively represent them, and a single technical term is easily
invented or appropriated, by means of which the definition can in future
be summoned before the mind. About the adequacy or correctness of
these definitions there is seldom any difference of opinion, and, even if
there be, it does not affect the validity of the subsequent reasoning ; for,
provided that the same relation be invariably designated by the same
name, and that the logical operations be correctly performed, there can
be no error in the result. But, when we come to deal with the complex
relations of nature and life, it is widely different. Here, Induction occu-
pies a far more important place, and, till we have ascertained, distinguished,
and classified the more important properties of the objects under investi-
gation, it is in vain to begin the work of Definition. It is only after
we have completed the inductive stage of the enquiry that we are in a
position to draw up a list of definitions, or, if we venture to do so 'before,
we ought to regard them simply as incomplete and provisional, and hold
ourselves in constant readiness to review and correct them. Hence,
while the inductive stage of a science is progressive, and therefore
incomplete, it is natural that much controversy should turn on the
definitions. ' It is necessary,' as Bacon says, ' to be constantly recurring
to particular instances,' and we cannot safely reason deductively from
the definitions as data, till we have firmly established the inductions on
which they rest, and of which they are frequently the expressions, and,
indeed, the summaries.

On the nature and place of Definition in Mathematics, the student may
refer to Dugald Stewart's Section, entitled ' Of Mathematical Demon-
stration,' in the Philosophy of the Human Mind (Hamilton's Ed., vol. ii.
pp. 113-152), and Mill's Logic, bk. ii. chs. 5, 6; and on the distinction
between 'Final and Complete' and 'Incomplete and Provisional' Defi-
nitions, to the Editor's chapter on Definitions in his Elements of De-
ductive Logic.

1 This division of the Idola Fori is important. S o met i m e s _\\e_ a re
deceived by words expressing supppsed_ entities which have no actual

236 NOVUM ORGANUM.

(quemadmodum enim sunt res, quae nomine carent per in-
observationem 2 ; ita sunt et nomina, quae carent rebus, per
suppositionem 3 phantasticam), aut sunt nomina rerum, quae
sunt, sed confusa et male terminata, et temere et maj^noaliter 4
a rebus abstracta. Prioris generis sunt fortuna 5 , primum
mobile 6 , planetarum orbes 7 , elementum ignis 8 , et hujusmodi

existence ; sometimes by words which inadequately^ erroneously represent
actually existing things or properties.

2 Thus, Naturalists are constantly inventing new names for newly dis-
covered species or varieties. The reader of Aristotle's Ethics will recollect
several moral states which Aristotle describes, but designates as nameless.
It hardly needs to be observed that, as a science advances, it finds names
for these ' nameless ' things or qualities.

3 This word may here be used in its technical sense, for which see
Sanderson's Logic, bk. ii. ch. 2.

* Cp. Aph. 41, 'Estque intellectus ' etc. We might translate inaequaliter
as 'partially.' Due care has not been given to the patient examination of
all the cases with all their attendant circumstances, and to the abstraction
of all disturbing influences in the human mind itself.

r> Thus, one of the dicta ascribed to Anaxagoras is that Fortune (TV^JJ)
is nothing more than a cause undiscovered by human reasoning, adqXos
uhia dvBpcoirivcp Xo-yta/xw. Cp. Juvenal, Sat. x. 365-6 :

' Nullum numen habes, si sit prudentia : nos te
Nos facimus, Fortuna, deam coeloque locamus.'

6 In some of the ancient systems of Astronomy, the heavens were sup-
posed to consist of a number of hollow and concentric crystalline spheres
revolving at different rates of velocity round the earth, and carrying with
them the stars and planets ; all these moveable spheres being contained
within a fixed sphere, or empyrean heaven, which was supposed to be
illimitable in extent and to encircle all the others. The ' primum mobile '
was the outermost of the moveable spheres, and was in some systems
identified with, in others distinguished from, the coelum stellatum or
sphere containing the fixed stars. It was regarded as communicating a
motion to all the other spheres, apart from their proper or independent
motion, and with them revolving round the earth once in twenty-four
hours.

' These are the spheres in which the planets were supposed to be set,
and by which they were supposed to be carried round the earth, each
with its own peculiar motion. Dr. Kitchin quotes Milton, Paradise Lost,
v. 176 :

' The fixed stars, fixed in their orb that flies.'

There was supposed to be a similar sphere, external to the others, in
which the fixed stars were set. See last note. The reader of Plato's
Republic will remember a curious illustration of these crude astronomical
theories in the Myth of Er at the end of the tenth Book.

* Sec note 61 on Aph. 45.

LIB. I. 6c. 237

commenta, quae a vanis et falsis theoriis ortum habent.
Atque hoc genus idolorum facilius ejicitur, quia per constan-
tem abnegationem et antiquationem theoriarum exterminari
possunt.

At alterum genus perplexum est, et alte haerens ; quod ex
mala et imperita abstractione excitatur. Exempli gratia,
accipiatur aliquod verbum (kumidum, si placet), et videamus
quomodo sibi constent quae per hoc verbum significantur : et
invenietur verbum istud, humidum, nihil aliud quam nota
confusa diversarum actionum, quae nullam constantiam aut
. reductionem patiuntur. Significat enim et quod circa aliud
corpus facile se circumfundit ; et quod in se est indetermina-
bile, nee consistere potest ; et quod facile cedit undique ;
et quod facile se dividit et dispergit ; et quod facile se unit et
colligit ; et quod facile fluit et in motu ponitur ; et quod
alteri corpori facile adhaeret, idque madefacit ; et quod facile
reducitur in liquidum, sive colliquatur, cum antea consisteret.
Itaque quum ad hujus nominis praedicationem et imposi-
tionem ventum sit : si alia accipias, flamma humida est ; si
alia accipias, aer humidus non est ; si alia, pulvis minutus
humidus est; si alia, vitrum humidum est: ut facile appareat
istam notionem ex aqua tantum, et communibus et vulgaribus
liquoribus, absque ulla debita verificatione, temere abstractam
esse.

In verbis autem gradus sunt quidam pravitatis et erroris.
Minus vitiosum genus est nominum substantiae alicujus, prae-
sertim specierum infimarum et bene deductarum (nam notio
cretae, luti, bona ; terrae, mala) : vitiosius genus est actionum,
ut generare, corrumperc 1 *, alterare : vitiosissimum qualitatum
(exceptis objectis sensus immediatis), ut grains, lez'is, tennis,
densi, &c. Et tamen in omnibus istis fieri non potest. quin
sint aliae notiones aliis paulo meliores, prout in sensum
humanum incidit rerum copia 10 .

9 In Herschel's Discourse on the Study of Natural Philosophy, 101,
note, the student will find a curious example of the kind of verbal jugglery
which the ancient reasoners were enabled to carry on by the vague and
shifting use of such words as generation, corruption, motion, and the
like.

lu That is, according to the extent of our experience of the objects.

238 NOVUM ORGANUM.

LXI.

At idola tJicatri innata non sunt, nee occulto insinuata in
intellectum n ; sed ex fabulis theoriarum, et perversis legibus
demonstrationum, plane indita et recepta. In his autem
confutationes tentare ct suscipere consentaneum prorsus non
est illis, quae a nobis dicta sunt. Quum enim nee de princi-
piis consentiamus, nee de demonstrationibus, tollitur omnis
argumentatio. Id vero bono fit fato, ut antiquis suus constet
honos 12 . Nihil cnim illis detrahitur, quum de via omnino
quaestio sit. Claudus enim (ut dicitur) in via antevertit
cursorem extra viam. Etiam illud manifesto liquet. current!
extra viam,, quo habilior sit et velocior, eo majorem contingcre
abcrrationem.

Nostra vcro inveniendi scientias ca est ratio, ut non multum
ingeniorum acumini et robori relinquatur ; sed quae ingenia
ct intellcctus fere exacquet 13 . Quemadmodum enim ad hoc

11 The words 'insinuata in intellectum ' apply to the Idola Fori. For
the various divisions of the Idola given in the different works of Bacon,
see notes on Aphs. 38, 39. We have here a trace of the old division into
' itinata,' including the Idola Tribus and Idola Specus, and ' adscititia,'
which were co-extensive with the Idola Theatri. Cp. pp. 174, 175.
The Idola Fori, as falling under neither division, created a difficulty, and
seem here to be regarded as intermediate between the two.

The two divisions of the Idola Theatri, namely,} those arising from
false systems of philosophy andjLthose arising from perverse laws of
demonstration, are sometimes treated by Bacon, as, for instance, in the
Distributio Operis. as if they were distinct classes of Idola. Corresponding
with them, he proposes to furnish in the Novum Organum a ' Redargutio
Philosophiarum' and a 'Redargutio Demonstrationum.' But these 'Redar-
gutiones,' it will be found, are not kept altogether distinct in the Aphorisms
which follow. With the remaining ' Idola' corresponds the 'Redargutio
Rationis humanae nativae.' Cp. p. 175.

- In this and similar passages, which abound throughout the Novum
Organum, we cannot fail to notice an air of contemptuous superiority.
' Why should I contend with the ancients for the palm of genius, when
it is enough for me that I am on the right road, and they on the wrong
one. Let them run as fast as they like. They will only run the further
from the truth.'

1:5 Commenting on this passage. Macaulay (Essay on Bacon) says: 'This
really seems to us as extravagant as it would have been in Lindley Murray
to announce that every body who should learn his Grammar would write
as good English as Dryclen. or in that very able writer, the Archbishop
of Dublin, to promise that all the readers of his Logic would reason like

LIB. I. 61 62,. 239

ut linea recta fiat, aut circulus perfectus describatur, multum
est in constantia et exercitatione manus, si fiat ex vi manus
propria, sin autem adhibeatur rcgula, 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 infelicitatis et tarn
diuturni et generalis in errore consensus ; ut ad vera minus
difficilis sit aditus, et intellectus humanus volentius expurgetur
et idola dimittat.

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 religionem et
theologian! occupata fuissent ; atque etiam politiae civiles
(praesertim monarchiae) ab istiusmodi novitatibus, etiam in con-
templationibus, essent aversae ; ut cum periculo et detriment
fortunarum suarum in illas homines incumbant, non solum
praemio destituti, sed etiam contemptui et invidiae expositi :
complures aliae proculdubio philosophiarum et theoriarum

Chillingworth, and that all the readers of his Rhetoric would speak like
Burke. That Bacon was altogether mistaken as to this point will now
hardly be disputed. His philosophy has flourished during two hundred
years, and has produced none of this levelling. The interval between a
man of talents and a dunce is as wide as ever ; and is never more clearly
discernible than when they engage in researches which require the con-
stant use of induction.'

Bacon's promise never has been, and never can be, fulfilled. In the
Inductive Sciences, there is the same scope for the play of the Imagination,
for the work of the creative and inventive faculty, as in Art or Poetry ;
and there is at least as much occasion for acuteness and rapidity of
reasoning as in what are called the exact sciences. The greatest dis-
coveries in science have always been made by men with a keen perception
of the analogies of nature, and, consequently, with an aptitude for framing
bold, and, at the same time, just hypotheses. The study of scientific
method may, and, I believe, does, strengthen and cultivate a man's ori-
ginal powers, but it can never create them or supply their place. It must
not be forgotten, however, that, in the work of science, even the humblest
intellect can do good service in the way of collecting and arranging materials
for subsequent investigation.

I shall recur to this topic in a note on the parallel passage in Aph. 122.

240 NOVUM ORGANUM.

sectae, similes illis, quae magna varietate olim apud Graecos
floruerunt, introductae fuisscnt. Quemadmodum enim super
phaenomena aetheris plura tJiemata coeli confingt possunt : '-
similiter, et multo magis, super phaenomena philosophiae fun-
dari possunt et constitui varia dogmata. Atque hujusmodi
tJicatri fabulae habent etiam illud, quod in theatre poetarum
usu venit ; ut narrationes fictae ad scenam narrationibus ex
historia veris concinniores sint et elegantiores, et quales quis
magis vellet.

In genere autem, in materiam philosophiae sumitur aut
multum ex paucis, aut parum ex multis u ; ut utrinque
philosophia super experientiae et naturalis historiae nimis
angustam 15 basin fundata sit, atque ex paucioribus, quam par
est, pronunciet. Rationale 1G enim genus philosophantium ex
experientia arripiunt varia et vulgaria, eaque neque certo
comperta, nee diligenter examinata et pensitata ; reliqua in
meditatione atque ingenii agitatione ponunt.

Est et aliud genus philosophantium, qui in paucis experi-

14 ' Multum ex paucis ' evidently refers to the Empirical School, as
described below and in many other passages, and, consequently, ' parum ex
multis' must refer to the Rational or Sophistic School. But its meaning,
as referred to this school, is not obvious, the charge against it usually being
that it founds propositions of too wide a degree of generality on too
slender a basis of fact. Can the phrase mean that the first inferences
diawn by the Rational School, instead of being true 'axiomata infima'
and therefore just covering the facts and no more, are of too jvague and
general a character, being based on a cursory view of a great number
of facts, to be of any service with respect to subsequent inductions ? The
whole passage might then be paraphrased as follows : ' The Empirical
School examines minutely a small number of facts, and bases far too
many inferences upon them ; the Rational or Sophistic School examines
cursorily a large number of facts, and infers from them too few conclu-
sions, while those conclusions are of so vague a character as to be prac-
tically useless.' It must be remembered that the 'axiomata infima,' or
first inferences from the facts, would, according to Bacon's ideal, be
very numerous, and would furnish the basis for subsequent inductions
of various degrees.

in In the first case, the basis of facts is too small ; in the second case,
the 'axiomata infima,' from which subsequent axioms are to be inferred,
are too few.

"' Called below ' Sophistic.' This division of philosophers trusts too
much to mere reasoning, as the next trusts too much to mere experience.

LIB. I. 63. 241

mentis sedulo et accurate elaborarunt, atque inde philosophias
educere et confmgere ausi sunt ; reliqua miris modis ad ea
detorquentes 17 .

Est et tertium genus eorum, qui theologian! et traditiones
ex fide et veneratione immiscent ; inter quos vanitas nonnul-
lorum ad petendas et derivandas scientias a spiritibus scilicet
et geniis 18 deflexit ; ita ut stirps errorum et philosophia falsa
genere triplex sit : sopliistica, empirica, et superstitiosa,

LXIII.

Primi generis exemplum in Aristotele maxime conspicuum
est, qui philosophiam naturalem dialectica sua corrupit 19 : quum
mundum ex categoriis efFecerit 20 ; animae humanae, nobilis-
simae substantiae, genus ex vocibus secundae intentionis
tribuerit 21 ; negotium densi et rari, per quod corpora subeunt

17 He here probably alludes specially to Paracelsus.

18 The allusion here is probably to the Neo-Platonists and Cabbalists,
or possibly again to Paracelsus, or, perhaps, to the followers of what
Bacon elsewhere calls 'Superstitious Magic. 1

19 See note 90 on Aph. 54.

20 This may be a specific reference to the opening chapters of the
De Coelo, for an account of which the student, who is not familiar
with the physical works of Aristotle, may consult Mr. Lewes' Aristotle,
ch. 7 (pp. 136, &c.). Or it may refer generally to Aristotle's frequent
practice of substituting for the physical explanation of a physical phe-
nomenon its reduction to one of the Categories or to some other arbitrary
metaphysical or logical distinction of his own. Or, lastly, it may mean
that Aristotle dogmatically attempted to include all forms of existence
under one or other of his Categories. Whether, if this last be Bacon's
meaning, he has rightly interpreted Aristotle's doctrine of Categories,
this is not the place to enquire. The work called the ' Categories ' is of
doubtful authority, but the distinction itself occurs or is implied in many
other works, which are undoubtedly Aristotelian.

There is a parallel passage in the Cogitata et Visa (E. and S., vol. iii.
p. 601) : 'Hujus autem philosophiae [sc. Philosophiae Naturalis, quam a
Graecis accepimus] jam consensu principem Aristotelem, intacta fere ac
illibata Natura, in communibus notionibus, atque earum inter se compa-
ratione, collisione, et reductione inutiliter versatum esse. Neque sane
quicquam solidi ab eo sperari, qui etiam mundum e categoriis effecerit :
Parum enim interesse, utrum quis materiam formam et privationem, an
substantiam qualitatem et relationem, principia rerum posuerit.'

21 This is probably a criticism of a passage in the De Anima, ii. I (5),
which, however, applies, not to the human soul only, but to life in general:
816 ^v\rj eanv eVreAe^eta 77 TrpuTr] trcojuaroy (pvviKov dwdfiei a>ijf e^ovros.

242

NOVUM ORGANUM.

M Of A

majores et minores dimensiones sive spatia, per frigidam dis-
tinctionem actus et potentiae transegerit 2 ' 2 ; motum singulis
corporibus unicum et proprium, et, si participent ex alio
motu, id aliunde moveri, asseruerit 23 : et innumera alia, pro

Without some explanation of this definition, Bacon's criticism is unintel-
'/L*< ligible, and, bearing in mind the account, given in note 86 on Aph. 51, of
'h<i{ the technical terms evepyeia and eVreXe^f ia, this explanation may easily be
supplied.

The lifeless body, as, for instance, the embryo, may be regarded as capable
of life. It attains its actuality, as soon as it begins to live. Thus, ^r\i\rj is
the actual manifestation (eWeXe'^eta) of that life which every organized
body has potentially. But why r\ Trpcor^ ? We must recollect that 8vvap,is
and e'vepyfia or eVreXe^em are purely relative terms ; what is a 8vvap.is in one
relation may be an evepyeia or eVreXe^eia in another. Now faxy, as we
have seen, is the evepyeia or eWeXe'xa of o-co/^a, but ^u;^> when once
manifested, begins to perform various functions (such as, in the case of
man, are perception, thought, c.). These acts or functions are them-
selves eWpyfKu, of which ^rv\r], in its dormant state, may be regarded as
the 8vvap.is. Hence, while the manifestations of ^v^ 1 ? are, as it were,
SevTfpai fvepyeiai, ^vx^'j itself is a TrpuiTT] eWpyeia.

That the technical terms of which the definition of tyvxf] is composed
represent ' second intentions ' or ' second notions ' is plain enough. The
student, who is not acquainted with the distinction between ' first ' and
' second ' notions, should refer to Sir W T . Hamilton's Essay on Logic
(Discussions, p. 139) or Dr. Mansel's edition of Aldrich's Logic, cap. I. 3.
div. ti, note. It is possible, however, that Bacon may use the phrase in its
later sense, as employed by Aldrich and others, in which case it is equally
applicable to the terms of the definition criticised.

2 " Bacon is here probably referring to a passage in the Physics, iv. 5 (6)
[p. 213 a. 1-4] ' OVTU> 8t Kal dfjp f%ei npbs vdcep' oiov v\r] yap, TO 8' fl8os, TO
fj.ei> {/Scop v\ij depoSf 6 S' di)p oiov evepycid TLS fKfivov' TO yap uScop dvvdp.fi af]p
((TTiv, o &' (]f]p dvvdp.fi v8a>p i'i\\ov Tpi'mov. Water is regarded as condensed
air, and air as rarefied water, and, therefore, either may, in a certain
sense, be regarded as being the other potentially. ' Actus ' and ' potentia,'
of course, correspond respectively with evepyeia and bvvapis.

Mr. Ellis in his Preface to the Historia Densi et Rari (vol. ii. pp. 236-7)
refers to another passage in Aristotle (Categ. ch. 8. p. 10 a. 16-24), where
the dense and the rare are explained as due to different modes of the dis-
position of particles, the particles in dense bodies being near one another,
and in rare bodies standing further apart.

3 This is an allusion to the Scholastic distinction of ' Motus Pro-
prius ' and ' Motus Alienus.' All bodies were supposed to have some one
motion, and one motion only, proper to them. But, in addition to this
motion, they might participate in one or more other motions communicated
to them by other bodies. Thus, for instance, the wheel of a watch has
a proper motion of one kind only, but, besides this, it may share in the

LIB. I. 63. 243

arbitrio suo, naturae rerum imposuerit : magis ubique sol-
licitus 24 quomodo quis respondendo se explicet, et aliquid
reddatur in verbis positivum, quam de interna rerum veritate ;
quod etiam optime se ostendit in comparatione philosophiae
ejus ad alias philosophias quae apud Graecos celebrabantur.
Habent enim homoiomera Anaxagorae 25 , atomi Leucippi et
Democriti 2G , coelum et terra Parmenidis 27 , lis et amicitia

motion of the watch and the wearer of the watch. And if the wearer of
the watch is sailing on the sea, it may participate in no less than four
' extraneous and common ' motions, namely the motion of the wearer, the
motion of the ship, the motion of the sea, and, when the wearer breathes,
the motion of the watch itself. This distinction is often applied by
Aristotle to the motions of the heavenly bodies. See, for instance, De
Coelo, ii. 13 (p. 293 a. I, &c.), Phys. viii. 6 (259 b. 28, &c.). Cp. De
Coelo, ii. 14 (296 b. 27, c.). The Aristotelian terms by which Proper
Motipn is expressed are oiKfia or 18105

This tendency is abundantly exemplified in Aristotle's physical works.
He is so anxious to solve every difficulty which presents itself to
his mind, that he is seldom content with a bare statement of facts, without
starting some theory in explanation of them. As a consequence of this
tendency, the facts are often very meagre, and the theories very crude.

25 Ta onoion(_pri may denote either aggregates composed of like parts, or
these ' like parts ' themselves. Anaxagoras maintained that there was an
infinity of elements, some of which were homogeneous with others, though
in the original chaos they were all mixed up in inextricable confusion.
Thus, there existed from the first particles of flesh, bone, &c., which, by
a process of <rvyKpia-is and Stacc/ato-is, have been disentangled from the dis-
orderly mass and fashioned by vovs or the Supreme Intelligence into flesh,
bone, &c., as we now find them in the Kocrpos or orderly universe. Havra
Xprj^-nra fjv opov' elra vovs f\6ci)i> avra SifKoo-^cre. See Metaph. i. 3-

For the various philosophical theories mentioned in this paragraph, the
student should refer to the passages collected in Ritte'f and Preller's His-
toria Philosophiae, as well as to some good History of Philosophy, such as
that of Ueberweg or Zeller.

26 These atoms, unlike the homoiomera of Anaxagoras, had no qua-
litative difference. They were supposed to differ only in shape (cr^^aTi)
as A and N, or arrangement (raei) as AN and NA, or position (dea-fi) as
Z and N. The Koalas resulted from these atoms through avdynr]. See
Metaph. i. 4. The atoms of Democritus were conceived of as rigid and
unchangeable (non fluxae), as having existed from eternity, and as moving
in vacua. Bacon combats these various positions in Nov. Org. ii. 8, 48
ad fin., and other parts of his works.

27 Coelum et terra irvp xa\ yrj. It is questionable how far Parmenides
intended to express physical conceptions by these words, and how far he
intended them to be simply symbolic of the metaphysical contrast of being

R Z

244 NOVUM ORGANUM.

Empedoclis 2S 5 resolutio corporum in adiaphoram naturam
ignis et replicatio eorundem ad densum Heracliti 2) , aliquid ex
philosopho natural!, et rerum naturam, et experientiam, et
corpora sapiunt 30 ; ubi Aristotelis physica nihil aliud quam
dialecticae voces plerunque sonet : quam etiam in meta-
physicis sub solenniore nomine 31 , et ut magis scilicet realis,
non nominalis 32 , retractavit. Neque illud quenquam moveat,

and non-being. TOLTCOI" 8e, says Aristotle, TO p.iv Kara TO bi>, TO dep^ov Turret,
QaTtpw 8e Kara TO firj ov. See Metaph. i. 5. The student might here, with
advantage, consult Schwegler's History of Philosophy, in addition to
Uebenveg and Ritter and Preller.

28 The well-known four elements of Empedocles, which were generally
accepted till a comparatively recent date, were supposed by him to have
been mixed up at first in chaotic confusion. In order to produce the
Koa-pos, they required to be separated and then re-combined in orderly
proportion. The agents in this process were respectively m/coy and ^>tXi'n.
See Metaph. i. 4.

29 By fire Heraclitus understood not flame, but a kind of w^irm^dry
ether or_refined__air. which he identified with soul and with the Divine
Spirit. This fire was regarded as undergoing a constant process of evolu-
tion (irdvra pet). By condensation it passes into the other and grosser
elements, and then these by rarefaction pass back again into it. Being
thus, as it were, the common element or basis, the vXrj, so to speak, of all
other existences, it may be regarded as itself ' without distinctive pro-
perties,' or ' adiaphora.'

30 The student who has acquainted himself with the speculations of the
last three philosophers whom Bacon cites will hardly be disposed to accord
to them this praise. Their conceptions and theories, when divested of the
metaphorical language in which they are clothed, are certainly of a meta-
physical rather than a physical character. Of Anaxagoras and Dcmocritus
the same remark is also, to some extent, true.

:u This phrase convicts Bacon of a literary error. The books entitled
Metaphysics (TU pera TU (frwiKu) were so called simply because of the place
assigned to them in the collected works of Aristotle, as next to the Physics.
The designation of these books has, however, been the origin of the terms
Metaphysics, Metaphysical, &c. Aristotle himself calls the science treated
of in the ' Metaphysics' ao0i'a, BeoXoyiK.!], or TrpuTrj eV i a T >}/*?/ .

3 - The question whether Aristotle was a realist, a nominalist, or a
conceptualist has been frequently debated. Confining ourselves to the
issue between the nominalists and realists, the general drift of his writings
and a majority of individual passages would favour the alternative that, had
the precise question between Nominalism and Realism been raised in his
time, he would have adopted the nominalist solution of the question as to
the nature of Universals. The most emphatic passage, perhaps, in support
of this view is that in the Categories, ch. 5 Ip. 2 a. 1 1 &c.) : Ovaia fie" ea-Tiv /;
Kvpi'jiTard T KM Trpcorwy KOL paXurra Aeyo/neVq, /} p-r/Te Kad' vTTOKeipfvov TWOS

LIB. I. 64. 245

quod in libris ejus De animalibus, et in Problematibus, et in
aliis suis tractatibus, versatio frequens sit in experimentis.
Ille enim prius decreverat, neque experientiam ad constituenda
decreta et axiomata rite consuluit ; sed postquam pro arbitrio
suo decrevisset, experientiam ad sua placita tortam circum-
ducit et captivam ; ut hoc etiam nomine magis accusandus
sit, quam sectatores ejus moderni (scholasticorum philoso-
phorum genus; qui experientiam omnino deseruerunt ::ii .

LXIV.

At_hilosorjlnae_genus_^^w^cw placita magis deformia et
monstrosa educit, quam sophisticum aut rationale genus ;
quia non in luce notionum vulgarium (quae licet tenuis sit ct
superficialis, tamen est quodammodo universalis, et ad multa

pertinens) sed in__gaucorum j^xperimentorum angustiis et

obscuritate_furidatum est. Itaque talis philosophia illis, qui
in hujusmodi experimentis quotidie versantur atque ex ipsis
phantasiam contaminarunt, probabilis vidctur et quasi certa ;
caeteris. incredibilis et vana. Cujus exemplum notabile est in

Xeyerai fir/T fv vnoKei/jLeva) TIV'I eo~Tiv, otoi' 6 rly (ivdputnos f] 6 rls I/TTTO?.
Aeurepai fie oucrt'ai Aeyoz/rai, eV ols ei'Secrtv at Trpcor&K ovcriai \fyo/j.fi>ai vndp-
Xovai, raCra re KGU ra ra>v el8a>v rovraiv yfvrf, olov 6 ris avdpwrro!; (V f'i8ei p.ev
vrrdp^ei TO> avdponra), yevos $e rov f'iSovs fcrrl TO (pov' devrepaL ovv airat
\eyovrui ovcriai, olov o re avdpa>nos KOI TO &ov. . . . Twi/ 8e 8evTepa>v ovcriuiv
[j.a\\oi> oixrla TO ei8os rov yevovs' eyyiov yap TTJS Trpu>Trjs ovcrias eVrtj/. Cp. p. 3,
b. 10-23. Some suspicion, however, attaches to the genuineness of the two
first treatises included in the Organon. Still, independently of the Cate-
gories, the balance of evidence is in favour of ranking Aristotle amongst
the opponents of the doctrines which were subsequently designated as
Realist ; though he certainly seems to have held the doctrine of absolute
differentiae, and of a fixed and definite series of subordinate genera and
species intervening between the summa genera and the infimae species
(see especially Top. iv. 2 ; iv. 6 ; vi. chs. 2-6 : Post. An. ii. 13). It must
be remembered, however, that the precise question agitated by the School-
men had not been raised in his time. On the subject of Aristotle's opinions
in relation to this controversy, it is impossible to enter here at any length,
but the student may read with advantage Haureau's Histoire de la Philo-
sophic Scolastique, ch. 5, and Ueberweg's History of Philosophy, On
Aristotle's Metaphysics (Translation, vol. i. pp. 160-1).

33 On experiment as employed and interpreted by Aristotle, and gene-
rally on the reasons of Aristotle's comparative failure in the Physical
Sciences, see Introduction, II.

246 NOVUM ORGANUM.

chemicis, eorumque dogmatibus ; alibi autem vix hoc ternpore
invenitur, nisi forte in philosophia Gilberti 34 . Sed tamen
circa hujusmodi philosophias cautio nullo modo praeter-
mittenda erat ; quia mente jam praevidemus et auguramur,
si quando homines, nostris monitis excitati, ad experientiam
se serio contulerint (valere jussis doctrinis sophisticis), turn
demum, propter praematuram et praeproperam intellectus
festinationem, et saltum sive volatum ad generalia et rerum
principia, fore ut magnum ab hujusmodi philosophiis peri-
culum immineat ; cui malo etiam nunc obviam ire debemus.

LXV.

At corruptio philosophiae ex superstitions^ et theologia
admista, latius omnino patet, et plurimum mali infert, aut in
philosophias integras, aut in earum partes. Humanus enim
intellectus non minus impressionibus phantasiae est obnoxius,
quam impressionibus vulgarium notionum. Pugnax enim
genus philosophiae et sophisticum illaqueat intellectum : at
illud alterum phantasticum, et tumidum, et quasi poeticum,
magis blanditur intellectui 35 . Inest enim homini quaedam
intellectus ambitio, non minor quam voluntatis ; praesertim in
ingeniis altis et elevatis.

Hujus autem generis exemplum inter Graecos illucescit,
praecipue in Pythagora 3C , sed cum superstitions magis crassa
et onerosa conjunctum ; at periculosius et subtilius in Platone 37

:!1 On the Chemists or Alchemists and Gilbert, see notes 91, 92 on
Aph. 54.

3j The one school ensnares the intellect by its specious and fallacious
reasonings ; the other flatters it by exciting" its ambition to penetrate to
ultimate causes. Aph. 48 furnishes a good commentary on the words
' blanditur intellectui.'

: '' 6 As in his mystical theories about numbers, his doctrines of metem-
psychosis, of the harmony of the spheres, &c. On the personal character
of Pythagoras, and his position as the founder of a religious brotherhood,
there is an excellent chapter in Grote's History of Greece. See pt. ii.
ch. 37.

' The allusion is, perhaps, specially to the theory of Ideas, and to the
use made by Plato of Final Causes and Divine Agency in dialogues such
as the Timaeus.

Cp. Cogitata et Visa (E. and S., vol. iii. pp. 601-2): ' Eundem (sc.
Platonem) Naturam non minus Theologia quam Aristotelem Dialectica

LIB. 7. 65. 247

atque ejus schola 38 . Invenitur etiam hoc genus mali in
partibus philosophiarum reliquarum, introducendo formas
abstractas ;i!) , et causas finales, et causas primas 40 ; omittcndo
saepissime medias, et hujusmodi. Huic autem rei summa
adhibenda est cautio. Pessima enim res est crrorum apo-
theosis*^, et pro peste intellectus habenda est, si vanis accedat
veneratio. Huic autem vanitati nonnulli ex modernis 42

inficere : et si verum dicendum est, tarn prope ad poetae, quam ilium
ad sophistae partes accedere.'

In the Temporis Partus Masculus, the attack on Plato is far more
vehement : ' Citetur jam et Plato, cavillator urbanus, tumidus poeta,
theologus mente captus,' &c. See E. and S., vol. iii. pp. 530-1.

3S The reference may be either to the immediate followers of Plato, that
is to the Old Academy, or to the Neoplatonists, called in Aph. 96 ' secunda
schola Platonis.' To the latter, whose philosophy was mainly mystical, it
would be peculiarly applicable. To the New Academy, which was properly
' secunda schola Platonis,' it would be inapplicable, as the tendencies of
that school were of quite a different character.

39 Forms abstracted from matter, as opposed to determined in matter.
Some of the more extreme realists maintained that forms or essences
had an existence independent of and anterior to the individual objects
in which they are manifested. This was the doctrine of ' universalia
ante rem.'

40 Bacon always insists on referring phj^ical_events_to pjiysical^causes,
and not, as was far more frequently the case in his time than our own, to
the immediate action of God. Cp. Advancement of Learning, bk. i. (E.
and S., vol. iii. p. 267) : ' For certain it is that God worketh nothing in
nature but by second causes ; and if they would have it otherwise believed,
it is mere imposture, as it were in favour towards God ; and nothing else
but to offer to the author of truth the unclean sacrifice of a lie.' In the
corresponding passage of the De Augmentis, bk. i. (E. and S., vol. i. p.
436), he speaks rather more cautiously : ' Liquet enim Deum nihil operari
ordinario in natura nisi per secundas causas,' &c.

41 Cp. the Temporis Partus Masculus (E. and S., vol. iii. p. 531), where,
in addressing Plato, he says : ' Deinde etiam tu scclere haud minore
stultitiae apotheosin introduxisti, et vilissimas cogitationes religione munire
ausus es.'

42 Bacon is probably alluding more especially to his contemporary
Dr. Robert Fludd (b. 1574, d. 1637), whose writings present a strange
jumble of physics, theology, and mysticism. He was the author of
many works on science and medicine, but the one to which Bacon pro-
bably here alludes is that entitled : ' Utriusque Cosmi metaphysica,
physica atque technica historia,' published in 1617. A second volume
of this work appeared in 1619, with the quaint title : 'Tomus Secundus
De Supernaturali, Naturali, Praeternaturali, et Contranaturali Microcosmi
historia.' Any one acquainted with the history of Geology will recall

248 NOVUM ORGANUM.

summa levitate ita indulserunt, ut in primo capitulo Geneseos,
et in libro Job, et aliis Scripturis sacris, philosophiam naturalem
fundare conati sint ; inter viva quaercntcs mortua^. Tanto-
que magis haec vanitas inhibenda venit, et coercenda, quia
ex divinorum et humanorum malesana admistione non solum
educitur philosophia phantastica, sed etiam religio haeretica.
Itaque salutare admodum est, si mente sobria fidei tantum
dentur quae fidei sunt.

LXVI.

Et de malis authoritatibus philosophiarum, quae aut in
vnlgaribus notionibus, aut in paucis cxpcrimentis, aut in sitpcr-
stitionc fundatae sunt, jam dictum est. Dicendum porro est
et de vitiosa materia contemplationum 44 , praesertim in philo-
sophia naturali. Inficitur autem intellectus humanus ex
intuitu eorum quae in artibus mechanicis fiunt, in quibus
corpora per compositiones aut separationes ut plurimum

many striking illustrations, some of them comparatively recent, of Bacon's
criticism.

43 See Luke xxiv. 5. Cp. De Augmentis, lib. ix. (E. and S., vol. i. p. 835) :
'At in interpretandi modo Soluto duo interveniunt excessus : alter ejus-
modi praesupponit in Scripturis perfectionem, ut etiam oninis philosophia
ex earum fontibus peti debeat ; ac si philosophia alia quaevis res profana
esset et ethnica. Haec intemperies in schola Paracelsi praecipue, necnon
apud alios invaluit : initia autem ejus a Rabbinis et Cabalistis defluxerunt.
Verum istiusmodi homines non id assequuntur quod volunt ; neque enim
honorem, ut putant, Scripturis deferunt; sed easclem potius deprimunt
et polluunt. Coelum enim materiatum ct terram qui in Verbo Dei quae-
siverit (de quo dictum est ; Coelum et Terra pertransibunt, Verbum autem
meum non pcrtransibit], is sane transitoria inter aeterna temere perse-
quitur. Quemadmodum enim Theologiam in Philosophia quaerere, per-
inde est ac si vivos quaeras inter mortuos ; ita e contra Philosophiam in
Theologia quaerere, non aliud est quam mortuos quaerere inter vivos.'

We must recollect that sentiments of this kind, which with us have
become common-places, were in Bacon's time novel and almost para-
doxical. The attempt to find a solution of scientific questions in the
Scriptures, and the practice of opposing Scriptural authority to scientific
conclusions, have hardly even yet become obsolete ; but, in Bacon's time,
they were the rule, while with us they are the exception.

4 He now passes from erroneous modes of philosophising, sophistic,
empiric, and superstitious, to fictitious or ill-selected objects of in-
vestigation, such as typical forms, specific virtues, occult properties, and
the like.

LIB. I. 66. 249

alterantur ; ut cogitet simile quiddam etiam in natura rcrum
universali fieri 45 . Unde fluxit commentum illud elementorum,
atque illorum concursu 4G , ad constituenda corpora naturalia.
Rursus, quum homo naturae libertatem contempletur, incidit
in species rerum, animalium, plantarum, mineralium ; unde
facile in earn labitur cogitationem, ut cxistimet esse in natura
quasdam formas rerum primarias, quas natura educere
molitur : atque reliquam varietatem ex impedimentis et aber-
rationibus naturae in opere suo conficiendo, aut ex diversarum
specierum conflictu, et transplantatione alterius in alteram,
provenire 47 . Atque prima cogitatio qualitates primas ele-
mentares 48 , secunda proprietates occultas et virtutes spe-
cificas 49 nobis peperit ; quarum utraque pertinet ad mania

45 This error cojisistsjn sjrrjrjosjng_that all the processes of nature may
be explained by the idea of Mechanical Composition. On the confusion
between chemical and mechanical composition, the student may refer
to Mill's Logic, bk. iii. ch. 6. Hence, says Bacon, has arisen the fiction, of
ejej^iitaj^^ualities^ These were enumerated by the Peripatetics, follow-
ing Aristotle, as hot and cold, dry andjmoist. The four elements were
supposed to result from combinations of these elementary qualities, taken
two and two together. Thus fire is constituted by the combination of hot
and dry ; water by that of cold and moist, and so on. Out of the four
elements themselves, are composed the various natural bodies, as we
actually find them.

Bouillet notices that, in the Thema Coeli (E. and S., vol. iii. p. 777),
hardness and softness are counted amongst the ' elementary qualities.'

46 We must obviously read either concursus, or deque instead of atque.

47 This is an excellent statement of the hypothesis by which the Realists
attempted to account at once for the permanence and variety in the forms
of animal and vegetable life. The ' primary forms ' or types were, ac-
cording to the strictest and most consistent school of Realists, supposed to
have existed prior to any of the individual objects in which they are
embodied. These types ' natura educere molitur.'

It is, perhaps, superfluous to remark that, since the publication of Mr.
Darwin's work on the ' Origin of Species,' the questions glanced at in
this paragraph have assumed, even amongst those who do not accept
Mr. Darwin's hypotheses, an altogether different form and received an
altogether different solution from that which was formerly current.

48 See note 45. All the remaining qualities of bodies were called
secondary. This distinction is, of course, quite different from that of the
primary and secondary qualities of bodies, as stated by Descartes, Locke,
and subsequent writers. See Hamilton on Reid, pp. 836-7.

49 Cp. Newton's Optics, bk. iii. (Works, Ed. Horsley, vol. iv. p. 261),
where, speaking of the Principles of Motion, he says : ' And the Aristo-

250 NOVUM ORGANUM.

contcmplationum compendia, in quibus acquiescit animus et
a solidioribus avcrtitur. At medici in secundis rerum quali-
tatibus et operationibus, attrahendi, repellendi, attenuandi,
inspissandi 50 , dilatandi, astringendi, discutiendi, maturandi, et
hujusmodi, operam praestant meliorem ; atque, nisi ex illis
duobus (quae dixi) compendiis (qualitatibus scilicet elementa-
ribus, et virtutibus specificis) ilia altera (quae recte notata
sunt) corrumperent, reducendo ilia ad primas qualitates
carumque mixturas subtiles et incommensurabiles, aut ea non
producendo cum majore et diligentiore observatione ad quali-
tates tertias et quartas, sed contemplationem intempestive
abrumpendo, illi multo melius profecissent. Neque hujus-
modi virtutes (non dico eaedem, sed similes) in humani
corporis medicinis tantum exquirendae sunt ; sed etiam in
cacterorum corporum naturalium mutationibus.

Sed multo adhuc majore cum malo fit, quod quicscentia

telians gave the name of Occult qualities not to manifest qualities, but
to such qualities only as they supposed to lie hid in bodies, and to be
the unknown causes of manifest effects : such as would be the causes of
gravity, and of Magnetic and Electric attractions, and of fermentations,
if we should suppose that these forces, or actions, arose from qualities
unknown to us, and incapable of being discovered and made manifest.
Such Occult qualities put a stop to the improvement of Natural Philosophy,
and therefore of late years have been rejected. To tell us, that every
species of things is endowed with an occult specific quality, by which it
acts and produces manifest effects, is to tell us nothing : but to derive two
or three general principles of motion from phaenomena, and afterwards
to tell us how the properties and actions of all corporeal things follow
from those manifest principles, would be a very great step in philosophy,
though the causes of those principles were not yet discovered : and there-
fore I scruple not to propose the principles of motion above-mentioned, they
being of very general extent, and leave their causes to be found out.'

The conceptions of 'occult properties' and ''specific virtues' belong
to that stage of speculation in which men believed that the properties
of objects were distinct entities, separable, as it were, from the objects
themselves, and dwelling in them. In a still prior stage of speculation,
these properties had been personified and regarded as divine. See
Mommsen's History of Rome, bk. i. ch. 12 (Dickson's Translation, vol. i.
pp. 171-3), and Tylor's Primitive Culture, ch. 15 (vol. ii. first ed.
pp. 220-223, second ed. pp. 242-246).

'Inspissandi stands over against Attenuandi; its meaning being
"condensation." It does not occur in [classical] Latin writers.' (Dr.
Kitchin's note.)

LIB. 7. 66. 251

rerum principia, ex quibus^ ; et non moventia, per qnae res
fiunt, contemplentur et inquirant. Ilia enim ad scrmones,
ista ad opera spectant. Neque enim vulgares illae differentiae
motus, quae in natural! philosophia recepta notantur, genera-
tionis, corruptionis, augmcntationis, diminutionis, altcrationis,
et lationis 52 , ullius sunt pretii. Quippe hoc sibi volunt ; si
corpus, alias non mutatum, loco tamen moveatur, hoc
latioiiem esse ; si, manente et loco et specie, qualitate mu-
tetur, hoc alterationem esse ; si vero ex ilia mutatione
moles ipsa et quantitas corporis non eadem maneat, hoc
aiigmcntationis et diminutionis motum esse ; si eatenus
mutentur, ut speciem ipsam et substantiam mutent, et in
alia migrent, hoc gencrationem et corrnptioncin esse. At
ista mere popularia sunt, et nullo modo in naturam pene-
trant ; suntque mensurae et periodi tantum, non species
motus. Innuunt enim illud, kuciisqiie^ et non qnoniodo, vel ex
quo fonte. Neque enim de corporum appetitu, aut de partium
eorum processu, 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,

51 The third error arises from concentrating our attention too exclu-
sively on the 'principia ex quibus,' to the neglect of the 'principia per
quae,' that is, on _the material to _the neglect of the efficient cause. For
practical purposes, it is far more important to ask how a thing may be
produced, than what it is. Bacon's frequent remarks on the Latens
Schematismus and on the Atomistic Philosophy shew, however, the im-
portance which he attached to the enquiry into the Material Cause,
and, in the De Augmentis (lib. iii. cap. 4), he specifies the Material and)
Efficient Causes as the appropriate objects of Physics, the Final and)
Formal Causes being relegated to Metaphysics.

52 See Categories, ch. 14 (p. 15 a. 13, 14) : Ki^o-eco? e eVnv el'S?; e,
yevfcris, (pdopd, avi)cris } p-fiuais, riAAoicoovj, f] Kara TOTTOV /^era/3oA7;. In the
Physics, bk. v. ch. I (p. 225 a. 25-34), yeWo-t? and <jE>#opa are excluded from
the divisions of motion. The only one of these divisions which we call
motion is 17 Kara TOTTOV /iera/3oA?7 or latio, or, as it is sometimes less properly
called by Aristotle, <popd. The others are motions amongst the parts of
the body, not motion of the body as a whole. For the above use of (popd,
see Phys. v. 2. 226 a. 33 ; viii. 7. 260 a. 26-9. But, sometimes, <popd is
regarded as only a particular species of TJ Kara TOTTOV p-erapoXi]. See Top.
iv. 2. p. 122 b. 25-35, an d cp. 226 a. 34 b. I.

252 NOVUM ORGANUM.

differentiam motus naturalis et violent! 53 , maxima cum
socordia, introducunt ; quae et ipsa omnino ex notione vulgari
est ; cum omnis motus violentus etiam naturalis revera sit,
scilicet cum externum efficiens naturam alio modo in opere
ponet quam quo prius.

At hisce omissis ; si quis (exempli gratia) observaverit,
inesse corporibus appetitum contactus 54 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 dimensionem vel tensuram 55 ,
ut. si ultra earn aut citra earn comprimantur aut distrahantur,
statim in veterem sphaeram et exporrectionem suam se
recupcrare et remittere moliantur : aut si quis dicat, inesse
corporibus appetitum congregationis ad massas connaturalium
suorum, densorum videlicet versus orbem terrae, tenuiorum et
rariorum versus ambitum coeli 50 : haec et hujusmodi vere

53 Cp. Bk. ii. Aph. 48 (3), where the reader will see how far Bacon
himself was from comprehending the true Laws of Motion. The dis-
tinction of Natural and Violent Motion will be found, amongst many other
places, in Phys. iv. 8, v. 6, and viii. 4. All bodies in motion, Aristotle
conceived, naturally tend to rest, heavybodies, as earth, tending downwards,
and light bodies, as fire, tending upwards. This is Natural Motion. But,
if a body be in any way diverted from this natural motion, as, for instance,
when we throw a stone upwards, it is said to be moved violently or
unnaturally Oi'a or irapa <$>{XTIV}. Bodies, while moving in accordance
with nature, are said to seek their own place. This distinction of Natural
and Violent Motion is again criticised in ii. 36 (6) and 48 (7).

" 4 This clause, as Dr. Kitchin says, embodies 'a dim notion of attraction,
based on the old opinion as to Nature's abhorrence of a Vacuum.' It is,
perhaps, needless to add that the fact of attraction of adhesion (for it is to
this that Bacon appears to allude) has been established by subsequent
researches, whereas the theoiy that ' Nature abhors a vacuum ' has long
ago been exploded. On the latter theory and the experiments which led
to its final abandonment, see HerscheFs Discourse on the Study of Natural
Philosophy, 244-246.

J This is obviously a description of the phenomenon of Elasticity.

jr> Cp. ii. 48 (7). Bacon is peculiarly unfortunate in his illustration of the
notion of Affinity. The aggregation of bodies or rather particles which are
chemically homogeneous into large masses is an undoubted fact, but the
affinity of heavy things for the earth and of light things for the sky is a
mere fancy, implying the now exploded theory of absolute levity. Heavy
and light are, of course, only relative terms, and are better expressed
by more or less heavy ; all bodies possessing weight, however various it

LIB. I. 67. 253

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 ultimatibus
naturae investigandis et tractandis opera insumatur ; cum
omnis utilitas et facultas operandi in mediis consistat 57 .
Hinc fit, ut abstrahere naturam homines non desinant, donee
ad materiam potentialem et informem 58 ventum fuerit ; nee
rursus secare naturam desinant, donee perventum fuerit ad
atomum ; quae, etiamsi vera essent, tamen ad juvandas
hominum fortunas parum possunt 59 .

LXVII.
Danda est etiam cautio intellectui de intemperantiis pliilo-

may be in amount. On the supposed substance Phlogiston, which was
regarded as essentially light, and the reasoning by which its existence
has been disproved, see Herschel's Discourse on the Study of Natural
Philosophy, 336. The notion of absolute levity is connected with that
of natural motion, discussed under note 53 on this Aphorism.

57 The fifth and last error under this head consists in the neglect of
intermediate axioms, and the excessive attention paid to the principles
of things and the ultimate constitution of nature. Cp. Aph. 104, where
this idea is still further expanded. It is undoubtedly true that the practical
applications of science are usually deduced from axiomata media rather than
from the highest generalisations, but these last are, at the same time,
indispensable to the complete constitution of a science. To be of scien-
tific value, however, they must not be mere intellectual abstractions, but
duly based on facts and capable of verification, ' talia scilicet, quae non
abstracta sint, sed per haec media vere limitantur.'

18 The \j\r] of the Greek Philosophers.

59 This remark is hardly consistent with Bacon's frequent praise of
Democritus, or with the importance which he attaches to the discovery
of the latens processus and the latens schematismus (see especially Bk. ii.
Aphs. 6-9).

From a full consideration of the various passages in which he alludes
to, or discusses the question, I am of opinion that Bacon, while adopt-
ing the atomic theory as to the ultimate constitution of matter, rejected
the vacuum by which the minute particles were supposed to be separated,
as well as the eternal, rigid and unchangeable character ascribed to the
particles or atoms themselves. Hence the varying terms in which he
speaks of Democritus. See my notes on i. 63, ii. 8 ad init., ii. 48 (2), and
ii. 48 (conclusion).

254 NOVUM ORGANUM.

sophiarum, quoad assensum praebendum aut cohibendum ;
quia hujusmodi intemperantiae videntur idola figere, et quod-
ammodo perpetuare, ne detur aditus ad ea summovenda.

Duplex autem est excessus : alter eorum, qui facile pro-
nnnciant, et scientias reddunt positivas et magistrales ; alter
eorum, qui acatalcpsiam introduxerunt, et inquisitionem vagam
sine termino; quorum primus intellectual deprimit, alter
enervat. Nam Aristotelis philosophia, postquam caeteras
philosophias (more Ottomanorum erga fratres suos) pugna-
cibus confutationibus contrucidasset G0 , de singulis pronun-
ciavit ; et ipse rursus quaestiones ex arbitrio suo subornat,
deinde conficit ; ut omnia certa sint et decreta G1 : quod
etiam apud successiones suas valet et in usu est.

At Platonis schola acatalepsiam intro duxit G2 , primo tanquam

00 Cp. Campanella, Metaph. lib. i. Prooemium : ' Ambitione Aristoteles
volens videri omnium sapientissimus, dogmata antiquorum falsificat, im-
pugnat, et torquet, et furatur, contraria dicens et sentiens, ut inquit
Lactantius in eum, et Patres multi, et D. Thorn. 4 de Reg. Princ. 4, et
quam ipse ignorat veritatem, proponit tanquam sciens, tegendo suam igno-
rantiam argutiis et eorum contemptu.' Several other passages to the same
effect from writers anterior to or contemporary with Bacon are quoted in
the Introduction, 12.

61 Bacon here undoubtedly exaggerates Aristotle's tendency to dog-
matism. The student of Aristotle will recall several passages where, after
stating different solutions of a question, the author leaves his own opinion
doubtful. This occasional uncertainty as to the precise character of his
own conclusions is, in fact, one of the main sources of difficulty to those
who are beginning the study of Aristotle's works.

62 On the doctrines of the New Academy, see note 41 on Aph. 37.
The process by which the dogmatism of the early Platonists passed into
the scepticism of the New Academy would form an interesting enquiry
in the history of philosophy. In the first place, it may be observed that
there was from the beginning a well-marked negative vein in the philosophy
of Socrates and Plato. This tendency, which was connected with their
dialectical method and the determination to examine all sides of a question,
even if the examination led to no further result, is well brought out by Mr.
Grote both in the chapter on Socrates in his History of Greece and in the
6th chapter of his work on Plato. When men found that a question might
be discussed with so much ability on all sides, and that often without attain-
ing any positive result, it was not unnatural to conclude that there was
no result to be attained. Then, the flptaveia, or affectation of ignorance,
which was so marked a feature in the conversation of Socrates, and which
is so carefully and frequently depicted in the dialogues of Plato, must have

LIB. I. 67. 255

per jocum et ironiam, in odium veterum sophistarum 63 , Pro-
tagorae, Hippiae, et reliquorum, qui nihil tarn verebantur,
quam ne dubitare de re aliqua viderentur. At nova academia
acatalcpsiam dogmatizavit, et ex professo tenuit : quae 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 64 ,

had a similar effect in leading men to despair of the possibility of know-
ledge. To this characteristic Bacon here alludes in the words, 'primo
tanquam per jocum et ironiam,' c. The object of Socrates, however,
was not to induce scepticism, but to purify the mind from all pre-conceived
opinions, in order to prepare it for the more impartial investigation of
truth. Lastly, Plato had spared no pains in demolishing the general belief
in the trustworthiness and accuracy of sense-knowledge, in order to rear
on its ruins his theory of Ideas. This doctrine, in its turn, had been
severely criticised, and, in the opinion of many, refuted by Aristotle.
Hence, we cannot be surprised if to some there seemed to be no way out
of the dialectical puzzles and subtleties by which the question of the
reality of knowledge was perplexed. The solution of these difficulties
offered by the philosophers of the New Academy, in their ascending grades
of probability, has been already given in note 41 on Aph. 37.

In the De Augmentis, lib. i. (E. and S., vol. i. p. 462), Bacon couples the
name of Socrates with that of the [New] Academy : ' Non negaverim in
summariis libellis ad praxim destinatis hanc formulam scribendi retineri
posse, verum in justis tractatibus de scientiis utrumque extremum vitandum
censeo, tarn Velleii Epicurei, nil tam metuentis quam ne dubitare de re
aliqua videretur, quam Socratis et Academiae omnia in dubio relinquen-
tium.' The allusion to Velleius, the Epicurean, is borrowed from Cicero,
De Natura Deorum, lib. i. cap. 8 : ' Turn Velleius, fidenter sane, ut solent
isti, nihil tam verens, quam ne dubitare aliqua de re videretur : tanquam
modo ex deorum concilio et ex Epicuri intermundiis descendisset.' In
this Aphorism there is no allusion to Velleius by name, but a portion of the
passage in the De Natura Deorum is incorporated in the text.

63 The positive and dogmatic character of the old Sophists is well illus-
trated in the 1st book of Plato's Republic, in the person of Thrasymachus,
who, however, must be regarded as a caricature. The English reader may
be referred, on the subject of the Sophists, to Mr. Lewes' History of
Philosophy, Grote's chapter on the Sophists in his History of Greece and
his work on Plato throughout, Sir Alexander Grant's second Essay prefixed
to his edition of Aristotle's Ethics, and Mr. Henry Sidgwick's papers in the
Journal of Philology. ('-'

64 For these grades of probability, see note 41 on Aph. 37. On the o. V{^-ri
distinctions, real or supposed, between the doctrines of the New Academy ~' t^.- ," X*.
and the Sceptics proper, see the same note. The school of Pyrrho (often ^ ,- M ,~r>
called Pyrrhonists as well as Sceptics) was prior to that of the New

S> " - -

256 NOVUM ORGANUM,

licet non habeant quod teneant ut verum ; tamcn postquam
animus humanus de veritate invenienda semel desperaverit,
omnino omnia fiunt languidiora : ex quo fit, ut deflectant
homines potius ad amoenas disputationes 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 praebcnda.

LXVIII.

Atque de idolorum singulis generibus, eorumque apparatu
jam diximus ; quae omnia constant! et solenni decreto sunt
abneganda et renuncianda, et intellectus ab iis omnino liber-
andus est ct expurgandus ; ut non alms fere sit aditus ad
regnum hominis, quod fundatur in scientiis, quam ad regnum
coelorum, in quod, nisi sub persona infantis, intrare non datnr,

LXIX.

At pravae demonstrationes idolorum veluti munitiones
quaedam sunt et praesidia 65 ; eaeque, quas in dialecticis
habemus, id fere agunt, ut mundum plane cogitationibus
humanis, cogitationes autem verbis addicant et mancipent G(3 .
Demonstrationes vero potentia quadam c7 philosophiae ipsae

Academy, Pyrrho himself being contemporary with Alexander the Great,
but it was revived at a much later period by /Enesidemus and his succes-
sors, among whom was Sextus Empiricus.

65 It would seem from this passage as if the 'pravae demonstrationes '
were to be discussed as supplemental to the ' idola.' But they are them-
selves (see Aph. 61) a subdivision of the 'idola theatri,' which originate
' ex fabulis theoriarum et pcrversis legibus demonstrationum.'

fili This is a good example of the pregnancy and suggestiveness of many
of Bacon's sayings. It is singularly applicable to many metaphysical
systems, both ancient and modern. Men, neglecting the facts of nature
and mind, often attempt to construct an a priori system of the universe,
' enslaving the world to their own thoughts,' while their thoughts them-
selves are concealed and fettered in the meshes of a technical terminology.

Cp. De rrincipiis atque Originibus, secundum fabulas Cupidinis et
Coeli (E. and S., vol. iii. pp. 85-6): ' Itaque hi omncs ' (Empcdocles,
Anaxagoras, &c.) ' mentem rebus submiserunt. At Plato mundum cogi-
tationibus, Aristotelcs vero etiam cogitationes verbis, adjudicarunt.'

r ' 7 Thus, for instance, the failure of the ancients in the Physical Sciences
was due largely to their disproportionate employment of the Deductive

LIB. I. 68 69. 257

sunt et scientiae. Quales enim cae sunt, ac prout rite aut
male institutae, tales sequuntur philosophiae et contempla-
tiones. Fallunt autem et incompetentes sunt eae quibus
utimur in universe illo processu, qui a sensu et rebus ducit ad
axiomata et conclusiones. Qui quidem processus quadru-
plex G8 est, et vitia ejus totidem. Primo, impressiones sensus
ipsius vitiosae sunt ; sensus enim et destituit et fallit. At
destitutionibus substitutiones, fallaciis rectificationes deben-
tur c;) . Secundo, notiones ab impressionibus sensuum male
abstrahuntur, et interminatae et confusae sunt, quas ter-
minatas et bene finitas esse oportuit. Tertio, inductio mala
est, quae per enumerationem simplicem principia concludit
scientiarum, non adhibitis exclusionibus et solutionibus, sive
separationibus naturae debitis 70 . Postremo, modus ille in-

method. Their success, on the other hand, in some branches of Mathe-
matics was due to the extent to which this method had been already
elaborated.

Again, it has often been remarked that fundamental differences in
opinion generally turn on fundamental differences in method. Thus, the
methj3d_ofj i pj:ke, which is majr^lyjnd^tiye, and the method of Descartes,
which is 2^n|y^a^rjrion, result in two widely different systems of mental
philosophy. The introspective method of Butler and the historical
method of Hume, again, though both of them essentially inductive, lead
to very divergent theories of ethics. The position, in fact, might be illus-
trated to almost any extent in the history of either ancient or modern
philosophy.

is Bacon points out four respects in which the present methods of
demonstration are defective :

(1) The senses frequently fail or deceive us ;

(2) Our notions are confused and ill-defined ;

(3) We employ the vicious method of Inductio per Enumerationem
Simplicem ;

(4) We fly off at once to the principia maxime generalia, instead of
ascending to them gradually through the axiomata infima and media.

i9 Bacon might have added that the substitutions__are_ tojDe_suppHec!
majnly^jDy_jns 1 trumen_ts, the rectifications niaTnlyTy^ methods .

acon proposes a method of eJuninatiorL It is not, however,
quite clear what is the precise character of the method which he has in
view. \Ve may take his words either in a general sense or with special
reference to the methods described in Book ii. In the former case, the
passage might be paraphrased as follows : ' We ought to exclude all
instances which do not throw light on the object of enquiry, resolve complex

258 NOVUM ORGANUM.

veniendi et probandi, ut primo principia maxime generalia
constituantur, deinde media axiomata ad ea applicentur et
probentur, errorum mater est, et scientiarum omnium ca-
lamitas 71 . Verum de istis, quae jam obiter perstringimus,
fusius 72 dicemus, quum veram interpretandae naturae viam,
absolutis istis expiationibus et expurgationibus mentis,

proponemus.

LXX.

Sed demonstratio longe optima est experientia 73 ; modo
haereat in ipso experimento. Nam si traducatur ad alia quae
similia existimantur, nisi rite et ordine fiat ilia traductio, res

into more simple cases, and isolate phenomena so as to simplify our in-
Ivestigations.' According to the latter alternative, he has in mind the
process described in Bk. ii. Aphs. 18, 19. The true method of induction,
Bacon appears to have thought, was to draw up tables of presence,
absence, &c., and then, by means of these, to reject out of all the possible
explanations, causes, or fcs_j)f__thej)hejipjiiejTon, first one, and then
another, thus leaving a residuum of explanations, or possible causes, out
of which the true one was to be found. If one only remained, this would
be the true explanation, cause, or ' form,' ' forma affirmativa, solida, et
vera, et bene terminata' (ii. 16). If more than one remained, the ' exclu-
siva ' might be perfected by means of the ' praerogativae instantiarum '
and other 'aids of the understanding' (see ii. 21), till, at last, the search
was narrowed down to some one 'form,' which would be the form required,
or to a small number amongst which the true form, cause, or explanation
would have to be sought in all future investigations. For further informa-
tion on Bacon's ' Method of Exclusions,' see Introduction, 9.

11 See note on Aph. 19, where it is shewn that the fault lies not so
much in framing these wide hypotheses, as in taking them for ascertained
truths and not insisting on their due verification.

"- Dr. Kitchin refers to i. 100-105. I think that the reference is rather
to the Second Book.

' 3 We may, perhaps, here detect the germ of the doctrine, afterwards
propounded with such emphasis by Locke and his successors, that all
our knowledge may ultimately be traced to experience. That this is the
case even with Geometrical Axioms (one of the strongest instances in
opposition to this doctrine adduced by the rival school of psychologists)
has been recently argued on novel grounds, and with a force amounting
almost to demonstration, by Professor Helmholtz, following Riemann, in
two articles in ' Mind,' No. 3 and No. 10. To individual experience, how-
ever, must be added the facility, acquired by hereditary transmission, of
forming certain ideas and realising certain principles, which, in the history
of the race, have, through constant experience, become specially familiar
to the human mind.

7.7,5. 7. 70. 259

fallax est 74 . At modus experiendi, quo homines nunc
utuntur, caecus est et stupidus 75 . Itaque cum errant et 60
vagantur nulla via certa 76 , scd ex occursu rerum tantum

74 With certain exceptions (which are enumerated in my Inductive Logic,
4th cd., pp. 7-9), the detection of a law of Causation can alone warrant us
in founding a general conclusion on our observations and experiments.
On the distinction between Laws of Causation and Empirical Laws,
which are ' unfit to be relied on beyond the limits of time, place, and
circumstance, in which the observations have been made,' see Mill's Logic,
bk. iii. ch. 16. Mr. Mill, however, uses the expression 'Empirical Laws'
somewhat loosely. It would be better to confine it entirely to those
secondary laws which are the result of an Inductio per Enumerationem
Simplicem as distinguished from the results given by the Inductive
Methods, in which there is always some evidence of facts of causation.
See my Inductive Logic, ch. 4 (4th Ed., pp. 220-222).

There are many departments of knowledge and practice in which it is
almost impossible to exaggerate the importance of insisting on a precise
repetition of all the circumstances (or, at least, all the material circum-
stances) of the case, before inferring that the same result will recur.
This fact is strikingly illustrated by the widely different effects of medi-
cines in different climates. See, for instances, the Introduction to Dr.
Paris' Pharmacologia, pp. 120-123.

" The faults in experimentation as then practised, which are noted by
Bacon in this Aphorism, may be enumerated as five :
/ (i) Undue extension of inferences based on experience to other in-

[ stances apparently similar, without sufficient caution in allowing for pos- '

\ sible differences of circumstances ;

(2) Hap-hazard experiment, without pursuing any definite order or
^ making any selection of instances ;

(3) Insufficient variation of experiments ;

(4) Pursuit of one experiment, or subject, to the neglect of all others ;

(5) Excessive eagerness to arrive at the practical application.

The account of the last three of these faults is borrowed from Dr.
Kitchin's note. He gives a fourfold division, but, though there is some
obscurity in the early part of the Aphorism, I am inclined to thi.ik that
the passage from ' Sed demonstratio ' down to ' deserendo' is intended to
specify three distinct faults.

76 Bacon is here probably alluding to the fashion of trying experiments
without any order or method, ' mera palpatio' as he calls it in Aph. loo
and the De Augmentis. Cp. lib. v. cap. 2 : 'Ars ista Indicii (ita enim
earn appellabimus) duas habet partes. Aut enim defertur Indicium ab
experimentis ad experimenta; aut ab experimentis ad axiomata, quae et
ipsa nova experimenta designent. Priorem harum Experientiam Literatam
nominabimus, posteriorem vero Interpretationem Naturae, sive Novum
Organum. Prior quidem (ut alibi attigimus) vix pro Arte habenda est
aut parte Philosophiae, sed pro Sagacitate quadam : unde etiam earn

S 2

260 NOVUM ORGANUM.

consilium capiunt, circumferuntur ad multa, sed parum pro-
movent ; et quandoque gestiunt, quandoque distrahuntur ;

(3) et semper inveniunt quod ulterius quaerant. Fere autem ita
fit, ut homines leviter et tanquam per ludum experiantur,
variando paululum experimenta jam cognita ; et, si res non
succedat, fastidiendo et conatum deserendo. Quod si magis

IT/ serio et constanter ac laboriose ad experimenta se accingant,
tamen in uno aliquo experimento eruendo operam collocant ;
quemadmodum Gilbertus in magnete, Chymici in auro. Hoc
autem faciunt homines institute non minus imperito quam
tenui. Nemo enim alicujus rei naturam in ipsa re feliciter
perscrutatur ; sed amplianda est inquisitio ad magis com-
munia.

) Quod si etiam scientiam quandam et dogmata ex experi-

mentis moliantur ; tamen semper fere studio praepropero et
intempestivo deflectunt ad praxin : non tantum propter usum
et fructum cjusmodi praxeos, sed ut in opere aliquo novo
veluti pignus sibi arripiant, se non inutiliter in reliquis ver-
saturos ; atque etiam aliis se venditent 7T , ad existimationem
meliorem comparandam de iis in quibus occupati sunt. Ita fit
ut, more Atalantae 7 ^, de via decedant ad tollendum aureum
pomum ; interim vero cursum interrumpant. et victoriam
emittant e manibus. Verum in experientiae vero curriculo
eoque ad nova opera producendo, Divina Sapientia 70 omnino
et ordo pro exemplari sumenda sunt. Deus autem primo die

Venationem Panis (hoc nomen ex fabula mutuati) quandoque appellamus.
Attamen quemadmodum possit quis in via sua triplici modo progredi; aut
cum palpet ipse in tenebris ; aut cum alterius manu ditcatitr, ipse pariDii
videns; aut denique cum vestigia lumine adhibito regat : similiter cum
quis experimenta omnigena absqne ttlla serie mtt metJiodo tentet, ea de-
mum mera est palpatio ; cum vero nonmilla utatur in experimentando
directione et ordine, perinde est ac si manu ducatur : atque hoc illud est
quod per Experientiam Literatam intelligimus. Nam Lumen ipsum,
quod tertium fuit, ab Interpretatione Naturae, sive Novo Organo ; pe-
tendum est.'

77 ' Puff themselves,' as tradesmen puff their wares, is the explanation
which Dr. Kitchin rightly gives of this phrase.

8 Bacon is very fond of this comparison. For the Fable and its inter-
pretation, see De Sapientia Veterum, Fab. 25, 'Atalanta sive Lucrum.'

79 In the text of the first Edition, we have Prudentia, but, in the list of
Errata at the end of the Book, Sapientia is substituted.

LIB. I. 71. 261

creationis lucem tantum creavit, eique operi diem integrum
attribuit ; nee aliquid materiati operis eo die creavit.
Similiter et ex omnimoda experientia primum inventio
causarum et axiomatum verorum elicienda est : et lucifera
experimenta, non fructifera quaerenda so . Axiomata autem
recte inventa et constituta praxin non strictim sed confertim
instruunt ; et operum agmina ac turmas post se trahunt.
Verum de experiendi viis, quae non minus quam viae judi-
candi obsessae sunt et interclusae, postea dicemus 81 ; imprae-
sentiarum de experientia vulgari, tanquam de mala demon-
stratione, tantum loquuti. Jam vero postulat ordo rerum, ut
de iis quorum paulo ante mentionem fecimus, signis, quod
philosophiae et contemplationes in usu male se habeant, et de
causis rei primo intuitu tarn mirabilis et incredibilis, quaedam
subjungamus. Signorum enim notio praeparat assensum :
causarum vcro explicatio tollit miraculum. Quae duo ad
extirpationem idolorum ex intellectu faciliorem et clemen-
tiorem multum juvant.

LXXI. 82

Scientiae, quas habemus, fere a Graecis fluxerunt. Quae
enim scriptores Romani, aut Arabes 8a , aut recentiores addi-

Bacon frequently employs this metaphor. He conceived that the
' light-bearing experiments ' would bring more fruit at the last. There
is, therefore, no contradiction between what he says here and in those
passages where he insists on the practical aims of his philosophy, such, for
instance, as that in Aph. 81 : ' Meta autem scientiarum vera et legitima
non alia est quam ut dotetur vita humana novis inventis et copiis.'

The history of science abounds in instances of discoveries which at first
appeared to have no practical bearing, though they have subsequently
resulted in the most important additions to human power and the conve-
niences of life. It will be sufficient to mention the elasticity of steam and
the phenomena of electricity and magnetism.

5-1 The reference may be to i. 98-107, but it is more probably to Bk. ii.
in general, or, perhaps, specially to the Aphorisms on the Praerogativae
Instantiarum.

32 Here begin the five signs of the weakness and insufficiency of the
preceding philosophies. The first sign, which is taken from their origin
amongst the Greeks, is discussed under two heads : (a) ' ex ortu et gente
philosophiae,' treated in Aph. 71 ; (/3) ' ex natura temporis et aetatis/
treated in Aph. 72.

1:3 It is almost needless to observe that this censure is too severe. The

262 NOVUM ORGANUM.

derunt. non multa aut magni momenti sunt : et qualiacunque
sint, fundata sunt super basin eorum quac inventa sunt a
Graecis. Erat autem sapientia Graecomni^r^essonai^e^jn
dispjita^ion^^_effusa_ 8 ' 1 : quod genus inquisition! veritatis
adversissimum est. Itaque nomen illud sophistarum 8o , quod
per contemptum ab iis, qui se philosophos haberi voluerunt,
in antiquos rhetores rejectum et traductum est, Gorgiam,

Romans might, at least, have been credited with the mechanical skill
which enabled them to construct such magnificent roads, aqueducts,
bridges, amphitheatres, &c., and the Arabians (even if Bacon despised the
share they had in reviving the study of the Aristotelian philosophy in
Europe) with their part in the invention of our present numerals and of
the science of Algebra, with the discovery of distillation, with their con-
tributions to the science of medicine, with the first essays at a science of
chemistry, &c. In the desire to lay the foundations of a new method and
a new body of science, there can be no question that Bacon was disposed
to undervalue what had already been achieved. Towards the ' rcccn-
tiores ' he assumes a fairer tone in Aph. 109.

^ In this tendency to questioning and disputation, however, originated
philosophy and abstract speculation. The Hindoos and Greeks alone,
in the ancient world, appear to have possessed such a tendency in any
marked degree. Without it, poetry, practical inventions, and maxims of
conduct are possible, but not philosophy, or, to any great extent, even
scientific theory.

85 The following sentences are remarkable, as containing a view of the
Sophists which has now been rendered familiar to English readers by the
works of Mr. Lewes and Mr. Grote. In pointing out the original appli-
cation of the term ' Sophists ' to all philosophers indifferently, in glancing
at the connexion between the Sophists properly so called and the Rhetors,
and in specifying the wandering life and the taking of fees as the charac-
teristics mainly distinguishing the Sophists so-called from the philoso-
phers so-called, Bacon undoubtedly anticipates some of the principal
points for which Mr. Grote contends.

Cp. a similar passage in the Redargutio Philosophiarum (E. and S.,
vol. iii. pp. 565-6), where he ranks Plato and Aristotle amongst the
Sophists, distinguishing favourably from them Empedocles, Heraclitus,
Democritus, Anaxagoras, and Parmenides : ' Ncque cnim reperietis hos
scholas aperuisse, sed tandem speculationcs et inventa sua in scripta
redegisse, et posteris transmisisse.' Of Plato and Aristotle he says: ''Itaque
non hacsitabo apud vos dicere, me locum Platoni et Aristoteli tribuere
inter Sophistas : sed tanquam ordinis emendati et reformat!. Eandcm
cnim rem prorsus video. Aberat fortasse loci mutatio et circumcursatio,
et mercedis indignitas, et inepta ostentatio ; atque lucet in illis certe
quiddam solennius et nobilius ; sed aderant schola, auditor, sccta. Itaque
genus ipsum profecto cernitis.'

LIB. I. 71. 263

Protagoram, Hippiam, Polum, etiam universe generi competit,
Platoni, Aristoteli, Zenoni, Epicure, Theophrasto, et eorum
successoribus, Chrysippo, Carneadi, reliquis. Hoc tantum
intererat : quod prius genus vagum fuerit et mercenarium,
civitates circumcursando, et sapientiam suam ostentando, ct
mercedem exigendo ; alterum vero solennius et generosius,
quippe eorum qui sedes fixas habuerunt, et scholas aperuerunt,
et gratis philosophati sunt. Sed tarncn utrumque genus
(licet caetera dispar) professorium erat, ct ad disputationes
rem deducebat, et sectas quasdam atque haereses philosophiae
instituebat et propugnabat : ut essent fere doctrinae eorum
(quod non male cavillatus est Dionysius in Platoncm) Verba
otiosorum scnum ad imperitos juvencs m . At antiquiores illi ex
Graccis 87 , Empedocles, Anaxagoras, Leucippus, Democritus,
Parmenides, Heraclitus, Xenophanes, Philolaus, reliqui (nam
Pythagoram, ut superstitiosum : " 8 , omittimus), scholas (quod
novimus) non aperuerunt : sed majore silentio, et severius,
et simplicius, id est, minore cum affectatione et ostenta-
tione, ad inquisitionem veritatis se contulerunt. Itaque ct
melius. ut arbitramur, se gesserunt ; nisi quod opera eorum
a levioribus istis, qui vulgari captui et affectui magis re-
spondent ac placent, tractu temporis extincta sint : tempore
(ut fluvio) leviora et magis inflata ad nos devehentc, graviora

The story is given by Diogenes Laertius, lib. iii. segm. 18 : Tply

ev els SiKeAtav' 7rpa>Tvi> [j.ev Kara 6tav rrjs vijtrov Ktil ri> Kp'
ore KOI Aioi'iVtoy 6 'EppoKpurovs, ripnvvos &i>, ijVuyKa(rei> Stare crv/u/zi'^at aura).
6 S(, StaAeyo/xej'o? ?repl rvpavvidos, Kai rpaa'Kaii' u>s OVK ecrri roiro KptlTTOV o
a'vp.(j>ef)oi' avTui povov, el fj.rj KU\ n/Jer/y Sia^pepot, TTpoaeKpovaei' aurco' upyi<r6e \s
yap, Ot Xo'yoi (rou, <j)i]O'l, yepovriaxji.' KOI os, 2oC 8e ye rvpavviuxiiv.

87 M. Bouillet calls attention to a passage in the Redargutio Philoso-
phiarum (E. and S., vol. iii. pp. 569, 570), shewing the diligence with which
Bacon professed to have studied these philosophers : ' Scitote nos summa
cum diiigentia et cura omnes vel tenuissimas auras circa horum virorum
opinioncs et placita captasse : ut quicquid de iliis, vel dum ab Aristotele
confutantur, vel dum a Platone et Cicerone citantur, vel in Piutarchi
fascicule, vel in Laertii vitis, vel in Lucretii poemate, vel in aliquibus
fragmentis, vel in quavis alia sparsa memoria et mentione, inveniri possit,
evolverimus ; neque cursim aut contemptim, sed cum fide et deliberatione
examinaverimus.'

88 Cp. Aph. 65.

264 NOVUM ORGANUM.

et solida mergente 89 . Neque tamen isti a nationis vitio 90
prorsus immunes erant : sed in ambitionem et vanitatem
sectae condendae et aurae popularis captandae nimium pro-
pendebant. Pro desperata autem habenda est veritatis
inquisitio, cum ad hujusmodi inania deflectat. Etiam non
omittcndum videtur judicium illud, sive vaticinium potius.
sacerdotis Aegyptii de Graecis 91 : Qiiod semper pucri essent ;
ncquc Jiabercnt antiqidtatcni scientiae, ant scicntiam antiqui-
tatis. Et certe habent id quod puerorum est ; ut ad garrien-
dum prompti sint, generare autem non possint ; nam verbosa
videtur sapientia eorum, et operum stcrilis. Itaque ex ortu
et gente philosophiae quae in usu est, quae capiuntur signa
bona non sunt.

LXXII.

Neque multo meliora sunt signa quae ex natura temporis
et aetatis capi possunt, quam quae ex natura loci et nationis.
Angusta enim erat et tenuis notitia per illam aetatem vel
temporis vel orbis 2 : quod longe pessimum est, praesertim iis
qui omnia in experientia ponunt. Neque enim mille anno-
rum ^ historiam, quae digna erat nomine historiae. habebant ;

'' This is a good instance of False Analogy. Bacon, as Dr. Kitchin
observes, seems partial to this metaphor. It occurs again almost imme-
diately in Aph. 77, as well as in other places.

"' ' Erat autem sapientia Graecorum professoria, et in disputationes
effusa.'

01 See Plato, Timaeus, p. 22 b : Knt rim etVeli/ TV /epecoi/ (one of the
Egyptian priests) fv /j.d\a naKaiov' 'fl 2oAo>y, "2o\u>v, "EAX^ej del TraiSe'y e'orf,
yepwv 8e 'EAATji' ova ecrriv. 'A/iOt'tra? ovv, TTW? ri TOUTO \eyeis ', (pdvai. Ne'oi
<TTf, fine'iv, TCIS v/'u^a? iriivTes' ovSefiiav yap ev ai/rais X fTf ^'' op^alav nKo>]i>
rraXaiav S6av ovde /j.adr]fj.a ^p6i'a> TTO\IUV ovdtv.

'- \Ve must recollect how rapidly the knowledge of the surface of the
globe had been spreading in the time of Bacon and that immediately
preceding him. To say nothing of earlier discoverers ; Drake, Frobisher,
Raleigh, and the three Hawkinses were all his contemporaries. Hence, the
geographical knowledge possessed by the ancients was already beginning
to appear contemptible. The frontispiece of the first edition of the Xovum
Organum represents a vessel in full sail, passing between two pillars, with
the motto ' Muiti pertransibunt, ct augebitur scientia.' (Dan. xii. 4.)

In the ' Praise of Knowledge,' given in Spedding's Letters and Life
of Bacon (vol. i. p. 124), Bacon says : 'The Greeks knew (except fables)
not much above five hundred years before themselves.' Taking roughly

LIB. I. 7373-

sed fabulas et rumores antiquitatis. Regionum vero tractuum-
que mundi exiguam partem noverant : cum omnes hyper-
boreos, Scythas, omnes occidentales, Celtas indistincte
appellarent ; nil in Africa ultra citimam Aethiopiae 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
infiniti spirant et degunt, tanquam inhabitabiles ab illis pro-
nuntiata sint ; quinetiam peregrinationes Democriti, Platonis,
Pythagorae, non longinquae profecto, sed potius suburbanae,
ut magnum aliquid celebrarentur. Nostris autem temporibus,
et novi orbis partes complures et veteris orbis extrema undique
innotescunt ; et in infinitum experimentorum cumulus ex-
crevit. Ouare si ex nativitatis aut geniturae tempore (astrolo-
gorum 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 inventa pro
veritate philosophiarum velut sponsores et fidejussores sunt.
Atque ex philosophiis istis Graecorum, et derivationibus
earum per particulares scientias, jam per tot annorum spa-
tia, vix unum experimentum adduci potest, quod ad homi-
num statum levandum et juvandum spectet, et philosophiae
speculationibus ac dogmatibus vere acceptum referri possit 94 .
Idque Celsus 95 ingenue ac prudenter fatetur ; nimirum, ex-

the period of literary activity amongst the Greeks at five hundred years,
the two passages would be consistent.

Mr. Grote is of opinion that we have no trustworthy information
regarding Greek history till the first recorded Olympiad, 776 B.C. We
must, of course, distinguish between definite historical statements and
the evidence afforded by institutions, customs, folklore, language, &c.,
which may stretch much further back.

>M With regard to mechanical inventions, this charge is, in the main,
true. These, so far as they existed in the ancient world, seem to have
been due to the Egyptians and the Oriental nations rather than to the
Greeks, wruDs^Jntdlect^waj_srjeajla^ye aridjiesthctic^a^hejjthjmj2!gii5;l'

It should be noticed that Bacon ignores the whole aesthetic side of
Greek development.

95 ' Repertis deinde medicinae remediis homines de rationibus eorum

266 NOVUM ORGANUM.

perimenta mcdicinae primo inventa fuisse, ac postea homines
circa ea philosophatos esse et causas indagasse et assignasse ;
non ordine inverse evenisse, ut__ex jpj^osoph^a^et^causarum
cognitione jsa_jexperimenta invente^jiuj^jdeprompta essent.
Itaque mirum non erat, apud Aegyptios (qui rerum inventori-
bus divinitatem et consecrationem attribuerunt) plures fuisse
brutorum animalium imagines quam hominum : quia bruta
animalia, per instinctus naturales, multa inventa pepererunt ;
ubi homines, ex sermonibus et conclusionibus rationalibus,
pauca aut nulla exhibuerint.

At Chymicorum industria nonnulla peperit ; sed tanquam
fortuito et obiter, aut per experimentorum quandam varia-
tionem (ut mechanici solcnt), non ex arte aut thcoria aliqua ;
nam ea, quam confinxerunt, experimenta magis perturbat,
quam juvat. Eorum etiam, qui in magia (quam vocant)
naturali 1 ' versati sunt, pauca reperiuntur inventa; eaque levia,
et imposturae propiora. Ouocirca, quemadmodum in religione
cavetur, ut fides ex operibus monstretur ; idem etiam ad
philosophiam optime traducitur, ut ex fructibus judicetur et
vana habeatur quae sterilis sit : atque eo magis si, loco fruc-
tuum uvae et olivae, producat clisputationum et contentionum
carduos et spinas.

LXXIV.

Capienda etiam sunt signa ex incrementis et progressibus
philosophiarum et scicntiarum. Ouae cnim in natura fundata
sunt, crescunt et augcntur : oj^ejiutjmJ^jDpin^^
non augervtur ;l ~. Itaque si istae doctrinae plane instar plantae

disserere coepisse : nee post rationem medicinam esse inventam, sed post
invcntam medicinam rationem esse quaesitam.' Celsus de Re Medica.
Praefatio.

' J3ut this remark,' says Mr. Ellis, 'is not made by Celsus as the expression
of his own opinion ; 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.' Mr. Spedding refers to
De Augmentis, v. 2. Other places are Valerius Terminus (E. and S.,
vol. iii. p. 2321 and the Redargutio Philosophiarum (vol. iii. p. 578).

" ; Cp. note 6 on Aph. 5.

' This is one of Hacon's happiest thoughts. I may add that, if in any
subject we have a mere variation of opinion, without growth, it proves

LIB. 1. 74. 267

a stirpibus suis rcvulsae non essent, sed utero naturae adhae-
rerent atque ab eadem alercntur, id minime cventurum
fuisset, quod per annos bis mille jam fieri videmus : nempe,
ut scientiae suis haereant vestigiis, et in eodem fere statu
maneant, neque augmentum aliquod memorabile sumpserint ;
quin potius in primo authore maxime floruerint, et dcinceps
declinaverint. In artibus autem mechanicis !)8 , quae in natura
et experientiae luce fundatae sunt, contra evenire videmus :
quae (quamdiu placent) veluti spiritu quodam repletae con-
either that the subject is incapable of scientific treatment, or else that the
scientific mode of treating it has not yet been discovered. Thus, the
ontological problems, which constituted so large a part of the Greek
philosophy, did not, I conceive, admit of any scientific solution, while
to much of the physical speculation of the Greek philosophers no scientific
treatment had yet been applied.

It has often been brought as a charge against the moral and mental
sciences that they are a mere record of opinions, and admit of no growth.
Provided, however, to adopt bacon's language, they are ' founded in
nature,' that is to say, in the study of man and society, I believe this
charge to be emphatically untrue. The phenomena, indeed, are here
more complex than in the physical sciences, and there is a larger amount
of uneducated opinion to be replaced by the results of scientific investi-
gation ; hence, undoubtedly, the process of growth is slower, but I believe
that, with each generation of cultivated men, the materials for a knowledge
of mind, life, and conduct are surely accumulating, while scientific con-
ceptions, when once applied to these materials, admit of constant develop-
ment and further and further applications. It may be added that in
these sciences, owing to the exceeding familiarity of the phenomena with
which they deal, there are certain early generalizations which it is com-
paratively easy to make ; and hence, in the philosophies of Plato and
Aristotle, there is a larger amount of sound speculation in these departments
than in any others. But, though, perhaps, they are amongst the first
to blossom, they are the last to ripen.

1)8 Cp. Cogitata et Visa (E. and S., vol. iii. p. 616) : 'Artes enim Me-
chanicas, ut aurae cujusdam vitalis participes, quotidie crescere ct perfici ;
Philosophiam vero statuae more adorari et celebrari, nee moveri. Atque
illas in primis authoribus rudes et fere informes ac onerosas se ostendcre :
postea novas vires et commoditates adipisci. Hanc autcm in primo
quoque authore maxime vigere, ac deinceps declinare. Neque aliam
hujus contrarii successus causam veriorem esse, quam quod in Mechanicis
multorum ingenia in unum coe'unt ; in Philosophia autem, singulorum
ingenia ab uno quopiam destruuntur. Nam postquam dedititii facti sunt,
amplitudinem non addere ; sed in uno ornando aut stipando servili officio
occupari. Ouare omnem philosophiam ab experientiae radicibus ex quibus
primum pullulavit et incrementum cepit avulsatn, rem mortuam esse.'

268 NOVUM ORGANUM.

tinuo vegetant ct crescunt ; primo rudes, deinde commodae,
postea excultae, et perpetuo auctae.

LXXV.

Etiam aliud signum capiendum est (si modo signi appellatio
huic competat ; cum potius testimonium sit, atque adeo
testimoniorum omnium validissimum) ; hoc est, propria con-
fessio authorum, quos homines nunc sequuntur. Nam et illi
qui tanta fiducia de rebus pronuntiant, tamen per intervalla
cum ad se redeunt, ad querimonias de naturae subtilitate,
rerum obscuritate, 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 progressum acuere et
incitare possit. Verum non satis illis est de se confiteri, sed
quicquid sibi ipsis aut magistris suis incognitum aut intactum
fuerit id extra terminos possibilis ponunt, et tanquam ex
arte l cognitu aut factu impossibile pronuntiant : summa
superbia et invidia suorum inventorum infirmitatem in naturae
ipsius calumniam et aliorum omnium desperationem vertentes.
Hinc schola Academiae novae, quae acatalepsiam ex professo
tenuit, et homines ad sempiternas tenebras damnavit -. Hinc
opinio, quod formae sive verae rerum differentiae (quae revera
sunt leges actus pun) inventu impossibiles sint, et ultra
hominem 3 . Hinc opiniones illae in activa et operativa parte :

'"' Compare, for instance, the words ascribed to Xenophanes :
Kru TO ^fV ovv <ra(f)(s OVTLS dvrjp 'I8fv ov8f rtf ecrrai
etfiwy, d/j.(f)l 6fS>v re Kai acraa Xeyu TTtpl iravratv'
el yap KOI TCI /xdXiara TV%OL rereXeo'^eVoi' {iTT<av }
avruS op.cas OVK ol8e' &OKOS 8' errl Tracri TfTVKTai.

1 ' As if on the authority of their art,' or perhaps ' as if they had
scientific grounds for saying so.'

2 From what has already been said on the New Academy (Aph. 37,
n. 41), it will be seen that this is an exaggerated view of their position.
Though they rejected ' certainty,' they constituted various grades of
probability, and, therefore, can hardly be said to have condemned men
to eternal darkness.

3 On Bacon's use of the word Form, see Introduction, 8.

The opinion that the discovery of the Form is impossible is discussed
again in Bk. ii. Aphs. 2, 3, and also in De Augmcntis, lib. iii. cap. 4,
Valerius Terminus (E. and S., vol. iii. p. 239), and other places. Some of
these passages are considered in the Introduction.

LIB. I. 7576. 269

calorem soils et ignis toto genere differre 4 ; ne scilicet homines
putent se per opera ignis aliquid simile iis quae in natura
fiunt educere et formare posse. Hinc illud : compositionem
tantum opus hominis, mistionem vero opus solius naturae esse 5 ;
ne scilicet homines sperent aliquam ex arte corporum natur-
alium generationem aut transformationem. Itaque ex hoc
signo homines sibi persuaderi facile patientur, ne cum dogma-
tibus 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 scholarum ipsarum
varietas : quod satis ostendit, viam a sensu ad intellectum
non bene munitam fuisse, cum eadem materia philosophiae
(natura scilicet rerum) in tarn vagos et multiplices errorcs
abrepta fuerit et distracta. Atque licet hisce temporibus
dissensiones et dogmatum diversitates circa principia ipsa,
et philosophias integras, ut plurimum extinctae sint ; tamen
circa partes philosophiae innumerae manent quaestiones et
controversiae ; ut plane appareat, neque in philosophiis ipsis,
neque in modi's demonstrationum aliquid certi aut sani esse.

* In the ' Instantiae convenientes in natura calidi ' in Bk. ii, both these
descriptions of heat are included.

Apostrophising Galen in the Temporis Partus Masculus (E. and S.,

vol. iii. p. 531), Bacon breaks out: 'O canicula ! O pestis !

tu inter calores astri et ignis seditionem avide arripiens et ostentans,
ubique humanam potestatem malitiose in ordinem redigis, et ignorantiam
desperatione in aeternum munire cupis.'

5 The two processes here contrasted are mechanical and chemical com-
position. What follows is obscure, but it seems to mean that man may,
if he is only bold enough, obtain the power of so subtly mixing ingre-
dients, or ' superinducing Forms,' as to effect the generation of a body or
the transformation of one body into another. The best explanation of the
passage is to be found by comparing it with Bk. ii. Aph. 5.

Mr. Spedding (quoting a note by Mr. Ellis to Temporis Partus Mas-
culus, E. and S., vol. iii. p. 531) says that the reference is to Galen, who
in his treatise De Naturalibus Facultatibus contrasts the inwardly forma-
tive power of nature with the external operations of art.

6 That is, from observation and experiment to inductive generalisations,
or, in other words, from facts to theories.

270 NOVUM ORGANUM.

LXXVII.

Quod vero putant homines, in philosophia Aristotelis
magnum utio 1 uc consensum csse ; cum post illam cditam
antiquorum philosophiae cessaverint ct exoleverint ; ast apud
tempora ; quae scquuta sunt, nil melius inventum fuerit ; adeo
ut ilia tarn bene posita et fundata videatur. ut utrumque
tempus ad se traxerit : primo, quod de cessatione antiquarum
philosophiarum post Aristotelis opera edita homines cogitant.
id falsum est ; diu cnim postea, usque ad tempora Ciceronis
et secula scquentia. manserunt opera veterum philosophorum 7 .
Sed tcmporibus insequentibus, ex inundatione Barbarorum in
imperium Romanum, postquam doctrina humana velut nau-
fragium pcrpessa esset ; turn demum philosophiae Aristotelis
ct Platonis, tanquam tabulae ex materia leviore et minus
soiida. per fluctus temporum servatae sunt 8 . Illud etiam de
conscnsu fallit homines, si acutius rcm introspiciant. Verus
cnim consensus is est, qui ex libcrtate judicii (re prius ex-
plorata) in idem convcnientc consistit :) . At numerus longe
maximus corum qui in Aristotelis philosophiam consenserunt,
ex pracjudicio et authoritate aliorum se illi mancipavit : ut
scquacitas sit potius et coitio. quam consensus 10 . Quod si

7 This statement is proved not only by the citations in Cicero, but also
by the work of Diogenes Lacrtius, which, though of uncertain date, is
placed by some authorities as late as the time of Constantino the Great,
as well as by the references in the Christian Fathers of the third and
fourth centuries.

s See note 89 on Aph. 71.

' There are really three conditions of ' verus consensus/ of which Bacon
enumerates only the two last, taking probably the first for granted :

(1) The judges must be competent ;

(2) The matter in question must have been thoroughly examined, before
judgment is pronounced ;

(3) The consent must be free, that is to say, the judges must not have
been influenced by each other.

On the abuse and limits of the arguments from Authority and from
Universal Consent, see my Inductive Logic, 4th ed., pp. 287-295.

'" There is a story of the late Bishop Thirhvall that, on one occasion,
distinguishing between the few competent and the many incompetent
signatories of a memorial, he described the latter as so many ciphers after
a decimal point.

On this ' scquacitas et coitio' in the case of Aristotle, cp. the beginning

LIB. I. 77. 271

fuisset ille verus consensus et late patens, tantum abest ut
consensus pro vera et solida authoritate habcri debeat, ut
etiam violentam praesumptionem inducat in contrarium 11 .
Pessimum enim omnium est augurium, quod ex consensu
capitur in rebus intellectualibus : exceptis divinis ct politicis,
in quibus suffragiorum jus cst 12 . Nihil enim multis placet,
nisi imaginationem feriat, aut intellcctum vulgarium notionum
nodis astringat, ut supra dictum est 13 . Itaque optime tradu-
citur illud Phocionis 14 a moribus ad intellectualia : Ut statim
sc examinare debeant homines, quid erraverint aut peccavcrint,
si multitude 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 originibus ipsarum, sive ex fructi-
bus, sive ex progressibus, sive ex confessionibus authorum,
sive ex consensu : jam dictum est.

of Campanella's treatise ' Philosophia sensibus demonstrata,' &c. (pub-
lished at Naples in 1591), where we find him complaining : ' PZt si quando
quaestionem sensatae rei tractant, non quod in re est vident ; sed quod
in verbis Aristotelis scriptum inveniunt, et ex eis arguunt, et ex eis re-
spondent, et si ipsa rei natura sensibus contrariam Aristoteli se offerat
nolentibus et invitis, dicunt Aristotelem non errasse.' ' Hinc fugientes
rerum scientias, conterunt inter se tempus de subjectis scientiarum apud

Aristotelem Ita quod nunquam (Mehercule) vidi unum ex eis res

inspicere, ad campos tendere, maria, et montes, ut res spectent, nee in
propriis domibus, sed tantum a libris Aristotelis, et super his stant semper.'

PP- 2 > 3-

Many similar illustrations will be found among the passages quoted from
the opponents of the Aristotelian philosophy in the Introduction, 12.

11 Bacon's impatience with the ever-recurring appeal to authority has,
of course, here betrayed him into exaggeration. Consent, however
dangerous it may be to accept it as an ultimate argument, is, there can
be no doubt, rather a presumption in favour of an opinion than against it.
' Securus judicat orbis terrarum ' is an over-strained axiom, but, of the
two exaggerations, it is nearer the truth than the ' Pessimum omnium est
augurium ' &c. of Bacon.

vi There may be a touch of irony in this exception. The allusion is
to Parliaments and Councils, which decide by a majority of suffrages.

13 See Aphs. 28 and 47.

14 See Plutarch's Life of Phocion, ch. 8 : 'EnVi Se Xe'ywi/ nore yi'o)fj.r]v npos
TOV 8rjfj.ov fv8oKlp.fl, KCU irdvTas 6/^aXo>? etopa TOV \6yov aTroSe^o/ievou

(j)f\s Trpbs TOVS (pihovs flntv' Ov 8fj TTOU TI Kaxoi> \tyu>v epavrbv \f\t]

272 NOVUM ORGANUM.

LXXVIII.

Jam vero veniendum ad causas errorum 15 , et tarn diuturnae
in illis per tot saecula morae ; quae plurimae sunt et potentis-
simae : 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) foelicitatis magis est cujusdam,
quam excellentis alicujus facultatis ; ut potius pro temporis
partu haberi debeat, quam pro partu ingenii lfi .

Primo autem tot saeculorum numerus, vere rem reputanti,
ad magnas angustias recidit. Nam ex viginti quinque
annorum centuriis, in quibus memoria et doctrina hominum
fere versatur, vix sex centuriae 17 seponi et excerpi possunt,
quae scicntiarum feraces earumve proventui utiles fuerunt.
Sunt enim non minus temporum quam regionum eremi et
vastitates. Tres enim tantum doctrinarum revolutiones et
periodi recte numerari possunt : una, apud Graecos ; altera,
apud Romanes ; ultima, apud nos, occidentales scilicet Europae
nationes : quibus singulis vix duae centuriae annorum merito
attribui possunt. Media mundi tempora, quoad scicntiarum
segetem ubercm aut laetam, infoelicia fuerunt. Neque enim

ir> Here begin the causes of error and of so long continuance in it.
They are enumerated as fifteen.

Kl Cp. Aph. 122. One of Bacon's works is called 'Temporis Partus
Masculus.' In a letter to Father Fulgentio, given in Mr. Spedding's
Letters and Life of Bacon (vol. vii. p. 532), he says : ' Equidem mcmini
me, quadraginta abhinc annis, juvenile opusculum circa has res confe-
cisse, quod magna prorsus fiducia et magnifico titulo "Temporis Partum
Maximum" inscripsi.' Of this juvenile work no trace probably is left.

17 In the Cogitata et Visa (E. and S., pp. 613, 614), he says 'scarce five
centuries.' He there makes no mention of the three periods.

As Dr. Kitchin observes, the duration of these 'three periods' is
unduly narrowed. But Bacon probably wished, in estimating the duration
of the Gre.jk period, to exclude the philosophy of Plato and Aristotle, and,
in estimating the duration of the modern period, to exclude the philo-
sophy of the Schoolmen. If this be the case, we may fix the Creek period
from Thales to Plato, the Roman period from Cicero or Lucretius to
Marcus Aurelius, and the modern period from the beginning of the revolt
against Aiistotie, or, perhaps, from the invention of Printing, to Bacon's
own time.

LIB. 7. 7879. 273

causa est ut vel Arabum vel scholasticorum ls mentio fiat :
qui per intermedia tempora scientias potius contrivcrunt
numerosis tractatibus, quam pondus earum auxerunt. Itaque
prima causa tarn pusilli in scientiis profectus ad angustias
temporis erga illas propitii rite et ordine refertur.

LXXIX.

At secundo loco se offert causa ilia magni certe per omnia
momenti : ea videlicet, quod per illas ipsas aetates, quibus
hominum ingenia et literae maxime vel etiam mediocriter
floruerint, naturalis philosophia minimam partem humanae
operae sortita sit. Atque haec ipsa nihilominus pro magna
scientiarum matre haberi debet. Omnes enim artes et
scientiae, ab hac stirpe revulsae, poliuntur fortasse et in usum
cffinguntur ; sed nil admodum crcscunt 11 . At manifestum

18 It is now almost superfluous to remark that Bacon is unjust both
to the Arabians and to the Schoolmen. Their services to philosophy and
literature cannot, it is true, be compared with those of the Greeks or
Romans, or with those of the Renaissance, but it was the fashion of
Bacon's age unduly to depreciate the studies and the philosophical and
scientific results of the Middle Ages, as, in its turn, it has become the
fashion of our own time to over-estimate them.

19 It is somewhat difficult to reconcile Bacon's conception of Natural
Philosophy, so far as we can discover it from this and the next Aphorism,
with the account of it given in De Augmentis, bk. iii. In these Aphorisms,
Natural Philosophy is described as ' magna ista scientiarum mater,' and as
the 'root' and ' trunk' from which the arts and sciences branch. But in
the De Augmentis, this language is used not of Natural Philosophy, but of
the Philosophia Prima. ' Ouoniam autem partitiones scientiarum non sunt
lineis diversis similes, quae coeunt ad unum angulum ; sed potius ramis
arborum, qui conjunguntur in uno trunco (qui etiam truncus ad spatium
nonnullum integer est et continuus, antequam se partiatur in ramos) :
idcirco postulat res, ut priusquam prioris partitionis membra perse-,
quamur, constituatur una Scientia Universalis, quae sit mater reliquarum,!
et habeatur in progressu doctrinarum tanquam portio viae communis!
antequam viae se separent et disjungant.' De Augmentis, lib, iii. cap. I.
Natural Philosophy, again, in the De Augmentis is confined to the know-!
ledge of Nature, there being distinct divisions of philosophy assigned;
to the knowledge of God and the knowledge of Man. But, in Aph. 8o,j
'philosophia moralis et civilis, et scientiae logicae' are regarded as re-;
ceiving their proper nutriment from Natural Philosophy, which has for' 1 !
its object not only motions, rays, sounds, &c., but also ' affectus, et pre-j
hensiones intellectuales.' In the two books of the Advancement of

274 NOVUM ORGANUM.

est, postquam Christiana fides recepta fuisset et adolcvissct,
longe maximam ingcniorum praestantissimorum partem ad
theologiam se contulisse ; atque huic rci ct amplissima
praemia proposita, et omnis generis adjumenta copiosissime
subministrata fuisse : atque hoc theologiae studium praecipuc
occupasse tertiam illam partem sive pcriodum temporis apud
nos Europaeos occidentales ; eo magis, quod sub idem fere
tcmpus et literae florere, et controversiae circa religionem
pullulare coeperint. At aevo superiori, durante pcriodo ilia
secunda apud Romanes, potissimae philosophorum medita-
tioncs et industriae in morali philosophia (quac ethnicis vice
theologiae erat 20 ) occupatae et consumptae fuerunt : etiam

)Learning, the account of the respective functions of the Philosophia Prima
jand Natural Philosophy is substantially the same as that in the De Aug-
imentis. Cp. also Bk. i. Aph. 127 of the Novum Organum. One can
hardly avoid the conclusion that, in the Aphorisms now under discussion,
'Bacon has confounded the conception of Natural Philosophy with that of
Uhe Philosophia Prima.

This difficulty having been pointed out, the subsequent notes to these
two Aphorisms must be regarded as applying to Natural Philosophy only
,as here understood.

20 In the corresponding passage of the Cogitata et Visa, Gruter, though
not the Queen's College MS., reads ' quae Ethnicis, magna ex parte, vice
Theologiae erat.'

The Greek and Roman religions contained little theology in our sense
of the term. They recognised no creeds, catechisms, or articles of faith.
Nor were the priests of the classical religions, like ours, moral and
religious teachers. The religion was mainly a cult, and the priests were
almost exclusively the performers of rites and sacrifices. Into a man's
religious convictions, so long as he kept the required religious obser-
vances, few cared to enquire. Nor, again, though certain crimes, such as
homicide, the refusal of hospitality, the breach of an oath, the removal of
a boundary, &c., were supposed to be avenged by certain deities, was there
any definite and detailed connexion between the religion and the morality
of classical times. Of the divorce between the popular religion and what
we understand by morality, we cannot have better examples than those
adduced by Plato in the 2nd and 3rd Books of the Republic.

Hence, it naturally happened that the discussions as to the nature of
the Gods and the grounds and precepts of morality fell into the hands
of the philosophers. Theology, as treated by them, assumed a meta-
physical character, having little or no practical bearing on the affairs of
life (witness the discussions in the so-called ' Metaphysics ' of Aristotle),
and, consequently, possessed no attractions for ordinary men. The belief
or disbelief in the propositions maintained by the philosophers was not

LIB. I. 80. 275

summa ingenia illis temporibijs ut plurimum ad res civiles se
applicuerunt, propter magnitudincm imperil Romani, quod
plurimorum hominum opera indigebat. At ilia aetas, qua
naturalis philosophia apud Graecos maxime florerc visa est,
particula fuit temporis minime diuturna : cum ct antiquioribus
temporibus septem illi, qui sapientes nominabantur, omnes
(praeter Thaletem) ad moralem philosophiam et civilia se
applicuerint ; et posterioribus temporibus, postquam Socrates
philosophiam de coelo in terras deduxisset 21 , adhuc magis
invaluerit moralis philosophia, et ingenia hominum a natural!
averterit.

At ipsissima ilia periodus temporis. in qua inquisitiones cle
natura 22 viguerunt, contradictionibus et novorum placitorum
ambitione corrupta est, et inutilis reddita. Itaque, quando-
quidem per tres istas periodos naturalis philosophia 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, praesertim
his recentioribus temporibus, vix nacta sit ; nisi forte quis

regarded as likely to affect a man's lot either in this world or the next.
The tendency of speculation, therefore, both among the later Greeks and
the Romans, was towards a philosophy of life, character, and conduct,
and this tendency amongst the Romans was specially assisted by the
legal and practical direction of their minds. The favourite topics of dis-
cussion were not the nature of the Gods and our relations to them, much
less our duties towards them, but our relations and duties to each other,
the main objects of life, wherein consists the perfection of human nature,
by what means we can attain that perfection, and other questions of a
similar character. It was the answer to these questions, we might say,
and not the answer to theological enquiries, which furnished the spiritual
sustenance of the Greeks and Romans. Hence, Bacon's remark that
moral philosophy, in classical times, supplied the place of theology, if not
accurately, is at least approximately true.

21 See Cicero's Tusculan Disputations, bk. v. ch. 4 : ' Socrates autem
primus philosophiam devocavit e coelo, et in urbibus collocavit, et in
domos etiain introduxit, et coegit de vita, et moribus, rebusque bonis et
malis quaerere.' Cp. Academics, i. 4.

22 In this concluding paragraph, Bacon seems to employ the phrase
Natural Philosophy in the same sense as in the De Augmentis.

T 2

276 NOVUM ORGANUM.

monachi alicujus in cellula, aut nobilis in villula lucubrantis,
exemplum adduxerit ' 23 : sed facta est demum naturalis philo-
sophia instar transitus cujusdam et pontisternii ad alia.

Atque magna ista scientiarum mater mira indignitate ad
officia ancillae detrusa est ; quae medicinae aut mathema-
tices 24 operibus ministrct, et rursus quae adolescentium
immatura ingenia lavet et imbuat velut tinctura quadam
prima, ut aliam postea foelicius et commodius excipiant.
Interim nemo expectet magnum progressum in scientiis
(praesertim in parte earum operativa) ; nisi philosophia naturalis
ad scientias particulares producta fuerit et scientiae particu-
lares rursus ad naturalem philosophiam reductae. Hinc enim
fit, ut astronomia, optica. musica. plurimae artes mechanicae,
atque ipsa medicina, atque (quod quis magis miretur) philo-
sophia moralis et civilis, et scientiae logicae, nil fere habeant
altitudinis in profundo ; sed per superficiem et varietatem
rerum tantum labantur : quia, postquam particulares istae
scientiae dispertitae et constitutae fuerint, a philosophia
naturali non amplius aluntur ; quae ex fontibus et vcris con-
templationibus motuum. radiorum, sonorum, texturae, et
schematismi corporum, affectuum, et prehensionum intel-
lectualium. novas vires et augmenta illis impertiri potuerit 2 "'.

- 3 In the Cogitata et Visa (E. and S., vol. iii. p. 595), Bacon adds
'quod et rarissimum reperietur.'

It has sometimes been suggested that the allusions in this passage are
specifically to Roger Bacon and Descartes. But Descartes had not yet
(1620) published any works, and, as he was only born in 1596, he cannot
possibly have been alluded to by Bacon in the Cogitata et Visa, which
was composed about 1607.

24 In the De Augmentis, Mathematics are called the 'great Appendix'
of Natural Philosophy (lib. iii. cap. 6), while Medicine is one of the
divisions of Human Philosophy, ' Doctrina de Homine ' (lib. iv. cap. 2).

K Apart from the question of the appropriate or inappropriate use of
the term 'Natural Philosophy,' there can be little question that Bacon's
thought here is a just one. Every special art or science ought to be
treated in reference to the general science under which it falls. Thus,
Logic is empirical, unless based on Psychology; Medicine, unless based
on a knowledge of Physiology ; Mechanics, unless based on the Laws of
Motion, Force, &c. ; and so on throughout the sciences. Bacon seems
here to have conceived of Natural Philosophy as the one general science
with which the more special sciences should be brought into connexion,
and which should deal with the laws of nature and man in a more com-

LIB. /. 81. 277

Itaque minime mirum est si scicntiae non crescant, cum a
radicibus suis sint separatae.

LXXXI.

Rursus se ostendit alia causa potens et magna, cur scientiac
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 dotetur vita humana novis inventis et copiis 2G .

prehensive manner than it was possible for the more special sciences to
do. It was to give, as it were, a general survey of nature, and then the
more special sciences were to follow out in detail particular departments,
never, however, losing sight of the common stock with which they were
connected.

The inclusion of ' affectus, et prehensiones intellectuales ' among the
objects of Natural Philosophy, though inconsistent with Bacon's employ-
ment of the word in the De Augmentis, is in accordance with ancient
usage. The word Psychology is comparatively modern, and the ques-
tions of which that science treats were included by ancient authors
under Physiology or Physics. Thus, the De Anima was always ranked
among the physical works of Aristotle. In the old Statutes of the
University of Oxford, among the books on which the ' Praelector
Naturalis Philosophiae' was to lecture were the ' libri de Anima.' For
instances of the Aristotelian use of the words ' physical ' and ' physio-
logical,' as including what we should call ' psychological,' see Eth. vii. 3
(9. 12).

- G Cp. Cogitata et Visa (E. and S., vol. iii. p. 595) : ' Metam autem non
aliam esse, quam ut genus humanum novis operibus et potestatibus con-
tinuo dotetur.'

This, as I have pointed out in the Introduction (pp. 129, 130, and else-
where), is one of the watchwords of the Baconian philosophy. But we
must, at least, take it in conjunction with the maxim which Bacon is never
weary of repeating : ' Lucifera experimenta, non fructifera quaerenda.' It
often happens that enquiries which at first sight appear to have no prac-
tical bearing are ultimately found to contribute largely to the comforts
and conveniences of life. But, even if this were not the case, it might be
maintained, and maintained rightly, that knowledge should be sought for
its own sake. No reason can be given why man should not be at full
liberty to gratify his desire of knowledge, his curiosity to know all that is
about and within him, as much as any other desire of his nature. As
Bacon himself says in the Praise of Knowledge, 'Are not the pleasures
of the affections greater than the pleasures of the senses ? And are not
the pleasures of the intellect greater than the pleasures of the affections ?
Is not knowledge a true and only natural pleasure, whereof there is no
satiety : '

On ' the limits and end of knowledge,' there is a long chapter in the

278 NOVUM ORGANUM.

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
inventodet_oj3erarr^; quod fere fit cum facultatum dispendio.
At apud plerosque tantum abest ut homines id sibi proponant,
ut scientiarum et artium massa augmentum obtineat, ut ex ea,
quae praesto est, massa nil amplius sumant aut quaerant.
quam quantum ad usum professorium aut lucrum aut existi-
mationem aut hujusmodi compendia convertere possint 2T .

Valerius Terminus (E. and S., vol. iii. pp. 117-224). There Bacon takes,
as I conceive, an unduly narrow view. ' All knowledge,' he says, ' should
[_ <V\JAJ IV be referred to use and action.' ' Knowledge that tendeth but to satis-
tt faction is but as a courtesan, which is for pleasure and not for fruit or

generation.' In the same spirit, or in exaggeration of the same spirit,
- l7 -^ Comte objects to the continued cultivation of sidereal astronomy, the

ii .JAU'-^ search into the internal constitution of the sun, and other pursuits which
s^'-vc/l/yv are not likely to contribute to the welfare of mankind. But, apart from
kXut,&V i the legitimate and often exquisite pleasure to be derived from these in-
tfi co fa vestigations, may they not be justified by their tendency to divert us
ccu^k from merely selfish aims, by the interests which they excite in objects
/%- ;' r lVi<A. external to ourselves, and by the widening and elevating influence which
they so frequently exert on the intellect and character ?

For a different and more liberal view of the relation between knowledge
and practice, ' veritas et utilitas,' see Aph. 124 ; and cp. my notes upon it.
" 7 Cp. De Augmentis, lib. i. (E. and S., vol. i. pp. 462-3) : ' Omnium
autem gravissimus error in deviationc ab ultimo doctrinarum fine con-
sistit. Appetunt enim homines scientiam, alii ex insita curiositate et
irrequieta ; alii animi causa et delectationis ; alii existimationis gratia ;
alii contentions ergo, atque ut in disserendo superiores sint ; plerique
propter lucrum et victum ; paucissimi ut donum rationis divinitus datum
in usus humani generis impendant. Plane, quasi in doctrina quaereretur
lectulus. in quo tumultuans ingenium et aestuans requiesceret ; aut xystus
sive porticus, in quo animus cleambularet liber aut vagus ; aut turns alta
et edita, de qua mens ambitiosa et superba despectaret ; aut arx ct pro-
pugnaculum ad contentiones et praelia ; aut officina ad quaestum et
mercatum ; et non potius locuples armarium et gazophylacium, ad opificis
rcruin omnium gloriam et vitae humanae subsidium. Hoc enim illud
est, quod revcra doctrinam atque artes condecorarct et attolleret, si con-
templatio et actio arctiorc quam adhuc vinculo copularentur. Ouae
ccrte conjunctio talis foret, qualis est suprcmorum duorum planetarum
syzygia, cum Saturnus, quietis et contemplationis dux, cum Jove, duce
societatis agendique, conspiret.'

The whole of the First Book of the De Augmentis is occupied with a
defence of Knowledge and a statement of its dignity and ends.

LIB. I. 82. 279

Quod si quis ex tanta multitudine scientiam affectu ingenuo
ct proptcr se expetat ; invenietur tamen illc ipse potius con-
templationum et doctrinarum varietatem, quam veritatis
severam ct rigidam inquisitioncm sequi. Rursus. si alius
quispiam fortasse veritatis inquisitor sit severior ; tamen et
ille ipse talcm sibi proponet veritatis conditionem, quac menti
ct intellectui satisfaciat in redditione causarum rcrum quac
jampridem sunt cognitae ; non earn, quae nova operum
pignora et novam axiomatum lucem assequatur. Itaque,__si
fini^jsdenJjajMjn^ non mirum

est si in iis. quae sunt subordinata ad finem, sequatur aber-
ratio.

LXXXII.

Quemadmodum autem finis et meta scientiarum male
posita sunt apud homines ; ita rursus etiamsi ilia recte posita
fuissent, viam tamen sibi delegerunt omnino crroneam et
imperviam 2S . Quod stupore quodam animum rite rem
rcputanti perculserit ; non ulli mortalium curae aut cordi
fuisse, ut intellectui humano ab ipso sensu et experientia
ordinata et bene condita via aperiretur et munirctur ; scd
omnia vel traditionum caligini, vel argumentorum vertigini
ct turbini, vel casus et experientiae vagae et inconditae undis
et ambagibus permissa esse. Atque cogitet quis sobrie ct
diligenter, qualis sit ca via, quam in inquisitione ct inventionc
alicujus rei homines adhibere consueverunt. Et primo notabit
proculdubio invcniendi modum simplicem et inartificiosum,
qui hominibus maxime est familiaris. Hie autem non alius

!-i There is little in this Aphorism which Bacon has not already said.
But it is often striking in expression, and may be taken as a summary
statement of the false methods which men pursue in their enquiries. The
first of these is to collect opinions and authorities, and then, by com-
paring them and reflecting on them, to attempt to arrive at an opinion
of our own. The second is to follow the dialectical (or syllogisticalj
method, not examining the first principles, but either taking them for
granted or borrowing them from the professors of the several arts, and
then pursuing these first principles to their remote consequences, without
pausing to enquire into the truth of the data on which they are based.
The third and last is to consult experience, but without any definite
order or method, groping, as it were, in the dark, instead of guiding our
steps by a light.

280 NOVUM ORGANUM.

est, quam ut is, qui se ad inveniendum aliquid comparat et
accingit, primo quae ab aliis circa ilia dicta sint inquirat et
cvolvat ; deinde propriam meditationem addat, atque per
mentis multam agitationem spiritum suum proprium sollicitet,
et quasi invocet, ut sibi oracula pandat : quae res omnino sine
fundamento est, et in opinionibus tantum volvitur.

At alius quispiam dialecticam ad inveniendum advocet,
quae nomine tenus tantum ad id quod agitur pertinet. In-
ventio enim dialecticae non est principiorum et axiomatum
praecipuorum, ex quibus artes constant, sed eorum tantum
quae illis consentanea videntur. Dialectica enim magis
curiosos et importunos, et sibi negotium facessentes, eamque
interpellantes de probationibus et inventionibus principiorum
sivc axiomatum primorum, ad fidem, et veluti sacramentum
cuilibet arti praestandum, notissimo responso rejicit.

Restat experientia mera : quae, si occurrat, casus ; s
quaesita sit, expcrimentum nominatur. Hoc autem expericn-
tiae genus nihil aliud est, quam (quod aiunt) scopae dis-
solutae 2; \ et mera palpatio :i ", quali homines noctu utuntur,
omnia pertentando, si forte in rectam viam incidere cletur ;
quibus multo satius et consultius foret diem praestolari, aut
lumen accendere, et deinceps viam inire. At contra, verus
experientiae ordo primo lumen acccndit. deinde per lumen
iter demonstrat, incipiendo ab experientia ordinata et digesta,
et minime praepostera 31 aut erratica, atque ex ea educendo
axiomata, atque ex axiomatibus constitutis rursus experi-

29 ' Loose twigs.' ' Scopas dissolvcrc,' to untie a broom, was a proverb
for throwing anything into confusion and disorder. See Cicero. Orator,
ch. 71 : ' Isti autem cum dissolvunt orationem, in qua ncc res nee vcrbum
ullum est. nisi abjectum : non clypcum, sed. ut in proverbio est (ctsi
humilius dictum est, tamen consimilc est) scopas mihi videntur dissol-
vcrc.' There is a similar application of the proverb in the Epistles to
Atticus, lib. vii. ep. 13 : ' L. Caesarcm vidi Minturnis, cum absurdissimis
mandatis, non homincm, sed scopas solutas.' The proverb may have
had its origin in the Fable of the Father and his Sons, ' as inculcating
Unity.'

1(1 See the passage from the DC Augmcntis, lib. v. cap. 2. already
quoted in note 76 to Aph. 70.

11 vartpov TTporepov : observing no order or method, or, perhaps, the
wroner order.

LIB. 7. 83. 281

menta nova ; quum ncc verbum divinum in rcrum massam
absque ordine operatum sit.

Itaquc desinant homines mirari si spatium scientiarum non
confectum sit, cum a via omnino aberraverint ; relicta prorsus
et deserta experientia, aut in ipsa (tanquam in labyrintho)
se intricando et circumcursando ; cum rite institutus ordo per
experientiae sylvas 32 ad aperta axiomatum tramite constant!
1 ucat.

LXXXIII.

Excrevit autem mirum in modum istud malum ex opinione
quadam sive aestimatione inveterata, verum tumida et dam-
nosa ; minui nempe mentis humanae majestatem, si experi-
mentis, et rebus particularibus sensui subjectis et in materia
determinatis, diu ac multum versetur : praesertim quum
hujusmodi res ad inquirendum Jaboriosae, ad meditandum
ignobiles, ad dicendum asperae, ad practicam illiberales,
numero infinitae, et subtilitate tenues esse soleant 33 . Itaque
jam tandem hue res rediit, ut via vera non tantum deserta
sed etiam interclusa et obstructa sit ; fastidita experientia,
nedum relicta, aut male administrata.

32 Bacon gave the title of ' Sylva Sylvarum ' to his ' Ten Centuries ' of
' Natural History.'

Dr. Kitchin quotes, as illustrating this metaphor, an apposite passage
from one of Bacon's Fragments : ' We endeavour to penetrate and pass
through the woods of Nature, thick set and darkened with a great variety
of experiments, as with leaves ; and entangled and twined together, like
shrubs and bushes, with the subtilty of observations. We are now,
perhaps, proceeding to the more open parts of Nature, which, however,
are still more difficult ; and, having got through the woods, are come to
the bottom of the mountains.'

3;i In the Cogitata et Visa (E. and S., vol. iii. pp. 600- 1) Bacon makes
the same reflexions, and then adds : ' Guam opinionem sive animi dis-
positionem vires maximas sumpsisse ex ilia altera opinione elata et com-
mentitia, qua veritas humanae mentis veluti indigena, nee aliunde com-
migrans ; et sensus intellectum magis excitare quain informare asserebatur.
Neque tamen errorem hunc, et mentis (si verum nomen quaeratur) aliena-
tionem, ab iis ulla ex parte correctam, qui sensui debitas, id cst primas,
partes tribucrunt. Ouin et hos quoque exemplo et facto suo, relicta prorsus
Naturali historia et mundana perambulatione, omnia in Ingenii agitatione
posuisse, et inter opacissiina mentis Idola, sub specioso contemplationis
nomine, perpetuo volutasse.' The student will not fail to notice the
psychological interest attaching to the early part of this quotation.

282 NOVUM ORGANUM.

LXXXIV.

Rursus vcro homines a progressu in scientiis detinuit et
fere incantavit reverentia antiquitatis, et virorum, qui in
philosophia magni habiti sunt, authoritas, atque deinde con-
sensus. Atque de consensu superius dictum est :H .

De antiquitate autem opinio, quam homines de ipsa fovent,

;!1 Aph. 77. Cp. notes on that Aphorism, and also the passage in my
Inductive Logic (4th ed., pp. 287-295) there referred to. To the instances
of extravagant respect for authority given in those places, the reader may
add the following taken from Galileo's 1st Dialogue (Sir Thomas Salus-
bury's Translation, pp. 91-3).

' SAGREDTJS. I found one day, at home in his house, at Venice, a
famous phisician, to whom some flockt for their studies, and others out of
curiosity sometimes came thither to see certain anatomies dissected by
the hand of a no lesse learned, than careful and experienced anatomist.
It chanced upon that day, when I was there, that he was in search of
the original and rise of the nerves, about which there is a famous con-
troversie between the Galenists and Peripateticks ; and the anatomist
shewing, how that great number of nerves departing from the brain, as
their root, and passing by the nape of the neck, distend themselves after-
wards along by the back-bone, and branch themselves thorow all the body ;
and that a very small filament, as fine as a thred, went to the heart ;
he turned to a gentleman whom he knew to be a Peripatetic!-: philosopher,
and for whose sake he had, with extraordinary exactnesse, discovered and
proved every thing, and demanded of him, if he was at length satisfied and
perswaded that the original of the nerves proceeded from the brain, and
not from the heart ? To which the philosopher, after he had stood musing
a while, answered ; you have made me to see this business so plainly and
sensibly, that did not the text of Aristotle assert the contrary, which
positively affirmeth the nerves to proceed from the heart, I should be
constrained to confcsse your opinion to be true.'

* * -x- -x- * * * * *

' SALVIATUS. And there arc certain gentlemen yet living, and in health,
who were present, when a doctor, that was professor in a famous aca-
demy, hearing the description of the telescope, by him not seen as then,
said that the invention was taken from Aristotle, and, causing his works to
be fetch't, he turned to a place where the philosopher gives the reason,
whence it commeth, that from the bottom of a very deep well one may see
the stars in heaven at noon day; and, addressing himself to the company,
see here, saith he, the well, which representeth the tube, see here the gross
vapours, from whence is taken the invention of the crystals, and see here
lastly the sight fortified by the passage of the rays through a diaphonous,
but more dense and obscure medium.'

On the immoderate reverence for Antiquity and Authority, cp. De
Augmentis, lib. i. (E. and S., vol. i. pp. 456-459). This passage, though
full of interest, is too long for quotation.

LIB. I, 84. 283

negligens omnino est, et vix verbo ipsi congrua T '. Mundi
enim senium et grandaevitas pro antiquitate verc habenda
sunt ; quac temporibus nostris tribui debcnt. non junior! aetati
mundi, qualis apud antiques fuit. Ilia enim aetas, respectu
nostri, antiqua et major ; respectu mundi ipsius, nova et
minor fuit 3G . Atque revera quemadmodum majorem rerum
humanarum notitiam et maturius judicium ab homine sene
expectamus quam a juvene, propter cxperientiam et rerum,
quas vidit, et audivit, et cogitavit, varietatem ct ccpiam ;
eodem modo et a nostra aetate (si vires suas nosset, et
experiri et intendere vellet) majora multo quam a priscis
temporibus expectari par est ; utpote aetate mundi gran-
diore. et infinitis experimentis et observationibus aucta et
cumulata.

Neque pro nihilo aestimandum, quod per longinquas navi-
gationes et peregrinationes (quae saeculis nostris increbuerunt)
plurima in natura patuerint, et reperta sint, quae novam
philosophiae lucem immittere possint. Quin et turpe homi-
nibus foret, si globi materialis tractus, terrarum videlicet,
marium, astrorum, nostris temporibus immensum aperti et
illustrati sint ; globi autem intellectualis 37 fines inter veterum
inventa et angustias cohibeantur.

35 The thought which Bacon here elaborates, is summed up in one short
Aphorism in the parallel passage of De Augmentis, lib. i. : ' Sane, ut verum
dicamus, Antiquitas saeculi juventus mundi.' For a discussion of the
questions whether this Aphorism is due to Bacon himself, and what traces
of it are to be found in earlier writers, see a note in my Inductive
Logic, 4th ed., pp. 331-2, and also a note by Mr. Ellis to the De Aug-
mentis, lib. i. (E. and S.. pp. 458-9). Both De Remusat and Mr. Ellis
cite very appositely 2 Esdras xiv. 10 : ' For the world hath lost his youth,
and the times begin to wax old.'

'"' Bentham in his Book of Fallacies, part i. ch. 2, and Sydney Smith
in his review of that work (Edinburgh Review, No. 84, reprinted in his
Collected Works), follow up this argument in a striking and amusing
manner.

M. Bouillet refers, for the same sentiment, to Pascal and Malebranche,
but both his references are wrong. The right reference to Pascal is to a
Fragment entitled ' Preface sur le Traite du Vide ; or ' De 1'autorite en
matiere de philosophic.' The right reference to Malebranche is to ' De
la Recherche de la Verite,' livre ii. 2 rac partie, ch. 4. Both passages are
interesting.

'" One of Bacon's minor works (reprinted in Ellis and Spedding's ed.,

284 NOVUM ORGANUM.

Authores vero quod attinet, summac pusillanimitatis est
authoribus infinita tribuere, author! autem authorum, atque
adeo omnis authoritatis, Tempori, jus suum dcnegare. Recte
enim Veritas Temporis filia dicitur, non Authoritatis 38 . Itaque
mirum non est. si fascina ista antiquitatis ct authorum et
consensus hominum virtutem ita ligavcrint, ut cum rebus
ipsis consuescere (tanquam maleficiati) non potuerint.

LXXXV.

Neque solum admiratio antiquitatis. authoritatis. et consensus,
hominum industriam in iis, quae jam inventa sunt, acquiescere
compulit ; verum etiam operum ipsorum admiratio, quorum
copia jampridem facta est humano generi. Etenim quum
quis rcrum varietatcm, ct pulcherrimum apparatum qui per
artes mechanicasad cultum humanum congestus et introcluctus
est, oculis subjecerit, eo certe inclinabit, ut potius ad opu-
lentiae humanae admirationem, quam ad inopiae sensum
accedat ; minimc advertens primitivas hominis observationcs
atque naturae operationes (quae ad omnem illam varietatem
instar animac sunt, et primi motus) nee multas, nee alte
petitas csse ; caetera ad patientiam hominum tantum, et
subtilcm et ordinatum manus vel instrumentorum motum.
pertinere :! \ Res enim (exempli gratia) subtilis est certe et
accurata confectio horologiorum. talis scilicet, quae coclestia
in rotis. pulsum animalium in motu successive et orclinato,

vol. iii. pp. 727-768; is designated ' Descriptio Globi Intellectualis.' To it
is appended the ' Thema Coeli.'

"'" See Aulus Gellius, Noctes Atticae, lib. xii. cap. II : 'Alius quidam
veterum poetarum, cujus nomen mihi nunc memoriae non est, vcritatem
temporis fiiiam esse dixit.' I am indebted for this quotation to the Rev.
E. Marshall. Cp. Aeschylus, Prometheus Vinctus, 1. 981 :
'AXA' (K$i8acrKfi TTUV& 1 6 yrjpdcTKuiii xpovos,

' Yeritas temporis fiiia,' it has been pointed out to me. is the legend on
the groats of Queen Mary, which must have been in use in Bacon's time.

;:l In the Cogitata et Visa (E. and S., vol. iii. p. 593), the following
sentence occurs after the words ' motum tantum pertinere : ' ' atque in hac
parte officinam cum Bibliotheca mire congruere, quae et ipsa tantam
librorum varietatem ostentet, in quibus si diiigcntius introspicias, nil aliud
quam ejusdem rei infinitas repetitioncs reperias, tractatu novas, invcntione
praeoccupatas.' The substance of this sentence, though not in so neat
a form, occurs in the next paragraph but one of this Aphorism.

LIB. I. 85. 285

videatur imitari ; quae tamen res ex uno aut altero naturae
axiomate pendet.

Quod si quis rursus subtilitatem illam intueatur quae ad
artes liberales pertinet, aut etiam earn quae ad corporum
naturalium praeparationem per artes mechanicas spectat, et
hujusmodi ressuspiciat; veluti inventionem motuum coelestium
in astronomia, concentuum in musica. literarum alphabet!
(quae etiam adhuc in regno Sinarum in usu non sunt) in
grammatica ; aut rursus in mechanic's, factorum Bacchi et
Cereris, hoc est, praeparationum vini et cervisiae, panificiorum,
aut etiam mensae delitiarum, et distillationum, et similium :
ille quoque, si secum cogitet, et animum advertat, per quantos
temporum circuitus (cum haec omnia, praeter distillationes 40 ,
antiqua fuerint) haec ad earn, quam nunc habemus, culturam
perducta sint, et (ut jam dc horologiis dictum est) quam
parum habeant ex observationibus et axiotnatibus naturae,
atque quam facile, et tanquam per occasiones obvias et
contemplationes incurrentes, ista inveniri potuerint : ille (in-
quam) ab omni admiratione se facile liberabit. et potius
humanae conditionis miserebitur. quod per tot saccula tanta
fuerit rerum et inventorum penuria et sterilitas. Atque haec
ipsa tamen, quorum nunc mcntionem fecimus, inventa, philo-
sophia et artibus intellcctus antiquiora fuerunt : adeo ut (si
verum dicendum sit) cum hujusmodi scicntiae rationales et
dogmaticae inceperint, inventio operum utilium desierit 41 .

Quod si quis ab officinis ad bibliothecas se converterit. et
immensam, quam videmus, librorum varietatem in admiratione
habuerit, is, examinatis et diligentius introspectis ipsorum
librorum materiis et contentis, obstupescet certe in contrarium;
et postquam nullum dari finem rcpetitionibus observaverit,
quamque homines eadem agant et loquantur, ab admiratione

40 Distillation is generally supposed to have been introduced into Europe
by the Moors about A.D. 1150, but as regards its earlier history there
is considerable difficulty. Mr. Ellis refers to Dutcns, Origine des Decou-
vertes, &c., p. 187 of the London Edition, and Humboldt's Examen
critique de 1'Histoire de la Geographic, &c., vol. ii. p. 306.

41 This is, of course, an exaggeration. It is true, however, that neither
science nor philosophy came into existence, or could have come into exist-
ence, till the primary wants of life were satisfied.

286 NOVUM ORGANUM.

varietatis transibit ad miraculum indigentiae et paucitatis
earum rcrum quae hominum mentes adhuc tenuerunt et
occuparunt.

Quod si quis ad intuendum ea, quae magis curiosa habentur
quam sana, animum submiserit, et alchymistarum aut magorum
opera penitius introspexerit, is dubitabit forsitan utrum risu
an lachrymis potius ilia digna sint. Alchymista enim 4 - spem
alit aeternam, atque ubi res non succedit errores proprios reos
substituit ; secum accusatorie reputando, se aut artis aut
authorum vocabula non satis intellexisse, unde ad traditiones
et auriculares susurros animum applicat ; aut in practicae
suae scrupulis et momentis 4:) aliquid titubatum esse, unde
experimenta in infinitum repetit : ac interim quum inter
experimentorum sortes in quacdam incidit aut ipsa facie nova
aut utilitate non contemnenda ; hujusmodi pignoribus animum
pascit, eaque in majus ostentat et celebrat : reliqua spe
sustentat. Neque tamen negandum est, alchymistas non
pauca invenisse, et inventis utilibus homines donasse. Verum
fabula ilia 44 non male in illos quadrat de sene, qui filiis aurum
in vinea clcfossum (scd locum se nescire simulans) legaverit :
unde illi vineae fodiendae diljgenter incubuerunt, et aurum
quidem nullum repertum, sed vindemia ex ea cultura facta
est uberior.

At naturalis magiae 45 cultorcs, qui per rerum sympathias
et antipathias omnia expediunt, ex conjecturis otiosis et
supinissimis, rebus virtutcs et operationes admirabiles affinx-
erunt : atque si quando opera exhibuerint, ea illius sunt
generis, ut ad admirationem et novitatem. non ad fructum
et utilitatem, accommodata sint.

In superstitiosa autem magia 4G (si et de hac dicendum sit)

42 Cp. Aphs. 54 and 73, and DC Augmentis, lib. i. (E. and S., vol. i.
pp. 456-7).

43 He supposes that he has made some mistake either in weighing, or in
selecting the proper moment for his manipulations.

44 The Fable of the Father and his Sons, 'as inculcating Industry.'

45 See note 6 on Aph. 5, and cp. Bk. ii. Aph. 9.

4li 'Superstitious Magic' Bacon would, of course, altogether reject,
though Natural Magic, in a purified form, he would admit as a branch
of the ' Doctrina Operativa de Natura ; ' Mechanics being the other branch.
See De Augmentis, lib. iii. cap. 5.

LIB. I. 8687. 287

illud inprimis animadvertendum est, esse tantummodo certi
cujusdam et definiti generis subjecta, in quibus artes curiosae
et superstitiosae, per omnes nationes atque aetates atque
etiam religiones, aliquid potuerint aut luserint. Itaque ista
missa faciamus. Interim nil mirum est, si opinio copiae
causam inopiae dederit.

LXXXVI.

Atque hominum admirationi, quoad doctrinas et artes, per
se satis simplici et prope puerili, incrementum accessit ab
eorum astu et artificio qui scientias tractaverunt et tradiderunt.
Illi enim ea ambitione et affectatione eas proponunt, atque
in eum modum efformatas ac veluti personatas in hominum
conspectum producunt. ac si illae omni ex partc perfectac
essent et ad exitum perductae. Si enim methodum aspicias
et partitiones, illae prorsus omnia complecti et concluderc
videntur, quae 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 contemplatione
decerpere et in usum recondere statuebant, in aplwrismos^,
sive breves easdemque sparsas nee methodo revinctas sen-
tentias, conjicere solebant ; neque se artem universam com-
plecti 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.

LXXXVII.

Etiam aniiqua magnum existimationis et fidei incrementum
acceperunt ex eorum vanitate et levitate, qui nova propo-

4 ' On the advantages of the Aphoristic over the Methodic treatment
of a science which is still in its growth, cp. De Augmentis, lib. vi. cap. 2
(E. and S.,pp. 665-6), where Bacon is still fuller and more explicit than in
this passage.

In speaking of the 'primi et antiquissimi veritatis inquisitores,' he is
probably thinking of Hippocrates, who wrote in Aphorisms, as well as
of the early Greek philosophers, whose wisdom was contained in ypw/iai,
sententiae, or maxims.

288 NOVUM ORGANUM.

suerunt ; praesertim in philosophiae naturalis parte activa et
operativa 4S . Neque enim defuerunt homines vaniloqui et
pliantastici, qui partim ex credulitate, partim ex impostura,
genus humanum promissis onerarunt : vitae prolongationem,
senectutis retardationem, dolorum levationem. naturalium
defectuum reparationem, sensuum deceptiones, affectuum
ligationes et incitationes. intellectualium facultatum illumi-
nationes et exaltationes, substantiarum transmutationes, et
motuum ad libitum roborationes et multiplicationes, aeris
impressiones et alterationes, coelestium influentiarum deduc-
tiones et procurationes, rerum futurarum divinationes, remo-
tarum repraesentationes, occultarum revelationes, et alia com-
plura pollicitando et ostentando. Verum de istis largitoribus
non multum aberraverit, qui istiusmodi judicium fecerit, tan-
turn nimirum in doctrinis philosophiae inter horum vanitates et
veras artes interesse, quantum inter res gestas Julii Caesaris,
aut Alexandri Magni, et res gestas Amadicii ex Gallia 49 ,
aut Arthuri ex Britannia, in historiae narrationibus intersit.
Inveniuntur enim clarissimi illi imperatores revera majora
gcssisse, quam umbratiles isti heroes etiam fecisse fingantur ;
sed modis et viis scilicet actionum minime fabulosis et prodi-
giosis. Neque propterea aequum est verae memoriae fidem
derogari, quod a fabulis ilia quandoque laesa sit et violata.
Sed interim minime mirum est, si propositionibus novis
(praesertim cum mentione operum) magnum sit factum prae-
judicium per istos impostores. qui similia tentaverunt ; cum
vanitatis excessus et fastidium etiam mine omnem in ejusmodi
conatibus magnanimitatem destruxerit.

LXXXVIII.

At longe majora a pusillanimitate, et pensorum, quae
humana industria sibi proposuit, parvitate et tenuitate. de-

4S For a violent invective against the moderns, and especially Paracelsus
and the Chemists, see Temporis Partus Masculus, E. and S., vol. iii.
p. 531, &c. The passage begins thus: ' Nee non cape comites perfunc-
toriam Neotericorum turbam. Heus nomenclator, suggere. Atqui
respondet, ne dignos esse quorum nomina teneat.' The quacks of Bacon's
day were generally to be found amongst the professors of Alchemy and
Magic.

49 See Hallam's Literature of Europe, part i. ch. 4. 70.

LIB. I. 88. 289

trimenta in scientias invecta sunt. Et tamen (quod pessimum
est) pusillanimitas ista non sine arrogantia et fastidio se
offert.

Primum enim, omnium artium ilia reperitur cautcla jam
facta familiaris, ut in qualibet arte authores artis suae infir-
mitatem in naturae calumniam vertant ; ct quod ars ipsorum
non assequitur, id ex eadem arte impossibile in natura pro-
nunciant. 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 in-
quiratur) hoc hominibus omnino persuaderi volunt ; nil ab
arte, vel hominis opere, arduum, aut in naturam imperiosum
ct validum, cxpectari debere ; ut de heterogenia caloris astri
et ignis, et mistione, superius dictum est 50 . Quae si notentur
accuratius, omnino pertinent ad humanae potestatis circum-
scriptionem malitiosam, et ad quaesitam et artificiosam de-
sperationem, quae non solum spei auguria turbet, sed etiam
omnes industriae stimulos et nervos incidat, atque ipsius
cxperientiae aleas abjiciat ; dum de hoc tantum solliciti sint,
ut ars eorum perfecta censeatur ; gloriae vanissimae et per-
ditissimae dantes operam. scilicet ut quicquid adhuc inventum
ct comprehensum non sit, id omnino nee inveniri, nee compre-
hend! posse in futurum credatur. At si quis rebus addere
se r>1 et novum aliquid repcrire conetur, ille tamen omnino
sibi proponet et destinabit unum aliquod inventum (nee ultra)
perscrutari et eruere ; ut magnetis naturam, maris fluxum et
refluxum, thema coeli, et hujusmodi, quae secreti aliquid
habere videntur, et hactenus parum feliciter tractata sint :
quum summae sit imperitiae, rei alicujus^jiaj^r^m^n^sejpsa
perscrutari ; quandoquidem eadem natura, quae in aliis vide-

iw^-**"W'^''Nr-'W.'-v'' % ^. ** A

tur latcns et occulta, in aliis manifcsta sit et quasi palpabilis,
atque in illis admirationem, in his ne attentionem quidem
moveat 52 ; ut fit in natura consistentiae, quae in ligno vel

i:1 Aph. 75.

51 Mr. Spedding quotes from the Redargutio Philosophiarum : ' Quare
missis is' is philosophiis abstractis, vos ct ego, filii, rebus ipsis nos ad-
jungamus.' ,

52 On Ostensive or Glaring, and their opposite or Clandestine Instances, -

/>,<%/!< 4, vo^/l .k(A ^ <!. Ct/f^' c

290 NOVUM ORGANUM.

lapide non notatur, sed solidi appellatione transmittitur, neque
amplius de fuga separationis aut solutionis continuitatis
inquiritur ; at in aquarum bullis eadem res videtur subtilis
ct ingeniosa ; quae bullae sc conjiciunt in pelliculas quasdam.
in hemisphaerii formam curiose effictas, ut ad momentum
temporis evitetur solutio continuitatis.

Atque prorsus ilia ipsa, quae habentur pro secretis, in aliis
habent naturam manifestam et communem ; quae nunquam
se dabit conspiciendam, si hominum experimenta aut con-
templationes in illis ipsis tantum versentur. 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 mirum est, si nobilia et genere humano
digna inventa in lucem extracta non sint, quum homines
hujusmodi exiguis pcnsis et puerilibus contenti et delectati
fuerint ; quinetiam in iisdem se magnum aliquod sequutos,
aut assequutos putaverint.

LXXXIX.

Neque illud praetermittendum est, quod nacta sit philo-
sophia naturalis per omnes aetates adversarium molestum et
difficilem ; superstitionem nimirum, et zelum religionis caecum
et immoderatum 53 . Etenim videre est apud Graecos. eos.
qui primum causas naturales fulminis et tempestatum insuetis
adhuc hominum auribus proposuerunt, impietatis in deos eo
nomine damnatos 54 : nee multo melius a nonnullis antiquorum

see Bk. ii. Aphs. 24, 25, and Herschel's Discourse on the Study of Natural
Philosophy, 192-3.

' 3 Cp. Aph. 65. The notes on that Aphorism will also serve to illustrate
this.

Though Bacon repudiated so vehemently the introduction of religious
considerations into natural philosophy, there are many instances in his
works of his deeply religious spirit. On his religious opinions generally,
see Introduction, 7.

' 4 See Aristophanes' Clouds, 1. 372, &c. :
ST. vi] TUV ATroAXco, TOUTO ye rot dij Tu> vvv Xoyw fv npoaf^vcTas'

LIB. I. 89. 291

patrum rcligionis Christianac cxceptos fuisse eos, qui ex
certissimis demonstrationibus (quibus nemo hodie sanus con-
trad ixerit) terram rotundam esse posuerunt, atque ex conse-
quenti antipodas esse asseruerunt 55 .

Kairoi Trpdrepov TOV Ai" dXrjduis ffP-^v Sia KOUKIVOV ovpflv.

(1XX OUTIS O ftpOVTU>V fdTl (ppUCTOV' TOVTO fJLf TTOlfl TfTpffJLalvdf.

2Q. avrai jBpovTcocri Kv\ii>8op.fvai.

2T. rw rpoTrw, a> Trcivra crv ro\p.S)v ;

2O. orav f/jLTT^rjcrdaxr' vdaros TroXXou KavnyKa<j6S)cri (pfpf<rdai,

KaTaKprip.vdfj.evai TrXrjpfis op.f3pov 81 dvdyKrjv, elra /3apeiai

els aXX^Xa? efjLTrinTovcrai pyyvvvrai Kal Trarayovcriv.
2T. 6 5' dvayndfav (crrl T'IS avrds, ov% 6 Zcvs, &crre (pepecrdai ;
2i2. r'JKio'T', dXX' aldepios 8lvos.
2T. Alvos ', TOVTL /JL' e\t\i]6rj,

6 Zevs OVK cov, aXX avr nvrov Aii/oy Wfi jSatriXeucov.
One of the articles in the indictment against Socrates was that he did
not ' worship the Gods whom the city worships.'

55 Cp. Campanella, Metaph. lib. i. Proem. : ' S. Augustinus et Lactantius
negant esse Antipodas, quoniam ignorant Mathematicam, et vulgus solem
putat esse pedalem,' &c. See Lactantius, Divinae Institutiones, lib. iii.
cap. 24 : ' Quid illi, qui esse contraries vestigiis nostris Antipodas putant ;
num aliquid loquuntur ? aut est quisquam tam ineptus, qui credat esse
homines, quorum vestigia sint superiora quam capita ? aut ibi quae apud
nos jacent. inversa pendere ? fruges et arbores deorsum versus crescere ?
pluvias, et nives, et grandinem sursum versus cadere in terram ? Et
miratur aliquis hortos pensiles inter septem mira narrari ; cum philosophi
et agros, et maria, et urbes, et montes pensiles faciant ?' He next
proceeds to account for this strange opinion and that of the rotundity
of the earth by what appeared to him false inferences from the motion of
the stars, and then continues : ' Quod si quaeras ab iis, qui haec portenta
defendunt, quomodo non cadunt omnia in inferiorem illam coeli partem :
respondent, hanc rerum esse naturam, ut pondera in medium ferantur ;
et ad medium connexa sunt omnia, sicut radios videmus in rota : quae
autem levia sunt, ut nebula, fumus, ignis, a medio deferantur, ut coelum
petant.' St. Augustine (De Civitate Dei, lib. xvi. cap. 9) argues that, even
if the world be round, it does not follow that there is land on the other
side, or, even if there be such land, that it is inhabited. He then
absolutely rejects the supposition of Antipodes (' nulla ratione credendum
est ') on the ground that it is inconsistent with the Scriptural account
of the origin of the human race. ' Quoniam nullo modo Scriptura ista
mentitur, quae narratis praeteritis facit fidem, eo quod ejus praedicta
complentur: nimisque absurdum est ut dicatur, aliquos homines ex hac in
illam partem, Oceani immensitate trajecta, navigare ac pervenire potuisse,
ut etiam illis ex uno illo primo hominc genus institueretur humanum.'

The following quotation from one of Jeremy Taylor's Sermons (Heber's
Edition, revised by Eden, vol. viii. p. 536; is so appropriate, and, moreover,

U 2

292 NOVUM ORGANUM.

Quinetiam. ut nunc sunt res, conditio scrmonum dc natura
facta est durior et magis cum periculo, propter theologorum
scholasticorum summas et methodos ; qui cum theologiam
(satis pro potestate) in ordinem redcgcrint, et in artis formam
cffinxerint, hoc insuper effecerunt. ut pugnax et spinosa
Aristotelis philosophia :o corpori religionis, plus quam par
crat, immisceretur.

Eodem etiam spectant (licet diverse modo) corum com-
mentationes, qui veritatem Christianac religionis ex principiis

so interesting in itself, that I cannot refrain from adding it : 'If any man
have a revelation or a discovery of which thou knowest nothing but by his
preaching, be not too quick to condemn it ; not only lest thou discourage
his labour and stricter enquiries in the search of truth, but lest thou also
be a fool upon record ; for so is every man that hastily judges \vhat he
slowly understands. Is it not a monument of a lasting reproach, that one
of the popes of Rome condemned the bishop of Salzburg for saying that
there were antipodes? and is not pope Nicholas deserted by his own party
for correcting the sermons of Berengarius, and making him recant into
a worse error ? and posterity will certainly make themselves very merry
with the wise sentences made lately at Rome against Galileo and the
Jansenists. To condemn one truth is more shameful than to broach two
errors : for he that in an honest and diligent enquiry misses something
of the mark, will have the apologies of human infirmity, and the praise of
doing his best ; but he that condemns a truth when it is told him, is
an envious fool, and is a murderer of his brother's fame, and his brother's
reason.'

Mr. Mill discusses the incapacity of conceiving the existence of Antipodes
in two places of his Logic, namely, bk. ii. ch. 5. 6, and bk. v. ch. 3.
3. It is, perhaps, superfluous to remark, with reference to these
passages, that Mr. Mill's views as to the relation of inconceivability to
impossibility are combated by Mr. Herbert Spencer.

6 In the corresponding passage of the Cogitata et Visa (E. and S.,
p. 596), he says: 'hoc insuper ausi sunt, ut contentiosam et tumultu-
ariam Aristotelis philosophiam corpori religionis inscruerint.'

It has often been remarked that the distinguishing characteristic of the
scholastic theology was the union of theological matter with a dialectical
form, the theological matter being derived from the Scriptures and the
Fathers, and the dialectical form from the Logic of Aristotle. But with
the form, no inconsiderable portion of the matter of the Aristotelian
philosophy, especially in the domains of psychology and metaphysics,
frequently effected an entrance, and thus, to a certain extent, determined
both the terminology and the doctrines of the Mediaeval Church. In
illustration of this statement, see Bishop Hampden's Bampton Lectures,
a work which well deserves the attention both of the theological and
of the philosophical student.

LIB. I. 89. 293

et authoritatibus philosophorum deducere et confirmare baud
veriti sunt ; fidei et sensus conjugium tanquam legitimum
multa pompa et solennitate celebrantes, et grata rerum
varietate animos hominum permulcentes ; sed interim divina
humanis, impari conclitione, permiscentes. At in hujusmodi
misturis theologiae cum philosophia, ea tantum, quae nunc in
philosophia recepta sunt, comprehenduntur ; sed nova, licet in
melius mutata, tantum non summoventur et exterminantur 57 .

Denique invenias, ex quorundam theologorum imperitia,
aditum alicui philosophiae, quamvis emendatae, pene inter-
clusum esse. Alii siquidem simplicius subverentur, ne forte
altior in naturam inquisitio ultra concessum sobrietatis termi-
num penetret ; traducentes et perperam torquentes ea, quae
de divinis mysteriis in Scripturis sacris adversus rimantes
secrcta divina dicuntur, ad occulta naturae, quae nullo inter-
dicto prohibcntur. 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 grati-
ficari velle. Alii ab exemplo metuunt, ne motus et muta-

57 This is one of Bacon's shrewdest remarks. It is abundantly illustrated
in the history of science both before and since his time. A new discovery
in science is at first decried as contrary or even fatal to faith ; then,
after a time, it is grudgingly admitted, and incorporated into the received
doctrine, till at last no one dreams of calling it in question. But the
process soon begins afresh with some more recent discovery, so that a
constant warfare is going on between the unwise theologian and the
scientific investigator. And this warfare is wholly unnecessary, and can
have only one issue. For the scientific theory must ultimately stand or
fall on scientific grounds, and, should it be ultimately admitted, the
theologian, whether he acquiesces in the result or not, must, with the rest
of mankind, bow to the decision of competent judges. No thoughtful
man, of course, can avoid comparing the results of science with his
religious beliefs, but the results of science, to be worth anything at all,
must be arrived at by a purely independent process, employing only
scientific data and submitting only to scientific tests. The man of science
has a right to demand that his investigations shall not be hampered by
theological prepossessions ; but the results at which he arrives become
the common property of all, and it is for the theologian to co-ordinate
these results with his religious beliefs, or, if need be, to adapt his religious
beliefs to the new facts or newly established generalisations which are
presented to him.

; " Cp. De Augmentis, lib. i. (E. and S., vol. i. p. 436) : ' Xamque cos

294 NOVUM ORGANUM.

tiones circa philosophiam in religionem incurrant ac desinant.
Alii denique solliciti videntur, ne in naturae inquisitione
aliquid inveniri possit, quod religionem (praesertim apud in-
doctos) subvertat, aut saltern labefactet. At isti duo posteriores
metus nobis videntur omnino sapicntiam animalem sapere :
ac si homines, in mentis suae recessibus ct secretis cogitationi-
bus, de firmitudine religionis et fidei in sensum imperio
diffiderent ac dubitarent ; et propterea ab inquisitione veritatis
in naturalibus periculum illis impendere metuerent. At vere
rem reputanti, philosophia naturalis, post verbum Dei, certis-
sima superstitionis medicina est ; eademque probatissimum
fidei alimentum. Itaque merito religioni donatur tanquam
fidissima ancilla : cum altera voluntatem Dei, altera potesta-
tem manifestet 50 . Neque enim erravit I lie, qui dixit ; errafis,
ncscientes Scripturas et potestatem Dei G0 : informationem de
voluntate et meditationem de potestate nexu individuo com-
miscens et copulans. Interim minus mirum est si naturalis
philosophiae incrementa cohibita sint ; cum religio, quae
pltirimum apud animos hominum pollet, per quorundam im-
peritiam et zelum incautum in partem contrariam transierit
et abrepta fuerit.

XC.

Rursus in moribus et institutis scholarum, academiarum.
collegiorum, et similium conventuum, quae doctorum hominum
sedibus et eruditionis culturae destinata sunt, omnia pro-

qui autumant nimiam scientiam inclinare mentem in atheismum, igno-
rantiamque secundarum causarum pietati erga primam obstetricari, libenter
compellarem Jobi quaestione, An oporteat mentiri pro Deo, ct e jus gratia
dolum loqtti conveniat, ut ipsi gratificeimir ? ' The passage in Job, here
referred to, is ch. xiii. ver. 7.

59 In the Advancement of Learning (E. and S., vol. iii. p. 478) and in
the Ninth Book of the De Augmentis, it is the glory of God, as revealed by
Nature, which is opposed to the will of God, as revealed by Scripture.
'Wherefore we conclude that sacred Theology (which in our idiom we
call Divinity) is grounded only upon the word and oracle of God, and not
upon the light of nature : for it is written, Coeli enarrant gloriam Dei,
but it is not written, Coeli enarrant voluntatem Dei, but of that it is said,
Ad legem et testimonium.'

60 Matt. xxii. 29.

LIB. /. 90. 295

gressui scientiarum adversa inveniuntur G1 . Lectiones enim et
exercitia ita sunt disposita, ut aliud a consuetis baud 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 con-
sortio nihil capiet utilitatis. Sin et hoc toleraverit, tamen in
capessenda fortuna industriam hanc et magnanimitatem 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

61 The main business of the Universities at this time was the ' disputa-
tions.' Their chief interests were either literary or theological, and, so
far as the physical sciences were cultivated at all, it was, at least in the
English Universities, mainly in the old tracks. As late as the foundation
of Sir William Sedley's Professorship of Natural Philosophy in 1621, it
was prescribed that the Professor should lecture in the works of Aristotle.
In the statute regulating the duties of the Chair, there is not a hint of
any independent treatment of the subject. The statutes of the Savilian
Professor of Astronomy, however, which date from 1619, direct the Pro-
fessor, on occasion, to refer to the theories or discoveries of recent
writers : ' Astronomiae Professor ad suum munus sciat necessario per-
tinere interpretationem totius Mathematicae Constructionis Ptolemaei
(Almagestum vocant), adhibitis, suo loco, Copernici, Gebri, et aliorum
Recentiorum inventis.'

Bacon pursues this complaint at greater length in the Introduction to
the Second Book of the De Augmentis (E. and S., vol. i. pp. 487-492).
His own idea of an institution for the advancement of science is given in
the New Atlantis.

The letters written by Bacon to the Universities of Oxford and Cam-
bridge, and to Trinity College, Cambridge, on sending them copies of
his works, are interesting in connexion with this Aphorism. The fol-
lowing is the letter inscribed in the copy of the De Augmentis, sent to
the University of Oxford :

' Franciscus Baro de Verulamio, Vicecomes S cti Albani, inclytae Aca-
demiae Oxoniensi S.

Cum Almae matri meae incl. Academiae Cantabrigiensi scripserim,
deessem sane officio, si simile amoris pignus sorori ejus non deferrem.
Sicut autem eos hortatus sum, ita et vos hortor ; ut Scientiarum Aug-
mentis strenue incumbatis, et veterum labores neque nihil neque omnia
esse putetis, sed, vires etiam proprias modeste perpendentes, subinde tamen
experiamini. Omnia cedent quam optime, si arma non alii in alios vertatis,
sed junctis copiis in Naturam rerum impressionem faciatis. Sufficiet quippe
ilia honori et victoriae. Valete.'

296 NOVUM ORGANUM.

magnum certe discrimen inter res civiles et artes 62 : non enim
idem periculum a novo motu et a nova luce. Verum in rebus
civilibus mutatio etiam in melius suspecta est ob perturba-
tionem ; cum civilia authoritate, consensu, fama, et opinione,
non demonstratione 63 , nitantur. In artibus autem et scientiis,
tanquam in metalli fodinis, omnia novis operibus et ulte-
rioribus progressibus circumstrepere debent. Atque secun-
dum rectam rationem res ita se habet, sed interim non ita
vivitur : sed ista, quam diximus, doctrinarum administratio et
politia scientiarum augmenta durius premere consucvit.

XCT.

Atque insuper licet ista invidia cessaverit ; tamen satis
est ad cohibendum augmentum scientiarum, quod hujusmodi
conatus et industriae praemiis careant. Non enim penes
eosdem est cultura scientiarum et praemium. 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.
Ouinetiam hujusmodi progressus non solum praemiis et bene-
ficentia hominum, verum etiam ipsa populari laude destituti
sunt. Sunt enim illi supra captum maximae partis hominum,
ct ab opinionum vulgarium ventis facile obruuntur et cxtin-
guuntur. Itaque nil minim, si res ilia non foeliciter successerit,
quae in honore non fuit.

XCII.

Sed longc maximum progressibus scientiarum, et novis
pensis ac provinciis in iisdem suscipiendis, obstaculum depre-
henditur in despcratione hominum, et suppositione impossi-
bilis. Solent enim viri prudentes et severi in hujusmodi

61 Cp. Aristotle's Politics, Bk. ii. ch. 8. sects. 18, 24 : ^eOSos Se KCU TO
Trapd8eiyp.a TO nep\ TU>V Te^yS)i>' ov yap Sfioiov TO Kivelv re%i>ijv KOL vop.ov. 6 yap
vofjios ler^uf ovSffjLiav e%ei rrpbs TO Trfidecrdat, 7rA/)i' napu TO edos, TOVTO 8' ov
yivfTcu ei JJLIJ dia %povov Tr\r/dos, K.T.\.

3 These remarks are not inconsistent with what Bacon says in Aph.
127, where he appears to contemplate the possibility of a political science,
established by induction. All that he means here is that the stability of
a government depends not on the reasons which can be assigned in its
favour, but on authority, usage, assent, c.

LIB. 7. 91 92. 297

rebus plane diffidere : naturae obscuritatem, vitae brevitatem,
sensuum fallacias, judicii infirmitatem, exporimcntorum diffi-
cultates, et similia secum reputantes. Itaque existimant
esse quosdam scientiarum, per temporum et aetatum mundi
revolutiones, fluxus et refluxus ; cum aliis temporibus cres-
cant et floreant, aliis declinent et jaceant : ita tamcn, ut cum
ad certum quendam gradum et statum pervenerint, nil ulterius
possint 61 .

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 cogitationes eae sint, quae in
viros graves et judicio praestantes facile cadant. curandum
revera est, ne rei optimae et pulcherrimae amore capti
severitatem judicii relaxemus, aut minuamus ; et sedulo viden-
dum, quid spei affulgeatj et ex qua parte se ostendat ; atque.
auris levioribus spei rejectis, eae, quae plus firmitudinis hab'ere
videntur, omnino discutiendae sunt et pensitandae. Quin-
etiam prudentia civilis ad consilium vocanda est et adhibenda,
quae ex praescripto diffidit, et de rebus humanis in detenus
conjicit. Itaque jam et de spe dicendum est ; praesertim cum
nos promissores non simus, nee vim aut insidias hominum
judiciis faciamus aut struamus, sed homines mnnu et sponte
ducamus. Atque licet longe potentissimum futurum sit
remedium ad spem imprimendam, quando homines ad parti-
cularia, praesertim in tabulis nostris invcniendi digesta et
disposita (quae partim ad secundam, sed multo magis ad
quartam Instaurationis^ nostrac partem pertinent), adduce-

* On the idea of Cycles, as applied to the phenomena of human society,
see Mill's Logic, bk. vi. ch. 10. 3. For the celebrated cycle of Plato, see
the beginning of the eighth book of the Republic, and for Aristotle's
criticism on it, Politics, viii. (V.) 12. The idea of cycles and of periodical
crises, at which the accumulated property, inventions, institutions, &c.
of mankind are swept away, is to be found also in the third book of the
Laws.

Gi The fourth part of the Instauration was to be the Scala Intellectus,
the second is, of course, the Xovum Organam. For Bacon r s conception
of the fourth part, see the Distributio Opens, pp. 178, 179. At the end of
his account, he says : ' Itaque hujusmodi exemplis ' (namely, such as shail
present the whole process of discovery) 'quartam partem nostri opens

298 NOVUM ORGANUM.

mus ; cum hoc Spsum sit non spcs tantum, sed tanquam res
ipsa: tamen, ut omnia clementius fiant, pergendum est in
institute nostro de praeparandis hominum mentibus ; cujus
praeparationis ista ostensio spei pars est non exigua. Nam
absque ea, reliqua faciunt magis ad contristationem hominum
(scilicet, ut deteriorem et viliorem habeant de iis, quae jam in
usu sunt, opinionem, quam nunc habent, et suae conditionis
infortunium plus sentiant et pernoscant), quam ad alacritatem
aliquam inducendam, aut industriam experiendi acuendam.
Itaque conjecturae nostrae, quae spem in hac re faciunt
probabilem, aperiendae sunt et proponendae : sicut Colum-
bus fecit CG , ante navigationem illam suam mirabilem maris
Atlantici, cum rationes adduxerit, cur ipse novas terras et
continentes, praeter eas quae ante cognitae fuerunt, inveniri
posse confideret ; quae rationes, licet primo rejectae, postea
tamen experimento probatac sunt, et rerum maximarum
causae et initia fuerunt.

XCIII.

Principium autem 7 sumendum a Deo : hoc nimirum quod
agitur, propter excellentem in ipso boni naturam, manifeste
a Deo esse, qui author boni, et pater luminum est. In ope-
rationibus autem divinis, initia quaeque tcnuissima exitum
certo trahunt. Atque quod de spiritualibus dictum est,
Regmitn Dei non vcnit cum obscrvatione cs , id etiam in omni
majore opere Providentiae evenire reperitur ; ut omnia sine
strepitu et sonitu placide labantur, atque res plane agatur

attribuimus : quae revera nil aliud est, quam sccundae partis applicatio
particularis et explicata.'

110 For many years before Columbus was enabled to start on his voyage
of discovery, it had become a fixed idea in his mind that land was to be
found to the West. For the reasons of this belief, depending partly on
general geographical considerations, partly on the stories of mariners,
partly on the fact that pieces of pine, cane, and the like, had been found
washed ashore on the coast of Portugal, the Azores, &c., see Washington
Irving's Life and Voyages of Columbus, ch. 3.

;: Here begins the enumeration of the Grounds of Hope, which arc
twenty-one in all. The enumeration is completed in the H4th Aphorism.

* s Luke xvii. 20.

LIB. L 9394. 299

priusquam homines earn agi putent aut advertant. Nequc
omittenda est prophetia Danielis de ultimis mundi temporibus ;
Multi pertransibunt, et multiplex crit scientia 9 : manifeste
innuens et significans, esse in fatis, id est, in Providentia, ut
pertransitus mundi (qui per tot longinquas navigationes im-
pletus plane aut jam in opere esse videtur) et augmenta
scientiarum in eandem aetatem incidant.

XCIV.

Sequitur ratio omnium maxima ad faciendam spem ; nempe
ex erroribus temporis praeteriti et viarum adhuc tentatarum.
Optima enim est ea reprehensio, quam de statu civili baud
prudenter administrate quispiam his verbis complexus est 70 :
Quod ad praetcrita pessimum est, id ad futtira optimum vidcri
debet. Si enim vos omnia, quae ad officium ve strum spcctant,
pracstitissetis, neque tamen res vestrae in mcliore loco essent ; ne
spes quidem ulla reliqua foret, eas in melius provcJii posse. Sed
cum rerum vestrarum status, non a m ipsa rerum, sed ab erro-
ribus vestris male se habeat ; sperandum est, illis erroribus
missis aut correctis, magnam rerum in melius mutationem fieri
posse. Simili modo, si homines per tanta annorum spatia
viam veram inveniendi et colendi 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 con-
sumpta, in quibus minime oportebat ; sequitur ex eo, non
in rebus ipsis difficultatem oriri, quae potestatis nostrae non
sunt, sed in intellectu humano ejusque usu et applicationc ;
quae res remedium et medicinam suscipit. Itaque optimum
fuerit illos ipsos errores proponere : quot enim fuerint er-
rorum impedimenta in praeterito, tot sunt spei argumenta in
futurum. Ea vero licet in his, quae superius dicta sunt, non
intacta omnino fuerint ; tamen ea etiam nunc breviter, verbis
nudis ac simplicibus, repraesentare visum est.

lp Daniel xii. 4. This text forms the motto to the frontispiece prefixed
to the First Edition of the Novuin Organum.

;o Demosth. Phil. iii. pp. in, 112. Cp. Phil. i. p. 40.

300 NOVUM ORGANUM.

xcv.

Oui tractaverunt scientias aut empiric} aut dogmatic! 71
fuerunt. Empirici, formicae more, congerunt tantum, et
utuntur : rationales, aranearum more, telas ex se conficiunt :
apis vero ratio media est, quae materiam ex floribus horti
et agri elicit ; sed tamen earn propria facultate vertit et dige-
rit. Neque absimile philosophiae verum opificium est ; quod
nee mentis viribus tantum aut praecipue nititur, ncque ex
historia naturali et mechanicis experimentis praebitam
materiam, in memoria integram. sed in intellectu mutatam et
subactam, reponit. Itaque ex harum facultatum (experi-
mentalis scilicet et rationalis) arctiore et sanctiore foedere
(quod adhuc factum non est) ben-e sperandum est.

XCVI.

Naturalis philosophia adhuc sincera non invenitur, sed in-
fecta et corrupta : in Aristotelis schola, per logicam 72 , in
Platonis schola, per theologiam naturalem 73 ; in secunda
schola 74 Platonis, Procli et aliorum, per mathematicam ;
quae philosophiam naturalem terminare, non generare aut
procreare debet 70 . At ex philosophia naturali pura et imper-
inista meliora speranda sunt.

71 See the Preface to the Novum Organum, and Aphs. 62, 64, 67.
This is one of the best known, and most happily expressed, of Bacon's

Aphorisms. But, after the explanations already given, it does not appear
to require any annotation. The last sentence shews how far Bacon was
from recommending a merely empirical philosophy.

72 See Aphs. 54, 63, with my notes on them.

73 See Aph. 65, with my notes. Cp. also Aph. 48, so far as it bears on
Final Causes.

74 Bacon is alluding to the Neoplatonists, though, properly speaking, the
' secunda schola Platonis ' is the New Academy. On the philosophy of the
Neoplatonists, see Zeller or Ueberweg. The slightest knowledge of their
system will shew the justice of Bacon's criticism.

l5 Cp. De Augmentis, lib. iii. cap. 6, which the student should read
carefully in connexion with this Aphorism. I am inclined to think that
Bacon had conceived, though, perhaps, not very clearly, the true relation
between Physics and Mathematics. The most general axioms of Natural
Philosophy were to be carefully established by induction ; then, when
they had been stated in a quantitative form, they were to be combined
Iwith each other, and worked out deductively, by means of mathematical

LIB. 7. 9597. 301

XCVII.

Nemo adhuc tanta mentis constantia et rigore inventus cst,
ut decreverit et sibi imposuerit theorias et notiones communes
penitus abolere, et intellectum abrasum ct aequum ad par-
ticularia de integro applicare ~ Cl . Itaquc ratio ilia humana,
quam habemus, ex multa fide, et multo etiam casu, nee non
ex puerilibus, quas primo hausimus, notionibus, farrago quae-
dam est et congeries.

calculations, into all their ramifications and applications. It is needless'
to add that the magnificent achievements of modern science (witness, for]
instance, the Principia or Optics of Newton, or the Mecanique Analytique
of Lagrange) have been due at least as much to mathematical calculation
as to inductive generalisation. The more advanced sciences, in fact,)
become, in their later stages, mainly mathematical. But, while a science
remains in its earlier, or inductive, stage, it is only capable of mathematicali
treatment, if at all, to a very slight degree. This, for instance, is still th
case with the sciences of chemistry and physiology.

The parallel passage in Bk. ii. Aph. 8 (' Optime autem cedit inquisitio
naturalis, quando physicum terminatur in mathematico') appears to apply!
specially to the enumeration and mensuration of the ultimate particles of,
matter, as conceived by Bacon. Hence, it might be contended that his)
view of the functions of Mathematics in the present Aphorism is equally
limited. But I am inclined to think that here the remark has a much'
wider bearing, and that the office of Mathematics, as contemplated in ii. 8,1
would be only a special exemplification of the functions here ascribed to
them.

In the Parasceve, Aph. 7, the relation of physics and mathematics is
felicitously, though vaguely, stated as follows : ' Physica autem et mathe-
matica bene commistae generant practicam.'

70 These remarks remind us of Descartes, who may possibly have been
influenced by reading this passage and the Aphorisms on the Idola. For
an account of the process by which he attempted to clear his mind of
preconceived notions, see the First Meditation, or the beginning of the
First Part of the Principia, or the earlier portion of the Dissertatio de
Methodo. The completeness with which he attempted to carry out his
purpose may be judged of by the following brief passage, taken from the
De Methodo : ' Sed quod ad eas opiniones attinet, quas ego ipse in eum
usque diem fueram amplexus, nihil melius facere me posse arbitrabar,
quam si omnes simul et semel e mente mea delerem, ut deinde vel alias
meliores vel certe easdem, sed postquam maturae rationis examen subiis-
sent, admitterem : credebamque hoc pacto longe melius me ad vitam
regendam posse informari, quam si veteris aedificii fundamenta retinerem,
iisque tantum principiis inniterer, quibus olim juvenilis aetas mea, nullo
unquam adhibito examine an veritati congruerent, credulitatem suam
addixerat.'

302 NOVUM O EGA NUM.

Quod si quis aetate matura, et sensibus integris, et mente
repurgata, se ad experientiam et ad particularia de integro
applicet, dc eo melius sperandum est Atque hac in parte
nobis spondemus fortunam Alexandri Magni : neque quis nos
vanitatis arguat, antequam exitum rei audiat, quae ad exuen-
dam omnem vanitatem spectat.

Etenim de Alexandra et ejus rebus gestis Aeschines ita
loquutus est : Nos certe vitam mortalem non vivitnus ; scd in
hoc nati sumus^ nt posteritas de nobis portenta narret et prae-
dicet~ n : perinde ac si Alexandri res gestas pro miraculo ha-
buisset.

At aevis sequentibus Titus Livius melius rem advertit et
introspexit, atque de Alexandro hujusmodi quippiam dixit 78 :
Bum non alind quam benc ausuin vana contcmnere. Atque
simile etiam de nobis judicium futuris temporibus factum iri
cxistimamus : Nos nil magni fecisse ; sed tantum ea, quae pro
magnis habentur, minoris fecisse. Sed interim (quod jam
diximus) non est spes nisi in regenerations scientiarum ; ut
cae scilicet ab experientia certo ordine excitentur et rursus
condantur : quod adhuc factum esse aut cogitatum nemo (ut
arbitramur) amrmaverit.

XCVIII.

Atque experientiae fundamenta 73 (quando ad hanc omnino

77 Aeschines in Ctesiphontem, p. 72. 132: Toiydproi ^i r
K(\\ dnpocrSoKijTun' ftp' fj/jLtov ov yeyovev ; Ov yap ftiov y fjpf
PffiitaKapev, aXX fls Trapa8oo\oyiav TOIS eVo/xei/ots ped' ijp.as e(pv[j.ei>.

78 Livy, ix. 17 ad fin.

7U This, the sixth, is one of the most important of the ' Grounds of
Hope.' It is taken from the future construction of a Natural History,
specially adapted to the wants of Natural Philosophy (' collecta ad in-
formandum intellectual in ordine ad condendam philosophiam '), and
containing a record of experiments as well as observations. This 'Natural
History' was to be supplied in the third part of the Instauratio Magna,
which was to be entitled ' Phaenomena Universi, sive Historia Naturalis
et Experimental ad condendam Philosophiam.' Towards constructing
this third part of the Instauratio several attempts were made by Bacon,
as in the Historia Ventorum, Historia Vitae et Mortis, Historia Densi
ct Rari, Sylva Sylvarum, &c. These works are collected in the third
volume of Ellis and Spedding's Edition, pp. 1-680. It must be confessed,
however, of these pieces, that they answer but very imperfectly to Bacon's
conception of a natural history as delineated in this Aphorism. Far the

LIB. I. 98. 303

deveniendum cst) aut nulla, aut admodum infirma adhuc
fuerunt ; nee particularium sylva et materies, vel numero, vel
genere, vel certitudine, informando intellectui competens, aut
ullo modo sufficiens, adhuc quaesita est et congesta. Seel
contra homines docti (supini sane et faciles) rumores quos-
dam experientiae, et quasi famas et auras ejus, ad philoso-
phiam 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 negotia
gubernaret; omnino talis in philosophiam administratio, qua-
tenus ad experientiam, introducta est. Nil debitis modis ex-
quisitum, nil verificatum, nil numeratum, nil appensum, nil
dimensum in natural! historia reperitur 80 . At quod in obser-

most successful, perhaps the only successful, part of Liebig's attack on
Bacon is directed against this class of his writings.

On the supreme importance attached by Bacon to the collection of
observations and experiments which it was his intention to make, see
Mr. Spedding's Preface to the Parasceve, given in vol. i. of the Collected
Works, pp. 369-390. I cannot, however, but think that Mr. Spedding
slightly exaggerates the importance which Bacon attached to this part of
his reform. Surely ' the novelty, from which the most important results
were to be expected,' if we are to select any one part of the scheme as
such, was his Inductive Method. ' Spes est una in inductione vera.' ' In
hac certe inductione ' (namely, induction as reformed by himself) ' spes
maxima sita est.'

It may be remarked, however, as a proof of the great importance which
Bacon attached to his Natural History, that, when he published the Novum
Organum in its fragmentary form, passing over all the ' auxiiia intellectus :
(see lib. ii. Aph. 21) between the first and eighth, he thought it desirable
to append an account of the latter, as furnishing a description of the plan
on which his Natural History was to be constructed. The title of this
Appendix is ' Parasceve ad Historian! Naturalem et Experimentalem/ or
' Descriptio Historiae Naturalis et Experimental, Oualis sufficiat et sit in
ordine ad Basin et Fundamenta Philosophiae Verae.' It is followed by a
' Catalogus Historiarum Particularium,' on which he designed, at his
leisure, to draw up a list of questions, illustrating the true method of en-
quiry. We are informed, moreover, by Dr. Rawley that the Sylva Sylva-
rum was the last work on which Bacon was engaged. In that case, he
must have suspended the composition of the Novum Organum, in order to
carry on his Natural History.

80 Cp. Parasceve, Aph. 7. On the necessity of accurately weighing.

304 NOVUM ORGANUM.

vationc indefinitum ct vagum, id in informatione fallax ct
infidum est. Quod si cui haec mira dictu videantur, ct que-
rclac minus justae propiora, cum Aristoteles tantus ipsc vir,
ct tanti regis opibus subnixus, tarn accuratam dc animalibns
historian! confecerit. atque alii nonnulli majorc diligentia (licet
strcpitu minore) multa adjeccrint, et rursus alii dc plantis. dc
metallis, et fossilibus, historias ct narrationes copiosas con-
scripserint ; is sane non satis attcndere ct perspicere videtur,
quid agatur in praesentia. Alia enim est ratio naturalis his-
toriac, quae propter se confecta est ; alia cjus, quae collccta
est ad informandum intellcctum in ordinc ad condendam
philosophiam 81 . Atque hae duac historiae turn aliis rebus, turn
praccipue in hoc differunt ; quod prima ex illis specierum
naturalium varietatem, non artium mechanicarum experi-
menta contineat. Quemadmodum enim in civilibus mgcnium
cujusque, et occultus aninii affectuumque scnsus, melius eli-
citur, cum quis in perturbatione ponitur, quam alias : simili
modo, et occulta naturae magis se proclunt per vexationes
artium, quam cum cursu suo meant S2 . Itaque turn dcmum
bene spcrandum est de natural! philosophia, postquam historia

measuring, and counting in conducting observations or experiments, it is
now needless to insist. The student will find a brief and excellent account
of ' Methods of Observation ' in Whewell's Novum Organum Renovatum,
book iii. ch. 2. If he wishes to pursue the subject at greater length, he
may read with advantage the Third Book of Professor Jevons' Principles
of Science, entituled ' Methods of Measurement.'

sl Bacon constantly insists on the subordination of Natural History to
Natural Philosophy. But it is difficult to conceive any philosophical writer
collecting natural facts for any other purpose than that of basing on them
philosophical generalisations. Aristotle, certainly, is not chargeable with
this fault.

It was not on any difference in the objects for which they were collected,
but on the number, variety, accuracy, and pertinency of the observations,
and on the distinctive character of the inductive method which was to be
applied to them, when collected, that Bacon should have insisted as dis-
tinguishing tie Natural History which he designed to inaugurate from that
of his predecessors.

: - Nature best discovers her secrets, when tortured by Art. This is an
excellent illustration of the advantage which Experiment, at least in many
cases, possesses over Observation. For the differences between the two
processes, see Mill's Logic, bk. iii. ch. 7, or my Inductive Logic, ch. 2.

LIB. I. 99 101. 305

naturalis (quac ejus basis est et fundamentum) mclius instructa
fucrit ; antea vero minime.

XCIX.

Atque rursus in ipsa experimentorum mcchanicorum copia,
summa eorum, quae ad intellectus informationem maxim c
faciunt et juvant, detegitur inopia. Mechanicus enim, de vcri-
tatis inquisitione nullo modo sollicitus, non ad alia quam quac
operi suo subserviunt aut animum erigit aut manum porrigit.
Turn vero de scientiarum ulteriore progrcssu spes bene fun-
dabitur, quum in Historiam Naturalem recipientur et aggre-
gabuntur complura expcrimenta, quae in se nullius sunt usus,
sed ad inventionem causarum et axiomatum tantum faciunt ;
quae nos hicifera experimenta, ad differentiam fructiferorum,
appellare consuevimus 83 . Ilia autem miram habent in se vir-
tutem et conditionem ; hanc videlicet, quod nunquam fallant
aut frustrentur. Cum enim ad hoc adhibeantur, non tit opus
aliquod efficiant sed ut causam naturalem in aliquo revelent,
quaquaversum cadunt, intentioni aeque satisfaciunt ; cum
quaestionem terminent.

At non solum copia major experimentorum quaerenda est
et procuranda, atque etiam alterius generis, quam adhuc fac-
tum est ; sed etiam methodus 84 plane alia et ordo et processus
continuandae et provehendae Experientiae introducenda.
Vaga enim Experientia et se tantum sequens (ut superius dic-
tum est 85 ) mera palpatio est, et homines potius stupefacit quam
informat. At cum Experientia lege certa procedet, seriatim
et continenter, de scientiis aliquid melius sperari poterit.

CI.

Postquam vero copia et materies Historiae Naturalis et
Experientiae, talis qualis ad opus intellectus sive ad opus
philosophicum requiritur, praesto jam sit et parata : tamen

33 See Aph. 70, with note 80.

84 What follows is a mere repetition of what has already been said in
the preceding Aphorisms.
t5 Aph. 82.

306 KOVUM ORGANUM.

nullo modo sufficit intellectus, ut in illam materiem asrat

* o

pponte 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 inveniendo fuerunt ; neque adhuc Expe-
rientia literata 8G facta est : atqui nulla nisi de scripto inventio
probanda est. Ilia vero in usum veniente, ab Experientia
facta demum literata melius sperandum.

CII.

Atque insuper cum tantus sit particularium numerus et quasi
cxercitus, isque ita sparsus et diffusus, ut intellectum disgreget
et confundat. de velitationibus et levibus motibus et transcur-
sibus intellectus non bene sperandum est ; nisi fiat instructio
et coordinatio, per tabulas inveniendi 87 idoneas et bene dispo-
.sitas et tanquam vivas, eorum quae pertinent ad subjectum in
quo versatur inquisitio, atque ad harum tabularum auxilia
praeparata et digesta mens applicetur.

cm.

Verum post copiam particularium rite et ordine veluti sub
oculos positorum, non statim transeundum est ad inquisitionem
et inventionem novorum particularium aut operum ; aut saltern.
si hoc fiat, in eo non acquiescendum. Ncque enim negamus,
postquam omnia omnium artium experimenta collecta et di-
gesta fuerint atque ad unius hominis notitiam et judicium
pervenerint, quin ex ipsa traductione experimentorum unius
artis in alias multa nova inveniri possint ad humanam vitam
ct statum utilia. per istam Experientiam quam vocamus Lite-
ratam 88 : sed tamen minora de ca speranda sunt; majora vero

8li He is speaking here of experience, that is, observations and experi-
ments, committed to writing. But in Aphs. 103, no, the expression 'expe-
rientia literata ' is used in the same sense as in the passage already quoted
from the De Augmentis, lib. v. cap. 2, namely, to denote a method of
consulting experience intermediate between ' mera palpatio' and the
' novum organum.' See note 76 on Aph. 70.

'"' He is alluding to Tables, such as those which are given in the early
part of the Second Book.

jlS See note 86 on Aph. 101. \Ve must recollect that the distinction
between ' ExperientiaJLitcrata ' and ' Interpretatio^Naturae sjve_Novurn

LIB. I. IO2 104. 307

a nova luce Axiomatum 89 ex particularibus illis certa via et
regula eductorum, quae rursus nova particularia indicent et
designent. Neque enim in piano via sita est 90 , sed ascendendo
et descendendo ; ascendendo primo ad Axiomata, descendendo

ad Opera.

CIV.

Neque tamen permittendum est, ut intellectus a particulari-
bus ad axiomata remota et quasi generalissima (qualia sunt
principia, quae vocant, artium et rerum) saliat et voiet ; et ad
eorum immotam veritatem axiomata media probet et ex-
pediat 01 : quod adhuc factum est, prono ad hoc impetu naturali
intellectus, atque etiam ad hoc ipsum, per demonstrationes
quae fiunt per syllogismum, jampridem edocto et assuefacto ''-.
Sed de scientiis turn demum bene sperandum est, quando per
scalam veram, et per gradus continues et non intermissos aut
hiulcos, a particularibus ascendetur ad axiomata minora, et
deinde ad media, alia aliis superiora, et postremo demum ad
generalissima. Etenim axiomata infima non multum ab ex-
perientia nuda discrepant. Suprema vero ilia et generalissima
(quae habentur) notionalia 93 sunt et abstracta, et nil habent
solidi. At media sunt axiomata ilia vera et solida et viva, in
quibus humanae res et fortunae sitae sunt 94 ; et supra haec

Organum ' is that the foriBei^_groceeds ' ab_exenmienti^ad^experim^nta, ;
thejatter ' ajD_j:x]3errmenUs_j.c[jra nova experimenta

designent.' For a full account of Experientia Literata and the various
modes of experimenting which it includes, see the long passage at the end
of De Augmentis, lib. ii. cap. 5 (E. and S., vol. i. pp. 622-633). Of the
various modes of experimenting, Traductio or Translatio is only one,
and the ' traductio experimentorum unius artis in alias,' again, is only one
variety of this. The student will find the passage in the De Augmentis
above referred to, notwithstanding its length, of great interest.

S9 Cp. De Augmentis, 1. c. : ' Nam lumen ipsum ab Interpretatione
Naturae, sive Novo Organo, petendum est/

90 Examples of the upward process were to be given in the Scala
Intellectus, or fourth part of the Instauratio Magna, while the downward
process, or application to practice, was reserved for the sixth and last
part.

91 Cp. Aph. 19 and note 22.

92 Cp. Aph. 20.

93 That is, founded in the notions of the human mind, instead of in the
realities of nature.

94 Cp. the last paragraph of Aph. 66, and note 57.

X 3

308 NOVUM ORGANUM.

quoque, tandem ipsa ilia generalissima ; talia scilicet quae non
abstracta sint, sed per haec media vere limitantur 95 .

Itaque hominum intellectui non plumae addendae, sed
plumbum potius et pondera 90 ; ut cohibeant omnem saltum
et volatum. Atque hoc adhuc factum non est ; quum vero
facttim 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 tantum (quae vocant) probanda et invenienda, sed
etiam ad axiomata minora et media, denique omnia. Inductio
enim quae procedit per enumerationem simplicem 7 res puer-
ilis est, ct precario 9S concludit, et periculo exponitur ab in-
stantia contradictoria 0!1 , et plerumque secundum pauciora quam

95 That is, such as may be shown to include the axiomata media ; laws,
in fact, of which the axiomata media are particular cases, admitting of
verification. The laws of motion, as now stated, or the law of gravity, or
the law of definite proportions in Chemistry, would be instances of the kind
of 'axiomata generalissima' which Bacon had in view. With them we
may compare such ' abstract and notional ' first principles, as ' Every body
seeks its own place,' or ' The celestial motions are circular,' or ' Nature
does nothing in vain.' It was not the generality of the old 'axiomata
generalissima,' but their vagueness and the slight extent to which they
rested on ascertained facts, and the unwillingness of men to submit them
to verification, which caused them to be so serious an obstacle to the ad-
vance of science. No laws, of which we can at present form any concep-
tion, can be more general than the Laws of Motion, but, at the same time,
no generalisations can be more precisely stated, and none can rest on a
wider basis of evidence or account for a larger number of facts.

'' r ' The truth is that men require both wings and ballast. A man cannot
have too fertile an imagination, but his imaginative powers should be com-
bined with a keen perception of the requirements of evidence and with
corresponding critical acumen. Bacon has really hit the mark in Aph. 57.

97 On the Inductio per Enumerationem Simplicem, and the distinction
between it and Scientific Induction ('quae ad inventionem et demonstra-
tionem scientiarum et artium est utilis'), see my Inductive Logic, 4th
ed., pp. 7-9, 122-124, 215-222, 276-295. In reading these passages, the
student must distinguish between the legitimate and illegitimate, as well as
between the necessary and unnecessary, employment of the Inductio per
Enumerationem Simplicem.

03 That is, on no certain grounds.

90 A single contradictory instance is generally sufficient to overthrow an

LIB. I. 105. 309

par est, et ex his tantummodo quae praesto sunt 1 . pronunciat.
At inductio, quae ad inventionem et demonstrationem scientia-
rum et artium erit utilis 2 , naturam separare debet. per rejec-
tiones et exclusiones debitas ; ac deinde, post negativas tot quot
sufficiunt, super affinnativas concludere 3 ; quod adhuc factum
non est, nee tentatum certe, nisi tantummodo a Platonc^,

induction based on simple enumeration, but, where an induction is based
on elimination and seems to establish a causal connection, the strong pre-
sumption is that any exception is apparent only and is really due to some
counteracting cause. Cp. Cogitata et Visa (E. and S., vol. iii. p. 618) :
' Visum est ei talem inductionis formam inveniendam, quae ex aliquibus
generaliter concludat ; ita ut instantiam contradictoriam inveniri non posse
demonstretur.' ..

1 Thus, a man living in one part of the globe might infer from the men
whom he had seen that all men are white, a man living in another part that
all men are black, and so on.

2 This is Scientific Induction, as distinguished from Inductio per Enu-
merationem Simplicem. But, though Bacon had formed the idea of a
Scientific Induction, or a. process pLelimination_byjmeans of which j:auses
mjghjjae^jdetiected^ his own account of the process and of the rules by
which it should be conducted is, for the most part, vague and not suffi-
ciently adapted to practice. Subsequent writers, especially Sir John Her-
schel, Dr. Whewell, and Mr. Mill, have rendered these rules at once more
precise and better adapted to practice. See notes on Bk. ii. Aphs. 11-18,
and Introduction, 9, 15.

3 There can be no question that Bacon is here alluding to the Method
of Exclusions, of which he gives an instance in Bk. ii. Aph. 18. See note
70 on the ambiguous passage in Bk. i. Aph. 69. The second of the
alternative explanations, which were there proposed, is, of course, the
one which is applicable here.

The defects of Bacon's Method of Exclusion (for a further account of
which see 9 of the Introduction to this edition and Mr. Ellis's Preface
to Bacon's Philosophical Works, E. and S., vol. i. pp. 22-39) are tolerably
obvious. There is, first, the difficulty, amounting, in most cases, almost
to impossibility, of ascertaining that all the possible explanations or causes
of the given phenomenon have been passed in review. Then, again, we
not only require rules to exclude false theories, but also tests to satisfy
ourselves of the truth of the theory which we ultimately adopt. These,
however, Bacon might have maintained, are, at least, suggested in ii. 15,
and, to a certain extent, supplied in some of the Praerogativae Instan-
tiarum.

4 But in the Temporis Partus Masculus (E. and S., vol. iii. p. 530) he
abuses Plato, amongst other things, for his Induction, and apostrophises

him thus : ' animosque vagis inductionibus tentares et exsolveres.'

By the Platonic Induction in that and the present passage, he probably

NOVUM ORGANUM.

qui ad excutiendas 5 definitiones et ideas G hac certe forma
inductionis aliquatenus utitur. Verum ad hujus inductionis,
sive demonstrationis 7 , instructionem bonam et legitimam
quamplurima adhibenda sunt. quae adhuc nullius mortalium
cogitationem subiere ; adeo ut in ea major sit consumenda
opera, quam adhuc consumpta est in syllogismo 8 . Atque
hujus inductionis auxilio, non solum ad axiomata invenienda,

means two different things. In the Temporis Partus Masculus, he is
alluding probably to what is usually understood by the Platonic or
Socratic Induction, the fnaKTiKol Adyot, or TrapafioXr], which (except in the
fact that it generally argues from a number of instances, instead of
generally arguing from a single instance) answers to the Example (?rapa-
deiyp.a) of Aristotle. For an account of this mode of reasoning, see the
Introduction to Mansel's Edition of Aldrich, 4th ed., p. xx. But the
forma inductionis ' to which Bacon alludes in this Aphorism is un-
doubtedly the Method of Exclusion, as practised by Plato. When he
wishes to settle the meaning of a term, his usual method (of which we
may see an excellent instance, with regard to diKaiocrvvri, in the 1st book of
the Republic) is to bring forward a number of interlocutors, who, one after
the other, make the attempt ; each, in his turn, is refuted, generally by an
application of the Socratic rrapo/SoXr;, or induction in the sense just de-
scribed ; then, the question is either left unsettled (as in the Euthyphron),
or Socrates himself proposes a definition, which is accepted as final. But,
if the affirmative Socrates stands his ground, it is only because, as Mr.
Grote says, there is no negative Socrates to cross-question him. In fact,
this allusion to the Platonic Method of Rejection brings into prominence
the objections to the method generally. How can we be certain that all
the possible definitions have been started, and what guarantee have we
of the correctness of the one which is ultimately adopted ?

~ J This word implies both discussion and determination.

' ; The word, I think, here stands for the tSe'ni of Plato. Its use as
= notioncs, was, before the time of David Buchanan and Descartes, ex-
ceedingly rare. See Hamilton on Reid, Appendix, Note G, where the
student will find a most interesting account of the history of the word.
In Aph. 23 and elsewhere, Bacon uses it in its scholastic sense, as appro-
priated to the forms of the Divine Mind, ' divinae mentis ideae.' See note
29 on Aph. 23.

7 Bacon probably uses this term, usually appropriated to mathematical
proof, of set purpose. He conceived, and conceived, I think, rightly, that
Induction, if properly conducted, is capable of affording evidence positively
certain. Cp. the Distributio Operis, p. 172, ' Inductionem enim censemus
earn esse demonstrandi formam,' etc.

Anyone acquainted with the subsequent history of scientific discovery
and scientific method will admire the wonderful foresight displayed by
Bacon in this sentence.

LIB. 7. 1 06 107. 311

verum etiam ad notiones terminandas 9 , utendum est. Atque
in hac certe inductione spes maxima sita est.

CVI.

At in axiomatibus constituendis per hanc inductionem,
examinatio et probatio etiam facienda est : utrum quod con-
stituitur axioma aptatum sit tantum et ad mensuram factum
eorum particularium ex quibus extrahitur ; an vcro sit am-
plius et latius 10 . Quod si sit amplius aut latius, videndum
an earn suam amplitudinem et latitudinem per novorum
particularium designationem, quasi fide-jussione quadam,
firmet ll ; ne vel in jam notis tantum haereamus, vel laxiore
fortasse complexu umbras et formas abstractas, non solida et
determinata in materia, prensemus. Haec vero cum in usum
venerint, solida turn demum spes merito affulserit.

CVII.

Atque hie etiam resumendum est, quod superius dictum
est 12 de Naturali Philosophia producta et scientiis particulari-

9 Thus, for instance, if we arrive at a true axiom on the nature of heat,
we shall be better able to define the term or notion. Cp. Aph. 14 and
note 17.

10 Cp. Aph. 70 and note 74. We here again come across the distinction
since expressed by the terms ' Empirical Law ' and ' Law of Nature.'

11 Mr. Adamson (Encyclopaedia Britannica, vol. iii. p. 217) is quite right
in saying that this Aphorism appears to introduce the idea of hypothesis.
He might also have added that it introduces the idea of verification,
including prediction. As to the nature of the ' fidejussio,' I may remark
that the circumstance of a scientific generalisation enabling us to predict
the future affords a strong confirmation of its truth, though it does not
positively prove it. See my Inductive Logic, 4th ed., pp. 113-119.

Air. Spedding very appositely quotes the following passage from Valerius
Terminus (E. and S., vol. iii. p. 242) : 'That the discovery of new works
and active directions not known before, 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 discovered! and designeth new particulars. That the
nature of this trial is not only upon 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 conclude that the Axiom which
discovereth new instances is true, but contrariwise you may safely conclude
that if it discover not any new instance it is in vain and untrue.'

12 See Aphs. 79, 80, with the notes upon them. Here, as in those

312 NOVUM ORGANUM.

bus ad earn reductis, ut non fiat scissio et truncatio scienti-
arum ; nam etiam absque hoc minus de progressu sperandum
est.

CVIII.

Atque de desperatione tollenda et spe facienda, ex praete-
riti temporis erroribus valere jussis aut rectificatis, jam dictum
est. Videndum autem et si quae alia sint quae spem faciant.
Illud vero occurrit ; si hominibus non quaerentibus, et aliud
agentibus, multa utilia, tanquam casu quodam aut per oc-
casionem, inventa sint ; nemini dubium esse posse, quin
iisdem quaerentibus et hoc agentibus, idque via et ordine,
non impetu et desultorie, longe plura detegi necesse sit.
Licet enim semel aut iterum accidere possit, ut quispiam in
id forte fortuna incidat, quod magno conatu et de industria
scrutantem antea fugit ; tamen in summa 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
haud facile cuiquam in mentem venisset de iis aliquid sus-
picari ; sed plane quis ilia ut impossibilia contempsisset.
Solent enim homines de rebus novis ad exemplum veterum,
et secundum phantasiam ex iis praeceptam et inquinatam,
hariolari; quod genus opinandi fallacissimum est, quando-

Aphorisms, there seems to be some confusion between Natural Philosophy
and the Philosophia Prima. The metaphors ' scissio et truncatio ' cer-
tainly apply to the Philosophia Prima, as described in De Augmentis,
lib. iii. cap. I, rather than to Natural Philosophy, as described in the sub-
sequent chapters of the same Book.

Of the justice, however, of Bacon's remark, and of its supreme import-
ance, there can be no doubt. The results of the labours of specialists
require to be gathered together into one science, and the various sciences
themselves to be compared and brought into harmony, if human know-
ledge is to progress as a whole and we are to command a real insight
into the ways of nature.

LIB. I. 1 08 109. 313

quidem multa ex his quae ex fontibus re rum petuntur per
rivulos consuetos non fluant.

Veluti si quis, ante tormentorum igneorum 13 inventionem.
rem per effectus descripsisset, atque in hunc modum dixisset :
inventum quoddam detectum esse, per quod muri et muni-
tiones 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
multiplicandis, multa et varia secum cogitaturi fuissent ; de
vento autem igneo 14 , tarn subito et violenter se expandente
et exsufflante. vix unquam aliquid alicujus imaginationi aut
phantasiae occursurum fuisset ; utpote cujus exemplum in
proximo non vidisset, nisi forte in terrae motu aut fulmine,
quae, ut magnalia naturae et non imitabilia ab homine,
homines statim rejecturi fuissent.

Eodem modo si, ante fili bombycini 15 inventionem, quis-
piam hujusmodi sermonem injecisset: esse quoddam fili genus
inventum ad vestium et supellectilis usum, quod filum linteum
aut laneum tenuitate, et nihilominus 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 opi-
naturi fuissent ; verum de vermis pusilli textura, eaque tarn

13 Cannon. ' Large pieces, which were conveyed on cars or carriages,
were called karrenbiichse, but soon after also canna, cannon.' ' These
karrenbiichsen with a wheel were invented in Germany in the beginning
of the sixteenth century.' ' Martin Bellay, speaking of the league formed
between the emperor Charles V and pope Leo X against France, and the
siege of Parma undertaken in the year 1521, says, "De ceste heure la
furent inventees les harcquebouzes qu'on tiroit sur une fourchette." '-
Beckmann's History of Inventions.

14 Beckmann ' is inclined to accede to the opinion of those who believe
that gunpowder was invented in India, and brought by the Saracens from
Africa to the Europeans, who however improved the preparation of it,
and found out different ways of employing it in war.' ' The preparation
of gunpowder,' he thinks, ' became known in Europe in the thirteenth
century, about the same time that the use of the Greek fire, of which
there were many kinds, began to be lost.'

15 Silk (sericum) was so called as coining from the country of the Seres
or Chinese, where its cultivation appears to go back to the highest an-
tiquity. It was known both to the Greeks and Romans.

314 NOVUM ORGANUM.

copiosa et se renovante et anniversaria, nil fuissent certe
commenturi. Quod si quis etiam de vermi verbum aliquod
injecisset, ludibrio certe futurus fuisset, ut qui novas aranearum
operas somniaret. .

Similiter, si ante inventionem acus nauticae 1G quispiam
hujusmodi sermonem intulisset : inventum esse quoddam
instrumentum, per quod cardines et puncta coeli exacte capi
et dignosci possint ; homines statim de magis exquisita fabri-
catione 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 n , omnino incredibile
visum fuisset. Atque haec tamen et similia per tot mundi
aetates homines latuerunt, nee per philosophiam aut artes
rationales inventa sunt, sed casu et per occasionem ; suntque
illius (ut diximus) generis, ut ab iis quae antea cognita fuerunt
plane heterogenea et remotissima sint, ut praenotio aliqua
nihil prorsus ad ilia conducere potuisset.

Itaque sperandum omnino est, esse adhuc in naturae sinu
multa excellentis usus recondita, quae nullam cum jam in-
ventis cognationem habent aut parallelismum, sed omnino
sita sunt extra vias phantasiae ; quae tamen 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 tractamus, propere et
subito et simul repraesentari 1S et anticipari possunt.

10 The Mariner's Compass. ' The directive power of the magnet seems
to have been unknown in Europe till late in the twelfth century. It ap-
pears, however, on very good authority, that it was known in China, and
throughout the East generally, at a very remote period. ***** At
first, the Chinese would appear to have used it exclusively for guidance in
travelling by land. The earliest date at which we hear of their using it at
sea is somewhere about 300 A.D.' Chambers' Encyclopaedia. It is some-
times stated that Marco Polo brought the Compass with him from China
to Italy in 1260, but there is evidence of its use in Europe in the previous
century.

17 In Bk. ii. Aph. 36, an 'instantia crucis' is proposed for the purpose
of determining the cause of the Polarity of the Needle.

18 ' Be presented at once,' without any delay. This word, besides its

LIB. 1. no.

ex.

Attamen conspiciuntur et alia inventa ejus generis, quae
fidem faciant, posse genus humanum nobilia inventa, etiam
ante pedes posita, praeterire ct transilire. Utcunque enim
pulveris tormentarii vel fili bombycini vel acus nauticae 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 manus
scribantur, sed hoc interesse, quod literarum moduli semel
collocati infinitis impressionibus, literae autem per manum
exaratae unicae tantum scriptioni, sufficiant ; aut fortasse
iterum non advertentes atramentum ita inspissari posse, ut
tingat, non fluat ; praesertim 19 literis resupinatis et impres-
sione facta desuper ; hoc pulcherrimo invento (quod ad
doctrinarum propagationem tantum facit) per tot saecula
caruerunt 20 .

Solet autem mens humana, in hoc inventionis curriculo, tam
laeva saepenumero et male composita esse, ut primo diffidat,
et paulo post se contemnat ; atque primo incredibile ei vide-
atur aliquid tale inveniri posse, postquam autem inventum
sit, incredibile rursus videatur id homines tamdiu fugere
potuisse. Atque hoc ipsum ad spem rite trahitur ; superesse
nimirum adhuc magnum inventorum cumulum, qui non solum
ex operationibus incognitis eruendis, sed et ex jam cognitis

ordinary meaning, has, two others: (a) to pay on the spot; to pay in
ready money : (/3) to perform an act immediately, without delay.

19 This is given as a reason why ink was needed, which should stain
without running.

10 The honour of the invention of printing from moveable types has
been much disputed. It is generally ascribed to John Guttemberg of
Mainz. All that we can say with certainty is that it is due to the middle
of the fifteenth century. In order to carry the art to any perfection, it
was necessary to invent not only moveable types, but also an ink more
viscous and tenacious than the ordinary ink. It may be added that the
Chinese had from time immemorial been acquainted with the art of
printing from blocks of wood. What constituted the novelty of European
printing was the displacement , of block-books by the use of moveable
types.

3i6 NOVUM ORGANUM.

transferendis et componendis et applicandis, per earn quam
diximus Experientiam Literatam 21 , deduci possit.

CXI.

Neque illud omittendum ad faciendam spcm : reputent (si
placet) homines infinitas ingenii, temporis, facultatum ex-
pensas, quas homines in rebus et studiis longe minoris usus
et pretii collocant ; quorum pars quota si ad sana et solida
verteretur, nulla non difficultas superari possit. Ouod idcirco
adjungere visum est, quia plane fatemur Historiae Naturalis
ct Experimentalis collectionem, qualem animo metimur et
qualis esse debet, opus esse magnum, et quasi regium, et
multae operae atque impensae.

CXII.

Interim particularium multitudinem nemo reformidet, quin
potius hoc ipsum ad spem revocet. Sunt enim artium et
naturae particularia Phaenomena manipuli instar ad ingenii
commenta, postquam ab evidentia rerum disjuncta et ab-
stracta fuerint. Atque hujus viae exitus in aperto est, et fere
in propinquo ; alterius exitus nullus, sed implicatio infinita.
Homines enim adhuc parvam in Experientia moram fecerunt,
ct earn leviter perstrinxerunt, sed in meditationibus et com-
mentationibus ingenii infinitum tempus contriverimt. Apnd
nos vero si essct praesto quispiam qui de facto naturae -- ad
interrogata responderet, paucorum annorum esset inventio
causarum et scientiarum omnium.

CXIII.

Etiam nonnihil hominibus spei fieri posse putamus ab ex-
cmplo nostro proprio ; neque jactantiae causa hoc clicimus sed
quod utilc clictu sit. Si qui diffidant, me videant, hominem

1 This expression is here used in the same sense as in Aph. 103 and
the De Augmentis.

- The great ^difficulty, Bacon seems to have thought, wa_s_jo_ascertain
S^JHtHSi ratn er than to draw the right inferences from them.
Here, again, we see the importance which he attached to a properly and
adequately constituted Natural History.

LIB. 7. in 114. 317

inter homines aetatis meae civilibus negotiis occupatissimum 2 ",
nee firma admodum valetudine (quod magnum habet temporis
dispendium), atque in hac re plane protopirum 21 , et vestigia
nullius sequutum, neque haec ipsa cum ullo mortalium com-
municantem, et tamen veram viam constanter ingressum et
ingenium rebus submittentcm, haec ipsa aliquatenus (ut cx-
istimamus) provexisse : et deinceps videant, quid ab homini-
bus 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 rationali), sed ubi hominum laborcs et
operae (praesertim quantum ad experientiae collectam) optime
distribui et deinde componi possint. Turn enim homines
vires suas nosse incipient, cum non eadem infmitij sed alia
alii praestabunt - :> .

CXIV.

Postremo, etiamsi multo infirmior et obscurior aura spei ab
ista Nova Continents spiraverit 2G , tamen omnino experiendum
esse (nisi velimus animi esse plane abjecti) statuimus. Non
enim res pari periculo non tentatur, et non succedit ; cum in
illo ingentis boni, in hoc exiguae humanae operae, jactura
vertatur. Verum ex dictis, atque etiam ex non dictis, visum

23 In the Cogitata et Visa (E. and S., vol. iii. p. 619), he speaks of him-
self as 'rebus civilibus plus quam vellet immistus.' The union of scien-
tific and civil employments, to which Bacon here alludes, reminds us of
Cowley's celebrated lines :

' Bacon, at last, a mighty man, arose,

Whom a wise King and Nature chose
Lord-Chancellor of both their laws.'

24 IIpwToVetpor, the first man to make the trial. The account, given
in the Introduction, 13, of authors contemporary with or earlier than
Bacon, who had anticipated portions of his teaching, will shew that there
is some exaggeration in this statement. Perhaps, however, he is referring
only to the Inductive Method delineated in Bk. ii.

- 5 This sentence would form a good motto for Adam Smith's chapters
on the Division of Labour.

- c ' Bacon refers to what Peter Martyr Anghiera has related, that
Columbus 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.' Mr. Ellis' note.

3i 8 NOVUM ORGANUM.

est nobis spei abunde subesse, non tantum homini strenuo ad
experiendum, sed etiam prudenti et sobrio ad credendum.

cxv.

Atque de desperatione tollenda, quae inter causas potentis-
simas ad progressum scientiarum remorandum et inhibendum
fuit, jam dictum est. Atque simul sermo de signis et causis
errorum, et inertiae et ignorantiae quae invaluit. absolutus est ;
praesertim cum subtiliores causae, et quae in judicium populate
aut observationem non incurrunt, ad ea quae de Idolis animi
humani dicta sunt referri debeant.

Atque hie simul pars destruens Instaurationis nostrae claudi
debet, quae perficitur tribus redargutionibus : redargutione
nimirum Humanae Rationis Nativae et sibi permissae ; re-
dargutione Demo nstrationum ; et redargutione Thcoriantm,
sive philosophiarum et doctrinarum quae receptae sunt 27 .
Redargutio vero earum talis fuit qualis esse potuit ; videlicet
per signa, et evidentiam causarum ; cum confutatio alia nulla
a nobis (qui et de principiis et de demonstrationibus ab aliis
dissentimus) adhiberi potuerit.

Ouocirca tempus est, ut ad ipsam artem et normam Inter-
prctandi Naturam veniamus ; et tamen nonnihil restat quod
praevertendum est. Ouum enim in hoc primo Aphorismorum
libro illud nobis propositum sit, ut tarn ad intelligendum quam
ad recipiendum ea quae sequuntur mentes hominum prae-
parentur ; expurgata jam et abrasa et aequata mentis area,
sequitur ut mens sistatur in positione bona. et tanquam

27 See notes on Aphs. 38, 39, with the passages in Ellis and Spedding's
Edition there referred to. In a note on the Distributio Operis, Mr. Sped-
ding remarks that there the three Redargutiones are enumerated in the
reverse order to that in which they are enumerated in this Aphorism,
and in which they are treated in the Novum Organum. ' This shows,'
he says, ' that the Distributio Operis was written before Bacon had de-
cided upon the arrangement of the Novum Organum.' The enumeration
in the Partis Secundae Delineatio (E. and S., vol. iii. p. 548) corresponds
with that in the Distributio Operis.

The 'Redargutio Humanae Rationis Nativae et sibi permissae' in-
cludes, of course, the doctrine of the Idola Tribus, Idola Specus, and
Idola Fori.

LIB. 'I. 115 116. 319

aspectu benevolo, ad ea quae proponemus 28 . Valet enim in
re nova ad praejudicium, non solum praeoccupatio fortis
opinionis veteris, sed et praeceptio sive praefiguratio falsa rei
quae affertur. Itaque conabimur efficere ut habeantur bonae
et verae de iis quae adducimus opiniones, licet ad tempus tan-
tummodo, et tanquam usurariae, donee res ipsa pernoscatur.

CXVI.

Prime itaque 23 postulandum videtur, ne existiment homines
nos, more antiquorum Graecorum, aut quorundam novorurn
hominum, Telesii, Patricii, Severini 30 , sectam aliquam in philo-
sophia condere velle. Neque enim hoc agimus ; neque etiam
multum interesse putamus ad hominum fortunas quales quis
opiniones abstractas de natura et rerum principiis habeat :
neque dubium est, quin multa hujusmodi et vetera revocari et
nova introduci possint ; quemadmodum et complura themata

28 The mirror being now polished, it must be placed in such a position
as to catch the sun's rays.

29 In this; and the two next Aphorisms, we have three cautions or
warnings. The first is, that the author does not wish to found a sect, or
even to propound a complete theory ; the second, that particular effects
ought not to be expected at first ; the third, that mistakes will be sure
to occur in the history and tables of discovery.

30 Cp. De Augmentis, lib. iii. cap. 4 (E. and S., vol. i. p. 564) : ' Neque
vero ex hoc Placitorum Philosophiae Kalendario nuperas theorias et
dogmata exclude ; sicut illam Theophrasti Paracelsi, eloquenter in corpus
quoddam et harmoniam philosophiae redactam a Severino Dano ; aut
Telesii Consentini, qui Parmenidis philosophiam instaurans arma Peri-
pateticorum in illos ipsos vertit ; aut Patricii Veneti, qui Platonicorum
fumos sublimavit ; aut Gilberti popularis nostri, qui Philolai dogmata
reposuit ; aut alterius cujuscunque, si modo dignus sit.' To Telesius,
whom he calls ' the best of the Novellists,' Bacon refers, perhaps, more
than to any other modern writer. The Severinus, alluded to in this
Aphorism, is probably the same as 'Severinus the Dane' (b. 1542,
d. 1602), who must be distinguished from his more celebrated namesake,
Marcus Aurelius Severinus, the Calabrian. Both these authors, as well
as Telesius and Patricius, are referred to in the Introduction to this
Edition.

It is curious that in the Temporis Partus Masculus, where Bacon's
judgments are usually extremely severe, Severinus the Dane should be
specially selected for commendation : ' Invideo tibi (Paracelse) e sectato-
ribus tuis unum Petrum Severinum, virum non dignum qui istis ineptiis
immoriatur.' (E. and S., vol. iii. p. 533.)

320 NOVUM ORGANUM.

coeli supponi possunt, quae cum phaenomenis sat bene con-
veniunt, inter se tamen dissentiunt.

At nos de hujusmodi rebus opinabilibus, et simul inutilibus,
non laboramus. At contra nobis constitutum est experiri, an
revera potentiae et amplitudinis humanae firmiora fundamenta
jacere ac fines in latius proferre possimus 31 . Atque licet
sparsim, et in aliquibus subjectis specialibus, longe veriora
habeamus et certiora (ut arbitramur) atque etiam magis fruc-
tuosa quam quibus homines adhuc utuntur (quae in quintam 32
Instaurationis nostrae partem congessimus), tamen theoriam
nullam universalem aut integram proponimus. Neque enim
huic rei tempus adhuc adesse videtur. Quin nee spem habe-
mus vitae producendae ad sextam 33 Instaurationis partem
(quae philosophiae per legitimam Naturae Interprctationem
inventae destinata est) absolvendam ; sed satis habemus si
in mediis sobrie et utiliter nos geramus, atque interim semina
veritatis sincerioris in posteros spargamus, atque initiis rerum
magnarum non desimus.

CXVII.

Atque quemadmodum sectae conditores non sumus, ita nee
operum particularium largitores aut promissores. Attamen
possit aliquis hoc modo occurrere ; quod nos, qui tarn saepe
operum mcntionem faciamus et omnia eo trahamus, etiam ope-
rum aliquorum pignora exhibeamus. Verum via nostra et
ratio (ut saepe perspicue diximus et adhuc dicere juvat) ea
est ; ut non opera ex operibus sive experimenta ex cxperi-
mentis (ut empirici), sed ex operibus et experimentis causas
et axiomata, atque ex causis ct axiomatibus rursus nova
opera et experimenta (ut legitimi Naturae Interpretes), ex-
trahamus.

Atque licet in tabulis nostris inveniendi (ex quibus quarta

31 Cp. the title of the Novum Organum, 'Aphorism! de Interpretatione
Naturae et Rcgno Hominis.'

32 This part was to be entitled ' Prodromi sive Anticipationes Philo-
sophiae Secundae.' The Preface to it is published at the end of Ellis and
Spedding's second volume.

33 This part was to be entitled ' Philosophia Secunda, sive Scientia
Activa.' There is a fine description of it in the Distributio Opeiis. See
p. 1 80.

LIB. 7. 117118. 321

pars 34 Instaurationis consistit), atque etiam exemplis particu-
larium (quae in secunda parte adduximus), atquc insupcr in
observationibus nostris super historian! (quae in tertia parte S5
operis descripta est), quivis vel mediocris perspicaciae et
solertiae complurium operum nobilium indicationes et desig-
nationes ubique notabit ; ingenue tamen fatemur, historiam <
naturalem quam adhuc habemus, aut ex libris aut ex inquisi-;
tione propria, non tarn copiosam esse et verificatam, ut'
legitimae Interpretation! satisfacere aut ministrare possit 3G .

Itaque si quis ad mechanica sit magis aptus et paratus,
atque sagax ad venanda opera ex conversatione sola cum ex-
perimentis, ei permittimus et relinquimus illam industriam, ut
ex historia nostra et tabulis multa tanquam in via decerpat
et applicet ad opera, ac veluti foenus recipiat ad tempus, donee
sors haberi possit. Nos vero, cum ad majora contendamus,
moram omnem praeproperam et praematuram in istiusmodi
rebus tanquam Atalantae pilas (ut saepius solemus dicere)
damnamus. Neque enim aurea poma pueriliter affectamus,
sed omnia in victoria cursus artis super naturam 37 ponimus ;
neque museum aut segetem herbidam demetere festinamus,
sed messem tempestivam expectamus.

CXVIII.

Occurret etiam alicui proculdubio, postquam ipsam historiam
nostram et inventionis tabulas perlegerit, aliquid in ipsis ex-
perimcntis minus certum, vel omnino falsum ; atque propterea
secum fortasse reputabit, fundamentis 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 scrip-
tione aut impressione una forte litera aut altera perperam

34 The ' Scala Intellectus.' Cp. note 65 on Aph. 92.

35 The ' Phaenomena Universi, sive Historia Naturalis et Experimen-
talis ad condendam Philosophiam.' Cp. note 79 on Aph. 98.

3a This ' candid confession ' of Bacon should be taken in excuse of the
many shortcomings of the part of his work here referred to, and in
deprecation of the hostile criticisms of Liebig and others. Cp. the next
Aphorism, and Introduction, p. 144.

37 That is, the ' regnum hominis.' But then this victor)' over nature
can only be acquired by patient observation of her ways. ' Natura enim
.non nisi parendo vincitur.'

322 NOVUM ORGANUM,

posita aut collocata sit ; id enim legentem non multum im-
pedire solet. quandoquidem errata ab ipso sensu facile cor-
riguntur. Ita etiam cogitent homines, multa in historia
naturali experimenta falso credi et recipi posse, quae paulo
post a causis et axiomatibus inventis facile expunguntur et
rejiciuntur. Sed tamen verum est, si in historia naturali et
experimentis magna ct crebra et continua fuerint errata, ilia
nulla ingenii aut artis foelicitate corrigi aut emendari posse.
Itaque si in historia nostra naturali, quae tanta diligentia et
severitate et fere religione probata et collecta est, aliquid in
particularibus quandoque subsit falsitatis aut erroris, quid
tandem de naturali historia vulgari, quae prae nostra tam
negligens est ct facilis, dicendum erit ? aut de philosophia et
scientiis super hujusmodi arenas (vel syrtes potius) aedificatis?
Itaque hoc quod diximus neminem moveat.

CXIX.

Occurrent etiam in historia nostra et experimentis plurimae
res, primo levcs et vulgatae, deinde viles et illiberales. postremo
nimis subtiles ac mere speculativae, et quasi nullius usus :
quod genus rerum hominum studia avertere ct alienare
possit 38 .

Atquc de istis rebus quae videntur vulgatae, illud homines
cogitent ; solere sane eos adhuc nihil aliud agere, quam ut
eorum quae rara sunt causas ad ea quae frequenter fiunt
rcfcrant et accommodent, at ipsorum quae frequenter eveniunt
nullas causas inquirant, sed ea ipsa recipiant tanqiiam con-
ccssa et admissa.

Itaque non ponderis, non rotationis coelestium 31 , non caloris,
non frigoris. non luminis. non dun, non mollis. non tenuis. non
clcnsi. non liquidi. non consistentis, non animati. non inanimati,
non similaris, non dissimilaris ; nee demum organic!, causas
quaerunt ; sed illis, tanquam pro evidentibus et manifcstis,

3 ' In this and the two next Aphorisms, we have three apologies,
namely, for the occurrence in the Natural History of common things, of
base things, and of subtle things.

'-' To have asked this question should surely be put down to Bacon's
credit. The cause of the celestial motions was first discovered by
Newton.

LIB. I. 119 J2O. 323

receptis, de ceteris rebus, quae non tarn frequenter et fami-
liariter occurrunt, disputant et judicant.

Nos vero, qui satis scimus nullum de rebus raris aut notabi-
libus 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 philosophiae offecisse deprehendimus quam quod res,
quae familiares sunt et frequenter occurrunt, contemplationem
hominum non morentur et detineant, sed recipiantur obiter,
neque earum causae quaeri soleant : ut non saepius requiratur
informatio de rebus ignotis, quam attentio in notis.

cxx.

Quod vero ad rerum vilitatem attinet, vel etiam turpitudi-
nem, quibus (ut ait Plinius 40 ) honos praefandus est ; eae res,
non minus quam lautissimae et pretiosissimae in historiam
naturalem recipiendae sunt. Neque propterea polluitur natu-
ralis historia : sol enim aeque palatia et cloacas ingreditur,
neque tamen polluitur. Nos autem non Capitolium aliquod
aut Pyramidem hominum superbiae dedicamus aut condimus,
sed templum sanctum ad exemplar mundi in intellectu
humano fundamus. Itaque exemplar sequimur. Nam quic-
quid essentia dignum est, id etiam scientia dignum, quae est
essentiae imago 41 . At vilia aeque subsistunt ac lauta. Quin-
etiam, ut e quibusdam putridis materiis, veluti musco et
zibetho 42 , aliquando optimi odores generantur ; ita et ab

40 ' Rerum natura, hoc est, vita narratur, et haec sordidissima sui parte,
ut plurimarum rerum aut rusticis vocabulis aut externis, immo barbaris,
etiam cum honoris praefatione ponenclis.' Nat. Hist., lib. i. ad init. The.
expression 'hpnorgm praefari'jneanjsj^to apologise, 'Jj:q ask permission :
in jjsing an indelicate^ phrase^ Cp. Cicero, Epistolae ad Diversos, lib. ix.
ep. 22 : 'Si dicimus, ille patrem strangulavit, honorem non praefainur.
Sin de Aurelia aliquid, aut Lollia : honos praefandus est.'

41 With the various questions as to the correspondence or relation of
knowledge to being, which were to occupy so much of the attention of
subsequent philosophers, Bacon did not concern himself. That know- ;
ledge would correspond with being, if we were once to dispel the S
phantoms which beset us and lay our minds alongside of facts, he took ^
for granted.

* J Musk and civet.

Y 2

324 NOVUM ORGANUM.

instantiis vilibus et sordidis quandoque eximia lux et infor-
matio emanat. Verum de hoc nimis multa ; cum hoc genus
fastidii sit plane puerile et effoeminatum.

CXXI.

At de illo omnino magis accurate dispiciendum ; quod plu-
rima 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 hicifera experimenta, non fructifera quaerere ; ad
exemplum creationis divinae, quod saepius diximus, quae
primo die lucem tantum produxit, eique soli unum integrum
diem attribuit, neque illo die quicquam materiati 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 43 cognitionem bene examinatam et
defmitam instar lucis esse: quae ad universa operum penetralia
aditum praebet, atque tota agmina operum et turmas, et axioma-
tum nobilissimorum fontes, potestate quadam complectitur et
post se trahit ; in se tamen non ita magni usus est. Quin et
literarum elementa per se et separatim nihil significant nee
alicujus usus sunt, sed tamen ad omnis sermonis composi-
tionem et apparatum instar materiae primae sunt. Etiam
semina rerum potestate valida, usu (nisi in processu suo)
nihili sunt. Atque lucis ipsius radii dispersi, nisi coeant,
beneficium suum non impertiuntur.

3 This passage is important as throwing light both on Bacon's theory
of Forms and on his theory of Induction. He seems to have thought it
possible to discover the ultimate elements (simplices naturae), out of
which all the manifold and intricate effects in Nature are compounded,
just as all words and sentences, however numerous and complex they
may be, are compounded out of the letters of the alphabet. When these
' simple natures' were discovered, it would be easy, he conceived, by re-
jecting first one and then another, to ascertain, through the method of
Exclusion, the Form or Cause of any given phenomenon. See Intro-
duction, 9, and Mr. Ellis' General Preface to Bacon's Philosophical
Works, pp. 25-39.

LIB. 7. 121. 325

Quod si quis subtilitatibus speculativis offendatur, quid cle
scholasticis viris dicendum erit, qui subtilitatibus immensum
indulserunt ? quae tamen subtilitates in verbis, aut saltern vul-
garibus notionibus (quod tantundem valet), non in rebus aut
natura consumptae fuerunt, atque utilitatis expertes erant, non
tantum in origine, sed etiam in consequentiis ; tales autem non
fuerunt, ut haberent in praesens utilitatem nullam, sed per con-
sequens infinitam ; quales sunt eae de quibus loquimur. Hoc
vero sciant homines pro certo, omnem subtilitatem disputatio-
num et discursuum mentis, si adhibeatur tantum post axiomata
inventa, seram esse et praeposteram ; et subtilitatis tempus
verum ac proprium,aut saltern praecipuum, versari in pensitanda
experientia et inde constituendis axiomatibus : nam ilia altera
subtilitas naturam prensat et captat, sed nunquam apprehendit
aut capit 44 . Et verissifnum certe est quod de occasione sive
fortuna dici solet, si transferatur ad naturam : videlicet, earn a
fronte comatam, ab occipitio calvam csse 4o .

Denique de contemptu in naturali historia rerum aut vul-
garium, aut vilium, aut nimis subtilium et in originibus suis
inutilium, ilia vox mulierculae ad tumidum principem, qui
petitionem ejus ut rem indignam et maj estate sua inferiorem
abjecisset, pro oraculo sit; Dcsine ergo rex essc^ : quia cer-

44 For it is ' subtilitati naturae longe impar.' ' Assensum itaque con-

stringit, non res.' Cp. Aphs. 10-14.
40 See Phaedrus' Fables, lib. v. fab. 8 :

' Occasio Depicta.

Cursu volucri pendens in novacula,
Calvus, comosa fronte, nudo corpore,
Quern si occuparis, teneas : elapsum semel
Non ipse possit Jupiter reprehendere ;
Occasionem rerum significat brevem.
Effectus impediret ne segnis mora,
Finxere antiqui talem effigiem temporis.'

Dr. Kitchin quotes also a hexameter found in Dionysius Cato, Distich, de

Moribus, ii. 26 (circ. A. D. 400) :

' Fronte capillata, post est Occasio calva.'

Cp. our proverb, ' Taking Time by the forelock.'

4C This story is told of Philip of Macedon by Plutarch, Apophthegmata,

p. 179. 25-29, ed. Reiske, vol. vi. : npeafivriSos 8e Trewxpar d^iovarjs eV

avTOv KpidfjvciL, KOI TroXXaKU fvox\ovcrr)s, f<pr], p.rj <T)(o\deiv. rj 8e Trpecrfivris

eyxpayoucra, Kal fJLTj /Socrt'/Xeue, elnfV. 6 de 6avp.dcras TO pr\Qe.V) ov povov e'/cetV^f,

dAXa <a\ TU>

326 NOVUM ORGANUM.

tissimum est, imperium in naturam, si quis hujusmodi rebus
ut nimis exilibus et minutis vacare nolit, nee obtineri nee
geri posse.

CXXII.

Occurrit 47 etiam et illud ; mirabile quiddam 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 praesidium nostrum, sed quasi viribus
propriis.

Nos autem scimus, si minus sincera fide agere voluissemus,
non difficile fuisse nobis, ista quae afferuntur vel ad antiqua
saecula ante Graecorum tempora (cum scientiae de natura magis
fortasse sed tamen majore cum silentio floruerint, neque in
Graecorum tubas et fistulas adhuc incidissent), vel etiam (per
partes certe) ad aliquos ex Graecis ipsis referre, atque astipula-
tionem et honorem inde petere : more novorum hominum, qui
nobilitatem sibi ex antiqua aliqua prosapia, per genealogiarum
favores, astruunt et afrmgunt. Nos vero rerum evidentia freti,
omnem commenti et imposturae conditionem rejicimus ; neque
ad id quod agitur plus interesse putamus, utrum quae jam in-
venientur antiquis olim cognita, et per rerum vicissitudines et
saecula occidentia et orientia sint, quam hominibus curae esse
debere, utrum Novus Orbis fuerit insula ilia Atlantis 4S et ve-
teri mundo cognita, an nunc primum reperta. Rerum enim
inventio a naturae luce petenda, non ab antiquitatis tcnebris
repetenda est.

Quod vero ad universalem istam reprehensionem attinet,
certissimum est vere rem reputanti, earn et magis probabilem
esse et magis modestam, quam si facta fuisset ex parte. Si
enim in primis notionibus errores radicati non fuissent, fieri
non potuisset quin nonnulla recte inventa alia perperam inventa
correxissent. Sed cum errores fundamentales fuerint, atque
ejusmodi, ut homines potius res neglexerint ac praeterierint

47 Mr. Speckling suggests that ' occurrit ' is a misprint for ' occurret.'
Aphs. 122-126 contain the answers to four objections. Aph. 127 is the
answer to a doubt rather than to an objection.

4-i See Plato's Timaeus, 24 -25 D.

LIB. I. 122. 327

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 collocarint,
neque viam emensi sint quam non ingress! sint aut tenuerint 49 .
Atque insolentiam rei quod attinet : certe si quis manus con-
stantia atque oculi vigore lineam magis rectam 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 admodum
jactator fuerit. Quin hoc, 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 exaequat fere ingenia 50 , et non multum excellentiae
eorum relinquit : cum omnia per certissimas regulas et demon-
strationes transigat. Itaque haec nostra (ut saepe diximus)

49 Cp. Aph. 32.

50 Cp. Aph. 6 1 and note 13. This anticipation of Bacon never has
been, and never can be, realised. There is not, and there never can be,
a mechanical method of invention, furnishing rules whereby men of
average abilities may invent arts or make discoveries with the same
facility and certainty with which they use a pair of compasses. The
reason of this impossibility is to be sought not only in the complexity
and 'subtlety' of nature (which Bacon thought to be much simpler than
it is) and in the laborious and complicated character of many of the
processes of reasoning, but also in the important and, indeed, indis-
pensable share which imagination has in all scientific discovery. Now
for the stimulation and exercise of the imagination no rules can be given,
though the habitual observation of the ordinary rules of logic, and
especially of hypothesis, may be useful in diverting it from improper, and
directing it into proper channels.

Bacon's confidence in the ease and certainty with which his method
might be applied was a direct consequence of his theory of ' simple
natures.' ' This method of exclusion ' (says Mr. Ellis, E. and S., vol. i.
pp. 33-6) ' 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 processes 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 ' (as he conceived) ' leads to
certainty, and may be employed with nearly equal success by all men who
are equally diligent.'

338 NOVUM ORGANUM.

foelicitatis cujusdam sunt potius quam facultatis, 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 51 per jocum dixit,
praesertim cum tarn bene rem sccet : fieri non potcst ut idem
scntiant, qui aqnani ct qui vinum bibant. At caeteri homines,
tarn vetcres quam novi, liquorem biberunt crudum in scientiis,
tanquam aquam vcl sponte ex intellectu raanantem vel per
dialecticam, tanquam per rotas ex puteo, haustam. At nos
liquorem bibimus et propinamus ex infinitis confectam uvis,
iisque maturis et tempestivis, et per racemos quosdam collectis
ac deccrptis, et subinde in torculari pressis, ac postremo in
vase repurgatis et clarihcatis. Itaque nil mirum si nobis cum
aliis non convcniat.

CXXIV.

Occurret proculdubio et illud : nee metam aut scopum scien-
tiarum a nobis ipsis (id quod in aliis reprehendimus) 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 particularium fluctibus mentem veluti humo affigere,
vel potius in Tartarum quoddam confusionis et perturbationis
dejicere ; atque ab abstractae sapientiae serenitate et tranquil-
litate (tanquam a statu multo diviniore) arcere et summovere.
Nos vero huic rationi libenter assentimur ; et hoc ipsum, quod
innuunt ac praeoptant, praecipue atque ante omnia agimus.
Etenim 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 diligentissima. Modules vero incptos mundorum et
tanquam simiolas 52 , quas in philosophiis phantasiae hominum
cxtruxcrunt. omnino dissipandas edicimus. Sciant itaque ho-

51 Said by Philocrates of Demosthenes : ('mivao-Tas 8' 6 SuAoK^aV^f p.d\a
i/3/jiOTiK&>y ovdev, e(f>rj, Qavp.aorroi', u> livdpes 'Adrjvaioi, p.rj ravra e'/xoi KCU
ATjp.oaQevei doKflv' ovros fJ.ev yap v8u>p, eya> 8e oivov TTiVa). Ka\ vp.fl$ e'-yeXdre.
Demosth. De Falsa Legatione, p. 355.

11 ' Apings,' ' mimicries.' The word is not classical, though simiolus is.

LIB. L 123 124. 329

mines (id quod superius 53 diximus) quantum intersit inter
humanae mentis idola et divinae mentis ideas. Ilia enim
nihil aliud sunt quam abstractiones ad placitum : hae autem
sunt vera signacula Creatoris super creaturas, prout in materia
per lineas veras et exquisitas imprimuntur et terminantur.
Itaque lipsissimae ^res^sunt (in hg^gencre^) veri^sj_t utilitas :
atque opera ipsa pluris facienda sunt, quatenus sunt veritatis
pignora. quam propter vitae commoda 5d .

53 Aph. 23.

51 'Therefore, the very things themselves (that is, the facts of nature)
are, in this kind of enquiry, both truth and utility.' He means that, if we
know the facts of nature, as they really are, we shall both attain truth and
gain rules for practice. Mr. Spedding thinks that, if this were the true
interpretation, we ought to have et before veritas as well as before utilitas.
He proposes the translation ' truth and utility are (in this kind) the very
same things,' though he acknowledges that this use of ipsissimae cannot
be justified. To me there appears less difficulty in taking the passage as I
have done above. Mr. Ellis proposes to render it thus : ' Truth and utility
are in this kind the very things we seek for.' Dr. Kitchin, to the same
effect, translates : 'And so the chief things of all are, in this kind, Truth
and Usefulness.' This gives an excellent sense ; but will the words bear it ?

55 \Ve have here an important modification of the point of view which is
prominent in Aph. 81. 'Veritas et utilitas,' and 'veritas' rather than
' utilitas ' is, in this Aphorism, described as the proper and adequate object
of the Baconian method. Cp. Aph. 129, where Bacon repeats, perhaps
still more unequivocally, the same sentiment.

The following passages, which are quoted by Mr. Spedding, appear to
me to be less in accordance with the spirit of this Aphorism than with that
of Aph. 81, which, it must be acknowledged, is, notwithstanding many
expressions to the contrary, representative of Bacon's general attitude on
this subject :

'Ista autem duo pronuntiata, Activum et Contemplativum, res eadem
sunt ; et quod in operando utilissimum, id in sciendo verissimum.' Nov.
Org, ii. 4.

' Si quis autem sit, cui in contemplationis amorem et venerationem
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 vitae beneficia, sed et veritatis pignora
esse. Et quod in religione verissime requiritur, ut fidem quis ex operibus
monstret ; idem in naturali philosophia competere, ut scientia similiter ex
operibus monstretur. Veritatem enim per operum indicationem, magis
quam ex argumentatione aut etiam ex sensu, et patefieri et probari.
Ouare unam eandemque rationem et conditionis humanae et mentis
dotandae esse.' Cogitata et Visa, E. and S., vol. iii. p. 612.

' Ouinetiam illis quibus in contemplationis amorem effusis frequens apud

330 NOVUM ORGANUM.

cxxv.

Occurret fortasse et illud : nos tanquam actum agere, atque
antiques ipsos eandem quam nos viam tenuisse 56 . Itaque
verisimile putabit quispiam etiam nos, post tantum motum ct
molitionem, deventuros tandem ad aliquam ex illis philosophiis
quae apud antiques valuerunt. Nam et illos in meditationum
suarum principiis vim et copiam magnam exemplorum et par-
ticularium paravisse, atque in commentaries per locos et titu-
los digessisse, 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 commentaries suos in lucem edere supervacuum
et molestum putasse : ideoque fecisse quod in aedificando fieri
solet. nempe post aedincii structuram machinas et scalas a
conspectu amovisse. Neque aliter factum esse credere certc
oportet. Verum nisi quis omnino oblitus fuerit eorum quae
superius dicta sunt, huic objectioni (aut scrupulo potius) facile
respondebit. Formam enim inquirendi et inveniendi apud
antiques et ipsi profitemur 57 , et scripta eorum prae se ferunt.
Ea autem non alia fuit 5S , quam ut ab exemplis quibusdam
et particularibus (additis notionibus communibus, et fortasse

nos operum mentio asperum quiddam atque ingratum ct mechanicum
sonat. monstrabimus quantum illi desideriis suis propriis adversentur ; cum
puritas contemplationum atque substructio et invcntio operum prorsus
eisdem rebus nitantur, ac simul perficiantur.' Partis Secundae Delineatio,
E. and S., vol. iii. p. 549.

To these passages might be added Nov. Org. ii. 49 : ' Etenim ipsum
Posse et ipsum Scire naturam humanam amplificant, non beant. Itaque
decerpenda sunt ex universitate rerum ea quae ad usus vitae maxime
faciunt.'

In my notes on Aph. Si, I have already stated my reasons for regarding
Bacon's conception of the ends of knowledge, or, at least, that which
is most prominent in his works, as partial and insufficient. In a few
places, however, as in the present Aphorism, he rises above the merely
practical view, to which he usually attaches himself.

"' Cp. Filum Labyrinthi, sive Inquisitio Legitima cle Motu, E. and S.,
vol. iii. pp. 637-8.

57 There can be no question that we ought to adopt Mr. Ellis' correction,
' profitentur.'

l * The remainder of the Aphorism sums up and brings together what
has already been said separately in many of the preceding Aphorisms.

LIB. I. 125127. 331

portione nonnulla ex opinionibus receptis, quae maxime pla-
cuerunt) ad conclusiones maxime generates sive principia
scientiarum advolarent, ad quorum veritatem immotam et
fixam conclusiones inferiores per media educerent ac pro-
barent ; ex quibus artem constituebant. Turn demum si
nova particularia et exempla mota essent et adducta quae
placitis suis refragarentur, ilia aut per distinctiones aut per
regularum suarum explanationes in ordinem subtiliter redi-
gebant, aut demum per exceptiones grosso modo summove-
bant : at rerum particularium non refragantium causas ad ilia
principia sua laboriose et pertinaciter accommodabant. Verum
nee historia naturalis et experientia ilia erat, quam fuisse
oportebat (longe certe abest), et ista advolatio ad generalis-
sima omnia perdidit.

CXXVI.

Occurret et illud : nos, propter inhibitionem quandam pro-
nuntiandi et principia certa ponendi donee per medios gradus
ad generalissima rite perventum sit, suspensionem quandam
judicii tueri, atque ad Acatalepsiam rem deducere. Nos vero
non Acatalepsiam, sed Eucatalepsiam^ meditamur et proponi-
mus : sensui enim non derogamus, sed ministramus ; et intel-
lectum 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 quae opus
est scire.

CXXVII.

Etiam dubitabit quispiam potius quam objiciet, utrum nos
de Naturali tantum Philosophia G0 , an etiam de scientiis
reliquis, Logicis, Ethicis, Politicis, secundum viam nostram
perficiendis loquamur 01 . At nos certe de universis haec quae

J(J Dr. Kitchin appositely quotes the well-known passage from the Ad-
vancement of Learning : ' If a man will begin with certainties, he shall end
in doubts ; but if he will be content to begin with doubts, he shall end in
certainties.' See Bk. i., E. and S., vol. iii. p. 293. Cp. Aph. 37.

io It will be noticed that Natural Philosophy is here used in its restricted
sense, as opposed to ' scientiae logicae, ethicae,' &c., not as including the
consideration of ' affectus, et prehensiones intellectuales.' Cp. Aphs. 79, 80,
where it is used in the wider sense.

61 Cp. Newton's Optics, bk. ii. ad fin. : ' And if Natural Philosophy in all

332 NOVUM ORGANUM.

dicta sunt intelligimus : atque quemadmodum vulgaris logica,
quae regit res per syllogismum, non tantum ad naturales, sed

its parts, by pursuing this method, should at length be perfected, the
bounds of Moral Philosophy will be also enlarged. For so fgr as we
can know by Natural Philosophy what is the First Cause, what power he
has over us, and what benefits we receive from him ; so far our duty
towards him, as well as that towards one another, will appear to us by the
light of Nature.'

This Aphorism, notwithstanding certain passages in the NovumOrganum
which apparently point to the opposite conclusion, as, for instance, in the
Preface, p. 187, and in Aphs. 29, 77, 128, affords cojjchisrve_^vide|ice^that
B^^oncojitejn^laje^^hearjr^^ati^ of his method to the mental and
Inoral, as^ well as the natural sciences. The extended meaningoi the
term ' Natural Philosophy ' (including ' affectus, et prehensiones intellec-
tuales '), as employed in Aph. 80, appears to imply the same intention.
And, though, perhaps, there is nothing in Bacon's works strictly cor-
responding with the ' historia et tabulae inveniendi de ira, metu,' &c., of
which he speaks below, there are many places where he seems to assume
that such enquiries fall within the scope of his philosophy. Besides the
numerous passages in the later books of the De Augmentis, the student
may refer to the Novum Organum, Bk. ii. Aphs. 26, 27, 35 ad fin., Historia
Vitae et Mortis (E. and S., vol. ii. pp. 170-174), Filum Labyrinth!, sive
Inquisitio Legitima de Motu, ad fin. (E. and S., vol. iii. pp. 639-40),
Sylva Sylvarum, Exp. 795 and several of the ' experiments ' in the tenth
century. But, without multiplying references, I may state that it appears
to me unquestionable that Bacon, while he regarded his method as
primarily, and, perhaps, most easily applicable to the natural sciences,
contemplated its ultimate extension to all branches of knowledge alike.
The__rja^sa^ej^_which^seern to point in t^e_pojk_dJrectiOTi^are, I con-
ceive, as I have already stated, ironical, and refer not to science, or know-
ledge in the true sense, at all, b ufto^rTi et o ri c_an d jlj sp art at ion.

On the justness of Bacon's view and on the sense or senses in which
Induction is applicable to the moral and mental sciences, this is not the
place to speak. It may suffice to say that, in my opinion, certainty can
only be attained in these sciences by the employment, at all events in the
first instance, of the Inductive Method. Speculations, in these as in all
other subjects, unless based on the patient study of facts, 'variantur, non
augentur.' The enormous extension which the method of Induction has
received in recent times by the application of a historical treatment to the
subjects of law, institutions, language, art, morals, religion, &c., has really
laid the basis of a scientific study of man, which may at some future time
rival in respect of certainty, while it will even transcend in interest, the
scientific study of nature. The student who may wish to see successful
examples of this mode of treatment, the Jiistorical method, as it has been
called, is referred to the works of Sir H. Maine, Professor Max Miiller, Sir
J. Lubbock, Dr. Tylor, and (though here, perhaps, he will be treading on
less firm ground) to the Psychology and Sociology of Mr. Herbert Spencer.

LIB. I. 127. 333

ad omnes scientias pertinet; ita et nostra, quae procedit per
inductionem, omnia complectitur. Tarn enim historiam et
tabulas 62 inveniendi conficimus de ira, metu, ct verecundia, et
similibus ; ac etiam de exemplis rerum civilium : nee minus
de motibus mentalibus memoriae, compositionis et divisionis 63 ,
judicii, et reliquorum, quani de calido et frigido, aut luce, aut
vegetatione, aut similibus. Sed tamen cum nostra ratio in-
terpretandi, 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 04 . Atque
propterea multa et diversa in doctrina interpretationis prae-

For an analysis of the historical method, he may consult the Editor's
Inductive Logic, 4th ed., pp. 201-203, and Mill's Logic, bk. vi. ch. 10.
The whole of the sixth book of Mr. Mill's Logic bears on the methods of
the moral and mental sciences.

The word 'logicis' in the above sentence should probably be taken as
including what we call 'psychology' as well as logic proper. But even
logic, in the strictest sense of the term, rests ultimately on an inductive
basis. It is only through having observed what processes of reasoning lead
to a sound, and what to ap. unsound conclusion, that is, to a conclusion
agreeing or disagreeing with facts, that men have been able to frame with
any certainty even the rules of logic itself.

62 See last note.

63 Affirmation and Negation, not, as Mr. Ellis suggests, Synthesis and
Analysis. See Aldrich's Logic, ad init. : ' Est enim Judicium aliud Affirma-
tivinn, quod vocatur etiam Compositio ; aliud Negativum^ quod et Divisio?
This terminology is derived from Aristotle. Cp., for instance, De Inter-
pretatione, ch. i : rrept -yap trvvBeviv KUI 8iaipta~iv tern TO \^fvd6s re KOI TO
d\T]6es. TO. fj.fi> ovv ovofjidTa aura KOI TO. pij/nara e'oi/ce ra> iivev avvQecreuts xal
Siaipecrfas vofj^taTi, olov TO avBpamns rj TO \evKov, oral/ /j.rj Trpo&Tfdfj TI' ovrf
yap \l/fvoos ovre a\r]0es TTW.

64 The object of this remark is to distinguish his own from the vulgar
logic. The common logic is concerned only with the operations of the
mind, regarded in and for themselves, but the Baconian logic has for its
aim to interpret the ways of external nature as well as the processes of
the human mind, and hence it must adapt and accommodate itself to
the quality and condition of the various objects which it investigates.
This is a far-seeing description of the office and peculiarities of the Induc-
tive Logic. Thus, for example, one method or combination of methods is
applicable to mechanical problems, another to the problems of chemistry,
a third to those of physiology, and so on. Bacon's own ' Praerogativae
Instantiarum ' in the 2nd Book would afford a good instance of what he
means.

334 NOVUM ORGANUM.

cipimus, quae ad subject!, de quo inquirimus, qualitatem et
conditionem modum inveniendi nonnulla ex parte applicent.

CXXVIII.

At illud de nobis ne dubitarc quidem fas sit ; utrum nos
philosophiam 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 offici-
nius, quin istae, quae invaluerunt, et disputationes alant, et
sermones ornent, et ad professoria munera ac vitae civilis
compendia adhibeantur et valeant ; denique, tanquam numis-
mata quaedam, consensu inter homines recipiantur. Quinetiam
significamus aperte, ea quae nos adducimus ad istas res
non multum idonea futura ; cum ad vulgi captum deduci
omnino non possint, nisi per effecta et opera tantum C5 . At
hoc ipsum, quod de affectu nostro et bona voluntate erga
scientias receptas dicimus, quam vere profiteamurj scripta
nostra in publicum edita (praesertim libri De Progressu
Scientiarum^} fidem faciant. Itaque id verbis amplius vin-
ccrc non conabimur. Illud interim constanter et diserte
moncmus ; his modis, qui in usu sunt, nee magnos in scien-
tiarum doctrinis et contemplatione progressus fieri, nee illas
;id amplitudinem operum deduci posse.

CXXIX.

Superest ut de Finis excellentia pauca dicamus. Ea si
prius dicta fuissent, votis similia vicleri potuissent : sed spe
jam facta, et iniquis praejudiciis sublatis, plus fortasse pon-
deris habebunt. Quod si nos omnia perfccissemus et plane
absolvissemus, ncc alios in partem et consortium laborum
subinde vocaremus, etiam ab hujusmodi verbis abstinuissemus,
ne acciperentur in praedicationem meriti nostri. Cum vero

''" See notes on the last Aphorism and on Aph. 29. In favour of my
interpretation of this and similar passages as ironical, I may adduce the
argument that Bacon could hardly have contradicted himself on so im-
portant a matter in two consecutive Aphorisms.

C(! ' The Twoo Bookes of Francis Bacon of the Proficience and Advance-
ment of Learning Divine and Humane,' first published in 1605. The De
Augmcntis, of course, was not yet published.

LIB. I. 128 129. 335

aliorum industria acuenda sit et animi excitandi atque ac-
cendendi, consentaneum est ut quaedam hominibus in mentem
redigamus.

Primo itaque, videtur inventorum nobilium introductio inter
actiones humanas longe primas partes tenere : id quod antiqua
saecula judicaverunt. Ea enim rerum inventoribus divinos
honores tribuerunt 7 ; iis autem qui in rebus civilibus mere-
bantur (quales erant urbium et imperiorum conditores, legis-
latores, patriarum a' diuturnis malis liberatores, tyrannidum
debellatores, et his similes) heroum tantum honores decre-
verunt. 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 : haec etiam non ultra
paucas aetates durant, ilia quasi perpetuis temporibus. 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 novae creationes sunt, et divinorum
operum imitamenta ; ut bene cecinit ille :

' Primum frugiferos foetus mortalibus aegris
Dididerant quondam praestanti nomine Athenae ;
Et RECREAVERUNT vitam, legesque rogarunt 6 V

67 Cp. De Augmentis, lib. i, E. and S., vol. i. p. 470 : ' Ouippe supra
humanos honores, hero'ici numerabantur et divini ; in quorum distri-
butione hunc ordinem tenuere veteres. Rerumpublicarum conditores,
legislatores, tyrannicidae, patres patriae, quique in rebus civilibus optime
meruerunt, insigniti sunt titulo Heroum tantum, aut Semideorum ; quales
fuere Theseus, Minos, Romulus, ceterique. Ex altera parte inventores
et authores novarum artium, quique vitam humanam novis commodis et
accessionibus dotarunt, semper consecrati sunt inter Deos ipsos Majores ;
quod Cereri, Baccho, Mercuric, Apollini, et aliis contigit. Quod certe
jure et sano cum judicio factum est. Nam priorum benemerita intra
unius aetatis aut nationis limites fere coercentur ; nee absimilia sunt
imbribus tempestivis et benignis, qui quamvis frugiferi sint atque opta-
biles, tamen pro ilia tempestate tantum qua decidunt, atque pro ampli-
tudine tractus terrae quam irrigant, utiles sunt ; posteriorum vero beneficia,
ut ipsius solis et coelestium munera, temporibus perpetua, locis infinita
sunt. Ilia rursus cum contentione et perturbatione ut plurimum con-
juncta sunt ; haec habent verum characterem Divinae Praesentiae,
veniuntque in aura lent, absque tumultu aut strepitu."

s< Lucretius, vi. 1-3. Bacon, in quoting these lines, probably from

336 NOVUM ORGANUM.

Atque videtur notatu dignum in Soloinone ; quod cum im-
perio, auro, magnificentia operum, satellitio, famulitio, classe
insuper, et nominis claritate, ac summa hominum admiratione
floreret, tamen nihil horum delegerit sibi ad gloriam, sed ita
pronuntiaverit : Gloriam Dei esse, celare rem ; gloriam rcgis,
investigare rent G0 .

Rursus (si placet) reputet quispiam, quantum intersit inter
hominum vitam in excultissima quapiam Europae provincia,
et in regione aliqua Novae Indiae 70 maxime fera et barbara :
ea 71 tantum differre existimabit, ut merito Jiominem homini
Deism cssc 72 , non solum propter auxilium et beneficium, sed
etiam per status comparationem, recte dici possit. Atque hoc
non solum, non coelum, non corpora, sed artes praestant.

Rursus. vim et virtutem et consequentias rerum inventarum
notare juvat; quae non in aliis manifestius occurrunt, quam in
illis tribus quae antiquis incognitae, et quarum primordia,
licet recentia, obscura et ingloria sunt : Artis nimirum Impri-
mendi, Pulveris Tormentarii. et Acus Nauticae 73 . Hacc enim
tria rerum facicm et statum in orbe terrarum mutaverunt :
primum, in re literaria ; secundum, in re bellica ; tertium, in

memory, has altered 'primae'into ' primum,' ' dididerunt ' into 'didide-
rant,' and ' praeclaro ' into ' praestanti.'
G ' J Proverbs xxv. 2.

70 The name given to the Western Continent and Islands, when first
discovered by Columbus, who imagined them to be a part of India. We
still have traces of this nomenclature in the ' West Indies,' the ' Red
Indians,' ' Indiana,' &c.

71 Ought not this word to be corrected to eas, which is the reading in
the edition published at Leyden in 1645 '

72 ' " Homo homini Deus, si suum officium sciat." An Aphorism of
Caecilius Comicus apud Symmach. Epist. x. 104 (al. 114).' (?ix. 108.)
' Bacon has expanded the meaning of the saying (according to his wont)
beyond its original extent. See also Zenobius, Cent. i. 91 in Gaisford's
Paroemiographi Graeci, where the proverb \s"Av6pa)Tros dvOpunov daifjioviov.'
Dr. Kitchin's note. Of the two authors here cited, Caecilius Statius, the
comic poet, died B.C. 168, being an immediate predecessor of Terence;
Zenobius lived in the time of Hadrian. It has been pointed out to me
that the same proverb is referred to in Hooker's Ecclesiastical Polity, bk.
i. ch. x. sect. 12. See an interesting note on the passage in Dean Church's
edition of bk. i. (Clarendon Press), p. 128, and cp. Jeremy Taylor's Works
(ed. Heber and Eden), vol. iv. p. 315.

73 Cp. Aph. 109.

LIB. /. 129. 337

navigationibus : unde innumerae rerum mutationes sequutae
sunt ; ut non imperium aliquod, non secta, non stella, majorem
efficaciam et quasi influxum super res humanas exercuisse
videatur, quam ista mechanica exercuerunt.

Praeterea non abs re fuerit, tria hominum ambitionis genera
et quasi gradus distinguere. Primum eorum, qui propriam
potentiam in patria sua amplificare cupiunt ; quod genus
vulgare est et degener. Secundum eorum, qui patriae po-
tentiam et imperium inter humanum genus amplificare nitun-
tur ; 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
proculdubio 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 74 .

Praeterea, si unius alicujus particularis inventi utilitas ita
homines affecerit, ut eum qui genus humanum universum
beneficio aliquo devincire potuerit homine majorem putaverint ;
quanto Celsius videbitur tale aliquid invenire, per quod alia
omnia expedite inveniri possint? Et tamen (ut verum om-
nino dicamus) quemadmodum luci magnam habemus gratiam,
quod per earn vias inire, artes exercere, legere, nos invicem
dignoscere possimus ; et nihilominus ipsa visio lucis res prae-
stantior est et pulchrior, quam multiplex ejus usus : ita certc
ipsa contemplatio rerum prout sunt, sine superstitione aut
impostura, errore aut confusione, in seipsa magis digna est,
quam universus inventorum fructus 75 .

Postremo, siquis depravationem scientiarum et artium ad
malitiam et luxuriam et similia objecerit ; id neminem moveat.

74 Cp. Aph. 3. Dr. Kitchin quotes Livy, xxi. 4, where, in describing
Hannibal, he says: ' Nunquam ingenium idem ad res diversissimas, paren-
dum atque imperandum, habilius fuit.' I may add Aristotle's description
of the good citizen, Pol. iii. 4 (14) : del 8e TOV TrohiTrjv TOI> ayudbv eTnVra-
cr6ai KOI dvvaadat. KOI ap^ecrdat Kal ap^eiv, KOI avrrj aperr] TroXiYot;, TO r!]V TU>V
eXevdepcov ap\>]V (Trio'Tcia'dai eV dfj.(f)6repa.

75 Cp. Aph. 124 ad fin. and note 55. This passage, like that, furnishes
a happy exception to the manner in which Bacon, when speaking of the
ends of knowledge, usually subordinates truth to practice.

338 NOVUM ORGANUM,

Illud enim de omnibus mundanis bonis dici potest, ingenio,
fortitudine, viribus, forma, divitiis, luce ipsa, et reliquis. Re-
cuperet modo genus humanum jus suum in naturam quod ei
ex dotatione divina competit, et detur ei copia : usum vero
recta ratio et sana religio gubernabit.

cxxx.

Jam vero tempus est ut artem ipsam Interpretandi Naturam
proponamus : in qua licet nos utilissima et verissima prae-
cepisse arbitremur, tamen necessitatem ei absolutam (ac si
absque ea nil agi possit) aut etiam perfectionem non attri-
buimus. Etenim in ea opinione sumus : si justam Naturae
et Experientiae Historiam 76 praesto haberent homines, atque
in ea sedulo versarentur, 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 genuina mentis 77 ,
absque alia arte, in formam nostram Interpretandi incidere
possent. Est enim Interpretatio verum et naturale opus
mentis, demptis iis quae obstant 78 : sed tamen omnia certe
per nostra praecepta erunt magis in procinctu, et multo
firmiora.

76 Bacon again takes the opportunity of shewing the importance
which he attaches to his Natural History. Cp. Aph. 98 and my notes
on it.

77 But the mind would, in that case, employ unconsciously the rules
which Bacon and his successors have prescribed for its conscious use.
' Natural Logic ' is only artificial logic, employed unconsciously, and arti-
ficial logic is only the formal expression of Natural Logic.

78 Mr. Spedding compares the following parallel passages : Valerius
Terminus, ch. 22 : ' That it is true that interpretation is the very natural
and direct intention, action, and progression of the understanding, de-
livered from impediments ; and that all anticipation is but a deflexion or
declination by accident.' Adv. of Learn. (2nd book) : ' For he that shall
attentively observe how the mind doth gather this excellent dew of know-
ledge, like unto that which the poet speaketh of, Acrii mellis coelestia dona,
distilling and contriving it out of particulars natural 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 de-
scribe it.'

LIB. I. 130. 339

Neque tamen illis nihil addi posse affirmamus : sed contra,

nos, qui mentem respicimus non tantum in facultate

propria, sed quatenus copulatur

cum rebus, Artem invenien-

di cum Inventis adoles-

cere posse, statuere

debemus 79 .

79 In the Cogitata et Visa (E. and S., vol. iii. p. 610), there is a fine
passage on the relation between particular discoveries and the Art of
Discovery itself:

' Quod si particularis alicujus inventi utilitas ita homines affecerit, ut
eum qui universum genus humanum unico aliquo beneficio complecti
posset homine majorem putarent ; at multo Celsius inventum esse, quod
alia omnia inventa particularia potentia quadam in se contineat, ac animae
humanae vias aperiat, ut ad nova et ulteriora quaeque ductu certo et recto
penetrare possit. Quemadmodum enim saeculis prioribus, cum homines
in navigando per stellarum tantum observationes cursum dirigebant, eos
veteris sane continentis oras legisse, aut maria aliqua minora et mediter-
ranea trajecisse ; necesse autem fuisse usum acus nauticae, ut ducem viae
magis fidum, innotuisse, antequam Oceanus trajiceretur, et Novi Orbis
regiones detegerentur : simili prorsus ratione, quae hucusque in artibus
et scientiis hominum inventa sunt, potuisse instinctu, usu, observatione,
meditatione, aperiri, utpote sensui propiora ; antequam vero ad remotiora
et occultiora naturae appellere liceat, necessario praecedere, ut melior et
perfectior mentis humanae usus et adoperatio inveniatur. Ouare hujus-
cemodi Inventum proculdubio Temporis partum nobilissimum, et vere
masculum esse.'

M. Bouillet calls attention to the following passage in the Filum Laby-
rinthi, sive Inquisitio Legitima de Motu (E. and S., vol. iii. pp. 635-636) :
' Nam et ipsi statuimus, artem inveniendi adolescere cum inventis ; neque
ad aliquid immotum et inviolabile inveniendi artificiuin hominum indus-
triam et felicitatem astringendam. Artis enim perfectionem artis usum
remorari, nihil est necesse.'

Properly speaking, there is no such art as an ' Art of Invention,' for
' invention ' depends on the exercise of the imaginative faculty, which has
not hitherto been amenable, and is never likely to be amenable, to rules.
But, at the same time, as we have seen in a note on a previous aphorism
(Aph. 122), by the cultivation of logical habits of mind, and the habitual
observation of certain rules, even the imagination may be diverted from
improper, and directed into proper channels. Moreover, when imagina-
tion has played its part, its products must be submitted to and tested by
reason, and here it becomes necessary to employ the rules of logic, whether
such rules be stated formally, or, as is more frequently the case, applied
unconsciously. At this point, then, arises the question (suggested by this
and the latter part of the I27th Aphorism, q. v.), whether there is any

Z 2

340 NOVUM ORGANUM.

advance in the analyses and rules of logic in any way corresponding with
the advance which is constantly taking place in the individual sciences ?
On the whole, I think, it may be answered that there is. For what is
Logic but the analysis of the most correct modes of reasoning in each de-
partment of human thought, and the construction of rules based on such
analysis ? Now reasoning is constantly being applied to new subjects or
to new branches of old subjects ; complicated cases of reasoning, too, are
constantly being unravelled and referred to simple principles. Hence,
though we are never likely to discover any new laws of thought or to add
to the simple formulae to which all reasoning may be reduced in the last
resort, yet we may be constantly gaining a wider knowledge of the appli-
cations, and possibly of the necessary modifications, of our rules, increased
practical skill in weighing arguments and detecting fallacies, and a juster
view of the special characteristics which distinguish the reasoning and
method of each particular science. And that logic (in the largest sense
of the term) has, as a matter of fact, advanced, as the particular arts and
sciences have advanced, though not, perhaps, always in the same propor-
tion, hardly admits, I conceive, of any doubt.

The dependence of Logic on the condition of the several sciences is put
in a striking, though undoubtedly an exaggerated, form by Condillac
(Histoire Moderne, livre xx. ch. 12): 'Je n'ai pas le courage de vous
parler de ceux qui, avant le renouvellement des sciences, ont tent d'en-
seigner 1'art de raisonner. Si des Tartares voulaient faire une poetique,
vous pensez bien qu'elle serait mauvaise, parce qu'ils n'ont pas de bons
poetes. II en est de meme des logiques qui ont etc faites avant le dix-
septieme siecle.'

LIBER
SECUNDUS

APHORISMORUM.

SUMMARY OF BOOK II.

FROM the prefatory remarks of Book I, Bacon passes in Book II to a
more formal and positive exposition of his method. The first ten Aphor-
isms consist mainly of general reflexions, for the most part very obscurely
worded, on the ends of science, on the necessity of enquiring into Forms,
and on the connexion between the speculative and practical branches of
knowledge. He then proceeds to give a specimen of the investigation of
a Form, taking as his example the Form of Heat. The first step in the
investigation is to draw up certain Tables, the ultimate purpose of which
is to enable him to eliminate those qualities which might be supposed to
be, but which are not really, of the required Form. When the Tables
are completed, and the false explanations have, so far as possible, been
rejected, he proceeds, according to his own metaphor, to reap the ' Vin-
demiatio Prima de forma Calidi,' and, in order to reap this vintage, he
gives free play to the Imagination, that is, in spite of his warnings to
the contrary in Book I, he frames Hypotheses. This process is called
' permissio intellectus.' ' Atque haec sit prima vindemiatio, sive inter-
pretatio inchoata de forma Calidi, facta per permissionem intellectus '
(see Aph. 20). In Aph. 21 he announces that, havir.g completed the
' Tabulae ' and ' Vindemiatio Prima,' he will proceed ' ad reliqua auxilia
intellectus circa Interpretationem Naturae et Inductionem venim ac per-
fectam.' Of these 'auxilia' he enumerates nine (Aph. 21), but of the
nine one only, the ' Praerogativae Instantiarum ' (of which there are
twenty-seven varieties), is discussed in the Fragment of the Xovum
Organum which Bacon published. He is on the point of passing on to
the ' adminicula inductionis,' when the work abruptly ends.

LIBER SECUNDUS

DE INTERPRETATION E

NATURAE,

SIVE

DE REGNO

H O M I N I S.

APHORISMUS.
I.

SUPER datum corpus novam naturam 1 sive novas naturas
generare et superinducere, opus et intentio est humanae po-
tentiae 2 . Datae autem naturae Formam, sive differentiam
veram 3 , sive naturam naturantem 4 , sive fontem emanationis

1 Mr. Ellis remarks that, throughout this Aphorism, Bacon maintains
the antithesis between ' corpus,' the concrete body, and ' natura,' the
abstract quality. Of each ' corpus ' various ' naturae ' are predicable.

' 2 Bacon seems to have thought that, if we could once discover the
; form,' we could superinduce the corresponding ' nature ' on any given
body, but this consequence by no means necessarily follows. Suppose we
knew the exact ' form ' of the ' natures ' which are predicable of and con-
stitute gold, could we superinduce these on silver, or could we eliminate
the 'natures' which characterise silver and substitute those which charac-
terise gold ?

3 Its distinguishing characteristics, or, more precisely, its essence, or
inmost constitution, or fundamental attributes.

4 In the most general meaning of the words, Natura Naturans and Na-
tura Naturata may be described as related to each other in the following

344 NOVUM ORGANUM.

(ista enim vocabula habemus, quae ad indicationem rei prox-
ime accedunt) invenire, opus et intentio est humanae scien-
tiae 5 . Atque his operibus primariis subordinantur alia opera
duo secundaria et inferioris notae : priori, transformatio cor-
porum concretorum de alio in aliud, intra terminos Possibilis 6 ;
posteriori, inventio in omni generatione et motu latentis pro-

manner. Natura Naturata is the actual condition of a given object or
quality, or of the aggregate of all objects and qualities, the Universe,
at any given time ; Natura Naturans is the immanent cause of this con-
dition, or aggregate of conditions, and is regarded as producing it by a
continuous process. Thus, when we say 'how wonderfully Nature works,'
we are speaking of ' Natura Naturans ; ' when we say ' how beautiful is
Nature,' we are speaking of Natura Naturata. Hence, Natura Naturans
is related to Natura Naturata as cause to effect. Or, again, we may say
that Natura Naturans is the active or dynamical, Natura Naturata the
passive or statical aspect of Nature. It will be easily understood from this
account how Natura Naturans, in some systems of philosophy, as, for
instance, in that of Spinoza, came to denote God as the immanent cause
of the Universe.

In employing 'natura naturans ' and 'fons emanationis ' as the equiva-
lents of ' form,' Bacon seems to be adopting a point of view slightly dif-
ferent from that which he takes, where he describes it as 'vera differentia.'
But, perhaps, we may exhibit the identity of these various expressions, by
saying that the ' data natura ' results from the ' form ' in the same way
that the secondary properties flow from the primary (' differentia vera '),
or the attributes from the substance, or effects in nature from the indwell-
ing cause. I am, however, inclined to think that in this passage the word
' form ' is really employed, though, of course, unconsciously, with two dif-
ferent shades of meaning, namely, as the equivalent of ' essence ' (' dif-
ferentia vera') and of ' cause ' ('natura naturans, sive fons emanationis').
For an explanation of these two meanings, and an attempt at reconciling
them, see Introduction, 8.

fl For the connexion between ' scientia et potentia humana,' cp. Bk. i.
Aph. 3.

6 The idea of the transmutation of one body into another, and specially
of metals, is of frequent occurrence in Bacon's works, and is specially in-
sisted on in Liebig's invective against the Baconian philosophy. 'The
possibility] says Mr. Ellis, '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.'

On Bacon's ideas as to the transmutability of the elements and of metals,
the student may refer to the Introduction, pp. 26-28.

LIB. 1L 2. 345

cesstts" 1 , continuati ab efficierite manifesto et materia mani-
festa usque ad Formam inditam, et inventio similiter latentis
schematismi* corporum quiescentium et non in motu.

II.

Quam infeliciter se habeat scientia humana, quae in usu est,
etiam ex illis liquet quae vulgo asseruntur. Recte ponitur;
Vere scire, esse per causas scire 9 . Etiam non male constitu-
untur causae quatuor ; Materia, Forma, Efficiens, et Finis 10 .
At ex his causa finalis tantum abest ut prosit, ut etiam scien-
tias corrumpat, nisi in hominis actionibus n . Formae inventio
habetur pro desperata 12 . Efficiens vero, et materia (quales
quaeruntur et recipiuntur, remotae scilicet 13 , absque latenti

7 See Aph. 6 and i. 51.

8 See Aph. 7 and i. 51.

9 'ETTtcrracr&u ol6fj.(dci orav ri]v T alriav olcafifda yivaxrKfiv, Si' TJV TO Trpaypd
euTiv, OTI (Keivov atria COT/, KCU jj.fj ev8f^(cr6ai TOUT' nXXwy fX e< - v - Arist. An.
Post. i. 2 ad init.

Whatever may be our opinion as to the nature of Causation, or the
ultimate analysis of the idea of Cause, this maxim is undoubtedly true ;
\ve cannot truly know a thing, unless we know its antecedents and con-
ditions.

10 On the Four Causes of Aristotle, see Introduction, 8, n. 34.

11 In the actions of men, we must, of course, take account of Final
Causes. We know by experience that men always or generally act, con-
sciously or unconsciously, with some end in view. Hence, to understand
their acts, we must enquire into their aims. It is from supposing that
Nature always, in like manner, has some end in view, from an analogy, in
fact, between man and nature, that the theory of Final Causes has been
extended to Physics.

On the subject of Final Causes generally, and Bacon's criticism of the
doctrine, see Introduction, 10.

12 Cp. Bk. i. Aph. 75.

13 He is probably alluding here to the v\rj, or shapeless matter, potentially
all things and actually nothing, of the Aristotelians, and to the habit of
referring natural events and processes to God or Nature as the First
Cause, instead of seeking to ascertain the second and proximate Efficient
Causes. The proximate efficient cause with Bacon ^v^ujxI_be^the_latgns_
processus^ and thej3K)xjma^e_mjitm^^ A
knowledge of such causes, he thought, would increase our power over
nature, whereas the various speculations about the more remote causes
appertained, he conceived, not to physics, but to theology and (so far
as he recognised any such science) metaphysics.

The causes which he condemns as ' remote' and ' superficial ' may, how-

346 NOVUM ORGANUM.

processu ad formam) res perfunctoriae sunt, et superficiales,
et nihili fere ad scientiam veram et activam. Neque tamen
obliti sumus nos superius notasse et correxisse errorem mentis
humanae, in deferendo formis primas essentiae 14 . Licet enim
in natura nihil vere existat praeter corpora individua 15 , edentia
actus puros individuos ex lege ; in doctrinis tamen, ilia ipsa
lex, ejusque inquisitio et inventio atque explicatio, pro funda-
mento est tarn ad sciendum, quam ad operandum. Earn autem
ej usque paragraphos, formarum nomine intelligimus ;

ever, simply be the material and efficient causes, as popularly assigned.
Thus, for instance, we might say that vegetable matter was the material
cause of coal, and continued pressure its efficient cause. But Bacon would
insist on knowing its inmost structure and the secret process by which it
had passed from its original condition into its present state.

14 Sc. primas partes. The passage to which he alludes is undoubtedly
Bk. i. Aph. 51, where the 'forms ' which he condemns are apparently the
tSeat of Plato (cp. Bk. i. Aph. 65), and where he insists on the investigation
of the matter rather than the form. ' Materia potius considerari debet,
et ejus schematismi, et meta-schematismi, atque actus purus, et lex actus
sive motus ; formae enim commenta animi humani sunt, nisi libeat leges
illas actus formas appellare.' Forms (in the sense of the Platonists and
some of the Schoolmen), as abstracted from matter, Bacon rejected
altogether ; instead of being the principal constituents of being (' primae
partes essentiae '), he denied that they had any existence at all. HjsjDwn
'forms,' whatever their precise character may have been, were^jto^jDe
arrived ^^j^Si^by^^^EY^stiS^op of matter, arid^had ^o^oujstenjcj^ajaajrt
from matter. Hence, the opposition between form and matter had no
place in his philosophy, and ' to assign to forms the principal share in
being ' became an unmeaning phrase.

15 He is here again combating the Platonic and Scholastic Realism.
Strictly speaking, there exist only individual bodies, with their individual
manifestations. We may translate the next clause, ' gjyingjOTthjn^ividual
manifestations (^ev^yeuu)_a.cc(yrdlngt.o law.' The laws according to which
individual bodies exhibit their various manifestations are the proper object
of knowledge, and such knowledge is the only guide to practice.

This sentence, combined with Bk. i. Aph. I, affords, perhaps, one of the
best statements we have of the Nominalist, as opposed to the Realist,
theory of the nature and objects of knowledge.

10 ' Clauses ' or ' sections.' I think that Mr. Ellis (see General Preface,
p. 31) interprets this term rightly, in referring it to the 'simple natures'
into which Bacon (see Bk. ii. Aph. 17) regarded the forms of substances as
admitting of resolution. A 'forma copulata' (as of lion, gold, &c.) is a
' conjugium naturarum simplicium,' and hence the ' simple natures ' may be
regarded as ' clauses ' of the forma copulata.

There would, however, be no difficulty in interpreting ' paragraphos '

LIB. II. 3. 347

praesertim cum hoc vocabulum invaluerit, et familiariter
occurrat.

III.

Qui causam alicujus naturae (veluti albedinis aut caloris) in
certis 17 tantum subjectis novit ; ejus scientia imperfecta est :
et qui effectum super certas tantum materias (inter eas, quae
sunt susceptibiles) inducere potest ; ejus potentia pariter im-
perfecta est. At qui efficientem et materialem causam 18 tan-
tummodo novit (quae causae fluxae sunt, et nihil aliud quam
vehicula et causae formam deferentes in aliquibus 1!) ), is ad
nova inventa, in materia aliquatenus simili et praeparata, per-
venire potest ; sed rerum terminos altius fixes non movet.
At qui formas novit, is naturae unitatem in materiis dissi-
millimis complectitur 20 ; itaque quae adhuc facta non sunt,

with reference to the ' forms ' of the ' simple natures ' themselves. The
allusion would then be to the several differentiae which constitute, or
the several conditions out of which is produced, the given nature, such,
for instance, as those enumerated in Aph. 20.

It will be noticed that Bacon here employs the word ' Form ' in a
different sense (namely, the signification appropriated to it by himself)
from that in which he employed it in the last sentence but one, where he
condemned the position assigned to Forms.

17 ' Certain ' in the sense of ' particular.'

8 The Efficient and Material Causes seem here to be spoken of only;
in reference to concrete substances, while the Forms which Bacon has)
in view in this Aphorism are those of 'simple natures,' such as heat or!
whiteness. Now he who knows the material and efficient causes of any
given substance may be able to produce or modify other substances of
a similar character, but his power will extend no further. But he, on the
other hand, who is acquainted with the form, law, or cause of a ' simple y '
nature,' such as heat or whiteness, will be able to produce it in substances
of the most dissimilar kind.

9 In particular substances only. The meaning is that the Efficient and
Material Causes vary as we pass from one substance to another (fluxae
sunt), and convey or embody the form in certain cases only. In other
cases, a different efficient cause might be necessary to convey, or a dif-
ferent material cause to embody, the same form. For the sense in which
the word ' fluxae' is used, cp. Bk. i. Aphs. 16, 51, and note on Bk. i.
Aph. ii.

20 Thus, if we knew the Law of the development of Heat, we should be
able to produce heat in any substance whatever. This scientific know-
ledge of law is here contrasted with the merely empirical knowledge of
the artisan, who, being acquainted with certain substances only, can pro-

348 NOVUM ORGANUM.

qualia nee naturae vicissitudines, neque experimentales indus-
triae, neque casus ipse, in actum unquam perduxissent, neque
cogitationem humanam subitura fuissent, detegere et produ-
cere potest. Quare ex formarum inventione sequitur contem-
platio vera, et operatic libera 21 .

IV.

Licet viae ad potentiam atque ad scientiam humanam con-
junctissimae sint et fere eaedem, tamen propter pernieiosam
et inveteratam consuetudinem versandi in abstractis, tutius
omnino est ordiri et excitare scientias ab iis fundamentis quae
in ordine sunt ad partem activam, atque ut ilia ipsa partem
contemplativam signet et determinet. Videndum itaque est,
ad aliquam naturam super corpus datum generandam et super-
inducendam, quale quis praeceptum aut qualem quis direc-
tionem aut deductionem maxime optaret ; idque sermone
simplici et minime abstruso.

Exempli gratia ; si quis argento cupiat superinducere flavum
colorem auri aut augmentum ponderis (servatis legibus rnate-
riae 22 ), aut lapidi alicui non diaphano diaphaneitatem, aut
vitro tenacitatem, aut corpori alicui non vegetabili vegetatio-
nem ; videndum (inquam) est, quale quis praeceptum aut
deductionem potissimum sibi dari exoptet. Atque primo,
cxoptabit aliquis proculdubio sibi monstrari aliquid hujusmodi,
quod opere non frustret neque cxperimento fallat. Secundo,
exoptabit quis aliquid sibi praescribi, quod ipsum non astringat
ct coerceat ad media quaedam et modos quosdam operandi
particulares. Fortasse enim destituetur, nee habebit faculta-
tcm et commoditatem talia media comparandi et procurandi.
Quod si sint et alia media ct alii modi (praeter illud praecep-
tum) progignendae talis naturae, ea fortasse ex iis erunt quae
sunt in opcrantis potestate ; a quibus nihilominus per angus-

cluce changes in them, or like substances, but who, not being acquainted
with the Laws of Nature, cannot extend his operations beyond the range
of his experience.

1 That is, unrestricted to this or that object-matter. Cp. again Bk. i.
Aph. 3-

'-"* Are not these words inserted in order to intimate that the process
must be regarded as purely physical, and to exclude Superstitious Magic?
Mr. Ellis explains : ' That is, with a corresponding decrease of volume.'

LIB. II. 4. 349

tias praecepti excludetur, nee fructum capiet. Tertio, optabit
aliquid sibi monstrari, quod non sit aeque difficile ac ilia ipsa
operatic de qua inquiritur, sed propius accedat ad praxin.

Itaque de praecepto vero et perfecto operandi, pronuntiatum
erit tale ; ut sit cerium, liberum, et disponens 23 sive in or dine
ad actionem. Atque hoc ipsum idem est cum inventione
formae verae. Etenim forma naturae alicujus talis est ut,
ea posita, natura data infallibiliter 24 sequatur. Itaque adest
perpetuo,,quando natura ilia adest 25 , atque earn universa-
liter affirmat, atque inest omni. Eadem forma tali's est ut,
ea amota, natura data infallibiliter fugiat 2G . Itaque abest
perpetuo, quando natura ilia abest, eamque perpetuo abne-
gat, atque inest soli 27 . Postremo 2S , forma vera talis est, ut

23 'Auxiliary.'

24 So far as ' Forma ' here = cause, ' infallibiliter ' must be taken with
the qualification, ' unless there are counteracting circumstances.'

25 So far as ' Forma ' = cause, and ' natura ilia ' = effect, Bacon is open
to the charge, made against him by Mill, of having neglected to take into
consideration the fact of plurality of causes. The same cause (unless
there are counteracting circumstances) always produces the same effect,
but the same effect may be due to different causes, as, for instance, death
to disease, poison, or a shot-wound. See Mill's Logic, bk. iii. ch. 10 ; bk.
v. ch. 3. 7. See also my Inductive Logic, 4th ed., pp. 6, 125-131, where
I have attempted to restate this doctrine with greater precision.

26 See last note. The effect, in any particular instance, might be due
to a different cause, and would, therefore, not disappear.

27 ' Therefore, the form is always absent, when the given nature is
absent ' (this statement is true), ' and its absence always involves the
absence of the given nature (this is inaccurate; see above), 'and it is to
be found in the given nature only ' (this is true). My criticism, contained
in the above parentheses, applies, of course, only to the case in which
Form = cause.

2$ Here ' form ' seems to be taken in the sense of ' vera differentia ' (see
Aph. i). The ' fons essentiae' spoken of below is regarded as the genus,
and the ' natura data ' as the species or tota essentia. The last is sup-
posed to be deduced from the fons essentiae by means of (or by the
addition of) the form.

This passage is interesting, because it illustrates both the ambiguity of
the word ' Form,' and the close approximation or even ultimate identity
of its two meanings, as noticed in the Introduction, 8. The ' Fons
Essentiae ' may be regarded as the original substance capable of differen-
tiation, the ' natura data ' as the new substance produced from it, and
the ' form ' either as the law governing the development of the one from
the other or as the sum of the attributes which, added to the original

350 NOVUM ORGANUM.

naturam datam ex fonte aliquo essentiae deducat quae inest
pluribus, et notior est naturae 29 (ut loquuntur) quam ipsa
forma. Itaque de axiomate vero et perfecto sciendi pronun-
tiatum et praeceptum tale est ; ut inveniatur natura alia, quae
sit cum natura data convertibilis 30 , et tamen sit limitatio na-
turae notioris, instar generis -veri^. Ista autem duo pronun-
tiata, activum et contemplativum, res eadem sunt ; et quod
in operando utilissimum, id in sciendo verissimum 32 .

At praeceptum sive axioma de transformatione corporum
duplicis est generis 33 . Primum intuetur corpus, ut turmam

' essentia,' constitute the ' natura data.' Thus, let us suppose, for the sake
of example, that it would be possible to find a menstruum, or common
substance, capable, by the addition of various differentiae, of becoming
gold, silver, copper, &c. The menstruum or common substance would
represent the fons essentiae, and gold, silver, &c. the naturae datae.
Then, we might describe the ' form ' either as the attributes which, added
to the menstruum, constitute the natura data, or as the conditions under
which the natura data is developed from the menstruum, or, which is only
another way of speaking, as the law of the process by which the men-
struum is converted into the natura data.

29 That is, more general. See note 27 on Bk. i. Aph. 22. The proper
expression is natura notior.

30 This expression requires qualification. See notes 25, 26 above.

31 ' As of a true genus.' The ' genus verum ' is the same as the ' natura
notius ' or ' fons essentiae.'

32 See Bk. i. Aphs. 81, 129, with the notes.

33 One of these modes of transformation proceeds by discovering the
various simple natures or qualities which determine the character of the
body, and then superinducing them one by one, till the body is constituted
(cp. Sylva Sylvarum, Exp. 328); the other watches the latent process by
which the body is produced according to the ordinary way of nature, and
then attempts to repeat it artificially. The artificial production of marble
by fusion under pressure would be a good instance of the latter mode
of transformation, as well as the various attempts, more or less successful,
to produce artificial diamonds. For Bacon's sanguine expectations as
to the former mode, I cannot offer a better apology than that suggested
by Mr. Mill (Logic, bk. v. ch. 3. 7) : ' Why should it not be possible
to make gold ? Each of the characteristic properties of gold has its forma,
its essence, its set of conditions, which if we could discover, and learn how
to realise, we could superinduce that particular property upon any other
substance, upon wood, or iron, or lime, or clay. If, then, we could effect
this with respect to every one of the essential properties of the precious
metal, we should have converted the other substance into gold. Nor did

LIB. 77. 5 . 351

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 tali-
bus ; et similiter de caeteris naturis, quae in auro concurrunt.
Itaque hujusmodi axioma rem deducit ex formis naturarum
simplicium. Nam qui formas et modos novit superinducendi
flavi, ponderis, ductilis, fixi, fluoris, solutionum, et sic de reli-
quis, et eorum graduationes et modos, videbit et curabit ut
ista conjungi possint in aliquo corpore, unde sequatur trans-
formatio in aurum. Atque hoc genus operandi pertinet ad
actionem primariam. Eadem enim est ratio generandi na-
turam 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 ordinarias. Utcun-
que tamen dicendum est, quod iste modus operandi (qui
naturas intuetur simplices, licet in corpore concreto) procedat
ex iis 34 , quae in natura sunt constantia et aeterna et catholica,
et latas praebeat potentiae humanae vias, quales (ut nunc sunt
res) cogitatio humana vix capere aut repraesentare possit.

At secundum genus axiomatis (quod a latentis processiis
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 qui-
bus 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 processu herbae generentur, a primis concretionibus suc-

this, if once the premises were granted, appear to transcend the real
powers of mankind. For daily experience showed that almost every one
of the distinctive sensible properties of any object, its consistence, its
colour, its taste, its smell, its shape, admitted of being totally changed
by fire, or water, or some other chemical agent. Theforwae of all those
qualities seeming, therefore, to be within human power either to produce
or to annihilate, not only did the transmutation of substances appear
abstractedly possible, but the employment of the power, at our choice, for
practical ends, seemed by no means hopeless.'
34 Sc. naturae simplices.

352 NOVUM ORGANUM.

corum in terra, aut a seminibus, usque ad plantam formatam,
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 generationes corporum tantum spectat
haec inquisitio, sed etiam ad alios motus et opificia naturae.
Exempli gratia ; in casu ubi fit inquisitio de universa serie et
continuatis actionibus alimentandi, a prima receptione alimenti
ad assimilationem perfectam ; aut similiter de motu voluntario
in animalibus, a prima impressione imaginationis et continu-
atis nixiDUs spiritus usque ad flexiones et motus artuum ;
aut de explicato motu linguae et labiorum et instrumentorum
reliquorum usque ad editionem vocum articulatarum. Nam
haec quoque spectant ad naturas concretas, sive collegiatas et
in fabrica ; et intuentur veluti consuetudines naturae particu-
lares et speciales, non leges fundamentales et communes, quae
constituunt formas 35 . Veruntamen omnino fatendum est, rati-
onem istam videri expeditiorem et magis sitam in propinquo,
et spem injicere magis, quam illam primariam.

At pars Operativa similiter, quae huic parti Contempla-
tivae 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 ope-
rationes super naturam pendent utique ab axiomatibus pri-
mariis. Quinetiam ubi non datur homini facultas operandi,
sed tantum sciendi, ut in coelestibus (neque enim conceditur
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 catho-
lica axiomata de naturis simplicibus (veluti de natura rota-
tionis spontaneae 3G , attractionis sive virtutis magneticae, et
aliorum complurium quae magis communia sunt quam ipsa
coelestia) refertur. Neque enim speret aliquis terminare quae-

35 In attempting to determine the meaning which Bacon attached to
the word Form, this language is of some importance. The ' fundamental
and common laws' seem to be distinguished from the 'forms 'which
they ' constitute,' and thus one ' law ' or ' form ' to be regarded as more
generic than another. See Introduction, pp. 61, 62.

36 See ii. 36 (2) and 48 (17), with notes.

LIB. II. 6. 353

stionem, utrum in motu diurno revera terra aut coclum rotet,
nisi naturam rotationis spontancae prius comprehenderit.

VI.

Latcns autcm Processus^ 1 , de quo loquimur, longe alia res
est quam animis hominum (qualiter nunc obsidcntur) facile
possit occurrere. Neque enim intelligimus mensuras quasdam,
aut signa, aut scalas processus in corporibus spectabiles ; scd
plane processum continuatum, qui maxima ex parte scnsum
fugit.

Exempli gratia ; in omni generatione et transformatione
corporum, inquirendum quid deperdatur et evolet, quid maneat,
quid accedat ; quid dilatetur, quid contrahatur ; quid uniatur,
quid separetur ; quid continuetur, quid abscindatur ; quid im-
pellat, quid impediat ; quid dominetur, quid succumbat ; et
alia complura.

Neque hie rursus, haec tantum in generatione aut transfor-
matione corporum quaerenda sunt ; sed et in omnibus aliis
alterationibus et motibus similiter inquirendum quid antece-
dat, quid succedat ; quid sit incitatius, quid remissius ; quid
motum praebeat, quid regat ; ct hujusmodi. Ista vero omnia
scientiis (quae nunc pinguissima Minerva et prorsus inhabili

37 See Playfair's Preliminary Dissertation to the Encyclopaedia Bri-
tannica, Remarks on the Novum Organum: 'Latent Process is the secret
and invisible progress by which sensible changes are brought about, and
seems, in Bacon's acceptation, to involve the principle, since called the
law of continuity, according to which, no change, however small, can be
effected but in time. Tqjcnpw thejrekition between the time and the
chjmgejeffected Uijt, would be to have a perfect knowledge of the latent
process. In the firing of a cannon, for example, the succession of events
during the short interval between the application of the match and the
expulsion of the ball constitutes a latent process of a very remarkable
and complicated nature, which, however, we can now trace with some
degree of accuracy. In mechanical operations, we can often follow this
process still more completely. When motion is communicated from any
body to another, it is distributed through all the parts of that other,
by a law quite beyond the reach of sense to perceive directly, but yet
subject to investigation, and determined by a principle which, though
late in being discovered, is now generally recognised. The applications
of this mechanical principle are perhaps the instances in which a
latent, and, indeed, a very recondite process has been most completely
analysed.'

A a

354 NOVUM ORGANUM.

contexuntur) incognita sunt et Intacta. Cum enim omnis actio
naturalis per minima 3S transigatur, aut saltern per ilia quae
sunt minora quam ut sensum feriant, nemo se naturam regere
aut vertere posse speret, nisi ilia debito modo comprehenderit
et notaverit.

VII.

Similiter, inquisitio et inventio latentis schematismi** in cor-
poribus res nova est, non minus quam inventio latentis pro-
cessus et formae 40 . Versamur enim plane adhuc in atriis
naturae, neque ad interiora paramus aditum. At nemo corpus
datum nova natura dotare vel in novum corpus foeliciter et
apposite transmutare potest, nisi corporis alterandi aut trans-
formandi 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
aperienda 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 anatomiae spectabile est, et sensui subjectum, et in cor-
por bus tantum organicis locum habet. Verum hoc ipsum

3 " Sc. the ultimate particles of bodies.

39 By the ' latent schematisrn ' Bacon seems to mean the _confi gyration
and relative position of the, yjtimate p_articlgs of Jjodies. As Professor
Playfair says, ' When we enquire into the constitution of crystals, or into
the internal structure of plants, &c., we are examining into the latent
schematism.'

4 " Notice that J^form_^ i_s here .coupled with latent jyrpcgss^and distin-
guished_jfrpm latent schemism. It must

'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 ....... The

introduction of the idea of unstable equilibrium, in connexion with
organic chemistry, was a step in the direction which molecular Physics
will probably soon take.'

The view propounded in the above note by Mr. Ellis as to the ultimate
constitution of bodies is that which is now generally adopted. Bacon
himself, however, says distinctly (Aph. 48, ad fin.) : ' In corporibus hie
apud nos nuila vera est quies, nee in integris, nee in partibus ; sed tantum
secundum apparentiam.'

LIB. II. 7. 355

obvium quiddam cst, et in promptu situm, prae anatomia vcra
schematisms latentis in corporibus quae habcntur pro similari-
bus 41 : praesertim in rebus specificatis 42 et earum partibus, ut
ferri, lapidis ; et partibus similaribus plantae, animalis, vcluti
radicis, folii, floris, carnis, sanguinis, ossis, etc. At ctiam in
hoc genere non prorsus cessavit industria humana ; hoc ipsum
enim innuit separatio corporum similarium per distillationes
et alios solutionum modos, ut dissimilaritas compositi per con-
gregationem partium homogenearum apparcat. Quod etiam
ex usu est, et facit ad id quod quaerimus ; licet saepius res
fallax sit ; quia complures naturae separationi imputantur ct
attribuuntur, ac si prius substitissent in composite, quas revera
ignis et calor et alii modi apertionum de novo indunt et super-
inducunt. Sed et haec quoque parva pars est opens ad inve-
niendum schematismum verum in composito ; qui schematismus
res est longe subtilior et accuratior, ct ab operibus ignis potius
confunditur quam eruitur et elucescit.

Itaque facienda est corporum separatio et solutio : non per
ignem certe, sed per rationem et inductioncm veram, cum
experimentis auxiliaribus ; et per comparationem ad alia cor-
pora, et reductionem ad naturas simplices et earum formas 4;i ,

41 That is, which are homogeneous. It is comparatively easy to dis-
tinguish heterogeneous parts ; but the anatomy which attempts to pene-
trate to the ultimate structure of homogeneous matter proposes to itself
a task of incomparably greater difficulty.

42 By 'res specificatae ' was meant things falling under a definite
species, as opposed to mere aggregates or combinations of elementary
matter uninformed by the specific quality which constitutes things into
a distinct class. The former division of things appears to have been
regarded by Bacon as characterised by a more uniform (homogeneous)
structure than the latter. The examples also shew that Bacon draws a
distinction between res specificatae and corpora organica (entire plants
and animals).

The student may find it worth while to compare Mr. Ellis' note on
De Augmentis, lib. ii. cap. 3.

The word 'stone' is, of course, used here in the most unscientific way.
The same may be said of ' root,' ' leaf,' c., below.

43 Here 'forms' are spoken of in connexion with 'latent schematisms,'
though, at the beginning of the Aphorism, form was distinguished from
latent schematism and coupled with latent process. This circumstance
affords a good illustration of the vagueness and ambiguity of the term.

A a 2

356 NOVUM ORGANUM.

quae in composito conveniunt et complicantur ; et transeun-
dum plane a Vulcano ad Mincrvam, si in animo sit veras cor-
porum 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 protrahcre.

Exempli gratia ; inquirendum, quid sit in omni corpore
spiritus, quid essentiae tangibilis ; atque ille ipse spiritus 44 ,
utrum sit copiosus ct 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 (quae non
pauciores recipit difFerentias, quam spiritus) atque ejus villi, ct
fibrae, et omnimoda textura ; rursus autem collocatio spiritus
per corpoream molem, ejusque pori, meatus, venae, et cellulae,
et rudimenta, sive tentamenta corporis organici, sub eandem
inquisitionem cadunt. Sed et in his quoque, atque adeo in
omni latentis schematismi inventione, lux vera et clara ab
axiomatibus primariis 4;3 immittitur, quae certe caliginem
omnem et subtilitatem discutit.

and of the mode in which Bacon seems to oscillate between its two
meanings.

The various ' Schematism! Matcriae' are enumerated in the De Aug-
mentis, lib. iii. cap. 4 (E. and S., vol. i. p. 560). In the passage in the
text, Bacon seems to think that, in order to determine the latent schema-
tism or ultimate constitution of any body, we must specify its qualities,
dense, heavy, hot, &c., and then proceed to ascertain the ' forms ' of
these qualities. The knowledge of the ' forms ' of these ' simple natures '
will give all the information which we require. It is needless to point
out how vague, undetermined, and purely relative are most of the terms
which he employs to designate the simple natures, or how different is the
roundabout process which he here contemplates from that which recent
investigators into the ultimate constitution of bodies have, with the help
of the microscope, actually pursued.

44 For Bacon's curious speculations on ' Spirit,' sec Aph. 40, with notes,
and also i. 50, with note 82. The ' spiritus ' is distinguished from the
'essentia tangibilis' as being intangible and invisible. In Aph. 40, it is
described as being included in all tangible bodies. ' Omne enim tangi-
bilc apud nos continet spiritum invisibilem et intactilem, eique obducitur,
atque eum quasi vestit.'

* ;> That is, the axioms which convey a knowledgeof_the_^ forms^jjf

LIB. II. 8. 357

VIII.

Neque propterea res deducetur ad atomum, quae praesup-
ponit vacuum 4G et matcriam non fluxam 47 (quorum utrumque
falsum est), sed ad particulas veras, quales inveniuntur. Neque
rursus est, quod exhorreat quispiam istam subtilitatem, ut
inexplicabilem : sed contra, quo magis vergit inquisitio ad
naturas simplices, eo magis omnia erunt sita in piano et per-
spicuo ; translate negotio a multiplici in simplex, et ab incom-
mensurabili ad commensurabile, et a surdo ad computabile, et
ab infinite et vago ad definitum et certum ; ut fit in elementis
literarum, et tonis conccntuum 48 . Optime autem cedit inqui-

' simple natures.' Cp. Aph. 5 : ' Primaria ilia et catholica axiomata de
naturis simplicibus ;' ' Sed altiores et radicales operationes super naturam
pendent utique ab-axiomatibus primariis.'

40 In Aph. 48 (conclusion), he speaks more doubtfully : ' Neque enim
pro certo affirmaverimus, utrum detur vacuum, sive coacervatum, sive
permistum.'

The Atomic theory of Democritus postulated a vacuum between the
various atoms of which matter was regarded as composed. h.tvK.nnros de
KOI 6 eralpos avrov ^Tj/jLOKpiTOS OTOi^eta fJLfp TO rr\fjpfs Kal TO Kevov flvn'i (pacrt.
Arist. Metaph. i. 4 (985 b). Bacon, at least in this passage, while
adopting the opinion that matter, in its ultimate analysis, is an aggregate
of minute particles, repudiates the assumption that these particles are
separated by a vacuum. His own view appears to have been that, if we
could discover the inmost constitution of things, we should find the ulti-
mate particles, not separated by a vacuum, but so nicely adjusted, or
rather so nicely adjusting themselves, as to leave no breach of continuity
in passing from one to another.

M. Bouillet gives an appropriate reference to the beginning of the
treatise ' Cogitationes de Natura Rerum' (E. and S., vol. iii. pp. 15, &c.).
Cp. also Nov. Org. i. 66, ad fin.

On the question whether Bacon did or did not reject the doctrine of
a vacuum, see my notes on ii. 48 (2) and on the conclusion of the same
Aphorism.

On the conception of ultimate particles of matter, cp. a very interesting
passage in Newton's Optics, bk. iii.qu. 31 (Horsley's Ed., vol. iv. pp. 260-1).

47 That is, matter consisting of rigid, unchangeable, and eternal
atoms, as they were conceived of by Democritus. See note _t;o,.pn_Bk.j.
Agh.66. Bacon, on the other hand, maintained the theory of a ' plica
materiae,' or a power in the atoms themselves of expanding or con-
tracting themselves within certain limits. See conclusion of ii. 48. This
theory enabled him to dispense with the assumption of a vacuum.

4? ' Tones ' are, as it were, the alphabet of Music. The above passage
is important as throwing light on Bacon's doctrine of forms and simple

358 NOVUM ORGANUM.

sitio naturalis, quando physicum terminatur in mathematico 40 .
At rursus multitudinem aut fractiones nemo reformidet 50 . In
rebus enim, quae per numeros transiguntur, tarn facile quis
posuerit aut cogitaverit millenarium, quam unum ; aut mille-
simam partem unius, quam unum integrum.

IX.

Ex duobus generibus axiomatum, quae superius posita
sunt 51 , oritur vera divisio philosophiae et scientiarum ; trans-
latis vocabulis receptis (quae ad indicationem rei proxime
accedunt) ad sensum nostrum. Videlicet, ut inquisitio for-
marnin, quae sunt (ratione certe, et sua lege 52 ) aeternae et
imrnobiles, constituat me tap hy sic am G3 / inquisitio vero effici-

natures. It shews, as I have pointed out elsewhere, that he regarded the
' sjmrjlenajtirres_^ and that he supposed

that, if we only possessed a complete knowledge of this alphabet, we
should be able to explain and reproduce nature in all her complexity.

49 Cp. i. 96 and note 75 on that Aphorism. The meaning of the pas-
sage in the text, when taken in connexion with the context, is somewhat
doubtful. It may refer generally to the deductive branches of natural
philosophy, stated and worked out mathematically (as I believe is the
case with the passage in i. 96), or (as the context would rather lead us to
suppose) it may have a more special reference. In the latter case, it
probably contemplates the application of mathematics to the enumeration,
mensuration, and determination of the form of the ultimate particles of
matter ; or possibly it may have reference to the combination of ' simple
natures ' in concrete substances, mathematics being applied to determine
the number of such ' simple natures ' which are to be found in any given
substance, or are requisite to its production, and, perhaps, also the several
proportions in which they are combined.

iu This sentence does not appear to mean more than that in Mathema-
tics we may have to deal with very large or very small quantities. There
may possibly be an allusion to a curious passage in the Republic of Plato
(bk. vii. p. 525 E), where Socrates says that the arithmetician will not
tolerate fractions, but insists on multiplying them back again into in-
tegers.

51 See Aph. 5.

52 ' Meaning,' says Mr. Ellis, ' that God could change them, but that
this change would be above reason and a change of the law of the form,
otherwise unchangeable.'

f ' 3 Cp. De Augmentis, iii. 4. There he includes the investigation of
Final Causes under Metaphysic. Here, as they stand in no relation to
the present discussion, he omits all mention of them.

It is, perhaps, needless to observe that this is a special and arbitrary

LID. II. 9-10. 359

entis, et materiae, et latentis processus, et latcntis schema-
tismi (quae omnia cursum naturae communcm et ordinarium,
non leges fundamentales et aeternas respiciunt 54 ) consti-
tuat pJiysicam: atque his subordinentur similiter practicae
duae ; physicae mechanica ; metaphysicac (perpurgato nomine)
ma^ta 55 , propter latas ejus vias et majus imperium in na-
turam.

Posito itaque doctrinae scope, pergendum ad praecepta ;
idque ordine minime perverse aut perturbato. Atque indicia
de interpretations naturae complectuntur partes in genere
duas 56 : primam, de educendis aut excitandis axiomatibus ab
experientia ; secundam, de deducendis aut derivandis experi-
mentis novis ab axiomatibus. Prior autem trifariam dividi-
tur : in tres nempe ministrationes ; ministrationem ad sensum,

use of the word ' Metaphysic.' The word, as I have already pointed
out (Bk. i. Aph. 63. n. 31), originated as a designation of a certain
collection of Aristotelian treatises (TU /nera TO. 0u<nKu), which was
regarded by those who arranged Aristotle's works as a sort of appendix
to the Physics. On the various and often contradictory meanings which
it has subsequently borne, it would be beside my purpose to speak. In
the ordinary sense of the term, Bacon did not recognise Metaphysics as
a science distinct from Physics, on the one side, and Natural Theology,
on the other. See Introduction, p. 67, and cp. pp. 15, 16.

54 In this Aphorism, it would be difficult to say whether 'forms' are
used in the sense of ' laws ' or ' essences.' Bacon probably had no clear
perception of the distinction between the two ideas.

G5 Cp. De Augmentis, iii. 5, which will furnish a full explanation of this
passage.

56 Namely, Induction and Deduction. On the latter method, the
Novum Organum, in its fragmentary state, contains nothing (unless we
except the Instances mentioned in ii. 52, as conducing 'ad operativam '),
though the seventh, ninth, and possibly fourth parts (see Aph. 21) were
to deal with this subject.

M. Bouil'et remarks that, in the Partis Secundae Delineatio, the Pars
Activa is distinguished from the Deductive branch of the Pars Contem-
plativa, whereas here the two are spoken of as one. See E. and S., vol. iii.
pp. 556-7. M. Bouillet also remarks that it is doubtful whether Bacon
would have found in the practical or operative part sufficient matter for
a special treatise, bearing in mind what he himself says : ' inter contem-
plativam partem activam perpetuo intercurrere ' (Partis Secundae Deli-
neatio, E. and S., vol. iii. p. 556). *,

360 NOVUM ORGANUM.

ministrationem ad memoriam, et ministrationem ad mentem
sive rationem 57 .

Primo enim paranda est Jiistoria naturalis et experimentalise
sufficiens et bona ; quod fundamentum rei est : neq'ue enim
fingendum, aut excogitandum, sed inveniendum, quid natura
faciat aut ferat.

Historia vero naturalis et expcrimentalis tarn varia est et
sparsa, ut intellectum confundat et disgreget, nisi sistatur et
compareat ordine idoneo. Itaque formandae sunt tabulae et co-
ordinationes 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 opificium
axiomatum, nisi regatur et muniatur. Itaque tertio, adhi-
benda est indue tio legitima et vera, quae ipsa clavis est inter-
pretationis. Incipicndum autem est a fine, et retro pergendum
ad reliqua 58 .

Inquisitio formarum sic procedit ; super naturam datam
primo facienda est comparentia 9 ad intellectum omnium in-

57 This division, as given in the present passage, is easily explicable.
The ' ministratio ad sensum ' supplies a collection of observations and
experiments, ' Historia Naturalis et Experimentalist The ' ministratio
ad memoriam ' arranges these in Tables, in a form adapted for use. The
'ministratio ad mentem sive rationem' is the process of Induction itself,
drawing from the tables the inferences to which they legitimately lead.
M. Bouillet has a long note on the mode in which the two first ' minis-
trationes ' may be supplied from different parts of Bacon's works.

On the discrepancy between the account of these ' ministrationes,' as
given here and in the Partis Secundae Delineatio, the student, who is
curious to trace the growth of Bacon's doctrine, may refer to Air. Sped-
ding's note on the present passage and to the General Preface, prefixed
to the 1st vol. of Ellis and Spedding's Edition, 10.

It must be recollected that the 'Tables' which occur in the Novum
Organum are only specimens of what Bacon designed. From the ' Dis-
tributio Opcris,' we learn that the first 'ministratio' was to be treated in
the third part of the Instauratio Magna, and the second 'ministratio' in
the fourth part.

" ;i An ' appearance,' a word borrowed from legal phraseology. We have
the phrase ' to enter ' or ' to put in ' an appearance.

This investigation into the nature of Heat (Aphs. 11-20) was included

LIB. II. ii. 361

stantiarum notarum, quae in cadem natura conveniunt, per
materias licet dissimillimas. Atque hujusmodi collectio faci-
enda est historice G0 , absque contemplatione praefcstina, aut
subtilitate aliqua majore. Exempli gratia ; in inquisitione de
forma calidi G1 .

Instantiae c2 convenientes in natnra calidi.
i. Radii solis, praesertim aestate et meridie.

in a small volume, published at Leyden in 1638, entitled ' Francisci de
Verulamio Historia Naturalis et Experirnentalis De Ventis,' &c. See
Introduction, 17.

60 That is, according to the actual order in which they present them-
selves to the investigator in the course of his observations ; not according
to any predetermined order. The order of arrangement must be deter-
mined after collection, when all the instances are before us ; otherwise, we
are in danger of overlooking altogether instances which may be material
to our enquiry.

G1 De Remusat (Bacon, &c., p. 246) translates ' forma calidi ' by nature
of heat. And this, perhaps, is the nearest equivalent (cp. the fourth
paragraph of Aph. 20, beginning ' Intelligatur hoc,' &c.). But, as a know-
ledge of the nature of heat implies a knowledge of its cause and of the
law of its production, we may, in this instance, employ all three words
alike in illustration of Bacon's use of the word ' Form.'

62 The significance of these Instances, as well as of the Tables which
occur in the following Aphorisms, may, perhaps, best be understood by
comparing them with the far more natural and scientific form which they
assume in Mr. Mill's ' Experimental Methods.' To assist the student in
this task, I extract the following passages from one of the notes in my
Inductive Logic (ch. 3, Appended Note 2, 4th ed., pp. 207-10) :

' If the " Instantiae convenientes in natura calidi " were so related to
one another that, besides the given phenomenon (heat), only one other
circumstance were common to them all, that other circumstance might be
regarded, with more or less probability, as the cause (or effect) of heat,
or, at least, as connected with it through some fact of causation. Such
instances would then come under the Method of Agreement.

' If one instance in the Table of Agreement (" Instantiae convenientes
in natura calidi ") were so related to one of the instances in the Table of
Privation ("Instantiae in proximo, quae privantur natura calidi") as to
have every circumstance in common with it, except that the former,
besides presenting the phenomenon of heat which is supposed to be
absent in the latter, also presented some other circumstance which was
absent from the latter, this other circumstance would be the cause (or
effect), or a necessary part of the cause, of heat. We should here have
the Method of Difference.

'If, in the "Tabula graduum, sive comparativac in calido," we could
discover some one phenomenon which increased and diminished propor-

362 NOVUM ORGANUM,

2. Radii solis reflexi et constipati, ut inter monies, aut per
parictes, et maxime omnium in speculis comburentibus.

lionately with the increase and diminution of heat, that phenomenon
would be the cause or the effect of heat, or, at least, connected with it
through some fact of causation, and the conditions would thus conform
to the requirements of the Method of Concomitant Variations. If it
could be shewn that this phenomenon and heat were the only circum-
stances which varied concurrently, then the phenomenon would be proved
to be either the cause or the effect of heat, and would conform to the
requirements of the rider to this last Method' (given in Inductive Logic,
p. 183).

' The " Exemplum exclusivae, sive rejectionis naturarum a forma calidi,"
(which is based on the three foregoing Tables) bears some, though, it
must be acknowledged, a very slight, resemblance to the Method of
Residues. These "rejectioncs" consist in excluding some possible ex-
planation of the phenomenon, either because an instance, which does
not present the phenomenon, does present the assigned cause, or because
an instance, which does present the phenomenon, does not present the
assigned cause (and similarly with regard to increase and decrease). As
an instance of the former, we may take the following " rejectio " : " Per
radios lunae (which were then supposed to be cold) et aliarum stellarum
rejice lucem ct lumen." As instances of the latter, we may take the two
following : " Per radios solis, rejice naturam elementarem (that is, " ter-
restrial nature," which is composed of "the four elements") ; Per ignem
cominunem, et maxime per ignes subterraneos (qui remotissimi sunt, et
plurimum intercluduntur a radiis coclestibus) rejice naturam coelestem."
By a succession of these " rejectiones," we limit the number of possible
explanations, amongst which we are to look for the true one. Bacon's
" rejections," however, not being, as a matter of fact, exhaustive, lead to
a purely negative result ; they may save us from unnecessary trouble in
seeking for a cause where it cannot be found, but they do not, like the
Method of Residues, leave a definite number of antecedents which either
constitute the cause, or amongst which we know that the cause is to be
sought.'

It is plain that if there w^re a certain number only of possible causes
of the given phenomenon, and by the Method of Rejections we could
exclude all but one, this one remaining cause would be the undoubted
cause of the given phenomenon. This case Bacon appears to have
regarded as the perfect type of Induction, and as alone capable of afford-
ing certainty. For a criticism of Bacon's Method of Rejections or
Exclusions, see Introduction, 9.

In comparing the logical procedure of Bacon and Mill, it should be
'"< carefully borne in mind that, whereas each of Mr. Mill's Methods may be
worked independently, and lead to a final conclusion, Bacon contem-
plated the concurrent use of all the Tables as preparatory to his Method
, of Rejections, and regarded the construction of the Tables and the sub-

LIB. II. ii. 363

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 ae'r ipse, qui fortissimum

et furentem suscipit calorem, si concludatur ; ut in
reverberatoriis G:J .

11. Tempestates aliquae sudae 64 per ipsam constitutionem

aeris, non habita ratione temporis anni.

12. Ae'r conclusus et subterraneus in cavernis nonnullis, prae-

sertim hyeme.

13. Omnia villosa, ut lana, pellcs animalium, et plumagines,

habent nonnihil teporis.

14. Corpora omnia, tarn solida, quam liquida, et tarn densa,

quam tenuia (qualis est ipse ae'r), igni ad tempus
approximata.

15. Scintillae ex silice et chalybe per fortem percussionem.

1 6. Omne corpus fortiter attritum, ut lapis, lignum, pannus.

etc. ; adeo ut temones et axes rotarum aliquando flam-
mam concipiant : et mos excitandi ignis apud Indos
occidentales fuerit per attritionem.

i/. Herbae virides et humidae simul conclusac et contrusae.
ut rosae pisae G5 in corbibus ; adeo ut foenum, si repo-
situm fuerit madidum, saepe concipiat flammam.

18. Calx viva, aqua aspersa.

sequent application to them of the Method of Rejections as constituting
only one process.

1:3 ' Rcverberatories are furnaces constructed with two chambers ; an
outer one, which has no chimney, but has a passage connecting it with
an inner one which has a chimney. The substance to be exposed to the
heat is placed on the floor of the inner chamber, and fire is lighted in
the other: so that the flame, having no outlet in the outer chamber,
passes into the inner, over the substance, and is so concentrated with
vast power upon it.' Dr. Kitchin's note.

61 Se-udae. Cloudless, clear.

15 Mr. Ellis reads pinsae, but the two words have the same meaning,
namely, ' crushed ' or ' pounded.'

364 NOVUM ORGANUM.

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, praesertim et perpetuo per interiora ; licet in

insectis calor ob parvitatem corporis non deprehen-
datur ad tactum.

21. Fimus equinus, et hujusmodi excrementa animalium re-

centia.

22. Oleum forte sulphuris et vitrioli 66 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 ; acleo ut si albumen ovi in eum injiciatur, con-
crescat et albescat, fere in modum albuminis cocti ;
panis injectus torrefiat et incrustetur, ad modum panis
tosti G7 .

25. Aromata, et herbae calidae, ut dracunculus 68 , nasturtium

vetus, etc. licet ad manum non sint calida (nee integra,
nee pulveres eorum), tamen ad linguam et palatum
parum masticata percipiuntur calida, et quasi adu-
rentia.

26. Acetum forte, et omnia acida, in membro ubi non sit

epidermis, ut in oculo, lingua, aut aliqua alia parte
vulnerata, ct cute detecta, dolorem cient, non multum
discrepantem ab co, qui inducitur a calido.

' ; This is probably an instance of the grammatical figure, ev fiui dvolv,
meaning, as Dr. Kitchin suggests, Sulphuric Acid.

Of the substances alluded to in this and some of the following examples,
Sir John Hcrschcl (Discourse on the Study of Natural Philosophy, 345)
remarks that they ' excite in our organs, and especially in that of taste,
a sensation of heat which they owe to their being chemical stimulants,
and not at all to their being actually hot.'

: ' The latter phenomenon, Mr. Ellis remarks, 'arises probably from the
dcsiccative power due to the strong affinity of alcohol for water.'

:; " ' Dragon-wort.' It was so called, because it was supposed to be
obnoxious to serpents, and also to be efficacious against their bites. See
Pliny, Nat. Hist. xxiv. sects. 142-150, chs. 91-93. In quoting or referring
to Pliny's Natural History, I shall employ the Teubner edition of 1857,
and refer both to the sections and to the chapters as numbered within
brackets.

LIB. II. 12. 365

27. Etiam frigora acria et intensa inducunt sensum quondam

ustionis ;

Nam Boreae penetrabile frigus adurit 9 .

28. Alia.

Hanc tabulam essentiac et praesentiae appellare consuc-

vimus.

XII.

Secundo, facienda est compareiitia ad intellcctum instanti-
arum quae natura data privantur : quia forma (ut dictum est)
non minus abesse debet, ubi natura data abest, quam adessc,
ubi adest 70 . Hoc vero infinitum esset in omnibus.

Itaque subjungenda sunt negativa affirmativis, et priva-
tiones inspiciendae tantum in illis subjectis quae sunt maxime
cognata illis alteris, in quibus natura data inest et comparet.
Hanc tabulam dcclinationis, sive absentiae in proximo" 11 , appel-
lare consuevimus.

Instantiate in proximo, quae privantur natura Calidi.
Adinstantiam i. Lunae et stellarum et cometarum radii non

primam ajfirma- . . ,.-,. 70

th'am, instantia mveniuntur cahdi ad tactum'-: quinetiam obser-

prima negativa . . ....._

vei subjunctiva. van solent acernma fngora in pleniiunus . At
stellae fixae majores, quando sol eas subit aut iis approxi-

69 Virg. Georg. i. 93.

70 So far as Form = Cause, it must, as already remarked, be absent
where the given nature is absent (unless counteracting causes have de-
stroyed its effects), but (owing to the circumstance of Plurality of Causes)
it need not necessarily be present, where the given nature is present ; for
the given nature may also be due to some other cause.

71 The value of these instances depends, of course, on the extent of
their approximation to the Instantiae Convenientes, or, in other words,
on the extent to which the two instances, when taken together, fulfil the
conditions of the Method of Difference. The more closely they approach
in other respects, the more likely are we to detect the cause of their
variation.

72 On the very interesting experiment by which Melloni, in spite of
great difficulties, detected heat in the lunar rays, see Tyndall's Heat con-
sidered as a Mode of Motion, 3rd ed., 661.

7:! On the night of full-moon, though not before or after, a series of
observations shews that the sky is, on an average, clearer than at other
times. (See Herschel's Familiar Lectures on Scientific Subjects, pp. 146-7.)
As a consequence of the diminution of the cloudy envelope, the night will
also be colder.

366 NOVUM ORGANUM.

matur, existimantur fervores solis augere et intendere ; ut fit
cum sol sistitur in Leone, et diebus canicularibus 74 .

Ad2<">i 2 *. 2. Radii solis in media (quam vocant) rcgione
aeris non calcfaciunt ; cujus ratio vulgo non male redditur ;
quia rcgio ilia nee satis appropinquat ad corpus solis, unde
radii emanant, nee etiam ad terrain, unde reflectuntur 7 "'.
Atque hoc liquet ex fastigiis montium (nisi sint praealti), ubi
nives perpetuo durant. Sed contra notatum est a nonnullis.
quod in cacumine Picus de Tenariph, atque ctiam in Andis
Peruviae, ipsa fastigia montium nive dcstituta sint ; nivibus
jacentibus tantum inferius in ascensu 76 . Atque insuper ae'r
illis ipsis verticibus montium deprehenditur minime frigidus,
scd tennis tantum et acer ; adeo ut in Andis pungat et
vulneret oculos per nimiam acrimoniam, atque etiam pungat
os vcntriculi, et inducat vomitum. Atque ab antiquis nota-
tum est, in vertice Olympi tantam fuisse aeris tcnuitatem.
ut necesse fuerit illis qui eo ascenderant secum deferre
spongias aceto et aqua madefactas, casque ad os et nares
subinde apponere, quia ae'r ob tenuitatem non sufficiebat
respiration! 77 : in quo vertice etiam relatum est, tantam fuisse
sercnitatem ct tranquillitatem a pluviis ct nivibus et ventis 78 ,

7+ This influence of the fixed stars is, of course, purely imaginary, and
the remark, moreover, shews that Bacon entertained the crudest views of
astronomical distances.

I may here state that I shall not, as a rule, attempt, in the notes on the
remainder of this Book, to comment on Bacon's scientific examples, or to
note his scientific errors, unless they present some feature of special
interest. The object of this edition is to illustrate the logical and phi-
losophical, rather than the scientific position of the author, and hence
the latter, though I shall by no means ignore it, will usually be regarded
as subordinate to the former.

75 The true reason is the increasing rarefaction of the atmosphere, as
we ascend from the sea-level.

76 Simply because the peaks are so steep that the snow will not rest
on them.

77 I have not been able to trace this allusion to any classical writer.
The story, however, occurs in Augustine, De Genesi contra Manichaeos,
lib. i. cap. 15. Bacon notes it also in the Fragment entitled ' Calor et
Frigus ' (E. and S., vol. iii. p. 645 ).

'II p.ev p' &>s firrovcr' avtftr) y^avxunris 'Adiji'tj
Gi'XvuTTGi 8', v0L (pacrl 6t$>v eSos' a<r<paXes aid

LIB. II. 12. 367

ut sacrificantibus literae, descriptae digito in cineribus sacri-
ficiorurn super aram Jovis, manerent in annum proximum
absque ulla perturbatione 73 . Atque etiam hodie ascendentes
ad vcrticem Picus de Tenariph eo vadunt noctu et non interdiu :
et paulo post ortum soils moncntur et excitantur a ducibus
suis ut festinent descendere, propter periculum (ut videtur) a
tenuitate aeris, ne solvat spiritus et suffocet.

Ad2' 3 . Reflexio radiorum soils, in regionibus prope cir-
culos polares, admodum debilis et inefficax invenitur in calore :
adeo ut Belgae, qui hybernarunt in Nova Zembla 8a , cum
expectarent navis suae liberationem et deobstructionem a
glaciali mole (quae earn obsederat) per initia mensis Julii spe
sua frustrati shit, ct coacti scaphae se committere. Itaquc
radii solis directi videntur parum posse, etiam super terrain
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 obliquitatibus
solis anguli sint valde obtusi, et proinde lineae radiorum
magis distantes. Sed interim notandum est, multas esse

ffj./jL(l>ai' our' Hfe/iOtcrt nyuirtrerat oure TTOT' ofj.j3pco
Several ovre ^iwv cmirthvaTai, dXXa p.d\' a'idprj
TTfrrraraL dvtfpeXos, XeuK;} S' em$eSpo[j.ei> a'iy\rj'
TOO fvi TepTTOvrai p.dt<apfs Oeol fjfjLaTa Tnivra.

Homer, Od. vi. 41-6.

The student will do well to read Dr. Merry's instructive note on these
lines. He quotes several parallel passages.

' a See the Aristotelian or pseudo-Aristotelian Problemata, xxvi. 36
(p. 944 b. 12-16), where, however, the author specifies Athos and 'other
such mountains.' Pomponius Mela (lib. ii. cap. 2) refers also to Athos.
Solinus describes the phenomenon as taking place both on Olympus (Poly-
histor, cap. ixj and on Athos (cap. xi). Mr. Eliis cites Geminus and Philo-
ponus, the former of whom speaks of Mount Cyllene in Arcadia, and the
latter of Olympus. Augustine tells the story, at least twice, of Olympus.

All these stories are told of both Olympus and Athos in Maundeville's
Travels (Ed. Halliweli, p. 17), quoted by Mr. Tozer in his Highlands of
Turkey, vol. i. p. 102.

i0 Referring to Barentz's Expedition in search of a North-East Passage.
The event alluded to took place in June, 1597. Mr. Spedding refers
to 'Three Voyages by the North-East,' &c., Hackluyt Society, 1853,
p. 191.

368 NOVUM ORGANUM.

posse operationes radiorum solis, atque etiam ex natura calidi,
quae non sunt proportionatae ad tactum nostrum : adeo ut
respectu nostri non operentur usque ad calefactionem, sed
respectu aliorum nonnullorum corporum exequantur opera
calidi.

Ad2' 4 ". Fiat hujusmodi experimentum. Accipiatur specu-
lum 81 fabricatum contra ac fit in speculis comburentibus, ct
interponatur inter manum et radios solis ; et fiat observatio,
utrum minuat calorem solis, quemadmodum speculum com-
burens eundem auget et intendit. Manifestum est enim,
quoad radios opticos, prout fabricatur speculum in densitate
inaequali respectu meclii et laterum, ita apparere simulachra
magis diffusa aut magis contracta. Itaque idem videndum
in calore.

Ad 2^" 5". Fiat experimentum diligenter, utrum per specula
comburentia fortissima et optima fabricata radii lunae possint
excipi et colligi in aliquem vel minimum gradum teporis s2 . Is
vero gradus teporis si fortasse nimis subtilis et debilis fuerit,
ut ad tactum pcrcipi et deprehendi non possit, confugiendum
erit ad vitra ilia 8r ' quae indicant constitutionem aeris calidam
aut frigidam ; ita ut radii lunae per speculum comburens
incidant et jaciantur in summitatem vitri hujusmodi ; atque
turn notetur, si fiat depressio aquae per teporem.

Ad 2 > 6". Practicetur ctiam vitrum comburens super cali-
dum, quod non sit racliosum aut luminosum ; ut ferri et lapidis
calefacti sed non igniti. aut aquae ferventis, aut similium ; et

81 Used here for a lens.

82 For a long time, the experiments which were applied to detect heat
in the lunar rays were unsuccessful. For the successful experiment of
Melloni, see Tyndall, as referred to above, note 72.

83 The invention of the Thermometer, which was originally an Air
Thermometer, is, according to different accounts, ascribed to Galileo in
1597, Drebbel of Alkmaer in 1609, Paolo Sarpi in 1609, and Sanctorio in
1610. M. Bouillet (note on Nov. Org. ii. 13 (38)) and M. de Vauzelles
(Histoire, &c. de Bacon, vol. i. pp. 30-31) ascribe it, though on in-
sufficient grounds, to Bacon himself. The merit of the invention
probably belongs, in the first instance, to Galileo. See the authorities
referred to in Mr. Ellis' note on ii. 13 (38), and especially the arguments
employed by Libri, Histoire des Sciences Mathematiques en Ita'ie, tome
iv. pp. 187-197.

In Aphs. 13 and 24, Bacon calls this instrument Vitrum Calendarc.

LIB. II. 12. 369

notetur utrum fiat augmentum et intentio calidi, ut in radiis
soils S4 .

Ad 3 7\ Practicetur etiam speculum comburens in flamma
communi.

Ad 3 a' s*. Cometarum (si et illos numerare inter meteora 85
libuerit) non deprehenditur constans aut manifestus effectus
in augend is ardoribus anni, licet siccitates saepius inde sequi

** Dr. Kitchin has the following interesting note on this passage: 'The
questions started here and in the next paragraph have been settled ; and
the result is such as proves the similarity in kind of Solar and other
Heat ; so that in these places no Negative can "be adduced. Large
lenses brought before lighted candles or the fire produce sensible Heat ;
and by collecting the rays of Heat in the atmosphere, even when the
Sun is quite hidden behind clouds, concave Mirrors produce a definite
increase of Heat at their focus. Farther than this, MM. Saussure and
Pictet of Geneva have established the truth as to "ferrum, vel lapis
calefactus, sed non ignitus," &c. by heating an iron ball so as not to be
luminous, and by experimenting on boiling water. From the results
they have shewn that Heat emanates in invisible rays, and is subject to
the same laws of reflexion, &c. as if it were accompanied by rays of light
as well. Melloni has also established the fact that Heat is refrangible ;
and (like Light of different colours) Heat from different sources has
different degrees of refrangibility. Forbes has established the polarisa-
tion of Heat from both luminous and non-luminous sources : he also
depolarised Heat ; and as this is a consequence solely of double refrac-
tion, he thereby has proved that Heat is subject also to the Laws of
double refraction. See Turner's Chemistry, Heat, pp. 14-20.'

' Mersenne says the greater number of the experiments mentioned in
the second book of the Novum Organum had already been made, and
mentions 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.' Mr.
Ellis' note. In the great majority of cases, I think, there is nothing in
Bacon's language to imply that the experiments suggested are original.
See Aph. 14.

f ' J It was a common subject of debate amongst the ancient astronomers
whether Comets were to be regarded as Meteors (which were supposed
to be engendered in the atmosphere), or whether they were more
analogous to the Planets. The point is discussed in a most interesting
manner in the Seventh Book of Seneca's Natural Questions. ' Placet
ergo nostris cometas sicut faces, sicut tubas trabesque et alia ostenta
coeli denso acre creari.' He then argues with great ability against this
view, referring to the comets which appeared in the time of Claudius
and Nero, and sums up his own opinion as follows : ' Ego iostris non

370 NOVUM ORGANUM.

notatae sint 80 . Ouinetiam trabes et columnae lucidae et
chasmata 87 et similia apparent saepius temporibus hybernis
quam aestivis 8S ; et maxime per intensissima frigora, sed con-
juncta cum siccitatibus. Fulmina tamen et coruscationes et
tonitrua raro eveniunt hyeme, sed sub tempus magnorum
fervorum 89 . At stellae (quas vocant) cadentes existimantur
vulgo magis constare ex viscosa aliqua materia splendida et

adsentior : non enim existimo cometen subitaneum ignem, sed inter
aeterna opera naturae.' (Chaps. 21, 22.) A view somewhat similar to
the former was regarded as possible even by Galileo. See II Saggiatore,
20, c., where he defends, as a possible explanation of comets, the
theory that they are formed by exhalations from the earth, rising to a
great height and reflecting the light of the Sun. The return of Halley's
Comet, nearly at the time predicted by him, in 1759, conclusively proved
that these bodies belong to the solar, and not to the terrestrial system,
and that, in the words of Seneca, they are ' aeterna opera naturae.'

" G Neither the one effect nor the other, so far as I am aware, has ever
been established by meteorological observation. At the same time, it
would be rash to deny that comets might have either or both of these
effects, especially if it be true, as the most recent spectrum analysis
seems to shew, that ' the nucleus is self-luminous, and that it is very
possibly composed of glowing gas containing carbon.' See a most
interesting section on Comets and their Spectra in Dr. Schellen's Spec-
trum Analysis, translated by J. and C. Lassell, and edited by Dr. Huggins
(Longmans, 1872).

87 For 'trabes,' see Seneca's Natural Questions, i. i, vii. 4. 5; for
' columnae flagrantes,' vii. 20; and for ' chasmata,' i. 14. As Dr. Kitchin
observes, they are all of them clearly names for different appearances of
the Aurora Borealis, unless we suppose that ' columnae clipeique fla-
grantes ' may stand for the Zodiacal Light.

s This statement is not quite accurate. The annual maxima of these
appearances arc, taking an average, in March and October, the latter
being the greater ; and the annual minima in June and January. Whether
the Aurora be an electrical phenomenon (as most meteorologists sup-
pose), or whether (as some suppose) it be a cloud of meteoric dust ignited
by friction with the atmosphere, there is nothing to connect it with the
rate of temperature.

It is, of course, only on clear nights that the phenomenon can be seen,
and such nights are generally cold.

9 This statement is generally, though not universally, true. As aerial
electricity is, in all probability, mainly due to evaporation, and this
process occurs to a much greater extent in hot weather than in cold,
there is a good reason why thunder-storms should be more frequent in
summer than in winter.

LIB. II. 12. 371

accensa 9n , quam esse naturae igneae fortioris. Sed de hoc
inquiratur ulterius.

Ad 4 <" 9 . Sunt quaedam coruscationes 91 quae praebent lumen
sed non urunt ; eae vero semper fiunt sine tonitru.

Ad 5"" 10'. Eructationes et eruptiones flammarum inveniuntur
non minus in regionibus frigidis quam calidis ; ut in Islandia
et Groenlandia : quemadmoclum et arbores per regiones frigi-
das magis sunt quandoque inflammabiles et magis piceae ac
resinosae quam per regiones calidas ; ut fit in abiete, pinu,
et reliquis : verum in quali situ et natura soli hujusmodi erup-
tiones fieri soleant, ut possimus affirmativae subjungere nega-
tivam, non satis quaesitum est 92 .

AdeaTia. Omnis flamma perpetuo est calida magis aut
minus 93 , neque omnino subjungitur negativa: et tamen refe-
runt ignem fatuum 94 (quern vocant), qui etiam aliquando
impingitur in parietem, non multum habere caloris ; fortasse
instar flammae spiritus vini, quae clemens et lenis est 95 . Sed

' This opinion probably arose from their pear-like shape as they dart
across the heavens, and from the manner in which they appear to be
suddenly kindled and then again suddenly extinguished. In reality,
these aerolites usually consist mainly of metallic iron, the rest of their
substance being made up of a variety of other metals.

fll Sheet-lightning. This phenomenon occurs when the discharge of
electricity takes place below the horizon, or behind a dense cloud, or
at great elevations above the earth's surface. On these occasions, the
distance is too great or the intervening obstacle too dense for the thunder
to be heard.

)2 We must recollect that, at this time, not even the conception of a
science of geology had been formed. It is needless to say that volcanoes,
hot springs (see below), and similar phenomena have no connexion what-
ever with the temperature of the surface of the soil.

93 The temperature of a flame depends on the nature of the substance
burnt and on the nature of the medium in which the combustion takes place.
For the relation between the heat and luminosity of different kinds of flame,
see the article on Combustion in Watts' Dictionary of Chemistry.

'* ' Will o' the Wisp.' This phenomenon probably arises from the
escape of marsh gas (light carburetted hydrogen) from the earth at night-
time, when a faint light is easily visible. How the gas becomes ignited,
it is sometimes difficult to say. A frequent cause of its ignition, probably,
is contact with phosphoretted hydrogen.

95 As Dr. Kitchin says, 'the flame of spirits of wine, instead of being
" clemens et lenis," is one of the most intensely hot kinds of flame.'
Bacon was probably deceived by the appearance.

13 b 2,

372 NOVUM ORGANUM.

adhuc lenior videtur ea flamma quae in nonnullis historiis fidis
et gravibus invenitur apparuisse circa capita ct comas pucro-
rum et virginum 9l) ; quae nullo modo comas adurebat, sed
molliter circum eas trepidabat. Atque certissimum cst, circa
equum 97 in itinere sudantem noctu ct suda tempestate appa-
ruisse quandoque coruscationcm quandam absque manifesto
calore. Atque paucis abhinc annis, notissimum est et pro
miraculo quasi habitum gremiale cujusdam puellae paulo
motum aut fricatum coruscasse ; quod fortasse fact urn est ob
alumen aut sales, quibus gremiale tinctum erat, paulo crassius
hacrentia et incrustata, ct ex fricatione fracta <JS . Atque cer-
tissimum cst saccharum omne, sive conditum (ut vocant)
sive simplex, modo sit durius, in tenebris fractum aut cultello
scalptum coruscare ". Similiter aqua marina ct salsa noctu
interdum invenitur, remis fortiter percussa, coruscare 1 . Atque

! ' c See the story about Servius Tullius in Livy, i. 39, and about Ascanius
in Virg. Aen. ii. 679-86 :

' Talia vociferans gemitu tectum omne replebat,
Cum subitum dictuque oritur mirabile monstrum.
Namque manus inter maestorumque ora parentum
Ecce levis summo de vertice visus luli
Fundere lumen apex, tactuque innoxia mollis
Lambere flamma comas ct circum tempora pasci.
Nos pavidi trepidare metu, crinemque flagrantem
Excutere et sanctos restinguere fontibus ignis.'

Similar stories are told of some of the Saints, as, for instance, St. Cathe-
rine of Alexandria and St. Bridget.
' i: Cp. note on St. Elmo's fire, below.

;W ' The girl's apron was probably made of silk, and the " coruscatio "
electric.' Dr. Kitchin's note.

99 The crystals of sugar exhibit phosphorescence, when cut or rubbed.
1 This beautiful phenomenon must be familiar to almost every one.
The following extracts (I must apologise for their length) are taken from
Mr. Darwin's Naturalist's Voyage Round the World, ch. 8 :

' While sailing a little south of the Plata on one very dark night, the
sea presented a wonderful and most beautiful spectacle. There was a
fresh breeze, and every part of the surface, which during the day is seen
as foam, now glowed with a pale light. The vessel drove before her
bows two billows of liquid phosphorus, and in her wake she was followed
by a milky train. As far as the eye reached, the crest of every wave was
bright, and the sky above the horizon, from the reflected glare of these
livid flames, was not so utterly obscure as over the vault of the heavens.
' As we proceed further southward the sea is seldom phosphorescent ;

LIB. II. 12. 373

ctiam in tcmpcstatibus spuma maris fortitcr agitata noctu
coruscat ; quam coruscationcm Hispani pidmoncni marinum
vocant 2 . De ilia flamma autem quam antiqui nautae voca-
bant Castorem et Pollncem, et modcrni Focum Sancti Erini :! ,
qualem calorem habcat non satis quaesitum est.

and off Cape Horn I do not recollect more than once having seen it so,
and then it was far from being brilliant. This circumstance probably has
a close connexion with the scarcity of organic beings in that part of the
ocean. After the elaborate paper by Ehrenberg, on the phosphorescence
of the sea, it is almost superfluous on my part to make any observations
on the subject. I may however add that the same torn and irregular
particles of gelatinous matter, described by Ehrenberg, seem, in the
southern as well as in the northern hemisphere, to be the common cause
of this phenomenon. * * *

' Observing that the water charged with gelatinous particles is in an
impure state, and that the luminous appearance in all common cases is
produced by the agitation of the fluid in contact with the atmosphere,
I am inclined to consider that the phosphorescence is the result of the
decomposition of the organic particles, by which process (one is tempted
almost to call it a kind of respiration) the ocean becomes purified.'

Whether this conjecture be true or not, there can be no doubt that the
phosphorescence of the sea is often due to living organisms.

2 Mr. Ellis remarks that this is ' merely a translation of Trvfv^a>v 8a\da-
o-iof, which is used by Dioscorides, De Materia Medica, ii. 39. The
luminous appearance arises apparently from serpent medusae, which in
texture are like the substance of the lungs, from which circumstance they
derive the name which Dioscorides gives them.'

3 'St. Elmo's fire.' Cp. Historia Ventorum, Prognostica Ventorum,
No. 43 (E. and S., vol. ii. pp. 69, 70), and Pliny's Natural History, bk. ii.
101 (ch. 37).

' The fire of St. Elmo, or Castor and Pollux, is a brilliant light which
frequently appears on the summits of ships' masts, on the points of
bayonets, on the tops of spears, and on the tips of the ears of horses
(cp. passage above). It is obviously nothing more than the electricity
discharging itself either from or into pointed bodies.' Article on Elec-
tricity in the 8th Edition of the Encyclopaedia Britannica by Sir David
Brewster. (The passage is not incorporated in the 9th Edition.) The
writer then proceeds to add some interesting accounts of this pheno-
menon, as given by Lord Napier and the Comte de Forbin. The latter
says, 'we saw from different points of the ship about thirty St. Elmo's
fires.'

Mr. Ellis, following Humboldt, quotes Camoens :
' Vi claramente visto o lume vivo,
Oue a maritima gente tern por santo
Em tempo de tormenta,' &c.

Os Lusiadas de Cainoes, canto v. est. 18.

374 NOVUM ORGANUM.

Ad 7^' 12'. Omne ignitum ita ut vcrtatur in ruborem igneum
ctiam sine flamma perpetuo calidum cst, neque huic affirma-
ti-cae subjungitur ncgativa ; sed quod in proximo cst vidctur
esse lignum putre, quod splendet noctu neque tamen depre-
henditur calidum ; et squamae piscium putrescentes, quae
etiam splendent noctu, nee inveniuntur ad tactum calidae :
neque etiam corpus cicindelae aut muscae (quam vocant luci-
olam 4 ) calidum ad tactum deprehenditur.

Ad 8"* 13*. De balneis calidis, in quo situ et natura soli ema-
nare soleant, non satis quaesitum est ; itaque non subjungitur
negativa.

Ad 9"" 14". Liquidis fervcntibus subjungitur ncgatii'a ipsius
liquidi in natura sua. Nullum enim invenitur liquidum tan-
gibile quod sit in natura sua et maneat constantcr calidum,
sed superinducitur ad tempus tantum calor. ut natura ascititia :
adeo ut quae potestate et operationc sunt maxime calida, ut
spiritus vini, olea aromatum chymica, etiam olea vitrioli et
sulphuris 5 , 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 dcfervescit
perinde ac aqua igne calefacta. At vcrum est corpora oleosa
ad tactum paulo minus esse frigida quam aquea ; ut oleum
minus quam aqua, sericum minus quam linteum. Vcrum hoc
pcrtinct ad Tabnlam Gradunni de Frigido.

Ad 10"" 15*. Similitcr vapori fcrvido subjungitur ncgatii'a na-
turae ipsius vaporis, qualis apud nos invenitur. Etenim cx-
halationes ex olcosis. licet facile inflammabiles, tamen non
inveniuntur calidae, nisi a corpore calido rccenter exhala-
verint.

Ad 10="" i6\ Similiter aeri ipsi fervent i subjungitur ncgatrca
naturae aeris ipsius. Neque enim invenitur apud nos aer

calidus ; nisi fucrit aut conclusus. aut attritus n , aut manifesto

calefactus a sole, ignc. aut aliquo alio corpore calido.

1 Luciola = the fire-fly, cicindcla ^ the glow-worm. All the instances
given in this section are phenomena of phosphorescence.

" Sulphuric Acid. See note 66 above. 1 may here again notice the
same confusion as before between the temperature of an object itself and
the manner in which it affects our senses.

c ' Subjected to friction,' namely, of its minute particles. The word

LIB. II. 12. 375

AJ nan- 1 7 '. Subjungitur negativa tempestatum frigidarum ma-
gis quam pro ratione temporis anni. quae eveniunt apud nos
flante Euro et Borca ; quemadmodum et contrariae tempes-
tates eveniunt flante Austro et Zcphyro. Etiam inclinatio
ad pluviam (praesertim temporibus hyemalibus) comitatur
tempestatem tepidam ; at gelu contra frigiclam.

Ad 12-"" is. Subjungitur negativa aeris conclusi in cavernis
tempore aestivo 7 . At de acre concluso omnino diligentius
inquirendum. Primo enim non absque causa in dubitationem
venit, qualis sit natura aeris quatenus ad calidum et frigiclum
in natura sua propria. Recipit enim aer calidum manifesto
ex impressione coelestium ; frigidum autem fortasse ab expi-
ratione terrae ; et rursus in media (quam vocant) regione aeris
a vaporibus frigidis 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 etiam
ut aer concludatur in tali vase et materia quae ncc ipsa im-
buat aerem calido vel frigido ex vi propria, nee facile admittat
vim aeris extranei. Fiat itaque experimentum per ollam figu-
larem multiplici corio obductam ad muniendam ipsam ab aere
extraneo, facta mora per trcs aut quatuor dies in vase benc
occluso ; deprehensio autem sit post apertionem vasis vel per
manum vel per vitrum graduum 8 ordine applicatum.

cannot mean simply agitated or put in motion ; for the passage would
then contradict what is said in Inst. 22, q. v. Bacon was, of course,
mistaken in supposing either that any motion could take place without
friction, or that air could move in masses without any friction amongst
its minute particles.

7 Both this and the phenomenon noticed in Inst. 12 of Aph. 11 are
really due to the same cause. Air is a bad conductor of heat, and hence,
as Dr. Kitchin says, ' it receives it slowly and retains it long.' The air
within a cavern being approximately of the same temperature in winter
and summer, seems, as compared with the outer air, hot at the one season
and cold at the other. It is for the same reason that, in walking up a
high mountain, we may suffer intensely from the sun's rays over-head,
while, if we retire into the shade, we may be almost frozen.

The following remarks show how little Bacon knew of the conduction
of heat, or of the purely relative character of the expressions ' hot ' and
' cold.' He thought that cold was as much a positive quality as heat.

" This word shews that the thermometer was already graduated in
Bacon's time.

376 NOVUM ORGANUM.

Ad 13^ ig\ Subest similiter dubitatio 9 , utrum tepor in lana
et pellibus et plumis et hujusmodi fiat, ex quodam exili calore
inhaerente, quatenus excernuntur ab animalibus ; aut etiam ob
pinguedinem quandam et oleositatem, quae sit naturae l con-
gruae cum tepore ; vel plane ob conclusionem et fractionem
aeris, ut in articulo praecedente dictum est. Videtur enim
omnis ae'r abscissus a continuitate aeris forinseci habere non-
nihil teporis. Itaque fiat experimentum in fibrosis quae fiunt
ex lino; non ex lana aut plumis aut serico, quae excernun-
tur ab animatis. Notandum est etiam, omnes pulveres (ubi
manifesto includitur ae'r) minus esse frigidos quam corpora
integra ipsorum 10 ; quemadmodum etiam existimamusomnem
spumam (utpote quae aerem contineat) minus esse frigidam
quam liquorem ipsum.

Ad i 4 20*. Huic non subjungitur negativa. Nihil enim repe-
ritur apud nos sive tangibile sive spiritale n , quod admotum
igni non excipiat calorem. In eo tamen differunt, quod alia
excipiant calorem citius, ut ae'r 12 , oleum, et aqua ; alia tardius,
ut lapis et metalla. Verum hoc pertinet ad Tabulam Gra-
duum.

Ad i S "" 2i. Huic Instantiae non subjungitur negativa alia,
quam ut bene notetur non excitari scintillas ex silice et
chalybe aut alia aliqua substantia dura nisi ubi excutiuntur
minutiae aliquae ex ipsa substantia lapidis vel metalli, neque

y The 'dubitatio' of Bacon has, of course, been wholly removed. The
so-called 'warmth' of wool, skins, feathers, &c. is due to none of the
causes which he suggests, but simply to the fact that they are bad con-
ductors of heat, and hence, when the skin is covered with them, the
animal warmth is retained.

u This circumstance is, of course, due to the bad conducting power of
air. See note 7 above.

1 The word is evidently used in this place, not as opposed to material
or corporeal, but as applying to aeriform fluids.

- There is a confusion here between the radiation of heat though the
air and the conductivity of air itself. If we kindle a fire in a room, we at
once feel the increased warmth through radiation ; but if we extinguish it
shortly afterwards, it will be found that the temperature of the air has
hardly been perceptibly increased. The glass fire-screen furnishes a
familiar illustration of the same principle. Metals, on the other hand,
are rapid conductors, as we may test by their coldness to the touch in
ordinary temperatures.

LIB. 77. 12. 377

aerem attritum unquam per se generate scintillas 13 , ut vulgo
putant ; qum et ipsae iliac scintillae ex pondere corporis
igniti magis vergunt deorsum quam sursum, et in extinctionc
redeunt in quandam fuliginem corpoream.

Adi6*" n 22. Existimamus huic instantiae non subjungi ncga-
tivam. Nullum cnim invenitur apud nos corpus tangibile,
quod non ex attritione manifesto calescat 14 ; adeo ut veteres
somniarent non inesse coelestibus aliam viam aut virtutem
calefaciendi nisi ex attritione ae'ris per rotationem rapidam
et incitatam 15 . Verum in hoc genere ulterius inquirendum
est, utrum corpora quae emittuntur ex machinis (qualia sunt
pilae ex tormentis) non ex ipsa percussione contrahant ali-
quem gradum caloris ; adeo ut postquam deciderint invenian-
tur nonnihil calida 16 . At aer motus magis infrigidat quam

13 See Tyndall, Heat a Mode of Motion, 3rd ed., 25 : 'When the air
is compressed, heat is suddenly generated. Tinder may be ignited by
this heat.' Compressed air, when expanded, on the other hand, has a
chilling effect.

* This statement is perfectly true. Motion or mechanical force (which
always involves friction) and heat are mutually convertible. Motion may
always be converted into heat, and heat into motion. This is the funda-
mental axiom of the modern science of Heat.

15 Mr. Ellis refers to Arist. Meteorol. bk. i. ch. 2 (ch. 3 of Berlin Edi-
tion, p. 341 a) sub finem, and De Coelo, ii, 7 (p. 288 a). The latter pas-
sage is peculiarly interesting : 17 Se Bfp^orrj^ an avT&v (sc. TU>I> oWpwi>) K<U TO
(j)u>s ylvfTai TrnpfK.Tpi(3ofjLfi>ov TOV aepos vno rf/s fK(iva>V (popas. 7T((pvKe yap fj
KiVTjcns (KKvpovv (ecu v\a Kal \ldovs Ka\ CT/Sfj/joj/' ev\oya>Te pov ovv TO fyyvTfpov
TOV TTtipdr, eyyvTfpov 8e 6 afjp, oinv Ka\ eVi TCOV (pepofj-fvcdv @e\u>v' TCIVTO. yap
aura (KTrvpovrai OVTIOS, K.r.X. Mr. Ellis remarks that ' 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
was ascribed to anything akin to combustion.'

That Aristotle's theory was not inherently impossible will be plain from
the following passage, taken from Tyndall's Heat a Mode of Motion, 3rd
ed., 12 : 'The most probable theory of shooting stars is that they are
small liianetary bodies revolving round the sun, which are caused to swerve
from their orbits by the attraction of the earth, and are raised to incan-
descence by friction against our atmosphere. Chladni propounded this
view, and Dr. Joule has shewn that the atmospheric friction is competent
to produce the effect.' Professor Tyndall, at the beginning of this section,
refers to Aristotle's statement that arrows are heated by passing through
the air.

16 This is so. A bullet or a cannon-ball is heated by passing through

378 NOVUM ORGANUM.

calefacit ; ut in ventis et follibus et flatu oris contract! 1T .
Vcrum hujusmodi motus non est tarn rapidus ut excitet
calorem, ct fit secundum totum. non per particulas 18 ; ut
mi rum non sit, si non generet calorem.

Ad 17^ 2 3 \ Circa hanc instantiam facienda est inquisitio dili-
gentior. Videntur enim herbae et vegetabilia viridia et hu-
mida aliquid habere in se occulti caloris. Illc vero calor tarn
tennis est ut in singulis non percipiatur ad tactum : verum
postquam ilia adunata sint et conclusa, ut spiritus ipsorum
non expirct in ae'rem sed se invicem foveat, turn vero oritur
calor manifestus, et nonnunquam flamma in materia congrua 19 .

Ad is<"" 2 4 . Etiam circa hanc instantiam diligentior facienda
est inquisitio. Videtur enim calx viva aqua aspersa concipere
calorem vel propter unionem caloris qui antca distrahebatur
(ut ante dictum est de herbis conclusis), vel ob irritationem

the air. Cp. what Aristotle says in the passage quoted above about the
heating of arrows.

' The cooling effect in these cases is due to the fact that fresh draughts
of air are constantly brought into contact with the body, the loss of heat
from the latter being thus rendered more rapid than it would be if the
surrounding atmosphere were more nearly of the same temperature with
itself.

- From this passage, it would appear as if Bacon thought that masses
of air could be put in motion, without causing any disturbance or fric-
tion amongst their minute particles a view in which he was, of course,
wrong.

11 This is a well-known phenomenon, as in damp hay-ricks, coal-dust,
heaps of decaying vegetable matter, masses of rags or tow saturated with
oil, &c. Bacon's explanation, it is unnecessary to say, is wholly unscientific.
The following is given in Watts' Dictionary of Chemistry, art. Combus-
tion : ' The substance absorbs and condenses the air within its pores ;
oxidation then commences immediately and raises the temperature, which
again accelerates the oxidation ; and thus the process goes on with con-
tinually increasing rapidity, till at length the mass bursts into flame. The
low conducting power of such a porous mass greatly facilitates the com-
bustion, by preventing the dissipation of the heat generated. *
The presence of moisture greatly promotes the spontaneous ignition of
porous substances, such as hay or coal-dust, the water probably supplying
oxygen to the combustible matter.' Where the masses are small, the heat
developed is usually carried off; so that combustion, in materials of this
character, is far more likely to take place in large masses than small.
Thus, in a hay-rick the process may be arrested by pulling the rick to
pieces.

LIB. II. 12. 379

et exasperationem spiritus ignei ab aqua, ut fiat quidam con-
flictus et antiperistasis 20 . Utra vcro res sit in causa facilius
apparebit, si loco aquae immittatur oleum ; oleum enim
aeque ac aqua valebit ad unionem spiritus inclusi, scd non
ad irritationem. Etiam faciendum est experimentum latins
tarn in cineribus et calcibus diversorum corporum, quam per
immissionem diversorum liquorum.

Adig^as". Huic instantiae subjungitur ncgativa aliorum me-
tallorum, quae sunt magis mollia et fluxa. Etenim bracte-
olae auri, solutae in liquorem per aquam regis, nullum dani
calorem ad tactum in dissolutione ; ncque similiter plumbum
in aqua forti ; neque etiam argentum vivum (ut memini) ; sccl
argentum ipsum parum excitat caloris, atque etiam cuprum
(ut memini), sed magis manifesto stannum, atque omnium
maxime ferrum et chalybs, quae non solum fortem excitant
calorem in dissolutione, sed etiam violentam ebullitionem.
Itaque videtur calor fieri per confiictum, cum aquae fortes
penetrant et fodiunt et divellunt partes corporis, et corpora
ipsa resistunt 21 . Ubi vero corpora facilius cedunt, vix exci-
tatur calor.

Ad2o-26\ Calori animalium nulla subjungitur ncgativa, nisi
insectorum (ut dictum est) ob parvitatem corporis. Etenim in
piscibus collatis ad animalia terrestria magis notatur gradus
caloris quam privatio. In vegetabilibus autem et plantis
nullus percipitur gradus caloris ad tactum, neque in lachrymis
ipsorum, neque in medullis recenter apertis. At in animali-
bus magna reperitur diversitas caloris, turn in partibus ipso-
rum (alius est enim calor circa cor, alius in cerebro, alius circa

The reason is that the water enters into combination with the quick-
lime, which has a powerful affinity for it, and that heat is developed in the
process.

The word 'antiperistasis ' is defined in ii. 27 ad fin. as 'rejectio naturae
contrariae.' Cp. note on that passage.

The reader will not fail to notice Bacon's curious use of the word
'spirit' and the strange metaphors which it suggests to him.

- l In these and similar cases, heat is developed by chemical action. ' I
know of no exception,' says Sir W. R. Grove, ' to the general proposition
that all bodies, in chemically combining, produce heat.' Correlation of
Physical Forces, Section on Chemical Affinity.

380 NOVUM ORGANUM.

externa), turn in accidentibus eorum, ut in exercitatione vehe-
menti et febribus.

Ad2i27. Huic instantiae vix subjungitur ncgativa. Quin-
ctiam excrementa animalium non recentia manifeste habent
calorem potentialem, ut cernitur in impinguatione soli.

Ad 22"" et 23*11 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. Operantur autem secundum analogiam 22 et poros
corporis cui adjunguntur. Aqua enim regis aurum solvit,
argentum minime ; at contra aqua fortis argentum solvit,
aurum minime ; neutrum autem solvit vitrum. Et sic de
caeteris.

Ad24'2 9 \ Fiat experimentum spiritus vini in lignis, ac etiam
in butyro aut cera aut pice ; si forte per calorem suum ea
aliquatenus liquefaciat 23 . Etenim instantia 24 a ostendit pote-
statem ejus imitativam caloris in incrustationibus. Itaque
fiat similiter experimentum in liquefactionibus. Fiat etiam
experimentum per vitrum graduum sive calendare quod con-
cavum sit in summitate sua per exterius; et immittatur in
illud concavum exterius spiritus vini bene rectificatus, cum
operculo, ut melius contineat calorem suum ; et notetur utrum
per calorem suum faciat aquam descendere 24 .

Ad2 5 a' 3 o. Aromata, et herbac acres ad palatum, multo magis
sumptae interius. percipiuntur calida. Videndum itaque in
quibus aliis materiis exequantur opera caloris. Atque refe-
runt nautae, cum cumuli et massae aromatum diu conclusae
subito aperiuntur, periculum instare illis, qui eas primo agitant
et extrahunt, a febribus et inflammationibus spiritus. Simi-

- It is not easy to see the exact meaning of this expression here. Does
it mean vaguely ' according as they are related to the objects to which they
are applied ' ?

- 3 ' Spirits of wine will dissolve wax and pitch, but not wood or butter.'
Dr. Kitchin's note.

1 The nature of this experiment will be made clear by consulting Inst.
38 of the next Aphorism. The water will descend owing to the expansion
of the spirits of wine. The employment of Spirits of Wine in the con-
struction of thermometers was intermediate between that of air and txat
of mercury.

LIB. //. 13. 381

liter fieri potent experimentum, utrum pulveres hujusmodi
aromatum aut herbarum non arefaciant laridum et carneni
suspensam super ipsos, veluti fumus ignis.

Ad26 in 3i. Acrimonia sive penetratio inest tarn frigidis, qualia
sunt acetum et oleum vitrioli, quam calidis, qualia sunt oleum
origani et similia. Itaque similiter et in a'nimatis cient dolo-
rem, et in non animatis divellunt partes et consumunt. Neque
huic instantiae subjungitur ncgativa. Atque in animatis nullus
reperitur dolor, nisi cum quodam sensu caloris.

Ad27"'32- Communes sunt complures actiones et calidi et
frigidi, licet diversa admodum ratione. Nam et nives pucro-
rum manus videntur paulo post urere ; et frigora tuentur
carncs a putrefactione - 5 , non minus quam ignis ; et calores
contrahunt corpora in minus 20 , quod faciunt et frigida. Verum
haec et similia opportunius est referre ad Inquisitionem de
Frigido 27 .

XIII.

Tertio facienda est comparcntia ad intcllcctum instantiarum
in quibus natura, de qua fit inquisitio, inest secundum magis
et minus ; sive facta comparatione incrementi et decrementi
in eodem subjecto, sive facta comparatione ad invicem in
subjectis diversis. Cum enim forma rei sit ipsissima res 2S ;

" This remark is interesting, as connected with the experiment which
was the occasion of Bacon's death. On a cold morning in the spring of
1626, he descended from his coach at the bottom of Highgate Hill, bought
a hen of a poor woman, and stuffed it with snow. The chill, to which
he was thus exposed, brought on an attack of what we should now call
bronchitis, of which he died on the 9th of April.

26 This effect, which is, of course, only apparent, is due to the escape of
gases. With certain very rare exceptions, the invariable effect of any aug-
mentation of temperature is to expand, not to contract, a body.

- 7 As I have pointed out before, Bacon did not see the true relation of
heat and cold, but regarded the latter as a positive quality. There is no
systematic ' Inquisitio de Frigido ' in his works. The nearest approaches
to it are ' Experiments in consort touching the production of cold : in the
Sylva Sylvarum, Century i. 69-75 (E. and S., vol. ii. pp. 370-1), and a
Fragment entitled ' Sequela Cartarum, sive Inquisitio Legitima de Galore
et Frigore' (E. and S., vol. iii. pp. 644-52).

28 The language here used of Form exactly corresponds with that which
might be used of the scholastic term ' Essence,' or of the ' Real Essence '
.of r Locke. There is, perhaps, no passage in the Novum Organ um, in
which we could less appropriately replace the word by 'Law' or 'Cause.'

382 NOVUM ORGANUM.

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 -- 1 ; omnino sequitur ut non reci-
piatur aliqua natura pro vera forma, nisi perpetuo decrescat
quando natura ipsa decrescit, et similiter perpetuo augeatur
quando natura ipsa augetur :i . Hanc itaque tabulam Tabu-
law Graduum sive Tabitlaui Comparativae appellare consue-
vimus.

Tabula Gradnnm sive Comfarativae in Calido.

Primo itaque dicemus de iis quae nullum prorsus gradum
caloris habent ad tactum, sed videntur habere potentialem
tantum quendam calorem, sive dispositionem et praepara-
tionem ad calidum. Postea demum descendemus ad ea quae
sunt actu sive ad tactum calida, eorumque fortitudines et
gradus.

i . In corporibus solidis et tangibilibus non invenitur aliquid
quod in natura sua calidum sit originaliter 31 . Non enim lapis
aliquis, non metallum, non sulphur, non fossile aliquod,. non

'' This is only another way of stating the contrast of ' apparens ' et
' existens,' of a thing or quality as it appears to us, and as it is in its
own inmost nature. Thus, heat, as affecting the senses, is ' in ordine ad
hominem,' while its cause or essence, a motion of a certain kind amongst
the minute particles of matter, is ' in ordine ad universum.' Aristotle's
distinction of irpore/yci or yvuipi^atrepa Trpus TJ/JMS and irporfpa or yvu>pi/.iu>Tfpa
rfj (pilau, as applied respectively to individuals and species, is, it will be
noticed, here transferred to the relation of an effect to its cause or a
phenomenon to its. essence.

This rule, so far as it affects the relation of cause and effect, is vitiated
by the consideration of the Plurality of Causes. As an effect may be
due to two or more distinct causes, being sometimes produced by one and
sometimes by another, it is quite conceivable that one of the causes might
remain altogether unchanged, while the effect increased or diminished
concurrently with the other cause or with one of the other causes. This
objection does not apply to the Canon of the Method of Concomitant
Variations as stated by Mr. Mill or myself.

31 What Bacon means is that there is no tangible body which, in its
ordinary condition, affects the skin with the sensation of heat. The
purely relative and negative character of ' cold,' and the laws of radiation
and conduction, we must recollect, were alike unknown to him.

By ' cold ' Bacon, of course, means a temperature lower than that of
the skin.

LIB. II. 13. 383

lignum, non aqua, non cadaver animalis, inveniuntur calida.
Aquae autem calidae in balneis vidcntur calefieri per acci-
dens, sive per flammam aut ignem subterraneum, qualis ex
Aetna et montibus aliis compluribus evomitur, sive ex con-
flictu corporum, quemadmodum calor fit in ferri ct stanni
dissoluttonibus. Itaque gradus caloris in inanimatis. quatenus
ad tactum humanum, nullus est ; veruntamen ilia gradu frigons
differunt ; non enim aeque frigidum est lignum ac metallum.
Sed hoc pertinet ad Tabulam Gradnum in Frigido.

2. Attamen quoad potentiales calores et pracparationes ad
flammam, complura inveniuntur inanimata admodum dispo-
sita. ut sulphur, naphtha, petrelaeum 32 .

3. Quae antea incaluerunt, ut fimus equinus ex animali, aut
calx, aut fortasse cinis aut fuligo ex igne, reliquias latentes
quasdam caloris prioris retinent :33 . Itaque fiunt quaedam
distillationes et separationes corporum 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 dictum 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 34 .

32 Petroleum.

33 This idea is, of course, purely fantastic. By analogy, steel or glass
ought to be peculiarly susceptible of heat, because they have been passed
through the furnace.

34 This confusion between things which are hot, in the true sense of
having a high degree of temperature, and those which affect any of our
organs with a sensation akin to that of heat, has already been pointed
out in note 66 on Aph. n. Sir John Herschel's remarks (Discourse on
the study of Natural Philosophy, 345) on this and similar confusions
apply to so many of Bacon's examples that I think it will be useful to
the student if I extract them at length :

' The word heat generally implies the sensation which we experience
on approaching a fire ; but, in the sense it carries in physics, it denotes
the cause, whatever it be, of that sensation, and of all the other phe-
nomena which arise on the application of fire, or of any other heating

384 NOVUM ORGANUM.

5. Non invenitur in partibus animalium, postquam fuerint
mortuae aut separatae, aliquid calidum ad tactum humanum.
Nam neque fimus equinus ipse, nisi fuerit conclusus et sepul-
tus, calorem retinet. Sed tamen omnis fimus habere videtur
calorem potentialem, ut in agrorum impinguatione. Et simi-
liter, cadavera animalium hujusmodi habent latentem et po-
tcatialem calorem ; adeo ut in coemeteriis, ubi quotidic fiunt
sepulturae, terra calorem quendam occultum colligat, qui
cadaver aliquod recenter impositum consumit longe citius
quam terra pura 35 . Atque apud orientales traditur inveniri
textile quoddam tenue et molle. factum ex avium plumagine,
quod vi innata butyrum solvat et liquefaciat in ipso leviter
involutum.

6. Ouae impinguant agros, ut fimi omnis generis, creta,
arena maris, sal, et similia, dispositionem nonnullam habent
ad calidum.

7. Omnis putrefactio in sc rudimenta quaedam exilis caloris

cause- We should be greatly deceived if we referred only to sensation
as an indication of the presence of this cause. Many of those things which
excite in our organs, and especially those of taste, a sensation of heat,
o\ve this property to chemical stimulants, and not at all to their being
actually Jioi. This error of judgment has produced a corresponding con-
fusion of language, and hence had actually at one period crept into physical
philosophy a great many illogical and absurd conclusions. Again, there
arc a number of chemical agents, which, from their corroding, blacken-
ing, and dissolving, or drying up the parts of some descriptions of bodies,
and producing on them effects not generally unlike (though intrinsically
very different from) those produced by heat, are said, in loose and vulgar
language, to burn them ; and this error has even become rooted into
a prejudice, by the fact that some of these agents are capable of becoming
actually and truly hot during their action on moist substances, by reason of
their combination with the water the latter contain. Thus, quicklime and
oil of vitriol both exercise a powerful corrosive action on animal and
vegetable substances, and both become violently hot by their combination
with water. They are, therefore, set down in vulgar parlance as sub-
stances of a hot nature ; whereas, in their relations to the physical cause of
heat, they agree with the generality of bodies similarly constituted.'

::fl There is no ground, I believe, for this assertion. The idea may have
been suggested by the effects of quick-lime, which was frequently strewn
on corpses, during the time of plague, in hastening decomposition, not
only at the time of being strewn but subsequently. Moreover, bodies are
consumed much more quickly in some soils than others.

LIB. II. 13. 385

habet 30 , licet non hucusque ut ad tactum percipiatur. Nam
nee ca ipsa quae putrefacta solvuntur in animalcula 37 , ut caro,
caseus, acl tactum percipiuntur calida; neque lignum putre,
quod noctu splendet 38 , deprehenditur ad tactum calidum.
Calor autem in putridis quandoque se prodit per odores
tetros et fortes.

8. Primus itaque caloris gradus, ex iis quae ad tactum
humanum percipiuntur calida, videtur esse calor animalium,
qui bene magnam habet graduum latitudinem. Nam infimus
gradus (ut in insectis) vix ad tactum deprenditur ; summus
autem gradus vix attingit ad gradum caloris radiorum solis
in regionibus et tcmporibus maxime ferventibus 3:) , neque ita
acris est quin tolerari possit a manu. Et tamen referunt de
Constantio 40 , aliisque nonnullis qui constitutionis et habitus
corporis admodum sicci fucrunt, quod acutissimis febribus
correpti 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 prin-
cipio frigore et horrore corripiuntur, sed paulo post majorem
in modum incalescunt ; quod etiam faciunt a principio in
causonibus 41 et febribus pestilentialibus.

36 This statement, as Mr. Ellis says, is true of eremacausis rather than
of real putrefaction. For instances of the development of heat in the
former process, see Inst. 23 of the last Aphorism and the note upon it.

37 Bacon regarded putrefaction as a co-ordinate cause of generation
with copulation. See Sylva Sylvarum, Experiment 900.

38 This phenomenon, as already stated, is due to phosphorescence.

39 Blood-Heat is marked at 98 Fahrenheit and Fever-Heat at 112" on
the ordinary Thermometers. These are considerably below the number of
degrees which the Thermometer sometimes marks in the sun even in
temperate climates.

40 The person alluded to is Constantius II, son of Constantine the Great.
Mr. Ellis refers to Ammianus Marcellinus, lib. xxi. cap. 15. The passage
runs as follows : ' paullatimque urente calore nimio venas, ut ne tangi
quidem corpus ejus posset in modum foculi fervens, cum usus deficeret
meclullarum, ultimum spirans deflebat exitium.'

41 The word Kavauiv is employed in the New Testament to express
a burning, scorching heat, as in Matt. xx. 12, Luke xii. 55, James i. II.
In the Septuagint, it generally means the East Wind, as being the wind

C C

386 NOVUM ORGANUM.

11. Inquiratur ulterius de calore comparato in diversis ani-
malibus, veluti piscibus, quadrupedibus, serpentibus, avibus ;
atque etiam secundum species ipsorum, ut in leone, milvio,
homine ; nam, ex vulgar! opinione, pisces per interiora minus
calidi sunt, aves autem maxime calidae ; praesertim columbae,
accipitres, struthiones 42 .

12. Inquiratur ulterius de calore comparato in eodem ani-
mali, secundum partes et membra ejus diversa. Nam lac,
sanguis, sperma, ova, inveniuntur gradu modico tepida, et
minus calida quam ipsa caro exterior in animali quando
movetur aut agitatur. Qualis vero gradus sit caloris in
cerebro, stomacho, corde, et reliquis, 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 atque
temporibus anni et diei calidissimis, non eum gradum caloris
obtinet, qui vel lignum aridissimum vel stramen vel etiam
linteum ustum incendat aut adurat, nisi per specula combu-
rentia roboretur ; sed tamen e rebus humidis vaporem exci-
tare potest.

15. Ex traditione astronomorum ponuntur stellae aliae
ma^is, aliae minus calidae 43 . Inter planetas enim post solem
ponitur Mars calidissimus, deinde Jupiter, deinde Venus;
ponuntur autem tanquam frigidi Luna et deinde omnium

which brings hot and scorching weather. Here it must be employed as
the equivalent of Kaixros, a bilious, intermittent fever.

42 Mr. Spedding thinks that the word ' struthio ' is here used for a
sparrow ; but my relative, the Rev. J. T. Fowler, has pointed out to me
that there is no reason why it should not be taken in its ordinary sense
of ' an ostrich,' as the powerful digestion of this bird was commonly
attributed to the fervent heat of its stomach.

4:! The order here adopted is, of course, with the exception of the sun,
purely fanciful. The 'tradition,' with regard to the planets, was probably
founded on their aspect, i.e. their colour and brilliancy ; with regard to the
fixed stars, partly on their brilliancy, partly on some peculiarity in their
relative position in the heavens, partly on the period of their heliacal rising.

It may be noticed that the Sun is ranked amongst the Planets.

On the influence, generally, of the heavenly bodies on the seasons and
weather, see Pliny, Natural History, bk. ii. chs. 39-41. sects. 105-10.

LIB. II. 13. 387

maxime Saturnus. Inter fixas autem ponitur calidissimus
Sirius 44 , deinde Cor Leonis, sive Regulus 45 , deinde Cani-
cula 46 , etc.

1 6. Sol magis calefacit. quo magis vergit ad perpendiculum

44 a Canis Majoris. We can hardly be surprised at the notion of intense
heat being connected with Sirius. Not only is it far the most brilliant of
the fixed stars, but the period of its heliacal rising corresponds with the
hottest time of the year, whence the expression ' Dies Caniculares ' or
' Dog-Days.' It is frequently alluded to by the ancients, as in the well-
known lines of Homer and Virgil :

Tov 8' 6 yepcuv npia/J.os npuiTos 18ev o(pda\p.olcriv,
Traptpaivovd' &CTT' dcrrep', fTTtcrcrvfievov TrcSi'otO,
os pa T (jTT&pys ficriv, apifoXoi 8e ol nvyal
(paivovrai TToXXoZcri /Lter' do"Tpncri VVKTOS d/xoXyco'
ov re KVV 'Qpiavos f'niKXrja-iv ndXsovcriv.
Xa/LwrporaTo? /xeV oS' (CTTI, KaKov 8e re crtjfia rervKrat,
Kai Tf (ptpei TroXXoj' TrvpfTov fietXoicri /3/joTOtcrii'.

II. xxii. 25-31. (Cp. V. 5, 6.J

' Non secus, ac liquida si quando nocte cometae
Sanguinei lugubre rubent, aut Sirius ardor,
Ille sitim morbosque ferens mortalibus aegris,
Nascitur et laevo contristat lumine coelum.'

Aen. x. 272-5. (Cp. Georg. iv. 425-8 ; Aen. iii. 141-2.)
Pliny (Nat. Hist. ii. 40. sect. 107) has an interesting description of the
supposed effects of the star, which is there called ' Canicula.'

' Nam Caniculae exortu accendi Solis vapores quis ignorat ? cujus sideris
effectus amplissimi in terra sentiuntur. Fervent maria exoriente eo, fluc-
tuant in cellis vina, moventur stagna. Orygem appellat Aegyptus feram,
quam in exortu ejus contra stare, et contueri tradit, ac velut adorare, cum
sternuerit. Canes quidem toto eo spatio maxime in rabiem agi, non est
dubium.'

A tolerably full account of Sirius, or Canicula as it was sometimes called,
is given in Smyth's Celestial Cycle, vol. ii. p. 158, &c.

45 a Leonis. See Smyth's Celestial Cycle, vol. ii. p. 225, c. 'Ptolemy
calls this star BntriXurxos, from an opinion of its influencing the affairs of the
heavens ; whence comes its Latin name Regulus.'

w a Canis Minoris. See Smyth, vol. ii. pp. 182-3. This star is also
called UpoKvav, because it appears in the morning dawn, as the precursor of
Sirius. The 'Lesser Dog' or 'Little Dog' is a star of great brilliancy
though not nearly so brilliant as Sirius or the ' Greater Dog.'
Horace refers to this star and Regulus in the well-known lines :
' Jam clarus occultum Andromedae pater
Ostendit ignem : jam Procyon furit,
Et Stella vesani Leonis,
Sole dies referente siccos.'

Od. iii. 29 (17-20).

C C 2

388 NOVUM ORGANUM.

sive Zenith, quod etiam credendum est de aliis pianetis, 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 propinquitatem ad terram,
quam in apogaeis 47 . Quod si eveniat ut in aliqua regione sol
sit si mul in perigaeo et propius ad perpendiculum, necesse
est ut magis calefaciat quam in regione ubi sol sit similiter
in perigaeo sed magis ad obliquum. Adeo ut comparatio
cxaltationis planetarum notari debeat, prout ex perpcndiculo
aut obliquitate participet. secundum regionum varietatem.

1 8. Sol etiam. et similiter reliqui planetae, calefacere magis
existimantur cum sint in proximo ad stellas fixas majores ;
veluti cum sol ponitur in Leone, magis vicinus fit Cordi
Leonis, Caudae Leonis, et Spicae Virginis, et Sirio. et Cani-
culae, quam cum ponitur in Cancro, ubi tamen magis sistitur
ad perpendiculum 48 . Atque credendum est partes coeli majo-
rem infundere calorem (licet ad tactum minime perceptibilem)
quo magis ornatae sint stellis, praesertim majoribus.

19. Omnino calor coelestium augetur tribus modis ; vide-
licet ex perpendiculo, ex propinquitate sive perigaeo, et ex
conjunctione sive consortio stellarum.

20. Magnum omnino invenitur intervallum inter calorem
animalium ac etiam radiorum coelestium (prout ad nos defe-
runtur), atquc flammam, licet lenissimam, atque etiam ignita

47 The furthest and nearest distances between the earth and sun are,
of course, in the Copernican system described as aphelion and perihelion,
not as apogee and perigee. The variations of distance from the sun, due
to the elliptic orbit of the earth, have, as a matter of fact, little influence
in determining temperature, being compensated by the variations in the
angular velocity. Were it not for this fact, the summers and winters
would be intensified in the southern, and moderated in the northern
hemisphere.

For an explanation of the phenomena of the seasons, see Herschel's
Astronomy (loth Ed., 362-370).

" This is an attempt to account for July being hotter than the time of
the summer solstice. The true reason is, of course, the same as that
for the early afternoon being hotter than noon-day, namely, the increased
radiation of heat from the earth's surface.

LIB. II. 13. 389

omnia. atque insuper liquores, ant aerem ipsum majorem in
modum ab ignc calefactum. Etcnim flamma spiritus vini,
praesertim rara nee constipata, tamen potis est stramen aut
linteum aut papyrum incendere ; quod nunquam faciet calor
animalis vel solis, absque speculis comburentibus 4;) .

2J. Flammae autem et ignitorum plurimi sunt gradus in
fortitudine et debilitate caloris 50 . Verum de his nulla est
facta diligens inquisitio ; ut necesse sit ista leviter trans-
mittere. Videtur autem ex flammis ilia ex spiritu vini esse
mollissima ; nisi forte ignis fatuus, aut flammae seu corus-
cationes ex sudoribus animalium, sint molliores. Hanc sequi
opinamur flammam ex vegetabilibus 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. praesertim iis quae non multum habent
ex resina aut pice ; ita tamen ut flamma ex lignis quae parva
sunt mole (quae vulgo colligantur in fasciculos) lenior sit
quam quae fit ex truncis arborum et radicibus. Id quod
vulgo experiri licet in fornacibus quae ferrum excoquunt, in
quibus ignis ex fasciculis et ramis arborum non est admodum
utilis 51 . Hanc sequitur (ut arbitramur) flamma ex oleo et sevo
et cera, et hujusmodi oleosis et pinguibus, quae sunt sine
magna acrimonia. Fortissimus autem calor reperitur in pice
et resina ; atque adhuc magis in sulphure et caphura y ~ et

4y And yet, in parts of Australia and South Africa, during summer, a
lucifer match accidentally falling on the ground will ignite. See HerscheFs
Astronomy, 369.

""' It is almost unnecessary to remark that the order in which Bacon
arranges the temperature of flames bears hardly any relation to the con-
clusions established by modern physicists. He was partly, no doubt,
deceived by the luminosity or illuminating power of flames, which is often
very low, when the temperature is very high. Thus, for instance, a
hydrogen flame, which is the palest of all, gives out the greatest heat.

A good account of the nature of Flame is given in Miller's Elements of
Chemistry, Part ii. In Ganot's Physics (Translation, I2th Ed., 484)
there is a table of the relative quantities of heat disengaged by various
bodies during combustion. Marsh-gas comes next to hydrogen in this
list, while spirits of wine is relatively high and sulphur relatively low.

51 The quantity of heat disengaged by moist wood during combustion
is much less than that disengaged by dry wood.

'-' Camphor.

390 NOVUM ORGANUM.

naphtha ct petrelaeo et salibus (postquam materia cruda cru-
perit), et in horum compositionibus, veluti pulvere tormcntario,
igne Graeco 53 (quern vulgo ignem fcrum vocant), et diversis
ejus generibus, quae tain obstinatum habent calorem ut ab
aquis non facile extinguantur.

22. Existimamus etiam flammam, quae resultat ex nonnullis
metallis imperfectis "' l , esse valde robustam et acrem. Verum
dc istis omnibus inquiratur ultcrius.

23. Videtur autem flamma fulminum potentiorum 55 has
omnes flammas superare ; adeo ut ferrum ipsum perfectum
aliquando colliquaverit in guttas, quod flammae illae alterae
facere non possunt.

24. In ignitis autem diversi sunt ctiam gradus caloris, de
quibus etiam non facta est diligens inquisitio. Calorem maxime
debilem existimamus esse ex linteo usto, quali ad flammae
excitationem uti solemus ; et similitcr ex ligno illo spongioso r>Cl
aut funiculis arefactis qui ad tormentorum accensionem ad-
hibcntur. Post hunc sequitur carbo ignitus ex lignis et
anthracibus, atque etiam ex lateribus ignitis, et similibus.
Ignitorum autem vehementissime calida existimamus esse
metalla ignita, ut ferrurn et cuprum et cactera. Verum de
his etiam facienda cst ulterior inquisitio.

25. Inveniuntur ex ignitis nonnulla longe calidiora quam
nonnullae ex flammis. Multo enim calidius est et magis
adurens ferrum ignitum quam flamma spiritus vini.

26. Inveniuntur etiam ex illis quae ignita non sunt scd

~' 3 Not to be confounded with gunpowder. ' It was known in the east of
I -In rope as early as the year A.D. 673, when, it is said, Callinicus, an
architect of Hcliopolis, taught the use of it to the Greeks. It did not
reach the west of Europe till much later.' Brande and Cox's Dictionary
of Science, &c.

r ' 4 He probably means what were commonly called the baser or viler,
as opposed to the more precious metals (gold and silver). Thus, in the
Catalogus Historiarum Particularium, published at the end of the first
edition of the Novum Organum, he enumerates 'Historia Metallorurn
perfectorum, Auri, Argenti ' (E. and S., vol. i. p. 406). It is possible,
however, that he may mean ' metals while being smelted in the furnace.'
See the expression 'ferrum ipsum perfectum' in the next instance.

'' As opposed to sheet-lightning. . See ii. 12. Inst. 9.

r " ; Touchwood.

LIB. II. 13. 391

tantum ab igne calefacta, sicut aquae ferventcs ct aer con-
clusus in reverberatoriis, nonnulla quae superant calore multa
ex flammis ipsis et ignitis.

27. Motus auget calorem 57 ; 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) hoc fit ; ut si speculum ponatur (exempli gratia)
ad distantiam spithamae ab objecto combustibili, non tanto-
pere incendat aut adurat quam si positum fuerit speculum
(exempli gratia) ad distantiam semi-spithamae, et gradatim
et lente trahatur ad distantiam spithamae. Conns tamen et
unio radiorum eadem sunt, sed ipse motus auget operationem
caloris 58 .

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 impellente 50 .

30. Flamma non emicat aut generatur, nisi detur aliquid
concavi in quo flamma movere possit et ludere 60 ; praeterquam
in flammis flatuosis pulveris tormentarii, et similibus, ubi
compressio et incarceratio flammae auget ejus furorem C1 .

57 ' By supplying a greater quantity of oxygen from the air. It is not
mere motion, for the manufacturer, -who tried to blow his fires by means
of steam jets, simply blew them out.' Dr. Kitchin's note.

r>s The only explanation of this curious supposition, as Mr. Ellis suggests,
is that the focal length of the lens lay between a span and half a span,
and was found by moving the lens. Bacon's remark, it must be con-
fessed, betrays great ignorance of the laws of Optics.

59 Here the fact is inaccurately stated, and the reason assigned fanciful.
In a fire, however, the flames will burn most brightly where the wind is
highest (provided it is not sufficiently violent to put them out), the reason
being that fresh supplies of oxygen are being constantly brought into
contact with the ignited mass.

G " In ordinary cases, a supply of oxygen is essential to combustion, and,
therefore, there must be contact with the air. ' But combustion does not
necessarily involve the presence of oxygen. If either powdered antimony
or a fragment of phosphorus be placed in a vessel of chlorine, it unites
with chlorine, producing thereby heat and flame,' the principle being, in fact,
the same as in the case of oxygen. Ganot's Physics, I2th Ed., . 483.

cl In this case, the supply of oxygen is derived from the saltpetre. It

392 NOVUM ORGANUM.

31. Incus per malleum calefit admodum ; adeo ut si incus
fuerit laminae tenuioris, existimemus illam per fortes et con-
tinues ictus mallei posse rubescere, ut ferrum ignitum 62 ; 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 extinguitur ignis ; veluti cum
linteum ustum aut filum ardens candelae aut lampadis aut
etiam carbo aut pruna ardens comprimitur per pressorium aut
pedis conculcationem 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 03 .

34. Unio calorum diversorum auget calorem, nisi facta sit
commistio corporum. Nam focus magnus et focus parvus in
codem loco nonnihil invicem augent calorem ; at aqua tepida
immissa in aquam ferventem refrigerat.

35. Mora corporis calidi auget calorem. Etenim calor per-
petuo transiens et emanans commiscetur cum calore praein-
existente, adeo ut multiplicet calorem. Nam focus non aeque
calefacit cubiculum per moram semihorac ac si idem focus
duret per horam integram. At hoc non facit lumen ; etenim
lampas aut candcla in aliquo loco posita non magis illuminat
per moram diuturnam quam statim ab initio.

36. Irritatio per frigidum ambiens auget calorem ; ut in

is, perhaps, needless to add that the amount of explosion is exactly the
same in the gun as it would be in the open air.

''- This would be so. Bacon was here on the right track for discovering
the connexion between heat and motion.

li:! 'To the eye of the philosopher these obscure radiations' (namely, of
heat) 'are precisely the same in kind, as those which produce the impres-
sion of light. You must, therefore, figure the particles of the heated body
as in a state of motion ; you must figure that motion as communicated to
I he surrounding ether, and transmitted through it with a velocity, which
we have the strongest reason for believing to be the same as that of light.'
TyndalPs Heat a Mode of Motion, 3rd Ed., 306. The law of the in-
tensity of radiant heat on a given surface is the same as that of illumin-
ation, that is to say, it varies inversely as the square of the distance
from the source of heat, as the other from the source of light.

LIB. II. 13. 393

focis videre est per gelu acre c4 . Quod existimamus fieri non
tantum per conclusionem et contractionem caloris, quae cst
species unionis, sed per exaspcrationem ; veluti cum ae'r aut
baculum violenter comprimitur aut flectitur, non ad punctum
loci prioris resilit, sed ulterius in contrarium. Itaque fiat dili-
gens 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 complures.
Atque primo omnium notandum est, quam parvus et exilis
calor etiam ea corpora, quae caloris minime omnium sunt
susceptiva, immutet tamen et nonnihil calefaciat. Nam ipsc
calor manus globulum plumbi aut alicujus metalli paulisper
detentum nonnihil calefacit. Adeo facile et in omnibus
transmittitur et cxcitatur calor, corpore nullo modo ad
apparentiam immutato.

38. Facillime omnium corporum apud nos et excipit et
remittit calorcm aer 05 ; quod optime cernitur in vitris calen-
daribus. Eorum confectio esttalis 00 : accipiatur vitrum vcntre

64 This circumstance is due to the increased draught produced by the
difference between the temperatures of the internal and external air, and.
consequently, to the more frequent renewal of the supplies of oxygen
which are, ordinarily, a condition of combustion. See note 60 above.

The ideas of exasperation and irritation, as applied to these phenomena.
are peculiarly fanciful.

6r ' As I have before said, air is a bad conductor of heat. It was on
account of its expansive and not on account of its conductive capacity
that it served roughly as a thermometer, before the substitution, first of
alcohol, and then of mercury.

66 Mr. Ellis remarks: 'I am very much inclined to think that Bacon
heard of the vitrum calendare 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, per-
petual reference is made to the air-thermometer, to which he gives the
same name.'

As I have already noticed in note 83 on the last Aphorism, the invention
of the thermometer has been ascribed to several persons, including Galileo,
Drebbel, and, though on insufficient grounds, even Bacon himself. See
also Introduction, p. 43, n. 19. Mr. Ellis has a long note on the invention
of the Thermometer (vol. i. p. 255. n. i). To this note, which is too long
for quotation, I must refer the reader who is specially interested in the
question.

394 NOVUM ORGANUM.

concavo, collo tenui et oblongo ; resupinetur et demittatur
hujusmodi vitrum, ore deorsum verso, ventre sursum. in aliud
vasculum vitreum ubi sit aqua, tangendo fundum vasculi illius
recipients extreme ore vitri immissi, et incumbat paullulum
vitri immissi collum ad os vitri recipientis, ita ut stare possit ;
quod ut commodius fiat, apponatur parum cerae ad os vitri
recipientis ; ita tamen ut non penitus obturetur os ejus, ne
ob defectum aeris succedentis impediatur motus de quo jam
dicetur, qui est admodum facilis et delicatus.

Oportet autem ut vitrum demissum, antequam inseratur in
alterum, calefiat ad ignem a parte superiori, ventre scilicet.
Postquam autem fucrit vitrum illud collocatum, ut diximus,
recipict et contrahct se aer (qui dilatatus erat per calefactionem),
post moram sufficientem pro cxtinctione illius ascititii caloris,
ad talem extensionem sivc dimcnsionem qualis erit aeris am-
bicntis aut communis tune tcmporis quando immittitur vitrum,
atque attrahet aquam in sursum ad hujusmodi mensuram.
Debet autem appendi charta angusta et oblonga, et gradibus
(quot libuerit) interstincta. Videbis autem, prout tempcstas
diei incalescit aut frigescit, aerem se contrahere in angustius
per frigidum ct extendere se in latius per calidum ; id quod
conspicietur per aquam ascendentem quando contrahitur aer,
et descendcntem sive deprcssum quando dilatatur aer. Sen-
sus autem aeris, quatenus acl calidum et frigidum. tarn sub-
tilis est et exquisitus ut facultatem tactus humani multum
superet ; adeo ut solis radius aliquis, aut calor anhelitus, multo
magis calor manus, super vitri summitatem positus, statim
dcprimat aquam manifesto. Attamen existimamus spiri-
tum animalium c " magis adhuc exquisitum sensum habcre
calidi et frigidi, nisi quod a mole corporea impediatur et
hebetetur.

39. Post aerem. existimamus corpora esse maxime sensitiva
caloris ea quac a frigore rccentcr immutata sint et compressa,

This remark is in accordance with Bacon's ordinary conception of
' spirit,' and especially of 'vital spirit,' as the most refined and delicate of
all substances. In the Historia Vitae et Mortis (E. and S., vol. ii. p 215)
he regards 'vital spirit' as composed of air and flame. 'Alterum cliscri-
mcn inter spiritus est ; quod spiritus vitalis nonnullam habeat incensionem,
atque sit tanquam aura composita ex flamma et acre.'

LIB. II. 1415- 395

qualia sunt nix et glacies ; ea enim leni aliquo teporc solvi
incipiunt et colliquari. Post ilia scquitur fortassc argentum
vivum. Post illud sequuntur corpora pinguia, ut oleum, buty-
rum, et similia ; deinde lignum ; deinde aqua ; postremo lapides
ct metalla, quae non facile calefiunt, praesertim interius r>8 . Ilia
tamen calorem semel susceptum diutissimc 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 corpus
calidum approximatum incalescit 9 ; id quod demonstrat
omnem calorem apud nos esse corpori tangibili quodammodo
adversum.

41. Calidum, quatenus ad sensum et tactum humanum, res
varia est et respectiva : adeo ut aqua tepida, si manus frigorc
occupetur, scntiatur esse calida ; sin manus incaluerit, frigida.

XIV.

Quam inopes simus historiae quivis facile advertet. cum in
tabulis superioribus, praeterquam quod loco historiae probatae
et instantiarum certarum nonnunquam traditiones et relationes
inseramus (semper tamen adjecta dubiae fidei ct authoritatis
nota), saepenumero etiam hisce verbis, fiat expcrimentum, vel
inquiratur nlterius, uti cogamur : ".

XV.

Atque opus et officium harum trium tabularum Compa-
rentiam instantiarum ad intcllcctum vocare consuevimus.
Facta autem comparentia, in opere ponenda est ipsa indnctio.
Invenienda est enim, super ccmparcntiam omnium et singu-

fi " ; On the different powers of conducting heat possessed by different
bodies, see TyndaiFs Heat a Mode of Motion, 3rd Ed., 244-250.
As a general rule, metals are the best conductors of heat. This is pre-
eminently the case with silver and copper. Iron is comparatively a bad
conductor.

69 In other words, the conduction of heat requires time, which is
undoubtedly true.

70 In criticising Bacon's instances, this apology should be borne in
mind. He ought, at least, to have the benefit of having been aware of
the insufficiency and untrustworthiness of his own data. Cp. i. 117.

NOVUM RCA NUM.

larum instantiarum natura talis, quae cum natura data pcrpetuo
adsit, absit 71 , atque crescat, et decrescat ; sitque (ut superius
dictum est) limitatio naturae magis communis 72 . Hoc si mens
jam ab initio facere tentet affirmative 7 ^ (quod sibi permissa
semper facere solet). occurrent phantasmata et opinabilia et
notionalia male terminata et axiomata quotidie emendanda ;
nisi libcat (scholarum more) pugnare pro falsis " 4 . Ea tamen
proculdubio erunt meliora aut praviora pro facultate et robore
intellectus qui operatur. At omnino Deo (formarum inditori
et opifici) aut fortasse angelis ct intclligentiis competit formas
per affirmationem immediate nosse. atque ab initio contem-
plationis. Sed certe supra hominem est ; cui tantum con-
ceditur, procedere primo per ncgativas, et postremo loco
desinere in affirmativas^ post omnimodam exclusionem.

XVI.

Itaque naturae facienda est prorsus solutio et separatio ;
non per ignem certe, sed per mentem, tanquam ignem divi-
num. Kst itaque inductionis verac opus primum (quatenus
ad inveniendas formas) rcjcctio sive exclusiva naturarum

11 If both these conditions were satisfied, the case would fall under the
Double Method of Agreement, or Joint Method of Agreement and Dif-
ference, as it is variously called. It would not then be subject to the
characteristic imperfection of the Method of Agreement, arising from
Plurality of Causes, as would happen if we were simply able to establish
the concomitance of the nature in question (' natura talis ') and the ' natura
data.' See notes on Aph. 4 and note 30 on beginning of Aph. 13.
Moreover, if both conditions were satisfied, it would be proved that the
ascertained cause was not only a cause but the only cause of the given
phenomenon.

On the Double Method of Agreement, and its relation to the question
of Plurality of Causes, the student may refer to the Editor's Inductive
Logic, ch. 3.

~- See Aph. 4. The 'form' is here regarded as = differentia, that which
added to the genus, or common nature, gives its distinctive character to
the nature in question. Bacon illustrates his meaning in Aph. 20, where
several 'differentiae' are proposed as limiting ' motus,' which is described
as ' instar generis ad calorem.'

' :; Cp. i. 46, 105.

74 Alluding to the scholastic disputations, in which both sides of a
question were defended, however false or heretical one of them might
be regarded as beiny.

LIB. II. 1617. 397

singularum, quac non inveniuntur in aliqua instantia, ubi
natura data adest 7 ' 3 ; aut inveniuntur in aliqua instantia, ubi
natura data abest 7G ; aut inveniuntur in aliqua instantia
crescere, cum natura data decrescat 77 ; aut decresccre, cum
natura data crescat 78 . Turn vero post rcjectionem et exclu-
sivam debitis modis factam, secundo loco (tanquam in fundo)
manebit (abeuntibus in fumum opinionibus volatilibus) forma
affirmativa, solida, et vera 79 . 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 monendtim quasi perpetuo, ne,
cum tantae partes formis videantur a nobis tribui, trahantur
ea, quae dicimus, ad formas eas, quibus hominum contem-
plationes et cogitationes hactenus assueverunt so .

Primo enim, de formis copulatis 81 , quae sunt (ut diximus)

75 Owing to the Plurality of Causes, the ' given nature ' might be
present without the other ' nature,' even though this last was one of the
causes capable of producing it. For it might not be the only cause, and,
in this particular instance, the 'given nature' might be due to some other
cause. Hence, the 'rejection' might be unwarranted.

On the Method of Exclusions or Rejections generally, see Introduction,

70 As a cause must produce its effect, unless there be some counter-
acting cause, the 'rejection,' with this qualification, is warranted.

77 The same remark applies to this case as to the last.

78 Here again, owing to the consideration of the Plurality of Causes,
the 'rejection' might not be justified. Thus, the mortality of a town
might increase, while a pestilence was diminishing, providing famine,
war, or any other cause of death supervened.

The objection founded on Plurality of Causes, of course, only applies so
far as ' Form' is intended to express the same idea as Cause. There can
only be one ' essence,' or, in the strict sense of the terms, only one ' differ-
entia ' (that is, sum of characteristics) or ' definition ' of an object or
quality.

79 That is, provided all possible causes have been considered, and the
rejection has been so exhaustive, that only one cause remains conditions
which it is almost impossible to fulfil.

80 Cp. i. 51,65.

81 These are the forms of concrete substances, and, as concrete sub-
stances are supposed to be constituted by a number of qualities or 'simple
natures,' their forms will be the aggregate of the forms of the simple

398 NOVUM ORGANUM,

naturarum simplicium conjugia ex cursu communi universi.
ut leonis, aquilae, rosae, auri. et hujusmodi. impraescntiarum
non loquimur. Tempus cnim erit de iis tractandi, cum
ventum fuerit ad latcntcs proccssns, et latcntcs scJicmatismos,
eorumque inventionem, prout reperiuntur in substantiis (quas
vocant) sen naturis concretis 82 .

Rursus vero, non intelligantur ea quae dicimus (etiam
quatenus ad naturas simplices) de formis et idcis abstractis 80 ,
aut in materia non determinatis 84 , aut male determinatis.
Nos cnim, quum de formis loquimur, nil aliud intelligitnus
quam leges illas et determinationes actus puri, quae naturam
aliquam simplicem ordinant et constituunt. ut calorem, lumen,
pondus, in omnimoda materia et subjecto susceptibili. Itaque
eadcm res cst forma calidi aut forma luminis, et lex calidi
sive lex luminis ; ncque vcro a rebus ipsis et parte operativa
unquam nos abstrahimus aut reccdimus. Quare cum dicimus
(exempli gratia) in inquisitione formae caloris, Rcjicc tcnni-
tatem, aut Tenuitas non cst ex forma caloris ; idem est ac
si clicamus, Potcst homo snperinduccrc calorem in corpus
densum, aut contra, Potcst homo anfcrre aut arccrc calorem
a cor pore tcnni.

Quod si cuiquam vidcantur etiam formae nostrae habere
nonnihil abstract!, quod misceant et conjungant heterogenea
(vidcntur cnim valde esse heterogenea calor coelestium, et

natures of which they are composed. See Aph. 5 ad init. to which Bacon
here refers.

- Bacon had intended to proceed to these enquiries in a subsequent
part of the Xovum Organum. See Aph. 21 ('de variatione inquisitionis
pro natura subjecti ') and the last paragraph of Aph. 52.

* 3 Referring to the Idem of Plato and the Forms of the Schoolmen.
This paragraph seems to be nothing more than an expansion of the latter
part of i. 51, on which see the notes.

This is one of the passages in which ' Form ' appears to be most un-
equivocally used in the sense of 'Law' or ' Cause.'

;4 Cp. De Augm. iii. 4 (E. and S., vol. i. p. 565) : 'At manifestum est.
Platonem, virum sublimis ingenii (quique vcluti ex rupe excelsa omnia
circumspiciebat), in sua de Ideis doctrina Fornias csse i>erinn sciential
objection vidisse ; utcunque sententiac hujus verissimae fructum amiserit,
Formas pcnitus a Materia abstractas, non in Materia determinatas, con-
templanclo et prensando ; undc factum cst, ut ad speculationes theologicas
diverteret, quod omncm naturalcm suam philosophiam infecit et polluit.'

LIB. II. 17. 399

ignis ; rubor fixus in rosa aut similibus, et apparcns 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 integralitate 8r>
rerum et opinionibus captum et detentum. Certissimum enim
est ista, utcunque heterogenea et aliena, coire in formam *' ;
sive legem earn, quae ordinat calorem, aut ruborem, aut
mortem ; nee emancipari posse potentiam humanam et
liberari a naturae cursu communi, et expandi et exaltari
ad efficientia nova et modos operandi novos, nisi per reve-
lationem et inventionem hujusmodi formarum ; et tamen post

5 The vague, general, or superficial appearances of things.
30 Italmost seems roirilii>3assae

Ca.uses. But here, as elsewhere, his vague and vacillating use of the word
'Form' makes it exceedingly difficult to attach a precise meaning to his
language. It is undeniable, for instance, that the 'nature' of heat, that
which constitutes it, its ' essence,' as the Schoolmen would have said, is the
same in all cases ; or else we should require two or more distinct words
to express the phenomenon. But its efficient causes, the agencies which
produce it, may be, and are, several ; as, for instance, friction, chemical
combination, electricity, &c. Hence, where by 'form' Bacon means, as
I think he usually does, ' nature,' there is only one form, and to the ques-
tion, for example, What is heat ? there is, and only can be, one answer.
But, where by ' form ' he means ' law ' or ' cause,' there may be many
forms ; thus there are, for example, in this sense, as many forms of heat as
there are distinct modes of its production. At the same time, we must re-
member that, if the word 'form' with Bacon is vague and obscure, the
word ' law ' is so also, and we are not always justified in assuming that the
latter word is employed by him in the same sense in which it is usually
employed by us. The 'law' of an object or quality may be what we
sometimes call the 'law of its being,' and thus not differ really from its
' nature.' To add, therefore, to our perplexity with reference to Bacon's
employment of the word 'form,' we can seldom be quite certain in which
of its two senses, nature or essence, and law or cause, he is using it ; and,
in fact, sometimes he seems to be using it in both at once. For a further
discussion of this subject, see Introduction, 8. The objections .founded
qn_the consideration ofjthe PJuj^i^^Caj^s^sjiv^ilg^c^j^oj^ejjio^ajDrjl^

t ^^X I Sl^iy^I&^L^J : ^li3:iHI e J. But it need hardly be remarked that
a philosophy which confined itself to investigating the ' natures ' or ' es-
sences ' of things, without taking any account of their causes or the laws
which determine their production, would be exceedingly defective on the
side of both knowledge and practice.

400 NOVUM ORGANUM.

istam unionem naturae, quae 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 tdbulas comparentiae repe-
riuntur non esse ex forma calidi ; illud interim monendo, non
solum sufficcrc singulas tabulas ad rejectionem alicujus naturae,
scd etiam unamquamque ex instantiis singularibus in illis
contentis. Manifestum enim est ex iis, quae dicta sunt.
omnem instantiam contradictoriam destruere opinabile de
forma 87 . Sed nihilominus quandoque perspicuitatis causa,
et ut usus tab2ilarnm clarius demonstretur, exchisivam dupli-
camus aut repetimus.

Exemplum exclusivae, sive rejectionis natnranim a forma

calidi.

1. Per radios solis, rcjicc naturam elementarem 8S .

2. Per ignem communem, et maxime per ignes subterraneos

(qui remotissimi sunt, et plurimum intercluduntur a
radiis coelestibus), rcjicc naturam coelestem.

3. Per calcfactionem omnigcnum corporum (hoc est, mine-

ralium, vegetabilium, partium exteriorum animalium.
aquae, olei, aeris, et reliquorum) ex approximatione
sola ad ignem aut aliud corpus calidum, rcjicc omnem
varietatem sive subtiliorcm texturam corporum.

4. Per ferrum ct metalla ignita, quae calefaciunt alia

corpora, nee tamen omnino pondere aut substantia
minuuntur, rcjicc inditionem sive mixturam substantiae
alterius calidi.

5. Per aquam fcrventem atque aerem, atque etiam per

*' Cp. notes on Aph. 16. These will shew the qualifications with which
Bacon's assertion must be taken.

3 That is terrestrial as opposed to celestial, all terrestrial natures being
regarded as admitting of resolution into one or more of the four
elements.

LIB. II. 1 8. 401

metalla et alia solida calefacta, scd non usque ad
ignitionem sive ruborem, rejice lucem et lumen 8i) .

6. Per radios lunae et aliarum stellarum (excepto sole),

rejice etiam lucem et lumen.

7. Per comparativam ferri igniti et flammae spiritus vini

(ex quibus ferrum ignitum plus habet calidi et minus
lucidi, flamma autem spiritus vini plus lucidi et minus
calidi 90 ), rejice etiam lucem et lumen.

8. Per aurum et alia metalla ignita, quae densissimi sunt

corporis secundum totum, rejice tenuitatem.

9. Per ae'rem, qui invenitur ut plurimum frigidus, et tamen

manet tennis, rejice etiam tenuitatem.

10. Per ferrum ignitum, quod non intumescit mole 01 , sed
manet intra eandem dimensionem visibilem, rejice
motum localem aut expansivum secundum totum.

n. Per dilatationem aeris in vitris calendariis et similibus,
qui movetur localiter et expansive manifesto, neque
tamen colligit manifestum augmentum caloris 92 , rejice
etiam motum localem aut expansivum secundum totum.

?9 ''Lux, id quod lumine diffunditur, claritas, fulgor ; Lumen, id quod
splendorem difFundit.' Doderlein, ii. 66, as quoted by Dr. Kitchin.

" Bacon is comparing two disparate phenomena, namely, the heat
arising from the consumption by fire of spirits of wine with the heat
arising from iron, when merely rendered red-hot. If we compare the
heat evolved by the consumption of both substances, the advantage is
greatly on the side of Spirits of Wine. Taking as thermal unit the heat
necessary to raise the temperature of a pound of water through one degree
Centigrade, the thermal units in round numbers disengaged by a pound
of Absolute Alcohol and a pound of Iron, while burning in oxygen, are
respectively 7180 and 1181. See Ganot's Physics, Translation, I2th Ed.,

484-

91 This statement is, of course, erroneous. But see notes on Aph. 24.

- The sole cause of the expansion of the air is its increase in tempera-
ture, though, in so small a quantity of air as is contained in a thermometer,
the increased temperature is not sensible to the touch. It is the more
curious that Bacon should have fallen into this error, when we compare
what he says at the beginning of Inst. 38 of Aph. 13.

'Secundum totum 'here and elsewhere is, of course, opposed to 'per
particulas.' It is, perhaps, hardly necessary to notice the perverse inter-
pretation of this expression by Liebig as 'on the whole ;' as if Bacon
meant that in the majority of cases, but not in all, expansion enters into
the 'form of heat.' See Liebig's answer to Sigwart in the Allgemeine

D d

402 NOVUM ORGANUM.

12. Per facilem tepefactionem omnium corporum, absquc

aliqua destructione aut alteratione notabili, rejicc
naturam destructivam aut inditionem violentam alicujus
naturae novae.

13. Per consensum et conformitatem operum similium quae

eduntur a calore et a frigore, rejice motum tarn
expansivum quam contractivum secundum totum.

14. Per accensionem caloris ex attritione corporum. rejice

naturam principialem 93 . Naturam principialem vo-
camus earn, quae positiva reperitur in natura, nee
causatur a natura praecedente.

Sunt et aliae naturae : neque enim tabulas conficimus per-

fectas, sed exempla tantum.

Omnes et singulae naturae praedictae non sunt ex forma
calidi. Atque ab omnibus naturis praedictis liberatur homo
in operationc super calidum.

XIX.

Atque in exdusiva jacta sunt fundamenta inductionis verae,
quae tamen non perficitur donee sistatur in afTirmativa.
Neque vero ipsa exdusiva ullo modo perfecta est, neque
adeo esse potest sub initiis. Est enim exdusiva (ut plane
liquet) rcjectio naturarum simplicium 94 . Quod si non habe-

Zeitung (Tchihatchef, p. 159). What Bacon obviously refers to is the
motion of the entire body, as distinct from that of the minute particles.
Cp. Aph. 20, Tertia Differentia.

J3 Such would be the so-called substance of caloric, which was long
supposed to be contained in bodies, and to be the cause of heat. The
existence of this supposed substance was disproved by Rumford and
Davy. See Tyndall's Heat a Mode of Motion, 3rd Ed., 20-23, anc ^
Appendix ii. to chap. ii. Both Bacon and Locke, however, had already
anticipated what is now called the dynamical or mechanical theory of
heat.

' 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
nature, rests mainly on experiments of friction.' Mr. Ellis' note.

;4 As opposed to concrete bodies, the forms of which are ' formae
copulatae.'

LIB. IL 19 2O. 403

amus adhuc bonas et veras notiones 05 naturarum simplicium,
quomodo rcctificari potcst exclusivaf At nonnullae ex
supradictis (veluti notio naturae elemcntaris, notio naturae
coelestis, notio tenuitatis) sunt notiones vagae, nee bene
terminatae. Itaque nos, qui nee ignari sumus nee obliti
quantum opus aggrediamur (viz. ut faciamus intellectual
humanum rebus et naturae parem), nullo modo acquiescimus
in his. quae adhuc praecepimus : sed et rem in ulterius
provehimus, et fortiora auxilia in usum intellectus machi-
namur et ministramus ; quae mine subjungemus. Et certe in
interpretatione naturae animus omnino taliter est praeparandus
et formandus. ut et sustineat se in gradibus debitis certitudinis,
et tamen cogitet (praesertim sub initiis) ea quae adsunt
multum pendere ex iis quae supersunt.

XX.

Attamen quia citius emergit veritas ex errore quam ex
confusione, utile putamus, ut fiat permissio intellectui 90 , post

15 But these notions are themselves to be gained by Induction. See
Bk. i. Aphs. 14, 1 8, 40. Thejac^js^that true axioms^and^soun,d jiotions
a^jntjgjjd 4 ejDeji4^ In Mathematics, the work of

definition is elementary and comparatively easy, but, in the Physical and
Moral Sciences, we must already have made considerable advances, before
we can begin to define with any precision. Cp. note 99 on i. 59. Our
notions become clearer as we ascertain more facts, and, as our notions
become clearer, the facts we collect or infer become more pertinent and
more pregnant. I^eji^^XJSLJadinj^J^J^j 1 ^

tempjat^t^_dj^tin^t_kjnds^ oJnducjtion, one for the clearing up of
conceptions and another for the establishment of axioms. Mr. Ellis,
however (see General Preface, vol. i. p. 37), is apparently of a different
opinion.

00 Here Bacon advocates the employment of hypothesis, notwithstand- >
ing his implied condemnation of it in the First Book. See i. 19, and my)
note upon it. His remark at the beginning of the present Aphorism is^
conceived in a far truer and more scientific spirit than the language which >
(unless we except that of i. 106, q. v.) he has hitherto employed on the\
subject. To repeat what I have said elsewhere : ' Even though a hypo- ^
thesis may ultimately be discovered to be false, it may be of great service \
in pointing the way to a truer theory. Thus the circular theory of \
planetary motion, and the supplementary theory of epicycles and eccen- j
tries, undoubtedly contributed to the formation of the hypothesis which \
was eventually proved to be true. Kepler himself tried no less than \
nineteen different hypotheses, before he hit upon the right one, and his '

D d 2

404 NOVUM O RCA NUM.

tres tabulas coinparentiac primae (quales posuimus) factas et
pensitatas, accingendi se et tentandi opus interpretationis
naturae in affirmativa ; tarn ex instantiis tabularum, quam
ex iis quae alias occurrent. Quod genus tentamenti, per-
missionem intellectus, sive interpretationem inchoatam, sive
inndemiationem prim am 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 97 ; aliter enim forma non esset : itaque
nulla plane dari potest instantia contradictoria. Attamen

(Ultimate success was doubtless in no slight degree due to his unsuccessful
(efforts. There is hardly any branch of science in which it might not be
> affirmed that, without a number of false guesses, true theories could never
^ have been attained.' Inductive Logic, 4th Ed., p. 98.

Mr. Ellis (in his General Preface, vol. i. pp. 36, 37) makes the following
| important remarks on the relation of this Aphorism to the others of the
(Second Book: '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
I 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
j 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
j is merely introduced by the way " because truth is more easily extricated
] from error than from confusion," 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
1 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
s recognise as just and legitimate. It is only a parenthesis in the general
* method, whereas the Exclusiva, given in the eighteenth aphorism of the
s second book, is a type or paradigm of the process on which every true
.'induction (inductio vera) must in all cases depend.'

97 See notes on Aphs. 16, 17. The argument would have been perfectly
correct, not only with reference to ' natures ' but also with reference to
' causes,' if he had said that, wherever the supposed form is, there the
thing itself must be. Thus, if we start the hypothesis that motion is
causally connected with heat, and we find, as a matter of fact, that motion
is always attended by an increase of temperature, the hypothesis becomes
an ascertained truth. We can, as I have so frequently stated, argue with
certainty from the cause to the effect, but not from the effect to the cause.

LIB. II. 2O. 405-

longe magis conspicua invenitur forma et evidcns in aliquibus
instantiis, quam in aliis ; in iis videlicet, ubi minus cohibita
est natura formae et impedita ct redacta in ordinem per
naturas alias. Hujusmodi autem instantias, ehicescentias vel
instantias ostensivas appellare consuevimus 98 . Pergendum ita-
que est ad vindemiationein ipsam primam de forma calidi.

Per universas et singulas instantias, natura cujus limi-
tatio est calor videtur esse motus. Hoc autem maxime
ostenditur in flamma, quae perpetuo movetur ; et in
liquoribus ferventibus aut bullientibus, qui etiam per-
petuo moventur. Atque ostenditur etiam in incitatione
sive incremento caloris facto per motum ; ut in follibus 9!) ,
et ventis ; de quo vide Instant. 29. Tab. 3. Atque simi-
liter in aliis modis motus, de quibus vide Instant. 28. et
31. Tab. 3. Rursus ostenditur in extinctione ignis et
caloris per omnem fortem compressionem, quae fraenat
ct cessare facit motum ; de qua vide Instant. 30. et 32.
Tab. 3. Ostenditur etiam in hoc, quod omne corpus de-
struitur aut saltern insigniter alteratur ab omni igne et ca-
lore forti ac vehementi ; unde liquido constat, fieri a calore
tumultum et perturbationem et motum acrem in partibus
internis corporis, qui sensim vergit ad dissolutionem *.

Intelligatur hoc quod diximus de motu (nempe, ut sit instar
generis ad calorem), non quod calor generet motum, aut quod
motus generet calorem (licet et haec in aliquibus 2 vera sint).
sed quod ipsissimus calor, sive quid ipsum :! caloris, sit motus

Ui See Aph. 24.

M On this and some of the other instances here alluded to, see notes
above. We have now reached a point at which it becomes superfluous to
criticise in detail either the instances themselves or the inferences based
upon them.

1 These facts are well and correctly stated, though Bacon did not know
what becomes of the parts of the body, on ' dissolution.'

2 Heat and motion are not only occasionally, but invariably convertible
or capable of passing into each other.

n ro Tt ea-Ti. Here, of course, form is used unequivocally for ' nature '
or 'essence.' Cp. the expressions below : ' differentias veras, quae iimitant
motum, et constituunt eum in formam calidi ; : 'forma sive defmitio vera
caloris.'

406 NOVUM ORGANUM.

et nihil aliud ; limitatus tamen per differentials quas mox sub-
jungemus, postquam nonnullas cautiones adjecerimus ad evi-
tandum aequivocum.

Calidum ad sensum 4 res respectiva est, et in ordine ad
hominem non ad universum ; et ponitur recte ut effectus
caloris tantum in spiritum animalem. Quin etiam in seipso
res varia est, cum idem corpus (prout sensus praedisponitur)
inducat perceptionem tarn calidi quam frigidi; ut patet per
Instant. 41. Tab. 3.

Neque vero communicatio caloris, sive natura ejus transi-
tiva per quam corpus admotum corpori calido incalescit, con-
fundi debet cum forma calidi 5 . Aliud enim est calidum,
aliud calefactivum. Nam per motum attritionis inducitur
calor absque aliquo calido praecedente, unde excluditur cale-
factivum a forma calidi. Atque etiam ubi calidum efficitur
per approximationem calidi, hoc ipsum non fit ex forma
calidi, sed omnino pendet a natura altiore et magis com-
muni ; viz. ex natura assimilationis sive multiplicationis sui ;
dS qua facienda est separatim inquisitio G .

At notio ignis plebeia est, et nihil valet : composita enim
est ex concursu qui fit calidi et lucidi in aliquo corpore ; ut in
flamma communi, et corporibus accensis usque ad ruborem.

Remote itaque omni aequivoco, veniendum jam tandem est
ad differentias veras, quae limitant motum et constituunt 7
eum in formam calidi.

Prima igitur differentia ea est, quod calor sit motus
expansivus 8 , per quern corpus nititur ad dilatationem sui,

4 ' Calidum ad sensum ' is here opposed to ' calor,' the former being an
affection of our organism, the latter an affection of the body itself.

5 Heat itself is distinct from its production or communication. This is
all that Bacon seems to mean. So far as he is here referring to the
' cause ' of heat, it is to the remote, not to the proximate cause.

6 See Aph. 48, ' Motus undecimus.'

7 In the language of the scholastic logic, the differentia is said to divide
the genus and to constitute the species.

s In Aph. 18, Inst. 10, he rejects 'motum expansivum, secundum totum,'
and in the third differentia assigned in this Aphorism, he describes heat
as ' motus, non expansivus uniformiter secundum totum, sed expansivus
per particulas minores corporis.' It is difficult, however, to see how the

LIB. II. 2O. 407

et recipiendi 9 se in majorem sphaeram sive dimensionem
quam prius occupaverat. Haec autem differentia maxi-
me ostenditur in flamma ; ubi fumus sive halitus pinguis
manifesto dilatatur et aperit se in flammam.

Ostenditur etiam in omni liquore fervente, qui mani-
festo intumescit, insurgit, et emittit bullas ; atque urget
processum expandendi se, donee vertatur in corpus longe
magis extensum et dilatatum quam sit ipse liquor; viz.
in vaporem aut fumum aut ae'rem 10 .

Ostenditur etiam in omni ligno et combustibili ; ubi
fit aliquando exudatio, at semper evaporatio.

Ostenditur etiam in colliquatione metallorum, quae
(cum sint corporis compactissimi) non facile intumescunt
et se dilatant ; sed tamen spiritus eorum 11 , postquam
fuerit in se dilatatus, et majorem adeo dilatationem con-
cupierit, trudit plane et agit partes crassiores in liquidum.
Quod si etiam calor fortius intendatur, solvit et vertit
multum ex iis in volatile.

Ostenditur etiam in ferro aut lapidibus ; quae licet non
liquefiant aut fundantur, tamen emolliuntur. Quod etiam
fit in baculis ligni ; quae calefacta paululum in cineribus
calidis fiunt flexibilia.

Optime autem cernitur iste motus in ae're, qui per
exiguum calorem se dilatat continuo et manifesto ; ut
per Instant. 38. Tab. 3.

Ostenditur etiam in natura contraria frigidi 12 . Frigus

minute particles of a body could be expanded without causing the expan-
sion of the whole body, especially as Bacon (see Aph. 8) rejected the idea
of a vacuum between the particles. As a fact, all bodies (with a few
exceptions, such as water between 32 and 39 Fahrenheit, and bismuth
at the moment of solidification) expand with an augmentation of tem-
perature.

9 This, which is the reading of the First Edition, is probably a misprint
for ' recipiendum,' the reading of the second and most subsequent editions.
If we retain ' recipiendi,' it must be governed by ' motus ' above.

10 Cp. an interesting passage on the conversion of solids into liquids,
and of liquids into vapours, in Herschel's Discourse on the Study of
Natural Philosophy, 357, 358, and see especially note 37 on Aph. 33.

11 Notice again the curious language which Bacon employs about the
'spirits' of inanimate objects. Cp. i. 50, ii. 7, ii. 40, c.

'- Here again we have the conception of cold as a positive quality.

4 o8 NOVUM ORGANUM.

enim omne corpus contrahit 13 et cogit in angustius ; adeo
ut per intensa frigora clavi excidant ex parietibus, aera
dissiliant, vitrum etiam calefactum et subito positum in
frigido dissiliat et frangatur. Similiter aer per levem
infrigidationem recipit se in angustius ; ut per Instant.
38. Tab. 3. Verum de his fusius dicetur in inquisitione
de Frigido.

Neque mirum est si calidum et frigidum edant com-
plures actiones communes (de quo vide Instant. 32. Tab.
2), cum inveniantur duae ex sequentibus diffcrentiis (de
quibus mox dicemus) quae competunt utrique naturae ;
licet in hac differentia (de qua mine 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 ; haec vide-
licet, quod calor sit motus expansivus sive versus circum-
ferentiam ; hac lege tamcn. ut una feratur corpus sursum u .
Dubium enim non est quin sint motus complures mixti.
Exempli gratia ; sagitta aut spiculum simul et progre-
cliendo rotat, et rotando progreditur. Similiter et motus
caloris simul est et expansivus et latio in sursum.

Haec vero differentia ostenditur in forcipe, aut bacillo

:! This statement is not universally true. See note 8 above. Water-
pipes, for instance, are often burst by the expansion of ice at the moment
of solidification.

H In gases and liquids, the heated particles, being expanded, and so
occupying more space in proportion to their density, ascend, while the
particles not yet equally heated remain stationary, or descend. This mode
of diffusion of heat is called Convection. See Tyndall's Heat a Mode of
Motion, 3rd Ed., 221, 222. There is, of course, no analogous pheno-
menon in the case of solids. Bacon's example of ' the tongs and poker :
is purely fanciful, the idea having probably arisen from the fact that, in
order to make them stand upright, they must be planted more firmly in
the fire, and so exposed to a larger amount of heat, than when placed
horizontally. Moreover, the heat radiated from the fire upwards in the
direction of the chimney is usually much greater than that radiated
sideways.

It will be seen from what is here said, that this second differentiation is
delusive.

LIB. II. 20. 409

ferreo immisso in ignem : quia si immittatur perpendi-
culariter tenendo manum superius, cito tranum adurit ;
sin ex latere aut inferius, omnino tardius.

Conspicua etiam est in distillationibus per descenso-
rium ; quibus utuntur homines ad fiores dclicatiores, quo-
rum odorcs facile evanescunt. Nam hoc reperit indus-
tria. ut collocent ignem non subter sed supra, ut adurat
minus 15 . Neque enim flamma tantum vergit sursum, sed
etiam omne calidum.

Fiat autem experimentum hujus rei in contraria natura
frigidi : viz. utrum frigus non contrahat corpus descen-
dendo deorsum, quemadmodum calidum dilatat corpus
ascendendo sursum. Itaque adhibeantur duo bacilla fer-
rea, vel duo tubi vitrei, quoad cactera pares, et calefiant
nonnihil ; et ponatur spongia cum aqua frigida, vel nix,
subter unam, et similiter super alteram. Existimamus
enim celeriorem 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 ex-
pansivus uniformiter 1G secundum totum, sed expansivus
per particulas minores n corporis ; et simul cohibitus et
repulsus ct reverberatus, adeo ut induat motum alter-

15 Heat being propagated in liquids both by convection and conduction,
and more in the former way than the latter, it will be plain from the last
note that it ascends in them more quickly than it descends. Hence, a
liquid will be warmed more slowly by a fire above than by a fire below.

16 That is to say, some particles are heated before others, and, con-
sequently, the whole mass is, at any given time, heated unequally in its
different parts. This circumstance does not, however, prevent the ex-
pansion of the body as a whole, which must be a necessary consequence
of the expansion of even a portion of its constituent particles. See note 8
above.

1 It is of importance to notice the precise expression employed here,
'particulas minores corporis.' In the Ouarta Differentia, just below,
these ' particulae minores ' or ' minutae ' arc clearly distinguished from the
ultimate particles of matter ('non ad extremam subtilitatem, sed quasi
majusculae '). There is thus a considerable difference, not indeed of
kind but of degree, between Bacon's statement of the Theory of Heat
and that of more recent writers, like Tyndall.

410 NOVUM ORGANUM.

nativum 1S et perpetuo trepidantem et tentantem et niten-
tem et ex repercussione irritatum ; unde furor ille ignis
et caloris ortum habet.

Ista vero differentia ostenditur maxime in flamma et
liquoribus bullientibus ; quae perpetuo trepidant, et in
parvis portionibus tument, et rursus subsidunt.

Ostenditur etiam in iis corporibus, quae sunt tarn durae
compagis ut calefacta aut ignita non intumescant aut
dilatentur mole ; ut ferrum ignitum 19 3 in quo calor est
acerrimus.

Ostenditur etiam in hoc, quod per frigidissimas tem-
pestates focus ardeat acerrime 20 .

Ostenditur etiam in hoc, quod cum extenditur ae'r in
vitro calendari absque impedimento aut repulsione, uni-
formiter scilicet et aequaliter, non percipiatur calor.
Etiam in ventis conclusis, licet erumpant vi maxima,
tamen non percipitur calor insignis; quia scilicet motus
fit secundum totum, absque motu alternante in parti-
culis. Atque ad hoc fiat experimentum, utrum flamma
non urat acrius versus latera quam in medio flammae.

Ostenditur etiam in hoc, quod omnis ustio transigatur
per minutos poros corporis quod uritur ; adeo ut ustio
subruat et penetret et fodicet et stimulet, perinde ac si
essent infmitae cuspides acus. Itaque ex hoc illud etiam

1S This description seems to be a remarkable anticipation of the Un-
dulatory Theory of Heat. Cp. Tyndall, Heat a Mode of Motion, 3rd Ed.,
339 : ' Let us now revert for a moment to our fundamental conceptions
regarding radiant heat. Its origin is an oscillatory motion of the ultimate
particles of matter a motion taken up by the ether, and propagated
through it in waves. The particles of ether in these waves do not oscil-
late in the same manner as the particles of air, in the case of sound. The
air-particles move to and fro, in the direction in which the sound travels ;
the ether particles move to and fro, across the line in which the light
travels. The undulations of the air are longitudinal, those of the ether
transversal. The ether waves resemble more the ripples of water than
they do the aerial pulses which produce sound.'

19 See note on Aph. 18, Inst. 10.

" IJ See note on Aph. 13, Inst. 36.

Bacon's theory is in advance of his proofs. Most of the instances
collected under this 'Third Differentia' are of little, if any, value towards
proving the conclusion.

LIB, II. 20. 411

fit, quod omnes aquae fortes (si proportionatae sint ad
corpus in quod agunt) edant opera ignis, ex natura sua
corrodente et pungente.

Atque ista differentia (de qua mine dicimus) communis
est cum natura frigidi : in quo cohibetur motus contrac-
tivus per renitentiam expandendi ; quemadmodum in
calido cohibetur motus expansivus per renitentiam con-
trahendi.

Itaque sive partes corporis penetrent versus interius
sive penetrent versus exterius, similis est ratio : licet
impar admodum sit fortitudo ; quia non habemus hie
apud nos in superficie terrae aliquid quod sit impense
frigidum. Vide Instant. 27. Tab. i.

Quarta differentia est modificatio prioris : haec scilicet,
quod motus ille stimulationis aut penetrationis debeat
esse nonnihil rapidus et minime lentus ; atque fiat etiam
per particulas, licet minutas ; tamen non ad extremam
subtilitatem, sed quasi majusculas 21 .

Ostenditur haec differentia in comparatione operum
quae edit ignis cum iis quae edit tempus sive aetas.
Aetas enim sive tempus arefacit, consumit, subruit, 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 22 . Aurum enim dissolvitur absque calore exci-
tato ; ferrum autem cum vehement! excitatione caloris,
licet simili fere intervallo quoad tempus. Quia scilicet
in auro, ingressus aquae separationis est clemens et sub-
tiliter insinuans, et cessio partium auri facilis ; at in ferro,
ingressus est asper et cum conflictu, et partes ferri habent
obstinationem majorem.

21 This last qualification is, of course, erroneous, and seems to have
been suggested by the fanciful contrast, drawn below, between time and
fire. Heat is a motion of the ultimate particles of matter, whatever
the nature of these particles may be. Cp. note 17 above.

'- He is here alluding to the instances given under Aphs. 11 (19) and
12 (25), relating to the chemical dissolution of iron and gold respectively.

412 NOVUM ORGANUM.

Ostenditur etiam aliquatenus in gangraenis nonnullis
et mortificationibus carnium ; quae non excitant magnum
calorem aut dolorem, ob subtilitatem putrefactionis.

Atque haec sit Priina Vindcmiatio, sive Intcrpretatio in-
cJwata de Forma Calidi, facta per Pcrmissionem Intellect-its.

Ex Vindemiatione autem ista Prima, forma sive definitio
vera 23 caloris (ejus qui est in ordine ad universum, non rela-
tivus tantummodo ad sensum) talis est, brevi verborum com-
plexu : Calor est motns expansivns, cohibitus, et nitens per
paries minores. Modificatur autem expansio: ut expandendo
in anibitnm 24 , nonnihil tamen incline t versus snperiora 25 .
Modificatur autem et nixus ille per partes ; tit non sit omnino
scgnis, sed incitatus et cum impctn nonmdlo.

Quod vero ad Operativam attinet, eadem res est. Nam
designatio est talis : Si in atiqno corpore natnrali poteris cx-
citarc motum ad se dilatandnm ant expandendum ; cuinque
inotnin ita rcprimcrc et in se vcrtcre, nt dilatatio ilia non proccdat
acqnaliter, scd partim ob tine at. part im rctrndatur ; procnldubio
generabis calidum: non habita ratione, sive corpus illud sit
elementare (ut loquuntur), sive imbutum a coelestibus 20 ; sive
luminosurn, sive opacum ; sive tenue, sive densum ; sive loca-
liter expansum, sive intra claustra dimensionis primae conten-
tum ; sive vcrgens ad dissolutionem. sive manens in statu ;
sive animal, sive vegetabile, sive minerale, sive aqua, sive
oleum, sive acr. aut aliqua alia substantia quaecunque susceptiva

- 3 Notice that 'form' is here identified with definition.

24 All round, in all directions.

- : ' See note 14 above.

26 Spectrum analysis has recently shown that ' celestial ' and 'terrestrial'
or ' elementary' bodies are of much the same chemical composition. The
common opinion in Bacon's time, inherited from the Peripatetics (see De
Coelo, i. 3, ii. 7, and other places), was that the heavenly bodies are com-
posed of an entirely different substance (a fifth essence, or element) from
those which enter into the composition of sublunary bodies. Bacon,
while opposing this opinion, admits that there is no doubt ' quin regiones
sub lima positae et supra, una cum corporibus quae sub iisdem spatiis
continentur, multis et magnis rebus differant.' See Descriptio Globi In-
tellectualis, cap. 7 (E. and S., vol. iii. p. 748, &c.).

On the expression ' inibutuin a coelestibus,' cp. what Bacon says on
Astrology in De Augmentis, iii. 4 (E. and S., vol. i. pp. 554-60).

LIB. II. 21. 413

motus praedicti. Calidum autem ad scnsum res eadem est ;
sed cum analogia 27 , qualis competit sensui.*" Nunc vero ad
ulteriora auxilia procedendum est 28 .

XXI.

Post Tabulas comparentiae primae et rejectionem sive ex-
clusivam> nee non vindemiationem primam factam secundum
eas, pergendum est ad reliqua auxilia intellectus circa inter-
pretationem naturae et inductionem veram ac perfectam. In
quibus proponendis, ubi opus erit tabulis, procedemus super
calidum et frigidum ; ubi autem opus erit tantum exemplis
paucioribus, procedemus per alia omnia : ut nee confundatur
inquisitio, et tamen doctrina versetur minus in angusto.

Dicemus itaque primo loco, de Praerogativis Instantiarum^ :

27 By this explanation he means that the 'calidum ad sensum ' is simply
the 'calidum in se ' in its relation to our senses. ' Calor,' as perceived by
us, is modified by the condition of the percipient.

2S Mr. Ellis (pp. 266, 267) has an interesting note on various points
connected with the ' Inquisitio de forma calidi.' It is too long to quote,
but the student may refer to it with advantage, bearing in mind, however,
that the dynamical theory of heat has gained considerably in evidence
since the time at which Mr. Ellis wrote. Most of the points touched on in
this note have been mentioned by me in the course of my own annotations.

The ' ulteriora auxilia ' are designed for the purpose of perfecting the
' Exclusiva,' for which purpose the Tables alone are not supposed to be
sufficient. The necessary imperfection of his method, in the present state
of knowledge, and with the present modes of enquiry, is acknowledged
by Bacon himself in Aph. 19.

To the parenthetical character of the Aphorism just concluded I have
already drawn attention in the extracts from Mr. Ellis' General Preface
in note 96 above.

29 So called from the ' Tribus Praerogativa ' which, being selected by
lot, voted first in the ' Comitia Tributa ' of the Romans, and thus afforded
an indication of the mode in which the other tribes were likely to vote.
Its vote also frequently exercised a considerable influence on the succeed^
ing votes.

' By the prerogatives of instances,' says Sir John Herschel (Discourse on
the Study of Natural Philosophy, 190), 'Bacon understands characteristic
phenomena, selected from the great miscellaneous mass of facts which
occur in nature, and which, by their number, indistinctness, and com-
plication, tend rather to confuse than to direct the mind in its search
for causes and general heads of induction. Phenomena so selected on
account of some peculiarly forcible way in which they strike the reason,

414 NOVUM ORGANUM.

secundo 30 . de Adminiciilis Indnctionis : tertio, &Q Rectifications
Indnctionis : quarto, de Variatione Inquisitionis pro Natnra
Subjecti: quinto 31 , de Praerogativis Naturarum quatenus ad
inquisitionem, sivc de eo quod inquirendum est prius et poste-
rius : sexto, de Terminis Inquisitionis. sive de synopsi omnium

and impress us with a kind of sense of causation or a particular aptitude
for generalisation, he considers, and justly, as holding a kind of prerogative
dignity, and claiming our first and especial attention in physical enquiries.'

On the more important of these ' praerogativae instantiarum ' some ex-
cellent remarks and illustrations will be found in Herschel's Discourse,
&c., 190-200, Playfair's Preliminary Dissertation to the Encyclopaedia
Britannica, Section 2, and Dr. Hippus' Account of the Novum Organum,
Part ii, in the Library of Useful Knowledge (which, however, borrows
largely from Playfair's Dissertation). From these sources, I shall, as we
proceed, extract what appears to me most valuable.

In the ' General Preface to the Philosophical Works,' Mr. Ellis remarks
that ' to the word instance Bacon gives a wide range of signification. It
corresponds more nearly to observation than to any other term which is
used in modern scientific language.'

30 Cp. the passage at the end of the book : ' Nunc vero ad adminicula
et rectificationes induct ionis, et deinceps ad concreta, et latcntes processus,
et latentes schematismos, et reliqua, quae aphorismo 21. ordine propo-
suimus, pergendum.' In this passage 'ad concreta' seems to answer to
the ' Yariatio Inquisitionis pro Natura Subjecti ' of the text, and, perhaps,
' Latentes Processus et Latentes Schematism! ' to the ' Deductio ad
Praxin,' though M. Bouillet refers these also to the Variatio Inquisitionis.

Mr. Ellis (General Preface, p. 43) observes that the practical utility
of the prerogative instances would have been explained when Bacon came
to speak of the Adminicula Inductionis. M. Bouillet, on the other hand,
thinks that the 'Adminicula Inductionis ' were to embrace the ' Minis-
tratio ad Sensum' and ' Ministratio ad Memoriam,' mentioned in Aph.
10. He refers to the conclusion of Aphs. 42 and 43, and quotes from the
Partis Secundae Delineatio the words ' ministratio ad rationem cui minis-
trationes duae priores subministrant.' See E. and S., vol. iii. p. 553.

In M. Bouillet's note on this Aphorism, there is an attempt to determine
the exact character of these missing parts of the Novum Organum, and,
where possible, to supply them from other portions of Bacon's works.
The attempt is interesting and ingenious, but it is too conjectural, as well
as too lengthy, to admit of being reproduced here. The reader, however,
would do well to compare with this Aphorism the Partis Secundae De-
lineatio (E. and S., vol. iii. pp. 547-57).

11 He seems here to contemplate the arrangement of the simple natures,
or, at least, the principal ones, in a kind of hierarchy, according to their
relative importance, as in the sixth division he designs an exhaustive
enumeration of them.

LIB. II. 22. 415

naturarum in universe : septimo, de Deductions ad Praxin,
sive de eo quod est in ordine ad Hominem : octavo 32 , de Para-
sceuis ad Inquisitioncm : postremo autem, de Scala Ascensoria
et Descensoria Axiomatum.

XXII.

Inter Praerogatwas Instantiarum 33 , primo proponemus
Instantias Solitarias 34 . Eae autem sunt solitariae, quae exhi-

32 Towards this division we have a contribution in the tract printed
at the end of the first edition of the Novum Organum, entitled ' Parasceve,'
&c. Bacon expressly says in the Introduction to it : ' Huic autem rei locus
proprius foret quum ad Parasceuas Inquisitionis ordine deventum fuerit.
Hoc vero praevertere, nee locum proprium expectare, consultius nobis
videtur.'

33 In Aph. 52, these Praerogativae Instantiarum are divided into such as
are concerned 'circa partem informativam ' (1-20, of which 1-15 'juvant
intellectual,' 16-20 'juvant sensum'), and such as are concerned 'circa
partem operativam ' (21-27). For further subdivisions, see the Aphorism
itself.

This portion of the Novum Organum, it must be confessed, is defective
in arrangement, nor does it supply any systematic set of rules for the
investigation of nature. It consists rather of a miscellaneous collection
of remarks, hints, and directions, many of which are exceedingly valuable
and suggestive, though often expressed in fanciful language and often
illustrated by examples which we should now deem worthless and un-
scientific. Of Bacon's terminology, however, I may remark that it has at
least been so felicitously selected, as in many cases to have left a per-
manent mark on the language, as, for example, in the expressions ' Crucial
Instance,' ' Glaring Instance,' ' Clandestine Instance,' and the like.

In the Partis Secundae Delineatio (E.and S., vol. iii. p. 556), the Prae-
rogativa Instantiae together with the Praerogativa Inquisiti are described
as constituting the ' inquisitionis contractio,' which has for its office 'ut
non tantum in inviis via, sed in viis compendium, et tanquam linea recta
quae per ambages et flexus secet, ex indiciis nostris innotescat.' ' Itaque
docebimus primo,' he goes on to say, ' quales sint illae instantiae, sive
experimenta, quae ad illuminationem prae caeteris excellant, adeo ut
paucae idem quod aliae plures praestent. Hoc enim et moli ipsius his-
toriae, et discurrendi laboribus parcit.'

34 Bacon could hardly have commenced with a more promising example
of his ' prerogatives.' It is curious that the two divisions of the ' instantiae
solitariae ' correspond respectively with Mill's Methods of Agreement and
Difference. To quote what I have said elsewhere (Inductive Logic, 4th
Ed., p. 147) : ' In the Method of Difference, the instances agree in every-
thing, except in the possession of two circumstances which are present in
the one instance and absent in the other. In the Method of Agreement.

41 6 NOVUM ORGANUM.

bent naturam, de qua fit inquisitio, in talibus subjectis quae
nil habent 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. Manifestum
enim est quod hujusmodi instantiae tollant ambages, atque
accelerent et roborent exclusivam^ ; adeo ut paucae ex illis
sint instar multarum.

Exempli gratia : si fiat inquisitio de natura Coloris 3G , In-
stantiae Solitariae sunt prismata, gemmae chrystallinae, quae
reddunt colores non solum in se sed exterius supra parietem,
item rores, &c. Istae enim nil habent commune cum coloribus
fixis in floribus, gemmis coloratis, metallis. lignis, &c., praeter
ipsum colorem. Unde facile colligitur, quod color nil aliud
sit quam modificatio imaginis lucis immissae et receptae : in
priore genere, per gradus diversos incidentiae ; in posteriore,
per texturas et schematismos varios corporis. Istae autem
Instantiae sunt Solitariae quatenus ad similitudinem 37 .

Rursus in eadem inquisitione, venae distinctae albi et nigri
in marmoribus, et variegationes colorum in floribus ejusdem

the various instances compared (for here we generally require more than
two instances) agree in nothing, except in the possession of two circum-
stances which are common to all the instances.' Here, of course, the
' two circumstances ' are the ' natura de qua fit inquisitio ' and the assigned
cause. The cogency of these methods is almost evident from the state-
ment of them. 'The Method of Agreement,' says Mr. Mill, 'stands on
the ground that whatever can be eliminated, is not connected with the
phenomenon by any law. The Method of Difference has for its foundation
that whatever can not be eliminated, is connected with the phenomenon
by a law.'

35 The second division, answering to the Method of Difference, does
more than this. If its conditions were perfectly satisfied, it would demon-
strate the truth of the assigned cause.

BG Bacon is no less happy in his example than in his rule. ' He con-
cludes,' says Professor Play-fair, ' that colour is nothing else than a modi-
fication of the rays of light, produced, in the first case, by the different
degrees of incidence ; and, in the second, by the texture or constitution of
the surfaces of bodies. He may be considered as very fortunate in fixing
on these examples ; for it was by means of them that Newton afterwards
found out the composition of light.'

37 It will be noticed that the very expressions ' Method of Agreement'
and ' Method of Difference ' all but occur in the Text.

LIB. II. 23. 417

speciei, sunt Instantiae Solitariac. Album enim et nigrum
marmoris, et maculae albi et purpurei in floribus garyophylli ;3 *,
conveniunt fere in omnibus praeter Ipsum colorem. Undo
facile colligitur, colorem non multum rei habere cum naturis
alicujus corporis intrinsecis, sed tantum situm esse in positura
partium crassiori et quasi mechanica. Istae autem Instantiae
sunt Solitariac, quatenus ad discrepantiam. Utrunque autem
genus Instantias Solitarias appellare consuevimus ; aut
Ferinas, sumpto vocabulo ab astronomis.

XXIII.

Inter praerogativas instantiarum, ponemus secundo loco
Instantias Migr antes 40 . Eae sunt, in quibus natura inquisita

13 More properly Caryophylla, from Kapv6(f)v\\oi>. The name, with Bacon,
probably designates pinks, carnations, and cloves.

10 Dr. Kitchin gives up this word in despair. I have little doubt that
Mr. Ellis is right in his conjecture that it is used (possibly by an ac-
cidental substitution) for feralis, which is thus defined in the Lexicon
Mathematicum of Hieronymus Vitalis, published at Paris in 1668 : 'Feralis,

[S.C.]

apud Astronomos dicitur planeta, quando fuerit in loco, ubi nullam cum
reliquis familiaritatem habet : quod quidem maximum est detrimentum,
et potissime attenditur in Luna, quae proinde in eo casu appellatur
Agrestis, cursu vacua,' &c.

40 Cp. the Tabula Graduum of Aph. 13, and Mill's Method of Con-
comitant Variations.

' Bacon's " travelling instances" are those in which the nature or quality
under investigation " travels," or varies in degree ; thus affording an
indication of a cause by a gradation of intensity in the effect. One of
his instances is very happy, being that of ' paper, which is white when
dry, but proves less so when wet, and comes nearer to the state of
transparency upon the exclusion of the air, and admission of water.
In reading this, and many other instances in the Xovum Organum, one
would almost suppose (had it been written) that its author had taken
them from Newton's Optics.

' The travelling instances, as well as what Bacon terms " frontier in-
stances," are cases in which we are enabled to trace that general law
which seems to pervade all nature the law, as it is termed, of continuity,
which is expressed in the well-known sentence, " Natura non agit per
saltum."' Herschel, ^ 198, 199.

Professor Playfair remarks: 'The mineral kingdom is the great theatre
of the instantiae migrantcs, where the same nature is seen in all grada-
tions, from the most perfect state, till it become entirely evanescent.

E e

41 8 NOVUM ORGANUM.

migrat ad generationem, cum prius non existeret ; aut contra
migrat ad corruptionem, cum prius existeret. Itaque in
utraque antistrophe, instantiae tales sunt semper geminae 41 ;
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 migrationcm tollatur
et destruatur. Atque licet omnis exclusio promoveat affirma-
tivam, tamen hoc magis directc fit in subjecto eodem quam
in diversis. Forma autem (ut ex omnibus quae dicta sunt
manifesto liquet) prodens 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 formam copu-
latam cum efficiente aut privante, perspicue designant praxin
in aliquibus ; unde facilis etiam est transitus ad proxima.
Subest tamen in illis nonnihil periculi, quod indiget cautione ;
hoc videlicet, ne formam nimis retrahant ad efficientem 42 , et
intellectum perfundant vel saltern perstringant falsa opinione
de forma ex intuitu efficientis. Efficiens vcro semper ponitur
nil aliud esse quam vehiculum sive deferens formae. Verum

Such are the shells which we see so perfect in figure and structure in
limestone, and gradually losing themselves in the finer marbles, till they
can no longer be distinguished. The use, also, of one such fact to ex-
plain or interpret another, is nowhere so well seen as in the history of the
mineral kingdom.'

It may be added, however, that the application of this method to com-
parative anatomy, to physiology, and to the comparative study of law,
morals, politics, art, &c., is, at least, as interesting and instructive as its
application to mineralogy. See my Inductive Logic under the head of
' Method of Concomitant Variations.'

At the instant when the phenomenon is actually generated, or actually
vanishes, the instance falls under the Method of Difference. See note
48 below.

1 That is, as one quality is making its appearance, the other is vanish-
ing ; thus, as transparency vanishes, whiteness appears, and vice versa.

42 Here Bacon expressly distinguishes between the form and the efficient
cause. The efficient conveys the form, or superinduces it on any given
material, but is not to be confounded with it.

LIB. II. 23. 419

huic rei, per cxclusivam legitime factam, facile adhibetur
remedium 43 .

Proponendum itaque est jam exemplum instantiae migrantis.
Sit natura inquisita Candor sive Albedo : instantia migrans
ad generationem est vitrum integrum 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
aquae 44 . Manifestum enim est formam albedinis defcrri et
invehi per istam contusionem vitri et agitationem aquae. Nihil
autem reperitur accessisse, praeter comminutionem partium
vitri et aquae, et acris insertionem. Neque vero parum pro-
fectum est ad inveniendam formam albedinis, quod corpora
duo per se diaphana, sed secundum magis et minus (aer scilicet
ct aqua, aut aer et vitrum), simul posita per minutas portiones
exhibcant albedinem, per refractionem inaequalem radiorum
lucis 4l l

Ycrum hac in re proponendum est etiam exemplum periculi
ct cautionis, de quibus diximus. Nimirum facile hie occurret
intellectui ab hujusmodi efficientibus depravato, quod ad for-
mam albedinis aer semper requiratur, aut quod albedo gene-
retur tantum per corpora diaphana ; quae omnino falsa sunt,

43 The effect (the 'nature' exhibiting the 'form') will often be found,
where the efficient cause has ceased to operate. Hence, by the Method
of Exclusion, the form and its efficient may be distinguished. Thus,
long after we have ceased to apply friction, a body may remain heated
beyond its ordinary temperature.

* This phenomenon arises from the great number of reflecting surfaces
which cause a very much larger proportion of light to be reflected or
scattered than transmitted. Another good instance of the phenomenon
is to be seen in the globules of turpentine, when mixed with water and
shaken in a bottle.

K It is not to the unequal refraction of the rays of light in the air
and water, or air and glass, as the case may be, but to the repeated
reflexion from so many surfaces, as pointed out in the last note, that
the phenomenon of whiteness is cue. This reflexion, of course, could
not take place, unless the particles were mixed with air. It may be
worth adding that Bacon notices the phenomena of Refraction, properly
so called, in Sylva Sylvarum, Exps. 761, 762.

E e 2

420 NOVUM ORGANUM.

et per multas cxclusioncs convicta 4r '. Ouin potius apparebit
(misso acre et hujusmodi) corpora omnino aequalia (secundum
portiones opticas) dare diaphanum ; corpora vero inaequalia
per texturam simplicem, dare album ; corpora inaequalia
secundum texturam compositam, sed ordinatam, dare reliquos
colores, praeter nigrurn ; corpora vero inaequalia per texturam
compositam, sed omnino inordinatam et confusam. dare
nigrum 4T . Itaquc clc instantia migrante ad generationem
in natura inquisita albedinis, propositum est jam exemplum.
Instantia autem migrans ad corruptionem in eadem natura
albedinis, est spuma dissoluta, aut nix dissoluta. Exuit enim
albedinem et induit diaphanum aqua, postquam fit integrale
sine acre.

Nequc vero illud ullo modo praetermittendum est. quod sub

iG In this passage, Bacon seems explicitly to recognise what we call the
Plurality of Causes, namely, the fact that an event may be due to various
causes or distinct sets of conditions. An argument might hence be deduced
in favour of the position that by Form he invariably intends to express nature
or essence rather than cause. As I have stated, however, in the Introduc-
tion, I believe that the word is employed by him in various shades of
meaning in different places. Should it be said that the form is the set
of conditions immediately preceding the phenomenon, as it appears to us.,
and that this is invariably the same, it must be borne in mind that, even if
we granted this to be the case, the difficulty connected with Plurality
of Causes would recur with regard to the set of conditions immediately
preceding this, or the set immediately preceding that, and so on ; so that it
would only be potsponed, not eliminated. See my Inductive Logic, 4th
ed., pp. 125, 126, n. 4.

47 This explanation of the colour of bodies is mere guess-work. We
have no sufficient evidence, at least as yet, for determining the conditions
on which the absorption of colours by A r arious bodies depends. In New-
ton's Optics, bk. ii. pt. iii, there is a curious and interesting attempt to
determine the same problem. Thus, for instance, Newton thinks that ' The
Bigness of the Component Parts of Natural Bodies may be conjectured by
their colours ; ' that ' for the production of Black, the corpuscles must
be less than any of those which exhibit colours ; ' and that ' microscopes
may at length be improved to the discovery of the particles of bodies
on which their colours depend, if they are not already in some measure
arrived to that degree of perfection.'

There is a long passage on the theory of Colours in Valerius Terminus
(E. and S., vol. iii. p. 236, &c.). Notwithstanding much that is crude in
Bacon's speculations, we have only to compare them with such a book
as Telcsius de Coloribus, to see on how much firmer ground the physicists
of his age were treading than those of the previous generation.

LIB. II. 24. 421

Instantiis Migrantibus comprehend} debeant non tantum illae
quae migrant ad generationem ct privationem 48 , sed etiam
illae quae migrant ad majorationcm et minorationem ; cum
illae etiam tendant ad inveniendam formam, ut per defini-
tionem formae 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 rationem cum
instantiis supradictis.

XXIV.

Inter praerogativas instantiarum, tertio loco ponemus In-
stantias Ostensivas, de quibus in mndemiatione prima de
Calido mentionem fecimus ; quas etiam Elucescentias^, sive
Instantias Liberatas ct Pracdominantes, appellare consuevimus.
Eae sunt. quae ostendunt naturam inquisitam nudam et sub-
stantivam, atque etiam in exaltatione sua aut summo gradu
potentiae suae ; emancipatam scilicet, et liberatam ab impedi-
mentis, vel saltern per fortitudinem suae virtutis dominantem
super ipsa, eaque supprimentem et coercentem. Cum enim
omnc corpus suscipiat multas naturarum formas copulatas 50 et
in concrete, fit ut alia aliam retundat, deprimat, frangat, et
liget ; unde obscurantur formae singulae. Inveniuntur autem
subjecta nonnulla in quibus natura inquisita prae aliis est in
suo vigore, vel per absentiam impedimenti vel per praedomi-
nantiam virtutis. Hujusmodi autem instantiac sunt maxima
ostensivac formae. Verum et in his ipsis instantiis adhibenda

!; I have drawn attention above (n. 40) to the correspondence between
this ' Prerogative ' and the Method of Concomitant Variations. But,
strictly speaking, an instance which ' travels to generation or privation,'
at least at the precise moment when it actually attains to either the one
or the other (that is, when the phenomenon, not having existed before,
is produced, or, having existed before, vanishes), falls under the head, not
of the Method of Concomitant Variations, but of the Method of Dif-
ference. On the close relation of these two methods to each other, see
my Inductive Logic, under the head of the Method of Concomitant
Variations.

i9 Hence the common name for these instances, ' Glaring Instances.'
Cp. Aph. 20 ad init.

'""' Cp. Aph. 17, and see my note upon the expression, as it occurs there.

422 NOVUM ORGANUM.

est cautio, et cohibendus impetus intellectus 51 . Ouicquid enim
ostentat formam, eamque trudit, ut videatur occurrere in-
tellectui, pro suspecto habendum est, et recurrendum ad ex-
clusivam severam et diligentem.

Exempli gratia ; sit natura inquisita Calidum. Instantia
Ostensiva motus expansionis, quae (ut superius dictum est)
portio est praecipua 52 formae calidi, est vitrum calendare aeris 53 .

01 Cp. i. 47. There is sometimes a danger lest these 'glaring instances'
should produce an undue effect on the mind, to the prejudice of other
instances less striking, but, perhaps, equally or more instructive ; and
hence the need of caution. This is all that Bacon seems to mean.

52 In Aph. 20, 'motus expansivus ' is given as the 'prima differentia'
of heat.

53 The thermometer, as exhibiting the expansive power of heat, is a
good example of a glaring instance. I add some others.

' If the weight of the air were inquired into, the Torricellian experi-
ment, or the barometer, affords an ostensive instance, where the circum-
stance which conceals the weight of the atmosphere in common cases,
namely, the pressure of it in all directions, being entirely removed, that
weight produces its full effect, and sustains the whole column of mercury
in the tube. The barometer affords also an example of the instantia
migrans, when the change is not total, but only partial or progressive.
If it be the weight of the air which supports the mercury in the tube
of the barometer, when that weight is diminished, the mercury ought
to stand lower. On going to the top of a mountain, the weight of the
incumbent air is diminished, because a shorter column of air is to be
sustained ; the mercury in the barometer ought therefore to sink, and it
is found to do so accordingly.

' These are instances in which the action of certain principles is ren-
dered visible by the removal of all the opposing forces. One may be
given where it is the distinct and decisive nature of this fact which leads
to the result.

' Suppose it were inquired, whether the present land had ever been
covered by the sea. If we look at the stratified form of so large a portion
of the earth's surface, we cannot but conclude it to be very probable that
such land was formed at the bottom of the sea. But the decisive proof
is afforded by the shells and corals, or bodies having the perfect shape
of shells and corals and of other marine exuviae, which are found im-
bedded in masses of the most solid rock, and often on the tops of very
high mountains.' Playfair, Preliminary Dissertation.

' The laws of crystallography were obscure, and its causes still more so,
till Haiiy fortunately dropped a beautiful crystal of calcareous spar on a
stone pavement, and broke it. In piecing together the fragments, he
observed their facets not to correspond with those of the crystal in its
entire state, but to belong to another form : and, following out the hint

LIB. II. 24. 423

Etenim flamma, licet manifesto exhibeat expansionem, tamen
propter momcntaneam extinctionem non ostendit progressum
expansionis. Aqua autem fervens, propter facilem transitionem
aquae in vaporem et aerem, non tarn bene ostendit expansionem
aquae in corpore suo. Rursus ferrum ignitum, et similia, tan-
tum abest ut progressum ostendant, ut contra per retusionem
et fractionem spiritus per partes compactas et crassas (quae
domant et fraenant expansionem) ipsa expansio non sit omnino
conspicua ad sensum 54 . At vitrum calendare clare ostendit
expansionem in aere, et conspicuam et progredientem et
durantem, neque transeuntem 55 .

Rursus, exempli gratia, sit natura inquisita Pondus. In-
stantia Ostensiva ponderis est argentum vivum 5G . Omnia
enim superat pondere magno intervallo, praeter aurum ; quod
non multo gravius est 57 . At praestantior instantia est ad
indicandam formam ponderis argentum vivum quam aurum :
quia aurum solidum est et consistens, quod genus referri
videtur ad densum ; at argentum vivum liquidum est et
turgens spiritu, et tamen multis partibus exuperat gravitate

offered by a "glaring instance " thus casually obtruded on his notice, he
discovered the beautiful laws of the cleavage and the primitive forms of
minerals.' Herschel's Discourse, &c., 191.

In 365 of the same book, Herschel adduces Magnetism as a 'glaring
instance ' of polarity, ' and that under circumstances which peculiarly adapt
it for the study of this quality.'

54 From these remarks, it almost looks as if he thought that ignited
iron, &c., do undergo expansion, though the amount of it is imperceptible
to us. Cp. Aph. 1 8, Inst. 10.

05 ' And without passing beyond the condition of air ; ' as water, for
instance, transcends its own condition, when it is converted into steam.

50 Dr. Hippus (Account of the Novum Organum, in the Library of
Useful Knowledge, pt. ii. p. 16) points out that Bacon is not happy in his
selection of this instance : ' for gold, which is heavier than quicksilver,
becomes fluid also by the application of heat ; and quicksilver is solid at
a certain temperature.'

57 Bacon commits the same mistake in the Historia Densi et Rari. He
there makes the ratio of the Specific Gravity of Quicksilver to that of
Gold as 19 Den. 9 Gr. to 20 Den., that is as I9'37S to 20. (E. and S.,
vol. ii. p. 245.) The true ratio is I3'598 to I9'258 of Cast Gold or I9'362
of Stamped Gold, taking the specific gravity of all these substances at
zero, as compared with distilled water at 4C. The specific gravity of
Platinum is still greater than that of gold.

424 NOVUM ORGANUM.

diamantcm. et ea quae putantur solidissima. Ex quo osten-
ditur formam gravis sive ponderosi dominari simpliciter in
copia materiae, et non in arcta compage 5S .

XXV.

Inter praerogativas instantiarum ponemus quarto loco In-
stant? as Clandestinas^, quas etiam Instantias Crcpnscnli ap-

This conception of Weight is perfectly correct. Weight, which is the
amount of the earth's attraction on a body, depends not on the consistency
of the body, but on the amount of matter contained in it. And, as the
amount of matter or mass depends partly on the volume and partly on the
density, two bodies of equal volume will vary in weight according to their
respective densities.

59 'The contrary of glaring are "clandestine instances,'' where '''the
nature sought is exhibited in its weakest and most imperfect state." Of
this, Bacon himself has given an admirable example in the cohesion of
fluids, as a clandestine instance of the " nature or quality of consistence, or
solidity." Yet here, again, the same acute discrimination which enabled
Bacon to perceive the analogy which connects fluids with solids, through
the common property of cohesive attraction, would, at the same time, have
enabled him to draw from it, if properly supported, every consequence
necessary to forming just notions of the cohesive force ; nor does its
reference to the class of clandestine instances at all assist in bringing
forward and maturing the final results. When, however, the final result is
obtained, when our induction is complete, and we would verify it, this
class of instances is of great use, being, in fact, frequently no other than
that of extreme cases, such as we have already spoken of ; Avhich, by
placing our conclusions, as it were, in violent circumstances, try their
temper, and bring their vigour to the test.' Herschel's Discourse, 193.

An example of this instance may be given from hydrostatics. If the sus-
pension of water in capillary tubes be inquired into, it becomes very useful to
view that effect when it is least, or when the tube ceases to be capillary, and
becomes a vessel of a large diameter. The column is then reduced to a
slender ring of water, which goes all round the vessel ; and this, though
now so inconsiderable, has the property of being independent of the size
of the vessel, so as to be in all cases the same when the materials are the
same. As there can be no doubt that this ring proceeds from the attrac-
tion of the sides, and of the part immediately above the water, so there can
be no doubt that the capillary suspension, in part at least, is derived from
the same cause. An effect of the opposite kind takes place when a glass
vessel is filled with mercury.' Playfair's Preliminary Dissertation.

I confess that, in the former quotation, I do not quite understand what
Sir John Ilcrschel means by saying that 'its reference to the class of
clandestine instances does not at all assist in bringing forward and
maturing the final results.' The mere act of calling it a 'clandestine
instance,' of course, does not ; but. surely, the fact of noticing the cir-

LIB. IL 25. 425

pellare consucvimus. Eae sunt vcluti oppositac instantiis
ostcnsivis, Exhibent enim naturam inquisitam in infima vir-
tute, et tanquam in incunabulis et rudimentis suis ; tentantem
et tanquam primo experientem, scd sub contraria natura
latcntcm et subactam. Sunt autem hujusmodi instantiac
magni omnino momenti ad inveniendas formas : quia sicut
ostcnsivae ducunt facile ad dififerentias, ita clandestinae ducunt
optime ad genera 00 ; 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 01 .
Instantiac clandestinae sunt illae quae exhibcnt gradum non-
nullum debilem et infimum consistentis in fluido ; vcluti bulla
aquae, quae est tanquam pellicula quaedam consistens et
determinata, facta ex corpore aquae. Similiter stillicidia,
quae, si adfuerit aqua quae succedat, producunt se in filum
admodum tenue, ne discontinueter aqua ; at si non detur
talis copia aquae quae succedere possit, cadit aqua in guttis
rotundis, quae est figura quae optime aquam sustinct contra
discontinuationem G2 . At in ipso temporis articulo, cum dcsinit

cumstance of cohesion in this extreme case must have contributed largely
to forming just notions of the nature and extent of the property.

" These instances, being on the extreme border, serve to determine the
range of the genus, as the ' glaring instances,' exhibiting a property in its
most striking form, serve to direct attention to the most characteristic
features of the phenomenon, or, in other words, its differentiae.

01 Bacon employs interchangeably the terms Fluid and Liquid, which.
with us, stand respectively for the genus (including gases) and the species.
By ' fluens ' he means a liquid. Gases are by him included under ' corpora
pneumatica,' as opposed to 'corpora tangibilia.' See Aph. 40 and Historia
Densi et Rari.

2 The spheroidal shape is due to the cohesion of the molecules of the
water. ' In large masses of liquids, the force of gravity overcomes that of
cohesion. Hence liquids acted upon by the former force have no special
shape ; they take that of the vessel in which they arc contained. But in
smaller masses cohesion gets the upper hand, and liquids present then the
spheroidal form. This is seen in the drops of dew on the leaves of plants ;
it is also seen when a liquid is placed on a solid which it does not moisten ;
as, for example, mercury upon wood. The experiment may also be made
with water, by sprinkling upon the surface of the wood some light powder,
such as lycopodium or lampblack, and then dropping some water on it.'
Ganot's Physics, I2th Ed. of Translation, 84.

426 NOVUM ORGANUM.

filum aquae ct incipit descensus in guttis, resilit ipsa aqua
sursum ad evitandam discontinuationem. Ouin in metallis,
quae cum funduntur sunt liquida sed magis tenacia, recipiunt
se saepe guttae liquefactae sursum, atque ita haerent. Simile
quoddam est instantia speculorum puerilium, quae solent
facere pueruli in scirpis ex saliva, ubi cernitur etiam pellicula
consistens aquae. At multo melius se ostendit hoc ipsum
in altero illo ludicro puerili, quando capiunt aquam, per
saponem factam paulo tenaciorem, atque inflant earn per
calamum cavum, atque inde formant aquam tanquam in
castellum bullarum ; quae per interpositionem aeris inducit
consistentiam eo usque ut se projici nonnihil patiatur absque
discontinuatione. Optime autem cernitur hoc in spuma et
nive, quae talem induunt consistentiam ut fere secari possint ;
cum tamen sint corpora formata ex acre et aqua, quae utraque
sunt liquida u3 . Quae omnia non obscure innuunt Liquidum
et Consistens esse notiones tantum plebeias, et ad sensum :
inesse autem revera omnibus corporibus fugam et evitationem
se discontinuandi ; earn vero in corporibus homogeneis G4
(qualia sunt liquida) esse debilem et infirmam, in corporibus
vero, quae sunt composita ex heterogeneis, magis esse vividam
ct fortem ; propterea quod admotio heterogenei constringit
corpora, at subintratio homogenel solvit et relaxat.

Sirniliter. exempli gratia ; sit natura inquisita Attractio, sive
Coitio Corporum. Instantia circa formam ejus ostcnsiva
maxime insignis est magnes. Contraria autem natura attra-
henti est non attrahens, licet in substantia simili. Veluti
ferrum, quod non attrahit ferrum, quemadmodum nee plumbum
plumbum, ncc lignum lignum, nee aquam aqua. Instantia
autem dandcsti)ia est magnes ferro armatus, vel potius ferrum

3 It must be remembered that Bacon was not aware that probably
any body may, by a sufficient diminution or increase of temperature, be
made solid, liquid, or gaseous. See n. 37 on Aph. 33.

1 Bacon was, of course, in error in supposing that liquids, as such, are
more homogeneous than solids. The reason that cohesion is more strongly
exerted in solids than in liquids is that its intensity decreases as the tem-
perature increases, being counteracted by the repulsive force due to heat.
So far from cohesion being greater in heterogeneous than in homogeneous
bodies, it is precisely between molecules of the same nature that it exerts
its force.

LIB. II. 25. 427

in magnete armato. Nam ita fert natura, ut magnes armatus
in distantia aliqua non trahat ferrum fortius quam magnes non
armatus. Verum si admoveatur ferrum, ita ut tangat ferrum
in magnete armato, tune magnes armatus longe majus pondus
ferri sustinet quam magnes simplex et inermis, propter simili-
tudinem substantiae ferri versus ferrum G5 ; quae operatic erat
omnino clandestina et latens in ferro, antequam magnes ac-
cessisset. Itaque manifestum est formam coitionis esse quip-
piam quod in magnete sit vividum et robustum, in ferro debile
et latens. Itidem notatum est sagittas parvas 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 sub-
stantiae ligni ad lignum, licet hoc ante in ligno latuerit 00 .
Itidem, licet aer aerem aut aqua aquam manifesto non trahat
in corporibus integris, tamen bulla approximata bullae facilius
dissolvit bullam quam si bulla ilia altera abesset, ob appetitum
coitionis aquae cum aqua et ae'ris cum acre 67 . Atque hujus-
modi Instantiae Clandestinae (quae sunt usus nobilissimi, ut
dictum est) in portionibus corporum parvis et subtilibus
maxime se dant conspiciendas. Quia massae rerum majores

u The fact is true, but the reason purely fanciful. Mr. Ellis says : ' Be-
fore the Novum Organum was published, Galileo had shown' (? maintained)
' that the armature acts by producing a more perfect' contact.' He then
refers to the Dialog! dei Sistemi massimi, Giornata Terza, Florence Edi-
tion of Galileo's Works of 1 842, vol. i. p. 440. It should be pp. 440-2. The
true reason why magnetic force is increased by armatures will be found in
Ganot's Physics, I2th Ed., 718.

It is needless to add that this example of a ' Clandestine Instance' is
wholly delusive.

fl It has been suggested to me by Professor Clifton that, if the facts are
correctly stated by Bacon, they are probably due either to the greater
velocity with which the wooden arrow would move, in consequence of its
lightness, or to the windage in the ' sclopetum ' being greater in the case
of the tipped arrow than in that of the wooden arrow.

In Henschel's Edition of Du Cange, Paris, 1846, Sclopetum is defined as
'Tormentum bellicum manuale, Gall, escopette ' (a 'carbine'). In the
first edition of Du Cange, the word does not occur.

1 The bursting, or, as is sometimes the case, the union of two bubbles
in contact is probably due to a complexity of causes, of which capillary
attraction is one.

428 NOVUM ORGANUM.

sequuntur formas magis catholicas et generalcs ; ut suo loco
dicetur 6S .

XXVI.

Inter praerogativas instantiarum poncmus quinto loco In-
stantias Constitntivas^, quas etiam Manipnlares appellare con-

''" See Aph. 48, Motus Septimus, i.e. 'Motus Congregationis Majoris.'

''''' These instances are neither more nor less than subordinate inductions
made with the view of leading up to larger inductions, or afterwards
employed for that purpose. Notice the expressions ' tanquam formam
minorem,' ' formae particulares,' &c.

' "Collective instances,'" says Sir John Herschel, 'in Bacon's classifica-
tion, arc no other than general facts, or laws of some degree of generality,
and are themselves the results of induction. But there is a species of
collective instance which Bacon does not seem to have contemplated, of a
peculiarly instructive character ; and that is, where particular cases are
offered to our observation in such numbers at once as to make the induc-
tion of their law a matter of ocular inspection. For example, the parabolic
form assumed by a jet of water, spouted from a round hole, is a collective
instance of the velocities and directions of the motions of all the particles
which compose it seen at once, thus leading us, without trouble, to
recognise the law of the motion of a projectile. Again, the beautiful
figures exhibited by sand, strewed on regular plates of glass or metal set
in vibration, arc collective instances, of an infinite number of points which
remain at rest while the remainder of the plate vibrates ; and in con-
sequence afford us, as it were, a sight of the law which regulates their
arrangement and sequence throughout the whole surface. The beautifully
coloured lemniscates seen around the optic axes of crystals exposed to
polarised light afford a superb example of the same kind, pointing at once
to the general mathematical expression of the law which regulates their
production. (Sec Phil. Trans. 1819.) Of such collective instances as these,
it is easy to see the importance, and its reason. They lead us to a general
law by an induction which offers itself spontaneously, and thus furnish ad-
vanced points in our enquiries ; and, when we start from these, already
" a thousand steps are lost.''

'A fine example of a collective instance is that of the system of Jupiter
or Saturn with its satellites. We have here, in miniature, and seen at
one view, a system similar to that of the planets about the sun ; of which,
from the circumstance of our being involved in it, and unfavourably
situated for seeing it otherwise than in detail, we are incapacitated from
f< -rniing a general idea but by slow progressive efforts of reason. Accord-
ingly, the contemplation of the drcumjovial planets (as they were called)
most materially assisted in securing the admission of the Copernican
--ystem.' Discourse, &.C., 194-5-

Professor Playfair adduces as examples of 'Collective Instances' the
three laws of Kepler, which subsequently, in the hands of Xewton, led to

LIB. II. 26.

429

suevimus. Eae sunt quac constituunt imam spccicm naturae
inquisitae tanquam Formam Minorem. Cum enim formae
legitimae (quac sunt semper convertibilcs cum naturis inqui-
sitis) lateant in profundo ncc facile inveniantur, postulat res
et infirmitas humani intellcctus ut formae particulares 70 , quac
sunt congregativae Manipnlornm quorundam instantiarum
(neutiquam vero omnium) in notionem aliquam communcm,
non negligantur, vcrum diligentius notentur. Ouicquid cnim
unit naturam, licet modis impcrfectis, ad inventionem for-
marum viam sternit. Itaque instantiae, quae ad hoc utiles
sunt, non sunt contemnendae potestatis, sed habent nonnullam
Praerogativam.

Verum in his diligens est adhibenda cautio, nc intellectus
humanus, postquam complurcs ex istis formis particularibus
adinvenerit atque indc partitiones sivc divisioncs naturae
inquisitae confecerit, in illis omnino acquiescat, atque ad in-

the discovery of the great principle of Gravitation. ' These discoveries
were all made before Bacon wrote, but he is silent concerning them ; for
the want of mathematical knowledge concealed from his view some of the
most splendid and interesting parts of science.'

' Astronomy is full of such collective instances, and affords them, indeed,
of the second and third order, that is to say, two or three times gene-
ralised. The astronomer observes nothing but that a certain luminous
disk, or perhaps merely a luminous point, is in a certain position, in respect
of the planes of the meridian and the horizon, at a certain moment of
time. By comparing a number of such observations, he finds that this
luminous point moves in a certain plane, with a certain velocity, and per-
forms a revolution in a certain time. Thus, the periodic time of a planet
is itself a collective fact, or a single fact expressing the result of many
hundred observations. This holds with respect to each planet, and with
respect to each element, as it is called, of the planet's orbit, every one of
which is a general fact, expressing the result of an indefinite number of
particulars. This holds still more remarkably of the inferences which
extend to the distances of the planet from the earth, or from the sun.
The laws of Kepler are therefore collective facts of the second, or even
a higher order ; or such as comprehend a great number of general facts,
each of which is itself a general fact, including many particulars.' Pre-
liminary Dissertation.

70 These formae minores or particulares correspond with the axiomata
infima or some of the lower degrees of the axiomata media of Bk. i. (see,
for instance, i. 104). They might be described as the definitions of specific
(though still general) exemplifications of the nature under examination.
Cp. the last paragraph of the Aphorism.

430 NOVUM ORGANUM.

ventionem legitimam Formae Magnae se non accingat, sed
pracsupponat naturam velut a radicibus esse multiplicem
ct divisam, atque ulteriorem naturae unionem, tanquam rem
supervacuae subtilitatis et vergentem ad mcrum abstractum,
fastidiat et rejiciat.

Exempli gratia; sit natura inquisita Memoria 71 , sive
Excitans et Adjuvans memoriam. Instantiac constitutivae
sunt, ordo sive distributio, quae manifesto juvat memoriam :
item Loci in memoria artificiali, qui aut possunt esse loci
secundum proprium sensum, veluti janua, angulus, fcnestra,
et similia. aut possunt esse personae familiares et notac, aut
possunt esse quidvis ad placitum (modo in ordine certo
ponantur), veluti animalia, hcrbae ; etiam verba, literae, cha-
ractcres, personae historicac, 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 hacrent et
discuntur memoriter quam prosa. Atque ex isto vianipulo
trium instantiarum, videlicet ordinis, locorum artificialis
memoriae, ct versuum, constituitur species una auxilii ad
Memoriam. Species autem ilia Abscissio Infiniti' 1 - recte
vocari possit. Cum enim quis aliquid reminisci aut revocare
in memoriam nititur, si nullam praenotionem habcat aut
perceptlonem ejus quod quacrit, quaerit certc et molitur et
hac iliac discurrit, tanquam in infinito. Quod si certam
aliquam praenotionem habeat. statim abscinditur infinitum,
et fit discursus memoriae magis in vicino. In tribus autem
illis instantiis quac superius dictae sunt, pracnotio pcrspicua
cst et certa. In prima videlicet, clebet esse aliquid quod

71 This example is interesting in connexion with i. 127, as shewing
that Bacon did not confine his examples any more than the scope of his
philosophical reform to what is usually called Natural Philosophy.

On his doctrine of Memory and the Aids to Memory, in general, see
De Augmentis, lib. v. cap. 5.

Most of the mental phenomena as well as the artificial aids to memory
here described would now be explained by the doctrine of Association of
Ideas.

- In the DC Augmentis, the expression ' Praenotio ' (which also occurs
below) is put forward most prominently to describe this species. ' Prae-
notionem vocamus abscissioncm quandam investigationis infinitae.'

LIB. II. 26. 431

congruat cum ordine ; in secunda, debet esse imago quae
relationem aliquam habeat sivc convenientiam ad ilia loca
certa ; in tertia, debent esse verba quae cadant in versum.
Atque ita abscinditur infinitum. Aliae autem instantiae
dabunt hanc alteram specicm ; ut quicquid deducat intel-
lectuale ad feriendum sensum 73 (quae ratio etiam praecipue
viget in artificiali memoria) juvet memoriam. Aliae instantiae
dabunt hanc alteram speciem ; ut quae faciunt impressionem
in affectu forti, incutientia scilicet metum, admirationem,
pudorem, delectationem, juvent memoriam. Aliae instantiae
dabunt hanc alteram speciem ; ut quae maxime imprimuntur
a mente pura et minus praeoccupata ante vel post, veluti
quae discuntur in pueritia aut quae commentamur ante
somnum 74 , etiam primae quaeque rerum vices, magis haereant
in memoria. Aliae instantiae dabunt hanc alteram speciem ;
ut multitude circumstantiarum sive ansarum juvet memoriam,
veluti scriptio per partes non continuatas, lectio, sive recitatio
voce alta. Aliae denique instantiae dabunt hanc alteram
speciem ; ut quae expectantur et attentionem excitant melius
haereant, quam quae praetervolant. Itaque si scriptum
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 Minores eorum quae juvant Memoriam : vide-
licet abscissio infiniti ; deductio intellectuals ad sensibile ;
impressio in affectu forti ; impressio in mente pura ; multitudo
ansarum ; praeexpectatio.

73 In the De Augmentis, this species is called 'Emblema,' and is
described at greater length than here, as well as illustrated. See the end
of bk. v.

74 The probable cause of this phenomenon (of which some striking
instances will be found in Dr. Carpenter's Mental Physiology, ch. 13)
is that we repeatedly recur to these thoughts during sleep, though, on
waking, we have forgotten that we did so. It belongs to the class of
phenomena described by Leibnitz as ' obscure ideas,' by Hamilton as
' Latent Mental Modifications,' by Dr. Carpenter as ' Unconscious Cere-
bration,' and more happily by Mr. Lewes as ' Subconsciousness.' Awaking
at an appointed hour is a good and familiar instance of the power which
the mind actually exerts during sleep, though ail recollection of its exertion
may have passed away.

432 NOVUM ORGANUM.

Similiter, exempli gratia ; sit natura inquisita Gustus, sive
Gustatio. Instantiae quae sequuntur sunt Constitutivae : vide-
licet, quod qui non olfaciunt, sed sensu eo a natura destituti
sunt, non percipiant aut gustu distinguant cibum rancidum
aut putridum, neque similiter alliatum aut rosatum, aut hu-
jusmodi 75 . Rursus, illi, qui per accidens nares habent per
descensum rhcumatis obstructas, 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. Ouae instantiae dabunt et consti-
tuent hanc speciem, vel partem potius gustus ; ut sensus
gustationis ex parte nihil aliud sit quam olfactus interior,
transiens et descendens a narium meatibus superioribus in os
et palatum 70 . At contra, salsum et dulce et acre et acidum
et austerum et amarum, et similia, haec (inquam) omnia
aeque sentiunt illi in quibus olfactus deest aut obturatur. ac
quisquam alius ; ut manifestum sit sensum gustus esse com-
positum quiddam ex olfactu interior! et tactu quodam
exquisite 77 ; de quo nunc non est dicendi locus.

Similiter, exempli gratia ; sit natura inquisita Communicatio

75 These instances are, perhaps, slightly exaggerated. But, so far as
they are true, they are well explained by the following extract from Prof.
Bain's 'Senses and Intellect,' 3rd Ed., pp. 158-9: ' Tastes, properly so
called, affect only the gustatory nerves, and are therefore the same
whether the nostrils are opened or closed. But many sapid bodies arc
also odorous. In the act of expiration accompanying mastication, especi-
ally the instant after deglution, the odorous particles are carried into the
cavities of the nose, and affect the sense of smell, or make their odour
apparent. This effect is what we term flavour. Some bodies, as
cinnamon, have hardly any taste, but a flavour, in other words an odour,
brought out by mastication.'

76 It must be borne in mind, however, that, though the sensations of
smell and taste are closely associated, and their organs are in close
proximity, they are still perfectly distinct.

77 In the case of both taste and smell, the precise mode of action on the
organ is very obscure, but, in each case, it is probably chemical. Touch
is, of course, a condition common to all the five external senses, various as
they are in their characteristics, and impossible as it is to reduce them, one
to the other.

LIB. II. 27. 433

Qualitatis absque Commistione Substantiac. Instantia Lucis
dabit vel constituet unam spccicm communicationis ; Calor
vero et Magnes alteram. Communicatio enim lucis cst
tanquam momentanea, et statim perit, amota luce original!.
At calidum et virtus magnetica, postquam tramissa fucrint
vel potius excitata in alio corpore, haerent et manent ad
tempus non parvum, amoto primo movente.

Denique magna est omnino praerogativa instantiarum con-
stitutivarum, ut quae plurimum faciant et ad defmitiones
(praesertim particulares) et ad divisioncs sive partitiones
naturarum ; de quo non male dixit Plato, Quod habcndus sit
tanquam pro Deo, qui definire et divider e bene sciat~ (% .

XXVII.

Inter praerogativas instantiarum ponemus sexto loco In-
stantiasConformes~ i -\s,\.veProportionatas; quas etiam Parallelas,

18 See Phaedrus, 266 B : Tovraiv 81] eycoye avrus re epa(rrr]S, o> <J?al8pe, TWJ/
diaipeaeuni Kai ffvvaya>ya>i>, "iv otoy re co \eyeiv re KOL (ppovelv' eav re nv <i\\ov
r)yrjau>fj.ai Svvarov els ev Kai eVt sroAAa TrefyvKoff opav, rovrov dia>Ka> KaroTTLcrde
fj.fr 'i\yiov uxrre Beolo.

79 This very important class of instances consists of ' Analogies ' drawn
from objects or qualities in many respects dissimilar at all times one of
the most fertile sources of suggestion both for scientific discoveries and
practical inventions. The imaginative and truly philosophical type of
mind which is adapted to note these resemblances is well described by
Bacon in i. 55.

Professor Playfair, giving examples of these instances, says : ' Such are
the telescope and microscope, in the works of art, compared with the eye
in the works of nature. This, indeed, is an analogy which goes much
beyond the mere exterior; it extends to the internal structure, and to the
principle of action, which is the same in the eye and in the telescope,^
to the latent schematism, in the language of Bacon, as far as material
substance is concerned. It was the experiment of the camera obsciira
which led to the discovery of the formation of the images of external
objects in the bottom of the eye by the action of the crystalline lens and
the other humours of which the eye is formed.

' Among the instances of conformity, those arc the most useful which
enable us to compare productions of an unknown formation, with similar
productions of which the formation is well understood. Such are basalt,
and the other trap rocks, compared with the lava thrown out from volca-
noes. They have a structure so exactly similar, that it is hardly possible
to doubt that their origin is the same, and that they are both produced
by the action of subterraneous fire. There are, however, amid their

434 NOVUM ORGANUM.

sive Sitnilitudines P/iysicas, appellare consuevimus. Eae
vero sunt; quae ostendunt similitudines et conjugationes
rerum, non in formis minoribus (quod faciunt instantiae con-
stitutivae) sed plane in concrete 80 . Itaque sunt tanquam
primi et innmi gradus ad unionem naturae. Neque constituunt
aliquod axioma statim ab initio, sed indicant et observant
tantum quendam conscnsum corporum 81 . Attamen licet non
multum promoveant ad inveniendas formas, nihilominus magna
cum utilitate revelant partium universi fabricam, et in membris
ejus exercent veluti anatomiam quandam ; atquc proinde

similarity, some very remarkable differences in the substances which they
contain, the trap rocks containing calcareous spar, and the lava never
containing any. On the supposition that they are both of igneous origin,
is there any circumstance, in the conditions in which heat may have been
applied to them, which can account for this difference ? Sir James Hall,
in a train of most philosophical and happily-contrived experiments, has
explained the nature of those conditions, and has shown that the presence
of calcareous spar, or the want of it, may arise from the greater or less
compression under which the fusion of the basalt was performed. This
has served to explain a great difficulty in the history of the mineral
kingdom.

' Comparative anatomy is full of analogies of this kind, which are most
instructive and useful guides to discovery. It was by remarking in the
blood-vessels a contrivance similar to the valves used in hydraulic engines,
for preventing the counter-current of a fluid, that Harvey was led to the
discovery of the circulation of the blood. The analogies between natural
and artificial productions are always highly deserving of notice.' Pre-
liminary Dissertation.

It is by the bold use of analogies of this kind that modern physicists
have been able to trace the correlations of the various physical forces;
that modern philologists have been able to refer to the same families,
languages of apparently the most dissimilar character ; and that modern
jurists and moralists have detected in laws, institutions, customs, and
feelings amongst the most widely scattered races and at the most various
stages of civilisation a common origin and a common meaning. Though
the strict use of logical method is indispensable to demonstration and
verification, it is the observation of analogies, and those often very re-
mote ones, that generally sets us on the track of great discoveries.

That is, they are concerned with individual observations, and not
with inductive generalisations, as arc the Instantiae Constitutivae.

1 They serve to suggest axioms, rather than to establish them. Sec
note 79. It is curious that considerations of this kind did not lead Bacon
to attach greater importance to the office of the Imagination in scientific
discovery.

LIB. II. 27. 435

veluti manu-ducunt interdum ad axiomata sublimia ct nobilia,
pracsertim ilia quae ad mundi configurationem pertinent,
potius quam ad naturas et formas simplices 82 .

Exempli gratia ; Instantiae Conformes sunt quae sequuntur :
speculum, et oculus ; et similiter fabrica auris, et loca red-
dentia echo. Ex qua conformitate, praeter ipsam obser-
vationem similitudinis, quae ad multa utilis est, proclive est ^
insuper colligere et formare illud axioma ; videlicet, organa
sensuum et corpora quae pariunt reflexiones ad scnsus 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 sympathias
corporum sensu praeditorum, et inanimatorum sine sensu,
nisi quod in illis accedat spiritus animalis 83 ad corpus ita Si
dispositum. in his autem absit. Adeo ut quot sint consensus 85
in corporibus inanimatis, tot possint esse sensus in animali-
bus, si essent perforationes in corpore animato ad discursum
spiritus animalis in membrum rite dispositum, tanquam in
organum idoneum. Et rursus, quot sint sensus in animalibus,
tot sint proculdubio motus in corpore inanimate ubi spiritus
animalis abfuerit ; licet necesse sit multo plures esse motus in
corporibus inanimatis quam sensus in animatis, propter pauci-
tatem organorum sensus. Atque hujus rei ostendit se exem-
plum valde manifestum in doloribus. Etenim quum sint
plura genera doloris in animalibus, et tanquam varii illius

2 This is hardly the case. Analogy has played an important part in
suggesting the laws of Light, Heat, Sound, Electricity, Gravitation, &c.

83 See note on 'spiritus animalium ' in Aph. 13. Inst. 38, and the
passage in the Historia Vitae et Mortis (E. and S., vol. ii. pp. 214, 215)
there referred to. In the latter passage, Bacon distinguishes between the
' spiritus mortuales,' and the ' spiritus vitalis ' (or animatus) which is
'superadded' in all animated beings.

In ii. 40 there are some extremely curious speculations on 'actio et
motus spiritus, qui includitur in corporibus tangibilibus.' Cp. also i. 50,
with note 82.

f * Dr. Kitchin proposes (I think needlessly) to read 'rite.' 'Ita
dispositum ' means ' so disposed as to receive impressions,' ' disposed
accordingly.'

~ 5 On 'Operationes per consensus aut fugas (qui sextus modus operandi
est),' see ii. 50. Cp. also 'Aditus ad Historiam Sympathiae et Antipathiae
Rerum' (E. and S., vol. ii. p. Si), Sylva Sylvarum, Exps. 800-830.

F f 2

436 NOVUM ORGANUM.

characteres (veluti alius est dolor ustionis, alius frigoris in-
tensi, alius puncturae, alius compressionis, alius extensionis. et
similium), certissimum est omnia ilia, quoad motum, inesse
corporibus inanimatis ; veluti ligno aut lapidi, cum uritur,
aut per gelu constringitur, aut pungitur, aut scinditur, aut
flectitur, aut tunditur, et sic de aliis ; licet non subintrent
sensus, propter absentiam spiritus animalis.

Item instantiae conformes (quod mirum fortasse dictu) sunt
radices et rami plantarum. Omne enim vegetabile intumescit.
et extrudit partes in circumferentiam, tarn sursum quam deor-
sum. Neque alia est differentia radicum et ramorum, quam
quod radix includatur in terra, et rami cxponantur acri et
soli 8G . Si quis enim accipiat ramum tenerum et vegetum
arboris, atque ilium reflectat in aliquam terrae particulam,
licet non cohaercat 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 deorsum.

Item instantiae conformes sunt gummi arborum, et plerae-
que gemmae rupium 87 . Utraquc enim nil aliud sunt quam
exudationes et percolationes succorum : in primo genere
scilicet, succorum ex arboribus ; in secundo, ex saxis ; unde

" This is, of course, an error, but it is not entirely without excuse.
' In the young state there is no distinction between stem and root, as
regards structure ; both being cellular, and an extension of each other in
opposite directions. The root is afterwards distinguished from the stem,
by the want of a provision for the development of leaf-buds, and by
increasing from above downwards. Such plants, however, as the Moutan
Paeony, the Plum-tree, Pyrus Japonica, and especially Anemone Japonica,
have a power of forming buds on their roots.' Balfour's Manual of Botany,

"9-

M. Bouillet, speaking of this example ancj of some of those given below,
says : ' Ne trouve-t-on pas dans toutes ces indications le germe de deux
theories qui ont etc developpees de nos jours avec un grand succcs, celle
des metamorphoses des organcs des plantes, qu'ont defendues Goethe et
M. de Candollc, et cellc des analogues, qui a fait 1'objet special des etudes
de M. Geoffroy-St.-Hilaire? :

87 This is simply a fancy, and, like some of Bacon's other instances in
this Aphorism, is an example of false rather than of true Analogy. Gems
are due to Crystallisation.

LIB. II. 27. 437

gignitur claritudo et splendor in utrisque, per percolationem
nimirum tenuem ct accuratam. Nam inde fit etiam, quod
pili animalium non sint tarn pulchri et tarn vividi coloris
quam avium plumae complures : quia succi non tarn delicate
percolantur per cutem quam per calamum.

Item instantiate conformes sunt scrotum in animalibus mas-
culis, et matrix in femellis. Adeo ut nobilis ilia fabrica per
quam sexus differunt (quatenus ad animalia terrestria), nil
aliud videatur esse, quam secundum exterius et interius 88 :
vi scilicet majore caloris genitalia in sexu masculo pro-
trudente in exterius, ubi in femellis nimis debilis est calor
quam ut hoc facere possit ; unde accidit quod contineantur
interius.

Item instantiae conformes sunt pinnae piscium S9 , et pedes
quadrupedum, aut pedes et alae volucrum ; quibus addidit
Aristoteles quatuor volumina in motu serpentum 90 . Adeo

' This remark seems to have been suggested by a similar passage in
Telesius, De Rerum Nattira, vi. 18 : " Masculo .... magnus datus est
calor, qui et membrum genitale foras propellat et sanguinem multum
beneque omnem compactum conficiat, &c. Foeminae autem . . . languen-s
inditus est calor, qui neque genitale vas foras propellere nee e semine
spiritum 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.' Mr. Ellis' note. It hardly needs to be observed that
this fancy has no foundation in fact.

9 This analog)', so far as birds, quadrupeds, and fishes are concerned, is
a good one. It occurs both in Aristotle and Pliny. See Arist. Hist. An.
i. 5 (Berlin Ed., p. 490 a. 26, &C.): Kii/etrat Se ra Kivov^fva Tvavra rerrapcri
rrrjp.fi.ois rj TrAet'ocn, ra fjiev eWujua Terrapin fj,6vov } olov avBpamos jj.tv ^epcrl Sucrt
KCU TTocri dwiv, opvis e Trrepv^t Sucrt Kal TTOCTI dvai, ra 8e rtrpdVoSa Kal l^dves
ra p.ev rerrapcri irocriv, ol 8e reVrapen Ttrepvyiois. "Ocra 6e 8vo (%ei Trrepvyia t)
oXcos fif], olov 6'<pt?, re'rrapcrt a-rjfieioi.s ov6ei> TJTTOV' at yap KOfjmai re'rrapey, ^ 8vo
rrvv TO'IS Trrepuyt'otf. Ocra 8' afatyiza OVTCL TT\eiovs TrciSas fX fl ) e ' re TtTrjva etre
TTf^d, o-rjfjLeiois Kivelrai TrXft'oo-iv, K.r.X. Cp. De Incessu Animalium, i. 7, 8
(Berlin Ed., pp. 707-8). See also Pliny, Nat. Hist. ix. ch. 20 (sect. 73):
' Ideo pinnarum quoque fiunt discrimina, quae pedum vice sunt datae
piscibus : nullis supra quaternas : quibusdam binae, aliquibus nullae. In
Fucino tantum lacu piscis est, qui octonis pinnis natat.'

P! -' See the two passages from Aristotle referred to in the last note.
This is a 'glaring instance' of the tendency of the human mind 'supponere
majorem ordinem et aequalitatem in rebus quam invenit ' et ' affingere
parallela et correspondentia et relativa quae non sunt.'

438 NOVUM ORGANUM.

ut in fabrica universi motus viventium plerunque videatur
expediri per quaterniones artuum sive flexionum.

Item denies 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 similitudo et conformitas ilia, ut
homo sit tanquam planta inversa. Nam radix nervorum
et facultatum animalium est caput ; partes autem seminales
sunt infimae, non computatis extremitatibus tibiarum et
brachiorum. At in planta, radix (quae instar capitis est)
regulariter infimo loco collocatur ; semina autem supremo.

Denique illud omnino praecipiendum est et saepius monen-
dum ; ut diligentia hominum in inquisitione et congerie Natu-
ral is Historiae deinceps mutetur plane, et vertatur in contrarium
ejus quod nunc in usu est. Magna enim hucusque atque adeo
curiosa fuit hominum industria in notanda rerum varietate
atque explicandis accuratis animalium, herbarum, et fossilium
differentiis ; quarum pleraeque magis sunt lusus naturae quam
seriae alicujus utilitatis versus scientias. Faciunt certe hujus-
modi res ad delectationem, atque etiam quandoque ad praxin ;
verum ad introspicicndam naturam parum aut nihil. Itaque
convertenda plane est opera ad inquirendas et notandas rerum
similitudines et analoga. tarn in integralibus quam partibus.
IDae enim sunt quae naturam uniunt, et constituere scientias
incipiunt 01 .

Verum in his omnino est adhibenda cautio gravis et severa ;
ut accipiantur pro instantiis conformibus et proportionatis illae,
quae dcnotant similitudines (ut ab initio diximus) physicas ;
id est, realcs et substantiales et immersas in natura, non for-
tuitas et ad speciem ; multo minus superstitiosas aut curiosas,
quales naturalis magiae scriptores !l2 (homines levissimi, et in
rebus tarn scriis quales nunc agimus vix nominandi) ubique

111 These remarks arc hardly worthy of Bacon's penetration. To the
successful investigation of science it is quite as essential to note the
differences as the resemblances of things. His contrast of the two opposed
mental types in i. 55 is far juster and sounder than this paragraph.

92 Cp. De Augmcntis, iii. 5, and Aditus ad Historian.! Sympathise ci
Antipathiae Rerum (E. and S., vol. ii. p. 81).

LIB. II. 27. 439

ostentant ; magna cum vanitate et desipientia, inanes simili-
tudines et sympathias rerum describentes atque ctiam quan-
doque affingentes.

Verum his missis, etiam in ipsa configuratione mundi in
majoribus non sunt negligendae instantiae conformcs ; veluti
Africa, et regio Peruviana cum continente se porrigente usque
ad Fretum Magellanicum. Utraque enim regio habet similes
isthmos et similia promontoria, quod non temere accidit 93 .

Item Novus et Vetus Orbis ; in eo quod utrique orbes
versus septentriones lati sunt et exporrecti, versus austrum
autem angusti et acuminati 4 .

Item instantiae conformes nobilissimae sunt frigora intensa
in media (quam vocant) aeris regione, et ignes acerrimi qui
saepe reperiuntur erumpentes ex locis subterraneis : quae
duae res sunt ultimitates et extrema ; naturae scilicet fri-
gidi versus ambitum coeli, et naturae calidi versus viscera

' 3 Bacon seems to be comparing the western or corresponding sides of
the two continents. The conformity of the opposite sides is also remark-
able, the projections on one side answering roughly to the recesses on
the other.

H Humboldt discusses these and similar phenomena at some length.
See Col. Sabine's Translation of the Kosmos, vol. i. p. 280, &c. While
acknowledging that ' little can be ascertained by investigation respecting
the causal connection of the great phenomena appertaining to the forma-
tion of our continents, and to the analogies and contrasts presented by
their configuration,' he suggests two principal causes, acting in succession,
which may have determined such configuration. ' Slight disturbances in
the equilibrium of the elastic forces in the interior of our planet may
have determined their action more towards the northern than the southern
hemisphere, and have occasioned the elevation of the dry land in the
eastern hemisphere in the form of a wide connected mass, having its major
axis almost parallel to the equator, and, in the western and more oceanic
hemisphere, in a comparatively narrow band, following the direction of the
meridian.' Again, ' Our Atlantic Ocean presents the characteristics of a
valley. It is as if the flow of the waters had been directed first towards
the north-east, then towards the north-west, and then again towards the
north-east. The parallelism of the coasts north of 10 of South latitude,
the projecting and re-entering angles, the convexity of Brazil opposite
to the Gulf of Guinea, and the convexity of Africa to the Gulf of Mexico,
all favour this view, which at first may seem too hazardous. In the
Atlantic Valley, as is indeed usually the case in the form of large masses
of land, coasts deeply indented and fringed with many islands are placed
opposite to those of a contrary character.'

440 NOVUM ORGANUM.

terrae 05 ; per antiperistasin 96 , sive rejectionem naturae con-
trariae.

Postremo autem in axiomatibus scientiarum 97 notatu diena

est conformitas instantiarum. Veluti tropus rhetoricae, qui
dicitur Praeter Expectatum, conformis est tropo musicae, qui
vocatur Dcclinatio Cadentiae. Similiter, postulatum mathe-

" 5 It is true that the higher we ascend in the atmosphere, the colder it
is, and the lower we descend into the interior of the earth, the warmer
it is ; but these two sets of facts depend on different causes, and hence
they do not really constitute an Instantia Conformis.

On the internal heat of the earth and the causes of volcanoes and earth-
quakes, see LyelPs Principles of Geology, chs. on the Causes of Earth-
quakes and Volcanoes (i2th Ed., chs. 32, 33).

36 Cp. ii. 12. Inst. 24. The word avrmtp'urraa-is is of not uncommon
occurrence in Aristotle. See, for instance, Physics, viii. 10 (p. 267 a. 16) :
Sto KCU tv aepi Kai ev uSan yiverai 17 TOiavTT] KLITJO-LS, fji> Aeyoucrt TLVfs diri-
TrepiaTaa-iv tlvai. Meteorologica, i. 12 (p. 348 b. 2) : dAA' eVetSr) 6pu>p.ev on
yiverai avrnrfpicrTacns TU> 6fpptp KCU. TW \j/vxpca a\\i]\ois. On the former
passage, Bonitz quotes the following definition from Simplicius : dvri-
irepiarTacris ecrriv, orav fu>dovp.evov TIVOS crco/iaro? dzraXXay?) yevrjTai TO>V
TOTTOU', xat TO p.ev f^a>6fj(rai> eV TW TOV fga>0r]dei>Tos frrfj TOTTW, TO S' egcadrjdev TO
rrpoa-fx^ f'^ 00 ^) MS &" T f<TX aTOV f ' v T( P TOTTW yei>^rai TOV TrpwTou fcadr](rai>TOS.
7 These are the ' Axiomata quae particularium scientiarum non sint
propria, sed pluribus earum in commune competant ' which constitute one
division of the Philosophia Prima. See De Augmentis, iii. i. Aristotle
employs the word dio>^<zTa in a similar, though not exactly the same
sense, for the principles or pre-suppositions common to all sciences. See
note on i. 7. A still nearer parallel would be the 'mathematical axioms,'
so far as they are common to the sciences of arithmetic and geometry.

9 ' 'Is not the trope of music, to avoid or slide from the close or cadence,
common with the trope of rhetoric of deceiving expectation ? ' Advance-
ment of Learning, bk. ii. (E. and S., vol. iii. pp. 348-9). 'Tropus ille
Musicus, a clausula aut cadentia (quam vocant), cum jamjam adesse
videatur, placide elabendi, convenit cum tropo Rhetorico expectationem
eludendi.' De Augm. iii. i. The following note, communicated by
Professor Sir F. A. Gore Ouseley, I borrow from Dr. Kitchin : 'At first
I thought it meant a "Cadenza d' Inganno," or "false cadence;" but I
have now satisfied myself that such a thing was unknown in Bacon's
time. I am rather inclined to think it refers to a species of false close,
such as we find in the last bar but two of Tallis's Nunc dimittis in D,
where the Harmony proceeds to ^ and ^ on A for a Bass, as though
it were about to close immediately on the chord of D ; when suddenly
the Tenor strikes a Cft, which necessitates a modulation into the chord
of G, thus leading to a " Plasral Close." '

LIB. II. 28. 441

maticum no , ut quae cidem tcrtio acqualia stint etiain inter se
sint aequalia, conforme est cum fabrica syllogism! in logica,
qui unit ea quae conveniunt in medio *. Denique multum
utilis est in quamplurimis sagacitas quaedam in conquirendis
et indagandis conformitatibus ct similitudinibus physicis.

XXVIII.

Inter praerogativas instantiarnm> ponemus septimo loco
Instantias Monodicas 2 ; quas etiam Irregulares sive Hetero-
clitas (sumpto vocabulo a grammaticis) appellare consuevi-
mus. Eae sunt, quae ostendunt corpora in concreto, quae
videntur esse extravagantia et quasi abrupta in natura, et
minime convenire cum aliis rebus ejusdem generis. Etenim
instantiae conformes sunt similes alterius, at instantiae mono-

ii;) Generally, and more properly called an Axiom.

' Quae in eodem tertio conveniunt, et inter sc conveniunt, rcgula est
itidem ex Mathematicis ; verum simul tarn potens in Logica, ut syllogismi
sit fundamentum.' De Augm. iii. i. There, and in the corresponding
passage of the Advancement of Learning, several other examples of these
' Axioms ' are given.

The Mathematical Axiom that 'things which are equal to the same
thing are equal to one another' is, strictly speaking, only applicable to
Logic, if we quantify the predicate. But the dictum de omni et nullo,
the maxim 'nota notae est nota rei ipsius,' and syllogistic principles
such as the ' Canon of Reasoning in the First Figure ' which I have given
in my Deductive Logic (Qth Ed., p. 94), are analogous (' conformia ') to it.
In the passage in the text, this is all that Bacon's language implies.

The later examples in this Aphorism supply another illustration of
i. 127. Cp. Aphs. 26, 35.

2 Properly 'monadicas.' See note on i. 45. In the edition of the
Novum Organum, published at Amsterdam in 1660, 'monadica' is read
throughout the Second Book, though, curiously, the correction is not
made in the First Book.

Comets, Double Stars, the occasional crescent-shape of Venus, of Mer-
cury, and of the Moon, Earthquakes, Volcanoes, Cyclones, Meteoric Stones,
the peculiarities in the relation between the expansion and temperature of
water as well as of bismuth and the casting-metals generally, are all good
examples of what Bacon means by these instances. Similarly, in law,
we might adduce as 'monadic instances' Gavelkind and Borough English,
or, in moral sentiment, Suttee, Duelling, the Levirate, &c. It is some-
times indifferent whether we refer an example to this head or the next
of Instantiae Deviantcs, as is the case with one or two of the examples
given above.

442 NOVUM ORGANUM.

dicae sunt sui similes. Usus vero instantiarum monodica-
rum est talis qualis est instantiarum dandestinarnm : viz. ad
evehendam et uniendam naturam ad invenienda genera sive
communes naturas, limitandas postea per differentias veras.
Neque enim desistendum ab inquisitione donee proprietates
et qualitates, quae inveniuntur in hujusmodi rebus quae pos-
sunt censeri pro miraculis naturae, reducantur et comprehen-
dantur sub aliqua forma sive lege certa : ut irregularitas sive
singularitas omnis reperiatur pendere ab aliqua forma com-
muni ; miraculum vero illud sit tandem solummodo in differ-
entiis accuratis et gradu et concursu raro, et non in ipsa
specie : ubi nunc contemplationes hominum non procedant
ultra quam ut ponant hujusmodi res pro secretis et magnali-
bus naturae, et tanquam incausabilibus, et pro exceptionibus
regularum generalium 3 .

Exempla instantiarum monodicarum sunt, sol et luna, inter
astra ; magnes, inter lapides ; argentum vivum, inter metalla ;

3 These remarks are truly philosophical. We ought never to rest
till exceptions are explained, and, when explained, they will usually be
found to fall under some general law of nature, or, in the case of moral
and social phenomena, to be what Dr. Tylor has happily called 'survivals'
of some state of things which was far more general in the past. The
history of language, it may be noticed, is peculiarly rich in phenomena of
this kind.

Sir John Herschel illustrates this instance as follows : 'The discovery of
the magnetism of nickel, which, though inferior to that of iron, is still con-
siderable ; that of cobalt, yet feebler, and that of titanium, which is only
barely perceptible, have effectually broken down the imaginary limit
between iron and the other materials of the world, and established the
existence of that general law of continuity which it is one chief business of
philosophy to trace throughout nature. The more recent discoveries of
M. Arago have completed this generalisation, by showing that there is
no substance but which, under proper circumstances, is capable of
exhibiting unequivocal signs of magnetic virtue. And to obliterate all
traces of that line of separation which was once so broad, we are now
enabled, by the great discovery of Oersted, to communicate at and during
pleasure to a coiled wire of any metal indifferently all the properties of
a magnet; its attraction, repulsion, and polarity; and that even in a
more intense degree than was previously thought to be possible in the
best natural magnets.' Discourse, &c., 364. Appended to the later
editions of Sir W. R. Grove's Correlation of Physical Forces is an
admirable Address, delivered before the British Association, on the Law
of Continuity.

LIB. II. 29. 443

clephas, inter quadrupedes ; sensus veneris, inter genera tac-
tus ; odor venaticus in canibus, inter genera olfactus. Etiam S
litera apud grammaticos habetur pro monodica ; ob facilem
compositionem quam sustinet cum consonantibus, aliquando
duplicibus, aliquando triplicibus 4 ; quod nulla alia litera facit.
Plurimi auteni faciendae sunt hujusmodi instantiae ; quia
acuunt et vivificant inquisitionem, et medentur intellectui
depravato a consuetudine et ab iis quae fiunt plerunque.

XXIX.

Inter praerogativas instantiarum, ponemus loco octavo
Instantias Deviantcs 5 ; 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 miracula specierurrij at errores sint
miracula individuorum. Similis autem fere sunt usus ; quia
rectificant intellectum adversus consueta, et revelant formas
communes. Neque enim in his etiam desistendum ab in-
quisitione donee inveniatur causa hujusmodi declinationis G .
Veruntamen causa ilia non exurgit ad formam aliquam
proprie, sed tantum ad latcntem processtim ad formam 7 .
Oui enim vias naturae noverit, is deviationes etiam facilius

4 An instance of the former case is to be found in the English word
' strap,' of the latter in the German word ' schwarz.'

5 Dr. Kitchin truly remarks that ' Instances 7, 8, and 9 might have all
come under one head, for Mono\a\dicae in Species are what Deviantcs are
in Individuals, and Limitaneae are offshoots of Mono\_d\dicae, being those
cases in which two species seem to have transgressed one another's limits.'
Saturn's rings, the perturbations of the planet Uranus, and the red flames
which accompany a total eclipse of the Sun would fall under the head
of Instantiae Deviantes.

6 An admirable instance of an enquiry of this kind is that which led to
the discovery of the planet Neptune, in consequence of the observed
perturbations of Uranus.

7 The meaning of this remark is not very obvious. For a true ex-
planation of these ' monstra ' ought to throw light on the nature of the
species to which they belong. What Bacon had in mind probably was
that ' deviating instances ' are due to some arrest or modification of the
process which would ordinarily result in the more usual form, and, hence,
that their explanation throws light, not directly on the form, but on
the process which leads to the form. Indirectly, however, it would illus-
trate the nature or form as well.

444 NOVUM ORGANUM.

observabit. At rursus, qui deviations noverit, is accuratius
vias describe! 8 .

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 ar-
duum 9 . Facilis autem transitus est a miraculis naturae ad
miracula artis 10 . Si enim deprehendatur semel natura in
variatione sua, ejusque 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 unde-
quaque. Hie vero exemplis non est opus, propter eorundem
copiam. Facienda enim est congeries sive historia naturalis
particularis omnium monstrorum et partuum naturae pro-
digiosorum ; omnis denique novitatis et raritatis et inconsueti
in natura n . Hoc vero faciendum est cum severissimo delectu,
ut constet fides. Maxime autem habenda sunt pro suspectis
quae pendent quomodocunque a religione, ut prodigia Livii :
nee minus, quae inveniuntur in scriptoribus magiae naturalis,
aut ctiam alchymiae, et hujusmodi hominibus ; qui tanquam
proci sunt et amatores fabularum. Sed depromenda sunt
ilia ex gravi et fida historia, et auditionibus certis.

The truth of these words is obvious, but the maxim is none the less
important, and affords a happy example of Bacon's sagacity as well as his
felicity of expression.

'' Familiar illustrations of this artificial process of variation are supplied
by the cases of plants, dogs, pigeons, cattle, &c.

What man does, in comparatively brief periods of time, in the case of
varieties, Mr. Darwin has shown that Nature probably does, throughout
the lapse of long ages, in the case of species and even the higher classes.

ll ' Kal TpoTrov nva irfp\ TO. avrd fcrnis 17 rvy^ij KCU 77 re^vr], Kaddrrfp /cat

Eth. Nic. vi. 4 (5).

A wonderful instance of the successful imitation of Nature by Art is the
artificial production of marble, through fusion under violent pressure, by
Sir James Hall, to which I have already referred (p. 350).

11 Such are many of the 'experiments' in the Sylva Sylvarum.

LIB. II. 30. 445

XXX.

Inter praerogativas instantiarum, ponemus loco nono In-
stantias Limit ane as ^ ; quas etiam Participia vocare consue-
vimus. Eae vero sunt, quae exhibent species corporum tales,
quae videntur esse compositae ex speciebus duabus, vel rudi-
menta inter speciem unam et alteram. Hae vero instantiae
inter instantias monodicas sive heteroclitas recte numerari
possunt : sunt enim in universitate rerum rarae et extra-
ordinariae. Sed tamen ob dignitatem seorsim tractandae et
ponendae sunt ; optime enim indicant compositionem et fabri-
cam rerum, et innuunt causas numeri et qualitatis specierum
ordinariarum in universo. et deducunt intellectum ab eo quod
est, ad id quod esse potest 13 .

Harum exempla sunt: muscus, inter putredinem et plantam ;
cometae nonnulli, inter Stellas et meteora ignita 14 ; pisces
volantes, inter aves et pisces ; vespertiliones, inter aves et
quadrupedes ; etiam

' Simla quam similis turpissima bestia nobis 15 ; '

12 'These Limiting Instances or " participia," (i.e. partakers of two or
more kinds, just as the Participle in Grammar participates in the nature
of Verb and Noun) exhibit a combination of two kinds, and so seem to
stand between the Singular and the Deviating instances. Bacon's ex-
amples are not satisfactory. Moss is by no means "inter putredinem
et plantam." Some of the Zoophytes, or the Ornithorhyncus Paradoxus
would be better examples. Neither Flying-fish nor Bats are "limiting"
between two kinds, except in appearance.' Dr. Kitchin's note. The bat
belongs to the Order of Cheiroptera in the Class Mammalia, though vul-
garly supposed to be an abnormal sort of bird. The flying-fish, also, has
no structural resemblance to a bird.

The late PrOi f essor Rolleston suggested to me that the best example in
the animal world of the 'instantiae limitaneae' is the order Dipnoi, in-
cluding the three species, Lepidosiren Paradoxa, Lepidosiren Annectens,
and Keratodus. These animals have affinities to fishes in one set of
organs, and to amphibia in another.

1;i The language of this paragraph seems almost to anticipate the theories
of Evolution maintained by recent Naturalists. Cp. i. 66, and the last
Aphorism.

14 Stars are seen in the heavens permanently; meteors only momentarily.
Comets are seen for some time, and then disappear. This must have been
the ground on which Bacon referred them to the ' Instantiae limitaneae.'

15 Quoted from Ennius by Cicero, De Natura Deofum, i. 35.

446 NOVUM ORGANUM.

et partus animalium biformes et commisti ex speciebus diver-
sis ; et similia.

XXXI.

Inter praerogativas instantiarum ponemus decimo loco
Instantias Potestatis^ sive Fascium (sumpto vocabulo ab
insignibus imperil), quas etiam Ingenia, sive Manns Hominis
appellare consuevimus. Eae sunt opera maxime nobilia et
perfecta, et tanquam ultima in unaquaque arte. Cum enim
hoc agatur praecipue ut natura pareat rebus et commodis
humanis ; consentaneum est prorsus, ut opera, quae jam-
pridem in potestate hominis fuerunt (quasi provinciae antea
occupatae et subactae), notentur et numerentur ; praesertim
ea quae 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-
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 etiam applicet et
transferat ilia ad usum aliquem nobiliorem.

Neque hie finis. Verum quemadmodum ab operibus na-
turae raris et inconsuetis erigitur intellectus et elevatur ad
inquirendas et inveniendas formas, quae etiam illorum sunt
capaces 17 , ita etiam in operibus artis egregiis et admirandis
hoc usu-venit ; idque multo magis ; quia modus efficiendi et
operand! hujusmodi miracula artis manifestus ut plurimum
est, cum plerunque in miraculis naturae 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 industriae

1(5 These instances are evidences of man's power, being ' the most noble
and perfect and, as it were, consummate productions in each art.' It
would be endless to adduce recent examples, such as the steam engine,
with its many applications, the electric telegraph, chloroform, photo-
graphy, &c.

17 ' Which are capable of including them also.' He means that the
study of these rare and unusual works of nature leads to a knowledge
of the Forms, which they exemplify in a more or less peculiar manner.

LIB. II. 31. 447

humanae, reddatur intellectus attonitus ct ligatus ct quasi
maleficiatus quoad ilia, ita ut cum aliis consuescere non
possit, sed cogitet nihil ejus generis fieri posse nisi eadem
via qua ilia effecta sunt, accedente tantummodo diligentia
majore et praeparatione magis accurata 18 .

Contra, illud ponendum est pro certo : vias et modos effi-
ciendi res et opera, quae adhuc reperta sunt et notata, res
esse plerunque pauperculas ; atque omnem potentiam majorem
pendere et ordine derivari a fontibus formarum, quarum nulla
adhuc inventa est 10 .

Itaque (ut alibi diximus 20 ) qui de machinis et arietibus,
quales erant apud veteres, cogitasset, licet hoc fecisset obnixe
atque aetatem in eo consumpsisset, nunquam tamen inci-
disset in inventum tormentorum igneorum operantium per
pulverem pyrium. Neque rursus, qui in laninciis et serico
vegetabili observationem suam et meditationem collocasset,
unquam per ea reperisset naturam vermis aut serici bomby-
cini.

Ouocirca omnia inventa. quae censeri possunt magis nobilia
(si animum advertas), in lucem prodiere, nullo modo per
pusillas enucleationes et extensiones artium, sed omnino per
casum. Nihil autem repraesentat 21 aut anticipat casum
(cujus mos est ut tantum per longa saecula operetur). praeter
inventionem formarum 22 .

Exempla autem hujusmodi instantiarum particularia nihil
opus est adducere, propter copiam eorundem. Nam hoc
omnino agendum ; ut visitentur et penitus introspiciantur
omnes artcs mechanicae, atque liberales etiam (quatenus ad
opera), atque inde facienda est congeries sive historia par-

1? Cp. i. 6, 85.

111 Cp. i. 75, ii. 2, 17. De Augmentis, iii. 4 (E. and S., vol. i. pp. 564-
566).

20 See i. 109.

21 See note on this word at the end of i. 109.

- Cp. ii. 3 ad fin.: 'At qui formas novit, is naturae unitatem in materiis
dissimillimis complectitur ; itaque quae adhuc facta non sunt, qualia nee
naturae vicissitudines, neque experimentales industriae, neque casus ipse,
in actum unquam perduxissent, neque cogitationem humanam subitura
fuissent, detegere ct producere potest. Ouare ex formarum inventione
sequitur contemplatio vera, et operatio libera.'

448 . NOVUM ORGANUM..

ticularis, tanquam magnalium et operum magistralium et
ma'xime perfectoruni in unaquaque ipsarum, una cum modis
effectionis 'sive operationis.

Nequ. tamen astringimus diligentiam, quae adhibenda est
in hujusmodi collecta, ad ea quae censentur pro magisteriis
et arcanis alicujus artis tantum, atque movent admirationem.
Admiratio enim proles est raritatis ; siquidem rara, licet in
genere sint ex vulgatis naturis, tamen admirationem pariunt

At contra, quae fevera admiration} esse debent propter
discrepantiam quae inest illis in specie collatis ad alias spe-
cies, tamen si in usu familiari praesto sint leviter notantur.
Debent autem notari monodica artis, non minus quam mono-
dica naturae ; de quibus antea diximus 23 . Atque quemad-
modum in monodicis naturae posuimus solem, lunam, mag-
netem, et similia, quae re vulgatissima sunt sed natura tamen
fere singulari : idem et de monodicis artis faciendum est.

Exempli gratia ; instantia monodica artis est papyrus ; res
admodum vulgata. At si diligenter animum advertas, ma-
teriae artificiales aut plane textiles sunt per fila directa et
transversa ; qualia sunt pannus sericus, aut laneus, et linteus,
et hujusmodi : aut coagmentantur ex succis concretis ; qualia
sunt later, aut argilla figularis, aut vitrum, aut esmalta 24 , aut
porcellana, et similia ; quae si bene uniantur splendent, sin
minus, indurantur certe, sed non splendent. Attamen omnia
talia, quae 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 imitetur et fere
aemuletur pellcm sive membranam alicujus animalis, aut
folium alicujus vcgetabilis, ct hujusmodi opificia naturae.
Nam nequc fragilis est, ut vitrum ; neque textilis, ut pannus ;
sed habet fibras ccrte, non fila distincta, omnino ad modum
materiarum naturalium : ut inter artificiales matcrias vix in-
veniatur simile aliquod, sed sit plane monodicum 25 . Atque

23 Aph. 28.

' ' Italian "smalto," "ismalto," enamel. The word is connected with
the Anglo-Saxon " Myltan," to melt or smelt.' Dr. Kitchin's note.

'*" Mr. Ellis says : ' It is curious that Bacon should not have remarked
that all the qualities here mentioned belong to felt as well as to paper.'

LIB. II. 31. 449

pracferenda sane sunt in artificialibus ea quae maxime ac-
cedunt ad imitationem naturae, aut e contrario earn potente*
regunt et invertunt 2G .

Rursus, inter ingenia et manus hominis, non prorsus con-
temnenda sunt praestigiae et jocularia 27 . Nonnulla 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 inspiciendum paulisper si
forte subsit et lateat in aliquibus earum aliqua operatfo na-
turalis ; ut in fascino, et fortificatione imaginationis, et con-
sensu rerum ad distans, et transmissione impressionum a
spiritu ad spiritum non minus quam a corpore ad corpus,
et similibus 28 .

26 Of this last class the lightning-conductor is an admirable example.

27 The remark is perfectly just, and can, perhaps, be more adequately
appreciated in our own days than in Bacon's. Numbers of toys and tricks
illustrate scientific principles, as well as mental habitudes.

In the Catalogus Historiarum Particularium, published at the end of the
First Edition of the Novum Organum, are enumerated, ' 123, Historia
Ludorum omnis generis; 124, Historia Praestigiatorum et Circulatorum.'

28 Cp. De Augmentis, lib. iv. cap. 3 (E. and S., vol. i. pp. 608, 609),
Sylva Sylvarum, Century X. (E. and S., vol. ii. p. 640, &c.). In Exp. 986,
he relates the story of the dream which he had at Paris two or three
days before his father's death.

This class of questions had an irresistible attraction for the men of
Bacon's time, nor have they ceased to be discussed with interest by many
scientific men even in our own.

Of the extravagant lengths to which the belief in the ' consensus rerum
ad distans ' and the ' transmissio impressionum ' were sometimes carried,
we have some very amusing instances in Dr. Glanvill's Scepsis Scienti-
fica, a work published in 1665, forty-five years after the publication of the
Novum Organum. I select two of these, and feel confident that the reader
will require no apology for their length :

' Besides this ' (sc. conference by means of sympathetic dials) ' there
is another way of Secret Conveyance that's whisper' d about the World,
the truth of which I vouch not, but the possibility : it is conference at
distance by sympathized hands. For say the relatours of this strange
secret : The hands of two friends being allyed by the transferring of Flesh
from one into another, and the place of the Letters mutually agreed on ;
the least prick in the hand of one, the other will be sensible of, and that in

450 NOVUM ORGANUM.

XXXII.

Ex iis, quae ante dicta sunt, patet quod quinque ilia in-
stantiarum genera de quibus diximus (viz. instantiarum con-
formium, instantiarum monodicarum, instantiarum dcvian-
tium, instantiarum limitanearum, instantiarum potestatis] non
debeant reservari, donee inquiratur natura aliqua certa (quem-
admodum instantiae reliquae, quas primo loco proposuimus,
nee non plurimae ex iis quae sequentur, reservari debent) :
sed statim jam ab initio facienda est earum collectio, tanquam
historia quaedam particularis : eo quod digerant ea quae in-
grediuntur intellectum, et corrigant pravam complexionem
intellectus ipsius, quern omnino necesse est imbui et infici
et demum perverti ac distorqueri ab incursibus quotidianis
et consuetis 29 .

the same part of his own. And thus the distant friend, by a new kind of
Chiromancy, may read in his own hand what his correspondent had set
down in his. For instance, would I in London acquaint my intimate
in Paris, that / ain well : I would then prick that part where I had
appointed the letter [I] and, doing so in another place to signifie that
word was done, proceed to [A] thence to [M] and so on, till I had finisht
what I intended to make known.'

' Then there is a Magnetick way of curing wounds by anointing the
weapon, and that the wound is affected in like manner as is the extra-
venate blood by the Sympathetick medicine, as to matter of fact is with
circumstances of good evidence asserted by the Noble Sir K. Digby in his
ingenious discourse on the subject. The reason of this magnale he
attempts by Mechanism, and endeavours to make it out by atomical
aporrheas, which passing from the cruentate cloth or weapon to the
wound, and being incorporated with the particles of the salve carry
them in their embraces to the affected part : where the medicinal atomes,
entering together with the effluviums of the blood, do by their subtle
insinuation better effect the cure, than can be done by any grosser ap-
plication. The particular way of their conveyance and their regular
direction is handsomely explicated by that learned Knight, and recom-
mended to the ingenious by most witty and becoming illustrations. It
is out of my way here to enquire whether the Anima Mundi be not
a better account than any Mechanical Solutions. The former is more
desperate ; the latter perhaps hath more of ingenuity than good ground
of satisfaction. It is enough for me that de fttcto there is such an en-
tercourse between the Magnetick unguent and the vulnerated body, and
I need not be solicitous of the cause.'

" These five instances are regarded rather as furnishing materials for

LIB. II. 3233. 451

Itaque adhibendae sunt eae instantiae tanquam praepara-
tivum aliquod, ad rectificandum et expurgandum intellectum.
Ouicquid enim abducit intellectum a consuetis, aequat et com-
planat aream ejus ad recipiendum lumen siccum et purum
notionum verarum.

Quin etiam hujusmodi instantiae stcrnunt et praestruunt
viam ad operativam ; ut suo loco dicemus, quando de Deduc-
tionibus ad Praxin 30 sermo erit.

XXXIII.

Inter pracrogativas instantiarum ponemus loco undecimo
Instantias Comltatus, atque Hostiles^ ; quas etiam Instantias
Propositiomim Fix arum appellare consuevimus. Eae sunt
instantiae, quae exhibent aliquod corpus sive concretum tale,
in quo natura inquisita perpetuo sequatur tanquam comes
quidam individuus : aut contra, in quo natura inquisita per-
petuo fugiat atque ex comitatu excludatur, ut hostis et
inimicus. Nam ex hujusmodi instantiis formantur propo-
sitiones certae et universales, aut affinnativae aut ncgativac ;
in quibus subjcctum erit tale corpus in concrete, praedicatum
vero natura ipsa inquisita. Etenim propositiones particulars
omnino fixae non sunt, ubi scilicet natura inquisita reperitur
in aliquo concrete fluxa et mobilis, viz. accedens sive acquisita,
aut rursus recedens sive deposita. Quocirca particulares
propositiones non habent pracrogativam aliquam majorem,
nisi tantum in casu migrationis ; de quo antea dictum est.
Et nihilominus. etiam particulares illae propositiones com-
paratae et collatae cum universalibus multum juvant ; ut

a Natural History, and as instrumental in removing prejudices, than as
directly suggesting inductive inferences. But, as Dr. Kitchin says, it
is hard to see why, if they are merely preliminary, they should be in-
serted in this place.

so The seventh in order of the 'reliqua auxilia intellectus' (see Aph. 21).
This part of the Novum Organum Bacon never reached.

31 These instances are such as the nature in question is constantly asso-
ciated with, or constantly dissociated from. The fact is expressed, in the
one case, by an Universal Affirmative, and, in the other, by an Universal
Negative Proposition. In both cases, the instance furnishes the subject of
the proposition, and the nature in question the predicate.

Gg 2

452 NOVUM ORGANUM.

suo loco dicetur 82 . 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 33 .

Usus autem instantiarum comitatus est ad angustiandam
affirmativam formae. Quemadmodum enim in instantiis mi-
grantibus angustiatur affirmativa formae ; viz. ut necessario
poni debeat forma rei esse aliquid quod per actum ilium
migrationis inditur aut destruitur : ita etiam in instantiis
comitatus angustiatur affirmativa formae ; ut necessario poni
debeat forma rei esse aliquid quod talem concretionem
corporis subingrediatur, aut contra ab eadem abhorreat ; ut
qui bene norit constitutionem aut schematismum hujusmodi
corporis non longe abfuerit ab extrahenda in lucem forma
naturae inquisitae 34 .

Exempli gratia ; sit natura inquisita Calidum. Instantia
comitatus est flamma 35 . Etenim in aqua, acre, 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 sequatur. At instantia
hostilis calidi nulla reperitur apud nos. Nam de visceribus
terrae nihil constat ad sensum ; sed eorum corporum quae

yl He alludes to the Instantiae Subjunctivae of the next Aphorism.

33 But this exception must always be regarded as requiring explanation,
shewing why it deviates from the general rule. The history of science is
rich in explanations of this kind.

31 Thus, if the form required be that of heat, and we have observed that
heat always accompanies flame, the ' form ' or nature of heat may be de-
tected by a careful examination of flame. Similarly, if the form required
be that of transparency, and we have observed that malleability never
accompanies transparency, the ' form ' or nature of transparency must be
something which is not to be found in malleable substances (or, at least,
something which, if it is to be found in them, is counteracted by other
properties). It is plain from the qualification, just given, how liable to
error may be reasoning based solely on ' instantiae hostiles.'

35 Not only is flame always accompanied by heat, but, as Professor
Playfair adds, ' the same degree of heat in a given substance is always
accompanied with flame,' that is to say, there is always a given temperature
at which any particular incandescent substance bursts into flame.

LIB. II. 33. 453

nobis nota sunt nulla prorsus est concretio quae non est
susceptibilis caloris 30 .

At rursus, sit natura inquisita Consistens. Instantia hosti-
lis est aer. Etenim metallum potest fluere, potest consistere ;
similiter vitrum ; etiam aqua potest consistere, cum con-
glaciatur: at impossibile est ut aer unquam consistat, aut
exuat fluorem 37 .

Verum de instantiis\\.u]'ttsr[\od{ propositiomim fixamm super-
sunt duo monita, quae utilia sunt ad id quod agitur. Primum,
ut si defuerit plane universalis affirmativa aut negativa, illud
ipsum diligenter notetur tanquam non-ens 38 ; sicut fecimus de
calido, ubi universalis negativa (quatenus ad entia quae ad
nostram notitiam pervenerint) in rerum natura deest. Simi-
liter, si natura inquisita sit aeternum aut incorruptibile, deest
affirmativa universalis hie apud nos. Neque enim praedicari
potest Aeternum aut Incorruptibile de aliquo corpore eoruni
quae infra coelestia sunt, aut supra interiora terrae 39 . Alterum

86 This passage again shows Bacon's ignorance of the purely relative
character of the expressions ' Hot ' and ' Cold.'

37 This was the opinion of scientific men even long after Bacon's time,
and it is repeated, though in rather more cautious language, by Professor
Playfair. But the experiments of Cailletet and Pictet (for an account of
which I referred in my First Edition to the Academy of Jan. 12, 1878,
and to Nature of Jan. 3 and 17 of the same year) have conclusively shown
that even oxygen, hydrogen, and nitrogen admit of liquefaction, and, there-
fore, probably of solidification. A brief account of these experiments is
given in Ganot's Physics, Translation, 1 2th Ed., 382. Thus, the old
distinction between permanent and non-permanent gases has been en-
tirely effaced. By a legitimate analogy, it may be inferred, with a very
high degree of probability, that all liquids admit of solidification. But
some liquids, such as alcohol, ether, and bisulphide of carbon have
hitherto resisted all attempts to solidify them, even at the lowest known
temperature. See Ganot, 343.

:J Though expressed in scholastic language, the meaning of this caution
is plain. If we are unable to establish an universal affirmative or an uni-
versal negative, the mere fact of such incapacity is worth the noting.

39 In the Descriptio Globi Intellectualis (E. and S., vol. iii. pp. 754~7)
Bacon criticises severely the dogma of Aristotle and the Peripatetics,
which affirms the immutability of the heavenly bodies. The same passage
shows why he here brings the ' interiora terrae ' into juxtaposition with
' coelestia.' ' Deinde si quis adhuc instet, negari tamen non posse quin in
ipsa superficie orbis terrarum et partibus proximis infinitae riant muta-

454 NOVUM ORGANUM.

monitum est, ut propositionibus universalibus, tarn affirmativis
quam negativis, de aliquo concrete, subjungantur 40 simul ea
concreta quae proxime videntur accedere ad id quod est ex
non-entibus 41 : ut in calore, flammae mollissimae et minimum
adurentes ; in incorruptibili, aurum, quod proxime accedit.
Omnia enim ista indicant terminos naturae inter ens et
non-ens ; et faciunt ad circumscriptiones formarum, ne gliscant
et vagentur extra conditiones materiae 42 .

XXXIV.

Inter praerogativas instantiarum, ponemus loco duodecimo
ipsas illas Instantias Subjunctivas, de quibus in superiori
aphorismo diximus : quas etiam Instantias Ultimitatis sive
Termini appellare consuevimus. Neque enim hujusmodi in-
stantiae utiles sunt tantum, quatenus subjunguntur propositio-
nibus fixis ; verum etiam per se, et in proprietate sua 43 . In-
dicant enim non obscure veras sectiones naturae, et mensuras
rerum, et illud Quoiisque natura quid faciat et ferat, et deinde
transitus naturae ad aliud. Talia sunt, aurum, in pondere 44 ;

tiones, in coelo non item : huic ita occurrimus ; nee nos haec per omnia
aequare, et tamen si regiones (quas vocant) superiorem et mediam aeris
pro superficie aut interiore tunica coeli accipiamus, quemadmodum spatium
istud apud nos, quo animalia, plantae, et mineralia continentur, pro super-
ficie vel exteriore tunica terrae accipimus ; et ibi quoque varias et multi-
formes generationes inveniri. Itaque tumultus fere omnis et conflictus
et perturbatio in confiniis tantum coeli et terrae locum habere videtur ;
ut in rebus civilibus fit, in quibus illud frequenter usu venit, ut duorum
regnorum fines continuis incursionibus et violentiis infestentur, dum in-
teriores utriusque regni provinciae diutina pace fruuntur, et beilis tantum
gravioribus et rarioribus commoventur.'

40 See next Aphorism.

41 Or, as we should say, which least exemplify the given proposition.

42 He appears here to regard matter as limiting and checking the ex-
hibition of the form. Hence, in certain cases, he conceives, the mani-
festation of the form is weak, and we must take care to state our general
propositions, whether affirmative or negative, with due qualifications.

li Except in relation to the Instances described in the last Aphorism, it
is difficult to see how this class of instances constitutes a distinct division.
Surely, when regarded in themselves, out of relation to the others, they
are merely the 'Glaring Instances' and 'Clandestine Instances' over
again.

14 Platinum is heavier than gold, ether is lighter than spirits of wine ;

LIB. II. 3435- 455

ferrum, in duritie ; cete, in quantitate animalium ; canis, in
odore ; inflammatio pulveris pyrii, in expansione celeri ; et alia
id genus. Nee minus exhibenda sunt ea quae sunt ultima
gradu infimo, quam quae supremo : ut spiritus vini, in pon-
dere ; sericum, in mollitie ; vermiculi cutis 45 3 in quantitate
animalium ; et caetera.

XXXV.

Inter pracrogativas instantiarum, ponemus loco decimo tertio
InstantiasFoederis sive Unionis^. Eae sunt, quae confundunt
et adunant naturas, quae existimantur esse heterogeneae, et
pro talibus notantur et signantur per divisiones receptas.

At instantiate foederis ostendunt operationes et effectus, quae
deputantur alicui ex illis heterogeneis ut propria, competere
etiam aliis ex heterogeneis ; ut convincatur ista heterogenia
(quae in opinione est) vera non esse aut essentialis. sed nil aliud
esse quam modificatio naturae communis. Optimi itaque sunt
usus ad elevandum et evehendum inteliectum a differentiis ad
genera ; et ad tollendum larvas et simulachra rerum, prout
occurrunt et prodeunt personatae in substantiis concretis.

Exempli gratia : sit natura inquisita Calidum. Omnino
videtur esse divisio solennis et authentica, quod sint tria genera

the diamond is harder than iron ; some detonating powders exceed gun-
powder in their expansive force ; and the whale, though larger than any
other living animal, must yield to the geological monsters which the
researches of recent geologists and anatomists have re-constructed for us.

45 The ' Vermiculi cutis ' (to which Bacon refers again in Aph. 43) are,
as Dr. Kitchin observes, ' not animal bodies, but only little vessels caused
originally by the obstruction of the glands placed immediately under the
skin, from which a minute pipe carries off the perspiration.' I am in-
debted to the late Professor Rolleston for the information that there is
a minute microscopic animal, called Demodex folliculorum, discovered by
a German physician, Dr. Simon, in the unctuous matter which collects
within the oil-tubes of the skin. But, of course, Bacon could have had
no means of observing it.

40 An instance of Alliance is an instance which exhibits the identity
or similarity of natures which are supposed to be heterogeneous, and thus
leads from the consideration of the differentiae to that of the genus.

An excellent example would be the fall of detached bodies to the earth,
which is said to have suggested to Newton that there is a common
explanation of terrestrial gravitation and of the force which retains the
planets in their orbits.

456 NOVUM ORGANUM.

caloris ; viz. calor coelestium, calor animalium, et calor ignis 47 ;
quodque isti calores (praesertim unus ex illis comparatus ad
reliquos duos) sint ipsa essentia et specie, sive natura speci-
fica, differentes et plane heterogenei : quandoquidem calor
coelestium et animalium generet et foveat, at calor ignis
contra corrumpat et destruat 48 . Est itaque instantia foederis
experimentum illud satis vulgatum, cum recipitur ramus aliquis
vitis intra domum ubi sit focus assiduus, ex quo maturescunt
uvae 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' 49 .

47 This is, even still, a vulgar division of the different kinds of heat.
Telesius had anticipated Bacon in criticising it. See De Rerum Natura,
vi. 20, a passage which Bacon had evidently read.

43 See Aristotle, De Generatione Animalium, ii. 2 (Berlin Ed., p. 737 a.
I, K. T. A.) : 816 Trvp p.ev ovdfv yevvq <f>ov, ov&e (paLveTai avvicrTdfJLfvov irvpov-
/neVois OUT' tv vypols OVT ev ^rjpols ovdev' 17 Se TOV 17X1011 6epfjLOTr]s KOI T) ra>v
fcooov 011 fjiovov f] 8ia TOV (Tnepp-arof, dXXa KO.V TI TreptVrw/ia rvxtf TIJS (pixrews ov
fTfpov, o/zcos e^ei teal TOVTO a>Tiicf]v apx*] v - Tl M^" ^ v ^ e> " T0 ' s C 1 ? ^ Bfpp-OTTjs
ovre Trvp ovTf airo Trvpbs e^fi rr]V dpxyv, e< rS>v TOIOVTUV eo~Ti (pavepov.

49 ' 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 Sylva 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 conserv-
atory 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 climate became that of summer. This glorious summer, which
had thus abruptly succeeded to the winter of their discontent, lasted
only to 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 Deutsche Sagen? Mr. Ellis' note.

LIB. II. 35. 457

Itaque ab hoc initio facile insurgit intellectus, repudiata
heterogenia essential!, ad inquirendum quae sint differentiae
illae quae revera reperiuntur inter calorem solis et ignis, ex
quibus fit ut eorum operationes sint tarn dissimiles, utcunque
illi ipsi participent ex natura communi.

Quae 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 aerem)
qualitate multo humidior ; tertio (quod caput rei est), quod sit
summe inaequalis, atque accedens et auctus, et deinceps rece-
dens et diminutus, id quod maxime confert ad generationem
corporum. Recte enim asseruit Aristoteles 50 causam princi-
palem generationum et corruptionum, quae fiunt hie apud nos
in superficie terrae, esse viam obliquam solis per zodiacum 51 ;
unde calor solis, partim per vicissitudines 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 statim corrumpere et dcpravare. Nam ut
arbiter scilicet naturae (quod illi in more est) valde magis-
traliter assignat causam generationis accessui solis, causam
autem corruptionis recessui : cum utraque res (accessus vide-
licet solis et recessus) non respective, sed quasi indifferenter,
praebeat causam tam generationi quam corruptioni ; quando-
quidem inaequalitas caloris generationi et corruptioni rerum,
aequalitas conservationi tantum ministret Est et quarta
differentia inter calorem solis et ignis, magni prorsus momenti :
viz. quod sol operationes suas insinuet per longa temporis
spatia, ubi operationes ignis (urgente hominum impatientia)

50 Meteorologica, i. 14 (p. 351 a. 30, K.r.X.) : rfj 8e yfj TQVTQ (sc. O.KIJ.TJV
(X elv Ka ' yiP as ) ylyvtra.1 Kara pepos 8ia \}sv-iv /cat 6epfJ.oTrjTa. Tavra p.ev ovv
av^fTai Kat (pdivei dia TOV fj\iov /cat TTJV nepKpopdv, Stu 8e ravra Kai Trjv 8vvafj.iv
ra p-fprf rrjs yijs Xa^/Sdj/ei diaipepovcrav, coore fte^pt TWOS evvftpa SvvaTai Sia/ie-
vfiv, elra r)paivfTai KO.\ yrjpdaKfi rraXiv' erepoi fie TOTTOI fiid><TKovTai /cat eVuSpot
yiyvovTai Kara p.epos.

De Generatione et Corruptione, ii. 10 (p. 336 a, b). It is to this latter
passage that the words ' Nam ut arbiter,' &c. refer. See 336 b. 17, &c. :
dpui^ifv yap OTI 7rpocri6i>Tos p.ev TOV rj\iov yfvtcris fo~Tii> ) cmiovTos 8e (pdicris, Kal
(V i'cro) xpov<p fKaTfpov' tcroy yap 6 %povos TTJS <p6opas Kal rijs yevfcrfuis Tijs Kara
(pvo-iv.

M TJ Kara TOV Xo|6i/ KVK\OV (popd. De Gen. et Corr. ii. 10.

458 NOVUM ORGANUM.

per breviora intervalla ad exitum perducantur. Quod si quis
id sedulo agat, ut calorem ignis attemperct et reducat ad
gradum moderatiorem et leniorem (quod multis modis facile
fit), deinde etiam inspergat et admisceat nonnullam humidi-
tatem, maxime autem si imitetur calorem solis in inaequalitate,
postremo si moram patienter toleret (non certe earn quae sit
proportionata operibus solis, sed largiorem quam homines ad-
hibere solent in operibus ignis), is facile missam faciet hetero-
geniam illam caloris, et vel tentabit vel exaequabit vel in ali-
quibus vincet opera solis. per calorem ignis. Similis instan-
tia focdcris cst resuscitatio papilionum ex frigore stupentium
et tanquam emortuarum, per exiguum teporem ignis ; ut
facile cernas non magis negatum esse igni vivificarc animantia
quam maturare vegetabilia. Etiam inventum illud celebre
Fracastorii ' 2 de sartagine acriter calefacta, qua circundant
meclici capita apoplecticorum desperatorum, expandit mani-
feste spiritus animales ab humoribus et obstructionibus cerebri
compresses ct quasi extinctos, illosque ad motum excitat, non
aliter quam ignis operatur in aquam aut ae'rcm, ct tamen per
consequens vivincat. Etiam ova aliquando excluduntur per
calorem ignis, id quod prorsus imitatur calorem animalcm ;
et complura ejusmodi ; ut nemo dubitare possit quin calor
ignis in multis subjectis modificari possit ad imaginem caloris
coclestium et animalium.

Similiter sint naturae inquisitae Motus et Ouies. Videtur
esse divisio solcnnis atque ex intima philosophia, quod corpora
naturalia vel rotent,vel ferantur recta, vel stcnt sive quiescant.
Aut enim est motus sine termino, aut statio in termino, aut
latio ad tenninum. At motus ille pcrennis rotationis videtur
cssc coelestium proprius ; statio sive quies videtur competere

r ' 2 It is related of this distinguished physician (born at Verona 1483, died
1553) that, apoplexy having deprived him of the use of speech, he made a
sign to his servants to apply cupping-glasses to his head ; but, not being
understood, he died in a few hours.

Cupping is effected by rarefying the air within the vessel, and thus
partially removing the atmospheric pressure from the surface of the skin,
which accordingly rises. This operation is generally followed by making
incisions on the raised surface, by means of a scarificator, after which the
cup is again applied, for the purpose of drawing out the blood.

LIB. II. 35. 459

globo ipsi terrae ; at corpora caetera (gravia quac vocant et
levia, extra loca scilicet connaturalitatis suae sita) feruntur
recta ad massas sive congregationes similium ; levia sursum,
versus ambitum coeli ; gravia deorsum, versus terram. Atque
ista pulchra dictu sunt 5a .

At instantia focderis est cometa aliquis humilior; qui cum
sit longe infra coelum, tamen rotat 54 . Atque commentum
Aristotelis 5c5 de alligatione sive sequacitate cometae ad astrum

3 This is the ordinary Peripatetic account of what is called ' motion of
translation' ($opd), and is stated almost in the words of Aristotle himself.
See, amongst other places, De Coelo, i. 2 (pp. 268 0-269 b), from which I
extract the following passage (p. 268 b. 17, K.T.X.): nSo-a 8e nivrja-is Sarj Kara
TOTTOV, i]v KaXovfjifv (popdi>, rj tvdfla r) KVK\U> *) ex rovrutv /J.IKTT]' aTrXat yap avrat.
dvo /jLovai. A.ITIOV 8' on KOI ra peyedi) ravra aTrXa povov, TJ T' fvdfla KOL f] nepi-
(peprjs. Ku/cXw fiev ovv earlv f] Trepi TO p.(o-ov, fvdela fi' 17 ava> Kal KUTU>. Aey<u
8' ayca p.ev rt]i> dno rov pecrou, Karat 8e rfjv eVl TO [ifcrov. "flo-T* avayKrj Tracrav
flvai ri]V airXrjv (popav rrji> ^.ev dno rov futcrov, ri]v S" ori TO fj.eo~oii, ri^v de irepi
TO fieo-ov. The other parts of the doctrine occur or are implied in the
same chapter : cp. also Phys. viii. 9 (265 a, b).

It is not quite plain from Bacon's words at the end of the paragraph,
whether he implicitly accepted this account, or not. From Aph. 48,
' Motus decimus septimus,' it would seem as if he did do so, whereas, in
the Descriptio Globi Intellectualis (E. and S., vol. iii. pp. 754-5), he
calls in question the dogmas of both the circular and the eternal motion
of the heavenly bodies (cp., with regard to the former, Nov. Org. i. 45).
This treatise must have been written about 1612, so that, unless we suppose
that, in the two passages of the Novum Organum, he is merely stating the
commonly received opinion, without thinking it necessary to criticise it,
we must admit some inconsistency in his treatment of this subject.

The establishment of the true nature and laws of motion belongs to the
period subsequent to Bacon, beginning with the discoveries of Galileo and
ending with those of Newton. See Whewell's History of the Inductive
Sciences.

4 The comets being as much ' heavenly bodies ' as the planets, this
instance has, of course, no significance for us.

There is another respect, however, as Dr. Kitchin observes, in which
comets afford a good example of an Instantia Foederis. Notwithstanding
the apparent irregularity of their orbits, they illustrate the Law of Gravity
equally with the planets, whose orbits are apparently regular, and hence
their motions contribute to establish the universality of that Law.

or ' See Meteorologica, i. 7 (p. 344). It is not, however, with regard to
all comets that Aristotle propounds this theory. "Orav ^ev ovv eV avra> rta
Kara) TOTTW i^ a PX*l T ^ s o~uo~Tacrecos ?/, KU$' eavrov (paiverai KO/LU/TTJS' orav 8 inro
T<OV acrrpwv rivos, rj ru>v cnr\av)V f) ra>v TT\avr)ra>v ) vno rrjs Kivr]o~e<os crvviarriTai
fj dvadvuiaviS) rorf Kop.^Trjs yiyi-erai rovrwv ns' ov yap Trpbs avrols rj K.6p.r]

460 NOVUM ORGANUM.

aliquod jampridem explosum est ; non tantum quia ratio
ejus non est probabilis, sed propter experientiam manifestam
discursus et irregularis motus cometarum per varia loca coeli.

At rursus alia instantia foederis circa hoc subjectum est
motus aeris ; qui intra tropicos (ubi circuli rotationis sunt
majores) videtur et ipse rotare ab oriente in occiden-
tem 5G .

Et alia rursus instantia foret fluxus et refluxus maris, si
modo aquae ipsae deprehendantur ferri motu rotationis (licet
tardo et evanido) ab oriente in occidentem ; ita tamen ut
bis in die repercutiantur 57 . Itaque, si haec ita se habeant,

yiyvfTai TO'IS acrrpois, dXX' axnrep al aX Trepi TOV rjXiov (paivovrai KCU TTJV
<Tf\i']vr]v TrapaKo\ovdovo~at, Kaiirep ^.fdi<TTap.fvo>v TOIV acrTpcav, orav ourws rj
nfnvKvaifjLfvos 6 arjp wore TOVTO yiyvecrQai TO Trudos inro rrjv TOV fj\iov iropeiav,
ovTOt Kai f] KOfirj Tols (iaTpoLs olov aXcof f&Tiv. liXrjv r] [j.v yiyvfTdi i dvaK\a(Tiv
ToiavTi] TTJV xpoav, e/cet 8' eV avra>v TO xpufjLO. <paiv6/j.ev6v i&TtV, *Qrav fj.ev ovv
KCLT darepa yf'vrjTai T; TOiavTrj crvyKpicriS) TTJV ainrjv dvdyKr) (paivecrdai (popav
Kop,r)Trjv rjvnfp (frfpfTai 6 acrr^p' OTCIV Se CTDCTT^ naff avTov, rdrf
voi (paivovTai. (p. 344 a. 33 b. II.) On Aristotle's theory of
comets generally, as well as the opinions of previous philosophers, see
Meteorol. i. 6, 7.

66 Bacon is alluding to the Trade-Winds, which, when not interfered
with by local causes, blow, speaking roughly, from east to west. On the
causes of these winds, see Herschel's Outlines of Astronomy, loth Ed.,
239, &c., or Tyndall's Heat a Mode of Motion, 206, c. (3rd Ed.), or
almost any manual of Physical Geography.

The ' circuli rotationis,' of which Bacon speaks, must be those of the
winds, or of the heavens ; for, in the Tractate de Fluxu et Refluxu Maris
(E. and S., vol. iii. p. 53), he speaks of the theory of the earth's rotation as
' satis licenter excogitatum, quoad rationes physicas,' language which is in
accordance with what he invariably says elsewhere, when the question is
definitely before him. See Introduction, pp. 34-37, and my notes there
referred to.

57 Bacon does not seem to have suspected the true theory of the semi-
diurnal tides, namely, that they are caused by the combined, or some-
times opposed, attractions of the sun and moon, heaping up, as it were,
the waters nearest to them, as well as those most remote from them.
The foundations of this theory were first laid in calculation by Newton,
though the influence of the sun and moon, or of the sun or moon, on the
tides had often been previously suggested, in a more or less vague way.
Bacon's own theory seems to have been that the waters, under the in-
fluence of the sun, move naturally from east to west, but that they are
driven back by striking on the coasts of America. See his Tractate de
Fluxu et Refluxu Maris, and the Introduction to it by Mr. Ellis (E. and S.,

LIB. IL 35. 461

manifestum est motum istum rotationis non terminari in
coelestibus, sed communicari aeri et aquae.

Etiam ista proprietas levium, nimirum ut ferantur sursum,
vacillat nonnihil 58 . Atque in hoc sumi potest pro instantia
focderis bulla aquae. Si enim aer fuerit subter aquam, ascendit
rapide versus superficiem aquae, per motum ilium plagae^
(quam vocat Democritus), per quam aqua descendens percutit
et attollit aerem sursum ; non autem per contentionem aut
nixum aeris ipsius. Atqui ubi ad superficiem ipsam aquae
ventum fuerit, turn cohibetur aer ab ulteriore ascensu co , per
levem resistentiam quam reperit in aqua non statim tolerante
se discontinuari : ita ut exilis admodum sit appetitus aeris ad
superiora.

vol. iii. p. 39, &c.). This idea was probably suggested by the Gulf Stream,
which, under the influence of the Trade-Winds, flows, in the early part
of its course, westwards, from the coast of Africa to that of America.
On Bacon's varying opinions as to the cause of the semi-menstrual, or
spring and neap, tides, see notes on Aph. 36 (i) and Aph. 45.

58 Bacon, we must recollect, was ignorant of the true explanation of the
phenomena which we designate ' light ' and ' heavy.'

59 ' Declinat,inquit, atomus. Primumcur? aliam quandam viam motus
habebunt a Democrito impulsionis, quam plagam ille appellat : a te,
Epicure, gravitatis et ponderis.' Cicero, De Fato, cap. 20. Ar^o'icpiros
<pvcri aKivrfTa Xe'ycoi/ ra cirofj.a vrXr/y^ KiVf'icrQai (forjcriv. Simplic. ad AnstOt.
Phys. fol. 96, as quoted by Mullach. On this subject, see Mullach, De-
mocriti Abderitae Operum Fragmenta, pp. 383-5. ' Epicurus in corporum
insecabilium pondere motus naturalis principium esse voluit : contra,
Democritus atomos natura sua immotas esse ratus violentum iis atque
aeternum motum attribuit, ita ut non interna vi cierentur, sed extrinsecus
percussae externo pulsu agitarentur. Hujus posterioris motus, qui et ipse
vibratione et vertigine fit, propria est, ni fallor, mutua impulsio i\\\-r}\mv-
TTi'a, avTirvnia, dvTudrjcris ij npbs a\\rj\a, quam Cicero de fato cap. 20 a De-
mocrito TT\t)yr]v nominatam esse testatur,' &c.

Bacon also refers to this ' motus plagae ' in Nov. Org. ii. 48 (3), and in
Sylva Sylvarum, Exp. 24. In the latter passage, he says : ' But as for
the swift ascent of the air, while it is under the water, that is a motion of
percussion from the water ; which itself descending driveth up the air ;
and no motion of levity in the air. And this Democritus called motus
plagae.' It is almost needless to observe that Bacon's explanation is false.
The lighter particles, of course, necessarily rise to the surface, being dis-
placed by the heavier particles which sink to the bottom.

This fact is due to the force of cohesion in the particles of water, but,
when that force is overcome by the efforts of the air to escape, the bubble
bursts.

462 NOVUM ORGANUM.

Similiter sit natura inquisita Pondus. Est plane divisio
recepta, ut densa et solida ferantur versus centrum terrae, rara
autem et tenuia versus ambitum coeli ; tanquam ad loca sua
propria. Atque loca quod attinet (licet in scholis hujusmodi
res valeant). plane inepta et puerilis cogitatio est. locum aliquid
posse 01 . Itaque nugantur philosophi cum dicant quod, si per-
forata esset terra, corpora gravia se sisterent quando ventum
esset ad centrum 62 . Esset enim certe virtuosum plane et
efficax genus nihili, aut puncti mathematici, quod aut alia
afficeret, aut rursus quod alia appeterent 63 : corpus enim non

01 Bacon's own theory evidently being that it is not place, but 'sympathia
sive consensus cum alio corpora,' which determines the motion of light
things upwards and heavy things downwards. See a striking passage, which
is exactly to the point, in the beginning of the Thema Coeli (E. and S.,
vol. iii. p. 769) : ' Videtur itaque natura rerum, in dispertitione materiae,
disclusisse tenuia a crassis ; atque globum terrae crassis, omnia vero ab
ipsa superficie terrae et aquarum ad ultima coeli usque tenuibus sive
pneumaticis assignasse ; tanquam geminis rerum classibus primariis, non
aequis scilicet sed convenientibus portionibus. Neque vero vel aqua in
nubibus haerens vel ventus in terra conclusus naturalem et propriam rerum
collocationem confundit. Haec vero differentia tenuis vel pneumatici et
crassi vel tangibilis omnino primordialis est, et ea qua maxime utitur
systema uni'versi. Sumpta autem est ex rerum conditione omnium sim-
plicissima, hoc est copia et paucitate materiae pro exporrectione sua.'

62 While men remained ignorant of the laws of accelerating forces, this
consequence was a necessary inference from the Peripatetic doctrine that
heavy bodies tend downwards. It would also follow from the thesis pro-
pounded by Gilbert : ' Centrum Virtutum magneticarum in tellure, est
telluris centrum.' De Magnete, lib. ii. cap. 27.

The true account is that, if a tube were bored through the centre of the
earth, a body would oscillate between the point on the surface or within
the tube from which it was dropped and the corresponding point on the
opposite surface or within the opposite part of the tube ; and, if there
were no resisting medium, this oscillation would go on for ever. See
Price's Infinitesimal Calculus, vol. iii. 233. The theorem is there proved
of a homogeneous sphere, but, though the earth is not homogeneous,
heterogeneity on one side of the centre is approximately balanced by
corresponding heterogeneity on the other, and hence the conclusion is
approximately true. Taking into account, however, the influence of a
resisting medium, the body would, after an enormous number of oscilla-
tions, ultimately rest at the centre.

Galileo states this case, and resolves it rightly. See Dialogo dei Massimi
Sistcmi, Giornata Seconda, Florence Ed. of 1842, vol. i. pp. 251-2 (Sir
Thomas Salusbury's Translation, pp. 203-4).

6J The sentence is ironical. ' For it would certainly be a very powerful

LIB. II. 35. 463

nisi a corpora patitur. Verum iste appetitus ascendendi et
desccndendi aut est in schematismo corporis quod movetur,
aut in sympathia sive consensu cum alio corpore 64 . Quod
si inveniatur aliquod corpus densum et solidum, quod nihil-
ominus non fcratur ad tcrram G5 , confunditur hujusmodi divisio.
At si recipiatur opinio Gilbert! GG , quod magnetica vis terrae
ad alliciendum gravia non extendatur ultra orbem virtutis
suae (quae operatur semper ad distantiam certam, et non
ultra), hocque per aliquam instantiam verificetur ; ea demum
erit instantia foederis circa hoc subjectum G7 . Neque tamen
occurrit impraesentiarum aliqua instantia super hoc certa et
manifesta. Proxime videntur accedere cataractae coeli GS , quae

and efficacious kind of nothing, or mathematical point, which could either
affect other things, or again which other things might seek.'

It seems strange that Bacon did not perceive that the position which he
criticises would be quite in accordance with any interpretation which could
be put on the ' sympathia sive consensus ' of which he speaks below, and
that it would be no real exception to the rule ' corpus non nisi a corpore
patitur.'

M Cp. Aph. 36 (3) and notes. It will be noticed that the words ' iste
appetitus ascendendi et descendcndi ' imply the notion of positive levity.

!> It is curious here to notice how far Bacon was from seeing that the
moon was exactly a case in point, or from divining the true bond of
connexion ('foederis sive unionis') between its revolution round the earth
and the phenomena of falling bodies.

00 See De Magnete, lib. ii. cap. 7. The expression 'orbis virtutis,' as
applied both to the earth and to ordinary magnets, is common throughout
the book, and is defined, at the beginning, as ' totum illud spatium, per
quod quaevis magnetis virtus extenditur.'

The phenomena of gravitation, it must be recollected, are explained by
Gilbert as cases of magnetism.

07 Both this and the next case, Bacon conceived, would afford examples
of Instantiae Foederis, by proving that heavy bodies, though left free, may
be at rest. They show how immature were his conceptions of motion, as
well as of gravity.

6< On the phenomena of Whirlwinds, Waterspouts, and Dust-Storms,
see Sir John Herschel's Meteorology, pp. 241-7. After describing Whirl-
winds, he says : ' They are often terminated by heavy falls of rain, a very
obvious consequence of the sudden transfer of a great mass of air nearly
saturated with vapour at the surface of the earth to a much higher level.'
He then continues : ' Whirlwinds of this kind taking place at sea give rise
to waterspouts (trombes de mer), which are very singular and sometimes
dangerous phenomena. Tall columns, apparently of cloud, and reaching
from the sea to the clouds, are seen moving majestically along, often

464 NOVUM ORGANUM.

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 aquarum fuisse ante facta,
atque in his locis haesisse et mansisse ; 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 affirmamus. Interim in hoc et in
multis aliis facile apparebit, quam inopes simus historiae
naturalis ; cum loco instantiarum certarum nonnunquam
suppositiones afferre pro exemplis cogamur.

Similiter sit natura inquisita Discursus Tngenii. Videtur
omnino divisio vera, rationis humanae et solertiae brutorum.
Attamen sunt nonnullae instantiae actionum quae eduntur a
brutis, per quas videntur etiam bruta quasi syllogizare G3 : ut
memoriae proditum est de corvo, qui per magnas siccitates
fere enectus siti conspexit aquam in trunco cavo arboris 70 ;
atque cum non daretur ei intrare propter angustias, non

several at once, sometimes straight and vertical, at others inclined and
tortuous, but always, when approached, perceived to be in rapid rotation.
At their bases the sea is violently agitated, and heaped up with a leaping
or boiling motion. Indeed, water would seem, at least in some cases, to
be actually carried up in considerable quantity, and scattered round from
a great height, as solid bodies are on land. Hence they have been
supposed by some to draw water from the sea by suction, a thing obviously
impossible.'

It is needless to point out how crude is both Bacon's account and his
explanation of these phenomena.

69 The observations and speculations of Mr. Darwin, Mr. Herbert
Spencer, and others, have placed in an entirely new light the comparative
psychology of man and the brute animals, and shown that here, as in the
rest of nature, there is much less of discontinuity than was formerly
imagined. In this, as in so many other places, Bacon seems to anticipate
modern theories.

70 In Sir Roger L'Estrange's Collection of Fables, under the head of
Avianus' Fables, this story is told of 'A Crow and a Pitcher,' and the
moral drawn is, ' There is a Natural Logick in Animals, over and above
the Instinct of their kinds.' In Mr. Robinson Ellis' Edition of the Fables
of Avianus, this Fable occurs as No. XXVII.

LIB. 1L 36. 465

cessavit jacere multos lapillos, per quos surgeret et ascenderet
aqua ut bibere posset ; quod postea cessit in proverbium.

Similiter sit natura inquisita Visibile. Videtur omnino
esse divisio vera et certa, lucis, quae est visibile originate et
primam copiam facit visui, et coloris, qui est visibile secun-
darium et sine luce non cernitur, ita ut videatur nil aliud esse
quam imago aut modificatio lucis 7l . Attamen ex utraque
parte circa hoc videntur esse instantiae foederis : scilicet,
nix 72 in magna quantitate, et flamma sulphuris 73 ; in quarum
altera videtur esse color primulum lucens, in altera lux
vergens ad colorem.

XXXVI.

Inter praerogativas instantiarum, ponemus loco decimo
quarto Instantias Crucis"^ ; translate vocabulo a Crucibus^ quae

71 Mr. Ellis refers here to Telesius, De Rerum Natura, lib. vii. cap. 31,
the title of the chapter being 'Non colorem, sed lucem proprium esse
visus sensile.' The correspondence between his language and Bacon's
is not very close, though it is quite possible that, by reflecting on this and
other chapters of bk. vii, Bacon's optical theories may have been suggested
to him.

72 This is not really an Mnstantia foederis.' Snow, like other white bodies,
reflects all the light thrown on it, and is, therefore, more easily visible than
bodies which absorb part of the light ; but it is not, in any sense, an inde-
pendent source of light, like the sun or a flame.

73 All flames, not merely that of sulphur, appear coloured, the particular
tint depending partly on the nature and proportion of the various sub-
stances in combustion, partly on the medium through which the flame is
seen. Thus, flame, being both a source of light and also itself a coloured
object, might properly be regarded as an ' instantia foederis.'

74 These are far the most celebrated of Bacon's ' Praerogativae Instan-
tiarum.' A ' crucial instance ' has become a household word in the Eng-
lish language, and is, perhaps, far more widely used than any other technical
term of the Inductive Logic. According to the metaphor, there are two
or more ways before us, and the observation or experiment in question
acts as a 'guide-post ' (crux) in determining us which to take. We have
two or more rival hypotheses, which equally well accord with the facts
hitherto observed, and then we think of some decisive experiment or
observation, which, by according with one of the theories, and that only,
will enable us summarily to reject the others. One of the simplest
and most familiar examples is to be found in chemical processes, as where
we employ a test for the purpose of determining the nature of a particular
substance or of detecting the presence of a particular poison.

In logical classification, all crucial instances may be regarded as appli-

H h

466 NOVUM ORGANUM.

erectae in biviis indicant et signant viarum separationes. Has
etiam Instantias Dccisorias et Judiciales, et in casibus non-
cations of the Method of Difference. All other circumstances being the
same, the appearance or disappearance, the existence or non-existence of
some one circumstance, or combination of circumstances, enables us to
determine the question at issue.

Various examples of ' instantiae crucis ' are adduced by myself in my
Inductive Logic (4th Ed., pp. 149-152), by Professor Playfair in his
Preliminary Dissertation, by Sir John Herschel in his Discourse on the
Study of Natural Philosophy ( 196, 197, 218, 246), and by Dr. Hippus
in his account of the Xovum Organum, published by the Society for the
Diffusion of Useful Knowledge. To these I must refer the reader, as I
have space for one example only, which I take from Sir John Herschel :

' The discover}' of Torricelli was, however, at first much misconceived,
and even disputed, till the question was finally decided by appeal to a
crucial instance, one of the first, if not the very first on record in physics,
and for which we are indebted to the celebrated Pascal. His acuteness
perceived that if the weight of the incumbent air be the direct cause of
the elevation of the mercury, it must be measured by the amount of that
elevation, and therefore that, by carrying a barometer up a high mountain,
and so ascending into the atmosphere above a large portion of the incum-
bent air, the pressure, as well as the length of the column sustained by it,
must be diminished ; while, on the other hand, if the phenomenon were
due to the cause originally assigned, no difference could be expected to
take place, whether the observation were made on a mountain or on the
plain. Perhaps the decisive effect of the experiment which he caused to
be instituted for the purpose on the Puy de Dome, a high mountain in
Auvergne, while it convinced every one of the truth of Torricelli's views,
tended more powerfully than any thing which had previously been done
in science to confirm, in the minds of men, that disposition to experimental
verification which had scarcely yet taken full and secure root.' Discourse,
&c., 246.

Dr. Hippus draws a very useful distinction between tests or experimenta
crucis which are decisive both ways and those which are what he calls
unilateral :

' Thus, if a flame burns in any gas submitted to experiment, we may
roughly (though only roughly) conclude that such gas contains oxygen ;
but, if the flame is extinguished, we cannot, therefore, conclude that the
gas contains no oxygen, for the oxygen present may be in too close combi-
nation with some other substance, to enable it to support combustion. But
a perfect test would be weighing any gas ; for if it be heavier than common
air, in the ratio of 1.435 to I - 2 > it ' s oxygen : if lighter or heavier, it is not.
Thus, too, in discussing whether a given writing be innocent or libellous,
that is, maliciously composed, or composed with any improper motive of
any kind, the truth is a unilateral test ; for if the allegations be false, there

LIB. II. 36. 467

nullis Instantias Oracnli et Mandati, appellare consuevimus.
Earum ratio talis est. Cum in inquisitione naturae alicujus
intellectus ponitur tanquam in acquilibrio, ut incertus sit utri
naturarum e duabus, vel quandoque pluribus, causa naturae
inquisitae attribui aut assignari debeat, proptcr complurium
naturarum concursum frequentem et ordinarium 75 , instantiae
crncis ostendunt consortium unius ex naturis (quoad naturam
inquisitam) fidum et indissolubile, alterius autem varium et
separabile ; unde terminatur quaestio, et recipitur natura ilia
prior pro causa, missa altera et repudiata. Itaque hujusmodi
instantiae sunt maximae lucis, et quasi magnae authoritatis ;
ita ut curriculum interpretations quandoque in illas desinat,
et per illas perficiatur. Interdum autem Instantiae Cruets
illae occurrunt et inveniuntur inter jampridem notatas 7G ; at ut
plurimum novae sunt, et de industria atque ex composite quae-
sitae et applicatae, et diligentia sedula et acri tandem erutae.

(i) Exempli gratia; sit natura inquisita Fluxus et Refluxus
Maris, ille bis repetitus in die atque sexhorarius in accessibus
et recessibus singulis, cum differentia nonnulla quae coincidit
in motum lunae 77 . Bivium circa hanc naturam tale est.

must be malice ; but there may be malice also, though the matter stated
be true. There would arise very great distinctness in argumentation, were
we to adopt this convenient phrase of a complete and an incomplete or
unilateral test many of the errors in reasoning, especially upon moral
subjects, arising from mistaking incomplete for complete tests.' Account,
c., pt. ii. p. 20. I have been compelled, for the sake of clearness, to
alter the phraseology of the first sentence.

75 In other words, on account of the difficulty of disentangling from the
mass of antecedents the one which stands in the relation of cause to the
given effect.

76 As, for instance, among the 'instantiae solitariae,' 'instantiae osten-
sivae,' &c. In fact, as already noticed, Bacon's 'instances' are, by no
means, mutually exclusive, and a ' crucial instance ' always falls under the
head of ' solitary instances,' and generally under some other head as well.
Most crucial instances, however, are specially invented for the purpose of
enabling us to decide between rival hypotheses, and hence, under whatever
other head they may fall, they are primarily crucial instances. They are
made, not found. This is what Bacon appears to mean by the next
clause.

7 For Bacon's views as to the influence of the moon on the spring and
neap tides, see my note on the following passage in Aph. 45 : ' Rursus, si
sit aliqua vis inagnetica, quae operUur per Cunsensum * * * inter

ii h 2

468 NOVUM ORGANUM.

Necesse prorsus est ut iste motus efficiatur, vel ab aquarum
progressu et regressu, in modum aquae in pelvi agitatae 78 , quae,
quando latus unum pelvis alluit, deserit alterum ; vel a sub-
latione et subsidentia aquarum e profundo, in modum aquae
ebullientis et rursus subsidentis 7i) . Utri vero causae fluxus

globum lunae et aquas maris (quae maxime credibilis videtur in fluxibus
et refluxibus semi-menstruis).' The semi-menstrual and semi-diurnal
phenomena of the tides were at this time frequently explained on
distinct principles.

78 This view was maintained by Galileo. See Dialogi dei Massimi
Sistemi, Giornata iv. He refers the alternate ebb and flow of the waters
to the composition of the annual and diurnal motions of the earth. 'It
being therefore presupposed that there are such contrarieties of motions in
the parts of the terrestrial surface, whilst it turneth round upon its own
centre, it is necessary that, in conjoyning this diurnal motion with the
other annual, there do result an absolute motion for the parts of the said
terrestrial superficies, one while very accelerate, and another while as slow
again. ******* We will conclude, therefore, that like as it
is true the motion of the whole globe, and of each of its parts, would be
equal and uniforme, in case they did move with one single motion,
whether it were the meer annual or the single diurnal revolution, so it is
requisite that, mixing those two motions together, there do result thence
for the parts of the said globe irregular motions, one while accelerated, and
another while retarded, by means of the additions or subtractions of the
diurnal conversion from the annual circulation. So that, if it be true
(and most true it is, as experience proves) that the acceleration and re-
tardation of the motion of the vessel makes water contained therein
to run to and again the long wayes of it, and to rise and fall in its
extreames, who will make scruple of granting that the said effect may,
nay ought to succeed in the sea-waters, contained within their vessels,
subject to such like alterations, and especially in those that distend them-
selves long-wayes from West to East, which is the course that the motion
of those same vessels steereth ? Now this is the most potent and primary
cause of the ebbing and flowing, without the which no such effect would
ensue.' Sir Thomas Salisbury's Translation, pp. 389-390. See Florence
Ed. of 1842, vol. i. pp. 462-4. The idea that the tides are due to the
influence of the moon is alluded to and ridiculed by Galileo a few pages
above. See p. 455 (Sir Thomas Salisbury's Translation, p. 383). It is
noticed by Mr. Ellis (E. and S., vol. iii. p. 44) that Galileo's theory was
first propounded in a letter to Cardinal Orsino, dated 1616. This letter
is to be found in the Florence Edition of Galileo's Works, vol. ii. pp.
387-406.

79 From what follows, it is plain that Bacon, had he adopted this alterna-
tive, would have explained it by a magnetic force, attracting the waters.
But, as Mr. Ellis says (E. and S., vol. iii. p. 41), 'One theory, that of

LIB. II. 36. 469

et refluxus ille assignari debeat, oritur dubitatio. Quod si
recipiatur prior assertio, necesse est ut cum sit fluxus in mari
ex una parte, fiat sub idem tempus alicubi in mari refluxus
ex alia. Itaque ad hoc reducitur inquisitio. Atqui observavit
Acosta, cum aliis nonnullis (diligenti facta inquisitione), quod
ad litora Floridae et ad litora adversa Hispaniae et Africae
fiant fluxus maris ad eadem tempora, et refluxus itidem ad
eadem tempora ; non contra, quod cum fluxus fit ad littora
Floridae, fiat refluxus ad littora Hispaniae et Africae 8 ".
Attamen adhuc diligentius 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 aquae 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 ingredientium ostia fluminum ex mari. Itaque
simili modo fieri potest, ut aquae venientes magna mole ab

Telesius and Patricius, compares the sea to the water in a caldron ; that is
to say, it rises and tends to boil over when its natural heat is called forth
under the influence of the sun, moon, and stars, and then after a while
subsides.' On this, and the other curious theories by which the action of
the tides was explained by Bacon's predecessors and contemporaries, see
the very interesting preface, prefixed by Mr. Ellis to the Tract De Fluxu
et Refluxu Maris, Bacon's Works, vol. iii. pp. 39-46.

To this Preface and to some good account of the theory and phe-
nomena of the tides, such as may be found in the Encyclopaedia Bri-
tannica, the student must be, once for all, referred for further information
on this subject. It would be a waste of labour to attempt here to criticise
or correct Bacon's remarks in detail. It may be sufficient to state gener-
ally that he confounds throughout currents and derivative tides with tides
proper.

With what Bacon says on the tides in this Aphorism, we should compare
the passage in Aph. 35, and also that on the phenomena of spring and
neap tides in Aph. 45, referred to in note 77 above. See also my notes on
both these passages.

* Mr. Ellis says : '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 shewn by the meeting of the tidal waves in the Straits of
Magellan (iii. 14).' For further information on the observations and
theories of Acosta, see Mr. Ellis' Preface to the Ue Fluxu et Refluxu
Mans, vol. iii. pp. 45-6.

470 NOVUM ORGANUM.

Oceano Oriental! Indico compellantur et trudantur in alveum
Maris Atlantic!, et propterea inundent utrumque latus simul.
Ouaerendum itaque est, an sit alius alveus per quern aquae
possint iisdcm temporibus minui et refluere. Atque praesto
est Mare Australe 81 , Mari Atlantico neutiquam minus, sed
potius magis latum et extensum, quod ad hoc sufficere possit.

Itaque jam tandem perventum est ad instantiam crncis circa
hoc subjectum. Ea talis est : si pro certo inveniatur, quod
cum fit fluxus ad littora adversa tam Floridae quam Hispaniae
in Mari Atlantico, fiat simul fluxus ad littora Peruviae et
juxta dorsum Chinae in Mari Australi ; turn certe per hanc
instantiam dccisoriam abjudicanda est assertio quod fluxus
et refluxus maris, dc quo inquiritur, fiat per motum progres-
sivum 82 : neque enim relinquitur aliud mare aut locus, ubi
possit ad eadem tempora fieri regressus aut refluxus. Com-
modissime autem hoc sciri possit, si inquiratur ab incolis
Panamae et Limae (ubi uterque Oceanus, Atlanticus et
Australis, per parvum Isthmum separantur), utrum ad con-
trarias Isthmi partcs fiat simul fluxus et refluxus maris, an
e contra. Verum haec decisio sive abjudicatio certa videtur,
posito quod terra stct immobilis. Quod si terra rotet 83 , fieri
fortasse potcst ut ex inaequali rotatione (quatenus ad cele-
ritatem sive incitationem) terrae et aquarum maris, sequatur
compulsio violenta aquarum in cumulum sursum, quae sit
fluxus : ct relaxatio earundem (postquam amplius cumulari
non sustinuerint) in deorsum, quae sit refluxus 8 ' 1 . Verum de
hoc facienda est inquisitio separatim. Attamen etiam hoc
supposito, illud acque manet fixum, quod necesse sit fieri
alicubi refluxum maris ad cadem tempora quibus fiunt fluxus
in aliis partibus.

Similiter, sit natura inquisita posterior ille motus ex duobus
CHIOS suppcsuimus. videlicet motus maris se attollens et rursus

"* Including what we now call the Southern and Pacific Oceans.

- These facts, if established, would certainly have disproved the theory
in question.

3 On the disputed question of the rotation of the earth or the heavens,
see the next section of this Aphorism, and cp. Introduction, pp. 33-36.

'' Compare the theory of Galileo, noticed above, connecting the phe-
nomenon of the tides with the rotation of the earth.

LIB. If. 36. 471

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 rursus relabuntur. absque aliqua accessionc aquarum
aliarum quae advolvuntur, fiat per unum ex his tribus modis :
vel quod ista aquarum copia emanet ex interioribus terrae
et rursus in ilia se recipiat s5 ; vel quod non sit aliqua amplior
moles aquarum, sed quod eaedem aquae (non aucto quanto
suo) extendantur sive rarefiant, ita ut majorem locum et
dimensionem occupent, et rursus se contrahant 8G ; vel quod
nee copia accedat major nee extensio amplior, sed eaedem
aquae (prout sunt tam copia quam densitate aut raritate)
per vim aliquam magneticam 87 desuper eas attrahentem et

t5 ' Dubitatur etiamnum quibus ex causis intumescat Oceanus, vel qua-
tenus, cum superfluus sibi fuerit, rursus in se residat. Nee in obscuro est,
plura pro ingeniis differentium, potius quam pro veritatis fide expressa. Sed
omisso ancipiti concurrentium quaestionum has opiniones probatissimas in-
venimus. Physiciaiunt,mundum animal esse,eumque, ex variiselementorum
corporibus conglobatum, moveri spiritu, regi mente : quae utraque diffusa
per membra omnia aeternae molis vigorem exerceant. Sicut ergo in cor-
poribus nostris commercia sunt spiritalia,ita in profundisOceaninaresquas-
dam mundi constitutas, per quas emissi anhelitus, vel reducti, modo inflent
maria, modo revocent. At hi,quisiderumsequunturdiscipnnam,contendunt
meatus istos commoveri lunae cursibus : adeo utvicissitudines inter maciem
aquarum et plenitudinem respiciant adauctus ejus vel eliquia : neque eodem
semper tempore, sed prout ilia aut mir.uatur, aut crescat, variari alternan-
tes recursus.' Solini Polyhistor. cap. xxiii. ad fin. Cp. with the latter
opinion (which is to be found in the Pseudo-Aristotelian treatise, lie/.t
Kou-juou, ch. 4. p. 396 a. 25-7), Pliny, Nat. Hist. ii. 97 (99), sect. 212, &c.,
who refers the tides to the joint action of the Sun and Moon.

ss This would be the opinion of Telesius and Patricius, referred to above
in note 79. The same theory is maintained by Campanella.

* 7 See Gilbert, De Magnetc, lib. ii. cap. 16 ad fin. From him Bacon
may have taken the idea, which, if we compare the passage on attraction
in Aph. 45, he evidently seems inclined to adopt in reference to the phe-
nomena of spring and neap tides.

In Kepler's Epitome Astronomiae Copernicanae, published in 1618, we
find the following passage : ' Ouemadmodum igitur, ut Magnes Magnetem
aut ferrum trahat, cognatio corporum efficit : sic etiam de Luna non est
incredibile, ut ilia moveatur a Terrae cognato corpore : licet nee hie nee
illic intercedat aliquis contactus corporum. Adeoque quid mirum, Lunam
a terra moveri, cum videamus vicissim et Lunam transitu suo super

473 NOVVM ORGANUM.

evocantem, et per consensum, se attollant et deinde se re-
mittant. Itaque reducatur (si placet) jam inquisitio (missis
duobus illis motibus prioribus) ad hunc ultimum ; et inquiratur
si fiat aliqua talis sublatio per consensum sive vim magneticam.
Atqui primo manifestum est universas aquas, prout ponuntur
in fossa sive cavo maris, non posse simul attolli, quia defuerit
quod succedat in fundo ; adeo ut si foret in aquis aliquis
hujusmodi appetitus se attollendi, ille ipse tamen a nexu
rerum, sive (ut vulgo loquuntur) ne detur vacuum 88 , fractus
foret et cohibitus. Relinquitur, ut attollantur aquae 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 sublatae latera per
successionem deserant et destituant.

Itaque jam tandem perventum est ad instantiam crucis
circa hoc subjcctum. 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, quae sunt litora ; et in fluxibus
eadem superficies sit magis plana et aequa, redeuntibus
scilicet aquis ad priorem suam positionem 8J ; turn certe per
hanc instantiam dccisoriam potest recipi sublatio per vim

vertices locorum causare fluxum Oceani reciprocum in Tellure ? Nonne
satis evidens hoc est documentum communicationis motuum inter haec
duo corpora ? '

Gassendi, in his account of the various opinions on the causes of the
tides (Physicae, Sectio iii. Membrum Prius, lib. i. cap. 4), says : ' Plurimi
recurrunt ad Magneticam, seu tractoriam vim, qua nimirum Luna, supra
mare transiens, ipsius aquas ad se alliciat, post transitum retro relaxet ;
sicque mare cogens intumescere detumescereque, Affluxum et Refluxum
erect.'

^ We have seen already (ii. 8 ad init.) that Bacon denies the possibility
of a vacuum. See also Aph. 48, Motus Secundus, and the conclusion of
the same Aphorism. As remarked by Mr. Ellis in his Preface to the
Historia Densi et Rari (E. and S., vol. ii. p. 238), Bacon's opinions on this
subject must have undergone a decided change after the time of his
writing the Cogitationes de Rerum Natura and the Fable of Cupid.

'' This is the case, though we know it to be so rather as a deduction
from the theory of the tides than an induction from the observation of facts.
The curvature is greatest when the tide is high, and least when it is low.

LIB. IL 36. 473

magneticam, aliter prorsus abjudicanda cst. Hoc vero in
fretis per lineas nauticas non difficile est experiri * ; 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.

(2) Similiter, sit natura inquisita Motus Rotationis spon-
taneus yl ; et speciatim, utrum Motus Diurnus, per quern sol
et stellae ad conspectum nostrum oriuntur et occidunt, sit
motus rotationis verus in coelestibus, aut motus apparens in
coelestibus, verus in terra. Poterit esse instantia cruets super
hoc subjectum talis. Si inveniatur motus aliquis in oceano
ab oriente in occidentem, licet admodum languidus et ener-
vatus ; si idem motus reperiatur paulo incitatior in acre,
praesertim intra tropicos, ubi propter majorcs circulos est
magis perceptibilis ; si idem motus reperiatur in humilioribus
cometis, jam factus vivus etvalidus; si idem motus reperiatur
in planetis, ita tamen dispensatus et graduatus ut quo propius
absit a terra sit tardior, quo longius celerior, atque in coelo
demum stellate sit velocissimus : turn certe recipi debet motus
diurnus pro vero in coelis, et abnegandus est motus terrae ;
quia manifestum erit, motum ab oriente in occidentem esse
plane co micum et ex consensu universi, qui in summitatibus
coeli maxima rapidus gradatim labascat, et tandem desinat
et extinguatur in immobili, videlicet terra 92 .

?0 ' In fretis ' the tides are derivative, and, consequently, the experiment
would not be conclusive.

81 Of this ' motus rotationis spontaneus ; we shall hear more in Aph. 48,
Motus xvii. See also Aph. 5, ad fin. These passages show how far Bacon
was from having formed any true conception of the nature of Motion.

12 If the heavens revolved with an uniform motion round the earth, it is
plain that the more remote a point is from the earth, the more rapid would
be its motion. But, suppose the earth to revolve en its axis, we should
have exactly the same set of appearances as on the former supposition,
and, if we were ignorant of the fact of the earth's rotation, we should
imagine a distant point to move with much greater rapidity than a point
which is near. Hence the conditions of this so-called Crucial Instance,
even if satisfied, would equally well suit either hypothesis. But they are

474 NOVUM ORGANUM.

Similiter, sit natura inquisita Motus Rotationis ille alter
apud astronomos decantatus, renitens et contrarius Motui
Diurno, videlicet ab occidente in orientem 93 ; quem veteres

evidently complicated by the consideration of the proper motions of the
planets and comets.

Dr. Whewell, who comments at some length on this example (History
of the Inductive Sciences, 3rd Ed., Additions, vol. i. pp. 388-390), adduces
it as showing that Bacon, at least in his later years, was not so much
opposed, as is commonly thought, to the Copernican theory. ' With
regard to the diurnal motion of the earth,' he says, ' it would seem as
if Bacon himself had a leaning to believe it when he wrote this passage ;
for neither is he himself, nor are any of the Anti-Copernicans, accustomed
to assert that the immensely rapid motion of the sphere of the Fixed Stars
graduates by a slower and slower motion of Planets, Comets, Air and
Ocean, into the immobility of the Earth. So that the conditions are not
satisfied on which he hypothetically says, " turn abnegandus est mot us
terrae.'" I must confess, however, that I cannot take so favourable a
view. See Aph. 46, where, speaking of the enormous velocity implied by
the diurnal motion of the heavens, he says, 'quae etiam viros graves ita
obstupefecit, ut mallent credere motum terrae,' evidently regarded as an
extreme supposition. Cp. also the end of the next paragraph of that
Aphorism, and Aph. 35, where, in discussing rest and motion, he says,
' statio, sive quies, videtur competere globo ipsi terrae.'

In the Introduction, Section 6, Bacon's attitude to the Copernican
theory is discussed at some length. We must, of course, distinguish the
passages in which he speaks of the diurnal from those in which he speaks
of the annual motion of the earth. But that WhewelPs argument, as
derived from the passage in the text, is delusive, is plain from comparing
a corresponding passage in the De Fluxu et Refluxu Maris (E. and S.,
vol. iii. p. 53), where Bacon states dogmatically that it is an invariable
rule that, the nearer a body approaches the earth, the slower is its motion
of rotation.

It may be worth noticing that Telesius (De Rerum Natura, i. 3) insists
on the motion of the air, resting the position partly on authority and
partly on the sound produced by putting the hand or a horn to the ear.
Bacon recurs to the motion of the air and water in ii. 48 (17), where he
seems to entertain no doubt on the subject.

' 3 ' The astronomers,' Bacon often says, ' insist on explaining the retarda-
tion of the inferior orbs by giving them a proper motion of their own,
opposite to that which they derive from the starry heaven : surely it would
be simpler to say that all the orbs move in the same direction with unequal
velocities ; the inequality depending on their remoteness from the prime
mover.' Mr. Eilis' 1'reface to the Dcscriptio Globi Intellectualis, E. and S.,
vol. iii. p. 720. To this Preface, to the Descriptio Globi Intellectualis
and Thema Cocli themselves, to the De Augmentis, iii. 4, to the De Fluxu
et Refluxu Maris, and to the De Principiis atque Originibus, I must, once

LIB. II. 36. 475

astronomi attribuunt planetis, etiam coelo stcllato 94 , at
Copernicus et ejus sectatores terrac quoque 95 ; et quaeratur
utrum inveniatur in rcrum natura aliquis talis motus, an
potius res conficta sit et supposita, ad compendia et com-
moditates calculationum, et ad pulchrum illud, scilicet de
expediendis motibus coelestibus per circulos perfectos. Neuti-
quam enim evincitur iste motus esse in supernis verus et
realis, nee per defectum restitutionis planetae in motu diurno
ad idem punctum coeli stellati, nee per diversam politatem
zodiaci, habito respectu ad polos mundi ; quae duo nobis
hunc motum pep'ercrunt. Primum cnim phaenomenon per
anteversionem et derelictionem optime salvatur ; secundum
per lineas spirales ; adeo ut inaequalitas 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 gera-
mus (missis astronomorum et scholae commentis, quibus
illud in more est ut sensui in multis immerito vim faciant,
et obscuriora malint), talem esse motum istum ad sensum OG ,

for all, refer the reader who is interested in ascertaining the peculiar astro-
nomical theories to which Bacon inclined. Any elaborate examination of
his views, or even of the present passage, would carry me far beyond the
objects of this edition. Towards the end of the Thema Coeli (E. and S.,
vol. iii. p. 779) he distinctly denies the reality of the motion fromW. to E.,
and refers the phenomena of planetary motion to differences of speed.

94 He is probably referring to those systems (cp. note 6 on Bk. I. Aph. 60)
which made the coelum stellatum distinct from the primum mobile. See
Gassendi, Physicae Sectio II. lib. iii. cap. 2 ad fin. Speaking of Fraca-
storius, who proposed the most complicated of ail the systems of Con-
centrics, Gassendi says: 'At sphaerae Aplane, Stellarum Inerrantium
istis omnibus ' (i. e. the planetary spheres) ' superior! super extruxisse
motibus ipsius variandis quinque alias, quibus adhuc fuerit Mobile Primum
superponendum, adeo proinde, ut sphaeras statuerit septuaginta duas,
aut saltern septuaginta.'

115 For the old notion that the heavens revolve from E. to W., Copernicus
substituted the hypothesis that the earth itself revolves from W. to E.

16 ' On his assertion,' says Dr.Whewell (in the passage referred to above),
' that the motion of each separate planet is, to sense, a spiral, we may remark
that it is certainly true : but that the business of science, here, as elsewhere,
consists in resolving the complex phenomenon into simple phenomena ;
the complex spiral motion into simple circular motions.' Bacon, both here
and elsewhere, when he has occasion to treat of astronomical questions

476 NOVUM ORGANUM.

qualem diximus ; cujus imaginem per fila ferrea (veluti in
machina) aliquando repraesentari fecimus.

Verum instantia crucis super hoc subjectum poterit esse
talis. Si inveniatur in aliqua historia fide digna, fuisse
cometam aliquem, vel sublimiorem vel humiliorem 97 , qui non
rotaverit cum consensu manifesto (licet admodum irregula-
riter) motus diurni, sed potius rotaverit in contrarium coeli 8 ;
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 confucricndum.

(see, for instance, De Augmentis, iii. 4), depreciates the importance of
mathematical calculations as applied to the motions of the heavenly bodies.
And yet, without the aid of mathematics, where would have been the
modern science of Astronomy ? The simultaneous discovery of the planet
Neptune by Adams and Le Verrier, as a result of the most elaborate
mathematical investigations (to say nothing of the more familiar case of
the prediction of eclipses), is alone a sufficient refutation of Bacon's view.
Formal Astronomy, or the consideration of the apparent motions of the
heavenly bodies in Space and Time, was an essential prelude to Physical
Astronomy, or the reference of these motions to their causes in Force
and Matter. But, though Bacon went too far in depreciating Formal
Astronomy, we must not forget that he was one of the first to point out
the importance of Physical Astronomy, as well as of establishing a closer
union between both branches of the science : ' Quamobrem hanc partem
Astronomiae, quae Physica est, desiderari statuimus. Earn Astronomiam
Vivam nominabimus, ad differentiam bovis illius Promethei suffarcinati,
et solummodo figura tenus bovis.' De Augm. iii. 4. Cp. Descriptio Globi
Intellectuals, cap. 5. See also Introduction, pp. 38, 39.

u ' The distinction of higher and lower comets may be found in Seneca,
Nat. Ouaest. vii. 6, 7, and is there referred to Epigenes. Bacon, in the
De Fluxu et Refluxu Maris (E. and S., vol. iii. p. 53), speaks of the ' lower
comets ' as being lower than the orb of the moon. By many ancient philo-
sophers, all comets were regarded as sublunar. It is needless to remark
that, on the other hand, all true comets belong to the solar, and not to the
terrestrial system. In reading ancient authors, however, it must always
be borne in mind that they often designated mere atmospheric meteors
by the name of comets.

'" Whereas the planets and their satellites, with the sole known excep-
tion of the satellites of Uranus, revolve with what is called a direct motion,
that is, from \V. to E., the comets seem to be almost equally divided
between those which have a direct motion, from W. to E., and those which
have a retrograde motion, from E. toW. But what Bacon desiderated was
a comet whose proper motion from W. to E. more than compensated for

LIB. II. 36. 477

(3) Similitcr, sit natura inquisita Pondus sive Grave
Bivium circa hanc naturam tale est. Nccesse est ut gravia
et ponderosa vel tendant ex natura sua ad centrum terrae,
per proprium schematismum ; vel ut a massa corporea ipsius
terrae, tanquam a congregatione corporum 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) ; idquc fieri intra spatium
certum ; adeo ut si elongata fuerint a terra tali distantia ut
virtus terrae in ea agere non possit, pensilia mansura sint, ut
et ipsa terra, nee omnino decasura.

Itaque talis circa hanc rem poterit esse instantia crncis.
Sumatur horologium 1 ex iis quae moventur per pondera plum-
bea, et aliud ex iis quae moventur per compressionem laminae
ferreae ; atque vere probentur, ne alterum altero velocius sit
aut tardius ; deinde ponatur horologium illud movens per pon-
dera super fastigium alicujus templi altissimi, altero illo infra

the apparent diurnal motion of the heavens from E. to W., so that it might
visibly move in the opposite direction to the heavens. This discovery, it
appears, would have convinced him that there is a motion of rotation from
W. to E., and that this motion, which he regarded as feigned simply for
the purpose of facilitating the calculations of astronomers (' res conficta et
supposita,' &c.), is not merely a modification of the diurnal motion. If no
such instance can be found, then, he says, we must continue to suspect
the theory, till we can find some other crucial instance to settle the
question.

19 This paragraph does great credit to Bacon's sagacity, and is one of
those which give him a claim to be regarded as a pioneer of science as well
as a reformer of method. 'Voltaire,' says Mr. Ellis, '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 ete 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.' This criticism, I think, does
Bacon scant justice. Even if the idea was suggested to him by the work
of Gilbert, he ought, at least, to obtain the credit of having detached the
conception of attraction from that of magnetism. Cp., however, p. 488, n. 31.

1 By this 'horologium' he must have meant a fly-clock, pendulum clocks
not being yet known.

47 8 NOVUM ORGANUM.

detento ; et notetur diligenter si horologium in alto situm
tardius moveatur quam solebat, propter diminutam virtutem
ponderum. Idem fiat experimentum in profundis minerarum
alte sub terra depressarum, utrum horologium hujusmodi non
moveatur velocius quam solebat, propter auctam virtutem pon-
derum. Quod si inveniatur virtus ponderum minui in sublimi,
aggravari in subterraneis 2 , recipiatur pro causa ponderis at-
tractio a massa corporea terrae.

(4) Similiter, sit natura inquisita Verticitas Acus Ferreae,
tactae magnete. Circa hanc naturam tale erit bivium. Ne-
cesse est ut tactus magnetis vel ex se indat ferro verticitatem
ad septentriones et austrum ; vel ut excitet ferrum tantummodo
et habilitet, motus autem ipse indatur ex praesentia terrae ;
ut Gilbertus opinatur, et tanto conatu probare nititur 3 . Itaque
hue spectant ea, quae ille perspicaci industria conquisivit.
Nimirum quod clavus ferreus, qui diu duravit in situ versus
septentriones et austrum, colligat mora diutina verticitatem,
absque tactu magnetis 4 : ac si terra ipsa, quae ob distantiam

2 Ingenious as the proposed experiment is, it shews an ignorance of
what, indeed, Bacon could not be expected to know the difference in the
law of attraction above, on, and below the earth's surface. For, while the
attraction of a homogeneous sphere on a particle external to it varies
inversely as the square of the distance from the centre, the attraction of
the same sphere on a particle upon or below its surface varies directly as
the distance from the centre. Hence, the force of attraction reaches a
maximum on the surface, and diminishes as we descend a mine, or as we
ascend upwards from the surface of the earth. In other words, a clock
moved by weights ought to go slower and slower, both the higher we
ascend a mountain and the lower we descend a mine. In the former part
of his supposition, therefore (which, taken by itself, furnishes a sufficient
Crucial Instance), Bacon is right, in the latter wrong.

On the whole of this passage, the student should refer to Herschel's
Discourse on the Study of Natural Philosophy, 196. I have also noticed
it in my Introduction, pp. 39, 40.

3 See Gilbert, De Magnete, throughout, and especially lib. vi. cap. i.
There can now be no doubt of the truth of the latter alternative. The
earth may be regarded as a vast magnet, whose poles are at some dis-
tance from the terrestrial poles, the angle which the magnetic makes with
the geographical meridian being known as the declination or variation of
the magnetic needle.

4 De Magnete, iii. 12. The same chapter also contains an account of
the next observation.

LIB. IL 36. 479

dcbiliter operatur (namque superficies aut extima incrustatio
terrae virtutis magneticae, ut ille vult, expers est), per moram
tamen longam magnetis tactum suppleret, et ferrum exciret,
deinde excitum conformaret et verteret. Rursus, quod ferrum
ignitum et cadens, si in extinctione sua exporrigatur inter sep-
tentriones et austrum, colligat quoque verticitatem absque tactu
magnetis : sc si partes ferri in motu positae per ignitionem, et
postea se recipientes, in ipso articulo extinctionis suae magis
essent susceptivae et quasi sensitivae virtutis manantis a terra
quam alias, et inde fierent tanquam excitae. Verum haec, licet
bene observata, tamen non evincunt prorsus quod ille asserit.

Instantia crucis autem circa hoc subjectum poterit esse talis.
Capiatur terrella ex magnete, et notentur poli ejus ; et po-
nantur poli terrellae versus orientem et occasum, non versus
septentriones et austrum, atque ita jaceant ; deinde super-
ponatur 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
magnetis ; itaque quamdiu ita manet, vertitur scilicet ad ori-
entem et occidentem mundi. Quod si inveniatur acus ilia,
remota a magnete et posita super versorium, statim se appli-
care ad septentriones et austrum, vel etiam paulatim se eo
recipere ; turn recipienda est pro causa praesentia terrae : sin
aut vertatur (ut prius) in orientem et occidentem, aut perdat
verticitatem, habenda est ilia causa pro suspecta, et ulterius
inquirendum est 5 .

(5) Similiter, sit natura inquisita Corporea Substantia
Lunae 6 : an sit tenuis, flammea, sive ae'rea, ut plurimi ex
priscis philosophis opinati sunt ; an solida et densa, ut Gil-
bertus 7 et multi moderni, cum nonnullis ex antiquis, tenent.

5 The former alternative, of course, represents the facts. A needle,
however magnetised, will, when allowed to turn freely, and removed from
the influence of any other magnet, direct itself north and south.

6 The nature of the substance of the heavenly bodies generally is con-
sidered in the Descriptio Globi Intellectualis, cap. 7, and in the Thema
Coeli.

7 This must be an allusion to Gilbert's known opinions, not to his
writings. For the posthumous book De Alundo nostro Sublunari, which
contains his speculations on this subject, was not published till 1651. It

480 NOVUM ORGANUM.

Rationes posterioris istius opinionis fundantur in hoc maxima,
quod luna radios solis reflectat ; neque videtur fieri reflexio
lucis nisi a solidis 8 .

Itaque instantiae crucis circa hoc subjectum eae esse poterint
(si modo aliquae sint) quae demonstrent reflexionem a corpora
tenui, qualis est flamma, modo sit crassitiei sufficients 9 . Certe
causa crepusculi, inter alias, est reflexio 10 radiorum solis a
superiore parte aeris. Etiam quandoque reflect! videmus
radios solis temporibus vespertinis serenis a fimbriis nubium
roscidarum, non minori splendore, sed potius illustriori et
magis glorioso, quam qui redditur a corpore lunae 11 ; neque

may, however, have been read by Bacon in manuscript (see note on the
words ' eosque particulares ' in Aph. 48 (8) ). In this work, lib. ii. capp.
13-16, Gilbert passes in review the various opinions of the ancients, and
himself arrives at the following conclusion : ' Luna, diversa natura a Sole,
est solida absque lumine substantia, diversa in eminentiis ; non provenit
unquam ab inspissatione imaginatae quintae essentiae, adeo ut densior
pars sit sphaerae nugatoriae : sed astrum est, sicut tellus, suis spatiis
inotum habens. Tellus vero etiam sicut altera Luna est, quae etiam a
Sole accepto lumine versus Lunam relucet, sicut Luna conceptum a Sole
lumen in tellurem remittit ; omne enim solidum lumen remittit.' For
Aristotle's fifth element (quintessence), or aether, which he regarded as
having a circular motion, and as extending fa> Kai /xe'xP 1 <reA 171/77?, see,
amongst other places, Meteorologica, i. 3, De Coelo, i. 3, De Animalium
Generatione, ii. 3, and the spurious treatise De Mundo, ch. 2. In the
last passage, which represents the doctrines of the Peripatetic school, the
writer says : ovpavov Se Kai ao-rpav ovcriav /iff aWepa KaXoC/zei/, . . . crroi^flov
ovcrav erepoj/ ru>i> TfTrdpccv, HKTjpaTov re /cat dflov. In the De Animalium
Generatione, iii. II (p. 761 b. 21, 22), Aristotle speaks of the moon as
composed of fire : aXXa Set TO roioCroi/ yevos (sc. TO TOV irvpos) frrelv eVi rrjs
crf\T]vr]s' avrr] yap <f)a'ii>(T(ii KOtvcovov&a rrjs TTapTr)s arrocrTacrtcos.

8 This is certainly not Gilbert's argument, as it appears in his book.
He argues quite rightly (lib. ii. cap. 13) to the opacity and solidity of the
moon from the fact that, in a Solar Eclipse, it does not transmit any of the
light of the Sun: 'Videmus enim in deliquiis solaribus, tanquam opacissima
mole, Solis lumen sisti et averti.' So far from stating that light is reflected
only from solid bodies, he refers, in the course of his discussion, to the very
familiar fact of the reflexion of light from water.

9 All bodies, which are not absolutely black or absolutely transparent,
reflect light, though, of course, in the most varying degrees. A flame is
simply an ignited gas.

10 Refraction, as well as Reflexion, enters into the explanation of this
and similar phenomena.

11 Mr. Ellis remarks that the comparison of the brightness of the moon

LIB. II. 36. 481

tamcn constat eas nubcs coaluisse in corpus densum aquae.
Etiam videmus aerem tenebrosum pone fenestras noctu re-
flectere lucem candelae, non minus quam corpus densum 12 -
Tentandum etiam foret experimentum immissionis radiorum
solis per foramen super flammam aliquam subfuscam et cae-
ruleam. Sane radii aperti solis, incidentes in flammas obscu-
riores, videntur eas quasi mortificare, ut conspiciantur magis
instar fumi albi quam flammae. Atque haec impraesentiarum
occurrunt, quae sint ex natura instantiarum crucis circa hanc
rem 13 ; et meliora fortasse reperiri possunt. Sed notandum
semper est, reflexionem a flamma non esse expectandam, nisi
a flamma alicujus profunditatis ; nam aliter vergit ad dia-
phanum. Hoc autem pro certo ponendum, lucem semper in
corpore aequali 14 aut excipi et transmitti, aut resilire.

(6) Similiter, sit natura inquisita Motus Missilium, veluti
spiculorum, sagittarum. globulorum, per aerem. Hunc motum
Schola (more suo) valde negligenter expedit : satis habens, si
eum nomine motus violenti a naturali I5 (quern vocant) distin-
guat ; et, quod ad primam percussionem sive impulsionem at-

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.

12 ' Bacon's reason for this phenomenon is wrong. It is really the
polished surface of the glass which reflects the rays : and this is always
the case, but is only visible to us when there is neither light nor object
on the other side to destroy the image created.' Dr. Kitchin's note.

13 All that these Instances prove is that other than solid bodies reflect
light, and hence it follows that, because the moon reflects light, we cannot
infer that it is a solid body. But, though they dispose of the argument,
they do not dispose of the conclusion. How little Bacon anticipated that
the time would come, when we should be able to weigh the moon, to
know something of its chemical constituents, and to map out its surface
with perfect accuracy !

The question whether other than solid bodies reflect light is a good
example of an unilateral test (see the end of the first note on this Aphor-
ism). If decided one way, it proves that the moon is a solid body; if
decided the other way, it proves nothing.

11 Cp. Aph. 23. There, he says, ' corpora omnino aequalia (secundum
portiones opticas) dare diaphanum.' The optical generalisation that every
ray of light incident on a surface is either reflected, or transmitted, or
absorbed, or disposed of in all or some of these ways, was, of course,
unknown to Bacon.

16 See notes on i. 66, ii. 35.

t I i

482 NOVUM ORGANUM.

tinet, per illud, quod duo corpora non possint esse in uno loco,
ne fiat pcnctratio dimensionum^ sibi satisfaciat ; et de processu
continuato istius motus nihil curet. At circa hanc naturam
bivium est tale : aut iste motus fit ab aere vehente et pone
corpus emissum se colligente, instar fluvii erga scapham aut
venti erga paleas ; aut a partibus ipsius corporis non sustinen-
tibus impressionem, sed ad eandem laxandam per successionem
se promoventibus. Atque priorem ilium recipit Fracastorius 16 ,
et fere omnes qui de hoc motu paulo subtil ius inquisiverunt :
neque dubium est, quin sint aeris partes in hac re nonnullae ;
sed alter motus proculdubio verus est, ut ex infinitis constat
experimentis 17 . Sed inter caeteras, poterit esse circa hoc sub-

16 De Sympathia et Antipathia, cap. 4 : ' Projecta quoque per eandem
rarefactionem et condensationem portantur per aerem, partibus quidem,
quae ante sunt 5 viam quodammodo aperientibus, et propellentibus unda-
tionem, iis vero, quae circa et a tergo, successive addensatis et rarefactis
una post aliam, et projectum vehentibus non aliter ac per undam,' &c.
He then attempts to account for the motion being slow at first, quicker
afterwards, and ultimately ceasing altogether.

Mr. Ellis refers, for similar explanations, to Plato's Timaeus, p. 80
(Add. p. 79), and to Plutarch, Ouaest. Platon. (Reiske's Plutarch, vol. x.
p. 177, &c.). Of projectiles the latter, developing the Platonic doctrine,
says : TO. 8e pnvrov^eva ftapr] TOV depa (r^f'^et pera Tr\Jjyjjs eKirecrovTa, KOI
SucrTrjcriv. 6 de Trepippeuiv OTTiVw, r<u (pvcriv *X flv " 6 ' T *l v cp t ]f*' ov P*V r }V ^copaf
ftiaiKfiv KOI di>a7T\r]povv i crvverreTm T< d<pie/j.eva>, Trjv K.ivi]<riv (TweTriTa.'xyvuiv.
He gives a similar account of lightning, cupping glasses, sounds, swallow-
ing, and several other phenomena.

Aristotle also regards the motion of a projectile as maintained by the
air. See Physics, iv. 8 (p. 215 a), viii. 10 (pp. 266 b, 267 a). In the
former passage, he says : eri vvv p.ev Kivelrai TO. pmrovfJieva rou uxravros ov^
iiTTTo/jifvov, rj 81 avTijrepi<TTacnv, uxnrep evioi (pacriv, rj 8ia TO wde'iv TOV wcr^ei/ra
aepn ddrra) Kivrjffiv rf]? TOU w<jQtvTos fpopas, fjv (peperai els TOV olndov TOTTOV.
The latter passage, which is far the more elaborate, is too long to quote.
On the former, Mr. Lewes comments in his work on Aristotle, pp. 132,

J33-

To criticise this and similar theories of motion would be unduly to tax
the patience of the reader. These very dark places of the ancient and
mediaeval physics are at once illuminated by the simplicity of the First
Law of Motion.

17 Bacon did not see that the two cases which he had put were by
no means exhaustive. Nor had he stated the problem rightly. The
difficulty, as we now know, is not to account for the continued motion
of a projectile, but for the cessation of its motion.

LIB. II. 36. 483

jectum instantia cruets tails; 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 vcl
calami, non in extremis 18 .

(7) Similiter sit natura inquisita motus ille rapidus ct
potens Expansionis Pulveris Pyrii in flammam 19 ; unde tantae
moles subvertuntur, tanta pondera emittuntur, quanta in cuni-
culis majoribus et bombardis videmus. Bivium circa hanc
naturam tale est. Aut excitatur iste motus a mero corporis
appetitu se dilatandi, postquam fuerit inflammatum ; aut ab
appetitu mixto spiritus 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 philosophari, si
asserant flammam ex forma element! necessitate quadam

8 He seems here, notwithstanding having drawn the distinction above,
to mistake the question at issue, which was not as to the origin of the
motion of a projectile, but as to its continuance. And even if his instance
were to the point, it would only be decisive against the one theory, not
in favour of the other.

In the Cogitationes De Natura Rerum, cap. 8 (E. and S., vol. iii. pp.
28-31), he treats this subject at greater length and adds other experiments,
which are, however, no more decisive than the one given here.

111 This question is also treated in the Cogitationes De Xatura Rerum.
See cap. 9. Bacon's solution of the difficulty by referring the explosion to
the 'conflict of two bodies,' and his language about the 'crude spirit which
is in nitre,' are thoroughly characteristic both of his own chemical views
and, generally, of those of his time. Chemistry, we must recollect, had
hardly as yet put on a scientific form, and, moreover, it was peculiarly
encumbered by the use of a fanciful and metaphorical language.

As to the true explanation of the great explosive power of gunpowder, it
'is due to the sudden development of a large volume of gaseous bodies,
chiefly consisting of nitrogen and carbonic anhydride, which, at the ordinary
temperature of the air, would occupy a space equal to about 300 times the
bulk of the powder used ; but, from the intense heat developed at the
moment of the explosion, the dilation amounts to at least 500 times
the volume of the gunpowder employed.' Miller's Elements of Chemistry,
Part ii. pp. 399-400. The principle of this explanation was first demon-
strated by Jean Bernoulli. See Hoefer, Histoire de la Chimic, tome ii.
pp. 264-265.

I i 2

484 NOVUM ORGANUM.

donari locum ampliorcm occupandi quam idem corpus ex-
pleverat cum subiret formam pulvcris, atque inde sequi motum
istum. Interim minime advertunt, licet hoc verum sit. posito
quod flamma gcneretur, tamen posse impediri flammae gene-
rationem a tanta mole, quae illam comprimere et suffocare
queat ; ut non deducatur res ad istam necessitatem de qua
loquuntur. Nam quod necesse sit fieri expansionem, atque
inde sequi emissionem aut remotionem corporis quod obstat,
si gcneretur flamma, recte putant. Sed ista necessitas plane
evitatur, si moles ilia solida flammam supprimat antequam
generetur. Atque videmus flammam, praesertim in prima
generatione, mollem esse et lenem, et requirere cavum in quo
cxperiri et ludere possit. Itaque tanta violentia huic rei per
se assignari non potest. Sed illud verum : generationcm hu-
jusmodi flammarum flatulentarum, et veluti ventorum igneo-
rum, fieri ex conflictu duorum corporum, eorumque naturae
inter sc plane contrariae ; alterius admodum inflammabilis,
quac natura viget in sulphure ; alterius flammam exhorrentis,
qualis cst spiritus crudus qui est in nitro ; adeo ut fiat con-
flictus mirabilis, inflammante se sulphure quantum potest
(nam tertium corpus, nimirum carbo salicis, nil aliud fere
pracstat, quam ut ilia cluo corpora incorporet et commode
uniat), et erumpente spiritu nitri quantum potest, et una se
clilatante (nam hoc faciunt et aer, et omnia cruda, et aqua,
ut a calore dilatentur), et per istam fugam et eruptionem in-
terim flammam sulphuris, tanquam follibus occultis, undc-
quaque exufflante.

Potcrant autern esse instantiae crncis^ circa hoc subjcctum
duorum generum. Alterum eorum corporum quae maxime
sunt inflammabilia, qualia sunt sulphur, caphura, naphtha, et
hujusmodi. cum eorum misturis : quae citius et facilius conci-
piunt flammam quam pulvis pyrius. si non impediantur : ex
quo liquet appctitum inflammandi per se effectum ilium stu-
pendum non operari. Alterum eorum quae flammam fugiuut

: " These ' crucial instances ' dispose of the rival hypothesis, but they do
not establish Bacon's own. To state exhaustively the various possible ex-
planations in an example of this kind implies a far more scientific conception
of the subject, than either Bacon or his contemporaries had yet attained.

LIB. II. 36. 485

et exhorrent, qualia sunt sales omnes. Videmus enim, si
jaciantur in ignem, spiritum aqueum crumpere cum fragore
antequam flamma concipiatur ; quod etiam leniter fit in foliis
paulo contumacioribus, parte aquea erumpente antequam ole-
osa concipiat flammam. Sed maxime cernitur hoc in argento
vivo, quod non male dicitur aqua mineralis. Hoc enim, absque
inflammatione, per eruptionem et expansioncm simplicem vires
pulveris pyrii fere adaequat : quod etiam admixtum pulveri
pyrio ejus vires multiplicare dicitur.

(8) Similiter, sit natura inquisita Transitoria Natura Flam-
mae, et Extinctio ejus Momentanea. Non enim videtur natura
flammea hie apud nos figi et consistere, sed singulis quasi
momentis generari, et statim extingui. Manifestum enim est
in flammis, quae hie continuantur et durant, istam durationem
non esse ejusdem flammae in individuo, sed fieri per succes-
sionem novae flammae seriatim generatae, minime autem
manere eandem flammam numero ; id quod facile perspicitur
ex hoc, quod, subtract alimento sive fomite flammae, flamma
statim pereat. Bivium autem circa hanc naturam tale est.
Momentanea ista natura aut fit remittente 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 21 .

Itaque poterit esse circa hoc subjectum instantia erne is talis.
Videmus flammas in incendiis majoribus, quam alte in stirsurn
ascendant. Quanto enim basis flammae est latior, tanto vertex
sublimior. Itaque videtur principium extinctionis fieri circa
latera, ubi ab acre flamma comprimitur et male habctur. At

- 1 The extinction of a flame is, of course, due to the supply of one or
other of the gases, by the combination of which it is produced, being
cut off. So far is atmospheric air from being inimical to flame that, in by
very far the great majority of cases, the oxygen which is contained in air
is one of the gases by the combination of which flame is generated. At the
same time, when oxygen is carried to the very heart of a flame, it instantly
consumes the other gas, and so may extinguish the flame by destroying one
of its constituents.

On the nature of flame (of which Bacon was quite ignorant), see
Tyndall's Heat a Mode of Motion, 3rd Ed., 49, &c., or Watts' Uictionary
of Chemistry, article ' Combustion.'

486 NOVUM ORGANUM.

meditullia flammae, quae aer non contingit sed alia flamma
undique circumdat, eadem numero manent, neque extinguuntur
donee paulatim angustientur ab acre per latera circumfuso.
Itaque omnis flamma pyramidalis est basi circa fomitem lar-
gior, vertice autem (inimicante acre, nee suppeditante fomite)
acutior. At fumus angustior circa basin ascendendo dilatatur,
et fit tanquam pyramis inversa ; quia scilicet aer fumum re-
cipit, flammam (neque enim quispiam somniet aerem esse
flammam accensam, cum sint corpora plane heterogenea 22 )
comprimit 23 .

Accuratior autem poterit esse instantia crucis ad hanc rem
accommodata, si res forte manifestari possit per flammas
bicolores. Capiatur igitur situla parva ex metallo, et in ea
figatur parva candela cerea accensa ; ponatur situla in patera,
ct circumfundatur spiritus vini in modica quantitate, quae ad
labra situlae non attingat ; turn accende spiritum vini. At
spiritus ille vini exhibebit flammam magis scilicet caeruleam,
lychnus candelae autem magis flavam. Notetur itaque utrum
flamma lychni (quam facile est per colorem a flamma spiritus
vini distinguere ; neque enim flammae, ut liquores, statim com-
miscentur) maneat pyramidalis, an potius magis tendat ad
formam globosam, cum nihil inveniatur quod earn destruat
aut comprimat 24 . At hoc posterius si fiat, manere flammam

- Here we may observe the influence of the old doctrine of the four
elements, of which air and fire were two.

3 The pyramidal form of flame is due to the fact that, while one of its
constituents (oxygen) is equally diffused, the other has a definite source.
The nearer this latter (which, in its pure condition, constitutes the
' unburnt core') is to its source, the larger is its volume ; for the further
it recedes from its source, the larger is the amount of it which is consumed.
Smoke, on the other hand, not entering into combination or conflict with
any other body, is able to diffuse itself freely, and, hence, assumes the
form described in the text. In a certain sense, therefore, Bacon is right
in ascribing the form of flame to its contact with the surrounding air.

24 A full account of this experiment is given in Sylva Sylyarum, Exp. 31.
Mr. Ellis there remarks : ' The explanation of this experiment is simply
that in impure air flames increase in size because the heated vapour of
which they are composed diffuses itself before it meets with sufficient
oxygen for complete combustion.'

Bacon may, perhaps, be credited with having seen, in a dim sort of way,
that air had some connection with flame, but the whole of this speculation,
like the two preceding ones, is wide of the mark.

LTB. II. 37. 487

eandem numero, quamdiu intra aliam flammam concludatur
nee vim inimicam aeris experiatur, pro certo poncndum cst.

Atque de instantiis crucis haec dicta sint. Longiores autem
in iis tractandis ad hunc finem fuimus, ut homines paulatim
discant et assuefiant de natura judicare per instantias crucis
et experimenta lucifera, et non per rationes probabilcs 2 \

XXXVIT.

Inter praerogatiiias instantiarum ponemus loco decimo
quinto Instantias Divortii ; quae indicant separationes natu-
rarum earum quae ut plurimum occurrunt 2G . Differunt autem
ab instantiis quae sub)ungunturiHsta?itiisc0mifatus 27 ; quia iilae
indicant separationes naturae alicujus ab aliquo concrete cum
quo ilia familiariter consuescit, hae vero separationes naturae
alicujus ab altera natura 28 . 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 veluti plumbum et pondcra
intellectui addant 29 .

- 5 Bacon, then, regarded these Instances as affording certainty, and,
supposing the various alternatives to be stated exhaustively and the
observations or experiments to be properly selected and rightly conducted,
they would do so.

26 I think these words must mean : ' which for the most part occur
together?

"' The reference is probably not to the Instantiae Subjunctivae of Aph.
34, but to the Instantiae Hostiles of Aph. 33.

2j These instances seem to differ from the ' Instantiae Hostiles ' of
Aph. 33 only in form. There a 'nature' is adduced as 'hostile' to or
dissociated from some particular kind of concrete body ; here one 'nature'
is adduced as dissociated in certain cases, or in certain kinds of bodies,
from some other nature. But the difference seems to consist solely in the
mode of stating the propositions, abstract terms or 'natures' bein; em-
ployed both in subject and predicate in the one case, and, in the other, an
abstract term or ' nature ' being denied of some concrete body.

It might be said, by way of suggesting a difference, that the ' Instantiae
Divortii' are exceptions to general rules, but then the ' Instantiae Hostiles.'
so far as we can make out from the examples, seem to have this character
as well.

* 9 Cp. i. 104.

488 NOVUM ORGANUM.

Exempli gratia : sint naturae inquisitae quatuor naturae
illae, quas Contubernales vult esse Telesius 30 , et tanquam ex
eadem camera \ viz. calidum, lucidum, tenue, mobile sive
promptum ad motum. At plurimae inveniuntur instantiae
divortii inter ipsas. Ae'r enim tenuis est et habilis ad motum,
non calidus aut lucidus ; lima lucida, absque calore ; aqua
fervens calida, absque lumine ; motus acus ferreae super ver-
sorium pernix et agilis, et tamen in corpore frigido, denso.
opaco ; ct 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 rem instantia nonnulla divortii. Ea est actio
magnetica, per quam ferrum fertur ad magnetem, gravia ad
globum terrae r;i . Addi etiam possint aliae nonnullae opera-

n " See Telesius, De Rerum Natura, passim ; especially lib. i. capp. i, 2.
Thus, of the Sun, he says : ' omnino calidus, tenuis, candidus, mobilisque
est Sol : Terra contra, frigida, crassa, immobilis, tenebricosaque.'

:!1 Cp. last Aphorism, Example (3), where, on the other hand, he appears
undoubtedly to distinguish between magnetic attraction and the attraction
exercised by the earth. Possibly, in the present place, he may be using
the word 'magnetic' only in a vague and general sense, as = attractive.
Notice the words 'sive coitiva' below.

Bacon's idea appears to have been that magnetism and terrestrial attrac-
tion (which he here seems, at least, to speak of as if they were the same)
act without affecting the intermediate bodies (air, ether, or whatever they
may be) ; that they act in time ; and, hence, that ' the natural action ' or
'virtue' is, as it were, for a while suspended between the acting body and
the body acted upon. From these circumstances he infers that ' natural
action' may be detached from any 'corporeal nature.'

The manner in which gravitation acts is still unknown. We know the
fact and the law, but all the rest is mere matter of speculation. Whether
the force docs or does not require a material medium for its propagation,
and whether it is or is not transmitted in time, are questions which have
not yet been resolved and which, perhaps, admit of no solution. It was
calculated by Laplace that, if its velocity be measurable at all, it must be,
at least, fifty millions of times greater than the velocity of light. As to the
medium, though there are grounds for believing in the existence of a subtle
and elastic ether pervading all space, there is no positive evidence for
connecting with this medium the phenomena of gravitation.

Similarly, there is no evidence to shew whether magnetic and electrical
attraction require time for their transmission, and a medium in which to act.
The velocity of conducted electricity has been calculated, for various media,

LIB. IL 37 . 489

tiones ad distans. Actio siquidem hujusmodi et in tcmpore
fit, per momenta non in puncto temporis, et in loco, per
gradus et spati'a. Est itaque aliquod momentum temporis,
et aliquod 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 corpora
quae sunt termini motus disponant vel alterent corpora media,
ut per successionem et tactum verum Jabatur virtus a termino
ad terminum, et interim subsistat in corpore medio ; an horum
nihil sit, praeter corpora 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 2 :
eo magis, 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 virtus ilia aut
actio cum corpore medio, scquitur quod sit virtus aut actio
naturalis ad tempus nonnullum et in loco nonnullo subsistens
sine corpore; cum neque subsistat in corporibus terminanti-
bus. nee in mediis. Quare actio magnetica poterit esse in-
stantia dii'ortii circa naturam corpoream et actionem natu-
ralem. Cui hoc adjici potest tanquam corollarium aut lucrum
non practermittendum : viz. quod etiam secundum sensum
philosophanti 33 sumi possit probatio quod sint entia et sub-
stantiae separatae et incorporeae p ' 4 . Si enim virtus et actio

by \Yheatstone and others. See Ganot's Physics, 1 2th Ed. of Transl.,
796.

''- Bacon ought, perhaps, to have some credit for having so far divined
the conditions of the action of heat, light, and sound.

3 That is, even to the Natural Philosopher. The same expression
occurs, and I think in the same sense, in De Augm. iv. 3 ad init. (E.
and S., vol. i. p. 605).

:u The reasoning by which Bacon arrives at this conclusion is, it must
be confessed, of a very fanciful character, and, in fact, the whole of this
discussion is marked by an excess of subtlety with which we do not often
meet in Bacon's writings. As to the conclusion itself, it is of some import-
ance as bearing on the quaestio vcxata of Bacon's theological views. Cp.
Locke's Essay, bk. iv. ch. 10. 19: 'We cannot conceive how anything
but Impulse of Body can move body; and yet that is not a reason suffi-
cient to make us deny it possible, against the constant experience we have

490 NOVUM ORGANUM.

naturalis, emanans a corpore, subsistere possit aliquo 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 devehendam, quam ad excitandam aut gene-
randam.

XXXVIII.

Sequuntur quinque ordines instantiarum, quas uno voca-
bulo generali Instantias Lampadis^ sive Informationis Primac
appellare consuevimus. Eae sunt quae auxiliantur sensui.
Cum enim omnis interpretatio naturae incipiat a sensu 3G , atque
a sensuum perceptionibus recta, constant!, et munita via ducat
ad perceptiones intellectus, quae sunt notiones verae et axio-
mata ; necesse est ut. quanto magis copiosae et exactae
fuerint repraesentationes sive praebitiones ipsius sensus, tanto
omnia cedant facilius et foelicius.

Harum autem quinque instantiarum lampadis, primae ro-
borant, ampliant, et rectificant actiones sensus immediatas ;
secundae deducunt non-sensibile ad sensibile ; tertiae indicant

of it in ourselves in all our voluntary motions, which are produced in us
only by the free action or Thought of our own minds, and are not nor can
be the e fleets of Impulse or Determination of the motion of blind matter
in or upon our bodies * * * 'Tis an over-valuing ourselves to reduce all to
the narrow measure of our capacities ; and to conclude all things impos-
sible to be done, whose manner of doing exceeds our comprehension.
This is to make our Comprehension infinite or God finite, when what he
can do is limited to what we can conceive of it.' In bk. ii. ch. 23. 32,
and elsewhere, he maintains that it is ' no more a contradiction, that
Thinking should exist separate and independent from Solidity, than it is
a contradiction, that Solidity should exist separate and independent from
Thinking * * * and, having as clear and distinct ideas in us of Thinking as
of Solidity, I know not why we may not as well allow a thinking thing
without Solidity, i. e. immaterial, to exist, as a solid thing without Think-
ing, i. e. matter, to exist.' Hobbes, on the other hand, regarded the expres-
sions 'incorporeal spirit,' 'incorporeal substance,' &c., as contradictions
in terms, and seems to have thought that they had no meaning, even when
applied to God. See Leviathan, Part i. ch. 12, Part iii. ch. 34, and other
places.

5 The ' Instances ' thus far described have for their office to assist the
Understanding; the next five, called generically ' Instances of the Lamp,'
serve to inform or supply the defects of the Senses.

' M Cp. i. i, 19, 69, &c.

LIB. II. 38-39. 491

processus continuatos sivc scries earum rcrum ct motuum
quae (ut plurimum) non notantur nisi in exitu aut periodis ;
quartae aliquid substituunt sensui in meris destitutionibus ;
quintae excitant attentionem sensus et advertentiam, atque
una limitant subtilitatem rerum. De his autem singulis jam
dicendum est.

XXXIX.

Inter pracrogativas instantiarum poncmus loco decimo
sexto Instantias Januae sive Portae : co enim nomine eas
appellamus quae juvant actiones sensus immediatas. Inter
sensus autem manifestum est partes primas tenere Visum,
quoad informationem ; quare huic sensui praecipue auxilia
conquirenda. Auxilia autem triplicia esse posse videntur :
vel ut percipiat non visa ; vel ut majore intervallo ; vel ut
exactius et distinctius.

Primi generis sunt (missis bis-oculis 37 et hujusmodi, quae
valent tantum ad corrigendam et levandam infirmitatem visus
non bene dispositi, atque ideo nihil amplius informant) ea
quae nuper inventa sunt perspicilla :>>s ; quae latcntes et invi-
sibiles corporum minutias, et occultos schematismos et motus
(aucta insigniter specierum magnitudine) demonstrant ; quo-
rum vi, in pulice, musca, vermiculis, accurata corporis figura
ct lineamenta, necnon colores ct motus prius non conspicui,
non sine admiratione cernuntur. Ouinctiam aiunt lincam

37 Spectacles. Their invention, like that of the Microscope and Tele-
scope, has been ascribed to Roger Bacon. But, however this may be (and
there are many other claimants), the invention of what are ordinarily
called ' spectacles ' may be traced back at least as far as the end of the
thirteenth century. See Encyclopaedia Britannica (Qth Ed.), arts, on
Spectacles and the Microscope (Simple).

38 Microscopes. It seems plain from the context that Bacon had not
seen one. He speaks of them as lately invented. Supposing Roger Bacon
to have described rather what he thought might be than what actually was
constructed, we may, perhaps, refer the actual invention of compound
microscopes to Zacharias Jansen of Middelburg, about 1590. 'Jansen
gave one of his microscopes to the Archduke, who gave it to Cornelius
Drebbel, a salaried mathematician at the court of our James I.' See life
of Galileo, ch. 6, in Library of Useful Knowledge. See also Enc. Br., art.
on the Microscope; Montucla, Histoire des Mathematiques, Part iv.
liv. iv.

493 NOVUM ORGANUM.

rectam calamo vel penecillo descriptam. per hujusmodi per-
spicilla inaequalem admodum et tortuosam cerni : quia sci-
licet nee motus manus, licet per regulam adjutae, nee im-
pressio atramenti aut coloris revera aequalia existant ; licet
illae inaequalitates tarn minutae stnt ut sine adjumento hujus-
modi perspicillorum conspici nequeant Etiam superstitiosam
quandam observationem in hac re (ut fit in rebus novis et
miris) addiderunt homines: viz quod hujusmodi perspicilla
opera naturae illustrent, artis dehonestent. Illud vero nihil
aliud est quam quod texturae naturales multo subtiliores sint
quam artificiosae. Perspicillum enim illud ad minuta tantum
valet : quale perspicillum si vidisset Democritus, exiluisset
forte, et modum videndi atomum (quern ille invisibilem 3J
omnino affirmavit) inventum fuisse putasset. Verum incom-
petentia hujusmodi perspicillorum, praeterquam ad minutias
tantum (neque ad ipsas quoque, si fuerint in corpore majus-
culo), usum rei destruit. Si enim inventum extendi posset
ad corpora majora 40 , aut corporum majorum minutias, adeo
ut textura panni lintei conspici posset tanquam rete, atque
hoc modo minutiae latentes et inaequalitates gemmarum,
liquorum, urinarum, sanguinis, vulnerum, et multarum aliarum
rerum. cerni possent 41 , magnae proculdubio ex eo invento
commoditates capi possent.

Secundi generis sunt ilia altera perspicilla 42 quae memo-
rabili conatu adinvenit Galilaeus ; quorum ope, tanquam per

39 Aristotle (De Generatione et Corruptione, i. 8), speaking of Leucippus,
says : dXX' eivai TO TOIOVTOV ov% ev, d\\' ajrflpa TO TrXr/dos Kal uopara Sta

(TflLKpOTTJTa TWV OJKUIV.

40 This object is effected by means of the solar microscope.

41 Cp. New Atlantis (E. and S., vol. iii. p. 162). It is needless to say
that, with modern microscopes of high magnifying power, this is the
case.

"' Telescopes. The merit of the invention of these instruments has
been more hotly disputed than even that of single lenses and microscopes.
A very interesting popular account of the controversy is given in the Life
of Galileo above referred to, and the student may also consult Montucla,
Histoire des Mathematiques, Pt. iv. liv. iv. Delambre disposes of the claims
of Fracastorius, Astronomic du Moyen Age, tome i. pp. 388-9. An exhaus-
tive account of the construction, and a very full account of the history, of
the Telescope, is to be found in the article on ' Telescope ' recently con-
tributed to the Encyclopaedia Britannica (9th Ed.), where the palm of

LIB. II. 39. 493

scaphas aut naviculas. aperiri et exerceri possint propiora cum
coelestibus commercia 43 . Hinc enim constat, galaxiam essc
nodum sive coacervationem stellarum parvarum, plane nu-
meratarum et distinctarum ; de qua re apud antiques tantum
suspicio fuit 44 . Hinc demonstrari videtur, quod spatia orbium

invention is awarded to Hans Lippershey, Spectacle-maker of Middelburg,
in 1608.

Though Galileo was not the actual inventor of the Telescope, he seems
to have been the first who turned it to scientific uses, and it was, un-
doubtedly, through his discoveries by means of it that it first became
celebrated. For a long time, also, the best telescopes were only to be
procured from Galileo or his scholars. The first telescope constructed by
him was presented to the Doge of Venice in 1609.

43 ' Compare this passage with that 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
expectation : " Atque hoc inceptum et fine et aggressu nobile quoddam et
humano genere dignum esse existimamus : eo magis quod hujusmodi ho-
mines et ausu laudandi sint et fide ; quod ingenue et perspicue propo-
suerunt, quomodo singula illis constiterint. Superest tantum constantia,
cum magna judicii severitate, ut et instrumenta mutent, et testium nume-
rum augeant, et singula et saepe experiantur, et varie ; denique ut et sibi
ipsi objiciant et aliis patefaciant quid in contrarium objici possit, et tenuis-
simum quemque scrupulum non spernant ; ne forte illis eveniat, quod
Democrito et aniculae suae evenit circa ficus mellitas, ut vetula esset philo-
sopho prudentior, et magnae et admirabilis speculationis causae 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 he did,
that all the received theories of the heavens were full of error, as soon ;is
he heard that by means of the telescope men could really see so much
further into the heavens 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 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 instrument or in the methods of observation.' This
note I have borrowed from Air. Spedding.

** See Mullach, Democriti Fragmenta, p. 391. Amongst other authors
he quotes Stobaeus, Eel. Phys. p. 576 : A^/uo^piro? (TO yd\a e^ fivai) TroXXw^

Cp. Arist. Meteor, i. 8 (p. 345 a), where the same opinion

494 NOVUM O RCA NUM.

(quos vocant) planctarum non sint plane vacua aliis stcllis,
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
inaequalitates luminosi et opaci in luna distinctius cernuntur
et locantur ; adeo ut fieri possit quaedam scleno-graphia.
Hinc maculae in sole, et id genus 45 : omnia certe inventa
nobilia, quatenus fides hujusmodi demonstrationibus tuto
adhiberi possit 46 . Ouae nobis ob hoc maxime suspectae
sunt, quod in istis paucis sistatur experimentum, neque alia
complura investigatu aeque digna eadem ratione inventa sint.

Tertii generis sunt bacilla ilia ad terras mensurandas, astro-
labia 47 , et similia ; quae sensum videndi non ampliant, sed

is also attributed to Anaxagoras and his followers. See also Manilius, i.
725-32; Ovid, Met. i. 168, &c.

Democritus also maintained that the moon is a solid body, and that the
marks on its face represent mountains and valleys.

40 On these various discoveries, the last of which was also claimed by the
monk Scheiner, see Delambre, Histoire de I'Astronomie Moderne, tome i.
liv. vi, and Mr. Drinkwater's Life of Galileo, printed in the Library of
Useful Knowledge, above referred to; but specially the Syclereus Nuncius
of Galileo himself.

4B Galileo's discoveries were often represented as mere optical delusions.
The following amusing story is told of Scheiner (Baden Powell's History
of Natural Philosophy, p. 171) : 'Scheiner was a monk ; and, on communi-
cating to the superior of his order the account of the spots, received in
reply from that learned father a solemn admonition against such heretical
notions: "I have searched through Aristotle," he said, "and can find
nothing of the kind mentioned : be assured, therefore, that it is a decep-
tion of your senses, or of your glasses." ' One Lodovico delle Colombe
maintained that the apparently hollow parts of the moon were filled
with pure transparent crystal, to which Galileo replied that he would
gladly admit the theory, provided that, with equal courtesy, he was
allowed to raise on the smooth surface crystal mountains ten times higher
than those which he had ever seen and measured.

47 'lliesc were astronomical instruments, used for the purpose of 'taking'
or observing the stars. ' The ancient astrolabe consisted of two or more
circles, having a common centre, and so inclined to each other as to enable
the astronomer to observe in the planes of different circles of the sphere at
the same time. For example, if the circles were at right angles, the
instrument would give both longitude and latitude, or the right ascension

LIB. II. 40. 495

rectificant et dirigunt. Quod si sint aliae instantiae quae
reliquos sensus juvent in ipsorum actionibus immediatis et
individuis, tamen si ejusmodi sint quae informationi ipsi nihil
addant plus quam jam habetur, ad id quod nunc agitur non
faciunt. Itaque earum mentionem non fecimus.

XL.

Inter pracrogativas instantiarum ponemus loco dccimo
septimo Instantias Citantes^, sumpto vocabulo a foris civi-
libus, quia citant ea ut compareant quae prius non comparu-
erunt; quas etiam Instantias Evocantes appellare consuevimus.
Eae deducunt non-sensibile ad sensibile.

Sensum autem fugiunt res, vel propter distantiam objecti
locati 40 ; vel propter interceptionem sensus per corpora media ;
vel quia objectum non est habile ad impressionem in sensu
facienclam; vel quia deficit quantum in objecto pro feriendo
sensu ; vel quia tempus non est proportionatum ad actuandum
sensuin ; vel quia objecti percussio non toleratur a sensu ; vel

and declination of a star. The equatorial, the altitude and azimuth in-
strument, and the theodolite, are instruments which answer the same
purpose as the ancient astrolabe.' Brande and Cox's Dictionary of
Science, &c. The term astrolabe is also employed to denote a plani-
sphere.

48 ' The instantiae citantes enable us to perceive things which are in
themselves insensible, or not at all the objects of perception. They cite or
place things, as it were, before the bar of the senses, and from this analogy
to judicial proceedings is derived the name of instantiae citantes. Such, to
employ examples which the progress of science has unfolded since the time
of Bacon, are the air-pump and the barometer for manifesting the weight
and elasticity of air ; the measurement of the velocity of light, by means
of the eclipses of the satellites of Jupiter, and the aberration of the fixed
stars ; the experiments in electricity and galvanism, and in the greater part
of pneumatic chemistry. In all these instances things are made known
which before had entirely escaped the senses.' Playfair's Preliminary
Dissertation.

49 The first and fourth of these cases are, at first sight, hardly distinguish-
able from the ' Instantiae Januae.' But, when we come to the examples,
we find that Bacon has in mind objects which cannot be known in them-
selves but can be known only by means of indications, whereas in the
' Instantiae Januae' the objects themselves can be detected, provided we
have sufficiently powerful instruments.

496 NOVUM ORGANUM.

quia objectum ante implevit et possedit sensum, ut novo motui
non sit locus. Atque haec praecipue ad visum pertinent, et
deinde ad tactum. Nam hi duo sensus sunt informativi ad
largurn, atque de communibus objectis 50 ; ubi reliqui tres non
informant fere, nisi immediate et de propriis objectis.

(1) In prime genere non fit deductio ad sensibile, nisi rei,
quae cerni non possit propter distantiam, adjiciatur aut
substituatur alia res quae sensum magis e longinquo provocare
et ferire possit : veluti in significatione rerum per ignes,
campanas, et similia 51 .

(2) In secundo genere fit deductio, cum ea quae interius
propter interpositionem corporum latent, nee commode aperiri
possunt, per ea quae sunt in superficie, aut ab interioribus
effluunt, perducuntur ad sensum : ut status humanorurri
corporum per pulsus, et urinas, et similia 52 .

(3, 4) At tertii et quarti generis 53 deductiones ad plurima

The impressions of sight and touch are so intimately associated, that,
in most cases, one is an index of the other. The student will not fail to
recall, in connexion with this subject, Berkeley's New Theory of Vision
as applied to the acquired perceptions of Sight and the numerous kindred
theories, doubtless suggested by it, which have been applied in recent times
to the elucidation of some of the more obscure problems of psychology.
' La vue et le toucher ' (says Ribot, La Psychologic Allemande Contem-
poraine,Ecole Experimental, p. 1 12) 'sont deuxlangues que nous employons
simultanement des notre naissance et qui se melent si bien qu'elles
semblent n'en faire qu'une. De plus les donnees cle la vue, par leur su-
pe"riorite et leur richesse d'information, out une tendance h. effacer les
autres.'

51 A 'glaring instance' will, of course, suggest itself in the Electric
Telegraph.

'- Dr. Kitchin instances the Stethoscope.

'An excellent instance of the "deductio non-sensibilis ad sensibile"
occurs in the experiments recently made by Messrs. Hopkins and Joule
for determining the melting-point of substances subjected to great pres-
sure. The substance acted on is enclosed in a tube out of reach and sight.
But a bit of magnetised 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, pro-
duced by the steel within the tube. The moment the temperature reaches
the melting-point, the steel sinks ; and its doing so is indicated by the
motion of the needle.' Mr. Ellis' note.

53 Of the third kind Dr. Kitchin gives good instances in the chemical

LIB. II. 40. 497

spectant, atque undique in rerum inquisitione sunt conqui-
rendae. Hujus rei exempla sunt. Patct quod aer, et spiritus,
et hujusmodi res quae sunt toto corporc tenucs et subfiles,
nee cerni nee tangi possint. Ouare in inquisitione circa
hujusmodi corpora deductionibus omnino est opus.

Sit itaque natura inquisita Actio et Motus Spiritus qui
includitur in corporibus tangibilibus r> *. Omne cnim tangibile
apud nos continet spiritum invisibilcm et intactilem, cique ob-
ducitur atque eum quasi vestit. Hinc fons triplex potens ille
et mirabilis processus spiritus in corpore tangibili. Spiritus
enim in re tangibili, emissus, corpora contrahit ct desiccat ;
detentus, corpora intencrat et colliquat ; ncc prorsus cmissus
nee prorsus detentus, informat, mcmbrificat, assimilat, cgcrit,
organizat, et similia. Atque haec omnia declucuntur ad
sensibile per effectus conspicuos.

Etenim in omni corpore tangibili inanimate, spiritus inclusus
primo multiplicat se, et tanquam depascit partes tangibiles eas
quae sunt maxime ad hoc faciles et praeparatae, casque digerit
et conficit et vertit in spiritum, et deinde una evolant. Atque
haec confcctio et multiplicatio spiritus deducitur ad sensum per

detection of gases, and the discovery of Actinism in rays of the sun by
exposure of a plate of silver to them. The microscope (see note 49
above) is not an appropriate instance of the fourth kind. But we might
find a good instance in the thermometer (which Bacon himself gives), or a
still better one in the thermo-electric pile, as indicating small accessions of
temperature, inappreciable to the senses. Tests of all kinds, as Bacon
observes, fall under one or other of these heads.

51 Cp. i. 50, ii. 7, 13 (Inst. 38), 27, 50 (modus tertius). Bacon con-
stantly recurs also in his other works to the idea of ' Spirit,' its various
kinds, its operations, its effects, &c. See especiallySylva Sylvarum, Exp. 98
(E. and S., vol. ii. pp. 380-82) ; Historia Vitae ct Mortis (E. and S., vol. ii.
pp. 213-21) ; Historia Dcnsi et Rari (E. and S., vol. ii. pp. 254-6). In a
note on i. 50, I have commented at some length on Bacon's conception of
Spirit. See also the notes on ii. 13 (Inst. 38) and 27. This antiquated
piece of Physics or Metaphysics, it would be superfluous to annotate in
detail. The reader will easily be able to notice for himself the more
curious parts of the disquisition which follows.

It may be remarked that, though Bacon's account of 'Spirit' does not
seem to be taken directly, at least without considerable modifications, from
Paracelsus, there is much in common between the speculations of the two
writers on this subject. I have not, however, thought it worth while to
point out this fact in detail.

K k

498 NOVUM ORGANUM.

diminutionem ponderis. In omni enim desiccatione, aliquid
defluit de quanto ; neque id ipsum ex spiritu tantum prae-
inexistente, sed ex corpore quod prius fuit tangibile et noviter
versum est : spiritus enim non ponderat. Egressus autem
sive emissio spiritus deducitur ad sensibile in rubigine 55 me-
tallorum, et aliis putrefactionibus ejus generis quae sistunt
se antequam pervenerint ad rudimenta vitae ; nam illae 56 ad
tertium genus processus pertinent. Etenim in corporibus
magis compactis spiritus 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, cor-
rugationes, et complicationes corporum, quae inde sequuntur.
Etenim partes ligni desiliunt et angustiantur ; pclles corru-
gantur ; neque id solum, sed (si subita fuerit emissio spiritus
per calorem ignis) tantum properant ad contractionem ut se
complicent et convolvant.

At contra, ubi spiritus detinetur, et tamen dilatatur et
excitatur per calorem aut ejus analoga (id quod fit in cor-
poribus magis solid is aut tenacibus), turn vero corpora
emolliuntur, ut ferrum candens ; fluunt, ut metalla ; liquefiunt,
ut gummi, ccra, et similia. Itaque contrariae illae opera-
tiones caloris (ut ex eo alia durescant 57 , alia liquescant) facile

5j Rust proper is due to the combination of iron with oxygen. Iron, as
well as many other metals, becomes oxidised by exposure to moist air.
00 This word, as Mr. Ellis suggests, should be ilia.
57 The hardening produced by heat is due to the escape of moisture or
to some chemical change in the substance.
Cp. Lucretius, vi. 959, &c. :

' Hue accedit uti non omnia, quae jaciuntur
Corpora cumque ab rebus, eodem praedita sensu
Atque eodem pacto rebus sint omnibus apta.
Principio terrain sol excoquit et facit are,
At glaciem dissolvit et altis montibus altas
Extrnctasque nives radiis tabescere cogit.
Denique cera liquefit in ejus posta vapore.
Ignis item liquidum facit aes aurumque resolvit,

LIB. II. 40. 499

reconciliantur ; quia in illis spiritus emittitur, in his agitatur
et detinetur : quorum posterius est actio propria caloris ct
spiritus ; prius, actio partium tangibilium tantum per occa-
sionem spiritus emissi.

Ast ubi spiritus nee detinetur prorsus nee prorsus emittitur,
sed tantum inter claustra sua tcntat et experitur, atque nacta
est partes tangibiles obedientes ct sequaces in promptu, ita ut
quo spiritus agit eac simul sequantur ; turn vero sequitur
efformatio in corpus organicum, et membrificatio, et reliquae
actiones vitales, tarn in vegctabilibus quam in animalibus.
Atque haec maxime deducuntur ad sensum per notationes
diligentes primorum incoeptuum et rudimentorum sive tenta-
mentorum vitae in animalculis ex putrefactione natis : ut in
ovis formicarum, vermibus, muscis, ranis post imbrcm, &c.
Requiritur autcm ad vivificationem et lenitas caloris et lentor
corporis ; ut spiritus nee per festinationem erumpat, nee per
contumaciam partium 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 simplicitcr, ramosi
simul et cellulati ; ex quibus prior est spiritus omnium
corporum inanimatorum, secundus vegetabilium, tertius ani-
malium), per plurimas instantias deductorias tanquam sub
oculos ponitur.

Similiter patet, quod subtiliores texturae et schematismi
rerum (licet toto corpora visibilium aut tangibilium) ncc cer-
nantur nee tangantur. Quare in his quoque per deductionem
procedit informatio. At differentia schematismorum maxime
radicalis et primaria sumitur ex copia vcl paucitate materiae
quae subit idem spatium sivc dimensum. Reliqui enim
schematismi (qui refcruntur ad dissimilaritates partium, quae
in eodcm corpore continentur, et collocationes ac posituras
earundcm) prae illo altcro sunt secundarii.

At coria ct carncm trahit et conducit in unum.
Umor aquae porro fcvrum condurat ab igni,
At coria et carncm mollit durata calore.'
Virg. Eel. viii. So :

' Limus ut hie durcscit, et haec ut cera liquescit
Uno eodemque igni, sic nostro Daphnis amore.'
K k 2

-oo NOVUM ORGANUM.

Sit itaque natura inquisita Expansio sive Coitio Materiae in
corporibus respective : viz. quantum materiae impleat quantum
dimensum in singulis. Etenim nil verius in natura quam
propositio ilia gemella, ex niJiilo mhil fieri, neque qnicquavi in
niJiiht m rcdigi ' : verum quantum ipsum materiae sivc summam
totalem constare, ncc augeri aut minui 58 . Nee illud minus

58 This principle is now known as that of the Indestructibility of Matter.
Parallel to it, if not identical with it, is the principle of the Conservation of
Energy. These laws arc at once amongst the highest generalisations and
the most illuminating principles of Science. Mr. Bain gives an excellent
summary of the various aspects and consequences of the Principle of
Conservation of Energy in his Inductive Logic, 1st Ed., p. 20. &c. (cp.
p. 225, &.c.) ; but the student who wishes to see a precise and, at the same
time, a concise explanation of the principle in its relation to the recent
treatment of Physics (of which, indeed, it is the very foundation) should
consult Professor Balfour Stewart's Elementary Treatise on Heat,
'Remarks on Energy Historical and Preliminary,' bk. iii. ch. i, 5th
Ed. pp. 314-328, or the Article on Energy in the last (9th) Edition of the
Encyclopaedia Britannica. By Professor Clerk Maxwell the principle
has been stated as follows : ' The total energy of any body or system of
bodies is a quantity which can neither be increased nor diminished by
any mutual action of those bodies, though it may be transformed into any
one of the forms of which energy is susceptible.' The work of Sir W. R.
Grove (to which I referred in my First Edition) on the ' Correlation of
Physical Forces ' supplies some most interesting and instructive exemplifi-
cations of the transformation of the various forms of energy, one into
another.

These maxims in the vaguer and more general forms in which they
appear in the Novum Organum arc of venerable antiquity. Thus Diogenes
Laertius (ix. 44), recounting the opinions of Democritus, says : [iifiev re IK
TOV fjn] OVTOS yii'tirdat, ju?]0e els TO p.t] ov (bdetpecrdai. (cp. Plutarch, Adversus
Colotem, Ed. Rciske, vol. x. p. 569). The same dictum is ascribed to
Diogenes of Apollonia (Diog. Laert. ix. 57). Aristotle and others repeat it.
el yap TTIIV p.(v TO yivi'ifievov ardyKr) yivfcrQai ij e OVTUIV TJ ex fj.!j uvrtav, TOITO>I> 8e
TO /j.ei> e'/c IJLI] UVTU.V yiyeaQai adi'Varov (uepi yiip rav-i^s o/J.oyvai/jLOi'ovo-i rrjs 5o?;?
iiTravres 01 T:(fi\ c/n (recoj), TO \aurov >j8rj, K.T.\. Anst. Phys. 5. 4 (p. 187 a.

32-35)-

' Principium cujus' (sc. naturae) ' hinc nobis exordia sumet,
Nullam rem c nilo gigni divinitus unquam.

Quas ob res ubi viderimus nil posse crcari
De nilo. turn quod sequimur jam rcctius inde
Perspicicmus, ct unde queat res quacquc crcari
Et quo quacque modo fiant opera sine divom.'

Lucretius, i. 149- 158.

LIB. II. 40. 50 j

verum, ex quanto illo materiae sub iisdcm spatiis sive dimcn-
sionibus, pro diver sitate corporum, plus et minus contincri r> * :
ut in aqua plus, in acre minus ; adeo ut si quis asserat aliquod
contentum aquae in par contentum aeris vcrti 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 aliquid posse fieri ex nihilo. At-
que ex copia ista et paucitate materiae notiones iliac densi et
rari) quae varie et promiscue accipiuntur, proprie abstra-
huntur. Assumenda 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) ct propor-
tiones exactas aut exactis propinquas reduci possit G() . Veluti
si quis dicat inesse in dato contento auri talem coacervationem
materiae, ut opus habeat spiritus vini, ad tale quantum
materiae aequandum, spatio vicies et scmel majore quam
implet aurum, non erraverit G1 .

'Gigni
De nihilo nihilum, in nihilum nil posse reverti.'

Persius, Sat. iii. 83-4.

ovftev yap CK rov fjLrjSevbs ep^frai, cocnrfp /^' els TO OVK ov drrfp^fTcii.

Marcus Antoninus, iv. 4.

Telesius, De Rerum Natura, i. 5 (referred to by Mr. Ellis) says : 'Nihil
tamen ejus' (sc. materiae) 'moles, itaque nee mundi magnitude imminui
augerive apparet unquam.'

59 Both on this and the last proposition, cp. Historia Dcnsi ct Rari,
Aditus (E. and S., vol. ii. pp. 243-4). The maxim ' Ex nihilo nihil fieri,
neque quicquam in nihilum redigi' is there stated somewhat differently :
'Non scilicet fieri in aliqua transmutatione corp.orum transactionem aut a
nihilo, aut ad nihilum ; sed opera esse ejusdem omnipotentiae, creare ex
nihilo. et redigere in nihilum ; ex cursu naturae vero hoc nunquam fieri.
Itaque summa materiae totalis semper conscai ; nil additur, nil minuitur.'
It will be noticed that this statement guards the maxim from any theological
objection.

On the relation of Bacon's doctrine of density and rarity to that of
Aristotle and the Peripatetics, see Mr. Ellis' Preface to the Hisioria Dcnsi
et Rari, pp. 234-7.

fi He makes an attempt to effect this calculation in the Table given in
the Historia Densi et Rari (E. and S., vol. ii. pp. 245-6).

01 In the Historia Densi et Rari (E. and S.. vol. ii. pp. 245 6) he makes
the ratio as 20 Den. o Gr. : o Den. 22 Gr. The true ratio of the Specific
Gravity of Stamped Gold to Absolute Alcohol is 19.362 : 0.803 or about
24.2 : I, while that of Cast Gold is 19.258 : 0.803 or about 24.07 : I.

502 NOVUM ORGANUM.

Coacervatio autem materiae et rationes ejus deducuntur ad
sensibile per pondus. Pondus enim respondet copiae materiae,
quoad partes rei tangibilis : spiritus autem, et ejus quantum
ex materia, non venit in computationem per pondus; levat
enim pondus potius quam gravat 02 . At nos hujus rei tabulam
fecimus 3 satis accuratam ; in qua pondera et spatia singu-
lorum metallorum, lapidum praecipuorum, lignorum, liquorum,
oleorum, et plurimorum aliorum corporum tarn naturalium
quam artificialium, excepimus : rem polychrestam, tarn ad
lucem informationis quam ad normam operationis ; et quae
multas res revelet omnino praeter expectatum. Neque illud
pro minimo habendum est, quod demonstret omnem varie-
tatem quae in corporibus tangibilibus nobis notis versatur
(intelligimus autem corpora bene unita, nee plane spongiosa
et cava et magna ex parte acre impleta) non ultra rationes
partium 21 excedere 04 : tarn fmita scilicet est natura, aut
saltern ilia pars ejus cujus usus ad nos maxime pertinet.

Etiam diligentiae nostrae esse putavimus, experiri si forte
capi possint rationes corporum non-tangibilium sive pneu-
maticorum, respectu corporum tangibilium. Id quod tali
molitione aggressi sumus. Phialam vitream 65 accepimus,

62 This remark must apply to the ' spiritus vivi,' which are peculiar
to living creatures, and not to the ' spiritus crudi,' which are present in
every tangible substance ; for in the Historia Densi et Rari (E. and S.,
vol. ii. p. 256), and elsewhere, he speaks of the ' spiritus crudi ' as denser
than air, which he regarded as having neither weight nor levity ('diligenter
experti sumus, aerem ad minuendum aut sublevandum pondus nihil con-
ferre'), whereas the 'spiritus vivi' are 'acre ipso aiiquanto rariores,' and
are, therefore, endowed with positive levity. ' Videtur aer pondus non
minuere ; spiritus autem vivus hoc facere. Atque cum pondus densitates
dijudicet, etiam levatio ponderis raritates dijudicare debet.' The whole
passage is exceedingly curious. On the notion that air has no weight, cp.
Sylva Sylvarum, Exp. 29 (E. and S., vol. ii. pp. 350-1).

63 The Table referred to above in note 60.

04 The bodies arranged after 'spiritus vini' in the Table are probably
regarded by him as 'spongiosa et cava,' &c. Platinum is heavier than
Gold, and Ether lighter than Alcohol. The ratio of the Specific Gravity
of rolled Platinum to that of Ether is 22.069 : -7 2 3 or about 30.5 : i.

05 Cp. Historia Densi et Rari, p. 257. The result of the experiment
given there is that the vapour occupied more than 320 times as much
space as the spirits themselves. The difference between the results of the
two experiments is to be accounted for from the different temperatures of

LIB. If. 40. 503

quae unciam fortasse imam capere possit ; parvitate vasis
usi, ut minori cum calore posset fieri evaporatio sequens.
Hanc phialam spiritu vini implevimus fere ad collum ; eligcntcs
spiritum vini, quod per tabulam priorem eum esse ex corpo-
ribus tangibilibus (quae bene unita, nee cava sunt) rarissimum,
ct minimum continens materiae sub suo dimcnso, observa-
vimus. Deinde pondus aquae GG cum phiala ipsa exacte
notavimus. Postea vesicam accepimus, quae circa duas pintas
contineret Ex ea aerem omnem, quoad fieri potuit, ex-
pressimus eo usque ut vesicae ambo latera essent contigua :
etiam prius vesicam oleo oblevimus cum fricatione leni, quo
vesica esset clausior : ejus, si qua erat, porositate oleo obturata.
Hanc vesicam circa os phialae, ore phialae intra os vesicae
recepto, fortiter ligavimus ; filo parum cerato, ut mclius
adhaeresceret 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 sufflavit, eamque universam veli
instar undequaque extendit. Id postquam factum fuit. conti-
nue vitrum ab igne removimus, et super tapetem posuimus ne
frigore clisrumperetur ; statim quoque in summitate vesicae
foramen fecimus, ne vapor, cessante calore, in liquorem resti-
tutus resideret, et rationes confunderet. Turn vero vesicam
ipsam sustulimus, et rursus pondus excepimus spiritus vini
qui rcmanebat. Inde quantum consumptum fuisset in vaporem
seu pneumaticum computavimus : 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, rationes
subduximus : ex quibus manifeste liquebat, corpus istud ita

the vapours, the tension of a vapour increasing rapidly with the tem-
perature, and, at the higher temperatures, in much larger ratios than the
temperature itself.

In the Phaenomena Uni versi (E. and S., vol. iii. pp. 705-7) \ve have an
account of the same experiment tried with water, and a comparison of the
result with the result obtained from spirits of wine (p. 710).

06 Unless 'aquae' be taken here in a very general sense, it must be a
mistake for 'spiritus,' which word, I find, is substituted in the Oxford
Edition of 1813.

504 NOVUM ORGANUM.

versum et mutatum expansionem centuplo majorem quam
antea habuisset acquisivisse.

Similiter sit natura inquisita Calor aut Frigus ; ejus nempe
gradus, ut a sensu non percipiantur ob debilitatem. Haec de-
ducuntur ad sensum per vitrum calendare, quale superius
descripsimus 7 . Calor enim et frigus, ipsa non percipiuntur
ad tactum ; at calor aerem expandit, frigus contrahit. Neque
rursus ilia expansio et contractio aeris percipitur ad visum : at
ae'r 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
habcant ex aqueo, quid ex oleoso, quid ex spiritu, quid ex
cinere et salibus, et hujusmodi ; vel etiam (in particulari) quid
habeat lac butyri, quid coaguli, quid seri, ct hujusmodi. Haec
deducuntur ad sensum per artificiosas et peritas separationes,
quatenus ad tangibilia. At natura spiritus in ipsis, licet im-
mediate non percipiatur, tamen deprehenditur per varies motus
et nixus corporum tangibilium in ipso actu et processu sepa-
rationis suae ; atque etiam per acrimonias, corrosiones, et
diversos colores, odores, et sapores eorundem corporum post
separationem. Atque in hac parte, per distillationes atque
artificiosas separationes, strenue sane ab hominibus elaboratum
est ; scd non multo foelicius quam in caeteris experimentis,
quac adhuc in usu sunt : modis nimirum prorsus palpatoriis, et
viis caecis, et magis operose quam intelligenter ; et (quod pes-
simum est) nulla cum imitatione aut acmulatione naturae 6S ,
sed cum destructione (per calores vehcmentes aut virtutes
nimis validas) omnis subtilioris schematism!, in quo occultae
rerum virtutes et consensus praecipue sitae sunt. Neque illud
etiam, quod alias monuimus 9 , hominibus in mentem aut

17 ii- 13 (38).

08 Cp. the interesting passage in De Augmcntis, v. 2 (E. and S., vol. i.
pp. 627-8). The passage concludes with the sentence : ' Uebuerant
autem homines, si illis utilia inquircre vacaret, naturalia opificia et opera-
tiones singulas attcnte et minutim et ex composite intueri ; et secum
perpetuo ct acriter cogitare, quacnam ex ipsis ad artes transferri possint.
Speculum enim artis natura.'

69 ii. 7. This remark shews that Bacon was fully aware of one of the
principal sources of deception in experimentation ; namely, that the em-

LID. II. 40. 505

observationem venire solet in hujusmodi separationibus : hoc
est, plurimas qualitates, in corporum vcxationibus tarn per
ignem quam alios modos, indi ab ipso igne iisque corporibus
qifoe ad separationem adhibentur, quae in composito prius non
fuerunt ; unde mirae fallaciae. Neque enim scilicet vapor
universus, qui ex aqua emittitur per ignem, vapor aut aer
antea fuit in corpore aquae; sed factus est maxima ex parte
per diJatationem aquae ex calore ignis.

Similiter in genere omnes exquisitae probationes corporum
sive naturalium sive artificialium, per quas vera dignoscuntur
ab adulterinis, meliora a vilioribus, hue referri debent : dc-
ducunt enim non-sensibile ad sensibile. Sunt itaque diligenti
cura undique conquirendae.

(5) Ouintum vero genus latitantiae quod attinet. manifestum
est actionem sensus transigi in motu, motum in tcmpore. Si
igitur motus alicujus corporis sit vel tarn tardus, vel tarn velox.
ut non sit proportionatus ad momenta in quibus transigitur
actio sensus, objectum omnino non percipitur ; ut in motu in-
dicis horologii, et rursus in motu pilae sclopeti. Atque motus
qui ob tarditatem non percipitur, facile ct ordinario deducitur
ad sensum per summas motus 70 : qui vero ob velocitatem.
adhuc non bene mensurari consuevit ; sed tamen postulat in-
quisitio naturae ut hoc fiat in aliquibus 71 .

(6) Sextum autem genus, ubi impeditur sensus propter
nobilitatem objecti, recipit deductionem, vel per elongationem
majorem objecti a scnsu ; vel per hebetationem objecti per
interpositionem medii talis, quod objectum debilitet, non

ployment of an abnormal process often itself introduces new conditions in
the object under investigation.

70 A good instance of this device is the one given by Bacon, the hands
of a clock. Still slower motions, which may be measured with tolerable
accuracy, are the elevation or subsidence of continents, the advance or
retreat of the sea, the gradual retreat of waterfalls, &c,

T] This requirement has now been fulfilled in the case of light, sound,
the motion of projectiles, electricity, c. Perhaps the most magnificent
example of the calculation of large velocities is to be found in the case of
the velocity of light, which was computed on observations of the eclipses
of Jupiter's satellites and confirmed by Bradley's discovery of the aberra-
tion of light. In recent times, Fizeau and Foucault have measured it by
direct experiments.

506 NOVUM ORGANUM.

annihilet 72 ; vel per admissionem ct exceptionem object! re-
flexi, ubi percussio directa sit nimis fortis, ut solis in pelvi
aquae.

(7) Septimum autem genus latitantiae, ubi sensus ita onera-
tur objecto ut novae admission! non sit locus, non habet fere
locum nisi in olfactu et odoribus 73 ; nee ad id quod agitur
multum pertinet. Quare de deductionibus non-sensibilis ad
scnsibile, haec dicta sint.

Ouandoque tamen deductio fit non ad sensum hominis, sed
ad sensum alicujus alterius animalis cujus sensus in aliquibus
humanum excellit : ut nonnullorum odorum, ad sensum canis ;
lucis, quae in acre non extrinsecus illuminato latenter existit,
ad sensum felis, noctuae, et hujusmodi animalium quae cernunt
noctu. Recte enim notavit Telesius 74 , etiam in acre ipso
inesse lucem quandam originalem, licet exilem et tcnuem, et

72 The use of ground or coloured glass would afford an instance of what
Bacon means.

73 Surely this is a defect common to all the senses. See Aph. 43 ad fin.
We often cannot clearly distinguish objects in the glare of the sun ; nor hear
sounds, while being whirled along in a coach or a railway carriage ; nor feel
slight sensations of touch, while suffering great pain ; nor discriminate deli-
cate flavours, while tasting something very pungent, acrid, or luscious. It
is a well-known fact that the nicer and more delicate sensations are over-
powered by those which are stronger or coarser in the same class.

74 The passage referred to is the following : ' Nullum porro nee infima
nee suprema cocli portio ad nos calorem, nullamque emittere videtur
lucem : quod in longe utraque tcnuissima perexilis incst calor, et qui
nee proprias vires nee propriam speciem valenter manifcstare queat. At
ab ipsis lucem quandam emanare, et quae, si non nobis, quibusdam certe
animalium generibus pcrcipiatur, quae longissima noctu conficiunt itinera
declarant.' De Rerum Natura, i. 3. It seems plain to me, though Mr.
Ellis thinks it doubtful, that ' infima coeli portio' in this passage includes
the air. Moreover, I think that in the exceedingly tedious discussion on
Light in lib. iv, and elsewhere, it is implied that air is self-luminous ; for
air always contains some heat, and light is the concomitant of heat, 'cui
iuhaeret et cujus facies cst.'

In the ' De Principiis atque Originibus,' Bacon gives an elaborate
account of the opinions of Telesius, mentioning this doctrine amongst
others. See E. and S., vol. iii. p. 106.

The curious idea that the air is self-luminous might have seemed to
derive support not only from the habits of nocturnal and crepuscular
animals, but also from the fact that it is hardly ever so dark in the open
air but that some small amount of light is perceptible.

LIB. II. 47. 507

maxima ex parte oculis hominum aut plurimorum animalium
non inservicntcm ; quia ilia animalia, ad quorum sensum hujus-
modi lux est proportionata, ccrnant noctu ; id quod vel sine
luce fieri, vel per lucem internam, minus credibile est.

Atque illud utique notandum est, dc destitutionibus sen-
suum eorumque remediis hie nos tractare. Nam fallaciae
sensuum ad proprias inquisitiones de sensu et sensibili 75
remittendae sunt : excepta ilia magna fallacia sensuum, nimi-
rum quod constituant lineas 7C rerum ex analogia hominis, et
non ex analogia universi 7T ; quae non corrigitur nisi per rationem
et philosophiam universalem.

XLI.

Inter praerogativas instantiarum ponemus loco decimo
octavo Instantias Viac'*, quas etiam Instantias Itincrantes et
Instantias Articulatas appellate consuevimus. Eae sunt quae
indicant naturae motus gradatim continuatos 7;) . Hoc autem
genus instantiarum potius fugit observationern quam sensum.
Mira enim est hominum circa hanc rem indiligentia. Con-
templantur siquidem naturam tantummodo desultorie et per
periodos, et postquam corpora fuerint absoluta ac complcta, et
non in operatione sua so . Quod si artificis alicujus ingenia ct

''' Cp. De Augmentis, iv. 3 (E. and S., vol. i. pp. 610-13).

70 Cp. i. 59: 'Verba autem plerunque ex captu vulgi induntur, atque
per lineas, vulgar! intellectui maxime conspicuas, res secant.'

" 7 Cp. i. 41.

78 It is difficult to distinguish between this class of instances and the
* Instantiae Migrantes ' of ii. 23. We may, perhaps, say that the ' Instan-
tiae viae ' are propounded with reference to the preliminary process of
observation, while the 'Instantiae migrantes ' are propounded with refer-
ence to the subsequent processes of reasoning.

Ty It is, perhaps, needless to remind the reader of the Law of Continuity,
with the many marvellous exemplifications of it afforded by recent observa-
tions and discoveries in Physics, Geology, Biology, &LC., as well as in the
sciences more immediately relating to the history and condition of man.
As bearing on certain aspects of it, the student may read with advantage
the Essay on Continuity, appended to Sir W. R. Grove's Correlation of
Physical Forces, already referred to.

80 Cp. the Aphorism on Latent Process, ii. 6: 'Cum cnim omnis actio
naturalis per minima transigatur, aut saltern per ilia quae sunt minora
quam ut sensum feriant, nemo se naturam regere aut verterc posse speret
nisi ilia debito modo comprehenderit et notaverit.'

508 NOVUM ORGANUM.

industriam cxplorare et contemplari quls cuperet, is non tan-
turn materias rudcs artis atque deinde opera perfecta conspicere
desideraret, sed potius pracscns csse cum artifex operatur et
opus suum promovet. Atque simile quiddam circa naturam
faciendum est. Exempli gratia ; si quis de vegetatione plan-
tarum 81 inquirat, ei inspiciendum est ab ipsa satione seminis
alicujus (id quod per extractionem, quasi singulis diebus, semi-
num quae per biduum, triduum, quatriduum, et sic deinceps, in
terra manserunt, eorumque diligentem intuitum, facile fieri
potest), quomodo et quando semen intumescere et turgere in-
cipiat et veluti spiritu implcri ; deinde quomodo corticulam
rumpcrc et emittere fibras, cum latione nonnulla sui interim
sursum, nisi terra fuerit admodum contumax ; quomodo etiam
emittat fibras, partim radicales deorsum, partim cauliculares
sursum, aliqtiando serpendo per latcra, si ex ea parte inveniat
tcrram apertam et magis facilem ; et complura id genus.
Similitcr facere oportet circa cxclusionem ovorum ; ubi facile
conspici clabitur processus vivificandi ct organizandi, et quid
et quae partes riant ex vitello, quid ex albumine ovi, et alia.
Similis est ratio circa animalia ex putrefactione 82 . Nam circa

?1 For the interest which Bacon took in Gardens and Gardening, see the
Essay 'Of Gardens,' and the numerous 'experiments' in the Sylva Sylvarum
bearing on these subjects.

~ a The epithet perfecta is generally given to those animals which cannot
result from putrefaction. Caesalpinus, in the Ouaestiones Peripat. v. i,
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 Avcrrocs. That mice may be produced by equivocal generation is
asserted, as a matter not admitting of dispute, by Cardan, De Rerum
Varietate. Caesalpinus 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, docs not mention the possibility of their being produced by putrefac-
tion. (De Hist. Animal, vi. 37, Problem, x. 64.) Paracelsus, De Rerum
Generationc, affirms that all animals produced from putrefaction are more
or less venomous. Telesius' opinion is that the more perfect animals
cannot result from putrefaction, because the conditions of temperature
necessary to their production cannot be fulfilled except by means of animal
heat.' Mr. Ellis' note.

A brief summary of Aristotle's opinions as to the origin of animal life is
given in the Ilistoria Animalium, v. I (p. 539 a. 21-25) : OVTO> KUL ruv UKJV
rii fj.(i> IITTO &>coj> yiveTai Kara avyyevfiav rr/s p'/ ;r / ) ']S') T'* ^' nvro/xara KOL OVK unit

LIB. IT. 41. 509

animalia perfecta ct terrestria, per cxectiones foetuum ex
utero, minus humanum essct ista inquirere 83 ; nisi forte per

(Tvyyevutv, KO.I rovrcav TO. jj.ei> fK yrjs (rr]TTOfj.evr)s Kiii (pVT>i>, (arrnep TroXXa <TV^JL-
ftaivei TUIV fvroftcaVf ra d fv rols u>ois avrols ex TO>V tv rols fiopiois 7T(piTTu>fj.<i-
Ttav. The subject of spontaneous generation frequently recurs both in the
Historia Animalium and in the De Generatione Animalium (see especially
i. 1 6 and iii. 1 1 of the latter treatise). Amongst the most interesting points
of Aristotle's doctrine are the theory that spontaneous generation is due to
the moisture which is found in putrefying matter (De Gen. An. iii. 11), and
the statement that eels are the only animals, possessing blood, which do not
arise either from congress or from eggs (Hist. An. vi. i6j. Mr. Lewes has
some good remarks on Aristotle's doctrine in his ' Aristotle,' pp. 364-6.

Bacon does not seem to have entertained any doubt as to the generation
of animals from putrefaction. Cp. Sylva Sylvarum, Exps. 328, 900; His-
toria Densi et Ran (E. and S., vol. ii. p. 264). Sir Thomas Browne in his
Enquiries into Vulgar and Common Errors (first published in 1646) appears
to receive the doctrine with as little questioning. See, for instance, bk. ii.
ch. 6 : ' So when the ox corrupteth into bees, or the ho.rse into hornets,
they come not forth in the image of their originals. So the corrupt and
excrementitious humours in men are animated into lice,' and more to the
same effect. He even seems to believe in the equivocal generation of
mice (bk. iii. ch. 28). These theories were all but finally disposed of by
Harvey in his great Treatise, De Generatione Animalium, first published in
1651. There he maintains the thesis 'Ovum esse primordium commune
omnibus animalibus.'

s3 And yet it is plain that Bacon did not object to vivisection. See the
passage in the New Atlantis (E. and S., vol. iii. p. 159), beginning with
the following remarkable sentences : 'We have also parks and inclosures
of all sortsof beasts and birds, which we use not only for view or rareness,
but likewise for dissections and trials ; that thereby we may take light
what may be wrought upon the body of man. Wherein we find many
strange effects : as continuing life in them, though divers parts, which you
account vital, be perished and taken forth; resuscitating of some that seem
dead in appearance ; and the like. We try also all poisons, and other
medicines upon them, as well of chirurgery as physic.' And, in the De
Augmentis (iv. 2, E. and S., vol. i. pp. 593-4', there is, perhaps, a still more
remarkable passage, in which, while accepting the condemnation passed by
Celsus on vivisection of the human subject, he thinks that considerations
both of 'utility and humanity' may be reconciled by substituting the vivi-
section of brutes. ' De illo vero altero defectu circa Anatomiam (nempe
quod non fieri consueverit in corporibus -vims) quid attinet dicerc ? Res
enim haec ocliosa et barbara, et a Celso rccte damnata. Ncque tamcn illud
minus vcrum cst (quod annotatum fuit a priscis) poros complures et meatus
et pertusiones, quae sunt ex subtilioribus. in anatomicis dissectionibus non
comparere ; quippe quae in cadavcribus occluduntur et latent ; cum in
viventibus dilutcmur, ct possint esse conspicui. Itaq ; .ie ut ct usui consula-

510 NOVUM ORGANUM.

occasiones abortuum, et venationum, et similium. Omnino
igitur vigilia quaedam servanda est circa naturam, ut quae
melius se conspiciendam praebeat noctu quam interdiu." Istae
enim contemplationes tanquam nocturnae censeri possint, ob
lucernae parvitatem et perpetuationem.

Ouin et in inanimatis idem tentandum est; id quod nos
fecimus in inquirendis aperturis liquorum per ignem 84 . Alius
enim est modus aperturae in aqua, alius in vino, alius in aceto,
alius in omphacio 85 ; longe alius in lacte, et oleo, et caeteris 86 .
Id quod facile cernere erat per ebullitionem super ignem lenem,
et in vase vitreo, ubi omnia cerni perspicue possint. Verum
haec brevius perstringimus ; fusius et exactius de iis sermones
habituri, cum ad inventionem latentis r&rumproccssns*' 1 ventum
erit. Semper enim memoria tenendum est, nos hoc loco non
res ipsas tractare, sed exempla tantum adducere.

XLII.

Inter praerogativas instantiarum ponemus loco decimo nono
Instantias Stipplementi, sive Stibstitutionis ; quas etiam In-

tur simul et humanitati, non est omnino rejicienda Anatomia Vivorum,
neque ad fortuitas chirurgicorum inspectiones (quod Celsus fecit) remit-
tenda ; cum hoc ipsum bene expediri possit per dissectionem brutorum
vivorum quae, non obstante suarum partium dissimilitudine ab humanis,
huic inquisitioni adhibito judicio satisfacere possint.' In the light of recent
controversies, it is curious to notice that, in writing these passages, it never
seems to have crossed Bacon's mind that there might be objections, on
moral and 'humanitarian' grounds, to the vivisection even of brute animals.
On the moral aspect of this subject, and of the treatment of the lower
animals generally, I have spoken briefly in my 'Progressive Morality,'
pp. 193-198.

' 4 See notes on last Aphorism and the passages in the Historia Densi et
Rari, &c., there referred to. ' Apertura,' as Mr. Ellis remarks, means the
same thing as ' Expansio.' It was a general term, used by the chemists of
that period, to signify the modification which a substance undergoes, when
it receives another, as it were, into its bosom.

H5 o/u0u/uov, ' succus ex olea aut uva expressus, priusquam cibo aut vino
maturae sint.' Facciolati. See Pliny, Nat. Hist. xii. 27 (60), sects. 130-31,
xxiii. ad init., and other passages.

* See Historia Densi et Rari, E. and S., vol. ii. pp. 268-9.

' 7 Cp. ii. 52 ad fin. This part of the Novum Organum was never
written.

LIB. II. 42. 511

stantias Pcrfitgii appellarc consuevimus. Eac sunt, quae
supplent informationem ubi sensus plane destituitur ; atque
idcirco ad cas confugimus cum instantiac propriae haberi non
possint. Dupliciter autem fit substitutio ; aut per Gradua-
tionem 88 , aut per Analoga. Exempli gratia: non invcnitur
medium quod inhibeat prorsus operationem magnetis in mo-
vendo ferrum ; non aurum interpositum, non argentum, non
lapis, non vitrum, lignum, aqua, oleum, pannus aut corpora
fibrosa, aer, flamma, et caetera. Attamen per probationem
exactam fortassc inveniri possit aliquod medium, quod hebetet
virtutem ipsius plus quam aliquod aliud, comparative et in
aliquo gradu : veluti quod non trahat magnes ferrum per tan-
tarn crassitiem auri quam per par spatium aeris ; aut per
tantum argentum ignitum quam per frigidum ; et sic de simi-
libus. Nam de his nos experimentum non fecimus ; sed suffi-
cit tamen ut proponantur loco exempli 80 . Similiter non
invenitur hie apud nos corpus quod non suscipiat calidum igni
approximatum. Attamen longe citius suscipit calorem aer 90
quam lapis. Atque tails est substitutio quae fit per Gradus.

Substitutio autem per Analoga, utilis sane, sed minus cert a
est ; atque idcirco cum judicio quodam adhibenda. Ea fit,
cum deducitur non-sensibile ad sensum, non per operationes
sensibiles ipsius corporis insensibilis, sed per contemplationem
corporis alicujus cognati sensibilis 91 . Exempli gratia: si in-

ss As Dr. Kitchin remarks, one would have thought this was the office
of the Tabula Graduum in Aph. 13.

I am informed that the question put by Bacon has not even yet been
answered, the experiment being, on account of the various influences at
work, of the most delicate description. It is possible, however, that the
interposition of bismuth, and the so-called 'diamagnetic' substances gene-
rally, might, if we had sufficiently powerful instruments and sufficient
means of measurement, be found to produce a perceptible influence in
modifying the effect of a magnet on iron at a distance. Gold and silver
are both included among the diamagnetic substances.

'"' The nature of Bacon's error with regard to air as a conductor of heat
has already been pointed out. See notes on ii. 12 (18), (20) ; 13 (38). It
will be noticed how loosely Bacon speaks of ' stone,' without distinguishing
the different kinds of ' stones.'

81 An excellent instance in modern science would be the analogy of
vibrations or wave-motions as appHed to the phenomena of Heat, Light,

512 NOVUM ORGANUM.

quiratur de Mistura Spirituum, qui sunt corpora non-visibilia,
videtur esse cognatio quaedam inter corpora et fomites sive
alimenta sua. Fomes autem flammae videtur esse oleum et
pinguia ; aeris, aqua et aquea : flammae enim multiplicant se
super halitus olei, aer super vapores aquae 92 . Videndum itaque
de mistura aquae ct olei. quae se manifestat ad sensum ; quan-
doquidem mistura aeris et flammei generis fugiat sensum. At
oleum et aqua inter se per compositionem aut agitationem
imperfecte admodum miscentur: eadem in herbis. et sanguine,
et partibus animalium. accurate et delicate miscentur. Itaque
simile quiddam fieri possit circa misturam flammei et aerei
generis in spiritalibus 1 ' 3 : quae per confusionem simplicem non
bene sustincnt misturam, eadem tamen in spiritibus plantarum
ct animalium misceri videntur ; praesertim cum omnis spiritus
animatus depascat humida utraque, aquea et pinguia, tanquam
fomites suos.

Similiter si non de perfectioribus misturis spiritaliurn, sed de
compositione tantum inquiratur ; nempe, utrum facile inter se
incorporentur, an potius (exempli gratia) sint aliqui venti et
exhalationes, aut alia corpora spiritalia, quae non miscentur
cum acre communi, sed tantum haerent et natant in eo, in
globulis et guttis, et potius franguntur ac comminuuntur ab
aere quam in ipsum recipiuntur et incorporantur : hoc in aere
communi et aliis spiritalibus, ob subtilitatem corporum. percipi
ad sensum non potest ; attamen imago quaedam hujus rei,
quatenus fiat, concipi possit in liquoribus argent! vivi, olei,

and Sound. Mr. Ellis says : ' Du Bois Raymond's Researches in Animal
Electricity give a good example of this substitution. He constructed what
may be called an electrical model of a muscle, and succeeded in obtaining
an illustration not only of his fundamental 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.'

The former of Bacon's illustrations, it is needless to say, is purely
fanciful. The analogy, in the second case, corresponds pretty closely
with facts.

" 2 See Aph 48 (ii), and the note upon the parallel passage in that
place.

93 The 'spiritus vitalis.' it will be recollected, was regarded by Bacon as
composed of air and flaine.

LIB. II. 43- 513

aquae ; atque etiam in acre, et fractione ejus, quando dissipatur
et ascendit in parvis portiunculis per aquam ; atque etiam in
fumis crassioribus ; denique in pulvere excitato et haerente in
ae're ; in quibus omnibus non fit incorporatio. Atque reprae-
sentatio praedicta in hoc subjecto non mala est, si illud primo
diligenter inquisitum fuerit, utrum possit esse talis heterogenia
inter spiritalia qualis invenitur inter liquida ; nam turn demum
haec simulacra per Analogiam non incommode substituentur.

Atque de instantiis istis supplementi> quod diximus infor-
mationem ab iis hauriendam esse, quando desint instantiae
propriae, loco perfitgii ; nihilominus intelligi volumus, quod
illae etiam magni sint usus etiam cum propriae instantiae ad-
sint ; ad roborandam scilicet informationem una cum propriis.
Verum de his exactius dicemus quando ad Adudnicida Indue-
tionis tractanda sermo ordine dilabetur.

XLIII.

Inter praerogativas instantiarum ponemus loco vicesimo
Instantias Pcrsecantes ; quas etiam Instantias Vcllicantes ap-
pellare consuevimus, sed diversa ratione. Vcllicantes enim eas
appellamus, quia vellicant intellectum, pcrsccantes, quia per-
secant naturam 94 : undc etiam illas quandoque Instantias
Democriti^ nominamus. Eae sunt, quae de admirabili et
exquisita subtilitate naturae intellectum submonent, ut ex-
citetur et expergiscatur ad attentionem et observationem et
inquisitionem debitam. Exempli gratia : quod parum gut-
tulae atramenti ad tot literas vcl lineas extendatur ; quod
argentum. exterius tantum inauratum, ad tantam longitudinem
fili inaurati continuetur ' )G ; quod pusillus vermiculus'' 7 , qualis

94 'The instantiae persecantes, or vellicantesj says Professor Playfair,
' are those which force us to attend to things which, from their subtilty and
minuteness, escape common observation.

' Some of Bacon's remarks on this subtilty are such as would do credit
to the most advanced state of science, and shew how much his mind was
fitted for distinguishing and observing the great and admirable in the
works of nature.'

95 Cp. i. 51.

9ti ' Dr. Woolaston's [Wollaston's] method for obtaining wires of extreme
fineness was perhaps suggested by the circumstance mentioned in the text.

514 NOVUM ORGANUM.

in cute invenitur, habeat in se spiritum simul et figuram dis-
similarem partium 98 ; quod parum croci etiam dolium aquae
colore inficiat ; quod parum zibethi aut aromatis longe majus
contentum aeris odore ; quod exiguo suffitu tanta excitetur
nubes fumi ; quod sonorum tarn accuratae differentiae, quales
sint voces articulatae, per aerem undequaque vehantur, atque
per foramina et poros etiam ligni et aquae (licet admodum
extenuatae) penetrent, quin etiam repercutiantur, 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 varictate imaginum permeent, etiam re-
fringantur et reflectantur ; quod magnes per corpora omnigena,
etiam maxime compacta, operetur : scd (quod magis mirum
cst) 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 visibilium tot
imagines", et vocis articulatae tot percussiones, et tot odorcs
specificati, ut violae, rosae ; etiam calor et frigus et virtutes
magneticae ; omnia (inquam) simul, uno alterum non im-
pediente, ac si singula haberent vias et meatus suos proprios
separates, neque unum in alterum impingeret aut incurreret.

Solemus tamen utiliter hujusmodi instantiis pcrsccantibus
subjungere instantias, quas Mctas Pcrsecationis appellare con-
suevimus ; veluti quod in iis, quae diximus, una actio in diverse*
genere aliam non perturbet aut impediat, cum tamcn in eodem
genere l una aliam clomet et extinguat : veluti, lux solis, lucem

He enclosed a gold wire in a cylinder of silver, drew them out together,
and then dissolved away the silver by means of warm nitrous acid.' Mr.
Ellis' note.

97 See note 45 on ii. 34.

38 'The form of its parts dissimilar,' i.e. a varied organisation.

99 This language bears traces of the old doctrine, according to which
airoppotai, emanations or images, were thrown off from outward objects
and conveyed to the eyes. The student, who is interested in the history
of this doctrine, will find it curious to compare the language employed by
Bacon in the Sylva Sylvarum, Exps. 255-77 (E. and S., vol. ii. pp. 429-33),
and to note there the intrusion of the newer optical theories on the old
physical doctrine of emanations, as inherited from Empedocles and Demo-
critus.

1 This phenomenon is, of course, due to the fact that, when a sense is

LIB. II. 44.

cicindelae ; sonitus bombardae, vocem ; fortior odor, dcli-
catiorem ; intensior calor, remissiorem ; lamina ferri intcrposita
inter magnetem et aliud ferrum, operationem magnetis 2 .
Verum de his quoque inter Adminicula Inductionis erit pro-
prius 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 imiversum negotium desinit in
Opera ; atque quemadmodum illud principium, ita hoc finis
rei est 3 . Sequentur itaque instantiae praecipui usus ad par tern
operativain, Eae genere duae sunt, numero septem ; quas
universas, general! nomine, Instantias Practicas appellare con-
suevimus. Opcrativae autem partis, vitia duo ; totidemque
dignitates 4 instantiarum in genere. Aut enim fall it operatic,
aut onerat nimis. Fallit operatio maxime (praesertim post
diligentem naturarum inquisitionem) propter male deter-

minatas et mensuratas corporum vires et actiones. Vires

%
autem et actiones corporum circumscribuntur et mensurantur,

aut per spatia loci, aut per momenta temporis, aut per unionem

highly stimulated, stimuli of a low power have no effect upon it. See note
73 on Aph. 40.

2 This example is only true with some qualification. A magnet de-
velopes magnetism in iron (this is called magnetic induction], and hence the
piece of iron itself becomes a magnet, often supporting in turn another
piece of iron, and so on, according to the power of the magnet, and the
minuteness of the pieces. The way in which iron filings become attached
to the poles of magnets is a familiar illustration of this principle. But, of
course, there are limits to magnetic induction, and the last piece of iron in
the series, being itself so feebly magnetised as to be unable to support
another, would furnish an example of what Bacon means. What, however,
he more probably has in view is the still more common case, where the
first piece of iron in contact with the magnet is unable to sustain any
weight, either from being itself of some size, or from the feeble power of
the magnet, or from a combination of both these circumstances.

3 Cp. i. 73, Si, ii. 3 ad fin., and the numerous other passages in which
this idea occurs.

* This word was used in the old Logic both for axioms (properly so
called) and for propositions. See Hamilton on Reid, p. 766. But, in this
place, there is no doubt that the word 'prerogatives,' adopted in Ellis and
Spedding's Translation, is the true equivalent. Cp. end of this Aphorism.

Ll 2

5i6 NOVUM ORGANUM.

quanti, aut per praedominantiam virtutis 5 ; quae quatuor nisi
fuerint probe et diligenter pensitata, erunt fortasse scientiae
speculatione quidem pulchrae, sed opere inactivae. Instantias
vero quatuor itidem, quae hue referuntur, uno nomine Instantias
Mathematicas vocamus, et Instantias Mensnrae.

Onerosa autem fit praxis, vel propter misturam rerum in-
utilium, vel propter multiplicationem instrumentorum, vel
propter molcm materiae et corporum quae ad aliquod opus
requiri contigerint. Itaque eae instantiae in pretio esse de-
bent, quae aut dirigunt operativam ad ea quae maxime
hominum intersunt ; aut quae parcunt instrumentis ; aut quae
parcunt materiae sive supellectili. Eas autem tres instantias
quae hue pertinent, uno nomine Instantias Propitias sive Bcne-
volas vocamus. Itaque de his septem instantiis jam sigillatim
dicemus ; atque cum iis partem illam de Praerogativis sive
Dignitatibus Instantiarum claudemus.

XLV.

Inter pracrogatii'as instantiarum pon.emus loco vicesimo
primo Instantias Virgae. sive Radii 1 ^ ; quas etiam Instantias

The meaning of this and the last phrase will be clear, when we come
to Aphs. 47, 48.

6 Examples of these 'instances' are not far to seek. We may notice the
thermometer, the barometer, the hygrometer, the goniometer, the micro-
meter, the quadrant, scales, the photometer, the electrometer, the thermo-
electric pile. &c. Besides instruments, we may also include methods of
measurement, such as that of double-weighing or that of coincidences or
interferences. The student will find many good examples both of instru-
ments and methods amongst those given by Dr. Whewell in the Novum
Organum Renovatum, bk. iii. ch. 2, or by Professor Jevons in the Prin-
ciples of Science, bk. iii. Some interesting remarks on the subject of
exact measurement, interspersed with illustrations, are made by Sir John
Herschel, Discourse, &.C., $$ 115-25, 226-30, 387-9.

These instances, it must be remembered, ' measure nature ' ' per gradus
spatii,' as the 'instantiae curriculi' 'per momenta temporis.' (See Aph. 46
ad init.)

In speaking of the defects of Bacon's method, Professor Playfair says :
' Another remark I must make on Bacon's method is, that it does not give
sufficient importance to the institntiac radii, or those which furnish us with
accurate measures of physical quantities. The experiments of this class
are introduced as only subservient to practice ; they are, however, of
infinite value in the theoretical part of induction, or for ascertaining the

LIB. II. 45. 517

Perlationis, vcl de Non Ultra appcllare consuevimus. Virtute.s
cnim rerum ct motus opcrantur et expediuntur per spatia non
indefinita aut fortuita, sed finita et certa ; quac ut in singulis
naturis inquisitis teneantur et notentur plurimum interest
practicae, non solum ad hoc, ut non fallat, sed etiam ut magis
sit aucta et potens. Etenim interdum datur virtutes producere,
ct distantias tanquam retrahere in propius ; ut in perspecillis.

Atquc plurimae virtutes operantur et afficiunt tantum per
tactum manifestum ; ut fit in percussione corporum, ubi
alterum non summovet alterum, nisi impellens impulsum
tangat. Etiam medicinae quae exterius applicantur, ut
unguenta, emplastra, non excrcent vires suas nisi per tactum
corporis. Denique objecta sensuum tactus et gustus non
feriunt nisi contigua organis.

Sunt et aliae virtutes quae operantur ad distantiam, verum
valde exiguam, quarum paucae adhuc notatae sunt, cum tamen
plures sint quam homines suspicentur : ut (capiendo exempla
ex vulgatis) cum succinum aut gagates 7 trahunt paleas ;

causes and essences of the things inquired into. We have an instance of
this in the discovery of that important truth in physical astronomy, that
the moon is retained in her orbit by the force of gravity, or the same
which, at the earth's surface, makes a stone fall to the ground. This pro-
position, however it might have been suspected to be true, could never
have been demonstrated but by such observations and experiments as
assigned accurate geometrical measures to the quantities compared. The
semidiameter of the earth ; the velocity of falling bodies at the earth's
surface; the distance of the moon, and her velocity in her orbit: all these
four elements must have been determined with great precision, and after-
wards compared together by certain theorems deduced from the laws of
motion, before the relation between the force which retains the moon in
her orbit, and that which draws a stone to the ground, could possibly be
discovered. The discovery also, when made, carried with it the evidence
of demonstration ; so that here, as in many other cases, the instantiae radii
are of the utmost importance in the theoretical part of Physics.'

Again, after speaking, in a passage which is well worth the attention of the
student, of the generalisations accomplished by the methods of geometry,
he adds: 'This can only happen when the experiments afford accurate
measures of the quantities concerned, like the instantiae radii, curricuri,
&c. ; and this advantage of admitting generalisation with so much certainty
is one of their properties, of which it docs not appear that even Bacon
himself was aware.'

7 ' Amber or jet.'

51 8 NOVUM ORGANUM.

bullae approximatae solvunt bullas 8 ; medicinae nonnullae
purgativae eliciunt humores ex alto 9 , et hujusmodi. At
virtus ilia magnetica per quam ferrum et magnes, vel magnetes
invicem ln , coeunt, operatur intra orbem virtutis certum, sed
parvum ; ubi contra, si sit aliqua virtus magnetica emanans
ab ipsa terra (paulo nimirum interiore n ) super acum ferream,
quatenus ad verticitatem, operatio fiat ad distantiam magnam.
Rursus, si sit aliqua vis magnetica quae operetur per con-
sensum inter globum terrae et ponderosa 12 , aut inter globum
lunae et aquas maris 13 (quae maxime credibilis videtur in
fluxibus et refluxibus semi-menstruis), aut inter coelum stel-

8 See note 67 on Aph. 25.

9 ' 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.'
Mr. Ellis' note.

10 On the mutual attraction of magnets for one another, see Gilbert, De
Magnete, lib. i. cap. 5.

11 'A little below the surface.' Cp. Gilbert, De Magnete, lib. i. cap. 17 :
' Talis igitur nobis est tellus in interioribus partibus, magneticam homo-
genicam naturam habens,' &c.

The earth may be compared with an immense magnet, whose poles,
though variable, approach more or less nearly to the terrestrial poles, and
whose neutral line cuts the equator at very acute angles.

12 Cp. ii. 36 (3) and 37, with notes.

1?> See ii. 35 and 36 (i), with notes. In both these places, he is speaking
of the ebb and flow which takes place twice a day. Here, he speaks of
the spring and neap tides, each of which occurs twice a month, namely at
new and full moon and at the first and last quarters, respectively.

It is curious to note Bacon's change of opinion with regard to the cause
of these semi-menstrual phenomena ; for in the De Fluxu et Refluxu
Maris, written before or not long after 1616, he rejects the hypothesis
of the influence of the moon, using, as his main argument, the fact that,
when the moon is in opposite conditions, namely new and full moon, the
same tidal phenomena take place. 'Et multaalia,' he adds, 'adduci possint
quae hujusmodi dominationum phantasias destruant, et eo potius rem
deducant, ut ex materiae passionibus catholicis et primis rerum coagmen-
tationibus consensus illi oriantur, non quasi alterum ab altero regatur, sed
quod utrumque ab iisdem originibus et concausis emanet.' E. and S.,
vol. iii. p. 52.

On the semi-diurnal ebb and flow, it will be remembered, Bacon was
probably inclined to adopt an entirely different theory. See note 57 on
Aph. 35.

LIB. II. 45. 519

latum et planetas, per quam evocentur et attollantur ad sua
apogaea 14 ; haec omnia operantur ad distantias admodum
longinquas. Inveniuntur et quaedam inflammationes sive
conceptiones flammae, quae fiunt ad distantias bene magnas,
in aliquibus materiis ; ut referunt de naphtha Babylonica 1 "'.
Galores etiam insinuant se per distantias amplas, quod etiam
faciunt frigora ; adeo ut habitantibus circa Canadam moles
sive massae glaciales, quae abrumpuntur et natant per
oceanum septentrionalem et deferuntur per Atlanticum versus
illas oras, percipiantur ct incutiant frigora e longinquo. Odores
quoque (licet in his videatur semper esse quaedam emissio
corporea 1G ) operantur ad distantias notabiles ; ut evenire solet
navigantibus juxta litora Floridae, aut etiam nonnulla His-
paniae, ubi sunt sylvae totae ex arboribus limonum, aran-
tiorum n , et hujusmodi plantarum odoratarum, aut frutices
rorismarini, majoranae, et similium 1S . Postremo radiationes
lucis et impressiones sonorum operantur scilicet ad distantias
spatiosas.

Verum haec omnia, utcunque operentur ad distantias parvas
sive magnas, operantur certe ad finitas et naturae notas, ut
sit quiddam Non Ultra: idque pro rationibus, aut molis seu

14 Note this curious suggestion, that the motions of the planets are due
to the magnetic attraction of the coelum stellatum. Cp. Thema Coeli
(E. and S., vol. iii. p. 779) : ' Affirmant motum magneticum sive congregati-
vum vigere in astris, ex quo ignis ignem evocat et attollit.'

15 See Herodotus, i.,179 ; Strabo, xvi. i (Ed. Casaubon, p. 743) ; Pliny,
ii. 105 (109), sect. 235, xxiv. 17 (101), sect. 158 ; Plutarch's Life of Alex-
ander, ch. 35.

16 This supposition is, of course, right. Cp. Cogitationes De Natura
Rerum, E. and S., vol. iii. pp. 15, 16 ; Sylva Sylvarum, Exp. 834. In the
latter passage, he says : ' It is true that some woods of oranges, and heaths
of rosemary, will smell a great way into the sea, perhaps twenty miles.'

17 This is probably a misprint for aurantiorum, oranges.

J< Mr. Ellis refers to Paradise Lost, iv. 99 (it should be 159, &c.) :

' As when to those who sail
Beyond the Cape of Hope, and now are past
Mozambic, off at sea North-East winds blow
Sabean Odours from the spicy shore
Of Arabic the blest, with such delay

Well pleas'd they slack their course, and many a League
Cheer'd with the grateful smell old Ocean smiles.'

520 NOVUM ORGANUM.

quanti corporum ; aut vigoris et debilitatis virtutum ; aut
favoribus et impedimentis mediorum ; quae omnia in com-
putationem venire et notari debent. Quinetiam mensurae
motuum violentorum (quos vocant), ut missilium, tormentorum,
rotarum, et similium, cum hae quoque manifesto suos habeant
limites certos, notandae sunt.

Inveniuntur etiam quidam motus et virtutes contrariae illis,
quae operantur per tactum et non ad distans ; quae operantur
scilicet ad distans et non ad tactum ; et rursus, quae operantur
remissius ad distantiam minorem et fortius ad distantiam
majorem. Etenim visio non bene transigitur ad tactum, sed
indiget medio et distantia 1!) . Licet meminerim me audisse
ex relatione cujusdam fide digni, quod ipse in curandis
oculorum suorum cataractis (erat autem cura tails, ut im-
mitteretur festuca 20 quaedam parva argentea intra primam
oculi tunicam, quae pelliculam illam cataractae removeret
et truderet in angulum oculi) clarissime vidisset festucam
illam supra ipsam pupillam moventem. Quod utcunque
verum esse possit, manifestum est majora corpora non bene
aut distincte cerni nisi in cuspide coni, coeuntibus radii's
objecti ad nonnullam distantiam 21 . Quin etiam in senibus
oculus melius cernit remoto objecto paulo longius, quam
propius 22 . In missilibus autem certum est percussionem non

19 Cp. Sylva Sylvarum, Exp. 272, where the same story about the
operation for cataract is told. There is, I am informed, no intrinsic
improbability in it.

On the power of accommodation by which the eye adapts itself to
variations in the distances of objects, the student, who is not already
acquainted with the structure of the eye and the phenomena of the sense
of vision, may consult Ganot's Physics, I2th Ed., 601-603, or Carpenter's
Human Physiology, Qth Ed., 567-9. It generally requires a great effort
to see very near objects, and at a certain distance from the eye, varying
with different persons and with the size and colour of the objects, the image
on the retina becomes blurred.

Ul A needle.

21 Sc. from the object itself, not from the retina of the eye, which would
be absurd.

' This statement is true, as a general rule. 'We commonly meet with
myopia (short-sightedness) in young persons, and with presbyopia (long-
sightedness) in old : but this is by no means the invariable rule ; for even
aged persons are sometimes "short-sighted," and "long-sightedness" is

LIB. 71. 45. 521

fieri tarn fortem ad distantiam nimis parvarri, quam paulo
post 23 . Haec itaque et similia in mensuris motuum quoad
distantias notanda sunt.

Est ct aliud genus mcnsurae localis motuum, quod non
practermittendum est. Illud vero pertinet ad motus non
progressives, sed sphaericos ; hoc est. ad expansionem cor-
porum in majorem sphaeram, aut contractionem in minorem.
Inquirendum enim est inter mensuras istas motuum, quantam
compressionem aut extensionem corpora (pro natura ipsorum)
facile et libenter patiantur, et ad quem tcrminum reluctari
incipiant, adeo ut ad extremum Non Ultra ferant ; ut cum
vesica inflata comprimitur, sustinet ilia compressionem non-
nullam ae'ris, sed si major fuerit, non patitur ae'r, sed rumpitur
vesica.

At nos hoc ipsum subtiliore experimento magis exacte pro-
bavimus. Accepimus enim campanulam ex metallo, leviorem
scilicet et tenuiorem, quali ad excipiendum salem utimur ;
eamque in pelvim aquae immisimus, ita ut deportaret secum
aerem qui continebatur in concavo usque ad fundum pelvis.
Locaveramus autem prius globulum in fundo pelvis, super
quem campanula imponenda esset. Ouare illud eveniebat,
ut si globulus ille esset minusculus (pro ratione concavi),
reciperet se ae'r in locum minorem, et contruderetur solum.
non extruderetur. Quod si grandioris esset magnitudinis
quam ut ae'r libenter cederet, turn ae'r majoris pressurae
impatiens campanulam ex aliqua parte elevabat, et in bullis
ascendebat.

Etiam ad probandum qualem extensionem 24 (non minus quam

occasionally met with amongst the young.' Dr. Carpenter, Human Physi-
ology, 4th Ed., 879. [I do not find this passage, which was quoted in
my First Edition, reprinted in the later editions of Dr. Carpenter's work.]

- 3 While the ball is travelling upwards, the velocity diminishes instead
of increasing, and so, contrary to what Bacon supposed, the initial velocity
is greater than the velocity at any other point on the upward path. A
projectile traces a parabola, and it may easily be shown that the velocity at
any point of the parabola is that which would be acquired in falling from
the directrix.

24 Thus, Bacon recognised the Elasticity of Air, but, as Dr. Whewell
remarks (History of the Inductive Sciences, bk. x. ch. 3. sect, i), the
broad facts which 'exhibit this phenomenon are tolerably evident. It

522 NOVUM ORGANUM.

compressionem) pateretur aer, tale quippiam practicavimus.
Ovum vitreum acccpimus, cum parvo foramine in uno extreme
ovi. Ae'rem per foramen exuctione forti attraximus, et statim
digito foramen illud obturavimus, et ovum in aquam immersi-
mus. et dein digitum removimus. Aer vero tensura ilia per
exuctionem facta tortus et magis quam pro natura sua dilata-
tus, ideoque se recipere et contrahere nitens (ita ut si ovum
illud in aquam non fuisset immersum, ae'rem ipsum traxisset
cum sibilo), aquam traxit ad tale quantum quale sufficere
posset ad hoc, ut aer antiquam recuperaret sphaeram sive di-
mensionem 25 .

Atque certum est corpora tenuiora (quale est aer) pati con-
tractionem nonnullam notabilem, ut dictum est ; at corpora
tangibilia (quale est aqua) multo aegrius et ad minus spatium
patiuntur compressionem. Oualem autem patiatur, tali
experimento inquisivimus.

Fieri fecimus globum ex plumbo cavum, qui duas circiter
pintas vinarias contineret ; eumque satis per 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 sufficeret,
aegrius se recipiente aqua, molendino 20 seu torculari usi

is the reduction of them to law and measurement which has constituted
the merit of the researches of Boyle and others. At the same time,
Bacon ought to have the credit of the curiosity which he felt on this
subject, and of the idea of instituting experiments on it.

- r> ' This explanation is wholly unsatisfactory. The principle upon
which the true explanation depends, namely the pressure of the atmo-
sphere, was, it seems tolerably certain, first suggested by Torricelii.
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 described.' Mr. Ellis' note.

The two preceding experiments, though rough, when compared with
more recent proofs, must be admitted as affording evidence of the com-
pressibility and elasticity of air.

2 ' ; A Low Latin word for a mill. See Du Cange, and cp. Historia

LIB. II. 45- 523

sumus ; ut tandem aqua, impatiens prcssurae ulterioris, per
solida plumbi (instar roris delicati) exstillaret Postca,
quantum spatii per earn compressionem imminutum foret
computavimus ; atque tantam compressionem passam esse
aquam (sed violentia magna subactam) intelleximus 2 ~.

Ventorum, E. and S., vol. ii. pp. 64-5. It is here, as Mr. Ellis observes,
used for a press.

27 Cp. Aph. 50, Modus Secundus, and Historia Densi et Rari, E. and S.,
vol. ii. pp. 299-300. From a comparison of these passages with that in
the text, it is plain that Bacon imagined the experiment to be successful,
and that he had thereby proved the compressibility of water. The fact
that the water exuded through the pores of the lead ought, however, to
have shown him that the experiment was one which could not be relied
upon.

' This,' says Mr. Ellis, ' is perhaps the most remarkable of Bacon's
experiments ; and it is singular that it was so little spoken of by sub-
sequent writers. Nearly fifty years after the publication of the Novum
Organum, an account of a similar experiment was published by Megalotti,
who was secretary of the Accademia 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 martellaria leggiermente per ogni
verso, onde ammaccato 1' argento (il quale per la sua crudezza non com-
porta d' assottigliarsi e distendcrsi come farebbe 1'oro raffinato, o il piombo,
o altro metallo piu dolce) veniva a ristrignersi, e scemare la sua interna
capacita, senza che 1' acqua patisse una minima compressione, poiche ad
ogni colpo si videa trasudare per tutti : pori del metallo a guisa d' argento
vivo il quale da alcuna pelle premuto minutamente sprizzasse.' Saggi di
naturali Esperienze fatte nell' Accademia del Cimento, p.2O4,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 com-
pressed in the manner described. But the experiment is on other grounds
inconclusive.

' It is to be remarked that Leibnitz, Nouveaux Essais, in mentioning the
Florentine experiment, says that the globe was of gold (p. 229, Erdmanm,
whereas the Florentine academicians expressly say why they preferred
silver to either gold or lead.'

Notwithstanding the unsatisfactory character of these experiments, the
compressibility of liquids has been fully demonstrated by Canton, Oersted,
and others. For an account of the piezometer, the instrument which is
used for measuring the amount of compressibility of various liquids, see
Ganot's Physics, I2th Ed., 97. Ether is much more compressible than

524 NOVUM ORGAN UAL

At solidiora, sicca, aut inagis compacta, qualia sunt lapides
et ligna, necnon metalla, multo adhuc minorem compressionem
aut extensionem, et fere imperceptibilem ferunt 2S ; sed vel
fractione, vel progressione, vel aliis pertentationibus se liberant :
ut in curvationibus ligni aut metalli, horologiis moventibus per
complicationcm laminae, missilibus, malleationibus, et innu-
meris aliis motibus apparet. Atque haec omnia cum mensuris
suis in indagatione naturae notanda et exploranda sunt, aut
in certitudine sua, aut per aestimativas, aut per comparativas,
prout dabitur copia.

XLVI.

Inter praerogativas instantiaruin ponemus loco vicesimo
secundo Instantias Curriculi^, quas etiam Instantias ad
Aqnam appellare consuevimus ; sumpto vocabulo a clepsydris
apud antiques, in quas infundebatur aqua, loco arenae. Eae
mensurant naturam per momenta temporis, quemadmodum
Instantiate Virgac per gradus spatii. Omnis enim motus sive
actio naturalis transigitur in tempore ; alius velocius, alius
tardius, sed utcunque momentis certis et naturae not is. Etiam
illae actiones quae subito videntur operari, et in ictu oculi (ut

water, and fresh water distinctly more so than sea water. In general, the
densest liquids are those least capable of compression.

28 Compressibility seems to be an universal property of matter, being at
once a consequence and a proof of porosity. The compressibility of solids,
though much less than that of gases, is greater, often much greater, than
that of liquids. ' It is found in all degrees. Cloths, paper, cork, woods
are amongst the most compressible of solid substances. Metals are so also
to a great extent, as is proved by the process of coining, in which the
metal receives the impression from the die. There is, in most cases, a
limit beyond which, when the pressure is increased, bodies are fractured or
reduced to powder.' Ganot's Physics, 1 2th Ed., 16.

29 Amongst the instruments which furnish examples of this ' Instance,'
we may adduce the dial, the pendulum, the clock, the watch, the chron-
ometer, the electric clock, the transit instrument, &c., and, amongst
methods, the various divisions of time, the personal equation as employed
in astronomical observatories, the modes of calculating the velocity of
sound, light, electricity, &c. Dr. Kitchin remarks very well that the
various applications of the Infinitesimal Calculus afford a good illustration
both of this and of the last Aphorism.

The works referred to in the first note to the last Aphorism, will also
serve for the illustration of this.

LIB. II. 46. 525

loquimur), deprehenduntur reciperc majus et minus quoad
tern pus 30 .

Primo itaque videmus restitutioncs corporum coelestium
fieri per tempora numerata ; etiam fluxus ct refluxus maris.
Latio autem gravium versus terrain et levium versus ambitum
coeli fit per certa momenta, pro rationc corporis quod fertur,
et medii ;u . At velificationes navium, motus animalium,
perlationes missilium, omnes fiunt itidem per tempora (quan-
tum ad summas) numerabilia. Calorem vero quod attinct,

30 ' Glaring instances ' of this statement would be light and conducted
electricity.

31 <J?e/jercu Se ye Qarrov TO TrXetoi/ i'ii>u> irvp TOV fXarrovos, Kal Kara) Se TruXii/
axravTuis 6 nXeiwv xpvcros Kal 6 /noAt/SSos' o/iot'cor fie Kal ru>v vih\(ov S'/<UOTOJ> ru>v
f'xovTcav ftdpos. Arist. De Coelo, iv. 2 (p. 309 b. 12-15).

Compare, in addition to the passage towards the end of the next Aphorism,
De Augmentis, v. 2 (E. and S., vol. i. p. 625) : 'Variatio Experiment! fit
tertio in Quanto ; circa quod diligens admodum est adhibenda cura, cum
hoc multi circumstent errores. Credunt enim homines, aucta aut multipli-
cata quantitate, pro rata augeri aut multiplicari virtutem. Et hoc fere
postulant et supponunt, tanquam res sit mathematicae cujusdam certitu-
dinis ; quod omnino falsissimum est. Globus plumbeus unius librae a turri
demissus (puta) decem pulsuum spatio ad terram dcscendit : num globus
duarum librarum (in quo impetus iste motus, quern vocant, naturalis dupli-
cari debet) spatio quinque pulsuum terram feriet ? At ille aequali fere
tempore descendet, neque accelerabitur juxta rationem Ouanti.' These
passages, though Bacon makes no reference to Galileo, shew plainly enough
that he had given up the old Peripatetic and Scholastic doctrine (for which
see my Inductive Logic, 4th Ed., p. 258), that heavy bodies fall to the earth
in times inversely proportional to their weights, or, in other words, that
their velocities are directly proportional to their weights. This doctrine,
though for a long time obstinately adhered to by his opponents, had been
exploded by Galileo by means of the experiments which he made from the
leaning tower of Pisa about 1590. He maintained (and rightly) that all
bodies, whatever their weight, would, if we could remove the resistance of
the air, fall through equal vertical spaces in equal times. See Dialogo dei
Massimi Sistemi, Giornata Seconda, Florentine Ed. of 1842, vol. i. pp. 245-
46 ; also Sermones de Motu Gravium, vol. xi. pp. 48-9. The doctrine,
which Galileo combated, pleaded for itself the authority of Aristotle. See
the passage above quoted, and, with reference to the proportion, De Coelo,
iii. 2 (p. 301 b. 1-17).

It is almost superfluous to add that Bacon is right in making the 'ratio
medii' an element in the enquiry. The differences in the velocities of
bodies falling through the same vertical spaces are, in fact, entirely
determined by the various media through which the bodies fall and the
different relations subsisting between the two.

526 NOVUM ORGANUM.

videmus pueros per hyemem manus 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 ipsae com-
pressiones et dilatationes et eruptiones corporum fiunt, aliae
velocius, aliae tardius, pro natura corporis et motus, sed per
momenta certa. Quinetiam in explosione plurium bombard-
arum simul, quae exaudiuntur quandoque ad distantiam
triginta milliarium, percipitur sonus prius ab iis qui prope
absunt a loco ubi fit sonitus, quam ab iis qui longe 32 . 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 33 . Velocior enim est praetervolatio
pilae quam impressio speciei ejus quae deferri poterat ad
visum.

Atque hoc, cum similibus, nobis quandoque dubitationem
peperit plane monstrosam 34 : videlicet, utrum coeli sereni

32 Cp. the very interesting passages on the motion and velocity of Sound
in Sylva Sylvarum, Exps. 207-11, where Bacon proposes an experiment for
the purpose of determining the rate at which sound moves. In principle,
the experiment, which consists in comparing the time of seeing a light with
that of hearing a sound, is the same as that from which the velocity of
sound has been actually ascertained. This in dry air and at o C. is about
1093 ft. in a second.

There are many stories of the distances at which sounds have been
heard. The firing at Waterloo is said to have been heard at Dover, and
sometimes the reports of cannon or volcanoes are said to have been carried
distances of 200, or even 300 miles.

13 This incapacity is due partly to the colour of the ball (for we do see a
rocket), partly to the fact that the eye cannot adjust itself with sufficient
rapidity to its constantly changing positions.

Note again, in the language of the next sentence, the traces of the old
theory of ' sensible species.' Cp. Aph. 43 and note 99.

34 It is almost needless to say that this 'dubitatio plane monstrosa' has
been amply justified. ' The measurement of the Velocity of light,' says
Professor Playfair, 'and the wonderful consequences arising from it, are
the best commentaries on this passage, and the highest eulogy on its
Author.'

Taking the velocity of light at 190,000 miles a second, it requires
8 m 1 8 s to traverse a semi-diameter of the earth's orbit. From this datum
it is calculated that the light which the very nearest fixed stars send us

LIB. II. 46. 527

et stellati facies ad idem tempus cernatur 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 ;55 . Adeo incredibile nobis videbatur, species
sive radios corporum coelestium per tarn immensa spatia
milliarium subito deferri posse ad visum ; sed potius debere
eas in tempore aliquo notabili delabi. Verum ilia dubitatio
(quoad majus aliquod intervallum temporis inter tempus
verum et visum) postea plane evanuit 30 : reputantibus nobis
jacturam illam infinitam et diminutionem quanti, quatenus
ad apparentiam, inter corpus stellae 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 cer-
nantur ; cum dubium non sit lucem coelestium, non tantum
albedinis vividum colorem, verum etiam omnis flammae (quae
apud nos nota est) lucem, quoad vigorem radiationis, multis
partibus excedere. Etiam immensa ilia velocitas in ipso
corpore, quae cernitur in motu diurno (quae etiam viros graves
ita obstupefecit ut mallent credere motum terrae 37 ). facit
motum ilium cjaculationis radiorum ab ipsis (licet celeritate,
ut diximus, mirabilem) magis credibilem. Maxitne vero
omnium nos movit, quod si interponeretur intervallum temporis
aliquod notabile inter veritatem et visum, foret ut species
per nubes interim orientes et similes medii perturbationes

must take at least 3} years to reach us, while the light of some of the stars
in the galaxy must have occupied more than 2000 years in travelling over
the distance which separates them from our own system. See, for more
detailed information, Herschel's Astronomy, loth Ed., 801-3.

30 On parallax and the corrections for it, see Herschel's Astronomy,
loth Ed., 338-45-

30 \Ve hardly know which to admire most, the felicity of Bacon's con-
jecture or the perverted ingenuity of the arguments by which he attempts
to explain it away. The first argument shews what a strangely inadequate
notion he had of the distance of the fixed stars from us.

37 This passage, even if it stood alone, would shew pretty plainly that
Bacon did not believe in the diurnal motion of the earth. Cp. Aph. 36 (2),
and note 92 ; also Introduction, pp. 34-7.

528 NOVUM ORGANUM.

interciperentur saepenumero, et confunderentur 3S . Atque de
mensuris temporum simplicibus haec dicta sint.

Verum non solum quaerenda est mensura motuum et actio-
num simpliciter, sed multo magis comparative : id enim eximii
est usus, et ad plurima spectat. Atque videmus flammam ali-
cujus 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
transactionem motus lucis, quam soni. Videmus etiam species
visibiles a visu citius excipi quam dimitti 3!) ; unde fit quod
nervi fidium, digito impulsi, duplicentur aut triplicentur quoad
specicm, quia species nova recipitur, antequam prior demit-
tatur 40 ; ex quo etiam fit, ut annuli rotati videantur globosi,
et fax ardens, noctu velociter portata, conspiciatur caudata.
Etiam ex hoc fundamento inaequalitatis motuum quoad
velocitatem, excogitavit Galilaeus 41 causam fluxus et rcfluxus

is I think that Bacon must here have in mind cosmical clouds, in the
interstellar spaces, not ordinary or aerial clouds. The argument is that
the light of the stars, if it took a long time for its transmission, would be
frequently stopped by various obstacles in the sky, whereas, on a clear
night, we invariably see the stars where we expect to find them. At the
same time, it must be confessed that, if there were such obstacles as I am
supposing Bacon to contemplate, the light might sometimes be intercepted,
however instantaneous its transmission. There is, then, an undoubted
difficulty in the passage, though it does not appear to me so great as it
seems to appear to Mr. Spedding.

;il The retention of images on the retina of the eye is a familiar pheno-
menon, of which the reader will easily supply himself with instances. The
duration of the persistence varies with the intensity of the light and the
sensitiveness of the organ. ' M. Plateau has investigated the duration of
the impression by numerous methods, and has found that it is on the
average half a second. * * * A great number of pieces of apparatus are
founded on the persistence of sensation on the retina. Such are the
thaumatrope, the phenakistoscope, Faraday's wheel, the kalcidophone,
and the zoetrope.' Ganot's Physics, I2th Ed., 625.

40 Mr. Ellis says that ' in the case of vibrating strings Bacon's explana-
tion is not altogether complete. The distinct or quasi-distinct images to
which he refers correspond to limiting positions of the vibrating string.'

11 ' 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

LIB. IL 46. 529

maris ; rotante terra velocius, aquis tardius ; ideoque accumu-
lantibus se aquis in sursum, et deinde per vices se remittentibus
in deorsum, ut demonstratur in vase aquae incitatius movente.
Sed hoc commentus est concesso non concessibili 42 (quod
terra nempe moveatur), ac etiam non bene informatus i:J de
oceani motu sexhorario.

At exemplum hujus rei de qua agitur, videlicet, de compa-
rativis 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 terrae, aedificiorum, et similium, subvertuntur,
et in altum jaciuntur, a pusilla quantitate pulveris pyrii 44 .
Cujus causa pro certo ilia est, quod motus dilatationis pulveris,
qui impellit, multis partibus sit pernicior, quam motus gravi-
tatis per quem fieri possit aliqua resistentia ; adeo ut primus
motus perfunctus sit, antequam motus adversus inceperit ; ut
in principiis nullitas quaedam sit resistentiae. Hinc etiam fit,
quod, in omni missili, ictus, non tam robustus quam acutus et
celer, ad perlationem potissimum valeat. Neque etiam fieri
potuisset, ut parva quantitas spiritus animalis 4 - 5 in animalibus,

explanation. That the earth's being in motion might be the cause of the
tides, had been suggested before the time of Galileo by Caesalpinus in the
Ouaestiones Peripateticae, iii. 5. It is odd that Patritius, in giving an
account of all the theories which had in his time been devised to explain
the cause of the tides (see his Pancosmia, 1. 28), does not mention
Caesalpinus', though it was published some years before his own work.
Galileo perhaps alludes to Caesalpinus in his letter to Cardinal Orsino,
dated 8th January, 1616. See, for remarks on Caesalpinus' doctrine, the
Problemata Marina of Casmann, published in 1596. Casmann's own
theory is that of expansion.' Mr. Ellis' note. See also my notes on
Aph. 36 (i). Galileo's Theory of the Tides will be found stated at length
in his Dialogo dei Massimi Sistemi, Giornata Ouarta.

4 - See note 37 above on this subject. In the present passage. Bacon
may mean nothing more than that Galileo assumed what required to be
proved.

43 See the passage on the Tides in Aph. 36 (i).

44 In describing Blasting, as Dr. Kitchin observes, Bacon confuses the
resistance of inertia with the force of gravity. There is in these cases no
'anticipation of motion,' 'anteversio motus,' as Bacon calls it here and in
Aph. 51.

45 On Bacon's curious conception of ' Spirit,' cp. Aph. 40 and the other
passages referred to in the notes on that Aphorism.

M m

530 NOVUM ORGANUM.

praesertim in tarn vastis corporibus qualia sunt balaenae aut
elephanti, tantam molem corpoream flecteret ct regeret, nisi
propter vclocitatcm motus spiritus, et hebetudinem corporeae
molis, quatenus ad expediendam suam resistentiam.

Denique, hoc unum ex praecipuis fundamentis est experi-
mentorum magicorum, de quibus mox dicemus 4G ; ubi scilicet
parva moles materiae longe majorem superat et in ordinem
redigit : hoc, inquam, si fieri possit anteversio motuum per
velocitatem unius, antequam alter se expediat.

Postremo, hoc ipsum Priiis et Posterius in omni actione
naturali notari debet : veluti quod in infusione rhabarbari 47
eliciatur purgativa vis prius, astrictiva post ; simile quiddam
etiam in infusione violarum 4S in acetum expert! sumus ; ubi
primo excipitur suavis et delicatus floris odor ; post, pars
floris magis tcrrca, quae odorem confundit. Itaque si in-
fundantur violae per diem integrum, odor multo languidius
excipitur: quod si infundantur per partem quartam horac
tantum, et extrahantur ; et (quia paucus est spiritus odoratus
qui subsistit in viola) injundantur post singulas quartas horae
violae novae et reccntes ad sexics ; turn demum nobilitatur
infusio, ita ut, licet non manserint violae, utcunque renovatae,
plus quam ad scsquihoram, tamen permanserit odor gratis-
simus, ct viola ipsa non inferior, ad annum integrum.
Notandum tamcn est, quod non se colligat odor ad vires
suas plenas, nisi post mensem ab infusione. In dtstillationibus
vero aromatum maceratorum in spiritu vini patct quod surgat
primo phlegma aqueum et inutile, deinde aqua plus habens
ex spiritu vini, deinde post aqua plus habens ex aromatc.
Atque hujus generis quamplurima inveniuntur in distillatio-
nibus notatu digna. Verum haec sufficiant ad excmpla.

XLVII.

Inter pracrogativas instantiarinn ponemus loco vicesimo
tcrtio Instanticts Qnanti, quas ctiam Doses Naturae (sumpto

40 See Aph. 51.

47 Rhubarb. Cp. Sylva Sylvarum, Exp. 19.

M Cp. Sylva Sylvarum, Exp. 17.

LIB. II. 47- 531

vocabulo a Medicinis) vocare consuevimus 40 . Eae sunt quae
mcnsurant virtutcs per Quanta corporum, et indicant quid
Quantum Corporis faciat ad Modum Virtutis. Ac primo
sunt quaedam virtutes quae non subsistunt nisi in quanta
cosmico, hoc est, tali quanta quod habeat consensum cum con-
figuratione et fabrica universi. Terra enim stat ; partes ejus
cadunt. Aquae in maribus fluunt et refluunt; in fluviis minime,
nisi per ingressum maris. Deinde etiam omnes fere virtutes
particulares secundum inultum aut parnm 5n corporis operantur.
Aquae largae non facile corrumpuntur; exiguae 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 51 ; si in
minore, fit imbibitio, magis quam infusio. Aliud igitur erga
corpus humanum est balneum, aliud levis irroratio. Etiam
parvi rores in acre nunquam cadunt 52 , sed dissipantur et cum
acre incorporantur. Et videre est in anhelitu super gemmas,
parum illud humoris, quasi nubcculam vento dissipatam, con-
tinuo solvi. Etiam frustum ejusdem magnetis non trahit

49 These ' instantiae ' are peculiarly valuable in medicine. The whole
Pharmacopoeia, in fact, is an illustration of them. See some very in-
teresting remarks on the Doses of Medicinal Substances and the circum-
stances by which their effects are modified in Dr. Paris' Pharmacologia,
9th Ed., pp. 453-67, and cp. pp. 120-3.

The law of definite proportions in chemistry might be brought under
this head of instances, without doing much violence to them, though, of
course, Bacon had himself no conception of it.

In connexion with this Aphorism, the student may again consult
Herschei's Discourse, &c., 115-6.

80 Panun is here used in its later sense of ' little.'

51 By this word is meant the absorption of the liquor by the herb.

52 Bacon was, of course, ignorant of the true theory of Dew, for which
see Dr. Wells' remarkable Memoir on the Theory of Dew. reprinted by
Longmans and Co., in 1866. Some account of Dr. Wells' researches is given
in Herschei's Discourse on the Study of Natural Philosophy, 163-9, an d
in Mill's Logic, bk. iii. ch. 9. 3.

The following curious passage in the Historia Densi et Rari (E. and S.,
vol. ii. p. 291) is, perhaps, worth transcribing : 'Rores matutini sunt pro-
culdubio vapores, qui in aerem purum non erant plene dissipati et versi,
sed haerebant imperfecte misti, donee per frigora noctis, praesertim in
regione media quam vocant aeris, fuerint repercussi, et in aquam conden-
sati.' For another interesting passage, see Sylva Sylvarum, Exp. Si.

M m 3

532 NOVUM ORGANUM.

tantum ferri, quantum magnes integer. Sunt etiam virtutes
in quibus parvitas quanti magis potest ; ut in penetrationibus,
stylus acutus citius penetrat, quam obtusus ; adamas punctu-
atus sculpit in vitro ; et similia.

Verum non hie morandum est in indefmitis, sed etiam de
rationibus quanti corporis erga modum virtutis inquirendum.
Proclive enim foret credere, quod rationes quanti rationes
virtutis adaequarent ; ut si pila plumbea unius unciae caderet
in tali tempore, pila unciarum duarum deberet cadere duplo
celerius, quod falsissimum est 33 . Nee eaedem rationes in
omni genere virtutum valent, sed longe diversae. Itaque hae
mensurae ex rebus ipsis petendae sunt, et non ex verisi-
militudine aut conjecturis -H .

Denique in omni inquisitione naturae Quantum corporis
requiratur ad aliquod effectum, tanquam dosis, notandum ;
et cautiones de Nimis et Paruui aspergendae.

XLVIII.

Inter praerogativas instantiarum ponemus loco vicesimo
quarto Instantias Luctae ; quas etiam Instantias Praedomi-
nantiae appellare consuevimus 55 . Eae indicant praedomi-

LS This passage, compared with De Augmentis, v. 2 (E. and S., vol. i.
p. 625), shews pretty conclusively that Bacon was acquainted with the
experiments on fulling bodies made by Galileo from the leaning tower of
Pisa, though he nowhere mentions Galileo's name in connexion with them.
Indeed, the passage at the beginning of the second paragraph in the last
Aphorism seems to shew that he was either imperfectly acquainted with
these experiments or that he did not altogether accept the conclusions
drawn from them. On the whole subject, see note 31 on the last
Aphorism.

1)4 The necessity of bearing in mind Bacon's caution is well illustrated in
the case of the expansion of water, as well as of bismuth and the casting-
metals generally, which are, at certain temperatures, an exception to the
general law that bodies expand with every increase in temperature. In
a case like this, mere analogy might easily deceive us. See my Inductive
Logic, 4th Ed., pp. 138-9.

S5 ' By an oversight,' as Dr. Kitchin remarks, ' Bacon gives the same
second name to these Instances that he does to the third class (Aph. 24),
namely, "instantiac ostensivae * * * quas etiam elucescentias, sive in-
stantias liberates ct praedominantes^ appellare consuevimus.'" By
comparing the two sets of instances, it will be seen, however, that the
word is used in totally different senses.

LIB. II. 48.

nantiam et cessionem virtutum ad invicem ; ct quac ex illis
sit fortior et vincat, quae infirmior et succumbat. Sunt enim
motus et nixus corporum compositi, decompositi, et complicati.
non minus quam corpora ipsa. Proponemus igitur primum
species praecipuas motuum sive virtutum activarum ; ut
magis perspicua sit ipsarum comparatio in robore, et exinde
demonstratio atque designatio instantiarum luctae et prae-
dominantiae.

(i) Motus Primus sit Motus Antitypiae^ materiae, quac
inest in singulis portionibus ejus ; per quern plane annihilari
non vult ; ita ut nullurn incendium, nullum pondus aut
deprcssio, nulla violentia, nulla denique aetas aut diuturnitas
temporis possit redigere aliquam vel minimam portionem
materiae in nihilum ; quin ilia et sit aliquid, et loci aliquid
occupet, et se (in qualicunque necessitate 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 57 . Ouem motum Schola (quae semper fere

These 'Instantiae Luctae' or 'wrestling instances' (as they are best
called) comprise what Bacon conceived to be the various conflicting kinds
of motion. The discussion, as well as his use of the term ' Motion,' will
often be found to be vague and unsatisfactory. The indestructibility of
matter (' motus antitypiae materiae ') and even the property of inertia
itself (' motus decubitus, sive motus exhorrentiae motus ') are included
by him under this generic name. Motion, I need hardly say, ought,
strictly speaking, to be used in the sense of ' change of place,' though
it may legitimately be applied to changes in the relative positions of the
parts of a body (for instance, of the molecules) as well as to changes of
place of the entire body itself. The vague use of the term ' Motion ' dates
from Aristotle downwards. Aquinas, in the Summa, repeatedly says that
any operation whatever may ' secundum similitudinem ' be called motion.

This Aphorism was included in the little volume, entitled Historia
Xaturalis et Experimentalis, &c., published at Leyden in 1638. See In-
troduction, p. 146, note 76.

SCl Motion of reaction, resistance, or impenetrability. Cp. the use of the
verb avTirvntiv in Arist. Meteorologica, ii. 8 (p. 368 a. 3), iii. I (p. 370 b.
18, and 371 a. 25). In Sextus Empiricus, Pyrrh. Hypot. bk. iii. ch. 5, the
incomprehensibility of body is founded on the incomprehensibility of dvn-
rvrria, and that on the incomprehensibility of touch.

57 The ' Motus Antitypiae' or Indestructibility of matter is expressed in
the adage ' in nihilum nil posse reverti.' See ii. 40, pp. 500-1, with notes
58, 59-

534 NOVUM ORGANUM.

et denominat et definit res potius per effectus et incommoda
quam per causas interiores) vel denotat per illud axioma,
quod Dno corpora non possint essc in uno loco ; vel vocat
motum Ne fiat pcnctratio dimensionum 5S . Neque hujus
motus exempla proponi conscntancum est : inest enim omni
corpori.

(2) 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. Ouem motum Schola vocat Motum A> detur
vacuum 5l) : veluti cum aqua attrahitur sursum exuctione. aut
per fistulas; caro per ventosas 60 ; aut cum aqua sistitur nee
effluit in hydriis perforatis, nisi os hydriae ad immittendum
aerem aperiatur ; et innumera id genus.

(3) Sit Motus Tertius, Motus (quern appellamus) Libcr-
is^ ; per quern corpora se liberarc nituntur a pressura

:> * Cp. ii. 36 (6). If there could be two bodies in one place, one of them
would be annihilated, which is a contradiction in terms. Hence, both the
axioms here referred to imply the indestructibility of matter.

59 In the Phaenomena Universi (E. and S., vol. iii. p. 704) this is called
1 Motus successionis, quern motum ne detur vacuum appellant.'

On Bacon's rejection of a vacuum, and his notion of ' Nature : s abhor-
rence of a vacuum,' cp. i. 66 ad fin., ii. 8 ad init., with the notes on
those passages. Mr. Kllis, in his Preface to the Historia Densi et Rari
(E. and S., vol. ii. p. 2381, remarks on the change which Bacon's opinions
seem to have undergone on this subject between writing the Cogitationes
de Rerum Natura and the essay on the fable of Cupid on the one hand,
and the Historia Densi et Rari and the Xovum Organum on the other.
In the ' Canones ' appended to the former of these two last works
(E. and S., vol. ii. p. 303) he says: 'Xon est vacuum in natura, nee
congregatum nee intermistum.' But curiously enough, notwithstanding
other passages in the Xovum Organum to the contrary, he speaks doubt-
fully towards the end of this present Aphorism : ' Utrum vero motus
nexus sit invincibiiis, adhuc haeremus. Xeque enim pro certo affirina-
verimus, utrum detur vacuum, sive coacervatum, sive permistum.' See my
notes on this passage.

; " Cupping-glasses. The process of cupping has been explained in
note 52 on Aph. 35. It may be remarked of all the phenomena referred
to in this section that their explanation depends on a knowledge of the
laws of atmospheric pressure. Of these laws, Bacon was ignorant.

' L By the 'Motus Libertatis' Bacon means what in modern Physics
is called Elasticity, a property common to all matter. It is the property
in virtue of which bodies resume their original form or volume, when the

LIB. II. 48. 535

aut tensura praeter-naturali, et restituere se in dirnensum
corpori suo conveniens. Cujus motus- ctiam innumcra sunt
exenipla : vcluti (quatenus ad liberationem a pressura) aquae
in natando, aeris in volando ; aquae in remigando, aeris in
undulationibus ventorum ; laminae in horologiis. Nee in-
eleganter se ostendit motus aeris compressi in sclopettis
ludicris puerorum, cum alnum aut simile quiddam excavant,
et infarciunt frusto alicujus radicis succulentae, vel similium,
ad utrosque fines ; deinde per embolum G2 trudunt radicem
vel hujusmodi farcimentum in foramen alterum ; unde emit-
titur et ejicitur radix cum sonitu ad foramen alterum, idque
antequam tangatur a radice aut farcimento citimo, aut
cmbolo m . Quatenus vero ad liberationem a tensura, ostendit
se hie motus in ae're post exuctionem in ovis vitreis rema-
nente (i4 , in chordis, in corio, et panno, resilientibus post
tensuras suas, nisi tensurae illae per moram invaluerint, etc.
Atque hunc motum Schola sub nomine Motus ex Forma Elc-
mcnti^ innuit : satis quidem inscite, cum hie motus non tantum
ad aerem, aquam, aut flammam pertineat, sed ad omnem diver-
sitatem consistentiae; ut ligni, ferri, plumbi, panni. membranae,
etc., in quibus singula corpora suae habent dimensionis modu-
lum, et ab eo aegre ad spatium aliquod notabile abripiuntur.
Verum quia motus istc libertatis omnium cst maxime obvius,
et ad infmita spectans, consultum fuerit cum bene et perspicue
distinguere. Quidam enim valde ncgligenter confundunt hunc
motum cum gemino illo motu antitypiae et nexus; libera-
tionem scilicet a pressura, cum motu antitypiae; a tensura,
cum motu nexus ; ac si ideo cederent aut sc dilatarent corpora

force which altered that form or volume ceases to act. It may be
developed in bodies by pressure, by traction or pulling (' tensura '), by
flexion or bending, and by torsion or twisting.

G - /i,3oXos, here used for a ramrod.

63 This example also illustrates the amount of pressure which may be
produced by the compression of air. Champagne bottles, soda-water
bottles, &c., are familiar illustrations of the same fact.

" He alludes here to the unsatisfactory experiment made with the glass
eggs, mentioned in Aph. 45. As I have said before, he was not aware that
the phenomena there described are due to the pressure of the atmosphere.

GJ By this expression is meant the tendency of each of the Elements to
preserve or recover the consistency which is proper to it.

536 NOVUM ORGANUM.

compressa, ne scqueretur penetratio dimensionum; ideo resili-
rent et contraherent se corpora tensa. ne sequeretur vacuum.
Atqui si aer compressus se vellet recipere in densitatem aquae,
aut lignum in densitatem lapidis, nil opus foret penctratione di-
mensionum; 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 forct vacno ; et tamen longe major posset fieri ex-
tensio eorum. quam ilia ullo modo patiuntur. Itaque non
reducitur res ad penetrationem dimensionnm et vacuum, nisi in
ultimitatibus condensations et rarefactionis ; cum tamen isti
motus longe citra eas sistant et versentur, neque aliud sint
quam desideria corporum conservandi se in consistentiis suis
(sive, si malint, in formis suis), nee ab iis recedendi subito, nisi
per modos suaves ac per consensum alterentur. At longe
magis necessarium cst (quia multa secum trahit), ut intimetur
hominibus, motum violentum (quern nos mcc/ianicum, Demo-
critus, qui in motibus suis primis expediendis etiam infra me-
diocres philosophos ponendus est, motum plagac GG vocavit) nil
aliud essc quam Motum Libertatis, scilicet a compressione ad
relaxationem. Etenim in omni sive simplici protrusione sive
volatu per aerem, non fit summotio aut latio localis, antequam
partes corporis praeter-naturaliter patiantur et comprimantur
ab impellente. Turn vero partibus aliis alias per successioncm
trudentibus, fertur totum 7 ; nee solum progredienclo, scd
etiam rotando simul : ut etiam hoc modo partes se liberare,
aut magis ex aequo tolcrarc possint. Atquc dc hoc motu
hactenus.

(4) Sit Motus Ouartus, motus cui no men dedimus Motus
Hyfcs^ A : qui motus antistrophus est quodammodo Motui.
de quo diximus, Libertatis. Etenim in Motu Libertatis,

3(1 See note 59 on Aph. 35. It is curious to find Bacon in the present
passage depreciating Democritus, whom he usually rates so highly.

" Cp. Aph. 36 (6), where he adopts the same explanation of the motion
of projectiles, ' motus missilium.'

' 8 By this 'motus' is meant the tendency of matter to assume and retain
a nc\v form, by means of expansion or contraction, in contrast to its
tendency, us noticed in the last section,' to revert, after any temporary
change, to its original form.

LIB. IT. 48. 537

corpora novum climensum sive novam sphaeram sive novam
dilatationem aut contractionem (haec enim vcrborum varietas
idem innuit) exhorrent, respuunt, fugiunt, et resilirc ac vcterem
consistentiam recuperare totis viribus contendunt. At contra
in hoc Motu Hyles, corpora novam sphaeram sive climensum
appetunt ; atque ad illud libenter et propere, et quandoque
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 :
ae'r, si per tensuram (velut per exuctionem in ovis vitreis fi ')
dilatetur, magno laboret dcsiderio seipsum restituendi. At
admoto calore, e contra appetit dilatari, et concupiscet 7 "
novam sphaeram, et transit et migrat in illam libenter,
tanquam in novam formam (ut loquuntur); nee post dila-
tationem nonnullam de reditu curat, nisi per admotioncm
frigidi ad earn invitetur ; quae non reditus est, sed trans-
mutatio repetita. Eodem modo et aqua, si per compressionem
arctetur, recalcitrat 71 ; et vult fieri qualis fuit, scilicet latior.
At si interveniat frigus intensum ct continuatum, mutat se
sponte sua et libenter in condensationem glaciei ; atque si
plane continuctur frigus, nee a teporibus interrumpatur (ut
fit in speluncis et cavernis paulo profundioribus). vertitur in
crystallum 72 aut materiam similem, nee unquam restituitur.

39 On this example, cp. last section and see note 25 on Aph. 45. The
pressure of the atmosphere (with which Bacon was unacquainted) would
cause the air to rise within the egg, till the enclosed air assumed the same
density as that without it.

70 This, which is the reading of the First Edition, is altered in the
Second to concupiscit, obviously the right word.

71 Cp. Bacon's abortive experiment on the leaden globe, as described in
Aph. 45.

''- See Pliny, Xat. Hist, xxxvii. 2 (9), sect. 23 (where he says 'glaciem
esse certum est, unde nomen Graeci dedere '), and Seneca, Nat. Ouacst.
iii. 25 ad fin. Solinus (Polyhistor, cap. 15 ad fin.) combats this opinion.
Mr. Ellis says : ' Though this account of the origin of crystals is of course
erroneous, yet there is a class of crystals which have been shown to occupy
the same volume which their water of crystallisation would occupy in the
state of ice ; so that their other constituents 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 considerable number of cases. See Phil. Mag. Dec. 1845.'

Bacon seems to be speaking of stalactites and stalagmites as well as ot
what are more commonly called crystals.

53^ NOVUM ORGAN UAL

(5) Sit Motus Ouintus, Motus Continuationis' 1 *. Intelligimus
autem non continuationis simplicis et primariae, cum corpore
aliquo altero (nam ille est Motus Nexus] ; sed continuationis
sui, in corpore certo. Certissimum enim est, quod corpora
omnia solutionem continuitatis cxhorreant ; alia magis, alia
minus, sed omnia aliquatenus. Nam ut in corporibus duris
(vcluti 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 74 ; sed plane inest ipsis in
gradu tanquam infimo, et prodit se in experimentis plurimis ;
sicut in bullis, in rotunditate guttarum 7 '"', in filis tenuioribus
stillicidiorum 70 , et in sequacitate corporum glutinosorum, et
ejusmodi. Sed maxime omnium se ostcnclit appetitus iste,
si discontinuatio tentetur usque ad fractiones minores. Nam
in mortariis, post contusionem ad certum gradum, non amplius
opcratur pistillum ; aqua non subintrat rimas minores ; quin
et ipsc ae'r, non obstante subtilitate corporis ipsius, poros
vasorum paulo solicliorum non pertransit subito, nee nisi per
diuturnam insinuationem.

(6) Sit Motus Sextus. motus quern nominamus Motum ad

73 This is Cohesion, or the force which unites molecules of the same
nature. ' The modern experiments on the strength of different substances,
by rinding what weights are necessary in order to tear them asunder, are
founded on this property. These experiments have been made with bars
of wood, metals, glass, &c., of given dimensions, and it has been found
that the cohesive strength of a body is in the joint proportion of its
elasticity, and toughness, and the area of its section.' Dr. rlippus in the
Account of the Novum Organum in the Library of Useful Knowledge.

74 The force of cohesion is much stronger in solids than in liquids, while
in gases it is overcome by that of repulsion.

7;> In large masses of liquids, the force of gravity overcomes that of
cohesion, and the liquid takes no special shape, but assumes that of the
vessel in which it is contained. But in smaller masses cohesion gets
the upper hand, and the liquid then presents the spheroidal form. In
the imaginary case of the particles being acted upon by the force of
cohesion alone, the form assumed would be that of a perfect sphere.

'" On the constitution of a jet of liquid issuing through a circular orifice,
sec Enc. Brit., last (9th) Ed., vol. v. p. 68, and, for a much more precise
and detailed account, Daguin, Tniite de Physique, 2nd Ed., tome i.
pp. 243-51.

LIB. II. 4 S. 539

Lticnwi, sive Motum Indigentiae 77 . Is est, per quern corpora,
quando versantur inter plane heterogenea et quasi inimica, si
forte nanciscantur copiam aut commoditatem evitandi ilia he-
terogenea et se applicandi ad magis cognata, (licet ilia ipsa
cognata talia fuerint quae non habeant arctum consensum cum
ipsis) tamen statim ea amplectuntur, et tanquam potiora ma-
lunt : et lucri loco (unde vocabulum sumpsimus) hoc ponere
videntur, tanquam talium corporum indiga. Exempli gratia :
aurum, aut aliud metallum foliatum non delectatur acre cir-
cumfuso. Itaque si corpus aliquod tangibile et crassum
nanciscatur (ut digitum, papyrum, quidvis aliud), adhaeret
statim, nee facile divellitur 7S . Etiam papyrus, aut pannus,
et hujusmodi, non bene se habent cum aere 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 ipsorum
emineat et longe attollatur supra vinum aut aquam, tamen
aquam aut vinum paulatim ct per gradus attrahunt in
sursum 7;) .

Unde optimus canon sumitur apcrturac et solutionum corpo-
rum. Missis enim corrosivis et aquis fortibus, quae viam sibi
apcriunt, si possit inveniri corpus proportionatum et magis con-
sentiens et amicurn corpori alicui solido quam iliud cum quo
tanquam per nccessitatem commiscetur, statim se aperit et
relaxat corpus, et illud alterum intro recipit, priore excluso aut
summoto lS0 . Neque operatur aut potest iste uwtits ad liicriiiiL

77 Under this head Bacon seems to include cases of Adhesion, of
Capillary Attraction, and of Chemical Affinity. Dr. Hippus gives a good
instance of this 'motion of preference' in the case of mercury, 'the
surface of which in a glass bottle appears convex, while, in a metallic
vessel, it appears concave, in consequence of its tendency to adhere to
the sides of the vessel, as it has a greater attraction for metal than glass.
The mercury, in fact, moistens the metallic surface, but does not
moisten the glass surface. This example fa. Is under the head of capillary
phenomena.

" This is an ordinary case of adhesion.

79 These are capillary phenomena. The hostility to air, in all these
examples, is, of course, a mere fancy.

These are cases of what we should call Chemical Affinity. Any-
manual of chemistry will furnish abundant examples of what Bacon means.

540 NOVUM ORGANUM.

solummodo ad tactum. Nam electrica operatic (de qua Gil-
bertus et alii post eum tantas excitarunt fabulas) non alia
est quam corporis per fricationem levem excitati appetitus ;
qui aerem non bene tolerat. sed aliud tangibile mavult, si
reperiatur in propinquo 81 .

(7) Sit motus- Septimus, Motus (quem appellamus) Con-
grcgationis Majoris ; per quem corpora feruntur ad massas
connaturalium suorum : gravia, ad globum terrae ; levia, ad
ambitum coeli 82 . Hunc Schola nomine Motus Naturalis**
insignivit : levi contemplatione, quia scilicet nil spectabile
erat ab extra quod eum motum cieret (itaquc rebus ipsis
innatum atque insitum putavit) ; aut forte quia non cessat.
Nee minim : semper enim praesto sunt coelum et terra ;
cum e contra causae et origines plurimorum ex reliquis
motibus interdum absint, interdum adsint. Itaque hunc, quia
non intermittit sed caeteris intermittentibus statim occurrit.
perpetuum et proprium ; reliquos ascititios posuit. Est
autem iste motus revcra satis infirmus et hebcs, tanquam
is qui (nisi sit moles corporis major) caeteris motibus, quamdiu
operantur, cedat et succumbat. Atque cum hie motus ho-
minum cogitationes ita implcvcrit ut fere reliquos motus
occultaverit, tamen parum est quod homines de eo sciunt.
sed in multis circa ilium erroribus versantur.

(8) Sit Motus Octavus, Motus Congregationis Minoris ;
per quem partcs homogeneae in corpore aliquo separant se
ab hcterogeneis, et cocunt inter sese 84 ; per quem etiam

Thus, Chlorine decomposes bromide of silver, forming Chloride of silver,
and eliminating bromine.

81 This attack on Gilbert (whom, as we have seen before, Bacon treats
in so varying a manner) and the superficial attempt at explaining the
action of electricity are both worth noting. With regard to the cause
of the production of electricity by friction, nothing is known. Electricity
may also be produced by other means, as by chemical action, heat, &c.

" Cp. i. 66: ii. 55 ; 36 (3) ; 45 ; 46, with the notes on the various passages.
The concluding observations of this section are very remarkable, when
viewed in the light of the discoveries to be made towards the end of the
century by Newton.

" 3 On the distinction between Natural and Violent Motion, see i. 66 ;
ii. 36 (6), with note 53 on the former Aphorism.

M These phenomena may all be referred to chemical affinity, to capillary
attraction, or to the processes of mechanical distribution dependent on

LIB. II. 48. 541

corpora Integra ex similitudine substantiae sc amplectuntur
et fovent, et quandoque ad distantiam aliquam congregantur,
attrahuntur, et conveniunt 8:> : veluti cum in lactc flos lactis
post moram aliquam supernatat ; in vino faeces et tartarum
subsidunt 86 . Neque enim haec fiunt per motum gravitatis
et levitatis tantum, ut aliae partes summitatem pctant, aliae
ad imum vergant ; sed multo magis per desiderium homo-
geneorum inter se coeundi et se uniendi 8T . Diffcrt autem
iste motus a motu indigentiae, in duobus. Uno, quod in
motu indigentiae sit stimulus major naturae malignae et
contrariae ; at in hoc motu (si modo impedimenta et vincula
absint) uniuntur partes per amicitiam, licet absit natura aliena
quae litem moveat : altero, quod arctior sit unio, et tanquam
majore cum delectu. In illo enim, modo evitetur corpus inimi-

variations in size, form, weight, or specific gravity. Sometimes it may be
a question to which of these causes a phenomenon may be due.

b5 A good instance would be that of two corks, both wet or both dry,
floating near each other on water. For an explanation of this phenomenon,
see Everett's Translation of Deschanel's Nat. Phil. Pt. i. p. 136, or Daguin,
Traite de Physique, Tome i. pp. 209-10, 2^ me Ed.).

" 6 In both cases, the phenomenon is due to differences of specific gravity,
the lighter particles rising to the top, and the heavier falling to the bottom.

87 An excellent illustration of Bacon's meaning may be found in the
commonly received opinion with regard to the formation of flint nodules.
See Phillips' Manual of Geology, pp. 358 9, or Page's Advanced Text Book
of Geology, 6th Ed., pp. 350-4. The latter author discusses the question
at some length, and concludes : ' From these facts it would seem that flints
are aggregations of silex round some organic nucleus, just like the ironstone
septaria of the coal-shales, the grains of the oolite, the ironstone nodules of
the gault all of which are aggregations round some organic centre, be it a
fragment of plant, a shell, a tooth, coprolite, or other organism. This is
now the generally received opinion ; and, when it is remembered that the
organisms must have been deposited when the chalk was in a flocculcnt
and pulpy state, there can be little difficulty in conceiving how the silex,
held in solution by the waters of deposit, would, by chemical affinity,
attach itself to the decaying organism.' Dr. Bowerbank applies a similar
theory even to beds of tabular flint, supposing that the sponges originating
the deposit had developed themselves laterally, and that, approaching and
touching each other, they united and thus formed extensive and continuous
beds. On the f< nnation of nodules generally, see also Lyeh's Student's
Elements of Geology, 2nd Ed., p. 40.

Since the appearance of the 1st Edition, this subject has been treated,
at considerable length, by Professor Prcstwich in his admirable treatise
on Geology, Part ii. ch. 20.

542 NOVUM ORGANUM.

cum 8S , corpora ctiam non admodum cognata concurrunt; at in
hoc cocunt substantiae. germana plane similitudine devinctae,
et conflantur tanquam in unum. Atque hie motus omnibus
corporibus compositis inest ; et se facile conspiciendum in
singulis daret. nisi ligaretur et fraenaretur per alios corporum
appetitus et necessitates, quae istam coitionem disturbant.

Ligatur autem motus iste plerumque tribus modis : torpore
corporum ; fraeno corporis dominantis ; et inotu externo. Ad
torporcm corporum quod attinet; certum est inesse corporibus
tangibilibus pigritiam quandam 89 secundum magis et minus, et
exhorrentiam motus localis ; 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 eminentem 90 , aut per
motum vividum et potentem. Atque primo quoad auxilium
caloris ; hinc fit, quod calor pronuntietur esse illud quod
scparct lictcrogcnca, congrcget Jwmogcnca. Guam definitionem
Peripateticorum merito derisit Gilbertus ; dicens earn esse
perinde ac si quis diceret ac definiret hominem illud esse
quod serat triticum et plantct vineas : esse enim definitionem
tantum per cffectus, eosque particulares 91 . Scd adhuc magis

p ^ As we have seen under ' Motus Sextus,' this idea of the ' corpus inimi-
cum ' is, in many cases, fanciful.

9 This is the property of inertia, and it is worth noting that Bacon
refers to it ; but it must be remembered that this property, as we con-
ceive it, applies equally to moving bodies, which would go on moving for
ever, if there were nothing external to stop them.

!0 Taking this phrase as intended to include magnetism and, so far as
Bacon had any conception of it, Gravity, we ought to add Light, Elec-
tricity, and Chemical Action.

91 ' For the definition we may refer to the Margarita Philosophiae, xi. 3.'
[It should be ix. 3. The passage runs thus : ' Calidum est quod homogenia
id est cntia ejusdcm naturae congregat et heterogenia id est diversarum
naturarum cntia segregat.' The true title of the book is Margarita Philo-
sophica, to which, in later Editions, ' Nova' is added.] ' It is founded on
a passage in the De Gen. et Corr. ii. 2' [p. 329 b. 26-30]. 'Gilbert's
censure on it is to be found in .his posthumous work De Mundo nostro
sublunari Philosophia 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
Magnetc, published in 1600, had been read in manuscript by " viri magni

LIB. II. 4 S. 543

culpanda cst ilia definitio ; quia etiam effcctus illi (qualcs
quales sunt) non sunt ex proprietate caloris, sed tantum per
accidcns 112 (idem enim facit frigus, ut postea dicemus 9:3 ), ncmpc
ex dcsiderio partium homogenearum coeundi, adjuvantc tantum
calorc ad discutiendum torporcm, qui torpor desiderium illud
antea ligaverat. Quoad vero auxilitim virtutis inditae a corpore
cognato ; illud mirabiliter elucescit in magnete armato, qui
excitat in ferro virtutem detinendi fcrrum per similitudincm
substantiae, discusso torpore ferri per virtutem magnctis.
Quoad vero auxilium motus ; conspicitur illud in sagittis
ligneis, cuspide etiam lignea, quae altius penetrant in alia
ligna quam si fuissent armatae ferro, per similitudinem
substantiae, discusso torpore ligni per motum celerem : dc
quibus duobus experimentis etiam in aphorismo dc instantiis
clandcstinis diximus 9 *.

Ligatio vero motus congregationis minoris, quae fit per
fraenum corporis dominantis, conspicitur in solutione sanguinis
et urinarum 5 per frigus. Quamdiu enim repleta fuerint

et famae celeberrimae." " Illi pcrspicace in Physicis praesertim ingenio
baud poenitendae in evolvendo operae testimonium dederunt, quod inte-
grum excussisse censeantur, et aliqua a vulgaribus opinionibus abhorrentia
calculo suo comprobata bine 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 quae ilia differentia ab effectu tantum in quibusdam corporibus, cojigre-
gans homogenea et disgregans heterogenea ? ac si diceres hominem animal
esse carduos et sentes evellens, et fruges serens, cum istud sit agricolae
studium." De Mundo, c., i. c. 26.' Mr. Ellis' note.

!l - That is to say ' are not peculiar to heat, but result only accidentally,
through the instrumentality of that agent ; the true cause being the desire
in the homogeneous parts of coming together.' To understand the reason
given by Bacon, ' idem enim facit frigus,' we must recollect that the defini-
tion of ' proprium,' in the Text-books of his time, was ' quod convenit omni,
soli, et semper.'

y ' See the next paragraph. It need hardly be repeated that Bacon had
no idea of the true relation of heat and cold, as different degrees of the
same phenomenon. The phrase ' change of temperature ' would include
both, and it might have supplied him with a key to his difficulties.

1J4 See ii. 25 ad fin., with notes.

95 With regard to urine, as affected by cold, see Dr. Watson's Lectures
on the Principles and Practice of Physic, 5th Ed., Lect. 70, vol. ii. p. 702.

As to blood, Bacon is in error. ' So far from coagulation being pro-
moted by cold,' says Dr. Carpenter (Principles of Human Physiology. 9th

544 NOVUM ORGANUM.

corpora ilia spiritu agili 9G , qui singulas eorum partes cujus-
cunque generis ipse ut dominus totius ordinal et cohibet,
tamdiu non coeunt heterogenea 97 propter fraenum ; sed
postquam ille spiritus evaporaverit, aut suffocatus fuerit per
frigus, turn solutae partes a fraeno coeunt secundum desiderium
suum naturale. Atque ideo fit, ut omnia corpora quae
continent spiritum acrem (ut sales, et hujusmodi) durent et
non solvantur, ob fraenum permanens et durabile spiritus
clominantis et imperiosi.

Ligatio vero motus congregationis minoris, quae fit per mo-
tum externum, maxime conspicitur in agitationibus corporum
per quas arcetur putrefactio. Omnis enim putrefactio fun-
datur in congregatione homogeneorum 8 ; unde paulatim fit

Ed., 187), 'it can be shown to be accelerated by moderate warmth, the
natural heat of the body from which the blood is taken appearing to be
most favourable to it ; but the coagulating power appears to be destroyed
by a temperature of about 150 F., blood heated to that point remaining
permanently fluid.' Bacon was, of course, deceived by seeing the blood
gradually coagulate after being taken from the body, the decreasing
temperature, which was only a concomitant of coagulation, occurring to
him as the cause.

1J6 It is needless to add anything to what I have already said on Bacon's
conception of ' spirit ' in the notes on i. 50, ii. 40, and elsewhere.

97 This word should, perhaps, be ' homogenea,' as Mr. Ellis suggests.
But 'heterogenea' seems intelligible enough, in the sense of 'different
parts.' Cp. the expression ' omnia solvuntur et redeunt in hetcrogeneas
suas, sive (si placet) elementa sua ;' in the passage referred to just below.

98 Cp. Historia Vitae et Mortis, E. and S., vol. ii. p. 214. This remark
shows how little Bacon was acquainted with organic chemistry. ' Putre-
faction ' (I quote from Dr. Ure's Dictionary of Arts, Manufactures, &c.)
' is the spontaneous decomposition of albuminoid or protein and gelatine
compounds, when exposed to a limited amount of air. It is the decom-
position of bodies containing nitrogen, called by some persons azotised
bodies ; although such bodies are produced only by life, are the principa
means of producing life, and are more fitly called zoogens.'

'Thus bodies decompose at any temperature between 32 and 140
Fahrenheit (o 60 C.j. Their decomposition begins by the action of the
cxygen of the air, so that a partial oxidation and a gradual disruption are
simultaneous. The result of this is a number of liquid and gaseous com-
pounds : carbonic acid, hydrogen, nitrogen, ammonia, sulphuretted hydro-
gen, phosphuretted hydrogen, carburetted hydrogen, acetic acid, lactic
acid,' &c.

On 'Experiments touching the inducing and accelerating, the prohibiting
and pi eventing putrefaction,' see Sylva Sylvarum, Exps. 328-51.

LIB, 77. 48. 545

corruptio prioris (quam vocant) formae, et gcneratio novae "
Nam putrcfactionem, quae stcrnit viam ad gcncrationcm
novae formae, praeccdit solutio veteris ; quae est ipsa coitio
ad homogeniam. Ea vero, si non impedita fuerit, fit solutio
simplex : sin occurrant varia quae obstant, scquuntur putre-
factioncs quae sunt rudimcnta generationis novae. Quod
si (id quod mine agitur) fiat agitatio frequens per motum
externum, turn vero motus iste coitionis (qui cst dclicatus
et mollis et indiget quiete ab externis) disturbatur et cessat ;
ut fieri videmus in innumeris : veluti cum quotidiana agitatio
aut profluentia aquae arceat putrefactionem ; vcnti arceant
pestilentiam ae'ris; grana in granariis versa et agitata maneant
pura ; omnia denique agitata exterius non facile putrefiant
interius.

Superest ut non omittatur coitio ilia partium corporum, unde
fit praecipue induratio et desiccatio. Postqtiam enim spiritus,
aut humidum in spiritum versum, evolaverit in aliquo corporc
porosiore (ut in ligno, osse, membrana, et hujusmodi), turn
partes crassiores majore nixu contrahuntur ct coeunt, unde
sequitur induratio aut desiccatio : : quod existimamus fieri,
non tam ob motum nexus, ne detur vacuum, quam per motum
istum amicitiae et unionis.

Ad coitionem vero ad distans quod attinet. ea infrequens est
et rara : et tamen in pluribus inest quam quibus observatur.
Hujus simulacra sunt, cum bulla solvat bullam - ; medica-
menta ex similitudine substantiae trahant humores ; ' ; chorda
in diversis fidibus ad unisonum moveat chordam 4 : et hujus-

99 On the theory of Spontaneous Generation,' see ii. 41 and note 82.

1 Cp. ii. 40 : ' Spiritus in re tangibili, emissus, corpora contrahit et
desiccat.' This position is expanded in the following paragraph, beginning
' Etenim in omni corpore,' c.

- This is the case when two bubbles come into contact, and is due,
amongst other causes, to Capillary Attraction. See p. 427, note 67.

3 This is an example of the False Analogies of which ancient medicine
was so full, and is a special application of the maxim 'Similia similibus
curantur.' We find the opposite sentiment in Arist. Eth. ii. 2 (p. 1104 b.
17, iS): al df Inrpflat Siu ru>v fvavricav TrfffivKacri yiveadai.

4 The sympathetic vibrations of strings, tuning-forks, &c., in unison,
are well-known phenomena. See Tyndall's Lectures on Sound, Lect. 8 ad
fin. (ch. 9 in later editions), or, for a more detailed account, Helmholtz on
the Sensations of Tone, Translation by Mr. Ellis, Pt. i. ch. 3.

N n

546 NOVUM ORGANUM.

modi. Etiam in spiritibus animalium hunc motum vigere
existimamus 5 , sed plane incognitum. At eminet certe in
magnete, et ferro excito. Cum autem de motibus magnetis
loquimur, distinguendi plane sunt. Ouatuor 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 ferrum. Secunda,
verticitatis ejus ad septentriones et austrum, atque simul
declinationis ejus G . Tertia, penetrationis ejus per aurum,
vitrum, lapidem, omnia ". Ouarta, communicationis virtutis
ejus de lapide in ferrum, et de ferro in ferrum, absque commu-
nicatione substantiae. Verum hoc loco de prima virtute ejus
tantum loquimur, videlicet coitionis. Insignis etiam est motus
coitionis argenti vivi et auri 8 : adeo ut aurum alliciat
argentum vivum, licet confectum in unguenta ; atque operarii
inter vapores argenti vivi soleant tenere in ore frustum auri,
ad colligendas emissiones argenti vivi, alias crania et ossa
corum invasuras ; unde etiam frustum illud paulo post
albescit. Atque de motu congregationis minoris haec dicta
sint.

(9) Sit Motus Nonus, Motns Magneticns : qui licet sit ex
genere motus congregationis minoris'\ tamen si operetur ad
distantias magnas et super massas rerum magnas, inqui-
sitionem merctur separatam ; praesertim si nee incipiat a
tactu, quemadmodum plurimi, nee perducat actionem ad

5 Sec Sylva Sylvarum, Exp. 1000 ; De Augmentis, lib. iv. cap. 3 (E. and
S., vol. i. pp. 608-9). Both these passages are well worth consulting.

These and the other phenomena which Bacon notices are fully de-
scribed by Gilbert, De Magnete.

7 See Aph. 42 ad init.

8 The phenomena which Bacon noticed are due to the facts that, even
at ordinary temperatures, Mercury is slightly volatile, and that the smallest
quantity of mercurial vapour coming in contact with gold is sufficient to
turn it white. It is, however, true that mercury combines very readily
v, ith gold, and hence it is used for the purpose of extracting that metal
from the ore.

" It is curious to observe that it never occurred to Bacon, as it did
afterwards to Newton, that the phenomena here described belong to the
same class as those included under the 'Motus Congregationis Majoris.'

LIB. II. 48. 547

tactum, qucmadmodum omnes motus congregativi ; scd cor-
pora tantum elevet, aut ea intumescere faciat. ncc quicquam
ultra. Nam si luna attollat aquas lf ',, aut turgcscere aut
intumescere faciat humida u ; aut coelum stellatum attrahat
planetas versus sua apogaea ; aut sol alliget astra Veneris
et Mercurii 12 , ne longius absint a corpore ejus quam ad
distantiam certam ; videntur hi motus nee sub congregatione
majore nee sub congregatione minor e bene collocari, sed esse
tanquam congregativa media et imperfecta, ideoque speciem
debere constituere propriam.

(10) Sit Motus Decimus, Motus Fugae \ motus scilicet

10 Seeii. 45 and notes 13, 14, both for this passage and for the one below
on the attraction of the planets by the coelum stellatum.

11 Cp. Historia Densi et Rari (E. and S., vol. ii. p. 266) : ' Recepta est
opinio, humores et succos, non in animalibus tantum sed et in plantis, sub
pleniluniis magis turgescere, et cava implere.' Cp. Cicero, De Divinatione,
ii. 14; -Pliny, Nat. Hist. ii. 99, 101 (102, 104), sects. 201, &c. ; Horace
Sat. ii. 4, 1. 30 :

' Lubrica nascentes implent conchylia Lunae.'

12 The two inferior planets, or those whose orbits are nearer to the sun
than that of the earth. Whether referred to the heliocentric or geocentric
system, the peculiarities of these planets early attracted attention. On the
geocentric hypothesis, it was doubted whether their orbits were superior
or inferior to that of the sun. Bacon starts various questions with re-
gard to them in the Descriptio Globi Intellectualis (E. and S., vol. iii.
pp. 746-7)-

As to the words ' ne longius absint' occ.. the best commentary on them
will be found in Herschel's Outlines of Astronomy, loth Ed., 467, &c.
Herschel begins his account of the motions of these planets almost in the
very words of Bacon : ' Two of the planets Mercury and Venus perform
their circuit evidently as attendants upon the sun, from whose vicinity
they never depart beyond a certain limit.'

13 The following excellent remarks on this section are made by Dr.
Hippus in his Account of the Novum Organum in the Library of Useful
Knowledge : ' Motus fugae, or the motion of avoidance, though very crudely
and almost ludicrously illustrated by Bacon, has its foundation in fact, and
is that property of matter which is now called repulsion. Newton found
that a convex lens, when put upon a flat glass, remained at the distance of
the j-Tj-th P art f an mcri j ar >d that a very considerable force was requisite
to diminish this distance. Again, though steel is so much heavier than its
bulk of water, yet if a dry needle be placed carefully upon the surface of a
basin of water, it will float ; the repulsion of the water preventing its
sinking. Also the particles of all ^wj seem to repel each other, as appears

N n 2

548 NOVUM ORGANUM.

motui congregationis minoris contrarius ; per quern corpora
ex antipathia fugiunt et fugant inimica, seque ab illis separant,
aut cum illis miscere se recusant. Ouamvis enim videri possit
in aliquibus hie motus esse motus tantum per accidens aut
per consequens, respectu motus congregationis minoris, quia
nequeunt coire homogenea, nisi heterogeneis exclusis et re-
motis ; tamen ponendus est motus iste per se, et in speciem
constituendus, quia in multis appetitus fitgac cernitur magis
principals quam appetitus coitionis.

Eminet autem hie motus insignitcr in excretionibus ani-
malium ; nee minus etiam in sensuum nonnullorum odiosis
objectis, praecipuc in olfactu et gustu. Odor enim foetidus
ita rejicitur ab olfactu, ut etiam inducat in os stomachi motum
expulsionis per consensum ; sapor amarus ct horridus ita rejici-
tur a palato aut gutture, ut inducat per consensum capitis con-
quassationem et horrorem. Veruntamen etiam in aliis locum
habet iste motus. Conspicitur enim in antiperistasibus 14 non-
nullis : ut in aeris media rcgione, cujus frigora vidcntur esse
rejectiones naturae frigiclae ex confiniis coelestium ; quemad-

from their elasticity. According to Boscovich, the atoms of which bodies
are composed are capable of acting on each other with a force, which
differs in intensity, and in kind, according to the distance. At sensible
distances the force is attractive, and diminishes inversely as the squares of
the distance. At the smallest distances the force is repulsive; it increases
as the distance diminishes ; and at last becomes infinite or insuperable.
Hence, if Boscovich's theory be correct, absolute contact, however para-
doxical this may appear, is impossible. Facts, at all events, prove, in many
cases, a repulsive power, whatever be its precise laws ; and to these facts
may be added, though somewhat differing from the former examples, the
repulsion of electrified pith balls ; also of the similar poles of two magnets.
In the latter case, all the force of a strong man has proved insufficient to
make the two north poles touch each other.' Other instances might be
found in the fact that some chemical elements, so far as we know at present,
will not combine with other elements (as, for instance, oxygen with fluorine),
while others only combine with great difficulty ; or, again, in certain pheno-
mena of repulsion partly due to capillarity, as, for example, in the fact,
analogous to that of the needle, that insects can often move on the surface
of water without sinking, or that a dry ball and a moistened ball, if placed
on a liquid in such a manner that the curved surfaces of the liquid in their
respective neighbourhoods intersect, will repel each other.

14 See ii. 12 (Inst. 24\ and 27, with note 96 on the latter Aphorism.

LIB. II. 48. 549

modum ctiam videntur magni illi fcrvores et inflammationes,
quae inveniuntur in locis subterraneis, esse rcjectiones naturae
calidae ab interioribus terrae 15 . Calor enim et frigus, si fuerint in
quanto minore, se invicem perimunt ; sin fuerint in massis ma--
joribus et tanquam justis exercitibus, turn vero per conflictum
se locis invicem summovent et ejiciunt. Etiam tradunt cina-
momum et odorifera, sita juxta latrinas et loca foetida, diutius
odorem retinere ; quia recusant cxire et commisceri cum foc-
tidis. Certe argcntum vivum, quod alias se reuniret in corpus
integrum, prohibetur per salivam hominis, aut axungiam 1 "
porci, aut terebinthinam, et hujusmodi, ne partes ejus coeant ;
proptcr malum consensum quern habent cum hujusmodi
corporibus ; a quibus undique circumfusis se retrahunt ;
adeo ut fortior sit earum fnga ab istis interjacentibus quam
desidcrium uniendi se cum partibus sui similibus ; id quod
vocant mortificationcm 17 argenti vivi. Etiam quod oleum
cum aqua non misceatur, non tantum in causa est differentia
levitatis, sed mains ipsorum consensus : ut videre est in
spiritu vini, qui cum levior sit oleo, tamen se bene miscet cum
aqua. At maxime omnium insignis est motus fngae in nitro,
et hujusmodi corporibus crudis, quae flammam exhorrent 18 ;
ut in pulvere pyrio, argento vivo, necnon in auro 1;) . Fitga

15 It is curious to find all this nonsense adopted by Bacon. It is
borrowed from Telesius (see De Principiis atque Originibus, E. and S.,
vol. iii. pp. 109-10). Cp., for similar notions, Arist. Meteorologica, i. 12

(p. 348 b. 2, K.T.X.).

One of the Peripatetic doctrines (for which see Arist. De Gen. et Corr.
ii. 3) was that fire is hot and dry, air hot and moist, water cold and moist,
earth cold and dry. It required, therefore, to be explained why ' the
middle region of the air' is cold and why 'subterraneous places' are
warm, both phenomena being contrary to what might have been expected.
Telesius (whom Bacon so frequently follows) adopted so much of the
Peripatetic theory, as to make the heavens the principal seat of heat
and the earth of cold. See the account of Telesius' philosophy in the
De Principiis atque Originibus (p. 94, &c.), and cp. Telesius, De Rerum
Natura, lib. i. capp. 1-3.

10 Axle-tree grease, hog's lard. See Pliny, Nat. Hist, xxviii. 9 (37),
sects. 135, &c.

17 Cp. Historia Densi et Rari, E. and S., vol. ii. pp. 286-7.

lf) Cp. ii. 36 (7).

19 Cp. Historia Ventorum, E. and S., vol. ii. p. 74, and see Beckmann's

550 NOVUM ORGANUM.

vcro ferri 20 ab altero polo magnetis a Gilberto 21 bene notatur
non esse fiiga propria, sed conformitas, et coitio ad situm
magis accommodatum.

(u) Sit Motus Undecimus, Motus Assimilationis, sive
Multiplicationis srti, sive etiam Generationis Simplicis. Gene-
rationcm autem simplicem dicimus non corporum integralium,
ut in plantis, aut animalibus ; sed corporum similarium 22 .
Nempe per hunc motum corpora similaria vertunt corpora
alia affinia, aut saltern bcne disposita et praeparata, in sub-
stantiam et naturam suam : ut flamma, quae super halitus
et oleosa multiplicat se, et generat novam flammam 23 ; aer,
qui super aquam et aquea multiplicat se, et generat novum
aerem 24 ; spiritus vegetabilis et animalis, qui super tenuiores

History of Inventions, vol. iii. p. 128 (as quoted in E. and S.) for an
account of the discovery of fulminating gold. In the two-volume Edition,
the reference is vol. ii. p. 301, &c. The effects of detonating silver are
much more violent than those of detonating gold.

20 That is, magnetised iron ; for the law that ' Poles of the same name
repel, and poles of contrary name attract one another ' applies only to
substances both of which are magnets.

- 1 ' Ita coitio magnetica actus est magnetis et ferri, non actio unius,
utriusque eVreXe'^eta non epyoi/, crut'reXe^em et conactus potius quam sym-
pathia ; antipathia nulla est proprie magnetica. Nam fuga et declinatio
terminorum, sive conversio totius, utriusque actus est ad unitatem, a
conactu et crwevreXe'^eia [sic] amborum.' Gilbert, De Magnete, lib. ii. cap. 4.
But surely this is as much a case of repulsion as any of the others which
have been noticed. Faraday (Experimental Researches in Electricity) has
shewn that there are many substances (called by him diamagnetic sub-
stances) which are repelled by both poles of a magnet.

'- This is a curious limitation. The subject proposed for enquiry is not
the process by which the life of the whole animal or plant is sustained, but
the process by which and the materials out of which the separate parts (as
the bone, muscles, flesh, &c.) are repaired or augmented. Bacon's ignor-
ance of organic chemistry renders the discussion almost worthless.

23 On the physical constitution of flame, and the means by which it is
sustained or augmented (on which points Bacon was, of course, ignorant),
see Tyndall's Heat a Mode of Motion, 3rd Ed., 49, &c., or Watts'
Dictionary of Chemistry, article ' Combustion,' already referred to in one
of the notes on ii. 36 (8). Cp. also the whole of the passage on Flame in
ii. 36 (8), with the notes upon it.

24 The transmutability of the Elements was one of the leading doctrines
of the Peripatetic school. The student will find a clear and succinct

LIB. IL 48. 551

partes tarn aquei quam olcosi in alimentis suis multiplicat se,
et generat novum spiritum 25 ; partes solidae plantarum et
animalium, veluti folium, flos, caro, os, et sic de caeteris, quae
singulae ex succis alimentorum assimilant et generant sub-
stantiam successivam et epiusiam 2G . Neque enim quenquam

statement of the theory in Arist. De Gen. et Corr. ii. 4 (p. 331). The
conversion of water into air requires only the change of one quality,
namely of ' cold ' into ' warm,' the ' moist ' being already common to the
two. The intimate relation between air and water is spoken of in a
variety of ways. Thus in Phys. iv. 5 (p. 213 a. 1-4), Aristotle says (in
a passage already quoted) : ovrco 8e K<U dfjp e'^et rrpos vdu>p' olov v\rf yap, TO
8e fi8os, TO p.ev v8<ap vXr] depos, 6 8e drjp OLOV fvepyeid TIS fKfivov' TO yap v8(ap
8vvdp.u drjp to~Tiv, 6 8 dfjp 8wdp.fi v8u>p $X\ov Tponov. See also a curious
discussion in Meteorologica, i. 3 (339 a-34i a). Seneca (Nat. Ouaest.
iii. 10) has a striking passage on the constant interchange of the elements.

Patricius, who attacks the doctrine of the transmutability of the elements
(Discuss. Peripatet. torn. iv. lib. 3. pp. 395-6), asks very pertinently, who
ever saw air converted into water, or water into air. ' Dicat mihi de
numero istorum philosophorum aliquis, an unquam viderint, observarint,
aerem in aquam converti ? Scio ego, vidi, concedam, ex aqua et terra
in aerem vaporcs ascendere, aerem eos fieri nemo unquam vidit. ******
At dixit [Aristoteles] aerem in aquam transmutari. Scio eum dixisse, sed
experimentum cur non attulit ? Adferant sui pro eo.'

Bacon's idea seems to have been that air renews itself, and feeds, as
it were, on water, as flame renews itself and feeds on ' vapours and oily
matter.'

Air itself, on the other hand, while in the lower regions, he appears
to have regarded as a fixed body, which does not admit of resolution.
' Aer autem corpus fixum est, nee solvitur : licet enim aer ex humido
aqueo novum aerem gignat, tamen vetus aer nihilominus manet ; unde
fit superoneratio ilia aeris, de quo diximus in titulo de Vends.' Hist.
Vitae et Mortis, as quoted in the next note. Cp. Historia Ventorum,
E. and S., vol. ii. pp. 42-3 ; 75. But, in the upper regions, it is resolved
again into water, this ' reciprocation ' being a necessary conclusion ' ex
conservatione rerum.' See Historia Densi et Rari, E. and S., vol. ii.

P- 293-

'-"' On this absurd notion, cp. Historia Vitae et Mortis, Canon 32, E. and
S., vol. ii. pp. 225-6.

'-'' emoto-iov, sufficient for the day, or proper for their sustenance. The
word is, of course, adopted from the Lord's Prayer (Matt. vi. ii ; Luke
xi. 3). On the various opinions as to the meaning and derivation of this
word, the two translations in the Vulgate (supersubstantialem quotidi-
anum), and the celebrated dispute thence arising between St. Bernard
and Abelard (see Morison's St. Bernard, ist Ed., p. 313, &c.), it would be
travelling beyond my present province to speak.

552 NOVUM ORGANUM.

cum Paracelso delirare juvet, qui (distillationibus suis scilicet
occaecatus) nutritionem per separationem tantum fieri voluit;
quodque in pane vel cibo lateat oculus, nasus, cerebrum,
jecur 27 ; in succo terrae radix, folium, flos. Etenim sicut
faber ex rucli massa lapidis vel ligni, per separationem et
rejectionem superflui, educit folium, florem, oculum, nasum,
manum, pedem, et similia ; ita Archacnm ilium Fabrum 28
internum ex alimento per separationem et rejectionem edu-
cere singula membra et partes asserit ille. Verum, missis

27 I borrow, with slight additions, the following note from Mr. Ellis :
' I 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 nutrimentum latitet in pane, carne, et in aliis similiter." " Ouot
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. [Operum medico-chimicorum sive paradoxorum
tomi undecim genuini, torn.] v. p. 233. (I use the edition of 1603.)

' Bacon has, however, correctly stated the general doctrine that alimen-
tation is by separation ; and again Paracelsus affirms that " officium vero
Archei est in microcosmopurum ab impuro separare " [rather sequestrare\.
De Morbis Tartareis, [torn.] 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 de-
cidedly condemned has, by the recent progress of organic chemistry, been
shown to be true. Nothing seems better established than that the nitro-
geniscd 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 [see Miller's Organic Chemistry, Elements of
Chemistry, 4th Ed., vol. iii. 1718] ; 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.'

'* Paracelsus is very fond of this analogy. Thus, in the De Morbis
Tartareis, cap. 3, he says: 'Ac insuper Archaeum loco et vice fabri praesto
esse debeat.' Hallam (History of Literature, part. i. ch. 7. 17-20) gives
a short account of the whimsical theories of Paracelsus. For a longer
account, see Sprengel, Geschichte der Arzneykunde, Th. iii. Kap. 10.

LIB. IL 48. 553

nugis, certissimum est partes singulas, tarn similares quam
organicas, in vcgetabilibus et animalibus, succos alimentorum
suorum fere communes, aut non multum diversos, primo at-
trahcre cum nonnullo delectu, deindc assimilarc, et vertere in
naturam suam. Neque assimilatio ista, aut gencratio simplex,
fit solum in corporibus animatis, verum et inanimata ex hac re
participant ; veluti de flamma et ae'rc dictum est. Quinetiam
spiritus emortuus 2;) , qui in omni tangibili animate continetur,
id perpetuo agit, ut partes crassiores digcrat et vertat in
spiritum, qui dcinde exeat ; unde fit diminutio ponderis et
exsiccatio, ut alibi diximus 30 . Neque etiam respuenda est
in assimilatione accretio ilia, quam vulgo ab alimentatione
distinguunt ; veluti cum lutum :u inter lapillos concrescit,
et vertitur in materiam lapideam ; squammae circa dentes
vertuntur in substantiam non minus duram quam sunt dentes
ipsi, etc. Sumus enim in ca opinione, 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 diligentia inquirere oportet, quia pertinent ad
senectutis refocillationem 32 . Postremo videtur notatu dig-
num, quod in novem 33 illis motibus, dc quibus diximus,
corpora tantum naturae suae conservationem appetere vidcn-
tur ; in hoc decimo autem propagationem.

' :o On the distinction between the 'spiritus mortualis' and the 'spiritus
vitalis,' see Historia Vitae et Mortis, E. and S., vol. ii. pp. 214-7. In
Canons vii, viii, he makes the same remarks as in the present passage.

' See ii. 40.

:51 He means clay mixed up with pebbles or gravel, as in conglomerate
strata. The induration would take place just as readily, if it were detached,
provided it were subjected to the same influences in other respects.

3 - To attain this end is the practical object of the ' Historia Vitae et
Mortis.' See also De Augmentis, lib. iv. cap. 2.

The word ' refocillatio,' which is not to be found in classical Latin,
though the verb refocillo is occasionally found in post-Augustan writers,
occurs in some of the old College graces, as, for instance, in that of
Lincoln College, Oxford : ' Agimus Tibi gratias pro * * * praesentique
refocillatione.'

3 Nine, that is to say, excluding the first so-called 'motus,' which is
common to all matter, and of which no examples are proposed ; ' inest
enim omni corpori.'

554 NOVUM ORGANUM.

(12) Sit Motus Duodecimus, Motns Excitationis 34 ; qui
motus videtur esse ex genere assimilationis, atque eo nomine
quandoque a nobis promiscue vocatur. Est enim motus diffu-
sivus, et communicativus, et transitivus, et multiplicativus,
sicut et ille ; atque effectu (ut plurimum) conscntiunt, licet
efficiendi modo et subjecto differant. Motus enim assimila-
tionis procedit tanquam cum imperio et potestate ; jubet enim
et cogit assimilatum in assimilantem verti et mutari. At
motus cxcitationis procedit tanquam arte et insinuatione et
furtim ; et invitat tantum, et disponit excitatum ad naturam
excitantis. Etiam motus assimilationis multiplicat et trans-
format corpora et substantias ; veluti, plus fit flammae, plus
aeris, plus spiritus, plus carnis. At in motu cxcitationis, mul-
tiplicantur et transeunt virtutes tantum ; et plus fit calidi.
plus magnetici, plus putridi 30 . Eminet autem iste motus
praecipue in calido et frigido. Neque enim calor diffundit
se in calefaciendo per communicationem primi caloris ; sed
tantum per excitationem partium corporis 3G ad motum ilium
qui est Forma Calidi ; de quo in vindemiatione priina dc
natura calidi diximus. Itaque longe tardius et difficilius
excitatur calor in lapide aut metallo quam in acre 37 , ob
inhabilitatem et impromptitudinem corporum illorum ad
motum ilium ; ita ut verisimilc sit posse esse interius versus
viscera terrae matcrias quae calefieri prorsus respuant ; quia
ob condensationem majorem spiritu illo destituuntur a quo
motus iste cxcitationis plcrunque incipit 38 . Similiter magncs

34 The last 'motus' is conceived of as multiplying substances by assimi-
lation, this as exciting or communicating qualities by means of diffusion.
The growth of the body and its various parts would be the typical instance
of the one, heat of the other.

r On the doubtful character of this last example, see note 39 below.

3G This view is, of course, the true one.

37 This mistake, as already pointed out, arises from confusing the radia-
tion with the conduction of heat.

13 This curious passage seems to imply the notions that heat is com-
municated by means of a ' spiritus ' and that, in very dense bodies, this
' spiritus ' vanishes or is crushed out.

It is worth noting that Bacon regards the interior of the earth as much
denser than the surface. Cp. Historia Densi et Rari, E. and S., vol. ii.
pp. 248-9. '' Ue intcrioribus autem terrae nihil decernimus ; cum nee

LIB. IT. 48.

induit ferrum nova partium dispositione et motu conformi ;
ipse autem nihil ex virtute pcrdit. Similiter fermentum panis,
et flos cervisiae 3 ' J , et coagulum lactis, et nonnulla ex vcnenis,
excitant et invitant motum in massa farinaria. aut ccrvisia,
aut caseo, aut corpore humano, successivum ct continuatum ;
non tarn ex vi excitantis quam ex praedispositione et facili
cessione excitati.

(13) Sit Motus Decimus Tertius, Motns Imprcssionis 40 ;
qui motus est etiam ex genere motus assimilationis, cstque
ex diffusivis motibus subtilissimus. Nobis autcm visum est
eum in speciem propriam constituere, propter difierentiam

sensui nee experimento subjiciantur. Ilia, cum a calore coelestium primo
longius, deinde penitus, semota sint, possint esse corporibus nobis notis
densiora.' ' Cum fons densitatis videatur csse in profundo tcrrae, adeo
ut versus superficiem ejus corpora eximie extenuentur ; illud notatu dig-
num est, quod aurum,' &c. He then proceeds to ask why gold, which is
so heavy, should be found on the surface of the earth.

' J Yeast. ' The flower of beer.' For cervisia, see Pliny, lib. xxii. ad fin.

In consequence of the researches of Pasteur and others, the generally
received opinion as to the working of yeast and leaven is that it is due to
a chemical action set up by the life processes of minute organisms which
have an indefinite power of self-multiplication. (See Watts' Dictionary of
Chemistry, art. ' Fermentation,' both in vol. ii. and in the Supplement. )
The opposed view, held by Liebig and others, attributing these changes
entirely to chemical and physical forces, seems to have been set aside by
recent experiments. Hence, these phenomena must be regarded as illus-
trating the last section rather than the present one. Putrefaction (see
note 98 above) is a particular case of fermentation.

The coagulation of milk, when spontaneous, is also probably due to
chemical action set up by minute living organisms. But, when produced
by artificial means, as by an acid, the phenomenon is purely chemical, and
may, therefore, be regarded as an example of the 'motus excitationis.'

As to poisons, we must distinguish three cases. Some poisons, like
vaccine virus, are due to the indefinite self-multiplication of low organisms
within the body. Others, like arsenic, act purely chemically. Lastly, a
third class, like chloroform or prussic acid, act, as it were, physiologically,
by destroying the dynamical activity of some tissue or organ. I am
indebted for this division to the late Dr. Rolleston. The student will find
some interesting remarks on the action of poisons in Dr. Carpenter's Human
Physiology, 8th Ed., 220-9 (ch. 7). [Omitted in the 9th Edition.]

40 This 'motus' is distinguished from the two last by the continuance of
the original impressions being necessary to the continuance of the effects.
Thus light or sound ceases, when the source of the impression is with-
drawn.

556 NOVUM ORGANUM.

insignem quam habet erga priores duos. Motus enim assi-
milationis simplex corpora ipsa transformat ; ita ut si tollas
primum movens nihil intersit ad ea quac sequuntur. Neque
enim prima accensio in flammam, aut prima versio in ae'rem,
aliquid facit ad flammam aut ae'rem in generatione succe-
dcntem. Similitcr, motus excitationis omnino manet, remoto
primo movente, ad tempora bene diuturna ; ut in corpore
calefacto, remoto primo calore ; in ferro excito, remoto mag-
nate ; in massa farinaria, remoto fermento. At Motus Im-
prcssioniS) licet sit diffusivus, et transitivus, tamen perpetuo
pendere vidctur ex primo movente ; adeo ut, sublato aut
ccssante illo, statim deficiat et pereat ; itaquc etiam momento,
aut saltern exiguo tcmpore 41 , transigitur. Ouare motus illos
assimilationis et excitationis, Motus gcncrationis Jovis, quia
generatio manct ; hunc autem motum JHotnin Gcnerationis
Saturni^-, quia natus statim devoratur et absorbetur, ap-
pellare consuevimus. Manifestat se vcro hie motus in tribus ;
in lucis radiis ; sonorum pcrcussionibus ; et magncticis, qua-
tenus ad communicationem 4S . Etenim amota luce, statim
pereunt colores ct reliquae imagines ejus ; amota percussione
prima et quassatione corporis inde facta, paulo post pcrit
sonus. Licet enim soni etiam in medio per ventos tanquam
per undas 44 agitentur ; tamcn diligentius notandum est, quod
sonus non tarn diu durat quam fit resonatio 45 . Etenim im-
pulsa campana, sonus ad bene magnum tempus continuari

41 This qualification allows for the time required for the propagation of
light or sound. Cp. Aph. 46, with notes upon it.

l ' 2 The Latin Saturnus was confounded with the Greek god K/JO'I/OS. For
the story, see Hesiod, Theogonia, 1. 453, &c.

4: '' That is, mere communication of motion, as distinguished from the
magnetic induction spoken of above and in the last section. The latter is
permanent ; the former disappears with the attracting body.

44 It would seem from this passage as if Bacon had a vague notion of
the undulatory motion of sound.

45 He is speaking of the reinforcement of sound caused by the continued
vibration of the object struck, even after the first effect of the percussion
has ceased. The case of stringed instruments, which have sounding
boards, is different from that of a bell. On the phenomena of Overtones
and Resonance, see Tyndall on Sound or Helmholtz on Sensations of
Tone.

LIB. II. 48.

videtur : unde quis facile in errorem labatur, si existimet toto
illo tempore sonum tanquam natare et haerere in acre ; quod
falsissimum est. Etcnim ilia resonatio non est idem sonus
numero, sed renovatur. Hoc autem manifcstatur ex seda-
tione sive cohibitionc 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 digito ut in lyra, vel calamo
ut in espinetis, statim desinit resonatio. Magnete autem
remoto, statim ferrum decidit. Luna autem a mari non potest
removeri; nee terra a ponderoso dum cadit 4G . Itaque de illis
nullum fieri potest experimentum ; sed ratio eadem est.

(14) Sit Motus Decimus Ouartus, Motus Configuration-is,
aut Situs* 1 ; per quem corpora appetere videntur, non coi-
tionem aut separationem aliquam, sed situm, et collocationem,
et configurationem cum aliis. Est autem iste motus valde
abstrusus, ncc bene inquisitus. Atque in quibusdam videtur
quasi incausabilis ; licet revera (ut existimamus) non ita sit.
Etenim si quaeratur cur potius coelum volvatur ab oriente in
occidentem quam ab occidente in orientem 4S ; aut cur vertatur

10 Note that here, as in ii. 45 and elsewhere, Bacon connects the fall of
heavy bodies to the earth and the phenomena of the spring and neap tides
with magnetic attraction.

47 This ' motus ' may be illustrated by the form of crystals, or the
cellular structure of animals and plants, or the tendency of each particular
species to assume a definite shape. I cannot agree with Dr. Hippus that
there is anything strange in referring to this head the directions of the
celestial motions or the polarity of the magnetic needle.

*' Or, as we should put it, why the earth rotates from west to east.
This direction of motion, whether orbital or axial, as we have already seen
(see ii. 36 (2) with note 98), is common to all the planets and their satel-
lites, with the sole known exception of the satellites of Uranus. Moreover,
the sun itself rotates on its axis in the same direction. For Laplace's cal-
culations, by which he showed the enormously preponderating probability
of some common cause for this uniformity of direction, see Jevons' Prin-
ciples of Science, vol. i. pp. 287-9, ar >d the works, on both sides of the
question, there referred to. This cause is, in all probability, connected
with the circumstances of the detachment of the planets or satellites from
the central mass of which they are supposed, according to the nebular
hypothesis, to have originally formed a part. For this ingenious theory
and for the earlier one of Buffon, which had for its object the explanation

558 NOVUM ORGANUM.

circa polos positos juxta Ursas potius quam circa Orionem,
aut ex alia aliqua parte coeli 49 : videtur ista quaestio tanquam
quaedam extasis 50 , cum ista potius ab experientia, et ut posi-
tiva 51 recipi dcbeant. At in natura profecto sunt quaedam
ultima et incausabilia ; verum hoc 52 ex illis non esse videtur.
Etenim hoc fieri existimamus ex quadam harmonia et con-
sensu mundi, qui adhuc non venit in observationem. Quod
si recipiatur motus terrae ab occidente in orientem, eaedem
manent quaestiones. Nam et ipsa super aliquos polos move-
tur. Atque cur tandem debeant isti poli collocari magis ubi
sunt quam alibi ? Item verticitas, et directio, et declinatio
magnetis ad hunc motum referuntur. Etiam inveniuntur in
corporibus tarn naturalibus quam artificialibus, praescrtim
consistentibus et non fluidis, collatio quaedam et positura
partium, et tanquam villi et fibrae, quae diligenter investi-
gandae sunt ; utpote sine quarum inventione corpora ilia
commode tractari aut regi non possunt. At circulationes

of the same phenomena, see Laplace, Exposition du Systeme du Monde,
note vii. (CEuvres, vol. vi. p. 470, &c.).

411 Mr. Ellis, commenting on the corresponding passage below, says :
' 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.' In the Historia Ventorum (E.
and S., vol. ii. p. 28). as Mr. Spedding (employing Mr. Ellis's notes) has
pointed out, he speaks of the north pole as being above, and the south
pole belou- us. See Mr. Spedcling's Preface to the De Interprctatione
Naturae Prooemium, vol. iii. p. 512.

5 " fKCTTCKns, a displacement, or a standing aside. We may construe 'out
of place.' The word is common in Aristotle.

11 'As ultimate facts.' Cp. i. 48, with note 73. However far we may
carry our speculations, there is always something beyond which is left
unexplained. And this difficulty the human mind, with its restless acti-
vity, attempts, and cannot but attempt, to resolve. There must always,
it is true, be some barrier to these efforts, but, unless they were constantly
being made, the mind would become atrophied, and human knowledge
would soon be at a standstill.

- This remark does credit to Paeon's sagacity. See note 48 above, on
Laplace's nebular hypothesis. Though, of course, Bacon had not the
slightest suspicion of such explanations as would now be given, still he
had the penetration to suspect that there must be some explanation
forthcoming.

LIB. II. 48. 559

illas in liquidis, per quas ilia dum pressa sint, antequam sc
liberarc possunt, se invicem relevant, ut compressioncm illam
ex acquo tolerent, motui libertatis verius assignamus.

(15) Sit Motus Dccimus Quintus, Motus Pcrtraiisitionis,
sive Motus secundum Meatus ; per quern virtutes corporum
magis aut minus impediuntur aut provehuntur a mcdiis
ipsorum, pro natura corporum et virtutum opcrantium, atque
etiam medii. Aliud enim medium 6:3 luci convenit. aliud sono,
aliud calori et frigori, aliud virtutibus magncticis, necnon
aliis nonnullis respective.

(16) Sit Motus Decimus Sextus, UTotns Regius (ita enim
eum appellamus) sive Politicns 54: : per quern partes in corpore
aliquo praedominantes et imperantes reliquas partes fraenant,

53 On the medium of Light, cp. Topica Inquisitionis De Luce et
Lumine, x, xi (E. and S., vol. ii. p. 320), and Sylva Sylvarum, Exps. 761-2,
where he notices the phenomenon of Refraction ; on the medium of Sound,
the numerous 'Experiments' on Sound in Sylva Sylvarum, Centuries ii, iii ;
on the medium of Heat, the numerous remarks scattered throughout this
Book of the Novum Organum ; and on the medium through which the
Magnet acts, the Inquisitio De Magnete (E.andS., vol. ii. pp. 311-2), and
Nov. Org. ii. 42. His remarks on the transmission of Heat are vitiated
throughout by his not distinguishing between radiation and conduction.

One of the most important differences with respect to transmission
through media is that, while heat and light can be transmitted in vacuo,
sound cannot. Moreover, the denser the air in which a sound is gene-
rated, the more intense is it. A magnet will act in vacuo, but Faraday
has shown that a substance, which is paramagnetic in vacuo, may become
diamagnetic in air. As respects electricity, I may quote the following
passage from Ganot's Physics (i2th Ed. of Translation, 927): 'The
electrical discharge does not pass through a vacuum, as is shown by the
following experiment. A small tube containing caustic potash is fused to
a Geissiers tube connected with a Sprengel pump. By continual ex-
haustion while the caustic potash is being heated, as complete a vacuum
as possible is made of the tube sealed. The last minute trace of aqueous
vapour is absorbed by the caustic potash as it cools. In this complete
vacuum the discharge, however strong, no longer passes ; the vacuum
acts as a complete non-conductor.'

r ' 4 This somewhat fanciful notion, still more fancifully illustrated, re-
quires no comment. Better illustrations would have been, in respect of
determining functions, the place of the heart and brain in the animal
economy, or, in respect of relative importance, that of the seed-vessels
in plants. For the metaphor, cp. Arist. Pol. i. 5 (6) : ?? /V yap tyvx>] rov
tra>fj.aros <"px el SfanoTiKtjif ap-^v, 6 fie vovs TTJS ope'ecoy TroXiriKijv KCU @aai\iK>']i>,
K. T. X,

560 NOVUM ORGANUM.

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 quaedam, quam exercet
pars regens in partes subditas. Eminet autem hie motus
praecipue in spiritibus animalium, qui motus omnes partium
reliquarum, quamdiu ipse in vigore est, contempcrat. In-
venitur 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 proprius est, licet in plerisque corporibus
spiritus dominentur 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 fraenum et
jugum hoc arte aliqua excutiatur, de nova aliqua hujusmodi
corporum transformatione minime sperandum sit. Neque
vero quispiam nos oblitos esse existimet ejus quod nunc
agitur ; quia cum ista series et distributio motuum ad nil
aliud spectet, quam ut illorum praedominantia per instantias
Inctac melius inquiratur, jam inter motus ipsos praedomi-
nantiac mentionem faciamus. Non enim in descriptione motiis
istius rcgii, cle praedominantia motuum aut virtutum trac-
tamus, sed de praedominantia partium in corporibus. Haec
enim ea est praedominantia^ quae speciem istam motus
peculiarem constituit.

(17) Sit Motus Decirnus Septimus, JiTotns Rotationis Spon-
tancns 55 ; per quern corpora motu gaudentia, et bene collocata,
natura sua fruuntur, atque seipsa sequuntur, non aliud, et
tanquam proprios petunt amplexus. Etenim vidcntur cor-
pora aut moverc sine termino ; aut plane quiescere ; aut ferri
ad terminum, ubi pro natura sua aut rotent aut quiescant.
Atque quae bene collocata sunt, si motu gaudcant. movent

f>s Cp. ii. 5 ad fin., ii. 35, ii. 36 (2), and notes. There is little on this
subject to add to what has already been said on the above passages. The
reader will not fail to contrast Bacon's curious conceptions about motion
(derived from the Peripatetics) with the Laws of Motion, as known to us.

LIB. 77. 48. 561

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 5G .
Recipit autem motus iste rotationis diffcrentias novem 57 .
Primam, centri sui, circa quod corpora movent : sccundam,
polorum suorum, supra quos movent : tertiam, circumferentiae
sive ambitus sui, prout distant a centre : quartam, incitationis
suae, prout celerius aut tardius rotant : quintam, conse-
quutionis motus sui, veluti ab oriente in occidentem, aut ab
occidente in orientem : sextam, declinationis a circulo perfecto
per spiras longius aut propius distantes a centro suo : septi-
mam, declinationis a circulo perfecto per spiras longius aut
propius distantes a polis suis : octavam, distantiae propioris
aut longioris spirarum suarum ad invicem : nonam et ultimam,
variationis ipsorum polorum 58 , si sint mobiles ; quae ipsa ad
rotationem non pertinet, nisi fiat circulariter 5!) . Atque iste

56 ' 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
of 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 favourably
received by the systematic Peripaticians. See, for instance, Flaminius,
De prima Philosoph. Paraph, p. 119. (I quote the Basle edition of 15 57.)'
Mr. Ellis' note.

67 That is, nine respects in which the motions may differ.

68 That is, libration.

The reader need hardly be again reminded that he will find a detailed
account of Bacon's astronomical views (written, however, about eight years
before the publication of the Novum Organum), in the Descriptio Globi
Intellcctualis and the appended tract Thema Coeii (E. and S., vol. iii.
pp. 713-80).

59 Mr. Ellis says : ' I believe the sense is that unless we restrict ourselves

562 ^ NOVUM ORGANUM.

motus communi et inveterata opinione habetur pro proprio
coelestium. Attamen gravis de illo motu lis est inter non-
nullos tarn ex antiquis quam modernis, qui rotationcm terrae
attribuerunt. At multo fortasse justior 60 movetur controversia
(si modo res non sit omnino extra controversiam), an motus
videlicet iste (concesso quod terra stet) coeli fmibus conti-
neatur, an potius descendat, et communicetur aeri et aquis 61 .
Motum autem rotationis in missilibus, ut in spiculis, sagittis,
pilis sclopetorum, et similibus, omnino ad motum libcrtatis
rejicimus 2 .

(18) Sit Motus Decimus Octavus, Motus Trcpidationis, cui
(ut ab astronomis intelligitur) non multum fidei adhibemus 63 .
Nobis autem corporum naturalium appetitus ubique serio
perscrutantibus occurrit iste motus ; et constitui debere videtur
in speciem. Est autem hie motus veluti aeternae cujusdam
captivitatis. Videlicet ubi corpora non omnino pro natura
sua bene locata, et tamen non prorsus male se habentia,

to circular motion, 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 maybe adequately represented without
it by means of spirals.'

" This language, the reader will perceive, exactly accords with what
we have so often elsewhere found to be Bacon's opinion not only as to the
annual, but also as to the diurnal motion of the earth.

61 Cp. Aph. 36 (2), and notes.

e2 See ' Motus tertius' above, and Aph. 36 (6).

c3 '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 trepi-
tion was suggested, is not rigorously constant. It may be questioned
whether Bacon's hesitation to accept the astronomical motion of trepi-
dation had any better foundation than his doubts whether the proper
motions of the planetary orbs were anything more than " res confictae et
suppositae." [See Aph. 36 (2).] The question of the existence
or non-existence of trepidation could only be decided by a person
conversant with the details of the received system of astronomy.' Mr.
Ellis' note.

LIB. TI. 48. 563

perpetuo trepidant, et irrequiete se agant 04 , ncc statu suo
contenta, ncc ulterius ausa progredi. Talis invcnitur motus
in corde ct pulsibus animalium ; et necesse est ut sit in
omnibus corporibus, quae statu ancipiti ita dcgunt inter
commoda et incommoda, ut distracta liberare se tcntent, et
denuo repulsam patiantur. et tamen perpetuo experiantur r ' r \

(19) Sit Motus Decimus Nonus et postremus, motus ille cui
vix nomen motus competit, et tamen est plane motus. Quern
motum, Motum Decubitns GG . sivc Mo turn Exhorrentiae Motus,
vocare licet. Per hunc motum terra stat mole sua" 7 , mo-
ventibus se extremis suis in medium ; non ad centrum

64 The word 'agant,' which occurs in the First Edition, should be
replaced by ' agunt,' as is done in the Second and Third Editions.

55 Cp. Historia Densi et Rari, E. and S., vol. ii. p. 263 : ' Pulsus cordis
et arteriarum in animalibus fit per irrequietam dilatationem spirituum, et
receptum ipsorum, per vices.' In reading vague and fanciful passages like
these, we must recollect that Harvey did not begin to teach his theory of
the circulation of the blood till 1619, and that it was not till 1628 that his
great treatise, the ' Exercitatio Anatomica de Motu Cordis et Sanguinis in
Animalibus,' was published. Bacon might, it is true, have derived more
precise views than those which he expresses from earlier writers, but there
was nothing specially to direct his attention to this subject.

The Tides and the astronomical phenomena of Nutation and Libration
might furnish appropriate instances of the 'Motus Trepidationis.'

66 Decubitus = lying away from, sc. motion. See Facciolati on decubo.
He quotes Fabius Pictor apud Aul. Cell. lib. x. cap. 15 : 'Pedes lecti, in
quo cubat [sc. Flamen Dialis], luto tenui circumlitos esse oportet : et de
eo lecto trinoctium continuum non decubat : neque in eo lecto cubare
alium fas est.' Decubitus might, however, simply mean 'lying down,'
' reclining,' ' repose.' (Cp. decumbo.)

On Bacon's vague and improper use of the word ' motion,' see the first
note on this Aphorism. Here it cannot be rendered even by ' process ' or
' operation,' but we must resort to some word of very wide meaning, such
as ' tendency ' or ' affection ' of matter.

' Inertia,' the property of which Bacon here speaks, is simply the inca-
pacity of matter to change its own state of rest or motion. The obscure
notions of Bacon and his contemporaries about motion prevented them
from seeing that this property applies as much to the tendency of a body
in motion to go on moving as to that of a body at rest to remain at rest.
For a brief account of the establishment of the First Law of Motion (which
seems to have been first enunciated by Galileo in 1638), see Whewell's
History of the Inductive Sciences, vol. ii. bk. vi. ch. 2.

67 Bacon seems never weary of parading his belief in the immobility of
the earth.

O O 2

564 NOVUM ORGANUM.

imaginativum, sed ad unionem. Per hunc etiam appetitum
omnia majorem in modum condensata motum exhorrent,
atque illis pro omni appetitu est non moveri ; et licet infinitis
modis vellicentur et provocentur ad motum, tamen naturam
suam (quoad possunt) tuentur. Quod si ad motum com-
pellantur, tamen hoc agere semper videntur ut quietem et
statum suum recuperent, neque amplius moveant. Atque
circa hoc certe se agilia praebent, et satis perniciter et
rapide (ut pertaesa et impatientia omnis morae) contendunt.
Hujus autem appetitus imago ex parte tantum cerni potest ;
quia hie apud nos, ex subactione et concoctione coelestium GS ,
omne tangibile non tantum non condensatum est ad ultimi-
tatem, sed etiam cum spiritu nonnullo miscetur.

Proposuimus itaque jam species sive elementa simplicia
motuum, appetituum, ct virtutum activarum, quae sunt in
natura maxime catholica. Neque parum scientiae naturalis sub
illis adumbratum est. Non ncgamus tamen et alias species
fortasse addi posse (i ', atque istas ipsas divisioncs secundum
veriores rerum vcnas transferri, dcnique in minorem numerum
posse redigi. Neque tamen hoc de divisionibus aliquibus ab-
stractis intelligimus : veluti si quis dicat corpora appetere vel
conservationem, vel exaltationem, vel propagationem, vel fru-

3>< Cp. what he says above, under ' Motus Duodecimus : ' ' ita ut veri-
simile sit posse esse,' &c. It was one of the leading doctrines of Telesius
that the sun, and the heavenly bodies generally, modify the surface of the
earth and the parts adjacent to the surface, rendering them rarer and
warmer than they are by their own nature ; while the interior parts of
the earth exhibit its peculiar characteristics of coldness, crassness, dark-
ness, and immobility. See Telesius, De Rerum Natura, lib. i. (especially
chs. 5, 10-14) j Bacon, De Principiis atque Originibus, E. and S., vol. iii.
pp. 98-9.

Towards the end of Aph. 20, Bacon uses the expression 'imbutum a
coelestibus,' on which see note.

i<J Dr. Hippus remarks very well that this class of facts or rather ten-
dencies might have been further illustrated by torsion or the effort made
by a thread, wire, or the like, when twisted, to untwist itself.

To attempt to classify, reduce, or complete this list of so-called ' motions,'
would be of no service to the student. I have already said enough to
enable him to estimate the value of Bacon's enumeration, as well as its
various errors and defects.

LIB. II. 48. 565

itionem naturae suae ; aut si quis dicat motus rerum tcndcrc
ad conservationem et bonum, vel universi, ut antitypiam ct
ncxum; vel universitatum magnarum, ut motus congrcgatio-
nis mqfon's, rotationis, et cxhorrentiae motus ; vel formarum
specialium, ut reliquos. Licet enim haec vera sint, tamen
nisi terminentur 70 in materia et fabrica secundum veras lincas,
speculativa sunt, et minus utilia. Interim sufficient et boni
erunt usus ad pensitandas praedominantias virtutum et ex-
quirendas ins.tantias hictac ; id quod nunc agitur.

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 antitypiac omnino est adamantinus et invincibilis.
Utrum vero Motus nexus sit invincibilis adhuc haeremus.
Neque enim pro ccrto affirmaverimus 71 utrum detur Vacuum,
sive coacervatum sive permistum 72 . At de illo nobis constat,

70 Be ' defined,' or ' limited.'

71 In ii.8, Bacon absolutely denies the existence of a vacuum. See note
on that passage and also note 59 on the ' Motus Secundus.' In the latter
note, I have referred to Bacon's change of opinion on the subject of
a vacuum, and have quoted a ' Canon' from the Historia Densi et Rari
(which work, or, at least, the latter part of it, was written during his
last ' quinquennium '), where he says : ' Non est vacuum in natura, nee
congregatum nee intermistum.' See E. and S., vol. ii. p. 303. Taking
that as his last utterance on the subject, and bearing in mind the positive
manner in which he speaks in ii. 8, as also the apparent bias of i. 66 and
ii. 48 (2), we must, I think, notwithstanding the expressions of doubt in
the present passage, regard him as having deliberately rejected the doctrine
of a vacuum.

72 I borrow the following note from Ellis and Spedding's Edition :
'"Vacuum permistum," KCVOV o^coptoroi', is vacuum diffused through the
interstices of any portion of matter. By "vacuum coacervatum," xevbv
Kexa)pia-fjLfvov, is meant clear empty space. See, for this distinction,
Aristotle, Phys. iv. 7 [p. 214]. 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)
" Ouisquis autem atomum ponit et vacuum, necessario virtutem atomi ad

566 NOVUM ORGANUM.

rationcm illam 73 , propter quam introductum est Vacuum a
Leucippo et Democrito (videlicet quod absque eo non possent
eadem corpora complecti et implere majora et minora spatia) )
falsam essc. Est enim plane plica materiae" 1 ^ complicantis
et replicantis se per spatia, inter certos fines, absque in-
terpositione vacui ; neque est in acre ex vacuo bis millies
(tantum enim esse oportet) plus quam in auro 75 . Id quod ex
potentissimis corporum pneumaticorum virtutibus (quae aliter
tanquam pulveres minuti natarent in vacuo), et multis aliis
demonstrationibus, nobis satis liquet. Reliqui vero Motus

distans introducit" is altered, in the edition published by Rawley after
Bacon's death, to " Ouisquis autem atomum asserit atque vacuum (licet
istud vacuum intermistum ponat, non segregatum) necessario," &c.

J.s.Y

Cp. the similar distinction of 'aer permistus' and 'aer coacervatus' in
Aph. 50 ad init.

73 For this and other reasons, see Arist. Phys. iv. 6 (p. 213 bj.

71 Cp. Historia Densi et Rari, E. and S., vol. ii. p. 303 : ' Inter terminos
densi et rari est plica materiae, per quam se coinplicat et replicat absque
vacuo.'

Bacon's own theory, therefore, was that the atoms, instead of being
separated by a vacuum, have the power of expanding and contracting
themselves, so as exactly to adjust themselves, one to another, without
leaving any intervening space.

Plica (from plico) is explained by Du Cange as ' plicatura vel involutio.'

75 ' Nor is there in air two thousand times more of vacuity than in gold.'
Bacon appears to regard this supposition as a red-net io ad absurdiun of the
theory of a vacuum. In ii. 40, he states the density of gold at 21 times
that of spirits of wine, and that of spirits of wine at loo times that of its
own vapour ; while, in the Historia Densi et Rari (E. and S., vol. ii. p. 255),
he says that all fumes are denser than air. This calculation would make
the density of gold more than 2100 times greater than that of air, or,
speaking roughly, 2000 times greater. Bacon, who was not much of a
mathematician, probably took for granted that the ratio of the amounts of
vacuity, supposing a vacuum possible, contained in equal weights of the
two bodies, would be inversely that of the densities. But this is plainly
not the case.

Proceeding on a calculation based on passages in the Historia Densi et
Rari only, Mr. Ellis makes the supposed density of gold 1900- fold that
of air. Supposing that nineteen-twentieths of the gold consisted of vacuity
(perhaps not an extravagant calculation, when we consider the supposed
density of the bodies in the interior of the earth), the ratio of the sup-
posed vacuity in the same weights of air and gold would = 1899 + ?,|j : ?,]}
= (approximately) li '- ( !," '- 3IJ : .^ = 2000 : I, the ratio given in the text.

LIB. II. 48. 567

regunt et reguntur mvicem, pro rationibus vigoris, quanti,
incitationis, ejaculationis, necnon turn auxiliorum turn im-
pedimentorum quae occurrunt.

Exempli gratia : magncs armatus nonnullus detinet ct
suspendit ferrum, ad sexagecuplum pondus ipsius; eo usque
dominatur motus congregationis minoris super motum congrega-
tionis majoris ; quod si majus fuerit pondus, succumbit. Vectis
tanti roboris sublevabit tantum pondus ; eo usque dominatur
motus libertatis super motum congregationis majoris ; sin
majus fuerit pondus, succumbit. Corium tensum ad tensuram
talem non rumpitur ; eo usque dominatur motus continu-
ationis super motum tensurae ; quod si ulterior fuerit tensura,
rumpitur corium, et succumbit motus continuation's. Aqua
per rimam perforationis talis effluit ; eo usque dominatur motus
congregationis majoris super motum continuationis ; quod si
minor fuerit rima, succumbit, et vincit motus continuationis.
In pulvere sulphuris solius immissi 7G in sclopetum cum pila, et
admoto igne, non emittitur pila ; in eo motus congregationis
majoris vincit motum Jiyles. At in pulvere pyrio immisso
vincit motus hyles in sulphure, adjutus motibus hyles et
fngae in nitro. Et sic de caeteris. Etcnim instantiae luctae
(quae indicant praedominantiam virtutum, et sccundum quas
rationes et calculos praedominentur et succumbant) acri et
sedula cliligentia undique sunt conquirendae.

Etiam modi et rationes ipsius succumbentiae motuum dili-
genter sunt introspiciendae. Nempe, an omnino cessent, 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 apparentiam ". Ouies autem

76 Mr. Ellis proposes to read ' immisso.'

77 See note 68 above. The 'hie apud nos' is opposed to the interior
parts of the earth. The equilibrium of entire bodies, he supposes, is only
apparent, while, amongst the minute particles of bodies, there is a motion
constantly going on, a 'latens processus,' a 'latio per minima.'

This idea, I need hardly say, is in accordance with the views of the
most recent physicists, who regard the minute molecules of which matter
is or may be supposed to be composed as being in a constant state of
motion. See, for instance, Tyndall's Heat a Mode of Motion. 3rd ed., ch. 3
with the Appendix. M. Bouillet points out the coincidence between
Bacon's opinion and that of Leibnitz, as shewn, amongst other places, in

568 NOVUM ORGANUM.

ista apparens causatur aut per aeqmlibrinm, aut per abso-
lutam praedominantiam motuum. Per aequilibrium, ut in
bilancibus, quae stant si aequa sint pondera. Per praedo-
minantiam, ut in hydriis perforatis, ubi quiescit aqua et
detinetur a decasu 78 , per praedominantiam motus nexus.
Notandum tamcn est (ut diximus) quatenus nitantur motus
illi succumbentes, Etenim si quis per luctam detineatur
cxtensus in terra, brachiis et tibiis vinctis, aut aliter detentis ;
atque ille tamen totis viribus resurgere nitatur ; non est
minor nixus, licet non proficiat 79 . Hujus autem rei conditio
(scilicet utrum per praedominantiam motus succumbens quasi
annihiletur, an potius continuetur nixus, licet non conspiciatur),
quae latet in conflictibus, apparebit fortasse in concurrentiis.
Exempli gratia ; fiat experimentum in sclopetis, utrum sclo-
petus, pro tanto spatio quo emittat pilam in linea directa,
sive (ut vulgo loquimtur) in puncto bianco, debiliorem edat
percussionem ejaculando in supra, ubi Motus Ictus est
simplex, quam desuper, ubi Motus Gravitatis concurrit cum
Ictu 80 .

the following passage : ' Et hanc agendi virtutem omni substantiae inesse
aio, semperque aliquam ex eo actionem nasci ; adeoque nee ipsam sub-
stantiam corpoream (non magis quam spiritualem) ab agendo cessare
unquam ; quod illi non satis pcrcepisse videntur, qui essentiam ejus in sola
extensione, vel etiam impenetrabilitate collocaverunt, et corpus omnimode
quiesccns concipere sibi sunt visi.' De Primae Philosophiae Emendatione,
Acta Eruditorum, 1694. Ed. Erdmann. p. 122.

'* In ' Motus Secundus,' he adds the important words ' nisi os hydriae ad
immittendum aerem aperiatur.' These phenomena, when once observed,
ought to have led to the discovery of the pressure of the atmosphere.

79 This statement is, of course, true. A cause always operates to the
full extent of its efficiency, though its effects may not be apparent, owing
to the action of other causes, whether concurring or counteracting. Though
a truism, when once stated, this consideration is often lost sight of.

This passage is very curious, as shewing that Bacon had no suspicion
that, in both cases alike, the force of gravity is acting at every moment of
the projectile's path ; nor was he aware, of course, that the path of the
projectile, if we leave out of account the resistance of the atmosphere, is
in all cases a parabola. The experiment proposed is to ascertain how far
a gun will carry point-blank, and then, firing that distance, first upwards,
then downwards, to compare the force of the two shots. As the velocity
at any point of the parabola is that which would be acquired in falling
from the directrix, there can be no doubt that the downward shot would

LIB. IL 49. 569

Etiam canones pracdominantiarum qui occurrunt colligendi
sunt. Veluti, quod quo communius est bonum quod appetitur,
eo motus est fortior 81 : ut motus nexus, qui respicit commu-
nionem universi, fortior est motu gravitatis, qui respicit com-
munionem densorum. Etiam quod appetitus qui sunt boni
privati, non praevalent plerunque contra appetitus boni magis
publici, nisi in parvis quantis. Quae utinam obtinerent in
civilibus.

XLIX.

Inter praerogativas instantiarum ponemus loco vicesimo
quinto Instantias Innuentes** ; eas scilicet, quae commoda ho-
minum innuunt aut designant. Etenim ipsum Posse et ipsum
Scire naturam humanam amplificant, non beant 83 . Itaque

make much the greater impression of the two. But, as it is almost need-
less to add, Bacon entirely mistook the conditions of the problem.

The true theory of the motion of projectiles was first distinctly enun-
ciated by Galileo in the fourth of his Dialogues on Motion, which were
published at Leyden in 1638 (Dialoghi delle Nuove Scienze, Giornata iv,
Florence Ed., vol. xiii. p. 222, c.). On the previous speculations of
Tartaglia, Digges, c., see Whewell's History of the Inductive Sciences,
vol. ii. bk. vi. ch. 2. sect. 3, and Drinkwater's Life of Galileo (Lib. Soc.
U. K.), ch. 16. It is curious that one of the books (the Pantometria,
published in 1591), in which Thomas Digges alludes to the compounded
motion of a projectile, was dedicated to Sir Nicholas Bacon, Bacon's
father. A series of very interesting remarks on this subject will be found
at the end of the Stratioticos, published by Digges in 1579.

81 Note this strange application of the doctrine of Final Causes, and the
very doubtful example by which it is supported.

On Public and Private Good, cp. the interesting passages in De Augm.
vii. i (E. and S., vol. i. p. 717, &c.), or Advancement of Learning, bk. ii.
(E. and S., vol. iii. p. 420, &c.). The application of this distinction to
'judge and determine the controversies wherein Moral Philosophy is
conversant ' has a peculiar interest in reference to subsequent ethical
speculation.

82 These are the first of the three ' Instantiae propitiae sive benevolae '
(see Aph. 44). Their office is ' dirigere opcrativam ad ea quae maxime
hominum intersunt.' Hence, they are called ' Intimating Instances ; ' for
they suggest to us what are profitable, and what are unprofitable directions
for our experiments, energies, or speculations.

83 On the necessity of the union of Knowledge and Practice, Science
and Art, see i. Si, ii. 4, and the various other passages on the same subject
which abound in this treatise. In i. 3. the lesson is conveyed in a some-
what different form : ' Scientia et potentia humana in idem coincidunt.'

570 NOVUM ORGANUM.

decerpenda sunt ex universitate rerum ea quae ad usus vitae
maxime faciunt. Verum de iis erit magis proprius dicendi
locus, cum Deductiones ad Praxim 81 tractabimus. Quinetiam
in ipso opere Interpretationis circa singula subjecta, locum
semper Chartae Humanae, sive CJiartae Optativae^\ assigna-
mus. Etenim et quaerere et optare non inepte, pars scientiae
est 8G .

Inter praerogativas instantiarum ponemus loco vicesimo
sexto Instantias PolycJirestas^ , Eae sunt, quae pertinent
ad varia et saepius occurrunt ; ideoque operae et novis pro-
bationibus hand parum parcunt. Atque de instrumentis ipsis
atque ingeniationibus S8 proprius crit dicendi locus, cum De-
ductiones ad Praxim et Experimentandi Modos tractabimus.
Quinetiam quae aclhuc cognita sunt et in usum venerunt, in
Historiis Particularibus singularum artium describentur 89 . In
praesenti autcm subjungcmus quaedam catholica circa ea pro
exemplis tantum polychresti.

Operatur igitur homo super corpora naturalia (praeter ipsam

;4 See ii. 21.

if> Cp. the Tables, bearing these names, at the end of the Historia
Ventorum and Historia Densi et Rari.

80 As Dr. Kitchin observes, this maxim is but another form of the
famous dictum, ' Prudens quaestio est dimidium scientiae.'

87 Cp. De Gen. Anim. v. 8 ad fin. (p. 789 b. 9-12) : olov yap tvia
TroAtJ^pqcrrd e'crrt ra>v nepi ras re^vas, &<nrep fV 77; ^u\KevTLKrj i] o~<pvpa Kal 6
tiKfJLcov, ourcoy Kill TO Trvfipa ei> rols (foixrei crvvecrTuicnv. Galen (Ed. Kiihn,
torn. xiii. pp. 501, 763) speaks of cj)up/j.aKa 7ro\vxP'ia" rtl - This is the class
of instances ' quae parcunt instrumentis ' (see Aph. 44), and includes all
rules, processes, or instruments, which, being applicable to a great variety
of cases, shorten or facilitate our observations and experiments. They
cannot be accurately discriminated from the Instantiae Radii and the
Instantiae Curriculi.

" ' Ingenious contrivances.' Perhaps = ' engines.' The word does not
occur in classical Latin, though ingeniatus is found in Plautus and other
writers. Ducange has the verb ingeniare.

M Sec the Catalogus Historiarum Particularium, which was published
at the end of the First Edition of the Novum Organum. Bacon tells us, at
the end of the Parasceve, that it was his design, as soon as he was at
leisure, ' in singulis veluti interrogando docere, qualia sint circa unam-
quamque historiarum illarum potissimum inquircnda et conscribenda.'

LIB. II. 50. 571

admotionem et amotionem corporum simpliccm) septcm
praecipue modis : nempe, vcl per exclusionem corum quae
impediunt et disturbant ; vel per compressiones, extensiones,
agitationes, et hujusmodi ; vcl per calorem et frigus; vel per
moram in loco convenient! ; vel per fracnum et regimen
motus ; vel per consensus speciales ; vel per alternationem
tempestivam et debitam, atque seriem et successionem horum
omnium aut saltern nonnullorum ex illis.

(i) Ad primum igitur quod attinet ; aer communis qui
undique praesto est et se ingerit, atque radii coelestium,
multum turbant. Ouae itaque ad illorum exclusionem <J1
faciunt, merito haberi possint pro polychrestis. Hue igitur
pertinent materies et crassities vasorum, in quibus corpora
ad operationem praeparata reponuntur. Similiter, modi
accurati obturationis vasorum, per consolidationem et lutum
sapientiae fy -, ut loquuntur 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 ca conservat illaesa
ab acre. Ncque pulveres res malae sunt ; qui, licet contineant
aercm pcrmistum '- 13 , tamen vim aeris coacervati et circum-
fusi arcent : ut fit in conservationc uvarum ct fructuum intra
arenam. et farinam. Etiam cera, mel, pix, et hujusmodi tenacia,
recte obducuntur ad clausuram perfectiorem. et ad summoven-
dum aerem ct coelestia. Etiam nos experimentum quandoque

90 Cp. i. 4.

91 The Air-Pump, invented about 1654 by Otto von Guericke of
Magdeburg and subsequently so much improved by Boyle, would have
exactly met Bacon's requirements, so far as air is concerned. Light is
excluded with comparative ease.

9 " Lutum sapient iae or philosophoruni was a composition, employed for
the purpose of sealing hermetically the orifices of vessels. Pliny (Xat. Hist,
xxix. 3 (11), sect. 51) gives a short recipe for piecing together broken
fragments of glass : ' Et, ne quid desit ovorum gratiae, candidum ex his
admixtum calci vivae glutinat vitri fragmenta.' Albertus Magnus (referred
to by Hoefer, Histoire de la Chimic. tome i. p. 388) enumerates different
kinds of 'lutes,' varying their composition according to the difference of
temperature.

: ' 3 Here we have the same distinction as that between the 'vacuum
permistum ' and the ' vacuum coacervatum ' in the concluding remarks of
ii. 48. In the present passage, the meaning is obvious.

572 NOVUM ORGAXUM.

fecimus,, ponendo vas, necnon aliqua alia corpora, intra argentum
vivum, quod omnium longe densissimum est ex iis quae circum-
fundi possunt. Quinetiam specus et cavernae subterraneae
magni usus sunt ad prohibendum insolationem 94 et aerem istum
apertum praedatorium ; qualibus utuntur Germani Septentrio-
nales pro granariis. Necnon repositio corporum in fundo aqua-
rum ad hoc special : ut memini me quippiam audisse de utribus
vini demissis in profundum puteum, ad infrigidationem scilicet,
sed casu et per neglectum ac oblivionem ibidem remanentibus
per multos annos. et deinde extractis ; unde vinum factum est
non solum non vapidum aut emortuum. sed multo magis nobile
ad gustum, per commixtionem partium 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 aere
tantum circumdcntur ; bonus est usus vasis illius quod adhi-
bitum est nonnunquam ad operandum subter aquis super
navigia demersa, ut urinatorcs diutius manere possint sub
aquis, et per vices ad tempus respirare. Illud hujusmodi
erat. Conficiebalur dolium ex metallo concavum, quod
deinittebatur acquabiliter ad superficiem aquae, atque sic
deportabat totum aerem qui continebatur in dolio secum in
fundum maris. Stabat autem super pccles tres (instar tri-
podis), qui longitudinis erant aliquanto minoris statura homi-
nis ; ita ut urinator posset, cum anhelitus deficeret, immittere
caput in cavum dolii, et respirare, et cleindc opus continuare 9 ''.

04 Drying in the sun, or exposure to the sun. The word is used by
Pliny, Nat. Hist. xxi. 14 (49), sect. 84.

" 5 Cp. Historia Dcnsi et Rari, E. and S., vol. ii. p. 299. Beckmann
(History of Inventions) has a long article on the history of Diving and
Diving-Bells. ' The oldest information,' he says, ' that \ve have respecting
the use of the diving-bell in Europe is that of John Taisnier, quoted by
vSchott. The former, who was born at Hainault in 1509, had a place at
court under Charles V, whom he attended on his voyage to Africa. He
relates in what manner he saw at Toledo [in 1538], in the presence of the
emperor and several thousand spectators, two Greeks let themselves down
under water, in a large inverted kettle, with a burning light, and rise up
again without being wet.' The diving-bell was employed for the purpose
of trying to recover part of the spoil, after the wreck of the Spanish
Armada.

LIB. IL 50. 573

Atque audivimus inventam esse jam machinam, aliquam
naviculae aut scaphae, quae homines subter aquis vchcrc
possit ad spatia nonnulla 9G . Verum sub tali vase, quale
modo diximus, corpora quaevis facile suspend! possint ; cujus
causa hoc experimentum adduximus.

Est et alius usus diligentis et perfectae clausurae corporum :
nempe, non solum ut prohibeatur aditus aeris per exterius (de
quo jam dictum est), verum etiam ut cohibcatur exitus spiri-
tus corporis, super quod fit operatio per interius. Necesse est
enim ut operanti circa corpora naturalia constet de summis
suis : viz. quod nihil expirarit aut effluxerit. Fiunt enim pro-
fundae alterationes in corporibus, quando, natura prohibente
annihilationem, ars prohibcat ctiam dcpcrditionem aut evola-
tionem alicujus partis 1 ' 7 . Atque hac de re invaluit opinio falsa
(quae si vcra esset, de ista conservatione summae certae absque
diminutione esset fere desperandum): viz. spiritus corporum. et
aerem majori gradu caloris attenuatum, nullis vasorum claustris
posse contineri, quin per poros vasorum subtiliores evolent 98 .
Atque in hanc opinionem adducti sunt homines per vulgata ilia
experimenta, poculi inversi super aquam cum candela aut chart a
inflammata, ex quo fit ut aqua sursum attrahatur ; atque si-
militer ventosarum, quae super flammam calcfactae trahunt
carnes. Existimant enim in utroque experimento acrcm at-
tenuatum emitti ;1 , et inde quantum- ipsius minui, ideoque
aquam aut carnes per nexum succedere. Quod falsissimum
est. Aer enim non quanta diminuitur, sed spatio contrahitur ;
neque incipit motus iste successionis aquae, antequam fiat
extinctio flammae aut refrigcratio aeris : adco ut medici, quo

9 ' ; Cp. New Atlantis, E. and S., vol. iii. p. 163 : ' We have ships and boats
for going under water, and brooking of seas.' Mr. Ellis, in a note on that
passage, says that a boat for going under water was one of Drebbel's
inventions exhibited in 1620. See also his note on De Augmentis, lib. v.
cap. 2 (E. and S., vol. i. p. 628).

a7 Cp. the remarks on ' Spiritus ' in ii. 40.

98 The porosity of even the harder metals has been demonstrated by
the Florentine and similar experiments.

90 The air does not escape through the pores of the vessel ; but, owing
to its rarefaction, a portion of it has already escaped, before its application
to the water or flesh.

574 NOVUM ORGANUM.

fortius attrahant ventosae, ponant spongias frigidas 1 aqua
madefactas super ventosas 2 . Itaque non est cur homines
multum sibi metuant de facili exitu aeris aut spirituum.
Licet enim verum sit etiam solidissima corpora habere suos
poros, tamen aegre patitur ae'r aut spiritus comminutionem
sui ad tantam subtilitatem ; quemadmodum et aqua exire
recusat per rimam minusculam.

(2) De secundo vero modo ex septem praedictis illud
imprimis notandum est, valere certe compressiones et hujus-
modi violentias ad motum localem, atque alia id genus,
potentissime ; ut in machinis et missilibus : etiam ad de-
structionem corporis organici, atque earum virtutum quae
consistunt plane in motu. Omnis enim vita, immo etiam
omnis flamma et ignitio 3 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
integri et pulverizati) ; etiam in saporibus (neque enim idem
sapor pyri immaturi, et ejusdem compressi ac subacti ; nam
manifesto dulcedinem majorem concipit). Verum ad transfor-
mationes et alterationes nobiliores corporum similarium non
multum valent istae violentiae ; quia corpora per eas non acqui-
runt consistentiam aliquam novam constantem et quiescentem,

1 Mr. Ellis proposes to read frigida, which is undoubtedly the right
word. See the corresponding passage in the Historia Densi et Rari.

2 These experiments are also described in the Historia Densi et Rari,
E. and S., vol. ii. p. 267 ; in the Cogitationes De Natura Rerum, vol. iii.
pp. 24-5; and in the Phaenomena Universi, vol. iii. p. 711. Notwith-
standing what Dr. Kitchin says, I cannot see that Bacon's explanation in
the text, so far as it goes, is wrong ; though he certainly was not aware of
the pressure of the atmosphere, and in the Historia Densi et Rari he him-
self refers the rising of the flesh within the cupping-glass to attraction
' per motum nexus.' Still, he is right in maintaining that the 'quantum '
of the rarefied air within the cup is not diminished, but only the space
which it previously filled contracted by cooling. The water or flesh which
is covered by the vessel rises, as the heated air cools and contracts, this
rising being, as we now know, due to the pressure of the atmosphere on
the parts of the surface external to the vessel.

3 Compression acts, in this case, by stopping the supply of oxygen which
maintains the combustion.

LIB. II. 50. 575

sed transitoriam, et nitentem semper ad restitutionem et libe-
rationem sui. Attamen non abs re foret hujus rei facere expc-
rimenta aliqua diligentiora ; ad hoc scilicet, utrum condensatio
corporis bene similaris (qualia sunt aer, aqua, oleum, et hujus-
modi), aut rarefactio similiter per violentiam indita. possint fieri
constantes et fixae et quasi mutatae in naturam 4 . Id quod
primo expericndum per moram simplicem ; deinde per auxilia
et consensus. Atque illud nobis in promptu fuisset (si modo in
mentem venisset), cum aquam (de qua alibi 5 ) per mallcationes
et pressoria condensavimus, antequam erumpcrct. Debueramus
enim sphaeram complanatam per aliquot dies sibi permisisse, et
turn demum aquam extraxisse ; ut fieret experimentum, utrum
statim impletura fuisset talem dimensionem, qualem habebat
ante condensationem. Quod si non fecisset aut statim, aut certe
paulo post, constans videlicet facta videri potuisset ista conden-
satio ; sin minus, apparuisset factam fuisse restitutionem, et
compressionem fuisse transitoriam. Etiam simile quiddam fa-
ciendum erat circa extensionem ae'ris in ovis vitreis G . Etenim
debuerat fieri, post exuctionem fortem, subita et firma obtu-
ratio ; deinde debuerant ova ilia manere ita obturata per non-
nullos dies ; et turn demum experiendum fuisset, utrum aperto
foramine attractus fuisset aer cum sibilo, aut etiam attracta
fuisset tanta quantitas aquae 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 paulo magis dissimilaribus
similia efficiat mora temporis. Etenim baculum per com-
pressionem curvatum post aliquod tcmpus non resilit ; neque
id imputandum est alicui deperditioni ex quanto ligni per
moram ; nam idem fiet in lamina fcrri (si augeatur mora).
quae non est expirabilis. Quod si non succedat experimentum
per moram simplicem, tamen non desercndum est negotium,
sed auxilia alia adhibenda. Non enim parum lucri fit, si

4 Both gases and liquids are perfectly elastic ; that is to say, after
undergoing a change in volume, they regain exactly their original volume,
when the original pressure is restored. This fact has been established by
numerous experiments.

5 ii. 45 ad fin.

6 H. 45-

576 NOVUM ORGANUM.

per violentias indi possint corporibus naturae fixae et con-
stantes. Hac enim ratione aer possit verti in aquam per
condensationes 7 , et complura alia id genus. Dominus enim
est homo motuum violentorum, magis quam caeterorum.

(3) At tertius ex septem modis refertur ad magnum illud
organum, tarn naturae quam artis. quoad operandum ; videlicet
calidum et frigidum. Atque in hac parte claudicat plane
potentia humana, tanquam ex uno pede. Habemus enim ca-
lorem ignis, qui caloribus solis (prout ad nos deferuntur) et
caloribus animalium quasi infinitis partibus potentior est et
intension At deest frigus s , nisi quale per tempestates
hyemales, aut per cavernas, aut per circundationes nivis et
glaciei, haberi potest : quod in comparatione aequari potest
cum calore fortasse solis meridiano in regione aliqua ex
torridis, aucto insuper per revcrberationes montium et pa-
rietum ; nam hujusmodi utique tarn calores quam frigora
ab animalibus ad tempus exiguum tolerari possunt. Nihili
autem sunt fere prae calore fornacis ardentis, aut alicujus
frigoris quod huic gradui respondeat. Itaque omnia hie apud
nos 9 vergunt ad rarefactionem, et desiccationem, et con-

7 This remark has, no doubt, reference to Bacon's theory of the Trans-
mutability of the Elements. Sec Aph. 48 (11), with notes. But there is
a certain sense in which his anticipation has been verified. For we now
know that water might be produced, by means of cold and compression
alone, from its constituent gases, hydrogen and oxygen. In fact, as
already pointed out, all aeriform fluids are merely liquids kept in the state
of vapour by heat, and a sufficient amount of cold and pressure will reduce
them into the liquid state. See note 37 on Aph. 33.

s Bacon, it need hardly be repeated, regarded cold as a distinct quality
from heat, not merely as a lower degree of it. The expression 'variations
of temperature,' had it existed in his time, might, as I have already pointed
out, have preserved him from this error.

The greatest cold known is produced by the evaporation of liquefied
gases. ' By surrounding the gas under experiment by concentric tubes
containing liquid oxygen, which in turn is surrounded by liquid ethylene,
Olszewski obtained temperatures low enough to solidify nitrogen, carbonic
oxide, marsh gas, and nitric oxide. The evaporation of solid nitrogen
under a pressure of 4 inm produces a temperature of 225 (C.= 3/3 F.).
Ganot's Physics, Translation, I2th Ed., 382.

" Here again (cp. Aph. 48 (12), (19) ) he alludes to his theory of the
rapidly increasing density of bodies, as we approach the centre of the
earth.

LIB. IL 50. 577

sumptionem : nihil fere ad condensationem et intenerationem 10 ,
nisi per misturas et modos quasi spurios. Quare Instantiae
Frigoris omni diligentia sunt conquirendae : quales videntur
inveniri in expositione corporum super turres quando gelat
acriter ; in cavernis subterraneis ; circundationibus nivis et
glaciei in locis profundioribus, et ad hoc excavatis ; demis-
sione corporum in puteos ; sepulturis corporum in argento
vivo et metallis ; immersione corporum in aquis, quae vertunt
ligna in lapides ; defossione corporum in terra (qualis fertur
apud Chinenses esse confectio porcellanae ll , ubi massae ad hoc
factae dicuntur manere intra terram per quadraginta aut quin-
quaginta annos, et transmitti ad haeredes, tanquam minerae

10 This word is opposed to desiccationem. It is another of the numerous
words employed by Bacon, which are not found in classical Latin. Nor
is it recognised by Du Cange.

11 Cp. Historia Densi et Rari, E. and S., vol. ii. p. 295 ; New Atlantis,
E. and S., vol. iii. p. 157. .Mr. Ellis refers to Marco Polo, ii. 77. In
Marsden's Translation of Marco Polo (London, 1818), the passage runs as
follows : ' They collect a certain kind of earth, as it were from a mine,
and, laying it in a great heap, suffer it to be exposed to the wind, the rain,
and the sun, for thirty or forty years, during which time it is never dis-
turbed. By this it becomes refined and fit for being wrought into the
vessels above mentioned. Such colours as may be thought proper are
then laid on, and the ware is afterwards baked in ovens or furnaces.
Those persons therefore who cause the earth to be dug, collect it for their
children or grandchildren.' For the original, see Ramusio's Collection :
' Navigation! et Viaggi,' vol. ii. p. 49. The chapter is there numbered
as 79.

From the general resemblance between what Bacon says and the pas-
sage in Marco Polo, I can entertain little doubt that he had read it, or
some account taken from it. But, on the main point, it will be seen, the
passages are discordant.

One of the numerous derivations of porcelain is the odd one ' pour cent
annees ; ' ' because it was believed by Europeans, that the materials of
porcelain were matured under ground one hundred years.' Dr. Johnson's
Dictionary. Cp. Sir Thomas Browne's Vulgar Errors, bk. ii. ch. 5
(Pickering's Ed., vol. ii. pp. 352-4). Several authorities are there cited
both for and against this ' common belief.'

In Col. Yule's Edition of Marco Polo, the passage given above is re-
jected as an interpolation of Ramusio. Commenting on it, Col. Yule says :
' This story of the life-long period during which the porcelain clay was
exposed to temper long held its ground, and probably was only dispelled
by the publication of the details of the King-te-ching manufacture by Pere
d'EntrecolIes in the Lettres Edifiantes.'

578 NOVUM ORGANUM.

quaedam artificiales) ; et hujusmodi. Quinetiam quae inter-
veniunt in natura condensationes, factae per frigora, similiter
sunt investigandae ; ut, causis eorum cognitis, transferri pos-
sint in artes. Quales cernuntur in exudatione marmoris et
lapidum 12 ; in rorationibus super vitra per interius fenestrarum,
sub auroram, post gelu noctis ; in originibus et collectionibus
vaporum in aquas sub terra, unde saepe scaturiunt fontes 13 ; et
quaecunque sunt hujus generis.

Inveniuntur autem. praeter ilia quae sunt frigida ad tactum,
quaedam alia potestate frigida, quae etiam condensant ; verun-
tamen operari videntur super corpora animalium tantum, et vix
ultra. Hujus generis se ostendunt multa in medicinis et em-
plastris. Alia autem condensant carnes et partes tangibiles ;
qualia sunt medicamenta astringentia, atque etiam inspissantia :
alia condensant spiritus ; id quod maxime cernitur in sopo-
riferis 14 . Duplex autem est modus condensationis 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 vapores 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 corum affinia
spiritus plane fugant, ex qualitate sua maligna et inimica.
Itaque si appliccntur parti cxteriori. statim aufugiunt spiritus
ab ilia parte, nee amplius libenter influunt : sin sumantur
interius, vapores eorum, ascendentes ad caput, spiritus in

12 This and the next phenomenon both fall under the general head of the
Deposition of Dew. For references on this subject, see notes on Aph. 47.
Cp. also Sylva Sylvarum, Exp. 81.

13 Bacon's meaning will be made plain by the following marvellous pas-
sage in the Historia Dcnsi et Rari (E. and S., vol. ii. p. 293) : ' Existimatur
origo fontium et aquarum dulcium, quae ex terra scaturiunt, fieri ex acre
concluso in cavis tcrrae (praescrtim montium) coagulate et condcnsato.'
Cp. Arist. Mcteorologica, i. 13 (p. 349 b. 19, &c.) ; Seneca, Nat. Ouaest. iii.
9, 10. Granted the doctrine of the transmutability of the elements ; this
absurd theory seems natural enough.

4 The reader will find some very curious remarks on these subjects in
the Historia Vitae et Mortis, E. and S., vol. ii. pp. 161-71.

LIB. II. 50. 579

ventriculis cerebri contentos undequaque fugant ; cumquc sc
retrahant spiritus neque in aliam partem effugere possint,
per consequens coe'unt et condensantur ; et quandoque plane
extinguuntur et suffocantur ; licet rursus eadem opiata mode-
rate sumpta, per accidens sccundarium (videlicet conden-
sationem illam quae a coitione succedit), confortent spiritus,
eosque reddant magis robustos, et retundant eorum inutiles
et incensivos 15 motus, ex quo ad curas morborum et vitae
prolongationem haud parum conferant.

Etiam praeparationes corporum ad excipiendum frigus non
sunt omittendae ; veluti quod aqua parum tepida 1(i facilius
conglacietur quam omnino frigida, et hujusmodi.

Praeterea, quia natura frigus tarn parce suppeditat, facien-
dum est quemadmodum pharmacopolae solent ; qui, quando
simplex aliquod haberi non possit, capiunt succedaneum 1T
ejus, et quid pro quo, ut vocant : veluti lignum aloes pro
xylobalsamo 18 , cassiam pro cinamomo. Simili modo dili-
genter circumspiciendum est, si quae sint succedanea frigoris ;
videlicet quibus modis fieri possint condensationes in corpori-
bus, aliter quam per frigus, quod illas efricit ut opus suum
proprium. Illae autem condensationes videntur intra quater-
num numerum (quantum adhuc liquet) contineri. Ouarum

5 This word may mean ' inflammatory,' or it may simply be written for
' incentives.'

16 This result occurs because the freezing is assisted by the evaporation.
It is also the case with water which has been previously boiled. The
reason of this latter phenomenon is that the air combined with the water
has been already discharged by the act of boiling, and hence the process of
congelation is facilitated.

For notices of these phenomena amongst classical authors, see Arist.
Meteorologica, i. 12 (p. 348 b. 30, K. T. A.); Galen's Commentary on the
'E7ri8r]fj.ia of Hippocrates, lib. vi. cornm. iv. (Kiihn's Ed., vol. xvii. pt. ii.
p. 155] ; Juvenal, Sat. v. 49-50 (' Frigidior Geticis petitur decocta pruinis');
Pliny, xxxi. 3 (23*, sect. 40 (cp. with the last passage, Suetonius, Xero,
cap. 48).

17 Or succidanxun. The meaning of this word, in medical science, is
obvious. It is an epithet for medicines that may be substituted for others
possessing similar properties. There is a spurious work attributed to
Galen, entitled Utpl 'Avrff(/3aXAo^eVcov.

18 These are twigs of the tree called Balsomodcndron Gileadense. The
celebrated Balsam of Gilead is an exudation from this tree.

T p 2

580 NOVUM ORGANUM.

prima videtur fieri per contrusionem simplicem ; quae parum
potest ad densitatem constantem (resiliunt enim corpora) sed
nihilominus forte res auxiliaris esse queat. Secunda fit per
contractionem partium crassiorum in corpore aliquo, post evo-
lationem aut exitum partium tenuiorum, ut fit in induratio-
nibus 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 mercurii sublimati, qui in pulvere longe majus
occupat spatium quam mercurius simplex, et similiter in omni
repurgatione metallorum a scoriis suis. Ouarta fit per con-
sensus 1!) , admovendo quae ex vi corporum occulta condensant :
qui consensus adhuc raro se ostendunt ; quod mirum minime
est, quoniam antequam inventio succedat formarum et sche-
matismorum, de inquisitione consensuum non multum spe-
randum est. Certe quoad corpora animalium. dubium non
est quin sint complures medicinae, tarn interius quam exterius
sumptae, quae condensant tanquam per consensum, ut paulo
ante diximus. Sed in inanimatis rara est hujusmodi operatio.
Percrebuit sane, tarn scriptis quam fama, narratio de arbore
in una ex insulis sive Terceris 20 sive Canariis (neque enim
bene memini), quae perpetuo stillat ; adeo ut inhabitanti-
bus nonnullam commoditatem aquae praebcat - 1 . Paracelsus

111 That is, sympathies.

20 Xo\v called the Azores.

- 1 'This wonderful tree is described in Jonston'sDendrographia, 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
Bucon 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 amrmant,
fieri potest ut tale aliquid contingat, sed modus nondum perspectusest."
De rerum variet. vi. c. 22.' Mr. Ellis' note. Mr. Ellis proceeds to refer
to Ramusio. His reference, however, is altogether misleading. The true
one is to ' Delia Historia Delle Indie, libro ii,' in Ramusio, vol. iii. p.
86 A.

Bacon's account of this tree is remarkably modest, as compared with
that which Cardan reports. He says : ' Circa arborern singulo mane densa
nebula colligitur, quae in aquam versa non solum hominibus, sed et ju-
mentis et pecoribus satisfacit.'

LIB. II. 50. 581

autem ait, herbam vocatam Rorem Soils 22 meridic et fervente
sole rore impleri, cum aliae herbae undique sint siccae. At
nos utramque narrationem fabulosam esse cxistimamus. Om-
nino autem illae instantiae nobilissimi forent usus, et intro-
spectione dignissimae, si essent verae. Etiam rores illos
mellitos, et instar mannae, qui super foliis quercus inveniuntur
mense Maio, non existimamus fieri et densari a consensu
aliquo, sive a proprietate folii quercus ; sed, cum super aliis
foliis pariter cadant, contineri scilicet et durare in foliis quer-
cus, quia sunt bene unita, nee spongiosa, ut plurima ex aliis 2; \
Calorem vero quod attinet, copia et potestas nimirum ho-

The story may have originated in the observation of some plant which
exudes moisture. Such plants are not uncommon, as, for instance, the
Pitcher Plant, some of the Musas, the Drosera, next mentioned, &c. Or
the plant may have been one on which dew is easily deposited and re-
tained. Or, lastly, the cause might be the constant exudations of small
insects. Mr. Andrew Johnson, who adopts this view, quotes Livingstone's
Travels in South Africa, p. 415 : 'I had an opportunity of observing a
curious insect which inhabits trees of the fig family (ficus). Seven or eight
of them cluster round a spot on one of the smaller branches, and there
keep up a constant distillation of a clear fluid, which dropping to the
ground forms a little puddle below. If a vessel is placed under them in
the evening, it contains four or five pints of fluid in the morning.'
Air. Johnson adds : 'A careless observer might easily suppose this fluid
to be the production of the tree itself.'

Lasalle has a long note on this passage. He quotes, in support of the
story of the cloud hanging over the tree, an English navigator, one Robert
Lade, and supplements the evidence by an observation of his own, in which
he saw detached masses of fog clinging to the tops of trees. But Cardan's
story seems to imply more than this rationalistic explanation of it.

22 The Urosera (fyxxrepd) or Sun-Dew. The glands of the leaves exude
drops of a clear glutinous fluid, glittering like dew-drops, whence the
name.

Mr. Ellis says : ' I 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 additional suns.'

23 The honey-dew on the oak, lime, rose-tree, plum-tree, &c., is in all
probability due to a sugary exudation from the Aphis. For a description
of this insect, its devastations, and its exudations, see the Rev. J. G. Wood's
Insects at Home, p. 542, &c.

None of the three examples adduced by Bacon, it will be noticed, are
really instances of 'condensation.' The phenomena all arise from exuda-
tion, either of the plant itself or of an insect settling on the plant.

582 NOVUM ORGANUM.

mini abunde adest ; observatio autem et inquisitio deficit in
nonnullis, iisque maxime necessariis, utcunque spagyrici 24 se
venditent. Etenim caloris intensioris opificia exquiruntur et
conspiciuntur ; remissioris vero, quae maxime in vias naturae
intidunt, non tentantur, ideoque latent. Itaque videmus per
vulcanos 25 istos qui in pretio sunt, spiritus corporum magno-
pere exaltari, ut in aquis fortibus, et nonnullis aliis oleis
chymicis ; partes tangibiles indurari, et, emisso volatili, ali-
quando figi ; partes homogeneas separari ; etiam corpora
heterogenea grosso modo incorporari et commisceri ; maxime
autem compages corporum compositorum et subtiliores sche-
matismos destrui et confundi. Debuerant autem opificia
caloris lenioris tentari et exquiri : unde subtiliores misturae
et schematismi ordinati gigni possint et educi, ad exemplum
naturae et imitationem operum solis ; quemadmodum in apho-
rismo de instantiis foederis^ quaedam adumbravimus. Opi-
ficia enim naturae transiguntur per longe minores portiones,
et posituras magis exquisitas et varias, quam opificia ignis,
prout nunc adhibetur. Turn vero videatur homo revera
auctus potestate 27 , si per calores ct potentias artificiales opera
naturae possint specie repraesentari, virtute perfici, copia
variari ; quibus addere oportet accelerationem temporis. Nam
rubigo ferri longo tempore procedit, at versio in crocum
Martis 2S subito ; et similiter de aerugine et cerussa 29 . Chris-

24 This word does not occur in Du Cange, but in Calepinus I find :
' spagtnes, alchymista,qui, metallacoquens, purum ab impuro separat. Unde
spagiricus, ad spagirum pertinens.' These and the allied words are of com-
mon occurrence in Paracelsus. In the De Natura Rerum, lib. viii. (Op.
Omn. Genev. 1658, vol. ii. p. 104), he elaborately praises the ' Medici
Spagyrici ' in comparison with the other Medici.

There is a long and interesting account of this word in Kopp's Bei-
trage zur Geschichte der Chimie, Braunschweig, 1^69, pp. 63-4, note. It
was usually derived from vnav KU\ dyeipav, to separate and combine.

25 ' Those fires,' as in Aen. vii. 77 : 'Ac totis Vulcanum spargere tectis.'
2li See ii. 35.

- 7 Cp. i. 3.

28 Sesqui-oxide of iron. ' Crocus ' was a term applied by the older
chemists to many metallic compounds, as Crocus Antimonii, Crocus Ve-
neris, &c.

" 'Verdigris and white-lead.' Both these are classical terms.

LIB. II. 50. 583

tallum 30 longo tempore conficitur, vitrum subito conflatur.
Lapides longo tempore concrescunt, lateres subito coquuntur,
etc. Interim (quod nunc agitur) omnes diversitates caloris
cum cffectibus suis respective diligenter et Industrie undique
sunt colligcndae et exquirendac : coelestium, per radios suos
directos, reflexes, refractos, et unitos in speculis comburen-
tibus ; fulguris, flammae, ignis carbonum ; ignis ex diversis
materiis ; ignis aperti, conclusi, angustiati, et inundantis, deni-
que per diversas fabricas fornacium qualificati ; ignis flatu
exciti, quieti et non exciti ; ignis ad majorem aut minorem
distantiam remoti ; ignis per varia media permeantis ; calorum
humidorum, ut balnei Mariae 31 , firm, caloris animalium per
exterius. caloris animalium per interius, foeni conclusi ; calo-
rum aridorum, cineris, calcis, arenae tepidae ; denique calorum
cujusvis generis cum gradibus eorum.

Praecipue vero tentanda est inquisitio et inventio cffectuum
et opificiorum caloris accedentis et recedentis graduatim, et
ordinatim, et periodice, et per debita spatia et moras. Ista
enim inaequalitas ordinata revera filia coeli 32 cst, et genera-
tionis mater ; neque a calore aut vehement!, aut praccipiti, aut
subsultorio, aliquid magni expectandum est. Etenim et in
vegetabilibus hoc manifestissimum est ; atque etiam in uteris
animalium magna est caloris inaequalitas. ex motu, somno,

30 See ii. 48 (4) ad fin. with note.

31 ' This is properly " balneum maris ; " that is, a mode of communi-
cating 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 contents become gradually and moderately heated. The reason of
the name is obvious. From "balneum maris" the French made by a kind
of translation (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 Mariae is however,
I believe, a common phrase with old writers on chemistry.' Mr. Ellis'
note.

The expression ' Balneum Maris' occurs in Paracelsus, as, for instance,
in the De Transmutatione Rerum, lib. vii. (Op. Omn. Genevae, 1658,
vol. ii. p. 99 b). In turning over several old Manuals of Chemistry, I
have found the expression 'Balneum Mariae' in Roflingius, Chimia,
Geneva, 1671, p. 117. The modern equivalent is ' water-bath.'

32 The heavenly bodies acting in this manner, as in the daily course of
the sun, the seasons, and the imagined influence of the moon and stars.

584 NOVUM ORGANUM.

alimentationibus et passionibus foemellarum quae uterum
gestant ; denique in ipsis matricibus terrae, iis nimirum in
quibus metalla et fossilia efformantur, locum habet et viget
ista inaequalitas. Quo magis notanda est inscitia aliquorum
alchymistarum ex reformatis :i3 , qui per calores aequabiles
lampadum et hujusmodi, perpetuo uno tenore ardentium, se
voti compotes fore existimarunt. Atque de opificiis et effec-
tibus caloris haec dicta sint. Neque vero tempestivum est
ilia penitus scrutari. antequam rerum formae et corporum
schematismi ulterius investigati fuerint, et in lucem prodierint.
Turn enim quaerenda et adoperanda 34 et aptanda sunt instru-
menta, quando de exemplaribus 35 constiterit.

(4) Quartus modus operandi est per moram, quae certe
et promus et condus 3G naturae est, et quaedam dispensatrix.
Moram appellamus, cum corpus aliquod sibi permittitur ad
tempus notabile, munitum interim et defensum ab aliqua vi
externa. Turn cnim motus intestini se produnt et perficiunt.
cum motus cxtranei et advcntitii cessant. Opera autem

33 ' Of the reformed school.' I suppose that Bacon alludes to Paracelsus
and his disciples. They are described as the 'reformed school,' I presume,
because they hoped to gain their ends by means of ' the lamp ' rather than
by the 'philosopher's stone.' But what Bacon complains of is that they
thought their ends might be achieved without sufficiently varying the heat
employed. It may be noticed that Paracelsus (who, however, still believed
in the efficacy of the philosopher's stone ; see, for instance, p. 100 a. of
the treatise quoted below) enumerates various 'gradus ignis Alchymistici,'
of which the ' jugis ignis candelae et lychni ' is only one. See De Trans-
mutatione Rerum, lib. vii. (Op. Omn., vol. ii. pp. 99, 100).

The student will find a good account of the reforms introduced into
chemistry in the sixteenth century at the beginning of the second volume
of Hoefer's Histoire de la Chimie. He enumerates three distinct schools :
the ecole che"miatrique of Paracelsus, the e"cole metallurgique of George
Agricola, and the e"cole technique of Bernard Palissy. It must be to the
first of these, or at least to this mainly, I think, that Bacon is here
alluding.

34 = adhibenda. See Du Cange, sub voce 'adoprarc.'

3;> He must mean the exemplars or models (' rerum formae et corporum
schematismi '), the operations of which the ' instrumenta' are to attempt to
imitate.

3 " ' Distributer and store-keeper.' Cp. Plautus, Pseud. Act. ii. Sc. 2. 1. 14 :
' Condus promus sum.'

LIB. II. 50. 585

aetatis sunt longe subtiliora quam ignis 37 . Ncquc cnim
possit fieri talis clarificatio vini per igncm, qualis fit per
moram ; neque etiam incincrationes per ignem tarn s unt
exquisitae, quam resolutiones et consumptiones per saecula.
Incorporationes etiam, et mistiones subitac et praccipitatae
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 vehe-
mentiorem destruuntur. Illud interim non abs re fuerit
notare ; motus corporum penitus conclusorum habere nonnihil
ex violento. Incarceratio enim ilia impedit motus spontaneos
corporis. Itaque mora in vase aperto plus facit ad separa-
tiones ; in vase penitus clause ad commistiones ; in vase
nonnihil clauso, sed subintrante ae're, ad putrefactiones. Ut-
cunque de opificiis et effectibus morae undique sunt diligenter
conquirendae instantiae.

(5) At regimen motus (quod est quintus ex modis operand!)
non parum valet. Regimen autem motus vocamus, cum
corpus aliud occurrens corporis alterius motum spontaneum
impedit, repellit, admittit, dirigit. Hoc vero plerunque in
figuris et situ vasorum consistit. Etenim conus erectus juvat
ad condensationem vaporum in alembicis 3S ; at conus inversus
juvat ad defaecationem sacchari in vasis resupinatis 39 . Ali-
quando autem sinuatio requiritur, et angustiatio, et dilatatio
per vices, et hujusmodi 40 . Etiam omnis percolatio hue
spectat ; scilicet cum corpus occurrens uni parti corporis
alterius viam aperit, altcri obstruit. Neque semper percolatio

37 This comparison of time with fire is not uncommon. Cp. the end of
Ovid's Metamorphoses (xv. 871-2) :

' Jamque opus exegi, quod nee Jovis ira, nee ignes,

Nee poterit ferrum, nee edax abolere vetustas.'

33 A description of the Alembic, illustrated by a figure, will be found in
Watts' Dictionary of Chemistry, sub voce. The instrument is now
superseded by the Retort. It is possible, however, that Bacon is not
speaking of the entire instrument, but only of the conical head.

39 The ordinary wine-strainer will give a sufficiently good idea of what
Bacon means.

40 As in the Retort, called by the French < cornue.' Old Books of
Chemistry, as, for instance, the Clavis of Gerardus Dorneus, Francf. 1583,
show this instrument to have been in common use in Bacon's time.

586 NOVUM ORGANUM.

aut aliud regimen motus fit per extra ; sed etiam per corpus
in corpora: ut cum lapilli immittuntur in aquas ad colligendam
limositatem ipsarum ; syrupi clarificantur cum albuminibus
ovorum, ut crassiores partes adhaerescant, et postea separari
possint. Etiam huic regimini motus satis leviter et inscite
attribuit Telesius 41 figuras animalium, ob rivulos scilicet et
loculos matricis. Debuerat autem notare similem efforma-
tioncm in testis ovorum, ubi non sunt rugae aut inaequalitas.
Atverum est regimen motus efformationes perficere in moduli's
et proplasticis 42 .

(6) Operationes vero per consensus aut fugas (qui sextus
modus est) latent sacpenumero in profundo. Istae enim
(quas vocant) proprietates occultae, et specificae 4:; , et sym-
pathiae, et antipathiae 44 , sunt magna ex parte corruptelae
philosophiae. Neque de consensibus rerum inveniendis multum
sperandum est, ante inventionem formarum et schematismorum
simplicium. Consensus enim nil aliud est quam symmetria
formarum et schematismorum ad invicem.

41 ' Telesius'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 cor-
responding 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 appearances presented by an egg opened during in-
cubation. De rerum natura, vi. chs. 4 and 40.' Mr. Ellis' note.

4 - Mr. Ellis says: '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.' The reference to Pliny
is Nat. Hist. xxxv. 12 (45), sect. 155. In Cicero, Epist. ad Atticum,
xii. 41, the word is written in Greek.

4:; Cp. i. 66, and note 49.

44 The remarks which Bacon presently proceeds to make are alone
sufficient to show how little right he had to complain of the fanciful views
entertained by others on this class of questions. On the same subject, cp.
Aditus ad Historian! Sympathiae et Antipathiae Rerum (E. and S., vol. ii.
p. 81) ; Cogitata et Visa (E. and S., vol. iii. p. 606) ; Sylva Sylvarum, Exps.
95-97 ! and, on the kindred subject of Natural Magic, Nov. Org. ii. 9
ad fin., and ii. 31 ad fin., with the note on the latter passage, and the other
places there referred to.

LIB. II. 50. 587

Atqui majores et magis catholici rerum consensus non
prorsus obscuri sunt. Itaque ab iis ordicndum. Eorum prima
et summa diversitas ea est : ut quacdam corpora copia et rari-
tate materiae admodum discrepent, schematismis conscntiant ;
alia contra copia et raritate materiae consentiant, schematismis
discrepent. Nam non male notatum est a chymicis. in princi-
piorum suorum triade ^ sulphur et mercurium quasi per uni-

45 This doctrine, that all bodies are composed of sulphur, mercury, and
salt, seems to have been first introduced by Basilius Valentinus (whose
works cannot, perhaps, be dated before the end of the fifteenth century.
See the curious discussion on his personality, date, and writings in the Bio-
graphic Universelle), though it was largely developed by Paracelsus, and
was the foundation of many of his chemical and medical speculations.
See, especially, the Treatise ' De origine Morborum ex tribus primis
substantiis,' Op. Omn. vol. i. p. 31, &c. The following extracts taken
from lib. i. cap. 2 may be interesting and amusing to the reader : ' Nam
si lignum manibus teneas, tune oculorum judicio unum saltern corpus
habes. Et hoc scire tibi nullo usui est. Idem et rustici sciunt videntque.
Eo usque descendere et penetrare debes, ut scias, manibus te premere
Sulphur, Mercurium et Sal. Ouas tres res, si aspectu ipso, et tactu atque
palpatu, unamquamlibet ab alia separatam sentis : turn demum oculos cos
nactus es, quibus Medicus videre debet. Hi oculi in tribus his pervidendis
tarn perspicaces esse debent, quam certo lignum videt rusticus crudum.
Hoc cxemplum eo tibi faciat, ut ipsum hominem quoque in his tribus
cognoscas, non minus ac ipsum lignum : hoc est, ipsum hominem siniili
forma conditum habeas. ****** Id quod ardet, est sulphur. Praeter
sulphur, nihil fiagrat. Quod fumat, est Mercurius. Nihil sublimatur,
praeter unum Mercurium. Ouod in cinerem abit, Sal est. Nihil ciner-
escit, nisi sal sit.' The members of this triad, however, were not the
common, visible substances of sulphur, mercury, and salt, but certain pure
substances, analogous to these, and possessing in perfection the respective
properties of burning, of being volatile, and of being fixed. See, for a
further account, Kopp's Geschichte der Chemie, Braunschweig, 1843,
Th. i. pp. 88-9 5 96-7.

The earlier view of Geber (who lived in the eighth century), adopted
apparently from his predecessors, was that the metals were composed of
only two substances (these, as in the theory of Paracelsus, being pure, not
the common, visible, substances), namely, sulphur and mercury. See
Kopp, Th. i. pp. 44-6. To this earlier view Bacon recurs, applying it,
however, apparently, to bodies in general.

In the Cogitata et Visa (E. and S., vol. iii. p. 605), Bacon says : ' Ut-
cunque enim Principiorum Trias inventum non inutile fuerit, sed rebus
aliqua ex parte finitimum.' Cp. Temporis Partus Masculus (E. and S.,
vol. iii. pp. 532-3) : ' Principiorum autem triadem, commentum haud ita
prorsus inutile et rebus aliqua ex parte finitimum, quam importune inculcat

588 NOVUM ORGANUM.

versitatem rerum permeare. (Nam de sale inepta ratio est, sed
introducta ut possit comprehendere corpora terrea, sicca, et
fixa 46 .) At ccrte in illis duobus vidctur consensus quidam
naturae ex maxime catholicis conspici. Etenim consentiunt
sulphur ; oleum, et exhalatio pinguis ; flamma ; et fortasse
corpus stellae 4T . Ex altera parte consentiunt mercurius ;

homo imposturae peritissimus ?' See also Sylva Sylvarum, Exp. 354, and
Aditus ad Historiam Sulphuris, Mercurii, et Salis (E. and S., ii. pp. 82-3).

46 As opposed to volatile. See last note.

47 The idea of ' quaternions ' is still further and more clearly developed
in the Aditus ad Historiam Sulphuris, &c., just referred to. There, he
regards sulphur and mercury, which properly belong to the subterranean
world, as taking the forms respectively of oil and water in the animal and
vegetable world, of flame and air respectively 'in pneumaticis inferioribus,'
and, lastly (though on this point he does not pronounce decisively), of starry
matter and pure aether respectively 'in coelestibus.' Salt he regards as
compounded of sulphur and mercury, by means of a strong spirit. The
reader should carefully compare this ' Aditus ' with the present passage,
and with what was said about the Triad in the last note but one.

I have not been able to find in the works of Paracelsus any single
passage or any combination of passages containing the precise theory
propounded in the text. But the following quotations, which are neces-
sarily very brief, will show that much of this nonsense was either derived
directly from Paracelsus, or indirectly suggested by his works :

' Sulphurum multa sunt : Rcsina, Gummi, Botin [id est Terpentina],
Axungia, pinguedo, butyrum, oleum, vinum ardens, &c.'

' Scitote ergo, salia multa esse. Ouaedam sunt calces : quaedam cineres:
quaedam Arscnicalia : quaedam Antimonicalia, c.' Op. Omn. vol. i.
p. 36 a.

'Sal albus est: et omnes in se colores habet. Sulphur ardet. Ideo
omnia olea continet. Mercurius diffluit. Ergo omnes in se humores
claudit. Et sic de caeteris quoque, quae ad philosophiam remittimus.'
i. p. 52 b.

' Pinguedo autem quaevis nihil est aliud quam sulphur modis ac naturis
variis divisum. * * * Videtis nimirum per tempestates coelum fulgurare.
Isto autem loco sulphur nullum videri potest. Et tamen cum ardeat, id
necessario a solo sulphure fit.' i. 710 a.

Even these absurdities are outdone by the quaint theory of Paracelsus
about the stars (and here Bacon ceases to follow) : ' Sydera omnia Hyemis
vivunt in Mercuric, et sydera omnia aestatis in sulphure, et juxta se in-
vicem ita manent jugiter.' i. 824 b.

I cannot but think that Bacon, in his modifications of the doctrine of
Paracelsus, was influenced by the theory of Telesius, deriving all things
from heat and cold ; sulphur would answer to the former, mercury to the
latter. The manner in which Bacon constructs his ' Quaternions ' would
certainly support this hypothesis.

LIB. II. 50. 589

aqua ct vapores aquei ; aer ; et fortasse aether purus et
interstellaris. Attamen istae quatcrnioncs geminae, sive magnae
rerum tribus (utraque intra ordines suos), copia materiae atque
densitate immensum differunt, sed schcmatismo valde con-
veniunt ; ut in plurimis se produnt. At contra mctalla
diversa copia et densitate multum conveniunt (praescrtim
respectu vegetabilium, &c.), sed schematismo multifariam
differunt ; et similiter vegetabilia et animalia diversa sche-
matismis quasi infinitis variantur, sed intra copiam materiae
sive densitatem paucorum graduum continentur.

Sequitur consensus maxime post priorem catholicus, videlicet
corporum principalium et fomitum suorum ; videlicet menstru-
orum 48 , et alimentorum. Itaque exquirendum, sub quibus
climatibus. et in qua tellure, et ad quam profunditatem metalla
singula generentur ; et similiter de gcmmis, sive ex rupibus,
sive inter mineras natis ; in qua gleba terrae, arbores singulae,
et frutices, et herbae potissimum proveniant, et tanquam gau-
deant ; et insimul quae impinguationes, sive per stercorationes
cujuscunque generis, sive per cretam, arenam maris, cineres,
&c., maxime juvent ; et quae sint ex his pro varietate glebarum
magis aptae et auxiliares. Etiam insitio et inoculatio arborum
et plantarum, earumque ratio, quae scilicet plantae super quas
foelicius inserantur, &c., multum pendet de consensu. In qua
parte non injucundum foret experimentum 4;) , quod noviter audi-
vimus esse tentatum, de insitione arborum sylvestriuni (quae
hucusque in arboribus hortensibus fieri consuevit), undc folia

48 ' By " menstrua " are meant the substances out of which any species
of mineral is generated, or, in other words, the causa materialis of its
existence. See, on the generation of metals and other minerals, the fourth
and fifth books of [Georgius] Agricola's work De ortu et causis Fos-
silium [? subterraneorum]. He gives an account of the opinions of
Aristotle, Theophrastus, c. In modern chemistry 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 significa-
tion. When the word is used as in the text, the metaphor seems to be
taken from the Aristotelian theory of generation, in which Kara TV> Trpwrrp
v\rjv early 17 rS>v Kara^iM (frvvis.' [Ue Gen. An. i. 2O ad fin. p. 729 a. 32.]
Mr. Ellis' note.

49 See Sylva Sylvarum, Exp. 475.

59 NOVUM ORGANUM.

et glandes majorem in modum amplificantur, et arbores fiunt
magis umbrosae. Similiter, alimenta animalium respective no-
tanda sunt in genere, et cum negativis. Neque enim carnivora
sustinent herbis nutriri; unde etiam Ordo Folitanorum 50 (licet

' Bacon alludes to these monks on two other occasions, namely in the
Historia Vitae et Mortis (E. and S., vol. ii. p. 131), where he calls them
Foliatani, and in the Sylva Sylvarum, Exp. 45, where he calls them
Foliatanes.

I borrow the following note from Mr. Ellis : ' Bacon doubtless refers to
the austerities of the order of Feiiillans. Jean de la Barriere, after holding
the Cistercian abbey of Feiiillans in commendam for eleven years, re-
nounced 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 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 of
fourteen monks in a single week at Feiiillans. These constitutions were
ratified in 1595. Assuming, of which there seems no doubt, that the
Folitani of Bacon are the Feiiillans, I may remark that the Latinised form
of Feiiillans 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 pre-
ceding account is taken, refers ; but in that of C. Henrique, also mentioned
by Helyot, 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 Feiiillans had ceased from their first love.
The expression " 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 Monastiques, iv me partie, c. 38. [Tome v.] Spondanus, An. 1586,
iv. For some particulars of the early history of the Abbey of Feiiillans,
and especially for the will of Jean de la Barriere, see Voyage Litteraire de
deux Benedictins, ii. p. 16.'

The Histoire des Ordres Monastiques was published anonymously at
Paris, in 8 vols., the first appearing in 1714. In the Voyage Litteraire, &c.
(which was written by Edm. Martene and Urs. Durand), there occurs a copy
of a Bull, in which the Latinised form of the Order is Congregatio Feuil-
lensis. I have looked through the book of Morotius (a copy of which is
in the Bibliotheque Nationale), entitled ' Cistercii Reflorescentis, sen Cong.
Cistercio-Monasticarum B. Mariae Fuliensis in Gallia et Reformatorum
S. Bernardi in Italia, Chronoiogica Historia,' Turin, 1690, and find that

LIB. II. 50. 591

voluntas humana plus possit quam animantium caetcrorum
super corpus suum 51 ), post experientiam factam (ut aiunt),
tanquam ab humana natura non tolerabilis, fcrc cvanuit.
Etiam materiae diversae putrefactionum, unde animalcula
generantur, notandae sunt.

Atque consensus corporum principalium crga subordinata
sua 52 (tales enim ii possint censeri quos notavimus) satis in
aperto sunt. Quibus addi possunt sensuum consensus erga
objecta sua. Qui consensus, cum manifestissimi sint, bene
notati, et acriter excussi, etiam aliis consensibus qui latent
magnam praebere possint lucem.

At interiores corporum consensus et fugae, sive amicitiae et
lites (taedet enim nos fere vocabulorum sympathiae ct anti-
pathiae, propter superstitiones et inania), aut falso ascriptae,
aut fabulis conspersae, aut per neglectum 53 rarae admodum
sunt. Etenim si quis asserat inter vineam et brassicam 54 esse

these monks are there styled ' Fulienses,' and never, so far as my observa-
tion extends, Folitani.

61 On the reciprocal action of Mind and Body, see De Augm. iv. i (E.
and S., vol. i. pp. 583-6).

5 - These words are somewhat obscure, but what is meant, I think, is
the consent between the ' corpora principalia ' and their ' fomites,' the
latter being regarded as ' subordinate ' to the use of the former. The
sentence, therefore, is simply a reference back to the last paragraph.

53 That is, through negligence in observing them. Some of the later
editions have a comma after ' neglectum,' which makes the passage un-
intelligible.

54 The cabbage. For its medicinal properties, and its varieties, see
Cato de Re Rustica, 156-7. He says: 'Si voles in convivio multum
bibere, coenareque libenter, ante coenam esto crudam quantum voles ex
aceto. Et item ubi coenaveris, comesto aliqua. Ubi folia reddent te
quasi nihil ederis ; biberisque bibesque quantum voles.' Cp. Columella,
xii. 3.

Dr. Kitchin refers to Cicero, De Natura Dcorum, ii. 47 : ' Age ut a
caelestibus rebus ad terrestres veniamus ; quid est in his, in quo non
naturae ratio intelligentis appareat? * * * Jam vero vites sic claviculis
adminicula, tanquam manibus, apprehendunt, atque se ita erigunt. ut
animantes. Ouin etiam a caulibus brassicisque, si propter sati sint. ut
a pestiferis, et nocentibus, refugere dicuntur, nee eos ulla ex parte contin-
gere.' For the virtues of Brassica (K-pa^/3/,) as a remedy against the effects
of intoxication, Dr. Kitchin refers to Athenaeus, Deipn. i. p. 34 C-F (end
of bk. i). Athenaeus gives a number of authorities, and, as a proof of the

592 NOVUM ORGANUM.

dissidium, quia juxta sata minus laete proveniunt, praesto
ratio est : quod utraque planta succulenta sit et depraedatrix,
unde altera alteram defraudat. Si quis asserat esse consensual
et amicitiam inter segetes et cyaneum 55 , aut papaver sylvestre,
quia herbac illae fere non proveniunt nisi in arvis cultis :
debuit is potius asserere dissidium esse inter ea, quia papaver
et cyaneus emittuntur et creantur ex tali succo terrae qualem
segetes reliquerint et repudiaverint ; adeo ut satio segetum
terram praeparet ad eorum proventum. Atque hujusmodi
falsarum ascriptionum magnus est numerus. Quoad fabulas
vero, illae 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 inve-
niuntur et alii nonnulli observatione digni. Maxima vero
frequentia eorum (ut in tanta paucitate) invenitur in medicinis
nonnullis 5G ) quae, ex proprietatibus suis occultis (quas vocant)

addiction of the Egyptians to wine, says that they invariably commence
their chief meal (dfrnfov) by eating boiled cabbage.

Pliny frequently speaks of 'brassica.' See, for instance, Nat. Hist. xx.
9 (33-8), sect - 78, &.C., where he notices the opinion 'vino adversari ut
inimicum vitibus, antecedente in cibis caveri ebrietatem, postea sumpta
crapulam discuti.' Again, in xxiv. I. sect. I, he says : ' Pernicialia et bras-
sicae cum vite odia ; ipsum olus, quo vitis fugatur, adversum cyclamino et
origano arescit.' In the pseudo-Aristotelian treatise, the Problems, we
find the question put: Aui ri 17 Kpii^rj navel rf]v icpcuirdXyv ; Prob. iii. 17

(873 a. 37).

As to later writers, Mr. Ellis refers to Lemnius, De Occultis Naturae
Miraculis, ii. 17. I have no doubt that other authorities might easily be
found, but this note is already too long.

On similar ' discordiae atque concordiae,' as, for instance, the enmity
between the olive and the oak, see Pliny, xxiv. i. Mr. Ellis refers to
Lemnius, De Occultis, &c., iv. 10, to Cardan, De Rerum Varietate (see, for
instance, lib. i. cap. i), and to the Theatrum Sympatheticum. The last
book, which is very curious, and, amongst other things, treats of Digby's
Sympathetic Powder, was published at Nuremberg in 1660.

55 Properly cyanus, KVOVOS, the corn-flower. See Piiny, Nat. Hist. xxi.
8 (24), sect. 48 ; ii (39), sect. 68.

06 Ancient medicine is so full of these absurd analogies, that it is almost
superfluous to give any instances. See, for example, Paracelsus, passim,
and especially the treatises De Origine Morborum and De Morbis Tar-
tareis, as well as the works referred to at the end of the last note but one.
The ' Doctrine of Signatures ' was one of the most absurd forms under

LIB. II. 50. 593

et specificis, respiciunt aut membra, aut humores, aut morbos,
aut quandoque naturas individuas f)7 . Nequc omittendi sunt
consensus inter motus et affectus lunae et passiones corporum
inferiorum, prout ex experimentis agriculturae 58 , nauticae 5 ',

which this conceit appeared. See Paracelsus, De Signatura Rerum (Op.
Omn., vol. ii. pp. 106-16), and, for a good modern account of the theory,
Dr. Paris' Pharmacologia, p. 47, c. From the latter work, I have ex-
tracted several sentences on this subject in the last chapter of my Induc-
tive Logic (see 4th Ed., pp. 348-50). Dr. Paris defines the doctrine as a
' belief that every natural substance, -which possesses any medicinal virtues,
indicates, by an obvious and well-marked external character, the disease
for which it is a remedy, or the object for which it should be employed?
He instances mandrake as a cure for sterility, the lungs of a fox as a
specific for asthma, poppies for diseases of the head, turmerick for jaundice,
euphrasia (eye-bright) for complaints of the eye, blood-stone for bleeding
at the nose, c., &c.

57 Of this kind was the sympathetic powder, invented at a later period
by Sir Kenelm Digby. See last note on Aph. 31. The particular weapon
which had inflicted the wound was anointed for the purpose of curing the
particular person suffering. To the same head belong incantations prac-
tised on an effigy of the person whom it was intended to affect, or on his
clothes, or on his cut hair or nails, &c.

Of a similar character was the belief that particular cures could only be
performed by particular people, as in the case of the King's Evil.

5 " See Hesiod, Opera et Dies, 765-828 ; Virgil, Georgics, i. 276-86 ;
Pliny, Nat. Hist, xviii. 32 (75), 28 (68), and other passages ; Aulus Gellius,
xx. 8. Some of the directions given by Pliny are of a very odd character.
Thus, 'stercus nisi decrescente luna ne tangito * * * ova lima nova
subponito. scrobis luna plena noctu facito. arborum radices luna plena
operito,' &c.

Cp. Tylor's Primitive Culture, vol. i. p. 130 (2nd Ed.). He quotes
Tusser's Five Hundred Points of Husbandry :

' Sowe peason and beans in the wane of the moone,
Who soweth them sooner, he soweth too soone :
That they, with the planet, may rest and rise,
And flourish with bearing, most plentiful wise.'

Cardan (De Rerum Varietate, lib. ii. cap. 13) has some curious remarks on
the same subject.

59 He here alludes to the supposed correspondence between the appear-
ances of the moon and the weather. See Virgil, Georgics, i. 4^4^37, and
the corresponding passage in Aratus, Aioo-^eia, p. 46, &c. ; Pliny, Nat.
Hist. ii. 47 (48) ; xviii. 28 (68), 35 (79), and other passages. The last
passage cited from Pliny contains an interesting extract from Varro. To
the same head belongs the influence of the moon on the Tides, so far as
that was recognised in the older systems of Physics.

594 NOVUM ORGANUM.

et medicinae co , aut alias 61 cum delectu severo et sincero
colligi et recipi possint. Verum instantiae universae con-
sensuum secretiorum, quo magis sunt infrequentes, eo majori
cum diligentia sunt inquirendae, 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 nullo modo omittendus est, scd
sedula observatione investigandus. Is est coitio sive unio
corporum, proclivis aut difficilis, per compositionem. sive
appositionem simplicem G2 . Etenim corpora nonnulla facile

;o See, for instance, Pliny, Nat. Hist. ii. 99 (102), sect. 221 : 'Quo vera
conjectatio exsistit, baud frustra spirituus sidus Lunam existimari. Hoc
esse quod terras saturet, acccdensque corpora impleat, abscedens inaniat.
Ideo cum incremento ejus augeri conchylia ; et maxime spiritum sentire,
quibus sanguis non sit. Seel et sanguinem hominum etiam cum lumine
ejus augeri ac ininui : frondes quoque ac pabula (ut suo loco dicetur)
sentire, in omnia eadem penetrante vi.' Hence, the idea that blood should
be let or herbs gathered at certain phases of the moon, or that it was more
dangerous to be wounded under certain signs or at certain phases of the
moon than at others. Paracelsus combats the latter theories in his work
De Phlebotomia (Op. Omn., vol. i. p. 766, &c.) : ' Morbus spectandus est,
non coelum.' But he adheres to the old opinion as to the season for
gathering herbs. See the treatise De Philosophia (Op. Omn., vol. ii. pp.
502-3) : ' Ex Lunae facie, ipsum decrementum (sc. optimum esse). maxime
quod tribus ultimis diebus finitur, mane nimirum, sub diei auspicium.
Sicut enim homo diei decursu laborat, eoque labore confecto lassus et
enervis nocturna quiete sese reficit, et instaurat vires : sic etiam fructus
omnes ct nascentia terrae, radices, herbae,' &c., with much more to the
same purport.

On the beliefs that warts could be eradicated by exposing them to the
rays of the moon, and that the wounded should not be exposed to these
rays, ' ne livor succedat, et sanatio procrastinetur,' see the Theatrum
Sympatheticum, pp. 210-2, and cp. Sir Thomas Browne's Vulgar and
Common Errors, vol. iii. pp. 182-3.

Lunacy, the intervals and paroxysms of which were supposed to vary
with the phases of the moon, is another instance in point. The madness
was supposed to culminate with the Full Moon, and to receive a reinforce-
ment, as it were, with the New Moon. For a very curious account and
explanation of these theories, see Paracelsus, De Morbis Amentium, Op.
Omn. i. 573.

C1 See, for instances, Pliny, Nat. Hist, xxviii. 7 (23) ; xiv. 21 (27) ; ii. 9
(6), 101 (104).

62 That is, by chemical mixture or mechanical composition.

LIB. IL 51. 595

et libenter commiscentur et incorporantur, alia autem aegre
et perverse : veluti pulveres mclius incorporantur cum aquis ;
calces et cineres, cum oleis ; et sic de similibus. Neque
tantum sunt colligendae instantiae propensionis aut avcrsionis
corporum erga misturam, sed etiam collocationis partium.
et distributionis, et digestionis, postquam commista sint ;
denique et praedominantiae post misturam transactam.

(7) Superest ultimo loco ex modis septem operandi septimus
et postremus : operatic scilicet per alternationem G3 et vicis-
situdines priorum sex ; de quo antequam in singulos illos
paulo altius fuerit inquisitum, tempestivum non foret exempla
proponere. Series autem sive catena hujusmodi alternationis,
prout ad singula efifecta accommodari possit, res est et cognitu
maxime difficilis, et ad opera maxime valida. Summa autem
detinet et occupat homines impatientia hujusmodi tarn in-
quisitionis, quam praxeos ; cum tamen sit instar fili labyrinthi G4 ,
quoad opera majora. Atque haec sufficiant ad exemplum
Polychresti.

LI.

Inter praerogativas instantiarum, ponemus loco vicesimo
septimo atque ultimo Instantias Magicas 5 . 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 ; aliae primo
intuitu. aliae etiam attentius contemplanti. Has vero natura ex
sese subministrat parce ; quid vero factura sit sinu excusso, et
post inventionem formarum, et processuum. ct schematis-
morum, futuris temporibus apparebit. At ista effecta magica

6:5 ' That is, by bringing these six different methods to bear in judicious
order on each subject, and so shifting that order as to gather different results
as, e.g. using Heat before or after pressure,' &c. Dr. Kitchin's note.

64 This is the title of no less than three of Bacon's smaller works.
They will be found in the second and third volumes of Ellis and Spedding's
Edition.

65 These ' instances ' occur, where great effects are produced by means
apparently inadequate. Bacon hoped that, as we come to know more of
' Forms,' of the inner constitution of bodies, and of the latent processes
by which changes in their constitution are brought about, these instances
will become far more numerous.

Qq2

596 NOVUM RCA NUM.

(quantum adhuc conjicimus) fiunt tribus modi's : aut per
multiplicationem sui 6G , ut in igne, et venenis, quae vocant
specifica 07 ; necnon in motibus, qui transeunt et fortificantur
de rota in rotam G8 : aut per excitationem G9 sive invitationem
in altero, ut in magnete, qui excit acus innumeras, virtute
nullatenus deperdita aut diminuta ; aut in fermento, et hujus-
modi : aut per anteversionem motus ", ut dictum est de pulvere
pyrio, et bombardis, et cuniculis : quorum priores duo modi
indagationem consensuum requirunt ; tertius, mensurae mo-
tuum. Utrum vero sit aliquis modus mutandi corpora per
minima 71 (ut vocant), et transponendi 7 - subtiliores materiae

66 See Aph. 48 (11).

67 By a Specific Poison is properly meant a poison which is invariably
attended by the same group of sequelae, in opposition to a poison, the
effect of which is different under different circumstances and on different
constitutions. Most specific poisons, such as small-pox, measles, the
Morbus Gallicus, &c., possess the power of self-multiplication, but this is
not an invariable property of such poisons. Thus, in lucifer-match manu-
factories, phosphorus produces necrosis of the lower jaw, and may, there-
fore, be regarded as a specific poison, but it does not act by way of
self-multiplication.

In ii. 48 (12), Bacon refers the action of 'some poisons' to the 'motus
excitationis.'

68 This is the principle of the Wheel and Axle. But, as Dr. Kitchin
observes, the ' fortificatio motus ' takes place at the expense of speed.

69 See Aph. 48 (12).

70 See ii. 36 (7), 48 (10). The motion of the nitre, from its abhorrence
of flame, is supposed to 'anticipate' that of the sulphur.

71 In their smallest portions, or particles. Cp. the expression 'latio per
minima ' in i. 50. This is the second of the two modes of transformation,
spoken of at the beginning of ii. 5.

72 We have already seen that the transformation of bodies was a
cherished idea of Bacon. See especially my Introduction, 6, and the
Aphorisms at the beginning of this Book, with the notes. On the trans-
mutation of the metals, there are some very curious and interesting
remarks in the Historia Densi et Rari, E. and S., vol. ii. pp. 250-1. There
he gives it as his opinion that other bodies cannot be turned into Gold, on
account of its superior density, but that we may hope to effect the conver-
sion of lead or quicksilver into silver. Cp., on this subject, De Augmentis,
lib. iii. cap. 5 (E. and S., vol. i. p. 574). In the Sylva Sylvarum, Exps.
326-8, he seems to be more hopeful, and actually proposes a recipe for the
making of gold.

The last sentence of the Aphorism is an attack on the Alchemists, who

LIB. II. 52. 597

schematismos (id quod ad omnimodas corporum transfor-
mationes pertinet, ut ars brevi tempore illud facere possit,
quod natura per multas ambages molitur), de co nulla hacte-
nus nobis constant indicia. Quemadmodum autem in solidis
et veris aspiramus ad ultima ct summa ; ita vana et tumida
perpetuo odimus, et quantum in nobis est profligamus.

LIT.

Atque de Dignitatibus sive Pracrogativis Instantiarum haec
dicta sint. Illud vero monendum 73 , 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 " 4 , et corporum virtutes
et actus 75 eorumque leges in materia determinatas inveniat ;
ita ut non solum ex natura mentis, sed ex natura rerum ~ r<
quoque haec scientia emanet : mirum non est, si ubique
naturalibus contemplationibus et experimentis, ad exempla
artis nostrae, conspersa fuerit et illustrata "". Sunt autem (ut
ex iis quae dicta sunt patet) Pracrogativae Instantiaruui
numero 27; nominibus : Instantiae Solitariae : Instantiate
Migrantes : Instantiae Ostensivae : Instantiae Clandcstinac :
Instantiae Constitntivac : Instantiae Conformcs : Instantiae
Monodicae: Instantiae Deviantcs: Instantiae Limitaneac :
Instantiae Potestatis: Instantiae Comitatns ct Hostilcs : In-

hoped to obtain their ends by means of an Elixir or the Philosophers
Stone.

73 This is a good statement of the objects of the Baconian reform,
which was intended, in- the first instance, to bring about a change of
method rather than a change of doctrine ; but a change of doctrine, Bacon
felt assured, would soon follow the change of method.

74 Cp. i. 51, and i. 13.

7r> That is, 'actus puros,' manifestations. See i. 51, with the note on
this expression.

76 As every true system of logic ought to do. Logic, like any other
science, unless its generalisations are constantly brought to the bar of
experience, and submitted to the test of facts, external as well as internal,
must become abstract, barren, and worthless. Cp. notes on i. 127.

77 And yet we cannot but regret that Bacon has not also supplied us. in
pursuance of what he says in i. 127, with examples from the mental, moral,
and political sciences, in which his experience was so rich.

598 NOVUM ORGANUM.

stantiae Subjunctivae : Instantiae Foederis : Instantiae Crucis :
Instantiae Divortii: Instantiae Jannae: Instantiae Citantes:
Instantiae Viae : Instantiae Supplements: Instantiae Perse-
cantes : Instantiae Virgae : Instantiae Cnrricnli : Doses
Naturae: Instantiae Lnctae : Instantiae I nnuentes : Instantiae
PolycJirestae : Instantiae Magicae. Usus autem harum instan-
tiarum. in quo instantias vulgares excellunt, versatur in genere
aut circa partem informativam ; aut circa operativam ; aut
circa utramque. Atque quoad informativam. juvant illae aut
sensum, aut intellectum. Sensum, ut quinque Instantiae
Lampadis^: intellectum, aut accelerando exclusivam formae,
ut Solitariae ; aut angustiando et propius indicando affirma-
tivam formae, ut Migrantes, Ostensivae, Comitatns, cum
Snbjnnctims ; aut erigendo intellectum, et ducendo ad genera
et naturas communes ; idque aut immediate, ut Claudes tinac,
Monodicae, Foederis ; aut gradu proximo, ut Constitntivac ;
aut gradu infimo, ut Conformes ; aut rectificando intellectum
a consuetis, ut Dcviantes ; aut ducendo ad Formam Magnam,
sive Fabricam Universi 79 , ut L imitaneae ; aut cavendo de
formis et causis falsis, ut Crucis et Divortii. Quod vero ad
Operativam attinet ; illae practicam aut designant, aut men-
surant, aut sublevant. Designant aut ostendendo a quibus
incipicndum, ne actum agamus, ut Instantiae Potcstatis ; aut
ad quid aspirandum, si detur facultas, ut Innncntes: men-
surant quatuor illae MatJiematicae 80 : sublevant PolycJirestae
et Magicae.

Rursus ex istis instantiis 27, nonnullarum (ut superius
diximus de aliquibus) facienda est collectio jam ab initio, nee
expectanda particularis inquisitio naturarum. Cujus generis
sunt instantiac confonncs, monodicae, dcviantcs, limitancae,
potcstatis, jannae, innncntcs. polycJircstac, magicac. Hae enim
aut auxiliantur et medentur intellectui ct sensui, aut instru-
unt praxin in genere. Rcliquac turn demum conquircndae
sunt. cum conficiemus tabnlas comparcntiae ad opus interprets

"* See Aphs. 38-43.

9 That is, the KOO-/XO?. Cp. Aph. 30 : 'optime enim indicant composi-
tionem et fabricam rerum.'

10 Namely, the Instantiae Virgae, Instantiae Curriculi, Instantiae Ouanti.
and Instantiae Luctae.

LIB. 77. 52. 599

circa aliquam naturam particularcm. Stint enim instantiae
praerogativis istis insignitae et donatac animac instar, inter vul-
gares instantias comparentiac ; et, ut ab initio diximus 81 , paucae
illarum sunt vice multarum ; quocirca cum tabnlas conficimus,
illae omni studio sunt investigandae, et in tabnlas rcferendae.
Erit etiam earum mentio nccessaria in iis quae scquuntur.
Praeponendus itaque erat carum tractatus. Nunc vero ad
adminicula et rectificationes Inductionis, et dcinceps ad con-
crcta*-, ct latcntcs proccssns, et latcntcs scJicmatismos, et
reliqua quae Aphorismo 21. ordinc proposuimus. pcrgendum ;
ut tandem (tanquam curatores probi et fideles) tradamus
hominibus fortunas suas, emancipato intellectu, ct facto tan-
quam majorc : unde necesse est sequi emendationem status
hominis, et ampliationem potcstatis ejus super naturam 8:J .
Homo enim per lapsum 84 ct dc statu innocentiae dccidit, et
de regno in creaturas. Utraque autem res etiam in hac vita
nonnulla ex parte reparari potest ; prior per religioncm et
fidem, posterior per artes et scientias. Neque enim per
maledictionem facta est crcatura prorsus et acl extremum
rebellis. Sed in virtute illius diplomatis. /// sndorc vnltus
comcdcs paneni tmiin, per labores varies (non per disputationes
certe. aut per otiosas ceremonias magicas), tandem et aliqua
ex parte ad panem homini praebendum. id est, ad
usus vitae humanae subigitur.

Finis Libri Secundi Novi Organi.

n See Aph. 22.

s - As I have already observed in a note on Aph. 21, acl concreta ' seems
to answer to the 'Variatio Inquisitionis pro Xatura Subjecti ' of that
Aphorism, and, perhaps, ' Latentes Proccssus et Latentes Schematismi '
to the ' Deductio ad Praxin.'

f3 These words are probably meant to correspond with the opening
words of the Preface to the Instauratio Magna : ' De statu scientiarum,
quod non sit foelix aut majorem in modum auctus ; quodquc alia omnino
quam prioribus cognita fuerit via aperienda sit intellectui humano, et alia
comparanda auxilia, ut mens suo jure in rerum naturam uti possit.'

*'' Cp. De Augm.. lib. i. (E. and S., vol. i. p. 465). Preface to Instauratio
Magna (p. 168), and Valerius Terminus (E.andS., vol. iii. pp. 217-8, 222;.

[In the Original Edition, there here follow the PARASCEVE AD
HISTORIAM NATURALEM ET EXPERIMENTALEM, and the CATALOGUS
HISTORIARUM PARTICULARIUM, SECUNDUM CAPITA, referred to on
p. 303, and elsewhere. These pieces (which are reprinted in
the First Volume of Ellis and Spedding's Edition), though of
interest, are not more closely connected with the Novum Organum
than are many other of Bacon's tracts, and hence I have not thought
it desirable to reproduce them in this place.]

INDICES.

INDEX TO THE INTRODUCTION.

N.B. This Index does not extend to the Section on the Bibliography
of the Novum Organum.

Abbott, Dr., differences of opinion be-
tween him and myself, 47. Ste also
Preface, pp. xii-xx.

Academies, foreign, Bacon's influence
on the foundation of, 115, 116.

Acontio, 94.

Actus purus, 55-57.

Adams Tobias, 109.

Adaptation in nature, different explana-
tions of, 66, 67.

Aclitus to various ' Historiae,' 10.

Advancement of Learning, "j.

Agricola, Rodolphus, 77.

Agrippa, Henricus Cornelius, 77-78, 93.

Albert the Great, 89.

Analysis and Synthesis, Newton's use
of the words, 124.

Andrewes, Bishop, 14, 102.

Anticipations of Bacon's Method and
Teaching, 86-98.

Anti-Copernicans, 33, 34.

Archimedes, 24, 25.

Aristotle's division of motion, 28, 29.

four causes, 54.

distinction of 5vvafj,is and evepyeta,
58, 71.

doctrine of Definition. 59, 60.

failure in his physical researches,
causes of, 68-72.

authority, reaction against, 72-86.

Induction, 71, 87.

doctrine of the origin of Knowledge
in the perceptions of the senses, 87,
88.. 97.

Association, Bacon's theory of, 20.
Astrology, Bacon's belief in, 26.
Astronomy, physical and formal or
mathematical contrasted, 31, 32.

Bacon's suggestion of the necessity
of a closer union between formal and
physical, 38, 39.

views of Bacon on various questions
of, 23, 25, 26, 28, 29, 31-41.

Atheism, 45, 46, 49, 50. 51.
Atlantis, New, 9, u, 114.
Atmosphere, currents of the, 42.
Atomic theory, 15, 42.
Attraction, passages in Bacon's works

bearing on, 39, 40.
Aubrey's Lives, 135, 136.
Augmentis (De). See De Augmentis.
Authority, Bacon's attempt to free men

from subjection to, 127, 128.
Axiom, Newton's use of the word, 125.
Bacon, Roger, 73-75, 89-92.
Baillet's Life ot Descartes, 103.
Bain, Professor, referred to, 63.
1 Baker's Reflections upon Learning, i 20.

Baranzan, Father, 10^.
j Barrow, 121, 122.
Bayle, 53, 104, 105.
Beal, Dr., 116, 117, 119. 120.
Beyer, John, 1 12.
Bibliography of the Novum Organum,

MS- 1 55-.

Biot, M., his article on Galileo, 139.
Blood, Circulation of the, not men-
tioned by Bacon, 28.
Blount, Sir Thomas Pope, no.
Bodies, ultimate constitution of. 4:.
ultimate condition of their parts. 42.
Boclley, Sir Thoma?, 135.
Boerhaavc. in, 112.
Bouillet, M., referred to, 14. 31, 41, 42,

43-

Boyle, 27, 28, 116, 117.

Brahe. See Tycho Brahe.

Brewster, Sir David, 116, 121, 141. 14-'.

Britannia Baconica, 117, 118.

Browne, Sir Thomas, 30.

Bruno, Giordano, 33, 84.

Biichner, quoted with reference to Ba-
con's influence on the foundation of
Foreign Academies, 116.

Buddaeus, 112.

Butler, 99.

604

INDEX TO THE INTRODUCTION.

Cabaeus, 85.

Caesalpinus, 75, 95.

Cambridge, University of, Bacon's in-
fluence on, 1 20, 121.

Campanella, 84. 85, 95, 96, 109, in.

Cardan, 75, 86.

Cartesian system, adhesion of English
Mathematicians to, 36.

Casaubon, Mr. Pattison's life of, 30.

Catalogus Historiarum Particularium, 9.

Cause, as the equivalent of Form, 57-59.

Causes, Aristotle's four, 54.

, Plurality of. 62, 63.

Chiklrey, Dr. Joshua, 117, 118.

Chillingworth, 49.

Christian Mysteries, 47.

Paradoxes, 45.

Religion, argument grounded on
moral considerations for its divine
origin, 21, 22.

Church, Bacon's submission to the, 47.
Clavius, 34.

Cogitata et Visa, 6, 7, 14, 146.
Cogitationes de Natura Rerum, II.
Colour, causes of, 41.
Comenius, 109, 110.
Comets, prediction of. 40.
Commentarius Solutus (Bacon's Diary),

8, 14. See also Preface, p. xviii.
Condillac, 106, 107.
Confession of Faith, Bacon's, 45.
Conscience, approximation by Bacon

to Butler's theory of, 19.
Contio, 94.
Copernican theory, Bacon's rejection of,

31-37-

Copemicans before Copernicus, 31.
Copernicus, 31-37.
Costar, 104.
Cowley's Ode to the Royal Society,

^ 113, 114-

Creation, Bacon's doctrine on, 15.
Cuchvorth, 136, 137.
Cupid, Fable of, referred to, 60.

D'Alembert, 107.

Dates of the leading events in Bacon's
life, and of the first publication of his
principal writings, 3-5.

De Augmentis, 6, 7, 35, 65, and
passim.

Deductive Reasoning, Bacon's recogni-
tion of, 133.

Definitio vera, Form described as, 56,

r7-
Delambre, referred to, 33, and other

places.

De Maistre, 139, 140.
Democritus, 45, 46.

I )e M organ, Professor, referred 10,31-33.
De Remusat, referred to, passim.

Descartes, 36, 37, 68,99, 100, 102, 103,

125.
Descriptio Globi Intellectualis, 7, 29,

35. 3 6 -
Differentia vera, Form described as, 56,

57-

Digges, Thomas, 28, 33.
Distributio Operis, 9.
Diurnal Motion of the Earth, 33-36.
Du Hamel, 105.
Dutch testimonies to Bacon, 109-112.

Efficient Cause, 56.

Efficient Causes, Aristotle's, 54.

Elements, Transmutability of the, 26,

27-

Ellis and Spedding's Edition of Bacon s
works, referred to, passim.

Empirical school of philosophy influ-
enced by Bacon, 14, 15.

Encyclopaedists, 105, 106, 107, 139.

Epicurus, 46.

Equilibrium, Theory of, 25.

Essays, Bacon's, on religious subjects,

45-
Essence, as the equivalent of Form,

57-59-

Ethics, Bacon's theory of, 19-22. See

also Preface, pp. xiii-xiv.
Ethics, Bacon's practical maxims of,

xiv-xvi.

and Logic distinguished, 18, 20.
Evelyn, John, 117.

Evolution, theory of, 67.
Exclusions, Method of, 60-63.
Experience, origin of our knowledge in,

19.
Experiment, importance ascribed to by

Bacon, 127, 134.

Faculties, mental, as enumerated by
Bacon, 17, 18.

too sharply discriminated, 18.
Falling bodies, theory of the accelera-
tion of, 25.

Fancies, absurd, countenanced by Bacon,

30, 3i-
Filum Labyrinthi sive Inquisitio Legi-

tima de Motu, 7, n, 61.
Filum Labyrinthi sive Scala Intellectus,

ii.
Final Causes, 45, 64-68, 136, 137.

Aristotle's, 54.
Fischer, Kuno, 53.
Florentine experiment, 41, 42.
Fluxu et Refluxu Maris x De\ n, JoS.
Formal Cause, Aristotle's. 54.
Forms, 12, 54-60.

Fountains, theory of the origin of, 27.
France, influence of Bacon's writings in,
102-107.

INDEX TO THE INTRODUCTION.

605

Fulgentio, Father, Bacon's letter to, 6,
108.

Galileo, 23, 25, 28, 32, 33, 35, 43, 75,

96, 108, 125, 126, 139.
Gassendi, 103, 104.
Germany, influence of Bacon's writings

in, 109-112.
Ghetaldus, 24, 25.

Gilbert, William, 33, 36, 39, 40, 96, 97.
Glanvill, Joseph, 30, 114, 115, 120.
Globi Intellectuals, Descriptio, 7, 29,

35, 36.
God, Bacon's belief in, 45, 46.

unworthy opinions of, denounced,

5, Si-
Gravities, specific, 24.
Gravity, 39, 40.
Grosseteste, Robert, 75.
Gruter, Isaac, his collection referred to,

passim.

his testimony to Bacon's reputation,
no.

Guldinus, 25.

Harvey, 28, 66, 132, 135, 136.

Heat, Bacon's enquiry into the nature

of, 42, 43.

Herbert, Lord, of Cherbury, 100.
Herschel, Sir John, referred to, 40, 71,

and other places.

Hilaire, Barthelemy St., referred to, 83.
Historia Naturalis et Experimentalis,

&c., 9, 10.

Densi et Rari, 9, 10.

Ventorum, 9, 10, 42.

Vitae et Mortis, 9, 10, 144.
Hobbes, referred to, 21, 53, 99, 100.
Holinshed the Chronicler, 138.
Hooke, Dr. Robert, 117, 129.
Hopefulness of Bacon, 130.
Humboldt, 42.

Hume, referred to, 53.

Hume's criticism of Bacon, 13, 34, 138,

139-
Hungary, Bacon s writings known in,

112.

Huyghens, I n.
Hypotheses, Bacon's protest against,

128, 133, 141.

Ideas, Plato's doctrine of, 55.
Idols, Bacon's, whether the same as
those of Roger Bacon, 91, 92.

importance of the doctrine of, 132,

134-

Imagination, its functions, 18.
Immortality of the Soul, 46, 47.
Impetus Philosophic!, n.
Indifference to religious controversies,
shown by Bacon, 47, 49, 50.

Induction, applied to the clearing up of
our conceptions, 61.

not discovered by Bacon, 86.

as used in ordinary life, 86.

of Socrates, I'lato, and Aristotle,
86-88.

most distinctive feature in Bacon's
conception of, 128, 129.

Bacon's contributions to the logic
of, 129.

Influence, Bacon's, on Philosophy and
Science, 98-131.

nature of Bacon's influence on the
progress of science, 126-131.

Inspiration, origin of a portion of our

knowledge in, 19, 20, 46.
Instauratio. when the name first occurs

in Bacon's letters, 6.

divisions of, 6-12.

Italy, influence of Bacon's writings in,
107-109.

Jonson, Ben, 101.

Jupiter, discovery of the satellites of,
32.

Kepler, 23, 32, 33, 37, 96, 102, 125,

126.
Knowledge, various sources of, 19, 20.

Lange, referred to, 72.
Lange's criticism of Bacon, 17.
Language, Bacon's felicitous use of, 130,

131-

Lasalle, referred to, 59.
Lasson's monograph on Bacon, 142,

144.
Latin, was the Novum Organum written

in, 12-14.
Law. used as an explanation of Form,

5 6 -59-

Leibnitz, 36, no, in.

Lever, principles of the, 25.

Levity, positive, Bacon's belief in, 28,
29.'

Lewes, Mr. G. H., referred to, 69, 70.

Libri, referred to, 92, 93, and else-
where.

Liebig's attack on Bacon, 10, 11, 12-14,

143, 144-

Light, Velocity of, 41.
Locke, anticipations of by Bacon, 20,

49, 53- 99- H -

character of his studies at Oxford,
119.

Logarithms, 23. 24.

Logic and Ethics distinguished. iS. 20.

Logic Reform of. most distinctive fea-
ture in Bacon's conception of the.
128, 129.

Logical Method, its fundamental cha-

6o6

INDEX TO THE INTRODUCTION.

racteristics the same in all subjects,

98.

Lumen Naturae, 19.
Luther, Bacon compared with, 127, 128.
Lydiat, Thomas, 34.

Macaulay, referred to, 47, 131.

Maclaurin, 117, 122, 123.

Maestlin, 33.

Magnetism, Bacon's references to, 42.

Material Cause, 55, 56.

Material Causes, Aristotle's, 54.

Materialistic tendency of Bacon's writ-
ings, real or supposed, 17.

Mathematics, Bacon's defective know-
ledge of, 23, 24, 126.

Matthew, Toby, his letter to Bacon,
108.

Mersenne, 102.

Metaphysical questions, Bacon's atti-
tude to, 15, 16.

Metaphysics, according to his peculiar
employment of the term, 64-68.

(in the ordinary sense of the term"!
not recognised by Bacon as a distinct
branch of knowledge, 67.

Method of Exclusions, 60-63.

Mill, J. S., referred to, 62, and other

places.
Milton, 34.

Mirandola, Pico da, 81, 82.
Montucla, referred to, 105, and other

places.

Moral Philosophy. See Ethics.
Morhof, in.
Mosheim, 137.
Motion of Falling Bodies, 25.

of Projectiles, 28.

Peripatetic doctrine of, how far ac-
cepted by Bacon, 28, 29.

Napier's Logarithms, 23, 24.

Napier, Macvey, his essay on Bacon

referred to, 27, 101, and other places.
Natural Theology, 46, 66-68.
Nature, combined unity and variety in,

42.

necessity of studying, 5, and passim.

simplicity ascribed to by Bacon, 59.

divine plan in, 65-67.

Newton, 27, 32, 36, 39, 41, 106, 128,

I?,?,, 141-

question as to Bacon's influence
upon, 121-126.

Nizolius, 8 1, 82.

Novum Organum, bibliography of the,

HS-^S-.

date of its composition and publi-
cation, 9.

was it written in Latin, 12-14.

object of the, 5.

Novum Organum, its relation to the
more important of Bacon's other phi-
losophical works, 6-12.

Ogle, Dr. William, on Aristotle's habits

of observation, 70.
Oldenburg, 115, 116.
Ontological questions, Bacon's attitude

to, 15, 16.

Opponents of Bacon, 135-145.
Osborn, Francis, his Miscellany, 136.
Oxford, University of, its testimony to

Bacon's merits, 101, 102.

Bacon's influence on, 118-120.

evidence of scientific interest in,
A. D. 1671, 119, 120.

Palmer, Herbert, 45.

Paracelsus, 26. 29, 79, So, 93, 94.

Paradoxes, Christian, -15.

Parasceve ad Historian! Naturalem et
Experimentalem, 9.

Partis Secundae Delineatio, 6, 7, 8, 146.

Pascal, 53.

Patricius, 26, 27, 33, 84, 95.

Pattison's Casaubon, 30.

Peculiarities of Bacon's Method and
Teaching, 86.

Peiresc, 103. 104.

Pemberton, a witness to Bacon's influ-
ence on Newton, 122.

Perception and Sense, Bacon's distinc-
tion between, 18, 19.

Phaenomena Univcrsi, 9.

tract published by Grrtter with this
title, 10.

Philosophical opinions, Bacon's general,

14-22.
Philosophy, Bacon's influence on, 98-

101.
Physics, Bacon's rejection of Final

Causes in, 64-68.
Plato, 55, 86.

Playfair's Dissertation, referred to, 36.
Playfer, Dr., of Cambridge, 12-14.
Plurality of Causes, 62, 63.
Poetry, Bacon's tendency to, 140.
Pomponatius, 75.
Porta (Baptista\ 24.
Pouchet, referred to, 89.
Practical aims of Bacon, 129, 130.
Praerogativae Instantiarum, 61, 134.
Praise of Knowledge, quoted, 34.
Precession of the Equinoxes, 25.
Principiis atque Originibus (De\ n.
Prodromi give Anticipationes Philoso-

phiae Secundae, 1 1 .
Projectiles, motion of, 28.
Providence, Divine, 46, 65.
Psychology, Bacon's opinions on, 16-

20.

LVD EX TO THE INTRODUCTION.

607

Ptolemaic System, 35.
Puffendorf, no.

Raleigh, accused of Atheism, 136.

Ramus, 33, 82-83.

Ravvley, Dr., his lives of Bacon, 9.

his edition of the Sylva Sylvarum,
jo, n, 30. 144.

referred to, 45, 107, 108, 145, and
other places.

Realism, 42.

Redargutio Philosophiarum, 8.

Reformers, their hostility to Aristotle,

73-

Refraction, 41.
Reinhold, 33.
Religious opinions, Bacon's, 44-53.

toleration. 47-49.

Remusat, De, referred to, 18, 43, and
passim.

Renaissance, character of the opposi-
tion at that time to the authority of
Aristotle, 75, 76.

Revisions, successive, of the Novum
Organum, 145, 146.

Rheticus. 31, 33.

Riccioli, 34.

Richard of St. Victor, 89.

Romanism, 49, 51.

Ross, Alexander, 136.

Rotation of the earth, 33-36, 40.

of the heavens, direction of the.
40.

Royal Society, foundation of, suggested
by Bacon's New Atlantis, u.

Bacon's influence on the earlier
members of, 112-118.

Saint-Hilaire. See Hilaire.

Salisbury, John of, 73. 88, 89.

Savans, Journal des, 104, 105.

Savile, Sir H., 144, 145.

Scala Intellectus five Filum Labyrinthi,
n.

Scholasticism, 51, 52, 59.

Science, Bacon's influence on, 101-131.

Science and Theology, separation be-
tween, advocated by Bacon, 44, 45,

51-53-

Scientia Activa, n. 12.

Scientific attainments and opinions,
Bacon's, 22-44.

Scripture, authority of, 52, 53.

Heneca, 40, 91.

Sen?e and Perception, Bacon's distinc-
tion between, 18, 19.

Sententiae duodecim de Interpretatione
Naturae, 7. 14.

Severinus, M. A., 85.

Shaftesbury, his ethical theory antici-
pated by Bacon. 20, 21.

Sigwart, referred to, 12, 143

Silence of authors in the seventeenth
century, with reference to the works
of contemporary or recent writers,
125, 126.

Socrates, his induction, 86.

Sorbiere, M., 104.

Soul, Faculties of the, 17, 18.

Immortality of the, 46.

Bacon asserts the duality of the, \(>.

Sensible or Produced, composed of
air and flame, 17.

Rational, substance of, to be enquired
in Theology, 17.

Species, criticism of the doctrine of, 42.
Spedding's Letters and Life of Bacon.

referred to, passim.
Spinoza, 100, 101.
Spirit, proposed as the designation <>f

the Sensible Soul, 17.

Bacon's speculations on, 26, 29.
Sprat, Bishop, 113, 119.
Stevinus, 25, 34.

Stewart, Dugald, referred to, 68, and
other place-.

Stubbe, Dr. Henry, 137, 138.

Superstition, worse than Atheism, 50, 5 1 .

Superstitious fancies of Bacon in the
Sylva Sylvarum, 30, 31.

Syllogism. See Deductive Reasoning.

Sylva Sylvarum, 9, 10, n, 24, 30, 31.
113, 142, 144.

Sympathy and Antipathy, Bacon's no-
tions on, 30.

Synthesis and Analysis, Newton's use
of the words, 1 24.

Tables,' Bacon's, 61, 134.
Tartalea, 28.
Taylor, Jeremy, 49.
Tchihatchef, M. de, 144, 145.
Telesius, his doctrine on the Soul, 16.

referred to, 83, 94, 95.
Temporis Partus Masculus, 7, 8, 14. 34.

35-

Partus Maximus, 6.

Tenison, Abp., his testimony to Bacon
having written the Novum Organum
in Latin, 13.

his Baconiana. passim.
Testimonies to the Value of Bacon's

Method and to his influence on the

Progress of Science. 101-126.
Thema Coeli. 7, u, 35.
Theology, 47.
Theology and Science, the separation

between, advocated by Bacon, 44. 4 = .

51-53-

6o8

INDEX TO THE INTRODUCTION.

Thermometer, invention of, 43.

Tides, influence of the moon on, 40, 41.

Toleration, 47-49.

Transformation. See Transmutability.

Transmutability of the Elements, 26,

27.

of metals, 27, 28.
of bodies in general, 27.
Triad of Paracelsus, 29, 30.
Tycho Brahe, 33.
Tyndall, Professor, referred to, 43.

Ueberweg, referred to, 87.

Unity in Religion, Bacon's sentiments

on, 47-49.
Universities, Bacon s influence on the,

IlS-131.

Valerius Terminus, 6, 7.

Valla, Laurentius, 76, 77-

Value, present, of Bacon's logical works,

Value, educational, of the Novum Or-

ganum, 131, 132.
Vauzelles, De, referred to, 43.
Venturi, J. B., his account of the MSS.

of Leonardo da Vinci, 92, 93.
Vico, 108, 109.
Vieta, 33, 34.

Vinci, Leonardo da, 92, 93.
Vives, Ludovicus, 78, 79, 93, 138.
Voltaire, 39, 105, 106, 139.

Wallis. Dr., 113, 114.

Walton, Izaak, 102.

Water, experiment on the compressi-
bility of, 41, 42.

Whewell, Dr., referred to, passim.

Windmills, experiment to ascertain the
cause of the motion of, 2-;.

Wood, Antony, referred to, passim.

Wordsworth's Scholae Academicae, 3 r >.

Wotton, Sir H.. 101, 102.

Wright, Edward, 34.

INDEX TO THE TEXT AND NOTES.

Words which occur in the Text only, or both in the Text and
Notes, are printed in Roman type ; those which occur in the
Notes only, in Italics.

Abscissio infmiti, 430-1.

Abstracta, meaning of the word, 205.

perniciosa, 348.
Abstraction, work of, 228.
Academia Nova, 210-12, 254-6, 268.
Acatalepsia, 179, 185, 210, 211, 254-6,

268, 331.

Acetnm forte, 364, 381.
Acosta de fluxu et refluxu maris, 469.
Actinism, 497.
Actio naturalis, et natura corporea,

488-90.

unius aliam quomodo impedit, 514-5.
Acttis Purus, 228, 229, 242, 268, 346,

398, 597-
Acus nauticae inventio, 314, 336.

verticitas, 478-9.
Adamson, J\Ir., referred to, 311.
Adhesion, attraction of, 252, 539.
Adminicula Inductionis, 414, 513, 515-
Admiratio, proles raritatis, 448.
Advancement of Learning referred to,

passim. Bacon refers to it himself,

P- 334-

Aegyptii rcrum inventoribus divini-
tatem tribuerunt, 266.

sacerdotis vaticinium, 264.
Aequalitatem, intellectus humanus sup-

ponit majorem, quam invenit, 218-20,
229-30.

Aer non rarissimum omnium corporum,
227, 228.

su~cipit calorem, si concludatur, 363,

375-

de concluso inquirendum, 375.

attritns non generat scintillas, 377.

facillime excipit et remittit calorem,

393-

ejus dilatatio, 393-4, 401, 407.

ejus media rcgio frigidissima, 439.

Instantia consistent! hostilis, 453.

Aer rotatio ejus, 460.

subter aquam ascendit, 461.

non est flamma accensa, 486.

extensio ejus in ovis vitreis, 522.

non subito transit poros vasorum
solidiorum, 538. See also Air.

Aeriform fluids capable of liquefaction .

407, 426, 453, 576.
Aeschinis de Alexandra Mngno dictum,

302.

Aeschylus, referred to, 284.
Aeternitas, 223, 224.

quomodo defluxerit, 224.
Aeternum aut Incorruptibile, 453-4.
Aether, element of, 220.
Aethiopia, 265.

Aetna, 383.

Affectus intellectum tingunt, 226.
Affinity of bodies, 252, 253.
Affirmativa vulgo potiora quam nega-
tiva, 221, 222.

formae, angustatur per Instantias
migrantes, 418.

per Instantias comitatus, 452.

Africa, 265, 439, 469.

Agricoia, Georgius, 584, 589.

Air as a conductor of heat, 375-6, 393,

5 11 -

has no weight, according to Bacon,
501-2.

regarded as ?elf-luminous, 506-7.

elasticity of, 521-2, 575.

pressure of the atmosphere, 522,

534-7. r 68 > 574-

pump, 571.
Albedo quid sit, 419 21.
Albert us Magnus, 456, 571.
Alchymistae, 193, 286-8, 444, 596-7.