LIFE of Dr HUTTON. 75 



ing transformations which he eftecfts, his fuccefs in analyzing al- 

 moft all bodies, and in reproducing fo many, feem to promife 

 that he fhall one day difcover the effence of a fubftance which 

 he has fo thoroughly fubdued ; that he fliall be able to bind 

 Proteus in his cave, and finally extort from him the fecret 

 of his birth ; in a word, that he fhall find out what matter is, 

 of what elements it is compofed, and what are the properties eC- 

 fential to its exiftence. 



In entering upon this new inquiry, Dr Hutton was forcibly 

 ftruck with the very juft refledlion, That we do by no means ex- 

 plain the nature of body, when we defcribe it as mad* up of 

 frnall particles; becaufe if we allow to thefe particles any magni- 

 tude whatfoever, we do no more than affirm that great bodies 

 are made up of fmall ones. The elements of body muft, there- 

 fore, be admitted to be fomething unextended. To thefe unex- 

 tended elements, DrTIuTTON gave the name of matter, and. 

 carefully diftinguiflied between that term and the term body, 

 which he applied only to thofe combinations of matter that are- 

 necefTarily conceived to poffefs impenetrability, extenfion and: 

 inertia. 



The moft accurate examination of the properties of body con- 

 firms the truth of the opinion, that it is compofed of unextended . 

 elements. Bodies may be comprefled into fmaller dimenfions ; 

 many by the application of mechanical force, and all by the dimi- 

 nution of their heat : nor is there any limit to this compreffion, or 

 any point beyond which the farther redudlion of volume becomes 

 impoffible. This holds of fubflances the molt compaiSl; as well 

 as the moft volatile and elaftic, and clearly evinces that the ele- 

 ments of body are not in contadt with one another, and that in. 

 reality we perceive nothing in body but the exiftence of certain : 

 powers or forces, adling with various intenfities, and in various - 

 dire<5lions. Thus the fuppofed impenetrability, and of courfe 

 the extenfion of body, is nothing elfe than the effort of a refift- 



ins: 



