76 ESSAYS AND OBSERVATIONS 



dium, becaufe it is the efFedl of that rc- 

 fiftance. All the world knows, that, when 

 bodies move through a fluid, or any fofc 

 matter, a double force produces a qua- 

 druple effedl ; which may be accounted 

 for in the fame manner with the retarda- 

 tion which happens in the afcent of heavy 

 bodies. A double force makes the body 

 afcend four times the height, before it be 

 ftopt by the counteraaion of gravity. 

 And it is equally reafonable to fuppofe, 

 that, when bodies fall into refifting medi- 

 ums, a double force will carry the body 

 a quadruple fpace downwards before the 

 motion be quite ftopt by the refiftance of 

 the medium. 



I fhall conclude this eflay with the fol- 

 lowing obfervation, that the feveral pow- 

 ers I have afcribed to matter are in no- 

 thing fimilar to occult qualities. The er- 

 ror of thofe who dealt in the dodrine of 

 occult qualities was, in attributing every 

 different effedl to fome quality or caufe 

 confined to that fmgle effed; which was, 

 in reality, faying no more, than, what 



all 



