NOVUM ORGANUM 191 



heat of fire, in many cases, can be modified till it resemble 

 that of the heavenly bodies and of animals. 



Again, let the required natures be motion and rest, 

 There appears to be a settled classification, grounded on 

 the deepest philosophy, that natural bodies either revolve, 

 move in a straight line, or stand still and rest. For there 

 is either motion without limit, or continuance within a cer 

 tain limit, or a translation toward a certain limit. The eter 

 nal motion of revolution appears peculiar to the heavenly 

 bodies, rest to this our globe, and the other bodies (heavy 

 and light, as they are termed, that is to say, placed out of 

 their natural position) are borne in a straight line to masses 

 or aggregates which resemble them, the light toward the 

 heaven, the heavy toward the earth; and all this is very 

 fine language. 



But we have an instance of alliance in low comets, which 

 revolve, though far below the heavens; and the fiction of 

 Aristotle, of the comet being fixed to, or necessarily fol 

 lowing some star, has been long since exploded; not only 

 because it is improbable in itself, but from the evident fact 

 of the discursive and irregular motion of comets through 

 various parts of the heavens. 55 



Another instance of alliance is that of the motion of air, 

 which appears to revolve from east to west within the trop 

 ics, where the circles of revolution are the greatest. 



The flow and ebb of the sea would perhaps be another 

 instance, if the water were once found to have a motion of 



55 Seneca was a sounder astronomer than Bacon. He ridiculed the idea of 

 the motion of any heavenly bodies being irregular, and predicted that the day 

 would come, when the laws which guided the revolution of these bodies would 

 be proved to be identical with those which controlled the motions of the planets. 

 The anticipation was realized by Newton. Ed. 



