NOVUM ORGANUM 241 



vast bodies as those of the whale and elephant, have ever 

 bent or directed such a mass of body, were it not owing to 

 the velocity of the former, and the slowness of the latter in 

 resisting its motion. 



In short, this point is one of the principal foundations 

 of the magic experiments (of which we shall presently 

 speak), where a small mass of matter overcomes and regu 

 lates a much larger, if there but be an anticipation of 

 motion, by the velocity of one before the other is pre 

 pared to act. 



Finally, the point of the first and last should be ob 

 served in all natural actions. Thus, in an infusion of rhu 

 barb the purgative property is first extracted, and then the 

 astringent; we have experienced something of the same 

 Kind in steeping violets in vinegar, which first extracts the 

 sweet and delicate odor of the flower, and then the more 

 earthy part, which disturbs the perfume; so that if the vio 

 lets be steeped a whole day, a much fainter perfume is 

 extracted than if they were steeped for a quarter of an hour 

 only, and then taken out; and since the odoriferous spirit 

 in the violet is not abundant, let other and fresh violets be 

 steeped in the vinegar every quarter of an hour, as many as 

 six times, when the infusion becomes so strengthened, that 

 although the violets have not altogether remained there for 

 more than one hour and a half, there remains a most pleas 

 ing perfume, not inferior to the flower itself, for a whole 

 year. It must be observed, however, that the perfume 

 does not acquire its full strength till about a month after 

 the infusion. In the distillation of aromatic plants macer 

 ated in spirits of wine, it is well known that an aqueous 

 and useless phlegm rises first, then water containing more 

 of the spirit, and, lastly, water containing more of the 



