tit 



MATERIALISM. 



MATERIALS FOR BUILlMNu 



in a less quantity of liquid, (tern* to miliUte (gainst tlio practice of 



.v .''.<. 



The introduction of new substances into the Materia Medica, by the 

 ducovrnr of new plants, or by the progress of chemistry, may supply 

 i in the catalogue of remedies. But less benefit to 



win Bow from a multiplication of remedies, than from the establish- 

 ment of clear and scientific rules fur their administration. Every 

 improvement in anatomy and physiology will promote the advance- 

 ment of therapeutics, by leading to greater precision in the employment 

 of medicines. For nothing is more certain than that medicinal 

 substances act upon special parto of the body, in preference to others, 

 and in many instances on those which are diseased rather than on those 

 which are Bound. The careful investigation of the modes of action of 

 medicines is worthy of the best faculties and energies of medical men, 

 and every contribution to this department of science should be 

 regarded as an incalculable benefit conferred on mankind. 



(Pereira's Eltnttxti of Hatrria Sfedieo ; Vogt. Uhrbuch dtr Phar- 

 matodftKamik, and Headland 0* the Actioiti of Utdieina.) 



MATERIALISM is a name applied to any philosophical system 

 which denies the existence of a spiritual or immaterial principle 

 in man, called the mind or soul, distinct from matter, or v-hii-h 

 (changing the phrase) denies the immateriality of the soul. The name 

 is applied to systems which differ very widely from one another, in 

 respect of the consequences deduced from the denial of the soul's 

 immatetiality ; and thus it comes to pass that the popular meaning of 

 the word has become loose and incorrect, comprehending what are no 

 better than accidental consequences of the pure and proper idea. Such 

 accidental consequences are the denial of a future state and absolute 

 atheism ; and it need not be said that atheism and materialism are 

 treated in current conversation as convertible expressions. 



The name materialism also is one of that sort for which Mr. Bentham 

 has constructed the epithet dytlogittic. As applied in current conversa- 

 tion, it always carries with it censure. This arises, of course, from 

 the nature of the accidental consequences which have been indicated, 

 and which mankind regard with horror ; but inasmuch as the name 

 still continues to be applied to systems from which unchristian and 

 atheistical consequences are expressly excluded, and even to some 

 system:) (such as that of Hartley) which admit the existence of a separate 

 soul, but in whose method of explaining mental phenomena there is a 

 dash of materialism, the censure that has come to be indissolubly 

 associated with the name often falls with grievous injustice. Indeed 

 there is hardly a single word in the whole range of philosophic termi- 

 nology better fitted to exemplify the evils of looseness of application, 

 or of allowing feelings to tinge and discolour the notions conveyed by 



! .' 



Th systems to which the name materialism is applied may be 

 roughly distributed under a threefold division. First, it is applied (as 

 has been already said) to a system like that of Hartley, which admits 

 the existence of a soul, but which, attempting to explain mental phe- 

 nomena physically or by movements arising out of the bodily organi- 

 sation, seems to imply materialism. Secondly, it is applied to the 

 system* of Hobbes and Priestley, and of the French school of writers, 

 of which De la Mettrie may be taken as a specimen, which distinctly 

 deny the existence of a soul as a separate principle in man, but which 



t deny either a God or a future state. In the systems of these 

 writers is evolved the pure and proper idea of materialism, divested of 

 all unnecessary consequences. Thirdly and lastly, the name is applied 

 to systems like that of the am-kiit Epicureans, which deny both a 

 future state of rewards and punishments and a Divine Creator, systems 

 for which atheism would be the better name, inasmuch as materialism 

 fails to denote their more important and distinctive ingredients. 



The following is a brief summary of the views of Dr. Priestley, who 

 has more formally than any other writer enunciated the principles of 

 materialism in the pure and proper sense of the word. He denies the 

 existence of a separate immaterial principle in man, called the mind or 

 fi. I, because he thinks that an immaterial principle could not exist in 

 union with the material body, and because he thinks, further, that all 

 mental phenomena (as they are called) may be explained by means of 

 opposed movements arising out of the bodily organisation. Tlie 

 ni.-Ui.-l by which he thus explains mental phenomena is that of 

 Hartley. [HAMLET, in Bioo. Drv.] Adopting this philosopher 1 * 

 hypothesis of medullary vibrations, he defines mental ] i 

 medullary vibrations perceived ; and he contends, principally from the 

 analogy of brutes, that bodily organisation is adequate to produce 

 perception. Thus, and by means of such hypothesis, does he dispense 

 with the hypothesis of a separate immaterial soul. But, denying the 

 existence of a soul, separate from the body, and capable of surviving 



he body jicruhes, he does not yet deny the immortality of man, 

 ami .1 future state of rewards and punishments. On the contain-, he 

 distinctly affirms these on the authority of Scripture. It is needless to 

 add Umt Dr. Priestley does not deny the existence of a God. rPniESTLKY, 

 in lluxi. DIY.] 



One word more on the absurdity of coupling the denial of a future 

 state with the denial of an immaterial soul, and of making atheism 



.-uious with materialism. To deny a material soul is necessarily 

 to deny an immortal soul, but not therefore to deny an immortal man. 

 And even to deny the existence of everything save matter in the 



; 'e, is not necessarily to deny a Divine principle, as is shown by 



many of the ancient schools of philosophy [KLEATIC PHILOSOPHY], 

 nor even to deny a moral governor, as is shown by the philosophy of 

 Hobbes, who, denying in one part of his writings the existence of all 

 spirit, and in this rospect carrying his views further than Dr. Priestley, 

 yet makes Qod the corner-stone of moral and political science. 1 1 1 

 In Bioo. Drv.] Hobbes distinctly say* that there being nwthing, in 

 his opinion, but matter in the universe , it follows that God is n> 



But it is to be remarked, in opposition to materialism, even as it is 

 put forth by Dr. Priestley, that it is devoid of philosophical foundation, 

 and rests on a disregard of the limits of true philosophy. Its truth 

 cannot be tested by observation. It rests altogether on hypothesis and 

 conjecture. When we go beyond what are called the qualities i the 

 mind, or of matter either, and speculate upon what it is itself, v. 

 it is something else, or different from that something, whether it has or 

 has not an existence, we have no help but in supposing and conjecturing 

 and imagining. Such speculations may doubtless be interesting, and 

 they may have their use too as an exercise for the imagination, 

 cannot calculate upon their results. Much mischief is done, mor 

 by mixing up these results with the results of observation, by jumbling 

 together conjecture and philosophy. The true philosopher, not despising, 

 but setting aside as irrelevant to his object, all speculations on the 

 origin and nature of mind, or - :ther, will start from these a* 



first principles, and will apply himself to observing their qualities and 

 capabilities and laws ; and the results will be sound psychology and 

 sound physics. 



The converse of the word materialism is inimaterialUm. This is used 

 only as an abstract term, and even thus very seldom, spiritualism being 

 generally used in its place. 



MATERIALS FOR BUILDING. In some of the previous articlei 

 reference has been made to the conditions which should regulate the 

 application of particular building materials [ATMOSPHERIC INFM 

 FOUNDATIONS ; MASONRY] ; but the leading principles conneeteil with 

 their selection, and the mode of their applications, are of such 

 .paramount importance to all parties connected with this branch of the 

 constructive arts, that it appears desirable to allude, in general terms 

 at least, to their nature. The manner in which this will be done will 

 be by noticing, iu the usual order, the materials used in the various 

 details of a building. 



External walls (which are mainly required to resist the transmission 

 of moisture from the ground upwards, or from the exterior to the 

 interior of a building, and to maintain an equable temperature in the 

 interior if possible,) may be constructed of either stone, brick, or wood, 

 according to local circumstances; provided the requisite precautions 

 be taken to guard against the destructive action of humidity, or against 

 the various mechanical efforts exerted, and that there be no danger 

 from the propagation of fire, in cases where many buildings are in 

 proximity to one another. The stone may either be used in large or 

 small rough blocks, devoid of bedding or of regular vertical joints ; or 

 it may be used in the form of coursed masonry in the manners described 

 under that head ; and the only general principles it may be desirable 

 here to allude to with respect to the use of stones of various descrip- 

 tions, are, that such of them as are dense and of small absorptive 

 powers should be used near the ground ; whilst the use of the lighter 

 and the more hygrometric ones must be confined to the po : 

 where they will not be exposed to great efforts of compression, or to 

 external sources of moisture ; and care should be taken that the stones 

 are in no case laid with their planes of bedding otherwise than in 

 the direction which they may have occupied in the quarries. The 

 various descriptions of stones (such as the granites, whin stones, slates, 

 marbles, carbonates, argillo-carbonates, and sulphates of lime, and tho 

 magneeian limestones) have already been alluded to in the articles 

 quoted, or they will be finally discussed under that of STONE ; so that, 

 for the present, it may suffice to say that any material of this descrip- 

 tion may be advantageously used for building purpose* when it ia 

 uniform in its grain, or in its molecular structure; when it lias com- 

 paratively small powers of absorbing water ; and when it is not a very 

 >< inductor of heat. The latter condition is too often neglected, 

 and it is on this account that many of the buildings in cold, moist, 

 countries, present hvgicnic propeities of a very dangerous character; 

 for tho condensation and the evai>ration which arc thus continually 

 going on, must render latent a great amount of heat funiMn- <l l.y 

 surrounding objects. The absorptive powers of stones have an im- 

 portant bearing, not only upon the comfort of the interior of the 

 buildings iu which they are employed, but also upon their durability, 

 on account of the disintegration and decoy which attends the evapora- 

 tion of the salts they are able to liberate from their original combina- 

 tions, in the stones. It appears, however, that the mere fact of the 

 existence of great powers of absorption docs not constitute an absolute 

 reason for the rejection of a building stone; because there are some 

 materials of this class which are of great o value, but which 



lily absorbent; such as the Yorkshire sandstones, and some of 

 the Bilicioua conglomerates. The structure of .1 stone has a marked 

 influence upon its powers of resistance to natural external causes of 

 decay, and it is found that the more highly crystalline materials are the 

 most durable ; whilst those in which the molecules of the stone are 

 both of an earthy and of a decidedly marked sub-crystallite 

 (as is often the case, with the imVi .; varieties of the oolites), .ire sure 

 to decay iu an irregular manner, ijome descriptions of granite even 



