THE DISTRIBUTION OF THE WORK. 21 



teors, the earth and sea, minerals, plants, animals), but 

 much rather a history of nature constrained and perplexed, 

 as she is seen when thrust down from her proper rank and 

 harassed and modelled by the art and contrivance of man. 

 We will therefore go through all the experiments of the 

 mechanical and the operative part of the liberal arts, and 

 all those of different practical schemes which have not yet 

 been put together so as to form a peculiar art : as far as 

 we have been able to investigate them and it will suit our 

 purpose. Besides (to speak the truth), without paying 

 any attention to the pride of man, or to appearances, we 

 consider this branch of much more assistance and support 

 than the other: since the nature of things betrays itself 

 more by means of the operations of art than when at per 

 fect liberty. 



Nor do we present the history of bodies alone, but have 

 thought it moreover right to exert our diligence in compil 

 ing a separate history of properties: we mean those which 

 may be called the cardinal properties of nature, and of 

 which its very elements are composed, namely, matter with 

 its first accidents and appetites, such as density, rarity, 

 heat, cold, solidity, fluidity, weight, levity, and many 

 others. 



But with regard to the nicety of natural history, we 

 clearly require a much more delicate and simple form of 

 experiments than those which are obvious. For we bring 

 out and extract from obscurity many things which no one 

 would have thought of investigating, unless he were pro 

 ceeding by a sure and steady path to the discovery of 

 causes ; since they are in themselves of no great use, and 

 it is clear that they were not sought for on their own 

 account, but that they bear the same relation to things 

 and effects, that the letters of the alphabet do to discourse 

 and words, being useless indeed in themselves, but the ele 

 ments of all language. 



In the selection of our reports and experiments, we con 

 sider that we have been more cautious for mankind than 

 any of our predecessors. For we admit nothing but as an 

 eye witness, or at least upon approved and rigorously ex 

 amined testimony; so that nothing is magnified into the 

 miraculous, but our reports are pure and unadulterated by 

 fables and absurdity. Nay, the commonly received and 

 repeated falsehoods, which by some wonderful neglect have 

 held their ground for many ages and become inveterate, 

 are by us distinctly proscribed and branded, that they may 



