NOVUM ORGANUM. 101 



28. Other instances. 



We are wont to call this a table of existence and pre 

 sence. 



12. We must next present to the understanding instances 

 which do not admit of the given nature ; for form (as we 

 have observed) ought no less to be absent where the given 

 nature is absent, than to be present where it is present. If, 

 however, we were to examine every instance our labour 

 would be infinite. 



Negatives, therefore, must be classed under the affirma 

 tives, and the want of the given nature must be inquired 

 into more particularly in objects which have a very close 

 connexion with those others in which it is present and 

 manifest. And this we are wont to term a table of devia 

 tion or of absence in proximity. 



Proximate Instances wanting the nature of Heat. 



First negative subjunctive instance to the first affirmative instance. 



The rays of the moon, stars-, and comets, are not found to 

 be warm to the touch, nay, the severest cold has been ob 

 served to take place at the full of the moon. Yet the larger 

 fixed stars are supposed to increase and render more intense 

 the heat of the sun, as he approaches them; when the sun 

 is in the sign of the lion for instance, and in the dog-days. 



Second negative to the second affirmative. 



The rays of the sun in what is called the middle region 

 of the air give no heat, to account for which the commonly 

 assigned reason is satisfactory ; namely, that that region is 

 neither sufficiently near to the body of the sun whence the 

 rays emanate, nor to the earth whence they are reflected. 

 And the fact is manifested by snow being perpetual on 

 the tops of mountains, unless extremely lofty. But it is 

 observed on the other hand by some, that at the Peak of 

 Teneriffe, and also among the Andes of Peru, the tops 

 of the mountains are free from snow, which only lies in the 

 lower part, as you ascend. Besides, the air on the sum 

 mit of these mountains is found to be by no means cold, 

 but only thin and sharp ; so much so, that in the Andes 

 it pricks and hurts the eyes from its extreme sharpness, and 

 even excites the orifice of the stomach and produces vomit 

 ing. The ancients also observed, that the rarity of the air 

 on the summit of Olympus was such, that those who as 

 cended it were obliged to carry spunges moistened with 

 vinegar and water, and to apply them now and then to their 

 nostrils, as the air was not dense enough for their respira- 



