28 INTERPRETATION OF NATURE. 



almost a multitude of experiments, began forthwith to de 

 sign a new school in natural philosophy ; and was not ter 

 rified by the ridiculed name of Zenophanes, whose opinion 

 he inclined to. These then, and all who are or shall be 

 like them, must be ranked in the band of ancients, for there 

 is the same character in them all : thus they were men who 

 gave their opinions on few matters, and trifled with nature 

 without making such a close union with her as to beget 

 either certainty of contemplation or useful works. 



It is a truth that out of so many schools of philosophy, 

 laboriously cultivated through such a length of years, not 

 one experiment can be cited, which has a view to the im 

 provement or aggrandizement of the state of man, and can 

 be pointed to with truth as the gifts of such speculations. 

 On the contrary, indeed, Aristotle s device of the four ele 

 ments, which he rather gave currency to than invented 

 (and which being greedily caught up by physicians, drew 

 after it the systems of the four complexions, the four hu 

 mours, and the four primary qualities), like some malig 

 nant and unlucky star, caused extraordinary barrenness in 

 medicine, besides many mechanical arts; men all the while 

 allowing themselves to be satisfied with conceits and me 

 thodized nothings of this kind, and carry no further. Mean 

 time a multitude of questions and controversies clamoured 

 and fluttered on all sides round these philosophies, so that 

 they seem represented to the life in the fable of Scylla, who 

 had the upper part and countenance of a virgin, while her 

 womb was girt and crowded with barking monsters. In like 

 mannerhavethosedoctrines something specious at first sight, 

 but when we approach the generative part, to produce fruits, 

 nothing is to be found but strife and restless disputing, 

 which are in the room of bearing. 



At the same time it must be remembered, that the reasons 

 for rejecting these systems assail the opinions only, not the 

 understandings or industry of their authors. For, in pro 

 portion to a man s wit and zeal, does he, if he desert the 

 light and observation of nature and the evidence of parti 

 culars, plunge himself and become involved in the darkest 

 and most intricate recesses, and, as it were, dens of phan 

 tasies and idols. Again, the general plans of the philoso 

 phies are not attached with the purpose of approving the 

 detailed application of minor causes, which are commonly 

 given and inquired into in the works of philosophers of 

 this kind : on the contrary, these are no better than the 

 other, not only because they depend upon them, but also 

 because they display no severity of inquisition, and lead us 



