CENTURY II. 77 



you contract the mouth ; and to make it more sharp, 

 men sometimes use their finger. But in open air, 

 if you throw a stone or a dart, they give no sound ; 

 no more do bullets, except they happen to be a little 

 hollowed in the casting ; which hollowness penneth 

 the air : nor yet arrows, except they be ruffled in 

 their feathers, which likewise penneth the air. As 

 for small whistles or shepherds oaten pipes, they 

 give a sound because of their extreme slenderness, 

 whereby the air is more pent than in a wider pipe. 

 Again, the voices of men and living creatures pass 

 through the throat, which penneth the breath. As 

 for the Jews-harp, it is a sharp percussion ; and 

 besides, hath the advantage of penning the air in the 

 mouth. 



117. Solid bodies, if they be very softly per 

 cussed, give no sound ; as when a man treadeth very 

 softly upon boards. So chests or doors in fair 

 weather, when they open easily, give no sound. And 

 cart-wheels squeak not when they are liquored. 



118. The flame of tapers or candles, though it 

 be a swift motion and breaketh the air, yet passeth 

 without sound. Air in ovens, though, no doubt, it 

 doth, as it were, boil and dilate itself, and is reper- 

 cussed ; yet it is without noise. 



119. Flame percussed by air giveth a noise; as 

 in blowing of the fire by bellows ; greater than if 

 the bellows should blow upon the air it itself. And 

 so likewise flame percussing the air strongly, as when 

 flame suddenly taketh and openeth, giveth a noise ; 



