24 XONTM ORGAXIM. 



Yei iim de singulis istis generibus idolonitn, f usius et 

 distinctius dieendum est, ut intellectui humane cautum 

 sit. 



XLV. 



Intellcctus humanus ex proprietate sua facile suppo- 

 nit niajorem ordineni et axjtialitatem in rebus, quain 

 in veil it&quot;&quot; : et cum multa sint in natura monodica, et 

 ])lena imparitatis, tainen aflingit parallela, et correspon- 

 dentia, et relativa. qua- 11011 sunt. I line comnicnta 

 ilia, nt cn-Ii stiltus (rtiniia mover i per ci re trios perfcctos, 

 lincis spiralibus et draconibus 4 (nisi nomine tenus) 

 prorsns rejectis. I line elementum i^nis cum orbe 

 suo !S introductum cst ad constituendum quaternionem 



4fi Playf air (Encycl. Brit. I. Dis- and doubtless would look with as 



sort. iii. ]&amp;gt;. 4,-,,-,) calls this head of little favour on Kepler s laws, as 

 &quot; Idola Tribus,&quot; &quot;the Spirit of on the &quot; commenta&quot; of the older 



Sy.stem,&quot; arising from man s innate Mathematicians. But though his 



yearning after something definite, illustration is not happy, his prin- 



ar.d after jiarallels and relations, ciple is just ; a remark which 



[ his springs from our desire for would hold good of a large part of 



rest: (of. I. 20.) In the Adv. of the Nov. Org. &quot; Linere spirales et 



l^carning (p. 194) Bacon uses the draeones&quot; have given place to the 



same language as he does here, pimple and beautiful Laws of the 



adding the beautiful illustration motion of the planetary Bodies; but 



from the disorder of the stars in the Bacon s warning against a love of 



firmament. uniformity must be repeated against 



47 &quot; Draeones&quot; Bacon himseif all hasty generalises, 

 onglishes by &quot; Eccentrics&quot; in the ^ The Ancients made of the Ele- 



A iv. of Learning: fcf. Milton s Par. ments four Orbs, concentric; Earth 



Lost, viii. 79 S4, and v. 630624.) in the centre ; then Water; then Air: 



He knew nothing of Astronomy, and lastly Fire . as Milton writes ; 



Air, and ye elements, the eldest birth 

 Of Nature s womb, that in quaternion run 

 Perpetual circle, multiform ; and mix 

 And nourish all things.&quot; Par. Lost, v. i^o. 



And the &quot; decupla proportio exces- Air to that of I ire. 

 sus&quot; was a doctrine of R. Fludd s It is scarcely necessary to add 



(an English Physician cotemporary that (except for purposes of Poetry) 



with Bacon). The notion was that the four Elements have disappeared 



the Density of Earth is to that of under the hands of the Chemists. 



Water as 10 is to i : so too that This whole subject trenches on the 



of Water to that of Air. and that of &quot; Idola Theatri.&quot; 



