52 XOVIM ORGANUM. 



si ad philosopliiam et contemplationes universales so 

 rontulerint, illas ex prioribus phantasiis detorquent, ct 

 eorrumpunt ; id (jiiod inaxime conspicuum cernitur in 

 Aristotclc, qui naturalem suaiu pliilosophiam loo-jc.-c 

 sua 1 prorsus maneipavit, ut earn fere inutilcin ct con- 

 tentiosam rcddiderit . Chemicormn autcni genus 71 , 

 ex paucis experimentis fornaeis, pliilosophiam constitu- 

 crunt phantasticam, et ad pauca spectantcin: (juinctiam 

 Gilbertus&quot;-, postquam in contemplationibus ma^nctis se 

 laboriosissime exercuisset, confinxit statim pliilosophiam 

 conscntaneain rci apud ipsum pnrpollenti. 



LV. 



Maximum ct vclut radicale discrimcn ingeniorum, 

 quoad jihilosophiam ct scientias, illnd cst ; cpiod alia 

 inn-cilia sint fortiora ct aptiora ad notandas re rum 



&quot; I ; or Hacon s ojunions ns to 

 Aristotle see I. 6^, when- tlie siih- 

 ject ciunt s properly In-fore him un- 

 dcT the- &quot; liiola J tieatri.&quot; Here it 

 is out of place; and \ve notice on 

 several occasions that Bacon s love 

 of illustration itc. has led him to 

 pass the limits he lias set to him- 

 self. 



71 The Chemists of Bacon s day 

 were thoroughly empiric (cf. 1.64), 

 for, as Playfair says (Kncyelop. 

 Brit. I. ]). 47,3 i, &quot; Chemistry in this 

 state might be said to have an Elec 

 tive Attraction for all that was most 

 absurd and extravagant in the other 

 parts of knowledge.&quot; 



* Gilbert, court Physician to Eli 

 zabeth and James I, is always treated 

 badly by Bacon. lie ever asserted 

 the great advantage of experiment 

 over a priori philosophy ; and is 

 accordingly put hy Bacon among 

 &quot; Empirics.&quot; He was a strong sup 

 porter of the Copernican system, 



and so far was in advance of Bacon. 

 His fault was (if it wa.s one) that he 

 attached himself too much to one 

 subject (Magnetism;, and was in 

 clined to expect too great results 

 from it. Hallam says of him. that 

 he, in a Latin Treatise on the Mag 

 net, &quot; collected all the knowledge 

 which others had possessed on the 

 subject, and became also at once 

 the father of experimental Philoso 

 phy in this Island.&quot; His views are 

 still held to be sound. Surpi said 

 that he and Vieta the Algebraist 

 were the only two original writers 

 of his day. Hallam, Lit. of Europe, 

 vol. II. part ii. ch. 7. 21. Bacon 

 often refers to him: cf. I. 64. 70; 

 II. 35; Adv. of Learning, p. 51. 

 He allows him qualified praise in 

 the 3rd Book of the De Augm. Sc. 

 Galileo, in his 3rd Dialogue, dis 

 cusses his system with great respect; 

 contrasting very favourably with Ba 

 con s almost personal abuse. 



