LIB. I. 66. 49 



ut non patiantur unitatem naturae prorsus dirimi aut 

 abscindi, ut vacuum detur: aut si quis dicat, inesse 

 corporibus appetitum se recipiendi in naturalem suam 

 dimensionem vel tensuram, ut, si ultra earn, aut citra 

 earn, comprimantur aut distrahantur, statim in veterem 

 sphseram et exporrectionem suam se recuperare et re- 

 mittere moliantur: aut si quis dicat, inesse corporibus 

 appetitum congregationis ad massas connaturalium suo- 

 rum, densorum videlicet versus orbem terrae, tenuiorum 

 et rariorum versus ambitum coeli : hscc et hujusmodi 

 vere physica sunt genera motuum. At ilia altera plane 

 logica sunt et scholastica, ut ex hac collatione eorum 

 manifesto liquet. 



Neque minus etiam malum est, quod in philosophiis 

 et contemplationibus suis, in principiis rerum atque 

 ultimatibus naturae investigandis et tractandis, opera 

 insumatur; cum omnis utilitas et facultas operandi in 

 mediis consistat. Hinc fit, ut abstrahere naturam ho 

 mines non desiuant, donee ad materiam potentialem et 

 informem ventum fuerit; nee rursus secare naturam 

 desinant, donee perventum fuerit ad atomum ; quse, 

 etiamsi vera essent, tamen ad juvandas hominum fortu- 

 nas parum possunt. 



disproved it by a &quot; crucial Instance&quot; that things heavy naturally descend, 



with the Barometer on a high Moun- and things light ascend by the appe- 



tain. (2) The second illustration is tite of their own nature, is Peripa- 



Elasticity; and (3) the last, an er- tetic. See Aristotle s Phys. Ausc. 



roneous principle of affinities of ho- IV. v. 13. To pta-ov TOV ovpavov, at 



mogeneous bodies, introducing the ro ea-^arov TO Trpoy r}p.as TTJS KVK\&amp;lt;O 



mistaken conception of absolute den- (fropas, 8oKfl elvai TO p.ev av&amp;lt;o, TO dc 



sity and levity. (Cf. also II. 46. and KCZTCO, /xaXtcrra TTUO-I Kvpia&amp;gt;s, STI TO 



48.) The notion of absolute levity fj.ev alel fievfi, TOV 8e KVK\OV TO eo-^a- 



was disproved by shewing that the TOV wo-atJrws e xov p-fvei. &quot;Qort, eVft 



Phlogiston of Stahl was a mere TO pev Kov&amp;lt;poi&amp;gt;, TO liva&amp;gt; ^epo/iej/di/ eort 



fiction. HerschePs Discourse on (pvo-ei, TO Se /3apv TO KOTW, K. T. X. 



Nat. Phil. 336. Playfair in En- Cf. infr. II. 35. 

 cycl. Brit. vol. I. p. 450. The belief 



