LIB. II. 6,7. 



143 



omnibus aliis alterationibus et motibus similiter in- 

 quirendum, quid antecedat, quid succedat ; quid sit 

 incitatius, quid remissius : quid inotum praebeat, quid 

 regat; et hujusmodi. Ista vero oinnia scientiis (qua? 

 nunc pinguissima Minerva, et prorsus inbabili, contex- 

 untur) incognita stint et intacta. Cum enim omnis 

 aetio naturalis per minima transigatur, aut saltern per 

 ilia, quse sunt minora, quam ut senstim feriant ; nemo 

 se naturam regere aut vertere posse speret, nisi ilia de- 

 bito modo comprehended t ct notaverit. 



VII. 



Similiter, inquisitio et inventio Intentis schematismi 1!) 

 in corporibus res nova est ; nou minus quam inventio 



19 &quot;The Latent Structure is that 

 invisible structure of bodies, on 

 which so many of their properties 

 depend.&quot; A good illustration of 

 this process of investigation is to be 

 found in Crystallography, or in mi 

 croscopic treatment of substances 

 like the Blood, stalks of herbs, &c. 

 One would hardly agree, however, 

 with Bacon in regarding Distilla 

 tion as a part of this Investigation ; 

 it would rather seem to belong to 

 Chemistry, whose objects, Herschel 

 lays it down (Disc, on Nat. Phil. 

 332) are, &quot; the Laws which con 

 cern the intimate constitution of 

 bodies, not as respects their Struc 

 ture or the manner in which their 

 parts are put together, but as re 

 gards the materials or ingredients of 

 which those parts are composed.&quot; 

 In this part of physical study also 

 Bacon seems to have hoped for far 

 more than we can hope to attain 

 to. In the example given below 

 his language is most scholastic : 

 &quot; spiritus,&quot; &quot; essentia tangibilis,&quot; 

 &c. and he seems to believe that 

 there is a hope of our reaching a 



solution of the problem of Life by 

 means of the study of Structure. 

 Perhaps Mr. Mill s illustrations of 

 his Method of Agreement and Dif 

 ference will give us a good instance 

 of what Bacon means by the disco 

 very, and application of our know 

 ledge, of Latent Structure. (Logic ; 

 III. chap.viii. i.) where he refers 

 to the production of Quartz Crystals 

 by keeping a phial filled with water 

 charged with siliceous particles un 

 disturbed for several years . and 

 better still would be his illustration 

 of Sir James Hall s production of 

 artificial marble, by the cooling of 

 its materials from fusion under im 

 mense pressure. These would be 

 applications of Latent Process to the 

 Latent Structure. For we must 

 first have analysed the components, 

 &c. of quartz crystal, or marble, and 

 then have applied that knowledge, 

 together with an imitation of the 

 Process of Nature, to the creating 

 of the Latent Structure. The ope 

 rations are not unlike some of those 

 sketched out in the New Atlantis. 



