THE SECOND BOOK 107 



of his providence. And thus much for metaphysic : 

 the latter part whereof I allow as extant, but wish it 

 confined to his proper place. 



VIII. 1. Nevertheless there remaineth yet another 

 part of natural philosophy, which is commonly made 

 a principal part, and holdeth rank with physic special 

 and metaphysic, which is mathematic ; but I think it 

 more agreeable to the nature of things, and to the 

 light of order, to place it as a branch of metaphysic. 

 For the subject of it being quantity, not quantity in 

 definite, which is but a relative, and belongeth to 

 philosophia prima (as hath been said), but quantity 

 determined or proportionable, it appeareth to be one 

 of the essential forms of things, as that that is causa 

 tive in nature of a number of effects ; insomuch as 

 we see in the schools both of Democritus and of Pytha 

 goras, that the one did ascribe figure to the first seeds 

 of things, and the other did suppose numbers to be 

 the principles and originals of things. And it is true 

 also that of all other forms (as we understand forms) 

 it is the most abstracted and separable from matter, 

 and therefore most proper to metaphysic ; which hath 

 likewise been the cause why it hath been better laboured 

 and inquired than any of the other forms, which are 

 more immersed into matter. For it being the nature 

 of the mind of man (to the extreme prejudice of know 

 ledge) to delight in the spacious liberty of generalities, 

 as in a champain region, and not in the inclosures of 

 particularity, the mathematics of all other knowledge 

 were the goodliest fields to satisfy that appetite. But 

 for the placing of this science, it is not much material : 

 only we have endeavoured in these our partitions to 

 observe a kind of perspective, that one part may cast 

 light upon another. 



2. The mathematics are either pure or mixed. To 

 the pure mathematics are those sciences belonging which 

 handle quantity determinate, merely severed from any 

 axioms of natural philosophy ; and these are two, 

 geometry and arithmetic ; the one handling quantity 

 continued, and the other dissevered. Mixed hath for 



