NOVUM ORGANUM 229 



XL1II. In the twentieth rank of prerogative instances 

 we will place lancing instances, which we are also wont 

 (bat for a different reason) to call twitching instances. We 

 adopt the latter name, because they twitch the understand 

 ing, and the former because they pierce nature, whence we 

 style them occasionally the instances of Democritus.&quot; 

 They are such as warn the understanding of the admir 

 able and exquisite subtilty of nature, so that it becomes 

 roused and awakened to attention, observation, and proper 

 inquiry; as, for instance, that a little drop of ink should 

 be drawn out into so many letters; that silver merely gilt 

 on its surface should be stretched to such a length of gilt 

 wire; that a little worm, such as you may find on the skin, 

 should possess both a spirit and a varied conformation of 

 its parts; that a little saffron should imbue a whole tub 

 of water with its color; that a little musk or aroma should 

 imbue a much greater extent of air with its perfume; that 

 a cloud of smoke should be raised by a little incense; that 

 such accurate differences of sounds as articulate words 

 should be conveyed in all directions through the air, and 

 even penetrate the pores of wood and water (though they 

 become much weakened), that they should be, moreover, 

 reflected, and that with such distinctness and velocity; that 

 light and color should for such an extent and so rapidly 

 pass through solid bodies, such as glass and water, with 

 so great and so exquisite a variety of images, and should 

 be refracted and reflected; that the magnet should attract 

 through every description of body, even the most compact; 

 but (what is still more wonderful) that in all these cases the 

 action of one should not impede that of another in a common 



n Alluding to his theory of atoms. 



