37 6 BACON 



XXVII. Even a severe and intense cold produces a sensation of 

 burning. 



" Nee Borese penetrabile fngus adunt. Virgil.o 



XXVIIL Other instances. 



We are wont to call this a table of existence and presence. 



12. We must next present to the understanding instances 

 which do not admit of the given nature, for form (as we have 

 observed) ought no less to be absent where the given nature is 

 absent, than to be present where it is present. If, however, we 

 were to examine every instance, our labor would be infinite. 



Negatives, therefore, must be classed under the affirmatives, 

 and the want of the given nature must be inquired into more 

 particularly in objects which have a very close connection with 

 those others in which it is present and manifest. And this we 

 are wont to term a table of deviation or of absence in proximity. 



Proximate Instances wanting the Nature of Heat 



The rays of the moon, stars, and comets, are not found to be 

 warm to the touch, nay, the severest cold has been observed to 

 take place at the full of the moon. Yet the larger fixed stars 

 are supposed to increase and render more intense the heat of the 

 sun, as he approaches them, when the sun is in the sign of the 

 Lion for instance, and in the dog-days. 



The rays of the sun in what is called the middle region of the 

 air give no heat, to account for which the commonly assigned 

 reason is satisfactory ; namely, that that region is neither suffi- 

 ciently near to the body of the sun whence the rays emanate, 

 nor to the earth whence they are reflected. And the fact is 

 manifested by snow being perpetual on the tops of mountains, 

 unless extremely lofty. But it is observed on the other hand by 

 some, that at the Peak of Tenerifle, and also among the Andes 

 of Peru, the tops of the mountains are free from snow, which 

 only lies in the lower part as you ascend. Besides, the air on the 

 summit of these mountains is found to be by no means cold, but 

 only thin and sharp ; so much so, that in the Andes it pricks and 

 hurts the eyes from its extreme sharpness, and even excites the 

 orifice of the stomach and produces vomiting. The ancients 

 also observed, that the rarity of the air on the summit of Olym- 

 pus was such, that those who ascended it were obliged to carry 

 sponges moistened with vinegar and water, and to apply them 

 now and then to their nostrils, as the air was not dense enough 

 for their respiration ; on the summit of which mountain it is also 

 related, there reigned so great a serenity and calm, free from 

 rain, snow, or wind, that the letters traced upon the ashes of the 



