4 o8 BACON 



yet would he never have hit upon the invention of flaming 

 engines, acting by means of gunpowder; nor would any per- 

 son, who had made woollen manufactories and cotton the sub- 

 ject of his observation and reflection, have ever discovered 

 thereby the nature of the silkworm or of silk. 



Hence all the most noble discoveries have (if you observe) 

 come to light, not by any gradual improvement and extension 

 of the arts, but merely by chance ; whilst nothing imitates or 

 anticipates chance (which is wont to act at intervals of ages) 

 but the invention of forms. 



There is no necessity for adducing any particular examples 

 of these instances, since they are abundant. The plan to be 

 pursued is this: all the mechanical, and even the liberal arts 

 (as far as they are practical), should be visited and thoroughly 

 examined, and thence there should be formed a compilation 

 or particular history of the great masterpieces, or most finished 

 works in each, as well as of the mode of carrying them into ef- 

 fect. 



Nor do we confine the diligence to be used in such a com- 

 pilation to the leading works and secrets only of every art, and 

 such as excite wonder; for wonder is engendered by rarity, 

 since that which is rare, although it be compounded of ordinary 

 natures, always begets wonder. 



On the contrary, that which is really wonderful, from some 

 specific difference distinguishing it from other species, is care- 

 lessly observed, if it be but familiar. Yet the singular instances 

 of art should be observed no less than those of nature, which 

 we have before spoken of : and as in the latter we have classed 

 the sun, the moon, the magnet, and the like, all of them most 

 familiar to us, but yet in their nature singular, so should we 

 proceed with the singular instances of art. 



For example : paper, a very common substance, is a singular 

 instance of art ; for if you consider the subject attentively, you 

 will find that artificial substances are either woven by straight 

 and transverse lines, as silk, woollen, or linen cloth, and the like ; 

 or coagulated from concrete juices, such as brick, earthenware, 

 glass, enamel, porcelain, and the like, which admit of a polish if 

 they be compact, but if not, become hard without being polished ; 

 all which latter substances are brittle, and not adherent or tena- 

 cious. On the contrary, paper is a tenacious substance, which 

 can be cut and torn, so as to resemble and almost rival the skin 

 of any animal, or the leaf of vegetables, and the like works of 

 nature ; being neither brittle like glass, nor woven like cloth, but 

 having fibres and not distinct threads, just as natural substances, 

 so that scarcely anything similar can be found amongst artificial 

 substances, and it is absolutely singular. And in artificial works 

 we should certainly prefer those which approach the nearest to 



