#6 PROPERTIES OF MATTER 



passive and inert. Whether, therefore, we con* 

 template the nature of common matter, at rest, 

 W in motion ; at unity, or in union ; whether 

 the changes it undergoes proceed from motion 

 mechanical, from mixture chemical, or from 

 both together, we shall find it a universal truth, 

 that the same effects, universally result froia 

 Jhe operation of the same causes.* 



If we extend our views to animated beings in 

 general, we shall find that the faculties and 

 powers so varied and wonderful which they 

 severally possess, prove that each system, not 

 only in the progress of its evolution, but in the 

 actions it performs, is governed and impelled 

 by laws, distinct and peculiar dependent on 

 the class to which it belongs ; and that the 

 matter itseJf, of which it is composed, is, in it$ 

 attributes, totally different from common matter 

 in a passive state. In common matter, an in- 

 crease of bulk is invariably produced, in propor- 

 tion to the quantity of matter applied.^ 



* It has been owing to the uniformity in the effects which 

 common matter is found to describe, that rules have been 

 formed to which those effects correspond. These rules, by 

 some, are called Principles, by others, Laws. The rules of 

 Mechanics, illustrate and explain the operation of matter in 

 point of quantity ; of chemistry, in point of quality ; of geo- 

 metry, the quantity and degree of motion described. 



t I allude, of course, to homogeneous matter only ; che- 

 mical union often causes a condensation between the parts, 

 and a consequent diminution of volume. 



