Chap. a i. ** Treat/ft of BODIES. 245 



And to examine his reafons particularly, ic may very well 

 fallout that whatsoever thecaufc be, the point of a needle may 

 be too little to make an exa& experience inland therefore a new 

 doftrine ought not lightly be grounded upon what appeareth in 

 the application of that. And likewifr, the greatneSTe of the fur- 

 faces of the i\vo irons may be a condition helpfull to the ciufe 

 whatsoever it be : for greater and. JdTer are the common condi- 

 tions of all bodies, and therefore do avail all kinds of corporc- 

 all cauSes ; fo that no one caufc can be affirmed more then an- 

 other, merely out of this, that great tloth more, and little doth 

 IcSTe. 



To come then to our own Solution : I have considered how 7. 

 fire hath in a manner the fame cfFeft in iron, as t!ie virtue of ^ |" e -o"''^ 

 the loadftone hath by means of the cap : for I find that fire co- former quefU- 

 ming through iron red glowing hot, will burn more ftrongly, ons> 

 then if it Should come immediately through the aire; asalfo we 

 fee that in pitco.il the fire is Stronger then in charcolc. And nc- 

 vcrtheleflc.the fire will heat further if it come immediately from 

 the fource of it, then if it come through * red iron that burneth 

 more violently where ittoucheth ; and likewife charcoal will 

 heat further then pitcoal, that near hand burneth more fiercely. 

 In the fame manner, the loadftone will draw further without a 

 cap then with one ; but with a cap it fticketh rafter then vvich- 

 out one. Whence! See that it is not purely the virtue of the 

 loadflone; but the virtue of it being in iron, which caufeth this 



Now this ^modification may proceed either from the multi- 

 tude of parts which come out of the loadftone.and are as it wrre 

 flopped in the iron; and fo the fphere of their aivity becometh 

 fliorter, bi^t ftrongerror elfe from fome quality of the iron joyn - 

 ed to the influence of theloidrtone. The firft feemeth not to 

 give a good account of the efifefl; for why fhotild a little p.ircr 

 take it away, feeing we are fure that it Sloppeth not the paSTage 

 of the loadftones influence? Again, the influence o r the load- 

 flone Seemeth in its motion to be of the nature of light, which 

 goeth in an infcnfible time as far as it can reach: and therefore 

 were it multiplied in the iron, it would reach further then with- 

 out itjand from it the virtue of the loadftone would begin a new 

 fphere of activity. Therefore we more willingly cleive to the 

 latter part of our determination. Q^ 3 And 



