110 WEIGHT AND MAGNITUDE; 



thing that can speed our advancement, or prevent 

 our turning aside from it. 



Those who would be profitable observers of nature 

 must have very clear and correct notions on the 

 subjects of weight and magnitude, which are the 

 general qualities of matter in all its varied forms, 

 whether living or dead : they are the standards by 

 which all things are determined, and the only means 

 by which one thing can be accurately compared 

 with another : and when we come to any thing, be 

 it what it may, that we cannot determine either by 

 weight or by measure, our knowledge of that thing 

 is always vague and imperfect. 



Weight is nothing more than the tendency which 

 all portions of matter have towards each other; 

 not in the formation of crystals of a certain shape, 

 as was mentioned in the case of common salt, or in 

 the formation of drops of water, masses of stone, 

 plants, animals, or any thing else that has a specific 

 or individual form and character ; but a more gene- 

 ral property, common to all matter, and, in fact, the 

 only test by which matter is known, or its real quan- 

 tity ascertained. In material bodies, near the earth's 

 surface, where all the productions of nature that we 

 can more immediately observe are, weight means 

 the same thing as the tendency which those bodies 

 have to fall to the earth when not supported, and to 

 remain on its surface after they have fallen or when 

 they are once there, if not raised up by some other 

 force powerful enough for counteracting that tend- 

 ency. As this weight is, as we may say, a universal 

 property, it should be understood by even the most 

 unpretending observer, if he is to apply his observa- 

 tion to any useful purpose, how simple soever that 

 purpose may be. Its laws are as simple as itself 

 is universal ; and as they can be stated in very plain 

 language, every one should bear them in mind. They 

 are these : 



First, the tendency which any piece of matter 



