526 DE AUGMENTIS SCIENTIARUM 



bruto, brutum nonnihil ex planta, planta nonnihil ex corpore 

 inanimate, omniaque revera biformia sunt, et ex specie superiore 

 et inferiore compacta. Acutissima autem est allegoria de Pedi- 

 bus Caprce, propter ascensionem corporum terrestrium versus 

 regiones aeris et cceli, ubi etiam pensilia fiunt, et inde deji- 

 ciuntur magis quam descendant. Capra enim animal scanso- 

 rium est, eaque e rupibus pendere atque in praacipitiis haerere 

 amat ; similiter etiam res, licet inferior! globo destinataa, faciunt ; 

 idque miris modis, ut in nubibus et meteoris manifestissimum 

 est. Imo non sine causa Gilbertus, qui de magnete laboriosis- 

 sime et secundum viam experimentalem conscripsit, dubita- 

 tionem injecit: numnon forte corpora gravia, post longam a 

 terra distantiam, motum versus inferiora paulatim exuant ? l 



Insignia autem in manibus Panis ponuntur duplicia ; alterum 

 harmonics, alterum imperil. Fistula enim ex septem calamis 

 concentum rerum et harmoniam, sive concordiam cum discordia 

 mixtam (quae ex septem stellarum errantium motu conficitur), 

 evidenter ostendit. Neque enim alii, praeterquam septem 

 planetarum, inveniuntur in coelo errores sive expatiationes 

 manifestae, quaa cum aequalitate stellarum fixarum earumque 

 perpetua et invariabili ad se invicem distantia compositse et 

 temperatse, turn constantiam specierum turn fluxum individuo- 

 rum tueri et ciere possint. Si qui vero sint planet as minores, 

 qui non conspiciuntur ; si qua etiam mutatio in coelo major 

 (ut in cometis nonnullis superlunaribus) ; videntur ilia profecto 

 tanquam fistulas aut omnino mutae aut ad tempus tantum stre- 

 peras ; utpote quarum operationes vel ad nos non perlabantur, 

 vel harmoniam illam septem fistularum Panis non diu inter- 

 turbent. 2 Pedum autem illud Imperil nobilis translatio est, 

 propter vias naturas partim rectas, partim obliquas. Atque 



1 Gilbert was of opinion that the earth is a great magnet which attracts all bodies 

 near its surface, although phenomena of polarity are only developed in a few cases. 

 To every magnet he ascribed an "orb of virtue " beyond which it exerts no influen -e 

 whatever, and also a smaller " orb of coition " such that the magnet cannot produce 

 motion in any portion of matter which lies beyond it. As a heavy body therefore 

 approaches the limit of the earth's orb of coition its downward tendency gradually 

 diminishes. Imperfect as these views are they show how clearly Gilbert had appre- 

 hended the general idea of attraction, and how little reason Voltaire had for his 

 assertion that Bacon "a devine 1'attraction. " [See note on Nov. Org. p. 299.] 



2 For dreams about the music of the spheres, see Robert Fludd's work Utriuxque 

 Cosmi, majoris scilicet et minoris, metaphysica, physica, et technica Historia, 1617. 

 The third book of the first tractate is wholly De Musicd mundand, and is illustrated 

 by an engraving of a bass viol, of which the dimensions extend through the solar 

 system. Bacon was, not improbably, acquainted with Fludd, who was one of the most 

 learned of the cabalistic philosophers. 



