638 DE AUGMENTIS SCIENTIARUM 



Proximitas corporis descendentis a Terra, ad hoc, ut celerius 

 cadat, aut tardius, aut etiam non omnino (si modo fuerit extra 

 orbem activitatis globi terras, quas Gilberti opinio fuit 1 ); atque 

 simul de eo quod operetur Immersio Corporis Descendentis 

 magis in Profundo Terras, aut Collocatio ejusdem propius ad 

 Superficiem Terras. Etenim hasc res etiam motum variat, ut 

 operantibus in mineris perspectum est. 



9. Inquiratur de eo quod possit et operetur Differentia Cor- 

 porum, per quas motus Gravitatis diffunditur et communicatur : 

 atque utrum asque communicetur per corpora mollia et porosa, 

 ac per dura et solida ; veluti si trabs lancis sit ex altera parte 

 lingulas lignea, ex altera argentea (licet fuerint reductae ad 

 idem pondus), utrum non progignat variationem in lancibus ? 

 Similiter, utrum Metallum, Lanas aut Vesicas inflates superim- 

 positum, idem ponderet quod in fundo lancis ? 



10. Inquiratur de eo quod possit et operetur in communica- 

 tione motus Gravitatis Distantia Corporis a Libramine; hoc 

 est, cita et sera perceptio incubitus, sive depressionis ; veluti 

 in lancibus, ubi altera pars trabis est longior (licet reducta ad 

 idem pondus), an inclinet hoc ipsurn lancem? aut in tubis 

 arcuatis, ubi longior pars certe trahet aquam, licet brevior pars 

 (facta scilicet capacior) majus contineat pondus aquas. 2 



11. Inquiratur de eo quod possit Intermixtio sive Copu- 

 latio Corporis Levis cum Corpore Gravi ad elevandam corporis 

 Gravitatem ; ut in pondere animalium vivorum, et mortuorum ? 



12. Inquiratur de secretis Ascensibus et Descensibus Par- 

 tium Leviorum et Graviorum in uno corpore integro; unde 

 fiant saspe accuratas separationes ; ut in separatione vini et 

 aquas, in ascensione floris lactis, et similibus ? 



13. Inquiratur, quas sit Linea et Directio Motus Gravitatis; 

 et quatenus sequatur vel centrum terras, id est massam terras, 

 vel centrum corporis ipsius 3 , id est, nixum partium ejus. Cen- 

 tra enim ilia ad demonstrationes apta sunt ; in natura nihil 

 valent. 



14. Inquiratur de Comparatione motus Gravitatis cum mo- 



1 See notel. at p. 526. 



2 The theory of the lever, to which the first part of this inquiry relates, was as 

 well understood in Bacon's time as it is now ; that of the siphon, inasmuch as it de- 

 pends on the idea of atmospherical pressure, was then unknown, and could not be 

 established until this idea was introduced by Torricelli. The experiment which bears 

 his name, and which was in effect the construction of a mercurial barometer, com- 

 eponds in the history of physics to the invention of the telescope in that of astronomy. 



1 That is, the centre of gravity. 



