156 



BOOK II. 



CHAPTER I. 



On the Cause of the Forces which regulate the 

 Constitution of Solids. 



IT was long since observed by Lord Bacon, that 

 the most important facts connected with the fun- 

 damental constitution of nature, had been quite 

 overlooked ; such as " the cause of heat and light, 

 weight and density ', hardness and softness, solidity 

 and fluidity, fermentation and putrefaction, ger- 

 mination and organization" Novum Organum. 

 Although more than two centuries have elapsed 

 since Bacon pointed out the radical defects of 

 science, and the true mode of its regeneration, 

 with profound sagacity, and a soul-stirring elo- 

 quence never surpassed, scarcely one of the above 

 problems have been resolved in a satisfactory 

 manner. Philosophers are still as much divided 

 in regard to the cause of heat and light as they 

 were in the time of Bacon, Galileo, and Boyle ; 

 or the still more remote period of Plato and 

 Aristotle. 



