BAG 



lofophy which he has eftablifhol, tliis infoription will be 

 read, fays one of his biographers, by diftant pollcrity, 

 "Bacon, THE Father or Expf rimental Philosophy." 

 Upon the whole, in contcnriplating the character of Bacon, 

 exclufively of his incontelliblc mciit as a philofopher, not- 

 vvithftandinsj all the allowances that are made in his favour, 

 from the fpirit of the times, from his own peculiar cir- 

 cumltaiices, and from otlier confiderations, yet, when we 

 call to mind his flavilh fubmilhon in general to the will of 

 the crown, and efpecially his ingratitude to ElTex, and his 

 corruption as a judge, we are conllrained, though not with- 

 out crreat regret, to acquiefce in the julHce of the defcription 

 given of him by Mr. Pope, (Elf. on Man, ep. iv. v. 277.) 

 " If parts allure tliee, think how Bacon Ihiii'd, 

 The wifeft, brightell, meancll of mankind." 

 Acknowledging the propriety of this rcprefeiitation, we 

 may infer from it the inhnite fiiperiority of the pnrfuits of 

 intellect above tliofe of ambition. " Had Bacon contented 

 himfelf with being a philolopher, without afpiring after the 

 honours of a llatefman and a courtier, he would have been 

 a greater and a happier man." Mallet's Life of lord Bacon, 

 prefixed to the edition of his works, 1753. Brucktr's 

 Hift. Phil, by Enfield, vol. ii. p. 520, &c. Biog. Brit. 

 Gen. Biog. 



Though not a pra£lical mufician, nor a writer ex profL-ffo 

 on the mufieal art or fcicnce, yet it is fo manifefl by his 

 Nat. Hill, cento ii. that he had done niufic the honour 

 to beftow much meditation on the theory of found, we are 

 proud to devote to him an article among niufic's benefactors. 



He treats of the philofophy or produ£lion of found, not 

 by calculation, but by obfervation and experiments on Nature 

 herfelf. He does not call oftaves replicates (which is a 

 Galhcifm), but a recurrency. He thinks (and thinks 

 rightly), that our not cultivating quarter tones, or enhar- 

 monic, is from their not being capable of harmony ; and it 

 feems a proof, among others, that the ancient Greeks had 

 no harmony, cr mulic in parts. 



He fpeaks of Aiding from one found to another by 

 fmall degrees, which are delightful. This we ufed to 

 think a refinement of late times. 



The clavecin oculaire, or ocular harpfichord of Pere 

 Cartel, was certainly fuggtfted to him by the experiment, 

 N° 3, fecond cent. 



The powers of found on the fpirits and affeftions ; that 

 found depends on motion ; that the inclofure of lound 

 increafes its force ; that the tone of voice at the fame 

 pitch is of a different quahty in a room, and in the 

 open air, and in different rooms, are his difcoveries. He 

 denies, indeed, what was afterwards proved by the air-pump, 

 that found cannot be produced in an exhaulled receiver. 



Sound is carried along a wall better than in open fpace ; 

 and better on the fmooth furface of a river or piece of water, 

 than on land. 



Dr. Holder, in his Elements of Speech, has but inge- 

 nioufly extended one of fir Francis Bacon's experiments. 



Derham's experiments on the propagation and motion of 

 found, were pointed out by the 201II experiment of fir 

 Francis. 



The late honourable Daines Barrington's experiments on 

 birds, their power of imitation, and of teaching each other, 

 feera to have fprung from fir Francis's experiments on the 

 imitation of found, cent. iii. 



Confent of vifibles and invifibles, advances fomewhat 

 further towards an ocular harpfichord. 



The /oBj harmonlques, which Galileo and father Merfennus 

 were obferving about this time, had not efcaped the pene- 

 trating and aAive mind of our great philofop'ier ; and 



BAG 



the aeoujl'tcon, or ear-trumpet, is here firft pointed out, 

 N^2«5. 



His rcflcAion at the end of N" 290, fhall clofe this ar- 

 ticle. 



" We have hiboured, as may appear in this dilquifition 

 of founds, diligently ; both becaufe found is one of the moil 

 hidden portions of nature, and becaule it is of a virtue that 

 may be called incorporeal and immattriate; whereof there 

 be in nature but few. Befides, we were willing, now in 

 thefe our firll centuries, to make a pattern or precedent of 

 an exad inquifition, and we fiiaii do the like hereafter on 

 fonie other fubjedls that require it. For we delire that 

 men fhould learn and perceive, how fevere a thing the true 

 difquifition of nature is ; and Ihould accnllom tliemfelves 

 by the light of particulars to enlarge their minds to the am- 

 plitude of the svorid, and not reduce the worid to the nar- 

 rownefs of their minds.'' 



Bacon, in Geography, a town of Perfia, in the province 

 of Segcllan ; 90 miles N.N. E. of Zareng. 



BACONE, a town of italy, in the duchy of Tufcany, 

 28 miles N. E. of Florence. 



BACONTHORP, or Bacon, John, in Biography, an 

 Englifli monk of the thirteenth century, was born at Bacon- 

 thorp, a village in Norfolk, and aiTumcd the monafiic habit 

 in the convent of Biackney in the lame county. He received 

 his education at Oxford and Paris ; and in his youth was 

 attached to the philofophy of Averroes, who taught that 

 one intelligent principle animates all human beings. At a 

 general aifembly of the order of Enghfh carmelites held in 

 London in 1329, he was chofen one of their provincials. 

 Being invited to Rome about four years afterwards, he 

 gave offence by allowing, in public dilputation, too much 

 latitude in the marriage of perfons mutually related. But 

 he afterwards maintained, that in degrees of confanguinity 

 prohibited by the divine law, the pope has no difpenfing 

 power. His Ifature was fmall ; hut his mind was eminently 

 vigorous and aftive. He was dillinguilhed through life by 

 the appellation of the " Refolute Dod'tor;" and after his 

 death lie was celebrated both in profe and vcrfe, as a zealous 

 defender of the Catholic faith againit Jews, Turks, and 

 Heretics. Some few of the many books which he wrote 

 were printed ; among thefe were " Commentaries, or Quef- 

 tlonson the fourbooks of Sentences," Milan, 1510, and 1611; 

 and " A Compendium of the Law of Chrill," Venice, 1527. 

 He died at London in 1346. Cave, H. L. vol. ii. Ap- 

 pendix, p. 27. Biog. Brit. 



BACOPA, in Botany. Lin. gen. Schreb. n. 266. Aubl. 

 49. Juff. 3 I 3. Clafs, pentandria monogynla. Nat. Ord. 

 fucculentic : porlitlace£,]aS. Gen. Char. Cal. perianth one- 

 leafed, five parted ; two of the parts oblong, concave, acute ; 

 the two inferior deflex, ovate, acute ; the fingle fuperior 

 one broader, roundifh, undulated. Cor. one-petalled ; tube 

 fhort, towards the orifice a little enlarged ; border five- 

 parted ; parts ovate, oblong, obtufe, equal, fpreading. Slam, 

 filaments five, infertcd into the tube of the corolla ; anthers 

 fagittate. Pifl. germ ovate, compreffed, below inci-ulled by 

 the calyx growing to it ; ftyle fliort ; ftigma headed. Per, 

 capfule one-cclltd. Seeds many, extremely fmall. 



E'T. Gen. Char Cor. with a (hort tube, fpreading at the 

 top. Slam, infertcd into the tube of the corolla j Rigma 

 headed, capf. one-celled. 



Species, I. V). aquatica. Aubl. Guian. 1 29. t. 49. This 

 plant puts forth feveral cylindric, fucculent, knotty ftems ; 

 leaves oppofite, ftem clafping or rather connate, thick, 

 oblong, concave, llrarp, fmooth ; flowers folitary, peduncled, 

 alternate from the axillx ; below the calyx there ilands 

 a pair of flefhy trades on the long peduncle ; corolla blue. 



It 



