3\£aturall Hiflory 



mentoiOyle: And youmuft chufe, for the Composition of fuch Pill , Per- 

 fume, or Oyntment, fuch Ingredients as doe make the spirits a little more 

 Grofje, oi muddy; Whereby the Imagination will fix the better. 



'The Body Pafsive, and to be Wrought Vpon, (I mean not of the Imaginant ) 

 is better wrought upon,( as hath beea partly touched) atfome Times,than 

 at others: as if you fhould prefcribe a Servant, about a sick Perfon,(whom 

 you have poftefied.that his Matter fhall recover,) when his Matter is faft 

 afleep, to ufe fuch a Root, or fuch a Root. For Imagination is like to work 

 better upon Sleeping Men, than Men Awake $ As we fhall jfliew when we 

 handle Dreams. 



We find in the Art of Memory , that Images Vifible , work better than 

 other Conceits ' As if you would remember the Word Pbilofopby, you fhall 

 more furely doeit,by Imagining,that fuch a Manj(Eot Men are beft Places) 

 is reading upon Arijtotles Pbyficks ; than if you fhould Imagin him to fay , 

 l ie goe (iudy Pbilofopby. And thcrefore^this Obfervation would be tranflated 

 to the Subjetl we now fpeak of: For the more Luftrous the Imagination is 3 

 it filleth and fixeth the better. And therefore I conceive, that you fhall,in 

 that Experiment, ( whereof we fpake before,) of Binding of Thoughts , leffe 

 fail, if you tell One,that fuch an One fhall name one of Twenty Men,t\m\ if 

 it were One oi Twenty Cards.lhe Experiment of Binding of Thought , would 

 be Diverfified, and tryed to the Full: And you are to note, whether it hit 

 for the moft part, though not alwaies. 



It is good to confider, upon what Thingt, Imagination hath moft Force; 

 And the Rule, ( as I conceive, ) is, that It hath moft Force upon TbingSythat 

 have the Lighteft and Eapett Motions. And therefore above all , upon the 

 Spirits of MemAnd in thereupon fuch A§eBions,as move Lighteji; As upon 

 Procuring oiLove^ Bindingoi Luft, which is ever with Imagination , upon 

 Men in Fear; Or Men in Irresolution 3 And the like. Whatfoever is of this 

 kind would be thorowly enquired. Trials likewife would be made upon 

 Plants, and that diligently : As if you fhould tell a Man, that fuch a Tree 

 would Dye this year; And will him at thefe and thefe times , to go unto 

 it, to fee how it thriveth. As for Inanimate Things, it is true that the Moti- 

 ons oi Shuffling of Cards, or Cafting of Dice, are very Light Motions 1 And 

 there is a Folly very ufefull, that Gameflers imagine, that fome that ftand by 

 them, bring them ill Luck. There would be Triall alfo made, of holding a 

 Ring by a Tbreed in a Glafje, and telling him that holdeth it, before , that it 

 fhall ftrike fo many times againft the side of the Glafje, and no more j Or 

 of holding a Key between two Mens Fingers, without a Charm; And to tell 

 thofe that hold it that at fuch Name, it fhall go off their Fingers. For thefe 

 two arc extreme Light Motions. And howfoever I have no opinion of thefe 

 things , yet fo much I conceive to be true ; That Strong Imagination hath 

 more Force upon Things Living , Or that have been Living, than Things 

 meerly Inanimate : And more Force likewife upon Light , and Subtill Mo- 

 tions, than upon Motions Vehement, or Ponderous. 



It is an ufual Observation, that if the Body of One Murtbered, be brought 

 before the CMurtherer, the wounds will bleed a frefti. Some do affirm, that 

 the Dead Body, upon the Prefence of the Murtberer, hath opened the Eyes , 

 And that there have been fuch like Motions, as well where the Partie Mm- 

 thered\\z.t\\ been Strangled, or Drowned, as where they have been Killed by 

 Wounds. It may be, that this participated of a Miracle,by Gods Juft Judg- 

 ment, who ufually bringeth Murders to Light .-But if it be Natural, it rauft 

 be referred to Imagination. 



The 



