The 
~ t even to our times from the remoteft anti- 
‘ quity, with the unanimous confent and ap- 
“* probation of mankind; or that men of great 
‘© abilities in fome refpects, fhoald have com- 
<< mitted miftakes, as they thought it fufficient 
< to be wife with the wifdom of others, or 
« learned with their learning, and to fill their 
«© memory with the opinions of learned men. 
«© But thofe who philofophize in this manner 
‘«« by traduction, if I may thus exprefs myfelf, 
« are not a whit wifer than the inanimate 
«« hooks through which they come at their 
‘¢ ill-digefted notions.” 
Thus alfo, the great Defcartes fpent his 
whole life in endeavouring to make philofo- 
phy a practical fcience, inftead of a merely 
theoretical one, as it had been to his days, that 
thereby he might make it fubfervient to the 
moft important purpofes of life and health. 
But as he confidered he might not perhaps 
_ live long enough, or be able to make enough 
of experiments to accomplith fo noble a defign, 
he warmly exhorts men of fuperior abilities to 
fuch a tafk, and to lofe no opportunity of 
making experiments, and reducing every thing 
to that fure and infallible teft. To this pur- 
pofe he fpeaks as follows, in his eflay on me- 
thod. ‘ But as I had propofed to fpend my 
«¢ whole life in the acquifition of fo neceffary 
“a fcience, and fell upon a method, which I. 
« thought would enfute me fuccefs in the en- 
“© terprife, unlefs death, or a want of expe- 
« ments fhould interpofe; I judged the beft 
« thing I could do to remove thefe obftacles, 
<¢ would be to lay before the publick a. faith- 
«¢ ful account of all the advances I had made, 
“¢ however inconfiderable ; and at the fame 
‘* time,endeavour to perfuade men of extra- 
“ ordinary genius to purfue what I had be- 
““ oun, and make each of them in particular 
“< as many experiments as he could, and then 
‘* inform the publick of every difcovery made 
*« this way, that by the laft beginning where 
“< their predeceffors in this ufeful undertaking 
«« had left off, and then joining together the 
«« lives and labours of a great many, we might 
‘¢ fooner obtain our purpofe, than could be 
<< done by the unaffifted endeavours of fingle 
«* perfons. I have always found the more any 
“« perfon knew, the more he ftood in need of 
“ making further experiments.” 
The illuftrious Boyle, to whom mankind is fo 
highly obliged for his admirable writings, not 
only conftantly endeavoured, and that with 
great labour and expence, to add to the num- 
ber of ufeful experiments already made, and 
thence derive certain, and folid conclufions, 
but likewife ftrenuoufly, tho’ candidly, endea- 
voured to prove by the weightieft arguments, 
EPS T: OFR Ye om TENS bea Ss: 
137 
the great ufefulnefs and neceflity of experi- 
mental phyfiological. Thefe are his words, in 
his proemial effay to certain phyfiological eflays. 
‘“< If men could be perfuaded to mind more 
«the advancement of natural philofophy, 
*¢ than that of their own reputations; it were 
“© not, methinks, very uneafy to make them 
«© fenfible, that one of the confiderableft fer- 
«* vices that they could do mankind, were 
“to fet themfelves diligently and induftri- 
‘* oufly to make experiments, and collect ob- 
“¢ fervations, without being over-forward to 
«¢ eftablith principles and axioms, believing it 
** uneafyto erect fuch theories as are capable.to 
*¢ explicate all the phenomena of Nature, be- 
‘¢ fore they have been able to take notice of 
“ the tenth part of thofe phenomena that are 
« to be explicated. Not that I at all difallow 
the ufe of reafoning upon experiments, or 
the endeavouring to difcern as'early as we 
‘¢ can, the confederations, and differences, and 
“« tendencies of things: for fuch an abfolute 
** fufpenfion of the exercife of reafoning were 
** exceeding troublefome, if not impoffible.” 
But that may at length conclude,the fuccefs 
of my labours fo apparent in every page of this 
work, proves abundantly all that I have ad- 
vanced-on this occafion. For when I confider 
within myfelf, that by the help of experi- 
ments, I have here been able to difcover 
things, which not only men of moderate 
parts, but even the greateft geniufes, from the 
age of Ariftotle, to the prefent, during an inte~ 
tval of about two thoufand years, have in vain - 
endeavoured to find out, I cannot but look up- 
on this happy refult of my labours as the beft 
proof of the fuperior excellency of experimen- 
tal philofophy. Nor is there here any occa- 
fion for a great parade of words to demon- 
ftrate the abfolute: neceflity of diligently ex- 
amining things in themfelves ; for if our juftett 
reafonings ought to terminate in experiments, 
to be built upon experiments, and purfue the 
courfe prefcribed us by experiments, who is 
there, that would not, in forming his judg- 
ment of things, much rather truft to expe- 
rience, then to the idle fancies of his imagi- 
nation; nay, I may afk, who will hereafter 
dare to affirm, that we may depend upon our 
reafon alone, to come at the knowledge of 
every kind of truth ? whereas it is moft cer- 
tain, that by making a proper ufe of our fenfes, 
we may from the things we fee, gather fuffi- 
cient information concerning thofe that we 
cannot: the end of the general and particu- 
lar treating of infects, all which I have re- 
duced to four orders, and proved to reft upon 
one fingle foundation, which is the Nymph, 
A General 
