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 http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924029009920 
 
NOVUM ORGANUM 
 
 BY 
 
 LORD BACON 
 
 EDITED BY JOSEPH DEVEY, M.A. 
 
 NEW YORK 
 P. F. COLLIER & SON 
 
 M C M I I 
 
 22 
 
S C I E,N C E 
 
NOVUM ORGANUM 
 
 OR 
 
 TRUE SUGGESTIONS FOR THE INTERPRETATION 
 OF NATURE 
 
 PREFACE 
 
 They who have presumed to dogmatize on nature, as 
 on some well investigated subject, either from self-conceit 
 or arrogance, and in the professorial style, have inflicted 
 the greatest injury on philosophy and learning. For they 
 have tended to stifle and interrupt inquiry exactly in pro- 
 portion as they have prevailed in bringing others to their 
 opinion: and their own activity has not counterbalanced 
 the mischief they have occasioned by corrupting and de- 
 stroying that of others. They again who have entered upon 
 a contrary course, and asserted that nothing whatever can 
 be known, whether they have fallen into this opinion from 
 their hatred of the ancient sophists, or from the hesitation 
 of their minds, or from an exuberance of learning, have 
 certainly adduced reasons for it which are by no means 
 contemptible. They have not, however, derived their 
 opinion from true sources, and, hurried on by their zeal 
 and some affectation, have certainly exceeded due modera- 
 tion. But the more ancient Greeks (whose writings have 
 perished), held a more prudent mean, between the arro- 
 gance of dogmatism, and the despair of scepticism; and 
 though too frequently intermingling complaints and indig- 
 
 (5) 
 
6 pbS^CW 
 
 nation at the difficulty of inquiry, and the obscurity of 
 things, and champing, as it were, the bit, have still per- 
 sisted in pressing .their point, and pursuing their inter- 
 course with nature; thinking, as it seems, that the better 
 method was not to dispute upon the very point of the pos- 
 sibility of anything being known, but to put it to the test 
 of experience. Yet they themselves, by only employing 
 the power of the understanding, have not adopted a fixed 
 rule, but have laid their whole stress upon intense medita- 
 tion, and a continual exercise and perpetual agitation of 
 the mind. 
 
 Our method, though difficult in its operation, is easily 
 explained. It consists in determining the degrees of cer- 
 tainty, while we, as it were, restore the senses to their 
 former rank, but generally reject that operation of the 
 mind which follows close upon the senses, and open and 
 establish a new and certain course for the mind from the 
 first actual perceptions of the senses themselves. This, no 
 doubt, was the view taken by those who have assigned so 
 much to logic; showing clearly thereby that they sought 
 some, support for the mind, and suspected its natural and 
 spontaneous mode of action. But this is now employed 
 too late as a remedy, when all is clearly lost, and after the 
 mind,Jby the daily habit and intercourse of life, has come 
 prepossessed with corrupted doctrines, and filled with the 
 vainest idols. The art of logic therefore being (as we have 
 mentioned), too late a precaution," and in no way remedy- 
 
 ' Because it was idle to draw a logical conclusion from false principles, error 
 
 being propagated as much by false premises, wliich logic does not pretend to 
 
 r examine, as by illegitimate inference. Hence, as Bacon says further on, men 
 
 I being easily led lo confound legitimate inference with truth, were confirmed 
 
 V in their errors by the very subtilty of their genius. — Ed. 
 
TKeface 7 
 
 ing the matter, has tended more to confirm errors, than to 
 disclose truth. Our only remaining hope and salvation is 
 to begin the whole labor of the mind again; not leaving 
 it to itself, but directing it perpetually from the very first, 
 and attaining our end as it were by mechanical aid. If 
 men, for instance, had attempted mechanical labors with 
 their hands alone, and without the power and aid of instru- 
 ments, as they have not hesitated to carry on the labors 
 of their understanding with the unaided efforts of their 
 mind, they would have been able to move and overcome 
 but little, though they had exerted their utmost 'and united 
 powers. And just to pause awhile on this comparison, 
 and look into it as a mirror ; let us ask, if any obelisk of 
 a remarkable size were perchance required to be moved, 
 for the purpose of gracing a triumph or any similar pag- 
 eant, and men were to attempt it with their bare hands, 
 would not any sober spectator avow it to be an act of the 
 greatest madness? And if they should increase the num- 
 ber of workmen, and imagine that they could thus succeed, 
 would he not think so still more ? But if they chose to make 
 a selection, and to remove the weak, and only employ the 
 strong and vigorous, thinking by this means, at any rate, 
 to achieve their object, would he not say that they were 
 more fondly deranged ? Nay, if not content with this, they 
 were to determine on consulting the athletic art, and were 
 to give orders for all to appear with their hands, arms, and 
 muscles regularly oiled and prepared, would he not exclaim 
 that they were taking pains to rave by method and design ? 
 Yet men are hurried on with the same senseless energy and 
 useless combination in intellectual matters, as long as they 
 expect great results either from the number and agreement, 
 or the excellence and acuteness of their wits; or even 
 
8 PREFACE 
 
 strengthen their minds with logic, which may be con- 
 sidered as an athletic preparation, but yet do not desist 
 (if we rightly consider the matter) from applying their own 
 understandings merely with all this zeal and effort. While 
 nothing is more clear, than that in every great work exe- 
 cuted by the hand of man without machines or implements, 
 it is impossible for the strength of individuals to be in- 
 creased, or for that of the multitude to combine. 
 
 Having premised so much, we lay down two points on 
 which we would admonish mankind, lest they should fail 
 to see or to observe them. The first of these is, that it is 
 our good fortune (as we consider it), for the sake of extin- 
 guishing and removing contradiction and irritation of mind, 
 to leave the honor and reverence due to the ancients un- 
 touched and undiminished, so that we can perform our 
 intended work, and yet enjoy the benefit of our respectful 
 moderation. For if we should profess to offer something 
 better than the ancients, and yet should pursue the same 
 course as they have done, we could never, by any artifice, 
 contrive to avoid the imputation of having engaged in a 
 contest or rivalry as to our respective wits, excellences, 
 or talents; which, though neither inadmissible nor new (for 
 why should we not blame and point out anything that is 
 imperfectly discovered or laid down by them,* of our own 
 right, a right common to all?), yet however just and allow- 
 able, would perhaps be scarcely an equal match, on account 
 of the dispropo rtion of our strength. But since our present 
 plan leads up to open an entirely different course to the 
 understanding, and one unattempted and unknown to them, 
 the case is altered. There is an end to party zeal, and we 
 only take upon ourselves the character of a guide, which 
 requires a moderate share of authority and good fortune 
 
PREFACE 9 
 
 rather than talents and excellence. The first admonition 
 relates to persons, the next to things. 
 
 We make no attempt to disturb the system of philosophy 
 that now prevails, or any other which may or will exist, 
 either more correct or more complete. For we deny not 
 that the received system of philosophy, and others of a 
 similar nature, encourage discussion, embellish harangues, 
 are employed, and are of service in the duties of the pro- 
 fessor, and the afEairs of civil life. Nay, we openly express 
 and declare that the philosophy we offer will not be very 
 useful in such respects. It is not obvious, nor to be under- 
 stood in a cursory view, nor does it flatter the mind in its 
 preconceived notions, nor will it descend to the level of the 
 generality of mankind unless by its advantages and effects. 
 
 Let there exist then (and may it be of advantage to 
 both), two sources, and two distributions of learning, and 
 in like manner two tribes, and as it were kindred families 
 of contemplators or philosophers, without any hostility or 
 alienation between them; but rather allied and united by 
 mutual assistance. Let there be in short one method 
 of cultivating the sciences, and another of discovering 
 them. And as for those who prefer and more readily re- 
 ceive the former, on account of their haste or from motives 
 arising from their ordinary life, or because they are unable 
 from weakness of mind to comprehend and embrace the 
 other (wjiich must necessarily be the case with by far the 
 greater number), let us wish that they may prosper as they 
 desire in their undertaking, and attain what they pursue. 
 But if any individual desire, and is anxious not merely to 
 adhere to, and make use of present discoveries, but to pene- 
 trate still further, and not to overcome his adversaries in 
 disputes, but nature by labor, not in short to give elegant 
 
10 PREFACE 
 
 and specious opinions, but to know to a certainty and dem- 
 onstration, let him, as a true son of science (if such be his 
 wish), join with us; that when he has left the antechambers 
 of nature trodden by the multitude, an entrance may at last 
 be discovered to her inner apartments. And in order to be 
 better understood, and to render our meaning more familiar 
 by assigning determinate names, we have accustomed our- 
 selves to call the one method the anticipation of the mind, 
 and the other the interpretation of nature. 
 
 We have still one request left. We have at least re- 
 flected and taken pains in order to render our propositions 
 not only true, but of easy and familiar access to men's 
 minds, however wonderfully prepossessed and limited. 
 Yet it is but just that we should obtain this favor from 
 mankind (especially in so great a restoration of learning 
 and the sciences), that whosoever may be desirous of form- 
 ing any determination upon an opinion of this our work 
 either from his own perceptions, or the crowd of authori- 
 ties, or the forms of demonstrations, he will not expect to 
 be able to do so in a cursory manner, and while attending 
 to other matters; but in order to have a thorough knowledge 
 of the subject, will himself by degrees attempt the course 
 which we describe and maintain; will be accustomed to the 
 subtilty of things which is manifested by experience; and 
 will correct the depraved and deeply rooted habits of his 
 mind by a seasonable, and, as it were, just hesitation: 
 and then, finally (if he will), use his judgment when he 
 has begun to be master of himself. 
 
APHORISMS— BOOK I 
 
 ON the" interpretation of nature and the 
 
 EMPIRE OF MAN 
 
 I. Man, as the minister and interpreter of nature, does 
 and understands as much as his observations on the order ' 
 of nature, either with regard to things or the mind, permit 
 him, and neither knows nor is capable of more. 
 
 II. The unassisted hand and the understanding left to 
 itself possess but little power. Effects are produced by the 
 means of instruments and helps, which the understanding 
 requires no less than the hand; and as instruments either 
 promote or regulate the motion of the hand, so those that 
 are applied to the mind prompt or protect the understanding. 
 
 III. Knowledge and human power are synonymous, since 
 the ignorance of the cause frustrates the effect; for nature is 
 only subdued by submission, and that which in contem- 
 plative philosophy corresponds with the cause in practical 
 science becomes the rule. 
 
 IV. Man while operating can only apply or withdraw 
 natural bodies ; nature internally performs the rest. 
 
 V. Those who become practically versed in nature are, 
 the mechanic, the mathematician, the physician, the al- 
 chemist, and the magician,^ but all (as matters now stand) 
 with faint efforts and meagre success. 
 
 • Bacon uses the term in its ancient sense, and means one who, knowing 
 the occult properties of bodies, is able to startle the ignorant by drawing out of 
 them wonderful and unforeseen changes. See the 85th aphorism of this boolc, 
 and the 5th cap. book iii. of the De Augmentis Bcientiarum, where he speaks 
 more clearly — Ed. 
 
 (11) 
 
12 NOVUM ORGANUM 
 
 VI. It would be madness and inconsistency to suppose 
 that things which have never yet been performed can be 
 performed without employing some hitherto untried means. 
 
 VII. The creations of the mind and hand appear very 
 numerous, if we judge by books and manufactures; but all 
 that variety consists of an excessive refinement, and of de- 
 ductions from a few well known matters — not of a number 
 of axioms.^ 
 
 VIII. Even the effects already discovered are due to 
 chance and experiment rather than to the sciences ; for our 
 present sciences are nothing more than peculiar arrange- 
 ments of matters already discovered, and not methods for 
 discovery or plans for new operations. 
 
 IX. The sole cause and root of almost every defect in 
 the sciences is this, that while we falsely admire and extol 
 the powers of the human mind, we do not search for its 
 real helps. 
 
 X. The subtilty of nature is far beyond that of sense 
 or of the understanding: so that the specious meditations, 
 speculations, and theories of mankind are but a kind of 
 insanity, only there is no one to stand by and observe it. 
 
 XI. As the present sciences are useless for the discovery 
 of effects, so the present system of logic' is useless for the 
 discovery of the sciences. 
 
 ■•' By this term axiomata, Bacon here speaks of general principles, or univer- 
 sal laws. In the 19th aphorism he employs the term to express any proposition 
 collected from facts by induction, and thus fitted to become the starting-point 
 of deductive reasoning. In the last and more rigorous sense of the term. Bacon 
 held they arose from experience. See Whewell's "Philosophy of the Inductive 
 Sciences," vol. i. p. 1i; and Mill's "Logic," vol. i. p. 311; and the June 
 "Quarterly," 1841, for the modern phase of the discussion. — Ed. 
 
 ' Bacon here attributes to the Aristotelian logic the erroneous consequences 
 which sprung out of its abuse. The demonstrative forms it exhibits, whether 
 verbally or mathematically expressed, are necessary to the support, verification 
 
NOVUM OBGANUM IS 
 
 XII. The present system of logic rather assists in con- 
 firming and rendering inveterate the errors founded on 
 vulgar notions than in searching after truth, and is there- 
 fore more hurtful than useful. 
 
 XIII. The syllogism is not applied to the principles of 
 the sciences, and is of no avail in intermediate axioms,* as 
 
 and extension of induction, and when the propositions they embrace are founded 
 on an accurate and close observation of facts, the conclusions to which they 
 lead, even in moral science, may be regarded as certain as the facts wrested out 
 of nature by direct experiment. In physics such forms are absolutely required 
 to generalize the results of experience, and to connect intermediate axioms with 
 laws still more general, as is sufficiently attested by the fact, that no science 
 since Bacon's day has ceased to be experimental by the mere method of induc- 
 tion, and that all become exact only so far as they rise above experience, and 
 connect their isolated phenomena with general laws by the principles of deduc- 
 tive reasoning. So far, then, are these forms from being useless, that they are 
 absolutely essential to the advancement of the sciences, and in no case can be 
 looked on as detrimental, except when obtruded in the place of direct experi- 
 ment, or employed as a means of deducing conclusions about nature from im- 
 aginary hypotheses and abstract conceptions. This had been unfortunately the 
 practice of the Greeks. Prom the rapid development geometry received in their 
 hands, they im^ined the same method would lead to results equally brilliant in 
 natural science, and snatching up some abstract principle, which they carefully 
 removed from the test of experiment, imagined they could reason out from it all 
 the laws and external appearances of the universe. The scholastics were im- 
 pelled along the same path, not only by precedent, but by profession. Theology 
 was the only science which received from them a consistent development, and 
 the A priori grounds on which it rested prevented them from employing any 
 other method in the pursuit of natural phenomena. Thus, forms of demonstra- 
 tion, in themselves accurate, and of momentous value in their proper sphere, 
 became confounded with fable, and led men Into the idea they were exploring 
 truth when they were only accurately deducing error from error. One principle 
 ever so slightly deflected, like a false quantity in an equation, could be sufficient 
 to infect the whole series of conclusions of which it was the base ; and though 
 the philosopher might subsequently deduce a thousand consecutive inferences 
 with the utmost accuracy or precision, he would only succeed in drawing out 
 very methodically nine hundred and ninety-nine errors. — Ed. 
 
 * It would appear from this and the two preceding aphorisms, that Bacon 
 fell into the error of denying the utility of the syllogism in the very part of 
 inductive science where it is essentially required. Logic, like mathematics, is 
 
14 NOVUM ORGANUM 
 
 being very unequal to the subtilty of nature. It forces 
 assent, therefore, and not things. 
 
 XI Y. The syllogism consists of propositions; proposi- 
 tions of words; words are the signs of notions. If, there- 
 fore, the notions (which form the basis of the whole) be 
 confused and carelessly abstracted from things, there is no 
 solidity in the superstructure. Our only hope, then, is in 
 genuine induction. 
 
 XV. We have no sound notions either in logic or phys- 
 ics; substance, quality, action, passion, and existence are 
 not clear notions; much less weight, levity, density, tenu- 
 ity, moisture, dryness, generation, corruption, attraction, 
 
 purely a formal process, and must, as the scaffolding to the building, be em- 
 ployed to arrange facts in the structure of a science, and not to form any por- 
 tion of its groundwork, or to supply the materials of which the system is to 
 be composed. The word syllogism, like most other pyschological terms, has 
 no fixe'd or original signifloation, but is sometimes employed, as it was by the 
 Greeks, to denote general reasoning, and at others to point out the formal 
 method of deducing a particula r inference from two or more general proposi- 
 tions. Bacon does not confine the term within the boundaries of express defi- 
 nition, but leaves us to infer that he took it in the latter sense, from his custom 
 of associating the term with the wranglings of the schools. The scholastics, it 
 is true, abused the deductive syllogism, by employing it in its naked, skeleton- 
 like form, and confounding it with the whole breadth of logical theory; but 
 their errors are not to be visited on Aristotle, who never dreamed of playing 
 with formal syllogisms, and, least of all, mistook the descending for the ascend- 
 ing series of inference. In our mind we are of accord with the Stagyrite, who 
 propounds, as far as we can interpret him, two modes of investigating truth— 
 the one by which we ascend from particular and singular facts to general lawB 
 and axioms, and the other by which we descend from universal propositions to 
 the individual cases which they virtually include. Logic, therefore, must equally 
 vindicate the formal purity of the synthetic illation by which it ascends to the 
 whole, as the analytic process by which it descends to the parts. The deductive 
 and inductive syllogism are of equal significance in building up any body of 
 truth, and whoever restricts logic to either process, mistakes one-half of its 
 province for the whole ; and if he acts upon his error, will paralyze his meth- 
 ods, and strike the noblest part of science with sterility. — Sd. 
 
NOVUM OSGANUM 16 
 
 repulsion, element, matter, form, and the like. They are 
 all fantastical and ill-defined. 
 
 XYI. The notions of less abstract natures, as man, dog, 
 dove, and the immediate perceptions of sense, as heat, cold, 
 white, black, do not deceive us materially, yet even these 
 are sometimes confused by the mutability of matter and 
 the intermixture of things. All the rest which men have 
 hitherto employed are errors, and improperly abstracted 
 and deduced from things. 
 
 XVII. There is the same degree of licentiousness and 
 error in forming axioms as in abstracting notions, and that 
 in the first principles, which depend on common induction; 
 still more is this the case in axioms and inferior proposi- 
 tions derived from syllogisms. 
 
 XVni. The present discoveries in science are such as 
 lie immediately beneath the surface of common notions. It 
 is necessary, however, to penetrate the more secret and re- 
 mote parts of nature, in order to abstract both notions and 
 axioms from things by a more certain and guarded meth od. 
 
 XIX. There are and can exist but two ways of investi- 
 gating and discovering truth. The one hurries on rapidly 
 from the senses and particulars to the most general axioms, 
 and from them, as principles and their supposed indisput- 1 
 able truth, derives and discovers the intermediate axioms. 
 This is the way now in use. The other constructs its axioms 
 from the senses and particulars, by ascending continually 
 and gradually, till it finally arrives at the most general 
 axioms, which is t .hff t.rnfi hnt. nnattpmpted wav. 
 
 XX. The understanding when left to itself proceeds by 
 the same way as that which it would have adopted under 
 the guidance of logic, namely, the first; for the mind is fond 
 of starting ofE to generalities, that it may avoid labor, and 
 
16 NOVUM OBOANUM 
 
 after dwelling a little on a subject is fatigued by experiment. 
 But those evils are augmented by logic, for the sake of the 
 ostentation of dispute. 
 
 XXI. The understanding, when left to itself in a man of 
 a steady, patient, and reflecting disposition (especially when 
 unimpeded by received doctrines), makes some attempt in 
 the right way, but with little efiect, since the understanding, 
 undirected and unassisted, is unequal to and unfit for the 
 task of vanquishing the obscurity of things. 
 
 XXII. Each of these two ways begins from the senses 
 and particulars, and ends in the greatest generalities. But 
 they are immeasurably different; for the one merely touches 
 cursorily the limits of experiment and particulars, while the 
 other runs duly and regularly through them — the one from 
 the very outset lays down some abstract and useless general- 
 ities, the other gradually rises to those principles which are 
 really the most common in nature." 
 
 XXIII. There is no small difference between the idols 
 of the human mind an d the ideas of th e Divine mind — that 
 is to sayTlaetween certain idle dogmas and the real stamp 
 and impression of , created objects, as they are found in 
 nature. 
 
 XXIV. Axioms determined upon in argument can never 
 assist in the discovery of new effects; for the subtilty of 
 nature is vastly superior to that of argument. But axioms 
 properly and regularly abstracted from particulars easily 
 
 ' The Latin 13, ad ea qwcB revera sunt natures notiora. This expression 
 •aatiirce notiora, naturce noiior, is so frequently employed by Bacon, that we 
 may conclude it to point to some distinguishing feature in the Baconian physics. 
 It properly refers to the most evident principles and laws of nature, and springs 
 from that system which regards the material universe as endowed with intelli- 
 gence, and acting according to rules either fashioned or clearly understood by 
 itself.— £d. 
 
NOVUM ORQANUM 17 
 
 'point out and define new particulars, and therefore impart 
 
 ^tivity to the sciences. 
 
 XXV. The axioms now in use are derived from a scanty 
 handful, as it were, of experience, and a few particulars of 
 frequent occurrence, whence they are of much the same 
 dimensions or extent as their origin. And if any neglected 
 or unknown instance occurs, the axiom is saved by some 
 frivolous distinction, when it would be more consistent with 
 truth to amend it. ^-^^ 
 
 XXYI. We are wont, for the sake of distinction, to call 
 that human reasoning which we apply to nature the antici- 
 pation of nature (as being rash and premature), and that 
 which is properly deduced from things the interpretation of 
 nature. 
 
 XXVII. An ticipations a re sufficiently powerful in pro- 
 ducing unanimity, for if men were all to become even uni- 
 formly mad, they might agree tolerably well with each 
 other. 
 
 XXVIII. Anticipations again, will be assented to much 
 more readily than interpretations, because being deduced 
 from a few instances, and these principally of familiar oc- 
 currence, they immediately hit, the understanding and sat- 
 isfy the imagination; while, on the contrary, interpretations, 
 being deduced from various subjects, and these widely dis- 
 persed, cannot suddenly strike the understanding, so that in 
 common estimation they must appear difficult and discord- 
 ant, and almost like the mysteries of faith. 
 
 XXIX. In sciences founded on opinions and dogmas, it 
 is right to make use of anticipations and logic if you wish to 
 force assent rather than things. 
 
 XXX. If all the capacities of all ages should unite and 
 combine and transmit their labors, no great progress will be 
 
18 NOVUM OBGAISUM 
 
 made in learning by anticipations, because the radical errors, 
 and those which occur in the first process of the mind, are 
 not cured by the excellence of subsequent means and reme- 
 dies. 
 
 XXXI. It is in vain to expect any great progress in the 
 sciences by the superinducing or ingrafting new matters 
 upon old. An instauration must be made from the very 
 foundations, if we do not wish to revolve forever in a cir- 
 cle, making only some slight and contemptible progress. 
 
 XXXII. The ancient authors and all others are left in 
 undisputed possession of their honors; for we enter into no 
 comparison of ca^pacity or talent, but qfjnethod, and assume 
 the part of a guide rather than of a critic. 
 
 XXXIII. To speak plainly, no correct judgment can be 
 formed either of our method or its discoveries by those an- 
 ticipations which are now in common use ; for it is not to be 
 required of us to submit ourselves to the judgment of the 
 very method we ourselves arraign. 
 
 XXXIY. Nor is it an easy matter to deliver and explain 
 our sentiments; for those things which are in themselves 
 new can yet be only understood from some analogy to what 
 is old. 
 
 XXXV. Alexander Borgia' said of the expedition of the 
 French into Italy that they came with chalk in their hands 
 to mark up their lodgings, and not with weapons to force 
 their passage. Even so do we wish our philosophy to make 
 its^way quietly into those minds that are fit for it, and of 
 good capacity; for we have no need of contention where we 
 
 « This Borgia was Alexander VI., and the expedition alluded to that in 
 which Charles VIII. overran the Italian peninsula in five months. Bacon uses 
 the same illustration in concluding his survey of natural philosophy, in the sec- 
 ond book of the "De Augmentis." — Ed. 
 
NOVUM OBQANUM 19 
 
 differ in first principles, and in our very notions, and even 
 in our forms of demonstration. 
 
 XXXYI. We have but one simple method of delivering 
 our sentiments, namely, we must bring men to particulars 
 and their regular series and order, and they must for a while 
 renounce their notions, and begin to form an acquaintance 
 with things. 
 
 XXXVII. Our method and that of the sceptics' agree 
 in some respects at first setting out, but differ most widely, 
 and are completely opposed to each other in their conclu- 
 sion; for they roundly assert that nothing can be known; 
 we, that but a small part of nature can be knoWn, by the 
 present method; their next step, however, is to destroy the 
 authority of the senses and understanding, while we invent 
 and supply them with assistance. 
 
 XXXVIII. The idols and false notions which have al- 
 ready preoccupied the human understanding, and are deeply 
 rooted in it, not only so beset men's minds that they become 
 difficult of access, but even when access is obtained will again 
 meet and trouble us in the instauration of the sciences, un- 
 less mankind when forewarned guard themselves with all 
 possible care against them. 
 
 XXXIX. Four species of idols beset the human mind," 
 
 ■■ Ratio eorum qui acatalepsiam tenuerunt. Bacon alludes to the members 
 of the later academy, who held the o/caraXTjijiia, or the impossibility of compre- 
 hendiDg anything. His translator, however, makes him refer to the sceptics, 
 who neither dogmatized about the known or the unknown, but simply held, 
 that as all knowledge was relative, irpbs iravra ti, man could never arrive at 
 absolute truth, and therefore could not with certainty affirm or deny any- 
 thing. — Ed. 
 
 8 It is argued by Hallam, with some appearance of truth, that idols is not 
 the correct translation of "5m^«, from which the original idola is manifestly de- 
 rived ; but that Bacon used it In the literal sense attached to it by the Greeks, 
 as a species of illusion, or false appearance, and not as a species of divinity be- 
 
20 NOVUM OBGANUM 
 
 to which (for distinction's sake) we have assigned names, 
 calling the first Idols of the Tribe, the second Idols of the 
 Den, the third Idols of the Market, the fourth Idols of the 
 Theatre. 
 
 XL. The formation of notions and axioms on the foun- 
 dation of true induction is the only fitting remedy by which 
 we can ward off and expel these idols. It is, however, of 
 great service to point them out; for the doctrine of idols 
 bears the same relation to the interpretation of nature as 
 that of the confutation of sophisms does to common 
 logic." 
 
 XLI. The idols of the tribe are inherent in human nature 
 and the very tribe or race of man; for man's sense is falsely 
 asserted to be the standard of things; on the contrary, all 
 the perceptions both of the senses and the mind bear refer- 
 ence to man and not to the universe, and the human mind 
 resembles those uneven mirrors which impart their own 
 
 fore which the mind bowa down. If Hallam be right, Bacon Is saved from the 
 odium of an analogy which his foreign commentators are not far wrong in de- 
 nouncing as barbarous; but this service is rendered at the expense of the men 
 who have attached an opposite meaning to the word, among whom are Brown, 
 Playfair and Dugald Stewart. — Ed. 
 
 ' We cannot see how these idols have less to do with sophistical paralogisms 
 than with natural philosophy. The process of soientilio induction involves only 
 the first elements of reasoning, and presents such a clear and tangible surface, 
 as to allow no lurking-place for prejudice; while questions of politics and 
 morals, to which the deductive method, or common logic, as Bacon calls it, is 
 peculiarly applicable, are ever liable to be swayed or perverted by the preju- 
 dices he enumerates. After mathematics, physical science is the least amenable 
 to the illusions of feeling ; each portion having been already tested by experi- 
 ment and observation, is fitted into its place in the system, with all the rigor 
 of the geometrical method; affiectiou or prejudice cannot, as in matters of taste, 
 history or religion, select fragmentary pieces, and form a system of their own. 
 The whole must be admitted, or the structure of authoritative reason razed to 
 the ground. It is needless to say that the idols enumerated present only 
 another interpretation of the substance of logical faUaoies. — Ed. 
 
NOVUM OBGANUM 21 
 
 properties to different objects, from which rays are emitted 
 and distort and disfigure them." 
 
 XLII. The idols of the den are those of each individual; 
 for everybody (in addition to the errors common to the race 
 of man) has his own individual den or cavern, which inter- 
 cepts and corrupts the light of nature, either from his own 
 peculiar and singular disposition, or from his education and 
 intercourse with others, or from his reading, and the author- 
 ity acquired' by those whom he reverences and admires, or 
 from the difEerent impressions produced on the mind, as it 
 happens to be preoccupied and predisposed, or equable and 
 tranquil, and the like ; so that the spirit of man (according 
 to its several dispositions), is variable, confused, and as it 
 were actuated by chance; and Heraclitus said well that men 
 search for knowledge in lesser worlds, and not- in the greater 
 or common world. 
 
 XLIII. There are also idols formed by the reciprocal in- 
 tercourse and society of man with man, which we call idols 
 of the market, from the commerce and association of men 
 with each other; for men converse by means of language, 
 but words are formed at the will of the generality, and there 
 arises from a bad and unapt formation of words a wonderful 
 obstruction to the mind. Nor can the definitions and ex- 
 planations with which learned men are wont to guard and 
 protect themselves in some instances afford a complete rem- 
 edy — words still manifestly force the understanding, throw 
 everything into confusion, and lead mankind into vain and 
 innumerable controversies and fallacies. 
 
 XLIV. Lastly, there are idols which have crept into 
 
 «» The propensity to this illusion may be viewed in the spirit oi system, 
 or hasty generalization, which is fW. one of the cliief obstacles in the path 
 of modern science. — Ei. 
 
z;a , NOVUM oboanum 
 
 men's minds from the various dogmas of peculiar systems 
 of philosophy, and also from the perverted rules of demon- 
 stration, and these we denominate idols of the theatre : for 
 we regard all the systems of philosophy hitherto received 
 or imagined, as so many plays brought out and performed, 
 creating fictitious and theatrical worlds. Nor do we speak 
 only of the present systems, or of the philosophy and sects 
 of the ancients, since numerous other plays of a similar 
 nature can be still composed and made to agree with each 
 other, the causes of the most opposite errors being generally 
 the same. Nor, again, do we allude merely to general sys- 
 tems, but also to many elements and axioms of sciences 
 which have become inveterate by tradition, implicit cre- 
 dence, and neglect. We must, however, discuss each spe- 
 cies of idols more fully and distinctly in order to guard the 
 human understanding against them. 
 
 XLV. The human understanding, from its peculiar na- 
 ture, easily supposes a greater degree of order and equality 
 in things than it really finds; and although many things in 
 nature be sui generis and most irregular, will yet invent 
 parallels and conjugates and relatives, where no such thing 
 is. Hence the fiction, that all celestial bodies move in per- 
 fect circles, thus rejecting entirely spiral and serpentine 
 lines (except as explanatory terms)." Hence also the ele- 
 
 " Though Kepler had, when Bacon wrote this, already demonstrated his 
 three great laws concerning the elliptical path of the planets, neither Bacon 
 nor Descjirtes seems to have known or assented to his discoveries. Our author 
 deemed the startling astronomical announcements of his time to be mere theo- 
 retic solutions of the phenomena of the heavens, not so perfect as those ad- 
 vanced by antiquity, but still deserving a praise for the ingenuity displayed in 
 their contrivance. Bacon believed a hundred such systems might exist, and 
 though true in their explanation of phenomena, yet might all more or less 
 diSer, according to the preconceived notions which their framers brought to 
 the survey of the heavens. He even thought he might put in his claim to the 
 
NOVUM OBGANUM 23 
 
 toent of fire is introduced with its peculiar orbit," to keep 
 square with those other three which are objects of our 
 senses. The relative rarity of the elements (as they are 
 called) is arbitrarily made to vary in tenfold progression, 
 with many other dreams of the like nature." Nor is this 
 folly confined to theories, but it is to be met with even in 
 simple notions. 
 
 XLVI. The human understanding, when any proposi- 
 tion has been once laid down (either from general admission 
 and belief, or from the pleasure it affords), forces everything 
 else to add fresh support and confirmation; and although 
 most cogent and abundant instances may exist to the con- 
 trary, yet either does not observe or despises them, or gets 
 rid of and rejects them by some distinction, with violent and 
 injurious prejudice, rather than sacrifice the authority of its 
 first conclusions. It was well answered by him" -sjrho was 
 
 notice of posterity for his astronomical ingenuity, and, as Ptolemy had labored 
 by means of epicycles and eccentrics, and Kepler with ellipses, to explain the 
 laws of planetary motion. Bacon thought the mystery would unfold itself quite 
 as philosophically through spiral labyrinths and serpentine lines. What the" 
 details of his system were, we are left to conjecture, and that from a very 
 meagre but naive account of one of his inventions which he has left in hia 
 MisceUany USS.—M. 
 
 '^ Sine elementum ignis cmn orhe suo introductum est. Bacon saw in Are 
 the mere result of a certain combination of action, and was consequently led 
 to deny its elementary character. The ancient physicists attributed an orbit to 
 each of the four elements, into which they resolved the universe, and supposed 
 their spheres to involve each other. The orbit of the earth was in the centre, 
 that of fire at the circumference. For Bacon's inquisition into the nature 
 of heat, and its complete failure, see the commencement of the second book 
 of the Novum Organum. — Ed. 
 
 '^ Bobert Fludd is the theorist alluded to, who had supposed the gravity 
 of the earth to be ten times heavier than water, that of water ten times heavier 
 than air, and that of air ten times heavier than fire. — Sd. 
 
 '* Diagoras. The same allusion occurs in the second part of the Advance 
 ment of Learning, where Bacon treats of the idols of the mind. 
 
Z* NOVUM OUUAIWM 
 
 shown in a temple the votive tablets suspended by such as 
 had escaped the peril of shipwreck, and was pressed as to 
 whether he would then recognize the power of the gods, by 
 an inquiry, But where are the portraits of those who have 
 perished in spite of their vows ? All superstition is much 
 the same, whether it be that of astrology, dreams, omens, 
 retributive judgment, or the like, in all of which the deluded 
 believers observe events which are fulfilled, but neglect and 
 pass over their failure, though it be much more common. 
 But this evil insinuates itself still more craftily in philoso- 
 phy and the sciences, in which a settled maxim vitiates and 
 governs every other circumstance, though the latter be much 
 more worthy of confidence. Besides, even in the absence 
 of that eagerness and want of thought (which we have men- 
 tioned), it is the peculiar and perpetual error of the human 
 understanding to be more moved and excited by affirmatives 
 than negatives, whereas it ought duly and regularly to be 
 impartial; nay, in establishing any true axiom the negative 
 instance is the most powerful. ~ 
 
 XL VII. The human understanding is most excited by 
 that which strikes and enters the mind at once and sud- 
 denly, and by which the imagination is immediately filled 
 and inflated. It then begins almost imperceptibly to con- 
 ceive and suppose that everything is • similar to the few 
 objects which have taken possession of the mind, while it 
 is very slow and unfit for the transition to the remote and 
 heterogeneous instances by which axioms are tried as by 
 fire, unless the office be imposed upon it by severe regula- 
 tions and a powerful authority. 
 
 XL VIII. The human understanding is active and cannot 
 halt or rest, but even, though without ejBEeet, still presses 
 forward. Thus we cannot conceive of any end or external 
 
JSUVUM OBOANUM 25 
 
 boundary of the world, and it seems necessarily to occur 
 to us that there must be something beyond. Nor can wo 
 imagine how eternity has flowed on down to the present 
 day, since the usually received distinction of an infinity, 
 a parte ante and a parte post," cannot hold good; for it 
 would thence follow that one infinity is greater than an- 
 other, and also that infinity is wasting away and tending 
 to an end. There is the same difficulty in considering the 
 infinite divisibility of lines, arising from the weakness of 
 our minds, which weakness interferes to still greater dis- 
 advantage with the discovery of causes; for although the 
 greatest generalities in nature must be positive, just as 
 they are found, and in fact not causable, yet the human 
 understanding, incapable of resting, seeks for something 
 more intelligible. Thus, however, while aiming at further 
 progress, it falls back to what is actually less advanced, 
 namely, final causes; for they are clearly more allied to 
 man's own nature, than the system of the universe, and 
 from this source they have wonderfully corrupted philoso- 
 phy. But he would be an unskilful and shallow philoso- 
 pher who should seek for causes in the greatest generalities, 
 
 " A scholastic term, to signify the two eternities of past and future dura- 
 tion, that stretch out on both sides of the narrow isthmus (time) occupied by 
 man. It must be remembered that Bacon lived before the doctrine of limits 
 gave rise to the higher calculus, and therefore could have no conception of dif- 
 ferent denominations of infinities : on the other hand he would have thought 
 the man insane who should have talked to him about lines infinitely great, in- 
 closing angles infinitely Uttle; that a right line, which is a right line so long as 
 it is finite, by changing infinitely little its direction, becomes an infinite curVe, 
 and that a curve may become infinitely less than another curve; that there are 
 infinite squares and infinite cubes, and infinites of infinites, all greater than ono 
 another, and the last but one of "which is nothing in comparison with the last. 
 Tot half a century suSBced from Bacon's time, to make this nomenclaturs, 
 which would have appeared to him the excess of frenzy, not only reasonabL 
 but neoessaty, to grasp the higher demonstrations of physical science. — Ed, 
 
26 NOVUM ORQANUM 
 
 and not be anxious to discover them in subordinate 
 objects. 
 
 XLIX. The human understanding resembles not a dry- 
 light, but admits a tincture of the will '" and passions, which 
 generate their own system accordingly; for man always be- 
 lieves more readily that wbich he prefers. He, therefore, 
 rejects difficulties for want of patience in investigation; 
 sobriety, because it limits his hope; the depths of nature, 
 from superstition; the light of experiment, from arrogance 
 and pride, lest his mind should appear to be occupied with 
 common and varying objects; paradoxes, from a fear of the 
 opinion of the vulgar; in short, his feelings imbue and 
 corrupt his understanding in innumerable and sometimes 
 imperceptible ways. 
 
 L. But by far the greatest impediment and aberration 
 of the human understanding proceeds from the dulness, 
 incompetence, and errors of the senses; since whatever 
 strikes the senses preponderates over everything, however 
 superior, which does not immediately strike them. Hence 
 contemplation mostly ceases with sight, and a very scanty, 
 or perhaps no regard is paid to invisible objects. The entire 
 operation, therefore, of spirits inclosed in tangible bodies" 
 is concealed, and escapes us. All that more delicate change 
 of formation in the parts of coarser substances (vulgarly 
 
 " Spinoza, in his letter to Oldenberg (Op. Poath. p. 398), considers this 
 apliorism based on a wrong conceptioa of the origin of error, and, believing it 
 to be fundamental, was led to reject Bacon's method altogether. Spinoza re- 
 fused to acknowledge in man any such thing as a will, and resolved all his 
 volitions into particular acts, which he considered to be as fatally determined 
 by a chain of physical causes as any effects in nature.— £d. 
 
 " Operatio spirituum in corporibm tangibHitms. Bacon distinguished with 
 the schools the gross and tangible parts of bodies, from such as were volatile 
 and intangible. These, in conformity with the scholastic language, he terms 
 spirits, and frequently returns to their operations in the 8d book.— £d. 
 
NOVUM ORGANUM 27 
 
 called alteration, but in fact a change of position in the 
 smallest particles) is equally unknown ; and yet, unless the 
 two matters we have mentioned be explored and brought 
 to light, no great effect can be produced in nature. Again, 
 the very nature of common air, and all bodies of less den- 
 sity (of which there are many) is almost unknown; for the 
 senses are weak and erring, nor can instruments be of great 
 use in extending their sphere or acuteness — all the better 
 interpretations of nature are worked out by instances, and 
 fit and apt experiments, where the senses only judge of the 
 experiment, the experiment of nature and the thing itself. 
 
 LI. The human understanding is, by its own nature, 
 prone to abstraction, and supposes that which is fluctuating 
 to be fixed. But it is better to dissect than abstract nature: 
 such was the method employed by the school of Democ- 
 ritus," which made greater progress in penetrating nature 
 than the rest. It is best to consider matter, its conforma- 
 tion, and the changes of that conformation, its own action," 
 and the law of this action or motion ; for forms are a mere 
 fiction of the human mind, unless you will call the laws of 
 action by that name." 
 
 18 Demooritus, of Abdera, a disciple of Lencippus, bom B.C. 470, died 360; 
 all his works are destroyed. He ia said to be the author of the doctrine of 
 atoms: he denied the inunortality of the soul, and first taught that the milky 
 way was occasioned by a confused light from a multitude of stars. He may 
 be considered as the parent of experimental philosophy, in the prosecution of 
 which he was so ardent as to declare that be would prefer the discovery of one 
 of the causes of natural phenomena, to the possession of the diadem of Persifk. 
 Democritus imposed on the blind credulity of hia contemporaries, and, like 
 Soger Bacon, astonished them by his inventions. — Ed. 
 
 " The Latin is actus purus, another scholastic expression to denote the 
 action of the aabatanoe, which composes the essence of the body apart from ite 
 accidental qualities. For an exposition of the various kinds of motions he con- 
 templates, the reader may refer to the 48th aphorism of the 2d book. — Ed. 
 
 ^0 The scholastics after Aristotle distinguished in a subject three modes of 
 
 SoiENOB— Vol. 23 —a 
 
28 NOVUM OBOANUM 
 
 LII. Such are the idols of the tribe, which arise eithei 
 from the uniformity of the constitution of man's spirit, oi 
 its prejudices, or its limited faculties or restless agitation, 
 or from the interference of the passions, or the incompetence 
 of the senses, or the mode of their impressions. 
 
 LIII. The idols of the den derive their origin from tht 
 peculiar nature of each individual's mind and body, and 
 also from education, habit, and accident; and although thej 
 be various and manifold, yet we will treat of some that re^ 
 quire the greatest caution, and exert the greatest power ic 
 polluting the understanding. 
 
 LIV. Some men become attached to particular sciences 
 and contemplations, either from supposing themselves the 
 authors and inventors of them, or from having bestowed 
 the greatest pains upon such subjects, and thus become 
 most habituated to them." If men of this description apply 
 themselves to philosophy and contemplations of a universal 
 
 beings: viz., the power or faculty, the act, and the habitude, or in other words 
 that which is able to exist, what exists actually, and what continues to exist. 
 Bacon means that is necessary to fix our attention not on that which cat 
 or ought to be, but on that which actually is; not on the right, but on the 
 UQ.i.—Ed. 
 
 '' The inference to be drawn from this is to suspect that kind of evidence 
 which is moat consonant to our inclinations, and not to admit any notion as real 
 except we can base it firmly upon that kind of demonstration which is peculiai 
 to the subject, not to our impression. Sometimes the mode of proof may be 
 consonant to our inclinations, and to the subject at the same time, as in the 
 case of Pythagoras, when he applied his beloved numbers to the solution ol 
 astronomical phenomena; or in that of Descartes, when he reasoned geomet 
 rically concerning the nature of the soul. Such examples cannot be censured 
 with justice, inasmuch as the methods pursued were adapted to the end of the 
 inquiry. The remark in the text can only apply to those philosophers who at 
 tempt to build up a moral or theological system by the instruments of inductioi 
 alone, or who rush, with the geometrical axiom, and the A priori syllogism t( 
 the investigation of nature. The means in sucb cases are tottilly inadequate 
 to the object in view. — Ed. 
 
NOVUM ORtfANUM 29 
 
 nature, they wrest and corrupt them by their preconceived 
 iancies, of which Aristotle affords us a single instance, who 
 made his natural philosophy completely subservient to his 
 logic, and thus rendered it little more than useless and dis- 
 putatious. The chemists, again, have formed a fanciful 
 philosophy with the most confined views, from a few ex- 
 periments of the furnace. Gilbert," too, having employed 
 himself most assiduously in the consideration of the magnet, 
 immediately established a system of philosophy to coincide 
 with his favorite pursuit. 
 
 LY. The greatest and, perhaps, radical distinction be- 
 tween different men's dispositions for philosophy and the 
 sciences is this, that some are more vigorous and active in 
 observing the differences of things, others in observing their 
 resemblances ; for a steady and acute disposition can fix its 
 thoughts, and dwell upon and adhere to a point, through 
 all the refinements of differences, but those that are sub- 
 lime and discursive recognize and compare even the most 
 delicate and general resemblances; each of them readily 
 falls into excess, by catching either at nice distinctions or 
 shadows of resemblance. 
 
 LVI. Some dispositions evince an unbounded admira- 
 tion of antiquity, others eagerly embrace novelty, and but 
 few can preserve the just medium, so as neither to tear up 
 
 " Gdbert lived toward the close of the sixteenth century, and was court 
 physician to both Elizabeth and James. In his work alluded to in the text he 
 continually asserts the advantages of the experimental over the d priori method 
 in physical inquiry, and succeeded when his censor failed in giving a practical 
 example of the utility of his precepts. His "De Magnete" contains all the 
 fundamental parts of the science, and these so perfectly treated, tha we have 
 nothing to add to them at the present day. 
 
 Gilbert adopted the Copernican system, and even spoke of the contrary 
 theory as utterly absurd, grounding his argument on the vast velocities which 
 such a supposition requires us to ascribe to the heavenly bodies. — Ed. 
 
so NOVUM OBGANUM 
 
 what the ancients have correctly laid down, nor to despise 
 the just innovations of the moderns. But this is very preju- 
 dicial to the sciences and philosophy, and instead of a cor- 
 rect judgment we have but the factions of the ancients and 
 moderns. Truth is not to be sought in the good fortune 
 of any particular conjuncture of time, which is uncertain, 
 but in the light of nature and experience, which is eternal. 
 Such factions, therefore, are to be abjured, and the under- 
 standing must not allow them to hurry it on to assent. 
 
 LVII. The contemplation of nature and of bodies in 
 their individual form distracts and weakens the understand- 
 ing; but the contemplation of nature and of bodies in their 
 general composition and formation stupefies and relaxes it. 
 We have a good instance of this in the school of Leucippus 
 and Democritus compared with others, for they applied 
 themselves so much to particulars as almost to neglect the 
 general structure of things, while the others were so as- 
 tounded while gazing on the structure that they did not 
 penetrate the simplicity of nature. These two species of 
 contemplation must, therefore, be interchanged, and each 
 employed in its turn, in order to render the understanding 
 at once penetrating and capacious, and to avoid the incon- 
 veniences we have mentioned, and the idols that result 
 from them. 
 
 LVIII. Let such, therefore, be our precautions in con- 
 templation, that we may ward off and expel the idols of 
 the den, which mostly owe their birth either to some pre- 
 dominant pursuit, or, secondly, to an excess in synthesis 
 and analysis, or, thirdly, to a party zeal in favor of certain 
 ages, or, fourthly, to the extent or narrowness of the sub- 
 ject. In general, he who contemplates nature should sus- 
 pect whatever particularly takes and fixes his understand- 
 
NOVUM ORGANUM 31 
 
 ing, and should use so much the more caution to preserve 
 it equable and unprejudiced. 
 
 LIX. The idols of the market are the most troublesome 
 of all, those namely which have entwined themselves round 
 the understanding from the associations of words and names. 
 For men imagine that their reason governs words, while, in 
 fact, words react upon the understanding; and this has ren- 
 dered philosophy and the sciences sophistical and inactive. 
 Words are generally formed in a popular sense, and define 
 things by those broad lines which are most obvious to the 
 vulgar mind; but when a more acute understanding or 
 more diligent observation is anxious to vary those lines, 
 and to adapt them more accurately to nature, words oppose 
 it. Hence the great and solemn disputes of learned men 
 often terminate in controversies about words and names, in 
 regard to which it would be better (imitating the caution 
 of mathematicians) to proceed more advisedly in the first 
 instance, and to bring such disputes to a regular issue bj 
 definitions. Such definitions, however, cannot remedy the 
 evil in natural and material objects, because they consist 
 themselves of words, and these words produce others;" 
 so that we must necessarily have recourse to particular 
 instances, and their regular series and arrangement, as we 
 
 ^ The Latin text adds "without end" ; but Bacon is scarcely right in sup- 
 posing that the descent from complex ideas and propositions to those of simple 
 nature, involve the analyst in a series of continuous and interminable defini- 
 tions. For in the gradual and analytical scale, there is a bar beyond which w« 
 cannot go, as there is a summit bounded by the limited variations of our con- 
 ceptions. Logical definitions, to fulfil their conditions, or indeed to be of any 
 avail, must be given in simpler terms than the object which is sought to be 
 defined ; now this, in the case of primordial notions and objects of sense, is im- 
 possible ; therefore we are obliged to rest satisfied with the mere names of our 
 perceptions. — Ed. 
 
82 NOVUM OBGANUM 
 
 shall mention when we come to the mode and scheme of 
 determining notions and axioms. 
 
 LX. The idols imposed upon the understanding by words 
 are of two kinds. They are either the names of things which 
 have no existence (for as some objects are from inattention 
 left without a name, so names are formed by fanciful imagi- 
 nations which are without an object), or they are the names 
 of actual objects, but confused, badly defined, and hastily 
 and irregularly abstracted from things. Fortune, the pri- 
 mum mobile, the planetary orbits," the element of fire, and 
 the like fictions, which owe their birth to futile and false 
 theories, are instances of the first kind. And this species 
 of idols is removed with greater facility, because it can be 
 exterminated by the constant refutation or the desuetude of 
 the theories themselves. The others, which are created by 
 vicious and unskilful abstraction, are intricate and deeply 
 rooted. Take some word, for instance, as moist, and let us 
 examine how far the different significations of this word are 
 consistent. It will be found that the word moist is nothing 
 but a confused sign of different actions admitted of no set- 
 tled and defined uniformity. For it means that which easily 
 diffuses itself over another body; that which is indetermi- 
 nable and cannot be brought to a consistency; that which 
 
 " The ancients supposed the planets to describe an exact circle round the 
 south. As observations increased and facts were disclosed, which were irrec- 
 oncilable with this supposition, the earth was removed from the centre to some 
 other point in the circle, and the planets were supposed to revolve in a sjtt&Uer 
 circle (epicycle) round an imaginary point, which in its turn described a circle 
 of which the earth was the centre. In proportion as observation elicited fresh 
 facts, contradictory to these representations, other epicycles and eccentrics 
 were added, involving additional confusion. Though Kepler had swept away all 
 these complicated theories in the preceding century, by the demonstration of his 
 three laws, which established the elliptical course of the planets, Bacon re- 
 garded him and Copernicus in the same light as Ptolemy and Xenophanes. Sd 
 
NOVUM ORGANl/M 33 
 
 yields easily in every directioa; that which is easily divided 
 &nd dispersed; that which is easily united and collected; 
 that which easily flows and is put in motion; that which 
 easily adheres to, and wets another body; that which is 
 easily reduced to a liquid state though previously solid. 
 "When, therefore, you come to predicate or impose this 
 name, in one sense flame is moist, in another air is not 
 moist, in another fine powder is moist, in another glass is 
 moist; so that it is quite clear that this notion is hastily ab- 
 stracted from water only, and common ordinary liquors, 
 without any due verification of it. 
 
 There are, however, different degrees of distortion and 
 mistake in words. One of the least faulty classes is that of 
 the names of substances, particularly of the less abstract and 
 more defined species ^those then of chalk and mud are good, 
 of earth bad); words signifying actions are more faulty, as 
 to generate, to corrupt, to change; but the most faulty are 
 those denoting qualities (except the immediate objects of 
 sense), as heavy, light, rare, dense. Yet in all of these 
 there must be some notions a little better than others, in 
 proportion as a greater or less number of things come be- 
 fore the senses. 
 
 LXI. The idols of the theatre are not innate, nor do 
 they introduce themselves secretly into the understanding, 
 but they are manifestly instilled and cherished by the fic- 
 tions of theories and depraved rules of demonstration. To 
 attempt, however, or undertake their confutation would not 
 be consistent with our declarations. For since we neither 
 agree in our principles nor our demonstrations, all argument 
 is out of the question. And it is fortunate that the ancients 
 are left in possession of their honors. We detract nothing 
 from them, seeing our whole doctrine relates only to the 
 
34 NOVUM ORQANUM 
 
 path to be pursued. The lame (as they say) m the path 
 outstrip the swift who wander from it, and it is clear that 
 the very skill and swiftness of him who runs not in the right 
 direction must increase his aberration. 
 
 Our method of discovering the sciences is such as to leave 
 little to the acuteness and strength of wit, and indeed rather 
 to level wit and intellect. For as in the drawing of a straight 
 line, or accurate circle by the hand, much depends on its 
 steadiness and practice, but if a ruler or compass be em- 
 ployed there is little occasion for either; so it is with our 
 method. Although, however, we enter into no individual 
 confutations, yet a little must be said, first, of the sects and 
 general divisions of these species of theories; secondly, 
 something further to show that there are external signs of 
 their weakness; and, lastly, we must consider the causes of 
 so great a misfortune, and so long and general a unanimity 
 in error, that we may thus render the access to truth less 
 difficult, and that the human understanding may the more 
 readily be purified, and brought to dismiss its idols. 
 
 LXII. The idols of the theatre, or of theories, are numer- 
 ous, and may, and perhaps will, be still more so. For un- 
 less men's minds had been now occupied for many ages in 
 religious and theological considerations, and civil govern- 
 ments (especially monarchies), had been averse to novelties 
 of that nature even in theory (so that men must apply to 
 them with some risk and injury to their own fortunes, and 
 not only without reward, but subject to contumely and 
 envy), there is no doubt that many other sects of philoso- 
 phers and theorists would have been introduced, like those 
 which formerly flourished in such diversified abundance 
 among the Greeks. For as many imaginary theories of the 
 heavens can be deduced from the phenomena of the sky so 
 
NOVUM ORGANUM 35 
 
 it is even more easy to found many dogmas upon the phe- 
 nomena of philosophy — and the plot of this our theatre 
 resembles those of the poetical, where the plots which are 
 invented for the stage are more consistent, elegant, and 
 pleasurable than those taken from real history. 
 
 In general, men take for the groundwork of their phi- 
 losophy either too much from a few topics, or too little from 
 many ; in either case their philosophy is founded on too nar- 
 row a basis of experiment and natural history, and decides 
 on too scanty grounds. For the theoretic philosopher seizes 
 various common circumstances by experiment, without re- 
 ducing them to certainty or examining and frequently con- 
 sidering them, and relies for the rest upon meditation and 
 the activity of his wit. 
 
 There are other philosophers who have diligently and 
 accurately attended to a few experiments, and have thence 
 presumed to deduce and invent systems of philosophy, form- 
 ing everything to conformity with them. 
 
 A third set, from their faith and religious veneration, 
 introduce theology and traditions; the absurdity of some 
 among them having proceeded so far as to seek and derive 
 the sciences from spirits and genii. There are, therefore, 
 three sources of error and three species of false philosophy; 
 the sophistic, empiric, and superstitious. 
 
 LXIII. Aristotle affords the most eminent instance of 
 the first; for he corrupted natural philosophy by logic — 
 thus he formed the world of categories, assigned to the 
 human soul, the noblest of substances, a genus determined 
 by words of secondary operation, treated of density and rar- 
 ily (by which bodies occupy a greater or lesset space), by 
 the frigid distinctions of action and power, asserted that 
 there was a peculiar and proper motion in all bodies, and 
 
36 NOVUM OBQAmiM 
 
 that if they shared in any other motion, it was owing to an 
 external moving cause, and imposed innumerable arbitrary 
 distinctions upon the nature of tilings; being everywhere 
 more anxious as to definitions in teaching and the accuracy 
 of the wording of his propositions, than the internal truth 
 of things. And this is best shown by a comparison of his 
 philosophy with the others of greatest repute among the 
 Greeks. For the similar parts of Anaxagoras, the atoms 
 of Leucippus and Democritus, the heaven and earth of Par- 
 menides, the discord and concord of Empedoclcs," the reso- 
 lution of bodies into the common nature of fire, and their 
 condensation according to Heraclitus, exhibit some sprink- 
 ling of natural philosophy, the nature of things, and experi- 
 ment; while Aristotle's physics aro mere logical terms, and 
 he remodelled the same subject in his metaphysics under a 
 more imposing title, and more as a realist than a nominalist. 
 Nor is much stress to be laid on his frequent recourse to ex- 
 periment in his books on animals, his problems, and other 
 treatises; for he had already decided, without having prop- 
 erly consulted experience as the basis of his decisions and 
 axioms, and alter having so decided, he drags experiment 
 along as a captive constrained to accommodate herself to his 
 decisions: so that he is even more to be blamed than his 
 modern followers (of the seholastio school) who have de- 
 serted her altogether. 
 
 "> Bmpedocles, of Aorrigentum, flourished 444 B.C. He was the disciple of 
 Telangea the Pythagorean, and warmly adopted the doctrino of transmigration. 
 He resolved the miiverse into tho four ordinary elements, the prinoiplea of 
 whoso composition were life and happiness, or concord and amity, but whose 
 deoompoailion brought forth death and evil, or disoorS and hatred. Heraclitua 
 held matter to be indifferent to any peculiar form, but as It became rarer or 
 more dense, it took the appearance of fire, air, earth and water. Fire liow- 
 ever, he believed to be the elementary principle out of which the others were 
 evolved. This was also the belief of Lucretius. See book i. 1S3. etc. 
 
NOVUM ORGANUM 37 
 
 LXIV. The empiric school produces dogmas of a more 
 deformed and monstrous nature than the sophistic or theo- 
 retic school; not being founded in the light of common no- 
 tions (which, however poor and superstitious, is yet in a 
 manner universal, and of a general tendency), but in the 
 confined obscurity of a few experiments. Hence this spe- 
 cies of philosophy appears probable, and almost certain to 
 those who are daily practiced in such experiments, and have 
 thus corrupted their imagination, but incredible and futile 
 to others. "We have a strong instance of this in the alche- 
 mists and their dogmas; it would be difficult to find another 
 in this age, unless perhaps in the philosophy of Grilbert." 
 We could not, however, neglect to caution others against 
 this school, because we already foresee and augur, that if 
 men be hereafter induced by our exhortations to apply seri- 
 ously to experiments (bidding farewell to the sophistic doc- 
 trines), there will then be imminent danger from empirics, 
 owing to the premature and forward haste of the under- 
 standing, and its jumping or flying to generalities and the 
 principles of things. We ought, therefore, already to meet 
 the evil. 
 
 LXY. The corruption of philosophy by the mixing of it 
 up with superstition and theology, is of a much wider ex- 
 tent, and is most injurious to it both as a whole and in parts. 
 For the human understanding is no less exposed to the im- 
 pressions of fancy, than to those of vulgar notions. The 
 disputatious and sophistic school entraps the understand- 
 ing, while the fanciful, bombastic,, and, as it were, poetical 
 school, rather flatters it. There is a clear example of this 
 
 '' It is thus the Vulcanista and Neptuniana have framed their opposite 
 llteories in geology. Fhreuology ia a modern instance of hasty generaliza- 
 tion. — Ed. 
 
38 NOVUM ORGANUM 
 
 among the Greeks, especially in Pythagoras, where, how- 
 ever, the superstition is coarse and overcharged, but it is 
 more dangerous and refined in Plato and his school. This 
 evil is found also in some branches of other systems of phi- 
 losophy, where it introduces abstracted forms, final and first 
 causes, omitting frequently the intermediate and the like. 
 Against it we must use the greatest caution ; for the apothfe- 
 osis of error is the greatest evil of all, and when folly is 
 worshipped, it is, as it were, a plague spot upon the under- 
 standing. Yet some of the moderns have indulged this folly 
 with such consummate inconsiderateness, that they have en- 
 deavored to build a system of natural philosophy on the first 
 chapter of Genesis, the book of Job, and other parts of 
 Scripture; seeking thus the dead among the living." And 
 this folly is the more to be prevented and restrained, be- 
 cause not only fantastical philosophy, but heretical religion 
 spring from the absurd mixture of matters divine and 
 human. It is therefore most wise soberly to render unto 
 faith the things that are faith's. 
 
 LXYI. Having spoken of the vicious authority of the 
 systems founded either on vulgar notions, or on a few ex- 
 periments, or on superstition, we must now consider the 
 faulty subjects for contemplation, especially in natural phi- 
 losophy. The human understanding is perverted by observ- 
 ing the power of mechanical arts, in which bodies are very 
 materially changed by composition or separation, and is in- 
 duced to suppose that something similar takes place in the 
 universal nature of things. Hence the fiction of elements 
 
 " In Scripture everything which concerns the passing interests of the body 
 Is called dead; the only living knowledge having regard to the eternal interest 
 of the soul. — Ed. 
 
NOWM OROANUM 39 
 
 and their co-operation in forming natural bodies." Again, 
 when man reflects upon the entire liberty of nature, he meets 
 with particular species of things, as animals, plants, min- 
 erals, and is thence easily led to imagine that there exist iu 
 nature certain primary forms which she strives to produce, 
 and that all variation from them arises from some impedi- 
 ment or error which she is exposed to in completing her 
 work, or from the collision or metamorphosis of different 
 species. The first hypothesis has produced the doctrine of 
 elementary properties, the second that of occult properties 
 and specific powers; and both lead to trifling courses of re- 
 flection, in which the mind acquiesces, and is thus diverted 
 from more important subjects. But physicians exercise a 
 much more useful labor in the consideration of the second- 
 ary qualities of things, and the operations of attraction, re- 
 pulsion, attenuation, inspissation, dilatation, astringency, 
 separation, maturation, and the like; and would do still 
 more if they would not corrupt these proper observations 
 by the two systems I have alluded to, of elementary quali- 
 ties and specific powers, by which they either reduce the 
 secondary to first qualities, and their subtile and immeas- 
 
 '8 In mechanios and the general sciences, causes compound their effects, or 
 in other words, it is generally possible to deduce d priori the consequence of 
 introducing complex agencies into any experiment, by allowing for the efiect 
 of each of the simple causes which enter into their composition. In chemistry 
 and physiology a contrary law holds ; the causes which they embody generally 
 uniting to form distinct substances, and to introduce unforeseen laws and com- 
 binations. The deductive method here is consequently inapplicable, and we are 
 forced back upon experiment. 
 
 Bacon in the text is hardly consistent with himself, as he admits in the 
 second book the doctrine, to which modem discovery points, of the reciprocal 
 transmutation of the elements. What seemed poetic fiction in the theories o£ 
 Pythagoras and Seneca, assiunes the appearance of scientific fact in the hands 
 of Baron Caynard. — Ed. 
 
4l» ^ NOVUM OBGANUM 
 
 nrable composition, or at any rate neglect to advance 
 by greater and more diligent observation to the third 
 and fourth qualities, thus terminating their contemplation 
 prematurely. Nor are these powers (or the like) to be in- 
 vestigated only among the medicines for the human body, 
 but also in all changes of other natural bodies. 
 
 A greater evil arises from the contemplation and inves- 
 tigation rather of the stationary principles of things from 
 which, than of the active by which things themselves are 
 created. For the former only serve for discussion, the lat- 
 ter for practice. Nor is any value to be set on those com- 
 mon differences of motion which are observed in the received 
 system of natural philosophy, as generation, corruption, aug- 
 mentation, diminution, alteration, and translation. For this 
 is their meaning: if a body, unchanged in other respects, is 
 moved from its place, this is translation; if the place and 
 species be given, but the quantity changed, it is alteration; 
 but if, from such a change, the mass and quantity of the 
 body do not continue the same, this is the motion of aug- 
 mentation and diminution; if the change be continued so as 
 to vary the species and substance, and transfuse them to 
 others, this is generation and corruption. All this is merely 
 popular, and by no means penetrates into nature; and these 
 are but the measures and bounds of motion, and not differ- 
 ent species of it; they merely suggest how far, and not how 
 or whence. For they exhibit neither the affections of bodies 
 nor the process of their parts, but merely establish a divi- 
 sion of that motion, which coarsely exhibits to the senses 
 matter in its varied form. Even when they wish to point 
 out something relative to the causes of motion, and to estab- 
 lish a division of them, they most absurdly introduce nat- 
 ural and violent motion, which is also a popular notion 
 
NOVUM ORGAKTUM 41 
 
 since every violent motion is also in fact natural, that is to 
 say, the external efficient puts nature in action in a different 
 manner to that which she had previously employed. 
 
 But if, neglecting these, any one were, for instance, to 
 observe that there is in bodies a tendency of adhesion, so as 
 not to suffer the unity of nature to be completely separated 
 or broken, and a vacuum^' to be formed, or that they have a 
 tendency to return to their natural dimensions or tension, so 
 that, if compressed or extended within or beyond it, they 
 immediately strive to recover themselves, and resume their 
 former volume and extent; or that they have a tendency to 
 congregate into masses with similar bodies — the dense, for 
 instance, toward the circumference of the earth, the thin 
 and rare toward that of the heavens. These and the like 
 are true physical genera of motions, but the others are 
 clearly logical and scholastic, as appears plainly from a 
 comparison of the two. 
 
 Another considerable evil is, that men in their systems 
 and contemplations bestow their labor upon the investiga- 
 tion and discussion of the principles of things and the ex- 
 treme limits of nature, although all utility and means of 
 action consist in the intermediate objects. Hence men 
 cease not to abstract nature till they arrive at potential and 
 shapeless matter," and still persist in their dissection, till 
 
 ^° Galileo had recently adopted the notion that nature abhorred a vacuum 
 for an axiomatic principle, and it was not till Torricelli, his disciple, had given 
 practical proof of the utility of Bacon's method, by the discovery of the barom- 
 eter (1643) that this error, as also that expressed below, and believed by Bacon, 
 concerning the homoeopathic tendencies of bodies, was destroyed. — Ed. 
 
 *" Donee ad materiam potenUalem et informem ventmn fuerit. Nearly all 
 the ancient philosophers admitted the existence of a certain primitive and 
 shapeless matter as the substratum of things which the creative power had 
 reduced to fixed proportions, and resolved into specific substances. The ex- 
 
42 NOVUM OBUaNUM 
 
 they arrive at atoms; and yet were all this true, it would 
 be of little use to advance man's estate. 
 
 LXVII. The understanding must also be cautioned 
 against the intemperance of systems, so far as regards its 
 giving or withholding its assent; for such intemperance ap- 
 pears to fix and perpetuate idols, so as to leave no means 
 of removing them. 
 
 These excesses are of two kinds. The first is seen in 
 those who decide hastily, and render the sciences positive 
 and dictatorial. The other in those who have introduced 
 scepticism, and vague unbounded inquiry. The former sub- 
 dues, the latter enervates the understanding. The Aristo- 
 telian philosophy, after destroying other systems (as the 
 Ottomans" do their brethren) by its disputatious confuta- 
 tions, decided upon everything, and Aristotle bimself then 
 raises up questions at will, in order to settle them; so that 
 everything should be certain and decided, a method now in 
 use among his successors. 
 
 The school of Plato introduced scepticism, first, as it 
 were in joke and irony, from their dislike to Protagoras, 
 Hippias," and others, who were ashamed of appearing not 
 
 preasion potential matter refers to that substance forming the basis of the 
 Peripatetic system, which virtually contained all the forms that it was in the 
 power of the efficient cause to draw out of it. — Ed. 
 
 *' An allusion to the humanity of the Sultans, who, in their earlier histories 
 are represented as signalizing their accession to the throne by the destruction of 
 their family, to remove the danger of rivalry and the terrors of civil war. — Ed. 
 
 ^' The text is "in odium veterum sophistarum, Protagorse, Hippise, et reli- 
 quorum." Those were called sophists, who, ostentationis aut questus causa 
 pMlosophabantw. (Acad. Prior, ii. 22.) They had corrupted and degraded 
 philosophy before Socrates. Protagoras of Abdera CA^Sijpo-). the most cele- 
 brated, taught that man is the measure of all things, by which he meant not 
 only that all which can be known is known only as it related to our faculties 
 but also that apart from our faculties nothing can be known. The sceptics 
 
NOVUM ORQANUM 4» 
 
 to doubt upon any subject. But the new academy dog- 
 matized in their scepticism, and held it as their tenet. 
 Although this method be more honest than arbitrary deci- 
 sion (for its followers allege that they by no means con- 
 found all inquiry, like Pyrrho and his disciples, but hold 
 doctrines which they can follow as probable, though they 
 cannot maintain them to be true), yet when the human 
 mind has once despaired of discovering truth, everything 
 begins to languish. Hence men turn aside into pleasant 
 controversies and discussions, and into a sort of wandering 
 over subjects rather than sustain any rigorous investigation. 
 But as we observed at first, we are not to deny the authority 
 of the human senses and understanding, although weak, but 
 rather to furnish them with assistance. 
 
 LXYIII. We have now treated of each kind of idols, 
 and their qualities, all of which must be abjured and re- 
 nounced with firm and solemn resolution, and the under- 
 standing must be completely freed and cleared of them, so 
 that the access to the kingdom of man, which is founded 
 on the sciences, may resemble that to the kingdom of 
 heaven, where no admission is conceded except to children. 
 
 LXIX. Vicious demonstrations are the muniments and 
 support of idols, and those which we possess in logic, merely 
 subject and enslave the world to human thoughts, and 
 thoughts to words. But demonstrations are in some man- 
 ner themselves systems of philosophy and science ; for such 
 as they are, and accordingly as they are regularly or im- 
 
 equally held that knowledge was probable only as It related to our faculties, 
 but they stopped there, and did not, like the sophist, dogmatize about the un- 
 known. The works of Protagoras were condemned for their impiety, and 
 pablidy burned by the aediles of Athens, who appear to have discharged the 
 office of common hangmen to the literary blasphemers of their day. — Ed. 
 
44 NOVUM OBQANUM 
 
 properly established, such will be the resulting systems 
 of philosophy and contemplation. But those which we 
 employ in the whole process leading from the senses and 
 things to axioms and conclusions, are fallacious and incom- 
 petent. This process is fourfold, and the errors are in equal 
 number. In the first place the impressions of the senses are 
 erroneous, for they fail and deceive us. We must supply 
 defects by substitutions, and fallacies by their correction. 
 Secondly, notions are improperly abstracted from the senses, 
 and indeterminate and confused when they ought to be the 
 reverse. Thirdly, the induction that is employed is im- 
 proper, for it determines the principles of sciences by simple 
 enumeration," without adopting exclusions and resolutions, 
 or just separations of nature. Lastly, The usual method of 
 discovery and proof, by first establishing the most general 
 propositions, then applying and proving the intermediate 
 axioms according to them, is the parent of error and the 
 calamity of every science. But we will treat more fully 
 
 '' Bacon is hardly correct in implying that the enumeraiionem per simplicem 
 was the only light in which the ancients looked upon induction, as they appear 
 to have regarded it as only one, and that the least important, of its species. 
 Aristotle expressly considers induction in a perfect or dialectic sense, and in 
 an imperfect or rhetorical sense. Thus if a genus (g), contains four species 
 (a, b, 0, d), the syllogism would lead us to infer, that what is true of G, is 
 true of any one of Ihe four. But perfect induction would reason, that what 
 we can prove of A, B, o, D, separately, we may properly state as true of G, the 
 whole genus. This is evidently a formal argument as demonstrative as the syl- 
 logism. In necessary matters, however, legitimate induction may claim a wider 
 province, and infer of the whole genus what is only apparent in a part of the 
 species. Such are those inductive inferences which concern the laws of nature 
 the immutability of forms, by which Bacon strove to erect his new system of 
 philosophy. The Stagyrite, however, looked upon enumerationem per simpU- 
 eem, without any regard to the nature of the matter, or to the completeness 
 of the species, with as much reprehensive caution as Bacon, and guarded his 
 readers against it as the source of innumerable errors. — Ed. 
 
NOVUM ORGANUM 45 
 
 of that which we now slightly touch upon, when we come 
 to lay down the true way of interpreting nature, after hav- 
 ing gone through the above expiatory process and purifica- 
 tion of the mind. 
 
 LXX. But experience is by far the best demonstration, 
 provided it adhere to the experiment actually made, for if 
 that experiment be transferred to other subjects apparently 
 similar, unless with proper and methodical caution it be- 
 comes fallacious. The present method of experiment is 
 blind and stupid; hence men wandering and roaming with- 
 out any determined course, and consulting mere chance, 
 are hurried about to various points, and advance but little 
 — at one time they are happy, at another their attention is 
 distracted, and they always find that they want something 
 further. Men generally make their experiments carelessly, 
 and as it were in sport, making some little variation in a 
 known experiment, and then if they fail they become dis- 
 gusted and give up the attempt; nay, if they set to work 
 more seriously, steadily, and assiduously, yet they waste 
 all their time on probing some solitary matter, as Gilbert 
 on the magnet, and the alchemists on gold. But such con- 
 duct shows their method to be no less unskilful than mean; 
 for nobody can successfully investigate the nature of any 
 object by considering that object alone; the inquiry must 
 be more generally extended. 
 
 Even when men build any science and theory upon ex- 
 periment, yet they almost always turn with premature and 
 hasty zeal to practice, not merely on account of the advan- 
 tage and benefit to be derived from it, but in order to seize 
 upon some security in a new undertaking of their not em- 
 ploying the remainder of their labor unprofitably, and by 
 making themselves conspicuous, to acquire a greater name 
 
46 NOVUM OBOANUM 
 
 for their pnrsuit. Hence, like Atalanta, they leave the 
 course to pick up the golden- apgle, interrupting their 
 speed, and giving up the victory. jBut in the true course 
 of experiment, and in extending it to new e£fects, we should 
 imitate the Divine foresight and order; for God on the first 
 day only created light, and assigned a whole day to that 
 work without creating any material substance thereon. In 
 like manner we must first, by every kind of experiment, 
 elicit the discovery of causes and true axioms, and seek for 
 experiments which may afford light rather than profit. 
 Axioms, when rightly investigated and established, pre- 
 pare us not for a limited but abundant practice, and bring 
 in their train whole troops of effects. But we will treat 
 hereafter of the ways of experience, which are not less 
 beset and interrupted than those of judgment; having 
 spoken at present of common experience only as a bad 
 species of demonstration, the order of our subject now re- 
 quires some mention of those external signs of the weakness 
 in practice of the received systems of philosophy and con- 
 templation" which we referred to above, and of the causes 
 of a circumstance at first sight so wonderful and incredible. 
 For the knowledge of these external signs prepares the way 
 for assent, and the explanation of the causes removes the 
 wonder; and these two circumstances are of material use 
 in extirpating more easily and gently the idols from the 
 understanding. 
 
 LXXI. The sciences we possess have been principally 
 derived from the Greeks; for the addition of the Boman 
 Arabic, or more modern writers, are but few and of small 
 importance, and such as they are, are founded on the basis 
 
 " See Ax. 1x1. toward the end. This subject extends to Ax. lixviii 
 
ADFITM ORGANUM 47 
 
 of Greet invention. But the wisdom of the Greeks was 
 professional and disputatious, and thus most adverse to the 
 investigation of truth. The name, therefore, of sophists, 
 which the contemptuous spirit of those who deemed them- 
 selves philosophers, rejected and transferred to the rhetori- 
 cians — Gorgias," Protagoras, Hippias, Pol us — might well suit 
 the whole tribe, such as Plato, Aristotle, Zeno, Epicurus, 
 Theophrastus, and their successors — Chrysippus, Carneades, 
 and the rest. There was only this difference between them 
 — the former were mercenary vagabonds, travelling about 
 to different states, making a show of their wisdom, and re- 
 quiring pay; the latter more dignified and noble, in pos- 
 session of fixed habitations, opening schools, and teaching 
 philosophy gratuitously. Both, however (though differing 
 in other respects), were professorial, and reduced every sub- 
 ject to controversy, establishing and defending certain sects 
 and dogmas of philosophy, so that their doctrines were 
 nearly (what Dionysius not unaptly objected to Plato) the 
 talk of idle old men to ignorant youths. But the more 
 ancient Greeks, as Empedocles, Anaxagoras, Leucippus, De- 
 mocritas, Parmenides, Heraclitus, Xenophanes, Philolaus, 
 and the rest" (for I omit Pythagoras as being superstitious). 
 
 "■ Gorgiaa of Leontium went to Athens in 424 B.C. He and Polus were 
 disciples of Empedocles, whom we have already noticed (Aphorism 63), where he 
 sustained the three famous propositions, that nothing exists, that nothing can be 
 known, and that it is out of the power of man to transmit or communicate intel- 
 ligence. He is reckoned one of the earliest writers on the art of rhetoric, and 
 for that reason, Plato called his elegant dialogue on that subject after his name. 
 
 ^ Chrysippus, a stoic philosopher of Soli in Oilicia, Campeatria, born in 280, 
 died in the 143d Olympiad, 208 B.C. He was equally distinguished for natural 
 abilities and industry, seldom sufEering a day to elapse without writing 500 
 lines. He wrote several hundred volumes, of which three hundred were on 
 logical subjects ; but in all, borrowed largely from others. He was very fond 
 of the sorites in argument, which is hence called by Persius the heap of Chry- 
 
48 NOVUM ORGANUM 
 
 did not (that we are aware) open schools, but betook them- 
 selves to the investigation of truth with greater silence- and 
 with more severity and simplicity, that is, with less affecta- 
 tion and ostentation. Hence in our opinion they acted more 
 advisedly, however their works may have been eclipsed in 
 course of time by those lighter productions which better 
 correspond with and please the apprehensions and passions 
 of the vulgar; for time, like a river," bears down to us that 
 
 aippua. He waa called the Column of the Portico, a name given to the Stoical 
 School from Zeno, its founder, who had given his lessons under the portico. 
 
 Cameades, born about 215, died in 130. He attached himself to Chrysip- 
 pus, and sustained with eclat the scepticism of the academy. The Athenians 
 sent him with Critolaus and Diogenes as ambassador to Rome, where he at- 
 tracted the attention of his new auditory by the subtilty of his reasoning, and 
 the fluency and vehemence of his language. Before Galba and Cato the Censor, 
 he harangued with great variety of thought and copiousness of diction in praiso 
 of justice. The next day, to establish his doctrine of the uncertainty of human 
 knowledge, he undertook to refute all his arguments. He maintained with the 
 New Academy, that the senses, the imagination, and the understanding fre- 
 quently deceive us, and therefore cannot be infallible judges of truth, but that 
 from the impressions produced on the mind by means of the senses, we infer 
 appearances of truth or probabilities. Nevertheless, with respect to the conduct 
 of life, Carneadea held that probable opinions are a sufficient guide. 
 
 Xenophanes, a Greek philosopher, of Colophon, born in 556, the founder of 
 the Eleatic school, which owes its fame principally to Parmenides. Wild in his 
 opinions about astronomy, he supposed that the stars were extinguished every 
 morning, and rekindled at night ; that eclipses were occasioned by the tempo- 
 rary extinction of the sun, and that there were several suns for the convenience 
 of the different climates of the earth. Yet this man held the chair of philoso- 
 phy at Athens for seventy years. 
 
 Philolaus, a Pythagorean philosopher of Crotona, B.C. 374. He first sup- 
 ported the diurnal n»tion of the earth round its axis, and its annual motion 
 round the sun. Cicero (Acad. iv. 39) has ascribed this opinion to the Syracu- 
 san philosopher Nicetaa, and likewise to Plato. Prom this passage, it is moat 
 probable that Copernicus got the idea of the system he afterward established. 
 Bacon, in the Advancement of Human Learning, charges Gilbert with restoring 
 the doctrines of Philolaus, because he ventured to support the Copemican 
 theory. — Ed. 
 
 " Bacon is equally conspicuous for the uae and abuse of analogical illustra- 
 tions. The levity, aa Stuan Mill very properly observes, by which substances 
 
NOVUM OSGANUM 49 
 
 wtich is light and inflated, and sinks that which is heavy 
 and solid. Nor were even these more ancient philosophers 
 free from the national defect, but inclined too much to the 
 ambition and vanity of forming a sect, and captivating 
 public opinion, and we must despair of any inquiry after 
 truth when it condescends to such trifles. Nor must we 
 omit the opinion, or rather prophecy, of an Egyptian priest 
 with regard to the Greeks, that they would forever remain 
 children, without any antiquity of knowledge or knowledge 
 of antiquity ; for they certainly have this in common with 
 children, that they are prone to talking, and incapable of 
 generation, their wisdom being loquacious and unproduc- 
 tive of effects. Hence the external signs derived from the 
 origin and birthplace of our present philosophy are not 
 favorable. 
 
 LXXII. Nor are those much better which can be de- 
 duced from the character of the time and age, than the 
 former from that of the country and nation ; for in that age 
 the knowledge both of time and of the world was confined 
 and meagre, which is one of the worst evils for those who 
 rely entirely on experience— they had not a thousand years 
 of history worthy of that name, but mere fables and ancient 
 traditions; they were acquainted with but a small portion 
 of the regions and countries of the world, for they indis- 
 criminately called all nations situated far toward the north 
 Scythians, all those to the west Celts; they knew nothing 
 of Africa but the nearest part of Ethiopia, or of Asia be- 
 
 float on a stream, and the levity which is synonymous with worthlessneas, have 
 nothing beside the name in common ; and to show how little value there is in 
 the figure, we need only change the word into buoyancy, to turn the semblancf* 
 of Bacon's argument against himself — Ed. 
 
50 NOVUM OBQANUM 
 
 yond the Ganges, and had not even heard any sure and 
 clear tradition of the regions of the New World. Besides, 
 a vast number of climates and zones, in which innumerable 
 nations live and breathe, were pronounced by them to be 
 uninhabitable; nay, the travels of Democritus, Plato, and 
 Pythagoras, which were not extensive, but rather mere 
 excursions from home, were considered as something vast. 
 But in our times many parts of the New World, and every 
 extremity of the Old, are well known, and the mass of 
 experiments has been infinitely increased; wherefore, if ex- 
 ternal signs were to be taken from the time of the nativity 
 or procreation (as in astrology), nothing extraordinary could 
 be predicted of these early systems of philosophy. 
 
 LXXIII. Of all signs there is none more certain or 
 worthy than that of the fruits produced, for the fruits and 
 effects are the sureties and vouchers, as it were, for the 
 truth of philosophy. Now, from the systems of the Greeks, 
 and their subordinate divisions in particular branches of the 
 sciences during so long a period, scarcely one single experi- 
 ment can be culled that has a tendency to elevate or assist 
 mankind, and can be fairly set down to the speculations 
 and doctrines of their philosophy. Celsus candidly and 
 wisely confesses as much, when he observes that experi- 
 ments were first discovered in medicine, and that men after- 
 ward built their philosophical systems upon them, and 
 searched for and assigned causes, instead of the inverse 
 method of discovering and deriving experiments from phi- 
 losophy and the knowledge of causes; it is not, therefore 
 wonderful that the Egyptians (who bestowed divinity and 
 sacred honors on the authors of new inventions) should 
 have consecrated more images of brutes than of men for 
 the brutes by their natural instinct made many discoveries 
 
NOVUM OBOANUlt 61 
 
 while men derived but few from discusaion and the con- 
 clusions of reason. 
 
 The industry of the alchemists has produced some effect, 
 by chance, however, and casualty, or from varying their ex- 
 periments (as mechanics also do), and not from any regular 
 art or theory, the theory they have imagined rather tending 
 to disturb than to assist experiment. Those, too, who have 
 occupied themselves with natural magic (as they term it) 
 have made but few discoveries, and those of small import, 
 and bordering on imposture; for which reason, in the same 
 manner as we are cautioned by religion to show our faith 
 by our works, we may very properly apply the principle to 
 philosophy, and judge of it by its works, accounting that to 
 be futile which is unproductive, and still more so if, instead 
 of grapes and olives, it yield but the thistle and thorns of 
 dispute and contention. 
 
 LXXIV. Other signs may be selected from the increase 
 and progress of particular systems of philosophy and the 
 sciences ; for those which are founded on nature grow and 
 increase, while those which are founded on opinion change 
 and increase not. If, therefore, the theories we have men- 
 tioned were not like plants, torn up by the roots, but grew 
 in the womb of nature, and were nourished by her, that 
 which for the last two thousand years has taken place would 
 never have happened, namely, that the sciences still con- 
 tinue in their beaten track, and nearly stationary, without 
 having received any important increase, nay, having, on 
 the contrary, rather bloomed under the hands of their first 
 author, and then faded away. But we see that the case is 
 reversed in the mechanical arts, which are founded on na- 
 ture and the light of experience, for they (as long as they 
 are popular) seem full of life, and uninterruptedly thrive and 
 
 BCIENOE— Vol. 23 — 3 
 
62 NOVUM OBOANUM 
 
 grow, being at first rude, then convenient, lastly polished, 
 and perpetually improved. 
 
 LXXV. There is yet another sign (if such it may be 
 termed, being rather an evidence, and one of the strongest 
 nature), namely, the actual confession of those very authori- 
 ties whom men now follow; for even they who decide on 
 things so daringly, yet at times, when they reflect, betake 
 themselves to complaints about the subtilty of nature, the 
 obscurity of things, and the weakness of man's wit. If they 
 would merely do this, they might perhaps deter those who 
 are of a timid disposition from further inquiry, but would 
 excite and stimulate those of a more active and confident 
 turn to further advances. They are not, however, satisfied 
 with confessing so much of themselves, but consider every- 
 thing which has been either unknown or unattempted by 
 themselves or their teachers, as beyond the limits of possi- 
 bility, and thus, with most consummate pride and envy, 
 convert the defects of their own discoveries into a calumny 
 on nature and a source of despair to every one else. Hence 
 - arose the New Academy, which openly professed scepti- 
 cism," and consigned mankind to eternal darkness; hence 
 the notion that forms, or the true differences of things (which 
 are in fact the laws of simple action), are beyond man's 
 
 *> We have before observed, that the New Academy did not profess skep- 
 ticism, but the oKaTdAiji^ia, or incomprehensibility of the absolute essences of 
 things. Even modern physicists are not wanting, to assert with this school 
 . that the utmost knowledge we can obtain is relative, and necessarily short of 
 absolute certainty. It is not without an appearance of truth that these philoso- 
 phers maintain that our ideas and perceptions do not express the nature of the 
 things which they represent, but only the effects of the peculiar organs by 
 which they are conveyed to the understanding, so that were these organs 
 changed, we should have different conceptions of their nature. That constitu- 
 tion of air which is dark to man is luminous to bats and owls. 
 
NOVUM OBGANUM 53 
 
 reach, and cannot possibly be discovered; hence those no- 
 tions in the active and operative branches, that the heat of 
 the sun and of fire are totally different, so as to prevent men 
 from supposing that they can elicit or form, by means of 
 fire, anything similar to the operations of nature; and again, 
 that composition only is the work of man and mixture of 
 nature, so as to prevent men from expecting the generation 
 or transformation of natural bodies by art. Men will, there- 
 fore, easily allow themselves to be persuaded by this sign 
 not to engage their fortunes and labor in speculations, 
 which are not only desperate, but actually devoted to des- 
 peration. 
 
 LXXVI. Nor should we omit the sign afforded by the 
 great dissension formerly prevalent among philosophers, and 
 the variety of schools, which sufSciently show that the way 
 was not well prepared that leads from the senses to the 
 understanding, since the same groundwork of philosophy 
 (namely, the nature of things), was torn and divided into 
 such widely differing and multifarious errors. And al- 
 though in these days the dissensions and differences of 
 opinions with regard to first principles and entire systems 
 are nearly extinct," yet there remain innumerable questions 
 and controversies with regard to particular branches of phi- 
 losophy. So that it is manifest that there is nothing sure or 
 sound either in the systems themselves or in the methods of 
 demonstration." 
 
 LXXVII. With regard to the supposition that there is a 
 general unanimity as to the philosophy of Aristotle, beeaUse 
 
 2' Owing to the universal prevalence of Aristotelism. 
 
 *> It must be remembered, that when Bacon wrote, algebra was in its 
 in&ncy, and the doctrine of units and infinitesimals undiscovered. 
 
64 NOVUM OKdAJSUM 
 
 the other systems of the ancients ceased and became obso- 
 lete on its promulgation, and nothing better has been since 
 discovered ; whence it appears that it is so well determined 
 and founded, as to have united the suffrages of both ages; 
 we will observe — 1st. That the notion of other ancient sys- 
 tems having ceased after the publication of the works of 
 Aristotle is false, for the works of the ancient philosophers 
 subsisted long after that event, even to the time of Cicero, 
 and the subsequent ages. But at a later period, when 
 human learning had, as it were, been wrecked in the inun- 
 dation of barbarians into the Eoman empire, then the sys- 
 tems of Aristotle and Plato were preserved in the waves of 
 ages, like planks of a lighter and less solid nature. 2d. The 
 notion of unanimity, on a clear inspection, is found to be 
 fallacious. For true unanimity is that which proceeds from 
 a free judgment, arriving at the same conclusion, after an 
 investigation of the fact. Now, by far the greater number 
 of those who have assented to the philosophy of Aristotle, 
 have bound themselves down to it from prejudice and the 
 authority of others, so that it is rather obsequiousness and 
 concurrence than unanimity. But even if it were real and 
 extensive unanimity, so far from being esteemed a true 
 and solid confirmation, it should even lead to a violent pre- 
 sumption to the contrary. Eor there is no worse augury in 
 intellectual matters than that derived from unanimity, with 
 the exception of divinity and politics, where suffrages are 
 allowed to decide. For nothing pleases the multitude, un- 
 less it strike the imagination or bind down the. understand- 
 ing, as we have observed above, with the shackles of vulgar 
 notions. Hence we may well transfer Phocion's remark 
 from morals to the intellect: "That men should immediately 
 examine what error or fault they have committed, when the 
 
NOVUM OBOANUM 55 
 
 multitude concurs with, and applauds them."" This then 
 is one of the most unfavorable signs. All the signs, there- 
 fore, of the truth and soundness of the received systems of 
 philosophy and the sciences are unpropitious, whether taken 
 from their origin, their fruits, their progress, the confessions 
 of their authors, or from imanimity. 
 
 LXXVIII. We now come to the causes of errors," and 
 of such perseverance in them for ages. These are suffi- 
 ciently numerous and powerful to remove all wonder, that 
 what we now oflEer should have so long been concealed from, 
 and have escaped the notice of mankind, and to render it 
 more worthy of astonishment, that it should even now have 
 entered any one's mind, or become the subject of his 
 thoughts; and that it should have done so, we consider 
 rather the gift of fortune than of any extraordinary talent, 
 and as the offspring of time rather than wit. But, in the 
 first place, the number of ages is reduced to very narrow 
 limits, on a proper consideration of the matter. For out of 
 twenty-five" centuries, with which the memory and learn- 
 
 *' Because the vulgar make up the overwhehning majority in such decisions, 
 and generally allow their judgments to be swayed by passion or prejudice. 
 
 ^ See end of Axiom Izi. The subject extends to Axiom xc. 
 
 ^ If we adopt the statement of Herodotus, who places the Homeric era 400 
 years back from his time, Homer lived about 900 years before Christ. On add- 
 'ing this number to the sixteen centuries of the Christian era which had elapsed 
 up to Bacon's time, we get the twenty-five centuries he mentions. The Homerio 
 epoch is the furthest point in antiquity from which Bacon could reckon with 
 any degree of certainty. Hesiod, if he were not contemporary, immediately 
 preceded him. 
 
 The epoch of Greek philosophy may be included between Thales and Plato, 
 that is, from the 35th to the 88th Olympiad; that of the Soman, between 
 Terence and Plmy. The modem revolution, in which Bacon is one of the 
 centrstl figures, took its rise from the time of Dante and Petrarch, who lived 
 at the commencement of the fourteenth century ; and to which, on account of 
 the invention of printing, and the luiversal spread of literature, which has ren- 
 
66 NOVUM OBGANUm 
 
 ing of man are conversant, scarcely six can be set apart and 
 selected as fertile in science and favorable to its progress. 
 For there are deserts and wastes in times as in countries, 
 and we can only reckon up three revolutions and epochs of 
 philosophy. 1. The Greek. 2. The Eoman. 3. Our own, 
 that is the philosophy of the western nations of Europe: 
 and scarcely two centuries can with justice be assigned to 
 each. The intermediate ages of the world were unfortunate 
 both in the quantity and richness of the sciences produced. 
 Nor need we mention the Arabs, or the scholastic philoso- 
 phy, which, in those ages, ground down the sciences by 
 their numerous treatises, more than they increased their 
 weight. The first cause, then, of such insignificant prog- 
 ress in the sciences, is rightly referred to the small propor- 
 tion of time which has been favorable thereto. 
 
 LXXIX. A second cause offers itself, which is certainly 
 of the greatest importance; namely, that in those very ages 
 in which men's wit and literature flourished considerably, 
 or even moderately, but a small part of their industry was 
 bestowed on natural philosophy, the great mother of the 
 sciences. For every art and science torn from this root 
 may, perhaps, be polished, and put into a serviceable shape, 
 but can admit of little growth. It is well known, that after 
 the Christian religion had been acknowledged, and arrived 
 at maturity, by far the best wits were busied upon theology, 
 where the highest rewards offered themselves, and every 
 species of assistance was abundantly supplied, and the study 
 of which was the principal occupation of the western Euro- 
 pean nations during the third epoch; the rather because 
 
 dered a second destruction of learning impossible, it is difficult to foresee any 
 other end than the extinction of the race of man. — Ed. 
 
NOVUM OBGANUM 57 
 
 literature flourished about the very time when controver- 
 siea concerning religion first began to bud forth. 2. In the 
 preceding ages, during the second epoch (that of the Eo- 
 mans), philosophical meditation and labor was chiefly occu- 
 pied and wasted in moral philosophy (the theology of the 
 heathens) : besides, the greatest minds in these times applied 
 themselves to civil affairs, on account of the magnitude of 
 the Eoman empire, which required the labor of many. 
 3. The age during which natural philosophy appeared 
 principally to flourish among the Greeks, was but a short 
 period, since in the more ancient times the seven sages 
 (with the exception of Thales), applied themselves to moral 
 philosophy and politics, and at a later period, after Socrates 
 had brought down philosophy from heaven to earth, moral 
 philosophy became more prevalent, and diverted men's 
 attention from natural. Nay, the very period during which 
 physical inquiries flourished, was corrupted and rendered 
 useless by contradictions, and the ambition of new opinions. 
 Since, therefore, during these three epochs, natural philoso- 
 phy has been materially neglected or impeded, it is not at 
 all surprising that men should have made but little progress 
 in it, seeing they were attending to an entirely different 
 matter. 
 
 LXXX. Add to this that natural philosophy, especially 
 of late, has seldom gained exclusive possession of an indi- 
 vidual free from all other pursuits, even among those who 
 have applied themselves to it, unless there may be an ex- 
 ample or two of some monk studying in his cell, or some 
 nobleman in his villa." She has rather been made a pas- 
 sage and bridge to other pursuits. 
 
 ** The aUusion is evidently to Boger Bacon and R6u6 Descartes. — BaL 
 
58 NOVUM OBOANUM 
 
 Thus has this great mother of the sciences been degraded 
 most unworthily to the situation of a handmaid, and made 
 to wait upon medicine or mathematical operations, and to 
 wash the immature minds of youth, and imbue them with a 
 first dye, that they may afterward be more ready to receive 
 and retain another. In the meantime, let no one expect any 
 great progress in the sciences (especially their operative part), 
 unless natural philosophy be applied to particular sciences, 
 and particular sciences again referred back to natural phi- 
 losophy. For want of this, astronomy, optics, music, many 
 mechanical arts, medicine itself, and (what perhaps is more 
 wonderful), moral and political philosophy, and the logical 
 sciences have no depth, but only glide over the surface and 
 variety of things; because these sciences, -when they have 
 been once partitioned out and established, are no longer 
 nourished by natural philosophy, which would have im- 
 parted fresh vigor and growth to them from the sources and 
 genuine contemplation of motion, rays, sounds, texture, and 
 conformation of bodies, and the affections and capacity of 
 the understanding. But we can little wonder that the sci- 
 ences grow not when separated from their roots. 
 
 LXXXI. There is another powerful and great cause of 
 the little advancement of the sciences, which is this; it is 
 impossible to advance properly in the course when the goal 
 is not properly fixed. But the real and legitimate goal of 
 the sciences is the endowment of human life with new in- 
 ventions and riches. The great crowd of teachers know 
 nothing of this, but consist of dictatorial hirelings; unless 
 it so happen that some artisan of an acute genius, and am- 
 bitious of fame, gives up his time to a new discovery, which 
 is generally attended with a loss of property. The major- 
 ity, so far from proposing to themselves the augmentation 
 
NOVUM OBOANUM 59 
 
 of the mass of arts and sciences, make no other use of an in- 
 quiry into the mass already before them, than is afforded by 
 the conversion of it to some use in their lectures, or to gain, 
 or to the acquirement of a name, and the like. But if one 
 out of the multitude be found, who courts science from real 
 zeal, and on his own account, even he will be seen rather to 
 follow contemplation, and the variety of theories, than a 
 severe and strict investigation of truth. Again, if there 
 even be an unusually strict investigator of truth, yet will 
 he propose to himself, as the test of truth, the satisfaction 
 of his mind and understanding, as to the causes of things 
 long since known, and not such a test as to lead to some 
 new earnest of effects, and a new light in axioms.' If, there- 
 fore, no one have laid down the real end of science, we can- 
 not wonder that there should be error in points subordinate 
 to that end. 
 
 LXXXII. But, in like manner, as the end and goal of 
 science is ill defined, so, even were the case otherwise, men 
 have chosen an erroneous and impassable direction. For it 
 is sufficient to astonish any reflecting mind, that nobody 
 should have oared or wished to open and complete a way for 
 the understanding, setting off from the senses, and regular, 
 well-conducted experiment; but that everything has been 
 abandoned either to the mists of tradition, the whirl and con- 
 fusion of argument, or the waves and mazes of chance, and 
 desultory, ill-combined experiment. Kow, let any one but 
 consider soberly and diligently the nature of the path men 
 have been accustomed to pursue in the investigation and 
 discovery of any matter, and he will doubtless first observe 
 the rude and inartificial manner of discovery most familiar 
 to mankind: which is no other than this. When any one 
 prepares himself for discovery, he first inquires and obtains 
 
^ NOVUM OBGANUM 
 
 a full account of all that has been said on the subject by 
 others, then adds his own reflections, and stirs up and, as it 
 were, invokes his own spirit, after much mental labor, to 
 disclose its oracles. All which is a method without founda- 
 tion, and merely turns on opinion. 
 
 Another, perhaps, calls in logic to assist him in discov- 
 ery, which bears only a nominal relation to his purpose. 
 For the discoveries of logic are not discoveries of principles 
 and leading axioms, but only of what appears to accord with 
 them.*' And when men become curious and importunate, 
 and give trouble, interrupting her about her proofs, and the 
 discovery of principles or first axioms, she puts them off 
 with her usual answer, referring them to faith, and ordering 
 them to swear allegiance to each art in its own department. 
 
 There remains but mere experience, which, when it offers 
 itself, is called chance; when it is sought after, experiment." 
 But this kind of experience is nothing but a loose fagot; 
 and mere groping in the dark, as men at night try all means 
 of discovering the right road, while it would be better and 
 more prudent either to wait for day, or procure a light, and 
 then proceed. On the contrary, the real order of experience 
 begins by setting up a light, and then shows the road by it, 
 commencing with a regulated and digested, not a misplaced 
 and vague course of experiment, and thence deducing 
 axioms, and from those axioms new experiments: for not 
 even the Divine Word proceeded to operate on the general 
 mass of things without due order. 
 
 Let men, therefore, cease to wonder if the whole course 
 
 « Prom the abuse of the scholastics, who mistook the <i priori method the 
 deductive syllogism, for the entire province of logic. — Eki. 
 ** See Aphorism xov. 
 
NOVUM ORGANUM 61 
 
 of science be not ran, when all have wandered from the 
 path; quitting it entirely, and deserting experience, or in- 
 volving themselves in its mazes, and wandering about, while 
 a regularly combined system would lead them in a sure track 
 through its wilds to the open day of axioms. 
 
 LXXXIII. The evil, however, has been wonderfully in- 
 creased by an opinion, or inveterate conceit, which is both 
 vainglorious and prejudicial, namely, that the dignity of the 
 human mind is lowered by long and frequent intercourse 
 with experiments and particulars, which are the objects of 
 sense, and confined to matter; especially since such matters 
 generally require labor in investigation, are mean subjects 
 for meditation, harsh in discourse, unproductive in practice, 
 infinite in number, and delicate in their subtilty. Hence 
 we have seen the true path not only deserted, but inter- 
 cepted and blocked up, experience being rejected with dis- 
 gust, and not merely neglected or improperly applied. 
 
 LXXXIV. Again, the reverence for antiquity," and the 
 authority of men who have been esteemed great in philoso- 
 phy, and general unanimity, have retarded men from ad- 
 vancing in science, and almost enchanted them. As to 
 unanimity, we have spoken of it above. 
 
 The opinion which men cherish of antiquity is altogether 
 idle, and scarcely accords with the term. For the old age 
 and increasing years of the world should in reality be con- 
 sidered as antiquity, and this is rather the character of our 
 own times than of the less advanced age of the world in 
 those of the ancients; for the latter, with respect to our- 
 
 *' The incongruity to which Bacon alludes appears to spring from confound- 
 ing two things, which are not only distinct, but afEect human knowledge in 
 inverse proportion, viz., the experience which terminates with life, with that 
 experience which one century transmits to another. — Ed. 
 
62 NOVUM ORGANUM 
 
 selves, are ancient and elder, with respect to the world mo 
 ern and younger. And as we expect a greater knowledge 
 of human affairs, and more mature judgment from an old 
 man than from a youth, on account of his experience, and 
 the variety and number of things he has seen, heard, and 
 meditated upon, so we have reason to expect much greater 
 things of our own age (if it knew but its strength and would 
 essay and exert it) than from antiquity, since the world has 
 grown older, and its stock has been increased and accumu- 
 lated with an infinite number of experiments and observa- 
 tions. 
 
 We must also take into our consideration that many ob- 
 jects in nature fit to throw light upon philosophy have been 
 exposed to our view, and discovered by means of long voy- 
 ages and travels, in which our times have abounded. It 
 would, indeed, be dishonorable to mankind, if the regions 
 of the material globe, the earth, the sea, and stars, should 
 be so prodigiously developed and illustrated in our age, and 
 yet the boundaries of the intellectual globe should be con- 
 fined to the narrow discoveries of the ancients. 
 
 With regard to authority, it is the greatest weakness to 
 attribute infinite credit to particular authors, and to refuse 
 his own prerogative to time, the author of all authors, and, 
 therefore, of all authority. For truth is rightly named the 
 daughter of time, not of authority. It is not wonderful, 
 therefore, if the bonds of antiquity, authority, and unanim- 
 ity, have so enchained the power of man, that he is unable 
 (as if bewitched) to become familiar with things themselves. 
 
 LXXXV. Kor is it only the admiration of antiquity, 
 authority, and unanimity, that has forced man's industry 
 to rest satisfied with present discoveries, but, also, the ad- 
 miration of the effects already placed within his power. For 
 
NOVUM OBGANUM «S 
 
 whoever passes in review the variety of subjeots, and the 
 beautiful apparatus collected and introduced by the me- 
 chanical arts for the service of mankind, will certainly be 
 rather inclined to admire our wealth than to perceive our 
 poverty: not considering that the observations of man and 
 operations of nature (which are the souls and first movers of 
 that variety) are few, and not of deep research; the rest 
 must be attributed merely to man's patience, and the deli- 
 cate and well-regulated motion of the hand or of instru- 
 ments. To take an instance, the manufacture of clocks is 
 delicate and accurate, and appears to imitate the heavenly 
 bodies in its wheels, and the pulse of animals in its regular 
 oscillation, yet it only depends upon one or two axioms of 
 nature. 
 
 Again, if one consider the refinement of the liberal arts, 
 or even that exhibited in the preparation of natural bodies 
 in mechanical arts and the like, as the discovery of the 
 heavenly motions in astronomy, of harmony in music, of 
 the letters of the alphabet*' (stUl unadopted by the Chinese) 
 in grammar; or, again, in mechanical operations, the pro- 
 ductions of Bacchus and Ceres, that is, the preparation of 
 wine and beer, the making of bread, or even the luxuries of 
 the table, distUlation, and the like; if one reflect also, and 
 consider for how long a period of ages (for all the above, ex- 
 cept distillation, are ancient) these things have been brought 
 to their present state of perfection, and (as we instanced in 
 clocks) to how few observations and axioms of nature they 
 may be referred, and how easily, and as it were, by obvious 
 chance or contemplation, they might be discovered, one 
 
 *8 The Chinese characters resemble, in many respects, the hieroglyphics 
 of the Egyptians, being adapted to represent ideas, not sounds. 
 
64: NOVUM OBGANUM 
 
 would soon cease to admire and rather pity the human lo 
 on account of its vast want and dearth of things and discov- 
 eries for so many ages. Yet even the discoveries we have 
 mentioned were more ancient than philosophy and the intel- 
 lectual arts; so that (to say the truth) when contemplation 
 and doctrinal science began, the discovery of useful works 
 ceased. 
 
 But if any one turn from the manufactories to libraries, 
 and be inclined to admire the immense variety of books 
 offered to our view, let him but examine and diligently in- 
 spect the matter and contents of these books, and his aston- 
 ishment will certainly change its object: for when he finds 
 no end of repetitions, and how much men do and speak the 
 same thing over again, he will pass from admiration of this 
 variety to astonishment at the poverty and scarcity of mat- 
 ter, which has hitherto possessed and filled men's minds. 
 
 But if any one should condescend to consider such sci- 
 ences as are deemed rather curious than sound, and take a 
 full view of the operations of the alchemists or magii, he 
 will perhaps hesitate whether he ought rather to laugh or 
 to weep. For the alchemist cherishes eternal hope, and 
 when his labors succeed not, accuses his own mistakes, 
 deeming, in his self-accusation, that he has not properly 
 understood the words of art or of his authors ; upon which 
 he listens to tradition and vague whispers, or imagines there 
 is some slight unsteadiness in the minute details of his 
 practice, and then has recourse to an endless repetition of 
 experiments: and in the meantime, when, in his casual ex- 
 periments, he falls upon something in appearance new or 
 of some degree of utility, he consoles himself with such an 
 earnest, and ostentatiously publishes them, keeping up his 
 hope of the final result. Nor can it be denied that the alche- 
 
NOVUM OROANUM 65 
 
 mists have made several discoveries, and presented mankind 
 with useful inventions. But we may well apply to them the 
 fable of the old man, who bequeathed to his sons some gold 
 buried in his garden, pretending not to know the exact spot, 
 whereupon they worked diligently in digging the vineyard, 
 and though they found no gold, the vintage was rendered 
 more abundant by their labor. 
 
 The followers of natural magic, who explain everything 
 by sympathy and antipathy, have assigned false powers and 
 marvellous operations to things by gratuitous and idle con- 
 jectures: and if they have ever produced any effects, they 
 are rather wonderful and novel than of any real benefit or 
 utility. 
 
 In superstitious magic (if we say anything at all about 
 it) we must chiefly observe, that there are only some pecul- 
 iar and definite objects with which the curious and supersti- 
 tious arts have, in every nation and age, and even under 
 every religion, been able to exercise and amuse themselves. 
 Let us, therefore, pass them over. In the meantime we 
 cannot wonder that the false notion of plenty should have 
 occasioned want. 
 
 LXXXVl/The admiration of mankind with regard to 
 the arts and sciences, which is of itself sufficiently simple 
 and almost puerile, has been increased by the craft and ar- 
 tifices of those who have treated the sciences, and delivered 
 them down to posterity. For they propose and produce 
 them to our view so fashioned, and as it were masked, as 
 to make them pass for perfect and complete. For if you 
 consider their method and divisions, they appear to em- 
 brace and comprise everything which can relate to the 
 subject. And although this frame be badly filled up and 
 resemble an empty bladder, yet it presents to the vul- 
 
ee) NOVUM OBGANUM 
 
 gar understanding the form and appearance of a periec 
 scienceT^ 
 
 The first and most ancient investigators of trath were 
 wont, on the contrary, with more honesty and success, to 
 throw all the knowledge they wished to gather from con- 
 templation, and to lay up for use, into aphorisms, or short 
 scattered sentences unconnected by any method, and with- 
 out pretending or professing to comprehend any entire art. 
 But according to the present system, we cannot wonder 
 that men seek nothing beyond that which is handed down 
 to them as perfect, and already extended to its full com- 
 plement. 
 
 LXXXVII. The ancient theories have received addi- 
 tional support and credit from the absurdity and levity of 
 those who have promoted the new, especially in the active 
 and practical part of natural philosophy. For there have 
 been many silly and fantastical fellows who, from credulity 
 or imposture, have loaded mankind with promises, announc- 
 ing and boasting of the prolongation of life, the retarding 
 of old age, the alleviation of pains, the remedying of nat- 
 ural defects, the deception of the senses, the restraint and 
 excitement of the passions, the illumination and exaltation 
 of the intellectual faculties, the transmutation of substances, 
 the unlimited intensity and multiplication of motion, the 
 impressions and changes of the air, the bringing into our 
 power the management of celestial influences, the divina- 
 tion of future events, the representation of distant objects, 
 the revelation of hidden objects, and the like. One would 
 not be very wrong in observing with regard to such pre- 
 tenders, that there is as much difference in philosophy 
 between their absurdity and real science, as there is in his- 
 tory between the exploits of Csesar or Alexander, and those 
 
NOVUM ORGANUM 67 
 
 of Amadis de G-aul and Arthur of Britain. Jor those illus- 
 trious generals are foand to have actually performed greater 
 exploits than such fictitious heroes are even pretended to 
 have accomplished, by the means, however, of real action, 
 and not by any fabulous and portentous power. Yet it ia 
 not right to suffer our belief in true history to be dimin- 
 ished, because it is sometimes injured and violated by 
 fables. In the meantime we cannot wonder that great 
 prejudice has been excited against any new propositions 
 (especially when coupled with any mention of effects to be 
 produced), by the conduct of impostors who have made a 
 similar attempt; for their extreme absurdity, and the dis- 
 gust occasioned by it, has even to this day overpowered 
 every spirited attempt of the kind. 
 
 LXXXVm. Want of energy, and the littleness and 
 futility of the tasks that human industry has undertaken, 
 have produced much greater injury to the sciences: and 
 yet (to make it still worse) that very want of energy mani- 
 fests itself in conjunction with arrogance and disdain. 
 
 For, in the first place, one excuse, now from its repeti- 
 tion become familiar, is to be observed in every art, namely, 
 that its promoters convert the weakness of the art itself into 
 a calumny upon nature: and whatever it in their hands fails 
 to effect, they pronounce to be physically impossible. But 
 how can the art ever be condemned while it acts as judge in 
 its own cause ? Even the present system of philosophy cher- 
 ishes in its bosom certain positions or dogmas, which (it 
 will be found on diligent inquiry) are calculated to produce 
 a full conviction that no difficult, commanding, and power- 
 ful operation upon nature ought to be anticipated through 
 the means of art; we instanced" above the alleged different 
 
 4> See Axiom 16. 
 
0» NOVUM OBOAJVUM 
 
 quality of heat in the sun and fire, and jiomposition and 
 mixture. Upon an accurate observation the whole ten- 
 dency of such positions is wilfully to circumscribe man's 
 power, and to produce a despair of the means of invention 
 and contrivance, which would not only confound the prom- 
 ises of hope, but cut the very springs and sinews of indus- 
 try, and throw aside even the chances of experience. The 
 only object of such philosophers is to acquire the reputation 
 of perfection for their own art, and they are anxious to ob- 
 tain the most silly and abandoned renown, by causing a be- 
 lief that whatever has not yet been invented and understood 
 can never be so hereafter. But if any one attempt to give 
 himself up to things, and to discover something new; yet 
 he will only propose and destine for his object the investiga- 
 tion and discovery of some one invention, and nothing more; 
 as the nature of the magnet, the tides, the heavenly system, 
 and the like, which appear enveloped in some degree of 
 mystery, and have hitherto been treated with but little suc- 
 cess. Now it is the greatest proof of want of skill, to inves- 
 tigate the nature of any object in itself alone; for that same 
 nature, which seems concealed and hidden in some instances, 
 is manifest and almost palpable in others, and excites wonder 
 in the former, while it hardly attracts attention in the lat- 
 ter." Thus the nature of consistency is scarcely observed 
 in wood or stone, but passed over by the term solid without 
 any further inquiry about the repulsion of separation or the 
 
 6» The methods by which NewioQ carried the rule and compass to the boun- 
 daries of creation is a sufficient comment on the sagacity of the text. The same 
 cause which globulizes a bubble, has rounded the earth, and the same law which 
 draws a stone to its surface, keeps the moon in her orbit. It was by calculating 
 and ascertaining these principles upon substances entirely at his disposal that 
 this great philosopher was enabled to give us a key to unlock the myste'ies 
 of the universe. ^£d. 
 
NOVUM ORGANUM 61) 
 
 solution of continuity. But in water-bubbles the same cir- 
 cumstance appears matter of delicate and ingenious research, 
 for they form themselves into thin pellicles, curiously shaped 
 into hemispheres, so as for an instant to avoid the solution 
 of continuity. 
 
 In general those very things which are considered as 
 secret are manifest and common in other objects, but will 
 never be clearly seen if the experiments and contemplation 
 of man be directed to themselves only. Yet it commonly 
 happens, that if, in the mechanical arts, any one bring old 
 discoveries to a finer polish, or more elegant height of orna- 
 ment, or unite and compound them, or apply them more 
 readily to practice, or exhibit them on a less heavy and 
 voluminous scale, and the like, they will pass off as new. 
 
 We cannot, therefore, wonder that no magnificent dis- 
 coveries, worthy of mankind, have been brought to light, 
 while men are satisfied and delighted with such scanty and 
 puerile tasks, nay, even think that they have pursued or 
 attained some great object in their accomplishment. 
 
 LXXXIX. Nor should we neglect to observe that nat- 
 ural philosophy has, in every age, met with a troublesome 
 and difficult opponent: I mean superstition, and a blind and 
 immoderate zeal for religion. For we see that, among the 
 Greeks, those who first disclosed the natural causes of 
 thunder and storms to the yet untrained ears of man were 
 condemned as guilty of impiety toward the gods." Nor 
 did some of the old fathers of Christianity treat those much 
 better who showed by the most positive proofs (such as no 
 
 "' See the "Clouds" of Aristophanes, where Socrates is represented as chas- 
 ing Jupiter out of the sky, by resolving thunderstorms into aerial concussions 
 and whirlwinds. — Ed. 
 
TO liOVUM ORGANUM 
 
 one now disputes) that the earth is spherical, and thence 
 asserted that there were antipodes." 
 
 Even in the present state of things the condition of dia- 
 cussions on natural philosophy is rendered more difficult 
 and dangerous by the summaries and methods of divines, 
 who, after reducing divinity into such order as they could, 
 and brought it into a scientific form, have proceeded to 
 mingle an undue proportion of the contentious and thorny 
 philosophy of Aristotle with the substance of religion." 
 
 The fictions of those who have not feared to deduce and 
 confirm the truth of the Christian religion by the principles 
 and authority of philosophers, tend to the same end, though 
 in a difierent manner." They celebrate the union of faith 
 and the senses as though it were legitimate, with great pomp 
 and solemnity, and gratify men's pleasing minds with a 
 variety, but in the meantime confound most improperly 
 things divine and human. Moreover, in these mixtures of 
 divinity and philosophy the received doctrines of the lat- 
 ter are alone included, and any novelty, even though it 
 
 " Bobespierre waa the latest victiin of this bigotry. In his younger days 
 he attempted to introduce Franklin's lightning conductor into France, but waa 
 persecuted by those whose lives he sought to protect, as one audaciously striving 
 to avert the designs of Providence. — Sd. 
 
 " We can hardly agree with the text. The scholastics, in building up a 
 system of divinity, certainly, had recourse to the deductive syllogism, because 
 the inductive was totally inapplicable, except as a verificatory process. With 
 regard to the technical form in which they marshalled their arguments, which 
 is what our author aims at in his censure, they owed nothing at all to Aristotle 
 the conducting a dispute in naked syllogistic fashion having originated entirely 
 with themselves. — Ed. 
 
 M Bacon cannot be supposed to allude to those divines who have attempted 
 to show that the progress of physical science is confirmatory of revelation but 
 only to such as have built up a system of faith out of their own refinements 
 on nature and revelation, as Patricias and Emanuel Swedenborg.— j^i. 
 
NOVUM OBGANUM <X 
 
 be an improvement, scarcely escapes banishment and ex- 
 termination. 
 
 In short, you may find all access to any species of phi- 
 losophy, however pure, intercepted by the ignorance of 
 divines. Some in their simplicity are apprehensive that 
 a too deep inquiry into nature may penetrate beyond the 
 proper bounds of decorum, transferring and absurdly apply- 
 ing what is said of sacred mysteries in Holy Writ against 
 those who pry into divine secrets, to the mysteries of nature, 
 which are not forbidden by any prohibition. Others with 
 more cunning imagine and consider, that if secondary causes 
 be unknown, everything may more easily be referred to the 
 Divine hand and wand, a matter, as they think, of the great- 
 est consequence to religion, but which can only really mean 
 that God wishes to be gratified by means of falsehood. 
 Others fear, from past example, lest motion and change in 
 philosophy should terminate in an attack upon religion. 
 Lastly, there are others who appear anxious lest there 
 should be something discovered in the investigation of 
 nature to overthrow, or at least shake, religion, particularly 
 among the unlearned. The last two apprehensions appear 
 to resemble animal instinct, as if men were diffident, in the 
 bottom of their minds and secret meditations, of the strength 
 of religion and the empire of faith over the senses, and there- 
 fore feared that some danger awaited them from an inquiry 
 into nature. But any one who properly considers the sub- 
 ject will find natural philosophy to be, after the Word of 
 God, the surest remedy against superstition, and the most 
 approved support of faith. She is, therefore, rightly be- 
 stowed upon religion as a most faithful attendant, for the 
 one exhibits the will and the other the power of God. Nor 
 was he wrong who observed, "Ye err, not knowing the 
 
72 NOVUM ORGANUM 
 
 Scriptures and the power of God," thus uniting in one 
 bond the revelation of his will and the contemplation of 
 his power. In the meanwhile, it is not wonderful that the 
 progress of natural philosophy has been restrained, since 
 religion, which has so much influence on men's minds, has 
 been led and hurried to oppose her through the ignorance 
 of some and the imprudent zeal of others. 
 
 XC. Again, in the habits and regulations of schools, 
 universities, and the like assemblies, destined for the abode 
 of learned men and the improvement of learning, everything 
 is found to be opposed to the progress of the sciences ; for 
 the lectures and exercises are so ordered, that anything out 
 of the common track can scarcely enter the thoughts and 
 contemplations of the" mind. If, however, one or two have 
 perhaps dared to use their liberty, they can only impose 
 the labor on themselves, without deriving any advantage 
 from the association of others ; and if they put up with this, 
 they will find their industry and spirit of no slight disad- 
 vantage to them in making their fortune; for the pursuits 
 of men in such situations are, as it were, chained down to 
 the writings of particular authors, and if any one dare to 
 dissent from them he is immediately attacked as a turbulent 
 and revolutionary spirit. Yet how great is the difference 
 between civil matters and the arts, for there is not the same 
 danger from new activity and new light. In civil matters 
 even a change for the better is suspected on account of the 
 commotion it occasions, for civil government is supported 
 by authority, unanimity, fame, and public opinion, and not 
 by demonstration. In the arts and sciences, on the con- 
 trary, every department should resound, as in mines, with 
 new works and advances. And this is the rational, though 
 not the actual view of the case, for that administration and 
 
JHOVUM OBQANUM 73 
 
 government of science we have spoken of is wont too rigor- 
 ously to repress its growth. 
 
 XOI. And even should the odium I have alluded to be 
 avoided, yet it is sufficient to repress the increase of science 
 that such attempts and industry pass unrewarded; for the 
 cultivation of science and its reward belong not to the same 
 individual. The advancement of science is the work of 
 a powerful genius, the prize and reward belong to the vul- 
 gar or to princes, who (with a few exceptions) are scarcely 
 moderately well informed. Nay, such progress is not only 
 deprived of the rewards and beneficence of individuals, but 
 even of popular praise; for it is above the reach of the 
 generality, and easily overwhelmed and extinguished by 
 the winds of common opinions. It is not wonderful, there- 
 fore, that little success has attended that which has been 
 little honored. 
 
 XCII. But by far the greatest obstacle to the advance- 
 ment of the sciences, and the undertaking of any new at- 
 tempt or department, is to be found in men's despair and 
 the idea of impossibility ; for men of a prudent and exact 
 turn of thought are altogether diffident in matters of this 
 nature, considering the obscurity of nature, the shortness 
 of life, the deception of the senses, and weakness of the 
 judgment. They think, therefore, that in the revolutions 
 of ages and of the world there are certain floods and ebbs 
 of the sciences, and that they grow and flourish at one time, 
 and wither and fall ofiE at another, that when they have 
 attained a certain degree and condition they can proceed 
 no further. 
 
 If, therefore, any one believe or promise greater things, 
 they impute it to an uncurbed and immature mind, and 
 imagine that such efforts begin pleasantly, then become 
 
74 NOVUM ORGANUM 
 
 laborious, and end in confusion. And since such thoughts 
 easily enter the minds of men of dignity and excellent judg- 
 ment, we must really take heed lest we should be captivated 
 by our affection for an excellent and most beautiful object, 
 and relax or diminish the severity of our judgment; and we 
 must diligently examine what gleam of hope shines upon 
 us, and in what direction it manifests itself, so that, banish- 
 ing her lighter dreams, we may discuss and weigh whatever 
 appears of more sound importance. We must consult the 
 prudence of ordinary life, too, which is diffident upon prin- 
 ciple, and in all human matters augurs the worst. Let us, 
 then, speak of hope, especially as we are not vain promisers, 
 nor are willing to enforce or insnare men's judgment, but 
 would rather lead them willingly forward. And although 
 we shall employ the most cogent means of enforcing hope 
 when we bring them to particulars, and especially those 
 which are digested and arranged in our Tables of Invention 
 (the subject partly of the second, but principally of the 
 fourth part of the Instauration), which are, indeed, rather 
 the very object of our hopes than hope itself; yet to proceed 
 more leniently we must treat of the preparation of men's 
 minds, of which the manifestation of hope forms no slight 
 part; for without it all that we have said tends rather to 
 produce a gloom than to encourage activity or quicken the 
 industry of experiment, by causing them to have a worse 
 and more contemptuous opinion of things as they are than 
 they now entertain, and to perceive and feel more thoroughly 
 their unfortunate condition. We must, therefore, disclose 
 and prefix our reasons for not thinking the hope of success 
 improbable, as Columbus, before his wonderful voyage over 
 the Atlantic, gave the reasons of his conviction that new 
 lands and continents might be discovered besides those 
 
NOVUM ORQANUM 75 
 
 already known ; and these reasons, though at first rejected, 
 were yet proved by subsequent experience, and were the 
 causes and beginnings of the greatest events. 
 
 XCIII. Let us begin from God, and show that our pur- 
 suit from its exceeding goodness clearly proceeds from him, 
 the author of good and father of light. Kow, in all divine 
 works the smallest beginnings lead assuredly to some result, 
 and the remark in spiritual matters that "the kingdom of 
 God Cometh without observation," is also found to be true 
 in every great work of Divine Providence, so that every- 
 thing glides quietly on vrithout confusion or noise, and the 
 matter is achieved before men either think or perceive that 
 it is commenced. Nor should we neglect to mention the 
 prophecy of Daniel, of the last days of the world, "Many 
 shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased, ' ' " 
 thus plainly hinting and suggesting that fate (which is 
 Providence) would cause the complete circuit of the globe 
 (now accomplished, or at least going forward by means of 
 so many distant voyages), and the increase of learning to 
 happen at the same epoch. 
 
 XCIV. We wiU next give a mnat. pn^gnt T«gg"" fr,y li>^jo 
 deduced from the errors of the past, and the ways still un- 
 attempted ; for well was an ill -governed state thus reproved, 
 "That which is worst with regard to the past should appear 
 most consolatory for the future; for if you had done all 
 that your duty commanded, and your affairs proceeded no 
 better, you could not even hope for their improvement; 
 but since their present unhapgy„situation is not owing to 
 the force of circumstances, but to your own errors, you have 
 reason to hope that by banishing or correcting the latter 
 
 " Daniel xii. 4. 
 
 Science — Vol. 23 — i 
 
76 NOVUM OBGANUM 
 
 you can produce a great change for the better in the 
 former." So if men had, during the many years that have 
 elapsed, adhered to the right way of discovering and culti- 
 vating the sciences without being able to advance, it would 
 be assuredly bold and presumptuous to imagine it possible 
 to improve; but if they have mistaken the way and wasted 
 their labor on improper objects, it follows that the difficulty 
 does not arise from things themselves, which are not in our 
 power, but from the human understanding, its practice and 
 application, which is susceptible of remedy and correction. 
 Our best plan, therefore, is to expose these errors; for in 
 proportion as they impeded the past, so do they afford 
 reason to hope for the future. And although we have 
 touched upon them above, yet we think it right to give a 
 brief, bare, and simple enumeration of them in this place. 
 XCV. Those who have treated of the sciences have been 
 either empirics or dogmatical." The former like ants only 
 heap up and use their store, the latter like spiders spin out 
 their own webs. The bee, a mean between both, extracts 
 matter from the flowers of the garden and the field, but 
 works and fashions it by its own efforts. The true labor 
 of philosophy resembles hers, for it neither relies entirely 
 or principally on the powers of the mind, nor yet lays up 
 in the memory the matter afforded by the experiments of 
 natural history and mechanics in its raw state, but changes 
 and works it in the understanding. We have good reason. 
 
 '» Bacon, in thia Aphorism, appears to have entertained a fair idea of the 
 use of the inductive and deductive methods in scientific inquirj', though his 
 want of geometrical knowledge must have hindered him from accurately deter- 
 mining the precise functions of each, as it certainly led him in other parts of 
 the Organon (V. Aph. 82), to undervalue the deductive, and, as he calls it, the 
 dogmatic method, and to rely too much upon empiricism. — Ed. 
 
ISVVUM ORGANUM 77 
 
 therefore, to derive hope from a closer and purer alliance 
 of these faculties (the experimental and rational) than has 
 yet been attempted. 
 
 XCVI. Natural philosophy is not yet to be found un- 
 adulterated, but is impure and corrupted — by logic in the 
 school of Aristotle, by natural theology in that of Plato," 
 by mathematics in the second school of Plato (that of Proc- 
 lus and others)" which ought rather to terminate natural 
 philosophy than to generate or create it. We may, there- 
 fore, hope for better results from pure and unmixed natural 
 philosophy. 
 
 XCVII. No one has yet been found possessed of suifi- 
 cient firmness and severity to resolve upon and undertake 
 the task of entirely abolishing common theories and notions, 
 and applying the mind afresh, when thus cleared and lev- 
 elled, to particular researches; hence our human reasoning 
 is a mere farrago and crude mass made up of a great deal of 
 credulity and accident, and the puerile notions it originally 
 contracted. 
 
 " The reader may consult the note of the 23d Aphorism for the fault which 
 Bacon censures, and, if he wish to pursue the subject further, may read Plato's 
 TimsBus, where that philosopher explains his system in detaiL Bacon, how- 
 ever, is hardly consistent in one part of his censure, for he also taika about the 
 spirit and appetites of inanimate substances, and that so frequently, as to pre- 
 clude the supposition that he is employing metaphor. — Ed. 
 
 ^ Proclus flourished about the beginning of the fifth century, and was the 
 successor of Plotinus, Porphyry and lamblicus, who, in the two preceding cen- 
 turies, had revived the doctrines of Plato, and assailed the Christian religion. 
 The allusion in the text must be assigned to lamblicua, who, in the fourth cen- 
 tury, had republished the Pythagorean theology of numbers, and endeavored to 
 construct the world out of arithmetic, thinking everything could be solved by 
 the aid of proportions and geometry. Bacon must not be understood in the text 
 to censure the use but the abuse of mathematics and physical investigations, aa 
 in the "De Augmentis" (lib. iv. c. 6), he enumerates the multiplicity of demoa- 
 stration scientific facts admit of, from this bouicb.— Ed. 
 
rS NOVUM OBOANUM 
 
 But if a man of mature age, unprejudiced senses, and 
 clear mind, would betake himself anew to experience and 
 particulars, we might hope much more from such a one; m 
 which respect we promise ourselves the fortune of Alex- 
 ander the Great, and let none accuse us of vanity till they 
 have heard the tale, which is intended to check vanity. 
 
 For JEschines spoke thus of Alexander and his exploits: 
 "We live not the life of mortals, but are born at such a 
 period that posterity will relate and declare our prodigies"; 
 as if he considered the exploits of Alexander to be mirac- 
 ulous. 
 
 But in succeeding ages" Livy took a better view of the 
 fact, and has made some such observation as this upon 
 Alexander: "That he did no more than dare to despise 
 insignificance." So in our opinion posterity will judge of 
 us, that we have achieved no great matters, but only set 
 less account upon what is considered important; for the 
 meantime (as we have before observed) our only hope is 
 in the regeneration of the sciences, by regularly raising 
 them on the foundation of experience and building them 
 anew, which I think none can venture to aflSrm to have 
 been already done or even thought of. 
 
 XCVIII. The foundations of experience (our sole re- 
 source) have hitherto failed completely or have been very 
 weak; nor has a store and collection of particular facta, 
 capable of informing the mind or in any way satisfactory, 
 been either sought after or amassed. On the contrary, 
 learned, but idle and indolent, men have received some 
 
 59 See Livy. lib. x. c. 11, where, in a digression on the probable efEect of a 
 contest between Eome and Alexander the Great, he says: "Non cum Dario rem 
 esse dixisset: qaem mulierum ac spadonum agmen trahentem inter purpuram 
 atque aurum, oneratum fortunse apparatibua, prsedam veritis quam hoatem, nihil 
 aliud quam ausus vana oontemnere, inoruentus devicit." 
 
NOVUM OBGANUlt 79 
 
 mere reports of experience, traditions as it were of dreams, 
 as establishing or confirming their philosophy, and have not 
 hesitated to allow them the weight of legitimate evidence. 
 So that a system has been pursued in philosophy with re- 
 gard to experience resembling that of a kingdom or state 
 which would direct its councils and affairs according to the 
 gossip of city and street politicians, instead of the letters 
 and reports of ambassadors and messengers worthy of credit. 
 Nothing is rightly inquired into, or verified, noted, weighed, 
 or measured, in natural history; indefinite and vague obser- 
 vation produces fallacious and uncertain information. If 
 this appear strange, or our complaint somewhat too unjust 
 (because Aristotle himself, so distinguished a man and sup- 
 ported by the wealth of so great a king, has completed an 
 accurate history of animals, to which others with greater 
 diligence but less noise have made considerable additions, 
 and others again have composed copious histories and notices 
 of plants, metals, and fossils), it will arise from a want of 
 sufficiently attending to and comprehending our present 
 observations; for a natural history compiled on its own 
 account, and one collected for the mind's information as 
 a foundation for philosophy, are two different things. They 
 differ in several respects, but principally in this — the former 
 contains only the varieties of natural species without the 
 experiments of mechanical arts; for as in ordinary life every 
 person's disposition, and the-concealed feelings of the mind 
 a?nd passions are most drawn out when they "are disturbed — 
 so the secrets of nature betray themselves more readily 
 when tormented by art than when left to their own course. 
 We must begin, therefore, to entertain hopes of natural 
 philosophy then only, when we have a better compilation 
 o£ natural history, its real basis and support. 
 
80 NOVUM OBQANUM 
 
 XCIX, Again, even in the abundance of mechanical 
 experiments, there is a very great scarcity of those which 
 best inform and assist the understanding. For the mechanic, 
 little solicitous about the investigation of truth, neither 
 directs his attention, nor applies his hand to anything that 
 is not of service to his business. But our hope of further 
 progress in the sciences will then only be well founded, 
 when numerous experiments shall be received and collected 
 into natural history, which, though of no use in themselves, 
 assist materially in the discovery of causes and axioms; 
 which experiments we have termed enlightening, to distin- 
 guish them from those which are profitable. They possess 
 this wonderful property and nature, that they never deceive 
 or fail you; for being used only to discover the natural 
 cause of some object, whatever be the result, they equally 
 satisfy your aim by deciding the question. 
 
 G. We must not only search for, and procure a greater 
 number of experiments, but also introduce a completely 
 different method, order, and progress of continuing and 
 promoting experience. For vague and arbitrary experience 
 is (as we have observed), mere groping in the dark, and 
 rather astonishes than instructs. But when experience 
 shall proceed regularly and uninterruptedly by a deter- 
 mined rule, we may entertain better hopes of the sciences. 
 
 CI. But after having collected and prepared an abun- 
 dance and store of natural history, and of the experience 
 required for the operations of the understanding or phi- 
 losophy, still the understanding is as incapable of acting 
 on such materials of itself, with the aid . of memory alone 
 as any person would be of retaining and achieving, by 
 memory, the computation of an almanac. Yet meditation 
 has hitherto done more for discovery than writing, and no 
 
NOVUM OBQANUM 81 
 
 experimenta have been committed to paper. We cannot, 
 however, approve of any mode of discovery without writing, 
 and when that comes into more general use, we may have 
 further hopes. 
 
 on. Besides this, there is such a multitude and host, 
 as it were, of particular objects, and lying so widely dis- 
 persed, as to distract and confuse the understanding; and 
 we can, therefore, hope for no advantage from its skirmish- 
 ing, and quick movements and incursions, unless we put 
 its forces in due order and array, by means of proper and 
 well arranged, and, as it were, living tables of discovery of 
 these matters, which are the subject of investigation, and the 
 mind then apply itself to the ready prepared and digested 
 aid which such tables afford. 
 
 GUI. "When we have thus properly and regularly placed 
 before the eyes a collection of particulars, we must not im- 
 mediately proceed to the investigation and discovery of new 
 particulars or effects, or, at least, if we do so, must not rest 
 satisfied therewith. For, though we do not deny that by 
 transferring the experiments from one art to another (when 
 all the experiments of each have been collected and ar- 
 ranged, and have been acquired by the knowledge, and 
 subjected to the judgment of a single individual), many 
 new experiments may be discovered tending to benefit 
 society and mankind, by what we term literate experience; 
 yet comparatively insignificant results are to be expected 
 thence, while the more important are to be derived from 
 the new light of axioms, deduced by certain method and 
 rule from the above particulars, and pointing out and de- 
 fining new particulars in their turn. Our road is not a long 
 plain, but rises and falls, ascending to axioms, and descend- 
 ing to effects. 
 
82 NOVUM ORGANUM 
 
 CIV. Nor can we suffer the understanding to jump and 
 fly from particulars to remote and most general axioms (such 
 as are termed the principles of arts and things), and thug 
 prove and make out their intermediate axioms according to 
 the supposed unshaken truth of the former. This, however, 
 has always been done to the present time from the natural 
 bent of the understanding, educated too, and accustomed to 
 this very method, by the syllogistic mode of demonstration. 
 But we can then only augur well foi the sciences, when the 
 assent shall proceed by a true scale and successive steps, 
 without interruption or breach, from particulars to the 
 lesser axioms, thence to the intermediate (rising one above 
 the other), and lastly, to the most general. For the lowest 
 axioms differ but little from bare experiment;** the highest 
 and most general (as they are esteemed at present), are 
 notional, abstract, and of no real weight. The interme- 
 diate are true, solid, full of life, and upon them depend 
 the business and fortune of mankind; beyond these are the 
 really general, but not abstract, axioms, which are truly 
 limited by the intermediate. 
 
 '" The lowest axioms are Bucb as spring from simple experience^snch as in 
 chemistry, that animal substances yield no fixed salt by calcination ; in music, 
 that concords intermixed with discords malce harmony, etc. Intermediate axi- 
 oms advance a step further, being the result of reflection, which, applied to our 
 experimental knowledge, deduces laws from them, such as in optics of the first 
 degree of generality, that the angle of incidence is equal to the angle of reflec- 
 tion ; and in mechanics, Kepler's three laws of motion, while his general law, 
 that all bodies attract each other with forces proportional to their masses, and 
 inversely as the squares of their distances, may be taken as one of the highest 
 axioms. Tet so far is this principle from being only notional or abstract, it has 
 presented us with a key which fits into the intricate wards of the heavens, and 
 has laid bare to our gaze the principal mechanism of the universe. But natural 
 philosophy in Bacon's day had not advanced beyond intermediate axioms, and 
 the term notional or abstract is applied to those general axioms then current 
 not founded on the solid principles of inductive inquiry, but baaed upon ct vriori 
 reasoning and airy metaphysics. — Ed. 
 
NOVUM OBGANUM 83 
 
 We must not then add wings, but rather lead and 
 ballast to the understanding, to prevent its jumping 
 or flying, which has not yet been done; but whenever 
 this takes place, we may entertain greater hopes of the 
 sciences. 
 
 CV. In forming axioms, we must invent a diiferent form 
 of induction from that hitherto in use; not only for the 
 proof and discovery of principles (as they are called), but 
 also of minor, intermediate, and, in short, every kind of 
 axioms. The induction which proceeds by simple enumer- 
 ation is puerile, leads to uncertain conclusions, and is ex- 
 posed to danger from one contradictory instance, deciding 
 generally from too small a number of facts, and those only 
 the most obvious. But a really useful induction for the dis- 
 covery and demonstration of the arts and sciences, should 
 separate nature by proper rejections and exclusions, and 
 then conclude for the affirmative, after collecting a sufficient 
 number of negatives. Now this has not been done, nor even 
 attempted, except perhaps by Plato, who certainly uses this 
 form of induction in some measure, to sift definitions and 
 ideas. But much of what has never yet entered the thoughts 
 of man must necessarily be employed, in order to exhibit a 
 good and legitimate mode of induction or demonstration, so 
 as even to render it essential for us to bestow more pains 
 upon it than have hitherto been bestowed on syllogisms. 
 The assistance of induction is to serve us not only in the dis- 
 covery of axioms, but also in defining our notions. Much 
 indeed is to be hoped from such an induction as has been 
 described. 
 
 CVI. In forming our axioms from induction, we must 
 examine and try whether the axiom we derive be only fitted 
 and calculated for the particular instances from which it is 
 
84 NOVUM ORGANUM 
 
 deduced, or whether it be more extensive and general, li 
 it be the latter, we must observe, whether it confirm its own 
 extent and generality by giving surety, as it were, in point- 
 ing out new particulars, so that we may neither stop at actual 
 discoveries, nor with a careless grasp catch at shadows and 
 abstract forms, instead of substances of a determinate na- 
 ture: and as soon as we act thus, well authorized hope may 
 with reason be said to beam upon us. 
 
 CVII. Herd, too, we may again repeat what we have 
 said above, concerning the extending of natural philosophy 
 and reducing particular sciences to that one, so as to pre- 
 vent any schism or dismembering of the sciences; without 
 which we cannot hope to advance. 
 
 CVIII. Such are the observations we would make in 
 order to remove despair and excite hope, by bidding fare- 
 well to the errors of past ages, or by their correction. Let 
 us examine whether there be other grounds for hope. And, 
 first, if many useful discoveries have occurred to mankind 
 by chance or opportunity, without investigation or attention 
 on their part, it must necessarily be acknowledged that much 
 more may be brought to light by investigation and attention, 
 if it be regular and orderly, not hasty and interrupted. For 
 although it may now and then happen that one falls by 
 chance upon something that had before escaped considerable 
 efforts and laborious inquiries, yet undoubtedly the reverse 
 is generally the case. We may, therefore, hope for further, 
 better, and more frequent results from man's reason, indus- 
 try, method, and application, than from chance and mere 
 animal instinct, and the like, which have hitherto been the 
 sources of invention. 
 
 CIX. We may also derive some reason for hope from the 
 circumstance of several actual inventions being of such a 
 
NOVUM OBGANUM S5 
 
 nature, that scarcely any one could have formed a conjecture 
 about them previously to their discovery, but would rather 
 have ridiculed them as impossible. For men are wont to 
 guess about new subjects from those they are already ac- 
 quainted with, and the hasty and vitiated fancies they have 
 thence formed : than which there cannot be a more fallacious 
 mode of reasoning, because much of that which is derived 
 from the sources of things does not flow in their usual 
 channel. 
 
 If, for instance, before the discovery of cannon, one had 
 described its effects in the following manner: There is a new 
 invention by which walls and the greatest bulwarks can be 
 shaken and overthrown from a coDsiderable distance; men 
 would have begun to contrive various means of multiplying 
 the force of projectiles and machines by means of weights 
 and wheels, and other modes of battering and projecting. 
 But it is improbable that any imagination or fancy would 
 have hit upon a fiery blast, expanding and developing itself 
 so suddenly and violently, because none would have seen an 
 instance at all resembling it, except perhaps in earthquakes 
 or thunder, which they would have immediately rejected as 
 the great operations of nature, not to be imitated by man. 
 
 So, if before the discovery of silk thread, any one had 
 observed, That a species of thread had been discovered, fit 
 for dresses and furniture, far surpassing the thread of 
 worsted or flax in fineness, and at the same time in tenac- 
 ity, beauty, and softness; men would have begun to im- 
 agine something about Chinese plants, or the fine hair of 
 some animals, or the feathers or down of birds, but certainly 
 would never have had an idea of its being spun by a small 
 worm, in so copious a manner, and renewed annually. But 
 if any one had ventured to suggest the silkworm, he would 
 
86 NOVUM OBOANUM 
 
 have been laughed at as if dreaming of some new manufac- 
 ture from spiders. 
 
 So again, if before the discovery of the compass, any one 
 had said, That an instrument had been invented, by which 
 the quarters and points of the heavens could be exactly 
 taken and distinguished, men would have entered into dis- 
 quisitions on the refinement of astronomical instruments, 
 and the like, from the excitement of their imaginations; but 
 the thought of anything being discovered, which, not being 
 a celestial body, but a mere mineral or metallic substance, 
 should yet in its motion agree with that of such bodies, 
 would have appeared absolutely incredible. Yet were these 
 facts, and the like (unknown for so many ages) not discov- 
 ered at last either by philosophy or reasoning, but by chance 
 and opportunity; and (as we have observed), they are of a 
 nature most heterogeneous, and remote from what was 
 hitherto known, so that no previous knowledge could lead 
 to them. 
 
 We may, therefore, well hope" that many excellent and 
 useful matters are yet treasured up in the bosom of nature, 
 bearing no relation or analogy to our actual discoveries, but 
 out of the common track of our imagination, and still undis- 
 covered, and which will doubtless be brought to light in the 
 course and lapse of years, as the others have been before 
 them ; but in the way we now point out, they may rapidly 
 and at once be both represented and anticipated. 
 
 ex. There are, moreover, some inventions which render 
 
 •• This hope has been abundantly realized in the discovery of gravity and 
 the decomposition of light, mainly by the inductive method. To a better phi- 
 losophy we may also attribute the discovery of electricity, galvanism and their 
 mutual connection with each other, and magnetism, the inventions of the air- 
 pump, steam-engine and the chronometer. 
 
NOVUM OBGANUM 87 
 
 it probable that men may pass and hurry over the most 
 noble discoveries which lie immediately before them. For 
 however the discovery of gunpowder, silk, the compass, 
 sugar, paper, or the like, may appear to depend on peculiar 
 properties of things and nature, printing at least involves 
 no contrivance which is not clear and almost obvious. But 
 from want of observing that although the arrangement of the 
 types of letters required more trouble than writing with the 
 hand, yet these types once arranged serve for innumerable 
 impressions, while manuscript only affords one copy; and 
 again, from want of observing that ink might be thickened so 
 as to stain without running (which was necessary, seeing the 
 letters face upward, and the impression is made from above), 
 this most beautiful invention (which assists so materially the 
 propagation of learning) remained unknown for so many 
 ages. 
 
 The buman mind is often eo awkward and ill-regulated 
 in the career of invention that it is at first diffident, and then 
 despises itself. For it appears at first incredible that any 
 such discovery should be made, and when it has been made, 
 it appears incredible that it should so long have escaped 
 men's research. All which affords good reason for the hope 
 that a vast mass of inventions yet remains, which may be 
 deduced not only from the investigation of new modes of 
 operation, but also from transferring, comparing, and apply- 
 ing these already known, by the method of what we have 
 termed literate experience. 
 
 CXI. Nor should we omit another ground of hope. Let 
 men only consider (if they will) their infinite expenditure of 
 talent, time, and fortune, in matters and studies of far in- 
 ferior importance and value; a small portion of which ap- 
 plied to sound and solid learning would be sufficient to over- 
 
88 NOVUM OBGANUM 
 
 come every difficulty. And we have thought right to add 
 this observation, because we candidly own that such a 
 collection of natural and experimental history as we have 
 traced in our own mind, and as is really necessary, is a 
 great and as it were royal work, requiring much labor 
 and expense. 
 
 CXII. In the meantime let no one be alarmed at the mul- 
 titude of particulars, but rather inclined to hope on that very 
 account. For the particular phenomena of the arts and na- 
 ture are in reality but as a handful, when compared with the 
 fictions of the imagination removed and separated from the 
 evidence of facts. The termination of our method is clear, 
 and I had almost said near at hand; the other admits of no 
 termination, but only of infinite confusion. For men have 
 hitherto dwelt but little, or rather only slightly touched 
 upon experience, while they have wasted much time on 
 theories and the fictions of the imagination. If we had but 
 any one who could actually answer our interrogations of 
 nature, the invention of all causes and sciences would be 
 the labor of but a few years. 
 
 CXIII. "We think some ground of hope is afforded by 
 our own example, which is not mentioned for the sake of 
 boasting, but as a useful remark. Let those who distrust 
 their own powers observe myself, one who have among my 
 contemporaries been the most engaged in public business, 
 who am not very strong in health (which causes a great loss 
 of time), and am the first explorer of this course, following 
 the guidance of none, nor even communicating my thoughts 
 to a single individual; yet having once firmly entered in the 
 right way, and submitting the powers of my mind to things, 
 I have somewhat advanced (as I make bold to think) the 
 matter 1 now treat of. Then let others consider what may 
 
NOVUM ORGANUM 89 
 
 be hoped from men who enjoy abundant leisure, from united 
 labors, and the succession of ages, after these suggestions on 
 our part, especially in a course which is not confined, like 
 theories, to individuals, but admits of the best distribution 
 and union of labor and effect, particularly in collecting ex- 
 periments. For men will then only begin to know their own 
 power, when each performs a separate part, instead of un- 
 dertaking in crowds the same work. 
 
 OXIV. Lastly, though a much more faint and uncertain 
 breeze of hope were to spring up from our new continent, 
 yet we consider it necessary to make the experiment, if we 
 would not show a dastard spirit. For the risk attending 
 want of success is not to be compared with that of neglect- 
 ing the attempt; the former is attended with the loss of a lit- 
 tle human labor, the latter with that of an immense benefit. 
 For these and other reasons it appears to us that there is 
 abundant ground to hope, and to induce not only those who 
 are sanguine to make experiment, but even those who are 
 cautious and sober to give their assent. 
 
 OXV. Such are the grounds for banishing despair, 
 hitherto one of the most powerful causes of the delay and 
 restraint to which the sciences have been subjected; in treat- 
 ing of which we have at the same time discussed the signs 
 and causes of the errors, idleness, and ignorance that have 
 prevailed; seeing especially that the more refined causes, 
 which are not open to popular judgment and observation, 
 may be referred to our remarks on the idols of the human 
 mind. 
 
 Here, too, we should close the demolishing branch of our 
 Instauration, which is comprised in three confutations: 1, 
 the confutation of natural human reason left to itself; 2, the 
 confutation of demonstration; 8, the confutation of theories, 
 
90 NOVUM OMANUM 
 
 or received systems of philosophy and doctrines. Our con- 
 futation has followed such a course as was open to it, 
 namely, the exposing of the signs of error, and the pro- 
 ducing evidence of the causes of it: for we could adopt no 
 other, differing as we do both in first principles and demon- 
 strations from others. 
 
 It is time for us therefore to come to the art itself, and 
 the rule for the interpretation of nature: there is, however, 
 still something which must not be passed over. For the in- 
 tent of this first book of aphorisms being to prepare the 
 mind for understanding, as well as admitting, what follows, 
 we must now, after having cleansed, polished, and levelled 
 its surface, place it in a good position, and as it were a 
 benevolent aspect toward our propositions; seeing that prej- 
 udice in new matters may be produced not only by the 
 strength of preconceived notions, but also by a false antici- 
 pation or expectation of the matter proposed. We shall 
 therefore endeavor to induce good and correct opinions of 
 what we offer, although this be only necessary for the mo- 
 ment, and as it were laid out at interest, until the matter 
 itself be well understood. 
 
 CXVI. First, then, we must desire men not to suppose 
 that we are ambitious of founding any philosophical sect, 
 like the ancient Greeks, or some moderns, as Telesius, Pa- 
 tricius, and Severinus." For neither is this our intention, 
 
 " As Bacon very frequently cites these authors, a slight notice of their 
 labors may not be unacceptable to the reader. Bernardinus Telesius born at 
 Cosenza, in 1508, combated the Aristotelian system in a work entitled "De 
 Kerum Natura juxta propria priucipia," i.e., according to principles of his own. 
 The proem of the work announces his design was to show that "the construc- 
 tion of the world, the magnitude and nature of the bodies contained in it are 
 not to be investigated by reasoning, which was done by the ancients but are to 
 be apprehended by the senses, and collected from the things themselves " He 
 
NOVUM OBQANUM ^l 
 
 nor do we ttiink that peculiar abstract opinions on nature 
 and the principles of things are of much importance to men's 
 fortunes, since it were easy to revive many ancient theories, 
 and to introduce many new ones; as, for instance, many 
 hypotheses with regard to the heavens can be formed, differ- 
 ing in themselves, and yet sufficiently according with the 
 phenomena. 
 
 "We bestow not our labor on such theoretical and, at the 
 same time, useless topics. On the contrary, our determina- 
 tion is that of trying, whether we can lay a firmer founda- 
 tion, and extend to a greater distance the boundaries of 
 human power and dignity. And although here and there, 
 upon some particular points, we hold (in our own opinion) 
 more true and certain, and I might even eay, more advan- 
 tageous tenets than those in general repute (which we have 
 collected in the fifth part of our Instauration), yet we oflfer 
 
 had, however, no sooner laid down this principle than he departed from it in 
 practice, and pursued the deductive method he so much condemned in his prede- 
 cessors. His first step was an assumption of principles as arbitrary as any of 
 the empirical notions of antiquity; at the outset of his book he very quietly 
 takes it for granted that heat is the principle of motion, cold of immobility, 
 matter being assumed as the corporeal substratum, in which these incorporeal 
 and active i^ents carry on their (^rations. Out of these abstract and Hi- 
 defined conceptions Telesius builds up a system quite as complete, symmetrical, 
 and imaginative as any of the structures of antiquity. 
 
 I'rancis Patricias, bom at Cherso, in Dalmatia, about 1529, was another 
 physicist who rose up against Aristotle, and announced the dawn of a new 
 philosophy. In 1593 appeared his "Nova de Universis Philosophia." He 
 lays down a string of axioms, in which scholastic notions, physical discover- 
 ies, and theological dogmas, are strangely commingled, and erects upon them 
 a system which represents all the grotesque features of theological empiricism. 
 
 Severinus, bom in Jutland, in 1529, published an attack on Aristotle's nat- 
 ural history, but adopted fantasies which the Stagyrite ridiculed in his own day. 
 He was a follower of Paracelsus, a Swiss enthusiast of the fifteenth century, 
 who ignored the ancient doctrine of the four elements for salt, sulphur and 
 mercury, and allied chemistry and medicine with mysticism. — Ed. 
 
92 NOVUM OBOAJSUM 
 
 no universal or complete theory. The time does not yet 
 appear to us to be arrived, and we entertain no hope of our 
 life being prolonged to the completion of the sixth part of 
 the Instauration (which is destined for philosophy discovered 
 by the interpretation of nature), but are content if we pro- 
 ceed quietly and usefully in our intermediate pursuit, scat- 
 tering, in the meantime, the seeds of less adulterated truth 
 for posterity, and, at least, commence the great work. 
 
 CXVII. And, as we pretend not to found a sect, so do 
 we neither offer nor promise particular effects; which may 
 occasion some to object to us, that since we so often speak 
 of effects, and consider everything in its relation to that end, 
 we ought also to give some earnest of producing them. Our 
 course and method, however (as we have often said, and 
 again repeat), is such as not to deduce effects from effects, 
 nor experiments from experiments (as the empirics do), but 
 in our capacity of legitimate interpreters of nature, to de- 
 duce causes and axioms from effects and experiments; and 
 new effects and experiments from those causes and axioms. 
 
 And although any one of moderate intelligence and abil- 
 ity will observe the indications and sketches of many noble 
 effects in our tables of inventions (which form the fourth 
 part of the Instauration), and also in the examples of par- 
 ticular instances cited in the second part, as well as in our 
 observations on history (which is the subject of the third 
 part) ; yet we candidly confess that our present natural his- 
 tory, whether compiled from books or our own inquiries, is 
 not sufficiently copious and well ascertained to satisfy, or 
 even assist, a proper interpretation. 
 
 If, therefore, there be any one who is more disposed and 
 prepared for mechanical art, and ingenious in discovering 
 effects, than in the mere management of experiment we 
 
WJVUWDBQANUM Vd 
 
 allow Mm to employ his industry in gathering many of the 
 fruits of our history and tables in this way, and applying 
 them to effects, receiving them as interest till he can obtain 
 the principal. For our own part, having a greater object in 
 view, we condemn all hasty and premature rest in such pur- 
 suits as we would Atalanta's apple (to use a common allu- 
 sion of ours) ; for we are not childishly ambitious of golden 
 fruit, but use all our efforts to make the course of art out- 
 strip nature, and we hasten not to reap moss or the green 
 blade, but wait for a ripe harvest. 
 
 CXVIII. There will be some, without doubt, who, on a 
 perusal of our history and tables of invention, will meet with 
 some uncertainty, or perhaps fallacy, in the experiments 
 themselves, and will thence perhaps imagine that our dis- 
 coveries are built on false foundations and principles. There 
 is, however, really nothing in this, since it must needs hap- 
 pen in beginnings." For it is the same as if in writing or 
 printing one or two letters were wrongly turned or mis- 
 placed, which is no great inconvenience to the reader, who 
 can easily by his own eye correct the error; let men in the 
 same way conclude, that many experiments in natural his- 
 tory may be erroneously believed and admitted, which are 
 easily expunged and rejected afterward, by the discovery of 
 causes and axioms. It is, however, true, that if these errors 
 in natural history and experiments become great, frequent, 
 and continued, they cannot be corrected and amended by 
 
 '' Bacon's apology ia sound, and completely answers those German and 
 French critics, who have refused him a niche in the philosophical pantheon. 
 One German commentator, too modest to reveal his name, accuses Bacon of 
 ignorance of the calculus, though, in his day, Wallis had not yet stumbled upon 
 the laws of continuous fractions; while Count de Maistre, in a coarse attack 
 upon his genius, expresses his astonishment at finding Bacon unacquainted 
 with discoveries which were not heard of till a century after his death. — Ed. 
 
94 NOVUM VKUAJSUM 
 
 any dexterity of wit or art. If then, even in our natural 
 history, well examined and compiled with such diligence, 
 strictness, and (1 might say) reverential scruples, there be 
 now and then something false and erroneous in the details, 
 what must we say of the common natural history, which is 
 so negligent and careless when compared with ours ? or of 
 systems of philosophy and the sciences, based on such loose 
 soil (or rather quicksand) ? Let none then be alarmed by 
 such observations. 
 
 CXIX. Again, our history and experiments will contain 
 much that is light and common, mean and illiberal, too 
 refined and merely speculative, and, as it were, of no use, 
 and this perhaps may divert and alienate the attention of 
 mankind. 
 
 With regard to what is common; let men reflect, that 
 they have hitherto been used to do nothing but refer and 
 adapt the causes of things of rare occurrence to those of 
 things which more frequently happen, without any investi- 
 gation of the causes of the latter, taking them for granted 
 and admitted. 
 
 Hence, they do not inquire into the causes of gravity, 
 the rotation of the heavenly bodies, heat, cold, light, hard- 
 ness, softness, rarity, density, liquidity, solidity, animation, 
 inanimation, similitude, difference, organic formation, but 
 taking them to be self-evident, manifest, and admitted, they 
 dispute and decide upon other matters of less frequent and 
 familiar occurrence. 
 
 But we (who know that no judgment can be formed of 
 that which is rare or remarkable, and much less anything 
 new brought to light, without a previous regular examina- 
 tion and discovery of the causes of that which is common 
 and the causes again of those causes) are necessarily com- 
 
WVUM OBQANUM 95 
 
 pelled to admit the most common objects into our Mstory. 
 Besides, we have observed that nothing has been so injuri- 
 ous to philosophy as this circumstance, namely, that famil- 
 iar and frequent objects do not arrest and detain men's con- 
 templation, but are carelessly admitted, and their causes 
 never inquired after; so that information on unknown sub- 
 jects is not more often wanted than attention to those which 
 are known. 
 
 CXX. With regard to the meanness, or even the filthi- 
 ness of particulars, for which (as Pliny observes), an apology 
 is requisite, such subjects are no less worthy of admission 
 into natural history than the most magnificent and costly; 
 nor do they at all pollute natural history, for the sun enters 
 alike the palace and the privy, and is not thereby polluted. 
 We neither dedicate nor raise a capitol or pyramid to the 
 pride of man, but rear a holy temple in his mind, on the 
 model of the universe, which model therefore we imitate. 
 For that which is deserving of existence is deserving of 
 knowledge, the image of existence. Now the mean and 
 splendid alike exist. Nay, as the finest odors are some- 
 times produced from putrid matter (such as musk and 
 civet), so does valuable light and information emanate from 
 mean and sordid instances. But we have already said too 
 much, for such fastidious feelings are childish and effemi- 
 nate. 
 
 CXXI. The next point requires a more accurate consid- 
 eration, namely, that many parts of our history will appear 
 to the vulgar, or even any mind accustomed to the present 
 state of things, fantastically and uselessly refined. Hence, 
 we have in regard to this matter said from the first, and must 
 again repeat, that we look for experiments that shall afford 
 light rather than profit, imitating the divine creation, which, 
 
86 N OVUM^'OmiraBff^ 
 
 as we have often observed, only produced light on the first 
 day, and assigned that whole day to its creation, without 
 adding any material work. 
 
 If any one, then, imagine such matters to be of no use, 
 he might equally suppose light to be of no use, because it 
 is neither solid nor material. For, in fact, the knowledge 
 of simple natures, when sufficiently investigated and de- 
 fined, resembles light, which, though of no great use in 
 itself, affords access to the general mysteries of effects, and 
 with a peculiar power comprehends and draws with it whole 
 bands and troops of effects, and the sources of the most val- 
 uable axioms. So also the elements of letters have of them- 
 selves separately no meaning, and are of no use, yet are they, 
 as it were, the original matter in the composition and prepa- 
 ration of speech. The seeds of substances, whose effect is 
 powerful, are of no use except in their growth, and the scat- 
 tered rays of light itself avail not unless collected. 
 
 But if speculative subtilties give offence, what must we 
 say of the scholastic philosophers who indulged in them to 
 such excess ? And those subtilties were wasted on words, 
 or, at least, common notions (which is the same thing), not 
 on things or nature, and alike unproductive of benefit in 
 their origin and their consequences: in no way resembling 
 ours, which are at present useless, but in their consequences 
 of infinite benefit. Let men be assured that all subtile dis- 
 putes and discursive efforts of the mind are late and prepos- 
 terous, when they are introduced subsequently to the dis- 
 covery of axioms, and that their true, or, at any rate, chief 
 opportunity is, when experiment is to be weighed and axioms 
 to be derived from it. They otherwise catch and grasp at 
 nature, but never seize or detain her: and we may well 
 apply to nature that which has been said of opportunity 
 
^WTVM^ OBQANUM 97 
 
 or fortune, that she wears a lock in front, but is bald 
 behind. 
 
 In short, we may reply decisively to those who despise 
 any part of natural history as being vulgar, mean, or sub- 
 tile, and useless in its origin, in the words of a poor woman 
 to a haughty prince," who had rejected her petition as un- 
 worthy, and beneath the dignity of his majesty: "Then 
 cease to reign"; for it is quite certain that the empire of 
 nature can neither be obtained nor administered by one who 
 refuses to pay attention to such matters as being poor and 
 too minute. 
 
 CXXII. Again, it may. be objected to us as being singu- 
 lar and harsh, that we should with one stroke and assault, 
 as it were, banish all authorities and sciences, and that too 
 by our own efforts, without requiring the assistance and 
 support of any of the ancients. 
 
 Now we are aware, that had we been ready to act other- 
 wise than sincerely, it was not difficult to refer our present 
 method to remote ages, prior to those of the Greeks (since 
 the sciences in all probability flourished more in their nat- 
 ural state, though silently, than when they were paraded 
 with the fifes and trumpets of the Greeks); or even (in 
 parts, at least) to some of the Greeks themselves, and to 
 derive authority and honor from thence ; as men of no family 
 labor to raise and form nobility for themselves in some an- 
 cient line, by the help of genealogies. Trusting, however, 
 to the evidence of facts, we reject every kind of fiction and 
 imposture; and think it of no more consequence to our sub- 
 ject, whether future discoveries were known to the ancients, 
 and set or rose according to the vicissitudes of events and 
 
 •* PhUip of Macedon. 
 
S» NOVUM' 
 
 lapse of ages, than it would be of importance to mankind 
 to know whether the new world be the island of Atlantis," 
 and known to the ancients, or be now discovered for the 
 first time. 
 
 With regard to the universal censure we have bestowed, 
 it is quite clear, to any one who properly considers the 
 matter, that it is both more probable and more modest than 
 any partial one could have been. For if the errors had not 
 been rooted in the primary notions, some well conducted 
 discoveries must have corrected others that were deficient. 
 But since the errors were fundamental, and of such a nature, 
 that men may be said rather to have neglected or passed 
 over things, than to have formed a wrong or false judgment 
 of them, it is little to be wondered at, that they did not ob- 
 tain what they never aimed at, nor arrive at a goal which 
 they had not determined, nor perform a course which they 
 had neither entered upon nor adhered to. 
 
 With regard to our presumption, we allow that if we were 
 to assume a power of drawing a more perfect straight line 
 or circle than any one else, by superior steadiness of hand 
 or acuteness of eye, it would lead to a comparison of talent; 
 but if one merely assert that he can draw a more perfect line 
 or circle with a ruler or compasses, than another can by his 
 unassisted hand or eye, he surely cannot be said to boast 
 of much. Now this applies not only to our first original 
 attempt, but also to those who shaU hereafter apply them- 
 selves to the pursuit. For our method of discovering the 
 sciences merely levels men's wits, and leaves but little to 
 their superiority, since it achieves everything by the most 
 certain rules and demonstrations. Whence (as"" we have 
 
 •» See Plato's Timseus. 
 
JWJTTW OROANUM 99 
 
 often observed), our attempt is to be attributed to fortune 
 rather than talent, and is the offspring of time rather than 
 of wit. For a certain sort of chance has no less effect upon 
 our thoughts than on our acts and deeds. 
 
 CXXIII. We may, therefore, apply to ourselves the 
 joke of him who said, that water and wine drinkers could 
 not think alike," especially as it hits the matter so well. 
 For others, both ancients and moderns, have in the sciences 
 drank a crude liquor like water, either flowing of itself 
 from the understanding, or drawn up by logic as the wheel 
 draws up the bucket. But we drink and pledge others with 
 a liquor made of many well-ripened grapes, collected and 
 plucked from particular branches, squeezed in the press, 
 and at last clarified and fermented in a vessel. It is not, 
 therefore, wonderful that we should not agree with others. 
 
 CXXIV. Another objection will without doubt be made, 
 namely, that we have not ourselves established a correct, or 
 the best goal or aim of the sciences (the very defect we 
 blame in others). For they will say that the contemplation 
 of truth is more dignified and exalted than any utility or 
 extent of effects; but that our dwelling so long and anx- 
 iously on experience and matter, and the fluctuating state 
 of particulars, fastens the mind to earth, or rather casts it 
 down into an abyss of confusion and disturbance, and sep- 
 arates and removes it from a much more divine state, the 
 quiet and tranquillity of abstract wisdom. We willingly 
 assent to their reasoning, and are most anxious to effect the 
 very point they hint at and require. For we are founding 
 a real model of the world in the understanding, such as it 
 is found to be, not such as man's reason has distorted. 
 
 " The saying of Philocrates when he difiered from Demosthenes. — Ed. 
 
 ■ Science— Vol. 33 —6 
 
100 Noruj^-w miWGW 
 
 Now this cannot be done without dissecting and anatomiz- 
 ing the world most diligently; but -we declare it necessary 
 to destroy completely the vain, little and, as it were, apish 
 imitations of the world, which have been formed in various 
 systems of philosophy by men's fancies. Let men learn 
 (as we have said above) the difference that exists between 
 the idols of the human mind and the ideas of the divine 
 mind. The former are mere arbitrary abstractions; the 
 latter the true marks of the Creator on his creatures, as 
 they are imprinted on, and defined in matter, by true and 
 exquisite touches. Truth, therefore, and utility, are here 
 perfectly identical, and the effects are of more value as 
 pledges of truth than from the benefit they confer on 
 men. 
 
 CXXV. Others may object that we are only doing that 
 which has already been done, and that the ancients followed 
 the same course as ourselves. They may imagine, there- 
 fore, that, after all this stir and exertion, we shall at last 
 arrive at some of those systems that prevailed among the 
 ancients: for that they, too, when commencing their nuedi- 
 tations, laid up a great store of instances and particulars, 
 and digested them under topics and titles in their common- 
 place books, and so worked out their systems and arts, and 
 then decided upon what they discovered, and related now 
 and then some examples to confirm and throw light upon 
 their doctrine; but thought it superfluous and troublesome 
 to publish their notes, minutes, and commonplaces, and 
 therefore followed the example of builders who remove 
 the scaffolding and ladders when the building is finished. 
 Nor can we indeed believe the case to have been otherwise. 
 But to any one, not entirely forgetful of our previous obser- 
 vations, it will be easy to answer this objection or rather 
 
WVUM OBOANUM 101 
 
 scrapie; for we allow that the ancients had a particular 
 form of investigation and discovery, and their writings show 
 it. But it was of such a nature, that they immediately flew 
 from a few instances and particulars (after adding some 
 common notions, and a few generally received opinions 
 most in vogue) to the most general conclusions or the prin- 
 ciples of the sciences, and then by their intermediate propo- 
 sitions deduced their inferior conclusions, and tried them 
 by the test of the immovable and settled truth of the first, 
 and so constructed their art. Lastly, if some new particu- 
 lars and instances were brought forward, which contradicted 
 their dogmas, they either with great subtilty reduced them 
 to one system, by distinctions or explanations of their own 
 rules, or got rid of them clumsily as exceptions, laboring 
 most pertinaciously in the meantime to accommodate the 
 causes of such as were not contradictory to their own prin- 
 ciples. Their natural history and their experience were 
 both far from being what they ought to have been, and 
 their flying off to generalities ruined everything. 
 
 OXXVl. Another objection will be made- against us, 
 that we prohibit decisions and the laying down of certain 
 principles, till we arrive regularly at generalities by the 
 intermediate steps, and thus keep the judgment in suspense 
 and lead to uncertainty. But our object is not uncertainty 
 but fltting certainty, for we derogate not from the senses 
 but assist them, and despise not the understanding but 
 direct it. It is better to know what is necessary, and not 
 to imagine we are fully in possession of it, than to imagine 
 that we are fully in possession of it, and yet in reality to 
 know nothing which we ought. 
 
 CXXVII. Again, some may raise this question rather 
 than objection, whether we talk of perfecting natural phi- 
 
102 NOVUM 'OeL^'M^IS'M 
 
 losophy alone according to our method, or the other sciences 
 also, such as logic, ethics, politics. We certainly intend to 
 comprehend them all. And as common logic, which regu- 
 lates matters by syllogisms, is applied not only to natural, 
 but also to every other science, so our inductive method 
 likewise comprehends them all." For we form a history 
 and tables of invention for anger, fear, shame, and the 
 like, and also for examples in civil life, and the mental 
 operations of memory, composition, division, judgment, and 
 the rest, as well as for heat and cold, light, vegetation, 
 and the like. But since our method of interpretation, after 
 preparing and arranging a history, does not content itself 
 with examining the operations and disquisitions of the mind 
 like common logic, but also inspects the nature of things, 
 we so regulate the mind that it may be enabled to apply 
 itself in every respect correctly to that nature. On that 
 account we deliver numerous and various precepts in our 
 doctrine of interpretation, so that they may apply in some 
 
 " The old error of placing the deductive syllogism in antagonism to the 
 inductive, as if they were not both parts of one system or refused to cohere 
 together. So far from there being any radical opposition between them, it 
 would not be difScult to show that Bacon's method was syllogistic in his sense 
 of the term. For the suppressed premise of every Baconian dnthymeme, viz., 
 the acknowledged uniformity of the laws of nature as stated in the axiom, 
 whatever has once occurred will occur again, must be assumed as the basis 
 of every conclusion which he draws before we can admit its legitimacy. The 
 opposition, therefore, of Bacon's method could not be directed against the old 
 logic, for it assumed and exemplified its principles, but rather to the abusive 
 application which the ancients made of this science, in turning its powers to 
 the development of abstract principles which they imagined to be pregnant 
 with the solution of the latent mysteries of the universe. Bacon justly over- 
 threw these ideal notions, and accepted of no principle as a basis which was 
 not guaranteed by actual experiment and observation ; and so far he laid the 
 foundations of a sound philosophy by turning the inductive logic to its proper 
 account in the interpretation of nature. 
 
WV}k OROANUM 103 
 
 measure to the method of discovering the quality and con- 
 dition of the subject matter of investigation. 
 
 CXXYIII. Let none even doubt whether we are anxious 
 to destroy and demolish the philosophy, arts, and sciences, 
 which are now in use. On the contrary, we readily cherish 
 their practice, cultivation, and honor; for we by no means 
 interfere to prevent the prevalent system from encouraging 
 discussion, adorning discourses, or being employed service- 
 ably in the chair of the professor or the practice of common 
 life, and being taken, in short, by general consent as cur- 
 rent coin. Nay, we plainly declare, that the system we 
 offer will not be very suitable for such purposes, not being 
 easily adapted to vulgar apprehensions, except by effects 
 and works. To show our sincerity in professing our regard 
 and friendly disposition toward the received sciences, we 
 can refer to the evidence of our published writings (espe- 
 cially our books on the Advancement of Learning). We 
 will not, therefore, endeavor to evince it any further by 
 words; but content ourselves with steadily and professedly 
 premising, that no great progress can be made by the 
 present methods in the theory or contemplation of science, 
 and that they cannot be made to produce any very abun- 
 dant effects. 
 
 CXXIX. It remains for us to say a few words on the 
 excellence of our proposed end. If we had done so before, 
 we might have appeared merely to express our wishes, but 
 now that we have excited hope and removed prejudices, it 
 will perhaps have greater weight. Had we performed and 
 completely accomplished the whole, without frequently 
 calling in others to assist in our labors, we should then 
 have refrained from saying any more, lest we should be 
 thought to extol our own deserts. Since, however, the 
 
104 wvuM^ mtmiWM 
 
 industry of others must be quickened, and their courage 
 roused and inflamed, it is right to recall some points to 
 their memory. 
 
 First, then, the introduction of great inventions appears 
 one of the most distinguished of human actions, and the 
 ancients so considered it; for they assigned divine honors 
 to the authors of inventions, but only heroic honors to those 
 who displayed civil merit (such as the founders of cities 
 and empire legislators, the deliverers of their country 
 from lasting misfortunes, the quellers of tyrants, and the 
 like). And if any one rightly compare them, he will find 
 the judgment of antiquity to be correct; for the benefits 
 derived from inventions may extend to mankind in general, 
 but civil benefits to particular spots alone; the latter, more- 
 over, last but for a time, the former forever. Civil reforma- 
 tion seldom is carried on without violence and confusion, 
 while inventions are a blessing and a benefit without 
 injuring or afflicting any. 
 
 Inventions are also, as it were, new creations and imita- 
 tions of divine works, as was expressed by the poet:" 
 
 "Primum frugiferoa fcetua mortalibus segria 
 Dididerant quondam prsestanti nomine Athense 
 Et recreaverunt vitam legesque rogarunt." 
 
 And it is worthy of remark in Solomon, that while he 
 flourished in the possession of his empire, in wealth, in the 
 
 «8 Thia is the opening of the Sixth Book of Lucretiua. Bacon probably 
 quoted from memory; the linea are — 
 
 "PrimsB frugiferos foetua mortalibus segris 
 Dldiderunt quondam prseolaro nomine Athense 
 Et recreaverunt," etc. 
 
 The teeming corn, that feeble mortala crave, 
 
 FJrat, and long aince, renowned Athens gave. 
 
 And cheered their life — then taught to frame their laws. 
 
TOTOtf ORGANUM 105 
 
 magnificence of his works, in his court, his household, his 
 fleet, the splendor of his name, and the most unbounded 
 admiration of mankind, he still placed his glory in none of 
 these, but declared °' that it is the glory of God to conceal 
 a thing, but the glory of a king to search it out. 
 
 Again, let any one but consider the immense difference 
 between men's lives in the most polished countries of Eu- 
 rope, and in any wild and barbarous region of the new 
 Indies, he will think it so great, that man may be said to 
 be a god unto man, not only on account of mutual aid and 
 benefits, but from their comparative states — the result of 
 the arts, and not of the soil or climate. 
 
 Again, we should notice the force, effect, and conse- 
 quences of inventions, which are nowhere more conspicu- 
 ous than in those three which were unknown to the ancients ; 
 namely, printing, gunpowder, and the compass. For these 
 three have changed the appearance and state of the whole 
 world: first in literature, then in warfare, and lastly in 
 navigation; and innumerable changes have been thence 
 derived, so that no empire, sect, or star, appears to have 
 exercised a greater power and influence on human affairs 
 than these mechanical discoveries. 
 
 It will, perhaps, be as well to distinguish three species 
 and degrees of ambition. First, that of men who are anx- 
 ious to enlarge their own power in their country, which is 
 a vulgar and degenerate kind ; next, that of men who strive 
 to enlarge the power and empire of their country over man- 
 kind, which is more dignified but not less covetous; but if 
 one were to endeavor to renew and enlarge the power and 
 empire of mankind in general over the universe, such ambi- 
 
 " Prov. XXV. il 
 
106 NOVUM 'Um'ABIbM 
 
 tion (if it may be so termed) is both more sound and more 
 noble than the other two. Now the empire of man over 
 things is founded on the arts and sciences alone, for nature 
 is only to be commanded by obeying her. 
 
 Besides this, if the benefit of any particular invention has 
 had such an eflEect as to induce men to consider him greater 
 than a man, who has thus obliged the whole race, how 
 much more exalted will that discovery be, which leads to 
 the easy discovery of everything else ! Yet (to speak the 
 truth) in the same manner as we are very thankful for light 
 which enables us to enter on our way, to practice arts, to 
 read, to distinguish each other, and yet sight is more excel- 
 lent and beautiful than the various uses of light; so is the 
 contemplation of things as they are, free from superstition 
 or imposture, error or confusion, much more dignified in 
 itself than all the advantage to be derived from discoveries. 
 
 Lastly, let none be alarmed at the objection of the arts 
 and sciences becoming depraved to malevolent or luxurious 
 purposes and the like, for the same can be said of every 
 worldly good; talent, courage, strength, beauty, riches, 
 light itself, and the rest. Only let mankind regain their 
 rights over nature, assigned to them by the gift of God, 
 and obtain that power, whose exercise will be governed by 
 right reason and true religion. 
 
 CXXX. But it is time for us to lay down the art of 
 interpreting nature, to which we attribute no absolute ne- 
 cessity (as if nothing could be done without it) nor perfec- 
 tion, although we think that our precepts are most useful 
 and correct. For we are of opinion, that if men had at 
 their command a proper history of nature and experience, 
 and would apply themselves steadily to it, and could 
 bind themselves to two things: 1, to lay aside received 
 
NOVUM OROANUM 107 
 
 opinions and notions; 2, to restrain tliemselves, till the 
 proper season, from generalization, they might, by the 
 proper and genuine exertion of their minds, fall into our 
 way of interpretation without the aid of any art. For in- 
 terpretation is the true and natural act of the mind, when 
 all obstacles are removed: certainly, however, everything 
 will be more ready and better fixed by our precepts. 
 
 Yet do we not affirm that no addition can be made to 
 them; on the contrary, considering the mind in its connec- 
 tion with things, and not merely relatively to its own 
 powers, we ought to be persuaded that the art of inven- 
 tion can be made to grow with the inventions themselves. 
 
APHORISMS— BOOK II 
 
 ON THE INTERPRETATION OF NATURE, OR THE 
 REIGN OF MAN 
 
 I. To GENERATE and superinduce a new nature or new 
 natures, upon a given body, is the labor and aim of human 
 power: while to discover the form or true difference of a 
 given nature, or the nature' to which such nature is owing, 
 or source from which it emanates (for these terms approach 
 nearest to an explanation of our meaning), is the labor and 
 discovery of human knowledge; and subordinate to these 
 primary labors are two others of a secondary nature and 
 inferior stamp. Under the first must be ranked the trans- 
 formation of concrete bodies from one to another, which is 
 possible within certain limits; under the second, the dis- 
 covery, in every species of generation and motion, of the 
 latent and uninterrupted process from the manifest efficient 
 and manifest subject matter up to the given form: and a 
 like discovery of the latent conformation of bodies which 
 are at rest instead of being in motion. ^ 
 
 II. The unhappy state of man's actual knowledge is 
 manifested even by the common assertions of the vulgar. 
 It is rightly laid down that true knowledge is that which 
 is deduced from causes. The division of four causes also 
 is not amiss: matter, form, the efficient, and end or final 
 
 1 T!> Ti ?» tlvu, or 1" oitla of Aristotle.— See lib. iii. Metap 
 (108) 
 
WJWk OBOANUM 109 
 
 cause.' Of these, however, the latter is so far from being 
 beneficial, that it even corrupts the sciences, except in the 
 intercourse of man with man. The discovery of form is 
 considered desperate. As for the efficient cause and matter 
 (according to the present system of inquiry and the received 
 opinions concerning them, by which they are placed remote 
 from, and without any latent process toward form), they are 
 but desultory and superficial, and of scarcely any avail to 
 real and active knowledge. Nor are we unmindful of our 
 having pointed out and corrected above the error of the 
 human mind, in assigning the first qualities of essence to 
 forms.' For although nothing exists in nature except indi- 
 vidual bodies,' exhibiting clear individual effects according 
 to particular laws, yet in each branch of learning, that very 
 law, its investigation, discovery, and development, are the 
 foundation both of theory and practice. This law, therefore, 
 and its parallel in each science, is what we understand by 
 the term form,' adopting that word because it has grown 
 into common use, and is of familiar occurrence. 
 
 ' These divisions are from Aristotle's Metaphysics, where they are termed, 
 
 1, vKil ri rh iiwoKeiiievov. 2, ^b Tt ^v elvat, 3. o6ev i] apxyj T^s Kil^aeft)9' 4. Tb o6 eveKev 
 — «u TO ayaBov. 
 
 ° See Aphorism li. and second paragraph oi Aphorism Ixv. in the first book. 
 
 " Bacon means, that although there exist in nature only individualities, yet 
 a certain number of these may have common properties, and be controlled by 
 the same laws. Now, these homogeneous qualities which distinguish them 
 from other individuals, lead us to class them under one expression, and some- 
 times under a single term. Tet these classes are only pure conceptions in 
 Bacon's opinion, and cannot be taken for distinct substances. He evidently 
 here aims a blow at the Eealists, who concluded that the essence which united 
 individualities in a class was the only real and immutable existence in nature, 
 inasmuch as it entered into their ideas of individual substances as a distinct and 
 essential property, and continued in the mind as the mold, type or pattern of 
 the class, while its individual forms were undergoing perpetual renovation and 
 decay. — Ed, 
 
 '• Bacon's definition is obscure. All the idea we have of a law of nature 
 
110 NOVUM "JftlHffiDJOT 
 
 III. He who has learned the cause of a particular nature 
 (such as whiteness or heat), in particular subjects only, has 
 acquired but an imperfect knowledge: as he who can induce 
 a certain efEect upon particular substances only, among those 
 which are susceptible of it, has acquired but an imperfect 
 power. But he who has only learned the efficient and 
 material cause (which causes are variable and mere vehicles 
 
 consists in invariable sequence betvsreen certain classes of phenomena; but thia 
 cannot be the complete sense attached by Bacon to the term form, as he em- 
 ploys it in the fourth aphorism as convertible with the nature of any object; 
 and again, in the first aphorism, as the naivra natwrans, or general law or con- 
 dition in any substance or quality — natura naturata — which is whatever ita 
 form is, or that particular combination of forces which impresses a certain 
 nature upon matter subject to its influence. Thus, in the Newtonian sense, 
 the form of whiteness would be that combination of the seven primitive rays 
 of light which give rise to that color. In combination with thia word, and 
 afCording a still further insight into its meaning, we have the phrases, latens 
 processus ad formam, et latens schematismus corporum. Now, the laiens sche- 
 maiismus signifies the internal texture, structure, or configuration of bodies, or 
 the result of the respective situation of all the parts of a body ; while the latena 
 processus ad formam points out the gradation of movements which takes place 
 among the molecula of bodies when they either conserve or change their figure. 
 Hence we may consider the form of any quality in body as something converti- 
 ble with that quality, i.e., when it exists the quaUty is present, and tiice versd. 
 In this sense, the form of a thing differs only from its efficient cause in being 
 permanent, whereas we apply cause to that which exists in order of time. The 
 latens processus and latens schematismus are subordinate to form, as concrete 
 exemphflcations of its essence. The former is the secret and invisible process 
 by which change is effected, and involves the principle since called the law of 
 continuity. Thus, the succession of events between the application of the 
 match to the expulsion of the bullet is an instance of latent progress which we 
 can now trace with some degree of accuracy. It also more directly refers to 
 the operation by which one form or condition of being is induced upon another. 
 For example, when the surface of iron becomes rusty, or when water is con- 
 verted into steam, some change has taken place, or latent process from one 
 form to another. Mechanics afford many exemplifications of the first latent 
 process we have denoted, and chemistry of the second. The latens schematis- 
 mus is that visible structure of bodies on which so many of their properties 
 depend. When we inquire into the constitution of crystals, and into the inter- 
 nal structure of plants, we are examming into their latent schematism.— i?(i. 
 
" WVUM OBGANVM 111 
 
 conveying fonn to particular substances) may perhaps arrive 
 at some new discoveries in matters of a similar nature, and 
 prepared for the purpose, but does not stir the limits of 
 things which are much more deeply rooted; while he who 
 is acquainted with forms, comprehends the unity of nature 
 in substances apparently most distinct from each other. He 
 can disclose and bring forward, therefore (though it has 
 never yet been done), things which neither the vicissitudes 
 of nature, nor the industry of experiment, nor chance itself, 
 would ever have brought about, and which would forever 
 have escaped man's thoughts; from the discovery of forms, 
 therefore, results genuine theory and free practice. 
 
 IV. Although there is a most intimate connection, and 
 almost an identity between the ways of human power 
 and human knowledge, yet, on account of the pernicious 
 and inveterate habit of dwelling upon abstractions, it is 
 by far the safest method to commence and buUd up the 
 sciences from those foundations which bear a relation to 
 the practical division, and to let them mark out and limit 
 the theoretical. We must consider, therefore, what pre- 
 cepts, or what direction or guide, a person would most 
 desire, in order to generate and superinduce any nature 
 upon a given body: and this not in abstruse, but in the 
 plainest language. 
 
 For instance, if a person should wish to Superinduce the 
 yellow color of gold upon silver, or an additional weight 
 (observing always the laws of matter) or transparency on an 
 opaque stone, or tenacity in glass, or vegetation on a sub- 
 stance which is not vegetable, we must (I say) consider what 
 species of precept or guide this person would prefer. And, 
 first, he will doubtless be anxious to be shown some method 
 that will neither fail in effect, nor deceive him in the trial of 
 
112 NOVu:^~ oMmm i ^ 
 
 it; secondly, he will be anxious that the prescribed method 
 should not restrict him and tie him down to peculiar means, 
 and certain particular methods of acting; for he will, per- 
 haps, be at loss, and without the power or opportunity of 
 collecting and procuring such means. Now if there be other 
 means and methods (besides those prescribed) of creating 
 such a nature, they will perhaps be of such a kind as are in 
 his power, yet by the confined limits of the precept he will 
 be deprived of reaping any advantage from them; thirdly, 
 he will be anxious to be shown something not so di£&cult 
 as the required effect itself, but approaching more nearly to 
 practice. 
 
 We will lay this down, therefore, as the genuine and per- 
 fect rule of practice, that it should be certain, free and pre- 
 paratory, or having relation to practice. And this is the 
 same thing as the discovery of a true form; for the form of 
 any nature is such, that when it is assigned the particular 
 nature infallibly follows. It is, therefore, always present 
 when that nature is present, and universally attests such 
 presence, and is inherent in the whole of it. The same 
 form is of such a character, that if it be removed the par- 
 ticular nature infallibly vanishes. It is, therefore, absent, 
 whenever that nature is absent, and perpetually testifies such 
 absence, and exists in no other nature. Lastly, the true 
 form is such, that it deduces the particular nature from some 
 source of essence existing in many subjects, and more known 
 (as they term it) to nature, than the form itself. Such, then, 
 is our determination and rule with regard to a genuine and 
 perfect theoretical axiom, that a nature be found convertible 
 with a given nature, and yet such as to limit the more 
 known nature, in the manner of a real genus. But these 
 two rules, the practical and theoretical, are in fact the 
 
ViOVVM OBOANUM 118 
 
 same, and that which is most useful in practice is most 
 correct in theory. 
 
 V. But the rule or axiom for the transformation of bodies 
 is of two kinds. The first regards the body as an aggregate 
 or combination of simple natures. Thus, in gold are united 
 the following circumstances: it is yellow, heavy, of a cer- 
 tain weight, malleable and ductile to a certain extent; it is 
 not volatile, loses part of its substance by fire, melts in a 
 particular manner, is separated and dissolved by particular 
 methods, and so of the other natures observable in gold. 
 An axiom, therefore, of this kind deduces the subject from 
 the forms of simple natures ; for he who has acquired the 
 forms and methods of superinducing yellowness, weight, 
 ductility, stability, deliquescence, solution, and the like, 
 and their degrees and modes, will consider and contrive how 
 to unite them in any body, so as to transform' it into gold. 
 And this method of operating belongs to primary action ; for 
 it is the same thing to produce one or many simple natures, 
 except that man is more confined and restricted in his opera- 
 tions, if many be required, on account of the difficulty of 
 uniting many natures together. It must, however, be ob- 
 served, that this method of operating (which considers na- 
 tures as simple though in a concrete body) sets out from 
 what is constant, eternal, and universal in nature, and opens 
 such broad paths to human power, as the thoughts of man 
 can in the present state of things scarcely comprehend or 
 figure to itself. 
 
 The second kind of axiom (which depends on the dis- 
 covery of the latent process) does not proceed by simple na- 
 
 ' By the recent discoveries in electric magnetism, copper wires, or, indeed, 
 wires of any metal, may be transformed into magnets; the magnetic law, or 
 form, having been to that extent discovered. 
 
114 NOVUM OMIMNDM 
 
 tures, but by concrete bodies, as they are found in nature 
 and in its usual course. For instance, suppose the inquiry 
 to be, from what beginnings, in what manner, and by what 
 process gold or any metal or stone is generated from the 
 original menstruum, or its elements, up to the perfect min- 
 eral: or, in like manner, by what process plants are gener- 
 ated, from the first concretion of juices in the earth, or from 
 seeds, up to the perfect plant, with the whole successive 
 motion, and varied and uninterrupted efEorts of nature; and 
 the same inquiry be made as to a regularly deduced system 
 of the generation of animals from coition to birth, and so on 
 of other bodies. 
 
 Nor is this species of inquiry confined to the mere gen- 
 eration of bodies, but it is applicable to other changes and 
 labors of nature. For instance, where an inquiry is made 
 into the whole series and continued operation of the nutri» 
 tive process, from the first reception of the food to its com- 
 plete assimilation to the recipient;' or into the voluntary 
 motion of animals, from the first impression of the imagina- 
 tion, and the continuous efliects of the spirits, up to the 
 bending and motion of the joints; or into the free motion of 
 the tongue and lips, and other accessories which give utter- 
 ance to articulate sounds. For all these investigations relate 
 to concrete or associated natures artificially brought together, 
 and take into consideration certain particular and special 
 habits of nature, and not those fundamental and general 
 laws which constitute forms. It must, however, be plainly 
 owned, that this method appears more prompt and easy, and 
 of greater promise than the primary one. 
 
 ' Haller has pursued this investigation in his "Physiology," and has left 
 his successors little else to do than repeat his discoveries. — Ed. 
 
MVUM OBOANUM 115 
 
 In like naanner the operative branch, which answers to 
 this contemplative branch, extends and advances its opera- 
 tion from that which is usually observed in nature, to other 
 subjects immediately connected with it, or not very remote 
 from such immediate connection. But the higher and radi- 
 cal operations upon nature depend entirely on the primary 
 axioms. Besides, even where man has not the means of 
 acting, but only of acquiring knowledge, as in astronomy 
 (for man cannot act upon, change, or transform the heavenly 
 bodies), the investigation of facts or truth, as well as the 
 knowledge of causes and coincidences, must be referred to 
 those primary and universal axioms that regard simple na- 
 tures ; such as the nature of spontaneous rotation, attraction, 
 or the magnetic force, and many others which are more com- 
 mon than the heavenly bodies themselves. For let no one 
 hope to determine the question whether the earth or heaven 
 revolve in the diurnal motion, unless he have first compre- 
 hended the nature of spontaneous rotation. 
 
 VI. But the latent process of which we speak, is far 
 from being obvious to men's minds, beset as they now are. 
 For we mean not the measures, symptoms, or degrees of any 
 process which can be exhibited in the bodies themselves, 
 but simply a continued process, which, for the most part, 
 escapes the' observation of the senses. 
 
 For instance, in all generations and transformations of 
 bodies, we must inquire, what is in the act of being lost and 
 escaping, what remains, what is being added, what is being 
 diluted, what is being contracted, what is being united, what 
 is being separated, what is continuous, what is broken off, 
 what is urging forward, what impedes, what predominates, 
 what is subservient, and nmny other circumstances. 
 
 Nor are these inquiries again to be made in the mere 
 
116 Novunr^ mm'Arump 
 
 generation and transformation of bodies only, but in all 
 otter alterations and fluctuations we must in like manner 
 inquire; wbat precedes, what succeeds, what is quick, what 
 is slow, what produces and what governs motion, and the 
 like. All which matters are unknown and unattempted by 
 the sciences, in their present heavy and inactive state. For, 
 since every natural act is brought about by the smallest 
 efforts,' or at least such as are too small to strike our senses, 
 let no one hope that he will be able to direct or change na- 
 ture unless he have properly comprehended and observed 
 these efforts. 
 
 YII. In like manner, the investigation and discovery of 
 the latent conformation in bodies is no less new, than the 
 discovery of the latent process and form. For we as yet are 
 doubtless only admitted to the antechamber of nature, and 
 do not prepare an entrance into her presence-room. But 
 nobody can endue a given body with a new nature, or trans- 
 form it successfully and appropriately into a new body, 
 without possessing a complete knowledge of the body so to 
 be changed or transformed. For he will run into vain, or, 
 at least, into difficult and perverse methods, ill adapted to 
 the nature of the body upon which he operates. A clear 
 path, therefore, toward this object also must be thrown 
 open, and well supported. 
 
 Labor is well and usefully bestowed upon the anatomy 
 of organized bodies, such as those of men and animals, 
 which appears to be a subtile matter, and a useful examina- 
 tion of nature. The species of anatomy, however, is that of 
 first sight, open to the senses, and takes place only in organ- 
 
 » Bacon here first seema pregnant with the important development of the 
 higher calculus, which, in the hands of Newton and Descartes, was to effect 
 as great a revolution in philosophy as his method. — Ed. 
 
NOVUM OBGANUM 117 
 
 ized bodies. It is obvious, and of ready access, when com- 
 pared with the real anatomy of latent conformation in bodies 
 which are considered similar, particularly in specific objects 
 and their parts; as those of iron, stone, and the similar parts 
 of plants and animals, as the root, the leaf, the flower, the 
 flesh, the blood, and bones, etc. Yet human industry has 
 not completely neglected this species of anatomy; for we 
 have an instance of it in the separation of similar bodies by 
 distillation, and other solutions, which shows the dissimi- 
 larity of the compound by the union of the homogeneous 
 parts. These methods are useful, and of importance to our 
 inquiry, although attended generally with fallacy: for many 
 natures are assigned and attributed to the separate bodies, 
 as if they had previously existed in the compound, which, 
 in reality, are recently bestowed and superinduced by fire 
 and heat, and the other modes of separation. Besides, it is, 
 after all, but a small part of the labor of discovering the real 
 conformation in the compound, which is so subtile and nice, 
 that it is rather confused and lost by the operation of the 
 fire, than discovered and brought to light. 
 
 A separation and solution of bodies, therefore, is to be 
 effected, not by fire indeed, but rather by reasoning and true 
 induction, with the assistance of experiment, and by a com- 
 parison with other bodies, and a reduction to those simple 
 natures and their forms which meet, and are combined in 
 the compound; and we must assuredly pass from Vulcan to 
 Minerva, if we wish to bring to light the real texture and 
 conformation of bodies, upon which every occult and (as it 
 is sometimes called) specific property and virtue of things 
 depends, and whence also every rule of powerful change and 
 transformation is deduced. 
 
 For instance, we must examine what spirit is in every 
 
118 J\rOT7i7Jk-»«WMfW!!H' 
 
 body,' what tangible essence; whether that spirit is copious 
 and exuberant, or meagre and scarce, fine or coarse, aeri- 
 form or igniform, active or sluggish, weak or robust, pro- 
 gressive or retrograde, abrupt or continuous, agreeing with 
 external and surrounding objects, or differing from them, 
 etc. In like manner must we treat tangible essence (which 
 admits of as many distinctions as the spirit), and its hairs, 
 fibres, and varied texture. Again, the situation of the spirit 
 in the corporeal mass, its pores, passages, veins, and cells, 
 and the rudiments or first essays of the organic body, are 
 subject to the same examination. In these, however, as in 
 our former inquiries, and therefore in the whole investiga- 
 tion of latent conformation, the only genuine and clear light 
 which completely dispels all darkness and subtile diflicul- 
 ties, is admitted by means of the primary axioms. 
 
 VIII. This method will not bring us to atoms," which 
 takes for granted the vacuum, and immutability of matter 
 (neither of which hypotheses is correct), but to the real par- 
 ticles such as we discover them to be. Nor is there any 
 
 ' By spirit, Bacon here plainly implies material fluid too fine to be grasped 
 by the unassisted sense, which rather operates than reasons. We sometimes 
 adopt the same mode of expression, as in the words spirits of nitre, spirits of 
 wine. Some such agency has been assumed by nearly aU the modern physi- 
 cists, a few of whom, along with Bacon, would leave us to gather from their 
 expressions, that they believe such bodies endowed with the sentient powers 
 of perception. As another specimen of his sentiment on this subject, we may 
 refer to a paragraph on the decomposition of compounds, in his essay on death, 
 beginning — "The spirit which exists in all living bodies, keeps all the parts in 
 due subjection; when it escapes, the body decomposes, or the similar parts 
 unite."— ^d. 
 
 " The theory of the Epicureans and others. The atoms are supposed to be 
 invisible, unalterable particles, endued with all the properties of the given body, 
 and forming that body by their union. They must be separated, of course, 
 which either takes a vacuum for granted, or introduces a tertium quid into the 
 composition of the body. 
 
}}0\^Um oboanum 119 
 
 ground for alarm at this refinement aa if it were inexpli- 
 cable, for, on the contrary, the more inquiry is directed to 
 simple natures, the more will everything be placed in a 
 plain and perspicuous light, since we transfer our attention 
 from the complicated to the simple, from the incommensur- 
 able to the commensurable, from surds to rational quantities, 
 from the indefinite and vague to the definite and certain; as 
 when we arrive at the elements of letters, and the simple 
 tones of concords. The investigation of nature is best con- 
 ducted when mathematics are applied to physics. Again, 
 let none be alarmed at vast numbers and fractions, for in 
 calculation it is as easy to set down or to reflect upon a thou- 
 sand as a unit, or the thousandth part of an integer as an 
 integer itself. 
 
 IX." From the two kinds of axioms above specified, 
 arise the two divisions of philosophy and the sciences, and 
 we will use the commonly adopted terms which approach 
 the nearest to our meaning, in our own sense. Let the in- 
 vestigation of forms, which (in reasoning at least, and after 
 their own laws), are eternal and immutable, constitute meta- 
 physics," and let the investigation of the efficient cause of 
 
 " Compare the three following aphorisms with the last three chapters of the 
 third book of the "De Augmentis Scientiarum. " 
 
 " Bacon gives this unfortunate term its proper signification ; f-'^a, in com- 
 position, with the Greeks signifying change or mutation. Most of our readers, 
 no doubt, are aware that the obtrusion of this word into technical philosophy 
 was purely capricious, and is of no older date than the publication of Aristotle's 
 works by Andronicus of Ehodes, one of the learned men into whose hands the 
 manuscripts of that philosopher fell, after they were brought by Sylla from 
 Athena to Rome. To fourteen books in these MSS. with no distinguishing 
 title, Andronicus is said to have prefixed the words ^a utra ra ^uai/ta, to denote 
 the place which they ought to hold either in the order of Aristotle's arrange- 
 ment, or in that of study. These books treat first of those subjects which are 
 common to matter and mind; secondly, of things separate from matter, i.e. of 
 God, and of the subordinate spirits, which were supposed by the Peripatetics 
 
120 N0vu:sp^imam!9i 
 
 matter, latent process, and latent conformation (which all 
 relate merely to the ordinary course of nature, and not to 
 her fundamental and eternal laws), constitute physics. 
 Parallel to these, let there be two practical divisions; to 
 physics that of mechanics, and to metaphysics that of magic, 
 in the purest sense of the term, as applied to its ample 
 means, and its command over nature. 
 
 X. The object of our philosophy being thus laid down, 
 we proceed to precepts, in the most clear and regular order. 
 The signs for the interpretation of nature comprehend two 
 divisions; the first regards the eliciting or creating of axioms 
 from experiment, the second the deducing or deriving of 
 new experiments from axioms. The first admits of three 
 subdivisions into ministrations. 1. To the senses. 2. To 
 the memory. 3. To the mind or reason. 
 
 For we must first prepare as a foundation for the whole, 
 a complete and accurate natural and experimental history. 
 We must not imagine or invent, but discover the acts and 
 properties of nature. 
 
 But natural and experimental history is so varied and 
 diffuse, that it confounds and distracts the understanding 
 unless it be fixed and exhibited in due order. We must, 
 therefore, form tables and co-ordinations of instances, upon 
 
 to watch over particular portions of the universe. The followers of Aristotle 
 accepted the whimsical title of Andronicus, and in their usual manner allowed 
 a word to unite things into one science which were plainly heterogeneous. 
 Their error was adopted by the Peripatetics of the Christian Church. The 
 schoolmen added to the notion of ontology, the science of the mind, or pneu- 
 matology, and as that genus of being has since become extinct with the schools, 
 metaphysics thus in modern parlance comes to be synonymous with psychology. 
 It were to be wished that Bacon's definition of the term had been accepted, and 
 mental science delivered from one of the greatest monstrosities in its nomencla- 
 ture, yet Bacon whimsically enough in his De Augmentis includes mathematics 
 in metaphysics. — Sd. 
 
VIUVUM ORGANUM 121 
 
 such, a plan, and in such order that the understanding may 
 be enabled to act upon them. 
 
 Even when this is done, the understanding, left to itself 
 and to its own operation, is incompetent and unfit to con- 
 struct its axioms without direction and support. Our third 
 ministration, therefore, must be true and legitimate induc- 
 tion, the very key of interpretation. We must begin, how- 
 ever, at the end, and go back again to the others. 
 
 XI. The investigation of forms proceeds thus : a nature 
 being given, we must first present to the understanding all 
 the known instances which agree in the same nature, al- 
 though the subject matter be considerably diversified. And 
 this collection must be made as a mere history, and without 
 any premature reflection, or too great degree of refinement. 
 For instance ; take the investigation of the form of heat. 
 
 Instances agreeing in the Form of Heat 
 
 1. The rays of the sun, particularly in summer, and at 
 noon. 
 
 2. The same reflected and condensed, as between moun- 
 tains, or along walls, and particularly in burning mirrors. 
 
 3. Ignited meteors. 
 
 4. Burning lightning. 
 
 5. Eruptions of flames from the cavities of mountains, etc. 
 
 6. Flame of every kind. 
 
 7. Ignited solids. 
 
 8. Natural warm baths. 
 
 9. Warm or heated liquids. 
 
 10. Warm vapors and smoke; and the air itself, which 
 admits a most powerful and violent heat if confined, as in 
 reverberating furnaces 
 
122 NOVCM OEUAIWM 
 
 11. Damp hot weather, arising from the constitution of 
 the air, without any reference to the time of the year. 
 
 12. Confined and subterraneous air in some caverns, par- 
 ticularly in winter. 
 
 13. All shaggy substances, as wool, the skins of animals, 
 and the plumage of birds, contain some heat. 
 
 14. All bodies, both solid and liquid, dense and rare (as 
 the air itself), placed near fire for any time. 
 
 15. Sparks arising from the violent percussion of flint 
 and steel. 
 
 16. All bodies rubbed violently, as stone, wood, cloth, 
 etc., so that rudders, and axles of wheels, sometimes catch 
 fire, and the West Indians obtain fire by attrition. 
 
 17. Green and moist vegetable matter confined and 
 rubbed together, as roses, peas in baskets; so hay, if it 
 be damp when stacked, often catches fire. 
 
 18. Quicklime sprinkled with water. 
 
 19. Iron, when first dissolved by acids in a glass, and 
 without any application to fire ; the same of tin, but not so 
 intensely. 
 
 20. Animals, particularly internally; although the heat 
 is not perceivable by the touch in insects, on account of 
 their small size. 
 
 21. Horse dung, and the like excrement from other ani- 
 inals, when fresh. 
 
 22. Strong oil of sulphur and of vitriol exhibit the opera- 
 tion of heat in burning linen. 
 
 23. As does the oil of marjoram, and like substances, in 
 burning the bony substance of the teeth. 
 
 24. Strong and well rectified spirits of wine exhibit the 
 same effects; so that white of eggs when thrown into it 
 grows hard and white, almost in the same manner aa 
 
NOVUM OBOANUM 123 
 
 wlieii boiled, and bread becomes burned and brown as if 
 toasted. 
 
 25. Aromatic substances and warm plants, as the draoun- 
 culus [arum], old nasturtium, etc., which, though they be 
 not warm to the touch (whether whole or pulverized), yet 
 are discovered by the tongue and palate to be warm and 
 almost burning when slightly masticated. 
 
 26. Strong vinegar and all acids, on any part of the body 
 not clothed with the epidermis, as the eye, tongue, or any 
 wounded part, or where the skin is removed, excite a pain 
 differing but little from that produced by heat. 
 
 27. Even a severe and intense cold produces a sensation 
 of burning." 
 
 "Nee Bores penetiabile fiigus adurit." 
 
 28. Other instances. 
 
 "We are wont to call this a table of existence and presence. 
 
 XII. We must next present to the understanding in- 
 stances which do not admit of the given nature, for form (as 
 we have observed) ought no less to be absent where the 
 given nature is absent, than to be present where it is pres- 
 ent. If, however, we were to examine every instance, our 
 labor would be infinite. ^ 
 
 Negatives, therefore, must be classed under the affirma- 
 tives, and the want of the given nature must be inquired 
 into more particularly in objects which have a very close 
 connection with those others in which it is present and mani- 
 fest. And this we are wont to term a table of deviation or 
 of absence in proximity. 
 
 " "Ne tenues plnviffl, rapidive potentia solis 
 Acrior, aut Borese penetrabile tiigaa adurat." 
 
 — Virg. Georg. i. 92, 93. 
 Science— Vol. 23— 6 
 
Proximate Instances wanting the Nature of Heat 
 
 The rays of the moon, stars, and comets, are not found 
 to be warm to the touch, nay, the severest cold has been 
 observed to take place at the full of the moon. Yet the 
 larger fixed stars are supposed to increase and render more 
 intense the heat of the sun, as he approaches them, when 
 the sun is in the sign of the Lion, for instance, and in the 
 dog-days." 
 
 The rays of the sun in what is called the middle region 
 of the air give no heat, to account for which the commonly 
 assigned reason is satisfactory; namely, that that region is 
 neither sufficiently near to the body of the sun whence the 
 rays emanate, nor to the earth whence they are reflected. 
 And the fact is manifested by snow being perpetual on the 
 tops of mountains, unless extremely lofty. But it is ob- 
 served, on the other hand, by some, that at the Peak of 
 Teneriffe, and also among the Andes of Peru, the tops of 
 the mountains are free from snow, which only lies in the 
 lower part as you ascend. Besides, the air on the summit 
 of these mountains is found to be by no means cold, but 
 only thin and sharp; so much so, that in the Andes it pricks 
 and hurts the eyes from its extreme sharpness, and even ex- 
 cites the orifice of the stomach and produces vomiting. The 
 ancients also observed, that the rarity of the air on the sum- 
 
 " This notion, which, he repeats again, and particularizes in the 18th aph. 
 of this hooli, is borrowed from the ancients, and we need not say is as wise 
 as their other astronomical conjecturaB. The sun also approaches stars quita 
 as large in other quarters of the zodiac, when it looks down upon the earth 
 through the murky clouds of winter. When that luminary is in Leo, the heat 
 of the earth is certainly greater than at any other period, but this arises from 
 the accumulation of heat after the solstice, for the ■ same reason that the maxi- 
 mum heat of the day is at two o'clock instead of noon. — Ed. 
 
www ORGANim 125 
 
 mit of Olympus was such, that those who ascended it were 
 obliged to carry sponges moistened with vinegar and water, 
 and to apply them now and then to their nostrils, as the air 
 was not dense enough for their respiration ; on the summit 
 of which mountain it is also related, there reigned so great 
 a serenity and calm, free from rain, snow, or wind, that the 
 letters traced upon the ashes of the sacrifices on the altar of 
 Jupiter, by the fingers of those who had offered them, would 
 remain Tindisturbed till the next year. Those even, who at 
 this day go to the top of the Peak of Teneriffe, walk by 
 night and not in the daytime, and are advised and pressed 
 by their guides, as soon as the sun rises, to make haste in 
 their descent, on account of the danger (apparently arising 
 from the rarity of the atmosphere), lest their breathing 
 should be relaxed and suffocated." 
 
 The reflection of the solar rays in the polar regions is 
 found to be weak and inefficient in producing heat, so that 
 the Dutch, who wintered in Nova Zembla, and expected 
 that their vessel would be freed about the beginning of 
 July from the obstruction of the mass of ice which had 
 blocked it up, were disappointed and obliged to embark in 
 their boat. Hence the direct rays of the sun appear to have 
 but little power even on the plain, and when reflected, 
 unless they are multiplied and condensed, which takes place 
 when the sun tends more to the perpendicular; for, then, 
 the incidence of the rays occurs at more acute angles, so 
 that the reflected rays are nearer to each other, while, on 
 the contrary, when the sun is in a very oblique position. 
 
 " Bouguer, employed by Jjouis XIV. in philosophical researcheB, ascended 
 the Andes to discover tlie globular form of the earth, and published an account 
 of his passage, which verifies the statement of Bacon. 
 
126 NfTTtm^imimm^ 
 
 the angles of incidence are very obtuse, and the reflected 
 rays at a greater distance. In the meantime it must be 
 observed, that there may be many operations of the solar 
 rays, relating, too, to the nature of heat, which are not pro- 
 portioned to our touch, so that, with regard to us, they do 
 not tend to produce warmth, but, with regard to some 
 , other bodies, have their due efiEect in producing it. 
 
 Let the following experiment be made. Take a lens the 
 reverse of a burning-glass, and place it between the hand 
 and the solar rays, and observe whether it diminish the heat 
 of the sun as a burning-glass increases it. For it is clear, 
 with regard to the visual rays, that in proportion as the lens 
 is made of unequal thickness in the middle and at its sides, 
 the images appear either more diffused or contracted. It 
 should be seen, therefore, if the same be true with regard 
 to heat. 
 
 Let the experiment be well tried, whether the lunar rays 
 can be received and collected by the strongest and best 
 burning-glasses, so as to produce even the least degree of 
 heat." But if that degree be, perhaps, so subtile and weak, 
 as not to be perceived or ascertained by the touch, we must 
 have recourse to those glasses which indicate the warm or 
 cold state of the atmosphere, and let the lunar rays fall 
 
 " Montanari asserts in his book against the astrologers that he had satisfied 
 himself by numerous and oft-repeated experiments, that the lunar rays gathered 
 to a focus produced a sensible degree of heat. Muschenbrock, however, adopts 
 the opposite opinion, and asserts that himself, De la Hire, Tillet, and Tschim- 
 hausen had tried with that view the strongest burning-glasses in vain. (Opera 
 de Igne.) De la Lande makes a similar confession in his Astronomy (vol. ii. vii. 
 § 1413). Bouguer, whom we have just quoted, demonstrated that the light of 
 the moon was 300,000 degrees less than that of the sun; It would consequently 
 be necesary to invent a glass with an absorbing power 300,000 degrees greater 
 than those ordinarily in use, to try the experiment Baoon speaks of. — Ed. 
 
"WWW OBGANUM 127 
 
 through the bnming-glass on the top of this thermometer, 
 and then notice if the water be depressed by the heat." 
 
 Let the burning-glass be tried on warm objects which 
 emit no luminous rays, as heated but not ignited iron or 
 stone, or hot water, or the like; and observe whether the 
 heat become increased and condensed, as happens with the 
 solar rays. 
 
 Let it be tried on common flame. 
 
 The efiEect of comets (if we can reckon them among 
 meteors") in augmenting the heat of the season is not found 
 to be constant or clear, although droughts have generally 
 been observed to follow them. However, luminous lines, 
 and pillars, and openings, and the like, appear more often 
 in winter than in summer, and especially with the most in- 
 tense cold but joined with drought. Lightning, and corus- 
 cations, and thunder, however, rarely happen in winter, and 
 
 " In this thennometer, mercury was not dilated by heat or contracted by 
 cold, as the one now in use, but a mass of air employed instead, which filled 
 the cavity of the bulb. This being placed in an inverted position to ours, that 
 is to say, with the bulb uppermost, pressed down the liquor when the air be- 
 came dilated by heat, as ours press it upward; and when the heat diminished, 
 the liqour rose to occupy the place vacated by the air, as the one now in use 
 descends. It consequently was liable to be affected by a change in the tempera- 
 ture, as by the weight of air, and could afiord only a rude standard of accuracy 
 in scientific investigations. This thermometer was not Bacon's own contriv- 
 ance, as is commonly supposed, but that of Drebbel. — Ed. 
 
 '8 La Lande is indignant that the Chaldeans should have more correct notions 
 of the nature of comets than the modern physicists, and charges Bacon with 
 entertaining the idea that they were the mere efEects of vapor and heat. This 
 passage, with two others more positive, in the "De Aug." (cap. xl.) and the 
 "Deacript. Globi Intellect." (cap. vi.) certainly afEord ground for the assertion; 
 but if Bacon erred, he erred with Galileo, and with the foremost spirits of the 
 times. It is true that Pythagoras and Seneca had asserted their beUef in the 
 solidity of these bodies, but the wide dominion which Aristotle subsequently 
 exercised, threw their opinions into the shade, and made the opposite doctrine 
 everywhere paramount. — Ed. 
 
.128 NuvuM UMdAJSUJa 
 
 generally at the time of tlie greatest heats. The appearances 
 we term falling stars are generally supposed to consist of 
 some shining and inflamed viscous substance, rather than 
 of violently hot matter; but let this be further investigated. 
 
 Some coruscations emit light without burning, but are 
 never accompanied by thunder. 
 
 Eructations and eruptions of flame are to be found in 
 cold climates as well as in hot, as in Iceland and Greenland; 
 just as the trees of cold countries are sometimes inflammable 
 and more pitchy and resinous than in warm, as the fir, pine, 
 and the like. But the position and nature of the soil, where 
 such eruptions are wont to happen, is not yet sufficiently 
 investigated to enable us to subjoin a negative instance to 
 the affirmative. 
 
 All flame is constantly more or less warm, and this in- 
 stance is not altogether negative ; yet it is said that the ignis 
 fatuus (as it is called), and which sometimes is driven against 
 walls, has but little heat ; perhaps it resembles that of spirits 
 of wine, which is mild and gentle. That flame, however, 
 appears yet milder, which in some well authenticated and 
 serious histories is said to have appeared round the head 
 and hair of boys and virgins, and instead of burning their 
 hair, merely to have played about it. And it is most cer- 
 tain that a sort of flash, without any evident heat, has some- 
 times been seen about a horse when sweating at night, or in 
 damp weather. It is also a well known fact," and it was 
 almost considered as a miracle, that a few years since a 
 girl's apron sparkled when a little shaken or rubbed, which 
 was, perhaps, occasioned by the alum or salts with which 
 
 '9 Was it a silk apron which exhibited electric sparka ? Silk was then 
 scarca 
 
NOVUM ORGANUm 129 
 
 the apron was imbued, and which, after having been stuck 
 together and incrusted rather strongly, were broken by the 
 friction. It is well known that all sugar, whether candied 
 or plain, if it be hard, will sparkle when broken or scraped 
 in the dark. In like manner sea and salt water is sometimes 
 found to shine at night when struck violently by the oar. 
 The foam of the sea when agitated by tempests also sparkles 
 at night, and the Spaniards call this appearance the sea's 
 lungs. It has not been sufficiently ascertained what degree 
 of heat attends the flame which the ancient sailors called 
 Castor and Pollux, and the moderns call St. Ermus' fire. 
 
 Every ignited body that is red-hot is always warm, al- 
 though without flame, nor is any negative instance sub- 
 joined to this affirmative. Eotten wood, however, ap- 
 proaches nearly to it, for it shines at night, and yet is not 
 found to be warm ; and the putrefying scales of fish which 
 shine in the same manner are not warm to the touch, nor 
 the body of the glowworm, or of the fly called Lucciola." 
 
 The situation and nature of the soil of natural warm 
 baths has not been sufficiently investigated, and therefore 
 a negative instance is not subjoined. 
 
 To the instances of warm liquids we may subjoin the 
 negative one of the peculiar nature of liquids in general; 
 for no tangible liquid is known that is at once warm in its 
 nature and constantly continues warm; but their heat is 
 only superinduced as an adventitious nature for a limited 
 time, so that those which are extremely warm in their power 
 and efifect, as spirits of wine, chemical aromatic oils, the 
 oils of vitriol and sulphur, and the like, and which speedily 
 burn, are yet cold at first to the touch, and the water of 
 natural baths, poured into any vessel and separated from 
 
 *> The Italian fire-fly. 
 
130 N0WM\ ()±i»AJ\UM 
 
 its source, cools down like water heated by the fire. It is, 
 however, true that oily substances are rather less cold to 
 the touch than those that are aqueous, oil for instance thaa 
 water, silk than linen; but this belongs to the table of de- 
 grees of cold. 
 
 In like manner we may subjoin a negative instance to 
 that of warm vapor, derived from the nature of vapor itself, 
 as far as we are acquainted with it. For exhalations from 
 oily substances, though easily inflammable, are yet never 
 warm unless recently exhaled from some warm substance. 
 
 The same may be said of the instance of air; for we 
 never perceive that air is warm unless confined or pressed, 
 or manifestly heated by the sun, by fire, or some other 
 warm body. 
 
 A negative instance is exhibited in weather by its cold- 
 ness with an east or north wind, beyond what the season 
 would lead us to expect, just as the contrary takes place 
 with the south or west winds. An inclination to rain (espe- 
 cially in winter) attends warm weather, and to frost cold 
 weather. 
 
 A negative instance as to air confined in caverns may be 
 observed in summer. Indeed, we should make a more dili- 
 gent inquiry into the nature of confined air. For in the first 
 place the qualities of air in its own nature with regard to 
 heat and cold may reasonably be the subject of doubt; for 
 air evidently derives its heat from the effects of celestial 
 bodies, and possibly its cold from the exhalation of the 
 earth, and in the mid region of air (as it is termed) from 
 cold vapors and snow, so that no judgment can be formed 
 of the nature of air by that which is out of doors and ex- 
 posed, but a more correct one might be derived from con- 
 fined air. It is necessary, however, that the air should be 
 
NOVUM "OBGANUM 131 
 
 inclosed in a vessel of such materials as would not imbue 
 it with heat or cold of themselves, nor easily admit the 
 influence of the external atmosphere. The experiment 
 should be made, therefore, with an earthen jar, covered 
 with folds of leather to protect it from the external air, and 
 the air should be kept three or four days in this vessel 
 well closed. On opening the jar, the degree of heat may 
 be ascertained either by the hand or a graduated glass tube. 
 
 There is a similar doubt as to whether the warmth of 
 wool, skins, feathers, and the like, is derived from a slight 
 inherent heat, since they are animal excretions, or from 
 their being of a certain fat and oily nature that accords 
 with heat, or merely from the confinement and separation 
 of air which we spoke of in the preceding paragraph ;" for 
 all air appears to possess a certain degree of warmth when 
 separated from the external atmosphere. Let an experiment 
 be made, therefore, with fibrous substances of linen, and 
 not of wool, feathers, or silk, which are animal excretions. 
 For it is to be observed that all powders (where air is mani- 
 festly inclosed) are less cold than the substances when 
 whole, just as we imagine froth (which contains air) to be 
 less cold than the liquid itself. 
 
 We have here no exactly negative instance, for we are 
 not acquainted with any body tangible or spirituous which 
 does not admit of heat when exposed to the fire. There is, 
 however, this difference, that some admit it more rapidly, 
 as air, oil, and water, others more slowly, as stone and 
 metals." This, however, belongs to the table of degrees. 
 
 " This last is found to be the real reason, air not being a good conductor, 
 and therefore not allowing the escape of heat. The conflned air is disengaged 
 when these substances are placed under an exhausted receiver. 
 
 ^ This is erroneous. Air, in fact, is one of the worst, and metals are the 
 best conductors of heat. 
 
132 JiUVUM OKUAIWM 
 
 No negative is here subjoined, except the remark that 
 sparks are not kindled by flint and steel, or any other hard 
 substance, unless some small particles of the stone or metal 
 are struck off, and that the air never forms them by friction, 
 as is commonly supposed; besides, the sparks from the 
 weight of the ignited substance have a tendency to descend 
 rather than to rise, and when extinguished become a sort 
 of dark ash. 
 
 We are of opinion that here again there is no negative; 
 for we are not acquainted with any tangible body which does 
 not become decidedly warm by friction, so that the ancients 
 feigned that the gods had no other means or power of creat- 
 ing heat than the friction of air, by rapid and violent rota- 
 tion. On this point, however, further inquiry must be 
 made, whether bodies projected by machines (as balls from 
 cannon) do not derive some degree of heat from meeting the 
 air, which renders them somewhat warm when they fall. 
 The air in motion rather cools than heats, as in the winds, 
 the bellows, or breath when the mouth is contracted. The 
 motion, however, in such instances is not sufficiently rapid 
 to excite heat, and is applied to a body of air, and not to 
 its component parts, so that it is not surprising that heat 
 should not be generated. 
 
 We must make a more diligent inquiry into this in- 
 stance; for herbs and green and moist vegetables appear 
 to possess a latent heat, so small, however, as not to be 
 perceived by the touch in single specimens, but when they 
 are united and confined, so that their spirit cannot exhale 
 into the air, and they rather warm each other, their heat 
 is at once manifested, and even flame occasionally in suit- 
 able substances. 
 
 Here, too, we must make a more diligent inquiry; for 
 
•"IVUVUM OHOANUM 133 
 
 quicklime, when sprinkled with water, appears to conceive 
 heat, either from its being collected into one point (as we 
 observed of herbs when confined), or from the irritation and 
 exasperation of the fiery spirit by water, which occasions 
 a conflict and struggle. ' The true reason will more readily 
 be shown if oil be used instead of water, for oil will equally 
 tend to collect the confined spirit, but not to irritate. The 
 experiment may be made more general, both by using the 
 ashes and calcined products of different bodies and by pour- 
 ing different liquids upon them. 
 
 A negative instance may be subjoined of other metals 
 which are more soft and soluble; for leaf gold dissolved by 
 aqua regia, or lead by aqua fortis, are not warm to the touch 
 while dissolving, no more is quicksilver (as far as I remem- 
 ber), but silver excites a slight heat, and so does copper, 
 and tin yet more plainly, and most of all iron and steel, 
 which excite not only a powerful heat, but a violent bub- 
 bling. The heat, therefore, appears to be occasioned by 
 the struggle which takes place when these strong dissol- 
 vents penetrate, dig into, and tear asunder the parts of 
 those substances, while the substances themselves resist. 
 "When, however, the substances yield more easily, scarcely 
 any heat is excited. 
 
 There is no negative instance with regard to the heat of 
 animals, except in insects (as has been observed), owing to 
 their small size; for in fishes, as compared with land ani- 
 mals, a lower degree rather than a deprivation of heat is 
 observable. In plants and vegetables, both as to their 
 exudations and pith when freshly exposed, there is no sen- 
 sible degree of heat. But in animals there is a great differ- 
 ence in the degree, both in particular parts (for the heat 
 varies near the heart, the brain, and the extremities) and in 
 
134 NOVUM 
 
 the circumstances in which they are placed, such as violent 
 exercise and fevers. 
 
 Here, again, there is scarcely a negative instance. I 
 might add that the excrements of animals, even when they 
 are no longer fresh, possess evidently some effective heat, as 
 is shown by their enriching the soil. 
 
 Such liquids (whether oily or watery) as are intensely 
 acrid exhibit the effects of heat, by the separation and burn- 
 ing of bodies after some little action upon them, yet they 
 are not at first warm to the touch, but they act according to 
 their affinity and the pores of the substances to which they 
 are applied ; for aqua regia dissolves gold but not silver — 
 on the contrary, aqua fortis dissolves silver but not gold; 
 neither of them dissolves glass, and so of the rest. 
 
 Let spirits of wine be tried on wood, or butter, wax, or 
 pitch, to see if this will melt them at all by their heat; for 
 the twenty-fourth instance shows that they possess proper- 
 ties resembling those of heat in causing incrustation. Let 
 an experiment also be made with a graduated glass or calen- 
 dar," concave at the top, by pouring well-rectified spirits of 
 wine into the cavity, and covering it up in order that they 
 may the better retain their heat, then observe whether their 
 heat make the water descend. 
 
 Spices and acrid herbs are sensibly warm to the palate, 
 and still more so when taken internally; one should see, 
 therefore, on what other substances they exhibit the effects 
 of heat. Now, sailors tell us that when large quantities of 
 spices are suddenly opened, after having been shut up for 
 some time, there is some danger of fever and inflammation 
 to those who stir them or take them out. An experiment 
 
 '2 See No. 28 in the table of the degrees of heat. 
 
WVUM OBGANUM 136 
 
 might, therefore, be made whether such spices and herbs, 
 when produced, will, like smoke, dry fish and meat hung 
 up over them. 
 
 There is an acrid ejQEect and a degree of penetration in 
 cold liquids, such as vinegar and oil of vitriol, as well as 
 in warm, such as oil of marjoram and the like; they have, 
 therefore, an equal effect in causing animated substances to 
 smart, and separating and consuming inanimate parts. 
 There is not any negative instance as to this, nor does there 
 exist any animal pain unaccompanied by the sensation of 
 heat. 
 
 There are many effects common to cold and heat, how- 
 ever different in their process; for snowballs appear to bum 
 boys' hands after a little time, and cold no less than fire 
 preserves bodies from putrefaction — besides both heat and 
 cold contract bodies. But it is better to refer these instances 
 and the like to the investigation of cold. 
 
 XIII. In the third place we must exhibit to the under- 
 standing the instances in which that nature, which is the 
 object of our inquiries, is present in a greater or less degree, 
 either by comparing its increase and decrease in the same 
 object, or its degree in different objects; for since the form 
 of a thing is its very essence, and the thing only differs 
 from its form as the apparent from the actual object, or the 
 exterior from the interior, or that -which is considered with 
 relation to man from that which is considered with relation 
 to the universe; it necessarily follows that no nature can be 
 considered a real form which does not uniformly diminish 
 and increase with the given nature. We are wont to call 
 this our Table of Degrees, or Comparative Instances. 
 
136 
 
 Tahle of the Degrees or Comparative Instances of Heat 
 
 "We will first speak of those bodies which exhibit no 
 degree of heat sensible to the touch, but appear rather to 
 possess a potential heat, or disposition and preparation for 
 it. We will then go on to others, which are actually warm 
 to the touch, and observe the strength and degree of it. 
 
 1. There is no known solid or tangible body which is by 
 its own nature originally warm; for neither stone, metal, 
 sulphur, fossils, wood, water, nor dead animal carcasses are 
 found warm. The warm springs in baths appear to be 
 heated accidentally, by flame, subterraneous fire (such as 
 is thrown up by Etna and many other mountains), or by the 
 contact of certain bodies, as heat is exhibited in the dissolu- 
 tion of iron and tin. The degree of heat, therefore, in 
 inanimate objects is not sensible to our touch; but they 
 differ in their degrees of cold, for wood and metal are not 
 equally cold." This, however, belongs to the Table of 
 Degrees of Cold. 
 
 2. But with regard to potential heat and predisposition 
 to flame, we find many inanimate substances wonderfully 
 adapted to it, as sulphur, naphtha, and saltpetre. 
 
 3. Bodies which have previously acquired heat, as horse 
 dung from the animal, or lime, and perhaps ashes and soot 
 from fire, retain some latent portion of it. Hence distilla- 
 tions and separations of substances are eflEected by burying 
 
 ■" Bacon here mistakes sensation confined to ourselves for an internal prop- 
 erty of distinct substances. Melals are denser than wood, and our bodies con- 
 sequently coming into contact with more particles of matter when we touch 
 them, lose a greater quantity of heat than in the case of lighter sub- 
 stances. — Ed. 
 
NOVUM OBGANUM 137 
 
 them in horse dung, and heat is excited in lime by sprink- 
 ling it with water (as has been before observed). 
 
 4. In the vegetable world we know of no plant, nor part 
 of any plant (as the exudations or pith) that is warm to 
 man's touch. Yet (as we have before observed) green 
 weeds grow warm when confined, and some vegetables are 
 warm and others cold to our internal touch, i.e., the palate 
 and stomach, or even after a while to our external skin (as 
 is shown in plasters and ointments). 
 
 5. We know of nothing in the various parts of animals, 
 when dead or detached from the rest, that is warm to the 
 touch ; for horse dung itself does not retain its heat, unless 
 it be confined and buried. All dung, however, appears to 
 possess a potential heat, as in manuring fields ; so also dead 
 bodies are endued with this latent and potential heat to such 
 a degree, that in cemeteries where people are interred daily 
 the earth acquires a secret heat, which consumes any 
 recently deposited body much sooner than pure earth ; and 
 they tell you that the people of the East are acquainted with 
 a fine soft cloth, made of the down of birds, which can melt 
 butter wrapped gently up in it by its own warmth. 
 
 6. Manures, such as every kind of dung, chalk, sea-sand, 
 salt and the like, have some disposition toward heat. 
 
 7. All putrefaction exhibits some slight degree of heat, 
 though not enough to be perceptible by the touch; for 
 neither the substances which by putrefaction are converted 
 into animalculse," as flesh and cheese, nor rotten wood 
 which shines in the dark, are warm to the touch. The heat, 
 
 » This was the ancient opinion, but the moderna incline to the belief that 
 these insects are produced by generation or fecundity from seeds deposited by 
 their tribes in bodies on the verge of putrefaction. — Ed. 
 
138 NOVUM OUGANUM 
 
 however, of putrid substances displays itself occasionally in 
 a disgusting and strong scent. 
 
 8. The first degree of heat, therefore, in substances 
 which are warm to the human touch appears to be that of 
 animals, and this admits of a great variety of degrees, for 
 the lowest (as in insects) is scarcely perceptible, the highest 
 scarcely equals that of the sun's rays in warm climates and 
 weather, and is not so acute as to be insufferable to the 
 hand. It is said, however, of Oonstantius, and some others 
 of a very dry constitution and habit of body, that when 
 attacked with violent fevers, they became so warm as to 
 appear almost to burn the hand applied to them. 
 
 9. Animals become more warm by motion and exercise, 
 wine and feasting, venery, burning fevers, and grief. 
 
 10. In the paroxysm of intermittent fevers the patients 
 are at first seized with cold and shivering, but soon after- 
 ward become more heated than at first — in burning and 
 pestilential fevers they are hot from the beginning. 
 
 11. Let further inquiry be made into the comparative 
 heat of different animals, as fishes, quadrupeds, serpents, 
 birds, and also of the different species, as the lion, the kite, 
 or man; for, according to the vulgar opinion, fishes are the 
 least warm internally, and birds the most, particularly 
 doves, hawks, and ostriches. 
 
 12. Let further inquiry be made as to the comparative 
 heat in different parts and limbs of the same animal; for 
 milk, blood, seed, and eggs are moderately warm, and less 
 hot than the outward flesh of the animal when in motion or 
 agitated. The degree of heat of the brain, stomach, heart, 
 and the rest, has not yet been equally well investigated. 
 
 13: All animals are externally cold in winter and cold 
 weather, but are thought to be internally warmer. 
 
NOVUM ORGANUM 139 
 
 14. The heat of the heavenly bodies, even in the warmest 
 climates and seasons, never reaches such a pitch as to light 
 or burn the driest wood or straw, or even tinder without 
 the aid of burning-glasses. It can, however, raise vapor 
 from moist substances. 
 
 15. Astronomers tell us that some stars are hotter than 
 others. Mars is considered the warmest after the Sun, then 
 Jupiter, then Venus. The Moon and, above all, Saturn, 
 are considered to be cold. Among the fixed stars Sirius 
 is thought the warmest, then Cor Leonis or Eegulus, then 
 the lesser Dog-star. 
 
 16. The sun gives out more heat as it approaches toward 
 the perpendicular or zenith, which may be supposed to be 
 the case with the other planets, according to their degree 
 of heat; for instance, that Jupiter gives out more heat when 
 situated beneath Cancer or Leo than when he is beneath 
 Capricorn and Aquarius. 
 
 17. It is to be supposed that the sun and other planets 
 give more heat in perigee, from their approximation to the 
 earth, than when in apogee. But if in any country the sun 
 should be both in its perigee and nearer to the perpendicular 
 at the same time, it must necessarily give out more heat than 
 in a country where it is also in perigee, but situated more 
 obliquely; so that the comparative altitude of the planets 
 should be observed, and their approach to or declination 
 from the perpendicular in different countries. 
 
 18. The sun and other planets are thought also to give 
 out more heat in proportion as they are nearer to the larger 
 fixed stars, as when the sun is in Leo he is nearer Cor 
 Leonis, Cauda Leonis, Spica Virginis, Sirius, and the lesser 
 Dog-star, than when he is in Cancer, where, however, he 
 approaches nearer to the perpendicular. It is probable, 
 
340 
 
 also, that the quarters of the heavens produce a greater heat 
 (though not perceptibly), in proportion as they are adorned 
 with a greater number of stars, particularly those of the 
 first magnitude. 
 
 19. On the whole, the heat of the heavenly bodies is 
 augmented in three ways: 1. The approach to the perpen- 
 dicular; 2. Proximity or their perigee; 3. The conjunction 
 or union of stars. 
 
 ' 20. There is a very considerable difEerence between the 
 degree of heat in animals, and even in the rays of the heav- 
 enly bodies (as they reach us), and the heat of the most gen- 
 tle flame, and even of all ignited substances, nay, liquids, 
 or the air itself when unusually heated by fire. For the 
 flame of spirit of wine, though diffused and uncollected, is 
 yet able to set straw, linen, or paper on fire, which animal 
 heat, or that of the sun, will never accomplish without a 
 burning-glass. 
 
 21. There are, however, many degrees of strength and 
 weakness in flame and ignited bodies: but no diligent in- 
 quiry has been made in this respect, and we must, therefore, 
 pass it hastily over. Of all flames, that of spirits of wine 
 appears to be the most gentle, except perhaps the ignis 
 fatuus, or the flashes from the perspiration of animals. 
 After this we should be inclined to place the flame of light 
 and porous vegetables, such as straw, reeds, and dried 
 leaves; from which the flame of hair or feathers differs but 
 little. Then, perhaps, comes the flame of wood, particu- 
 larly that which contains but little rosin or pitch; that of 
 small wood, however (such as is usually tied up in fagots), 
 is milder than that of the trunks or roots of trees. This can 
 be easily tried in iron furnaces, where a fire of fagots or 
 branches of trees is of little service. Next follows the flame 
 
NOVUM OBQANUM 141 
 
 of oil, tallow, wax, and the like oily and fat substances, 
 which are not very violent. But a most powerful heat is 
 found in pitch and rosin, and a still greater in sulphur, cam- 
 phor, naphtha, saltpetre, and salts (after they have dis- 
 charged their crude matter), and in their compounds; as in 
 gunpowder, Greek fire (vulgarly called wild fire), and its 
 varieties, which possess such a stubborn heat as scarcely to 
 be extinguished by water. 
 
 22. We consider that the flame which results from some 
 imperfect metals is very strong and active ; but on all these 
 points further inquiry should be made. 
 
 23. The flame of vivid lightning appears to exceed all 
 the above, so as sometimes to have melted even wrought 
 iron into drops, which the other flames cannot accomplish. 
 
 24. In ignited bodies there are difiEerent degrees of heat, 
 concerning which, also, a diligent inquiry has not been 
 made. We consider the faintest heat to be that of tinder, 
 touchwood, and dry rope match, such as is used for dis- 
 charging cannon. Next follows that of ignited charcoal or 
 cinders, and even bricks, and the like; but the most vio- 
 lent is that of ignited metals, as iron, copper, and the like. 
 Further inquiry, however, must be made into this also. 
 
 25. Some ignited bodies are found to be much warmer 
 than some flames ; for instance, red hot iron is much warmer, 
 and burns more than the flame of spirits of wine. 
 
 26. Some bodies even not ignited, but only heated by 
 the fire, as boiling water, and the air confined in reverbera- 
 tories, surpass in heat many flames and ignited substances. 
 
 27. Motion increases heat," as is shown in the bellows 
 
 " The correct measure of the activity of flame may be obtained by multiply- 
 ing its natural force into the square of its velocity. On this account the flame 
 
142 NOVUM CmUANUM 
 
 and the blowpipe; for the harder metals are not dissolved 
 or melted by steady quiet fire, without the aid of the blow- 
 pipe. 
 
 28. Let an experiment be made with burning-glasses ; in 
 which respect I have observed, that if a glass be placed at 
 the distance of ten inches, for instance, from the combustible 
 object, it does not kindle or burn it so readily, as if the glass 
 be placed at the distance of five inches (for instance), and be 
 then gradually and slowly withdrawn to the distance of ten 
 inches. The cone and focus of the rays, however, are the 
 same, but the mere motion increases the effect of the heat. 
 
 29. Conflagrations, which take place with a high" wind, 
 are thought to make greater way against than with the wind, 
 because when the wind slackens, the flame recoils more 
 rapidly than it advances when the wind is favorable. 
 
 30. Flame does not burst out or arise unless it have 
 some hollow space to move and exert itself in, except in the 
 exploding flame of gunpowder, and the like, where the com- 
 pression and confinement of the flame increase its fury. 
 
 31. The anvil becomes so hot by the hammer, that if it 
 were a thin plate it might probably grow red, like ignited 
 iron by repeated strokes. Let the experiment be tried. 
 
 32. But in ignited bodies that are porous, so as to leave 
 room for the fire to move itself, if its motion be prevented 
 by strong compression, the fire is immediately extinguished ; 
 thus it is with tinder, or the burning snuS of a candle or 
 lamp, or even hot charcoal or cinders; for when they are 
 squeezed by snufEers, or the foot, and the like, the effect of 
 the fire instantly ceases. 
 
 of vivid lightning mentioned in No. 23 contains so much vigor, its velocity 
 being greater than that arising from other heat. — Ed. 
 
NOVUM ORGANUM US 
 
 83. The approach toward a hot body increases heat in 
 proportion to the approximation; a similar efEect to that of 
 light, for the nearer any object is placed toward the light, 
 the more visible it becomes. 
 
 34. The" union of different heats increases heat, unless 
 the substances be mixed; for a large and small fire in the 
 same spot tend mutually to increase each other's heat, but 
 lukewarm water poured into boiling water cools it. 
 
 35. The continued neighborhood of a warm body in- 
 creases heal For the heat, which perpetually passes and 
 emanates from it, being mixed with that which preceded it, 
 multiplies the whole. A fire, for instance, does not warm 
 a room in half an hour as much as the same fire would in 
 an hour. This does not apply to light, for a lamp or candle 
 placed in a spot gives no more light by remaining there, 
 than it did at first. 
 
 36. fhe irritation of surrounding cold increases heat, as 
 may be seen in fires during a sharp frost. We think that 
 this is owing not merely to the confinement and compression 
 of the heat (which forms a sort of union), but also by the 
 exasperation of it, as when the air or a stick are violently 
 compressed or bent, they recoil, not only to the point they 
 first occupied, but still further back. Let an accurate ex- 
 periment, therefore, be made with a stick, or something of 
 the kind, put into the flame, in order to see whether it be 
 not sooner burned at the sides than in the middle of it." 
 
 ^ The fires supply fresh heat, the water has only a certain quantity of heat, 
 which being diffused over a fresh supply of cooler water, must be on the whole 
 lowered. 
 
 ''' If condensation were the cause of the greater heat, Bacon concludes tha 
 centre of the flame would be the hotter part, and vice versd. The fact is, 
 neither of the causes assigned by Bacon is the true one; for the fire burns 
 
144 NOVUM UMUAJSIUM 
 
 37. There are many degrees in the susceptibility of heat. 
 And, first, it must be observed how much a low gentle heat 
 changes and partially warms even the bodies least suscep- 
 tible of it. For even the heat of the hand imparts a little 
 warmth to a ball of lead or other metal held a short time in 
 it; so easily is heat transmitted and excited, without any 
 apparent change in the body. 
 
 38. Of all bodies that we are acquainted with, air admits 
 and loses heat the most readily, which is admirably seen in 
 weather-glasses, whose construction is as follows: Take a 
 glass with a hollow belly, and a thin and long neck; turn 
 it upside down, and place it with its mouth downward into 
 another glass vessel containing water; the end of the tube 
 touching the bottom of the vessel, and the tube itself lean- 
 ing a little on the edge, so as to be fixed upright. In order 
 to do this more readily, let a little wax be applied to the 
 edge, not, however, so as to block up the orifice, lest, by 
 preventing the air from escaping, the motion, which we 
 shall presently speak of, and which is very gentle and deli- 
 cate, should be impeded. 
 
 Before the first glass be inserted in the other, its upper 
 part (the belly) should be warmed at the fire. Then upon 
 placing i*^ as we have described, the air (which was dilated 
 by the heat), after a sufficient time has been allowed for it 
 to lose the additional temperature, will restore and contract 
 itself to the same dimensions as that of the external or com- 
 mon atmosphere at the moment of immersion, and the water 
 will be attracted upward in the tube to a proportionate ex- 
 tent. A long narrow slip of paper should be attached to 
 
 more quickly only because the draught of air is more rapid, the cold dense 
 air pressing rapidly into the heated room and toward the chimney. — Ed. 
 
NOVUM ORGANVM 145 
 
 the tube, divided into as many degrees as you please. You 
 will then perceive, as the weather grows warmer or colder, 
 that the air contracts itself into a narrower space in cold 
 weather and dilates in the warm, which will be exhibited 
 by the rising of the water as the air contracts itself, and its 
 depression as the air dilates. The sensibility of the air with 
 regard to heat or cold is so delicate and exquisite, that it far 
 exceeds the human touch, so that a ray of sunshine, the heat 
 of the breath, and much more, that of the hand placed on 
 the top of the tube, immediately causes an evident depres- 
 sion of the water. We think, however, that the spirit of 
 animals possesses a much more delicate susceptibility of 
 heat and cold, only that it is impeded and blunted by the 
 grossness of their bodies. 
 
 39. After air, we consider those bodies to be most sen 
 sible of heat, which have been recently changed and con 
 tracted by cold, as snow and ice ; for they begin to be dis 
 solved and melt with the first mild weather. Next, perhaps 
 follows quicksilver; then greasy substances, as oil, butter, 
 and the like; then wood; then water; lastly, stones and 
 metals, which do not easily grow hot, particularly toward 
 their centre." When heated, however, they retain their 
 temperature for a very long time; so that a brick or stone, 
 or hot iron, plunged in a basin of cold water, and kept there 
 
 '° Bacon appears to have confounded combustibility and fusibility with sus- 
 ceptibility of heat; for though the metals will certainly neither dissolve as soon 
 as ice or butter, nor be consumed as soon as wood, that only shows that differ- 
 ent degrees of heat are required to produce similar efEects on different bodies; 
 but metals much more readily acquire and transmit the same degree of heat 
 than any of the above substances. The rapid transmission renders them gen- 
 erally cold to the touch. The convenience of fixing wooden handles to vessels 
 containing hot water illustrates these observations. 
 
146 NOVUM ORGAN UM 
 
 for a quarter of an hour or thereabout, retains such a heat 
 as not to admit of being touched. 
 
 40. The less massive the body is, the more readily it 
 grows warm at the approach of a heated body, which shows 
 that heat with us is somewhat averse to a tangible mass.'" 
 
 41. Heat with regard to the human senses and touch is 
 various and relative, so that lukewarm water appears hot if 
 the hand be cold, and cold if the hand be hot. 
 
 XIV. Any one may readily see how poor we are in his- 
 tory, since in the above tables, besides occasionally insert- 
 ing traditions and report instead of approved history and 
 authentic instances (always, however, adding some note if 
 their credit or authority be doubtful), we are often forced to 
 subjoin, "Let the experiment be tried — ^Let further inquiry 
 be made." 
 
 XV. We are wont to term the office and use of these 
 three tables the presenting a review of instances to the 
 understanding; and when this has been done, induction 
 itself is to be brought into action. For on an individual 
 review of all the instances a nature is to be found, such as 
 always to be present and absent with the given nature, to 
 increase and decrease with it, and, as we have said, to form 
 a more common limit of the nature. If the mind attempt 
 this affirmatively from the first (which it always will when 
 left to itself), there will spring up phantoms, mere theories 
 and ill-defined notions, with axioms requiring daily correc- 
 tion. These will, doubtless, be better or worse, according 
 to the power and strength of the understanding which 
 creates them. But it is only for Grod (the bestower and 
 
 "» Another singular error, the truth being, that solid bodies are the best 
 conductors; but of course where heat is diCEused over a largo mass, it is less 
 in each part, than it that part alone absorbed the whole quantum of hs&t.^EA, 
 
NOVUM ORGANUM 147 
 
 creator of forme), and perhaps for angels and intelligences, 
 at once to recognize forms affirmatively at the first glance of 
 contemplation: man, at lest, is unable to do so, and is only 
 allowed to proceed first by negatives, and then to conclude 
 with affirmatives, after every species of exclusion. 
 
 XVI. We must, therefore, effect a complete solution and 
 separation of nature; not by fire, but by the mind, that 
 divine fire. The first work of legitimate induction, in the 
 discovery of forms, is rejection, or the exclusive instances 
 of individual natures, which are not found in some one in- 
 stance where the given nature is present, or are found in 
 any one instance where it is absent, or are found to increase 
 in any one instance where the given nature decreases, or the 
 reverse. After an exclusion correctly effected, an affirma- 
 tive form will remain as the residuum, solid, true, and well 
 defined, while all volatile opinions go off in smoke. This 
 is readily said; but we must arrive at it by a circuitous 
 route. We shall perhaps, however, omit nothing that can 
 facilitate our progress. 
 
 XVn. The first and almost perpetual precaution and 
 warning which we consider necessary is this; that none 
 should suppose from the great part assigned by us to 
 forms, that we mean such forms as the meditations and 
 thoughts of men have hitherto been accustomed to. In 
 the first place, we do not at present mean the concrete 
 forms, which (as we have observed) are in the common 
 course of things compounded of simple natures, as those of 
 a lion, an eagle, a rose, gold, or the like. The moment for 
 discussing these will arrive when we come to treat of the 
 latent process and latent conformation, and the discovery of 
 them as they exist in what are called substances, or concrete 
 natureso 
 
 "CIBNOB — Vol. 33 —7 
 
148 NO VUM ORGANUmr 
 
 Nor again, would we be thought to mean (even when 
 treating of simple natures) any abstract forms or ideas, 
 either undefined or badly defined in matter. For when we 
 speak of forms, we mean nothing else than those laws and 
 regulations of simple action which arrange and constitute 
 any simple nature, such as heat, light, weight, in every 
 species of matter, and in a susceptible subject. The form 
 of heat or form of light, therefore, means no more than the 
 law of heat or the law of light. Nor do we ever abstract or 
 withdraw ourselves from things, and the operative branch 
 of philosophy. When, therefore, we say (for instance) in 
 our investigation of the form of heat, Eeject rarity, or, Ear- 
 ity is not of the form of heat, it is the same as if we were to 
 say, Man can superinduce heat on a dense body, or the re- 
 verse, Man can abstract or ward off heat from a rare body. 
 
 But if our forms appear to any one to be somewhat ab- 
 stracted, from their mingling and uniting heterogeneous 
 objects (the heat, for instance, of the heavenly bodies ap- 
 pears to be very different from that of fire; the fixed red of 
 the rose and the like, from that which is apparent in the 
 rainbow, or the radiation of opal or the diamond;" death 
 by drowning, from that by burning, the sword, apoplexy, 
 or consumption; and yet they all agree in the common na- 
 tures of heat, redness, and death), let him be assured that 
 his understanding is inthralled by habit, by general appear- 
 ances and hypotheses. For it is most certain that, however 
 heterogeneous and distinct, they agree in the form or law 
 which regulates heat, redness, or death; and that human 
 power cannot be emancipated and freed from the common 
 
 *■ This general law or form has been well Illustrated by Newton's discovery 
 of the decomposition of colors. 
 
NOVUM OBGANUM 149 
 
 course of nature, and expanded and exalted to new efficients 
 and new modes of operation, except by the revelation and 
 invention of forms of this nature. But after this " union of 
 nature, which is the principal point, we will afterward, in 
 its proper place, treat of the divisions and ramifications of 
 nature, whether ordinary or internal and more real. 
 
 XVIIl. We must now oflEer an example of the exclusion 
 or rejection of natures found by the tables of review, not to 
 be of the form of heat; first premising that not only each 
 table is sufficient for the rejection of any nature, but even 
 each single instance contained in them. For it is clear from 
 what has been said that every contradictory instance de- 
 stroys a hypothesis as to the form. Still, however, for 
 the sake of clearness, and in order to show more plainly the 
 use of the tables, we redouble or repeat the exclusive. 
 
 An Example of the Exclusive Table, or of the Rejection 
 of Natures from the Form of Heat 
 
 1. On account of the sun's rays, reject elementary (or 
 terrestrial) nature. 
 
 2. On account of common fire, and particularly subter- 
 ranean fires (which are the most remote and secluded from 
 the rays of the heavenly bodies), reject celestial nature. 
 
 3. On account of the heat acquired by every description 
 of substances (as minerals, vegetables, the external parts of 
 animals, water, oil, air, etc.) by mere approximation to the 
 fire or any warm body, reject all variety and delicate texture 
 of bodies. 
 
 ^ J.e., the common link or fonn which connects the Tarious kinds of natures, 
 such as the different hot or red natures enumerated above. — See Aphorism iii. 
 part 2. 
 
150 NOVUM OROANUM 
 
 4. On account of iron and ignited metals, which warm 
 other bodies, and yet neither lose their weight nor sub- 
 stance, reject the imparting or mixing of the substance of 
 the heating body. 
 
 5. On account of boiling water and air, and also those 
 metals and other solid bodies which are heated, but not to 
 ignition, or red heat, reject flame or light. 
 
 6. On account of the rays of the moon and other heav- 
 enly bodies (except the sun), again reject flame or light. 
 
 7. On account of the comparison between red-hot iron 
 and the flame of spirits of wine (for the iron is more hot and 
 less bright, while the flame of spirits of wine is more bright 
 and less hot), again reject flame and light. 
 
 8. On account of gold and other ignited metals, which 
 are of the greatest specific density, reject rarity. 
 
 9. On account of air, which is generally found to be cold 
 and yet continues rare, reject rarity. 
 
 10. On account of ignited iron,°° which does not swell in 
 bulk, but retains the same apparent dimension, reject the 
 absolute expansive motion of the whole. 
 
 11. On account of the expansion of the air in thermome- 
 ters and the like, which is absolutely moved and expanded 
 to the eye, and yet acquires no manifest increase of heat, 
 again reject absolute or expansive motion of the whole. 
 
 12. On account of the ready application of heat to all 
 substances without any destruction or remarkable altera- 
 tion of them, reject destructive nature or the violent com- 
 munication of any new nature. 
 
 13. On account of the agreement and conformity of the 
 effects produced by cold and heat, reject both expansive and 
 contracting motion as regards the whole. 
 
 "* This is erroneous — all metals expand considerably when heated. 
 
NOVUM OBGANUM 151 
 
 14. On account of the heat excited by friction, reject 
 principal nature, by which we mean that which exists posi- 
 tively, and is not caused by a preceding nature. 
 
 There are other natures to be rejected ; but we are merely 
 offering examples, and not perfect tables. 
 
 None of the above natures are of the form of heat; and 
 man is freed from them all in his operation upon heat. 
 
 XIX. In the exclusive table are laid the foundations of 
 true induction, which is not, however, completed until the 
 affirmative be attained. Nor is the exclusive table perfect, 
 nor can it be so at first. For it is clearly a rejection of sim- 
 ple natures ; but if we have not as yet good and just notions 
 of simple natures, how can the exclusive table be made cor- 
 rect ? Some of the above, as the notion of elementary and 
 celestial nature, and rarity, are vague and ill defined. We, 
 therefore, who are neither ignorant nor forgetful of the great 
 work which we attempt, in rendering the human understand- 
 ing adequate to things and nature, by no means rest satisfied 
 with what we have hitherto enforced, but push the matter 
 further, and contrive and prepare more powerful aid for the 
 use of the understanding, which we will next subjoin. And, 
 indeed, in the interpretation of nature the mind is to be so 
 prepared and formed, as to rest itself on proper degrees of 
 certainty, and yet to remember (especially at first) that what 
 is present depends much upon what remains behind. 
 
 XX. Since, however, truth emerges more readily from 
 error than confusion, we consider it useful to leave the un- 
 derstanding at liberty to exert itself and attempt the inter- 
 pretation of nature in the affirmative, after having con- 
 structed and weighed the three tables of preparation, such 
 as we have laid them down, both from the instances there 
 collected, and others occurring elsewhere. Which attempt 
 
152 NOVUM ORGANUM 
 
 we are wont to call the liberty of the understanding, or the 
 commencement of interpretation, or the first vintage. 
 
 The First Vintage of the Form of Heat 
 It must be observed that the form of anything is inherent 
 (as appears clearly from our premises) in each individual in- 
 stance in which the thing itself is inherent, or it would not 
 be a form. No contradictory instance, therefore, can be al- 
 leged. The form, however, is found to be much more con- 
 spicuous and evident in some instances than in others; in 
 those (for example) where its nature is less restrained and 
 embarrassed, and reduced to rule by other natures. Such 
 instances we are wont to term coruscations, or conspicuous 
 instances. We must proceed, then, to the first vintage of 
 the form of heat. 
 
 From the instances taken collectively, as well as singly, 
 the nature whose limit is heat appears to be motion. This 
 is chiefly exhibited in flame, which is in constant motion, 
 and in warm or boiling liquids, which are likewise in con- 
 stant motion. It is also shown in the excitement or increase 
 of heat by motion, as by bellows and draughts: for which 
 see Inst. 29, Tab. 3, and by other species of motion, as in 
 Inst. 28 and 31, Tab. 3. It is also shown by the extinction 
 of fire and heat upon any strong pressure, which restrains 
 and puts a stop to motion; for which see Inst. 30 and 32, 
 Tab. 3. It is further shown by this circumstance, namely, 
 that every substance is destroyed, or at least materially 
 changed, by strong and powerful fire and heat: whence it is 
 clear that tumult and confusion are occasioned by heat, to- 
 gether with a violent motion in the internal parts of bodies; 
 and this gradually tends to their dissolution. 
 
 What we have said with regard to motion must be thus 
 
NOVUM ORGANUM 153 
 
 understood, when taken as the genus of heat: it must not 
 be thought that heat generates motion, or motion heat 
 (though in some respects this be true), but that the very 
 essence of heat, or the substantial self " of heat, is motion 
 and nothing else, limited, however, by certain differences 
 which we will presently add, after giving some cautions for 
 avoiding ambiguity. 
 
 Sensible heat is relative, and regards man, not universe ; 
 and is rightly held to be merely the effect of heat on animal 
 spirit. It is even variable in itself, since the same body (in 
 different states of sensation) excites the feeling of heat and 
 of cold; this is shown by Inst. 41, Tab. 8. 
 
 Nor should we confound the communication of heat or 
 its transitive nature, by which a body grows warm at the 
 approach of a heated body, with the form of heat; for heat 
 is one thing and heating another. Heat can be excited by 
 friction without any previous heating body, and, therefore, 
 heating is excluded from the form of heat. Even when heat 
 is excited by the approach of a hot body, this depends not 
 on the form of heat, but on another more profound and com- 
 mon nature; namely, that of assimilation and multiplication, 
 about which a separate inquiry must be made. 
 
 The notion of fire is vulgar, and of no assistance; it is 
 merely compounded of the conjunction of heat and light in 
 any body, as in ordinary flame and red-hot substances. 
 
 Laying aside all ambiguity, therefore, we must lastly con- 
 sider the true differences which limit motion and render it 
 the form of heat. 
 
 I. The first difference is, that heat is an expansive 
 motion, by which the body strives to dilate itself, and to 
 
 *» "Quid ipsum," the t6 tI ^v •Irai of Aristotle. 
 
154 NOVUM OROANVM 
 
 occupy a greater space than before. This difEerence is 
 principally seen in flame, where the snaoke or thick vapor 
 is clearly dilated and bursts into flame. 
 
 It is also shown in all boiling liquids, which swell, rise, 
 and boil up to the sight, and the process of expansion is 
 urged forward till they are converted into a much more 
 extended and dilated body than the liquid itself, such as 
 steam, smoke, or air. 
 
 It is also shown in wood and combustibles where exuda- 
 tion sometimes takes place, and evaporation always. 
 
 It is also shown in the melting of metals, which, being 
 very compact, do not easily swell and dilate, but yet their 
 spirit, when dilated and desirous of further expansion, forces 
 and urges its thicker parts into dissolution, and if the heat 
 be pushed still further, reduces a considerable part of them 
 into a volatile state. 
 
 It is also shown in iron or stones, which though not 
 melted or dissolved, are however softened. The same cir- 
 cumstance takes place in sticks of wood, which become flexi- 
 ble when a little heated in warm ashes. 
 
 It is most readily observed in air, which instantly and 
 manifestly expands with a small degree of heat, as in Inst. 
 38, Tab. 8. 
 
 It is also shown in the contrary nature of cold ; for cold 
 contracts and narrows every substance;" so that in intense 
 frosts nails fall out of the wall and brass cracks, and heated 
 glass exposed suddenly to the cold cracks and breaks. So 
 
 " To show the error of the text, we need only mention the case of water, 
 which, when confined in corked vaaea, and exposed to the action of a freezing 
 atmosphere, is sure to swell out and break those vessels which are not suffi- 
 ciently large to contain its expanded volume. Megalotti narrates a hundred 
 other instances of a similar character. — Ed. 
 
NOVUM OBOANUM 155 
 
 the air, by a Blight degree of cold, contracts itself, as in 
 Inst. 88, Tab. 8. More will be said of this in the inquiry 
 into cold. 
 
 Nor is it to be wondered at if cold and heat exhibit many 
 common eflEects (for which see Inst. 82, Tab. 2), since two 
 differences, of which we shall presently speak, belong to 
 each nature : although in the present diflEerence the effects 
 be diametrically opposed to each other. For heat occasions 
 an expansive and dilating motion, but cold a contracting and 
 condensing motion. 
 
 II. The second difference is, a modification of the preced- 
 ing, namely, that heat is an expansive motion, tending 
 toward the exterior, but at the same time bearing the body 
 upward. For there is no doubt that there be many com- 
 pound motions, as an arrow or dart, for instance, has both 
 a rotatory and progressive motion. In the same way the 
 motion of heat is both expansive and tending upward. 
 
 This difEerence is shown by putting the tongs or poker 
 into the fire. If placed perpendicularly with the hand 
 above, they soon burn it, but much less speedily if the 
 hand hold them sloping or from below. 
 
 It is also conspicuous in distillations per descensum, which 
 men are wont to employ with delicate flowers, whose scent 
 easily evaporates. Their industry has devised placing the 
 fire above instead of below, that it may scorch less ; for not 
 only flame but all heat has an upward tendency. 
 
 Let an experiment be made on the Contrary nature of 
 cold, whether its contraction be downward, as the expansion 
 of heat is upward. Take, therefore, two iron rods or two 
 glass tubes, alike in other respects, and warm them a little, 
 and place a sponge, dipped in cold water, or some snow, be- 
 low the one and above the other. We are of opinion that 
 
156 NOVUM OBGANUM 
 
 the extremities will grow cold in that rod first where it is 
 placed beneath, as the contrary takes place with regard to 
 heat. 
 
 III. The third difference is this; that heat is not a uni- 
 form expansive motion of the whole, but of the small par- 
 ticles of the body; and this motion being at the same time 
 restrained, repulsed, and reflected, becomes alternating, per- 
 petually hurrying, striving, struggling, and irritated by the 
 repercussion, which is the source of the violence of flame 
 and heat. 
 
 But this difference is chiefly shown in flame and boiling 
 liquids, which always hurry, swell, and subside again in de- 
 tached parts. 
 
 It is also shown in bodies of such hard texture as not 
 to swell or dilate in bulk, such as red-hot iron, in which 
 the heat is most violent. 
 
 It is also shown by the fires burning most briskly in the 
 coldest weather. 
 
 It is also shown by this, that when the air is dilated in 
 the thermometer uniformly and equably, without any im- 
 pediment or repulsion, the heat is not perceptible. In con- 
 fined draughts also, although they break out very violently, 
 no remarkable heat is perceived, because the motion affects 
 the whole, without any alternating motion in the particles; 
 for which reason try whether flame do not burn more at the 
 sides than in its centre. 
 
 It is also shown in this, that all burning proceeds by 
 the minute pores of bodies — undermining, penetrating, 
 piercing, and pricking them as if with an infinite number 
 of needle-points. Hence all strong acids (if adapted to the 
 body on which they act) exhibit the effects of fire, from 
 their corroding and pungent nature. 
 
NOVUM OBQANUM 157 
 
 The difference of which we now speak is common also 
 to the nature of cold, in which the contracting motion is 
 restrained by the resistance of expansion, as in heat the ex- 
 pansive motion is restrained by the resistance of contraction. 
 
 Whether, therefore, the particles of matter penetrate 
 inward or outward, the reasoning is the same, though the 
 power be very different, because we have nothing on earth 
 which is intensely cold. 
 
 lY. The fourth difference is a modification of the pre- 
 ceding, namely, that this stimulating or penetrating motion 
 should be rapid and never sluggish, and should take place 
 not in the very minutest particles, but rather in those of 
 some tolerable dimensions. 
 
 It is shown by comparing the effects of fire with those 
 of time. Time dries, consumes, undermines, and reduces to 
 ashes as well as fire, and perhaps to a much finer degree; 
 but as its motion is very slow, and attacks very minute 
 particles, no heat is perceived. 
 
 It is also shown in a comparison of the dissolution of 
 iron and gold ; for gold is dissolved without the excitement 
 of any heat, but iron with a vehement excitement of it, 
 although most in the same time, because in the former the 
 penetration of the separating acid is mild, and gently in- 
 sinuates itself, and the particles of gold yield easily, but 
 the penetration of iron is violent, and attended with some 
 struggle, and its particles are more obstinate. 
 
 It is partially shown, also, in some gangrenes and morti- 
 fications of flesh, which do not excite great heat or pain, 
 from the gentle nature of the putrefaction. 
 
 Let this suffice for a first vintage, or the commencement 
 of the interpretation of the form of heat by the liberty of 
 the understanding. 
 
158 NOVUM OBOANUM 
 
 From this first vintage the form or true definition of heat 
 (considered relatively to the universe and not to the sense) 
 is briefly thus — Heat is an expansive motion restrained, and 
 striving to exert itself in the smaller particles." The ex- 
 pansion is modified by its tendency to rise, though expand- 
 ing toward the exterior; and the effort is modified by its not 
 being sluggish, but active and somewhat violent. 
 
 With regard to the operative definition, the matter is the 
 same. If you are able to excite a dilating or expansive 
 motion in any natural body, and so to repress that motion 
 and force it on itself as not to allow the expansion to pro- 
 ceed equally, but only to be partially exerted and partially 
 repressed, you will beyond all doubt produce heat, without 
 any consideration as to whether the body be of earth (or 
 elementary, as they term it), or imbued with celestial in- 
 fluence, luminous or opaque, rare or dense, locally expanded 
 
 V^ '« Bacon's inquisition into the nature of heat, as an example of the mode of 
 interpreting nature, cannot he looked upon otherwise than as a complete failure. 
 Though the exact nature of this phenomenon is still an obscure and contro- 
 verted matter, the science of thermotics now consists of many important truths, 
 and to none of these truths is there so much as an approximation in Bacon's 
 process. The steps by which this science really advanced were the discovery 
 of a measure of a heat or temperature, the establishment of the laws of con- 
 duction and radiation, of the laws of specific heat, latent heat, and the like. 
 Such advances have led to Ampere's hypothesis, that heat consists in the vibra- 
 tions of an imponderable fluid; and to Laplace's theory, that temperature con- 
 sists in the internal radiation of a similar medium. These hypotheses cannot 
 yet be said to be even probable, but at least they are so modified as to Include 
 some of the preceding laws which are firmly established, whereas Bacon's 
 "form," or true definition of heat, as stated in the text, includes no laws of 
 phenomena, explains no process, and is indeed itself an example of illicit gen- 
 eralization. 
 
 In all the details of his example of heat he is unfortunate. He includes in 
 his collection of instances, the hot tastes of aromatic plants, the caustic effects 
 of acids, and many other facts which cannot be ascribed to heat without a stu- 
 dious laxity in the use of the word. — Ed. 
 
NOVUM OBGANUM 159 
 
 or contained within the bounds of its first dinaensions, verg- 
 ing to dissolution or remaining fixed, animal, vegetable, or 
 mineral, water, or oil, or air, or any oAer substance what- 
 ever susceptible of such motion. Sensible heat is the same, 
 but considered relatively to the senses. Let us now proceed 
 to further helps. 
 -^ XXI. After our tables of first review, our rejection or 
 exclusive table, and the first vintage derived from them, we 
 must advance to the remaining helps of the understanding 
 with regard to the interpretation of nature, and a true and 
 perfect induction, in ofEering which we will take the exam- 
 ples of cold and heat where tables are necessary, but where 
 fewer instances are required we will go through a variety 
 of others, so as neither to confound investigation nor to 
 narrow our doctrine. 
 
 In the first place, therefore, we will treat of prerogative 
 instances ;" 2. Of the supports of induction ; 3. Of the cot- 
 
 s' By this term Bacon understands general phenomena, taken in order from 
 the great mass of indiscriminative facts, which, as they he in nature, are apt 
 to generate confusion by their number, indistinctness and comphcation. Such 
 classes of phenomena, as being pecuharly suggestive of causation, he quaintly 
 classes under the title of prerogative inquiries, either seduced by the fanciful 
 analogy, which such instances bore to the prerogativa ceninria in the Roman 
 Comitia, or justly considering them as Herschel supposes to hold a kind of 
 prerogative dignity from being peculiarly suggestive of causation. 
 
 Two high authorities in physical science (v. Herschel, Nat. Phil., art. 192; 
 Whewell's Philosophy of the Inductive Sciences, vol. ii. p. 243) pronounce 
 these instances of little service in the task of induction, being for the most part 
 classed not according to the ideas which Ihey involve, or to any obvious cir- 
 cumstance in the facts of which they consist, but according to the extent and 
 manner of their influence upon the inquiry in which they are employed. Thus 
 we have solitary instances, migrating instances, ostensive instances, clandestine 
 instances, so termed according to the degree in which they exhibit, or seem to 
 exhibit, the property, whose nature we would examine. We have guide-post 
 instances, crucial instances, instances of the parted road, of the doorway, of the 
 lamp, according to the guidance they supply to our advance. Whewell remarks 
 
160 NOVUM OBOANUM 
 
 rection of induction; 4. Of varying the investigation ac- 
 cording to the nature of the subject; 5. Of the prerogative 
 natures with respect to investigation, or of what should be 
 the first or last objects of our research; 6. Of the limits of 
 investigation, or a synopsis of all natures that exist in the 
 universe; 7. Of the application to practical purposes, or of 
 what relates to man; 8. Of the preparations for investiga- 
 tion; 9. And lastly, of the ascending and descending scale 
 of axioms. °° 
 
 XXII. Among the prerogative instances we will first 
 mention solitary instances. Solitary instances are those 
 which exhibit the required nature in subjects that have 
 nothing in common with any other subject than the nature 
 in question, or which do not exhibit the required nature in 
 subjects resembling others in every respect except that 
 of the nature in question; for these instances manifestly 
 remove prolixity, and accelerate and confirm exclusion, so 
 that a few of them are of as much avail as many. 
 
 For instance, let the inquiry be the nature of color. 
 Prisms, crystalline gems, which yield colors not only inter- 
 nally but on the wall, dews, etc., are solitary instances; for 
 
 that such a classification is much of the same nature as if, having to teach the 
 art of building, we were to describe tools with reference to the amount and place 
 of the work which they must do, instead of pointing out their construction and 
 use ; as if we were to inform the pupil that we must have tools for lifting a 
 stone up, tools for moving it sidewise, tools for laying it square, and tools for 
 cementing it firmly. The means are thus lost in the end, and we reap the fruits 
 of unmethodical arrangement in the confusion of cross division. In addition, 
 all the instances are leavened with the error of confounding the laws with the 
 causes of phenomena, and we are urged to adopt the fundamental error of 
 seeking therein the universal agents, or general causes of phenomena, without 
 ascending the gradual steps of intermediate laws. — Ed. 
 
 88 Of these nine general heads no more than the first is prosecuted by the 
 author. 
 
NOVUM OBGANUM 161 
 
 they have nothing in common with the fixed colors in 
 flowers and colored gems, metals, woods, etc., except the 
 color itself. Hence we easily deduce that color is nothing 
 but a modification of the image of the incident and absorbed 
 light, occasioned in the former case by the different degrees 
 of incidence, in the latter by the various textures and forms 
 of bodies." These are solitary instances as regards simili- 
 tude. 
 
 Again, in the same inquiry the distinct veins of white 
 and black in marble, and the variegated colors of flowers of 
 the same species, are solitary instances; for the black and 
 white of marble, and the spots of white and purple in the 
 flowers of the stock, agree in every respect but that of color. 
 Thence we easily deduce that color has not much to do with 
 the intrinsic natures of any body, but depends only on the 
 coarser and as it were mechanical arrangement of the parts. 
 These are solitary instances as regards difference. We call 
 them both solitary or wild, to borrow a word from the 
 astronomers. 
 
 XXIII. In the second rank of prerogative instances we 
 will consider migrating instances. In these the required 
 nature passes toward generation, having no previous exist- 
 ence, or toward corruption, having first existed. In each 
 of these divisions, therefore, the instances are always two- 
 fold, or rather it is one instance, first in motion or on its 
 passage, and then brought to the opposite conclusion. 
 These instances not only hasten and confirm exclusion, but 
 also reduce affirmation, or the form itself, to a narrow com- 
 
 5; for the form must be something conferred by this 
 
 " This very nearly approaches to Sir 1. Newton's discoveiTr of the decom- 
 pontion of light by the prism. 
 
162 ^ NOVUM OBQANUM 
 
 migration, or, on the contrary, removed and destroyed by 
 it; and although all exclusion advances affirmation, yet this 
 takes place more directly in the same than in different sub- 
 jects; but if the form (as it is quite clear from what has 
 been advanced) exhibit itself in one subject, it leads to all. 
 The more simple the migration is, the more valuable is the 
 instance. These migrating instances are, moreover, very 
 useful in practice, for since they manifest the form, coupled 
 with that which causes or destroys it, they point out the 
 right practice in some subjects, and thence there is an easy 
 transition to those with which they are most allied. There 
 is, however, a degree of danger which demands caution, 
 namely, lest they should refer the form too much to its 
 efficient cause, and imbue, or at least tinge, the understand- 
 ing with a false notion of the form from the appearance of 
 such cause, which is never more than a vehicle or convey- 
 ance of the form. This may easily be remedied by a proper 
 application of exclusion. 
 
 Let us then give an example of a migrating instance. 
 Let whiteness be the required nature. An instance which 
 passes toward generation is glass in its entire and in its 
 powdered state, or water in its natural state, and when 
 agitated to froth; for glass when entire, and water in its 
 natural state, are transparent and not white, but powdered 
 glass and the froth of water are white and not transparent. 
 We must inquire, therefore, what has happened to the glass 
 or water in the course of this migration ; for it is manifest 
 that the form of whiteness is conveyed and introduced by 
 the bruising of the glass and the agitation of the water; 
 but nothing is found to have been introduced but a dimin- 
 ishing of the parts of the glass and water and the insertion 
 of air. Yet this is no slight progress toward discovering 
 
NOVUM OR0ANUM 163 
 
 the form of whiteness, namely, that two bodies, in them- 
 selves more or less transparent (as air and water, or air and 
 glass), when brought into contact in minute portions, ex- 
 hibit whiteness from the unequal refraction of the rays 
 of light. 
 
 But here we must also give an example of the danger 
 and caution of which we spoke ; for instance, it will readily 
 occur to an understanding perverted by efficients, that air is 
 always necessary for producing the form of whiteness, or 
 that whiteness is only generated by transparent bodies, which 
 suppositions are both false, and proved to be so by many 
 exclusions; nay, it will rather appear (without any particu- 
 lar regard to air or the like), that all bodies which are even 
 in such of their parts as afEect the sight exhibit transparency, 
 those which are uneven and of simple texture whiteness, those 
 which are uneven and of compound but regular texture all 
 the other colors except black, but those which are uneven 
 and of a compound irregular and confused texture exhibit 
 blackness. An example has been given, therefore, of an in- 
 stance migrating toward generation in the required nature of 
 whiteness. An instance migrating toward corruption in the 
 same nature is that of dissolving froth or snow, for they lose 
 their whiteness and assume the transparency of water in its 
 pure state without air. 
 
 Nor should we by any means omit to state, that under 
 migrating instances we must comprehend not only those 
 which pass toward generation and destruction, but also those 
 which pass toward increase or decrease, for they, too, assist 
 in the discovery of the form, as is clear from our definition 
 of a form and the Table of Degrees. Hence paper, which is 
 white when dry, is less white when moistened (from the ex- 
 clusion of air and admission of water), and tends more to 
 
164 NOVUM OBGANUM 
 
 transparency. The reason is the same as in the above in- 
 stances." 
 
 XXIY. In the third rank of prerogative instances we 
 will class conspicuous instances, of which we spoke in our 
 first vintage of the form of heat, and which we are also wont 
 to call coruscations, or free and predominant instances. 
 They are such as show the required nature in its bare sub- 
 stantial shape, and at its height or greatest degree of power, 
 emancipated and free from all impediments, or at least over- 
 coming, suppressing, and restraining them by the strength 
 of its qualities; for since every body is susceptible of many 
 united forms of natures in the concrete, the consequence is 
 that they mutually deaden, depress, break, and confine each 
 other, and the individual forms are obscured. But there are 
 some subjects in which the required nature exists in its full 
 vigor rather than in others, either from the absence of any 
 impediment, or the predominance of its quality. Such in- 
 stances are eminently conspicuous. But even in these care 
 must be taken, and the hastiness of the understanding 
 checked, for whatever makes a show of the form, and forces 
 it forward, is to be suspected, and recourse must be had to 
 severe and diligent exclusion. 
 
 For example, let heat be the required nature. The ther- 
 mometer is a conspicuous instance of the expansive motion, 
 which (as has been observed) constitutes the chief part of 
 the form of heat; for although flame clearly exhibits expan- 
 sion, yet from its being extinguished every moment, it does 
 not exhibit the progress of expansion. Boiling water again, 
 
 ■•» The mineral kingdom, aa displaying the same nature in all its gradations, 
 from the shells so perfect in structure in limestone to the finer marbles in 
 which their nature gradually disappears, is the great theatre for instances 
 of migration. — Ed. 
 
NOVUM OBOANUM 165 
 
 from its rapid conversion into vapor, does not so well exhibit 
 the expansion of water in its own shape, while red-hot iron 
 and the like are so far from showing this progress, that, on 
 the contrary, the expansion itself is scarcely evident to the 
 senses, on account of its spirit being repressed and weakened 
 by the compact and coarse particles which subdue and re- 
 strain it. But the thermometer strikingly exhibits the ex- 
 pansion of the air as being evident and progressive, durable 
 and not transitory." 
 
 Take another example. Let the required nature be 
 weight. Quicksilver is a conspicuous instance of weight; 
 for it is far heavier than any other substance except gold, 
 which is not much heavier, and it is a better instance than 
 gold for the purpose of indicating the form of weight ; for 
 gold is solid and consistent, which qualities must be referred 
 to density, but quicksilver is liquid and teeming with spirit, 
 yet much heavier than the diamond and other substances 
 considered to be most solid; whence it is shown that the 
 form of gravity or weight predominates only in the quantity 
 of matter, and not in the close fitting of it." 
 
 XXV. In the fourth rank of prerogative instances we 
 will class clandestine instances, which we are also wont to 
 
 ^' Bacon was not aware of the fact since brought to light by Eomer, that 
 down to fourteen fathoms from the earth's mean level the thermometer remains 
 fixed at the tenth degree, but that as the thermometer descends below that 
 depth the heat increases in a ratio proportionate to the descent, which happens 
 with little variation in aU climates. BuSon considers this a proof of a central 
 fire in our planet. — Ed. 
 
 '' All the diversities of bodies depend upon two principles, i.e., the quantity 
 and the position of the elements that enter into their composition. The primary 
 difference is not that which depends on the greatest or least quantity of ma- 
 terial elements, but that which depends on their position. It was the quick 
 perception of this truth that made Leibnitz say that to complete mathematics it 
 was necessary to join to the analysis of quantity the analysis of position. — Ed, 
 
166 NOVUM OBGANUM 
 
 call twilight instances; they are as it were opposed to the 
 conspicuous instances, for they show the required nature in 
 its lowest state of efficacy, and as it were its cradle and first 
 rudiments, making an e£Eort and a sort of first attempt, but 
 concealed and subdued by a contrary nature. Such in- 
 stances are, however, of great importance in discovering 
 forms, for as the conspicuous tend easily to differences, so 
 do the clandestine best lead to genera, that is, td those com- 
 mon natures of which the required natures are only the 
 limits. 
 
 As an example, let consistency, or that which confines 
 itself, be the required nature, the opposite of which is a 
 liquid or flowing state. The clandestine instances are such 
 as exhibit some weak and low degree of consistency in 
 fluids, as a water bubble, which is a sort of consistent and 
 bounded pellicle formed out of the substance of the water. 
 So eaves' droppings, if there be enough water to follow 
 them, draw themselves out into a thin thread, not to break 
 the continuity of the water, but if there be not enough to 
 follow, the water forms itself into a round drop, which is the 
 best form to prevent a breach of continuity; and at the mo- 
 ment the thread ceases, and the water begins to fall in drops, 
 the thread of water recoils upward to avoid such a breach. 
 Nay, in metals, which when melted are liquid but more 
 tenacious, the melted drops often recoil and are suspended. 
 There is something similar in the instance of the child's look- 
 ing-glass, which little boys will sometimes form of spittle 
 between rushes, and where the same pellicle of water is ob- 
 servable; and still more in that other amusement of children, 
 when they take some water rendered a little more tenacious 
 by soap, and inflate it with a pipe, forming the water into a 
 sort of castle of bubbles, which assumes such consistency, 
 
NOVUM OBQANUM 167 
 
 by the interposition of the air, as to admit of being thrown 
 some little distance without bursting. The best example is 
 that of froth and snow, which assume such consistency aa 
 almost to admit of being cut, although composed of air and 
 water, both liquids. All these circumstances clearly show 
 that the terms liquid and consistent are merely vulgar no- 
 tions adapted to the sense, and that in reality all bodies have 
 a tendency to avoid a breach of continuity, faint and weak 
 in bodies composed of homogeneous parts (as is the case with 
 liquids), but more vivid and powerful in those composed of 
 heterogeneous parts, because the approach of heterogeneous 
 matter binds bodies together, while the insinuation of homo- 
 geneous matter loosens and relaxes them. 
 
 Again, to take another example, let the required nature 
 be attraction or the cohesion of bodies. The most remark- 
 able conspicuous instance with regard to its form is the mag- 
 net. The contrary nature to attraction is non-attraction, 
 though in a similar substance. Thus iron does not attract 
 iron, lead lead, wood wood, nor water water. But the clan- 
 destine instance is that of the magnet armed with iron, or 
 rather that of iron in the magnet so armed. For its nature 
 is such that the magnet when armed does not attract iron 
 more powerfully at any given distance than when unarmed; 
 but if the iron be brought in contact with the armed magnet, 
 the latter will sustain a much greater weight than the simple 
 magnet, from the resemblance of substance in the two por- 
 tions of iron, a quality altogether clandestine and hidden in 
 the iron until the magnet was introduced. It is manifest, 
 therefore, that the form of cohesion is something which is 
 vivid and robust in the magnet, and bidden and weak in the 
 iron. It is to be observed, also, that small wooden arrows 
 without an iron point, when discharged from large mortars, 
 
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NOVUM ORGANUM 169 
 
 XXYI. In the fifth rank of prerogative instances we will 
 class constitutive instances, which we are wont also to call 
 collective instances. They constitute a species or lesser 
 form, as it were, of the required nature. For since the real 
 forms (which are always convertible with the given nature) 
 lie at some depth, and are not easily discovered, the neces- 
 sity of the case and the infirmity of the human understand- 
 ing require that the particular forms, which collect certain 
 groups of instances (but by no means all) into some common 
 notion, should not be neglected, but most diligently ob- 
 served. For whatever unites nature, even imperfectly, 
 opens the way to the discovery of the form. The in- 
 stances, therefore, which are serviceable in this respect 
 are of no mean power, but endowed with some degree of 
 prerogative. 
 
 Here, nevertheless, great care must be taken that, after 
 the discovery of several of these particular forms, and the 
 establishing of certain partitions or divisions of the required 
 nature derived from them, the human understanding do not 
 at once rest satisfied, without preparing for the investiga- 
 tion of the great or leading form, and taking it for granted 
 that nature is compound and divided from its very root, de- 
 spise and reject any further union as a point of superfluous 
 refinement, and tending to mere abstraction. 
 
 For instance, let the required nature be memory, or that 
 
 "Tenuatus in auras 
 
 Aeraque humor abit, etc., etc. 
 
 Inde retro redeunt, idemque retexitur ordo." — xv. 246-249. 
 
 and Seneca, in the third book of his Natural Philosophy, quest, iv., states the 
 opinion in more precise language than either the ancient bard or the modem 
 philosopher. — Ed. 
 
170 NOVUM OBGANUM 
 
 which excites and assists memory. The constitutive in- 
 stances are order or distribution, which manifestly assists 
 memory: topics or commonplaces in artificial memory, 
 which may be either places in their literal sense, as a gate, 
 a corner, a window, and the like, or familiar persons and 
 marks, or anything else (provided it be arranged in a deter- 
 minate order), as animals, plants, and words, letters, char- 
 acters, historical persons, and the like, of which, however, 
 some are more convenient than others. All these common- 
 places materially assist memory, and raise it far above its 
 natural strength. Verse, too, is recollected and learned 
 more easily than prose. From this group of three instances 
 — order, the commonplaces of artificial memory, and verses 
 — is constituted one species of aid for the memory," which 
 may be well termed a separation from infinity. For when 
 a man strives to recollect or recall anything to memory, 
 without a preconceived notion or perception of the object 
 of his search, he inquires about, and labors, and turns from 
 point to point, as if involved in infinity. But if he have 
 any preconceived notion, this infinity is separated off, and 
 the range of his memory is brought within closer limits. 
 In the three instances given above, the preconceived notion 
 is clear and determined. In the first, it must be something 
 that agrees with order; in the second, an image which has 
 some relation or agreement with the fixed commonplaces; 
 in the third, words which fall into a verse: and thus infinity 
 is divided off. Other instances will offer another species, 
 namely, that whatever brings the intellect into contact with 
 
 « The author's own system of Memoria Teohnica may be found in the De 
 Augmentis, chap. xv. We may add that, notwithstanding Bacon's assertion 
 that he intended his method to apply to religion, politics, and morals, this is 
 the only lengthy illustration he has adduced of any subject out of the domain 
 of physical science. — Ed. 
 
NOVUM ORGANUM 171 
 
 something that strikes the sense (the principal point of 
 artificial memory), assists the memory. Others again offer 
 another species, namely, whatever excites an impression 
 by any powerful passion, as fear, shame, wonder, delight, 
 assists the memory. Other instances will afford another 
 species: thus those impressions remain most fixed in the 
 memory which are taken from the mind when clear 'and 
 least occupied by preceding or succeeding notions, such as 
 the things we learn in childhood, or imagine before sleep, 
 and the first time of any circumstance happening. Other 
 instances afford the following species: namely, that a mul- 
 titude of circumstances or handles assist the memory, such 
 as writing in paragraphs, reading aloud, or recitation. 
 Lastly, other instances afford still another species: thus 
 the things we anticipate, and which rouse our attention, 
 are more easily remembered than transient events; as if 
 you read any work twenty times over, you will not learn 
 it by heart so readily as if you were to read it but ten 
 times, trying each time to repeat it, and when your memory 
 fails you looking into the book. There are, therefore, six 
 lesser forms, as it were, of things which assist the memory: 
 namely — 1, the separation of infinity; 2, the connection of 
 the mind with the senses; 3, the impression in strong 
 passion; 4, the impression on the mind when pure; 5, the 
 multitude of handles; 6, anticipation. 
 
 Again, for example's sake, let the required nature be 
 taste or the power of tasting. The following instances are 
 coastitutive: 1. Those who do not smell, but are deprived 
 by nature of that sense, do not perceive or distinguish rancid 
 or putrid food by their taste, nor garlic from roses, and the 
 like. 2. Again, those whose nostrils are obstructed by 
 
 accident (such as a cold) do not distinguish any putrid or 
 
 sciBNOE— "Vol. a3— 8 
 
172 NOVUM OBQANUM 
 
 rancid matter from anything sprinkled with rose-water. 
 3. If those who suffer from a cold blow their noses vio- 
 lently at the very moment in which they have anything 
 fetid or perfumed in their mouth, or on their palate, they 
 instantly have a clear perception of the fetor or perfume. 
 These instances afford and constitute this species or division 
 of taste, namely, that it is in part nothing else than an in- 
 ternal smelling, passing and descending through the upper 
 passages of the nostrils to the mouth and palate. But, on 
 the other hand, those whose power of smelling is deficient 
 or obstructed, perceive what is salt, sweet, pungent, acid, 
 rough, and bitter, and the like, as well as any one else: so 
 that the taste is clearly something compounded of the in- 
 ternal smelling, and an exquisite species of touch which 
 we will not here discuss. 
 
 Again, as another example, let the required nature be 
 the communication of quality, without intermixture of sub- 
 stance. The instance of light will afford or constitute one 
 species of communication, heat and the magnet another. 
 For the communication of light is momentary and imme- 
 diately arrested upon the removal of the original light. 
 But heat, and the magnetic force, when once transmitted 
 to or excited in another body, remain fixed for a consider- 
 able time after the removal of the source. 
 
 In fine, the prerogative of constitutive instances is con- 
 siderable, for they materially assist the definitions (especially 
 in detail) and the divisions or partitions of natures, concern- 
 ing which Plato has well said, "He who can properly define 
 and divide is to be considered a god. ' ' " 
 
 *' The collective instances here meant are no other than general facts or 
 laws of some degree of generality, and are themselves the result of induction. 
 For example, the system of Jupiter, or Saturn with its satellites, is a collective 
 
NOVUM ORGANUM 173 
 
 XXVIl. In the sixth rank of prerogative instances we 
 will place similar or proportionate instances, which we are 
 also wont to call physical parallels, or resemblances. They 
 are such as exhibit the resemblances and connection of 
 things, not in minor forms (as the constitutive do), but at 
 once in the concrete. They are, therefore, as it were, the 
 first and lowest steps toward the union of nature; nor do 
 they immediately establish any axiom, but merely indicate 
 and observe a certain relation of bodies to each other. But 
 
 instance, and materially assisted in securing the admission ot the Copernican 
 system. We have here in miniature, and displayed at one view, a system anal- 
 ogous to that of the planets about the sun, of which, from the circumstance of 
 our being involved in it, and unfavorably situated for seeing it otherwise than 
 in detail, we are incapacitated from forming a general idea, but by slow and 
 progressive efforts of reason. 
 
 But there is a species of collective instance which Bacon does not seem to 
 have contemplated, in which particular phenomena are presented in such num- 
 bers at once, as to make the induction of their law a matter of ocular inspec- 
 tion. For example, the parabolic form assumed by a jet of water spouted out 
 of a hole is a collective instance of the velocities and directions of the motions 
 of all the particles which compose it seen together, and which thus leads us 
 without trouble to recognize the law of the motion of a projectile. Again, the 
 beautiful figures exhibited by sand strewed on regular plates of glass or metal 
 set in vibration, are collective instances of an infinite number of points which 
 remain at rest while the remainder of the plate vibrates, and in consequence 
 afiord us an insight into the law which regulates their arrangement and se- 
 quence throughout the whole surface. The richly colored lemniscates seen 
 around the optic axis of crystals exposed to polarized light afford a striking 
 instance of the same kind, pointing at once to the general mathematical expres- 
 sion of the law which regulates their production. Such collective instances as 
 these lead us to a general law by an induction which offers itseU spontaneously, 
 and thus furnish advanced posts in philosophical exploration. The laws of 
 Kepler, which Bacon ignored on account of his want of mathematical taste, 
 may be cited as a coUeetive instance. The first is, that the planets move in 
 elliptical orbits, having the sun for their common focus. The second, that 
 about this focus the radius vector of each planet describes equal areas in equal 
 times. The third, that the squares of the periodic times of the planets are as 
 the cubes of their mean distance from the sun. This collective instance "opened 
 the way" to the discovery of the Newtonian law of gravitation. — Ed. 
 
iY4: NOVUM OBGANUM 
 
 although they be not of mach assistance in discovering 
 forms, yet they are 6f great advantage in disclosing the 
 frame of parts of the universe, upon whose members they 
 practice a species of anatomy, and thence occasionally lead 
 us gently on to sublime and noble axioms, especially such 
 as relate to the construction of the world, rather than to 
 simple natures and forms. 
 
 As an example, take the following similar instances: a 
 mirror and the eye; the formation of the ear, and places 
 which return an echo. Prom such similarity, besides ob- 
 serving the resemblance (which is useful for many pur- 
 poses), it is easy to collect and form this axiom. That 
 the organs of the senses, and bodies which produce reflec- 
 tions to the senses, are of a similar nature. Again, the 
 understanding once informed of this, rises easily to a higher 
 and nobler axiom ; namely, that the only distinction between 
 sensitive and inanimate bodies, in those points in which 
 they agree and sympathize, is this: in the former, animal 
 spirit is added to the arrangement of the body, in the latter 
 it is wanting. So that there might be as many senses in 
 animals as there are points of agreement with inanimate 
 bodies, if the animated body were perforated, so as to allow 
 the spirit to have access to the limb properly disposed for 
 action, as a fit organ. And, on the other hand, there are, 
 without doubt, as many motions in an inanimate as^there 
 are senses in the animated body, though the animal spirit 
 be absent. There must, however, be many more motions 
 in inanimate, bodies than senses in the animated, from the 
 small number of organs of sense. A very plain example 
 of this is afforded by pains. For, as animals are liable to 
 many kinds and various descriptions of pains (such as those 
 of burning, of intense cold, of pricking, squeezing, stretch- 
 
NOVUM ORGANUM 175 
 
 ing, and the like), so is it most certain, that the same cir- 
 cumstances, as far as motion is concerned, happen to inani- 
 mate bodies, such as wood or stone when burned, frozen, 
 pricked, out, bent, bruised, and the like; although there be 
 no sensation, owing to the absence of animal spirit. 
 
 Again, wonderful as it may appear, the roots and 
 branches of trees are similar instances. For every vege- 
 table swells and throws out its constituent parts toward 
 the circumference, both upward and downward. And there 
 is no difference between the roots and branches, except 
 that the root is buried in the earth, and the branches are 
 exposed to the air and sun. For if one take a young and 
 vigorous shoot, and bend it down to a small portion of loose 
 earth, although it be not fixed to the ground, yet will it 
 immediately produce a root, and not a branch. And, vice 
 versd, if earth be placed above, and so forced down with 
 a stone or any hard substance, as to confine the plant and 
 prevent its branching upward, it will throw out branches 
 into the air downward. 
 
 The gums of trees, and most rock gems, are similar in- 
 stances; for both of them are exudations and filtered juices, 
 derived in the former instance from trees, in the latter from 
 stones ; the brightness and clearness of both arising from a 
 delicate and accurate filtering. For nearly the same reason, 
 the hair of animals is less beautiful and vivid in its color 
 than the plumage of most birds, because the juices are less 
 delicately filtered through the skin than through the' quills. 
 
 The scrotum of males and matrix of females are also 
 similar instances; so that the noble formation which consti- 
 tutes the difference of the sexes appears to differ only as 
 to the one being internal and the other external ; a greater 
 degree of heat causing the genitals to protrude in the male, 
 
176 ' NOVUM OBGANUM 
 
 while the heat of the female being too weak to effect this, 
 they are retained internally. 
 
 The fins of fishes and the feet of quadrupeds, or the feet 
 and wings of birds, are similar instances ; to which Aristotle 
 adds the four folds in the motion of serpents ;" so that in 
 the formation of the universe, the motion of animals appears 
 to be chiefly effected by four joints or bendings. 
 
 The teeth of land animals, and the beaks of birds, are 
 similar instances, whence it is clear, that in all perfect 
 animals there is a determination of some hard substance 
 toward the mouth. 
 
 Again, the resemblance and conformity of man to an 
 inverted plant is not absurd. For the head is the root of 
 the nerves and animal faculties, and the seminal parts are 
 the lowest, not including the extremities of the legs and 
 arms. But in the plant, the root (which resembles the head) 
 is regularly placed in the lowest, and the seeds in the high- 
 est part." 
 
 Lastly, we must particularly recommend and suggest, 
 that man's present industry in the investigation and com- 
 pilation of natural history be entirely changed, and directed 
 to the reverse of the present system. For it has hitherto 
 been active and curious in noting the variety of things, and 
 explaining the accurate differences of animals, vegetables, 
 and minerals, most of which are the mere sport of nature, 
 rather than of any real utility as concerns the sciences. 
 
 ^ Is not thia very hasty generalization ? Do serpents move with four folds 
 only ? Observe also the motion of centipedes and other insects. 
 
 *' Shaw states another point of difiereuce between the objects cited in the 
 text — animals having their roots within, while plants have theirs without ; for 
 their laeteals nearly correspond with the fibres of the roots in plants; so that 
 animals seem nourished within themselves as plants are without. — Ed. 
 
NOVUM OBGANVM 111 
 
 Pursuits of this nature are certainly agreeable, and some- 
 times of practical advantage, but contribute little or nothing 
 to the thorough investigation of nature. Our labor must 
 therefore be directed toward inquiring into and observing 
 resemblances and analogies, both in the whole and its parts, 
 for they unite nature, and lay the foundation of the sciences. 
 
 Here, however, a severe and rigorous caution must be 
 observed, that we only consider as similar and proportionate 
 instances, those which (as we first observed) point out 
 - physical resemblances; that is, real and substantial resem- 
 blances, deeply founded in nature, and not casual and 
 superficial, much less superstitious or curious; such as 
 those which are constantly put forward by the writers on 
 natural magic (the most idle of men, and who are scarcely 
 fit to be named in connection with such serious matters as 
 we now treat of), who, with much vanity and folly, describe, 
 and sometimes too, invent, unmeaning resemblances and 
 sympathies. 
 
 But leaving such to themselves, similar instances are 
 not to be neglected, in the greater portions of the world's 
 conformation; such as Africa and the Peruvian continent, 
 which reaches to the Straits of Magellan; both of which 
 possess a similar isthmus and similar capes, a circumstance 
 not to be attributed to mere accident. 
 
 Again, the New and Old World are both of them broad 
 and expanded toward the north, and narrow and pointed 
 toward the south. 
 
 Again, we have very remarkable similar instances in the 
 intense cold, toward the middle regions (as it is termed) of 
 the air, and the violent fires which are often found to burst 
 from subterraneous spots, the similarity consisting in both 
 being ends and extremes; the extreme of the nature of cold, 
 
178 NOVUM OBGANUM 
 
 for instance, is toward the boundary of heaven, and that of 
 the nature of heat toward the centre of the earth, by a 
 similar species of opposition or rejection of the contrary 
 nature. 
 
 Lastly, in the axioms of the sciences, there is a similarity 
 of instances worthy of observation. Thus the rhetorical 
 trope which is called surprise, is similar to that of music 
 termed the declining of a cadence. Again — the mathe- 
 matical postulate, that things which are equal to the same 
 are equal to one another, is similar to the form of the syl- 
 logism in logic, which unites things agreeing in the middle 
 term." Lastly, a certain degree of sagacity in collecting 
 and searching for physical points of similarity, is very use- 
 ful in many respects." 
 
 XXYIII. In the seventh rank of prerogative instances, 
 we will place singular instances, which we are also wont to 
 call irregular or heteroclite (to brorrow a term from the 
 grammarians). They are such as exhibit bodies in the con- 
 
 ™ Bacon falls into an error here in regarding the syllogism as something 
 distinct from the reasoning faculty, and only one of its forma. It is not gen- 
 erally true that the syllogism is only a form of reasoning by which we unite 
 ideas which accord with the middle term. This agreement is not even essen- 
 tial to accurate syllogisms ; when the relation of the two things compared to 
 the third is one of equality or similitude, it of course follows that the two 
 things compared may be pronounced equal, or like to each other. But if the 
 relation between these terms exist in a different form, then it is not true that 
 the two extremes stand in the same relation to each other as to the middle 
 term. For instance, if A is double of B, and B double of c, then A is quadruple 
 of 0. But then the relation of A to o is different from that of a to B and 
 of B to 0. — Ed. 
 
 " Comparative anatomy is full of analogies of this kind. Those between 
 natural and artificial productions are well worthy of attention, and sometimes 
 lead to important discoveries. By observing an analogy of this kind between 
 the plan used in hydraulic engines for preventing the counter-current of a fluid, 
 and a similar contrivance in the blood vessels, Harvey was led to the discovery 
 of the circulation of the blood. — Ed. 
 
NOVUM OBGANUM 179 
 
 Crete, of an apparently extravagant and separate nature, 
 agreeing but little with other things of the same species. 
 For, while the similar instances resemble each other, those 
 we now speak of are only like themselves. Their use is 
 much the same with that of clandestine instances: they 
 bring out and unite nature, and discover genera or common 
 natures, which must afterward be limited by real differ- 
 ences. Nor should we desist from inquiry, until the prop- 
 erties and qualities of those things, which may be deemed 
 miracles, as it were, of nature, be reduced to, and compre- 
 hended in, some form or certain law ; so that all irregularity 
 or singularity may be found to depend on some common 
 form ; and the miracle only consists in accurate differences, 
 degree, and rare coincidence, not in the species itself. 
 Man's meditation proceeds no further at present, than 
 just to consider things of this kind as the secrets and vast 
 efforts of nature, without an assignable cause, and, as it 
 were, exceptions to general rules. 
 
 As examples of singular instances, we have the sun and 
 moon among the heavenly bodies; the magnet among min- 
 erals; quicksilver among metals; the elephant among quad- 
 rupeds; the venereal sensation among the different kinds 
 of touch; the scent of sporting dogs among those of smell. 
 The letter S, too, is considered by the grammarians as sui 
 generis, from its easily uniting with double or triple con- 
 sonants, which no other letter will. These instances are of 
 great value, because they excite and keep alive inquiry, 
 and correct an understanding depraved by habit and the 
 common course of things. 
 
 XXIX. In the eighth rank of prerogative instances, we 
 will place deviating instances, such as the errors of nature, 
 or strange and monstrous objects, in which nature deviates 
 
180 NOVUM ORG^^NUM 
 
 and turns from her ordinary course. For the errors of 
 nature differ from singular instances, inasmuch as the lat- 
 ter are the miracles of species, the former of individuals. 
 Their use is much the same, for they rectify the under- 
 standing in opposition to habit, and reveal common forms. 
 For with regard-to these, also, we must not desist from in- 
 quiry, till we discern the cause of the deviation. The cause 
 does not, however, in such cases rise to a regular form, but 
 only to the latent process toward such a form. For he who 
 is acquainted with the paths of nature, will more readily 
 observe her deviations; and, vice versd, he who has learned 
 her deviations will be able more accurately to describe 
 her paths. 
 
 They differ again from singular instances, by being 
 much more apt for practice and the operative branch. 
 For it would be very difficult to generate new species, 
 but less so to vary known species, and thus produce many 
 rare and unusual results." The passage from the miracles 
 of nature to those of art is easy; for if nature be once seized 
 in her variations, and the cause be manifest, it will be easy 
 to lead her by art to such deviation as she was at first led 
 to by chance; and not only to that but others, since devia- 
 tions on the one side lead and open the way to others in 
 every direction. Of this we do not require any examples, 
 since they are so abundant. For a compilation, or particu- 
 lar natural history, must be made of all monsters and pro- 
 digious births of nature; of everything, in short, which is 
 new, rare and unusual in nature. This should be done 
 with a rigorous selection, so as to be worthy of credit. 
 
 " This is well illustrated in plants, for the gardener can produce endless 
 varieties of any known species, but can never produce a new species itself. 
 
NOVUM ORGANVM 181 
 
 Those are most to be suspected which depend upon super- 
 stition, as the prodigies of Livy, and those perhaps, but 
 little less, which are found in the works of writers on nat- 
 ural magic, or even alchemy, and the like; for such men, 
 as it were, are the very suitors and lovers of fables; but our 
 instances should be derived from some grave and credible 
 history, and faithful narration. 
 
 XXX. In the ninth rank of prerogative instances, we 
 will place bordering instances, which we are also wont to 
 term participants. They are such as exhibit those species 
 of bodies which appear to be composed of two species, or 
 to be the rudiments between the one and the other. They 
 may well be classed with the singular or heteroclite in- 
 stances; for in the whole system of things, they are rare 
 and extraordinary. Yet from their dignity, they must be 
 treated of and classed separately, for they point out admir- 
 ably the order and constitution of things, and suggest the 
 causes of the number and quality of the more common 
 species in the universe, leading the understanding from 
 that which is, to that which is possible. 
 
 We have examples of them in moss, which is something 
 between putrescence and a plant;" in some comets, which 
 hold a place between stars and ignited meteors; in flying 
 fishes, between fishes and birds ; and in bats, between birds 
 and quadrupeds." Again, 
 
 Simia quam similis turpissima bestia nobis. 
 
 " The discoveries of Tournefort have placed moss in the class of plants. 
 The fish alluded to below are to be found only in the tropics. — Ed. 
 
 ^ There is, however, no real approximation to birds in either the flying fish 
 or bat, any more than a man approximates to a fish because he can swim. The 
 wings of the flying fish and bat are mere expansions of sMu, bearing no resem- 
 blance whatever to those of birds. — Ed. 
 
182 NOVDM OBOANUM 
 
 We have also biformed foetus, mingled species and 
 the like. 
 
 XXXI. In the tenth rank of prerogative instances, we 
 will place the instances of power, or the fasces (to borrow 
 a term from the insignia of empire), which we are also wont 
 to call the wit or hands of man. These are such works as 
 are most noble and perfect, and, as it were, the masterpieces 
 in every art. For since our principal object is to make na- 
 ture subservient to the state and wants of man, it becomes 
 us well to note and enumerate the works, which have long 
 since been in the power of man, especially those which are 
 most polished and perfect: because the passage from these 
 to new and hitherto undiscovered works, is more easy and 
 feasible. For if any one, after an attentive contemplation 
 of such works as are extant, be willing to push forward 
 in his design with alacrity and vigor, he will undoubtedly 
 either advance them, or turn them to something within 
 their immediate reach, or even apply and transfer them 
 to some more noble purpose. 
 
 Nor is this all : for as the understanding is elevated and 
 raised by rare and unusual works of nature, to investigate 
 and discover the forms which include them also, so is the 
 same e£Eect frequently produced by the excellent and won- 
 derful works of art; and even to a greater degree, because 
 the mode of effecting and constructing the miracles of art 
 is generally plain, while that of effecting the miracles 
 of nature is more obscure. Great care, however, must bt 
 taken, that they do not depress the understanding, an(^ 
 fix it, as it were, to earth. t 
 
 For there is some danger, lest the understanding should 
 be astonished and chained down, and as it were bewitched, 
 by such works of art, as appear to be the very summit and 
 
NOVUM OBGANUM 183 
 
 pinnacle of human industry, so as not to become familiar 
 ■with them, but rather to suppose that nothing of the kind 
 can be accomplished, unless the same means be employed, 
 with perhaps a little more diligence, and more accurate 
 preparation. 
 
 Now, on the contrary, it may be stated as a fact, that 
 the ways and means hitherto discovered and observed, of 
 effecting any matter or work, are for the most part of little 
 value, and that all really efficient power depends, and is 
 really to be deduced from the sources of forms, none 
 of which have yet been discovered. 
 
 Thus (as we have before observed), had any one medi- 
 tated on ballistic machines, and battering rams, as they were 
 used by the ancients, whatever application he might have 
 exerted, and though he might have consumed a whole life 
 in the pursuit, yet would he never have hit upon the in- 
 vention of flaming engines, acting by means of gunpowder; 
 nor would any person, who had made woollen manufacto- 
 ries and cotton the subject of his observation and reflection, 
 have ever discovered thereby the nature of the silkworm 
 or of silk. 
 
 Hence all the most noble discoveries have (if you ob- 
 serve) come to light, not by any gradual improvement and 
 extension of the arts, but merely by chance ; while nothing 
 imitates or anticipates chance (which is wont to act at in- 
 tervals of ages) but the invention of forms. 
 f There is no necessity for adducing any particular exam- 
 ples of these instances, since they are abundant. The plan 
 1/0 be pursued is this: all the mechanical, and even the lib- 
 eral arts (as far as they are practical), should be visited and 
 thoroughly examined, and thence there should be formed 
 a compilation or particular history of the great master- 
 
184 NOVUM OBGANUM 
 
 pieces, or most finished works in each, as well as of 
 the mode of carrying them into effect. 
 
 For do we confine the diligence to be used in such a 
 compilation to the leading works and secrets only of every 
 art, and such as excite wonder; for wonder is engendered 
 by rarity, since that which is rare, although it be com- 
 pounded of ordinary natures, always begets wonder. 
 
 On the contrary, that which is really wonderful, from 
 some specific difference distinguishing it from other species, 
 is carelessly observed, if it be but familiar. Yet the singu- 
 lar instances of art should be observed no less than those of 
 nature, which we have before spoken of: and as in the lat- 
 ter we have classed the sun, the moon, the magnet, and the 
 like, all of them most familiar to us, but yet in their nature 
 singular, so should we proceed with the singular instances 
 of art. 
 
 For example: paper, a very common substance, is a 
 singular instance of art; for if you consider the subject at- 
 tentively, you will find that artificial substances are either 
 woven by straight and transverse lines, as silk, woollen, 
 or linen cloth, and the like; or coagulated from concrete 
 juices, such as brick, earthenware, glass, enamel, porcelain 
 and the like, which admit of a polish if they be compact, 
 Isut if not, become hard without being polished; all which 
 latter substances are brittle, and not adherent or tenacious. 
 On the contrary, paper is a tenacious substance, which can 
 be cut and torn, so as to resemble and almost rival the skin 
 of any animal, or the leaf of vegetables, and the like works 
 of nature; being neither brittle like glass, nor woven like 
 cloth, but having fibres and not distinct threads, just as 
 natural substances, so that scarcely anything similar can 
 be found among artificial substances, and it is absolutely 
 
NOWM OBOANUM 185 
 
 singular. And in artificial works we should certainly pre- 
 fer those which approach the nearest to an imitation of na- 
 ture, or, on the other hand, powerfully govern and change 
 her course. 
 
 Again, in these instances which we term the wit and 
 hands of man, charms and conjuring should not be alto- 
 gether despised, for although mere amusements, and of 
 little use, yet they may afford considerable information. 
 
 Lastly, superstition and magic (in its common accepta- 
 tion) are not to be entirely omitted; for although they be 
 overwhelmed by a mass of lies and fables, yet some inves- 
 tigation should be made, to see if there be really any latent 
 natural operation in them; as in fascination, and the fortify- 
 ing of the imagination, the sympathy of distant objects, the 
 transmission of impressions from spirit to spirit no less than 
 from body to body, and the like. 
 
 XXXII. From the foregoing remarks, it is clear that the 
 last five species of instances (the similar, singular, deviating 
 and bordering instances, and those of power) should not be 
 reserved for the investigation of any given nature, as the 
 preceding and many of the succeeding instances must, but 
 a collection of them should be made at once, in the style 
 of a particular history, so that they may arrange the matter 
 which enters the understanding, and correct its depraved 
 habit, for it is necessarily imbued, corrupted, perverted 
 and distorted by daily and habitual impressions. 
 
 They are to be used, therefore, as a preparative, for the 
 purposp of rectifying and purifying the understanding; for 
 whatever withdraws it from habit, levels and planes down 
 its surface for the reception of the dry and pure light of 
 true notions. 
 
 These instances, moreover, level and prepare the way 
 
186 NOVUM OBGANUM 
 
 for the operative branoli, as we will mention in its proper 
 place when speaking of the practical deductions. 
 
 XXXIII. In the eleventh rank of prerogative instance* 
 we will place accompanying and hostile instances. These 
 are such as exhibit any body or concrete, where the required 
 nature is constantly found, as an inseparable companion, 
 or, on the contrary, where the required nature is constantly 
 avoided, and excluded from attendance, as an enemy. From 
 these instances may be formed certain and universal propo- 
 sitions, either affirmative or negative; the subject of which 
 will be the concrete body, and the predicate the required 
 nature. For particular propositions are by no means fixed, 
 when the required nature is found to fluctuate and change 
 in the concrete, either approaching and acquired, or reced- 
 ing and laid aside. Hence particular propositions have no 
 great prerogative, except in the case of migration, of which 
 we have spoken above. Yet such particular propositions 
 are of great use, when compared with the universal, as will 
 be mentioned in its proper place. Nor do we require abso- 
 lute affirmation or negation, even in universal propositions, 
 for if the exceptions be singular or rare, it is sufficient for 
 our purpose. 
 
 The use of accompanying instances is to narrow the 
 affirmative of form ; for as it is narrowed by the migrating 
 instances, where the form must necessarily be something 
 communicated or destroyed by the act of migration, so it is 
 narrowed by accompanying instances, where the form must 
 necessarily be something which enters into the concretion 
 of the body, or, on the contrary,. is repugnant to it; and 
 one who is well acquainted with the constitution or forma- 
 tion of the body, will not be far from bringing to light the 
 form of the required nature. 
 
NOVUM OBOANUM 187 
 
 For example: let the required nature be heat. Flame 
 is an accompanying instance; for in water, air, stone, metal, 
 and many other substances, heat is variable, and can ap- 
 proach or retire ; but all flame is hot, so that heat always 
 accompanies the concretion of flame. We have no hostile 
 instance of heat; for the senses are unacquainted with the 
 interior of the earth, and there is no concretion of any 
 known body which is not susceptible of heat. 
 
 Again, let solidity be the required nature. Air is a 
 hostile instance; for metals may be liquid or solid, so may 
 glass; even water may become solid by congelation, but air 
 cannot become solid or lose its fluidity. 
 
 With regard to these instances of fixed propositions, 
 there are two points to be observed, which are of impor- 
 tance. First, that if there be no universal affirmative or 
 negative, it be carefully noted as not existing. Thus, in 
 heat, we have observed that there exists no universal nega- 
 tive, in such substances, at least, as have come to our 
 knowledge. Again, if the required nature be eternity or 
 incorruptibility, we have no universal affirmative within 
 our sphere, for these qualities cannot be predicated of any 
 bodies below the heavens, or above the interior of the earth. 
 Secondly, to our general propositions as to any concrete, 
 whether affirmative or negative, we should subjoin the 
 concretes which appear to approach nearest to the non- 
 existing substances; such as the most gentle or least- 
 burning flames in heat, or gold in incorruptibility, since it 
 approaches nearest to it. For they all serve to show the 
 limit of existence and non-existence, and circumscribe 
 forms, so that they cannot wander beyond the conditions 
 of matter. 
 
 XXXIV. In the twelfth rank of prerogative instances, 
 
188 NOVUM OBGANUM 
 
 we will class those subjunctive instances, of whicli we spoke 
 in tlie last aphorism, and which we are also wont to call 
 instances of extremity or limits; for they are not only 
 serviceable when subjoined to fixed propositions, but also 
 of themselves and from their own nature. They indicate 
 with sufficient precision the real divisions of nature, and 
 measures of things, and the "how far" nature effects or 
 allows of anything, and her passage thence to something 
 else. Such are gold in weight, iron in hardness, the whale 
 in the size of animals, the dog in smell, the flame of gun- 
 powder in rapid expansion, and others of a like nature. 
 Nor are we to pass over the extremes in defect, as well as 
 in abundance, as spirits of wine in weight, the touchstone 
 in softness, the worms upon the skin in the size of animals, 
 and the like. 
 
 XXXV. In the thirteenth rank of prerogative instances 
 we will place those of alliance or union. They are such as 
 mingle and unite natures held to be heterogeneous, and 
 observed and marked as such in received classifications. 
 
 These instances show that the operation and efiEect, which 
 is considered peculiar to some one of such heterogeneous 
 natures, may also be attributed to another nature styled 
 heterogeneous, so as to prove that the difference of the 
 natures is not real nor essential, but a mere modification 
 of a common nature. They are very serviceable, there- 
 fore, in elevating and carrying on the mind, from diflEer- 
 ences to genera, and in removing those phantoms and 
 images of things, which meet it in disguise in concrete 
 substances. 
 
 For example: let the required nature be heat. The 
 classification of heat into three kinds, that of the celestial 
 bodies, that of animals, and that of fire, appears to be set- 
 
NOVUM- OBGANUM 189 
 
 tied and admitted; and these kinds of heat, especially one 
 of them compared with the other two, are supposed to be 
 different, and clearly heterogeneous in their essence and 
 species, or specific nature, since the heat of the heavenly 
 bodies and of animals generates and cherishes, while that 
 of fire corrupts and destroys. We have an instance of 
 alliance, then, in a very common experiment, that of a 
 vine branch admitted into a building where there is a con- 
 stant fire, by which the grapes ripen a whole month sooner 
 than in the air; so that fruit upon the tree can be ripened 
 by fire, although this appear the peculiar effect of the 
 sun. From this beginning, therefore, the understanding 
 rejects all essential difference, and easily ascends to the 
 investigation of the real differences between the heat of 
 the sun and that of fire, by which their operation is 
 rendered dissimilar, although they partake of a common 
 nature. 
 
 These differences will be found to b.e four in number. 
 1. The heat of the sun is much milder and gentler in degree 
 than that of fire. 2. It is much more moist in quality, 
 especially as it is transmitted to us through the air. 8. 
 Which is the chief point, it is very unequal, advancing and 
 increased at one time, retiring and diminished at another, 
 which mainly contributes to the generation of bodies. For 
 Aristotle rightly asserted, that the principal cause of gen- 
 eration and corruption on the surface of the earth was the 
 oblique path of the sun in the zodiac, whence its heat be- 
 comes very unequal, partly from the alternation of night 
 and day, partly from the succession of summer and winter. 
 Yet must he immediately corrupt and pervert his discovery, 
 by dictating to nature according to his habit, and dogmati- 
 cally assigning the cause of generation to the approach of 
 
190 NOVUM OUGANUM 
 
 the sua, and that of corruption to its retreat; while, in fact, 
 each circumstance indifferently and not respectively con- 
 tributes both to generation and corruption; for unequal 
 heat tends to generate and corrupt, as equable heat does 
 to preserve. 4. The fourth difference between the heat of 
 the sun and fire is of great consequence; namely, that the 
 sun, gradually, and for a length of time, insinuates its 
 effects, while those of fire (urged by the impatience of 
 man) are brought to a termination in a shorter space of 
 time. But if any one were to pay attention to the temper- 
 ing of fire, and reducing it to a more moderate and gentle 
 degree (which may be done in various ways), and then were 
 to sprinkle and mix a degree of humidity with it; and, 
 above all, were to imitate the sun in its inequality; and, 
 lastly, were patiently to suffer some delay (not such, how- 
 ever, as is proportioned to the effects of the sun, but more 
 than men usually admit of in those of fire), he would soon 
 banish the notion of any difference, and would attempt, or 
 equal, or perhaps sometimes surpass the effect of the sun, 
 by the heat of fire. A like instance of alliance is that of 
 reviving butterflies, benumbed and nearly dead from cold, 
 by the gentle warmth of fire; so that fire is no less able to 
 revive animals than to ripen vegetables. We may also 
 mention the celebrated invention of Fracastorius, of apply- 
 ing a pan considerably heated to the head in desperate cases 
 of apoplexy, which clearly expands the animal spirits, when 
 compressed and almost extinguished by the humors and 
 obstructions of the brain, and excites them to action, as the 
 fire would operate on water or air, and in the result pro- 
 duces life. Eggs are sometimes hatched by the heat of fire, 
 an exact imitation of animal heat; and there are many in- 
 stances of the like nature, so that no one can doubt that the 
 
NOVUM OBGANUM 191 
 
 heat of fire, in many cases, can be modified till it resemble 
 that of the heavenly bodies and of animals. 
 
 Again, let the required natures be motion and rest. 
 There appears to be a settled classification, grounded on 
 the deepest philosophy, that natural bodies either revolve, 
 move in a straight line, or stand still and rest. For there 
 is either motion without limit, or continuance within a cer- 
 tain limit, or a translation toward a certain limit. The eter- 
 nal motion of revolution appears peculiar to the heavenly 
 bodies, rest to this our globe, and the other bodies (heavy 
 and light, as they are termed, that is to say, placed out of 
 their natural position) are borne in a straight line to masses 
 or aggregates which resemble them, the light toward the 
 heaven, the heavy toward the earth; and all this is very 
 fine language. 
 
 But we have an instance of alliance in low comets, which 
 revolve, though far below the heavens; and the fiction of 
 Aristotle, of the comet being fixed to, or necessarily fol- 
 lowing some star, has been long since exploded; not only 
 because it is improbable in itself, but from the evident fact 
 of the discursive and irregular motion of comets through 
 various parts of the heavens." 
 
 Another instance of alliance is that of the motion of air, 
 which appears to revolve from east to west within the trop- 
 ics, where the circles of revolution are the greatest. 
 
 The flow and ebb of the sea would perhaps be another, 
 instance, if the water were once found to have a motion of 
 
 ^° Seneca was a sounder astronomer than Bacon. He ridiculed the idea of 
 the motion of any heavenly bodies being irregular, and predicted that the day 
 would come, when the laws which guided the revolution of these bodies would 
 t)e proved to be identical with those which controlled the motions of the planets. 
 The anticipation was realized by Newton. — Ed. 
 
192 NOVUM OBOANUm 
 
 revolution, though slow and hardly perceptible, from east 
 to west, Bubject, however, to a reaction twice a day. If 
 this be so, it is clear that the motion of revolution is not 
 confined to the celestial bodies, but is shared, also, by air 
 
 and water. 
 
 Again — the supposed peculiar disposition of light bodies 
 to rise is rather shaken; and here we may find an instance 
 of alliance in a water bubble. For if air be placed under 
 water, it rises rapidly toward the surface by that striking 
 motion (as Democritus terms it) with which the descending 
 water strikes the air and raises it, not by any struggle or 
 effort of the air itself ; and when it has reached the surface 
 of the water, it is prevented from ascending any further, by 
 the slight resistance it meets with in the water, which does 
 not allow an immediate separation of, its parts, so that the 
 tendency of the air to rise must be very slight. 
 
 Again, let the required nature be weight. It is certainly 
 a received classification, that dense and solid bodies are 
 borne toward the centre of the earth, and rare and light 
 bodies to the circumference of the heavens, as their appro- 
 priate places. As far as relates to places (though these 
 things have much weight in the schools), the notion of 
 there being any determinate place is absurd and puerile. 
 Philosophers trifle, therefore, when they tell you, that if 
 the earth were perforated, heavy bodies would stop on their 
 arrival at the centre. This centre would indeed be an effi- 
 cacious nothing, or mathematical point, could it affect 
 bodies or be sought by them, for a body is not acted upon 
 except by a body." In fact, this tendency to ascend and 
 
 '' But see Bacon's own corollary at the end of the Instances of Divorce, 
 Aphorism xxxvii. If Bacon's remark be accepted, the censure will fall upon 
 
NOVUM OBOANUM 193 
 
 descend is either in the conformation of the moving body, 
 or in its harmony and sympathy with another body. But 
 if any dense and solid body be found, which does not, how- 
 ever, tend toward the earth, the classification is at an end. 
 Now, if we allow of Gilbert's opinion, that the magnetic 
 power of the earth, in attracting heavy bodies, is not ex- 
 tended beyond the limit of its peculiar-virtue (which oper- 
 ates always at a fixed distance and no further)," and this 
 be proved by some instance, such an instance will be one 
 of alliance in our present subject. The nearest approach 
 to it is that of waterspouts, frequently seen by persons navi- 
 gating the Atlantic toward either of the Indies. For the 
 force and mass of the water suddenly effused by water- 
 spouts, appears to be so considerable, that the water must 
 have been collected previously, and have remained fixed 
 where it was formed, until it was afterward forced down by 
 some violent cause, rather than made to fall by the natural 
 motion of gravity: so that it may be conjectured that a 
 dense and compact mass, at a great distance from the earth, 
 may be suspended as the earth itself is, and would not fall, 
 unless forced down. We do not, however, affirm this as 
 certain. In the meanwhile, both in this respect and many 
 others, it will readily be seen how deficient we are in nat- 
 
 Newton and the system so generally received at the present day. It is, how- 
 ever, unjust, as the centre of which Newton so often speaks is not a point with 
 an active inherent force, but only the result of all the particular and reciprocal 
 attractions of the different parts of the planet acting upon one spot. It is evi- 
 dent, that if all these forces were united in this centre, that the sum would 
 be equal to all their partial effects. — Ed. 
 
 " Since Newton's discovery of the law of gravitation, we find that the at- 
 tractive force of the eartl^ must extend to an infinite distance. Bacon himself 
 alludes to the operation of this attractive force at great distances in the 
 Instances of the Bod, Aphorism zlv. 
 
194 NOVUM OROANVM 
 
 ural history, since we are forced to have recourse to sup- 
 positions for examples, instead of ascertained instances. 
 
 Again, let the required nature be the discursive power 
 of the mind. The classiiication of human reason and ani- 
 mal instinct appears to be perfectly correct. Yet there are 
 some instances of the actions of brutes which seem to show 
 that they, too, can syllogize. Thus it is related, that a 
 crow, which had nearly perished from thirst in a great 
 drought, saw some water in the hollow trunk of a tree, but 
 as it was too narrow for him to get into it, he continued to 
 throw in pebbles, which made the water rise till he could 
 drink; and it afterward became a proverb. 
 
 Again, let the required nature be vision. The classifi- 
 cation appears real and certain, which considers light as that 
 which is originally visible, and confers the power of seeing; 
 and color, as being secondarily visible, and not capable of 
 being seen without light, so as to appear a mere image or 
 modification of light. Yet there are instances of alliance in 
 each respect; as in snow when in great quantities, and in 
 the flame of sulphur; the one being a color originally and 
 in itself light, the other a light verging toward color. '^ 
 
 XXXVI. (in the fourteenth rank of prerogative in- 
 stances, we will place the instances of the cross, borrowing 
 our metaphor from the crosses erected where two roads 
 meet, to point out the different directions. We are wont 
 also to call them decisive and judicial instances, and in 
 some cases instances of the oracle and of command. Their 
 nature is as follows: When in investigating any nature the 
 understanding is, as it were, balanced, and uncertain to 
 which of two or more natures the cause of the required 
 
 '* Snow reflects light, but is not a source of light. 
 
NOVUM OBOANUM 195 
 
 nature should be assigned, on account of the frequent and 
 usual concurrence of several natures, the instances of the 
 cross show that the union of one nature with the required 
 nature is firm and indissoluble, while that of the other is 
 unsteady and separable; by which means the question is 
 decided, and the first is received as the cause, while the 
 other is dismissed and rejected. Such instances, therefore, 
 afford great light, and are of great weight, so that the course 
 of interpretation sometimes terminates, and is completed in 
 them. Sometimes, however, they are found among the 
 instances already observed, but they are generally new, 
 being expressly and purposely sought for and applied, and 
 brought to light only by attentive and active diligence!) 
 
 For example: let the required nature be the flow and 
 ebb of the sea, which is repeated twice a day, at intervals 
 of six hours between each advance and retreat, with some 
 little difference, agreeing with the motion of the moon. We 
 have here the following crossways: 
 
 This motion must be occasioned either by the advancing 
 and the retiring of the sea, like water shaken in a basin, 
 which leaves one side while it washes the other; or by the ris- 
 ing of the sea from the bottom, and its again subsiding, like 
 boiling water. But a doubt arises, to which of these causes 
 we should assign the flow and ebb. If the first assertion be 
 admitted, it follows, that when there is a flood on one side, 
 there must at the same time be an ebb on another, and the 
 question therefore is reduced to this. Now Acosta, and 
 some others, after a diligent inquiry, have observed that 
 the flood tide takes place on the coast of Florida, and the 
 opposite coasts of Spain and Africa, at the same time, as 
 does also the ebb ; and that there is not, on the contrary, a 
 
 flood tide at Florida when there is an ebb on the coasts of 
 
 SoiBNOB— VoL 23—9 
 
196 NOVUM OmANVM 
 
 Spaia and Africa. Yet if one consider the subject atten- 
 tively, this does not prove the necessity of a rising motion, 
 nor refute the notion of a progressive motion. For the 
 motion may be progressive, and yet inundate the opposite 
 shores of a channel at the same time; as if the waters be 
 forced and driven together from some other quarter, for 
 instance, which takes place in rivers, for they flow and ebb 
 toward each bank at the same time, yet their motion is 
 clearly progressive, being that of the waters from the sea 
 entering their mouths. So it may happen, that the waters 
 coming in a vast body from the eastern Indian Ocean are 
 driven together, and forced into the channel of the Atlan- 
 tic, and therefore inundate both coasts at once. We must 
 inquire, therefore, if there be any other channel by which 
 the waters can at the same time sink and ebb; and the 
 Southern Ocean at once suggests itself, which is not less 
 than the Atlantic, but rather broader and more extensive 
 than is requisite for this efiEect. 
 
 We at length arrive, then, at an instance of the cross, 
 which is this. If it be positively discovered, that when the 
 flood sets in toward the opposite coasts of Florida and Spain 
 in the Atlantic, there is at the same time a flood tide on the 
 coasts of Peru and the back part of China, in the Southern 
 Ocean, then assuredly, from this decisive instance, we must 
 reject the assertion, that the flood and ebb of the sea, about 
 which we inquire, takes place by progressive motion; for 
 no other sea or place is left where there can be an ebb. But 
 this may most easily be learned, by inquiring of the inhab- 
 itants of Panama and Lima (where the two oceans are sepa- 
 rated by a narrow isthmus), whether the flood and ebb takes 
 place on the opposite sides of the isthmus at the same time, 
 or the reverse. This decision or rejection appears certain, 
 
WVUM OBGAJSrUM 197 
 
 if it be granted that the earth is fixed; bat if the earth 
 revolves, it may perhaps happen, that from the unequal 
 revolution (as regards velocity) of the earth and the waters 
 of the sea, there may be a violent forcing of the waters into 
 a mass, forming the flood, and a subsequent relaxation of 
 them (when they can no longer bear the accumulation), 
 forming the ebb. A separate inquiry must be made into 
 this. Even with this hypothesis, however, it remains 
 equally true, that there must be an ebb somewhere, at the 
 same time that there is a flood in another quarter. 
 
 Again, let the required nature be the latter of the two 
 motions we have supposed; namely, that of a rising and 
 subsiding motion, if it should happen that upon diligent 
 examination the progressive motion be rejected. We have, 
 then, three ways before us, with regard to this nature. The 
 motion, by which the waters raise themselves, and again 
 fall back, in the floods and ebbs, without the addition of 
 any other water rolled toward them, must take place in one 
 of the three following ways: Either the supply of water 
 emanates from the interior of the earth, and returns back 
 again; or there is really no greater quantity of Water, but 
 the same water (without any augmentation of its quantity) 
 is extended or rarefied, so as to occupy a greater space and 
 dimension, and again contracts itself; or there is neither an 
 additional supply nor any extension, but the same waters 
 (with regard to quantity, density, or rarity) raise themselves 
 and fall from sympathy, by some magnetic power attracting 
 and calling them up, as it were, from above. Let us then 
 (passing over the first two motions) reduce the investiga- 
 tion to the last, and inquire if there be any such elevation 
 of the water by sympathy or a magnetic force; and it is evi- 
 dent, in the first place, that the whole mass of water being 
 
lyS NOVUM ORUAIWW 
 
 placed in the trench or cavity of the sea, cannot be raised 
 at once, because there would not be enough to cover the 
 bottom, so that if there be any tendency of this kind in the 
 water to raise itself, yet it would be interrupted and checked 
 by the cohesion of things, or (as the common expression is) 
 that there may be no vacuum. The water, therefore, must 
 rise on one side, and for that reason be diminished and ebb 
 on another. But it will again necessarily follow that the 
 magnetic power not being able to operate on the whole, 
 operates most intensely on the centre, so as to raise the 
 waters there, which, when thus raised successively, desert 
 and abandon the sides." 
 
 We at length arrive, then, at an instance of the cross, 
 which is this: if it be found that during the ebb the surface 
 of the waters at sea is more curved and round, from the 
 waters rising in the middle, and sinking at the sides or 
 coast, and if, during a flood, it be more even and level, 
 from the waters returning to their former position, then 
 assuredly, by this decisive instance, the raising of them by 
 a magnetic force can be admitted; if otherwise, it must be 
 entirely rejected. It is not difficult to make the experi- 
 ment (by sounding in straits), whether the sea be deeper 
 toward the middle in ebbs, than in floods. But it must be 
 observed, if this be the case, that (contrary to common 
 opinion) the waters rise in ebbs, and only return to their 
 former position in floods, so as to bathe and inundate the 
 ooast. 
 
 Again, let the required nature be the spontaneous motion 
 of revolution, and particularly, whether the diurnal motion, 
 by which the sun and stars appear to us to rise and set, be 
 
 " Bacon's sagacity here foreshadows Newton's theory of the tides. 
 
I/OVUM OBaANUM 199 
 
 a real motioD of revolution in the heavenly bodies, or only- 
 apparent in them, and real in the earth. There may be an 
 instance of the cross of the following nature. If there be 
 discovered any motion in the ocean from east to west, 
 though very languid and weak, and if the same motion be 
 discovered rather more swift in the air (particularly within 
 the tropics, where it is more perceptible from the circles 
 being greater). If it be discovered also in the low comets, 
 and be already quick and powerful in them; if it be found 
 also in the planets, but so tempered and regulated as to be 
 slower in those nearest the earth, and quicker in those at 
 the greatest distance, being quickest of all in the heavens, 
 then the diurnal motion should certainly be considered as 
 real in the heavens, and that of the earth must be rejected; 
 for it will be evident that the motion from east to west is 
 part of the system of the world and universal; since it 
 is most rapid in the height of the heavens, and gradually 
 grows weaker, till it stops and is extinguished in rest at 
 the earth. 
 
 Again, let the required nature be that other motion of 
 revolution, so celebrated among astronomers, which is con- 
 trary to the diurnal, namely, from west to east — and which 
 the ancient astronomers assign to the planets, and even to 
 the starry sphere, but Copernicus ",nd his followers to the 
 earth also — and let it be examined whether any such motion 
 be found in nature, or it be rather a fiction and hypothesis 
 for abridging and facilitating calculation, and for promoting 
 that fine notion of effecting the heavenly motions by perfect 
 circles; for there is nothing which proves such a motion in 
 heavenly objects to be true and real, either in a planet's not 
 retaming in its diurnal motion to the same point of the 
 Btarry sphere, or in the pole of the zodiac being different 
 
200 NOVUM OmAlWM 
 
 from that of the world, which two circumstances have occa- 
 sioned this notion. For the first phenomenon is well ac- 
 counted for by the spheres overtaking or falling behind 
 each other, and the second by spiral lines; so that the in- 
 accuracy of the return and declination to the tropics may 
 be rather modifications of the one diurnal motion than con- 
 trary motions, or about different poles. And it is most 
 certain, if we consider ourselves for a moment as part of 
 the vulgar (setting aside the fictions of astronomers and the 
 school, who are wont undeservedly to attack the senses in 
 many respects, and to affect obscurity), that the apparent 
 motion is such as we have said, a model of which we have 
 sometimes caused to be represented by wires in a sort of a 
 machine. 
 
 We may take the following instances of the cross upon 
 this subject. If it be found in any history worthy of credit, 
 that there has existed any comet, high or low, which has 
 not revolved in manifest harmony (however irregularly) with 
 the diurnal motion, then we may decide so far as to allow 
 such a motion to be possible in nature. But if nothing of 
 the sort be found, it must be suspected, and recourse must 
 be had to other instances of the cross. 
 
 Again, let the required nature be weight or gravity. 
 Heavy and ponderous bodies must, either of their own 
 nature, tend toward the centre of the earth by their peculiar 
 formation, or must be attracted and hurried by the corporeal 
 mass of the earth itself, as being an assemblage of similar 
 bodies, and be drawn to it by sympathy. But if the latter 
 be the cause, it follows that the nearer bodies approach to 
 the earth, the more powerfully and rapidly they must be 
 borne toward it, and the further they are distant, the more 
 faintly and slowly (as is the case in magnetic attractions), 
 
NOVUM OBQANUM 201 
 
 and that this must happen within a given distance; so that 
 if thej be separated at such a distance from the earth that 
 the power of the earth cannot act upon them, they will 
 remain suspended like the earth, and not fall at all.°° 
 
 The following instance of the cross may be adopted. 
 Take a clock moved by leaden weights," and another by 
 
 '" The error in tlie text arose from Bacon's impression that the earth was 
 immovable. It is evident, since gravitation acts at an infinite distance, that no 
 such point could be found ; and even supposing the impossible point of equilib- 
 rium discovered, the body could not maintain its position an instant, but would 
 be hurried, at the first movement of the heavenly bodies, in the direction of the 
 dominant gravitating power. — Ed. 
 
 " Ply clocks are referred to in the text, not pendulum clocks, which were 
 not known in England till 1662. The former, though clumsy andTude in their 
 construction, stiU embodied sound mechanical principles. The comparison of 
 the effect of a spring with that of a weight in producing certain motions in cer- 
 tain timea on altitudes and in mines, has recently been tried by Professors Airy 
 and Whewell in Dalcoath mine, by means of a pendulum, which is only a 
 weight moved by gravity, and a chronometer balance moved and regulated 
 by a spring. In his thirty-seventh Aphorism, Bacon also speaks of gravity 
 as an incorporeal power, acting at a distance, and requiring time for its trans- 
 mission; a consideration which occurred at a later period to Laplace in one 
 of his most delicate investigations. 
 
 Crucial instances, as Herschel remarks, afford the readiest and securest 
 means of eliminating extraneous causes, and deciding between the claims of 
 rival hypotheses ; especially when these, running parallel to each other, in the 
 explanation of great classes of phenomena, at length come to be placed at issue 
 upon a single fact. A curious example is given by M. Fresnel, as decisive in 
 his mind of the question between the two great theories on the nature of light, 
 which, since the time of Newton and Huyghens, have divided philosophers. 
 When two very clean glasses are laid one on the other, if they be not perfectly- 
 flat, but one or both, in an almost imperceptible degree, convex or prominent, 
 beautiful and vivid colors will be seen between them; and if these be viewed 
 through a red glass, their appearance will be that of alternate dark and bright 
 stripes. These stripes are formed between the two surfaces in apparent con- 
 tact, and being applicable on both theories, are appealed to by their respective 
 supporters as strong confirmatory facts; but there is a difierence in one circum- 
 stance, according as one or other theory is employed to explain them. In the 
 case of the Huyghenian theory, the intervals between the bright stripes ought 
 to appear absolutely black, when a prism is used for the upper glass, in the 
 other half bright. This curious case of difference was tried, as soon as the op- 
 
202 NOVUM OBGANUM 
 
 a spring, and let them be set well together, so that one be 
 neither quicker nor slower than the other ; then let the clock 
 moved by weights be placed on the top of a very high 
 church, and the other be kept below, and let it be well 
 observed, if the former move slower than it did, from the 
 diminished power of the weights. Let the same experiment 
 be made at the bottom of mines worked to a considerable 
 depth, in order to see whether the clock move more quickly 
 from the increased power of the weights. But if this power 
 be found to diminish at a height, and to increase in subter- 
 raneous places, the attraction of the corporeal mass of the 
 earth may be taken as the cause of weight. 
 
 Again, let the required nature be the polarity of the 
 steel needle when touched with the magnet. We have these 
 two ways with regard to this nature — Either the touch of 
 the magaet must communicate polarity to the steel toward 
 the north and south, or else it may oaly excite and prepare 
 it, while the actual motion is occasioned by the presence 
 of the earth, which Gilbert considers to be the case, and 
 endeavors to prove with so much labor. The particulars 
 he has inquired into with such ingenious zeal amount to 
 this — 1. An iron bolt placed for a long time toward the 
 north and south acquires polarity from this habit, without 
 the touch of the magaet, as if the earth itself operating but 
 weakly from its distance (for the surface or outer crust of 
 the earth does not, in his opinion, possess the magnetic 
 power), yet, by long continued motion, could supply the 
 place of the magnet, excite the iron, and convert and change 
 it when excited. 2. Iron, at a red or white heat, when 
 
 posing consequences of the two theories were noted by M. Fresnel, and the 
 result is stated by him to be decisive in favor of that theory which makes light 
 to consist in the vibrations of an elastic medium. — £Id. 
 
203 
 
 quenched in a direction parallel to the north and south, 
 also acquires polarity without the touch of the magnet, as 
 if the parts of iron being put in motion by ignition, and 
 afterward recovering themselves, were, at the moment of 
 being quenched, more susceptible and sensitive of the power 
 emanating from the earth, than at other times, and therefore 
 as it were excited. But these points, though well observed, 
 do not completely prove his assertion. 
 
 An instance of the cross on this point might be as fol- 
 lows: Let a small magnetic globe be taken, and its poles 
 marked, and placed toward the east and west, not toward 
 the north and south, and let it continue thus. Then let ari 
 untouched needle be placed over it, and suffered to remain 
 so for six or seven days. Now, the needle (for this is not 
 disputed), while it remains over the magnet, will leave the 
 poles of the world and turn to those of the magnet, and 
 therefore, as long as it remains in the above position, will 
 turn to the east and west. But if the needle, when removed 
 from the magnet and placed upon a pivot, be found imme- 
 diately to turn to the north and south, or even by degrees 
 to return thither, then the presence of the earth must be 
 considered as the cause, but if it remains turned as at first, 
 toward the east and west, or lose its polarity, then that cause 
 must be suspected, and further inquiry made. 
 
 Again, let the required nature be the corporeal substance 
 of the moon, whether it be rare, fiery, and aerial (as most 
 of the ancient philosophers have thought), or solid and 
 dense (as Gilbert and many of the moderns, with some of 
 the ancients, hold)." The reasons for this latter opinion 
 
 *' Bacon plainly, from this passage, was inclined to believe that the moon, 
 like the comets, was nothing more than illuminated vapor. The Newtonian 
 
204 NOVUM ^IfA^XMVM'* 
 
 are grounded chiefly upon ttis, that the moon reflects the 
 sun's rays, and that light does not appear capable of being 
 reflected except by solids. The instances of the cross will 
 therefore (if any) be such as to exhibit reflection by a rare 
 body, such as flame, if it be -but sufficietly dense. Now, 
 certainly, one of the reasons of twilight is the reflection"' 
 of the rays of the sun by the upper part of the atmosphere. 
 We see the sun's rays also reflected on fine evenings by 
 streaks of moist clouds, with a splendor not less, but per- 
 haps more bright and glorious than that reflected from the 
 body of the moon, and yet it is not clear that those clouds 
 have formed into a dense body of water. We see, also, that 
 the dark air behind the windows at night reflects the light 
 of a candle in the same manner as a dense body would do." 
 The experiment should also be made of causing the sun's 
 rays to fall through a hole upon some dark and bluish 
 flame. The unconfined rays of the sun, when falling on 
 faint flames, do certainly appear to deaden them, and render 
 them more like white smoke than flames. These are the 
 only instances which occur at present of the nature of those 
 of the cross, and better perhaps can be found. But it must 
 always be observed that reflection is not to be expected 
 from flame, unless it be of some depth, for otherwise it be- 
 
 law, however, has not only established its solidity, but its density and weight. 
 A sufScient proof of Che former is afforded by the attraction of the sea, and the 
 moon's motion round the earth. — Ed. 
 
 '^ Rather the refraction; the sky or air, however, reflects the blue rays 
 of light. 
 
 •* The polished surface of the glass causes the reflection in this case, and 
 not the air ; and a hat or other black surface put behind the window in the 
 daytime will enable the glass to reflect distinctly for the same reason, namely, 
 that the reflected rays are not mixed and confused with those transmitted from 
 the other side of the window. 
 
WVllM OBGANUM 205 
 
 comes nearly transparent. This at least may be considered 
 certain, tliat light is always either received and transmitted 
 or reflected by an even surface. 
 
 Again, let the required nature be the motion of projec- 
 tiles (such as darts, arrows, and balls) through the air. The 
 school, in its usual manner, treats this very carelessly, con- 
 sidering it enough to distinguish it by the name of violent 
 motion, from that which they term natural, and as far as 
 regards the first percussion or impulse, satisfies itself by its 
 axiom, that two bodies cannot exist in one place, or there 
 would be a penetration of dimensions. With regard to this 
 nature we have these two crossways — The motion must 
 arise either from the air carrying the projected body, and 
 collecting behind it, like a stream behind boats, or the wind 
 behind straws ; or from the parts of the body itself not sup- 
 porting the impression, but pushing themselves forward in 
 succession to ease it. Fracastorius, and nearly all those 
 who have entered into any refined inquiry upon the sub- 
 ject, adopt the first. Nor can it be doubted that the air 
 has some eflEect, yet the other motion is without doubt real, 
 as is clear from a vast number of experiments. Among 
 others we may take this instance of the cross, namely, that 
 a thin plate or wire of iron rather stifi, or even a reed or 
 pen split in two, when drawn up and bent between the 
 finger and thumb, will leap forward; for it is clear that 
 this cannot be attributed to the air's being collected behind 
 the body, because the source of motion is in the centre of 
 the plate or pen, and not in its extremities. 
 
 Again, let the required nature be the rapid and power- 
 ful motion of the explosion of gunpowder, by which such 
 vast masses are upheaved, and such weights discharged as 
 we observe in large mines and mortars, there are two cross- 
 
206' NOVUM 6MMVM 
 
 ways before us with regard to this nature. This motion is 
 excited either by the mere effort of the body expanding 
 itself when inflamed, or by the assisting effort of the crude 
 spirit, which escapes rapidly from fire, and bursts violently 
 from the surrounding flame as from a prison. The school, 
 however, and common opinion only consider the first effort; 
 for men think that they are great philosophers when they 
 assert that flame, from the form of the element, is endowed 
 with a kind of necessity of occupying a greater space than 
 the same body had occupied when in the form of powder, 
 and that thence proceeds the motion in question. In the 
 meantime they do not observe, that although this may be 
 true, on the supposition of flame being generated, yet the 
 generation may be impeded by a weight of sufficient force 
 to compress and suffocate it, so that no such necessity exists 
 as they assert. They are right, indeed, in imagining that 
 the expansion and the consequent emission or removal of 
 the opposing body, is necessary if flame be once generated, 
 but such a necessity is avoided if the solid opposing mass 
 suppress the flame before it be generated; and we in fact 
 see that flame, especially at the moment of its generation, 
 is mild and gentle, and requires a hollow space where it 
 can play and try its force. The great violence of the effect, 
 therefore, cannot be attributed to this cause; but the truth 
 is, that the generation of these exploding flames and fiery 
 blasts arises from the conflict of two bodies of a decidedly 
 opposite nature — the one very inflammable, as is the sul- 
 phur, the other having an antipathy to flame, namely, the 
 crude spirit of the nitre; so that an extraordinary conflict 
 takes place while the sulphur is becoming inflamed as far 
 as it can (for the third body, the willow charcoal, merely 
 incorporates and conveniently unites the two others), and 
 
MVUM ORGANUM 207 
 
 the spirit of nitre is escaping, as far also as it can, and at 
 the same time expanding itself (for air, and all crude sub- 
 stances, and water are expanded by heat), fanning thus, 
 in every direction, the flame of the sulphur by its escape 
 and violence, just as if by invisible bellows. 
 
 Two kinds of instances of the cross might here be used 
 — the one of very inflammable substances, such as sulphur 
 and camphor, naphtha and the like, and their compounds, 
 which take fire more readily and easily than gunpowder if 
 left to themselves (and this shows that the efEort to catch 
 fire does not of itselE produce such a prodigious efEect); the 
 other of substances which avoid and repel flame, such as all 
 salts; for we see that when they are cast into the fire, the 
 aqueous spirit escapes with a crackling noise before flame 
 is produced, which also happens in a less degree in stiff 
 leaves, from the escape of the aqueous part lefore the oily 
 part has caught fire. This is more particularly observed in 
 quicksilver, which is not improperly called mineral water, 
 and which, without any inflammation, nearly equals the 
 force of gunpowder by simple explosion and expansion, 
 and is said, when mixed with gunpowder, to increase its 
 force. 
 
 Again, let the required nature be the transitory nature 
 of flame and its momentaneous extinction; for to us the 
 nature of flame does not appear to be fixed or settled, but 
 to be generated from moment to moment, and to be every 
 instant extinguished; it being clear that those flames which 
 continue and last, do not owe their continuance to the same 
 mass of flame, but to a continued succession of new flame 
 regularly generated, and that the same identical flame does 
 not continue. This is easily shown by removing the food 
 or source of the flame, when it at once goes out. We 
 
208 NOVUM ywn&ivw" 
 
 have the two following crossways with regard to this 
 nature : 
 
 This momentary nature either arises from the cessation 
 of the cause which first produced it, as in light, sounds, and 
 violent motions, as they are termed, or flame may be capa- 
 ble, by its own nature, of duration, but is subjected to some 
 violence from the contrary natures which surround it, and 
 is destroyed. 
 
 We may therefore adopt the following instance of the 
 cross. "We see to what a height the flames rise in great 
 conflagrations; for as the base of the flame becomes more 
 extensive, its vertex is more lofty. It appears, then, that 
 the commencement of the extinction takes place at the 
 sides, where the flame is compressed by the air, and is ill 
 at ease ; but the centre of the flame, which is untouched by 
 the air and surrounded by flame, continues the same, and 
 is not extinguished until compressed by degrees by the air 
 attacking it from the sides. All flame, therefore, is pyra- 
 midal, having its base near the source, and its vertex 
 pointed from its being resisted by the air, and not sup- 
 plied from the source. On the contrary, the smoke, which 
 is narrow at the base, expands in its ascent, and resembles 
 an inverted pyramid, because the air admits the smoke, but 
 compresses the flame ; for let no one dream that the lighted 
 flame is air, since they are clearly heterogeneous. 
 
 The instance of the cross will be more accurate, if the 
 experiment can be made by flames of diflEerent colors. 
 Take, therefore, a small metal sconce, and place a lighted 
 taper in it, then put it in a basin, and pour a small quantity 
 of spirits of wine round the sconce, so as not to reach its 
 edge, and light the spirit. Now the flame of the spirit will 
 be blue, and that of the taper yellow; observe, therefore, 
 
JSUVUM OBOANUM 209 
 
 whether the latter (which can easily be distinguished from 
 the former by its color, for flames do not mix immediately, 
 as liquids do) continue pyramidal, or tend more to a globu- 
 lar figure, since there is nothing to destroy or compress it. 
 If the latter result be observed, it must be considered as 
 settled, that flame continues positively the same, while in- 
 closed within another flame, and not exposed to the resist- 
 ing force of the air. 
 
 Let this sufi&ce for the instances of the cross. We have 
 dwelt the longer upon them in order gradually to teach and 
 accustom mankind to judge of nature by these instances, and 
 enlightening experiments, and not by probable reasons." 
 
 '5 These instances, which Bacon seems to consider as a, great discovery, 
 are nothing more than disjunctive propositions combined with dilemmas. In 
 proposing to explain an efiect, we commence with the enumeration of the dif- 
 ferent causes which seem connected with its production ; then with the aid of 
 one or more dilemmas, we eliminate each of the phenomena accidental to its 
 composition, and conclude with attributing the efEect to the residue. For in- 
 stance, a certain phenomenon (a) is produced either by phenomenon (b) or phe- 
 nomenon (o); but cannot be the cause of a, for it is found in D, B, p, neither 
 of which are connected with a. Then the true cause of phenomenon (a) must 
 be phenomenon (b). ~ 
 
 Tiiis species of reasoning is liable to several paralogisms, against which 
 Bacon has not guarded his readers, from the very fact that he stumbled into 
 them nnwittingly himself. The two principal ones are false exclusions and 
 defective enumerations. Bacon, in his survey of the causes which are able 
 to concur ia producing the phenomena of the tides, takes no account of the 
 periodic melting of the Polar ice, or the expansion of water by the solar heat; 
 nor does he fare better in his exclusions. For the attraction of the planets and 
 the progression and retrograde motion communicated by the earth's diurnal revo- 
 lution, can plainly aSect the sea together, and have a simultaneous influence 
 on its surface. 
 
 Bacon is hardly just or consistent in his censure of Bamus; the end of 
 whose dichotomy was only to render reasoning by dilemma, and crucial 
 instances, more certain in their results, by reducing the divisions which 
 composed their parts lo two sets of contradictory propositions. The afBrm- 
 ative or negative of one wonld then necessarily have led to the acceptance 
 or rejection of the other. — Ed. 
 
210 NOVUM (Mffiavw 
 
 XXXYII. We will treat of the instances of divorce as 
 the fifteenth of our prerogative instances. They indicate 
 the separation of natures of the most common occurrence. 
 They difEer, however, from those subjoined to the accom- 
 panying instances; for the instances of divorce point out 
 the separation of a particular nature from some concrete 
 substance with which it is usually found in conjunction, 
 while the hostile instances point out the total separation of 
 one nature from another. They differ, also, from the in- 
 stances of the cross, because they decide nothing, but only 
 inform us that the one nature is capable of being separated 
 from the other. They are of use in exposing false forms, 
 and dissipating hasty theories derived from obvious facts; 
 so that they add ballast and weight, as it were, to the 
 understanding. 
 
 For instance, let the acquired natures be those four 
 which Telesius terms associates, and of the same family, 
 namely, heat, light, rarity, and mobility, or promptitude 
 to motion ; yet many instances of divorce can be discovered 
 between them. Air is rare and easily moved, but neither 
 hot nor light; the moon is light but not hot; boiling water 
 is warm but not light; the motion of the needle in the com- 
 pass is swift and active, and yet its substance is cold, dense, 
 and opaque; and there are many similar examples. 
 
 Again, let the required natures be corporeal nature and 
 natural action. The latter appears incapable of subsisting 
 without some body, yet may we, perhaps, even here find an 
 instance of divorce, as in the magnetic motion, which draws 
 the iron to the magnet, and heavy bodies to the globe of the 
 earth; to which we may add other actions which operate at 
 a distance. For such action takes place in time, by distinct 
 moments, not in an instant; and in space, by regular de- 
 
NOVUM OBGANUM 211 
 
 grees and distances. There is, therefore, some one moment 
 of time and some interval of space, in which the power or 
 action is suspended between the two bodies creating the mo- 
 tion. Our consideration, then, is reduced to this, whether 
 the bodies which are the extremes of motion prepare or alter 
 the intermediate bodies, so that the power advances from 
 one extreme to the other by succession and actual contact, 
 and in the meantime exists' in some intermediate body; or 
 whether there exists in reality nothing but the Jbodjes, the 
 powerj_and_the space? In the case of the rays of light, 
 sounds, and heat, and some other objects which operate at 
 a distance, it is indeed probable that the intermediate 
 bodies are prepared and altered, the more so because a 
 qualified medium is required for their operation. But the 
 magnetic or attractive power admits of an indifferent me- 
 dium, and it is not impeded in any. But if that power or 
 action is independent of the intermediate body, it follows 
 that it is a natural power or action existing in a certain time 
 and space without any body, since it exists neither in the 
 extreme nor in the intermediate bodies. Hence the mag- 
 netic action may be taken as an instance of divorce of cor- 
 poreal nature and natural action; to which we may add, as 
 a corollary and an advantage not to be neglected, that it 
 may be taken as a proof of essence and substance being 
 separate and incorporeal, even by those who philosopbize 
 according to the senses. For if natural power and action 
 emanating from a body can exist at any time and place 
 entirely without any body, it is nearly a proof that it can 
 also emanate originally from an incorporeal substance; for 
 a corporeal nature appears to be no less necessary for sup- 
 porting and conveying, than for exciting or generating nat- 
 ural action. 
 
212 NOVUM 
 
 XXXVIII. Next follow five classes of instances which 
 we are wont to call by the general term of instances of the 
 lamp, or of immediate information. They are such as assist 
 the senses; for since every interpretation of nature sets out 
 from the senses, and leads, by a regular fixed and well- 
 established road, from the perceptions of the senses to those 
 of the understanding (which are true notions and axioms), 
 it necessarily follows, that in proportion as the representa- 
 tives or ministerings of the senses are more abundant and 
 accurate, everything else must be more easy and successful. 
 
 The first of these five sets of instances of the lamp, 
 strengthen, enlarge, and correct the immediate operations 
 of the senses; the second reduce to the sphere of the senses 
 such matters as are beyond it; the third indicate the con- 
 tinued process or series of such things and motions, as for 
 the most part are only observed in their termination, or in 
 periods; the fourth supply the absolute wants of the senses; 
 the fifth excite their attention and observation, and at the 
 same time limit the subtilty of things. "We will now pro- 
 ceed to speak of them singly. 
 
 XXXIX.. In the sixteenth rank, then, of prerogative 
 instances, we will place the instances of the door or gate, 
 by which name we designate such as assist the immediate 
 action of the senses. It is obvious, that sight holds the 
 first rank among the senses, with regard to information, 
 for which reason we must seek principally helps for that 
 sense. These helps appear to be threefold, either to enable 
 it to perceive objects not naturally seen, or to see them from 
 a greater distance, or to see them more accurately and dis- 
 tinctly. 
 
 We have an example of the first (not to speak of spec- 
 tacles and the like, which only correct and remove the in- 
 
mi^UM OBOANUM 213 
 
 firmity of a deficient sight, and therefore give no further 
 information) in the lately invented microscopes, which ex- 
 hibit the, latent and invisible minutiae of substances, and 
 their hidden formation and motion, by wonderfully in- 
 creasing their apparent magnitude. By their assistance we 
 behold with astonishment the accurate form and outline 
 of a flea, moss, and animalculse, as well as their previously 
 invisible color and motion. It is said, also, that an ap- 
 parently straight line, drawn with a pen or pencil, is dis- 
 covered by such a microscope to be very uneven and curved, 
 because neither the motion of the hand, when assisted by 
 a ruler, nor the impression of ink or color, are really regu- 
 lar, although the irregularities are so minute as not to be 
 perceptible without the assistance of the microscope. Men 
 have (as is usual in new and wonderful discoveries) added 
 a superstitious remark, that the microscope sheds a lustre 
 on the works of nature, and dishonor on those of art, which 
 only means that the tissue of nature is much more delicate 
 than that of art. For the microscope is only of use for 
 minute objects, and Democritus, perhaps, if he had seen 
 it, would have exulted in the thought of a means being 
 discovered for seeing his atom, which he affirmed to be 
 entirely invisible. But the inadequacy of these micro- 
 scopes, for the observation of any but the most minute 
 bodies, and even of those if parts of a larger body, destroys 
 their utility; for if the invention could be extended to 
 greater bodies, or the minute parts of greater bodies, so 
 that a piece of cloth would appear like a net, and the 
 latent minutiae and irregularities of gems, liquids, urine, 
 blood, wounds, and many other things could be rendered 
 visible, the greatest advantage would, without doubt, be 
 derived. 
 
214 NOWA 
 
 We have an instance of the second kind in the telescope^ 
 discovered by the wonderful exertions of Galileo; by the 
 assistance of which a nearer intercourse may be opened (as 
 by boats or vessels) between ourselves and the heavenly- 
 objects. For by its aid we are assured that the Milky Way 
 is but a knot or constellation of small stars, clearly defined 
 and separate, which the ancients only conjectured to be the 
 case; whence it appears to be capable of demonstration, that 
 the spaces of the planetary orbits (as they are termed) are 
 not quite destitute of other stars, but that the heaven begins 
 to glitter with stars before we arrive at the starry sphere, 
 although they may be too small to be visible without the 
 telescope. By the telescope, also, we can behold the revolu- 
 tions of smaller stars round Jupiter, whence it may be con- 
 jectured that there are several centres of motion among the 
 stars. By its assistance, also, the irregularity of light and 
 shade on the moon's surface is more clearly observed and 
 determined, so as to allow of a sort of selenography." By 
 the telescope we see the spots in the sun, and other similar 
 phenomena; all of which are most noble discoveries, as far 
 as credit can be safely given to demonstrations of this 
 nature, which are on this account very suspicious, namely, 
 that experiment stops at these few, and nothing further has 
 yet been discovered by the same method, among objects 
 equally worthy of consideration. 
 
 We have instances of the third kind in measuring-rods, 
 astrolabes, and the like, which do not enlarge, but correct 
 and guide the sight. If there be other instances which assist 
 
 " P^re Shenier first pointed out the spots on the sun's disk, and by the 
 marks which they aiiorded him, computed its revolution to be performed in 
 twenty-five days and some hours. — Ed. 
 
WfUM OBQANUM 215 
 
 the other senses in their immediate and individual action, 
 yet if they add nothing further to their information they 
 are not apposite to our present purpose, and we have there- 
 fore said nothing of them. 
 
 XL. In the seventeenth rank of prerogative instances 
 we will place citing instances (to borrow a term from the 
 tribunals), because they cite those things to appear, which 
 have not yet appeared. We are wont also to call them in- 
 voking instances, and their property is that of reducing to 
 the sphere of the senses objects which do not immediately 
 fall within it. 
 
 Objects escape the senses either from their distance, or 
 the intervention of other bodies, or because they are not 
 calculated to make an impression upon the senses, or be- 
 cause they are not in sufficient quantity to strike the senses, 
 or because there is not sufficient time for their acting upon 
 the senses, or because the impression is too violent, or 
 because the senses are previously filled and possessed by 
 the object, so as to leave no room for any new motion. 
 These remarks apply principally to sight, and next to 
 touch, which two senses act extensively in giving informa- 
 tion, and that too upon general objects, while the remaining 
 three inform us only, as it were, by their immediate action, 
 and as to specific objects. 
 
 There can be no reduction to the sphere of the senses 
 in the first case, unless in the place of the object, which 
 cannot be perceived on account of the distance, there be 
 added or substituted some other object, which can excite 
 and strike the sense from a greater distance, as in the com- 
 munication of intelligence by fires, bells, and the like. 
 
 In the second case we effect this reduction by rendering 
 those things which are concealed by the interposition of 
 
216 NOVUM umismjM 
 
 other bodies, and which cannot easily be laid open, evident 
 to the senses by means of that which lies at the surface, 
 or proceeds from the interior; thus the state of the body 
 is judged of by the pulse, urine, etc. 
 
 The third and fourth cases spply to many subjects, and 
 the reduction to the sphere of the senses must be obtained 
 from every quarter in the investigation of things. There 
 are many examples. It is obvious that air, and spirit, and 
 the like, whose whole substance is extremely rare and deli- 
 cate, can neither be seen nor touched — a reduction, there- 
 fore, to the senses becomes necessary in every investigation 
 relating to such bodies. 
 
 Let the required nature, therefore, be the action and 
 motion of the spirit inclosed in tangible bodies; for every 
 tangible body with which we are acquainted contains an 
 invisible and intangible spirit, over which it is drawn, and 
 which it seems to clothe. This spirit being emitted from 
 a tangible substance, leaves the body contracted and dry; 
 when retained, it softens and melts it; when neither wholly 
 emitted nor retained, it models it, endows it with limbs, 
 assimilates, manifests, organizes it, and the like. All these 
 points are reduced to the sphere of the senses by manifest 
 effects. 
 
 For in every tangible and inanimate body the inclosed 
 spirit at first increases, and as it were feeds on the tangible 
 parts which are most open and prepared for it; and when 
 it has digested and modified them, and turned them into 
 spirit, it escapes with them. This formation and increase 
 of spirit is rendered sensible by the diminution of weight; 
 for in every desiccation something is lost in quantity, not 
 only of the spirit previously existing in^ the body, but of 
 the body itself, which was previously tangible, and has 
 
m)VUM ORGANUM 217 
 
 been recently changed, for the spirit itself has no weight. 
 The departure or emission of spirit is rendered sensible in 
 the rust of metals, and other putrefactions of a like nature, 
 which stop before they arrive at the rudiments of life, which 
 belong to the third species of process." In compact bodies 
 the spirit does not find pores and passages for its escape, 
 and is therefore obliged to force out, and drive before it, 
 the tangible parts also, which consequently protrude, whence 
 arises rust and the like. The contraction of the tangible 
 parts, occasioned by the emission of part of the spirit 
 (whence arises desiccation), is rendered sensible by the in- 
 creased hardness of the substance, and still more by the 
 fissures, contractions, shrivelling, and folds of the bodies 
 thus produced. For the parts of wood split and contract, 
 skins become shrivelled, and not only that, but, if the 
 spirit be emitted suddenly by the heat of the fire, be- 
 come so hastily contracted as to twist and roll them- 
 selves up. 
 
 On the contrary, when the spirit is retained, and yet ex- 
 panded and excited by heat or the like (which happens in 
 solid and tenacious bodies), then the bodies are softened, 
 as in hot iron; or flow, as in metals; or melt, as in gums, 
 wax, and the like. The contrary effects of heat, therefore 
 (hardening some substances and melting others), are easily 
 reconciled, "^ because the spirit is emitted in the former, and 
 
 " Rust is now well known to be a chemical combination of oxygen with 
 the metal, and the metal when ruaty acquires additional weight. His theory 
 as to the generation of animals, is deduced from the erroneous notion of the 
 possibility of spontaneous generation (as it was termed). See the next para- 
 graph but one. 
 
 68 "Limus ut hie durescit, et ha8c ut cera liqueaoit 
 Uno eodemque igni." — Virg. Eel. Yiii. 
 
218 _ NOVUM OEUAJSUM 
 
 agitated and retained in the Ifitter; the latter action is that 
 of heat and the spirit, the former that of the tangible parts 
 themselves, after the spirit's emission. 
 
 But when the spirit is neither entirely retained nor 
 emitted, but only strives and exercises itself, within its 
 limits, and meets with tangible parts, which obey and 
 readily follow it wherever it leads them, then follows the 
 formation of an organic body, and of limbs, and the other 
 vital actions of vegetables and animals. These are rendered 
 sensible chiefly by diligent observation of the first begin- 
 nings, and rudiments or effects of life in animalculse sprung 
 from putrefaction, as in the eggs of ants, worms, mosses, 
 frogs after rain, etc. Both a mild heat and a pliant sub- 
 stance, however, are necessary for the production of life, 
 in order that the spirit may neither hastily escape, nor be 
 restrained by the obstinacy of the parts, so as not to be able 
 to bend and model them like wax. 
 
 Again, the difference of spirit which is important and 
 of effect in many points (as unconnected spirit, branching 
 spirit, branching and cellular spirit, the first of which is 
 that of all inanimate substances, the second of vegetables, 
 and the third of animals), is placed, as it were, before the 
 eyes by many reducing instances. 
 
 Again, it is clear that the more refined tissue and con- 
 formation of things (though forming the whole body of 
 visible or tangible objects) are neither visible nor tangible. 
 Our information, therefore, must here also be derived from 
 reduction to the sphere of the senses. But the most radical 
 and primary difference of formation depends on the abun- 
 dance or scarcity of matter within the same space or dimen- 
 sions. For the other formations which regard the dissimi- 
 larity of the parts contained in the same body, and their 
 
NOVUM ORGANUM 219 
 
 collocation and position, are secondary in comparison with 
 the former. 
 
 Let the required nature then be the expansion or cohe- 
 rence of matter in different bodies, or the quantity of matter 
 relative to the dimensions of each. For there is nothing in 
 nature more true than the twofold proposition — that nothing 
 proceeds from nothing and that nothing is reduced to noth- 
 ing, but that the quantum, or sum total of matter, is con- 
 stant, and is neither increased nor diminished. Nor is it 
 less true, that out of this given quantity of matter, there 
 is a greater or less quantity, contained within the same 
 space or dimensions according to the difference of bodies; 
 as, for instance, water contains more than air. So that if 
 any one were to assert that a given content of water can 
 be changed into an equal content of air, it is the same as 
 if he were to assert that something can be reduced into 
 nothing. On the contrary, if any one were to assert that 
 a given content of air can be changed into an equal content 
 of water, it is the same as if he were to assert that some- 
 thing can proceed from nothing. From this abundance or 
 scarcity of matter are properly derived the notions of 
 density and rarity, which are taken in various and pro- 
 miscuous senses. 
 
 This third assertion may be considered as being also 
 sufficiently certain; namely, that the greater or less quan- 
 tity of matter in this or that body, may, by comparison, be 
 reduced to calculation, and exact, or nearly exact, propor- 
 tion. Thus, if one should say that there is such an accumu- 
 lation of matter in a given quanity of gold, that it would 
 require twenty-one times the quantity in dimension of spir- 
 its of wine, to make up the same quantity of matter, it 
 
 would not be far from the truth. 
 
 Science — v-^ 92 — 10 
 
220 NOVUi 
 
 The accumulation of matter, however, and its relative 
 quantity, are rendered sensible by weight; for weight is 
 proportionate to the quantity of matter, as regards the parts 
 of a tangible substance, but spirit and its quantity of mat- 
 ter are not to be computed by weight, which spirit rather 
 diminishes than augments. 
 
 We have made a tolerably accurate table of weight, in 
 which we have selected the weights and size of all the 
 metals, the principal minerals, stones, liquids, oils, and 
 many other natural and artificial bodies: a very useful pro- 
 ceeding both as regards theory and practice, and which is 
 capable of revealing many unexpected results. Nor is this 
 of little consequence, that it serves to demonstrate that the 
 whole range of the variety of tangible bodies with which 
 we are acquainted (we mean tolerably close, and not 
 spongy, hollow bodies, which are for a considerable part 
 filled with air), does not exceed the ratio of one to twenty^ 
 one. So limited is nature, or at least that part of it to 
 which we are most habituated. 
 
 We have also thought it deserving our industry, to try 
 if we could arrive at the ratio of intangible or pneumatic 
 bodies to tangible bodies, which we attempted by the fol- 
 lowing contrivance. We took a vial capable of containing 
 about an ounce, using a small vessel in order to effect the 
 subsequent evaporation with less heat. We filled this vial, 
 almost to the neck, with spirits of wine, selecting it as the 
 tangible body which, by our table, was the rarest, and con- 
 tained a less quantity of matter in a given space than all 
 other tangible bodies which are compact and not hollow. 
 Then we noted exactly the weight of the liquid and vial. 
 We next took a bladder, containing about two pints, and 
 squeezed all the air out of it, as completely as possible, and 
 
NOVUM OROANUM 221 
 
 uatil the m:de3 of the bladder met. We firsts however, 
 rubfced the bladder gently with oil, so as to make it air- 
 tight, by closing its pores with the oil. We tied the blad- 
 der tightly round the mouth of the vial, which we had in- 
 serted in it, and with a piece of waxed thread to make it 
 fit better and more tightly, and tten placed the vial on 
 some hot coals in a brazier. The vapor or steam of the 
 spirit, dilated and become aeriform by the heat, gradually 
 swelled out the bladder, and stretched it in every direction 
 like a saiL As soon as that was accomplished, we removed 
 the vial from the fire and placed it on a carpet, that it 
 might not be cracked by the cold; we also pricked the 
 bladder immediately, that the steam might not return to a 
 liquid state by the cessation of heat, and confound! the pro- 
 portions. We then removed th« bladder, and again took 
 the weight of the spirit which remained; and so calculated 
 the quantity which had been converted intO' vapor, or an 
 aeriform shape, and then examined how much space had 
 been occupied by the body in its form of epiriis of wine in 
 the vial, and how much, on the other hand, had been occu- 
 pied by it in its aeriform shape in the bladder, and sub- 
 tracted the results; from which it was clear that the 
 body, thus converted and changed, acquired an expansioa 
 of one hundred times beyond its former bulk. 
 
 Again, let the required nature be heat or cold, of such 
 a degree as not to be sensible from its weakness. They are 
 rendered sensible by the thermometer, as we described it 
 above;"" for the cold and heat are not actually perceived 
 by the touch, but heat expands and cold contracts the air. 
 Nor, again, is that expansion or contraction of the air in 
 
 •» See Table of Degrees, No.. 38. 
 
222 NOVUM URa:nww 
 
 itself visible, but the air when expanded depresses the 
 water, and when contracted raises it, which is the first 
 reduction to sight. 
 
 Again, let the required nature be the mixture of bodies; 
 namely, how much aqueous, oleaginous or spirituous, ashy 
 or salt parts they contain ; or, as a particular example, how 
 much butter, cheese, and whey there is in milk, and the 
 like. These things are rendered sensible by artificial and 
 skilful separations in tangible substances; and the nature 
 of the spirit in them, though not immediately perceptible, 
 is nevertheless discovered by the various motions and 
 efforts of bodies. And, indeed, in this branch men have 
 labored hard in distillations and artificial separations, but 
 with little more success than in their other experiments 
 now in use; their methods being mere guesses and blind 
 attempts, and more industrious than intelligent; and what 
 is worst of all, without any imitation or rivalry of nature, 
 but rather by violent heats and too energetic agents, to the 
 destruction of any delicate conformation, in which princi- 
 pally consist the hidden virtues and sympathies. Nor do 
 men in these separations ever attend to or observe what we 
 have before pointed out; namely, that in attacking bodies 
 by fire, or other methods, many qualities are superinduced 
 by the fire itself, and the other bodies used to effect the 
 separation, which were not originally in the compound. 
 Hence arise most extraordinary fallacies; for the mass of 
 vapor which is emitted from water by fire, for instance, did 
 not exist as vapor or air in the water, but is chiefly created 
 by the expansion of the water by the heat of the fire. 
 
 So, in general, all delicate experiments on natural or 
 artificial bodies, by which the genuine are distinguished 
 from the adulterated, and the better from the more com- 
 
NOVUM OROaNUM 223 
 
 mon, should be referred to this division ; for they bring that 
 which is not the object of the senses within their sphere. 
 They are therefore to be everywhere diligently sought after. 
 
 "With regard to the fifth cause of objects escaping our 
 senses, it is clear that the action of the sense takes place by 
 motion, and this motion is time. If, therefore, the motion 
 of any body be either so slow or so swift as not to be pro- 
 portioned to the necessary momentum which operates on the 
 senses, the object is not perceived at all ; as in the motion of 
 the hour hand, and that, again, of a musket-ball. The mo- 
 tion which is imperceptible by the senses from its slowness, 
 is readily and usually rendered sensible by the accumula- 
 tion of motion; that which is imperceptible from its veloc- 
 ity, has not as yet been well measured; it is necessary, how- 
 ever, that this should be done in some cases, with a view to 
 a proper investigation of nature. 
 
 The sixth case, where the sense is impeded by the power 
 of the object, admits of a reduction to the sensible sphere, 
 either by removing the object to a greater distance, or by 
 deadening its efiects by the interposition of a medium, 
 which may weaken and not destroy the object; or by the 
 admission of its reflection where the direct impression is too 
 strong, as that of the sun in a basin of water. 
 
 The seventh case, where the senses are so overcharged 
 with the object as to leave no further room, scarcely occurs 
 except in the smell or taste, and is not of much consequence 
 as regards our present subject. Let what we have said, 
 therefore, suffice with regard to the reduction to the sensi- 
 ble sphere of objects not naturally within its compass. 
 
 Sometimes, however, this reduction is not extended to 
 the senses of man, but to those of some other animal, whose 
 senses, in some points, exceed those of man; as (with regard 
 
4: NOVUM OBGANUM 
 
 some scents) to that of the dog, and with regard to light 
 isting imperceptibly in the air, when not illuminated from 
 y extraneous source, to the sense of the cat, the owl, and 
 her animals which see by night. For Telesius has well 
 iserved, that there appears to be an original portion of 
 ;ht even in the air itself," although but slight and meagre, 
 d of no use for the most part to the eyes of men, and 
 ose of the generality of animals; because those animals 
 whose senses this light is proportioned can see by night, 
 lich does not, in all probability, proceed from their see- 
 5 either without light or by any internal light. 
 
 Here, too, we would observe, that we at present discuss 
 ly the wants of the senses, and their remedies; for their 
 ceptions must be referred to the inquiries appropriated 
 
 the senses, and sensible objects; except that important 
 ception, which makes them define objects in their rela- 
 >n to man, and not in their relation to the universe, and 
 lich is only corrected by universal reasoning and phi- 
 !ophy." 
 
 XLI. In the eighteenth rank of prerogative instances we 
 11 class the instances of the road, which we are also wont 
 
 call itinerant and jointed instances. They are such as 
 licate the gradually continued motions of nature. This 
 
 '" Riccati, and all modern physicists, discover some portion of light in 
 ry body, which seems to confirm the passage in Genesis that assigns to this 
 stance priority in creation. — Ed. 
 
 " As instances of this kind, which the progress of science since the time 
 Bacon affords, we may cite the air-pump and the barometer, for manifesting 
 weight and elasticity of air: the measurement of the velocity of light, by 
 ms of the occultation of Jupiter's satellites and the aberration of the fixed 
 •s: the experiments in electricity and galvanism, and in the greater part 
 jneumatlo chemistry. In all these cases scientific facts are elicited, which 
 30 could never have revealed to ns. — Ed. 
 
JSOVUM OBQANUM 225 
 
 Bpecies of instances escapes rather our observation than our 
 senses; for men are wonderfully indolent upon this subject, 
 consulting nature in a desultory manner, and at periodic 
 intervals, when bodies have been regularly finished and 
 completed, and not during her work. But if any one were 
 desirous of examining and contemplating the talents and 
 industry of an artificer, he would not merely wish to see 
 the rude materials of his art, and then his work when fin- 
 ished, but rather to be present while he is at labor, and 
 proceeding with his work. Something of the same kind 
 should be done with regard to nature. For instance, if any 
 one investigate the vegetation of plants, he should observe 
 from the first sowing of any seed (which can easily be done, 
 by pulling up every day seeds which have been two, three, 
 or four days in the ground, and examining them diligently), 
 how and when the seed begins to swell and break, and be 
 filled, as it were, with spirit; then how it begins to burst 
 the bark and push out fibres, raising itself a little at the 
 same time, unless the ground be very stifE; then how it 
 pushes out these fibres, some downward for roots, others 
 upward for the stem, sometimes also creeping laterally, if 
 it find the earth open and more yielding on one side, and 
 the like. The same should be done in observing the hatch- 
 ing of eggs, where we may easily see the process of anima- 
 tion and organization, and what parts are formed of the 
 yolk, and what of the white of the egg, and the like. The 
 same may be said of the inquiry into the formation of ani- 
 mals from putrefaction ; for it would not be so humane to 
 inquire into perfect and terrestrial animals, by cutting the 
 foetus from the womb; but opportunities may perhaps be 
 ofEered of abortions, animals killed in hunting, and the like. 
 Nature, therefore, must, as it were, be watched, as being 
 
226 NOVUM OBOANUM 
 
 more easily observed by night than by day : for contempla- 
 tions of this kind may be considered as carried on by 
 night, from the minuteness and perpetual burning of our 
 watch-light. 
 
 The same must be attempted with inanimate objects, 
 which we have ourselves done by inquiring into the open- 
 ing of liquids by fire. For the mode in which water ex- 
 pands is different from that observed in wine, vinegar, or 
 verjuice, and very different, again, from that observed in 
 milk and oil, and the like ; and this was easily seen by boil- 
 ing them with slow heat, in a glass vessel, through which 
 the whole may be clearly perceived. But we merely men- 
 tion this, intending to treat of it more at large and more 
 closely when we come to the discovery of the latent process; 
 for it should always be remembered that we do not here 
 treat of things themselves, but merely propose examples." 
 
 XLII. In the nineteenth rank of prerogative instances 
 we will class supplementary or substitutive instances, which 
 we are also wont to call instances of refuge. They are such 
 as supply information, where the senses are entirely defi- 
 cient, and we therefore have recourse to them when appro- 
 priate instances cannot be obtained. This substitution is 
 
 " The itinerant instances, as well as frontier instances, are cases in whicli 
 we are enabled to trace the general law of continuity which seems to pervade 
 all nature, and which has been aptly embodied in the sentence, "natura non 
 agit per saltum." The pursuit of this law into phenomena where its applica- 
 tion is not at first sight obvious, has opened a mine of physical discovery, and 
 led us to perceive an intimate connection between facts which at first seemed 
 hostile to each other. For example, the transparency of gold-leaf, which per- 
 mits a bluish-green light to pass through it, is a frontier instance between 
 transparent and opaque bodies, by exhibiting a body of the glass generally 
 regarded the most opaque in nature, as still possessed of some slight degree 
 of transparency. It thus proves that the quality of opacity is not a contrary 
 or antagonistic quality to that of transparency, but only its extreme lowest 
 degree. 
 
NOVUM ORQANUM 227 
 
 twofold, either by approximation or by analogy. For in- 
 stance, there is no known medium which entirely prevents 
 the effect of the magnet in attracting iron — neither gold, 
 nor silver, nor stone, nor glass, wood, water, oil, cloth, 
 or fibrous bodies, air, flame, or the like. Yet by accurate 
 experiment, a medium may perhaps be found which would 
 deaden its effect, more than another comparatively and in 
 degree; as, for instance, the magnet would not perhaps 
 attract iron through the same thickness of gold as of air, 
 or the same quantity of ignited as of cold silver, and so on; 
 for we have not ourselves made the experiment, but it will 
 suf&ce as an example. Again, there is no known body 
 which is not susceptible of heat, when brought near the 
 fire; yet air becomes warm much sooner than stone. These 
 are examples of substitution by approximation. 
 
 Substitution by analogy is useful, but less sure, and 
 therefore to be adopted with some judgment. It serves to 
 reduce that which is not the object of the senses to their 
 sphere, not by the perceptible operations of the impercep- 
 tible body, but by the consideration of some similar per- 
 ceptible body. For instance, let the subject for inquiry be 
 the mixture of spirits, which are invisible bodies. There 
 appears to be some relation between bodies and their sources 
 or support. Now, the source of flame seems to be oil and 
 fat; that of air, water, and watery substances; for flame 
 increases over the exhalation of oil, and air over that of 
 water. One must therefore consider the mixture of oil and 
 water, which is manifest to the senses, since that of air and 
 flame in general escapes the senses. But oil and water mix 
 very imperfectly by composition or stirring, while they are 
 exactly and nicely mixed in herbs, blood, and the parts of 
 animals. Something similar, therefore, may take place in 
 
228 NOVUM OBGANUM 
 
 the mixture of flame and air in spirituous substances, not 
 bearing mixture very well by simple collision, wMle they 
 appear, however, to be well mixed in the spirits of plants 
 and animals. 
 
 Again, if the inquiry do not relate to perfect mixtures of 
 spirits, but merely to their composition, as whether they 
 easily incorporate with each other, or there be rather (as an 
 example) certain winds and exhalations, or other spiritual 
 bodies, which do not mix with common air, but only adhere 
 to and float in it in globules and drops, and are rather 
 broken and pounded by the air, than received into, and 
 incorporated with it; this cannot be perceived in common 
 air, and other aeriform substances, on account of the rarity 
 of the bodies, but an image, as it were, of this process may 
 be conceived in such liquids as quicksilver, oil, water, and 
 even air, when broken and dissipated it ascends in small 
 portions through water, and also in the thicker kinds of 
 smoke; lastly, in dust, raised and remaining in the air, in 
 all of which there is no incorporation: and the above repre- 
 sentation in this respect is not a bad one, if it be first dili- 
 gently investigated, whether there can be such a difference 
 of nature between spirituous substances, as between liquids, 
 for then these images might conveniently be substituted by 
 analogy. 
 
 And although we have observed of these supplementary 
 instances, that information is to be derived from them, when 
 appropriate instances are wanting, by way of refuge, yet we 
 would have it understood, that they are also of great use, 
 when the appropriate instances are at hand, in order to con- 
 firm the information afforded by them; of which we will 
 speak more at length, when our subject leads us, in due 
 course, to the support of induction. 
 
NOVUM OBQAmJM 229 
 
 XLIII. In the twentieth rank of prerogative instances 
 we will place lancing instances, which we are also wont 
 (bat for a different reason) to call twitching instances. We 
 adopt the latter name, because they twitch the understand- 
 ing, and the former because they pierce nature, whence we 
 style them occasionally the instances of Democritus." 
 They are such as warn the understanding of the admir- 
 able and exquisite subtilty of nature, so that it becomes 
 roused and awakened to attention, observation, and proper 
 inquiry; as, for instance, that a little drop of ink should 
 be drawn out into so many letters ; that silver merely gilt 
 on its surface should be stretched to such a length of gilt 
 wire; that a little worm, such as you may find on the skin, 
 should possess both a spirit and a varied conformation of 
 its parts; that a little saffron should imbue a whole tub 
 of water with its color; that a little musk or aroma should 
 imbue a much greater extent of air with its perfume; that 
 a cloud of smoke should be raised by a little incense ; that 
 such accurate differences of sounds as articulate words 
 should be conveyed in all directions through the air, and 
 even penetrate the pores of wood and water (though they 
 become much weakened), that they should be, moreover, 
 reflected, and that with such distinctness and velocity ; that 
 light and color should for such an extent and so rapidly 
 pass through solid bodies, such as glass and water, with 
 so great and so exquisite a variety of images, and should 
 be refracted and reflected; that the magnet should attract 
 through every description of body, even the most compact; 
 but (what is still more wonderful) that in all these cases the 
 action of one should not impede that of another in a common 
 
 " Alluding to his theory of atoms. 
 
230 NOVUM ORGANUM 
 
 medium, such as air; and fhat there should be borne through 
 the air, at the same time, so many images of visible objects, 
 so many impulses of articulation, so many different per- 
 fumes, as of the violet, rose, etc., besides cold and heat, 
 and magnetic attractions; all of them, I say, at once, with- 
 out any impediment from each other, as if each had its paths 
 and peculiar passage set apart for it, without infringing 
 against or meeting each other. 
 
 To these lancing instances, however, we are wont, not 
 without some advantage, to add those which we call the 
 limits of such instances. Thus, in the cases we have 
 pointed out, one action does not disturb or impede an- 
 other of a different nature, yet those of a similar nature 
 subdue and extinguish each other; as the light of the sun 
 does that of the candle, the sound of a cannon that of the 
 voice, a strong perfume a more delicate one, a powerful heat 
 a more gentle one, a plate of iron between the magnet and 
 other iron the effect of the magnet. But the proper place 
 for mentioning these will be also among the supports of 
 induction. 
 
 XLIV. We have now spoken of the instances which 
 assist the senses, and which are principally of service as 
 regards information; for information begins from the senses. 
 But our whole labor terminates in practice, and as the 
 former is the beginning, so is the latter the end of our 
 subject. The following instances, therefore, will be those 
 which are chiefly useful in practice. They are compre- 
 hended in two classes, and are seven in number. We call 
 them all by the general name of practical instances. Now 
 there are two defects in practice, and as many divisions of 
 important instances. Practice is either deceptive or too 
 laborious. It is generally deceptive (especially after a dili- 
 
NOVUM ORaANUM 231 
 
 gent examination of natures), on account of the power and 
 actions of bodies being ill defined and determined. Now 
 the powers and actions of bodies are defined and determined 
 either by space or by time, or by the quantity at a given 
 period, or by the predominance of energy ; and if these four 
 circumstances be not well and diligently considered, the 
 sciences may indeed be beautiful in theory, but are of no 
 effect in practice. We call the four instances referred to 
 this class, mathematical instances and instances of measure. 
 
 Practice is laborious either from the multitude of instru- 
 ments, or the bulk of matter and substances requisite for 
 any given work. Those instances, therefore, are valuable, 
 which either direct practice to that which is of most conse- 
 quence to mankind, or lessen the number of instruments 
 or of matter to be worked upon. We assign to the three 
 instances relating to this class, the common name of pro- 
 pitious or benevolent instances. We will now separately 
 discuss these seven instances, and conclude with them that 
 part of our work which relates to the prerogative or illus- 
 trious instances. 
 
 XLV. In the twenty -first rank of prerogative instances 
 we will place the instances of the rod or rule, which we are 
 also wont to call the instances of completion or non ultrd. 
 For the powers and motions of bodies do not act and take 
 effect through indefinite and accidental, but through limited 
 and certain spaces; and it is of great importance to practice 
 that these should be understood and noted in every nature 
 which is investigated, not only to prevent deception, but 
 to render practice more extensive and efficient. For it is 
 sometimes possible to extend these powers, and bring the 
 distance, as it were, nearer, as in the example of telescopes. 
 
 Many powers act and take effect only by actual touch, as 
 
282 NOVUM ORGANUM 
 
 in the percussion of bodies, where the one does not remove 
 the other, unless the impelling touch the impelled body. 
 External applications in medicine, as ointment and plasters, 
 do not exercise their efficacy except when in contact with 
 the body. Lastly, the objects of touch and taste only strike 
 those senses when in contact with their organs. 
 
 Other powers act at a distance, though it be very small, 
 of which but few have as yet been noted, although there 
 be more than men suspect; this happens (to take everyday 
 instances) when amber or jet attracts straws, bubbles dis- 
 solve bubbles, some purgative medicines draw humors from 
 above, and the like. The magnetic power by which iron 
 and the magnet, or two magnets, are attracted together, 
 acts within a definite and narrow sphere, but if there be 
 any magnetic power emanating from the earth a little below 
 its surface, and aflEecting the needle in its polarity, it must 
 act at a great distance. 
 
 Again, if there be any magnetic force which acts by sym- 
 pathy between the globe of the earth and heavy bodies, or 
 between that of the moon and the waters of the sea (as seems 
 most probable from the particular floods and ebbs which 
 occur twice in the month), or between the starry sphere and 
 the planets, by which they are summoned and raised to 
 their apogees, these must all operate at very great dis- 
 tances." 
 
 " Observe the approximation to Newton's theory. The same notion re- 
 peated still more clearly in the ninth motion. Newton believed that the 
 planets might so conspire as to derange the earth's annual revolution, and to 
 elongate the line of the apsides and ellipsis that the earth describes in its an- 
 nual revolution round the sun. In the supposition that all the planets meet 
 on the same straight line, Venus and Mercury on one side of the sun, and the 
 earth, moon, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn on the side diametrically opposite; then 
 Saturn would attract Jupiter, Jupiter Mars, Mara the moon, which must in its 
 
NOVUM OROANUM 233 
 
 Again, some conflagrations and the kindling of flames 
 take place at very considerable distances with particular 
 substances-, as they report of the naphtha of Babylon. 
 Heat, too, insinuates itself at wide distances, as does also 
 cold, so that the masses of ice which are broken off and 
 float upon the Northern Ocean, and are borne through the 
 Atlantic to the coast of Canada, become perceptible by 
 the inhabitants, and strike them with cold from a distance. 
 Perfumes also (though here there appears to be always some 
 corporeal emission) act at remarkable distances, as is experi- 
 enced by persons sailing by the coast of Florida, or parts 
 of Spain, where there are whole woods of lemons, oranges, 
 and other odoriferous plants, or rosemary and marjoram 
 bushes, and the like. Lastly, the rays of light and the im- 
 pressions of sound act at extensive distances. 
 
 Yet all these powers, whether acting at a small or great 
 distance, certainly act within definite distances, which are 
 well ascertained by nature, so that there is a limit depend- 
 ing either on the mass or quantity of the bodies, the vigor 
 or faintness of the powers, or the favorable or impeding na- 
 ture of the medium, all of which should be taken into 
 
 turn attract the earth in proportion to the force with which it was drawn out 
 of its orbit. The result of this combined action on our planet would elongate 
 its ecliptic orbit, and so far draw it from the source of heat, as to produce an 
 intensity of cold destructive to animal life. But this movement would imme- 
 diately cease with the planetary concurrence which produced it, and the earth, 
 hke a compressed spring, bound almost as near to the sun as she had been 
 drawn from it, the reaction of the heat on its surface being about as intense a» 
 the cold caused by the first removal was severe. The earth, until it gained its 
 regular track, would thus alternately vibrate between each side of its orbit, 
 with successive changes in its atmosphere, proportional to the square of the 
 variation of its distance from the sun. In no place is Bacon's genius more 
 conspicuous than in these repeated guesses at truth. He would have been a 
 strong Copemican, had not Gilbert defended the system. — Ed. 
 
234 NOVUM ORGANUM 
 
 account and observed. We must also note the boundaries 
 of violent motions, such as missiles, projectiles, wheels and 
 the like, since they are also manifestly confined to certain 
 limits. 
 
 Some motions and virtues are to be found of a directly 
 contrary nature to these, which act in contact but not at a 
 distance; namely, such as operate at a distance and not in 
 contact, and again act with less, force at a less distance, and 
 the reverse. Sight, for instance, is not easily effective in 
 contact, but requires a medium and distance; although I 
 remember having heard from a person deserving of credit, 
 that in being cured of a cataract (which was done by put- 
 ting a small silver needle within the first coat of the eye, to 
 remove the thin pellicle of the cataract, and force it into a 
 corner of the eye), he had distinctly seen the needle moving 
 across the pupil. Still, though this may be true, it is clear 
 that large bodies cannot be seen well or distinctly, unless at 
 the vertex of a cone, where the rays from the object meet 
 at some distance from the eye. In old persons the eye sees 
 better if the object be moved a little further, and not nearer. 
 Again, it is certain that in projectiles the impact is not so 
 violent at too short a distance as a little afterward." Such 
 are the observations to be made on the measure of motions 
 as regards distance. 
 
 There is another measure of motion in space which must 
 
 '^ This is not true except when the projectile acquires greater velocity 
 at every successive instant of its course, which is never the ease except with 
 falling bodies. Bacon appears to have been led into the opinion from observ- 
 ing that gunshots pierce many objects at a distance from which they rebound 
 when brought within a certain proximity of contact. This apparent inconsist- 
 ency, however, arises from the resistance of the parts of the object, which 
 velocity combined with force is necessary to overcome. — Ed. 
 
NOVUM ORQANUM 235 
 
 not be passed over, not relating to progressive but spherical 
 motion — that is, the expansion of bodies into a greater, or 
 their contraction into a lesser sphere. For in our measure 
 of this motion we must inquire what degree of compression 
 or extension bodies easily and readily admit of, accord- 
 ing to their nature, and at what point they begin to resist 
 it, so as at last to bear it no further — as when an inflated 
 bladder is compressed, it allows a certain compression of 
 the air, but if this be increased, the air does not suffer 
 it, and the bladder is burst. 
 
 We have proved this by a more delicate experiment. 
 We took a metal bell, of a light and thin sort, such as is 
 used for salt-cellars, and immersed it in a basin of water, 
 so as to carry the air contained in its interior down with it 
 to the bottom of the basin. We had first, however, placed 
 a small globe at the bottom of the basin, over which we 
 placed the bell. The result was, that if the globe were 
 small compared with the interior of the bell, the air would 
 contract itself, and be compressed without being forced out, 
 but if it were too large for the air readily to yield to it, 
 the latter became impatient of the pressure, raised the bell 
 partly up, and ascended in bubbles. 
 
 To prove, also, the extension (as well as the compres- 
 sion) which air admits of, we adopted the following method: 
 — We took a glass egg, with a small hole at one end; we 
 drew out the air by violent suction at this hole, and then 
 closed the hole with the finger, immersed the egg in water, 
 and then removed the finger. The air being constrained by 
 the effort made in suction, and dilated beyond its natural 
 state, and therefore striving to recover and contract itself 
 (so that if the egg had not been immersed in water, it would 
 have drawn in the air with a hissing sound), now drew in 
 
236 NOVUM OBQANirM 
 
 a sufficient quantity of water to allow the air to recover 
 
 its former dimensions." 
 
 It is well ascertained that rare bodies (such as air) admit 
 of considerable contraction, as has been before observed; 
 but tangible bodies (such as water) admit of it much less 
 readily, and to a less extent. We investigated the. latter 
 point by the following experiment: 
 
 We had a leaden globe made, capable of containing 
 about two pints, wine measure, and of tolerable thickness, 
 so as to support considerable pressure. We poured water 
 into it through an aperture, which we afterward closed with 
 melted lead, as soon as the globe was filled with water, so 
 that the whole became perfectly solid. We next flattened 
 the two opposite sides with a heavy hammer, which neces- 
 sarily caused the water to occupy a less space, since the 
 sphere is the solid of greatest content; and when hammer- 
 ing failed from the resistance of the water, we made use of 
 a mill or press, till at last the water, refusing to submit 
 to a greater pressure, exuded like a fine dew through the 
 solid lead. We then computed the extent to which the 
 original space had been reduced, and concluded that water 
 admitted such a degree of compression when constrained 
 by great violence. 
 
 The more solid, dry or compact bodies, such as stones, 
 wood and metals, admit of much less, and indeed scarcely 
 any perceptible compression or expansion, but escape by 
 breaking, slipping forward, or other efforts; as appears in 
 bending wood, or steel for watch-springs, in projectiles, 
 hammering and many other motions, all of which, together 
 
 " This passage shows that the pressure of the external atmosphere, which 
 forces the water into the egg, was not in Bacon's time understood. — Ed. 
 
NOVUM OBGANUM 237 
 
 with their degrees, are to be observed and examined in the 
 investigation of nature, either to a certainty, or by esti- 
 mation, or comparison, as opportunity permits. 
 
 XLVl. In the twenty-second rank of prerogative in- 
 stances we will place the instances of the course, which 
 we are also wont to call water instances, borrowing our 
 expression from the water hour-glasses employed by the 
 ancients instead of those with sand. They are such as 
 measure nature by the moments of time, as the last in- 
 stances do by the degrees of space. For all motion or nat- 
 ural action takes place in time, more or less rapidly, but 
 still in determined moments well ascertained by nature. 
 Even those actions which appear to take effect suddenly, 
 and in the twinkling of an eye (as we express it), are 
 found to admit of greater or less rapidity. 
 
 In the first place, then, we see that the return of the 
 heavenly bodies to the same place takes place in regular 
 times, as does the flood and ebb of the sea. The descent 
 of heavy bodies toward the earth, and the ascent of light 
 bodies toward the heavenly sphere, take place in definite 
 times," according to the nature of the body, and of the 
 medium through which it moves. The sailing of ships, 
 ' the motions of animals, the transmission of projectiles, all 
 
 " We have already alluded, in a note prefixed to the same aphorism of the 
 first book, to Newton's error of the absolute lightness of bodies. In speaking 
 again of the volatile or spiritual substances (Aph. zl. b. ii.), which he sup- 
 posed with the Platonlsts and some of the schoolmen to enter into the composi- 
 tion of every body, he ascribes to them a power of lessening the weight of the 
 material coating in which he supposes them inclosed. It would appear from 
 these passages and the text that Bacon had no idea of the relative density of 
 bodies, and the capability which some have to diminish the specific gravity of 
 the heavier substances by the dilation of their parts ; or if he had, the reveries 
 in which Aristotle indulged in treating of the soul, about the appetency of 
 bodies to fly to kindred substances — flame and spirit to the sky, and solid 
 opaque substances to the earth, must have vitiated his mind. — Ed. 
 
2o8 KOVIJU ORQAyVM 
 
 take place in times the sums of which can be computed. 
 With regard to heat, we see that boys in winter bathe 
 their hands in the flame without being burned; and con- 
 jurers, bv quick and regular movements, overturn vessels 
 filled with wine or water, and replace them without spilling 
 the liquid, with several similar instances. The compres- 
 sion, exptmsion and eruption of several bodies, take place 
 more or less rapidly, according to the nature of the body 
 and its motion, but still in definite moments. 
 
 In the explosion of several cannon at once (which are 
 sometimes heard at the distance of thirty miles), the sound 
 of those nearest to the spot is heard before that of the most 
 distant. Even in sight (whose action is most rapid), it is 
 clear that a definite time is neeessarv for its exertion, 
 which is proved by certain objects being invisible from 
 the velocity of their motion, such as a musket-ball; for 
 the flight of the ball is too swift to allow an impression 
 of its figure to be conveyed to the sight. 
 
 This last instance, and others of a like nature, have 
 sometimes excited in vis a most mai'vellous doubt, no less 
 than whether the image of the sky and stare is pereeived 
 as at the actual moment of its existence, or rather a little 
 after, and whether there is not (with regaiil to the visible 
 appearance of the heavenly bodies) a true and apparent 
 time, as well as a true and apparent place, which is ob- 
 served by astronomers in parallaxes. It appeared so in- 
 credible to us, that the images or radiations of heavenly 
 bodies could suddenly be conveyed through such immense 
 spaces to the sight, and it seemed that they ought rather 
 to be transmitted in a definite time." That doubt, however 
 
 '* ROmer, a Danish astronomor, was tlio tlrst to demonstrate, by oounootiug 
 the irregularities oi the eclipses of Jupiter's aatellitos with their distances from 
 
NOVUM ORGANUM 239 
 
 (as far as regards any great difference between the true and 
 apparent time), was subsequently completely set at rest, 
 when we considered the infinite loss and diminution of 
 size as regards the real and apparent magnitude of a star, 
 occasioned by its distance, and at the same time observed 
 at how great a distance (at least sixty miles) bodies which 
 are merely white can be suddenly seen by us. For there 
 is no doubt, that the light of the heavenly bodies not only 
 far surpasses the vivid appearance of white, but even the 
 light of any flame (with which we are acquainted) in the 
 vigor of its radiation. The immense velocity of the bodies 
 themselves, which is perceived in their diurnal motion, and 
 has so astonished thinking men, that they have been more 
 ready to believe in the motion of the earth, renders the 
 motion of radiation from them (marvellous as it is in its 
 rapidity) more worthy of belief. That which has weighed 
 most with us, however, is, that if there were any consider- 
 able interval of time between the reality and the appear- 
 ance, the images would often be interrupted and confused 
 by clouds formed in the meantime, and similar disturb- 
 ances of the medium. Let this suffice with regard to the 
 simple measures of time. 
 
 It is not merely the absolute, but still more the relative 
 measure of motions and actions which must be inquired 
 into, for this latter is of great use and application. We 
 perceive that the flame of firearms is seen sooner than the 
 sound is heard, although the ball must have struck the air 
 before the flame, which was behind it, could escape: the 
 reason of which is, that light moves with greater velocity 
 
 the earth, the necessity of time for the propagation of light. The idea occurred 
 to Dominic Cassini as well as Bacon, but both allowed the discovery to slip out 
 of their hands. — Ed. 
 
240 NOVUM OBGANUM 
 
 than sound. We perceive, also, that visible images are re- 
 ceived by the sight with greater rapidity than they are dis- 
 missed, and for this reason, a violin string touched with the 
 finger appears double or triple, because the new image is 
 received before the former one is dismissed. Hence, also, 
 rings when spinning appear globular, and a lighted torch, 
 borne rapidly along at night, appears to have a tail. Upon 
 the principle of the inequality of motion, also, Galileo at- 
 tempted an explanation of the flood and ebb of the sea, 
 supposing the earth to move rapidly, and the water slowly, 
 by which means the water, after accumulating, would at 
 intervals fall back, as is shown in a vessel of water made 
 to move rapidly. He has, however, imagined this on data 
 which cannot be granted (namely, the earth's motion), and 
 besides, does not satisfactorily account for the tide taking 
 place every six hours. 
 
 An example of our present point (the relative measure 
 of motion), and, at the same time, of its remarkable use of 
 which we have spoken, is conspicuous in mines filled with 
 gunpowder, where immense weights of earth, buildings, 
 and the like, are overthrown and prostrated by a small 
 quantity of powder; the reason of which is decidedly this, 
 that the motion of the expansion of the gunpowder is much 
 more rapid than that of gravity," which would resist it, so 
 that the former has terminated before the latter has com- 
 menced. Hence, also, in missiles, a strong blow will not 
 carry them so far as a sharp and rapid one. Nor could a 
 small portion of animal spirit in animals, especially in such 
 
 " The author in the text confounds inertneBS, which is a simple indiflerence 
 of bodies to action, with gravity, which is a force acting always in proportion 
 to their density. He falls into the same error further on. — Sd. 
 
NOVUM ORGANUM 241 
 
 vast bodies as those of the whale and elephant, have ever 
 bent or directed such a mass of body, were it not owing to 
 the velocity of the former, and the slowness of the latter in 
 resisting its motion. 
 
 In short, this point is one of the principal foundations 
 of the magic experiments (of which we shall presently 
 speak), where a small mass of matter overcomes and regu- 
 lates a much larger, if there but be an anticipation of 
 motion, by the velocity of one before the other is pre- 
 pared to act. 
 
 Finally, the point of the first and last should be ob- 
 served in all natural actions. Thus, in an infusion of rhu- 
 barb the purgative property is first extracted, and then the 
 astringent; we have experienced something of the same 
 kind in steeping violets in vinegar, which first extracts the 
 sweet and delicate odor of the flower, and then the more 
 earthy part, which disturbs the perfume ; so that if the vio- 
 lets be steeped a whole day, a much fainter perfume is 
 extracted than if they were steeped for a quarter of an hour 
 only, and then taken out; and since the odoriferous spirit 
 in the violet is not abundant, let other and fresh violets be 
 steeped in the vinegar every quarter of an hour, as many as 
 six times, when the infusion becomes so strengthened, that 
 although the violets have not altogether remained there for 
 more than one hour and a half, there remains a most pleas- 
 ing perfume, not inferior to the flower itself, for a whole 
 year. It must be observed, however, that the perfume 
 does not acquire its full strength tUl about a month after 
 the infusion. In the distillation of aromatic plants macer- 
 ated in spirits of wine, it is well known that an aqueous 
 and useless phlegm rises first, then water containing more 
 of the spirit, and, lastly, water containing more of the 
 
242 NOVUM ORGANUM 
 
 aroma ; and many observations of the like kind, well worthy 
 of notice, are to be made in distillations. But let these 
 suffice as examples.'" 
 
 ^ The experiments of the last two classes of instances are considered only 
 in relation to practice, and Bacon does not so much as mention their infinitely 
 greater importance in the theoretical part of induction. The important law of 
 gravitation in physical astronomy could never have been demonstrated but by 
 such observations and experiments as assigned accurate geometrical measures 
 to the quantities compared. It was necessary to determine with precision the 
 demi-diameter of the earth, the velocity of falling bodies at its surface, the dis- 
 tance of the moon, and the speed with which she describes her orbit, before 
 the relation could be discovered between the force which draws a stone to the 
 ground and that which retains the moon in her sphere. 
 
 In many cases the result of a number of particular facts, or the collective 
 instances rising out of them, can only be discovered by geometry, which so far 
 becomes necessary to complete the work of induction. For instance, in the 
 case of optics, when light passes from one transparent medium to another, it 
 is refracted, and the angle which the ray of incidence makes with the super- 
 ficies which bounds the two media determines that which the refracted ray 
 makes with the same superficies. Now, all experiment can do for us in this 
 case is, to determine for any particular angle of incidence the corresponding 
 angle of refraction. But with respect to the general rule which in every pos- 
 sible case deduces one of these angles from the other, or expresses the constant 
 and invariable relation which subsists between them, experiment gives no direct 
 information. Geometry must, consequently, be called in, which, when a con- 
 stant though unknown relation subsists between two angles, or two variable 
 qualities of any kind, and when an indefinite number of values of those quanti- 
 ties are assigned, furnishes infallible means of discovering that unknown rela- 
 tion either accurately or by approximata'on. In this way it has been found, 
 ■when the two media remain the same, the cosines of the above-mentioned 
 angles have a constant ratio to each other. Hence, when the relations of the 
 simple elements of phenomena are discovered to afEord a general rule which 
 ■will apply to any concrete case, the deductive method must be applied, and the 
 elementary principles made through its agency to account for the laws of theur 
 more complex combinations. The reflection and refraction of light by the rain 
 falling from a cloud opposite to the sun was thought, even before Ne^wton'a 
 day, to contain the form of the rainbow. This philosopher transformed a prob- 
 able conjecture into a certain fact when he deduced from the known laws of 
 reflection and refraction the breadth of the colored arch, the diameter of the 
 circle of which it is a part, and the relation of the latter to the place of the 
 spectator and the sun. Doubt was at once silenced when there came out of 
 his calculus a combination of the same laws of the simple elements of optica 
 answering to the phenomena in nature. — Ed. 
 
NOVUM ORQANUM 243 
 
 XLVII. In the twenty-third rank of prerogative in- 
 stances we will place instances of quantity, which we are 
 also wont to call the doses of nature (borrowing a word 
 from medicine). They are such as measure the powers by 
 the quantity of bodies, and point out the effect of the quan- 
 tity in the degree of power. And in the first place, some 
 powers only subsist in the universal quantity, or such as 
 bears a relation to the confirmation and fabric of the uni- 
 verse. Thus the earth is fixed, its parts fall. The waters 
 in the sea flow and ebb, but not in the rivers, except by the 
 admission of the sea. Then, again, almost all particular 
 powers act according to the greater or less quantity of the 
 body. Large masses of water are not easily rendered foul, 
 small are. New wine and beer become ripe and drinkable 
 in small skins much more readily than in large casks. If a 
 herb be placed in a considerable quantity of liquid, infusion 
 takes place rather than impregnation ; if in less, the reverse. 
 A bath, therefore, and a light sprinkling, produce different 
 effects on the human body. Light dew, again, never falls, 
 but is dissipated and incorporated with the air; thus we see 
 that in breathing on gems, the slight quantity of moisture, 
 like a small cloud in the air, is immediately dissolved. 
 Again, a piece of the same magnet does not attract so much 
 iron as the whole magnet did. There are some powers 
 where the smallness of the quantity is of more avail ; as in 
 boring, a sharp point pierces more readily than a blunt one; 
 the diamond, when pointed, makes an impression on glass, 
 and the like. 
 
 Here, too, we must not rest contented with a vague 
 result, but inquire into the exact proportion of quantity 
 requisite for a particular exertion of power; for one would 
 be apt to suppose that the power bears an exact proportion 
 
 SOIENOE— Voi. 23—11 
 
244 NOVUM OBGANUM 
 
 to the quantity; that if a leaden bullet of one ounce, for 
 instance, would fall in a given time, one of two ounces 
 ought to fall twice as rapidly, which is most erroneous. 
 Nor does the same ratio prevail in every kind of power, 
 their difference being considerable. The measure, there- 
 fore, must be determined by experiment, and not by proba- 
 bility or conjecture. 
 
 Lastly, -we must in all our investigations of nature ob- 
 serve what quantity, or dose, of the body is requisite for a 
 given effect, and must at the same time be guarded against 
 estimating it at too much or too little. 
 
 XL VIII. In the twenty-fourth rank of prerogative in- 
 stances we will place wrestling instances, which we are also 
 wont to call instances of predominance. They are such as 
 point out the predominance and submission of powers com- 
 pared with each other, and which of them is the more ener- 
 getic and superior, or more weak and inferior. For the 
 motions and effects of bodies are compounded, decom- 
 posed, and combined, no less than the bodies themselves. 
 We will exhibit, therefore, the principal kinds of motions 
 or active powers, in order that their comparative strength, 
 and thence a demonstration and definition of the instances 
 in question, may be rendered more clear. 
 
 Let the first motion be that of the resistance of matter, 
 which exists in every particle, and completely prevents its 
 annihilation; so that no conflagration, weight, pressure, vio- 
 lence, or length of time can reduce even the smallest por- 
 tion of matter to nothing, or prevent it from being some- 
 thing, and occupying some space, and delivering itself 
 (whatever straits it be put to), by changing its form or 
 place, or, if that be impossible, remaining as it is ; nor can 
 it ever happen that it should either be nothing or nowhere. 
 
NOVUM ORGANUM 245 
 
 This motion is designated by the schools (which generally 
 name and define everything by its effects and inconven- 
 iences rather than by its inherent cause) by the axiom, that 
 two bodies cannot exist in the same place, or they call it a 
 motion to prevent the penetration of dimensions. It is use- 
 less to give examples of this motion, since it exists in 
 every body. 
 
 Let the second motion be that which we term the motion 
 of connection, by which bodies do not allow themselves to 
 be separated at any point from the contact of another body, 
 delighting, as it were, in the mutual connection and contact. 
 This is called by the schools a motion to prevent a vacuum. 
 It takes place when water is drawn up by suction or a 
 syringe, the flesh by cupping, or when the water remains 
 without escaping from perforated jars, unless the mouth be 
 opened to admit the air, and innumerable instances of a like 
 nature. 
 
 Let the third be that which we term the motion of lib- 
 erty, by which bodies strive to deliver themselves from any 
 unnatural pressure or tension, and to restore themselves to 
 the dimensions suited to their mass; and of which, also, 
 there are innumerable examples. Thus, we have examples 
 of their escaping from pressure, in the water in swimming, 
 in the air in flying, in the water again in rowing, and in the 
 air in the undulation of the winds, and in springs of 
 watches. An exact instance of the motion of compressed 
 air is seen in children's popguns, which they make by 
 scooping out elder-branches or some such matter, and 
 forcing in a piece of some pulpy root or the like, at each 
 end; then they force the root or other pellet with a ramrod 
 to the opposite end, from which the lower pellet Is emitted 
 and projected with a report, and that before it is touched 
 
246 NOVUM OROANVM 
 
 by the other piece of root or pellet, or by the ramrod. We 
 have examples of their escape from tensioa, in the motion 
 of the air that remains in glass eggs after suction, in strings, 
 leather, and cloth, which recoil after tension, unless it be 
 long continued. The schools define this by the term of 
 motion from the form of the element; injudiciously enough, 
 since this motion is to be found not only in air, water, or 
 fire, but in every species of solid, as wood, iron, lead, cloth, 
 parchment, etc., each of which has its own proper size, and 
 is with difficulty stretched to any other. Since, however, 
 this motion of liberty is the most obvious of all, and to be 
 seen in an infinite number of cases, it will be as well to dis- 
 tinguish it correctly and clearly; for some most carelessly 
 confound this with the two others of resistance and connec- 
 tion; namely, the freedom from pressure with the former, 
 and that from tension with the latter, as if bodies when com- 
 pressed yielded or expanded to prevent a penetration of 
 dimensions, and when stretched rebounded and contracted 
 themselves to prevent a vacuum. But if the air, when 
 compressed, could be brought to the density of water, or 
 wood to that of stone, there would be no need of any pene- 
 tration of dimensions, and yet the compression would be 
 much greater than they actually admit of. So if water 
 could be expanded till it became as rare as air, or stone as 
 rare as wood, there would be no need of a vacuum, and yet 
 the expansion would be much greater than they actually 
 admit of. 
 
 "We do not, therefore, arrive at a penetration of dimen- 
 sions or a vacuum before the extremes of condensation 
 and rarefaction, while the motion we speak of stops 
 and exerts itself much within them, and is nothing more 
 than a desire of bodies to preserve their specific density (or, 
 
NOVUM ORGANUM 247 
 
 if it be preferred, their form), and not to desert them sud- 
 denly, but only to change by degrees, and of their own 
 accord. It is, however, much more necessary to intimate 
 to mankind (because many other points depend upon this), 
 that the violent motion which we call mechanical, and 
 Democritus (who, in explaining his primary motions, is 
 to be ranked even below the middling class of philoso- 
 phers) termed the motion of a blow, is nothing else than 
 this motion of liberty, namely, a tendency to relaxation 
 from compression. For in all simple impulsion or flight 
 through the air, the body is not displaced or moved in 
 Bpace, until its parts are placed in an unnatural state, and 
 compressed by the im'pelling force. "When that takes 
 place, the diflEerent parts urging the other in succes- 
 sion, the whole is moved, and that with a rotatory as 
 well as progressive motion, in order that the parts may, 
 by this means also, set themselves at liberty, or more 
 readily submit. Let this suffice for the motion in 
 question. 
 
 Let the fourth be that which we term the motion of mat- 
 ter, and which is opposed to the last; for in the motion of 
 liberty, bodies abhor, reject, and avoid a new size or vol- 
 ume, or any new expansion or contraction (for these differ- 
 ent terms have the same meaning), and strive, with all their 
 power, to rebound and resume their former density; on the 
 contrary, in the motion of matter, they are anxious to ac- 
 quire a new volume or dimension, and attempt it willingly 
 and rapidly, and occasionally by a most vigorous effort, as 
 in the example of gunpowder. The most powerful, or at 
 least most frequent, though not the only instruments of 
 this motion, are heat and cold. For instance, the air, if 
 expanded by tension (as by suction in the glass egg), Strug- 
 
248 NOVUM ORQANUM 
 
 gles anxiously to restore itself; but if heat be applied, it 
 strives, on the contrary, to dilate itself, and longs for a 
 larger volume, regularly passing and migrating into it, as 
 into a new form (as it is termed) ; nor after a certain degree 
 of expansion is it anxious to return, unless it be invited to 
 do so by the application of cold, which is not indeed a re- 
 turn, but a fresh change. So also water, when confined by 
 compression, resists, and wishes to become as it was before, 
 namely, more expanded; but if there happen an intense 
 and continued cold, it changes itself readily, and of its own 
 accord, into the condensed state of ice; and if the cold be 
 long continued, without any intervening warmth (as in 
 grottoes and deep caves), it is changed into crystal or simi- 
 lar matter, and never resumes its form. 
 
 Let the fifth be that which we term the motion of con- 
 tinuity. We do not understand by this simple and primary 
 continuity with any other body (for that is the motion of 
 connection), but the continuity of a particular body in 
 itself; for it is most certain that all bodies abhor a solu- 
 tion of continuity, some more and some less, but all par- 
 tially. In hard bodies (such as steel and glass) the resist- 
 ance to an interruption of continuity is most powerful and 
 eflicacious, while although in liquids it appears to be faint 
 and languid, yet it is not altogether null, but exists in the 
 lowest degree, and shows itself in many experiments, such 
 as bubbles, the round form of drops, the thin threads which 
 drip from roofs, the cohesion of glutinous substances, and 
 the like. It is most conspicuous, however, if an attempt 
 be made to push this separation to still smaller particles. 
 Thus, in mortars, the pestle produces no eSect after a cer- 
 tain degree of contusion, water does not penetrate small 
 fissures, and the air itself, notwithstanding its subtilty, 
 
NOVUM OROANUM 249 
 
 does not penetrate the pores of solid vessels at once, but 
 only by long-continued insinuation. 
 
 Let th& sixth be that which we term the motion of acqui- 
 sition, or the motion of need.'" It is that by which bodies 
 placed among others of a heterogeneous and, as it were, 
 hostile nature, if they meet with the means or opportunity 
 of avoiding them, and uniting themselves with others of 
 a more analogous nature, even when these latter are not 
 closely allied to them, immediately sei2;e and, as it were, 
 select them, and appear to consider it as something acquired 
 (whence we derive the name), and to have need of these 
 latter bodies. For instance, gold, or any other metal in 
 leaf, does not like the neighborhood of air; if, therefore, 
 they meet with any tangible and thick substance (such as 
 the finger, paper, or the like), they immediately adhere to 
 it, and are not easily torn from it. Paper, too, and cloth, 
 and the like, do not agree with the air, which is inherent 
 and mixed in their pores. They readily, therefore, imbibe 
 water or other liquids, and get rid of the air. Sugar, or a 
 sponge, dipped in water or wine, and though part of it be 
 out of the water or wine, and at some height above it, will 
 yet gradually absorb them." 
 
 Hence an excellent rule is derived for the opening 
 and dissolution of bodies; for (not to mention corrosive 
 and strong waters, which force their way) if a body can 
 be found which is more adapted, suited, and friendly to 
 a given solid, than that with which it is by some necessity 
 united, the given solid immediately opens and dissolves 
 
 °' As far as this motion results from attraction and repulsion, it Is only a 
 simple consequence of the last two. — Ed. 
 
 8s These two cases are now resolved into the property of the capillary tube* 
 and present only another feature of the law of attraction. — Ed. 
 
250 NOVUM ORGANUM 
 
 itself to receive the former, and excludes or removes the 
 latter." Nor is the effect or power of this motion confined 
 to contact, for the electric energy (of which Gilbert and 
 others after him have told so many fables) is only the 
 energy excited in a body by gentle friction, and which 
 does not endure the air, but prefers some tangible substance 
 if there be any at hand. 
 
 Let the seventh be that which we term the motion of 
 greater congregation, by which bodies are borne toward 
 masses of a similar nature, for instance, heavy bodies toward 
 the earth, light to the sphere of heaven. The schools termed 
 this natural motion, by a superficial consideration of it, be- 
 cause produced by no external visible agent, which made 
 them consider it innate in the substances; or perhaps 
 because it does not cease, which is little to be wondered 
 at, since heaven and earth are always present, while the 
 causes and sources of many other motions are sometimes 
 absent and sometimes present. They therefore called this 
 perpetual and proper, because it is never interrupted, but 
 instantly takes place when the others are interrupted, and 
 they called the others adscititious. The former, however, 
 is in reality weak and slow, since it yields, and is inferior 
 to the others as long as they act, unless the mass of the 
 body be great; and although this motion have so filled 
 men's minds, as almost to have obscured all others, yet 
 they know but little about it, and commit many errors in 
 its estimate. 
 
 Let the eighth be that which we term the motion of 
 lesser congregation, by which the homogeneous parts in 
 
 ^ This is one of the most uaeM practical methods in chemistry at the 
 present day. 
 
NOVUM OBOANUM 251 
 
 any body separate themselves from the heterogeneous and 
 unite together, and whole bodies of a similar substance 
 coalesce and tend toward each other, and are sometimes 
 congregated, attracted, and meet, from some distance; thus 
 in milk the cream rises after a certain time, and in wine the 
 dregs and tartar sink ; which effects are not to be attributed 
 to gravity and levity only, so as to account for the rising 
 of some parts and the sinking of others, but much more to 
 the desire of the homogeneous bodies to meet and unite. 
 This motion differs from that of need in two points: 1st, 
 because the latter is the stimulus of a malignant and con- 
 trary nature, while in this of which we treat (if there be no 
 impediment or restraint), the parts are united by their 
 affinity, although there be no foreign nature to create a 
 struggle; 2dly, because the union is closer and more 
 select. For in the other motion, bodies which have no 
 great affinity unite, if tliey can but avoid the hostile body, 
 while in this, substances which are connected by a decided 
 kindred resemblance come together and are molded into 
 one. It is a motion existing in all compound bodies, and 
 would be readily seen in each, if it were not confined and 
 checked by the other affections and necessities of bodies 
 which disturb the union. 
 
 This motion is usually confi.ned in the three following 
 manners: by the torpor of the bodies; by the power of the 
 predominating body; by external motion. With regard to 
 the first, it is certain that there is more or less sluggishness 
 in tangible bodies, and an abhorrence of locomotion; so that 
 unless excited they prefer remaining contented with their 
 actual state, to placing themselves in a better position. 
 There are three means of breaking through this sluggish- 
 ness — heat; the active power of a similar body; vivid and 
 
252 NOVUM ORGANUM 
 
 powerful motion. With regard to the first, heat is, on this- 
 account, defined as that which separates heterogeneous, and 
 draws together homogeneous substances; a definition of 
 the Peripatetics which is justly ridiculed by Gilbert, who 
 says it is as if one were to define man to be that which 
 sows wheat and plants vineyards; being only a definition 
 deduced from effects, and those but partial. But it is still 
 more to be blamed, because those effects, such as they are, 
 are not a peculiar property of heat, but a mere accident (for 
 cold, as we shall afterward show, does the same), arising 
 from the desire of the homogeneous parts to unite; the 
 heat then assists them in breaking through that sluggish- 
 ness which before restrained their desire. With regard to 
 the assistance derived from the power of a similar body, it 
 is most conspicuous in the magnet when armed with steel, 
 for it excites in the steel a power of adhering to steel, as a 
 homogeneous substance, the power of the magnet breaking 
 through the sluggishness of the steel. With regard to the 
 assistance of motion, it is seen in wooden arrows or points, 
 which penetrate more deeply into wood than if they were 
 tipped with iron, from the similarity of the substance, the 
 swiftness of tbe motion breaking through the sluggishness 
 of the wood ; of which two last experiments we have spoken 
 above in the aphorism on clandestine instances." 
 
 The confinement of the motion of lesser congregation, 
 which arises from the power of the predominant body, is 
 shown in the decomposition of blood and urine by cold. 
 For as long as these substances are filled with the active 
 spirit, which regulates and restrains each of tbeir component 
 parts, as the predominant ruler of the whole, the several 
 
 '* See Aphorism xxv. 
 
NOVUM OBOANUM 253 
 
 different parts do not collect themselves separately on ac- 
 count of the check; but as soon as that spirit has evapo- 
 rated, or has been choked by the cold, then the decomposed 
 parts unite, according to their natural desire. Hence it 
 happens, that all bodies which contain a sharp spirit (as 
 salts and the like), last without decomposition, owing 
 to the permanent and durable power of the predominating 
 and imperious spirit. 
 
 The confinement of the motion of lesser congregation, 
 which arises from external motion, is very evident in that 
 agitation of bodies which preserves them from putrefaction. 
 For all putrefaction depends on the congregation of the 
 homogeneous parts, whence, by degrees, there ensues a 
 corruption of the first form (as it is called), and the gen- 
 eration of another. For the decomposition of the original 
 form, which is itself the union of the homogeneous parts, 
 precedes the putrefaction, which prepares the way for the 
 generation of another. This decomposition, if not inter- 
 rupted, is simple; but if there be various obstacles, putre- 
 factions ensue, which are the rudiments of a new genera- 
 tion. But if (to come to our present point) a frequent 
 agitation be excited by external motion, the motion toward 
 union (which is delicate and gentle, and requires to be free 
 from all external influence) is disturbed, and ceases ; which 
 we perceive to be the case in innumerable instances. Thus, 
 the daily agitation or flowing of water prevents putrefaction ; 
 winds prevent the air from being pestilent; corn turned 
 about and shaken in granaries continues clean: in short, 
 everything which is externally agitated will with difficulty 
 rot internally. 
 
 We must not omit that union of the parts of bodies 
 which is the principal cause of induration and desiccation. 
 
254 NOVUM OBOANUM 
 
 When the spirit or moisture, which has evaporated into 
 spirit, has escaped from a porous body (such as wood, 
 bone, parchment, and the like), the thicker parts are drawn 
 together, and united with a greater effort, and induration 
 or desiccation is the consequence; and this we attribute not 
 so much to the motion of connection (in order to prevent a 
 vacuum), as to this motion of friendship and union. 
 
 IJnion from a distance is rare, and yet is to be met with 
 in more instances than are generally observed. We per- 
 ceive it when one bubble dissolves another, when medi- 
 cines attract humors from a similarity of substance, when 
 one string moves another in unison with it on different 
 instruments, and the like. We are of opinion that this 
 motion is very prevalent also in animal spirits, but are 
 quite ignorant of the fact. It is, however, conspicuous in 
 the magnet, and magnetized iron. While speaking of the 
 motions of the magnet, we must plainly distinguish them, 
 for there are four distinct powers or effects of the magnet 
 which should not be confounded, although the wonder and 
 astonishment of mankind has classed them together. 1. The 
 attraction of the magnet to the magnet, or of iron to the 
 magnet, or of magnetised iron to iron. 2. Its polarity 
 toward the north and south, and its variation. 3. Its pene- 
 tration through gold, glass, stone, and all other substances. 
 4. The communication of power from the mineral to iron, 
 and from iron to iron, without any communication of the 
 substances. Here, however, we only speak of the first. 
 There is also a singular motion of attraction between quick- 
 silver and gold, so that the gold attracts quicksilver even 
 when made use of in ointment; and those who work sur- 
 rounded by the vapors of quicksilver, are wont to hold a 
 piece of gold in their mouths, to collect the exhalations, 
 
NOVUM OROANUM 255 
 
 which would otherwise attack their heads and bones, and 
 this piece soon grows white." Let this suffice for the mo- 
 tioij. of lesser congregation. 
 
 Let the ninth be the magnetic motion, which, although 
 of the nature of that last mentioned, yet, when operating 
 at great distances, and on great masses, deserves a separate 
 inquiry, especially if it neither begin in contact, as most 
 motions of congregation do, nor end by bringing the sub- 
 stances into contact, as all do, but only raise them, and 
 make them swell without any further effect. For if the 
 moon raise the waters, or cause moist substances to swell, 
 or if the starry sphere attract the planets toward their 
 apogees, or the sun confine the planets Mercury and "Venus 
 to within a certain distance of his mass ;" these motions do 
 not appear capable of being classed under either of those 
 of congregation, but to be, as it were, intermediately and 
 imperfectly congregative, and thus to form a distinct species. 
 
 Let the tenth motion be that of avoidance, or that which 
 is opposed to the motion of lesser congregation, by which 
 bodies, with a kind of antipathy, avoid and disperse, and 
 separate themselves from, or refuse to unite themselves 
 with others of a hostile nature. For although this may 
 sometimes appear to be an accidental motion, necessarily 
 attendant upon that of the lesser congregation, because the 
 homogeneous parts cannot unite, unless the heterogeneous 
 be first removed and excluded, yet it is still to be classed 
 separately," and considered as a distinct species, because, 
 
 " Query? 
 
 *> Observe this approximation to Newton's theory. 
 
 •' Those differences which are generated by the masses and respective dis- 
 tances of bodies are only differences of quantity, and not specific; consequently 
 those three classes are only one. — Ed. 
 
256 NOVUM OROANUM 
 
 in many cases, the desire of avoidance appears to be more 
 marked than that of union. 
 
 It is very conspicuous in the excrements of animals, 
 nor less, perhaps, in objects odious to particular senses, 
 especially the smell and taste; for a fetid smell is rejected 
 by the nose, so as to produce a sympathetic motion of ex- 
 pulsion at the mouth of the stomach; a bitter and rough 
 taste is rejected by the palate or throat, so as to produce 
 a sympathetic concussion and shivering of the head. This 
 motion is visible also in other cases. Thus it is observed 
 in some kinds of antiperistasis, as in the middle region of 
 the air, the cold of which appears to be occasioned by the 
 rejection of cold from the regions of the heavenly bodies; 
 and also in the heat and combustion observed in subter- 
 ranean spots, which appear to be owing to the rejectioH of 
 heat from the centre of the earth. For heat and cold, when 
 in small quantities, mutually destroy each other, while in 
 larger quantities, like armies equally matched, they remove 
 and eject each other in open conflict. It is said, also that 
 cinnamon and other perfumes retain their odor longer when 
 placed near privies and foul places, because they will not 
 unite and mix with stinks. It is well known that quick- 
 silver, which would otherwise reunite into a complete mass, 
 is prevented from so doing by man's spittle, pork lard, tur- 
 pentine and the like, from the little affinity of its parts with 
 those substances, so that when surrounded by them it draws 
 itself back, and its avoidance of these intervening obstacles 
 is greater than its desire of reuniting itself to its homoge- 
 neous parts; which is what they term the mortification of 
 quicksilver. Again, the difference in weight of oil and 
 water is not the only reason for their refusing to mix, but 
 it is also owing to the little affinity of the two; for spirits 
 
NOVUM ORGANim 267 
 
 of wine, -which are lighter than oil, mix very well with 
 water. A very remarkable instance of the motion in ques- 
 tion is seen in nitre, and crude bodies of a like nature, 
 which abhor flame, as may be observed in gunpowder, 
 quicksilver and gold. The avoidance of one pole of the 
 magnet by iron is not (as Gilbert has well observed), 
 strictly speaking, an avoidance, but a conformity, or at- 
 traction to a more convenient situation. 
 
 Let the eleventh motion be that of assimilation, or self- 
 multiplication, or simple generation, by which latter term 
 we do not mean the simple generation of integral bodies, 
 such as plants or animals, but of homogeneous bodies. 
 By this motion homogeneous bodies convert those which 
 are allied to them, or at least well disposed and prepared, 
 into their own substance and nature. Thus flame multi- 
 plies itself over vapors and oily substances and generates 
 fresh flame; the air over water and watery substances mul- 
 tiplies itself and generates fresh air ; the vegetable and ani- 
 mal spirit, over the thin particles of a watery or oleaginous 
 spirit contained in its food, multiplies itself and generates 
 fresh spirit; the solid parts of plants and animals, as the 
 leaf, flower, the flesh, bone and the like, each of them 
 assimilate some part of the juices contained in their food, 
 and generate a successive and daily substance. For let 
 none rave with Paracelsus, who (blinded by his distilla- 
 tions) would have it, that nutrition takes place by mere 
 separation, and that the eye, nose, brain and liver lie con- 
 cealed in bread and meat, the root, leaf and flower, in the 
 juice of the earth; asserting that just as the artist brings 
 out a leaf, flower, eye, nose, hand, foot and the like, from 
 a rude mass of stone or wood by the separation and rejec- 
 tion of what is superfluous; so the great artist within us 
 
268 NOVUM ORQANUM 
 
 brings out our several limbs and parts by separation and 
 rejection. But to leave such trifling, it is most certain that 
 all the parts of vegetables and animals, as well the homo- 
 geneous as organic, first of all attract those juices contained 
 in their food, which are nearly common, or at least not very 
 different, and then assimilate and convert them into their 
 own nature. Nor does this assimilation, or simple genera- 
 tion, take place in animated bodies only, but the inanimate 
 also participate in the same property (as we have observed 
 of flame and air), and that languid spirit, which is contained 
 in every tangible animated substance, is perpetually work- 
 ing upon the coarser parts, and converting them into spirit, 
 which afterward is exhaled, whence ensues a diminution of 
 weight, and a desiccation of which we have spoken else- 
 where. °° 
 
 Nor should we, in speaking of assimilation, neglect 
 to mention the accretion which is usually distinguished 
 from aliment, and which is observed when mud grows into 
 a mass between stones, and is converted into a stony sub- 
 stance, and the scaly substance round the teeth is converted 
 into one no less hard than the teeth themselves; for we are 
 of opinion that there exists in all bodies a desire of assim- 
 ilation, as well as of uniting with homogeneous masses. 
 Each of these powers, however, is confined, although in 
 different manners, and should be diligently investigated, 
 because they are connected with the revival of old age. 
 Lastly, it is worthy of observation, that in the nine 
 preceding motions, bodies appear to aim at the mere 
 preservation of their nature, while in this they attempt 
 its propagation. 
 
 ^ See the citing instances, Apborism xl. 
 
NOVUM ORGANUM 259 
 
 Let the twelfth motion be that of excitement, which 
 appears to be a species of the last, and is sometimes men- 
 tioned by us under that name. It is, like that, a diffu- 
 sive, communicative, transitive and multiplying motion; 
 and they agree remarkably in their effect, although they 
 differ in their mode of action, and in their subject matter. 
 The former proceeds imperiously and with authority; it 
 orders and compels the assimilated to be converted and 
 changed into the assimilating body. The latter proceeds 
 by art, insinuation and stealth, inviting and disposing the 
 excited toward the nature of the exciting body. The for- 
 mer both multiplies and transforms bodies and substances; 
 thus a greater quantity of flame, air, spirit and flesh is 
 formed; but in the latter, the powers only are multiplied 
 and changed, and heat, the magnetic power, aud putrefac- 
 tion, in the above instances, are increased. Heat does not 
 diffuse itself when heating other bodies by any communica- 
 tion of the original heat, but only by exciting the parts of 
 the heated body to that motion which is the form of heat, 
 and of which we spoke in the first vintage of the nature 
 of heat. Heat, therefore, is excited much less rapidly and 
 readily in stone or metal than in air, on account of the in- 
 aptitude and sluggishness of those bodies in acquiring that 
 motion, so that it is probable, that there may be some sub- 
 stances, toward the centre of the earth, quite incapable of 
 being heated, on account of their density, which may de- 
 prive them of the spirit by which the motion of excitement 
 is usually commenced. Thus also the magnet creates in the 
 iron a new disposition of its parts, and a conformable mo- 
 tion, without losing any of its virtue. So the leaven of 
 bread, yeast, rennet and some poisons, excite and invite 
 successive and continued motion in dough, beer, cheese or 
 
260 NOVUM OROANUM 
 
 the human body; not so much from the power of the 
 exciting, as the predisposition and yielding of the excited 
 body. 
 
 Let the thirteenth motion be that of impression, which 
 is also a species of motion of assimilation, and the most 
 subtile of diffusive motions. We have thought it right, 
 however, to consider it as a distinct species, on account of 
 its remarkable difference from the last two ; for the simple 
 motion of assimilation transforms the bodies themselves, so 
 that if you remove the first agent, you diminish not the 
 effect of those which succeed; thus, neither the first light- 
 ing of flame, nor the first conversion into air, are of any 
 importance to the flame or air next generated. So, also, 
 the motion of excitement still continues for a considerable 
 time after the removal of the first agent, as in a heated 
 body on the removal of the original heat, in the excited 
 iron on the removal of the magnet, and in the dough on 
 the removal of the leaven. But the motion of impression, 
 although diffusive and transitive, appears, nevertheless, to 
 depend on the first agent, so that upon the removal of the 
 latter the former immediately fails and perishes; for which 
 reason also it takes effect in a moment, or at least a very 
 short space of time. We are wont to call the two former 
 motions the motions of the generation of Jupiter, because 
 when born they continue to exist; and the latter, the mo- 
 tion of the generation of Saturn, because it is immediately 
 devoured and absorbed. It may be seen in three instances: 
 1, in the rays of light; 2, in the percussions of sounds; 3, 
 in magnetic attractions as regards communication. For, on 
 the removal of light, colors and all its other images disap- 
 pear, as on the cessation of the first percussion and the 
 vibration of the body, sound soon fails, and although 
 
NOVUM OB&ANVM 261 
 
 sounds are agitated by the wind, like waves, yet it ia 
 to be observed, that the same sound does not last during 
 the whole time of the reverberation. Thus, when a bell 
 is struck, the sound appears to be continued for a consid- 
 erable time, and one might easily be led into the mistake 
 of supposing it to float and remain in the air during the 
 whole time, which is most erroneous." For the reverbera- 
 tion is not one identical sound, but the repetition of sounds, 
 which is made manifest by stopping and confining the sono- 
 rous body; thus, if a bell be stopped and held tightly, so 
 as to be immovable, the sound fails, and there is no further 
 reverberation, and if a musical string be touched after the 
 first vibration, either with the finger (as in the harp), or a 
 quill (as in the harpsichord), the sound immediately ceases. 
 If the magnet be removed the iron falls. The moon, how- 
 ever, cannot be removed from the sea, nor the earth) from a 
 heavy falling body, and we can, therefore, make no experi- 
 ment upon them ; but the case is the same. 
 
 Let the fourteenth motion be that configuration or po- 
 sition, by which bodies appear to desire a peculiar situa- 
 tion, collocation, and configuration with others, rather than 
 union or separation. This is a very abstruse notion, and 
 has not been well investigated; and, in some instances, 
 appears to occur almost without any cause, although we 
 
 ^ Aristotle's doctrine, that sound takes place when bodies strike the air, 
 which the modern science of acoustics has completely established, was rejected 
 by Bacon in a treatise upon the same subject: "The collision or thrusting of 
 ajr, " he says, "which they will have to be the cause of sound, neither denotes 
 the form nor the latent process of sound, but is a term of ignorance and of 
 snperflcial contemplation." To get out of the difficulty, he betook himself to 
 his theory of spirits, a species of phenomena which he constantly introduces 
 to give himself the air of explaining things he could not understand, or would 
 not admit upon the hypothesis of his opponents. — Ed. 
 
262 NOVUM OROANUM 
 
 be mistaken in supposing this to be really the case. For 
 if it be asked, why the heavens revolve from east to west, 
 rather than from west to east, or why they turn on poles 
 situate near the Bears, rather than round Orion or any 
 other part of the heaven, such a question appears to be 
 unreasonable, since these phenomena should be received as 
 determinate and the objects of our experience. There are, 
 indeed, some ultimate and self-existing phenomena in na- 
 ture, but those which we have just mentioned are not to 
 be referred to that class: for we attribute them to a cer- 
 tain harmony and consent of the universe, which has not 
 yet been properly observed. But if the motion of the 
 earth from west to east be allowed, the same question may 
 be put, for it must also revolve round certain poles, and 
 why should they be placed where they are, rather than 
 elsewhere ? The polarity and variation of the needle come 
 under our present head. There is also observed in both 
 natural and artificial bodies, especially solids rather than 
 fluids, a particular collocation and position of parts, resem- 
 bling hairs or fibres, which should be diligently investi- 
 gated, since, without a discovery of them, bodies cannot be 
 conveniently controlled or wrought upon. The eddies ob- 
 servable in liquids by which, when compressed, they suc- 
 cessively raise different parts of their mass before they can 
 escape, so as to equalize the pressure, is more correctly 
 assigned to the motion of liberty. 
 
 Let the fifteenth motion be that of transmission or of 
 passage, by which the powers of bodies are more or less 
 impeded or advanced by the medium, according to the 
 nature of the bodies and their effective powers, and also 
 according to that of the medium. For one medium is 
 adapted to light, another to sound, another to heat and 
 
NOVUM ORGANUM 
 
 cold, another to magnetic action, and so on witl 
 to the other actions. 
 
 Let the sixteenth be that which we term the 
 political motion, by which the predominant and g< 
 parts of any body check, subdue, reduce, and regi 
 others, and force them to unite, separate, stand stil 
 or assume a certain position, not from any inclic 
 their own, but according to a certain order, and 
 suits the convenience of the governing part, so th 
 is a sort of dominion and civil government exen 
 the ruling part over its subjects. The motion is v 
 spicuous in the spirits of animals, where, as long a 
 force, it tempers all the motions of the other part 
 found in a less degree in other bodies, as we have ( 
 in blood and urine, which are not decomposed u 
 spirit, which mixed and retained their parts, h 
 emitted or extinguished. Nor is this motion pec 
 spirits only, although in most bodies the spirit j 
 nates, owing to its rapid motion and penetration; 
 grosser parts predominate in denser bodies, which 
 filled with a quick and active spirit (such as e 
 quicksilver or vitriol), so that unless this check or 
 thrown oflE by some contrivance, there is no hope 
 transformation of such bodies. And let not any c 
 pose that we have forgotten our subject, because w 
 of predominance in this classification of motions, i 
 made entirely with the view of assisting the inves 
 of wrestling instances, or instances of predominanc 
 we do not now treat of the general predominance of 
 
264 NOVUM OBOANUM 
 
 of levolution, by which bodies having a tendency 
 and placed in a favorable situation, enjoy their 
 nature, pursuing themselves and nothing else, a 
 ing, as it were, to embrace themselves. For bod 
 either to move without any limit, or to tend towarc 
 arrived at which they either revolve according 
 peculiar nature, or rest. Those which are favora 
 ated, and have a tendency to motion, move in a ci 
 an eternal and unlimited motion; those which ai 
 ably situated and abhor motion, rest. Those w 
 not favorably situated move in a straight line ( 
 shortest path), in order to unite with others of a c 
 nature. This motion of revolution adihits of nir 
 ences: 1, with regard to the centre about which th 
 move; 2, the poles round which they move; 8, the 
 ference or orbit relatively to its distance from the 
 4, the velocity, or greater or less speed with whi 
 revolve; 6, the direction of the motion as from 
 west, or the reverse; 6, the deviation from a perfei 
 by spiral lines at a greater or less distance from th< 
 7, the deviation from the circle, by spiral lines at a 
 or less distance from the poles; 8, the greater or 
 tance of these spirals from each other; 9, and la 
 variatioil of the poles if they be movable; which, t 
 only affects revolution when circular. The motion 
 tion is, according to common and long-received 
 considered to be that of the heavenly bodies. T. 
 ists, however, with regard to this, a considerable 
 between some of the ancients as well as modems, w 
 attributed a motion of revolution to the earth. . 
 
NOVUM OBGANUM 265 
 
 the hypothesis of the earth's being fixed) is confined to the 
 heavens, or rather descends and is communicated to the air 
 and water. The rotation of missiles, as in darts, musket- 
 balls, and the like, we refer entirely to the motion of liberty. 
 
 Let the eighteenth motion be that of trepidation,'" to 
 •which (in the sense assigned to it by astronomers) we do 
 not give much credit ; but in our serious and general search 
 after the tendencies of natural bodies, this motion occurs, 
 and appears worthy of forming a distinct species. It is the 
 motion of an (as it were) eternal captivity; when bodies, 
 for instance, being placed not altogether according to their 
 nature, and yet not exactly ill, constantly tremble, and are 
 restless, not contented with their position, and yet not dar- 
 ing to advance. Such is the motion of the heart and pulse 
 of animals, and it must necessarily occur in all bodies which 
 are situated in a mean state, between conveniences and 
 inconveniences; so that being removed from their proper 
 position, they strive to escape, are repulsed, and again 
 continue to make the attempt. 
 
 Let the nineteenth and last motion be one which can 
 scarcely be termed a motion, and yet is one; and which we 
 may call the motion of repose, or of abhorrence of motion. 
 It is by this motion that the earth stands by its own weight, 
 while its extremes move toward the middle, not to an im- 
 aginary centre, but in order to unite. It is owing to the 
 same tendency, that all bodies of considerable density 
 abhor motion, and their only tendency is not to move, 
 which nature they preserve, although excited and urged 
 
 90 The motion of trepidation, as Bacon calls it, was attributed by the ancient 
 astronomers to the eight spheres, relative to the precession of the equinoxes. 
 Clalileo was the first to observe this kind of lunar motion. — Ed. 
 
266 NOVUM OBGAJMUM 
 
 in a variety of ways to motion. But if they be compelled 
 to move, yet do they always appear anxious to recover 
 their former state, and to cease from motion, in which re- 
 spect they certainly appear active, and attempt it with suffi- 
 cient swiftness and rapidity, as if fatigued, and impatient 
 of delay. We can only have a partial representation of 
 this tendency, because with us every tangible substance is 
 not only not condensed to the utmost, but even some spirit 
 is added, owing to the action and concocting influence of 
 the heavenly bodies. 
 
 We have now, therefore, exhibited the species, or sim- 
 ple elements of the motions, tendencies, and active powers, 
 which are most universal in nature; and no small portion 
 of natural science has been thus sketched out. We do not, 
 however, deny that other instances can perhaps be added, 
 and our divisions changed according to some more natural 
 order of things, and also reduced to a less number; in which 
 respect we do not allude to any abstract classification, as if 
 one were to say, that bodies desire the preservation, exal- 
 tation, propagation, or fruition of their nature; or, that 
 motion tends to the preservation and benefit either of the 
 universe (as in the case of those of resistance and connec- 
 tion), or of extensive wholes, as in the case of those of the 
 greater congregation, revolution, and abhorrence of motion, 
 or of particular forms, as in the case of the others. For 
 although such remarks be just, yet, unless they terminate 
 in matter and construction, according to true definitions, 
 they are speculative, and of little use. In the meantime, 
 our classification will suffice, and be of much use in the 
 consideration of the predominance of powers, and examin- 
 ing the wrestling instances which constitute our present 
 subject. 
 
NOVUM ORGANUM 267 
 
 For of the motions here laid down, some are quite in- 
 vincible, some more powerful than others, which they con- 
 fine, check, and modify; others extend to a greater distance, 
 others are more immediate and swift, others strengthen, 
 increase, and accelerate the rest. 
 
 The motion of resistance is most adamantine and invin- 
 cible. We are yet in doubt whether such be the nature of 
 that of connection; for we cannot with certainty determine 
 whether there be a vacuum, either extensive or intermixed 
 with matter. Of one thing, however, we are satisfied, that 
 the reason assigned by Leucippus and Democritus for the 
 introduction of a vacuum (namely, that the same bodies 
 could not otherwise comprehend, and fill greater and less 
 spaces) is false. For there is clearly a folding of matter, 
 by which it wraps and unwraps itself in space within cer- 
 tain limits, without the intervention of a vacuum. Nor is 
 there two thousand times more of vacuum in air than in 
 gold, as there should be on this hypothesis; a fact demon- 
 strated by the very powerful energies of fluids (which would 
 otherwise float like fine dust in vacuo), and many other 
 proofs. The other motions direct, and are directed by each 
 other, according to their strength, quantity, excitement, 
 emission, or the assistance or impediments they meet with. 
 
 For instance; some armed magnets hold and support 
 iron of sixty times their own weight; so far does the mo- 
 tion of lesser congregation predominate over that of the 
 greater; but if the weight be increased, it yields. A lever 
 of a certain strength will raise a given weight, and so far 
 the motion of liberty predominates over that of the greater 
 congregation, but if the weight be greater, the former 
 motion yields. A piece of leather stretched to a certain 
 point does not break, and so far the motion of continuity 
 
 SOIENOB— Vol. 23 —12 
 
268 NOVUM ORGANUM 
 
 predominates over that of tension, but if the tension be 
 greater, the leather breaks, and the motion of continuity 
 yields. A certain quantity of water flows through a chink, 
 and so far the motion of greater congregation predominates 
 over that of continuity, but if the chink be smaller it yields. 
 If a musket be charged with ball and powdered sulphur 
 alone, and fire be applied, the ball is not discharged, in 
 which case the motion of greater congregation overcomes 
 that of matter; but when gunpowder is used, the motion of 
 matter in the sulphur predominates, being assisted by that 
 motion, and the motion of avoidance in the nitre; and so 
 of the rest. For wrestling instances (which show the pre- 
 dominance of powers, and in what manner and proportion 
 they predominate and yield) must be searched for with 
 active and industrious diligence. 
 
 The methods and nature of this yielding must also be 
 diligently examined, as for instance, whether the motions 
 completely cease, or exert themselves, but are constrained. 
 For in the bodies with which we are acquainted, there is no 
 real but an apparent rest, either in the whole or in parts. 
 This apparent rest is occasioned either by equilibrium, or 
 the absolute predominance of motions. By equilibrium, 
 as in the scales of the balance, which rest if the weights 
 be equal. By predominance, as in perforated jars, in which 
 the water rests, and is prevented from falling by the pre 
 dominance of the motion of connection. It is, however, to 
 be observed (as we have said before), how far the yielding 
 motions exert themselves. For if a man be held stretched 
 out on the ground against his will, with arms and legs 
 bound down, or otherwise confined, and yet strive with all 
 his power to get up, the struggle is not the less, although 
 inefiectual. The real state of the case (namely, whether 
 
NOVUM OBGANVM 269 
 
 the yielding motion be, as it -were, annihilated by the pre- 
 dominance, or there be rather a continued, although an in- 
 visible eflEort) will, perhaps, appear in the concurrence of 
 motions, although it escape our notice in their conflict. 
 For instance: let an experiment be made with muskets; 
 whether a musket-ball, at its utmost range in a straight 
 line, or (as it is commonly called) point-blank, strike with 
 less force when projected upward, where the motion of the 
 blow is simple, than when projected downward, where 
 the motion of gravity concurs with the blow. 
 
 The rules of such instances of predominance as occur 
 should be collected: such as the following; the more gen- 
 eral the desired advantage is, the stronger will be the mo- 
 tion; the motion of connection, for instance, which relates 
 to the intercourse of the parts of the universe, is more 
 powerful than that of gravity, which relates to the inter- 
 course of dense bodies only. Again, the desire of a private 
 good does not in general prevail against that of a public 
 one, except where the quantities are small. Would that 
 Buch were the case in civil matters I 
 
 XLIX. In the twenty-fifth rank of prerogative instances 
 we will place suggesting instances; such as suggest, or point 
 out, that which is advantageous to mankind; for bare power 
 and knowledge in themselves exalt rather than enrich 
 human nature. We must, therefore, select from the gen- 
 eral store such things as are most useful to mankind. We 
 shall have a better opportunity of discussing these when 
 we treat of the application to practice; besides, in the work 
 of interpretation, we leave room, on every subject, for the 
 human or optative chart; for it is a part of science to make 
 judicious inquiries and wishes. 
 
 L. In the twenty-sixth rank of prerogative instances we 
 
270 NOVUM OBOANVM 
 
 will place the generally useful instances. They are such 
 as relate to various points, and frequently occur, sparing 
 by that means considerable labor and new trials. The 
 proper place for treating of instruments and contrivances, 
 will be that in which we speak of the application to practice, 
 and the methods of experiment. All that has hitherto been 
 ascertained, and made use of, will be described in the par- 
 ticular history of each art. At present, we will subjoin a 
 few general examples of the instances in question. 
 
 Man acts, then, upon natural bodies (besides merely 
 bringing them together or removing them) by seven prin- 
 cipal methods: 1, by the exclusion of all that impedes and 
 disturbs; 2, by compression, extension, agitation, and the 
 like; 3, by heat and cold; 4, by detention in a suitable 
 place; 5, by checking or directing motion; 6, by peculiar 
 harmonies; 7, by a seasonable and proper alternation, series, 
 and succession of all these, or, at least, of some of them. 
 
 1. With regard to the first — common air, which is al- 
 ways at hand, and forces its admission, as also the rays of 
 the heavenly bodies, create much disturbance. Whatever, 
 therefore, tends to exclude them may well be considered as 
 generally useful. The substance and thickness of vessels 
 in which bodies are placed when prepared for operations 
 may be referred to this head. So also may the accurate 
 methods of closing vessels by consolidation, or the lutum 
 sapieniioB, as the chemists call it. The exclusion of air by 
 means of liquids at the extremity is also very useful, as 
 when they pour oil on wine, oiHThe juices of herbs, which 
 by spreading itself upon the top like a cover, preserves 
 them uninjured from the air. Powders, also, are service- 
 able, for although they contain air mixed up in them, yet 
 they ward off the power of the mass of circumambient air, 
 
NOVUM OBGANUM 271 
 
 which is seen in the preservation of grapes and other fruits 
 in sand or flour. "Wax, honey, pitch, and other resinoua 
 bodies, are well used in order to make the exclusion more 
 perfect, and to remove the air and celestial influence. We 
 have sometimes made an experiment by placing a vessel or 
 other bodies in quicksilver, the most dense of all substances 
 capable of being poured round others. Grottoes and subter- 
 raneous caves are of great use in keeping ofi the effects of 
 the sun, and the predatory action of air, and in the north 
 of Germany are used for granaries. The depositing of 
 bodies at the bottom of water may be also mentioned here; 
 and I remember having heard of some bottles of wine being 
 let down into a deep well in order to cool them, but left 
 there by chance, carelessness, and forgetfulness for several 
 years, and then taken out; by which means the wine not 
 only escaped becoming flat or dead, but was much more 
 excellent in flavor, arising (as it appears) from a more com- 
 plete mixture of its parts. But if the case require that 
 bodies should be sunk to the bottom of water, as in rivers 
 or the sea, and yet should not touch the water, nor be in- 
 closed in sealed vessels, but surrounded only by air, it 
 would be right to use that vessel which has been some- 
 times employed under water above ships that have sunk, 
 in order to enable the divers to remain below and breathe 
 occasionally by turns. It was of the following nature: A 
 hollow tub of metal was formed, and sunk so as to have its 
 bottom parallel with the surface of the water; it thus carried 
 down with it to the bottom of the sea all the air contained 
 in the tub. It stood upon three feet (like a tripod), being 
 of rather less height than a man, so that, when the diver 
 was in want of breath, he could put his head into the 
 hollow of the tub, breathe, and then continue his work. 
 
272 NOVUM OROANVM 
 
 We hear that some sort of boat or vessel has now been 
 invented, capable of carrying men some distance under 
 water. Any bodies, however, can easily be suspended 
 under some such vessel as we have mentioned, which has 
 occasioned our remarks upon the experiment. 
 
 Another advantage of the careful and hermetical closing 
 of bodies is this — not only the admission of external air is 
 prevented (of which we have treated), but the spirit of 
 bodies also is prevented from making its escape, which 
 is an internal operation. For any one operating on natural 
 bodies must be certain as to their quantity, and that noth- 
 ing has evaporated or escaped, since profound alterations 
 take place in bodies, when art prevents the loss or escape 
 of any portion, while nature prevents their annihilation. 
 With regard to this circumstance, a false idea has prevailed 
 (which if true would make us despair of preserving quan- 
 tity without diminution), namely, that the spirit of bodies, 
 and air when rarefied by a great degree of heat, cannot be 
 so kept in by being inclosed in any vessel as not to escape 
 by the small pores. Men are led into this idea by the com- 
 mon experiments of a cup inverted over water, with a candle 
 or piece of lighted paper in it, by which the water is drawn 
 up, and of those cups which, when heated, draw up the 
 flesh. For they think that in each experiment the rarefied 
 air escapes, and that its quantity is therefore diminished, 
 by which means the water or flesh rises by the motion of 
 connection. This is, however, most incorrect. For the air 
 is not diminished in quantity, but contracted in dimen- 
 sions," nor does this motion of the rising of the water 
 
 " Part of the air is expanded and escapes, and part is consumed by th 
 flame. When condensed, therefore, by the cold application, it cannot ofEer sat- 
 
NOVUM ORQANUM 273 
 
 begiu till the flame is extinguished, or the air cooled, so 
 that physicians place cold sponges, moistened with water, 
 on the cups, in order to increase their attraction. There is, 
 therefore, no reason why men should fear much from the 
 ready escape of air: for although it be true that the most 
 solid bodies have their pores, yet neither air, nor spirit, 
 readily suffers itself to be rarefied to such an extreme de- 
 gree; just as water will not escape by a small chink. 
 
 2. With regard to the second of the seven above- 
 mentioned methods, we must especially observe, that com- 
 pression and similar violence have a most powerful effect 
 either in producing locomotion, and other motions of the 
 same nature, as may be observed in engines and projectiles, 
 or in destroying the organic body, and those qualities, which 
 consist entirely in motion (for all life, and every description 
 of flame and ignition are destroyed by compression, which 
 also injures and deranges every machine) ; or in destroying 
 those qualities which consist in position and a coarse differ- 
 ence of parts, as in colors ; for the color of a flower when 
 whole, differs from that it presents when bruised, and the 
 same may be observed of whole and powdered amber; or 
 in tastes, for the taste of a pear before it is ripe, and of the 
 same pear when bruised and softened, is different, since 
 it becomes perceptibly more sweet. But such violence is of 
 little avail in the more noble transformations and changes 
 of homogeneous bodies, for they do not, by such means, 
 acquire any constantly and permanently new state, but one 
 that is transitory, and always struggling to return to its 
 former habit and freedom. It would not, however, be use- 
 
 floient resistance to the external atmospliere to prevent the liquid or flesh from 
 being forced into the glass. , 
 
274 NOVUM ouuAJWM 
 
 less to make some more diligent experiments with regard 
 to this; whether, for instance, the condensation of a per- 
 fectly homogeneous body (such as air, water, oil, and the 
 like) or their rarefaction, when effected by violence, can 
 become permanent, fixed, and, as it were, so changed, as 
 to become a nature. This might at first be tried by simple 
 perseverance, and then by means of helps and harmonies. 
 It might readily have been attempted (if we had but thought 
 of it), when we condensed water (as was mentioned above), 
 by hammering and compression, until it burst out. For we 
 ought to have left the flattened globe untouched for some 
 days, and then to have drawn ofi the water, in order to 
 try whether it would have immediately occupied the same 
 dimensions as it did before the condensation/ If it had not 
 done so, either immediately, or soon afterward, the conden- 
 sation would have appeared to have been rendered constant; 
 if not, it would have appeared that a restitution took place, 
 and that the condensation had been transitory. Something 
 of the same kind might have been tried with the glass eggs; 
 the egg should have been sealed up suddenly and firmly, 
 after a complete exhaustion of the air, and should have been 
 allowed to remain so for some days, and it might then have 
 been tried whether, on opening the aperture, the air would 
 be drawn in with a hissing noise, or whether as much water 
 would be drawn into it when immersed, as would have been 
 drawn into it at first, if it had not continued sealed. For 
 it is probable (or, at least, worth making the experiment) 
 that this might have happened, or might happen, because 
 perseverance has a similar effect upon bodies which are a 
 little less homogeneous. A stick bent together for some 
 time does not rebound, which is not owing to any loss of 
 quantity in the wood during the time, for the same would 
 
NOVUM OBGANUM 275 
 
 occur (after a larger time) in a plate of steel, which does 
 aot evaporate. If the experiment of simple perseverance 
 should fail, the matter should not be given up, but other 
 means should be employed. For it would be no small ad- 
 vantage, if bodies could be endued with fixed and constant 
 natures by violence. Air could then be converted into 
 water by condensation, with other similar effects; for man 
 is more the master of violent motions than of any other 
 means. 
 
 3. The third of our seven methods is referred to that 
 great practical engine of nature, as well as of art, cold 
 and heat. Here, man's power limps, as it were, with one 
 leg. For we possess the heat of fire, which is infinitely 
 more powerful and intense than that of the sun (as it 
 reaches us), and that of animals. But we want cold," ex- 
 cept such as we can obtain in winter, in caverns, or by 
 surrounding objects with snow and ice, which, perhaps, 
 may be compared in degree with the noontide heat of the 
 sun in tropical countries, increased by the reflection of 
 mountains and walls. For this degree of heat and cold 
 can be borne for a short period only by animals, yet it 
 is nothing compared with the heat of a burning furnace, 
 or the corresponding degree of cold." Everything with us 
 has a tendency to become rarefied, dry and wasted, and noth- 
 
 "^ Heat can now be abstracted by a very simple process, till the degree of 
 cold be of almost any required intensity. — Ed. 
 
 '^ It is impossible to compare a degree of heat with a degree of cold, without 
 the assumption of some arbitrary test, to which the degrees are to be referred. 
 In the next sentence Bacon appears to have taken the power of animal life to 
 support heat or cold as the test, and then the comparison can only be between 
 the degree of heat or of cold that will produce death. 
 
 The zero must be arbitrary which divides equally a certain degree of heat 
 from a certain degree of cold. — Ed, 
 
276 NOVUM OROANUM 
 
 ing to become condensed or soft, except by mixtures, and, 
 as it were, spurious methods. Instances of cold, therefore, 
 should be searched for most diligently, such as may be 
 found by exposing bodies upon buildings in a hard frost, 
 in subterraneous caverns, by surrounding bodies with snow 
 and ice in deep places excavated for that purpose, by let- 
 ting bodies down into wells, by burying bodies in quick- 
 silver and metals, by immersing them in streams which 
 petrify wood, by burying them in the earth (which the 
 Chinese are reported to do with their china, masses of 
 which, made for that purpose, are said to remain in the 
 ground for forty or fifty years, and to be transmitted to 
 their heirs as a sort of artificial mine) and the like. The 
 condensations which take place in nature, by means of cold, 
 should also be investigated, that by learning their causes, 
 they may be introduced into the arts ; such as are observed 
 in the exudation of marble and stones, in the dew upon the 
 panes of glass in a room toward morning after a frosty 
 night, in the formation and the gathering of vapors under 
 the earth into water, whence spring fountains and the like. 
 Besides the substances which are cold to the touch, 
 there are others which have also the effect of cold, and 
 condense; they appear, however, to act only upon the 
 bodies of animals, and scarcely any further. Of these we 
 have many instances, in medicines and plasters. Some 
 condense the flesh and tangible parts, such as astringent 
 and inspissating medicines, others the spirits, such aa 
 soporifics. There are two modes of condensing the spirits, 
 by soporifics or provocatives to sleep; the one by calming 
 the motion, the other by expelling the spirit. The violet, 
 dried roses, lettuces, and other benign or mild remedies, by 
 their friendly and gently cooling vapors, invite the spirits 
 
NOVUM OROANUM 277 
 
 to unite, and restrain their violent and perturbed motion. 
 Eose-water, for instance, applied to the nostrils in fainting 
 fits, causes the resolved and relaxed spirits to recover them- 
 Belves, and, as it were, cherishes them. But opiates, and 
 the like, banish the spirits by their malignant and hostile 
 quality. If they be applied, therefore, externally, the 
 spirits immediately quit the part and no longer readily 
 flow into it; but if they be taken internally, their vapor, 
 mounting to the head, expels, in all directions, the spirits 
 contained in the ventricles of the brain, and since these 
 spirits retreat, but cannot escape, they consequently meet 
 and are condensed, and are sometimes completely extin- 
 guished and suffocated; although the same opiates, when 
 taken in moderation, by a secondary accident (the conden- 
 sation which succeeds their union), strengthen the spirits, 
 render them more robust, and check their useless and in- 
 flammatory motion, by which means they contribute not a 
 little to the cure of diseases, and the prolongation of life. 
 
 The preparations of bodies, also, for the reception of cold 
 should not be omitted, such as that water a little warmed is 
 more easily frozen than that which is quite cold, and the 
 like. 
 
 Moreover, since nature supplies cold so sparingly, we 
 must act like the apothecaries, who, when they cannot 
 obtain any simple ingredient, take a succedaneum, or quid 
 pro quo, as they term it, such as aloes for xylobalsamum, 
 cassia for cinnamon. In the same manner we should look 
 diligently about us, to ascertain whether there may be any 
 substitutes for cold, that is to say, in what other manner 
 condensation can be effected, which is the peculiar opera- 
 tion of cold. Such condensations appear hitherto to be of 
 four kinds only. 1. By simple compression, which is of lit- 
 
278 NOVUM OROANUM 
 
 tie avail toward permanent condensation, on account of the 
 elasticity of substances, but may still, however, be of some 
 assistance. 2. By the contraction of the coarser, after the 
 escape or departure of the finer parts of a given body ; as is 
 exemplified in induration by fire, and the repeated heating 
 and extinguishing of metals, and the like. 3. By the 
 cohesion of the most solid homogeneous parts of a given 
 body, which were previously separated, and mixed with 
 others less solid, as in the return of sublimated mercury to 
 its simple state, in which it occupies much less space than 
 it did in powder, and the same may be observed of the 
 cleansing of all metals from their dross. 4. By harmony, 
 or the application of substances which condense by some 
 latent power. These harmonies are as yet but rarely ob- 
 served, at which we cannot be surprised, since there is little 
 to hope for from their investigation, unless the discovery of 
 forms and confirmation be attained. With regard to ani- 
 mal bodies, it is not to be questioned that there are many 
 internal and external medicines which condense by har- 
 mony, as we have before observed, but this action is rare 
 in inanimate bodies. Written accounts, as well as report, 
 have certainly spoken of a tree in one of the Tercera or 
 Canary Islands (for I do not exactly recollect which) that 
 drips perpetually, so as to supply the inhabitants, in some 
 degree, with water; and Paracelsus says that the herb called 
 ros solis is filled with dew at noon, while the sun gives out 
 its greatest heat, and all other herbs around it are dry. We 
 treat both these accounts as fables; they would, however, if 
 true, be of the most important service, and most worthy of 
 examination. As to the honey-dew, resembling manna, 
 which is found in May on the leaves of the oak, we are of 
 opinion tbat it is not condensed by any harmony or peculi- 
 
NOVUM ORQANUM 279 
 
 arity of the oak leaf, but that while it falls equally upon 
 other leaves it is retained and continues on those of the 
 oak, because their texture is closer, and not so porous as 
 that of most of the other leaves." 
 
 With regard to heat, man possesses abundant means and 
 power; but his observation and inquiry are defective in 
 some respects, and those of the greatest importance, not- 
 withstanding the boasting of quacks. For the effects of 
 intense heat are examined and observed, while those of a 
 more gentle degree of heat, being of the most frequent oc- 
 currence in the paths of nature, are, on that very account, 
 least known. We see, therefore, the furnaces, which are 
 most esteemed, employed in increasing the spirits of bodies 
 to a great extent, as in the strong acids, and some chemical 
 oils; while the tangible parts are hardened, and, when the 
 volatile part has escaped, become sometimes fixed; the 
 homogeneous parts are separated, and the heterogeneous 
 incorporated and agglomerated in a coarse lump ; and (what 
 is chiefly worthy of remark) the junction of compound 
 bodies, and the more delicate conformations are destroyed 
 and confounded. But the operation of a less violent heat 
 should be tried and investigated, by which more delicate 
 mixtures and regular conformations may be produced and 
 elicited, accoraing to the example of nature, and in imita- 
 tion of the effect of the sun, which we have alluded to in 
 the aphorism on the instances of alliance. For the works 
 of nature are carried on in much smaller portions, and in 
 more delicate and varied positions than those of fire, as we 
 now employ it. But man will then appear to have really 
 augmented his power, when the works of nature can be 
 
 ^ It may often be observed on the leaves of the lime and other trees. 
 
280 NOVUM ORGANUM 
 
 imitated in species, perfected in power, and varied in quan- 
 tity ; to which should be added the acceleration in point of 
 time. Eust, for instance, is the result of a long process, 
 but crocus martis is obtained immediately; and the same 
 may be observed of natural verdigris and ceruse. Crystal 
 is iormed slowly, while glass is blown immediately: stones 
 increase slowly, while bricks are baked immediately, etc. 
 In the meantime (with regard to our present subject) every 
 diflEerent species of heat should, with its peculiar effects, be 
 diligently collected and inquired into; that of the heavenly 
 bodies, whether their rays be direct, reflected, or refracted, 
 or condensed by a burning-glass; that of lightning, flame, 
 and ignited charcoal; that of fire of different materials, 
 either open or confined, straitened or overflowing, quali- 
 fied by the different forms of the furnaces, excited by the 
 bellows, or quiescent, removed to a greater or less distance, 
 or passing through different media; moist heats, such as 
 the balneum Marice, and the dunghill; the external and in- 
 ternal heat of animals; dry heats, such as the heat of ashes, 
 lime, warm sand; in short, the nature of every kind of heat, 
 and its degrees. 
 
 We should, however, particularly attend to the investi- 
 gation and discovery of the effects and operations of heat, 
 when made to approach and retire by degrees, regularly, 
 periodically, and by proper intervals of space and time. 
 For this systematical inequality is in truth the daughter of 
 heaven and mother of generation, nor can any great result 
 be expected from a vehement, precipitate, or desultory heat. 
 For this is not only most evident in vegetables, but in the 
 wombs of animals also there arises a great inequality of 
 heat, from the motion, sleep, food, and passions of the 
 female. The same inequality prevails in those subterrane- 
 
NOVUM OBGANVM 281 
 
 ous beds where metals and fossils are perpetually forming, 
 which renders yet more remarkable the ignorance of some 
 of the reformed alchemists, who imagined they could attain 
 their object by the equable heat of lamps, or the like, burn- 
 ing uniformly. Let this suffice concerning the operation 
 and effects of heat; nor is it time for us to investigate them 
 thoroughly before the forms and conformations of bodies 
 have been further examined and brought to light. Whea 
 we have determined upon our models, we may seek, apply, 
 and arrange our instruments. 
 
 4. The fourth mode of action is by continuance, the very 
 steward and almoner, as it were, of nature. We apply the 
 term continuance to the abandonment of a body to itself for 
 an observable time, guarded and protected in the meanwhile 
 from all external force. For the internal motion then com- 
 mences to betray and exert itself when the external and 
 adventitious is removed. The effects of time, however, are 
 far more delicate than those of fire. Wine, for instance, 
 cannot be clarified by fire as it is by continuance. Nor are 
 the ashes produced by combustion so fine as the particles 
 dissolved or wasted by the lapse of ages. The incorpora- 
 tions and mixtures, which are hurried by fire, are very 
 inferior to those obtained by continuance ; and the various 
 conformations assumed by bodies left to themselves, such 
 as mouldiness, etc., are put a stop to by fire or a strong 
 heat. It is not, in the meantime, unimportant to remark 
 that there is a certain degree of violence in the motion of 
 bodies entirely confined; for the confinement impedes the 
 proper motion of the body. Continuance in an open ves- 
 sel, therefore, is useful for separations, and in one hermet- 
 ically sealed for mixtures, that in a vessel partly closed, but 
 admitting the air, for putrefaction. But instances of the 
 
282 NOVUM OROANVM 
 
 operation and effect of continuance must be collected dili- 
 gently from every quarter. 
 
 5. The direction of motion (which is the fifth method 
 of action) is of no small use. We adopt this term, when 
 speaking of a body which, meeting with another, either 
 arrests, repels, allows, or directs its original motion. This 
 is the case principally in the figure and position of vessels. 
 An upright cone, for instance, promotes the condensation 
 of vapor in alembics, but when reversed, as in inverted 
 vessels, it assists the refining of sugar. Sometimes a curved 
 form, or one alternately contracted and dilated, is required. 
 Strainers may be ranged under this head, where the opposed 
 body opens a way for one portion of another substance and 
 impedes the rest. Nor is this process or any other direction 
 of motion carried on externally only, but sometimes by one 
 body within another. Thus, pebbles are thrown into water 
 to collect the muddy particles, and syrups are refined by 
 the white of an egg, which glues the grosser particles to- 
 gether so as to facilitate their removal. Telesius, indeed, 
 rashly and ignorantly enough attributes the formation of- 
 animals to this cause, by means of the channels and folds 
 of the womb. He ought to have observed a similar forma- 
 tion of the young in eggs which have no wrinkles or in- 
 equalities. One may observe a real result of this direction 
 of motion in casting and modelling. 
 
 6. The effects produced by harmony and aversion (which 
 is the sixth method) are frequently buried in obscurity; for 
 these occult and specific properties (as they are termed), the 
 sympathies and antipathies, are for the most part but- a 
 corruption of philosophy. Nor can we form any great 
 expectation of the discovery of the harmony which exists 
 between natural objects, before that of their forms and 
 
NOVUM OROANUM 283 
 
 simple conformations, for it is nothing more than the sym- 
 metry between these forms and conformations. 
 
 The greater and more universal species of harmony are 
 not, however, so wholly obscure, and with them, therefore, 
 we must commence. The first and principal distinction be- 
 tween them is this; that some bodies differ considerably in 
 the abundance and rarity of their substance, but correspond 
 in their conformation ; others, on the contrary, correspond in 
 the former and differ in the latter. Thus the chemists have 
 well observed, that in their trial of first principles sulphur 
 and mercury, as it were, pervade the universe; their reason- 
 ing about salt, however, is absurd, and merely introduced 
 to comprise earthy dry fixed bodies. In the other two, 
 indeed, one of the most universal species of natural har- 
 mony manifests itself. Thus there is a correspondence be- 
 tween sulphur, oil, greasy exhalations, flame, and, perhaps, 
 the substance of the stars. On the other hand, there is a 
 like correspondence between mercury, water, aqueous vapor, 
 air, and, perhaps, pure inter-sidereal ether. Yet do these 
 two quaternions, or great natural tribes (each within its own 
 limits), differ immensely in quantity and density of sub- 
 stance, while they generally agree in conformation, as is 
 manifest in many instances. On the other hand, the metals 
 agree in such quantity and density (especially when com- 
 pared with vegetables, etc.), but differ in many respects in 
 conformation. Animals and vegetables, in like manner, 
 vary in their almost infinite modes of conformation, but 
 range within very limited degrees of quantity and density 
 of substance. 
 
 The next most general correspondence is that between 
 individual bodies and those which supply them by way of 
 menstruum or support. Inquiry, therefore, must be made 
 
284 NOVUM OBQANUM 
 
 as to the climate, soil, and, depth at which each metal is 
 generated, and the same of gems, whether produced in rocks 
 or mines, also as to the soil in which particular trees, shrubs, 
 and herbs, mostly grow and, as it were, delight; and as to 
 the best species of manure, whether dung, chalk, sea sand, 
 or ashes, etc., and their different propriety and advantage 
 according to the variety of soils. So also the grafting and 
 setting of trees and plants (as regards the readiness of graft- 
 ing one particular species on another) depends very much 
 upon harmony, and it would be amusing to try an experi- 
 ment I have lately heard of, in grafting forest trees (garden 
 trees alone having hitherto been adopted), by which means 
 the leaves and fruit are enlarged, and the trees produce 
 more shade. The specific food of animals again should be 
 observed, as well as that which cannot be used. Thus the 
 carnivorous cannot be fed on herbs, for which reason the 
 order of feuilletans, the experiment having been made, 
 has nearly vanished; human nature being incapable of 
 supporting their regimen, although the human will has 
 more power over the bodily frame than that of other 
 animals. The different kinds of putrefaction from which 
 animals are generated should be noted. 
 
 The harmony of principal bodies with those subordinate 
 to them (such indeed may be deemed those we have alluded 
 to above) are sufficiently manifest, to which may be added 
 those that exist between different bodies and their objects, 
 and, since these latter are more apparent, they may throw 
 great light when well observed and diligently examined 
 upon those which are more latent. 
 
 The more internal harmony and aversion, or friendship 
 and enmity (for superstition and folly have rendered the 
 terms of sympathy and antipathy almost disgusting), have 
 
NOVUM OROANUM 285 
 
 beeu either falsely assigned, or mixed with fable, or most 
 rarely discovered from neglect. For if one were to allege 
 that there is an enmity between the vine and the cabbage, 
 because they will not come up well when sown together, 
 tbere is a sufficient reason for it in the succulent and ab- 
 sorbent nature of each plant, so that the one defrauds the 
 other. Again, if one were to say that there is a harmony 
 and friendship between the corn and the corn-flower, or the 
 wild poppy, because the latter seldom grow anywhere but 
 in cultivated soils, he ought rather to say, there is an enmity 
 between them, for the poppy and the corn-flower are pro- 
 duced and created by those juices which the corn has left 
 and rejected, so that the sowing of the corn prepares the 
 ground for their production. And there are a vast number 
 of similar false assertions. As for fables, they must be 
 totally exterminated. There remains, then, but a scanty 
 supply of such species of harmony as has borne the test 
 of experiment, such as that between the magnet and iron, 
 gold and quicksilver, and the like. In chemical experi- 
 ments on metals, however, there are some others worthy of 
 notice, but the greatest abundance (where the whole are so 
 few in numbers) is discovered in certain medicines, which, 
 from their occult and specific qualities (as they are termed), 
 affect particular limbs, humors, diseases, or constitutions. 
 Nor should we omit the ^harmony between the motion and 
 phenomena of the moon, and their effects on lower bodies, 
 which may be brought together by an accurate and honest 
 selection from the experiments of agriculture, navigation, 
 and medicine, or of other sciences. By as much as these 
 general instances, however, of more latent harmony, are 
 rare, with so much the more diligence are they to be in- 
 quired after, through tradition, and faithful and honest 
 
286 ■ NOVUM ORQANUM 
 
 reports, but without rashness and credulity, with an anx- 
 ious and, as it were, hesitating degree of reliance. There 
 remains one species of harmony which, though simple ia 
 its mode of action, is yet most valuable in its use, and must 
 by no means be omitted, but rather diligently investigated. 
 It is the ready or dif&cult coition or union of bodies in com- 
 position, or simple juxtaposition. For some bodies readily 
 and willingly mix, and are incorporated, others tardily and 
 perversely; thus powders mix best with water, chalk and 
 ashes with oils, and the like. Nor are these instances of 
 readiness and aversion to mixture to be alone collected, 
 but others, also, of the collocation, distribution, and diges- 
 tion of the parts when mingled, and the predominance after 
 the mixture is complete. 
 
 7. Lastly, there remains the seventh, and last of the 
 seven, modes of action; namely, that by the alternation 
 and interchange of the other six; but of this, it will not 
 be the right time to offer any examples, until some deeper 
 investigation shall have taken place of each of the others. 
 The series, or chain of this alternation, in its mode of appli- 
 cation to separate effects, is no less powerful in its operation 
 than difficult to be traced. But men are possessed with the 
 most extreme impatience, both of such inquiries, and their 
 practical application, although it be the clew of the laby- 
 rinth itt all greater works. Thus far of the generally useful 
 instances. 
 
 LI. The twenty-seventh and last place we will assign 
 to the magical instances, a term which we apply to those 
 where the matter or efficient agent is scanty or small, in 
 comparison with the grandeur of the work or effect pro- 
 duced; so that even when common they appear miraculous, 
 some at first sight, others even upon more attentive ob3e^ 
 
NOVUM ORGANUM 287 
 
 vation. Nature, however, of herself, supplies these but 
 sparingly. What she will do when her whole store is 
 thrown open, and after the discovery of forms, processes, 
 and conformation, will appear hereafter. As far as we can 
 yet conjecture, these magic effects are produced in three 
 ways, either by self-multiplication, as in fire, and the 
 poisons termed specific, and the motions transferred and 
 multiplied from wheel to wheel; or by the excitement, or, 
 as it were, invitation of another substance, as in the magnet, 
 which excites innumerable needles without losing or dimin- 
 ishing its power; and again in leaven, and the like; or by 
 the excess of rapidity of one species of motion over another, 
 as has been observed in the case of gunpowder, cannon, 
 and mines. The two former require an investigation of 
 harmonies, the latter of a measure of motion. Whether 
 there be any mode of changing bodies per minima (as it 
 is termed), and transferring the delicate conformations 
 of matter, which is of importance in all transformations 
 of bodies, so as to enable art to "effect, in a short time, that 
 which nature works out by divers expedients, is a point of 
 which we have as yet no indication. But, as we aspire 
 to the extremest and highest results in that which is solid 
 and true, so do we ever detest, and, as far as in us lies, 
 expel all that is empty and vain. 
 
 LIl. Let thia suffice as to the respective dignity of pre- 
 rogatives of instances. But it must be noted, that in this 
 our organ, we treat of logic, and not of philosophy. Seeing, 
 however, that our logic instructs and informs the under- 
 standing, in order that it may not, with the small hooks, as 
 it were, of the mind, catch at, and grasp mere abstractions, 
 but rather actually penetrate nature, and discover the prop- 
 erties and effects of bodies, and the determinate laws of 
 
288 NOWM OBQANUM 
 
 their substance (so that this science of ours springs from 
 the nature of things, as well as from that of the mind); it 
 is not to be wondered at, if it have been continually inter- 
 spersed and illustrated with natural observations and ex- 
 periments, as instances of our method. The prerogative 
 instances are, as appears from what has preceded, twenty- 
 seven in number, and are termed, solitary instances, migrat- 
 ing instances, conspicuous instances, clandestine instances, 
 constitutive instances, similar instances, singular instances, 
 deviating instances, bordering instances, instances of power, 
 accompanying and hostile instances, subjunctive instances, 
 instances of alliance, instances of the cross, instances of 
 divorce, instances of the gate, citing instances, instances 
 of the road, supplementary instances, lancing instances, in- 
 stances of the rod, instances of the course, doses of nature, 
 wrestling instances, suggesting instances, generally useful 
 instances, and magical instances. The advantage, by which 
 these instances excel the more ordinary, regards specifically 
 either theory or practice, or both. With regard to theory, 
 they assist either the senses or the understanding ; the senses, 
 as in the five instances of the lamp; the understanding, 
 either by expediting the exclusive mode of arriving at the 
 form, as in solitary instances, or by confining, and more 
 immediately indicating the affirmative, as in the migrating, 
 conspicuous, accompanying, and subjunctive instances; or 
 by elevating the understanding, and leading it to general 
 and common natures, and that either immediately, as in the 
 clandestine and singular instances, and those of alliance ; or 
 very nearly so, as in the constitutive; or still less so, as in 
 the similar instances; or by correcting the understanding 
 of its habits, as in the deviating instances; or by leading to 
 the grand form or fabric of the tiaiTeree, as in the bordering 
 
NOVUM OBGANUM 289 
 
 instances; or by guarding it from false forms and causes, 
 as in those of the cross and of divorce. With regard to 
 practice, they either point it out, or measure, or elevate 
 it. They point it out, either by showing where we must 
 commence in order not to repeat the labors of others, as in 
 the instances of power; or by inducing us to aspire to that 
 which may be possible, as in the suggesting instances; the 
 four mathematical instances measure it. The generally use- 
 ful and the magical elevate it. 
 
 Again, out of these twenty-seven instances, some must 
 be collected immediately, without waiting for a particular 
 investigation of properties. Such are the similar, singular, 
 deviating, and bordering instances, those of power, and of 
 the gate, and suggesting, generally useful, and magical in- 
 stances; for these either assist and cure the understanding 
 and senses, or furnish our general practice. The remainder 
 are to be collected when we finish our synoptical tables for 
 the work of the interpreter, upon any particular nature; 
 for these instances, honored and gifted with such preroga- 
 tives, are like the soul amid the vulgar crowd of instances, 
 and (as we from the first observed) a few of them are worth 
 a multitude of the others. When, therefore, we are forming 
 our tables they must be searched out with the greatest zeal, 
 and placed in the table. And, since mention must be made 
 of them in what follows, a treatise upon their nature has 
 necessarily been prefixed. We must next, however, pro- 
 ceed to the supports and corrections of induction, and 
 thence to concretes, the latent process, and latent confor- 
 mations, and the other matters, which we have enumerated 
 in their order in the twenty-first aphorism, in order that, 
 Vke good and faithful guardians, we may yield up their 
 fortune to mankind upon the emancipation and majority 
 
290 NOVUM ORGANUM 
 
 of their understanding; from whicli must necessarily follow 
 an improvement of their estate, and an increase of their 
 power over nature. For man, by the fall, lost at once his 
 state of innocence, and his empire over creation, both of 
 which can be partially recovered even in this life, the first 
 by religion and faith, the second by the arts and sciences. 
 For creation did not become entirely and utterly rebellious 
 by the curse, but in consequence of the Divine decree, "in 
 the sweat of thy brow shalt thou eat bread, ' ' she is com- 
 pelled by our labors (not assuredly by our disputes or 
 magical ceremonies), at length, to afford mankind in some 
 degree his bread, that is to say, to supply man's daily wants. 
 
 END OP "NOVUM 0E9ANnM'