The works of George Berkeley, D.D. late Bishop of Cloyne in Ireland. To which is added, an account of his life [by J. Stock] and several of his letters to Thomas Prior, Esq., Dean Gervais, and Mr. Pope, etc

541쪽

133. It should stem rather, that the vehement attraction whicli Sit Isaac Newton attributes to ali acids, whereby he supposeth them to rumlowards, penetrate, malie and divide the most sol id hodies, and to ferment the liquid of vegetabies, could beller account sor this phaenomenon. Itis in this attraction, that Sir Isaac placeth ait their activi ty, and indeed ii mould stem, the figures of salts were not of such efficacy in producing their essecis, as the strong active poWers Where by they a re agitat ed and do agitate other hodies. Especialty is it be true what was

besere rema rhed) that lixivio us salts are alii e purgative, Whate ver maybe the mape of their an gles, whether more or lese acute or Obtuse.

is . Sir Isaac Newton accounts for the watery acid's mali ing earthycorpuscies solubie in water, by supposing the acid to be a me an be tweenearth and water, iis particles greater than those of water, and lese thanthose of earlli, and strongly to attract both. But perhaps there is non ecesiary reas in, sor suppossing the paris of the acid grosser than the paris of water, in order to produce this esseci; may not this as weli ho accounted for, by giving them only a strong attraction or cohesion withthe bodies to whicli they are joinedii 33. The acid spirit or sali, that mighty instrument in the hand of nature, resti ling in the air, and diffused throughout that whole element, is discerni ble also in many paris of the earth, particularly in fossiis, lachas sulphur, vitriol, and allum ; it was atready observed fro in Homberg, that this ac id is ne ver Mund pure, but halli always sulphur joined with it, and is classed by the differen ce of iis sulphurs, whether minerat vegeta-gle, or animal.

136. Salis are vulgarly rectioned the most active of chymical principies. But Homberg derives ali their activi ty from the sulphurs joined Withthem. Prom which also, as liath been se id, he derives ali their hinds and

542쪽

differen ces '. Sali, water, oil, and earth stem to be originalty the fame in ali vegetabies. All the differen ce, according to the chymists, arisethfrona a spirit residing in the oti, called the rector or archaeus. This is other vise called by chymists, ens primum, or the native spirit, whereon dependi and wherein are contained, the peculiar flavo ur and odour, the specific qualities and virtu es of the plant. I 37. These native spiriis or vegetabie fouis a re ali breathed or exhaledinto the air, which seems the receptacle as weli as so arce of ali sublunarysernas, the great masi or Chaos Whicli imparis and receives them. Theair or atmosphere that surro unds our earth contains a mixture os ali theactive volatile paris of the whole habitable worid, that is of ali vegeta-bles, minerais and animal s. Whate ver perspires, corrupis, or exhales

impregnates the air; which, being afted upora by the solar fire, producethwith in it self ali foris of chymicat operations, dispensing again those salis and spiriis in new generations, whicli it had received Dona putrefactions. 738. The perpetuat oscillations of this elastic and restic se element operate Without cea sing, on ali things that have li , whether animal or vegetabie, heeping their fibres, vesi eis, and fluids in a motion aliua ys Chan ging; as heat, cold, moisture, dryness, and other causes alter theclastici ty of the a tr. Whicli accounts, it must be o ned, Dr many effect S. But there a re many more whicli must be derived frona other principiesor qualities in the a tr. Thus iron and copper are corroded and gather rustin the air, and hodies of ali foris a re dissolved or corrupted, whicli sta eri

eth an acid to abound and diffuse it self througho ut the a tr. 1sq. By this se me air fire is hindled, the lamp os lise preserved, respiration, digestion, nutrition, the pulse of the heari and motion os ali themuscies seem to be performed. Air there re is a generat agent, not

543쪽

hodies, bya division, comminution, and agitation of their particles, caulia ing them to By oK and become volatile and active. Ilo. Nothing fermenis, vegetates, or putri sies Without air, whicli ope rates with ait the virtu es of the hodies included in il ; that is, of ali nature; there being no drug, salutary or pol sono us, Whose virtve S a re notbreat hed in to the air. The ait theres ore is an active masi os numberlesis different principies, the generat so urce of corruption and generation; Onone hand dividing, abrading, and carrying off the particles of bodies, that is, corruptisag or di sibi ving them; on the other, producing ne w OneSinto being ; destroying and bcstowing forms without intermission. I 1. The seeds of things stem to lie latent in the air, ready to appearand produce their hind, whene ver they light on a proper matrix. The

extrem ely smali sceds of Drn, mosies, musti rooms, and so me other planis are concealed and wasted abo ut in the air, every part whereos scenas replete with sectis of one hind or other. The whole atmosphere scenas alive. There is every where acid to corrode, and seed to engende r. Iron will

rust, and mold will grow in ali places. Virgin ear th beeomes fertile, cropsos new planis ever and a non me them se lues, ait whicli demonstrates the air to be a common seminary and receptacle of ali vivisting principies. I a. Air may also he se id to be the seminary os minerais and metais,as it is of vegetabies. M r. Eoyle insorms VS, that the exhausted ores of tin and iron being cxposed to the air be come again impregna ted withmetal, and that ore os alum having lost iis suit reco vers it aster the famem anner. And numberle se instances there a re os salis produced by the air, that vast collection or troasury of active principies, Dom whicli ad sal, lunary bodies se em to derive their fornas, and on whicli animais dependfor their liso and breat h. Vo L. IL

I 3. That

544쪽

the air common experience me eth ε, in much as it is necessary both to vegetabies and animati hether terrestriat or aquatic, net ther beastqinsccts, hirds nor filia es being able to subsist without ain Nor doth allair suffice, there heing sonae quali ty or ingredient, of which when air is deprived, it becometh uniit to maintain et ther life or fame. And this even though the air mould reta in iis elastici ty; Whicli, by the by, is

an argument that air doth not aet only as an antagonist to the intercostat muscies. It hath both that and many other uses. It gives and preserves a proper tone to the vesteis: this elastic fluid promotes ali secretions: ita oscillations hecp e very part in motion z. it per VadeS and actuales the wholo

animal system, producing great varie ty of essem, and even opposite indifferent paris, cooling at the fame time and heatin g, distending and con tracting, coagulat ing and resolving, giving and taking, sustaining li and impat ring it, pressing without and expanding Within, abrading se me

paris, at the fame time instinuating and supplying Others, producing va rious vibrations in the fibres, and ferments in the fluids , ali whieli must necti ensue frona sucii a subtile, active, heterogeneous and elastic fluid I l. Eut there is, as we besore observed, se me one quali ty or ingreditaent in the air, on which li se more immediately and principalty depentis. What that is, though men a re not agreed, yet it is agreed it must he thasam e thing that supporis the vitai and the common flame ; it hcing found that when uir, by osten breathing in it, is beeome unii L for the one, it will no longer serve for the other. The like is observabie in pol nous damps or steams, wherein flame cannot be Lindled. As is evident in the grotio dei cane near Napies. And here it occurs, to recommend the plura ging them in cold water, as an experiment to be tried on persons aflected by breathing a pol nous vapour in old vaulis, mines, deep holesor cavit ies Under ground. Which, Ι am apt to thinli, might sive the

545쪽

Siris.

lives of severat, by what I have sten practised on a dog convulsed and in ali appearance dead, but instantly reviving on being taken o ut os theabo ve- mentioned grotto and thrown into a lake adjacent. I s. Air the generat menstruum and seminary, seemeth to be only an aggregate of the volatile paris of ali natural beings, whicli variousty combined and agitated produceth many various effecis. S mali particles in an ear and close sit uation strongly act upon e ach other, attracting, repelling, vibrat ing. Hence divers fermentations, and ali the variety of meteors, tempests, and concussions both of earlli and firmament. Nor is the microcota lesi affected thereby. Being pent up in the viscera, vesseis, and membranes of the body, by iis salis, sulphurs, and elastic power, itengen ders colics, spatas, hysteric cli sorders and other maladies.s 6. The specific quali ty of air is talien to be permanent elastici ty.Mr. Boyle is expresty of this opinion. And yet, whether there be anysuch thing as permanently elastic air may be do ubi ed, there being many things whicli scem to rob the air of this quali ty, or at least lesien and sucpend iis exertion. The salis and sulphurs, for instance, that fioat in theair abale much of iis elastici ty by their attraction. 1ψ . Upon the whole it is mani sest, that ait is no distinct element, buta masi or mixture of things the most heterogeneous and even opposite toeach other ' which bcco me air, by acquiring an elastici ty and volatili tyfrom the attraction of me active, subtile substance ; whether it be calledfire, aether, light, or the vites spirit of the worid ; in like manner as the particles of antimony, of themselves not volatile, are carried osF in sublimation and rendered volatile, by cohering with the particles of sal ammoniae. But action and reaction being equat, the spring of this aethereat

spirit is dimini ed by being imparted. Iis velocity and subtiliv a re also

Iesi,

546쪽

s 32

Siris.lest, stom iis being mixed With grosser particles. Hence se und moveaslower than light, as m ud than water. 1 8. Whether air be only Deed and si xed, or genera ted and destroyed, it is certa in that air begins and ceases to exert or smeis it self. Mucii bycxperiments seems to be genera ted, not only fro in animais, fruits, and vegetabies, but also Dom hard hodies. And it is observed by Sir Isaac Newton, that air produced frona hard hodies is most elastic. The trans. mutation of elemenis, ea ch into other, hath been ancient ly held. In Plutarch we finit it was the opinion of FIeraclitus, that the de ath of firowas a birili to air, and the de ath of air a birili to water. This opinion is also maintained by Sir Isaac Newton. Though it may be questioned, Whether What is thought a change be not ora ly a dis uise. 1 9. Fire scenas the most elastic and expansive of ali hodies. It com municates this quali ty to moist vapours and dry exhalations, when ithea is and agitates their paris, cohering closely With them, overco mingthcir former mutuat attraction, and causing them, instead thereos reciprocatly to repet cach other and sy a funder, With a force proportionableto that where th thcy had cohered.

Is O. There re in air We may conceive two paris, the one more grosswhich was rat sed and carried oss frona the bodies of this terraqueous massi: the other a fine subtile spirit by means Whereos, the former is rendered volatile and elastic. Together they compose a medium, whose elasticity is tesse than that of pure aether, fire, or spirit, in proportion to the quantity of salis, vapours, and heterogeneouS particles contain edtherein. Hence, it follows, that there is no lach thing as pure simploclement of air. It follows also that on the highesi mountains, air mouidbe more rare than in proportion to the vulgar rute, of the spaces he-

547쪽

ing reciprocatly as the pressures: and se in sact it is se id to have been seu rad, by the gentiemen of the French academ y of sciences. Is I. AEther, fire, or spirit being attracted and clogged by heterogeneous particles hecometh lese active; and the particles cohering with thos eos aether, heco me more active than bes ore. Air there re is a massi os Various particles, abraded and sublima ted frona wet and dry bodies of allsoris, cohering with particles of aether; the whole permeat ed by pure aether, or light, or fire: for these Words a re u sed promiscuousty by an cient philosophers, Isa. This aether or pure invisibi e sire, the most subtile and elastic ofali bodies, seems to pervade and expand it self throughout the whole uni Verse. Is air be the immediate agent or instrument in natural things, itis the pure invisibi e fire that is the fir si natural mover or spring, Domwhence the air derives iis power '. This mighty agent is every whereat hand, ready to breali fortii into action, is not restra ined and go vernedwilli the greatest wisdom. Heing at ways rest less and in motion, it actuates and erilivens the whole visibie masse, is equalty fit ted to produce an dio destroy, distinguis hes the vario us stages of nature, and keeps up the perpetuat round of generations and corruptions, pregnant with fornas whicli it constant ly sen ds sortii and resorbs. So qui cli in iis motions, sosubtile and penetrating in iis nature, so extensive in iis effects, it seca1-cth no other than the vegetative so ut or vital spirit of the worid. i53. The animal spirit in man is the instrumental or physical causeboth of sensu and motion. To supposie scia se in the worid, Nould be

ros S and un arrante d. Eut locomotive faculties are evident in ali iis

paris. The Pythogore an s. Platonisis, and Stoics held thc worid to bo an animal. Though some of them have chosen to consider ii as a vegetabie.

548쪽

Howe ver the phenomena and emeis do plainly me there is a spirit that

moves, and a mind or provide nce that presides. This provide nce, stutarch saith, was thought to be in regard to the worid, what the so ut is in regard to man. Is . The order and course of things, and the experiments Ne dat lymalle, mew there is a mind that go verns and actuales this mundane syiatem, as the proper real agent and cause. And that the inferior instrumental cause is pure aether, fire, or the substance of light ' whicli is applied and determined by an infinite mind in the macrocosm or universe, with unlimited power, and according to stated rules; as it is in the microcota with limited pomer and skill by the human mind. We have noProos, et ther Dom experiment or reason, of any other agent or essicient cause than mind or spirit. When there re we speah of corporeat agent sor corporeat causes, this is to be understood in a different, subordinate, and improper sense.

Iss. The principies Whereos a thing is compounded, the instrumentu sed in iis production, and the en d for whicli it was intended, a re ali in vulgar use ter med causes, though none of them be strict ly spea hing agentor essicient. There is not any proos that an extended corporeal or mechanical cause dotii reatly and properly act, even motion it self being in truth a passion. There re though we si eak of this fiery substance agacting, yet it is to be underctood only as a mean or instrument, whichin deed is the case of ali mechanical causes What ever. They a re ne-verihele metimes termed agenis and causes, although they a re by nomeans active in a striin and proper signification. When, ther ore, force, po Cr, Viriue, or action are mentioned as subfisting in an cxtended and corporeal or mechanicat he in g, this is not to he tali en in a true genuine

and reat, but ora ly in a gro se and popular sense, whicli si ictis in appear -

549쪽

ances, and doth not analyge things to their first principies. In compli- anco with est abii med langu age and the use of the worid, we must employ the popular current phrase. But then in regard to truth we ought todistinguim iis mean ing. It may lassice to have made this declarationaonce for ali, in order to a void mista hes, Is 6. The calidum innarum, the vital flame, or animal spirit in man is supposed the cause of ali motions, in the severat paris of his hody, whether voluntary or naturai. That it is accounted the instrument, bymeans whereos the mind exeris and manifests herseis in the motions Athe body. In the fame sense may not fi re be sa id to have force, to operate, and agitate the whole system of the worid, whicli is held togetherand insormed by one presiding minit, and animaled throughout by one and the fame fiery substance, as an instrumental and mechanical agent,not aS a primary reat efiicienti

Is . This pure spirit or invisibie fi re is ever ready to exert and meruit self in iis cffects , cheris hin g, heating, fermentin g, dissolving, shining

and opera ting in various manners, where a subject osse rS o employ ordetermine iis sorce. I t. is present in ali paris of the earth and firmament, though perhaps latent and unobserved, tili some accident pro tu oth it into ac , and renders it visit bie in iis essects. I 58. There is no effect in nature, great, mar vello us, or terribie but procelds Dom sire, that dissu sed and active principie, whici, at the semeti me that it mahes the ear th and heavens, mill entor, divide, and dissolve the smallest, closest, and most compacted hodies. In . remote cavities of the eartii it rema ins quiet, tili perhaps an accidental spark froin the collision os one stone against another hin dies an exhalation, that gives bir th

This

550쪽

This fame fi re stands un en in the focus os a burning glast, tili subjecta sor it to a ct upon come in iis way, when it is seund to meli, calcine, orvi trisy the hardest hodies. Is 9. ΝΟ eye could e ver hi therio discern , and no sense perceive, theanimal spirit in a human body, otherisi se than Dom iis essects. The fame may be seid os pure fi re, or the spirit of the universe, whicli is perceivedonly by means of A me other hodies, on whicli it operates or with whichit is jo in ed. What the chymists say, of pure acids being ne ver se undalone, might as avell be se id os pure sire. 16o. The mind of man acts by an instrument necessari ly. The

το γυ ναον, or mind presiding in the worid, acts by an instrument Deely. Without instrumental and second causes, there could be no regularco urse of nature. And without a regular course, nature could ne ver beunderstood. Manliind must at ways be at a tost, not lino ing what toeXpect, or how to go vern them selves, or direct their actions for the obtaining of any end. There re in the go vern ment of the worid physicalagenis, improperly so called, or mechanicat, or second causes, or natural Causes, or instruments, a re necessary to assist, not the go vernor, but the

go Vern ed.

I 6 I. In the human body the mind orders and moves the limbs: hut the animal spirit is supposed the immediate physical cause of their motion. So like vise in the mundane system, a mind presides, but the immediate, mechanicat, or instrumental cause, that moves or animates ali iis paris, is the pure elementary firc or spirit of the worid. The more sine and subtile pari or spirit is supposed to receive the impressions of the sirstmovcr, and communicate them to the groster sensibi e paris of this worid. Motion, though in metaphysical rigo ur and truth a passion or mere est ect,

yet, in physios passeth sor an action. And by this action ali essects are supposed