Reflections upon Ancient and Modern Learning/Chapter 20
CHAP. XX.
Of Ancient and Modern Natural Histories of Elementary Bodies and Minerals.
HAving now finished my Comparison of Ancient and Modern Anatomy, with as much Exactness as my little Insight into these Things would give me Leave, I am sensible that most Men will think that I have been too tedious. But, besides that I had not any where found it carefully done to my Hands, (though it is probable that it has in Books which have escaped my Notice) I thought that it in would be a very effectual Instance, how little the Ancients may have been presumed to have perfected any one Part of Natural Knowledge, when their own Bodies, which they carried about with them, and which, of any Thing, they were the nearliest concerned to know, were, comparatively speaking, so very imperfectly traced. However, in the remaining Parts of my Parallel, I shall be much shorter; which, I hope, may be some Amends for my too great Length in this.
From those Instruments, or Mechanical Arts, whether Ancient or Modern, by which Knowledge has been advanced, I am now to go to the Knowledge it self. According to the Method already proposed, I am to begin with Natural History in its usual Acceptation, as it takes in the Knowledge of the several Kinds of Elementary Bodies, Minerals, Insects, Plants, Beasts, Birds and Fishes. The Usefulness, and the Pleasure of this Part of Learning is too well known to need any Proof. And besides, it is a Study, about which the greatest Men of all Ages have employed themselves. Of the very few lost Books that are mentioned in the Old Testament, one was an History of Plants, written by the wisest of Men, and he a King. So that there is Reason to believe, that it was cultivated with Abundance of Care by all those who did not place the Perfection of Knowledge in the Art of Wrangling about Questions, which were either useless, or which could not easily be decided.
Before I enter into Particulars, it is necessary to enquire what are the greatest Excellencies of a compleat History of any one sort of Natural Bodies. This may soon be determined. That History of any Body is certainly the best, which, by a full and clear Description, lays down all the Characteristical Marks of the Body then to be described; so as that its Specifical Idea may be perfectly formed, and it self certainly and easily distinguished from any other Body, though, at first View, it be never so like it; which enumerates all its known Qualities; which shews whether there are any more besides those already observed; and, last of all, which enquires into the several Ways whereby that Body may be beneficial or hurtful to Man, or any other Body; by giving a particular Account of the several Phænomena which appear upon its Application to, or Combination with other Bodies, of like, or unlike Natures. All this is plainly necessary, if a Man would write a full History of any single Species of Animals, Plants, Insects, or Minerals, whatsoever. Or, if he would draw up a General History of any one of these Universal Sorts, then he ought to examine wherein every Species of this Universal Sort agrees each with other; or wherein they are discriminated from any other Universal Sort of Things: Thus, by degrees, descend to Particulars, and range every Species, not manifestly Anomalus, under its own Family, or Tribe; thereby to help the Memory of Learners, and assist the Contemplations of those who, with Satisfaction to themselves and others, would Philosophize upon this amazing Variety of Things.
By this Test the Comparison may be made. I shall begin with the simplest Bodies first; which, as they are the commonest, so, one would think, should have been long ago examined with the strictest Care. By these I mean, Air, Water, Earth, Fire; commonly called Elements. The Three first are certainly distinct and real Bodies, endued with proper and peculiar Qualities; and so come under the present Question.
Of the History of Air the Ancients seemed to know little more than just what might be collected from the Observation of its most obvious Qualities. Its Necessity for the immediate Subsistence of Life, and the unspeakable Force of Rapid Winds, or Air forcibly driven all one Way, made it be sufficiently observed by all the World; whilst its Internal Texture, and very few of its remoter Qualities, were scarce so much as dreamt of by all the Philosophers of Antiquity. Its Weight only was known to Aristotle (y)(y) De Cœlo, l. 4. c. 4., (or the Author of the Book de Cœlo) who observed, that a full Bladder out-weighed an empty one. Yet this was carried no further by any of the Ancients, that we know of; dis-believed by his own School, who seemed not to have attended to his Word; opposed and ridiculed when again revived, and demonstrably proved, by the Philosophers of the present Age. All which are Evidences, that anciently it was little examined into, since they wanted Proofs to evince that, which Ignorance only made disputable. But this has been spoken to already; I shall therefore only add, that, besides what Mr. Boyle has written concerning the Air, one may consult Otto Guerick's Magdebourg-Experiments, the Experiments of the Academy del Cimento, Sturmius's Collegium Curiosum, Mr. Halley's Discourses concerning Gravity, and the Phænomena of the Baroscope in the Philosophical Transactions (z)(z) Num. 179, & 181.. From all which one may find, not only how little of the Nature of the Air was anciently known; but also, that there is scarce any one Body, whose Theory is now so near being compleated, as is that of the Air.
The Natural History of Earth and Water come under that of Minerals: Fire, as it appears to our Senses, seems to be a Quality, rather than a Substance; and to consist in its own Nature, in a Rapid Agitation of Bodies, put into a quick Motion; and divided by this Motion, into very small Parts. After this had been once asserted by the Corpuscularian Philosophers, it was exceedingly strengthned by many Experimental Writers, who have taken abundance of Pains to state the whole Doctrine of Qualities clearly, and intelligibly; that so Men might know the difference between the Existence or Essential Nature of a Body, and its being represented to our Senses under such or such an Idea. This is the Natural Consequence of proceeding upon clear and intelligible Principles; and resolving to admit nothing as conclusive, which cannot be manifestly conceived, and evidently distinguished from every Thing else. Here, if in any Thing, the old Philosophers were egregiously defective: What has been done since, will appear by consulting, among others, the Discourses which Mr. Boyle has written upon most of the considerable Qualities of Bodies, which come under our Notice; such as his Histories of Fluidity and Firmness, of Colours, of Cold, his Origin of Forms and Qualities, Experiments about the Mechanical Production of divers particular Qualities, and several others, which come under this Head; because they are not Notions framed only in a Closet, by the help of a lively Fancy; but Genuine Histories of the Phænomena of Natural Bodies; which appeared in vast Numbers, after such Trials were made upon them, as were proper to discover their several Natures.
And therefore, that it may not be thought that I mistake every plausible Notion of a witty Philosopher for a new Discovery of Nature, I must desire that my former Distinction between Hypotheses and Theories may be remembred. I do not here reckon the several Hypotheses of Des Cartes, Gassendi, or Hobbes, as Acquisitions to real Knowledge, since they may only be Chimæra's and amusing Notions, fit to entertain working Heads. I only alledge such Doctrines as are raised upon faithful Experiments, and nice Observations; and such Consequences as are the immediate Results of, and manifest Corollaries drawn from, these Experiments and Observations: Which is what is commonly meant by Theories. But of this more hereafter.
That the Natural History of Minerals was anciently very imperfect, is evident from what has been said of Chymistry already; to which, all the Advances that have ever been made in that Art, unless when Experiments have been tried upon Vegetable or Animal Substances, are properly to be referred. I take Minerals here in the largest Sence; for all sorts of Earths, Sulphurs, Salts, Stones, Metals, and Minerals properly so called. For Chymistry is not only circumstantially useful, (a) Their Opinions are collected by Gassendi, in his Animadversions upon Laërtius's Life of Epicurus, p. 362, 363.but essentially necessary here; since a great many Minerals of very differing Natures would never have been known to have belonged to several Families, if they had not been examined in the Furnaces of the Chymists. But I think this is so clear, that I should lose Time if I should say any Thing more about it; and therefore I shall rather mention some other Things, wherein Discoveries have been made in and by Mineral Bodies, without the help of Chymistry. The greatest of which is, of a Stone which the Ancients admired (a), without ever examining to what Uses it might be applied; and that is, the Magnet: The noblest Properties whereof Sir William Temple acknowledges to be anciently unknown (b);(b) Pag. 48. which is more, indeed, than what some do (c),(c) This they have collected from a Passage in Plautus, Merc. Act. 5. Sc. 2. Huc Secundus Ventus nunc est, cape modo vorsoriam; where by vorsoria they understand the Compass, because the needle always points towards the North: Whereas vorsoria is nothing but that Rope with which the Mariners turned their sails. who, at the same Time, make our Fore-fathers to have been extreamly stupid, that could suffer such a Discovery to be ever lost. So that all that can be said of the Advances which, by the Uses of the Load-stone, have been made in several Parts of Learning, do not in the least affect Sir William Temple. However, I shall mention some of the greatest, because he charges the Moderns with not making all the Uses of so noble an Invention; which he supposes the Ancient Greeks and Romans would have made, had it fallen into their Hands: Which makes him assert, that the Discoveries hereby made in remote Countries have been rather pursued to accumulate Wealth (d),(n) Pag. 49. than to increase Knowledge. Now, if both these can be done at once, there is no Harm done: And since there is no Dispute of the one, I think it will be an easie Matter to prove the other. I shall name but a few Particulars, most of them rather belonging to another Head.
Geography therefore was anciently a very imperfect Study, for want of this Knowledge of the Properties of the Load-stone. The Figure of the Earth could formerly only be guessed at; which Sir William Temple's admired Epicurus (e)(e) Vide Gassendi's Animadversions upon Laërtius's Epicurus, pag. 672. did, for that Reason, deny to be round; wherein he seems to have been more reasonable, than in many other of his Assertions; because he thought it an Affront to the Understanding of Man, to be determined by bare Conjectures, in a Matter which could no other Way be decided. Whereas now, most Parts of the Ocean being made easily accessible, the Latitudes, and respective Bearings of every Place are commonly known: The Nature and Appearances of Winds and Tides are become familiar, and have been nicely examined by Intelligent Men in all Parts of the World: The Influence of the Moon, joyned with the Motion of the Earth, have been taken in upon almost infallible Grounds, to found Theories of the Sea's Motion upon. And there are great Numbers of other noble, pleasant and useful Propositions in Geography, Astronomy and Navigation, which ultimately owe their Original to the Discovery of that single Quality of this wonderful Stone, that it always points towards the North. If these Sciences have brought to us the Wealth of the Indies, if they have enlarged the Commerce and Intercourse of Mankind, it is so far from being a Disparagement to the Industry of the Moderns, who have cultivated them to such useful Purposes, that it is the highest Character that could be given of those Men, that they pursued their Inventions to such noble Ends. Knowledge not reduced to Practice, when that is possible, is so far imperfect, that it loses its principal Use. And it is not for acquiring Wealth, but for mis-employing it when he has acquired it, that a Man ought to be blamed.
Now, to compleat what I have to say of Geography all at once, I shall take notice, that as the Improvements by Navigation have made all the Sea-Coasts of the Universe accessible, so the Art of Engraving upon Copper-Plates has made it easie for Men to draw such Draughts of every particular Coast, as will imprint lasting and just Idea's of all the Parts of the known World. For want of this, the Ancient Descriptions even of those Countries which they knew, were rude, and imperfect: Their Maps were neither exact, nor beautiful: The Longitudes and Latitudes of Places, were very little, if at all, considered; the latter of which can now be exactly determined, and the former may be very nearly adjusted, since the Application of Telescopes to Astronomical Uses has enabled Men to make much nicer Observations of the Moon's Eclipses than could formerly be made; besides those of Jupiter's Satellites, to which the Ancients were entirely Strangers. This makes our Maps wonderfully exact; which are not only the Divertisements of the Curious, but of unspeakable Use in Civil Life, at Sea especially; where, by the help of Sea-Charts, Sailers know where they are, what Rocks lie near them, what Sands they must avoid; and can as perfectly tell which Way they must steer to any Port of the Universe, as a Traveller can, upon Salisbury-Plain, or New-Market-Heath, which Way he must ride to a great Town, which he knows before-hand is not far from the Edge of the Plain, or of the Heath. Velserus has printed some ancient Maps (f),(f) Commonly called the Peutingerian Tables. that were made for the Direction of the Roman Quarter-Masters; and if a Man will compare them with Sanson's, or Blaeu's, he will see the difference; which in future Ages will certainly be vastly greater, if those Countries which are now barbarous, or undiscovered, should ever come into the Hands of a Civilized or Learned People. But I have not yet done with the Load-stone.
Besides these occasional Uses of the Magnet, its Nature, abstractedly taken, has been nicely enquired into, thereby to discover both its own Qualities, and its Relation to other Bodies that are round about it. And here indeed one may justly wonder, that when Flavio Amalphi (g)(g) To him this Discovery is attributed by Salmuth upon Pancirollus; others call him Amalphi; but Gassendi, Animad. pag. 364. says, it was found out by a French-man, about the Year MCC. since it is mentioned by one Guyotus Provinceus, a French Poet of that Time, who calls the Compass Marineta; to which Gassendi also adds, That it was most probably a French Invention, because the North-Point is by all Nations marked in their Compasses by a Flower-de-Luce, the Arms of France. had discovered that Iron touched with a Magnet, always points towards the North, that all the Philosophers of that Age did not immediately try all Manner of Experiments upon that strange Stone, which was found to be so exceedingly useful in Matters of common Life: The Portuguezes, who first made daring Voyages by the Help of the Compass into the Southern and South-Eastern Seas, better knew the Value of that rich Discovery; but Philosophy was in those darker Ages divided between the School-men and the Chymists; the former presently salved the Business with their Substantial Forms, and what they could not comprehend came very properly under the Notion of an Occult Quality: The latter found nothing extraordinary in their Crucibles when they analyzed the Magnet; and so they seem soon to have given it over: Besides, in those Days few Men studied Chymistry with any other Design than that of finding out the Philosopher's Stone, to which the Load-stone could do them no further Service than that of supplying them with another hard Name to cant with (h).(h) Magnesia Nigra, used by Eyrenæus Philalethes, and ridiculed by Surly in Ben Johnson's Alchemist. For these Reasons therefore, it lay in a good Measure neglected by Men of Letters, till our famous Countryman Dr. Gilbert of Colchester, by a vast Number of Experiments, found that the Earth was but a larger Magnet, and he indeed, was the first Author of all these magnetical Speculations which have been made since that have had the good Fortune to be generally approved. This great Man, whom Galileo and Kepler express a great Veneration for in their Writings, deserves here to be mentioned upon another Account, because He, my Lord Bacon, and Mr. Harriot, all English-men, are the Three Men to whom Monsieur Des Cartes was so very much obliged for the first Hints of the greatest things, which he has given us in his Philosophical and Mathematical Discourses. For nothing does more convincingly put these things out of Doubt, than to trace them up to their first Originals, which can be done but in a very few. But it is time to proceed.