An entire body of philosophy according to the principles of the famous Renate Des Cartes in three books, (I) the institution ... (II) the history of nature ... (III) a dissertation of the want of sense and knowledge in brute animals ... / written originally in Latin by the learned Anthony Le Grand ; now carefully translated from the last corrections, alterations, and large additions of the author, never yet published ... by Richard Blome.

CHAP. III. Of Cold.

I. No Body is altogether destitute of Heat. NO Body, how cold soever it may seem to the Touch, is wholly devoid of Heat. For water, which to our sense is most cold, is proved not to be destitute of all heat, because of the Va∣pours and Steams which we see do arise from Ri∣vers and Pools, even in the Winter time, and in the Night time.

The Reason is, because Cold is nothing else but the want of Heat; and as Darkness is the priva∣tion of Light, which is the companion of Heat, or the effect of it; so Cold seems to be nothing else but a privation of the said Heat; and therefore that which we call Cold, is nothing else but a more remiss degree of Heat.

II. Why a Hand be∣numb'd with cold, when held to the Fire, is seized with ex∣tream pain. It happens sometimes in very Cold Weather, that Mens Hands, and other parts of their Body grow numb'd; which when they come near the Fire, are seized with very sharp pricking and shoot∣ing pains.

The Reason whereof is, because the particles of Fire, being in continual motion, do with violence run a-tilt upon the Nerves of the Hands, or other Members that are benumb'd with cold, and wound them as it were with so many pointed Lances. Which Vellication of the Parts cannot be without causing great Pain. Wherefore to restore a Hand benumb'd with cold, we must not presently expose it to the Fire; but first gently rub it, and endea∣vour to bend and move the Joints, that by this means the chaced blood may be recalled, and the parts that were asleep or benumb'd, may again come to themselves. Wherefore in Swedeland, Denmark, and other cold Countries, when any one chanceth to be thus benumb'd with cold, or in danger to be seized with a Gangrene, they pre∣sently put the part into cold water, or Snow, for by this means the pores that were shut up by the cold, are opened by degrees, and make way for the banisht vital Spirits to return to them again, whereby the parts are soon after recovered to their former state.

III. What hap∣ned to K. James I. in Denmark. Thus BARCLAY tells us, that when King JAMES I. was in Denmark, and that by the cold, the end of his Nose, and the Lappets of his Ears were become without all feeling, and almost mortified, he by the advice of the Inhabitants, ap∣plied Snow to them, to preserve them from a Grangrene.

The Reason of this cure of frozen and be∣numb'd parts is, because the grossest matter of the Second Element, which got out by their pores, when the cold began to shut them up, cannot re∣enter again, in order to restore to those parts their former softness, without destroying their connexi∣on, which might cause a mortification or Gan∣grene, which is avoided by rubbing the parts with Snow, because the Snow contains nothing in its pores besides the most subtil matter of the Second Element, which is very proper and fit to open by degrees the pores of the congealed parts, till they be wide enough to let the more gross matter of the Second Element pass through them also.

V. How frozen Apples may be restored to their former state. Neither can any other Reason be given, why frozen Apples being put into cold water, are restored to their former condition, than that the cold water doth gently dissolve the congealed Humour in the Apples, and consequently causeth that effect of the Cold to cease.

V. Why the Air is so exceeding clear in Extream cold wea∣ther. During the most violent Cold of Winter, the Air is most thin and serene; but when the Cold is more remiss and moderate, it is generally Misty.

The Reason whereof is, First, because extream Cold doth more condense the thick Vapours of the Air, and by this means makes them to fall down, and consequently leave the Air more clear and serene than it was before. Secondly, Because ex∣tream Cold shuts up the pores of the Earth, by which means the Vapours are hindred from exhaling thence, and darkning the Air. Whereas moderate Cold produces a cloudy and misty Air; because the weak Heat which is joyned with that Cold, raises up Vapours from the Earth, which it is not strong enough to discuss or dissipate.

VI. Marble in the Heat of Summer retains its Coldness. Some Bodies never quit their Coldness, as Marble, and such like, which in the hottest season of the year feel very cold. So likewise Ice retains its hardness in the Summer, and is as cold then as in the Winter.

These familiar Instances make out, that Cold is nothing else than Rest or privation of motion. For the parts of Cold Bodies do cleave and stick fast together, so as to constitute a most close and compact Compound. But how doth it come to pass, that Marble, Ice, and other Bodies of like Nature, do preserve their Coldness, at all Seasons, in the same intense degree?

I Answer, That this proceeds from the Hea∣venly Globuli, which penetrate their pores; for the largest of them being endued with a stronger force of moving, do produce Heat: Whereas the lesser of them, which are inferiour in Force to others, do communicate Cold to Bodies, as will appear from the Experiment. Marble therefore is thus Cold, because the pores thereof are so strait and narrow, that they can only admit the very least particles of the most subtil Body, excluding the greater that cause motion. And forasmuch as Water does never freeze, except when the Matter which runs between its parts is more subtil than ordinary, it so happens that the pores of Ice, which are then formed according to the bigness of these particles of the most subtil matter, by this means become so narrow, that they shut out those particles that are never so little greater. And this is the reason why Ice continues to be most intensly cold in the midst of the greatest heats of Summer. This also may be perceived by the Dissolution of it; for Ice doth not melt like Wax, whose flexible particles, give way to the Agitation of the Fire, and by the force thereof are separated: For the narrowness of its pores hinders the Heat from en∣tring to its inward parts, save only as the outsides of it melt away, and are broken by the force of it.

VII. How water by means of Salt, may be turned into Ice. Put some Water into a Glass, and lay Snow mixt with Salt round about it, so as to touch the sides of the Glass; and as soon as the Snow and Salt begin to dissolve, the water will be turned to Ice, not only in the winter time, but at any other time of the year.

The Reason of this Experiment is, because the greater Globuli of the second Element, which by their agitation are the cause of the waters fluidity, being of more force than those which run betwixt the parts of the Snow, and finding a more con∣venient place for themselves to move in, the stiffer and smoother particles of the Salt and Snow do necessarily tend that way: And forasmuch as Nature doth not admit a penetration of Bodies, and that all motion is performed by means of a Circle, the lesser Heavenly Globuli contained in the Rain and Snow, upon the approach of the greater, strive to get out, and to return to the places they have left, through the pores of the Glass. But because these Globuli are not sufficient to continue the motion of the water, consequently thereupon it becomes congealed, and acquires the coldness and hardness of Ice. And on the con∣trary, the Snow mixed with the Salt, dissolves and runs to Liquor, because it is agitated by the greater Globuli, which before, by their motion, kept the water liquid.

VIII. Whence it is that the Spirit of Wine doth cool. And probably it is for the same Reason, that Spirit of Wine, which is hot of its own Nature, doth cure Inflammations and the Squinzy; and also cools and heals the part that is scorched with Gunpowder; viz. because the Spirit of Wine hath its pores so disposed, that being applied to the enflamed part, it only admits the lesser Globuli of the second Element, which by their more remiss and soft agitation of the parts, do asswage the pain.

IX. Diseases cured by likeness and sym∣pathy. Thus the Inflammation of the Emrods are cured with a Toasted-Onion, or fulminating Gold mixt with Brimstone. For the Juice of the Onion being very sharp, with a mixture of Sowrness, as Salt Armoniack and Tartar also are, which enter the composition of fulminating Gold, draw forth from the part affected, the Humour that is analagous with them, and mixt with it. It is a thing also owned by Physicians, that Diseases of Men may be communicated to Animals, by reason of the analogy of parts. Thus Mr. BOYLE tells us of a Potters Son, that was cured of the Kings-Evil by a Dogs often licking of it; the Disease having been by this means transplanted in the Dog.

X. Cold is very hurt∣ful to Plants. Cold doth great harm to Plants, and if we may speak with the Ancients, doth scorch and burn them up like Fire.

This indeed is commonly ascribed to Cold; but if we diligently weigh the matter, we shall find that according to Truth it can be no more than the remote cause of this effect; because it rather proceeds from the Heat which follows upon the breaking of the Frost. For seeing that the heat cannot enter the pores of the Plants that are shut up by frost; neither can it restore to their Inward parts that degree of softness, which they had before their congelation; since the said Frost hath spoiled the connexion and situation of the other parts, and therefore there cannot but follow an entire change of the whole, that is made up of these parts.

XI. Why some∣times the contrary happens. But yet sometimes it happens, that some certain parts of Plants, do without hurt endure Cold, as when the pores of Plants are shut up by Cold before that they begin to bud; for before that time they do not so much abound with that watry Juice, and their pores however narrowed by Cold,

are still open enough to give entrance to the subtil matter that may agitate the parts. For it is not necessary that their contexture should be de∣stroyed by it, which are the first that bear the onset, before the Inward parts be set upon.

XII. Why is cold Body, such as Marble, cools the Air that is near it. The Air that surrounds a cold Body, as Marble, is colder than that which is farther from it.

The reason whereof is, because scarce any but the most subtil matter hovers about Marble, either that which is about to enter the pores of it, or which flows out from it: And because this subtil matter, because of the tenuity of its parts, is not able to move the thicker particles of the Air, that might cause the Sense of Heat in us; for this Cause it is that the circumambient Air is per∣ceived to be cold.

XIII. What is the Rea∣son of the cold Air that is about Fountains. And it seems to be for the same Cause, that a cool Air is perceived about those Fountains, whence the water leaps up with great force; viz. be∣cause the thicker parts of the Air, which serve to excite Heat, are seized, and carried away by the water gushing forth, so that nothing but the Aethereal matter is left there.

XIV. Why Cold makes the water in a Weather-Glass to mount up∣wards. When Water, or Spirit of Wine, tinged with a Red or other Colour, is put into a weather Glass; this Liquor doth of it self rise or fall, according to the coldness or heat of the Weather.

The Peripateticks assign the Cause of this Effect to be the condensation of the Air, which is in the upper part of the Pipe; and that thereupon the water is forced to move upwards, that it may fill up the Empty space which the Air hath quitted. But what, s••all we conclude then, that an insen∣sible Body, such as the water is, can be so solici∣tously concern'd for the good of the Universe, that lest Nature should suffer a Vacuum, it rather mounts upwards, in downright contradiction to its own ponderosity? Wherefore they speak with a great deal more of probability, who say, that in Weather Glasses the Air is condensed, and the water driven upwards by the incumbent weight of the Air. For in these Glasses the Elastick virtue of the shut up Air is very much lessened, by which means the Circumambient Air does more press the Water, than the Spring of the pent up Air can bear.

XV. The Frost rarefies water. Water is dilated by Frost, and takes up more space than it did before, whereof we have an e∣vident instance in a Glass-vessel with a long Neck, for when we expose such a Vessel fill'd with warm Water to the Winter cold, the Water will sensibly sink down or decrease, until it be come to a cer∣tain degree of Coldness: And not long after, it will begin to swell again and mount upwards till at last being bound to its good behaviour by Frost, it stands still and remains immoveable.

The cause of this Rarefaction is, because the particles of the Liquor that are shut up in the Glass, before they begin to be Frozen by Cold, grow Stiff, by reason of the lessened Motion of the subtil matter, and take up crooked Figures; and therefore cannot cleave so closely together, as when they were soft and pliable. And hence it is, that being vehemently shaken by the subtil matter, they cannot reduce themselves to so nar∣row a room as they had before, but require a larger wherein to dilate themselves.

XVI. VVhy wa∣ter freez∣ing in a Glass, does sometimes break the Glass, and at other times not. It is worth our observing, that Frozen Water by reason of its Dilatation does commonly break the Glass-vials wherein it is contained, especially if the upper part be Frozen first: Because the Water being dilated by Frost, sticks fast to the sides of the Glass; so that when the Water that is under it comes to be congeled likewise, it breaks the Glass, because it finds no room wherein to expand it self. But we find a quite contrary effect, when Water is Frozen in the bottom of a Vessel, first by Snow and Salt laid about it. For then the upper part of the Water doth by little and little mount higher, and by this means prevents the breaking of the Glass.

XVII. VVhy some∣times very strong Vessels are broken by the freez∣ing of the water that is contained in them. Wherefore it is no wonder, if sometimes great Vessels of Marble are broken by the freezing of the water that is contained in them, which CA∣BAEUS tells us he hath been an Eye-witness of: Nay, what is more, Artificers sometimes find by Experience, that some of their Copper Vessels have been broken for no other cause. It is also an Ob∣servation of the Noble and Ingenious Mr. BOYLE, that the space of Frozen water hath been increased a ninth or tenth part more than it was before; for else, how could it be that Iron Pipes, such as are made use of for great Guns, fill'd with water, and shut up with the greatest care and industry, should break by being exposed to the cold Air? As hath been often experienced in England, and other parts of Europe.

XVIII. VVhat the Reason is of the stiffness of the Particles of Ice. Neither must it seem any strange thing to us, that the subtil matter should not be able to bend the stiff particles of the water, when yet it hath force enough to move them; forasmuch as a lesser Force is required to move Bodies, than to bind them: For we can easily with our Hand thrust a Bar of Iron out of its place, but find our selves altogether unable to bend it.

XIX. VVhy the Ground that is frozen riseth higher. This will also inform us with the Reason, why the Ground that is frozen riseth higher, and bursts into many slits, to the great damage of tender Plants, whose Root s are often pluckt up; except these Chinks in the Ground be cover'd either with Snow, or some seasonable warm Rain. For the Frost raiseth and distends the particles of the Earth and Water, and so makes them take up more room, than if they continued in their Natural figure.

XX. Cold also Condenseth hard Bo∣dies. As it is the property of Cold to Rarefie the Water, so it is endued with another quite opposite to this, which is that of condensing almost all hard Bodies. For as Heat rarefies Bodies, by making their parts that are circularly moved, to remove somewhat farther from each other; so Cold, which is opposite to it, is the Cause why these Bodies are condensed, by keeping their parts at Rest, or by making them lose the determina∣tion of their Circular motion. Thus we find by Experience, that the most hard and compact Bodies, such as Metals, Glass and Marble, do sensibly contract themselves in hard Frosts, and become more brittle than before, and upon a Thaw return to their former state.

XXI. Great Cold provokes frequent voiding of Urin. It is also from the same Cause that men, who swim in Cold water, or otherwise affected with the Circumambient cold Air, are almost conti∣nually provoked to make Water; because the Contraction, which is an effect of the Cold, is communicated to the Bladder, and so causeth the

list to make water. And therefore if the Hand of one that is fast asleep be dipt in Cold water, it causeth him immediately to let go his water. And for the same Reason it is, that those who come out of a warm Bed, as soon as their Bodies come to be exposed to the cold Air, find themselves to stand in need of making water: For as soon as the motion of the particles is allayed by Cold, and the parts thereby contracted, the same is also com∣municated to the Bladder, which thereupon endea∣vours to rid it self of its burthen.

XXII. H••w it coms to pass, that Ice can be pre∣served whole and entire all the Sum∣mer over. Ice may be so preserved, as to retain its hardness all the Summer over, so as that it will scarcely melt when laid near the Fire.

The Reason hereof is, because the pores of Ice are so narrow, that it can admit nothing, save only the particles of the most subtil matter, and consequently by excluding all greater particles, hinders the Heat from entring to the Inward parts, save only as the melting of the Outward parts make way for it.

XXIII. Whence cold Bodies have the power of changing Water into Ice. Cold Bodies, such as the Air, often change the water they touch into Ice.

The Reason is, because cold Bodies, by their Touch, do not only lessen the motion of the insen∣sible parts of the water; but also forasmuch as they contain many Icy particles, that is, smooth and stiff, they make the greater Globuli to pass out of the water into the pores of the cold Bodies; and on the other hand, cause the little Globuli to pass out of the cold Bodies into the water. And forasmuch as these little Globuli, because of their remiss degree of motion cannot preserve the water in its fluidity, their motion by this means ceaseth, and by this Rest of their parts are changed into Ice.

XXIV. Fruits and Stones too, are spoiled by Cold. Extream Cold is of that Malignity, that it is the Cause of the Corruption of Bodies, changing their Colour, and spoiling all their Comliness and Beauty. This we see not only in Eggs and Fruits, but also in Wood and Stone, which with Frost are sometimes made so brittle, as to be unfit to be used in the Building of Houses.

Frost causeth this Putrefaction in Bodies, by dilating the watry parts wherewith the pores of Bodies are fill'd; because by this dilatation the fibres and other solid parts, are broken or distorted. For nothing else can be understood by Corruption, but the Transposition of parts, when those which were joyned, are separated, and enter upon new Combinations. Hence it hath been observ'd, that when the Eyes of Animals have been frozen, the Crystalline Humour hath become of a white Colour, whereas it was transparent before.

And from the same cause it is, that Men in Russia, and other cold Countries, do lose their Nose, Ears, and other parts of their Body, by the Rigour of the Cold, which mortifies and putrifies the parts, as before hath been said.

XXV. Cold some∣times per∣verts the order of Parts. Such is the Power of Cold, that it sometimes perverts the Order and Texture of the parts of Bodies. For to what else can we impute, that great Beams of Timber in very Cold Countries, are to that degree frozen, that except they be thawed with a moderate Heat, they slit to pieces, and are altogether useless for Building? Whence is it that Marle, laid upon the Ground to dung it, does never obtain its end more, than when it is frozen by extream Cold? For the Moisture that was contained in its pores being by this means dilated, the Texture of its parts becomes dissolved; so that whenever a good Shower falls, they are the more easily dissolved and mingled with the Earth.

XXVI. The Cold preserves some Bo∣dies from Putrefa∣ction. And on the other hand, Cold preserves some Bodies from Putrefaction; whereof the Swallows are an incontestable Proof, which being stiff with Cold, and in appearance no other than dead, are kept all the Winter over in many of the Pools of Poland, without the least taint of Corrup∣tion.

The Reason of this is, because Cold, whose Nature consists in Rest, doth restrain the motion of the parts, and consequently hinders their sepa∣ration from each other: For the dissolution of parts is the ready inlet of Corruption, forasmuch as thereby the whole Texture of the Body is dis∣order'd.

In like manner we find, that all manner of Meats and Drinks, are better preserved in Winter, than in Summer; and that Flowers and Fruits are kept for a long time untainted in Snow and Ice-Houses. Hence it is also, that Dead Bodies cover'd in the Snow, continue a long time without putrefying. In Iseland they customarily expose their Fish and Flesh to the Air, and when they are throughly hard and dry, preserve them untainted a great while without any Salt at all added to them; because the Cold keeps their parts at Rest, and suffers them not to be separated from each other.