The works of Francis Bacon, lord chancellor of England.

LIFE OF BACON. lxxxiii
wherein liquors open themselves by fire; for water it was carried; the scent of the bloodhound; the
opens one way, wine another, verjuice another, loadstone amongst stones; that species of flowers
and milk, oil, &c., with a still greater difference. which do not die when plucked from the stalk,
Constituent Instances.-In inquiring into any but continue their colours and forms unaltered
nature, separate complex into simple natures. through the winter. So with grammarians the
Let the nature sought be memory, or the means letter G is held singular for the easiness of its
of exciting and helping the memory: the consti- composition with consonants, sometimes with
tuent instances may be thus exhibited: double and sometimes with triple ones, which is
a property of no other letter. So the number 9
l1. The art of making 2. The mind agitated. amongst figures possesses the peculiar property,
strong impressions.. 1. Variety of impression. that the sum of the digits of all its multiples
L2. The agent. {2. Slo........f impression.
r1. Order. is 9.1
2. The art of recall Cutting off infinity2. Places for artificial me- Iilstalces of Divorce.-Observe the separation of
2. The ~I i. Cuttin~ olt infioity~ Technicalat..mory.
impressions. 3ninl{ Tecnaloemoy. such natures as are generally united. Light and
2. Reducing intellectual to sensible things.
heat are generally united; but in a cold moonlight
Such are specimens of his mode of excluding night there is light without heat, and in hotwater
irrelevant natures. there is heat without light. The action of one
body upon another is in general affected by the
medium through which it acts; thus sound va2. OBsERVIG THE NATURE WHERE MOST CON- ries with the state of the atmosphere, and through
sICUOUS, OR NSTANCES OF EXTREMES. a thick wall is scarcely perceptible. The magPatent and Latent Instances. In inquiring into netic attraction seems to be an instance of
any nature, observe where the nature, in its usual divorce, as it acts indifferently through all mestate, appears most conspicuous, and where it diurns.
appears in its weakest and most imperfect state. Deviating Instances. Observe nature when apThe loadstone is a glaring instance of attrac- parently deviating from her accustomed course;
tion. The thermometer is a glaring instance of as in all cases of monsters, prodigious births,
the expansive nature of heat. Flame exhibits its &c. He who knows the ways of nature will
expansive nature to the sense, but it is momentary the easier observe her deviations; and he who
and vanishes. Again, let the inquiry be into the knows her deviations, will more exactly describe
nature of solidity, the contrary of which is fluid- her ways. For the business in this matter is no
ity. Froth, snow, bubbles, whether of soap and more than by quick scent to trace out the footways
water, blown by children, or those which may be of nature in her wilful wanderings, that so afterseen occasionally on the surface of a fluid or on the ward you may be able at your pleasure to lead or
side of a vessel, or the looking-glasses made of force her to the same place and posture again. As
spittle by children in a loop of a single hair or a a man's disposition is never well known till he be
rush,where we see a consistent pellicule of water, crossed, nor did Proteus ever change shapes till
like infant ice, exhibit solidity in its most feeble he was straitened and held fast.
states. Such are specimens of his modes of viewing
Maxima and Minima. In inquiring into any nature where most conspicuous.
nature, observe it in its extremes, or its maxima
and minima. Gold in weight; iron in hardness; 3. FIXING THE REAL, BETWEEN DIFFERENT APPAthe whale in bulk of animal bodies; the hound RENT CAUSES.
in scent; the explosion of gunpowder in sudden
expansion, are instances of maxima. The minute Crucial Instances. When, in inquiring into any
worms in the skin is an instance of minimum in particular nature, the mind is in tequilibrio between
animal bulk. two causes, observe if there is not some instance
Frontier Instances. Observe those species of which marks the cause of the sought nature. Let
bodies which seem composed of two species; as the nature sought be gravity. Heavy bodies,
moss, which is something betwixt putrefaction having a tendency to the earth, must fall ex mero
and a plant; flying fishes, which are a species motu, from their own construction, or be attracted
betwixt birds and fish; bats, which are betwixt by the earth. Let two equal bodies fall through
birds and quadrupeds; the beast so like ourselves, equal spaces at different distances from the earth,
the ape; the biformed births of animals; the and if they fall through these equal spaces in unmixtures of different species, &c. equal times, the descent is influenced by the at
Singular Instances. In inquiring into any na- traction of the earth.
ture, observe those instances which, in regular
course, are solitary amidst their own natures. 1 Thus 9X2=18 and 8+-1=9.
Quicksilver amongst metals; the power of the 9 X 3=27 and 2+7=9.
carrier pigeon to return to the place from whence 9X 1 1=99 and 9+ 9=18 and 1+8=9