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W.R.
Observatory

THE
NEWTONIAN SYSTEM
OF
PHILOSOPHY;
EXPLAINED BY FAMILIAR OBJECTS,
IN AN ENTERTAINING MANNER,
FOR THE USE OF
YOUNG LADIES AND GENTLEMEN,
BY TOM TELESCOPE, A. M.
Illustrated with Copperplates and Cuts.
A NEW IMPROVED EDITION,
With many Alterations and Additions, to explain the
late new Philofophical Diſcoveries, &c. &c.
Br A TEACHER OF
PHILADELPHIA,
PHILADELPHIA:
PUBLISHED BY JACOB JOHNSON, NO. 147,
HIGH-STREET.
1803.


CONTENTS.
INTRODUCTION, page 1.
LECTURE I. Of Matter and Motion.
The Laws of Motion, page 5... Attraction and
Gravitation, 8... Figure of the Earth, 9...
Magnet or Loadstone, 11... Cohesion, 12...
The Sphere of Attraction and of Repul-
sion, 13.
LECTURE II. Of the Universe, and parti-
cularly of the Solar System.
The Horizon, 15... The Reflecting Teles-
cope, 17... The Refracting Telescope, 18...
Fixed Stars, 19... The Orrery, 22... The
Sun and Planets, 23... Comets, 25... The
Moon and Tides, 25... Eclipses of the Sun
and Moon, 26... The Motion of the Earth,
31... The Armillary Sphere, 32... The Ter-
restrial Globe, 33... The Seasons, 34...Ve.
locity of Light, 35.
LECTURE III. of the Air, Atmosphere,
and Meteors.
The Four Elements, 39... The Air and At-
mosphere, 41... The Triple Weather-Glass,
43... Elasticity of the Air, 45... The Air-
Gun, 47... Earthquakes, 48... Water, 49...
Light and Sound, 50... Echo, 51... The
Air-pump, 52... Ventilators, 56... The Air-

CONTENTS.
Balloon, 57... Winds, 59... Mists, Fogs,
Clouds, and Rain, 62... Thunder and Light-
ning, 63... The Electrical Machine, 64...
Snow and Hail, 67...Aurora Borealis, or
Northern Lights, 67... Ignis Fatuus, or
Jack-with-a-Lantern, 69... Rainbow, 69...
Halos, 7o.
LECTURE IV. Of Mountains, Springs,
Rivers, and of the Sea.
Mountains, 74...Burning Mountains, 78...
Mount Etna, 79...Hecla, 80... Vesuvius,
81...Springs, 82...Rivers and Lakes, 84...
The Sea, 85.
LECTURE V. Of Minerals, Vegetables,
and Animals.
Earths, 88... Sand, Gravel, Earth, and Rocks,
89...Fossils, 90... Vulgar and Precious
Stones, 90...Salts, 91...Mineral Substan-
ces, 91...Plants, 93...Animals, 101... The
Microscope, 105.
LECTURE VI. Of the Five Senses of Man,
and of bis Understanding.
Origin of our Ideas, 112...Seeing, 115... Se-
parating Colours by the Prism, 119...Hear-
ing, 121...Smelling, 122... Tasting, 124...
Touching, 127...Heat and Cold, 127...
Pleasure and Pain, 129...Of the Under-
standing, 131.

INTRODUCTION:
BEING THE SUBSTANCE OF
A LETTER TO A FRIEND.
DEAR SIR,
I am desired by our worthy friend, Mr.
Setstar, to give you some account of those
young Gentlemen and Ladies whom you saw
enter the saloon the morning you left us, and
who came there on an adventure the most ex-
traordinary and the most to be admired of any
I ever knew. You may remember it was
holiday-time, and these little gentry being
come from school, met first at lady Twilight's
to divert themselves; where they were so
divided in their taste for amusements,
that warm debates ensued. One proposed
Threading the Needle, another Blind Man's
Buff, a third something else, &c. till at last
Cards were mentioned. Master Telescope,
a young gentleman of distinguished abilities,
sat silent, and heard all with complacency and
good temper till this diversion was proposed;
but then he started from his seat, and begged
they would think of some more innocent
A 2

2
Introduction.
amusement. Playing at cards for money,
says he, is so nearly allied to covetousness and
cheating, that I abhor it; and have often won-
dered, when I have seen people, seemingly
of years of discretion, so far mistake them-
selves and abandon common sense, as to lead
a young gentleman, just put into jacket and
trowsers, or a little lady in a frock dress, up
to a gaming table, to play and bet for shillings,
crowns, and perhaps guineas, among a citcle
of sharpers. Parents, continued he, might
almost as well teach their children to thieve as
to game: for they are kindred employments,
and generally terminate in the ruin of both
fortune and character.-Lady Twilight, who
is no friend to the modern modes of education,
smiled at this young gentleman's remark, and
desired him to point out some diversion him-
self. 'Tis impossible for me, Madam, says
he, to find out an amusement suitable to the
taste of all the company present, unless I was
perfectly acquainted with their dispositions ;
but were I to chuse, I should prefer those
which not only divert the mind, but improve
the understanding: and such are many of the
diversions at the school where I am placed.
We often play at sham Orations, comical
Disputes, measuring of Land and Houses,
taking the Heights and Distances of Moun-

Introduction.
3
tains and Steeples, solving Problems and
Paradoxes on Orreries, Globes, and Maps,
and sometimes at Natural Philosophy, which
I think is very entertaining, and at the same
time extremely useful; for whether our know-
ledge is acquired by these amusements and
reading little books, or by serious and elabo-
rate study, what is obtained will be equally
serviceable ; nay, perhaps that which is acqui-
red in the entertaining manner may have the
advantage; for, as it is conveyed to the mind
with a train of pleasing ideas, it will be the
more permanent andlasting, and the easier cal-
led up by the memory to our assistance..
Mrs. Twilight was very desirous of know-
ing what sort of diversion could be made of
Natural Philosophy: and finding her young
visitors in the same disposition, she conduct-
ed them to. Mr. Setstar's, that they might
have the use of proper instruments. As Mr.
Setstar was engaged in company, Lady Twi-
light, though nearly related to him, would not
disturb him, but led them through the
saloon into a private parlour, where our little
Philosopher, at the request of her Ladyship,
immediately opened the Lecture, without
making idle excuses, or waiting for farther
solicitations; which he knew would be ill
manners,


NY

RIOUS SECISEL!
W.RS.
Secture
on
Matterge Motion

LECTURE I.
OF MATTER AND MOTION.
BY Matter, my young friends, we mean
the substance of all things, or that of which
all bodies are composed, in whatever form or
manner they may present themselves to our
senses; for this top, that ivory ball, the hill
before us, and all things you see, are made of
matter differently formed.
As to Motion, I may save myself and you
the trouble of explaining that; for every boy
who can whip his top or wave a fan, knows
what motion is.
Matter, or Body, is indifferent to motion
or rest. As for example, when I whip my
top, it runs round, or is in motion; but when
I leave off whipping, the top falls down, and
is at rest.
When a body is in motion, as much force
is required to make it rest as was required
while it was at rest, to put it in motion.
Thus: Suppose a boy strikes a ball from a
trap, and another stands close by to catch it,
it will require as much strength or force to
stop that ball, or put it in a state of rest, as the

6
Of Matter and Motion.
other gave to put it in motion; allowing for
the distance the two boys stand apart.
No body or part of matter can give itself
either motion or rest: and therefore a body
at rest will remain so for ever, unless it be put
in motion by some external cause; and a bo-
dy in motion will move for ever, unless some
external cause stops it.
This seemed so absurd to Master Wilson,
that he burst into a loud laugh. What! says
he, shall any body tell me that my hoop or my
top will run for ever, when I know by daily
experience, that they drop of themselves,
without being touched by any body? At this
our little Philosopher was angry, and having
requested silence; Don't expose your igno-
rance, Tom Wilson, for the sake of a laugh,
says he; if you intend to go through my
course of Philosophy, and to make yourself
acquainted with the nature of things, you must
prepare to hear what is more extraordinary
than this. When you say that nothing touch-
ed the top or the hoop, you forget the friction
or rubbing against the ground they run upon,
and the resistance they meet with from the air
in their course, which is very considerable,
though it has escaped your notice. Some-
what too might be said on the gravity and

Of Matter and Motion.
7
attraction between the top, or the hoop, and
the earth; but that you are not yet able to
comprehend, and therefore we shall proceed
in our Lecture.
A body in motion will always move on in a
straight line, unless it be turned out of it by
some external cause. Thus, we see that a
marble shot upon the ice, if the surface be
very smooth, will continue its motion in a
straight line till it is stopt by the friction of the
ice and air, and the force of attraction and
gravitation.
The swiftness of motion is measured by
distance of place, and the length of time in
which it is performed. Thus, if a cricket-
ball and a fives-ball move each of them twenty
yards in the same time, their motions are
equally swift; but if the fives-ball moves two
yards while the cricket-ball is moving one,
then is the motion of the fives-ball twice as
swift as the other.
But the quantity of motion is measured by
the swiftness of motion as above described,
and the quantity of matter moved, considered
together. For instance: If the cricket-ball
be equal in bulk and weight to the fives-ball,
and move as swift, then it hath an equal quan-
tity of motion. But if the cricket-ball be

8
Of Matter and Motion.
twice as big and heavy as the fives-ball, and
yet moves equally swift, it hath double the
quantity of motion; and so in proportion.
All bodies have a natural tendency, attrac-
tion, or gravitation towards each other. Here
Tom Wilson, again laughing, told the com-
pany that Philosophy was made up of nothing
but hard words. That is because you have
not sense enough to enquire into, and retain
the signification of words, says our Philoso-
pher. All words, continued he, are difficult
till they are explained; and when that is done,
we shall find that gravity or gravitation will be
as easily understood as praise or commendati-
on; and attraction as easily as correction,
which you deserve, Tom Wilson, for your
impertinence.
Gravity, my young friends, is that univer-
sal disposition of matter which inclines or
carries the lesser part towards the centre of the
greater part, which is called weight or gravita-
tion in the lesser body, but attraction in the
greater, because it draws, as it were, the les-
ser body to it.-Thus, all bodies in or near
the earth's surface have a tendency, or seem-
ing inclination, to descend towards its middle
part or centre; and but for this principle in
nature, the earth (considering its form and

Of Matter and Motion.
9
situation in the universe) could not subsist
as it is, for we all suppose the earth to be
nearly round (nay, we are sure it is so, for
Captain Cook, and many other navigators,
you know, have sailed round it); and as it is
suspended in such a mighty void or space,
and always in motion, what should hinder
the stones, water, and other parts of matter
falling from the surface, but the almighty arın
of God, or this principle or universal law in
nature, of attraction and gravitation, which
he has established to keep the universe in or-
der.--To illustrate and explain what I have
said, let us suppose the following figure to be
the earth and seas: let Tom Wilson stand at
B

10
Of Matter and Motion.
this point of the globe of earth, where we are,
and Harry Thomson at the opposite part of
the earth, with his feet (as they must be to-
wards us: if Tom drop an orange out of his
hand, it will fall down towards Harry: and iſ
Harry drop an orange, it will fall seemingly
upwards (if I may so express myself) towards
Tom: and if these oranges had weight and
power sufficient to displace the other particles
of matter, of which the earth is composed, so
as to make way to the centre, they would there
unite together, and remain fixed: and they
would then lose their power of gravitation, as
being at the centre of gravity and unable to
fall, and only retain in themselves the power
of attraction.
This occasioned a general laugh; and Tom
Wilson starting up, asked how Master
Thompson was to stand with his feet up-
wards, as here represented, without having
any thing to support his head? Have pati-
ence, says the little Philosopher, and I will
tell you; but pray behave with good manners,
Master Wilson, and don't laugh at every
thing you cannot comprehend. This difficul-
ty is solved; and all the seeming confusion
which you apprehend of bodies flying off from
each other is removed, by means of this at-

Of Matter and Motion.
11
traction and gravitation. Ask any of the
sailors who have been round the world, and
they will tell you that the people on the part
of the globe over against us, do not walk upon
their heads, though the earth is round; and
though their heels are opposite ours, they are
in no more danger of falling into the mighty
space beneath them, than we are of falling
(or rather rising, I must call it here) up to the
moon or the stars.
But besides this general law of attraction
and gravitation, which affects all bodies equal-
ly and universally, there are particular bodies
that attract and repel each other, as may be
seen by this Magnet or Loadstone, which has
the property of attracting or bringing iron to it
with one end, and repelling or forcing it away
with the other. My knife, says Sain Jones,
which was rubbed on a loadstone some years
ago, still retains the power of picking up nee-
dles and small pieces of iron.
But this, says Master Telescope, is but a
small part of the virtues of the Loadstone; for
until its use was discovered, sailors never
ventured with their ships out of sight of land.
You certainly joke Sir, says Harry Thomp-
son, for it is impossible that a piece of iron
like that can be of any service in navigating

12
Of Matter and Motion.
those large ships I saw some time ago. I am
sorry, replies our Philosopher, that you, like
most ignorant people, should think all things
which you do not know the cause of impossi-
ble; but I will soon prove to you, that it is
very simple. They first procure a piece of
steel, made something like a needle, but flat,
about four inches long: this they rub with the
Loadstone, and then balance it exactly on two
points or pivets, so that it may turn round
freely. One of the ends of the needle thus
balanced, will always point towards the north.
This needle, when put in a box, is called the
mariner's compass.
Thus the sailors can
steer to any part of the world; which they
could not do without the help of this piece of
iron.
When bodies are so attracted by each other
as to be united or brought into close contact,
they then adhere or cohere together, so as not
to be easily separated: and this is called in
Philosophy, the Power of Cohesion, and is
undoubtedly that principle which binds large
bodies together; for all large bodies are made
up of atoms or particles inconceiveably small.
And this cohesion will be always proportion-
ed to the number of particles or quantity of the
surface of bodies that come into contact, or

Of Matter and Motion.
13
touch each other; for those bodies which are
of a spherical form will not adhere so strongly
as those that are flat or square, because they
can only touch each other at a certain point;
and this is the reason why the particles of
water and quicksilver, which are globular or
round, are so easily separated with a touch,
while those of metals and some other bodies,
are not to be parted but with great force. To
givé a familiar instance of this cohesion of
matter, our Philosopher took two leaden balls,
and filing a part off each, so that the two flat
parts might come into close contact, he gently
pressed them together, and they united so
firmly, that it required some considerable
force to get them asunder.
The same force applied to two different bo-
dies will always produce the same quantity of
motion in each of them. To prove this, we
put Master Jones into a boat, which (inclu-
ding his own weight) weighed ten hundred,
on the Thames by the Mill-bank; and on the
Lambeth side, just opposite, we placed ano--
ther boat of one hundred weight, with a rope
tied to it. This rope Master Jones pulled in
the other boat; and we observed, that as the
boats approached each other, the small boat
moved ten feet for every foot the other moved.
B 2

14
Of Matter and Motion.
which proves what I have before observed as
to the quantity of motion.
Attraction is the stronger the nearer the
attracting bodies are to each other; and in
different distances of the same bodies it de-
creases as the squares of the distances between
the centres of those bodies increase. For if
two bodies at a given distance attract each
other with a certain force, at half the distance
they will attract each other with four times
that force.

( 15 )
LECTURE II.
OF THE UNIVERSE, AND PARTICULARLY
OF THE SOLAR SYSTEM.
THE last Lecture was read at Mr. Set-
star's, who was so well pleased at these young
gentlemen meeting thus to improve them.
selves, that he ordered them to be elegantly
treated with tarts, sweetmeats, syllabubs, and
such other dainties as he thought were most
proper for youth: his Lady did them the ho-
nour of her company, and was particularly
pleased with the conversation of Master Tele-
scope. As it was a moonlight night, Mrs.
Setstar, after supper, led them to the top of
the mansion, where there was an observatory,
furnished with all the instruments necessary
for astronomical and philosophical observati-
ons. When the company were seated, our
Philosopher thus began his second Lecture.
Look round, my dear friends, said he; you
see the earth seems to be bounded at an equal
distance from us every way, and appears to
meet the sky which forms this beautiful arch
or concave over our heads. “ The Heavens

16
of the Universe:
declare the glory of God, and the firmament
sheweth his handy work,” as the Psalmist
beautifully expresses it. Now that distant
round where we lose sight of the earth, is
called the horizon; and when the sun, moon,
and stars emerge from beneath and come into
our sight, we say they are risen, or got above
the horizon; for all this glorious canopy be-
spangled with lights that bedeck the Sky and
illuminate the Earth, as the Sun, the Fixed
Stars, the Comets, and Planets (to which
last our Earth and Moon belong) have all
apparent motion, as may be perceived by the
naked eye; though, in fact, none move but
the planets and comets; as will be proved
hereafter.
But besides the stars which we see, there
are others not discernible by the naked eye,
some of which are fixed stars, and some are
bodies moving about the most distant planets,
which were invisible and unknown to us
before the discovery of Telescopes.
Pray hand me that Reflecting Telescope.
The young Philosopher taking it, and
placing it upon the table, gave the following
description :

Of the Universe.
17
This Telescope, from its construction,
magnifies more than any other kind. It
contains, within side, two metallic specu-
lums, a large and a small one. These, with
two glasses contained in the small tube, mark-
ed B, serve so to reflect and refract the rays
of light issuing from the object, as to shew.
them under a magnified appearance. In using
the Telescope, to adjust it exactly to your
sight, you turn the long screw C on the side,
while your eye is looking through at B, and
the end A turned towards the object, till you
can see the object you want to examine in the
most perfect manner.
A А
BE

18
Of the Universe.
In the Refracting Telescope, which consits
of glasses only, distant objects also seem to
be both magnified and brought nearer to the
sight. The large end must be placed point-
ing toward any distant object which we wish
to see more distinctly. In the other end is a
tube which slides within the Telescope, and
is adjusted to the proper distance by gently
drawing it outwards. Now, if you look
through the glass at the end of this tube, to
that part of the heavens to which I have point-
ed it, or indeed any other part, you will
perceive more stars than you saw before with
your eye alone. These are fixed stars, and
are called fixed, because they always keep
the same distance from each other, and the
same distance from the sun, which is also
fixed; and were he placed at the immense
distance they are at, would probably appear
no bigger than one of them. Hence some
philosophers have concluded, and I think not
without reason, that every fixed star is a sun
that has a system of planets revolving round
it, like our solar system. And if so, how
immensely great, how wonderfully glorious

Of the Universe.
19
is the structure of this universe, which con-
tains many thousand worlds, large as ours,
suspended in æther, rolling, like the earth,
round their several suns, and filled with ani-
mals, plants, and minerals, all perhaps differ-
ent from ours, but all intended to magnify the
Almighty Architect; “ who weighed the
mountains in his golden scales, who measured
the ocean in the hollow of his hand, who drew
out the heavens as a curtain, who maketh the
clouds his chariot, and walketh on the wings
of the wind."
The fervor and air of piety with which he
delivered this, silenced all his companions,
and gave infinite satisfaction to Mrs. Setstar.
Master Wilson, who had before been very
impertinent, began now to consider himself a
fool in comparison to our Philosopher: and as
Master Telescope had mentioned the solar
system, he begged that he would explain it to
him.
That I will with pleasure, replied the Philo-
sopher, if you will be kind enough to hand
me that Orrery that is in the corner of the
observatory, and place it on the table; but
first let me observe to you, that of these hea-
venly bodies some are luminous, and lend us
their own light, as doth the Sun and Fixed

20
Of the Universe.
Stars; while others are opaque and have no
light of their own to give us, but reflect to us
a part of the light they receive from the sun.
This is particularly the case with respect to
the planets and comets of our solar system,
which all give us a portion of the light they
have received, and we in return reflect to
them a portion of ours: for I make no doubt
but those who inhabit the moon have as much
of the sun's light reflected to them from our
earth, as we have reflected to us from the
moon.
The inhabitants of the moon! says Master
Lovelace, with some emotion; whither will
you lead me? What! are the stories that
have been told of the Man in the Moon, then,
true ?
I don't know what stories you have heard,
replied the Philosopher; but it is no extrava-
gant conjecture to suppose that the moon is
inhabited as well as the earth; though what
sort of inhabitants they are, we on earth are
unable to discover. As to my part, I am lost
in this boundless abyss. It appears to me
that the sun, which gives life to the world, is
only a beam of the glory of God, and the air
which supports that life, is, as it were, the
breath of his nostrils.

Of the Universe.
21
Do thou, O God! support me while I
gaze with astonishment at thy wonderful pro-
ductions; since it is not idle impertinent cu-
riosity that leads me to this enquiry, but a
fervent desire to see only the skirts of thy
glory, that I may magnify thy power and thy
mercy to mankind.
C С
co

( 22 )
OF THE SOLAR SYSTEM.
NOW, by means of this Orrery, I will
illustrate our Solar System; which contains
the sun (marked a) in the centre, and the
planets and comets moving about it.
db а се
8
f
16:09 P9 les
This
But how is it then, says Tom Wilson, that
we daily see the sun rise and set ?
Your question, replies Master Telescope,
is very natural; for it was an opinion held by
the ancients some thousands of years, that the
earth was the centre of the Universe, and the
sun and planets revolved round it; but I think

Of the Solar System.
23
this is easily refuted by a common occurrence
in a kitchen; I mean a small bird roasting on
a spit before a large fire. Would not you
think it very absurd if the cook should endea-
vour to make the grate with a large fire move
round the small bird on the spit?
Certainly I should, answers Tom Wilson;
for surely it would be better for the bird to
turn round before the fire, than the fire to
turn round the bird.
Very well, then, says our philosopher, the
sun being more than a million times larger
than our earth, we have certainly reason to
believe that it is the centre of our system, and
the earth and other planets move round it.
But you will understand this better if you
look at the plate I have drawn of the sun and
the planets, in their several orbits or circles,
with their respective distances from the sun,
and from each other; together with the orbit
of a comet.
The planets, as I have already observed,
are bodies that appear like stars, but are
opaque; that is, they have no light in them-
selves, but receive it from the sun and reflect
it upon us. Of these there are two kinds:
the one called Primary, and the other Secon-
dary planets.

24
Of the Solar System.
There are seven primary planets; and these
are marked on the Orrery as follows: Mercu-
ry b, Venus c, the Earth d, Mars e, Jupiterſ,
Saturn , and the Georgium Sidus (which
being of such recent discovery, is not repre-
sented in this Orrery.) The last of these
was discovered only a few years since by Dr.
Herschel, and called by him, out of respect
to his present majesty king George III. the
Georgium Sidus. cr Georgian. All which
move round the sun, as you see by my turn-
ing the winch of the Orrery; whereas the
secondary planets move round other planets.
-The Moon, you know (which is one of the
secondary planets) moves round the Earth;
four moons, or satellites, as they are frequent-
ly called, move round Jupiter; five round
Saturn; and only two have yet been discover-
ed to move round the Georgian; though we
have great reason to believe there are more;
but from the immense distance of that planet,
we have not yet perceived them. Thus has
the Almighty provided light for those regions
that lie at such an immense distance from the
Sun.
I have here made out a table of the periods,
distances, and diameters of the several pla-
nets.

Of the Solar System.
25
years, days,
O
Revolves round Diſtance from Diameter
the Sun in the Sun in
in Eng.
Eng. Miles.
Miles.
Mercury
88 36,000,000 3261
Venus
224
68,000,000 7699
Earth
Ior365 95,000,000 7920
Mars
1 & 322
145,000,000 5312
Jupiter II-314 494,000,000 90255
Saturn 29-167 906,000,000 80012
Georgian 83--121 1812,000,000
34217
They all move round the sun from west to
east; but in their progress do not describe a
perfect circle, but an orbit a little inclining to
an oval; the reason whereof I shall give you
in a future Lecture.
The knowledge we have of comets is very
imperfect; it is a general supposition that
they are planetary bodies forming a part of
our system, for they revolve about the sun
in extremely long elliptic curves, being some-
times very near it, at others extending far be-
yond the sphere of the Georgian. The period
in revolving about the sun, of one which ap-
peared in 1680, is computed to be 575 years..
But let us quit these bodies, of which we
know so little, and speak of our old compani-
on the Moon, with whom we ought to be
better acquainted : since she not only lights
us home in the night, but lends her aid to get
our ships out of the docks, and to bring in and
C 2

26
Of the Solar System.
carry out our merchandize; for without the
assistance of Lady Luna you would have no
tides. But more of this hereafter.— A little
more now, if you please, says Tom Wilson.
What then, does the moon pour down water
to occasion the tides? I am at a loss to under-
stand you. No, replied our philosopher, the
moon does not pour down water to occasion
the tides; that were impossible: but she, by
attracting the waters of the sea, raises them
higher; and that is the reason why the tides
are always governed by the moon.
The Moon's diameter is 2,160 miles; her
distance from the earth is 240 thousand miles;
she moves round it in the same manner as the
earth does round the sun; she performs her
synodical motion, as it is called, in 29 days,
12 hours, and 44 minutes, though the peri-
odical is 27 days, 7 hours, and 43 minutes.
By this motion of the moon are occasioned the
eclipses of the sun and moon, and the differ-
ent appearances, aspects, or phases she at
different times puts on: for when the earth is
so situated between the sun and the moon,
that we see all her enlightened parts, it is Full
Moon; when the moon is so situated between
the sun and the earth, that her enlightened
parts are hid or turned from us, it is New

Of the Solar System.
27
Moon; and when her situation is such that
only a portion of her enlightened part is hid
from us, we see a Horned Moon, a Half
Moon, or a Gibbous Moon, according to the
quantity of the enlightened part we can per-
ceive.
But I will endeavour to explain this to you
more clearly, says our philosopher, taking an
ivory ball suspended by a string, in his hand;
we will suppose this ball to be the moon, the
candle the sun, and my head the earth. When
I place the ivory ball in a direct line betwixt
my eye and the candle, it appears all dark,
because the enlightened part is opposite the
candle; but if I move the ball a little to the
right, I perceive a streak of light, which is
like the New Moon; if the ball is moved
further it presents the appearance of a Half
Moon; move it still further, until all the en-
lightened part is seen, it appears like a Full
Moon.
I think it is extraordinary, says Tom Wil-
son, that the Moon which you say is so much
smaller than the Sun, should appear to our
sight equally large.
That is easily explained, replied our Philo-
sopher, for if you consider that the sun is at
400 times a greater distance from us than the

28
Of the Solar System.
moon, your objection is answered; but this
I will explain further in treating of Eclipses.
I have frequently observed, says Master
Lovelace, that the moon appears much larger
when just rising above the horizon, than she
does afterwards; I should like to know the
cause of that. I thank you for your observa-
tion, Sir, replies our Philosopher; it is occa-
sioned by the fogs or exalations that arise
from the earth, which always magnify objects
seen through them; thus the moon, until
she rises above these fogs, always appears
larger.
The total or longest eclipse of the moon
happens when the earth is directly between the
sun and the moon, and prevents the light of
the sun from falling upon and being reflected
by the moon; as you will understand by look-
ing at the figure I have here drawn.
石
​
Of the Solar System.
29
We will suppose the candle a to be the
Sun; the cricket-ball b, to be the Earth; and
the fives-ball c, to be the Moon. A string
being tied to each of the balls, I tie them up
to the ceiling, or any other support, in a di-
rect line from the light of the candle; the
cricket-ball about cight inches from the can-
dle, and the fives-ball about two inches from
the cricket-ball. Whenever the earth and
moon come in the position of these balls, a
total eclipse of the moon ensues; because the
light of the candle (or sun) shining on the
cricket-ball (or the earth) totally obscures or
eclipses the fives-ball (or the moon); but if
we move the fives-ball a little higher up, or
lower down, so that the light from the candle
may pass by the cricket-ball, it will of course
be only partially eclipsed.
An Eclipse of the Sun is occasioned by the
moon's being betwixt the sun and the earth,
and preventing the light of the sun from com-
ing to that part of the earth we inhabit.
This may be explained by changing the
places of the balls; for when the fives-ball
is placed between the cricket-ball and
the candle, it will shew a total eclipse
of the sun; but if the cricket-ball is moved
a small degree higher up or lower down,
so that the light from the candle shines

30
of the Solar System.
a little upon it, it will shew only a partial
eclipse.
But I should be glad to be informed, says
Master Lovelace, how the sun which is so
much larger than the moon, can be totally
eclipsed from our sight, by the moon coming
betwixt us and it?
That is what I intended to explain to you,
replied Master Telescope. If you place your
cricket-ball in a direct line between your eye
and the sun, it will entirely hinder you from
seeing it, although your ball is much smaller
than the sun.
An eclipse of the sun never happens but at
new moon; nor one of the moon but when
she is at the full.

Of the Solar System.
31
The Moon consits of Mountains and Val-
lies, not unlike our Earth, and appears very
beautiful when seen through the Telescope I
shewed you some time ago.
The livid spots and bright streaks of light
are supposed to be the mountainous parts;
and the same parts being constantly turned
towards the earth, she always presents the
same side to us. The dark parts were form-
erly imagined to be seas; but from later ob-
servation it is proved, that they are hollow
places or caverns, which do not reflect the
light of the sun.
The Earth, by its revolution about the sun
in 365 days, 5 hours, and 49 minutes, mea-
sures out that space of time which we call a

32
Of the Solar System.
Year; and the line described by the earth in
this annual revolution about the sun, is called
the Ecliptic. By an inspection of this Armil-
lary Sphere you will have a perfect idea of
this and other circles necessary to be known.
The annual motion of the earth round the
sun is from west to east, or, to speak more
philosophically, it is according to the order of
the signs of the Zodiac; which we shall here-
after explain.
But besides this annual motion or revoluti-
on about the sun in the line of the Ecliptic,
the earth turns round upon its own axis in
about 24 hours; so that it hath two motions
at one and the same time.
Mrs. Setstar, whose curiosity had kept
her there during the Lecture, desired to have
this explained.-That shall be done, Madam,
in a minute, says the little philosopher; and I
can never have a better opportunity; for I
see Mr. Galaxy coming on a visit to your La-
dyship; his coach is just entering the iron
gates, and will presently wheel round the cir-
cle, or rather oval, before the portico. Pray,
Madam, fix your eyes on one of the wheels
(which you may do as it is moon-light) and
you will perceive it turn round upon its own
axis, at the same time that it runs round the

The Solar Syſtem
Georgian Pfmet
Orbit
The
Komet
kis5 Sattellites
The Orbitof Saturn this 5 Sa
The Onlint of Inbeter&his 4 Sattelhite
The Orbitof Mans
Earth &Moon
The
Ort
The
Orbit of Venkzs
Orbit of hergang
The four
The
Sun


Of the Solar System.
33
oval before the house. This double motion
of the wheel very fitly represents the two mo.
tions of the earth.
By means of this Terrestrial Globe I shall
explain more interesting astronomical princi-
ples.
Your Ladyship knows nerfectly that the
earth, turning on its own axis, makes the dif-
ference of the day and night; you will there.
fore give me leave, Madam, to address my
discourse to these young gentlemen and la-
dies, who may be ignorant of this branch of
philosophy.
D

34
Of the Solar System.
That the turning of the earth on its own
axis, makes the difference of day and night is
most certain : for in those parts of the earth
which are turned toward the sun it will be
day; and of course it must be night in those
which are turned from it.
But the length of days and nights, and the
variations of the seasons, are occasioned by
the annual revolution of the earth about the
sun in the Ecliptic; for, as the earth in this
course keeps its axis equally inclined every-
where to the plane of the ecliptic and parallel
to itself, the earth in this direction has some-
times one of its poles nearest the sun, and
sometimes the other. Hence heat and cold,
summer and winter, and length of days and
nights. Yet notwithstanding these effects of
of the sun, which gives us light and heat, his
distance from us is so great, that a cannon-
ball would be twenty-five years coming from
thence to the earth, even if it flew with the
same velocity as it does when it is first dis-
charged from the mouth of a cannon.
Here they were all amazed; and Lady Car-
oline said this doctrine could not be true; for
if the sun were at that immense distance, his
light could not reach us every morning in the
manner it does. I beg your pardon, Madam,

Of the Solar System.
35
replied the philosopher, your Lady ship's mis-
take arises from your not knowing, or at least
not considering the amazing velocity of light,
which although coming from the sun, which
is more than 95 millions of miles distance,
reaches us in the space of seven minutes and
a half, it must in consequence travel at the
rate of about 212,000 miles in one second of
time.
But if you are so surprised at the sun's dis-
tance, Madam, what think you of the fixed
stars, which are so far remote from us, that a
cannon-ball, flying with the same velocity as
when first discharged, would be 700,000
years in coming to the earth?
Yet many of
these stars are seen even without the use of
telescopes.
There are other things observable in our
Solar System, which, if attended to, will
excite our admiration : such as the dark
spots which are seen on the Sun's surface, and
which often change their place, number, and
magnitude. Such also is the amazing Ring
which encompasses the body of the planet Sa-
turn: and such are the belts that gird the bo.
dy of Jupiter :-concerning all which there are
various conjectures; but conjectures in phi-
losophy are rarely to be admitted.

( 36 )
LECTURE III.
OF
THE AIR, ATMOSPHERE, AND
METEORS.
WHAT was said by Mrs. Galaxy and
Lady Caroline in favour of Master Telescope,
excited Mr. Galaxy's curiosity to see him;
and the next morning he came into the Obser-
vatory just as the Lecture began. The pre-
sence of so great a personage put the young
gentlemen into some confusion, and several
of them offered to go away; which Mr. G. ob-
serving, prevented by stepping into the next
room ; and Master Telescope took this oppor-
tunity to correct their folly.
Gentlemen, says he, I am amazed at your
ineanness and ill manners. What! because
the gentleman does you the honour of a visit,
will you run away from him ?-There is no-
thing betrays a mean spirit and low education
so much as this ridiculous awe and dread
which some people shew in the company of
their superiors : and besides, it is trouble-
some; for the uneasiness one person is in,
communicates itself to the rest of the compa-

Of the Air, Atmosphere, &c. 37
ny, and abridges them of a portion of their
pleasure. The easier you appear in the com-
pany of the great, the more polite you will be
esteemed. None but a clown hangs down his
head, and hides his face; for a gentleman al-
ways looks in the face of his superior when he
talks to him, and behaves with openess and
freedom. I venerate Mr. Galaxy for his vir-
tues and amiable character, as highly as any
of you; and this inclines me to wish for his
company, rather than to avoid it. Fortune,
and what the world ridiculously calls high-
birth, are merely accidental, and may often
be found in persons of the most worthless de-
scription ; whilst on the other hand, we some-
times find in persons of mean parentage, (as
it is called) and without any of the tinsel of
fortune, these amiable virtues, and that no--
bleness of soul, which justly claim our high-
est veneration and esteem.
This reproof, and these remarks had their
proper effect; for they all sat down, and Mr.
Galaxy having returned, accompanied by his
Lady, our philosopher began his lecture on
the nature and properties of the air, atmos-
phere, and meteors contained therein.
We have already considered the Earth as a
planet, says he, and observed its diurnal and
D 2

38 of the Air, Atmosphere, &c.
annual motion; we are now to speak of the
materials of which it is composed, and of the
Atmosphere, and the Meteors that surround
and attend it.
In order to explain these effectually, says
Mr. Galaxy, you should, I think, Sir, begin
with an account of the first principles of the
four Elements, which are Fire, Air, Earth and
Water, and then to shew how they affect each
other, and by their mutual aid give motion,
life and spirit to all things; for without fire,
the water would assume a different form, and
become solid ice; without water, the fire
would scorch up the earth, and destroy both
animals and plants; without air, the fire per-
haps would be unable to execute its office;
nor without air, could the water, though exha-
led by the sun into clouds, be distributed over
the earth for the nourishment of plants and
animals. Nor is the earth inactive, but lends
her aid to the other elements; for she, by
reflecting the sun's beams, occasions that
warmth which nourishes all things on her sur.
face; but which would be very inconsider-
able and scarcely felt, if a man was placed on
the highest mountain, above the common le-
vel of the earth, and in such a situation as to
be deprived of her reflection.

Of the Air, Atmosphere, &C.
39
All this, Sir, I have considered, replied the
Philosopher; and had thoughts of carrying
it farther, and shewing how those elements
pervade and are become indeed constituent
parts of the same body; for Fire, Air, Earth,
and Water, are to be drawn even from a dry
stick of wood. That two sticks rubbed vio-
lently together will produce fire, is very well
known; for coach or waggon-wheels fre-
quently take fire when not properly clouted
with iron, and supplied with grease; and if
pieces of wood, seemingly dry, be put into a
glass retort over a furnace, you'll obtain both
air and water; and then if you burn the wood
to ashes, and wash out the salts with water,
as the good women do when they make lye,
the remaining part will be pure earth: and
thus we can at any time draw the four ele-
ments out of a stick of wood. But as these
speculations are above the comprehension of
some of the young gentlemen whom I have
the honour to instruct, I shall defer the consi-
deration of such minute and and absruse mat-
ters till another opportunity. Science is to be
taughtaswe teach children the use of their legs;
they are at first shewn how to stand alone;
after this, they are taught to walk with safety,
and then suffered to run as fast as they please :

40 Of the Mir, Atmosphere, &c.
and I beg you will be so good as to permit me
to pursue this method in the course of my
Lectures. Mr. Galaxy gave his assent with
a nod; and our philosopher thus proceeded :
The Air is a light, thin, elastic or springy
body, which may be felt, but not seen ; it is
fluid, and runs in a current like water (as you
may perceive by opening the window;) but
it cannot, like water, be congealed into ice;
and the Atmosphere is that great body or
shell of air which surrounds the earth, and
which reaches many miles above its surface,
as is known by considering the elasticity or
springiness of the air and its weight together ;
for à column of air is of equal weight with a
clumn of quicksilver of between 29 and 30
inches high. Now quicksilver being near
four times heavier than water, if the Air was
as heavy as water, the Atmosphere would be
about fourteen times higher than the column
of quicksilver, or about 34 feet; but the Air
is near 1000 times lighter than water; there.
fore the Atmosphere must be many miles
high, even at this rate of computing. And
when with this you consider the elasticity of
the Air, which, when the pressure of the in-
cumbent Atmosphere is taken off, will dilate
itself so as to fill more than 150 times the

Of the Air, Atmosphere, &c.
space it occupied before, you will perceive
that the height of the Atmosphere must be ve.
ry great. For as the Air is a springy body,
that part next the earth must be more dense
than the upper part, as being pressed
down by the air above it. Look at that hay.
stack yonder, which the groom is cutting,
and you'll perceive that the hay at the bottom
is much closer and harder to cut than that at
the top, because it has been pressed into a less
space than it otherwise would have occupied,
by the other hay above it; and had not the
whole stack been trodden and pressed down
by the men who made it, the difference
would have been still more considerable.
The air, however, even near the earth, is
not always in the same state. It is sometimes
rarefied, and becomes lighter than at other
times, as apears by the quicksilver's falling in
the barometer, and the rains descending on the
earth.

42
Of the Air, Atmosphere, &c.
OHY
1240
514
It may be acceptable
here, says the young Philo-
sopher, to explain the con-
struction of that triple wea-
ther-glass that I see hang-
ing up before me. So
6
walking up to it, he descri-
bed it in the following man-
ner: The uppermost in-
strument contained in the
round brass box, is called
the Hygrometer, (marked
a). It consists of a brass
plate, divided into degrees
both ways, right and left,
from 0 to 180. To the left
is engraved Moist, and to
the right Dry. In the cen-
tre of the plate is fixed the
beard of a wild oat, with a
piece of straw glued to it,
as an index. The Index is first set to o of the
divisions, so that any change of the air which
happens afterwards in the room to Moist or
Dry, the beard by twisting or untwisting it.
self from the action of the air, will by the in-
dex point it out accordingly on the scale.

Of the Air, Atmosphere, &c. 43
The open square part next below, is called
the Barometer, (marked b). It consists of a
glass tube about 32 inches long, closed at the
top, first filled with quicksilver, and then in-
verted on a reservior, or leather bag below, of
quicksilver. By this means the quicksilver in
the tube subsides to its proper height, as acted
upon by the pressure of the air, or atmos-
phere; for it is the dense state, or heaviness of
the air, that raises the quicksilver in the bar-
ometer, and prevents the clouds from distilling
through the air in rain; and, on the contrary,
its lightness that admits the fall in show-
ers, &c.
Barometers are also used to determine the
heights of mountains, &c. because as we as-
cend, the quicksilver rises in proportion; the
weight of the atmosphere which presses on it
being less.
But what is the use of that screw at the bot-
tom of the instrument ? says Master Wilson.
I thank you for the question, says the Philoso-
sopher; for many a young ignoramus has to-
tally spoiled a good barometer, by foolishly
playing with that screw till they forced it up,
broke the bag, and let out all the quicksilver.
Let it be particularly known, that this screw
is only provided by the instrument-maker, to

44 Of the Air, Atmosphere, &c.
force up the quicksilver in its tube in a gentle
manner, so that in conveying the instrument
into the country or abroad, it is thus made
quite portable, and not liable to have the tube
broken by the concussion of the quicksilver
against the top of the tube. The next instru-
ment below is called the Thermometer
(marked c). It contains a long glass tube,
partly filled with quicksilver, and screwed
down to a brass scale, on which are marked
divisions and terms of various degrees of heat
and cold, from boiling water down to freez-
ing, found and adjusted by actual trial of the
maker. The freezing point is marked 32, and
the boiling water 212. This is called Fahren-
heit's Scale, as being the name of the inven-
tor. The heat of the air expands the quick-
silver in the ball ; and it accordingly rises in
the tube; whereas, on the contrary, cold con-
tracts the quicksilver, and it of course falls,
so that at any time by mere inspection, the
change of the temperature of the air is immedi-
ately shewn.
The elastic principle in the air, which ren-
ders it so capable of being rarefied and con-
densed, has been productive of the most won-
derful effects. But before you proceed far-
ther, says Lady Caroline, pray do me the fa-

Of the Air, Atinosphere, &c.
45
vour, Sir, to convince me, by some experi-
ment, that the air is endowed with this won-
derful quality.--That he cannot do, replied
Mr. Setstar, without the use of proper instru-
ments.-Almost any thing will do, says the
Philosopher.-Little Master's pop-gun that
lies in the window, is sufficient for my pur-
pose. Do me the honour to step this way,
Lady Caroline. You see here is a pellet in
the top of this tube, made of hemp or brown
paper. With this piece of paper I will make
another pellet, and put it into the other end.
Now with the gun-stick drive it forward.
There you have forced the pellet some part
of the way with ease; but it will be more dif-
ficult to get it farther, because the air, being
compressed and made more dense or com-
pact, will make more resistance; and when
you have pressed it so close that its force over-
powers the resistance which the pellet makes
at the other end, that pellet will fly off with a
bounce, and be thrown by the spring of the
air to a considerable distance. There, see
with what force it is thrown!
This you have taken little notice of, be-
cause it is a school-boy's action, and is seen
every day; for, indeed, we seldom trouble our.
selvestoreason aboutthings thatare so familiar;
E

46 Of the Air, Atmosphere, &c.
yet on this principle, my Lady, depends the
force of a cannon; for it is not the gun-pow.
der and fire that drives out the ball with such
prodigous velocity; no, that force is occasion-
ed by the fire's suddenly rarefying the air
which was contained in the chamber or
breach of the cannon, and that generated by
the powder itself. As a proof of this, place
the same ball in the same quantity of powder
in an open vessel, and
when fired you will scarce
see it move. But there
have been guns lately in-
vented, called Air-guns,
which abundantly prove
what I have advanced; for
they are charged only with
concentrated or condensed
air.
Here is one, I perceive,
hanging over my head,
where you are to observe
that the ball, which is pre-
viously filled by a syringe
with the condensed air, is
screwed under the back,
and by pulling the trigger,
a valve is pushed in the ball
by a pin; the air rushes

Of the Air, Atmosphere, &C. 47
from thence, through the back, into the bar-
rel, against the bullet, and drives it to a great
distance; and the air in the ball is sufficient
to discharge six or seven balls, one after the
other; each of which would kill a buck or a
doe at a very considerable distance.
You seem all amazed, and I don't wonder
at it, since you have never yet considered the
extraordinary properties of this element; and
it must seem strange to you that the air,
which is so necessary for life, that without it
we cannot breathe, should be tortured into an
instrument of destruction. You will, how-
ever, be more surprised when I tell you that
this is probably the cause of earthquakes; and
that the noble city of Lisbon was some years
ago destroyed by a sudden rarefaction of the
air contained in
some of the
caverns
of the earth, and perhaps under the
sea. Tom Wilson gave a leer of imperti-
nence, but was ashamed to shew his folly be-
fore such good company. All the rest stared
at each other without speaking a word, ex-
cept Lady Caroline, who protested she could
not believe what he had said about earth-
quakes ; for, says she, I remember to have
read in the news-papers, that the flames burst
out of the ground. That might be, my Lady,

48 of the Air, Atmosphere, &c.
says the little Philosopher; for there could
be no such sudden rarefaction of the air with-
out fire. Fire therefore did contribute to-
wards the earthquake, and fire might burn
down a mountain composed of combustibles ;
but fire could never blow one up. No, my
Lady, that effect is the sole property of the
air. This dispute would, in all probability,
have taken up much time; but Mr. Setstar
put an end to the controversy, by declaring it
was true philosophy.
In this property of being rarefied and con-
densed, the air differs amazingly from water,
which, though composed of such small parti-
cles as not to be distinguished or seen sepa-
rately with a microscope, and notwithstand-
ing its readiness to rise or be evaporated with
heat, and to be separated with a touch, can-
not, when confined, be at all concentrated, or
brought into a less compass.
I have already intimated that heat is the ef-
ficient cause of all fluidity, and that ice may
therefore be termed the natural state of water;
the utility of which to man, as well in dilu-
ting his food as in increasing his enjoyments in
various modes, it would be tedious and use-
less minutely to describe to you; containing
a quantity of air, it is the medium by which

Of the Air, Atmosphere, &C. 49
aquatic animals respire. It is also, if not the
principal, at least a considerable part of the
food of Vegetables; which I will afterwards
explain to you.
By increasing the heat water is rendered
elastic and volatile; that is, is converted into
vapour, the force of which, when confined is
almost incredible; this force has been applied
to the use of Mechanics in the Steam En-
gines, by which it is said, that a single drop of
water, converted into vapour, is capable of
raising several hundred weight. The con-
struction of these engines is so very compli-
cated, that it is impossible for me to explain
without a model.
Air is the medium which diffuses light to
the world; for if there was no atmosphere to
to refract the sun's rays round the globe, it
would be almost as dark in the day-time as in
the night; and the sun, moon, and stars,
would only be visible. It is also the medium
of sounds, which are conveyed by the tremu-
lous motion of the air, when agitated by any
noise. Let me throw this peach-stone into
the moat, and you will perceive circles of
small waves diffuse themselves by degrees to
a great distance round it. Now, as the air is
fluid as well as the water, we may conclude
E 2

50 Of the Air, Atmosphere, &c.
that sound is conveyed somewhat in this man-
ner; though as that is nearly a thousand
times lighter than water, sounds are propaga-
ted at an amazing rate : some say, after the
rate of 1,142 feet in a second of time ; but
however that be, we may rest assured that
sound is conveyed in this manner :-Only
throw up the sash and halloo, and the echo
will return you the sound; that is, the waves
or pulses of air, which are put in motion by
the noise you make, will strike against the
rocks and return to you again : for echo is
nothing but the reverberation of sound. And
that there can be no sound conveyed without
air, is proved by experiment; for a bell,
struck in an exhausted receiver in an air-
pump, cannot be heard; that is, it has little
or no sound.
Without air there would be no merchan-
dize; for your ships could not sail to foreign
climates; and without air the birds could not
fly, since they would have nothing to support
them, and their wings would be useless; for
we know that a feather falls with as much ve.
locity as a guinea in an exhausted receiver of
an air-pump. But above all, air is the prin-
ciple which preserves life both in plants and
animals; there is no breathing without air:

Of the Air, Atmosphere, &c.
51
and you know, when our breath is stopt, we
die. This is one of those truths that are cal-
led self-evident; because it is universally
known, and needs no confirmation; but if
demonstration be thought necessary, you may
have it in a minute, by putting some living
animal into an air-pump.—But, said Lady Car-
oline, it is cruelto torturea poor animal; and vi-
olently opposed this experiment being tried;
but as the rest were for it, Mr. Setstar was
willing to gratify their curiosity, and there-
fore told our philosopher that he might try the
experiment with a rat, which they had caught
in a trap; and if he survived it, give him his
life for the pain they had put him to. Master
Telescope, after placing the air-pump on the
table, proceeded as follows:

Of the Air, Atmosphere, &c.
А A
C
By the help of this machine, all that I have
spoken concerning the weight and elasticity
of the air, is demonstrated in the most sim-
ple and elegant manner. For by working the
handle (marked A)all the air that is contained
within the glass receiver (marked B) is pump-
ed out; and if any living animal is put within
the receiver, all the air in its body is pumped
out likewise: then, as I mentioned before,
air being the principle which preserves life,
the animal dies, unless fresh air be immedi-
ately admitted, which may be done by turn-

Of the Air, Atmosphere, &c.
53
ing a screw (at C). Our philosopher then
put the rat into the receiver; and when the
air was nearly exhausted, it appeared in
great agony, and convulsed; and more air be-
ing pumped out, it fell on its side for dead;
but fresh air being immediately admitted,
it rushed into its lungs, which put them in
motion again, and he recovered. The man-
ner of the animal's recovery puts me in mind,
says the philosopher, of an accident which I
once saw, and which I would have
you
all
remember; for it may be of service to man-
kind.
Some time ago I was bathing with several
of my school-fellows in a river by the road-
side. Master Curtis, who was an obstinate
silly boy, would dastard the rest, as he called
it; that is, he would foolishly exceed them
in running into dangers and difficulties; and
with this view, though he could swim no
more than a stone, he plunged into a part of
the river, which we told him was greatly
above his depth, where he rose and struggled
to get out, but could not. We were all in
the utmost distress, and unable to assist him,
for none of us could swim. At this instant
some gentlemen on horseback came up, who
immediately dismounted, and got him out;

54 Of the Air, Atmosphere, &C.
but not till he had sunk the third time. He
was brought to the shore without signs of life,
and blooded without any effect; when one of
the gentlemen, who, I have since heard, was
a great philosopher, advised them to blow
some air down his throat : this was done,
and the elasticity of the air put his lungs in
motion, as I imagine, for a pulsation immedi-
ately ensued; he recovered almost as soon
as this animal. Now, from what I heard that
gentlemen say, and from the instance before
us, there is reason to believe that the lives of
many might be saved, who are supposed
drowned, if this method was put in practice
of conveying air to the lungs; for you are to
consider, that unless the lungs are in motion,
there can be no circulation; and it was for
want of air that their motion ceased in the wa-
ter. Pray, gentlemen, let this be remember-
ed, for it is a matter of great importance.
We are to observe, gentleman, that air
which has passed through fire, or is become
foul or stagnated, and has lost its spring, is
unfit for respiration. It was the want of fresh
air, or, in other words, the being obliged
to breathe air that was foul, and had lost its
spring, or elastic force, that some years ago
killed so many poor Englishmen in the black
hole at Calcutta, in the East Indies: and

Of the Air, Atmosphere, &c.
55
this breathing of foul air in inflamatory, pu-
trid, and eruptive disorders; such, for in-
stance, as the small-pox and some fevers, has
destroyed more than can be imagined. If
therefore you should be seized with any of
these disorders, advise the people about you
to make use of their common sense, and not,
because a man is ill, deprive him of that vital
principle, the air, without which he could
not live, even in a sate of health. Never suf-
fer your curtains to be drawn close, or ex-
clude the fresh air, even when you sleep.
I am greatly mistaken, says Lady Caroline,
if the air we are now in has not lost its spring ;
for I breathe with difficulty. Was that the
case, Madam, replied the little philosopher,
you would not be able to breathe at all ; but if
your Ladyship finds the air so disposed, you
should make use of the instrument that lies by
you; which, by putting the air in motion,
will, in part, recover its spring. What instru-
ment, Sir? says the Lady. Your fan, Ma-
dam, returned the philosopher. Every fan
is a philosophical instrument, and was origi-
nally contrived, we may suppose, for the pur-
pose above-mentioned.
A bird dying in an air-pump will be in some
measure recovered by the conyulsive Autter-

5.6 Of the Air, Atmosphere, &c.
ing of its own wings; because that motion al-
ters the state of the air remaining in the
receiver, and for a time renders it fit for res-
piration.
Motion is the only preservative for air and
water; both of which become unwholesome
if kept long in a state of rest; and both may
be recovered and made salutary by being
again put in motion.
If foul and stagnated air has such dire ef-
fects, how much are we obliged to the learn-
ed and ingenious Dr. Hales for discovering
the Ventilator: an instrument which, in a lit-
tle time, discharges the foul air from ships,
prisons, and other close places, and supplies
them with that which is fresh!
The researches of our modern philoso-
phers, says our Lecturer, have been the means
of many new discoveries in regard to air.
They now produce and prove the existence
of many different sorts of air: such as our
common air, imflammable air, nitrous air,
mephitic air, more technically denominated
by them gasses, or elastic fluids. But it
would be difficult to give you clear ideas up-
on this subject, without you had some pre-
vious knowledge of Chemistry. I must there-

Of the Air, Atmosphere, &c. 57
fore beg leave to dispense with the account of
these now, and only to advise my hearers to a
study of Chemistry, as now improved, as a
science that will afford them much pleasure,
and information in Nature's wonderful ope-
rations
When you mentioned inflammable air,
says Master Wilson, I thought you woull
have mentioned the Balloon; which, of all
wonders, I think the greatest. I protest it
perplexes me to account how in nature it is
possible for any large hollow substance, even
although filled with air, to float in the atmos-
phere, particularly when weighed down with
a boat and two men in it, as represented in
this picture hung near me; which records
the memorable event of Mr. Blanchard and
Dr. Jefferies crossing the English Channel
from Doyer to France.

58
Of the Air, Atmosphere, &c.
I am surprised at so simple a question, says
our philosopher. Why, surely, you never
considered the reason of those balls that I
have seen you make by soap and water beat to
a lather, and blown out of the bowl of a tobac-
co-pipe. The air, by which they are blown,
issuing from your lungs, is specifically lighter
than the common air, even when contained in
that thin watery globe. Now, inflammable air
is about ten times lighter than common air;
so that a large hollow silk balloon, filled with
inflammable air, although loaded with a boat,
two men, and sundries, is liglåter in its bulk

Of the Air, Atmosphere, &c.
59
than common air; and consequently, when
released from its cords that fasten it to the
ground, it rises majestically, and soars along,
in and above the clouds, according to the di-
rection of the wind.
We are now to speak of the Wind, which
is only a stream or current of air, as a river is
of water, and is occasioned by heat, eruptions
of vapours, condensations, rarefactions, the
pressure of clouds, the fall of rains, or some
other accident that disturbs the equilibrium
of the air: for Nature abhors a vacuum, and
for that reason, when the air is extremely rare-
fied in one part, that which is more dense will
immediately rush in to supply the vacant pla-
ces, and preserve the equilibrium; as is the
case with water and other fluid substances.
Only raise a vessel of water suddenly out of a
cistern, and see with what speed the other wa-
ter will rush in, to fill up the space and pre-
serve its level. And these rarefactions in the
air may happen near the earth, or much above
it; and is the reason why clouds fly in contra-
ry directions. This occasioned the loss of
the great kite, which we were a whole fort-
night in making ; for though there was scarce.
ly wind in the park sufficient to raise it, yet
when lifted extremely high by the air, it was

60 Of the Air, Atmosphere, &c.
seized by a current of wind, and torn in
pieces.
Winds are violent or gentle, in proportion
to the rarefaction or disturbance there has
been in the atmosphere. A violent wind, in a
great storm, flies at the rate of 50 or 60 miles
in an hour, and is often so dense, or strong,
as to bear down trees, houses, and even
churches before it. What the sailors call a
brisk wind, flies at the rate of about 15 miles
an hour, and is of great use in cooling the
air, and cleansing it from poisonous and pesti-
lential exhalations.
The winds have various qualities; they are
generally either hot or cold, according to the
quarter from whence they blow. In England,
some years ago, they had a south-west wind
in February, which blew so long from that
quarter, that it brought them the very air of
Lisbon; and it was as hot as in summer.
Winds from the north and north-east, which
come off large tracts of land, are generally
cold. Some winds moisten and dissolve,
others dry and thicken : some raise rain, and
others disperse it: some winds blow con-
stantly from one quarter, and are therefore
called the General Trade Winds; these are
met with on each side of the Equator, in the

Of the Air, Atmosphere, &c.
61
Atlantic, Ethiopic, and Pacific Oceans.
Some winds, again, blow constantly one way
for one half, or one quarter of the year, and
then blow the contrary way. These are met
with in the East Indian seas, and are called
Monsoons, or Periodical Trade Winds. But
as these subjects are abstruse and difficult,
and afford little entertainment, I will defer an
explanation of them at present, and endeavour
to give you some account of the meteors that
attend the air.
We have already observed, that, besides
pure air, the atmosphere contains minute par-
ticles of different sorts, which are continually
arising in streams from the earth and waters,
and are suspended and kept floating in the air.
The most considerable of these are the
small particles of water ; which are so separa-
ted as to be lighter than air, and are raised by
the sun's heat, or lifted up by the wind from
the sea, rivers, lakes, and marshy or moist
parts of the earth; and which descend again
in Dews, Rain, Hail, and Snow.
When these small particles are, by a - rare-
fied state of the air, suffered to unite many
of them together, and descend so as to render
the hemisphere more opaque, and by its hu--
midity to moisten bodies on the earth, it is
F 2

Of the Air, Atmosphere, &c.
a
called a Mist. And, on the contrary, those
particles of water that arise after
hot day from rivers, lakes, and marshy places,
and, by filling the air, moisten objects and
render them less visible, are called Fogs.
Clouds are the greatest and most beneficial
of all the meteors, for they are boine about
on the wings of the wind, and, as the Psalm-
ist observes, “ Distribute fatness to the
earth.” Clouds contain very small particles
of water, which are raised a considerable
distance above the surface of the earth; for a
cloud is nothing but a mist flying high in the
air, as a mist is nothing but a cloud here be-
low.
That these vapours are raised in the air, in
the manner above-mentioned, may be readi-
ly conceived; for it is an action that is seen
every day in common distillations; but how
these invisible particles which float in the air,
are collected into clouds, in order to bring the
water back again, is not so easy to determine.
It is probable, that by uniting first into small
drops, then into larger, they become too hea-
vy to be suspended by the air, and fall down
in rain.

Of the Air, Atmosphere, &c. 63
We come now to describe the causes of
Thunder and Lightning; but here I must
take the Electrical Machine to my aid.
On account of the many late improvements
that have been made in the science of electri-
city, the instrument-makers have made elec-
trical machines upon various construc-
tions. The one I am now going to describe
is not the most modern of these ; but as the
essential parts are exactly the same in all, you
will obtain by this a sufficiently complete and
just information of the curious properties be-
longing to them.
All the phenomena called Electrical, are
supposed to be effected by an invisible subtle
fluid existing in all the bodies of the earth.
The Electrical Machine is made to extract
this fluid from the earth, in the manner I will
describe to you.

64
Of the Air, Atmosphere, &c.
I
F
th
KWA
B В
Mun)
D
The handle (marked A) being turned round,
by means of some wheelwork in the box
(marked B) turns round the glass cylinder
(marked C); this cylinder rubs against the
cushion of stuffed silk, which is called the
Rubber (marked D): by this means the elec-
tric fluid is extracted from the rubber, and
carried round by the glass to the points (mark-

Of the Air, Atmosphere, &c. 65
ed E) which it enters, and remains in the tin
tube or conductor (marked F), which is fix-
ed upon a glass stem (marked G): as the
electric fluid cannot pervade glass, this stem
hinders it from returning again to the earth.
When the machine is worked, if a person pla-
ces one of his knuckles about half an inch
from the brass knob at the end of the conduct-
or (marked H) the electric fluid will dart like
a bright spark of fire from it to the knuckle,
and give the person a small degree of pain.
If, instead of the knuckle, a coated jar is pla-
ced to the conductor, the fire will be received
by it, and accumulated therein : so that if a
person touches the bottom of the jar with one
hand, and the ball at the top of it with the
other, he will receive the charge of electricity
through him, and feel the sensation of a sud-
den shock.
The similarity of lightning and electricity is
not to be remarked in a few appearances only,
but is observable throughout all their various
effects. Lightning destroys edifices, animals,
trees, &c. It always goes through the best
conductors, such as metal or water; but if it
meets with substances which will not conduct
it (such as stone or wood) it rends them, and
disperses them in every direction. Light-

66 Of the Air, Atmosphere, &c.
ning burns, and often melts metals and other
substances. All these effects, as I said be-
fore, may be produced by electricity. But
beside the great similarity existing between
lightning and electricity, what fully proves
them the same is, that the matter of light-
ning may be actually brought down from the
clouds by means of electrical kites: but as
this is a very dangerous experiment in unskil-
ful hands, I will not now describe the method
of making them. Clouds have almost always
some electrical matter in them; and the light-
ning accompanying, which is supposed to be
collected from the earth with the thunder, is
only that matter darting from one or more
clouds into another cloud, or else upon the
earth; in which case it strikes upon the most
lofty and pointed places, and by this stroke
produces all those dreadful effects that are
known to be occasioned by lightning. But,
says Miss Caroline, you have not yet men-
tioned those pointed rods on the tops of many
large buildings; I have been told they protect
the buildings from lightning. That they cer-
tainly do, Madam, said Master Telescope,
for the lightning is attracted from the clouds
by the pointed rod, and is by it conducted
down the side of the building to the nearest

Of the Air, Atmosphere, &c.
67
water, without damaging it. These rods were
the invention of the late ingenious Dr. Frank-
lin, of our own country. People in general,
when they happen to be caught in a thunder-
storm, run for shelter under a tree; but that
that is very wrong; for the lightning is at-
tracted by the tree, and thus accidents often
happen. The best way is to get into an open
place and lay at a distance ail metal which
you
may have about you: if you do this, you are
not in much danger of being hurt by the thun-
der and lightning.
Snow is the small particles of water frozen
in the air before they had united into drops :
and hail is drops of rain frozen in the fall.
The Aurora Borealis, or northern lights,
are occasioned by certain nitrous and sulphur-
eous vapours, which are thinly spread through
the atmosphere, above the clouds, where they
ferment, and, taking fire, the explosion of
one portion kindles the next, and the flashes
succeed one another, till all the vapour is set
on fire, the streams whereof seem to converge
towards the zenith of the spectator, or that
point of the heavens which is immediately
over his head.
At this instant, up started Master Long,
and said, I should be glad to have an account

68 Of the Air, Atmosphere, &c.
of this Jack-with-a-Lantern, which so haunts
Mr. Setstar's park, and t’other day led my
friend Tom Wilson into a large pond. Mas-
ter Wilson, you are to understand, had been
at his uncle's, where he had staid rather too
late, and therefore his uncle ordered the foot-
man to light him home; but Tom, being a
very courageous fellow, and a little obstinate,
would walk home alone, and in the dark : and
just as he came into the marshy meadow, who
should he almost overtake but this same gen-
tleman, this Jack-with-a-Lantern, whom he
mistook for Goody Curtis, the washer-wo-
man, and thought she was lighting herself
home from work. Tom ran to overtake
Dame Curtis; but Mr. Jack with his Lan-
tern still kept out of reach, and led my friend
Tom out of the path; which he did not per-
ceive till he had lost himself: on which Tom
halloo'd, and Jack would not answer. At
last souse came Tom into Duckweed pond,
where he might have lain till this time, if Mr.
Goodall had not heard him call out, as he was
riding by, and went to his assistance. This
put all the company in good humour; and
Tom had good nature and good sense enough
to join them in the laugh; which being sub-

Of the Air, Atmosphere, &c.
69
sided, our Philosopher thus proceeded in his
Lecture :
The Ignis Faturs, Fack-with-a-Lantern,
or Will-with-the-Wisp, as it is frequently cal-
led, is supposed to be only a fat, unetuous,
and sulphureous vapour, which in the night
appears lucid; and being driven about by the
air near the earth's surface, is often mistaken
for a light in a lantern. Vapours of this kind
are in the night frequently kindled in the air,
and some of them appear like falling stars ;
and are by ignorant people so called.
It may be here necessary to mention that
beautiful phenomenon the Rainbow, since it
has the appearance of a meteor, though, in re-
ality, it is none; for the Rainbow is occasion-
ed by the refraction or reflection of the sun's
beams from the very small drops of a cloud or
mist seen in a certain angle made by two lines,
the one drawn from the sun, and the other
from the eye of the spectator, to those small
drops in the clouds which reflect the sun's
beams : so that two persons looking on a
Rainbow at the same time tiine, do not, in re-
ality, see the same Rainbow.
There are other appearances in the atmos-
phere which ought to be taken notice of; and
these are the halos, or circles, which some-
G

70
Of the Air, Atmosphere, &c.
times seem to encompass the sun and moon;
and are often of different colours. These al-
ways appear in a rainy or frosty season, and
are therefore, we may suppose, occasioned
by the refraction of light in the frozen parti.
cles in the air.
Here the Lecture would have ended, but
a sudden clap of thunder brought on fresh
matter for meditation. Some of the compa-
ny, and particularly the ladies, endeavoured
to avoid the lightning; but Master Telescope,
after the second clap, threw up the sash, and
assured the ladies and gentleman there was
no danger, for that the clouds were very high
in the air. The danger in a thunder storm,
says he, is in proportion to the violence of the
tempest, and the distance of the clouds; but
this tempest is not violent; and that the cloud
is at a great distance, or high in the air, you
may know by the length of time there is be-
tween your seeing the flash of lightning and
hearing the clap of thunder. Look, see how
the sky opens to emit the fire! presently you
will hear the thunder, for you know we see
the fire from a gun at a distance, long before
we hear the report. There it is! and how
tremendous ! These tempests always put me
in mind of that beautiful passage in Shakes-

Of the Air, Atmosphere, &C. 71
peare's King Lear; where, when the good old
King is out in a storm, and obliged to fly
from his unnatural children, he says,
Let the great Gods
That keep this dreadful thund'ring o'er our heads,
Find out their enemies now. Tremble, thou wretch,
That haft within thee undivulged crimes
Unwhipt of juſtice ! hide thee, thou bloody hand,
Thou perjur'd, and thou ſimular of virtue,
That art incestuous ! Caitiff, ſhake to pieces,
That under covert, and convenient ſeeming,
Has practis'd on man's life! Clofe pent-up Guilt,
Rive your concealing continents, and ask
Thefe dreadful ſummoners grace!
This tempest will not give me leave to ponder
On things would hurt me more-
Poor naked wretches, wherefoe'er you are,
That bide the pelting of this pityleſs ſtorm !
How ſhall your houſeleſs heads, and unfed fides,
Your loop'd and widow'd raggedneſs defend you
From ſeaſons ſuch as theſe ?-0, I have ta’en
Too little care of this! Take phyſic, Pomp,
Expoſe thyſelf, to feel what wretches feel,
And thou may'ſt ſhake the ſuperflux to them,
And ſhew the Heavens more juft.

( 72 )
LECTURE IV.
OF MOUNTAINS, SPRINGS, RIVERS,
190
AND THE SEA.
WE come now, says the Philosopher,
to the consideration of things with which we
are more intimately acquainted, but which are
not, on that account, the less wonderful.
How was that Mountain lifted up to the sky ?
How came this crystal Spring to bubble on
its lofty brow, or that large River to flow
from its massy side ? But above all, how
came this mighty body of water, the Sea, so
collected together ? and why, and how was it
impregnated with salt, seeing the fish and
other animals taken out of it are perfectly
fresh? These are questions not to be answer-
ed, even by the Sages in Science. Here the
Philosopher, at the end of his judgment, and
lost in admiration, can only say with the
Psalmist,“ They that go down into the sea,
" and occupy their business in the great wa-
ters, these men see the greatness of God,
and his wonders in the deep.-Wonderful
are thy works, O Lord; in judgment hast
66
6
CC

Of Mountains, Springs, &c. 73
CG
" thou made them all !-The earth is full of
thy greatness !
It is the business of Philosophy, however,
to enquire into these things, though our en-
quiries are sometimes vain. We shall there-
fore, in this Lecture, give the best account
we can of Mountains, Springs, Rivers, and
the Sea.
The ancients supposed that Mountains
were originally occasioned by the Deluge;
before which time they imagined the earth
was a perfect level: and a certain Abbot was
taken into custody and punished for asserting
that the earth was round; though there is so
great a necessity for its being so, that, accord-
ing to the properties with which the Almigh-
ty has endowed the substances that compose
the world, it could not conveniently subsist
in any other form ; for, not to mention the
formation of rivers, which are generally occa-
sioned by the mists that fall on the moun-
tains; if the earth was a regular plain, instead
of that beautiful variety of hills and valleys, of
verdant forests and refreshing streams, which
at present delight our senses, a dismal sea
would cover the whole face of the globe; and
at best it would be only the habitation of
fishes.
G2

Of Mountains, Spring, &c.
I protest, says Lady Caroline, I think you
carry this argument too far, and seem to ques-
tion the power of the Creator.-How can you
tell that the earth and water thus disposed
would have that effect ?--From daily expe-
rience, Madam, says the Philosopher. Throw
this stone into the moat, and you will see it
sink; or this clot of dirt, and it will fall to the
bottom. But, says she, this is not always the
case; for when I water my flowers, the water
sinks into the ground and disappears. -
That is, because there is abundantly more
earth than water, Madam, says he ; and the
earth being porous, or hollow, the water runs
into the cavaties, and fills them; but was you
to continue pouring out of the water-pot till
all these crevices were full, you would find
the water flow at top, and the garden-mould,
or earth, would remain at the bottom; for if
you take a pint pot of earth, and another of
water, and mix them ever so well together,
the earth will in a little time subside or fall to
the bottom, and the water will be seen at the
top. This is to me a demonstration, Madam;
and it is so far from calling in question the
wisdom of God, that it is vindicating his wis-
dom in the works of Creation. So that you
may perceive from hence, as well as from the

Of Mountains, Springs, &c.
75
motion of the heavenly bodies, that the earth
is round, and that the ancients were in an
error.
And with regard to Mountains, though the
Deluge might throw up many, and much al-
ter the face of the earth, yet from the great use
mountains are of in collecting the waters of
the atmosphere into springs and rivers, it is
reasonable to suppose there were mountains
even in the first age of the world.
If I am not mistaken, says Mrs. Twilight,
it has been supposed, and by men of learning,
that this irregularity of the earth's surface was
occasioned by some Comet's striking against
it: and this opinion, I know, put Miss Lucy
and many others in great pain when the late
Comet was expected. What say you to this,
young Gentleman ?
I am unable to answer for all the extrava-
gant conceits and ridiculous follies of the hu-
man race, Madam, says he; and you might
as well expect me to give a reason for the
poor soldier's prophesying an earthquake
some time ago, and of the terrors of the peo-
ple on that occasion, as to account for this.
That the Earth has undergone amazing chan-
ges since its first formation, is, I think, evi-
dent from the contents of many mountains, in

76 Of Mountains, Springs, &c.
various parts of the world. In some are found
petrifactions in abundance; in others, the shells
of sea-fish, the bones of animals, &c. At
Reading, in Berkshire, (England) which is
above forty miles from the sea, there is a stra-
tum of oyster shells, which appear like real
oysters, and are spread through a hill of con-
siderable extent; they lie upon a chalky rock
in a bed of sand, much resembling that of the
sea; and the upper part of the hill, which is a
loamy soil, is thirty or forty feet perpendicular
above them: and at Burton, near Petworth,
in Sussex, was dug out of a pit, the bones or
skeleton of an Elephant; and lately, in the
state of New York, the bones of an enormous
quadruped have been discovered underneath
the surface of the earth. Numberless curi-
osities of this kind have been discovered,
(some of which I shall take particular notice
of in my next course of Lectures); but I
think there are few but what may be account-
ed for from the effects of the deluge, earth-
quakes, and subterraneous fires. Earth-
quakes at the bottom of the sea, for instance,
have sometimes thrown up mountains or lit-
tle islands, with the fish upon them, which
have been covered by the sandy or loose earth
giving way, and falling over them. It is not

Of Mountains, Springs, &c. 77
long since an island was raised in this manner,
in the Archipelago, of ten miles circumfer-
ence, the hills of which abound with oysters
not yet petrified, and which are much larger
than those taken on the coast; whence we
may conclude, that they were thrown up from
the deepest part of the sea. Sea-fish have
been also found in other mountains ; some of
which have been petrified, while others have
been found with the flesh only browned or
mummied.
And from the amazing quantity of fire con-
tained in the earth, and of the subterranean
air rarefied thereby, great alterations must
have been made in its surface in the course of
-so many years.
Very well, says Lady Caroline; and so you
-are going to turn the earth into a hot-bed, and
I suppose, we who are its inhabitants, are by-
and-by to be complimented with the title of
mushrooms and cucumbers, or perhaps pump-
kins. This is fine philosophy, indeed. Have
patience, my dear, says Mrs. Setstar.-Pa-
tience, Ma'am, returned Lady Caroline, why
I hope your Ladyship would not have me be-
lieve that we have a furnace of fire under us?
—I do not know, Madam, whether it be im-
mediately under us or not, replied the little

78 Of Mountains, Springs, &c.
Philosopher; but that there are numbers of
these furnaces in the earth is beyond dispute,
and is evidently proved by the great number
of burning mountains, which are continual-
ly sending up flames, attended with large
stones and metallic substances. I am sorry
Mr. Galaxy is gone, Madam; for he would
have set you right in this particular, which,
pardon me, I shall not attempt, since I find
my veracity so much questioned.—The com-
pany all laughed at the Philosopher in a pet ;
but Mrs. Setstar took up the matter, and soon
put an end to the dispute. She blamed Lady
Caroline for offering to decide upon a point
which she did not understand; and then turn-
ing to the young gentleman, told him, that pa-
tience ought to be a principal ingredient in the
character of a philosopher. Upon which La-
dy Caroline and he composed their difference
with a mutual smile, and after asking the
pardon of Mrs. Setstar for betraying too much
warmth, even in the cause of truth, he told
Lady Caroline, she should have some account
of these mountains from the best authority ;
when, taking a book out of his pocket, he read
as follows:
“ The most famous of these mountains is
Etna in Sicily, whose eruptions of flame and

Of Mountains, Springs, &c. 79
smoke are discovered at a great distance, by
those that sail on the Mediteranean, even as
far as the harbour of Malta, which is forty
German miles from the shore of Sicily.
Though fire and smoke are continually vomit-
ed up by it, yet at some particular times it
rages with greater violence. In the year 1536,
it shook all Sicily, from the first to the twelfth
of May; after that, there was heard a most
horrible bellowing and cracking, as if great
guns had been fired; there were a great many
houses overthrown throughout the whole
island. When this storm had continued
about 11 days, the ground opened in several
places, and dreadful gapings appeared here
and there, from which issued forth fire and
flame with great violence, which in four days
consumed and burnt up every thing that was
within five leagues of Etna. A little after, the
funnel, which is on the top of the mountain,
disgorged a great quantity of hot embers and
ashes for three whole days together, which
were not only dispersed throughout the
whole island, but also carried beyond sea to
Italy; and several ships that were sailing to
Venice, at two hundred leagues distance, suf-
fered damage. Facellus hath given us an his-
torical account of the eruptions of this moun-

SO Of Mountains, Springs, &c.
tain ; and says, that the bottom of it is one
hunded leagues in circuit.
“ Hecla, a mountain in Iceland, rages
sometimes with as great violence as Etna, and
casts out great stones. The imprisoned fire
often, by want of vent, causes horrible
sounds, like lamentations and howlings;
which make some credulous people think it
the place of Hell, where the souls of the wick-
ed are tormented.
“ Vesuvius in Campania, not far from the
town of Naples, though it be planted with
most fruitful vines, and at other times yield-
eth the best Muscadel wines, yet it is very of-
ten annoyed with violent eruptions. Dion
Cassius relates, that in the reign of Vespa-
sian, there was such a dreadful eruption of im-
petuous flames, that great quantities of ashes
and sulphureous smoke were not only carried
to Rome by the wind, but also beyond the
Mediterranean, into Africa, and even into
Egypt. Moreover, birds were suffocated in
the air, and fell down dead upon the ground:
and fishes perished in the neighbouring waters,
which were made hot and infected by it.
There happened another eruption in Martail's
time, which he elegantly dercribes in one of
his epigrams, and laments the sad change of

2 408
Mount
Vesuvuis.


Of Mountains, Springs, Sc.
81
the mountain, which he saw first in its ver.
dure, and immediately after black with ashe3
and embers. When the burning ceased, tho
rain and dew watered the surface of the moun-
tain, and made these sulphureous ashes and
embers fruitful, so that they produced a large
increase of excellent wine; but when the
mountain began to burn again, and to disgorge
fire and smoke afresh (which sometimes har-
pened within a few years, then were the neigh-
bouring fields burnt up, and the highways
made dangerous to travellers.
" A mountain in Java, not far from the towa
of Panacura, in the year 1586, was shattered
to pieces by a violent eruption of glowing sul-
pher (though it had never burnt before);
whereby (as it was reported) ten thousand
people perished in the under-land fields. It
threw up large stones, and cast them as far as
Panacura ; and continued for three days to
throw out so much black smoke, mixed with
flames and hot embers, that it darkened the
face of the sun, and made the day appear as
the night.”
There are a great number of other moun-
tains, or (as your Ladyship is pleased to call
them) furnaces in the known world; to enu-
H Η

82
Of Mountains, Springs, &c.
merate them would be too tedious to my au-
ditors.
We come
now to the consideration of
Springs; which are occasioned principally,
we may suppose, by the water exhaled from
the sea, rivers, lakes, and marshy places; and,
forming clouds, are dispersed by the winds.
These clouds, when they are so collected to-
gether as to become too heavy to be support-
ed by the air, fall down in rain to water the
herbs and plants; but those that are lighter,
being driven aloft in the air, dash against the
mountains, and to them give up their contents
in small particles; whence entering the cre-
vices, they descend till they meet together,
and form springs : and this is the reason why
we have such plenty of springs in mountainous
countries, and few or none in those that are
flat. And you may observe that it frequently
rains in hilly countries, when it is clear and
fine in the vallies beneath; for the air in the
vallies is dense enough to support the clouds,
and keeps them suspended; but being driven
up among mountains, where, in consequence
of their height, the air is so much lighter,
they descend in mists or such small drops of
rain that will not run off, as is the case in a
heavy rain, but sink into the crevices of the

Of Mountains, Springs, &c.
83
earth, in the manner already mentioned.
Now, that a great part of this water is exhaled
from the sea, may be known by the extraordi-
nary rains and great dews which fall upon
islands that are surrounded by the sea; but
some springs, it is reasonable to suppose, have
their source from the ocean, since those
which we meet with near the sea are generally
somewhat salt or brackish.
These springs, thus formed by the mists on
mountains, and the rain meeting together,
form little rivulets or brooks; and those
again uniting, compose large rivers, which
empty themselves into the sea : and in this
manner the water, exhaled from the sea by
the sun, is returned to it again; for Provi-
dence has established such wise laws or regu-
lations for the world, that no part of the ele-
ment can be annihilated. But the very large
rivers must have some other source besides
the springs formed by the mists, dews, and
rains, since these seem insufficient to support
their prodigious discharge; it is therefore
no improbable conjecture, to suppose that
they have some communication with the sea,
and that the salt water is purified and render-
ed sweet by passing through the sand, gravel,
and crevices of the earth.

Of Mountains, Springs, &c.
Lakes are collections of water contained in
the cavities of the surface of the earth; some
of which are said to be stagnant, and made up
of the waste water that flows, after rain or
snow, from the adjacent countries; and these
must be unwholesome.--Other lakes are sup-
plied by rivers, the contents of which they re-
ceive and convey under ground, to form other
springs and rivers ; others, again, are fed by
springs which arise in the lake itself; and
some (as that of Haerlem, and other salt
lakes) have a communication, it is supposed,
with the sea, whence they receive their wa-
ters, and afterwards discharge them by sub-
teranean streams.
The sea is a great collection of water in the
deep vallies of the earth; I say, in the deep
vallies; for if there were not prodigious cavi-
ties in the earth, to contain this amazing quan-
tity of water, thus collected together, the
whole surface of the globe would be overflow-
ed; for the water being lighter than the earth,
would be above the earth, as the air is above
the water.
Now you speak of the sea, says Mrs. Set-
star, I wish you would tell me why the sea-
water is always salt. Madam, replied he, I

Of Mountains, Springs, &c. 85
wish I could; but it is beyond the reach of
my philosophy, and indeed, I believe, of any
philosopher whatever; although some have
conjectured, that the rivers in their passage
extract the salts from the earth, and convey
them to the sea.
I have often thought, from the prodigious
quantity of salt distributed in the earth and
water, that it must have qualities which we
know not of, and answer purposes in the scale
of being with which we are unacqainted.
The most remarkable quality in the sea,
next to its saltness, is that motion or rising
and falling of the water, which we call tides,
and which is occasioned by the attraction of
the moon; which I mentioned in my second
Lecture (page 26); for that part of the water
in the great ocean which is nearest the moon,
being strongly attracted, is raised higher than
the rest; and the part opposite to it, on the
contrary side, being least attracted, is also
higher than the rest; and these two opposite
sides of the surface of the water, in the great
ocean, following the motion of the moon from
east to west, and striking against the large
coasts of the continent, from thence rebound
H 2

86 Of Mountains, Springs, &c.
back again, and so make floods and ebbs in
narrow seas and rivers, at a distance from the
great ocean. This also accounts for the pe-
riodical times of the tides, and for their con-
stantly following the course of the moon.

( 87 )
LECTURE V.
OF MINERALS, VEGETABLES, AND
ANIMALS
COULD a Philosopher condescend to en-
vy the great, it would not be for their sump-
tuous palaces and numerous attendants, but
for the means and opportunities they have of
enquiring into the secrets of Nature, and con-
templating the wonderful works of God.
There is no subject so worthy of a rational
creature, except that of promoting the happi-
ness of mankind; and none, except that, can
give a man of refined taste and good under-
standing, so much real satisfaction. But it.
is our misfortune that few engage in those en-
quiries but men of small estate, whose cir-
cumstances will not permit them to spare the
time, nor support the expence of travelling,
which is often necessary to obtain the know-
ledge they seek after; and for the want of
which they are obliged to depend on the rela-
tions of those who have not, perhaps, been so
accurate or so faithful as they ought. Con-
sidering the quantity of drugs that are used, it

88
Of Minerals.
is amazing how little even those who deal in
them know of the matter : so little, indeed,
that they cannot tell where they grow, or how
they are found or manufactured ; are unable
to distinguish the genuine from the spurious,
and may therefore, through mistake, often
substitute the one for the other. Health and
life are of too much consequence to be trifled
with; yet these are neglected, while fashion,
dress, and diversions, are sought after
throughout the world. This is a melancho-
ly consideration; but this, you'll say, is no
part of our Lecture, therefore we shall drop a
subject which has thrust itself, as it were, in-
to our way, and speak of the contents of the
earth, and its products and inhabitants; for
this globe, besides the earth and water, which
are necessary for the production and support
of plants and animals, contains other materials
which have been found useful to man. That
reflecting telescope, this gold watch, and Lady
Caroline's diamond ear-rings, were all dug
out of the earth; at least the materials
were there found, of which these things are
composed.
Those sorts of earth, which, with the assist-
ance of rain produce vegetables or plants in
such abundance, are common mould, loam,

Of Minerals.
89
clay, and sandy soils. There are earths al-
so that are different from these, and which are
used in medicine; as the Japan earth, Arme-
nian Bole, &c.
The barren parts of the earth are, for the
most part, sand, gravel, chalk, and rocks;
for these produce nothing, unless they have
carth mixed with them. Of barren sands
there are various kinds, though their chief
difference is in their colour; for the sand
which we throw on paper to prevent blotting,
and that the maid throws on the floor, are
both composed of little irregular stones, with.
out any earth; and of such there are large de-
serts in some parts of the world, and one in
particular, where Cambyses, an eastern mon-
arch, lost an army of 50,000 men. --Sure,
says Lady Caroline, you must mistake, Sir.
How was it possible for a whole army to be
lost in that manner ? Why, Madam, returned
the philosopher, the wind, as it frequently
does in those parts, raised the sands and
clouds, for many days together, and the
whole army was smothered.
read the life of Alexander the Great, you'll
find, Madam, that his army was in great dan-
ger, when he crossed the same desert, in his
frantic expedition to visit the temple of his
And if you

90
Of Minerals.
pretended father, Jupiter Ammon.But
we return to our subject.
Besides these materials, which compose
the surface of the earth, if we dig deeper, we
frequently find bodies very different from
those we discover near the surface; and
these, because they are discovered by digging
into the bowels of the earth, are called by the
common name of Fossils; though under this
head are included all metals and metallic ores,
minerals, or half metals, stones of various
sorts, petrifactions, or animal substances turn-
ed into stone ; and many other bodies which
have a texture between stone and earth; as
oker of several sorts, with one of which the
farmers colour their sheep; black lead, with
which are made those pencils that we use for
drawing; and some kinds of chalk, sea-coal,
and other bodies that are harder than earth,
and yet not of the consistency of perfect
stone.
Of stones there is an amazing variety.
They are classed by naturalists under two
heads; that is to say, spars and chrystals :
and by others, into vulgar and precious stones:
Some of the most considerable, both for
beauty and use, are marble, alabaster, por-
phyry, granite, free-stone, &c. Flints, agates,

Of Minerals.
91
cornelians, and pebbles, under which kind
are placed the precious stones, otherwise cal-
led gems or jewels; which are only stones of
an excessive hardness, and which, when cut
and polished, have an extraordinary lustre.
The most valuable of these are diamonds, ru-
bies, sapphires, amethysts, emeralds, topazes,
and opals.
But there are other stones which, tho'void
of beauty, may, perhaps, have more virtue
than many of those already mentioned; such
as the loadstone, which I described to you in
my first Lecture (p. 11.); also the whet-
stones, with which we sharpen our knives and
other edge-tools; limestones, talc, calamine,
or lapis calaminaris, and many others.
Besides the bodies already mentioned,
there are also found in the earth a variety of
salts; such as rock-salt or sal-gem, vitriol,
nitre, and many others.
The minerals, marcasites, or semi-metals,
as they are called by the chemists, are anti-
mony, zink, bismuth, &c.
These are not
inflammable, ductile, or malleable, but are
hard and brittle, and may be reduced to pow-
der; and the first, after melting, may be cal-
cined by fire.

92
Of Minerals.
Mercury, or quicksilver, has generally been
classed with semi-metals, and indeed, some-
times among the metals; but I think it ought
not to be classed under either of these heads,
but considered seperately ; as also should
brimstone, though it be a part of the compo-
sition of crude antimony.
Ores are those kinds of earth which are
dug out of mines, and that contain in them
metallic particles, from whence metals are ex-
tracted.
Their form when dug from the mine is ve-
ry different froin that which they assume
when they have been melted in the furnace,
and polished by the art of man. The most
precious metals, as gold and silver, do not
form the most splendid ores. The pyrites,
which are a mixture of iron and sulpher, are
much more beautiful to the eye.
The trade of a miner is the most wretched
and dangerous of all; they are not only expo-
sed to the common accidents of the roof fal.
ling in, or a sudden overflow of water, but al-
so a variety of damps, as they are called, or
noxious vapours. In the quicksilver mines,
the sufferings of the workmen are deplorable;
their bodies are so impregnated with the min-
eral, that they soon become emaciated and

Of Minerals.
93
crippled, every limb contracted or convulsed,
and soon end their miserable existence in a
consumptive state : and this they sustain for
the trifling reward of seven pence a day.
Metals are distinguished from other bodies
by their weight, fusibility, or melting in the
fire, and their malleability, or giving way
and extending under the stroke of the hammer
without breaking in pieces. These are six,
viz. gold, silver, copper, tin, lead, and iron.
They are seldom or never found in any part of
the earth but what is mountainous, which, by
the way, in some measure proves what we
ventured to assert in a former Lecture, viz.
that there were mountains before the deluge ;
for that there were metals before that time, ap-
pears by what is said in holy writ concerning
Tubal Cain, who wrought in brass, &c. and
was the inventor of organs.
What sort of bodies are to be found deeper
in the earth, I mean towards its centre, is un-
known to us; for we can only make our-
selves acquainted with the fossils contained in
its shell, and the vegetables and animals on its
surface, whose nature and properties alone
are, indeed, too many, to be discovered by hu-
man sagacity.
I

94
Of Vegetables.
OF VEGETABLES OR PLANTS.
The vegetables or plants growing on the
earth, may be divided into three classes; I
mean those of herbs, shrubs, and trees.
Herbs are those sorts of vegetables whose
stalks are soft, and have no wood in them; as
parsley, lettuce, violets, pinks, grass, nettles,
thistles, and an infinite number of others.
Shrubs are those plants which, though
woody, never grow into trees, but bow down
their branches near the earth's surface. Such
are those plants that produce roses, honey-
suckles, gooseberries, currants, and the like.
But trees shoot up in one great stem or bo-
dy, and rise to a considerable distance from
the ground, before they spread their branch-
es ; as may be seen by the oak, the beech,
the elm, the ash, the fir, the walnut-tree, cher-
ry-tree, &c.
From the bodies of trees we
have our timber for building; and of the oak-
tree in particular for ship-building, no timber
being so tough, strong, and durable, as oak ;
neither does any tree, perhaps, yield more
timber.

Of Vegetables.
95
" From a ſmall acorn ſee the oak arife,
Supremely tall, and tow'ring to the skies !
Queen of the groves, her ſtately head ſhe rears,
Her bulk increaſing by the length of years :
Now ploughs the fea, a rich, commercial (hip,
Or in her womb deitructive thunders ſleep.
The most considerable parts of plants are
the root, the stalk, the leaves, the fiowers, and
the seed; most of them have these se.
veral parts, though there are some, indeed,
that have no stalk, as the aloe; others that
have no leaves, as savine; and others that
have no flowers, as fern. But I think there
are none without root or seed.
What most excites our wonder with res-
peet to plants (and what, indeed, has been the
subject of much dispute among the learned)
is their nourishment and propagation.--
This, says Master Blossom, I have of-
ten hear.l my father discourse upon when I
have been in the garden with him ; but as
what he said has escaped my memory, I
should be glad, Sir, if you would tell me how
they receive their nourishment, and how
their species are propagated. A disquisition
of this nature, says the little philosopher,
would take up too much of your time, and
could not be understood without reciting ma-

96
Of Vegetables.
ny experiments and observations that have
been made by the learned : I shall therefore
defer the consideration of it at present. I see
no reason for that, says Master Wilson ; nor
to me does there appear any difficulty in the
affair. Why, they receive their nourishment
from the earth, don't they? And you sow the
seeds of the old plants, and they produce new
ones.
You are too apt, Master Wilson, says the
philosopher, to talk about things you don't un-
derstand. The earth has not, perhaps, so
much to do with the nourishment of plants as
is generally imagined; for, without water,
and particularly rain-water and dew, there
could be but little increase in vegetables of any
kind; and this you may know by the languid
state of plants in a dry season, though watered
ever so often from the river or well. This is
known also by the small quantity of earth
which is taken up in the growth of plants; for
both Mr. Boyle and Dr. Woodward raised
several plants in earth watered with rain or
spring-water, and even distilled water; and
upon weighing the dry earth, both before and
after the production of the plants, they have
found that very little of it was diminished or
taken up by the plant. Taken up by the plant!

Of Vegetables.
97
says Lady Caroline, in some surprise ; why,
you don't imagine there is earth in herbs and
trees ?-Indeed I do, Madam, replied the little
philosopher, and have already hinted as much
in what was said on the four elements, and at
the same time told your Ladyship, if I mis-
take not, how it might be extracted from the
plant; which was, by burning the plant to
ashes, and washing off the salts, as your laun-
dry-maid does when she makes lye ; for when
those salts are washed away, the remainder
will be earth.
If the earth contributes so little towards the
production of plants, says Blyth, the water, I
apprehend, must be a good deal concerned ;
and that is evident from the quantity of water
which most plants require to keep them in a
state of health and vigour.-Your observa-
tions, says the philosopher, deserve some 10-
tice; but how will you account for the growth
of plants in sandy desarts, where it seldom
rains, and of plants too that contain juices in
great abudance ? for God Almighty, for the
preservation of his creatures, has caused those
wonderful plants to grow in such barren de-
sarts, to supply in some measure the want of
water; and some are so constructed as to
hold great quantities of water for the use of
I 2

98
Of Vegetables
animals. This is the case of the ground-pine,
which, tho' it seems to grow like a fungus or
excrescence on the branch of a tree, often con-
tains a pint or a quart of sweet water for the
birds, beasts, and even men, to refresh them-
selves with in the sultry climates where they
abound. But a plant may hold much water
for the subsistence of animals, and yet not sub-
sist on water itself; and that this is the case
experience testifies. Dr. Woodward put a
plant of spearmint, which weighed 27 grains,
into a phial of water, where it stood 77 days,
and in that time drank up 2,558 grains of
spring water : and then being taken out,
weighed 42 grains ; so that the increase was
only 15 grains; which is not an hundreth part
of the water expended.
What the plant can obtain by the earth,
water, and otherwise, for its nourishment,
is generally supposed to be received by the fi-
bres of the roots, and conveyed by the stalk
or body of the plant up into the branches and
leaves through small tubes, and then returned
by the bark to the root again ; so that there is
a constant circulation of vital fluids in plants
as well as in animals. But I am inclined to
think, that a great part of the nourishment of
plants is received by the pores of the leaves

Of Vegetables.
99
and skin, or bark, as well as from the root ;
else how happens it that plants are so much
refreshed by the dew ?
Plants also require air for their nourish-
ment, as well as a circulation of these alimen-
tary juices; for they respire as well as animals,
and for that respiration require fresh air, and
even exercise; since we know that plants
that are always confined in a close room will
never rise to perfection : and that they per-
spire as well as animals is evident, from the
instance of the mint growing in spring-water
above-mentioned ; for, if not a hundreth part
of the water taken up by that plant became a
part of the plant itself, all the rest must be per-
spired through the pores or little imperceptible
holes in the skin and leaves. This calls to my
mind, says Lady Caroline, a charge Mr. Set-
star gave me, which was, never to sit in the
yew-arbor ; for the matter perspired by the
yew-tree, says he, is noxious, and will make
you ill; and I believe that was the reason of
his ordering that old arbor to be demolished.
But pray why, and in what manner do plants
perspire ? For the same reason, and in the
same manner, perhaps, that animals do, re-
turned the philosopher. It is occasioned, pro-
bably, by heat; for we know they persprie

100
Of Vegetables.
abundantly more in summer than in winter ;
nay, when this vegetative principle has been
long checked by cold, it breaks out with such
force when warm weather comes on, that it
is no uncommon thing, in the cold northern
countries, to see the trees covered with snow
one week, and with blossoms the next.
Plants are propagated different ways; but
the most general method is by seed. Some
plants, however, are raised by a part of the
root of the old plant set in the ground, as pot-
atoes; others, by new roots propagated from
the old ones, as hyacinths and tulips; others
by cutting off branches, and putting them into
the ground, which will there take root and
grow, as vines ; and others are propagated by
grafting and budding, or inoculation.

( 101 )
OF ANIMALS.
We are now to speak of the animals that
inhabit the earth, which are naturally divided
into Men and Brutes.
Of Men, there seem to be four different
sorts.-Nay, don't be frightened, Lady Car-
oline!--Sir, says she, I should have made
no objection, had you said four hundred, pro-
vided you had distinguished them according
to their different dispositions. -True, Ma-
dam, says the philosopher, or according to
their different features, and then you might
have said four hundred thousand; for it is ve-
ry true, though very wonderful, that out of
four hundred thousand faces you will not find
two exactly alike; and but for this miracu-
lous and gracious providence in God, the
world would have been all in
fusion. But the division I would willingly
make of men, Lady Caroline, is that of white,
tawny, black, and red; and these you will al.
low are, with respect to colour, essentially dif-
ferent. Most of the Europeans, and some of
the Asiatics, are white; the Africans on the
coast of the Mediterranean Sea are tawny ;
con-

102
Of Animals.
those on the coast of Guinea black; and the
original Americans red, or of a red copper co-
lour. How they came so, is only known to
their Maker; and therefore I beg you would
spare yourselves the trouble of asking me any
question on that head.
Brutes may be divided into four classes ;
that is to say, 1. Aerial, or such as have
wings, and fly in the air; as birds, wasps,
flies, &c. 2. Terrestrial, or those which are
confined to the earth; as quadrupeds, or four-
footed beasts; reptiles which have many feet;
and serpents, which have no feet at all. 3.
Aquatic, or those that live in the water; as
fish of all kinds, whether they are covered
with scales or shells, or are, like the eel, with-
out either. 4. Amphibious, or those that can
live for a long time either upon the earth or in
the water; as otters, aligators, turtles, &c. I
say for a long time, because I apprehend that
the use of both these elements are necessary
for the subsistence of those animals; and that
though they can live for a considerable time
upon land in the open air, or as long in the
water, excluded in a manner from air, yet
they would languish and die if confined en-
tirely either to the one or the other of these
elements.

Of Animals.
103
In this division of animals we are to ob-
serve, however, that there are some which
cannot be considered under either class, be-
ing, as it were, of a middle nature, and par-
taking of two kinds: thus, bats seem to be
partly beasts and partly birds. Some rep-
tiles, likewise, and some of the water-animals,
want one or more of the five senses with
which others are endowed; as worms, COC-
kles, oysters, &c.-If I mistake not, says La-
dy Caroline, I have seen the animals di-
vided into different classes in books of natu-
ral history, and described under the heads of
beasts, birds, fishes, and insects. Very true,
says the philosopher, but the present method
suits my present purpose the best, and can
make no alteration in the nature of things ;
however, as I have not yet mentioned the
word Insects, though they are included in my
division of animals, it may be necessary for
me to observe, that they are so called from
a separation in their bodies, by which they
are seemingly divided into two parts, those
parts being only joined together by a small
ligament; as in flies, wasps, &c. Some
of these insects undergo different chan-
ges, and in time become quite different ani-
mals. There is something so amazing and

104
Of Animals.
miraculous in the transformation of insects,
that I am lost in reflection whenever the sub-
ject strikes my mind; and sometimes incli-
ned to think that other animals may undergo
some such change. Who, that had not made
the observation, would think that this grub,
crawling, or rather sleeping here, would by-
and-by become a fine butterfly, decked out in
all the gaudy colours of the rain-bow; or that
this silkworm should be capable of assuming
so many different forms! And is it not alto-
gether as miraculous, that if some animals are
cut in pieces, every separate piece or part of
the original animal will become one entire an-
imal of itself: Yet that the polype or polypus
is endowed with this property, has been de-
monstrated; and I have here one that was di-
vided into several parts some time ago, which
parts are now become distinct and perfect
polypes, and alive; as you may see by view-
ing them through this microscope. O

Of Animals.
105
A
B
с
The part marked A, contains the magnify-
ing glasses. The object to be examined is
placed at the stage B, between a hollow and a
plane glass; the light is reflected upon it by
the mirror C. To adjust the object to the
glasses, you move the stage B up or down up-
on the pillar, while you are looking through
К.

106
Of Animals.
the glasses at A, till the objects appear the
most distinct.-Master Telescope then pla-
ced one of the polipes in the microscope, and
begged Lady Caroline to look at it.--This is
really wonderful, says Lady Caroline, for the
polypus seems now to be 40 or 50 times big-
ger than it was before. Your wonder will be
increased still more, Madam, replied our phi-
losopher, when I inform you, that it is suppo-
sed there are as many animals which can on-
ly be discovered by the microscope, as those
we can see without it.
Master Telescope having satisfied the cu-
riosity of the young gentlemen by letting
them see this wonderful instrument, proceed-
ed in his Lecture.
But the sagacity and acute senses of some
of the animals (in which they seem to exceed
man) are altogether as surprising: beavers
building houses ; bees forming themselves
into a society and chusing a queen to govern
them ; birds knowing the latitude and longi-
tude, and sailing over sea, through vast tracts
of air, from one country to another, without
the use of any compass; and other things,
which are sufficient, I think, to lower the
pride of man, and make even philosophers
blush at their own ignorance:--And now, La-

Of Animals.
107
dy Caroline, prepare to hear a few hard words,
and I will finish this Lecture. But why must
it be finished in an unintelligible manner ?
says the Lady. Because I cannot deliver
what I am going to say, without making use
of the terms of art; and those I would re-
commend your Ladyship, and the rest of the
good company, to learn from Walker's Pro-
nouncing and Explanatory Dictionary; which
is a work no young reader should omit having
in his library.
All animals receive their food at the
mouth; and most animals, but especially
those of the human kind, chew it there till it
is intimately mixed with the saliva or spittle,
and thereby prepared for the easier and bet-
ter digestion of the stomach. When the sto-
mach has digested the food, it is thence con-
veyed into the guts (pardon the expression,
Ladies, for I cannot avoid it) through which
it is moved gently by what is called the perist-
altic motion; as it passes there, the chyle,
which is the nutritive part, is separated by
the lacteal veins, from the excrementitious
parts, and by them conveyed into the blood,
with which it circulates, and is concocted in-
to blood also; and this circulation is thus
performed:-The blood being, by the venu

108
Of Animals
cava, brought into the right ventricle of the
heart, by the contraction of that muscle, is
forced into the pulmonary artery of the lungs;
where the air, which is continually inspired
or drawn in by the lungs, mixes with and en-
livens it; and from thence, the blood being
conveyed by the pulmonary vein into the left
ventricle of the heart, the contraction of the
heart forces it out, and by the arteries distri-
butes it into all parts of the body; from
whence it returns by the veins to the right ven-
tricle of the heart, to pursue the same course
again, in order to communicate life and heat
to every part of this wonderful machine, the
body. But this is not all; for, according to
Anatomists, some part of the blood, in the
course of its circulation, goes to the head;
where a portion of it is separated by the brain,
and concocted into animal spirits, which are
distributed by the nerves, and impart sense
and motion throughout the body. The in-
struments of motion, however, are the mus-
cles; the fibres, or small threads whereof, con-
tracting themselves, move the different parts
of the body; which in some of them is done
by direction of the mind, and called voluntary
motion ; but, in others, the mind seems not

Of Animals.
109
to be concerned, and therefore these motions
are called involuntary,
This is the progress of animal life ; by
which you will perceive that a man may, even
at home, and within himself, see the Won-
ders of GOD in the Works of Creation.
We have now finished our survey of the
Universe, and considered those great masses
of matter, the Stars and Planets; but particu-
larly our earth and its inhabitants; all which
large bodies are made up of inconceiveable
small bodies, or atoms: And by the figure,
texture, bulk, and motion of these insensible
corpuscles, or infinitely small bodies, all the
phænomena of large bodies may be explained.
K2

fro )
LECTURE VI.
OF THI FIVE SENSES OF MAN, AND OF
HIS UNDERSTANDING.
AT our next meeting there was a great
deal of good company, who came to hear the
Boys Philosophy, as they called it; on which
account I could observe that Master Teles
cope took less pains to be understood by the
young gentlemen and ladies; and addressed
himself more particularly to those of greater
abilities.
As the company came in laughing, and af-
fected to talk and behave in a supercilious
manner (which even some great personages
do in these our days of refinement) he stood
silent till Mr. Setstar desired him to open the
Lecture; upon which he began; but had
scarcely spoken three words before he was
interrupted by Master Harry: he therefore
stopped for some time, and then began again;
but the tongue of the young gentleman soon
silenced him ; and he stood without speaking
a considerable time. On this the company
looked at each other; and Mr. Setstar bade

111
Of the Five Senses of Man, &c.
him go on. My dear, says Mrs. Setstar, how
can you expect this young gentleman to read a
long Lecture, when you know that Master
Harry, who loves to hear himself talk, of all
things, has not patience to support so much
taciturnity ? ---Why, Madam, says the Amz.
bassador of Bantam (who came in with Mr.
Setstar,) I thought we had all been assembled
to hear this Lecture. That was indeed the
intention of our meeting, says the Lady ; but
I hope you know the polite world better, than
to expect people should be so old-fashioned
as to behave on these occasions with any sort
of good manners or decorum. In my coun-
try, says the Ambassador, all the company
keep a profound silence at these meetings.
It may be so, replied Mrs. Setstar ; but I as-
sure your excellency, it is not the custom
here. Why, Sir, I have been often inter-
rupted in the middle of a fine air, at an Orato-
rio, by a gentleman whistling a hornpipe ;
and, at Concerts of Sacred Music it is no un-
common thing to hear both gentlemen and la-
dies laugh louder than the organ.-Hush,
Madam, says Mr. Setstar, if your friends and
neighbours are fools, you ought not to expose
them, and especially to foreigners. Take
care, while you condemn this unpolite beha-

112
Of the Five Senses of Man,
viour in others, that you do not run into it
yourself. Politeness is the art of being al-
ways agreeable in company; it can therefore
seldom deal in sarcasm or irony ; because it
should never do any thing to abridge the hap-
piness of others; and you see, my dear, you
have made Master Harry uneasy, for he
blushes. The company laughed at Harry,
who joined them; and being determined to
hold his tongue, our Philosopher thus pro-
ceeded :
After the cursory view of nature, which
was concluded in my last Lecture, it may not
be amiss to examine our own faculties, and
see by what means we acquire and treasure up
a knowledge of those things; and this is done,
I apprehend, by means of the senses, the op-
erations of the mind, and the memory;
which last may be called the Storehouse of
the Understanding. The first time little mas-
ter is brought to a looking-glass he thinks he
has found a new play-mate, and calls out,
Little boy! Little boy! for having never seen
his own face before, it is no wonder that he
should not know it. Here is the idea, there-
fore, of something new acquired by sight.
Presently the father, and mother, and nurse
come forward to partake of the child's diver-

and of his Understanding.
113
sion. Upon seeing these figures in the glass
with whom he is so well acquainted, he im-
mediately calls out There, Papa! there
Mamma! there, Nurse! And now the
mind begins to operate; for feeling his fa-
ther's hand on his own head, and seeing it on
the little boy's head in the glass, he cries,
There me! Now this transaction is lodged in
the memory, which, whenever a looking-glass
is mentioned, will give back to the mind this
idea of its reflecting objects.
The whole company were pleased with this
familiar demonstration ; but Harry asked
how he came, of all things, to make use of a
looking-glass?-Because, Sir, says he, it is
an object with which some people are the
most intimately acquainted. -As Harry is
an egregious fop, this reply produced a loud
laugh ; and Master Telescope was looked up.
on to be a Wit, as well as a Philosopher.
However, I am inclined to think the expres-
sion was accidental, and not intended to hit
Master Harry, because I know his good sense
would not permit him to treat an elder and su-
perior in that manner. The laugh being
a little subsided, our Philosopher thus pro-
ceeded on his Lecture :

Of the Five Senses of Man,
All our ideas, therefore, are obtained either
by sensation or reflection; that is to say, by
means of our five senses; as seeing, hearing,
smelling, tasting, and touching, or by the op-
crations of the mind.
Before you proceed farther, says Mrs.
Twilight, you should, I think, explain to the
company what is meant by the term Idea.
That, I apprehend, is sufficiently explained
by what was said about the looking-glass, says
the Philosopher; but if you require another
definition, you shall have it. By an Idea,
then, I mean that image or picture which is
formed in the mind, of any thing which we
have seen, or even heard talk of; for the mind
is so adroit and ready at this kind of painting,
that a town, for instance, is no sooner men-
tioned, but the imagination shapes it into
form, and presents it to the memory. None
of this company, I presume, have ever seen
Paris; yet there is not one, perhaps, but has
formed, or conceived in his mind, some idea
or picture of that city. Not one of us ever
saw Tippoo Saib's prodigious army and ele-
phants, yet we have all formed to ourselves a
picture of their running away from a small
party of Englishmen, led against them by the
courageous Cornwallis. When we read in

and of his Understanding.
115
the news-papers a description of a sea engage-
ment, or the taking of Luisbourg, Quebec, or
any other important fortress, the mind imme-
diately gives us a picture of the transaction,
and we see the officers issuing their orders,
and their intrepid men furling their sails, firing
guns, scaling the walls, and driving their foes
before them. To pursue this subject a little
farther : No man has ever seen a dragon, a
griffin, or a fairy; yet every one has formed
in his mind a picture-image, or, in other
words, an idea of these imaginary beings.
Now when this idea or image is formed in the
mind from a view of the object itself, it may
be called an adequate or real idea; but when
it is conceived in the mind without seeing the
object, it is an inadequate or imaginary idea.
I shall begin my discourse of the Senses
with that of the Sight, says he, because, as
Mr. Addison observes, the sight is the most
perfect and pleasing of them all. The organ
of seeing is the eye, which is made up of a
number of parts, and so wonderfully contri-
ved for admitting and refracting the rays of
light, that those which come from the same
point of the object, and fall upon different
parts of the pupil, are again brought together
at the bottom of the eye ; and by that means

116
Of the Five Senses of Man,
the whole object is painted on a membrane
called the Retina, which is spread there.
But how is it possible, says Master Harry,
for you to know that the object is thus paint-
ed on the retina ?-In some measure from
the structure of the eye, replied the Philoso-
pher ; but, I think, it is manifest from that
disorder of the eye, which surgeons call the
gutta serena ; the very complaint which Mr.
Setstar's butler has in one of his eyes. If you
examine it, you will find that he has no sight
with thateye, though it looks as perfect as the
other, with which he sees well; this is,
therefore, occasioned by some paralytic, or o-
ther disorder in that membrane, orexpansion of
the optic nerve, which we call the Retina ;
and proves that all vision arises from thence.
That which produces in us the sensation
which we call Seeing, is light; for without
light nothing is visible. Now light may be
considered either as it radiates from luminous
bodies directly to our eyes; and thus we see
these luminous bodies themselves; as the
Sun, a lighted torch, &c.-- or as it is reflect-
ed from other bodies ; and thus we see a flow-
er, a man, &c. or a picture reflected from
them to our eyes by the rays of light.

and of his Understanding, 11%
It is to be observed, that the bodies which
respect the light are of three sorts, 1. Those
that emit the rays of light; as the sun and
fixed stars : 2. Those that transmit the rays
of light; as the air : and, 3. Those that re-
lect them; as the moon, the earth, iron, &c.
The first we call Luminous, the second Pel-
Lucid, and the third Opaque Bodies. It is al-
so to be observed, that the rays of light them-
selves are never seen; but by their means we
see the luminous bodies, from which they ori.
ginally came; and the opaque bodies, from
which they are reflected ; thus, for instance,
when the moon shines, we cannot see the rays
which pass from the sun to the moon ; but,
by their means, we see the moon, from
whence they are reflected.
If the eye be placed directly in the medium,
through which the rays pass to it, the medi-
um is not seen; for we never see the air
through which the rays come to our eyes.
But if a pellucid body, through which the
rays
are to pass, be placed at a distance from our
eye, that body will be seen, as well as those
bodies from whence the rays came that pass
through it to our eyes. For instance, he who
looks through a pair of spectacles, not only
L

118 Of the Five Senses of Man,
are
sees bodies through them, but also sees the
glass itself; because the glass, being a solid
body, reflects some rays of light from its sur-
face; and being placed at a convenient dis-
tance from the eye, may be seen by those re-
flected rays at the same time that bodies
at a greater distance
seen by the
transmitted rays; and this is the reason,
perhaps, why objects are seen more distinctly
through a reflecting than through a refracting
telescope.
There are two kinds of opaque bodies ;
namely, those that are not specular; as the
moon, the earth, a man, a horse, &c. and
others that are specular, or mirrors, like
those in reflecting telescopes, whose surfaces,
being polished, reflect the rays in the same or-
der as they came from other bodies, and show
us their images; and rays that are thus re.
flected from opaque bodies always bring with
them to the eye the idea of colour, though
this colour in bodies is nothing more than a
disposition to reflect to the eye one sort of rays
more copiously, or in greater plenty than
another; for particular rays impress upon the
eye particular colours; some are red, others
blue, yellow, green, &c. Now it is to be ob

and of bis Understanding. 119
served, that every body of light which comes
from the Sun, seems to be compounded of those
various sorts of rays; and as some of them are
more refrangible than others, that is to say,
are more turned out of their course in passing
from one medium to another, it necessarily
follows that they will be separated after such
refraction, and their colours appear distinct.
The most refrangible of these are the violet,
and the least the red : the intermediate ones,
in order, are indigo, blue, green, yellow,
and orange.
How do you know, Mr. Philosopher, that
colours are separated in this manner? says
Master Harry: I have no notion of these doc-
trines without demonstration. That you
may have, if you please, replied the Philoso-
pher, Pray, Master Lovelace, hand me that
Prism.
mo
Wella

120 Of the Five Senses of Mar,
Now, Master Harry, if you will please to
hold this Prism in the beams of the Sun, you
will see the colours separated in the manner I
have mentioned. Please to look, Lady Caro-
line ; the separation is very pleasing, and you
will find what I have said of the rainbow in my
third Lecture, confirmed by this experiment.
All these rays differ not only in refrangibil-
ity, but in reflexibility; I mean the property
some have of being reflected more easily than
others; and hence arise all the various co-
lours of bodies.
The whiteness of the Sun's light is owing,
it is supposed, to a mixture of all the originak
colours in a due proportion ; and whiteness
in other bodies is a disposition to refleet all the
colours of light nearly in the same proportion
as they are mixed in the original rays of the
Sun; as blackness, on the contrary, is only a
disposition to absorb or stifle, without reflec-
tion, most of the rays of every sort that fall on
those bodies; and it is for that reason, we
may suppose, that black clothes are warmer
than those of any other colour. The inhabi-
tants of Naples, though in so hot a clime,
for the most part wear black.

and of his Understanding. 121
Hearing is the next most extensive of our
senses, the organ of which is the Ear, whose
structure is extremely curious ; as may be
seen in the books of Anatomy.
That which the ear conveys to the brain is
called Sound, though till it reaches and affects
the perceptive part, it is in reality nothing but
motion, and this motion, which produces in
us the perception of sound, is a vibration of
the air occasioned by a very short and quick
tremulous motion of the body from whence
it is propagated. That sound is conveyed in
this manner, may be known by what is ob-
served and felt in the strings of musical in-
struments, and of bells, which tremble or vi-
brate as long as we perceive any sound come
from them ; and from this effect which they
produce in us, they are called sounding bo-
dies.
Sound is propagated at a great rate ; but
not near so fast as light. I don't know that,
says Lady Caroline. --Then you have for-
got what passed in our Lecture upon Air, re-
plied the Philosopher; and to confirm by ex-
periment what I advanced, I must beg that
one of the servants go to a distance into the
park, and discharge a gun.--The gentlemen
were averse to this; it being an observation
L 2

122 of the Five Senses of Man,
they had made a hundred times; but to gra-
tify the
young people, Mr. Setstar ordered his
game-keeper out; and when the piece was
discharged, they had the satisfaction of seeing
the fire long before they heard the report.
The effect is the same, says our philosopher,
in thunder storms, for we perceive the flash
of lightning before we hear the thunder ; and
the more distant the storm is from us, the
greater is the space of time between the flash
and report.
Smelling is another sense which seems to
be excited in us by external bodies, and some-
times by bodies at a great distance; but that
which immediately affects the nose, the organ
of smelling, and produces in us the sensation
of any smell, are effluvia, or invisible particles
that fly from those bodies to our olfactory
nerves.—How do you prove this, young gen-
tleman ? says Master Harry.--Sir, replied
the Philosopher, had you been here yester-
day, you would not have asked this ques-
tion; for, as the wind was north-east, the
effluvia from those brick-kilns were ready to
suffocate us; but now the wind is turned to
the south-west, you observe no such thing,
because those effluvia are driven a contrary
way.

and of his Understanding, 125
The power which some bodies have of
emitting these effluvia or steams, without be.
ing visibly diminished, is to me most ama-
zing; yet that it is true we know by abun-
dant experience. A single grain of musk
will scent a thousand rooms, and send forth
these odoriferous particles for a great number
of years, without being spent. Surely these
particles must be extremely small; yet their
minuteness is nothing when compared with
the particles of light, which pervade and find
their way through glass, or to the magnetic
effluvia, which passes freely through metallic
bodies; whereas those effluvia that produce
the sensation of sinelling, notwithstanding
their wonderful property of scenting all places
into which they are brought, and without any
sensible diminution, are yet too gross to pass
the membranes of a bladder; and many of
them will scarce find their way through a
common white paper.
There are but few names to express the in-
finite number of scents that we meet with. I
know of none but those of sweet, stinking,
rank, musty, and sour; for so barren is our
language in this respect, that the rest are ex-
pressed either by degrees of comparison, or
from epithets borrowed from bodies that pro-

124 Of the Five Senses of Man;
duce scent ; which must, in many cases, be
very inexpressive; for the smell of a rose, of
a violet, and of musk, though all sweet, are
as distinct as any scents whatever.
The next sense under our consideration is
Taste, the organs of which are the tongue and
the palate, but principally the tongue. --Ay,
and a pretty organ it is, says Lady Caroline.-
When used with your discretion, replied the
Philospher. But I must observe to you, and
the rest of the good company, that though bo-
dies which emit light, sounds, and scents are
seen, heard, and smelt at a distance, yet no
bodies can produce taste without being imme-
diately applied to that organ ; for though the
meat be placed at your mouth, you know not
what taste it will produce till you have touch:
ed it with your tongue or palate.-
Though there is an amazing variety of
tastes, yet here, as in scents, we have but a
few general names to express the whole;
sweet, sour, bitter, harsh, smooth, and rank,
are all that I can recollect; and our other ideas
of taste are generally conveyed by borrowed
similitudes and expressions as those of scents.
It is surprising, says the Ambassador,
that in this age of gluttony, your language
should be so barren as not to afford you words

and of his Understanding. 125
to express those ideas which are excited by
exquisite flavours.--Sir, says Mr. Setstar;
this may be easily accounted for. I must in-
form you that we are indebted for our most
expressive terms to the Poets, who were nev-
er much acquainted with good eating; and
are less so since literature has lost its zest. —
Very true, says Master Harry, their dishes,
poor creatures, have lately been of the men-
tal kind; but had you a few rich poets that
could afford to live like people of taste, instead
of your sweets and sours, and such old-fashi-
oned terms, you would have the calapash and
calapee flavour, the live lobster flavour, the
whipt pig flavour; and a list of others as long
as my arm.-Fie, Harry, says Mrs. Setstar,
no more of that, I beg; you know Lady Car-
oline can't bear the name of barbarity.-Nor
I, says the Ambassador; but pray what bar-
barity is there in this ?-Oh! none at all, re-
plied Harry, I only mean to insinuate that
some of our great people are not content with
having food brought from the East and West
Indies, and every other part of the World, to
gratify their palates, but they must roast lob-
sters alive, and whip young pigs to death to
make them tender. Good God! says the
Ambassador, are there people in Christendom

126 Of the Five Senses of Man,
capable of such acts of inhumanity? A mani
that would do that would murder me, if the
law did not stand between us; and the law is
but a poor screen where humanity is lost and
conscience lulled to sleep. I'll apply to the
King my master for my dismission, and no
longer live with a people who have adopted
such diabolical customs.-The Ambassa-
dor was so much in a passion, that it was
with difficulty Mr. Setstar pacified him; and
poor Lady Caroline, whose kind soul sympa-
thises with every creature in distress, was in
tears at the bare rehearsal of those acts of cru-
elty. Here Harry apologized to the compa-
ny for having interrupted the Lecturer: per.
haps he never before showed so much good
sense ; for he certainly deserved severe re..
prehension for introducing any subject which
disturbed that harmony and attention from
the hearers which had hitherto been preserved.
When silence was restored, our Philoso-
pher arose and thus pursued his Lecture :
I have already taken notice of four of our
senses, and am now come to the fifth and last,
I mean that of the Touch; which is a sense
spread over the whole body, tho' it is more.
particularly the business of the hands and fin-
gers ; for by them the tangible qualities of bo-

and of his Understanding. 127
elies are known, since we discover by the
touch of the fingers, and sometimes indeed by
the touch of other parts of the body, whether
things are hard, soft, rough, smooth, wet, dry,
&c. But the qualities which most affect this
sense are heat and cold, and which, indeed,
are the great engines of Nature; for by a due
temperament of those two opposite qualities,
most of her productions are formed.
What we call heat is occasioned by the agi.
tation of the insensible parts of the body that
produce in us that sensation; and when the
parts of a body are violently agitated, we say,
and indeed we feel, that body is hot ; so that
that which to our sensation is heat, in the ob-
ject is nothing but motion. -Hey-day, says
Lady Caroline, what sort of philosophy is this?
Why, Madam, says Master Harry, this
is a position which has been laid down by
these airy gentlemen for a long time, but
which never has been proved by experiment.
- -Take care, says Mr. Setstar, or you'll
forfeit all pretensions to philosophy.--The
forfeiture is made already, says the philoso-
pher; Harry has been bold enough to deny
that which experieiice every day confirms for
truth. If what we call heat is not motion, or
occasioned by the motion of bodies, how

128 Of the Five Senses of Man,
came Thomson's mill to take fire the other
day, when it was running round without a
proper supply of corn ? And how came your
father's post-chariot to fire while running
down Break-neck-hill, Master Harry ? Con-
sider, there was nobody with a torch under
the axle-tree; but this is a part of philosophy
known even to the poor Indians, who, when
hunting at a great distance from home, and
wanting fire to dress their meat, take a bow
and a string, and rub two pieces of wood to-
gether till they produce flame. But you
may see that heat is occasioned by the motion
of bodies, by only rubbing this piece of
smooth brass on the table-stay, I'll rub it:
it must be done briskly. There, now, you'll
feel it hot; but cease this motion for a time,
and the brass will become cold again;
whence we may infer, that as heat is nothing
but the insensible particles of bodies put into
motion, so cold, on the contrary, is occasion-
ed by the cessation of the motion of those
particles, or their being placed in a state of
rest.
But bodies appear hot or cold in proportion
to the temperament of that part of the human
body to which they are applied ; so that
what seems hot to one, may not seem so to an-

XT
IP
W.Rfc.
Chariste fired by Motion
insisted on.

Jo that
ocem so to an-

and of his Understanding. 129
other. This is so true, that the same body,
felt by the two hands of the same man, may
at the same instant of time appear warm to
one hand and cold to the other, if with the
one hand he has been rubbing any thing,
while the other was kept in a state of rest;
and for no other reason but because the mo.
tion of the insensible particles of that hand
with which he has been rubbing, will be more
brisk than the particles of the other which
was at rest.
I have mentioned those objects which are
peculiar to each of our senses; as light and
colour to the sight; sound to the hearing;
odours to the smell, &c. but there are two
others common to all the senses, which de-
serve our notice, and these are Pleasure and
Pain, which the senses may receive by their
own peculiar objects : for we know that a
proper portion of light is pleasing, but that
too much offends the eye; some sounds de.
light, while others are disagreeable, and grate
the ear; so heat, in a moderate degree, is ve-
ry pleasant, yet that heat may be so increased
as to give the most intolerable pain. But
these things are too well known to be longer
insisted on.
M

130
Of the Five Senses of Man,
Now, from the ideas or conceptions form-
ed in the mind by means of our senses, and
the operations of the mind itself, are laid the
foundation of the human understanding, the
lowest degree of which is perception : and to
conceive a right notion of this, we must dis-
tinguish the first objects of it, which are sim-
ple ideas, such as are represented by the words
Red, Blue, Bitter, Sweet, &c. from the other
objects of our senses; to which we may add
the internal operations of our own minds, or
the objects of reflection; such as are thinking,
willing, &c. for all our ideas are first obtained
by sensation and reflection. The mind, ha-
ving gained a variety of simple ideas, by put-
ting them together, forms what are called com-
pounded or complex ideas; as those signified
by the words, Man, Horse, Marygold,
Windmill, &c.
The next operation of the mind (or of the
understanding) in its progress to knowledge,
is that of abstracting its ideas; for by abstrac-
tion they are made general; and a general
idea is to be considered as separated from
time and place, and lodged in the mind to
represent any particular thing that is conform-
able to it.

and of his Understanding,
131
Knowledge, which is the highest degree of
the speculative faculties, consists in the per-
ception of the truth of affirmative or negative
propositions ; and this perception is either im-
mediate or mediate. When, by comparing two
ideas together in the mind, we perceive their
agreement or disagreement, as that black i;
not white; that the whole is bigger than a
part; and that two and two are equal to four,
&c. it is called Immediate Perception, or In-
tuitive Knowledge; and as the truth of these
and the like propositions is so evident as to be
known by a simple intuition of the ideas them-
selves, they are also called Self-evident Pro-
positions.
Mediate perception is when the agreement
or disagreement of two ideas is made known
by the intervention of some other ideas.
Thus: If it be affirmed that Tom Wilson's
bay horse is as high as my father's, the agree.
ment or disagreement may be seen by apply-
ing the same measure to both :---and this is
called Demonstration, or Rational Know-
ledge. The dimensions of any two bodies
which cannot be brought together may be
thus known, by the same measure being ap-
plied to them both.

132 Of the Five Senses of Man,
But the understanding is not confined to
certain truth; it also judges of probability,
which consists in the likely agreement or dis-
agreement of ideas; and the assenting to any
proposition as probable is called Opinion or
Belief. We have now finished this course
of Lectures. - I hope not! says Lady Caro-
line with some emotion. Why, returned
the philosopher, we have taken a cursorý view
of natural bodies, and their causes and effects;
which I have endeavoured to explain in such
a manner as to be intelligible at least, if not
entertaining; and pray, what more did you
expect?-Sir, replied the Lady, I am great-
ly pleased with the account you have given
us; and I thank you for the pains you have
taken to answer the many questions I have
troubled you with. What I had further to
hope was, that you would have given us,
when you was on the subject of Animals,
some strictures on the cruelty with which
they are too often treated; and have thrown
in reflections and observations tending to en-
force on mankind a different conduct. This
I wished for, and should have been glad to
have had Mr. Thomas and his Lady here at
the same time; who are both extremely fond
of their little domestic creatures; and I ad-

and of his Understanding, 133
mire them for their tenderness and compas-
sion.--These feelings and sentiments of the
human heart, Madam, says the philosopher,
add much to the dignity of our nature ; and I
am greatly delighted with such behaviour;
but I am afraid, Lady Caroline, that we often
mistake characters of this kind, and take that
for humanity and tenderness which is only
the effect of fancy or self-love. That Mr.
Thomas has compassion, I grant you; but I
am afraid it is only for himself. He loves
his dogs and horses, because his dogs and hor-
ses give him pleasure; but to other creatures
that afford him none, he is absolutely insensi-
ble. I have seen him, even at Christmas,
feed his pretty pups, as he calls them, with
delicacies; but rave at the same time in a
merciless manner, at poor children who were
shivering at his gate, and send them away
empty-handed.
Our neighbour, Mr. Wil-
liams, is also of the same disposition : he will
not sell a horse that is declining, for fear he
should fall into the hands of a master who
might treat him with cruelty ; but he is large-
ly concerned in the slave-trade (which I think
is carried on by none but we good christians,
to the dishonour of our celestial Master) and
makes no difficulty of separating the husband
M 2

134 Of the Five Senses of Man,
from the wife, the parents from the children,
and all of them from their native country, to
be sold in a foreign market, like so many hor-
ses, and often to the most merciless of the hu-
man race.
I remember him in great distress
for his pointer Phillis, who had lost her pup-
pies; but the same afternoon I saw him,
without the least compunction of mind, force
a poor man into the service of a new master,
and tear him from his wife and children, for
no other crime but because his skin was
black. Is this humanity, Madam? Is this
morality? But above all, is this christianity?
And are these the blessed effects of the liber.
ty we boast of ? But do not let us be misled
by specious pretences. We cannot judge of
any man, Madam, by one single action, but
by the tenor and result of all his actions; and
this requires deep penetration, and an intimate
knowledge of human life.
Benevolence, Lady Caroline, should be
universal, for it is an emanation of the Su-
preme Being, whose mercy and goodness are
extended to all his creatures, as ours also
should be; for they are fellow-tenants with
us of the globe we inhabit.
I have often thought that most of the mis-
chiefs which embarress society, and render
one contemptible to another, are owing to in-

and of his Understanding. 135
ordinate ambition, or extreme love of power
and wealth ; for all the gold a man possesses,
beyond that portion which is requisite for
himself and family, only serves to inflame his
ambition; as all the wine we drink, more than
is necessary to recruit the drooping spirits,
answers no other purpose but to intoxicate
the mind.
I have seen a book in my papa's library,
which gives some account of one Lycurgus,
an old Grecian lawgiver; with whose char-
acter you ought to be acquainted. This man
was oſ opinion, that religion, virtue, and good
manners, were the only natural cements and
preservation of liberty, peace, and friendship;
which he found had been destroyed and ex-
tirpated by means of wealth and self-interest :
he therefore prohibited the use of gold and sil-
ver, and all kinds of luxury in the state, and
established such a plan for the education of
youth of every denomination, as was most
likely to confirm and habituate them in the
practice of religion and virtue, and secure to
the Spartans and their posterity the blessings
of liberty and peace.
The event proved that his institutions were
founded on sound policy, and a perfect know-
ledge of human nature ; for in the space of

136 Of the Five Senses of Mon,
five hundred years, that is to say, from the
time of Lycurgus to the introduction of
wealth into the state by Lysander, in the reign
of the first Agis, there was no mutiny among
the people ; every man submitted cheerfully
to the laws of Lycurgus, and all were so united
and powerful in consequence of their virtue,
sobriety, and the martial discipline he had es-
tablished (which was that of a national mi-
litia) that Sparta, a very small inconsiderable
state, not only gave laws to the rest of Greece,
but made even the Persian monarchs tremble,
though masters of the richest and most ex-
tensive empire in the world. But when this
great and virtuous people of Sparta had con-
quered Athens, and from thence introduced
wealth and luxury into their own country,
they lost their virtue, dwindled to nothing, and
were themselves enslaved. Nor is this a mat-
ter of wonder; for where religion and virtue
are set at a distance, and wealth leads the way
to posts of honour and trust, some people will
stick at nothing to obtain gold; but were dig-
nities of this kind conferred on the most de-
serving, and none but men of virtue and su-
perior abilities promoted to places of trust and
power, there would be no frauds in the state,
or violence among the people ; and we might

and of his Understanding. 137
then hope to enjoy the felicities of the Golden
Age.
Man in that age no rule but reaſon knew,
And with a native bent did good purſue ;
Unaw'd by puniſhment, and voil of fear,
His words were ſimple, and his foul ſincere.
By no forc'd laws his paſſions were confin’d,
For Conſcience kept his heart, and calm'd his mind;
Peace o'er the world her bleſſed ſway maintain’d,
And e'en in defarts ſmiling Plenty reign'd.
FINIS.

Directions to the Binder.
....
...
page 5
Frontispiece
to face the Title.
Lecture on Matter and Motion
Solar System
32
Mount Vesuvius
80
Carriage fired by Motion
128
...
...
.

B. & J. JOHNSON,
18%
Have lately printed a number of useful and en-
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The Hare, or Hunting incompatable ets.
with humanity
Price 31
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Pity's Gift
18
Robinson Crusoe
25
The Sparrow
25
Silver Thimble
31
Prince Lee Boo
50
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A Present for a little Boy
31
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182
The first Chapter of Accidents and re-
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18
Little Teacher, by a Parent
18
People of all nations containing 64 engra-
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18
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History of a Pin
182
Search after Happiness, a Pastoral drama 25
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Introduction
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1 50
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A Present for a Little Girl, with plates.
Ferguson's Astronomy.





24522
coll tone
23 Dec 1982
J
1803 Telescope, Com, pseud.
Te
,