Page:Cyclopaedia, Chambers - Volume 2.djvu/156

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MAT

"Matte* and Form, the two fimple and original Princi- cipies of all things, according to the Antients, coinpofed fome fimple Natures, which they called Elements? out of the various Combinations whereof, all natural Things were, compofed. See Element.

Dr. Woodward is of an Opinion, not very unlike it; wK That Matter is originally and really very'different, being at its firft Creation divided inro feveral Ranks, Sets, or Kinds of Corpufcles, differing in Subftance, Gravity, Hardnefs, Flexibility, Figure, Size, f£c. from the va- rious Compofures and Combinations of which, arifes all the Varieties in Bodies, as to Colour, Hardnefs, Gravity, Tafles, £«?c. But Sir If. Newton takes all thole Differences to refult from the various Arrangements of the fame Mat- ter ; which he takes to be homogeneous and uniform in all Bodies. See Corpuscle.

Befidcs the Properties of Matter hitherto known, Sir Tp. Newton has difcover'd a new one, nia. ' That of Attrac-

• tioti, or that every Particle of Matter has an attractive

• Power, or a Tendency towards every other Particle :

• which Power is ftrongeft in the Point of Contact, and

• fuddenly decreafes, infomuch that it acts no more at

• the leaft fenfible Difiance, and at a greater Diftance is

1 converted into a repellent Force, whereby the Parts fly

• from each other. On this Principle of Attraction, heac-

• counts for the Cohefion of the Particles of Bodies, o-

• therwife inexplicable.' See Cohesion.

For he takes occafion to obferve, * That all Bodies feem

• to be compounded of hard Particles: Even Light it-

• felf, and all other the molt volatile of Fluids ; info-

• much as Hardnefs may be efleem'd a. Property of all

'■ incompounded Matter: at leaft the Hardnefs of Matter

• {lands on as good a foot as that of its Impenetrability ;

' all the Bodies we know of, being either hard them-

• felves, or being capable of being hardened. Now if

• Compound Bodies be fo hard, as we find fome of them,

• and yet are very porous, and confift of Parts which are

• only laid together ; the fimple Particles, which are void

• of Pores, and were never yet divided, mull: be much

• harder. Now fuch hard Particles being heaped toge-

• ther, can fcarce touch one another in more than a few

• Points, and therefore muft be feparable with much lefs

• Force than is requifite to break a folid Particle, whofe

• Parts touch in all the Space, without any Pores or Inter-

■ ftices to weaken their Cohefion : How then fhould fuch

• very hard Particles, only laid together, and touching only

• in a few Points, flick together, and that fo firmly as

• they do, without the Affiftance of fomething that caufes

• them to be attracted or prefs'd towards each other?'

The fame great Author obfervesfurther, 'That thefmal-

• left Particles may cohere by the ftrongeft Attractions, and

• compofe bigger Particles of weaker "Virtue; and many

• of thefe may cohere* and compofe bigger Particles,

• whofe Virtue is ftill weaker, and fo on for divers Sue -

• ceflions, until the Progrefflon end in the biggeft Parti-

1 cles; on which the Operations in Chymiftry, and the Co-

• lours of natural Bodies, depend ; and which, by co-

c hering, compofe Bodies of a fenfible Magnitude* _If

• the Body is compact, and bends or yields inward to

• Preflion 3 without any Hiding of its Parts ; it is bard, and

c elajiic ; returning to its Figure with a Force arifing from

• the mutual Attraction of its Parts. If the Parts Aide

' upon one another, the Body is malleable or J'oft. If

• they flip eafily, and are of a fit Size to be agitated by

• Heat, and the Heat is big enough to keep them in A-

• gitation, the Body is fluid ; and if it be apt to flick to

• things, it is humid. And the Drops of every Fluid affect a

• round Figure by the mutual Attraction of their Parts, as

• the Globe of the Earth and Sea affects a round Figure,

• by the mutual Attraction of its Parts of Gravity.' See

Attraction.

Again, * Since Metals diffolvcd in Acids, attract but a

• fmall Quantity of the Acid, their attractive Force rea-

' ches but to a fmall diftance. Now, as in Algebra, where

• affirmative Quantities ceafe, there negative ones begin ;

' fo in Mechanics, where Attraction ceafes, there a refill- 1 jive Virtue mult fucceed. That there really is fuch a 4 Virtue, feems to follow* from the Reflections and Inflec-

• tions of the Rays of Light 5 the Rays being repelled by

• Bodies in both thefe Cafes, without the immediate Con-

1 tact of the reflecting or inflecting Body. The fame

• thing feems alfo to follow from the Emifiton of Light ;

c a Ray, as foon as fhaken off from a mining Body by the

• vibrating Motion of the Parts of the Body, and got be-

• yond the reach of Attraction, being driven away with

• exceeding great Velocity: for that Force, which is fuf-

' ficicnt to turn it back in Reflection, may be fufficient to

• emit it. It feems alfo to follow from the Production of

• Air and Vapour. The Particles, when they are fliaken

• off from the Body by Heat or Fermentation, fo foon as

• they arc beyond the reach of the Attraction of the Bo-

• dy, receding from it, and alfo from one another, with

great Strength, and keeping at a difiance, foils fonte- times to take up above a Million of Times more Space, than they did before in rhe Form of a denfe Body- Which vaft Contraction and Expanfion feems uninrdl'i ble, by feigning the Particles of Air to be fpringy, and ramous, or rolled up like Hoops, or by any other means than a repulfive Power. The Particles of Fluid*, which do not cohere too ftrongly, and are of fuch a Smallneft. as renders them molt fufceptible of thofe Agitations, which keep Liquors in a Fluor, are more eafily fcparated and rarefied into Vapour, and in the Language of the Chymifls, they are volatile? rarefying with an eafy Heatj and condenfing with Cold. But thole which arc greffer, and fo lefs fufceptible of Agitation, or cohere by a ft ronger Attraction, are not feparated without a Wronger Heat, or perhaps not without Fermentation. And thefe lift are the Bodies, which Chymilis call fl-xcd- t and be- ing rarefied by Fermentation, become true permanent Air; thofe Particles receding from one another with the greateft Force, and being molt difficultly brought toge- ther, which upon Contact cohere molt ftrongly. And W caufe the Particles of permanent Air are groffer, and arid from denfer Subftances, than thofe of Vapours ; thenca it is that true Air is more ponderous than Vapour ; and that a moill Atmofphere is lighter than a dry one, quan- tity for quantity. From the fame repelling Power it feems to be, that Flies walk upon the Water without wetting their Feet 5 and that the Object-GlafTes of long Telefcopes lie upon one another without touching ; and that dry Powders are difficultly made to touch one ano- ther fo as to {tick together, unlefs by melting them* or wetting them with Water, which by exhaling may bring them together; and that two polifh'd Marbles, which by immediate Contact flick together, are diffi- cultly brought fo clofe together, as to flick.' See Re- pelli no Power.

He further obferves, ' That all things conftder'cT) it

feems probable God, in the Beginning, formed Matter

4 in folid, maffy, hard, impenetrable, moveable Particle^

' of fuch Sizes, Figures, and with fuch other Properties*

and in fuch proportion to Space, as mod conduced to

• the End, for which he formed them; and that thefe

• primitive Particles being Solid, are incomparably har-

• der than any porous Bodies compounded of them ; even

• fo very hard, as never to wear* and break in pieces: no

1 ordinary Power being able to divide, what God himfelf ( made one in the firfl Creation. While the Particles con- ' tinue entire, they may compofe Bodies of one and the

• fame Nature and Texture in all Ages ; but fhould they

• wear away, or break in pieces, the Nature of Things

• depending on them, would be changed. Water and

1 Earth, compofed of old worn Particles and Fragments' 1 of Particles, would not be of the fame Nature and Tex-

• turenow, with Water and Earth compofed of entire Par*

• tides in the Beginning. And therefore that Nature

' may be lafting, the Changes of Corporeal Things are to c be placed only in the various Separations, and new Af- ' fociations and Motions of thefe permanent Particles 5

• compound Bodies being apt to break, not in the midit

• of folid Particles, but where thofeParticles are laid to-

• gether, and only touch in a .few Points.*

It feems farther, ' That thefe Particles have not only a

• Vis Inertly accompany'd with fuch pafllve Laws of Mo-

' tion, as naturally refult from that Force, but alfo that ' they are moved by certain active Principles, fuch as is ' that of Gravity, and that which caufeth Fermentation, 1 and the Cohefion of Bodies, Thefe Principles are to be

• confider'd not as occult Qualities, fuppofed to refult

• from the fpecific Forms of Things, but as general Laws

• of Nature, by which the Things themfelves are form'd ;

' their Truth appearing to us by Phenomena, tho' their

• Caufes are not yet difcover'd.' See Particle ; fee

alfo Fermentation, Firmness, Gravitation, E- tASTiciTY, Hardness, Fluidity, Salt, Acid,c^c-

Hobbes, Sf'mofa, ckc. maintain all the Beings in the Uni- verfe to bewflteria/, and their Differences to arife from their different Modifications, Motions,£S?c. Thus Matter extremely fubtile, and in a brisk Motion, they conceive, may think ; and fo exclude all Spirits out of the World. See Sp 1 r 1 t. MnHerkeleyi on the contrary, argues againft the Exiflence of Matter ; and endeavours to prove, that it is a mere Ent Rationis; and has no Exiflence out of the Mind : * Thus,

• fays he, that neither our Thoughts, Pafllons, nor IdeaSj

• form'd by the Imagination, exift without the Mind, is

• evident; nor is it lefs evident* that the various Senfa-

• tions or Ideas imprinted on the Seme, however blended

1 or combined together (that is, whatever Objects they

• compofe) cannot exift otherwife, than as In a Mind per-

• ceiving them. This no Man can doubt of, that attends

• to what is meant by the Term exifi t when applied to

4 fenfible Things- Thus I fay, the Table I write on ex- 1 ifts, i. e. I fee and feel it, and if 1 were out of my Stu-

• dy,