What a prodigious uſe the Greeks and Romans made afterwards of Mechanicks! Nevertheleſs, they believ'd that there were cryſtal Heavens; that the Stars were ſmall Lamps which ſometimes fell into the Sea; and one of their greatest Philoſophers, after long Reſearches, found that the Stars were ſo many Flints which had been detach'd from the Earth.
In a Word, no one, before the Lord Bacon, was acquainted with experimental Philoſophy, nor with the ſeveral phyſical Experiments which have been made ſince his Time. Scarce one of them but is hinted at in his Work, and he himſelf had made ſeveral. He made a kind of pneumatic Engine, by which he gueſs'd the elaſticity of the Air. He approach'd, on all Sides as it were, to the Diſcovery of its Weight, and had very near attain'd it, but ſome Time after Taricelli ſeiz'd upon this Truth. In a little Time experimental Philoſophy began to be cultivated on a ſudden in moſt Parts of Europe. 'Twas a hidden Treaſure which the Lord Bacon had ſome No-
