_Of the_ Original _of All Things; of Atomes_; _and of the Operation of the
Senses_.
I prayed him, since he had shew'd so much goodness, and that the Town
was not to part[1] till next day, that he would tell me somewhat of
that Original of the World, which he had mentioned not long before;
"and I promise you," said I, "that in requital, so soon as I am got
back to the Moon, from whence my Governour (pointing to my Spirit) will
tell you that I am come, I'll spread your Renown there, by relating the
rare things you shall tell me: I perceive you Laugh at that promise,
because you do not believe that the Moon I speak of is a World, and
that I am an Inhabitant of it; but I can assure you also, that the
People of that World, who take this only for a Moon, will Laugh at me
when I tell them that your Moon is a World, and that there are Fields
and Inhabitants in it:"
He answered only with a smile, and spake in this manner:
"Since in Ascending to the Original of this Great A L L, we are forced
to run into three or four Absurdities; it is but reasonable we should
follow the way wherein we may be least apt to stumble. I say then, that
the first Obstacle that stops us short is the Eternity of the World;
and the minds of men, not being able enough to conceive it, and being
no more able to imagine, that this great Universe, so lovely and so
well ordered, could have made it self, they have had their recourse
to Creation: But like to him that would leap into a River for fear of
being wet with Rain, they save themselves out of the Clutches of a
Dwarf, by running into the Arms of a Giant; and yet they are not safe
for all that: For that Eternity which they deny the World, because
they cannot comprehend it, they attribute it to God, as if he stood in
need of that Present, and as if it were easier to imagine it in the
one than in the other; for tell me, pray, was it ever yet conceived in
Nature, how Something can be made of Nothing? Alas! Betwixt Nothing
and an Atome only, there are such infinite Disproportions, that the
sharpest Wit could never dive into them; therefore to get out of this
inextricable Labyrinth, you must admit of a Matter Eternal with God:
But you'll say to me, grant I should allow you that Eternal Matter; how
could that Chaos dispose and order it self? That's the thing I am about
to explain to you.
"My little Animal, after you have mentally divided every little Visible
Body, into an infinite many little invisible Bodies; you must imagine,
That the infinite Universe consists only of these Atomes, which are
most solid, most incorruptible, and most simple; whose Figures are
partly Cubical, partly Parallelograms, partly Angular, partly Round,
partly Sharp-pointed, partly Pyramidal, partly Six-cornered, and partly
Oval; which act all severally, according to their Various Figures: And
to shew that it is so, put a very round Ivory Bowl upon a very smooth
place, and with the least touch you give it will be half a quarter of
an hour before it rest: Now I say, that if it were perfectly round,
as some of the Atomes I speak of are, and the Surface on which it is
put perfectly smooth, it would never rest. If Art then be capable of
inclining a Body to a perpetual Motion, why may we not believe that
Nature can do it? It's the same with the other Figures, of which the
Square requires a perpetual Rest, others an oblique Motion, others a
half Motion, as Trepidation; and the Round, whose Nature is to move,
joyning a Pyramidal, makes that, perhaps, which we call Fire; because
not only Fire is in continual Agitation, but also because it easily
penetrates: Besides, the Fire hath different effects, according to
the openings and quality of the Angles, when the round Figure is
joyned; for Example, The Fire of Pepper is another thing than the Fire
of Sugar, the Fire of Sugar differs from that of Cinnamon; that of
Cinnamon, from that of the Clove; and this from the Fire of a Faggot.
Now the Fire, which is the Architect of the parts and whole of the
Universe, hath driven together, and Congregated into an Oak, the
quantity of Figures which are necessary for the Composition of that Oak.
"But you'll say, how could Hazard congregate into one place all the
Figures that are necessary for the production of that Oak? I answer,
That it is no wonder that Matter so disposed should form an Oak, but
the wonder would have been greater, if the Matter being so disposed the
Oak had not been produced; had there been a few less of some Figures,
it would have been an Elm, a Poplar, a Willow; and fewer of 'em still,
it would have been the Sensitive Plant, an Oyster, a Worm, a Flie, a
Frog, a Sparrow, an Ape, a Man. If three Dice being flung upon a Table,
there happen a Raffle of two, or all;[2] a three, a four, and a five;
or two sixes, and a third in the bottom;[3] would you say, O strange!
that each Die should turn up such a chance, when there were so many
others. A Sequence of three hath happened, O strange! Two sixes turned
up, and the bottom of the third, O strange! I am sure that being a man
of Sense, you'll never make such Exclamations; for since there is but
a certain quantity of Numbers upon the Dice, it's impossible but some
of them must turn up; and you wonder, after that, how matter shuffled
together Pell-Mell, as Chance pleases, should make a Man, seeing so
many things were necessary for the Construction of his Being. You
know not then, that this Matter tending to the Fabrick of a Man hath
been a Million of times stopt in it's Progress for forming sometimes
a Stone, sometimes Lead, sometimes Coral, sometimes Flower, sometimes
a Comet; and all because of more or less Figures, that were required
for the framing of a Man: So that it is no greater wonder, if amongst
infinite Matters, which incessantly change and stir, some have hit upon
the construction of the few Animals, Vegetables, and Minerals which
we see, than if in a Hundred Casts of the Dice, one should throw a
Raffle: Nay, indeed, it is impossible, that in this hurling of things,
nothing should be produced; and yet this will be always admired[4] by
a Blockhead, who little knows how small a matter would have made it
to have been otherwise. When the great River of [Illustration bar 3]
makes a Mill to Grind, or guides the Wheels of a Clock, and the Brook
of [Illustration: bar 4] only runs, and sometimes absconds, you will
not say that that River hath a great deal of Wit, because you know that
it hath met with things disposed for producing such rare Feats; for
had not the Mill stood in the way, it would not have ground the Corn;
had it not met the Clock, it would not have marked the Hours: and if
the little Rivulet I speak of had met with the same Opportunities, it
would have wrought the very same Miracles. Just so it is with the Fire
that moves of it self; for finding Organs fit for the Act of Reasoning,
it Reasons; when it finds only such as are proper for Sensation, it
Sensates; and when such as are fit for Vegetation, it Vegetates. And to
prove it is so, put out but the Eyes of a Man, the Fire of whose Soul
makes him to see, and he will cease to see; just as our great Clock
will leave off to make the Hours, if the Movements of it be broken.
"In fine, these Primary and indivisible Atomes make a Circle, whereon
without difficulty move the most perplexed Difficulties of Natural
Philosophy; not so much as even the very Operation of the Senses, which
no Body hitherto hath been able to conceive, but I will easily explain
by these little Bodies. Let us begin with the Sight. It deserves, as
being the most incomprehensible, our first Essay.
[Sidenote: Operation of the Senses]
[5]"It is performed then, as I imagine, when the Tunicles of the Eye,
whose Pores resemble those of Glass, transmitting that fiery Dust which
is called Visual Rays, the same is stopt by some opacous Matter which
makes it recoil; and then, meeting in its retreat the Image of the
Object that forced it back, and that Image being but an infinite number
of little Bodies exhaled in an equal Superfice from the Object beheld,
it pursues it to our Eye: You'll not fail to Object, I know, that Glass
is an Opacous Body, and very Compact; and that nevertheless, instead of
reflecting other Bodies, it lets them pass through: But I answer, that
the Pores of Glass are shaped in the same Figure as those Atomes are
which pass through it; and as a Wheat-Sieve is not proper for Sifting
of Oats, nor an Oat-Sieve to Sift Wheat; so a Box of Deal-Board,
though it be thin and lets a sound go through it, is impenetrable to
the Sight; and a piece of Chrystal, though transparent and pervious to
the Eye, is not penetrable to the Touch."
I could not here forbear to interrupt him: "A great Poet and
Philosopher[6] of our World," said I, "hath after _Epicurus_ and
_Democritus_[7] spoken of these little Bodies, in the same manner
almost as you do; and therefore, you don't at all surprise me by that
Discourse: Only tell me, I pray, as you proceed, how, according to your
Principles, you'll explain to me the manner of drawing your Picture in
a Looking-Glass."
"That's very easie," replied he, "for imagine with your self, that
those Fires of our Eyes, having passed through the Glass and meeting
behind it an Opacous Body that reverberates them, they come back the
way they went; and finding those little Bodies marching in equal
Superfices upon the Glass, they repel them to our Eyes; and our
Imagination, hotter than the other Faculties of our Soul, attracts the
more subtile, wherewith it draws our Picture in little.
"It is as easie to conceive the Act of Hearing, and for _Brevities_
sake, let us only consider it in the Harmony of a Lute, touched by the
Hand of a Master. You'll ask me, How can it be, that I perceive at so
great a distance a thing which I do not see? Does there a Sponge go
out of my Ears, that drinks up that Musick, and brings it back with it
again? Or does the Player beget in my Head another little Musician,
with another little Lute, who has Orders like an Eccho to sing over
to me the same Airs? No; But that Miracle proceeds from this, that
the String touched, striking those little Bodies of which the Air is
composed, drives it gently into my Brain, with those little Corporeal
Nothings that sweetly pierce into it; and according as the String is
stretched, the Sound is high, because it more vigorously drives the
Atomes; and the Organ being thus penetrated, furnisheth the Fancy
wherewith to make a Representation; if too little, then our Memory not
having as yet finished its Image, we are forced to repeat the same
sound to it again; to the end it may take enough of Materials, which,
for Instance, the Measures of a _Saraband_[8] furnish it with, for
finishing the Picture of that _Saraband_; but that Operation is nothing
near so wonderful as those others, which by the help of the same Organ
excite us sometimes to Joy, sometimes to Anger.
"And this happens, when in that motion these little Bodies meet with
other little Bodies within us moving in the same manner, or whose
Figure renders them susceptible of the same Agitation; for then these
Newcomers stir up their Landlords to move as they do; & thus, when
a violent Air meets with the Fire of our Blood, it inclines it to the
same Motion, and animates it to a Sally, which is the thing we call
Heat of Courage; if the Sound be softer, and have only force enough
to raise a less Flame in greater Agitation, by leading it along the
Nerves, Membranes, and through the interstices of our Flesh it excites
that Tickling which is called Joy: And so it happens in the Ebullition
of the other Passions, according as these little Bodies are more or
less violently tossed upon us, according to the Motion they receive
by the rencounter of other Agitations, and according as they find
Dispositions in us for motion. So much for Hearing.
"Now, I think the Demonstration of Touching will be every whit as
easie, if we conceive that out of all palpable Matter there is a
perpetual Emission of little Bodies, and that the more we touch them,
the more evaporates; because we press them out of the Subject it self,
as Water out of a Sponge when we squeez it. The Hard make a report to
the Organ of their Hardness; the Soft, of their Softness; the Rough,
&c. And since this is so, we are not so quaint in Feeling with
Hands used to Labour, because of the Thickness of the Skin, which
being neither porous, nor animated, with difficulty transmits the
Evaporations of Matter. Some, perhaps, may desire to know where the
Organ of Touching has its Residence. For my part, I think it is spread
over all the Surface of the Body, seeing in all parts it feels: Yet
I imagine, that the nearer the Member, wherewith we touch, be to the
Head, the sooner we distinguish; which Experience convinces us of, when
with shut Eyes we handle any thing, for then we'll more easily guess
what it is; and if on the contrary we feel it with our hinder Feet,
it will be harder for us to know it: And the Reason is, because our
Skin being all over perforated, our Nerves, which are of no compacter
Matter, lose by the way a great many of those little Atomes through the
little Holes of their Contexture, before they reach the Brain, which
is their Journeys end: It remains, that I speak of the Smelling and
Tasting.
"Pray tell me, when I taste a Fruit, is it not because the Heat of my
Mouth melts it? Confess to me then, that there being Salts in a Pear,
and that they being separated by Dissolution into little Bodies of a
different Figure from those which make the Taste of an Apple, they must
needs pierce our Pallate in a very different manner: Just so as the
thrust of a Pike, that passes through me, is not like the Wound which
a Pistol-Bullet makes me feel with a sudden start; and as that Pistol
Bullet makes me suffer another sort of Pain than that of a Slug of
Steel.
"I have nothing to say, as to the Smelling, seeing the Philosophers
themselves confess, that it is performed by a continual Emission of
little Bodies.
"Now upon the same Principle will I explain to you the Creation,
Harmony, and Influence of the Celestial Globes, with the immutable
Variety of Meteors."
He was about to proceed; but the Old Landlord coming in, made our
Philosopher think of withdrawing: He brought in Christals full of
Glow-worms, to light the Parlour; but seeing those little fiery Insects
lose much of their Light, when they are not fresh gathered, these which
were ten days old had hardly any at all. My Spirit stayed not till the
Company should complain of it, but went up to his Chamber, and came
immediately back again with two Bowls of Fire so Sparkling that all
wondred he burnt not his Fingers. "These incombustible Tapers," said
he, "will serve us better than your Week[9] of Worms. They are Rays of
the Sun, which I have purged from their Heat; otherwise, the corrosive
qualities of their Fire would have dazzled and offended your Eyes;
I have fixed their Light, and inclosed it within these transparent
Bowls.[10] That ought not to afford you any great Cause of Admiration;
for it is not harder for me, who am a Native of the Sun, to condense
his Beams, which are the Dust of that World, than it is for you to
gather the Atomes of the pulveriz'd Earth of this World."
Thereupon our Landlord sent a Servant to wait upon the Philosophers
home, it being then Night, with a dozen Globes of Glowworms hanging
at his four Legs. As for my Preceptor and my self, we went to rest,
by order of the Phisiognomist. He laid me that Night in a Chamber of
Violets and Lillies, [and] ordered me to be tickled after the usual
manner.
[1] _Part_ and _depart_ were interchangeable in the seventeenth
century. _Cf_. Shakspere, _Two Gentlemen of Verona_:
"But now he parted hence ";
and, on the other hand, _King John_:
"Hath willingly departed with a part" (= _given up_ a
part).
[2] Two alike, or all three alike.
[3] Two sixes and a one.
[4] Wondered at.
[5] Notice that the basis of this discussion is the supposition that
the visual rays _start from the eye_.
[6] Lucretius.
[7] Democritus was the originator of the atomic theory.
[8] A lively Spanish dance-measure.
[9] Wick (_cf_. the Standard Dictionary). Some modern French editions
have "pelotons de verre," meaning "glass bulbs," but this is evidently
a mistake, since the seventeenth-century editions have _verres_, which
is their form, in all cases, for the modern _vers_. See also the first
meaning of _peloton_ in Littré.
[10] The incandescent electric light?