Suppose we have a tumbler half-full of water. The tumbler is an
artificial object (§ 5); that is to say, certain natural objects have
been brought together and heated till they melted into glass, and this
glass has been shaped by a workman. The water, on the other hand, is a
natural object, which has come from some river, pond, or spring; or it
may be from a water-butt into which the rain which has fallen on the
roof of a house has flowed.
Now the water has a vast number of peculiarities. For example, it is
transparent, so that you can see through it; it feels cool; it will
quench thirst and dissolve sugar. But these are not the characters which
it is most convenient to begin with.
14. =Water occupies Space; it offers Resistance; it has Weight; and is
able to transfer Motion which it has acquired; it is therefore a form of
Matter.=
The water, we see, fills the cavity of the tumbler for half its height,
therefore it occupies that much =space=, or has that bulk or =volume=.
If you put the closed end of another tumbler of almost the same size
into the first, you will find that when it reaches the water, the latter
offers a resistance to its going down, and unless some of the water can
get out, the end of the second tumbler will not go in. Any one who falls
from a height into water will find that he receives a severe shock when
he reaches it. Water therefore offers =resistance=.
If the water is emptied out, the tumbler feels much lighter than it was
before; water, therefore, has =weight=.
And, finally, if you throw the water out of the tumbler at any slightly
supported object, the water hitting against it would knock it over. That
is to say, the water being put in motion is able to =transfer= that
motion to something else.
All these =phenomena=, as things which happen in nature are often
called, are effects of which water, under the conditions mentioned, is
the cause, and they may therefore be said to be properties (§ 4) of
water.
All things which occupy space, offer resistance, possess weight and
transfer motion to other things when they strike against them, are
termed =material substances= or =bodies=, or simply =matter=. Water,
therefore, is a kind, or form, of matter.