Page:Cyclopaedia, Chambers - Volume 1.djvu/654

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ELE

de In Suae, has diftinguifh'd her felf for Elegies in the French Tongue. . ,

In the &gW, we have nothing confiderable of he Elaine Kind, but what we have in Milton. The Englifi, and French Elegies are chiefly in Alexandrine Veries. _

In Procefs of Time, Elev) degenerated from its Original

Intention; and not only Matters of Grief, but alfc .Joy,

Wifhes, and almoft every Subject, became free of Elegy.

Complaints, Expostulations^ Prayers, Vows, Praifes, Con-

'• eratulations, Reproaches, Vc.

The Office of the .Bfegjy is well deliver d by M. Soilenu.

En -plaintive Elegie en longs hnbits de JDeuil Scnit les Cheveux epars gemir ftir unCircueil: El'le feint des Amnns In Joye, IS In Trifiejfe; Fktte, Menace, Irrite, appaife wie Maitreffe.

In Mourning Weeds fad Elegy appears Her Hair difchevell'd, and her Eyes in Tears : Her Theme, the Lover's Joys, but more his Pains; By Turns ihe fings, fooths, threatens and complains.

The Diaion of Elegy is to be clean, eafy, perfpicuous, expreflive of the Manners, tender and pathetic; not de- bauch'd or opprefs'd with Sentences, Points, Vc. >o Apoftrophe's are allow'd; and the Scnfe to be generally clofed in every Diftich or two Lines. At lealt in the

ELEMENTARY, fomething that relates to the E- lements. See Element. .

The Elements of a Body are alio called the Elemen- tnrv 'Principles thereof. See Principle.

The whole Space, included within the Concave, or Orbit of the Moon, is called the Elementary Region, as being the Seat, or Sphere of the four Vulgar Elements, and the Bodies compounded thereof. See Region.

The Author of the Comce de Gabalis, calls Elementary 'People a Kind of perfect Beings, which inhabit the E e- ments, and are only known by what they call the Philo- fophers, or Sages. According to thefe Folks, who at belt are great Fools, the Element of Fire is inhabited by Salamanders; Water, that is, the Sea and Rivers by Nymphs, or Oridians; Earth, by Gnomes and Gnomides; and Mr, by Sylphs and Sylphides.

ELEMENTS, in Phyficks, the firft Principles, or Ingre- dients of Things; whereof all Bodies are compounded; and into which they are all refolvible. See Body.

Elements are conceiv'd as the moft fimple, homogeneous Parts, or Corpufcles; of an Affemblage, and Mixture whereof, all the Bodies we fee, confift. See Corpuscle, U.

Authors generally talk very wildly and incontinently ot the Elements, and confound them with the 'Principles ot Things : Yet is there a great deal of Difference. As we find, by Experience, that all Things cannot indifferently be made of all; that Stone, for Inftance, and Marble, are not convertible into Flefh, nor are fit to nounfh or aug- ment an animal Body : It feems to follow that all the Variety of Bodies could never arife from the firll firnpk Combination of the two Principles, Matter and Bonn; but only fome infinitely fimple Beings, or Corpufcles which being varioufly intermix'd, might conftitute all other

Now thofe moft fimple of all Beings, thus form'd of the firft Determination and Conctetion of Principles, are what the Philofophers properly call Elements: So that Elements and Principles have this Difference between them, that a Principle, as Matter, is a Kind ot incom- pleat Nature; but an Element, a perfeft or compleat one. See Principle.

Hence it follows, that there muft, of Neceffity, be more Elements than one : Since otherwife all Things would be equally fimple, and there would be no fuch Thing as a Compound in Nature. Moft of the Antients, not aware of this, confound Element with Principle : On this foot- ing, the Elements are fometimes held corruptible, and fometimes incorruptible.

The Retainers to incorruptible Elements, mean precifely by Element what we mean by the firfi Matter. In Ef- fect, their Elements are their Atoms, or Corpufcles, which are fuppoled indivisible, incorruptible, &c. See Atom and Corpuscle.

Democritus is held the firft Author of this Tenet; which accordingly is adhered to by Epicurus and many of their Defcendants, the Epicurean and Corpuscular Phi- lofophers. See Corpuscular, iSc.

Among thofe who hold them corruptible, fome will only have one, and fome feveral. Of the former, the Principal are Heraclitus, who held Fire; Annximenes, Air; T'hales Milefius, Water; and Hefiod, Earth; as the only Element. Hefiod is tollow'd by Sernardin. Velefius; and Thnles, by many of the Chymifts. See Water, He.

Among thofe who admit feveral corruptible Element's, the principal are the Peripateticks; who, after their Mafter Arifiotle, contend for four Elements, viz. Fi re] Air, Water, and Earth, Arifiotle took the Notion from Hippo- crates; Hippocrates from Pythagoras; and Pythagoras from Ocellus Lucanus, who feems to be the firft Author of the 'Dogma.

But there is a ftill further Variety of Elements : For the Philofophers, not confidering Matter in it felf, or in the genera], but only fome of the Senfations it excites in us; fome of them refer all to the Senfe of Sight, and aflert lucid and obfeure, or pelluccd and opnke, to be the Ele- ments of all Things : And others, regarding only the Senfe of Touch, make hnrd and liquid, or hot and cold, the Elements of Things.

In this latter Clafs we are to reckon Arifiotle; tho' his Way of Proceeding was fomewhat different from the reft. For, confidering the four principal Qualities that fall un- der the Senfe of Touching, Heat, Cold, Drynefs or Hard- nefs, and Humidity or Liquidity ■: And obferving that two of thefe Qualities might be one and the fame Thing taken in two different Relations; and that they might be com- bined four Ways; he made four Elements; the firft, cold and dry; the fecond, cold and moifi; the third, hot and moifl; and the fourth, hot and dry.

Then, to give Names to thefe Elements, he enquired in what Things thefe feveral Elements fcem'd chiefly to prevail. Accordingly, taking the Earth to be the coldeft, and, at the fame Time, drieit of all Things, he call'd the firft Element, Earth. See Earth.

And Water, being the coldeft and moifteft of all Things, he called his fecond Element, Water. See Water.

Again, judging Air the moifteft, and at the fame Time hotteft of all Things, his third Element he called Air. See Air.

Laftly, Fire being the hotteft and drieft of all Things, his fourth Element he denominated Fire. See Fire.

Thefe Denominations gave Occafion to fome, imperti- nently enough, to miftake his Meaning; and to take this habitable Earth, this potable Water, this Air we breath, and this Fire we burn on our Hearths, to be the four' Elements; notwithftanding that the Word Element denotes a moft fimple Thing; whereas the Bodies juft mention'd, are all exceedingly compound. See Peripatetics.

The Cartefians only admit three Elements; which they pretend are all that could arife from the firft Divifion of Matter : To explain their Origin, they fuppofe the whole Mafs of Matter in the Univerfe, divided into an infinite- Number of Particles of unequal Magnitudes, and of any Figure at Plcafure. Thefe ieveral Particles they fuppofe, further, to have been revolved, or whirled, in various Manners, each round its Centre; €0 as to become truly feparate and apart.

Thus much fuppofed, 'tis impoflible but the Angular, Eminent, and Implicated Parts of the feveral Particles muft be broke off; and thus, tho' little before, they muft con- tinue continually to grow lcis till they arrive at a perfect Rotundity. By this Means we get two Kinds of deter- minate Matter for the two firft Elements : The firft, a fine Duft rubb'd, or broke off from the Angles of the Particles, till they are turn'd round; which is the Matter of the firfi Element, or the Materia fiibtilis. -The other, the Parts themfelves thus turn'd round, and fmooth, which makes the fecond Element.

And, as 'tis probable fome Particles of Matter may either feparately, or conjunctly, ftill retain irregular, hooked, and intricate Forms; thefe conftitute the third Element.

'Tis added, that the Elements are convertible into each other : For the third Element, by growing round, may become the fecond; and the fecond, by a continual Com- minution and Subtilizing, the firfi. See Cartesian Philofophy.

Our great Sir Ifaac Newton, confiders the primary Ele- ments of Bodies on the atomical Syftem, thus : All Things confider'd, it feems probable, that God in the Beginning form'd Matter in folid, maffive, hard, impenetrable, move- able Particles of fuch Sizes, and Figures, and with fuch other Properties, and in fuch Proportion to Space, as mod conduced to the End for which" he form'd them; and that thefe primitive Particles, being folids, are incomparably harder than any porous Bodies compounded of them; even fo very hard as never to wear out : No ordinary Power being able to divide what God made one in the firft Creation. While the Particles remain entire, they may com- pofe Bodies of one and the fame Nature and Texture in all Ages : But Ihould they wear away, or break in Pieces, the Nature of Things depending of them, would be chan- ged. Water and Earth, compofed of old worn Particles, and Fragments of Particles, would not be of the fame Nature and Texture now, with Water and Earth compofed of entire Particles in the Beginning. And, therefore, that Things

may