Page:Discourse Concerning the Natation of Bodies.djvu/41

 nature apt to descend to the Bottom, being placed lightly on the water submerge not, unless they be first thorowly bathed; and have found, that one of these Bodies having descended to the Bottom, by conveighing to it (without touching it in the least) a little Air, which conjoyneth with the top of the same; it becometh sufficient, not only, as before to sustain it, but also to raise it, and to carry it back to the top, where it stays and abideth in the same manner, till such time, as the assistance of the conjoyned Air is taken away. And to this effect, I have taken a Ball of Wax, and made it with a little Lead, so grave, that it leasurely descends to the Bottom, making with all its Superficies very smooth and pollite: and this being put gently into the water, almost wholly submergeth, there remaining vissible only a little of the very top, the which solong as it is conjoyned with the Air, shall retain the Ball a-top, but the Contiguity of the Air taken away by wetting it, it shall descend to the Bottom and there remain. Now to make it by vertue of the Air, that before sustained it to return again to the top, and stay there, thrust into the water a Glass reversed with the mouth downwards, the which shall carry with it the Air it contains, and move this towards the Ball, abasing it till such time that you see, by the transparency of the Glass, that the contained Air do arrive to the summity of the Ball: then gently withdraw the Glass upwards, and you shall see the Ball to rise, and afterwards stay on the top of the water, if you carefully part the Glass and the water without overmuch commoving and disturbing it. There is, therefore, a certain affinity between the Air and other Bodies, which holds them unied, so, that they seperate not without a kind of violence. The same likewise is seen in the water; for if we shall wholly submerge some Body in it, so that it be thorowly bathed, in the drawing of it afterwards gently out again, we shall see the water follow it, and rise notably above its Surface, before it seperates from it. Solid Bodies, also, if they be equall and alike in Superficies, so, that they make an exact Contact without the interposition of the least Air, that may part them in the seperation and yield untill that the ambient Medium succeeds to replenish the place, do hold very firmly conjoyned, and are not to be seperated without great force but, because, the Air, Water, and other Liquids, very expeditiously shape themselves to contact with any Solid Bodies, so that their Superficies do exquisitely adopt themselves to that of the Solids, without any thing remaining between them, therefore, the effect of this Conjunction and Adherence is more manifestly and frequently observed in them, than in hard and inflexible Bodies, whose Superficies do very rately conjoyn with exactness of Contact. This is therefore that Magnetick vertue, which with firm Connection conjoyneth all Bodies, that do touch without the interposition of flexible fluids; and, who knows, but that that a Contact, when it is very exact, may be a sufficient Cause of the Union and Continuity of the parts of a naturall Body?