Page:Discourse Concerning the Natation of Bodies.djvu/68

 and it shall suffice to reply, that he believed that it would swim; and I will again charge him with having avoided a more wonderfull and intricate Probleme, and introduced the more facile and less wonderfull.

We say freely therefore; that Aristotle did hold, that only the broad Figure did swim, but the long and slender, such as a Needle, not. The which nevertheless is false, as it is also false in round Bodies: because, as from what hath been predemonstrated, may be gathered, little Balls of Lead and Iron, do in like manner swim.

He proposeth likewise another Conclusion, which likewise seems different from the truth, and it is, That some things, by reason of their littleness fly in the Air, as the small dust of the Earth, and the thin leaves of beaten Gold: but in my Opinion, Experience shews us, that that happens not only in the Air, but also in the water, in which do descend, even those Particles or Atomes of Earth, that disturbe it, whose minuity is such, that they are not deservable, save only when they are many hundreds together. Therefore, the dust of the Earth, and beaten Gold, do not any way sustain themselves in the Air, but descend downwards, and only fly to and again in the same, when strong Windes raise them, or other agitations of the Air commove them: and this also happens in the commotion of the water, which raiseth its Sand from the bottom, and makes it muddy. But Aristotle cannot mean this impediment of the commotion, of which he makes no mention, nor names other than the lightness of such Minutiæ or Atomes, and the Resistance of the Crassitudes of the Water and Air, by which we see, that he speakes of a calme, and not disturbed and agitated Air: but in that case, neither Gold nor Earth, be they never so small, are sustained, but speedily descend.

He passeth next to confute Democritus, which, by his Testimony would have it, that some Fiery Atomes, which continually ascend through the water, do spring upwards, and sustain those grave Bodies, which are very broad, and that the narrow descend to the bottom, for that but a small quantity of those Atomes, encounter and resist them.

I say, Aristotle confutes this position, saying, that that should much more occurre in the Air, as the same Democritus instances against himself, but after he had moved the objection, he slightly resolves it, with saying, that those Corpuscles which ascend in the Air, make not their Impetus conjunctly. Here I will not say, that the reason alledged by Democritus is true, but I will only say, it seems in my judgement, that it is not wholly confuted by Aristotle, whilst he saith, that were it true, that the calid ascending Atomes, should sustain Bodies grave, but very broad, it would much more be done in the Air, than in Water, for that haply in the Opinion of Aristotle,