Page:The Works of Francis Bacon (1884) Volume 1.djvu/573

 FABLE OF CUPID. issertod that the sun is fire, but fire generates nothing, this, saith he, is a groundless objection: for that which is asserted respecting a heteroge neous nature of the heats of the sun and of fire, is a mere fantasy. For that the operations are infinite in which the action of the sun and the action of fire come together, as in the ripening of fruits, the con- j servation of tender plants, and of those which are used to a clement temperature; in cold regions, in j the hatching of eggs, the restoration of waters to j their clearness, (for we join the solar and animal heat,) in the resuscitation of frozen animalculae, in the calling of them up, and of vapours and the like. But, nevertheless, that our fire is a bad imitator, and does not well imitate the actions of the sun or come near&quot; them, since the sun s heat hath three properties, which common fire can but poorly imitate under any circumstances. First, that from its distance it is less and more bland in its very degree ; but that this of a kind itnitable in some way; for such a measure of heat is rather un- Known than unattainable. Secondly, that in flowing and increasing through so many and such media it borrows, and obtains a considerable degree of generative influence ; but chiefly because it is increased, lessened, advances or retires with so regular an inequality, but never succeeds to itself capriciously or with haste. Which two last properties are almost inimitable by fire, though the thing may be accomplished by very considerate and laborious measures. Such are the assertions of Telesius on the diversity of heats. But he scarcely takes any notice of the contrary principle of cold and of its distribution ; except perhaps what will be now said in the second place on the disposition of matter, might seem to him to suffice upon this head, which, neverthe less, he ought not to have supposed, since it was not his mind to make cold by any means the pri vation of heat, but as an active principle its rival and competitor. But his dissertations on the ar rangement of matter go to show how matter is affected by heat, subdued or changed by it, the subject of cold being entirely overlooked. But I will add what he could, on his principles, have said respecting this subject, for it is my desire to go through, and with impartiality, the theories and suppositions of all the philosophers. He could have said that the seat of cold, being fixed and unmoved, most admirably agreed with the mobile and versatile structure of heat, as the anvil to the hammer. For if both principles were possessed of variation and change, they, would doubtless ; produce contrary and momentaneous entities. That ! the immense regions of heat, (that is, the heavens,) ! moreover, were in some degree compensated by ! the compact nature of the globe of the earth and , circumjacent bodies, since not the space, but the i quantity of matter in the space, is taken into the. account, but that the nature of cold, its powers and proportions need but few words, since expe- , rience does not furnish us with any certain deduc tions respecting it. We have, therefore, oui common fire, the representative, as it were, of the sun, to show to us the nature of heat. But there is no substitution of the cold of the earth, within man s reach, for the trying experiments with. For that those hardenings and congealings of snow which, in winter and in cold regions, breathe themselves out into air from the globe and circuit of the earth, are plainly warmths and baths, ow ing to the nature of the first cold shut up in the bowels of the earth ; so that the cold, which is in the power and under the perception of men, is something like as if they had no other heat than that which emanates from the sun in summer, and in warm regions ; which, if compared with the fire of a heated furnace, may be deemed a refresh ing coolness. But I shall take up less time upon those things that are pretended on this subject. We will inquire, therefore, in order into the nature of what Telesius has asserted respecting the ar rangement of matter upon which heat acts ; the power of which is such as to advance, impede, or change the action itself of heat. The ratio of this is fourfold. The first difference is taken from the preinexistentor nonpreinexistentheat ; the second from the abundance or the scarcity of the matter; the third from the degrees of the reduction; the fourth from the closing or opening of the body re duced. As for the first, Telesius supposes in all entities known to us, that there exists a certain latent heat, though not subject to the touch, which heat is joined with a new or overspreading heat; moreover, that itself is excited and inflamed by the same adventitious heat to the performing ita acts even in its proper measure. He esteems ita considerable proof of this, that there is no one en tity, neither metal, stone, water, nor air, which does not acquire warmth by touch, and also by the application of fire or of a warm body. Which would not surely be the case, unless there were a preinexistent heat of a certain latent preparation for a new and manifest heat. That even that ex cess or diminution, or facility and slowness, which are found in the conceiving of heat in entities, agrees with the measure of the preinexistent heat; that the air grows warm by a small heat, and such as is quite imperceptible in an aqueous body; also that water is more easily endued with warmth than a stone, or metal, or glass. For that any of these, as a metal or a stone, s hould appear to ac quire warmth sooner than water, that is. only on the surface, not within the body, because consis tent bodies are less communicable in their parts than liquids. That, therefore, the outermost parts of a metal are sooner warmed than those of water, the whole bulk later. The second difference is made to depend upon the coacervation and exten sion of matter. If it be dense, the strength of the heat is more united, and through the union in creased and made more intense ; if, on the otner 2P