Bacon, Francis, Sylva sylvarum : or, a natural history in ten centuries

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179145Century VII. forwards to their Hills; and Bees do (admirably) know the way from a
Floury Heath, two or three miles off to their Hives.
It may be Gnats and
Flies have their Imagination more mutable and giddy, as ſmall Birds like-
wiſe have.
It is ſaid by ſome of the Ancients, that they have onely the Senſe
of Feeling, which is manifeſtly untrue;
for if they go forth right to a place,
they muſt needs have Sight:
Beſides, they delight more in one Flower or
Herb, then in another, and therefore have taſte.
And Bees are called with
ſound upon Braſs, and therefore they have hearing.
Which ſheweth like-
wiſe, that though their Spirits be diffuſed, yet there is a Seat of their Senſes in
their Head.
Other obſervations concerning the Inſecta, together with the Enumeration of them,
# we refer to that place where we mean to handle the Title of Animals in general.
AMan leapeth better with weights in his hands, then without. The cauſe
11699. is, for that the weight (if it be proportionable) ſtrengthneth the Si-
22Experiment
Solitary,
touching
Leaping.
news, by contracting them;
for otherwiſe, where no contraction is needful,
weight hindreth.
As we ſee in Horſe Races, Men are curious to foreſee that
there be not the leaſt weight upon the one Horſe more then upon the other.
In Leaping with Weights, the Arms are firſt caſt backwards, and then forwards,
with ſo much the greater force;
for the hands go backward before they
take their raiſe, Quære, if the contrary motion of the Spirits, immediately
before the Motion we intend, doth not cauſe the Spirits as it were to break
forth with more force;
as Breath alſo drawn, and keptin, cometh forth more
forcibly:
And in caſting of any thing, the Arms, to make a greater ſwing, are
firſt caſt back ward.
OF Muſical Tones and unequal Sounds, we have ſpoken before, but touch-
33700. the pleaſure and diſpleaſure of the Senſes not ſo fully.
Harſh Sounds, as
44Experiment
Solitary,
touching the
Pleaſures and
Diſpleaſures
of the Senſes,
eſpecially of
Hearing.
of a Saw when it is ſharpned, Grinding of one Stone againſt another, ſqueak-
ing or ſcrieching noiſes, make a ſhivering or horror in the Body, and ſet the
Teeth on edge.
The cauſe is, for that the objects of the Ear do affect the
Spirits (immediately) moſt with pleaſure and offence.
We ſee there is no
colour that affecteth the Eye much with diſpleaſure.
There be ſights that
are horrible, becauſe they excite the memory of things that are odious or
fearful;
but the ſamethings painted, do little affect. As for Smells, Taſtes, and
Touches, they be things that do affect by a Participation or Impulſion of the
body of the Object.
So it is Sound alone that doth immediately and incorpo-
really affect moſt.
This is moſt maniſeſt in Muſick, and Concords, and Diſcords
in Muſick:
For all Sounds, whether they be ſharp or flat, if they beſweet,
have a roundneſs and equality;
and if they be harſh, are unequal: For a Diſ-
cord it ſelf, is but a harſhneſs of divers ſounds meeting.
It is true, that in-
equality, not ſtaid upon, but paſſing, is rather an increaſe of ſweetneſs;
as
in the Purling of a Wreathed String, and in the raucity of a Trumpet, and
in the Nightingale-Pipe of a Regal, and in a Diſoord ſtraight falling upon a
Concord:
But if you ſtay upon it, it is offenſive. And therefore there be theſe
three degrees of pleaſing and diſpleaſing in Sounds;
Sweet ſounds, Diſcords,
and Harſh ſounds, which we call by divers names, as Scrieching, or Grating, ſuch
as we now ſpeak of.
As for the ſetting of the Teeth on edge, we plainly ſee
what an intercourſe there is bet ween the Teeth, and the Organ of the Hearing,
by the taking of the end of a Bow between the Teeth, and ſtriking upon the
String.

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