33557The Hiſtory of Life and Death.
tion, ſo they excel in judgment, and prefer ſafe things and ſound things before ſpe-
cious; alſo they improve in Garrulity and Oſtentation, for they ſeek the fruit of ſpeech,
while they are leſs able for action: So as it was not abſurd that the Poets feigned old
Tithon to be turned into a Graſhopper.
cious; alſo they improve in Garrulity and Oſtentation, for they ſeek the fruit of ſpeech,
while they are leſs able for action: So as it was not abſurd that the Poets feigned old
Tithon to be turned into a Graſhopper.
Moveable Canons of the Duration of Life and Form of Death.
Canon I.
COnſumption is not cauſed, unleſs that which is departed with by one body paſſeth into
another.
another.
The Explication.
THere is in Nature no Annihilating, or Reducing to Nothing:
therefore that which
is conſumed is either reſolved into Air, or turned into ſome Body adjacent. So
we ſee a spider, or Fly, or Ant in Amber, entombed in a more ſtately Monument than
Kings are, to be laid up for Eternity, although they be but tender things, and ſoon
diſſipated: But the matter is this, that there is no air by, into which they ſhould be
reſolved; and the ſubſtance of the Amber is ſo heterogeneous, that it receives nothing
of them. The like we conceive would be if a Stick, or Root, or ſome ſuch thing were
buried in Quick-ſilver: alſo Wax, and Honey, and Gums have the ſame Operation, but in
part onely.
is conſumed is either reſolved into Air, or turned into ſome Body adjacent. So
we ſee a spider, or Fly, or Ant in Amber, entombed in a more ſtately Monument than
Kings are, to be laid up for Eternity, although they be but tender things, and ſoon
diſſipated: But the matter is this, that there is no air by, into which they ſhould be
reſolved; and the ſubſtance of the Amber is ſo heterogeneous, that it receives nothing
of them. The like we conceive would be if a Stick, or Root, or ſome ſuch thing were
buried in Quick-ſilver: alſo Wax, and Honey, and Gums have the ſame Operation, but in
part onely.
Canon II.
THere is in every Tangible body a Spirit, covered and encompaſſed with the groſſer
parts of the body, and from it all Conſumption and Diſſolution hath the begin-
ning.
parts of the body, and from it all Conſumption and Diſſolution hath the begin-
ning.
The Explication.
NO Body known unto us here in the upper part of the Earth is without a Spirit,
either by Attenuation and Concoction from the heat of the Heavenly Bodies, or
by ſome other way: for the Concavities of Tangible things receive not Vacuum, but
either Air, or the proper Spirit of the thing. And this spirit where of we ſpeak is not
ſome Virtue, or Energie, or Act, or a Trifle, but plainly a Body, rare and inviſible;
notwithſtanding circumſcribed by Place, Quantitative, Real. Neither again is that
Spirit Air, (no more than Wine is Water) but a body rarefied, of kin to Air, though
much different from it. Now the groſſer parts of bodies (being dull things, and not
apt for motion) would laſt a long time; but the Spirit is that which troubleth, and
plucketh, and undermineth them, and converteth the moiſture of the body, and what-
ſoever it is able to digeſt, into new Spirit; and then as well the pre-exiſting Spirit of the
body as that newly made flie away together by degrees. This is beſt ſeen by the Di-
minution of the weight in bodies dried through Perspiration: for neither all that which
is iſſued forth was Spirit when the body was ponderous, neither was it not Spirit when
it iſſued forth.
either by Attenuation and Concoction from the heat of the Heavenly Bodies, or
by ſome other way: for the Concavities of Tangible things receive not Vacuum, but
either Air, or the proper Spirit of the thing. And this spirit where of we ſpeak is not
ſome Virtue, or Energie, or Act, or a Trifle, but plainly a Body, rare and inviſible;
notwithſtanding circumſcribed by Place, Quantitative, Real. Neither again is that
Spirit Air, (no more than Wine is Water) but a body rarefied, of kin to Air, though
much different from it. Now the groſſer parts of bodies (being dull things, and not
apt for motion) would laſt a long time; but the Spirit is that which troubleth, and
plucketh, and undermineth them, and converteth the moiſture of the body, and what-
ſoever it is able to digeſt, into new Spirit; and then as well the pre-exiſting Spirit of the
body as that newly made flie away together by degrees. This is beſt ſeen by the Di-
minution of the weight in bodies dried through Perspiration: for neither all that which
is iſſued forth was Spirit when the body was ponderous, neither was it not Spirit when
it iſſued forth.
Canon III.
THe Spirit iſſuing forth Drieth;
Detained and working within either Melteth, or Pu-
trefieth, or Vivifieth.
trefieth, or Vivifieth.
The Explication.
THere are four Proceſſes of the Spirit, to Arefaction, to Colliquation, Putre-
faction, to Generation of bodies. Arefaction is not the proper work of the Spirit,
but of the groſſer parts after the Spirit iſſued forth: for then they contract them-
ſelves partly by their flight of Vacuum, partly by the union of the Homogeneals: as
appears in all things which are arefied by age, and in the drier ſort of bodies which
have paſſed the fire, as Bricks, Char-coal, Bread. colliquation is the mere work of the
Spirit: neither is it done but when they are excited by heat: for when the Spirits
dilating themſelves, yet not getting forth, do inſinuate and diſperſe themſelves
among the groſſer parts, and ſo make them ſoft and apt to run, as it is in Metalls and
wax: for Metalls and all tenacious things are apt to inhibit the Spirit, that
faction, to Generation of bodies. Arefaction is not the proper work of the Spirit,
but of the groſſer parts after the Spirit iſſued forth: for then they contract them-
ſelves partly by their flight of Vacuum, partly by the union of the Homogeneals: as
appears in all things which are arefied by age, and in the drier ſort of bodies which
have paſſed the fire, as Bricks, Char-coal, Bread. colliquation is the mere work of the
Spirit: neither is it done but when they are excited by heat: for when the Spirits
dilating themſelves, yet not getting forth, do inſinuate and diſperſe themſelves
among the groſſer parts, and ſo make them ſoft and apt to run, as it is in Metalls and
wax: for Metalls and all tenacious things are apt to inhibit the Spirit, that