For the more eaſie underſtanding of the
Experiments tryable by our Engine, I
thought it not ſuperfluous, nor unſeaſon
able in the recital of this firſt of them, to
inſinuate that notion by which it ſeems
likely that moſt, if not all, of them will
prove explicable. Your Lordſhip will
eaſily ſuppoſe, that the Notion I ſpeak
of is, That there is a Spring, or Elaſti
cal power in the Air we live in. By which
ἐλατγ̀ρ or Spring of the Air, that which
I mean is this: That our Air either con
ſiſts of, or at leaſt abounds with, parts of
ſuch a nature, that in caſe they be bent or
compreſſ'd by the weight of the incum
bent part of the Atmoſphere, or by any o
ther Body, they do endeavor, as much as
in them lies, to free themſelves from that
preſſure, by bearing againſt the contigu
ous Bodies that keep them bent; and,
aſſoon as thoſe Bodies are remov'd or
reduced to give them way, by preſently
unbending and ſtretching out themſelves,
either quite, or ſo far forth as the con
tiguous Bodies that reſiſt them will per
mit, and thereby expanding the whole
parcel of Air, theſe elaſtical Bodies com
poſe.
Experiments tryable by our Engine, I
thought it not ſuperfluous, nor unſeaſon
able in the recital of this firſt of them, to
inſinuate that notion by which it ſeems
likely that moſt, if not all, of them will
prove explicable. Your Lordſhip will
eaſily ſuppoſe, that the Notion I ſpeak
of is, That there is a Spring, or Elaſti
cal power in the Air we live in. By which
ἐλατγ̀ρ or Spring of the Air, that which
I mean is this: That our Air either con
ſiſts of, or at leaſt abounds with, parts of
ſuch a nature, that in caſe they be bent or
compreſſ'd by the weight of the incum
bent part of the Atmoſphere, or by any o
ther Body, they do endeavor, as much as
in them lies, to free themſelves from that
preſſure, by bearing againſt the contigu
ous Bodies that keep them bent; and,
aſſoon as thoſe Bodies are remov'd or
reduced to give them way, by preſently
unbending and ſtretching out themſelves,
either quite, or ſo far forth as the con
tiguous Bodies that reſiſt them will per
mit, and thereby expanding the whole
parcel of Air, theſe elaſtical Bodies com
poſe.
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