{"collection":"philosophy-ethics","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_26861/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_26861","id":"gutenberg_26861","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/26861","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Philosophy & Ethics","Category: Poetry","Cosmology -- Poetry","Life -- Origin -- Poetry"],"text":"Produced by Steven Gibbs, Christine P. Travers and the\nOnline Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net\n\n\n\n\n\n\n[Transcriber's note: Obvious printer's errors have been corrected, all\nother inconsistencies are as in the original. The author's spelling\nhas been maintained.\n\nSome printed caracters could not be reproduce in this file and have\nbeen described [TN: description].]\n\n\n\n\nTHE TEMPLE OF NATURE;\n\nOR,\n\nTHE ORIGIN OF SOCIETY.\n\n\nT. Bensley, Printer, Bolt Court, Fleet Street, London.\n\n\n\n\nTHE TEMPLE OF NATURE;\n\nOR,\n\nTHE ORIGIN OF SOCIETY:\n\nA POEM,\n\nWITH PHILOSOPHICAL NOTES.\n\n\nBY\n\nERASMUS DARWIN, M.D. F.R.S.\n\nAUTHOR OF THE BOTANIC GARDEN, OF ZOONOMIA, AND OF PHYTOLOGIA.\n\n\n\n\n Unde hominum pecudumque genus, vitaeque volantum,\n Et quae marmoreo fert monstra sub aequore pontus?\n Igneus est illis vigor, & caelestis origo.\n\n VIRG. AEn. VI. 728.\n\n\n\n\nLONDON: PRINTED FOR J. JOHNSON, ST. PAUL'S CHURCHYARD,\n\nBY T. BENSLEY, BOLT COURT, FLEET STREET.\n\n1803.\n\n\n\n\nPREFACE.\n\n\nThe Poem, which is here offered to the Public, does not pretend to\ninstruct by deep researches of reasoning; its aim is simply to amuse\nby bringing distinctly to the imagination the beautiful and sublime\nimages of the operations of Nature in the order, as the Author\nbelieves, in which the progressive course of time presented them.\n\nThe Deities of Egypt, and afterwards of Greece, and Rome, were derived\nfrom men famous in those early times, as in the ages of hunting,\npasturage, and agriculture. The histories of some of their actions\nrecorded in Scripture, or celebrated in the heathen mythology, are\nintroduced, as the Author hopes, without impropriety into his account\nof those remote periods of human society.\n\nIn the Eleusinian mysteries the philosophy of the works of Nature,\nwith the origin and progress of society, are believed to have been\ntaught by allegoric scenery explained by the Hierophant to the\ninitiated, which gave rise to the machinery of the following Poem.\n\nPRIORY NEAR DERBY,\n\nJan. 1, 1802.\n\n\n\n\nORIGIN OF SOCIETY.\n\nCANTO I.\n\nPRODUCTION OF LIFE.\n\n\n\n\nCONTENTS.\n\n\nI. Subject proposed. Life, Love, and Sympathy 1. Four past Ages, a\nfifth beginning 9. Invocation to Love 15. II. Bowers of Eden, Adam and\nEve 33. Temple of Nature 65. Time chained by Sculpture 75. Proteus\nbound by Menelaus 83. Bowers of Pleasure 89. School of Venus 97. Court\nof Pain 105. Den of Oblivion 113. Muse of Melancholy 121. Cave of\nTrophonius 125. Shrine of Nature 129. Eleusinian Mysteries 137. III.\nMorning 155. Procession of Virgins 159. Address to the Priestess 167.\nDescent of Orpheus into Hell 185. IV. Urania 205. GOD the First Cause\n223. Life began beneath the Sea 233. Repulsion, Attraction,\nContraction, Life 235. Spontaneous Production of Minute Animals 247.\nIrritation, Appetency 251. Life enlarges the Earth 265. Sensation,\nVolition, Association 269. Scene in the Microscope; Mucor, Monas,\nVibrio, Vorticella, Proteus, Mite 281. V. Vegetables and Animals\nimprove by Reproduction 295. Have all arisen from Microscopic\nAnimalcules 303. Rocks of Shell and Coral 315. Islands and Continents\nraised by Earthquakes 321. Emigration of Animals from the Sea 327.\nTrapa 335. Tadpole, Musquito 343. Diodon, Lizard, Beaver, Lamprey,\nRemora, Whale 351. Venus rising from the Sea, emblem of Organic Nature\n371. All animals are first Aquatic 385. Fetus in the Womb 389. Animals\nfrom the Mud of the Nile 401. The Hierophant and Muse 421-450.\n\n\n\n\nCANTO I.\n\nPRODUCTION OF LIFE.\n\n\n I. By firm immutable immortal laws\n Impress'd on Nature by the GREAT FIRST CAUSE,\n Say, MUSE! how rose from elemental strife\n Organic forms, and kindled into life;\n How Love and Sympathy with potent charm\n Warm the cold heart, the lifted hand disarm;\n Allure with pleasures, and alarm with pains,\n And bind Society in golden chains.\n\n Four past eventful Ages then recite,\n And give the fifth, new-born of Time, to light; 10\n The silken tissue of their joys disclose,\n Swell with deep chords the murmur of their woes;\n Their laws, their labours, and their loves proclaim,\n And chant their virtues to the trump of Fame.\n\n IMMORTAL LOVE! who ere the morn of Time,\n On wings outstretch'd, o'er Chaos hung sublime;\n Warm'd into life the bursting egg of Night,\n And gave young Nature to admiring Light!--\n YOU! whose wide arms, in soft embraces hurl'd\n Round the vast frame, connect the whirling world! 20\n Whether immers'd in day, the Sun your throne,\n You gird the planets in your silver zone;\n Or warm, descending on ethereal wing,\n The Earth's cold bosom with the beams of spring;\n Press drop to drop, to atom atom bind,\n Link sex to sex, or rivet mind to mind;\n Attend my song!--With rosy lips rehearse,\n And with your polish'd arrows write my verse!--\n So shall my lines soft-rolling eyes engage,\n And snow-white fingers turn the volant page; 30\n The smiles of Beauty all my toils repay,\n And youths and virgins chant the living lay.\n\n II. WHERE EDEN'S sacred bowers triumphant sprung,\n By angels guarded, and by prophets sung,\n Wav'd o'er the east in purple pride unfurl'd,\n And rock'd the golden cradle of the World;\n Four sparkling currents lav'd with wandering tides\n Their velvet avenues, and flowery sides;\n On sun-bright lawns unclad the Graces stray'd,\n And guiltless Cupids haunted every glade; 40\n Till the fair Bride, forbidden shades among,\n Heard unalarm'd the Tempter's serpent-tongue;\n Eyed the sweet fruit, the mandate disobey'd,\n And her fond Lord with sweeter smiles betray'd.\n Conscious awhile with throbbing heart he strove,\n Spread his wide arms, and barter'd life for love!--\n Now rocks on rocks, in savage grandeur roll'd,\n Steep above steep, the blasted plains infold;\n The incumbent crags eternal tempest shrouds,\n And livid light'nings cleave the lambent clouds; 50\n Round the firm base loud-howling whirlwinds blow,\n And sands in burning eddies dance below.\n\n [Footnote: _Cradle of the world_, l. 36. The nations, which\n possess Europe and a part of Asia and of Africa, appear to\n have descended from one family; and to have had their origin\n near the banks of the Mediterranean, as probably in Syria,\n the site of Paradise, according to the Mosaic history. This\n seems highly probable from the similarity of the structure of\n the languages of these nations, and from their early\n possession of similar religions, customs, and arts, as well\n as from the most ancient histories extant. The two former of\n these may be collected from Lord Monboddo's learned work on\n the Origin of Language, and from Mr. Bryant's curious account\n of Ancient Mythology.\n\n The use of iron tools, of the bow and arrow, of earthen\n vessels to boil water in, of wheels for carriages, and the\n arts of cultivating wheat, of coagulating milk for cheese,\n and of spinning vegetable fibres for clothing, have been\n known in all European countries, as long as their histories\n have existed; besides the similarity of the texture of their\n languages, and of many words in them; thus the word sack is\n said to mean a bag in all of them, as [Greek: sakkon] in\n Greek, saccus in Latin, sacco in Italian, sac in French, and\n sack in English and German.\n\n Other families of mankind, nevertheless, appear to have\n arisen in other parts of the habitable earth, as the language\n of the Chinese is said not to resemble those of this part of\n the world in any respect. And the inhabitants of the islands\n of the South-Sea had neither the use of iron tools nor of the\n bow, nor of wheels, nor of spinning, nor had learned to\n coagulate milk, or to boil water, though the domestication of\n fire seems to have been the first great discovery that\n distinguished mankind from the bestial inhabitants of the\n forest.]\n\n Hence ye profane!--the warring winds exclude\n Unhallow'd throngs, that press with footstep rude;\n But court the Muse's train with milder skies,\n And call with softer voice the good and wise.\n --Charm'd at her touch the opening wall divides,\n And rocks of crystal form the polish'd sides;\n Through the bright arch the Loves and Graces tread,\n Innocuous thunders murmuring o'er their head; 60\n Pair after pair, and tittering, as they pass,\n View their fair features in the walls of glass;\n Leave with impatient step the circling bourn,\n And hear behind the closing rocks return.\n\n HERE, high in air, unconscious of the storm.\n Thy temple, NATURE, rears it's mystic form;\n From earth to heav'n, unwrought by mortal toil,\n Towers the vast fabric on the desert soil;\n O'er many a league the ponderous domes extend.\n And deep in earth the ribbed vaults descend; 70\n A thousand jasper steps with circling sweep\n Lead the slow votary up the winding steep;\n Ten thousand piers, now join'd and now aloof,\n Bear on their branching arms the fretted roof.\n\n Unnumber'd ailes connect unnumber'd halls,\n And sacred symbols crowd the pictur'd walls;\n With pencil rude forgotten days design,\n And arts, or empires, live in every line.\n While chain'd reluctant on the marble ground,\n Indignant TIME reclines, by Sculpture bound; 80\n And sternly bending o'er a scroll unroll'd,\n Inscribes the future with his style of gold.\n --So erst, when PROTEUS on the briny shore,\n New forms assum'd of eagle, pard, or boar;\n The wise ATRIDES bound in sea-weed thongs\n The changeful god amid his scaly throngs;\n Till in deep tones his opening lips at last\n Reluctant told the future and the past.\n\n [Footnote: _Pictur'd walls_, l. 76. The application of\n mankind, in the early ages of society, to the imitative arts\n of painting, carving, statuary, and the casting of figures in\n metals, seems to have preceded the discovery of letters; and\n to have been used as a written language to convey\n intelligence to their distant friends, or to transmit to\n posterity the history of themselves, or of their discoveries.\n Hence the origin of the hieroglyphic figures which crowded\n the walls of the temples of antiquity; many of which may be\n seen in the tablet of Isis in the works of Montfaucon; and\n some of them are still used in the sciences of chemistry and\n astronomy, as the characters for the metals and planets, and\n the figures of animals on the celestial globe.]\n\n [Footnote: _So erst, when Proteus_, l. 83. It seems probable\n that Proteus was the name of a hieroglyphic figure\n representing Time; whose form was perpetually changing, and\n who could discover the past events of the world, and predict\n the future. Herodotus does not doubt but that Proteus was an\n Egyptian king or deity; and Orpheus calls him the principle\n of all things, and the most ancient of the gods; and adds,\n that he keeps the keys of Nature, _Danet's Dict._, all which\n might well accord with a figure representing Time.]\n\n HERE o'er piazza'd courts, and long arcades,\n The bowers of PLEASURE root their waving shades; 90\n Shed o'er the pansied moss a checker'd gloom,\n Bend with new fruits, with flow'rs successive bloom.\n Pleas'd, their light limbs on beds of roses press'd,\n In slight undress recumbent Beauties rest;\n On tiptoe steps surrounding Graces move,\n And gay Desires expand their wings above.\n\n HERE young DIONE arms her quiver'd Loves,\n Schools her bright Nymphs, and practises her doves;\n Calls round her laughing eyes in playful turns,\n The glance that lightens, and the smile that burns; 100\n Her dimpling cheeks with transient blushes dies,\n Heaves her white bosom with seductive sighs;\n Or moulds with rosy lips the magic words,\n That bind the heart in adamantine cords.\n\n Behind in twilight gloom with scowling mien\n The demon PAIN, convokes his court unseen;\n Whips, fetters, flames, pourtray'd on sculptur'd stone,\n In dread festoons, adorn his ebon throne;\n Each side a cohort of diseases stands,\n And shudd'ring Fever leads the ghastly bands; 110\n O'er all Despair expands his raven wings,\n And guilt-stain'd Conscience darts a thousand stings.\n\n Deep-whelm'd beneath, in vast sepulchral caves,\n OBLIVION dwells amid unlabell'd graves;\n The storied tomb, the laurell'd bust o'erturns,\n And shakes their ashes from the mould'ring urns.--\n No vernal zephyr breathes, no sunbeams cheer,\n Nor song, nor simper, ever enters here;\n O'er the green floor, and round the dew-damp wall,\n The slimy snail, and bloated lizard crawl; 120\n While on white heaps of intermingled bones\n The muse of MELANCHOLY sits and moans;\n Showers her cold tears o'er Beauty's early wreck,\n Spreads her pale arms, and bends her marble neck.\n\n So in rude rocks, beside the AEgean wave,\n TROPHONIUS scoop'd his sorrow-sacred cave;\n Unbarr'd to pilgrim feet the brazen door,\n And the sad sage returning smil'd no more.\n\n [Footnote: _Trophonius scoop'd_, l. 126. Plutarch mentions,\n that prophecies of evil events were uttered from the cave of\n Trophonius; but the allegorical story, that whoever entered\n this cavern were never again seen to smile, seems to have\n been designed to warn the contemplative from considering too\n much the dark side of nature. Thus an ancient poet is said to\n have written a poem on the miseries of the world, and to have\n thence become so unhappy as to destroy himself. When we\n reflect on the perpetual destruction of organic life, we\n should also recollect, that it is perpetually renewed in\n other forms by the same materials, and thus the sum total of\n the happiness of the world continues undiminished; and that a\n philosopher may thus smile again on turning his eyes from the\n coffins of nature to her cradles.]\n\n SHRIN'D in the midst majestic NATURE stands,\n Extends o'er earth and sea her hundred hands; 130\n Tower upon tower her beamy forehead crests,\n And births unnumber'd milk her hundred breasts;\n Drawn round her brows a lucid veil depends,\n O'er her fine waist the purfled woof descends;\n Her stately limbs the gather'd folds surround,\n And spread their golden selvage on the ground.\n\n [Footnote: _Fam'd Eleusis stole_, l. 137. The Eleusinian\n mysteries were invented in Egypt, and afterwards transferred\n into Greece along with most of the other early arts and\n religions of Europe. They seem to have consisted of scenical\n representations of the philosophy and religion of those\n times, which had previously been painted in hieroglyphic\n figures to perpetuate them before the discovery of letters;\n and are well explained in Dr. Warburton's divine legation of\n Moses; who believes with great probability, that Virgil in\n the sixth book of the AEneid has described a part of these\n mysteries in his account of the Elysian fields.\n\n In the first part of this scenery was represented Death, and\n the destruction of all things; as mentioned in the note on\n the Portland Vase in the Botanic Garden. Next the marriage of\n Cupid and Psyche seems to have shown the reproduction of\n living nature; and afterwards the procession of torches,\n which is said to have constituted a part of the mysteries,\n probably signified the return of light, and the resuscitation\n of all things.\n\n Lastly, the histories of illustrious persons of the early\n ages seem to have been enacted; who were first represented by\n hieroglyphic figures, and afterwards became the gods and\n goddesses of Egypt, Greece, and Rome. Might not such a\n dignified pantomime be contrived, even in this age, as might\n strike the spectators with awe, and at the same time explain\n many philosophical truths by adapted imagery, and thus both\n amuse and instruct?]\n\n From this first altar fam'd ELEUSIS stole\n Her secret symbols and her mystic scroll;\n With pious fraud in after ages rear'd\n Her gorgeous temple, and the gods rever'd. 140\n --First in dim pomp before the astonish'd throng,\n Silence, and Night, and Chaos, stalk'd along;\n Dread scenes of Death, in nodding sables dress'd,\n Froze the broad eye, and thrill'd the unbreathing breast.\n Then the young Spring, with winged Zephyr, leads\n The queen of Beauty to the blossom'd meads;\n Charm'd in her train admiring Hymen moves,\n And tiptoe Graces hand in hand with Loves.\n Next, while on pausing step the masked mimes\n Enact the triumphs of forgotten times, 150\n Conceal from vulgar throngs the mystic truth,\n Or charm with Wisdom's lore the initiate youth;\n Each shifting scene, some patriot hero trod,\n Some sainted beauty, or some saviour god.\n\n III. Now rose in purple pomp the breezy dawn,\n And crimson dew-drops trembled on the lawn;\n Blaz'd high in air the temple's golden vanes,\n And dancing shadows veer'd upon the plains.--\n Long trains of virgins from the sacred grove,\n Pair after pair, in bright procession move, 160\n With flower-fill'd baskets round the altar throng,\n Or swing their censers, as they wind along.\n The fair URANIA leads the blushing bands,\n Presents their offerings with unsullied hands;\n Pleas'd to their dazzled eyes in part unshrouds\n The goddess-form;--the rest is hid in clouds.\n\n \"PRIESTESS OF NATURE! while with pious awe\n Thy votary bends, the mystic veil withdraw;\n Charm after charm, succession bright, display,\n And give the GODDESS to adoring day! 170\n So kneeling realms shall own the Power divine,\n And heaven and earth pour incense on her shrine.\n\n \"Oh grant the MUSE with pausing step to press\n Each sun-bright avenue, and green recess;\n Led by thy hand survey the trophied walls,\n The statued galleries, and the pictur'd halls;\n Scan the proud pyramid, and arch sublime,\n Earth-canker'd urn, medallion green with time,\n Stern busts of Gods, with helmed heroes mix'd,\n And Beauty's radiant forms, that smile betwixt. 180\n\n [Footnote: _The statued galleries_, l. 176. The art of\n painting has appeared in the early state of all societies\n before the invention of the alphabet. Thus when the Spanish\n adventurers, under Cortez, invaded America, intelligence of\n their debarkation and movements was daily transmitted to\n Montezuma, by drawings, which corresponded with the Egyptian\n hieroglyphics. The antiquity of statuary appears from the\n Memnon and sphinxes of Egypt; that of casting figures in\n metals from the golden calf of Aaron; and that of carving in\n wood from the idols or household gods, which Rachel stole\n from her father Laban, and hid beneath her garments as she\n sat upon the straw. Gen. c. xxxi. v. 34.]\n\n \"Waked by thy voice, transmuted by thy wand,\n Their lips shall open, and their arms expand;\n The love-lost lady, and the warrior slain,\n Leap from their tombs, and sigh or fight again.\n --So when ill-fated ORPHEUS tuned to woe\n His potent lyre, and sought the realms below;\n Charm'd into life unreal forms respir'd,\n And list'ning shades the dulcet notes admir'd.--\n\n \"LOVE led the Sage through Death's tremendous porch,\n Cheer'd with his smile, and lighted with his torch;-- 190\n Hell's triple Dog his playful jaws expands,\n Fawns round the GOD, and licks his baby hands;\n In wondering groups the shadowy nations throng,\n And sigh or simper, as he steps along;\n Sad swains, and nymphs forlorn, on Lethe's brink,\n Hug their past sorrows, and refuse to drink;\n Night's dazzled Empress feels the golden flame\n Play round her breast, and melt her frozen frame;\n Charms with soft words, and sooths with amorous wiles,\n Her iron-hearted Lord,--and PLUTO smiles.-- 200\n His trembling Bride the Bard triumphant led\n From the pale mansions of the astonish'd dead;\n Gave the fair phantom to admiring light,--\n Ah, soon again to tread irremeable night!\"\n\n [Footnote: _Love led the Sage_, l. 189. This description is\n taken from the figures on the Barbarini, or Portland Vase,\n where Eros, or Divine Love, with his torch precedes the manes\n through the gates of Death, and reverting his smiling\n countenance invites him into the Elysian fields.]\n\n [Footnote: _Fawns round the God_, l. 192. This idea is copied\n from a painting of the descent of Orpheus, by a celebrated\n Parisian artist.]\n\n IV. HER snow-white arm, indulgent to my song,\n Waves the fair Hierophant, and moves along.--\n High plumes, that bending shade her amber hair,\n Nod, as she steps, their silver leaves in air;\n Bright chains of pearl, with golden buckles brac'd,\n Clasp her white neck, and zone her slender waist; 210\n Thin folds of silk in soft meanders wind\n Down her fine form, and undulate behind;\n The purple border, on the pavement roll'd,\n Swells in the gale, and spreads its fringe of gold.\n\n \"FIRST, if you can, celestial Guide! disclose\n From what fair fountain mortal life arose,\n Whence the fine nerve to move and feel assign'd,\n Contractile fibre, and ethereal mind:\n\n \"How Love and Sympathy the bosom warm,\n Allure with pleasure, and with pain alarm, 220\n With soft affections weave the social plan,\n And charm the listening Savage into Man.\"\n\n \"GOD THE FIRST CAUSE!--in this terrene abode\n Young Nature lisps, she is the child of GOD.\n From embryon births her changeful forms improve,\n Grow, as they live, and strengthen as they move.\n\n [Footnote: _God the first cause_, l. 223.\n\n A Jove principium, musae! Jovis omnia plena.\n VIRGIL.\n\n In him we live, and move, and have our being.\n ST. PAUL.]\n\n [Footnote: _Young Nature lisps_, l. 224. The perpetual\n production and increase of the strata of limestone from the\n shells of aquatic animals; and of all those incumbent on them\n from the recrements of vegetables and of terrestrial animals,\n are now well understood from our improved knowledge of\n geology; and show, that the solid parts of the globe are\n gradually enlarging, and consequently that it is young; as\n the fluid parts are not yet all converted into solid ones.\n Add to this, that some parts of the earth and its inhabitants\n appear younger than others; thus the greater height of the\n mountains of America seems to show that continent to be less\n ancient than Europe, Asia, and Africa; as their summits have\n been less washed away, and the wild animals of America, as\n the tigers and crocodiles, are said to be less perfect in\n respect to their size and strength; which would show them to\n be still in a state of infancy, or of progressive\n improvement. Lastly, the progress of mankind in arts and\n sciences, which continues slowly to extend, and to increase,\n seems to evince the youth of human society; whilst the\n unchanging state of the societies of some insects, as of the\n bee, wasp, and ant, which is usually ascribed to instinct,\n seems to evince the longer existence, and greater maturity of\n those societies. The juvenility of the earth shows, that it\n has had a beginning or birth, and is a strong natural\n argument evincing the existence of a cause of its production,\n that is of the Deity.]\n\n \"Ere Time began, from flaming Chaos hurl'd\n Rose the bright spheres, which form the circling world;\n Earths from each sun with quick explosions burst,\n And second planets issued from the first. 230\n Then, whilst the sea at their coeval birth,\n Surge over surge, involv'd the shoreless earth;\n Nurs'd by warm sun-beams in primeval caves\n Organic Life began beneath the waves.\n\n [Footnote: _Earths from each sun_, l. 229. See Botan. Garden,\n Vol. I. Cant. I. l. 107.]\n\n \"First HEAT from chemic dissolution springs,\n And gives to matter its eccentric wings;\n With strong REPULSION parts the exploding mass,\n Melts into lymph, or kindles into gas.\n ATTRACTION next, as earth or air subsides,\n The ponderous atoms from the light divides, 240\n Approaching parts with quick embrace combines,\n Swells into spheres, and lengthens into lines.\n Last, as fine goads the gluten-threads excite,\n Cords grapple cords, and webs with webs unite;\n And quick CONTRACTION with ethereal flame\n Lights into life the fibre-woven frame.--\n Hence without parent by spontaneous birth\n Rise the first specks of animated earth;\n From Nature's womb the plant or insect swims,\n And buds or breathes, with microscopic limbs. 250\n\n [Footnote: _First Heat from chemic_, l. 235. The matter of\n heat is an ethereal fluid, in which all things are immersed,\n and which constitutes the general power of repulsion; as\n appears in explosions which are produced by the sudden\n evolution of combined heat, and by the expansion of all\n bodies by the slower diffusion of it in its uncombined state.\n Without heat all the matter of the world would be condensed\n into a point by the power of attraction; and neither fluidity\n nor life could exist. There are also particular powers of\n repulsion, as those of magnetism and electricity, and of\n chemistry, such as oil and water; which last may be as\n numerous as the particular attractions which constitute\n chemical affinities; and may both of them exist as\n atmospheres round the individual particles of matter; see\n Botanic Garden, Vol. I. additional note VII. on elementary\n heat.]\n\n [Footnote: _Attraction next_, l. 239. The power of attraction\n may be divided into general attraction, which is called\n gravity; and into particular attraction, which is termed\n chemical affinity. As nothing can act where it does not\n exist, the power of gravity must be conceived as extending\n from the sun to the planets, occupying that immense space;\n and may therefore be considered as an ethereal fluid, though\n not cognizable by our senses like heat, light, and\n electricity.\n\n Particular attraction, or chemical affinity, must likewise\n occupy the spaces between the particles of matter which they\n cause to approach each other. The power of gravity may\n therefore be called the general attractive ether, and the\n matter of heat may be called the general repulsive ether;\n which constitute the two great agents in the changes of\n inanimate matter.]\n\n [Footnote: _And quick Contraction_, l. 245. The power of\n contraction, which exists in organized bodies, and\n distinguishes life from inanimation, appears to consist of an\n ethereal fluid which resides in the brain and nerves of\n living bodies, and is expended in the act of shortening their\n fibres. The attractive and repulsive ethers require only the\n vicinity of bodies for the exertion of their activity, but\n the contractive ether requires at first the contact of a goad\n or stimulus, which appears to draw it off from the\n contracting fibre, and to excite the sensorial power of\n irritation. These contractions of animal fibres are\n afterwards excited or repeated by the sensorial powers of\n sensation, volition, or association, as explained at large in\n Zoonomia, Vol. I.\n\n There seems nothing more wonderful in the ether of\n contraction producing the shortening of a fibre, than in the\n ether of attraction causing two bodies to approach each\n other. The former indeed seems in some measure to resemble\n the latter, as it probably occasions the minute particles of\n the fibre to approach into absolute or adhesive contact, by\n withdrawing from them their repulsive atmospheres; whereas\n the latter seems only to cause particles of matter to\n approach into what is popularly called contact, like the\n particles of fluids; but which are only in the vicinity of\n each other, and still retain their repulsive atmospheres, as\n may be seen in riding through shallow water by the number of\n minute globules of it thrown up by the horses feet, which\n roll far on its surface; and by the difficulty with which\n small globules of mercury poured on the surface of a quantity\n of it can be made to unite with it.]\n\n [Footnote: _Spontaneous birth_, l. 247. See additional Note,\n No. I.]\n\n \"IN earth, sea, air, around, below, above,\n Life's subtle woof in Nature's loom is wove;\n Points glued to points a living line extends,\n Touch'd by some goad approach the bending ends;\n Rings join to rings, and irritated tubes\n Clasp with young lips the nutrient globes or cubes;\n And urged by appetencies new select,\n Imbibe, retain, digest, secrete, eject.\n In branching cones the living web expands,\n Lymphatic ducts, and convoluted glands; 260\n Aortal tubes propel the nascent blood,\n And lengthening veins absorb the refluent flood;\n Leaves, lungs, and gills, the vital ether breathe\n On earth's green surface, or the waves beneath.\n So Life's first powers arrest the winds and floods,\n To bones convert them, or to shells, or woods;\n Stretch the vast beds of argil, lime, and sand,\n And from diminish'd oceans form the land!\n\n [Footnote: _In branching cones_, l. 259. The whole branch of\n an artery or vein may be considered as a cone, though each\n distinct division of it is a cylinder. It is probable that\n the amount of the areas of all the small branches from one\n trunk may equal that of the trunk, otherwise the velocity of\n the blood would be greater in some parts than in others,\n which probably only exists when a part is compressed or\n inflamed.]\n\n [Footnote: _Absorb the refluent flood_, l. 262. The force of\n the arterial impulse appears to cease, after having propelled\n the blood through the capillary vessels; whence the venous\n circulation is owing to the extremities of the veins\n absorbing the blood, as those of the lymphatics absorb the\n fluids. The great force of absorption is well elucidated by\n Dr. Hales's experiment on the rise of the sap-juice in a\n vine-stump; see Zoonomia, Vol. I. Sect. XXIII.]\n\n [Footnote: _And from diminish'd oceans_, l. 268. The increase\n of the solid parts of the globe by the recrements of organic\n bodies, as limestone rocks from shells and bones, and the\n beds of clay, marl, coals, from decomposed woods, is now well\n known to those who have attended to modern geology; and Dr.\n Halley, and others, have endeavoured to show, with great\n probability, that the ocean has decreased in quantity during\n the short time which human history has existed. Whence it\n appears, that the exertions of vegetable and animal life\n convert the fluid parts of the globe into solid ones; which\n is probably effected by combining the matter of heat with the\n other elements, instead of suffering it to remain simply\n diffused amongst them, which is a curious conjecture, and\n deserves further investigation.]\n\n \"Next the long nerves unite their silver train,\n And young SENSATION permeates the brain; 270\n Through each new sense the keen emotions dart,\n Flush the young cheek, and swell the throbbing heart.\n From pain and pleasure quick VOLITIONS rise,\n Lift the strong arm, or point the inquiring eyes;\n With Reason's light bewilder'd Man direct,\n And right and wrong with balance nice detect.\n Last in thick swarms ASSOCIATIONS spring,\n Thoughts join to thoughts, to motions motions cling;\n Whence in long trains of catenation flow\n Imagined joy, and voluntary woe. 280\n\n [Footnote: _And young Sensation_, l. 270. Both sensation and\n volition consist in an affection of the central part of the\n sensorium, or of the whole of it; and hence cannot exist till\n the nerves are united in the brain. The motions of a limb of\n any animal cut from the body, are therefore owing to\n irritation, not to sensation or to volition. For the\n definitions of irritation, sensation, volition, and\n association, see additional Note II.]\n\n \"So, view'd through crystal spheres in drops saline,\n Quick-shooting salts in chemic forms combine;\n Or Mucor-stems, a vegetative tribe,\n Spread their fine roots, the tremulous wave imbibe.\n Next to our wondering eyes the focus brings\n Self-moving lines, and animated rings;\n First Monas moves, an unconnected point,\n Plays round the drop without a limb or joint;\n Then Vibrio waves, with capillary eels,\n And Vorticella whirls her living wheels; 290\n While insect Proteus sports with changeful form\n Through the bright tide, a globe, a cube, a worm.\n Last o'er the field the Mite enormous swims,\n Swells his red heart, and writhes his giant limbs.\n\n [Footnote: _Or Mucor-stems_, l. 283. Mucor or mould in its\n early state is properly a microscopic vegetable, and is\n spontaneously produced on the scum of all decomposing organic\n matter. The Monas is a moving speck, the Vibrio an undulating\n wire, the Proteus perpetually changes its shape, and the\n Vorticella has wheels about its mouth, with which it makes an\n eddy, and is supposed thus to draw into its throat invisible\n animalcules. These names are from Linneus and Muller; see\n Appendix to Additional Note I.]\n\n V. \"ORGANIC LIFE beneath the shoreless waves\n Was born and nurs'd in Ocean's pearly caves;\n First forms minute, unseen by spheric glass,\n Move on the mud, or pierce the watery mass;\n These, as successive generations bloom,\n New powers acquire, and larger limbs assume; 300\n Whence countless groups of vegetation spring,\n And breathing realms of fin, and feet, and wing.\n\n [Footnote: _Beneath the shoreless waves_, l. 295. The earth\n was originally covered with water, as appears from some of\n its highest mountains, consisting of shells cemented together\n by a solution of part of them, as the limestone rocks of the\n Alps; Ferber's Travels. It must be therefore concluded, that\n animal life began beneath the sea.\n\n Nor is this unanalogous to what still occurs, as all\n quadrupeds and mankind in their embryon state are aquatic\n animals; and thus may be said to resemble gnats and frogs.\n The fetus in the uterus has an organ called the placenta, the\n fine extremities of the vessels of which permeate the\n arteries of the uterus, and the blood of the fetus becomes\n thus oxygenated from the passing stream of the maternal\n arterial blood; exactly as is done by the gills of fish from\n the stream of water, which they occasion to pass through\n them.\n\n But the chicken in the egg possesses a kind of aerial\n respiration, since the extremities of its placental vessels\n terminate on a membranous bag, which contains air, at the\n broad end of the egg; and in this the chick in the egg\n differs from the fetus in the womb, as there is in the egg no\n circulating maternal blood for the insertion of the\n extremities of its respiratory vessels, and in this also I\n suspect that the eggs of birds differ from the spawn of fish;\n which latter is immersed in water, and which has probably the\n extremities of its respiratory organ inserted into the soft\n membrane which covers it, and is in contact with the water.]\n\n [Footnote: _First forms minute_, l. 297. See Additional Note\n I. on Spontaneous Vitality.]\n\n \"Thus the tall Oak, the giant of the wood,\n Which bears Britannia's thunders on the flood;\n The Whale, unmeasured monster of the main,\n The lordly Lion, monarch of the plain,\n The Eagle soaring in the realms of air,\n Whose eye undazzled drinks the solar glare,\n Imperious man, who rules the bestial crowd,\n Of language, reason, and reflection proud, 310\n With brow erect who scorns this earthy sod,\n And styles himself the image of his God;\n Arose from rudiments of form and sense,\n An embryon point, or microscopic ens!\n\n \"Now in vast shoals beneath the brineless tide,\n On earth's firm crust testaceous tribes reside;\n Age after age expands the peopled plain,\n The tenants perish, but their cells remain;\n Whence coral walls and sparry hills ascend\n From pole to pole, and round the line extend. 320\n\n [Footnote: _An embryon point_, l. 314. The arguments showing\n that all vegetables and animals arose from such a small\n beginning, as a living point or living fibre, are detailed in\n Zoonomia, Sect. XXXIX. 4. 8. on Generation.]\n\n [Footnote: _Brineless tide_, l. 315. As the salt of the sea\n has been gradually accumulating, being washed down into it\n from the recrements of animal and vegetable bodies, the sea\n must originally have been as fresh as river water; and as it\n is not saturated with salt, must become annually saline. The\n sea-water about our island contains at this time from about\n one twenty-eighth to one thirtieth part of sea salt, and\n about one eightieth of magnesian salt; Brownrigg on Salt.]\n\n [Footnote: _Whence coral walls_, l. 319. An account of the\n structure of the earth is given in Botanic Garden, Vol. I.\n Additional Notes, XVI. XVIII. XIX. XX. XXIII. XXIV.]\n\n \"Next when imprison'd fires in central caves\n Burst the firm earth, and drank the headlong waves;\n And, as new airs with dread explosion swell,\n Form'd lava-isles, and continents of shell;\n Pil'd rocks on rocks, on mountains mountains raised,\n And high in heaven the first volcanoes blazed;\n In countless swarms an insect-myriad moves\n From sea-fan gardens, and from coral groves;\n Leaves the cold caverns of the deep, and creeps\n On shelving shores, or climbs on rocky steeps. 330\n As in dry air the sea-born stranger roves,\n Each muscle quickens, and each sense improves;\n Cold gills aquatic form respiring lungs,\n And sounds aerial flow from slimy tongues.\n\n [Footnote: _Drunk the headlong waves_, l. 322. See Additional\n Note III.]\n\n [Footnote: _An insect-myriad moves_, l. 327. After islands or\n continents were raised above the primeval ocean, great\n numbers of the most simple animals would attempt to seek food\n at the edges or shores of the new land, and might thence\n gradually become amphibious; as is now seen in the frog, who\n changes from an aquatic animal to an amphibious one; and in\n the gnat, which changes from a natant to a volant state.\n\n At the same time new microscopic animalcules would\n immediately commence wherever there was warmth and moisture,\n and some organic matter, that might induce putridity. Those\n situated on dry land, and immersed in dry air, may gradually\n acquire new powers to preserve their existence; and by\n innumerable successive reproductions for some thousands, or\n perhaps millions of ages, may at length have produced many of\n the vegetable and animal inhabitants which now people the\n earth.\n\n As innumerable shell-fish must have existed a long time\n beneath the ocean, before the calcareous mountains were\n produced and elevated; it is also probable, that many of the\n insect tribes, or less complicate animals, existed long\n before the quadrupeds or more complicate ones, which in some\n measure accords with the theory of Linneus in respect to the\n vegetable world; who thinks, that all the plants now extant\n arose from the conjunction and reproduction of about sixty\n different vegetables, from which he constitutes his natural\n orders.\n\n As the blood of animals in the air becomes more oxygenated in\n their lungs, than that of animals in water by their gills; it\n becomes of a more scarlet colour, and from its greater\n stimulus the sensorium seems to produce quicker motions and\n finer sensations; and as water is a much better vehicle for\n vibrations or sounds than air, the fish, even when dying in\n pain, are mute in the atmosphere, though it is probable that\n in the water they may utter sounds to be heard at a\n considerable distance. See on this subject, Botanic Garden,\n Vol. I. Canto IV. l. 176, Note.]\n\n \"So Trapa rooted in pellucid tides,\n In countless threads her breathing leaves divides,\n Waves her bright tresses in the watery mass,\n And drinks with gelid gills the vital gas;\n Then broader leaves in shadowy files advance,\n Spread o'er the crystal flood their green expanse; 340\n And, as in air the adherent dew exhales,\n Court the warm sun, and breathe ethereal gales.\n\n [Footnote: _So Trapa rooted_, l. 335. The lower leaves of\n this plant grow under water, and are divided into minute\n capillary ramifications; while the upper leaves are broad and\n round, and have air bladders in their footstalks to support\n them above the surface of the water. As the aerial leaves of\n vegetables do the office of lungs, by exposing a large\n surface of vessels with their contained fluids to the\n influence of the air; so these aquatic leaves answer a\n similar purpose like the gills of fish, and perhaps gain from\n water a similar material. As the material thus necessary to\n life seems to be more easily acquired from air than from\n water, the subaquatic leaves of this plant and of sisymbrium,\n oenanthe, ranunculus aquatilis, water crow-foot, and some\n others, are cut into fine divisions to increase the surface,\n whilst those above water are undivided; see Botanic Garden,\n Vol. II. Canto IV. l. 204. Note.\n\n Few of the water plants of this country are used for\n economical purposes, but the ranunculus fluviatilis may be\n worth cultivation; as on the borders of the river Avon, near\n Ringwood, the cottagers cut this plant every morning in\n boats, almost all the year round, to feed their cows, which\n appear in good condition, and give a due quantity of milk;\n see a paper from Dr. Pultney in the Transactions of the\n Linnean Society, Vol. V.]\n\n \"So still the Tadpole cleaves the watery vale\n With balanc'd fins, and undulating tail;\n New lungs and limbs proclaim his second birth,\n Breathe the dry air, and bound upon the earth.\n So from deep lakes the dread Musquito springs,\n Drinks the soft breeze, and dries his tender wings,\n In twinkling squadrons cuts his airy way,\n Dips his red trunk in blood, and man his prey. 350\n\n [Footnote: _So still the Tadpole_, l. 343. The transformation\n of the tadpole from an aquatic animal into an aerial one is\n abundantly curious, when first it is hatched from the spawn\n by the warmth of the season, it resembles a fish; it\n afterwards puts forth legs, and resembles a lizard; and\n finally losing its tail, and acquiring lungs instead of\n gills, becomes an aerial quadruped.\n\n The rana temporaria of Linneus lives in the water in spring,\n and on the land in summer, and catches flies. Of the rana\n paradoxa the larva or tadpole is as large as the frog, and\n dwells in Surinam, whence the mistake of Merian and of Seba,\n who call it a frog fish. The esculent frog is green, with\n three yellow lines from the mouth to the anus; the back\n transversely gibbous, the hinder feet palmated; its more\n frequent croaking in the evenings is said to foretell rain.\n Linnei Syst. Nat. Art. rana.\n\n Linneus asserts in his introduction to the class Amphibia,\n that frogs are so nearly allied to lizards, lizards to\n serpents, and serpents to fish, that the boundaries of these\n orders can scarcely be ascertained.]\n\n [Footnote: _The dread Musquito springs_, l. 347. See\n Additional Note IV.]\n\n \"So still the Diodons, amphibious tribe,\n With two-fold lungs the sea or air imbibe;\n Allied to fish, the lizard cleaves the flood\n With one-cell'd heart, and dark frigescent blood;\n Half-reasoning Beavers long-unbreathing dart\n Through Erie's waves with perforated heart;\n With gills and lungs respiring Lampreys steer,\n Kiss the rude rocks, and suck till they adhere;\n The lazy Remora's inhaling lips,\n Hung on the keel, retard the struggling ships; 360\n With gills pulmonic breathes the enormous Whale,\n And spouts aquatic columns to the gale;\n Sports on the shining wave at noontide hours,\n And shifting rainbows crest the rising showers.\n\n [Footnote: _So still the Diodon_, l. 351. See Additional Note\n V.]\n\n [Footnote: _At noontide hours_, l. 363. The rainbows in our\n latitude are only seen in the mornings or evenings, when the\n sun is not much more than forty-two degrees high. In the more\n northern latitudes, where the meridian sun is not more than\n forty-two degrees high, they are also visible at noon.]\n\n \"So erst, ere rose the science to record\n In letter'd syllables the volant word;\n Whence chemic arts, disclosed in pictured lines,\n Liv'd to mankind by hieroglyphic signs;\n And clustering stars, pourtray'd on mimic spheres,\n Assumed the forms of lions, bulls, and bears; 370\n --So erst, as Egypt's rude designs explain,\n Rose young DIONE from the shoreless main;\n Type of organic Nature! source of bliss!\n Emerging Beauty from the vast abyss!\n Sublime on Chaos borne, the Goddess stood,\n And smiled enchantment on the troubled flood;\n The warring elements to peace restored,\n And young Reflection wondered and adored.\"\n\n [Footnote: _As Egypt's rude design_, l. 371. See Additional\n Note VI.]\n\n [Footnote: _Rose young Dione_, l. 372. The hieroglyphic\n figure of Venus rising from the sea supported on a shell by\n two tritons, as well as that of Hercules armed with a club,\n appear to be remains of the most remote antiquity. As the\n former is devoid of grace, and of the pictorial art of\n design, as one half of the group exactly resembles the other;\n and as that of Hercules is armed with a club, which was the\n first weapon.\n\n The Venus seems to have represented the beauty of organic\n Nature rising from the sea, and afterwards became simply an\n emblem of ideal beauty; while the figure of Adonis was\n probably designed to represent the more abstracted idea of\n life or animation. Some of these hieroglyphic designs seem to\n evince the profound investigations in science of the Egyptian\n philosophers, and to have outlived all written language; and\n still constitute the symbols, by which painters and poets\n give form and animation to abstracted ideas, as to those of\n strength and beauty in the above instances.]\n\n Now paused the Nymph,--The Muse responsive cries,\n Sweet admiration sparkling in her eyes, 380\n \"Drawn by your pencil, by your hand unfurl'd,\n Bright shines the tablet of the dawning world;\n Amazed the Sea's prolific depths I view,\n And VENUS rising from the waves in YOU!\n\n \"Still Nature's births enclosed in egg or seed\n From the tall forest to the lowly weed,\n Her beaux and beauties, butterflies and worms,\n Rise from aquatic to aerial forms.\n Thus in the womb the nascent infant laves\n Its natant form in the circumfluent waves; 390\n With perforated heart unbreathing swims,\n Awakes and stretches all its recent limbs;\n With gills placental seeks the arterial flood,\n And drinks pure ether from its Mother's blood.\n Erewhile the landed Stranger bursts his way,\n From the warm wave emerging into day;\n Feels the chill blast, and piercing light, and tries\n His tender lungs, and rolls his dazzled eyes;\n Gives to the passing gale his curling hair,\n And steps a dry inhabitant of air. 400\n\n [Footnote: _Awakes and stretches_, l. 392. During the first\n six months of gestation, the embryon probably sleeps, as it\n seems to have no use for voluntary power; it then seems to\n awake, and to stretch its limbs, and change its posture in\n some degree, which is termed quickening.]\n\n [Footnote: _With gills placental_, l. 393. The placenta\n adheres to any side of the uterus in natural gestation, or of\n any other cavity in extra-uterine gestation; the extremities\n of its arteries and veins probably permeate the arteries of\n the mother, and absorb from thence through their fine coats\n the oxygen of the mother's blood; hence when the placenta is\n withdrawn, the side of the uterus, where it adhered, bleeds;\n but not the extremities of its own vessels.]\n\n [Footnote: _His dazzled eyes_, l. 398. Though the membrana\n pupillaris described by modern anatomists guards the tender\n retina from too much light; the young infant nevertheless\n seems to feel the presence of it by its frequently moving its\n eyes, before it can distinguish common objects.]\n\n \"Creative Nile, as taught in ancient song,\n So charm'd to life his animated throng;\n O'er his wide realms the slow-subsiding flood\n Left the rich treasures of organic mud;\n While with quick growth young Vegetation yields\n Her blushing orchards, and her waving fields;\n Pomona's hand replenish'd Plenty's horn,\n And Ceres laugh'd amid her seas of corn.--\n Bird, beast, and reptile, spring from sudden birth,\n Raise their new forms, half-animal, half-earth; 410\n The roaring lion shakes his tawny mane,\n His struggling limbs still rooted in the plain;\n With flapping wings assurgent eagles toil\n To rend their talons from the adhesive soil;\n The impatient serpent lifts his crested head,\n And drags his train unfinish'd from the bed.--\n As Warmth and Moisture blend their magic spells,\n And brood with mingling wings the slimy dells;\n Contractile earths in sentient forms arrange,\n And Life triumphant stays their chemic change.\" 420\n\n [Footnote: _As warmth and moisture_, l. 417.\n\n In eodem corpore saepe\n Altera pars vivit; rudis est pars altera tellus.\n Quippe ubi temperiem sumpsere humorque calorque,\n Concipiunt; & ab his oriuntur, cuncta duobus.\n\n OVID. MET. l. 1. 430.\n\n This story from Ovid of the production of animals from the\n mud of the Nile seems to be of Egyptian origin, and is\n probably a poetical account of the opinions of the magi or\n priests of that country; showing that the simplest animations\n were spontaneously produced like chemical combinations, but\n were distinguished from the latter by their perpetual\n improvement by the power of reproduction, first by solitary,\n and then by sexual generation; whereas the products of\n natural chemistry are only enlarged by accretion, or purified\n by filtration.]\n\n Then hand in hand along the waving glades\n The virgin Sisters pass beneath the shades;\n Ascend the winding steps with pausing march,\n And seek the Portico's susurrant arch;\n Whose sculptur'd architrave on columns borne\n Drinks the first blushes of the rising morn,\n Whose fretted roof an ample shield displays,\n And guards the Beauties from meridian rays.\n While on light step enamour'd Zephyr springs,\n And fans their glowing features with his wings, 430\n Imbibes the fragrance of the vernal flowers,\n And speeds with kisses sweet the dancing Hours.\n\n Urania, leaning with unstudied grace,\n Rests her white elbow on a column's base;\n Awhile reflecting takes her silent stand,\n Her fair cheek press'd upon her lily hand;\n Then, as awaking from ideal trance,\n On the smooth floor her pausing steps advance,\n Waves high her arm, upturns her lucid eyes,\n Marks the wide scenes of ocean, earth, and skies; 440\n And leads, meandering as it rolls along\n Through Nature's walks, the shining stream of Song.\n\n First her sweet voice in plaintive accents chains\n The Muse's ear with fascinating strains;\n Reverts awhile to elemental strife,\n The change of form, and brevity of life;\n Then tells how potent Love with torch sublime\n Relights the glimmering lamp, and conquers Time.\n --The polish'd walls reflect her rosy smiles,\n And sweet-ton'd echoes talk along the ailes. 450\n\n\nEND OF CANTO I.\n\n\n\n\nORIGIN OF SOCIETY.\n\nCANTO II.\n\nREPRODUCTION OF LIFE.\n\n\n\n\nCONTENTS.\n\n\nI. Brevity of Life 1. Reproduction 13. Animals improve 31. Life and\nDeath alternate 37. Adonis emblem of Mortal Life 45. II. Solitary\nreproduction 61. Buds, Bulbs, Polypus 65. Truffle; Buds of trees how\ngenerated 71. Volvox, Polypus, Taenia, Oysters, Corals, are without Sex\n83. Storge goddess of Parental Love; First chain of Society 92. III.\nFemale sex produced 103. Tulip bulbs, Aphis 125. Eve from Adam's rib\n135. IV. Hereditary diseases 159. Grafted trees, bulbous roots\ndegenerate 167. Gout, Mania, Scrofula, Consumption 177. Time and\nNature 185. V. Urania and the Muse lament 205. Cupid and Psyche, the\ndeities of sexual love 221. Speech of Hymen 239. Second chain of\nSociety 250. Young Desire 251. Love and Beauty save the world 257.\nVegetable sexes, Anthers and Stigmas salute 263. Vegetable sexual\ngeneration 271. Anthers of Vallisneria float to the Stigmas 279. Ant,\nLampyris, Glow-Worm, Snail 287. Silk-Worm 293. VI. Demon of Jealousy\n307. Cocks, Quails, Stags, Boars 313. Knights of Romance 327. Helen\nand Paris 333. Connubial love 341. Married Birds, nests of the Linnet\nand Nightingale 343. Lions, Tigers, Bulls, Horses 357. Triumphal car\nof Cupid 361. Fish, Birds, Insects 371. Vegetables 389. March of Hymen\n411. His lamp 419. VII. Urania's advice to her Nymphs 425. Dines with\nthe Muse on forbidden Fruit 435. Angels visit Abraham 447-458.\n\n\n\n\nCANTO II.\n\nREPRODUCTION OF LIFE.\n\n\n I. \"How short the span of LIFE! some hours possess'd,\n Warm but to cool, and active but to rest!--\n The age-worn fibres goaded to contract,\n By repetition palsied, cease to act;\n When Time's cold hands the languid senses seize,\n Chill the dull nerves, the lingering currents freeze;\n Organic matter, unreclaim'd by Life,\n Reverts to elements by chemic strife.\n Thus Heat evolv'd from some fermenting mass\n Expands the kindling atoms into gas; 10\n Which sink ere long in cold concentric rings,\n Condensed, on Gravity's descending wings.\n\n [Footnote: _How short the span of Life_, l. 1. The thinking\n few in all ages have complained of the brevity of life,\n lamenting that mankind are not allowed time sufficient to\n cultivate science, or to improve their intellect. Hippocrates\n introduces his celebrated aphorisms with this idea; \"Life is\n short, science long, opportunities of knowledge rare,\n experiments fallacious, and reasoning difficult.\"--A\n melancholy reflection to philosophers!]\n\n [Footnote: _The age-worn fibres_, l. 3. Why the same kinds of\n food, which enlarge and invigorate the body from infancy to\n the meridian of life, and then nourish it for some years\n unimpaired, should at length gradually cease to do so, and\n the debility of age and death supervene, would be liable to\n surprise us if we were not in the daily habit of observing\n it; and is a circumstance which has not yet been well\n understood.\n\n Before mankind introduced civil society, old age did not\n exist in the world, nor other lingering diseases; as all\n living creatures, as soon as they became too feeble to defend\n themselves, were slain and eaten by others, except the young\n broods, who were defended by their mother; and hence the\n animal world existed uniformly in its greatest strength and\n perfection; see Additional Note VII.]\n\n \"But REPRODUCTION with ethereal fires\n New Life rekindles, ere the first expires;\n Calls up renascent Youth, ere tottering age\n Quits the dull scene, and gives him to the stage;\n Bids on his cheek the rose of beauty blow,\n And binds the wreaths of pleasure round his brow;\n With finer links the vital chain extends,\n And the long line of Being never ends. 20\n\n [Footnote: _But Reproduction_, l. 13. See Additional Note\n VIII.]\n\n \"Self-moving Engines by unbending springs\n May walk on earth, or flap their mimic wings;\n In tubes of glass mercurial columns rise,\n Or sink, obedient to the incumbent skies;\n Or, as they touch the figured scale, repeat\n The nice gradations of circumfluent heat.\n But REPRODUCTION, when the perfect Elf\n Forms from fine glands another like itself,\n Gives the true character of life and sense,\n And parts the organic from the chemic Ens.-- 30\n Where milder skies protect the nascent brood,\n And earth's warm bosom yields salubrious food;\n Each new Descendant with superior powers\n Of sense and motion speeds the transient hours;\n Braves every season, tenants every clime,\n And Nature rises on the wings of Time.\n\n [Footnote: _Unbending springs_, l. 21. See Additional Note I.\n 4.]\n\n \"As LIFE discordant elements arrests,\n Rejects the noxious, and the pure digests;\n Combines with Heat the fluctuating mass,\n And gives a while solidity to gas; 40\n Organic forms with chemic changes strive,\n Live but to die, and die but to revive!\n Immortal matter braves the transient storm,\n Mounts from the wreck, unchanging but in form.--\n\n [Footnote: _Combines with Heat_, l. 39. It was shown in note\n on line 248 of the first Canto, that much of the aerial and\n liquid parts of the terraqueous globe was converted by the\n powers of life into solid matter; and that this was effected\n by the combination of the fluid, heat, with other elementary\n bodies by the appetencies and propensities of the parts of\n living matter to unite with each other. But when these\n appetencies and propensities of the parts of organic matter\n to unite with each other cease, the chemical affinities of\n attraction and the aptitude to be attracted, and of repulsion\n and the aptitude to be repelled, succeed, and reduce much of\n the solid matters back to the condition of elements; which\n seems to be effected by the matter of heat being again set at\n liberty, which was combined with other matters by the powers\n of life; and thus by its diffusion the solid bodies return\n into liquid ones or into gasses, as occurs in the processes\n of fermentation, putrefaction, sublimation, and calcination.\n Whence solidity appears to be produced in consequence of the\n diminution of heat, as the condensation of steam into water,\n and the consolidation of water into ice, or by the\n combination of heat with bodies, as with the materials of\n gunpowder before its explosion.]\n\n [Footnote: _Immortal matter_, l. 43. The perpetual mutability\n of the forms of matter seems to have struck the philosophers\n of great antiquity; the system of transmigration taught by\n Pythagoras, in which the souls of men were supposed after\n death to animate the bodies of a variety of animals, appears\n to have arisen from this source. He had observed the\n perpetual changes of organic matter from one creature to\n another, and concluded, that the vivifying spirit must attend\n it.]\n\n \"So, as the sages of the East record\n In sacred symbol, or unletter'd word;\n Emblem of Life, to change eternal doom'd,\n The beauteous form of fair ADONIS bloom'd.--\n On Syrian hills the graceful Hunter slain\n Dyed with his gushing blood the shuddering plain; 50\n And, slow-descending to the Elysian shade,\n A while with PROSERPINE reluctant stray'd;\n Soon from the yawning grave the bursting clay\n Restor'd the Beauty to delighted day;\n Array'd in youth's resuscitated charms,\n And young DIONE woo'd him to her arms.--\n Pleased for a while the assurgent youth above\n Relights the golden lamp of life and love;\n Ah, soon again to leave the cheerful light,\n And sink alternate to the realms of night. 60\n\n [Footnote: _Emblem of Life_, l. 47. The Egyptian figure of\n Venus rising from the sea seems to have represented the\n Beauty of organic Nature; which the philosophers of that\n country, the magi, appear to have discovered to have been\n elevated by earthquakes from the primeval ocean. But the\n hieroglyphic figure of Adonis seems to have signified the\n spirit of animation or life, which was perpetually wooed or\n courted by organic matter, and which perished and revived\n alternately. Afterwards the fable of Adonis seems to have\n given origin to the first religion promising a resurrection\n from the dead; whence his funeral and return to life were\n celebrated for many ages in Egypt and Syria, the ceremonies\n of which Ezekiel complains as idolatrous, accusing the women\n of Israel of lamenting over Thammus; which St. Cyril\n interprets to be Adonis, in his Commentaries on Isaiah;\n Danet's Diction.]\n\n II. \"HENCE ere Vitality, as time revolves,\n Leaves the cold organ, and the mass dissolves;\n The Reproductions of the living Ens\n From sires to sons, unknown to sex, commence.\n New buds and bulbs the living fibre shoots\n On lengthening branches, and protruding roots;\n Or on the father's side from bursting glands\n The adhering young its nascent form expands;\n In branching lines the parent-trunk adorns,\n And parts ere long like plumage, hairs, or horns. 70\n\n \"So the lone Truffle, lodged beneath the earth,\n Shoots from paternal roots the tuberous birth;\n No stamen-males ascend, and breathe above,\n No seed-born offspring lives by female love.\n From each young tree, for future buds design'd\n Organic drops exsude beneath the rind;\n While these with appetencies nice invite,\n And those with apt propensities unite;\n New embryon fibrils round the trunk combine\n With quick embrace, and form the living line: 80\n Whose plume and rootlet at their early birth\n Seek the dry air, or pierce the humid earth.\n\n [Footnote: _So the lone Truffle_, l. 71. Lycoperdon tuber.\n This plant never rises above the earth, is propagated without\n seed by its roots only, and seems to require no light.\n Perhaps many other fungi are generated without seed by their\n roots only, and without light, and approach on the last\n account to animal nature.]\n\n [Footnote: _While these with appetencies_, l. 77. See\n Additional Note VIII.]\n\n \"So safe in waves prolific Volvox dwells,\n And five descendants crowd his lucid cells;\n So the male Polypus parental swims,\n And branching infants bristle all his limbs;\n So the lone Taenia, as he grows, prolongs\n His flatten'd form with young adherent throngs;\n Unknown to sex the pregnant oyster swells,\n And coral-insects build their radiate shells; 90\n Parturient Sires caress their infant train,\n And heaven-born STORGE weaves the social chain;\n Successive births her tender cares combine,\n And soft affections live along the line.\n\n [Footnote: _Prolific Volvox_, l. 83. The volvox globator\n dwells in the lakes of Europe, is transparent, and bears\n within it children and grandchildren to the fifth generation;\n Syst. Nat.]\n\n [Footnote: _The male polypus_, l. 85. The Hydra viridis and\n fusca of Linneus dwell in our ditches and rivers under\n aquatic plants; these animals have been shown by ingenious\n observers to revive after having been dried, to be restored\n when mutilated, to be multiplied by dividing them, and\n propagated from portions of them, parts of different ones to\n unite, to be turned inside outwards and yet live, and to be\n propagated by seeds, to produce bulbs, and vegetate by\n branches. Syst. Nat.]\n\n [Footnote: _The lone Taenia_, l. 87. The tape-worm dwells in\n the intestines of animals, and grows old at one extremity,\n producing an infinite series of young ones at the other; the\n separate joints have been called Gourd-worms, each of which\n possesses a mouth of its own, and organs of digestion. Syst.\n Nat.]\n\n [Footnote: _The pregnant oyster_, l. 89. Ostrea edulis dwells\n in the European oceans, frequent at the tables of the\n luxurious, a living repast! New-born oysters swim swiftly by\n an undulating movement of fins thrust out a little way from\n their shells. Syst. Nat. But they do not afterwards change\n their place during their whole lives, and are capable of no\n other movement but that of opening the shell a little way:\n whence Professor Beckman observes, that their offspring is\n probably produced without maternal organs; and that those,\n who speak of male and female oysters, must be mistaken: Phil.\n Magaz. March 1800. It is also observed by H. I. le Beck, that\n on nice inspection of the Pearl oysters in the gulf of Manar,\n he could observe no distinction of sexes. Nicholson's\n Journal. April 1800.]\n\n [Footnote: _And coral insects_, l. 90. The coral habitation\n of the Madrepora of Linneus consists of one or more star-like\n cells; a congeries of which form rocks beneath the sea; the\n animal which constructs it is termed Medusa; and as it\n adheres to its calcareous cavity, and thence cannot travel to\n its neighbours, is probably without sex. I observed great\n masses of the limestone in Shropshire, which is brought to\n Newport, to consist of the cells of these animals.]\n\n [Footnote: _And heaven-born Storge_, l. 92. See Additional\n Note IX.]\n\n \"On angel-wings the GODDESS FORM descends,\n Round her fond broods her silver arms she bends;\n White streams of milk her tumid bosom swell,\n And on her lips ambrosial kisses dwell.\n Light joys on twinkling feet before her dance\n With playful nod, and momentary glance; 100\n Behind, attendant on the pansied plain,\n Young PSYCHE treads with CUPID in her train.\n\n III. \"IN these lone births no tender mothers blend\n Their genial powers to nourish or defend;\n No nutrient streams from Beauty's orbs improve\n These orphan babes of solitary love;\n Birth after birth the line unchanging runs,\n And fathers live transmitted in their sons;\n Each passing year beholds the unvarying kinds,\n The same their manners, and the same their minds. 110\n Till, as erelong successive buds decay,\n And insect-shoals successive pass away,\n Increasing wants the pregnant parents vex\n With the fond wish to form a softer sex;\n Whose milky rills with pure ambrosial food\n Might charm and cherish their expected brood.\n The potent wish in the productive hour\n Calls to its aid Imagination's power,\n O'er embryon throngs with mystic charm presides,\n And sex from sex the nascent world divides, 120\n With soft affections warms the callow trains,\n And gives to laughing Love his nymphs and swains;\n Whose mingling virtues interweave at length\n The mother's beauty with the father's strength.\n\n [Footnote: _A softer sex_, l. 114. The first buds of trees\n raised from seed die annually, and are succeeded by new buds\n by solitary reproduction; which are larger or more perfect\n for several successive years, and then they produce sexual\n flowers, which are succeeded by seminal reproduction. The\n same occurs in bulbous rooted plants raised from seed; they\n die annually, and produce others rather more perfect than the\n parent for several years, and then produce sexual flowers.\n The Aphis is in a similar manner hatched from an egg in the\n vernal months, and produces a viviparous offspring without\n sexual intercourse for nine or ten successive generations;\n and then the progeny is both male and female, which cohabit,\n and from these new females are produced eggs, which endure\n the winter; the same process probably occurs in many other\n insects.]\n\n [Footnote: _Imagination's power_, l. 118. The manner in which\n the similarity of the progeny to the parent, and the sex of\n it, are produced by the power of imagination, is treated of\n in Zoonomia. Sect. 39. 6. 3. It is not to be understood, that\n the first living fibres, which are to form an animal, are\n produced by imagination, with any similarity of form to the\n future animal; but with appetencies or propensities, which\n shall produce by accretion of parts the similarity of form\n and feature, or of sex, corresponding with the imagination of\n the father.]\n\n [Footnote: _His nymphs and swains_, l. 122. The arguments\n which have been adduced to show, that mankind and quadrupeds\n were formerly in an hermaphrodite state, are first deduced\n from the present existence of breasts and nipples in all the\n males; which latter swell on titillation like those of the\n females, and which are said to contain a milky fluid at their\n birth; and it is affirmed, that some men have given milk to\n their children in desert countries, where the mother has\n perished; as the male pigeon is said to give a kind of milk\n from his stomach along with the regurgitated food, to the\n young doves, as mentioned in Additional Note IX. on Storge.\n\n Secondly, from the apparent progress of many animals to\n greater perfection, as in some insects, as the flies with two\n wings, termed Diptera; which have rudiments of two other\n wings, called halteres, or poisers; and in many flowers which\n have rudiments of new stamina, or filaments without anthers\n on them. See Botanic Garden, Vol. II. Curcuma, Note, and the\n Note on l. 204 of Canto I. of this work. It has been supposed\n by some, that mankind were formerly quadrupeds as well as\n hermaphrodites; and that some parts of the body are not yet\n so convenient to an erect attitude as to a horizontal one; as\n the fundus of the bladder in an erect posture is not exactly\n over the insertion of the urethra; whence it is seldom\n completely evacuated, and thus renders mankind more subject\n to the stone, than if he had preserved his horizontality:\n these philosophers, with Buffon and Helvetius, seem to\n imagine, that mankind arose from one family of monkeys on the\n banks of the Mediterranean; who accidentally had learned to\n use the adductor pollicis, or that strong muscle which\n constitutes the ball of the thumb, and draws the point of it\n to meet the points of the fingers; which common monkeys do\n not; and that this muscle gradually increased in size,\n strength, and activity, in successive generations; and by\n this improved use of the sense of touch, that monkeys\n acquired clear ideas, and gradually became men.\n\n Perhaps all the productions of nature are in their progress\n to greater perfection! an idea countenanced by modern\n discoveries and deductions concerning the progressive\n formation of the solid parts of the terraqueous globe, and\n consonant to the dignity of the Creator of all things.]\n\n \"So tulip-bulbs emerging from the seed,\n Year after year unknown to sex proceed;\n Erewhile the stamens and the styles display\n Their petal-curtains, and adorn the day;\n The beaux and beauties in each blossom glow\n With wedded joy, or amatorial woe. 130\n Unmarried Aphides prolific prove\n For nine successions uninform'd of love;\n New sexes next with softer passions spring,\n Breathe the fond vow, and woo with quivering wing.\n\n \"So erst in Paradise creation's LORD,\n As the first leaves of holy writ record,\n From Adam's rib, who press'd the flowery grove,\n And dreamt delighted of untasted love,\n To cheer and charm his solitary mind,\n Form'd a new sex, the MOTHER OF MANKIND. 140\n --Buoy'd on light step the Beauty seem'd to swim,\n And stretch'd alternate every pliant limb;\n Pleased on Euphrates' velvet margin stood,\n And view'd her playful image in the flood;\n Own'd the fine flame of love, as life began,\n And smiled enchantment on adoring Man.\n Down her white neck and o'er her bosom roll'd,\n Flow'd in sweet negligence her locks of gold;\n Round her fine form the dim transparence play'd,\n And show'd the beauties, that it seem'd to shade. 150\n --Enamour'd ADAM gaz'd with fond surprise,\n And drank delicious passion from her eyes;\n Felt the new thrill of young Desire, and press'd\n The graceful Virgin to his glowing breast.--\n The conscious Fair betrays her soft alarms,\n Sinks with warm blush into his closing arms,\n Yields to his fond caress with wanton play,\n And sweet, reluctant, amorous, delay.\n\n [Footnote: _The mother of mankind_, l. 140. See Additional\n Note X.]\n\n IV. \"WHERE no new Sex with glands nutritious feeds,\n Nurs'd in her womb, the solitary breeds; 160\n No Mother's care their early steps directs,\n Warms in her bosom, with her wings protects;\n The clime unkind, or noxious food instills\n To embryon nerves hereditary ills;\n The feeble births acquired diseases chase,\n Till Death extinguish the degenerate race.\n\n [Footnote: _Acquired diseases_, l. 165. See Additional Note\n XI.]\n\n \"So grafted trees with shadowy summits rise,\n Spread their fair blossoms, and perfume the skies;\n Till canker taints the vegetable blood,\n Mines round the bark, and feeds upon the wood. 170\n So, years successive, from perennial roots\n The wire or bulb with lessen'd vigour shoots;\n Till curled leaves, or barren flowers, betray\n A waning lineage, verging to decay;\n Or till, amended by connubial powers,\n Rise seedling progenies from sexual flowers.\n\n [Footnote: _So grafted trees_, l. 167. Mr. Knight first\n observed that those apple and pear trees, which had been\n propagated for above a century by ingraftment were now so\n unhealthy, as not to be worth cultivation. I have suspected\n the diseases of potatoes attended with the curled leaf, and\n of strawberry plants attended with barren flowers, to be\n owing to their having been too long raised from roots, or by\n solitary reproduction, and not from seeds, or sexual\n reproduction, and to have thence acquired those hereditary\n diseases.]\n\n \"E'en where unmix'd the breed, in sexual tribes\n Parental taints the nascent babe imbibes;\n Eternal war the Gout and Mania wage\n With fierce uncheck'd hereditary rage; 180\n Sad Beauty's form foul Scrofula surrounds\n With bones distorted, and putrescent wounds;\n And, fell Consumption! thy unerring dart\n Wets its broad wing in Youth's reluctant heart.\n\n [Footnote: _And, fell Consumption_, l. 183.\n\n ... Haeret lateri lethalis arundo.\n VIRGIL.]\n\n \"With pausing step, at night's refulgent noon,\n Beneath the sparkling stars, and lucid moon,\n Plung'd in the shade of some religious tower,\n The slow bell counting the departed hour,\n O'er gaping tombs where shed umbrageous Yews\n On mouldering bones their cold unwholesome dews; 190\n While low aerial voices whisper round,\n And moondrawn spectres dance upon the ground;\n Poetic MELANCHOLY loves to tread,\n And bend in silence o'er the countless Dead;\n Marks with loud sobs infantine Sorrows rave,\n And wring their pale hands o'er their Mother's grave;\n Hears on the new-turn'd sod with gestures wild\n The kneeling Beauty call her buried child;\n Upbraid with timorous accents Heaven's decrees,\n And with sad sighs augment the passing breeze. 200\n 'Stern Time,' She cries, 'receives from Nature's womb\n Her beauteous births, and bears them to the tomb;\n Calls all her sons from earth's remotest bourn,\n And from the closing portals none return!'\n\n V. URANIA paused,--upturn'd her streaming eyes,\n And her white bosom heaved with silent sighs;\n With her the MUSE laments the sum of things,\n And hides her sorrows with her meeting wings;\n Long o'er the wrecks of lovely Life they weep,\n Then pleased reflect, \"to die is but to sleep;\" 210\n From Nature's coffins to her cradles turn,\n Smile with young joy, with new affection burn.\n\n And now the Muse, with mortal woes impress'd,\n Thus the fair Hierophant again address'd.\n --\"Ah me! celestial Guide, thy words impart\n Ills undeserved, that rend the nascent heart!\n O, Goddess, say, if brighter scenes improve\n Air-breathing tribes, and births of sexual love?\"--\n The smiling Fair obeys the inquiring Muse,\n And in sweet tones her grateful task pursues. 220\n\n \"Now on broad pinions from the realms above\n Descending CUPID seeks the Cyprian grove;\n To his wide arms enamour'd PSYCHE springs,\n And clasps her lover with aurelian wings.\n A purple sash across HIS shoulder bends,\n And fringed with gold the quiver'd shafts suspends;\n The bending bow obeys the silken string,\n And, as he steps, the silver arrows ring.\n Thin folds of gauze with dim transparence flow\n O'er HER fair forehead, and her neck of snow; 230\n The winding woof her graceful limbs surrounds,\n Swells in the breeze, and sweeps the velvet grounds;\n As hand in hand along the flowery meads\n His blushing bride the quiver'd hero leads;\n Charm'd round their heads pursuing Zephyrs throng,\n And scatter roses, as they move along;\n Bright beams of Spring in soft effusion play,\n And halcyon Hours invite them on their way.\n\n [Footnote: _Enamoured Psyche_, l. 223. A butterfly was the\n ancient emblem of the soul after death as rising from the\n tomb of its former state, and becoming a winged inhabitant of\n air from an insect creeping upon earth. At length the wings\n only were given to a beautiful nymph under the name of\n Psyche, which is the greek word for the soul, and also became\n afterwards to signify a butterfly probably from the\n popularity of this allegory. Many allegorical designs of\n Cupid or Love warming a butterfly or the Soul with his torch\n may be seen in Spence's Polymetis, and a beautiful one of\n their marriage in Bryant's Mythology; from which this\n description is in part taken.]\n\n \"Delighted HYMEN hears their whisper'd vows,\n And binds his chaplets round their polish'd brows, 240\n Guides to his altar, ties the flowery bands,\n And as they kneel, unites their willing hands.\n 'Behold, he cries, Earth! Ocean! Air above,\n 'And hail the DEITIES OF SEXUAL LOVE!\n 'All forms of Life shall this fond Pair delight,\n 'And sex to sex the willing world unite;\n 'Shed their sweet smiles in Earth's unsocial bowers,\n 'Fan with soft gales, and gild with brighter hours;\n 'Fill Pleasure's chalice unalloy'd with pain,\n 'And give SOCIETY his golden chain.' 250\n\n \"Now young DESIRES, on purple pinions borne,\n Mount the warm gales of Manhood's rising morn;\n With softer fires through virgin bosoms dart,\n Flush the pale cheek, and goad the tender heart.\n Ere the weak powers of transient Life decay,\n And Heaven's ethereal image melts away;\n LOVE with nice touch renews the organic frame,\n Forms a young Ens, another and the same;\n Gives from his rosy lips the vital breath,\n And parries with his hand the shafts of death; 260\n While BEAUTY broods with angel wings unfurl'd\n O'er nascent life, and saves the sinking world.\n\n [Footnote: _While Beauty broods_, l. 261.\n\n Alma Venus! per te quoniam genus omne animantum\n Concipitur, visitque exortum lumina coeli.\n LUCRET.]\n\n \"HENCE on green leaves the sexual Pleasures dwell,\n And Loves and Beauties crowd the blossom's bell;\n The wakeful Anther in his silken bed\n O'er the pleased Stigma bows his waxen head;\n With meeting lips and mingling smiles they sup\n Ambrosial dewdrops from the nectar'd cup;\n Or buoy'd in air the plumy Lover springs,\n And seeks his panting bride on Hymen-wings. 270\n\n [Footnote: _From the nectar'd cup_, l. 268. The anthers and\n stigmas of flowers are probably nourished by the honey, which\n is secreted by the honey-gland called by Linneus the nectary;\n and possess greater sensibility or animation than other parts\n of the plant. The corol of the flower appears to be a\n respiratory organ belonging to these anthers and stigmas for\n the purpose of further oxygenating the vegetable blood for\n the production of the anther dust and of this honey, which is\n also exposed to the air in its receptacle or honey-cup;\n which, I suppose, to be necessary for its further\n oxygenation, as in many flowers so complicate an apparatus is\n formed for its protection from insects, as in aconitum,\n delphinium, larkspur, lonicera, woodbine; and because the\n corol and nectary fall along with the anthers and stigmas,\n when the pericarp is impregnated.\n\n Dr. B. S. Barton in the American Transactions has lately\n shown, that the honey collected from some plants is\n intoxicating and poisonous to men, as from rhododendron,\n azalea, and datura; and from some other plants that it is\n hurtful to the bees which collect it; and that from some\n flowers it is so injurious or disagreeable, that they do not\n collect it, as from the fritillaria or crown imperial of this\n country.]\n\n \"The Stamen males, with appetencies just,\n Produce a formative prolific dust;\n With apt propensities, the Styles recluse\n Secrete a formative prolific juice;\n These in the pericarp erewhile arrive,\n Rush to each other, and embrace alive.\n --Form'd by new powers progressive parts succeed,\n Join in one whole, and swell into a seed.\n\n [Footnote: _With appetencies just_, l. 271. As in the\n productions by chemical affinity one set of particles must\n possess the power of attraction, and the other the aptitude\n to be attracted, as when iron approaches a magnet; so when\n animal particles unite, whether in digestion or reproduction,\n some of them must possess an appetite to unite, and others a\n propensity to be united. The former of these are secreted by\n the anthers from the vegetable blood, and the latter by the\n styles or pericarp; see the Additional Note VIII. on\n Reproduction.]\n\n \"So in fond swarms the living Anthers shine\n Of bright Vallisner on the wavy Rhine; 280\n Break from their stems, and on the liquid glass\n Surround the admiring stigmas as they pass;\n The love-sick Beauties lift their essenced brows,\n Sigh to the Cyprian queen their secret vows,\n Like watchful Hero feel their soft alarms,\n And clasp their floating lovers in their arms.\n\n [Footnote: _Of bright Vallisner_, l. 280. Vallisneria, of the\n class of dioecia. The flowers of the male plant are produced\n under water, and as soon as their farina or dust is mature,\n they detach themselves from the plant, rise to the surface\n and continue to flourish, and are wafted by the air or borne\n by the current to the female flowers. In this they resemble\n those tribes of insects, where the males at certain seasons\n acquire wings, but not the females, as ants, coccus,\n lampyris, phalaena, brumata, lichanella; Botanic Garden, Vol.\n II. Note on Vallisneria.]\n\n \"Hence the male Ants their gauzy wings unfold,\n And young Lampyris waves his plumes of gold;\n The Glow-Worm sparkles with impassion'd light\n On each green bank, and charms the eye of night; 290\n While new desires the painted Snail perplex,\n And twofold love unites the double sex.\n\n [Footnote: _And young Lampyris_, l. 288. The fire-fly is at\n some seasons so luminous, that M. Merian says, that by\n putting two of them under a glass, she was able to draw her\n figures of them by night. Whether the light of this and of\n other insects be caused by their amatorial passion, and thus\n assists them to find each other; or is caused by respiration,\n which is so analogous to combustion; or to a tendency to\n putridity, as in dead fish and rotten wood, is still to be\n investigated; see Botanic Garden, Vol. I. Additional Note\n IX.]\n\n \"Hence, when the Morus in Italia's lands\n To spring's warm beam its timid leaf expands;\n The Silk-Worm broods in countless tribes above\n Crop the green treasure, uninform'd of love;\n Erewhile the changeful worm with circling head\n Weaves the nice curtains of his silken bed;\n Web within web involves his larva form,\n Alike secured from sunshine and from storm; 300\n For twelve long days He dreams of blossom'd groves,\n Untasted honey, and ideal loves;\n Wakes from his trance, alarm'd with young Desire,\n Finds his new sex, and feels ecstatic fire;\n From flower to flower with honey'd lip he springs,\n And seeks his velvet loves on silver wings.\n\n [Footnote: _Untasted honey_, l. 302. The numerous moths and\n butterflies seem to pass from a reptile leaf-eating state,\n and to acquire wings to flit in air, with a proboscis to gain\n honey for their food along with their organs of reproduction,\n solely for the purpose of propagating their species by sexual\n intercourse, as they die when that is completed. By the use\n of their wings they have access to each other on different\n branches or on different vegetables, and by living upon honey\n probably acquire a higher degree of animation, and thus seem\n to resemble the anthers of flowers, which probably are\n supported by honey only, and thence acquire greater\n sensibility; see Note on Vallisneria, l. 280 of this Canto.\n\n A naturalist, who had studied this subject, thought it not\n impossible that the first insects were the anthers and\n stigmas of flowers, which had by some means loosened\n themselves from their parent plant, like the male flowers of\n vallisneria, and that other insects in process of time had\n been formed from these, some acquiring wings, others fins,\n and others claws, from their ceaseless efforts to procure\n food or to secure themselves from injury. He contends, that\n none of these changes are more incomprehensible than the\n transformation of caterpillars into butterflies; see Botanic\n Garden, Vol. I. Additional Note XXXIX.]\n\n VI. \"The Demon, Jealousy, with Gorgon frown\n Blasts the sweet flowers of Pleasure not his own,\n Rolls his wild eyes, and through the shuddering grove\n Pursues the steps of unsuspecting Love; 310\n Or drives o'er rattling plains his iron car,\n Flings his red torch, and lights the flames of war.\n\n Here Cocks heroic burn with rival rage,\n And Quails with Quails in doubtful fight engage;\n Of armed heels and bristling plumage proud,\n They sound the insulting clarion shrill and loud,\n With rustling pinions meet, and swelling chests,\n And seize with closing beaks their bleeding crests;\n Rise on quick wing above the struggling foe,\n And aim in air the death-devoting blow. 320\n There the hoarse stag his croaking rival scorns,\n And butts and parries with his branching horns;\n Contending Boars with tusk enamell'd strike,\n And guard with shoulder-shield the blow oblique;\n While female bands attend in mute surprise,\n And view the victor with admiring eyes.--\n\n [Footnote: _There the hoarse stag_, l. 321. A great want of\n one part of the animal world has consisted in the desire of\n the exclusive possession of the females; and these have\n acquired weapons to combat each other for this purpose, as\n the very thick shield-like horny skin on the shoulder of the\n boar is a defence only against animals of his own species,\n who strike obliquely upwards, nor are his tushes for other\n purposes, except to defend himself, as he is not naturally a\n carnivorous animal. So the horns of the stag are sharp to\n offend his adversary, but are branched for the purpose of\n parrying or receiving the thrusts of horns similar to his\n own, and have therefore been formed for the purpose of\n combating other stags for the exclusive possession of the\n females, who are observed, like the ladies in the times of\n chivalry, to attend the car of the victor.\n\n The birds, which do not carry food to their young, and do not\n therefore marry, are armed with spurs for the purpose of\n fighting for the exclusive possession of the females, as\n cocks and quails. It is certain that these weapons are not\n provided for their defence against other adversaries, because\n the females of these species are without this armour;\n Zoonomia, Sect. XXXIX. 4, 8.]\n\n \"So Knight on Knight, recorded in romance,\n Urged the proud steed, and couch'd the extended lance;\n He, whose dread prowess with resistless force,\n O'erthrew the opposing warrior and his horse, 330\n Bless'd, as the golden guerdon of his toils,\n Bow'd to the Beauty, and receiv'd her smiles.\n\n \"So when fair HELEN with ill-fated charms,\n By PARIS wooed, provoked the world to arms,\n Left her vindictive Lord to sigh in vain\n For broken vows, lost love, and cold disdain;\n Fired at his wrongs, associate to destroy\n The realms unjust of proud adulterous Troy,\n Unnumber'd Heroes braved the dubious fight,\n And sunk lamented to the shades of night. 340\n\n \"Now vows connubial chain the plighted pair,\n And join paternal with maternal care;\n The married birds with nice selection cull\n Soft thistle-down, gray moss, and scattered wool,\n Line the secluded nest with feathery rings,\n Meet with fond bills, and woo with fluttering wings.\n Week after week, regardless of her food,\n The incumbent Linnet warms her future brood;\n Each spotted egg with ivory lips she turns,\n Day after day with fond expectance burns, 350\n Hears the young prisoner chirping in his cell,\n And breaks in hemispheres the obdurate shell.\n Loud trills sweet Philomel his tender strain,\n Charms his fond bride, and wakes his infant train;\n Perch'd on the circling moss, the listening throng\n Wave their young wings, and whisper to the song.\n\n [Footnote: _The incumbent Linnet_, l. 348. The affection of\n the unexperienced and untaught bird to its egg, which induces\n it to sit days and weeks upon it to warm the enclosed\n embryon, is a matter of great difficulty to explain; See\n Additional Note IX. on Storge. Concerning the fabrication of\n their nests, see Zoonomia, Sect. XVI. 13. on instinct.]\n\n [Footnote: _Hears the young prisoner_, l. 351. The air-vessel\n at the broad end of an incubated egg gradually extends its\n edges along the sides of the shell, as the chick enlarges,\n but is at the same time applied closer to the internal\n surface of the shell; when the time of hatching approaches\n the chick is liable to break this air-bag with its beak, and\n thence begin to breathe and to chirp; at this time the edges\n of the enlarged air-bag extend so as to cover internally one\n hemisphere of the egg; and as one half of the external shell\n is thus moist, and the other half dry, as soon as the mother\n hearing the chick chirp, or the chick itself wanting\n respirable air, strikes the egg, about its equatorial line,\n it breaks into two hemispheres, and liberates the prisoner.]\n\n [Footnote: _And whisper to the song_, l. 356. A curious\n circumstance is mentioned by Kircherus de Musurgia, in his\n Chapter de Lusciniis. \"That the young nightingales, that are\n hatched under other birds, never sing till they are\n instructed by the company of other nightingales.\" And\n Johnston affirms, that the nightingales that visit Scotland,\n have not the same harmony as those of Italy, (Pennant's\n Zoology, octavo, p. 255), which would lead us to suspect,\n that the singing of birds, like human music, is an artificial\n language rather than a natural expression of passion.]\n\n \"The Lion-King forgets his savage pride,\n And courts with playful paws his tawny bride;\n The listening Tiger hears with kindling flame\n The love-lorn night-call of his brinded dame. 360\n Despotic LOVE dissolves the bestial war,\n Bends their proud necks, and joins them to his car;\n Shakes o'er the obedient pairs his silken thong,\n And goads the humble, or restrains the strong.--\n Slow roll the silver wheels,--in beauty's pride\n Celestial PSYCHE blushing by his side.--\n The lordly Bull behind and warrior Horse\n With voice of thunder shake the echoing course,\n Chain'd to the car with herds domestic move,\n And swell the triumph of despotic LOVE. 370\n\n \"Pleased as they pass along the breezy shore\n In twinkling shoals the scaly realms adore,\n Move on quick fin with undulating train,\n Or lift their slimy foreheads from the main.\n High o'er their heads on pinions broad display'd\n The feather'd nations shed a floating shade;\n Pair after pair enamour'd shoot along,\n And trill in air the gay impassion'd song.\n With busy hum in playful swarms around\n Emerging insects leave the peopled ground, 380\n Rise in dark clouds, and borne in airy rings\n Sport round the car, and wave their golden wings.\n Admiring Fawns pursue on dancing hoof,\n And bashful Dryads peep from shades aloof;\n Emerging Nereids rise from coral cells,\n Enamour'd Tritons sound their twisted shells;\n From sparkling founts enchanted Naiads move,\n And swell the triumph of despotic LOVE.\n\n [Footnote: _With undulating train_, l. 373. The side fins of\n fish seem to be chiefly used to poise them; as they turn upon\n their backs immediately when killed, the air-bladder assists\n them perhaps to rise or descend by its possessing the power\n to condense the air in it by muscular contraction; and it is\n possible, that at great depths in the ocean the air in this\n receptacle may by the great pressure of the incumbent water\n become condensed into so small a space, as to cease to be\n useful to the animal, which was possibly the cause of the\n death of Mr. Day in his diving ship. See note on Ulva, Botan.\n Gard. V. II.\n\n The progressive motion of fish beneath the water is produced\n principally by the undulation of their tails. One oblique\n plain of a part of the tail on the right side of the fish\n strikes the water at the same time that another oblique plain\n strikes it on the left side, hence in respect to moving to\n the right or left these percussions of the water counteract\n each other, but they coincide in respect to the progression\n of the fish; this power seems to be better applied to push\n forwards a body in water, than the oars of boats, as the\n particles of water recede from the stroke of the oar, whence\n the comparative power acquired is but as the difference of\n velocity between the striking oar and the receding water. So\n a ship moves swifter with an oblique wind, than with a wind\n of the same velocity exactly behind it; and the common\n windmill sail placed obliquely to the wind is more powerful\n than one which directly recedes from it. Might not some\n machinery resembling the tails of fish be placed behind a\n boat, so as to be moved with greater effect than common oars,\n by the force of wind or steam, or perhaps by hand?]\n\n [Footnote: _On pinions broad display'd_, l. 375. The\n progressive motion of birds in the air is principally\n performed by the movement of their wings, and not by that of\n their tails as in fish. The bird is supported in an element\n so much lighter than itself by the resistance of the air as\n it moves horizontally against the oblique plain made by its\n breast, expanded tail and wings, when they are at rest; the\n change of this obliquity also assists it to rise, and even\n directs its descent, though this is owing principally to its\n specific gravity, but it is in all situations kept upright or\n balanced by its wings.\n\n As the support of the bird in the air, as well as its\n progression, is performed by the motion of the wings; these\n require strong muscles as are seen on the breasts of\n partridges. Whence all attempts of men to fly by wings\n applied to the weak muscles of their arms have been\n ineffectual; but it is not certain whether light machinery so\n contrived as to be moved by their feet, might not enable them\n to fly a little way, though not so as to answer any useful\n purpose.]\n\n \"Delighted Flora, gazing from afar,\n Greets with mute homage the triumphal car; 390\n On silvery slippers steps with bosom bare,\n Bends her white knee, and bows her auburn hair;\n Calls to her purple heaths, and blushing bowers,\n Bursts her green gems, and opens all her flowers;\n O'er the bright Pair a shower of roses sheds,\n And crowns with wreathes of hyacinth their heads.--\n --Slow roll the silver wheels with snowdrops deck'd,\n And primrose bands the cedar spokes connect;\n Round the fine pole the twisting woodbine clings,\n And knots of jasmine clasp the bending springs; 400\n Bright daisy links the velvet harness chain,\n And rings of violets join each silken rein;\n Festoon'd behind, the snow-white lilies bend,\n And tulip-tassels on each side depend.\n --Slow rolls the car,--the enamour'd Flowers exhale\n Their treasured sweets, and whisper to the gale;\n Their ravelled buds, and wrinkled cups unfold,\n Nod their green stems, and wave their bells of gold;\n Breathe their soft sighs from each enchanted grove,\n And hail THE DEITIES OF SEXUAL LOVE. 410\n\n \"ONWARD with march sublime in saffron robe\n Young HYMEN steps, and traverses the globe;\n O'er burning sands, and snow-clad mountains, treads,\n Blue fields of air, and ocean's briny beds;\n Flings from his radiant torch celestial light\n O'er Day's wide concave, and illumes the Night.\n With dulcet eloquence his tuneful tongue\n Convokes and captivates the Fair and Young;\n His golden lamp with ray ethereal dyes\n The blushing cheek, and lights the laughing eyes; 420\n With secret flames the virgin's bosom warms,\n And lights the impatient bridegroom to her arms;\n With lovely life all Nature's frame inspires,\n And, as they sink, rekindles all her fires.\"\n\n VII. Now paused the beauteous Teacher, and awhile\n Gazed on her train with sympathetic smile.\n 'Beware of Love! she cried, ye Nymphs, and hear\n 'His twanging bowstring with alarmed ear;\n 'Fly the first whisper of the distant dart,\n 'Or shield with adamant the fluttering heart; 430\n 'To secret shades, ye Virgin trains, retire,\n 'And in your bosoms guard the vestal fire.'\n --The obedient Beauties hear her words, advised,\n And bow with laugh repress'd, and smile chastised.\n\n [Footnote: _With laugh repress'd_, l. 434. The cause of the\n violent actions of laughter, and of the difficulty of\n restraining them, is a curious subject of inquiry. When pain\n afflicts us, which we cannot avoid, we learn to relieve it by\n great voluntary exertions, as in grinning, holding the\n breath, or screaming; now the pleasurable sensation, which\n excites laughter, arises for a time so high as to change its\n name, and become a painful one; and we excite the convulsive\n motions of the respiratory muscles to relieve this pain. We\n are however unwilling to lose the pleasure, and presently put\n a stop to this exertion; and immediately the pleasure recurs,\n and again as instantly rises into pain. Which is further\n explained in Zoonomia, Sect. 34. 1. 4. When this pleasurable\n sensation rises into a painful one, and the customs of\n society will not permit us to laugh aloud, some other violent\n voluntary exertion is used instead of it to alleviate the\n pain.]\n\n [Footnote: _With smile chastised_, l. 434. The origin of the\n smile has generally been ascribed to inexplicable instinct,\n but may be deduced from our early associations of actions and\n ideas. In the act of sucking, the lips of the infant are\n closed round the nipple of its mother, till it has filled its\n stomach, and the pleasure of digesting this grateful food\n succeeds; then the sphincter of the mouth, fatigued by the\n continued action of sucking, is relaxed; and the antagonist\n muscles of the face gently acting, produce the smile of\n pleasure, which is thus during our lives associated with\n gentle pleasure, which is further explained in Zoonomia,\n Sect. 16. 8. 4.]\n\n Now at her nod the Nymphs attendant bring\n Translucent water from the bubbling spring;\n In crystal cups the waves salubrious shine,\n Unstain'd untainted with immodest wine.\n Next, where emerging from its ancient roots\n Its widening boughs the Tree of Knowledge shoots; 440\n Pluck'd with nice choice before the Muse they placed\n The now no longer interdicted taste.\n Awhile they sit, from higher cares released,\n And pleased partake the intellectual feast.\n Of good and ill they spoke, effect and cause,\n Celestial agencies, and Nature's laws.\n\n So when angelic Forms to Syria sent\n Sat in the cedar shade by ABRAHAM'S tent;\n A spacious bowl the admiring Patriarch fills\n With dulcet water from the scanty rills; 450\n Sweet fruits and kernels gathers from his hoard,\n With milk and butter piles the plenteous board;\n While on the heated hearth his Consort bakes\n Fine flour well kneaded in unleaven'd cakes.\n The Guests ethereal quaff the lucid flood,\n Smile on their hosts, and taste terrestrial food;\n And while from seraph-lips sweet converse springs,\n Lave their fair feet, and close their silver wings.\n\n\nEND OF CANTO II.\n\n\n\n\nORIGIN OF SOCIETY.\n\nCANTO III.\n\nPROGRESS OF THE MIND.\n\n\n\n\nCONTENTS.\n\n\nI. Urania and the Muse converse 1. Progress of the Mind 42. II. The\nFour sensorial powers of Irritation, Sensation, Volition, and\nAssociation 55. Some finer senses given to Brutes 93. And Armour 108.\nFiner Organ of Touch given to Man 121. Whence clear ideas of Form 125.\nVision is the Language of the Touch 131. Magic Lantern 139. Surprise,\nNovelty, Curiosity 145. Passions, Vices 149. Philanthropy 159. Shrine\nof Virtue 160. III. Ideal Beauty from the Female Bosom 163. Eros the\nGod of Sentimental Love 177. Young Dione idolized by Eros 186. Third\nchain of Society 206. IV. Ideal Beauty from curved Lines 207. Taste\nfor the Beautiful 222. Taste for the Sublime 223. For poetic\nMelancholy 231. For Tragedy 241. For artless Nature 247. The Genius of\nTaste 259. V. The Senses easily form and repeat ideas 269. Imitation\nfrom clear ideas 279. The Senses imitate each other 293. In dancing\n295. In drawing naked Nymphs 299. In Architecture, as at St. Peter's\nat Rome 303. Mimickry 319. VI. Natural Language from imitation 335.\nLanguage of Quails, Cocks, Lions, Boxers 343. Pantomime Action 357.\nVerbal Language from Imitation and Association 363. Symbols of ideas\n371. Gigantic form of Time 385. Wings of Hermes 391. VII. Recollection\nfrom clear ideas 395. Reason and Volition 401. Arts of the Wasp, Bee,\nSpider, Wren, Silk-Worm 411. Volition concerned about Means or Causes\n435. Man distinguished by Language, by using Tools, labouring for\nMoney, praying to the Deity 438. The Tree of Knowledge of Good and\nEvil 445. VIII. Emotions from Imitation 461. The Seraph; Sympathy 467.\nChristian Morality the great bond of Society 483-496.\n\n\n\n\nCANTO III.\n\nPROGRESS OF THE MIND.\n\n\n I. Now rose, adorn'd with Beauty's brightest hues,\n The graceful HIEROPHANT, and winged MUSE;\n Onward they step around the stately piles,\n O'er porcelain floors, through laqueated ailes,\n Eye Nature's lofty and her lowly seats,\n Her gorgeous palaces, and green retreats,\n Pervade her labyrinths with unerring tread,\n And leave for future guests a guiding thread.\n\n First with fond gaze blue fields of air they sweep,\n Or pierce the briny chambers of the deep; 10\n Earth's burning line, and icy poles explore,\n Her fertile surface, and her caves of ore;\n Or mark how Oxygen with Azote-Gas\n Plays round the globe in one aerial mass,\n Or fused with Hydrogen in ceaseless flow\n Forms the wide waves, which foam and roll below.\n\n [Footnote: _How Oxygen_, l. 13. The atmosphere which\n surrounds us, is composed of twenty-seven parts of oxygen gas\n and seventy-three of azote or nitrogen gas, which are simply\n diffused together, but which, when combined, become nitrous\n acid. Water consists of eighty-six parts oxygen, and fourteen\n parts of hydrogen or inflammable air, in a state of\n combination. It is also probable, that much oxygen enters the\n composition of glass; as those materials which promote\n vitrification, contain so much of it, as minium and\n manganese; and that glass is hence a solid acid in the\n temperature of our atmosphere, as water is a fluid one.]\n\n Next with illumined hands through prisms bright\n Pleased they untwist the sevenfold threads of light;\n Or, bent in pencils by the lens, convey\n To one bright point the silver hairs of Day. 20\n Then mark how two electric streams conspire\n To form the resinous and vitreous fire;\n Beneath the waves the fierce Gymnotus arm,\n And give Torpedo his benumbing charm;\n Or, through Galvanic chain-work as they pass,\n Convert the kindling water into gas.\n\n [Footnote: _Two electric streams_, l. 21. It is the opinion\n of some philosophers, that the electric ether consists of two\n kinds of fluids diffused together or combined; which are\n commonly known by the terms of positive and negative\n electricity, but are by these electricians called vitreous\n and resinous electricity. The electric shocks given by the\n torpedo and by the gymnotus, are supposed to be similar to\n those of the Galvanic pile, as they are produced in water.\n Which water is decomposed by the Galvanic pile and converted\n into oxygen and hydrogen gas; see Additional Note XII.\n\n The magnetic ether may also be supposed to consist of two\n fluids, one of which attracts the needle, and the other\n repels it; and, perhaps, chemical affinities, and gravitation\n itself, may consist of two kinds of ether surrounding the\n particles of bodies, and may thence attract at one distance\n and repel at another; as appears when two insulated\n electrised balls are approached to each other, or when two\n small globules of mercury are pressed together.]\n\n How at the poles opposing Ethers dwell,\n Attract the quivering needle, or repel.\n How Gravitation by immortal laws\n Surrounding matter to a centre draws; 30\n How Heat, pervading oceans, airs, and lands,\n With force uncheck'd the mighty mass expands;\n And last how born in elemental strife\n Beam'd the first spark, and lighten'd into Life.\n\n Now in sweet tones the inquiring Muse express'd\n Her ardent wish; and thus the Fair address'd.\n \"Priestess of Nature! whose exploring sight\n Pierces the realms of Chaos and of Night;\n Of space unmeasured marks the first and last,\n Of endless time the present, future, past; 40\n Immortal Guide! O, now with accents kind\n Give to my ear the progress of the Mind.\n How loves, and tastes, and sympathies commence\n From evanescent notices of sense?\n How from the yielding touch and rolling eyes\n The piles immense of human science rise?--\n With mind gigantic steps the puny Elf,\n And weighs and measures all things but himself!\"\n\n The indulgent Beauty hears the grateful Muse,\n Smiles on her pupil, and her task renews. 50\n Attentive Nymphs in sparkling squadrons throng,\n And choral Virgins listen to the song;\n Pleased Fawns and Naiads crowd in silent rings,\n And hovering Cupids stretch their purple wings.\n\n II. \"FIRST the new actions of the excited sense,\n Urged by appulses from without, commence;\n With these exertions pain or pleasure springs,\n And forms perceptions of external things.\n Thus, when illumined by the solar beams,\n Yon waving woods, green lawns, and sparkling streams,\n In one bright point by rays converging lie 61\n Plann'd on the moving tablet of the eye;\n The mind obeys the silver goads of light,\n And IRRITATION moves the nerves of sight.\n\n [Footnote: _And Irritation moves_, l. 64. Irritation is an\n exertion or change of some extreme part of the sensorium\n residing in the muscles or organs of sense in consequence of\n the appulses of external bodies. The word perception includes\n both the action of the organ of sense in consequence of the\n impact of external objects and our attention to that action;\n that is, it expresses both the motion of the organ of sense,\n or idea, and the pain or pleasure that succeeds or\n accompanies it. Irritative ideas are those which are preceded\n by irritation, which is excited by objects external to the\n organs of sense: as the idea of that tree, which either I\n attend to, or which I shun in walking near it without\n attention. In the former case it is termed perception, in the\n latter it is termed simply an irritative idea.]\n\n \"These acts repeated rise from joys or pains,\n And swell Imagination's flowing trains;\n So in dread dreams amid the silent night\n Grim spectre-forms the shuddering sense affright;\n Or Beauty's idol-image, as it moves,\n Charms the closed eye with graces, smiles, and loves; 70\n Each passing form the pausing heart delights,\n And young SENSATION every nerve excites.\n\n [Footnote: _And young Sensation_, l. 72. Sensation is an\n exertion or change of the central parts of the sensorium or\n of the whole of it, _beginning_ at some of those extreme\n parts of it which reside in the muscles or organs of sense.\n Sensitive ideas are those which are preceded by the sensation\n of pleasure or pain, are termed Imagination, and constitute\n our dreams and reveries.]\n\n \"Oft from sensation quick VOLITION springs,\n When pleasure thrills us, or when anguish stings;\n Hence Recollection calls with voice sublime\n Immersed ideas from the wrecks of Time,\n With potent charm in lucid trains displays\n Eventful stories of forgotten days.\n Hence Reason's efforts good with ill contrast,\n Compare the present, future, and the past; 80\n Each passing moment, unobserved restrain\n The wild discordancies of Fancy's train;\n But leave uncheck'd the Night's ideal streams,\n Or, sacred Muses! your meridian dreams.\n\n [Footnote: _Quick Volition springs_, l. 73. Volition is an\n exertion or change of the central parts of the sensorium, or\n of the whole of it _terminating_ in some of those extreme\n parts of it which reside in the muscles and organs of sense.\n The vulgar use of the word _memory_ is too unlimited for our\n purpose: those ideas which we voluntarily recall are here\n termed ideas of _recollection_, as when we will to repeat the\n alphabet backwards. And those ideas which are suggested to us\n by preceding ideas are here termed ideas of _suggestion_, as\n whilst we repeat the alphabet in the usual order; when by\n habits previously acquired B is suggested by A, and C by B,\n without any effort of deliberation. Reasoning is that\n operation of the sensorium by which we excite two or many\n tribes of ideas, and then reexcite the ideas in which they\n differ or correspond. If we determine this difference, it is\n called judgment; if we in vain endeavour to determine it, it\n is called doubting.\n\n If we reexcite the ideas in which they differ, it is called\n distinguishing. If we reexcite those in which they\n correspond, it is called comparing.]\n\n [Footnote: _Each passing moment_, l. 81. During our waking\n hours, we perpetually compare the passing trains of our ideas\n with the known system of nature, and reject those which are\n incongruous with it; this is explained in Zoonomia, Sect.\n XVII. 3. 7. and is there termed Intuitive Analogy. When we\n sleep, the faculty of volition ceases to act, and in\n consequence the uncompared trains of ideas become incongruous\n and form the farrago of our dreams; in which we never\n experience any surprise, or sense of novelty.]\n\n \"And last Suggestion's mystic power describes\n Ideal hosts arranged in trains or tribes.\n So when the Nymph with volant finger rings\n Her dulcet harp, and shakes the sounding strings;\n As with soft voice she trills the enamour'd song,\n Successive notes, unwill'd, the strain prolong; 90\n The transient trains ASSOCIATION steers,\n And sweet vibrations charm the astonish'd ears.\n\n [Footnote: _Association steers_, l. 91. Association is an\n exertion or change of some extreme part of the sensorium\n residing in the muscles and organs of sense in consequence of\n some antecedent or attendant fibrous contractions. Associate\n ideas, therefore, are those which are preceded by other ideas\n or muscular motions, without the intervention of irritation,\n sensation, or volition between them; these are also termed\n ideas of suggestion.]\n\n \"ON rapid feet o'er hills, and plains, and rocks,\n Speed the scared leveret and rapacious fox;\n On rapid pinions cleave the fields above\n The hawk descending, and escaping dove;\n With nicer nostril track the tainted ground\n The hungry vulture, and the prowling hound;\n Converge reflected light with nicer eye\n The midnight owl, and microscopic fly; 100\n With finer ear pursue their nightly course\n The listening lion, and the alarmed horse.\n\n \"The branching forehead with diverging horns\n Crests the bold bull, the jealous stag adorns;\n Fierce rival boars with side-long fury wield\n The pointed tusk, and guard with shoulder-shield;\n Bounds the dread tiger o'er the affrighted heath\n Arm'd with sharp talons, and resistless teeth;\n The pouncing eagle bears in clinched claws\n The struggling lamb, and rends with ivory jaws; 110\n The tropic eel, electric in his ire,\n Alarms the waves with unextinguish'd fire;\n The fly of night illumes his airy way,\n And seeks with lucid lamp his sleeping prey;\n Fierce on his foe the poisoning serpent springs,\n And insect armies dart their venom'd stings.\n\n [Footnote: _The branching forehead_, l. 103. The\n peculiarities of the shapes of animals which distinguish them\n from each other, are enumerated in Zoonomia, Sect. XXXIX. 4.\n 8. on Generation, and are believed to have been gradually\n formed from similar living fibres, and are varied by\n reproduction. Many of these parts of animals are there shown\n to have arisen from their three great desires of lust,\n hunger, and security.]\n\n [Footnote: _The tropic eel_, l. 111. Gymnotus electricus.]\n\n [Footnote: _The fly of night_, l. 113. Lampyris noctiluca.\n Fire-fly.]\n\n \"Proud Man alone in wailing weakness born,\n No horns protect him, and no plumes adorn;\n No finer powers of nostril, ear, or eye,\n Teach the young Reasoner to pursue or fly.-- 120\n Nerved with fine touch above the bestial throngs,\n The hand, first gift of Heaven! to man belongs;\n Untipt with claws the circling fingers close,\n With rival points the bending thumbs oppose,\n Trace the nice lines of Form with sense refined,\n And clear ideas charm the thinking mind.\n Whence the fine organs of the touch impart\n Ideal figure, source of every art;\n Time, motion, number, sunshine or the storm,\n But mark varieties in Nature's _form_. 130\n\n [Footnote: _The hand, first gift of Heaven_, l. 122. The\n human species in some of their sensations are much inferior\n to animals, yet the accuracy of the sense of touch, which\n they possess in so eminent a degree, gives them a great\n superiority of understanding; as is well observed by the\n ingenious Mr. Buffon. The extremities of other animals\n terminate in horns, and hoofs, and claws, very unfit for the\n sensation of touch; whilst the human hand is finely adapted\n to encompass its object with this organ of sense. Those\n animals who have clavicles or collar-bones, and thence use\n their forefeet like hands, as cats, squirrels, monkeys, are\n more ingenious than other quadrupeds, except the elephant,\n who has a fine sense at the extremity of his proboscis; and\n many insects from the possessing finer organs of touch have\n greater ingenuity, as spiders, bees, wasps.]\n\n [Footnote: _Trace the nice lines of form_, l. 125. When the\n idea of solidity is excited a part of the extensive organ of\n touch is compressed by some external body, and this part of\n the sensorium so compressed exactly resembles in figure the\n figure of the body that compressed it. Hence when we acquire\n the idea of solidity, we acquire at the same time the idea of\n figure; and this idea of figure, or motion of a part of the\n organ of touch, exactly resembles in its figure the figure of\n the body that occasions it; and thus exactly acquaints us\n with this property of the external world.\n\n Now, as the whole universe with all its parts possesses a\n certain form or figure, if any part of it moves, that form or\n figure of the whole is varied. Hence, as motion is no other\n than a perpetual variation of figure, our idea of motion is\n also a real resemblance of the motion that produced it.\n\n Hence arises the certainty of the mathematical sciences, as\n they explain these properties of bodies, which are exactly\n resembled by our ideas of them, whilst we are obliged to\n collect almost all our other knowledge from experiment; that\n is, by observing the effects exerted by one body upon\n another.]\n\n \"Slow could the tangent organ wander o'er\n The rock-built mountain, and the winding shore;\n No apt ideas could the pigmy mite,\n Or embryon emmet to the touch excite;\n But as each mass the solar ray reflects,\n The eye's clear glass the transient beams collects;\n Bends to their focal point the rays that swerve,\n And paints the living image on the nerve.\n So in some village-barn, or festive hall\n The spheric lens illumes the whiten'd wall; 140\n O'er the bright field successive figures fleet,\n And motley shadows dance along the sheet.--\n Symbol of solid forms is colour'd light,\n And the mute language of the touch is sight.\n\n [Footnote: _The mute language of the touch_, l. 144. Our eyes\n observe a difference of colour, or of shade, in the\n prominences and depressions of objects, and that those shades\n uniformly vary when the sense of touch observes any\n variation. Hence when the retina becomes stimulated by\n colours or shades of light in a certain form, as in a\n circular spot, we know by experience that this is a sign that\n a tangible body is before us; and that its figure is\n resembled by the miniature figure of the part of the organ of\n vision that is thus stimulated.\n\n Here whilst the stimulated part of the retina resembles\n exactly the visible figure of the whole in miniature, the\n various kinds of stimuli from different colours mark the\n visible figures of the minuter parts; and by habit we\n instantly recall the tangible figures.\n\n So that though our visible ideas resemble in miniature the\n outline of the figure of coloured bodies, in other respects\n they serve only as a language, which by acquired associations\n introduce the tangible ideas of bodies. Hence it is, that\n this sense is so readily deceived by the art of the painter\n to our amusement and instruction. The reader will find much\n very curious knowledge on this subject in Bishop Berkeley's\n Essay on Vision, a work of great ingenuity.]\n\n \"HENCE in Life's portico starts young Surprise\n With step retreating, and expanded eyes;\n The virgin, Novelty, whose radiant train\n Soars o'er the clouds, or sinks beneath the main,\n With sweetly-mutable seductive charms\n Thrills the young sense, the tender heart alarms. 150\n Then Curiosity with tracing hands\n And meeting lips the lines of form demands,\n Buoy'd on light step, o'er ocean, earth, and sky,\n Rolls the bright mirror of her restless eye.\n While in wild groups tumultuous Passions stand,\n And Lust and Hunger head the Motley band;\n Then Love and Rage succeed, and Hope and Fear;\n And nameless Vices close the gloomy rear;\n Or young Philanthropy with voice divine\n Convokes the adoring Youth to Virtue's shrine; 160\n Who with raised eye and pointing finger leads\n To truths celestial, and immortal deeds.\n\n [Footnote: _Starts young Surprise_, l. 145. Surprise is\n occasioned by the sudden interruption of the usual trains of\n our ideas by any violent stimulus from external objects, as\n from the unexpected discharge of a pistol, and hence does not\n exist in our dreams, because our external senses are closed\n or inirritable. The fetus in the womb must experience many\n sensations, as of resistance, figure, fluidity, warmth,\n motion, rest, exertion, taste; and must consequently possess\n trains both of waking and sleeping ideas. Surprise must\n therefore be strongly excited at its nativity, as those\n trains of ideas must instantly be dissevered by the sudden\n and violent sensations occasioned by the dry and cold\n atmosphere, the hardness of external bodies, light, sound,\n and odours; which are accompanied with pleasure or pain\n according to their quantity or intensity.\n\n As some of these sensations become familiar by repetition,\n other objects not previously attended to present themselves,\n and produce the idea of novelty, which is a less degree of\n surprise, and like that is not perceived in our dreams,\n though for another reason; because in sleep we possess no\n voluntary power to compare our trains of ideas with our\n previous knowledge of nature, and do not therefore perceive\n their difference by intuitive analogy from what usually\n occurs.\n\n As the novelty of our ideas is generally attended with\n pleasurable sensation, from this arises Curiosity, or a\n desire of examining a variety of objects, hoping to find\n novelty, and the pleasure consequent to this degree of\n surprise; see Additional Note VII. 3.]\n\n [Footnote: _And meeting lips_, l. 152. Young children put\n small bodies into their mouths, when they are satiated with\n food, as well as when they are hungry, not with design to\n taste them, but use their lips as an organ of touch to\n distinguish the shape of them. Puppies, whose toes are\n terminated with nails, and who do not much use their forefeet\n as hands, seem to have no other means of acquiring a\n knowledge of the forms of external bodies, and are therefore\n perpetually playing with things by taking them between their\n lips.]\n\n III. \"As the pure language of the Sight commands\n The clear ideas furnish'd by the hands;\n Beauty's fine forms attract our wondering eyes,\n And soft alarms the pausing heart surprise.\n Warm from its cell the tender infant born\n Feels the cold chill of Life's aerial morn;\n Seeks with spread hands the bosoms velvet orbs,\n With closing lips the milky fount absorbs; 170\n And, as compress'd the dulcet streams distil,\n Drinks warmth and fragrance from the living rill;\n Eyes with mute rapture every waving line,\n Prints with adoring kiss the Paphian shrine,\n And learns erelong, the perfect form confess'd,\n IDEAL BEAUTY from its Mother's breast.\n\n [Footnote: _Seeks with spread hands_, l. 169. These eight\n beautiful lines are copied from Mr. Bilsborrow's Address\n prefixed to Zoonomia, and are translated from that work;\n Sect. XVI. 6.]\n\n [Footnote: _Ideal Beauty_, l. 176. Sentimental Love, as\n distinguished from the animal passion of that name, with\n which it is frequently accompanied, consists in the desire or\n sensation of beholding, embracing, and saluting a beautiful\n object.\n\n The characteristic of beauty therefore is that it is the\n object of love; and though many other objects are in common\n language called beautiful, yet they are only called so\n metaphorically, and ought to be termed agreeable. A Grecian\n temple may give us the pleasurable idea of sublimity, a\n Gothic temple may give us the pleasurable idea of variety,\n and a modern house the pleasurable idea of utility; music and\n poetry may inspire our love by association of ideas; but none\n of these, except metaphorically, can be termed beautiful, as\n we have no wish to embrace or salute them.\n\n Our perception of beauty consists in our recognition by the\n sense of vision of those objects, first, which have before\n inspired our love by the pleasure, which they have afforded\n to many of our senses; as to our sense of warmth, of touch,\n of smell, of taste, hunger and thirst; and, secondly, which\n bear any analogy of form to such objects.]\n\n \"Now on swift wheels descending like a star\n Alights young EROS from his radiant car;\n On angel-wings attendant Graces move,\n And hail the God of SENTIMENTAL LOVE. 180\n Earth at his feet extends her flowery bed,\n And bends her silver blossoms round his head;\n Dark clouds dissolve, the warring winds subside.\n And smiling ocean calms his tossing tide,\n O'er the bright morn meridian lustres play,\n And Heaven salutes him with a flood of day.\n\n [Footnote: _Alights young Eros_, l. 178. There were two\n deities of Love belonging to the heathen mythology, the one\n said to be celestial, and the other terrestrial. Aristophanes\n says, \"Sable-winged Night produced an egg, from which sprung\n up like a blossom Eros, the lovely, the desirable, with his\n glossy golden wings.\" See Botanic Garden, Canto I. l. 412.\n Note. The other deity of Love, Cupido, seems of much later\n date, as he is not mentioned in the works of Homer, where\n there were so many apt situations to have introduced him.]\n\n [Footnote: _Earth at his feet_, l. 181.\n\n Te, Dea, te fugiunt venti, te nubila coeli,\n Adventumque tuum; tibi suaves daedala tellus\n Submittit flores; tibi rident aequora ponti;\n Placatumque nitet diffuso lumine coelum.\n LUCRET.]\n\n \"Warm as the sun-beam, pure as driven snows,\n The enamour'd GOD for young DIONE glows;\n Drops the still tear, with sweet attention sighs,\n And woos the Goddess with adoring eyes; 190\n Marks her white neck beneath the gauze's fold,\n Her ivory shoulders, and her locks of gold;\n Drinks with mute ecstacy the transient glow,\n Which warms and tints her bosom's rising snow.\n With holy kisses wanders o'er her charms,\n And clasps the Beauty in Platonic arms;\n Or if the dewy hands of Sleep, unbid,\n O'er her blue eye-balls close the lovely lid,\n Watches each nascent smile, and fleeting grace,\n That plays in day-dreams o'er her blushing face; 200\n Counts the fine mazes of the curls, that break\n Round her fair ear, and shade her damask cheek;\n Drinks the pure fragrance of her breath, and sips\n With tenderest touch the roses of her lips;--\n O'er female hearts with chaste seduction reigns,\n And binds SOCIETY in silken chains.\n\n IV. \"IF the wide eye the wavy lawns explores,\n The bending woodlands, or the winding shores,\n Hills, whose green sides with soft protuberance rise,\n Or the blue concave of the vaulted skies;-- 210\n Or scans with nicer gaze the pearly swell\n Of spiral volutes round the twisted shell;\n Or undulating sweep, whose graceful turns\n Bound the smooth surface of Etrurian urns,\n When on fine forms the waving lines impress'd\n Give the nice curves, which swell the female breast;\n The countless joys the tender Mother pours\n Round the soft cradle of our infant hours,\n In lively trains of unextinct delight\n Rise in our bosoms _recognized by sight_; 220\n Fond Fancy's eye recalls the form divine,\n And TASTE sits smiling upon Beauty's shrine.\n\n [Footnote: _The wavy lawns_, l. 207. When the babe, soon\n after it is born into this cold world, is applied to its\n mother's bosom; its sense of perceiving warmth is first\n agreeably affected; next its sense of smell is delighted with\n the odour of her milk; then its taste is gratified by the\n flavour of it; afterwards the appetites of hunger and of\n thirst afford pleasure by the possession of their objects,\n and by the subsequent digestion of the aliment; and lastly,\n the sense of touch is delighted by the softness and\n smoothness of the milky fountain, the source of such variety\n of happiness.\n\n All these various kinds of pleasure at length become\n associated with the form of the mother's breast; which the\n infant embraces with its hands, presses with its lips, and\n watches with its eyes; and thus acquires more accurate ideas\n of the form of its mother's bosom, than of the odour and\n flavour or warmth, which it perceives by its other senses.\n And hence at our maturer years, when any object of vision is\n presented to us, which by its waving or spiral lines bears\n any similitude to the form of the female bosom, whether it be\n found in a landscape with soft gradations of rising and\n descending surface, or in the forms of some antique vases, or\n in other works of the pencil or the chisel, we feel a general\n glow of delight, which seems to influence all our senses; and\n if the object be not too large, we experience an attraction\n to embrace it with our arms, and to salute it with our lips,\n as we did in our early infancy the bosom of our mother. And\n thus we find, according to the ingenious idea of Hogarth,\n that the waving lines of beauty were originally taken from\n the temple of Venus.]\n\n \"Where Egypt's pyramids gigantic stand,\n And stretch their shadows o'er the shuddering sand;\n Or where high rocks o'er ocean's dashing floods\n Wave high in air their panoply of woods;\n Admiring TASTE delights to stray beneath\n With eye uplifted, and forgets to breathe;\n Or, as aloft his daring footsteps climb,\n Crests their high summits with his arm sublime. 230\n\n [Footnote: _With his arm sublime_, l. 230. Objects of taste\n have been generally divided into the beautiful, the sublime,\n and the new; and lately to these have been added the\n picturesque. The beautiful so well explained in Hogarth's\n analysis of beauty, consists of curved lines and smooth\n surfaces, as expressed in the preceding note; any object\n larger than usual, as a very large temple or a very large\n mountain, gives us the idea of sublimity; with which is often\n confounded the terrific, and the melancholic: what is now\n termed picturesque includes objects, which are principally\n neither sublime nor beautiful, but which by their variety and\n intricacy joined with a due degree of regularity or\n uniformity convey to the mind an agreeable sentiment of\n novelty. Many other agreeable sentiments may be excited by\n visible objects, thus to the sublime and beautiful may be\n added the terrific, tragic, melancholic, artless, &c. while\n novelty superinduces a charm upon them all. See Additional\n Note XIII.]\n\n \"Where mouldering columns mark the lingering wreck\n Of Thebes, Palmyra, Babylon, Balbec;\n The prostrate obelisk, or shatter'd dome,\n Uprooted pedestal, and yawning tomb,\n On loitering steps reflective TASTE surveys\n With folded arms and sympathetic gaze;\n Charm'd with poetic Melancholy treads\n O'er ruin'd towns and desolated meads;\n Or rides sublime on Time's expanded wings,\n And views the fate of ever-changing things. 240\n\n [Footnote: _Poetic melancholy treads_, l. 237. The pleasure\n arising from the contemplation of the ruins of ancient\n grandeur or of ancient happiness, and here termed poetic\n melancholy, arises from a combination of the painful idea of\n sorrow with the pleasurable idea of the grandeur or happiness\n of past times; and becomes very interesting to us by fixing\n our attention more strongly on that grandeur and happiness,\n as the passion of Pity mentioned in the succeeding note is a\n combination of the painful idea of sorrow with the\n pleasurable one of beauty, or of virtue.]\n\n \"When Beauty's streaming eyes her woes express,\n Or Virtue braves unmerited distress;\n Love sighs in sympathy, with pain combined,\n And new-born Pity charms the kindred mind;\n The enamour'd Sorrow every cheek bedews,\n And TASTE impassion'd woos the tragic Muse.\n\n [Footnote: _The tragic Muse_, l. 246. Why we are delighted\n with the scenical representations of Tragedy, which draw\n tears from our eyes, has been variously explained by\n different writers. The same distressful circumstance\n attending an ugly or wicked person affects us with grief or\n disgust; but when distress occurs to a beauteous or virtuous\n person, the pleasurable idea of beauty or of virtue becomes\n mixed with the painful one of sorrow and the passion of Pity\n is produced, which is a combination of love or esteem with\n sorrow; and becomes highly interesting to us by fixing our\n attention more intensely on the beauteous or virtuous person.\n\n Other distressful scenes have been supposed to give pleasure\n to the spectator from exciting a comparative idea of his own\n happiness, as when a shipwreck is viewed by a person safe on\n shore, as mentioned by Lucretius, L. 3. But these dreadful\n situations belong rather to the terrible, or the horrid, than\n to the tragic; and may be objects of curiosity from their\n novelty, but not of Taste, and must suggest much more pain\n than pleasure.]\n\n \"The rush-thatch'd cottage on the purple moor,\n Where ruddy children frolic round the door,\n The moss-grown antlers of the aged oak,\n The shaggy locks that fringe the colt unbroke, 250\n The bearded goat with nimble eyes, that glare\n Through the long tissue of his hoary hair;--\n As with quick foot he climbs some ruin'd wall,\n And crops the ivy, which prevents its fall;--\n With rural charms the tranquil mind delight,\n And form a picture to the admiring sight.\n While TASTE with pleasure bends his eye surprised\n In modern days at Nature unchastised.\n\n [Footnote: _Nature unchastised_, l. 258. In cities or their\n vicinity, and even in the cultivated parts of the country we\n rarely see undisguised nature; the fields are ploughed, the\n meadows mown, the shrubs planted in rows for hedges, the\n trees deprived of their lower branches, and the animals, as\n horses, dogs, and sheep, are mutilated in respect to their\n tails or ears; such is the useful or ill-employed activity of\n mankind! all which alterations add to the formality of the\n soil, plants, trees, or animals; whence when natural objects\n are occasionally presented to us, as an uncultivated forest\n and its wild inhabitants, we are not only amused with greater\n variety of form, but are at the same time enchanted by the\n charm of novelty, which is a less degree of Surprise, already\n spoken of in note on l. 145 of this Canto.]\n\n \"The GENIUS-FORM, on silver slippers born,\n With fairer dew-drops gems the rising morn; 260\n Sheds o'er meridian skies a softer light,\n And decks with brighter pearls the brow of night;\n With finer blush the vernal blossom glows,\n With sweeter breath enamour'd Zephyr blows,\n The limpid streams with gentler murmurs pass,\n And gayer colours tinge the watery glass,\n Charm'd round his steps along the enchanted groves\n Flit the fine forms of Beauties, Graces, Loves.\n\n V. \"Alive, each moment of the transient hour,\n When Rest accumulates sensorial power, 270\n The impatient Senses, goaded to contract,\n Forge new ideas, changing as they act;\n And, in long streams dissever'd, or concrete\n In countless tribes, the fleeting forms repeat.\n Which rise excited in Volition's trains,\n Or link the sparkling rings of Fancy's chains;\n Or, as they flow from each translucent source,\n Pursue Association's endless course.\n\n [Footnote: _When rest accumulates_, l. 270. The accumulation\n of the spirit of animation, when those parts of the system\n rest, which are usually in motion, produces a disagreeable\n sensation. Whence the pain of cold and of hunger, and the\n irksomeness of a continued attitude, and of an indolent life:\n and hence the propensity to action in those confined animals,\n which have been accustomed to activity, as is seen in the\n motions of a squirrel in a cage; which uses perpetual\n exertion to exhaust a part of its accumulated sensorial\n power. This is one source of our general propensity to\n action; another perhaps arises from our curiosity or\n expectation of novelty mentioned in the note on l. 145. of\n this canto.\n\n But the immediate cause of our propensity to imitation above\n that of other animals arises from the greater facility, with\n which by the sense of touch we acquire the ideas of the\n outlines of objects, and afterwards in consequence by the\n sense of sight; this seems to have been observed by\n Aristotle, who calls man, \"the imitative animal;\" see\n Zoonomia, Vol. I. Sect. XXII.]\n\n \"Hence when the inquiring hands with contact fine\n Trace on hard forms the circumscribing line; 280\n Which then the language of the rolling eyes\n From distant scenes of earth and heaven supplies;\n Those clear ideas of the touch and sight\n Rouse the quick sense to anguish or delight;\n Whence the fine power of IMITATION springs,\n And apes the outlines of external things;\n With ceaseless action to the world imparts\n All moral virtues, languages, and arts.\n First the charm'd Mind mechanic powers collects,\n Means for some end, and causes of effects; 290\n Then learns from other Minds their joys and fears,\n Contagious smiles and sympathetic tears.\n\n [Footnote: _All moral virtues_, l. 288. See the sequel of\n this canto l. 453 on sympathy; and l. 331 on language; and\n the subsequent lines on the arts of painting and\n architecture.]\n\n \"What one fine stimulated Sense discerns,\n Another Sense by IMITATION learns.--\n So in the graceful dance the step sublime\n Learns from the ear the concordance of Time.\n So, when the pen of some young artist prints\n Recumbent Nymphs in TITIAN'S living tints;\n The glowing limb, fair cheek, and flowing hair,\n Respiring bosom, and seductive air, 300\n He justly copies with enamour'd sigh\n From Beauty's image pictured on his eye.\n\n [Footnote: _Another sense_, l. 294. As the part of the organs\n of touch or of sight, which is stimulated into action by a\n tangible or visible object, must resemble in figure at least\n the figure of that object, as it thus constitutes an idea; it\n may be said to imitate the figure of that object; and thus\n imitation may be esteemed coeval with the existence both of\n man and other animals: but this would confound perception\n with imitation; which latter is better defined from the\n actions of one sense copying those of another.]\n\n \"Thus when great ANGELO in wondering Rome\n Fix'd the vast pillars of Saint Peter's dome,\n Rear'd rocks on rocks sublime, and hung on high\n A new Pantheon in the affrighted sky.\n Each massy pier, now join'd and now aloof,\n The figured architraves, and vaulted roof,\n Ailes, whose broad curves gigantic ribs sustain,\n Where holy echoes chant the adoring strain; 310\n The central altar, sacred to the Lord,\n Admired by Sages, and by Saints ador'd,\n Whose brazen canopy ascends sublime\n On spiral columns unafraid of Time,\n Were first by Fancy in ethereal dyes\n Plann'd on the rolling tablets of his eyes;\n And his true hand with imitation fine\n Traced from his Retina the grand design.\n\n [Footnote: _Thus when great Angelo_, l. 303. The origin of\n this propensity to imitation has not been deduced from any\n known principle; when any action presents itself to the view\n of a child, as of whetting a knife, or threading a needle;\n the parts of this action in respect of time, motion, figure,\n are imitated by parts of the retina of his eye; to perform\n this action therefore with his hands is easier to him than to\n invent any new action; because it consists in repeating with\n another set of fibres, viz. with the moving muscles, what he\n had just performed by some parts of the retina; just as in\n dancing we transfer the times of the motions from the actions\n of the auditory nerves to the muscles of the limbs. Imitation\n therefore consists of repetition, which is the easiest kind\n of animal action; as the ideas or motions become presently\n associated together; which adds to the facility of their\n production; as shown in Zoonomia, Vol. I. Sect. XXII. 2.\n\n It should be added, that as our ideas, when we perceive\n external objects, are believed to consist in the actions of\n the immediate organs of sense in consequence of the stimulus\n of those objects; so when we think of external objects, our\n ideas are believed to consist in the repetitions of the\n actions of the immediate organs of sense, excited by the\n other sensorial powers of volition, sensation, or\n association.]\n\n \"The Muse of MIMICRY in every age\n With silent language charms the attentive stage; 320\n The Monarch's stately step, and tragic pause,\n The Hero bleeding in his country's cause,\n O'er her fond child the dying Mother's tears,\n The Lover's ardor, and the Virgin's fears;\n The tittering Nymph, that tries her comic task,\n Bounds on the scene, and peeps behind her mask,\n The Punch and Harlequin, and graver throng,\n That shake the theatre with dance and song,\n With endless trains of Angers, Loves, and Mirths,\n Owe to the Muse of Mimicry their births. 330\n\n [Footnote: _The Muse of Mimicry_, l. 319. Much of the\n pleasure received from the drawings of flowers finely\n finished, or of portraits, is derived from their imitation or\n resemblance of the objects or persons which they represent.\n The same occurs in the pleasure we receive from mimicry on\n the stage; we are surprised at the accuracy of its enacted\n resemblance. Some part of the pleasure received from\n architecture, as when we contemplate the internal structure\n of gothic temples, as of King's College chapel in Cambridge,\n or of Lincoln Cathedral, may arise also from their imitation\n or resemblance of those superb avenues of large trees, which\n were formerly appropriated to religious ceremonies.]\n\n \"Hence to clear images of form belong\n The sculptor's statue, and the poet's song,\n The painter's landscape, and the builder's plan,\n And IMITATION marks the mind of Man.\n\n [Footnote: _Imitation marks_, l. 334. Many other curious\n instances of one part of the animal system imitating another\n part of it, as in some contagious diseases; and also of some\n animals imitating each other, are given in Zoonomia, Vol. I.\n Sect. XXII. 3. To which may be added, that this propensity to\n imitation not only appears in the actions of children, but in\n all the customs and fashions of the world; many thousands\n tread in the beaten paths of others, who precede or accompany\n them, for one who traverses regions of his own discovery.]\n\n VI. \"WHEN strong desires or soft sensations move\n The astonish'd Intellect to rage or love;\n Associate tribes of fibrous motions rise,\n Flush the red cheek, or light the laughing eyes.\n Whence ever-active Imitation finds\n The ideal trains, that pass in kindred minds; 340\n Her mimic arts associate thoughts excite\n And the first LANGUAGE enters at the sight.\n\n [Footnote: _And the first Language_, l. 342. There are two\n ways by which we become acquainted with the passions of\n others: first, by having observed the effects of them, as of\n fear or anger, on our own bodies, we know at sight when\n others are under the influence of these affections. So\n children long before they can speak, or understand the\n language of their parents, may be frightened by an angry\n countenance, or soothed by smiles and blandishments.\n\n Secondly, when we put ourselves into the attitude that any\n passion naturally occasions, we soon in some degree acquire\n that passion; hence when those that scold indulge themselves\n in loud oaths and violent actions of the arms, they increase\n their anger by the mode of expressing themselves; and, on the\n contrary, the counterfeited smile of pleasure in disagreeable\n company soon brings along with it a portion of the reality,\n as is well illustrated by Mr. Burke. (Essay on the Sublime\n and Beautiful.)\n\n These are natural signs by which we understand each other,\n and on this slender basis is built all human language. For\n without some natural signs no artificial ones could have been\n invented or understood, as is very ingeniously observed by\n Dr. Reid. (Inquiry into the Human Mind.)]\n\n \"Thus jealous quails or village-cocks inspect\n Each other's necks with stiffen'd plumes erect;\n Smit with the wordless eloquence, they know\n The rival passion of the threatening foe.\n So when the famish'd wolves at midnight howl,\n Fell serpents hiss, or fierce hyenas growl;\n Indignant Lions rear their bristling mail,\n And lash their sides with undulating tail. 350\n Or when the Savage-Man with clenched fist\n Parades, the scowling champion of the list;\n With brandish'd arms, and eyes that roll to know\n Where first to fix the meditated blow;\n Association's mystic power combines\n Internal passions with external signs.\n\n \"From these dumb gestures first the exchange began\n Of viewless thought in bird, and beast, and man;\n And still the stage by mimic art displays\n Historic pantomime in modern days; 360\n And hence the enthusiast orator affords\n Force to the feebler eloquence of words.\n\n \"Thus the first LANGUAGE, when we frown'd or smiled,\n Rose from the cradle, Imitation's child;\n Next to each thought associate sound accords,\n And forms the dulcet symphony of words;\n The tongue, the lips articulate; the throat\n With soft vibration modulates the note;\n Love, pity, war, the shout, the song, the prayer\n Form quick concussions of elastic air. 370\n\n \"Hence the first accents bear in airy rings\n The vocal symbols of ideal things,\n Name each nice change appulsive powers supply\n To the quick sense of touch, or ear or eye.\n Or in fine traits abstracted forms suggest\n Of Beauty, Wisdom, Number, Motion, Rest;\n Or, as within reflex ideas move,\n Trace the light steps of Reason, Rage, or Love.\n The next new sounds adjunctive thoughts recite,\n As hard, odorous, tuneful, sweet, or white. 380\n The next the fleeting images select\n Of action, suffering, causes and effect;\n Or mark existence, with the march sublime\n O'er earth and ocean of recording TIME.\n\n [Footnote: _Hence the first accents_, l. 371. Words were\n originally the signs or names of individual ideas; but in all\n known languages many of them by changing their terminations\n express more than one idea, as in the cases of nouns, and the\n moods and tenses of verbs. Thus a whip suggests a single idea\n of that instrument; but \"to whip,\" suggests an idea of\n action, joined with that of the instrument, and is then\n called a verb; and \"to be whipped,\" suggests an idea of being\n acted upon or suffering. Thus in most languages two ideas are\n suggested by one word by changing its termination; as amor,\n love; amare, to love; amari, to be loved.\n\n Nouns are the names of the ideas of things, first as they are\n received by the stimulus of objects, or as they are\n afterwards repeated; secondly, they are names of more\n abstracted ideas, which do not suggest at the same time the\n external objects, by which they were originally excited; or\n thirdly, of the operations of our minds, which are termed\n reflex ideas by metaphysical writers; or lastly, they are the\n names of our ideas of parts or properties of objects; and are\n termed by grammarians nouns adjective.\n\n Verbs are also in reality names of our ideas of things, or\n nouns, with the addition of another idea to them, as of\n acting or suffering; or of more than one other annexed idea,\n as of time, and also of existence. These with the numerous\n abbreviations, so well illustrated by Mr. Horne Tooke in his\n Diversions of Purley, make up the general theory of language,\n which consists of the symbols of ideas represented by vocal\n or written words; or by parts of those words, as their\n terminations; or by their disposition in respect to their\n order or succession; as further explained in Additional Note\n XIV.]\n\n \"The GIANT FORM on Nature's centre stands,\n And waves in ether his unnumber'd hands;\n Whirls the bright planets in their silver spheres,\n And the vast sun round other systems steers;\n Till the last trump amid the thunder's roar\n Sound the dread Sentence \"TIME SHALL BE NO MORE!\"\n\n \"Last steps Abbreviation, bold and strong, 391\n And leads the volant trains of words along;\n With sweet loquacity to HERMES springs,\n And decks his forehead and his feet with wings.\n\n VII. \"As the soft lips and pliant tongue are taught\n With other minds to interchange the thought;\n And sound, the symbol of the sense, explains\n In parted links the long ideal trains;\n From clear conceptions of external things\n The facile power of Recollection springs. 400\n\n [Footnote: _In parted links_, l. 398. As our ideas consist of\n successive trains of the motions, or changes of figure, of\n the extremities of the nerves of one or more of our senses,\n as of the optic or auditory nerves; these successive trains\n of motion, or configuration, are in common life divided into\n many links, to each of which a word or name is given, and it\n is called an idea. This chain of ideas may be broken into\n more or fewer links, or divided in different parts of it, by\n the customs of different people. Whence the meanings of the\n words of one language cannot always be exactly expressed by\n those of another; and hence the acquirement of different\n languages in their infancy may affect the modes of thinking\n and reasoning of whole nations, or of different classes of\n society; as the words of them do not accurately suggest the\n same ideas, or parts of ideal trains; a circumstance which\n has not been sufficiently analysed.]\n\n \"Whence REASON'S empire o'er the world presides,\n And man from brute, and man from man divides;\n Compares and measures by imagined lines\n Ellipses, circles, tangents, angles, sines;\n Repeats with nice libration, and decrees\n In what each differs, and in what agrees;\n With quick Volitions unfatigued selects\n Means for some end, and causes of effects;\n All human science worth the name imparts,\n And builds on Nature's base the works of Arts. 410\n\n [Footnote: _Whence Reason's empire_, l. 401. The facility of\n the use of the voluntary power, which is owing to the\n possession of the clear ideas acquired by our superior sense\n of touch, and afterwards of vision, distinguishes man from\n brutes, and has given him the empire of the world, with the\n power of improving nature by the exertions of art.\n\n Reasoning is that operation of the sensorium by which we\n excite two or many tribes of ideas, and then reexcite the\n ideas in which they differ or correspond. If we determine\n this difference, it is called judgment; if we in vain\n endeavour to determine it, it is called doubting.\n\n If we reexcite the ideas in which they differ, it is called\n distinguishing. If we reexcite those in which they\n correspond, it is called comparing.]\n\n \"The Wasp, fine architect, surrounds his domes\n With paper-foliage, and suspends his combs;\n Secured from frost the Bee industrious dwells,\n And fills for winter all her waxen cells;\n The cunning Spider with adhesive line\n Weaves his firm net immeasurably fine;\n The Wren, when embryon eggs her cares engross,\n Seeks the soft down, and lines the cradling moss;\n Conscious of change the Silkworm-Nymphs begin\n Attach'd to leaves their gluten-threads to spin; 420\n Then round and round they weave with circling heads\n Sphere within Sphere, and form their silken beds.\n --Say, did these fine volitions first commence\n From clear ideas of the tangent sense;\n From sires to sons by imitation caught,\n Or in dumb language by tradition taught?\n Or did they rise in some primeval site\n Of larva-gnat, or microscopic mite;\n And with instructive foresight still await\n On each vicissitude of insect-state?-- 430\n Wise to the present, nor to future blind,\n They link the reasoning reptile to mankind!\n --Stoop, selfish Pride! survey thy kindred forms,\n Thy brother Emmets, and thy sister Worms!\n\n [Footnote: _The Wasp, fine architect_, l. 411. Those animals\n which possess a better sense of touch are, in general, more\n ingenious than others. Those which have claviculae, or\n collar-bones, and thence use the forefeet as hands, as the\n monkey, squirrel, rat, are more ingenious in seizing their\n prey or escaping from danger. And the ingenuity of the\n elephant appears to arise from the sense of touch at the\n extremity of his proboscis, which has a prominence on one\n side of its cavity like a thumb to close against the other\n side of it, by which I have seen him readily pick up a\n shilling which was thrown amongst the straw he stood upon.\n Hence the excellence of the sense of touch in many insects\n seems to have given them wonderful ingenuity so as to equal\n or even excel mankind in some of their arts and discoveries;\n many of which may have been acquired in situations previous\n to their present ones, as the great globe itself, and all\n that it inhabit, appear to be in a perpetual state of\n mutation and improvement; see Additional Note IX.]\n\n \"Thy potent acts, VOLITION, still attend\n The means of pleasure to secure the end;\n To express his wishes and his wants design'd\n Language, the _means_, distinguishes Mankind;\n For _future_ works in Art's ingenious schools\n His hands unwearied form and finish tools; 440\n He toils for money _future_ bliss to share,\n And shouts to Heaven his mercenary prayer.\n Sweet Hope delights him, frowning Fear alarms,\n And Vice and Virtue court him to their arms.\n\n [Footnote: _Thy potent acts, Volition_, l. 435. It was before\n observed, how much the superior accuracy of our sense of\n touch contributes to increase our knowledge; but it is the\n greater energy and activity of the power of volition, that\n marks mankind, and has given them the empire of the world.\n\n There is a criterion by which we may distinguish our\n voluntary acts or thoughts from those that are excited by our\n sensations: \"The former are always employed about the means\n to acquire pleasurable objects, or to avoid painful ones;\n while the latter are employed about the possession of those\n that are already in our power.\"\n\n The ideas and actions of brutes, like those of children, are\n almost perpetually produced by their present pleasures or\n their present pains; and they seldom busy themselves about\n the _means_ of procuring future bliss, or of avoiding future\n misery.\n\n Whilst the acquiring of languages, the making of tools, and\n the labouring for money, which are all only the _means_ of\n procuring pleasure; and the praying to the Deity, as another\n means to procure happiness, are characteristic of human\n nature.]\n\n \"Unenvied eminence, in Nature's plan\n Rise the reflective faculties of Man!\n Labour to Rest the thinking Few prefer!\n Know but to mourn! and reason but to err!--\n In Eden's groves, the cradle of the world,\n Bloom'd a fair tree with mystic flowers unfurl'd; 450\n On bending branches, as aloft it sprung,\n Forbid to taste, the fruit of KNOWLEDGE hung;\n Flow'd with sweet Innocence the tranquil hours,\n And Love and Beauty warm'd the blissful bowers.\n Till our deluded Parents pluck'd, erelong,\n The tempting fruit, and gather'd Right and Wrong;\n Whence Good and Evil, as in trains they pass,\n Reflection imaged on her polish'd glass;\n And Conscience felt, for blood by Hunger spilt,\n The pains of shame, of sympathy, and guilt! 460\n\n [Footnote: _And gather'd Right and Wrong_, l. 456. Some\n philosophers have believed that the acquisition of knowledge\n diminishes the happiness of the possessor; an opinion which\n seems to have been inculcated by the history of our first\n parents, who are said to have become miserable from eating of\n the tree of knowledge. But as the foresight and the power of\n mankind are much increased by their voluntary exertions in\n the acquirement of knowledge, they may undoubtedly avoid many\n sources of evil, and procure many sources of good; and yet\n possess the pleasures of sense, or of imagination, as\n extensively as the brute or the savage.]\n\n VIII. \"LAST, as observant Imitation stands,\n Turns her quick glance, and brandishes her hands,\n With mimic acts associate thoughts excites,\n And storms the soul with sorrows or delights;\n Life's shadowy scenes are brighten'd and refin'd,\n And soft emotions mark the feeling mind.\n\n [Footnote: _And soft emotions_, l. 466. From our aptitude to\n imitation arises what is generally understood by the word\n sympathy, so well explained by Dr. Smith of Glasgow. Thus the\n appearance of a cheerful countenance gives us pleasure, and\n of a melancholy one makes us sorrowful. Yawning, and\n sometimes vomiting, are thus propagated by sympathy; and some\n people of delicate fibres, at the presence of a spectacle of\n misery, have felt pain in the same parts of their bodies,\n that were diseased or mangled in the object they saw.\n\n The effect of this powerful agent in the moral world, is the\n foundation of all our intellectual sympathies with the pains\n and pleasures of others, and is in consequence the source of\n all our virtues. For in what consists our sympathy with the\n miseries or with the joys of our fellow creatures, but in an\n involuntary excitation of ideas in some measure similar or\n imitative of those which we believe to exist in the minds of\n the persons whom we commiserate or congratulate!]\n\n \"The Seraph, SYMPATHY, from Heaven descends,\n And bright o'er earth his beamy forehead bends;\n On Man's cold heart celestial ardor flings,\n And showers affection from his sparkling wings; 470\n Rolls o'er the world his mild benignant eye,\n Hears the lone murmur, drinks the whisper'd sigh;\n Lifts the closed latch of pale Misfortune's door,\n Opes the clench'd hand of Avarice to the poor,\n Unbars the prison, liberates the slave,\n Sheds his soft sorrows o'er the untimely grave,\n Points with uplifted hand to realms above,\n And charms the world with universal love.\n\n \"O'er the thrill'd frame his words assuasive steal,\n And teach the selfish heart what others feel; 480\n With sacred truth each erring thought control,\n Bind sex to sex, and mingle soul with soul;\n From heaven, He cried, descends the moral plan,\n And gives Society to savage man.\n\n \"High on yon scroll, inscribed o'er Nature's shrine,\n Live in bright characters the words divine.\n \"IN LIFE'S DISASTROUS SCENES TO OTHERS DO,\n WHAT YOU WOULD WISH BY OTHERS DONE TO YOU.\"\n --Winds! wide o'er earth the sacred law convey,\n Ye Nations, hear it! and ye Kings, obey! 490\n\n [Footnote: _High on yon scroll_, l. 485. The famous sentence\n of Socrates \"Know thyself,\" so celebrated by writers of\n antiquity, and said by them to have descended from Heaven,\n however wise it may be, seems to be rather of a selfish\n nature; and the author of it might have added \"Know also\n other people.\" But the sacred maxims of the author of\n Christianity, \"Do as you would be done by,\" and \"Love your\n neighbour as yourself,\" include all our duties of benevolence\n and morality; and, if sincerely obeyed by all nations, would\n a thousandfold multiply the present happiness of mankind.]\n\n \"Unbreathing wonder hush'd the adoring throng,\n Froze the broad eye, and chain'd the silent tongue;\n Mute was the wail of Want, and Misery's cry,\n And grateful Pity wiped her lucid eye;\n Peace with sweet voice the Seraph-form address'd,\n And Virtue clasp'd him to her throbbing breast.\"\n\n\nEND OF CANTO III.\n\n\n\n\nORIGIN OF SOCIETY.\n\nCANTO IV.\n\nOF GOOD AND EVIL.\n\n\n\n\nCONTENTS.\n\n\nI. Few affected by Sympathy 1. Cruelty of War 11. Of brute animals,\nWolf, Eagle, Lamb, Dove, Owl, Nightingale 17. Of insects, Oestrus,\nIchneumon, Libellula 29. Wars of Vegetables 41. Of fish, the Shark,\nCrocodile, Whale 55. The World a Slaughter-house 66. Pains from Defect\nand from Excess of Stimulus 71. Ebriety and Superstition 77. Mania 89.\nAssociation 93. Avarice, Imposture, Ambition, Envy, Jealousy 97.\nFloods, Volcanoes, Earthquakes, Famine 109. Pestilence 117. Pains from\nSympathy 123. II. Good outbalances Evil 135. Life combines inanimate\nMatter, and produces happiness by Irritation 145. As in viewing a\nLandscape 159. In hearing Music 171. By Sensation or Fancy in Dreams\n183. The Patriot and the Nun 197. Howard, Moira, Burdett 205. By\nVolition 223. Newton, Herschel 233. Archimedes, Savery 241. Isis,\nArkwright 253. Letters and Printing 265. Freedom of the Press 273. By\nAssociation 291. Ideas of Contiguity, Resemblance, and of Cause and\nEffect 299. Antinous 319. Cecilia 329. III. Life soon ceases, Births\nand Deaths alternate 337. Acorns, Poppy-seeds, Aphises, Snails, Worms,\nTadpoles, Herrings innumerable 347. So Mankind 369. All Nature teems\nwith Life 375. Dead Organic Matter soon revives 383. Death is but a\nchange of Form 393. Exclamation of St. Paul 403. Happiness of the\nWorld increases 405. The Phoenix 411. System of Pythagoras 417. Rocks\nand Mountains produced by Organic Life 429. Are Monuments of past\nFelicity 447. Munificence of the Deity 455. IV. Procession of Virgins\n469. Hymn to Heaven 481. Of Chaos 489. Of Celestial Love 499. Offering\nof Urania 517-524.\n\n\n\n\nCANTO IV.\n\nOF GOOD AND EVIL.\n\n\n I. \"HOW FEW,\" the MUSE in plaintive accents cries,\n And mingles with her words pathetic sighs.--\n \"How few, alas! in Nature's wide domains\n The sacred charm of SYMPATHY restrains!\n Uncheck'd desires from appetite commence,\n And pure reflection yields to selfish sense!\n --Blest is the Sage, who learn'd in Nature's laws\n With nice distinction marks effect and cause;\n Who views the insatiate Grave with eye sedate,\n Nor fears thy voice, inexorable Fate! 10\n\n [Footnote: _Blest is the Sage_, l. 7.\n\n Felix, qui potuit rerum cognoscere causas;\n Quique metus omnes, et inexorabile fatum,\n Subjecit pedibus, strepitumque Acherontis avari.\n VIRG. Georg. II. 490.]\n\n \"WHEN War, the Demon, lifts his banner high,\n And loud artillery rends the affrighted sky;\n Swords clash with swords, on horses horses rush,\n Man tramples man, and nations nations crush;\n Death his vast sithe with sweep enormous wields,\n And shuddering Pity quits the sanguine fields.\n\n \"The wolf, escorted by his milk-drawn dam,\n Unknown to mercy, tears the guiltless lamb;\n The towering eagle, darting from above,\n Unfeeling rends the inoffensive dove; 20\n The lamb and dove on living nature feed,\n Crop the young herb, or crush the embryon seed.\n Nor spares the loud owl in her dusky flight,\n Smit with sweet notes, the minstrel of the night;\n Nor spares, enamour'd of his radiant form,\n The hungry nightingale the glowing worm;\n Who with bright lamp alarms the midnight hour,\n Climbs the green stem, and slays the sleeping flower.\n\n [Footnote: _The towering eagle_, l. 19.\n\n Torva leaena lupum sequitur, lupus ipse capellam,\n Florentem cytisum sequitur lasciva capella.\n VIRG.]\n\n \"Fell Oestrus buries in her rapid course\n Her countless brood in stag, or bull, or horse; 30\n Whose hungry larva eats its living way,\n Hatch'd by the warmth, and issues into day.\n The wing'd Ichneumon for her embryon young\n Gores with sharp horn the caterpillar throng.\n The cruel larva mines its silky course,\n And tears the vitals of its fostering nurse.\n While fierce Libellula with jaws of steel\n Ingulfs an insect-province at a meal;\n Contending bee-swarms rise on rustling wings,\n And slay their thousands with envenom'd stings. 40\n\n [Footnote: _Fell Oestrus buries_, l. 29. The gadfly, bot-fly,\n or sheep-fly: the larva lives in the bodies of cattle\n throughout the whole winter; it is extracted from their backs\n by an African bird called Buphaga. Adhering to the anus it\n artfully introduces itself into the intestines of horses, and\n becomes so numerous in their stomachs, as sometimes to\n destroy them; it climbs into the nostrils of sheep and\n calves, and producing a nest of young in a transparent\n hydatide in the frontal sinus, occasions the vertigo or turn\n of those animals. In Lapland it so attacks the rein deer that\n the natives annually travel with the herds from the woods to\n the mountains. Lin. Syst. Nat.]\n\n [Footnote: _The wing'd Ichneumon_, l. 33. Linneus describes\n seventy-seven species of the ichneumon fly, some of which\n have a sting as long and some twice as long as their bodies.\n Many of them insert their eggs into various caterpillars,\n which when they are hatched seem for a time to prey on the\n reservoir of silk in the backs of those animals designed for\n their own use to spin a cord to support them, or a bag to\n contain them, while they change from their larva form to a\n butterfly; as I have seen in above fifty\n cabbage-caterpillars. The ichneumon larva then makes its way\n out of the caterpillar, and spins itself a small cocoon like\n a silk worm; these cocoons are about the size of a small\n pin's head, and I have seen about ten of them on each cabbage\n caterpillar, which soon dies after their exclusion.\n\n Other species of ichneumon insert their eggs into the aphis,\n and into the larva of the aphidivorous fly: others into the\n bedeguar of rose trees, and the gall-nuts of oaks; whence\n those excrescences seem to be produced, as well as the\n hydatides in the frontal sinus of sheep and calves by the\n stimulus of the larvae deposited in them.]\n\n [Footnote: _While fierce Libellula_, l. 37. The Libellula or\n Dragon-fly is said to be a most voracious animal; Linneus\n says in their perfect state they are the hawks to naked\n winged flies; in their larva state they run beneath the\n water, and are the cruel crocodiles of aquatic insects. Syst.\n Nat.]\n\n [Footnote: _Contending bee-swarms_, l. 39. Stronger\n bee-swarms frequently attack weak hives, and in two or three\n days destroy them and carry away their honey; this I once\n prevented by removing the attacked hive after the first day's\n battle to a distinct part of the garden. See Phytologia,\n Sect. XIV. 3. 7.]\n\n \"Yes! smiling Flora drives her armed car\n Through the thick ranks of vegetable war;\n Herb, shrub, and tree, with strong emotions rise\n For light and air, and battle in the skies;\n Whose roots diverging with opposing toil\n Contend below for moisture and for soil;\n Round the tall Elm the flattering Ivies bend,\n And strangle, as they clasp, their struggling friend;\n Envenom'd dews from Mancinella flow,\n And scald with caustic touch the tribes below; 50\n Dense shadowy leaves on stems aspiring borne\n With blight and mildew thin the realms of corn;\n And insect hordes with restless tooth devour\n The unfolded bud, and pierce the ravell'd flower.\n\n \"In ocean's pearly haunts, the waves beneath\n Sits the grim monarch of insatiate Death;\n The shark rapacious with descending blow\n Darts on the scaly brood, that swims below;\n The crawling crocodiles, beneath that move,\n Arrest with rising jaw the tribes above; 60\n With monstrous gape sepulchral whales devour\n Shoals at a gulp, a million in an hour.\n --Air, earth, and ocean, to astonish'd day\n One scene of blood, one mighty tomb display!\n From Hunger's arm the shafts of Death are hurl'd,\n And one great Slaughter-house the warring world!\n\n [Footnote: _The shark rapacious_, l. 57. The shark has three\n rows of sharp teeth within each other, which he can bend\n downwards internally to admit larger prey, and raise to\n prevent its return; his snout hangs so far over his mouth,\n that he is necessitated to turn upon his back, when he takes\n fish that swim over him, and hence seems peculiarly formed to\n catch those that swim under him.]\n\n [Footnote: _The crawling crocodiles_, l. 59. As this animal\n lives chiefly at the bottom of the rivers, which he\n frequents, he has the power of opening the upper jaw as well\n as the under one, and thus with greater facility catches the\n fish or water-fowl which swim over him.]\n\n [Footnote: _One great slaughter-house_, l. 66. As vegetables\n are an inferior order of animals fixed to the soil; and as\n the locomotive animals prey upon them, or upon each other;\n the world may indeed be said to be one great slaughter-house.\n As the digested food of vegetables consists principally of\n sugar, and from this is produced again their mucilage,\n starch, and oil, and since animals are sustained by these\n vegetable productions, it would seem that the sugar-making\n process carried on in vegetable vessels was the great source\n of life to all organized beings. And that if our improved\n chemistry should ever discover the art of making sugar from\n fossile or aerial matter without the assistance of\n vegetation, food for animals would then become as plentiful\n as water, and they might live upon the earth without preying\n on each other, as thick as blades of grass, with no restraint\n to their numbers but the want of local room.\n\n It would seem that roots fixed in the earth and leaves\n innumerable waving in the air were necessary for the\n decomposition of water and air, and the conversion of them\n into saccharine matter, which would have been not only\n cumberous but totally incompatible with the locomotion of\n animal bodies. For how could a man or quadruped have carried\n on his head or back a forest of leaves, or have had long\n branching lacteal or absorbent vessels terminating in the\n earth? Animals therefore subsist on vegetables; that is they\n take the matter so prepared, and have organs to prepare it\n further for the purposes of higher animation and greater\n sensibility.]\n\n \"THE brow of Man erect, with thought elate,\n Ducks to the mandate of resistless fate;\n Nor Love retains him, nor can Virtue save\n Her sages, saints, or heroes from the grave. 70\n While cold and hunger by defect oppress,\n Repletion, heat, and labour by excess,\n The whip, the sting, the spur, the fiery brand,\n And, cursed Slavery! thy iron hand;\n And led by Luxury Disease's trains,\n Load human life with unextinguish'd pains.\n\n [Footnote: _While cold and hunger_, l. 71. Those parts of our\n system, which are in health excited into perpetual action,\n give us pain, when they are not excited into action: thus\n when the hands are for a time immersed in snow, an inaction\n of the cutaneous capillaries is induced, as is seen from the\n paleness of the skin, which is attended with the pain of\n coldness. So the pain of hunger is probably produced by the\n inaction of the muscular fibres of the stomach from the want\n of the stimulus of food.\n\n Thus those, who have used much voluntary exertion in their\n early years, and have continued to do so, till the decline of\n life commences, if they then lay aside their employment,\n whether that of a minister of state, a general of an army, or\n a merchant, or manufacturer; they cease to have their\n faculties excited into their usual activity, and become\n unhappy, I suppose from the too great accumulation of the\n sensorial power of volition; which wants the accustomed\n stimulus or motive to cause its expenditure.]\n\n \"Here laughs Ebriety more fell than arms,\n And thins the nations with her fatal charms,\n With Gout, and Hydrops groaning in her train,\n And cold Debility, and grinning Pain, 80\n With harlot's smiles deluded man salutes,\n Revenging all his cruelties to brutes!\n There the curst spells of Superstition blind,\n And fix her fetters on the tortured mind;\n She bids in dreams tormenting shapes appear,\n With shrieks that shock Imagination's ear,\n E'en o'er the grave a deeper shadow flings,\n And maddening Conscience darts a thousand stings.\n\n [Footnote: _Here laughs Ebriety_, l. 77.\n\n Saevior armis\n Luxuria incubuit, victumque ulciscitur orbem.\n HORAC.]\n\n [Footnote: _E'en o'er the grave_, l. 87. Many theatric\n preachers among the Methodists successfully inculcate the\n fear of death and of Hell, and live luxuriously on the folly\n of their hearers: those who suffer under this insanity, are\n generally most innocent and harmless people, who are then\n liable to accuse themselves of the greatest imaginary crimes;\n and have so much intellectual cowardice, that they dare not\n reason about those things, which they are directed by their\n priests to believe. Where this intellectual cowardice is\n great, the voice of reason is ineffectual; but that of\n ridicule may save many from these mad-making doctors, as the\n farces of Mr. Foot; though it is too weak to cure those who\n are already hallucinated.]\n\n \"There writhing Mania sits on Reason's throne,\n Or Melancholy marks it for her own, 90\n Sheds o'er the scene a voluntary gloom,\n Requests oblivion, and demands the tomb.\n And last Association's trains suggest\n Ideal ills, that harrow up the breast,\n Call for the dead from Time's o'erwhelming main,\n And bid departed Sorrow live again.\n\n [Footnote: _And last association_, l. 93. The miseries and\n the felicities of life may be divided into those which arise\n in consequence of irritation, sensation, volition, and\n association; and consist in the actions of the extremities of\n the nerves of sense, which constitute our ideas; if they are\n much more exerted than usual, or much less exerted than\n usual, they occasion pain; as when the finger is burnt in a\n candle; or when we go into a cold bath: while their natural\n degree of exertion produces the pleasure of life or\n existence. This pleasure is nevertheless increased, when the\n system is stimulated into rather stronger action than usual,\n as after a copious dinner, and at the beginning of\n intoxication; and diminished, when it is only excited into\n somewhat less activity than usual, which is termed ennui, or\n irksomeness of life.]\n\n [Footnote: _Ideal ills_, l. 94. The tooth-edge is an instance\n of bodily pain occasioned by association of ideas. Every one\n in his childhood has repeatedly bit a part of the glass or\n earthen vessel, in which his food has been given him, and has\n thence had a disagreeable sensation in his teeth, attended at\n the same time with a jarring sound: and ever after, when such\n a sound is accidentally produced, the disagreeable sensation\n of the teeth follows by association of ideas; this is further\n elucidated in Zoonomia, Vol. I. Sect. XVI. 10.]\n\n \"Here ragged Avarice guards with bolted door\n His useless treasures from the starving poor;\n Loads the lorn hours with misery and care,\n And lives a beggar to enrich his heir. 100\n Unthinking crowds thy forms, Imposture, gull,\n A Saint in sackcloth, or a Wolf in wool.\n While mad with foolish fame, or drunk with power,\n Ambition slays his thousands in an hour;\n Demoniac Envy scowls with haggard mien,\n And blights the bloom of other's joys, unseen;\n Or wrathful Jealousy invades the grove,\n And turns to night meridian beams of Love!\n\n [Footnote: _Enrich his heir_, l. 100.\n\n Cum furor haud dubius, cum sit manifesta phrenitis,\n Ut locuples moriaris, egenti vivere fato.\n JUVENAL.]\n\n [Footnote: _A Wolf in wool_, l. 102. A wolf in sheep's\n clothing.]\n\n \"Here wide o'er earth impetuous waters sweep,\n And fields and forests rush into the deep; 110\n Or dread Volcano with explosion dire\n Involves the mountains in a flood of fire;\n Or yawning Earth with closing jaws inhumes\n Unwarned nations, living in their tombs;\n Or Famine seizes with her tiger-paw,\n And swallows millions with unsated maw.\n\n \"There livid Pestilence in league with Dearth\n Walks forth malignant o'er the shuddering earth,\n Her rapid shafts with airs volcanic wings,\n Or steeps in putrid vaults her venom'd stings. 120\n Arrests the young in Beauty's vernal bloom,\n And bears the innocuous strangers to the tomb!--\n\n [Footnote: _With airs volcanic_, l. 119. Those epidemic\n complaints, which are generally termed influenza, are\n believed to arise from vapours thrown out from earthquakes in\n such abundance as to affect large regions of the atmosphere,\n see Botanic Garden, V. I. Canto IV. l. 65. while the diseases\n properly termed contagious originate from the putrid effluvia\n of decomposing animal or vegetable matter.]\n\n \"AND now, e'en I, whose verse reluctant sings\n The changeful state of sublunary things,\n Bend o'er Mortality with silent sighs,\n And wipe the secret tear-drops from my eyes,\n Hear through the night one universal groan,\n And mourn unseen for evils not my own,\n With restless limbs and throbbing heart complain,\n Stretch'd on the rack of sentimental pain! 130\n --Ah where can Sympathy reflecting find\n One bright idea to console the mind?\n One ray of light in this terrene abode\n To prove to Man the Goodness of his GOD?\"\n\n [Footnote: _Sentimental pain_, l. 130. Children should be\n taught in their early education to feel for all the\n remediable evils, which they observe in others; but they\n should at the same time be taught sufficient firmness of mind\n not intirely to destroy their own happiness by their\n sympathizing with too great sensibility with the numerous\n irremediable evils, which exist in the present system of the\n world: as by indulging that kind of melancholy they decrease\n the sum total of public happiness; which is so far rather\n reprehensible than commendable. See Plan for Female Education\n by Dr. Darwin, Johnson, London, Sect. XVII.\n\n This has been carried to great excess in the East by the\n disciples of Confucius; the Gentoos during a famine in India\n refused to eat the flesh of cows and of other animals to\n satisfy their hunger, and save themselves from death. And at\n other times they have been said to permit fleas and\n musquitoes to feed upon them from this erroneous sympathy.]\n\n II. \"HEAR, O YE SONS OF TIME!\" the Nymph replies,\n Quick indignation darting from her eyes;\n \"When in soft tones the Muse lamenting sings,\n And weighs with tremulous hand the sum of things;\n She loads the scale in melancholy mood,\n Presents the evil, but forgets the good. 140\n But if the beam some firmer hand suspends,\n And good and evil load the adverse ends;\n With strong libration, where the Good abides,\n Quick nods the beam, the ponderous gold subsides.\n\n \"HEAR, O ye Sons of Time! the powers of Life\n Arrest the elements, and stay their strife;\n From wandering atoms, ethers, airs, and gas,\n By combination form the organic mass;\n And,--as they seize, digest, secrete,--dispense\n The bliss of Being to the vital Ens. 150\n Hence in bright groups from IRRITATION rise\n Young Pleasure's trains, and roll their azure eyes.\n\n [Footnote: _From wandering atoms_, l. 147. Had those ancient\n philosophers, who contended that the world was formed from\n atoms, ascribed their combinations to certain immutable\n properties received from the hand of the Creator, such as\n general gravitation, chemical affinity, or animal appetency,\n instead of ascribing them to a blind chance; the doctrine of\n atoms, as constituting or composing the material world by the\n variety of their combinations, so far from leading the mind\n to atheism, would strengthen the demonstration of the\n existence of a Deity, as the first cause of all things;\n because the analogy resulting from our perpetual experience\n of cause and effect would have thus been exemplified through\n universal nature.]\n\n \"With fond delight we feel the potent charm,\n When Zephyrs cool us, or when sun-beams warm;\n With fond delight inhale the fragrant flowers,\n Taste the sweet fruits, which bend the blushing bowers,\n Admire the music of the vernal grove,\n Or drink the raptures of delirious love.\n\n \"So with long gaze admiring eyes behold\n The varied landscape all its lights unfold; 160\n Huge rocks opposing o'er the stream project\n Their naked bosoms, and the beams reflect;\n Wave high in air their fringed crests of wood,\n And checker'd shadows dance upon the flood;\n Green sloping lawns construct the sidelong scene,\n And guide the sparkling rill that winds between;\n Conduct on murmuring wings the pausing gale,\n And rural echoes talk along the vale;\n Dim hills behind in pomp aerial rise,\n Lift their blue tops, and melt into the skies. 170\n\n [Footnote: _The varied landscape_, l. 160. The pleasure, we\n feel on examining a fine landscape, is derived from various\n sources; as first the excitement of the retina of the eye\n into certain quantities of action; which when there is in the\n optic nerve any accumulation of sensorial power, is always\n agreeable. 2. When it is excited into such successive\n actions, as relieve each other; as when a limb has been long\n exerted in one direction, by stretching it in another; as\n described in Zoonomia, Sect. XL. 6. on ocular spectra. 3. And\n lastly by the associations of its parts with some agreeable\n sentiments or tastes, as of sublimity, beauty, utility,\n novelty; and the objects suggesting other sentiments, which\n have lately been termed picturesque as mentioned in the note\n to Canto III, l. 230 of this work. The two former of these\n sources of pleasure arise from irritation, the last from\n association.]\n\n \"So when by HANDEL tuned to measured sounds\n The trumpet vibrates, or the drum rebounds;\n Alarm'd we listen with ecstatic wonder\n To mimic battles, or imagined thunder.\n When the soft lute in sweet impassion'd strains\n Of cruel nymphs or broken vows complains;\n As on the breeze the fine vibration floats,\n We drink delighted the melodious notes.\n But when young Beauty on the realms above\n Bends her bright eye, and trills the tones of love; 180\n Seraphic sounds enchant this nether sphere;\n And listening angels lean from Heaven to hear.\n\n [Footnote: _We drink delighted_, l. 178. The pleasure we\n experience from music, is, like that from viewing a\n landscape, derived from various sources; as first from the\n excitement of the auditory nerve into certain quantities of\n action, when there exists any accumulation of sensorial\n power. 2. When the auditory nerve is exerted in such\n successive actions as relieve each other, like stretching or\n yawning, as described in Botanic Garden, Vol. II, Interlude\n the third, these successions of sound are termed melody, and\n their combinations harmony. 3. From the repetition of sounds\n at certain intervals of time; as we hear them with greater\n facility and accuracy, when we expect them; because they are\n then excited by volition, as well as by irritation, or at\n least the tympanum is then better adapted to assist their\n production; hence the two musical times or bars; and hence\n the rhimes in poetry give pleasure, as well as the measure of\n the verse: and lastly the pleasure we receive from music,\n arises from the associations of agreeable sentiments with\n certain proportions, or repetitions, or quantities, or times\n of sounds which have been previously acquired; as explained\n in Zoonomia Vol. I. Sect. XVI. 10. and Sect. XXII. 2.]\n\n \"Next by SENSATION led, new joys commence\n From the fine movements of the excited sense;\n In swarms ideal urge their airy flight,\n Adorn the day-scenes, and illume the night.\n Her spells o'er all the hand of Fancy flings,\n Gives form and substance to unreal things;\n With fruits and foliage decks the barren waste,\n And brightens Life with sentiment and taste; 190\n Pleased o'er the level and the rule presides,\n The painter's brush, the sculptor's chisel guides,\n With ray ethereal lights the poet's fire,\n Tunes the rude pipe, or strings the heroic lyre:\n Charm'd round the nymph on frolic footsteps move\n The angelic forms of Beauty, Grace, and Love.\n\n \"So dreams the Patriot, who indignant draws\n The sword of vengeance in his Country's cause;\n Bright for his brows unfading honours bloom,\n Or kneeling Virgins weep around his tomb. 200\n So holy transports in the cloister's shade\n Play round thy toilet, visionary maid!\n Charm'd o'er thy bed celestial voices sing,\n And Seraphs hover on enamour'd wing.\n\n \"So HOWARD, MOIRA, BURDETT, sought the cells,\n Where want, or woe, or guilt in darkness dwells;\n With Pity's torch illumed the dread domains,\n Wiped the wet eye, and eased the galling chains;\n With Hope's bright blushes warm'd the midnight air,\n And drove from earth the Demon of Despair. 210\n Erewhile emerging from the caves of night\n The Friends of Man ascended into light;\n With soft assuasive eloquence address'd\n The ear of Power to stay his stern behest;\n At Mercy's call to stretch his arm and save\n His tottering victims from the gaping grave.\n These with sweet smiles Imagination greets,\n For these she opens all her treasured sweets,\n Strews round their couch, by Pity's hand combined,\n Bright flowers of joy, the sunshine of the mind; 220\n While Fame's loud trump with sounds applausive breathes\n And Virtue crowns them with immortal wreathes.\n\n \"Thy acts, VOLITION, to the world impart\n The plans of Science with the works of art;\n Give to proud Reason her comparing power,\n Warm every clime, and brighten every hour.\n In Life's first cradle, ere the dawn began\n Of young Society to polish man;\n The staff that propp'd him, and the bow that arm'd,\n The boat that bore him, and the shed that warm'd, 230\n Fire, raiment, food, the ploughshare, and the sword,\n Arose, VOLITION, at thy plastic word.\n\n \"By thee instructed, NEWTON'S eye sublime\n Mark'd the bright periods of revolving time;\n Explored in Nature's scenes the effect and cause,\n And, charm'd, unravell'd all her latent laws.\n Delighted HERSCHEL with reflected light\n Pursues his radiant journey through the night;\n Detects new guards, that roll their orbs afar\n In lucid ringlets round the Georgian star. 240\n\n \"Inspired by thee, with scientific wand\n Pleased ARCHIMEDES mark'd the figured sand;\n Seized with mechanic grasp the approaching decks,\n And shook the assailants from the inverted wrecks.\n --Then cried the Sage, with grand effects elate,\n And proud to save the Syracusian state;\n While crowds exulting shout their noisy mirth,\n 'Give where to stand, and I will move the earth.'\n So SAVERY guided his explosive steam\n In iron cells to raise the balanced beam; 250\n The Giant-form its ponderous mass uprears,\n Descending nods and seems to shake the spheres.\n\n [Footnote: _Mark'd the figur'd sand_, l. 242. The ancient\n orators seem to have spoken disrespectfully of the mechanic\n philosophers. Cicero mentioning Archimedes, calls him\n Homunculus e pulvere et radio, alluding to the custom of\n drawing problems on the sand with a staff.]\n\n [Footnote: _So Savery guided_, l. 249. Captain Savery first\n applied the pressure of the atmosphere to raise water in\n consequence of a vacuum previously produced by the\n condensation of steam, though the Marquis of Worcester had\n before proposed to use for this purpose the expansive power\n of steam; see Botanic Garden, Vol. I. Canto I. l. 253.\n Note.]\n\n \"Led by VOLITION on the banks of Nile\n Where bloom'd the waving flax on Delta's isle,\n Pleased ISIS taught the fibrous stems to bind,\n And part with hammers from the adhesive rind;\n With locks of flax to deck the distaff-pole,\n And whirl with graceful bend the dancing spole.\n In level lines the length of woof to spread,\n And dart the shuttle through the parting thread. 260\n So ARKWRIGHT taught from Cotton-pods to cull,\n And stretch in lines the vegetable wool;\n With teeth of steel its fibre-knots unfurl'd,\n And with the silver tissue clothed the world.\n\n [Footnote: _The waving flax_, l. 254. Flax is said to have\n been first discovered on the banks of the Nile, and Isis to\n have been the inventress of spinning and weaving.]\n\n [Footnote: _So Arkwright taught_, l. 261. See Botanic Garden,\n Vol. II. Canto II. l. 87, Note.]\n\n \"Ages remote by thee, VOLITION, taught\n Chain'd down in characters the winged thought;\n With silent language mark'd the letter'd ground,\n And gave to sight the evanescent sound.\n Now, happier lot! enlighten'd realms possess\n The learned labours of the immortal Press; 270\n Nursed on whose lap the births of science thrive,\n And rising Arts the wrecks of Time survive.\n\n [Footnote: _The immortal Press_, l. 270. The discovery of the\n art of printing has had so great influence on human affairs,\n that from thence may be dated a new aera in the history of\n mankind. As by the diffusion of general knowledge, both of\n the arts of taste and of useful sciences, the public mind has\n become improved to so great a degree, that though new\n impositions have been perpetually produced, the arts of\n detecting them have improved with greater rapidity. Hence\n since the introduction of printing, superstition has been\n much lessened by the reformation of religion; and necromancy,\n astrology, chiromancy, witchcraft, and vampyrism, have\n vanished from all classes of society; though some are still\n so weak in the present enlightened times as to believe in the\n prodigies of animal magnetism, and of metallic tractors; by\n this general diffusion of knowledge, if the liberty of the\n press be preserved, mankind will not be liable in this part\n of the world to sink into such abject slavery as exists at\n this day in China.]\n\n \"Ye patriot heroes! in the glorious cause\n Of Justice, Mercy, Liberty, and Laws,\n Who call to Virtue's shrine the British youth,\n And shake the senate with the voice of Truth;\n Rouse the dull ear, the hoodwink'd eye unbind,\n And give to energy the public mind;\n While rival realms with blood unsated wage\n Wide-wasting war with fell demoniac rage; 280\n In every clime while army army meets,\n And oceans groan beneath contending fleets;\n Oh save, oh save, in this eventful hour\n The tree of knowledge from the axe of power;\n With fostering peace the suffering nations bless,\n And guard the freedom of the immortal Press!\n So shall your deathless fame from age to age\n Survive recorded in the historic page;\n And future bards with voice inspired prolong\n Your sacred names immortalized in song. 290\n\n \"Thy power ASSOCIATION next affords\n Ideal trains annex'd to volant words,\n Conveys to listening ears the thought superb,\n And gives to Language her expressive verb;\n Which in one changeful sound suggests the fact\n At once to be, to suffer, or to act;\n And marks on rapid wing o'er every clime\n The viewless flight of evanescent Time.\n\n [Footnote: _Her expressive verb_, l. 294. The verb, or the\n word, has been so called from its being the most expressive\n term in all languages; as it suggests the ideas of existence,\n action or suffering, and of time; see the Note on Canto III.\n l. 371, of this work.]\n\n \"Call'd by thy voice contiguous thoughts embrace\n In endless streams arranged by Time or Place; 300\n The Muse historic hence in every age\n Gives to the world her _interesting_ page;\n While in bright landscape from her moving pen\n Rise the fine tints of manners and of men.\n\n [Footnote: _Call'd by thy voice_, l. 299. The numerous trains\n of associated ideas are divided by Mr. Hume into three\n classes, which he has termed contiguity, causation, and\n resemblance. Nor should we wonder to find them thus connected\n together, since it is the business of our lives to dispose\n them into these three classes; and we become valuable to\n ourselves and our friends as we succeed in it. Those who have\n combined an extensive class of ideas by the contiguity of\n time or place, are men learned in the history of mankind, and\n of the sciences they have cultivated. Those who have\n connected a great class of ideas of resemblances, possess the\n source of the ornaments of poetry and oratory, and of all\n rational analogy. While those who have connected great\n classes of ideas of causation, are furnished with the powers\n of producing effects. These are the men of active wisdom who\n lead armies to victory, and kingdoms to prosperity; or\n discover and improve the sciences which meliorate and adorn\n the condition of humanity.]\n\n \"Call'd by thy voice Resemblance next describes\n Her sister-thoughts in lucid trains or tribes;\n Whence pleased Imagination oft combines\n By loose analogies her fair designs;\n Each winning grace of polish'd wit bestows\n To deck the Nymphs of Poetry and Prose. 310\n\n [Footnote: _Polish'd wit bestows_, l. 309. Mr. Locke defines\n wit to consist of an assemblage of ideas, brought together\n with quickness and variety, wherein can be found any\n resemblance or congruity, thereby to make up pleasant\n pictures and agreeable visions in the fancy. To which Mr.\n Addison adds, that these must occasion surprise as well as\n delight; Spectator, Vol. I. No. LXII. See Note on Canto III.\n l. 145. and Additional Note, VII. 3. Perhaps wit in the\n extended use of the word may mean to express all kinds of\n fine writing, as the word Taste is applied to all agreeable\n visible objects, and thus wit may mean descriptive sublimity,\n beauty, the pathetic, or ridiculous, but when used in the\n confined sense, as by Mr. Locke and Mr. Addison as above, it\n may probably be better defined a combination of ideas with\n agreeable novelty, as this may be effected by opposition as\n well as by resemblance.]\n\n \"Last, at thy potent nod, Effect and Cause\n Walk hand in hand accordant to thy laws;\n Rise at Volition's call, in groups combined,\n Amuse, delight, instruct, and serve Mankind;\n Bid raised in air the ponderous structure stand,\n Or pour obedient rivers through the land;\n With cars unnumber'd crowd the living streets,\n Or people oceans with triumphant fleets.\n\n \"Thy magic touch imagined forms supplies\n From colour'd light, the language of the eyes; 320\n On Memory's page departed hours inscribes,\n Sweet scenes of youth, and Pleasure's vanish'd tribes.\n By thee ANTINOUS leads the dance sublime\n On wavy step, and moves in measured time;\n Charm'd round the Youth successive Graces throng,\n And Ease conducts him, as he moves along;\n Unbreathing crowds the floating form admire,\n And Vestal bosoms feel forbidden fire.\n\n \"When rapp'd CECILIA breathes her matin vow,\n And lifts to Heaven her fair adoring brow; 330\n From her sweet lips, and rising bosom part\n Impassion'd notes, that thrill the melting heart;\n Tuned by thy hand the dulcet harp she rings,\n And sounds responsive echo from the strings;\n Bright scenes of bliss in trains suggested move,\n And charm the world with melody and love.\n\n III. \"SOON the fair forms with vital being bless'd,\n Time's feeble children, lose the boon possess'd;\n The goaded fibre ceases to obey,\n And sense deserts the uncontractile clay; 340\n While births unnumber'd, ere the parents die,\n The hourly waste of lovely life supply;\n And thus, alternating with death, fulfil\n The silent mandates of the Almighty Will;\n Whose hand unseen the works of nature dooms\n By laws unknown--WHO GIVES, AND WHO RESUMES.\n\n [Footnote: _The goaded fibre_, l. 339. Old age consists in\n the inaptitude to motion from the inirritability of the\n system, and the consequent want of fibrous contraction; see\n Additional Note VII.]\n\n \"Each pregnant Oak ten thousand acorns forms\n Profusely scatter'd by autumnal storms;\n Ten thousand seeds each pregnant poppy sheds\n Profusely scatter'd from its waving heads; 350\n The countless Aphides, prolific tribe,\n With greedy trunks the honey'd sap imbibe;\n Swarm on each leaf with eggs or embryons big,\n And pendent nations tenant every twig.\n Amorous with double sex, the snail and worm,\n Scoop'd in the soil, their cradling caverns form;\n Heap their white eggs, secure from frost and floods,\n And crowd their nurseries with uncounted broods.\n Ere yet with wavy tail the tadpole swims,\n Breathes with new lungs, or tries his nascent limbs; 360\n Her countless shoals the amphibious frog forsakes,\n And living islands float upon the lakes.\n The migrant herring steers her myriad bands\n From seas of ice to visit warmer strands;\n Unfathom'd depths and climes unknown explores,\n And covers with her spawn unmeasured shores.\n --All these, increasing by successive birth,\n Would each o'erpeople ocean, air, and earth.\n\n [Footnote: _Ten thousand seeds_, l. 349. The fertility of\n plants in respect to seeds is often remarkable; from one root\n in one summer the seeds of zea, maize, amount to 2000; of\n inula, elecampane, to 3000; of helianthus, sunflower, to\n 4000; of papaver, poppy, 32000; of nicotiana, tobacco, to\n 40320; to this must be added the perennial roots, and the\n buds. Buds, which are so many herbs, in one tree, the trunk\n of which does not exceed a span in thickness, frequently\n amount to 10000; Lin. Phil. Bot. p. 86.]\n\n [Footnote: _The countless Aphides_, l. 351. The aphises,\n pucerons, or vine-fretters, are hatched from an egg in the\n early spring, and are all called females, as they produce a\n living offspring about once in a fortnight to the ninth\n generation, which are also all of them females; then males\n are also produced, and by their intercourse the females\n become oviparous, and deposite their eggs on the branches, or\n in the bark to be hatched in the ensuing spring.\n\n This double mode of reproduction, so exactly resembling the\n buds and seeds of trees, accounts for the wonderful increase\n of this insect, which, according to Dr. Richardson, consists\n of ten generations, and of fifty at an average in each\n generation; so that the sum of fifty multiplied by fifty, and\n that product again multiplied by fifty nine times, would give\n the product of one egg only in countless millions; to which\n must be added the innumerable eggs laid by the tenth\n generation for the renovation of their progeny in the ensuing\n spring.]\n\n [Footnote: _The honey'd sap_, l. 352. The aphis punctures\n with its fine proboscis the sap-vessels of vegetables without\n any visible wound, and thus drinks the sap-juice, or\n vegetable chyle, as it ascends. Hence on the twigs of trees\n they stand with their heads downwards, as I have observed, to\n acquire this ascending sap-juice with greater facility. The\n honey-dew on the upper surface of leaves is evacuated by\n these insects, as they hang on the underside of the leaves\n above; when they take too much of this saccharine juice\n during the vernal or midsummer sap-flow of most vegetables;\n the black powder on leaves is also their excrement at other\n times. The vegetable world seems to have escaped total\n destruction from this insect by the number of flies, which in\n their larva state prey upon them; and by the ichneumon fly,\n which deposits its eggs in them. Some vegetables put forth\n stiff bristles with points round their young shoots, as the\n moss-rose, apparently to prevent the depredation of these\n insects, so injurious to them by robbing them of their chyle\n or nourishment.]\n\n [Footnote: _The tadpole swims_, l. 359. The progress of a\n tadpole from a fish to a quadruped by his gradually putting\n forth his limbs, and at length leaving the water, and\n breathing the dry air, is a subject of great curiosity, as it\n resembles so much the incipient state of all other\n quadrupeds, and men, who are aquatic animals in the uterus,\n and become aerial ones at their birth.]\n\n \"So human progenies, if unrestrain'd,\n By climate friended, and by food sustain'd, 370\n O'er seas and soils, prolific hordes! would spread\n Erelong, and deluge their terraqueous bed;\n But war, and pestilence, disease, and dearth,\n Sweep the superfluous myriads from the earth.\n Thus while new forms reviving tribes acquire\n Each passing moment, as the old expire;\n Like insects swarming in the noontide bower,\n Rise into being, and exist an hour;\n The births and deaths contend with equal strife,\n And every pore of Nature teems with Life; 380\n Which buds or breathes from Indus to the Poles,\n And Earth's vast surface kindles, as it rolls!\n\n [Footnote: _Which buds or breathes_, l. 381. Organic bodies,\n besides the carbon, hydrogen, azote, and the oxygen and heat,\n which are combined with them, require to be also immersed in\n loose heat and loose oxygen to preserve their mutable\n existence; and hence life only exists on or near the surface\n of the earth; see Botan. Garden, Vol. I. Canto IV. l. 419.\n L'organisation, le sentiment, le movement spontane, la vie,\n n'existent qu'a la surface de la terre, et dans les lieux\n exposes a la lumiere. Traite de Chimie par M. Lavoisier, Tom.\n I. p. 202.]\n\n \"HENCE when a Monarch or a mushroom dies,\n Awhile extinct the organic matter lies;\n But, as a few short hours or years revolve,\n Alchemic powers the changing mass dissolve;\n Born to new life unnumber'd insects pant,\n New buds surround the microscopic plant;\n Whose embryon senses, and unwearied frames,\n Feel finer goads, and blush with purer flames; 390\n Renascent joys from irritation spring,\n Stretch the long root, or wave the aurelian wing.\n\n [Footnote: _Born to new life_, l. 387. From the innumerable\n births of the larger insects, and the spontaneous productions\n of the microscopic ones, every part of organic matter from\n the recrements of dead vegetable or animal bodies, on or near\n the surface of the earth, becomes again presently reanimated;\n which by increasing the number and quantity of living\n organizations, though many of them exist but for a short\n time, adds to the sum total of terrestrial happiness.]\n\n \"When thus a squadron or an army yields,\n And festering carnage loads the waves or fields;\n When few from famines or from plagues survive,\n Or earthquakes swallow half a realm alive;--\n While Nature sinks in Time's destructive storms,\n The wrecks of Death are but a change of forms;\n Emerging matter from the grave returns,\n Feels new desires, with new sensations burns; 400\n With youth's first bloom a finer sense acquires,\n And Loves and Pleasures fan the rising fires.--\n Thus sainted PAUL, 'O Death!' exulting cries,\n 'Where is thy sting? O Grave! thy victories?'\n\n [Footnote: _Thus sainted Paul_, l. 403. The doctrine of St.\n Paul teaches the resurrection of the body in an incorruptible\n and glorified state, with consciousness of its previous\n existence; he therefore justly exults over the sting of\n death, and the victory of the grave.]\n\n \"Immortal Happiness from realms deceased\n Wakes, as from sleep, unlessen'd or increased;\n Calls to the wise in accents loud and clear,\n Sooths with sweet tones the sympathetic ear;\n Informs and fires the revivescent clay,\n And lights the dawn of Life's returning day. 410\n\n [Footnote: _And lights the dawn_, l. 410. The sum total of\n the happiness of organized nature is probably increased\n rather than diminished, when one large old animal dies, and\n is converted into many thousand young ones; which are\n produced or supported with their numerous progeny by the same\n organic matter. Linneus asserts, that three of the flies,\n called musca vomitoria, will consume the body of a dead\n horse, as soon as a lion can; Syst. Nat.]\n\n \"So when Arabia's Bird, by age oppress'd,\n Consumes delighted on his spicy nest;\n A filial Phoenix from his ashes springs,\n Crown'd with a star, on renovated wings;\n Ascends exulting from his funeral flame,\n And soars and shines, another and the same.\n\n [Footnote: _So when Arabia's bird_, l. 411. The story of the\n Phoenix rising from its own ashes with a star upon its head\n seems to have been an hieroglyphic emblem of the destruction\n and resuscitation of all things; see Botan. Garden, Vol. I.\n Canto IV. l. 389.]\n\n \"So erst the Sage with scientific truth\n In Grecian temples taught the attentive youth;\n With ceaseless change how restless atoms pass\n From life to life, a transmigrating mass; 420\n How the same organs, which to day compose\n The poisonous henbane, or the fragrant rose,\n May with to morrow's sun new forms compile,\n Frown in the Hero, in the Beauty smile.\n Whence drew the enlighten'd Sage the moral plan,\n That man should ever be the friend of man;\n Should eye with tenderness all living forms,\n His brother-emmets, and his sister-worms.\n\n [Footnote: _So erst the Sage_, l. 417. It is probable, that\n the perpetual transmigration of matter from one body to\n another, of all vegetables and animals, during their lives,\n as well as after their deaths, was observed by Pythagoras;\n which he afterwards applied to the soul, or spirit of\n animation, and taught, that it passed from one animal to\n another as a punishment for evil deeds, though without\n consciousness of its previous existence; and from this\n doctrine he inculcated a system of morality and benevolence,\n as all creatures thus became related to each other.]\n\n \"HEAR, O ye Sons of Time! your final doom,\n And read the characters, that mark your tomb: 430\n The marble mountain, and the sparry steep,\n Were built by myriad nations of the deep,--\n Age after age, who form'd their spiral shells,\n Their sea-fan gardens and their coral cells;\n Till central fires with unextinguished sway\n Raised the primeval islands into day;--\n The sand-fill'd strata stretch'd from pole to pole;\n Unmeasured beds of clay, and marl, and coal,\n Black ore of manganese, the zinky stone,\n And dusky steel on his magnetic throne, 440\n In deep morass, or eminence superb,\n Rose from the wrecks of animal or herb;\n These from their elements by Life combined,\n Form'd by digestion, and in glands refined,\n Gave by their just excitement of the sense\n The Bliss of Being to the vital Ens.\n\n [Footnote: _The marble mountain_, l. 431. From the increased\n knowledge in Geology during the present century, owing to the\n greater attention of philosophers to the situations of the\n different materials, which compose the strata of the earth,\n as well as to their chemical properties, it seems clearly to\n appear, that the nucleus of the globe beneath the ocean\n consisted of granite; and that on this the great beds of\n limestone were formed from the shells of marine animals\n during the innumerable primeval ages of the world; and that\n whatever strata lie on these beds of limestone, or on the\n granite, where the limestone does not cover it, were formed\n after the elevation of islands and continents above the\n surface of the sea by the recrements of vegetables and of\n terrestrial animals; see on this subject Botanic Garden, Vol.\n I. Additional Note XXIV.]\n\n \"Thus the tall mountains, that emboss the lands,\n Huge isles of rock, and continents of sands,\n Whose dim extent eludes the inquiring sight,\n ARE MIGHTY MONUMENTS OF PAST DELIGHT; 450\n Shout round the globe, how Reproduction strives\n With vanquish'd Death,--and Happiness survives;\n How Life increasing peoples every clime,\n And young renascent Nature conquers Time;\n --And high in golden characters record\n The immense munificence of NATURE'S LORD!--\n\n [Footnote: _Are mighty monuments_, l. 450. The reader is\n referred to a few pages on this subject in Phytologia, Sect.\n XIX. 7. 1, where the felicity of organic life is considered\n more at large; but it is probable that the most certain way\n to estimate the happiness and misery of organic beings; as it\n depends on the actions of the organs of sense, which\n constitute ideas; or of the muscular fibres which perform\n locomotion; would be to consider those actions, as they are\n produced or excited by the four sensorial powers of\n irritation, sensation, volition, and association. A small\n volume on this subject by some ingenious writer, might not\n only amuse, as an object of curiosity; but by showing the\n world the immediate sources of their pains and pleasures\n might teach the means to avoid the one, and to procure the\n other, and thus contribute both ways to increase the sum\n total of organic happiness.]\n\n [Footnote: _How Life increasing_, l. 453. Not only the vast\n calcareous provinces, which form so great a part of the\n terraqueous globe, and also whatever rests upon them, as\n clay, marl, sand, and coal, were formed from the fluid\n elements of heat, oxygen, azote, and hydrogen along with\n carbon, phosphorus, and perhaps a few other substances, which\n the science of chemistry has not yet decomposed; and gave the\n pleasure of life to the animals and vegetables, which formed\n them; and thus constitute monuments of the past happiness of\n those organized beings. But as those remains of former life\n are not again totally decomposed, or converted into their\n original elements, they supply more copious food to the\n succession of new animal or vegetable beings on their\n surface; which consists of materials convertible into\n nutriment with less labour or activity of the digestive\n powers; and hence the quantity or number of organized bodies,\n and their improvement in size, as well as their happiness,\n has been continually increasing, along with the solid parts\n of the globe; and will probably continue to increase, till\n the whole terraqueous sphere, and all that inhabit it shall\n dissolve by a general conflagration, and be again reduced to\n their elements.\n\n Thus all the suns, and the planets, which circle round them,\n may again sink into one central chaos; and may again by\n explosions produce a new world; which in process of time may\n resemble the present one, and at length again undergo the\n same catastrophe! these great events may be the result of the\n immutable laws impressed on matter by the Great Cause of\n Causes, Parent of Parents, Ens Entium!]\n\n \"He gives and guides the sun's attractive force,\n And steers the planets in their silver course;\n With heat and light revives the golden day,\n And breathes his spirit on organic clay; 460\n With hand unseen directs the general cause\n By firm immutable immortal laws.\"\n\n Charm'd with her words the Muse astonish'd stands,\n The Nymphs enraptured clasp their velvet hands;\n Applausive thunder from the fane recoils,\n And holy echoes peal along the ailes;\n O'er NATURE'S shrine celestial lustres glow,\n And lambent glories circle round her brow.\n\n IV. Now sinks the golden sun,--the vesper song\n Demands the tribute of URANIA'S tongue; 470\n Onward she steps, her fair associates calls\n From leaf-wove avenues, and vaulted halls.\n Fair virgin trains in bright procession move,\n Trail their long robes, and whiten all the grove;\n Pair after pair to Nature's temple sweep,\n Thread the broad arch, ascend the winding steep;\n Through brazen gates along susurrant ailes\n Stream round their GODDESS the successive files;\n Curve above curve to golden seats retire,\n And star with beauty the refulgent quire. 480\n\n AND first to HEAVEN the consecrated throng\n With chant alternate pour the adoring song,\n Swell the full hymn, now high, and now profound,\n With sweet responsive symphony of sound.\n Seen through their wiry harps, below, above,\n Nods the fair brow, the twinkling fingers move;\n Soft-warbling flutes the ruby lip commands,\n And cymbals ring with high uplifted hands.\n\n TO CHAOS next the notes melodious pass,\n How suns exploded from the kindling mass, 490\n Waved o'er the vast inane their tresses bright,\n And charm'd young Nature's opening eyes with light.\n Next from each sun how spheres reluctant burst,\n And second planets issued from the first.\n And then to EARTH descends the moral strain,\n How isles, emerging from the shoreless main,\n With sparkling streams and fruitful groves began,\n And form'd a Paradise for mortal man.\n\n [Footnote: _To Chaos next_, l. 489.\n\n Namque canebat uti magnum per inane coacta\n Semina terrarumque, animaeque, marisque fuissent;\n Et liquidi simul ignis; ut his exordia primis\n Omnia, et ipse tener mundi concreverit orbis.\n VIRG. EC. VI. l. 31.]\n\n Sublimer notes record CELESTIAL LOVE,\n And high rewards in brighter climes above; 500\n How Virtue's beams with mental charm engage\n Youth's raptured eye, and warm the frost of age,\n Gild with soft lustre Death's tremendous gloom,\n And light the dreary chambers of the tomb.\n How fell Remorse shall strike with venom'd dart,\n Though mail'd in adamant, the guilty heart;\n Fierce furies drag to pains and realms unknown\n The blood-stain'd tyrant from his tottering throne.\n\n By hands unseen are struck aerial wires,\n And Angel-tongues are heard amid the quires; 510\n From aile to aile the trembling concord floats,\n And the wide roof returns the mingled notes,\n Through each fine nerve the keen vibrations dart,\n Pierce the charm'd ear, and thrill the echoing heart.--\n\n MUTE the sweet voice, and still the quivering strings,\n Now Silence hovers on unmoving wings.--\n --Slow to the altar fair URANIA bends\n Her graceful march, the sacred steps ascends,\n High in the midst with blazing censer stands,\n And scatters incense with illumined hands: 520\n Thrice to the GODDESS bows with solemn pause,\n With trembling awe the mystic veil withdraws,\n And, meekly kneeling on the gorgeous shrine,\n Lifts her ecstatic eyes to TRUTH DIVINE! 524\n\n\nEND OF CANTO IV.\n\n\n\n\nCONTENTS OF THE NOTES.\n\n\nCANTO I.\n\n Line.\n\n 36 Origin of European Nations.\n 76 Early use of Painting and Hieroglyphics.\n 83 Proteus represents Time.\n 126 Cave of Trophonius.\n 137 Eleusinian Mysteries.\n 176 Antiquity of Statuary, casting Figures, and Carving.\n 224 Infancy of the present World.\n 235 Of Heat.\n 239 Of Attraction.\n 245 Of Contraction.\n 259 Arteries not conical.\n 262 Venous Absorption.\n 268 Decrease of the Ocean.\n 270 Sensation and Volition.\n 283 Mucor, Vibrio.\n 295 Animals are first aquatic.\n 315 Sea, originally was not Salt.\n 327 Animals from the Sea.\n 335 Aquatic Plants.\n 343 Frogs.\n 363 Rainbow in Northern Latitudes.\n 372 Venus rising from the Sea.\n 392 The Fetus in the Womb.\n 417 Animals from the Mud of the Nile.\n\n\nCANTO II.\n\n 1 Shortness of Life.\n 3 Old Age surprising.\n 39 Organic and chemical Properties.\n 43 Immortality of Matter.\n 47 Adonis emblem of Life.\n 71 The Truffle, Lycoperdon.\n 83 Volvox.\n 85 Polypus.\n 87 Taenia.\n 89 Oysters.\n 90 Coral-Insect.\n 114 Female Sex produced.\n 118 Power of Imagination.\n 122 Mankind were formerly Hermaphrodites and Quadrupeds.\n 167 Hereditary Diseases of Vegetables.\n 223 Psyche and Cupid.\n 268 Some Honey poisonous.\n 271 Appetency and Propensity.\n 280 Vallisneria.\n 288 Lampyris.\n 302 Insects from Anthers and Stigmas.\n 321 Horns of Stags, and Tusks of Boars, Spurs of Cocks.\n 351 Chick in the Egg.\n 356 Songs of Birds.\n 373 How Fish swim.\n 375 How Birds fly.\n 434 Of Smiles, and of Laughter.\n\n\nCANTO III.\n\n 13 Oxygen, and Hydrogen, and Azote.\n 21 Two electric Ethers.\n 64 Irritation.\n 72 Sensation.\n 73 Volition, Memory.\n 81 Intuitive Analogy.\n 91 Association.\n 103 Armour of Brutes.\n 122 Of the Human Hand.\n 125 Perception of Figure.\n 144 Sight the Language of the Touch.\n 145 Surprise, Novelty, Curiosity.\n 152 The Lips an Organ of Touch.\n 176 Ideal Beauty.\n 178 Two Deities of Love.\n 207 Idea of Beauty from the Female Bosom.\n 230 Taste for Sublimity.\n 237 Poetic Melancholy.\n 246 Taste for Tragedy.\n 258 Taste for uncultivated Nature.\n 270 Accumulation of sensorial Power.\n 294 Imitation described.\n 303 Imitation of one Sense by another.\n 319 Mimickry or Resemblance.\n 334 The Parts of the System imitate each other.\n 342 External Signs of Passions.\n 371 Theory of Language.\n 398 Ideas so called are parts of a train of Actions.\n 401 Of Reason.\n 411 Reasoning of Insects.\n 435 Volition distinguishes Mankind.\n 456 If Knowledge produces Happiness.\n 466 Sympathy the source of Virtue.\n 485 Maxim of Socrates.\n\n\nCANTO IV.\n\n 29 Oestrus or Gadfly.\n 33 Ichneumon fly.\n 37 Libellula.\n 39 Bees.\n 57 Shark.\n 59 Crocodile\n 66 Animals prey on Vegetables.\n 71 Defect of Stimulus.\n 87 Theatric Preachers.\n 93 Pleasure of Life, Ennui.\n 94 Of Tooth-edge.\n 119 Epidemic Complaints.\n 130 Compassion may be too great.\n 147 Doctrine of Atoms.\n 160 Pleasure of viewing a Landscape.\n 178 Pleasure from Music.\n 242 Ancient Orators spoke disrespectfully of the mechanic\n Philosophers.\n 270 Influence of Printing.\n 299 Associated ideas of three Classes.\n 309 Wit defined.\n 349 Surprising number of Seeds.\n 351 Of the Aphis, its Numbers.\n 352 Aphis drinks the Sap-juice.\n 359 The Mutation of the Tadpole.\n 387 Animation near the Surface of the Earth.\n 387 All dead animal and vegetable Bodies become animated.\n 403 Doctrine of St. Paul.\n 411 Happiness increased.\n 417 Doctrine of Pythagoras.\n 431 Geology.\n 450 Method of investigation of Organic happiness.\n 453 Organic Life increases.\n\n\n\n\nADDITIONAL NOTES.\n\n\n\n\nADDITIONAL NOTES.\n\nSPONTANEOUS VITALITY OF MICROSCOPIC ANIMALS.\n\n Hence without parent by spontaneous birth\n Rise the first specks of animated earth.\n CANTO I. l. 227.\n\n\n_Prejudices against this doctrine._\n\nI. From the misconception of the ignorant or superstitious, it has\nbeen thought somewhat profane to speak in favour of spontaneous vital\nproduction, as if it contradicted holy writ; which says, that God\ncreated animals and vegetables. They do not recollect that God created\nall things which exist, and that these have been from the beginning in\na perpetual state of improvement; which appears from the globe itself,\nas well as from the animals and vegetables, which possess it. And\nlastly, that there is more dignity in our idea of the supreme author\nof all things, when we conceive him to be the cause of causes, than\nthe cause simply of the events, which we see; if there can be any\ndifference in infinity of power!\n\nAnother prejudice which has prevailed against the spontaneous production\nof vitality, seems to have arisen from the misrepresentation of this\ndoctrine, as if the larger animals had been thus produced; as Ovid\nsupposes after the deluge of Deucalion, that lions were seen rising out\nof the mud of the Nile, and struggling to disentangle their hinder\nparts. It was not considered, that animals and vegetables have been\nperpetually improving by reproduction; and that spontaneous vitality was\nonly to be looked for in the simplest organic beings, as in the smallest\nmicroscopic animalcules; which perpetually, perhaps hourly, enlarge\nthemselves by reproduction, like the roots of tulips from seed, or the\nbuds of seedling trees, which die annually, leaving others by solitary\nreproduction rather more perfect than themselves for many successive\nyears, till at length they acquire sexual organs or flowers.\n\nA third prejudice against the existence of spontaneous vital\nproductions has been the supposed want of analogy; this has also\narisen from the expectation, that the larger or more complicated\nanimals should be thus produced; which have acquired their present\nperfection by successive generations during an uncounted series of\nages. Add to this, that the want of analogy opposes the credibility of\nall new discoveries, as of the magnetic needle, and coated electric\njar, and Galvanic pile; which should therefore certainly be well\nweighed and nicely investigated before distinct credence is given\nthem; but then the want of analogy must at length yield to repeated\nocular demonstration.\n\n\n_Preliminary observations._\n\nII. Concerning the spontaneous production of the smallest microscopic\nanimals it should be first observed, that the power of reproduction\ndistinguishes organic being, whether vegetable or animal, from\ninanimate nature. The circulation of fluids in vessels may exist in\nhydraulic machines, but the power of reproduction belongs alone to\nlife. This reproduction of plants and of animals is of two kinds,\nwhich may be termed solitary and sexual. The former of these, as in\nthe reproduction of the buds of trees, and of the bulbs of tulips, and\nof the polypus, and aphis, appears to be the first or most simple mode\nof generation, as many of these organic beings afterwards acquire\nsexual organs, as the flowers of seedling trees, and of seedling\ntulips, and the autumnal progeny of the aphis. See Phytologia.\n\nSecondly, it should be observed, that by reproduction organic beings\nare gradually enlarged and improved; which may perhaps more rapidly\nand uniformly occur in the simplest modes of animated being; but\noccasionally also in the more complicated and perfect kinds. Thus the\nbuds of a seedling tree, or the bulbs of seedling tulips, become\nlarger and stronger in the second year than the first, and thus\nimprove till they acquire flowers or sexes; and the aphis, I believe,\nincreases in bulk to the eighth or ninth generation, and then produces\na sexual progeny. Hence the existence of spontaneous vitality is only\nto be expected to be found in the simplest modes of animation, as the\ncomplex ones have been formed by many successive reproductions.\n\n\n_Experimental facts._\n\nIII. By the experiments of Buffon, Reaumur, Ellis, Ingenhouz, and\nothers, microscopic animals are produced in three or four days,\naccording to the warmth of the season, in the infusions of all\nvegetable or animal matter. One or more of these gentlemen put some\nboiling veal broth into a phial previously heated in the fire, and\nsealing it up hermetically or with melted wax, observed it to be\nreplete with animalcules in three or four days.\n\nThese microscopic animals are believed to possess a power of\ngenerating others like themselves by solitary reproduction without\nsex; and these gradually enlarging and improving for innumerable\nsuccessive generations. Mr. Ellis in Phil. Transact. V. LIX. gives\ndrawings of six kinds of animalcula infusoria, which increase by\ndividing across the middle into two distinct animals. Thus in paste\ncomposed of flour and water, which has been suffered to become\nacescent, the animalcules called eels, vibrio anguillula, are seen in\ngreat abundance; their motions are rapid and strong; they are\nviviparous, and produce at intervals a numerous progeny: animals\nsimilar to these are also found in vinegar; Naturalist's Miscellany by\nShaw and Nodder, Vol. II. These eels were probably at first as minute\nas other microscopic animalcules; but by frequent, perhaps hourly\nreproduction, have gradually become the large animals above described,\npossessing wonderful strength and activity.\n\nTo suppose the eggs of the former microscopic animals to float in the\natmosphere, and pass through the sealed glass phial, is so contrary to\napparent nature, as to be totally incredible! and as the latter are\nviviparous, it is equally absurd to suppose, that their parents float\nuniversally in the atmosphere to lay their young in paste or vinegar!\n\nNot only microscopic animals appear to be produced by a spontaneous\nvital process, and then quickly improve by solitary generation like\nthe buds of trees, or like the polypus and aphis, but there is one\nvegetable body, which appears to be produced by a spontaneous vital\nprocess, and is believed to be propagated and enlarged in so short a\ntime by solitary generation as to become visible to the naked eye; I\nmean the green matter first attended to by Dr. Priestley, and called\nby him conferva fontinalis. The proofs, that this material is a\nvegetable, are from its giving up so much oxygen, when exposed to the\nsunshine, as it grows in water, and from its green colour.\n\nDr. Ingenhouz asserts, that by filling a bottle with well-water, and\ninverting it immediately into a basin of well-water, this green\nvegetable is formed in great quantity; and he believes, that the water\nitself, or some substance contained in the water, is converted into\nthis kind of vegetation, which then quickly propagates itself.\n\nM. Girtanner asserts, that this green vegetable matter is not produced\nby water and heat alone, but requires the sun's light for this\npurpose, as he observed by many experiments, and thinks it arises from\ndecomposing water deprived of a part of its oxygen, and laughs at Dr.\nPriestley for believing that the seeds of this conferva, and the\nparents of microscopic animals, exist universally in the atmosphere,\nand penetrate the sides of glass jars; Philos. Magazine for May 1800.\n\nBesides this green vegetable matter of Dr. Priestley, there is another\nvegetable, the minute beginnings of the growth of which Mr. Ellis\nobserved by his microscope near the surface of all putrefying\nvegetable or animal matter, which is the mucor or mouldiness; the\nvegetation of which was amazingly quick so as to be almost seen, and\nsoon became so large as to be visible to the naked eye. It is\ndifficult to conceive how the seeds of this mucor can float so\nuniversally in the atmosphere as to fix itself on all putrid matter in\nall places.\n\n\n_Theory of Spontaneous Vitality._\n\nIV. In animal nutrition the organic matter of the bodies of dead\nanimals, or vegetables, is taken into the stomach, and there suffers\ndecompositions and new combinations by a chemical process. Some parts\nof it are however absorbed by the lacteals as fast as they are\nproduced by this process of digestion; in which circumstance this\nprocess differs from common chemical operations.\n\nIn vegetable nutrition the organic matter of dead animals, or\nvegetables, undergoes chemical decompositions and new combinations on\nor beneath the surface of the earth; and parts of it, as they are\nproduced, are perpetually absorbed by the roots of the plants in\ncontact with it; in which this also differs from common chemical\nprocesses.\n\nHence the particles which are produced from dead organic matter by\nchemical decompositions or new consequent combinations, are found\nproper for the purposes of the nutrition of living vegetable and\nanimal bodies, whether these decompositions and new combinations are\nperformed in the stomach or beneath the soil.\n\nFor the purposes of nutrition these digested or decomposed recrements\nof dead animal or vegetable matter are absorbed by the lacteals of the\nstomachs of animals or of the roots of vegetables, and carried into\nthe circulation of their blood, and these compose new organic parts to\nreplace others which are destroyed, or to increase the growth of the\nplant or animal.\n\nIt is probable, that as in inanimate or chemical combinations, one of\nthe composing materials must possess a power of attraction, and the\nother an aptitude to be attracted; so in organic or animated\ncompositions there must be particles with appetencies to unite, and\nother particles with propensities to be united with them.\n\nThus in the generation of the buds of trees, it is probable that two\nkinds of vegetable matter, as they are separated from the solid\nsystem, and float in the circulation, become arrested by two kinds of\nvegetable glands, and are then deposed beneath the cuticle of the\ntree, and there join together forming a new vegetable, the caudex of\nwhich extends from the plumula at the summit to the radicles beneath\nthe soil, and constitutes a single fibre of the bark.\n\nThese particles appear to be of two kinds; one of them possessing an\nappetency to unite with the other, and the latter a propensity to be\nunited with the former; and they are probably separated from the\nvegetable blood by two kinds of glands, one representing those of the\nanthers, and the others those of the stigmas, in the sexual organs of\nvegetables; which is spoken of at large in Phytologia, Sect. VII. and\nin Zoonomia, Vol. I. Sect. XXXIX. 8. of the third edition, in octavo;\nwhere it is likewise shown, that none of these parts which are\ndeposited beneath the cuticle of the tree, is in itself a complete\nvegetable embryon, but that they form one by their reciprocal\nconjunction.\n\nSo in the sexual reproduction of animals, certain parts separated from\nthe living organs, and floating in the blood, are arrested by the\nsexual glands of the female, and others by those of the male. Of these\nnone are complete embryon animals, but form an embryon by their\nreciprocal conjunction.\n\nThere hence appears to be an analogy between generation and nutrition,\nas one is the production of new organization, and the other the\nrestoration of that which previously existed; and which may therefore\nbe supposed to require materials somewhat similar. Now the food taken\nup by animal lacteals is previously prepared by the chemical process\nof digestion in the stomach; but that which is taken up by vegetable\nlacteals, is prepared by chemical dissolution of organic matter\nbeneath the surface of the earth. Thus the particles, which form\ngenerated animal embryons, are prepared from dead organic matter by\nthe chemico-animal processes of sanguification and of secretion; while\nthose which form spontaneous microscopic animals or microscopic\nvegetables are prepared by chemical dissolutions and new combinations\nof organic matter in watery fluids with sufficient warmth.\n\nIt may be here added, that the production and properties of some kinds\nof inanimate matter, are almost as difficult to comprehend as those of\nthe simplest degrees of animation. Thus the elastic gum, or\ncaoutchouc, and some fossile bitumens, when drawn out to a great\nlength, contract themselves by their elasticity, like an animal fibre\nby stimulus. The laws of action of these, and all other elastic\nbodies, are not yet understood; as the laws of the attraction of\ncohesion, to produce these effects, must be very different from those\nof general attraction, since the farther the particles of elastic\nbodies are drawn from each other till they separate, the stronger they\nseem to attract; and the nearer they are pressed together, the more\nthey seem to repel; as in bending a spring, or in extending a piece of\nelastic gum; which is the reverse to what occurs in the attractions\nof disunited bodies; and much wants further investigation. So the\nspontaneous production of alcohol or of vinegar, by the vinous and\nacetous fermentations, as well as the production of a mucus by\nputrefaction which will contract when extended, seems almost as\ndifficult to understand as the spontaneous production of a fibre from\ndecomposing animal or vegetable substances, which will contract when\nstimulated, and thus constitutes the primordium of life.\n\nSome of the microscopic animals are said to remain dead for many days\nor weeks, when the fluid in which they existed is dried up, and\nquickly to recover life and motion by the fresh addition of water and\nwarmth. Thus the chaos redivivum of Linnaeus dwells in vinegar and in\nbookbinders paste: it revives by water after having been dried for\nyears, and is both oviparous and viviparous; Syst. Nat. Thus the\nvorticella or wheel animal, which is found in rain water that has\nstood some days in leaden gutters, or in hollows of lead on the tops\nof houses, or in the slime or sediment left by such water, though it\ndiscovers no sign of life except when in the water, yet it is capable\nof continuing alive for many months though kept in a dry state. In\nthis state it is of a globulous shape, exceeds not the bigness of a\ngrain of sand, and no signs of life appear; but being put into water,\nin the space of half an hour a languid motion begins, the globule\nturns itself about, lengthens itself by slow degrees, assumes the form\nof a lively maggot, and most commonly in a few minutes afterwards puts\nout its wheels, swimming vigorously through the water as if in search\nof food; or else, fixing itself by the tail, works the wheels in such\na manner as to bring its food to its mouth; English Encyclopedia, Art.\nAnimalcule.\n\nThus some shell-snails in the cabinets of the curious have been kept\nin a dry state for ten years or longer, and have revived on being\nmoistened with warmish water; Philos. Transact. So eggs and seeds\nafter many months torpor, are revived by warmth and moisture; hence it\nmay be concluded, that even the organic particles of dead animals may,\nwhen exposed to a due degree of warmth and moisture, regain some\ndegree of vitality, since this is done by more complicate animal\norgans in the instances above mentioned.\n\nThe hydra of Linnaeus, which dwells in the rivers of Europe under\naquatic plants, has been observed by the curious of the present time,\nto revive after it has been dried, to be restored after being\nmutilated, to multiply by being divided, to be propagated from small\nportions, to live after being inverted; all which would be best\nexplained by the doctrine of spontaneous reproduction from organic\nparticles not yet completely decomposed.\n\nTo this should be added, that these microscopic animals are found in\nall solutions of vegetable or animal matter in water; as black pepper\nsteeped in water, hay suffered to become putrid in water, and the\nwater of dunghills, afford animalcules in astonishing numbers. See Mr.\nEllis's curious account of Animalcules produced from an infusion of\nPotatoes and Hempseed; Philos. Transact. Vol. LIX. from all which it\nwould appear, that organic particles of dead vegetables and animals\nduring their usual chemical changes into putridity or acidity, do not\nlose all their organization or vitality, but retain so much of it as\nto unite with the parts of living animals in the process of nutrition,\nor unite and produce new complicate animals by secretion as in\ngeneration, or produce very simple microscopic animals or microscopic\nvegetables, by their new combinations in warmth and moisture.\n\nAnd finally, that these microscopic organic bodies are multiplied and\nenlarged by solitary reproduction without sexual intercourse till they\nacquire greater perfection or new properties. Lewenhoek observed in\nrain-water which had stood a few days, the smallest scarcely visible\nmicroscopic animalcules, and in a few more days he observed others\neight times as large; English Encyclop. Art. Animalcule.\n\n\n_Conclusion._\n\nThere is therefore no absurdity in believing that the most simple\nanimals and vegetables may be produced by the congress of the parts of\ndecomposing organic matter, without what can properly be termed\ngeneration, as the genus did not previously exist; which accounts for\nthe endless varieties, as well as for the immense numbers of\nmicroscopic animals.\n\nThe green vegetable matter of Dr. Priestley, which is universally\nproduced in stagnant water, and the mucor, or mouldiness, which is\nseen on the surface of all putrid vegetable and animal matter, have\nprobably no parents, but a spontaneous origin from the congress of the\ndecomposing organic particles, and afterwards propagate themselves.\nSome other fungi, as those growing in close wine-vaults, or others\nwhich arise from decaying trees, or rotten timber, may perhaps be\nowing to a similar spontaneous production, and not previously exist as\nperfect organic beings in the juices of the wood, as some have\nsupposed. In the same manner it would seem, that the common esculent\nmushroom is produced from horse dung at any time and in any place, as\nis the common practice of many gardeners; Kennedy on Gardening.\n\n\n_Appendix._\n\nThe knowledge of microscopic animals is still in its infancy: those\nalready known are arranged by Mr. Muller into the following classes;\nbut it is probable, that many more classes, as well as innumerable\nindividuals, may be discovered by improvements of the microscope, as\nMr. Herschell has discovered so many thousand stars, which were before\ninvisible, by improvements of the telescope.\n\nMr. Muller's classes consist of\n\nI. _Such as have no External Organs._\n\n 1. Monas: Punctiformis. A mere point.\n 2. Proteus: Mutabilis. Mutable.\n 3. Volvox: Sphaericum. Spherical.\n 4. Enchelis: Cylindracea. Cylindrical.\n 5. Vibrio: Elongatum. Long.\n\n *Membranaceous.\n\n 6. Cyclidium: Ovale. Oval.\n 7. Paramecium: Oblongum. Oblong.\n 8. Kolpoda: Sinuatum. Sinuous.\n 9. Gonium: Angulatum. With angles.\n 10. Bursaria. Hollow like a purse.\n\nII. _Those that have External Organs._\n\n *Naked, or not enclosed in a shell.\n\n 1. Cercaria: Caudatum. With a tail.\n 2. Trichoda: Crinitum. Hairy.\n 3. Kerona: Corniculatum. With horns.\n 4. Himantopus: Cirratum. Cirrated.\n 5. Leucophra: Ciliatum undique. Every part ciliated.\n 6. Vorticella: Ciliatum apice. The apex ciliated.\n\n *Covered with a shell.\n\n 7. Brachionus: Ciliatum apice. The apex ciliated.\n\n1. These animalcules are discovered in two or three days in all\ndecompositions of organic matter, whether vegetable or animal, in\nmoderate degrees of warmth with sufficient moisture.\n\n2. They appear to enlarge in a few days, and some to change their\nform; which are probably converted from more simple into more\ncomplicate animalcules by repeated reproductions. See Note VIII.\n\n3. In their early state they seem to multiply by viviparous solitary\nreproduction, either by external division, as the smaller ones, or by\nan internal progeny, as the eels in paste or vinegar; and lastly, in\ntheir more mature state, the larger ones are said to appear to have\nsexual connexion. Engl. Encyclop.\n\n4. Those animalcules discovered in pustules of the itch, in the feces\nof dysenteric patients, and in semine masculino, I suppose to be\nproduced by the stagnation and incipient decomposition of those\nmaterials in their receptacles, and not to exist in the living blood\nor recent secretions; as none, I believe, have been discovered in\nblood when first drawn from the arm, or in fluids newly secreted from\nthe glands, which have not previously stagnated in their reservoirs.\n\n5. They are observed to move in all directions with ease and rapidity,\nand to avoid obstacles, and not to interfere with each other in their\nmotions. When the water is in part evaporated, they are seen to flock\ntowards the remaining part, and show great agitation. They sustain a\ngreat degree of cold, as some insects, and perish in much the same\ndegree of heat as destroys insects; all which evince that they are\nliving animals.\n\nAnd it is probable, that other or similar animalcules may be produced\nin the air, or near the surface of the earth, but it is not so easy to\nview them as in water; which as it is transparent, the creatures\nproduced in it can easily be observed by applying a drop to a\nmicroscope. I hope that microscopic researches may again excite the\nattention of philosophers, as unforeseen advantages may probably be\nderived from them, like the discovery of a new world.\n\n\n\n\nADDITIONAL NOTES. II.\n\nTHE FACULTIES OF THE SENSORIUM.\n\n Next the long nerves unite their silver train,\n And young Sensation permeates the brain.\n CANT. I. l. 250.\n\n\nI. The fibres, which constitute the muscles and organs of sense,\npossess a power of contraction. The circumstances attending the\nexertion of this power of contraction constitute the laws of animal\nmotion, as the circumstances attending the exertion of the power of\nattraction constitute the laws of motion of inanimate matter.\n\nII. The spirit of animation is the immediate cause of the contraction\nof animal fibres, it resides in the brain and nerves, and is liable to\ngeneral or partial diminution or accumulation.\n\nIII. The stimulus of bodies external to the moving organ is the remote\ncause of the original contractions of animal fibres.\n\nIV. A certain quantity of stimulus produces irritation, which is an\nexertion of the spirit of animation exciting the fibres into\ncontraction.\n\nV. A certain quantity of contraction of animal fibres, if it be\nperceived at all, produces pleasure; a greater or less quantity of\ncontraction, if it be perceived at all, produces pain; these\nconstitute sensation.\n\nVI. A certain quantity of sensation produces desire or aversion; these\nconstitute volition.\n\nVII. All animal motions which have occurred at the same time, or in\nimmediate succession, become so connected, that when one of them is\nreproduced, the other has a tendency to accompany or succeed it. When\nfibrous contractions succeed or accompany other fibrous contractions,\nthe connexion is termed association; when fibrous contractions succeed\nsensorial motions, the connexion is termed causation; when fibrous and\nsensorial motions reciprocally introduce each other, it is termed\ncatenation of animal motions.\n\nVIII. These four faculties of the sensorium during their inactive\nstate are termed irritability, sensibility, voluntarily, and\nassociability; in their active state they are termed as above\nirritation, sensation, volition, association.\n\nIrritation is an exertion or change of some extreme part of the\nsensorium residing in the muscles or organs of sense, in consequence\nof the appulses of external bodies.\n\nSensation is an exertion or change of the central parts of the\nsensorium, or of the whole of it, beginning at some of those extreme\nparts of it, which reside in the muscles or organs of sense.\n\nVolition is an exertion or change of the central parts of the\nsensorium, or of the whole of it, terminating in some of those extreme\nparts of it, which reside in the muscles or organs of sense.\n\nAssociation is an exertion or change of some extreme part of the\nsensorium residing in the muscles or organs of sense, in consequence\nof some antecedent or attendant fibrous contractions; see Zoonomia,\nVol. I.\n\nThe word sensorium is used to express not only the medullary part of\nthe brain, spinal marrow, nerves, organs of sense and muscles, but\nalso at the same time that living principle, or spirit of animation,\nwhich resides throughout the body, without being cognizable to our\nsenses except by its effects.\n\n\n\n\nADDITIONAL NOTES. III.\n\n Next when imprison'd fires in central caves\n Burst the firm earth, and drank the headlong waves.\n CANTO I. l. 302.\n\n\nThe great and repeated explosions of volcanoes are shown by Mr.\nMitchell in the Philosoph. Transact. to arise from their communication\nwith the sea, or with rivers, or inundations; and that after a chink\nor crack is made, the water rushing into an immense burning cavern,\nand falling on boiling lava, is instantly expanded into steam, and\nproduces irresistible explosions.\n\nAs the first volcanic fires had no previous vent, and were probably\nmore central, and larger in quantity, before they burst the crust of\nthe earth then intire, and as the sea covered the whole, it must\nrapidly sink down into every opening chink; whence these primeval\nearthquakes were of much greater extent, and of much greater force,\nthan those which occur in the present era.\n\nIt should be added, that there may be other elastic vapours produced\nby great heat from whatever will evaporate, as mercury, and even\ndiamonds; which may be more elastic, and consequently exert greater\nforce than the steam of water even though heated red hot. Which may\nthence exert a sufficient power to raise islands and continents, and\neven to throw the moon from the earth.\n\nIf the moon be supposed to have been thus thrown out of the great\ncavity which now contains the South Sea, the immense quantity of water\nflowing in from the primeval ocean, which then covered the earth,\nwould much contribute to leave the continents and islands, which might\nbe raised at the same time above the surface of the water. In later\ndays there are accounts of large stones falling from the sky, which\nmay have been thus thrown by explosion from some distant earthquake,\nwithout sufficient force to cause them to circulate round the earth,\nand thus produce numerous small moons or satellites.\n\nMr. Mitchell observes, that the agitations of the earth from the great\nearthquake at Lisbon were felt in this country about the same time\nafter the shock, as sound would have taken in passing from Lisbon\nhither; and thence ascribes these agitations to the vibrations of the\nsolid earth, and not to subterraneous caverns of communication;\nPhilos. Transact. But from the existence of warm springs at Bath and\nBuxton, there must certainly be unceasing subterraneous fires at some\ngreat depth beneath those parts of this island; see on this subject\nBotanic Garden, Vol. II. Canto IV. l. 79, note. For an account of the\nnoxious vapours emitted from volcanoes, see Botanic Garden, Vol. II.\nCant. IV. l. 328, note. For the milder effects of central fires, see\nBotanic Garden, Vol. I. Cant. I. l. 139, and Additional Note VI.\n\n\n\n\nADDITIONAL NOTES. IV.\n\n So from deep lakes the dread musquito springs,\n Drinks the soft breeze, and dries his tender wings.\n CANTO I. l. 327.\n\n\nThe gnat, or musquito, culex pipiens. The larva of this insect lives\nchiefly in water, and the pupa moves with great agility. It is fished\nfor by ducks; and, when it becomes a fly, is the food of the young of\npartridges, quails, sparrows, swallows, and other small birds. The\nfemales wound us, and leave a red point; and in India their bite is\nmore venomous. The male has its antennae and feelers feathered, and\nseldom bites or sucks blood; Lin. Syst. Nat.\n\nIt may be driven away by smoke, especially by that from inula\nhelenium, elecampane; and by that of cannabis, hemp. Kalm. It is said\nthat a light in a chamber will prevent their attack on sleeping\npersons.\n\nThe gnats of this country are produced in greater numbers in some\nyears than others, and are then seen in swarms for many evenings near\nthe lakes or rivers whence they arise; and, I suppose, emigrate to\nupland situations, where fewer of them are produced. About thirty\nyears ago such a swarm was observed by Mr. Whitehurst for a day or two\nabout the lofty tower of Derby church, as to give a suspicion of the\nfabric being on fire.\n\nMany other kinds of flies have their origin in the water, as perhaps\nthe whole class of neuroptera. Thus the libellula, dragon fly: the\nlarva of which hurries amid the water, and is the cruel crocodile of\naquatic insects. After they become flies, they prey principally on the\nclass of insects termed lepidoptera, and diptera of Linneus. The\nephemera is another of this order, which rises from the lakes in such\nquantities in some countries, that the rustics have carried cart-loads\nof them to manure their corn lands; the larva swims in the water: in\nits fly-state the pleasures of life are of short duration, as its\nmarriage, production of its progeny, and funeral, are often\ncelebrated in one day. The phryganea is another fly of this order; the\nlarva lies concealed under the water in moveable cylindrical tubes of\ntheir own making. In the fly-state they institute evening dances in\nthe air in swarms, and are fished for by the swallows.\n\nMany other flies, who do not leave their eggs in water, contrive to\nlay them in moist places, as the oestros bovis; the larvae of which\nexist in the bodies of cattle, where they are nourished during the\nwinter, and are occasionally extracted by a bird of the crow-kind\ncalled buphaga. These larvae are also found in the stomachs of horses,\nwhom they sometimes destroy; another species of them adhere to the\nanus of horses, and creep into the lowest bowel, and are called botts;\nand another species enters the frontal sinus of sheep, occasioning a\nvertigo called the turn. The musca pendula lives in stagnant water;\nthe larva is suspended by a thread-form respiratory tube; of the musca\nchamaeleon, the larva lives in fountains, and the fly occasionally\nwalks upon the water. The musca vomitoria is produced in carcases;\nthree of these flies consume the dead body of a horse as soon as a\nlion. Lin. Syst. Nat.\n\n\n\n\nADDITIONAL NOTE. V.\n\nAMPHIBIOUS ANIMALS.\n\n So still the Diodons, amphibious tribe,\n With twofold lungs the sea and air imbibe.\n CANT. I. l. 331.\n\n\nD. D. Garden dissected the amphibious creature called diodon by\nLinneus, and was amazed to find that it possessed both external gills\nand internal lungs, which he described and prepared and sent to\nLinneus; who thence put this animal into the order nantes of his class\namphibia. He adds also, in his account of polymorpha before the class\namphibia, that some of this class breathe by lungs only, and others by\nboth lungs and gills.\n\nSome amphibious quadrupeds, as the beaver, water rat, and otter, are\nsaid to have the foramen ovale of the heart open, which communicates\nfrom one cavity of it to the other; and that, during their continuance\nunder water, the blood can thus for a time circulate without passing\nthrough the lungs; but as it cannot by these means acquire oxygen\neither from the air or water, these creatures find it frequently\nnecessary to rise to the surface to respire. As this foramen ovale is\nalways open in the foetus of quadrupeds, till after its birth that it\nbegins to respire, it has been proposed by some to keep young puppies\nthree or four times a day for a minute or two under warm water to\nprevent this communication from one cavity of the heart to the other\nfrom growing up; whence it has been thought such dogs might become\namphibious. It is also believed that this circumstance has existed in\nsome divers for pearl; whose children are said to have been thus kept\nunder water in their early infancy to enable them afterwards to\nsucceed in their employment.\n\nBut the most frequent distinction of the amphibious animals, that live\nmuch in the water, is, that their heart consists but of one cell; and\nas they are pale creatures with but little blood, and that colder and\ndarker coloured, as frogs and lizards, they require less oxygen than\nthe warmer animals with a greater quantity and more scarlet blood; and\nthence, though they have only lungs, they can stay long under water\nwithout great inconvenience; but are all of them, like frogs, and\ncrocodiles, and whales, necessitated frequently to rise above the\nsurface for air.\n\nIn this circumstance of their possessing a one-celled heart, and\ncolder and darker blood, they approach to the state of fish; which\nthus appear not to acquire so much oxygen by their gills from the\nwater as terrestrial animals do by their lungs from the atmosphere;\nwhence it may be concluded that the gills of fish do not decompose the\nwater which passes through them, and which contains so much more\noxygen than the air, but that they only procure a small quantity of\noxygen from the air which is diffused in the water; which also is\nfurther confirmed by an experiment with the air-pump, as fish soon die\nwhen put in a glass of water into the exhausted receiver, which they\nwould not do if their gills had power to decompose the water and\nobtain the oxygen from it.\n\nThe lamprey, petromyzon, is put by Linneus amongst the nantes, which\nare defined to possess both gills and lungs. It has seven spiracula,\nor breathing holes, on each side of the neck, and by its more perfect\nlungs approaches to the serpent kind; Syst. Nat. The means by which it\nadheres to stones, even in rapid streams, is probably owing to a\npartial vacuum made by its respiring organs like sucking, and may be\ncompared to the ingenious method by which boys are seen to lift large\nstones in the street, by applying to them a piece of strong moist\nleather with a string through the centre of it; which, when it is\nforcibly drawn upwards, produces a partial vacuum under it, and thus\nthe stone is supported by the pressure of the atmosphere.\n\nThe leech, hirudo, and the remora, echeneis, adhere strongly to\nobjects probably by a similar method. I once saw ten or twelve leeches\nadhere to each foot of an old horse a little above his hoofs, who was\ngrazing in a morass, and which did not lose their hold when he moved\nabout. The bare-legged travellers in Ceylon are said to be much\ninfested by leeches; and the sea-leech, hirudo muricata, is said to\nadhere to fish, and the remora is said to adhere to ships in such\nnumbers as to retard their progress.\n\nThe respiratory organ of the whale, I suppose, is pulmonary in part,\nas he is obliged to come frequently to the surface, whence he can be\npursued after he is struck with the harpoon; and may nevertheless be\nin part like the gills of other fish, as he seems to draw in water\nwhen he is below the surface, and emits it again when he rises above\nit.\n\n\n\n\nADDITIONAL NOTE. VI.\n\nHIEROGLYPHIC CHARACTERS.\n\n So erst as Egypt's rude designs explain.\n CANTO I. l. 351.\n\n\nThe outlines of animal bodies, which gave names to the constellations,\nas well as the characters used in chemistry for the metals, and in\nastronomy for the planets, were originally hieroglyphic figures, used\nby the magi of Egypt before the invention of letters, to record their\ndiscoveries in those sciences.\n\nOther hieroglyphic figures seem to have been designed to perpetuate\nthe events of history, the discoveries in other arts, and the opinions\nof those ancient philosophers on other subjects. Thus their figures of\nVenus for beauty, Minerva for wisdom, Mars and Bellona for war,\nHercules for strength, and many others, became afterwards the deities\nof Greece and Rome; and together with the figures of Time, Death, and\nFame, constitute the language of the painters to this day.\n\nFrom the similarity of the characters which designate the metals in\nchemistry, and the planets in astronomy, it may be concluded that\nthese parts of science were then believed to be connected; whence\nastrology seems to have been a very early superstition. These, so far,\nconstitute an universal visible language in those sciences.\n\nSo the glory, or halo, round the head is a part of the universal\nlanguage of the eye, designating a holy person; wings on the shoulders\ndenote a good angel; and a tail and hoof denote the figure of an evil\ndemon; to which may be added the cap of liberty and the tiara of\npopedom. It is to be wished that many other universal characters could\nbe introduced into practice, which might either constitute a more\ncomprehensive language for painters, or for other arts; as those of\nciphers and signs have done for arithmetic and algebra, and crotchets\nfor music, and the alphabets for articulate sounds; so a zigzag line\nmade on white paper by a black-lead pencil, which communicates with\nthe surface of the mercury in the barometer, as the paper itself is\nmade constantly to move laterally by a clock, and daily to descend\nthrough the space necessary, has ingeniously produced a most accurate\nvisible account of the rise and fall of the mercury in the barometer\nevery hour in the year.\n\nMr. Grey's Memoria Technica was designed as an artificial language to\nremember numbers, as of the eras, or dates of history. This was done\nby substituting one consonant and one vowel for each figure of the ten\ncyphers used in arithmetic, and by composing words of these letters;\nwhich words Mr. Grey makes into hexameter verses, and produces an\naudible jargon, which is to be committed to memory, and occasionally\nanalysed into numbers when required. An ingenious French botanist,\nMonsieur Bergeret, has proposed to apply this idea of Mr. Grey to a\nbotanical nomenclature, by making the name of each plant to consist of\nletters, which, when analysed, were to signify the number of the\nclass, order, genus, and species, with a description also of some\nparticular part of the plant, which was designed to be both an audible\nand visible language.\n\nBishop Wilkins in his elaborate \"Essay towards a Real Character and a\nPhilosophical Language,\" has endeavoured to produce, with the greatest\nsimplicity, and accuracy, and conciseness, an universal language both\nto be written and spoken, for the purpose of the communication of all\nour ideas with greater exactness and less labour than is done in\ncommon languages, as they are now spoken and written. But we have to\nlament that the progress of general science is yet too limited both\nfor his purpose, and for that even of a nomenclature for botany; and\nthat the science of grammar, and even the number and manner of the\npronunciation of the letters of the alphabet, are not yet determined\nwith such accuracy as would be necessary to constitute Bishop\nWilkins's grand design of an universal language, which might\nfacilitate the acquirement of knowledge, and thus add to the power and\nhappiness of mankind.\n\n\n\n\nADDITIONAL NOTE. VII.\n\nOLD AGE AND DEATH.\n\n The age-worn fibres goaded to contract\n By repetition palsied, cease to act.\n CANTO II. l. 4\n\n\nI. _Effects of Age._\n\nThe immediate cause of the infirmities of age, or of the progress of\nlife to death, has not yet been well ascertained. The answer to the\nquestion, why animals become feeble and diseased after a time, though\nnourished with the same food which increased their growth from\ninfancy, and afterwards supported them for many years in unimpaired\nhealth and strength, must be sought for from the laws of animal\nexcitability, which, though at first increased, is afterwards\ndiminished by frequent repetitions of its adapted stimulus, and at\nlength ceases to obey it.\n\n1. There are four kinds of stimulus which induce the fibres to\ncontract, which constitute the muscles or the organs of sense; as,\nfirst, The application of external bodies, which excites into action\nthe sensorial power of irritation; 2dly, Pleasure and pain, which\nexcite into action the sensorial power of sensation; 3dly, Desire and\naversion, which excite into action the power of volition; and lastly,\nThe fibrous contractions, which precede association, which is another\nsensorial power; see Zoonomia, Vol. I. Sect. II. 13.\n\nMany of the motions of the organic system, which are necessary to\nlife, are excited by more than one of these stimuli at the same time,\nand some of them occasionally by them all. Thus respiration is\ngenerally caused by the stimulus of blood in the lungs, or by the\nsensation of the want of oxygen; but is also occasionally voluntary.\nThe actions of the heart also, though generally owing to the stimulus\nof the blood, are also inflamed by the association of its motions with\nthose of the stomach, whence sometimes arises an inequality of the\npulse, and with other parts of the system, as with the capillaries,\nwhence heat of the skin in fevers with a feeble pulse, see Zoonomia.\nThey are also occasionally influenced by sensation, as is seen in the\npaleness occasioned by fear, or the blush of shame and anger; and\nlastly the motions of the heart are sometimes assisted by volition;\nthus in those who are much weakened by fevers, the pulse is liable to\nstop during their sleep, and to induce great distress; which is owing\nat that time to the total suspension of voluntary power; the same\noccurs during sleep in some asthmatic patients.\n\n2. The debility of approaching age appears to be induced by the\ninactivity of many parts of the system, or their disobedience to their\nusual kinds and quantities of stimulus: thus the pallid appearance of\nthe skin of old age is owing to the inactivity of the heart, which\nceases to obey the irritation caused by the stimulus of the blood, or\nits association with other moving organs with its former energy;\nwhence the capillary arteries are not sufficiently distended in their\ndiastole, and consequently contract by their elasticity, so as to\nclose the canal, and their sides gradually coalesce. Of these, those\nwhich are most distant from the heart, and of the smallest diameters,\nwill soonest close, and become impervious; hence the hard pulse of\naged patients is occasioned by the coalescence of the sides of the\nvasa vasorum, or capillary arteries of the coats of the other\narteries.\n\nThe veins of elderly people become turgid or distended with blood, and\nstand prominent on the skin; for as these do not possess the\nelasticity of the arteries, they become distended with accumulation of\nblood; when the heart by its lessened excitability does not contract\nsufficiently forcibly, or frequently, to receive, as fast as usual,\nthe returning blood; and their apparent prominence on the skin is\noccasioned by the deficient secretion of fat or mucus in the cellular\nmembrane; and also to the contraction and coalescence and consequent\nless bulk of many capillary arteries.\n\n3. Not only the muscular fibres lose their degree of excitability from\nage, as in the above examples; and as may be observed in the tremulous\nhands and feeble step of elderly persons; but the organs of sense\nbecome less excitable by the stimulus of external objects; whence the\nsight and hearing become defective; the stimulus of the sensorial\npower of sensation also less affects the aged, who grieve less for the\nloss of friends or for other disappointments; it should nevertheless\nbe observed, that when the sensorial power of irritation is much\nexhausted, or its production much diminished; the sensorial power of\nsensation appears for a time to be increased; as in intoxication there\nexists a kind of delirium and quick flow of ideas, and yet the person\nbecomes so weak as to totter as he walks; but this delirium is owing\nto the defect of voluntary power to correct the streams of ideas by\nintuitive analogy, as in dreams: see Zoonomia: and thus also those who\nare enfeebled by habits of much vinous potation, or even by age alone,\nare liable to weep at shaking hands with a friend, whom they have not\nlately seen; which is owing to defect of voluntary power to correct\ntheir trains of ideas caused by sensation, and not to the increased\nquantity of sensation, as I formerly supposed.\n\nThe same want of voluntary power to keep the trains of sensitive ideas\nconsistent, and to compare them by intuitive analogy with the order of\nnature, is the occasion of the starting at the clapping to of a door,\nor the fall of a key, which occasions violent surprise with fear and\nsometimes convulsions, in very feeble hysterical patients, and is not\nowing I believe (as I formerly supposed) to increased sensation; as\nthey are less sensible to small stimuli than when in health.\n\nOld people are less able also to perform the voluntary exertions of\nexercise or of reasoning, and lastly the association of their ideas\nbecomes more imperfect, as they are forgetful of the names of persons\nand places; the associations of which are less permanent, than those\nof the other words of a language, which are more frequently repeated.\n\n4. This disobedience of the fibres of age to their usual stimuli, has\ngenerally been ascribed to repetition or habit, as those who live near\na large clock, or a mill, or a waterfall, soon cease to attend to the\nperpetual noise of it in the day, and sleep dining the night\nundisturbed. Thus all medicines, if repeated too frequently, gradually\nlose their effect; as wine and opium cease to intoxicate: some\ndisagreeable tastes as tobacco, by frequent repetition cease to be\ndisagreeable; grief and pain gradually diminish and at length cease\naltogether; and hence life itself becomes tolerable.\n\nThis diminished power of contraction of the fibres of the muscles or\norgans of sense, which constitutes permanent debility or old age, may\narise from a deficient secretion of sensorial power in the brain, as\nwell as from the disobedience of the muscles and organs of sense to\ntheir usual stimuli; but this less production of sensorial power must\ndepend on the inactivity of the glands, which compose the brain, and\nare believed to separate it perpetually from the blood; and is thence\nowing to a similar cause with the inaction of the fibres of the other\nparts of the system.\n\nIt is finally easy to understand how the fibres may cease to act by\nthe usual quantity of stimulus after having been previously exposed to\na greater quantity of stimulus, or to one too long continued; because\nthe expenditure of sensorial power has then been greater than its\nproduction; but it is not easy to explain why the repetition of\nfibrous contractions, which during the meridian of life did not expend\nthe sensorial power faster than it was produced; or only in such a\ndegree as was daily restored by rest and sleep, should at length in\nthe advance of life expend too much of it; or otherwise, that less of\nit should be produced in the brain; or reside in the nerves; lastly\nthat the fibres should become less excitable by the usual quantity of\nit.\n\n5. But these facts would seem to show, that all parts of the system\nare not changed as we advance in life, as some have supposed; as in\nthat case it might have preserved for ever its excitability; and it\nmight then perhaps have been easier for nature to have continued her\nanimals and vegetables for ever in their mature state, than\nperpetually by a complicate apparatus to have produced new ones, and\nsuffer the old ones to perish; for a further account of stimulus and\nthe consequent animal exertion, see Zoonomia, Vol. I. Sect. 12.\n\n\nII. _Means of preventing old age._\n\nThe means of preventing the approach of age must therefore consist in\npreventing the inexcitability of the fibres, or the diminution of the\nproduction of sensorial power.\n\n1. As animal motion cannot be performed without the fluid matter of\nheat, in which all things are immersed, and without a sufficient\nquantity of moisture to prevent rigidity: nothing seems so well\nadapted to both these purposes as the use of the warm bath; and\nespecially in those, who become thin or emaciated with age, and who\nhave a hard and dry skin, with hardness of the coat of the arteries;\nwhich feels under the finger like a cord; the patient should sit in\nwarm water for half an hour every day, or alternate days, or twice a\nweek; the heat should be about ninety-eight degrees on Fahrenheit's\nscale, or of such a warmth, as may be most agreeable to his sensation;\nbut on leaving the bath he should always be kept so cool, whether he\ngoes into bed, or continues up, as not sensibly to perspire.\n\nThere is a popular prejudice, that the warm bath relaxes people, and\nthat the cold bath braces them; which are mechanical terms belonging\nto drums and fiddle-strings, but not applicable except metaphorically\nto animal bodies, and then commonly mean weakness and strength: during\nthe continuance in the bath the patient does not lose weight, unless\nhe goes in after a full meal, but generally weighs heavier as the\nabsorption is greater than the perspiration; but if he suffers himself\nto sweat on his leaving the bath, he will undoubtedly be weakened by\nthe increased action of the system, and its exhaustion: the same\noccurs to those who are heated by exercise, or by wine, or spice, but\nnot during their continuance in the warm bath: whence we may conclude,\nthat the warm bath is the most harmless of all those stimuli, which\nare greater than our natural habits have accustomed us to; and that it\nparticularly counteracts the approach of old age in emaciated people\nwith dry skins.\n\nIt may be here observed in favour of bathing, that some fish are\nbelieved to continue to a great age, and continually to enlarge in\nsize, as they advance in life; and that long after their state of\npuberty. I have seen perch full of spawn, which were less than two\ninches long; and it is known, that they will grow to six or eight\ntimes that size; it is said, that the whales, which have been caught\nof late years, are much less in size than those, which were caught,\nwhen first the whale-fishery was established; as the large ones, which\nwere supposed to have been some hundred years old, are believed to be\nalready destroyed.\n\nAll cold-blooded amphibious animals more slowly waste their sensorial\npower; as they are accustomed to less stimulus from their respiring\nless oxygen; and their movements in water are slower than those of\naerial animals from the greater resistance of the element. There\nbesides seems to be no obstacle to the growth of aquatic animals; as\nby means of the air-bladder, they can make their specific gravity the\nsame as that of the water in which they swim. And the moisture of the\nelement seems well adapted to counteract the rigidity of their fibres;\nand as their exertions in locomotion, and the pressure of some parts\non others, are so much less than in the bodies of land animals.\n\n2. But as all excessive stimuli exhaust the sensorial power, and\nrender the system less excitable for a time till the quantity of\nsensorial power is restored by sleep, or by the diminution or absence\nof stimulus; which is seen by the weakness of inebriates for a day at\nleast after intoxication. And as the frequent repetition of this great\nand unnatural stimulus of fermented liquors produces a permanent\ndebility, or disobedience of the system to the usual and natural kinds\nand quantities of stimulus, as occurs in those who have long been\naddicted to the ingurgitation of fermented liquors.\n\nAnd as, secondly, the too great deficiency of the quantity of natural\nstimuli, as of food, and warmth, or of fresh air, produces also\ndiseases; as is often seen in the children of the poor in large towns,\nwho become scrofulous from want of due nourishment, and from cold,\ndamp, unairy lodgings.\n\nThe great and principal means to prevent the approach of old age and\ndeath, must consist in the due management of the quantity of every\nkind of stimulus, but particularly of that from objects external to\nthe moving organ; which may excite into action too great or too small\na quantity of the sensorial power of irritation, which principally\nactuates the vital organs. Whence the use of much wine, or opium, or\nspice, or of much salt, by their unnatural stimulus induces consequent\ndebility, and shortens life, on the one hand, by the exhaustion of\nsensorial power; so on the other hand, the want of heat, food, and\nfresh air, induces debility from defect of stimulus, and a consequent\naccumulation of sensorial power, and a general debility of the system.\nWhence arise the pains of cold and hunger, and those which are called\nnervous; and which are the cause of hysteric, epileptic, and perhaps\nof asthmatic paroxysms, and of the cold fits of fever.\n\n3. Though all excesses of increase and decrease of stimulus should be\navoided, yet a certain variation of stimulus seems to prolong the\nexcitability of the system; as during any diminution of the usual\nquantity of stimulus, an accumulation of sensorial power is produced;\nand in consequence the excitability, which was lessened by the action\nof habitual stimulus, becomes restored. Thus those, who are uniformly\nhabituated to much artificial heat, as in warm parlours in the winter\nmonths, lose their irritability in some degree, and become feeble like\nhot-house plants; but by frequently going for a time into the cold\nair, the sensorial power of irritability is accumulated and they\nbecome stronger.\n\nWhence it may be deduced, that the variations of the cold and heat of\nthis climate contribute to strengthen its inhabitants, who are more\nactive and vigorous, and live longer, than those of either much warmer\nor much colder latitudes.\n\nThis accumulation of sensorial power from diminution of stimulus any\none may observe, who in severe weather may sit by the fire-side till\nhe is chill and uneasy with the sensation of cold; but if he walks\ninto the frosty air for a few minutes, an accumulation of sensorial\npower is produced by diminution of the stimulus of heat, and on his\nreturning into the room where he was chill before, his whole skin will\nnow glow with warmth.\n\nHence it may be concluded, that the variations of the quantity of\nstimuli within certain limits contribute to our health; and that those\nhouses which are kept too uniformly warm, are less wholesome than\nwhere the inhabitants are occasionally exposed to cold air in passing\nfrom one room to another.\n\nNevertheless to those weak habits with pale skins and large pupils of\nthe eyes, whose degree of irritability is less than health requires,\nas in scrofulous, hysterical, and some consumptive constitutions, a\nclimate warmer than our own may be of service, as a greater stimulus\nof heat may be wanted to excite their less irritability. And also a\nmore uniform quantity of heat may be serviceable to consumptive\npatients than is met with in this country, as the lungs cannot be\nclothed like the external skin, and are therefore subject to greater\nextremes of heat and cold in passing in winter from a warm room into\nthe frosty air.\n\n4. It should nevertheless be observed, that there is one kind of\nstimulus, which though it be employed in quantity beyond its usual\nstate, seems to increase the production of sensorial power beyond the\nexpenditure of it (unless its excess is great indeed) and thence to\ngive permanent strength and energy to the system; I mean that of\nvolition. This appears not only from the temporary strength of angry\nor insane people, but because insanity even cures some diseases of\ndebility, as I have seen in dropsy, and in some fevers; but it is also\nobservable, that many who have exerted much voluntary effort during\ntheir whole lives, have continued active to great age. This however\nmay be conceived to arise from these great exertions being performed\nprincipally by the organs of sense, that is by exciting and comparing\nideas; as in those who have invented sciences, or have governed\nnations, and which did not therefore exhaust the sensorial power of\nthose organs which are necessary to life, but perhaps rather prevented\nthem from being sooner impaired, their sensorial power not having been\nso frequently exhausted by great activity, for very violent exercise\nof the body, long continued, forwards old age; as is seen in\npost-horses that are cruelly treated, and in many of the poor, who\nwith difficulty support their families by incessant labour.\n\n\nIII. _Theory of the Approach of Age._\n\nThe critical reader is perhaps by this time become so far interested\nin this subject as to excuse a more prolix elucidation of it.\n\nIn early life the repetition of animal actions occasions them to be\nperformed with greater facility, whether those repetitions are\nproduced by volition, sensation, or irritation; because they soon\nbecome associated together, if as much sensorial power is produced\nbetween every reiteration of action, as is expended by it.\n\nBut if a stimulus be repeated at uniform intervals of time, the\naction, whether of our muscles or organs of sense, is performed with\nstill greater facility and energy; because the sensorial power of\nassociation mentioned above, is combined with the sensorial power of\nirritation, and forms part of the diurnal chain of animal motions;\nthat is, in common language, the acquired habit assists the power of\nthe stimulus; see Zoonomia, Vol. I. Sect. XXII. 2. and Sect. XII. 3.\n3.\n\nOn this circumstance depends the easy motions of the fingers in\nperforming music, and of the feet and arms in dancing and fencing, and\nof the hands in the use of tools in mechanic arts, as well as all the\nvital motions which animate and nourish organic bodies.\n\nOn the contrary, many animal motions by perpetual repetition are\nperformed with less energy; as those who live near a waterfall, or a\nsmith's forge, after a time, cease to hear them. And in those\ninfectious diseases which are attended with fever, as the small-pox\nand measles, violent motions of the system are excited, which at\nlength cease, and cannot again be produced by application of the same\nstimulating material; as when those are inoculated for the small-pox,\nwho have before undergone that malady. Hence the repetition, which\noccasions animal actions for a time to be performed with greater\nenergy, occasions them at length to become feeble, or to cease\nentirely.\n\nTo explain this difficult problem we must more minutely consider the\ncatenations of animal motions, as described in Zoonomia, Vol. I. Sect.\nXVII. The vital motions, as suppose of the heart and arterial system,\ncommence from the irritation occasioned by the stimulus of the blood,\nand then have this irritation assisted by the power of association; at\nthe same time an agreeable sensation is produced by the due actions of\nthe fibres, as in the secretions of the glands, which constitutes the\npleasure of existence; this agreeable sensation is intermixed between\nevery link of this diurnal chain of actions, and contributes to\nproduce it by what is termed animal causation. But there is also a\ndegree of the power of volition excited in consequence of this vital\npleasure, which is also intermixed between the links of the chain of\nfibrous actions; and thus also contributes to its uniform easy and\nperpetual production.\n\nThe effects of surprise and novelty must now be considered by the\npatient reader, as they affect the catenations of action; and, I hope,\nthe curiosity of the subject will excuse the prolixity of this account\nof it. When any violent stimulus breaks the passing current or\ncatenation of our ideas, surprise is produced, which is accompanied\nwith pain or pleasure, and consequent volition to examine the object\nof it, as explained in Zoonomia, Vol. I. Sect. XVIII. 17, and which\nnever affects us in sleep. In our waking hours whenever an idea of\nimagination occurs, which is incongruous to our former experience, we\nfeel another kind of surprise, and instantly dissever the train of\nimagination by the power of volition, and compare the incongruous idea\nwith our previous knowledge of nature, and reject it by an act of\nreasoning, of which we are unconscious, termed in Zoonomia, \"Intuitive\nAnalogy,\" Vol. I Sect. XVII. 7.\n\nThe novelty of any idea may be considered as affecting us with another\nkind of surprise, or incongruity, as it differs from the usual train\nof our ideas, and forms a new link in this perpetual chain; which, as\nit thus differs from the ordinary course of nature, we instantly\nexamine by the voluntary efforts of intuitive analogy; or by\nreasoning, which we attend to; and compare it with the usual\nappearances of nature.\n\nThese ideas which affect us with surprise, or incongruity, or novelty,\nare attended with painful or pleasurable sensation; which we mentioned\nbefore as intermixing with all catenations of animal actions, and\ncontributing to strengthen their perpetual and energetic production;\nand also exciting in some degree the power of volition, which also\nintermixes with the links of the chain of animal actions, and\ncontributes to produce it.\n\nNow by frequent repetition the surprise, incongruity, or novelty\nceases; and, in consequence, the pleasure or pain which accompanied\nit, and also the degree of volition which was excited by that\nsensation of pain or pleasure; and thus the sensorial power of\nsensation and of volition are subducted from the catenation of vital\nactions, and they are in consequence produced much weaker, and at\nlength cease entirely. Whence we learn why contagious matters induce\ntheir effects on the circulation but once; and why, in process of\ntime, the vital movements are performed with less energy, and at\nlength cease; whence the debilities of age, and consequent death.\n\n\n\n\nADDITIONAL NOTES. VIII.\n\nREPRODUCTION.\n\n But Reproduction with ethereal fires\n New life rekindles, ere the first expires.\n CANTO II. l. 13.\n\n\nI. The reproduction or generation of living organized bodies, is the\ngreat criterion or characteristic which distinguishes animation from\nmechanism. Fluids may circulate in hydraulic machines, or simply move\nin them, as mercury in the barometer or thermometer, but the power of\nproducing an embryon which shall gradually acquire similitude to its\nparent, distinguishes artificial from natural organization.\n\nThe reproduction of plants and animals appears to be of two kinds,\nsolitary and sexual; the former occurs in the formation of the buds of\ntrees, and the bulbs of tulips; which for several successions generate\nother buds, and other bulbs, nearly similar to the parent, but\nconstantly approaching to greater perfection, so as finally to produce\nsexual organs, or flowers, and consequent seeds.\n\nThe same occurs in some inferior kinds of animals; as the aphises in\nthe spring and summer are viviparous for eight or nine generations,\nwhich successively produce living descendants without sexual\nintercourse, and are themselves, I suppose, without sex; at length in\nthe autumn they propagate males and females, which copulate and lay\neggs, which lie dormant during the winter, and are hatched by the\nvernal sun; while the truffle, and perhaps mushrooms amongst\nvegetables, and the polypus and taenia amongst insects, perpetually\npropagate themselves by solitary reproduction, and have not yet\nacquired male and female organs.\n\nPhilosophers have thought these viviparous aphides, and the taenia, and\nvolvox, to be females; and have supposed them to have been impregnated\nlong before their nativity within each other; so the taenia and volvox\nstill continue to produce their offspring without sexual intercourse.\nOne extremity of the taenia, is said by Linneus to grow old, whilst at\nthe other end new ones are generated proceeding to infinity like the\nroots of grass. The volvox globator is transparent, and carries within\nitself children and grandchildren to the fifth generation like the\naphides; so that the taenia produces children and grandchildren\nlongitudinally in a chain-like series, and the volvox propagates an\noffspring included within itself to the fifth generation; Syst. Nat.\n\nMany microscopic animals, and some larger ones, as the hydra or\npolypus, are propagated by splitting or dividing; and some still\nlarger animals, as oysters, and perhaps eels, have not yet acquired\nsexual organs, but produce a paternal progeny, which requires no\nmother to supply it with a nidus, or with nutriment and oxygenation;\nand, therefore, very accurately resemble the production of the buds of\ntrees, and the wires of some herbaceous plants, as of knot-grass and\nof strawberries, and the bulbs of other plants, as of onions and\npotatoes; which is further treated of in Phytologia, Sect. VII.\n\nThe manner in which I suspect the solitary reproduction of the buds of\ntrees to be effected, may also be applied to the solitary generation\nof the insects mentioned above, and probably of many others, perhaps\nof all the microscopic ones. It should be previously observed, that\nmany insects are hermaphrodite, possessing both male and female organs\nof reproduction, as shell-snails and dew-worms; but that these are\nseen reciprocally to copulate with each other, and are believed not to\nbe able to impregnate themselves; which belongs, therefore, to sexual\ngeneration, and not to the solitary reproduction of which I am now\nspeaking.\n\nAs in the chemical production of any new combination of matter, two\nkinds of particles appear to be necessary; one of which must possess\nthe power of attraction, and the other the aptitude to be attracted,\nas a magnet and a piece of iron; so in vegetable or animal\ncombinations, whether for the purpose of nutrition or for\nreproduction, there must exist also two kinds of organic matter; one\npossessing the appetency to unite, and the other the propensity to be\nunited; (see Zoonomia, octavo edition, Sect. XXXIX. 8.) Hence in the\ngeneration of the buds of trees, there are probably two kinds of\nglands, which acquire from the vegetable blood, and deposite beneath\nthe cuticle of the tree two kinds of formative organic matter, which\nunite and form parts of the new vegetable embryon; which again uniting\nwith other such organizations form the caudex, or the plumula, or the\nradicle, of a new vegetable bud.\n\nA similar mode of reproduction by the secretion of two kinds of\norganic particles from the blood, and by depositing them either\ninternally as in the vernal and summer aphis or volvox, or externally\nas in the polypus and taenia, probably obtains in those animals; which\nare thence propagated by the father only, not requiring a cradle, or\nnutriment, or oxygenation from a mother; and that the five\ngenerations, said to be seen in the transparent volvox globator within\neach other, are perhaps the successive progeny to be delivered at\ndifferent periods of time from the father, and erroneously supposed to\nbe mothers impregnated before their nativity.\n\n\nII. Sexual as well as solitary reproduction appears to be effected by\ntwo kinds of glands; one of which collects or secretes from the blood\nformative organic particles with appetencies to unite, and the other\nformative organic particles with propensities to be united. These\nprobably undergo some change by a kind of digestion in their\nrespective glands; but could not otherwise unite previously in the\nmass of blood from its perpetual motion.\n\nThe first mode of sexual reproduction seems to have been by the\nformation of males into hermaphrodites; that is, when the numerous\nformative glands, which existed in the caudex of the bud of a tree, or\non the surface of a polypus, became so united as to form but two\nglands; which might then be called male and female organs. But they\nstill collect and secrete their adapted particles from the same mass\nof blood as in snails and dew-worms, but do not seem to be so placed\nas to produce an embryon by the mixture of their secreted fluids, but\nto require the mutual assistance of two hermaphrodites for that\npurpose.\n\nFrom this view-of the subject, it would appear that vegetables and\nanimals were at first propagated by solitary generation, and\nafterwards by hermaphrodite sexual generation; because most vegetables\npossess at this day both male and female organs in the same flower,\nwhich Linneus has thence well called hermaphrodite flowers; and that\nthis hermaphrodite mode of reproduction still exists in many insects,\nas in snails and worms; and, finally, because all the male quadrupeds,\nas well as men, possess at this day some remains of the female\napparatus, as the breasts with nipples, which still at their nativity\nare said to be replete with a kind of milk, and the nipples swell on\ntitillation.\n\nAfterwards the sexes seem to have been formed in vegetables as in\nflowers, in addition to the power of solitary reproduction by buds. So\nin animals the aphis is propagated both by solitary reproduction as in\nspring, or by sexual generation as in autumn; then the vegetable sexes\nbegan to exist in separate plants, as in the classes monoecia and\ndioecia, or both of them in the same plant also, as in the class\npolygamia; but the larger and more perfect animals are now propagated\nby sexual reproduction only, which seems to have been the\nchef-d'oeuvre, or capital work of nature; as appears by the wonderful\ntransformations of leaf-eating caterpillars into honey-eating moths\nand butterflies, apparently for the sole purpose of the formation of\nsexual organs, as in the silk-worm, which takes no food after its\ntransformation, but propagates its species and dies.\n\n\nIII. _Recapitulation._\n\nThe microscopic productions of spontaneous vitality, and the next most\ninferior kinds of vegetables and animals, propagate by solitary\ngeneration only; as the buds and bulbs raised immediately from seeds,\nthe lycoperdon tuber, with probably many other fungi, and the polypus,\nvolvox, and taenia. Those of the next order propagate both by solitary\nand sexual reproduction, as those buds and bulbs which produce flowers\nas well as other buds or bulbs; and the aphis, and probably many other\ninsects. Whence it appears, that many of those vegetables and animals,\nwhich are produced by solitary generation, gradually become more\nperfect, and at length produce a sexual progeny.\n\nA third order of organic nature consists of hermaphrodite vegetables\nand animals, as in those flowers which have anthers and stigmas in the\nsame corol; and in many insects, as leeches, snails, and worms; and\nperhaps all those reptiles which have no bones, according to the\nobservation of M. Poupart, who thinks, that the number of\nhermaphrodite animals exceeds that of those which are divided into\nsexes; Mem. de l'Acad. des Sciences. These hermaphrodite insects I\nsuspect _to_ be incapable of impregnating themselves for reasons\nmentioned in Zoonomia, Sect. XXXIX. 6. 2.\n\nAnd, lastly, the most perfect orders of animals are propagated by\nsexual intercourse only; which, however, does not extend to\nvegetables, as all those raised from seed produce some generations of\nbuds or bulbs, previous to their producing flowers, as occurs not only\nin trees, but also in the annual plants. Thus three or four joints of\nwheat grow upon each other, before that which produces a flower; which\njoints are all separate plants growing over each other, like the buds\nof trees, previous to the uppermost; though this happens in a few\nmonths in annual plants, which requires as many years in the\nsuccessive buds of trees; as is further explained in Phytologia, Sect.\nIX. 3. 1.\n\n\nIV. _Conclusion._\n\nWhere climate is favourable, and salubrious food plentiful, there is\nreason to believe, that the races of animals perpetually improve by\nreproduction. The smallest microscopic animals become larger ones in a\nshort time, probably by successive reproductions, as is so distinctly\nseen in the buds of seedling apple-trees, and in the bulbs of tulips\nraised from seed; both which die annually, and leave behind them one\nor many, which are more perfect than themselves, till they produce a\nsexual progeny, or flowers. To which may be added, the rapid\nimprovement of our domesticated dogs, horses, rabbits, pigeons, which\nimprove in size, or in swiftness, or in the sagacity of the sense of\nsmell, or in colour, or other properties, by sexual reproduction.\n\nThe great Linneus having perceived the changes produced in the\nvegetable world by sexual reproduction, has supposed that not more\nthan about sixty plants were at first created, and that all the others\nhave been formed by their solitary or sexual reproductions; and adds,\nSuadent haec Creatoris leges a simplicibus ad composita; Gen. Plant.\npreface to the natural orders, and Amenit. Acad. VI. 279. This mode\nof reasoning may be extended to the most simple productions of\nspontaneous vitality.\n\nThere is one curious circumstance of animal life analogous in some\ndegree to this wonderful power of reproduction; which is seen in the\npropagation of some contagious diseases. Thus one grain of variolous\nmatter, inserted by inoculation, shall in about seven days stimulate\nthe system into unnatural action; which in about seven days more\nproduces ten thousand times the quantity of a similar material thrown\nout on the skin in pustules!\n\nThe mystery of reproduction, which alone distinguishes organic life\nfrom mechanic or chemic action, is yet wrapt in darkness. During the\ndecomposition of organic bodies, where there exists a due degree of\nwarmth with moisture, new microscopic animals of the most minute kind\nare produced; and these possess the wonderful power of reproduction,\nor of producing animals similar to themselves in their general\nstructure, but with frequent additional improvements; which the\npreceding parent might in some measure have acquired by his habits of\nlife or accidental situation.\n\nBut it may appear too bold in the present state of our knowledge on\nthis subject, to suppose that all vegetables and animals now existing\nwere originally derived from the smallest microscopic ones, formed by\nspontaneous vitality? and that they have by innumerable reproductions,\nduring innumerable centuries of time, gradually acquired the size,\nstrength, and excellence of form and faculties, which they now\npossess? and that such amazing powers were originally impressed on\nmatter and spirit by the great Parent of Parents! Cause of Causes! Ens\nEntium!\n\n\n\n\nADDITIONAL NOTES. IX.\n\nSTORGE.\n\n And Heaven-born STORGE weaves the social chain.\n CANTO II. l. 92.\n\n\nThe Greek word Storge is used for the affection of parents to\nchildren; which was also visibly represented by the Stork or Pelican\nfeeding her young with blood taken from her own wounded bosom. A\nnumber of Pelicans form a semicircle in shallow parts of the sea near\nthe coast, standing on their long legs; and thus including a shoal of\nsmall fish, they gradually approach the shore; and seizing the fish as\nthey advance, receive them into a pouch under their throats; and\nbringing them to land regurgitate them for the use of their young, or\nfor their future support. Adanson, Voyage to Senegal. In this country\nthe parent Pigeons both male and female swallow the grain or other\nseeds, which they collect for their young, and bring it up mixed with\na kind of milk from their stomachs, with their bills inserted into the\nmouths of the young doves. J. Hunter's works.\n\nThe affection of the parent to the young in experienced mothers may be\nin part owing to their having been relieved by them from the burden of\ntheir milk; but it is difficult to understand, how this affection\ncommences in those mothers of the bestial world, who have not\nexperienced this relief from the sucking of their offspring; and still\nmore so to understand how female birds were at first induced to\nincubate their eggs for many weeks; and lastly how caterpillars, as of\nthe silk-worm, are induced to cover themselves with a well-woven house\nof silk before their transformation.\n\nThese as well as many other animal facts, which are difficult to\naccount for, have been referred to an inexplicable instinct; which is\nsupposed to preclude any further investigation: but as animals seem to\nhave undergone great changes, as well as the inanimate parts of the\nearth, and are probably still in a state of gradual improvement; it is\nnot unreasonable to conclude, that some of these actions both of large\nanimals and of insects, may have been acquired in a state preceding\ntheir present one; and have been derived from the parents to their\noffspring by imitation, or other kind of tradition; thus the eggs of\nthe crocodile are at this day hatched by the warmth of the sun in\nEgypt; and the eggs of innumerable insects, and the spawn of fish, and\nof frogs, in this climate are hatched by the vernal warmth: this might\nbe the case of birds in warm climates, in their early state of\nexistence; and experience might have taught them to incubate their\neggs, as they became more perfect animals, or removed themselves into\ncolder climates: thus the ostrich is said to sit upon its eggs only in\nthe night in warm situations, and both day and night in colder ones.\n\nThis love of the mother in quadrupeds to the offspring, whom she licks\nand cleans, is so allied to the pleasure of the taste or palate, that\nnature seems to have had a great escape in the parent quadruped not\ndevouring her offspring. Bitches, and cats, and sows, eat the\nplacenta; and if a dead offspring occurs, I am told, that also is\nsometimes eaten, and yet the living offspring is spared; and by that\nnice distinction the progenies of those animals are saved from\ndestruction!\n\n\"Certior factus sum a viro rebus antiquissimis docto, quod legitur in\nBerosi operibus homines ante diluvium mulierum puerperarum placentam\nedidisse, quasi cibum delicatum in epulis luxuriosis; et quod hoc\nnefandissimo crimine movebatur Deus diluvio submergere terrarum\nincolas.\" ANON.\n\nIt may be finally concluded, that this affection from the parent to\nthe progeny existed before animals were divided into sexes, and\nproduced the beginning of sympathetic society, the source of which may\nperhaps be thus well accounted for; whenever the glandular system is\nstimulated into greater natural action within certain limits, an\naddition of pleasure is produced along with the increased secretion;\nthis pleasure arising from the activity of the system is supposed to\nconstitute the happiness of existence, in contradistinction to the\nennui or taedium vitae; as shown in Zoonomia, Sect. XXXIII. 1.\n\nHence the secretion of nutritious juices occasioned by the stimulus of\nan embryon or egg in the womb gives pleasure to the parent for a\nlength of time; whence by association a similar pleasure may be\noccasioned to the parent by seeing and touching the egg or fetus after\nits birth; and in lactescent animals an additional pleasure is\nproduced by the new secretion of milk, as well as by its emission into\nthe sucking lips of the infant. This appears to be one of the great\nsecrets of Nature, one of those fine, almost invisible cords, which\nhave bound one animal to another.\n\nThe females of lactiferous animals have thus a passion or inlet of\npleasure in their systems more than the males, from their power of\ngiving suck to their offspring; the want of the object of this\npassion, either owing to the death of the progeny, or to the unnatural\nfashion of their situation in life, not only deprives them of this\ninnocent and virtuous source of pleasure; but has occasioned diseases,\nwhich have been fatal to many of them.\n\n\n\n\nADDITIONAL NOTES. X.\n\nEVE FROM ADAM'S RIB.\n\n Form'd a new sex, the mother of mankind.\n CANTO II. l. 140.\n\n\nThe mosaic history of Paradise and of Adam and Eve has been thought by\nsome to be a sacred allegory, designed to teach obedience to divine\ncommands, and to account for the origin of evil, like Jotham's fable\nof the trees; Judges ix. 8. or Nathan's fable of the poor man and his\nlamb; 2 Sam. xii. 1. or like the parables in the New Testament; as\notherwise knowledge could not be said to grow upon one tree, and life\nupon another, or a serpent to converse; and lastly that this account\noriginated with the magi or philosophers of Egypt, with whom Moses was\neducated, and that this part of the history, where Eve is said to have\nbeen made from a rib of Adam might have been an hieroglyphic design of\nthe Egyptian philosophers, showing their opinion that Mankind was\noriginally of both sexes united, and was afterwards divided into males\nand females: an opinion in later times held by Plato, and I believe by\nAristotle, and which must have arisen from profound inquiries into the\noriginal state of animal existence.\n\n\n\n\nADDITIONAL NOTES. XI.\n\nHEREDITARY DISEASES.\n\n The feeble births acquired diseases chase,\n Till Death extinguish the degenerate race.\n CANTO II. l. 165.\n\n\nAs all the families both of plants and animals appear in a state of\nperpetual improvement or degeneracy, it becomes a subject of\nimportance to detect the causes of these mutations.\n\nThe insects, which are not propagated by sexual intercourse, are so\nfew or so small, that no observations have been made on their\ndiseases; but hereditary diseases are believed more to affect the\noffspring of solitary than of sexual generation in respect to\nvegetables; as those fruit trees, which have for more than a century\nbeen propagated only by ingrafting, and not from seeds, have been\nobserved by Mr. Knight to be at this time so liable to canker, as not\nto be worth cultivation. From the same cause I suspect the degeneracy\nof some potatoes and of some strawberries to have arisen; where the\ncurled leaf has appeared in the former, and barren flowers in the\nlatter.\n\nThis may arise from the progeny by solitary reproduction so much more\nexactly resembling the parent, as is well seen in grafted trees\ncompared with seedling ones; the fruit of the former always resembling\nthat of the parent tree, but not so of the latter. The grafted scion\nalso accords with the branch of the tree from whence it was taken, in\nthe time of its bearing fruit; for if a scion be taken from a bearing\nbranch of a pear or apple tree, I believe, it will produce fruit even\nthe next year, or that succeeding; that is, in the same time that it\nwould have produced fruit, if it had continued growing on the parent\ntree; but if the parent pear or apple tree has been cut down or\nheaded, and scions are then, taken from the young shoots of the stem,\nand ingrafted; I believe those grafted trees will continue to grow for\nten or twelve years, before they bear fruit, almost as long as\nseedling trees, that is they will require as much time, as those new\nshoots from the lopped trunk would require, before they produce fruit.\nIt should thence be inquired, when grafted fruit trees are purchased,\nwhether the scions were taken from bearing branches, or from the young\nshoots of a lopped trunk; as the latter, I believe, are generally\nsold, as they appear stronger plants. This greater similitude of the\nprogeny to the parent in solitary reproduction must certainly make\nthem more liable to hereditary diseases, if such have been acquired by\nthe parent from unfriendly climate or bad nourishment, or accidental\ninjury.\n\nIn respect to the sexual progeny of vegetables it has long been\nthought, that a change of seed or of situation is in process of time\nnecessary to prevent their degeneracy; but it is now believed, that it\nis only changing for seed of a superior quality, that will better the\nproduct. At the same time it may be probably useful occasionally to\nintermix seeds from different situations together; as the anther-dust\nis liable to pass from one plant to another in its vicinity; and by\nthese means the new seeds or plants may be amended, like the marriages\nof animals into different families.\n\nAs the sexual progeny of vegetables are thus less liable to hereditary\ndiseases than the solitary progenies; so it is reasonable to conclude,\nthat the sexual progenies of animals may be less liable to hereditary\ndiseases, if the marriages are into different families, than if into\nthe same family; this has long been supposed to be true, by those who\nbreed animals for sale; since if the male and female be of different\ntemperaments, as these are extremes of the animal system, they may\ncounteract each other; and certainly where both parents are of\nfamilies, which are afflicted with the same hereditary disease, it is\nmore likely to descend to their posterity.\n\nThe hereditary diseases of this country have many of them been the\nconsequence of drinking much fermented or spirituous liquor; as the\ngout always, most kinds of dropsy, and, I believe, epilepsy, and\ninsanity. But another material, which is liable to produce diseases in\nits immoderate use, I believe to be common salt; the sea-scurvy is\nevidently caused by it in long voyages; and I suspect the scrofula,\nand consumption, to arise in the young progeny from the debility of\nthe lymphatic and venous absorption produced in the parent by this\ninnutritious fossile stimulus. The petechiae and vibices in the\nsea-scurvy and occasional haemorrhages evince the defect of venous\nabsorption; the occasional haemoptoe at the commencement of pulmonary\nconsumption, seems also to arise from defect of venous absorption; and\nthe scrofula, which arises from the inactivity of the lymphatic\nabsorbent system, frequently exists along with pulmonary as well as\nwith mesenteric consumption. A tendency to these diseases is certainly\nhereditary, though perhaps not the diseases themselves; thus a less\nquantity of ale, cyder, wine, or spirit, will induce the gout and\ndropsy in those constitutions, whose parents have been intemperate in\nthe use of those liquors; as I have more than once had occasion to\nobserve.\n\nFinally the art to improve the sexual progeny of either vegetables or\nanimals must consist in choosing the most perfect of both sexes, that\nis the most beautiful in respect to the body, and the most ingenious\nin respect to the mind; but where one sex is given, whether male or\nfemale, to improve a progeny from that person may consist in choosing\na partner of a contrary temperament.\n\nAs many families become gradually extinct by hereditary diseases, as\nby scrofula, consumption, epilepsy, mania, it is often hazardous to\nmarry an heiress, as she is not unfrequently the last of a diseased\nfamily.\n\n\n\n\nADDITIONAL NOTES. XII.\n\nCHEMICAL THEORY OF ELECTRICITY AND MAGNETISM.\n\n Then mark how two electric streams conspire\n To form the resinous and vitreous fire.\n CANTO III. l. 21.\n\n\nI. _Of Attraction and Repulsion._\n\nThe motions, which accomplish the combinations and decompositions of\nbodies, depend on the peculiar attractions and repulsions of the\nparticles of those bodies, or of the sides and angles of them; while\nthe motions of the sun and planets, of the air and ocean, and of all\nbodies approaching to a general centre or retreating from it, depend\non the general attraction or repulsion of those masses of matter. The\npeculiar attractions above mentioned are termed chemical affinities,\nand the general attraction is termed gravitation; but the peculiar\nrepulsions of the particles of bodies, or the general repulsion of the\nmasses of matter, have obtained no specific names, nor have been\nsufficiently considered; though they appear to be as powerful agents\nas the attractions.\n\nThe motions of ethereal fluids, as of magnetism and electricity, are\nyet imperfectly understood, and seem to depend both on chemical\naffinity, and on gravitation; and also on the peculiar repulsions of\nthe particles of bodies, and on the general repulsion of the masses of\nmatter.\n\nIn what manner attraction and repulsion are produced has not yet been\nattempted to be explained by modern philosophers; but as nothing can\nact, where it does not exist, all distant attraction of the particles\nof bodies, as well as general gravitation, must be ascribed to some\nstill finer ethereal fluid; which fills up all space between the suns\nand their planets, as well as the interstices of coherent matter.\nRepulsion in the same manner must consist of some finer ethereal\nfluid; which at first projected the planets from the sun, and I\nsuppose prevents their return to it; and which occasionally\nvolatilizes or decomposes solid bodies into fluid or aerial ones, and\nperhaps into ethereal ones.\n\nMay not the ethereal matter which constitutes repulsion, be the same\nas the matter of heat in its diffused state; which in its quiescent\nstate is combined with various bodies, as appears from many chemical\nexplosions, in which so much heat is set at liberty? The ethereal\nmatter, which constitutes attraction, we are less acquainted with; but\nit may also exist combined with bodies, as well as in its diffused\nstate; since the specific gravities of some metallic mixtures are said\nnot to accord with what ought to result from the combination of their\nspecific gravities, which existed before their mixture; but their\nabsolute gravities have not been attended to sufficiently; as these\nhave always been supposed to depend on their quantity of matter, and\nsituation in respect to the centre of the earth.\n\nThe ethereal fluids, which constitute peculiar repulsions and\nattractions, appear to gravitate round the particles of bodies mixed\ntogether; as those, which constitute the general repulsion or\nattraction, appear to gravitate round the greater masses of matter\nmixed together; but that which constitutes attraction seems to exist\nin a denser state next to the particles or masses of matter; and that\nwhich constitutes repulsion to exist more powerfully in a sphere\nfurther from them; whence many bodies attract at one distance, and\nrepel at another. This may be observed by approaching to each other\ntwo electric atmospheres round insulated cork-balls; or by pressing\nglobules of mercury, which roll on the surface, till they unite with\nit; or by pressing the drops of water,' which stand on a cabbage leaf,\ntill they unite with it, and hence light is reflected from the surface\nof a mirror without touching it.\n\nThus the peculiar attractions and repulsions of the particles of\nbodies, and the general ones of the masses of matter, perpetually\noppose and counteract each other; whence if the power of attraction\nshould cease to act, all matter would be dissipated by the power of\nrepulsion into boundless space; and if heat, or the power of\nrepulsion, should cease to act, the whole world would become one solid\nmass, condensed into a point.\n\n\nII. _Preliminary Propositions._\n\nThe following propositions concerning Electricity and Galvanism will\neither be proved by direct experiments, or will be rendered probable\nby their tending to explain or connect the variety of electric facts,\nto which they will be applied.\n\n1. There are two kinds of electric ether, which exist either\nseparately or in combination. That which is accumulated on the surface\nof smooth glass, when it is rubbed with a cushion, is here termed\nvitreous ether; and that which is accumulated on the surface of resin\nor sealing-wax, when it is rubbed with a cushion, is here termed\nresinous ether; and a combination of them, as in their usual state,\nmay be termed neutral electric ethers.\n\n2. Atmospheres of vitreous or of resinous or of neutral electricity\nsurround all separate bodies, are attracted by them, and permeate\nthose, which are called conductors, as metallic and aqueous and\ncarbonic ones; but will not permeate those, which are termed\nnonconductors, as air, glass, silk, resin, sulphur.\n\n3. The particles of vitreous electric ether strongly repel each other\nas they surround other bodies; but strongly attract the particles of\nresinous electric ether: in similar manner the particles of the\nresinous ether powerfully repel each other, and as powerfully attract\nthose of the vitreous ether. Hence in their separate state they appear\nto occupy much greater space, as they, gravitate round insulated\nbodies, and are then only cognizable by our senses or experiments.\nThey rush violently together through conducting substances, and then\nprobably possess much less space in this their combined state. They\nthus resemble oxygen gas and nitrous gas; which rush violently\ntogether when in contact; and occupy less space when united, than\neither of them possessed separately before their union. When the two\nelectric ethers thus unite, a chemical explosion occurs, like an\nignited train of gunpowder; as they give out light and heat; and rend\nor fuse the bodies they occupy; which cannot be accounted for on the\nmechanical theory of Dr. Franklin.\n\n4. Glass holds within it in combination much resinous electric ether,\nwhich constitutes a part of it, and which more forcibly attracts\nvitreous electric ether from surrounding bodies, which stands on it\nmixed with a less proportion of resinous ether like an atmosphere, but\ncannot unite with the resinous ether, which is combined with the\nglass; and resin, on the contrary, holds within it in combination much\nvitreous electric ether, which constitutes a part of it, and which\nmore forcibly attracts resinous electric ether from surrounding\nbodies, which stands on it mixed with a less proportion of vitreous\nether like an atmosphere, but cannot unite with the vitreous ether,\nwhich is combined with the resin.\n\nAs in the production of vitrification, those materials are necessary\nwhich contain much oxygen, as minium, and manganese; there is probably\nmuch oxygen combined with glass, which may thence be esteemed a solid\nacid, as water may be esteemed a fluid one. It is hence not\nimprobable, that one kind of electric ether may also be combined with\nit, as it seems to affect the oxygen of water in the Galvanic\nexperiments. The combination of the other kind of electric ether with\nwax or sulphur, is countenanced from those bodies, when heated or\nmelted, being said to part with much electricity as they cool, and as\nit appears to affect the hydrogen in the decomposition of water by\nGalvanism.\n\n5. Hence the nonconductors of electricity are of two kinds; such as\nare combined with vitreous ether, as resin, and sulphur; and such as\nare combined with resinous ether, as glass, air, silk. But both these\nkinds of nonconductors are impervious to either of the electric\nethers; as those ethers being already combined with other bodies will\nnot unite with each other, or be removed from their situations by each\nother. Whereas the perfect conducting bodies, as metals, water,\ncharcoal, though surrounded with electric atmospheres, as they have\nneither of the electric ethers combined with them, suffer them to\npermeate and pass through them, whether separately or in their neutral\nstate of reciprocal combination.\n\nBut it is probable, that imperfect conductors may possess more or less\nof either the vitreous or resinous ether combined with them, since\ntheir natural atmospheres are dissimilar as mentioned below; and that\nthis makes them more or less imperfect conductors.\n\n6. Those bodies which are perfect conductors, have probably neutral\nelectric atmospheres gravitating round them consisting of an equal or\nsaturated mixture of the two electric ethers, whereas the atmospheres\nround the nonconducting bodies probably consist of an unequal mixture\nof the electric ethers, as more of the vitreous one round glass, and\nmore of the resinous one round resin; and, it is probable, that these\nmixed atmospheres, which surround imperfect conducting bodies, consist\nalso of different proportions of the vitreous and resinous ethers,\naccording to their being more or less perfect conductors. These minute\ndegrees of the difference of these electric atmospheres are evinced by\nMr. Bennet's Doubler of Electricity, as shown in his work, and are\ntermed by him Adhesive Electric Atmospheres, to distinguish them from\nthose accumulated by art; thus the natural adhesive electricity of\nsilver is more of the vitreous kind compared with that of zinc, which\nconsists of a greater proportion of the resinous; that is, in his\nlanguage, silver is positive and zinc negative. This experiment I have\nsuccessfully repeated with Mr. Bennet's Doubler along with Mr.\nSwanwick.\n\n7. Great accumulation or condensation of the separate electric ethers\nattract each other so strongly, that they will break a passage through\nnonconducting bodies, as through a plate of glass, or of air, and will\nrend bodies which are less perfect conductors, and give out light and\nheat like the explosion of a train of gunpowder; whence, when a strong\nelectric shock is passed through a quire of paper, a bur, or elevation\nof the sheets, is seen on both sides of it occasioned by the\nexplosion. Whence trees and stone walls are burst by lightning, and\nwires are fused, and inflammable bodies burnt, by the heat given out\nalong with the flash of light, which cannot be explained by the\nmechanic theory.\n\n8. When artificial or natural accumulations of these separate ethers\nare very minute in quantity or intensity, they pass slowly and with\ndifficulty from one body to another, and require the best conductors\nfor this purpose; whence many of the phenomena of the torpedo or\ngymnotus, and of Galvanism. Thus after having discharged a coated\njar, if the communicating wire has been quickly withdrawn, a second\nsmall shock may be taken after the principal discharge, and this\nrepeatedly two or three times.\n\nHence the charge of the Galvanic pile being very minute in quantity or\nintensity, will not readily pass through the dry cuticle of the hands,\nthough it so easily passes through animal flesh or nerves, as this\ncombination of charcoal with water seems to constitute the most\nperfect conductor yet known.\n\n9. As light is reflected from the surface of a mirror before it\nactually touches it, and as drops of water are repelled from cabbage\nleaves without touching them, and as oil lies on water without\ntouching it, and also as a fine needle may be made to lie on water\nwithout touching it, as shown by Mr. Melville in the Literary Essays\nof Edinburgh; there is reason to believe, that the vitreous and\nresinous electric ethers are repelled by, or will not pass through,\nthe surfaces of glass or resin, to which they are applied. But though\nneither of these electric ethers passes through the surfaces of glass\nor resin, yet their attractive or repulsive powers pass through them:\nas the attractive or repulsive power of the magnet to iron passes\nthrough the atmosphere, and all other bodies which exist between them.\nSo an insulated cork-ball, when electrised either with vitreous or\nresinous ether, repels another insulated cork-ball electrised with the\nsame kind of ether, through half an inch of common air, though these\nelectric atmospheres do not unite.\n\nWhence it may be concluded, that the general attractive and repulsive\nethers accompany the electric ethers as well as they accompany all\nother bodies; and that the electric ethers do not themselves attract\nor repel through glass or resin, as they cannot pass through them, but\nstrongly attract each other when they come into contact, rush\ntogether, and produce an explosion of the sudden liberation of heat\nand light.\n\n\nIII. _Effect of Metallic Points._\n\n1. When a pointed wire is presented by a person standing on the ground\nto an insulated conductor, on which either vitreous or resinous\nelectricity is accumulated, the accumulated electricity will pass off\nat a much greater distance than if a metallic knob be fixed on the\nwire and presented in its stead.\n\n2. The same occurs if the metallic point be fixed on the electrised\nconductor, and the finger of a person standing on the ground be\npresented to it, the accumulated electricity will pass off at a much\ngreater distance, and indeed will soon discharge itself by\ncommunicating the accumulated electricity to the atmosphere.\n\n3. If a metallic point be fixed on the prime conductor, and the flame\nof a candle be presented to it, on electrising the conductor either\nwith vitreous or resinous ether, the flame of the candle is blown from\nthe point, which must be owing to the electric fluid in its passage\nfrom the point carrying along with it a stream of atmospheric air.\n\nThe manner in which the accumulated electricity so readily passes off\nby a metallic point may be thus understood; when a metallic point\nstands erect from an electrised metallic plane, the accumulated\nelectricity which exists on the extremity of the point, is attracted\nless than that on the other parts of the electrised surface. For the\nparticle of electric matter immediately over the point is attracted by\nthat point only, whereas the particles of electric matter over every\nother part of the electrised plane, is not only attracted by the parts\nof the plane immediately under them, but also laterally by the\ncircumjacent parts of it; whence the accumulated electric fluid is\npushed off at this point by that over the other parts being more\nstrongly attracted to the plane.\n\nThus if a light insulated horizontal fly be constructed of wire with\npoints fixed as tangents to the circle, it will revolve the way\ncontrary to the direction of the points as long as it continues to be\nelectrised. For the same reason as when a circle of cork, with a point\nof the cork standing from it like a tangent, is smeared with oil, and\nthrown upon a lake, it will continue to revolve backwards in respect\nto the direction of the point till all the oil is dispersed upon the\nlake, as first observed by Dr. Franklin; for the oil being attracted\nto all the other parts of the cork-circle more than towards the\npointed tangent, that part over the point is pushed off and diffuses\nitself on the water, over which it passes without touching, and\nconsequently without friction; and thus the cork revolves in the\ncontrary direction.\n\nAs the flame of a candle is blown from a point fixed on an electrised\nconductor, whether vitreous or resinous electricity is accumulated on\nit, it shows that in both cases electricity passes from the point,\nwhich is a forcible argument against the mechanical theory of positive\nand negative electricity; because then the flame should be blown\ntowards the point in one case, and from it in the other.\n\nSo the electric fly, as it turns horizontally, recedes from the\ndirection of the points of the tangents, whether it be electrised with\nvitreous or resinous electricity; whereas if it was supposed to\nreceive electricity, when electrised by resin, and to part with it\nwhen electrised by glass, it ought to revolve different ways; which\nalso forcibly opposes the theory of positive and negative electricity.\n\nAs an electrised point with either kind of electricity causes a stream\nof air to pass from it in the direction of the point, it seems to\naffect the air much in the same manner as the fluid matter of heat\naffects it; that is, it will not readily pass through it, but will\nadhere to the particles of air, and is thus carried away with them.\n\nFrom this it will also appear, that points do not attract electricity,\nproperly speaking, but suffer it to depart from them; as it is there\nless attracted to the body which it surrounds, than by any other part\nof the surface.\n\nAnd as a point presented to an electrised conductor facilitates the\ndischarge of it, and blows the flame of a candle towards the\nconductor, whether vitreous or resinous electricity be accumulated\nupon it; it follows, that in both cases some electric matter passes\nfrom the point to the conductor, and that hence there are two electric\nethers; and that they combine or explode when they meet together, and\ngive out light and heat, and occupy less space in this their combined\nstate, like the union of nitrous gas with oxygen gas.\n\n\nIV. _Accumulation of Electric Ethers by Contact._\n\nThe electric ethers may be separately accumulated by contact of\nconductors with nonconductors, by vicinity of the two ethers, by heat,\nand by decomposition.\n\nGlass is believed to consist in part of consolidated resinous ether,\nand thence to attract an electric atmosphere round it, which consists\nof a greater proportion of vitreous ether compared to the quantity of\nthe resinous, as mentioned in Proposition No. 4. This atmosphere may\nstand off a line from the surface of the glass, though its attractive\nor repulsive power may extend to a much greater distance; and a more\nequally mixed electric atmosphere may stand off about the same\ndistance from the surface of a cushion.\n\nNow when a cushion is forcibly pressed upon the surface of a glass\ncylinder or plane, the atmosphere of the cushion is forced within that\nof the glass, and consequently the vitreous part of it is brought\nwithin the sphere of the attraction of the resinous ether combined\nwith the glass, and therefore becomes attracted by it in addition to\nthe vitreous part of the spontaneous atmosphere of the glass; and the\nresinous part of the atmosphere of the cushion is at the same time\nrepelled by its vicinity to the combined resinous ether of the glass.\nFrom both which circumstances a vitreous ether alone surrounds the\npart of the glass on which the cushion is forcibly pressed; which does\nnot, nevertheless, resemble an electrised coated jar; as this\naccumulation of vitreous ether on one side of the glass is not so\nviolently condensed, or so forcibly attracted to the glass by the\nloose resinous ether on the other side of it, as occurs in the charged\ncoated jar.\n\nHence as weak differences of the kinds or quantities of electricity do\nnot very rapidly change place, if the cushion be suddenly withdrawn,\nwith or without friction, I suppose an accumulation of vitreous\nelectric ether will be left on the surface of the glass, which will\ndiffuse itself on an insulated conductor by the assistance of points,\nor will gradually be dissipated in the air, probably like odours by\nthe repulsion of its own particles, or may be conducted away by the\nsurrounding air as it is repelled from it, or by the moisture or other\nimpurities of the atmosphere. And hence I do not suppose the friction\nof the glass-globe to be necessary, except for the purpose of more\neasily removing the parts of the surface from the pressure of the\ncushion to the points of the prime conductor, and to bring them more\neasily into reciprocal contact.\n\nWhen sealing wax or sulphur is rubbed by a cushion, exactly the same\ncircumstance occurs, but with the different ethers; as the resinous\nether of the spontaneous atmosphere of the cushion, when it is pressed\nwithin the spontaneous atmosphere of the sealing wax, is attracted by\nthe solid vitreous ether, which is combined with it; and at the same\ntime the vitreous ether of the cushion is repelled by it; and hence an\natmosphere of resinous ether alone exists between the sealing wax and\nthe cushion thus pressed together. It is nevertheless possible, that\nfriction on both sealing wax and glass may add some facility to the\naccumulations of their opposite ethers by the warmth which it\noccasions. As most electric machines succeed best after being warmed,\nI think even in dry frosty seasons.\n\nThough when a cushion is applied to a smooth surfaced glass, so as to\nintermix their electric atmospheres, the vitreous ether of the cushion\nis attracted by the resinous ether combined with the glass; but does\nnot intermix with it, but only adheres to it: and as the glass turns\nround, the vitreous electric atmosphere stands on the solid resinous\nelectric ether combined with the glass; and is taken away by the\nmetallic points of the prime conductor.\n\nYet if the surface of the glass be roughened by scratching it with a\ndiamond or with hard sand, a new event occurs; which is, that the\nvitreous ether attracted from the cushion by the resinous ether\ncombined with the glass becomes adhesive to it; and stands upon the\nroughened glass, and will not quit the glass to go to the prime\nconductor; whence the surface of the glass having a vitreous electric\natmosphere united, as it were, to its inequalities, becomes similar to\nresin; and will now attract resinous electric ether, like a stick of\nsealing wax, without combining with it. Whence this curious and\notherwise unintelligible phenomenon, that smooth surfaced glass will\ngive vitreous electric ether to an insulated conductor, and glass with\na roughened surface will give resinous ether to it.\n\n\nV. _Accumulation of electric ethers by vicinity._\n\nThough the contact of a cushion on the whirling glass is the easiest\nmethod yet in use for the accumulation of the vitreous electric ether\non an insulated conductor; yet there are other methods of effecting\nthis, as by the vicinity of the two electric ethers with a\nnonconductor between them.\n\nThus I believe a great quantity of both vitreous and resinous electric\nether may be accumulated in the following manner. Let a glass jar be\ncoated within in the usual manner; but let it have a loose external\ncoating, which can easily be withdrawn by an insulating handle. Then\ncharge the jar, as highly as it may be, by throwing into it vitreous\nelectric ether; and in this state hermetically seal it, if\npracticable, otherwise close it with a glass stopple and wax. When the\nexternal coating is drawn off by an insulating handle, having\npreviously had a communication with the earth, it will possess an\naccumulation of resinous electric ether; and then touching it with\nyour finger, a spark will be seen, and there will cease to be any\naccumulated ether.\n\nThus by alternately replacing this loose coating, and withdrawing it\nfrom the sealed charged jar, by means of an insulating handle; and by\napplying it to one insulated conductor, when it is in the vicinity of\nthe jar; and to another insulated conductor, when it is withdrawn;\nvitreous electric ether may be accumulated on one of them, and\nresinous on the other; and thus I suspect an immense quantity of both\nethers may be produced without friction or much labour, if a large\nelectric battery was so contrived; and that it might be applied to\nmany mechanical purposes, where other explosions are now used, as in\nthe place of steam engines, or to rend rocks, or timber, or destroy\ninvading armies!\n\nThe principle of this mode of accumulating the two electric ethers in\nsome measure resembles that of Volta's Electrophorus and Bennet's\nDoubler.\n\n\nVI. _Accumulation of electric ethers by heat and by decomposition._\n\nWhen glass or amber is heated by the fire in a dry season, I suspect\nthat it becomes in some degree electric; as either of the electric\nethers which is combined with them may have its combination with those\nmaterials loosened by the application of heat; and that on this\naccount they may more forcibly attract the opposite one from the air\nin their vicinity.\n\nIt has long been known, that a siliceous stone called the tourmalin,\nwhen its surfaces are polished, if it be laid down before the fire,\nwill become electrified with vitreous, or what is called positive\nelectricity on its upper surface; and resinous, or what is called\nnegative electricity on its under surface; which I suppose lay in\ncontact with somewhat which supported it near the fire.\n\nIn this experiment I suppose the tourmalin to be naturally combined\nwith resinous electric ether like glass; which on one side next\ntowards the fire by the increase of its attractive power, owing to the\nheat having loosened its combination with the earth of the stone, more\nstrongly attracts vitreous electric ether from the atmosphere; which\nnow stands on its surface: and then as the lower surface of the stone\nlies in contact with the hearth, the less quantity of vitreous ether\nis there repelled by the greater quantity of it on the upper surface;\nwhile the resinous ether is attracted by it: and the stone is thus\ncharged like a coated jar with vitreous electric ether condensed on\none side of it, and resinous on the other.\n\nSo cats, as they lie by the fire in a frosty day, become so electric\nas frequently to give a perceptible spark to one's finger from their\nears without friction.\n\nA fourth method of separating the two ethers would seem to be by the\ndecomposition of metallic bodies, as in the experiment with Volta's\nGalvanic pile; which is said by Mr. Davy to act so much more\npowerfully, when an acid is added to the water used in the experiment;\nas will be spoken of below.\n\nFrom experiments made by M. Saussure on the electricity of evaporated\nwater from hot metallic vessels, and from those of china and glass, he\nfound when the vessel was calcined or made rusty by the evaporating\nwater, that the electricity of it was positive (or vitreous), and that\nfrom china or glass was negative (or resinous), Encyclop. Britan. Art.\nElect. No. 206, which seems also to show, that vitreous electric ether\nwas given out or produced by the corrosion of metals, and resinous\nether from the evaporation of water.\n\n\nVII. _The spark from the conductor, and of electric light._\n\nWhen either the vitreous or resinous electric ether is accumulated on\nan insulated conductor, and an uninsulated conductor, as the finger of\nan attendant, is applied nearly in contact with it, what happens? The\nattractive and repulsive powers of the accumulated electric ether pass\nthrough the nonconducting plate of air, and if it be of the vitreous\nkind, it attracts the resinous electric ether of the finger towards\nit, and repels the vitreous electric ether of the finger from it.\n\nHence there exists for an instant a charged plate of air between the\nfinger and the prime conductor, with an accumulation of vitreous ether\non one side of it, and of resinous ether on the other side of it; and\nlastly these two kinds of electric ethers suddenly unite by their\npowerful attraction of each other, explode, and give out heat and\nlight, and rupture the plate of nonconducting air, which separated\nthem.\n\nThe rupture or disjunction of the plate of air is known by the sound\nof the spark, as of thunder; which shows that a vacuum of air was\npreviously produced by the explosion of the electric fluids, and a\nvibration of the air in consequence of the sudden joining again of the\nsides of the vacuum.\n\nThe light which attends electric sparks and shocks, is not accounted\nfor by the Theory of Dr. Franklin. I suspect that it is owing to the\ncombination of the two electric ethers, from which as from all\nchemical explosions both light and heat are set at liberty, and\nbecause a smell is said to be perceptible from electric sparks, and\neven a taste which must be deduced from new combinations, or\ndecompositions, as in other explosions: add to this that the same\nthing occurs, when electric shocks are passed through eggs in the\ndark, or through water, a luminous line is seen like the explosion of\na train of gunpowder; lastly, whether light is really produced in the\npassage of the Galvanic electricity through the eyes, or that the\nsensation alone of light is perceived by its stimulating the optic\nnerve, has not yet been investigated; but I suspect the former, as it\nemits light from its explosion even in passing through eggs and\nthrough water, as mentioned above.\n\n\nVIII. _The shock from the coated jar, and of electric condensation._\n\n1. When a glass jar is coated on both sides, and either vitreous or\nresinous electricity is thrown upon the coating on one side, and there\nis a communication to the earth from the other side, the same thing\nhappens as in the plate of air between the finger and prime conductor\nabove described; that is, the accumulated electricity, if it be of the\nvitreous kind, on one coating of the glass jar will attract the\nresinous part of the electricity, which surrounds or penetrates the\ncoating on the other side of the jar, and also repel the vitreous part\nof it; but this occurs on a much more extensive surface than in the\ninstance of the plate of air between the finger and prime conductor.\n\nThe difference between electric sparks and shocks consists in this\ncircumstance, that in the former the insulating medium, whether of\nair, or of thin glass, is ruptured in one part, and thus a\ncommunication is made between the vitreous and resinous ethers, and\nthey unite immediately, like globules of quicksilver, when pressed\nforcibly together: but in the electric shock a communication is made\nby some conducting body applied to the other extremities of the\nvitreous, and of the resinous atmospheres, through which they pass and\nunite, whether both sides of the coated jar are insulated, or only one\nside of it.\n\nAnd in this line, as they reciprocally meet, they appear to explode\nand give out light and heat, and a new combination of the two ethers\nis produced, as a residuum after the explosion, which probably\noccupies much less space than either the vitreous or resinous ethers\ndid separately before. At the same time there may be another\nunrestrainable ethereal fluid yet unobserved, given out from this\nexplosion, which rends oak trees, bursts stone-walls, lights\ninflammable substances, and fuses metals, or dissipates them in a\ncalciform smoak, along with which great light and much heat are\nemitted, or these effects are produced by the heat and light only thus\nset at liberty by their synchronous and sudden evolution.\n\n2. The curious circumstance of electric condensation appears from the\nviolence of the shock of the coated jar compared with the strongest\nspark from an insulated conductor, though the latter possesses a much\ngreater surface; when vitreous electric ether is thrown on one side of\na coated jar, it attracts the resinous electric ether of the other\nside of the coated jar; and the same occurs, when resinous ether is\nthrown on one side of it, it attracts the vitreous ether of the other\nside of it, and thus the vitreous electric ether on one side of the\njar, and the resinous ether on the other side of it become condensed,\nthat is accumulated in less space, by their reciprocal attraction of\neach other.\n\nThis condensation of the two electric ethers owing to their reciprocal\nattraction appears from another curious event, that the thinner the\nglass jar is, the stronger will the charge be on the same quantity of\nsurface, as then the two ethers approaching nearer without their\nintermixing attract each other stronger, and consequently condense\neach other more. And when the glass jar is very thin the reciprocal\nattractive powers of the vitreous and resinous ether attract each\nother so violently as at length to pass through the glass by rupturing\nit, in the same manner as a less forcible attraction of them ruptures\nand passes through the plate of air in the production of sparks from\nthe prime conductor.\n\nAs these two ethers on each side of a charged coated jar so powerfully\nattract each other, when a communication is made between them by some\nconducting substance as in the common mode of discharging an\nelectrised coated jar, they reciprocally pass to each other for the\npurpose of combining, as some chemical fluids are known to do; as when\nnitrous gas and oxygen gas are mixed together; whence as these fluids\npass both ways to intermix with each other, and then explode; a bur\nappears on each side of a quire of paper well pressed together, when a\nstrong electric shock is passed through it; which is occasioned by\ntheir explosion, like a train of gunpowder, and consequent emission of\nsome other ethereal fluid, either those of heat and light or of some\nnew one not yet observed. Whence it becomes difficult to explain,\naccording to the theory of Dr. Franklin, which way the electric fluid\npassed; and which side of the coated jar contained positive and which\nthe negative charge according to that doctrine.\n\nBut the theory of the ingenious Dr. Franklin failed also in explaining\nother phenomena of the coated jar; since if the positive electricity\naccumulated on one side of the jar repelled the electricity from the\ncoating on the other side of it, so as to produce an electric vacuum;\nwhy should it be so eager, when a communication is made by some\nconducting body, to run into that vacuum by its attraction or\ngravitation, which has been made by its repulsion; as thus it seems to\nbe violently attracted by the vacuum, from which it had previously\nrepelled a fluid similar to itself, which is not easily to be\ncomprehended.\n\n3. There is another mode by which either vitreous or resinous electric\nether is capable of condensation; which consists in contracting the\nvolume, so as to diminish the surface of the electrised body; as was\ningeniously shown by Dr. Franklin's experiment of electrising a silver\ntankard with a length of chain rolled up within it; and then drawing\nup the chain by a silk string, which weakened the electric attraction\nof the tankard; which was strengthened again by returning the chain\ninto it; thus the condensation of an electrised cloud is believed to\ncondense the electric ether, which it contains, and thus to occasion\nthe lightning passing from one cloud to another, or from a cloud into\nthe earth.\n\nThis experiment of the chain and tankard is said to succeed as well with\nwhat is termed negative electricity in the theory of Dr. Franklin, as\nwith what is termed positive electricity; but in that theory the\nnegative electricity means a less quantity or total deprivation or\nvacuity of that fluid; now to condense negative electricity by lowering\nthe suspended chain into the tankard ought to make it less negative;\nwhereas in this experiment I am told it becomes more so, as appears by\nits stronger repulsion of cork balls suspended on silk strings, and\npreviously electrised by rubbed sealing wax: and if the negative\nelectricity be believed to be a perfect vacuum of it, the condensation\nof a vacuum of electricity is totally incomprehensible; and this\nexperiment alone seems to demonstrate the existence of two electric\nethers.\n\n\nIX. _Of Galvanic Electricity._\n\n1. The conductors of electricity, as well as the nonconductors of it,\nhave probably a portion of the vitreous and resinous ethers combined\nwith them, and have also another portion of these ethers diffused\nround them, which forms their natural or spontaneous adhesive\natmospheres; and which exists in different proportions round them\ncorrespondent in quantity to those which are combined with them, but\nopposite in kind.\n\nThese adhesive spontaneous atmospheres of electricity are shown to\nconsist of different proportions or quantities of the electric ethers\nby Mr. Bennet's Doubler of Electricity, as mentioned in his work\ncalled New Experiments on Electricity, sold by Johnson. In this work,\np. 91, the blade of a steel knife was evidently, in his language,\npositive, compared to a soft iron wire which was comparatively\nnegative; so the adhesive electricity of gold, silver, copper, brass,\nbismuth, mercury, and various kinds of wood and stone, were what he\nterms positive or vitreous; and that of tin and zinc, what he terms\nnegative or resinous.\n\nWhere these spontaneous atmospheres of diffused electricity\nsurrounding two conducting bodies, as two pieces of silver, are\nperfectly similar, they probably do not intermix when brought into the\nvicinity of each other; but if these spontaneous atmospheres of\ndiffused electricity are different in respect to the proportion of the\ntwo ethers, or perhaps in respect to their quantity, in however small\ndegree either of these circumstances exists, they may be made to unite\nbut with some difficulty; as the two metallic plates, suppose one of\nsilver, and another of zinc, which they surround, must be brought into\nabsolute or adhesive contact; or otherwise these atmospheres may be\nforced together so as to be much flattened, and compress each other\nwhere they meet, like small globules of quicksilver when pressed\ntogether, but without uniting.\n\nThis curious phenomenon may be seen in more dense electric atmospheres\naccumulated by art, as in the following experiment ascribed to Mr.\nCanton. Lay a wooden skewer the size of a goose-quill across a dry\nwine-glass, and another across another wine-glass; let the ends of\nthem touch each other, as they lie in a horizontal line; call them X\nand Y; approach a rubbed glass-tube near the external end of the\nskewer X, but not so as to touch it; then separate the two skewers by\nremoving the wine-glasses further from each other; and lastly,\nwithdraw the rubbed glass-tube, and the skewer X will now be found to\npossess resinous electricity, which has been generally called negative\nor minus electricity; and the skewer Y will be found to possess\nvitreous, or what is generally termed positive or plus electricity.\n\nThe same phenomenon will occur if rubbed sealing wax be applied near\nto, but not in contact with, the skewer X, as the skewer X will then\nbe left with an atmosphere of vitreous ether, and the skewer Y with\none of resinous ether. These experiments also evince the existence of\ntwo electric fluids, as they cannot be understood from an idea of one\nbeing a greater or less quantity of the same material; as a vacuum of\nelectric ether, brought near to one end of the skewer, cannot be\nconceived so to attract the ether as to produce a vacuum at the other\nend.\n\nIn this experiment the electric atmospheres, which are nearly of\nsimilar kinds, do not seem to touch, as there may remain a thin plate\nof air between them, in the same manner as small globules of mercury\nmay be pressed together so as to compress each other, long before they\nintermix; or as plates of lead or brass require strongly to be pressed\ntogether before they acquire the attraction of cohesion; that is,\nbefore they come into real contact.\n\n2. It is probable, that all bodies are more or less perfect\nconductors, as they have less or more of either of the electric ethers\ncombined with them; as mentioned in Preliminary Proposition, No. VI.\nas they may then less resist the passage of either of the ethers\nthrough them. Whence some conducting bodies admit the junction of\nthese spontaneous electric atmospheres, in which the proportions or\nquantities of the two ethers are not very different, with greater\nfacility than others.\n\nThus in the common experiments, where the vitreous or resinous ether\nis accumulated by art, metallic bodies have been esteemed the best\nconductors, and next to these water, and all other moist bodies; but\nit was lately discovered, that dry charcoal, recently burnt, was a\nmore perfect conductor than metals; and it appears from the\nexperiments discovered by Galvani, which have thence the name of\nGalvanism, that animal flesh, and particularly perhaps the nerves of\nanimals, both which are composed of much carbon and water, are the\nmost perfect conductors yet discovered; that is, that they give the\nleast resistance to the junction of the spontaneous electric\natmospheres, which exist round metallic bodies, and which differ very\nlittle in respect to the proportions of their vitreous and resinous\ningredients.\n\nThus also, though where the accumulated electricities are dense, as in\ncharging a coated glass-jar, the glass, which intervenes, may be of\nconsiderable thickness, and may still become charged by the stronger\nattraction of the secondary electric ethers; but where the spontaneous\nadhesive electric atmospheres are employed to charge plates of air, as\nin the Galvanic pile, or probably to charge thin animal membranes or\ncuticles, as perhaps in the shock given by the torpedo or gymnotus, it\nseems necessary that the intervening nonconducting plate must be\nextremely thin, that it may become charged by the weaker attraction of\nthese small quantities or difference of the spontaneous electric\natmospheres; and in this circumstance only, I suppose, the shocks from\nthe Galvanic pile, and from the torpedo and gymnotus, differ from\nthose of the coated jar.\n\n3. When atmospheres of electricity, which do not differ much in the\nquantity or proportion of their vitreous and resinous ethers, approach\neach other, they are not easily or rapidly united; but the predominant\nvitreous or resinous ether of one of them repels the similar ether of\nthe opposed atmosphere, and attracts the contrary kind of ether.\n\nThe slowness or difficulty with, which atmospheres, which differ but\nlittle in kind or in density, unite with each other, appears not only\nfrom the experiment of Mr. Canton above related, but also from the\nrepeated smaller shocks, which may be taken from a charged coated jar\nafter the first or principal discharge, if the conducting medium has\nnot been quickly removed, as is also mentioned above.\n\nHence those atmospheres of either kind of electric matter, which\ndiffer but very little from each other in kind or quantity, require\nthe most perfect conductors to cause them to unite. Thus it appears by\nMr. Bennet's doubler, as mentioned in the Preliminary Proposition, No.\nVI. that the natural adhesive atmosphere round silver contains more\nvitreous electricity than that naturally round zinc; but when thin\nplates of these metals, each about an ounce in weight, are laid on\neach other, or moderately pressed together, their atmospheres do not\nunite. For metallic plates, which when laid on each other, do not\nadhere, cannot be said to be in real contact, of which their not\nadhering is a proof; and in consequence a thin plate of air, or of\ntheir own repulsive ethers exists between them.\n\nHence when two plates of zinc and silver are thus brought in to the\nvicinity of each other, the plate of air between them, as they are not\nin adhesive contact, becomes like a charged coated jar; and if these\ntwo metallic plates are touched by your dry hands, they do not unite\ntheir electricities, as the dry cuticle is not a sufficiently good\nconductor; but if one of the metals be put above, and another under\nthe tongue, the saliva and moist mucous membrane, muscular fibres, and\nnerves, supply so good a conductor, that this very minute electric\nshock is produced, and a kind of pungent taste is perceived.\n\nWhen a plate or pencil of silver is put between the upper lip and the\ngum, and a plate or pencil of zinc under the tongue, a sensation of\nlight is perceived in the eyes, as often as the exterior extremities\nof these metals are brought into contact; which is owing in like\nmanner to the discharge of a very minute electric shock, which would\nnot have been produced but by the intervention of such good conductors\nas moist membranes, muscular fibres, and nerves.\n\nIn this situation, a sensation of light is produced in the eyes; which\nseems to show, that these ethers pass through nerves more easily, than\nthrough muscular flesh simply; since the passage of them through the\nretina of the eyes from the upper gum to the parts beneath the tongue\nis a more distant one, than would otherwise appear necessary. It is\nnot so easy to give the sensation of light in the eyes by passing a\nsmall shock of artificially accumulated electricity through, the eyes\n(though this may, I believe, be done) because this artificial\naccumulated electricity, as it passes with greater velocity than the\nspontaneous accumulations of it, will readily permeate the muscles or\nother moist parts of animal bodies; whereas the spontaneous\naccumulations of electricity seem to require the best of all\nconductors, as animal nerves, to facilitate their passage.\n\n4. In the Galvanic pile of Volta this electric shock becomes so much\nincreased, as to pass by less perfect conductors, and to give shocks\nto the arms of the conducting person, if the cuticle of his hands be\nmoistened, and even to show sparks like the coated jar; which appears\nto be effected in this manner. When a plate of silver is laid\nhorizontally on a plate of zinc, the plate of air between them becomes\ncharged like a coated jar; as the silver, naturally possessing more\nvitreous electric ether, repels the vitreous ether, which the zinc\npossesses in less quantity, and attracts the resinous ether of the\nzinc. Whence the inferior surface of the plate of zinc abounds now\nwith vitreous ether, and its upper surface with resinous ether.\nBeneath this pair of plates lay a cloth moistened with water, or with\nsome better conductor, as salt and water, or a slight acid mixed with\nwater, or volatile alcali of ammoniac mixed with water, and this\nvitreous electric ether on the lower surface of the zinc plate will be\ngiven to the second silver plate which lies beneath it; and thus this\nsecond silver plate will possess not only its own natural vitreous\natmosphere, which was denser or in greater quantity than that of the\nzinc plate next beneath it, but now acquires an addition of vitreous\nether from the zinc plate above it, conducted to it through the moist\ncloth.\n\nThis then will repel more vitreous ether from the second zinc plate\ninto the third silver one; and so on till the plates of air between\nthe zincs and silvers are all charged, and each stronger and stronger,\nas they descend in the pile.\n\nIf the reader still prefers the Franklinian theory of positive and\nnegative electricity, he will please to put the word positive for\nvitreous, and negative for resinous, and he will find the theory of\nthe Galvanic pile equally thus accounted for.\n\n5. When a Galvanic pile is thus placed, and a communication between\nthe two ends of it is made by wires, so that the electric shocks pass\nthrough water, the water becomes decomposed in some measure, and\noxygen is liberated from it at the point of one wire, and hydrogen at\nthe point of the other; and this though a syphon of water be\ninterposed between them. This curious circumstance seems to evince the\nexistence of two electric ethers, which enter the water at different\nends of the syphon, and have chemical affinities to the component\nparts of it; the resinous ether sets at liberty the hydrogen at one\nend, and the vitreous ether the oxygen at the other end of the\nconducting medium.\n\nHence it must appear, that the longer the Galvanic pile, or the\ngreater the number of the alternate pieces of silver and zinc that it\nconsists of, the stronger will be the Galvanic shock; but there is\nanother circumstance, difficult to explain, which is the perpetual\ndecomposition of water by the Galvanic pile; when water is made the\nconducting medium between the two extremities of the pile.\n\nAs no conductors of electricity are absolutely perfect, there must be\nproduced a certain accumulation of vitreous ether on one side of each\ncharged plate of the Galvanic pile, and of resinous ether on the other\nside of it, before the discharge takes place, even though the\nconducting medium be in apparent contact. When the discharge does take\nplace, the whole of the accumulated electricity explodes and vanishes;\nand then an instant of time is required for the silver and zinc again\nto attract from the air, or other bodies in their vicinity, their\nspontaneous natural atmospheres, and then another discharge ensues;\nand so repeatedly and perpetually till the surface of one of the\nmetallic plates becomes so much oxydated or calcined, that it ceases\nto act.\n\nHence a perpetual motion may be said to be produced, with an incessant\ndecomposition of water into the two gasses of oxygen and hydrogen;\nwhich must probably be constantly proceeding on all moist Surfaces,\nwhere a chain of electric conductors exists, surrounded with different\nproportions of the two electric ethers. Whence the ceaseless\nliberation of oxygen from the water has oxydated or calcined the ores\nof metals near the surface of the earth, as of manganese, of zinc into\nlapis calaminaris, of iron into various ochres, and other calciform\nores. From this source also the corrosion of some metals may be\ntraced, when they are immersed in water in the vicinity of each\nother, as when the copper sheathing of ships was held on by iron\nnails. And hence another great operation of nature is probably\nproduced, I mean the restoration of oxygen to the atmosphere from the\nsurface of the earth in dewy mornings, as well as from the\nperspiration of vegetable leaves; which atmospheric oxygen is hourly\ndestructible by the respiration of animals and plants, by combustion,\nand by other oxydations.\n\n6. The combination of the electric ethers with metallic bodies, before\nmentioned appears from the Galvanic pile; since, according to the\nexperiments of Mr. Davy, when an acid is mixed with the water placed\nbetween the alternate pairs of silver and zinc plates, a much greater\nelectric shock is produced by the same pile; and an anonymous writer\nin the Phil. Magaz. No. 36, for May 1801, asserts, that when the\nintervening cloths or papers are moistened with pure alcali, as a\nsolution of pure ammonia, the effect is greater than by any other\nmaterial. It must here be observed, that both the acid and the\nalcaline solution, or common salt and water, and even water alone, in\nthese experiments much erodes the plates of zinc, and somewhat\ntarnishes those of silver. Whence it would appear, that as by the\nrepeated explosions of the two electric ethers in the conducting\nwater, both oxygen and hydrogen are liberated; the oxygen erodes the\nzinc plates, and thus increases the Galvanic shock by liberating their\ncombined electric ethers: and that this erosion is much increased by a\nmixture either of acid or of volatile alcali with the water. Further\nexperiments are wanting on this subject to show whether metallic\nbodies emit either or both of the electric ethers at the time of their\nsolution or erosion in acids or in alcalies.\n\n\nX. _Of the two Magnetic Ethers._\n\n1. Magnetism coincides with electricity in so many important points,\nthat the existence of two magnetic ethers, as well as of two electric\nones, becomes highly probable. We shall suppose, that in a common bar\nof iron or steel the two magnetic ethers exist intermixed or in their\nneutral state; which for the greater ease of speaking of them may be\ncalled arctic ether and antarctic ether; and in this state like the\ntwo electric fluids they are not cognizable by our senses of\nexperiments.\n\nWhen these two magnetic ethers are separated from each other, and the\narctic ether is accumulated on one end of an iron or steel bar, which\nis then called the north pole of the magnet, and the antarctic ether\nis accumulated on the other end of the bar, and is then termed the\nsouth pole of the magnet; they become capable of attracting other\npieces of iron or steel, and are thus cognizable by experiments.\n\nIt seems probable, that it is not the magnetic ether itself which\nattracts or repels particles of iron, but that an attractive and\nrepulsive ether attends the magnetic ethers, as was shown to attend\nthe electric ones in No. II. 9. of this Note; because magnetism does\nnot pass through other bodies, as it does not escape from magnetised\nsteel when in contact with other bodies; just as the electric fluids\ndo not pass through glass, but the attractive and repellent ethers,\nwhich attend both the magnetic and electric ethers, pass through all\nbodies.\n\n2. The prominent articles of analogical coincidence between magnetism\nand electricity are first, that when one end of an iron bar possesses\nan accumulation of arctic magnetic ether, or northern polarity; the\nother end possesses an accumulation of antarctic magnetic ether, or\nsouthern polarity; in the same manner as when vitreous electric ether\nis accumulated on one side of a coated glass jar, resinous electric\nether becomes accumulated on the other side of it; as the vitreous and\nresinous ethers strongly attract each other, and strongly repel the\nethers of the same denomination, but are prevented from intermixing by\nthe glass plane between them; so the arctic and antarctic ethers\nattract each other, and repel those of similar denomination, but are\nprevented from intermixing by the iron or steel being a bad conductor\nof them; they will, nevertheless, sooner combine, when the bar is of\nsoft iron, than when it is of hardened steel; and then they slowly\ncombine without explosion, that is, without emitting heat and light\nlike the electric ethers, and therefore resemble a mixture of oxygen\nand pure ammonia; which unite silently producing a neutral fluid\nwithout emitting any other fluids previously combined with them.\n\nSecondly, If the north pole of a magnetic bar be approached near to\nthe eye of a sewing needle, the arctic ether of the magnet attracts\nthe antarctic ether, which resides in the needle towards the eye of\nit, and repels the arctic ether, which resides in the needle towards\nthe point, precisely in the same manner as occurs in presenting an\nelectrised, glass tube, or a rubbed stick of sealing wax to one\nextremity of two skewers insulated horizontally on wine-glasses in the\nexperiment ascribed to Mr. Canton, and described in No. IX. 1, of this\nAdditional Note, and also so exactly resembles the method of producing\na separation and consequent accumulation of the two electric ethers by\npressing a cushion on glass or on sealing wax, described in No. 4 of\nthis Note, that their analogy is evidently apparent.\n\nThirdly, When much accumulated electricity is approached to one end of\na long glass tube by a charged prime conductor, there will exist many\ndivisions of the vitreous and resinous electricity alternately; as the\nvitreous ether attracts the resinous ether from a certain distance on\nthe surface of the glass tube, and repels the vitreous ether; but, as\nthis surface is a bad conductor, these reciprocal attractions and\nrepulsions do not extend very far along it, but cease and recur in\nvarious parts of it. Exactly similar to this, when a magnetic bar is\napproximated to the end of a common bar of iron or steel, as described\nin Mr. Cavallo's valuable Treatise on Magnetism; the arctic ether of\nthe north pole of the magnetic bar attracts the antarctic ether of the\nbar of common iron towards the end in contact, and repels the arctic\nether; but, as iron and steel are as bad conductors of magnetism, as\nglass is of electricity, this accumulation of arctic ether extends but\na little way, and then there exists an accumulation of antarctic\nether; and thus reciprocally in three or four divisions of the bar,\nwhich now becomes magnetised, as the glass tube became electrised.\n\nAnother striking feature, which shows the sisterhood of electricity\nand magnetism, consists in the origin of both of them from the earth,\nor common mass of matter. The eduction of electricity from the earth\nis shown by an insulated cushion soon ceasing to supply either the\nvitreous or resinous ether to the whirling globe of glass or of\nsulphur; the eduction of magnetism from the earth appears from the\nfollowing experiment: if a bar of iron be set upright on the earth in\nthis part of the world, it becomes in a short time magnetical; the\nlower end possessing northern polarity, or arctic ether, and the\nhigher end in consequence possessing southern polarity or antarctic\nether; which may be well explained, if we suppose with Mr. Cavallo,\nthat the earth itself is one great magnet, with its southern polarity\nor antarctic ether at the northern end of its axis; and, in\nconsequence, that it attracts the arctic ether of the iron bar into\nthat end of it which touches the earth, and repels the antarctic ether\nof the iron bar to the other end of it, exactly the same as when the\nsouthern pole of an artificial magnet is brought into contact with one\nend of a sewing needle.\n\n3. The magnetic and electric ethers agree in the characters above\nmentioned, and perhaps in many others, but differ in the following\nones. The electric ethers pass readily through metallic, aqueous, and\ncarbonic bodies, but do not permeate vitreous or resinous ones; though\non the surfaces of these they are capable of adhering, and of being\naccumulated by the approach or contact of other bodies; while the\nmagnetic ethers will not permeate any bodies, and are capable of being\naccumulated only on iron and steel by the approach or contact of\nnatural or artificial magnets, or of the earth; at the same time the\nattractive and repulsive powers both of the magnetic and electric\nethers will act through all bodies, like those of gravitation and\nheat.\n\nSecondly, The two electric ethers rush into combination, when they can\napproach each other, after having been separated and condensed, and\nproduce a violent explosion emitting the heat and light, which were\npreviously combined with them; whereas the two magnetic ethers slowly\ncombine, after having been separated and accumulated on the opposite\nends of a soft iron bar, and without emitting heat and light produce a\nneutral mixture, which, like the electric combination, ceases to be\ncognizable by our senses or experiments.\n\nThirdly, The wonderful property of the magnetic ethers, when\nseparately accumulated on the ends of a needle, endeavouring to\napproach the two opposite poles of the earth; nothing similar to which\nhas been observed in the electric ethers.\n\nFrom these strict analogies between electricity and magnetism, we may\nconclude that the latter consists of two ethers as well as the former;\nand that they both, when separated by art or nature, combine by\nchemical affinity when they approach, the one exploding, and then\nconsisting of a residuum after having emitted heat and light; and the\nother producing simply a neutralised fluid by their union.\n\n\nXI. _Conclusion._\n\n1. When two fluids are diffused together without undergoing any change\nof their chemical properties, they are said simply to be mixed, and\nnot combined; as milk and water when poured together, or as oxygen and\nazote in the common atmosphere. So when salt or sugar is diffused in\nwater, it is termed solution, and not combination; as no change of\ntheir chemical properties succeeds.\n\nBut when an acid is mixed with a pure alcali a combination is\nproduced, and the mixture is said to become neutral, as it does not\npossess the chemical properties which either of the two ingredients\npossessed in their separate state, and is therefore similar to neither\nof them. But when a carbonated alcali, as mild salt of tartar, is\nmixed with a mineral acid, they presently combine as above, but now\nthe carbonic acid flies forcibly away in the form of gas; this,\ntherefore, may be termed a kind of explosion, but cannot properly be\nso called, as the ethereal fluids of heat and light are not\nprincipally emitted, but an aerial one or gas; which may probably\nacquire a small quantity of heat from the combining matters.\n\nBut when strong acid of nitre is poured upon charcoal in fine powder,\nor upon oil of cloves, a violent explosion ensues, and the ethereal\nmatters of heat and light are emitted in great abundance, and are\ndissipated; while in the former instance the oxygen of the nitrous\nacid unites with the carbone forming carbonic acid gas, and the azote\nescapes in its gaseous form; which may be termed a residuum after the\nexplosion, and may be confined in a proper apparatus, which the heat\nand light cannot; for the former, if its production be great and\nsudden, bursts the vessels, or otherwise it passes slowly through\nthem; and the latter passes through transparent bodies, and combines\nwith opake ones.\n\nBut where ethers only are concerned in an explosion, as the two\nelectric ones, which are previously difficult to confine in vessels;\nthe repulsive ethers of heat and light are given out; and what remains\nis a combination of the two electric ethers; which in this state are\nattracted by all bodies, and form atmospheres round them.\n\nThese combined electric atmospheres must possess less heat and light\nafter their explosion; which they seem afterwards to acquire at the\ntime they are again separated from each other, probably from the\ncombined heat and combined light of the cushion and glass, or of the\ncushion and resin; by the contact of which they are separated; and not\nfrom the diffused heat of them; but no experiments have yet been made\nto ascertain this fact, this combination of the vitreous and resinous\nethers may be esteemed the residuum after their explosion.\n\n2. Hence the essence of explosion consists in two bodies, which are\npreviously united with heat and light, so strongly attracting each\nother, as to set at liberty those two repulsive ethers; but it\nhappens, that these explosive materials cannot generally be brought\ninto each other's vicinity in a state of sufficient density; unless\nthey are also previously combined with some other material beside the\nlight and heat above spoken of: as in the nitrous acid, the oxygen is\npreviously combined with azote; and is thus in a condensed state,\nbefore it is brought into the contact or vicinity of the carbone;\nthere are however bodies which will slowly explode; or give out heat\nand light, without being previously combined with other bodies; as\nphosphorus in the common atmosphere, some dead fish in a certain\ndegree of putridity, and some living insects probably by their\nrespiration in transparent lungs, which is a kind of combustion.\n\nBut the two electric ethers are condensed by being brought into\nvicinity with each other with a nonconductor between them; and thus\nexplode, violently as soon as they communicate, either by rupturing\nthe interposed nonconductor, or by a metallic communication. This\ncurious method of a previous condensation of the two exploding\nmatters, without either of them being combined with any other\nmaterial except with the ethers of heat and light, distinguishes, this\nethereal explosion from that of most other bodies; and seems to have\nbeen the cause, which prevented the ingenious Dr. Franklin, and others\nsince his time, from ascribing the powerful effects of the electric\nbattery, and of lightning in bursting trees, inflaming combustible\nmaterials, and fusing metals, to chemical explosion; which it\nresembles in every other circumstance, but in the manner of the\nprevious condensation of the materials, so as violently to attract\neach other, and suddenly set at liberty the heat and light, with which\none or both of them were combined.\n\n3. This combination of vitreous and resinous electric ethers is again\ndestroyed or weakened by the attractions of other bodies; as they\nseparate intirely, or exist in different proportions, forming\natmospheres round conducting and nonconducting bodies; and in this\nthey resemble other combinations of matters; as oxygen and azote, when\nunited in the production of nitrous acid, are again separated by\ncarbone; which attracts the oxygen more powerfully, than that attracts\nthe azote, with which it is combined.\n\nThis mode of again separating the combined electric ethers by pressing\nthem, as they surround bodies in different proportions, into each\nother's atmospheres, as by the glass and cushion, has not been\nobserved respecting the decomposition of other bodies; when their\nminute particles are brought so near together as to decompose each\nother; which has thence probably contributed to prevent this\ndecomposition of the two combined electric ethers from being ascribed\nto chemical laws; but, as far as we know, the attractive and repulsive\natmospheres round the minute particles of bodies in chemical\noperations may act in a similar manner; as the attractive and\nrepulsive atmospheres, which accompany the electric ethers surrounding\nthe larger masses of matter, and that hence both the electric and the\nchemical explosions are subject to the same laws, and also the\ndecomposition again of those particles, which were combined in the act\nof explosion.\n\n4. It is probable that this theory of electric and magnetic\nattractions and repulsions, which so visibly exist in atmospheres\nround larger masses of matter, may be applied to explain the invisible\nattractions and repulsions of the minute particles of bodies in\nchemical combinations and decompositions, and also to give a clear\nidea of the attractions of the great masses of matter, which form the\ngravitations of the universe.\n\nWe are so accustomed to see bodies attract each other, when they are\nin absolute contact, as dew drops or particles of quicksilver forming\nthemselves into spheres, as water rising in capillary tubes, the\nsolution of salts and sugar in water, and the cohesion with which all\nhard bodies are held together, that we are not surprised at the\nattractions of bodies in contact with each other, but ascribe them to\na law affecting all matter. In similar manner when two bodies in\napparent contact repel each other, as oil thrown on water; or when\nheat converts ice into water and water into steam; or when one hard\nbody in motion pushes another hard body out of its place; we feel no\nsurprise, as these events so perpetually occur to us, but ascribe them\nas well as the attractions of bodies in contact with each other, to a\ngeneral law of nature.\n\nBut when distant bodies appear to attract or repel each other, as we\nbelieve that nothing can act where it does not exist, we are struck\nwith astonishment; which is owing to our not seeing the intermediate\nethers, the existence of which is ascertained by the electric and\nmagnetic facts above related.\n\nFrom the facts and observations above mentioned electricity and\nmagnetism consist each of them of two ethers, as the vitreous and\nresinous electric ethers, and the arctic and antarctic magnetic\nethers. But as neither of the electric ethers will pass through glass\nor resin; and as neither of the magnetic ethers will pass through any\nbodies except iron; and yet the attractive and repulsive powers\naccompanying all these ethers permeate bodies of all kinds; it\nfollows, that ethers more subtile than either the electric or magnetic\nones attend those ethers forming atmospheres round them; as those\nelectric and magnetic ethers themselves form atmospheres round other\nbodies.\n\nThis secondary atmosphere of the electric one appears to consist of\ntwo ethers, like the electric one which it surrounds: but these ethers\nare probably more subtile as they permeate all bodies; and when they\nunite by the reciprocal approach of the bodies, which they surround,\nthey do not appear to emit heat and light, as the primary electric\natmospheres do; and therefore they are simpler fluids, as they are not\npreviously combined with heat and light. The secondary magnetic\natmospheres are also probably more subtile or simple than the primary\nones.\n\nHence we may suppose, that not only all the larger insulated masses of\nmatter, but all the minute particles also, which constitute those\nmasses, are surrounded by two ethereal fluids; which like the electric\nand magnetic ones attract each other forcibly, and as forcibly repel\nthose of the same denomination; and at the same time strongly adhere\nto the bodies, which they surround. Secondly that these ethers are of\nthe finer kind, like those secondary ones, which surround the primary\nelectric and magnetic ethers; and that therefore they do not explode\ngiving out heat and light when they unite, but simply combine, and\nbecome neutral; and lastly, that they surround different bodies in\ndifferent proportions, as the vitreous and resinous electric ethers\nwere shown to surround silver and zinc and many other metals in\ndifferent proportions in No. IX. of this note.\n\n5. For the greater ease of conversing on this subject, we shall call\nthese two ethers, with which all bodies are surrounded, the masculine\nand the feminine ethers; and suppose them to possess the properties\nabove mentioned. We should here however previously observe, that in\nchemical processes it is necessary, that the bodies, which are to\ncombine or unite with each other, should be in a fluid state, and the\nparticles in contact with each other; thus when salt is dissolving in\nwater, the particles of salt unite with those of the water, which\ntouch them; these particles of water become saturated, and thence\nattract some of the saline particles with less force; which are\ntherefore attracted from them by those behind; and the first particles\nof water are again saturated from the solid salt; or in some similar\nprocesses the saturated combinations may subside or evaporate, as in\nthe union of the two electric ethers, or in the explosion of\ngunpowder, and thus those in their vicinity may approach each other.\nThis necessity of a liquid form for the purpose of combination\nappears in the lighting of gunpowder, as well as in all other\ncombustion, the spark of fire applied dissolves the sulphur, and\nliquifies the combined heat; and by these means a fluidity succeeds,\nand the consequent attractions and repulsions, which form the\nexplosion.\n\nThe whole mixed mass of matter, of which the earth is composed, we\nsuppose to be surrounded and penetrated by the two ethers, but with a\ngreater proportion of the masculine ether than of the feminine. When a\nstone is elevated above the surface of the earth, we suppose it also\nto be surrounded with an atmosphere of the two ethers, but with a\ngreater proportion of the feminine than of the masculine, and that\nthese ethers adhere strongly by cohesion both to the earth and to the\nstone elevated above it. Now the greater quantity of the masculine\nether of the earth becomes in contact with the greater quantity of the\nfeminine ether of the stone above it; which it powerfully attracts,\nand at the same time repels the less quantity of the masculine ether\nof the stone. The reciprocal attractions of these two fluids, if not\nrestrained by counter attractions, bring them together as in chemical\ncombination, and thus they bring together the solid bodies, which they\nreciprocally adhere to; if they be not immovable; which solid bodies,\nwhen brought into contact, cohere by their own reciprocal attractions,\nand hence the mysterious affair of distant attraction or gravitation\nbecomes intelligible, and consonant to the chemical combinations of\nfluids.\n\nTo further elucidate these various attractions, if the patient reader\nbe not already tired, he will please to attend to the following\nexperiment: let a bit of sponge suspended on a silk line be moistened\nwith a solution of pure alcali, and another similar piece of sponge be\nmoistened with a weak acid, and suspended near the former; electrize\none of them with vitreous ether, and the other with resinous ether; as\nthey hang with a thin plate of glass between them: now as these two\nelectric ethers appear to attract each other without intermixing; as\nneither of them can pass through glass; they must be themselves\nsurrounded with secondary ethers, which pass through the glass, and\nattract each other, as they become in contact; as these secondary\nethers adhere to the primary vitreous and resinous ethers, these\nprimary ones are drawn by them into each other's vicinity by the\nattraction of cohesion, and become condensed on each side of the glass\nplane; and then when the glass plane is withdrawn, the two electric\nethers being now in contact rush violently together, and draw along\nwith them the pieces of moistened sponge, to which they adhere; and\nfinally the acid and alcaline liquids being now brought into contact\ncombine by their chemical affinity.\n\nThe repulsions of distant bodies are also explicable by this idea of\ntheir being surrounded with two ethers, which we have termed masculine\nand feminine for the ease of conversing about them; and have compared\nthem to vitreous and resinous electricity, and to arctic and antarctic\nmagnetism. As when two particles of matter, or two larger masses of\nit, are surrounded both with their masculine ethers, these ethers\nrepel each other or refuse to intermix; and in consequence the bodies\nto which they adhere, recede from each other; as two cork-balls\nsuspended near each other, and electrised both with vitreous or both\nwith resinous ether, repel each other; or as the extremities of two\nneedles magnetised both with arctic, or both with antarctic ether,\nrepel each other; or as oil and water surrounded both with their\nmasculine, or both with their feminine ethers, repel each other\nwithout touching; so light is believed to be reflected from a mirror\nwithout touching its surface, and to be bent towards the edge of a\nknife, or refracted by its approach from a rarer medium into a denser\none, by the repulsive ether of the mirror, and the attractive ones of\nthe knife-edge, and of the denser medium. Thus a polished tea-cup\nslips on the polished saucer probably without their actual contact\nwith each other, till a few drops of water are interposed between them\nby capillary attraction, and prevent its sliding by their tenacity.\nAnd so, lastly, one hard body in motion pushes another hard body out\nof its place by their repulsive ethers without being in contact; as\nappears from their not adhering to each other, which all bodies in\nreal contact are believed to do. Whence also may be inferred the\nreason why bodies have been supposed to repel at one distance and\nattract at another, because they attract when their particles are in\ncontact with each other, and either attract or repel when at a\ndistance by the intervention of their attractive or repulsive ethers.\n\nThus have I endeavoured to take one step further back into the mystery\nof the gravitation and repulsion of bodies, which appeared to be\ndistant from each other, as of the sun and planets, as I before\nendeavoured to take one step further back into the mysteries of\ngeneration in my account of the production of the buds of vegetables\nin Phytologia. With what success these have been attended I now leave\nto the judgment of philosophical readers, from which I can make no\nappeal.\n\n\n\n\nADDITIONAL NOTES. XIII.\n\nANALYSIS OF TASTE.\n\n Fond Fancy's eye recalls the form divine,\n And Taste sits smiling upon Beauty's shrine.\n CANTO III. l. 221.\n\n\nThe word Taste in its extensive application may express the pleasures\nreceived by any of our senses, when excited into action by the\nstimulus of external objects; as when odours stimulate the nostrils,\nor flavours the palate; or when smoothness, or softness, are perceived\nby the touch, or warmth by its adapted organ of sense. The word Taste\nis also used to signify the pleasurable trains of ideas suggested by\nlanguage, as in the compositions of poetry and oratory. But the\npleasures, consequent to the exertions of our sense of vision only,\nare designed here to be treated of, with occasional references to\nthose of the ear, when they elucidate each other.\n\nWhen any of our organs of sense are excited into their due quantity of\naction, a pleasurable sensation succeeds, as shown in Zoonomia, Vol.\nI. Sect. IV. These are simply the pleasures attending perception, and\nnot those which are termed the pleasures of Taste; which consist of\nadditional pleasures arising from the peculiar forms or colours of\nobjects, or of their peculiar combinations or successions, or from\nother agreeable trains of ideas previously associated with them.\n\nThere are four sources of pleasure attendant on the excitation of the\nnerves of vision by light and colours, besides that simply of\nperception above mentioned; the first is derived from a degree of\nnovelty of the forms, colours, numbers, combinations, or successions,\nand visible objects. The second is derived from a degree of repetition\nof their forms, colours, numbers, combinations, or successions. Where\nthese two circumstances exist united in certain quantities, and\ncompose the principal part of a landscape, it is termed picturesque by\nmodern writers. The third source of pleasure from the perception of\nthe visible world may be termed the melody of colours, which will be\nshown to coincide with melody of sounds: this circumstance may also\naccompany the picturesque, and will add to the pleasure it affords.\nThe fourth source of pleasure from the perception of visible objects\nis derived from the previous association of other pleasurable trains\nof ideas with certain forms, colours, combinations, or successions of\nthem. Whence the beautiful, sublime, romantic, melancholic, and other\nemotions, which have not acquired names to express them. We may add,\nthat all these four sources of pleasure from perceptions are equally\napplicable to those of sounds as of sights.\n\n\nI. _Novelty or infrequency of visible objects._\n\nThe first circumstance, which suggests an additional pleasure in the\ncontemplation of visible objects, besides that of simple perception,\narises from their novelty or infrequency; that is from the unusual\ncombinations or successions of their forms or colours. From this\nsource is derived the perpetual cheerfulness of youth, and the want of\nit is liable to add a gloom to the countenance of age. It is this\nwhich produces variety in landscape compared with the common course of\nnature, an intricacy which incites investigation, and a curiosity\nwhich leads to explore the works of nature. Those who travel into\nforeign regions instigated by curiosity, or who examine and unfold the\nintricacies of sciences at home, are led by novelty; which not only\nsupplies ornament to beauty or to grandeur, but adds agreeable\nsurprise to the point of the epigram, and to the double meaning of the\npun, and is courted alike by poets and philosophers.\n\nIt should be here premised, that the word Novelty, as used in these\npages, admits of degrees or quantities, some objects, or the ideas\nexcited by them, possessing more or less novelty, as they are more or\nless unusual. Which the reader will please to attend to, as we have\nused the word Infrequency of objects, or of the ideas excited by them,\nto express the degrees or quantities of their novelty.\n\nThe source, from which is derived the pleasure of novelty, is a\nmetaphysical inquiry of great curiosity, and will on that account\nexcuse my here introducing it. In our waking hours whenever an idea\noccurs, which is incongruous to our former experience, we instantly\ndissever the train of imagination by the power of volition; and\ncompare the incongruous idea with our previous knowledge of nature,\nand reject it. This operation of the mind has not yet acquired a\nspecific name, though it is exerted every minute of our waking hours,\nunless it may be termed INTUITIVE ANALOGY. It is an act of reasoning\nof which we are unconscious except by its effects in preserving the\ncongruity of our ideas; Zoonomia, Vol. I. Sect. XVII. 5. 7.\n\nIn our sleep as the power of volition is suspended, and consequently\nthat of reason, when any incongruous ideas occur in the trains of\nimagination, which compose our dreams; we cannot compare them with our\nprevious knowledge of nature and reject them; whence arises the\nperpetual inconsistency of our sleeping trains of ideas; and whence in\nour dreams we never feel the sentiment of novelty; however different\nthe ideas, which present themselves, may be from the usual course of\nnature.\n\nBut in our waking hours, whenever any object occurs which does not\naccord with the usual course of nature, we immediately and\nunconsciously exert our voluntary power, and examine it by intuitive\nanalogy, comparing it with our previous knowledge of nature. This\nexertion of our volition excites many other ideas, and is attended\nwith pleasurable sensation; which constitutes the sentiment of\nnovelty. But when the object of novelty stimulates us so forcibly as\nsuddenly to disunite our passing trains of ideas, as if a pistol be\nunexpectedly discharged, the emotion of surprise is experienced; which\nby exciting violent irritation and violent sensation, employs for a\ntime the whole sensorial energy, and thus dissevers the passing trains\nof ideas; before the power of volition has time to compare them with\nthe usual phenomena of nature; but as the painful emotion of fear is\nthen generally added to that of surprise, as every one experiences,\nwho hears a noise in the dark, which he cannot immediately account\nfor; this great degree of novelty, when it produces much surprise,\ngenerally ceases to be pleasurable, and does not then belong to\nobjects of taste.\n\nIn its less degree surprise is generally agreeable, as it simply\nexpresses the sentiment occasioned by the novelty of our ideas; as in\ncommon language we say, we are agreeably surprised at the unexpected\nmeeting with a friend, which not only expresses the sentiment of\nnovelty, but also the pleasure from other agreeable ideas associated\nwith the object of it.\n\nIt must appear from hence, that different persons must be affected\nmore or less agreeably by different degrees or quantities of novelty\nin the objects of taste; according to their previous knowledge of\nnature, or their previous habits or opportunities of attending to the\nfine arts. Thus before its nativity the fetus experiences the\nperceptions of heat and cold, of hardness and softness, of motion and\nrest, with those perhaps of hunger and repletion, sleeping and waking,\npain and pleasure; and perhaps some other perceptions, which may at\nthis early time of its existence have occasioned perpetual trains of\nideas. On its arrival into the world the perceptions of light and\nsound must by their novelty at first dissever its usual trains of\nideas and occasion great surprise; which after a few repetitions will\ncease to be disagreeable, and only excite the emotion from novelty,\nwhich has not acquired a separate name, but is in reality a less\ndegree of surprise; and by further experience the sentiment of\nnovelty, or any degree of surprise, will cease to be excited by the\nsounds or sights, which at first excited perhaps a painful quantity of\nsurprise.\n\nIt should here be observed, that as the pleasure of novelty is\nproduced by the exertion of our voluntary power in comparing uncommon\nobjects with those which are more usually exhibited; this sentiment of\nnovelty is less perceived by those who do not readily use the faculty\nof volition, or who have little previous knowledge of nature, as by\nvery ignorant or very stupid people, or by brute animals; and that\ntherefore to be affected with this circumstance of the objects of\nTaste requires some previous knowledge of-such kinds of objects, and\nsome degree of mental exertion.\n\nHence when a greater variety of objects than usual is presented to the\neye, or when some intricacy of forms, colours, or reciprocal locality\nmore than usual accompanies them, it is termed novelty if it only\nexcites the exertion of intuitive comparison with the usual order of\nnature, and affects us with pleasurable sensation; but is termed\nsurprise, if it suddenly dissevers our accustomed habits of motion,\nand is then more generally attended with disagreeable sensation. To\nthis circumstance attending objects of taste is to be referred what is\ntermed wild and irregular in landscapes, in contradistinction to the\nrepetition of parts or uniformity spoken of below. We may add, that\nnovelty of notes and tones in music, or of their combinations or\nsuccessions, are equally agreeable to the ear, as the novelty of forms\nand colours, and of their combinations or successions are to the eye;\nbut that the greater quantity or degree of novelty, the sentiment of\nwhich is generally termed Surprise, is more frequently excited by\nunusual or unexpected sounds; which are liable to alarm us with fear,\nas well as surprise us with novelty.\n\n\nII. _Repetition of visible objects._\n\nThe repeated excitement of the same or similar ideas with certain\nintervals of time, or distances of space between them, is attended\nwith agreeable sensations, besides that simply of perception; and,\nthough it appears to be diametrically opposite to the pleasure arising\nfrom the novelty of objects above treated of, enters into the\ncompositions of all the agreeable arts.\n\nThe pleasure arising from the repetition of similar ideas with certain\nintervals of time or distances of space between them is a subject of\ngreat metaphysical curiosity, as well as the source of the pleasure\nderived from novelty, which will I hope excuse its introduction in\nthis place.\n\nThe repetitions of motions may be at first produced either by\nvolition, or by sensation, or by irritation, but they soon become\neasier to perform than any other kinds of action, because they soon\nbecome associated together; and thus their frequency of repetition, if\nas much sensorial power be produced during every reiteration, as is\nexpended, adds to the facility of their production.\n\nIf a stimulus be repeated at uniform intervals of time, the action,\nwhether of our muscles or organs of sense, is produced with still\ngreater facility or energy; because the sensorial power of\nassociation, mentioned above, is combined with the sensorial power of\nirritation; that is in common language, the acquired habit assists the\npower of the stimulus.\n\nThis not only obtains in the annual, lunar, and diurnal catenations of\nanimal motions, as explained in Zoonomia, Sect. XXXVI. which are thus\nperformed with great facility and energy; but in every less circle of\nactions or ideas, as in the burden of a song, or the reiterations of a\ndance. To the facility and distinctness, with which we hear sounds at\nrepeated intervals, we owe the pleasure, which we receive from musical\ntime, and from poetic time, as described in Botanic Garden, V. II.\nInterlude III. And to this the pleasure we receive from the rhimes and\nalliterations of modern versification; the source of which without\nthis key would be difficult to discover.\n\nThere is no variety of notes referable to the gamut in the beating of\na drum, yet if it be performed in musical time, it is agreeable to our\nears; and therefore this pleasurable sensation must be owing to the\nrepetition of the divisions of the sounds at certain intervals of\ntime, or musical bars. Whether these times or bars are distinguished\nby a pause, or by an emphasis, or accent, certain it is, that this\ndistinction is perpetually repeated; otherwise the ear could not\ndetermine instantly, whether the successions of sound were in common\nor in triple time.\n\nBut besides these little circles of musical time, there are the\ngreater returning periods, and the still more distinct choruses;\nwhich, like the rhimes at the end of verses, owe their beauty to\nrepetition; that is, to the facility and distinctness with which we\nperceive sounds, which we expect to perceive or have perceived before;\nor in the language of this work, to the greater ease and energy with\nwhich our organ is excited by the combined sensorial powers of\nassociation and irritation, than by the latter singly.\n\nThis kind of pleasure arising from repetition, that is from the\nfacility and distinctness with which we perceive and understand\nrepeated sensations, enters into all the agreeable arts; and when it\nis carried to excess is termed formality. The art of dancing like that\nof music depends for a great part of the pleasure, it affords, on\nrepetition; architecture, especially the Grecian, consists of one part\nbeing a repetition of another, and hence the beauty of the pyramidal\noutline in landscape-painting; where one side of the picture may be\nsaid in some measure to balance the other. So universally does\nrepetition contribute to our pleasure in the fine arts, that beauty\nitself has been defined by some writers to consist in a due\ncombination of uniformity and variety: Zoonomia, Vol. I. Sect. XXII.\n2. 1.\n\nWhere these repetitions of form, and reiterations of colour, are\nproduced in a picture or a natural landscape, in an agreeable\nquantity, it is termed simplicity, or unity of character; where the\nrepetition principally is seen in the disposition or locality of the\ndivisions, it is called symmetry, proportion, or grouping the separate\nparts; where this repetition is most conspicuous in the forms of\nvisible objects, it is called regularity or uniformity; and where it\naffects the colouring principally, the artists call it breadth of\ncolour.\n\nThere is nevertheless, an excess of the repetition of the same or\nsimilar ideas, which ceases to please, and must therefore be excluded\nfrom compositions of Taste in painted landscapes, or in ornamented\ngardens; which is then called formality, monotony, or insipidity. Why\nthe excitation of ideas should give additional pleasure by the\nfacility and distinctness of their production for a certain time, and\nthen cease to give additional pleasure; and gradually to give less\npleasure than that, which attends simple exertion of them; is another\ncurious metaphysical problem, and deserves investigation.\n\nIn our waking hours a perpetual voluntary exertion, of which we are\nunconscious, attends all our new trains of ideas, whether those of\nimagination or of perception; which by comparing them with our former\nexperience preserves the consistency of the former, by rejecting such\nas are incongruous; and adds to the credibility of the latter, by\ntheir analogy to objects of our previous knowledge: and this exertion\nis attended with pleasurable sensation. After very frequent repetition\nthese trains of ideas do not excite the exertion of this intuitive\nanalogy, and in consequence are not attended with additional pleasure\nto that simply of perception; and by continued repetition they at\nlength lose even the pleasure simply of perception, and thence finally\ncease to be excited; whence one cause of the torpor of old age, and of\ndeath, as spoken of in Additional Note, No. VII. 3. of this work.\n\nWhen there exists in any landscape a certain number and diversity of\nforms and colours, or of their combinations or successions, so as to\nproduce a degree of novelty; and that with a certain repetition, or\narrangement of parts, so as to render them gradually comprehensible or\neasily compared with the usual course of nature; if this agreeable\ncombination of visible objects be on a moderate scale, in respect to\nmagnitude, and form the principal part of the landscape, it is termed\nPICTURESQUE by modern artists; and when such a combination of forms\nand colours contains many easy flowing curves and smooth surfaces, the\ndelightful sentiment of BEAUTY becomes added to the pleasure of the\nPicturesque.\n\nIf the above agreeable combination of novelty and repetition exists on\na larger scale with more projecting rocks, and deeper dells, and\nperhaps with a somewhat greater proportion of novelty than repetition,\nthe landscape assumes the name of ROMANTIC; and if some of these forms\nor combinations are much above the usual magnitude of similar objects,\nthe more interesting sentiment of SUBLIMITY becomes mixed with the\npleasure of the romantic.\n\n\nIII. _Melody of Colours._\n\nA third source of pleasure arising from the inspection of visible\nobjects, besides that of simple perception, arises from what may be\ntermed melody of colours, as certain colours are more agreeable, when\nthey succeed each other; or when they are disposed in each other's\nvicinity, so as successively to affect the organ of vision.\n\nIn a paper on the colours seen in the eye after looking for some time\non luminous objects, published by Dr. Darwin of Shrewsbury in the\nPhilos. Trans. Vol. 76, it is evidently shown, that we see certain\ncolours not only with greater ease and distinctness, but with relief\nand pleasure, after having for some time inspected other certain\ncolours; as green after red, or red after green; orange after blue, or\nblue after orange; yellow after violet, or violet after yellow; this,\nhe shows, arises from the ocular spectrum of the colour last viewed\ncoinciding with the irritation of the colour now under contemplation.\n\nThus if you make a dot with ink in the centre of a circle of red silk\nthe size of a letter-wafer, and place it on a sheet of white paper,\nand look on it for a minute without moving your eyes; and then gently\nturn them on the white paper in its vicinity, or gently close them,\nand hold one hand an inch or two before them, to prevent too much\nlight from passing through the eyelids, a circular spot of pale green\nwill be seen on the white paper, or in the closed eye; which is called\nthe ocular spectrum of the red silk, and is formed as Dr. Darwin shows\nby the pandiculation or stretching of the fine fibrils, which\nconstitute the extremities of the optic nerve, in a direction contrary\nto that, in which they have been excited by previously looking at a\nluminous object, till they become fatigued; like the yawning or\nstretching of the larger muscles after acting long in one direction.\n\nIf at this time the eye, fatigued by looking long at the centre of the\nred silk, be turned on paper previously coloured with pale green; the\ncircular spot or ocular spectrum will appear of a much darker green;\nas now the irritation from the pale green paper coincides with the\npale green spectrum remaining in the eye, and thus excites those\nfibres of the retina into stronger action; on this account some\ncolours are seen more distinctly, and consequently more agreeably\nafter others; or when placed in the vicinity of others; thus if\norange-coloured letters are painted on a blue ground, they may be read\nat as great distance as black on white, perhaps at a greater.\n\nThe colours, which are thus more distinct when seen in succession are\ncalled opposite colours by Sir Isaac Newton in his optics, Book I.\nPart 2, and may be easily discovered by any one, by the method above\ndescribed; that is by laying a coloured circle of paper or silk on a\nsheet of white paper, and inspecting it some time with steady eyes,\nand then either gently closing them, or removing them on another part\nof the white paper, and the ocular spectrum or opposite colour becomes\nvisible in the eye.\n\nSir Isaac Newton has observed, that the breadths of the seven primary\ncolours in the sun's image refracted by a prism, are proportioned to\nthe seven musical notes of the gamut; or to the intervals of the eight\nsounds contained in an octave.\n\nFrom this curious coincidence, it has been proposed to produce a\nluminous music, consisting of successions or combinations of colours,\nanalogous to a tune in respect to the proportions above mentioned.\nThis might be performed by a strong light, made by means of Mr.\nArgand's lamps, passing through coloured glasses, and falling on a\ndefined part of the wall, with moveable blinds before them, which\nmight communicate with the keys of a harpsichord, and thus produce at\nthe same time visible and audible music in unison with each other.\n\nNow as the pleasure we receive from the sensation of melodious notes,\nindependent of musical time, and of the previous associations of\nagreeable ideas with them, must arise from our hearing some\nproportions of sounds after others more easily, distinctly, or\nagreeably; and as there is a coincidence between the proportions of\nthe primary colours, and the primary sounds, if they may be so called;\nthe same laws must probably govern the sensations of both. In this\ncircumstance therefore consists the sisterhood of Music and Painting;\nand hence they claim a right to borrow metaphors from each other:\nmusicians to speak of the brilliancy of sounds, and the light and\nshade of a concerto; and painters of the harmony of colours, and the\ntone of a picture.\n\nThis source of pleasure received from the melodious succession of\ncolours or of sounds must not be confounded with the pleasure received\nfrom the repetition of them explained above, though the repetition, or\ndivision of musical notes into bars, so as to produce common or triple\ntime, contributes much to the pleasure of music; but in viewing a\nfixed landscape nothing like musical time exists; and the pleasure\nreceived therefore from certain successions of colours must depend\nonly on the more easy or distinct action of the retina in perceiving\nsome colours after others, or in their vicinity, like the facility or\neven pleasure with which we act with contrary muscles in yawning or\nstretching after having been fatigued with a long previous exertion in\nthe contrary direction.\n\nHence where colours are required to be distinct, those which are\nopposite to each other, should be brought into succession or vicinity;\nas red and green, orange and blue, yellow and violet; but where\ncolours are required to intermix imperceptibly, or slide into each\nother, these should not be chosen; as they might by contrast appear\ntoo glaring or tawdry. These gradations and contrasts of colours have\nbeen practically employed both by the painters of landscape, and by\nthe planters of ornamental gardens; though the theory of this part of\nthe pleasure derived from visible objects was not explained before the\npublication of the paper on ocular spectra above mentioned; which is\nreprinted at the end of the first part of Zoonomia, and has thrown\ngreat light on the actions of the nerves of sense in consequence of\nthe stimulus of external bodies.\n\n\nIV. _Association of agreeable sentiments with visible objects._\n\nBesides the pleasure experienced simply by the perception of visible\nobjects, it has been already shown, that there is an additional\npleasure arising from the inspection of those, which possess novelty,\nor some degree of it; a second additional pleasure from those, which\npossess in some degree a repetition of their parts; and a third from\nthose, which possess a succession of particular colours, which either\ncontrast or slide into each other, and which we have termed melody of\ncolours.\n\nWe now step forward to the fourth source of the pleasures arising from\nthe contemplation of visible objects besides that simply of\nperception, which consists in our previous association of some\nagreeable sentiment with certain forms or combinations of them. These\nfour kinds of pleasure singly or in combination constitute what is\ngenerally understood by the word Taste in respect to the visible\nworld; and by parity of reasoning it is probable, that the pleasurable\nideas received by the other senses, or which are associated with\nlanguage, may be traced to similar sources.\n\nIt has been shown by Bishop Berkeley in his ingenious essay on vision,\nthat the eye only acquaints us with the perception of light and\ncolours; and that our idea of the solidity of the bodies, which\nreflect them, is learnt by the organ of touch: he therefore calls our\nvision the language of touch, observing that certain gradations of the\nshades of colour, by our previous experience of having examined\nsimilar bodies by our hands or lips, suggest our ideas of solidity,\nand of the forms of solid bodies; as when we view a tree, it would\notherwise appear to us a flat green surface, but by association of\nideas we know it to be a cylindrical stem with round branches. This\nassociation of the ideas acquired by the sense of touch with those of\nvision, we do not allude to in the following observations, but to the\nagreeable trains or tribes of ideas and sentiments connected with\ncertain kinds of visible objects.\n\n\nV. _Sentiment of Beauty._\n\nOf these catenations of sentiments with visible objects, the first is\nthe sentiment of Beauty or Loveliness; which is suggested by\neasy-flowing curvatures of surface, with smoothness; as is so well\nillustrated in Mr. Burke's Essay on the Sublime and Beautiful, and in\nMr. Hogarth's analysis of Beauty; a new edition of which is much\nwanted separate from his other works.\n\nThe sentiment of Beauty appears to be attached from our cradles to the\neasy curvatures of lines, and smooth surfaces of visible objects, and\nto have been derived from the form of the female bosom; as spoken of\nin Zoonomia, Vol. I. Section XVI. on Instinct.\n\nSentimental love, as distinguished from the animal passion of that\nname, with which it is frequently accompanied, consists in the desire\nor sensation of beholding, embracing, and saluting, a beautiful\nobject.\n\nThe characteristic of beauty therefore is that it is the object of\nlove; and though many other objects are in common language called\nbeautiful, yet they are only called so metaphorically, and ought to be\ntermed agreeable. A Grecian temple may give us the pleasurable idea of\nsublimity; a Gothic temple may give us the pleasurable idea of\nvariety; and a modern house the pleasurable idea of utility; music and\npoetry may inspire our love by association of ideas; but none of\nthese, except metaphorically, can be termed beautiful; as we have no\nwish to embrace or salute them.\n\nOur perception of beauty consists in our recognition by the sense of\nvision of those objects, first which have before inspired our love by\nthe pleasure, which they have afforded to many of our senses: as to\nour sense of warmth, of touch, of smell, of taste, hunger and thirst;\nand secondly, which bear any analogy of form to such objects.\n\nWhen the babe, soon after it is born into this cold world, is applied\nto its mother's bosom, its sense of perceiving warmth is first\nagreeably affected; next its sense of smell is delighted with the\nodour of her milk; then its taste is gratified by the flavour of it,\nafterwards the appetites of hunger and of thirst afford pleasure by\nthe possession of their objects, and by the subsequent digestion of\nthe aliment; and lastly, the sense of touch is delighted by the\nsoftness and smoothness of the milky fountain, the source of such\nvariety of happiness.\n\n\n\n\nADDITIONAL NOTES. XIV.\n\nTHE THEORY AND STRUCTURE OF LANGUAGE\n\n Next to each thought associate sound accords,\n And forms the dulcet symphony of words.\n CANTO III. l. 365.\n\n\nIdeas consist of synchronous motions or configurations of the\nextremities of the organs of sense; these when repeated by sensation,\nvolition, or association, are either simple or complex, as they were\nfirst excited by irritation; or have afterwards some parts abstracted\nfrom them, or some parts added to them. Language consists of words,\nwhich are the names or symbols of ideas. Words are therefore properly\nall of them nouns or names of things.\n\nLittle had been done in the investigation of the theory of language\nfrom the time of Aristotle to the present aera, till Mr. Horne Tooke,\nthe ingenious and learned author of the Diversions of Purley,\nexplained those undeclined words of all languages, which had puzzled\nthe grammarians, and evinced from their etymology, that they were\nabbreviations of other modes of expression. Mr. Tooke observes, that\nthe first aim of language was to communicate our thoughts, and the\nsecond to do it with dispatch; and hence he divides words into those,\nwhich were necessary to express our thoughts, and those which are\nabbreviations of the former; which he ingeniously styles the wings of\nHermes.\n\nFor the greater dispatch of conversation many words suggest more than\none idea; I shall therefore arrange them according to the number and\nkinds of ideas, which they suggest; and am induced to do this, as a\nnew distribution of the objects of any science may advance the\nknowledge of it by developing another analogy of its constituent\nparts. And in thus endeavouring to analyze the theory of language I\nmean to speak primarily of the English, and occasionally to add what\nmay occur concerning the structure of the Greek and Latin.\n\n\nI. _Conjunctions and Prepositions._\n\nThe first class of words consists of those, which suggest but one\nidea, and suffer no change of termination; which have been termed by\ngrammarians CONJUNCTIONS and PREPOSITIONS; the former of which connect\nsentences, and the latter words. Both which have been ingeniously\nexplained by Mr. Horne Tooke from their etymology to be abbreviations\nof other modes of expression.\n\n1. Thus the conjunction _if_ and _an_, are shown by Mr. Tooke to be\nderived from the imperative mood of the verbs to give and to grant;\nbut both of these conjunctions by long use appear to have become the\nname of a more abstracted idea, than the words give or grant suggest,\nas they do not now express any ideas of person, or of number, or of\ntime; all which are generally attendant upon the meaning of a verb;\nand perhaps all the words of this class are the names of ideas much\nabstracted, which has caused the difficulty of explaining them.\n\n2. The number of Prepositions is very great in the English language,\nas they are used before the cases of nouns, and the infinitive mood of\nverbs, instead of the numerous changes of termination of the nouns and\nverbs of the Greek and Latin; which gives greater simplicity to our\nlanguage, and greater facility of acquiring it.\n\nThe prepositions, as well as the preceding conjunctions, have been\nwell explained by Mr. Horne Tooke; who has developed the etymology of\nmany of them. As the greatest number of the ideas, we receive from\nexternal objects, are complex ones, the names of these constitute a\ngreat part of language, as the proper names of persons and places;\nwhich are complex terms. Now as these complex terms do not always\nexactly suggest the quantity of combined ideas we mean to express,\nsome of the prepositions are prefixed to them to add or to deduct\nsomething, or to limit their general meaning; as a house with a party\nwall, or a house without a roof. These words are also derived by Mr.\nTooke, as abbreviations of the imperative moods of verbs; but which\nappear now to suggest ideas further abstracted than those generally\nsuggested by verbs, and are all of them properly nouns, or names of\nideas.\n\n\nII. _Nouns Substantive._\n\nThe second class of words consists of those, which in their simplest\nstate suggest but one idea, as the word man; but which by two changes\nof termination in our language suggest one secondary idea of number,\nas the word men; or another secondary idea of the genitive case, as\nman's mind, or the mind of man. These words by other changes of\ntermination in the Greek and Latin languages suggest many other\nsecondary ideas, as of gender, as well as of number, and of all the\nother cases described in their grammars; which in English are\nexpressed by prepositions.\n\nThis class of words includes the NOUNS SUBSTANTIVE, or names of\nthings, of common grammars, and may be conveniently divided into three\nkinds. 1. Those which suggest the ideas of things believed to possess\nhardness and figure, as a house or a horse. 2. Those which suggest the\nideas of things, which are not supposed to possess hardness and\nfigure, except metaphorically, as virtue, wisdom; which have therefore\nbeen termed abstracted ideas. 3. Those which have been called by\nmetaphysical writers reflex ideas, and mean those of the operations of\nthe mind, as sensation, volition, association.\n\nAnother convenient division of these nouns substantive or names of\nthings may be first into general terms, or the names of classes of\nideas, as man, quadruped, bird, fish, animal. 2. Into the names of\ncomplex ideas, as this house, that dog. 3. Into the names of simple\nideas, as whiteness, sweetness.\n\nA third convenient division of the names of things may be into the\nnames of intire things, whether of real or imaginary being; these are\nthe nouns substantive of grammars. 2. Into the names of the qualities\nor properties of the former; these are the nouns adjective of\ngrammars. 3. The names of more abstracted ideas as the conjunctions\nand prepositions of grammarians.\n\nThese nouns substantive, or names of intire things, suggest but one\nidea in their simplest form, as in the nominative case singular of\ngrammars. As the word a stag is the name of a single complex idea; but\nthe word stags by a change of termination adds to this a secondary\nidea of number; and the word stag's, with a comma before the final s,\nsuggests, in English, another secondary idea of something appertaining\nto the stag, as a stag's horn; which is, however, in our language, as\nfrequently expressed by the preposition _of_, as the horn of a stag.\n\nIn the Greek and Latin languages an idea of gender is joined with the\nnames of intire things, as well as of number; but in the English\nlanguage the nouns, which express inanimate objects, have no genders\nexcept metaphorically; and even the sexes of many animals have names\nso totally different from each other, that they rather give an idea of\nthe individual creature than of the sex, as bull and cow, horse and\nmare, boar and sow, dog and bitch. This constitutes another\ncircumstance, which renders our language more simple, and more easy to\nacquire; and at the same time contributes to the poetic excellence of\nit; as by adding a masculine or feminine pronoun, as he, or she, other\nnouns substantive are so readily personified.\n\nIn the Latin language there are five cases besides the nominative, or\noriginal word, and in the Greek four. Whence the original noun\nsubstantive by change of its termination suggests a secondary idea\neither corresponding with the genitive, dative, accusative, vocative,\nor ablative cases, besides the secondary ideas of number and gender\nabove mentioned. The ideas suggested by these changes of termination,\nwhich are termed cases, are explained in the grammars of these\nlanguages, and are expressed in ours by prepositions, which are called\nthe signs of those cases.\n\nThus the word Domini, of the Lord, suggests beside the primary idea a\nsecondary one of something appertaining to it, as templum domini, the\ntemple of the Lord, or the Lord's temple; which in English is either\neffected by an addition of the letter s, with a comma before it, or by\nthe preposition _of_. This genitive case is said to be expressed in\nthe Hebrew language simply by the locality of the words in succession\nto each other; which must so far add to the conciseness of that\nlanguage.\n\nThus the word Domino, in the dative case, to the Lord, suggests\nbesides the primary idea a secondary one of something being added to\nthe primary one; which is effected in English by the preposition _to_.\n\nThe accusative case, or Dominum, besides the primary idea implies\nsomething having acted upon the object of that primary idea; as felis\nedit murem, the cat eats the mouse. This is thus effected in the Greek\nand Latin by a change of termination of the noun acted upon, but is\nmanaged in a more concise way in our language by its situation in the\nsentence, as it follows the verb. Thus if the mouse in the above\nsentence was placed before the verb, and the cat after it, in English\nthe sense would be inverted, but not so in Latin; this necessity of\ngenerally placing the accusative case after the verb is inconvenient\nin poetry; though it adds to the conciseness and simplicity of our\nlanguage, as it saves the intervention of a preposition, or of a\nchange of termination.\n\nThe vocative case of the Latin language, or Domine, besides the\nprimary idea suggests a secondary one of appeal, or address; which in\nour language is either marked by its situation in the sentence, or by\nthe preposition O preceding it. Whence this interjection O conveys the\nidea of appeal joined to the subsequent noun, and is therefore\nproperly another noun, or name of an idea, preceding the principal one\nlike other prepositions.\n\nThe ablative case in the Latin language, as Domino, suggests a\nsecondary idea of something being deducted from or by the primary one.\nWhich is perhaps more distinctly expressed by one of those\nprepositions in our language; which, as it suggests somewhat\nconcerning the adjoined noun, is properly another noun, or name of an\nidea, preceding the principal one.\n\nWhen to these variations of the termination of nouns in the singular\nnumber are added those equally numerous of the plural, and the great\nvariety of these terminations correspondent to the three genders, it\nis evident that the prepositions of our own and other modern languages\ninstead of the changes of termination add to the simplicity of these\nlanguages, and to the facility of acquiring them.\n\nHence in the Latin language, besides the original or primary idea\nsuggested by each noun substantive, or name of an entire thing, there\nattends an additional idea of number, another of gender, and another\nsuggested by each change of termination, which constitutes the cases;\nso that in this language four ideas are suggested at the same time by\none word; as the primary idea, its gender, number, and case; the\nlatter of which has also four or five varieties. These nouns\ntherefore may properly be termed the abbreviation of sentences; as the\nconjunctions and prepositions are termed by Mr. Tooke the abbreviation\nof words; and if the latter are called the wings affixed to the feet\nof Hermes, the former may be called the wings affixed to his cap.\n\n\nIII. _Adjectives, Articles, Participles, Adverbs._\n\n1. The third class of words consists of those, which in their simplest\nform suggest two ideas; one of them is an abstracted idea of the\nquality of an object, but not of the object itself; and the other is\nan abstracted idea of its appertaining to some other noun called a\nsubstantive, or a name of an entire thing.\n\nThese words are termed ADJECTIVES, are undeclined in our language in\nrespect to cases, number, or gender; but by three changes of\ntermination they suggest the secondary ideas of greater, greatest, and\nof less; as the word sweet changes into sweeter, sweetest, and\nsweetish; which may be termed three degrees of comparison besides the\npositive meaning of the word; which terminations of _er_ and _est_ are\nseldom added to words of more than two syllables; as those degrees are\nthen most frequently denoted by the prepositions more and most.\n\nAdjectives seem originally to have been derived from nouns\nsubstantive, of which they express a quality, as a musky rose, a\nbeautiful lady, a stormy day. Some of them are formed from the\ncorrespondent substantive by adding the syllable _ly_, or _like_, as a\nlovely child, a warlike countenance; and in our language it is\nfrequently only necessary to put a hyphen between two nouns\nsubstantive for the purpose of converting the former one into an\nadjective, as an eagle-eye, a Mayday. And many of our adjectives are\nsubstantives unchanged, and only known by their situation in a\nsentence, as a German, or a German gentleman. Adjectives therefore are\nnames of qualities, or parts of things; as substantives are the names\nof entire things.\n\nIn the Latin and Greek languages these adjectives possess a great\nvariety of terminations; which suggest occasionally the ideas of\nnumber, gender, and the various cases, agreeing in all these with the\nsubstantive, to which they belong; besides the two original or\nprimary ideas of quality, and of their appertaining to some other\nword, which must be adjoined to make them sense. Insomuch that some of\nthese adjectives, when declined through all their cases, and genders,\nand numbers, in their positive, comparative, and superlative degrees,\nenumerate fifty or sixty terminations. All which to one, who wishes to\nlearn these languages, are so many new words, and add much to the\ndifficulty of acquiring them.\n\nThough the English adjectives are undeclined, having neither case,\ngender, nor number; and with this simplicity of form possess a degree\nof comparison by the additional termination of ish, more than the\ngenerality of Latin or Greek adjectives, yet are they less adapted to\npoetic measure, as they must accompany their corresponding\nsubstantives; from which they are perpetually separated in Greek and\nLatin poetry.\n\n2. There is a second kind of adjectives, which abound in our language,\nand in the Greek, but not in the Latin, which are called ARTICLES by\nthe writers of grammar, as the letter _a_, and the word _the_. These,\nlike the adjectives above described, suggest two primary ideas, and\nsuffer no change of termination in our language, and therefore suggest\nno secondary ideas.\n\nMr. Locke observes, that languages consist principally of general\nterms; as it would have been impossible to give a name to every\nindividual object, so as to communicate an idea of it to others; it\nwould be like reciting the name of every individual soldier of an\narmy, instead of using the general term, army. Now the use of the\narticle _a_, and _the_ in English, and _o_ in Greek, converts general\nterms into particular ones; this idea of particularity as a quality,\nor property of a noun, is one of the primary ideas suggested by these\narticles; and the other is, that of its appertaining to some\nparticular noun substantive, without which it is not intelligible. In\nboth these respects these articles correspond with adjectives; to\nwhich may be added, that our article _a_ may be expressed by the\nadjective one or any; and that the Greek article _o_ is declined like\nother adjectives.\n\nThe perpetual use of the article, besides its converting general terms\ninto particular ones, contributes much to the force and beauty of our\nlanguage from another circumstance, that abstracted ideas become so\nreadily personified simply by the omission of it; which perhaps\nrenders the English language better adapted to poetry than any other\nancient or modern: the following prosopopoeia from Shakspeare is thus\nbeautiful.\n\n She let Concealment like a worm i' th' bud\n Feed on her damask cheek.\n\nAnd the following line, translated from Juvenal by Dr. Johnson, is\nmuch superior to the original, owing to the easy personification of\nWorth and Poverty, and to the consequent conciseness of it.\n\n Difficile emergunt, quorum virtutibus obstat\n Res angusta domi.\n Slow rises Worth by Poverty depress'd.\n\n3. A third class of adjectives includes what are termed PARTICIPLES,\nwhich are allied to the infinitive moods of verbs, and are formed in\nour language by the addition only of the syllable _ing_ or _ed_; and\nare of two kinds, active and passive, as loving, loved, from the verb\nto love. The verbs suggest an idea of the noun, or thing spoken of;\nand also of its manner of existence, whether at rest, in action, or in\nbeing acted upon; as I lie still, or I whip, or I am whipped; and,\nlastly, another idea of the time of resting, acting, or suffering; but\nthese adjectives called participles, suggest only two primary ideas,\none of the noun, or thing spoken of, and another of the mode of\nexistence, but not a third idea of time; and in this respect\nparticiples differ from the verbs, from which they originate, or which\noriginated from them, except in their infinitive moods.\n\nNor do they resemble adjectives only in their suggesting but two\nprimary ideas; but in the Latin and Greek languages they are declined\nthrough all the cases, genders, and numbers, like other adjectives;\nand change their terminations in the degrees of comparison.\n\nIn our language the participle passive, joined to the verb _to be_,\nfor the purpose of adding to it the idea of time, forms the whole of\nthe passive voice; and is frequently used in a similar manner in the\nLatin language, as I am loved is expressed either by amor, or amatus\nsum. The construction of the whole passive voice from the verb _to be_\nand the participles passive of other verbs, contributes much to the\nsimplicity of our language, and the ease of acquiring it; but renders\nit less concise than perhaps it might have been by some simple\nvariations of termination, as in the active voice of it.\n\n4. A fourth kind of adjective is called by the grammarians an ADVERB;\nwhich has generally been formed from the first kind of adjectives, as\nthese were frequently formed from correspondent substantives; or it\nhas been formed from the third kind of adjectives, called participles;\nand this is effected in both cases by the addition, of the syllable\n_ly_, as wisely, charmingly.\n\nThis kind of adjective suggests two primary ideas, like the\nadjectives, and participles, from which they are derived; but differ\nfrom them in this curious circumstance, that the other adjectives\nrelate to substantives, and are declined like them in the Latin and\nGreek languages, as a lovely boy, a warlike countenance; but these\nrelate to verbs, and are therefore undeclined, as to act boldly, to\nsuffer patiently.\n\n\nIV. _Verbs._\n\nThe fourth class of words consists of those which are termed VERBS,\nand which in their simplest state suggest three ideas; first an idea\nof the noun, or name of the thing spoken of, as a whip. 2. An idea of\nits mode of existence, whether at rest, or in action, or in being\nacted upon. 3. An idea of the time of its existence. Thus \"the beadle\nwhipped the beggar,\" in prolix language might be expressed, the beadle\nwith a whip struck in time past the beggar. Which three ideas are\nsuggested by the one word whipped.\n\nVerbs are therefore nouns, or names of intire ideas, with the\nadditional ideas of their mode of existence and of time; but the\nparticiples suggest only the noun, and the mode of existence, without\nany idea of time; as whipping, or whipped. The infinitive moods of\nverbs correspond in their signification with the participles; as they\nalso suggest only the noun, or name of the thing spoken of, and an\nidea of its mode of existence, excluding the idea of time; which is\nexpressed by all the other moods and tenses; whence it appears, that\nthe infinitive mood, as well as the participle, is not truly a part of\nthe verb; but as the participle resembles the adjective in its\nconstruction; so the infinitive mood may be said to resemble the\nsubstantive, and it is often used as a nominative case to another\nverb.\n\nThus in the words \"a charming lady with a smiling countenance,\" the\nparticiple acts as an adjective; and in the words \"to talk well\ncommands attention,\" the infinitive mood acts as the nominative case\nof a noun substantive; and their respective significations are also\nvery similar, as whipping, or to whip, mean the existence of a person\nacting with a whip.\n\nIn the Latin language the verb in its simplest form, except the\ninfinitive mood, and the participle, both which we mean to exclude\nfrom complete verbs, suggests four primary ideas, as amo, suggests the\npronoun I, the noun love, its existence in its active state, and the\npresent time; which verbs in the Greek and Latin undergo an uncounted\nvariation of termination, suggesting so many different ideas in\naddition to the four primary ones.\n\nWe do not mean to assert, that all verbs are literally derived from\nnouns in any language; because all languages have in process of time\nundergone such great variation; many nouns having become obsolete or\nhave perished, and new verbs have been imported from foreign\nlanguages, or transplanted from ancient ones; but that this has\noriginally been the construction of all verbs, as well as those to\nwhip and to love above mentioned, and innumerable others.\n\nThus there may appear some difficulty in analyzing from what noun\nsubstantive were formed the verbs to stand or to lie; because we have\nnot properly the name of the abstract ideas from which these verbs\narose, except we use the same word for the participle and the noun\nsubstantive, as standing, lying. But the verbs, to sit, and to walk,\nare less difficult to trace to their origin; as we have names for the\nnouns substantive, a seat, and a walk.\n\nBut there is another verb of great consequence in all languages, which\nwould appear, in its simplest form in our language to suggest but two\nprimary ideas, as the verb _to be_, but that it suggests three primary\nideas like other verbs maybe understood, if we use the synonymous term\nto exist instead of to be. Thus \"I exist\" suggests first the abstract\nidea of existence, not including the mode of existence, whether at\nrest, or in action, or in suffering; secondly it adds to that\nabstracted idea of existence its real state, or actual resting,\nacting, or suffering, existence; and thirdly the idea of the present\ntime: thus the infinitive mood _to be_, and the participle, _being_,\nsuggest both the abstract idea of existence, and the actual state of\nit, but not the time.\n\nThe verb _to be_ is also used irregularly to designate the parts of\ntime and actual existence; and is then applied to either the active or\npassive participles of other verbs, and called an auxiliary verb;\nwhile the mode of existence, whether at rest, or in action, or being\nacted upon, is expressed by the participle, as \"I am loving\" is nearly\nthe same as \"I love,\" amo; and \"I am loved,\" amatus sum, is nearly the\nsame as amor. This mode of application of the verb _to be_ is used in\nFrench as well as in English, and in the passive voice of the Latin,\nand perhaps in many other languages; and is by its perpetual use in\nconversation rendered irregular in them all, as I am, thou art, he is,\nwould not seem to belong to the infinitive mood _to be_, any more than\nsum, fui, sunt, fuerunt, appear to belong to esse.\n\nThe verb _to have_ affords another instance of irregular application;\nthe word means in its regular sense to possess, and then suggests\nthree ideas like the above verb of existence: first the abstracted\nidea of the thing spoken of, or possession; secondly, the actual\nexistence of possession, and lastly the time, as I have or possess.\nThis verb _to have_ like the verb _to be_ is also used irregularly to\ndenote parts of past time, and is then joined to the passive\nparticiples alone, as I have eaten; or it is accompanied with the\npassive participle of the verb _to be_, and then with the active\nparticiple of another verb, as I have been eating.\n\nThere is another word _will_ used in the same irregular manner to\ndenote the parts of future time, which is derived from the verb _to\nwill_; which in its regular use signifies to exert our volition. There\nare other words used to express other circumstances attending upon\nverbs, as may, can, shall, all which are probably the remains of\nverbs otherwise obsolete. Lastly, when we recollect, that in the moods\nand tenses of verbs one word expresses never less than three ideas in\nour language, and many more in the Greek and Latin; as besides those\nthree primary ideas the idea of person, and of number, are always\nexpressed in the indicative mood, and other ideas suggested in the\nother moods, we cannot but admire what excellent abbreviations of\nlanguage are thus achieved; and when we observe the wonderful\nintricacy and multiplicity of sounds in those languages, especially in\nthe Greek verbs, which change both the beginning and ending of the\noriginal word through three voices, and three numbers, with uncounted\nvariations of dialect; we cannot but admire the simplicity of modern\nlanguages compared to these ancient ones; and must finally perceive,\nthat all language consists simply of nouns, or names of ideas,\ndisposed in succession or in combination, all of which are expressed\nby separate words, or by various terminations of the same word.\n\n\n_Conclusion._\n\nThe theory of the progressive production of language in the early\ntimes of society, and its gradual improvements in the more civilized\nones, may be readily induced from the preceding pages. In the\ncommencement of Society the names of the ideas of entire things,\nwhich, it was necessary most frequently to communicate, would first be\ninvented, as the names of individual persons, or places, fire, water,\nthis berry, that root; as it was necessary perpetually to announce,\nwhether one or many of such external things existed, it was soon found\nmore convenient to add this idea of number by a change of termination\nof the word, than by the addition of another word.\n\nAs many of these nouns soon became general terms, as bird, beast,\nfish, animal; it was next convenient to distinguish them when used for\nan individual, from the same word used as a general term; whence the\ntwo articles _a_ and _the_, in our language, derive their origin.\n\nNext to these names of the ideas of entire things, the words most\nperpetually wanted in conversation would probably consist of the\nnames of the ideas of the parts or properties of things; which might\nbe derived from the names of some things, and applied to others which\nin these respects resembled them; these are termed adjectives, as rosy\ncheek, manly voice, beastly action; and seem at first to have been\nformed simply by a change of termination of their correspondent\nsubstantives. The comparative degrees of greater and less were found\nso frequently necessary to be suggested, that a change of termination\neven in our language for this purpose was produced; and is as\nfrequently used as an additional word, as wiser or more wise.\n\nThe expression of general similitude, as well as partial similitude,\nbecomes so frequently used in conversation, that another kind of\nadjective, called an adverb, was expressed by a change of termination,\nor addition of the syllable ly or like; and as adjectives of the\nformer kind are applied to substantives, and express a partial\nsimilitude, these are applied to verbs and express a general\nsimilitude, as to act heroically, to speak boldly, to think freely.\n\nThe perpetual chain of causes and effects, which constitute the\nmotions, or changing configurations, of the universe, are so\nconveniently divided into active and passive, for expressing the\nexertions or purposes of common life, that it became particularly\nconvenient in all languages to substitute changes of termination,\ninstead of additional nouns, to express, whether the thing spoken of\nwas in a state of acting or of being acted upon. This change of\ntermination betokening action or suffering constitutes the participle,\nas loving, loved; which, as it expresses a property of bodies, is\nclassed amongst adjectives in the preceding pages.\n\nBesides the perpetual allusions to the active or passive state of\nthings, the comparative times of these motions, or changes, were also\nperpetually required to be expressed; it was therefore found\nconvenient in all languages to suggest them by changes of terminations\nin preference to doing it by additional nouns. At the same time the\nactual or real existence of the thing spoken of was perpetually\nrequired, as well as the times of their existence, and the active or\npassive state of that existence. And as no conversation could be\ncarried on without unceasingly alluding to these circumstances, they\nbecame in all languages suggested by changes of termination; which are\ntermed moods and tenses in grammars, and convert the participle above\nmentioned into a verb; as that participle had originally been formed\nby adding a termination to a noun, as chaining, and chained, from\nchain.\n\nThe great variety of changes of termination in all languages consists\ntherefore of abbreviations used instead of additional words; and adds\nmuch to the conciseness of language, and the quickness with which we\nare enabled to communicate our ideas; and may be said to add\nunnumbered wings to every limb of the God of Eloquence.\n\n\n\n\nADDITIONAL NOTES. XV.\n\nANALYSIS OF ARTICULATE SOUNDS.\n\n The tongue, the lips articulate; the throat\n With soft vibration modulates the note.\n CANTO III. l. 367.\n\n\nHaving explained in the preceding account of the theory of language\nthat it consists solely of nouns, or the names of ideas, disposed in\nsuccession or combination; I shall now attempt to investigate the\nnumber of the articulate sounds, which constitute those names of ideas\nby their successions and combinations; and to show by what parts of\nthe organs of speech they are modulated and articulated; whence may be\ndeduced the precise number of letters or symbols necessary to suggest\nthose sounds, and form an alphabet, which may spell with accuracy the\nwords of all languages.\n\n\nI. _Imperfections of the present Alphabet._\n\nIt is much to be lamented, that the alphabet, which has produced and\npreserved almost all the improvements in other arts and sciences,\nshould have itself received no improvement in modern times; which have\nadded so much elucidation to almost every branch of knowledge, that\ncan meliorate the condition of humanity. Thus in our present alphabets\nmany letters are redundant, others are wanted; some simple articulate\nsounds have two letters to suggest them; and in other instances two\narticulate sounds are suggested by one letter. Some of these\nimperfections in the alphabet of our own language shall be enumerated.\n\nX. Thus the letter x is compounded of ks, or of gz, as in the words\nexcellent, example: eksellent, egzample.\n\nC. is sometimes k, at other times s, as in the word access.\n\nG. is a single letter in go; and suggests the letters d and the French\nJ in pigeon.\n\nQu is kw, as quality is kwality.\n\nNG in the words long and in king is a simple sound like the French n,\nand wants a new character.\n\nSH is a simple sound, and wants a new character.\n\nTH is either sibilant as in thigh; or semivocal as in thee; both of\nwhich are simple sounds, and want two new characters.\n\nJ French exists in our words confu_si_on, and conclusion, judge,\npigeon, and wants a character.\n\nJ consonant, in our language, expresses the letters d, and the French\nj conjoined, as in John, Djon.\n\nCH is either k as in Arch-angel, or is used for a sound compounded of\nTsh, as in Children, Tshildren.\n\nGL is dl, as Glove is pronounced by polite people dlove.\n\nCL is tl, as Cloe is pronounced by polite speakers Tloe.\n\nThe spelling of our language in respect to the pronunciation is also\nwonderfully defective, though perhaps less so than that of the French;\nas the words slaughter and laughter are pronounced totally different,\nthough spelt alike. The word sough, now pronounced suff, was formerly\ncalled sow; whence the iron fused and received into a sough acquired\nthe name of sowmetal; and that received into less soughs from the\nformer one obtained the name of pigs of iron or of lead; from the pun\non the word sough, into sow and pigs. Our word jealousies contains all\nthe vowels, though three of them only were necessary; nevertheless in\nthe two words abstemiously and facetiously the vowels exist all of\nthem in their usual order, and are pronounced in their most usual\nmanner.\n\nSome of the vowels of our language are diphthongs, and consist of two\nvocal sounds, or vowels, pronounced in quick succession; these\ndiphthongs are discovered by prolonging the sound, and observing, if\nthe ending of it be different from the beginning; thus the vowel i in\nin our language, as in the word high, if drawn put ends in the sound\nof the letter e as used in English; which is expressed by the letter i\nin most other languages: and the sound of this vowel i begins with ah,\nand consists therefore of ah and ee. Whilst the diphthong on in our\nlanguage, as in the word how, begins with ah also and ends in oo, and\nthe vowel u of our language, as in the word use, is likewise a\ndiphthong; which begins with e and ends with oo, as eoo. The French u\nis also a diphthong compounded of a and oo, as aoo. And many other\ndefects and redundancies in our alphabet will be seen by perusing the\nsubsequent structure of a more perfect one.\n\n\nII. _Production of Sounds._\n\nBy our organ of hearing we perceive the vibrations of the air; which\nvibrations are performed in more or in less time, which constitutes\nhigh or low notes in respect to the gammut; but the tone depends on\nthe kind of instrument which produces them. In speaking of articulate\nsounds they may be conveniently divided first into clear continued\nsounds, expressed by the letters called vowels; secondly, Into hissing\nsounds, expressed by the letters called sibilants; thirdly, Into\nsemivocal sounds, which consist of a mixture of the two former; and,\nlastly, Into interrupted sounds, represented by the letters properly\ntermed consonants.\n\nThe clear continued sounds are produced by the streams of air passing\nfrom the lungs in respiration through the larynx; which is furnished\nwith many small muscles, which by their action give a proper tension\nto the extremity of this tube; and the sounds, I suppose, are produced\nby the opening and closing of its aperture; something like the trumpet\nstop of an organ, as may be observed by blowing through the wind-pipe\nof a dead goose.\n\nThese sounds would all be nearly similar except in their being an\noctave or two higher or lower; but they are modulated again, or\nacquire various tones, in their passage through the mouth; which thus\nconverts them into eight vowels, as will be explained below.\n\nThe hissing sounds are produced by air forcibly pushed through certain\npassages of the mouth without being previously rendered sonorous by\nthe larynx; and obtain their sibilancy from their slower vibrations,\noccasioned by the mucous membrane, which lines those apertures or\npassages, being less tense than that of the larynx. I suppose the\nstream of air is in both cases frequently interrupted by the closing\nof the sides or mouth of the passages or aperture; but that this is\nperformed much slower in the production of sibilant sounds, than in\nthe production of clear ones.\n\nThe semivocal sounds are produced by the stream of air having received\nquick vibrations, or clear sound, in passing through the larynx, or in\nthe cavity of the mouth; but apart of it, as the outsides of this\nsonorous current of air, afterwards receives slower vibrations, or\nhissing sound, from some other passages of the lips or mouth, through\nwhich it then flows. Lastly the stops, or consonants, impede the\ncurrent of air, whether sonorous or sibilant, for a perceptible time;\nand probably produce some change of tone in the act of opening and\nclosing their apertures.\n\nThere are other clear sounds besides those formed by the larynx; some\nof them are formed in the mouth, as may be heard previous to the\nenunciation of the letters b, and d, and ga; or during the\npronunciation of the semivocal letters, v. z. j. and others in\nsounding the liquid letters r and l; these sounds we shall term\norisonance. The other clear sounds are formed in the nostrils, as in\npronouncing the liquid letters m, n, and ng, these we shall term\nnarisonance.\n\nThus the clear sounds, except those above mentioned, are formed in the\nlarynx along with the musical height or lowness of note; but receive\nafterward a variation of tone from the various passages of the mouth:\nadd to these that as the sibilant sounds consist of vibrations slower\nthan those formed by the larynx, so a whistling through the lips\nconsists of vibrations quicker than those formed by the larynx.\n\nAs all sound consists in the vibrations of the air, it may not be\ndisagreeable to the reader to attend to the immediate causes of those\nvibrations. When any sudden impulse is given to an elastic fluid like\nthe air, it acquires a progressive motion of the whole, and a\ncondensation of the constituent particles, which first receive the\nimpulse; on this account the currents of the atmosphere in stormy\nseasons are never regular, but blow and cease to blow by intervals; as\na part of the moving stream is condensed by the projectile force; and\nthe succeeding part, being consequently rarefied, requires some time\nto recover its density, and to follow the former part: this elasticity\nof the air is likewise the cause of innumerable eddies in it; which\nare much more frequent than in streams of water; as when it is\nimpelled against any oblique plane, it results with its elastic force\nadded to its progressive one.\n\nHence when a vacuum is formed in the atmosphere, the sides of the\ncavity forcibly rush together both by the general pressure of the\nsuperincumbent air, and by the expansion of the elastic particles of\nit; and thus produce a vibration of the atmosphere to a considerable\ndistance: this occurs, whether this vacuity of air be occasioned by\nthe discharge of cannon, in which the air is displaced by the sudden\nevolution of heat, which as suddenly vanishes; or whether the vacuity\nbe left by a vibrating string, as it returns from each side of the\narc, in which it vibrates; or whether it be left under the lid of the\nvalve in the trumpet stop of an organ, or of a child's play trumpet,\nwhich continues perpetually to open and close, when air is blown\nthrough it; which is caused by the elasticity of the currents, as it\noccasions the pausing gusts of wind mentioned above.\n\nHence when a quick current of air is suddenly broken by any\nintervening body, a vacuum is produced by the momentum of the\nproceeding current, between it and the intervening body; as beneath\nthe valve of the trumpet-stop above mentioned; and a vibration is in\nconsequence produced; which with the great facility, which elastic\nfluids possess of forming eddies, may explain the production of sounds\nby blowing through a fissure upon a sharp edge in a common organ-pipe\nor child's whistle; which has always appeared difficult to resolve;\nfor the less vibration an organ-pipe itself possesses, the more\nagreeable, I am informed, is the tone; as the tone is produced by the\nvibration of the air in the organ pipe, and not by that of the sides\nof it; though the latter, when it exists, may alter the tone though,\nnot the note, like the belly of a harpsichord, or violin.\n\nWhen a stream of air is blown on the edge of the aperture of an\norgan-pipe about two thirds of it are believed to pass on the outside\nof this edge, and one third to pass on the inside of it; but this\ncurrent of air on the inside forms an eddy, whether the bottom of the\npipe be closed or not; which eddy returns upwards, and strikes by\nquick intervals against the original stream of air, as it falls on the\nedge of the aperture, and forces outwards this current of air with\nquick repetitions, so as to make more than two thirds of it, and less\nthan two thirds alternately pass on the outside; whence a part of this\nstream of air, on each side of the edge of the aperture is perpetually\nstopped by that edge; and thus a vacuum and vibration in consequence,\nare reciprocally produced on each side of the edge of the aperture.\n\nThe quickness or slowness of these vibrations constitute the higher\nand lower notes of music, but they all of them are propagated to\ndistant places in the same time; as the low notes of a distant ring of\nbells are heard in equal times with the higher ones: hence in speaking\nat a distance from the auditors, the clear sounds produced in the\nlarynx by the quick vibrations of its aperture, which form the vowels;\nthe tremulous sounds of the L. R. M. N. NG. which are owing to\nvibrations of certain apertures of the mouth and nose, and are so\nslow, that the intervals between them are perceived; the sibilant\nsounds, which I suppose are occasioned by the air not rushing into a\ncomplete vacuum, whence the vibrations produced are defective in\nvelocity; and lastly the very high notes made by the quickest\nvibrations of the lips in whistling; are all heard in due succession\nwithout confusion; as the progressive motions of all sounds I believe\ntravel with equal velocity, notwithstanding the greater or less\nquickness of their vibrations.\n\n\nIII. STRUCTURE OF THE ALPHABET.\n\n_Mute and antesonant Consonants, and nasal Liquids._\n\nP. If the lips be pressed close together and some air be condensed in\nthe mouth behind them, on opening the lips the mute consonant P begins\na syllable; if the lips be closed suddenly during the passage of a\ncurrent of air through them, the air becomes condensed in the mouth\nbehind them, and the mute consonant P terminates a syllable.\n\nB. If in the above situation of the lips a sound is previously\nproduced in the mouth, which may be termed orisonance, the semisonant\nconsonant B is produced, which like the letter P above described may\nbegin or terminate a syllable.\n\nM. In the above situation of the lips, if a sound is produced through\nthe nostrils, which sound is termed narisonance, the nasal letter M is\nformed; the sound of which may be lengthened in pronunciation like\nthose of the vowels.\n\nT. If the point of the tongue be applied to the forepart of the\npalate, at the roots of the upper teeth, and some air condensed in the\nmouth behind, on withdrawing the tongue downwards the mute consonant T\nis formed; which may begin or terminate a syllable.\n\nD. If the tongue be placed as above described, and a sound be\npreviously produced in the mouth, the semisonant consonant D is\nformed, which may begin or terminate a syllable.\n\nN. If in the above situation of the tongue and palate a sound be\nproduced through the nostrils, the nasal letter N is formed, the sound\nof which may be elongated like those of the vowels.\n\nK. If the point of the tongue be retracted, and applied to the middle\npart of the palate; and some air condensed in the mouth behind; on\nwithdrawing the tongue downwards the mute consonant K is produced,\nwhich may begin or terminate a syllable.\n\nGa. If in the above situation of the tongue and palate a sound be\npreviously produced in the mouth behind, the semisonant consonant G is\nformed, as pronounced in the word go, and may begin or terminate a\nsyllable.\n\nNG. If in the above situation of the tongue and palate a sound be\nproduced through the nostrils; the nasal letter ng is produced, as in\nking and throng; which is the french n, the sound of which may be\nelongated like a vowel; and should have an appropriated character, as\nthus _v_.\n\nThree of these letters, P, T, K, are stops to the stream of vocal air,\nand are called mutes by grammarians; three, B, D, Ga, are preceded by\na little orisonance; and three, M, N, NG, possess continued\nnarisonance, and have been called liquids by grammarians.\n\n\n_Sibilants and Sonisibilants._\n\nW. Of the Germans; if the lips be appressed together, as informing the\nletter P; and air from the mouth be forced between them; the W\nsibilant is produced, as pronounced by the Germans, and by some of the\ninferiour people of London, and ought to have an appropriated\ncharacter as thus M.[TN: Upside down W.]\n\nW. If in the above situation of the lips a sound be produced in the\nmouth, as in the letter B, and the sonorous air be forced between\nthem; the sonisibilant letter W is produced; which is the common W of\nour language.\n\nF. If the lower lip be appressed to the edges of the upper teeth, and\nair from the mouth be forced between them, the sibilant letter F is\nformed.\n\nV. If in the above situation of the lip and teeth a sound be produced\nin the mouth, and the sonorous air be forced between them, the\nsonisibilant letter V is formed.\n\nTh. Sibilant. If the point of the tongue be placed between the teeth,\nand air from the mouth be forced between them, the Th sibilant is\nproduced, as in thigh, and should have a proper character, as [TN: Looks\nlike the Greek 'phi'].\n\nTh. Sonisibilant. If in the above situation of the tongue and teeth a\nsound be produced in the mouth, and the sonorous air be forced between\nthem, the sonisibilant Th is formed, as in Thee; and should have an\nappropriated character as [TN: Looks like the Greek 'theta'].\n\nS. If the point of the tongue be appressed to the forepart of the\npalate, as in forming the letter T, and air from the mouth be forced\nbetween them, the sibilant letter S is produced.\n\nZ. If in the above situation of the tongue and palate a sound be\nproduced in the mouth, as in the letter D, and the sonorous air be\nforced between them, the sonisibilant letter Z is formed.\n\nSH. If the point of the tongue be retracted and applied to the middle\npart of the palate, as in forming the letter K, and air from the mouth\nbe forced between them, the letter Sh is produced, which is a simple\nsound and ought to have a single character, thus [TN: Looks like the\nGreek 'lambda'].\n\nJ. French. If in the above situation of the tongue and palate a sound\nbe produced in the mouth, as in the letter Ga; and the sonorous air\nbe forced between them; the J consonant of the French is formed; which\nis a sonisibilant letter, as in the word conclusion, confusion,\npigeon; it should be called Je, and should have a different character\nfrom the vowel i, with which it has an analogy, as thus _V_.\n\nH. If the back part of the tongue be appressed to the pendulous\ncurtain of the palate and uvula; and air from behind be forced between\nthem; the sibilant letter H is produced.\n\nCh Spanish. If in the above situation of the tongue and palate a sound\nbe produced behind; and the sonorous air be forced between them; the\nCh Spanish is formed; which is a sonisibilant letter, the same as the\nCh Scotch in the words Bu_ch_anan and lo_ch_: it is also perhaps the\nWelsh guttural expressed by their double L as in Lloyd, Lluellen; it\nis a simple sound, and ought to have a single character as [TN: Looks\nlike an H on its side].\n\nThe sibilant and sonisibilant letters may be elongated in\npronunciation like the vowels; the sibilancy is probably occasioned by\nthe vibrations of the air being slower than those of the lowest\nmusical notes. I have preferred the word sonisibilants to the word\nsemivocal sibilants; as the sounds of these sonisibilants are formed\nin different apertures of the mouth, and not in the larynx like the\nvowels.\n\n\n_Orisonant Liquids._\n\nR. If the point of the tongue be appressed to the forepart of the\npalate, as in forming the letters T, D, N, S, Z, and air be pushed\nbetween them so as to produce continued sound, the letter R is formed.\n\nL. If the retracted tongue be appressed to the middle of the palate,\nas in forming the letters K, Ga, NG, Sh, J French, and air be pushed\nover its edges so as to produce continued sound, the letter L is\nformed.\n\nThe nasal letters m, n, and ng, are clear tremulous sounds like R and\nL, and have all of them been called liquids by grammarians. Besides\nthe R and L, above described, there is another orisonant sound\nproduced by the lips in whistling; which is not used in this country\nas a part of language, and has therefore obtained no character, but is\nanalogous to the R and L; it is also possible, that another orisonant\nletter may be formed by the back part of the tongue and back part of\nthe palate, as in pronouncing H and Ch, which may perhaps be the Welch\nLl in Lloyd, Lluellin.\n\n\n_Four pairs of Vowels._\n\nA pronounced like au, as in the word call. If the aperture, made by\napproximating the back part of the tongue to the uvula and pendulous\ncurtain of the palate, as in forming the sibilant letter H, and the\nsonisibilant letter Ch Spanish, be enlarged just so much as to prevent\nsibilancy; and a continued sound produced by the larynx be modulated\nin passing through it; the letter A is formed, as in ball, wall, which\nis sounded like aw in the word awkward; and is the most usual sound of\nthe letter A in foreign languages; and to distinguish it from the\nsucceeding A might be called A micron; as the aperture of the fauces,\nwhere it is produced, is less than in the next A.\n\nA pronounced like ah, as in the word hazard. If the aperture of the\nfauces above described, between the back part of the tongue and the\nback part of the palate, be enlarged as much as convenient, and a\ncontinued sound, produced in the larynx, be modulated in passing\nthrough it; the letter A is formed, as in animal, army, and ought to\nhave an appropriated character in our language, as thus [TN: Looks like\nan A on its head]. As this letter A is formed by a larger aperture than\nthe former one, it may be called A mega.\n\nA pronounced as in the words cake, ale. If the retracted tongue by\napproximation to the middle part of the palate, as in forming the\nletters R, Ga, NG, Sh, J French, L, leaves an aperture just so large\nas to prevent sibilancy, and sonorous air from the larynx be modulated\nin passing through it; the letter A is produced, as pronounced in the\nwords whale, sale, and ought to have an appropriated character in our\nlanguage, as thus [TN: Looks like a handwritten 9]; this is expressed by\nthe letter E in some modern languages, and might be termed E micron;\nas it is formed by a less aperture of the mouth than the succeeding E.\n\nE pronounced like the vowel a, when short, as in the words emblem,\ndwelling. If the aperture above described between the retracted tongue\nand the middle of the palate be enlarged as much as convenient, and\nsonorous air from the larynx be modulated in passing through it, the\nletter E is formed, as in the words egg, herring; and as it is\npronounced in most foreign languages, and might be called E mega to\ndistinguish it from the preceding E.\n\nI pronounced like e in keel. If the point of the tongue by\napproximation to the forepart of the palate, as in forming the letters\nT, D, N, S, Z, R, leaves an aperture just so large as to prevent\nsibilancy, and sonorous air from the larynx be modulated in passing\nthrough it; the vowel I is produced, which is in our language\ngenerally represented by e when long, as in the word keel; and by i\nwhen, short, as in the word it, which is the sound of this letter in\nmost foreign languages; and may be called E micron to distinguish it\nfrom the succeeding E or Y.\n\nY, when it begins a word, as in youth. If the aperture above described\nbetween the point of the tongue, and the forepart of the palate be\nenlarged as much as convenient, and sonorous air from the larynx be\nmodulated in passing through it, the letter Y is formed; which, when\nit begins a word, has been called Y consonant by some, and by others\nhas been thought only a quick pronunciation of our e, or the i of\nforeign languages; as in the word year, yellow; and may be termed E\nmega, as it is formed by a larger aperture than the preceding e or i.\n\nO pronounced like oo, as in the word fool. If the lips by\napproximation to each other, as in forming the letters P, B, M, W\nsibilant, W sonisibilant, leave an aperture just so wide as to prevent\nsibilancy; and sonorous air from the larynx be modulated in passing\nthrough it; the letter O is formed, as in the words cool, school, and\nought to have an appropriated character as thus [TN: Looks like the\ninfinity symbol], and may be termed o micron to distinguish it from\nthe succeeding o.\n\nO pronounced as in the word cold. If the aperture above described\nbetween the approximated lips be enlarged as much as convenient; and\nsonorous air from the larynx be modulated in passing through it, the\nletter o is formed, as in sole, coal, which may be termed o mega, as\nit is formed in a larger aperture than the preceding one.\n\n\n_Conclusion._\n\nThe alphabet appears from this analysis of it to consist of thirty-one\nletters, which spell all European languages.\n\nThree mute consonants, P, T, K.\n\nThree antesonant consonants, B, D, Ga.\n\nThree narisonant liquids, M, N, NG.\n\nSix sibilants, W German, F, Th, S, Sh, H.\n\nSix sonisibilants, W, V, Th, Z, J French, Ch Spanish.\n\nTwo orisonant liquids, R, L.\n\nEight vowels, Aw, ah, a, e, i, y, oo, o.\n\nTo these thirty-one characters might perhaps be added one for the\nWelsh L, and another for whistling with the lips; and it is possible,\nthat some savage nations, whose languages are said to abound with\ngutturals, may pronounce a mute consonant, as well as an antesonant\none, and perhaps another narisonant letter, by appressing the back\npart of the tongue to the back part of the palate, as in pronouncing\nthe H, and Ch Spanish.\n\nThe philosophical reader will perceive that these thirty-one sounds\nmight be expressed by fewer characters referring to the manner of\ntheir production. As suppose one character was to express the\nantesonance of B, D, Ga; another the orisonance of R, L; another the\nsibilance of W, S, Sh, H; another the sonisibilance of W, Z, J French,\nCh Spanish; another to express the more open vowels; another the less\nopen vowels; for which the word micron is here used, and for which the\nword mega is here used.\n\nThen the following characters only might be necessary to express them\nall; P alone, or with antesonance B; with narisonance M; with\nsibilance W German; with sonisibilance W; with vocality, termed micron\nOO; with vocality, termed mega O.\n\nT alone, or with the above characters added to it, would in the same\nmanner suggest D, N, S, Z, EE, Y, and R with a mark for orisonance.\n\nK alone, or with the additional characters, would suggest Ga, NG, Sh,\nJ French, A, E, and L, with a mark for orisonance.\n\nF alone, or with a mark for sonisibilance, V.\n\nTh alone, or with a mark for sonisibilance, Th.\n\nH alone, or with a mark for sonisibilance, Ch Spanish, and with a mark\nfor less open vocality, aw, with another for more open vocality ah.\n\nWhence it appears that six single characters, for the letters P, T, K,\nF, Th, H, with seven additional marks joined to them for antesonance,\nnarisonance, orisonance, sibilance, sonisibilance, less open vocality,\nand more open vocality; being in all but thirteen characters, may\nspell all the European languages.\n\nI have found more difficulty in analyzing the vowels than the other\nletters; as the apertures, through which they are modulated, do not\nclose; and it was therefore less easy to ascertain exactly, in what\npart of the mouth they were modulated; but recollecting that those\nparts of the mouth must be more ready to use for the purpose of\nforming the vowels, which were in the habit of being exerted in\nforming the other letters; I rolled up some tin foil into cylinders\nabout the size of my finger; and speaking the vowels separately\nthrough them, found by the impressions made on them, in what part of\nthe mouth each of the vowels was formed with somewhat greater\naccuracy, but not so as perfectly to satisfy myself.\n\nThe parts of the mouth appeared to me to be those in which the letters\nP, I, K, and H, are produced; as those, where the letters F and Th are\nformed, do not suit the production of mute or antesonant consonants;\nas the interstices of the teeth would occasion some sibilance; and\nthese apertures are not adapted to the formation of vowels on the same\naccount.\n\nThe two first vowels aw and ah being modulated in the back part of the\nmouth, it is necessary to open wide the lips and other passages of the\nmouth in pronouncing them; that those passages may not again alter\ntheir tone; and that more so in pronouncing ah, than aw; as the\naperture of the fauces is opened wider, where it is formed, and from\nthe greater or less size of these apertures used in forming the vowels\nby different persons, the tone of all of them may be somewhat altered\nas spoken by different orators.\n\nI have treated with greater confidence on the formation of articulate\nsounds, as I many years ago gave considerable attention to this\nsubject for the purpose of improving shorthand; at that time I\ncontrived a wooden mouth with lips of soft leather, and with a valve\nover the back part of it for nostrils, both which could be quickly\nopened or closed by the pressure of the fingers, the vocality was\ngiven by a silk ribbon about an inch long and a quarter of an inch\nwide stretched between two bits of smooth wood a little hollowed; so\nthat when a gentle current of air from bellows was blown on the edge\nof the ribbon, it gave an agreeable tone, as it vibrated between the\nwooden sides, much like a human voice. This head pronounced the p, b,\nm, and the vowel a, with so great nicety as to deceive all who heard\nit unseen, when it pronounced the words mama, papa, map, and pam; and\nhad a most plaintive tone, when the lips were gradually closed. My\nother occupations prevented me from proceeding in the further\nconstruction of this machine; which might have required but thirteen\nmovements, as shown in the above analysis, unless some variety of\nmusical note was to be added to the vocality produced in the larynx;\nall of which movements might communicate with the keys of a\nharpsichord or forte piano, and perform the song as well as the\naccompaniment; or which if built in a gigantic form, might speak so\nloud as to command an army or instruct a crowd.\n\nI conclude this with an agreeable hope, that now war is ceased, the\nactive and ingenious of all nations will attend again to those\nsciences, which better the condition of human nature; and that the\nalphabet will undergo a perfect reformation, which may indeed make it\nmore difficult to trace the etymologies of words, but will much\nfacilitate the acquisition of modern languages; which as science\nimproves and becomes more generally diffused, will gradually become\nmore distinct and accurate than the ancient ones; as metaphors will\ncease to be necessary in conversation, and only be used as the\nornaments of poetry.\n\n\nTHE END.\n\n\n\n\nCONTENTS OF THE ADDITIONAL NOTES.\n\n\nNOTE I. SPONTANEOUS VITALITY OF MICROSCOPIC ANIMALS.\n\nI. Spontaneous vital production not contrary to scripture; to be\nlooked for only in the simplest organic beings; supposed want of\nanalogy no argument against it, as this equally applies to all new\ndiscoveries. II. The power of reproduction distinguishes organic\nbeings; which are gradually enlarged and improved by it. III.\nMicroscopic animals produced from all vegetable and animal infusions;\ngenerate others like themselves by solitary reproduction; not produced\nfrom eggs; conferva fontinalis; mucor. IV. Theory of spontaneous\nvitality. Animal nutrition; vegetable; some organic particles have\nappetencies to unite, others propensities to be united; buds of trees;\nsexual reproduction: analogy between generation and nutrition; laws of\nelasticity not understood; dead animalcules recover life by heat and\nmoisture; chaos redivivum; vorticella; shell-snails; eggs and seeds:\nhydra. Classes of microscopic animals; general remarks.\n\n\nNOTE II. FACULTIES OF THE SENSORIUM.\n\nFibres possess a power of contraction; spirit of animation immediate\ncause of their contracting; stimulus of external bodies the remote\ncause; stimulus produces irritation; due contraction occasions\npleasure; too much, or too little, pain; sensation produces desire or\naversion, which constitute volition: associated motions; irritation;\nsensation; volition; association; sensorium.\n\n\nNOTE III. VOLCANOES.\n\nTheir explosions occasioned by water falling on boiling lava; primeval\nearthquakes of great extent; more elastic vapours might raise islands\nand continents, or even throw the moon from the earth; stones falling\nfrom the sky; earthquake at, Lisbon; subterraneous fires under this\nisland.\n\n\nNOTE IV. MUSQUITO.\n\nThe larva lives chiefly in water; it may be driven away by smoke;\ngnats; libelulla; aestros bovis; bolts: musca chamaeleon; vomitoria.\n\n\nNOTE V. AMPHIBIOUS ANIMALS.\n\nDiodon has both lungs and gills; some amphibious quadrupeds have the\nforamen ovale open; perhaps it may be kept open in dogs by frequent\nimmersion so as to render them amphibious; pearl divers; distinctions\nof amphibious animals; lamprey, leech; remora; whale.\n\n\nNOTE VI. HIEROGLYPHIC CHARACTERS.\n\nUsed by the magi of Egypt to record discoveries in science, and\nhistorical events; astrology an early superstition; universal\ncharacters desirable; Grey's Memoria Technica; Bergeret's Botanical\nNomenclature; Bishop Wilkins's Real Character and Philosophical\nLanguage.\n\n\nNOTE VII. OLD AGE AND DEATH.\n\nI. Immediate cause of the infirmities of age not yet well ascertained;\nmust be sought in the laws of animal excitability; debility induced by\ninactivity of many parts of the system; organs of sense become less\nexcitable; this ascribed to habit; may arise from deficient secretion\nof sensorial power; all parts of the system not changed as we advance\nin life. II. Means of preventing old age; warm bath; fishes;\ncold-blooded amphibious animals; fermented liquors injurious; also\nwant of heat, food, and fresh air; variation of stimuli; volition;\nactivity. III. Theory of the approach of age; surprise: novelty; why\ncontagious diseases affect a person but once; debility; death.\n\n\nNOTE VIII. REPRODUCTION.\n\nI. Distinguishes animation from mechanism; solitary and sexual; buds\nand bulbs; aphises; tenia; volvox; polypus; oyster; eel;\nhermaphrodites. II. Sexual. III. Inferior vegetables and animals\npropagate by solitary generation only; next order by both; superior by\nsexual generation alone. IV. Animals are improved by reproduction;\ncontagious diseases; reproduction a mystery.\n\n\nNOTE IX. STORGE.\n\nPelicans; pigeons; instincts of animals acquired by a previous state,\nand transmitted by tradition; parental love originates from pleasure.\n\n\nNOTE X. EVE FROM ADAM'S RIB.\n\nMosaic history of Paradise supposed by some to be an allegory;\nEgyptian philosophers, and others, supposed mankind to have been\noriginally of both sexes united.\n\n\nNOTE XI. HEREDITARY DISEASES.\n\nMost affect the offspring of solitary reproduction: grafted trees,\nstrawberries, potatoes; changing seed; intermarriages; hereditary\ndiseases owing to indulgence in fermented liquors; immoderate use of\ncommon salt; improvement of progeny; hazardous to marry an heiress.\n\n\nNOTE XII. CHEMICAL THEORY OF ELECTRICITY AND MAGNETISM.\n\nI. Attraction and repulsion. II. Two kinds of electric ether;\natmospheres of electricity surround all separate bodies; atmospheres\nof similar kinds repel, of different kinds attract each other\nstrongly; explode on uniting; nonconductors; imperfect conductors;\nperfect conductors; torpedo, gymnotus, galvanism. III. Effect of\nmetallic points. IV. Accumulation of electric ethers by contact. V. By\nvicinity; Volta's electrophorus and Rennet's doubler. VI. By heat and\nby decomposition; the tourmalin; cats; galvanic pile; evaporation of\nwater. VII. The spark from the conductor; electric light; not\naccounted for by Franklin's theory. VIII. Shock from a coated jar;\nperhaps an unrestrainable ethereal fluid yet unobserved; electric\ncondensation. IX. Galvanic electricity. X. Two magnetic ethers;\nanalogy between magnetism and electricity; differences between them.\nXI. Conclusion.\n\n\nNOTE XIII. ANALYSIS OF TASTE.\n\nTaste may signify the pleasures received by any of the senses, but not\nthose which simply attend perception; four sources of pleasure in\nvision. I. Novelty or infrequency of visible objects; surprise. II.\nRepetition; beating of a drum; dancing; architecture; landscapes;\npicturesque; beautiful; romantic; sublime. III. Melody of colours. IV.\nAssociation of agreeable sentiments with visible objects; vision the\nlanguage of touch; sentiment of beauty.\n\n\nNOTE XIV. THEORY AND STRUCTURE OF LANGUAGE.\n\nIdeas; words the names or symbols of ideas. I. Conjunctions and\nprepositions; abbreviations of other words. II. Nouns substantive.\nIII. Adjectives, articles; participles, adverbs. IV. Verbs;\nprogressive production of language.\n\n\nNOTE XV. ANALYSIS OF ARTICULATE SOUNDS.\n\nI. Imperfections of the present alphabet; of our orthography. II.\nProduction of sounds. III. Structure of the alphabet; mute and\nantesonant consonants, and nasal liquids; sibilants and sonisibilants;\norisonant liquids; four pairs of vowels; alphabet consists of\nthirty-one letters; speaking figure.\n\n\n\n\nERRATUM.\n\nAdditional Notes, p. 43, l. 3, for Canto II, l. 129, read Canto II, l.\n165.\n\n\nT. Bensley, Printer, Bolt Court; Fleet Street, London.","title":"The Temple of Nature; or, the Origin of Society: A Poem, with Philosophical Notes","tradition":"philosophy-ethics","translated_text":null,"word_count":76819}