Party of them, keeping himself thereby disengaged from adopting an Hypothesis, in which perhaps he is not so throughly satisfied, and of which he does not conceive himself to be necessitated to make use here; and accordingly forbearing to employ Arguments, that are either grounded on, or suppose Atoms, or any Innate Motion belonging to them; or that the Essence of Bodies consists in Extension; or that a Vacuum is impossible; or that there are such Globuli Cælestes, or such a Materia Subtilis, as the Cartesians imploy to explicate most of the Phænomena of Nature.
The Treatise consisting of a Speculative, and an Historical part, the Author, with great modesty leaves the Reader to judge; Whether in the First part he hath treated of the Nature and Origine of Forms and Qualities in a more Comprehensive way, than others; Whether he has by fit Examples, and other means, rendred it more intelligible, than they have done: Whether he has added any considerable number of Notions and Arguments towards the compleating and confirming of the proposed Hypothesis: Whether he has with reason dismissed Arguments unfit to be relied on; and Whether he has proposed some Notions and Arguments so warily, as to keep them from being liable to Exceptions and Evasions, whereto they were obnoxious, as others have proposed them. And, as to the Second and Historical part, he is enclin'd to believe that the Reader will grant, he hath done that part of Physicks, he is treating of, some service, by strengthning the doctrines of the New Philosophy (as 'tis call'd) by such particular Experiments, whose Nature and Novelty will render them as well Acceptable as Instructive.
The summe of the Hypothesis, fully and clearly explicated in the First Part, is this;
That all Bodies are made of one Catholick matter, common to them all, and differ but in Shape, Size, Motion or Rest, and Texture of the small parts, they consist off; from which
Affections of Matter, the Qualites, that difference particular Bodies, result: whence it may be rationally concluded, that one kind of Bodies may be transmuted into another; that being in effect no more, than that one Parcel of the Universal Matter, wherein all Bodies agree, may have a Texture produced in it, like the Texture of some other Parcel of Matter, common to them both.
To this Hypothesis, is subjoin'd an Examination of the Scholastick opinion of Substantial Forms; where the Author, first, States the Controversie; next, gives the Principal reasons, that move him to oppose that Opinion; then, answers the Main arguments employed to evince it; further, assigns both the First Cause of Forms (God;) and the Grand Second Cause thereof (Local Motion:) and lastly, proves the Mechanical Production of Forms; grounding his proof, partly upon the Manner, by which such a Convention of Accidents, as deserve to pass for a Form, may be produced; as that the Curious Shapes of Salts (believed to be the admirablest Effects and strongest Proofs of Substantial Forms) may be the Results of Texture; Art being able to produce Vitriol, as well as Nature: partly, upon the possibility of Reproducing Bodies by skill, that have been deprived of their reputed Substantial Forms: Where he alledges the Redintegration of Saltpetre, successfully performed by himself; though his Attempts, made upon the dissipation and re-union of Amber, Allum, Sea-Salt, and Vitriol, proved (by reason of accidental hindrances rather, than of any impossibility in the Nature of the Thing) less successful.
In the Second and Historical Part, the Author, appealing to the Testimony of Nature, to verifie his Doctrine, sets down, both some Observations, of what Nature does without being over-ruled by the power and skill of man; and some Experiments, wherein Nature is guided, and as it were, mastered by Art.
The Observations are four.
1. The First is taken from what happens in the Hatching of
an Egge; out of the White whereof, which is a substance Similar, insipid, soft, diaphanous, colourless, and readily dissoluble in cold water, there is by the New and Various contrivement of its small parts, caused by the Incubation of the Hen, an Animal produced, some of whose parts are opacous, some red, some yellow, some white, some fluid, some consistent, some solid and frangible, others tough and flexible, some well, some ill-tasted, some with springs, some without springs, &c.