and we give counsel thereupon what the people shall do for the prevention and remedy of them." And when he had said this, he stood up; and I, as I had been taught, kneeled down; and he laid his right hand upon my head, and said; "God bless thee, my son, and God bless this relation which I have made. I give thee leave to publish it for the good of other nations; for we here are in God's bosom, a land unknown." And so he left me; having assigned a value of about two thousand ducats, for a bounty to me and my fellows. For they give great largesses where they come upon all occasions. MAGNALIA NATURÆ, PRÆCIPUE QUOAD USUS HUMANOS.1 THE prolongation of life. The restitution of youth in some degree. The curing of diseases counted incurable. More easy and less loathsome purgings. The increasing of strength and activity. The increasing of ability to suffer torture or pain. The altering of complexions, and fatness and lean ness. The altering of statures. The altering of features. The increasing and exalting of the intellectual parts. Versions of bodies into other bodies. Making of new species. Transplanting of one species into another. 1 This paper follows the New Atlantis in the original edition, and concludes the volume. Instruments of destruction, as of war and poison. Exhilaration of the spirits, and putting them in good disposition. Force of the imagination, either upon another body, or upon the body itself. Acceleration of time in maturations. Acceleration of time in clarifications. Acceleration of putrefaction. Acceleration of decoction. Acceleration of germination. Making rich composts for the earth. Drawing of new foods out of substances not now in use. Making new threads for apparel; and new stuffs; Deceptions of the senses. Artificial minerals and cements. PHILOSOPHICAL WORKS. PART III. WORKS ORIGINALLY DESIGNED FOR PARTS OF THE INSTAU RATIO MAGNA, BUT SUperseded OR ABANDONED; ARRANGED ACCORDING TO THE Order IN WHICH THEY WERE WRITTEN. "Because you were wont to make me believe you took liking to my writings, I send you some of this vacation's fruits; and thus much more of my mind and purpose. I hasten not to publish perishing I would prevent; and am forced to respect as well my times as the matter. For with me it is thus, and I think with all men in my case: if I bind myself to an argument, it loadeth my mind; but if I rid myself of the present cogitation, it is rather a recreation. This hath put me into these miscellanies, which I purpose to suppress if God give me leave to write a just and perfect volume of Philosophy, which I go on with, though slowly."- Letter to Bishop Andrews upon sending him the " Cogitata et Visa." |