Micrographia: or some physiological descriptions of minute bodies made by magnifying glasses. With observations and inquiries thereupon / By R. Hooke.

  • Robert Hooke
Date:
1665
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Micrographia: or some physiological descriptions of minute bodies made by magnifying glasses. With observations and inquiries thereupon / By R. Hooke. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    many particulars much outdone by thofe of other Creatures, and when at beftjobefar fhortof the perfection they fcem capable of: And thefe infirmities of the Senfes arife from a double caufe, either from the dif- . proportion of the Objed to the Organ ^hereby aninfinite number of things can never enter into them,or elfe from error in the Perception, that many things, which come within their reach, are not received in a right manner. Tk like frailties are to be found in the Memory ; we often let many things flip away from us, which deferve to be retain d; and of thofe which we treafure up, a great part is either frivolous or falfe ; and if good; and fubftantial, either in trati of time obliterated, or at be.fi fo overwhelmed and buried under more frothy notions, that when there is need of them, they are in vain fought for. The two main foundations being fo deceivable, it is no wonder, that all the fucceeding works which we build upon them,of arguing, conclu- ding,defining f] udging, and all the other degrees ofReafon, are lyable to the fame, imperfettion, being, at beft, either vain, or uncertain: So that the errors of the undemanding are anfwerable to the two other, being defective both in the quantity andgoodnefs of its knowledge; for the li¬ mits, to which our thoughts are confi nd, are [mail in reffeSt of the vajl extent of Nature it [elf; fome parts of it are too large to be comprehen¬ ded, and fome too little to be perceived. And from thence it rnufi fel- low,that not having a full fenjation of the Objeti, we muft be very lame and imperfect in our conceptions about it, and in all thepropofitions which we build upon it; hence, we often take the fhadow of things for the fubftance, fnall appearances for good limilitudes, fimilitudes for definitions; and even many of thofe, which we think, to be themojl folid definitions, are rather exprejfions of our own mifguided apprehen- fions then of the true nature of the things themfelves. The effeVis oftkfe imperfe&ions are manifefiedin different ways,ac- cording to the temper anddiffofition of the fever al minds of men, fome they incline to grofs ignorance and fiupidity, and others to a pre- fumptuous impofing on other mens Opinions, and a confident dog¬ matizing on matters, whereof there is no ajfurance to be given. Thus
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