+ All Categories
Home > Documents > Steno 1669

Steno 1669

Date post: 29-May-2018
Category:
Upload: anth5334
View: 269 times
Download: 0 times
Share this document with a friend

of 29

Transcript
  • 8/8/2019 Steno 1669

    1/29

    f,LAI STENONIS

    ] SOLIDOLIDUM NATURALITERCONTENTO

    ATIONIS PRODROMUSAD

    SEREf f lSSI / ' , IUM]ERDINANDUM IIIAGNUM ETRURIAE DUCEM.

    FT,ORENTIAE

    f aphia ubsignoSTELLAE. MDCLXIX

    Superiorum ermissu.

    NICOLAUS STENO

    THE PRODROMUSTO A DISSERTATION ON SOLIDSNATURALLY CONTAINED

    WITHIN SOLIDS

    Dedicatedo

    FERDINAND I IGRAND DUKE OF TUSCANY.

    FLORENCEFrom hePrinting hop nderheSign f TheSTAR.1669

    With permissionof the Superiors

  • 8/8/2019 Steno 1669

    2/29

    Serenissime asne Dux.'

    bus frcqvcnter evenit,du n pe r loca continuis montibusas -in verticc corum sitam, ut simul visam, simul proximarnsi -pl icesviarum ambagcs d tacdiunrusqvcspent l lorum no-na cacuminaprospiciunt,qvac vero eorundemcacuminunteditacoll iun, siveprofunda vall ium, sivecanporum plana,uri lnum superant.cum. sibimet ipsis adblandiendo, oco-rie metjantur. Ncc ali ter se res habet cum illis, qv i ad ve-pc r cxperimenta nccdunt;simul ac enim veritatis ncogni-irpparuerint. em totam cxtcmplo detectum ri opinantur:)terunt rationem emporis,qvod rcqviri tur ad resolvendanr

    ditficultatum.qvae sensim,et qvasi ex occulto prodeundo.rpedinlentis, ad l inem propcrantcs ctardant. Communeslifficultates rincipium aborisdunltaxat ostcndit;qvaeveroa evertenda, un vera stabil ienda, um elucidandaobscura,la, raro qvispiamdetexerit,anteqvam nvcstigationisi lumrle putei excrnplo utebatur Democrills, ubi hauriendi labo-lvam ritc cmcnsus ucrit, nisi cxhauriendo;cum vcnarumt amplitudo natcrjae afflucntis copiam dubiam reljnqvat,issinte Princcps, si integro anno, ct qvod excedit, singulis'oximamdixerim l lam nvestigationem,ui CanisCarchariaeruerant.Visis enim semel terumqve crris, unde testae t idrrenta ruuntur. cum deprchendcrcm, ssc l las tcrras urbi-csse ingulis n locis numerum niri , qvoties marc ibi turbi-crutiniumbrevissimi emporis aborcm cssc,non solummi -e, sed ali is insuper intrcpide asserebanr.nde vero, dumra attcntius pervestigo, ea in dies dubia mihi suboriunturicem excipientia, ut saepiusqvasi ad carceres reductum me

    proximum me credebam. Hydrae Lernaeac capitibusim, qvandoqvidem, uno eorum exstincto, innumera aliar labyrintho qvodam me oberrare deprehendi, ubi. qvo pro-ritum, eo ampliores gyros ingreditur.

    Most Serene randDuke.

    While travellers in unknown territories hasten over rough mountain tracks towards acity on a mountain top, it often happens that they judge the city, at first sight, to bcclose to them; constantly, numerous twists and turnings along the route delay theirhope of arrival to the point of weariness, for they sce only the nearcst pcaks; infact, those hingshiddenby the saidpcaks, he heightsof hi l ls, the depths f valleys.or the levels of plains, whatever they nray be, far exceed thcjr conjccturcs, andthey, dccciving thcmsclvcs, cstimatc thc intcrvening distances rom their owndesires.

    Nor is i t in anywaydiffcrcnt for thoscwho movc towards rue knowledge hroughexperiments,or as soon as certain okensof an unknown truth havebccolncclcar othem, they believe that the wholc matter will be revealed at once; they can ncvcrestimate roperly he time that is requircd o unravcl he closely inked series f dif-ficulties hat. emerginggradually,as f from hiding. mpede hosewho arehasteningto their goal, by constantly throwjng fresh obstaclcs into their path. Early workmerely revealscertain conmon and generallyknown difficultics; what is includedin these,now falschoods o be overturned,now truths to be established, ow darkarcas to be lit, now unknown facts to be brought forth, will rarely be detected byanyone before he has been ed to them by the thread of his research.

    And Democritus made use of a good examplewith a well in which,, sinceboththe numbcr and size oi the hidden springs leave the quantity of material flowinginto the well in doubt, a proper cstimatcof the work and time involved n emptyingit could scarcely be made except by draining the well dry. Therefore, do not won-der, Most SerenePrince, lhat I should have said lor a whole year, and what ismore, almost daily, that the investigation, for which thc teeth of the Carchariassharkprovided the opportunity,3 was near to completion. For, having on sone occasionsobserved soils from which shclls and other such marine deposits had been dug,having observed hat those soils were scdiments rom a turbid sc a and that is waspossible to calculate in each place how many times the sea had been turbid there,not only did I make up my mind too hastily, but I also, in addition, gave daringassuranceso others that a complete scrutiny on thc spot would be a very brief task.But since then, as I investigated more closcly{ both each place and each body, thesegave rise to a successionof doubts, indissolubly connected, which assailed me dayby day, so that I saw rnyself rnore often brought back as it wcre to the starting gatewhen I believed was near to the finishingposts. might l iken thesedoubts o theheads of the Lernean Hydra, since when one was destroyed, countless others grewout from beneath;at all events, I saw that I was wandering in the kind of labyrinth

  • 8/8/2019 Steno 1669

    3/29

    Th. Prod' ntus Solits.t i excusandas on inmorabor. curl) tibi longo reruDl usurtricata res sit, qvae experirnentorum exibus implicatur:nl magnamdicti laborispartenr, um in Anatomicis al iqviduptis omnibus. in Patriam redeundi vcniam rogem, idgeret.nisi scireut. n subjcctisalteri Principi eanr ibi obe-m. qvae sinj l i occasionen tibi subditis ib i placeret Qvameam certiorem cddit singularis l la benevolentia. va, stu-)ntis ibcralc subsidiumaddiccndo. ntegrammihi rel ictam.atcm,qvotiescunqveta jusseritoccasio.Cum itaqvecoep-nccessariam roramexspectare ntpliusnon ausim, n per-id aganr.qvod aere alicno oPPignoratisn freqventi morecedcrc eneantur. um non habeant,qvae solvant.solvuntqvandoqvidem,qvae exhibenda ibi essent, mnia exeqvisevidcar, eorum.qvaeexeqvutus um , praecipuaexhibebo.tus,omnia, dorrec nPatriam reverso ingula eri icere icuis-unam exspectarcm. vam ubiqve hactenusexpertussum.rficiendisnovi senrperobstiterint abores.Glanduljs otiusrtentun mira cordis fabrica in sui scrutinium abripiebat;rs Meorum mortcs intcrrumpebant.Ne muscul;s minutim

    prodigiosaemagnitudinisCanem tua maria nobis obtule-tu m praescntibus xpcrimentisad xlia invitat, cujus nutuiet, magna )n nre Mcosqve promerita hortantur. Qvo finelo anxie nqvirere, orsitan mihi attribucrcm,qvac superio-/entis non meis onga meditatioqvasi de mco aliqvid addi-excolendo si inhaesissemdiutius, reliqvis reperiendis ipse

    rm . Nescius taqve, qvae alia expcrimentastudiaqvealibi.ctu ratus sum de sttlido intre soLidur naturaliter incluso eaicccptisbenefici is, rati animi mei pignus ib i crunt, et otioliis occasionem raebebuntPhysices t Geographiae tudiandi.um naturali ter nclusiproductionemattinet,primo disserta-delineabo, inde, qvae rariora ibi occurrunt, succincte enar-in qvatuor partes diviseram.qvarum prima. prooemii vi-de rebus marinis procul a mari repertis qvaestionem esse

    rtilem, sed veram ejus solutionem, primis temporibus mi-

    The Ptodrotnw on Soli, lswhere he nearcr onc concs to the cxit, the greatcr he circles n which one walks

    Bu t I shall no t l inger in excusingmy slowness. inceyou have abundant know-ledgc, from long experience,i of how complex is a n'latter involving a chain of ex-periments: ut an excusewould indeedbe requiredon the account hat. having suc-ceededwith a largepart of the said task. am seeking our permission o return tomy homeland, nterrupting everythjng, o pursue a study of anatomy, di d I no lknow that you wil l not bc displcascd y thc obcdicnce f a subject or anotherprincethat -vouwould be pleased o have from your ow n subjectson a similar occasionMy expectationof your wil l ingnessn t his matter is made more certain by the ex-ceptionalkindnesswith which, in pledginggenerous ssistanceowards he develop-ment o[ n]y studies,yo u wished o leave me complete reedom to digresshowevcroften the occasionmight arise. Thus, since I can no longer dare to hope for thencc!-ssirr\irne n whiclr to complcte he tasksbegun, n meetingnr y promises, dowhat b! common custonl s arranged or those n financial debt; they, when theylack the nrcans o pay their dtbt in ful l . pay what thcy have,so that they wil l not losethejr business; nd since am not able to completeall that was to be shown o you,I shall show you the chief i tents of what has been completed,so that I may notsccnr o hrvc brokcn my word-

    I shouldhavebeenbl no meansunwilling o put oft everytlring nli l I was at iber-ty to p.rfect thc details.after rny return to nty native and, but for the exPectationthat thc samcsituationwil l arise here as hasbeenmy expericnce p ti l l now, inso-flr as nerv tasks have always stood in the way of the completion of initial under-takings: Whilc I was intent on finding the number of glands n the whole body,?the rvonderiul structure of the heart draggedntc off into a investigation f i t;s thedeathsoi urv relations nterruptedstudiesbegunon the heart.eTo take rne awayfrorn r t le'tai led ccountof the muscles, shark of prodigioussizewas thrown up byyour seas.r0 nd now that I am wholly dedicated o my presentexperiments, amcalled o ()ther hings by hc whosecommand I must obey, under nLrturalaws, andwhoscwil l I am urged o obeyby the great avours hat he has shown o me and myfanrlv . t '

    I dcr not u,ish o ask anxiously or what purposeall these hings happen; maypcrhi]psatiribute to mvselt things which are due to a higher cause. f prolongedmeditatior would have addedsomething,as it were of my own, to discoveries otmy own. i t is certain hat i f I had remainedcloselyconcernedwitb developingonediscovery for a long time, I should have debarred myself from the opportunity ofdiscovering he rest. l : Not knowing, therefore,what other experimentsand studiesawait me elsewherc. thought i t best to set down here those things concerningasolid naturally cnclosed withitt a sLtlid,lt as a token of my gratitude for the favoursI havc' cccivcd, and to provide an opportunity fo r others, vr'ho rom their ow nwish have the use and enjoyment of leisure. o cultivate studies n physicsandgeography with greater profit.

    With regard to the production of a solid naturally enclosed within a solid, I shall

    t39

  • 8/8/2019 Steno 1669

    4/29

  • 8/8/2019 Steno 1669

    5/29

    The I'rodtotnus on Sotids

    :culisparciusurgebaturAntiqvorum difficultas, un romnestorum corporun indagandumoccuparentur;qv i ulari illaut ostcDderent. on potuisse d generis orpora alitcr esse

    ttri lrucbant. egabant, otuissen)arc ] la loca tcgefe;et totiarunl cognitacvires audarentaptas ebusqvibuslibctpro-pinio sic satis eceptasit. qva pars dictorurl corporum ter-efertur: attameo fere ubiqve de Antiqvorum dubio altunrvidam inundationes t nescioqvam inrrncmorabilem nno-d obitcr tantunl. et qvasial iud agendo.Ut i taqveanirlyseosaccrem. otics nvestigationis ujus telam tcxui et rctcxui,:rqvisivi.cionccnulJamamplius n lectione Authorum, nec,us,ncc in locorurn nspcctione cl iqvam viderirndifficulta-'crin, vc l saltem.qvousqvcex hactenusmihi cognitis esol-im .n GlossopctraeMelitensesCanum Marinorum olim denteseln esscpatuit cu m qvaestjone-qr-'nerali ,n mariniscorpo-re procul a mari rcpcriuntur. n nrari ol im producta uerint.r reperianturalia corpora i l l is sinri l ia,qvae in aqvis dulci-

    crescunt,si damus tcrrae vim producendihaec corpora.i l l i facultatcm eliqva generandi.Oportuit i taqve qvaestio-r i l la corpora, qvae, e terris eninr,simil ia deprehendunturrs in fluido crcscere idemus;sed et multa al ia in saxis e-acdita.qvae si qvis loci vj producta dixerit. eadenr i pro-rittat neccsse st, adeoqvco tandem deductam rem vidi.ido naturali ter nclusumexanrinaDdum ssct.an , qv o locouctum fuerit, id est, examinandamessenaturam tunr loci,I qvo productum est; at vero ocum productionisneno fa-rroductionismodum ignorat.et de productionismodo vanai de materiaenrtura certanl qvandamcognitionemhabue-esolvendae in t qvaestiones, t unicae qvaestioni ia t satis.rum nutrix, ea mihi essevidetur, qvod in rerum natura-Iuantur illa, qvac determinari certo neqveunt, ab itlis, qvaet; unde fit, ut ad duasclassesediganturpraecipuire cctaeenim religioni sibi ducerent, etian ipsis demonstrationibus, idem ilUs error subsit, qvem in aliis assertionibus reqven-a nullo modo paterentur, se restringi ad ea sola pro certis

    The Ptodrornus ott Solids 143whose esolution he solutionol the investigation tself s left marred and imperfect.Thc present investigation is an obvious exanrple of this point. Ody one such djffi-culty troubled the ancients, narnely the way in which marrne objects had been leftin placcs ar from the sea,no r was the questionever askedwhethcr similar bodieshad been produced n placesothcr than the sea.,c n more reccnt ines the difficul-ty of the ancients received less emphasis since almost everyone was busy inquiringinto th e origin of the said bodies.ro hose who ascribed hem to thc sea did theirbest o show that bodiesof such type could no t have been produced n any otherway, those who attributcd them to the land denied that the sea could have coveredthcseplaces; hey all joined in extoJling ittle known powersof Nature as capableof producing anything whatsoever.?rAnd it may be that n third opinion has suffi-cient in it to be acceptable, tiat some of the said bodies may be attributed to theland and some to the sea; ye t almost everlwhere tlere is deep si lenceabout thedoubt of the ancients,t2except that some mention floods and a successionof yearsof unknorvn duration, but only incidentally, and, as it were. in dealing with some-thing else.Thus, iD order to satisfy he laws of anal)'sis o the best of my abil i ty, Iwove and unravelled the web of this investigation many many times, and examinedits individual parts until there seemed to me to be left no further diificulty in thercading of authors, nor in the objections of friendl, nor in the inspection of sites.that I had not cither solvcd, or about which I had at least dccided, from what I hadlearnedDp ill now. how far a solutionwaspossible.

    The first questionwas whether he glossopetrae f Malta had beenat on e timethc teeth of sharks; it was immediately obvious that this was similar to the generalquestion of whethcr bodies resembling marine bodies which are fouud far from theseawere produced n the se a n past times.r]But sinceother bodiesare also oundon land that resemble those which grow in fresh waters, in the air, and in otherfluids, f we grant tbe earth the power to produce thesebodies,we cannot deny itth e abil i ty of producingdre rest. Thus, it was necessaryo extend hinvestigationto all thosc bodies dug fron the earth that are seen to resemble those bodies that'elsewhere re observed rowing in fluid; but many other bodies are also found inrocks, endowed with a certain shape; if it be said that they were produced by thepower of the place. it is necessary o admit that all the rest were produced by thesame power, so at length. I saw that the point had been reached where every solidnaturally enclosedwithin a solid should be examined to dctermine if it was producedin the same place as it was found, that is, the nature of the place where it is foundshould bc examined and then thc nature of th e place where it was produced.Bu tindeed,no one will readily determine the place ol production who is ignorant ot themethod of production, and all discussion on the method of production is futile un-less we have somc certain knowledge of thc nature of mat(er; from tijs it is clearhow many problems must be solved to satisfy one line of inquiry.The second reason, one which nourishesdoubts, seems o me to be that in consid-ering the natural world those things which cannot be determined with certainty

  • 8/8/2019 Steno 1669

    6/29

    '1hcProdrontus n Solidsanae nentis et sanorum sensuum idem denegare oterit,qvae psispulchra et ingcniosa isa uerint. Qvin ipsi expe-I modcrationem enuerint,qvin vel omnia etiam certissimaent, \'el a sc inventaprincipia pro demonstratis aber! 'nt..unl evitarenr.:5 vod dc morunl praeceptisSens(4saepiusmopcre urgcndun judicavi; ca il le nlorunl praccpt aoptr-rnia sunt.qvac publica,qvae omncsex onrni dono concla-:mici. Stoici. Cynici; ct sane non poterunt non optrma essclvJ ! con lnrun ia unt . qvae pub l i ca .qvae omnescx omnir, turn novitatis n orrrni e avidi. tunrpriscorumdogmatun]

    r. utmm corporis naturalisparticulae,qva figuran. mutari,trum dentur, n non dentur exiguaspatiavacua;sitne n istissioncnr et cluritient. al iucl ai iqvid nobis incognitum: noni sunt, ct debile argunentum est, qvo negoresscaliud qvidLiiud vi d ibi non obscrvo.r"ltionc assero:ai c ccrngcricm articularunr usensibi l ium ervitni operatio-agncte, gnc, interdum ctiam luce, qvocunqve demum mo-sive n ipsisparticulis,sivc utrobiqvc meatusaperti reperi-

    lum a fluido. qvod in fluido particulae nsensibilesn pcrpe-riccm reccdant, n solido vcro, l icet particulae nsensibilesx tanren unqvan) ab jnviccm reccdant.qvamdiu soliduntr persisti t.orpus solidunr,particulasejusde loco in locunt uroveri.a materiaenihil cognitum nobis csse, ujus ope motus prin-io explicentur;detcrnrnationgmvero motuum naturaliunrae :rnia corpora permeantis:et qvae ho c ntodo producuntur,lus.

    The Prodrontur rn t Sol idrare not kept separatc rom those ha t can be so determincd;as a result, hc principalschools )[ phi)osophyare reduced to two clusscs; ome indeetj ar e prcvcntcd byscruplcs ro m putting faith even in denronstrations,or fcar that th s same errorcxists n thenl that they often detcct )t other declarationsiothers,on the colltrrry.would b1 'no mcansshow thcrnselves onstrained o hold as certainonly hose hingsin which pcoplc of sound nind and sound perceptioncould express elief, hc y be_ins of the opinion that all thosc hings lre rruc (hat sccm o thenradrnirablcanrl n_genious. ndced. the advocatcs f experiments av e rarely had the restrainteitherto rvoid lejecting entirely even th e ntost ccrlain principlesof nature or to avoidconsideringheir own salf contrived principlesas proved.r{Thus, to avoid this reefaiso. I dccided o presswith al l my mjght Jn physics or what Scnccaoftcn urgesstrongly regardingnroral prccepts;hc states hat the best noral prccprsare thosewhich ar e in cornmon use. widely accepted,an d which ar c jointly proclaimedbyal l fronr cvcrv sc)roo1, eriparetics.Acrdemics, Stoics,and Cvnjcs;:6and indcedthose principlesof nature could no t but be best that arc in common use, widelyacccpted.and iirc considcredadmissibleby all front every school.whellter thosewho ar e eager or novelty n everythingor those u4ro are dcvoted to the teachinso l t l )cp i r ) t .

    Thus. t do not deternrinewhetlrer particlesof a naturatl ubstrncerT lt n or can_no l undcrgo change.as its shapccan, whether there are or are nor minute entptyspiiccs.{hcther n thosepartjcles.n addition Lr he rbil i ty to occupy spaceand thcproperty of hardness, here nlay no t be sonething else unknown to us; for thesestatenentsarc not widclv acccpted.and it is a feeblcargunrent o deny that thereis anlthing clse lt a certain hing because do not obscrveanythingeise n it .But, in truth, do assertwithout hesitationhat:L A natural body is an ag-qrc-catef inrpcrccptible articles hrough which mayplss the forccscmanating ro m a magnet, ro m fire, and sometimes lso ro m light,whateverDrry be the passagewlyby rvhich acccss s found, whether between heplrticles. in theparticles hcrnselves.r both.r!2. A solid differs ro m a fluid in that in a fluid th c imperceptible articlesar e incontinualDotjon. Dutually receding ro m eachother, but in a solid, though he im _perccptibleparticlesma y sometimesmovc, neverthclcsshey scarcelyever moveaprrt fron eachother as ong as hat solid emainssolidand ntact.. 3. While a solidbody is being ormed ts particlcschange hcir position ro m oneplace o another..1 . So ar wc know of nothing n the natureof mattcr to explain he origin of mo-tion and clarify our understanding f it; but th e determinationof natural motionsoca n be alteredby threecauses:

    l) By movementof t he fluid that pcrmeates ll bodies:And we state hat thingsthat are produced in this way are produced according to nature.2) By the nrovementof tiving beings:And we srate ha t many ot the rhings ha tare done by man in this way are artificial.

  • 8/8/2019 Steno 1669

    7/29

    The Prodlontus on Soli.lt

    m: et qvac hoc modo ab hominc fiunt, corum multa arti ti-

    tnita causa motus: et in Jl1is. vae hoc modo fiunt. Divinj'agani crcdiderunt.Certe dencgarehuic causaevi m produ-rturaecursui contrarios. dem est. ac dencgarchomini vinlnr ; ,eJ isontra entos luc tand i ; ccendendigncm n loc is .rru accenderetur; xstingvendi umcn, qvod ltl ias non nisiicerct;alteriusplanlaesurculutrralteriusplantae rlnto inse-mediahyeme aestivos ructus; n ipsisardoribusaestatis la -lc al ia id gencris oli tisNaturac egibus cpugnantia.Si enintal iorum corporunr abricam ignoramus, mmutantus n dies,tcrminationem.qvidni eerrumdcm eterminationcnl mmu-m totanrqve erum o)lrniulD abricam non modo novit, sedn rebus artc factishonrinis ibere agcntis ngeniummirari, etl\4otorem ibcrum denegarc: a demum magna n subti l i tatelr'retur. cunl lrorno.ub i arti ficiosjssiDravaeqvepracstiterit.l organousus ucrit. ned qvid si t causa l la dictum organumnr prospiciat.ipsa disscrtationeusiusexpono experimentis imul et ratio-I pateat,neminemPhilosophorumcsse,qvin ve l idem dicat,or verbis, vel, si divcrsa dixerit, ea tamen admittat, undertur. Ovac enim de materia asserui,ubiqve locum habent,rabucri l atomos,sive particulasmil le modis mutabiles.siveprincipia chymica,qvantunrl ibetpro Chymicorum varietateqvaedc motus deternriDirtionererposui, mn i moventi con-Ldixeris ormam. aut a forirla enlanantes valitates, ive de-i lcm communem.sive nlatcriamsubti lemproprianr.sive ani-animamMundi, sivc nlmcdiatumconcursumDci.

    pl icovarios l los oqvcndi modosus u communi receptos. vi -rm, interdum et eorundem corporum productionem diverserim ad corporisalicujusproductionemaliqvidconfert, d agitl teria, vel ut movens:hinc dum simile sibi sini le Producit.rm, et motum productionisconfert, ut plantula, semini al icu-alia planta habuil.et materiam, n qva producta est, et mate-est, et particularum motum, qvo delineataest,qvod idem dem animalium inclusis, certum est.

    t h? Prodnrnus o Solids3) By th s first and unknown cituscof motion: And evenpaganpeoplesbelicvcd

    that there was somethingDivinc in those hings hat come about in this way. Ccr-tainly to dc'ny his cause he power of producing csultscontrary o thc usualcourseof nature s the same ls dcnyingman the powcr to change ourscof rivers,of shug -glJngwith sailsagainst he winds. of kind)ing ire in placcswhere without hi n fircwould ncr,crbe kindled, of cxtinguishinga liglrt which would not othcrwisevanishunlcss ts luel suppl! ccased, f gratting he shoot of one plant on lo the branch ofanother. of serving up sunrnrcr fruits in nlid-wintcr, of producing icc in thelcrv hcat of sunrmcr.and a thousandothcr thingsof this kind opposed o thr' usuallaws of Nature. For i f we oursclves.who are ignorant of the structurc of bothour own bodiesand the bodiesof othcrs.altcr the determinationof natural nlotionseach diLy, why should not He be able to ul ler their dcterminationwho not onlyknows the whole of our structureand that of all things,bu t also brought them intobeing.Morcover, to be ready to adnire th e geniusof man as a free agent n thingsmade by human skil l , and to deny a frcc nover to things produced by Naturewould indc'ed eem o me to show greatsimplicity n pretended ubtlety,sincr whenma n has perfornrcdnrost ski lful things,he clnnot. except hrough a foa, makc outwhat he rasdonc'. vhich nstrunrent e usctl.or throughwhich cause he said rstru-n l t - l l I l l lO!CS.

    I shall set forth these dctails.denronstrated y expcrimentsand alrguments, tgreater ength n th c Dissertationtself.so that i t may be evident hat no philosophercxists ,'hodoesnot say he same hing. dlough not always n the sane words,or ifhe has spokendifferently.nevertheless dnrits hosepoints rom which thesr'detailsncccssari lyoilow. For what I have statcd about matter holds everywherc,whethermattcr is considered o consistof atoms,3lor of particleswhich may change n athousanduays,n:or of the four elements.33r of as many different chemicalele-ments as rr e needed o meet the variety of opinions among chemists.3i nd jn -dccd what I hlvc proposedabout the detcrnri l l tjon of motion agreeswith everymover,wl')ether ou call th c movcr th e orDl. or propertiesemanating rom lhe orm.or the Idea. or contnton "subti lc nrattcr", or special subti le matter". or a particu-la r soul.or a world soul.or the ntntediate nfluenceof God.3tFollowing his, explain hc variousnr

  • 8/8/2019 Steno 1669

    8/29

    Thc Pndrcnlus on Solils

    ri s vcl anin.l producit aliqvid, notus particularutn n pro-ctcrnrinatur movcntcqvodlm particulari,sive s ucrit nlo-oris.sivc luic nlovcnti sinl i lcqvid al iud.produci, motum particularunlsuaruma Solis adiishabcnt,lvae influenti isastrorunradscribuntur,ab astrishaberepo -runl nlotunr; cum enim ccrtum sit. a luce siderum moveri:rtrovcrsianrtidcnrerit. rcl iqvam partenrmateriae tidcm ab

    aliud a tcrra non habentqvanr ocunl, in qvo producuntur,os psissubministratam.lntur. nrotunrparticularuolsuarumhabent a motu fluidi pc -C fluidun vcniat. sive ab ignc terrestri rnatcria contento,rusanobis ncognita. t aninraenstrumento, tc.,nenralicujus rci Naturae adscribit. moventem generalemductiencoccurrentcm;qv i Solcrnad partcs vocat. al iqvantom movcntem;qvi anintam vcl fornam particularrem onli--nrinati lnrcausan affcrt: at vero onrnium rcsponsa ltc per-um occurrit. qvandoqvidem Natura, Solis radii. anima ctin t solo nominc notae. Cum vero in productionccorporum!n nratcriaet locus considcraridebeant,hinc patct, non mo-,s oqvacsito gnotiorem. ed et omnino imperfectam, vando'lia a Natura producta essedicuntur, cunr etiam il la, qvaerc opussint; omnia qvidem Natura producit.qvandoqvidcmluctionc luidum penetrans ocum habeat; sed et jure qvisrroduccre. un fluidum il lud pc r se nihi l efficiat. a materianinationcm cxpectans.Exemplo nobis homo est; qvidl ibet:ia omnia adfucrint,et, i l l is abscntibus, ihi[ unqvan prae-

    icujus re i tcrrac adscribit, ocum qvidem nonlinat. sed cumrus ocum saltemcx parte erra tribuat, solusvero ocuspro-r absolvat;de terra idem qvod de Natura dici poterit. scili-

    onrnia a terra produci, et eorum, qvae in terra fiunt, nul-

    rerius expositasufficiunt resolvendis ubiis omnibuspropo-tribusseqventibus ropositionibus ic comPrehendere olui.

    Thc Prottrontut on Solidt 149in the productionof that body is determined y sonleparticularmover, whether hisbe the nrovcr of anothersini lar body or sonething else sinri lar o this mover.

    Things said o be producedby the sun derive he notion of thcir pafticle om herays of the sun. and by the sanre casoning. hosc that arc attributcd o thc influ-ences f the starscould dcrivc thc nrotionof thcir particles ronl the stars; or sinceit is ccrtain hat our eyesare stimulatedby the ight of heavcnlybodics, t wil l l ike-wise be beyond dispute hat the rcst of mattcr might bc influcnccdby then in thcsameway.

    Thingsproducedby the earth derive rom the earth nothing else han th e ocationin which thcy are produccd and thc material furnished o them through pores nthat placc.

    Things produccdby naturc dcrivc thc motion of their particles rom the motionof a penetrating luid. whether his fluid comes rom the sun. or lrom firc containedjn terrestrialmattcr. or fronr sonrcother causenot known to us, ls fo r example heoperationof the soul.and so on.

    Thus. he who attributes he production of anything o nature namcs hc generalmover found in the productionof evcrything;he who calls he sun to play this roledefines he samemovcr in a more restrictedway; hc who nanres he soul or particu-lar form puts forward a more l imited cause han the renainder; but no knowlcdgcis to be found by duly weighing the answersof al l conccrncd,since nature, therays of the sun, the soul, and the particular orm arc things known only by name.But since.apart from thc nrovcr n thc productionof bodies. he material and thelocationought also o be considered.t is clear n consequenceha t not only is thisanswcrnrorcobcure han he object of our research ut i t is n evcryway inconrplete;when shellfish ound in thc carth arc said to bc producedby naturc so also thosethat grow in the sea are the work of nature; nature indeed producesevcrything,since he pcnctrating luid is involved in the production of al l things. but it couldbc said rightly that naturc produccsnothing. since hat fluid by itsclf accomplishesnothing it s determination s dcpcndenton the nlaterial o be movcd and the loca-tion. Man providesan example or us: hc can accomplishanything f the necessarythingsare all to hand, but he never accomplishes nything f theseare lacking.

    He who ascribes he productionof anything o the earth names ndeed he loca-tion, but since hc carth bestows ocation at lcast n part to al l the things of carth,th e location certainlyby itself docs not explain he productionof a body; the sameca n be said of earth as I said about nature, namely, that al l things ormed in theearth ar e producedby the earth, and, also, hat of thosc hings hat are formed inthc earth none is produced by thc carth.

    Thcse samc ew points set down aboveare sufficient o resolveall doubts n ourproposed nvestigation; havc wishcd to express hesc here in the three proposi-tions hat fol low.

  • 8/8/2019 Steno 1669

    9/29

    The I'rodrontus ott Solids 1 5 1The Prodtotnus on Solid.\I .

    :orporc solido undiqve ambitur. i l lud ex i is prirno induruit.r sua supcri iciealtcriussupcrficieiproprietatcscxprimit.:rd

    sivesaxis.qvae undiqvc circumdantet continent ystallos.)lantas arumqvcpartes.ossaet testasanimaliunr. dqve gc -superi icicpraedita. am tunt induruisse aden illa corpora,axorumqve lla continentiummateriaetianlnum luida erat;ut i l lac terracvel saxaproduxerintcontenta n i l l is corpora.ibi. clvo emporceadentcorpora bi producta ucrunt:al lo. sclcnitesselcnitidi,nrlrcasita marcasitaeqvadan suinr induruisse ontenta ll a corpola. qvando cotporun con-r fluida crat.rxis.qvibus testaecrystall inae t lapideae. cnae natntoris,rcrcuri i . antimonii, cinnabaris.acris aJiorunrqvc d generiscontincntiacorpora arn tu m induruisse. vo temporecon-

    teria ctiamnun fluida erat, adcoqvemarcasitas nmo pro-:s . qvibus includuntur nlarcasitac, andenrvcnas nlinerali-as rcplcnt.

    I I .rpori solido,non modoqv a supcrficiei onditiones. edctianln particularunrqvcordinationcnr.pe r onrnia sini le fucrit,um productionis ll i sini le erit; si i l las oci conditiones xce-loco aliqvo reperiuntur, productioni corPoris nullun necl Praestaotes. nd(]scqvitur:r locul 'net nrodunrproductionis,convenirecum ii l is stratis.r t .nr. qva nrodunr ocumqveproductionis. onvenirecum cry-lo ncccssarium it. aqvcum fucrit i l lud fluidum. in qvo il laec c terris eruuntur, plantarum animaliumqvcpartibus pe rodo et loco productircssc,qvo modo et loco productirc un tral ium partcs.Ne vero incerta oci interprctationova dubiacurram.i l lam nrateriamqvae sua superficic mmcdiatc angit super-

    l .If a solid body is cnclosed on all sides by another solid body, the first of the two toharden was that one which, when both touch, transterred its own surface characte-ristics o thc surfaccof the other. i6Fronl this t fol lows that:

    l . In the case of those solids.whether of earth or rock, which completely sur-round and contain crystals,rT elenites,marcasites, lants and their parts, aninlalbonesand shells.and other bodics of this kind that are endowedwith smooth sur-face. hesesamebodies had alreadyhardenedat the time when the material of th eearths and rocks containing hcm was sti l l fluid; and so clearly i t could hardly bethat thoseearthsor rocks produced he bodiescontained n them, since hey wouldnot even have becn in existence t the time when the said bodics were oroducedthere.

    2. If at any timc a crystal s partly encloscd y a crystal,a selenitc y a sclenite,a nrarcasite y a marcrsite, hen at a time when these ontainedbodieswere alreadyhard, part of the containingbody was sti l l fluid.

    3. In those earths and rocks containing crystallineand petrificd shells.veins ofmarble. of lapis lazuli, of si lver, mercury, antimony. cinnabar. copper. and othernrincralsof this kind. th e containingbodieswere alreadyhardcnedwhen the ma-tcrial of the containedbodies was sti l l fluid, and so marcasiteswere the tirst to bcproduced. hen the rocks in which thc nrarcasites re cnclosed, nd next the veinsof mincrals ha t il l the issuresn the rocks.n3

    I I .If a solid body resembles nother solid body in al l respects. ot only in the stateofits surfacebut also in the internal arrangementof th c parts and particles. t wil lrcsemble t also n th c mcthod and placeof production,excepting hoseconditionsof place which are oftcn found in any region and provide neither advantageno rdisadvantagco the productionof thc body. Whcncc t f ol lows that:

    l . The strata of thc carth agrcc, in location and manner of production, withthoscstrata hat arc dcposited ro m turbid watcr.2. Thc crystalsof mountains agree, n nanner and place of production, withcrystalsof nitrc, although t is not on that accountnecessaryhat thc fluid in whichtlreywcrc producedshouldhavebeen.rqueous.nll3. Thosc bodics that are dug from tllc earth and which resemble in every waythe partsof plantsand animalswere produced n the samc manneran d placc as thcparts of plantsan d tnimals themselvcs. ut so that no ncw doubts may arisc rom

    an uncertain ntcrpretationof the term placc. shall deal with this difficulty.i I understandby the term place he ntaterialwhose surface s in inmcdiate con-I tucr with the surfaceof the body which is described s being n that placc;howevcrI the saidmrterial adnrits f a varictyof differenccs,or i t is eithcr:

  • 8/8/2019 Steno 1669

    10/29

    7 hc Prodtontus on Solils

    i l lo loco csscdicitur; variasautcln differentiaseadenrnr. l tc-

    . ve l ota luida, vel ex partesolida, x partc luida.nsibi l is.ve l ex parte scnsibi l is cr sc. ex parte sensibi l is er

    corpori. qvod in sc continet. vel parte etiam eidenrcorpori

    n cst. vel sensimmutaturl sic ocus, n qvo producitur plan-c matcria, ntra qvam plantuladclincatur;sic locus, n qvolla nlateria.qvae sua superficie mnlediatecentingit totanrntpositr intcrdun ex terra et adre, interdunr ex terra et. i iqvlr et lrdrc, ntcrdum ex solo lapide et aere,qvo modopius vidi plantularumradices otas superficiei ophi adhae-verc tcctas;sic ocus. ubi dclapso lore crcscit nalunr aure-us illi pedunculus.partinl contiguuseidcm ar; sic locus,Lninralisiunt, est partirn contigua i l l i aqva amnii, partin]a pe r chorion diftusa.

    I I I .LdunrNaturae egesproductun)est, e fluido productunrest.ris solidi tu m prima ejus ineamenta. ul l l incremcnta onsi-ro, ut lubens profiteor. plerorumqvedelineationenr.r' onsedonrnino ncognitam;sicabsqveomni dubitationede in-

    tiar ereomnia vcra esse xistimo.articull isejusnovaeapponunturparticulaeab externo luidositio hacc vel a fluido externo mnediate, vel mediantc lui-bus.[o mmediateapponuntursolido. n qvibusdamproprio pon-rbuntur. ut in sedinentis; n al i is a fluido penctrante olidilatae vcl undiqve apponuntur solido, ut in incrustationibus,rrficici solidae ocis, ut in i l l is corporibus,qvac fi la, rantosbent.Hic obite notandum,dictos modos nterdum ontinua-spatium l l is i lnpleatur,undc rcplctiones riuntur, qvae mo-e crustis,modo e sedimentis,modo ex angulatis orporibus,)r se mixtis componuntur.ante interno fluido apponuntur solido, vel fibrarum figuram

    1 5 31) Completely ol id,conpletely luid, or part solid and part fluid.2) Completelypcrceptibleby itsclf, or partly perceptibleby itself and partly by

    nrcans l tcsts.3) Conrpletcly n contactwith th c body that it containsor evenpartly continuous

    with the said body.4) Always unchangedor undcrgoeschangescarccly observably; hus the placcin which a plant is produced s the naterial l ike that plant in which th c sccdingtakcsshapcl hus hc placc n which a plantsrows s all that materialwhoseown sur-face s in inmediate contact with the whole surfaceof the plant. consisting t timcsof carth and air, at tinrcs of carth and water, at times of earth, water, and air. attimes only of rock and air. in the way in which I have often observed oots of smallplants, otal ly brrc of soil covcr, n undcrground cgions. l inging contpletely o thesurtaceof tufa; thus the placewhere the orangegrows after i ts blossomhas fal lenis partly th c pcdunclccontinuouswith it and partly the air in contactwith it; thusthe place where the initial development of an animal occurs is partly the an'rnioticfluid in contactwith it and partly th c unrbil icalvcssels, jffused hrough he chorion,which ar c continuouswith the aninral.

    I I I .If a solid body was produccd according to thc laws of nirturc. i t was produccdfrom a lu id . {o

    In th e production of a solid body both its first outl incsfi and it s growth shouldbc considered; ut just as I acknowledgc recly that th c outl ine of most bodies sno t only doubtful but completelyunknown to nle, so I consider,without any hesi-tation that almosl all of the following statements about their growth are true.

    A body grows by thc addition ol new particles.secreted rom an external luid.to rts owl' l particles; his addition, morcovcr, s eithcr nrade dircctly from cxtcrnalfluid or through hc medium of one or ntore ntcrnal luids.

    Additions made directly to a solid from an cxtcrnal fluid somctimes fall to thebottom because f their own weight, as n the cascof sediments; ometimes he ad-ditions are madc from a penetrating fluid that directs material to the solid on allsides, as in the case of incrustations, or only to certain parts of the sudace of thesolid, as n the cascof thosebodies hat show threadlikc fornrs,branches,and an-gular bodies.i:Thcrc it must be noted in passing hat the said processcs ontinucsonetimesunti l they fi l l thc wholc of some spacc,whereby replenishmcnts ccurwhich are at times simple, at times formed from crusts, at times from sedimcnts, attimes from angular bodies, at times from various components intermixed in a varie-tv of wavs.

    Tltc Ptolronus ou Solids

  • 8/8/2019 Steno 1669

    11/29

    Th e Prodrontus on Sol i ls

    n longitudinem cxtensae ibri l lac diductis poris apponun-I intcrstiti is n novae fibri l lac figuram a pcrmeante luidoles replctioncsconstituunt.qvibus duobus generibuspar-conlponuntur. n plantarunranatomenlinus vcrsatus, int-x. non determinol n aninralibus ertum est, esse bi fluidaL'rtunr rdinem redigcrcconaber.e omnia pernlerns at l nrininrumtria gcncra fluidorunt inqvorum primunl est extcrnunr;alterum nternum, ct conl-singulispartibuspropriunr.FIuidi extcrni voce l lud in ani-on solum expositamoculisnostris superficiematmosphae-m il lud, qvod contingit corporissuperficiescliqvasomnes.rjora foramina continuasi ut sunt tota superficiesasperaenc attractus i jr contingit;totasuperficies iac alimenti,qvo. vcntriculun et jntestinr intr' l l igo; ota superficics esicae'ir-s.clvae unr utcro, saltempubertrtis annis,comn)unicat;r rsorumexcretoriorLrrnLcapil laribususqvcad ostia conti-p : r lpebnrs.t rcs. L rau lo i .l i rn l i r l i | | rcn toru l )1 .qs ic : r t t t . rc -iux contcntacxccrnunt.qvirrurnparticulrris recensio stcn-sc lnulta, qvae cornmunitcr ntrinseca. mo intinra udican-

    um gcncratos crmcset calculosplcrosqve n externo luidorusdan aninralibus ecessariassse, vod ibi sint, non qvodpossr t .per f iq iesont in{ i t . x l r lnuDr ppcJ lo . vod cunr l r : i doant-iuna lcs bsq!e ntc ' rned i i s ap i l l a r ibus as is . d (-s t l rsq !cicct cavitates ictl tluida continentes nterdum clludaItur.eriuntur, onrncs ctcnti l luidi piutcs cxccrnunt sinc discri-td appcllo. qvod cum fluido cxtcrno non comnrunicat,nisilm vtsorunr cribra, adcoqve nunqvam partcs suasonlnesido transfundit inc discrinrinc.nrnrune cst, qvod continetur venis. artcri is et lyD)phaticisl9 r conglobatas landulrsct veltts jntercipiuntur.ConIDu-qvia vcrsusomnes pades corporis distribuitur. Dc altero

    Tlle Prcd rcDtu! o| Solids 1 5 5Those particles hat are added o a solid by an intermcdiary nternal luid either

    take on the shape of fibres (in so lar as they are partly added through open poresalong th e length of the extended ibri l and ar e partly djstributcdby the pernreatingfluid through the intersticcsof the fibri ls iDte thc shape of a new fibri l) or formsimplc rcplenishments; nimals and plants are formed in these wo ways. As I an]less erscd n thr' anatony of plants, nrakener ecisionon whether sever;l nternalfluids are present n plants; n the caseof aninrals. t is certain hat various nternalfluids are prcscnt.which I shall rttcmpt o bring nto a dcfinite order.

    Bcsidcs hc "subti le fluid" perrneating ll mattcr, at least hree kinds ot fluid ar cobservedn animals, he first of which is external, he second nternal and conlmon,thc third internal and spccific o each part. By thc tcrnl "externlrl luid". I nreanthat fluid in animalswhich not only surrounds heir outer visiblc surface n thefashion of the atmosphere ut also touchesall the rcrnaining surtaces f th c bodyconnectedwith the said outer surfaces y nreans f the larger oramina, such as thccomplctesurfaceof the wind-pipe that corres into contact with jnspircd air.rr th eentire surfi lc! 'of the alimentarycanal,by which I mean the mouth, the oesoplrrgus,the stonrach nd the intcstines, he complctesurfirccof the bladder and the urethrr.the cntirc surface hat communicatcswith the uterus. at lcast during the ycors ofpubertt. the conrplcte surface of al l the ercrctery vesselsn continuity from th ccapil larieseven to the orificcs hat discharge heir contcnts nt o the ears. hc eye-l ids. thc nose. he eyes, he aliment.rrycxnal. the bladder, hc urethra. th e utcrusand the skin. a scparateenumeration of which would show that nrany are trulyexternal which are commofl ly takcn to be ifl ternal, nay more. to be innlost parts,and so .

    l Most of the worms and stonesproduced nside our body are produced n theexternal luid.

    2. MaDVparts are necessaryo certainaninrals ccause hey are prcscnt and no tbccausehe animal annot x is tw i thou t henr .I call thc i luid which comes nto contact with thosc surfacesan extcrnal fluidbcclusc t is irr conrnrunication ith tb e surrounding iuid by meansof canals vith-ou t interorediate apil lary vessels. h:lt is without cribration; the result s that whilethe cavities ontaining hc said luid nravat times be closed,ncverrhelessvheneverthey arc opcocd,all the fluid retaincd b1' hem is dischargcd ndiscrinrinatcly.I call that fluid internal which is not joind with the external fluid cxcept bymcans of the intermediary i l ters of th e capil lary vcsscls, nd so never dischargesul l i ts corl lponents aturally nto thc cxternal iuid without their sep!lriLtion.'I-heinternal conmon fluid is that which is contained n veins, arteriesand lym-phatic vesse'ls,t least hose oining the conglobateglandsrrand veins. I call thisl luid conrnrol becauset is distrjbuted o all p rt s of the body. I make no stateDtentirbout he other common fluid which is contained n nerve material. sincc t is lessundcrstood.{5

    A specitic ntrnal luid is that kind that flows around the capil lary vessels f th e

  • 8/8/2019 Steno 1669

    12/29

    I h. Prcdnntt t . \ on Sol i l \

    bstirnti. l ervesa onlinetur.utpotcnlinus cognito.nihi l da -

    priun il lud est.qvod fluidi colnmuniscapjl laribus asiscir-:rsitate ecorunr diversumcst; al iud eninr es t in parcnchy-n parcncl ')ynratison sangvineis, l iud circa fibrls n)otrl-. al iud in substantiauteri. al iud in ai i is locis; nec cnirt ra -ipnndet l l r op in io ,qv a n miDinra t r l ! l n l l i bc t par t i cu lar r ):riarunre\ttenra desinerccrccli tur d calorctrret nutri[)en-ed ubiqle c:rvitatcs unt. n q!its secrctae sangvlncpartesur . indc partibus solidis apponenclle. ariter ac in casdemlidispaltibus dctritacparticulae angvinidc novo rcstituen-fluidum cxternunl rcvehantur; harum cavitatum fluiduminae de l l l tibus in multis consonutncst. Licet determinareris locis ex codem sangvinc iversa luida excernantur; pc -n inrndunrpxuca cstare , vandoqv iden ler tunr i t , a san-'c. sed ib ips is oc is . \o runrconsiderr t io is r ibus nc lud i -

    pi l lariunr vasorun fluidi interni conrntunis.n qva soia oc -ipcr diversosporos omnia adscribunt,e qvorum numcro

    iidi inlcrni propri i . circa qvlrm solanrversantur.qvi cuil ibetm atlribuuDt:qvorum opinio cx pitrtc vera esse otcrit, icett ion i nn i t l l u rdcsumptae rc n in is pecu l ia r i .

    ' l i (l i sinrularunl partium. circa qvanr praecipuehacrerevi -et parti fornranrattribucndo. nciicant, c agnoscerebi ali-rbis autcnr ncognitum, d qvotl. secundurrt l lanr matcriaetenus habemus,aliud csscneqvit qvam porosa stiussolidirubti lc i l los poros permcans.Extra oleals imiurl evagarer,i l l is cxplicandis.qvae in corpore nostro in dies contingunt

    )runt; suffBccrithic innuisse.qvod ilb L'xterne luido vari isulrc in fluidum internum comnrune. ntsrccdente ribratio-n vari is nrodissecrctae. t in fluida intr'rnaPrQPria er no -missac. artibussolidisappontLntur el fibrarum. vc l pl lren-rt determinatae uerint ab incognita nobis partis cujuslibctedictarum erum considcrationenclusa.it solida solidis naturaliter inclusa praedicta methodo in cer-

    Th l'rc,lronur on Solid:; 1 5 7conrmon luid and varies with the variety of places; or i t is of one type in bloodyparenclrvnra.{rrf anothcr ypc in non-bloody parcnchyma.oi anotheraround mus-cle fibrcs. of another n thc ovaries.o[ anothcr n thc material of the utcrus.{iandanother n othcr placcs; or the belicl that the ends of veinsantl artcries errninatein a particlcof the body of the eastpossible ize. o distributcheatand nourishmentat that place. s in accordanccneither with reason nor experimcnt.bu t there trrecavities everlwherc in which parts secrctcd rom the blood Inix \vith the tluid otthrt pl ircc.rs o be added ncxt to the solid parts, us t as partic)esworn fronl thcsolid parts return to thc said cavities o bc rcstored agarn o thc blood. by whoseopcration they are carried back to th c external fluid. Thc fluid of thcsc cavitiesagrees n nrany ways with the teachings f th c great Hippocrltes$ concerningai rtakcn into the body.Although I may be unablc to dcternrinewhy different fluids lrc scparatcd romthe same blood in different places,ncvertheless, hope that l i ttle remains to bedeterminedabout this matter, n so nuch as t is certain hat i t dcpendsnot on theblood;0bu t on the places hemselvcs: onsideration f this problcn involves hesethree tents ;

    l. Considerationof the capil lary vessels f the internll comnron fluid, the solcconcer[ () l thosewho ascribe vcrvthing o cribration hrough various pores!anlongwhich nunrbcr too was counted or quite some inre.; l

    2. Consideration of a spccific internal fluid, the sole concarn of those whoattributc a special erment to each part; an opinion which miSht be partly true,though he term ferment rcstson a corrparisondrawn from a very spccialprocess.s:3. Considc'ration f thc individual pirrtsof a solid. thchief adherents o whichare those ho. in attributing o each part it s form. show that they recognizc heresonrcthing pccific o thc part, but utknowr to us, which, according o the knowl-cdge that we have gained up to now about matter,;rcan be nothing else han th eporoussurlace f t hat solidand "subti lc" fluid permeating he pores.I should wander oo far from thc subject f I were to apply th e above statementsto an cxplanationof those things rvhichoccur in our body every day.5rand canno t be explaincdothcrwise. t wil l he sufficient o have hinted here that particlesseparatcdronr the external luid in variousways are carried nto the internalconl-rnon fluid. being sieved n thc proccss,whcnce, having bccn sccrctcd ikewise nvariouswavs and being transmittcd Dto the specific nternal fluid tltrough a freshsievingproccss. hcy are addcd to the solid parts either in the fornt of i ibres or ofparenchynta,as dctenrrined b) rn unknown property o[ anf individual partincluded n the consideration f the thrccstatcmentsmadeabove.Therelorc if one wishes to rcduce solids enclosed naturally within solids todefinite classes, y the above method, some of them wil l be found to have beenproduceclby apposition from an external fluid, this refers either to sediments such

  • 8/8/2019 Steno 1669

    13/29

    ThaProdronrurn Solitlsnt eorum qvocdamproducta pe r appositionemab exlerno/e l rd sedinlenta. t strata terrae;vel i ld incrustationcs. tl ius. aeiites, apis bczoar ctc.; vc l ad fi la, ut amiantus,alu-lnera fi lorum. qvae in fissuris apidum deprehendi; el adnr figurae. qvac in rimis lapidum consplciuntur.nec rrsrrarnificationesn achatcqvodanl a ntc vrso. lvorum trunclcxtcrioris amellac, anti vero pc r substlntiam lamellac n-vel ad angulata orpora. ut crystall imonliurl l , angulata or -marcasitae,5edamantes, mcthystictc.; vc l ad replctiones.rta nrarnrora.granita, dendroitides, onchll ia lapidca.cry-ae. et id gencrispjurinta colpora consun)ptrrrunrorporunl

    r appositionenl fluido interno,qvaerefcruflturvcl ad sinr-i:r'cdo, allus upta osserniens,carti laginosa ubstantia is -ns. affusiones iscerunr ubstantianprlteclPuc onstltuentes,

    tunr in aninralibusive l rd partes ibrosas. ut sunt fibro-r aninralibus er o fibrac ncrvosaeet fibrae nrotriccs.qvaclt. et solidisut plurimum naturali ter ncluduntur.solidunre uido saltcm ncrementahabuit, si corpora sibi

    simil i ctian nodo productasunt, si e duobus solidissibi in -inro induruit, qvod alterius superficiciproprietatessua su-ci lc crit. dato solido et loco, in qvo cst. de loco productict-:onuntiare.Et hacc qvidem generalis onsideratio st Jolifuraminanda lla e tcrris erutr solida,qvac plurimiscontrovcr-nt . praccipuc ncrustltiones. sedimenta. lngulatacorpora,rrum. conchyliorumet plantarum igurae. Ad incrustationeslapidescompositi c lanrell is, varum dune superficies ar -

    I non in idem planunr extensac. ocus, ubi fiunt incrusta-ium fluidi ct solidi, qv o fit. ut lamcllarunrseucrustarunr i-rdeat .ct fac i ledcten l r inar i oss i t . v . renam l ru rr rpr in r l .;s i enim concavus uerit locus,primo fornrataesunt crustae

    interiores;si vari is eminenti ismajoribus inaeqvalis ueritatia lamellis primo factis repleta fuerunt. in spatiis largiori-ductae sunl; unde facile est omnes figurae varietates expli-l simil ium apidum conspiciuntur, ivevenas otundas rans-

    1 5 9as the strataof the earth,or to incrustations uchas agate,onyx. chalcedony. agle-stone.;;bczoar,;rtetc.j r to fi lnmentssuch as amianthus,;7eathery alum.5s ariouskinds of thrcadlikc forrns I have obscrvcd n the fissuresof rocks. or to dendritcssuch as thoseplant-l ike shapes bserved n the clefts n r

  • 8/8/2019 Steno 1669

    14/29

  • 8/8/2019 Steno 1669

    15/29

    The Prodrctnus n Solids:rustas ntcr et sedinrentamagnaaffinitas intercedat. acilcod .crustarumsuperiorsupcrficiesnferiorj superficiei. t utihu . . r5pcrre .pura l l . ' l ls i t . scd imel ! t . J rumero sup(r io rs t l -l lela sit. aut pirrum adnodum inde declinans.Si c in fluvi is:r virides.nrodo arae. rrrocloubescents,undi saxosi nac-i lrcnarumvcro au t argil laesedimentumontniaplana reddit:'ac stratiscon)pesitis mstas a sedinrent'sacile disi inxerinrrurr scqvcnti ir eternrinari oterunt:I lurticulircomnesejusdemnaturac,et qvidcnl subti les. xsti-gari poterit, qvin idenr straturncrcirtionis cnlporc produc-ti a tunc tcnporis obvolvcntc.qvo nrodo ctian)C.l//. ' . ! l l l tstra-rren) xplrcat.dam alteriusstrati fra,qmenta ut animaliun] plantarunqvctu m cst- non esse i iud stratisuccensLndum. vae crcatlonrs' subsedcrunt.lanr salis nrarini ndicia. anintal iun )l larinorunlspoli i t navr-aris sinri lcn substantitntobservavcrimus.ertum cst. co loclssc.qvocunqvcdcmutn modo. sivc propria exundatione, i-e. co pcrvencrit.r r rnunt i . g ra t t r in is .onoml l tp in i . runct ' run l r tmorunt imi -rm deprehendimus.urc suspicanur, lunlinis exundatione clcptam uissedictam materiam.Iam carbones. ineres.pumices.bitunlcnet calclnatacorporauidi inccndiunrexstitisse. crtum est, dqve co magis,si inte-crc et crrbonc colrlponatur:qlale cxtra urbem Romanl vidi.ium materiactfoditur.:o omnrum stralorum ntarcna cadem fucrit, certum est. flui-;c diversae aturac luida e divcrsis ocis diverso enlporecon-

    o divcrsa stratorum matcria fuerit, vcl divcrso temporce di-reris luida eo confluxerunt sivevarietasventorum, sive plu-impetuosiorproiapsus n causa ucrint), vcl in codem scdi-

    tatis materia fuit, ita ut graviora primo' mox lcviora fun-'ietati vicissitudo enrpestatum ccasionem raebcrc potuerit,solorumaeqvalisnaeqvalitas onspicitur.:rrae qvaedam saxeastrata rePeriuntur, certum est, vel exsti-

    Th( I'rcdrcntus on Solids 1 6 3Although there are closesinl i laritlesbctweencrustsan d sedinrents,hey can sti l lbe distinguishcd asily bccausc he uppcr surfaceof crusts s paralrel o trre roweronc. no l l tattcr hotv unclen this has becomcas a rcsult of large,r rojcctions, vhiJeth e uppcr surfaceof sedintents s parallel to the horizon or deviatesonly sl 'ghtlyfrom th e horizontal.Thus in rivcrs. th c alternatinggreen,yellow and rcd mineral

    crustsdo no t renio!e th e unevcnlessof the stony bottotn.while a sandor cl lrVse

  • 8/8/2019 Steno 1669

    16/29

    The Prodrontus on Solids

    ci fontem aqvarum petrificantium.ve l contigisse nterdumeruptiones, el a dcpositosedinrentoccedcns luidunl, ub i

    )l is . induruerjt,tcrum rediisse.lvcntia certisannumeraripoterunt:rlabaturqvodlibct stratunr. uit sub codenlstrato aliud cor-verulcntaeultcriorcm desccnsunrmpcdicbat. adeoqve,qvoatorunr nfimum. fuit sub eo vel corpus aliud solidum. vel,i terit. fuit i l lud tum diversaenaturaea fluido superiori. um.) luidi superioris.rabatur ununl c stratissuperioribus. tratun inferiusam umcqvrsrvcrat.nrabaturstratunrqvodlibet, vcl al io corpore solido a lateri-lum terraegloburnobduxit. Hinc seqvitur.qvocunqve n lo-lra conspiciuntur.vel eorundernstratorun continuationemrvcniendumcssealiud corpus solidunr.qvod materiam stra-L-[et.n)abaturqvodlibetstratum.materian i l l i superincunrbentenrdcoqve.qv o tempore nfinlum stratuIn ornrabatur.nullunr cr t rsse .:rt. certun cst. qvo tcmpore formabittur stratum qvodlibct,rcm, ut et lateruflrejus superficics.nferioriscorporis et cor--ficiebusrespondisse, uperiorenr ero superficicmhorizonti.ri t. parallelamexstitisse, deoqvcstrata omnia. praetcr nfi-rrizontiparallel is ontineri, Hinc seqvitur,stratavel pcrpen-u, ve l ad il lum inclinata. al io temporc horizonti parallelas mutatusstratorum situs et nuda eorundem atera. pro utrspiciuntur. vandoqvidenrmanifcsta ndicia gnium et aqva-nt locorurn exstent.Ut enin a(lva errcanrntatcrianrdissol-.ndcmdevehit, um in supcrficie errae. un-l n terraecavita-a qvaevissolida csolvcns. on ruodo eviorcsejusparticulasinterdumponderae.jaculatur, vo fi t. ut in superficie erracivei, in terrag autem visccribusmeatussubterranei t cavcr-occasione t rata terr:rcsitum mutare poterunt duobus no -

    'atorum violenta in altum excussio,sive eam producat prae-

    The prodrontuson Solids 165spring or petrifying waters6sexisted in the neighbourhood or that .ccasionalcruptionsof subterranean apours ook place,or that a fluid, having reccdcd ronlth e sedimcnt hat had beendeposjted, ctumcd againwhcn th e uppcr crust had be_cornchardened y th e hcatof thc sun.

    The fol lowingcan be considcred ertainabout he positionof strara:l At th e time when a given stratum was being formed, there was beneatl] tanothcrsubstanccha t prevented he pulverisedmaterials rom sinking urthcr; con_scquendy.when th e lowest stratum was bcing formed. either there was anothersolid substanceundcrneath it or some fluid existed there which was no t onlvdifferent in nature from th e fluid above it bu t was also heavier than th e solidsedimcnt ro m th e fluid above t.2. When an upper stralum was bcing formed, th e lower stratunr had alrcadvga incd heconsis tenc l f a so l id .-3 . Whcn any given stratum was beins formed. it was either cncompassed t it sedgc's v anothersolidsubstance r jt covercd he whole gCobe f th e earth. Hence.it fol lows that whereverbarededgesof strataar e seen.eithcr a contjnuationol thcsanrcstrtta nrustbc looked for or anothcr solid substancemust be found that keptth e nlaterialof th e strata rorn beingdispersed.4. When any givcn stratum was being formed, al l th e matter restingon it wasfluid and. thcrefore.when th e lowcst stratuntwas being ornred.none of lhc uDpers l r t l c ' . i s tcd .

    As far as form is concerned. t is certain that when any givenstratun was beingproduced. ts lowcr surfaceand it s edgescorrespondcdwith th c surfacesof lowerand latcral bodiesbut that it s upper surfacewas as far as possjbleparaltel o th ehorizon; all strata, tlrereforc.exccpt the lowcst. were bounded by two horizontalplancs.Hence. t fol lows ha t strata vhichar e either perpendicular o th c horizonorinciined o it lvcreat one ime parallel o th e horizon.No r ar c my stateDrentsontradictedby change n t he positionof strata lnd tl teircxposcded-uesuch as are observed o-day n many placcs.sinceobvious racesoffire an d flood lre lo be found jn th c ncighbourhoodof rhoseplaces. or just aswater in brcaking down earthy material, bears it down slopcs no1 onlv on theearth'ssurfacebu t aiso n th c carth'scavities, o fire, in brcakingOorun t,or.-roti lathat oppose t, no t only drives ou t their l ighter particrcsbu t slmetines hurls ou tvery heavymilsses;he resurt s that precipices, hannelsand hollows rorm on th eearlh'ssudacewbile, in the bowelsof the earth,subterranean assagcs nd cavernsare produced, n consequence f which th e earth's stratacan;lter position in two$'tys:The first way is the vjolent upheaval of strata, wherher this be due mainly to a

  • 8/8/2019 Steno 1669

    17/29

    'llte Prodrontus on Solicls

    or subterrancorutn, ivc idem efficiat violcnta adris cl isior vicinia ruinas. Hanc stratorunl excussionem eqvitur la -.m dispcrsio.matcriuc vero saxcacdiffractio in lapil los et

    pontancus tratotut' l) uperiQrunl r' lapsus eu uina,qvandorri. sc u funclantcnto. upetiorarinrasagcrc coeperint.undcnl irrictatevarius ii l iractorunlstraltorunsitusscqvitur.dtLtnlllcla mancnt, alia ir d i l lum perpcndicularia iunt, pleraqvea constituunt,nonnulla n arcus nflectuntur,materiacorumc rrrutatiocontingerepoterit vel in onrnibus stratis cavitl tibusdanlstratis nferioribus. cl ictis ntegis superioribus tra-

    itus variarum rerum sic satis diffici l ium facilem cxplicatio-

    se t inaeqvalital isllius, qvac in terriresuperficit multis co:r-racbct.ur sunt nrontcs. ulies.aqvarunrsupcrtorum cccpt{l-ocis editis. un r in dcpressis. ed ,ut rel iqva aceant. lc nton-urral'n.,rum situs praccipuanrctntiunl rigo sit. indc patct' qvod inunr consplclantur:qvorundamvertice.zenti parallela.eribusstratavariavarie d horizontem nclinataium latcribus uptortrt))stralorull l acics,matcriaec1 igurl ic, t i 0 rD cnronsl rantes.in rb i .Cem congericidisruptorunl stratorurl iragmcntl. paftlol lnper vicinosagrosdisPersit.tibus saxcis, cl in corundcnrvicinia, evidentissinlagnis sub-radnodum circa colles, e strirtis crrejs compositos,aqvac. E t hic obiter notandunt.colles,qv i e strirtis errcisconpo-,r o fundamentohabcrestratorunrsaxcorunlnrajora ragmt'n-tuentur mpositasibi tcrrea strata,ne a vicinorumflunrinunr

    esolvantur,mo integrassaepe egioncsadversusOceani sac-d otrtensaBrasil iac tacnil et ubiqve obvia scopulosa ittorir

    t61suddcn lare of subterranean ases r to Lr iolent explosionof air causcdby othergreat subsidenccs earby. This upward thrust of strata s fol lowcd by the dispersalof carthy matcrial as dust and the shatteringof rock material into pebbk's andrough ragnrents.

    Thc secondway is ir spontaneous lippinuor subsidence f thc upper strata rfterthey have begun to crack becauscof the witlrdrawal of the underlying subslanceor foundltion; in consequencehc broken strata ake up differentpositionsaccord-ing to thc variety of cavitiesand cracks. While sonrc rcrnain parallel to tirc hori-zontl l . othersbeconre ertical;many makc obliqueangleswith the horizon and no ta fe$,are twistcd nto curvesbecauscof the tenacityof their naterial l t his changecan tlkc phce either n al l thc strata overlying a cavity or in ccrtain owcr strata.the upperstrirtabcing eft unbroken.Alteration in the position of strata affords an easyexplanationof various airlydifficult problcms.trtHerein may be found a reason for thc unevenness f th ecarth's surface ha t givcs ise to so many controversies, s are found in mountains,vallcys,nltural reservoirs, levatcdplains and lowJying plains; but, pirssintoverthe rest. shall dcal quickly here with ccrtain pojnts conccrningmountains.

    The orginof mountains.It is clear hat altcration n thc positioncr lstrata s the main sourceof nrountain or-rnatjon ronr he irct hat n anygivcnrangeof mount.rinsmtrybe observed:1. Vast level arcason the summitsof sonremountains.2 . l \ l i rn1 l r r tu prru l l c l u thc h( ' r i zon.

    3. Various strata on the sidcs of nrouDtirinsnclined at different anslcs o thehor izonta l .4. Brokl 'n strata. on the oppositeslopesof hil ls showingabsolutcagreenrentnfornr anrlnratr:rial.5. E\posededges f strata.6. Fragnrents f broken strata at the ioot of the sanle range prrtly piled intohil lsand partlyscattered ver hc adjoining crrain.7. The clearestsigns of subterraneanire. either in the rocks of t he mountainsthcmsclves r in their neighbourhood, justas many springsar e found around hil lsthat ar c conrposed f earthy strata.And, herc, t nlust be observed, n passing,ha thil ls fornredof carthy stratahave. or thc lrost part, arger ragncnts of stony strataas hejr foundation; hese. n nranyplaccs.kcep thc carthy strata hat arc laid upontlrem front being swept away by the currfl ' l tsof ncighbouring ivcrs and torrcnts;

    indeed, hel ' often protect entire rcgionsa-qainsthe violence of the occan, as lhespreading r'! ' fsof BraziltTand cxposcd ocky shorcscvcrywhercbcar witnc'ss.Mountainscan alsobe formed n other ways.such asby t he eruption of fires thatbclch forth ashesand stoncs ogetherwith sulphur and bjturnen, and also by the

    The Prcdrcktus o Solid.l

  • 8/8/2019 Steno 1669

    18/29

    Oti Prcdrcnus ott Solids

    oncDr, re\i certaDt. ognitioncn) cqvircrentus e varietittcridi tunr subti l is, um abientisagitantur.qvae p rs Physices.vcrarnopcrationumn!lturaliun't xplicl i tionemontnibusnc -

    turi l l i ter inclusanullum nr'c freqvcntiusoccunit. ncc ntagisconchyliorum,qvocirca aliqvanto usius de i l l is disseran,

    as e mari dcsumptas,nde il las.qvae e ntontibus cruuDtur.\re i lninlal sibi qvondanr nclusunrhlbuere. scnsibusnos-Sras rc'sol\ ir1 cstulas. estults !c'ro resQlvi n fi la. eaqvci. colore.substantia t loco a sc nviccntdiffcrentia.ici,,'rrruperiorem nfcriorcntqvcnil esseDisi i lorulr e\tre-

    llbi esse atera eorundcnr i lorunt in l inlbo tcstulaesitorunl.pcrficiem ntcriore'nr ss eBander)t unr superficic nteriorc. tu l . re . r rpr . r f i c i cnrero c \ te r io rcm () | | l pL ]s i t tn t. ssc t i su -re tsstul i lcct cx superficieomnium lintborunr intcrntedia-stac n aninralibus roducuntur.seqvcntio videnterdcmon-tr sudorianinraliulu n eo similcnresse. vod sit humor pertnirnalis xcretus.t duobus nodis produci posse,ve l in ipsis anintal isporis,cl rlurncresccntis ninalis superficies. rajor acta superfi-ac testulae.ab eadem recedit.adeoqveglutinosurnhunro-rerl icielncontenturnpartinr in fi la ducit (i d qvQclhumori-t.),partin novi humoris excretioneadau-eet. vod nulla aliasupcrficies enetr!repossit.rrum dependerea pororun diversitate, qvibus anirnalis. et a diversitatc nateriae,qvae pe r cosdem poros cxccr_Inerisanintal iageminamsubstantiamn superficic.qvarum'altera, utraqve ibrosa,crrjusaccuratior ndagono n parumni .si extimanr.se u ntinimant,exceperis, roductasesse Dterrn1animaliscorpus,adeoqve on a se psis,scd a ioco tigu-motus animaliset materiaeqvantitasaliqvam n figura va_is producat. De extima testula dubitari poterit. an superfi_

    On Prcdrcn. to Solids 1 8 9of the varietyof nrotionwith which the particles f borh the tcnuousand surroundingiluids ar c agitated;justas hi splrt of Physicss necesslry o all for a rrueexplanauonof thc workingsof natureso also herear e ew who haveensasedn it.

    Shells f molluscs.Among solids naturally enclosed y a solid, no group occursnlore frequently. norarouses reaterdoubt than th e shellsof molluscs.Therefore shalt speak at some_what greater engthabout hese, onsidcring irst shells aken from the seaaDd henthosedug fronl nountains.

    Shcllsof every kind that at someperiod of time have encloseda living creaturereveal he foJlowing haracteristicso our senses:. l . Thc completeshcllsare divided nt o ,,testulas,,;th e testulae gain,ar e dividedinto fi laments,and thesc ilaments are reduced o two types. differing from eachother n colour, substance nd ocation.r0!2. The upper and lower surfaces in the testulae are nothing else than thecrtremitiesof fi laments.but the lateral surfaceconsistsof the sidesof thesesanrefi laments ocatedat th c edgeof the estula.3. The inner surfaceof thc shell tself s identical o the inner surfaceof the in_nrostor largcst cstula,but the outer surface s cornposed f the outer surfaceotth e sn)allcstestulaand the surfaceof al l edges f the ntermediate estulae.The fol lowin-g oints can be demonstrated learly concerning he rvay n whichshellsare ormed on aniruals:l. Thc substance f the fi lanrents s like the perspirationof aninrals n tbat i t isl tLuidexcreted hrough he a[irnal 'souter surface.

    2. Thc shapeof the fi lamentscan be produced n two ways, either by the veryporesof the animal throughwhich thcy are c_xcrctedr by the lacr rhat the surfaceof thc grewing animal, bccoming argcr than the surtaceof the tcstulae hat havehrrrdened ong aElo. eparates ront this surlace rnd so partly draws the viscous fluidcontaincdbctwccn th e two surfaces nt o fi l lments, (a process har rs commonlync t in viscous luids), and partly adds to it by excretion of fresh fluid becauseno othersubstancc an cntcr bctween he tlvo saidsurfaces.3. Difierences n the fi lamentsdependon a difference n the poresby which th eirnimalsurfacc s perfor.tcd and upon a difference n the material rrat s excretedthrough th e pores; fo r animalsof this kind possess twofold substancerl theirsurface,of which one is harder and the other softer, both being fibrous; a urorecarefuiexanrination f these hro{'s no little )ight on tlte investigation f bones.4. A1l the testulae, cxcepting the outermost or smallest, were produced betweenthe outer shell and the body of the animal itsclt and have thus not taken theirshape independeutly but as a consequenceof their location; the result is that, in

  • 8/8/2019 Steno 1669

    19/29

    1h ( Pt al lontus ott Sol i l \

    s fluidun tetigcrit.an vcro ntenlbranaqvadam ecta uerit;ul ) opinionemsolalmocultt habcre:1. Qvod oruniunt cl iqva-) tenrporcconcreverunt.a fluido an)bicntc ntacta ucrinl.. t i s idcan lus tenrbr lnae.el c t l r i os i t r l i l c v id cstasL 'x t r in -' ti l l 'rtumnon insensibi l iq!acslio ! 'st. ct dici potcrit. inlrns! 'P r i | rac tcstu l l rci la , q r t rdoc lvt i . ' t l expcr ien l ia onsle l .or s. non cx putrcclinc irsci.

    LtuI:s coiorunr ct i tculeorunl . qvnc in test is. tunl nostt l i t l l lus. tu l l ln nrultorunrmerentur; cu m aliundenon proccdatqvanl cxrlusi. Eteninl hic l intbus. dunr cx parvulo scnsinlcrcscit cttularum oris sui inagirr! 'rr rcl inqvit; qvandoqvidenrdictat'hunorc, qv i ex lintbo anintal isexsudat.vel sint ipsi l irl lbibus narinis dentcs,dc Do\() forsitan succrcscuntn priorjsnr (lcntiunr nstarvcrsusextcriorasensimevoivull lul)duclio. unl eafunr.q\iac. cstisadhaerentcs.i-qtlra ol] ris-tunr carunr.qvae. tbstructis n supcrficiearninl irl isororunlfiguram rotundanl tdipiscuntur: nanqvc intcr nlarl l i l ri ta-

    um nrargariti fcrarunl cstulas d discrinrinisdunrtrxat i lrtcrin eoden qvasi plano siti l sint, nargariti lrunl vero corticcspe r eandenr supcrficienrsphaericam.Elegansll l hujus reinargaritasTu o jussu a nl e diffractas una pracbult. qvae.us corpus nigrun jnclud.l 'ut, simile -Qrano ipcris et q\i lrdinenr, n qvo fi lorunr al lL'[aertrcrnitateccntrunl rcspicieD-rs erat. ordinesqve. eu sphleraeeorundern iltlrunl digntts-: rs ionc vid i : 1 . Nlargarr r rsar i i s tubcr ibus naeqr l l c 's i lparvu lasmargar i t l s i sdcnr onrnrun ibusrust i s nc lus ls- .multasnon solunr n supcrficiccxtima sphacrac. ed u trtrr-r.rslavo colorc inctases;e.ut adcoqvcdubitareanrpliusnonm adscribcndurn lutatis hunroribusanimalis,ct Aethiopcrnstudet,nisi vcl adsciti tius olor fuerit, utpote n collo gcstan-xtima sphaera lava fucrit. utpote si anirnalishunrorcsntrn:mporc nterioressphaerae ormabantur. Unde patct i l lorunrrtura margaritarun jmitirtiolcnr ex ingenio ingunl. cuD) 'i xaggressusucrit, nisi alter Lucullus conchis nrnrgariti lerisin ipsis animalibusmodos cas multipl icandi nqvisivcrit,ve l

    I

    Th? Prodto ut : o Solkls l9 l

    oysters. hc motion of the animal and the lmount of substance ften give risc tosomcvariation n forn].Regardine hc outcrmost cstula, here can be somedoubt whcthcr the surround-

    ing fluid touchecl he outer surface or whethcr i t was protcctcd by sonrekind ofnrembrane: should hink. howcvcr, hat onll thc atter view s corrcctbccause:

    L The fi l nrenlsof al l thc rcmainin{ testulaewere untouchcdby tbe surround-in g lu ido t thc in ' rcheywere orn ]ed.l. We see n prickly cockLesr.lrrar hit\ulu t|.at a membraneor sonrcthing ikc

    a skin covcrs hc oulsidc of the shells.Bu t th e problcm is about rlatrer that is al lbut inrpcrccptible, nd it can be statcd thlt thc fi laments of the first tcstuhc hl dalreadvhardencdwithin thc cgg, sincecxperience rovcs hat oystcrsand crthcr cs -taceaarjsc rom eggs nd not fron.ldecayingnr1ttcr.r10

    Fronr what hasbecn statcd, t is casy o explain:l. All lhe varietyof huesand pricklcs which arouses he wonder of nran) in thecasc not oDIv of nirtivc but also of foreign shells; or this divcrsity has no othcrorigin than he edgeof the aninralencloscdn tl.rc hell.And indeed his cdgc.grt,* -

    int and crplnti ing graduirl ly rom sonrething xceedingly mall, elves rls rn)printon eachnrrrgin of the testulae; ince hc said nrirrgins ' i ther orn fronr thc fluid thltis excr. 'tctl ronr the oulcr cd-qc f tlrc aninralor ar! ' n lact the aninrl l 's outer edgesgro$:insanew. perhaps, ike the teeth Lrf he shark- n thl: place of an earl ict cdgeand. ike thosesaute eeth.bcing hrust gtrdually outwards.

    2. Thc li)rnlation of pearls;not onh, those hat, adhering o the shells.are notquite rtrund n form, but also hose hat, aftcr thc openingsof the porcs n thc ani-nral 's suriacehave closed.acquire a round shapewithin th c porcs thenrsellcs; orthc dil ferencebctwcen he jntcgumentsof pcarlsand the testulae n shcllsof pearl-bearing nrolluscs s nrerely hat thc fi lanlcntsof the shellsar e located as t rverc nthc san)eplanebut the integuments f pearlshavc thcir fi laments distributedoverth c snnresphericaisurface.An clegantcxanrpleof this was providcd by cne pearll tn )onq hosL ' thr t brokc at vour cor) tnrand; ' r ' l h i s ear l .a l though x tcrna i l ) rg)ittcl ing vhite.enclosedwithin itself a black body tbat rescnrbled r.:rrrin f peppe'rboth in colour aud sizc, n rvhich hc .placinnoi thc fi lanlents. ,vithonc cnd tcndingt(r\\ 'ardshc ccntrc. u'as verv clcar. lnd thc rons ol sphcresof thc sanre i la rentscou ldbcd is t ingu ished.t thc snrncinrc . s i rwrr :h t t :I The unequalexcrcsccnccsn variouspearlsare nothing but variousvery sntallpcarlsenclosedn thc sanleconllnon crusts.2. Many pcarls of a yellorvhuc arc tinged with yellow pigrrent not only in theoutcrmostsurfaceof the spherebut in all the inner sphercs;and so it is no longerpossible cl doubt that thc colour must bc attributed o the changing luids of thcaninral,and thlt hc who seeks o wash t cieanu,ashcsln Ethiopian,rlr unlcsscil l tcrtbc colour bas been acquired, or instancc, ront wearingnatural pcarlson th e neck.or the pearl rvasycllow in the outcrmost sphereonl5,.as might bc thc clsc if tl)r'fluids of thanintalhad changedwhen he innersphercswere bein! formed.

  • 8/8/2019 Steno 1669

    20/29

    The Prodrontus on Solitls

    -m Naturae abores mitandi.Non negaverim, osscarte con-ticibuscompositos, ed cosdem orticesa fi lorum sibi mutuotare, unde nativus ille margaritarum splendor dependet. idjudicavenm,'15rutae atent, ad tria gencra educuntur:r est, qvac modo descriptisadco similessunt, ut ovum ovo;testac n testulas esolvantur,et testulac n fi la, fi lorumqver situssit.Ha s testas nimaliumqvondam n fluidoviventiumi tcstaceamarinanunqvam visa fuissent, psius cstaeconsi-:olrcharum ivalviumexemplopatebit.rutae lrtent,ad tria genera educuntur:n laevem. ]t poris innumerispertusam.duplicemqvediver-

    ien, et rninusduram ipsa esta.m ambicnte matcria communicavit,ab altera partc nullum: iun.parte i l la. qva negatum psi erat commerciumcu n materia

    rrtem.ubi l iberum illi commerciumerat cum eademmateriatervalla apcrirepr o amplitudine ll ius anguli,qvcm cardincs

    runl ctevlt.)onfectae estulae unt. pe r sui substantiam ransmjsit.;has anbiens: l . Si non omnino fluida exstiti t, s.rl tem nino-uit, qvarn erat vis di latandi se n materia ntra conchascon-)stantian fluidam aptam conficiendis nd e testularum il is;terni. um externiconditionesn ipsaDissertatione rgumen-.tae satisevincunt, ntra conchasanimal, extra conchas lui-'unr tcstarum est,qvac, modo descriptis aeterosimiles.solois diffcrunt; durnqvaedan leviores usto, aliae ustogravioreshi poros habeant succo adsciti tio epletos, l larum pori le -; ione arnpliati sint, de qvibus nihil amplius subjungo.qvodre animaliumvel pctrefactae, el calcinatac.n est,qvaesola igura similcssunt nrodo descriptis estis, e-ifferunt; cum nec testulae bi, ncc fi la, multo nrinus i lorun]Jarum aliae aEreaesunt; aliae lapideae,colore vel nigro, vel

    The P' odlonlus on Solids

    Thcre emerges clearly from thesc fircts the error of those who, without knowingtheir naturc attempt he clcvcr jmitation of pearls, or hardly anyons could attcmptthis feat succcssfully nless another Lucullus should replcnishhis aquaria withpcarlbearingmolluscsrrrand eithcr seek in the aninrals hemsclves he means ofmultiplying hen or lcarn fronr this the diificulty of imitating the works of Nature. Iwould not dcny that i t is possible o nrakc, arti ficial ly, globules orned of variousintcguments ut I should consider t indeedmost difficult to arrange hcsesame n-tegumcnts rom a sericsof fi lantentsadded one to the other, upon which processth c natural ustreof pcarlsdepcnds.l '5

    Shells hat ie buried n the earth naybe reduced o three classi:s:The first classconsists f those hat arc as ike tbc shclls us t describcdas an eggresenrbles n egg, since he shells hemselves re resolved nto testulae, hc tcstu-Iac inlo fi lamentsand therc is the sanrcdiversityand positionof l i laments.Even ifmarine tcstaceahad never been observed,exanination of the shell i tself wouldprovc that thesc shellswere parts of aninrals hat l ived at one tinrc in a fluid. aswill appear rom the exampleof bivalvenrussels.At the time when bivalve nrussels erc formed, he materialcontainedwithin thcll lusscl:1. Had a smooth surfacepiercedwith innumerableporesand had two varietiesot pore.2. Was a pliablesubstanceesshard than he shell tscl l .3. Comnrunicatcdon one side with surroundingmaterial;on the othcr side hadno colnmunicationwith it_4. Withdrew gradually rom the side where conmunication witl t outer materialwas denicd owards he side where it had free communicationwith the said mate-r ia l .5. Was able to open tself at intervalsaccording o the sizeof the angle al lowcd

    by thehingesof the shclls.6. Grcw fronr a small o a largesize.7. Transmitted hrough its own substancehe material that made up the testu-laeof thc shell.Re-qardinghe outcr matcrialsurroundingmussels:1. If i t were not completely luid, at least rs power of rcsistancewas less hanthc pow(]rof expansion f the substance ontained y the shells.2. It coltaincd a fluid substance uited o the formation of fi lantcntsof the testu_lae of the shell;al l these onditionsof both th e jnner and outer regions,demonstra-tc d by argumentsand drawings in the Dissertation tself, show sufficiently ha ttherewas an animalwithin the shells nd a fluid outsidc_The sccondclassconsists f thoseshells ha t are in other rcspccts ike those us tdcscribedbut differ lrom them only in colour and wcight; while some arc l ighterthan usual, others arc hcavier tha[ usual bccause they have their pores filled withadded fluid; I say no more about those whosepores have been enlarged by ejection

    1 9 3

    ;

    I1

    I

  • 8/8/2019 Steno 1669

    21/29

    f he Prodrcnlus n Solidsi al iaecNstall inae;aliae alteriusmateriae.qvarun omniunrmodocxplico:m succorumpenetrandivis dissolverit' i tlcm succi vel terraru m spatiavacua (qvae cgo testasaercasappello) vel ' no -Iterati pr o ejusdemnrateri lc varietate,cadem estarun spa-rarn)ore. el lapidc implevcre:unde ortum habct ntarmorisr. qvanr Ncphiri appellant,qvaeqvealiud nihi l es t qvam se -generis estisplenunl, ubi. consumpta cstarumsubstantia'

    :u m cjus successit.nrci brcl i tas. ut afferalrlonlniun il lorutl ldcscriPtionenl,vacterris erutarunl gcneribusnotalu di-gnl observavi;qvocirca'ti a hu c tclcrl lm:iti fcraDr n Etruria rcpertanl.adhacrcnte psi conchaenlarga-

    najorispilrtcm,ubi. consumptabysso. olor b.\'ssienansit ine ccrnchamcplevcrat.: nragnitudinis estac, n qvibus plurcs cavernaeobiongiLcuntur. l l is onnino similcs.qvas nl:0 apiclcAnconitano'Ne a-un r genusconcharum nhabitat;qvae apidum cavitatcs'nisircanlibusc luto fornratac ur-rint (qvod rix crcdidcrinr' ctttl lrti1l.ub i nullaecavitl tes rePeriuntur. ildenrsi t cull l stlbstan-rncscirca superficies acrent),a vermibuscrunt excsae. un ri l lud svadcat,et in multis cavitatibus cpertun]corpus ex fi-

    rontcxtunr viocat,qvod iPSi avitatimagnitudinc ]t igura re -:onchis,nc c circa conchas actacsunt' curl organisac l oden-encris esti(cea, ec tcstarull l igurac ulln cavitas espondeat':xposilasaxaconchl' l iorumovis a mari expulsis eceptaculuntLtatibus, um earum nullarnhactcnusviderim manifestoc\ituvi s dixerit. a succo apidescente irca certa corpora concretoas uisse.qvacdamcavitates ademmateri l undiqveobductaelac fuisscnt.ex partc consuntptant. bi adesac ubstantiaeacturtrmcrus-it , vari is balanis tecta; ut adcoqvecerto concludere iccat' atestam,secundo n mari deportatam, terum novo sedimentorelictam uisse.i, et turbitres ix nis.r culis microscopioarmatisconspiciendi.

    1 95of l ighter pilrtsbccausc he v are nothing elsebut the shellsof aljmals that are eitherpclri l ic{l or calcined.

    The third classconsislsof shclls hat arc similar to those us t describcd n shapeonly, or the rest differingcompletcly,sinceoeither estulaenor fi lamentsar c foundin t hem, nruch es sa varietvof fi laments.Someof theseare contposed [ air. others,either biack or yellow in colour, of stonc; others of nrarblcl others of crysltl andsti l l othcrsof other material; account or the lormation of al l of thesc n the fol-low jng vay i r r r r

    Whcn thc penctra'l ingorcc of thc fluids dissolvcd hc substancc f a shell. heselluids were either drained away by the earth, leaving empty spaces n the shells.(thcsc crl l shclls conrposcdof air).ttr or werc changcd by th e addition of newnraterial. i l l ing the said spacesn the shellswith crystalsor n:arbleor stone. ccord-in_c r) hc varir'ty of n)atcrial: hc most bciuti lul kind of marble. that kno\rn asNcphiri. l l ' has its or;gin in this source; being nothing else than a deposit of th esca. i l letl rvith shellsof cvery description, n which a stonv nlaterial has replaccdthc dcconrpQscdubstance f thc shclls.The brcvity of my plan doesnot al low nte o givean accourt of al l the things ha tI havc consideredworthy of note in parricularkinds of shellsdug from the earth;\! 'herr' lore. assing t'othcr nritttcrs, shall ctcr hcrconlv to thc fQllow'jn,r:l. A pslrl-lgnling shcll, found in Tuscany, n which t he pearl was clin-qingothc shell tself.2. The largcr portion ol ' a marinc pinna. where th c colour of the byssusl '0 er-sisted n thc carthy matcrial ha t ha d ti l lcd the shcll after dccomposition f th e bys-s u s .-1 . lhcrc arc shclls of oysters,of rcmlrkablc size, n rvhich are found severaioblong u(rrnr-catencavities'r0 n all respects ike those that are inhabited by accrtain t)pe of shellfish n the rocks of Ancona, Naples and Sici ly.r,l Unless hc y

    wcre fornred by insects building a ncst from nud, (which I can scarcelybelievcsince hc substanca f thc nl iddle portion of the rock, in which no cavjtiesar c found,is idcntical o the subsrancc f thc cavitics, hcse bsing garbercdwholly about thesurfi tcc c'gions),hcscca\. i ties av ebeen etten out by wornrs,since his s both con-firnredby th c surfaceol the cavity and provedby the discovery n many cavitiesofa bodv, nradeup of thicker fi laments, hat conforms o the cavity itsclt in size andshtpe.lr: Assurcdly, he cavitieswere made neither by nor around shellfish,sincetestaccae f this kind lack or.gansor gnarvjtg and no clvity corresponds o thcshapcof their shells.No r js it surpr. isinl hat rocksexposed o the seaafford a rest-ing place, n thc said cavities, or the eggsof shellfish ast up by the sea, or I havcno t yc t observedany of thcsecavities acking an obvious outlet, But i f i t is statedthat the cavitics were Dade by a petrifying tluid that hardcncd around certainbodics.sornecavitieswould have becn found envelopedon all sidesby the sanenratcriul,and acking an openilg.4. A shell, partly destroycd nternally, n which a marble incrustation, overed

    Th. Prcdro'nu.t on Solid.l

  • 8/8/2019 Steno 1669

    22/29

    7lrc Ptolnnx\ on Sol ids

    , et conchrs bivah'asno n crystallo ectas, cd tota substantia

    ru m tubulosvrrios.n est, dc m de ali is partibus animalium ipsisqvcanimalibus. c qvoru|r nunlcro sunt dentescanum ruarinorum, dcntesc piscium,onrnisgcnerispisces ntegri, crania, cornua' den-ia animalium terrestriutl . qvandoqvidcm laec omnia verisonrninosinri l iasint. \ L'lsolo pondercet coloreab i l l is diffe-f igurar ] t x te tnanr . unr l l i sn ih i l conrn tunc abc-ant .

    n] nlovet innunlerus lle nunrerusdentiunt, qv i singulisan -cxpi)rtantur;cu m vi x navis ulla co appulcrit,qvin i l l ius nt -sccum evchllt.Sc dhuic ego difficultati l iam responsioncllr

    Ovod singuliscanibus sexccntiet plures dentessint, ct totonovi dentessubctr-scereideantur' 2. Ovod ventis agitatuma vcrsusuDuD) liqvenl ocunl profudcre ct ibidcm accumu-rncs marini -qrcgltin) nccrjant.adeoqvceodc'nl oco pluriunlpotucrint.4. Qvod in glcbis Icl i tensibushuc allalts' praetcl)runrcanurrr, ti i lnr varia conchylia cperi i lnlur,ut adcoqvc'adet,productioncmeorum terrac adscritlcndam sse, orun-,t in singulisaninralibus opia. crra fundo ttlarissimil is.al ia-Jcm oco rcpcrta contrariaeopinioni avcant.lovct nragnitudo r'nlotunt,craniorun.t t dcntium aliorumqve:uuntur; sed ncc tanti cst hacc objectio, ut qvantitas.solitaeun r Naturae viribus superioren infcrrc debcat. qvandoqvi-visa sint corpora hominum facic adntotluntprocera.2 Cer-'ando nronstruosaemagnitudinishomincs. 3. Sacpius tiden.Irabcantur,qvac aliorum animalium ossa siot. 4. Idcttt sit,um verc fibrosorumproductionenl,ac dicere, osscNaturin,honrinis nanumproduccre.

    itas emporis eliqvoru|n lrgumentorun) it-n 'vcrtere idctur,roria constct, nundationes o adsccndisse, bi tnuita ntarinartur, si di luviunt univcrsalcexcepcris. ndc ad nostra usclvc') anni praeter proptcr nul)lerantur; nc c rlttont consonunlinjuri is restitisseanimalis corporis partcm, culn vrdeanlus'u m spatio e:rde[)corpora in totun destrui.Sed huic dubiorm a soli varietate id totum depcndeat; strata enim ex

    t he Pr

  • 8/8/2019 Steno 1669

    23/29

    Tlu Prctlronws t'n Sttli.l s

    idi, qvae onnia sibi inclusa corpora tenuitatesucci resol-rtrataplurinra obscrvavi,qv.reonlnia sibi connissa integra'erinrento icerst in cognitioncDl sDirc l l ius succi,qv i soli-.)dvcro certurnsjl. Drultorun conchvljorun, qvae hodie rePe-Ld tcmpon cu m universalidi luvio coincidentia eterendamargumcntunl.Ccrtum est, ante acta Romanac urbis funda-urbem am tum viribus potentcn exstitisse; t vcro in saxis

    c qvibusdam n locis ibi reperiuntur (murorum antiqvissimo-nerisconchylia cperiuntur.ct non it a pridem in medjo fororchis striatis refertissinrunr; t rdeoqve certum sit. hodie irlnchas al n ttLnrproductas uisse.qvo tempore muri Volater-nc qvis dixerit, solas estas n lapidem conversas, 'e l lapidirr e nullum damnum passasuissc, otus l le coll is,cu i urbiumna supentructa cst, ex maris sedimcntisexsurgit,sibi invilnti parallel is, bi nrulta strata non lapideaveris conchis.etonem passisabundant;ut adeoqvc certo pronuntiare iceat.imus, non iolmutatasconchasab hinc ter mil le annis et am-Ab Urbe condita ad nostra usqve empora numeranrusbi s

    l inti annos.ct qvod exccdit:ct qvis non largictur,plura sccu-inro hornines o sc'des uas ranstulerunt, sqvedunr in i l lamrit. qva vi-qebrt cnrporc conditacUrbis'l Qvibus seculis i i l-rus.qvod intercessit jacto prinlo scdimentocoll is Volatena-:undcnr collenr.confluentesqvc o alienigenas.acilc ad dilu-adscendemus..horitasdubitarevetat,qvo minus pracgrandia l la ossa.qvae'uuntur,mil le nongentorumannorunrsaevitici cstiterinticcr-ia jumentorunr.qvae ibi reperiuntur. non esseex hujuscoeli: femora l la ingentiaet praelongae capulae, va e bidcm re-est, transiissellac Hannibalcm, anteqvam ad lacunr Transi-confl igeret. . Ccrtun est,exstitisscn ipsiusexercitu umen-ae magnitudinisElephantes urrigcros.4. Certum cst. dunr a:scnderet, iuria aqvarum alluvie peri isse n locis paludosisrl ium oneribusvehendisdestinatorum. . Cartunr est, ocunl,ssa, ex variis stratis congestumsse,qvae plena sunt saxis a)rrentium impetu devolutis; ut adeoqvecuilibet loci et ossium

    TIrc Protlronus on Solids 199sayin!: hat Nature can produce th e hand of a man without th e rcrnainderof th enlan.

    Tllcrc irrc thosc to whom the length of time seems o destroy thc force of the re-maining arcuments, since there are no recollecl ions n any age to confirm thatfloodshave risen to the placeswherc many rDarinebodies are found to day, i t th eunivcrsaldclugc s excepted. ronr which tint it is estinlated hat 4000 yearshaveclapsedup to the present:r:7 lor does it seenr n accordancewith reason that npart of an aninal body has rcsistcd o many ycarsoi wcar, when rveobserveoftenover the spaceof a few years the conlplete destruction of the same bodies. But it iseasy o reply to this disbelief. ince he outcomedependsentirely on th e variety ofsoil; for I havc obscrved trata rom a certain ype of clay which dissolved ll bodiescnclosed y it. owing to the thinnessof i ts juice; I haYeobservedmany other strataof sand rvhich prcscrvcd vheleal l that lodged hercin.By such cxpcrimcnt t naybc possiblc o come to a knowledgeof that juice, which dissolves olid bodies; butthe fol lowing argumentprovidcs o our satisfactionha t it is certain that the pro-duction of many shellfish ound to day is to be reckonedas coincidentwith the agesof thc universaldelugc. t is ccrtain hat bcforc th e foundationsof the'city of Romewere laid. the city of Volterra \vas already porverful;but shellfishof every kindlre tound in the huge stones hat are found in certain places here (the remains ofthe oldcstwalls),and not so very ong ago a stone i l led with striatcd shcllfishwaslrcrvn ronr the middle of the forum; and so t is certain hat shell l ish ound to day inthe srid stoneswcre alrcadyproducedat the time when the walls of Volterra wereercctcd.r:6 nd lest some say that only shells,converted o stone,or enclosedbystone,havc suffercd no damagc rom thc gnawingof time, the whole hil l on whichth e oldcstof the Etruscancities s built riscs ron'rnarine sediments,aid on top ofothcr. parallel to the horizol, in which there are many non-stol ly strata whichabound n true molluscs hat have sufferedno change n any way, and so it is pos-sible to say with certainty that the unchanged molluscs that are extractcd fromthcnr today rvere produced more than 3000 ycars ago. From the founding of theCity to the presentday wc rcckon more than 2420 yearshave elapsed;and whowill no t -srant hat nany cenlurieshave elapscd incc he first nlen transferred heirhonre'shereuDti i t rc w ro rhesizc hat flourishedat the t. imeof the founding of theCity') It rv eadd to thesecenturics he time rvhichelapsed etween he laying downof the first sediment of thc hill oI Volterra and the withdrawal of the sea from thesanrehill, when strangers flocked to it, wc shall easily go back to the time of theuniversaldeluge.The saDrcauthority of history forbids d


Recommended