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HISTORICAL VIEW OF THE

which, though involving gratuitous assumptions, wereat least of a more philosophical character than these.He attempted to reason a priori from no other assump-tions than the ideas of matter and of motion, and theattributes of matter, extension, impenetrability, andinertia.

Matter, thus constituted, he conceived to fill allspace. All its parts were endued with motion in aninfinite variety of directions: from the combinations ofthese motions it was impossible that rectilinear motioncould result; continual deflection from rectilinear di-rections must take place: hence circular motion andcentrifugal force originated ; and thus, at length,matter came to be formed into a multitude of vortices,or whirlpools, the more subtile parts constituting thereal vortex in which the denser bodies float. Thus theuniverse consists of a multitude of vortices, which limitand circumscribe each other. The earth and planetsare bodies carried round in the great vortex of the solarsystem; the subtile matter of which acts upon themwith a pressure towards the centre, while the centri-fugal force preserves them from falling into it. Eachplanet is, in like manner, the centre of a lesser vortex,which produces a similar tendency to its centre in bodieswithin the sphere of its influence.

Such is the outline of this “ baseless fabric of avision which, coming as it did after the discovery ofthe laws of Kepler, is at once condemned in exhibitingno conformity to them, nor supplying the smallest ex-planation of any thing but circular orbits, which hadbeen now shown not to exist.

Yet this hypothesis, framed on the most extravagantreasoning from purely imaginary assumptions, and,after all, not affording any explanation of the facts, wassoon actually adopted, and seriously defended, in theuniversities of Europe . It was not, however, receivedwithout some opposition at first, and was even pro-hibited in one or two continental universities, especiallywhere the Jesuits had any influence; but the metaphy-