The principles of mechanics : designed for the use of students in the university / by James Wood.

  • James Wood
Date:
1818
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The principles of mechanics : designed for the use of students in the university / by James Wood. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    excludes every other portion from that part of space which it occupies; and thus it is capable of resistance and protrusion. “ There is no idea which we receive more constantly from sensation than solidity. Whether we move or rest, in what posture soever we are, we always feel something under us that supports us, and hinders our farther sinking downwards; and the bodies which we daily handle make us perceive that, whilst they remain between them, they do by an insurmount- able force hinder the approach of the parts of our hands that press them *.” (5.) Mobility, or a capacity of being transferred from one place to another, is a quality found to belong to all bodies upon which we can make suitable ex- periments; and hence we conclude that it belongs to all matter. : (6.) Divisibility signifies a capacity of being sepa- rated into parts. ‘That matter is thus divisible, our daily experience assures us. How far the division can - actually be carried, is not so easily seen. We know that many bodies may be reduced to a very fine powder by trituration; by chemical solution, the parts of a body may be so far divided as not to be sensible to the sight; and by the help of the microscope we discover myriads of organized bodies, totally unknown before such instruments were invented. ‘These and similar considerations, lead us to conclude, that the division of matter is carried to a degree of minuteness far exceeding the bounds of our faculties; and it seems not unreasonable to suppose, that this capacity of division is without limit; especially, as we can * Lockn’s Essay, B. I. Ch. IV.
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