consequently they inferr, that if their Adversaries Opinion be
Erroneous, Their's must needs be the Truth; whereas many questions,
and especially in matters Physiological, may admit of so many
Differing _Hypotheses_, that 'twill be very inconsiderate and
fallacious to conclude (except where the Opinions are precisely
Contradictory) the Truth of one from the falsity of another. And in
our particular case 'tis no way necessary, that the Properties of mixt
Bodies must be explicable either by the Hermetical, or the
_Aristotelian Hypothesis_, there being divers other and more plausible
wayes of explaining them, and especially that, which deduces qualities
from the motion, figure, and contrivance of the small parts of Bodies;
as I think might be shewn, if the attempt were as seasonable, as I
fear it would be Tedious.
I will allow then, that the Chymists do not causelessly accuse the
Doctrine of the four elements of incompetency to explain the
Properties of Compound bodies. And for this Rejection of a Vulgar
Error, they ought not to be deny'd what praise men may deserve for
exploding a Doctrine whose Imperfections are so conspicuous, that men
needed but not to shut their Eyes, to discover them. But I am
mistaken, if our Hermetical Philosophers Themselves need not, as well
as the Peripateticks, have Recourse to more Fruitfull and
Comprehensive Principles then the _tria Prima_, to make out the
Properties of the Bodies they converse with. Not to accumulate
Examples to this purpose, (because I hope for a fitter opportunity to
prosecute this Subject) let us at present only point at Colour, that
you may guess by what they say of so obvious and familiar a Quality,
how little Instruction we are to expect from the _Tria Prima_ in those
more abstruse ones, which they with the _Aristotelians_ stile Occult.
For about Colours, neither do they at all agree among themselves, nor
have I met with any one, of which of the three Perswasions soever,
that does intelligibly explicate Them. The Vulgar Chymists are wont to
ascribe Colours to Mercury; _Paracelsus_ in divers places attributes
them to Salt; and _Sennertus_,[25] having recited their differing
Opinions, Dissents from both, and referrs Colours rather unto Sulphur.
But how Colours do, nay, how they may, arise from either of these
Principles, I think you will scarce say that any has yet intelligibly
explicated. And if Mr. _Boyle_ will allow me to shew you the
Experiments which he has collected about Colours, you will, I doubt
not, confess that bodies exhibite colours, not upon the Account of the
153