Natural Science - Immanuel Kant

IMMANUEL KANT
Natural Science
The purpose of the Cambridge Edition is to offer translations of the

best modern German editions of Kant’s work in a uniform format suit-
able for Kant scholars. When complete the edition will include all of
Kant’s published works and a generous selection of his unpublished writ-
ings, such as the Opus postumum, Handschriftlicher Nachlaß, lectures, and
correspondence.
Though Kant is best known for his strictly philosophical works in
the 1780s, many of his early publications in particular were devoted to
what we would call ‘natural science’. Kant’s Universal Natural History and
Theory of the Heavens (1755) made a significant advance in cosmology, and
he was also instrumental in establishing the newly emerging discipline
of physical geography, lecturing on it for almost his entire career. In
this volume Eric Watkins brings together new English translations of
Kant’s first publication, Thoughts on the True Estimation of Living Forces
(1746–9), the entirety of Physical Geography (1802) and a series of shorter
essays, along with many of Kant’s most important publications in natural
science. The volume is rich in material for the student and the scholar,
with extensive linguistic and explanatory notes, editorial introductions,
and a glossary of key terms.
Eric Watkins is Professor of Philosophy at the University of

California, San Diego. He is author of Kant and the Metaphysics of Causal-
ity (Cambridge, 2005) and editor of Kant and the Sciences (2001), and he
translated and edited Kant’s Critique of Pure Reason: Background Source
Materials (Cambridge, 2009).
THE CAMBRIDGE EDITION OF THE
WORKS OF IMMANUEL KANT IN TRANSLATION
General editors: Paul Guyer and Allen W. Wood

Advisory board: Henry Allison
Reinhard Brandt
Ralf Meerbote
Charles D. Parsons
Hoke Robinson
J. B. Schneewind
Theoretical Philosophy, 1755–1770

Critique of Pure Reason
Theoretical Philosophy after 1781
Practical Philosophy
Critique of the Power of Judgment
Religion and Rational Theology
Anthropology, History, and Education
Natural Science
Lectures on Logic
Lectures on Metaphysics
Lectures on Ethics
Opus postumum
Notes and Fragments
Correspondence
Lectures on Anthropology
IMMANUEL KANT
Natural Science
edited by
ERIC WATKINS
University of California, San Diego
translated by
LEWIS WHITE BECK,
JEFFREY B. EDWARDS,
OLAF REINHARDT,
M A R T I N S C H Ö N F E L D , A N D
ERIC WATKINS
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First published 2012
Printed in the United Kingdom at the University Press, Cambridge
A catalogue record for this publication is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloguing in Publication data

Kant, Immanuel, 1724–1804
[Works. Selections. English. 2012]
Natural science / Immanuel Kant ; edited by Eric Watkins ; translated by Lewis White
Beck, Jeffrey B. Edwards, Olaf Reinhardt, Martin Schönfeld, Eric Watkins.
pages cm. – (The Cambridge edition of the works of Immanuel Kant in translation)
Includes bibliographical references and indexes.
isbn 978-0-521-36394-5
1. Science – Philosophy. I. Watkins, Eric, 1964– – editor of compilation. II. Kant,
Immanuel, 1724–1804. Gedanken von der wahren Schätzung der lebendigen Kräfte und
Beurtheilung der Beweise derer sich Herr von Leibnitz und andere Mechaniker in dieser
Streitsache bedienet haben. English. III. Title.
b2758 2012
500 – dc23 2012010633
isbn 978-0-521-36394-5 Hardback
Cambridge University Press has no responsibility for the persistence or

accuracy of URLs for external or third-party internet websites referred to
in this publication, and does not guarantee that any content on such
websites is, or will remain, accurate or appropriate.
Contents
General editors’ preface page vii

Editor’s preface x
General introduction by Eric Watkins xiii
1 Thoughts on the true estimation of living forces and assessment of the

demonstrations that Leibniz and other scholars of mechanics have
made use of in this controversial subject, together with some prefatory
considerations pertaining to the force of bodies in general
(1746–1749) 1
Translated by Jeffrey B. Edwards and Martin Schönfeld
2 Examination of the question whether the rotation of the Earth on its

axis by which it brings about the alternation of day and night has
undergone any change since its origin and how one can be certain of
this, which [question] was set by the Royal Academy of Sciences in
Berlin as the prize question for the current year (1754) 156
Translated by Olaf Reinhardt
3 The question, whether the Earth is ageing, considered from a physical

point of view (1754) 165
4 Universal natural history and theory of the heavens or essay on the

constitution and the mechanical origin of the whole universe
according to Newtonian principles (1755) 182
5 Succinct exposition of some meditations on fire (1755) 309

Translated by Lewis White Beck
6 On the causes of earthquakes on the occasion of the calamity that befell

the western countries of Europe towards the end of last year (1756) 327
7 History and natural description of the most noteworthy occurrences of

the earthquake that struck a large part of the Earth at the end of the
year 1755 (1756) 337
v
Contents
8 Continued observations on the earthquakes that have been

experienced for some time (1756) 365
9 New notes to explain the theory of the winds, in which, at the same
time, he invites attendance at his lectures (1756) 374
10 Plan and announcement of a series of lectures on physical geography

with an appendix containing a brief consideration of the question:
Whether the West winds in our regions are moist because they travel
over a great sea (1757) 386
11 New doctrine of motion and rest and the conclusions associated with it
in the fundamental principles of natural science while at the same
time his lectures for this half-year are announced (1758) 396
12 Review of Silberschlag’s work: Theory of the fireball that appeared on

23 July 1762 (1764) 409
Translated by Eric Watkins
13 Notice of Lambert’s correspondence (1782) 414

Translated by Eric Watkins
14 On the volcanoes on the Moon (1785) 418

15 Something concerning the influence of the Moon on the weather

(1794) 426
16 Physical geography (1802) 434

Appendices 680
Notes 683
Glossary German–English 751
Glossary English–German 762
Index of names 772
Index of places 777
Index of subjects 786
vi
General editors’ preface
Within a few years of the publication of his Critique of Pure Reason in 1781,
Immanuel Kant (1724–1804) was recognized by his contemporaries as
one of the seminal philosophers of modern times – indeed as one of
the great philosophers of all time. This renown soon spread beyond
German-speaking lands, and translations of Kant’s work into English
were published even before 1800. Since then, interpretations of Kant’s
views have come and gone and loyalty to his positions has waxed and
waned, but his importance has not diminished. Generations of scholars
have devoted their efforts to producing reliable translations of Kant into
English as well as into other languages.
There are four main reasons for the present edition of Kant’s writings:
1. Completeness. Although most of the works published in Kant’s lifetime
have been translated before, the most important ones more than once,
only fragments of Kant’s many important unpublished works have
ever been translated. These include the Opus postumum, Kant’s unfin-
ished magnum opus on the transition from philosophy to physics;
transcriptions of his classroom lectures; his correspondence; and his
marginalia and other notes. One aim of this edition is to make a com-
prehensive sampling of these materials available in English for the
first time.
2. Availability. Many English translations of Kant’s works, especially
those that have not individually played a large role in the subse-
quent development of philosophy, have long been inaccessible or out
of print. Many of them, however, are crucial for the understanding
of Kant’s philosophical development, and the absence of some from
English-language bibliographies may be responsible for erroneous
or blinkered traditional interpretations of his doctrines by English-
speaking philosophers.
3. Organization. Another aim of the present edition is to make all Kant’s
published work, both major and minor, available in comprehensive
volumes organized both chronologically and topically, so as to facili-
tate the serious study of his philosophy by English-speaking readers.
4. Consistency of translation. Although many of Kant’s major works have
been translated by the most distinguished scholars of their day, some
of these translations are now dated, and there is considerable termi-
nological disparity among them. Our aim has been to enlist some
vii
of the most accomplished Kant scholars and translators to produce

new translations, freeing readers from both the philosophical and lit-
erary preconceptions of previous generations and allowing them to
approach texts, as far as possible, with the same directness as present-
day readers of the German or Latin originals.
In pursuit of these goals, our editors and translators attempt to follow
several fundamental principles:
1. As far as seems advisable, the edition employs a single general glossary,
especially for Kant’s technical terms. Although we have not attempted
to restrict the prerogative of editors and translators in choice of termi-
nology, we have maximized consistency by putting a single editor or
editorial team in charge of each of the main groupings of Kant’s writ-
ings, such as his work in practical philosophy, philosophy of religion,
or natural science, so that there will be a high degree of terminological
consistency, at least in dealing with the same subject matter.
2. Our translators try to avoid sacrificing literalness to readability. We
hope to produce translations that approximate the originals in the
sense that they leave as much of the interpretive work as possible to
the reader.
3. The paragraph, and even more the sentence, is often Kant’s unit
of argument, and one can easily transform what Kant intends as a
continuous argument into a mere series of assertions by breaking
up a sentence so as to make it more readable. Therefore, we try to
preserve Kant’s own divisions of sentences and paragraphs wherever
possible.
4. Earlier editions often attempted to improve Kant’s texts on the basis
of controversial conceptions about their proper interpretation. In
our translations, emendation or improvement of the original edition
is kept to the minimum necessary to correct obvious typographical
errors.
5. Our editors and translators try to minimize interpretation in other
ways as well, for example by rigorously segregating Kant’s own foot-
notes, the editors’ pure linguistic notes, and their more explanatory or
informational notes; notes in this last category are treated as endnotes
rather than footnotes.
We have not attempted to standardize completely the format of indi-
vidual volumes. Each, however, includes information about the context
in which Kant wrote the translated works, a German–English glossary,
an English–German glossary, an index, and other aids to comprehension.
The general introduction to each volume includes an explanation of spe-
cific principles of translation and, where necessary, principles of selection
of works included in that volume. The pagination of the standard edition
viii
of Kant’s works, Kant’s gesammelte Schriften, edited by the Royal Prus-

sian (later German) Academy of Sciences (Berlin: Georg Reimer, later
Walter de Gruyter & Co., 1900–), is indicated throughout by means of
marginal numbers.
Our aim is to produce a comprehensive edition of Kant’s writings,
embodying and displaying the high standards attained by Kant scholar-
ship in the English-speaking world during the second half of the twen-
tieth century, and serving as both an instrument and a stimulus for the
further development of Kant studies by English-speaking readers in the
century to come. Because of our emphasis on literalness of translation
and on information rather than interpretation in editorial practices, we
hope our edition will continue to be usable despite the inevitable evolu-
tion and occasional revolutions in Kant scholarship.
Paul Guyer
Allen W. Wood
ix
Editor’s preface
The present volume in the Cambridge Edition of the Works of

Immanuel Kant in Translation contains sixteen works that Kant pub-
lished in natural science, broadly construed, over a fifty-six-year period
that span his entire career, from his first publication in 1746 to one
of the last works published under his name while he was still alive in
1802. All of the works, except one, Kant’s Latin dissertation on fire,
were translated especially for this volume. They vary considerably in
their character and length, ranging from the brief notice on Lambert’s
correspondence, which was essentially a short advertisement for one of
Lambert’s volumes that had just been published, to the two-volume Phys-
ical Geography, which contains a comprehensive and at times extremely
detailed description of many of the physical features of the Earth, and
its animals, as these were understood in East Prussia in the second half
of the eighteenth century.
Two works in particular, beyond the Physical Geography, deserve spe-
cial mention here. Kant’s Thoughts on the True Estimation of Living Forces,
his first publication, and his Universal Natural History and Theory of the
Heavens, published in 1755, are both major books that tackle central
issues of the day and are meant to be important contributions to natural
science. The former attempts to develop a novel solution to the vis viva
controversy, which raged in Europe for several decades and engaged
many of the leading thinkers, while the latter attempts to articulate a
broadly Newtonian cosmogony in original ways. While neither work
was especially influential during Kant’s own lifetime (for different rea-
sons), both are significant works that form central components of Kant’s
early thought. For this reason alone they both deserve more attention
than they have received so far; for if one is to have any hope of under-
standing Kant’s later philosophical project and contributions, one must
come to terms with the intellectual interests and projects that he pursued
in his earliest years, if only to understand the points on which he changes
his mind and to appreciate his reasons for doing so.
In addition to English translations of Kant’s own works, and in line
with the guidelines of the Cambridge Edition of the Works of Immanuel
Kant, this volume contains editorial material designed to aid the reader
with basic information about the linguistic, historical, and philosophical
features of Kant’s publications. We have not attempted to provide an
exhaustive critical apparatus.
x
Editor’s preface
The general introduction addresses in outline form the scope and nature
of those of Kant’s publications in natural science that are included in this
volume. It does so by giving a brief characterization of Kant’s concep-
tion first of science in general and then of natural science, emphasizing
how he articulated a conception that is in certain respects somewhat
narrower than what we call natural science today, but without thereby
either discrediting or demoting those systematic cognitions of the world
that he referred to as a doctrine of nature (such as natural description
and natural history).
The introductions to each of the works by Kant in the present volume
detail the circumstances of their publication and briefly introduce the
subject matter and overall argument of each work. If an introduction
does not specify that it was written by the general editor, then it has
been a joint effort of the editor and particular translator.
The linguistic footnotes are lettered alphabetically to distinguish them
from Kant’s own footnotes, which are marked by asterisks. The linguistic
footnotes typically either specify the German original of key words and
phrases or provide English translations of the Latin phrases that Kant
uses in his texts.
The numbered editorial endnotes provide factual information and expla-
nation, especially on the historical figures and authors referred to in the
main body of the text.
The German–English and English–German glossaries help the reader to
track the most important words that occur in the original texts as well as
the words that the translators have used to render them in English.
Finally, there is an index of names, places, and subjects.
All the translations and a significant amount of the editorial mate-
rial found in the present volume are based on the Academy edition of
Kant’s Collected Works: Kants gesammelte Schriften, edited by the Prus-
sian Academy of Sciences (vols. 1–29), primarily volumes 1, 2, and 9.
Throughout this volume, this work is referred to as the Academy edi-
tion. References to the Academy edition make use of the volume number,
followed by a colon, and then the page number (e.g., 2:13 would refer
to Volume 2, page 13, of the Academy edition). The pagination of the
Academy edition is indicated in the margins of the translations contained
in this volume.
Over the course of the years during which this volume took shape,
countless people and institutions contributed in essential ways; with-
out their help, this volume would have been much the worse and, quite
possibly, never come into existence. In light of this, I hope to thank
the most important individuals and institutions for their contributions.
On the institutional side, I thank the University of California, San
Diego, the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science, and the
John F. Templeton Foundation for generous financial support of the
xi
Editor’s preface
project (in the guise of research assistance and money for both research
assistance and the preparation of the final manuscript). Given the length
of time it has taken to complete the project, I fear that I can no longer
recall the help of all those individuals who have in fact contributed to the
volume in important ways. First and foremost, however, I am extremely
grateful to the translators of the works contained in the volume for
their invaluable skill and expertise in tackling an incredibly daunting
task. H. B. Nisbet, the first general editor of the volume, also did sig-
nificant and much-appreciated work on the volume before I took over.
I thank Paul Guyer and Allen Wood, the editors of the entire series,
and Hilary Gaskin, philosophy editor at Cambridge University Press,
for their encouragement and sage advice. I am also thankful for the
research help I received from Wolfgang Lefevre, Peter McLaughlin,
Steve Naragon, Werner Stark, Marius Stan, James Messina, Destanie
McCalister, Tim Jankowiak, and Peter Yong. Special acknowledgement
must also be given to David Oldroyd, whose extensive knowledge of the
history of science was indispensable on many occasions. He provided
the bulk of the endnotes for the translation of the Physical Geography and
several other items.
Eric Watkins
xii
General introduction
This volume will come as something of a surprise to someone accustomed

to thinking of Kant as a prime example of an armchair philosopher. For
although it is true that he never travelled far beyond Königsberg and is
famous for having emphasized (synthetic) a priori cognition, that is, (sub-
stantive) cognition of the world that can be obtained independently of
any particular sensory experiences, Kant wrote extensively throughout
his career on a broad range of topics that we today would consider part
of natural science. It is not uncommon to recognize that Kant produced
important publications that bear on natural science in some way, publica-
tions that find a home in other volumes in the Cambridge Edition of the
Works of Immanuel Kant. For example, Kant’s relatively brief Physical
Monadology (1756) appears as part of Theoretical Philosophy, 1755–1770.
The more substantial Metaphysical Foundations of Natural Science (1786),
which attempts to show how the abstract principles argued for in the
Critique of Pure Reason can be realized in more specific principles by
having an empirical concept of matter applied to them, can be found in
Theoretical Philosophy after 1781. And the remarks Kant composed late in
his career (in the 1790s and beyond) on the transition from the principles
established in the Metaphysical Foundations of Natural Science to empirical
natural science are available in the Opus postumum. However, even an
awareness of these important works still falls short of an acknowledge-
ment of the breadth and depth of Kant’s interests in natural science. For
one, Kant writes on an even wider range of specific topics in the domain
of natural science, such as the causes of earthquakes, the nature of fire, the
rotation and ageing of the Earth, theories concerning moisture in winds,
and the appearance and nature of comets and other meteorological phe-
nomena. For another, he is not content to provide brief interventions on
narrowly defined scientific questions, but also undertakes foundational
and comprehensive projects in natural science, such as determining the
conservation of force in nature, formulating the proper laws of motion,
developing a full-scale Newtonian cosmogony, and offering an expan-
sive physical geography. The comprehensiveness and depth of Kant’s
publications on these disparate topics make it necessary to dedicate a
separate volume to his works in natural science and also to reconsider
our assessment of the character of Kant’s intellectual contributions so
as to include not only philosophy, regardless of how broadly construed,
but also natural science.
xiii
To evaluate Kant’s contributions to natural science properly, how-

ever, it is useful to be aware of his conception of science in general and
of natural science in particular, especially since he does not distinguish,
in the way we usually do today, between philosophy and natural science.
The single most distinctive criterion of demarcation for science, accord-
ing to Kant, is systematicity (A832/B860). That is, for a set of cognitions
to qualify as scientific they must form a system or be systematically con-
nected, as opposed to forming a mere aggregate. For cognitions to be
systematically connected, they must be related as grounds and conse-
quents (such that the one can be derived from the other) according to
some single unifying idea or principle. The idea, or principle, helps to
determine the (logical or rational) ordering of propositions such that a
plurality of cognitions forms a single system, unified by rational relations.
In fact, Kant goes further by suggesting that reason should search not
simply for systematic connections between cognitions within a science,
but also for this kind of connection between the sciences, in the hope
of creating a single science that would encompass all human cognition.
Kant proposes that metaphysics (or transcendental philosophy) should
play an important role here insofar as it is itself a science, consisting of
a metaphysics of nature and of morals, with the former consisting, in
turn, of physics (the science of corporeal nature, or of objects of outer
sense) and psychology (the science of thinking nature, or of objects of
inner sense), with additional divisions into other more specific sciences
beyond that. In this way, Kant ends up being an advocate of the unity
of science, even though he also argues explicitly and at length in the
Critique of Pure Reason that this ideal is necessarily unattainable for us
because of our cognitive limitations.
In some passages (e.g., at 4:468) Kant also states that cognition must
be known with apodictic certainty to qualify as science. Yet care must be
taken not to attribute to Kant an overly restrictive account of science
such that only logic, mathematics, and perhaps a pure part of physics
would qualify as science. For what Kant means by “apodictic certainty”
is not the existence of a Cartesian standard of indubitability (or absolute
epistemic incorrigibility), but that the cognition is universal (valid for
all) and objective (one’s assent being based on the presence and qual-
ity of appropriate intuitions or evidence rather than on, say, pragmatic
grounds). In other instances, Kant explains apodictic certainty in terms
of an awareness of a certain kind of necessity (4:468). For if cognitions
are related systematically – that is as ground and consequent – then it
is clear that an element of necessity is present insofar as a consequent
follows necessarily from its ground and an awareness of the necessary
element is required in drawing an inference from the one to the other.
Further, like some of his immediate predecessors (such as Christian
Wolff), Kant distinguishes both between rational and empirical sciences
xiv
and between the rational (and ‘pure’) versus the empirical (‘impure’)
parts of a science. An example of the former distinction would be the
distinction between logic and anthropology (which is, for Kant, closely
related to empirical psychology). An example of the latter can be found
in the Preface to the Metaphysical Foundations of Natural Science (4:469),
where he distinguishes between the pure and the empirical part of natu-
ral science – he seems to have had physics in mind – before claiming that
the empirical part depends on the pure part and thus on a metaphysics
of nature. Obviously, despite its dependence on a priori principles, the
empirical part would involve principles that are not known with the same
kind and degree of epistemic certainty as the purely rational principles
they depend on; but they would still nonetheless count as part of science
(A846/B874). So, despite some of the very strict-sounding assertions
that Kant makes about science, if understood properly, they can accom-
modate a much broader range of sciences than one might at first have
thought possible.
Also relevant to Kant’s conception of science is the way in which he
demarcates one science from another. Early on in the Prolegomena, he
suggests that two sciences can be distinguished due to a difference “of
the object, or the source of the cognition, or even of the type of cognition,
or several if not all of these things together” (4:265). Accordingly, the
difference between, for example, arithmetic and geometry can be char-
acterized in terms of a difference in the object of each science (numbers
versus shapes); the difference between, say, mathematics and physics
could be accounted for by different sources of cognition (a priori versus
empirical intuition); while logic and mathematics can be distinguished
by the different types of cognition that are involved in each (analytic ver-
sus synthetic). Again, even with the core requirements of systematicity
and apodictic certainty, Kant’s description of the various ways of distin-
guishing one science from another makes it possible for him to account
for a surprisingly wide range of different sciences.
In light of this sketch of Kant’s conception of what science is and
of how one science can be distinguished from another, we can now
turn to his understanding of natural science in particular. In one sense,
Kant’s conception of natural science is straightforward. Natural science
is simply the science of nature: that is, the set of systematically con-
nected, apodictically certain cognitions that has nature as its object. But
what is nature? In both the Critique of Pure Reason and the Metaphysical
Foundations of Natural Science, Kant distinguishes between material and
formal senses of nature. Nature, understood materially, refers to “the
sum total of appearances insofar as these are in thoroughgoing connec-
tion through an inner principle of causality” (A418/B446). That is, it
refers to nature as a whole (as a set of existing objects). Nature, under-
stood formally, by contrast, refers to “the connection of determinations
xv
of a thing in accordance with an inner principle of causality” (A419/

B446) – that is, to the specific nature that this or that particular thing
might have, such as water, air, chemical elements, different kinds of ani-
mals, etc. Nature in this second sense is clearly similar to an Aristotelian
conception of a nature as that which has a principle of causality within
itself and allows for qualitative distinctions. Kant clearly has the formal
sense of nature in mind in his discussions of the different natural sci-
ences. As Kant makes clear in the opening sentence of the Metaphysical
Foundations of Natural Science: “If the word nature is taken simply in its
formal meaning, where it means the first inner principle of all that belongs
to the existence of a thing, then there can be as many different natural
sciences as there are specifically different things, each of which must con-
tain its own peculiar inner principle of determinations belonging to its
existence” (4:467).1
As a result, Kant is able to accommodate a wide range of cognitions
under the umbrella of natural science. For example, arithmetic is the
science of numbers; geometry is the science of shapes; anthropology
is the science of one particular kind of animal, namely, man; logic is
the science of the formal laws of rational thought in man; theology is
the science of God (or of the highest ground of all nature); ontology
is the science of the properties of all things in general, etc. Cosmol-
ogy is the science of the world as such – that is, anything that is a
whole of mutually interacting material substances (28:195–6, 28:657,
28:849). Physics is the science of bodies, more specifically, of matter
whose inner principle is to be “the movable in space” (4:480) and where
the nature of the body is unchanged through its interactions.2 Inter-
estingly, chemistry is also the science of bodies or matter, but, unlike
physics, it concerns changes that occur in the inner constitution of the
bodies (e.g., in the specific natures of the different bodies) due to their
interaction with other bodies. And within physics, there are hard bodies,
soft bodies, elastic bodies, inelastic bodies, etc. The distinctions between
the different kinds of natures that are under investigation in the differ-
ent natural sciences (and sub-branches thereof) can thus be subtle and
complex.3
It is against the context of this conception of natural science that we
must interpret further remarks that Kant makes in the Preface to the
Metaphysical Foundations of Natural Science about what does and, more
significantly, what does not count as science proper. Specifically, Kant
asserts: “in any special doctrine of nature there can be only as much proper
science as there is mathematics therein” (4:470). After clarifying how
mathematical principles require metaphysical principles (in line with his
view that metaphysics is required for natural science), he then infers that
both chemistry and psychology cannot be sciences, given the require-
ment that science must contain mathematics (4:471).4 Indeed, judged by
xvi
such a strict criterion, it is clear that very little would count as a science
and Kant acknowledges at one point that only the pure part of physics
would qualify.
How should such remarks be understood? It is difficult to take them at
face value or literally. After the developments of Lavoisier, Kant comes
to recognize chemistry as a science.5 He also does not repeat, or explain
further, the meaning of these very restrictive claims in any consistent
way, either earlier or later in his corpus. Finally, he repeatedly refers
to several other disciplines, such as logic and philosophy (which both
clearly do not contain mathematics in any straightforward sense), as
sciences. One can pursue a number of interpretive options here. One
could: (1) draw attention to the distinction implicitly in play here between
science and science ‘proper’ (however that distinction is ultimately to
be understood); (2) note that these remarks, made in 1786, post-date a
significant amount of Kant’s work in natural science, where he seems to
refer indiscriminately to both natural science and research or enquiry
into nature (“Naturforschung”); or (3) one could simply downplay his
claim here not as fully representative of his view but just a temporary
aberration (perhaps an exaggeration that slipped out in the heat of the
moment while trying to emphasize the importance of physics for the
principles established in the Critique of Pure Reason). As a result, whatever
interpretive option one adopts, it is clear that Kant’s considered view is
not as narrow as these statements might make it seem.
There is, however, an important distinction that Kant does explic-
itly and consistently draw concerning our cognition of nature. Near the
beginning of the Preface to the Metaphysical Foundations of Natural Sci-
ence, Kant distinguishes between the historical doctrine of nature and
natural science, with the doctrine of nature (“Naturlehre”) serving as the
genus for these two species of cognition. That is, any cognition of nature
that does not satisfy the requirements for natural science (whether proper
or otherwise) is still a cognition; and if it contains systematically ordered
facts about natural things then it deserves the name of a historical doc-
trine of nature. In fact, Kant further divides such a historical doctrine of
nature into natural description and natural history. Natural description
is a system of classification for natural things in accordance with their
similarities. One might, for example, think of Linnaeus’s elaborate tax-
onomies of the animal, vegetable, and mineral kingdoms as paradigmatic
cases of natural description, since frogs, bears, beetles, and trees are all
classified according to their shared traits (even if Linnaeus’s criteria for
classification were artificial and did not yield ‘natural kinds’). Natural
history, by contrast, is a systematic presentation of natural things at var-
ious times and places. Physical geography is a clear example of natural
history, since it describes the Earth’s most important features at different
times and places.
xvii
Taking this important distinction between the different kinds of doc-

trine of nature into account puts us in a position to recognize two points,
one relatively superficial and the other more fundamental. First, even if
Kant’s conception of natural science is not as narrow as is sometimes
thought, it is restrictive enough to exclude much of what we today think
of as natural science. As a result, many of the writings contained in this
volume do not, technically, count as natural science for Kant. Second,
and more importantly, Kant nonetheless recognizes the importance of
these other kinds of cognition of nature. For not only does he provide
a theoretical structure and nomenclature for them, he also attempts to
make extensive contributions to the doctrine of nature. Some of these
contributions are relatively minor, such as his writings in this volume
on earthquakes, winds, fire, and comets. However, others are incredibly
(perhaps even overly) ambitious – in particular two of the major publica-
tions contained in this volume. The Universal Natural History and Theory
of the Heavens and the Physical Geography (and especially the former) are
really substantial contributions to natural history.
Moreover, if we step back even further from the details of the exact
status of Kant’s writings in the present volume, we can also see that
Kant’s dedication through the course of his career to what we call natural
science provides a somewhat different picture of the character and sig-
nificance of his intellectual contributions from what appears in philoso-
phers’ accounts or analyses of his work. Without in any way calling into
question the profundity of the strictly philosophical reflection that must
have been required for his ‘purely’ philosophical achievements in the
three great Critiques – whether it be the adoption of a transcendental
standpoint, the argument of the Transcendental Deduction of the Pure
Concepts of the Understanding, or even the development of transcen-
dental idealism – we can simply add that this reflection was preceded and
accompanied by considerable devotion, whether measured in terms of
time, effort, or activity, to understanding the actual world we live in, both
in its details and in its basic structure. Whatever Kant’s own statements
about philosophical method might be, his serious engagement with a
broad range of natural sciences, or rather doctrines of nature, proved to
be a particularly important element in the overall body of his work and
in his philosophical accomplishments.
xviii
1
Thoughts on the true estimation of
living forces and assessment of the
demonstrations that Leibniz and other
scholars of mechanics have made use of in
this controversial subject, together with
some prefatory considerations pertaining to
the force of bodies in general
introduction
In 1686, in a short article published in the Acta Eruditorum and
titled “A Brief Demonstration of Memorable Errors of Descartes and
Others Concerning a Natural Law,” Leibniz claimed to demonstrate
that one of Descartes’s fundamental laws of motion was false.1 Specif-
ically, Descartes held that, due to God’s immutability, the ‘quantity of
motion’ in the world must be conserved, where the quantity of motion
was to be represented as the product of the size and the speed of matter in
motion. Translated into contemporary terms and modified somewhat,
this quantity is called ‘momentum’ and is represented by mv.2 Moreover,
Descartes’s law of the conservation of the quantity of motion formed
an integral part of his broader philosophical position, not only because
it followed immediately, on his view, from the necessity of God’s
immutable nature, but also because it had to be consistent with
Descartes’s distinctive and rather restrictive account of the nature of mat-
ter, namely as consisting solely in extension, including its modes, such
as size, shape, place, and changes therein such as motion. For whatever
quantity God conserves in the world must be a quantity that matter actu-
ally has, and since size and velocity are modes of extension, Descartes’s
account of matter goes hand in hand with his conservation law. As a con-
sequence, however, if Leibniz’s objection to Descartes’s conservation law
is correct, then it does not concern an inessential detail of Descartes’s
position, but rather goes to the heart of his natural philosophy and entails
that significant features of that account must be rejected.
1
Natural Science
Leibniz’s explicit argument, which is presented in his Discourse on

Metaphysics (§17), proceeds by way of a consideration of the following
three principles. (1) A body that falls from a certain height acquires,
through its fall, the same force that is necessary to elevate it to that
same height (excluding external interference, such as friction with the
air, etc.). This principle is sometimes viewed as a more specific instance
of the metaphysical-sounding law that the whole effect must be equal
to the total cause. (2) The same quantity of motion, which Descartes
also referred to as motive force, is required to raise a body with one
unit of mass to a height of four units of length (call this case A) as is
required to raise a body with four units of mass to a height of one unit
of length (call this case B). This principle follows from Descartes’s law
of the conservation of the quantity of motion, since it entails that the
quantity of motion of the bodies in cases A and B are equal; for 1 times
4 (ma va ) is the same as 4 times 1 (mb vb ). This principle may seem to be
intuitive, since it would not appear to make any difference to the force
involved whether one raises one body one unit of length four times
in succession or rather raise four such bodies one unit of length each.
(3) Galileo proved experimentally that the velocity a body acquires in
free fall is proportional to the square of the distance fallen. The problem,
Leibniz argues, is that these principles are inconsistent. While the first
and second principles entail that the quantities of motion in cases A and B
are equal, the first and third principles entail that the quantity of motion
in case B would have to be greater than the quantity of motion in case A.
Specifically, according to Galileo’s law, the velocity acquired if the ball
is released in case A is twice the velocity acquired by the ball if released
in case B, but since the body’s mass in case B is four times greater than
the body’s mass in case A, the quantity of motion in case B will be twice
as great as that in case A. According to Leibniz’s argument, therefore,
the quantity of motion is not conserved in cases of bodies in free fall and
Descartes’s conservation law is false.3
While Leibniz thus concluded that the ‘quantity of motion’ (mv) is
not conserved in such cases, he did not for that reason conclude that
no quantity at all is conserved in the world. Instead, he suggested that
something he called ‘motive force’ is conserved, though this quantity
is represented as the product of the mass and the square of the veloc-
ity (i.e., mv2 ) and was also referred to as living force. In contemporary
terms, this quantity is partially captured by our concept of kinetic energy
(=1/2 mv2 ). Moreover, throughout the 1680s and ’90s, Leibniz devel-
oped a novel and comprehensive natural philosophy that was designed,
at least in part, to support this conservation law. Thus, in “A New System
of the Nature and Communication of Substances, and of the Union of
the Soul and Body,” published in 1695, he articulated the fundamental
features of the nature of substance as an active force that could serve
2
Thoughts on the true estimation of living forces
not only as a metaphysical principle of unity (in contrast to Descartes’s

infinitely divisible extension), but also as the seat of such a living force,
whereas in the first part of his “Specimen Dynamicum,” likewise pub-
lished in 1695, he advanced a dynamical account of bodies, positing
primitive and derivative active and passive forces as part of his analysis,
thereby allowing him to arrive at what he called “a true estimation of
forces.”4
The controversy that ensued, the so-called vis viva debate, was consid-
erable, unsurprisingly so, given that two comprehensive natural philoso-
phies were at stake. Many of the most important figures working in nat-
ural philosophy and mathematics at the time weighed in on the issue,
with the sides lining up, roughly, according to nationality; the French
usually agreed with Descartes, whereas the Germans, Dutch, and Swiss
mostly followed Leibniz. The English Newtonians either remained neu-
tral on the issue (e.g., by rejecting the idea that any quantity must be
conserved) or sided with the Cartesians. (It may be recalled that Leibniz
and Newton did not enjoy particularly friendly relations after their pub-
lic controversies, e.g., about the discovery of the calculus.) Moreover, in
spite of the apparent simplicity of the cases that were invoked on each
side, no explicit consensus emerged for several decades about how best
to resolve the dispute. In fact, while many scholars have claimed that
d’Alembert articulated the definitive solution in his Traité de Dynamique
in 1743 (according to which the problem arises due to an ambiguity in
the way in which terms, such as ‘motive force,’ are used), others have
claimed more recently that the dispute did not rest on a simple confusion
or ambiguity that could be clarified in short order and that the dispute
ended not so much with a clear resolution as with an eventual lack of
interest.5
Viewed against this broader philosophical background, the central
point of Kant’s Thoughts on the True Estimation of Living Forces can
be summarized as a sustained attempt at resolving this debate. How-
ever, the situation is hardly this simple and straightforward, even if one
abstracts from the difficulty involved in finding a coherent and satisfying
resolution of the conflicting principles and arguments. For the circum-
stances surrounding the writing and publication of this work were rather
complicated. Kant started working on the True Estimation as a twenty-
one-year-old student around 1744 and completed most of it in 1746, at
which time he submitted it to the university censor in Königsberg, who
approved it for publication. However, publication, financed in part by
Kant and in part by a close relative, was delayed for three years, until
1749, which allowed Kant to insert further material (a dedication as well
as further argument and commentary in §§ 107–113 and §§ 151–156) in
1747. In 1746, however, Kant’s father died after a lengthy illness, leaving
him, as the eldest son, with the task of dealing with the family’s estate
3
Natural Science
and the care of his siblings, as well as an even less favorable financial
situation than he had faced previously. In these circumstances, Kant left
the university in August of 1748, without obtaining a degree, to become
a private tutor to a series of families in the vicinity of Königsberg. That
Kant did not receive a degree was due, at least in part, to the fact that he
had not written a suitable master’s thesis; the True Estimation was written
in German, not in Latin, as would have been required at the time.
These complications suggest several questions about the True Estima-
tion. For one: Why did Kant write and then publish the True Estimation
at all, especially when it came at considerable personal expense and at a
time when he found himself in an unfavorable financial situation? What
did he hope to achieve with an abstract academic treatise on a topic in
natural philosophy that did not contribute to advancing his career at
the university? It was clearly an expression of intellectual independence
and grand ambitions. It might also be interpreted as an act of rebellion
against his teachers who may have failed to appreciate his talents.6 It is
significant that Martin Knutzen, one of Kant’s teachers, recommended
other students over Kant, and that Kant may well have been criticizing
Knutzen’s position in the first part of the book (though he is not explicitly
mentioned by name).
For another: Who was Kant’s intended audience for the book? The
fact that it was written in German (rather than Latin or French) would
have excluded the widest possible European audience. Yet his remarks
in the preface suggest that he hoped for a broad readership. Kant’s own
actions provide an oblique indication of his intentions. After the book
was published, he sent a copy to a former fellow student, Ferdinand
Mühlmann, requesting that it be reviewed, and another copy to Leon-
hard Euler, the famous mathematician at the Royal Academy of Sciences
in Berlin at the time. If Euler had thought well of the work, he could
have improved Kant’s prospects considerably. Whatever Kant’s intended
purpose and audience, however, the book received a favorable review
by Mühlmann in the Frankfurtische Gelehrte Zeitung in 1749, a satirical
review by Lessing in the Neuestes aus dem Reich des Witzes in 1751, and
an anonymous critical review in the Nova Acta Eruditorum in 1752.
What is Kant’s main argument in the book? The True Estimation is
divided into a preface and three chapters. In the preface, Kant makes
the case that his thoughts should be taken seriously, despite the fact that
he was not a well-known author and he was addressing a highly con-
tentious issue. Specifically, he expressed his intention of contradicting
and criticizing a number of the leading intellectuals of the day (I–II),
claimed that prejudice, though an ineradicable element of the human
condition, will not deter him from subjecting his thoughts to the impar-
tial judgment of others (III–VII), and addressed the concern that he
might appear to be overly confident or, for that matter, impolite in the
4
statement of his views (VIII–X). He ended with a brief assessment of

the current state of the controversy regarding the proper measure of
force (XI–XIII), where he concluded, with a somewhat misguided pre-
science, that the controversy “will be settled shortly, or it will never
cease” (1:16).
In Chapter One, “Of the force of bodies in general,” Kant considers
the proper notion of force in general and distinguishes two different
kinds of motions that are fundamental, in his view, to resolving the vis
viva debate. He begins by arguing that the force that is essential to bodies
should be characterized, with Aristotle and Leibniz, as an active, and not,
with Wolff, as a moving force, even though one can explain how an active
force is responsible for motion (§§ 1–4). In addition to the fact that one
can avoid the circularity of invoking moving force to explain motion, Kant
thinks that it allows one to solve the mind–body problem (§§ 5–7), to
explain the relations between substances and the world they constitute
through their causal connections (§§ 8–11), and to clarify two objections
that have been raised against a certain understanding of how forces act
on each other (§§ 12–14). Along the way, Kant offers suggestions about
how causality is prior to spatiality (§ 9) and how the three-dimensionality
of space derives from the inverse proportionality of the square of the
distances (§ 10). He concludes the first chapter by distinguishing between
a ‘free’ motion, which can conserve itself in the body to which it has
been communicated and which can therefore continue to infinity if no
impediment opposes it, and those motions that require constant external
stimulation and thus which disappear immediately if their external forces
cease to sustain them (§§ 16–19). He has projectiles in mind as examples
of the former, and what was recognized as ‘dead force’ as an instance
of the latter. This distinction turns out to be crucial, because it will
allow him to advance his “main purpose of improving on the Leibnizian
measure of force” (1:28). Specifically, he wants to argue that both kinds
of motion are real, with the former requiring living force, represented by
the Leibnizian concept of ‘living force’, mv2 (our ‘energy’), and the latter,
by contrast, needing dead force, which is represented by the Cartesian
measure, mv (our ‘momentum’).
Chapter Two, “Examination of the theorems of the Leibnizian party
concerning living forces,” by far the longest chapter, is an extensive
and detailed critique of Leibniz’s position and of the various arguments
he and his followers had advanced in its favor. Kant’s main reason for
accepting the Cartesian measure over the Leibnizian one – with impor-
tant qualifications to which Kant returns in Chapter Three – is that
the Cartesian conception of force is measurable in bodily motions over
time and in space, whereas Leibnizian force pertains only to an incipient
stage prior to motion that for that reason cannot be measured experi-
mentally (§§ 20–28). The bulk of the chapter is devoted to an analysis
5
Natural Science
of the range of relevant mechanical cases. In §§ 30–36, Kant argues

that Leibniz cannot use the case of free fall to support his position,
since he fails to take into account Descartes’s condition that the time
during which the fall occurs is relevant to a proper analysis, and both
Herrmann’s and Lichtscheid’s responses on Leibniz’s behalf are shown
to be inadequate. In §§ 37–57 Kant argues for three separate claims:
(1) the various accounts of the collisions of elastic bodies that are equal
in their mass and velocity offered by Herrmann, Bernoulli, and Chastelet
are unsatisfactory, since rather than supporting the conservation of ‘liv-
ing forces,’ such cases actually prove the Cartesian estimation; (2) his
objections are not to ‘living force’ per se, but rather to the more limited
point that ‘living forces’ could be measured mathematically; (3) he shows
that the complications arising in cases of unequal bodies make no relevant
difference to the case in favor of ‘living forces.’ In §§ 58–70, Kant then
reacts critically to Leibniz’s account of cases of inelastic collisions. In
§§ 71–113 Kant proceeds to analyze a range of more complicated cases:
compound motions (§§ 71–78), oblique and circular motions (§§ 79–
85), as well as further cases discussed by Leibniz (§§ 92–102), Wolff
(§§ 103–106), Musschenbroek (§§ 107–108), and Jurin, Chastelet, and
Richter (§§ 109–113). The second chapter concludes with miscellaneous
remarks about previously discussed issues.
In Chapter Three, “Presenting a new estimation of living forces, as
the true measure of force in nature,” Kant presents his own resolution
of the conflict between the Cartesian and the Leibnizian measures of
force. Central to his account is the distinction between free and unfree
motions he had introduced in Chapter One, and a corresponding dis-
tinction between natural and mathematical bodies, for this allows him to
assert that even though the Cartesian estimation of force is mathemati-
cally correct for certain kinds of bodies in motion, the Leibnizian esti-
mation is also correct, albeit not mathematically, for certain other kinds
of bodies in motion. In §§ 114–137 Kant lays out the basic elements of
his account, including an explanation of how vivification occurs through
the infinitely many steps from dead to living force (§§ 122–123), a state-
ment of his own new law, without conditions (§124), a clarification of the
contingent status of living forces (§129), and the discovery of “a com-
pletely unknown dynamical law” which, he alleges, is even confirmed
by experience (§§ 132–133). In §§ 138–150 Kant then clarifies how his
account applies to a range of cases, many of which he had analyzed to a
different end in Chapter Two: how living force relates to external resis-
tance (§ 138), gravity (§§ 139–140), soft bodies (§ 141), varying masses
(§§ 142–145), fluids (§§ 146–147), and elastic bodies (§§ 148–149). In
§§ 151–156, one of the later additions, Kant inserts a critical discussion
of Musschenbroek’s ‘mechanical’ proof of living forces. In §§ 157–163,
Kant concludes this chapter, and thus his first published work, with a
6
‘proof ’ of his theory and a discussion of objections that he anticipates

being leveled against his position in light of remarks made by various
Cartesians.
Kant’s Thoughts on the True Estimation of Living Forces cannot be
viewed as having achieved what he had hoped for it. It did not solve
the vis viva debate, and many of his most distinctive claims have been
rejected.7 However, the work does provide a substantive view of Kant’s
earliest philosophical thought, which is interesting in its own right as well
as extremely useful for understanding Kant’s later, more revolutionary
Critical period.
This translation, which is the first one to be published in English, is

based on a reprint of the original published edition, though the version
printed in the Academy edition has been consulted and several emen-
dations suggested therein have been indicated in footnotes. For ease of
use, references to the Academy edition are placed in the margins to the
text. Factual notes are indebted in numerous places to Kurd Lasswitz’s
“Sachliche Erläuterung” [Factual Explanations] in the Academy edition.8
bibliography
Arana Cañedo-Agüelles, Juan. Pensamientos sobre la verdadera estimación de las
fuerzas vivas. Traducción y Comentario (Bern: Peter Lang, 1988).
Polonoff, Irving. Force, Cosmos, Monad and other Themes of Kant’s Early Thougt
[sic] (Bonn: Bouvier, 1973).
Schönfeld, Martin. The Philosophy of the Young Kant. The Pre-Critical Project (New
York: Oxford University Press, 2000).
Smith, George. “The Vis Viva Dispute: A Controversy at the Dawn of Dynam-
ics,” Physics Today 59 (2006): 31–36.
7
Contents
[Dedication] 12
Preface 14
chapter one Of the force of bodies in general 22
chapter two Examination of the theorems of the Leibnizian
party concerning living forces 34
chapter three Presenting a new estimation of living forces,
as the true measure of force in nature 121
9
Thoughts on the True Estimation of 1:1
Living Forces and Assessment of the
Demonstrations that Leibniz and Other
Scholars of Mechanics a Have Made Use of
in this Controversial Subject, Together
with Some Prefatory Considerations
Pertaining to the Force of Bodies in
General
by Immanuel Kant.
Königsberg,
Printed by Martin Eberhard Dorn.
1746.9
a Mechaniker
1:3 To that most noble, learned and experienced Gentleman,
Mr. Johann Christoph Bohlius,10
Doctor of Medicine, Second Professor Ordinarius
at the Königsberg Academy,
And Royal Physician,
my most Revered Patron.

Most Noble Sir, 1:5
most learned and experienced Doctor,
and most estimable Patron!
To whom can I better turn than to you, most noble Sir, in order to draw
every advantage from so paltry a matter as the present work? After the
special sign of benevolence that you have shown me, I dare to hope that
this liberty will be received as evidence of my gratitude. The character of
this little work has in itself nothing on which I could base any confidence
with regard to it; for the honor of embellishing one’s treatise with your
name is not something that one could present to you as a gift, most
noble Sir.11 A throng of imperfect thoughts which in themselves are
perhaps incorrect or which, indeed, lose all value through the humble
status of their author, thoughts which in the end sufficiently persuade me
that they are not worthy of being dedicated to you, that is all I have in my
power to present to you. Despite this, I give myself hope, by means of
the perfect conception I have formed of your goodness, that you will do
me the service I esteem most of all, namely, allow me to demonstrate my
appreciation to you, most noble sir. I shall in the future have more than
one occasion to remind myself of the obligation that binds me to you, 1:6
but the present occasion will be one of the best for me to acknowledge
publicly that I remain,
Most noble Sir,
most learned and experienced Doctor,
and most estimable Patron,
With everlasting respect,
Your most obliged servant,
Immanuel Kant
Königsberg,
22 April 1747.
13
1:7 PREFACE
Nihil magis praestandum est, quam ne pecorum ritu sequamur

antecedentium gregem, pergentes, non qua eundum est, sed qua
itur.b
(Seneca, De vita beata, chapter I)
i.
I believe I have cause to hold such a good opinion of the world’s judg-
ment, to which I submit these pages, that the liberty I take of contradict-
ing great men will not be construed as a crime. There was a time when
one had much to fear in such a venture, but I fancy that this time is now
past and that human understanding has already happily freed itself from
the shackles that ignorance and admiration had formerly placed on it.
Henceforth, one can boldly dare to think nothing of the reputation of a
Newton and a Leibniz, if it should oppose the discovery of truth, and
to obey no persuasions other than the forcec of the understanding.12
ii.
If I presume to reject the thought of a Herr von Leibniz, Wolff,
Herrmann, Bernoulli, Bülfinger and others and to give precedence
to my own, then I would not wish to have worse judges than they, for
I know that their judgment, should it reject my opinions, would not
condemn my intent. One can give these men no more splendid praise
than fearlessly to criticize before them all opinions, not excluding their
1:8 own. Though regarding a different matter, restraint of this type brought
much credit to a great man of antiquity. Timoleon, despite the services
he had performed for the freedom of Syracuse, was once summoned
to appear in court. The judges were indignant at the presumptuous-
ness of his accusers. But Timoleon regarded this incident very differ-
ently. Such an undertaking could not displease a man who derived his
entire pleasure from seeing his country enjoy the most perfect freedom.
He defended those who made use of their freedom even against him.
The entire ancient world eulogized this course of action.13
b Nothing is more imperative than that we should not, like cattle, follow the herd of those
who have gone before us, traveling not where one ought to go, but where they have
gone.
c Zug
14
After such great efforts that the greatest men expended for the freedom
of human understanding, do we really need to fear that the success of
these efforts would displease them?
iii.
I shall use this restraint and fairness to my advantage. But I shall find it
only where the mark of merit and scientific excellence is manifest. Apart
from this, there remain yet a great many who are still dominated by
prejudice and the reputation of great persons. These gentlemen, who like
to be regarded as arbiters in matters of erudition, seem to be very skilled
at judging a book without having read it. To expose it to criticism, one
need only show them its title. If the author is unknown, without profile
and distinction, then the book is unworthy of spending time on, and all
the more so if he undertakes great things, like criticizing famous men,
improving the sciences, and touting his own thoughts to the world.14
If my case depended on numbers before the scientific tribunal, then it
would be very desperate. But this danger does not disquiet me. These
gentlemen are like those who, it is said, live only at the foot of Mount
Parnassus, possess no property, and have no vote in the election.15
iv.
Prejudice is just what humans need; it promotes ease and self-esteem, two
qualities one cannot get rid of without getting rid of humanity. He who 1:9
is full of prejudice praises to the skies and elevates above all others certain
men whom it would be futile to belittle and bring down to one’s own
level. This advantage covers everything else with the illusion of perfect
equality; and it does not let the prejudiced person perceive the difference
that still prevails among them and that would otherwise expose him to
the vexing consideration of seeing how often one is surpassed by those
who still inhabit the realm of mediocrity.
Thus, prejudice will be preserved as long as vanity still has power over
human minds; that is, prejudice will never cease.
v.
In the course of this treatise I shall have no qualms about straightfor-
wardly rejecting a proposition put forward by ever so great a man if
it appears false to my understanding. I shall incur very odious conse-
quences for taking this liberty.16 The world is inclined to believe that
he who in one case or the other believes himself to have a more correct
knowledge than, say, a man of great learning, is one who also imagines
15
Natural Science
he is superior to the latter. I dare say that this illusion is very deceptive,
and that it really does deceive here.
In the perfection of the human understanding there is no such pro-
portion and similarity as is to be found, for instance, in the construction
of the human body. In the case of the body it is indeed possible to infer
the dimensions of the whole from the dimensions of one or the other
members, but it is utterly different with the capacity of the understand-
ing. Science is an irregular body without harmonious proportions and
uniformity. In one part of knowledge or other a dwarf-sized scholar
occasionally surpasses another who is far superior in the overall range
of his scientific knowledge. To all appearances, human vanity does not
extend so far as to be able to overlook this distinction and regard insight
into some truth or other as equivalent to the broad sum total of superior
knowledge; at least I know that it would be unjust to raise this objection
against me.
1:10 vi.
The world is not so misguided as to think that a distinguished scholar
is no longer subject to the risk of error. But that a lowly and unknown
writer has avoided those errors from which a great man could not be
rescued by all his perspicacity, that is a difficulty which is not so easy to
digest. There is a great deal of presumption in the words: the truth that
the greatest masters of human knowledge have sought in vain to
acquire has first presented itself to my understanding. I do not dare
to justify this thought, but I would not like to renounce it either.
vii.
I fancy that it is sometimes not without use to place a certain noble
trust in one’s own powers. Such confidence enlivens all our efforts and
confers on them a certain momentumd that is very advantageous to the
investigation of truth. If one is in a position to persuade oneself that one
may place some credence in one’s view and that it is possible to catch
Herr von Leibniz making mistakes, then one does everything in one’s
power to verify one’s claim. When one has erred a thousand times in a
venture, the profit which thereby accrues to the cognition of truth will
nonetheless be far more considerable than if one had always remained
on well-trodden paths.
I am basing myself on the following. I have already marked out the
path that I shall take. I shall set out on my course, and nothing shall
hinder me from proceeding along it.17
d Schwung
16
viii.
There is another objection that will be raised against me and that it seems
I must preempt. I shall on occasion be heard as giving the impression of
someone who is very well assured of the correctness of his conclusions
and who does not fear that he will be contradicted, or that his inferences
might deceive him. I am not so vain as actually to imagine myself in this
position, and I also have no cause to exempt my conclusions so carefully 1:11
from the appearance of error, for after the many false steps that human
understanding has been subject to making throughout the ages, it is no
longer a disgrace to have erred. An entirely different intention underlies
my procedure. The reader of these pages is undoubtedly prepared with
the theorems currently in vogue regarding living forces before turning to
my treatise. He knows what was thought before Leibniz announced his
estimation of forces to the world, and Leibniz’s position must be familiar
to him as well.18 The reader will inevitably have been won over by the
arguments of one of the two parties, and in all probability this will be
the Leibnizian party, for all of Germany has now declared its allegiance
to it. He reads these pages in this frame of mind. The defense of living
forces, in the form of geometrical truths, has occupied his entire soul.
He therefore regards my ideas merely as doubts, and if I am very lucky,
he will regard them merely as apparent doubts that, he believes, time
will resolve and that cannot stand in the way of the truth. By contrast, I
must use all my skill to retain the reader’s attention a bit longer. I must
present myself in the full light of the conviction that my proofs afford
me in order to draw the reader’s attention to the reasons that inspire me
with this confidence.
Were I to present my thoughts in the guise of doubts, then the world,
which is in any case inclined to regard them as nothing better, would
very easily dispose of them; for an opinion which one believes one has
demonstrated will long remain in favor, even if the doubts assailing it
are ever so plausible and cannot easily be dissolved.
A writer commonly draws his reader imperceptibly into the frame of
mind that he himself was in while writing his work. If it were possible,
I would like to communicate a state of conviction rather than that of
doubt; for the former state would be more advantageous to me, and
perhaps also to the truth, than the latter. Such are the little artifices that
I must not now despise in order to balance to some extent the scales on
which the reputation of great men so decisively weighs.
ix. 1:12
The final difficulty that I have yet to dispose of is the charge of impo-
liteness. It may appear that I could have treated those men whom I
17
Natural Science
venture to refute with more deference than I have actually done. I ought
to have expressed the judgment I have passed on their conclusions in a
much milder tone. I ought not to have called them errors, falsities, or
illusions. The harshness of these expressions seems to belittle those great
names against which they are directed. In the age of distinctions, which
was also a time of unrefined customs, one would have answered that
the conclusions should be judged in abstraction from all personal merits
of their authors.19 The politeness of this century, however, places me
under an entirely different law. It would be inexcusable if my manner of
expression violated the high esteem that the merit of great men demands
of me. But I am sure that this is not the case. If we encounter obvious
errors alongside the greatest discoveries, then this is not so much the
fault of the human being as it is of humanity; and one would do human-
ity, in the person of men of learning, too much honor if one were to
exempt it entirely from those errors. A great man who erects an edifice
of propositions cannot turn his attention to all possible sides equally.
He is especially caught up in a certain view, and it is no wonder if he
then overlooks mistakes from some other angle which he would cer-
tainly have avoided had he only directed his attention to it apart from
this preoccupation.
I wish only to avow the truth without further ado. I shall not be disin-
clined to regard as genuine errors and falsehoods those propositions that
strike me as such, and why should I place myself under the constraint of
so anxiously concealing these thoughts in my work in order to appear
not as I think, but rather as the world would prefer me to think?
And generally speaking, I would but poorly cope with the ceremony of
imparting a certain dash of civility to all of the judgments that I pass about
1:13 great men, of adroitly moderating their expressions, and of everywhere
showing the mark of deference; this endeavor would often place tiresome
limitations on my choice of words and would subject me to the necessity
of constantly wandering away from the path of philosophical reflection.
I therefore wish to use this preface as an opportunity to declare
publicly the deference and high esteem in which I shall always hold
the great masters of our knowledge whom I now have the honor of
calling my opponents, and whom the freedom of my inadequatee
judgments cannot in the least injure.
x.
Apart from the various prejudices that I have now endeavored to remove,
there still remains, finally, a certain legitimate prejudice to which I am
indebted for any conviction my work may nevertheless carry. If many
e schlechten
18
great men of proven acuteness and power of judgment are led, whether by
different paths or by the same path, to the assertion of one and the same
proposition, then it is a far more probable supposition that their proofs
are correct than that the understanding of some inadequate writer should
have observed a more precise degree of rigor in conducting such proofs.
The latter therefore has good cause to take a clear and straightforward
view of the subject under consideration and to analyze and explicate it
in such a way that, if he should come to a false conclusion, this must
at once become apparent to him; for it is assumed that, if the subject
under consideration is at once complex, then the one who is superior to
the other in acuteness will be more likely to discover the truth. He must
therefore, as far as possible, make his investigation simple and easy so
that, in relation to his power of judgment, he may presume that there
is as much lucidity and correctness in his consideration as the other can
presume in relation to his own power of judgment in a far more intricate
investigation.
In carrying out my plan, I have taken this observation as my law, as
will be perceived shortly.
xi. 1:14
Before concluding this preface, we still have to familiarize ourselves with

the current state of the controversy concerning living forces.
To all appearances, Herr von Leibniz did not first catch sight of living
forces in those instances in which he first presented them to the world.
The inception of an opinion is commonly far simpler, especially that of
an opinion containing something as bold and wonderful as estimation
according to the power of two.20 One has certain very common experi-
ences by which we perceive that an actual motion, a blow or push, for
example, always carries with it more powerf than a dead pressure,g even
if the latter is equally strong.21 This observation was perhaps the seed
of an idea that could not remain unfruitful in the hands of Herr von
Leibniz, and that subsequently grew to the heights of one of the most
famous of systems.h
xii.
Generally speaking, the subject of living forces seems to be tailor-
made, so to speak, for the understanding to be led astray by it in any
f Gewalt h Lehrgebäuden
g todter Druck
19
Natural Science
epoch whatsoever. Surmounted obstacles of weight, displaced mat-

ter, compressed springs, masses in motion, velocities originating
in composite motion, everything conspires wonderfully to produce the
appearancei of estimation by the square. There is a time when a multi-
plicity of proofs has the same value as what their rigor and clarity would
accomplish at some other time. This time is now at hand for the defend-
ers of living forces. If they feel little conviction for one or the other of
their proofs, then the appearance of truth that presents itself by way of
contrast from all the more angles, consolidates their approval and does
not allow it to falter.
xiii.
It is more difficult to say on which side of the controversy concerning
1:15 living forces the presumption of victory has hitherto been most conspic-
uous. The two Bernouillis, Herr von Leibniz and Herr Herrmann, all
of whom were among the leading philosophers of their nation, could
not be overruled by the reputation of other scholars in Europe.22 These
men, who had the entire arsenal of geometry at their disposal, were alone
capable of upholding an opinion that perhaps would not have been per-
mitted to emerge had it been in the hands of a less famous defender.
Both the party of Descartes and that of Herr von Leibniz felt for their
opinion all the conviction one is ordinarily capable of in human knowl-
edge. On both sides, only the opponents’ prejudices were lamented, and
each party believed that its opinion could not possibly be doubted if
only its opponents would take the trouble of considering it with proper
equanimity.
For all that, a certain peculiar difference is nevertheless evident
between the way in which the party of living forces seeks to sustain
itself, and the way in which Descartes’s estimation is defended. The lat-
ter appeals only to simple cases in which the determination of truth and
error is easy and certain, whereas the former makes its demonstrations as
complicated and obscure as possible and saves itself, so to speak, with the
help of night from a conflict in which, in the true light of distinctness, it
would perhaps always come off worse.
The Leibnizians still have nearly all experimentsj on their side, which
is perhaps the only thing they have over the Cartesians. Messrs. Poleni,
s’Gravesande and van Musschenbroek have done them this service, the
consequences of which would perhaps be splendid if more correct use
had been made of them.23
i Schein j Erfahrungen
20
In these prefatory comments I shall not relate what I intend to accom-

plish in the present treatise on the subject of living forces. This book has
no other hope of being read than is built on its brevity; it will thus be
easy for the reader to acquaint himself with its essential content.
Were I allowed to place any trust in my own judgment, then I would
say that my opinions might furnish several not unwelcome contributions 1:16
to overcoming one of the greatest divisions that now prevails among
European geometers. But such persuasion is futile: a person’s judgment
is nowhere less valid than in his own cause. I am not so much prejudiced in
favor of my own opinion that I would wish to lend an ear to the prejudice
of self-love for its sake. But be that as it may, I dare nonetheless to predict
this with confidence: Either the controversy will be settled shortly, or it
will never cease.
21
1:17 chapter one
Of the force of bodies in general.
§1.
Every body has I shall begin by specifying in advance a number of metaphysical concepts
an essential of the force of bodies in general, because I believe this will contribute
force. something to my aim of once and for all making the doctrine of living
forces certain and definitive; I shall thus begin with this.
It is said that a body in motion has a force. For everyone describes the
overcoming of obstacles, the compressing of springs, and the shifting
of masses as ‘acting.’k If one looks no further than to what the senses
teach, one will consider this force as something communicated solely and
entirely from the outside, something the body does not have when it is at
rest. With the sole exception of Aristotle, the whole lot of philosophers
prior to Leibniz was of this opinion. It was believed that Aristotle’s
obscure entelechy is the secret of the actionsl of bodies.24 None of the
Scholastics, all of whom followed Aristotle, comprehended this enigma,
and perhaps it was not made to be comprehended.25 Leibniz, to whom
human reason owes so much, was the first to teach that an essential force
inheres in a body and belongs to it even prior to extension.26 Est aliquid
praeter extensionem imo extensione prius;m these are his words.27
1:18 §2.
Leibniz The inventor gave this force the general name of ‘active force.’28 One
called this should only have followed on his heels in the systems of metaphysics,
force of bodies yet the attempt was made to define this force somewhat more precisely.
in general The body, it is said, has a moving force, for it is not seen to do anything
‘active force.’ except produce motions. When it presses, it strives toward motion, but
force is exerted only when the motion is actual. However, I maintain
that if one attributes an essential motive force (vim motricem) to the
body in order to have a ready answer to the question about the cause of
motion,29 then one is to a certain extent employing the artifice that the
k wirken
l Wirkungen
m There is something besides extension or rather prior to extension.
22
Scholastics exploited when, in investigating the grounds of heat or cold,

they resorted to a vi calorifica or fragificiente.n
§3.
It is incorrect to describe motion as a kind of action,p and thus to attribute One should
to it a force of the same name. A body that is subject to infinitely little describe the
resistance, and consequently hardly acts at all, is the body with most essential force
motion. Motion is merely the outward phenomenon of the state of a appropriately
as a ‘vim
body that does not act, but nonetheless endeavors to act, yet when it
activam.’o
suddenly loses its motion through an object, that is, at the moment at
which it is brought to rest, this is when it acts, which is why one should
not name a substance’s force after something that is not an action at all,
much less should one say of bodies acting in a state of rest (for example,
a ball which through its weight presses on the table on which it lies)
that they endeavor to move themselves. For since they would not act if
they were in motion, one would have to say that, inasmuch as a body
acts, it endeavors to attain the state in which it does not act. One ought
therefore to call the force of a body a vim activamq as such, rather than
a vim motricem.r
§4. 1:19
Nothing is easier, however, than to derive the origin of what we call How motion
motion from the general concepts of active force. Substance A, whose can be
force is determined to act externally (that is, to change the internal explained in
state of other substances), either immediately encounters an object that terms of active
receives its entire force at the first moment of its endeavor, or it does not force in
general.
encounter such an object. If the former took place with all substances,
then we would not become acquainted with any motion whatsoever, nor,
in consequence, would we name the force of bodies after it. However, if
substance A cannot exert its entire force at the moment of its endeavor,
then it will exert only part of it. But the substance cannot remain inactive
with the remaining part of its force. Rather, it must act with its entire
force, for otherwise it would cease to go by the name of force when not
exerted in its entirety. Because the consequences of this exertion can-
not be found in the coexistent state of the world, one must therefore
locate them in the world’s second dimension, namely, in the succession
of things.30 That is why the body will not exert its force all at once, but
n a hot- or cold-making force q active force

o active force r moving force
p eine Art Würkungen
23
Natural Science
will do so only gradually. However, in the succeeding moments it cannot

act on the very same substances on which it acted right at the start, for
these receive only the first part of its force and are not capable of receiv-
ing the rest; thus, body A gradually acts on ever different substances.
Substance C, however, on which A acts at the second moment, must
have an entirely different relation of location and position with respect
to A than does B, the substance on which A acted initially, for otherwise
there would be no reason why A should not initially have acted all at
once on both substance C and substance B. In the same way, each of
the substances on which A acts in subsequent moments has a different
position with respect to the initial location of body A. That is, A changes
its location in acting successively.
§5.
The sort Because we do not clearly discern what a body does when acting in a
of 1:20 state of rest, we always think of the motion that would result if resistance
difficulties that were removed. It would suffice to use this motion in order to obtain an
arise for the external characterizationt of what goes on inside the body and what we
doctrine of the cannot see. But motion is commonly regarded as what force produces
body’s action on
when it really breaks loose and what is the sole effect of force. Because
the soul if no
it is so easy to find one’s way back to the right concepts from this little
force other
than vim detour, one might think that such an error is of no great consequence.
motricems is But it is so indeed, though not in the context of mechanics and the doc-
attributed to trine of nature. For this is why it is so difficult in metaphysics to imagine
the body. how matter is capable of producing representations in the human soul
in a truly effective manner (i.e., through physical influence).31 What,
one asks, does matter do except cause motions? Hence, at most, all its
force will end up moving the soul from its location. But how is it pos-
sible for a force that produces only motions to generate representations
and ideas? These are, after all, such different kinds of things that it is
incomprehensible how the one can be the source of the other.
§6.
The difficulty A similar difficulty becomes apparent when the question is raised as
that arises to whether the soul, too, is capable of setting matter in motion. Both
concerning the difficulties disappear, however, and more than a little light is shed on
soul’s action on physical influence, when the force of matter is ascribed not to motion, but
the body. And rather to its actions on other substances, actions that must not be further
how this can in
general be
removed by s u
moving force active force
appeal to a vis t Charakter
activae.u
24
specified. For the question whether the soul can cause motions, that is,
whether it has moving force, is transformed into the question whether its
essential force can be determined toward an externally directed action,
that is, whether it is capable of acting outside itself on other entities
and of producing changes. One can answer this question decisively by
saying that the soul must be able to act externally by reason of the fact 1:21
that it is in a location. For when we analyze the concept of what we
call location, we find that it suggests the actions of substances on one
another. All that kept a certain acute author from making the triumph of
physical influence over pre-established harmony complete was nothing
more than this little confusion of concepts, a confusion that is easily
overcome as soon as one’s attention is directed to it.32
It is just as easy to grasp the nature of the paradoxical proposition If one merely
concerning how it is possible that matter, which one fancies can cause calls the force of
only motions, impresses certain representations and images on the soul. bodies in
For matter that has been set in motion acts on everything that is spatially general an
connected with it, and hence also on the soul; that is, it changes the active force,
then one easily
internal state of the soul insofar as this state is related to what is external
comprehends
to it. Now the entire internal state of the soul is nothing other than the how matter can
summationv of all its representations and concepts and insofar as this determine the
internal state is related to what is external to it, it goes by the name of soul to have
status repraesentativus universi;w thus, by means of the force that it has certain
while in motion, matter changes the state of the soul through which the representations.
soul represents the world. In this way, we can understand how matter
can impress representations on the soul.
§7.
In a subject matter of such great scope, it is difficult not to digress, Things can
but I must return to the observations I wanted to make regarding the actually exist
force of bodies. Since all connection and relationx of separately exist- without being
ing substances is due to the reciprocal actions that their forces exert present
on each other, let us see what sort of truths can be derived from this anywhere in
the world.
concept of force. A substance is either connected with and related to
other substances external to it, or it is not. Because every independenty 1:22
entity contains within itself the complete source of all its determina-
tions, it is not necessary for its existence that it should stand in any
connection with other things.33 That is why substances can exist and
nonetheless have no external relation to other substances, or have no real
v Zusammenfassung x alle Verbindung und Relation

w state of representing the world y selbständige
25
Natural Science
connectionz with them. Now since there can be no location without

external connections,a positions, and relations, it is quite possible that
a thing actually exists, yet is not present anywhere in the entire world.
This paradoxical statement is a consequence, indeed, a very obvious con-
sequence, of the most familiar of truths, but to my knowledge it has not
yet been noted by anyone. But other propositions derive from the same
source, and these are no less remarkable and occupy the understanding,
so to speak, against its will.
§8.
It is true in the One cannot say that something is a part of a whole if it stands in no
properly connectionb with the remaining parts (for otherwise there would be no
metaphysical discernible difference between an actual and an imagined union), but the
sense that more world is an actually composite entity, and so a substance connected with
than one world no thing in the entire world will not belong to the world at all, except
can exist.
perhaps in one’s thoughts, that is, it will be no part of the world. If there
are many such entities which stand in no connectionc with anything in
the world but which have a relation to one another, then this gives rise
to a very special whole; they constitute a very special world. Hence, it is
incorrect to say, as is regularly taught in philosophy lecture halls, that no
more than a single world can exist in the metaphysical sense. It is really
possible, even in the properly metaphysical sense, that God may have
created many millions of worlds, and it therefore remains inconclusive
whether they also really exist or not. The error committed here invariably
arose because close attention was not paid to explaining the world. For
the definition counts as belonging to the world only that which stands in
1:23 a real connection with other things,∗ whereas the theorem forgets this
qualification and refers to all existing things in general.34
§9.
If substances It is easy to show that there would be no space and no extension if
had no force to substances had no force to act external to themselves.35 For without this
act external to force there is no connection,d without connection, no order, and, finally,
themselves, without order, no space. Yet it is somewhat more difficult to see how the
then there
would be no
∗ Mundus est rerum omnium contingentium simultanearum et successivarum inter se con-
extension and
also no space. nexarum series. [The world is the series of all simultaneously and successively existing
contingent things that are connected with each other.]
z Verbindung c Verknüpfung
a Verknüpfungen d Verbindung
b Verbindung
26
plurality of dimensions in space derives from the law according to which

this force of substances acts externally.
Because I discern a circular inference in the proof that Herr von The reason for
Leibniz, somewhere in the Theodicy, takes from the number of lines that the three-
can be drawn at right angles to each other from a point, I have sought dimensionality
to demonstrate the three-dimensional charactere of extension from what of space is not
can be discerned from the powers of numbers.36 The first three powers yet known.
are entirely simple and cannot be reduced to any other, but the fourth
power, as the square of the square,f is nothing but a repetition of the
second power. As good as this property of numbers appeared to me as
a means of explaining the three-dimensionality of space, it proved to be
unsound in its application. For the fourth power is an impossibility with
regard to everything we can represent to ourselves concerning space by
means of the imagination. In geometry one cannot multiply a square by
itself, nor can one multiply the cube by its root; hence, the necessity
of three-dimensionality rests not so much on the fact that, in positing
several dimensions, one does no more than repeat the previous ones (as
is the case with the powers of numbers); rather it rests on a certain other
necessity I am not yet in a position to explain.37
§10. 1:24
Because everything found among the properties of a thing must be It is probable
derivable from what contains within itself the complete ground of that the three-
the thing itself, the properties of extension, and hence also its three- dimensionality
dimensionality, must also be based on the properties of the force sub- of space derives
stances possess in respect of the things with which they are connected. from the law
according to
The force by which any substance acts in union with other substances
which the forces
cannot be conceived without a certain law that manifests itself in its of substances
mode of action. Since the kind of law by which substances act on each act on each
other must also determine the kind of union and composition of many other.
substances, the law according to which an entire collection of substances
(i.e., a space) is measured, or the dimension of extension, will derive
from the laws according to which the substances seek to unite by virtue
of their essential forces.
Accordingly, I am of the opinion that substances in the existing world, The three-
of which we are a part, have essential forces of such a kind that they prop- dimensional
agate their effectsg in union with each other according to the inverse- character seems
square relation of the distances; secondly, that the whole to which to derive from
the fact that
substances in
the existing
e die dreifache Dimension g Wirkungen world act on
f Quadratoquadrat
27
Natural Science
each other in this gives rise has, by virtue of this law, the property of being three-
such a way that dimensional; thirdly, that this law is arbitrary, and that God could have
the strength of chosen another, e.g., the inverse-cube, relation; fourthly, and finally, that
the action is an extension with different properties and dimensions would also have
inversely resulted from a different law.38 A science of all these possible kinds of
proportionate
space would undoubtedly be the highest geometry that a finite under-
to the square of
standing could undertake. The impossibility we notice in ourselves of
the distances.
representing to ourselves a space of more than three dimensions seems
to me to stem from the circumstance that our soul likewise receives
1:25 impressions from without according to the inverse-square relation of
distances, and because its nature is itself constituted so as not only to be
thus affected, but also to act external to itself in this way.
§11.
The condition If it is possible that there are extensions of different dimensions, then it
under which it is also very probable that God has really produced them somewhere. For
is probable that his works have all the greatness and diversity that they can possibly con-
there are many tain. Spaces of this kind could not possibly stand in connection with those
worlds. of an entirely different nature;h hence such spaces would not belong to
our world at all, but would constitute their own worlds. I showed above
that, in a metaphysical sense, more worlds could exist together, but here
is also the condition that, as it seems to me, is the only condition under
which it might also be probable that many worlds really exist. For if the
only possible kind of space is a three-dimensional one, then it would
be possible for the other worlds that I assume to exist apart from the
one in which we exist to be spatially connected with ours, for the spaces
are of one and the same kind. Hence, the question would be why God
separated the one world from the other, since he would certainly have
imparted a greater perfection to his work by linking them; for the more
connection there is, the more harmony and agreement there is in the
world, whereas gaps and divisions violate the laws of order and perfec-
tion. It is thus not probable (though it is inherently possible) that many
worlds exist, unless the many types of space that I have just mentioned are
possible.
These thoughts may serve as the outline for a reflection that I reserve
the right to make. However, I cannot deny that I communicate them
as they occur to me and without lending them certainty by means of a
lengthier investigation. I am thus prepared to repudiate them as soon as
a more mature judgment reveals their weakness to me.39
h Wesen
28
§12.
The most recent philosophy lays down certain concepts of the essential Some teachers
forces of bodies, but these concepts are unacceptable.40 One calls this 1:26 of
force a perpetual striving toward motion. Besides the mistake that, as metaphysics
I initially showed, this concept carries with it, there is an additional claim that a
mistake which I now wish to discuss. If force were a perpetual endeavori body strives to
to act, then it would be a manifest contradiction if one were to say that move in all
this force’s effort is utterly and completely indeterminate with regard directions by
to external things. For by virtue of its definition, it endeavors to act on virtue of its
other things, and indeed, according to the accepted theorems of the most force.
recent metaphysicians, it really does act on these things. Hence, it appears
that whoever says that it is directed toward all regions rather than that it
is entirely indeterminate with regard to direction, speaks most correctly.
The renowned Herr Hamberger thus asserts that the substantial force of
monads strives toward motion equally in all directions and consequently
maintains itself in a state of rest by the equality of opposing pressures,
just as a pair of scales does.41
§13.
According to this system, motion arises when the equilibrium of two First objection
opposite tendencies is removed, and the body moves in the direction to this opinion.
of the greater tendency with the excess of force that this tendency has
gained over the smaller, opposite tendency. This explanation does satisfy
the imagination in a case where the moving body keeps moving forward
simultaneously with the moved body. For this case is similar to the one
in which someone supports one of two scales of equal weight by hand,
thereby causing the other scale to move. However, a body whose motion
is communicated to it by impact continues this motion to infinity, despite
the fact that the driving power ceases to act on it. According to the
system just cited, however, the body would not be able to continue in
its motion, but would rather suddenly come to rest as soon as the body
driving it onward ceased to act on it. For since the tendencies of the
body’s force in all directions are inseparable from the body’s substance, 1:27
the equilibrium of these inclinations will be re-established at the moment
when the external power that had opposed the one tendency ceases to act.
§14.
But this is not the only difficulty. Since a thing must be completely Second
determinate, the striving toward motion that substances exert in all objection to the
same opinion.
i Bestrebung
29
Natural Science
directions must have a certain degree of intensity, for this striving can-
not be infinite; however, a finite endeavor to act is impossible without
a certain quantity of effort;j hence, because the degree of intensity is
finite and determinate, let us suppose that if body A collides with a body
of equal mass with a power three times stronger than all the endeavor
toward motion the latter has in the essential force of its substance, then
this latter body will, through its vim inertiae,k deprive the approaching
body of only a third of its velocity, but it will also itself acquire a velocity
no greater than a third of the velocity of the moving body. Thus, after
the strike is delivered, body A, the approaching body, ought to continue
moving with two units of velocity, whereas body B ought to move in
the same direction with only one unit of velocity. Now because B stands
in the way of body A and does not acquire as much velocity as would
be necessary for it not to impede the motion of body A, but since body
B is nevertheless incapable of arresting the motion of A, A really will
move in direction AC∗ with
Fig. 1. two units of velocity, while
A B B A
B, which is in the way of A,
A D C
will move in the same direc-
tion with one unit of velocity;
nonetheless, the motions will in both cases continue unimpeded. But
this is impossible unless one were to suppose B to be penetrated by A,
which is a metaphysical absurdity.†
1:28 §15.
Dual It is time for me to conclude these metaphysical preliminaries. But I
classification of cannot refrain from adding another remark I consider indispensable for
motion. understanding what follows. I presuppose that my readers are acquainted
with the concepts of dead pressurel and its measure as they are encoun-
tered in mechanics, and in general, I shall not give a complete exposition
of everything pertaining to the doctrine of living and dead forces in these
pages, but rather merely outline some minor thoughts, which appear to
me to be new, and which promote my main purpose of improving on
the Leibnizian measure of force. Hence, I divide all motions into two
main kinds. One kind has the property of conserving itself in the body to
∗ Fig. 1.
† This can be understood more clearly if we consider that body A, after impact, will be at
C when body B has not yet passed beyond point D which divides line AC in half; thus,
body A will have had to penetrate the latter, for otherwise it could not have got ahead
of B.
j Anstrengung l todter Druck

k force of inertia
30
which it is communicated, and of persisting infinitely if no impediment

opposes it. The other is an enduring effect of a constantly driving force
which does not even require resistance to destroy it, but which depends
solely on an external force and disappears as soon as this force ceases to
sustain it. An example of the first kind of motion is fired bulletsm and
all projectiles, an example of the second kind is the motion of a balln
gently pushed forward by hand, or otherwise all bodies that are carried
or pulled with moderate velocity.42
§16.
Without entering into deep metaphysical considerations, it is easy to Motion of the
grasp that the force that expresses itself in the first kind of motion has second kind is
something infinite in comparison with the force of the second variety. no different
For the latter partially destroys itself and suddenly ceases as soon as the from dead
driving force is withdrawn; one can therefore regard it as if it vanished pressure.
at every instant but were also generated anew just as often, whereas the
former is an internal source of an intrinsically imperishable force that
performs its action over time. It is consequently related to the other
force as an instant is related to time, or as a point is to a line. A motion
of this kind is therefore no different from dead pressure, as Baron Wolff 1:29
already pointed out in his cosmology.43
§17.
Since I actually wish to discuss motion that conserves itself perpetually Motion of the
in empty space, I shall briefly consider the nature of such motion in first kind
accordance with metaphysical concepts. If a freely moving body proceeds presupposes a
in an infinitely subtile space, then its force can be measured by the sum force that
of all the actionso that it performs to eternity.44 For if this aggregate behaves as the
square of
were not equal to its entire force, then, in order to find a sum equal to
velocity.
the entire intensity of the force, one would require a time longer than
infinite time, which is absurd. Now if one compares two bodies, A and
B, assuming A to have two units and B one unit of velocity, from the
beginning of its motion on, A perpetually pushes at the infinitely small
masses of space it traverses with twice the velocity of B, but it also covers
twice as much space in this infinite time as B, thus the whole quantity
of the action performed by A is proportional to the product of the force
with which it encounters the small parts of space and the number of
these parts, while exactly the same is the case for the force of B. Now
m Kugeln o Wirkungen
n Kugel
31
Natural Science
the actions of both on the little molecules of space are proportional to

their velocities, and the numbers of these parts are likewise proportional
to the velocities; consequently, the quantity of the whole actionp of the
one body relates to the whole action of the other body as the square of
their velocities, and therefore their forces stand in this relation as well.∗
§18.
The second For a better conceptionq of this property of living forces, let us recall
reason 1:30 what was said in § 16. Dead pressures can have nothing more than sim-
for this. ple velocity for their measure; for since their force does not itself depend
on the bodies exerting them, but is rather supplied by an external power,r
the resistance that overcomes this power does not need a certain special
endeavor in respect of the strength with which this force seeks to con-
serve itself in the body (for the force is in no way rooted in the acting
substance, and does not endeavor to conserve itself in this substance),
but rather needs only to destroy the velocity that the body uses to change
its location. But things are completely different with a living force. Since
the state in which a substance is found as it continues in free motion
with a certain velocity is completely grounded in internal determina-
tions, this substance endeavors at the same time to maintain itself in this
state. Thus, in addition to the force that is required to counterbalance
the velocity of this body, external resistance must at the same time still
have a special power to break the striving with which the internal force
of the body works to sustain this state of motion, and the entire strength
of the resistance that is to bring the freely moving bodies to rest must
therefore be in a ratio composed of the proportion of the velocity and
the force with which the body endeavors to remain in this state; that is,
since the two relations are equal, the force that resistance requires is as
the square of the velocity of the approachings bodies.
§19.
I may not hope to achieve anything decisive and incontrovertible in a
reflectiont that is merely metaphysical, for which reason I shall turn
to the following chapter, which may perhaps, through the application
∗ Since I intend to raise certain objections to the opinion of Herr von Leibniz in this
work, I seem to contradict myself when I offer a proof confirming his opinion in this
section. But in the final chapter I shall show that Leibniz’s opinion really is supportable
if it is merely qualified in a certain way.
p Wirkung s anläufend
q Begriff t Betrachtung
r Gewalt
32
of mathematics, have more claim to be convincing. Like many other

sciences, our metaphysics is indeed only on the threshold of truly sound
knowledge, and God knows when one will see that it has been crossed. It
is not difficult to discern its weakness in much of what it undertakes. One
very often finds that prejudice is the greatest strength behind its proofs. 1:31
Nothing bears more responsibility for this than the dominant inclination
of those who seek to extend human knowledge. They would like to
possess a philosophy that is great, but it is desirable that it should also be
sound.u It is almost the only recompense for a philosopher’s endeavor
if, after a laborious investigation, he can finally rest in possession of
a properly founded science. It is therefore to demand a great deal of
him that he should only rarely trust in his own approval, that he should
not hide in his own discoveries the imperfections he is incapable of
correcting, and that he should never be so vain as to scorn the true
benefit of insight for the sake of the pleasure afforded by the illusion
of a sound science. The understanding is easily drawn to approval, and
it is certainly very hard to restrain it for long, but one really should
finally accept this restraint in order to sacrifice everything that has such
a general allure for the sake of sound insight.
u gründlich
33
1:32 chapter two
Examination of the theorems of the Leibnizian
party concerning living forces.
§ 20.
In the treatise that Herr Bülfinger submitted to the Petersburg Academy
I find an observation that I have always used as a rule in the investigation
of truth.45 If men of sound understanding put forward entirely opposed
opinions, and if neither or both of the parties may be presumed to have
ulterior motives,v then the logic of probability requires that we should
look above all for a certain intermediate positionw which concedes that
both parties are to some extent right.
§ 21.
I do not know whether I have been fortunate in other cases in this manner
of thinking, but in the controversy concerning living forces, I hope to be
so. Never has the world been divided more equally over certain opinions
than with those concerning the measure of the force of moving bodies. As
far as can be seen, both parties are equally strong and equally reasonable.
Ulterior motives may, of course, be involved, but of which party could
one say that it is entirely free of these? I therefore choose the surest
course by adopting an opinion whereby both parties receive their due.
1:33 § 22.
Leibniz’s and Before Leibniz, everyone paid homage to the single proposition of
Descartes’s Descartes that made simple velocities alone the measure of the force of
estimation of bodies in general, including those in actual motion.46 It occurred to no
forces. one that it might be possible to cast doubt on this, but Leibniz suddenly
scandalized human reason by pronouncing a new law that eventually
became one of those that presented scholars with the greatest intellec-
tual challenge.x Descartes had estimated the forces of moving bodies
purely according to velocity, whereas Herr von Leibniz posited as their
v fremde Absichten x Wettstreit des Verstandes

w Mittelsatz
34
measure the square of their velocities.47 He did not, as one might think,
put forward this rule of his only under certain conditions, which would
leave some scope for the previous rule, but rather denied Descartes’s law
absolutely and without qualification, and at once replaced it with his own
law.
§ 23.
There are actually two aspects of Herr von Leibniz’s rule I find objec- The first
tionable. The aspect that I shall now discuss entails no important conse- mistake in the
quences for the question of living forces. Nevertheless, one cannot omit Leibnizian
mention of it, so that nothing should be overlooked that might rescue measure of
such a major principle from all the minor objections one might raise forces.
against it.
The Leibnizian measure of force has always been formulated as fol-
lows: If a body is in actual motion, its force is as the square of its
velocity. Thus, according to this proposition, the mark of this measure
of force is nothing but actual motion. But a body can actually move
even if its force is not greater than that which it might exert, say, at
this initial velocity by pressure alone.48 I have already demonstrated this
in the previous chapter, and I repeat it once more. A ball that I gently
push forward on a smooth surface stops moving as soon as I remove my
hand. In a motion such as this, the force of the body therefore disappears 1:34
at every moment, but is just as often replenished by renewed pressure.
Thus, at the same moment that the body meets an object, it no longer
possesses its force from the previous motion; on the contrary, this force
has already been entirely annihilated, and the body possesses only that
force which the driving force communicates to it at precisely the moment
that it touches the object. One can therefore regard the body as if it had
not moved at all and as if it pressed on the impedimenty merely in a state
of rest. Such a body is thus no different from the body that exerts dead
pressure, and its force is not as the square of its velocity, but is rather
as its velocity pure and simple. This is therefore the first qualification
that I place on the Leibnizian law. Leibniz should not have specified
actual motion alone as the mark of living force; it was also necessary to
add free motion. For if the motion is not free, then the body will never
have living force. According to this qualification, the Leibnizian law,
although it is otherwise quite correct, must be formulated as follows:
A body in actual free motion has a force that conforms to the square
etc. etc.
y Widerstand
35
Natural Science
§ 24.
What actual I shall now make the second comment, which will reveal to us the sources
motion is. of the notorious controversy and which perhaps offers the sole means of
resolving it.
The defenders of the new estimation of living forces are still in agree-
ment with the Cartesians that at the very beginning of their motion
bodies possess a force proportionate to their velocity alone. But as soon
as one can describe the motion as actual, the body has, in their opinion,
the square of the velocity as its measure.
Let us now examine what an actual motion in fact is. For this word was
the cause of the divergence from Descartes, although it may perhaps
also be the cause of renewed agreement.
1:35 One calls a motion actual when it is no longer at its starting point, but
rather when it has lasted for a time. This time between the beginning of
motion and the moment when the body acts, is what makes it possible
to call the motion actual.
But note that this time∗ is not a fixed and determinate quantity, but is
instead wholly indeterminate and can be determined at will. This means
that one can suppose it to be as small as one wishes if one is to use it to
denote an actual motion. For it is not this or that quantity of time that
in fact makes the motion actual, but time as such that does this, however
small or great it may be.
§ 25.
The second Accordingly, the time spent in motion is the true and sole characteristicz
main mistake of living force, and it is this time alone that gives living force a special
in the measure compared to dead force.
Leibnizian Let us represent by line AB the time elapsed from the beginning of
measure of the motion until the body encounters an object on which it acts, so
forces.
that the starting point is represented by A.†
Fig. 2. Therefore, the body has a living force at point B,
A D C B
but it does not have any at the starting point A,
because if it did, it would press on an obstaclea
confronting it merely with an endeavorb toward motion. But let us con-
tinue our deduction as follows.
First, the time AB is a determination of the body located at B whereby
a living force is posited in the body, and the starting point A (that is, if
∗ In the formula of the Leibnizian measure of forces.

† Fig. 2.
z Charakter b Bemühung
a Widerhalt
36
I place the body at this point) is a determination that is a ground of the

dead force.
Second, if I think of this determination expressed by line AB as smaller,
then I place the body closer to the starting point, and it can easily be
understood that if I continue doing this, the body will eventually be
located at A itself; consequently, as the determination AB is shortened,
it will be placed ever closer to the determination at A; for if it did not 1:36
approach this latter determination, the body could never reach point A
by shortening the time, even if I were to continue shortening it to infinity,
which is absurd. Thus, the determination of the body at C comes closer
to the conditions of a dead force than it does at B, and at D it comes
closer than it does at C, and so forth until it fulfills all the conditions
of a dead force at A and the conditions of living force have completely
vanished.
But if, thirdly, certain determinations that are the cause of a property of
a body are gradually transformed into other determinations that are the
ground of an opposite property, then the property that is a consequence
of the former conditions must change simultaneously and be gradually
transformed into the property that is a consequence of the latter.∗ Now,
since shortening the time AB (which is a condition of a living force at B)
in thought necessarily brings this condition of living force closer to the
condition of a dead force than it was at B, the body at C must also really
have a force that comes closer to the dead force than it does at B, and it
must come even closer to this dead force if I posit it at D. Accordingly,
a body that has a living force under the condition of elapsed time will
not have this force in any arbitrarily short time interval; on the contrary,
this time must be determinate and certain, for if it were shorter, then
the body would no longer have that living force. Leibniz’s law for the
estimation of forces is thus incorrect, for it indiscriminately attributes a
living force to bodies which have been in motion for a time interval (that
is to say, which are actually in motion), however short or long this time
may be.†
∗ According to the rule of posita ratione ponitur rationatum [Having posited the reason, the
consequence is also posited].
† Briefly, the content of this proof is as follows. The time between the beginning of the
motion and the moment when the body collides can be conceived at will as ever shorter
without explaining how the condition of living force thereby disappears (§ 24); but now
diminishing this time is a reason from which it can be understood that, if one continues
with it, the body will ultimately be at the starting point, where the living force really
disappears, as the condition of dead force, by contrast, arises; diminishing this time is
therefore not a reason that takes anything away from the condition of living force, and
yet, at the same time, it is such a reason, which is contradictory.
37
Natural Science
1:37 § 26.
The same thing What I have now demonstrated is a very precise consequence of the law of
proven from continuity, whose extensive utility has perhaps not yet been sufficiently
the law of recognized. Herr von Leibniz, the discoverer of this law, used it as a
continuity. touchstone whose test Descartes’s laws failed to pass.49 I consider it
to be the greatest proof of his excellence that he is almost the only
one to offer a means of fully revealing the most fundamentalc law of all
mechanics and displaying it in its true form.
One need only direct one’s attention to the manner in which Herr
von Leibniz employs this principle against Descartes, and one will easily
perceive how it must be applied here. He proves that the rule that obtains
when a body collides with another moving body must also apply when a
body collides with a body at rest, for rest is no different from a very small
motion. What applies to collisions of unequal bodies must also apply
when bodies are equal, for a very small inequality can be exchangedd for
an equality.
In this way I also conclude that what generally applies if a body has
been in motion for some time must also apply even if the motion is
merely beginning; for a very small duration of motion is no different
from the mere beginning thereof, and it is appropriate to exchange the
two. I infer from this that if a body had any living force at all when it has
been in motion for a period of time (be it ever so short), then it would
also have to have this force when it first began to move. For it is the same
whether it is only beginning to move or whether it has already continued
to move for an extremely short time. And therefore I conclude that the
Leibnizian law of the estimation of forces is unacceptable, because it
entails the absurdity that there would be a living force even at the onset
of motion.
1:38 It is easy to perceive how counterintuitivee this law is if it is presented to
the understanding in a clear and proper light. It is impossible to persuade
oneself that a body with a dead force at point A is supposed to have a
living force, infinitely larger than the dead force, as soon as it moves an
imperceptibly small distancef from this point. This mental leap is too
abrupt; there is no path that could lead us from the one determination
to the other.
§ 27.
The time that One must pay careful attention to what follows from this. If the time
has elapsed in span is conceived of as indeterminate, then it cannot be a condition of
motion, and
hence also the
actuality of c e
berufenste wie sehr sich der Verstand dawider setzet
d verwechselt f Linie
38
living force, as I have shown above; but if this interval is conceived as motion, is not
determinate and restricted to a certain quantity, then it will still fail to the true
serve as the actual condition of living force, as I shall now prove in the condition under
which living
following manner.
force accrues to
If one supposes that one could demonstrate that after one minute a
a body.
body with a given velocity will have a living force, and that this minute is
the condition under which such a force accrues to the body, then if the
quantity of this time were to be doubled, then everything in the body
that previously, in a single minute,g had already conferred a living force
on it, would be doubled. But suppose (per hypothesinh ) that the quantity
of the first minute added a new dimension to the body’s force, then the
quantity of two minutes would add yet another dimension to the body’s
force, because this quantity involves double the conditions contained in
the first minute. Thus the body that freely continues its motion would
have a force of only one dimension at the starting point of its motion and
a force of two dimensions after one minute had passed; but it would have
a force of three dimensions after the second minute, four dimensions
after the third minute, five dimensions after the fourth, and so on. That
means that its force, with uniform motion, would at one point have for
its measure its simple velocity, then the square of its velocity, then the 1:39
cube thereof, then the square of the square, etc.; and no one will attempt
to defend excesses such as these.
The correctness of these inferences cannot be doubted. For if we
require that a time of a determinate quantity that elapses from the begin-
ning of the motion of a body up to a certain point should completely
contain the conditions of living force, then we also cannot deny that
there would be twice the conditions in double the time; for time has
no determinations other than its quantity. And if, therefore, one unit of
time sufficed to introduce a new dimension into the force of a body, then
double the time would posit two such dimensions (by the rule, rationata
sunt in proportione rationum suarumi ). One can also add that time could
be a condition of a living force only because, with its passing, the body
is distancing itself from the condition of dead force that obtained at the
initial moment, and that this time must therefore have a determinate
quantity, since in less time the body would not have distanced itself from
the determinations of the dead force to the extent required by the quan-
tity of living force. Now, since, in a longer time span, the body would
distance itself ever further from the initial moment, that is, from the con-
dition of a dead force, the longer a body moved, even at uniform velocity,
g nur einzeln genommen

h by the hypothesis
i Consequences are in proportion to their reasons
39
Natural Science
the more dimensions its force would have to attain, ad infinitum, which
is absurd.
First, therefore, the absence of the actuality of motion is not the
true and proper condition that the estimation of simple velocity
assigns to the force of bodies.
Second, neither the actuality of motion in general and, associated
with it, the general and indeterminate consideration of elapsed
time, nor the determinate and fixedj quantity of time is a suffi-
cient reason for living force and its estimation by the square of the
velocity.50
1:40 § 28.
Mathematics Let us draw two important consequences from this consideration.
cannot The first is that mathematics can never offer any proofs in favor
demonstrate of living forces, and that a force estimated in this way, even if it does
living forces. take place, nevertheless lies outside the domain of mathematical con-
sideration. Everyone knows that if one wishes to estimate the force of
a body moving with a certain velocity in this science, one is not tied
to any specific instant of time that has elapsed during the motion, but
that instead everything is indeterminate and arbitrary with regard to this
restriction. Thus, the estimation of the force of bodies in motion fur-
nished by mathematics is such that it applies to all motions in general,
however short the elapsed time may be, and that in this respect it sets us
no limits. But this type of estimation also applies to the onset of bodily
motion (§§ 25, 26), and thus to a dead force, which has simple velocity
as its measure. And since a single estimation cannot apply to both living
and dead forces, one can easily see that the former are entirely excluded
from any mathematical consideration.
Besides, mathematics considers in the motion of a body only velocity,
mass, and perhaps time, if one wishes to include this as well. Velocity is
never a cause of living force, for even if, in the opinion of the Leibnizians,
the body did possess a living force, it still could not have this force
in every single instant of its motion, but there would rather be a time
interval after the onset of its motion when it would not yet have this
force, even if all its velocity were already present in it (§§ 25, 26). Mass
is even less of a cause of living force. And, finally, we demonstrated
the same with regard to time. Thus, the motion of any body, taken
separately, has nothing in it that, in a mathematical deliberation, would
indicate a living force intrinsic to the motion. Now since all inferences
about what a body in motion does must be derived from the notions
j gesetzte
40
included in the consideration of velocity, mass, and time, they will not, 1:41
if they are drawn out properly, yield any conclusions establishing living
forces. And if it seems that they do perform this service, one should not
trust this illusion, for more would then be contained in the conclusions
than in the premises,k i.e., the rationatuml would be greater than its
ratio.m
After such varied and great efforts by geometers of these two centuries
to dispose of the disagreement between Descartes and Herr von Leibniz
with the help of mathematical doctrines, it may appear rather strange
that I should begin by denying that this science can decide the issue.
Some time ago there was indeed an argument over whether this science
favors Descartes’s laws or whether it defends Herr von Leibniz’s party.
But everyone in this conflict agreed that one must rely on the verdict of
mathematics to settle the issue of the estimation of forces. It is strange
enough that such great logiciansn should have been led astray without
discerning, or even reflecting on, whether this might indeed be the way
to acquiring the truth they were seeking. But I think I find reasons here
that compel me to throw all these odditieso to the wind, and where can
I turn after these reasons have pronounced their verdict?
The second consequence that I draw from the preceding consid- Mathematics
erations is this: mathematical reasons will consistently confirm already
Descartes’s law instead of supporting living forces.51 This point confirms
must already be clear from the propositions in this section, and I can Descartes’s law
also add that mathematical quantities, lines, planes, etc., have exactly according to its
nature.
the same properties when they are as small as possible as when they are
arbitrarily large, and therefore, from the smallest mathematical quan-
tities, from the smallest parallelogram or from the fall of a body along
the shortest line,p the very same properties and conclusions must be
deducible as from the largest of their kind. Now, if a line that displaysq
how a motion is constituted immediately after its beginning has the very 1:42
same determinations and properties, and even the same consequences,
as a line expressing a motion long after its inception, then the force we
extrapolate from a mathematical consideration of the motion of a body
will never have any properties different from those present in a body in
the shortest time, i.e., in an infinitely short time, from the moment of
inception. Now since this is a dead force, and therefore has simple veloc-
ity as its measure, each and every motion considered mathematically will
exhibitr no other estimation than that of velocity alone.
k Grundsätze o alles das Wunderbare

l consequence p durch die kleinste Linie
m reason q anzeiget
n Schlußkünstler r darlegen
41
Natural Science
§ 29.
Accordingly, even before we enter into a closer examination of the mat-
ter, we know that Leibniz’s adherents will be defeated in the notorious
conflict with Descartes, because they seek to defend themselves with
weapons ill-suited to the nature of their case. After this general observa-
tion, let us consider in particular the proofs that Leibniz’s party chiefly
made use of in this dispute.52
Herr von Leibniz was first led to his opinion by observations of the fall
of bodies through their gravity. But it was an incorrectly applied principle
of Descartes that led him into an error that eventually became perhaps
the most glarings mistake ever to insinuate itself to human reason. For
he put forward the following proposition: the same force is needed to
raise a body weighing four pounds one foot high as is needed to raise a
body weighing one pound four feet.53
§ 30.
The principle Since he appeals to the approval of all scholars of mechanicst of his time,
that first led I think he derived this proposition from a rule that Descartes used
Herr von to explain the nature of the lever.54 Descartes assumed that weights
Leibniz 1:43 suspended from a lever traverse the infinitely small spaces that can be
to living forces. plottedu in their distance from the fulcrum.v Now two bodies are in
equilibrium when these spaces are related to each other in inverse pro-
portion to their weights, and so, Leibniz concluded, no more force is
needed to raise a body of one pound to a height of four units than is
needed to raise another body with a mass of four units to a height of
one unit.55 One can easily perceive that this inference from Descartes’s
basic rule can be drawn only if the times of the motion are equal. For
in the case of steelyards,w the times in which the weights would tra-
verse their infinitely small spaces are equal.56 Herr von Leibniz ignored
this condition and drew his inference to motion in non-equal times
as well.
§ 31.
On Herr This man’s defenders seemed to have noticed the objection that could
Herrmann’s be raised against them with regard to time. They therefore attempted to
proof that frame their proofs in such a way that the difference in time may properly
forces are
proportional to
the heights s v
scheinbarste Ruhepunkt
reached by t w
Mechaniker Schnellwage
their means. u beschrieben
42
be regarded as absolutely nil in the case of the force that bodies attain
through their fall.
Let the infinite spring AB∗ represent the Fig. 3.
weight that follows the body in the course A C
of its fall from A to B. Thus, says Herr

Herrmann, the weight will communicate equal
pressure to the body at each point in space.57 He
represents these pressures by means of lines AC,
D E
DE, BF, etc., which together constitute rectan-
gle AF. In his opinion, therefore, the body has a
force equal to the sum of all these pressures, i.e., B F
to rectangle AF, when it reaches point B. Hence,
the force at D is related to the force at B as rectangle AE is related to AF,
i.e., as the traversed space AD is related to space AB, and consequently
as the square of the velocities at D and B.
Herr Herrmann argues in this way by claiming that the action per-
formed by the weight of a body in free fall corresponds to the space
covered during its fall.
By contrast, the Cartesians claim that the effectx of weight is propor-
tional not to the spaces covered in interrupted motions, but rather to 1:44
the times in which the body either falls or rises again.58 I shall now give
a proof that places the opinion of the Cartesians beyond any doubt, a
proof from which one will likewise come to realize where the specious
proof of Herr Herrmann goes wrong.59
§ 32.
An equal amount of force is necessary to compress a single one A proof that
of the five equally stretched springs† A, B, C, D, and E for refutes Herr
one second as is necessary to close all five springs successively Fig. 4. Herrmann’s
in the same period of time. For let the second, as the period of case.
E
time for which body M compresses spring A, be divided into
D
five equal parts; and instead of assuming that M presses down
on spring A throughout all these five parts of the second, let C
one assume that it presses on spring A only in the first part of B

the second, and that in the second part of the second another
spring, B, with the same degree of tension as A is substituted. A
M
Thus, when this substitution is made, no difference will be
encountered in the force that M requires to exert pressure. For springs
∗ Fig. 3.
† Fig. 4.
x Wirkung
43
Natural Science
A and B are perfectly equal in all respects, and it therefore makes no

difference whether in the second part of the second spring A is still under
pressure or whether it is B. Likewise, it makes no difference whether body
M, in the third part of the second, compresses spring C or still exerts
pressure on the previous spring, B; for one can put one spring in the
place of another, given that they differ in no respect. Body M therefore
applies as much pressure to keep the one spring A closed as it needs
to compress five such springs successively in the same period of time.
The same thing can be said if the time in which the pressure is exerted
is equal, even if one increases the numbery of springs to infinity. Thus,
the force of the body that compresses all the springs is not measured
according to the number of springs it compresses; the right measure is
rather the time during which pressure is exerted.
Now if we suppose the comparison that Herr Herrmann makes
between the actionz of the springs and the pressure of weight, then we
1:45 shall find that the space covered is not the measure by which the whole
action of the body must be estimated; it must rather be estimated by the
length of time that the body’s force can resist the weight.
This is therefore the first experiment that, I believe, confirms what I
said above, namely, that Descartes’s opinion in mathematical proofs is
superior to the law of Herr von Leibniz.
§ 33.
The In the Cartesians’ dispute with the defenders of living forces, which the
Cartesians’ Frau Marquise von Chastelet conducted with much eloquence, I find
mistake in that the Cartesians also made use of the difference in time in order to
asserting the invalidate the Leibnizians’ inferences concerning falling bodies.60 But
same thing. from what she cited from the work of Herr von Mairan against the new
estimation of forces, I see that the latter was unacquainted with the true
advantage that he might have derived from the difference in time and
that I believe I pointed to in the preceding section, which is certainly so
simple and clear that one must wonder how, with an understanding as
lucid as this, it was possible not to perceive it.61
It is certainly quite remarkable how far these men erred in their pursuit
of a true law of nature, namely, that the force that weight deprives a body
of is proportional to time and not to space. After they erred so far as to
concede to the Leibnizians that with twice the velocity a body could
bring about a fourfold effect,a after, I say, they thus ruined their case,
they were then compelled to rescue themselves by a rather poor evasive
y Menge a Wirkung
z Wirkung
44
move, namely that a body produces a fourfold effect, but only in twice
the time. They therefore insisted with uncommon seriousness that the
forces of two bodies must be estimated according to the actionsb they
perform in equal times, and that one does not need to consider at all what
they effect in unequal times. This evasive move has been countered with
infinite clarity, and I do not comprehend how it was possible to resist
the force of the truth any further.
But we also see from this that it is merely the fallacies of the Cartesians 1:46
that allow Leibniz’s party to triumph, and that they do not lose the battle
because of the weakness of their case. They would always retain the upper
hand if they would take up the right weapons, which the nature of the
case actually offers them.
§ 34.
I have shown that the effectsc weight brings about and the resis- A doubt raised
tance it exerts in upward motion correspond to the time that bod- by Herr
ies spend in motion. But I recall an instance that is perhaps suffi- Lichtscheid is
ciently plausible to make this proposition dubious to some. In the Acta laid to rest.
eruditorum, Herr Lichtscheid notes that if a pendulum∗ is permitted
to fall from D in such a way that
A∞
the thread runs into the obstacle at E,
Fig. 5.
and hence describes a smaller circle in
ascending from B to C, then, by virtue
of the velocity that it gains at B, it C
E
again reaches the height of CF, which is
D
equal to the height of DG from which it
descended. But the time which the pen-
dulum spends in its descent through arc F B
G
DB is longer than the time of its ascent
to C. Thus, weight has had its effect on the pendulum for a longer period
of time during its descent than during its ascent. Now one might think
that if it is true (as I demonstrated previously) that weight has a greater
effectd over longer periods of time, then the body should have gained a
greater velocity at B than the weight of the movement from B to C is
able to take from it again. By means of this velocity it should be capable
of swinging up beyond point C, which is nevertheless false according to
Herr Lichtscheid’s evidence.62
∗ Fig. 5.
b Wirkungen d Wirkung
c Wirkungen
45
Natural Science
But if we merely reflect that thread AB is more strongly opposed to

the body when it moves from D to B, and that it hinders its descent more
by its weight than thread EB or EC in its descent from C to B, it can be
easily comprehended that the element of force that is accumulated and
collected at all moments during the descent from D to B is smaller than
1:47 the elementary force that weight introduces into body C at each moment
during the opposing descent from C to B. Since it makes no difference
whether a body fastened to a thread is compelled, by its restraint at A,
to run through arc DB or arc CB, or whether it rolls freely downward
on a correspondingly curved surface BD CB, one can imagine that the
descent in question really takes place on two such hollow surfaces that
are connected with each other. Now if surface DB is less sharply inclined
with respect to the horizontal line than is CB, then the body is exposed to
the motor effectse of weight for longer on the former than on the latter,
but the surface also impedes a greater part of the weight that strives to
become incorporated into the body than does the other surface, CB.
I might have been excused from disposing of this objection, since
Herr von Leibniz’s adherents themselves appear to have perceived its
weakness (for I find that they have nowhere made use of it). But Herr
von Leibniz, whom Herr Lichtscheid selected to be the judge of his
treatise, highly commends it, and it is Leibniz’s reputation that could
lend it some weight.63
§ 35.
Before I leave the matter of the free fall of bodies by virtue of their
weight, I want to give the defenders of living forces yet another case to
resolve, which, it seems to me, should demonstrate sufficiently that it is
impossible to exclude the consideration of time from the estimation of
the force that weight introduces into a body, as Herr von Leibniz and
his defenders have hitherto sought to persuade us.
§ 36.
A new case The case is as follows: In the usual manner of the Cartesians and Leib-
proving that nizians, I imagine the pressures due to weightf that are communicated
time 1:48 to a body from height∗ ab down to the horizontal line bc as represented
must by an infinite number of metal springs AB, CD, EF, GH. Furthermore, I
necessarily be place one body, m, on the inclined plane ac, and I let another body, l, fall
taken into freely from a to b. Now how will the force of body m, which is propelled
consideration in
∗ Fig. 6.
e den Antrieben f die Drucke der Schwere
46
down the inclined plane ac by the pressure of the springs, be The estimation
estimated by the Leibnizians at the end of this Fig. 6. of the force
a
oblique fall at c? They cannot do otherwise than A B deriving from
l m
use as a measure the product of the numberg of C weight.
springs that propel the body from a to c and the D
force that each spring impresses on that body in E

F
the direction ac, for their systemh requires this, as
we have seen in the case of Herr Herrmann (§ G H
31). And in the same way, they are also compelled
to estimate the force found in a body, l, in its free
b c
fall from a to b by the Factumi of the numberj of
springs by which it is driven forward and the intensity with which each
spring propelled it. But the numberk of springs on both sides, down the
inclined plane ac as well as throughout the height of ab, is equal, for which
reason only the strength of the force each spring introduces into its body
in both instances remains as the true measure of the forces attained by
bodies l and m at b and c. This strength, with which each one of those
metal springs exerts pressure on body m in the direction of the inclined
plane ac, is related to the intensity of the pressure of these same metal
springs on body l in the direction of its motion from a to b just as ab is
related to ac, as the first principles of mechanics teach us. The force that
body l has at the end of its perpendicular fall at b will therefore be related
to the force that body m has at the end of its oblique fall at c just as ac is
related to ab, which, however, is absurd, for both bodies have the same
velocities at b and c, and thus also the same forces.
The Cartesians avoid this objection by bringing in time as well. For
though each spring introduces less force into body m on the inclined
plane ac (since a part of the force is consumed by the resistance of the
surface), these springs act on body m much longer than on body l, which
is exposed to their pressure for a much shorter period of time.
§ 37.
Now that I have demonstrated that the consideration of bodies falling
due to their weight is in no way favorable to living forces, it is time for 1:49
me to consider another kind of proof on which the defenders of living
forces have always prided themselves. At issue are the proofs that the
doctrine of the motion of elastic bodies appears to offer them.64
g Menge j Menge
h Lehrgebäude k Anzahl
i product
47
Natural Science
§ 38.
In the division occasioned by Herr von Leibniz’s estimation of forces,
as many illusions and digressions arose among the geometers as could
scarcely be predicted among such great masters of the art of deduction.l
The accounts preserved for us of all the episodes in this notorious con-
troversy will some day occupy a very useful place in the history of the
human understanding. No reflection can more readily triumph over the
imagination of those who rate the correctness of our rational deductionsm
so highly than those delusions that the most acute masters of geometry
were unable to avoid in an investigation which, more than any other,
ought to have brought them clarity and conviction.
It would have been impossible to go astray in this way if the Leib-
nizian gentlemen had been willing to take the trouble of directing their
attention to the construction of those very proofs they now regard as
irrefutable demonstrations of living forces.
§ 39.
The sum of all Nearly all, or at least the most plausible, of those proofs of living forces
proofs taken that were derived from the motions of elastic bodies due to impact
from the originated in the following way. The force present in such bodies after
motion of impact was compared with the force before impact. The first was found
elastic bodies. to be greater than the second if it was measured according to the product
of mass and velocity, but a perfect equality became apparent only when
the square of the velocity instead of simple velocity was posited. The
Leibnizian gentlemen inferred from this that an elastic body would never
be capable of introducing into a body that it strikes as much motion as it
1:50 actually does if that body’s force were simply proportional to its velocity,
for according to this measure, the cause would always be smaller than
the effect produced.
§ 40.
The This inference is completely refuted by the theorems of those very people
Leibnizians who drew it. I need not cite the mechanical discoveries of Wren, Wallis,
refute their Huygens, and others.65 Government Counsellor and Baron Wolff shall
inferences by be my authority.66 If one consults his Mechanics, which is in everyone’s
their own hands, one will find proofs that no longer leave any doubt that elastic
mechanical
bodies, in complete conformity with the law of the equality of cause
system.n
and effects, impart all their motions to other bodies without any need
l Schlußkünstler n Lehrgebäude
m Vernunftschlüße
48
to assume in them a force other than mere velocity. I can also add that
one may know nothing at all about living forces, not even their name,
without being in the least prevented from recognizing that from the
force of a spring-hard body in its impact on other similar bodies flow
just those motions that each body derives from it. After a geometrical
proof in which the force estimated according to mere velocity has been
judged sufficient, is it not strange to derive from this a certain magnitude
of motion in other bodies, is it not strange, I say, after such a proof to
entertain the notion that this force is not of sufficient magnitude for this
purpose? Is this not to retract everything that was formerly demonstrated
with all rigor, and to do this simply because of a slight appearanceo
to the contrary? I ask those who read these pages merely to compare
them with the Mechanics I cited. They cannot possibly feel anything but
the greatest conviction that they require no idea of estimation by the
square in order to find with all rigor those consequences and motions that
are customarily attributed to spring-hard bodies. Let us not therefore be
diverted from this path by any delusions whatsoever. For what is found
to be true in a geometrical proof will remain true forever.
§ 41. 1:51
Let us demonstrate in a particular case what we proved in gen- Herr
eral. In the treatise he composed in defense of living forces, Herrmann’s
Herr Herrmann lets a body A∗ with a mass of 1 and a velocity case of the
of 2 collide on a perfectly smooth impact of three
surface with sphere B, which is at Fig. 7. elastic bodies.
1 1 3
rest and has a mass of 3, but after-
wards, inasmuch as A rebounds C A B
off sphere B and returns with a

certain degree of velocity, he lets it collide with sphere C whose mass is
1.67 Sphere A will communicate one degree of velocity to sphere B and
another to sphere C, at which point it will be at rest. Herr Herrmann
infers from this that if the forces were proportional only to the veloci-
ties, then before impact A would have a force of 2, but after impact there
would be a fourfold force in bodies B and C together, a conclusion which
seems to him to be absurd.
Let us examine how body A, with a force of 2, can introduce a
fourfold force into bodies B and C without a miracle taking place
or without it being necessary to appeal to living forces. Represent
the elastic force of a body A,† which is activated by impact, by
∗ Fig. 7.
† Fig. 8.
o Anscheinung
49
Natural Science
Fig. 8.
spring AD and the elasticity of
sphere B by spring DB. Now we
1 3 know from the first principles of
C E
A D B mechanics that by means of these
springs, body A introduces ever
new pressures and forces into sphere B until B and A move off with equal
velocities, which occurs when the velocity of these bodies is related to
the velocity of sphere A before the collisionp as mass A is related to the
sum of the two masses A and B together; i.e., in the present case, when
they move with one half the velocity in direction BE. No one denies
that, in this case, the actionq will still be found to be proportional to
the force estimated according to velocity. But let us also examine what
happens to springs AD and DB when, by their means, body A acts on
1:52 sphere B. Because spring AD must exert just as much force on spring
DB at point D as this spring is to impress on body B, yet sphere B resists
with equal strength the action that occurs in itr just as strongly, it is
clear that spring DB will be compressed by the effort of the other spring
with exactly the same degree of force as it introduces into sphere B. In
exactly the same way, sphere A will compress its spring AD with exactly
the same degree with which this spring acts on spring DB at point D,
because spring DB presses against spring AD just as powerfully as the
latter acts on it, and thus also endeavors just as powerfully as sphere A
to compress its spring. Now because the force with which spring DB is
compressed is equal to the resistance of sphere B, and hence also to the
force that this ball thereby receives, but the force of the compression
of spring AD is also equal to the former, both are as great as the force
body B thereby obtained, i.e., the force with which it moves with a mass
of 3 and one half of a degree of velocity. If, therefore, both of these
springs rebound, spring DB gives sphere B a velocity equal to the velocity
before it rebounds, namely, 12 , and spring AD also gives body B three
times as much velocity, namely, 1 + 12 degree, since it has three times
less mass than B, for if the forces are equal, then the velocities are, per
hypothesin,s inversely proportional to the masses. Thus, sphere B has from
the collisiont of body A, and subsequently also from the rebound of its
spring, altogether one degree of velocity, in direction BE. But since the
velocity of 12 in direction AE that still remains in sphere A after impact
must be subtracted from the velocity in direction AC that was introduced
into it by the rebound of the spring, at point D this sphere also receives a
p Anlauf
q Wirkung
r die Wirkung, welche in ihr geschieht, . . . widersteht.
s by hypothesis
t Anlauf
50
degree of velocity, with which it moves off in the direction AC,∗ which is
precisely the case that Herr Herrmann considered impossible to explain
according to the Cartesian law.
I conclude from this that body A, with two degrees of velocity and also
with two degrees of force, can completely achieve the effectu that Herr
Herrmann wished to deny to it, and one violates the law of the equality 1:53
of causes and effects if one claims that the body had four degrees of
force yet effects only as much as it could effect with two degrees.
§ 42.
Let us try to discover in Herr Herrmann’s inferences the real point of The reason for
error that is found in almost all cases where only elastic bodies have been the error in
invoked for the sake of living forces. It has been reasoned that the forces Herr
of bodies after impactv must be equal to the force before impact; for the Herrmann’s
effectsw are as great as the causes that were exhausted in producing the conclusion.
effects. From this I gather that the state and magnitude of the force after
impact has occurred have been held to be the effect solely of the force
that was in the approaching body before impact.x This is the false step
whose consequences we have seen. For the motions that derive actually
and completely from the approaching body A amount to nothing more
than that A and B both moved away with one half the velocity when the
spring was compressed; the compression of the spring was not so much
a special effecty of the force with which A moved forward against B as
rather a consequence of the inertial force of both bodies. For B could not
attain the force of 1+ 12 without reacting just as powerfully against the
pressing spring DB, and spring AD could therefore introduce no force
into B if the state of equilibrium between pressure and counterpressure
had not compressed spring BD at the same time. Moreover, body A could
not compress spring DB by means of its spring AD, if this spring had not
thereby been compressed with the same degree of intensity. One should
not be surprised that two entirely new forces that did not previously
exist in body A alone enter into nature in this way. This actually happens
whenever an inelastic body acts on another body, but in this case the
effectsz of this new force are not preserved, as they are in the case of
spring-hard bodies, but rather are lost. For at the moment when A acts 1:54
∗ I do not involve body C here, for inasmuch as its velocity and mass are in no respect dif-
ferent from the mass and velocity of sphere B, Herr Herrmann has no need to introduce
it in place of body B.
u Wirkung x Anstoß
v Stoß y Wirkung
w Wirkungen z Folgen
51
Natural Science
At the moment on B with force x, B not only receives this force in the direction of BE; it
when inelastic at the same time reacts on A with intensity x. Thus, two forces of x are
bodies likewise first of all present in nature, namely: x for the pressure exerted by sphere
strike each A on sphere B, and likewise for the counterpressure exerted by sphere
other more B; and second, x as the force that passes from A over into B in direction
force is exerted
BE. The first two powersa are exerted in the collisionb of elastic bodies
than before
to compress two springs that subsequently communicate their forces to
impact.
those bodies when they are released. Hence, elastic bodies are those
machines of nature that are designed to preserve the entire magnitude
of force present in nature at the moment of the collision; for without
them, a part of the forces generated by the conflictusc of bodies would be
lost.
§ 43.
In solving Herrmann’s case, I have said nothing with regard to the
foundation of this proof, which this philosopher could not have been
acquainted with or which the most prestigious advocates of living forces
would claim to deny if it were important for them to declare themselves
on that account. Herr Herrmann must have known how the motions
originating in the impact of elastic bodies could be derived from their
mere velocity; for without this, it would never have been possible for him
to know a priori that a sphere with one unit of mass and two degrees of
velocity would produce four degrees of force in striking against a body
with three times its mass. I say that this case could not have been known
to him without the type of solution which we have given, for every-
one knows that, in a mechanical investigation, one finds the motions
produced by an elastic body through impact by first searching in par-
ticular for what the body does without its elastic force,d and that one
subsequently adds the effect of the elasticity,e but that one determines
both according to what the body can do in proportion to its mass and
its simple velocity. In the kind of reasoningf called an argumentum ad
hominem, there is nothing stronger to be said against Herr Herrmann
1:55 and the Leibnizians in general. For they must either admit that all the
proofs that they had until then agreed give the reason for the motions
arising from the impact of elastic bodies were false, or they must grant
that such a body produced the motions solely by a force proportional
to the simple combination of mass and velocity, for which reason they
believed it required the square of its velocity.
a Gewalten d Federkraft
b Zusammenstoß e Wirkung der Elasticität
c collision f Schlußrede
52
§ 44.
I am convinced by the controversy between the Frau Marquise von This solution
Chastelet and Herr von Mairan that it has not been superfluous to was unknown
have given a detailed exposition of the manner in which elastic bodies to Frau von
generate a greater quantity of motion through impact than was present Chastelet.
before impact. Herr von Mairan says: elastic force is a true machine of
nature, etc., etc.; that if one wishes to observe in particular all the
effectsg of the impact of elastic bodies by summing up as positive
what they yield in the two opposite directions, then one must
ascribe the new force that appears to arise from this in nature and
that manifests itself through the impact, not to the activity of the
striking body, as if it transferred this activity to the body struck, but
rather to a foreignh source of force, etc., etc. In a word, one must
ascribe it to a certain physical cause of elasticity, whatever it may
be, whose efficacy the impact has merely released and triggered,
so to speak, etc., etc. But I say that if Herr von Mairan says this, then
Frau von Chastelet responds: it is useless to investigate this until
the author of this opinion has taken the trouble to base what he
wished to claim here on some proof. I have done myself the honor
of undertaking this effort in place of Herr von Mairan, which is the
justification by which I excuse my long-windedness in this matter.
§ 45. 1:56
The following objection against the Leibnizians was also raised by Herr Herr Jurin’s
Jurin and others: two inelastic bodies that strike each other with veloci- objection
ties inversely proportional to their masses will remain at rest after impact. concerning the
Now according to the doctrine of living forces, there are two kinds of repercussioni of
forces here, which can be made as unequal as one wishes, but which two inelastic
and unequal
nonetheless preserve each other in equilibrium.
bodies.68
I find in Frau von Chastelet’s physics a response to this objection that,
as I gather from the citation, has the famous Herr Bernoulli as its author. On Herr
Herr Bernoulli did not succeed in finding a defense worthy of his name Bernoulli’s
for his opinion. He says that inelastic bodies, by the compression of their refutation of
parts, have the same effectj on each other this objection
as if they compressed a spring located Fig. 9. through a
comparison
between them. Thus, he assumes spring
E with the
R,∗ which simultaneously expands on both A R B
compression of
springs.69
∗ Fig. 9.
g Wirkungen i Gegenstoß
h fremde j Wirkung
53
Natural Science
sides and which propelsk bodies of unequal mass on both sides. He proves
that the velocities communicated to the bodies by this spring are inversely
proportional to their masses and hence that if spheres A and B returned
with these velocities, they would return the spring to its original state
of compression. Up to this point everything is correct and in complete
agreement with the theorems of the Cartesians. However, let us see how
he pursues his argument. In springing apart, the parts of the spring move
in part in the direction of sphere A and in part in the direction of sphere
B, but the point of separation is at R, which divides the spring in inverse
proportion to the masses A and B. Part RB of spring R therefore acts on
body B, which has a mass of 3, whereas the other part, RA, communicates
its force to sphere A, which has a mass of 1. But the forces imparted to
these bodies are related to each other as the number of springs that have
1:57 exerted pressure on them; consequently, the forces of spheres A and B
are unequal, although their velocities are inversely proportional to their
masses. Now if spring R has become fully extended, and if the bodies
returned to it with the same velocities that the spring communicated to
them when it was released, then one can easily see that the one body
would bring the other to rest by means of the compression of the spring.
Now their forces are unequal; consequently, one can recognize from
this how it is possible for two bodies with unequal forces to bring one
another to rest. He applies this to the collision of inelastic bodies.
§ 46.
Herr I discern in this argument not the Herr Bernouilli who was accustomed
Bernouilli’s to construct his proofs with far greaterl acuteness. It is indisputably cer-
thoughts are tain that the rebounding spring must communicate to one of the bodies
refuted. A and B just as much force as it communicates to the other. For it brings
to sphere A a force equivalent to the intensity with which it impinges on
sphere B. If it did not meet any resistance,m then it would impart no force
at all to sphere A, for it would spring apart with no effect. This spring
can therefore exertn no force on A without also impressing exactly the
same degree of forceo on the moving sphere B. The forces of spheres A
and B are therefore equal; they are not related to each other as lengths
AR and RB, as Herr Bernouilli falsely persuaded himself they were.
One can easily see how the error in Herr Bernouilli’s argument arose.
Its source is the proposition the Leibnizian party was so insistent on,
namely that the force of a body is proportional to the number of springs
k treibt n anwenden
l vollkommenere o Gewalt
m Widerhalt
54
that have acted on it.∗ We have already refuted this proposition above,
and Herr Bernouilli’s case confirms our thoughts.
§ 47. 1:58
One sees, not without pleasure, how excellently this explanation, which Bernoulli’s idea
was to be used to defend living forces, serves rather as a weapon for confirms our
quashing the defense completely. For since it is now certain that spring R opinion.
confers equal forces on bodies that have 1 and 3 units of mass (§46), and
further, that the ball with one unit of mass has three units of veloc-
ity, while the other ball has one unit of velocity, just as Leibnizians
themselves grant, two consequences follow from this, both of which
directly conflict with living forces. First, that the force that a body obtains
through the pressure of the springs is proportional to the time of the
action of the springs and not to the number of springs that propelled it.
Second, a body with one unit of mass and three units of velocity does
not have more force than another body with three units of mass and only
one unit of velocity.
§ 48.
Up to now, we have seen how Leibniz’s supporters employed the colli- Defense of
sion of elastic bodies to defend living forces. However, their application living forces
was merely mathematical. Yet they also thought that this casep of phoron- through the
omy involves a metaphysical argumentq in support of their opinion. Herr continual
von Leibniz himself is the author of this argument, and his reputation conservation of
the same
lent it no small weight.
quantity of
He willingly accepted Descartes’s principle that the same quantityr force in the
of force is always conserved in the world, but only such force whose world.
quantitys must be estimated by the square of velocity. He showed that
the old measure of force did not allow for this nice rule. For if one
assumes that measure, then the force in nature will constantly increase
or decrease depending on whether the position of bodies relative to each
other is changed. Leibniz believed that it is unseemly for God’s power
and wisdom that he should be compelled, as Newton imagined, to renew
constantly the motion that he had communicated to his work, and that
∗ Bodies A and B thus have equal forces, because springs RA and RB have acted on them
for equal periods and because the parts of these springs were all compressed with equal
strength.
p Stück r Größe
q Grund s Quantität
55
Natural Science
1:59 prompted Leibniz to search for a law by which this difficulty could be
remedied.
§ 49.
First solution to Because we established in the preceding that living forces could not be
this objection. admitted in the way that their defenders themselves had, namely in a
mathematical sense, God’s power and wisdom already safeguarded itself
here in light of the utter impossibility of the matter. We can always hide
behind this protective shield if, for instance, we should come up short in
giving another kind of response to this objection. For even if, according
to the law of motion that we have put forward, it were necessary for
the universe ultimately to fall into complete disorder after the gradual
depletion of its forces, this attack could not impinge on the power and
wisdom of God. For one can never hold against this power and wisdom
that it failed to create a law that we know to be absolutely impossible
and that therefore could never obtain.
§ 50.
Second response But one should take heart. We are not yet compelled to resort to such a
to the imagined desperate evasive move. That would be to slice through the knot, whereas
objection. we prefer to untie it.
If the Leibnizians maintain that it is absolutely necessary for the
preservation of the mechanical structure of the worldt that the force
of bodies is subject to estimation by the square, we can grant them this
small demand. Everything that I have shown up to now, and everything
that I still intend to show, down to the conclusion of this chapter, is
meant to convince them of the following: neither in abstract consider-
ations nor in nature does the force of bodies permit estimation by the
square along the mathematical lines of the Leibnizians. But I have not
yet for this reason entirely renounced living forces. In the third chapter
1:60 of this treatise, I shall prove that there really are forces in nature whose
measure is the square of their velocity, but with the qualification that
they will never be discovered in the way that has been tried up to now,
that is, that they will be forever hidden from this type of consideration
(namely a mathematical one), and that only a metaphysical investiga-
tion, or possiblyu a special sort of experience, will acquaint us with them.
Hence we do not really contest here the matter itself, but only the modum
cognoscendi.v
t Weltmaschine v mode of cognition

u etwa
56
Accordingly, we agree with the Leibnizians about the main issue, and
we could thus perhaps also come to agree with them about its implica-
tions.
§ 51.
Herr von Leibniz’s objection, however, is based on a false presupposition, The source of
which has already been troublesome to philosophy for a long time. For it the Leibnizian
has come to be a principle of the doctrine of nature that no motion arises conclusion
in nature except through matter that is also in actual motion, and that about
therefore motion lost in one part of the world can be restored only by conserving
exactly the
either another actual motion or the direct hand of God. This principle
same quantity
was always the cause of much inconvenience to those who supported it. of force.
They were forced to exhaust their imagination with artificially contrived
vortices and to build one hypothesis on top of another, and instead of
finally leading us to a plan of the cosmos that would be sufficiently
simple and transparent to explain the complex phenomena of nature,
they confuse us with infinitely many strange motions, which are far more
wondrous and incomprehensible than everything those very motions are
supposed to explain.
As far as I know, Herr Hamberger was the first one to present the How this
means to remedy this malady. His idea is beautiful, for it is simple and difficulty can be
thus conforms to nature as well. He shows (though still in a very imperfect remedied.
outline) how a body can receive actual motion through a matter that itself,
however, is merely at rest. This prevents innumerable errors, and indeed,
frequently miraculous actsw that are associated with the contrary opinion. 1:61
Granted, the basis of this idea is metaphysical and thus also not to the
liking of today’s natural scientists,x but at the same time, it is evident that
the very first sources of nature’s operations definitely have to be a subjecty
of metaphysics. Herr Hamberger failed to show the world a new path
leading us to cognition of nature in a shorter and easier fashion. This field
has remained fallow; people have not yet been able to tear themselves
away from the old path to venture on a new one. Isn’t it strange that
they entrust themselves to an ocean of excesses and arbitrary inventions
of the imagination, while disregarding tools that are simple, intelligible,
and, precisely for this reason, natural as well? But this is the common
scourge of the understanding. This current will sweep people along for
a long time to come. They will entertain themselves with convoluted
and contrived considerations, by which the understanding perceives its
own strength. They will have physics full of splendid examples of wit and
w Wunderwerke y Vorwurf
x Naturlehrer
57
Natural Science
inventiveness, but no plan of nature itself and its operations.z But still,
in the end, the opinion that portrays nature as it is, that is, as simple and
without infinite detours, will gain the upper hand. The path of nature is
but a single path. Hence people must first have tried uncountably many
dead ends before finding the right path.
The Leibnizians, more than others, should embrace Herr Ham-
berger’s view. For they are the ones who claim that a dead pressure
that is conserved in the body to which it was communicated and not
destroyed by an insurmountable obstacle, can turn into an actual motion.
Therefore, they will also not be able to deny that a body that is drawn
to the parts of a surrounding fluid more in one direction than another
will eventually gain an actual motion, provided the fluid is such that it
does not in turn destroy the body’s force by its resistance. This must
persuade them of what I am now asserting, namely that a body can gain
actual motion from matter that is itself at rest.
Decision 1:62 How, then, will we avoid the attack that Leibniz means to deal the
regarding Cartesian law with his observation about God’s wisdom? Everything
Herr von depends on whether a body can attain actual motion through the actiona
Leibniz’s of a matter at rest. This is my foundation. The very first motions in
objection. this universe were not produced by the force of a matter in motion; for
otherwise they would not have been the first. But neither had they been
caused by the direct power of God, or any intelligent being, as long as
it was still possible that they could arise through the actionb of a matter
at rest; for God spares himself as many operationsc as he can without
adversely affecting the mechanical structure of the world,d while making
nature as active and efficacious as is possible. Now, if motion is originally
introduced into the world by the force of an essentially dead matter that
is itself at rest, then it will also be preserved and, if it is lost, restored
by that very matter. One would therefore have to have a great appetite
for doubt if one still had further misgivings about believing that the
structure of the world would suffer no damage if certain forces of bodies
that were present beforehand vanished in impact.
§ 52.
According to I return now from a digression that diverted me from the main topic
Leibniz’s law, in which I am involved. As I already noted, the defenders of living
the force in the forces fancy that they have accomplished a great deal with the following
collisione
between a small
elastic body and z d
Wirkungen Weltmaschine
a larger one is a e
Wirkung Anstoß
the same before b f
Wirkung Stoß
and after c Wirkungen
impact.f
58
observation: If the force of bodies is estimated according to Leibniz’s

law, then one and the same magnitude of force is found before and after
impact in the collisiong of elastic bodies. This idea, which seems to favor
living forces in such a wondrous way, should rather assist us in striking
them down. Let us reason as follows. The law which says that, in the 1:63
collision of a smaller elastic body with a larger one, the force before
and after impact is equal, is false. Now, Leibniz’s law is such a law.
Therefore, etc. etc.
§ 53.
Of the assumptions made in this argument, only the major premise needs The
to be proved. Let us do this in the following way. When ball A∗ runs observation
up against a larger ball B, then, at the moment when A strikes and com- cited by the
presses the spring, which we call elasticity, body B acquires no more Leibnizians is
force than it destroys in A through its inertial force, and contrariwise, entirely
contrary to
body A loses no more of its force through the resistance of mass B, whose
living forces.
resistance continues on in it by means of the tension of the spring it com-
presses, than is introduced into this very ball. If one were to deny this,
then it would no longer be certain that the action transmitted to a body is
equal to its reaction. The spring is therefore compressed, and there is the
same force in both bodies taken together as was found previously in ball
A alone. If these springs of mutual elasticity now recoil, they will expand
toward both bodies with equal strength. Now, it is clear that if A, after
the compression of the springs in the direction of AE, still had a force as
great as the one now involved in the recoiling spring, then this recoiling
action could remove just as much force from ball A as spring DB intro-
duces into B on the other side, and therefore, after everything is done,
whether through impact or elasticity, there would certainly be no more
force present in balls A and B than was previously present in A alone.
But it is pointless to presuppose this. After the impact has occurred and
the spring has just been compressed, A has just as much velocity in the
direction of AE as B has, but it has less mass, hence less force, than the
spring exerts in its recoil, for this spring has a tensile forceh as great as
the force of ball B. It follows that elasticity cannot take as much force 1:64
from A as it communicates to body B. For A does not have this much
force, and consequently it cannot be taken away from it either. Accord-
ingly, a new unit of force must be added to B though the operationi of
elasticity without, for that reason, exactly the same being subtracted on
∗ Fig. 8 [see p. 50].
g Anlauf i Wirkung
h Kraft der Spannung
59
Natural Science
the other side; indeed, a new force is likewise generated in A in addi-

tion. For since elasticity encountered no more of the force than it could
destroy in A, the ball opposed it with only its inertial force and received,
in addition to the force of body A, the degree of powerj that the spring
had possessed beyond the force of body A, in order to return with
it to C.
It is therefore clear that when a smaller elastic body runs up against
a larger one, more force must be present after impact than beforehand.
Now if Leibniz’s measure of force were true, one would have to propose
the opposite, namely that exactly the same quantity of force is found after
impact as before it. Thus, we must either deny this law or else renounce
entirely the conviction afforded us in this section.
§ 54.
The foregoing We will be completely convinced of the correctness of what has now
is even clearer been said if we reverse the previous case and assume that ball B∗ with a
if one considers greater mass runs up against a smaller ball, A. For in the first place, ball
the case of a B loses, through its impact on ball A, neither more nor less force than it
larger elastic thereby generates in ball A (if we consider merely what takes place before
body hitting a
the elasticity becomes evident). Thus, before the elastic forcek acts, the
smaller one.
force in these bodies was neither increased nor diminished. Now, the
elastic force is loaded to the degree with which body A moves toward
C, for which reason its degree of tension is less than the force in body B
moving in the direction of BC; thus, when the elastic force is releasedl
1:65 it will never be exhausted, even if it brings its full power to bear right
away. And thus when the spring compressed by the impact recoils, it will
indeed produce a new force in body A, but it will also destroy just as
much in B as it communicates to the former body. Thus the elastic force
does not increase the total force either, because the amount taken from
the one side is always equal to what is added to the other.
Accordingly we see that it is only when a larger body hits one of lesser
mass that the same degree of force is preserved in the impact, and that
in all other cases, where the elasticity is not capable of destroying as
much force on the one side as it generates on the other, the force after
impact is always greater than prior to it, which destroys the Leibnizian
law. For according to this law, exactly the same quantity of force would
remain preserved in nature in all possible cases, without any decrease or
increase.
∗ Fig. 8 [see p. 50].
j Gewalt l aufspringt
k Federkraft
60
§ 55.
Thus the Leibnizians should, if they can, present us with a single example In the case of a
of a larger elastic body colliding with a smaller one that would contradict larger body
Descartes’s estimation, since then no one would be able to object. For hitting a
only such an example would be decisive and allow of no exception, since smaller one,
one certainly always finds in it after impact the whole quantity of force calculation
confirms that
that was there beforehand. But no defender of living forces ever dared
the quantity of
to attack the Cartesian law regarding this type of impact, for such a force remains
defender would necessarily see quite easily that the mechanical rules the same, in
are completely consistent with the Cartesian estimation. For instance, accordance with
assume that a body B has three units of mass and a body A has one unit the Cartesian
of mass, and that B runs up against A with four units of velocity. We can law.
then argue according to the established phoronomic rule that the ratio
of B’s and A’s difference in mass to the sum of their masses equals the
ratio of B’s velocities before and after impact.70 Therefore, after impact
body B will have two units.71 Furthermore, the ratio of A’s velocity after
impact to B’s velocity before impact equals the ratio of twice the mass of
B to the sum of the masses of A and B 2B: A+B.72 Therefore, A attains 1:66
six units of velocity.73 Hence, according to the Cartesian estimation the
force of both bodies after the conflictum adds up to twelve units.74 And
this is what was required.
§ 56.
If one wants to measure the quantity of a force, one must pur- The force with
sue it in its actions.n But first we need to abstract from them those which a smaller
phenomena that are admittedly connected with its actions, but are not a body bounces off
proper consequenceo of the force to be estimated. a larger one
Now, if an elastic body hits another body that has a greater mass, bears the minus
sign.
then we know from the laws of motion that after impact the smaller
body bounces back with a certain degree of force. We also learned in
the previous paragraphis p that the force with which a small body bounces
off a larger one equals the surplus of force that the effort of the vivified
elasticity has beyond the force of body A, with which A had advanced
in the direction of AE together with body B before the elastic forcesq
of both bodies became effective. Now (in accordance with what was
demonstrated previously), as long as the elasticity still encountered a
force in body A that was directed from A to D and that could destroy it
to the same degree as it introduced force into B, as long as this occurred,
m collision p paragraphs
n Wirkungen q Federkräfte
o Folge
61
Natural Science
I say, there was nothing in both bodies combined that did not contain
exactly the same quantity of force that was present previously in A alone,
as cause; consequently, up to this point, the state of both bodies had to
be regarded as a genuine effectr of the force present in A prior to impact.
For the effect is at all times neither greater nor less than the cause. But we
know further that the elastic force,s having already destroyed all the force
that had remained in A in direction AE, introduces new forces in both
bodies A and B, in addition to those that had constituted the genuine and
complete operationt of ball A. Therefore, we will be able to extract these
from the motion of both balls again in the following manner, namely
if we subtract from body A the force with which it returns after the
blow, and if we also subtract just as much from the force acquired by
1:67 ball B: From this we can easily see that the force with which a small
ball bounces off a larger one is of a negative type and bears the minus
sign. If, for example, a ball A with two units of velocity hits a ball with
three units of mass, after impact A will bounce off B with one unit of
velocity and give B this unit as well. Now, if we wish to determine the
total quantity of the actionu exerted by body A, we cannot add the force
with which A returns after impact to the force of ball B. No, it needs to
be subtracted from body A as well as deducted from the force present
in B. The remainder, which is two units, will be the complete actionv
performed by the force of ball A. Therefore, a body with two units of
mass and one unit of velocity has just as much force as another body with
one unit of mass and two units of velocity.
§ 57.
Frau Chastelet It befell the enlightened Frau Marchioness von Chastelet that she
jested about made light of Herr von Mairan at the wrong time. Regarding the obser-
this at the vation that we just cited, she answered him as follows: She believed
wrong time. that he would not lightly perform an experiment and want to find
himself in the way of a body that, marked by the minus sign, would
rebound with 500 or 1000 degrees of force. I, too, believe it, and I
would very much deceive myself if I suspected that Herr von Mairan
would be party to settling the truth in this manner. But the matter does
not depend on the fact that the force designated by the minus sign is not
a real force, as the Frau Marchioness seems to infer. Undoubtedly, Herr
von Mairan did not wish to say this in making that designation. It is in
r rechtmäßige Wirkung u Wirkung

s Federkraft v Wirkung
t Wirkung
62
fact a real force, and it would also exercise real effectsw if one were to put
it to the test. Merely the following is thereby suggested, namely that this
force as well as a part of the force of ball B that is equal to it cannot be
attributed to the complete effect of ball A; rather, one must regard it as
if the force were not at all present in A but would instead be subtracted 1:68
from B, and that only then does the force remaining afterward really
offer the complete effectx of the force present before the collision. But
if one regards a quantity in this way, then it counts for less than nothing
in the summation, and requires the minus sign.
§ 58.
Now, my readers will presume to find certain proofs derived from the The
doctrine of the motion of inelastic bodies in collisions that the Leib- Leibnizians shy
nizians would have employed when defending living forces. But they away from the
deceive themselves. These gentlemen do not find that class of motions examination of
to be too favorable to their opinion, and they therefore seek to wholly living forces in
inelastic
exclude them from their investigation. This is a sickness from which
collisions.
those who venture to attain the truth really do suffer. They close their
eyes, as it were, to what seems to contradict the principley that they have
set in their heads. A small pretext, a cold and lame excuse, can satisfy
them when it matters to remove a difficulty that challenges their prej-
udice. One could have spared us many mistakes in philosophy if one
had been willing to exercise some restraint in this regard. If one is in
the process of gathering all the reasons the understanding supplies as
evidence of an opinion that has been advanced, then one should try,
with the same attention and effort, to substantiate the contrary opinion
by all sorts of proofs that suggest themselves in some way. One should
not despise anything that appears to be the least bit advantageous to the
contrary opinion, and that carries its defense to its pinnacle. In such a
balance of the understanding, an opinion would occasionally be rejected
that would certainly have been accepted otherwise. And the truth that
is eventually revealed would present itself in all the more persuasive a
light.
§ 59. 1:69
The defenders of living forces have already been instructed several times With regard to
that the motions of inelastic bodies are far better suited to the determi- living forces,
nation of the presence of living forces than are the motions of elastic inelastic
collisions are
more decisive
w Wirkungen y Satz
than elastic
x Wirkung collisions.
63
Natural Science
bodies. For in the latter, elastic forcez is always mixed in, which leads to
endless confusions, whereas the motion of the former is determined by
action and reaction alone. There is no doubt that the Leibnizians would
let themselves be persuaded by the clarity of this idea, if only it did not
overturn the entire edifice of living forces.
§ 60.
The stratagem They had therefore been compelled to take refuge in one of the worst
of the stratagems ever to be employed. They claim, namely, that in inelastic
Leibnizians in collisions a part of the force is always lost inasmuch as this part is applied
light of the in denting the parts of the bodies. Thus, half the force of an inelastic
objection from body is lost when striking another body at rest and of equal mass, and is
inelastic
absorbed in the indentation of its parts.
collisions.
§ 61.
The origin of This notion has more than one bad aspect to it. Let us consider some of
this erroneous them.
notion. Even at first glance, it should not be hard to perceive the source of
this error. We know partly by experience, and partly by the doctrine
of nature, that a hard body that changes shape on impact only slightly,
or not at all, is always an elastic body, and that, conversely, the parts of
inelastic bodies fit together such that they yield and cave in on impact.
Nature has commonly combined these properties, but in a mathematical
modela we are not compelled to take them together.
1:70 The adherents of living forces became confused in this way. They
imagine that, since an inelastic body is commonly structured in nature
so that its parts yield and cave in on impact, the rules afforded by a purely
mathematical modelb of nature cannot hold good without this property.
This is the origin of the difficulty that we saw in § 60 and that is entirely
groundless, as we shall learn presently.
§ 62.
First response In mathematics, we understand the elastic force of a body simply as the
to the property by which that body repels an impacting body with just the same
Leibnizian degree of force as that of the body that hits it. Hence an inelastic body
stratagem. is one that lacks this property.
z Federkraft b Betrachtung
a Betrachtung
64
Mathematics is not concerned with the way in which this property

emerges in nature. It is and remains entirely indeterminate in mathemat-
ics whether elasticity derives from the change of shape and its sudden
emergence, or whether the source of this property is a hidden entelechy,
a qualitas occulta,c or God knows what other kind of cause. If we find
elasticity described in mechanics as arising from the compression and
rebounding of the parts of a body, we should note that mathematicians
making use of this explanation are meddling in a matter that does not
concern them, that does not contribute to their project, and that is actu-
ally a task for the doctrine of nature.
Accordingly, if the examination of inelastic bodies in mathematics pre-
supposes nothing further than that such a body has within it no force
that would bring about the repulsion of the body that hits it and if this
single determination is what the entire doctrined of the motion of inelas-
tic bodies is built on, then it is incoherent to maintain that the rules of
these motions are what they are because the compression of the parts
of the colliding bodies admit only these rules and no others. For in the
principles from which these laws derive we find no trace of the compres-
sion of parts. All the concepts on which one has constructed these laws
are so indeterminate with respect to this restriction that we can without
detriment count as inelastic both those bodies that do not change their 1:71
figure on impact and those that suffer a compression of their parts. Now,
since this compression was not considered in the construction of these
laws, and since the fundamental concepts do not even involve it, it is very
strange indeed to blame compression for the laws under consideration
being what they are.
§ 63.
We said that in the consideration mathematics gives us of the motion of Second
inelastic bodies, one could regard these bodies as perfectly hard, as if their response:
parts are not caved in by impact. Nature also offers us examples showing Because we can
that a body whose parts yield more than those of another is precisely call a body
not always the more inelastic body, and that occasionally a body whose inelastic
although it is
parts are hardly indented at all is less elastic when compared to a body
perfectly hard.
whose parts yield more easily. For when dropped on the pavement, a
wooden ball, which can be called extraordinarily hard if compared to a
padded ball, will not rebound nearly as high as a quite easily compressed
padded ball. Hence we see that even in nature a body is inelastic not
because its parts are compressed, but only because they do not restore
themselves with a degree of force equal to the one by which they had been
c occult quality d Hauptstück
65
Natural Science
compressed. Thus we can also posit bodies whose parts yield infinitely
little on impact and characteristically fail to restore themselves from this
infinitely small compression, or, if they do so, then with a degree of
velocity that is far less than that with which they are compressed, as,
say, a wooden ball would behave, if one may compare small things with
great ones. Bodies like those I am speaking of would be perfectly hard,∗
1:72 but would still be inelastic. Accordingly, one could not exclude them
from the laws of inelastic collisions, even though their parts cannot be
indented. How could the exception of the Leibnizians hold up here?
§ 64.
Third We can still grant the Leibnizians their presupposition that inelastic
response: The bodies always suffer a compression of their parts. A body exerts exactly
compression of the same effecte on another moving body whose parts it compresses
parts is no through impact that it would have if there were a spring in between which
reason why a is compressed by the approach. I can freely make use of this idea, not
part of the force
only because it is plain and convincing, but also because Herr Bernoulli,
should be lost in
the great guardian spirit of living forces, used it in just the same case.
inelastic
collisions. Now if a ball A† is moved toward another, B, and compresses spring
R in its approach, then I say that all the small units of force applied in
compressing the spring transfer into the mass of body B and accumulate
until the entire force that compresses the spring has been transferred into
the imagined body B. For body A does not lose a single unit of force, and
the spring is not compressed in the slightest either except to the extent
that it stiffens against body B. But the spring resists against this ball with
exactly the same degree of powerf with which it would recoilg toward
this side if the body suddenly yielded; that is, it would recoil with the
very force that A exerts by compressing it on the other side, and that this
body expends and uses up in compressing the spring. Now, it is obvious
that exactly the same unit of force with which the spring endeavors to
expand against B, and which the inertial force of ball B opposes, must
enter into this same ball. Thus, in moving in the direction of BE, ball B
receives the entire force used up by A when A compresses spring R.
This application is easy to make. For spring R represents those parts of 1:73
the inelastic bodies A and B that are pushed in by the impact. Thus, while
pushing in parts on either surface,h body A uses up just as much force as
∗ For a body that can be compressed only to an infinitely small degree can legitimately
be called perfectly hard.
† Fig. 9 [see p. 53].
e Wirkung g aufspringen
f Gewalt h von beiden Seiten
66
is transferredi into B, and with which B moves after the collision. Hence,
no part is lost, and certainly not such a large part as the Leibnizians
wrongly claim.
§ 65.
I tire of explicating all the inaccuracies and contradictions involved in this
difficulty that the Leibnizians want to create for us regarding inelastic
collisions. The only one that I still want to cite could already suffice to
eliminate this difficulty.
Even if one granted everything else to our opponents, one still could Fourth
not excuse the audacityj in this demand: that in inelastic collisions just response: on
as much force, no more and no less, should be used up in denting the the proportion
parts as the Leibnizians require in each case by their measure. It is an of the solidity of
audacityk impossible to swallow that we are urged to believe, without inelastic bodies
and the degree
any proof, that a body colliding with an equal body must lose, through
of force of
the indentation of its parts, just half of its force, and that it must lose impact that
just three quarters of its force in its impact on one three times as great, would be
etc., etc., but we are to believe this without anyone being able to specify applicable to
a reason why exactly so much force, not more and not less, goes by the Leibnizian
the board; for granted that the concept of an inelastic body necessarily exception.
requires some loss of force in the indentation, I still do not know how
one would infer that the absence of elasticity requires just so much force,
and no less, to be consumed. The Leibnizians certainly cannot deny that
the softer the solidity of the mass of inelastic bodies is, as compared to
the force of the impacting body, the quicker the force is consumed in the
indentation of the parts, but the harder both bodies are, the less force
must be lost, for if they were perfectly hard, no force would be lost. Thus, 1:74
a certain definite ratio of the hardness of two equal and inelastic bodies is
required if precisely half of the force of the impacting body is to be used
up and destroyed in the collision. And without this proportion more or
less would result, according to whether one makes the colliding bodies
softer or harder. But in the rules of inelastic collisions, to which the
Leibnizians seek an exception, the degree of solidity and even more so
the proportion of solidity and the strength of impact, remain completely
undetermined; consequently, we cannot at all understand from these
rules whether an indentation of parts occurs, whether a force is thereby
consumed, and how much of this force will be lost, and least of all do
these rules offer any basis for understanding that exactly one half of
the force is lost in the impact of one body on another of equal weight.
i überkommen k Verwegenheit
j Kühnheit
67
Natural Science
For this would not happen without a certain completely and precisely
determined ratio between the hardness of these bodies and the violence
of impact. Now since no such determination that would contain any
ground for a specific loss of force can be found in the principles from
which the laws of collision are deduced, the reason why these rules are
formulated as they are, has nothing to do with the indentation of parts
and a specific and regular loss of force, contrary to what the Leibnizians
affirm.
Application of Now, since the rationale by which the defenders of living forces try to
our conclusions. avoid the attack leveled against them by all the laws of inelastic collisions,
has been shown to be invalid in more ways than one, nothing further
hinders us from using these laws in the capacity for which they are so
splendidly adapted, namely, to remove living forces from the domain of
mathematics into which they have illicitly inserted themselves.
1:75 § 66.
Inelastic But it is superfluous to explicate in detail the way in which the motion of
collisions fully inelastic bodies abolishes living forces. Any given case would accomplish
eliminate this without the least exception or difficulty. For example, if an inelastic
living forces. body A hits a body B of the same kind and of equal weight that is at
rest, then both bodies will move after impact with half of the velocity
that was present before the collision. Hence according to the Leibnizian
measure, in each and every body there would be one quarter of the force
after collision, and hence half of the force in everything together, since
a full unit of force was present in nature prior to impact. Thus, half
of the force would have been lost without having performed an effect
equal to it, or also without having suffered a single resistance that could
possibly have used it up, which, even by the testimony of our opponents,
is one of the greatest pieces of nonsense to which one could possibly be
party.
§ 67.
General proof: I do not want to end this segment, in which we have refuted living
that the forces by means of the collision of bodies, without first adding a general
collision of observation that includes everything that can possibly be said against
elastic bodiesl living forces. I will establish in this observation that, even if one wished
must always be to grant the Leibnizians their estimation of forces, it would still be wholly
contrary to
contrary to the nature of the matter at issue to demonstrate it from the
living forces.
collision of bodies, and that it never would, or could, afford a measure
l Zusammenstoss elastischer Körper. According to the Academy edition, the text reads:
Zusammenstoss der Körper.
68
but the simple velocity, even if the measure by the square were entirely
true and indubitable. It is impossible, I maintain, that it should be known
from the collision of bodies, even if it revealed itself in a thousand other
cases as evidently as one wished.
§ 68. 1:76
My proof is based on the following. Execution of
It is agreed that one can employ the motion of bodies in collisions for this proof.
the final purpose in question only by regarding the force that a moving
body introduces into other bodies through a collision as the effectm that
measures the quantityn of the cause, which exhausts itself in bringing
about the effect. That is to say, one must seek the quantityo of the cause
in the resulting effects. It goes without saying that in doing so, one must
be especially careful to take only the force in the pushed bodies that is
really nothing other than the effect directly produced by the impact of
the other body; otherwise the entire measure sought would be misleading
and useless. But it is obvious that immediately after the moment at which
the impactingp body exerts its effect on the impactedq body, all the force
found in the latter at that time is undoubtedly the effect of the impact.
Thus, one must make use of this effect, and this effect only, in order
to make it the measure of the force that the oncoming body exerted
in producing it. Now, a body that acquires its motion through impact
by another body, immediately after the instant in which the collision
introduced the force into it and thus when it could not yet have moved
a finite distance away from the impactingr body, has already absorbed
the entire force that the other body could have communicated to it, but
still has no actual motion because it has not been given time to attain
this; instead, it has only the mere endeavors for actual motion, and thus a
force that is dead and whose quantity is simple velocity.t The force found
in the impactingu body exhausted itself in awakening in the other body
a force whose fully precise estimation can never be different from mere
velocity, even if one wanted to assume hypothetically in the impacting
body a force whose measure would be the square of the velocity, or even
the cube, the square of the square, and who knows what further powers
of velocity.
Now, it would be an absurdityv that would completely overturn the
law of the equality of cause and effect if one were to suppose that 1:77
m Wirkung r anstoßenden
n Quantität s Bemühung
o Größe t schlechte Geschwindigkeit
p stoßenden u stoßenden
q gestoßenen v Ungereimtheit
69
Natural Science
a force requiring the estimation by the square were applied to produce

another force to be estimated by simple velocity. Because the former
is infinitely larger than the latter, this would amount to saying that the
entire area of a square were applied to generate a line, and a finite line
at that. Hence, it is clear that all the laws of both elastic and inelastic
bodies will never provide a proof other than for the measure by simple
velocity, and that those laws, already by their very character, must always
be opposed to living forces, even if one exhausts all one’s ingenuity in
thinking up cases that seemingly support them.
§ 69.
In the preceding section, everything hinges on the fact that one takes as
the measure of the oncoming body’s force only the force of the propelled
body that is present in the latter immediately after the communication
of the effect; because of this, and because the propelled body frees itselfw
from the contact of the colliding body even before this motion actually
occurs, I do not doubt that this will be the point that will above all incense
the gentlemen whom I have the honor of calling my opponents; I would
wish to have the fortune of preempting them with the following.
Continuation Either the force of the pushed body before moving away from the
of the proof colliding body is equal to the force that the former has in actual motion,
that in the after it distances itself from the colliding body, or it is not equal. In
impact of the first case my qualification is not even necessary, for the force of the
bodies one has to pushed body always conforms to simple velocity at any arbitrarily chosen
consider
1:78 instant of its motion,∗ because it is equal to the force that the body had
nothing
before its motion was actual. If it is not equal, then one unmistakably
but the initial
velocity of the wishes to say with this the following: The force present in the pushed
pushed body. body, after having already distanced itself from the colliding body, is
greater than it was at contact. But if this were the case, then I confess
that this is precisely the reasonx why I could not employ it for estimating
the force of impact.y For if there were a unit of force in the pushed body
after impact, when the pushed body is already distancing itself from the
colliding body, in addition to the force present in it while still in contact,
then this new unit of force would not be the effect of the colliding body,
for bodies act on each other only as long as they are in contact; instead,
∗ For as long as the motion of the pushed body has not yet become actual (that is, as long
as it has not yet distanced itself from the colliding body), its force still remains dead,
even by the testimony of the Leibnizians.
w sich losmacht y Kraft des Anlaufs

x Ursache
70
it is only the former. Hence the former is best suited for measuring the
force used up in order to produce it.
§ 70.
We have successfully overcome the difficulties that the collision of bodies
might have presented for Descartes’s law. Now I can boldly state, I
think, that Leibniz’s party will not be able to wrest anything away from
Descartes in this regard. We shall try and see now whether we can claim
success in the remaining regards as well.
§ 71.
Let us now consider the cases that the defenders of living forces have Of the defense
taken from the compound motions of bodies in order to bolster their of living forces
estimation. A weak cause typically hides behind obscure and complicated by compound
examples; thus, the party of living forces wanted to exploit the confusion motions.
to which one can easily fall prey in considering compound motions. We
shall try to remove the blanket of obscurity from this consideration,
which has protected living forces all by itself until now. Herr Bilfinger
was the one who rendered the greatest service to this kind of proof, and 1:79
his ideas should therefore be examined first.
We find his essay in the first volume of the St. Petersburg Commen-
taries. The proposition his entire system is based on is the following.∗
A body A that receives two motions simul-
taneously, one in direction AB with veloc- A Fig. 10.
B
ity AB, and another with velocity AC in
a direction at a right angle to the other
motion, moves along the diagonal path of
this rectangular parallelogram in just the
time it would take to move along either C D
side. But the forces directed along the sides
of the parallelogram are not opposed to one another; hence the one force
cannot subtract anything from the other, so the force that the body has
when it yields to both of them, that is, when moving along the diagonal,
will be equal to the sum of the forces along the sides. By Descartes’s
estimation, however, this would not happen. For the diagonal line AD is
always smaller than the two sides AB and AC taken together; by all other
possible estimations as well, the force of a body moving with velocity
AD would never equal the sum of the forces with velocities AB and AC,
except for the unique case in which these forces are estimated according
∗ Fig. 10.
71
Natural Science
to the squares of their velocities. Bilfinger concludes from this that the
force of a body in actual motion can be measured only by the square of
its velocity.
§ 72.
Herr Bilfinger was not entirely mistaken in his proof. In principle, his
inferences are perfectly correct for the matter at hand,z but their appli-
cation is actually quite flawed and bears the mark of an overly hasty
judgment.
The If one regards the motion that a body has toward side AC∗ in the usual
sense in way, that is, that the body endeavors with this motion to push in a right
which 1:80 angle at the sidea CD, then it is certain that the other lateral motion along
Bilfinger’s the line AB will in this respect not be opposed to it at all, because the
proof is correct. other motion runs parallel to the sideb CD, and consequently neither adds
to nor subtracts from the body’s motion. Likewise, the lateral motion
AC will not at all be opposed to the motion along the other side AB with
respect to the effectc that the body endeavors at with the motion
against the sided BD, because it is similarly parallel to this motion.
But what follows from this? Nothing further than that the body, if it
yields simultaneously to both lateral motions and traverses the diagonal
line, will simultaneously exert the same effectse as it would do in distinct
motions along either side. Thus, with respect to the two sidesf CD
and BD, the body moving along the diagonal has a force equal to the
sum of both forces along the sides. Yet this equality is to be found in it
only under the condition that I stated.
§ 73.
Herr Bilfinger Herr Bilfinger did not uphold this condition, notwithstanding the fact
drew that he should have found himself compelled to do so by the nature of
conclusions that his proof. Indeed, he even concluded: Therefore, the body moving
go beyond the along the diagonal possesses a force equal to the sum of the two
point of the lateral forces.
issue under
This proposition, thus stated without restriction, really does take on
debate.
a meaning far removed from the sense of the final inference in Bilfin-
ger’s proof. For if one says that a body possessing such and such velocity
contains such and such force, then one will understand by this the force
∗ Fig. 10.
z der Sache d Reading Seiten [side] for Flächen [surface]

a Reading Seite [side] for Fläche [surface] e Wirkungen
b Reading Seite [side] for Fläche [surface] f Reading Seite [side] for Fläche [surface]
c Wirkung
72
exerted by the body in the straight line of its motion and on an object
that it collides with at a right angle. If we talk about the force of a
body in such a restricted manner, one will therefore have to attempt
to determine its quantity in no other sense but this one; otherwise one
would believe that the body contains some force in the straight lineg
of its motion that, however, it can exert only laterally, when the object
struck is in a certain position. Herr Bilfinger, who did not pay atten-
tion to this, thus exposed himself to a fallaciae ignorationis elenchi.h For
he abandoned the issue under debate and while he should have proved 1:81
that the body moving along the diagonal would push an object at a
right angle to its path of motion with a force equal to the sum of
forces by which the body would push the underlying linesi with distinct
lateral motions, he proved instead that while the body exerts the aggre-
gate of these forces, it does so only against the two lateral linesj CD
and BD, and not against the perpendicular linek directly opposed to its
motion.
§ 74.
Thus, everything depends on my proving that a body moving straight The very same
in direction AD on a diagonal line AD does not contain the com- proof is flawed
bined sum of its lateral forces. To do this, I need nothing fur- with respect to
ther than to regard each of the lateral motions as composite, just as the disputed
mathematicians are accustomed to doing.∗ Accordingly, lateral motion point.
AB would be the compound motion
AF and AH, while contrariwise, lat- F
eral motion AC would be the com- Fig. 11.
pound motion AE and AG. Now, since

motions AF and AE directly oppose A B
one another and hence, because they
G
are equal, will also cancel each other
out, there remain only the motion with
velocity AH and the motion with veloc- E H
ity AG, with which the body moves in C D
the direction of the diagonal line; hence
not the entire force, but only a part of the force of the two lateral motions
is present in the direction of the diagonal line. Furthermore, the motions
AF and AE in any case run parallel to the linel BH that the diagonally
∗ Fig. 11.
g Richtung k Reading Perpendikularseite [perpendicular

h the fallacy of missing the point line] for Perpendikularfläche
i Reading Seiten [line] for Flächen [surface] [perpendicular surface]
j Reading Seiten [line] for Flächen [surface] l Reading Seiten [line] for Flächen [surface]
73
Natural Science
moving body passesm at a right angle; from this and the previous point
we see that the body in its motion along line AD will not push at the
object, which is at a right angle to the body’s direction, with the sum of
the forces exerted toward the sides AC and AB.
1:82 § 75.
Conclusions Now everything is sorted out. For now we know: A body moving diago-
from this. nally does not exert against a vertically resisting obstacle the entire sum
of both lateral forces, which the body has in each of its lateral motions
against the equally vertically opposed planes. From this it necessarily fol-
lows that the force in the diagonal is less than both lateral forces taken
together, and that, consequently, a body’s force cannot be estimated
by the square of its velocity, for in this kind of estimation the imagined
equality would necessarily have to be found, but this is in fact not the case.
§ 76.
Living forces We will not stop here. Instead of fearing Herr Bilfinger’s arguments, we
are shall deliberately use them to prove Descartes’s law. A good cause always
automaticallyn has the distinctive trait that even the weapons of its opponents are bound
refuted by to serve for its defense, and we have repeatedly seen that our cause can
Bilfinger’s case. pride itself on this distinction.∗ By what has just been shown, the lateral
motion AB has in the direction of the diagonal only the velocity AH, with
which the body, in an isolated motion, would strike the plane BH at a
right angle. Furthermore, the other lateral motion AC, taken in isolation,
has only the velocity AG, with which the body would strike the plane
CG at a right angle. The forces that accompany these two motions AH
and AG constitute the entire force along the diagonal, and whatever is
not present in the former is not present in the latter either, for otherwise
the sum would contain more than its parts.o Thus the force with velocity
1:83 AD should equal the sum of the force of velocity AH and the force of
velocity AG, which raises the question of what powers of AH, AG, and
AD must be assumed for the identity of the sum of the former two with
the latter. If one wanted to estimate the forces by the powers of the
lines AH, AG, and AD here, it will be clear, by the simplest arithmetic
reasons, that the force of the body with velocity AD estimated in this
manner would be larger than the sum of the forces with velocity AH and
AG, but if one wanted to assume a smaller function (as Herr Bilfinger
puts it) than the function of simple velocities, then the compound of the
∗ Fig. 11 [see p. 73].
m anstösst o als in den Summandis zusammen

n selber
74
component forces would be greater than the complete resulting force, a

force marked by the velocity AD; on the contrary, the compound force
and the resulting force would turn out to be equal if everything taken
together is estimated by simple velocity. It follows from this that we have
either to posit the forces in proportion of the velocity AH, AG, and AD,
or to grant that the sump could be lesser or greater than the parts.q
§ 77.
We can show exactly the same thing in a different way. We suppose, like The same
Herr Bilfinger, that the lateral forces∗ AB and AC are communicated to refutation put
the body a by the impact of two identical balls, which have the velocity differently.
bAr = AB and ca = AC, and that these two simultaneous propulsions
cause motion and force along the
diagonal. Since it amounts to the Fig. 12.
same thing, let us assume that these C

balls move froms C and B, and that
they hit the body a at point D
a B
with the velocity CD = ba and BD h
A E
= ca. It is undeniable that body a b
absorbed at this location exactly the g

D
force from the assumed ballst that it C
could absorb at point A, for the loca-

tion makes no difference at all, since F
everything else remains the same.
This raises a question: What kind of force would ball a receive, at point
D, by these two simultaneous strikes BD and CD against the perpendic-
ular plane FC u ? I answer: Ball B would communicate to body a moving 1:84
with BD only the velocity BE with respect to the actionv against this
plane, and from the impact of ball C with velocity CD, the same body aw
would attain only the velocity CF, with which it can act, at point D, on
plane FE. For the other two motions, Bg and Ch, which a acquired from
this double strike as well,x run parallel to the plane, and consequently
they do not strike this plane, but rather destroy one another because they
are equal and mutually opposed. With regard to the body striking the
plane diagonally, both lateral forces BD and CD, or both AC and AB,
which amounts to the same thing, gave to the body only a force equal to
∗ Fig. 12.
p Aggregat u Academy edition: FE

q Aggregandi v Wirkung
r Academy edition: ba w Reading a for A
s ausliefen x anoch
t von gedachten Kugeln
75
Natural Science
the sum of the forces with velocities BE and CF. Consequently, first, the
lateral forces did not give to the body their entire quantity,y and second,
they gave to the body only such a force that must stand in the same ratio
to its composite forces as the velocity AD does to the velocities CF and
BF, and, as I clarified in the previous section, not like the square of these
velocities.
§ 78.
The straight From the preceding consideration we see that forces would have to be
force in the estimated by the square of velocity, if one assumed that the combined
diagonal is force exerted in diagonal motion along the sides of the parallelogram
unequal were equal to the force in the direction of the diagonal. But, at the same
to the sum of time, we showed that this assumption is false, and that the effects exerted
the forces along
by a body in diagonal motion, until all force within it is exhausted, is
the sides.
always greater than what it would effect by a stroke at a right angle.
This observation looks paradoxical. For it follows that a body could
exert more force with regard to certain planes, which opposed it in a
specific way, than it is supposed to have by itself. For one says that
a body has as much force as it expends in a vertical strike against an
insurmountable obstacle.
1:85 However,z we do not need to worry about the metaphysical resolu-
tion of this difficulty, for once mathematics pronounces its verdict, the
resolution of this difficulty can be as it may, and one can no longer be in
doubt after its judgment.
§ 79.
In the The analysis of motion reveals that a body striking many planes succes-
Leibnizian sively at a slant will completely lose its motion as soon as the sum of the
estimation of squares of the sine of all angles of incidencea amounts to the square of the
forces, the sum total sine,b which indicates the initial velocity of its motion.75 All scholars
of the forces of mechanics agree up to this point, not excepting the Cartesians. But
applied in an
for the Leibnizians, it specifically follows from this that, if one lets the
oblique
estimation by the square apply, a body will have lost all of its motion as
direction is
equal to the soon as the sum of the obliquely applied forces equals the body’s force in
diagonal force, a straight direction. But things are entirely different with the Cartesian
but in the estimation. The sum of the forces that a body exerts through many suc-
Cartesian cessive strikes in an oblique direction until all of its motion is consumed,
estimation, the is, by this estimation, far greater than the single undividedc force in a
former is often
infinitely y ihre ganzen Kräfte b des Sinus totus
larger than the z nur immerhin c die einzige unzertheilte
latter. a aller Sinuum angulorum incidentiae
76
straight motion. Therefore, when the sum of all the forces exerted in
separate motionsd is already equal to its complete undivided force, the
body has not yet lost its motion. For a body can have far more effectse
against multiple inclined planes than against a plane struck at a right
angle in a straight motion; indeed, (if one assumes that the dip of the
strike on all inclined planes has the same angle,) the quantity of the force
necessary for a body to use up its force through inclined obstacles will
relate to the quantity required for consuming it in a straight direction
as the total sine does to the sine of the angle of incidence. For instance,
if the total sine and the sine of the angle of incidence are in a 2:1 ratio,
it will accordingly be twice as large as this one; and if the ratio is 8:1, 1:86
the former will be eight times as large, and if the angle of incidence
is infinitely small, then the former will accordingly be infinitely larger
than the power of the obstacles that would have sufficed to consume the
body’s entire motion in a diametrically opposed direction. Thus, by the
Leibnizian estimation, a certain obstacle entirely destroys a body’s force,
while by the Cartesian estimation, the same obstacle, in just the same
direction, can only destroy infinitely little of this force; that is to say, in
the estimation by the square, the moving body suffers a finite loss when
it has overcome the entire power of the sum of the obstacles, let the
motion in which the body overcomes these obstacles be ever so oblique;
in the estimation by the velocities, by contrast, the entire force of the
body’s applied effectsf can be finite and a body’s loss of force can still be
infinitely small if only the angle at which it overcomes all these obstacles
is infinitely acute.
This difference is astonishing. An effect of thisg must be evident some-
where in nature, wherever that may be, and it will be worth the effort
to seek it out. For a consequence of such an effect would be that one
could decide not only whether the force of a body along the diagonal of
a rectangleh is equal to the sum of the lateral forces, but also whether
the Leibnizian or the Cartesian estimation is true. For the one question
is inseparable from the other.
§ 80.
The case that we are looking for is the motion of a body in a circular Living forces
path around a center, toward which the body is pulled by its gravity, that are refuted by
is,i the motion of the planets. another case.
d in zertheilter Bewegung g eine Wirkung hievon

e kann . . . weit mehr ausrichten h eines rechtwinklichten Parallelograms
f der ausgeübten Wirkungen eines Körpers i von welcher Art . . . sind
77
Natural Science
Let us assume a body that has obtained sufficient centrifugal

momentumj to move on a circular pathk around the Earth. Except for
gravity, let us also ignorel all obstacles that might retardm its motion; it
is thus certain, first, that the velocity of its motion is finite, and second,
that this motion continues to infinity with just the same degree and on
1:87 just the same path. I proceed from these two lemmata, because both par-
ties, the Leibnizian and the Cartesian, accept them. I also assume, third,
that gravity introduces a finite force in a freely moving body during a
finite period of time, or that it uses up a finite force in this body, if the
two forces, the one contained in the body and the other whereby gravity
pushes, act against each other. Now the body in question, which moves
around the given center of a circle, is continuously exposed to the pres-
sure of gravity, accordingly absorbsn a finite force through the sum of
all infinitely small gravitational pressures in a finite period of time, and,
by the third lemma, is driven by this finite force toward the center of its
revolution. Nonetheless, by its own force, the body maintains against all
such pressures its equilibrium, whereby it always keeps the same distance
from the center. Thus in any given finite time, the body will have applied
a finite force against the obstacles of gravity that it has overcome. If one
grants the Leibnizian estimation, it is evident from what we have seen in
§ 79, that a body moving at a slant must suffer the loss of a finite quantity
of its own force when it has overcome a certain number of obstacles,
whose sum amounts to a finite quantity of force. Consequently, by grav-
itational resistance, the body in question loses a finite force in any given
finite time during its circular motion, and accordingly, it will eventually
lose, in a certain finite time, its entire force and velocity, for, by the first
lemma, the body’s velocity in its circular motion is merely finite.
It follows either that the body cannot move in a circle at all, unless its
velocity were infinite, or that one must grant that a body can do infinitely
more by the sum of its inclined actions here than it possesses force in a
direct line of approach, and that the Leibnizian measure of force, which
does not allow this, is false.
§ 81.
Because the idea that we have elaborated here has very rich implications,
we shall remove all the minor difficulties surrounding it and make it as
clear and plain as possible.
j Zentrifugalschwung m vermindern
k in einer Cirkelline n erleidet
l abstrahiren
78
First, one must clearly comprehendp that the force that a body in 1:88 Proof
circular motion applies to maintain its equilibrium with gravity, exerts an that a body in
oblique actionq and is comparable to a body’s impact against an inclined circular motion
plane, as we have pointed out in the previous section. would have the
To this end, represent the infinitely small arcs that
c b d same effect o
a i e f against gravity
a body traverses in its circular motion by so many
as if hitting an
infinitely small straight lines, just as in mathemat- inclined plane.
ics circles are commonly regarded∗ as polygons with Fig. 13.
infinitely many sides. If gravity posed no obstacle to it,
the body traversing the infinitely small line ab would
keep on its straight pathr of motion and arrive at d in the next infinitely
small time interval. But gravitational resistance forces the body to devi-
ate from its path and traverse the infinitely small line be instead. Thus,
per resolutionem virium,s this gravitational resistance deprives the body of
the lateral motion ac, which is represented by the perpendicular line ac
drawn at a right angle to the line bd extended to c. Thus, the body suffers
exactly the same obstacle at point b through gravitational resistance as it
would have suffered by a plane cd hit at angle abc, for the obstacle posed
by this plane can be represented by the small perpendicular line ac, just
as in the case of gravity. Therefore, the force that a body applies in its
circular motion against the downward pull of gravity can be compared
perfectly well with the body’s impact against inclined planes, and one
can estimate the one in just the same way as the other. QED.t
§ 82.
Second, the third of the principles assumed in our proof in § 80 seems to
be in need of some support; at least, one cannot be cautious enough even
with the most obvious truths if one has to do with such opponents, for
the dispute of living forces has sufficiently shown to us, with respect to
certain opinions, how much more powerful and persuasive partisanship
is than the naked strength of truth, and how far the freedom of under- 1:89
standing reaches in still doubting the most evident truths or in deferring
its judgment.
I could appeal to § 32 on behalf of the proposition that, in any given In any given
finite time, gravity introduces into any freely moving body a finite force, finite time, a
body in circular
∗ Fig. 13. motion
performsu the
o Wirkung action of a
p begreifen lernen finite force
q Wirkung against
r Richtung
s
gravitational
by the analysis of forces
resistance.
t W. Z. E. [Was zu erweisen war = which was to be demonstrated]
u thut
79
Natural Science
but this proposition is already opposed by the defenders of living forces,

and it is better to defeat them with their own weapons. The body in
question, which in its circular motion has traversed the arc af in a finite
time, absorbs the pressures of all the gravitational springs to which it
is continuously exposed in the entire finite space af. Now, even by the
concession of the Leibnizians, the gravitational springs in a certain finite
space introduce into a body a finite force, while continuously communi-
cating their pressure to it. Therefore, etc.
§ 83.
The conclusion. Accordingly, the force exerted in separated motion, if estimated as pro-
portional to the squares of the sides of the rectangle,v is not consistent
with even the most familiar laws of the circular motion of bodies and with
the centrifugal forcesw that these bodies exert. Thus the lateral forces
in every composite motion are not proportional to the squares of their
velocities, as the Leibnizian estimation would require, and for precisely
this reason, the following conclusion is also general: The estimation by
the square is entirely erroneous; for any given motion can be regarded as
a composite motion, as is known from the first principlesx of mechanics.
§ 84.
How the It is still necessary to note how admirably well the Cartesian estimation
Cartesian of forces remedies this difficulty, to which the Leibnizian estimation
estimation succumbs, as we have now seen.
remedies this As we know from mathematics, the small line ac,∗
difficulty. 1:90 c b d which is equal to and parallel with the sinui versoy bi of
a i e
the infinitely small arc ab, is an infinitely small second
order quantity,z and thus infinitely many times smaller
Fig. 13a.
than the infinitely small line ab. Yet ac is the sine of the
angle in which the body acts everywhere in its circular
motion against the pressure of gravity, and ab, as an
infinitely small part of the absolute motion of the body
itself, is the sinus totusa of the same. But from what was proved in § 79,
we know that if a body moving at a slant acts on a certain obstacle such
that the sine of the angle of incidence is throughout infinitely small with
respect to the sinus totius,b then, by the Cartesian estimation, the force
∗ Fig. 13a.
v des rechtwinklichten Parallelograms z ein unendlich Kleines vom zweiten Grade

w Zentralkräften a total sine
x ersten Grundlehren b total sine
y versine
80
lost through obstacles is infinitely small compared to the total power of

all overcome obstacles. Thus, the body in its circular motion does not
lose any finite force through the pressure of gravity, until it has overcome
an infinitely large force in the whole sum of gravitational resistances.c But
the sum of all gravitational pressures will amount to only a finite force
in a finite time (by lemma 3, § 80), and consequently will amount to an
infinite force only after an infinite time; thus, the body moving in a circle
around a center, towardd which it is pulled by its gravity, loses a finite
force by the resistance of gravity only in an infinite time, consequently
losing infinitely little force in any given finite interval. By contrast, the
loss would amount to something finite in exactly these circumstances and
in any given time (§ 80). As a result, in this case the Cartesian estimation is
not subject to the difficulty to which the Leibnizian estimation is always
exposed, as we have seen.
§ 85.
At the same time, the objection made now to living forces reveals a Yet another
peculiar kind of contradiction in the estimation of forces by the square. contradiction to
For everyone agrees that the force estimated by the square of its velocitye which living
must have infinitely more power than the force expressed only by the 1:91 forces
simple measure of velocity, and that the former is to the latter just like a are exposed
plane is to a line. But precisely the opposite is revealed here, namely, in here.
the case we have seen, in which both types of force are posited to act in
wholly identical circumstances, the Leibnizian force can effect infinitely
less, and is consumed by infinitely fewer obstacles, than the Cartesian
force, and a greater contradiction can hardly be conceived.
§ 86.
The destruction of the general principle of the equality of the quantity of
force in composite motion and [the quantity of force in] simple [motion]
is at the same time cause for casting aside many more cases that the
defenders of living forces have constructed on this basis.
Bernoulli’s case, cited by Herr Wolff in his Mechanics, is one of the Refutation of
most reputable among those.76 Bernoulli assumes four springs that all Bernoulli’s case
require the same force to be compressed. Furthermore, he lets a body of the
moving with two units of velocity hitg the first spring at a 30◦ degree angle compressionf of
with a sine equal to one,77 then hit the second spring with the remaining four equal
springs.
c der Zurückhaltungen der Schwere
d gegen
e die nach dem Rectangulo der in sich selbst multiplicierten Geschwindigkeit geschätzten Kraft
f Spannung
g anlaufen
81
Natural Science
motion and at an angle whose sine is also equal to one, next hit the third
spring in the same way, and finally hit the fourth spring vertically. Now,
this body compresses each of these springs; accordingly, with two units
of velocity it exerts four units of force; consequently it had them, for
otherwise it could not have exerted them. Therefore, the force of the
body is not like its two units of velocity, but is rather like the square of
these units.
I do not insist on claiming that the body with two units of velocity
could not apply four units of force under any circumstances. But the
body can apply this force only in an oblique impact, and it suffices to
have shown that its force in a straight impact is always only like two units,
and that it is always larger in an oblique motion than in a perpendicular
motion. But everyone estimates the force of a body by the power found
in it in a vertical impact. Therefore, in that type of action,h which is
1:92 without ambiguity and on which all opponents concur that it is the true
measure of force, the advantage is on Descartes’s side and not on the
side of the party of living forces.
§ 87.
Finally, a further case, which one might call the Achilles of our oppo-
nents, is based on the composition of motion.
Herr von The case is as follows: A body A with one unit of mass and a velocity
Mairan’s of two units suddenly strikes at an angle of a 60 degrees two bodies B
objection to and B, with two units of mass each. After the collision, the striking body,
Herrmann’s A, stays here at rest, and bodies B and B move with one unit of velocity
case. each, and thus both with four units of force combined.
Herr von Mairan perceived quite well how odd and paradoxical this
result is, that a special case, restricted to certain conditions only, should
prove a new estimation of forces that, if it were true, would have to
emerge uniformly in each and every circumstance. The Leibnizians are
always so bold as to demand that if a body exerts four units of force in
whichever way, then one can always safely say that it will exert exactly the
same force also in a vertical direction, but in the present case, it is evident
that everything depends on a specific number of elements being moved
and on their specific position toward the striking body; accordingly the
matter would be entirely different if these determinates were changed,
and one would really deceive oneself in concluding that because the
body exerted this or that force in these circumstances (to speak in such
an indeterminate manner), it must also have this or that force and release
it, if you like, by a vertical effect as well.
h Wirkung
82
I only wanted to try to convey now the sense of Herr von Mairan’s
idea, which he advanced against Herrmann’s case, in reply to Frau von
Chastelet’s objections in her Physics.78 But it seems to me that the whole
issue could be dealt with much more easily and persuasively, and, for 1:93
the most part, has already been dealt with, by means of what we have
observed, up to now, about the composition and analysis of forces, and
thus I believe that, by referring to this reminder, the reader of these
pages will readily absolve me from further circuitousness.
§ 88.
Herr von Mairan is the only one among the defenders of Descartes who
reflected on the choice of reasons on which the Leibnizians wanted to
base a new estimation of forces, but he did so only for the case that we
referred to in the previous section. This kind of inquiry seems at first
glance not to be of great significance, but it is in fact extremely useful,
as only a method in the art of thinking can possibly be.
One needs to have a method that allows one to decide in each case, Utility of Herr
by a general consideration of the principles on which a certain opinion von Mairan’s
is built and by a comparison of this opinion with the implications drawn method.
from those principles, whether the nature of the premises really contains
everything that the doctrines that are drawn as conclusions require. This
happens when one precisely notes the determinations adhering to the
nature of the conclusion and carefully examines whether, in constructing
a proof, one has selected only those principles that are restricted to the
specific determinations contained in the conclusion. If one does not find
this to be so, then one can safely believe only that the arguments,i which
are thus flawed, prove nothing, even if one has not yet been able to
discover where the mistake is actually located, and even if this would
never be found out. Hence I concluded, for example, from the general
consideration of the motion of elastic bodies that the phenomena that
emerge in their collision could never prove a new estimation of forces
different from the Cartesian one. For I remembered that scholars of
mechanics account for all these phenomena from the single source of
the product of mass and velocity, together with elasticity, of which one
can present a hundred examples to the Leibnizians that all have the 1:94
greatest geometers as their authors and that one sees confirmed countless
times by the Leibnizians’ own approval. Thus, I concluded that whatever
is produced merely by the force estimated by the simple measure of
velocity cannot provide evidence for any other estimation. Then I did
not yet know where the mistake in the Leibnizian arguments on elastic
collisions is actually to be sought, but after I had been convinced in the
i Schlüsse
83
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aforementioned way that there must be a fallacy somewhere in these

arguments, be it ever so concealed, I turned all my attention toward
locating it, and I believe I have found it in more than one place.
This method is In short, this entire treatise should be regarded merely as a creature of
the main source this method. I shall candidly confess: Originally, I regarded all the proofs
of this entire of living forces, whose weakness I now believe to understand completely,
treatise. as so many geometrical demonstrations in which I did not suspect the
least mistake and perhaps never would have found one either, if the
general reflection on the conditions that determine Herr von Leibniz’s
estimation had not given my consideration an entirely different impulse.
I saw that the reality of motion is the condition of this measure of force,
and that it is the essential reason why the force of the moved body is not
to be estimated like the force of the body striving to move. But when I
thought about the nature of this condition, I easily understood that it can
never have a consequence different toto generej from the consequence of
the conditions of dead force, and that it can never remain so infinitely
different from the latter, when the condition, which is a cause of this
consequence, can just be put so closely to the other condition that it
already almost merges with it. This is so, because one can put the condi-
tion in the same class as the condition of dead force, and because the one
differs from the other only with regard to quantity.k Thus, I realized,
1:95 with virtually geometrical certainty, that the reality of motion could not
be a sufficient reason for concluding that the forces of bodies in motion
would have to be like the square of their velocities, because they possess
simple velocity as their measure in infinitely short intervals of motion
or, what is the same, in their mere striving toward motion. From this I
concluded: If mathematics had only the reality of motion as the reason
for the estimation by the square and nothing else, then its arguments
would be quite spurious.l Armed with this reasonable suspicion about all
Leibnizian proofs, I attacked the arguments of the defenders of this esti-
mation, in order to discover the nature of their mistakes, since I already
knew about the existence of their errors. I imagine that my project has
not been a complete failure.
§ 89.
The lack of this People could have spared themselves many errors in philosophy, had they
method was one devoted themselves to this way of thinking; at the very least, it would have
of the causes been a means for tearing themselves away from the errors much sooner.
why certain I even dare to say that the tyranny of errors over human understanding,
evident errors
had remained
hidden for so j l
in its entire kind müsse . . . sehr hinken
long. k Größe
84
which sometimes lasted whole centuries, did largely come from the want
of this or other, similar methods, and that one must be sure to employ
it now instead of alternatives, to prevent that scourge in the future. We
shall prove this.
Suppose that one believes to have proved a certain opinion by means
of certain inferences that conceal a very subtle mistake somewhere,m
and that afterwards one has no other way of seeing the invalidity of the
proof except by first discovering the error hidden in it, and that accord-
ingly one would already have to know in advance what kind of mistake
invalidated the proof before one could say that a mistake was there; if, I
say, one has no other method than this one, then I claim that the error
will remain undiscovered for a terribly long time, and the proof will
deceive countless times before the deception is revealed. The reason is
as follows. I presuppose that if the propositions and inferences in a proof
are perfectly evidentn and have the reputation of best-known truths, 1:96
then the understanding will give its stamp of approval without getting
involved in laborious and protracted quests for a mistake in the proof,
for then the understanding regards the proof to be just as persuasive as
any other with geometrical precision and correctness, and because the
error is not seen, the mistake hidden among the inferences has just as
little effect of diminishing approval as if it were not in the proof in the
first place. Thus either the understanding would have to never accept
any proof, or it would have to approve only those in which it does not
see anything resembling a mistake, that is, where it does not suspect one
even if one is hidden there. Accordingly, the understanding will never
expend any special effort at finding a mistake in such a case, since it has
no motive to do so; consequently, the error will not become apparent
except by way of a fortunate coincidence, and it will usually be hidden
for a very long time before it is discovered, for such a fortunate coinci-
dence can fail to materialize for many years, indeed, sometimes even for
entire centuries. This is nearly the most prominent source of errors that
have lasted for so many epochs, to the disgrace of human understand-
ing, and that afterwards were detected so easily. For, at first glance, the
error hidden somewhere in a proof looks like a known truth, and thus
the proof is considered to be perfectly accurate, no mistake is suspected,
one does not look for one either, and therefore finds it only by accident.
From this it is easy to recognize where the secret will have to be sought How the means
that prevents this difficulty and makes it easier to discover mistakes that must be
have been made. We have to possess the art of guessing and conjecturing constituted to
from the premises whether a proof structured in a certain manner will prevent the
persistence of
error.
m die irgendwo einen Fehler versteckt halten, der sehr scheinbar ist
n scheinbar
85
Natural Science
also contain principles that are sufficient and complete for the conclu-
sion. In this way we will recognize whether a mistake must be present in
it, and even if we do not catch sight of it anywhere, we will then nonethe-
1:97 less have sufficient reason to suspect its existence. This will accordingly
be a bulwark against the dangerous readiness of applause, which would
turn all the understanding’s activity away from the examination of a mat-
ter because, without this motive, it would have no occasion for doubt
and suspicion. This method helped us in §§ 25, 40, 62, 65, and 68, and
it will serve us well still further.
§ 90.
Explicating this method somewhat more clearly and indicating the rules
of its application would be an inquiryo of no small utility, but this sort of
investigation does not fall under the jurisdiction of mathematics, which,
actually, should be relevant to this treatise in its entirety. But we still
want to give an example of its utility in the refutation of the arguments
for living forces that are derived from the composition of the motions.
In the composition of dead pressures, e.g., weights, which pull on a
knot in oblique directions, their initial velocities are also expressed by
lines that form the sides of a rectangle when these directions are at right
angles to each other, and the pressure that thus results from it is repre-
sented by the diagonal. Although the square of the diagonal is here equal
to the sum of the squares of the sides as well, it still definitely does not
follow that the compound force relates to one of the componentp forces
as the square to the lines, which express the initial velocities; instead,
everyone agrees that, regardless, the forces in this case are simply pro-
portional to the velocities. Now take the composition of actual motions,
as represented in mathematics, and compare it with this. The lines that
form the sides and the diagonal of the parallelogram are no different
from the velocities in these directions, just as in the case of the com-
position of dead pressures. The diagonal has the same relation to the
sides here as it has there, and the angle is the same as well. Thus, noth-
1:98 ing in the determinations involved in the mathematical representation
of the composite and real motions differs from the determinations by
which we represent the compositesq of dead pressures in just the same
science. Since no estimation by the square of velocities derives from the
former determinations, none can be concluded from the latter either,
for they share the same basic concepts and they have accordingly the
same implications, too. One will still object that there is certainly an
o Betrachtung q Zusammensätze
p einfachen
86
obvious difference between them, because it is presupposed that the

one is from the composition of real motions, while the other is from the
composition of dead pressures. But this presupposition is vain and futile.
It does not concern the design of the basic concepts, which constitute
the theorem, for mathematics does not express the reality of motion.
The lines, which are the objectr of the consideration, are only represen-
tations of the relationship of velocities. Hence the qualification of the
reality of motion is here just a dead and idle concept, thought up only
in passing, and without consequence in the mathematical consideration.
From this kind of investigation of composite motions it follows that
nothing can be concluded in support of living forces, and such support
would have to come from, say, admixed philosophical arguments, but
they are not presently at issue. In this fashion, and with the aid of our
proposed method, we now understand that the mathematical proofs of
living forces from the composition of motions must be false and full of
mistakes; although we do not yet know what kind of errors these are,
we still can make an educated guess, or rather have a certain conviction,
that they are undoubtedly present. Hence we should not spare the effort
of earnestly searching for them. I have exempted my readers from this
effort, for I believe that I found these errors and indicated them in the
immediately preceding sections.
§ 91.
Finally, our method is also a sword to all the Gordian knots of sophistries
and distinctions by means of which Herr Bilfinger hoped to protect his
arguments, which we have hitherto refuted, from an objection that his 1:99
opponents can raise against him. It is a great advantage for us that we
can cut through this knot, for it would be very strenuous to unravel it
otherwise.
Herr Bilfinger certainly noticed that one would object that his proofs, By means of
if correct, would have to show the same for the composition of dead this method,
pressures. But he fortified himself to this side with a bulwark of convo- the distinctions
luted metaphysical distinctions, which only he knows how to make. He by which Herr
remarks: One must estimate the actions of dead force by the product of Bilfinger hopes
to evade Herr
the intensity and the path taken, but as this is expressed by the square
von Mairan’s
of the line, one can grant the Cartesians that actions are equal in the objections are
compositions of dead pressures, although this does not imply that forces dispatched.
must therefore be equal too. He adds: Actions are like forces in motibus
isochronis solum actiones sunt ut vires, non in nisu mortuo.t A metaphysical
r Vorwurf
s Wirkung
t only in motions performed in equal times, but they are unlike forces in dead pressures
87
Natural Science
investigation has an odd effect in a mathematical dispute. The math-

ematical expert believes that he is not competent in such sophistries,
and although he cannot unravel them, he is still far from being thrownu
by them. He proceeds with the guide of geometry and finds all other
paths suspect. The geometers conducted themselves in just this way
with regard to Herr Bilfinger’s evasive moves. As far as I know, no one
has engaged with him over these weapons. People have spared them-
selves this trouble with good reason, for a metaphysical investigation,
especially one so convoluted and complicated, has still countless hide-
outs on all sides, to which one can escape from enemies who would be
incapable of pursuing or pulling one out. We are well advised to attack
Herr Bilfinger’s arguments on the side where, by his own confession,
mathematics alone is decisive. But, as I already said, with our method we
mastered these distinctions as well, regardless of how impenetrable the
blankets of obscurity are that protect them.
Our 1:100 The question here is primarily whether Herr Bilfinger’s distinctions
method can validate the proof of living forces, which he derived from the relation
preempts Herr of the diagonal to the lateral line in the composition of real motions, or
Bilfinger’s whether this mathematical proof nevertheless still fails to serve as a shield
distinctions. wall for the new estimation. This is actually the point of contention, for
if Herr Bilfinger’s edifice rests only on a metaphysical basis, and is not
supported by mathematical concepts of the composition of motions, the
purpose of this chapter will already excuse us from engaging in an inquiry
of this edifice. The relation of diagonal velocity and lateral velocity in
the composition of real motions is shown by one and the same reason,
from which this relation in the composition of dead pressures is likewise
derived. It is therefore true, even if there will be no other properties and
determinations in compound real motions as there are in dead pressures,
because it can fully be shown without anything except what is presup-
posed in compound dead pressures. Thus one cannot conclude from the
ratio of diagonal velocity in real motions that composite forces must be of
a different nature and type of estimation than dead pressures, for just the
same ratio applies nonetheless, even if the nature of composite forces
were no different from dead pressures, because one needs no reasons
to prove this other than those required here. It is therefore futile that
Herr Bilfinger wants to employ these reasons to conclude that forces are
proportional not to their velocities but instead to their squares.
Accordingly, the metaphysical distinctions employed by this philoso-
pher could perhaps provide something from which continued philosoph-
ical reflection would glean various reasons in favor of living forces, but
1:101 these distinctions fail to suffice for supporting the mathematical proof in
u irre machen lassen
88
question, because this proof, by its very nature, must leave undetermined
what the rule requires, which one wants to infer from the proof.
§ 92.
After all these different kinds of proofs, whose inaccuracy we have A special and
demonstrated to the defenders of living forces, I come at last to the complexv case
one constructed by Herr von Leibniz himself, the father of living forces, by Herr von
and which also bears the mark of his brilliance. Leibniz first presented Leibniz.
this proof to the public in Acta Eruditorum,∗ on the occasion of resolv-
ing Abbot Catelan’s objections.79 Afterwards, he appealed specifically to
this publication whenever he wanted to clarifyw the estimation of forces;
hence we must regard and rebut this proof as a main support of living
forces.
3B
a
Fig. 14.
4A
1A F
E C 4B
2A 3A 1B 2B
Let a ball A† of four units of mass fall from point 1A to point 2A on

the curved inclined plane whose height 1AE is unit height, and assume
that it continues its motion on the horizontal plane EC with the one
unit of velocity attained by the fall. Further suppose that it transfers
all of its force to a ball B of one unit of mass and that, thereafter, is at
rest at point 3A. Now which amount of velocity will ball B with one
unit of mass acquire from ball A, which has one unit of velocity and
four units of mass, if B’s force is thereby to become equal to body A’s
force? The Cartesians say that B’s velocity must be four units. Let body
B move accordingly with four units of velocity on the horizontal plane
from point 1B to point 2B, and after meeting the curved inclined plane
2B3B, let it move up this plane and reach, by its acquired velocity, point
3B, whose vertical height 3BC is sixteen units. Suppose further the tilted
steelyard 3A3B, which is suspended at fulcrum F,x whose one arm F3B
∗ Acta 1690.
† Fig. 14.
v zusammengesetzter
w ein Licht geben
x die sich an dem Punkte F bewegt [F = Fulcrum]
89
Natural Science
1:102 is slightly more than four times as long as its other arm 3AF, and whose
beam, however, is in balance. Now if body B reaches point 3B, thereby
reaching the arm of the balance, then the following is clear: Because arm
F3B compared to arm 3AF is somewhat larger than the mass of the body
at point 3A compared to the mass of the body at point 3B, the equilibrium
is lifted, and body B sinks from point 3B to point 4B, while, at the same
time, ball A rises from point 3A to point 4A. But the height 4A3A is
almost a quarter of the height 3BC, thus corresponds to four units, and
therefore, body B has lifted ball A to nearly four times of its height in
this way. Now by means of an easy mechanical feat the following can be
accomplished: Ball A returns from point 4A to point 1A, performs certain
mechanical actionsy with the force acquired on its reverse course, rolls
once again from point 1A down the inclined plane 1A2A, recreates the
former state, and, performing everything just as before, even transfers its
force once more to ball B, which, by an imperceptibly small inclination
of plane 2B4B, can be at point 1B again. Herr von Leibniz goes on and
concludes: Therefore, Descartes’s estimation of forces implies that just
as long as one makes good use of its force, a body can perform ever more
actions,z drive machines, compress springs, and surmount obstacles to
perpetuity, without loss in its capacity, exerting its capacity further and
without stop, hence that the effecta could be greater than its cause, and
perpetual motion would be possible, which all scholars of mechanics
think is nonsense.
§ 93.
The fallacious This proof is the only one among all defenses of living forces whose
step in this plausibility could excuse the haste that the Leibnizians have shown in
proof. the defenses of their estimation. Nothing that Herr Bernoulli, Herr
Herrmann, and Wolff had said equals Leibniz’s proof in originality and
evident strength. A man as great as Leibniz could not go astray without
even the very thought that led him into error being worthy of praise.
About this proof we wish to say the same as what Hector boasted of in
Virgil’s Aeneid:
1:103 — Si Pergama dextra defendi possent, etiam hac defensa fuissent.b
I shall briefly summarize my judgment of this proof. After ball A had

been raised by the steelyard to the four unit height 4A3A, and returned
from point 3Ac on the inclined plane to point 1A, while previously
y Wirkungen
z Wirkungen
a Wirkung
b Had Pergamon been defended by my right hand, it would have been defended, too.
c According to Lasswitz, the text should read: 4A
90
exerting certain mechanical forces, Herr von Leibniz should not have
said that the reverse course of ball A is an effectd of the force transferred
into ball B, however much that may appear to be so. Although this exer-
tion of mechanical force is the subsequent state in the machine, which
has been triggered by the force transferred into body B, it still is not an
effecte of this force. We must very carefully avoid the conflation of these
two aspects, for this is the crux of the fallacy on which the illusion in Leib-
niz’s proof rests. For if all these mechanical results are not real effectsf of
the force transferred by body A into body B, then every appearance of a
paradoxical thought will suddenly vanish, even if one says of the machine
that its subsequent state contains more than its preceding state. For the
effect is thereby still not larger than the cause, and perpetual motion
as such is not an absurdity here, because the motion that is produced
is not the real effectg of force, which actually only occasioned it, and
consequently it can still be greater than this motion without violating
the fundamental law of mechanics.
§ 94.
The body B, to which all of ball A’s force had been transferred, applies this The force A
force completely by moving up on the inclined plane 3B2B.h Thus body B acquires from
expends the entire quantity of its action at point 3B and accordingly uses the setup of the
up the entire force communicated to it. Now, when body B happens to machine is not
get on the arm of the balance, it is no longer the previous force whereby an effect
produced
body B lifts the body up from point 3A, but it is only the renewed power of
by the
gravity that performs this action,i and the force that body B had acquired 1:104 force of
from ball A has no part in this. In addition, when ball A is thereby raised to body B.
point 4A, the force of the ball that dominated at point 3B, has performed
its complete actionj in this way, and the force acquired once again by body
B on its return from point 4 A to point 1A is an effect of a new cause,
utterly distinct from, and also far larger than, the actionk of the lever,
namely, the pressure of gravity communicated to the body in free fall.
Thus the force through which body A exerts mechanical effects,l before
it arrives at point 1A again, is admittedly something occasioned by the
force of ball B, which is subject to certain mechanical causes, but does
not have this force itself as its efficient cause.m
d Wirkung i Wirkung
e Wirkung j Wirkung
f rechte Wirkung k Thätigkeit
g wahre Wirkung l mechanische Wirkungen ausübt
h In the Academy edition: 2B3B m hervorbringenden Ursache
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Natural Science
§ 95.
This is If the Leibnizians always want to posit just as much force in the next
confirmed. state emerging in nature as the previous state contains, then I would
like to know how they can save themselves from the objection one can
raise against them with their own proof. If I put the ball B on the steel-
yard at point 3B, and B then pushes the arm down, lifting body A from
point 3A up to point 4A in the process, this is the previous state of
nature, but the force acquired by body A afterwards, in its return fall
from point 4A downward, is the next state, triggered by the previous
one. But the next state contains far more force than the previous one.
For the preponderancen of the body 3B over body 3A could, with regard
to B’s own weight, have been imperceptibly small, and the velocity of the
body’s rise from point 3A could accordingly have been extremely slow,
compared to the velocity that A gains in free fall from point 4A back
to point 1A, because here undiminished gravitational pressures accu-
mulate, while only pressures incomparably smaller than the others had
accumulated in the previous state. Thus the next state of force in nature
is indisputably larger than the previous one that triggered it.
1:105 § 96.
The same, The main thing in all of this here is that one be persuaded that the force
demonstrated of body B with four units of velocity is not the efficient cause of the
from the law of actiono revealed in the machine, as the Leibnizians have to presuppose if
continuity. they want to show an absurdity in Descartes’s law. For if this force were
the efficient cause of the action, then the action would diminish only by
a tiny amount when that cause was diminished only by a little. But the
machine reveals something else. If we suppose that a body had somewhat
less than four units of velocity at point 1B, then it would only move up
to a given point ap on the inclined plane 2Ba, where the length 3AF of
one balance bar would be exactly in a 4:1 ratio to the length of the other
lever arm, where accordingly the weight of body B would fail to move
the lever, not pulling body 3A from its place in the slightest. Therefore,
if B has a fraction of force less, a part assumed so small that it hardly
comes into consideration at all, then the body will no longer acquire any
force at all at point 3A; by contrast, as soon as this fraction is added,
this body not only reacquires the force at point 3A that it had originally,
but also gets far more in addition. It is apparent that this leap would not
happen if the force of the body at point 3B were the real efficient cause
of the state revealed in the machine.
n Überwucht p Not drawn in Fig. XIV.

o Wirkung
92
§ 97.
We have the entire quantity of those determinations that occasioned The entire
the force in body A, if we consider the position of the lever in this quantity of the
machine and its geometrical determination with regard to the ratio of sufficient
the bodies, and add to this the excess of the relation of heights 3B4B reason in the
and 1AE over the ratio of the masses of bodies A and B (for the heights preceding state.
3B4B and 1AE are in the ratio of 16:1, while the masses A and B are
only in the ratio of 4:1); now add to all this the gravitational pressures,
made more effective by the favorable arrangement of the geometrical
determinations, and one gets the sum-total of all the sufficient reasons 1:106
that constitute the complete quantity of the force emerging in body A. If
one isolates the individual force of body B from this, then, unsurprisingly,
it will turn out to be far too small to serve as the cause of force entering
into body A. The contribution of body B consists only in the acquisition
of a certain modality when overcoming gravitational resistances, that
is, a certain quantity of height, which happens to be disproportionately
large compared to its velocity and hence to its mass.
The force of body B is therefore not the real efficient cause of the
force produced in body A; the great law of mechanics that effectus quilibet
aequipollet viribus causae plenaeq will accordingly not apply, and in this way,
perpetual motion is still possible without violating this fundamental law
in the least.
§ 98.
Therefore, everything that Leibniz, with his argument, could retort to The sole
us amounts to this: Even if one cannot demonstrate the utter impos- difficulty that
sibility of the matter, it is still highly irregular and unnatural that one could still
force would awaken a larger force, regardless of how this may occur. remain in the
Indeed, Leibniz embraces this position: Sequeretur etiam causam non posse Leibnizian
argument.
iterum restitui suoque effectui surrogari; quod quantum abhorreat a more nat-
urae et rationibus rerum facile intelligitur. Et consequens esset: decrescentibus
semper effectibus, neque unquam crescentibus, ipsam continue rerum natu-
ram declinare, perfectione imminuta, neque unquam resurgere atque amissa
recuperare posse sine miraculo. Quor in physicis certe abhorrent a sapientia con-
stantiaque conditoris.∗,s Leibniz would not have spoken so mildly, had he
∗ Act. Erud. (1691): 542.80
q any effect has the same power as the forces of its complete cause
r Academy edition: quae
s This would also imply that the cause could not be restored and put in place of the
effect, and how much this contradicted nature’s way and the reasons of things is easy to
see. And the consequence would be this: Since effects would always decrease and never
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Natural Science
not seen that the nature of the subject matter required this moderation
of him. We can definitely be sure that he would have turned against his
1:107 enemy with all the thunder of his geometrical magict and all the power
of mathematics, had his wit not perceived this weakness. Yet he saw him-
self compelled to appeal to God’s wisdom, a sure sign that geometry had
failed to supply him with powerful weapons.
Nec Deus intersit, nisi dignus vindice nodus
Inciderit.u
Horace, De Arte Poetica
The difficulty But even this minor defense is flimsy. We are speaking only of the
explained. mathematical estimation of forces and it is no surprise if it does not
match God’s wisdom perfectly. Mathematics is a science isolated from
the medium of genuine knowledge, it does not sufficiently meet the rules
of decorum and appropriateness if taken alone, and it must be combined
with the tenets of metaphysics if it is to be perfectly applied to nature.
The harmony present among truths is like the agreement found in a
painting. If one takes one specific part away, then decorum, beauty, and
design will disappear; all parts have rather to be seen together in order
to perceive these same features. The Cartesian estimation is contrary to
the designs of nature; it is accordingly not the true estimation of forces
in nature, but this does not prevent it from being the true and justified
measure of force in mathematics. For the mathematical concepts of the
properties and forces of bodies are quite different from the concepts
encountered in nature, and it is enough to have seen that the Cartesian
estimation is not contrary to mathematical concepts. But in order to
determine the true estimation of force in nature, we must connect the
laws of metaphysics with the rules of mathematics; doing so will fill in
the gap and better meet the designs of God’s wisdom.
§ 99.
Herr Papin’s Herr Papin, one of the most notorious adversaries of living forces, con-
objection. ducted the Cartesian campaign against Leibniz’s demonstration in a very
unfortunate way.81 He left the battlefield to his opponent and fled across
1:108 the fields to make a stand at some other position that could afford him
protection. He concedes to Herr von Leibniz that by the Cartesian esti-
mation, a perpetual motion will result under the presupposition that
body A transferred its entire force to body B, and he very kindly grants
increase, the nature of things would steadily lessen, diminishing the perfection, which
could never rise again and regain the loss without a miracle. This certainly contradicts
the wisdom and constancy of the Author in physical affairs.
t geometrischen Bannes
u And a god should not join in, unless there is a knot worthy of a savior cutting it through.
94
to Leibniz that this type of motion is an absurdity: Quomodo autem per

translationem totius potentiae corporis A in corpus B juxta Cartesium obtineri
possit motus perpetuus, evidentissime demonstrat, atque ita Cartesianos ad
absurdum reductos arbitratur. Ego autem et motum perpetuum absurdum esse
fateor, et Cl. Vir. demonstrationem ex supposita translatione esse legitimam.v
Having spoiled his case in this way, he seeks refuge by denying the pre-
supposition to his opponent that is a very marginal piece in Leibniz’s
argument, and by challenging him to unravel this knot. The following
words reveal his opinion: Sed hypothesis ipsius possibilitatem translationis
nimirum totius potentiae ex corpore A in corpus B pernego, etc.∗,w
§ 100.
Herr von Leibniz disarmed his opponent in one fell swoop and left him
with no way out. Leibniz showed him that the actual transfer of force is
not an essential part in his proof, and that it is sufficient to posit a force in
body B that can be exchanged for the force in body A. One can find the
entire demonstration in his tract in the Acta Eruditorum that we already
referred to above. But I cannot refrain from citing a mistake Herr von
Leibniz made that, in a public discussion, would have handed the victory
to his opponent. It is this: Leibniz, as he himself notes, grants something
that does not really concern the main issue in order to make a minor
point and that, when granted, admittedly supports this minor point, but
that turns the main point of the proof totally on its head.
The case is as follows: Herr Papin was determined to take no excep- A mistake by
tion to his opponent’s objection other than that it is impossible for 1:109 Herr
a body to transfer its entire force to another body, and he tried to von Leibniz.
undermine all the tricksx whereby Herr von Leibniz intended to have
achieved this. Thus he fought
with great zeal against the claim b
Fig. 15. 2a
that a body 1A† with four units 1A C
of mass could transfer its entire 2A B
1a
∗ Acta eruditorum (1691): 9.

† Fig. 15.
v However, he demonstrates absolutely clearly how a perpetual motion, according to

Descartes, could come about by the transfer of the entire force of body A to body B,
and thus he believes to have reduced the Cartesians to absurdity. I myself admit that a
perpetual motion is absurd, and that the demonstration by this famous gentleman from
the transfer assumed is legitimate.
w But I decidedly deny the possibility of his hypothesis about the transfer of the entire
force from body A to body B; etc.
x Kunststücke
95
Natural Science
force to a body B with one unit of mass, as long as body 1A strikes the
completely stiff lever 1ACB at point 1A, which is a quarter of the distance
CB from fulcrum C, for this is what Herr von Leibniz had embraced by
asserting the mechanical case we discussed. Herr Papin failed to notice
the advantage that his case could have gained by using this very solution
to draw a conclusion against living forces. So he touched on the solution,
but with arguments so weak that they only encouraged his opponent to
persist in the assertion of the claim. Accordingly, Leibniz insisted on the
accuracy of this sleight of hand, which he presumed he could employ
to transfer the entire force of one body into another by a single strike.
With gratitude he accepted the reasons Papin had adduced for showing
the plausibility of the sleight of hand, and cleared the difficulties aside by
which Papin hoped, by the same token, to subvert it. I believe Leibniz
was completely serious when he said: Cum Florentiae essem, dedi amico
aliam adhuc demonstrationem pro possibilitate translationis virium totalium
etc. corpore majore in minus quiescens, prorsus affinem illis ipsis, quae Clariss.
Papinus ingeniosissime pro me juvando excogitavit, pro quibus gratias debeo,
imo et ago sinceritate eius dignas.y Now we shall see that Leibniz really
did his case a disservice by stubbornly continuing to insist on this claim,
which he really should have conceded to his opponent; for although he
would have lost the minor point (whose loss, though, would not have
brought him any disadvantage), he would have scored the main point.
To catch his opponent at his own confession, Herr Papin could, and
even should, have argued in the following manner.
Proof that by If the body 1A with four units of mass strikes the lever with one unit
striking 1:110 of velocity at point 1A, then it will evidently transfer by this impact its
a lever, a body entire force and velocity to another body 2A of equal mass and equidistant
with four units from the fulcrum. But because the velocity that pushes body 2A away
of mass can is a continuation of the very motion by which the lever, repelling the
transfer to a body, traverses the infinitely small spatial interval 2A2a, the velocity
body with unit of this infinitely short motion is equal to the velocity of the repelled
mass four units
body 2A, and thus equal to the velocity with which body 1A strikes the
of velocity.
lever; consequently, this ball 1A, in striking the lever, will press the lever
down along the infinitely short line 1A1a, a distance which the lever will
traverse with just the same velocity that ball 1A had when striking the
lever. Now instead of the body 2A, let us assume a body B with a quarter
of the mass of body 2A,z and which is located four times the distance
from fulcrum C, and see what resistance ball B would then exert against
y When I was in Florence, I gave a friend yet another proof of the possibility of a complete
force transfer, etc., from a larger body to a smaller one at rest, which happens to be quite
similar to the proofs that the famous Papin so most brilliantly devised to help me, for
which I owe him thanks, a gratitude that I indeed extend to him, befitting his sincerity.
z A
96
body 1A,a if 1Ab endeavors to press the lever down from point 1A to
point 1a. It is known that the vis inertiae,c or the resistance that a body,
by means of it, puts into the path of another, is proportional to its mass,
but the quantity of one quarter of the mass at four times the distance
from the fulcrum must be rated equal to the quantity of one unit of mass
at one quarter the distance, and therefore body B at point B offers just
as much resistance to the strike of body 1A on the lever, as body 2A =
1A at 2Ad would have done. Hence even in this case, with ball B instead
of ball 2A on the lever, body 1A will traverse the infinitely short line
1A1a together with the lever, and it will do so with the same velocity
as in the previous case, that is, with a velocity as great as the one it had
when striking point 1A. But body 1A cannot push the lever from point
1A down to point 1a without simultaneously pushing the other end in B
from point B up to point b; the infinitely short line Bb, however, is four
times the line 1A1a, and thus, by this strike on the lever, body B will get
four times the velocity of body 1A striking the lever.
This is clear in yet another way. We can represent all solid bodies as The same
elastic ones, that is, as yielding but rebounding in a collision, and we thing
can accordingly attribute such an elastic force to the rigid lever 1ABC as 1:111 shown
well. Body 1A, therefore, which strikes the lever with one unit of velocity, differently.
applies its entire force to compress the spring 1AC and deformse it by
the distancef 1A1a. Now the units of momentag,82 of the velocity, which
the spring absorbs through its resistance to body 1A during the entire
duration of this pressure, are, due to this compression, equal to those by
which the spring C2A, as the extended arm of the lever, simultaneously
snaps upwards for the distanceh 2A2a; consequently, if this rigid line is
extended to point B, then the momentai of the velocity that spring CB
has, when snapping upwards just beforej the lever 1aCB rights itself again
into the straight line 1aCb, will be four times the momenta,k with which
it would snap back to point 2A (since the distancel bB traversed by point
B in the same period is four times the distance 2A2a). However, because
of the fourfold distance of point B from fulcrum C, spring CB has only a
quarter of the stiffness of spring C2A, and one must in exchange make the
resistance at point B accordingly four times less than at point 2A, and, as
a result, the momentum of the velocity that spring CB introduces into the
body B with a quarter of the mass will be four times the momentum that
spring C2A would apply to the body 2A. Now the period during which
a A g momentum
b A h Raum
c inertial force i momentum
d Körper 2A = 1A in 2A j indem
e aufdrückt k momentum
f Raum l Raum
97
Natural Science
spring CB actsm is equal to the time it would take for spring C2A to snap
open, and the velocities that bodies 2A and B acquire by the actionsn
of springs C2A and CB are directly proportional to the momentao of the
velocities given by these springs to their bodies, which are accordingly
four times greater in body B than in body 2A, but since the velocity that
body 2A would acquire by the repulsion of the spring C2A is equal to
the velocity of body 1A striking point 1A, the velocity acquired by body
B through this impact of body 1A on the lever would have to be four
times greater than the velocity of body 1A at impact. QED.
How Herr We thus see from this twofold demonstration that a body with four
Papin could units of mass can impart four times the velocity to a body with one unit
have 1:112 of mass. This is true by mechanical principles, which even the most
argued against zealous defenders of living forces could not challenge. Had Herr Papin
Leibniz on this clearly seen his advantage, he could have thus cornered his opponent in
basis. an honest way. He should have told him: You have granted to me that
a body of four units of mass can transfer its entire force into a body of
one unit of mass by means of a lever, as long as the latter is four times
as far away from the fulcrum as the former, but I can show to you that
it imparts to this body four units of velocity under these conditions:
Therefore, a body with one unit of mass and four units of velocity has
the entire force of a body with four units of mass and one unit of velocity,
which, however, was the point of contention, the point that you required
me to deny.
§ 101.
Thus the most devastating attack of them all, by which living forces had
threatened the Cartesian estimation, missed its mark. After this, no hope
now remains that living forces will still find the means to prevail.
– – – vires in ventum effudit, et ultro

Ipse gravis graviterque ad terram pondere vasto
Concidit: ut quondam cava concidit aut Erymantho
Aut Ida in magna radicibus eruta pinus.p
Virgil, Aeneid, book 5
m wirkt
n Wirkung
o momenta
p — — — In vain with his forces he struck out; moreover
To the earth with vast weight, heavy as he was
He fell: as sometimes a hollow pine, on Mount Erymanthus
Or on the Ida up high, falls uprooted.
98
§ 102.
We have mentioned the best and most famous reasons to date for the We have
innovation of living forces and have taken care, by the right of rec- refuted the
ompense, to meet all the criticisms and corrections that this sect so main
often advanced against the students of Descartes. It would be unfair to argumentsq of
demand from us that our party’s complete triumph ought to be based the
Leibnizians.
on discussing everything written by the Leibnizians on this issue. This
would mean that everything would have to be covered, from the cedars
of Lebanon to the hyssop-weed growing on the wall, only for the sake
of enriching one’s work. We could make yet more incursions into our
enemies’ territory, plunder their estates, and put up so many victory
signs and triumphal archways for the retinue of Descartes, but I believe 1:113
that my readers will not have a great need of this. If there was ever a
reason for saying that a fat book is a great evil, one can say it of a book
that refers to little else but different defenses of one and the same issue,
a very abstract issue at that, and ultimately does so just for the sake of
refuting them all.
However, we cannot renounce such long-winded excesses so com-
pletely as to avoid mention of yet another proof, whose discussion is
justified even though all critics and defenders of the issue would forgive
us its neglect. Only because of the stature of its author can this proof
claim a place in this treatise; however, it does not have the least reputa-
tion among the members of both parties. The Leibnizians did not deem
it to be useful for their opinion, and although they had been frequently
driven into a corner, no one had seen them taking refuge to this proof.
§ 103.
It is from Herr Wolff that we have this proof which, decorated with all An argument
the splendor of method, he presented in volume one of the St. Petersburg by Herr Wolff.
Commentarii.r,83 One could say that the execution of his claim through
a long series of premises, which are fastidiously differentiated and mul-
tiplied by means of a rigorous method, resembles the military ploy of
an army that deceives its enemy and hides its weakness by spreading out
into many units and by widely stretching its flanks.
Everything has been made so verbose and unintelligible by the ana-
lytic tendency shown there, that anyone who reads Wolff ’s tract in the
mentioned Academy text will find it very difficult to ferret out what
precisely constitutes the proper proof. Let us familiarize ourselves, to
some extent, with the character of his enterprise.
q vornehmsten Gründe r Proceedings
99
Natural Science
1:114 § 104.
The main Herr Papin had maintained that one could not say that a body had acteds
principle of this unless it had overcome obstacles, moved masses, compressed springs, and
argument. so on. Wolff contradicts him for the following reason: If a man carried a
burden over some distance,t then everyone would agree that he has done
and performed something; now, a body carries its own mass through a
space with the force it has in actual motion, and just because of this, its
force has done and exerted something. At the beginning of his treatise,
Wolff promised to dispense with this reason and to demonstrate his
claim independently, but he did not keep his word.
After explaining what he means by harmless effects (effectus innocuos),
namely those in whose production force is not used up, he stipulates a
claim as the basis on which alone his system is built, and which we just
need to take from him to thwart the entire effort of his work. Si duo
mobilia per spatia inaequalia transferentur, effectus innocui sunt ut spatia.u
This is the claim we refer to.∗ Let us see how he set about proving it. He
argues as follows: If the effect in space A is e, then the effect occurring
in an equal or identical space A will also be e; hence the effect will be 2e
in a space twice the size of A, and 3e in a space three times the size of A,
that is, the effects are proportional to the spaces.
His proof accordingly rests on this presupposition: A body traversing
exactly the same space exerts exactly the same harmless effect. This
is the root of the seduction and error that subsequently infects his entire
1:115 text. The uniform identity of space alone is insufficient for the uniform
identity of the effect exerted therein by the same body; the velocity of
the body traversing space must be taken into account as well. If this
does not remain the same, then regardless of the uniformity of space,
the harmless effect will still vary. To see this, we must represent the
space traversed by a body just as we did in § 17, that is, not as perfectly
empty but rather as filled with an infinitely rarefied matter, which has
accordingly infinitely little resistance. We do this only for determining
the true effect and its object,v for apart from this, the effect will still
remain harmless, just as it is in the Wolffian argument. If, therefore,
a body traverses just as much space as another, equal body, then both
will have moved the same amount of matter but still not had the same
∗ Herr Wolff thus attributed certain effects to a body moving through an unresisting,
empty space; he later used them to measure the force of the body and thus failed to keep
his promise.
s gethan habe
t durch einen gewissen Raum
u If two movable objects are carried through unequal spaces, the harmless effects will be
like the spaces traversed.
v ein gewisses Subject derselben
100
effect. For if the one body traversed its space with twice the velocity of
the other, then by its action,w all the particles in its space would have
gained twice the velocity of the particles in the space traversed by the
other body with one unit of velocity; and as a consequence, even though
the mass and space traversed are equal for both, the former body will
have had a greater effect.x
§ 105.
Thus the principle of all of Herr Wolff ’s arguments is evidently false, Another main
and conflicts with what can be proven with the utmost clarity and cer- cause of
tainty by means of the concepts of actionz and motion. The consequence Wolff ’s sloppy
of a single mistake is nothing but a chain of errors. Herr Wolff derives remark.y
another principle from his first one, and it is actually this other prin-
ciple that provides all the grandiose implications to his system, which
so unexpectedly surprise and astonish the reader. It is this: Harmless
effects are like the sums of masses, times, and velocities, because
in uniform motion the spaces are jointly proportional to velocity
and time. On this Wolff bases the following theorem: Actiones, quibus 1:116
idem effectus producitur, sunt ut celeritates.a
There is a fallacy in the proof of this theorem that is possibly even Refutation.
more seriousb than the one we justc noticed. Wolff had proved that if two
equal bodies produce an identical effectd in unequal times, their veloci-
ties will be inversely proportional to the times in which these identical
effectse were produced, that is, a body completing its effectf in half of
the time period has two units of velocity, while another body, required
to spend the whole time period for this, has, by contrast, only one unit
of velocity. From this Wolff infers that because everyone grants that
an actiong has twice the quantity of another if it produces twice the
effecth of the other action in half the time, the actionesi here will be
inversely proportional to the times and directly proportional to the
velocities. He goes on to examine the case of two unequal bodies having
w Wirkung
x Wirkung
y Schediasmatis.
z Wirkens
a Actions that produce an identical effect are proportional to the velocities.
b härter
c kaum
d Wirkung
e Wirkungen
f Wirkung
g Action
h Wirkung
i actions
101
Natural Science
an identical effectj in equal times. He shows that, in this case, the veloci-
ties will have to be inversely proportional to the masses, and then draws
the following conclusion: Quoniam hic eadem est ratio massarum, quae
in casu priori erat temporum, ratio vero celeritatum eodum modo se habeat:
perinde est, sive massae diversae et tempus idem, sive massae sint eaedem et
tempus diversum etc.k,84 This conclusion is a monstrosity and definitely
not an argument that should be in a mathematical treatise. One needs to
remember in the previous case that the claim of the inverse proportional-
ity of Actionesl of two equal bodies and times, with equal bodies perform-
ing equal effectsm over unequal times, was made only because the Actionn
that produces an effecto more quickly is, precisely for this reason and to
this extent, greater than another that requires more time for producing
the same. Thus this conclusion holds, because the shorter the time of
completing an effect is, the greater the indicated action will always be.
But if I posit the inequality of masses instead of the inequality of times,
as I do here in the second case, then one easily sees that the inequality
of masses will not lead to the result given by the inequality of times.
For in the previous case, the body that completed its effectp in a shorter
time had exerted a greater Actionq than the other precisely because the
time was shorter; while in the second case the body with smaller mass,
1:117 which completes just the same effectr as the other, has a greater activity
precisely not because of the smallness of its mass. Saying that it did
would be completely absurd, for the smallness of mass is a true and essen-
tial reason for the smallness of activity instead, and if a body exerted
just the same effects as another and in equal time despite this smallness
of mass, then one can only conclude that a higher velocity would replace
and compensate what its Actioni t lacks due to its smaller mass, making
it equal to the Actioni u of another. Accordingly, if masses are unequal
but times and effects are equal, then one cannot say that the Actionesv
of bodies are inversely proportional to their masses, even though this
j Wirkung
k Because here the ratio of masses is the same as the ratio of times in the previous case, and
because the ratio of velocities really remains the same, it is irrelevant whether masses
are equal and times unequal, or masses are unequal and times equal, and so on.
l actions
m Wirkung
n action
o Wirkung
p Wirkung
q action
r Wirkung
s Wirkung
t action
u action
v actions
102
proportion applies to times and Actionumw in the case of unequal times

and equal masses. It is therefore not equivalent whether masses are
unequal and times are equal, or whether times are unequal and
masses are equal.
So the proof of a major theorem in Wolff ’s treatise is invalid and
useless, and accordingly living forces will find no reason there that would
sustain them.
Sometimes there are in a text certain moderate mistakes that do not
extend very far and do not wholly destroy the validity of the main point.
But in the text discussed, the method is such that the propositions run
downward as if on a rope; hence one or two errors ruin the entire system
and make it unusable.
§ 106.
Herr Wolff intended to provide us with the first foundations of dynamics We have as yet
in his treatise. His enterprise turned out poorly. Hence we do not have no dynamics.
any dynamic principles at present from which we could justifiably pro-
ceed. Our work, which promises to present the true estimation of living
forces, should make amends for this defect. The third chapter shall be
an attempt at this; but then again, can we really hope to reach this goal 1:118
when even one of the best experts in this sort of inquiry failed to attain it?
§ 107.
Just as I am about to conclude, with the previous case, the refutation of Herr van
the arguments with which the most famous Leibnizians establish their Musschen-
estimation of forces, I receive Herr Professor Gottsched’s translation broek’s
of Herr Peter von Musschenbroek’s Elements of Natural Science, argument.
published at the 1747 Easter book fair.85 This great man, the greatest
natural scientist of our time, and one whose opinions are less affected
by bias and partiality than the doctrines of any other man, this so very
famous philosopher subjected Leibniz’s estimation first to his mathemat-
ical examination, next to the experiments that he so skillfully knows how
to perform, and found it to be confirmed in both. This latter path that
Musschenbroek took does not pertain to the current chapter; only the
former belongs to it. The purpose of this treatise requires me to assess
the difficulties that the famous author thereby creates for Descartes’s
estimation and to deflect them, when possible, from the object whose
defense is our business. But will not the narrow limits of these pages, or,
to express myself frankly, the astonishing inequality that emerges here,
present insurmountable obstacles?
w actions
103
Natural Science
A Fig. 16. Let us see what sorts of reasons seemed to have math-
ematically proven Leibniz’s law to Musschenbroek.∗
B F
C If some external cause moves together with the body
S pushed, for instance a given spring BC that is attached
to a supportx AS and that pushes body F away, then it will give the
body one unit of velocity if the body is at rest. But as soon as this body
already has one unit, twice the springs will be needed to give it a sec-
ond unit of velocity. For if the single spring extended itself alone once
more, then the body, already in real motion with the unit of velocity
1:119 of the extending spring, would elude this spring and fail to absorb its
pressures. Hence the second spring† DB must be added for bringing
Fig. 17.
it about that point B, to which spring BC is
attached, will pursue the body with just the
D
B C
F velocity at which the body would escape, and
that, like at the beginning, body F will be
at rest relative to spring BC in this way and thereby acquire one
unit of velocity as soon as spring BC extends itself. Analogously,‡
three springs ED, DB, and BC are needed to give body F, already in
Fig. 18.
possession of two units of velocity,
just a third unit of velocity. A hun-
E F dred and one springs are needed to
D B C
give a body already in possession of
one hundred units of velocity a sin-
gle new unit, and so forth. Hence the number of springs needed to give
a body a certain degreey of velocity is like the number of unitsz into
which the body’s total velocity is divided; that is, the total force of the
springs that give a degree of velocity to a body is like the total velocity
that a body would have if it possessed this degree. Now, the lines DE,
FG, HI, etc. are like the lines AD, AF, AH in the triangle¶ ABC, whose
A
cathetusa AB is divided into equal parts; consequently
D E one can use line DE to identify the spring that gives
F
f
G Fig. 19. the body the first unit of velocity, AD; one can use
H J
K
h
M line FG, twice as long, to identify the two-fold spring,
k
L
l
N which produces the second unit of velocity, DF; one
R r O can use line HI to identify the three-fold spring,
B C
b
which producesb the third unit of velocity, FH; and
∗ Fig. 16.
† Fig. 17.
‡ Fig. 18.
¶ Fig. 19.
x Widerhalte a side
y Grad b erweckt
z Grade
104
so on. If one thinks these lines DE, FG, etc. to be infinitely close together,
then they will constitute the entire areac of the triangle ABC, by the
method of infinitesimals that Cavalierid has introduced into geometry.86
Hence the sum of all springs that produce the velocity AB in a body
is like the areae ABC; that is, it is like the square of the velocity AB.
These springs, however, represent the forces that had jointly produced
the assumed velocity in the body; the sum of the forces actingf on a
body is directly proportional to the force produced in the same; and 1:120
therefore, the force of a body is like the square of the velocity it possesses.
§ 108.
I believe that a supporter of Descartes would raise the following objection Examination of
to this proof: this argument.
If one wants to estimate the force transferred to a body by the sum of
certain springs, one needs to take only those springs that actually apply
their power to the body; but those that definitely did not actg on it cannot
be used to posit a corresponding force in the body. This proposition is
one of the clearest of mechanics; no Leibnizian ever questioned it. Even
Herr Musschenbroek acknowledges it at the end of his proof, for these
are his words: The sum of the forces that acth on a body is directly
proportional to the force produced in it.87 But if a body F, which is already
moving with one unit of velocity, acquires a second unit of velocity by
the extensioni of the two springs DB and BC, then of these two springs it
is only spring BC that acts on the body, while spring DB applies none of
its tensile force. For spring DB extends itself with one unit of velocity,
but body F is already really moving with one unit, and therefore body F
eludes the pressure of this spring, which, in its expansion,j will be unable
to reach the body to transfer its force of extensionk to it. All it will do is
carry supportl B, which anchors the other spring BC, after body F, and
carry it with just the velocity with which body F moves, so that support B
will be at rest relative to this body, and spring BC will be able to apply its
whole force, amounting to one unit, to body F. Spring DB is therefore 1:121
only an occasional, not an efficient, cause of the force added in this way
to body F’s previous force, whereas spring BC is the sole efficient cause
of the added force. Furthermore, if this body already has two units of
velocity, then of the three equal springs ED, DB, and BC, only BC will
impart its force and also the third unit of velocity; and so on, to infinity.
c Inhalt h wirken
d Cavalerius i Ausstreckung
e Fläche j Ausbreitung
f wirken k Kraft der Ausspannung
g wirken l Widerhalt
105
Natural Science
If spring DE∗ was accordingly the first spring whose force entered body
F and produced in it the first unit of velocity, AD, then the equal spring
fG would give body F the second unit of velocity and transfer its force
to body F, and spring hI would give it the third unit of velocity, and so
on; consequently, the sum BC of the springs DE, fG, hI, kM, lN, rO, and
bCm constitutes the entire quantity of force that was applied on body F
at rest and that produced velocity AB in it. But BC is proportional to AB;
BC is force, while AB is velocity; therefore, force is like velocity, not like
its square.
§ 109.
A new case that We are now beyond all the difficulties that could stand in the way of
confirms the our assertion of the Cartesian law. Still, we do not want to let our case
Cartesian rest here. Any opinion that ever becomes reputable and even turns into
measure of prejudice must be hunted down ceaselessly and be chased from all of its
force. hideouts. Such an opinion is like the many-headed monster that sprouts
new heads after each cut.
Vulneribus foecunda suis erat ille: nec ullum

De centum numero caput est impune recisum,
Quin gemino cervix haerede valentior esset.n
Ovid, Metamorphoses
I would be very proud if one faulted this work for having refuted the
Leibnizian estimation of force with redundant and more arguments than
needed, but I would be ashamed if I had let the refutation be deficient
in this.
b Take the inclined steelyard† ABC, whose
Fig. 20.
A
lever arm CB is four times as long as the
d
C other, and take body B, which presses down
e on the end of the lever arm of four lengths
a
B
and which weighs a fourth of the other
body, A. In the situation in which we have
1:122 set them, these will be at rest and remain in perfect equilibrium with
each other. If a small weight e is hung from body A, body B will be lifted
through arc Bb and A will sink through arc Aa, but in this movement, body
B will gain four times the velocity of body A. Take the weight e away and
∗ Fig. 19. [see p. 104]

† Fig. 20.
m die Summe der Federn DE + fG + hI + kM + lN + rO + bC = BC

n Its wounds were its fertility; not even one
Of its hundred heads was sliced off without impunity
Twice as many new growths instead broadened its neck.
106
hang instead a four times lighter weight d from body b at the end of the
balance arm Cb: Body b will be pushed down through arc bB and a will be
lifted up through arc aA, but b, or B, which is the same, will gain just the
same velocity as in the former case, while a, or A, which is the same, will
get the velocity received in that case as well, only with the difference that
the direction of the motions is reversed. Now, because the actiono exerted
by attached weight e constitutes the force possessed jointly by bodies A
and B, and because the actionp performed by the four times lighter d is
likewise to be posited as the force received jointly by bodies B and A,q it
is clear that these weights e and d must have exerted equal actions,r and
that they consequently must have applied and possessed an equal force.s
However, the velocities with which these weights e and d actt (that is,
their initial velocities as well as the finite velocities received through the
accumulation of all these pressures) are inversely proportional to their
masses; therefore, two bodies whose velocities are inversely proportional
to their masses have equal forces, and this overturns the estimation by
the square.
§ 110.
Never could the Cartesians defy the defenders of living forces more Leibniz’s knot
confidently than on Jurin’s discovery, which showsu in a simple way and of doubts.
with crystal-clear distinctness that the doubling of velocity always posits
only the doubling of force.88 Leibniz denied this in the essay on dynamics 1:123
published in the Actis.∗,89 Let us hear him speak as follows: Cum igitur
comparare vellem corpora diversa, aut diversis celeriatibus praedita, equidem
facile vidi: si corpus A sit simplum, et B duplum, utriusque autem celeritas
aequalis, illius quoque vim esse simplam, huius duplam, cum praecise, quicquid
in illo ponitur semel, in hoc ponatur bis. Nam in B est bis corpus ipsi A aeqale et
aeqivelox nec quicquam ultra. Sed si corpora A et B v sint aequalia, celeritas
autem in A sit simpla et in C dupla, videbam non praecise, quod in A
est, duplari in C.w Jurin untangled this knot with the world’s easiest case.
∗ Acta [Eruditorum] (1695): 155.
o Wirkung
p Wirkung
q b = B und a = A
r gleich große Wirkungen
s gleich viel Kraft
t wirken
u dadurch man . . . einsieht
v This should be C. B was in the original edition; it was an error by Leibniz, not corrected
by Kant; cf. Lasswitz’s discussion in the Academy edition (1:531).
w Thus, when I wanted to compare different bodies, or those with different velocities, of
course I easily saw that if body A is simple and body B is twice that, and both move with
107
Natural Science
Herr Jurin’s He assumed a movable

b
solution. Fig. 21. D R
E float, e.g.,∗ a barge AB, that
F A B C moves with one unit of veloc-
ity in direction BC and that
carries along ball E with the
same motion. Through the motion of the float, the ball has accordingly
one unit of velocity and also one unit of force. He further assumed spring
R on this float, which snaps open from support D, and which gives the
imagined ball E yet another unit of velocity and thus also another unit of
force. Ball E has accordingly two units of velocity altogether and thereby
two units of force. Consequently, the doubling of velocity entails noth-
ing but the doubling of force, and not the quadrupling of force, as the
Leibnizians falsely persuaded themselves.
This proof is infinitely clear and does not tolerate any evasive moves,
for the motion of the float can only give the body a velocity equal to its
own, that is, one unit of velocity and consequently one unit of force. And
because the motion of spring R is shared by float and ball, spring R actsx
only with its tensile force. Now, this is just large enough to give a body
like the one in question no more than one unit of velocity and thus one
unit of force as well. Therefore, one will encounter only the causes of
two units of force in everything that goes into the construction of this
problem, and regardless of the direction one turns, there will really be
only two units of velocity there.
1:124 § 111.
Frau von Marchioness Chastelet objected to this argument by Herr Jurin, but in
Chastelet’s a way that she would have been acute enough to notice the weakness of,
objection to were it not for her bias in favor of an opinion, a bias that, once accepted,
Jurin’s could most beautifully coat a bad thing.
argument. She raised the following objection.90 Barge AB is not an immobile
surface; therefore, when spring R pressesy against support D, it will give
some force to the barge, and the two units of force that, by the Leibnizian
estimation, are missing from body E will thus be found again in the
barge’s mass.
∗ Fig. 21.
the same velocity, then the force of the former will be simple and that of the latter will
be double, because whatever is posited once in the one is to be posited precisely twice
in the other. For B is twice the body of A, and of equal velocity, and not a thing more.
But if bodies A and C are equal while velocity is simple in A and double in C, I
realized that not everything that is in A will be doubled in C, etc.
x wirkt
y steift
108
§ 112.
This evasive move involves the mistake of the fallacy known as fallaciam
ignorationis elenchi.z She does not really attack her opponent’s argument
where he had placed the core of his proof, but instead cares about a
contingent secondary aspect that seems to favor her opinion, but which
is not attached to Jurin’s proof by necessity. We can easily get rid of
this bone of contention.a Nothing prevents us from imagining barge
AB as driven by such a force that will not permit the barge to yield in
the least in direction AF due to the effort of the spring against D. To
this purpose we can simply conceive of the barge as being of infinitely
great mass. Then it will yield to the finite force of spring R only by an
infinitely small amount, that is, it will not yield at all; therefore, the body
will receive just the force from the spring that it would get if spring R
snapped open by tensing against a completely immobile support, that is,
it will receive the entire force of spring R.
§ 113.
Herr Richter, who does not deserve an insignificant rank on the list of Herr
contributors to the promotion of the new measure of force, advanced a Richter’s
somewhat more plausible objection to Jurin’s argument.∗,91 objection to
He believes that the very same force could be rather different in rela- 1:125 Jurin’s
tion to different things. Although spring R imparted one unit of force argument.
to ball E with regard to the things that move together with the barge
in one direction and velocity, it imparted three units of force, instead of
one, to ball E with regard to the objects that are outside the barge and
really at rest.
I would really like to know where the two units of force that, in
Richter’s opinion, body E receives in relation to objects at rest, are
supposed to come from, for these units certainly cannot be the result
of his empty abstraction or idle thought; instead there definitely would
have to be active causes and forces to produce these two units of force.
But if everything is absolutely at rest with regard to external things, and
if the barge starts moving with one unit of velocity, then one unit of
absolute force will emerge in body E. From that point on, the barge will
not actb on the body anymore, for it is at rest with regard to the barge;
now, only the tensile force of the spring begins to release its activity. The
spring, however, releases just as much as is needed for producing one
unit of force; one would look in vain for more. Hence no more absolute
∗ Act. Erud. (1735): 511.
z the fallacy of missing the point b thut . . . keine Wirkung

a Stein des Anstoßes
109
Natural Science
actionc was performed on the body than just what can be counted as two
units of force. If now in relation to the things at rest, taken in an absolute
sense, four units of force should have been produced in the body, and
yet no more than two units of absolute actiond had been performed, then
two units must have either emerged without rhyme or reason, or crawled
out of nowhere.
To avoid all such doubtse completely, if such a clear case really permits
any doubtf at all, one can arrange Herr Jurin’s case such that, if everything
were at absolute rest, the spring would first transfer a unit of velocity to
body E while the barge is still at rest, and this acquired force of body E
would indisputably be an absolute force. Now if the barge next began
moving with one unit, then this, in turn, would be an absolute motion,
because the barge was previously at rest with regard to all things. The
1:126 barge accordingly imparts a unit of force to everything belonging to its
mass, and consequently also to body E once more, an amount of force
that can be only of one unit, for the cause producing it acted in absolute
motion. Even in this way, there will accordingly emerge in body E no
more than two units of force.
Herr Richter tries to wiggle himself out of this with yet another eva-
sive move, taken from elastic collisions. But his justification proceeds
from the standard hypothesis of the Leibnizians that one would have to
encounter after the collision of elastic bodies precisely the force that was
present prior to the collision. We have refuted this presupposition, and
therefore it is not necessary to engage ourselves specifically with Herr
Richter here.
§ 113 92
Supplements and commentaries
concerning several sections of this chapter
I.
Commentary to § 25.
Clearer Since the theorem of this section is the primary foundationg of our
presentation of current reflections, we shall accordingly present it in a somewhat clearer
§ 25. form.
The trait of real motion is its finite duration. But this duration, the time
elapsed since the beginning of the motion, is indefinite; it can accordingly
be assumed to be arbitrary. Hence, if the finite interval of time of the
c Wirkung f Scrupel
d Wirkung g Grundfeste
e Scrupels
110
elapsed motion is represented by line AB,∗ the body at B will be in real

motion, as it would be at the halfway point C, and also at the quarter-
distance point D, and so on, to ever shorter intervals of time, regardless
of how small one wants to make them; for the indefinite concept of its
quantity permits this. I can accordingly represent this time interval to be
infinitely small, without such representation taking anything away from
the concept of the reality of motion. But if the time of this duration is 1:127
infinitely small, it will have to be counted as nothing; the body will be
only at the starting point; and this means the body will just be striving to
move. Hence, if it is true without qualification, as Leibniz’s law claims,
that a body’s force is measured by the square in any real motion, force
in its mere striving to motion will have to be characterizedh in this way
too, which, however, is something the Leibnizians would have to deny.
At first glance it seems as if the qualification of Leibniz’s law to finite Reason why the
time intervals made it sufficiently clear that the law would not refer indeterminate
to motions of infinitely short duration; for the concept of a finite time concept of finite
signifies a categoryi utterly distinct from the concept of an infinitely time includes
short time: So, in light of this qualification, it appears that whatever is infinitely small
intervals.
admitted only under the condition of finite time intervals can definitely
not refer to infinitely short times. This is certainly correct, provided
one speaks of finite time so as to presuppose that the time has to be
determined and be of a definite quantity, if the concept of finite time, as
a condition, is supposed to entail this or that property. But if a finite time
interval is required that can still be as long or short as one wants, then
infinitely short time intervals will be included in its categoryj as well.
This cannot be new to the Leibnizians. For they must know that their
original leaderk built the law of continuity on this very foundation:l If one
assumes A larger than B but leaves unspecified how much larger exactly
it is, then one may just as well say that A equals B, without violating the
laws that are true under that condition, or, if one lets A collide with B
and furthermore assumes B to be in motion, then provided its quantitym
of motion remains unspecified, one may as well assume B to be at rest,
without thereby negating what is given by the condition, and all the more
so in other cases.
Finally, if one granted that Leibniz’s estimation is false under the 1:128
condition of finite intervals, but still wanted to say that it is true under Leibniz’s
the condition of finite velocity (despite that saying this evidently con- estimation is
flicts with his doctrine), then one should please note the following: Line not valid under
the condition of
finite velocity
∗ Fig. 2. [see p. 37] either.
h beschaffen k Ahnherr
i Geschlecht l Grund
j Geschlecht m Grad
111
Natural Science
AB∗ can represent a finite time interval just as well as a finite velocity,
and so it again turns out that the law of the Leibnizians, were it valid for
finite velocity at all, would have to be valid for an infinitely small velocity
as well, which, however, they are forced to deny.
II.
Supplements to §§ 31–36.
Our opponents count this among the clearest concepts that one can
possibly have: A body has exactly the force of all the springs that it
compresses until its entire motion is used up, regardless how much time
the compression of these springs will take. Of those who are not satisfied
with the mere quantityn of springs overcome, and who still inquire into
the compression time, Herr Johann Bernoulli says that they reason just
as absurdly as a person who wants to measure the amount of water in a
cup, and is not content with the real measure in front of him, the capacity
of the cup, but rather believes he still needs to know the time that filling
the cup will take. Insteado of overconfidence and ill will, Bernoulli adds:†
Desine igitur quaerere nodum in scirpo.p Frau Marchioness von Chastelet
has an equally witty remark in store; nonetheless, both are mistaken and,
if I may say so, indeed with damage to their fame that is just as great as
their overconfidence had been when committingq this error.
Reason If each of the springs A, B, C, D, E is such that it resists only a single
why time pressure of body M, while thereby losing its entire efficacy,r and conse-
necessarily quently will no longer acts on body M, regardless how long M continues
matters 1:129 to be exposed to it, then I myself confess that the body has exerted the
in same force, regardless of whether it compressed these springs in one unit
gravitational of time or in four units of time, for having once compressed a spring,
resistance. body M will spend the rest of the time with it in idleness. By contrast, if
the force of the body does not neutralize the activity of the spring when
overcoming its pressure, new units of force will continuouslyt transfer
from the spring to the counteracting body, for the efficacyu of this spring,
which was the cause of a unit of force being extinguished by the body
in the first moment, remains the cause of a unit of force in the second
∗ Fig. 2. [see p. 37]

† Acta Erud. (1735): 210.
n Anzahl
o vor
p So stop looking for difficulties where there are none.
q blicken lassen
r Thätigkeit
s keine Wirkung mehr thut
t alle Augenblicke
u Wirksamkeit
112
moment as well and indeed with the same strength; and it remains so in
the third moment, as well as in all subsequent ones, and so on, to infinity.
Under these conditions it is not irrelevant whether the body overcoming
the pressure of these springs does so in shorter or longer time intervals,
for it sustainsv more pressures in the longer interval. Gravitational pres-
sure, however, is just of this type. Each spring of gravity actsw in all
moments with the same effect,x and a body that overcame gravitational
pressure in the first moment has not done so at all subsequent moments
just because of this. The body will need just as much force for the second,
and so forth. So the force that a body exerts in resisting the pressure of
a single part of gravitational matter is not just like the intensity of grav-
itational pressure, but rather like its Rectangulumy over time.
To the redundant proof of the proposition that time, and not the Yet another
number of springs, is the measure of the exerted action,z one could still refutation of
add this. A body thrown at an oblique angle, whose motion describes living forces.
a parabolic arc, would have to traverse a certain height faster through
the fall and also acquire a much higher velocity and much greater force
toward the end of this fall, than a vertical fall could impart to it from
the same height. For in describing the curved line, the body traverses a
greater distancea until the end of the fall than it would have, had it fallen
vertically. On that longer distanceb the body must necessarily suffer a
greater number of gravitational springs than it could encounter on the
short, straight line, for gravitational matter is uniformly spread in all
directions:c As a result, and according to Leibniz’s claim, the body would
gain more force and velocity in a parabolic fall than in a vertical fall, which
is absurd.
Thoughts on the Dispute 1:130

Between
Frau Marchioness von Chastelet and Herr von Mairan
On Living Forces
Herr von Mairan had the idea of estimating the force of a body by
obstacles not overcome, springs not compressed, and matters not
moved, or, as Frau von Chastelet put it, of estimating the force of a
body by what it does not do. This adversary assumed to have found
something so stranged in this thought that she believed she needed only
to mention it in order to ridicule it. Although this famous man added the
v hat . . . ausgehalten a größern Raum

w wirkt b größeren Raum
x Thätigkeit c Seiten
y square d so etwas Wunderliches
z Wirkung
113
Natural Science
absolutely crucial qualification to his thought that the springs would

nonetheless have been compressed if one stipulated, by hypothesis,
that the body was conserving or continuously renewing its force, his
adversary sees something so illicit and inappropriate in this hypothesis
that she reproaches him all the more harshly because of it. I shall briefly
show how certain and sure the thought of this distinguished man is, and
that, apart from Herr Jurin’s own argument already mentioned, it is not
easy to devise anything more decisive and exact regarding this matter.
Defense of If one considers what the force of a body has lost after it has overcome
Herr von certain obstacles, if one, I say, measures this loss, one will know with
Mairan’s type complete certainty how large the whole power of the resistance over-
of estimation come had been, for the body would not have been able to overcome this
against Frau resistance or obstacle without exerting a quantitye of force equal to it;
von Chastelet.
moreover, the sizef of the force destroyed and used up in the body equals
the strength of the obstacle, which had deprived the body of its force,
and also equals the strength of the action performed in this way.
1:131 Now take a body rising with five units of velocity vertically from the
ground up,g and, following standard convention, represent the space,
or the height reached, by the area of the triangle∗ ABC, in which
line AB represents the time elapsed andh line BC
A a represents the velocity of the body’s rise. The
D e Fig. 22. equal lines AD, DF, FH, etc. are supposed to rep-
E
g
resent the intervals of the entire time period AB;
F
G consequently, the little triangles, which consti-
H i
J tute the area of the large triangle and which are
K l all the size ADE, represent the elements of the
L
B
entire space, or the total number of springs com-
C
pressed by the body in time period AB. Hence
during the first short interval,i BK, the body begins to rise and com-
presses the nine springs encountered in space KLBC. If the resistance of
these springs did not consume any force in the body, or, if this loss were
continuously replaced from somewhere else, the body would have com-
pressed spring LlC j in addition, which it cannot compress now, because
the very amount of force needed to do so had been neutralized by the
compression of the others. Thus spring LlCk is the measure of that force
∗ The Academy edition has: Fig. 22.
e Grad
f wie groß
g von dem Horizonte senkrecht in die Höhe steigt
h aber
i Zeittheilchen
j Reading (following the Academy edition) LlC for LEC.
k Reading (following the Academy edition) LlC for LEC.
114
which the resistance of the nine compressed springs absorbed in said

body. Now, after it performed this, it continues to rise, with the rest of
its force, which remains with it after the described loss, and compresses
in the second short interval,l KH, the seven springs encountered in space
HIKL. Once more, it is evident here that if said body could have com-
pressed these seven springs without any loss to its force, then in the very
same minute, it would have compressed and overcome spring IiL in addi-
tion, but since it did not do this, it follows that by compressing the seven
other springs, it had lost the very quantitym whose replenishment would
have allowed it to overcome IiL in addition; consequently, this spring
reveals the quantity of the loss that the resistance of the seven springs had
exacted from the body’s force. In just this manner, spring GgI will reveal
the loss of force by gravitational resistance in the third brief interval, FH, 1:132
and so on. Thus, the loss suffered by a freely rising body, in overcoming
the obstacle of gravity, is like the sum of the springs not compressed,
LlC, IiL, GgI, EeG, AaE; and as a consequence, even the quantity of the
obstaclesn overcome, and thus its own force, will be proportional. And
since the springs not compressed are proportional to the times or the
velocities, the force of the body is accordingly like the springs as well.
QED.
Furthermore, this shows why Herr von Mairan was justified in stip-
ulating, by hypothesis, that the body had overcome obstacles and yet
kept its entire force, which, at first glance, appears to contradict the first
principle of motions. For the obstacles certainly deprive the body of the
part of its force that is equal to them, but still, it is perfectly possible
to continuously replace this loss, in thought, by some other sourceo and
thusp to preserve the body intact so that one sees how much more the
body would do with a force that remained undiminished in this way,
as compared to when that which the obstaclesq had consumed remained
lost. This will accordingly present us with the entire quantity of the force
that, in reality, the resistance takes from the body, and it will present us
with this entire quantity because it reveals what specific amountr would
have to be added such that the body would have lost nothing.
I cannot avoid adding a note on the way Frau Marquioness attacks
the doctrines of her adversary. I think she could have chosen no bet-
ter method for inflicting the worst attack on him than to busy her-
self with giving his arguments an elements of strangeness and absur-
dity. A serious presentation would provoke the appropriate attention
l Zeittheilchen p dennoch
m den Grad q die Hinderniß
n der Hinderniß selber r was für einen Grad
o anderswoher s Zug
115
Natural Science
and inquisitivenesst in the reader, and leave the mindu open for all sorts
of reasons that could enter it, from either the one or the other side. But
the strange guise, in which she presents her adversary’s views, imme-
diately takes control of the reader’s gullibility,v destroying the reader’s
motivation for any closer examination. The force of the mind that rules
judgment and reflection is of a lazy and apathetic sort; it is satisfied to
reach the point of its state of rest, and gladly stands by whatever excuses it
from laborious reasoning, and therefore it lets itself easily be captivated
by such ideas that lower the likelihood of one of the two views in one
1:133 fell swoop and that declare the effort of further inquiries unnecessary.
Our philosopher could have used her ridendo dicere verum, or the idea
to tell her adversary the truth with laughter, with greater justification
and perhaps also with better success, had her adversary been incapable
of serious reasons, and one wanted to let him feel his ridiculousness.
The note I am adding here would appear impolite and pedantic to any
other member of the fair sex,w but the distinction of understanding and
scientific training of the person I am talking about not only makes her
superior to all others of her gender, and to a large portion of the other
sex as well, but this distinction also deprives her of the actual privilege
of the fairer portion of humanity: flattery, and praise based on flattery.
Herr von Mairan’s choice turns out to be even better in light of the
following: The springs that are, by his method, the measure of the exerted
force are not only equal, but also are to be compressed in equal time;
consequently, both Leibnizians and Cartesians would be pleased by this,
the Leibnizians, who insist on the equality of space when determining
the equality of force, and the Cartesians, who demand the equality of
time when doing the same.
III.
Supplements to §§ 45, 46, and 47.
I suspect that I could have said nothing more certain and compellingx
but that a spring could impossibly push a body away, if it did not stiffen
and press against its own support with the very power that it uses in its
tensile force for pushing the body on the other end, and since in Herr
Bernoulli’s case there is no support other than body B, the spring would
thus have to apply just the same power of effort against this body as it is
capable of applying against A. For the spring would never push body A
away unless B received the same in the tension of resisting the spring’s
expansion. So body B, since it is not an immobile support, receives all
t Untersuchung w Person ihres Geschlechtes

u Seele x Unwidersprechlicheres
v schwachen Seite
116
the force equally that the spring imparts to A. Despite the fact that the
entire world is in unanimous agreement on this, Herr Johann Bernoulli 1:134
found, on the contrary, I do not know what bright light, on which he
based an absolutey confidence. He says: Non capio, quid pertinacissimus
adversaries, si vel scepticus esset, huic evidentissimae demonstrationi opponere
queat;z and continues: Certe in nostra potestate non est, aliquem eo adigere,
ut fateatur, discere, quando videmusa solem horizontem ascendere.b Let us not
view with indifference this random slipc of human reason in the person
of such a great man, but instead learn from it to place wise suspicion
even into our strongest conviction and to assume always that even there
we are not yet beyond danger of cheating ourselves, and let us learn this
so that the understanding will remain in its equilibrium at least until it
had time to familiarize itself with the circumstances, the proof, and the
opposite in the course of a sufficient examination.
In this very treatise of which we speak, Herr
Bernoulli shows how exactly the same force could F
be given to a body through the pressure of an a b c d
Fig. 23.
equal number of springs in a shorter time. I
already said enough in response to the extent that
this concerns our business, but here I shall add a b F Fig. 24.
an observation that may have its particular use c d
even though it does not concern our project.
Bernoulli says there: Ball F will always receive the
same force from the four springs a, b, c, d, regardless a
b Fig. 25.
of whether one wishes to arrange them along one line c F
d
as shown in Fig. 23, or in two parts parallel to each
other as shown in Fig. 24, or in four such components,d as shown in
Fig. 25.
One should note the following qualification.e The idea of this claim Reminder of
is true only under the condition that the sequentially connected springs the way that
a, b, c, d∗ do not yet give the body a velocity higher than the one with Herr Bernoulli
which each of these springs, taken in isolation, would release; for as presumed to
impart the
entire force of
∗ multiple
[In the original edition, no footnote is provided. In the Academy edition, Fig. 24 is
noted.]
springs to one
body.
y unüberwindliche
z I do not understand what even the most stubborn adversary, even if he were a skeptic,
could object to this completely evident proof.
a According to the Academy edition: videt
b Certainly it is not in our power to force someone else to admit that it becomes day when
we see the sun rising on the horizon.
c Zufall
d Zertheilungen
e Cautele
117
Natural Science
soon as this condition applies, it will be impossible,f contrary to Herr

1:135 Bernoulli’s idea, to give to the body the same velocity by springs in
parallel connection∗ as by springs in sequential connection. For suppose
that the body receives ten units of velocity from a sequence of springs up
until they are fully extended in Fig. 23, but that the individual expansion
of one of the springs, for instance a, has eight units of velocity in isolation;
i.e., without the spring pushing a body away, then, obviously, the four
springs will be able to give only eight units of velocity to the body by
the method shown in Fig. 25. For as soon as the body has received these
units, it will have just as much velocity as the springs that are supposed to
push the body away would have when releasing freely, which accordingly
cannot impart anything else to the body. At the same time, it is beyond
dispute that body F would require the entire ten units of force in Fig. 25
just as in Figs. 23 or 24, if it is supposed to collide with the four springs
again, compressing them. But since this very Fig. 25 can represent the
elastic force of any given body, it is clear that it is possible that a perfectly
elastic body can collide with an immobile support at a certain velocity,
and that nonetheless the velocity of the rebound can be far smaller than
the velocity of the impact. But if one prefers that these four springs give
their entire force to the body pushed, then one must add four tenths to
mass F, for then the four springs will compensate by quantity of mass
what they fail to communicate by velocity.
IV.
Commentary to § 105.
Detailed I did not explain myself clearly enough when I wanted to indicate, on
exposition of p. 102, the extraordinary mistake in Herr Baron Wolff ’s argument. At
the mistake in first glance, it seemed as if the conclusion still followed mathematically
Wolff ’s proof. enough, i.e., by the rule aequales rationes sibi substitui invicem possunt,g but
in fact, the conclusion has nothing to do with this rule. The first case was
this: Tempora, quibus duo mobilia, si sunt aequalia, eosdem effectus patrant,
1:136 sunt reciproce ut celeritates.h Next follows, in the second part of the proof,
the claim: Massae corporum inaequalium, quae eosdem effectus patrant, sunt
reciproce ut celeritates.i From this Herr Wolff now infers (for that is his
∗ [In the original edition, no reference is provided. In the Academy edition, Fig. 25 is
noted.]
f so schlägt es fehl
g equal ratios can be substituted with one another
h The times in which two movables, if they are equal, produce identical effects are inversely
proportional to the velocities.
i The masses of unequal bodies that produce identical effects are inversely proportional
to the velocities of these bodies.
118
argument when appropriately explicated): Because the ratio of times and

masses equals the ratio of velocities in both cases, they are equal to one
another. This can be granted, but only if one does not ignore the con-
ditions under which they are equal to one another, namely that the
masses of unequal bodies that produce identical effects are just like
the times, in which NB,j equal bodies exert just the same action,k for
this is the qualification evidently tied to the ratios. But Herr Wolff ’s
conclusion is this: Therefore, the masses of these bodies are like the
times in which just these unequal bodies exert the same action,l an
evident distortion of the given proportion.
If our author had only had the idea of comparing the two propositions
with each other, which he wants to deduce from one another, he would
have been forced to see with crystal clarity that they do not only not imply
each other, but actually contradict one another. For the first proposition
is this: Actiones, quibus corpora aequalia eosdem effectus patrant, sunt ut
celeritates.m From this he wants to deduce the other proposition, which is
the result of the second part of the proof; that is: Actiones, quibus corpora
inaequalia eosdem effectus patrant, sunt etiam ut ipsorum celeritates; celeritates
autem eorum sunt reciproce ut massae.n
Now, if, in accordance with the first proposition, we take two equal
bodies, A and B, such that B has twice the velocity of A, then, by this
rule, the action whereby B produces exactly the same effect as A, will be
twice as great as the action of body A, because body B, due to its greater
velocity, produces this effect in half the time. But by the second rule, I
could reduce B to half of its mass, and the action in question would still
be just as great as before, provided the velocity remains just as before.
But now it is evident that, if B is twice as small as it was before, and if
its velocity remains the same, it could never produce the given effect
in just that time as its mass was twice as large then, but rather it needs 1:137
more time to do so. Hence, because the action decreases, the more time
is needed for the same effect, it follows that the action must necessarily
be smaller just in case the mass of B with the same velocity is twice as
large, which therefore contradicts the result of the second part.
But we would encounter all of these contradictions in Wolff ’s intended
proof even if one granted him the proposition that he laid down as its
foundation, namely that unequal Actioneso can still have equal Effectus.p
j N[ota] B[ene]: note this well.

k Wirkung
l Wirkung
m The actions whereby equal bodies produce identical effects are like the velocities.
n The actions, whereby unequal bodies produce identical effects, are also like their veloc-
ities; their velocities, however, are inversely proportional to their masses.
o actions
p effects
119
Natural Science
This proposition, which a mortal would never before have thought to

maintain, is a contradiction of a form as perfectq as could possibly be
devised. For the term Action is a term with a relative meaning, which
indicates the actionr or Effect in something insofar as something else
contains its cause. Thus Effect and Action are precisely the same, and the
sense differs only in that I either refer to what its cause is or consider
things apart from this. So Wolff ’s proposition only amounts to saying
that an action could be unequal to itself. Moreover, it is called Action
only because the Effect depends on it; if the Action contained a part on
which an Effect equal to it did not depend, then that part could not be
called Action either. Even if the times are unequal, in which the same
Effectuss are produced, the Actionest thus applied will nonetheless remain
the same, and the only conclusion that follows is that the Effecteu and the
Actionesv that correspond to them, too, are unequal in equal times.
To briefly explain this: It is immediately obvious that very special
circumstancesw must have been responsible for triggering such excep-
tional mistakes in this tract, that really do not fit the known and highly
praised brilliance of the author, which shines in everything that is his
own. It is not hard to fathom that the admirable urge to save the honor
of Herr von Leibniz, then regarded as the honor of all Germany, pro-
1:138 duced this effort and made the author present the proofs in a shape much
more compelling than they would have appeared to him otherwise and
without this motivation. The matter itself was of such a desperate sort
that it could not have been defended without errors, but at the same
time, its appeal was so tempting that it did not leave any room for being
detachedx during the inquiry. This is all I wish to say about the offenses,
which I either have shown already or will show yet, and which have been
committed by such very famous men, Herr Herrmann, Bernoulli, and
the like, among whom one hardly ever encounters anything deserving
of reproach except this. Thus the honor of the man of whom we speak
remains secure. I take the liberty of dealing with his defense as if it were
not his property. Meanwhile, he can shout at me what an older philoso-
pher exclaimed on an occasion that concerned him somewhat more: You
are only hitting Anaxarchus’s shell.
q in der besten Form u effects

r Wirkung v actions
s effects w Ursachen
t actions x Kaltsinnigkeit
120
chapter three 1:139
Presenting a new estimation of living forces,

as the true measure of force in nature.
§ 114.
Accordingly, we have shown in detail that the estimation of forces by How that law,
the square turns out to be false in mathematics, and that mathematics which has been
does not allow any measure of force other than the traditional, or Carte- found false in
sian, measure. Still, at various points in the previous chapter, we led the mathematics,
reader to expect that it is nonetheless possible to introduce the estima- can be present
in nature.
tion by the square into nature, and now the time has come to deliver
on our promise. This endeavor will surprise most of my readers, for it
seems to imply that mathematics is not without deceptions, and that we
would now start challengingy its verdict. But the matter is not really like
that. If mathematics pronounced its laws on all bodies in principle, then
natural bodies would be included, too, and hoping for any exception
would be futile. But mathematics defines its concept of body by means
of Axiomatum,z requiring of them that they be presupposed in its body,
even though they actually prohibit and exclude certain properties from
it, properties that are still necessarily found in bodies in nature; hence a 1:140
body in mathematics is a thing utterly distinct from a body in nature, and
something can therefore be true of the latter that still does not belong
to the former.a,93
§ 115.
Now we shall see what specific property is present in the body in nature, Difference
a property that mathematics does not permit in its own body, and that between
accordingly results in the latter being a thing of a completely different mathematical
typeb from the former. Mathematics does not permit its body to have a and natural
force unless it is wholly produced by the external cause of its motion. bodies, and of
the laws
Accordingly, mathematics admits force in the body only insofar as force
concerning
was caused in it from the outside, and hence one will always find its both.
y appelliren a auf diesen

z axioms b Geschlechte
121
Natural Science
force to the same degree in the causes of its motion. This is a basic
law of mechanics, whose presupposition, however, does not admit any
estimation other than the Cartesian. But, as we shall soon show, the body
in nature is of an altogether different constitution. That body has the
capacity to increase, by itself and in itself, the force awakened externally
by the cause of its motion, which means there can be units of force in
it that did not originate from the external cause of motion, that may
be larger than this cause, that therefore cannot be measured with the
same yardstickc as the one used for Cartesian force, and that accordinglyd
involve another estimation. We want to treat this property of the natural
body with all the precision and thoroughness that such an important issue
requires.
§ 116.
Velocity is no As we saw in § 3, velocity does not by itself entail a concept of a force.
concept of a For it is a determination of motion, that is, a determination of that
force. 1:141 bodily state in which the body does not apply the force it possesses, but
rather remains inerte with it. But velocity is actually the quantityf of force
possessed by the body at rest, i.e., that a body possesses at an infinitely
slow velocity, that is, it is the quantity whose unitg is the force present
in the body at an infinitely slow velocity. This is most clearly seen in the
type of analysis suggested by Jurin’s excellent case, § 110, namely, if we
consider velocity in terms of its infinitely small parts, in a way similar to
Jurin’s, who observes it as consisting of two equal parts.
§ 117.
There would be Knowing with precision what actually defines the concept of force
no force requires us to proceed in the following way. Force is rightly estimated
without a by the obstacles that break and eliminate it in the body. This shows that
striving for the a body would have no force whatsoever if it did not strive to preserve in
preservation of itself the state that obstacles are supposed to eliminate; for if this were
a state as such.
not the case, then whatever served to overcome the obstacles would be
like zero.
What intension Motion is the outward phenomenon of force, but the striving for pre-
is. serving this motion is the basis of the activity, and velocity indicates how
it must be multiplied to get the whole force. For this purpose, we shall
c Maße f Zahl
d auch g Einheit
e unthätig
122
call the striving intension; hence force equals the product of velocity and
intension.94
As an example, which may illustrateh these concepts all more clearly, Elucidation of
suppose the quadruple spring a, b, c, d.∗ If we now posit the velocity with this concept.
which each one of the springs starts to stretch out as the unit velocity,
then the initial velocity of the entire spring a d, which is composed of
four springs, will have four units if it extends itself freely, and this seems
to imply that the initial velocity impressed by the quadruple spring on a
body would be four times the initial velocity effected by each individual 1:142
spring. However, the intension in the quadruple spring is four times
smaller than the intension in each individual spring, for the very force
that would compress one of these four connected springs against an
immobile support to a certain degree,i compresses the quadruple spring
four times harder, because each individual spring, if connected in this way
with the three others, will have a mobile support, and thus the stiffness,
or, what amounts to the same here, the intension, of the quadruple spring
will be lacking whatever is transferred by its velocity. For this reason it
so happens that the initial velocity imparted by the quadruple spring to
the body is not larger than the one the body can get from each individual
spring, even though the quadruple spring, when it extends itself freely,
has four times the initial velocity of each individual spring. And this may
serve to make the concept of intension intelligible, and to show why it
must necessarily be taken into account when estimating force.
§ 118.
If a body’s force is such that it strives to preserve the state of motion only If intension is
momentarily, regardless of its particular velocity, then this striving, or like a point,
intension, will be equal at all velocities; consequently, the whole force then force will
of such a body is only proportional to its velocity; for the first factor is be like a line,
always the same, and therefore the product indicating the quantity of that is, like
velocity.
force is like the second factor.
§ 119.
In such a motion it would be necessary to replenish incessantly and
externally the force that disappears from the body at every instant, and if
the body was supposed to achieve a continual motion in this fashion, then
∗ Fig. 23. [see p. 117]
h vermerken i Maße
123
Natural Science
the force would always be merely the effectj of a permanent and external
If the intension propulsion. However, this clearly shows, too, that if, by contrast, the
is finite, that is, force of the body were such that it contained a sufficient intrinsic striving
like a 1:143 for preserving motion at a given velocity, and preserving it uniformly,
line, then the incessantly, on its own, and without the help of any external power,k then
force is like the this force would be of an utterly different type and would be infinitely
square. more perfect as well.
For since in the former case its intension would be the same at all
velocities, namely infinitely small and multiplied merely by the numberl
of the units of velocity, it follows in the contrary case that the intension
must always be proportional to the velocity and be multiplied by it as
well, and that doing so will result in the true estimation of force. For a
finite velocity with an infinitely small intension involves force, and the
very force that constitutes this intension at an infinitely small velocity
is the unit. Accordingly, if a body is supposed to base this velocity and
force sufficiently on itself, to possess the full striving for their constant
preservation, then its intension will have to be proportional to this force
or velocity. And that, now, is the origin of a wholly new power that is the
product of the force, which is proportional to velocity, and the inten-
sion, which is now also proportional to velocity; and thus this product
is equal to the square of the velocity. Since in a body with an infinitely
small intension and moving at finite velocity, force was like a line that
represented this velocity, and intension like a point, it is easy to under-
stand that intension in the present case, however, is like a line too, and
the force that thus results is like an area formed from the flow of the first
line, and, in fact, like the square, because these lines are proportional to
one another.
Note that I consistently abstract here from any difference in the
masses, or imagine them to be equal. Second, that I consider space to be
empty when discussing these motions.
§ 120.
The body that Accordingly, any body that bases its motion sufficiently on itself such
contains that its inner striving sufficiently explains that it will, on its own, pre-
an 1:144 serve the motion that it has, freely, permanently, undiminished, and to
intrinsic infinity, has a force whose measure is the square of its velocity or, as
striving for we shall subsequently call it, a living force. By contrast, if its force lacks
preserving its an immanent basism for preserving itself, but rather rests only on the
motion freely
and
permanently
j Wirkung l Menge
has a force like
k äußerliche Machthülfe m Grund . . . in sich
the square of its
velocity.
124
presence of an external cause, then this force will be just like velocity,
that is, it will be a dead force.
§ 121.
But now we shall consider the constitution of a body’s force that first By means of its
arises by the actionn of an external cause on the body. Such a force, then, inner drive, the
will inevitably be based on the presence of this external cause, and it body elevates
would not exist in the body at the same moment if the cause did not the externally
awaken the drive. Hence, in the same moment that it depends on the received
impression
presence of an external cause, it will be of such a kind that it would
infinitely
have to vanish instantly if the former were not present, for we are not higher and to
talking now about whether the body, after this moment, would be able an entirely
to base this force on itself, and what would follow in that case. In this different type.
very moment, then, the intension of the force is therefore infinitely small
and consequently the force that is based solely on the external drive, is
like mere velocity, i.e., is dead. However, if the very same body, later,
bases this imparted velocity on its inner force such that a permanent
and free preservation of motion is generated by its striving, then it will
consequently not be a dead force anymore, but rather a living force,
whose measure is the square, and which needs to be comparedo to the
former like an area to a line. Considering this, the following is clear: If it
continues its impressed velocity freely and by itself, a body will increase
to infinity, in this way and in itself, the force that it has gotten from
an external mechanical cause, and will elevate it to an entirely different
type such that the commentary given in § 115 is demonstrated here, and
living forces are fully excluded from the jurisdiction of mathematics. 1:145
Furthermore, one sees from this that living force could not be pro- The body
duced in a body by an external cause, regardless of how large it may be, cannot receive
for to the extent that force depends on a cause from without, it will always living force
be only like simple velocity, as we have shown; rather, living force will from without.
have to acquire determinations pertaining to the measure by the square
from the inner source of the body’s natural force.
§ 122.
We have shown that a body possesses living force if it has based the There are
cause of its motion sufficiently and completely on itself, such that the infinitely many
constitution of its force explains its immanent, invariant, free, and per- intermediate
manent preservation; but if a body does not at all base its force on itself, steps between
but rather depends on something external in this regard, it will possess dead and living
force.
n Wirkung o zu rechnen ist
125
Natural Science
only dead force, which is infinitely smaller than living force. This leads
immediately to the following consequence: If the same body bases its
force partlyp on itself, but not completely, its force will partlyq approach
living force and be somewhat different from dead force, and there will
necessarily still be infinitely many intermediate steps between these two
extreme boundaries, completely dead and completely living force, which
lead from the one to the other.
Living force This also implies, by the law of continuity, that the same body that
originates only possesses dead force in an initial moment and acquires living force in the
in a finite time next, a force that is to the former like an area is to the generating line,
interval after gains this force only in a finite time interval. For suppose we posited
the beginning that it acquired this latter force not in a finite time interval after the
of motion.
initial moment, but instead instantly, in the infinitely short periodr after
1:146 the initial moment, then this would be like saying that it already had
this living force in the initial moment itself. For the law of continuity,
and even mathematics as such, demonstrate that it does not make any
difference whether I say that the body happens to be in the initial moment
of its motion, or in the infinitely short periods following it. But in the
initial moment of motion itself the force is dead, and so we cannot say
without contradiction that the force is therefore living if we also statedt
that this living force can be encountered in motion only after a finite
interval, after the actionu of the external cause.
Commentary The body’s natural force actuallyv maintains within itself the exter-
on this point. nally received impression and since through its continuous striving it
accumulates in itself the formerly point-like intension until it becomes
like a line, which is proportional to the velocity-like force caused in it
from without, it accumulates, on its own, the force obtained from the
outside, which was previously only like a line too, until it is eventuallyw
like a plane whose one side represents the externally imparted velocity
and force, while the other side models the intension, which is propor-
tional to this externally imparted velocity and force, which has grown,
on its own, from the body’s interior.
§ 123.
What I call the state in which the force of the body is not yet living but nonethe-
vivification is. less progressing to being alive, the coming-to-life or vivification of
force.
p etwas t festsetzt
q etwas u Wirkung
r Zeittheilchen v nämlich
s Zeittheilchen w jetzt
126
Hence, in the interim period, when the force is elevating itself to living How intension
force, which is definedx as the period between two points, the starting is constituted
point and the point when force is already fully alive, the body has not yet during the
sufficiently based its force and velocity on itself. Perhaps it will now occur vivification of
to my reader to ask how the body can preserve and continue the velocity force.
imparted to it in this interim period, since in this case it does not yet
have a sufficient base for its force and motion in itself, and consequently 1:147
cannot yet do so by itself. To this I answer: In this interim period, force is
admittedly not yet of the sort that allows one to understand a permanent,
free, and undiminished motion on its basis, unless it were elevated still
higher by means of an inner striving. But the issue here is not whether
the striving of force toward its own self-preservation is incomplete in
this manner. The question is only whether the force’s intension, which
has not yet grown to the point of being able to preserve motion in an
undiminished and incessant way, can still preserve motion at least during
the time needed for its complete vivification. This is not just a mere
possibility but is indeed the case, and this is evident from the fact that a
new element of intension arises in the body at each moment during this
whole interim period, which sustains the given velocity for an infinitely
short period;y consequently, all elements of this intension, which arise
in the body during the whole interim period, sustain the same velocity
in each of its moments, that is, in the whole period, which is clearly
illustrated by the comparison with § 18.
Now if we suppose, in the intermediate period of vivification before What would
it reached completion, that the body suddenly stopped accumulating happen to
elements of intension further and making force come fully alive, what motion if
would happen then? Evidently, the body would then base only those vivification
units of velocity on itself and keep sustaining them continuously in free ceased before
completion?
motion if they are proportional to the intension that the body had already
gained during this time, whereas other units of velocity that require a
greater intension to attain complete vivification than is really available,
would suddenly have to disappear and cease. For the intension that is
present can base only part of this velocity on itself, and no new elements
of intension that would sustain the given velocity in all moments arise
any longer in each moment, so the remainder would have to disappear
on its own.
Now, if a freely moving body encounters resistance, to which it applies And what
its force, before arriving at complete vivification with its full velocity, 1:148 would
the force exerted by the body will be like the square of that degree force be like in
of velocity that is proportional to and in conformity with the body’s that case?
achieved intension and that could thus have come alive in the given
x begriffen y unendlich kleines Zeittheilchen
127
Natural Science
time, or else it will be like the square of the intension achieved by the
body; the body is inert with the remaining units, or it acts,z but only
according to the measure of simple velocity, which counts, however, for
nothing as compared to the other force.
§ 124.
New Accordingly, a body that sustains its velocity in free motion to
estimation of infinity has living force, that is, a force whose measure is the square
forces. of velocity.
Conditions of However, these are also the conditions that attach to this law:
this new
estimation. 1. The body must contain the ground in itself for sustaining its motion
uniformly, freely, and permanently in a non-resistant space.
2. One sees from what has been shown above that the body does not get
this force from the external cause that had set the body in motion,
but rather that, after the external trigger,a this force has its source in
the body’s inner natural force itself.
3. That this force is generated in the body during a finite time interval.
§ 125.
This law is the main reason for the new estimation of force of which
I would say that I propose it as the replacement of the estimations by
Descartes and Leibniz, and make it the foundation of the true dynamics,
if the povertyb of my judgments, compared to the greatness of the men
who concern me, permitted me to speak with such authority. Nonethe-
less, I am not disinclined to persuade myself that this law could perhaps
1:149 attainc the very goal which, when not reached, had provoked discord and
disagreement among philosophers of all nations. Having been expelled
from mathematics, living forces are admitted into nature. Neither great
thinker, neither Leibniz nor Descartes, can really be faulted for the error.
Leibniz’s law does not apply even in nature unless first qualifiedd by
Descartes’s estimation. To reconcile reason with itself, which is embod-
ied differently in astute men, and to find the truth, which is never wholly
missed by reason’s thoroughness,e even when such men are in direct
contradiction with one another, means, in a sense, to defend the honor
of human reason.
z wirkt
a Anreizung
b Geringschätzigkeit
c bestimmen
d gemäßigt
e welche dieser ihre Gründlichkeit niemals gänzlich fehlet
128
§ 126.
All that matters is that there are free motions in the world that would There are
be permanently self-sustaining and without loss if there was no external living forces
because there
resistance; this settles the issue, and there certainly are living forces in
are free
nature. The free and permanent motion of the planets, as well as count-
motions.
less other experiences, which substantiate that freely moving bodies lose
their motion only through the influencef of resistance and would always
keep it without this influence, supply this guarantee and confirm the
existence of living forces in nature.
At the same time, this also shows that mathematics, in accordance Mathematics
with the rigor of its judgment, does not permit free motion among its does not permit
bodies. For it does not permit what makes motion necessarily free and free motions.
permanent, namely that a body produces striving and force from within
and on its own, which neither does nor can come from an external cause.
For it does not recognize any force in a body except the one generated
by the body that is the cause of its motion.
§ 127.
Although the considerations and demonstrations up to now are such that Simpler
they approach the clarity of mathematical concepts, just to the extent that 1:150 method
the nature of the matter allows this, I shall nonetheless indicate a method for making use
to please those who mistrust anything that has even the appearance of of these
metaphysics and who consistently insist on experience as the ground observations.
of conclusions, a method that allows them to use these considerations
to their better satisfaction. Thus I shall demonstrate, toward the end of
this chapter, from an observationg and with mathematical precision, that
forces really are to be found in nature that have the square of velocity.
By means of this, these gentlemen convince themselves from the result
of all proofs in the second chapter that such a force could not be the
effecth of an external mechanical cause, for as soon as one admitted this
force only as an effecti of a cause that brings motion about, no estimation
could apply except the one by simple velocity. This will subsequently
guide these gentlemen to the way in which this force can spring from
the body’s inner natural force, and will gradually introduce them to my
reflections on the essence of living forces.
§ 128.
I said that the free duration of force, propagated from within the body, Herr Bernoulli
is the genuine feature from which alone one can infer that force is alive was already in
possession of
these concepts
f Maßgebung h Wirkung
g Erfahrung i Wirkung
129
Natural Science
and measurable by the square. It makes me truly happy to find precisely

this idea in the treatise of Herr Johann Bernoulli mentioned above. As a
mere geometer, he did not express his opinion in the proper metaphysical
terminology, but he nonetheless did so perfectly clearly: Vis viva, he says,
est aliquid reale et substantiale, quod per se subsistit, et quantum in se est, non
dependet ab alio; - - - Vis mortua non est aliquid absolutum et per se durans
etc. etc.j,95
This quotation is no small advantage for my argument.k Otherwise,
1:151 an expert in mathematics would look with some suspicion at conclu-
sions that he believes to result from sophistical metaphysical distinctions,
which would compel him to postpone his applause, and I would have to
worry that he would do the same with my own conclusions, but here the
matter is as clear as day that it will naturally reveal itself l to the most
rigorous geometer in his mathematical assessment.
But he did not Given that Bernoulli had this insightm about the concept of living
support it with force, I am astonished that it was possible for him to go so far astray on
powerful the way toward a proof of this force. He could have easily realized that
reasons. he would not find it in cases that are indeterminate with regard to what
is realis et substantialis, quod per se subsistit et est absolutum aliquid,n or that
lack determinations leading to this force, for such determinations are
the defining featureo of living force, as he realized himself, and whatever
is indeterminate with regard to this character naturallyp cannot lead to
living force. Nonetheless, he believed that it could be found in the case
of springs that expand between two unequal bodies, although not only
is there nothing to be found that would actuallyq lead to living force
by means of the distinguishing featurer noted above, but also the whole
force involved in the structure of his proof is something quod non est
aliquid absolutum, sed dependet ab alio.s
Once more we see from this how dangerous it is to abandon oneself
to the mere direction of applauset in a composite and evidentu proof
without relying on the method that we praised in §§ 88, 89, 90 and
j Living force . . . is something real and substantial, which subsists on its own, and whatever
lies in itself does not depend on anything else; . . . Dead force is not anything absolute
and does not persist on its own; etc.
k Betrachtung
l von selber darstellt
m Erleuchtung
n real and substantial, which subsists on its own and is something absolute
o Geschlechtsmerkmal
p auch
q vielmehr
r Unterscheidungszeichen
s that is not anything absolute but rather depends on something else
t dem bloßen Ausgange des Beifalles
u scheinbaren
130
used with great success, that is, how inevitable and necessary it is to
assess concepts in advance that necessarily belong to the issue that is the
subject of the proof, and to examine afterward whether the conditions
of the proof really include the proper determinations that lead to the
establishment of these concepts.
§ 129.
We have demonstrated that the existence of living forces in nature is Living
based solely on the presupposition of free motions in nature. But accord- forces are
ing to what we established above in this regard, one cannot identify any 1:152 of a
argument in the essential and geometric properties of a body that would contingent
leadv to such a capacity, which the performance of free invariant motion nature.
would require. Hence it follows that living forces are not recognized The
as a necessary property, and that they are instead something hypothet- Leibnizians
ical and contingent. Herr von Leibniz himself recognized this, as he recognized this
specifically acknowledges in the Theodicy, and Herr Nicolaus Bernoulliw as well.
confirms it through what is, in his opinion, the manner required for
demonstrating living forces: that the basic equation dv = pdt needs to be
presupposed, where dv is the element of velocity, p the pressure gener-
ated by velocity, and dt the element of time in which pressure generates
infinitely slow velocity.96 He says that this is something hypothetical And yet they
that must be assumed. The other defenders of living forces, for whom it search for them
was a matter of conscience to disagree with Herr von Leibniz and judge in
things differently, were singing the same tune. And yet they searched for geometrically
living forces in cases that definitely involve geometrical necessity, and necessary
truths.
even presumed to have found them there, which is certainly extremely
odd.
Herr Herrmann tried to do it in the same way, unfazed by the con- Herr
tingency of living forces. But the positive bias toward Leibniz’s thought Herrmann’s
and the intention of achieving definite success led him to a fallacy that is peculiar lapse
certainly noteworthy. I do not think it would be easy to find anyone to in this matter.
whom it would occur to argue as follows: Two quantities a and b need to
be joined and considered in connection, ergo they must be multiplied by
each other; and still, this literally happened to Herr Herrmann, who was
such a great master in drawing inferences. “Since the body that receives
a new element of force in its fall,” he says, “already moves with velocity,
this velocity must certainly be taken into account as well. Hence one
needs to multiplyx velocity u, which the body already has, by its mass M 1:153
v erkennen geben sollte x zusammen setzen

w Lasswitz suggests: Daniel Bernoulli
131
Natural Science
and the element of velocity or, what amounts to the same, the product
of gravity g and time; that is, gdt. Ergo dV, the element of living force,
equals gMdt, the product of the mentioned quantities.”97
§ 130.
Experience Our system implies that a freely and uniformly moving body does not
confirms yet have its maximum force at the onset of its motion, but rather that
gradual y this force increases when the body has been in motion for a while. I
vivification. think that everyone is familiar with some experiences that confirm this.
For my part, I have found that the bullet of a gun will penetrate much
deeper into a piece of wood when fired several steps away from the
target, than when shot into the wood from only several inches away,
although the powder loads of the gun were perfectly equal and the other
circumstances matched precisely. Those who have better opportunities
for performing experiments than I do can make more precise and more
finely measured tests. Therefore, experience nonetheless teaches that
intension grows within a uniformly and freely moving body and acquires
its proper magnitude only after a certain time, in conformity with the
propositions demonstrated concerning this.98
§ 131.
Now, having laid the foundation of a new estimation of forces, we ought
to try to indicate those laws that are specifically connected with it and
that constitute, as it were, the framework of a new dynamics.
I am capable of presenting several laws according to which the vivi-
fication or the coming-to-life of force happens, but since this treatise is
an attempt at drafting a first outline of these rather new and unexpected
properties of forces, I must justifiably be worried that my readers, who are
mainly interested in learningz about the main issue, would be annoyed
at finding themselves getting involved in an extensivea investigation of a
1:154 secondary matter, especially since there will be plenty of time to engage
in this after the main work has been developed sufficiently and confirmed
by experience.
As a consequence, I shall merely try to disclose, with the greatest pos-
sible clarity, the most general and valuableb laws associated with our
y successive a tiefen
z gewiß gemacht werden b beobachtungswürdigsten
132
estimation of forces, whose nature cannot be understood properly with-

out them.
§ 132.
The following comment exhibits a completely unknown dynamic law
and is particularly relevant in the estimation of forces.
We have learned that a body that acts in a state of rest exerts only The
a dead pressure, which is wholly distinct from the categoryc of living vivification of
forces, and whose measure, in addition, is merely simple velocity, and force does not
this is something with which both the whole party of the Cartesians and apply to all
the students of Leibniz agree. But a body with an infinitely slow velocity velocities in
general.
actually does not move at all and thus possesses a force that constitutes
a state of rest; therefore its measure is velocity as such.
If we therefore wish to determine the motions that belong to the
categoryd of living forces, then we must not extend them over all motions
regardless of their velocity, that is, without thereby having determined
their velocity. For then the same law would be true for all degrees of
velocity, down to the infinitely smaller ones, and bodies would be able
to have living force even at infinitely slow velocities, which we just now
discovered to be false.
Accordingly the law of the estimation by the square does not apply Velocity must
to all motions regardless of their velocity, which must be taken into be determined
account here. So force cannot come alive when tied to certain degrees in this case.
of velocity, and there will be a certain quantity of velocity at which force
can first attain vivification and below which, in all smaller degrees down
to infinitely slow velocity, it cannot happen. 1:155
Furthermore, since the complete vivification of force is the cause of Consequently
the free and permanent conservation of motion, it follows that such free motion is
conservation is also not possible in all velocities without any qualifi- not possible in
cation, but rather that velocity must be determined here, too, that is, all velocities
velocity must have a certain determinate quantity if a body with this without any
distinction.
velocity is supposed to attain a permanent, invariant, and free motion;
below this determinate degree, at all smaller degrees, this would be
impossible, until at the infinitely slow degree of velocity, this property
disappears completely, and the duration of motion is merely something
instantaneous.
Thus the rule of free and undiminished continuation of motion is valid
not in general, but rather only from a certain degree of velocity onward;
below this all smaller degrees of motion will consume themselves and
disappear, until motion at the infinitely small degree will last merely
c Geschlechte d Geschlechte
133
Natural Science
a moment and require a continuous replenishment from without. So

Newton’s rule, Corpus quodvis pergit in statu suo, vel quiescendi, vel movendi,
uniformiter, in directum, nisi a causa externa statum mutare cogatur,e is not
valid in its unqualified meaning for bodies in nature.99
§ 133.
Experience Experience confirms this comment, for if an infinitely slow velocity could
confirms this. come alive, then, because of the proportionality with regard to the vivifi-
cation of living forces, § 122, it would have to come alive in an infinitely
short period of time; accordingly two bodies exerting only gravitational
pressure would merely have forces proportional to their velocities, but
as soon as they would be lowered from unnoticeably tiny heights, their
force would immediately have to be like the square of velocity, but this
conflicts with the law of continuity and with experience, for, as we already
mentioned, a body whose weight does not break a glass will also not have
the force to break it if one drops it on the glass from an extremely small
1:156 distance, and two bodies of equal weight will keep each other in balance
even if both are dropped onto the scales a bit, although a significant
swing would have to result to the extent that this happens.
Comment on This rule would accordingly have to be taken into account in deter-
motion in a mining the rules of the resistance of the spatial plenumf in which bodies
resistant move freely. For when velocity really starts to become very slow, the
medium. spatial plenumg will not contribute as much to the diminution of the
motion as before, but rather this is partly lost on its own.
§ 134.
Whether We are at the heart of the most fittingh tasks that theoretical mechanics
vivification and could never have providedi before.
free motion are We raised the question of whether bodies can really reach full vivifi-
possible at all cation of force at all velocities, regardless of how small they may be,
higher degrees and continue their motions freely and unchanged. Now we shall exam-
of velocity to
ine whether they can also achieve this at higher degrees of velocity to
infinity.
infinity, that is, whether bodies continue freely and conserve motion that
has been imparted to them undiminished, and whether, consequently,
they can reach full vivification of force, regardless of how large the
velocities may be that had been imparted to them.
e Each body continues in its state of rest or uniform straight motion, unless it is forced
by an external cause to change its state.
f Mittelraumes
g Mittelraum
h artigsten
i gewähren
134
Because vivification and the resulting undiminished free continua-

tion of motion are achievements of the body’s inner natural force and
consequently presuppose, at any event, that the inner natural force is
capable of generating them from within and of reaching the required
degree of intension on its own, what alone matters in the performance
of living force in all higher degrees to infinity are the quantity and the
capacityj of this natural force. But no quantity in nature is truly infinite,
as metaphysics unmistakably shows: Therefore, the natural force of each
body noted must have a determinate finite quantity. Thus its capacity for
actingk is also restricted to a finite measure, which implies that it extends 1:157
its ability to generate living forces from itself at ever greater degrees of
velocity only to some finite goal, that is, a body cannot make force come
alive at all degrees of velocity to infinity through its internal force and
thus cannot perform the infinite and undiminished continuation of this
force in free motion, but rather this capacity of bodies generally applies
only to a certain quantity of velocity, with the result that in all higher
degrees, beyond this quantity, the capacity of the body is no longer suf-
ficient to completel the vivification corresponding to this capacity and
to generate such a great force from within.
§ 135.
This implies that if this degree is determinate, then when a body is driven What follows
by an external cause at a greater velocity, it will yield to this cause and from this for
assume this moving velocity as long as the external propulsion lasts, but free motion.
as soon as this stops, it would have to lose, instantly and on its own,
the degree that exceeds its determinate measure, and it would have to
keep in itself and continue, freely and without loss, only the degree that
the body can make come alive according to the measure of its natural
force.
Furthermore, this implies that it is possible, even probable, that the The ability of
natural force of bodies, in their vast diversity in nature, will be of different bodies varies in
quantities in different bodies, hence it is possible, and even probable, that this regard.
one of them may be able to continue a certain velocity, for which the
natural force of another would be insufficient.
There are thus two boundaries that circumscribe the quantity of the Summary.
velocity at which vivification of force can subsist in a certain body, one
below which, and the other above which, vivification and free motion
can no longer be sustained.
j Vermögen l vollführen
k wirken
135
Natural Science
1:158 § 136.
Living force From § 121 we learned that after it had come alive, the force of a body
can partly is much larger than the mechanical cause that gave it the whole motion,
disappear and that therefore a body with two units of velocity has four units of
without effect. force, even though the external causes of its motion actedm on it with
only two units of force, as Jurin’s method, § 110, suggests. Now we shall
explain how an obstacle with less power than the force of a body can
still take all of its motion away, which implies that just as force arises
partly on its own in the first case, it can also consume itself on its
own in the second case, when overcoming an obstacle far smaller
than itself.
Proof. We merely need to reverse Jurin’s case, § 110, in order to prove this.
Suppose that boat AB moves from C to B with unit velocity. In addi-
tion, suppose that ball E moves with two units of velocity in the same
direction, CB, but does so in free motion and with living force; con-
sequently, this ball will meet obstacle R, represented here by a spring
with one unit of force, only with a single unit of velocity, for it does not
move with the other unit toward the obstacle, because it likewise has
the very same motion in the same direction, consequently only one unit
of motion remains in the body in relation to the obstacle. However, at
a single unit of velocity the force will only amount to one unit as well,
consequently, the ball strikes the obstacle, which has unit force, with one
unit of force too, and accordingly loses through the obstacle just the unit
of velocity and force that is its own. Afterwards, however, only one unit
of absolute motion, and consequently only one unit of force, remains in
it, and they could in turn be destroyed by another obstacle with one unit;
consequently two obstacles, each with only one unit of force, can stop
a body in which we have posited living force and which therefore has
1:159 four units of force at two units of velocity; hence in this way, two units
must accordingly disappear on their own, without being neutralized and
broken by external causes.
§ 137.
As the solution of the previous § reveals, the circumstances in which a
body expends part of its living force without effect are accordingly when
two or more obstacles successively exert resistance to it, and when each
obstacle opposes not the whole, but only a part of the velocity of the
moving body.
m gewirkt
136
How this harmonizes with our conception of living force can be Explanation of
grasped without difficulty in the following way. If the velocity of a body this proposition
is analyzed into its degrees, the living force that is to be found in one of by our
these degrees, isolated from the others, and that the body will therefore conception of
also apply when actingn with this degree alone, without the rest, will living force.
be like the square of this degree; but if the moving body actso with its
whole and undivided velocity at once,p the whole and total force will be
like its square, and consequently, the part of the force that is due to the
specified degree of velocity will be like the rectangulumq of this degree
over the entire velocity, which constitutes a far greater quantity than in
the previous case. For when we assumed, e.g., that the whole velocity
consisted of two units and was successively imparted to the body, living
force only rose to one unit of quantity as long as the velocity remained at
one unit, but after the second unit was added, not only did another unit
arise in the body in proportion to this second unit of velocity alone, but
a natural force also raised the intension in proportion to the increase in
velocity, causing living force to be four times the quantity of the entire
velocity, although the sum of forces, in all isolated units, would have been
only twice this quantity; consequently, a natural force caused that each
unit could exert two units of force when actingr together with others,
while each on its own had only one when actings in isolation. Hence if a
body with living force, therefore with four units of force at two units of 1:160
velocity, applies its whole velocity not all at once, but rather gradually,t
it will exert only a twofold force, while the remaining two, which inhere
in the body at total velocity, vanish on their own after the natural force
has stopped sustaining them, just as they had been generated on their
own by this natural force as well.
§ 138.
This comment rewards our efforts with important implications.
1. We will not encounter the full effectu of living force except where Implications.
obstacles also resist the whole velocity of the body that penetrates them
with living force, and jointly absorb all of its degrees.
2. Wherever, by contrast, the obstacle by itself resists just one degree
of living force, consequently absorbs the whole velocity only successively
in discrete units, a large part of the living force will be lost on its own and
n wirkt r Wirkung
o wirkt s Wirkung
p zugleich t einen Grad nach dem andern
q square u Wirkung
137
Natural Science
without being destroyed by obstacles, and we would deceive ourselves if

we believed that the obstacles that consumed the whole velocity in this
way had also broken the entire force as such. The smaller the degree of
velocity absorbed by obstacles is as compared to the whole velocity of
the moving body, the larger this loss will always be. For instance, sup-
pose the velocity at which the body possesses its living force is divided
into three equal units, each of which can be resisted by obstacles only
once, then even if the body has living force at each of these units indi-
vidually, the force of each individual unit is one unit of force, and con-
sequently the power of the obstacles that overcomes these three one by
one, will be like three units as well; the whole living force of this body,
however, was like the square of three, that is, like nine; hence six units
of force, two-thirds of the whole, were lost on their own and without
external resistance. By comparison, if we take another obstacle, which
at once absorbs half of the whole velocity mentioned, not a third, and
consequently consumes the entire motion in two separate units, not in
1:161 three, then the loss suffered here by living force apart from what the
obstacles absorb will be only two units, that is, half of the whole, and
thus be smaller than in the previous case. By the same token, if the unit
resisted by the obstacle at once constituted one eighth of total velocity,
the body would waste seven-eighths of its total force, a loss not due to
the obstacle, and so on, to infinity.
3. If the degree of velocity opposed by obstacles at any instant is merely
infinitely small, no trace of living force will be found in the obstacles
overcome, but rather because in such a case each individual unit actsv only
in proportion to its velocity, understood as simple velocity, and because
the sum of all units is equal to the total velocity, the entire actionw of the
body’s force will be proportional only to simple velocity, even though this
force is alive, and the whole quantity of living force disappears entirely
on its own without exerting a corresponding action,x for it is actually like
a plane generated by the flow of the line that represents velocity, which
means that all two-dimensional elementsy will gradually vanish on their
own, and the sole trace of the force within the effectz is proportional
only to the generating line, that is, to velocity as such.
4. In actionsa exerted, or in obstacles overcome, there are therefore
no traces of living force, even though the body really has living force
just in case the momentumb of velocity with which an obstacle resists,
is a finite quantity, but even then, the body really has living force only
v wirkt z Wirkung
w Wirkung a Wirkungen
x Wirkung b Moment
y alle Elemente dieser zweiten Abmessung
138
under the crucial condition that even this quantity of velocity may not
be arbitrarily small, for, as we know from § 132, a certain quantity of
velocity, with which the body moves, is required for the body to have
living force, and if the quantity of velocity determines the momentumc
of the obstacle’s resistance as being too small, no action of living force
will be sensed in this quantity of velocity either.
Toward the end of this chapter in particular, we shall recognize the
highly significant utility of this comment, for there it will serve to prop-
erly illuminate and substantiate the main experience that proves living
force.
§ 139. 1:162
Since the momentumd of gravitational pressure occurs only at infinitely The
slow velocity, the past §’s third item clearly shows that a body that applies phenomena of
its motion to overcome gravitational obstacles, exerts only an actione bodies
proportional to its simple velocity against them, even though the force overcoming
as such is like the square of this velocity, and this fits perfectly with gravity neither
prove, nor
experience, as we have seen at length and in more than one way in the
contradict
previous chapter. living forces.
Thus, consider here an experience that does not even seem to admit
any law other than the Cartesian, that indeed displays traits of no estima-
tion other than the Cartesian, and that, on closer inspection, however,
still does not contradict the estimation by the square, but rather permits
its validity, provided one understands it in its correct sense.
Therefore, the action exerted by bodies rising upwards vertically, in
overcoming gravitational obstacles, indisputably refutes Leibniz’s esti-
mation and, strictly speaking, fails to prove our living forces, but it does
not eliminate them either. But if we only pay close attention to it, we
will still find, even here, several aspectsf of our estimation. For a body
could not freely continue its immanent motion and sustain it on its own,
until gradually deprived of it by external resistance, unless it generated
from itself this inner striving or intension that is the joint causeg of free
motion as well as of living force.
§ 140.
From what has been established so far, we see now also the cause of the Examples based
well-known feat of how nearly invincible powers can be offset by rather on this.
c Moment f Strahlen
d Moment g zugleich der Grund
e Wirkung
139
Natural Science
1:163 minor obstacles. For if the power to be broken stems from living force,
then one should not oppose this power with an obstacle that resists at
once and must be overcome abruptly, for such an obstacle would fre-
quently have to be immeasurably great; rather, it should be opposed by
an obstacle that receives and consumes the force only gradually and with
its smaller degrees of velocity, for in this way surprisingly large pow-
ers can be thwarted by rather insignificant oppositions, as, for instance,
people used to neutralize blows of battering rams with wool bales, blows
that would have shattered walls, had they struck them directly.100
§ 141.
Soft bodies do It is clear, furthermore, that bodies that are soft and easily compressed
not act with in a collision, definitely do not apply their complete force at impact and
their entire that they frequently exert effects that are rather slight and that would
force. be far greater if more solidity were involved with the same force and
mass. I am well aware that other causes join in, in addition to the one
mentioned, which contribute their part to this loss, or rather, which are
responsible for the appearance of one, but the cause we mentioned is
indisputably the main one and indeed responsible for a real loss.
§ 142.
A question We shall now examine the actioni of a body endowed with living force
raised: but with a mass assumed to be infinitely small, for such an examination
Whether the will later show whether, under identical circumstances, the forces of two
actionh of bodies bodies that are both alive, could exert actions proportional to these living
is proportional forces, if placed in identical circumstances and if the mass of one body
to their living
is arbitrarily small, or, rather, whether one of the bodies would have to
force regardless
of their mass.
possess a certain quantity of mass such that if one were to reduce this
quantity, the action exerted could not be proportional to its living force.
1:164 If a body with finite mass has living force, it is certainly unmistakable
that any of its parts, regardless how small they may be, will have to
have living force as well, and would have this even if it was moving in
isolation from others, but here the question arises whether such a small,
or, as we shall assume here, an infinitely small particle could exert, all
by itself, an effectj in nature proportional to its living force, if one put
it in circumstances identical to those in which a larger part acted in that
proportion. We shall find that this cannot be true, and that a body with
living force would not exert such an effectk in nature proportional to its
h Wirkung j Wirkung
i Wirkung k Wirkung
140
living force, if its mass were smaller than it would have to be, according
tol the rule that we shall prove, but rather that the smaller the mass of
such a body happens to be, the less it will approach this proportion, until
after the mass according to which the body acts has become infinitely
small, the body can act only in proportion to its simple velocity, even if
it has living force, and even if another body, in identical circumstances,
with just the same velocity and a living force, but with a good-sized
mass, would exert an action proportionalm to the square of its velocity
multiplied by mass.
§ 143.
What alone settles the matter here is that all obstacles in nature that Answer.
can be overcome by some force do not immediately oppose this force
at the point of contact right away, with a finite degree of resistance, but
rather they first do so with an infinitely small degree, and so on, until
the encountered resistance becomes finite after the moving force has
broken through an infinitely tiny volume.n This I presuppose, in light
of the agreement of the true doctrine of nature, without going here into
a discussion of the various reasons that confirm this. Hence Newton’s
students use this occasion to say that bodies act on others even if they are
not yet in contact. As a result, we shall encounter a specific difference
between the action exercised by a particle of infinitely small mass on 1:165
such obstacles in nature, and what is accomplished by one when its mass
is of some finite quantity, if we just consider the difference arising solely
from the notion of our living force and disregard the already well-known
differences that always concern the forces of two bodies with different
masses.
For even if a body possesses living force, we already know that its
effecto will remain proportional only to its simple velocity, and that its
whole intension, which is the mark of living force, will vanish without
effect,p if this force is applied to overcome the resistance of gravitational
pressures. But the counterpressure of gravity acts with an infinitely small
stirringq on the inner core of the body’s mass, that is, it acts immediately
on the infinitely small parts of the moving body, therefore this state of
the body is identical to the state of a particle that has living force but an
infinitely small mass, and that collides with any obstacle in nature, for, as
we have noted, even here, this particle will always suffer a resistance that
opposes it directly and with infinitely small pushes,r just like gravity;
l nach Maßgebung der p Wirkung

m gemäß q Sollicitation
n Räumchen r Sollicitation
o Wirkung
141
Natural Science
consequently, such an infinitely small mass will also consume in the

same way its living force in itself, and act on all obstacles in nature only
in proportion to its velocity.
However, that this happens only to an infinitely small body, and that,
by contrast, a body with a finite and definite mass would exert an effects
on the obstacle that corresponds to the body’s living force, is clearly
elucidated by our assumption that obstacles exert their resistance only
externally and without affecting the inner core as gravity does; conse-
quently, a finite body will lose only infinitely little, that is to say, noth-
ing, even where an infinitely small mass would lose its entire velocity
to the continuous and infinitely small contrary striving of the obstacles;
rather, a finite body will exert its force only against the finite degrees
of a contrary striving, degrees that an infinitely small mass would fail to
penetrate; hence a finite body will arrive at the very circumstances of any
body that applies its living force to an actiont proportional to it, as we
have seen in § 38u no. 4.
1:166 § 144.
A body exerts Now, since the effectv of a body moving with finite force but infinitely
an action in small mass is only proportional to velocity as such, and never propor-
proportion to tional to the square of velocity anywhere in nature, it follows, in virtue of
its living force the inferential method that must already be familiar due to its frequent
only if its mass usage, that one cannot generally and without qualification say that, in
is determinate;
suitable∗ circumstances, a body with living force would also have an
masses with
effectw proportional to its living force, regardless of how small its mass
smaller
quantities are may be; rather, a certain quantity of mass would be required to be able
incapable of to say this, and beneath this specified measure no effectx of such a body
doing this. on natural obstacles could be proportional to its living force, regardless
of what these obstacles may be, indeed, the farther the quantity of mass
is beneath this specified measure, the greater the effecty will diverge
from the proportion of living force, whereas it is evident that in all those
quantities that are above this measure, such a divergence is not to be
encountered.
∗ That is, in those circumstances in which another body of larger mass and with equal
velocity would expend its living force completely.
s Wirkung w Wirkung
t Wirkung x Wirkung
u Lasswitz reads: § 138 y Wirkung
v Wirkung
142
§ 145.
This entails the following comments: Consequences.
1. That a small particle of matter, in a stable union with a large mass
possessing living force, can exert an effectz that is completely different
from and far larger than what it could perform on its own and in isolation
from the large mass.
2. That this difference is nonetheless not necessary, but depends rather
on this contingent property of nature; that, in accordance with the rule
of continuity, all of nature’s obstacles already arise from afar and by
infinitely small degrees, before they use their finite resistance to oppose
a colliding body; and that, regardless of this, nature permits no other
action.a
3. That it is not true without qualification that the actionsb of two 1:167
bodies, whose forces are alive and whose velocities are equal, behave, in
identical circumstances, according to their masses, for if one of them is
smaller than it should be, as judged byc the stated rule, then its effect
will diverge from the measure of the square of the velocity and therefore
be much smaller than it should have been according to the ratio of the
masses alone.
4. That a change in the shape of bodies, without altering their mass,
can already bring it about that their action is proportional to velocity in
the circumstances suggested, even though the force is proportional to
the square; and that, therefore, a body with living force could perform
an actiond far smaller simply because its shape had been changed, while
its mass, velocity, living force, or the makeup of the obstacles have not
changed in the slightest. For example, a gold ball with living force would
have to perform a far greater actione than would the same gold mass,
with identical velocity and force, when colliding with the same obstacle,
if that mass had previously been pounded into a thin and widely stretched
gold leaf. For although nothing changed here with regard to force, the
change of shape is nonetheless responsible for the fact that the smallest
parts hit the obstacles here just as if they had struck it separately and in
isolation from one another, consequently, by what has just been shown,
they are far from acting with living force and in proportion to it, but
rather perform an effect that either approaches or attains the measure
of simple velocity; for if, by contrast, the mass was in the shape of a
solid ball when colliding with the obstacles, it would hit them on such a
small area that the infinitely small moments of resistance encountered in
z Wirkung c nach Maßgebung der

a Wirkung d Wirkung
b Wirkungen e Wirkung
143
Natural Science
such a small regionf would be incapable of absorbing the motion of this

mass, thus leaving the living force intact solely in order to be applied
to the finite degrees of resistance in these obstacles; but it is equally
evident that the mass in its previous shape would cover an extraordinarily
large area of the obstacles and consequently would suffer, with the same
mass, an unbelievably larger resistance from the infinitely small stirringg
1:168 encountered in each point of the obstacles, with the result that these
stirrings must be able to be absorbed by it more easily, with either a
complete or at least a considerable loss of living force, something that
would not happen in the first way.
§ 146.
Fluids act in However, the most important conclusion that I draw from the law estab-
proportion to lished now, is one that follows perfectly naturally from it, namely that in
the square of collisions liquid bodies act proportional to the square of their velocities,∗
the velocity. although, if the actionh here was supposed to be proportional to their
living forces, it would have to act according to the measure of the cube of
their velocities, not of the square;101 and how this does not conflict with
our theory of living forces, even though it eliminates Herr von Leibniz’s
living forces, as Herr Jurin already noted correctly.
How this For liquids are divided into the finest of parts, which could be regarded
follows from as infinitely small, and do not jointly constitute any cohesive solid body,
the preceding. but rather all act successively, each one by itself and in isolation from
others; consequently, they will suffer the loss of living force that infinitely
small particles inevitably suffer, as we have noted, when colliding with
any natural obstacle regardless of what it is, and therefore they act only
in proportion to their velocity, despite the fact that their force is like the
square of the velocity.
Herr Richter wasted a lot of effort to deflect this attack by Herr
Jurin.102 His case could not be helped, because it was bound by the
rule that forces are solely proportional to their actions.i
On the Finally, from this anyone will easily understand why freely moving
resistance of a bodies with living force will experience resistance only in proportion to
medium. the square of their velocity in a liquid medium, and that this does not
1:169 undermine our living forces, even though it conflicts with the Leibnizian
estimation, by which such resistance would have to be proportional to
the cube of the velocity.
∗ As Mariotte has shown experimentally.
f Raume h Wirkung
g Sollicitation i Wirkungen
144
§ 147.
There are countless experiences confirming the rule we have discussed Empirical
up to now. Although they are not precisely determined, they are still confirmation.
unmistakable and enjoy the agreement of general approval.
For if we did not grant our rule, we would have to suppose that a
body, no matter how small and negligible, would, in the same circum-
stances, perform an action in a collision that was just as great as one
performed by a large mass, provided that one would only make their
velocities inversely proportional to the square roots of their masses or,
by Descartes’s rule, as long as they are inversely proportional to the
masses themselves. But experience contradicts this. For everyone agrees
that a down feather, or a speck of dust, in free motion, would not achieve
the effectsj of a cannonball, even if one could attribute as many degrees of
velocity to the former two as one demands; and no one, I believe, would
suspect that either of them could smash solid blocks of matter and break
through walls, if it should strike them with an arbitrarily high velocity
in free motion. None of this can be tested and confirmed by a properly
designed experiment, but the countless experiences that occur of simi-
lar cases, albeit not to such an extreme, let no one doubt the outcomek
suggested.
Still, it cannot be denied that said small particles, by necessity, would
have to possess the same force as large bodies in the mentioned arrange-
ment of their velocity, be this by Descartes’s, Leibniz’s, or by our
measure of force; therefore, the only remaining possible explanation
is that a small body would have to exert an actionl far smaller than what
should occur according to its force, and that most of its living force is 1:170
thwarted without effect,m just as we demonstrated of small bodies in
§§ 43, 44, 45.n
§ 148.
Finally, the motions of elastic bodies in collisions, which we discussed Motions of
in detail in the previous chapter and which are all to be shown true elastic bodies
in wholly unmistakable experiments, belong to those phenomenao that eliminate
seem to permit no trace of an estimation other than the Cartesian, and Leibniz’s
that accordingly seem to contradict our measure of force. Indeed, they estimation, but
not ours.
completely eliminate Leibniz’s measure by the square, in virtue of the
presupposition inseparably tied to it, that is, in virtue of the claim that
j Wirkungen m Wirkung
k Erfolg n Lasswitz reads: §§ 143–145
l Wirkung o Erfahrungen
145
Natural Science
actionsp are always equal to the force that consumes itself in their pro-
duction. Ours has the well-founded advantage of being free from this
law and therefore avoids this attack.
We already know from the above that living force is not something
that can be produced in a body from the outside and by an external cause,
for instance by an impact, which can already teach us that living forces of
struck bodies are not to be regarded as the effectsq of the striking bodies,
nor that the former are measurable by the latter. By contrast, the actual
solution of this whole difficulty, to the extent that one still presumes to
encounter one here, consists in the following.
§ 149.
Proof. Anyone competent in mechanicsr must know that an elastic body acts
on another not with its whole velocity and at once, but rather by a
continued accumulation of infinitely small degrees, which an elastic body
successively imparts to another. I do not need to delve into the particular
causes of this; it is enough for me that unanimous approval is on my side
and that everyone recognizes that no law of motion could be explained
without this presupposition. The real cause of this is presumably this:
1:171 Since elasticity, according to the nature of a spring, opposes only that
units of velocity that suffices to compress it, with each infinitely small
degreet of impression absorbed, it consequently always enduresu only
an infinitely small degree of the velocity of the striking body and hence
opposes and absorbs at any given moment not the entire velocity but
only an infinitely small degree of it, until successive accumulation has
transferred the entire velocity to the passive body in this fashion.
From the above it follows that because the striking body acts only suc-
cessively with individual, infinitely small degrees of velocity, it will also
act only in simple proportion to its velocity and without any disadvantage
to its living force, which it can possess regardless.
§ 150.
Herr von Leibniz’s popular law of the unchanged conservation of one
and the same quantity of force in the world is another objection that
seems to require close scrutiny here. If there is something substantialv
in the considerations so far, it will be immediately obviousw that this law
p Wirkungen t Grad
q Wirkungen u erduldet
r Alle Mechanikverständige v etwas Gegründetes
s Grad w leuchtet . . . in die Augen
146
cannot be correct in the usually accepted sense. However, the naturex of

our project, and the exhaustion, which I rightfully fear in the attention of
my educated reader in such a rough and uncharted matter and that I am
afraid to have perhaps already offended all too much, does not allow me to
elaborate properly what our estimation would introduce into this matter
and how it could satisfy the rules of universal harmony and order, which
have made the Leibnizian law so praiseworthy, although I can present
an outline of some of this.
§ 151.
We find ourselves now in the realm of experience, but before settling
down there, we must first make sure that we have demolished those
claims that pretend to a more compelling titley to it and that want to
drive us out of this territory. The effort that we have applied to it so far 1:172
would be incomplete if we passed over the experimental demonstration
in mechanics performed by the most illustrious Herr von Musschenbroek,
which is correspondingly persuasive and astute, and if we failed to protect
the theory of forces we have adopted from it. He intended to defend living
forces in the Leibnizian sense by means of this demonstration, and it is
for that reason our duty to examine it.
A more careful consideration of this demonstration will teach us that
it does not have the success hoped for, but rather confirms Descartes’s
measure of force. And our comment, so often repeated, will confirm
this once more: No trace of a force measurable by the square will be
encountered as long as one presumes to find its origin solely in external
causes; genuinely living force is not generated in the body from without,
but is rather the consequencez of the striving that emerges in the body
from its inner natural power, on the occasion of external pushes;a and all
those who assume only the measure of externally acting and mechanical
causes for the determination of the measure of force in the passive body,
will therefore never encounter anything but Descartes’s estimation, as
long as they judge correctly.
§ 152.
Herr von Musschenbroek’s proof is the following. Musschenbroek’s
Take a hollow cylinder with an affixed spring.103 A rod with holes mechanical
must protrude from the cylinder, and this rod is passed through the proof of living
opening of a stiff metal sheet. If you now forcefully push the steel spring forces.
x Beschaffenheit z Erfolg
y ein gegründeteres Recht a Sollicitation
147
Natural Science
Fig. 26. toward this sheet, compressing it such that the rod
D protrudes farther out from the opening, then you
can keep it in this tension by slipping a peg through
A the holes of the rod, on the side of the sheet where
the rod sticks out. Finally, you hang the cylinder
C F on two strings from a given machine, like a pen-
dulum, then pull the peg out, and as a result, the
B
spring will recoil, imparting to the cylinder a cer-
E tain velocity, which is recognizable by the height
1:173 it attains. Take that velocity as a velocity of ten
units. Then make the cylinder twice as heavy as it originally was, by
putting as many weights inside as are necessary for this, and tighten the
spring as before. If you then let it snap open once more, you will see,
by the height attained, that the velocity involved amounts to 7.07 units.
From this Musschenbroek argues as follows.
The spring was equally compressed both times, and thus had equal
force in both cases, and it also imparted equal forces to the cylinder both
times, since it applies its entire force each time; therefore, the force of
a body with one unit of mass and a velocity of ten units must be iden-
tical to the force found in another body with a mass of two units and a
velocity of 7.07 units. But this is possible only if one estimated the force
by the product of mass and the square of velocity, for all other possible
configurationsb of velocity would preclude this identity, but only by the
estimation of the square will the square roots of the numbers 10 and
7.07 be quam proximec in an inverse ratio to the masses quantified as 1
and 2, and consequently the products of their velocities and their respec-
tive masses are equal.
Therefore, he concludes that the forces are to be estimated not by the
measure of the velocities, but instead by their square.
§ 153.
I should avoid making the reminder overly lengthy that I shall present
against this argument, and for that reason do not want to mention any-
thing regarding a substantiald objection I could make here, too, that even
for the Leibnizians, the moments of pressure in the releasinge spring are
only dead forces, and consequently both these forces, and the moments
of force imparted thereby to the body, and hence the whole force, that
is, the sum of these moments, are to be estimated only by simple veloc-
ities; rather, I shall proceed in a mechanistic fashion, which is familiar
b Funktionen d gegründeten
c approximately e der sich ausspannenden
148
to everyone and involves geometrical precision, but at the same time

elucidate somewhat more extensively, not as if the matter were not suf-
ficiently simple to permit a quicker comprehension as well, but rather 1:174
to clear up all confusions about the actions of springsf once and for
all, which have hitherto prevailed in the quarrel over the estimation of
force.
§ 154.
Herr von Musschenbroek says that the spring is equally compressed in
both cases; consequently it possesses equal force in both cases; but since
it communicates its entire force to the cylinder each time, when stretched
out it therefore imparts equal force to the cylinder both times. This is
the basis of the proof, but also of its error, although the latter is not so
much a personal error by Herr von Musschenbroek, but rather is typical
of all defenders of the Leibnizian measure of force.
If one talks about the whole force of a spring, then one can mean by An equally
this only the intension of its tension,g which is equal to the force trans- compressed
ferred to the body acted on in one instanth of its pressure. About this spring imparts
force one can certainly say that it is equal regardless of the size of the greater force to
body on which the spring acts. But if one looks at the other force, which a larger body
than to a
this force imparts to a body by its continued pressure over some time,
smaller body.
then it is obvious that the quantity of the force imparted to the body in
this way will depend on the quantity of time during which the constant
pressurei accumulates in the body, and that the greater this time is, the
larger the force will be that is imparted to the body by the evenly com-
pressed spring in this period. Now, however, as everyone knows, if one
enlarges the mass that is supposed to be propelled, one can arbitrarily
prolong the time needed by the spring for its full release when pro-
pelling a body; therefore, depending on whether the mass propelled by
the spring is increased or diminished, one can also arbitrarily arrange that
this very spring communicates through its release, with equal tension,
sometimes more, sometimes less force. This elucidates how contrary to
nature it is to say that by its extensionj the spring imparts its entire force
to a body propelled by it. For the force given to a body by the spring is
a consequencek that depends not only on the spring’s force, but also on 1:175
the makeup of the pushed body, according to which it is exposed to the
pressures of this spring longer or shorter, that is, according to whether
f der Wirkung der Federn i gleiche Drückung

g die Intension ihrer Spannung j Ausstreckung
h Moment k Erfolg
149
Natural Science
its mass is larger or smaller, but the force of the spring, if considered in
isolation, is nothing but the moment of its expansion.l
§ 155.
Resolution of It is now easy to avoid the confusion in Musschenbroek’s proof.
Musschen- The cylinder, when twice as heavy, is exposed to the pressures of the
broek’s expanding spring longer than the cylinder of one unit of mass. With
difficulty. equal tensile force, the spring propels the latter faster, traversing the
volume of its extension quicker when attached to the latter than to the
former. However, since the moment of force, impressed by the spring
on the cylinders at any instant, is equal in both (for the moment of its
velocity is inversely proportional to the masses), the heavier cylinder
must absorbm more force through the spring’s thrust than the lighter
one. Therefore, the estimation by which these forces are found to be
equal in both is false, that is, they cannot be estimated by the square of
velocity.
§ 156.
Why the If one still wants to know the reason why, now, the velocities of the
squares of cylinders that were received from the same spring, are here proportioned
the velocities of in just the way that their squares are inversely like the masses (a ratio
the cylinders that actually attracted Herr von Leibniz’s defender in the first place),
are in inverse then we can clarify this without difficulty as well, without having to take
proportion to
recourse to anything else except Descartes’s measure.
their masses.
For it is known from the first principles of mechanics that the squares
of the velocities attained in uniformly accelerated motion (motu uni-
formiter acceleratonn ) are like the spaces traversed; consequently, if the
moments of the velocities of two bodies, both in motu uniformiter
1:176 accelerato,o are unequal, the squares of the velocities attained in such
motion stand in a compound relation of the spaces and these moments.
Now, in Musschenbroek’s experiment, however, the equally compressed
spring communicates its motion to each cylinder motu uniformiter acceler-
ato, and the cylinders traverse equal spaces with such accelerated motion
while the spring is being stretched out to the point of its maximum
extension, and therefore the squares of the velocities that are thereby
transferred are like the moments of the velocity imparted to each cylin-
der by the pressure of the spring, that is, the squares of the velocities are
like the inverse of the masses of these cylinders.
l Ausspannung n with a uniformly accelerated motion

m überkommen o in uniformly accelerated motion
150
§ 157.
Now I come to the point of presenting the experiments and observationsp
that incontrovertibly demonstrate the reality and existence of the forces
in nature that are to be estimated by the square of the velocity, and
that shall reward my benevolent reader for all the laborious attention
demanded by this bad essay with a victorious conviction.
I am concerned only with those who are familiar enough with the Attempts at
character of the dispute over living forces. Hence I presuppose that my proving living
readers are sufficiently acquainted with the notorious experiments by forces.
Herren Riccioli, s’Gravesande, Poleni, and von Musschenbroek, who explored
the forces of bodies by measuring the impressions they made in
collisionsq with soft materials.104 I shall only briefly mention that balls of
equal size and mass that fell freely from unequal heights onto soft mate-
rial, such as tallow wax, struck holes in it that were proportional to the
heights from which they fell, that is, proportional to the square of their
velocities, and that if balls of equal size and unequal mass were dropped
from heights inversely proportional to these masses, they left holes in
the soft material that were subsequently determined to be equal. The 1:177
Cartesians could not object to the accuracy of these experiments, only
the conclusion drawn from them became the subject of controversy.
The Leibnizians argued perfectly correctly from these experiments in
the following way. The obstacle that the soft material presents to the
force of a penetrating body, is only the cohesion of its parts, and for
that reason the action of the body, when penetrating the material, con-
sists only in the separation of those parts. But this cohesion is uniform
throughout the entire soft mass, and therefore the quantity of resis-
tance, and for that reason also the quantity of force that the body needs
to apply to overcome the resistance, is like the sum of the separated
parts; that is, it is like the sizer of the holes struck. But by the mentioned
experiment, the holes are like the squares of the velocities of the pene-
trating bodies, and their forces are consequently like the squares of their
velocities.
§ 158.
Descartes’s defenders could not raise any substantial objections to this. The
However, since they had already understood, with undoubted certainty, Cartesians’
that living forces were condemned by mathematics, to which, however, objection.
the Leibnizians appealed as well, the Cartesians tried to get out of this
p Erfahrungen r Größe
q Stoß
151
Natural Science
difficulty as best as they could, by not doubting that an experiment had

to be deceptive if it appeared to establish something geometry did not
allow. We already mentioned above the requisite reminder; now we
shall merely consider the type of evasive move that the Cartesians used
to disavow the experiment described above.
They objected that the Leibnizians did not pay attention to the time
required for the impression of these holes. In overcoming the obstacles
of this soft material, time is the same kind of problem as it had been in
overcoming gravity. The impressions of the holes were not produced
in equal time periods. In short, they were convinced that the objection
1:178 regarding time was valid for overcoming the obstacles of gravity (as it
indeed was, too), and now, they thought, they could utilize it again here,
and employ it with equal success against living forces.
§ 159.
Refuted. I am well aware that the Leibnizians quickly deflected this criticism, by,
among other things, dropping two cones with differently sized bases
on the soft material, whereby the times required for striking the holes
necessarily had to be identical, and where the outcomes was nonetheless
the same as before; but I shall abstain from this advantage too and dispose
of the difficulty posed by the Cartesians from the ground up.
Time is All one needs to do is to consider why the resistance of the gravitational
relevant for the pressure that a body is supposed to overcome is proportional not to
actiont of space but rather to time. Now the reason is this. If the body overcomes
gravity. a spring of gravity, it will not thereby destroy the latter’s efficacy, but
rather only furnishes the counterweight to it, while the gravitational
spring still sustains its opposing striving undiminished so that it keeps
acting on the body as long as the body remains subject to it. If, by
overcoming any spring of gravity, the body would, as it were, shatter
and destroy its force, then, since every spring has the same force, the
resistance suffered by the body would doubtless be equal to the sum of
all the shattered springs regardless of time. However, each spring keeps
its force of pressure regardless of whether it is overcome by the body,
and continues to propagate this force in the body for as long as the body
remains subject to it; consequently, no single and indivisible pressure
can be specified for the effectu brought about by a single spring, but the
spring rather exerts a continuous sequence of pressures, which increases
with the length of time the body is subject to it, for example, the time
intervalv of the body’s presence is longer in those parts of space in which
s Erfolg u Wirkung
t Wirkung v das Zeittheilchen
152
its motion is slower than in the parts of space in which its motion is
faster, and the body consequently undergoes by each individual spring
a sequence of equal pressures that is longer in the former parts than in
the latter.
Yet this is completely different in the case of separating a soft mass. 1:179 This is
Each element of a soft mass has the same force of cohesion, and through completely
this force the mass deprives the body separating them of an equal different with
amountw of force, but just by doing so, they are also simultaneously soft materials.
separated and subsequently offer no resistance anymore, regardless of
the time the body remains with the mass. For here the spring is immedi-
ately broken by the very actionx that equals its resistance, and therefore
it cannot keep acting, in contrast to the essentially indestructible spring
of gravity. For that reason, the resistance that the soft mass offers to the
penetrating body is like the sum of the springs that are shattered by it,
that is, it is like the hole struck by the body, and time has nothing to do
with this at all.
§ 160.
The Leibnizians have reason to triumph, with no small satisfaction, over
this important mistake made by the Cartesians. This incident avenges
the blame that the Leibnizians incurred for various missteps, since their
opponents now suffer the same fate. What does it matter that the Leib-
nizians presumed to find living forces where they were not present? For
the Cartesians failed to see them where they really existed and where no
one could have overlooked them unless struck utterly blind.
§ 161.
Thus, the experiment cited proves the existence of such forces in nature
that have the square of velocity as their measure, but our previous consid-
erations explain the conditions under which these forces do not obtain,
as well as what the sole conditions are under which they can emerge. If
one employs all of this in line with our suggestions, then one acquires
not only sufficient certainty about living forces, but also a concept of
their nature that is not just more correct, but also more complete, than 1:180
it ever was or otherwise could have been. This particular feature of the
experiment that we have in front of us presents several other extraordi-
nary features that could be mentioned in turn, but I definitely cannot
engage with them, since the attention of the benevolent reader, tired by
w Grad x Wirkung
153
Natural Science
so many complex investigations, wishes perhaps nothing more than the

conclusion of these observations.
But there is still one feature that I cannot leave untouched because
it confirms the previous laws and sheds a good deal of light on them.
The experiment in front of us proves forces that are associated with the
estimation by the square of velocity; hence according to § 138 no. 4, the
opposite striving of each element of the obstacles must involve velocities
of finite degrees, for if they involved only infinitely small degrees, as
is the case with gravitational pressures, then overcoming such striving
would not reveal a force measurable by the square, just as it does not
with gravitational pressures § 139. Thus we shall prove that the renisusy
of any given element in the soft mass does not occur with infinitely small
velocity, as it does in gravity, but rather with a velocity of a finite degree.
§ 162.
The moment of If one analyzes the cylindrical hole that the spherical body made in the
the obstacle soft material, into infinitely thin circular disks that are stacked on top of
presented by each other, then each of them will indicate an element of the displaced
soft material mass. Because all of them jointly deprive the penetrating body of its
occurs with entire force, each of them takes from this body an infinitely small part
finite velocity.
of its velocity. However, since the quantity of such a circular disk is
infinitely small with regard to the mass of the ball, the velocity of its
contrary striving must be of a finite magnitude for it to be able to deprive
the body of an infinitely small portion of its motion by means of such
resistance. Thus every element of the soft material offers resistance to
the striking body by a striving that has a finite measure of velocity. QED.
1:181 § 163.
Thus we have completed our business, which was large enough in light of
the intended project, if only its execution had lived up to this undertaking.
Particularly with regard to the main issue, I believe I can lay claim to an
incontrovertible certainty. In light of the merit that I presume for myself,
I cannot conclude the present tract without first giving credit to the
erudition and inventiveness of my interlocutors. After the astute efforts
of the Cartesians, it was not difficult to avoid the confusion between
the estimation by the square by means of mathematics, and after the
profound labor of the Leibnizians, it was almost impossible to fail to find
this estimation in nature. Knowing these two outer limits was bound to
lead, without difficulty, to the point at which the truth involved in both
sides coincided. To reach this point, great acumen was not really needed;
y resistance
154
all it required was a little absence of partisanship, and a brief balance of

one’s intellectual inclinations, and the difficulty dissolved immediately.
If I have succeeded in noticing several mistakes in Herr von Leibniz’s
case, then I would still be in this great man’s debt even in this regard, for
I could have done nothing without the guiding thread of the splendid
law of continuity, for which we have to thank this immortal inventor,
and which was the only tool for finding the exit from this labyrinth. In
sum, even if the matter turns out optimally to my advantage, the share
of honor left to me will actually be so minor that I do not fear ambition
would steep so low as to begrudge it to me.
[The end.]
155
2
Examination of the question whether the

rotation of the Earth on its axis by which it
brings about the alternation of day and
night has undergone any change since its
origin and how one can be certain of this,
which [question] was set by the Royal
Academy of Sciences in Berlin as the prize
question for the current year
editor’s introduction
In 1752, the Prussian Royal Academy of Sciences in Berlin announced
its prize essay question on whether the rate of rotation of the Earth on
its axis would decrease over time and if so, how one could know this to be
the case.1 The deadline for submissions was initially set for 1754, though
it was later extended, unbeknown to Kant, to 1756. During the summer
of 1754, after leaving his employment as house tutor for Count Keyser-
lingk’s three sons and returning to Königsberg (possibly supervising a
member of the Keyserlingk family studying at the university then), Kant
wrote an essay in response to the prize essay question. However, instead
of submitting this essay to the Academy, he published it, in two parts,
in the June 8 and June 15, 1754 issues of the Wöchentliche Königsbergische
Frag- und Anzeigungs-Nachrichten, a weekly newspaper with articles on
sundry topics of interest to the citizens of Königsberg. The essay that
eventually won the prize for this question was written by Paolo Frisi
(1728–84), an Italian mathematician and astronomer, who argued that
the Earth’s rate of rotation would not decrease over time.
Rather than pursuing historical comparisons of potentially unreliable
data on the length of years and days in the past, Kant, following Newto-
nian principles, considers what external causes could effect any changes
in the rotation of the earth. If the earth were a completely solid and
homogeneous spherical mass, the Sun and the Moon (which are the two
bodies that have the greatest gravitational effect on the earth) would
156
On the rotation of the Earth on its axis
act equally on all parts of the Earth and there would be no (cause for
a) diminution of its rotation. However, given that the Earth contains a
considerable amount of liquid (primarily water in the form of oceans,
seas, and lakes), it is not a perfectly solid mass, and for that reason, the
gravitational effect of the Sun and the Moon causes tides. But the tides
that are caused by the Sun and Moon move contrary to the direction of
rotation of the Earth and thus cause a decrease in the rotation around its
axis. Granted, the resistance that the tides provide against the rotation
of the Earth is very small, but with enough time, even very small forces
will have a measurable effect, in this case, a gradual slowing of the rota-
tion of the Earth until it rotates at the same speed as the Moon orbits
around the Earth. By Kant’s (erroneous) calculations, this would occur
in two billion years, which is, he surmises, longer than human beings will
inhabit the Earth. Given the inauspicious publication venue of Kant’s
essay and the fact that it was never republished in his lifetime, it is not
surprising that it attracted little attention.
It may be noted that modern geologists accept that the rate of rotation
of the Earth is indeed reduced over time as a result of ‘tidal friction’, so the
length of a day was less in earlier times than it is today. The argument
from physical reasoning has been supported by evidence provided by
the annual and daily growth rings of corals, which make it possible to
determine the number of days in a year.
157
Examination of the Question 1:183
whether
the Rotation of the Earth on its Axis

by which it
Brings About the Alternation of Day and Night
has Undergone any Change Since its Origin

and
How One Can be Certain of This,
which
was set by the Royal Academy of Sciences in Berlin

as the Prize Question
for the Current Year.

Natural Science
1:185 The decision of the Royal Academy of Sciences on the essays that con-
tested the prize on the problem set for this year will shortly be known. I
have reflected on this question, and since I have considered it only from
its physical perspective, I have recently tried to draw up my thoughts
on this matter, while realizing that by the [very] nature of the question
this perspective cannot bring it to that degree of perfection which the
prize-winning treatise must have.
The problem posed by the Academy consists in the following: whether
the axial rotation of the Earth which brings about the alternation of day and
night has undergone any change since its origin, what the cause of this may
be, and how one can be certain of it. This question can be pursued histor-
ically by comparing the records from the remotest periods of antiquity
concerning the length of the year, and the intercalations to which they
had to resort to prevent the beginning of the year from moving through
all the seasons, with the length of the year as fixed in our time, in order
to see whether the year in the earliest periods contained more or fewer
days or hours than it does at present; in the first of these cases, the speed
of rotation has decreased, in the second it has increased down to the
present. In my proposal, I shall not seek to obtain elucidation by means
1:186 of history. I find this source so obscure and its information in respect of
the present question so unreliable that the theory one might devise to
make it correspond to natural principles would presumably smack very
much of fantasy. For this reason, I shall adhere closely to nature, whose
connections clearly point to the result and can give us cause to channel
historical observations in the right direction.
The Earth turns continually on its axis with a free motion which,
once impressed on it at the time of its formation, would thenceforth
continue unchanged and at the same speed and direction ad infinitum,
if there were no obstacles or external causes to retard or accelerate it.
I take it upon myself to show that an external cause really is present, a
cause which gradually reduces the Earth’s motion and even conspires
over immeasurably long periods to stop its rotation altogether. This
event, which we may expect to take place one day, is so important and
remarkable, that the certainty of this impending fate and the continual
approach of nature to it is in itself a worthy object of wonderment and
investigation, even though the fateful time of its occurrence is so distant
that even the habitability of the Earth and the survival of the human race
will perhaps not last for one tenth of this time.
If spacez were filled with some relatively resistant matter, the daily
rotation of the Earth would encounter a continuous impediment as
a result of which its speed would gradually be depleted and finally
z Himmelsraum
160
exhausted. But we need not fear such a resistance since Newton has con-
vincingly demonstrated that space, which permits free and unimpeded
motion even to the light vapours of comets, is filled with a substance
of infinitely small resistance. Apart from this unlikely hindrance, there
is no external cause that could have an influence on the Earth’s motion
except for the attraction of the Moon and the Sun, which, since it is
the universal driving force of nature, on the basis of which Newton has
unravelled its secrets in a manner that is as clear as it is beyond doubt,
provides us with a secure foundation on which a reliable investigation 1:187
can be conducted.
If the Earth were an entirely solid mass, without any fluids, neither
the attraction of the Sun nor of the Moon would do anything to change
its free rotation on its axis; for it attracts the eastern and the western
parts of the globe with equal force and thereby causes no inclination to
one side or the other, and so leaves the Earth in complete freedom to
continue this rotation unhindered as though no external influence were
present. But in the event that a planet contains a considerable quantity
of the liquid element, the combined attractions of the Moon and the
Sun, by moving this liquid matter, will impress a part of this motion on
the Earth. Our Earth is in this situation. The waters of the ocean cover
at least one third of its surface and, as a result of the attraction of the
heavenly bodies mentioned above, are in constant motion, which in fact
takes place in the direction opposite to that of the axial rotation. It is
thus worth considering whether this cause is capable of bringing about
some change in the rotation. The attraction of the Moon, which has the
greatest part in this effect, keeps the waters of the ocean[s] in constant
upward motion, whereby the water endeavours to flow to and rise at
the points immediately beneath the Moon both on the side facing it and
also on the opposite side; and because these points of high water move
from east to west, they impart a constant current in this direction to all
the water of the world’s oceans. The experience of sailors has long since
removed any doubt concerning this general motion, and it is observed
most clearly in straits and bights where the water increases its speed
because it has to pass through a narrow passage. Since this current is
exactly opposite to the direction of the Earth’s rotation, we have a cause
which we surely rely on ceaselessly to weaken and reduce this rotation
as much as is in its power.
It is true that, if one compares the slowness of this motion with the 1:188
speed of the Earth, the small quantity of water with the size of the globe,
and the lightness of the former in relation to the weight of the lat-
ter, it might appear that its effect could be considered negligible. But
against this, if one considers that this impulsea is continuous, has always
a Antrieb
161
Natural Science
been there and will continue forever, that the Earth’s rotation is a free
motion in which the smallest quantity of which it is deprived remains
lost without replacement, whereas the cause of the decrease remains
effective incessantly and with equal strength, then it would be a very
improper prejudice for a philosopher to declare negligible a small effect
which by constant summation, must ultimately exhaust even the greatest
quantity.
In order for us to estimate the magnitude of the effect that the constant
motion of the ocean[s] from east to west opposes to the axial rotation of
the Earth, let us estimate the impact of the ocean on the east coast of the
American continent by extending it to both Poles, more than compen-
sating for the missing portion by [taking account of] the projecting tip
of Africa and the eastern coasts of Asia. Let us assume the velocity of the
motion of the ocean as mentioned above to be one foot per second at the
Equator, decreasing towards the Poles in the same proportion as that of
[points on] the parallels of latitude; finally, let the height of the surface
which the land presents to the action of the water, estimated as vertical
depth, be 100 toises,2 then we shall find the force with which the sea in
its motion presses against the opposing surface to be equal to the weight
of a body of water whose base is equal to the whole aforementioned sur-
face from Pole to Pole but whose height equals 1/124 feet. This body
of water, which encompasses eleven hundred thousand cubic toises, is
exceeded by the size of the globe 123 billion times, and since the weight
of this body of water always presses against the motion of the Earth,
one can easily determine how much time would have to elapse before
this impediment exhausted the Earth’s entire motion. Two million years
would be required if one were to assume the velocity of the tidal sea to
1:189 be constant until the end [of the process] and the globe to be of the
same density as the matter of the waters. On this basis, the decrease [in
velocity], measured in moderate periods, for example over a period of
two thousand years, in which the decrease mentioned above does not yet
amount to much, would discharge so much that a year would be 8 1/2
hours shorter than before, because the axial rotation had become that
much slower.
Now, the diminution in the daily motion is subject to major qualifica-
tions because: 1. the density of the whole mass of the globe is not equal to
that of the specific weight of the water, as has been assumed here; 2. the
velocity of the tidal motion in the open sea appears to be very much less
than one foot per second; on the other hand, however, this deficiency is
more than compensated for firstly by the fact that the force of the globe,
which we had calculated here as being in forward motion with the veloc-
ity of a [given] point at the Equator, is only an axial rotation that is very
much smaller, and in addition, an impediment applied to the surface of a
162
rotating globeb has the advantage of a [mechanical] lever by virtue of its

distance from the centre, and these two causes taken together increase
the reduction by the impact of the waters by 5/2; secondly, however (and
this is the most important factor), this effect of the moving ocean occurs
not only against all protuberances on the ocean floor, the continents,
islands, and cliffs, but is exercised over the entire sea floor; and while it is
true that, at any point, it is incomparably smaller than the vertical impact
of the first calculation, the enormous scale on which it takes place, which
exceeds the above-mentioned surface by over 1/8th of a million times,
must be replaced with a very great excess.
Accordingly, there can be no further doubt that the perpetual motion
of the ocean[s] from west to east, since it is a real and considerable power,
also contributes something to the decrease in the rotation of the Earth,
the result of which must necessarily be apparent over long periods. It
would now be appropriate to adduce the evidence of history in support
of this hypothesis; but I must admit that I cannot find any traces of an
event that can be presumed to be so probable, and so I leave to others 1:190
the credit for possibly making good this deficiency.
If the Earth is approaching the cessation of its rotation in continuous
steps, this change will be completed when its surface comes to rest in
relation to the Moon, that is, when it turns on its axis in the same period
as the Moon circles it, and in consequence always turns the same side
to it. This situation will be caused by the motion of the liquid matter
that covers part of its surface to only a slight depth. If the Earth were
entirely liquid to the centre, the attraction of the Moon would reduce its
rotation to this limited remainder in a very short time. This also clearly
shows why the Moon always turns the same side to the Earth in its cir-
cuit around it. It is not an excess of weight of the side turned towards
us compared with the other side that causes us always to see the same
side but a truly uniform turning of the Moon on its axis in precisely the
time it takes to go around the Earth. From this we can reliably con-
clude that the attraction exercised by the Earth on the Moon must have
brought the rotation of the Moon, which must have been much greater
at the time of its formation when its mass was still liquid, to its present
state in the manner explained above. This also allows us to see that the
Moon is a later heavenly body added to the Earth after the latter had
already given up its liquid state and taken on a solid state; otherwise
the attraction of the Moon would inevitably have subjected it in a short
time to the same fate as the Moon has suffered from our Earth. This last
remark can be taken as a sample of a natural history of the heavens, in
which the initial condition of nature, the formation of planets and the
b Kugel
163
Natural Science
causes of their systematic relationships, can be deduced from the char-

acteristics that the relations of the universe display. This observation,
which on a large, or rather, an infinite scale is [the same as] what the
1:191 history of the Earth encompasses on a small scale, can be understood
just as reliably when expanded to these dimensions as those endeavours
to describe our own globe which have been made in our own time. I
have devoted a long series of reflections to this matter and have com-
bined them into a system which will shortly be published under the title:
Cosmogony, or an attempt to derive the origin of the universe, the formation
of the heavenly bodies and the causes of their motion from the universal laws of
motion of matter in accordance with Newton’s theory.3
164
3
The question, whether the Earth is

ageing, considered from a physical point
of view
Like the previous essay on the rotation of the earth, Kant wrote this essay
during the summer of 1754 and published it in six successive issues of the
Wöchentliche Königsbergische Frag- und Anzeigungs-Nachrichten, between
August 10 and September 14 in 1754. In it he defines what it would mean
for the earth to be ageing, warning in particular against anthropocen-
tric conceptions. He also provides detailed evaluations of four different
accounts of how the earth might be ageing and by what causal mecha-
nisms: (1) by the rivers stripping fertile salts from the land and delivering
them into the ocean, thereby robbing the land of its ability to grow and
sustain life; (2) by the rivers depositing sediment into the sea, which raises
the sea until it inundates the land; (3) by the decrease of water (from the
oceans) and the resultant increase of land; (4) by the decrease and gradual
exhaustion of a hypothetical general ‘world spirit’ that sustains all living
beings on earth.
Kant rejects the first account, accepts the general idea, but not the
quantitative estimations, of the second account, finds the details of the
third account questionable, before giving a surprisingly positive endorse-
ment of the final account, provided that the ‘world soul’ is understood in
an appropriate way. He concludes by criticizing those who would appeal
to comets to explain “all manner of extraordinary” events.
A partial English translation of Kant’s essay was made by Thomas de
Quincey in an article titled “Age of the Earth” and published in Tait’s
Edinburgh Magazine in 1833 and also by Reinhardt and Oldroyd in Annals
of Science in 1982.
165
The question, 1:193
Whether the Earth is

Ageing,
Considered From a Physical
Point of View.
Natural Science
1:195 If one wants to know whether something should be called old, very old,
or still young, then one should not estimate it by the number of years
it has existed but by the relation between the latter and the total time
that it is to last. The length of time that can be called a great age for
one kind of creature is not so for another. In the time in which a dog
grows old a human being has hardly got beyond childhood, and the oaks
and cedars of Lebanon have not yet reached maturity when lime trees
or firs are old and withered. Man makes the greatest mistake when he
tries to use the sequence of human generations that have elapsed in a
particular [period of] time as a measure for the age of God’s works at
large. It is to be feared that his way of judging is like that of Fontenelle’s
roses1 contemplating the age of their gardener: Our gardener, they said,
is a very old man; in rose memory he is just the same as he has always been; he
doesn’t die or even change. If one considers the durability encountered in
the really large-scale phenomena of creation, which approaches infinity,
then one is led to conclude that the passage of five or six thousand years
in the time span allotted to the Earth is perhaps not even what a year is
in relation to the life of a human being.
To tell the truth, we have no indications in revelation from which we
1:196 can deduce whether the Earth is now young or old, whether it should be
thought of as in the flower of its perfection or the decline of its powers.
It is true that it [revelation] has revealed to us the time of its [the Earth’s]
formation and the time of its infancy, but we do not know which of its
two end-points it is now closer to, the beginning or the end. Indeed,
it seems to be a subject worthy of enquiry to determine whether the
Earth is ageing gradually and whether it is now in its declining phase,
or whether its constitution is still in good health, or indeed whether the
perfection to which it is to develop has not yet been fully attained and it
has perhaps not yet passed beyond its childhood.
When we listen to the complaints of the elderly, we hear that nature
is ageing perceptibly, and that one can sense the steps by which it is
approaching its decline. The weather, they say, is not as good as it used
to be. The powersc of nature are exhausted; its beauty and order are in
decline. People no longer grow so strong or as old as they used to do. This
decline, they say, can be observed not only in the natural constitution
of the Earth but also extends to the moral condition. The old virtues
have died out; in their place are new vices. Falsehood and deceit have
taken the place of former sincerity. This illusion, which is not worth
contradicting, is the result not so much of error but of egotism. The
honest old fellows, vain enough to persuade themselves that Heaven so
cared for them that they were born at the time of greatest perfection,
cannot bring themselves to accept that, after their death, life on Earth
c Kräfte der Natur
168
Whether the Earth is ageing, from a physical point of view
will continue just as well as it did before they were born. They like to
imagine that nature is ageing simultaneously with them, so that they
need not regret leaving a world that is itself close to its end.
As unfounded as is this idea of trying to gauge the age and durability
of nature by the measure of a single human life span, another conjecture
does not seem so absurd at first sight, namely that in a few thousand
years some change in the constitution of the surface of the Earth might be
discernible. It is not sufficient here to note with Fontenelle that the trees 1:197
of old did not grow taller than today, that humans were neither older nor
stronger than at present; this, I say, is not enough to allow us to conclude
that nature is not ageing. These characteristics have limitations as a
result of their essential features, which even the most favourable natural
conditions and the most prosperous circumstances cannot transcend. In
this respect, all countries are the same: fertiled lands situated in the best
regions of the Earth have in this no advantage over those that are lean
and barren; but it seems that light might be thrown on the problem
at hand if one could compare reliable reports from ancient times with
the accurate observation[s] of the present time, to establish whether a
difference in the fertility of the Earth could be detected, and whether the
Earth formerly required less attention to provide the human race with
sustenance than at present. It would place before our eyes, as it were,
the first links of a long chain, by which we could recognize which state
of its development the Earth is slowly approaching in the long periods
of its duration. But such a comparison is very uncertain, or rather it is
impossible. Human industry contributes so greatly to the Earth’s fertility
that it will scarcely be possible to determine whether the negligence of
the people or a decrease in the Earth’s productivity is chiefly responsible
for the return to a wild state and the formation of desert in those lands that
once were flourishing states and are now almost entirely depopulated.
I commend this task to those who have greater skill and inclination
to examine this question according to the two possibilities and with
reference to the monuments of history. [For myself,] I propose to discuss
it simply as a naturalist,e so as to reach a thorough understanding from
this perspective, if at all possible.
The opinion of most naturalistsf who have developed theories of the
Earth is that its productivity is gradually declining, that it is slowly
becoming deserted and less populous, and that it is only a matter of
time before we see nature utterly old and dead, its powers exhausted.
This question is important and it is worth the effort to exercise caution
in reaching the above conclusion.
d fett f Naturforscher
e Naturkündiger
169
Natural Science
But let us first define the concept of the ageing of a body that is
1:198 developing towards a state of perfection by natural processes and which
is modified by the powers of the elements.
In the sequence of its changes, the ageing of a being is not a phase
inaugurated by external and violent causes. The causes by which a thing
reaches perfection and is sustained therein in turn bring it closer to its end
by imperceptible stages. There is a natural gradationg in the continuity
of its existence and it is by the very causes which brought it to maturity
that it must ultimately decay and perish. All things in nature are subject
to the law that the same mechanism that worked for their perfection
in the beginning gradually causes their deterioration, and finally leads
to their destruction, for it continues to change things after they have
reached their most perfect condition. This process of nature can be seen
clearly in the economy of the plant and animal kingdoms: the very driveh
that makes trees grow [also] causes their death when they have com-
pleted their growth. When the fibres and vessels are incapable of further
dilation their nutrient sap begins to clog up and constrict the interior of
the vessels by continuing to assimilate into the parts, so that the organism
finally dies off and dries out because of the restriction of the movement
of the sap. The same mechanism by which man and animals live and
grow ultimately causes their death when growth is complete. For when
the sustaining nutrient fluids no longer extend and enlarge the channels
in which they are deposited they restrict the internal space, inhibiting the
circulation of fluids [so that] the animal becomes bent, ages, and dies. In
the same way, the gradual decay of the healthy constitution of the Earth
is intimately linked with the succession of changes that initially brought
about its state of perfection, so that the process can be recognized only
over long periods of time. Therefore, we must cast a glance at the chang-
ing scenes which nature presents from its beginning to its fulfilment, in
order to understand the whole chain of events, of which destruction is
the last link.
1:199 When it emerged from chaos, the Earth was undoubtedly in a fluid
state. Not only its round form, but particularly its spheroidal shape show
that its massi had, by itself, the capacity to take on the form required
for equilibrium under the given circumstances, for the surface always
formed at right angles to the direction of gravity, as modified by the
centrifugal force.j It passed from the fluid to the solid state; indeed we see
indubitable indications that the surface solidified first, while the interior
of the mass,k in which the elements continued to separate according
g Schattierung j Kraft der Umdrehung

h Trieb k des Klumpens
i Masse
170
to the laws of equilibrium, sent up intermingled particles of the elastic

aerial element under the solidified crust, giving rise to large cavities
thereunder. The crust sank into these cavities, with numerous bendings,
thereby producing the inequalities of the surface, the land masses, the
mountain ranges, the vast ocean depths, and the separation of the dry
[land] from the waters. We have equally indisputable natural monuments
which enable us to recognize that, viewed over long periods of time, these
revolutions have not entirely ceased, as is appropriate for an [immense]
fluid globe such as the interior of our Earth then was and remained for a
long time, which also means that the separation of the elements and the
separation of the air intermingled in the general chaos is not achieved
very rapidly; but the cavities created are gradually increased in size and
the foundations of the large vaults are shaken and collapse once more,
and by this means whole regions which were buried under the depths
of the sea were uncovered while others were in turn submerged. After
the interior of the Earth had become more solid and the destruction had
ceased, the surface of this sphere became somewhat more settled, but it
was still far from being completely formed; the elements had first to be
contained within their proper limits, so that order and beauty would be
maintained, and all confusion prevented, over the whole surface of the
Earth. The sea itself raised the shoreline by the deposition of matter,l
thereby deepening its own bed; it threw up dunes and [sand] banks,
which hindered inundations. The rivers, which were to remove the water 1:200
from the land, were not yet enclosed in their proper beds; they still
flooded the plains until eventually they restricted themselves to particular
channels and produced a regular slope from source to sea. After nature
attained this state of order and established itself in this condition, all the
elements on the surface of the Earth were in a condition of equilibrium.
Fertility spread its riches in every direction, and the Earth was fresh
in the flower of its strength, or if, I may so put it, it was in its age of
manhood.m
The nature of our terrestrial sphere has not reached the same state
of development everywhere. Some parts thereof are young and fresh
while others seem to decline and age. In certain areas it is immaturen
and only partly formed while others are in their prime, and still others
are gradually approaching a state of decay having completed their best
period. In general, the elevated parts of the Earth are the oldest, being the
first to be raised up from chaos and having completed their development
first; the lower parts are younger and reached their state of perfection
later. According to this sequence, the higher regions will be the first to
l Materien n roh
m in ihrem männlichen Alter
171
Natural Science
decay, while the lower ones are still much further from their destined
end.
Human beings inhabited the highest regions of the Earth first; only
at a late stage did they descend to the plains and they had to set to work
themselves to speed up the development of nature, which was too slow to
change for man’s rapid increase in numbers. Egypt, that gift of the River
Nile, was inhabited and populous in its upper reaches when half of Lower
Egypt, the whole delta and the area in which the Nile raised the level
of the land through the deposition of silt and threw up clearly defined
river banks, was still a relatively uninhabited swamp. At present, the area
of ancient Thebes seems to have little left of that exceptional fertility
and flowering which made its prosperity so remarkable; by contrast, the
beauty of nature has moved down to the lower and younger parts of
the country which are now much more fertile than the higher regions.
1:201 The area of lower Germany, a product of the Rhine, the flattest parts
of Lower Saxony, the part of Prussia in which the Vistula divides into
so many branches, and as it were bent on [asserting its] eternal rights,
frequently tries to inundate the lands that human industry has partly
claimed, these areas seem younger, more fertile, and more flourishing
than the most elevated regions of the sources of these rivers, which
were already inhabited when the rivers themselves were still swamps
and bays.
This change of nature is worthy of comment. When the dry land was
freed from the sea, the rivers did not at first have ready-prepared chan-
nels and a preformed regular slope for their courses. They still broke
their banks in many places and formed stagnant water, which made the
land unusable. Gradually they hollowed channels for themselves out
of the fresh, soft earth and formed their own banks on both sides, out
of the silt with which they were filled. These banks were able to con-
tain the river when the water level was low, but were gradually raised
by the flooding when the level was high, until their completely formed
courses were in a position to drain the water from the surrounding coun-
tryside with a uniform and regular slope to the sea. The highest areas
were the first to enjoy this necessary evolution of nature, and were there-
fore inhabited first, while the lower regions for a time contended with a
state of confusion, and it was only later that they attained a perfect condi-
tion. Since then, the low-lying countries have been enriching themselves
at the expense of the elevated regions. When the rivers are in flood and
laden with silt, they deposit this near their mouths, raise the level of
the land over which they spread, and form dry land. After the river has
raised its banks to the proper levels, the dry ground becomes habitable
and, fertilized by the fertility of the high regions, more productive than
these.
172
By this continuing formation and change suffered by the figureo of the

Earth, the lower areas become habitable as the heights cease to be so.
However, this change particularly affects only those countries that suffer
from a lack of rain, and thus, without periodic flooding, they go without
the requisite moisture, and must remain uninhabited desert, when the 1:202
rivers have themselves set limits to these floods by building up their
banks. Egypt offers the clearest example of this change, since it has been
so changed in its features that, according to the evidence of Herodotus,
nine hundred years before his time the whole country had been flooded
when the river rose only eight feet, while in his time the river had to
rise fifteen feet to cover the country completely and in our day a rise of
twenty-four feet is required. From this we may observe the increasingly
threatening destruction of this country.
But because this changep brought about by nature is insignificant and
minor, in that it affects only some parts of the Earth’s surface, the ques-
tion of the ageing of the Earth must be determined by [reference to] the
whole, and to this end, one should first examine the causes that most
naturalistsq invoke to account for this effect, and that they have consid-
ered an adequate means of predictingr the decay of the nature of this
globe.
The first suggested cause [of the ageing of the Earth] appears in the
opinion of those who ascribe the salinity of the sea to the rivers which
carry the salt leached out of the soil and brought by the rain to their
streams to the sea, where it remains and accumulates as the fresh water
constantly evaporates. In this way the sea has acquired all the salt it now
still contains. From this one might readily conclude that, since salt is
the principal cause of growth and the source of fertility, this hypothesis
implies that the Earth, robbed more and more of its strength,s must
necessarily be reduced to a dead and infertile state.
The second suggested cause is to be found in the effect of the rain and
the rivers through their washing away of the soil and its transport to the
sea, which thus appears to be filled up more and more while the level
of the land is constantly reduced, so it is to be feared that the sea, being
raised more and more, must ultimately be forced once more to inundate
the dry land which was previously freed from its dominion.
The third suggested cause is the suspicion of those who, observing
that, over long periods of time, the sea is retreating from most shores 1:203
and transforming large areas that were formerly at the bottom of the sea
o Gestalt r vorherverkündigen
p Abänderung s Kraft
q Naturforscher
173
Natural Science
into dry land, assume either an actual consumption of this liquid element
through a kind of transmutation into a solid state, or fear other causes
that will prevent the rain produced by evaporation from the sea from
returning whence it came.
The fourth and last suggested cause is that of those who presuppose a
general ‘world spirit’, an imperceptible but universally active principle,
as the secret driving forcet of nature, whose subtle matter is continually
consumed through the incessant generation [of living organisms], so
that nature is in danger of ageing and dying as a result of its [the active
principle’s] decrease and gradual exhaustion.
These are the opinions that I want first to examine briefly and then I
want to establish the one that seems to me to be correct.
If the first were correct, it would follow that all the salt, with which
the waters of the ocean and all inland seas are impregnated, was previ-
ously mixed with the soil covering the dry land, and, washed out of it
by rain and carried by the rivers [to the seas], would continue to be car-
ried there in the same manner. Fortunately for the Earth, however, and
in contradiction of those who think that this hypothesis offers a simple
explanation of the salinity of the sea, this assumption is seen on closer
inspection to be without foundation. For, given that the mean quantity
of rainwater falling on the Earth in a year is eighteen inches, this being
the amount observed in the temperate zone, given that all rivers have
their source in and are fed by rainwater, given further that of the rain
that falls on the land only two-thirds returns to the sea through the rivers
while of the remaining third some evaporates and some is utilized in the
growth of plants, and given finally that the sea occupies only half the
Earth’s surface, which is the minimum that can be assumed, then
the proposed opinion will have been placed in the most favourable light.
Yet all the rivers on the surface of the Earth will carry only one footu
1:204 of water to the sea per annum, and would not, assuming a mean depth
of only a hundred fathoms,v fill the sea for six hundred years, during
which time the evaporation would have dried out the sea completely. By
this calculation, the ocean would already, by the inflow of all the rivers
and streams, have been filled ten times since the Creation. But the salt
remaining from these rivers after evaporation could only amount to ten
times that with which it is naturally endowed; from which it would fol-
low that in order to arrive at the [present] degree of salinity of the sea
one would merely have to allow a cubic foot of river water to evaporate
ten times,2 whereupon the quantity of salt remaining would amount to
t Triebwerk v Klafter
u Schuh
174
the same as that which an equal quantity of sea water would leave after
a single evaporation; which is so improbable that it would not convince
even an ignoramus, since, according to the calculation of Wallerius,3 the
water of the North Sea, in those places where there are few rivers run-
ning into the sea, contains a tenth part, and sometimes a seventh part,
of salt, while in the Gulf of Bothnia, where the water is greatly diluted
with fresh river water, it nevertheless contains a fortieth part. Thus the
Earth is adequately ensured of not losing its salt and fertility through [the
action of] rain and rivers. It is rather to be supposed that the sea, instead
of depriving the dry land of its saline parts, imparts some of its own to
it; for although the evaporation leaves crude salt behind, it nonetheless
removes some volatile salt, which is carried with the vapours over the
dry land and provides the rain with that fertility which makes it superior
even to river water.
The second opinion is more credible, and much more self-consistent.
Manfred, who treated it in a learned and judicious manner in the
Commentario4 of the Bologna Institute, and whose exposition may be
found in the Allgemeines Magazin der Natur, may, for the purposes of
our examination, be the spokesman for this position. He observes that
the old floor of the Cathedral in Ravenna, which is found covered with
rubble under the new floor, is eight inches below the water level of the
sea at high tide, and thus at the time of its erection must have been under
water at every high tide, if the sea had not been lower than at present,
for old records show that at that time the sea reached as far as the town. 1:205
To confirm his opinion that the level of the sea has constantly risen,
he [also] brings forward as evidence the floor of St Mark’s church in
Venice, which is now so low that when the lagoon is flooded, St Mark’s
Square as well as the Cathedral floor are sometimes under water; yet it
is most unlikely that it was built like this. Similarly, he refers to the mar-
ble platform running around the Town Hall, presumably to assist ship
passengers to step into their boats, which is at present virtually useless
for this purpose since it is half a foot under water during an ordinary
high tide. From this, we may infer that the sea must now be at a higher
level than in former times. In order to explain this notion, he asserts that
the rivers carry the silt with which they are charged when flooded, and
which the streams have washed from the high areas of the country to the
sea, and thereby have raised the sea-floor, for the sea was made to rise
to the extent that its bed was gradually built up. In order to make
the elevation of the sea agree with actual indications, he tried to esti-
mate the quantity of silt that the streams carry when flooded by drawing
water in late spring from the river flowing by Bologna, and, after letting
the silt settle, he found it to be one one-hundred-and-seventy-fourth
part of the water in which it was contained. From this, and from the
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Natural Science
amount of water that the rivers carry to the sea in a year, he established
the level to which the sea would gradually rise from this cause, so that
in 348 years it would have to be five inches higher.
By the observation that we quoted concerning the marble platform
around St Mark’s Town Hall in Venice, and through the need to have a
measure by which to determine the magnitude of his other observations,
Manfred was persuaded to increase the aforementioned raising of the sea-
level to the extent that it amounted to one foot in 230 years, because, as
he asserts, the rivers carry much sand, stones, etc., into the sea in addition
1:206 to the fine silt, which makes their water turbid. On this basis, a world
catastrophe would come quite quickly, although he is much more careful
than Hartsoecker5 who, on the basis of similar observations on the Rhine,
states that within ten thousand years the habitable parts of the Earth will
be washed away, the sea will cover everything, and nothing but bare
rocks would protrude from it; from which one can easily calculate the
amount of decay in a somewhat lesser period, for example two thousand
years.
The true error of this notion lies only in the precision of the estimate;
otherwise it is essentially correct. It is true that the rain and the rivers
wash soil into the sea, but it is quite wrong to say that they do it to
the extent that the author supposes. He arbitrarily assumed that the
rivers flow all year with as much turbidity as they do at times when the
melting snows in the mountains produce torrential streams, which have
the force needed to attack the soil, and since the soil itself is completely
waterlogged and has become soft during the preceding winter, it can
be washed away with great ease. If he had combined this care with the
attention he ought to have paid to the differences between rivers, of
which those that are fed by mountains contain more washed-away soil,
because of the power of the torrents running into them, than those fed
by a flat terrain, then his calculated result would have fallen so much that
he would probably not have tried to explain the observed changes on that
basis. If, finally, one also considers that the sea, because of the motion
on account of which it is said that it will suffer no dead thing to be part
of it, that is, because of the removal to its shores of all matter not having
the same degree of mobility, does not allow this mud to accumulate on
its bottom, but immediately deposits it on land and thereby increases the
amount of dry land, then the fear of seeing the depths of the sea filled up
with it would turn into the well-founded hope of constantly gaining new
coastal land at the expense of the high regions. For in fact in all gulfs,
for example that known as the Red Sea or in the Gulf of Venice, the
1:207 sea is gradually retreating from the head of the gulf and the dry land is
constantly making new acquisitions from Neptune’s realm, rather than
the waters spreading more and more over the coast, burying the dry land
176
under the humid element, as would be the case if the hypothesis of the
aforementioned naturalistw were well founded.
But concerning the cause of the lowering of regions on the Adriatic
coast (insofar as it is in fact the case that it was not always in its present
state), I should prefer to turn to a feature of the landscape that Italy
has to a higher degree than many other countries. We know that the
foundations of this country are cavernous and that the earthquakes, even
though they cause havoc mostly in lower Italy, nonetheless also vent
their fury in upper Italy, and, through their extension over large areas
and even under the seas, betray [the existence of] connected subterranean
caverns. Now if the tremblings due to the subterranean conflagrations
have the power to move the Earth’s foundations, and indeed have often
done so, then may it not be assumed that the crust has sunk after many
violent attacks, and might have fallen relative to sea-level?
The third notion, which regards the increase of the dry land and the
decrease of the water on the Earth’s surface as heralding its destruction,
seems to have as much support from observation as the previous one, but
the cause suggested to explain the observations is less easy to understand.
It is certainly the case that, overall, the sea appears to maintain a balance
such that on the one hand some land is gradually drying out while on
the other the sea overruns areas into which it penetrates; yet on closer
inspection far larger areas are emerging from the sea than are being
submerged by it. In particular, the sea is retreating from low-lying areas
and eating away at high coasts, because these are especially vulnerable
to its attack, while the former frustrate it because of their gentle slopes.
This alone could prove that the sea-level is not rising at all. For one
would observe the difference most clearly on those coasts where the land
declines very gradually to the bottom of the sea; there a ten-foot rise in
the water level would capture much territory. Since the opposite is rather 1:208
the case, and the sea now no longer reaches as far as the embankments,
which it doubtless formerly threw up and even went beyond, this proves
that it has subsequently dropped in level. For example, the two large
sand-spits in East Prussia and the dunes on the Dutch and English coasts,
are merely sand-hills which the sea once threw up but which now serve
as protective bulwarks against the sea, for the sea no longer reaches a
level sufficient to wash over them.
But in order to give this phenomenon due recognition, are we to
take refuge in the assumption that there is an actual diminution of the
liquid element and its transformation into a solid state, or a disappearance
of rainwater into the bowels of the Earth, or that there is a continual
lowering of the sea-bed because of its perpetual motion? The first of
w Naturforscher
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these reasons would probably make the least contribution to any per-
ceptible change, even though it does not contradict sound science as
much as it seems to. For just as other liquid materials sometimes take
on a solid state without losing their substance, e.g., quicksilver which in
the experiments of Boerhaave6 assumes the form of a red powder, or air,
which Hales7 found in a solid state in all vegetable products, especially
tartar, so doubtless the same applies to water. The parts of water seem to
leave their fluid state in the formation of plants, with the result that even
the driest wood-dust still gives off water upon chemical decomposition,
from which it is likely that a portion of the waters of the Earth’s surface
is used in the formation of vegetable matter, and does not return to the
sea. However, this decrease is negligible. The second reason is equally
indisputable in its literal sense. Rainwater, which the Earth absorbs, only
sinks in to the point where it reaches somewhat denser layers which are
impermeable to it, which cause it to search for a way out on the slopes
of these layers, and thus feed wells. There will, however, always be some
percolation through all the layers down to the bedrock, and even in this
1:209 it seeps through crevices and subterranean water accumulates, which
has broken out and flooded the countryside on the occasion of some
earthquakes.∗ This loss of sea water could possibly be quite significant,
and would warrant closer examination. But the third reason seems to
make the greatest and least controversial contribution to the decrease in
sea-level, which must continue to fall the more it deepens its bed, though
we have no reason to fear the destruction of the Earth in this manner.
What, then, is the result of our examination of the opinions consid-
ered thus far? We have rejected the first three. The soil does not lose
its salinity through being washed by rain and streams; the fertile earth
is not transported by the rivers to the sea, to be lost irreplaceably, so as
ultimately to fill it and raise its waters over the inhabited land. In fact,
the rivers carry what they have taken from the high regions to the sea,
which uses it to form a deposit on the shores of the dry land. [Also,]
the maintenance and formation of vegetable matter costs the sea a real
expenditure of evaporated water, of which a considerable part appears
to leave the fluid state and to compensate the soil for its loss. Finally, the
notion of a real decrease of the ocean’s waters is, despite its plausibility,
insufficiently established to allow a firm hypothesis to be stated deci-
sively. Thus, there remains a single cause for the change in the figure of
the Earth that may be relied upon with certainty. This is that the rain
and the streams, by constantly attacking the soil and washing it from
high to low areas, gradually endeavour to level out the heights, and, as
much as they can, to deprive the Earth of its irregularities. This effect is
∗ See the Physical Transactions of the Royal Academy of Sciences in Paris; the translation by
von Steinwehr, Vol. 2, p. 246.
178
certain and sure. The soil is continually subject to this process so long
as there is material on the slopes of the high ground that can be attacked
and washed away by rainwater and this process will go on until the loose
layers have been washed away and their rocky foundations, which admit
of no further change, constitute the only high ground. This change is the 1:210
likely cause of the Earth’s impending destruction, not only because of
the removal of the layers, of which the most fertile are deposited under
the ‘dead’ ones, but rather because of the elimination of the useful divi-
sion of the dry land into hills and valleys. When one observes the present
arrangement of the dry land, one comes to admire the regular relation
of the high to the low areas, that over large areas the land surface gradu-
ally slopes towards the course of a river, which occupies the lowest part
of a valley, and, after passing through this, it has a steadily progressing
slope to the sea, into which it empties. This well-ordered state of affairs,
draining the land of excess rainwater, depends to a large extent on degree
of slope, so that there is neither too great a declivity, draining the water
that is to be used for fertility too quickly, nor too little, allowing it to
remain and accumulate too long as a result of an insufficient declivity.
However, this advantageous disposition of things is constantly impaired
by the ceaseless effect of the rain, which by diminishing the heights or
transporting the eroded material into the lower regions, causes the figure
of the Earth gradually to approach the one it would have if all irregular-
ities were to disappear from the surface and the undrained accumulating
water that the rain spreads over the ground would make it sodden to its
very depths and make things uninhabitable. I have already noted that the
ageing of the Earth, although hardly perceptible, even over long periods
of time, is nonetheless a definite and important conjecture of philosoph-
ical concern in which the small things are no longer insignificant, and,
by means of ceaseless additions, bring important change[s] ever nearer
so that destruction needs only time in order to be completed. But this
does not mean that the stages by which this change is brought about are
wholly imperceptible. If the heights [are] constantly diminish[ed], the
flow of water to the lower regions that maintains the lakes and streams
is also constantly diminished. By their decrease in size, the lakes and 1:211
streams show evidence of such change. Indeed one will find indications
in all lakes that they were formerly larger. The high part of Prussia is a
country full of lakes. It is not easy to find any of these that is not flanked
by a large flat area, which is so even that there is doubt that it must
have belonged to the lake previously and was left dry only after the lake
gradually receded as its water slowly diminished. To give an example
according to reliable evidence, Lake Drausen formerly extended to the
town of Preussisch-Holland8 and was navigable, but now it has receded
to a distance of a mile from the town. Its former bed is indicated by
a long, almost completely flat, piece of land and by its previous raised
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banks on both sides. This gradual change is thus, as it were, a part of

a continuing chain of events, the last link of which is almost infinitely
distant from the beginning and perhaps will never be reached, for Rev-
elation predicts for our Earth a sudden end, the fulfilment of which will
interrupt its course in the midst of its prosperity, giving it insufficient
time to age in imperceptible stages, and, so to speak, to die a natural
death.
I still owe an evaluation of the fourth opinion concerning the ageing
of the Earth: whether the ever-effective power, which, as it were, con-
stitutes the life of nature, and which, although imperceptible to the eye,
is active in all generation and the economy of all three realms of nature,
gradually becomes exhausted, and thereby causes the ageing of nature.
Those who assume the existence of a general world spirit in this sense do
not understand by it some non-material power, a world soul, or plastic
natures, the creations of a bold imagination, but a subtle though uni-
versally active matter which, in the products of nature, constitutes the
active principle and, as a true Proteus, is able to assume all shapes and
forms. Such a conception is not so opposed to sound natural science and
observation as one might think. If one considers that, in the vegetable
1:212 kingdom, nature has placed the strongest and spiritual part in a certain
oil whose viscosity limits its volatility and the removal of which, be it
through evaporation or chemical artifice, causes no perceptible loss in
weight although the residue is then nothing more than a dead mass. If
one considers this spiritus rector, as the chemists call it, this quintessence
that constitutes the specific difference of any growing thing, as it is cre-
ated equally easily by any aliment whatsoever, namely by pure water and
air, and if one considers further the volatile acid called into being in this
way, which is distributed everywhere in the air and which constitutes the
active principle in most kinds of salts, the essential part of sulphur, and
the leading principle of the combustible element of fire, whose powers
of attraction and repulsion are so clearly revealed in electricity, which
is so well able to overcome the elasticity of air and to generate forms.x
If one considers this Proteus of nature, then one is, with some justifica-
tion, led to suppose the existence of a subtle universally active matter, a
so-called world spirit; but one will also be concerned that the constant
acts of generation may perhaps consume more of it [viz. the spirit] than
the destruction of natural formsy restores, so that nature may perhaps be
constantly forfeiting something of its power by this consumption.
If I compare the drive of the ancients towards great accomplishments,
such as their enthusiasm for fame, virtue and love of liberty, which filled
them with high ideals and raised them above themselves, with the limited
x Bildungen y Bildungen
180
and cold disposition of our times, then on the one hand I find reason to
congratulate our epoch on such a change, which is equally beneficial to
moral philosophy and the sciences, but on the other hand I am tempted
to suppose that this is an indication of a certain cooling down of that
fire which filled human nature with life and whose ardour produced as
much in the way of excess as of beauty. By contrast, if I consider the
great influence exercised on temperament and morals by the form of
government, education and example, I doubt whether such equivocal
indications can be proofs of a true change in nature.
Thus I have not treated the question posed about the ageing of the 1:213
Earth decisively, as would be required by the enterprising spirit of a
sanguine natural philosopher,z but critically, as is required by the very
nature of the question. I have attempted to define the concept of this
change more precisely. There may be other causes that might bring
about the destruction of the Earth through some sudden revolution. For
without invoking comets, which for some time have been conveniently
used to [account for] all manner of extraordinary dispensations, there
seems to be hidden in the interior of the Earth itself the realm of Vulcan
and a large supply of burning and flammable matter which may perhaps
be gaining the upper hand under the crust, accumulating stores of fire
and undermining the foundations of the uppermost cavities, the possible
collapse of which could bring the flammable element to the surface and
cause its destruction by fire. However, such contingencies have no more
to do with the question of the ageing of the Earth than earthquakes and
fire have to do with consideration of the ways in which a building ages.
z Naturforscher
181
4
Universal natural history and theory of
the heavens or essay on the constitution and
the mechanical origin of the whole
universe according to Newtonian principles
After publishing two short essays on the Earth (Chapters 2 and 3) in
1754, in March of 1755 Kant, who, it must be remembered, still had
no official teaching position at a university nor even a university degree,
arranged for the anonymous publication of Universal Natural History and
Theory of the Heavens with the publisher Johann Friedrich Petersen. It
was dedicated to King Frederick II of Prussia (though there is no record
showing that the king read it or even held it in his hands). Given its
grand scope and its targeted dedication, Kant clearly hoped that it would
attract widespread attention from more powerful European figures (as
opposed to contributing primarily to the scientific education of the
citizens of Königsberg, as the previous essays did) and establish for him-
self a prominent scholarly reputation (much as winning an academy’s
prize essay question might do). To understand why Kant would have
had such high hopes for this work, it is helpful to see the basic contours
of his argument.
In general terms, Kant’s aim in the Universal Natural History and Theory
of the Heavens is to show that the main elements of the entire observable
universe – which include the constitution and regular motions not only
of the Sun, the Earth, and the other planets, but also that of the moons,
comets, and even other solar systems – can all be explained on the basis
of three assumptions: (i) a certain initial state – a chaos in which matters
endowed with different densities are distributed throughout space in the
form of various indeterminate nebula; (ii) Newtonian mechanical prin-
ciples – primarily attractive and repulsive forces, coupled with the law
of universal gravitation; and (iii) the motions that these matters would
have initiated and the states that they would eventually come to be in
due to these motions and mechanical laws. In this way, Kant intended
to lay bare the basic structure that governs the universe. Various limita-
tions attach to his project – he drew on the views of various predecessors
182
Universal natural history and theory of the heavens
(such as Descartes, Whiston, Buffon, Bentley, Maupertuis, Wright of

Durham, Bradley, and of course Newton) such that his position was
not completely original; his descriptions and methods of argumentation
were not rigorously quantitative (in the way in which Newton’s Principia
was), but rather depended quite extensively on qualitative analogies; he
did not even attempt to undertake the kinds of experimental observa-
tions that would be required to provide empirical support for his main
conclusions (as Herschel would later do); many of his central claims
and detailed assertions are, as a result, untenable from a contemporary
perspective. Nonetheless, it is clear that Kant’s account in the Univer-
sal Natural History and Theory of the Heavens is an extremely ambitious
project, one that clearly made a genuine contribution to natural philos-
ophy. For providing an account of the formation of the entire known
physical universe that is at once comprehensive, systematic, and unified
while still being based on accepted physical principles, is a significant
intellectual accomplishment.
Kant carries out this project in a preparatory section and three parts.
In the preface, he is primarily interested in explaining why the view he
wants to defend not only represents no threat to religious orthodoxy,
but actually provides support for it insofar as the purely mechanical
account of the formation of the universe that he recommends does not
render God superfluous and thus dispensable, as is sometimes claimed,
but instead reveals, on further reflection, that God is positively required
as the source of the necessity of the laws of nature and of the consequent
order of nature. In the first part, after briefly describing what he takes to
be the essential features of Newton’s account of the motions of the heav-
enly bodies, Kant draws an analogy between the structure of our solar
system and that of the Milky Way and then between the Milky Way and
the fixed stars, which he views, based on the analogy, as an infinite multi-
tude of further systems that were then formed and now move according
to the same principles as our own (even if their distance from us makes it
impossible for us to perceive these motions); and given this connection,
he maintains that the entire universe displays a single systematic consti-
tution. The second, and by far longest, part then presents the core of his
account by explaining the formation of the various significant bodies in
our solar system and some of their most distinctive features. In the third
part, Kant concludes his treatment by engaging in fanciful speculation
about the inhabitants of the other planets of our solar system, and by
providing a glimpse of the conditions human beings might experience in
the next life, he returns to the theological context with which he began.
To appreciate the character and force of Kant’s argument, it is worth
considering an outline of its basic structure as it is presented in the
eight chapters that constitute the second part of the Universal Natural
History and Theory of the Heavens.1 In the first chapter, Kant presents his
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most basic hypothesis, often referred to today as the nebular hypothesis.

According to it, the state of nature that would exist immediately after
creation would be one in which the matter that now constitutes the
various celestial bodies was originally dispersed, chaotic and unformed
(hence like a nebula or cloud), throughout the universe in a state of rest.
Because, however, the original materials had different specific densities
and different masses, they attracted each other differentially such that
the lighter materials start to move towards the heavier materials. Over
time, some of the lighter materials that are spread out in a region of
space surrounding a heavier body are acted on by its attractive force
and fall into it to form a central body, in our case, the Sun, leaving
empty the region that they had previously occupied. Others, however,
that have somewhat greater densities, are repulsed by this central body
and, after they incorporate less dense materials that lie in the regions
through which they pass, their motion leads them to adopt a roughly
circular orbit, whose magnitude corresponds to the amount of motion
that they acquired in their original motion towards the emergent central
body. In this way the various planets are formed with their stable orbits
around a central body in otherwise empty space.
In the second chapter, Kant explains the varying densities of the plan-
ets and the differences of their relative masses and finds confirmation in
the agreement of this account with the relative densities of the Earth and
its moon. Specifically, Kant argues that although the original distance
between a material and its central body is a factor in determining the
ultimate density of the planet, the main factor lies in the density of the
original material ( pace Newton, who appealed to the planets’ ability to
withstand the Sun’s heat). And for this reason, there is, in general, an
inverse relation between the density of a planet and its distance from
the central body. With respect to the relative masses of the planets,
Kant considers several factors that derive from his hypothesis in order
to determine the agreement of his account with Newton’s calculations
of the masses of the planets such that, with the exception of Mars, which
lost some of the mass that it would otherwise have had to the inordinate
strength of Jupiter’s attractive force, the mass of a planet stands in direct
proportion to its distance from the Sun, though the Sun, as the central
body, has a much greater mass.
Kant then turns to explain both the eccentricity of the orbits of planets
and the most distinctive features of comets in the third chapter. In line
with his account of the formation of planets, Kant first shows that, given
the different original densities, masses, and motions of the matter that
forms the planets, their orbits will not be perfect circles. He then argues
that comets are not different in kind from planets. They simply have
more eccentric orbits (due to the lightness of their material) and can
thus be explained in the same way. He also addresses several further
184
features of comets: their atmospheres and tails (which are not, he argues,
due to the heat of the Sun, since some comets never approach the Sun);
their presence throughout all areas of the zodiac; and their densities and
masses.
In the fourth chapter, Kant addresses the formation of moons. He
argues that the basic process involved in the formation of the planets
around the Sun is also involved in the formation of the various moons
around their planets, which lent further support to his basic hypothesis.
Moons are thus created whenever there is enough matter left in the space
immediately surrounding a planet and the planet also has enough mass
to maintain that matter in an orbit. Jupiter, Saturn, and the Earth all
have moons, with Jupiter and Saturn, proportional to their mass, having
the most moons, and Mars losing out due to its relatively small mass. He
also discusses various features of the axial rotation of planets and moons
as further astronomical data that must also be accounted for.
The fifth chapter provides an extended account of the nature, origin,
and maintenance of a phenomenon thought at that time to be unique
in our solar system, namely Saturn’s rings. Specifically, Kant argues
that since there is no difference in kind between planets and comets,
Saturn is composed of the same kinds of materials as comets, which
have atmospheres and tails. As a result, Saturn’s rings are composed
of lighter materials that are at first brought together on the surface
of Saturn and then raised from the surface due to the heat gener-
ated by the planet and the higher rotational velocity at its equator
(which explains the position of the rings around Saturn’s equator). Given
that the different matters composing Saturn’s rings will be moving at
different velocities at different distances from the surface, the rings can
be maintained, Kant surmises, only if there is not too much interaction
between the particles of each ring. For this reason, he asserts that the
rings are separated from each other by small gaps. He also attempts to
use the ratios of Saturn’s rings to determine the rotational velocity of
Saturn, which could not be observed with any reliability from the tele-
scopes then in use. He also speculates as to the reasons why no other
planet currently has rings like Saturn’s. The sixth chapter contains a brief
discussion of the Zodiacal Light, and of its (apparent) similarities to and
(real) differences from Saturn’s rings.
In the remarkable seventh chapter, Kant broadens the scope of his
explanatory aims so as to entertain the possibility not only that space
and time are infinite, but also that the same structure that obtains for
our solar system and those other solar systems with which we are familiar,
also obtains throughout the infinity of space and time. Thus, although
it does not make sense to speak of a centre point in an infinite space,
there must be, he reasons by analogy, a very large mass that serves as
the centre point of all of the galaxies that are connected with each other
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by their attractive forces, which extend to infinity. And just as our solar
system formed over time out of a nebulous expanse of original matters
endowed with different specific densities, so too the various galaxies that
extend out from this centre point form over time. Furthermore, just as
bodies become determinate in ever larger spaces over time, so too what
has already formed will return to its original state through a process of
decay, at which point it will re-form itself again out of its ashes, just like
a “phoenix of nature”. Moreover, Kant describes this entire speculative
story as one that would be both pleasing and appropriate to the infinitude
and perfection of God, displaying a kind of beauty that poets (such as
Haller, Addison, and especially Pope) have attempted to express through
their verse. Kant concludes his discussion, which consists of speculative
metaphysical and aesthetic pronouncements, with a strikingly scientific
supplementary chapter that seeks to explain the constitution of suns (as
fiery bodies that would eventually be extinguished after having consumed
all of the air that is required for their fires to burn).
In the eighth chapter Kant concludes the second part by summariz-
ing the main features of his mechanical account of the formation of the
universe. His attention throughout is focused not only on adducing the
inherent plausibility of his own account, but also on showing the weak-
nesses of its main competitor, namely the view that the specific features of
the universe on which Kant bases his account are instead the immediate
consequence of God’s particular intentions (or, as he puts it, the hand of
God). Why, for example, would all the planets orbit the Sun in the same
direction if it were not due to their common mechanical origin? Why
wouldn’t they have perfectly circular motions if their orbits were selected
by God directly? Why would the masses of the planets correspond to the
empty region that surrounds each of their orbits? In all these cases, Kant
suggests that his mechanical account provides a superior explanation that
involves neither miracles nor improbable coincidences.
Unfortunately, due to circumstances beyond Kant’s control, the
Universal Natural History and Theory of the Heavens had much less of
an immediate influence than he had hoped. First, shortly after its publi-
cation, his publisher went bankrupt and the warehouse in which a sub-
stantial number of copies of Kant’s book were held, was impounded. A
year later, however, a publisher in Königsberg, Johann Friedrich Driest,
sold some copies. Kant’s book was also sent out to several appropriate
scholarly periodicals and it was reviewed in the Freyen Urtheilen und
Nachrichten in Hamburg in 1755. Also Kant’s The Only Possible Argument
in Support of a Demonstration of the Existence of God (1763) contains a sketch
of the basic argument as well (in the Seventh Reflection of the Second
Part, 2:137–151), and he later tried to have the book reissued, without
success. J. F. Gensichen, a friend and younger colleague of Kant, did pub-
lish a selection from the work along with a German translation of three
186
essays by Herschel, in Über den Bau des Himmels (Königsberg: Nicolovius,

1791). At the same time, these circumstances obviously contributed to
the fact that both Johann Lambert and Pierre-Simon Laplace, who pub-
lished cosmogonies that were similar in their fundamental orientation to
Kant’s in 1761 and 1799–1825 (respectively), were most likely unaware
of his work during the formation of their views.2 During the course
of the nineteenth century, however, Kant’s work became more widely
known.
There have been three previous English translations of this work: one
by William Hastie in 1900;3 another by Stanley L. Jaki in 1981;4 and
a third by Ian Johnston in 1998.5 Hastie’s translation was incomplete,
leaving out everything after the supplement to the seventh chapter of the
second part, corresponding to thirty-five pages of Academy edition text.
Jaki’s very literal translation, which obscures Kant’s thought on occasion,
contains valuable information in a long introductory essay and in its
footnotes, though his highly critical and often polemical perspective on
Kant’s achievements can make it difficult to separate the wheat from the
chaff. Johnston’s recently completed translation strives for readability
(for undergraduate students) by breaking up Kant’s at times long German
sentences into more manageable English ones, but at the cost of not
always providing an exact sense of what Kant intended. Though the
present translation was completed in draft form prior to any close study
of these other translations, it proved useful to consult them in later stages
regarding certain passages that had presented special difficulties for their
translation.
187
Contents
[Dedication] 192
Preface 194
Contents of the Whole Work 206
part one Summary of a Universal Systematic Constitution
among the Fixed Stars and also of the Vast Number of such
Systems of Fixed Stars 211
Concerning the Systematic Constitution among the Fixed
Stars 215
part two On the First State of Nature, the Formation of the
Heavenly Bodies, the Causes of their Motion and their
Systematic Relations within the Planetary Structure in
Particular as well as in Respect of the Whole of Creation 225
Chapter One Concerning the Origin of the Planetary
System as such as the Causes of its Motion 226
Chapter Two Concerning the Varying Density of the
Planets and the Ratios of their Masses 232
Chapter Three On the Eccentricity of the Planetary Orbits
and the Origin of Comets 238
Chapter Four Concerning the Origin of the Moons and the
Motion of the Planets around their Axes 243
Chapter Five On the Origin of Saturn’s Ring and Calculation
of the Daily Rotation of this Planet from its Ratios 248
Chapter Six On the Light of the Zodiac 259
Chapter Seven On Creation in the Entire Extent of its
Infinity both in Space and in Time 260
Supplement to Chapter Seven Universal Theory and History
of the Sun 273
Chapter Eight General Proof of the Correctness of a
Mechanical Doctrine of the Arrangement of the
Universe overall, Particularly of the Certainty of the
Present One 280
part three An Attempt to Compare the Inhabitants of the
Different Planets on the Basis of the Analogies of Nature 294
Appendix On the Inhabitants of the Planets 295
Conclusion 307
189
Universal 1:215
Natural History and Theory of

the Heavens
Or
Essay
on the Constitution and the Mechanical Origin
of the Whole Universe
according to
Newtonian Principles.6
1:217 To the
Most Noble, Most Mighty King and Lord

Lord
Frederick,
King of Prussia,
Markgrave of Brandenburg,
Lord Chamberlain and Elector of the Holy Roman
Empire
Sovereign and Chief Duke of Silesia etc. etc. etc.,
To My Most Gracious King and Lord.

Most Noble, 1:219
Most Mighty King,
Most Gracious King and Lord!
The awareness of my own unworthiness and the brilliance of the throne

cannot cause my bashfulness to be as timid as the mercy which the most
gracious Monarch spreads over all his subjects with equal magnanimity,
gives me the hope that the boldness I am undertaking will not be regarded
with ungracious eyes. With the most humble respect, I hereby place one
of the least examples of that zeal at the feet of Your Royal Majesty
with which Your Most Noble Academies have been exhorted by the
encouragement and the protection of their Sovereign to emulate other
nations in the sciences. How happy would I be if the present efforts with
which the most humble and respectful subject is ceaselessly striving to
make himself useful to his fatherland, were to be successful in acquiring
the very highest pleasure of his Monarch. I die in the most profound
devotion,
Your Royal Majesty’s

Most humble servant,
Königsberg
14th March 1755.
The Author
193
1:221 PREFACE
a
I have chosen a project which, from the aspect both of its inherent
difficulty and in relation to religion, is capable of influencing the reader
to adopt an unfavourable prejudice from the very beginning. To discover
the system that connects the great parts of creation in the whole extent
of infinity, to derive the formation of the celestial bodies themselves
and the origin of their motion out of the first state of nature through
mechanical laws: insights such as these would appear to go well beyond
the powers of human reason. From the other side, religion threatens us
with a solemn accusation for the audacity with which one might make
so bold as to ascribe to nature, which is left to itself, such consequences
in which one can rightly become aware of the immediate hand of the
highest being, and is concerned to find protection for the atheist in the
forwardness of such observations. I see all these difficulties clearly, and
yet am not faint of heart. I feel all the power of the obstacles in my way
and do not despair. I have dared to undertake a dangerous journey on the
basis of a slight supposition and already see the foothills of new lands.
Those who have the courage to pursue the exploration, will step onto
those lands and have the pleasure of bestowing their own name upon
them.
I did not set out upon this enterprise until I saw myself secure in
relation to the duties of religion. My eagerness was redoubled when I
1:222 saw that with every step the mists dispersed whose darkness seemed to
hide monsters; and after they parted, the glory of the highest being shone
forth with the most vivid brilliance. Since I know these efforts to be free
of all reproach, I will sincerely adduce anything that well-intentioned,
but also weak minds might find offensive in my plan, and am prepared to
submit it to the severity of the orthodox Areopagus7 with the frankness
that is characteristic of an honest disposition. The champion of faith may
nonetheless make his reasons heard first.
If the universeb with all its order and beauty is merely an effect of mat-
ter left to its general laws of motion, if the blind mechanism of the powers
of nature knows how to develop so magnificently and to such perfection
all of its own accord: then the proof of the divine Author, which one
derives from the sight of the beauty of the universe, is entirely stripped
of its power, nature is sufficient in itself, divine government is superflu-
ous, Epicure lives again in the middle of Christendom, and an unholy
philosophy tramples faith under foot, which hands that philosophy a
bright light to illuminate it.
a Vorwurf b Weltbau
194
If I had found this objection well-founded, the conviction I have

regarding the infallibility of divine truths is so powerfulc in me that
I would consider everything that contradicts them to be sufficiently
disproved and would reject it. It is, however, precisely the agreement
between my system and religion that raises my confidence to a fearless
serenity in the face of all difficulties.
I am aware of the entire value of those proofs that are adduced from the
beauty and perfect arrangement of the universe to confirm a most wise
Author. If one is not arbitrarily opposed to all convincing arguments,
one must hand the victory to such incontrovertible reasons. I, however,
maintain that the defenders of religion, by using these reasons in a bad
way, will perpetuate the argument with the naturalists,8 offering a weak
flank without any need to do so.
People are accustomed to note and emphasize the harmony, the
beauty, the purposes, and a perfect correspondence of the means to 1:223
them in nature. But, by elevating nature from this perspective, one also
seeks to lower it from another perspective. This harmony, people say,
is foreign to it; left to its own universal laws, nature would bring about
nothing but disorder. These harmonies point to a foreign hand that has
been able to force a wise plan onto matter devoid of all regularity. But I
answer: If the universal laws of causation of matter are also a result of the
highest plan, then they can presumably have no purpose other than that
which strives to fulfil of their own accord that plan which the highest
wisdom has set itself; or, if this is not the case, one ought not to fall into
the temptation of believing that at least matter and its universal laws are
independent and that the wisest power, which has been able to use the
laws in so laudable a fashion, is great yet not infinite, powerful yet not
entirely self-sufficient.
The defender of religion is concerned that those harmonies that can be
explained by a natural tendency of matter can be said to prove the inde-
pendence of nature from divine providence. He admits it quite clearly:
that if natural causes can be discovered for all the order in the universe
that can be brought about by the most general and most essential prop-
erties of matter, then it is not necessary to invoke a highest governing
power. The naturalist finds his satisfaction by not disputing this premise.
But he unearths examples that prove the fruitfulness of the universal laws
of nature by means of perfectly beautiful consequences, and with such
grounds, which could become invincible weapons in his hands, he puts
the orthodox believer into danger. I will quote some examples. It has
frequently been cited as one of the clearest proofs of a beneficent prov-
idence watching over human beings that in the hottest regions of the
c vermögend
195
Natural Science
earth, sea breezes waft across the heated land and refresh it at just the
time when it is most in need of them, almost as though they had been
ordered. For example, on the island of Jamaica, as soon as the sun has
risen to the point where it throws its greatest heat onto the land, soon
after 9 o’clock in the morning, a wind begins to rise from the sea which
blows across the land from all sides; its strength increases in relation to
1:224 the height of the sun. At one o’clock in the afternoon, when it is naturally
hottest, the wind is strongest and gradually decreases with the setting of
the sun so that in the evening the same stillness prevails as at sunrise.
Without this desirable arrangement, this island would be uninhabitable.
This same relief is enjoyed by all the coasts of countries in hot zones.
They are also the ones that need it most, because, as they are the low-
est lying regions of the dry land, they are subject to the greatest heat;
for the regions that are situated higher up, where this sea breeze does
not reach, do not need it as much, since their more elevated situation
places them in a cooler region. Is all this not beautiful, are these not
visible purposes achieved by cleverly applied means? But in opposition,
the naturalist must find the natural causes of this in the most universal
properties of the air without being able to presume special arrangements
for this reason. He observes correctly that these sea breezes must make
such periodic motions even if there were no human beings living on the
island, that is, as a result of no property of the air other than what is
inevitably necessary for the growth of plants, even without any intention
in relation to this, namely a result of its elasticity and mass. The heat of
the sun cancels out the balancing effect of the air by making that which
is over land thinner and thus causes the cooler sea air to raise it from its
position and occupy its place.
In any case, what benefits do the winds not have for the good of the
globe, and what uses does the astuteness of man not make of them! There
are, however, no arrangements necessary to bring them about other than
that same universal character of the air and of heat which must have been
present on the Earth irrespective of these purposes.
At this point, the free thinker says: admit that if useful constitutions
directed at particular purposes can be derived from the most universal
and simple laws of nature without any necessity for any special govern-
ment by a highest wisdom, then see now the proofs which will catch
you by your own admission. All nature, especially unorganized nature,
is full of such proofs which show that matter, which determines itself
through the mechanism of its forces, has a certain rightness in its con-
1:225 sequences and satisfies the rules of propriety without being forced to. If
a well-intentioned person were to try to dispute this capacity of the uni-
versal laws of nature in order to save the good cause of religion, then he
will place himself into an embarrassing situation and give the unbeliever
cause to triumph through a bad defence.
196
But let us see how these reasons, which are feared as being harmful
in the hands of one’s enemies, are instead powerful weapons to dispute
them. Matter, which determines itself through its most universal laws,
by its natural behaviour or, if one wishes to call it so, by a blind mecha-
nism, creates good consequences that appear to be the plan of a highest
wisdom. Air, water, and heat, if one observes them left to their own
devices, cause winds and clouds, rain, rivers that bring moisture to the
lands, and all those useful consequences without which nature would
necessarily remain sad, empty, and barren. However, they do not bring
those consequences by some mere chance or accident that might just as
easily have turned out to be detrimental, but rather, we see that they
are limited by their natural laws to have this and no other effect. What
are we to think of this harmony? How could it be possible that things
of different natures in connection with one another should aim to bring
about such excellent harmonies and beauty, even for the purposes of such
things which are located, as it were, outside the range of dead matter,
that is, to the benefit of human beings and animals, if they did not have a
common origin, that is, an infinite reason, in which the essential natures
of all things were conceived in relation to each other? If their natures
were necessary for themselves and independently of each other, what
amazing chance, or rather, what an impossibility it would be, that their
natural endeavours should fit them together in such a way as a deliberate
clever choice could have united them.
Now I will confidently apply this to my current purpose. I assume the
matter of the whole world to be universally dispersed and I make com-
plete chaos out of it. I see matter form in accordance with the established
laws of attraction and modify its motion through repulsion. Without the
assistance of any arbitrary inventions, I enjoy the pleasure of seeing the 1:226
creation of a well-ordered whole by reason of established laws of motion
which looks so much like the system of the world we have before our
eyes that I cannot help but regard it as the same. This unexpected devel-
opment of the order of nature on a large scale initially seems suspicious
to me because it bases such a composite rightness on such a poor and
simple foundation. Finally, I instruct myself from the aforementioned
observation that such a development of nature is not something unheard
of, but that its essential endeavour necessarily brings with it such a devel-
opment, and that this is the most magnificent evidence of its dependence
on that original being which contains within itself even the origins of
beings themselves and their first laws of causation.d This insight redou-
bles my trust in the proposal I have made. My confidence increases with
every step I take forward and my timidity ceases completely.
d Wirkungsgesetze
197
Natural Science
But the defence of your system, people will say, is also the defence of
Epicure’s opinions, which have the greatest similarity with them. I do not
reject all agreement with him. Many have become atheists through the
semblancee of such reasons, which, on closer consideration, could have
convinced them most powerfully of the certainty of the highest being.
The consequences a confused understanding draws from the most fault-
less principles are often very faulty, and this was the case with Epicure’s
conclusions, even though his conception was in accord with the keenness
of a great mind.
I will therefore not deny that Lucretius’ theory or that of his predeces-
sors, Epicure, Leucippus, and Democritus, has much in common with
mine. Like those philosophers, I posit a first state of nature as a universal
dispersion of the original material of all world-bodies, or atoms as they
call them. Epicure posited a heaviness that caused these elementary par-
ticles to fall and this does not seem to be very different to Newtonian
attraction, which I accept; he also accorded them a certain deviation from
the straight linear motion of their fall, even though he had absurd notions
of their causes and effects: This deviation to some extent corresponds
1:227 to the change in the straight fall that we attribute to the repulsive force
of the particles; finally, the whirlpools that arose out of the perturbedf
motion of the atoms were a centrepiece of the theories of Leucippus and
Democritus, and they will also be found in ours. The close relationship
with a doctrine that was the proper theory of the denial of the divine in
antiquity, will not, however, drag mine into association with their errors.
Even in the most senseless opinions that have succeeded in gaining the
applause of men, we will always find some truth. One false principle or a
few ill-considered connecting principles will lead men from the path of
truth via imperceptible errors right into the abyss. Despite the similarity
I have just mentioned, there does nonetheless remain one basic differ-
ence between ancient cosmogony and the current one, which allows us
to draw quite opposite conclusions from the latter.
The aforementioned teachers of the mechanical origins of the
universeg derived all the order that could be perceived in it from the
accidental chance that made the atoms come together so fortuitously
that they constituted a well-ordered whole. Epicure was even so impu-
dent that he insisted that the atoms deviated from their straight motion
without any reason in order to be able to encounter one another. All of
them together took this nonsense to the point that they made this blind
coincidence the origin of all living creatures and really derived reason
from the lack of reason.9 In my theory, however, I find that matter is
e Schein g Weltbaues
f verwirrten
198
tied to certain necessary laws. In their complete dissolution and disper-

sion, I see a beautiful and orderly whole develop quite naturally. This
does not happen through accident and by chance, but rather one can
see that natural properties bring it about in a necessary fashion. Does
not this move one to ask: Why did matter have to have precisely such
laws as have order and propriety as their purpose? Was it really possible
that many things, each of which has a nature independent of the others,
should determine each other by themselves in precisely such a way that
a well-ordered whole emerges from it, and if they do this, does this not
provide an undeniable proof of their common first origin, which must
be an all-sufficient highest mind in which the natures of things were 1:228
designed in accordance with unified purposes?
Matter, which is the original materialh of all things, is thus bound by
certain laws, and if it is left freely to these laws, it must necessarily bring
forth beautiful combinations. It is not at liberty to deviate from this plan
of perfection. Since, therefore, it is subject to a most wise purpose, it
must necessarily have been placed into such harmonious connections by
a first cause that ruled over it, and a God exists precisely because nature
cannot behave in any way other than in a regular and orderly manner, even in
chaos.
I have such a good opinion of the honest attitude of those who do
my proposal the honour of examining it that I consider myself assured
that the reasons mentioned will at least put the purity of my intention
beyond doubt, even if they do not yet remove all concerns about the
harmful consequences of my system. If, notwithstanding this, there are
spiteful zealots who regard it as a worthy duty of their holy calling to
attach harmful interpretations to the most innocent opinions, then I am
sure that their judgement will have an effect on all reasonable people
that is exactly the opposite of their intention. Furthermore, I will not
be deprived of the right that Descartes always enjoyed from fair judges
when he dared to explain the formation of the heavenly bodies from
purely mechanical laws. I will therefore quote the authors of the uni-
versal history of the world:∗ “We, however, cannot but believe that the
attempt by this philosopher, who attempts to explain the formation of
the world over a certain period of time from chaotic matter by the simple
continuation of a motion once impressed on it and has reduced this to a
few simple and universal laws of motion, just as little as others who have
since then and with much applause tried to do the same thing from the orig-
inal and created properties of matter, is punishable or demeaning of God
∗ Part I, §88.
h Urstoff
199
Natural Science
as many have imagined, because instead, a higher conception of his infinite

wisdom is brought about by this means.”10
1:229 I have attempted to remove the difficulties that appeared to threaten
my propositions from the point of view of religion. There are several that
are no less significant in relation to the matter itself. If it is true, people
will say, that God has placed into the forces of nature a secret ability to
form itself out of chaos into a perfect world constitution,i then will the
mind of man, which is so weak in relation to the lowest things, be capable
of investigating the hidden properties in so great a subject matterj ? Such
an endeavourk is the same as if one were to say: just give me matter and
I will build you a world out of it. Cannot the weakness of your insights,
which is made as nought by the slightest things that occur near you every
day, teach you that it is futile to try to discover the immeasurable and
what took place in nature even before the world existed? I shall destroy
this difficulty by demonstrating clearly that of all the investigations that
could be raised in the study of nature, this is the one in which one can
most easily and most surely reach back as far as its beginning. Just as
of all the tasks facing research into nature, none has been resolved with
greater accuracy and certainty than the true constitution of the universel
on the large scale, the laws of motion, and the internal mechanism of
the orbits of all the planets into which Newtonian philosophy can give
such insights as can be found in no other part of philosophy: just so, I
maintain, that of all the things in nature whose first cause we can investi-
gate, the origin of the world systemm and the generation of the heavenly
bodies together with the causes of their motions is the one which we
might first hope to understand thoroughly and reliably. The reason for
this is simple to see. The heavenly bodies are spherical masses, that is,
of the simplest form that any body can have whose origin one seeks.
Their motion is similarly unmixed. It is nothing other than a free con-
tinuation of a tangential force11 once impressed,n which, combined with
the attraction of the body in the centre, becomes circular. Furthermore,
the space in which they move is empty, the distances separating them
are quite uncommonly great and thus all are placed most clearly sep-
arate from one another both in unimpededo motion and for the clear
1:230 observation of it. It seems to me that in a certain sense one could say
here without being presumptuous: Give me matter and I will build a world
out of it, that is, give me matter and I will show you how a world is to
come into being out of it. Because if matter endowed with an essential
i Weltverfassung m Weltsystems
j Vorwurfe n eines einmal eingedrückten Schwunges
k Unterfangen o unverwirrten
l Verfassung des Weltbaues
200
attractive force is present, then it is not difficult to determine those causes

that can have contributed to the arrangement of the world system,p
viewed on the large scale. We know what is necessary for a body to
achieve a spherical shape, we understand what is required for free-
floating spheres to adopt a circular motion around the centre point to
which they are attracted. The position of the orbits in relation to each
other, the coincidence of the direction, the eccentricity, all this can be
reduced to the simplest mechanical causes, and we can confidently hope
to discover them because they can be posited on the simplest and clearest
grounds. But can we claim such advantages about the most insignificant
plant or insect? Are we in a position to say: Give me matter and I will show
you how a caterpillar can be created ? Do we not get stuck at the first step due
to ignorance about the true inner nature of the object and the complexity
of the diversity contained in it? It should therefore not be thought strange
if I dare to say that we will understand the formation of all the heav-
enly bodies, the cause of their motion, in short, the origin of the whole
present constitution of the universeq sooner than the creation of a single
plant or caterpillar becomes clearly and completely known on mechanical
grounds.
These are the reasons upon which I base my confidence that the phys-
ical part of cosmologyr may in future hope for that completeness to
which Newton raised its mathematical half. Next to the laws governing
the universes in its current constitution, there are perhaps no others in
the whole of research on nature capable of being so determined mathe-
matically as those according to which it came about, and without doubt
the hand of a practised mathematician would cultivate fruitful fields
here.
After I have made the effort to commend a favourable reception for
the subjectt of my observations, I may be allowed briefly to explain the 1:231
way in which I have treated it. The first part is concerned with a new
system of the structure of the universeu on the large scale. Herr Wright
of Durham,12 with whose treatise I became acquainted through the
Hamburg Freie Urteile of the year 1751,13 first gave me cause to regard
the fixed stars not as a scattered milling mass without any visible order,
but rather as a system with the greatest similarity to a planetary one, so
that, just as in the latter the planets are very close to a common plane,
so also the fixed stars in their position relate as closely as possible to
a certain plane, which has to be thought of as extending through the
entire heavens, and where they are most densely massed, they form the
p Weltsystems s Weltbau
q Weltbau t Vorwurf
r Weltwissenschaft u Weltgebäude
201
Natural Science
bright band that is called the Milky Way. I have become convinced that,
because this zone, illuminated by countless suns, has very exactly the
direction of a very large circle, our sun must also be very close to this
large plane of reference. While pursuing the causes of this feature, I
have found the following to be very probable: that the fixed stars could
actually be slowly moving planets of a higher order. As confirmation of
what will be found about this thought in its proper place, I will quote
here just one section of Herr Bradley’s treatise on the motion of fixed
stars.14 “If a judgement may be formed, <with regard to this matter,>
from the result of the comparison of our best modern observations, with
such as were formerly made with any tolerable degree of exactness; there
appears to have been a real change in the position of some of the fixed
stars with respect to each other; and such, as seems independent of any
motion in our own system, and can only be referred to some motion in
the stars themselves. Arcturus affords a strong proof of this. For if its
present declination be compared with its place, as determined either by
Tycho or Flamsteed, the difference will be found to be much greater
than what can be suspected to arise from the uncertainty of their obser-
vations. It is reasonable to expect that other instances of the like kind
must also occur among the great number of visible stars; because their
1:232 relative positions may be altered by various means. For if our own solar
system be conceived to change its place with respect to absolute space,
this might, in process of time, occasion an apparent change in the angular
distances of the fixed stars; and in such a case, the places of the nearest
stars being more affected, than of those that are very remote; their rela-
tive positions might seem to alter; tho’ the stars themselves were really
immoveable. And on the other hand, if our own system be at rest and
any of the stars really in motion, this might likewise vary their apparent
positions; and the more so, the nearer they are to us, <or the swifter
their motions are,> or the more proper the direction of the motion is,
to be rendered visible by us. Since then the <relative> places of the
stars may be changed from such a variety of causes, considering the
amazing distances at which it is certain that some of them are placed,
it may require the observation of many ages, to determine the laws of
the apparent changes, even of a single star; much more difficult there-
fore must it be, to settle the laws relating to all the most remarkable
stars.”v,15
I cannot determine exactly the borders between the system of Herr
Wright and my own and in what ways I have merely imitated his model
or have explained it further. But acceptable reasons presented themselves
to me afterwards to extend it considerably in one direction. I observed
v Texts enclosed within <> are in the original, but not in Kant’s text.
202
the kind of nebulous stars that Herr von Maupertius considers in his
Treatise on the Figure of the Stars∗,16 and which have the figure of more 1:233
or less open ellipses, and readily assured myself that they could be noth-
ing other than an accumulation of many fixed stars. The roundness of
these figures that is measured at all times taught me that an inconceiv-
ably numerous mass of stars must be arranged here around a common
centre point, because otherwise their free positions in relation to one
another would present irregular shapes but not measured figures. I also
realized that in the system in which they are united, they must be mainly
limited to one plane, because they do not present circular but elliptical
figures and that, because of their pale light, they must be incompre-
hensibly distant from us. The treatise itself will present to the inves-
tigation of the unprejudiced reader what I have concluded from these 1:234
analogies.
∗ Because I do not have the quoted treatise to hand, I will add here the relevant pieces from
the explanation in the Ouvrages diverses de Msr de Maupertius in the Actis Erud. (1745).
The first phenomenon are those bright spots in the sky that are called nebulous stars
and are thought to be an accumulation of small fixed stars. With the aid of excellent
telescopes, however, astronomers have found them to be merely large oblong spots that
are somewhat brighter than the rest of the sky. Huygen was the first to find something of
this sort in Orion; Halley discusses six such spots in the Anglical Trans: 1. In the sword of
Orion, 2. In Sagittarius, 3. In the Centaur, 4. In front of the right foot of Antinous, 5. In
Hercules, 6. In the belt of Andromeda. If these are viewed through a reflective telescope
of 8 feet, one can see that only a quarter of them can be considered as a mass of stars; the 1:233
remainder have only presented whitish spots without any significant difference, except
that one is more in the nature of a round circle, another is more oblong. It also appears
that in the case of the former, the small stars visible through the telescope cannot be
the cause of their whitish shimmer. Halley believes that these phenomena can explain
what is found in the beginning of the creation story in Genesis, namely that light was
created before the Sun. Derham compares them with openings through which a further
immeasurable region and perhaps the fire sky shines through. He thinks he has been
able to observe that those stars that have been seen near these spots are much closer
to us than lighter places. To these observations the author appends a list of nebulous
stars from Hevelius. He regards these phenomena as great light masses that have been
flattened by a mighty change. If the matter of which they consist had the same power
of light as the other stars, they would have to be of immense size so that, viewed from a
far greater distance than the other stars, they are still able to appear in the telescope as
having remarkable shape and size. If, however, they were approximately similar to the
other fixed stars in size, they would not only have to be much closer to us but also give
off a much weaker light, since they have such a pale shimmer despite such proximity and
apparent size. It would therefore be worth the effort to discover their parallax if they
have one. For those who say they have none are perhaps extrapolating their conclusion
from some cases to all. The small stars encountered in the middle of these spots, as in
Orion (or even better in the one in front of the right foot of Antinous, which looks no
different to a fixed star surrounded by a nebula), would, if they were closer to us, be
seen either in the manner of a projection onto it, or would shine through those masses,
as though through the tails of comets.
203
Natural Science
In the second part, which contains the most essential objectw of this
treatise, I seek to develop the constitution of the universex from the
simplest state of nature through mechanical laws alone. If I may dare to
suggest to those who are outraged at the boldness of this undertaking that
they adopt a certain order in their examination with which they honour
my thoughts, then I would request that they read the eighth chapter
first, which I hope may prepare their judgement towards a correct insight.
If, however, I invite the gentle reader to examine my opinions, then I
am rightly concerned that, since hypotheses of this type are usually not
held in higher esteem than philosophical dreams, it will be a sour favour
for a reader to decide to undertake a careful examination of the histories
of nature that I have thought up for myself and patiently to follow the
author through the twists and turns by which he avoids the difficulties
he encounters, in order finally perhaps to laugh at his own gullibility,
like the audience of the London market crier.∗,17 I can, however, confi-
dently promise that if the reader is hopefully persuaded by the suggested
preparatory section to dare to undertake such a physical adventure on the
basis of such probable conjectures, he will not encounter as many dead
ends and impassable obstacles on his way as he might have originally
feared.
It is with the greatest care that I have indeed relinquished all arbitrary
inventions. I have, after I placed the world in the simplest chaos, made
use of no forces other than those of attraction and repulsion to develop
the great order of nature, two forces which are equally certain, equally
simple, and equally original and universal. They have both been bor-
rowed from Newtonian philosophy. The former is now a law of nature
that is beyond doubt. The second, which Newtonian science is unable
to provide with as much clarity as it has for the first, I will assume here
1:235 only in the sense that no one rejects it, namely in relation to the small-
est dispersion of matter as, for instance, in vapours. It is for these so
simple reasons that I have derived the following system, without any
artifice or consideration of other consequences than those upon which
the attention of the reader would have arrived by itself.
Finally, I ask to be permitted a short explanation relating to the validity
and the presumed value of those propositions which will appear in the
following theory and according to which I would wish to be examined by
fair judges. The author is properly judged according to the stamp he puts
on his wares; I therefore hope that one will not require any more strict
responsibility of my opinions in the different parts of this treatise than
the value I give to them myself. In fact, the greatest geometrical acuity
∗ Cf. Gellert’s fable: Hans Nord
w Vorwurf x Weltbau
204
and mathematical infallibility can never be demanded of a treatise of this

kind. If the system is based on analogies and harmonies in accordance
with the rules of credibility and a correct way of thinking, it has satisfied
all the requirements of its object. I believe that I have attained this level
of competence in some parts of this treatise, such as in the theory of
the system of fixed stars, in the hypothesis of the nature of the nebulous
stars, in the general plan of the mechanical creation of the universe,y in
the theory of the ring of Saturn and several others. Certain other parts of
my explanation will be less satisfying, for instance the determination of
the relations of eccentricity, the comparison of the masses of the planets,
the varied deviations of the comets, and some others.
If, therefore, in the seventh chapter, enticed by the fruitfulness of the
system and the attractiveness of the greatest and most admirable thing
we are capable of imagining, and while adhering to the thread of analogy
and a reasonable credibility, I extend the results of our doctrinez as far as
possible; if I represent the infinite nature of all creation, the formation
of new worlds and the decline of the old ones and the unlimited realm of
the chaos of the imagination: I hope the reader will grant the charming
attractiveness of the object and the pleasure one experiences in seeing the
agreement of a theory in its greatest extension, sufficient consideration so 1:236
as not to judge it according to the greatest geometrical strictness, which
does not in any case have any relevance in this type of consideration. It is
precisely this fairness I expect in the third part. Nonetheless, the reader
will find somewhat more than mere arbitrariness but somewhat less than
undoubtedness in it.
y des Weltbaues z des Lehrgebäudes
205
1:237 Contents
of the whole work.
part one.
Summary of a universal systematic constitution among the fixed
stars, derived from the phenomena of the Milky Way. Similarity
of this system of fixed stars with the system of the planets. Discovery of
many such systems that show themselves in the vastness of the heavens in
the shape of elliptical figures. New concept of the systematic constitution
of all creation.
Conclusion. Probable supposition of several planets beyond Saturn
based on the law according to which the eccentricity of the planets
increases with distance.
part two.
Chapter One.
Reasons for the doctrine of a mechanical origin of the world. Rea-
sons to the contrary. The only concept among all those possible that will
satisfy both. First state of nature. Dispersion of the elements of all mat-
ter throughout the entire universe.a First movementb through attraction.
Beginning of the formation of a body at the point of the most powerful
attraction. General sinking of the elements towards this central body.
Repellent force of the smallest parts in which matter has been dissolved.
Altered direction of the sinking motion through the combination of this
force with the former. Uniform direction of all these motions towards
one and the same area. Endeavour of all particles to reach a common
plane and to congregate there. Moderation of the velocity of their motion
1:238 to an equilibrium with the gravity of the distance of their place. Free orbit
of all particles around the central body in circles. Formation of the plan-
ets out of these moved elements. Free motion of the planets thus formed
in the same direction on a common plane near the centre point in almost
circular orbits and with increasing degrees of eccentricity further away
from it.
a Weltraum b Regung
206
Chapter Two.
Treats of the varying density of the planets and the relationship of
their masses. Reason why the closer planets are of a denser type than
the distant ones. Insufficiency of Newton’s explanation. Why the central
body is of a lighter kind than the spheres orbiting next to it. Relationship
of the mass of the planets in proportion to the distances. Causes from
the manner of their formation, according to which the central body
has the greatest mass. Calculation of the thinnessc with which all the
elements of the world matter were dispersed. Probability and necessity
of this thinning. Important proof of the manner of the formation of the
heavenly bodies based on a remarkable analogy by Herr de Buffon.
Chapter Three.
Concerning the eccentricity of the planetary orbits and the origin
of comets. The eccentricity increases in direct proportion to the distance
from the Sun. Cause of this law from cosmogony. Why the orbits of
comets diverge freely from the plane of the eclipse. Proof that the comets
are formed from the lightest type of material. Incidental comment on
the Northern Lights.
Chapter Four.
On the origin of moons and the rotation of planets on their axis.
The material for the formation of the moons was contained in the sphere
from which the planet gathered the parts for its own formation. Cause of
the motion of these moons with all their determinations. Why only the
large planets have moons. On the axial rotation of the planets. Whether
the Moon once had a more rapid rotation? Whether the velocity of the
Earth’s rotation is decreasing? Concerning the position of the axis of the
planets in relation to the plane of their orbits. Shifting of their axis.
Chapter Five.
Concerning the origin of the ring around Saturn and the calcu-
lation of its daily revolution from its relations. First state of Saturn
compared to the constitution of a comet. Formation of a ring from the 1:239
particles of its atmosphere by means of the motions impressed by its
orbit. Determination of its axial rotation on the basis of this hypothesis.
Observation of the shape of Saturn. On the spheroidal flattening of the
heavenly bodies in general. More detailed description of the constitution
c Dünnigkeit
207
Natural Science
of this ring. Probable assumption of new discoveries. Whether the Earth

had a ring before the Great Flood?
Chapter Six.
Concerning the Zodiacal Light.
Chapter Seven.
Concerning creation in the whole extent of its infinity in terms
of space as well as of time. Origin of a great system of fixed stars.
Central bodiesd in the centre of the stellar system. Infinity of creation.
Universal systematic relationship in its entire essence.e Central bodies
of all nature. Successive continuation of creation in all infinity of time
and space through the unceasing formation of new worlds. Observation
on the chaos of unformed nature. Gradual decay and collapse of the
universe.f Proper nature of such a concept. Rejuvenation of decayed
nature.
Supplement to Chapter Seven.

Universal theory and history of the Sun in general. Why the central
body of a universeg is a fiery body. Closer observation of its nature.
Thoughts on the changes of the air surrounding it. Extinction of suns.
Detailed view of their form. Opinion of Herr Wrigth [sic] on the centre
point of all nature. Correction of this.
Chapter Eight.
General proof of the correctness of a mechanical doctrine of the
arrangement of the universeh in general, especially of the certainty
of the present one. The essential ability of the natures of things to raise
themselves to order and perfection is the most beautiful proof of the
existence of God. Defence against naturalism’s objections.
The constitution of the universei is simple and not beyond the pow-
ers of nature. Analogies that prove the mechanical origin of the world
1:240 with certainty. The same proved from deviations. Adducing an imme-
diate divine ordering is not sufficient for these questions. Difficulty that
caused Newton to give up the mechanical theory. Resolution of this
d Centralkörper g Weltbau
e Inbegriffe h Weltbau
f Weltbau i Weltbau
208
difficulty. The system advanced is the only means of all possible ones to
do justice to both kinds of reasons. It is proved further by the ratio of
the density of the planets, their masses, the distances between them, and
the graded connection of their determinations. The motivations behind
God’s choice do not determine these circumstances directly. Justifica-
tion in relation to religion. Difficulties arising from a doctrine of direct
divine ordering.
part three.
Contains a comparison between the inhabitants of the heavenly
bodies.
Whether all planets are inhabited. Reasons for doubting it. Grounds
for the physical relations between the inhabitants of different plan-
ets. Observation of human beings. Causes of the imperfection of their
nature. Natural ratio of bodily properties of living creatures in accor-
dance with the differing distance from the Sun. Consequences of the ratio
for their mental abilities. Comparison of thinking natures on different
heavenly bodies. Confirmation on the basis of certain circumstances of
their abode. Further proof from the arrangements of divine providence
that are made for their good.j Brief digression.
conclusion.
The conditions of human beings in the next life.
j zu ihrem Besten
209
Universal 1:241
Natural History and Theory of the Heavens
Part One.
Summary of a systematic constitution among the
fixed stars
and also
of the vast number of such systems of fixed stars
Is the great chain that draws all to agree,

And drawn supports, upheld by God or thee?
Pope.18
1:243 Short summary of the most essential basic
concepts
of
Newtonian science,∗
which are necessary for understanding what
follows.
Six planets, three of which have satellites, Mercury, Venus, Earth with
its Moon, Mars, Jupiter with four and Saturn with five satellites, which
describe orbits with the Sun at the centre, as well as the comets which
do likewise, coming from all sides in very extensive orbits, constitute
a system which we call the solar systemk or the planetary universe.l,19
Because it is circular and is on a closed orbit, the motion of all these
bodies presupposes two forces that are both equally necessary in every
type of doctrine, that is, a shooting force,m which would cause them
to continue in a direction straight ahead at every point of their curved
path and move into an infinity if there were not also a second force,
whatever it may be, which constantly forced them to leave that path and
to proceed in a curved path with the Sun at its centrepoint. This second
force, as is indubitably determined by geometry itself, aims at the Sun
from all points and is thus called the sinking, the centripetal force or also
gravity.
1:244 If the orbits of the heavenly bodies were exact circles, then the sim-
plest analysis of the composition of curved motions would show that a
continuous push towards the centre point is required for this; however,
although these motions of all planets and comets are ellipses with the
Sun as a common focus, higher geometry, with the assistance of Kepler’s
Analogy20 (according to which the radius vector, or the line drawn
from the planets to the Sun, always sweeps out such spaces from the
elliptical orbit that are proportional to the times), demonstrates with
infallible certainty that a force would have to continuously drive the
∗ I wanted to provide this brief introduction, which may perhaps be superfluous in the
view of most readers, for those who are not sufficiently knowledgeable about Newtonian
principles, as a preparation for understanding the theory that follows.
k System der Sonne m schießende Kraft

l Weltbau
212
planet throughout its entire orbit to the centre point of the Sun. This
lowering forcen then, which applies throughout the entire planetary sys-
tem and is directed towards the Sun, is an established phenomenon of
nature, and the law by which this force extends from the centre to the far
reaches of space has been equally reliably proved. It always decreases in
inverse proportion to the square of the increase in distance from the cen-
tre. This rule flows in just as infallible a manner from the time required
by the planets for their orbits at varying distances. These times are always
the square roots of the cube of the mean distances from the Sun, from
which we can deduce that the force attracting these heavenly bodies to
the centre point of their revolutions must decrease in inverse proportion
to the square of the distance.21
Precisely the same law that applies among the planets in so far as
they orbit around the Sun, is also found in small systems, namely those
constituted by moons orbiting around their main planets. The durations
of their orbits are proportional to the distances in precisely the same way
and establish precisely the same ratio of the lowering force in relation
to the planet as that to which the planet is subject in relation to the
Sun. All this is forever beyond any contradiction as a result of the most
infallible geometry based on indisputable observations. In addition there
is the idea that this lowering forceo is the same impetus as what is called
gravity on the surface of the planet and which decreases gradually with
distance in accordance with the above law. This may be observed by
comparing the quantum of gravity on the surface of the Earth with the 1:245
force that drives the Moon to the centre point of its orbit, which stands to
it exactly as does the attraction in the entire universe, that is, in inverse
proportion to the square of the distances. This is the reason why the
often mentioned central force is also called gravity.
Furthermore, because it is probable in the highest degree that if an
effect occurs only in the presence of and in proportion to the attraction
to a particular body, its direction is also related precisely to that body,
we may believe that this body is the cause, in whatever manner, of that
effect; so it has been thought that there was sufficient reason on account
of this to ascribe this general sinking of the planets towards the Sun to
an attracting force of the latter and to attribute this capacity of attraction
to all heavenly bodies in general.
If, therefore, a body is left freely to this drive, which causes it to sink
towards the Sun or some planet, then it will fall down towards it at a
constantly accelerated motion and unite with that mass in a short time.
If, however, it has received a blow to one side, then, provided the blow is
not so strong as to be exactly equivalent to the force of the sinking, it will
n Senkungskraft o Senkungskraft
213
Natural Science
sink towards the central body in a curved motion and if the tangential
forcep impressed upon it was at least as powerful as to remove it before
it touches its surface from the vertical line by half the thickness of the
body at the centre, then it will not touch its surface but, after it has swung
closely around it, it will rise as high again as it has fallen by means of the
velocity it has reached in falling, so that it will continue its path around
it in a constant orbital motion.
The difference between the orbits of the comets and the planets there-
fore consists in the deviationq of the sideways motion against the pressure
that drives them to fall; which two forces, the more they approach equal-
ity, the more the orbit is similar to the shape of a circle and the less similar
they are, the weaker the shooting forcer is in relation to the central force,
the more elongated the circle, or as it is called, the more eccentric it is
because the heavenly body approaches the Sun very much more closely
in one part of its orbit than in another part.
1:246 Because nothing in all of nature is balanced with complete precision,
no planet has a completely circular motion, but comets deviate from it
most because the tangential forces that has been impressed upon them
from the side was least proportional to the central force of its original
distance.
In the treatise, I shall frequently use the expression of a systematic
constitution of the universe.t So that there will be no difficulty in
understanding what is meant by this, I shall explain it briefly. Actually, all
the planets and comets that belong to our universeu constitute a system
simply because they orbit around a common central body. But I take
this term in a narrower meaning in that I consider the more precise
relationships that have made their connection to one another regular
and uniform. The orbits of the planets relate as closely as possible to
a common plane, namely to the extended equatorial plane of the Sun;
the deviation from this rule occurs only at the outermost border of the
system, where all motions gradually cease. If, therefore, a certain number
of heavenly bodies that are arranged around a common central point and
move around this, are simultaneously restricted to a certain plane in such
a way that they have the freedom to deviate from it to either side only
as little as possible; if such deviation occurs gradually only in those that
are most remote from the centre point and thus participate less in the
relationships than the others: then, I say, that these bodies are related to
each other in a systematic constitution.
p Schwung s Schwung
q Abwiegung t systematische Verfassung des Weltbaues
r schießende Kraft u Weltbau
214
Universal 1:247
Natural History and Theory of the Heavens.
part one.
Concerning the systematic constitution among the fixed stars.
The theoryv of the universal constitution of the universe has attained no
noticeable increase since the times of Huygens.22 We know no more now
than was known at that time, namely that six planets with ten satellites,
all of which have the circles of their orbits directed nearly onto one
plane, and the eternal cometic spheres spreading out in all directions
make a system, the centre of which is the Sun, towards which everything
sinks, around which all their motions go, and by which they are all lit,
warmed, and filled with life;w that, finally, the fixed stars are the suns of
just as many similar systems, in which everything may be just as large and
arranged in just so orderly a way as in our system, and that infinite space
is brimming with solar systems,x the number and excellence of which
has a relationship to the immeasurableness of their creator.
The systematic aspects that took place in the connection of the planets
orbiting around their suns disappeared here in the multitude of the fixed
stars, and it seemed that the relationships that were found on a small scale
and had the character of laws, did not apply on the large scale among
the parts of the universe; the fixed stars were not given any law by which
their situations in relation to each other were restricted and they were
seen to fill all the heavens and all the heavens of heavens without any 1:248
order or intention. Ever since mankind’s desire for knowledge has placed
these limits upon itself, no one has done anything more than to deduce
from it and admire the greatness of the one who has revealed himself in
such inconceivably great works.
It was given to Herr Wright of Durham,23 an Englishman, to under-
take a fortunate step towards an observation that he does not seem to
have put to any very useful purpose and the useful application of which
he did not observe sufficiently. He regarded the fixed stars not as a disor-
derly mass distributed without any intent, but rather found a systematic
v Lehrbegriff x Weltgebäuden
w belebt
215
Natural Science
constitution in the whole and a universal relationship between these stars

and a main plane of the space they occupy.y
We shall try to improve upon the idea he advanced and to give it that
turn by which it can be productive of important consequences, the full
confirmation of which will be reserved for future times.
Anyone who looks at the sky full of stars on a clear night will be aware
of the bright band that, because of the large number of stars that are
concentrated there more than elsewhere and because of the fact that in
the enormous distances they can no longer be seen as individual stars,
exhibits a uniform light, which has been given the name of the Milky
Way. It is amazing that observers of the heavens were not moved long
ago by the nature of this noticeably different zone to adduce particular
characteristics in the position of the fixed stars from it. For it can be
seen to occupy the direction of a great circle and in an uninterrupted
connection around the entire heavens, two conditions that contain within
themselves such a precise determination and characteristics that are so
noticeably different from the vagueness of the arbitrary that attentive
astronomers ought naturally to have been inspired by this to seek an
explanation of such a phenomenon with diligence.
Because the stars are not placed on the apparently concave heavenly
sphere but rather, with one being further from our point of view than
the other, lose themselves in the depths of the heavens, it follows from
this phenomenon that at the distances in which they stand from us one
1:249 behind the other, they are not distributed in all directions arbitrarily,
but must relate principally to a particular plane that passes through our
point of view and to which they are set to be found as close as possible.
This relationship is so undoubted a phenomenon that even the remain-
ing stars that are not included in the whitish band of the Milky Way,
are nonetheless seen to be more concentrated and more dense the closer
their position is to the circle of the Milky Way, such that, of the 2,000
stars visible to the naked eye, the greater part is found in a not very wide
zone of which the Milky Way is the centre.
Now, if we think a plane drawn through the firmament in unlimited
distances and assume that all the fixed stars and systems stand in a uni-
versal relationship to this plane so that they are closer to it than to other
regions, then an eye situated in this plane of reference will perceive, in
its view into the field of stars at the concave spherical surface of the
firmament, this densest concentration of stars in the direction of such
a drawn plane in the form of a zone illuminated by much more light.
This light band will extend in the direction of a largest circle because the
position of the observer is in the plane itself. In this zone there will be a
y gegen einen Hauptplan der Räume, die sie einnehmen
216
multitude of stars which, because they are so small as to be indistinguish-

able as individual bright points and because of their apparent density,
appear as a uniform whitish shimmering, in a word, as a milky way. The
remaining heavenly array, the relationship of which to the drawn plane
gradually diminishes or which may also be closer to the standpoint of the
observer, will be perceived as more widely distributed even though still
related to this plane on account of its concentration. Finally, it follows
from this that, because from our solar systemz this system of fixed stars
is perceived in the direction of a largest circle, it is part of this very same
great plane and constitutes a system with them.
In order to delve better into the nature of the universal connection
ruling the universe,a we shall try to discover the reason why the places
of the fixed stars are related to a common plane.
The Sun does not limit the extent of its attractive force to the nar- 1:250
row region of the planetary system. To all appearances, it extends it to
infinity. The comets, which travel very far beyond the orbit of Saturn,
are forced by the attraction of the Sun to return again and to proceed
in orbits. Although, therefore, it is in the nature of a force that appears
to be incorporated into the essence of matter that it should be more
appropriate to it to be unlimited, and it really is acknowledged as such
by those who accept Newton’s laws, we want it to be admitted only that
this attraction of the Sun extends approximately to the nearest fixed star,
and that the fixed stars are efficacious to the same extent as so many suns,
so that it follows that the entire host of these is striving to draw closer to
each other by attraction; thus all the solar systemsb are in the situation
that, by unceasing and unhindered reciprocal approaching, they would
sooner or later collapse into one lump were it not that this destruction
was prevented, just as the spheres in our own planetary system are, by
forces fleeing the centre point, because they divert the heavenly bodies
from a straight fall and, together with the forces of attraction, create the
eternal orbits, as a result of which the edificec of creation is protected
from destruction and made appropriate to an unending duration.
Thus all the suns of the firmament have orbital motions either around
one universal centre point or around many. In this context, we may
use the analogy of what has been observed in the orbits of our solar
system,d namely that the same cause that has imparted centrifugal forcee
to the planets as a result of which they describe their orbits, has also
arranged them in such a way that they all relate to one plane, which is
therefore also the cause, whatever it may be, that what has given the
z Sonnenwelt c Gebäude
a Weltbau d Sonnenwelt
b Weltsysteme e Centerfliehkraft
217
Natural Science
power of rotationf,24 to the suns of the upper world, as so many moving

stars of higher orders of worlds, has, at the same time, brought their
orbits into one plane as much as possible and striven to limit deviations
therefrom.
According to this representation, the system of the fixed stars may be
described approximately by the planetary one, if the latter is extended
infinitely. Because if, instead of the six planets with their ten satellites,
we assume as many thousands of them and instead of the twenty-eight or
1:251 thirty comets that have been observed, we assume a hundred or thousand
times as many, if we think of these very bodies as self-illuminating, then
to the eye of an observer looking from the Earth, they would create the
appearance as of the fixed stars of the Milky Way. Because the planets
under consideration, through their proximity to their common plane of
reference, would exhibit for us, who are in precisely the same plane on
our Earth, a zone brightly illuminated by countless stars directed towards
the greatest circle; this bright band would be filled with plenty of stars
everywhere, even though according to the hypothesis, they would be
moving stars and thus not attached to one place, because there would
always be enough stars on one side through its displacement, even though
others had changed their place.
The width of this illuminated zone, which represents a kind of zodiac,
will be caused by the different degrees of deviation of the aforementioned
planetsg from their plane of reference and by the inclination of their
orbits towards the same surface, and because most of them are close to
this plane, their number will appear more dispersed according to the
degree of their distance from this plane, but the comets, which occupy
all regions without distinction, will cover the field of the heavens on both
sides.
The shape of the heavens of the fixed stars therefore has no other cause
than being exactly the same systematic constitution on a large scale as
the planetary system has on a small one, in that all suns make up one
system, whose universal plane of reference is the Milky Way. Those with
the least reference to this plane are seen as being to one side, but they
are less concentrated precisely because they are more widely dispersed
and rarer. They are, as it were, the comets among the suns.
This new doctrine, however, attributes to the suns a motion away
from each other, but everyone cognizes them as unmoving and fixed in
their places from the beginning. The name that was given to the fixed
stars for this reason appears to be confirmed and undoubted through
the observations of all the centuries. This difficulty would destroy the
doctrine advanced above if it were with foundation. However, to all
f Kraft der Umwendung g Irrsterne
218
appearances, this lack of motion is merely apparent.h It is either only

an exceptional slowness brought about by the great distance from the
common centrepoint of their orbit, or by its imperceptible nature on 1:252
account of the distance from the point of observation. Let us estimate the
probability of this conception by calculating the motion that a fixed star
near our Sun would have if we assume that our Sun were the centre point
of its orbit. If its radius is assumed to be more than 21,000 times greater
than the distance of the Sun from the Earth, using Huygens’ figures,
then according to the established law of the duration of orbits, which are
in the ratio of the square root of the cube of the distance from the centre,
the time it would take to complete its orbit around the Sun once would
be more than one and a half million years and this would posit a change in
its position of only one degree in 4,000 years.25 Now since perhaps only
very few fixed stars are as close to the Sun as Huygens supposed Sirius
to be, since the distance of the rest of the mass of the heavenly bodies
perhaps exceeds the latter enormously and would therefore require very
much longer times for such a periodic revolution and, furthermore, it is
more probable that the motion of the suns of the starry heavens proceeds
around a common centre point, the distance of which is uncommonly
great and the progress of the stars may therefore be extremely slow, we
can probably deduce from this that the whole time in which we have been
observing the heavens is perhaps still not sufficient to notice the changes
that have taken place in their positions. We should not, however, give up
hope that these will be discovered in time. Subtle and careful observers
as well as a comparison of widely separated observations will be required
for this. These observations would have to be directed principally at the
stars of the Milky Way,∗ which is the main plane of all motion. Herr
Bradley has observed some scarcely perceptible motions of the stars.
The Ancients noticed stars at certain points of the heavens and we see
new stars at other points. Who knows whether these were the same ones
that had merely changed position. The excellence of the tools and the
perfection of astronomy give us well-founded hope of discovering such 1:253
strange peculiarities.† The credibility of the matter itself for reasons of
nature and analogy support this hope so well that they can stimulate the
attention of researchers of nature to bring them to fulfilment.
∗ Similarly with those concentrations of stars, many of which are close to one another in
a small space, such as for example the Seven Sisters, which may perhaps constitute a
small system within a larger one.
† De la Hire 26 observes in the Mémoires of the Academy in Paris of 1693 that he has
perceived a major change in the positions of the stars in the Seven Sisters in his own
observations as well as by comparison of these with those by Ricciolus.27
h etwas Scheinbares
219
Natural Science
The Milky Way is, so to speak, also the zodiac of new stars that can be
seen first to appear and then to disappear as in almost no other region
of the heavens than in this one. When this alternation in its visibility
results from its periodic distance and proximity to us, it seems from the
systematic constitution of the stars noted above that such a phenomenon
can only be seen in the region of the Milky Way. For, as these are stars
that orbit in very oblong circles around other fixed stars as satellites
around their main planets, then the analogy with our planetary system, in
which only those heavenly bodies near the common plane have satellites
orbiting around them, requires that only the stars that are in the Milky
Way have suns orbiting around them.28
I now come to that part of the doctrine advanced that makes it most
attractive because of the sublime view it presents of the plan of creation.
The sequence of thoughts that have led me to it is short and plain. It
consists of the following. If a system of fixed stars, in which their positions
are in a common plane, such as we have sketched the Milky Way, is so
far away from us that all recognition of the individual stars of which it
consists cannot be detected even by a telescope; if its distance relative to
the distance of the stars of the Milky Way is the same as the distance of
the Sun to us – in short, if such a world of fixed stars is viewed at such an
immeasurable distance from the eye of the observer which is outside it,
1:254 then it will appear under a small angle as a minute space illuminated by
a weak light, the shape of which will be round as a circle when its plane
presents itself straight to the eye and elliptical when it is seen from the
side. The weakness of the light, the figure and the perceptible magnitude
of its diameter will clearly distinguish such a phenomenon, if it is present,
from all other stars that can be observed individually.
We need not search long for this phenomenon among the obser-
vations of the astronomers. It has been perceived clearly by various
observers. People have been surprised by its rarity; they have made
assumptions and sometimes imagined wondrous things and sometimes
given way to apparent conceptions that, however, turned out to be as
unfounded as the first. We refer here to the nebulous stars, or rather
one type of them, which Herr von Maupertius describes as follows:∗
That they are small places illuminated a little more than the dark-
ness of the empty space of the heavens, which all have in common
that they represent more or less open ellipses but whose light is
much weaker than any other that we perceive in the heavens.29
The author of astrotheology imagined that they were openings in the
firmament through which he believed he could see the fiery heavens.30
A philosopher of more enlightened insights, the Herr von Maupertius
∗ Treatise on the figure of stars.
220
already mentioned, regards them, on the basis of their shape and know-
able diameters, as amazingly large heavenly bodies which, viewed from
the side, exhibit elliptical shapes because of the great flattening caused
by the rotational motion.i
It is easy to see that this latter explanation cannot be true either.
Because this kind of nebulous star must without doubt be at least as
distant from us as the other fixed stars, not only would their size be
astounding, since it would exceed that of the largest stars by many
thousands of times, but it would be most strange that, given that they
are self-illuminating bodies and suns, they would show the dullest and
weakest light with this extraordinary size.
It is much more natural and conceivable that these are not single stars
of such size, but systems of many stars, whose distance from us exhibits 1:255
them as being in so narrow a space that the light, which is imperceptible
from each one individually, becomes a uniform pale shimmering with
their immeasurable number. The analogy with the solar system in which
we exist, its shape which is just as it must be according to our theory,
the weakness of the light, which requires us to presuppose an infinite
distance: all this is in agreement with holding the elliptical figures to be
the same solar systems and, so to speak, Milky Ways, the constitution
of which we have just developed; and if presumptions in which analogy
and observation correspond to support each other completely have the
same value as formal proofs, then we will have to regard the certainty of
these systems as proved.31
Now the attention of the observers of the heavens has enough moti-
vation to occupy themselves with this suggestion. The fixed stars, as we
know, all relate to a common plane and thus constitute an orderly whole,
which is a world of worlds. One can see that in the immeasurable dis-
tances, there are more such star systems, and that creation in the entire
infinite scope of its size is everywhere systematic and interrelated.
One could also speculate that these higher orders of worlds are not
without connection to one another and that, through this mutual rela-
tionship, they constitute in turn an even more immeasurable system.
Indeed, it can be seen that the elliptical figures of this type of nebulous
star adduced by Herr von Maupertius are very closely related to the plane
of the Milky Way. A vast field is open here to discoveries, for which the
key must be provided by observation. Those stars that are called nebu-
lous and those about which there is argument would have to be examined
and tested in terms of this doctrine. If the parts of nature are observed
according to intentionsj and a discovered plan, certain properties are
revealed that would otherwise be overlooked and remain hidden if our
observation is spread over all objects without any guidance.
i Drehungsschwunge j Absichten
221
Natural Science
The theory we have put forward opens a perspective onto the infinite
1:256 field of creation for us and presents some inkling of God’s work that is
appropriate to the infinitude of the great architect.k If the magnitude of
a planetary system in which the Earth is as a grain of sand and scarcely
noticeable puts our reason into a state of wonderment, then with what
amazement are we delighted when we contemplate the infinite multitude
of worlds and systems that constitute the sum total of the Milky Way; but
how much does this amazement increase when one becomes aware that
all these immeasurable orders of stars in turn are the unit of a number
whose end we do not know, and which is perhaps just as inconceivably
great as these and yet is in turn only the unit of a new combination
of numbers. We see the first members of a progressive relationship of
worlds and systems, and the first part of this infinite progression already
gives us to understand what we can suppose about the whole. There is
no end here but rather an abyss of a true immeasurability into which
all capacity of human concepts sinks even if it is raised with the help of
mathematics. The wisdom, the goodness, the power that has revealed
itself, is infinite and in the same measure fruitful and industrious; the plan
of its revelation must for that reason be as infinite and without limits as
it is.
Important discoveries that serve to extend the idea we have of the
magnitude of creation are, however, to be made not only on the large
scale of things. On the smaller scale there is no less that is as yet undis-
covered, and we see even in our solar system the parts of a system that are
immeasurably distant from each other and between which the interme-
diate parts have not yet been discovered. Should there not be between
Saturn, the outermost of the planets we know, and the least eccentric
comet, which come down to us from a perhaps ten or more times greater
distance, any other planet whose motion is closer to the cometic one than
to that of Saturn? And should there not be still others that change the
planets gradually into comets through a convergence of their determi-
nations by means of a series of intermediate links, and the latter type be
connected to the former?
The law according to which the eccentricity of the planetary orbits is
inversely proportional to its distance from the Sun supports this assump-
1:257 tion. The eccentricity in the motions of the planets increases with their
distance from the Sun and the remote planets thus come closer to the
properties of the comets. It is therefore to be assumed that there will be
other planets beyond Saturn, which, being even more eccentric and thus
more closely related to comets, will ultimately, by a continuous ladder,
turn them into comets. The eccentricity of Venus is 1/126th of half the
axis of its elliptical orbit, that of the Earth is 1/58th, of Jupiter 1/20th
k Werkmeister
222
and of Saturn 1/17th; it therefore evidently increases with the distances.

It is true that Mercury and Mars are exceptions to this law because their
eccentricity is much greater than the measure of their distance from
the Sun permits, but we shall learn in what follows that precisely the
same cause why some planets were granted a smaller mass at their for-
mation also resulted in a lack of the tangential forcel necessary for an
orbital motion, consequently in eccentricity, consequently has left them
incomplete in both these respects.
As a result, is it not probable that the decrease32 in the eccentricity
of the heavenly bodies immediately beyond Saturn should be just as
moderate as it is in the closer ones, and that the planets, because of less
sudden decreases,m are related to the class of comets? For it is certain that
precisely this eccentricity constitutes the essential difference between
comets and planets and that their tails and nebulous spheres are merely a
consequence thereof; similarly it is certain that the same cause, whatever
it may be, that has given the heavenly bodies their orbits, was not only
weaker at greater distances to make the tangential forcen equal to the
sinking forceo and has thus left the motions eccentric, but was for that
reason also less able to bring the orbits of these spheres to a common
plane on which the lower ones move and has thus brought about the
deviation of the comets in all directions.
According to this assumption, we might perhaps still have hopes
for the discovery of new planets beyond Saturn that would be more
eccentric than and thus closer to the cometic property; but for just this
reason we would be able to see it for only a brief time, namely in the
time of its perihelion, which circumstance, together with the low degree 1:258
of approach and the weakness of the light, has so far prevented their
discovery and must make it difficult in the future as well. The last planet
and the first comet could, if people so wished, be called that one whose
eccentricity would be so great that in its perihelion it would transect
the orbit of the planet closest to it, perhaps, therefore, that of Saturn.
l Schwunges n Drehungsschwung
m Abfälle o Senkungskraft
223
Universal 1:259
Natural History and Theory of the Heavens
Part Two
On the first state of nature, the formation of the
heavenly bodies, the causes of their motion and
their systematic relations within the planetary
structure in particular as well as in respect of the
whole of creation
See plastic Nature working to this end,

The single atoms each to other tend.
Attract, attracted to, the next in place,
Formed and impelled its neighbour to embrace,
See Matter next, with various life endu’d,
Press to one centre still.
Pope.33
1:261 Universal
part two.
chapter one.
Concerning the origin of the planetary systemp as such and the
causes of its motions.
Observation of the universe shows, in consideration of the changed rela-
tionships its parts have to one another and by which they show the cause
from which they originate, two sides that are both equally probable and
acceptable. If, on the one hand, we consider that six planets with ten
satellites describe orbits around the Sun as their centre and all of them
move towards one side, namely that side to which the Sun itself turns,
which rules over all their orbits through the force of its attraction, that
the orbits do not deviate far from a common plane, namely that of the
extended equator of the suns, that in the case of the heavenly bodies most
distant but still belonging to our solar system, where the common cause
of the motion, according to what we can assume, was not as powerful as
it was near the centre, deviations from those precise determinations took
place that have a sufficient relation to the lack of impressed motion, if,
as I say, we consider all these connections: then we are moved to believe
that one cause, whatever it may be, has had a pervasive influence in the
entire space of the system, and that the unity in the direction and posi-
1:262 tion of the planetary orbits is a consequence of the agreement they all
must have had with the material cause by which they were set in motion.
On the other hand, if we consider the space in which the planets of
our system orbit, it is completely empty∗ and deprived of any matter
that might bring about a community of influence on these heavenly
bodies and the agreement among their motions. This circumstance has
been established with complete certainty and exceeds, if possible, the
previous probability. Persuaded by this reason, Newton could not allow
any material cause that would maintain the community of motions by
extending it into the realm of the planetary system. He asserted that the
∗ I am here not examining whether this space can be called empty in the most proper
sense. For here it suffices to note that all matter that might be encountered in this space
is far too powerless to have any influence on the moved masses at issue.
p Weltbau
226
direct hand of God had arranged this order without the application of
the forces of nature.
An impartial examination shows that the reasons are equally strong
on both sides and both are to be regarded as being completely certain.
However, it is just as clear that there must be a concept in which these
apparently mutually conflicting reasons can and should be united and
that we may seek the true system in this new concept. We propose to
indicate it briefly. In the current constitution of space, in which the
spheres of the entire world of planets orbit, there is no material cause
that could impress or direct their motions. This space is completely
empty or at least as good as empty; therefore it must once have been
constituted differently and been filled with matter sufficiently power-
ful to transmit motion onto all the heavenly bodies contained in it and
to make it consonant with its own and thus with that of all the others,
and after the attraction had purified all the above-mentioned spaces and
assembled all the dispersed matter in particular lumps, the planets, with
the motions once impressed on them, must then continue their orbits
freely and unchanged in a non-resisting space. The reasons for the prob- 1:263
ability first proposed certainly require this concept, and because there
is no third possibility between these two cases, it may be regarded with
an excellent kind of approval that elevates it above the appearance of a
hypothesis. One might, if one wished to be expansive, ultimately arrive
at the framework I propose to present of the origin of the universeq
by pursuing on one’s own a series of conclusions following from one
another in the way of a mathematical method with all the splendour this
involves and with even greater lustre than the presentation of physical
matters generally tends to display; however I would prefer to present
my opinions in the form of a hypothesis and leave it to the insight of
the reader to examine their worthiness rather than to make their validity
suspect by the illusion of a fallacious argument and, by convincing the
ignorant, to lose the approval of the experts.
I assume that when all matter of which the spheres that constitute our
solar system, all the planets and comets, consist, was dissolved into its
elementary basic material at the beginning of all things, it occupied the
entire space of the universer in which these formed bodies now orbit.
This state of nature, even if one considers it in and for itself without
regard to any system, appears to be the simplest that could follow upon
nothingness. At that time, nothing had formed yet. The arrangement
of heavenly bodies distant from one another, their distance moderated
by attraction, and their shape that derives from the equilibrium of the
assembled matter, are a later state. Nature as it bordered directly on
q Weltgebäude r Weltgebäude
227
Natural Science
creation, was as raw, as unformed as possible. However, even in the

essential properties of the elements that make up chaos, the characteristic
of that perfection can be felt that they have from their origin, in that
their essence is a consequence of the eternal idea of divine reason. The
simplest, the most universal properties that appear to have been designed
without any intention, matter that seems to be merely passive and in need
of forms and arrangement, has, in its simplest state, an endeavour to form
itself into a more perfect state by a natural development. However, the
difference in the kinds of elements contributes the greatest part to the
1:264 regulation of nature and the formation from chaos by which the state of
rest that would prevail under a universal equality among the dispersed
elements, is eliminated and the chaos in the points of the more strongly
attracting particles begins to form. The species of this basic material are
without doubt infinitely varied judging by the immeasurability nature
shows in all directions. For that reason, those with the greatest specific
density and attractive force, which, on their own, occupy less space and
are also less common, will, with the same distribution throughout the
space of the world, be more widely dispersed than the lighter types.
Elements of 1,000 times greater specific mass are a thousand, perhaps
a million times more dispersed than those lighter by the same measure.
And since these gradations have to be thought of as being as infinite as
possible, the former type of dispersed elements will be distant by a so
much greater distance from one another as the latter, just as there can
be bodily constituents of one type that exceeds another in density in the
same measure as a sphere that has been described with the radius of the
solar system does another that has a diameter of one thousandth of a
line.34
In a space filled in such a way, universal rest lasts only a moment. The
elements have essential forces to put each other into motion and they are
a source of life for themselves. Matter immediately endeavours to form
itself. The dispersed elements of the denser type collect all the matter
of lesser specific weight from a sphere around themselves by means of
attraction, but they themselves, together with the matter they have united
within themselves, collect at those points where particles of even greater
density are found, and these collect in the same way at yet denser ones
and so forth. By following this self-forming nature in thought through
the entire space of chaos, one will easily realize that all consequences
of this activity would ultimately consist of the composition of various
lumps, which would, after they had completed their formation, remain
at rest and eternally unmoving because of the equality of attraction.
Nature, however, has still other forces in store which are expressed
primarily when matter is dissolved into its particles, by which forces
1:265 they can repel one another and, by their conflict with the attractive
force, bring about that motion that is, as it were, a continuous life in
228
nature.35 Through this repulsive force, which is revealed in the elasticity

of vapours, in the emission of strong-smelling bodies, and in the disper-
sion of all spirituous matter, and which is an undisputed phenomenon of
nature, the elements descending to their attraction points are deflected
from the straight line of their motion to one side, and the vertical descent
ultimately changes into orbital motions encompassing the centre point
of the descent.36 In order to understand clearly the formation of the
universe,s we shall now limit our observation from the infinite sum total
of nature to one particular system, such as the one belonging to our Sun.
After we have considered its creation, we shall proceed in a similar man-
ner to the origin of the higher world orders and be able to summarize
the infinity of the whole of creation in one doctrine.
If, accordingly, in a very large space, there is one point at which
the attraction of the elements present there has a greater effect than
elsewhere around it, then the basic materialt of the elementary parti-
cles dispersed all around will descend to this point. The first effect of
this universal descent is the formation of a body in this centre point
of attraction, which grows, so to speak, from an infinitely small seed
in rapid steps,37 but at precisely the same rate as this mass increases, it
also moves the surrounding particles with greater force to unite with it.
When the mass of this central body has grown to the extent that the
velocity with which it attracts the particles from great distances, is bent
sideways by the weak degrees of repulsion by which the particles hin-
der each other, and changes into sideways motions that are capable of
encompassing the central body in a circle through centrifugal force,u
then great eddies of particles are created, each of which describes its
own curved line as a result of the combination of attractive force and
the turning force directed sideways, which types of orbits all intersect
each other, for which their great dispersion in this space gives them
room.38 These motions that are in conflict with one another in many
ways, however, naturally strive to bring themselves into line with each
other, that is, into a state in which one motion is as little hindrance to the
other as possible. This occurs, firstly, by the particles of one restricting 1:266
the motion of the other until they are all moving in the same direction;
secondly, that the particles restrict their vertical motion, by which they
approach the centre of attraction until they are all as it were horizontal,
that is, moving in parallel orbits with the Sun as the centre point until
they no longer traverse each other and maintain themselves eternally in
free orbits at the height at which they hover because of the equality of
the tangential forcev with the descending force, so that ultimately only
s Weltbau u Centerfliehkraft
t Grundstoff v Schwungskraft
229
Natural Science
those particles remain floating in the area of the space that have attained
a speed through their descent and, through the resistance of the others,
a direction such that they can continue a free orbital motion.39 In this
state, where all particles move in one direction and in parallel circles,
namely in free orbital motion around the central body by means of the
tangential forcesw they have attained, the conflict and the convergence
of the elements is resolved and everything is in the state of least inter-
action. This is the natural result into which matter, in all cases when
it is involved in conflicting motions, is placed. It is clear therefore that
of the dispersed particles a large number must arrive at such precise
determinations by the resistance through which they seek to bring one
another to this state, although an even much greater number does not
arrive at it and merely serves to augment the lump of the central body
into which they descend, since they cannot freely maintain themselves at
the height at which they hover, but they transect the circles of the lower
ones and finally lose all motion through their resistance. This body at
the centre point of attraction, which according to the above has become
the main piece of the planetary structure through the quantity of its col-
lected matter, is the Sun, even though at that time it does not yet have
the flaming heat that breaks out upon its surface after its formation is
entirely complete.
It should be noted further that, since all the elements of self-forming
nature are thus, as proved above, moving in one direction around the
centre point of the Sun, in such orbits directed to a single region that run
on a single common axis as it were, the rotation of fine matter cannot
continue in this manner, because in accordance with the laws of central
1:267 motion, all orbits must transect the centre point of attraction with the
plane of their orbits, but among all these orbits running in one direction
around a common axis, there is only one that transects the centre point
of the Sun, for which reason all matter rushes from both sides of this
axis drawn in thought to that circle which goes through the axis of the
rotation exactly in the centre point of the common descent. Which circle
is the plane of reference of all the floating elements, around which they
accumulate as much as possible and leave the regions distant from this
area empty; for those that cannot come so close to the area to which
everything is crowding, will not always be able to maintain themselves
in the places where they hover, but rather will bring about their ultimate
fall to the Sun by bumping into the elements floating around.
If, therefore, one considers this basic materialx of the universey float-
ing around in such a state into which it places itself by attraction and
by the mechanical result of the general laws of resistance, then we see a
w Schwungskräfte y Weltmaterie
x Grundstoff
230
space contained between two areas not far removed from one another,
in the middle of which there is the general plane of reference, spread
out from the centre point of the Sun into unknown distances, in which
all the included particles, each according to its height and the attrac-
tion prevalent there, carry out measured circular motions in free orbits
and thus, since in this state they hinder each other as little as possible
anymore, would always remain in that state, if the attraction of these
particles of the basic material among each other did not begin to have
its effect and bring about new formations which are the seeds of planets
that are to come into being. For since the elements moving around the
Sun in parallel circles, taken in not too great a difference of their dis-
tance from the Sun, are almost at rest in respect to each other because
of the equality of their parallel motion, the pull of the elements found
there immediately has a considerable effect,∗ through superior specific
attraction, of beginning the accumulation of the next particles for the 1:268
formation of a body, which extends its attraction in accordance with the
degree of the growth of its lump and moves the elements from a large
distance to constitute it.
The formation of the planets in this system has this advantage over
any other possible doctrine: that the origin of the masses also represents
the origin of the motions and the position of the orbits at one and the
same time; indeed, that even the deviations from the greatest precision
in these determinations, as well as the agreements, are revealed from
one perspective. The planets are formed out of particles that have pre-
cise motions as circular orbitsz at the height at which they hover: thus
the masses that are constituted by them will continue exactly the
same motions in exactly the same degree in exactly the same direc-
tion. This is sufficient to have insight into why the motion of the planets
is approximately circular in form and their orbits are on one plane. Indeed
they would be completely precise circles† if the distance out of which they
∗ The beginning of forming planets cannot be sought in Newtonian attraction alone. In

the case of a small particle of such exceptional fineness, it would be too slow and too
weak. One would rather say that in this space, the first formation would occur through
the flowing together of some elements which unite according to the ordinary laws of
combination, until the lump that resulted from it has gradually grown so much that
Newtonian attractive force would enable it to become ever larger through its activity
in the distance.
† The measured orbital motion actually affects only the planets near the Sun: for at the
great distances where the furthest planets or even the comets were formed, it can easily
be supposed that because the descending motion of the basic material is much weaker
there, the enormity of the spaces in which they are dispersed is also greater, the elements
there deviate by themselves from the circular motion and thus must be the cause of the
bodies formed from them.
z Zirkelkreisen
231
Natural Science
accumulate the elements for their formation were very small and the dif-
ferences in their motions were thus very slight. But since for this it is
necessary for there to be a wide circumference to form a dense lump of
a planet out of the fine basic matter that is so very much dispersed in
the heavens: thus the difference between the distances of these elements
from the Sun and thus also the difference between their velocities is no
longer insignificant, so that it would be necessary that, in order for the
equality of the central forces and the circular velocity to be maintained
for the planets with this difference between the motions, the particles
1:269 that accumulate on it from different levels with different motions, would
replace the deficits of each other precisely, which, though it in fact hap-
pens fairly precisely,∗ nonetheless, since there is something missing in
this complete replacement, affects the decline of the orbital motions and
the eccentricity. It is equally clear that, even though the orbits of all the
planets really ought to be in one plane, we do nonetheless encounter a
slight deviation in this because, as already mentioned, the elementary
particles, since they are as close as possible to the general maintenance
plane of their motions, nonetheless include some space on either side
of it; since it would then be altogether too great a coincidence if all the
planets were to begin forming exactly in the centre between these two
sides in the plane of the relation, which would already cause some incli-
nation of their orbits towards each other, even though the endeavour of
the particles to limit this deviation as much as possible from both sides,
allows it only narrow limits. One should therefore not be surprised to
come upon the most precise determinations here no more than in all
things of nature because in general the large number of different cir-
cumstances that form part of any aspect of nature does not permit a
measured regularity.
chapter two.
Concerning the varying density of the planets and the ratios of
their masses.
We have shown that the particles of the elementary basic material, since
they were, considered by themselves, equally dispersed throughout
the universe, have, through their descent towards the Sun, remained
hovering in those places where the velocity they attained in their fall was
1:270 equal to the attractive force and thus their direction was deflected verti-
cally against the orbital ray such as it should be with an orbital motion.
∗ For the particles from the region nearer the Sun, which have a greater orbital velocity
than is required where they accumulate on the planet, replace the velocity that is lacking
in the particles further from the Sun that are incorporated into the same body, in order
to move in a circular manner at the distance of the planet.
232
However, if we now consider particles of differential specific density at

the same distance from the Sun, then those of greater specific weight
penetrate further through the resistance of the others to the Sun and
are not deflected as quickly from their path as the lighter ones, with the
result that their motion becomes circular only with a greater proximity
to the Sun. The elements of the lighter kind, by contrast, which are more
readily deflected from the straight line of their fall, will change into
orbital motions before they have penetrated so deeply to the centre, and
will thus remain hovering at greater distances, and cannot penetrate so
far through the filled space of the elements without their motion
through these being weakened by their resistance and they are unable
to achieve the high degree of velocity required for orbiting closer to the
centre;40 thus, after the equality of the motions has been attained, the
specifically lighter particles will orbit at greater distances from the Sun,
while the heavier ones will be found at closer distances and the planets
formed by them will therefore be of a denser kind and closer to the Sun
than those forming themselves out of the accumulation of those atoms
further from it.
It is thus a kind of a static law that determines the heights of the
matter of the universe in inverse ratio to their density. Even so it is
just as easy to comprehend that any height need not admit only parti-
cles of the same specific density. Of the particles of a certain specific
type, those that have descended to their orbit from greater distances,
remain hovering at greater distances from the Sun and attain the mod-
eration of their descent necessary for a constant orbit at a greater dis-
tance, while those whose original position was nearer the Sun at the
universal distribution of matter in the chaos will come closer to the
Sun for their orbit, even if they are not necessarily denser. And there-
fore since the positions of the materials in respect of the centre point
of their descent are determined not only by their specific weight but
also by their original positions in the first state of rest in nature, it is
easy to consider that their very different types will come together at any 1:271
given distance from the Sun, remaining hanging41 there, but that gener-
ally the denser matter will be encountered closer to the centre point than
further from it, and that therefore, even though the planets will be a mix-
ture of very different matters, their masses must be altogether denser the
closer they are to the Sun, and of lower density the greater their distance
from it.
In consideration of this law of the density of planets, our system shows
an excellent perfection compared to all those concepts people have had,
or might yet have, about their cause. Newton, who had established the
density of some planets through calculation, believed he had found the
cause of their ratio arranged according to distance in the propriety of
God’s choice and in the motivations of his final purpose: because the
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planets closer to the Sun have to tolerate greater heat from it and the
more distant ones have to manage with fewer degrees of warmth, which
appears not to be possible if the planets closer to the Sun were not
of a denser kind and the more distant ones not composed of lighter
matter.42 However, it does not take a great deal of reflection to have
insight into the inadequacy of such an explanation. A planet, for instance
our Earth, is composed of very greatly differing types of matter; among
these it was necessary that the lighter ones, which are penetrated more
and moved by the same effect of the Sun and whose composition has a
ratio to the warmth by which its rays have their effect, had to be spread
out on the surface; but it does not follow from this that the mixture of
the other matter in the whole of the lump must have the same ratio;
since the Sun has no effect upon the inside of the planet at all. Newton
feared that if the Earth were lowered into the rays of the Sun as far
as the distance of Mercury, it would burn like a comet and its matter
would not have sufficient resistance to fire not to be dispersed by this
heat. But how much more would the matter of the Sun itself, which is
four times lighter than that of which the Earth consists, be destroyed
by this heat, or why is the Moon twice as dense as the Earth when it
orbits at the same distance from the Sun? Thus one cannot ascribe the
1:272 proportionate densities to their relation to the Sun’s warmth without
involving oneself in the greatest contradictions. Rather one will see that
a cause that distributes the positions of the planets according to the
density of their lumps, would have to have a ratio to the interior of
its matter and not the surface; regardless of this consequence which it
determined, it must also allow a difference in the matter in that same
heavenly body and establish this relationship of density only in terms of
the whole of the composition; and I leave it to the insight of the reader
to judge whether there is any law of statics other than that advanced in
our doctrines that will do justice to all of this.
The ratio of the densities of the planets involves another issue that
confirms the correctness of our doctrine by way of the complete cor-
respondence with the explanation outlined earlier. That heavenly body
that stands at the centre of other spheres orbiting around it is usually of
a lighter kind than the body orbiting next to it. The Earth in relation
to the Moon and the Sun in relation to the Earth evince such a ratio
of their densities. According to the conception we have presented, this
is a necessary state of affairs. For, since the lower planets were formed
mainly from the remainders of elementary matter, which by the advan-
tage of its density have been able to make their way to such a proximity
to the centre point with the requisite degree of velocity, whereas the
body at the centre point itself has been piled together without any dif-
ference out of the materials of all available types which have not attained
234
their motion in accordance with law,a among which since the lighter
materials constitute the largest proportion, it is easy to see that, because
the heavenly body, or bodies, orbiting nearest to the centre point con-
tains within itself as it were a separation of denser types, while the central
body contains an undifferentiated mixture, the former will be of a denser
kind than the latter. In fact, the Moon is twice as dense as the Earth and
the Earth is four times denser than the Sun, which, according to what
we can suppose, will be surpassed in yet greater degrees of density by
the still lower planets, Venus and Mercury.43
We now turn our attention to the ratio that the masses of the heav-
enly bodies ought to have according to our doctrine in comparison to 1:273
their distances in order to test the result of our system against Newton’s
infallible calculations. We do not need many words to make it compre-
hensible that the central body must always be the main part of its system
and that therefore the Sun must be much greater in mass than all the
planets, just as this will apply to Jupiter in relation to its satellites and to
Saturn in relation to its own. The central body is formed from the precip-
itation of all the particles out of the entire area of its sphere of attraction,
which have not been able to obtain the most precise determination of
the orbital motion and the close relationship to the common plane and
of which there must be a very much greater number than the latter. To
apply this observation primarily to the Sun: if we were to wish to estimate
the extent of the space by which the orbiting particles that served the
planets as their basic matter have deviated from the common plane at
the furthest point, then we may assume it to be approximately somewhat
larger than the extent of the greatest deviation of the planetary orbits
from one another. Now, however, their greatest inclination towards one
another, when they deviate in both directions from the common plane,
is hardly seven and a half degrees. We can therefore represent all the
matter from which the planets were formed as having been dispersed
in that space which was between two surfaces encompassing an angle of
seven and a half degrees from the perspective of the centre point of the
Sun. Now, a zone of seven and a half degrees breadth in the direction of
the greatest orbit is a little more than one seventeenth part of the surface
area of the sphere, that is, the physical space between the two planes that
excise the spheroidal space in the size of the aforementioned angle is
somewhat more than one seventeenth part of the physical content of the
whole sphere. According to this hypothesis, therefore, all the matter that
was required for the formation of the planets, constitutes approximately
one seventeenth part of that matter which the Sun has accumulated from
both sides for its composition from the distance of the outermost planet.
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This central body, however, has an advantage of the lump as against the
total content of all planets which is not in a ratio of 17:1, but of 650 to 1,
as determined by Newton’s calculations;44 but it is also easy to see that in
1:274 the higher spaces above Saturn, where planetary formations either cease
or are rare, where only a few cometic bodies have formed,45 and where
primarily the motions of the basic matter, in that they are not suited
to attaining that equality of the central powers governed by the laws of
nature, as in the areas close to the centre, precipitate only an almost uni-
versal descent to the centre point and supplement the Sun with all the
matter from such widely distributed spaces that, I say, for these reasons
the lump of the Sun would have to reach such a particularly large size of
mass.
However, to compare the planets in respect of their masses, we note
firstly that, in accordance with the method of formation shown above,
the quantity of matter in the composition of a planet depends on its
distance from the Sun: 1) because the Sun limits the sphere of attraction
of a planet by its own attraction, but it does not limit the more distant
ones as much as the closer ones under the same circumstances; 2) because
the orbits from which all the particles have accumulated to constitute a
more distant planet are described by a larger radius, that is, more basic
matter than is contained in the smaller orbits; 3) because for the reason
just given, the width between the two planes of the largest deviation is
greater at greater heights at the same number of degrees than in smaller
ones. By contrast, this advantage of the more distant planets compared
to the closer ones is limited by the fact that the particles closer to the
Sun will be of a more dense kind and, by all appearances, less spread out
than those at a great distance; it is, however, easy to appreciate that the
former advantages for the formation of large masses nonetheless greatly
surpass the latter limitations and that altogether, the planets that form
at a great distance from the Sun must receive greater masses than those
closer. This, then, takes place insofar as we imagine the formation of a
planet only in the presence of the Sun; but if we have several planets form
at varying distances, then one will limit the extent of the attraction of
the other by its sphere of attraction, and this creates an exception to the
above law. For that planet which is close to another of exceptional mass,
1:275 will lose a great deal of the sphere of its formation and thus become
much smaller than the ratio of its distance from the Sun alone would
require. Although, therefore, in general the planets are of greater mass
the further they are from the Sun, as altogether Saturn and Jupiter, the
two main elements of our system, are in fact the largest because they are
most distant from the Sun, there are nonetheless departures from this
analogy, in which however the characteristic of the general formation,
which we assert for all heavenly bodies, shines forth at all times: namely
that a planet of exceptional size will deprive those planets nearest to it on
236
both sides of the mass that would be due to them because of their distance
from the Sun, by absorbing part of the matter that should have belonged
to their formation. In fact, Mars, which should be larger than the Earth
given its position, has lost some of its mass through the attractive force
of Jupiter which is so large and close to it; and Saturn itself, even though
it has an advantage over Mars on account of its distance, has not been
entirely free from suffering a considerable loss from Jupiter’s attraction,
and it seems to me that Mercury owes the exceptional smallness of its
mass not only to the attraction of the mighty Sun so close to it, but also
to the proximity of Venus, which, if we were to compare its density with
its size, must be a planet of considerable mass.
Now since everything fits together in as excellent a manner as one
might wish to confirm the adequacy of a mechanical doctrine at the ori-
gin of the universe and the heavenly bodies, we will now, by estimating
the space in which the basic matter of the planets was spread before their
formation, consider to what degree of thinness this intermediate space
was then filled, and with what freedom, or with how few hindrances, the
floating particles were able to behave in it according to the laws of their
motion. If the space that encompassed all the matter of the planets was
contained in that part of the sphere of Saturn which, viewed from the
centre point of the Sun, was encompassed between two planes separated
from each other at all heights by seven degrees and was therefore one sev-
enteenth part of the whole sphere that one can describe with the radius
of the height of Saturn, then, to calculate the thinness of the planetary 1:276
basic matter when it filled this space, we will assume the height of Saturn
to be only 100,000 diameters of the Earth; therefore the whole sphere
of the orbit of Saturn will exceed the volume of the Earth’s sphere 1000
billion46 times,47 of which, if we assume only a twentieth instead of a
seventeenth part, the space in which the elementary basic material hov-
ered, must still exceed the volume of the Earth’s sphere 50 billion times.
Now if we assume with Newton that the mass of all the planets and their
satellites is 1/650 of that of the Sun, then the ratio of the Earth, which
is only 1/169282 of it, to the total mass of all planetary matter is 1 to
276 1/2, and if one were then to bring all this matter to the same specific
density of the Earth, a body would be created that would occupy a space
277 1/2 times that of the Earth. If, therefore, we assume the density
of the Earth in its entire lump to be not much greater than the
density of the firm matter we find under the topmost surface, as the
properties of the figure of the Earth require, and assume that these
upper materials are approximately 4 to 5 times denser than water and
water 1,000 times heavier than air,48 then the matter of all planets, if it
were spread out to the thinness of the air, would occupy a space almost
14 times a hundred thousand times greater than the Earth. This space,
compared with the space in which, according to our assumption, all the
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matter of the planets was spread out, is thirty million times smaller:
therefore the dispersion of the matter of the planets in this space also
constitutes a thinning as many times greater than that which the par-
ticles of our atmosphere have. In fact, this magnitude of dispersion, as
incredible as it may seem, was neither unnecessary nor unnatural. It had
to be as great as possible to permit all freedom of motion to the hover-
ing particles almost as though they were in empty space, and to reduce
infinitely the resistance they can offer to each other, but they were also
able to take on such a state of thinning by themselves, which one may
not doubt if one knows a little of the expansion that matter suffers when
it is transformed into vapours, or if, to remain with the heavens, one
1:277 considers the thinning of matter in the tails of comets, which, despite so
enormous a thickness of their cross-section, which probably exceeds the
diameter of the Earth a hundred times, are nonetheless so transparent
that small stars can be seen through them,49 which our air does not per-
mit when it is illuminated by the Sun at a height that is many thousand
times smaller.
I shall conclude this chapter by adding an analogy which, all by itself,
is able to raise the present theory of the mechanical formation of the
heavenly bodies from the probability of a hypothesis to a certainty. If
the Sun is made up of the particles of the same basic material of which
the planets have constituted themselves, and if the only difference lies
in the fact that in the former the matter of all types has been gathered
without any differentiation, while in the latter they have been distributed
at various distances in accordance with the constitution of the density
of their varieties by their very own attractive forces,50 and so if the mat-
ter of all the planets together is considered in its entire distribution, a
density will have to emerge which is almost equivalent to the density of
the Sun’s body. Now this necessary consequence of our system finds a
fortunate confirmation in the comparison that Herr von Buffon,51 that
so deservedly famous philosopher, has proposed between the densities of
the entire planetary matter and of the suns; he found a similarity between
the two of them that was 640 to 650. If the necessary consequences that
result from a doctrine in a non-artificial way are confirmed by the actual
relations in nature, then can we believe that mere arbitrariness has caused
this agreement between theory and observation?
chapter three.
On the eccentricity of the planetary orbits and the
origin of comets.
It is not possible to create a special type of heavenly bodies out of the
comets that is entirely distinct from the family of planets. Nature acts
238
here, as elsewhere, through imperceptible gradations, and, by passing 1:278

through all stages of change, it connects the distant properties to the
closer ones by means of a chain of links. Eccentricity in the planets is a
consequence of the deficiency in that effort by which nature strives to
make the planetary motions like a circle, which, however, it can never
attain completely because various circumstances get in the way, but from
which it deviates more at greater distances than at smaller ones.
This determination leads, through all possible stages of eccentric-
ity, via a continuous ladder from the planets finally to the comets and
although this connection appears to be severed at Saturn by a great
chasm, which completely separates the cometic family from the planets,
we did note in the first part that there may well be other planets beyond
Saturn, which approach the orbits of the comets more closely by a greater
deviation from the circular nature of the orbits, and that it is only as a
result of a lack of observation, or of the difficulty of observation, that
this relationship is not just as visible to the eye as it has been shown to
be for the understanding.
In the first chapter of this part we already cited one cause that may
make eccentric the orbit of a heavenly body that is formed from the basic
material hovering about, even if one assumes that this possesses in all of
its places forces that correspond exactly to circular motion. For, since
the planet gathers them from heights that are very distant from each
other where the velocities of the orbits are different, they encounter
it with different degrees of inherent orbital motion that deviate from
the degree of velocity appropriate to the distance of the planet and in
this way give it an eccentricity to the extent that these varying impres-
sions of the particles are unable to replace completely one another’s
deviation.
If the eccentricity had no other cause, then it would be moderate
everywhere: it would be less in planets that are smaller and more distant
from the Sun than in those that are closer and larger: that is, if one were to
assume that the particles of the basic material really did previously have
precisely circular motions. Now, as these conditions do not correspond 1:279
to observation in that, as already noted, the eccentricity increases with
the distance from the Sun, and the smallness of the masses appears rather
to constitute an exception to the increase, as we see in the case of Mars,
so we are forced to restrict the hypothesis of the precise circular motion
of the particles of the basic material in such a way that we admit that they
come very close to this precise determination in those regions close to
the Sun but deviate from it more the further these elementary particles
have floated away from the Sun. Moderating the principle of free circular
motion of the basic material in this way is more appropriate to nature.
For, irrespective of the thinness of space that seems to leave them the
freedom to limit each other to the point of a perfectly balanced equality
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of central forces, the causes, nonetheless, are no less considerable to

prevent this purpose of nature from reaching its fulfilment. The further
the dispersed parts of the original material are distant from the Sun, the
weaker the force that causes it to descend: The resistance of the lower
parts, which are to bend their fall sidewards and force it to arrange its
direction horizontally to the orbital ray, is reduced to the extent that
these sink away from under it, either to become incorporated into the
Sun, or to begin orbits in closer regions. The specific eminent lightness
of this higher matter does not permit them to arrange the falling motion
that is the ground of everything with the pressure that is required to
cause the resisting particles to give way; and perhaps that these distant
particles limit one another and finally reach this uniformity after a long
period: thus, small masses have already formed as the beginnings of so
many heavenly bodies which, because they condense out of weakly moved
matter, have only an eccentric motion by which they sink towards the
Sun and in so doing are increasingly bent away from a vertical fall by
incorporating faster moving particles, but ultimately do remain comets
when those spaces in which they have formed have become purified
and empty by descending to the Sun or by condensing into separate
lumps. This is the cause of the eccentricity of the planets increasing with
1:280 their distance from the Sun and of those heavenly bodies that are called
comets because they greatly exceed the former in this property. It is
true that there are still two exceptions that violate the law of eccentricity
increasing with the distance from the Sun, and these may be observed
with the two smallest planets of our system, Mars and Mercury; but in
the case of the former, the cause is presumably the proximity of the great
Jupiter, which, because it deprives Mars of the particles for its formation
by its attraction towards its side, leaving it mainly only room to expand
in the direction of the Sun, thus attains an excess of central force and
eccentricity. As concerns Mercury, however, the lowest and also most
eccentric of the planets, it is easy to see that, since the Sun does not
come anywhere close to the speed of Mercury in its axial rotation, the
resistance it offers to matter in the space around it would not deprive
the nearest particles of their central motion but could easily extend this
resistance as far as Mercury and in this way reduce its orbital speed
considerably.
Eccentricity is the principal distinguishing feature of comets. Their
atmospheres and tails, which expand when they approach the Sun due
to its heat, are only consequences of the former, even though in times
of ignorance they served as frightening images to announce imaginary
fates to the rabble. Those astronomers who devoted more attention to
the laws of motion than to the strangeness of their form, noticed a second
property that distinguishes the family of comets from that of the planets,
namely that they, unlike the others, are not bound to the zones of the
240
zodiac but arrange their orbits freely in all regions of the heavens. This
peculiarity has the same cause as the eccentricity. If the planets have
enclosed their orbits in the narrow regions of the zodiac because the
elementary matter near the Sun attains circular motions, which attempt
to cross the plane of reference at every orbit and will not allow the body
once formed to deviate from this plane, to which all matter strives from
both sides: therefore, the basic material of the spaces distant from the
centre point, which, moved weakly by attraction, cannot attain a free cir- 1:281
cular orbit, precisely for the same reason that creates eccentricity must
not be capable of consolidating itself at this level to the plane of refer-
ence of all planetary motion to maintain the bodies formed there in this
track; rather, the dispersed basic material, because it is not restricted to
a particular region as the lower planets are, will be formed into heav-
enly bodies just as easily on one side as on the other and far from the
plane of reference just as often as close to it. For this reason the comets
will come down to us from all regions with complete freedom; but those
whose place of first formation is not elevated much above the orbit of the
planets, will show less deviation from the boundaries of their orbits as
well as less eccentricity. This lawless freedom of the comets, in relation
to their deviations, increases with the distance from the centre point
of the system, and loses itself in the depths of the heavens in a total
absence of rotation, which leaves the bodies that are formed furthest
away to fall freely to the Sun and sets the last borders to the systematic
constitution.
In this outline of the motions of comets, I presuppose that for the most
part, they will have they same direction as that of the planets. For the
nearest comets this seems to me to be beyond doubt, and this uniformity
cannot be lost in the depths of the heavens before the point where the
elementary basic material in the greatest dullnessb of motion brings about
a rotation in any direction caused by, say, the descent, because the time
required to unify them in regards to direction through the community
of the lower motions, is, on account of the great distance, too long for
it to extend that far while the formation of nature in the lower regions
is taking place. There may therefore perhaps be comets that complete
their orbits in the opposite direction, that is from east to west, even
though, for reasons I would be reluctant to elaborate upon here, I would
almost be persuaded that of the 19 comets where this peculiarity has
been observed, optical illusions may have been the cause.
I must still note something about the masses of comets and about the 1:282
density of their material. For reasons adduced in the previous chapter,
in the upper areas of the formation of these heavenly bodies, greater
masses ought by rights to form in relation to the distance. And it is also
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credible that some comets are larger than Saturn and Jupiter; but it is
just not credible that this size of the masses will continue to increase
in this way. The dispersion of the basic material, the specific lightness
of its particles slow the formation in the most distant region of space;
its indeterminate spreading in the whole immeasurable extent of this
distance without any determination to become more condensed in the
direction of a particular plane, brings about many smaller formations
instead of a single considerable one and the lack of any central force
attracts the greater part of the particles down to the Sun without having
condensed into masses.
The specific density of the material of which the comets are formed
is of greater interest than the size of their masses. Presumably, since
they form in the uppermost region of the universe,c the particles of their
constituents are of the lightest type; and we cannot doubt that this is the
principal cause of the vaporous spheres and the tails that characterize
them in relation to other heavenly bodies. We cannot regard the effects
of the heat of the Sun as the principal cause of this dispersion of the
cometic matter into a vapour; some comets scarcely reach down to
the Earth’s orbit in their proximity to the Sun; many remain between
the orbit of the Earth and that of Venus and then return. If so moderate
a degree of heat dissolves and thins the materials on the surface of these
bodies to such an extent, then they must consist of the lightest matter,
which suffers greater thinning through heat than any other material in
all of nature.
Nor can we attribute these vapours that rise so frequently from the
comets to the heat that its body has retained from some earlier proxim-
ity to the Sun: for while it can be presumed that a comet, at the time
of its formation, has covered numerous orbits with greater eccentric-
ity and that they have only gradually been decreased, the other planets,
of which we might suppose the same, do not exhibit this phenomenon.
1:283 They would, however, display it themselves if the kinds of the lightest
matter that are included in the constitution of the planet were present
as commonly as they are in the comets.
The Earth has something about it that may be compared to the dis-
persion of the cometic vapours and their tails.∗ The finest particles that
the Sun’s activity draws from its surface are concentrated around one of
its poles, when the Sun proceeds through half of its orbit towards the
opposite hemisphere. The smallest and most active particles that rise
up in the burning belt52 of the Earth, after they have reached a certain
height of the atmosphere, are forced by the activity of the Sun’s rays to
∗ These are the Northern Lights.
c Weltgebäude
242
retreat to and to condense in those areas which are then turned away
from the Sun and buried in a long night, and so compensate the inhab-
itants of the Arctic for the absence of the great light, which sends the
effects of its warmth even at this distance. Precisely the same force of
the Sun’s rays that creates the Northern Lights would also bring about
a vapour circle with a tail if the finest and most fleeting particles were to
be found as commonly on Earth as they are on the comets.
chapter four.
Concerning the origin of the moons and the motion of the
planets around their axes.
A planet’s endeavour to form itself out of the surroundings of the ele-
mentary matter is at the same time the cause of its revolving around
its axis and brings about the moons that are to orbit around it. What
the Sun is to its planets on a large scale is represented on a smaller one
by a planet that has a widely dispersed sphere of attraction, namely the
main part of a system, the parts of which have been set in motion by
the attraction of the central body. As the planet forms, by moving the
particles of the basic material out of the entire surroundings to form it, it
will create circular motions out of all these sinking motions by means of
their reciprocal effects and indeed finally create such motions that will 1:284
adopt a common direction and of these one part receives an appropriate
measured of the free orbit and in this limitation will find itself close to
a common plane. In this space, moons will form around it, just as the
main planets do around the Sun, if the distance of the attraction of such
heavenly bodies provides favourable circumstances for their creation.
What has been said in addition about the origin of the solar system can
be applied with sufficient similarity to the system of Jupiter and that of
Saturn. The moons will all have arranged the circles of their orbits in
one direction and almost in one plane and this, indeed, for the same
reasons as determine the analogy on the large scale. But why do these
satellites move in their common direction in the direction in which the
planets move rather than in any other? Their orbits are, after all, not
created by the circular motions: They merely recognize the attraction of
the main planet as the cause, and in consideration of this, all directions
are equivalent; some merely arbitrary thing will decide the direction out
of all those possible that the descending motion of the material will take
in orbits. In fact, the orbit of the main planet does nothing to impress
any revolutions into the material that is to form the moons around it; all
the particles around the planet move in the same motion with it around
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the Sun and are thus at rest relative to it. The attraction of the planet
alone does everything. But the circular motion which is to arise from
it, because in and of itself it is equivalent in relation to all directions,
requires only a small external determination to move in one direction
rather than another; and it receives this small degree of direction from
the advancement of the elementary particles which also orbit around
the Sun but with greater velocity and come into the planet’s sphere of
attraction. For this forces the particles nearer the Sun, which orbit with
a greater tangential force,e to depart from the direction of their track and
to elevate themselves above the planet in an oblong deviation. Because
they have a greater degree of velocity than the planet itself, when these
1:285 are brought to descend by its attraction, they impart to their straight fall
and also to the fall of the others a deviation from west to east and this
slight steering is all that is required to cause the orbit that the fall, brought
about by the attraction, takes on, to adopt this direction rather than any
other. For this reason, all the moons will coincide with the direction
of the orbit of the main planet. However, the plane of its path cannot
depart much from the plane of the planetary orbit, because the matter
from which they are formed is steered, for the same reason that we have
advanced about directions altogether, to its most precise determination,
namely the coincidence with the plane of the main orbits.
From all this one can see clearly under what circumstances a planet
might acquire satellites. Its attractive force must be great and conse-
quently the extent of its sphere of activity must be extensive, so that
the particles, moved by a lengthy fall towards the planet, regardless of
what the resistance cancels out, can attain a sufficient velocity for a free
orbit and in addition there must be enough material present in the area
for the formation of the moons, which cannot occur if the attraction is
too small. Therefore only planets with a great mass and at a great dis-
tance are endowed with satellites. Jupiter and Saturn, the two largest and
most distant of the planets have the largest number of moons. The Earth,
which is much smaller than they, has only received one; and Mars, which
would deserve some share in this advantage on account of its distance
goes empty-handed because its mass is so small.
It gives one some pleasure to observe how the same attraction of the
planet that supplied the material for the formation of the moons and, at
the same time, determined their motion, also extends to its own body
and that this, through the same action by which it forms itself, gives
itself a rotation around its axis in the general direction of west to east.
The particles of the falling basic material, which, as mentioned above,
acquire a general motion from west to east, fall for the most part onto
the surface of the planet and are mixed with its lump, because they do
e Schwung
244
not have the degrees requisite to maintain themselves in free suspension

in orbital motions. Now when they combine with the planet, being parts 1:286
of it, they must continue the same rotation in the same direction that
they had before they were united with it. And because it can be seen
from the above in any case that the number of particles that the lack of
the requisite motion causes to crash onto the central body must greatly
exceed the number of those others which have been able to acquire the
requisite degree of velocity, it is easy to understand why this body will
not have nearly the velocity to achieve a balance between the gravity
on its surface and the centrifugal force, but nonetheless the velocity
will be much larger with planets of great mass and far away than with
small and close ones. In fact Jupiter has the fastest axial rotation that we
are aware of53 and I do not know according to what system one could
make it compatible with a body whose lump exceeds all others unless one
considers its motions as themselves the effect of that attraction which this
celestial body exercises in accordance with the measure of this very lump.
If the axial rotation were an effect of an external cause, then Mars would
have to have a faster one than Jupiter, because the very same motive
force moves a smaller body more than a larger one, and, in addition,
one would rightly be astonished at this, how, since all motions decrease
the further they are from the centre point, the velocities of the rotations
increase with the same distances and in the case of Jupiter are even three
and a half times greater than its annual motion itself could be.
Since one is therefore forced to recognize the same cause in the daily
rotation of the planets that is the universal source of motion in nature,
namely attraction, this manner of explanation will validate its legitimacy
by the natural prerogative of its basic concept and by the effortless con-
sequences thereof.
If, however, it is the formation of a body itself that causes rotation
around an axis, then it stands to reason that all spheres in the universef
must have it; but why does the Moon not have it, which appears to some,
albeit wrongly, to have that kind of rotation by which it always shows
the same side to the earth because of a kind of excess weight of one of its
hemispheres rather than from an actual motiong of revolution? Could it 1:287
be that it once rotated more rapidly around its axis and has since, for I
know not what reason, slowed down to this slight and definite remainder?
One has only to answer this question in relation to one of the planets
to see that the result applies to all. I shall save this solution for another
occasion54 because it is necessarily related to the topic set for the prize
by the Royal Academy of Sciences in Berlin for 1754.
f Weltbau g Schwung
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Natural Science
Any theory seeking to explain the origin of rotations must also be

capable of deducing the position of their axes in relation to the plane
of their orbits from the same causes. We have reason to wonder why
the equator of daily rotation is not in the same plane as the surface of
the moons that orbit the same planet; because the same motion that has
determined the orbit of a satellite ought, by extending to the body of the
planet, also to bring about rotation around the axis and to give it the same
direction and position. Heavenly bodies that have no satellites orbiting
around them would nonetheless set themselves into an axial rotation
through the very same motion of particles that served as their material
and through the same law that restricted them to the plane of their
periodic orbit, which had to correspond to the direction of its plane of
orbit for the same reason. As a consequence of these causes, the axes of all
heavenly bodies would properly have to be vertical to the universal plane
of reference of the planetary system, which does not deviate far from the
ecliptic. They are, however, vertical only in the two most significant parts
of this solar system, namely in the case of Jupiter and of the Sun; the
others whose rotations are known to us, incline their axes towards the
plane of their orbits, Saturn more than the others, and the Earth more
than Mars, whose axis is almost vertical to the ecliptic. The equator of
Saturn (insofar as we can consider it given by the direction of its ring)
inclines at an angle of 31 degrees to the plane of its orbit, while that of
1:288 the Earth is only 23 1/2. One can perhaps also attribute the cause of these
deviations to the difference in the motions of the material that have come
together to form the planet. In the direction of the plane of its orbit the
principal motion of the particles was around its centre and the plane of
reference was there around which the elementary particles accumulated
in order to make the motion there as close to a circle as possible and to
accumulate material to form satellites, which never deviate far from the
orbit for this reason. If the planet had been formed for the most part
only of these particles, its axial rotation would have deviated from it at
its original formation only as little as the satellites which circle around
it; but it formed, as the theory has shown, more out of the particles that
descended on both sides and the number and velocity of which does not
appear to have been so completely balanced that one hemisphere may
not have received a slightly greater impulse of motion than the other
and therefore some deviation from its axis.
Despite these reasons, I am advancing this explanation only as a con-
jecture I do not trust myself to decide. My real opinion comes to this:
that the rotation of the planets around their axes in the original state
of their first formation coincided fairly exactly with the plane of their
annual orbit and that there were causes present to push this axis out
of its original position. A heavenly body changing from its first fluid
state into a solid state undergoes a great change in the regularity of its
246
surface when it forms completely in this way. The surface becomes firm
and hardened while the deeper matters have not yet sunk sufficiently in
accordance with their specific gravity;h the lighter types that were inter-
mingled with their lumps, after they have separated out from the others,
finally move underneath the topmost crust that has become firm and cre-
ate the great caves, the largest and most extensive of which, for reasons
that would take too long to adduce here, are to be found at or near the
equator, into which the aforementioned crust finally sinks and creates
all types of irregularities, mountains, and caves. Now, if the surface has
become uneven in this way, as evidently happened with the Earth, the
Moon, and Venus, then it can no longer achieve a rotational balancei in 1:289
its axial rotation on all sides. Some protruding parts of considerable mass,
which had nothing on the other side that could provide them a counter-
effect to their tangential force,j would then have had to shift the axis of
the rotation and strive to put it into a position such that all the matter
remains in balance. Therefore, the very same cause that changed the
surface of a heavenly body from a level state to broken-off irregularities
during its complete formation, this universal cause has necessitated some
change in the original position of the axis of all the heavenly bodies that
can be observed clearly enough with a telescope. This change, however,
has its limits so that it will not deviate too far. As already mentioned, the
irregularities are generated more near the equator of a rotating heav-
enly sphere than far from it; towards the poles, they disappear almost
entirely, the causes of which I propose to explain on another occasion.
For this reason the masses protruding furthest above the even surface
will be found near the equinoctial circle and as these strive to approach
the circle through the advantage of tangential force,k they will be able
to raise the axis of the heavenly body at most by only a few degrees from
a position vertical to the plane of its orbit. As a consequence, a heavenly
body that is not yet fully formed will still retain this right-angled posi-
tion of its axis to its orbit, which it will perhaps change only over the
course of many centuries. Jupiter appears to be in this state still. The
advantage of its mass and size, the lightness of its matter have forced it
to overcome the firm state of its matter several centuries later than other
heavenly bodies. Perhaps the interior of its lump is still in the motion
of lowering the parts of its constituents to the centre in accordance with
their mass and by separating the thinner types from the heavier ones to
overcome the state of firmness. In this state of affairs its surface cannot
yet appear calm. Devastation and ruins rule there. Even the telescope has
assured us of this. The appearance of this planet is constantly changing
while the Moon, Venus, and the Earth retain theirs unchanged. Also,
h Schwere j Schwung
i das Gleichgewicht des Umschwunges k Schwung
247
Natural Science
1:290 one can probably rightly imagine the completion of the period of for-
mation as being several centuries later in the case of a heavenly body that
surpasses our Earth in size by more than twenty thousand times and is
only a quarter as dense. When its surface has attained a calm condition,
then without doubt far greater irregularities than those that cover the
Earth will, related to the speedl of its rotation,m give its rotation that
constant position which the balance of forces on it will demand in a not
very long time.
Saturn, three times smaller than Jupiter, may have obtained an advan-
tage of a more rapid formation ahead of Jupiter, perhaps because of its
greater distance; at least its much faster axial rotation and the large ratio
of its centrifugal forcen to the gravity on its surface (which is to be pre-
sented in the following chapter) will bring it about that the irregularities
presumably caused thereby on the surface will soon have been decisive
on the side of the superior force by a shift in the axis. I freely admit that
this part of my system, which is related to the position of the planetary
axes, is still incomplete and rather far from being subjected to geometric
calculations. I preferred to reveal this honestly rather than to detract
from the power the rest of the doctrine has to be convincing by having
recourse to all kinds of borrowed implausible reasons and thus giving
it a weak side. The following chapter can provide a confirmation of the
credibility of the whole hypothesis by which we have sought to explain
the motions of the universe.o
chapter five.
On the origin of Saturn’s ring and calculation of the daily
rotation of this planet from its ratios.55
Thanks to the systematic constitution in the universe,p its parts are con-
nected by a gradual alteration of their properties, and one may assume
1:291 that a planet in the furthermost region of the universe would have approx-
imately such determinations as the next comet might take on if it were
to be elevated to the family of planets through a reduction of its eccen-
tricity. Accordingly, we shall consider Saturn in such a way as though it
had travelled numerous orbits with greater eccentricity in the manner
of cometic motion and had gradually been brought onto a track more
l Schnelligkeit o Weltbau
m Schwung p Weltgebäude
n Centerfliehkraft
248
similar to a circle.∗ The heat it acquired when it was close to the Sun
raised from its surface the light material, which, as we know from the
previous chapters, is exceedingly thin on the highest heavenly bodies,
and lets it expand by slight degrees of heat. However, after the planet
had been brought to its current distance after numerous revolutions, in
such a temperate climate it gradually lost the heat it had acquired, and the
gases that continued to spread around it gradually ceased to rise as far as
into the tails. Nor did any new ones arise frequently enough to increase
the old ones; in short, the vapours that already surrounded it continued
to hover around it for reasons we shall give in a moment and retained for
it the characteristic of its former comet-like nature in a constant ring,
while its body emitted the heat and finally became a quiet and purified
planet. Now we shall reveal the secret that has enabled the heavenly body
to retain its risen vapours hovering freely, indeed to transform it from
an atmosphere spread out all around it into the shape of a ring at a dis-
tance all around. I am assuming that Saturn has had an axial rotation and
nothing more than this is needed to reveal the whole secret. No other
mechanismq than this single one has, by means of a direct mechanical
result, brought about the above-mentioned phenomenon for the planet
and I venture to assert that in all of nature, there are only a few things
that can be attributed to so comprehensible an origin as this peculiarity 1:292
of the heavens can be developed from the raw state of its first formation.
The vapours rising from Saturn had motion in themselves and con-
tinued it freely at the height to which they had risen and that they had
as parts at its axial rotation. Those particles that rose near the equator of
the planet must have had the fastest motion while the motion was weaker
further away towards the poles in proportion to the latitude of the place
from which they rose. The particles were assigned to the various heights
to which they rose according to the ratio of their specific gravity, but
only those particles were able to maintain the places of their distance in
a constantly free orbital motion whose distances, into which they had
been placed, required such a central force as they were able to achieve
with the velocity they had from the orbital motion; the remaining ones,
insofar as they cannot be brought to this precision by the interaction of
the others, must either depart from the sphere of the planet with the
excess motion, or else be forced to sink back onto the planet by a lack of
motion. The particles dispersed through the entire extent of the vapour
∗ Or, what may be more probable, that in its comet-like nature, which it still has about
it now thanks to its eccentricity, before its lightest surface matter had been completely
dispersed, it spread a cometic atmosphere.
q Triebwerk
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sphere will seek, by means of the very same central laws, in the motion
of its revolution, to transect the equatorial plane of the planet from both
sides and they will accumulate there when they detain one another, by
meeting one another in this plane from both hemispheres; and because
I assume that the aforementioned vapours are the ones that the planet
sends up last in its cooling, all the dispersed vaporous matter will accu-
mulate next to this plane in a narrow space and leave the spaces empty on
both sides. But in this new and changed direction, they will nonetheless
continue the same motion that maintains them hovering in free con-
centric orbits. In this way the vapour circle changes its shape, which
was a filled sphere, into the shape of an extended plane which coincides
exactly with Saturn’s equator; but for the same mechanical reasons, this
shape too must ultimately adopt the form of a ring, the outer edge of
which is determined by the effect of the Sun’s rays, which disperses and
removes those particles that have moved to a certain distance from the
1:293 centre point of the planet; this is the same effect as happens in the case
of comets and in this way it delineates the outer border of its circle of
vapour. The interior edge of this emerging ring is determined by the
ratio of the velocity of the planet at its equator. For, at the distance from
its centre where this velocity achieves a balance with the attraction of the
place is the greatest proximity in which the particles that have risen from
its body can describe circular orbits through the motion peculiar to the
axial rotation. The closer particles, because they require greater speed
for such an orbit, which they cannot have since the motion is no faster
even at the equator of the planet, will by this means acquire eccentric
orbits that cross each other, weaken each other’s motion, and finally all
crash onto the planet from which they had risen. Here we now see that
wondrously strange phenomenon, the sight of which has always filled
astronomers with admiration since it was first discovered and to discover
the cause of which no one has had even a probable hope, emerge in an
easy mechanical manner, free from all hypotheses. What has happened
to Saturn would, as can be seen from the above, happen just as regularly
to every comet that had sufficient axial rotation, if it were placed in a
constant height at which its body could gradually cool down. Even in
chaos, nature is productive of excellent developments when its forces
are left to themselves, and the ensuing formation brings with it such
glorious connections and harmonies for the common benefit of creation
that even in the eternal and immutable laws of its essential properties,
they reveal with unanimous certainty that great Being in which they,
as a result of their commonr dependence, combine in a total harmony.
Saturn has great advantages from its rings; it lengthens its day and lights
up the night under so many moons to such an extent that it would be
r gemeinschaftlichen
250
easy to forget the absence of the Sun there. But must one therefore deny
that the universal developments of matter in accordance with mechanical
laws has been able to bring about connections that have created benefits 1:294
for creatures with reason without requiring laws other than their univer-
sal determinations? All beings are related as a result of one cause, which
is the understanding of God; therefore they can have no consequences
other than those that include a representation of perfection in that very
same divine idea.
We shall now try to calculate the time of the axial rotation of this
heavenly body from the ratios of its ring in accordance with the above
hypothesis of its genesis. Because all motion of the particles of the ring
is a motion embodied by the axial rotation of Saturn on whose surface
they were placed, the most rapid motion of these particles coincides with
the fastest rotation that can be found on the surface of Saturn; that is,
the velocity with which the particles of the ring circle at the inside edge
is equal to what the planet has at its equator. However, this can easily be
found by seeking it in the velocity of one of Saturn’s satellites by taking
it in the ratio of the square root of the distances from the centre of the
planet. From the velocity calculated, the duration of Saturn’s rotation on
its axis follows directly; it is six hours twenty-three minutes and fifty-three
seconds.56 This mathematical calculation of an unknown motion of a
heavenly body, which is perhaps the only prediction of its kind in natural
science proper, still awaits confirmation by the observation of future
times. The telescopes known at present do not enlarge Saturn sufficiently
to enable us to discover the spots we can assume to be on its surface so
that we might see its rotation on its axis by their shifting. But telescopes
have perhaps not yet attained the perfection one might hope from them
and which the hard work and skill of the artisans seems to promise us.
If in future we were to give proof to our conjectures by observation,
what certainty would the theory of Saturn be given and what splendid
credibility would the whole system have that is based upon the same
reasons. The time of the daily rotation of Saturn also entails the ratio of
the centrifugal forcet of its equator to the gravity on its surface: this ratio 1:295
is 20:32. That is, gravity is only about 3/5th greater than the centrifugal
force.u So great a ratio necessarily causes a very considerable difference in
the diameters57 of this planet and one might be concerned that it would
have to emerge so large that observation of this planet, although magni-
fied only a little by the telescope, would nonetheless show this only too
clearly, which does not occur in reality, and that there could therefore be
a detrimental effect on the theory. A thorough examination removes this
difficulty completely. According to Huygens’ hypothesis, which assumes
s Entwickelung u Centerfliehkraft
t fliehende Kraft
251
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that the gravity in the interior of a planet is the same throughout, the
difference of the diameters is in a ratio to the diameter of the equator
two times smaller than the centrifugal forcev has to the gravity at the
poles. For example, since in the case of Earth the centrifugal forcew of
the equator is 1/289th of the gravity at the poles, according to Huygens’
hypothesis58 the diameter of the equatorial plane must be 1/578th
greater than the Earth’s axis. The cause is this: since, according to the
assumption, the gravity in the interior of the Earth’s lump is as great at all
distances from the centre as on the surface, while the centrifugal forcex
decreases as it approaches the centre, it is not 1/289th of the gravity
everywhere but rather the whole decrease of gravity of the fluid column
in the equatorial plane for this reason amounts not to 1/289th but to
half of it, namely 1/578th. On the contrary, on Newton’s hypothesis,59
the centrifugal force,y which causes the axial rotation, has the same
ratio to the gravity of the place in the whole plane of the Equator to
the centre point; because, in the interior of the planet (if it is assumed
to be of uniform density throughout), this decreases with the distance
from the centre in the same proportion as the centrifugal force,z that
is, it is always 1/289th of the former. This causes a lightening of the
fluid column in the equatorial plane and also raises it by 1/289th,
which difference of the diameters is further increased, according to this
doctrine, by the shortening of the axis bringing about a convergence
of the parts to the centre, that is an increase in the gravity, while the
lengthening of the equatorial diameter results in a distancing of the
1:296 parts from the same centre and thus a decrease of its gravity and for this
reason increases the flattening of the Newtonian spheroid in such a way
that the difference of the diameters is raised from 1/289th to 1/250th.
For these reasons, the diameters of Saturn ought to stand in a greater
ratio to one another than 20 to 32; they ought to come close to a pro-
portion of 1 to 2, a difference that is so great that even the least attention
could not fail to notice it, small though Saturn might appear in tele-
scopes. However, from this it can be seen that the assumption of equal
density that seems to be fairly correctly applied to the Earth deviates
far too far from the truth for Saturn; which in itself is already proba-
ble for a planet the lump of which consists of the lightest materials for
the greatest part of its content and in its compositiona allows those of the
heavier kind much greater freedom in sinking to the centre in accordance
with their gravity than those heavenly bodies whose much denser matter
delays the deposition of the matter and allows them to solidify before
the sinking can take place. Thus, when we suppose that the density of
v Centerfliehkraft y Centerfliehkraft
w fliehende Kraft z Centerfliehkraft
x Centrifugalkraft a Zusammensatz
252
the materials in Saturn’s interior increases as it approaches the centre,

the gravity no longer decreases in this ratio; rather the increasing density
compensates for the absence of the parts that are positioned above the
height of the point in the planet and do not contribute anything to its
gravityb by their attractive force.∗ If this particular density of the deepest
matters is very great, then in accordance with the laws of attraction, it
changes the gravity that decreases as it nears the centre of the interior
into an almost uniform one and brings the ratio of the diameters close
to Huygens’ ratio, which is always half of the ratio between the cen- 1:297
trifugal forcec and the gravity; consequently as these were to each other
as 2:3, the difference of the diameters of this planet will be not 1/3rd
but 1/6th of the equatorial diameter; this difference, finally, is hidden
due to the fact that Saturn, whose axis forms an angle of 31 degrees
to the plane of its orbit at all times, never shows its position towards
its equator, the way Jupiter does, which reduces the appearance of the
aforementioned difference by almost one third. Under such conditions
and especially in view of the great distance of this planet, one can easily
understand that the flattened shape of its body is not as easily visible as
one might think; nonetheless, astronomy, whose progress depends pri-
marily on the perfection of its tools, will be put in a position to discover
so remarkable a property by their assistance, if I do not flatter myself
too much.
What I say about the figure of Saturn can to some extent serve as a
general remark concerning the doctrine of nature concerning the heav-
ens. Jupiter, which according to a precise calculation has a ratio of gravity
to centrifugal forced at its equator of at least 9 1/4:1, ought to present
an even greater difference than 1/9 between its axis and the equatorial
diameter if its lump were of uniform density throughout, according to
Newton’s theorems.60 Cassini,61 however, found it to be only 1/16th and
Pound62 1/12th or 1/14th; all these different observations, which con-
firm the difficulty of this measurement by their differences, at least agree
in positing it as much smaller than it ought to be according to Newton’s
system, or rather according to his hypothesis of uniform density. And if
therefore one were to change the precondition of the uniform density
that causes such a great deviation of the theory from observation into
the much more probable one in which the density of the planetary lump
∗ For according to Newton’s laws of attraction, a body in the interior of a sphere is

attracted only by that part of it which has been described spherically around it at the
distance it is from the centre point. The concentric parts outside this distance, because
of the balance of their attractions that cancel each other out, add nothing to move the
body either towards the centre or away from it.
b Gravität d Centrifugalkraft
c Centrifugalkraft
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is supposed to increase towards its centre, one will not only justify the
observation in the case of Jupiter, but also, in the case of Saturn, a planet
much more difficult to measure, have a more distinct insight into the
cause of a lesser flattening of its spheroid body.
1:298 We have used the opportunity of the generation of Saturn’s ring to
take the bold step of determining by calculation the time of its axial
rotation, which telescopes are not able to discover. Let us add another
to this attempt at a physical prediction on this same planet which will
await the proof of its correctness from the more perfect tools of future
times.
In accordance with our assumption that the ring of Saturn is an accu-
mulation of particles which, after they rose from the surface of this heav-
enly body as vapours, constantly maintain themselves freely in orbits at
the height of their distance by means of the tangential forcee they have
and continue from the axial rotation, so they do not have the same peri-
odic revolutions at all distances from the centre; rather, their ratio is
as the square roots of the cubes of their distance if they are to main-
tain themselves hovering by the laws of the central forces.63 Now, the
time in which the particles of the inner edge complete their orbit is,
according to this hypothesis, about 10 hours and the orbital time of the
particles in the outer edge is 15 hours, after due calculation; that is, when
the lowest parts of the ring have completed their orbits three times,
the most distant ones have done so only twice. However, though we
might estimate the interference the particles exert against one another
in their great dispersion in the plane of the ring to be as low as we
like, it is probable that the slowness of the more distant particles in
each of their orbits gradually delays and holds up the faster moving
lower parts, while these must impress a part of their motion on the
higher parts for a more rapid orbit, which, if this interaction were not
ultimately interrupted, would continue until the higher and lower par-
ticles of the ring had all been brought to the point of orbiting in the
same time, so that in that state they would be at rest in relation to each
other and by moving away they would have no effect on each other. But
if the motion of the ring were to turn out like this, such a state would
totally destroy the ring, because, if one takes the middle of the plane of
the ring and assumes that the motion of the ring there would remain in
1:299 the state it previously was and must be in order to be able to perform
a free orbit, the lower particles, since they had been held back consid-
erably, would not maintain their height suspended, but would rather
transect each other in oblique and eccentric motions, but the more dis-
tant ones, through the impression of a motion larger than it ought to be
for the central force of its distance, would have to turn further away from
e Schwung
254
Saturn than the effect of the Sun determines the outer border of the ring,
would, by the same effect, have to be scattered behind the planet and
carried away.
However, we need not fear all this disorder. The mechanism of the
motion that created the ring leads to a determination which puts the
ring into a secure state by means of precisely the same causes that should
destroy it, because it is divided into numerous concentric circular bands,
which, due to the spaces separating them, have nothing more in common
with each other. For when the particles circling the interior edge of the
ring carry the higher ones along with them somewhat through their
more rapid motion and accelerate their orbits, the increased degrees of
velocity bring about in these an excess of centrifugal forcef and a motion
away from the position in which they were suspended. If, however, one
presupposes that, when these endeavoured to separate themselves from
the lower ones, they have a certain connection to overcome that appears
to be not entirely insignificant in them even though they are scattered
vapours, then this increased level of tangential forceg will endeavour to
overcome the connection mentioned above, but will not overcome it as
long as the excess of centrifugal forceh that it uses in the same orbiting
time as the lowest ones does not exceed this cohesion beyond the central
forcei of its place.j And for this reason, the connection must remain in a
certain breadth of a band of this ring, even though the upper ones must
apply an endeavour to tear themselves away from the lower ones, since
its parts complete their rotation in the same time; but not in a greater
breadth, because while the velocity of these particles that are moved
in equal times increases with the distance, hence more than it ought
to according to the central laws, when it has exceeded the degree that
the connection of the vapour particles can manage, they tear themselves
away from these and must adopt a distance which is appropriate to the
excess of the rotational forcek over the central force of the place. In 1:300
this way the distance that separates the first band of the ring from the
others is established; and in the same way, the accelerated motion of
the upper particles resulting from the rapid revolution of the lower ones
and their connection that strives to prevent the separation, creates the
second concentric ring, from which the third stands apart by a moderate
interval. We could calculate the number of these circular bands and the
width of the intervals between them if we knew the degree of attraction
that connects the particles to each other; however, we can be content
with having surmised with a good degree of probability the composition
f Centrifugalkraft i Centralkraft
g des Schwunges j Anhängen
h Centerfliehkraft k Umwendungskraft
255
Natural Science
of Saturn’s ring, which prevents its destruction and maintains it hovering

by means of free motions.
This conjecture pleases me not a little because of the hope of see-
ing it confirmed by actual observation one day. A few years ago, news
came from London that, in observing Saturn through a new Newto-
nian telescope improved by Herr Bradley, it appeared that its ring was
actually a combination of many concentric rings separated by spaces.
1:301 This news has not been continued since then.∗ The tools of vision have
opened the furthest regions of the universel to our understanding. Now
if it depends primarily on them to take new steps here, then the atten-
tiveness of the century to everything that can extend the insights of
human beings will in all probability give us hope that it will primar-
ily turn to a side that presents it with the greatest hope of important
discoveries.
But if Saturn has been so fortunate as to acquire a ring for itself, why
then has no other planet been able to participate in this advantage? The
cause is clear. Because a ring is supposed to emerge from the evaporation
of a planet given off in its raw state, and the axial rotation must give them
the tangential forcem that they have merely to continue once they have
attained the height at which they can produce an exact balance with this
established motion countering the gravitation towards the planet, we
can easily calculate the height to which these vapours must rise above a
planet for them to maintain free orbital motion by means of the motions
they had at the planet’s equator, if we know the diameter of the planet,
the duration of its revolution, and the gravity on its surface. According
to the law of central motion, the distance of a body that can freely circle
a planet with a velocity equal to that of its axial rotation will be in the
∗ After I wrote this, I discovered a confirmation of this conjecture, which leaves virtually
no doubt as to its correctness, in the Mémoires of the Royal Academy of Sciences in Paris
for the year 1705 in a treatise by Herr Cassini On the satellites and the ring of Saturn
on page 571 of Part two of the von Steinwehr translation. 64 After Herr Cassini has
advanced an idea that could to some extent have been a small approach to the truth we
have brought out, even though it is improbable in itself, namely that perhaps this ring
could be a swarm of small satellites which, seen from Saturn, would look as the Milky
Way does from the Earth (which thought could be considered if one takes the vapour
particles that circle around it with the same motion to be the small satellites). He then
goes on to say: This thought is confirmed by the observations made in those years
when the ring of Saturn appeared broader and more open. For the breadth of the
ring was seen as being divided into two parts by a dark elliptical line, with the
part nearest to the sphere brighter than the most distant one. This line marked
as it were a small space between the two parts, just as the distance of the sphere
from the rings is indicated by the greatest darkness between them both.
l Weltgebäudes m Schwung
256
same ratio to half the diameter of the planet as the centrifugal forcen at
its equator is to its gravity. For these reasons, the distance of the inner
edge of Saturn’s ring was as 8, if the half diameter is assumed to be
5, which two numbers are in the same ratio as 32:20 and which, as we
have noted above, express the proportion between the gravity and the
centrifugal forceo at the equator. For the same reasons, if one were to
suppose that Jupiter had a ring produced in the same way, its smallest
semi-diameter would exceed half the width of Jupiter 10 times, which
would place it exactly where its most distant satellite revolves around it 1:302
and hence, for these reasons as well as because the evaporation of a planet
cannot extend so far from it, it is impossible. If one wished to know why
the Earth has not acquired a ring, one would find the answer in the size
of the semi-diameter its inner edge would have to have, which would
have to be 289 semi-diameters of the Earth in size. In the case of the
slower moving planets, the production of a ring is even further removed
from possibility; therefore, no case remains where a planet could have
acquired a ring in the manner we have explained, other than that of
the planet that really does have one, which is no small increase in the
credibility of our mode of explanation.
However, what makes me almost sure that the ring around Saturn
did not come about in the usual manner and was not produced by the
universal laws of formationp that applied throughout the whole planetary
system and provided Saturn with its satellites as well, that, I say this
external matter did not supply its materials for this purpose but is rather
a creature of the planet itself, which has raised its most volatile parts
by means of heat and given them the tangential forceq for orbitingr
through its own axial rotation, is this: that the ring, unlike the planet’s
other satellites and all rotating bodies located in the company of the
main planets in general is not directed in the general plane of reference
of planetary motions, but deviates from it very much, which is a sure
proof that it is not formed out of the universal basic material and did
not receive its motion from its sinking, but rather rose from the planet
long after its formation was complete and received motion and direction
as a separate part of it based on the planet’s axial rotation through its
established rotational force.s
The pleasure at having understood one of the rarest peculiarities of
the heavens in the entirety of its being and generation has involved us
in so extensive a discussion. Let us, with the approval of our obliging
readers, carry it further to the point of excess as much as we like so that,
after we have abandoned ourselves in a pleasant way to arbitrary opinions
n fliehende Kraft q Schwung

o Centerfliehkraft r Umwendung
p Bildungsgesetze s Umschwungskräfte
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Natural Science
1:303 with a kind of lack of restraint, we can return again to the truth with all
the greater care and caution.
Could we not imagine that the Earth once had a ring like Saturn? It
could have risen from its surface just as Saturn’s did and have remained
for a long time while the Earth was slowed down by who knows what
cause from a much faster rotation to its present rate, or that we can
consider that universal basic material falling sideways was capable of
having formed it in accordance with the rules explained above, which
we do not have to take completely seriously if we want to indulge our
penchant for oddities. But what a stock of lovely explanations and con-
sequences such an idea presents us with! A ring around the Earth! What
a beautiful sight for those created to inhabit the Earth as a paradise;
what comfort for those on which nature smiles from all sides! But this is
nothing compared with the confirmation such a hypothesis can borrow
from the chronicle of the story of creation and which is no small recom-
mendation for applause for those who believe they are not desecrating
but rather confirming the honour of revealed religion when they make
use of it to give the excesses of their wits some prestige. The water of
the firmament mentioned in Moses’ description has already caused the
interpreters some effort. Could one not use this ring to help to get one-
self out of this difficulty? Without a doubt this ring consisted of watery
vapours, and in addition to the advantage it was able to provide the first
inhabitants of the Earth, there is the additional one of having it break
when required so that floods could punish the world which had made
itself unworthy of such beauty. Either a comet, whose attraction brought
confusion into the regular motions of its parts, or the cooling of the area
of its location unified its dispersed vaporous particles and hurled it down
onto the earth in one of the most gruesome cloudbursts. It is easy to
know what the consequences of this were. The whole world disappeared
under the water and in the strange and volatile vapours of this unnatural
1:304 rain also absorbed that slow poison which brought all creatures closer
to death and destruction. Now the figure of a pale and light arc had
disappeared from the horizon and the new world, which could never
remember this sight without feeling terror in the face of this terrible
tool of divine revenge, perhaps saw, with not a little consternation, in
the first rain that coloured arc that appeared to copy the first in shape but,
through the assurance of the reconciled heavens, was to be a sign of grace
and a memorial of a continuing preservation of the Earth, changed as it
now was. The similarity of the shape of this memorial sign with the event
it signified could commend such a hypothesis to those who are devoted
to the dominant tendency of bringing the miracles of revelation into the
same system as the ordinary laws of nature. I consider it more advisable
completely to forgo the fleeting applause such correspondences might
arouse for the true pleasure that arises from the perception of regular
258
connections when physical analogies support each other to designate

physical truths.
chapter six.
On the light of the Zodiac.
The Sun is surrounded by a subtle and vaporous essencet which sur-
rounds it in the plane of its equator with a very small width on both sides
up to a great height and where we cannot be certain whether it abuts
the surface of the Sun in the shape of an elevated polished glass (figura
lenticulari) as Herr von Mairan65 depicts it, or whether, like the ring of
Saturn, it is separated from it all around. Regardless of whether it is the
one or the other, there is sufficient similarity to permit a comparison of
this phenomenon with the rings of Saturn and to derive it from a com-
mon origin. If this dispersed matter is an outflow from the Sun, as is the
most probable way of viewing it, then we cannot fail to see the cause that
has brought it into a common plane with the Sun’s equator. The lightest 1:305
and most volatile material that the Sun’s fire lifts from its surface and
has done for a long time, is driven away far above it through its activityu
and, in accordance with its lightness, remains hovering at a distance at
which the repelling activityv of the rays achieves a balance with the grav-
ity of these vaporous particles, or they are supported by the influx of
new particles which are added to them continuously. Now, because the
Sun, in turning on its axis, imparts its motion evenly to these vapours
torn from its surface, they retain a certain tangential forcew for rotation,
such that, in accordance with the laws of central forces, they endeavour
from both sides to transect the extended equatorial plane of the Sun in
the circle of their motion; and therefore, since they push towards it from
both hemispheres with the same quantity, they accumulate there with
equal forces and form an extended level in the plane of reference of the
Sun’s equator.
Regardless of this similarity with the ring of Saturn, however, there
remains an essential difference that makes the phenomenon of the zodi-
acal light very different from the former. The particles of the former
maintain their free floating orbits by means of the rotational motion
impressed on them, but the particles of the latter are maintained at their
height by the force of the Sun’s rays, without which the motion imparted
to them by solar rotation would be insufficient by far to prevent them,
in their free rotation, from falling. Because, as the centrifugal forcex of
t Wesen w Schwung
u Wirkung x fliehende Kraft
v forttreibende Wirkung
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Natural Science
the axial rotation on the surface of the Sun is not even 1/40,000 of the
attraction, these risen vapours would have to be at a distance of 40,000
solar semi-diameters from it before it encountered a gravitation that
could achieve a balance with that of the motion imparted to it. We are
therefore sure that we cannot attribute this phenomenon to the Sun in
the same way as was the case with the ring of Saturn.
Nonetheless, there remains a not inconsiderable probability that this
necklace of the Sun perhaps has the same origin that all of nature has,
namely its formation from the universal basic material, whose parts, since
they had hovered around in the highest regions of the solar system, sank
down to the Sun in a late fall only after the formation of the whole
1:306 system had been completely finished, in a weakened motion that still,
however, curved from west to east, and, by means of this type of circular
motion, transected the extended solar equatorial plane and, by staying
there through their accumulation from both sides, adopted an extended
plane in that position, in which they now maintain themselves continu-
ally, by being driven back partly by the Sun’s rays, partly by the circular
motion they have actually attained. The present explanation has no merit
other than that which is due to conjectures and no claim other than for
arbitrary approval; the judgement of the reader may turn to whichever
side seems the most acceptable.
chapter seven.
On Creation in the entire extent of its infinity both
in space and in time.
By its immeasurable magnitude and by the infinite diversity and beauty
that shines forth from it on all sides, the universey puts us into silent
astonishment. While the representation of all this perfection moves the
imagination, another sort of delight captures our understanding when
it contemplates how so much splendour, so much grandeur flows from
a single universal rule with an eternal and rightz order. The planetary
system,a in which the Sun, from the centre point of all orbits, makes the
inhabited spheres of its system circle around in eternal orbits by means
of its mighty attraction, is, as we have seen, entirely formed from the
originally dispersed basic material of all worldly matter.b All the fixed
stars that the eye discovers in the hollow depth of the heavens and that
appear to demonstrate a kind of extravagance, are suns and centre points
of similar systems. The analogy thus does not permit any doubt here
that these were formed and generated in the same manner as the one in
y Weltgebäude a planetische Weltbau

z richtigen b aller Weltmaterie
260
which we find ourselves, out of the smallest parts of elementary matter

that filled empty space, that infinite extentc of divine presence.
Now if all the worlds and world-orders recognized the same type of 1:307
origin, if the attraction is unlimited and universal, while the repulsion of
the elements is similarly constantly active, if the large and the small are
both small for the infinite being: Should not all the planetary systemse
have adopted an interrelated constitution and a systematic relation to one
another, in the same way as the heavenly bodies of our solar system have
on a small scale, like Saturn, Jupiter, and the Earth, which are separate
systems by themselves and yet are related to each other as parts in a yet
much greater system? If one were to assume a point in the immeasurable
space in which all the suns of the Milky Way have formed, around which
for I know not what cause the first formation of nature began out of chaos,
then the greatest mass and a body of the most uncommon attraction will
have arisen there, which in this way became capable of forcing all the
systems that were in the process of formation within a vast sphere to
descend towards it as their centre point and to establish around itself a
system that is identical on the scale of the whole as the same elementary
basic matter that formed the planets has made around the Sun on a small
scale. Observation makes this conjecture almost indubitable. Through
its position relative to a common plane, the army of stars constitutes a
system just as much as the planets of our solar system do around the Sun.
The Milky Way is the zodiac of these higher world-orders, which deviate
as little as possible from its zone, and whose band is always illuminated
by its light, just as the zodiac of the planets shimmers from the light of
these spheres now and then, albeit only at very few points. Each one of
these suns with its circulating planets constitutes a separate system for
itself; but this does not prevent them from being parts of a still greater
system, just as Jupiter or Saturn, their own satellites notwithstanding, is
contained within the systematic constitution of an even larger system.f
Can we not recognize the same cause and manner of generation in so
precise an agreement in their constitution?
Now if the fixed stars constitute a system the extent of which is deter-
mined by the attractive sphere of the body in the centre, will not more
solar systems and, so to speak, more milky ways have arisen in the lim- 1:308
itless field of space?g We have seen with astonishment shapes in the
heavens that are nothing other than systems of such fixed stars limited to
a common plane, such milky ways, if I may express myself in this way, that
exhibit elliptical shapes in different positions in relation to the eye with
a weakened shimmering as is appropriate to their infinite distance; they
c Umfang f Weltbaues
d erkennen g Weltraumes
e Weltgebäude
261
Natural Science
are systems of, so to speak, infinity times infinity greater diameter than
that of our solar system,h but that, without doubt, are generated in the
same way, ordered and arranged by the same causes, and that maintain
themselves by the same mechanismi as this one in its constitution.
If we consider these star systems in turn as links in the great chain of
all nature, then we have just as much cause as before to think of them as
being in a reciprocal relationship and in connections which, by the power
of the law of first formation that governs all nature, constitutes a new,
even larger system that is ruled by the attraction of a body of incompara-
bly more powerful attraction than the ones mentioned previously from
the centre point of their regular positions. The attraction that is the
cause of the systematic constitution among the fixed stars of the Milky
Way is effective even at the distance of precisely these world-orders to
bring them out of their positions and to bury the world in an inevitably
imminent chaos if there were not regularly distributed tangential forcesj
providing a counterbalance to the attraction and both together produce
that relationship that is the basis for the systematic constitution. Attrac-
tion is without doubt a quality of matter that is just as pervasive as the
coexistence that makes space in that it combines substances by recip-
rocal dependences, or, to put it more accurately, attraction is precisely
that universal relationship that unites the parts of nature in one space:
it therefore extends to the entire expanse of space into all the reaches
of its infinity. If the light from these distant systems reaches us, light,
which is merely an impressed motion, then must not rather attraction,
this original source of motion, which is earlier than all motion and which
1:309 requires no external causes and cannot be held up by any impediment,
because it acts on what is innermost in matter without any impact even
in a universal stasis of nature, must not, I say, attraction have set these
systems of fixed stars in motion, despite their immeasurable distances,
at the formless dispersion of its material at the beginning movementk
of nature, which, just as we have seen on a small scale, is the source of
the systematic connection and of the lasting constancy of its parts that
secures them from destruction?
But what then will ultimately be the endl of the systematic arrange-
ments? Where will creation itself stop? It is easy to see that, in order
to think of it in relationship to the might of the infinite being, it must
have no limits at all. We do not come any closer to the infinitude of
God’s creative power if we enclose the space of its revelation within a
sphere described by the radius of the Milky Way than if we were to limit
it to a ball of one inch diameter. Everything that is finite, that has its
h Sonnenbaues k Regung
i Triebwerk l das Ende
j Schwungskräfte
262
limits and a determinate relationship to a unit, is equally distant from

the infinite. Now it would be nonsense to posit the deity as activem in
an infinitely small part of its creative capacity and to consider its infinite
force, the store of a true immeasurability of natures and worlds, as being
idle and locked in an eternal state of not being exercised.n Is it not instead
more appropriateo or, expressed better, is it not necessary to describe the
sump of creation as it must be, in order to be a testimonial of that power
that cannot be measured by any measuring stick? For this reason the
field of the revelation of divine qualities is just as infinite as these are
themselves.∗ Eternity is insufficient to grasp the manifestations of the 1:310
highest being unless it is related to the infinity of space. It is true that
the formation, the shape, the beauty and perfection are relationships of
the building blocksq and of the substances that constitute the material
of the universe;r and we observe it in the measures that the wisdom of
God is still taking all the time; and it is most appropriate to it that they
evolves by an unforced succession from these universal laws implanted
in them. Therefore we can posit with good reason that the ordering and
arrangement of the universest occurs from the store of the created mate-
rial of nature gradually in a temporal sequence; only the basic matter
itself, the properties and forces of which underlie all changes, is a direct
consequence of the divine existence: this must therefore be at once so
rich, so perfect that the development of its compositions could, in the
passage of eternity, spread over a plane that contains in itself everything
that can exist, that adopts no measure,u in short, that is infinite.
∗ The concept of an infinite extension of the world has enemies among the advocates
of metaphysics and has found one in Herr M. Weitenkampf 66 only recently. If these
gentlemen cannot bring themselves to accept this idea because of the alleged impossi-
bility of a quantity without number or limits, then for the time being I would just ask
whether the future succession of eternity will not encompass in itself a true infinity of
manifolds and changes, and whether this infinite order is not already fully present all
at once in the divine understanding. Now, if it were possible that God can make actual
the concept of infinity that is in his mind all at once, in a sequence in which one follows 1:310
upon the other, why should God not be able to exhibit the concept of another infinity in
a spatially combined connection and in this way make the extent of the world without
limits? While people will try to answer this question, I will take the opportunity that
presents itself to eliminate the supposed difficulty by means of an explanation from the
nature of numbers, insofar as one can, with due consideration, still view it as a question
requiring discussion: whether the relation between what a force accompanied by the
highest wisdom has brought about in order to reveal itself and what it could have
brought about is that of a differential coefficient.
m in Wirksamkeit zu setzen r Weltbau

n Ausübung s herauswickeln
o Anständig t der Weltgebäude
p Inbegriff u Maß [e.g., no unit of measurement]
q Grundstücke
263
Natural Science
Now, if creation is therefore infinite as regards spaces, or really has

been since the beginning at least with respect to matter, but is prepared
to become so according to the form or development,v the space of the
universew will be enlivened with worlds without number and without
end. Will then that systematic relationship that we considered earlier in
all parts separately now extend to the whole and encompass the entire
universe,x everything in nature, in a single system through the combi-
nation of attraction and centrifugal forcey ? I say yes; if there were only
1:311 separate galaxiesz that, between them, have no unified connection to
a whole, then, if one were to assume this chain of links to be actually
infinite, one could well think that an exactly equal attraction of its parts
from all sides could keep these systems safe from the destruction with
which the inner reciprocal attraction threatens them. This, however,
would require such a precisely measured determination in the distances
balanced according to the attraction, that even the slightest disarrange-
ment would bring about the destruction of the universea and deliver it
unto collapse in long periods that would ultimately still have to come to
an end. A world constitutionb that could not sustain itself without a mir-
acle does not have the character of permanence that is a feature of God’s
choice; thus it is far more appropriate if we were to make one system
out of the whole of creation, one that relates all worlds and world-orders
that fill the entirety of infinite space to a single centre point. A dispersed
plethorac of galaxies,d even though they may be separated by ever such
great distances from one another, would rush with an unimpeded ten-
dency to ruin and destruction if a certain arrangement relating towards
a universal centre point, the centre of attraction of the universee and the
supporting point of all nature, had not been made through systematic
motions.
We can assume as probable that it was around this universal centre
point of the sinking of all nature, both formed and raw, at which the
lump with the most exceptional attraction is doubtless to be found, which
embraces in its sphere of attraction all the worlds and orders that time has
produced and that eternity will produce, that nature made the beginning
of its formation, and that the systems will be most densely concentrated
there but that further away in the infinitude of space, they will become
lost with ever greater degrees of dispersion. We could deduce this rule
from the analogy with our solar system,f and this constitution can in any
v Ausbildung b Weltverfassung
w Weltraum c Gewimmel
x Universum d Weltgebäuden
y fliehende Kraft e Universi
z Weltgebäude f Sonnenbaues
a Universo
264
case serve to show that at great distances, not only the universal central
body but also all the systems orbiting next to it unite their attraction
together and exert it from one lump, as it were, towards the systems at
an even greater distance. This will then be one of the things that will be 1:312
helpful in understanding the whole of nature in the whole infinitude of
its extent within a single system.
Now, in order to trace the establishment of this universal system of
nature from the mechanical laws of matter endeavouring towards for-
mation, at some place in the infinite space of the spread out elementary
basic material, this basic material must have had its densest concentra-
tion, in order to have provided, through the initial formation occurring
there, a mass for the entire universeg that would serve it as a supporting
point. It is certainly true that in an infinite space, no point can properly
have the prerogative of being called the centre point; but by means of
a certain relationship that is based on the essential degrees of the den-
sity of the original material, according to which, at its creation, this is
initially more densely concentrated at a particular place and increases in
its dispersion with distance from that place, such a point can have the
prerogative of being called the centre point and it actually does become
such through the formation of the central mass of the strongest attrac-
tion therein, to which all the remaining elementary matter that is in the
process of coalescing into particular formations descends and thereby,
however far the evolutionh of nature might extend, makes just a sin-
gle system out of the whole of the universei in the infinite sphere of
creation.
But this is something important, which, insofar as it gains approval, is
worthy of the greatest attention, that according to the order of nature
in our system, creation, or rather the formation of nature, first begins
at this centre point and in a constant advance is gradually dispersed
into all distant expanses to fill infinite space with worlds and orders
in the progress of eternity. Let us pursue this concept for a moment
with quiet pleasure. I find nothing that can raise the human spirit to
nobler astonishment, by giving us a perspectivej on the unending field
of the almighty, than this part of the theory that concerns the successive
completion of creation. If people concede to me that matter, which is the
material for the formation of all worlds, was not uniformly spread out in
the whole infinite space of the divine presence, but according to a certain
law that perhaps related to the density of the particles and according to 1:313
which the dispersion of the original material increased with the distance
from a certain point that was the place of the densest concentration: then,
g Universo i aus dem ganzen All

h Auswickelung j Aussicht
265
Natural Science
in the original movementk of nature, the formation will have begun

nearest this centre and then in a progressive time sequence the more
distant space will gradually have formed worlds and world-orders with
a systematic constitution related to that centre. Every finite period, the
length of which stands in a relationship to the size of the work to be
fulfilled, will only ever bring one finite sphere of this centre point to
formation; the remaining infinite part meanwhile will still be in conflict
with confusion and chaos and will be as much further from the state of
perfected formation the greater its distance from the sphere of already
formed nature. As a consequence of this, even though from the place
of our abode in the universel we have a perspectivem on an apparently
completely perfected world and, so to speak, into an infinite host of world
orders that are systematically connected, we actually find ourselves only
in a proximity to the centre point of all nature, where it has already
evolved from chaos and attained the perfection appropriate to it. If we
were able to transcend a certain sphere, we would see there the chaos and
dispersion of the elements, that in proportion to how close they are to this
centre point have partly left the raw state and are nearer to completing
their formation but are gradually lost in complete dispersal with the
degrees of distance. We would see how the infinite space of the divine
presence, where the storen of all possible formations of nature can be
found, lies buried in a silent night full of matter to serve as the material for
worlds to be generated in the future, and of the driving forceo to set them
in motion, that, with a slight movement,p will begin those motions with
which the infinitude of those empty spaces is to be brought to life in the
future. Perhaps a number of millions of years has passed before the sphere
of formed nature in which we find ourselves has grown to the perfection
that now attends it; and perhaps an equally long period will elapse before
1:314 nature takes an equally large step in the chaos: but the sphere of formed
nature is incessantly occupied in spreading itself. Creation is not the work
of one moment. After it has made a beginning with the production of
an infinity of substances and matter, it is effective throughout the entire
sequence of eternity with ever increasing degrees of fruitfulness. Millions
and whole mountain ranges of millions of centuries will pass within which
ever new worlds and world-orders will form and attain completion one
after another in the remote distances from the centre point of nature;
regardless of the systematic constitution among its parts, they will attain
a universal relationship to the centre point that has become the first
point of formation and the centre of creation by the attractive capacity
k Regung n Vorrath
l Universo o Triebfeder
m Aussicht p Regung
266
of its pre-eminentq mass. The infinity of future temporal succession with

respect to which eternity is inexhaustible, will fill all the spaces of the
presence of God completely and gradually put them into the regularity
that is appropriate to the excellence of his design; and if, with a bold
idea, one were able to summarize all eternity, so to speak, into one
concept, then one would also be able to see the whole of infinite space
filled with world-orders and creation completed. But because in fact
the part of the time of eternity that still remains is always infinite and
the elapsed part is finite, the sphere of formed nature is always only an
infinitely small part of that essence which has within it the seed of future
worlds and strives to evolver out of the raw state of chaos over longer or
shorter periods. Creation is never complete. It is true that it began once,
but it will never stop. It is always occupied with bringing forth more
phenomenas of nature, new things and new worlds. The work it brings
about is proportionate to the time it spends on it. It requires nothing
less than eternity to fill the whole limitless expanse of the infinite spaces
with worlds without number and without end. We can say of it what the
most sublime among the German poets writes of eternity:
Infinity! Who misses you? 1:315

Before you, worlds are days and people moments;
Perhaps the thousandth sun is turning now,
And a thousand are behind it still.
Like a clock, enlivened by a weight,
A sun hurries, moved by God’s power:
Its force expires, and another sounds,
But you remain and count them not.
v. Haller.67
It is a not inconsiderable pleasure to allow one’s imagination to roam

freely beyond the limits of perfected creation into the realm of chaos
and to see half raw nature in the proximity of the sphere of the formed
world lose itself bit by bit through all stages and shadings of incomple-
tion in the whole of unformed space. But is it not reprehensible boldness,
people will say, to set up a hypothesis and to praise it as an objectt of
delight for our understanding when it is perhaps only much too arbitrary
if it is maintained that nature is formed only in an infinitely small part
and infinite spaces are still in conflict with chaos so as to present whole
hosts of worlds and world-orders in all proper order and beauty in the
sequence of future times? I am not so devoted to the consequences my
theory offers that I would not recognize how the conjecture about the
q vorzüglich s Auftritte
r auszuwickeln t Vorwurf
267
Natural Science
successive expansion of creation through the infinite spaces that con-

tain the material for this in themselves could not completely reject the
objection of unprovability. I do, however, expect from those who are in a
position to appreciate degrees of probability that such a map of infinity,
even though it encompasses a proposal that appears to be determined
to remain forever obscured from human understanding, will not
immediately be regarded as a fantasy for this reason, especially if one
appeals to analogy, which must always guide us in such cases where
understanding lacks the thread of infallible proofs.
But analogy can also be supported by acceptable reasons and the
insight of the reader, in so far as I can flatter myself with such approval,
will perhaps be able to add to them with even more important ones.
1:316 For if one considers that constancy is not a characteristic of creation
if it does not oppose the universal endeavour of the attraction that is
effective throughout all its parts, to an equally pervasive determination
that can sufficiently resist the tendency of the former towards destruc-
tion and lack of order, if it did not distribute tangential forcesu which, in
combination with the central inclination, establish a universal system-
atic constitution; then one is obliged to assume a universal central point
of the whole universe that holds all of its parts together in a connected
relationship and makes just one system out of the sum totalv of nature. If
one adds to this the concept of the formation of the celestial bodies out
of the dispersed elementary matter, as we have outlined above, but does
not restrict it here to a particular system, but rather extends it over the
whole of nature, then one is obliged to consider a dispersion of the basic
material in the space of original chaos such that it naturally includes
one centre point of the whole of creation so that the active mass that
encompasses the whole of nature in its sphere can be brought together
in it and a thoroughgoing relation can be produced, whereby all worlds
constitute only a single structure.w But, in infinite space, it is hardly pos-
sible to think of any kind of dispersion of the original basic material that
could posit a true centre and sinking point of all nature other than that
it is arranged in accordance with a law of increasing dispersion from this
point onwards into all the furthest distances. This law, however, also
posits a difference in the time that a system requires in the various areas
of infinite space to attain the maturity of its formation, so that this period
is shorter the closer the formation place of a world structurex is situated
to the centre of creation, because there, the elements of the material are
more densely concentrated, and it requires a longer time, by contrast,
the greater the distance is, because the particles there are more widely
dispersed and come to formation later.
u Schwungskräfte w Gebäude
v aus dem ganzen Inbegriff x Weltgebäde
268
If one considers the entire hypothesis I am outlining in the whole

extent of both what I have said and what I will still actually present, then
one will at least not regard the boldness of its demands as incapable of
accepting an apology. The inevitable tendency of every perfected world 1:317
structurey gradually towards its destruction can be reckoned among the
grounds that can establish that the universez will, by contrast, be pro-
ductive of worlds in other regions in order to replace the deficiency it
has suffered in one place. The whole piece of nature that we know, even
if it be merely an atom in view of what remains concealed above or below
our field of vision, still confirms this fruitfulness of nature that is without
limits because it is nothing other than the exercise of divine omnipotence
itself. Countless animals and plants are destroyed daily and are victims
of transience, but through an unexhausted generative capacity nature
brings forth no less again in other places and fills the void. Considerable
areas of the earth that we inhabit are buried again in the sea from which a
favourable period had dragged them; but in other places, nature replaces
the deficiency and brings forth other regions that had been concealed in
the depths of the water to spread new riches of its fruitfulness over them.
In the same way, worlds and world-orders pass away and are swallowed
by the abyss of eternities; by contrast, creation is ever busy carrying out
new formations in other regions of the heavens and replacing what has
gone with advantage.
We should not be astonished at allowing transience even in the great-
ness of God’s works. Everything that is finite, that has a beginning and an
origin, has in itself the quality of its limited nature; it must pass and have
an end. The duration of a world structurea has, thanks to the excellence
of its arrangement, a constancy that approaches an infinite duration in
terms of our concepts. Perhaps a thousand, perhaps a million centuries
will not destroy it, but because the vanity that attaches to finite natures
is constantly working at its destruction, eternity will contain all possible
periods and, by a gradual decay, bring about the time of its destruc-
tion. Newton, that great admirer of God’s qualities from the perfection
of his works, who combined the most profound insight into the excel-
lence of nature with the greatest reverence towards the revelation of
divine omnipotence, saw himself obliged to proclaim to nature its decay 1:318
through the natural tendency that the mechanics of motion has. If a
systematic constitution, through the essentialb consequence of its frailty
over great periods of time, brings even the tiniest part one can imagine
closer to the state of its confusion, then in the infinite passage of eternity
there must surely be a point in time when the gradual diminution has
exhausted all motion.
y Weltgebäude a Weltgebäude
z das Universum b wesentliche
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Natural Science
However, we must not lament the end of a world structurec as a true

loss of nature. Nature shows its bounty in a kind of extravagance, which,
while some parts pay their tribute to transience, maintains itself regard-
less through countless new creations in the whole extent of its perfection.
What a countless mass of flowers and insects does not a single cold day
destroy; but how little do we miss them even though they are splendid
artworks of nature and proofs of divine omnipotence! In another place,
this loss is replaced again with abundance. Human beings, who appear
to be the masterpiece of creation, are themselves not excluded from this
law. Nature shows that it is just as bountiful, just as inexhaustible in the
production of the most excellent of creatures as it is in that of those of
low regard, and that even their end is a necessary gradation in the diver-
sity of its suns, because their creation costs it nothing. The deleterious
effects of infected air, earthquakes, floods eradicate whole peoples from
the face of the earth, but it does not appear that nature has suffered any
disadvantage through this. In a similar way, whole worlds and systems
leave the scene after they have finished playing their roles. The infinity
of creation is great enough for us to view a world or a Milky Way of
worlds in comparison to it, just as we view a flower or an insect in com-
parison to the Earth. Meanwhile, so that nature will beautify eternity
with changeable scenes, God remains busy in ceaseless creation to make
the materiald for the formation of even greater worlds.
He who, being the creator of everything, with the same eye

Sees a hero perish and a little sparrow fall,
Sees a water bubble burst and a whole world end.
Pope in Brocke’s translation.68
1:319 Let us therefore accustom our eye to these frightening upheavals as

being the ordinary ways of providence and even regard them with a kind
of appreciation. And indeed nothing is more appropriate to the bounty of
nature than this. For when, in the long sequence of its duration, a world
systeme exhausts all the diversity that its arrangement can encompass,
when it has now become a superfluous link in the chain of beings, then
nothing is more proper than that it should play the final role in the play
of changes unfolding in the universef that is given to every finite thing,
namely to pay its dues to transience. Nature shows, as mentioned above,
even in the small part of its essenceg this rule of its method that eternal
destiny has prescribed for it in the whole, and I say it again, the greatness
of what is to come to an end is not in the least a hindrance in this, for
all that is great will become small, indeed it will become, as it were, only
c Weltgebäude f Universi
d Zeug g Inbegriff
e Weltsystem
270
a point when compared to the infinitude that creation will represent in

unlimited space throughout the sequence of eternity.
It appears that this endh that has been imposed on the worlds as well
as on all things in nature is subject to a certain law, the consideration
of which gives the theory a new touch of propriety. According to this,
it begins with those celestial bodies that are nearest the centre point of
the universe, just as the generation and formation initially began next
to this centre; from there decay and destruction spread bit by bit into
the more remote distances in order finally to bury all the worlds that
have completed their term through a gradual decline of motions in one
total chaos. On the other hand, on the opposite border of the formed
universe,i nature is constantly occupied in forming new worlds out of
the raw material of the dispersed elements, and while it is ageing on
the side near the centre, it is young and fruitful with new creations
on the other. According to this, the formed world is restricted in the
middle between the ruins of destroyed nature and between the chaos of
unformed nature and if, as is probable, one imagines that a world already
grown to perfection could last for a longer time than it required to be
formed, then, in spite of all the devastation that transience unceasingly 1:320
causes, the extent of the universej in general will still increase.
However, if finally people are prepared to leave space for an idea that
is just as probable as it is proper to the constitution of divine works, then
the satisfaction stimulated by such a description of changes in nature
will be raised to the highest degree of pleasure. Can one not believe that
nature, which was capable of placing itself out of chaos into a regular
order and into a clever system, is equally in a position to produce itself
again just as easily out of the chaos in which the diminution of its motions
had sunk it, and to renew the original combination? Can the springs that
brought the material of dispersed matter into motion and order, after the
standstill of the machine has brought them to a stop, not become effective
again through extended forces and restrict themselves to a harmony in
accordance with just the same universal laws through which the original
formation was brought into being? People will not have reservations
about admitting this for long when they consider that, after the final
exhaustionk of the orbital motions in the solar systeml has hurled the
planets and comets all together down onto the Sun, the heat of which
must increase immeasurably as a result of the mixing of so many and
such large lumps, principally because, according to our theory proven
above, the distant spheres of the solar system contain the material that
is lightest in all nature and most effective in a fire. This fire, changed
h Ende k endliche Mattigkeit

i Welt l Weltgebäude
j Universi
271
Natural Science
into the greatest intensity by new fuel and the most volatile matter,
will, without a doubt, not only dissolve everything into the smallest
elements again, but will also disperse and distribute them in this way
with an expansive force appropriate to the heat and with a velocity that
is not weakened by any resistance of the surrounding space into the same
huge spaces again that they have occupied before the first formation of
nature, and, after the intensity of the central fire has been reduced by
the almost total dispersion of its mass, by a combination of the attractive
and repelling forces, repeat the old creationsm and systematically related
motions with no less regularity and represent a new world structure.n If
1:321 then a particular planetary system has fallen into decay in this manner
and has generated itself again by means of essential forces, if indeed it
repeats this game more than once: then finally that period will approach
which will in the same way gather the great system of which the fixed
stars are members into one chaos through the decay of its motions. One
will have even fewer doubts here that the unification of so infinite a
quantity of flammable matter as these burning suns represent, together
with the retinue of their planets dissolved by the ineffable heat, will
disperse the material of their masses in the old space of their sphere
of formation and there the materials for new formations are provided
through the same mechanical laws, through which again the empty space
can be populated with worlds and systems. If we follow this phoenix of
nature, which burns itself only to rise rejuvenated from its ashes to new
life through all infinity of time and space; when one sees how, even in
the region where it decays and ages, it continues unexhausted with new
appearances and on the other border of creation it proceeds in the space
of unformed raw matter with constant steps for the expansion of the
plan of divine revelation to fill eternity as well as all the spaces with its
wonders: then the mind that contemplates all this sinks into a profound
astonishment; and yet still unsatisfied with this so great object, whose
transience cannot satisfy the soul sufficiently, he wishes to get to know
at close quarters that being whose understanding, whose greatness is
the source of that light which spreads over all of nature as though from
one centre point. With what kind of reverence does not the soul have
to regard even its own being, when it considers that it is to survive all
these changes, it can then say to itself what the philosophical poet says of
eternity:
When then a second nothingness will bury this world,
When of every thing itself nothing remains but the place,
When even many a sky, illuminated by other stars
Will have completed its course:
m Zeugungen n Weltgebäude
272
You shall be as young as now, just as far from your death,

Just as eternally future as today.
v. Haller.69
O happy if, among the tumult of the elements and the ruins of nature, 1:322
it is always positioned at a height from which it can see the devastations
that frailty causes the things of the world to rush past under its feet,
so to speak! A happiness such as reason may not even have the temerity
to wish for, revelation teaches us to hope for with conviction. When
the shackles that hold us to the vanity of creatures have fallen off at the
moment that has been determined for the transfiguration of our being,
then the immortal spirit, liberated from dependence on finite things,
and in the company of the infinite being, will find the enjoyment of
true happiness. The whole of nature, which has a universal harmonious
relationship with the pleasure of the divinity, cannot fill that reasonable
creature that is at one with this original source of all perfection with any-
thing other than everlasting satisfaction. Nature, seen from this centre
point, will show nothing but certainty, nothing but propriety from all
sides. The changeable scenes of nature are not capable of disturbing the
peace of happiness of a spirit that has been raised to such heights. While
it tastes this state in advance through a sweet hope, it can exercise its
mouth in those paeans of praise with which all eternities will one day
resound.
When one day the structure of the world has hurried back into its
nothingness
And the work of your hands is no longer separated by night and day
Then shall my moved spirit, strengthened by you, attempt
Always to stand before your throne in adoration of your omnipotence
My mouth, filled with thanks, shall through all eternities
Present you and your majesty with unending praise;
Even if I can say no perfect praise: for, O Lord! you are so great
Eternity would not suffice to praise you as you are worthy of it.
Addisson [sic]
In Gottsched’s translation.70
supplement 1:323
to chapter seven.
Universal theory and history of the Sun.
There is one major question the resolution of which is indispensable
in the doctrine of nature of the heavens and in a complete cosmogony.
Why is the centre point of every system occupied by a flaming body?
273
Natural Science
Our planetary systemo has the Sun as its central body and the fixed stars
we see are to all appearances centre points of similar systems.
In order to understand why, in the formation of a planetary structurep
the body that serves as the middle point of the attraction had to be a fiery
body, while the remaining spheres in its range of attraction stayed dark
and cold celestial bodies, one need only recall the manner in which a
systemq is generated that we have outlined in detail above. In the widely
spread space in which the dispersed elementary basic material embarks
on formations and systematic motions, planets and comets form only
out of that part of the elementary basic material sinking towards the
centre point of attraction that has been determined by the fall and the
interaction of all the particles for the precise restriction of direction and
velocity required for rotation. This part is, as shown above, the least
of the whole sumr of the matter sinking downwards, and in fact only
the detritus of denser kinds that have been able to attain this degree
of precision through the resistance of the others. In this mixs there are
upwards floating kinds of outstanding lightness, which, hindered by the
resistance of space, do not reach the appropriate velocityt of periodic
rotation through their fall and which as a result are all thrown down to
the central body in the decrease of their tangential force.u Now because
precisely these lighter and volatile parts are also the most effective in
maintaining fire, we can see that, by adding them, the body and central
point of the system attains the advantage of becoming a flaming sphere,
in a word, a sun. Conversely, the heavier and powerless material and the
1:324 absence of these fire-feeding particles will make of the planets only cold
and dead lumps that are deprived of this quality.
It is also through this addition of such light matters that the Sun has
attained the lesser specific density by which it is four times inferior even
to our Earth, the third planet in distance from it; although it is natural
to believe that the heaviest and densest types of matter should be found
in this centre point of the world structure,v being its lowest point so that
it would surpass the density of all planets without the addition of such a
large quantity of the lightest material.
The blending of denser and heavier types of elements with these
lighter and more volatile ones also serves to prepare the central body
for the fiercest heat that is to burn and be maintained on its surface.
For we know that a fire, in the feeding material of which dense mat-
ters are blended with volatile ones, has a great advantage of fierceness
over those flames that are maintained only by light types. However, this
o Weltbau s Gemenge
p Weltgebäude t Schnelligkeit
q Weltbau u in der Mattigkeit ihres Schwunges
r Menge v Weltbau
274
intermingling of some heavy types among the lighter ones is a necessary

consequence of our doctrine of the formation of the celestial bodies and
additionally has this benefit, that the force of the heat does not suddenly
disperse the combustible matter of the surface and that it is gradually
and constantly fed by the influx of fuel from the interior.
After the question has now been resolved why the central body of a
great stellar system is a flaming sphere, that is, a sun, it does not seem
superfluous to occupy ourselves with this subjectw for a while and to
explore the state of such a heavenly body with a careful examination,
particularly as conjectures here can be derived from more valid reasons
than they generally tend to be with studies of the constitution of distant
heavenly bodies.
First of all, I establish that there can be no doubt that the Sun really
is a flaming body and not merely a mass of molten and glowing matter
heated to an extreme degree as some have tried to conclude from certain
difficulties they thought they had encountered with the first opinion.
For if one considers that a flaming fire has this essential advantage over
every other kind of heat that it, so to speak, is active out of itself instead 1:325
of diminishing or exhausting itself by transference, but rather thereby
acquires more strength and fierceness and thus requires only material
and feeding for its maintenance in order to continue on and on; the
incandescencex of a mass heated to the highest degree, by contrast, is a
merely passive state that incessantly diminishes by community with the
matter it touches and has no powers of its own to spread from a small
beginning or to come back to life again after being diminished, if, I say,
one considers this, one will be able to see clearly from this, and I say
nothing about the other reasons, that the sun, the source of light and
heat in every world structure,y will in all probability have to be accorded
this quality.
Now, if the Sun, or suns altogether, are flaming spheres, then the first
quality of their surface that can be deduced from this is that air must be
there, since no fire will burn without air. This circumstance gives rise
to noteworthy conclusions. For if we first place the atmosphere of the
Sun and its mass in relation to the lump of the Sun, in what state of
pressure will this air not be, and how capable will it not thereby become
of maintaining the most violent degrees of fire through its elastic force?z
In all probability smoke clouds from the matter burnt by the flames
also rise in this atmosphere, and there can be no doubt that this matter
contains a mix of coarse and lighter particles which, after they have risen
to a height that fosters cooler air for them, crash down in heavy rains of
pitch and sulphur and provide new nourishment for the flames. Precisely
w Vorwurfe y Weltbau
x Gluth z Federkraft
275
Natural Science
this atmosphere is not free from the motions of the windsa for the same
reasons as on our Earth, but which from all appearances must greatly
exceed in vehemence everything the imagination can picture for itself.
Whenever some region on the surface of the Sun lessens the outbreak
of the flame, either as a result of the asphyxiating force of the vapours
breaking out or by the sparing influx of flammable matter, the air above
1:326 cools somewhat and, as it contracts, it makes room for the air next to
it, with a force appropriate to the excess of its expansion, to reignite the
extinguished flame.
Nonetheless all flames always devour much air and there is no doubt
that the elastic forceb of the liquid element of air that surrounds the Sun
must suffer over time a not inconsiderable disadvantage thereby. If we
were to apply on a large scale what Herr Hales71 has confirmed through
careful experiments about the actionc of flame in our atmosphere, then we
can consider the continuous endeavour of the smoke particles deriving
from the flame to destroy the elasticity of the Sun’s atmosphere as one
principal knot, the solution of which is bound up with difficulties. For
because the flame that burns over the entire surface of the Sun takes
away from itself the air that is necessary for it to burn, the Sun is in
danger of being completely extinguished when the greatest part of its
atmosphere has been consumed. It is true that fire also creates air by
the dissolution of certain matters, but experiments prove that more is
always consumed than is produced. On the one hand, when one part
of the sun’s fire is robbed of the air that serves to maintain it through
suffocating vapours, then, as we have noted above, violent storms will try
to disperse them and conduct them away. On the other hand, in general
we can make the replacement of this required element understandable
in the following way if we take into consideration that, since in a flaming
fire the heat acts almost only above and only very little below it, when
it has been suffocated by the cause mentioned above, it turns its vigour
towards the interior of the Sun’s body and forces the deep chasms there
to let the air locked in its caverns to break out and to stoke the fire anew;
if, by taking a liberty that is not forbidden in the case of so unknown
an object, we primarily posit in its innards matters that, like saltpetre,
are inexhaustibly productive of elastic air, then the Sun’s fire will not
readily suffer the absence of a constantly renewed air supply over very
long periods.
Nonetheless we can see the distinct characteristics of transience even
in this immeasurabled fire that nature has set up as a torch for the world.
There will come a time when it will be extinguished. The removal of
1:327 the most volatile and finest matters, which, dispersed by the violence
a Wege c Wirkung
b Federkraft d unschätzbaren
276
of the heat, will never return and increase the material of the zodiacal
light, the accumulation of non-combustible and burnt out matter, e.g.,
the ash on the surface, and finally too the absence of air will set an
ende to the Sun’s days as its flame will go out one day and its place,
now the centre point of light and life for the whole planetary system,f
will be occupied by eternal darkness. The alternating endeavour of its
fire to flare up again by opening up new caverns, by means of which it
perhaps rejuvenates itself repeatedly in the face of its demise, could be an
explanation for the disappearance and reappearance of some fixed stars.
These would be suns that are close to their extinction and that attempt to
revive themselves out of their ashes a number of times. This explanation
may deserve approval or not, but in any case we will certainly have to let
this observation serve to make us realize that, since, one way or another,
the perfection of all world-orders is threatened by inevitable destruction,
we shall find no difficulty in the aforementioned law of their demise by
means of the tendency of the mechanical arrangement, which, however,
becomes acceptable, principally because it bears within itself the seed of
renewal even in being conjoined with chaos.
Finally, let us have our imagination represent a wonderfully strange
object such as a burning sun as it were from close up. In one glance, we
see broad lakes of fire lifting their flames up to the sky, raging storms
whose fury redoubles the violence of the former, which, by making them
swell up over their banks, now cover the raised areas of this celestial body,
now make them sink back to within their borders; burnt-out rocks that
stretch their terrible peaks out of the flaming maws, and whose flooding
or uncovering by the surging fiery element is the cause of the alternating
appearance and disappearance of the sunspots; dense vapours that choke
the fire and, raised by the force of the winds, constitute dark clouds
which in turn crash down in fiery showers of rain and, in the form of
burning rivers, pour into the flaming valleys from the heights of the firm
land of the Sun∗ , the crashing of the elements, the detritus of burnt-out 1:328
matters, and nature wrestling with destruction, which even in the most
∗ It is not without cause that I ascribe to the suns all the unevennesses of firm land,
mountains, and valleys that we encounter on our Earth and other celestial bodies.
The formation of a world sphere that is transforming itself from a liquid into a solid state
necessarily brings about such unevennesses on its surface. As the surface hardens, while
in the fluid interior parts of such a mass, the matters are still sinking towards the centre
point in accordance with their weights, the particles of the elastic air or fire element
that is mixed in with these matters are driven out and accumulate under the meanwhile
solidified crust under which they generate large caves immense in proportion to the
lump of the sun, into which the topmost crust mentioned above ultimately sinks with
various folds and in this way prepares raised regions and mountain ranges as well as
valleys and flood plains of broad fire lakes.
e Ziel f Weltgebäude
277
Natural Science
loathsome state of its disorder brings about the beauty of the world and
the benefit of the creatures.
If therefore the centre points of all great world systemsg are flaming
bodies, then this can be assumed to apply most to the central body of that
immeasurable system that the fixed stars constitute. But if it were a self-
illuminating body or a sun, would not this body, the mass of which must
stand in a ratio to the magnitude of its system, be obvious through its
pre-eminent brilliance and magnitude? Despite this, we do not see any
such exceptionally distinct fixed star shining forth among the heavenly
hosts. Indeed we should not be surprised if this does not happen. Even
if it exceeded our Sun 10,000 times in size, and we were to assume its
distance to be 100 times greater than that of Sirius, it could not appear
larger and brighter than that star.
Perhaps, however, it is given to future times at least to discover the
1:329 region where the centre point∗ of the fixed star system to which our
Sun belongs is to be found, or perhaps even to determine where we
must posit the central body of the universeh to which all its parts are
aiming with unanimous descent. As regards the constitution of this fun-
damental piece of the entirety of creation and what one might find on
it, we shall allow Herr Wright of Durham to determine, who, with a
∗ I have a conjecture according to which it seems very likely to me that Sirius or the Dog
Star in the system of stars that make up the Milky Way is the central body and occupies
the centre point to which they all refer. If one were to consider this system in terms of
the outline in the first part of this treatise as a milling massi of suns heaped together
into a common plane, which has been strewn in all directions from its central point
and yet constitutes a certain, as it were, circle-shaped space that also extends widthways
from both sides as a result of minor deviations from the plane of reference; then the
1:329 Sun, which is also near this plane, will see the appearance of this circle-shaped, white-
shimmering zone most broadly towards that side to which it is closest to the furthest
limit of the system, for it is easy to suppose that it would hardly be at the centre point.
Now the band of the Milky Way is broadest in the section between the sign of the
Cygnus and that of Sagittarius, therefore this will be the side where the place of our Sun
is closest to the periphery of the circle-shaped system; and it is in this section that we will
consider the place where the constellations of the Aquila and the Vulpecula stand with
the Anser particularly as the very closest, because it is there that the greatest apparent
dispersion of stars shines forth from the space where the Milky Way divides. Therefore,
if one draws a line approximately from a point next to the tail of Aquila through the
middle of the plane of the Milky Way to the opposite point, then it must meet the centre
point of the system and indeed it very precisely meets Sirius, the brightest star in the
whole sky which, because of its fortunate coinciding that harmonizes so well with its
splendid figure, seems to deserve to be regarded as the central body itself. According to
this notion it would be seen precisely in the band of the Milky Way were it not that the
position of our Sun, deviating somewhat from the plane at the tail of Aquila, causes the
optical distance of the centre point towards the other side of that zone.
g Weltsystemen i Gewimmel
h Universi
278
fanatical enthusiasm, raised, in this fortunate place as it were onto a

throne of all nature, a powerful being of a divine sort with spiritual powers
of attraction and repulsion, which, effectivej in an infinite sphere around
itself, drew all virtue to itself but drove back all vice. We do not wish
to allow free rein to the boldness of our conjectures, which we perhaps
have permitted only too much, to the point of arbitrary inventions. The
deity is equally present in the infinity of the entire universe; wherever
there are beings capable of elevating themselves above the dependence
of creatures to the community of the highest being, it is equally close.
All of creation is permeated by its powers but only someone who is
capable of liberating oneself from being a creature, who is so noble as to 1:330
realize that the highest level of happiness is to be sought solely in partak-
ing of this original source of perfection, that one alone is capable of being
closer to this true reference point of all excellence than anything else in
all of nature. However, if I, without participating in the enthusiastic ideas
of the Englishman, were to make conjectures about the different grades
of the spiritual world on the basis of the physical relations of their domi-
ciles to the centre point of creation, then I would seek the most perfect
classes of rational beings further away from this centre point than closer
to it. The perfection of creatures endowed with reason, insofar as it is
dependent on the constitution of matter, in the connection with which
they are restricted, depends very much on the fineness of the material
whose influence determines them in their imagek of the world and in
their reaction to it. The inertia and the resistance of matter restricts the
freedom of spiritual beings for actionl and the clarity of their sensation
of external things far too much, it makes their capacities blunt in that
they do not obey its motions with appropriate lightness. Therefore, if
we assume, as is likely, the densest and heaviest types of matter to be
near the centre point of nature, while degrees of fineness and lightness
increase at greater distances in accordance with the analogy that rules
our universe,m then the consequence is understandable. Those rational
beings, whose place of origin and residence is closer to the centre point
of creation, are mired in a stiff and immovable matter that contains their
strength locked in an insuperable inertia and is also just as incapable of
transmitting and communicating the impressions of the universen with
the requisite distinctness and ease. We will therefore have to reckon
these thinking beings as being part of the low class; by contrast, this
perfection of the spiritual world, which rests upon a mutual dependence
on matter, will increase with the distances from the universal centre like
a constant ladder. As a result we have to place the worst and least perfect
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types of thinking natures in the most profound lowering to this sinking

point, and it is in this direction that this excellence of beings, with all
1:331 shades of diminution, is finally lost in the complete absence of reflec-
tion and thinking. Indeed, when one considers that the centre point of
nature constitutes simultaneously the beginning of its formation out of
raw materialo and its border with chaos; if one adds to this that the per-
fection of spiritual beings, which certainly has an outermost limit of its
beginning, where their capabilities collide with lack of reason,p but no
limits of continuation beyond which they could not be raised, but rather
finds itself confronted on that side with complete infinity; then, if a law
is to be in place according to which the domiciles of intelligent creatures
are distributed in the order of their relation to the common centre point,
we shall have to place the lowest and least complete type that constitutes,
as it were, the beginning of the type of the spiritual world, at that region
that can be called the beginning of the entire universeq in order to fill
simultaneously with this and in equal progression all infinity of time
and spaces with increasing degrees of perfection of the capacity to think
and as it were gradually to approach the goalr of the highest excellence,
namely the divinity without, however, ever being able to attain it.
chapter eight.
General proof of the correctness of a mechanical doctrine of the
arrangement of the universe overall, particularly of the certainty
of the present one.
One cannot look at the universes without recognizing the most excellent
order in its arrangement and the sure characteristics of the hand of God
in the perfection of its relations. Reason, having considered and admired
so much beauty, so much excellence, is rightly incensed at the bold fool-
ishness that has the audacity to attribute all this to coincidence and a
1:332 fortuitous chance. The highest wisdom must have made the design and
an infinite power carried it out, otherwise it would be impossible that so
many intentions that come together for one purpose could be encoun-
tered in the constitution of the universe.t It is simply a matter of deciding
whether the design of the arrangement of the universeu had already been
placed in the essential determinations of the eternal natures and planted
into the universal laws of motion by the highest understanding so that
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p Unvernunft t Weltgebäudes
q Universi u Universi
r Ziel
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it developed out of them naturally in a manner proper to the most per-

fect order, or whether the general properties of the constituent parts of
the world have a complete incapacity for harmony and not the slightest
reference to any combination and definitely required an external hand
to acquire that limitation and coordination that shows perfection and
beauty in it. An almost universal prejudice has set most philosophers
against nature’s ability to produce anything orderly through its univer-
sal laws just as though it would be disputing God’s governance of the
world if one were to seek original formations in the forces of nature
and as though these were a principle independent of the divinity and an
eternal blind fate.
However, if one considers that nature and the eternal laws that are pre-
scribed to substances for their interaction, are not a principle indepen-
dent and necessary without God, that precisely because of the fact that
it shows so much correspondence and order in what it produces through
universal laws, we can see that the essences of all things must have their
common origin in a certain primitive beingv and that for this reason they
reveal many reciprocal relationships and much harmony because their
properties have their source in a single highest understanding, whose
sage idea designed them in constant proportions and implanted in them
that ability by which they produce much beauty, much order in the state
of activity if left to themselves, if, I say, one considers this, then nature
will appear to us more dignified than it is commonly regarded and one
will expect from its unfoldingw nothing but correspondence, nothing
but order. If, by contrast, one gives credit to an unfounded prejudice,
that the universal laws of nature in and of themselves create nothing but
disorder and any useful correspondences that shine forth in the consti- 1:333
tution of nature points to the direct hand of God, then one is required
to turn the whole of nature into miracles. One will not derive from the
implanted forces of matter the beautiful colourful arc that appears in
raindrops when they separate the colours of sunlight, due to its beauty,
the rain due to its usefulness, the winds due to the indispensable advan-
tages they provide for human needs in endless ways, in short, all changes
of the world that bring along propriety and order. The endeavours of
natural scientistsx who have involved themselves with such a philoso-
phy will have to make an apology before the judgement seat of religion.
Indeed, there will then no longer be any nature; there will be only a
god in the machine bringing about the changes of the world. How-
ever, what will this strange means of proving the certainty of the highest
being on the basis of the essential incapacity of nature do to convert the
Epicurean? If the natures of things bring about nothing but disorder and
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nonsense through the eternal laws of their essences, then precisely by

this will they prove the character of their independence from God; and
what sort of a notion of a deity will one be able to make for oneself whom
the universal laws of nature obey only because of a sort of compulsion
and are actually in conflict with its wisest designs? Will not the enemy
of providence win just as many victories over these false principles as
he can demonstrate correspondences that the universal causal laws of
nature bring forth without any special limitations? And could he lack
such examples? On the contrary, let us conclude with greater propriety
and correctness as follows: Nature, left to its own universal properties,
is fertile in many beautiful and perfect fruits which not only show cor-
respondence and excellence in themselves but also harmonize with the
entire realm of their beings, with the usefulness to mankind and the glo-
rification of the divine properties. From this it follows that their essential
properties can have no independent necessity, but rather that they must
have their origin in a single understanding as the ground and source of
1:334 all beings, and in which they have been designed under mutual relations.
All things that relate to one another in a reciprocal harmony must be
combined with each other in a single being on which they all depend.
Therefore there is a being of all beings, an infinite understanding and
self-sufficienty wisdom, out of which nature also draws its origin in the
entire sum total of its determinations, even according to its possibility.
Now we cannot dispute the capacity of nature to be disadvantageous to
the existence of a highest being; the more perfect it is in its developments,
the better its universal laws lead to order and correspondence: the surer
a proof it is of the divinity from which it borrows these relations. Its
productions are no longer the effects of chance and the consequences of
accidents: everything flows from it according to immutable laws, which
must therefore display much skill because they are nothing but aspects
of the wisest design from which all disorder has been banished. It is not
the accidental accumulation of Lucretius’ atoms that formed the world;
implanted forces and laws that have the wisest reason as their source,
have been an immutable origin of that order that had to flow from them,
not by accident, but by necessity.
If therefore we can liberate ourselves from an old and unfounded prej-
udice and from the lazy philosophy that tries to hide a sluggish lack of
knowledge behind a pious face, then I hope to found a sure conviction
on incontrovertible grounds: that the world recognizes a mechani-
cal development out of the universal laws of nature as the origin
of its constitution; and that secondly the manner of its mechanical
generation we have presented is the true one. If one wants to judge
whether nature has sufficient capacities to bring about the arrangement
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of the universez by a mechanical consequence of its laws of motion, then

one must first consider how simple the motions are that the world bod-
ies observe and that they have nothing about them that requires a more
precise determination than the universal rules of natural forces have in
themselves. The orbital motions consist of the relationship between the
sinking force that is a certain result of the properties of matter and of
the shooting motion that can be regarded as the effect of the former, as
a velocity resulting from the sinking, in which only a certain cause was 1:335
needed to bend the vertical fall sidewards. After the determination of
these motions was once attained, nothing further is needed to maintain
them forever. They continue to exist in empty space by the combination
of the once impressed shooting force with the attraction flowing from
the essential forces of nature and suffer no further change. The analo-
gies in the correspondence of these motions alone show the reality of
a mechanical origin so clearly that one can harbour no doubts about it.
For
1. these motions have a corresponding direction throughout, so that of
six main planets and 10 satellites there is not a single one that moves in any
direction other than from west to east, both in their forward motion and
in the rotation around their axis. In addition, these directions correspond
so precisely that they deviate only a little from a common plane, and this
plane to which everything refers, is the equatorial plane of the body
that rotates on its axis in the same direction at the centre point of the
whole system and which, by its very strong attraction, has become the
reference point of all motions and therefore must have participated in
them as precisely as possible. One proof that all the motions arose and
were determined in a mechanical manner according to the universal laws
of nature and that the cause that either impressed the lateral motions or
put them right dominated the entire space of the planetary structurea
and in this obeys the laws that matter observes in a space moved in
common, [is] that all different motions ultimately adopt a single direction
and altogether make themselves refer as precisely as possible to a single
plane.
2. the velocities are constituted in the way they have to be in a space
where the moving force is in the centre point, that is, they decrease in
constant degrees with the distances from it and lose themselves in the
greatest distance in a complete exhaustion of motion which bends the
vertical fall laterally only very little. From Mercury onwards, which has
the greatest tangential force, we can see that it decreases in stages and in
the outermostcomets is as slight as it possibly could be without actually 1:336
falling into the Sun. No one can object that the rules of central motions
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in circular orbits demand that, the closer to the centre point of the uni-
versal sinking, the greater must be the rotational velocity; for, why must
just those heavenly bodies close to this centre have circle-shaped orbits?
Why are the closest ones not very eccentric and the more distant ones
orbiting in circles? Or rather since they all deviate from this measured
geometrical precision, why does this deviation increase with the dis-
tances? Do not these relationships describe the point towards which all
motion originally thronged and also attained greater degrees according
to the measure of proximity before other determinations altered their
directions into the current ones?
However, if one were to wish to except the constitution of the universeb
and the origin of motions from the universal laws of nature in order to
attribute them to the direct hand of God, then one will rapidly become
aware that the analogies mentioned evidently contradict such an idea.
For, firstly, as concerns the correspondence in direction throughout, it is
obvious that there is no reason here why the bodies in the universe would
have to arrange their orbits in one single direction if the mechanism of
their origin had not determined them to do so. For the space in which
they move offers infinitely little resistance and limits their motions as
little in one direction as it does in the other; thus God’s choice would
not bind itself to a single determination without the slightest motive, but
show itself in all sorts of variations and differences with greater freedom.
Furthermore: why do the orbits of the planets refer so precisely to a
common plane, namely to the equatorial plane of that great body that
rules their orbits from the centre point of all motion? This analogy,
instead of revealing a motive for propriety in itself, is rather the cause
of a certain confusion that would be resolved by a free deviation of
the planetary orbits: for the attractions of the planets now disturb the
uniformity of their motions to some extent and would not hinder each
other at all if they did not refer to a common plane so precisely.
1:337 Even more than all these analogies, the clearest characteristic of the
hand of nature is shown by the absence of the most precise determination
in those relations it endeavoured to attain. If it were best for the plane-
tary orbits to have been placed almost on a common plane, why are they
not exactly so? And why has a part of that deviation remained that ought
to have been avoided? Thus if the planets closer to the orbit of the Sun
have received the magnitude of the tangential force holding the attrac-
tion in equilibrium, why is there still something missing in this complete
equality? And why are their orbits not completely circular if merely the
wisest intention supported by the greatest faculty tried to bring forth this
determination? Is it not clearly to be seen that the cause that situated
the orbits of the heavenly bodies by endeavouring to bring them onto
b Weltbaues
284
a common plane was not able to achieve this completely; similarly, that
the force that ruled the space of the heavens when all matter that is now
formed into spheres received its orbital velocities, certainly attempted
to bring them into an equilibrium with the sinking force near the centre
point but was not able to attain complete exactness? Cannot the usual
procedure of nature be recognized in this, which is made to deviate from
the completely precise determinations in each case by the interference
of various concurrent actionsc ? And are we likely to find the reasons for
this state of affairs merely in the ultimate purposes of the highest will
that commands directly in this way? One can, without being stubborn,
dispute that the favoured manner of explaining the properties of nature
by citing their uses as a reason will not pass the test as hoped. In regard
to the benefit of the world, it was certainly a matter of complete indif-
ference whether the planetary orbits are completely circular or whether
they are a little eccentric; whether they completely coincide with their
universal plane of reference or may deviate somewhat from it; rather, if
it was needed to be restricted in this kind of correspondence, it would
be best to have them be complete. If it is true what the philosopher said,
that God is constantly practising geometry; if this shines forth even in
the ways of the universal laws of nature, then certainly this rule would 1:338
be completely perceptible in the immediate works of the almighty will
and these would display all the perfection of geometrical precision. The
comets form part of these defectsd of nature. One cannot deny that in
regard to their course and the changes they suffer thereby they are to be
viewed as imperfect members of creation that neither can serve to pro-
vide comfortable dwelling places for rational beings nor become useful
to the best of the whole system by, as has been proposed, serving the Sun
as fuel at some stage; for it is certain that most of them would not fulfil
this purpose before the destruction of the entire planetary structure.e In
the doctrine of the direct highest ordering of the world without a natu-
ral development from universal laws of nature, such a remark would be
offensive even though it is certain. But in a mechanical manner of expla-
nation the beauty of the world and the revelation of the almighty are
glorified by it in no small degree. Nature, by encompassing all possible
stages of diversity in itself, extends its embrace to all types of perfection
up to nothingness and the defects themselves are a sign of the superfluity
in which its sum total is inexhaustible.
We would believe that the analogies adduced above might overcome
prejudice to the extent that they would make the mechanical origin of
the universef acceptable if there were not certain grounds, taken from
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d Mangel f Weltgebäudes
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the nature of the matter itself, that seem to contradict this doctrine com-
pletely. The space of the heavens is, as already mentioned several times,
empty, or at least filled with infinitely thin matter that therefore has been
unable to produce any means of impressing common motions into the
heavenly bodies. This difficulty is of such significance and validity that
Newton, who had cause to trust the insights of his philosophy as much
as any mortal, saw himself compelled at this point to give up hope of
resolving, by reference to the laws of nature and the forces of matter, the
impression of the tangential forces attached to the planets, regardless of
all the correspondence that points to a mechanical origin. Although it
is a sad decision for a philosopher to give up the effort of an examina-
tion in the case of a matter that is complex and still far removed from
1:339 simple principles and to content himself with referring to the direct will
of God: nonetheless, Newton recognized here the borderline that sep-
arates nature from the finger of God, the course of the established laws
of the former from the hint of the latter. After the despair of so great
a philosopher, it would seem to be presumptuous to hope for a happy
continuation in a matter of such difficulty.
However, precisely the same difficulty that deprived Newton of hope
of understanding the orbital forces imparted to the heavenly bodies,
whose direction and determinations make up the systemic character of
the universeg is the source of the doctrine we have presented in the pre-
vious chapters. It supports a mechanical doctrine, but one that is far
removed from the one Newton found inadequate and for the sake of
which he rejected all subordinate causes, because he (if I dare to say it)
erred in that he considered it to be the only one among all the possible
ones of its kind. It is quite easy and natural, even by means of Newton’s
difficulty, to arrive at the certainty of the mechanical manner of expla-
nation we have sketched in this treatise by a brief and thorough line of
argument. If we presuppose (as we cannot help but admit) that the above
analogies establish with the greatest certainty that the motions and orbits
of the heavenly bodies that are in harmony and refer to one another in an
orderly manner point to a natural cause as their origin, then this cannot
be the same matter as that which now fills the space of the heavens. Thus
that which formerly filled these spaces and whose motion was the reason
for the present orbits of the heavenly bodies after they had accumulated
into these spheres and thus cleared the spaces that we now see as empty,
or, what flows directly from this, the matter itself of which the planets,
the comets, and indeed the Sun consist must initially have been dispersed
in the space of the planetary systemh and in this state have set themselves
in a motion that they retained when they united themselves into separate
lumps and formed the heavenly bodies that encompass within themselves
g Weltbaues h planetischen Systems
286
all the formerly dispersed material of universal matter.i In this, one is not 1:340
long at a loss to discover the mechanismj that may have set this material
of forming nature into motion. The motor itself that brought about the
unification of the masses, the force of attraction that is an essential part
of matter and therefore is so well suited as the first cause of motion at
the first stirring of nature was its source. The direction that always aims
straight for the centre point in this force is no objection here; for it is
certain that in its vertical motion the fine material of dispersed elements
must have been deflected by the diversity of the attraction points as well
as by the hindrance caused by the mutually transversing lines of direc-
tion, into various lateral motions in which a certain law of nature that says
that all matter limiting itself through reciprocal action ultimately arrives
at a state in which one will cause as little change in the other as possible,
has henceforth brought about both the uniformity of direction as well
as the appropriate degrees of velocities that are balanced at every dis-
tance according to the central force and by the combination with which
the elements do not attempt to stray above or beneath themselves: all
elements have thus been made to orbit not only to one side but also in
almost parallel and free circles around the common sinking point in the
thin heavenly space. These motions of the parts had to continue after-
wards when planetary spheres had formed out of them and exist now into
an unlimited future by the combination of the once imparted tangential
force with the central force. On this so understandable basis rest the
uniformity of directions in the planetary orbits, the precise reference to
a common plane, the moderation of the tangential forces according to
the attraction of the place, the decrease with distance of the precision of
these analogies, and the free deviation of the outermost heavenly bodies
to both sides as well as in the opposing direction. If these signs of recip-
rocal dependence in the determinations of generation point with evident
certainty to matter originally moved and dispersed through all of space,
then the total absence of any matter in this now empty heavenly space
other than those which comprise the bodies of the planets, the Sun, and
the comets proves that initially these must have been in a state of disper- 1:341
sion themselves. The ease and correctness with which all the phenomena
of the universek have been derived from this assumed principle in the
foregoing chapters completes such a conjecture and gives it a value that
is no longer arbitrary.
The certainty of a mechanical doctrine of the origin of the universe,l
especially ours, is raised to the highest peak of conviction if one considers
the formation of the heavenly bodies themselves, the significance and size
of their masses in terms of the proportion they have in regard to their
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j Triebwerk l Weltgebäudes
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distance from the centre point of gravitation. For firstly the density of
their material, if considered in terms of the whole of their lump, decreases
in constant degrees with the distance from the Sun, a determination that
aims so clearly at the mechanical determinations of the first formations
that no one can ask for anything further. They are constituted of matter
such that those of the heavier kind have received a lower place towards
the common sinking point while those of the lighter kind received a more
distant space, which condition is necessary in all types of generation in
nature. However, in an arrangement flowing directly from the divine
will not the slightest grounds for these relationships is to be found.
For even though it might seem that the more distant spheres ought to
consist of lighter material so that they might feel the requisite effect
from the reduced force of the Sun’s rays; yet this is merely a purpose
that is directed at the composition of the matter found on the surface
and not at the deeper kinds in the interior of the lump, in which the
Sun’s warmth never has any effect and that serve only to bring about
the attraction of the planet which will make the bodies surrounding it
sink towards it and therefore cannot have the slightest relation to the
strength or weakness of the Sun’s rays. Therefore, if one asks why the
densities of the Earth, of Jupiter, and of Saturn as correctly calculated
by Newton, are in the ratio of 400, 94.5 and 64 to each other, it would be
nonsense to ascribe the cause to the intention of God, who moderated
them according to the degrees of the Sun’s warmth; for here our Earth
1:342 can serve as a counterexample for us, where the Sun acts on only such
a slight depth under the surface by its rays that the part of its lump
that must have some relation to it does not amount to one millionth of
the whole, of which the rest is completely irrelevant in regard to this
intention. If therefore the material of which the heavenly bodies consist
has an ordered ratio harmonizing with the distances, and the planets can
now not restrict one another since they are now at a distance from one
another in empty space, then their matter must previously have been in
a state in which they could act upon one another mutually in order to
restrict themselves to the places proportionate to their specific density,
which could not have happened in any way other than that their parts had
been dispersed in the whole space of the system before their formation
and have gained places appropriate to their density in accordance with
the universal laws of motion.
The ratio of size of the planetary masses, which increases with dis-
tance, is the second reason that clearly proves the mechanical formation
of the heavenly bodies and especially our theory thereof. Why do the
masses of the heavenly bodies increase approximately with distance? If
one follows a doctrine that ascribes everything to a choice by God, then
there is no intention that can be thought of as to why the more distant
planets must have greater masses other than that, by the great strength
288
of their attraction in their region, they could encompass one or more

moons that are supposed to make a comfortable life for the inhabitants
determined for them. However, this purpose could be achieved just as
well by a great density in the interior of their lump and why did the light-
ness of the material that results from special reasons, which is counter
to this ratio, have to remain and be exceeded by the advantage of the
volume to such an extent that the mass of those farther away is still more
important than that of those closer? If one ignores the manner in which
these bodies were naturally produced, one will scarcely be able to pro-
vide a reason for this ratio, but by taking it into consideration there is
nothing easier than to understand this determination. When the mate-
rial of all celestial bodies was still spread out in the space of the planetary
system, attraction formed spheres out of these particles, that had without 1:343
doubt to become larger the further the place of their formation was from
that of the universal central body that, as much as possible, limited and
prevented this unification from the centre point of the entire space by a
particularly mighty attraction.
We become aware of the characteristics of this formation of the heav-
enly bodies out of the basic materials that had been dispersed at the
beginning, taking pleasure at the extent of the intervening spaces that
separate their orbits from one another and must be regarded, according
to this idea, as the empty compartments from which the planets took the
matter for their formation. We see how these spaces between the orbits
have a proportion to the size of the masses that have been formed out
of them. The distance between the orbit of Jupiter and that of Mars is
so great that the area contained in it exceeds that of all the lower planets
combined; but this is worthy of the largest of all the planets, the one
that has greater mass than all the others combined. We cannot attribute
this distance of Jupiter from Mars to the intention that their attractions
should hinder each other as little as possible. For according to such a
reason, the planet between two orbits would always be nearest to the
planet whose attraction when combined with its own can least disturb
both orbits around the Sun, consequently, the one that has the smallest
mass. Now because according to the correct calculations of Newton, the
forcem with which Jupiter can act upon the orbit of Mars is to that which
it exercises on Saturn by their combined attraction as 1/12512 is to 1/200,
we can easily make the calculation how much closer Jupiter would have
to be to the orbit of Mars than to that of Saturn if the distance between
them had been determined by the intention of their external relation
and not by the mechanism of their generation. However, since the facts
are completely different, since in regard to the two orbits that are above
and below it, a planetary orbit is often more distant from that in which
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a smaller planet moves than from the orbit of that of a greater mass, but
the extent of the space around the orbit of each planet always has a cor-
rect ratio to its mass, it is clear that the manner of generation must have
1:344 determined these ratios and that, because these determinations appear
to be related as the cause and the effects thereof, we will probably be
most correct if we regard the spaces between the orbits as the containers
of that material from which the planets have formed themselves, from
which it follows directly that their size must be proportional to their
masses, which ratio is, however, increased in the case of the more distant
planets by the greater dispersion of elementary matter in these regions
in the initial state. Therefore of two planets that are fairly equal in terms
of mass, the further one must have a greater space for its formation,
that is, a greater distance from the two nearest orbits, both because the
material there was in itself of a specifically lighter type as well as because
it was more dispersed than in the case of the one that formed closer to
the Sun. Therefore, although the Earth together with the Moon does
not yet appear equal to Venus in bodily content, it nonetheless required
a larger space around it for its formation, because it had to form itself
from a more dispersed material than this lower planet. For these reasons
it is to be conjectured regarding Saturn that the sphere in which it forms
will extend much further on the far side than on the side towards the
centre point (just as this applies to almost all the planets); and therefore
the space between the orbit of Saturn and the course of the next planet
beyond it that we can conjecture, will be much further than the one
between it and Jupiter.
Thus everything in the planetary structuren continues by degrees with
correct relations to the initial generating force that was more effective
near the centre point than at a distance, outward to all unlimited dis-
tances. The diminution of the impressed shooting force, the deviation
from the most precise correspondence in the direction and placement of
the orbits, the densities of the heavenly bodies, the parsimony of nature
in respect of the space of their formation: All this decreases by degrees
from the centre to the remote distances; all this shows that the first
cause was tied to the mechanical rules of motion and did not act by free
choice.
1:345 However, what shows the natural formation of the heavenly spheres
out of the basic material that was originally dispersed in the space of the
heavens that are now empty as clearly as anything else is the correspon-
dence I borrow from Herr von Buffon which, however, in his theory
does not have by far the usefulness that it has in ours. For according
to his remark, if one adds together those planets whose masses can be
n Weltbaue
290
determined by calculation, namely Saturn, Jupiter, the Earth, and the

Moon, then they deliver a lump the density of which is to the density
of the Sun’s body as 640 to 650, against which, since these are the main
items in the solar system, the remaining planets, Mars, Venus, and Mer-
cury, hardly deserve to be counted; thus one will be rightly astonished
at the remarkable equality that rules between the matter of the entire
planetary structure, if it is regarded as being united in one lump and the
mass of the Sun. It would be irresponsible carelessness to ascribe this
analogy to chance, that among a multiplicity of such infinitely different
matters, of which some are found just on our Earth alone that exceed one
another in density 15 thousand times, but that nonetheless, as a whole,
approach a ratio of 1 to 1; and one must admit that, if one regards the
Sun as a mixture of all kinds of matter separated from one another in
the planetary structure, all of them appear to have formed in a space that
was once filled with uniformly dispersed material and accumulated on
the central body without distinction but that was divided in accordance
with the heights for the formation of the planets. I leave it to those who
cannot accept the mechanical generation of the celestial bodies to explain
this so special correspondence by the motivations of God’s choice where
they can. I want finally to cease basing a matter of such convincing clarity
as is the development of the world structureo on the basis of the forces of
nature on further proofs. If anyone is in a position to remain unmoved in
the face of so much convincing evidence one must either lie too deeply
in the shackles of prejudice or be completely incapable of lifting oneself
above the mass of traditional opinions to the contemplation of the purest
truth. In the meantime we can believe that no one except the stupid, on
whose approval we cannot count, could fail to recognize the correctness 1:346
of this theory if the correspondences that the world structure,p in all
its combinations, has to the benefit of rational creatures, did not seem
to have something more at its basis than mere universal laws of nature.
We also justifiably believe that skilful arrangements directed to a worthy
purpose must have a wise understanding as its origin and we will be fully
satisfied when we consider that, since the natures of things recognize
no original source other than just this one, their essential and universal
characteristicsq must have a natural inclination to consequences that are
proper and correspond well with one another. If therefore we become
aware of arrangements in the constitution of the world that redound to
the reciprocal advantages of creatures, we should not think it strange to
attribute these to a natural consequence of the universal laws of nature,
o Weltgebäude q Beschaffenheiten
p Weltbau
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Natural Science
for what flows from these is not the result of blind chance or an irrational
necessity: It is ultimately grounded in the highest wisdom from which
the universal characteristics take their correspondences. One conclusion
is quite correct: If order and beauty shine forth in the constitution of
the world, then there is a God. However, the other is grounded no less:
If this order was able to flow from universal laws of nature, then all of
nature is necessarily an effect of the highest wisdom.
But if anyone insists on recognizing the direct application of divine
wisdom to all the arrangements of nature that encompass harmony and
useful purposes by not considering the development from universal laws
of motion capable of any harmonious consequences, then my advice
would be not to turn one’s eyes upon a single heavenly body in looking
at the world structurer but rather upon the whole to tear oneself out of
this illusion once and for all. If the angled position of the Earth’s axis
against the plane of its annual route through the cherished change of the
seasons is to be a proof of the direct hand of God, then all one needs to
do is to compare this characteristic with the other heavenly bodies; then
one will become aware that it changes in the case of each of them and
that, in this difference, there are some that do not have it at all, such as
1:347 Jupiter for example, whose axis is vertical to the plane of its orbit, and
Mars whose is almost so, both of which enjoy no difference in the sea-
sons and yet are just as much works of the highest wisdom as the others.
The moons accompanying Saturn, Jupiter, and Earth would appear to
be special arrangements of the highest being if the free deviation from
this purpose throughout the whole system of the world structures did
not indicate that nature has brought forth these determinations without
being interrupted in its free behaviour by any extraordinary compulsion.
Jupiter has four moons, Saturn five, Earth one, the remaining planets
none at all, though it seems these are in greater need of them because
of their longer nights than are the former. If one admires the propor-
tionate equality of the tangential forces impressed upon the planets to
the central inclination of their distances as the cause for their orbiting
around the Sun in near-circles and become suitable dwelling places of
rational creatures thanks to the evenness of the warmth provided by the
Sun and sees it as the direct finger of the Almighty, then all at once
one is led back to the universal laws of nature, if one considers that this
planetary characteristic is gradually lost with all stages of diminution
in the depths of the heavens and that precisely the highest wisdom
that had taken pleasure in the moderate motion of the planets, has not
excluded the failings with which the system ends by stopping in complete
r Weltbaues s Weltbaues
292
irregularity and disorder. Nature, despite having an essential determina-

tion to perfection and order, embraces all possible changes in the extent
of its multiplicity, even to failings and deviations. It is precisely the same
unlimited fertility of nature that has brought forth the inhabited heav-
enly spheres as well as the comets, the useful mountains and harmful
cliffs, habitable landscapes and empty deserts, virtues and vices.
293
1:349 Universal
part three,
which contains an attempt to compare the inhabitants of the
different planets on the basis of the analogies of nature.
Who knows the relation of all worlds from one part to the other,
Who is familiar with the number of all suns and every planet’s orbit,
who cognizes the various inhabitants of each star,
To him alone it is allowed,
to grasp and to explain to us why things are as they are.
Pope.72
Universal 1:351
part three.
Appendix.
On the inhabitants of the planets.
Because I am of the view that it would be a dishonour to the character of
philosophy if one were to use it to maintain, in a kind of thoughtlessness,
free excesses of wit with some apparent truth, even if one were to declare
that this were merely as an amusement, I shall not adduce any propo-
sitions in the present essay other than those that can really contribute
to the expansion of our cognition and the probability of which is at the
same time grounded so well that we can hardly prevent ourselves from
regarding it as valid.
Although it may seem that in this type of subjectt the freedom to invent
has no real barriers and that in judging the nature of the inhabitants of
distant worlds we can give free rein to our fantasy with far greater liberty
than a painter in the depiction of plants or animals of undiscovered lands
and that thoughts of this type could be neither properly proved nor dis-
proved; we nonetheless have to admit that the distances of the heavenly
bodies from the Sun include certain relations that contain an essential
influence on the various properties of the thinking natures present there 1:352
in terms of their way of being active or passive in relation to the nature
of the matter with which they are linked, is tied to and dependent on the
number of impressions that the world awakens in them according to the
properties of the relation of their abode to the centre point of attraction
and of heat.
I am of the opinion that it is just not necessary to assert that all planets
must be inhabited, even though it would be nonsense to deny this in
regard to all or even only most of them. In view of the wealth of nature in
which worlds or systems are only specks of dust in the sunlight compared
with the whole of creation, there might well be empty and uninhabited
regions that are not being used completely for the purpose of nature,
namely for the contemplation of rational beings. This would be as though
one were to doubt the wisdom of God by admitting that sandy and
uninhabited deserts occupy large stretches of the Earth’s surface and
t Vorwurfes
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Natural Science
that there are deserted islands in the oceans where there are no people.
However, a planet is much smaller in respect of the whole of creation
than a desert or island is in respect of the Earth’s surface.
Perhaps not all the heavenly bodies have formed fully yet; it takes
centuries or perhaps thousands of years before a large heavenly body
has reached a firm state of its matter. Jupiter still appears to be in this
conflict. The observable changes in its shape at various times have led
astronomers long ago to suppose the it must suffer great convulsions and
that its surface is not nearly calm enough for it to be a habitable planet.
If it has no inhabitants and will also never have any, what an infinitely
small effort of nature would this be in regard to the immeasurability of all
creation? And would it not be rather a sign of poverty than of superfluity
if it were to be so careful as to demonstrate all its riches in every point
of space?
But we can still assume with greater satisfaction that, even if it is
uninhabited now, it will be when the period of its formation is complete.
Perhaps our Earth existed for a thousand or more years before it was
1:353 constituted so as to support people, animals, and plants. Now, that a
planet arrives at this perfection several thousand years later does not
detract from the purpose of its existence. For just this reason it will also
remain in the perfection of its constitution longer in the future once it
has arrived at it; for there is a certain law of nature: everything that has a
beginning is constantly approaching its end and is closer to it the more
it has moved away from its starting point.
The satirical view of the wit in The Hague who, after reporting the
general news from the realm of the sciences, was able to present in a
ridiculous way the notion of the necessary population of all the celes-
tial bodies, can only be approved of. “Those creatures,” he says, “that
inhabit the forests on the head of a beggar had long regarded their abode
as an immeasurable sphere and themselves as the masterpiece of creation
when one of them, whom heaven had endowed with a finer soul, a little
Fontenelle of his species, suddenly became aware of the head of a noble-
man. He immediately called all the wits of his quarter together and said
to them with delight: we are not the only living beings in all of nature;
behold here a new country, more lice live here.”73 If this conclusion
arouses laughter then it is not because it departs so far from the way
humans make judgements; but rather because precisely the same error
that is based on the same cause in the case of human beings seems to
deserve more of an excuse in their case.
Let us judge without prejudice. This insect that expresses the dis-
position of most people very well both in the way it lives and in its
insignificance, can be used as a comparison with good reason. Because
in its imagination its existence matters infinitely to nature, it considers
the whole of the rest of creation as in vain as far as it does not have its
296
species as a precise goal, as the centre point of its purposes. The human
being, so infinitely removed from the highest stage of beings is so bold as
to allow himself, in a similar delusion, to be flattered by the necessity of
his existence. The infinity of creation encompasses in itself, with equal 1:354
necessity, all natures that its overwhelming wealth produces. From the
most sublime class among thinking beings to the most despised insect,
not one link is indifferent to it; and not one can be absent without the
beauty of the whole, which exists in their interrelationship, being inter-
rupted by it. Meanwhile, everything is determined by universal laws
which nature effects by the connection of its originally implanted forces.
Because it brings forth nothing but propriety and order in its processes,
no single aim can disturb or interrupt its consequences. In its first for-
mation, the generation of a planet was no more than an infinitely small
consequence of its fruitfulness; and now it would be nonsense if their so
well-founded laws should yield to the particular purposes of this atom. If
the constitution of a heavenly body puts obstacles in the way of the popu-
lation, it will be uninhabited, although in and of itself it would be better
if it were inhabited. The excellence of creation loses nothing thereby
for of all magnitudes, the infinite is the one that is not lessened by the
subtraction of one finite part. It would be as if one were to complain
that the space between Jupiter and Mars is so needlessly empty and that
there are comets that are uninhabited. Indeed that insect may seem to
us as worthless as possible, it is more important to nature to maintain its
entire class than a small number of more excellent creatures, of which
there are infinitely many, even if a particular region or area were to be
cleared of them. Because it is inexhaustible in the creation of both, we
look on with no concern as both are left to the universal laws for their
maintenance and destruction. Has the owner of those inhabited forests
on the head of the beggar ever created greater destruction in the fami-
lies of this colony than the son of Philip74 did among the families of his
fellow-citizens when his evil genius put it into his head that the world
had been created solely for his sake?
Meanwhile, most of the planets are certainly inhabited and those that
are not will be at some stage. Now what sort of circumstances will be
caused among the various kinds of these inhabitants by the relationship 1:355
of their place in the solar systemu to the centre point from which the
heat that gives life to everything emanates? For it is certain that this
heat, among all the matter of these heavenly bodies, results in certain
relations in their determinations in proportion to their distance. The
human being, who is the one among all rational beings we are most
familiar with, even though his inner constitution is still an unexplored
problem, will have to serve as the basis and general reference point in
u Weltgebäude
297
Natural Science
this comparison. We shall consider him here not from the point of view
of his moral qualities, nor from the physical aspects of his build; we
shall examine only the limitations that his ability to think rationally and
the motion of his body that obeys this ability would suffer as a result
of the constitution of the matter to which he is bound and which is
proportionate to the distance from the Sun. Despite the infinite distance
between the capacity to think and the motion of matter, between the
reasoning mind and the body, it is nonetheless certain that the human
being, who derives all his concepts and ideas from the impressions the
universev stimulates in his soul through his body, depends totally on the
constitution of this matter to which the creator has bound him for both
their clarity as well as the skill to connect and compare them, which we
call the faculty to think.
The human being has been created to receive the impressions and
emotions the world will arouse in him through the body that is the
visible part of his being and the matter of which serves not only the
invisible spirit that inhabits him to impress the first concepts of external
objects but also is indispensable to repeat, to combine, in short to think
1:356 these in the internal action.∗ In proportion as his body develops, the
abilities of his thinking nature obtain the proper degrees of completion
and do not attain a settled and masculine powerw until the fibres of his
tools have taken on the firmness and durability that is the perfection of
their formation. Those abilities through which he can satisfy the needs
required by his dependence on external things develop early enough
in him. Some human beings remain at this stage of development. The
faculty of combining abstracted concepts and controlling the tendencies
of the passions by the free application of insights comes late, for some
never in their whole lives; but it is weak in all people: It serves the
lower forces that it is supposed to control and the governing of which
constitutes the advantage of his nature. If one regards the life of most
human beings, this creature seems to be created to absorb sap like a plant,
to grow, to reproduce its species, finally to become old and to die. Of
all creatures he achieves the purpose of his being least, because he uses
up his excellent abilities for ends that the other creatures achieve much
more surely and properly with far lesser means. He would also be the
most despicable of all, at least in the eyes of true wisdom, were it not that
∗ On the basis of psychology it has been established that in virtue of the current constitu-
tion in which creation has made soul and body dependent on one another, the former
not only has to take over all the concepts of the universe x through the latter’s com-
munity and influence but also the exercise of its power of thought itself depends on its
constitution and borrows the requisite ability for it from its assistance.
v Universum x Universi
w Vermögen
298
the hope of what is to come elevated him and a period of the complete
evolutiony of the powers locked inside him were not in store for him.
If we examine the cause of the obstacles that hold human nature in
such a state of low degradation, it may be found in the coarseness of
the matter into which his spiritual part is sunk, in the rigidity of the
fibres and the sluggishness and immobility of the fluids that ought to
be obedient to its stirrings. The nerves and fluids of his brain supply
him with only coarse and unclear concepts and because he is unable
to balance the stimulation of sensory sensations in the interior of his
faculty of thinking with sufficiently powerful ideas,z he is carried away
by his passions, dulled and disturbed by the tumult of the elements that
maintain his machinery. The effortsa of reason to rise against this and to
expel this confusion by the light of the power of judgement are like the
flashes of sunshine when thick clouds constantly interrupt and darken 1:357
its brightness.
This coarseness of the material and the fabric in the structure of human
nature is the cause of the sluggishness that keeps the soul’s abilities in
constant exhaustionb and powerlessness. The action of reflection and
of ideasc enlightened by reason is an arduous state into which the soul
cannot place itself without resistance and out of which it soon falls back
into the passive state by a natural tendency of the bodily machine since
the sensory stimulations determine and govern all its actions.
This sluggishness of his power of thought that is a result of his depen-
dence on coarse and unwieldy matter is the source not only of vice but
also of error. Prevented by the difficulty associated with the attempts
to disperse the fog of confused concepts and to separate the universal
cognition arising from the comparison of ideas from sensory impres-
sions, it prefers to yield to overhasty approval and contents itself in the
possession of an insight that scarcely allows it to give the sluggishness of
its nature and the resistance of matter even glancing consideration.
In this dependency the intellectual capacities decline together with
the liveliness of the body: when, because of the weakened circulation of
fluids, old age cooks only thick fluids in the body, when the flexibility
of the fibres and the agility in all movements decreases, the powers of
the spirit ossify with a similar fatigue. The sprightliness of thoughts, the
clarity of ideas,d the liveliness of wit and memory become weakened and
cold. Concepts acquired by long experience will to some extent replace
the decline of these powers and reason would betray its inability even
more clearly if the intensity of the passions that require being reined in
by it did not diminish at the same time or even earlier.
y Auswickelung b Mattigkeit
z Vorstellungen c Vorstellungen
a Bemühungen d Vorstellungen
299
Natural Science
Accordingly, it is clear from this that the powers of the human soul are
restricted and hemmed in by the obstacles of the coarse matter to which
they are most intimately bound, but something even more remarkable
1:358 is that this specific constitution of the material has an essential refer-
ence to the degree of influencee with which the Sun enlivens them in
proportion to their distance and prepares them for the performance of
animal economy. This necessary reference to the fire that spreads from
the centre point of the solar systemf in order to maintain matter in the
requisite movement is the basis for an analogy that is posited from just
this between the various inhabitants of the planets; and by means of this
ratio, each class thereof is bound by the necessity of its nature to the
place that has been assigned to it in the universe.g
The inhabitants of the Earth and of Venus could not exchange their
domiciles without the destruction of both. The former whose forma-
tion material is proportionate to the degree of heat of their distance
and therefore too light and volatile for an even greater one, would, in
a hotter place, suffer violent motions and a breakdown of their nature
that would arise from the dispersion and desiccation of the fluids and
a violent tension of their elastic fibres; the latter, whose coarser build
and sluggishness of the elements of their formation requires a greater
influence of the Sun, would freeze in a cooler region of the heavens and
decay in lifelessness. Similarly it must be far lighter and more volatile
matters that constitute the body of an inhabitant of Jupiter so that the
slight stirring with which the Sun can act at this distance, can move these
machines just as powerfully as it does in the lower regions, and so that
I can summarize everything in one general concept: The material of
which the inhabitants of different planets, indeed even the animals
and plants on them, are formed must altogether be of a lighter and
finer type and the elasticity of the fibres together with the advanta-
geous arrangement of their build be more perfect the further they
are away from the Sun.
This relationship is so natural and well founded that not only the
motivations of the ultimate purpose lead to them, which in the natural
sciences are generally regarded as only weak reasons, but at the same
time the proportions of the specific constitution of the matter of which
1:359 the planets consist that have been established by Newton’s calculations
as well as by reasons of cosmogony, confirm this, according to which
the material forming a heavenly body is always of a lighter kind in the
case of distant ones than with the nearer ones, which must necessarily
e Hinflusses. Hartenstein reads Einflusses. g Universo

f Weltsystems
300
result in a similar relationship in the creatures that produce and maintain

themselves on them.
We have established a comparison between the characteristics of the
matter with which the creatures endowed with reason on the planets are
essentially united; and after the introduction of this observation it can
easily be seen that these relationships will have a consequence in regard
to their intellectual abilities as well. If therefore these intellectual abil-
ities have a necessary dependence on the material of the machine they
inhabit, we will be able to conclude with a more than probable conjec-
ture: that the excellence of thinking natures, the sprightliness of
their ideas,h the clarity and liveliness of the concepts they receive
through external impressions, along with the faculty to put them
together, and finally also the agility in the actual exercise, in short,
the entire extent of their perfection stands under a certain rule,
according to which they become more and more excellent and per-
fect in proportion to the distance of their domiciles from the Sun.
As this proportion has a degree of credibility that is not far removed
from an established certainty, we find an open field for pleasant con-
jectures arising from a comparison of the properties of these various
inhabitants. Human nature, which occupies as it were the middle rung
on the ladder of beings, sees itself as being between the two extreme
limits of perfection, equally distant from both ends. If the ideai of the
most sublime classes of rational creatures that inhabit Jupiter or Saturn
arouses their jealousy and humiliates them by the knowledge of their own
baseness, then they can be satisfied again and comforted by the sight of
the low stages on the planets Venus and Mercury, which are lowered
far below the perfection of human nature. What an amazing sight! On
the one hand, we saw thinking creatures among whom a Greenlander 1:360
or Hottentot would be Newton, on the other hand, those who would
admire him as an ape.
As the higher beings recently saw,

What not long ago quite remarkably,
A mortal among us did,
And as he unfolded the law of nature: they were amazed,
That such an occurrence was possible through an earthly creature,
And looked at our Newton just as we view an ape.
Pope.75
To what progress in cognition will not the insight of those blessed

beings of the uppermost spheres of heaven reach! What beautiful con-
sequences will this illumination of insights not have on their moral
h Vorstellungen i Vorstellung
301
Natural Science
characteristics! The insights of the understanding, if they possess the

proper degrees of completeness and clarity, have far more lively stimu-
lation than the sensory attractions and are capable of dominating these
victoriously and treading them under foot. How gloriously will not the
divinity, which depicts itself in all creatures, depict itself in these think-
ing natures that serenely take on its image and reflect it back like a sea
unmoved by the storms of passion! We do not wish to extend these
conjectures beyond the limits marked out for a physical treatise, we
merely note again the analogy adduced above: that the perfection of
the spiritual world as well as of the material world increases and
progresses in the planets from Mercury on to Saturn or perhaps
even beyond it (insofar as there are yet other planets) in a cor-
rect sequence of degrees in proportion to their distances from
the Sun.
While this flows from the consequences of the physical relationship of
their domiciles to the centre point of the world partly naturally, partly
is caused appropriately: on the other hand, the real sight of the most
excellent arrangements appropriate for the splendid perfection of these
natures in the upper regions confirms this rule so clearly that it nearly
ought to make a claim to complete conviction. The sprightliness of
actions connected to the advantages of a sublime nature is more suited
1:361 to the rapidly alternating time periods of these spheres than the slowness
of sluggish and imperfect creatures.
Telescopes teach us that the alternation of day and night on Jupiter
occurs in 10 hours. What would an inhabitant of the Earth likely do
with this division if he were placed on that planet? The 10 hours would
hardly suffice for the rest that this coarse machine needs for its recreation
through sleep. What would the preparations for the arrangements of
being awake, dressing, the time spent on eating, not require as a part of
the following time and how would a creature whose actions had happened
so slowly not be distracted and made incapable of anything useful, whose
5 hours of activity were suddenly interrupted by the intervention of an
equally long darkness? By contrast, if Jupiter is inhabited by more perfect
creatures who combine a finer build with more elastic forces and a greater
agility in execution, then one can believe that these 5 hours are just the
same and more for them than what the 12 hours of the day amount to
for the low class of human beings. We know that the need of time is
something relative that cannot be cognized and understood save from
the magnitude of what has to be achieved compared to the speed of the
execution. Therefore the very same time that for one type of creatures
is, as it were, no more than a moment can be a long period for others
in which a great succession of changes unwinds by rapid action. Saturn
has, according to the probable calculation of its rotation, as we have
302
shown above, a much shorter division of day and night and therefore
allows us to conjecture even more excellent abilities in the nature of its
inhabitants.
Finally, everything agrees to confirm the laws adumbrated above.
Nature has evidently spread out its supplies most grandly on the dis-
tant side of the world. The moons that compensate the busy beings of
these blessed regions for the deprivation of daylight with an adequate
replacement are supplied there in large numbers and nature appears to
have been careful to provide all assistance to their efficacy so that there
is almost no time for them to prevent them from applying them. Jupiter 1:362
has an obvious advantage over all lower planets in regard to moons, and
Saturn, in turn, over it as its institutions in the beautiful and useful ring
that surrounds it make even greater advantages of its constitution proba-
ble; by contrast, the lower planets on which this supply would be wasted
uselessly, whose class borders more closely on the lack of reason, have
not been accorded such advantages at all or only in small measure.
However, one can (here I am anticipating an objection that could
invalidate all this harmony cited above) regard the greater distance from
the Sun, this source of light and life, not as an evil against which the
extensiveness of such arrangements in the more distant planets are only
advanced as a precautionary measure in order to rectify it somewhat,
and object that indeed the upper planets do have a less advantageous
position in the solar systemj and a position that would be detrimental
to the perfection of their arrangements because they receive a weaker
influence from the Sun. For we know that the effect of light and heat is
determined not by their absolute intensity but by the ability of matter
to accept them and more or less resist its drive and that therefore the
very same distance that can be called a temperate climate for a coarser
type of matter would distribute more subtle fluids and be of damaging
violence for them; therefore it takes only a finer material consisting of
more mobile elements to make the distances of both Jupiter and Saturn
from the Sun into a fortuitous position.
Finally, the excellence of the natures in these upper regions of the
heavens appears to be combined by means of a physical connection with
a durability of which it is worthy. Death and decay cannot affect these
excellent creatures as much as they do us lower natures. Precisely the
same sluggishness of matter and coarseness of the material that is the spe-
cific principle of the debasement of the lower stages are also the cause
of the tendency they have to decay. When the fluids that nourish an
animal or a human being and make them grow by incorporating them-
selves between his small fibres and adding to his mass, can no longer
j Weltgebäude
303
Natural Science
1:363 enlarge its vessels and channels at the same time in the spatial exten-
sion when growth is complete; then these attaching nourishing fluids,
by precisely the same mechanical drive that is applied to feed the animal,
must narrow and block the aperture of its vessels and, gradually becom-
ing more and more rigid, destroy the structure of the whole machine.
It is to be believed that, although transience gnaws at even the most
perfect natures, the advantage in the fineness of the material, in the elas-
ticity of the vessels and in the lightness and efficacy of the fluids out
of which those more perfect beings inhabiting the distant planets are
formed, nonetheless delays far longer the frailty that is a consequence
of the sluggishness of coarse matter, and provides these creatures with a
longevity proportionate to their perfection, just as the frailty of human
life has a proper relationship to its worthlessness.
I cannot leave this observation without anticipating a doubt that might
arise naturally out of a comparison of these opinions with our earlier
statements. In the arrangement of the solar systemk in terms of the num-
ber of satellites that light up the planets of the most distant orbits, of
the velocity of the axial rotation, and of the materials of their constitu-
tion proportionate to the Sun’s effect, we have recognized the wisdom
of God which has so beneficially ordered everything for the good of the
rational beings that inhabit them. However, how can one now reconcile
a mechanical doctrine with the teaching of intentions in such a way that
what the highest wisdom itself designed has been delegated for imple-
mentation to coarse matter and the regiment of providence to nature
left to its own devices? Is the former not rather an admission that the
arrangement of the solar systeml has not been developed by the universal
laws of the latter?
These doubts can easily be dispersed if we think back to what was
said with the same intention earlier. Must not the mechanics of all natu-
ral motions have an essential tendency to many such consequences that
accords with the project of the highest reason in the whole extent of
connections? How can it have aberrant endeavours and an unbounded
dispersion in its activitiesm if all its properties from which these con-
1:364 sequences develop, even have their own determination on the basis of
the eternal idea of the divine understanding in which everything must
necessarily relate to everything and fit together? If one thinks about it
carefully, how can one justify a manner of judgement that regards nature
as an offensive subject which can only be kept in the bounds of order and
communal harmony by means of a kind of force that places restraints
k Weltbaues m Beginnen
l Weltbaues
304
on its free conduct unless one thinks that it is a self-sufficient principle

whose properties recognize no cause and which God attempts to coerce
as well as possible into the plan of his intentions? The better we get
to know nature, the more will we gain the insight that the universal
characteristics of things are not foreign to and separate from each other.
We shall be adequately convinced that they have essential affinities
through which, by themselves, they prepare to support each other in
the establishment of perfect constitutions, namely the interaction of
the elements for the beauty of the material world and yet also at the
same time for the advantages of the spiritual one and that altogether the
individual natures of things in the field of eternal truths among them-
selves already constitute, as it were, a system in which one relates to
the other; we shall also become aware that the affinity is a part of them
from their common origin out of which they all drew their essential
determinations.
And now to apply this repeated observation to the purpose at hand:
precisely the same universal laws of motion that have accorded the high-
est planets a place distant from the centre point of attraction and inertia
in the solar systemn have, in so doing, at the same time put them into the
most advantageous constitution to begin their formations furthest away
from the reference point of the coarse matter and with greater freedom
as well; but, at the same time, they also have placed them in a regu-
lar relation to the influence of heat which spreads out from the centre
point according to the same law. Now since it is just these determina-
tions that have made the formation of celestial bodies in these distant
regions less restricted, the generation of motions dependent on them
faster and, in brief, made the system more proper, since finally, the spir-
itual beings have a necessary dependence on matter to which they are 1:365
personally bound, then it is no wonder that the perfection of nature has
been effected from both places in a single connection of causes and for
the same reasons. This agreement is therefore, on close consideration,
nothing sudden or unexpected and because the latter beings have been
merged into the general constitution of material nature by a similar prin-
ciple, the spiritual world will be more perfect in the distant spheres for
the very reasons as the bodily one is.
Thus everything in the whole extent of nature is connected in an
uninterrupted graduated sequence by the eternal harmony that refers all
links to each other. God’s perfections have revealed themselves clearly
in our stages and are no less glorious in the lowest classes than in the
more sublime ones.
n Weltsystem
305
Natural Science
What a chain, which from God its beginning takes, what natures,
From heavenly and earthly [natures], from angels [and] humans down to
animals,
From seraphim to the worm! O distance that the eye can never,
Attain and contemplate,
From the Infinite to you, from you to nought!
Pope.76
So far we have continued the conjectures faithfully along the thread

of the physical relations that has kept them on the path of a rational
credibility. Shall we allow ourselves a further digression from this path
into the field of fantasy? Who can show us the border where well-founded
probability ends and arbitrary fictions begin? Who is so bold as to dare
an answer to the question as to whether sin exercises its domination in
other spheres of the solar systemo as well or whether virtue alone holds
sway there?
The stars perhaps are a seat of transfigured spirits
As here vice rules, there virtue is the master.
v. Haller.77
Does not a certain mean need to exist between wisdom and foolishness
for the unfortunate ability of being able to sin? Who knows whether the
inhabitants of those distant celestial bodies are not too noble and too
1:366 wise to lower themselves to the foolishness that resides in sin while
those inhabiting the lower planets are attached too firmly to matter and
equipped with far too few spiritual abilities to be permitted to bear the
responsibility for their actions before the judgement seat of justice? In
this way the Earth and perhaps also Mars (so that we are not deprived
of the miserable consolation of having companions in misery) alone lie
in the dangerous middle zone where the temptation of sensual delights
has a strong power to lead astray against the domination of the spirit
which, however, cannot not deny the capacity by which it is in a position
to resist them if it did not rather please its sluggishness to allow itself
to be carried away by them, where there is thus the dangerous mean
between weakness and strength, where precisely the same advantages
that raise him above the lower classes place him at a height from which
he can sink infinitely far beneath them again. In fact, the two planets
Earth and Mars are the middle-most members of the planetary system
and we can perhaps suspect with some probability a medium position of
the physical as well as of the moral characteristics between the two end-
points. However, I would prefer to leave this consideration to those who
find in themselves greater comfort in the face of unprovable knowledge
and greater inclination to take responsibility for it.
o Weltbaues
306
conclusion.
We are not even properly familiar with what a human being actually
is, even though consciousness and our senses should inform us about
it; how much less will we be able to imagine what he will become in
the future! Nonetheless the human soul’s desire for knowledge grasps
greedily for this object so distant from it and strives to shed some light
in such obscure cognition.
Should the immortal soul remain forever attached to this point in
space, to our Earth for the whole infinity of its future duration, which 1:367
is not interrupted by the grave itself, but only changed? Should it never
obtain a closer view of the remaining wonders of creation? Who knows
whether it is not intended to get to know at close quarters those distant
spheres of the solar systemp and the excellence of their arrangements
that already excite its curiosity so much from a distance? Perhaps some
further spheres of the planetary system will form around them in order to
prepare new places for us to reside in other heavens, after the completed
passage of time prescribed for our stay here. Who knows, perhaps the
satellites orbiting around Jupiter will light our way in the future?
It is permissible, it is proper to amuse oneself with such ideas; but
no one will base one’s hope for the future on such uncertain images of
the imagination. After vanity has taken its part of human nature, the
immortal spirit will rise up in a swift flightq over all things temporal and
continue its existence in a new relation to all of nature which arises out
of a closer connection with the highest being. At that time in the future,
this enhanced nature, which carries the source of happiness within itself,
will no longer disperse itself among external objects to find comfort with
them there. The whole sum of creatures that has a necessary harmony
with the approval of the highest original being, must also have it for its
own and will not move it other than with eternal satisfaction.
Indeed, when one has filled one’s mind with such observations and
with the preceding ones, the view of the starry sky on a clear night
gives one a kind of pleasure that only noble souls feel. In the universal
stillness of nature and the calmness of the senses the immortal spirit’s
hidden faculty of cognition speaks an ineffable language and provides
undeveloped concepts that can certainly be felt but not described. If,
among the thinking creatures of this planet, there are any despicable
beings who, in spite of all the delights with which so great an object can
attract them, are yet in a position to tie themselves firmly to the service
of vanity, how unfortunate is this sphere that it has been able to bring 1:368
up such miserable creatures! But how fortunate is it, on the other hand,
p Weltgebäudes q Schwung
307
Natural Science
because under the most acceptable of conditions a way has been opened
for it to attain bliss and sublimity that is exalted infinitely far above the
benefits that the most advantageous arrangement of nature can attain in
all celestial bodies!
[End]
308
5
Succinct exposition of some meditations

on fire
Kant’s “Succinct Exposition of Some Meditations on Fire” (Medita-
tionum quarundam de igne succincta delineatio) was the first of three Latin
works that he used to satisfy the requirements necessary to become a
professor at the university.1 On 17 April 1755, Kant submitted his essay
on fire to the Philosophy Faculty as a written thesis for the Master’s
Degree (Magister). The public examination was held four weeks later on
13 May, and the degree was formally awarded on 12 June. The essay was
not, however, published in Kant’s lifetime. On 27 September 1755 he
then submitted his “A New Elucidation of the First Principles of Meta-
physical Cognition” (Principiorum primorum cognitionis metaphysicae nova
dilucidatio), which was required for the venia legendi, i.e., the right to teach
at the university. Finally, on 23 March 1756, while teaching as an adjunct
lecturer (Privatdozent), Kant submitted his so-called Physical Monadology
(Metaphysicae cum geometrica iunctae usus in philosophia naturali, cuius spec-
imen I. continet monadologiam physicam), in the (unfulfilled) hope of being
offered the extraordinary professorship of metaphysics and logic, which
had been vacant since Martin Knutzen’s death in 1751.2 Thus, after
working as a tutor for three different families over seven years, Kant
(re-)established himself at the university and made clear his intent to
pursue an academic career in natural philosophy (broadly construed) in
Königsberg.3
The “Succinct Exposition of Some Meditations on Fire” is divided into
two sections. The first section argues that various phenomena pertain-
ing to the solidity and fluidity of bodies can be explained not by dividing
bodies into small, smooth parts and invoking either motion or contact
forces (as proponents of the mechanical philosophy, such as Descartes,
claim), but rather only by positing an elastic matter. The second sec-
tion then explains how the elastic matter of fire, which is compressed
into the interstices of larger bodies, can be used to account for phe-
nomena involving vapors, air, and flame, as well as the proper way to
measure heat. The elastic matter of the first section is also identified
here with both the matter of fire and the matter of light, or the ether.
309
Natural Science
Kant thus attempts to account for a wide, albeit selective range of natural
phenomena by positing a small number of forces and entities. Along the
way, he demonstrates his familiarity with many leading contributors to
the debate about the nature of fire at the time such as Newton, Euler,
and other natural philosophers, several of whom were winners of prize
essay questions of various academies of science.
310
Succinct Exposition 1:369
of some Meditations on Fire

Humbly offered to the Most Eminent
Faculty of Philosophy
as a Specimen for Examination, to which he has
been graciously admitted,
by Immanuel Kant, of Königsberg in Prussia,
Candidate in the Philosophical Sciences
Königsberg
April 17, 1755.

1:371 REASON FOR THE UNDERTAKING
It is not my purpose to deal exhaustively in a few short pages with a
subject that would fill a large book. The short and somewhat random
meditations that I offer to the benevolent examination of the Most
Eminent Philosophical Faculty are nothing but the outlines of a theory
that, if leisure permits, will supply me with an abundant harvest of
writing. I have everywhere carefully guarded against freely indulging, as
often happens, in hypothetical and arbitrary proofs, and have followed,
as diligently as possible, the thread of experience and geometry, without
which the way out of the labyrinth of nature can hardly be found. Since
the force of fire is manifested principally in the rarefaction of bodies
and in breaking down their combination, it will not be thought strange
that in following the path of reason I say a little in advance about the
cohesion of matter and the nature of fluids.
SECTION I.
the nature of solid and fluid bodies.
Prop. i.
The fluidity of bodies cannot be explained by the division of matter into
smooth minute parts that loosely cohere, as most physicists, following
the teachings of Descartes, think.
Let the triangle ABC represent a cross-section of a cone consisting of

minute spherical particles. Now, I say, this aggregate under the stated
conditions does not have a surface of the kind necessarily to be found
in fluids. The particles c, e, g, d, f, i, each of which is at rest within the
whole,4 will not be moved from their position except to the extent that
they push the lower ones on which they lie (that is a, m, n, h) either to
the right or to the left. But the force va, by which the upper particle,
pressing down by its gravity, pushes the parti-
C cle a to the right5 will be, by the composition
of forces, equal to only one half the gravita-
1:372 tional force co, and so on for the entire aggre-
i gate. From this it is clear that if there is any
d f force that opposes the corpuscles at the edges,
g
c e
v
the aggregate will not spread with a horizon-
a h z
tal surface [as happens in a fluid] but a conical
A om n B
one, as happens in an hour glass or in any other
material ground into a fine powder.
312
Some meditations on fire
Prop. ii.
Unless the particles press upon one another by some mediating elastic
matter by means of which they communicate the force of their weight
equally in all directions, an aggregate of particles, no matter how fine and
loosely pressed together, would not satisfy the law of statics relating
lateral pressure to the altitude of the side, and it would therefore lack the
principal character of fluidity.
Since it is clear from the foregoing proposition that aggregated particles

exerting pressure directly on each other do not exert pressure on the sides
[inversely] proportional to the height, it follows that some other matter
must be present between the elementary particles of a fluid, by which
the force of the weight [of the elementary particles] can be dispersed
equally in all directions. Matter that when pressed anywhere endeavors
with the same force to expand in a different direction, is commonly
called an elastic matter. Therefore the solid molecules of fluids do not
press immediately upon each other but rather on some elastic matter
intermixed with them, by means of which any force impressed from
above will be exerted in like quantity against the sides.
It will soon be necessary to prove that this elastic matter, which is
present between the elementary parts of a fluid body, is nothing other
than the matter of heat.
Prop. iii.
Solid bodies, like fluid bodies, are held together not by the direct contact
of their molecules but by the mediation of an elastic matter.
Fluid bodies, as has been demonstrated above, cohere by virtue of some

mediating elastic matter. Since metals and other bodies of this kind,
when they solidify out of fluids, occupy smaller and smaller volumes
as they become less and less hot, it is clear that they are not compact
and that their particles are not in direct contact with each other, for then
there would be no space in which they could approach each other more
closely. Therefore, even masses of solid matter contain, intermixed with
their parts, some matter by virtue of which the solid molecules, although
far from being in mutual contact, mutually attract each other or, if one
wishes, cohere. In this respect solid bodies agree with fluid bodies.
Prop. iv. 1:373

The phenomena of solid bodies are to be explained by means of the
aforesaid matter, whereby the elements of a body, though far from being
in mutual contact, nevertheless mutually attract each other.
313
Natural Science
Solid bodies, especially those that have solidified from fluids, such as
metals and glass, have the peculiar and noteworthy property of stretch-
ing a little without breaking when a weight is hung from them. This
occurs in the following way. Under the influence of the weight, the parts
that are closest together separate a little and can support the weight
when a little farther away from each other, and are able to support the
greatest weight at the maximum extension. Now I maintain that this
phenomenon cannot be explained by solid particles adhering directly
to each other. For if a metal wire consisted of particles united as in
Figure 1, or of particles disposed as in Figure 2 excluding as far as
possible interstitial vacua, or of parallelipipeds whose surfaces are in
contact so that weights hanging at the places a, o, i, e, etc. move the
parallelipipeds asunder while they yet cohere with still other surfaces
(Figure 3), it would be immediately apparent that if a weight hung on
the wire stretched the metal ever so little, in Figure 1 the parts would be
torn asunder where they were not in sufficient contact with each other.
If it were claimed that the
Fig. 1. Fig. 2. Fig. 3. peripheral parts, a, b, c and
d, withdraw towards the cen-
ter upon the extension in
length and there hinder the
a
breaking of the wire, the
a thickness of the wire would
b
c o i e be slightly diminished and
d the wire would consequently
be less able to withstand the
weight that had previously
stretched it. On the assumption of Figure 3, where the particles touch
each other with all their surfaces, if they [upon stretching] touch each
other only in part, it is indubitable that they will be separated by the
weight. In every case we can cite, the wire cannot be stretched without
at the same time being broken. Because this is contrary to experience,
however, it is clear that the elements of solid bodies, not being in imme-
diate contact, attract each other at a definite distance by means of some
mediating matter.
I shall now undertake to explain this phenomenon of solid bodies by
my hypothesis and in accordance with the observed laws of nature and
the precepts of geometry. If a body solidifying out of a fluid acquires an
arrangement of its elements in equilateral triangles as shown in Figure
4, [as it will do], since the elements, kept apart and out of contact by
an intervening elastic matter, will [under the influence of the attractive
force] strive to contract into the smallest possible space, then if the sus-
pended weight draws the system of these particles in the direction ad, it
will make the distances between the corpuscles a and c larger (as shown
314
in Figure 5) while the distances ab and bc remain equal to what they were
before; for, as the element b approaches the point d the angle [at b] with 1:374
a and e becomes larger than it was before (as in Figure 4). The density
of the elastic matters is undi-
Fig. 4. Fig. 5.
minished by this (because
b
the volume of the stretched
body has not been increased),
b
and the attractions or, if one a d c d
prefers, the cohesions of the
a c
particles a and c will not be e d
reduced by this bond [of elas-
tic matter]. The attraction of the particle b for the elements a and c is pro-
portional to the extension or separation of the particles a and c and hence
to the line ad (Figure 5), though it was previously smaller because the
angle at b was smaller (as in Figure 4). Therefore the force by which parti-
cles are prevented from being torn apart after being somewhat stretched
increases in direct proportion to the line ad, that is, according to the
amount by which the body has been stretched.
Prop. v.
6
The law according to which elastic bodies are compressed in spaces
proportional to the [compressive] forces agrees best with our hypothesis.
What is ordinarily called compression in

a solid body is more truly called by the Fig. 1.
name dilatation or extension; for it is self- k x
a 3 i 2 e 1 c
evident that solid matter can be pressed by g
a compressive force into a small space much h s
less than water can. Let an elastic body fecb
(Figure 1) be firmly fixed at fb against the wall
ab, and be pressed against the wall so that
its position is now ixfb. I contend, first, that
the external surface bc of the elastic body is
for this reason extended a little, and that the
more it be extended, the more force press- f o
m
ing it will be required. Further, I argue that
the forces by which the elastic body is moved
will be, according to our principles, propor- b
tional to the space [through which it is moved], so long as the pressures
are moderate.
Thus if an elastic body is pressed into position 2 by some force and is
moved closer to the wall by the distance cs, the segment ec will be moved
into the position ix. If the line is is drawn across the thickness of the body
315
Natural Science
parallel to the segment ec, then if =so =cm, and xo is made longer than
cm by the amount xs. If one proceeds further to press all the way, the
elastic body is put into position 3 (gkfb); then if gh is drawn parallel to
ec, the increment of the extension kh will be greater than xs. From the
above it is clear that position 3 requires a greater impressed force than
position 2.
1:375 Now we must investigate how the applied forces are related to the
spaces of compression [sc., to the spaces into which they compress elastic
bodies]. The edge xb in position 2, because it
Fig. 2. is curved so little, can be taken for straight
k x
when the compression is only moderate; the
a 3 i 2 o e 1 c same is true of kb in position 3. Further, let it
g s
h be assumed that the horizontal cut of the elas-
tic body ec in position 1 when extended passes
through points i and g; one can assume this
without error, since in the case of moderate
pressures it comes very close to being so. Thus
in triangle ixs, angle x = angle c, since the cut
f
of the elastic body is the same as in position
1; angle s is equal to its vertical angle o; there-
fore triangles scb and isx are similar. Likewise
b
in triangle gkh in position 3 everything has the
same proportions to triangle hcb, and therefore the argument is the
following:
ix:xs = bc:sc
kh:gk (= ix) = hc:bc
xs:kh = sc:hc
That is: the quantities sx and kh by which the outer margin of the
elastic body is extended are proportional to the compression of the
spaces sc and hc [that is, proportional to the displacement of s and h
from c].7
Since it follows from Prop. IV, according to our hypothesis, that the
distensive forces are necessarily proportional to the amount of distention
of the body, it is obvious that forces compressing an elastic body will
be proportional to the amount of compression in space [which they
effect].
These conclusions of mine confirm remarkably what de la Hire8 pub-
lished in 1705 in the Mémoires of the Royal Academy of Sciences in Paris,
concerning the observed compression of elastic bodies. If one carefully
examines the matter, it can hardly be explained so readily and consis-
tently by any other hypothesis.
316
General corollary.
If I am correct, every body consisting of solid parts is held together
by some elastic matter as the bond of its unity. Elementary particles
intermixed with this elastic matter, though removed by it from reciprocal
contact, nevertheless by means of it attract each other and are held more
closely together than would have been possible by direct contact. For
the contact of molecules, most of which are spherical, is limited to a
point, and would be infinitely weaker than the cohesion that extends
over their entire surface. For this reason the position of the elements
can be changed without any loss of cohesion of the whole. Also it can
be seen without difficulty that the elements closest to one another can
come in contact with each other and the volume can contract, if some of
the [elastic] matter which unites them is withdrawn from the interstices;
and, on the contrary, that upon increase of the quantity or even of the
elasticity of the matter, the body can increase in volume and the particles
recede from each other without loss of cohesion in the body as a whole.
All of these things are of much importance in a theory of fire.
SECTION II. 1:376
on the matter of fire and its modifications,

heat and cold.
Prop. vi.
Experience.
Fire shows its presence first by rarefying a body, whether fluid or solid,
in all directions, then, the cohesion of the body being weakened, by
breaking down its structure, and, finally, by dissipating it in the form of
vapor. Cold, on the other hand, reduces the volume of bodies,
strengthens their cohesion, makes ductile and flexible bodies rigid, and
increases the consistency of fluids. Heat is caused in solid and brittle
bodies chiefly by rubbing or concussion. It cannot grow without limit in
any body; in growing hot to the point of seething, a body can never
exceed its boiling point, although by burning it more often than not
acquires a still greater heat.
Other important marks of the phenomena of heat I omit here, as they

will be met with here and there in what follows.
Prop. vii.
The matter of fire is nothing but the elastic matter (described in the
preceding section) that holds together the elements of bodies with which
317
Natural Science
it is intermixed; its undulatory or vibratory motion is that which is called

heat.
The experience of Prop. VI shows that a body is heated by rubbing or

concussion, and that it is equally rarefied in all directions. This proves
the presence of an elastic matter that is contained in the mass of the
body and that, when caused, strives to expand. Furthermore, according
to what has been demonstrated in Sect. I, since a body contains inter-
stitial elastic matter that supplies the connection of the particles and
can be agitated into the motion of waves and can exhibit all the phe-
nomena of heat, it is evident that it is not different from the matter of
fire.
Proof of the same, from the phenomenon of boiling.9

Bodies liquefied by heat are brought to boil by the addition of more
fire, but they are not capable of a higher degree of heat; [rather than
becoming hotter] they emit large elastic bubbles which, being supported
by the weight of the atmosphere, are equal to it; this continues as long as
1:377 fire drives the bubbles out. Since these bubbles contain no elastic air and
since nothing other than the matter of fire enters into the body saturated
with heat, and since heat entered equally before and during the boiling
of the water and, except for some little bubbles of elastic air, did not
manifest itself [prior to boiling], the questions arises: Why should the
fluid discharge the bubbles at the precise moment of boiling? One can
easily see that the same elastic matter that we call fire and that was, prior
to boiling, collected in the mass of the fluid being heated, is confined,
retained, and compressed so much by the attraction of the particles,
though the volume is increased by a small amount, that the violence of
its undulation is not greater than the attraction of the molecules; but
when it gains strength so that its momentum by virtue of its elastic force
exceeds [the attractive force], all the matter of fire which is now added
enters by virtue of its free elasticity as it were [only] to pass through
the fluid medium and to appear [as bubbles]. This occurs because of the
pressure of the matter of fire within the body, whatever degree of heat
it has. There is nothing here that would make us doubt the truth of our
proposition.
Prop. viii.
The matter of heat is nothing but the ether (the matter of light)
compressed by a strong attractive (adhesive) force of bodies into their
interstices.
318
First, denser bodies attract light to an immense degree, as Newton

showed by the phenomena of refraction and reflection. By the compu-
tations of this incomparable man, the attractive force upon near contact
exceeds the solicitation of gravity by ten thousand billion.10 Since the
matter of light is elastic, it cannot be doubted that it can be compressed
by a strong force into a smaller space; and since the particles of bodies
everywhere collide with the matter of light, what could cause one to
hesitate to affirm that that elastic matter which we have proved to be in
bodies is the same as the ether?
Second, it is to be noted that the bodies that have the greatest capacity
to refract light are also those that have the greatest capacity to absorb heat
from a nearby flame, and from this it is evident that the same attraction
which strives to unite light with the body also holds the matter of fire in
intimate union with it. For oils (for instance, oil of turpentine), which,
according to the experiments of Newton11 and many others, refract rays
of light (i.e., attract them) much more than can be explained by their
specific gravity, likewise have a boiling point far higher than can be
explained by their specific gravity. Oils are the true fuels of flames, and
in this state they scatter light in all directions. Thus is shown that the
matter of heat and the matter of light agree as closely as possible or,
rather, that they are not different.
The transparency of glass shows this to be probable. 1:378

If one adopts, as most congruent with the laws of nature, the hypothesis
recently defended anew by the celebrated Euler,12 according to which
light is not the effluvium of shining bodies but is the propagated pressure
of the ether which is dispersed everywhere, and if one considers the origin
of the transparency of glass, one will readily concede the connection or
rather the identity of the ether with the matter of fire. Glass is produced
from potash, a strongly alkaline salt, fused with sand by the force of fire.
Since potash, by being burned vigorously for a long time, unites with an
abundance of the matter of fire and, when mixed with sand, disperses this
elastic principle of fire through the whole mass of the glass; and since it is
unlikely that such a body solidifying from a fluid would have rectilinear
and open passageways for the transmission of light whichever way it is
turned, it follows that it is more reasonable that the glass should be filled
with this same matter, and that when an impulse of light is propagated
through it, the matter of light itself should mix with parts [of the glass]
and constitute part of its body. Since we have seen that the matter of fire
constitutes a considerable part of glass and is largely dispersed among
its solid elements, there is hardly place for doubting that the matter of
heat is the same as the ether or the element of light.
319
Natural Science
Proposition ix.
To measure the degree of heat, that is, to express in numbers the ratio
that different degrees of heat have to each other.
Amontons,13 the celebrated member of the Royal Academy of Sciences

in Paris, first formulated the resolution of this problem thusly: Since the
force of fire is principally manifested in the rarefaction of bodies, one
could correctly measure its quantity by the compressive force required to
withstand the endeavor of rarefaction. Since it is observed that air, upon
any lessening of heat, gives up some pressure and decreases in volume to
such an extent that it can be thought that all its elasticity is derived from
heat alone, this celebrated man, acting on this hypothesis, established
the plan of measuring the degree of heat by the elastic force of the air
expanded by this heat, that is, by [measuring] the weight that is capable
of being supported by the same volume [of air] possessed of this heat.
Note.
According to Boerhaave, Fahrenheit15 first noticed the peculiar prop-
14
erty of liquids brought to boil by fire, that the degree of heat is greater,
the greater the weight of the atmosphere, and that the less the pressure
of air, the less degree of heat at the boiling point. According to the report
of the Paris Academy, Monnier16 discovered the same in investigating
the heat of boiling water and its distance from the freezing point, using
a Reaumur thermometer first in Bordeaux and then at the summit of
the Pic du Midi, where the barometer is eight inches lower than it is
1:379 at the first place. He observed the same freezing point at both places,
but the boiling point was lower by 15/180 of the interval between the
boiling point and the freezing point [measured] in Bordeaux, where the
barometer was 28 inches. Thus the heat of boiling at Bordeaux exceeded
that on the mountain by 1/12 part, which excess is produced by an excess
of about a third part of the atmospheric weight. From this it is evident
that the removal of the weight of the whole atmosphere from boiling
water would remove one fourth of the heat that lies between the melting
and the boiling point. Since a lower degree of heat can be produced in
boiling water by removing the pressure of the air, and a higher degree by
increasing its weight, the weight of the atmosphere does nothing except
exert an opposing weight to the undulatory motion of the particles of
fire, when the attraction of the elements of water is not sufficient to
hold them together. From this it can be seen how the ether by its elas-
tic force at the boiling point succeeds in its striving to escape from its
connection with the water, though necessarily impeded by the force of
attraction (or, when that is insufficient, by external pressure [e.g., of the
320
atmosphere]). Indeed, according to the celebrated Amontons, the heats

of freezing and of boiling differ by hardly a third part [of this pressure],
and since a fourth part of the heat that lies between melting and boiling
requires force equal to the weight of the whole atmosphere, it follows
that the weight of twelve atmospheres is necessary for equilibrium with
the total heat in the state of boiling. Finally, it is clear that the attraction
of the elements of water themselves is equal to the pressure of eleven
airs. From this attraction between them at the freezing point, truly one
can see more clearly the immense attraction of metals in compressing
the elastic ether.
Secondat,17 making the same observations, discovered that the rar-
efaction of water was greater on the same mountain and less in Bordeaux
in the ratio of 1/24 of the whole volume to 1/35. Upon calculation this is
precisely the reciprocal ratio of the weights of the atmosphere, namely
20:28. In this celebrated case, the pertinacious resistance of water to any
compression, experimentally confirmed by the Florentine Academy,18
found no place.
Prop. x.
To explain by our theory the nature and cause of exhalations or vapors.
The nature of vapors.

Exhalations, which are nothing but moist particles torn from the surfaces
of fluids and floating in the air, have the very remarkable and peculiar
property that however much the particles of a homogenous fluid are
drawn by contact to unite and spontaneously flow together into one
mass, by just so much do they, when reduced to the thinness of vapors
and excited by the required degree of heat, flee from contact and mutual
union with each other. To use Newton’s term,19 they strongly repel each 1:380
other; and no force is ever found sufficient to compress them together
and to induce them to unite. Thus aqueous vapor, activated by fire,
breaks the strongest container, and all vapors, each according to its own
nature, often exhibit a wonderful elasticity.
The cause.
The reason for this phenomenon, so far as I know, has not been suffi-
ciently explained by physicists.r Therefore let me undertake to investi-
gate it.
r physicis
321
Natural Science
A skins of the most extreme thinness, torn off from the surface of water
in the form of bubbles that are hardly perceptible with a microscope, is
the element of aqueous vapors. But what causes the many so tenuous
bubbles to flee from contact with each other when strongly excited by
heat? I shall explain this immediately. For since by our theory water,
like any other body, holds by an attractive force the elastic matter of
the ether compressed in its own mass, and since from what has been
demonstrated it follows that the attraction is determined not only at [the
point of] contact but at a certain point where it is in equilibrium with the
repellent force that arises from the undulatory motion of heat (though
the attraction spreads somewhat farther), at that point the particles [of
water] adhere to one another. In No. 1, this distance is represented by the
line ef, which must be conceived as quite short,
No. 1. and the distance between the particles of water
e
g
f in union with each other is proportional to the
part eg. Furthermore, let the parallelipiped abcd in
No. 2 represent a small portion of water the thickness
No. 2. of which, ba, is so small as to be equal to ef. Since by
m hypothesis the attraction of the elements of water for
each other is not exerted beyond the distance ba = ef,
a c
if a particle is found situated at point a, it will feel the
n o
attractive force of all the elements in the thickness [of
the specimen] to a degree determined by the nature
b d
of the fluid, and will thus adhere most tenaciously to
them; nor would they be held together more firmly
h i
if one added to this small body of water additional
water represented by bhid. Indeed, if one removes the
element a small distance am, it will not be attracted by the whole of
the small body of the water but only by the part anoc, and it will thus
strive for union [with the remaining water]
No. 3. with less force. Let the paralleliped in No. 2 be
h ou r transformed into another much thinner one,
k s hkrs in No. 3. Any aqueous particle approach-
ing point h is attracted far more weakly than
in No. 2, and since a large part of the ether included in this skin frees
itself from this increased surface, it is clear that in this state an element
displaced20 by the oscillations of heat will be carried a far greater distance
from point h than it could have been under the condition of No. 2; and the
1:381 thinner the skin is, the greater the force with which it flees contact. The
skin hkrs left to itself would pass into the shape of a sphere, increasing in
this manner its thickness in all directions and thus regaining the power to
unite itself with others at the same distance. It is necessary, if it is to take
s cuticula
322
on the character of a vapor, that it roll itself into the shape of a bubble
No. 4 with a smaller diameter and a lesser thick-
ness, such that the distance of the points a and No. 4.
b at the extremities of the diameter be less than e
the distance be, which is the distance at which a
the repulsive force of the ether equals the attrac-
c d
tive force and thus the distance at which [the two
bubbles] would be at rest with respect to each b
other if they were free to spread. In this state
the bubble will strive to expand, and will become an element of elas-
tic vapor. The distance between two bubbles of the same kind, cd, will,
however, always equal the diameter ab, as is obvious from what has been
demonstrated.
Prop. xi.
To investigate the nature of air and the cause of its elastic principle.
Air is an elastic fluid, almost a thousand times lighter than water, of which
the expansive force is proportional to the heat, its expansion from the
cold of freezing water to the boiling point under the same atmospheric
weight being equal to approximately 1/3 of the volume [it occupied] at
the freezing point. These phenomena have nothing that could not be
matched by other vapors, save one: many vapors at the degree of cold
at which air retains its elasticity undiminished would solidify and show
no sign of expansive force. But if one considers the subtlety of the skin
of the vapor to be included in the cause of the manifestation by air of a
notable elasticity at a lower degree of heat, it is clear that one should not
hastily abandon the force of analogy, but rather should see whether, by
deducing two kinds of things from the same principle, we could succeed
without too great a multiplication of principles. The phenomena that
light the way to our conjecture are the following.
All bodies that have coalesced from the apposition of minimal particles
by means of an oily or salty principle, for example all plants, the spirit of
wine, animal stone, and many kinds of salts, especially nitre, release an
immense amount of elastic air when strongly affected by fire, as Hales,
in his Vegetable Staticks21 instructs us with his wonderful experiments.
The air is found to be no small part of the matter with which it was
conjoined; it constitutes 1/7 of the mass of deer horn, approximately 1/3
of oak wood, 1/3 of the tartar of Rhenish wine, 1/8 of nitre, and more
than one half of animal tartar.22 It is self-evident that air extracted from
these bodies by the force of fire did not have the nature of air, i.e., was
not an elastic fluid possessing elasticity proportional to its density, as
long as it was a part of their mass; for otherwise it would, by the force of
323
Natural Science
even moderate heat, strive for unrestrained expansion into a larger space
1:382 and break down the union of the body. Thus the matter expelled from
the interstices of the body, which was not then elastic, shows elasticity
only when liberated. But since it is the nature of vapors, when they are
freed from the mass with which they were united, to show elastic force,
certainly it ought to be, if not definitely affirmed yet asserted with great
probability, that air is nothing but that vapor loosed from bodies, which,
when reduced to the maximum subtlety, is easily given off by any degree
of heat and [then] shows a strong elasticity.
My opinion is confirmed by many not insignificant facts. For why,
upon burning, should air be expelled only from bodies that contain not
too little of oils and acids? Is not acid the most active and strongest
principle by the attraction of which the ether is held together, as I have
already shown?23 Is not this principle the bond, as it were the glue, of
concrete bodies, indeed the true magnet of etherial matter which holds
all bodies together? And when this acid is with difficulty expelled by the
intense force of fire from the most intimate union with matter, does not
one think it necessary that it separate and divide into the thinnest skins? Is
it not in this way that one would argue that an elastic fluid is constituted
that undergoes expansion at the slightest degree of heat but does not
thicken or lose its elasticity at any degree of cold (which to be sure never
drives out all heat)? This removes the difficulty with aqueous vapor, that
it condenses upon very little cold, which caused Hales24 to bring before
the public the expelled air under the name of a matter wholly different in
nature from all vapors. Accordingly an opinion is offered to physicists,t
worthy of their most accurate investigation: whether air is anything but
the most subtile exhalation of the acid disseminated through all nature
which manifests elasticity at any degree of heat, however small.
Upon this foundation it is easy to see why nitre, burned by a vigorous
fire, should give up an immense quantity of elastic air, for the most subtile
acid separated from its grosser part and reduced to the thinnest vapor
is air itself. It is equally easy to see why materials that most stubbornly
resist fire emit the greatest quantity of air, for instance why the tartar of
Rhenish wine should give off more than nitre; indeed, one sees why the
acid given off from the materials that are most reluctant and resistant
to releasing it when it is included in them, should tear itself from them
in the form of the thinnest of skins so as to constitute an elastic body as
mobile as air and why, on the contrary, vapor more generously released
should be grosser, and not able to maintain its elasticity upon increased
cold.
t physicis
324
Barometric observations agree with this hypothesis.

The peculiar nature of air at high altitudes, which is commonly thought
to be hardly explicable, is made clear by this hypothesis. It was discov-
ered by Maraldi, Cassini,25 and others (according to the Mémoires of the
Royal Academy of Sciences in Paris) that Mariotte’s law, that the com-
pression of air is proportional to the weight applied, does not hold at 1:383
high altitudes. They discovered that the air there had a lower density in
comparison to the weight of air at lower levels than that implied by this
law. From this it is clear that the upper air does not consist of particles
of the same kind under lesser pressure, but of elements in themselves
specifically lighter, for it requires a larger volume under the same pres-
sure to withstand the same weight. Since the nature of air at different
altitudes is different in substance, a thing discovered nowhere else in the
world in elements of the same kind, it is clear that it is not a separate kind
of element but the form under which another element, as I think, acid
humor, manifests itself. Granted this, it is not to be wondered at that
some particles of such a vapor should be heavier than others (because of
the diverse thickness of skin) and that the lighter ones should occupy the
highest position.
Prop. xii.
To explain, by our theory, the nature of flame.
1. Its nature.
The specific nature of flame, peculiar to it among other kinds of fire, is
this.
No body burns except on its surface, and the fuel of flame is oil and
thus an acid, which, by virtue of its elastic motion, serves as its most
active principle.
Flame is nothing but vapor brought to that degree of fire that it flashes
with light and goes out only when there is insufficient fuel. The char-
acteristics of flame that make it wholly different from all other kinds of
fire are: 1) Though the heat introduced into any body being warmed
is gradually diminished by being transferred, according to the universal
law of nature, flame, on the contrary, from the most minute beginning
gains incredible force in all directions and without limits, as long as fuel
is not lacking. 2) The fire that can be caused by heating any inflammable
material to boiling is much inferior to that which is produced by burn-
ing. 3) Flame spreads light, while other kinds of bodies, except metals,
remain without light no matter how much they are heated.
325
Natural Science
2. Investigation of the cause.

The true reason for these phenomena, if I am correct, is this. Flame
consists of ignited vapor, and the solid mass of a body is not wholly con-
verted into flame, but properly speaking, only the surface burns. Since
vapor would have the largest surface and would offer the least resis-
tance to comprehending the matter of fire within itself, it would appear
that the undulatory motion would not only propagate itself but from
the smallest beginning would set fire to other inflammable materials
however great their quantity, and would also gradually communicate
to them an equal intensity [of heat]. Although at first glance this phe-
nomenon appears opposed to the basic law of mechanics that the effect
1:384 is always equal to the cause, nevertheless if one considers [the matter]
carefully it is seen that when the least sparks ignite something, this is
nothing more than the smallest particles of the inflammable vapor excit-
ing the undulatory motion of the igneous element [of the body ignited].
This igneous element, when lightly confined, liberates itself with great
force, excites vibrations in the surrounding mass, and propagates violent
motion through the whole. One should not wonder that the effects of a
little cause should be so immensely great,26 for the springu of the con-
fined ether, when freed in this manner from the bonds of attraction, sur-
passes the effect; and one recognizes that the kindling [of fire in another
body] by a small flame is not, properly speaking, the cause [of these great
effects]; they depend upon the attraction of oil, the subtile division of
its enclosed matter giving occasion for its liberation with great violence.
Because the elastic ether no longer holds it bound together, the vapor
is an elastic fluid that can experience vibratory and undulatory motions;
hence the igneous matter ejected in this manner is more apt to heat
bodies and to radiate light than other fiery bodies.
Conclusion.
Having hardly begun it, I put an end to this little work. No longer will I
delay men occupied with heavier duties, but commend this my opuscule
and myself to the indulgent and benevolent will of the
[Most Distinguished Faculty of Philosophy.]
u elatria
326
6
On the causes of earthquakes on the
occasion of the calamity that befell
the western countries of Europe towards
the end of last year
A major earthquake struck off the coast of Lisbon, Portugal, on 1 Novem-
ber 1755, killing tens of thousands of the city’s citizens and, compounded
by flooding and fires, destroying over two-thirds of its buildings. The
magnitude of the disaster shocked the collective consciousness of Euro-
peans. In Candide, Voltaire used the event to criticize Leibniz’s doctrine
of optimism, that ours is the best of all possible worlds, along with vari-
ous other, more implicit targets. Others, taking note of the fact that the
tragedy occurred on All Saints’ Day and annihilated most of the major
churches in Lisbon, claimed that it was divine punishment for corruption
and sin. Though Königsberg was not itself directly affected, Kant wrote,
in quick succession, three essays that attempted to reassure its citizens
that the events attending the earthquake were not to be viewed as an
unspeakable evil inconsistent with God’s existence and the perfection of
the world or as an act of divine vengeance for the decadent behaviour of
Lisboans. Instead, he endeavoured to show that earthquakes have purely
physical causes and that they should therefore incite not fear, which is, in
any case, a very weak motive for virtuous behaviour in his view, but rather
careful thought about how best to control their effects (by engaging in,
for example, appropriate urban planning).
Kant published the first essay, “On the causes of earthquakes on the
occasion of the calamity that befell the western countries of Europe
towards the end of last year”, in two instalments, in the 24 and 31
January issues of the Wöchentliche Königsbergische Frag- und Anzeigungs-
Nachrichten of 1756. His main contention in this essay is that earth-
quakes are caused by the conflagration of a mixture of iron filings,
sulphur, or vitriolic acid, and water that has been compressed in extensive
caverns lying below the Earth’s surface (both under land and under the
ocean floor). He also argues that earthquakes are connected with volcanic
activity, which have the same cause. He denies that they are caused by
327
Natural Science
electricity, but allows for a connection with magnetic materials and atmo-
spheric changes. Further, he argues that the frequency and direction of
earthquakes in mountainous regions is consistent with his view of the
cause of earthquakes.
In its most general features, Kant’s views were not particularly novel,
displaying similarities with the views of Nicholas Lémery, Christian
Wolff, Georg Erhard Hamberger, Pierre Bouguer, and Johann Heinrich
Winkler. It contrasts in both content and style, however, with, for exam-
ple, Johann Gottfried Krüger’s Gedancken von den Ursachen des Erdbebens,
nebst einer moralischen Betrachtung [Thoughts on the Causes of the Earth-
quake, along with a Moral Observation], also published in 1756, which
consists of thirty-five pages of explanation of earthquakes on the basis of
electricity and 170 pages, consisting mostly of moralizing reflections.
further reading
Braun T. E. D. and J. B. Radner (eds.). The Lisbon Earthquake of 1755: Represen-
tations and Reactions (Oxford: The Voltaire Foundation, 2005).
Kendrick, T. D. The Lisbon Earthquake (London: Methuen & Co., 1956).
Kozák, Jan T., Victor S. Moreira, and David R. Oldroyd. Iconography of the Lisbon
Earthquake (Prague: The Geophysical Institute of the Academy of Sciences of
the Czech Republic, 2005).
Oldroyd, David, Filomena Amador, Jan Kozák, Ana Carneiro, and Manuel Pinto.
“The Study of Earthquakes in the hundred years following the Lisbon Earth-
quake of 1755”, Earth Sciences History 26 (2007): 321−370.
328
On the 1:417
Causes of Earthquakes
on the Occasion of the Calamity
that
befell
the Western Countries of Europe

towards the end of last year.
Natural Science
1:419 Great eventsv that affect the fate of all mankind rightly arouse that com-
mendable curiosity, which is stimulated by all that is extraordinary and
typically looks into the causes of such events. In such cases, the natu-
ral philosopher’sw obligation to the public is to give an account of the
insights yielded by observation and investigation. I do not [however] pro-
pose to satisfy this obligation in its entirety, and leave it to that person,
if such a one should arise, who can claim to have observed the Earth’s
interior with exactness. My account will only be an outline.x To make
clear what I propose, it will contain almost everything that can, as yet, be
said with any probability about this [subject], but not enough, of course,
to satisfy that strict judgement which tests everything with the touch-
stone of mathematical certainty. We dwell peacefully on ground whose
foundations are shaken from time to time. Without concern, we build
over cavitiesy whose supports sometimes sway and threaten to collapse.
Unperturbed by the fate that is perhaps not [so] distant from us, we give
way to pity rather than fear when we observe the devastation caused in
neighbouring places by the destruction lying hidden beneath our feet.
It is doubtless the goodness of Providence that lets us be unaffected by
fear of such fates, which cannot be prevented in the slightest by any
amount of worry, and that we should not increase our actual suffering
[unnecessarily] by fear of what we recognize as possible.
1:420 The first thing to be observed is that the ground under us is hollow and
its caverns extend very widely, almost in a single interconnected system,
even under the floor of the sea. I quote no historical examples in this
connection; it is not my intention to write a history of earthquakes. The
terrible noise heard in association with many earthquakes, like the raging
of a subterranean storm or the driving of heavy carts over cobblestones,
the continued effect [felt] simultaneously in widely separated places, of
which Iceland and Lisbon, which are separated by more than four-and-
a-half hundred German miles1 of sea and were set in motion on the
same day, deliver irrefutable testimony, all these phenomena agree in
confirming the interconnections of these subterranean caverns.
I should have to go back to the history of the Earth [at the time]
of the original chaos to say anything intelligible about the causes that
produced these caverns when the Earth was formed. Such explanations
will seem too much like fabrications if they cannot be presented with all
the arguments that would make them credible. Whatever their cause,
one thing is certain, namely that the direction of the caverns is parallel
to the mountain ranges, and, by a natural connection, to the great rivers
also. For these occupy the lowest parts of long valleys bounded on both
sides by parallel mountains. This is also precisely the direction in which
v Begebenheiten x Entwurf
w Naturforscher y Gewölbern
330
On the causes of earthquakes
earthquakes usually extend. In the earthquakes that have affected the

greater part of Italy, an almost exactly north–south motion has been
observed in the lanterns in the churches, and the recent earthquake was
from west to east, which is also the main direction of the mountains
running through the highest part[s] of Europe.
If human beings are permitted to use foresight in [the face of] such
terrible catastrophes, and if it is not regarded as a foolhardy and futile
effort to oppose general misfortune with some precautions suggested
by common sense, then should not the unhappy survivorsz of Lisbon
hesitate to rebuild along the length of the same river that indicates the
direction along which earthquakes must naturally occur in that country? 1:421
Gentil∗,2 asserts that if a city is shattered along its longer axis by an
earthquake running in the same direction, all the houses are knocked
down, but if the direction is transverse, only a few fall over. The reason
is obvious. The swaying of the ground moves the buildings out of their
vertical positions. Now if a row of buildings is shaken in this way from
east to west, then not only does each one have to carry its own weight, but
those on the west also press simultaneously on those on the east, and thus
inevitably destroy them. But if they are moved transversely, where each
has to maintain only its own balance, less damage will be caused under the
same circumstances. The catastrophe at Lisbon thus seems to have been
exacerbated by its position along the banks of the Tagus. And for this
reason, any town in a country where earthquakes have been experienced
several times, and where their direction can be known from [previous]
experiences, should not be laid out in a direction that is the same as
that of the earthquakes. However, in such cases most people are of quite
a different opinion. Since fear robs them of [the capacity for rational]
thought, they believe they can see in such widespread misfortunes a
kind of evil quite different from those [calamities] against which one is
justified in taking precautions. They imagine that they may [help to]
mitigate the severity of their fate by the blind submission with which
they yield unconditionally to it.
The main line of earthquakes follows the direction of the highest
mountains, and thus the countries that are chiefly affected are close
to these, especially if they are enclosed by two mountain ranges, in
which case the tremors combine from both sides. In a flat region, uncon-
nected to any mountains, tremors are less common and weak[er]. This
is why Peru and Chile are more subject to frequent tremors than any
other countries in the world. In these countries, one may observe the
∗ Gentil’s Journey Around the World, as quoted by Buffon. He also confirms that the
direction of the earthquakes almost always runs parallel to the direction of large rivers.
z Überrest
331
Natural Science
precaution of building houses of two storeys, of which only the lower

1:422 is made of stonework while the upper is built of reeds and light timber
so that no one will be crushed under it. Italy and indeed the island of
Iceland, part of which is in the Arctic, and other high regions of Europe,
confirm this. The earthquake that spread from west to east last Decem-
ber through France, Switzerland, Swabia, the Tyrol, and Bavaria, largely
followed the line of the highest regions in this continent. But it is also
known that all the main mountain ranges send out subsidiary branches
in a crosswise direction. In these, the subterranean conflagration also
spreads gradually outwards and consequently, having reached the high
regions of the Swiss mountains, it also ran through the caverns that run
parallel to the River Rhine, right into Lower Germany. What can be the
cause of this law whereby nature has linked earthquakes with the high
regions in particular? If it is agreed that a subterranean conflagration
causes these tremors, then one can easily see that because the caverns in
mountainous regions are more extensive, the emission of inflammable
vapoura there is less restricted, and the association with the air trapped
in the subterranean regions, which is always necessary for combustion,
will be freer. In addition, our knowledge of the interior composition of
the surface of the Earth, insofar as human beings are able to discover
it, teaches that the layers in the mountainous regions are not nearly so
thick as those in flat lands and the resistance to tremors is much less in
the former than the latter. If, therefore, one were to ask whether our
Fatherland has cause to be afraid of such catastrophes, then, if it were
my vocation to preach the improvement of morals, I would let the fear
of them stand in view of the general possibility [of such events] which
cannot, of course, be ruled out. But since, among the [various] motives
for piety, those that originate in [the fear of] earthquakes are doubtless
[among] the weakest, and it is my intention to adduce only physical rea-
sons for supposing that earthquakes may occur, then one can easily see
from what I have said so far that, since Prussia is not only a land without
mountains, but must also be considered as a continuation of an almost
entirely flat land, the measures of Providence give us more cause for
hope than otherwise.
It is now time to say something about the cause of earthquakes. It is
easy for a natural philosopherb to reproduce their manifestations. One
1:423 takes twenty-five pounds of iron filings, an equal amount of sulphur,
and mixes it with ordinary water, buries this paste one or one-and-a-
half feet underground and compresses the earth firmly above it. After
several hours, a dense vapour is seen rising; the earth trembles, and
flames break forth from the soil.3 There can be no doubt that the first
two materials are frequently found in the interior of the Earth, and
a Dünste b Naturforscher
332
water seeping through cracks and crevices can bring them into a state of
fermentation. Another experiment produces spontaneously inflammable
vapours from the combination of cold materials. Two drams of oil of
vitriol combined with eight drams of water, when poured onto two drams
of iron filings, bring forth a violent effervescence and vapours, which
ignite spontaneously. Who can doubt that vitriolic acid and iron particles
are contained in sufficient quantity in the interior of the Earth? Now if
water is added and occasions their reciprocal action, they give off vapours
that endeavour to expand, make the ground shake, and break out in flames
at the orifices of the volcanoes.
It has long been observed that a country is relieved of its violent earth-
quakes if a volcano has broken out in the vicinity, for it is by this means
that the enclosed vapours find an exit. And it is known that around Naples
the earthquakes are much more frequent and terrible when Vesuvius has
been dormant for a long time. In this manner, what frightens is often
beneficial, so that if a volcano were to open up in the mountains of
Portugal, it could herald the gradual departure of the misfortune.
The violent motion of water that was felt on so many coasts on that
unfortunate All Saints’ Day, is the most remarkable object of interest and
enquiry in relation to this event. It is well known that earthquakes extend
beneath the sea and cause ships to shake as violently as if they were in an
earthquake on dry land. However, in the areas where the water surged
up there were no signs of earthquakes; at least none could be felt at a
moderate distance from the coast. Nonetheless, this motion of water is
not entirely without precedent. In 1692, something similar was observed 1:424
on the coasts of Holland, England, and Germany at the time of an almost
universal earthquake. I gather that many are inclined to believe, and not
without reason, that the surging of the waters [near Lisbon] arose from
a continued shaking that the sea received off the Portuguese coast, from
the direct impact of an earthquake. [However,] this explanation appears
to be subject to some initial difficulties. I can understand very well that in
a liquid any pressure must be felt throughout the whole mass,c but how
could the pressure of the water of the Portuguese sea still raise the water
at Glückstadt and Husum4 by several feet, and that after spreading for
several hundred [German] miles? Does it not seem that mountain-high
waves would have to occur there [i.e., near Portugal] to create hardly
discernible waves here [i.e., on the Schleswig-Holstein coast, etc.]? I
answer that there are two ways in which a liquid might be set in motion
throughout its mass by a cause acting locally: either through the swaying
motion of rising and falling, that is, in a wave-like manner; or through a
sudden pressure that gives an impulse to the mass of water in its interior,
and repulses it as if it were a solid body without giving it time to evade the
c ganze Masse
333
Natural Science
pressure by means of a wave-like surge and [thereby] dissipate its motion

gradually. The first alternative is undoubtedly insufficient to account for
the event referred to. But as far as the latter is concerned, if one considers
how water resists a sudden violent pressure as if it were a solid body, and
this lateral pressure spreads out with such violence as not to allow the
adjacent water to rise above the horizontal, [and] if one considers, for
example, the experiment of Herr Carré in the second part of the Physical
Transactions of the Academy of Sciences, page 549, where a musket ball was
shot into a box made of two-inch boards filled with water, and the water
was so compressed that the box was quite blown apart,5 [then] this gives
one an idea of the way in which the water is caused to move during
an earthquake. If one imagines, for example, that the whole west coast
of Portugal and Spain from Cape St Vincent to Cape Finistère, about
100 German miles, were shaken, and if one supposes that this quake
extended an equal distance westward into the sea, then 10,000 square
German miles of the bottom of the sea were raised by a sudden quake
whose speed we do not exaggerate if we equate it with that produced
1:425 by a powder mine that throws a body lying on it fifteen feet into the
air, and is thus capable (according to the principles of mechanics) of
travelling 30 feet per second. The overlying water resisted this sudden
shock to such an extent that it did not, as happens in slow motions,
yield and rise in waves, but received its whole pressure and drove the
surrounding water, which is to be regarded as a solid body when there
is such a rapid compression,d to the side with the same force [as that
which it received from the earthquake]. Consequently, the extremities
move with the same speed as that [water] which is directly affected [by
the impulse]. Thus in every baulke of liquid, if I may use this expression,
regardless of whether it is two or three hundred miles long, there is no
diminution of motion, if it is regarded as being enclosed in a canal with
equal openings at each end. But if the far end is larger, then conversely,
the motion through it will be correspondingly reduced. Now one must
think of the continuation of the water’s motion around itself as extending
in a circle, the circumference of which increases with the distance from
the centre. So at the periphery the flow of water is decreased in the
same measure. Thus it will be found to be six times less at the Holstein
coast, which is three hundred German miles from the assumed centre of
the earthquake, than on the Portuguese coast, which according to our
assumption is fifty miles from that [central] point. The motion on the
Holstein and Danish coast will therefore still be great enough to traverse
five feet per second, equal to the forcef of a very fast river. Against this,
d Eindruck f Gewalt
e Balken
334
it might be objected that the transmission of the pressure to the waters

of the North Sea can only occur through the channel at Calais so that its
agitation must diminish markedly through being dissipated into a wide
sea. However, if one considers that the pressure of water between the
French and English coasts before it reaches the channel must, as a result
of being compressed between these two countries, increase to the same
extent as it is subsequently diminished by expansion, then there is no
significant loss of the effects of the earthquake on the aforementioned
Holstein coast.
The most extraordinary thing about this compression of water is that
it was felt even in lakes with no visible connection with the sea, as at
Templin6 and in Norway. This seems to be almost the strongest evi- 1:426
dence ever advanced to show that there are subterranean connections
between land-locked lakes and the sea. In order to avoid the counter-
argument based on the equipoise [of the waters], one would have to
imagine that the water of a lake constantly flowed downwards through
channels connecting it with the sea, but because these channels are
narrow and because the water that they lose in this way is sufficiently
replaced by inflowing streams and rivers, the out-flow is not discernible.
Nonetheless, one should not form an over-hasty conclusion concern-
ing so strange an occurrence. For it is not impossible that the disturbance
of the inland lakes might result from other causes. The subterranean air,
set in motion by the raging fire, could well force its way through cracks
in the Earth’s strata that are normally blocked except on such occasions
of violent eruption. Nature reveals herself but gradually. One should not
seek impatiently to discover by fabrication what she conceals from us,
but wait until she reveals her secrets in distinct activities.
The cause of earthquakes seems to extend its effect into the atmos-
phere. Some hours before an earthquake occurs, a red sky and other
indications of altered atmospheric conditions have been observed. Ani-
mals become terrified shortly beforehand. Birds take refuge in houses.
Rats and mice scurry out of their holes. At this moment, there can be no
doubt that the heated vapour, which is on the point of ignition, breaks
through the upper vault of the Earth’s crust. I would not venture to say
exactly what effects are to be expected. But at least [we can say that]
they are not pleasing to the natural philosopher,g for what hopes does
he have of ascertaining the laws according to which changes occur in the
air when a subterranean atmosphere is interfering with their effects, and
can one doubt that this must take place frequently, for how else may we
explain the fact that there is no regularity in the changes in the weather,
because the causes of these changes are partly constant and partly
periodic?
g Naturforscher
335
Natural Science
1:427 Note. In the previous issue7 the date of the earthquake in Iceland is
to be corrected from 1 November to 11 September, in accordance with
the report in the 199th issue of the Hamburger Correspondent.
The present observations are to be regarded as a small preliminary
exercise on the memorable natural event that occurred in our time. Its
importance and various peculiarities move me to communicate to the
public a detailed history of this earthquake, its spread over the countries
of Europe, the noteworthy things that happened during its course, and
the observations to which they can give rise, in a more detailed treatise,
which will be published in a few days by the Royal Court and Academic
Press.
336
7
History and natural description of the most

noteworthy occurrences of the earthquake
that struck a large part of the Earth at the
end of the year 1755
This essay is the second and most detailed of Kant’s writings on earth-
quakes in response to the Lisbon disaster. It was published as an inde-
pendent piece by Johann Heinrich Hartung’s press in Königsberg. The
imprimatur was dated 21 February 1756, and it was advertised in the
11 March issue of the weekly Königsbergische Frag- und Anzeigungs-
Nachrichten.
In this essay Kant intends to give a more detailed description and
explanation of the Lisbon earthquake and the events surrounding it.
He reports that the earthquake was preceded by a vapour rising into
the air that turned red in the atmosphere and made the torrential rains
that ensued blood-red as well. He explains these atmospheric phenom-
ena on the basis of the iron compounds contained in the mixture of
substances that, through fermenting and being heated, led to the subter-
ranean conflagration that caused the main earthquake. He then describes
the tsunami caused by the earthquake, its effects in distant places, its
speed of transmission and extent as well as its influence on springs,
and the mode of transmission of these effects (through the compression
of the water), distinguishing, to the extent possible, what effects are due to
the subterranean explosions and what to those of the tsunami. Kant also
describes the series of aftershocks on 18 November, 9 December, and
26 December as well as patterns in the intervals between these tremors.
He then theorizes about what geographical features are most conducive
to earthquakes and the directions of motion of an earthquake. He also
speculates, somewhat freely, about the connection between earthquakes
and the seasons and the influence of earthquakes on atmospheric con-
ditions as well as their potential uses. Kant concludes this essay with a
sketch of a theodicy, according to which man often inappropriately views
himself rather than nature as a whole as the object of God’s actions, and,
337
Natural Science
in addition, man is in no position to know God’s intentions in any spe-

cific case. Instead, one must assume that God’s wisdom will subordinate
lower purposes to higher ones in accordance with the noblest of aims. In
this way, there are, Kant suggests, no theologically unacceptable moral
implications of the disaster that befell Lisbon in 1755.
338
History and Natural Description 1:429
of the Most Noteworthy

Occurrences of the Earthquake
That struck a
Large Part of the Earth

at the End of the Year 1755
by
Immanuel Kant, M.A.

Natural Science
1:431 It is not in vain that nature has spread out a treasury of curiosities every-
where for our observation and admiration. Man, to whom the husbandry
of the Earth’s surface has been entrusted, has the capacity and the desire
to familiarize himself with them, and praises the Creator through his
insights. Even the terrible instruments by which disaster is visited on
mankind, the shattering of countries, the fury of the sea shaken to its
foundations, the fire-spewing mountains, invite man’s contemplation,
and are planted in nature by God as a proper consequence of fixed laws
no less than other accustomed causes of discomfort which are thought
to be more natural merely because they are more familiar.
The contemplation of such terrible occurrences is instructive. It gives
man a sense of humility by making him see that he has no right, or at least
that he has lost any right, to expect only pleasant consequences from the
laws of nature that God has ordained, and perhaps he will learn thereby
to realize how fitting it is that this [present] arenah of his desires should
not contain the goal of all his aspirations.i
PREFACE.j
concerning the nature of the interior of
the earth.
So far as its extent is concerned, we know the surface of the Earth
fairly completely. However, we have another world beneath our feet
with which we are at present but little acquainted. The fissures in the
1:432 mountains that open up unfathomable depths to our plumb bobs, the
caves that we discover inside mountains, the deepest mine-shafts, which
we have extended for centuries, are utterly inadequate to give us any
distinct familiarity with the internal structurek of the huge globel we
inhabit.
The greatest depth to which people have reached from the upper
surface of the ground is less than 500 fathoms, that is, not even one six
thousandth part of the distance to the centre of the Earth. Yet these
cavities occur up in the mountains although the whole of dry land is [in
a sense] a mountain, for to reach even the bottom of the sea one would
have to descend at least three times deeper.
But those things which nature conceals from view and from our direct
investigation she reveals by their effects.m The [recent] earthquakes have
revealed to us that the surface of the Earth is full of vaults and cavities,
and that mines with manifold labyrinths running everywhere are hidden
h Tummelplatz k inwendigen Bau

i Absichten l Klumpen
j Vorbereitung m Wirkungen
340
History and description of the earthquake of 1755
beneath our feet. What follows in the history of the earthquake will place
this beyond doubt. We must ascribe the same origin to these caves as that
which gave rise to the sea-bed. For it is certain that even if one is only
moderately well informed about the relics left behind throughout the dry
land by the ocean after its former presence there, of the immeasurable
heaps of shells that are found even in the insides of mountains, of petrified
sea animals that are unearthed from the deepest [mine] shafts, then it
can readily be seen: first, that long ago the sea covered the entire land
for a long period; [second,] that this inundation lasted a long time and
predated the Great Flood; and finally that the waters could not have
receded by any other means than that the sea-floor sank from time to time
into deep cavities and formed deep basins into which the water flowed
and between the shores of which it is still confined. Meanwhile, the
raised areas of this sunken crust have become dry land [but] everywhere
undermined by caverns. This [dry land] is covered with steep peaks,
which we call mountains. The peaks run along the greatest heights of
the dry land in those directions in which it extends for some considerable
distance.
All these caverns contain a blazing fire, or at least an inflammable 1:433
material requiring only a slight excitationn to rage violently and shatter
or even split the overlying ground asunder.
If the whole extent of this subterranean fire is considered, then we
have to admit that there are few countries on Earth that have not felt its
effects occasionally. In the furthest north, the island of Iceland is subject
to the most violent and frequent earthquakes. There have been some
mild tremors in England and even in Sweden. Nonetheless, they are to
be found more frequently and violently in the southern lands, [by which] I
mean [those] near the Equator. Italy, and the islands in all the seas close
to the Equator, especially those in the Indian Ocean, are frequently
subject to this disturbance of their foundations. Among the latter, there
is hardly one that does not have a mountain which spews forth fire, either
at present or at least in the past; and they are just as frequently subject to
earthquakes. It is for this reason that the Dutch employ a nice precaution,
if we can believe Hübner’s report.1 In order to avoid the risk of [the
source of] the valuable spices, nutmegs, and cloves being destroyed by
an earthquake, they maintain a nursery for the plants on an island far
removed from the islands of Banda and Amboina, which are otherwise the
only places where they permit the cultivation of these species [and] which
might be totally destroyed by an earthquake. Peru and Chile, which are
close to the Equator, are troubled by this evil more frequently than any
other countries. In the former country, hardly a day passes without some
slight tremors being felt. It should not [however] be supposed that this
n Reizung
341
Natural Science
is a consequence of the far greater heat of the Sun that affects the soil
of these lands. In a cellar barely forty feet deep, there is hardly any
difference felt between summer and winter. So little [therefore] is the
heat of the Sun able to penetrate the soil to great depths, and to attract
the inflammable [matter] and set it in motion. Rather, the earthquakes
are determined by the nature of the subterranean caverns. And these
follow the law according to which the collapses of the upper crust must
1:434 have occurred in the beginning, in such a manner that the closer they are
to the Equator the deeper and more numerous are the indentations they
have made, and as a result of which these mines containing the tindero
for the earthquakes have become enlarged and are consequently better
suited to ignition.
This formationp of subterranean passages is of no small importance
for understanding that which follows concerning the wide extent of the
earthquakes in large countries, of the lines they follow, the places where
they occur most frequently, and where they originate.
I now begin with the history of the latest earthquake itself. By this
I mean not a history of the instances of misfortune that people have
suffered as a result of it, nor a list of the cities and their inhabitants
destroyed under its debris. All the terrible things the imagination can
conceive have to be taken together to understand even to a small extent
the horror people must experience when the Earth moves under their
feet, when everything around them crashes to the ground, when a body
of water moved in its foundations completes their misfortune through
flooding, when the fear of death, the despair at having lost all one’s
earthly goods, and finally the sight of other people in misery must dis-
hearten even the most courageous. A narrative of such events would be
moving, and it would, since it has such an effect on the heart, perhaps
also have the effect of improving the latter. But I shall leave this story
to more skilful hands. Here I shall only describe the work of nature,
and the remarkable natural circumstances that accompanied the terrible
event together with its causes.
concerning the harbingers of the late

earthquake.
The prelude to the subterranean conflagration that proved to be so ter-
rible subsequently I see in the atmospheric phenomena that were per-
ceived in Locarno in Switzerland on 14th October last year [i.e., 1755] at
8 o’clock in the morning. A vapour as warm as if it were coming out of an
o Zunder p Vorbereitung
342
oven spread [over the area] and within two hours turned into a red mist
which developed into a blood-red rain towards the evening, which, after
it had been collected, deposited 1/9th of [its volume as] a reddish, sticky
sediment. The six-foot deep snow was similarly dyed red. This red rain
was seen for 40 hours, over an area of about 20 German miles square, 1:435
indeed as far away as Swabia. Upon this atmospheric phenomenon fol-
lowed unnatural torrents of rain, which yielded up to 23 inches of water
in 3 days, which is more than is deposited in a country of moderate rain-
fall in a whole year. This rain lasted for more than 14 days, although not
with the same intensity for the entire period. The rivers in Lombardy
that have their source in the Swiss mountains, and the Rhône as well,
swelled as a result of this water and burst their banks. Thereafter, terrible
hurricanes prevailed in the atmosphere and these raged everywhere with
cruel force. As late as in the middle of November, a similar red rain fell
in Ulm, and the disorder in the atmosphere, the whirlwinds in Italy, and
the exceedingly wet weather continued.
If one wishes to get some idea of the causes of this phenomenon and its
consequences, one should consider the nature of the ground over which
it took place. All the Swiss mountains have extensive caverns beneath
them, which are undoubtedly connected to the deepest subterranean
passages. Scheuchzer2 has counted nearly twenty chasms that blow out
winds at certain times. Now if we assume that the minerals hidden in
these caves have come to be mixed with the liquids that cause them
to effervesce and thus start to ferment inwardly, thereby preparing the
combustible materials for that conflagration which was to break out fully
within a few days; if, for example, we imagine the acid contained in
spirit of saltpetre, and which is necessarily prepared by nature herself,
attacking the ferruginous earth upon which it fell, having been set in
motion either by the influx of water or by some other cause, then these
materials will have been heated when they were mixed and will have
emitted warm, red warm vapours from the chasms in the mountains; in
the violence of the effervescence, particles of the red ferruginous earth
were both mixed with and carried up by these vapours, and this caused
the aforementioned sticky blood-red rain. The nature of such vapours
tends to lessen the tensionq of the air and thus to make the water vapours
suspended therein coalesce; also, the concentration of all the moist clouds
hovering in the surrounding atmosphere as a result of the natural fall of
the land in the direction where the height of the column of air had been
reduced, caused the heavy and continuous downpours observed in the
areas mentioned.
q Ausspannungskraft
343
Natural Science
Thus, by means of expelled vapours, the subterranean fermentation

1:436 gave forewarning of the disaster it was preparing in the hidden depths.∗
Fate then took its full course in gradual steps. Fermentation does not
break out into a conflagration immediately. The fermenting and heated
materials have to meet with combustible oils, sulphur, bitumen or some-
thing similar in order to ignite. The heating process spread to and fro
in the subterranean passages until the dissolved flammable materials in
the mixture, and the other [materials], had been heated to the point of
combustion, and then the vaults of the earth were shattered and the
catastrophe reached its conclusion.
the earthquake and the motion of water of

1st november, 1755.
The moment at which this shock occurred seems to be most accu-
rately fixed at 9:50 a.m. in Lisbon; this time accords exactly with that
observed in Madrid, namely 10:17 to 10:18 a.m., if one converts the lon-
gitude of both cities into a time difference. At the same time, the waters
were shaken over an astonishing area, [not only] those that have a visible
connection with the ocean but also those where the connection may be
hidden. From Abo in Finland to the West Indian archipelago few if any
coasts escaped the quake. It affected an area of 1,500 miles in almost the
same space of time. If one could be sure that the time at which it was
felt at Glückstadt on the Elbe could be fixed, as reported in the public
news, at precisely 11:30 a.m., then one would conclude that the motion
of water took 15 minutes to travel from Lisbon to the coasts of Hol-
stein. It was also felt within precisely this time on all the coasts of the
Mediterranean, and its full extent is not yet known.
Waters on the mainland that seem to be cut off from all communica-
tion with the ocean, [such as] wells [and] lakes, were set in extraordinary
1:437 motion simultaneously in countries far distant from each other. Most of
the lakes in Switzerland, the lake at Templin in Brandenburg and some
lakes in Norway and Sweden took on a surging motion, much more vio-
lent and chaotic than in a storm, yet the air was still at the time. If the
news may be relied on, the lake at Neuchâtel flowed [away] into hid-
den clefts, and the lake at Meiningen3 did likewise but soon returned.
In these same [few] minutes, the mineral water at Töplitz4 in Bohemia
suddenly ceased to flow and then returned blood-red. The forcer with
∗ Eight days before the earthquake, the ground at Cadiz was covered by a great many
worms that had crawled out of the earth. These had been driven out by the cause just
mentioned. In the case of several other earthquakes, violent lightning in the air and the
apprehension observed in animals have been harbingers.
r Gewalt
344
which the water was pushed through enlarged its former passages, and
thus it gained a stronger inflow. The inhabitants of that town had good
cause to sing Te Deum laudamus, while those in Lisbon began to sing in
quite different tones. Such is the nature of the accidents that affect the
human race. The joy of one group and the misery of another often have
a common cause. In the Kingdom of Fez in Africa, a subterranean forces
split open a mountain, which poured blood-red streams from its depths.
At Angoulême in France a subterranean roar was heard, and a deep
chasm opened on the plain, containing bottomless water. In Gémenos
in Provence, a well suddenly became turbid and then poured forth in
a red colour. The surrounding areas reported similar changes in their
wells. All this occurred in the same [few] minutes when the earthquake
was devastating the coasts of Portugal. In just this same short period of
time several earthquakes were felt in far distant countries. But nearly all
of them took place near the sea coasts. In Cork in Ireland, as in Glückstadt
and several other places situated on the sea, there were slight tremors.
Milan is probably the place furthest from the sea to have experienced an
earthquake on that day. On the very same morning at 8 o’clock, Mount
Vesuvius near Naples erupted, and then became quiet around the time
when the earthquake occurred in Portugal.
observation on the cause of this

motion of water.
History has no precedent for so widespread a disturbance of water and a
large part of the Earth observed in the space of a few minutes. One should
therefore be cautious in inferring its causes from what was a unique
event. [Nevertheless,] one can have particular regard to the following 1:438
causes that may have brought about the aforementioned event; [namely]
a general quaking of the sea-floor directly under those areas where the
sea was disturbed. But then one would have to indicate why the vein of
fire responsible for these earthquakes ran only under the bottom of the
seas, without extending to the lands that are in close connection with
the latter and are often interposed between them. It would be difficult
to explain why this disturbance of the ground, which extended from
Glückstadt on the North Sea to Lübeck on the Baltic, and along the
coast of Mecklenburg, was not felt in Holstein, which lies between these
two seas, and where only a very slight tremor was felt on the coast but
none was felt inland. Even so, the most convincing thing is the surging of
the waters far from the ocean, such as occurred at the lakes at Templin,
in Switzerland and elsewhere. It is easy to see that, in order to bring
a body of water into such violent agitation, the shock must be quite
s Gewalt
345
Natural Science
considerable. But why was this mighty quake not felt in the surrounding
lands under which the vein of fire must needs have run? It is easy to see
that all the evidence is against this opinion. It is extremely unlikely that
an earthquake impressed itself upon the surrounding solid mass of the
Earth itself by a violent convulsion at one point, as the ground is shaken
for some distance around when a powder magazine explodes, and both
for the reason already mentioned and because the awesome extent [of
the catastrophe] when compared with the circumference of the Earth,
constitutes such a large proportion of the latter that its shaking would
have had to produce a shaking of the whole globe. Now one can learn
from Buffon5 that an eruption of subterranean fire capable of throwing
a mountain range of seventeen hundred miles long and forty wide a mile
into the air would not move the globe one inch from its position.
Thus we shall have to look for [the cause of] the spread of this motion
1:439 of water in some medium that is more suited to transmit a disturbance
for great distances, namely in the water of the seas themselves, which is in
[direct] connection with that which was suddenly and violently disturbed
by a direct motion of the sea-bed.
In the weekly Königsberger Anzeigen, I have tried to calculate the forcet
with which the whole sea was repulsed by the shock of the tremor on its
floor. I assumed the affected area of the sea-floor to be merely a square,
one side of which was equal to the distance from Cape St Vincent to Cape
Finistère, that is, the length of the western coast of Portugal and Spain,
and I regarded the poweru of the rising sea-bed as equivalent to a powder
mine capable of raising the bodies over it by fifteen feet, and according
to the laws by which motion is transmitted in liquids, I found it to be
stronger on the Holstein coast than the impact of the fastest running
stream. Let us here consider from a different perspective the power that
it can exercise as a result of these causes. By means of a plumb line,
Count Marsigli6 found the greatest depth of the Mediterranean to be
over eight thousand feet, and it is certain that the ocean is much deeper
at an appropriate distance from the land, but we will here assume it to
be only six thousand feet, that is, one thousand fathoms. We know that
the pressure which so high a column of water exerts on the bottom of the
sea must exceed the pressure of the atmosphere by nearly two hundred
times, and that it must far exceed the power behind a ball hurled from
a heavy cannon over a distance of one hundred fathoms in the space of
a pulse beat. This enormous load could not withstand the power with
which the subterranean fire pushed the sea-floor rapidly upwards, and
therefore this [upward] motive powerv was greater. With what pressure,
then, was the water impelled for it to shoot suddenly in all directions?
t Gewalt v bewegende Gewalt

u Gewalt
346
And is it surprising if the shock was felt a few minutes later in Finland
and simultaneously in the West Indies? It cannot be determined how
large the area of the direct quake may actually have been. Perhaps it
was much greater than we have supposed; but it was certainly not to be
found on the sea-floor under the seas where the motion of water was felt
without any earthquake, on the Dutch, English, and Norwegian coasts, 1:440
and in the Baltic. For otherwise the dry land would undoubtedly also
have been shaken in its interior, which, however, was not observed.
In ascribing the violent quaking of all the connected parts of the ocean
to a single impact,w acting on the sea-bed in a particular area, I do not wish
to deny the actual spreading of the subterranean fire under the dry land
of almost the whole of Europe. In all probability, the two events occurred
simultaneously and both had a share in the ensuing phenomena, so that
neither individually was the sole cause of the effects as a whole. The
disturbance of the water in the North Sea, which was felt as a sudden
shock, was not the effect of a subterranean earthquake. Disturbances
would have to be very violent to bring about such effects and would
necessarily have been readily detectable on dry land. However, I do not
wish to deny that even the dry land as a whole was slightly shaken by a
weak forcex of ignited subterranean vapours, or for other causes. This
is evident from Milan, which on that day [i.e., 1st November, 1755]
was threatened by the acute danger of total collapse. Let us suppose,
then, that a feeble tremor there set the Earth in motion, which tremor
was sufficient to rock the ground back and forth by one inch over a
distance of one hundred Rhineland rods.7 This motion would have been
so imperceptible that a building of four rods in height would not have
been displaced from the vertical by half a grain [sic], that is, by half
the [thickness of the] back of a knife. This would scarcely have been
perceptible on even the highest towers. However, the lakes would have
made this imperceptible motion very evident. For if a lake is only two
German miles long, then its water will be set into a fairly strong rocking
motion by this slight motion of its floor; for the water then has a fall of
roughly one inch in fourteen thousand inches, and a speedy only slightly
less than that of a fairly fast river, such as the Seine in Paris, which
could teach us what, after some rocking to and fro, could have caused an
extraordinary disturbance in the water. But we can assume that the earth 1:441
tremor was as great again as that assumed [above] without its being felt
on dry land; and so the motion of the inland lakes appears all the more
intelligible.
Thus, it is no longer surprising if all the inland lakes in Switzerland,
Sweden, Norway, and Germany were seen to be agitated without any
w Stoße y Ablauf
x Kraft
347
Natural Science
disturbance of the ground being felt. It is, however, rather more extraor-
dinary that certain lakes disappeared altogether during this disturbance,
such as the lake at Neuchâtel, that at Como, and that at Meiningen,
although some of those have already filled up with water once again. But
this event is not without parallel. There are some lakes in the Earth that
disappear at certain times through hidden channels, and return at regular
intervals. A notable example is Lake Zirknitz in the Duchy of Carniola.8
There are some openings in its floor through which the water suddenly
runs out, complete with all its fish, but not before St James’s Day.9 And
after it has served as good arable land for three months, the water sud-
denly reappears about November. This natural phenomenon is plausibly
explained by comparison with the siphon in hydraulics. However, for the
cases under consideration it can easily be seen that many lakes are fed
by underlying springs that have their source in the surrounding higher
ground. When the effects of subterranean heating and the vapours it
creates have consumed the air in the caverns that hold the water for the
springs, the springs will be sucked back, thereby creating a powerful suc-
tion that drains the lake. And after the balance of the air [in the caverns]
has been restored, the lake seeks its natural exit once again. For that a
lake should maintain its level by means of a subterranean connection
with the sea because it has no external inflow from rivers, as the public
reports of Lake Meiningen have endeavoured to suggest, is obviously
absurd, for the laws of equilibrium as well as the salinity of the sea water
speak against [such a view].
A common feature of earthquakes is that they cause the disturbance
of springs. I could quote a whole list of springs being blocked up and
1:442 new ones being opened up elsewhere, of spring water shooting quite
high out of the ground, and similar occurrences from the records of
other earthquakes, but I shall keep to my subject. It was reported from
some places in France that some springs were blocked while others pro-
duced excessive amounts of water. The spring at Töplitz [in Bohemia]
stopped and the inhabitants were worried; but then the water returned,
at first slimy, and then blood-red, and finally in its natural condition and
stronger than before. The discoloration of water in so many places, even
in the Kingdom of Fez and in France, is in my view to be ascribed to
the intermingling of sulphur and small particles of iron, with the fer-
menting vapours forcing their way through the strata through which the
springs also pass. When these vapours reach the inside of the cisterns
containing the source of the spring, they either push it out again with
greater force,z or they change its outflow by pushing the water into other
cavities.
z Gewalt
348
These are the chief noteworthy events of the history of 1st November
and of the motion of water, which was the most remarkable of the con-
comitant occurrences. It is entirely credible to me that the earthquakes
that occurred near the ocean, or the shores of any water connected to
the ocean, in Cork in Ireland, in Glückstadt, and in several places in
Spain, should be attributed chiefly to the pressure of the compressed
sea water, the powera of which must be unbelievably great if one mul-
tiplies the forceb with which it strikes by the area on which it strikes,
and I am of the opinion that the disaster in Lisbon, like that of most
of the cities on the western coast of Europe, is to be attributed to the
position it had in relation to the disturbed area of the ocean, since its
whole force, magnified in the mouth of the Tagus by the narrowing of
the bay, must in addition have shaken the ground to an extraordinary
degree. From this, one may judge as to whether the earthquake would
have been felt distinctly only in the coastal towns and not in the interior
[as in fact happened], if the pressure of water had not played some part
in it.
One last phenomenonc of this great event is worth noting, where a
considerable time, one to one-and-a-half hours, after the earthquake
[there arose] a fearful upsurge of water in the ocean and a rise of the
Tagus six feet higher than the highest tide; and soon afterwards a fall to
an equal distance below the lowest tide was observed. This motion of the
ocean, which occurred a considerable time after the earthquake and after 1:443
the first terrible pressure of the waters, completed the destruction of the
town of Setubal by overwhelming the ruins and completely destroying
everything that the earthquake had spared. If a proper conception has
already been formed of the violenced of the sea water’s retreat occasioned
by the motion of the sea-floor, it will be easy to imagine that it must also
return with great violencee after its pressure has been spread into the
huge surrounding areas, and the time of its return depends on the area
that it has affected. The fearsome extent of the tidal wave on the coasts
is also dependent on the area covered.∗
the earthquake of 18th november.

From 17th to the 18th of this month the public news bulletins reported
a significant earthquake on the coasts of Portugal and Spain, as well
as in Africa. It was felt at noon on the 17th in Gibraltar at the mouth
∗ In the harbour in Husum, this tidal wave was also observed between 12 and 1, that is,
an hour later than the first shock in the waters of the North Sea.
a Gewalt d Heftigkeit
b Gewalt e Gewalt
c Erscheinung
349
Natural Science
of the Mediterranean, and in the evening at Whitehaven in Yorkshire

in England. [During the night] of the 17th to the 18th it was already
felt in the English colonies in America. On the same 18th, it was
also strongly felt in the region of Aquapendente and della Grotta in
Italy.∗
the earthquake of 9th december.

According to news reports, Lisbon has not suffered any such violent
earthquakes since the 1st November as that on 9th December. This
was felt on the southern coasts of Spain and of France, throughout the
Swiss mountains, in Swabia, and the Tyrol all the way to Bavaria. It
travelled some 300 German miles from south-west to north-east, and,
1:444 while its direction followed the range of mountains that runs along the
length of the highest regions of continental Europe, it did not spread
very far sideways. The most careful geographers, Varenius,10 Buffon,
and Lulof,11 note that, just as any land that extends more in length
than in breadth, has a main range running along its length, so that the
principal line of mountains in Europe extends from a main stem, namely
the Alps, westwards through the southern French provinces, through
central Spain and to the most western shore of Europe, although on
the way it sends out considerable lateral branches, and equally eastwards
through the Tyrolean and other less impressive mountains until it finally
meets the Carpathian range.
It was this direction that the earthquake followed that day. If the time
of the tremor had been accurately noted at each place, it would be possible
to give some estimate of its speed, and probably one could determine
the area of the initial outbreak; but the reports are so little in agreement
that they cannot be relied upon.
I have stated elsewhere that when they spread, earthquakes usually fol-
low the line of the highest mountain range, and for their whole length
at that, even though they become lower the more they approach the
ocean shore. The direction of long rivers is a very good indicator of the
direction of the mountain ranges, since they flow between the parallel
rows of mountains as in the lowest part of a long valley. This law of the
spreading of earthquakes is not a matter of speculation or judgement
but something that has become known through the observation of many
earthquakes. For this reason we ought to keep to the evidence of Ray,12
Buffon, Gentil,13 etc. But this law has so much inherent probability that it
must readily gain our approval by itself. If one considers that the openings
∗ Similarly in Glowson in the county of Hertford, where with a great noise, an abyss
containing very deep water opened.14
350
through which the subterranean fire seeks a way out are only ever on the
peaks of mountains, that fire-spewing mouths have never been found on
plains, that in countries where earthquakes are violent and frequent, most
of the mountains contain broad abysses that serve to throw out the fire,
and that, as far as our European mountains are concerned, nowhere but
in them are spacious caves found that are undoubtedly interconnected;
if, in addition, one applies to all these subterranean cavities the idea 1:445
of their origin discussed above, then one will find no difficulty with
the idea that the conflagration can find open and free passages princi-
pally under the range of mountains that run the length of Europe, faster
therein than in other regions.
Even the continuation of the earthquake of 18th November from
Europe to America under the floor of a broad ocean can be found in
the links between mountain ranges, which, though their continuation is
so low that they are covered by the sea, nonetheless remain mountains
there, since, as we know, there are as many mountains to be found on the
floor of the sea as there are on land; and in this way, the Azores Islands,
which are encountered half-way between Portugal and North America,
must be connected with these [mountains].
the earthquake of 26th december.

After the heating of the mineral matter had penetrated the main stem
of the highest mountains in Europe, that is the Alps, it also opened
for itself the narrower passages under the row of mountains that run
outwards from it at right angles from south to north, and extended in
the direction of the Rhine, which, like all rivers, occupies a long valley
between two rows of mountains from Switzerland to the North Sea.
On the western side of the river, [the earthquake] shook the regions of
Alsace, Lorraine, the Electorate of Cologne, Brabant and Picardy, and
on the eastern side, Cleve, part of Westphalia, and presumably some
other countries situated on this side of the Rhine about which the news
has not reported anything specific. Evidently, it maintained a direction
parallel to this great river and extended a short distance on either side.
One may ask how the foregoing can be reconciled with the fact that
it penetrated into the Netherlands, which are without any significant
mountains. But it is sufficient that a country be in direct contact with
certain ranges of mountains and may be thought of as a continuation of
these for the subterranean conflagrations to continue under the other-
wise low ground, for it is certain that the chain of caverns will extend
underneath it just as, as already explained, it continues even under the
floor of the sea.
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Natural Science
1:446 on the intervals between successive

earthquakes.
If the succession of earthquakes is considered carefully, then, if one
were prepared to speculate, one might work out an interval after the
conflagration broke out anew after an interim period without activity.
After 1st November, we find another very violent tremor in Portugal
on the 9th, similarly on the 18th, since it extended to England, Italy,
Africa, and even to America; on the 27th a strong earthquake on the
south coast of Spain, principally in Malaga. From this time onward, it
took 13 days, until on 9th December it struck the entire region from
Portugal to Bavaria, moving from south-west to north-east, and after
this one, after another 18 days, namely on the night of 26th to 27th
December, it shook the breadth of Europe from south to north,∗ so that
a fairly accurate period of 9 or two times 9 days passed between the
repeated conflagrations, if one excepts that time it took to penetrate the
innermost part of the mountains of our continent and to move the Alps
and the entire chain of its extension on 9th December. I cite this not
with the aim of concluding anything from it, but rather to provide an
occasion for observations and reflection when similar cases occur.
I intend to make only a few remarks here on those earthquakes that
alternately diminish and then begin again. Herr Bouguer,15 one of the
representatives of the Paris Royal Academy of Sciences who visited Peru,
had the discomfort in that country of residing next to a volcano, whose
1:447 thundering noise allowed him no rest. But the observation he made of this
phenomenon offered him some compensation, in that he noticed that the
mountain always became quiet at regular intervals, and that its violence
alternated regularly with quiet periods. The observation of Mariotte16
made with a lime kiln, which when heated up expelled air through an
open window and soon after drew it in again, thus to some extent emulat-
ing the respiration of animals, is very similar to this phenomenon. Both
have the following causes in common. When the subterranean fire is
ignited, it expels all the air from the surrounding caverns. When this air,
filled with fiery particles, finds an opening, for example in the mouth of
a volcano, it rushes out and the mountain belches fire. But as soon as the
air has been driven out from the seat of combustionf the combustion dies
∗ On the 21st it was very violent in Lisbon, on the 23rd in the mountains around Roussil-
lon, and it continued there until the 27th. It can be seen from this that it began from the
south-west once again and required much longer to spread. If we assume the place of
origin to be in the ocean to the west of Portugal, as is clear from the entire course of the
earthquake, then its beginning is fairly closely connected with the interval mentioned.
f Entzündung
352
down; for without a supply of air any fire goes out; then the displaced air
returns to its place since the cause that drove it out has ceased to operate
and the air rekindles the extinguished fire. In this way, the eruptions of
a volcano alternate at certain regular intervals. It is the same with the
subterranean conflagrations, even where the expanded air can find no
way out through the clefts of the mountains. For, if the conflagration
begins at one place in the caverns of the earth, it repels the air violently
and in large quantities into all the passages of the subterranean vaults
with which it is connected. At this moment the fire is stifled by the lack
of air. And as soon as this expanding force of the air diminishes, the air
that was disseminated throughout the caverns returns with great forceg
and fans the dead fire to [cause] a new earthquake. It is noteworthyh
that Vesuvius, which had been activated and ignited by the outflow of
air expelled through its mouth when the fermentations in the interior
of the Earth got properly under way, suddenly subsided a short time
later, when the earthquake had occurred in Lisbon; for at that moment
all the air that was in connection with these vaults, even that above the
peak of Vesuvius, rushed through all channels to the seat [or epicentre]
of the conflagration, where the reduction of the elasticity of the air gave
it access. What an amazing object! Imagine a chimney which derives its
draught from air vents 200 [German] miles away!
Exactly the same cause must create subterranean storm winds in the
Earth’s cavities, the forcei of which must far exceed anything we expe-
rience on the surface, when the position and connection of the caverns 1:448
lends itself to disseminating the winds. Presumably the commotion that
is felt under foot during the course of an earthquake can only be ascribed
to this cause.
From this we can probably assume that not all earthquakes are caused
by a conflagration immediately under the ground that is being shaken;
rather, the fury of these subterranean storms can set the vaults above
them in motion, which cannot be doubted if one considers that the air,
which is far denser than that on the surface of the Earth, is set in motion
by far more sudden causes, and, increased by passages that prevent its
expansion, can exercise an untold force.j It is thus probable that the
slight motion of the ground that took place in the greater part of Europe
during the violent conflagration of 1st November, was perhaps caused by
nothing other than this violently agitated subterranean air, which gently
shook the ground that was resisting its expansion in the form of a strong
storm wind.
g Gewalt i Gewalt
h merkwürdig j Gewalt
353
Natural Science
on the seat of the subterranean conflagration

and the places subject to the most frequent
and most dangerous earthquakes.
By comparing the time[s], we see that the place at which the earthquake
of 1st November began was on the sea-bed. The Tagus, which had
already swelled before the earthquake, the sulphur brought up by sailors
from the shaken sea-bed with their plumb lines, and the violence of
the shocks they felt [all] confirm this. The history of earlier earthquakes
also makes it clear that the most terrifying earthquakes have always taken
place at the bottom of the sea and next to this, in places at or not far from
the shores of the sea. To prove the former, I cite the raging fury with
which a subterranean conflagration has often raised new islands from
the sea-floor and, for example, in the year 1720 near the Azores island of
St Michael, the expulsion of matter from the bottom of the sea at a depth
of 60 fathoms, threw up an island one mile long rising to several fathoms
1:449 above sea level. The island at Santorini in the Mediterranean, which
emerged in our century from the depths of the sea as witnessed by many
people, and many other examples that I will pass over for the sake of
brevity, are indisputable proofs of this.
How often do sailors suffer a seaquake! And in some regions, espe-
cially in the neighbourhood of certain islands, the seas are profusely
covered with pumice stones and other varieties of ejecta from a fire that
has broken through the ocean bed. The observation of the frequency of
earthquakes on the sea-floor is naturally related to the following ques-
tion: Why is it that, of all the places on land, none are subject to
more violent and frequent earthquakes than those situated not far
from the shores of the sea? This last statement is undoubtedly correct:
if we consider the history of earthquakes we find an infinite number of
disasters that earthquakes have brought upon cities or countries near the
sea shore whereas those felt in the middle of a land mass are very few
and then of less significance. Ancient history already records the terrible
devastation this [kind of] disaster has wrought on the sea coasts of Asia
Minor or Africa. But neither with them nor with more recent ones do
we find significant earthquakes in the centre of large land masses. Italy,
which is a peninsula, most oceanic islands, and coastal Peru suffer the
greatest incidence of this evil. And even in our own time, all the west-
ern and southern coasts of Portugal and Spain have been much more
severely shaken than the interior of the mainland. To both questions I
propose the following solution.
Of all the interconnected caverns under the uppermost crust of the
earth, there is no doubt that those running under the bottom of
the sea must be the narrowest, because there the continuing base of
the solid ground has sunk to the greatest depth, and must rest far lower
354
on its deepest foundation than places in the centre of the land. But it is
well known that an ignited, expanding matter must have a more violent
effect in narrow cavities than where it can expand [freely]. In addition, it
is natural to suppose that, since there can be no doubt that the seething
mineral and inflammable materials will very often have become liquid
when subterranean heating occurs, as is demonstrated by the sulphur 1:450
streams and lava which often pour out of volcanoes, and, on account of
the natural slope of the floor of the subterranean caverns, will always have
flowed to the lowest caves of the bottom of the sea, more frequent and
more violent tremors must take place there on account of the plentiful
supply of combustible material.
Herr Bouguer correctly supposes that the penetration of sea water by
the opening of some cracks in the sea-floor must bring the mineral matter
that is naturally inclined to heating into the most vigorous calefaction.
For we know that nothing can stimulate the fire of heated minerals into
greater fury than the ingress of water, which increases its activity to
the point where its violence,k expanding in all directions, prevents any
further inflow of water by expelling all earthy matters and blocking the
opening.
In my opinion, the great violencel that shakes land situated close to a
sea shore is partly the perfectly natural result of the weight with which
the sea water burdens its floor which adjoins this land. For everybody will
easily recognize that the force with which the subterranean fire attempts
to raise this vault, on which such an astonishing weight rests, must be
very much restrained, and, since it cannot find any space for expansion,
must turn its entire force against the base of the dry land which is most
closely connected to it.
on the direction in which the ground is

shaken by an earthquake.
The direction in which an earthquake spreads over large areas is different
from that in which the ground on which it exerts its forcem is shaken.
If the uppermost covering of the hidden cavern in which the burning
matter is expanding has a horizontal direction, then the ground must
be alternately raised and lowered in a vertical direction because there
is nothing that might direct the motion more to one side than to the
other. But if the layer of earth that constitutes the vault is tilted, then
the disruptive force of the subterranean fire will also push it upwards
at an oblique angle to the horizon, and one could deduce the direction
in which the oscillation of the ground must occur on each occasion, if 1:451
k Gewalt m Gewalt
l Heftigkeit
355
Natural Science
one had definite knowledge of the direction of slope of the layer under
which the vault of fire is situated. The slope of the topmost surface of
the shaken ground is no certain indication of the angle of the vault in its
entire thickness; for the layers of earth lying on top can form manifold
declivities and hills, which the lowest layers do not follow at all. Buffon
believes that all the different layers found on Earth have a common
basement rock that covers all enclosed cavities below it and that some
parts of it are usually exposed on the peaks of high mountains where
rain and storm winds have completely eroded the loose material. This
opinion is given strong support by the evidence of earthquakes. For a
forcen so furious as that exercised by earthquakes would, by its repeated
onslaughts, long ago have shattered and eroded any vaulting other than
one made of rock.
On the coast, the slope of this vault is undoubtedly inclined towards
the sea and thus slopes down in its direction from the place in question.
On the banks of a great river, it must slope in the direction of the flow
of the stream; for if one considers the very long stretches, often exceed-
ing several hundred [German] miles, that the rivers run through on dry
land without creating permanent pools or lakes, then there is proba-
bly no other explanation for this uniform slope than the extremely firm
foundation, which, by sloping uniformly towards the bottom of the sea
without many depressions, provides the river with an inclined surface for
draining the water. For this reason, we can suppose that during an earth-
quake, the motion of the ground of a city situated on a large river will
be in the same direction as that river, as in [the case of] the Tagus from
west to east,∗ while the [motion] of a city on the sea shore will be in the
direction in which the shore slopes towards the sea. Elsewhere,17 I have
1:452 indicated what the lie of the land may contribute to the total destruc-
tion by an earthquake of a city in which the main streets follow the
slope. This note is not merely a supposition; it is a matter of experience.
Gentil, who personally had the opportunity to gather accurate informa-
tion about numerous earthquakes, reports this as an observation con-
firmed by many examples: that, if the direction in which the ground is
shaken is the same as that in which the city has been built, it will be
demolished completely, while less damage will occur if it crosses this
direction at right angles.
The Histoire de l’Académie Royale des Sciences in Paris reports that when
Smyrna, which lies on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean, was rocked
∗ Just as a river has a slope towards the sea, the lands on its sides have a slope towards its
bed. If this last applies to the whole layer of earth, and this has just such a slope at its
greatest depth, then the direction of the earthquake will also be determined by this.
n Gewalt
356
in 1688, all the walls having a direction from east to west collapsed and
those that were built from north to south remained standing.
The fact is that the shaken ground makes repeated motions and moves
those things that are built lengthwise in the direction of the motion to
the greatest extent. All bodies that have great freedom of motion, e.g.,
chandeliers in churches, usually show the direction in which the tremors
occur and are much more reliable indicators for a city to determine the
direction in which it should build than the somewhat more doubtful
factors previously mentioned.
on the connection of earthquakes

with the seasons.
Herr Bouguer, the French Academician already referred to on several
occasions, reports in [the account of] his journey to Peru, that, even
though earthquakes occur in this country fairly often and at all seasons,
the most terrible and most frequent ones are felt in the months of autumn
towards the end of the year. This observation is confirmed not only by
numerous cases in America, for apart from the destruction of the city
of Lima ten years ago, and that of another equally populous city in
the previous century, very many examples have been noted, but also in
our part of the world we find, apart from the latest earthquake, many
other historical instances of earthquakes and volcanic eruptions that have
occurred more frequently in autumn than at any other time of the year.
Is there a common cause for this agreement, and to which cause can 1:453
one more properly attribute the supposition than to the rains which,
in the long valley between the Cordillera Mountains in Peru, last from
September until April, and are also most frequent in autumn in our own
country? We know that all that is necessary to cause a subterranean fire
is to bring the mineral matter in the caverns of the Earth into a state of
fermentation. But this is done by the water when it has seeped through
the clefts in the mountains and has run away through the deep passages.
The rains first stimulated the fermentation that expelled so many strange
vapours from the interior of the Earth in the middle of October. It was
precisely these, however, which drew forth even more humid influences
from the atmosphere, and the water, which penetrated into the deepest
cavities through cracks in the rock, completed the heating, which had
already begun.
on the influence of earthquakes

on the atmosphere.
We have seen above an example of the effects of earthquakes on our
atmosphere. It is probable that more natural phenomena are dependent
357
Natural Science
on the eruptions of the subterranean heated vapours than is generally

supposed. It would hardly be possible for there to be such great irregu-
larity and so little consistency in the weather if external causes did not
occasionally enter our atmosphere and bring disorder into its proper
changes. Can one imagine a likely reason why the sequence of meteoro-
logical changes is almost always different even in a sample of many years,
whereas the course of the Sun and the Moon is bound by laws that are
always the same and water and earth, taken generally, always remain con-
stant? Since the unfortunate earthquake and shortly before it, we have
had such abnormal weather over our entire continent that one might
be forgiven for suspecting that the earthquakes were responsible. It is true
that there has been warm winter weather before without any earthquake
having preceded it; but can one be sure that there was not a fermenta-
tion in the interior of the Earth that frequently drove vapours through
clefts in rocks, through the cracks in the layers of the earth and even
1:454 through its loose substance, and that these might have caused significant
changes in the atmosphere? After observing that in the present century
alone, and indeed only since 1716, very bright Northern Lights have
been seen in Europe all the way to its southern lands, Muschenbroeck18
regards the most probable cause of this change in the atmosphere to
be the volcanoes and the earthquakes, which had frequently been active
some years previously, and had emitted flammable and volatile vapours;
and because of the natural northward flow of the upper atmosphere,
the vapours had accumulated there and brought about the fiery atmo-
spheric phenomena which have been seen so frequently since that time,
and these will presumably be gradually consumed until new exhalations
replace what has been used up.
In accordance with these principles, let us examine whether it is not
in keeping with nature that changing weather such as we have had is a
result of that catastrophe. The bright winter weather and the accompa-
nying cold is not merely a consequence of the greater distance of the
Sun from our zenith at this time of the year, for we often perceive that
despite this the air can be very temperate; rather, the draught of air from
the north, which sometimes can also turn into an east wind, brings us
cooled air from as far away as the Arctic Circle that covers our waters
with ice and makes us feel some of the winter of the North Pole. This
motion of air from north to south is so natural in the autumn and winter
months if external causes do not interrupt it, that this north or north-east
wind is encountered continually throughout this period in the [Atlantic]
Ocean at a considerable distance from any dry land. It originates quite
naturally from the effect of the Sun, which at that time is making the
air less dense over the southern hemisphere and thus causes it to flow
from the northern hemisphere: so that this must be considered to be a
uniform law which, though it might be altered to some extent by the
358
features of the various countries, cannot be reversed. Now if subter-

ranean fermentations eject heated vapours somewhere in the countries
to the south, then these will initially reduce the atmospheric pressureo
in the region where they rise by weakening the elasticity [of the air] and
causing cloudbursts, hurricanes, and so on. Subsequently, however, this
part of the atmosphere, since it is weighed down with so many vapours,
will move the neighbouring air by its density and cause a flow of air from
south to north. But since the motion of the atmosphere from north to
south is natural in our region at this time of the year, these two mutually 1:455
opposed motions will act against one another and result initially in dull,
rainy air because of the concentrated vapours, and at the same time in
a high level of barometric pressure,∗ because the air, which has been
pressed together by the conflict of two winds, must form a high column;
and for this reason, people will learn to accept the apparent error of
the barometer, when there is rainy weather even though the barometer
is high, because then this same humidity of the air is an effect of two
conflicting winds which drive the vapours together and can nonetheless
make the air significantly denser and heavier.
I cannot pass over in silence the fact that on that terrible All Saints’
Day the magnets in Augsburg cast off their burden and the compasses
were disoriented. Boyle19 has previously reported that something similar
once occurred after an earthquake in Naples. We do not know enough
about the hidden nature of the magnet for us to be able to give a reason
for this phenomenon.
on the uses of earthquakes.

People will be shocked to find such a terrible scourge of humanity praised
from the point of view of utility. I am sure that people would gladly do
without it in order to be relieved of the fear and the associated dan-
gers. Such is our nature as human beings. Once we have laid an illegiti-
mate claim to all the pleasant things in life, we are not prepared to pay
the cost of any advantages. We demand that the Earth’s surface should
be so constituted that one might wish to live on it forever. In addition,
we imagine that we would better regulate everything to our advantage,
if fate had asked for our vote on this matter. Thus we wish to have
e.g. the rain in our power so that we could distribute it over the whole year
in accordance with our convenience and so could always enjoy pleasant
days between the dull ones. But we forget the wells, which we cannot do
without and which would not be maintained under this system. Equally
∗ This has been observed almost constantly in this wet winter weather.
o Höhe des Luftkreises
359
Natural Science
1:456 we do not know the use which is brought to us by the same causes that
frighten us in the case of earthquakes, and yet we should like to see the
latter abolished.
As human beings, who were born to die, we cannot tolerate the fact
that some died in the earthquake, and as strangers here who possess no
goods we are inconsolable that goods were lost which in the general
nature of things would soon have been left behind anyway.
It is easy to guess that, if people build on ground that is filled with
flammable matters, then sooner or later the whole glory of their build-
ings could be destroyed by earthquakes; but must we therefore become
impatient with the ways of providence? Would it not be better to con-
clude that it was necessary for earthquakes to occur occasionally on the
Earth, but it was not necessary for us to erect splendid houses on it? The
inhabitants of Peru live in houses that are built with mortar only up to
a low height and the rest consists of reeds. Man must learn to adapt to
nature, but he wants nature to adapt to him.
Whatever damage earthquakes may, on the one hand, ever have caused
for man, they can, on the other hand, easily replace with interest. We
know that the warm baths, which over the course of time may have been
useful to a significant proportion of mankind in promoting health, derive
their mineral properties and their heat from just the same causes that are
at work in the heating of the Earth’s interior, which set these [waters] in
motion.
It has long been suspected that the veins of ore in the mountains are a
slow effect of the subterranean heat, which brings the metals to maturity
through a gradual process of shaping and boiling them by means of
penetrating vapours in the rock’s interior.
In addition to the coarse and dead matters it contains, our atmosphere
also needs a certain active principle, volatile salts and parts that enter
into the composition of plants, to move and developp them. Is it not
likely that the natural forms that continually expend a large part of it,
and the changes that all matter ultimately undergoes through dissolution
and composition, would in time entirely use up the most active parti-
1:457 cles if there were not a fresh influx from time to time? The soil at least
becomes less and less potent when it feeds strong plants, but rest and
rain restore it again. But where, finally, would the potent material that
is used without replacement come from if there were no other source
to maintain its supply? And this source is presumably the store of these
most active and volatile substances which the subterranean caverns con-
tain, some of which they distribute from time to time over the surface
of the Earth. I also note that Hales20 has had great success in purifying
p auszuwickeln
360
gaols and indeed all other places affected by animal exhalations by fumi-
gating them with sulphur. Volcanoes expel an immeasurable amount
of sulphurous vapours into the atmosphere, [so] who knows whether
the animal exhalations with which the air is laden would not eventually
become harmful if the volcanoes did not provide a powerful antidote to
them?
Finally, it seems to me that the heat in the interior of the Earth pro-
vides a powerful proof of the effectiveness and great utility of the heating
that takes place in the deep caverns. Daily experience shows that in the
great, indeed the greatest depths that men have reached in the inte-
rior of mountains, there is a permanent heat which cannot possibly be
ascribed to the effect of the Sun. Boyle cites a good deal of evidence which
shows that, in all the deepest shafts, the upper region is found to be
much cooler than the outside air in the summer, but that the deeper
one descends, the warmer the region, so that at the greatest depths, the
workers are obliged to take off their clothing while they work. Everyone
will easily grasp that, since the warmth of the Sun penetrates the Earth to
only a very slight depth, it cannot have the slightest effect in the very low-
est caverns, and the fact that the warmth encountered there is the result
of a cause that prevails only in the greatest depths can also be seen from
the reduced warmth that is experienced the more one ascends even in
the summer. After carefully comparing and examining the experiments
carried out, Boyle concludes very reasonably that, in the lowest caverns,
which are inaccessible, there must be constant heating processes and an
inextinguishable fire maintained thereby which transmits its warmth to
the uppermost crust.
If this is indeed the case, as one cannot but concede, will we not be able
to expect the most beneficial effects from this subterranean fire, which
always maintains a gentle warmth for the Earth at the time when the 1:458
Sun withdraws its warmth from us, and which is able to encourage the
growth of plants and the economy of the natural realms? Since so much
utility is apparent, can the disadvantage that accrues to the human race
through one or other eruption, exempt us from the gratitude we owe to
Providence for all the measures it employs?
The reasons I have cited to encourage [such gratitude] are naturally
not of a kind to furnish the greatest conviction and certainty. However,
even suppositions are acceptable if the aim is to move mankind to a desire
for gratitude towards that supreme being that is worthy of respect and
love even when it chastises [us].
note.
I mentioned above that earthquakes force sulphurous exhalations
through Earth’s cavities. The latest information from the mining shafts
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Natural Science
in the mountains of Saxony confirms this by means of a new example.

They are now so full of sulphurous vapours that the workers have had
to abandon them. The occurrence at Tuam in Ireland, when a shining
atmospheric phenomenon appeared in the shape of pennants and flags
over the sea, changed colour gradually, and finally spread a bright light,
whereupon a violent earth tremor ensued, is a new confirmation of this.
The change of colour from the darkest blue to red and finally into a
bright white light can be attributed to the exhalation that was initially
very thin when it erupted and then gradually increased by the more fre-
quent influx of further vapours; as is well known to science, these vapours
must go through all degrees of light from blue to red and finally to a shin-
ing white. All this occurred before the tremor. It was also proof that the
seat of the conflagration was at the bottom of the sea, as the earthquake
itself was mainly felt on the coast.
If one were to extend the list of places on the Earth that have always
experienced the most frequent and most violent tremors, one might add
1:459 that the western coasts have always suffered far more incidents than the
eastern coasts. In Italy, Portugal, in South America, and even recently in
Ireland, experience has confirmed this correspondence. Peru, which is
situated on the western coast of the New World has almost daily tremors,
while Brazil, which has the Atlantic Ocean to its east, experiences nothing
of this. If one were to conclude any causes from this curious analogy,
then one might well forgive one Gautier,21 a painter, when he seeks
the cause of all earthquakes in the rays of the sun, the source of his
colours and his art, and imagines that it is precisely these that drive our
great sphere around from west to east by striking the western coasts
more strongly, which is allegedly the reason why those coasts are upset
by so many tremors. In a healthy natural science, however, such an idea
scarcely merits refutation. The reason for this law seems to me to be
connected with another one, for which there is no sufficient explanation
as yet: namely that the western and southern coasts of nearly all countries
are steeper than the eastern and northern coasts, which is confirmed by
a glance at the map as well as the reports of Dampier,22 who, on all his
maritime journeys found this to be almost universal. If one derives the
depressions on dry land from subsidences, then in the regions with the
greatest declivity, deeper and more numerous caves must be encountered
than in places where the Earth’s crust has only a gentle slope. But this
has a natural connection with earthquakes, as we saw above.
concluding observation.
The sight of so many wretched people as the latest catastrophe caused
among our fellow citizens ought to arouse our philanthropy and make
us feel some of the misfortune that afflicted them with such cruelty. But
362
we go against this very much if we always regard this sort of destiny as

a punishment meted out, which afflicts the destroyed cities on account
of their evil deeds, and if we regard these unfortunates as the target of
God’s vengeance over whom his justice pours out all its wrath. This
kind of judgement is a culpable impertinence that arrogates to itself
the ability to understand the intentions behind divine decisions and to
interpret them according to its own opinions.
Man is so opinionated that he sees only himself as the object of God’s 1:460
activities, just as if the latter had only him to take account of in devising
the appropriate measures for the ruling of the world. We know that
the whole essenceq of nature is a worthy object of divine wisdom and
its activities. We are a part of this and try to be all of it. The rules of
perfection in nature at large are regarded as irrelevant, and everything
is to be seen merely in relation to ourselves. All the things in the world
that provide comfort and pleasure, people imagine to be there only for
our sakes, and nature supposedly does not undertake any changes that
might be any sort of cause for discomfort for mankind except to punish
us, threaten us, or to wreak vengeance on us.
Nonetheless, we see that an infinite number of evildoers sleep in peace,
the earthquakes have shattered certain countries since time immemorial
with total indifference to the old and new inhabitants, that Christian
Peru is shaken just as much as the heathen part, and that many cities
have been spared this devastation from the beginning, cities that could
not presume to be any less punishable than others [that were destroyed].
Thus man is in the dark when he tries to guess the intentions that God
envisages in the ruling of the world. We are, however, in no doubt when
it is a question of applying these ways of providence in accordance with
its purpose. Man is not born to build everlasting dwellings on this stage
of vanity. Since his entire life has a far nobler aim, how well does this
harmonize with all the destruction fit into this which allows us to see the
transience of the world in even those things that seem to us the greatest
and most important and to remind us that the goods of this world cannot
provide any satisfaction for our desire for happiness!
I am in no way implying that man is subject to an unchanging fate
of natural laws without respect to his particular virtues.r That same
supreme wisdom from which the course of nature derives that accuracy
that requires no correction, has subordinated lower purposes to higher
ones, and in just those intentions in which the former has often made
the most significant exceptions to the general rules of nature in order
to attain those infinitely higher aims that far surpass all the resources 1:461
of nature, in those intentions the leaders of the human race will also
prescribe laws in their government of the world to regulate even the
q Inbegriff r Vortheile
363
Natural Science
course of natural things. When a city or country perceives the disaster

with which divine providence terrifies it or its neighbours, can there
be any doubt as to the party it should support in order to prevent the
threatened destruction, and will the signs still be ambiguous that make
those comprehensible intentions to whose implementation all the paths
of providence unanimously either invite or drive mankind?
A prince who, activated by a noble heart, allows himself to be moved by
these hardships of the human race to avert the miseries of war from those
who are threatened on all sides by serious misfortune, is a beneficent tool
in the gracious hand of God, and a divine gift to the peoples of the earth
who can never assess its worth in keeping with its magnitude.
364
8
Continued observations on the earthquakes

that have been experienced for some time
Kant’s third and final essay on earthquakes was published in the 10 and
17 April issues of the Wöchentliche Königsbergische Frag- und Anzeigungs-
Nachrichten and continues the reflections presented in the previous two
essays. Kant’s primary concern in this essay is to refute various compet-
ing opinions about earthquakes, specifically, those by Gottfried Profe
and Pierre Bouguer. His main objection to Profe, who claims that the
alignment of the planets was responsible for the Lisbon earthquake, and
to Bouguer, who agrees with an unnamed Peruvian author that the Moon
could bear some responsibility for this event, is that if one calculates the
actual gravitational effect that either the planets, fully aligned, or the
Moon by itself would have, the effect would be minuscule and certainly
much too small to be a significant cause of such a large effect. Moreover,
Kant notes, a report by Gassendi suggested that a rare conjunction of the
three outer planets, which had occurred in 1604, resulted in no signifi-
cant earthquakes, thus contradicting Profe’s theory. Kant concludes his
treatment of earthquakes with a brief reiteration of the main contours
of his theory.
365
Magister Immanuel Kant’s 1:463
Continued Observations
on the
Earthquakes
that have been experienced for some time.
Natural Science
1:465 The fire of the subterranean vaults has not yet subsided. The tremors
continued until recently and terrified countries where this evil was previ-
ously unknown. The disorder in the atmosphere has altered the seasons
in half of the world. Those who know least claim to have guessed the
cause. Some can be heard to declare without reflection or understanding
that the Earth has shifted its position and come closer to the Sun by I
don’t know how many degrees; a judgement worthy of a Kindermann,1
were he to arise again to peddle the dreams of a deranged mind as obser-
vations. In the same category are those who bring comets back into play
since Whiston2 has taught even the philosophers to fear them. It is a
common extravagance to import the source of an evil from several thou-
sand miles away when it can be found in the neighbourhood. This is what
the Turks do with the plague; this is what people did with the locusts,
with the livestock disease, and with God only knows what other evils.
People are reluctant to perceive something that is merely close at hand.
To detect causes at an infinite distance is the only proper proof of an
astute understanding.
Among all the conjectures that, by differing significantly from the
rules of proper science, can easily deceive people who do not know how
to test them, is the notion attributed in the press to Herr Professor Profe
of Altona.3 It is admittedly a long time since the observation of major
events on Earth caused suspicion to be thrown on the planets. The lists
of harsh accusations our revered ancestors, the astrologers, have made
against these bodies have been filed in the archive of antiquated fantasies
1:466 along with the true story of fairies, the sympathetic miracles of Digby4
and Vallemont,5 and the nocturnal events on the Blocksberg.6 But since
natural science has been purged of these foolish ideas, a Newton has
discovered and confirmed empirically a real force which even the most
distant planets exercise on each other and on our Earth. However, to
the great misfortune of those who wish to make extravagant use of this
noteworthy property, the magnitude of this force and the manner of its
operation are defined, with the assistance of geometry, by the very same
observation[s] to which we owe its [original] discovery. Now no one can
any longer make us believe whatever they like about its effects. We have
the balance in our hand by which we can weigh up the effects against the
given cause.
If someone, who had been told that the Moon attracts the waters of the
Earth and in this way causes that rising and falling of the ocean that we
call the tides, and further that all the planets are endowed with a similar
gravitational force, and, when they are close to a straight line drawn
through the Earth and the Sun7 combine their gravitational forces with
that of the Moon, if, I say, such a person, with no ambition to examine the
matter more closely, were to suppose that these combined forces were
368
able not only to bring the waters on the Earth into the violents motion we
observed on 1 November, but also to ignite the hidden tinder by means
of some influence on the subterranean air so as to cause an earthquake,
then no more can be asked of such a person. But one expects more from
a student of nature.t It is not sufficient to have stumbled upon a cause
that has some similarity with the effect; it must also be proportional in
its magnitude. I shall quote an example. Dr Lister,8 an otherwise able
member of the Royal Society of London, had observed that the marine
plant called sea lentil has an unusually strong scent. He noticed that it
is frequently found on the tropical coasts. Now, since a strong scent can
probably move the air a little, he concluded that the prevailing east wind
that blows constantly in these seas and extends more than a thousand
miles from the land, stems from this cause, especially since this plant
turns with the Sun. The absurdity of this opinion is simply that the cause 1:467
is out of all proportion to the effect. The same applies to the force of the
planets when compared to the effect that is supposed to derive from it,
namely that of moving the seas and causing earthquakes. Perhaps people
will say: do we know the strength of the force with which these celestial
bodies can act upon the Earth? I shall reply to this question shortly.
Herr Bouguer,9 a celebrated member of the French Academy, relates
that during his stay in Peru, a learned man who wished to become Pro-
fessor of Mathematics at the University of Lima had written a book
entitled An Astronomical Clock of Earthquakes, in which he undertook to
predict earthquakes from the orbit of the Moon. It is easy to guess that
it is all very well for a prophet in Peru to predict earthquakes, as they
occur there almost daily and differ only in their strength. Herr Bouguer
adds that anyone who, without much thought, bandies about ideas con-
cerning the rising and falling node of the Moon, proximity and distance
to the Earth, conjunction and opposition, might happen at times to say
something that is confirmed by events, and he [Bouguer] admits that
he [the Peruvian author] has not always predicted incorrectly. He him-
self conjectures that it is not altogether unlikely that the Moon, which
moves the waters of the ocean so strongly, may have some influence on
earthquakes, either by carrying the water, which it raises to extraordinary
levels, into cracks in the Earth that it would otherwise not reach, and that
this causes the raging motion in the deep caves, or by some other kind of
connection.
If one considers that the gravitational forces of the celestial bodies
can act on the innermost parts of matter and thus move the air in the
deepest and most inaccessible passages of the Earth, then one can hardly
deny the Moon some influence on earthquakes. But this force would at
s gewaltsame t Naturkündiger
369
Natural Science
most merely stimulate the flammable matter within the Earth, and the
remainder, the tremors, the motion of the water, will only be an effect
of this latter.
If one ascends from the Moon to the sphere of the planets, this capacity
gradually disappears as the distances increase, and the combined forcesu
1:468 of all the planets produce only an infinitely small fraction of the effect
produced by the single Moon which is so close to us.
Newton, who discovered the admirable law of gravity, which must
be regarded as the most fortunate attempt the human intellect has yet
made in understanding nature, teaches us how to calculate the gravi-
tational force of the planets that have moons around them and he has
established that of Jupiter, the largest of all the planets, to be somewhat
less than one thousandth part of the gravitational pull of the Sun. The
ability to bring about changes on our Earth through this force decreases
in inverse proportion to the cube10 of the distance and is thus, in the
case of Jupiter, which is more than five times further from the Earth
than is the Sun, and if one takes the ratio of its gravitational force into
account, 130,000 times smaller than what the gravitational force of the
Sun alone can effect on our Earth. Now, on the other hand, the attrac-
tion of the Sun can raise the level of the water in the ocean by about
two feet, as we know from experience combined with calculations; thus
the attraction of Jupiter, when combined with that of the Sun, would
add one 65th of a decimal scruple11 to this level, which would amount
to approximately one thirtieth of a hair’s breadth. If one considers that
Mars and Venus are much smaller bodies than Jupiter and that their
gravitational forces are proportional to their masses,v then one is still
going too far if one attributes to both together approximately twice as
much capacity to affect our Earth by their gravity as Jupiter, because
they are roughly three times closer, even though they have many hun-
dred times less bodily content and hence gravitational force. But even
if I were generous enough to make their force ten times greater, they
could not, even combined, raise the level of the sea water by one third of
a hair’s breadth. If one adds the remaining planets, Mercury and Saturn,
and considers them all in conjunction, then it becomes clear that they
could not nearly increase the rise in the water brought about by the Sun
and the Moon together by one half of a hair’s breadth. Is it not ridicu-
lous to fear frightening motions of water resulting from the attraction
of the Moon and the Sun, when the level to which they raise the water
has been increased by one half of a hair’s breadth, whereas without these
there would [supposedly] be no danger to worry about? All other circum-
1:469 stances completely contradict the alleged cause. Just as the Moon causes
u Kräfte v Klumpen
370
the highest tides not merely at the moment when it is closest to the
[imaginary] straight line drawn through the Sun and the Earth, but does
so for some days before and afterwards, so also the combined [force of
the] planets should have caused motions of water and earthquakes on
several successive days and for several hours at each of them, if they had
had any part in it.
I must beg my readers’ pardon for having led them so far around
the firmament to enable them to judge correctly events that have taken
place on our Earth. The effort one applies to stop up the sources of
errors also provides us with purified cognition. In the following piece,
I shall consider the most noteworthy appearances of the great natural
event that have occurred since those which I attempted to explain in a
separate article.
The planets have been acquitted before the tribunal of reason of having
had any part in the devastation that befalls us in earthquakes. From now
on let no one suspect them again in this connection. There have prob-
ably been several planets in conjunction on previous occasions without
any earthquake being felt. According to Gassendi,12 in 1604 Peiresc13
observed the rare conjunction of the three outer planets, which occurs
only once every eight hundred years, but the Earth remained safe. If
the Moon, upon which alone such suspicion might fall with some plau-
sibility, did have a part in it, then the contributing causes would have
to be present in such full measure that even the smallest external influ-
ence could provide the impetus for the change. For the Moon frequently
comes into the position in which it exercises a maximum effect on the
surface of the Earth, but it does not produce earthquakes nearly so often.
The quake of 1 November occurred soon after the last quarter, but at
that time the Moon’s influence is at a minimum, as Newton’s theory
and observation show. Let us therefore look for the cause in our place
of habitation itself, for we have the cause beneath our feet.
Since the earthquakes mentioned previously, none have occurred that
have extended further afield than that of 18 February. This was felt
in France, England, Germany, and the Netherlands. As reported from
numerous places such as Westphalia and the regions of Hanover and 1:470
Magdeburg, it was also more like a gentle rocking of ground moved
by violent subterranean storms than the explosions of burning material.
Only those in the top floors of buildings felt the rocking; it was hardly
noticed on the ground below. Already on the preceding 13th and 14th,
tremors were felt in the Netherlands and neighbouring places, and on
those days, especially from the 16th to the 18th, widespread hurricanes
raged in Germany, Poland, and England, and lightning and tempests
occurred; in short, the atmosphere had been brought into a kind of
fermentation, which may serve to confirm what we have already noted
elsewhere, namely that earthquakes or the subterranean conflagrations
371
Natural Science
that are their cause, alter our atmosphere by injecting foreign vapours
into it.
From time to time subsidences have occurred in the soil. Pieces of rock
have broken loose from the mountains and have rolled into the valleys
with terrible force. Besides, such events often take place without any pre-
ceding earthquakes. Continuous rain often causes the channels supplying
the wells,w filled with water, to undermine the base of an area of land by
washing out the soil, and likewise to tear pieces of rock from the tops of
mountains, especially when the effects of frost and water are combined.
The great crevasses and clefts that have opened up and usually closed over
again in Switzerland and other places are clearer proofs of an expansive
subterranean powerx as a result of which the layers of somewhat lesser
density have fractured. If we consider this fragility of the ground we stand
on, the store of subterranean heat that might everywhere maintain the
combustible materials, seams of coal, resins and sulphur in a constantly
blazing fire (just as coal mines, when they have ignited spontaneously in
the air, will often smoulder and burn outwards for centuries), if, I say,
we consider this constitution of the subterranean caverns, would not a
[mere] nod be enough to plunge our vaults into whole seas of glowing
sulphur and to devastate our inhabited places with streams of burning
material, just as the ejected lava destroyed the villages that were built
at the foot of Mount Etna in undisturbed tranquillity? Herr Dr Poll
1:471 is right, when, in a short treatise on earthquakes, he demands nothing
more than water to set the ever-glowing embers beneath the earth in
motion by means of expanding water vapours and cause the earth to
tremble; when, however, he tries to invalidate Lémery’s experiment14
(which explains the tremors by adding water to a mixture of sulphur and
iron filings) by saying that no pure iron is encountered in the earth but
only iron ore, which does not produce the required result in this exper-
iment, then I would ask him to consider whether the manifold cause
of the heating, e.g., the weathering of iron pyrites, the fermentations
through the admixture of water, as is detected in ejected lava after rain
and likewise in the permanent fire of Pietra Mala, after it has melted
the deep-seated iron ore to granulated iron, or even magnetite, which is
very like pure iron and which is doubtless to be encountered plentifully
in the depths, is not able to provide sufficient material for carrying out
this experiment on a large scale. The most curious observation reported
from Switzerland that a magnet, together with the thread from which it
was hanging, deviated several degrees from its vertical direction during
an earthquake, seems to confirm the involvement of magnetic materials
in earthquakes.
w Quelladern x Gewalt
372
It would take a large volume to cite and examine all the hypotheses
that have been proposed in order to forge new paths of research, and
that often succeed each other like the waves of the sea. There is also
a certain good taste in the natural sciences which knows at once how
to distinguish the unbridled excesses of a craving for novelty from the
secure and careful judgements that have the evidence of experience and
of rational credibility on their side. Father Bina,15 and only recently
Herr Professor Krüger,16 have ascribed earthquakes and electricity to
the same causes. There is an even greater temerity in the suggestion of
Herr Prof. Hollmann,17 who, having demonstrated the usefulness of air
vents in soil ignited by inflamed materials by the example of volcanoes,
without which the Kingdoms of Naples and Sicily would no longer exist,
then maintains that the uppermost crust of the Earth ought to be dug
through, down into the deepest burning clefts, so as to provide a way 1:472
out for the fire. The great thickness, together with the hardness of the
interior layers, without which such cruel attacks of earthquakes would
have destroyed such a country long ago, and likewise the water that
soon puts an end to all digging operations, and finally the incapacity
of human beings, make this suggestion [no more than] a fine dream.
From the Prometheus of modern times, Herr Franklin,18 who sought
to disarm the thunder, to that man who sought to extinguish the fire
in Vulcan’s workshop, all such endeavours are proofs of the boldness of
man, allied with a capacity which stands in a very modest relationship
to it, and ultimately they lead him to the humbling reminder, which is
where he ought properly to start, that he is never anything more than a
human being.
373
9
New notes to explain the theory of the

winds, in which, at the same time, he
invites attendance at his lectures
This set of notes was published on 25 April 1756 as part of Kant’s adver-
tisement for the lectures he was planning to give at the university in the
summer semester of that year. For this reason, it is appropriate that at the
end of these notes he announced the textbooks that he would be using for
his lectures on physics, logic, and metaphysics. Kant used no textbook for
his lectures on physical geography, since none was approved to that end,
and he always used Wolff for mathematics, most likely Wolff ’s Auszug
aus den Anfangsgründe aller mathematischen Wissenschaften [Excerpt from
the First Principles of All Mathematical Sciences].1
Kant does not present a comprehensive theory of winds in this essay.
Instead, over the course of five notes, he attempts to explain a series of
specific meteorological phenomena, sometimes in novel ways. (In each
case, he cites independent experience to confirm the principle that is
central to each explanation.) Accordingly, he claims that the direction
of coastal winds – onshore or offshore – depends on the expansion and
contraction of air that is caused by differences in the rate of heating and
cooling of the land and the water at sea during the day and at night
(first and second notes). He also explains the difference in (east–west)
direction arising for winds moving from the Equator towards either of
the Poles and vice versa that is due to the rotation of the earth (third
note) – a phenomenon that was later described in terms of the Coriolis
effect– as well as the easterly direction of the trade winds (fourth note).
Finally, Kant provides an account of monsoon winds (fifth note).2
374
new Notes to Explain

the
Theory of the Winds,

in which, at the same time, he
Invites Attendance
at his Lectures.
1:491 PREFACE
The atmosphere should be thought of as a sea of fluid, elastic material
constituted, as it were, of layers of different density, which decreases
as the height increases. If this fluid sea is to remain in equilibrium, it
is not enough that the columns of air, which are imagined as adjacent
to one another, should be of equal weight; they must also be of equal
height, i.e., the layer of a certain density must be level all the way round
its circumference; for according to the laws of fluids, if this were not
the case, the higher part would necessarily flow down to the lower, and
the equilibrium would be destroyed at that moment. Causes that might
disturb the equilibrium are either a decrease of the expansive force by cold
and vapours that reduce the elasticity of the air, or a reduction of the
weight, firstly by heat, which causes a particular region of the air to be
expanded more than some other [region] and, since it is thereby forced to
rise above the level of the other, [it thus] flows down and forms a lighter
column of air; and secondly, by the condensation of the atmospheric
vapours that were previously borne by the air, but now partly reduce
its weight by separating from it. In both cases, a wind begins to blow
towards the region where the air has lost some of its expansive force or its
heaviness; the only difference being that in the first case, the equilibrium
is soon restored, as also happens with the second cause of the second case,
because in such cases the continuance of the wind requires an increase
1:492 of the cause, which cannot last very long, whereas the first cause of
the second case, because it can only ever continue without increasing,
provides a powerful source of steady winds.
The causes that affect the atmosphere through an increase either in
its elasticity, for example through heat, or in its weight, as when the
air is freed from melting snow, are not nearly so powerful, because in
such cases, the motion affects air that is at rest, which resists it with
all its weight, and also because the expanding atmosphere itself extends
upwards just as strongly as to the sides; that is, it reduces its own force,y
which is the reason why a wind cannot be felt over great distances as a
result of such causes.
I am putting all this only briefly and presuppose that the reader’s own
reflections will shed the requisite light on what has been said. I would
not like to say very little on so few pages.
first note.
A greater degree of heat affecting one region of the atmosphere more than
another causes a wind [to blow] towards this heated region; this will last as long
as the higher degree of heat continues in that region.
y Gewalt
376
Notes to explain the theory of the winds
The increase of heat compels the air to occupy more space. It expands
laterally and equally downward just as much as upwards. As it does so,
the weight of this region of the air is changed, since, as the air rising to
the top overflows, the column of air will subsequently contain less air.
The neighbouring cooler, and hence denser and heavier, air displaces
it on account of its greater weight. Like the previous [portion of air],
the latter [too] becomes rarefied, and thus yields to the pressure of the
adjacent [portion], and so forth. It should not be thought that, when this
heated air endeavours to expand laterally, it will create a wind from the
heated region of air to the cooler. For firstly, since the expansion occurs
equally in all directions, so that the expansive force, which is in inverse
proportion to it, conversely diminishes as the cube of the distance from
the central point, then the expansive force of a region of air encompassing 1:493
four square miles,3 if increased [in size] by one tenth, would amount to
only one eightieth of this increased force at a distance of one mile from
the heated region, which means that it could not even be detected.4 But
the expansion might not even extend that far, since before the air reaches
this point, it will yield to the pressure of the denser [air], because of the
diminution of its [own] weight, and so will give up its place to it.
confirmation from experience.

The rule quoted [above] is confirmed by all experience to such an extent
that not a single exception to it can be found. All the islands in the sea, and
all the coasts of countries in regions where the Sun’s heat has a strong
effect, experience a continual sea breeze as soon as the Sun has risen
far enough above the horizon to have a significant effect on the Earth.
For since the Earth absorbs more heat than does the sea, the land air is
made less dense than the sea air, and thus, being lighter, gives way to the
weight of the latter. In the vast Ethiopian [South Atlantic]5 Ocean, the
wind far from the mainland is the natural prevailing easterly wind, but
nearer to the coasts of Guinea, [the wind] is deflected from this direction,
and is compelled to blow across Guinea, which, since it is heated more
by the Sun than is the ocean, causes a current of air to flow over its
heated land. One need only look at the map that Jurin has appended to
Varenius’s General Geography,6 or the one that Musschenbroek included
in his Physics,7 and in a moment, as soon as one has the prevailing east
wind and this rule simultaneously before one’s eyes, one will be able to
understand and explain completely all the directions of the winds at sea
off Guinea, the tornadoes, and everything else. This is why the north
winds prevail in the north during winter, when the Sun is rarefying the
air in the southern hemisphere. This is also why the winds begin to blow
from the Equator towards the northern hemisphere at the beginning of
spring, because the increased warmth of the Sun there thins the air and
377
Natural Science
causes a withdrawal from the Equator to the northern temperate zone.

This wind does not extend very far into this temperate zone because
the warmth of the Sun at this time does not yet have much effect at a
1:494 relatively great distance from the Equator. During this season, in the
months of April and May, the winds blow from the interior of Ethiopia
over Egypt; this wind is called the Khamsin8 and, because it comes from
a heated terrain, it carries burning hot air with it; for the rarefied air in
the temperate zone compels the equatorial air to withdraw and extend
for a time over this region.
second note.
A region of the atmosphere that cools down more than another creates a wind
in the neighbouring region, which blows into the place where the cooling occurs.
The cause can be readily understood from the diminution of the expan-
sive force as a result of the decrease in heat.

In all seas near mainland coasts or near the coasts of islands exposed to
the strong effect of the Sun, there is a prevailing land breeze at night.
For at that time, the sea air loses its heat more rapidly than does the
land air, since the heated ground of the latter retains the warmth with-
out any particular decrease, while the sea, which has absorbed only a
little heat during the day, allows the overlying air to cool more quickly.
Therefore it yields to the expansive force of the former and permits a
motion of air from the land into the cooled region over the sea. The
south winds, which, as Mariotte9 observes, blow in France at the begin-
ning of November, can be ascribed to the cooling of the air in the far
north, since the winter is then beginning in all its severity.
third note.
A wind that blows from the Equator to the Pole will always blow more to the
west the longer it blows, and one blowing from the Pole to the Equator changes
its direction into a collateral motion from the east.
This rule, which, as far as I know, has never been noted before, can
be regarded as a key to a general theory of winds. Its proof is easily
1:495 understood and convincing. The Earth rotates on its axis from west to
east. Every place on its surface thus moves at a greater speed the closer
it is to the Equator, and with less speed the further it is away from it.
Thus the air that moves towards the Equator will on its way always
encounter places that have more motion from west to east than it does
itself. It will therefore offer resistance to this in the opposite direction,
378
namely from east to west, and the wind will thus deviate in that collateral
direction. For it makes no difference whether the ground moves under
a fluid that is not moving at the same speed in the same direction, or
whether this [fluid] is moved over the ground in the opposite direction.
When, however, the wind blows from the Equator to the Pole, it will
always traverse places on the Earth that have less motion from west to
east than the air it carries; for this has a motion equal to the speed of
the place whence it has spread. It will therefore move from west to east
across the places it travels over, and its motion towards the Pole will be
combined with the collateral motion from the west.
In order to represent this distinctly, one must first bear in mind that,
if the atmosphere is at equilibrium, each part of it has the same velocity
of rotation from west to east as the place on the surface of the Earth over
which it lies, and is at rest relative to it. But if one part of the air changes
its position in the direction of the meridian, then it encounters places
on the Earth’s surface that are moving with greater or less speed from
west to east than that which it retains from the place from which it was
displaced. It will therefore move over the regions over which it travels
either with a deviation from west to east, or it will resist the surface of
the Earth in the direction from east to west, which in both cases creates a
wind that has this collateral direction. The strength of this lateral motion
depends both on the speed of the place over which it is moving and on
the difference in speed of the places from which and towards which it
is travelling. Now, however, the speed of the axial rotation of any given
point on the surface of the Earth is proportional to the cosine of the
latitude, and the difference of this cosine of two places on the surface
very close to each other, e.g., one degree apart, is proportional to the sine
of the latitude; thus the moment of the velocity with which it is moved 1:496
laterally in the transition from one degree of latitude to the next will be
in the combined ratio[s] of the sine and cosine of the latitudes, and thus
will be greatest at the 45th degree, and will be equal at equal distances
from this.
In order to be able to form some idea of the extent of this collateral
motion, let us suppose a north wind to be blowing towards the Equator
from a latitude of 23 1/2 degrees. Starting from the degree mentioned,
this will have a motion from west to east correspondent to that of its
location. When it has come 5 degrees closer to the equinoctial circle,10
it encounters a region that is moving faster in the direction mentioned.
Now we find by a simple calculation that the difference in speed of these
two parallel circles amounts to 45 feet per second; thus the air, when it
has arrived at the 18th degree from the 23rd, would cause the Earth in
this region to experience an opposing wind from east to west that would
be capable of travelling 45 feet per second, if during the whole distance
of these 5 degrees, some of the Earth’s motion had not already been
379
Natural Science
transferred to the air flowing over it as a result of the Earth’s rotation, so

that this difference cannot amount to nearly as much in the 5th degree of
its progress. But because there must always be a difference remaining, we
shall suppose it to be only the fifth part of that which would apply without
this cause, yet the collateral motion would nonetheless still amount to 9
feet per second, which is sufficient to turn a straight north wind travelling
at 18 feet per second11 and starting from the 23rd degree, into a north-
east wind by [the time it reached] the 18th [degree]. Similarly, a south
wind moving from the 18th degree to the 23rd at the same speed, will be
changed into a south-west wind by [the time it reaches] the latter degree,
because it will travel into the more slowly moving parallel circle with an
excess of momentumz from west to east equal to that calculated above.

This will be appended to the following notes.
fourth note.
The prevailing east wind over the whole ocean between the tropics is to be
1:497 attributed to no other cause than that which is evident from the first note
together with third note.
That opinion which attributes the prevailing east wind to the fact that
the atmosphere lags behind during the rotation of the Earth from west to
east, has been rejected with good reason by those who are well-informed
about nature: for the atmosphere, even if it had initially lagged somewhat
at the first rotation, would within a short time have been carried along at
the same speed. But I have expressed this thought in a more advantageous
and correct manner by proving that it applies when the air moves from
the more distant parallel circles towards the Equator; for then it certainly
does not have the same speed as the motion of this largest circle, and
will necessarily lag behind somewhat. The resultant east wind will be
incessant, if new air constantly blows towards the Equator from the sides,
because the former would of course soon lose this opposing motion on
account of the continued effect of the surface of the Earth.
Since the first cause has been rejected by general consent, people now
concur in attributing the prevailing easterly wind between the Tropics
to a current of air flowing behind that which has been rarefied from
east to west by the Sun. Certainly, no one would have been satisfied
with this explanation if there had been a better one. If, as a result of
[the cause described in] the first note, the air moves towards the place
heated by the Sun, then the air to the west of the Sun must move just as
z des Schwunges
380
much as the air to the east; I do not see, therefore, why there should be
anything other than an east wind over the entire Earth. But if it moves
to its place only because of the cooling of air that had been warmed
previously, then it must move rather from west to east, since the places
east of the Sun have cooled down more and so have less elasticity than
those [places] where the Sun has been absent longer. Even if I were
to admit that everything happens as required [by the proponent of this
theory], can anyone imagine in any reasonable way how it could possibly
be the case that the current of air that follows the Sun when it is on
the western horizon could cause a current to follow it [from] up to 180
degrees away, that is 2,700 [German] miles to the east? And must not so 1:498
negligible a motion disappear entirely over such astonishing distances?
And yet, the wind everywhere in the Tropics and at all times of the day
moves equally strongly from east to west. Herr Jurin, who favours just
this opinion, certainly has good reason [for doing so], even if he cannot
prove why exactly the same east wind is not felt far from the Tropics,
where the effect of the Sun is certainly not inconsiderable. For indeed,
this cannot be explained by the cause mentioned here.
Consider, therefore, another [explanation], which fits better with the
best known principlesa of natural science. The heat, which is greater
in the hot region and in its vicinity than anywhere else, maintains the
overlying air in a state of constant rarefaction. The somewhat less hot
and hence denser atmospheric regions further from the Equator will take
up their place in accordance with the laws of equilibrium, and because
they move towards the Equator, their northerly direction must turn into
a collateral motion from the east, in accordance with the third note.
Thus the prevailing east wind on either side of the Equator will actually
be a collateral wind, but that at the Equator itself, where the south-east
and north-east winds from the two hemispheres meet, must turn into a
straight east wind; but the further it is from the line [of the Equator],
the more it deviates in the direction of the Pole.12

According to unanimous observations, the level of the barometer is one
inch lower near the Equator than in the temperate zones. Does not this
by itself lead to the conclusion: that the air in these latter regions must
penetrate to the Equator in accordance with the laws of equilibrium, and
does not this motion cause a continuous north wind in the hot zone in our
hemisphere? But why does it change into an east wind more and more
and in the end become completely so at the Equator? The answer can be
found at the end of the fourth note. But why is the equilibrium here never
a bekanntesten Gründen
381
Natural Science
fully restored? Why does the air in the torrid zone of the Earth always
remain one inch of mercury lighter than that in the temperate zone? The
heat that is always present here keeps all the air in a constantly expanded
and rarefied state. Thus, even when new air penetrates this region in
order to restore the equilibrium, it too will be expanded just as much as
1:499 the air that was there previously. The elongated column of air rises above
the level of the rest and flows upwards and sideways. The Equatorial air,
since it can never rise higher than that in the temperate zones, and yet is
made up of more rarefied air, must always be less dense than the latter
and yield to its pressure.
Explanation of the west winds that generally prevail in the ocean in the region
between the 28th and 40th parallels.
The correctness of the observation itself is adequately confirmed by

the experience of sailors in the Pacific, as well as in the Atlantic and
Japanese Seas. To [explain] the cause, no principle other than that in
the previous Note is required. For the reason given there, a moderate
north-east wind ought actually to prevail in these regions. But because
the air accumulates from both hemispheres towards the Equator, and
continually overflows and spreads northwards in the upper region of our
hemisphere, and, since it comes from the Equator, it has acquired the
latter’s motion almost completely, it must move from west to east in
the more distant parallels with a collateral motion above the lower air
(see Note Three), but it will have an effect on the lower air only where
the latter’s opposing motion weakens, and where it itself descends into
the lower region. This, however, must take place at a fairly considerable
distance from the Equator, and in the areas in question westerly and
collateral winds will prevail.
fifth note.
The Monsoons, or the periodic winds that prevail in the Arabian, Persian and
Indian Oceans, are explained quite naturally by the law that was demonstrated
in the third note.
In these seas, south-west winds blow from April to September, fol-
lowed by a period of calm; and from October to March, contrary north-
east winds blow. In the light of the foregoing, one can immediately
1:500 see the reason for this. In March, the Sun crosses into our northern
hemisphere and heats up Arabia, Persia, Hindustan, and the adjacent
peninsulas, as well as China and Japan, more strongly than [it does] the
seas which lie between these countries and the Equator. The air over
these seas is forced to expand in this direction by such a rarefaction of
the northerly air, and we know that a wind moving from the Equator to
382
the North Pole must turn in a south-westerly direction. On the other

hand, as soon as the Sun has passed the autumnal equinox and the air
in the southern hemisphere is rarefied, the air from the northern part
of the Tropics moves down to the Equator. Now a wind rushing from
the northern regions to the Equator necessarily turns into a north-east
wind if left to itself; so it is easy to see why this must replace the previous
south-west wind.
It is also easy to understand the connection between these causes inso-
far as they work together to produce the periodic winds. Near the Tropic,
there must be an extensive land mass which acquires more heat from the
Sun than do the seas in the area between it and the Equator, so that the
air of these seas will sometimes be made to blow over these countries
and create a westerly collateral wind, and at other times to spread once
more from these lands across the seas.

A uniform south-east wind blows over the whole ocean between Mada-
gascar and New Holland [Australia]; this wind is natural to the seas near
the Tropic of Capricorn. It is only in the region of New Holland, over an
extensive sea near this land, that those periodic winds may be encoun-
tered that blow from the south-east from April to October, and from
the north-west during the remaining months. For during these latter
months, it is summer in the austral lands, of which we know only the
coasts of New Holland. Here the Sun heats the land much more than it
does the neighbouring seas and forces the air to flow from the regions
of the Equator towards the South Pole, which must cause a north-west
wind according to what was said in the third note. In the months from
April to October, the Sun rises over the northern hemisphere, and then
the southern air returns to the Equator again, to stream into the region
where it is more rarefied, bringing about the contrary south-east wind. It 1:501
is not surprising that most natural philosophersb are unable to give a rea-
son for the periodic change[s] of the winds in the aforementioned parts of
the southern ocean, since the law we have explained in Note Three was
unknown to them. This insight can be exceedingly useful if employed to
discover new lands. If a mariner in the southern hemisphere not far from
the Tropic notices a prevailing north-west wind at a time when the Sun
has crossed the Tropic, he can take this as an almost infallible sign that
there must be an extensive land mass to the south, over which the heat
of the Sun forces the equatorial air to blow creating a north wind, com-
bined with a westerly deviation. According to current views, the region
b Naturforscher
383
Natural Science
of New Holland still gives us the greatest reason for assuming the exis-
tence of a very extensive southern land there. Those who sail the Pacific
Ocean cannot possibly search through all the regions of the southern
hemisphere to look for new lands. They must have some guidance that
will enable them to judge the direction in which they might expect to
find such [lands]. This guidance might be provided by the north-west
winds which they might encounter there in the summer in large tracts
of sea, for these are indications of a southern land nearby.
conclusion.
It is a source of not inconsiderable pleasure if, informed by the above
notes, one looks at a map on which the prevailing or periodic winds of all
the seas are depicted; for, by applying the rule that the coastlines make
the directions of the winds near them parallel, one is in a position to
account for all the winds. The intervals between the periodic winds that
blow for a time through a region and that are then followed by [winds
in the] opposite [direction], the intervals between this change, I say,
are interrupted by [periods of] calm, rain, thunderstorms, and sudden
hurricanes. For at such times, the opposite wind already prevails in the
upper air, while the preceding one has not quite ceased in the lower
air, and when the two act against one another, they finally cancel each
other out in equilibrium, thicken the vapours they carry with them, and
1:502 cause the aforementioned changes. It can almost be taken as a general
rule that thunderstorms gather as a result of contrary winds. For one
usually observes that the wind changes after a thunderstorm. Now this
opposing wind could in reality already be encountered in the upper air
before the thunderstorm, and it was this [wind] that brought the elements
of the weather together and blew the thunder cloud over the horizon, for
one usually finds that thunderstorms rise in the direction contrary to the
lower wind; the thunderstorm occurred when the winds counterbalanced
one another; and after the thunderstorm the opposite wind prevails. The
persistent rains that can often be observed when the barometer is high, as
for example last summer, can very likely be attributed to such opposing
currents of air in two [different] regions. The rule of the third note
can completely account for Mariotte’s observation13 that the winds that
start to blow from the north at the new moon pass through the entire
compass in about 14 days, so that they go first to the north-east, then
to the east, then to south-east and so forth; likewise, [it can account for
the observation] that the winds never complete the whole circle in the
opposite direction. For the north wind naturally changes into a north-
east wind; and this will become quite easterly when equilibrium has
been established with the region into which it is moving, because of the
resistance of this region of air. Then, because the air compressed in the
384
south expands towards the north again, this, in conjunction with the east
wind, causes a south-easterly deviation, which, in accordance with the
cause mentioned in the third note, becomes first southerly, then south-
westerly, thereafter westerly on account of the resistance of the northerly
air that has been restored to equilibrium, and thereupon north-westerly
as a result of the combination with the northerly air that is expanding
again, and finally completely northerly.
∗ ∗
∗
The space I have allotted to this brief observation precludes any further
explanation. I conclude by informing those gentlemen who do me the
honour of placing some confidence in my modest presentation, that I
propose to explain natural science with the help of Herr Dr Eberhard’s
First Principles of Physics.14 It is my intention not to omit anything that
might contribute to a thorough insight into the important discoveries of 1:503
ancient and modern times, and in particular to demonstrate by clear and
complete examples the infinite advantage the latter have obtained over
the former by the felicitous application of geometry. I shall continue to
give instruction in mathematics and to explain the system of philosophy
by elucidating Meyer’s Logic.15 I shall lecture on metaphysics using the
handbook of Herr Prof. Baumgarten.16 The obscure difficulties that
seem to surround this most useful and thorough of all the handbooks
of its type, will, if I do not flatter myself unduly, be dispelled by careful
exposition and detailed written explanations. It seems to me more than
certain that it is not the ease but the utility of a thing that must determine
its worth, and that, as an able writer has said, the straw can readily be
found floating on the surface, but he who seeks pearls must descend into
the depths.
385
10
Plan and announcement of a series of
lectures on physical geography with an
appendix containing a brief consideration
of the question: Whether the West winds
in our regions are moist because they travel
over a great sea.
Kant continued to seek better, or at least more remunerative, employ-
ment after his unsuccessful application in 1756 for the professorship of
logic and metaphysics, which had been vacant since Martin Knutzen’s
death in 1751. Thus, in the autumn of 1757, he applied for a teaching
position at a local school that had opened up, but was again unsuccessful.
In the meantime, however, he attempted to increase the number of stu-
dents attending his lectures at the university, since each student had to
pay him directly, given that he was a Privatdozent, or private lecturer, and
not a salaried employee of the university. To this end, on 13 April 1757
Kant published an announcement of his lectures on physical geography
for the summer semester, which provided an explanation of what physical
geography is (as opposed to mathematical and political geography), and
an outline of the content that would be covered in the lectures.1 In the
appendix, which was presumably designed to give students a sense of the
character and content of his lectures, Kant raises a series of objections to
a plausible-sounding hypothesis concerning whether the moisture of the
west winds that pass over Northern Europe stems from the large body
of water that the wind had traversed, namely the Atlantic Ocean.
386
Plan and Announcement

of a
Series of Lectures on Physical Geography

with an Appendix containing a brief consideration
of the question:
Whether the West winds in our regions are moist
because
they travel over a great sea.
Natural Science
2:3 The rational taste of our enlightened times has presumably become so
general that one can assume that one will find only a few persons who
are indifferent to the Earth’s natural peculiarities in regions outside their
own. Nor should it be regarded as a lesser advantage that credulous admi-
ration, the source of endless fantasies, has yielded to careful examination,
which allows us to draw reliable conclusionsc from verified reports with-
out the risk of becoming lost in a world of fables instead of attaining a
proper science of noteworthy natural phenomena.
There are basically three ways of looking at the Earth. The mathemati-
cal [approach] envisages the Earth as an approximately spherical heavenly
body, void of creatures, whose size and shape, and the circles projected
upon it, must be considered. The political approach teaches us about the
peoples, the community that people have with one another through their
[various] form[s] of government, activity and mutual interest, religion,
customs, etc.; physical geography merely considers the natural char-
acteristics of the globe and what is on it: the seas, dry land, mountains,
rivers, the atmosphere, human beings, animals, plants, and minerals. But
all this [is done] not with that completeness and philosophical precision
in [individual] parts which is the business of physics and natural history,
but rather with the reasoned curiosity of a traveller who everywhere
looks for the noteworthy, the strange, and the beautiful, compares the
observations he has collected, and revises his ideas accordingly.
2:4 I believe I have observed that the first two ways of looking at the Earth
can discover sufficient means to enable a keen student to make progress
in a manner that is as convenient as it is adequate; thorough and accurate
insight of the third type, however, involves greater effort and obstacles.
The relevant information is scattered in numerous and lengthy works,
and a textbook by means of which this body of knowledge can be made
suitable for academic use has yet to be written. For this reason, I decided
right at the outset of my academic teaching to treat this science in a special
course of lectures based on a summary outline. This I have accomplished
in a six-month course of lectures to the satisfaction of the gentlemen
who attended them. Since then I have enlarged my plan considerably.
I have used all sources, sought out all information, and, in addition to
what the works of Varenius,2 Buffon3 , and Lulof 4 contain in the way of
the general fundaments of physical geography, I have gone through the
most thorough descriptions of individual countries by capable travellers,
the Allgemeine Historie der Reisen,5 the Göttingische Sammlung neuer und
merkwürdiger Reisen,6 the Hamburg7 and the Leipzig8 Magazines, the
Proceedings of the Académie des Sciences in Paris and the Stockholm
Academy and so forth, and I have constructed a system out of everything
relevant to my purpose. I now provide a brief outline of this. People will
c sichere Kenntnisse
388
Announcement of lectures on physical geography
[then] be able to judge whether it is permissible to be ignorant of these

matters without prejudicing one’s reputation as a scholar.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF PHYSICAL

GEOGRAPHY.
preparation.
The Earth will be considered briefly with reference to its shape, size,
and motion, and to the circles which must be projected on it for this
purpose, but without becoming involved in [all] the detail appropriate
to mathematical geography. All this will be briefly demonstrated on a
globe, and its division into seas, dry land, and islands, their relative size,
the climates, the concepts of longitude and latitude, and the lengths of
days and seasons, will likewise be indicated.
TREATISE. 2:5
I. GENERAL PART OF PHYSICAL
GEOGRAPHY.
first section.
Concerning the Sea[s].
Their division into the ocean, the Mediterranean, and lakes. On
archipelagos. On bights, straits, harbours, anchorages. On the sea-bed
and its composition. On its depth, compared in various seas. On the
plumb-line and the diving bell. Methods of raising sunken objects. On
the pressure of sea water. On its salinity. Different opinions as to the
cause of this. Preparation of sea salt. Methods of making sea water fresh.
On its transparency, luminosity, and colour, and the causes of its varia-
tions. On its [degrees of] heat and cold at different depths. Whether the
ocean is of the same level everywhere. Why the sea does not become fuller
from the rivers [flowing into it]. Whether the seas and lakes have a sub-
terranean connection. Motion of the sea in consequence of storms. The
depth to which this [motion] extends. The seas and lakes that are rough-
est. On high and low tide[s]. Laws of these and their cause. Deviation
from these laws. General motion of the sea. How this is affected variously
by coastlines and rocks. On marine currents. On marine whirlpools.
Cause[s] of these. On the flow of the waters in straits. On the Arctic
Ocean. Floating ice-fields. Nordic driftwood. Some other noteworthy
features. On cliffs and sand-banks. On inland seas and swamps. Note-
worthy lakes such as that at Zirknitz and others.
389
Natural Science
second section.
History of Land and of Islands.
On countries that are either wholly or partly unknown. Mountains,
mountain ranges, dry land, and islands, considered systematically. On
capes, peninsulas, isthmuses. Comparison of the heights of the Earth’s
2:6 most famous mountains. All sorts of observations on their peaks on dif-
ferent continents. On the glacier or Swiss ice-sea. Methods of measur-
ing their height. On natural and artificial caves and chasms. On the
structure of the Earth’s mass.d Of its strata. [Their] order and position.
On veins of ore. On the warmth, coldness, and air at different depths.
History of earthquakes and volcanoes throughout the Earth. Consider-
ation of islands, both those which are definitely known to be islands and
those of which this is doubtful.
third section.
History of Springs and Wells.
Different hypotheses as to their origin. Observations by which this can be
discovered. Springs that flow periodically. Petrifying, mineral, hot, and
extremely cold springs. On lime water. Flammable wells. On petroleum
and naphtha. On changes to springs, and how they form and disappear.
On digging wells.
fourth section.
History of Rivers and Streams.
The origin of rivers. Comparison of the Earth’s most noteworthy [rivers]
in respect of their length, their speed, their volume of water; on their
direction, their declivity, rising, flooding, dams and breakwaters, the
most famous canals. On waterfalls. On rivers that dry up on land. On
those that disappear underground and re-emerge. On rivers bearing gold
dust. Method of separating this. On the different densities of water in
rivers.
fifth section.
History of the Atmosphere.
Height of the atmosphere. Its three regions. Comparison of the char-
acteristics of the air in various regions of the world, in respect of its
d Klumpen
390
density, dryness, humidity, salubrity. Observation of its properties at

great heights and depths. Effect of the air on the light of the stars in
different countries.
History of Winds. 2:7

The principal and subsidiary causes of these. Their classification by
regions of the world. Winds with different properties of dryness, humid-
ity, warmth, coldness, and salubrity. On the trade winds, their general
and special laws according to the naturee of the zones [in question]. On
monsoons. On alternating sea and land breezes. On those that prevail
in a region for most of the time. On the speed of winds. On calms,
storms, hurricanes, typhoons, waterspouts, and cloudbursts, considered
according to the regions of the world in which they prevail, their laws
and causes. The winds at different heights above the Earth compared
with one another. Brief observation on some special occurrences in the
atmosphere.
sixth section.
On the Relationship of the Weather to the Zone
or Seasons in Various Countries.
What the winter means in the Tropics. Why winter and summer do
not occur at the same time and manner in regions that have exactly the
same climate. Why the torrid zone is habitable. List of countries at the
same latitude that nevertheless differ greatly so far as warmth and cold
are concerned. On the coldness of the southern ocean and its cause. On
the hottest and coldest regions on the Earth’s surface, the degrees and
effects [of those temperatures]. On countries where it never rains and
on others where it rains almost continuously.
seventh section.
History of the Great Changes the Earth has
Undergone in the Past
(a) Of the changes that still continue on the Earth.
Effect of rivers in changing the shape of the Earth, from the exam-
ples of the Nile, the Amazon, Mississippi, and others. Effects of rain and
torrents. Whether the dry land is continually sinking and the sea [level]
e Beschaffenheit
391
Natural Science
2:8 gradually rising. On the effect of the winds on the change of the Earth’s
shape. On changes to it caused by earthquakes. By human beings. Con-
firmation by examples. On the continuing transformation of dry land
into sea and of sea into dry land. Observation of this and opinions on
its consequences. Linnaeus’s hypothesis.9 Whether the motions of the
Earth, daily as well as annual, are subject to change.
(b) Memorials of change[s] in the Earth in the earliest times.
All dry land was formerly sea-bed. Proof from layers of shells, marine
animals, and plants, petrified or moulded in stone, found in the Earth
and on high mountains. Buffon’s proofs from the shape of mountains.
That the changes of dry land to sea and of sea into dry land [have]
often succeeded one another over long periods; proved by the strata
that contain remnants of the sea-floor and alternate with those that
contain terrestrial products. On subterranean forests. Position of their
buried trees. Why remnants of Indian animals and plants can often be
found in these layers of the Earth. Assessment of so-called ‘sports of
nature’.f On stones that are actually petrified fragments from the animal
kingdom.
(c) Theory of the Earth, or the grounds of its ancient history.
Whether a single universal flood such as the Noachian one could have
caused all these changes. General consideration of the shape of the dry
land, the direction and slope of the mountain ranges, points of land and
islands, by analogy with which conclusions may be reached as to the
cause of their origin and changes. Conclusion from the composition of
the layers of the Earth and of what they contain. Whether the axis of the
Earth has ever changed. Assessment of the hypotheses of Woodward,10
Burnet,11 Whiston,12 Leibniz,13 Buffon,14 and others. Conclusion from
the opinions compared with one another.
eighth section.
On Navigation.
On rhumb lines, loxodromy, the compass rose,g estimation of the
2:9 distance travelled and correction of same. On determining latitude and
longitude. Sounding the depths. Other noteworthy aspects of naviga-
tion. On the most remarkable sea voyages of ancient and recent times.
On conjectures of [the existence of] new lands and the efforts to discover
them.
f Spiele der Natur g Schiffsrose
392
II. PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY,

PARTICULAR SECTION.
(1) The Animal Kingdom, in which human beings are considered and
compared in respect of their differences in natural shape and colour
in various regions of the Earth; second, the most noteworthy animals,
those on land as well as those that live in the air and in water; amphibians
and most noteworthy insects are considered according to their natural
histories.
(2) The Plant Kingdom, in which all those plants of the Earth
that attract our attention either by their rarity or special use[s] are
explained.
(3) The Mineral Kingdom, whose most pleasing characteristics and
those most influential for the use or delight of mankind, are treated
historically and philosophically.
I present this first according to the natural order of classes, and
finally go through all the countries of the Earth in a geographical
exposition, in order to explain those tendencies of human beings that
are derived from the zone in which they live, the diversity of their
prejudices and way[s] of thinking, insofar as all this can serve to acquaint
man better with himself; a brief idea of their arts, activities, and sci-
ence; an account of the previously mentioned products of the coun-
tries at the appropriate places; the quality of the air and so forth;
in a word, everything that pertains to a physical examination of the
Earth.
A synopsis of all this will be supplied in summary written essays,
which will facilitate the revision of this science, which in any
case entertains our attention sufficiently by virtue of its agreeable
nature.
∗ ∗
∗
The science, of which the present plan gives a sketch, will be presented
in this summer semester. In special lectures, I shall also explain natu-
ral science with the help of Herr Dr Eberhard’s handbook.15 Logic will 2:10
be read with reference to Meier’s16 brief introduction, and metaphysics
with the help of Baumeister.17 In the previous semester, at the request
of several gentlemen, I substituted this to their satisfaction for the more
thorough but more difficult Baumgarten.18 Students will, however, be
free to choose which of the two they expect to benefit from most. In
mathematics, the old lectures are continued and new ones begun. My
efforts will be sufficiently fortunate if they can win the acclaim of those
393
Natural Science
who constitute not the largest, but the most valued, section [of my audi-
ence], namely those of rational mind.h
appendix containing a brief consideration of

the question:
Whether the West Winds in our Regions are Moist Because
they Travel over a Great Sea.
If one wishes to gain insight into the cause of those natural events that
depend on latitude and regional characteristics, one often runs the risk
of seeing one’s system collapse as the result of some unforeseen circum-
stance if appearances and observations made in other countries have not
first been considered and compared. Everyone readily attributes to the
geographical location of our country the wet weather that is brought
by the west winds, since a great sea lies to the west. But this explana-
tion, which seems so simple and natural, is rendered very dubious, if
not entirely invalid, by a comparison with the weather of other coun-
tries. Muschenbroek,19 who otherwise favours precisely this opinion,
nonetheless becomes somewhat uncertain, when he considers that the
north wind is dry in the Netherlands, even though it blows across the
wide North Sea and even the North Atlantic. He ascribes its dryness
to the cold of the ocean. When, however, the sun warms this ocean in
the summer, this excuse falls away, for the wind remains dry notwith-
standing. But in physical geography we find even more cogent reasons
2:11 against the prevailing opinion. In the whole of the Indian Ocean from the
Philippine Archipelago to the Arabian Sea, two alternating winds pre-
vail throughout the year: the north-east wind from October to May and
the south-west wind from May to October. The former carries clear i air
with it, and the latter is the cause of the rainy months in these countries,
even though they both blow across great oceans. This becomes even
more apparent in the Philippines, in Mindanao and the other islands.
The eastern monsoon comes across the almost endless Pacific Ocean
and yet brings clear weather; while the opposite westerly wind, which
blows across regions studded with islands and promontories, brings the
rainy season with it. Kolbe20 refers to the fact that, in both the western
and the eastern regions of the Cape of Good Hope, the east winds bring
dry weather, while the west winds bring the wet season, although it is
not easy to see why only the west wind should be moist, since there is
just as great a sea to the east as there is to the west. In the Gulf of Mexico,
on the Isthmus of Panama, in Carthagena, and elsewhere, the north-east
h der Vernünftigen i heitere
394
and the west-south-west winds alternate in the two halves of the year,
just as they do in the Indian Ocean. The former, called breezes, are
dry and create clear air. The latter, which are called “vendavales”,21 are
moist, and the rainy period accompanies them. But the north-east winds,
which come across the great Atlantic Ocean, are nonetheless dry. The
west-south-west winds, however, cannot come from any large stretch of
the Pacific Ocean, since at a moderate distance from the mainland, con-
stant east winds prevail. On the route taken by the Manila Galleon from
Acapulco to Manila, which keeps fairly close to the Equator in order to
take advantage of the east wind, it has almost constant clear weather.
On the journey from Manila to Acapulco, however, when it travels some
distance beyond the northern Tropic, it sails to America with the aid
of the prevailing west winds, and is so certain of encountering frequent
rain that it does not even take supplies of water on this long journey,
and all would be lost if the rains were to fail. Now, let someone who
maintains the common opinion give me one good reason why only the
east wind, which blows across the Pacific Ocean and indeed across its
warmest region, should be dry, whereas the west wind, which blows over
the same ocean, should be moist and rainy.
It seems to me that [all] this is more than enough at least to cast doubt 2:12
on the idea that in our region the west winds derive their moisture from
the sea that lies to the west. Rather, it seems that the west winds in all
regions of the Earth are the cause of wet weather, though I do not wish
to deny that the nature of the regions they blow over can frequently
reduce this quality, as happens in southern Persia, where the south-west
winds, which blow across the torrid regions of Arabia, bring dry and hot
air. Lack of space prevents me from explaining the cause of this quality
of the west winds. Could it not be that, since these winds blow in the
opposite direction to the general and natural direction of the flow of air
from east to west, as is explained in fourth section of my [lectures on]
physical geography, they gather the vapours together and concentrate
them so that the air is saturated at all times? At least, if one thinks of
the air as a solvent (menstruum) for the moisture on Earth, then it is not
sufficient to suppose that it is saturated with it if one wishes to explain
why it lets it fall, that is, why it rains; rather one has to propose a cause
that discharges (i.e., precipitates j ) it, that is, that forces the air to release
the moisture from its interstices so that the vapours combine and fall
downwards.
j präcipitirt
395
11
New doctrine of motion and rest and the
conclusions associated with it in the
fundamental principles of natural science
while at the same time his lectures for this
half-year are announced
On 1 April 1758 Kant published a short essay on motion and rest with
the continued hope of attracting more students to his lectures by giving
a clear illustration of how he approaches the fundamental principles
of mechanics much as he had presented objections to a commonsense
account of certain meterological phenomena almost a year earlier. In this
piece, Kant presents an attack first on the concept of absolute motion
and then on a conception of inertia that rests on absolute motion.1 The
attack on absolute motion – Newton is nowhere mentioned by name and
Newton’s arguments for absolute motion and absolute space are also not
discussed, so it is uncertain whether Newton was his intended target –
proceeds from the fact that when we judge whether an object is at motion
or at rest it is always with respect to other objects; we cannot perceive
absolute motion by perceiving absolute space, nor can we treat the fixed
stars as an absolute reference frame, since they could be moving with
respect to even more distant objects. As a result, the notion of motion
we employ is not absolute, but relative. Moreover, the notion of relative
motion that we use in such contexts is one according to which relative
motion is reciprocal and equal. That is, if A moves three units closer to
B in the time interval of t0 to t1 , then B must also move three units closer
to A during that interval. Based on this analysis of motion, Kant infers
two corollaries, namely that no body can collide with another body that
is at absolute rest (since it must be moving towards the first body), and
that action and reaction are equal in the collision of bodies.
Kant then turns to criticize what he takes to be the standard concep-
tion of inertia, namely the force a body at rest has to resist another body
changing its state. (Kant may be criticizing Leibnizian conceptions of
inertia, not Newton’s.) Given that both bodies in a collision must be
396
New doctrine of motion and rest
in motion and also be endowed with equal and opposite forces, there is
no need to posit a force of inertia in a body at rest until the moment
of impact. Kant proceeds to adduce two further arguments against the
traditional notion of inertia based on difficulties that (allegedly) arise in
explaining (i) how a body at rest (and thus at equilibrium) could nonethe-
less suddenly set itself in motion prior to impact (such that it is moving
relative to the body it is colliding with) and (ii) how motion could still
occur if action and reaction were equal and thus cancelled each other
out. He then explains how the traditional notions of motion (absolute
motion and inertia) would entail the (physical) law of continuity, which
he takes to be impermissible, even as a hypothesis. He finishes the argu-
ment of the paper by deriving rules of impact from his corrected concept
of motion. He then concludes his discussion with a brief indication of the
subjects he will teach in the summer semester of 1758 and what authors
he will be using in his lectures.
Kant’s treatment of the laws of motion is by no means exhaustive or
complete at this point in his career, but his brief account in this essay does
show him consciously reflecting, for the first time in his career, on the
fundamental conceptual and metaphysical issues concerning the laws of
motion that would continue to be of concern to him in the Metaphysical
Foundations of Natural Science (especially its Laws of Mechanics).
397
New Doctrinek
of
Motion and Rest

and the conclusions associated with it
in the fundamental
principles of natural science,
while at the same time his
lectures for this half-year are announced.
1st April 1758.
k Lehrbegriff
Natural Science
2:15 In a philosophical question, if the universal opinion of philosophers were

a rampart, to step over which had to be treated as a crime comparable
to that of Remus,2 then I should probably abandon my presumption
of setting up my ideas against the decisive view of the distinguished
majority, a liberty that is justified only by common sense.l If I thought
to contest a law that, according to the rights of tradition, has retained
undisputed sway in the textbooks of the philosophers for centuries, I
would soon humbly decide that I should have submitted the idea previ-
ously or have withheld it altogether. But as I now observe a multitude
of such enterprising people around me, who will have nothing to do
with the law of respect, and for whom, nonetheless, enough indulgence
is shown for their opinions to be carefully considered, I hope to have a
no less favoured destiny and will be so bold as to join their number, and
examine [current] concepts of motion and of rest, together with the force
of inertia associated with the latter, and reject them; even though I know
that those gentlemen accustomed to discard like chaff all ideas that have
not been processed in the mill of Wolff ’s celebrated theoretical system,
or some other [that is] no less famous, will immediately pronounce the
task of examining [my ideas] to be unnecessary and the whole enquiry
erroneous.
∗ ∗
∗
2:16 new concepts of motion and rest.

I wish my readers could place themselves for a moment in that frame of
mind which Descartes thought absolutely essential for attaining correct
understanding and in which I find myself at present, and would forget,
for the time that this enquiry lasts, all concepts they have learned and set
out alone on the road to truth with no other guide than plain common
sense.m
In this situation, I recognize that motion is a change of place. But I also
soon realize that the place of a thing is known by its position, situation,
or by its external relationship to other objects around it. Now, I can
think of a body in relation to its closest neighbouring objects, and, if
this relationship does not change, I will say that it is at rest. But as soon
as I think of it in relation to a sphere of greater size, it is possible that
that body, together with the objects close to it, will change its position
in relation to the larger relative space, and from this point of view I
shall ascribe motion to it. Now, I am free to extend my field of vision
l gesunde Vernunft m gesunde Vernunft
400
as far as I wish and to consider my body in relation to more and more

distant surroundings and I apprehend that my judgement of the motion
and rest of this body is never constant but can always change with new
perspectives. Assume, for example, that I am on a ship lying moored on
the Pregel.3 Lying on the table in front of me I have a sphere; I observe
it in relation to the table, the walls, and other parts of the ship, and say
that it is at rest. Shortly afterwards, I look from the ship to the shore
and notice that the hawser with which it was tied up, has been untied 2:17
and that the ship is slowly drifting downstream; I then say: the sphere is
moving, and moving from east to west in accordance with the direction
of the river. But someone tells me that the Earth in its daily rotation
is turning with far greater velocity from west to east; then I change my
mind and attribute to the sphere a quite opposite motion at a velocity that
can easily be determined by astronomy. But then I am reminded that the
whole sphere of the Earth is in even more rapid motion from east to west
in relation to the system of planets. I am forced to attribute this same
motion to my sphere and alter the velocity I had formerly ascribed to it.
Finally, Bradley4 teaches me that the entire system of planets together
with the Sun is probably moving in relation to the fixed stars. I ask in
which direction and at what velocity? No one answers me. And now I
become giddy, I no longer know whether my sphere is in motion or
at rest, or in which direction it is moving and at what velocity. Now I
begin to realize that something is lacking in the expression ‘motion and
rest’. I ought never to use it in an absolute sense but always relatively. I
ought never to say: a body is at rest, without adding in relation to which
things it is at rest, and I should never say that it is moving without at
the same time naming the objects with respect to which it is changing
its relation. Even though I might imagine a mathematical space empty
of all creaturesn as a container for the bodies, this would not help me.
For how might I distinguish its parts and the various places that are not
occupied by anything corporeal?
Now I assume two bodies, one of which, B, is at rest in relation to
all other objects at present known to me, while the other, A, is moving
towards it at a certain velocity. Now, the sphere B may remain in as
unchanged a relationship to other external objects as may be imagined,
but this is not so when one thinks of it in relation to the moving sphere
A. For their relationship is mutual and any change in it is therefore also
mutual. The sphere B, which is said to be at rest with respect to certain
objects, changes its mutual relationship to sphere A in equal measure,
i.e., they [reciprocally] approach one another. Why should I not say,
despite all the peculiarities of language: sphere B, while it is at rest in 2:18
n Geschöpf
401
Natural Science
relation to other external objects, is moving uniformly with respect to

the moving sphere A?
It will be acknowledged that, if we are talking about the effect both
bodies have on one another when they collide, the relation to other
external objects is irrelevant. If, therefore, one has to think of the change
occurring here only in respect of the two bodies A and B, and if one
excludes all external objects from one’s thoughts, then I defy anyone to
tell me whether one can deduce from what takes place between them
that one of the two is at rest, and the other the only one in motion, and
which of the two is at rest or in motion. Does one not have to ascribe the
motion to both, and to both in equal measure? Their approach can be
ascribed to the one just as much as the other. Suppose that a sphere A of
3 lb mass is moving towards another, B, of 2 lb, which is at rest relative
to the surrounding space; the distance of 5 feet that was between them
is covered in one second. And if I observe only the change occurring
between these two bodies, I can say nothing more than that a 3 lb mass
and a 2 lb mass are approaching one another at 5 feet per second. Since
I have not the slightest reason to attribute a greater share in this change
to one of these bodies rather than the other, then in order to maintain
complete equality on both sides, I must divide the velocity of 5 feet per
second in inverse ratio to the masses, i.e., the body of 3 lb will receive
two parts of the velocity for its share, while that of 2 lb receives three
parts, and they really will affect one another with these forceso on impact.
Regardless of body B’s being completely at rest with respect to the other
adjacent objects in the space, it nonetheless has a truep motion with
respect to any body that approaches it, and this motion will be equal to
that of this body so that the sum of the two motions is the same as that
which would have to be ascribed to body A if one thinks of B as being at
absolute rest.
If, despite [all] this, one were prepared to be confused by the idiosyn-
crasies of language, then I ask you to consider whether one would still be
2:19 talking about the same thing. If a 12 lb cannon ball is fired against a wall
from east to west in the region of Paris, even the philosopher will say that
it moves at a velocity of 600 feet per second, although he concedes that,
since at this latitude the Earth has almost the same motion from west to
east, the force of the powder has really done nothing except cancel out
this motion of the cannon ball; even so, and without allowing oneself to
be confused by the Earth’s daily or annual motion, one tacitly acknowl-
edges that the relationships that the cannon ball and the wall have with
respect to nearby or more distant surrounding space have nothing to do
with the matter, which is dependent merely on the mutual relationship
o Kräfte p wahrhafte
402
between these two bodies. Such an acknowledgement, however, raises

the question of which object should be thought of as being at rest in
relation to the other, for the phenomenon of change does not reveal
anything except the fact that both are approaching one another, unless
one allows that both are moving towards one another, the cannon ball
towards the wall and the wall towards the cannon ball, and the one with
the same forceq as the other.
If one thinks of the distance covered between the two bodies, divided
by the time, as the sum of the two velocities; if one says that the ratio
of the sum of the masses A and B to the mass of the body A is equal
to the ratio of the given velocity to the velocity of the body B, this, if
it is subtracted from the aforementioned total velocity, will leave the
velocity of A [as remainder]. Then one will have distributed the change
that has occurred equally between both bodies, and it is with these equal
forcesr that they will collide. From this I draw only the following two
corollaries.
(1) Any body, with respect to which another body is moving, is itself
moving with respect to the other body, and so it is not possible for a
body to collide with another that is at absolute rest.
(2) In the collision of bodies, action and reaction are always equal.
concerning the force of inertia.

Perhaps it would never have occurred to anyone to suggest that a body
which, so long as another approaching body has not touched it, is com-
pletely at rest, or, if you will, in an equilibrium of its forces; yet at the
moment of collision [it] will suddenly of itself acquire motion towards 2:20
the object striking against it, or become unbalanced in order to cancel
out thereby a force acting against it, if experience did not show that, in
a state generally considered to be a state of rest, the body reacts in equal
degree to any body which acts upon it. But as I have now shown that
what has erroneously been considered as rest in relation to the imping-
ing body is in fact a motion in relation to it, then it is obvious that the
force of inertia has been invented unnecessarily, and that in all cases
of impact, any motion of one body towards another, is matched by an
equal motion of the other body towards it, which explains quite easily and
intelligibly the equality of cause and effect, without needing to invent
some special kind of natural force.s Nonetheless, this assumed force is
extremely useful for deducing all the laws of motion very correctly and
easily. But to do so it serves in just the same way as Newton’s force of
q Kraft s Naturkraft
r Kräfte
403
Natural Science
the [mutual] attraction of all matter serves to explain the grand motions
of the cosmos, that is, only as the law of some general appearance known
empirically, of unknown cause, and which, consequently, one should not
be too hasty to invoke as an internal force of nature for this particular
purpose.
Without having to give up anything in my system, I can readily con-
cede in this sense that all bodies have a force of inertia in respect of other
bodies moving towards them, that is, a forcet that acts contrary to the
actionu in equal measure, for this is no more than an experiential law;
but, when completely at rest, they merely appear to have this [force] as
an internal force within themselves, for in fact they only have it insofar
as, against an approaching [object], they are in real and equal motion,
and they do not have such motion in so far as they are at rest with respect
to it.
Nor can it be difficult to refute the accepted notions of the force of
inertia for other reasons.
For (1) no matter how many forces a body may have, when it is at rest
all the forces must necessarily be in equilibrium with one another. How,
then, can it be that, as soon as the impinging body strikes the stationary
body, the latter suddenly sets itself in a dominant motion or endeavour,
contrary to the direction of the approaching one, in order thereby to
2:21 cancel part of its internal force? For if its internal force[s] were still in
equilibrium even at the moment of impact, then it would have nothing
with which to offer resistance. Moreover, even supposing that
(2) this sudden effort were possible, the passive body would not receive
any motion from the impact; for the impact and the reaction would cancel
each other out, and nothing further would occur except that both bodies
would cease to have any effect on one another rather than the one being
struck set in motion as a result of the impact. And apart from this, because
the force of inertia is a natural force,v it would have to reconstitute itself
spontaneouslyw the moment after impact, even if the equilibrium had
been cancelled by the impact; that is, the body acted on would have to
be at rest again immediately after the impact.
I refrain from mentioning many more arguments I could readily offer
against the concept of the force of inertia. I could just as easily examine
the metaphysical proofs that one finds for them. But my task here is
not to write a book but merely one printer’s sheet of a few pages, the
limitations of which necessarily constrain this fertile topic.
t Kraft v eine natürliche Kraft

u Handlung w von selber
404
on the law of continuity insofar as it is

inseparable from the concept of inertia.
What must most embarrass those who defend the common notion of
motion is that they cannot avoid having another arbitrary law forced
upon them against their will if they want to account for the laws of
motion according to their doctrine.x This auxiliaryy hypothesis is the
law of continuity; only a very few mechanical philosophers seem to be
aware that, no matter how much they reject it, they still have to make this
assumption tacitly if they want to explain the impact of bodies by means
of received concepts of motion. I, however, understand by this only the
physical law of continuity, which can never be proved, but can certainly
be disproved; because as far as its logical sense∗ is concerned, it is a very 2:22
fine and proper rule for making judgements but which adds nothing to
the subject at hand. In the physical sense, according to the opinion of
Leibniz, it would be as follows: a body does not transmit any force to
another all at once, but does so in such a way that it transfers its force
through all the infinitely small stages from rest up to a particular velocity.
Let us now consider how those who try to explain the laws of impact
according to the received concepts of motion, are invariably obliged to
use Leibniz’s rule. Why does a perfectly hard body not transfer all its
force to another similar and equal body by impact? Why is it always
only half, as is known from statics? It is said that this occurs because
the impinging body presses against and moves the one that is lying in
its path until the velocity of the two is equal, that is, if the two are of
equal mass, until each has half the velocity of the incident body, because
then the impacted one retreats from any further action by the impinging
one. However, does one not presuppose in this that all the effect of the
incident body on the one at rest occurs gradually by means of a sequence
of infinitely small momentsz,5 of pressure?a For if the former produced
its effect instantaneously, it would transfer all its motion to the latter and
itself remain at rest, which is contrary to the law of impact of perfectly
hard bodies. After all, the body at rest lies in the path of the entire
motion of the incident body; thus, if the latter could produce an effect
∗ Without setting out the formula for this rule here, I shall merely quote a few examples
of it. What applies when one body strikes another moving one also applies when it
strikes a body at rest, for rest is to be regarded as an infinitely small motion. If a unit
of force of proper motion applies at all, then it must also apply to mere pressure; for 2:22
pressure can be seen as an actual motion acting through an infinitely small distance. I
reserve the right to explain this logical rule of continuity in detail and to place it in its
proper light on another occasion.
x Lehrbegriff z Momenten
y hülfeleistende a Drückung
405
Natural Science
with all its force at once, then it would certainly do so, and what applies
to the whole force will also apply to a half, a quarter, etc.; thus it will not
produce any instantaneous effect with any finite force, but only gradually
through infinitely small moments,b which is what the law of continuity
states.
As it is obvious from this that we must certainly assume the law of
continuity if we do not wish to abandon the received concept[s] of
motion and rest, I propose to show briefly why the most celebrated
students of naturec refuse to consider it even as a hypothesis; for it
can never be claimed to be anything better, since it is incapable of
proof.
2:23 If I assert that a body can never affect another with a certain measure
of force instantaneously without first passing through all the possible
little intermediate stages, then I am saying that it cannot affect it at all.
For no matter how infinitely small the momentd is with which it has
its effect at a single instant of time, and which will increase in a certain
increment of time to a given velocity, this momente is always a sudden
effectf which, in accordance with the law of continuity, should and could
first have passed through all the infinite stages of smaller moments,g
for it is always possible to conceive of other, smaller moments,h from
the sum of which a given [moment] has grown. E.g., the momenti of
gravity is certainly infinitely smaller than the moment j of action in the
impact of the bodies, because the latter can bring about great increments
of velocity in a negligible time which [the force of] gravity could only
produce in a much longer period. Thus even the momentk of the action
at impact [would be] instantaneous and contrary to the law of continuity.
Nor can it be objected that there are no perfectly hard bodies in nature.
For in the present context it is sufficient to conceive of them [a priori]
and to determine the laws according to which they move, because it
is only by means of these [laws] that laws can be found according to
which elastic bodies impinge on one another. Moreover, it is the case
that every soft body has a certain degree of cohesion such that it can
be regarded as a hard body in comparison with an incident body, if the
latter has a moment equal to or less than that of the first body; and if an
instantaneous effect is possible in this case, then it will also be possible
in respect of greater degrees [of cohesion].
b Momente g Momente
c Naturkündiger h Momente
d Moment i Moment
e Moment j Moment
f eine plötzliche Wirkung k Moment
406
key for the explication of the laws of

impact according to the new concept of
motion and rest.
What occurs in the impact between two interacting bodies according
to our doctrinel is already clear from what has been said above. For it
consists merely in the fact that action and reaction are equal on both
sides, and that both bodies are at rest after the impact in relation to each
other; that is, if they are assumed to have struck one another directly
and all elastic forces are disregarded. But the term ‘laws of motion’ is
understood to refer not only to the rules according to which colliding
bodies interact with one another, but also above all to the changes in 2:24
their external state with respect to the space in which they find them-
selves. In fact, this is properly speaking only the external phenomenon
of what has occurred between them directly; and this is what we need
to know.
To this end, first suppose two bodies A and B, the former of mass 3 lb,
the second of 2 lb, and suppose this latter to be at rest with respect to the
space in which it is situated, while the former is moving with respect to
this space at a velocity of 5 degrees in a direct approach to body B. Since
according to our principles,m a velocity of 3 degrees has to be ascribed
to body B relative to A, and a velocity of 2 degrees to A relative to B,
then these two equal forces will cancel each other out by the impact, and
both will be at rest with respect to one another. But because B was at rest
in relation to the other objects, and thus had a motion of 2 degrees with
respect to A,6 exactly this velocity, equal and parallel to body B, will have
to be attributed to the surrounding space. Now the impact of A cancels
out this motion of 2 degrees in B, but not in the surrounding space, in
which there is no action; therefore this space will continue to move in the
previous direction of body B, or, which is the same thing, after impact,
body B will continue its motion in the opposite direction, that is, in the
direction of the impinging body A, with 2 degrees of velocity relative to
the surrounding space; which also means that body A [will continue to
move] in the same direction and with the same velocity, because it is at
rest with respect to body B. Thus both bodies will continue to move at
2 degrees of velocity after impact. One can see from this that a velocity
cancelled out in one body, which had been assumed to be in the impacted
body only with respect to the approaching body and not with respect to
space, actually causes an equal degree of motion, with respect to space,
in the direction of impact.
l Lehrbegriff m Sätzen
407
Natural Science
If two bodies A and B with the same mass as before, but A with 3
degrees [of velocity] and B with 2 degrees, approach one another in
opposite directions, and if one considers only the mutual relationship
of the motion of these bodies towards one another, the velocities 3 and
2 must be added together and in accordance with the above, this sum
would have to be distributed between them in the inverse ratio of the
masses, so that A receives 2 degrees of velocity, whereas B receives 3,
2:25 from which it follows that because of the equality of the forces opposed
to one another, the bodies will be at rest relative to one another. Now
because by the respective motion of the two bodies towards one another
a velocity of 3 was attributed to B, which B does not have in total relative
to the surrounding space, but only to the extent of 2 degrees, then in
accordance with what has just been stated, the cancellation of a velocity
that was not to be found in the body relative to space, will establish a
motion in the opposite direction with respect to this same space; that is,
B will be moved with a velocity of one degree, and A equally so, because
with respect to B it is at rest, in the direction in which A made the impact.
It would be easy to derive the laws of motion in impact for bodies that
move in the same direction with unequal velocities, as well as the rules
of impact of elastic bodies, from the basic principles employed here. It
would also be necessary to set what has been presented here in a clearer
light by further explanations. All this could be done if it were possible,
with such a wealth of material and in such narrow confines of space,
to be both complete as regards content and also expansive as regards
expression.
∗ ∗
∗
The plan for my lectures in the present semester is as follows: I shall

lecture on logic with the help of Meier’s synopsis.7 I propose to explain
metaphysics with reference to Baumeister’s handbook.8 In a Wednesday
and a Saturday class, I shall consider polemically the propositions treated
on the preceding days, which is in my opinion one of the best ways of
arriving at thorough insights. Mathematics will be introduced with the
help of Wolff ’s synopsis. If any gentlemen should desire to have a course
of lectures on natural science using Eberhard’s handbook,9 I shall try to
accommodate their wishes. In the semester just finished, I have lectured
on physical geography on the basis of my own writings, and I propose
once again to lecture on this useful and agreeable science with various
additional materials.
408
12
Review of Silberschlag’s work:

Theory of the fireball that appeared on
23 July 1762
Johann Esaias Silberschlag was born in Aschersleben, a small town in
Prussia, about 35 km south of Magdeburg, on 16 November 1721 (or
1716). After studying theology in Halle and teaching science at the
school he had attended previously as a student, he was appointed a pas-
tor of churches in and around Magdeburg. In 1760, he was elected a
non-resident member of the Berlin Academy of Sciences on the basis
of his studies of ancient catapults. When King Frederick II (Frederick
the Great) was temporarily displaced from Berlin to Magdeburg for a
time during the Seven Years War, Silberschlag was noticed by impor-
tant members of the court and subsequently offered a position in Berlin
after their return. He then occupied a number of influential positions
in second-tier vocational schools (Realschulen) and in administration in
Berlin, where he died on 22 November 1791. He published a number of
works in applied subjects (such as hydraulic and mechanical engineering)
as well as in theology (on Mosaic creation). His Theorie der am 23. Juli
erschienenen Feuerkugel [Theory of the Fireball that appeared on 23 July
1762] was published in Magdeburg in 1764. In addition, the Silberschlag
crater on the moon is named after him.
Kant’s “Review of Silberschlag’s Work: Theory of the Fireball that
appeared on 23 July 1762” was published anonymously on 23 March
1764 in the fifteenth issue of the Königsbergsche Gelehrte und Politische
Zeitung. Kant was established as its author by a letter from his friend,
Johann Georg Hamann, to J. G. Lindner on 16 March 1764. While it
is uncertain exactly what motivated Kant to respond to this work in this
way, the review is clearly positive.
409
Appendix. 8:447
Review
of
Silberschlag’s Work:
Theory of the Fireball that Appeared on
23 July 1762
Natural Science
8:449 magdeburg, stendal, and leipzig.

Hechtel and Company have published: “Theory of the Fireball that
Appeared on 23 July 1762, treated by Johann Esaias Silberschlag, Pastor
at the Church of the Holy Spirit in Magdeburg and Member of the Royal
Prussian Academy of Sciences in Berlin. With copper plates. 1764. 135
pages in quarto.” This enormous fireball illuminated almost a quarter of
Germany with a brightness that by far exceeded the light of a full moon,
and indeed at the time when it was first discovered was the apparent
size of a shooting star and, according to the observations of the learned
author, was elevated at least 19 German miles above the surface of the
earth. With a speed to which the flight of a cannon ball does not compare,
the splendid meteor traversed a space of almost 80,000 toises in about
two minutes, horizontally from a vertical point over Röcke, not far from
Leipzig, to sideways near Potsdam and Falkenreh, and, after a fall of 15
miles, exploded at a height of four German miles with a bang that was
heard later and exceeded [that of] thunder. The size of this fireball cor-
responded to all of these appearances and had, according to our author’s
geometrical determination, a diameter of at least 3036 Parisian feet, that
is, more than half of a quarter of a German mile. Every observer on earth
who is at all capable of nobler sensations must be grateful to the learned
and worthy author that through his investigations and observations of
our still relatively unknown atmosphere he wanted to rescue this gigan-
tic birth from oblivion (resplendent and frightful like colossal humans
had sometimes been, but also just as quickly engulfed in the vast abyss of
the void). However, natural scientistsn will find in the excellent obser-
vations and remarks of our astute author a variety of impulses for new
instruction and for the extension of their insight into nature. This work
consists of two main parts, the first of which treats of the atmosphere,o
8:450 and the second of the fireball, to which further addenda are attached
with reports and observations that had come in. Since the learned pas-
tor found no satisfaction in the common theory of the atmosphere,p he
presents his own thoughts about it and feels compelled to take a path
into the heights of metaphysics that is unusual for natural scientists.q
Through reasons that seem very significant but insufficiently developed
he seeks to establish: that the presence of corporeal substances in space
is actually a sphere of activity that has a dynamical spherer and a centre
point. From the differences between these spheres and the forces that
act in them, he derives elasticity,s density, the oscillation of the air and
the aether, the tone, the light, colours and warmth, and similarly also the
n Naturforscher q Naturforscher
o Dunstkreise r Umkreis
p Dunstkreise s Spannkraft
412
Review of Silberschlag’s theory of the fireball
attraction of matters, according to the [specific] differences of the sub-

stances. All of this is applied to air and its changes in the first section of
the first part. In the second section sea of airt is viewed as an atmosphereu
and a new division of regions of air is presented in addition to the var-
ious considerable remarks about mists, fog, clouds, and rain. The first
region is the dust atmosphere,v which is followed by the watery atmo-
sphere, which already extends much higher, then the phlegmaticw and
phosphorescent atmosphere, which contains oily, resinous and rubbery
parts, and is the workshop of shooting stars, fireballs, and fiery meteors;x
finally, the spiritual atmosphere,y which extends up to the border of
the atmosphere,z and in which the very extensive fiery air,a such as the
Northern Lights, is produced. Everywhere one encounters new and very
probable conjectures that certainly deserve to be compared repeatedly
with the phenomena that either are already well known or have yet to be
observed. The second part treats of the orbit,b the creation and the use of
this meteor in three sections. The three copper plates illustrate the the-
ory, the shape and the path that this fire-massc took. The worthy pastor’s
laudable attentiveness to nature so rich in miracles gives students who
are preparing themselves for spiritual offices a hint to learn in good time
to read the great book of creation that lies wide open before their eyes
and to be able to make it easier someday for others to understand the
secrets contained in it. In Kanter’s bookstore here as well as in Elbing
and Mitau, it costs 3 fl. [i.e., florin or guilder].
t Luftmeer y geistige Atmosphäre

u Dunstkreis z des Luftkreises
v Staub-Atmosphäre a Luftfeuer
w schleimichte b Bahn
x fliegenden Drachen c Feuerklumpe
413
13
Notice of Lambert’s correspondence
This advertisement of the publication of Johann Heinrich Lambert’s cor-
respondence appeared in the 4 February 1782 issue of the Königsbergsche
Gelehrte und Politische Zeitungen. That Kant is the author is established
by a letter from him to Johann Bernoulli on 22 February 1782 (10:280).
For a brief biographical sketch of Lambert as well as Kant’s correspon-
dence with him, see Immanuel Kant: Correspondence, translated and edited
by Arnulf Zweig (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999), e.g.,
pp. 590–1.
414
Notice 8:1
of
Lambert’s Correspondence.
Natural Science
8:3 notice.
The project by Herr Joh. Bernoulli,1 announced previously in this
newspaper,2 [namely] to publish the posthumous writings of the famous
Lambert on subscription, has been carried out in accordance with the
well-established diligence of that commendable scholar so quickly that
the first volume of Lambert’s correspondence3 has already been pub-
lished in Berlin (in Dec. 1781).
In a second notice, Herr Bernoulli announces that the first part of the
correspondence is to be followed by the first volume of philosophical
and philological treatises and the second volume of the correspon-
dence then towards the end of March 1783, and until then, the advance
payment price of one ducat will only be accepted for all three volumes
together. After this date the same advance payment will be accepted for
the three following volumes, namely the second of the philosophical
treatises4 and the third and fourth of the correspondence. However,
since, in light of the great industry and trustworthiness of the editor,
those wishing to pay in advance can have no reservations, they would, in
our opinion, proceed more efficiently if they were to pay the two ducats
outright in advance for all six volumes (insofar as they can spare the
somewhat larger sum in one payment without inconvenience).
One can already see in the first volume of the correspondence, which
we have in front of us, what the following parts promise us from the
far-ranging intellect of the great man and his indescribable effective-
ness. His acuteness in discriminating what is deficient in all sciences,
in thinking up masterful proposals and experiments to complete them,
his project of transforming the decadent taste of the age (primarily in
that population that was resplendent with erudition and inventiveness
in the previous century, but has now lapsed into stale games of wit or
the simple copying of either obsolete, or at least merely foreign, prod-
ucts), [all of that] can perhaps contribute more forcefully than anything
else to breathe new life into the nearly extinguished zeal of scholars for
8:4 the dissemination of useful and thorough science, and induce them to
bring what Lambert initiated to a conclusion, namely to establish a con-
federation that works against the prevailing barbarism with combined
forces and that in turn brings about thoroughness in the sciences in part
through the improvement of certain still defective methods.
Incidentally, it is reported that the fifth volume of Bernoulli’s Col-
lection of Short Travelogues and other Reports Serving the Dis-
semination of Knowledge of Countries and Human Beings, with
copper plates,5 as well as the first volume of the second year has just
left the press, and that the first four volumes of the first year can be
had for the price of one ducat [but] only if one ducat is also paid in
416
Notice of Lambert’s correspondence
advance for the four following volumes before the end of the middle
of March.
Wagner and Dengel’s bookstore is accepting advance payment for
both of the aforementioned works before mid-March and will deliver
them to interested parties as expeditiously as possible.
417
14
On the volcanoes on the Moon
Kant published On the Volcanoes on the Moon in the March 1785 issue
of the Berlinische Monatsschrift, which was edited by F. Gedike and
J. E. Biester. The occasion for Kant’s essay was Aepinus’s claim that
Herschel’s ‘discovery’ of volcanic activity on the Moon supported his
view that volcanic activity could be invoked to explain the irregulari-
ties on its surface. Kant wants to reject this explanation in favour of the
explanation of the formation of the Moon he had proffered earlier, in his
Universal Natural History and Theory of the Heavens (Chapter 4, this vol-
ume). That is, Kant wants to maintain that the Moon, like the Earth and
the other planets in the solar system, was formed from chaotic, gaseous
material that gradually lost heat on the surface and solidified, albeit with
irregular crevices. Therefore, the uneven geographical features of the
Moon that could be perceived from Earth were due not to volcanic
eruptions, but rather to other kinds of eruptions that occurred as the
gaseous materials that constitute the mass of the Earth cooled and gave
off heat. The primary novelty of Kant’s explanation here, compared to
what he offered thirty years earlier, is his adoption of Crawford’s theory
of heat.
418
On the 8:67
Volcanoes on the Moon

Natural Science
8:69 Right at the beginning of the Gentleman’s Magazine for 1784,1 there
is a letter by the Russian Counsellor, Herr Aepinus,2 to Herr Pallas3
concerning an item of news that Herr Magellan4 reported to the Imperial
Academy of Sciences in St Petersburg concerning a volcano on the Moon
discovered by Herr Herschel5 on 4 May 1783. This news interested Herr
Aepinus, as he says, all the more because in his opinion it confirms
his hypothesis concerning the volcanic origin of the irregularities
on the Moon’s surface, which he arrived at in 1778 and published
in Berlin in 1781,∗ and in which, he is pleased to acknowledge, three
natural philosophersd independently reached the same conclusion: he
himself, Aepinus in St Petersburg, Professor Beccaria6 in Turin, and
Professor Lichtenberg7 in Göttingen. As attention in all countries had
been directed towards volcanic craters by Sir [William] Hamilton,8 the
hypothesis may [according to Aepinus] be likened to an over-ripe fruit,
which could not but fall into the hands of the first person who happened
to touch the tree. Finally, in order not to create ill-feeling amongst his
contemporaries by claiming the honour of being the first to make this
hypothesis, he [Aepinus] adduces as its originator the celebrated Robert
Hooke,9 in Chapter 20 of whose Micrographia (published 1665) he found
the same ideas. Sic redit ad Dominume —
However, Herr Herschel’s discovery does have considerable merit as a
confirmation of the ambiguous observations made by Beccaria’s nephew
and by Don Ulloa,10 and it leads us to [recognize] similarities between
the Moon (and probably other heavenly bodies) and our Earth, which
would otherwise have counted as no more than bold conjectures. But in
my opinion it [i.e., Herschel’s discovery] does not confirm the hypoth-
8:70 esis of Herr Aepinus. Despite the similarities between the circular
marks on the Moon and [terrestrial] volcanic craters, there remains [on
the one hand] such a great difference between the two, and, on the other
hand, there is such close similarity to other terrestrial circular mountain
ranges or ridges that are not volcanic, that another hypothesis about
the formation of heavenly bodiesf is more likely to be confirmed by it
[Herschel’s discovery], even though it is only partly analogous.
It is true that the circular elevations on the Moon, similar to craters,
make it likely that they originated as a result of eruptions. But on our
Earth we find two kinds of circular elevations, of which one kind is always
so small that they would not be visible from the Moon by any telescope;
and their constituent materials show them to have originated in volcanic
∗ “On the Unevenness of the Moon[’s Surface]”; in the second volume of the Proceedings
of the Gesellschaft Naturforschender Freunde.11
d Naturforscher f Weltkörper
e So he returns to the Lord
420
eruptions. Others, however, cover whole countries or provinces, many

hundreds of square miles in area, [each] with a circular ridge of land
with mountain ranges of various heights. Only these could be seen from
the Moon, and indeed would appear to be of the same size as those cir-
cular marks we see on the Moon, as long as their uniform covering
(by forests or other vegetation) does not prevent their being distin-
guished from so great a distance. Thus these [circular mountain ranges]
also would lead us to think that they had originated through eruptions,
but on the evidence of their constituent materials they cannot have been
volcanic [in origin]. – The crater of Vesuvius has a circumference at
its summit of 5,642 Paris feet (according to della Torre12 ), which is
about 500 Rhineland roods, and a diameter of nearly 160 roods; but
such a crater certainly could not be discerned as such by any telescope
on the Moon.∗ On the other hand, the crater-like mark of Tycho on
the Moon is almost thirty German miles in diameter and is comparable 8:71
[in size] to the Kingdom of Bohemia, while the nearby mark, Clavius,13
is similar in size to the Margraviate of Moravia. Now on the Earth these
countries are enclosed by mountains, which also have the appearance
of craters, from which mountain ranges radiate just as they do from
Tycho. But if our crater-shaped basins enclosed by [mountain] ridges
(all of which represent catchment areas for the river waters and cover
the entire land-mass) were not to offer a similar appearance to [observers
on] the Moon – as indeed can be supposed for only a few of them – then
this could only be attributed to the accidental circumstance that the
Moon’s atmosphere (the existence of which is proved by Herschel’s dis-
covery, because fire does burn there) cannot extend nearly as far as ours
(which is shown by the negligible refraction at this satellite’s edge). Thus
the mountain ranges of the Moon extend beyond the limit of vegetation
there; while on Earth the mountain ranges are for the most part cov-
ered with vegetation, and these of course would not be distinguished so
readily from the area of the enclosed basin.
Thus we have on Earth two kinds of crater-like land-forms: one, of
volcanic origin [of the order of] 160 roods in diameter and thus about
20,000 square roods in area; others that are definitely not volcanic and
are about 1000 square miles, that is 200,000 times greater in area. With
which one of these do we wish to compare the circular elevations on
∗ But its fiery eruption could be seen during the lunar night. In the aforementioned letter
there is a note referring to the observation of Herr Beccaria’s nephew and of Don Ulloa
to the effect that both volcanoes must have been of terrifying size because Herr Herschel
was only just able to see his with a very much larger telescope, and [furthermore] he was
the only one of all the observers to notice it. However, in the case of luminous matter it
is not so much the size as the brightness of the fire that matters for it to be seen clearly;
and it is known that the flames of volcanoes sometimes emit bright light while at other
times the light is obscured by smoke.
421
Natural Science
the Moon (of which none of the observed ones are less than a German
mile in diameter and some more than thirty)? – I think, judging by this
analogy, [that comparison can only be made] with the latter, which are
not volcanic. For shape alone is not decisive; the vast difference in size
must also be taken into consideration. But then Herr Herschel’s obser-
vation has confirmed the idea of volcanoes on the Moon, though only
ones whose craters have not been seen, nor can be seen, by him or any-
body else. However, it [i.e., Herschel’s observation] has not confirmed
the opinion that the circular configurations seen on the surface of the
Moon are volcanic craters. For in all probability they are not (if we are to
judge from the analogy with similar large basins on the Earth). Thus we
should merely say that, since the crater-like basins of the Moon are very
8:72 like those on the Earth that are catchment areas for rivers but are not
volcanic, then it would presumably follow that the Moon also contains
volcanic craters similar to those on Earth. It is true that we cannot see
these latter on the Moon, but luminous points have been observed in the
lunar night as proof of fire, which can best be explained in terms of the
cause suggested by this analogy.∗
Leaving aside this minor equivocation in the conclusions of the emi-
nent gentlemen referred to above – to what cause can one ascribe the
non-volcanic craters found everywhere on the Earth’s surface, that is,
river basins? Naturally, eruptions must be the cause, but they cannot be
volcanic, because the mountains making up their rims contain no mate-
rial of that kind, but appear to have been formed by an aquaeous mixture.g
I think that if one imagines the Earth as having been originally a chaos in
aqueous solution, then the first eruptions, which must have arisen every-
where even out of the greatest depths, would have been atmospheric
(in the proper sense of the word). For it may well be assumed that our
atmospheric ocean (aerosphere), which is now above the surface of the
Earth, was formerly co-mingled in a chaos, along with the Earth’s other
matter; that, together with many other elastic vapours, it burst forth
from the heated globe as it were in great bubbles; that in this ebullition
(which no part of the Earth’s surface escaped) the matters of the primeval
mountains were ejected in the form of craters; and in this way laid the
foundation for the basins of those rivers with which the whole land-mass
is interwoven, like the meshes of a net. Since they consisted of water-
softened matter, these [crater] rims gradually lost their solvent water,h
which in running off washed out the gaps which presently distinguish
∗ Beccaria regarded the ridges that radiate from the circular lunar elevations as lava
streams, but the enormous difference in size between these and those that flow from
the volcanoes of our Earth contradicts this opinion and make it seem likely that they
are mountain ranges which, like those on our Earth, radiate from a central stem.
g wässerichten Mischung h Auflösungswasser
422
those mountainous and saw-toothed rims from the volcanic [types] which
have unbroken ridges. These primordial mountains consist of granite,
after other matter such as hornstone or primeval limestone, which did 8:73
not crystallize or solidify so rapidly, had been separated therefrom. The
ebullition at a given place gradually becoming less and less, and its level
progressively lower, these latter [softer materials] were deposited on
the granite as outwash material in step-like sequence, according to their
relative density or solubility in water. Thus the first formative cause of
the irregularities of the [Earth’s] surface was an atmospheric ebullition,
which I should prefer to call chaotic in order to emphasize its origins.
On top of these, one must [further] imagine that a pelagic alluvion14
gradually deposited layered materials, which for the most part already
contained marine creatures. For where there was a large number of these
craters of chaotic origin grouped together as it were, they formed exten-
sive elevated regions above other areas where the ebullition had not been
so violent. The former became the land with its mountains; the latter
became the ocean beds. As the superfluous crystallizing [i.e., solvent]
water from those basins eroded their rims, and as the water from one
basin ran into another, but all running down to the low-lying part of the
Earth’s surface which was just forming (that is, the sea), it formed the
defiles for future rivers, which we are still amazed to see flowing between
steep walls of rocks which they now can no longer affect, and sought the
sea. This, then, was no doubt the skeletal form of the Earth’s surface,
insofar as it consisted of granite, extending under all the layered rocks
that have since been deposited on top of it by pelagic alluvions. But it is
precisely for this reason that the form of the land had to become crater-
shaped, even in places where more recent layers completely cover the
ancient underlying granite, since its foundation was shaped in this way.
Thus one can draw [mountain] ridges on a map (on which no mountains
have been indicated) if one draws a continuous line through the sources
of the streams that run into a large river; and this line will always enclose
a circle, which is the basin of the river.
Just as the ocean bed presumably became deeper and deeper, and
thereby collected the water that ran out of the aforementioned basins, so
also the river beds were created along with the whole present structure of
the land, which makes possible the confluence of the water from so many
basins into a single channel. For nothing is more natural than that the bed
on which a river now carries the water from a large land [mass] should
have been washed out by the retreat of precisely that water to which it 8:74
presently flows, namely the sea and its ancient alluvions. In accordance
with such a principle, this washing away cannot be conceived, as Buffon15
would have it, as being due to marine currents at the sea floor under a
universal ocean, because under water there is no downflow according to
423
Natural Science
the slope of the bottom, which after all is the most essential point in this
instance.∗
The volcanic eruptions appear to have been the most recent ones,
that is after the Earth’s surface had already solidified. They did not form
the land with its hydraulically regular structure for the run-off of rivers,
but merely formed individual mountains, which are only insignificant
details compared with the edifice of the whole of the dry land and its
mountain ranges.
Now, the use to which the ideas of the aforementioned eminent gen-
tlemen may be put, and which Herschel’s discovery confirms, albeit
only indirectly, is of significance in relation to cosmogony: namely
[it suggests] that the celestial bodies were all formed originally in a similar
manner. Initially, all were in a liquid state; this is proved by their spherical
shape, which is, where observable, [seen to be] flattened in accordance
with their axial rotation and the gravitational weight of their surface. But
there can be no fluidity without heat. “Where did this primordial heat
come from?” To attribute it, as does Buffon, to the heat of the Sun, of
which all the planetary spheres are merely ejected fragments, is only a
temporary expedient; for “where did the heat of the Sun come from?”
If it be assumed (and for other reasons this seems very likely) that the
original matteri of all celestial bodies, in the whole vast space in which
they now move, was initially distributed in gaseous form, and was formed
initially in accordance with the laws of chemical attraction, and subse-
quently chiefly [according to the laws] of gravitational attraction, then
Crawford’s discoveries16 suggest how the formation of celestial bodies
[is linked with] the production of the requisite enormous degrees of heat.
For if the element of heat is distributed uniformly in space, but attaches
8:75 itself to various substances only in proportion to their several attractions;
if, as he shows, materialsj distributed in gaseous form contain far more
elemental heat, and indeed require it for their distribution as vapours,
than they can hold once they become solids, that is to say, when they coa-
lesce to form celestial spheres, then these spheres must contain matter of
heat in excess of their natural balance with the matter of heat in the space
they occupy, that is, their relative heat will have increased in comparison
with outer space. (Thus when vitriolic acid in gaseous form comes into
contact with ice it immediately loses its vaporous state and thereby the
heat is increased to such an extent that the ice melts at once.) We do
∗ The flow of rivers seems to me to be the real key to the theory of the Earth, for this
requires: first, that the land be divided through its shifts into pools, as it were; second,
that the floor on which these pools conveyed the water from one to another, in order
ultimately to drain it into a channel, was formed by that water which gradually receded
from the higher basins to the lowest one, namely the sea.
i Urstoff j Materien
424
not know how great the increase might be, but the degree of original
rarefaction and subsequent condensation and the short amount of time
involved appear to be relevant. But since the latter [i.e., the time] depends
on the degree of attraction that brought the scattered matterk together,
and this in turn depends on the quantity of matterl in the bodym being
formed, it follows that the degree to which this body is heated must also
be in proportion. In this way, we can also have insight into why the cen-
tral body (being the greatest mass in any cosmic system) has the greatest
amount of heat, and is the sun in every case. Similarly, we can speculate
with some confidence that the outer planets, partly because they are for
the most part larger, and partly because they are constituted of more
rarefied matter than the inner ones, contain more internal heat, which
they also appear to need (as they only receive from the Sun just about
enough light to see by). Furthermore, the creation of the mountains
on the observable surfaces of the celestial bodies, that is [the surfaces]
of the Earth, the Moon, and Venus, by atmospheric eruptions of their
primaevally heated, chaotic liquid masses, appears to us to be a fairly
general law. Finally, the volcanic eruptions of the Earth, the Moon, and
even the Sun (the craters of which Wilson17 saw [or rather detected]
in sunspots by cleverly comparing their appearances one with another,
as Huygens18 did with the rings of Saturn) could be explained by and
derived from the same universal principle.
Now if anyone wished to turn my criticism of Buffon against me,
and ask where the first motion of the atoms in space came from, then I
would reply that I have not offered to give an explanation of the very first 8:76
change in nature, which is indeed impossible. Nevertheless, in the case of
a natural phenomenonn such as the heat of the Sun, which has similarities
to appearances whose cause we can at least surmise in accordance with
known laws, I think it unacceptable to come to a halt and in desperation
invoke an immediate divine decree as an explanation. This latter must
admittedly form the conclusion of our investigation when we talk of
nature as a whole; but in every epoch of nature, since no one of them
can be shown by direct observation to be absolutely the first, we are not
relieved of the obligation to search among the causes of thingso as far as
is possible for us, and follow the causal chain in accordance with known
laws as far as it extends.
k Stoff n Naturbeschaffenheit
l Materie o Weltursachen
m Weltkörper
425
15
Something concerning the influence of the
Moon on the weather
Kant published this essay in the May 1794 issue of the Berlinische Monats-
schrift, vol. 23, pp. 392–407, the eleventh out of a total of sixteen pieces
that he would publish in this more popular than academic venue. The
topic of this essay is whether the Moon has any influence on the Earth’s
weather. He begins by setting up a conflict between two opposing propo-
sitions (reminiscent of the antinomies that Kant developed in each of his
three Critiques), with one proposition arguing against there being any
influence (on the grounds that the Moon’s attractive force would be too
weak to have any discernible effect) and the other arguing that there is
in fact some influence (as established by experience). He seeks to resolve
the conflict by arguing that there could be an indirect influence of the
Moon on the Earth’s weather through the activity of some imponder-
able matter that extends into the atmosphere and has an effect through
changes in elasticity, with the changes being the result of a chemical
rather than a mechanical or static process.
426
Something 8:315
concerning the
Influence of the Moon

on the Weather.
Natural Science
8:317 Somewhere in his writings, Herr Counsellor Lichtenberg1 of Göttingen

says in his intelligent and thoughtful manner: “The Moon really ought
not to have an influence on the weather, but nevertheless it does so.”
A. The proposition: “It ought not to have an influence.” For we
know of only two ways in which it can influence our Earth at such a
8:318 great distance: its light,∗ which it reflects, being a body illuminated by
the Sun; and its attractive force, which, as the cause of gravity, it has in
common with all matter. For both of these, we are in a position to state
∗ While noting the weakness of the Moon’s light even in comparison with the radiating
light of a star about to be eclipsed by the Moon, I should like to take this opportunity
here to add a possible explanation of an observation by O. A. Schröter2 of Lilienthal,
who has rendered such outstanding services in relation to our accurate knowledge of
the shape of heavenly bodies (Astronomische Abhandlungen [Astronomical Papers], 1793,
p. 193). “Aldebaran (he writes) did not disappear immediately as a result of the passage
of the Moon: and (Schröter observing both the edge of the Moon and Aldebaran as
clearly as might be desired) it was visible on the face of the Moon, in front of its edge
for easily 2 to 3 seconds: whereupon, without any diminution of light or any change in
its diameter being observed, it disappeared so suddenly that the time taken for its actual
disappearance was certainly not a whole second, but probably only half a second, and
in any case not much more.” In my opinion, this appearance should be attributed not
to an optical illusion but to the time required by the light of the star to travel from the
Moon to the Earth, which amounts to about one and one fifth seconds, within which
time Aldebaran was already obscured by the Moon. We shall have to leave it to the
judgement of this keen-sighted and experienced observer himself [to decide] whether
the time taken to consider that the star was already observed within the Moon’s surface
(and not merely contiguous with it) and the perception and recognition that it had now
disappeared, occupy the remaining four fifths of a second (which do not actually form
part of the observation), that is, whether the true and the presumed observation, which
is necessarily only apparent, taken together, do not add up to two seconds (being the
most time Schröter allows).
From other admirable discoveries by this same gentleman concerning the structure
of the Moon’s surface, the side of the Moon facing us seems to be an uninhabitable body
like burnt-out volcanic scoria. But if one assumes that, while it was still liquid, the elastic
materials in its interior turned more towards the side facing the Earth than to that which
is turned away from it (which, since the difference of the attractive forces of the former
from that of the centre of the Moon is greater than that between the attraction of the
centre point and the far side, and [since] the expansion of elastic materials rising in a
liquid is greater the less the pressure on them is, they will have left larger cavities in the
interior of the Moon on the near side than on the far side when this body solidified): then
one can easily conceive that the centre of gravity will not coincide with the geometric
centre of this body, but will lie towards the far side, which in turn would mean that
any water and air there might be on the Earth’s satellite would have departed from the
former side and, flowing onto the other side, would have made it alone habitable. – It
will also have to be left to those who are better versed in the theory of attraction than
I am to decide whether its property of turning on its axis within the same period as
it makes its rotation can be assumed to be common to all moons for the same reason
(namely the difference[s] in the force of attraction on both halves of a moon circling
its planet, because the moon is very much closer to the planet than the planet is to the
Sun).
428
The influence of the Moon on the weather
sufficiently both the laws and, by [observing] their effects, the degrees
of their effectiveness, so as to enable us to explain the changes that they
have as a result of their acting as causes, but to invent new hidden forces
for the purpose of explaining certain appearances that are not connected
in a way that is sufficiently confirmed by experience to previously known
forces is an audacity that a healthy science will not easily admit. So, for
instance, it will strongly reject the alleged observation that fish placed
in moonlight will rot faster than fish lying in the shadow of the Moon:
since that light, even when concentrated by the most powerful burning
glasses or mirrors, will not have the smallest measurable effect on [even]
the most sensitive thermometer; but some account will have to be taken
of the observation that in Bengal people infected with fever die much
more quickly as a result of the influence of the Moon during a solar
eclipse, since the ability of the Moon’s attraction (which at such time[s]
is combined with that of the Sun) to act very perceptibly on terrestrial
bodies is unambiguously demonstrated by other experiences.
If, therefore, it is a question of deciding a priori whether or not the 8:319
Moon has any influence on the weather, then the light that it casts on
the Earth can be ignored, and so there remains only its attractive force
(in accordance with universal laws of gravity) as a basis for explaining
such an effect on the atmosphere. Now the direct effect of this force can
only consist in the increase or decrease in the density of the air, but this
[effect] must be observable on a barometer if it is to be perceptible. The
statement (A) above would therefore read: the changes in the level of
the barometer corresponding regularly with the position of the Moon
cannot be explained by the attraction of this satellite. For
(1) it can be shown a priori that the Moon’s attraction, insofar as
the density of our air may be increased or decreased by it, is much too
small for such a change to be recorded by a barometer (see Lulof ’s3
Introduction to the Mathematical and Physical Understanding of the Globe,
§ 312): regardless of whether one considers the air merely as a fluid
(inelastic) substancep the uppermost layer of which maintains exactly
the same level [of density] when the direction of its gravitation changes
through the Moon’s attraction; or, at the same time, as actually is the
case, [one considers it] as an elastic fluid, which still raises the question
whether its layers of equal density would then remain in [a state of]
equilibrium at different heights. But this is not the place to discuss this
question.
(2) Experience proves that the Moon’s attraction is insufficient to
cause any perceptible change[s] in the gravity of the air. For, like high
p Wesen
429
Natural Science
and low tide, it would have to show up on the barometer twice every 24
hours; but there is not the slightest sign of this.∗
8:320 B. The counter proposition: “The Moon does have an influence
(partly detectable on the barometer, and partly manifest in other ways)
on the weather.” – The weatherq (temperies aëris) has two components:
wind and weather.r The latter is either merely visible, as a bright sky,
sometimes clear, sometimes partly cloudy, sometimes overcast; or it can
be felt, warm or cold, damp or dry, refreshing or oppressive in relation
to breathing. The same wind is not always accompanied by the same
weather conditions, but frequently it is; it is not always possible to deter-
mine whether it is a local cause that changes the mix of the air,s and with
it the weather, bringing about a particular wind, or whether this wind
causes the weather conditions: and the same barometer reading can be
associated with different weather, even if it were related to the position
of the Moon in accordance with some rule. – If, however, the change of
wind follows the changing phases of the Moon, both as such and also
in association with the changing seasons, then the Moon would have an
influence on the weather conditions directly or indirectly: even if the
[particular] weather cannot be predicted in accordance with this [influ-
ence]; that is, the rules that have been discovered should be of more use
to the mariner than to the husbandman. – For this statement, there are,
at least provisionally, sufficient analogies which, even if not equivalent
∗ It is only necessary to have a proper understanding of the effects of the attractions

of the Moon and the Sun insofar as they may have a direct influence on the level
of the barometer. When the sea (and thus also the atmosphere) is at high tide, and
thus the columns of these liquids rise, some people suppose that their weight (and the
pressure of the air on the barometer) must in theory increase (and that the barometer
must accordingly rise), but the opposite is the case. The columns rise only because they
become lighter as a result of the external attraction; since in the open sea they never have
enough time to reach the full height they would attain by dint of those attractions when
the Moon and the Sun remain in the position of their maximum combined influence,
the pressure of the sea (and also the pressure of air on the barometer) at the place of the
highest tide must be smaller and thus also the height of the barometer must be lower,
and higher at low tide. – To this extent, Toaldo’s4 rules agree very well with the theory
that in syzygies the barometer falls while in the quadratures it rises: if only the theory
could explain how the attractions of those heavenly bodies could have any discernible
influence on the barometer at all.
However, as far as the extraordinarily high level of the sea in straits and long bights is
concerned, especially at spring tide, this is not at all relevant to our present task, because
it is not brought about directly and hydrostatically by attraction but only indirectly by
the movement of a current deriving from that change, that is hydraulically; and it
may well be the same with the winds when, being set in motion by the attraction, they
are forced to blow through promontories, straits, and the only narrows remaining open
to them in a sea of islands.
q Witterung s Luftmischung
r Wetter
430
to astronomically calculated laws for the almanac, are worthy of atten-

tion as rules to be considered in connection with the former in [making]
future meteorological observations. Namely:
(1) At almost every new moon, we see at least some endeavours on the
part of the atmosphere to change the wind’s direction, which result
either in its returning to its former position after veering back and 8:321
forth, or (if it has gone entirely or partly through the compass in
the direction of the Sun’s daily motion) in its adopting a position in
which it prevails for the whole month.
(2) Quarterly, at the time of the solstices and equinoxes and the imme-
diately following new moon, this endeavour is observed even more
clearly; and whatever wind prevails in the first two to three weeks
tends to prevail for the entire quarter.
The weather forecasts in the almanac appear to have taken account of

these rules for some time. For, as even the ordinary man claims to have
noticed, they are now more accurate than they were formerly, presum-
ably because the authors consult Toaldo. So in the end it was probably
a good thing that the move to introduce almanacs without supersti-
tions (like the hasty decision of a Williams5 to have public religious
instruction without the Bible) met with no success. For, in order not to
abuse the credulity of the people to the point of complete lack of faith
and consequent loss of the credit required for good sales, the author
of that popular book will now need to investigate the regularities of
the weather so far discovered, even if they are not yet fully confirmed,
so as gradually to give them greater precision and at least bring them
closer to empirical certainty, so that what used to be blindly accepted on
the basis of superstition may finally change not merely into reasonable
belief but into a belief that itself reasonst concerning its own grounds. –
Consequently, the instructions:u Good For Planting, Good For Felling
Building Timber [etc.,] may retain their place in the almanac, for it has not
yet been established whether the Moon really does have an observable
influence on the realm of organized nature, and on the plant kingdom
in particular, and philosophical[ly inclined] experts in gardening and
forestry are also thereby invited to satisfy this public demandv if they
can. Only those comments that might delude the ordinary man into
meddling with his health should be unhesitatingly excised.
We now have a conflict between theory, which denies the Moon any
influence, and experience, which affirms it.
t vernünftelnden Glauben v Bedürfniß

u Zeichen
431
Natural Science
8:322 resolution of this conflict.

The attraction of the Moon, i.e., the only motive force by which it can
have an influence on the atmosphere and possibly also on weather con-
ditions, has a direct effect on the air in accordance with laws of statics,
that is, insofar as it is a ponderable fluid. But the Moon[‘s attraction] is
far too weak to effect any discernible change in the level of the barometer
by this means, and, insofar as weather conditions are directly dependent
on the cause of this [change], it is too weak to affect them either; there-
fore (according to A) it ought not to have any influence on the weather. –
But if one presumes [the existence of] an imponderable matter (or mat-
ters) covering the atmosphere and extending far above the level of the
ponderable air (and for this very reason, more subject to change by
increased attraction of the Moon), which, moved by the attraction of
the Moon and thus mixed with or separated from the underlying air
at different times, is capable of sometimes increasing and sometimes
decreasing its elasticity by affinity with the latter (i.e., not through its
weight) and thus [able to] change its weight∗ indirectly (that is, in the
first case [increase of elasticity] by the outflow of the expandedw columns
of air, in the second case [decrease of elasticity] by the flow of air towards
8:323 the contractedx columns), then it will be found possible that the Moon
can have an indirect influence on changes in the weather (in accordance
with B), but actually in accordance with chemical laws. – But there is no
contradiction between the proposition: the Moon has no direct
∗ This explanation really only applies to the correspondence between the weather condi-
tions and the level of the barometer (that is to A); that between the winds and the aspects
of the Moon and the seasons (in accordance with B) under different meteorological and
barometric conditions still remains to be explained by the same principle (and here it
should be noted that what is being discussed is only the influence of the Moon and pos-
sibly the much smaller one of the Sun, and only in terms of its attraction, not its heat).
Now, it is surprising that at the astronomical points mentioned above, the Moon places
and predetermines the wind and weather in different ways in different countries at the
same latitude. But, since it requires days or indeed weeks to record and determine the
prevailing wind, in which time the effects of the Moon’s attraction on the weight of
the air and thus on the barometer would necessarily cancel one another and thus not
permit any conclusion about a particular direction, I cannot find any acceptable expla-
nation for this appearance other than to suppose that the imponderable material which
extends beyond the atmosphere undergoes many motions, outside and next to one
another, or inside one another (self-enclosing), circular or eddy-shaped, analogous to
waterspouts, and caused by the Moon’s attraction: these motions can change their influ-
ence on the atmosphere at the same latitude, depending on differences in the terrain
(mountains, lakes and rivers, even the vegetation) and whose chemical counter-effects
could make their influence on the atmosphere different at the same latitude. But here
experience abandons us too much for us to be able to form even a tolerably plausible
opinion.
w gehobenen x erniedrigten
432
influence on the weather, and the counter-proposition: it has an indirect

influence.
It may be necessary to assume that this imponderable material is inca-
pable of being restrained other than by a chemical relationship (such
as exists between magnetized and ordinary iron), but acts freely through
all other [substances], if one takes into consideration the affinity of the
air of the upper (Jovian) regions beyond the region of lightning with
the subterranean (Vulcanic) regions situated deep under the mountains,
[an affinity] which is clearly revealed in certain meteors. Another aspect
of this is perhaps the nature of the air, which makes some diseases in some
countries epidemic (actually rife) at certain times, and which demon-
strates its influence not only on the human population but also on popu-
lations of certain kinds of animals or plants, whose life principle is located
by Herr Dr Schäffer6 of Regensburg, in his perceptive book On sensibil-
ity, not within them but in an external matter that permeates them and
is analogous to the former.
∗ ∗
∗
This “something” is, therefore, very smally and probably not much more
than a confession of ignorance; but this is not particularly remarkable
nor need it cause any surprise, since de Luc7 has shown us that we have
no understanding of what a cloud is and how it can exist (something
that was child’s play twenty years ago). Here we are in much the same
situation as we are with the catechism, which in childhood, we knew by
heart perfectly and thought we understood, but which we understand less
the older and more reflective we become; and so we deserve to be sent
to school again, if only we could find somebody (apart from ourselves)
who understood it better.
But if Herr de Luc hopes that more intensive study of the clouds may 8:324
one day provide us with important insights into chemistry, then this is
probably out of the question; instead, this [problem] was presumably only
intended as a hurdle for the anti-phlogistonists. For their laboratoryz is
doubtless situated in some inaccessible region where we cannot carry out
our own experiments; and it is much more reasonable to suppose that
chemistry will provide new insights into meteorology than vice versa.
y nur klein z Fabrik
433
16
Physical geography
introduction
The Physical Geography has a complex origin that is unique among Kant’s
publications, and giving an appropriate assessment of its content and
significance requires awareness of the distinguishing features of its com-
position. In the summer semester of 1756, during his second term as a
lecturer at the university in Königsberg, Kant offered a class on physi-
cal geography and proceeded to deliver lectures on physical geography
regularly for the rest of his career. In fact, he gave the lectures a total of
forty-nine times before he stopped lecturing altogether during the mid-
dle of the summer semester (mid-July) of 1796.1 One significant change
in the lectures occurred after the winter semester of 1772–73, when
Kant decided to remove a significant portion of the material that he had
covered as part of physical geography and recast it as part of a separate
course on anthropology. Thereafter, he alternated his classes on phys-
ical geography and anthropology, teaching the former in the summer
semesters and the latter in the winter semesters. The only courses that
he taught more frequently than physical geography were logic (fifty-six
times) and metaphysics (fifty-three times) (which is unsurprising, given
that after 1770 he occupied the chair in logic and metaphysics).
Despite his consistent and considerable attention to physical geogra-
phy, however, Kant did not submit a manuscript to a press for publica-
tion, as was the case for almost all the works that are currently referred
to as publications by Kant.2 Instead, very late in his career, after a work
called Physical Geography was published under Kant’s name by Johann
Jakob Wilhelm and Gottfried Vollmer without his permission in 1801,3
he felt the need to publish an authorized edition. However, by this time,
Kant’s health was poor and he recognized that he would be unable to
accomplish the task on his own. He therefore asked his friend, Friedrich
Theodor Rink4 (1770–1811), who was first a lecturer, then an asso-
ciate professor of oriental languages, and finally a professor of theology
at Königsberg, to undertake the task of preparing a manuscript on his
behalf. Kant apparently gave Rink a manuscript that he had originally
prepared in the context of his lectures on physical geography and which
he had revised and updated over the years (e.g., in 1772–73, when Kant
gave a copy of this manuscript to a private student, Count Friedrich Karl
434
Physical geography
Ludwig von Holstein). Rink also had access to several transcripts that stu-
dents had made during Kant’s lectures over the years. Last, but not least,
in addition to reorganizing and revising the contents of the manuscripts
and student transcripts, Rink supplemented them with material that he
himself discovered independently of Kant. A final complicating factor is
the fact that Rink’s editorial work was uneven due to illness, his other
duties, a change in his place of work, and a deadline that was made
more urgent by the competing unauthorized edition. As a result, he was
unable to edit the entire manuscript with the same standards that he had
applied throughout the first volume of the Physical Geography and in the
first sections of the second (up to the section on Kashmir).
Erich Adickes, who undertook extensive research on Kant’s sources
and published his findings in 1911 and 1913, analysed the shortcomings
of Rink’s edition in detail.5 Unfortunately, however, the decision about
the content of the different volumes of the Academy edition had already
been made in the autumn of 1908 and the decision to retain the already
published text was made two years later in 1910; the total revision that
would have been required to incorporate Adickes’s findings into Volume
9, which was to contain the Physical Geography, was therefore no longer
feasible.6 Adickes’s conclusions may be summarized as follows:
1. Rink’s edition was based on two separate sources. §§1–52 (apart from
§§11 and 14) were compiled from two sets of lectures notes: one from
the summer of 1775 and the other from the summer of 1778. From
§53 onwards, Rink used Kant’s ‘dictation text’.
2. This ‘dictation text’ was written early in Kant’s teaching career, before
1760, and was not systematically updated, since Kant evidently did
not always adhere strictly to his text and often spoke freely. He thus
felt no need to bring its written form fully up to date.7
3. A detailed examination of the sources Kant used for the sections on
Europe and North America reveals that none of them was later than
1759.
4. Kant often offered factual information without acknowledging his
sources, an accepted practice for lectures in the second half of the
eighteenth century, especially in a subject such as geography for which
no one could experience the full range of places referred to in a text
first-hand. Nonetheless, it was not considered appropriate to publish
in this way, and according to Adickes it was only due to Kant’s growing
senility that he gave Rink permission to publish his ‘dictation text’.
5. The Introduction was the only part of the text that could be taken as
wholly genuine and representative of Kant’s geographical thought.8
Adickes had used twenty-two manuscripts in preparing his analysis and
evaluation. Werner Stark, who has devoted considerable time and effort
more recently to Kant’s ‘dictation text’ and to the lecture transcripts on
435
Natural Science
physical geography – which culminated in the publication of the first

part of Volume 26 (26.1) of the Academy edition in 2009 – was able to
use five ‘new’ transcripts that were unknown to Adickes9 and also pre-
pared an even more detailed and up-to-date analysis of the manuscripts
and transcripts that are related to Kant’s views and lecturing activities on
physical geography.10 Stark details the different conceptions that under-
lie the different manuscripts and transcripts, revealing thereby the fluid
nature of Kant’s thought and our unavoidably incomplete grasp of it at
any particular time. Given the complexity of these manuscripts and their
problematic relation to the version of the text that Rink published under
Kant’s name, these additional texts have not been used in the prepara-
tion of the present edition. Instead, the translation below is based entirely
on the Academy edition, though the more important variant readings,
chiefly those suggested by Adickes and Paul Gedan, who was responsible
for the critical apparatus to this work, are indicated in footnotes.
What this brief account of the origin and history of Rink’s version of
the Physical Geography makes clear is that the text that was published in
Volume 9 of the Academy edition and that has been translated below
is neither a document that Kant himself wrote nor a reliable indicator
of what Kant said in his class. Instead, it is a compilation of a variety of
sources such as notes that Kant made for himself and updated only spo-
radically, student transcripts from different classes over several decades,
and Rink’s independent additions. As a result, Kant’s Physical Geography
is truly Kant’s in a sense that is quite unlike that of any of his other pub-
lications given that there is no straightforward and unequivocal sense in
which it can be taken to represent his actual views.
Two further features of Kant’s Physical Geography should be briefly
mentioned. First, Kant’s contributions to physical geography can be
assessed only against the background of the then current state of knowl-
edge of geography in general and of physical geography in particular.
Accordingly, for any given topic, one may need to consult a wide range
of sources of geographical knowledge, both ancient (including Aristotle,
Dionysius, Herodotus, Ovid, and Pliny the Elder) and more modern
(such as Bouguer, Buffon, Büsching, Mallet, Marsigli, Moro, Raleigh,
Varenius, and Woodward).11 In this way, one can determine what was
novel about Kant’s (or Rink’s) views and see what role Kant played in the
establishment of physical geography courses in Germany in the second
half of the eighteenth century. Second, Kant’s knowledge of different
geographical facts derives not from first-hand experience, given that he
never travelled far from Königsberg and thus never ventured outside the
boundaries of East Prussia, but exclusively from the reports of others,
both scientific and otherwise. Of particular note are the various travel-
ogues that Kant (or Rink) consulted, that is, reports that travellers sent
home from various expeditions and which were not necessarily intended
436
Physical geography
as a basis for scientific assertions. Given the scope of the subject mat-
ter (the entire Earth), Kant (or Rink) had to consult an unusually large
number of different sources. Moreover, Kant (or Rink) often accepted
reports at face value rather than subjecting them to careful scrutiny and
further evaluation. So, even if the views are in some sense Kant’s, they
are derivative on the information of a wide range of other authors. In
these two respects, the Physical Geography is very much a document of
the times and must be read and understood accordingly.
The text itself is divided into an introduction and three parts. The
introduction sketches the broader context for physical geography by
providing a brief account of the sources and structure of our knowledge,
distinguishing between different kinds of geography (physical, math-
ematical, political, moral, theological, and mercantile), and offering a
preliminary account of different kinds of mathematical geography as a
necessary prolegomenon for physical geography. The first part of the
text gives accounts of the main components of the Earth – its water,
land, and air – as well as a description of the most significant changes
that it has experienced in the past and is still undergoing currently (which
description is consistent, in the main, with the account that Kant had
provided in other works in the 1750s). An appendix on navigation is
added, since, in the introduction, Kant makes a point of claiming that
geographical knowledge is required before one can attain knowledge of
the world in general and that it is useful for leading one’s life. The sec-
ond part describes in some detail the different kingdoms, namely animals
(with a separate discussion of human beings), plants, and minerals. The
third part considers ‘geography proper’ – which includes descriptions of
the different continents (Asia, Africa, Europe, and the Americas) – and,
to a certain extent, ethnography (an account of the peoples inhabiting
the different continents).
Rink’s edition of the Physical Geography has formed the basis of most
of those published subsequently, the principal ones being:
Kants sämtliche Werke. Herausgegeben von Karl Rosenkranz und Friedr.
Wilh. Schubert, Vol. 6 (Leipzig: L. Voss, 1839);
Gesamtausgabe der Werke Kants, Vol. 8, 2nd edn., ed. G. Von
Hartenstein (Leipzig: L. Voss, 1868);
Immanuel Kant, Physische Geographie, Vol. 9, Philosophische Bibliothek,
ed. Paul Gedan (Leipzig: Dürr, 1905);
Kant’s gesammelte Schriften, Vol. 9, Logik, Physische Geographie,
Pädagogik (Berlin and Leipzig: Walter de Gruyter, 1923).
Rink’s edition of the Physical Geography has been translated once before
as: Immanuel Kant’s Physical Geography, translated and annotated by
Ronald L. Bolin (A.M. thesis, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana,
1968).
437
Natural Science
Besides the painstaking examinations of the various texts, manuscripts,

and transcripts carried out by Adickes and Stark and the copious textual
notes to be found accompanying the Academy edition (chiefly based in
Adickes’s and Stark’s work in Volumes 9 and 26, respectively), the works
listed below are also available.
A. Garland, “Immanuel Kant: seine geographischen und anthropologischen
Arbeiten,” Kant Studien 10 (1905): 1–43, 417–547.
R. Hartshorne, “The concept of geography as a science of space, from Kant and
Humboldt to Hettner,” Annals of the Association of American Geographers 48
(1958): 97–108.
J. A. May, Kant’s Conception of Geography (Toronto and Buffalo: University of
Toronto Press, 1970). (This volume contains a translation of the Introduction
to the Physical Geography on pp. 255–64.)
438
Contents
volume one 441

Editor’s Foreword 442
Introduction 445
Preliminary Mathematical Concepts 453
First Part. 468
First Section. Concerning Water 468
Second Section. Concerning the Land 503
Third Section. The Atmosphere 547
Fourth Section. History of the Great Changes that the
Earth has Undergone and is Still Undergoing 559
Appendix. Concerning Navigation 567
volume two 571
Second Part. Particular Observations Concerning What
is Found on the Earth. 572
First Section. Concerning Human Beings 572
Second Section. The Animal Kingdom 580
First Group. 580
Those with Hoofs 580
Second Group. 587
Toed Animals 587
Third Group. 594
Animals with Flippers 594
Fourth Group. 595
Oviparous Quadrupeds 595
Fifth Group. 596
First Section. Marine Animals 596
Second Section. Animals with Shells 601
Sixth Group. 603
Some Curious Insects 603
Seventh Group. 605
Concerning Other Crawling Animals 605
Eighth Group. 607
The Avian Kingdom 607
Third Section. The Plant Kingdom 610
Fourth Section. The Mineral Kingdom 618
439
Natural Science
1. The Metals 618

2. Concerning Salts 622
3. Concerning Stones 623
4. Concerning Soils 626
5. Concerning Petrifactions 626
6. Concerning the Origin of Minerals 627
Third Part. Brief Observations on the Principal Natural
Curiosities of All Countries in Geographical Order. 629
The First Continent. Asia 629
The Second Continent. Africa 654
The Third Continent. Europe 665
The Fourth Continent. America 671
440
Immanuel Kant’s 9:151
Physical Geography.
Edited
At the Request of the Author
From his Manuscripts
and in part revised
by
Dr. Friedrich Theodor Rink.
Volume One
9:153 EDITOR’S FOREWORD
In addition to wide reading on the subject of travel literature, physical
geography assumes on the part of anyone who undertakes to treat it an
uncommonly exact knowledge of natural history, physics, and chemistry,
even, in some respects, of mathematics, and a practised philosophical
eye.
The author of the present work, my venerable teacher and friend, is
known not only to the German public, but also to that in other countries
in respect of the knowledge and sciences mentioned, in too excellent a
manner for me to need, or even presume, to undertake to present him as
the man who, more than many others, and perhaps uniquely so, had the
vocation to produce such a work. It is only a pity that he did not do so
sooner, and that I have to be the editor of the notebooks that he earlier
filled on this topic.
The method he chose and adopted in presenting physical geography
lies in the nature of the subject and has thus been followed at least partly
by others with the help of several [sets of] lecture notes produced from
his lectures and in circulation with greater or lesser departures [from the
original].
But apart from this method, it is above all by the comprehensiveness,
novelty, completeness and expedient arrangement of the material that
a work of this kind must be characterized if it is to have any success
today.
Certainly, Kant would have satisfied all these requirements if circum-
stances had permitted him to revise this work of his again and to publish
it himself. It was with his foreknowledge and at his request that I added
9:154 those things which had taken on a changed aspect as a result of more
recent investigations; I did this insofar as the material permitted in its
extant form, with as little impairment as possible to the characteristics
peculiar to it, and mostly only in notes to each paragraph. This was all
that remained to be done if this work were ever to come into the hands
of the public.
Difficult though this was in itself, it could not but become all the
more difficult for me on account of my other official work, my poor
health during nearly two years, and the change in my place of residence
and sphere of activity, particularly as the unlawful actions of the book-
seller Vollmer all the more urgently aroused the author’s wish to see his
work appear as soon as possible in an authentic edition, due to which
[circumstances] I was tied all the more firmly to the Easter Book Fair12 of
the following year, as a result of which the whole, [both] in its treatment
and arrangement, inevitably acquired a chaotic appearance – if I may use
this expression – as I myself know all too well and perhaps better than
many others.
442
Physical geography
But when I then discovered from the judgements of the public about
the edition of Kant’s Logic, produced by my friend Jäsche, that the pub-
lic preferred the writings of our teacher retained in their entire pecu-
liarity, and since the above-mentioned Mr. Vollmer attaches so much
importance to the very fact that I shall not publish Kant’s own physical
geography, or indeed, as he assumes, shall not be able to publish [it at
all], I believed I had to withdraw my own share in this work, as far as this
could still be achieved, for which reason the latter half appears without
my notes except for a few essential references to the literature, and thus
this part belongs entirely to the author.
But in so doing, I had to abandon the use of the more recent marginalia
briefly sketched out in Kant’s manuscript, which I had until then tried to
weave into my notes as much as possible; as soon as I am less restricted
and hindered by a time limit and many other distractions, the public
will have access to these, together with some other acute observations of
Kant relevant to this matter, as a separate appendix to the present work.
In any second edition of this work, which, it is hoped, may appear
under more favourable circumstances, all this will be combined in a more
effective way to form a whole, which will then demonstrate even more
clearly the marks of [his] individuality, for I am prepared to withdraw 9:155
entirely my notes, which, on account of the circumstances mentioned
above, were not able to achieve what I so much wanted them to achieve;
and to combine Kant’s marginalia with the text as naturally as possible
and without any additions by others. Even now, this work would have
corresponded to my own desires for a more appropriate form, but the
rash industry of Mr. Vollmer even made it impossible to find another
less overworked scholar, who under such circumstances might have taken
over the editing and publication of the work, even for the time being.
I must mention another circumstance to which Mr. Vollmer attaches
importance. Kant had stated publicly that his notebooks on physical
geography had been lost. He had earlier said this to me and other friends
of his. But about two years ago, he handed over the revision and arrange-
ment of his now voluminous papers and manuscripts to Dr. Jäsche and
myself. During this work, and contrary to Kant’s own assumption, three
almost complete notebooks of the physical geography were found, writ-
ten by him at different times, and this edition has been based on these.
So much for the correction of this point and sufficient, I hope, to make
the public favourably disposed in assessing the present work.
In conclusion, I should only like to note that particularly the parts
of the present work describing nature or dealing with natural history
would require an almost complete revision, as anyone must realize who
has even a very ordinary knowledge of the matter by the standards of
our time. But if I had dared to do this, how many cavillers would I have
had against me, in the light of what I have just said! I await the decision
443
Natural Science
of competent judges as to what should happen to the work as a whole,

and for this part in particular, should there be a future edition. While I
think that I am not entirely uninformed in this regard, I value my literary
peace and quiet too much for me to surrender it to any bored and boring
reasoner, unless I receive decisive support.
Easter Book Fair

1802.
Rink.
444
Physical Description of the Earth. 9:156
INTRODUCTION.
§. 1.
For all knowledge, one must first direct attention to its sources or origins.
Thereafter, one must observe the plan according to which knowledge is
arranged, or the form according to which it can be ordered. Otherwise,
we are unable to recall it when it is required. Therefore, we should divide
our knowledge into certain compartments, as it were, even before it is
attained.
§. 2.
Now, so far as the sources and origins of our knowledge are concerned,
we derive it all either from pure reason or from experience, which in
turn is instructed by reason.
Reason gives us pure rational knowledge, whereas knowledge from
experience is attained through our senses. But since our senses cannot
transcend the world, our knowledge from experience is likewise limited
merely to the present world.
Therefore, just as we have a double sense, one outer and one inner,
so also can we regard the world as the epitome of all knowledge from
experience according to both these senses. The world, as the object of
outer sense, is nature; as the object of inner sense, however, it is the
soul or the human being.
The [combined] experience of nature and the human being together 9:157
constitute knowledge of the world. We are taught knowledge of
human beings by anthropology. We owe our knowledge of nature
to physical geography, that is, to a description of the earth. In the
strictest sense, there are no experiences, only perceptions, which, taken
together, constitute experience. Here we use the expression simply in
its usual meaning of perceptions.
The physical description of the earth is thus the first part of knowledge
of the world. It belongs to an idea that one might call a propædeutic
for knowledge of the world. Instruction in this still seems to be very
deficient. Nonetheless, it is precisely from this that we may derive the
most useful application for all manner of circumstances in life. Con-
sequently, it is necessary to learn the physical description of the earth
445
Natural Science
as a knowledge that can be completed and corrected with the help of

experience.
What this instruction and general survey does, is to anticipate our
future experience in the world, giving us, as it were, a pre-formed con-
ception of everything. We say of someone who has travelled widely that
he has seen the world. But knowledge of the world is more than merely
seeing it. Anyone who wants to derive benefit from a journey must make
a plan in advance, and not regard the world merely as an object of the
outer sense.
The second part of knowledge of the world concerns knowledge of
human beings. Contact with people broadens our knowledge. Nonethe-
less, it is necessary to provide a propædeutic exercise for all experiences
of this kind, and this is what anthropology does. From it, one gets to
know those things about human beings that are pragmatic, rather than
speculative. It treats human beings not from a physiological point of
view, in which the origins of phenomena are identified, but from a cos-
mological point of view.∗
There is still a great need for instruction in how to apply one’s knowl-
9:158 edge and make use of it in a manner appropriate to one’s understanding
and present situation, or to provide a practicala use for one’s knowledge.
This constitutes knowledge of the world.
The world is the foundationb and stage on which our ingenious play is
performed. It is the ground on which we obtain and apply our knowledge.
But for that to be able to happen which the understanding tells us ought
to happen, we need to know the nature of the subject, without which this
is not possible.
Moreover, we need to become acquainted with the objects of our
experience as a whole. Thereby our knowledge is not an aggregation
but a system; for in a system the whole is prior to the parts, while in an
aggregation the parts have priority.
It is the same in all branches of knowledge that produce an understand-
ing of connections, as with the Encyclopædia, where the whole becomes
apparent only when seen in context. Idea[s] are architectonic; they cre-
ate the sciences.c Anyone intending to build a house, for instance, will
first form a conception of the whole, from which all the parts will subse-
quently be deduced. In the same way, our present introduction serves as
an idea for knowledge of the world. What we are doing here is making
∗ Cf. Kant’s Preface to his Anthropology from a Pragmatic Point of View [Anthropologie in
pragmatische Hinsicht abgefasst von Immanuel Kant], 2nd edn., Königsberg, [Friedrich
Nicolovius,] 1800, 8vo.
a Praktische. Adickes reads Pragmatische. c Wissenschaften

b Substrat
446
Physical geography
an architectonic concept for ourselves, which is a concept whereby the

manifold parts are derived from the whole.
The whole, in our case, is the world, the stage for all our experiences.
Contact with people and travel broaden all our knowledge. Such contact
will teach us about people, but it requires a great deal of time if the
purpose is to be attained. However, if we are prepared in advance by
[appropriate] instruction, then we have a conceptual whole by means of
which we can learn about people. We are then in a position to allocate
to every experience its class and its place within the whole. By travel
we extend our knowledge of the external world, which is, however, of
little use unless one has previously had a suitable preparatory exercise.
If, after this, we say of someone that he knows the world, we mean that
he knows mankind and nature.
§. 3. 9:159
Our knowledge originates with the senses. They give us the material
to which reason merely gives an appropriated form. The ground of all
knowledge thus lies in the senses and in experience, the latter being
either our own or that of some other person.
Ideally, we should concern ourselves only with our own experience,
but this is not sufficient to enable us to know everything; as far as time is
concerned, human beings live for only a short interval and can therefore
experience only a little for themselves, but as for space, even if a person
travels, he is still not in a position to observe or perceive a great many
things. Therefore, we must necessarily also have recourse to the expe-
riences of others. But these experiences will have to be reliable, and for
this reason written information is preferable to that passed on merely by
word of mouth.
Thus we extend our knowledge through the testimony of others, as
if we had lived through the world’s entire past. And we increase our
knowledge of the present through testimony concerning foreign and
remote countries, as if we had lived there ourselves.
But we must note that every experience of another person is imparted
to us either as a narrative or as a description. The former is a his-
tory, the latter a geography. The description of particular places on
the earth is called topography. Further, there is chorography, that is,
the description of regions and their peculiar features. Orography is the
description of mountain ranges. Hydrography is the description of the
waters.
d schicklich. Adickes reads neue (new).
447
Natural Science
Note:13 What is being discussed here is knowledge of the world and

consequently also a description of the whole world. The name geography is
thus used here in its normal meaning.
§. 4.
As far as the plan of arrangement is concerned, all our knowledge must
be allocated to its proper place. But knowledge from experience can be
allotted a place either according to concepts or according to the time
and place where it is actually found.
Division of knowledge according to concepts is logical; according to
time and space it is physical. By means of the former, we obtain a system
9:160 of nature (systema naturae), as for example that of Linnaeus.14 With the
latter, we obtain a geographical description of nature.
If, for example, I say that the species ‘cattle’ is one of the kinds of four-
footed animals, or is one of the kinds of animals with cloven hooves, then
this is a division I make in my head: it is a logical division. The systema
naturae is, as it were, a kind of register of the whole, wherein I situate all
things, each in the class to which it belongs, even if on earth they are to
be found in widely separated areas.
In accordance with the physical division, however, things are consid-
ered in terms of the places they occupy on earth. The system allocates
them a place in the classification. The geographical description of nature,
by contrast, refers to the places on earth where a thing is actually to be
found. Thus, for example, the lizard and the crocodile are essentially
one and the same animal. The crocodile is only an enormous lizard. But
the places where the two are found are different. The crocodile lives
on the Nile; the lizard on land, including in our area. In sum, we are
concerned with nature, the earth itself, and those places where things
are actually encountered. But what matters in the system of nature is not
place of birth, but similarity of form.e
However, the systems of nature that have been drawn up so far are
probably more properly called aggregations of nature, for a system
presupposes an idea of the whole, from which the diversity of things
is derived. Actually, we do not yet have a systema naturae. In the so-
called systems of this type available at present, the things are simply put
together and arranged in series.
But we can equally well call both history and geography descriptions.
The difference is that the former is a description in terms of time, the
latter in terms of space.
Thus history and geography extend our knowledge in relation to time
and space. History concerns the events that have taken place one after
e ähnliche Gestalten
448
Physical geography
another in time. Geography concerns phenomena that occur simul-

taneously in space. The latter has several names, depending on the
different objects with which it is concerned. As a result, it is variously
called physical, mathematical, political, moral, theological, literary or 9:161
mercantile geography.∗
The history of occurrences at different times, which is true history,
is nothing other than a consecutive geography, and thus it is a great
limitation on history if one does not know where something happened,
or what it was like.
History is thus differentiated from geography only in relation to time
and space. As pointed out, the former is a report of events that fol-
low one upon another, and is related to time. The latter, however, is a
report concerning events contiguous in space. History is a narrative, but
∗ [J.E.E.] Fabri in his [Abriss der natürlichen Erdkunde, insonderheit] Geistik, Nuremberg,
1800, p. 3, also mentions a geography of products. He defines the usual divisions of
geography in the usual manner, loc. cit. But these definitions have to be accorded the
arrangement of all our geographical works, especially on political geography, which
are by no means sufficient for the informed person. More on this in another place.
Political geography, incidentally, is further divided into the ancient, the mediaeval, and
the modern.
In respect to this last, see:
[K.] Mannert’s15 Geography of the Greeks and Romans [Geographie der Griechen und
Römer; aus ihren Schriften dargestellt von M. Konrad Mannert . . . ], Nuremberg, [K. C.
Grattenauer], 8vo, new edn., 1799.
[J.B.B.] D’Anville’s16 Ancient and Mediaeval Description[s] of the Earth [Handbuch der
alten und mittleren Erdbeschreibung oder von den europäischen Staaten die nach dem Unter-
gang des römischen Reichs entstanden sind . . . ], Nuremberg, [Weigl and Schneider], 8vo,
1782. Of the former, new edn., 1800.
[E.] Mentelle,17 Comparative Geography [Vergleichende Erdbeschreibung], translated from
the French, Winterthur, 8vo, 1785. [The original French edition is: Géographie Com-
parée, ou Analyse de la Géographie Ancienne et Moderne des Peuples de tous les Pays et de tous
les Ages . . . , 7 vols. (Paris: The Author, 1774–84).]
The large number of more recent publications concerning political geography, espe-
cially those of Büsching,18 Bruns, Ebeling,19 Hartmann, Gatterer, Gaspari, Canzler,20 and
Fabri are well known. Compare also [A.F.W.] Crome,21 Products of Europe [Europens Pro-
dukte. Zum gebrauch der neuen Produkten-Karte von Europa . . . ], Dessau, [Buchhandlung
der gelehrten], 1782, 2nd edn., Pt. 1, Leipzig, 1784. Also the product maps.
[G.A.] V[on]. Breitenbauch, Presentation of the Principal Peoples of the World According to
their Origins, Distribution and Languages [Vorstellung der vornehmsten Völkerschaften der
Welt nach ihrer Abstammung, Ausbreitung und Sprachen, entworfen von Georg August von
Breitenbauch]. With 1 map, Leipzig, [Im Intelligenz-Comptoir, und bey J. E. Lange],
1794, 8vo.
The same author’s State of Religion of the Various Countries of the World in Ancient
and Modern Times. With map [Religionszustand der verschiedenen Länder der Welt in den
älteren und neueren Zeiten. Nebst Karte], Leipzig, [J. E. Lange], 1794, 8vo.
For literature on mathematical geography, see below.
Treatments of geography from the other points of view indicated above are still
almost entirely lacking.
449
Natural Science
geography is a description. Thus we can have a description of nature,f

but not a natural history.g,22
This latter name, as used by many people, is wholly incorrect. But
9:162 because we usually think we have the thing if only we have the name, no
one now thinks of actually writing such a natural history.
The history of natureh comprehends the diversity of geography, as it
has been at different times, but not how it is now, at a single moment; for
the latter would be a description of nature. Only if one were to describe
the events of the whole of nature as it has been through all time, then and
only then would one write a real so-called natural history. If, for example,
one were to consider how the various breeds of dogs descended from one
line, and what changes have befallen them through all time as a result
of differences in country, climate, reproduction, etc., then this would
constitute a natural history of dogs. Such a history could be compiled for
every single part of nature, for instance, on plants and so forth.∗ But there
is the problem that it has to be guessed, more through experiments than
by accurate testimony. For natural history is not one whit shorter than the
world itself. But we cannot guarantee the accuracy of our information,
even since the invention of writing. And how immense, probably vastly
greater, is the time outside that customarily revealed in history compared
with the time that is covered in history.
But it is the task of true philosophy to pursue the differences and
diversityi of a thing through the whole of time. If one were able to tame
the wild horses of the steppes, they would be very hardy. It can be seen
that the ass and the horse derive from a single stem and that the wild
horse is the ancestral type, for it has long ears. Moreover, the sheep is
similar to the goat, and it is only the conditions of rearing that make a
difference here. Thus it is also with grape vines, etc.
If one were to journey through nature in such a way that one noted the
changes it had undergone through the whole of time, then this would
yield a genuine natural history.
The term ‘geography’ thus refers to the description of nature, indeed,
9:163 of the whole earth. Geography and history encompass the entire range
of knowledge; that is geography for space and history for time.
We usually refer to the geography of the past and of the present,
for geography has existed at all times. But which came first, history or
geography? The latter is a prerequisite for the former, because events
∗ See, for example, C. F. Ludwig’s23 fine Outline of the Natural History of the Human
Species. With engravings [Grundriss der Naturgeschichte der Menschen Species . . . Mit fünf
Kupfertafeln], Leipzig, [Schwickert Verlag], 1796, 8vo.
f Naturbeschreibung h Geschichte der Natur

g Naturgeschichte i Mannigfaltigkeit
450
Physical geography
necessarily take place with reference to something. History is a contin-

uous progression, but things, too, change, and give an entirely different
geography at particular times. Geography is thus the foundationj [of
history]. If we have ancient history, naturally we must also have ancient
geography.
We are most familiar with the geography of the present. Among other
more obvious purposes, it also serves to elucidate ancient geography
by means of history. But our ordinary school geography is very defi-
cient, even though nothing is more capable of enlightening our com-
mon understanding than geography. For, since common understanding
is based on experience, it cannot be extended in any significant way with-
out knowledge of geography. For many people, newspaper reports are
a matter of complete indifference. The reason for this, however, is that
they are not able to situate the news in its proper context. They have no
conception of the land, the sea or the surface of the earth as a whole. Yet
if, for instance, there is a report about navigation in the Arctic Ocean, this
is an extremely interesting matter, for the discovery of a passage through
the Arctic Ocean, now scarcely hoped for, or even the possibility of such
a passage, would have to bring about the most significant changes to the
whole of Europe. There can hardly be a nation where common sense
extends so generally, and down to the lowest classes, than is the case with
the English. This is due to the newspapers, for their reading presupposes
an extensive mental picturek of the whole surface of the earth. Other-
wise, all the news they contained would be a matter of indifference to us,
for we should be unable to utilize these reports in any way. The Peru-
vians are very simple in that they put everything that is handed to them
into their mouths, for they are not in a position to see how they might
make better use of it. Likewise, people who do not know how to utilize
newspaper reports, because they have no way of situating them, are in a
very similar, if not identical, situation to that of these poor Peruvians.
§. 5. 9:164
Physical Geography is thus a general outline of nature, and, because
it is not only the ground of history but also that for all other possible
geographies, the main points of these latter also have to be dealt with
briefly here. To them belong:
1. Mathematical Geography, in which are treated the shape, size and

motion of the earth, as well as its relation to the solar system.
j Substrat k Begriff
451
Natural Science
2. Moral Geography, in which the customs and characters of people are

discussed according to the different regions. For example, in China,
and especially in Japan, parricide is punished as the most terrible
crime, not only by torturing the miscreant to death in the cruellest
manner, but also by killing his whole family and throwing into gaol
all his neighbours who dwelt with him in the same street. For it is
believed that such a crime cannot possibly have come about all at
once but only gradually, and that the neighbours ought to have been
able to predict it and notify the authorities. In Lapland, by contrast, it
is regarded as a special filial duty for the son to strangle his father with
a reindeer sinew, should the latter be wounded while hunting, and for
this reason the father always entrusts such a sinew to his favourite son.
3. Political Geography. If the fundamental principle of civil society
is universal law and an irresistible force exerted against anyone who
breaches this law, and if the laws are based on the nature of the soil and
of the inhabitants, then political geography also belongs here because
it is founded on physical geography. If all the rivers of Russia flowed
southward, then this would be of the greatest utility to the whole
Empire, but in fact, they nearly all flow into the Arctic Ocean. In
Persia, there were for a considerable time two regents, one of whom
had his seat in Isfahan, the other in Kandahar. Neither was able to
overcome the other, because they were prevented from so doing by
the Desert of Kerman which lay between them and which is larger
than many a sea.
4. Mercantile Geography. If one country has a surplus of something
9:165 that another has to do without, then, by means of trade, a state of
balance is maintained in the world as a whole. Here, therefore, it will
have to be indicated why and whence one country has in excess what
another lacks. More than anything else it is trade that has refined
people and formed a basis for their mutual acquaintance.∗
5. Theological Geography. Since theological principles frequently
undergo fundamental changes according to differences of soil, essen-
tial information will need to be provided concerning this as well.
Compare, for example, Oriental and Occidental Christianity and
the finer shades of each. This is even more noticeable with reli-
gions that differ essentially in their fundamental principles. Cf.
H. E. G. Paulus,24 Memorabilia, Pt. 1, Leipzig, 1791, p. 129,25 and
von Breitenbauch26 in the second of his books mentioned above.27
Apart from this, natural variations in the differences between youth
and old age will have to be noted; also, what is peculiar to each country,
e.g., the animals. The local ones need not be noted, however, unless they
∗ Fabri, in his Geistik, p. 4, gives the plan for such a mercantile geography or geography
of trade.
452
Physical geography
are different in other places. Thus the nightingales do not sing nearly so
loudly in Italy as they do in northern regions. On desert islands, dogs do
not bark at all. Also, plants, stones, herbs, mountain ranges, etc., will all
have to be discussed here.
The use of this study is very extensive. It serves to organize our knowl-
edge effectively for our pleasure, and provides ample material for social
conversations.
§. 6.
Before we move on to the discussion of physical geography proper, we
must necessarily first have a conception of mathematical geography in
accordance with the foregoing preliminaries, for we shall have to have
recourse to it all too frequently in the subsequent discussion. Therefore,
we mention here the shape, size, and motion of the earth, as well as its
relationship to the rest of the universe.l
PRELIMINARY MATHEMATICAL 9:166

CONCEPTS.
§. 7.
The shape of the earth is almost spherical, or, as Newton28 has estab-
lished more precisely on the basis of [his] fundamental lawsm and the
law of attraction, a spheroid; and this assertion has subsequently been
confirmed by repeated observations and measurements.∗
One imagines the figuren of the earth as if it were completely sur-
rounded by water, that is as if it were a hydrostatic figure.o In this, the
mountains make no difference, for they are not even visible in the shadow
of the earth, and the highest mountain scarcely makes up one 1,900th
part of the diameter of the earth.† Proofs of the round shape of the earth
are as follows:
1. The sun does not rise and set at the same time in all places, which
would have to be the case if, as was believed for a long time, the earth
∗ Cf. Gaspari, op. cit., pp. 73 f.29

† “This is”, says Bode, “relatively speaking, hardly the thickness of the paper covering a
globe with a diameter of one foot.” General Observation[s] on the Structure of the World
[Allgemeine Betrachtung über das Weltgebäude], Berlin, [C. F. Himberg] 1801, 8vo, p. 5.
For the diameter of the earth amounts to 1,720 geographical miles, each of which has
a mean size of 3,811 8/15 toises. The highest mountain on our earth, however, the
Chimborazo, has a height of 3,567 Paris feet less than one such mile.
l Weltgebäude n Figur
m Centralgesetze. Adickes reads Centralkräfte. o Gestalt
453
Natural Science
were a plane. From this it would only follow, however, that the earth
is curved from east to west. But
2. The heights of the poles and the mid-day sun are not the same in all
places. If we travel fifteen miles towards the south the Pole Star is one
degree lower, and it is one degree higher if we travel the same distance
to the north, until finally it is above our head at the pole itself. From
this, we may properly conclude that the earth is also curved from
north to south.
3. The shadow of the earth on the moon is always round, regardless of
its position.
4. Even with the unimpeded view one has on the open sea, one sees first
the topmost points of objects and the lower parts only gradually.
9:167 5. The earth has been circumnavigated in all directions, which would
be impossible if it were not round.∗
The spheroidal shape of the earth mentioned above is caused by the

fact that all matter that is near the poles collects and piles up towards the
equator in accordance with the laws of gravity and centrifugal force.p
This would also happen if the earth were completely surrounded by
water, because at the poles there is no motion, while at the equator there
is the greatest amount of motion; and as a result, the line passing through
the two poles (the axis of the earth) is smaller than the [diameter of the
earth at the] equator. Newton has proved that any freely-moving body
must adopt this shape.
But if the shape of the earth is that of a spheroid, then there are
antipodeans, who have the sky above them and the earth under their
feet, just as we do. The common opinion that those who live underneath
us and point their feet towards us must fall off is vulgar, because accord-
ing to the laws of gravity, which arise from the attraction of the earth,
everything on the earth must move towards its centre, so that not even
the smallest particle can move away from the earth. If a body could fall
through the earth to the other side, then it would not be beneath it but
on top of it again. For a body that rises just as much as it has fallen does
not stand at the bottom but at the top. A body falls only as far as the
centre; from there on it must rise again. But the force that drove it to the
centre would carry it further on as well, if its own weight did not drive
it back again. The theory of the pendulum can be compared to this.
∗ A rather exact picture of these trips around the world, as they are called, is given by
Fabri,30 cf. op. cit., p. 10. He also lists the older opinions about the shape of the earth
on p. 7. Almost every physical geography provides yet further reasons for the circular
shape of the earth.
p Schwungkraft
454
Physical geography
But since nearly all of the firm landq and its mountains that have
so far been discovered are in the one hemisphere, namely the northern
hemisphere, while the water is mostly found on the opposite hemisphere,
people have supposed that there must be far more land in the south than
has yet been discovered, because otherwise there would be no explanation
as to how the earth can maintain its equilibrium. Presumably, people
imagine the earth as a ship, in which one side must not be more heavily 9:168
laden than the other, for reasons of balance. But this is required only of
a floating body. If one were to assume that the earth directs its course
towards a point outside of itself, then of course it would be necessary to
assume such a balance, but on the earth everything has its weight towards
the centre. Here all parts are attracted to one another, and also every
body attracts all other bodies; indeed the greater the mass, the greater its
attraction. Since the earth has by far the greatest mass of all the bodies
on it, it must attract all other bodies more strongly than does any other,
and it is in this way that the gravitation of all bodies towards the earth is
brought about.
The rotationr of the earth, which is needed in addition to attraction,
is a force due to which all bodies would be cast away from the earth if
the far greater effect of gravity did not prevent this. Bodies have their
greatest weight at the poles, because that is where the rotational force is
at its weakest. It is strongest, on the other hand, at the equator, and for
that reason the difference in weight is most noticeable there. If we were
to assume the earth to be a sphere rather than a spheroid, with no water
on its surface, but that there was a mountain somewhere, then the moun-
tain, no matter where it was, would gradually have to move towards the
equator, until it finally reached it. Or if, under the same circumstances,
there were two such mountains on the earth, they would be in equilib-
rium with one another. Thus the centrifugal forces has the capacity to
bring matter ever closer to the equator. Although the motion is very
slight, it is certainly not without effect, since it takes place constantly.
Nor may we regard even the slightest force as completely insignificant,
since, no matter how slight it is, it must ultimately attain and create a
certain magnitude as a result of its repeated and multiple expression.
The smallest insect pushes the earth back when it jumps; but the ratio
of the mass of the insect in relation to the mass of the earth is the same
as the ratio of the impulset of the insect to the motion of the earth which
is created by this impulse.u Thus, one should not take exception to the
q das feste Land t Stoß

r Umschwung u Stoß
s Schwungkraft
455
Natural Science
fact that it used to be believed that the poles of the earth could move,
by, say, more matter moving from one side to the other.31
9:169 Thus, the lands in the earth’s two hemispheres need not be propor-
tionate to one another, because of the [law of] equilibrium. The reason
for this is that the earth is not an exact sphere but is flattened, or is a
spheroid, which every fluid body becomes when it moves [i.e., rotates]
uniformly.
As a result, the earth is elevated at the equator, or is between four-
and-a-half to six German miles32 higher there than at the poles. In other
words, we have a mountain about six miles high at the equator. By com-
parison with this mountain, all the other mountains and land masses are
not even one thousandth part, since the base of the most considerable
mountain is only half a mile [across], while the other extends around
the entire equator. If the whole of the firm land on the earth cannot
move this mountain from its position, then the axis of the earth cannot
move either, but remains always the same. As a result of all this, the shape
and flattening of the earth is a perfectly natural effect of the reciprocally
acting centrifugal forcev and attraction.
§. 8.
The circumference of the earth is 5,400 miles; its diameter is therefore
1,720 miles. Now, one mile is taken to be one fifteenth of a degree, and,
since any circle, be it large or small, contains 360 degrees, each of which
may be divided into fifteen parts, I can give even the smallest sphere
a measure of 5,400 miles because if I multiply the 360 degrees of the
smallest circle by the fifteenth part of a degree, that is by fifteen, I obtain
a result of 5,400. Therefore, I know as good as nothing if all I know
is that the earth is 5,400 miles in circumference and each mile is one
fifteenth of a degree. The unit meant here by a mile must therefore be
defined more exactly.
In Saxony there are two mile measures, the ‘police mile’,w which con-
sists of 30,000 ‘feet’x and a geographical mile of 2,000 Rhineland roods
or 24,000 ‘feet’. One geometrical pace, or one thousandth part of a
German quarter mile, is equal to five feet, or, according to the most
recent calculations, six Rhineland feet. Putting it another way, one six-
tieth part of one degree of the earth is one minute of the earth. One
thousandth part of such a minute is one geometrical pace. If now a geo-
9:170 graphical mile consists of 24,000 ‘feet’ and there are fifteen such miles
to one degree, then one minute of the earth is equal to one quarter of
v Schwungkraft x Werkschuhe
w Polizeimeile
456
Physical geography
a mile and has 6,000 ‘feet’. Consequently, one thousandth part of this
minute is six feet, and that is the geometrical pace. According to older
measurements, one geographical mile had only 20,000 ‘feet’; a quarter
of a mile, or one minute of the earth, thus had only 5,000 [‘feet’]; and
the geometrical pace had only five feet.
A ‘Klafter’ or ‘toise’ is the same as what seamen call a ‘fathom’, and
miners call a ‘Lachter’. It is equivalent to six feet or five Dresden ells
[yards].
Note. In relation to the new French measure, it should be noted that each
quadrant is divided into 100 degrees.33 Each degree contains 100 minutes and
each minute 100 seconds. The ratio of the ordinary degree to the new French
one is 60 to 54, or 10 to 9, that of the old minute of the circle to the new is 60
to 32.4, that of the old second to the new is 1 to 0.324.y See von Zach,34
General Geographical Ephemerides,35 vol. 1, p. 91, in which excellent journal one
can find a great many splendid things concerning other matters of
mathematical and physical geography as well as concerning older and more
recent measurements of the earth and of degrees. In relation to what is said
above concerning the geographical mile, it is also necessary to compare
Gehler’s36 Physical Dictionary,37 pt. iii, pp. 186 f. as well as the mile table in
Gaspari,38 op. cit., pp. 80 f.
§. 9.
The earth rotates from west to east, and so the rising of the sun and the
stars is in the opposite direction, that is from east to west.
The motion of the heavens is only apparent since, as we do not perceive
the motion of the earth on which we are situated, we have an apparent
motion of the heavens, but we do not know whether it is the heavens
or the earth that moves. This is the same as when a ship is anchored in
calm weather on the open sea, while another ship on which I am situated
is carried along by the current, so that I do not know which of the two
ships, the former or the latter, is moving. In exactly the same way, we do
not know whether we or the stars are changing position. The proof that
the earth does not stand still, but that it is actually the earth that moves,
has to be argued with great subtlety.
If the earth had no motion at all, no circles could be defined on it. But 9:171
now as, on the contrary, it has a double motion, i.e., one on its axis, or its
daily motion, the other around the sun, or its annual one, the following
points and lines result:
I. From the motion of the earth round its axis:
1. Two points that have no motion but are fixed, and around which
the earth rotates. These are called poles, the North and the South
y Gedan reads 0.324 to 1.
457
Natural Science
Poles. The line which I imagine joining these two points can be
called the axis. In this way, we have two points and the possibility
of drawing a line on the surface of a sphere on which we normally
do not distinguish anything. But since the axis itself is inside the
sphere, it need not concern us further for the time being.
2. Through the two points, the poles, a circle may be drawn that
divides the earth in two, and this is the meridian. Now, an infinite
number of meridians may be drawn, because it is possible to draw
[infinitely] many circles between the two points.
But how can I draw the meridian at any given point? This ques-
tion justifies a new kind of points that are determined by every
observer, and are not fixed.
I have to assume a centre at the middle of the earth as in the
case of any other sphere or circle. From this, I can draw a line
through the position I occupy over my head and from there back
again through the centre. This is then the zenith and nadir, that
each person determines for and through himself. Only one line
can be drawn through any two points. There is one point within
the earth, and there is one above me also. These determine one
and the same line. Thus each individual has his zenith, because
each individual can draw a line from the centre to [the point]
above himself. Therefore, each can also have his own meridian.
Many places, however, have the same meridian, as for example
Königsberg and the Cape of Good Hope.
Any meridian divides the world into two parts: eastern and west-
ern. Any two places that are on the same meridian, however, are
not differentiated in terms of east and west, but in terms of north
9:172 and south, since in this case a place can only be closer to the north
or to the south than is some other place. But on every meridian,
two parts have to be distinguished in so far as it is the meridian of
our own position and also that of our antipodes. When the sun is
at mid-day where we are, then it is in our meridian. By contrast,
at midnight it stands in the meridian of our antipodes.
Therefore there are as many meridians as there are conceivable
positions around the earth from east to west.
3. The rotation of the earth on its axis determines another line,
the equator, which is equidistant from both poles and where
the motion of the earth is greatest. For, the nearer the poles
the smaller the circle, and thus also the smaller the motion. The
line that is at an equal distance from both poles also divides the
earth into two equal parts, and that is into the southern and north-
ern hemispheres. While there can be many meridians, there is only
one circle at the same distance from both poles and which is thus
defined by this distance. The two halves of the earth arising in this
458
Physical geography
way are called hemispheres. It is true that, as already pointed out,

any meridian also divides the earth into two hemispheres, though
these of course are not determined by nature. Places on the same
meridian are distinguished according to north and south, but not
east and west. By contrast, those on the equator are distinguished
according to east and west, but not south and north. Therefore,
just as the meridian serves to distinguish east from west, the equa-
tor distinguishes north from south.
Now, every circle has 360 degrees, and so also does the equator.
This determines how many degrees from east to west any place is.
But now the question arises as to where one should actually begin
to count the degrees, since the equator is a circle that has no fixed
starting point, so that any place at all could be chosen arbitrarily.
Consequently, a starting point has in fact been arbitrarily selected
on the equator from which the degrees are reckoned. This point
is taken by drawing a meridian through the island of Ferro,39
from which place the equator is divided from west to east in fixed 9:173
degrees, because the motion of the earth is in this direction.∗
Thus we have two circles that intersect at right angles. If now I
want to know the difference between the positions of two places,
for example Königsberg and Moscow, in respect of their situation
from west to east, I draw a meridian through both towns and
both intersect with the equator. Then one counts the difference
between the degrees on the equator. The arc between the two
meridians and the [corresponding] number of the degrees is then
observed to be the difference between the situation of the two
places from west to east.
All degrees of the meridian are degrees of latitude and all
degrees of the equator are degrees of longitude. But what is meant
by the latitude and longitude of a place? The latitude is the distance
of a place from the equator and is measured along the meridian;
the longitude is the distance of a place from the [arbitrarily chosen]
meridian [such as that at Ferro] and is measured from west to east
along the equator. It is also called the sea longitude, and is difficult
to determine because the appearance of the sky is always the same
[at different longitudes]. The latitude, on the other hand, can eas-
ily be found, because when the latitude changes, the [appearance
of the] sky also changes, and because in addition it is the same as
the altitude of the pole.40 But just as there are two hemispheres,
∗ It is greatly to be wished that agreement could be reached on the determination of
the first meridian. Since Nature has not placed any limits on arbitrariness, others have
fixed other first meridians. There are thus, in addition to the one mentioned, also: 1) a
Greenwich meridian. It is 17◦ 41 east of that on Ferro. 2) The Flores meridian, 13◦ 26
30 west of Ferro.
459
Natural Science
there is also a two-fold latitude, a northern one and a southern

one. The greatest possible latitude is 90 degrees, and that is the
pole. Places on the equator have no latitude at all.
In regard to longitude it should be noted that, since counting
begins from the west, every place ought to have only one longitude
east. Thus Philadelphia, for example, would have a longitude of
320 degrees east, although this town is at a distance of only 40
9:174 degrees from the first meridian if we were to count the degrees
back from the east. If, however, we count the eastern longitude,
then we must begin with the first degree and count each degree
from there around the whole earth. So longitude should be deter-
mined once and for all and always only from the east or from the
west. People have departed from this, however, because it seemed
to be too laborious always to have to count the whole number
of degrees. This is the reason why Philadelphia is said to have a
longitude of either 40 degrees west or 320 degrees east.
Apart from the equator, there are other lines or circles parallel
to it, the number of which could be greatly increased. They are
called diurnal circles [circuli diurni]. It is by means of these par-
allel circles that the different positions of the various countries
are determined, which are called according to the names of their
climates.
Places situated on one and the same parallel have the same lati-
tude, just as places on the same meridian have the same longitude;
and this is because the former are at an equal distance from the
equator, while the latter are equidistant from the first meridian.
Places situated on the same parallel have the same climate (geo-
graphically, not physically, obviously), while those on the same
meridian have different climates, since the meridians pass through
all the parallels. Areas that are in different hemispheres, but at the
same distance from the equator, have similar climates. Places that
are on the same meridian have midday at the same time. Places
that are on the same parallel do not have midday at one and the
same time, but they have days of the same length, which is not true
of those that are on the same meridian. At the equator, where the
altitude of the pole and the ascensional difference equals zero,41
the length of the days is the same at all times: 12 hours. But in the
regions nearer the poles such equivalence of day and night occurs
only twice a year, on 20 March and 23 September, when the sun
is over the equator. When it moves from there higher up over the
9:175 northern hemisphere, the days there become longer, and shorter
in the southern hemisphere, just as the opposite is true when the
sun, in its ecliptic, moves towards the South Pole.
460
Physical geography
The longest day in the northern hemisphere is 21 June, and

21 December in the southern, while the former is the shortest
day in the southern hemisphere and the latter the shortest in the
northern. The longest day in Königsberg, for instance, is 17 hours
and 4 minutes; the shortest 6 hours and 56 minutes. At the poles,
the day lasts half a year, at the South Pole from 23 September to 20
March, and at the North Pole from 20 March to 23 September;
and equally there is night for half the year, which is, however,
made more tolerable by the northern lights, etc.
The ancients divided the earth into climes42 in such a way that,
where the day became longer by a whole hour, a new clime began.
Thus, we have now considered and become acquainted with the
motion of the earth on its axis [but] only [this so far].
II. A second motion of the earth is that of its annual course or circuit
around the sun. The circle to be observed here is the orbit of the
earth, or the apparent orbit of the sun. But it is the earth that moves
in a circle, the centre of which is the sun. If the earth’s axis always
formed a right angle with the orbit of the earth, or if the latter were
always perpendicular to the former, then the sun would always be
over the equator and would at all times cause an equality of night and
day, thereby abolishing the change of the seasons throughout the
world. But in fact the axis is not perpendicular to the orbit. Rather,
it deviates from it by 231/2 degrees.∗
If, in accordance with the above, the [axis of the] earth is at an oblique
angle to the sun, then it follows that one hemisphere must be further 9:176
from the sun than the other, and it is from this that the changes of
the seasons occur. This motion has a special feature, namely that the
earth, in its motion around the sun, always maintains its axis at the same
angle. The position of the axis in relation to the orbit of the earth is
always the same. The axis remains parallel to itself throughout the year,
and the angle of the axis to the plane of its orbit always remains the
∗ A [comparative] compilation of the deviation of the ecliptic with the deviation of the
magnetic poles has not yet been considered. Perhaps the results of such an undertaking
could be of significance for physics itself. See De la Lande,43 Astronomical Handbook
[Astronomisches Handbuch; oder die Sternkunst in einer kurzen Lehrbegriff, verfasset von
Herrn de la Lande]. Translated from the French, Leipzig, [H. W. F. Flittner and J. C.
Müller], 1775, 8vo, § 749 f. Also Gehler’s Physical Dictionary [Physikalisch Wörterbuch],
Leipzig, 1798, 8vo, pt. 4, pp. 622 f. Magnetism and electricity are perhaps different only
as products of latitude and longitude. The reasons for this opinion will be discussed in
another place. I have already found something in [F.W.J.] Schelling’s Ideas [Ideen zu einer
Philosophie der Natur, Leipzig, Breitkopf and Härtel, 1797] that is in agreement with
this.
461
Natural Science
same. If this were not so, the sun could only be visible from one hemi-
sphere. On 21 December, the earth stands in the north.44 Therefore,
the northern side of the earth is further from the sun on account of
its angle, and as a result, it is [mid-]winter. At that time, the sun does
not illuminate the earth as far as the North Pole; on the contrary, the
greater part of the northern hemisphere is cut off from its light, and
where there is still day it becomes relatively shorter at this time [of the
year].
But if the earth is exactly in the west on 21 March, the sun is at the
equator, and everybody has an equally long day and equally long night,
since the sun is shining upon both poles equally. On 21 June the sun
lights up the greater part of the northern hemisphere, and the region of
the South Pole is in shadow. That is, the day is longer there [i.e., in the
northern hemisphere] than is the night, just the opposite of what was
said above in respect of 21 December. Finally, on 21 September the sun
is at the equator again, and therefore day and night are of equal length
for the second time in the year.
The difference in the seasons is thus a result of the angle of the earth in
its orbit. If the earth were at a greater angle, there would be no daylight
at all in the northern part or in the winter, and in the southern part or
in the summer there would be no night.
From this motion of the earth around the sun the following circles
result:
1. The tropics, which are drawn through those points at which the sun
is at its greatest distance from the equator and from which it gradually
approaches the equator again. Such a tropic is to be found in each of
the hemispheres at a distance of 23◦ 30 from the equator. The tropics
arise from the obliquity of the ecliptic, without which the latter would
coincide with the equator and the change of seasons would disappear.
The obliquity of the ecliptic is thus 23◦ 30 . At some time, the sun
9:177 is at the zenith of every place situated between the tropics, but it is
never in the zenith of any place that lies outside the tropics. There45
it will shine into the bottom of a deep well, while here46 it will only
illuminate one side of a well.
2. The polar circles are drawn at a distance 23◦ 30 from the poles, and
there is one in each hemisphere. All lands situated within the polar
circles have at least one day a year when there is no sunrise and no
sunset.
3. Finally, we must mention one circle which is brought about neither
by the motion of the earth around its axis, nor by its motion around
the sun, but by optical means. This is the horizon, which is a circle
equidistant from the zenith and the nadir.
462
Physical geography
§. 10.
The zones or ‘circles’ of the earth are as follows:
1. The torridz zone. This is situated between the two tropics. Because
the equator divides the earth into hemispheres, it can be said that
there are two torrid zones, one in each hemisphere. That is, there is
a northern and a southern torrid zone.
2. The two temperate zones. These are situated between the torrid
zones and the polar circles, and are called temperate because it is
around their centre that most people and animal species are able to
live. Nonetheless, in those regions nearer the tropics it is often hotter
than at the equator itself, because here the sun is near the zenith for
longer and it is day for longer than at the equator, where day and
night are always the same, so the night is long enough to bring about
the requisite cooling of the earth.
3. The two frigid zones are between the polar circles and the poles in
both hemispheres.
The zones stand in relation to the length of the days in their corre-
sponding areas. The torrid zone encompasses all those places where
night and day are relatively of the same length. All places in this zone
have the sun at their zenith twice a year. The temperate zones, on
the other hand, include all those places in which even the longest day
does not attain 24 hours. The countries situated in this zone never
have the sun at their zenith, but throughout the year they have night 9:178
and day in every 24 hours. Finally, in the frigid zones, there are those
places in which the longest day lasts for half a year. The longest day
is thus always longer the closer one comes to the poles. People living
at the poles would have the equator as their horizon, and as a result
the sun would remain constantly on their horizon for an entire half
year.
§. 11.
So far, we have spoken about the circles and changes that occur as a
result of the motion of the earth around the sun. But there are several
heavenly bodies that undeniably have a closer influence on the earth
in some respect or other, even if this is not immediately obvious in all
cases. And [this] can be shown in greater detail in some cases than in
others. – Heavenly bodies that stand in a relatively close relationship
to one another are called a solar system. Such a system consists of a
z heisse
463
Natural Science
self-luminous body and several dark bodies that obtain their light from
the former. These are called planets, the others suns; or, in relation to
solar systems other than our own, fixed stars.
Unchangingly stable, rotating on its own axis only once in 25 days
and approximately 12 hours, the sun stands at the centre of our system
and spreads its light over all those bodies that turn around it in smaller
or larger circles, and are thus called planets, just as it shines upon our
earth.∗
The sun is almost one and a half million times as large as our earth, and
its diameter is 193,871.35 miles.47 There are many possible opinions as
to whether it is a body more or less solid than the earth; whether it is in
itself a luminous mass or whence it obtains the light and heat it radiates,
and about the dark and the very bright spots that are to be found on
its surface, of which the former are called sunspots and the latter solar
flares.
9:179 As far as we know, seven planets belong to our solar system. The
course of Mercury is at an average distance of eight million miles from
the sun; that of Venus fifteen million; the Earth twenty-four million;
Mars thirty-one million; Jupiter one hundred and ten million; Saturn
one hundred and ninety-nine million; and Uranus four hundred million
miles.
Mercury has a diameter of 608 miles or approximately one third of
the diameter of the earth. The time it takes to complete one revolution
around the sun, that is one year on it, is 87 days, 231/4 hours. The sun’s
light takes only 3 7 to reach it.
The diameter of Venus is 1,615 miles and its revolution around the
sun takes 224 days and 17 hours. The rays of the sun reach it in 5 minutes
and 32 seconds. Next to it, the
Earth turns round the sun in 365 days 5 hours and 48 minutes, with
light reaching it after 8 7 . Beyond the earth and nearest to it is
Mars, which has a diameter of only 920 miles and completes its circuit
around the sun in 686 days, 23 hours, and 301/2 minutes, sunlight taking
12 22 to reach it.
Jupiter has a diameter of 18,920 miles. A year on it corresponds to
eleven of our years, 315 days, 14 hours, 27 11 . Sunlight requires 42
13 to reach this planet.
Saturn has a diameter of 17,160 miles; its year takes 29 of our years
and 167 days, 1 hour, 51 minutes, and 11 seconds. The rays of the sun
need one hour, 17 minutes and 25 seconds to reach it. The last planet of
our solar system, known to us only since 1781, is
∗ Actually, the sun is not situated at the true centre of its system, but only approximately.
Nor does what is said above contradict the motion of the sun and its entire system within
the universe.
464
Physical geography
Uranus, with a diameter of 8,665 astronomical miles; a single one of

its years takes 84 years, 8 days, 18 hours, and 14 minutes in our reckoning,
and light reaches it only after 2 hours and 36 minutes.
Like the earth, all these planets have a spheroidal shape, though some 9:180
of them are more and others less flattened or pressed in at the poles.
Despite what one might suppose, however, this does not appear to
depend on their slower or faster rotation as far as is known to us. For
instance, in the case of Mars, the ratio of the whole length of its axis to
the diameter of its equator is almost 15 to 16; that is, it has a greater
flattening than the earth, even though its volume is much smaller and its
rotation on its axis is much slower.
The fact that we do not know of an eighth or possibly several more
planets in our solar system is not decisive evidence that there are, in fact,
no others. Rather, the enormous distance of Uranus from the nearest
fixed star (that is probably at least 200,000 semi-diameters of the earth’s
orbit, or four billion miles, from the sun) allows us to presume that there
are more planets beyond it. Just as there are good reasons to think it
probable that even within the known limits of the solar system, namely
between Mars and Jupiter, there could well be an as yet undiscovered
planet.∗
Several of these planets have satellites or moons, which apart from
turning around their own axis, turn not only around their planet but
[move] with this planet around the sun as well. Of these planets, there
are:
1. The Earth with one moon.
2. Jupiter with four moons.
3. Saturn with seven moons.
4. Uranus with six moons.
As far as Venus is concerned, it cannot yet be regarded as established
that it has such a companion, but on the other hand it cannot definitely
be said that it, Mercury and Mars do not have one. Incidentally, Saturn 9:181
has, in addition to its moons, a ring, the like of which has not yet been
discovered around any other planet, which surrounds it at a distance of
more than six and a half thousand miles, and which also appears to be a
dark and solid body which seems to serve to increase the sunlight on that
planet. Whether Uranus also has two such rings, not inside one another
but concentric, as Herschel48 supposed,49 remains to be confirmed.
∗ Piazzi50 in Palermo has claimed to have discovered a comet on 1 January 1801 in the
shape of a star of the eighth order of magnitude and without any obvious nebulosity.
But in the light of those observations of Piazzi, Bode now feels justified in regarding this
supposed comet as the planet presumed to exist between Mars and Jupiter. The famous
astronomers von Zach, Oriani,51 and even Piazzi agree with him. See Haude and Spener’s
Berlin Journal [Berliner Haude- und Spenersche Zeitung], 1801, no. 57.
465
Natural Science
Of all these companions of the planets, only that of our earth is of

interest to us in the first instance. The moon turns, just as the planets
turn around the sun, in an elliptical orbit round the earth, and thus is
sometimes closer (perigee), at a distance of 48,020 miles, and sometimes
further from it (apogee), at 54,680 miles. The difference in the distance
of the planets in relation to the sun is called perihelion and aphelion; in
the case of the earth, the former is 23,852 and the latter 24,667 semi-
diameters of the earth.
For its rotation round the earth, from west to east,52 the moon needs
27 days and 8 hours, although, since the earth is also continuing in its
progress round the sun in the meantime, 29 days and 13 hours elapse
from one new moon to the next. The time taken for its rotation round its
axis is the same as that of its actual circuit round the earth, from which it
follows that it only ever turns one and the same side towards us, which
seems to be a general rule for all satellites.a
The diameter of the moon is only 468 miles. It is a dark and solid
body like our earth, and also receives its light from the sun. When it
is between the sun and the earth it hides the light of the sun from us,
and it is a new moon. When it gradually moves further to the east in its
circuit around the earth, its western side, or that which is turned towards
us, is illuminated, and after it has progressed through 90 degrees in its
circuit in this way we have the first quarter. The closer it comes to the
180th degree, the more it is illuminated, until on reaching that degree it is
opposite the sun and is [then] our full moon. During its ever-continuing
progress, the western illumination gradually decreases again so that in
the 270th degree of its orbit it is light only on its eastern half, and is, as
9:182 we say, in the last quarter. The more it approaches the sun, the more
the light decreases, until it is again between the sun and the earth.
The surface of the moon is very similar to that of our earth, except that
there are no seas and no great rivers, while there are much higher moun-
tains, all of which suggest the presence of many volcanoes. Whether the
moon has an atmosphere like ours, or has none at all, or a finer atmo-
sphere, has not yet been decided, but the last seems to be the most likely.
Incidentally, from what has been said above, it is clear that there is no
change of seasons on the moon such as we have, nor any difference in
the length of the night and day.
The eclipses to which the moon is subject arise when the earth comes
between it and the sun to a greater or lesser degree, and thus removes
the light from the moon, just as in a similar situation it [the moon] causes
a so-called eclipse of the sun on the earth. Besides, the moon has an
undeniable influence on the earth, as is shown by the tides. But how far
this influence extends has so far been more the subject of conjecture and
a Trabanten. Gedan gives Planeten (planets).
466
Physical geography
superstition than of definite knowledge. It is possible, however, that, by

showing the causes, the latter will one day raise some of the assertions
of the former to [the status of] evidence.∗ So much for the moon!
Apart from the main and the subsidiary planets, there is an indeter-
minably large number of other heavenly bodies, called comets, which
move through our solar system in long, narrow, elliptical orbits. So far,
approximately ninety-three of these have had their orbits calculated.
Most probably they consist of finer matter than that of the planets. They
traverse the orbits of the planets from east to west, and vice versa, and
in all possible directions. They penetrate the atmosphere of the sun and
then hurry away beyond the path of Uranus. According to all calcula-
tions and experience, however, the earth has no reason to fear anything
from a meeting with a comet.
Note. Since only the most essential matters concerning mathematical 9:183
geography could be mentioned here, the following list of relevant publications
may be cited here for anyone who wishes to inform himself more precisely on
this matter.
Friedrich Mallet,53 General or Mathematical Description of the Globe,

translated from the Swedish by L. H. Röhl, Greifswald, 1774, 8vo.54
Walch’s55 Detailed Mathematical Geography, second edn., Göttingen, 1794.56
Kästner’s57 Further Explanation of Mathematical Geography, Göttingen,
1795.58
J. H. Voigt,59 Textbook of Popular Astronomy, Weimar, 1799.60
J. E. Bode,61 Instruction for the Knowledge of the Starry Heavens, Berlin, 1800,
seventh edn., 8vo.62
La Place,63 Exposition of the System of the World, Paris, 1796, 2 vols., 8vo;
translated by Hauff, Frankfurt am Main, 1798, 2 vols., 8vo.64
Other works which call for mention here include in particular:
von Zach, General Geographical Tables, Weimar, 1798, 1799;65 continued by

Gaspari and Bertuch66 after 1800.
von Zach, Monthly Correspondence, Gotha, 1800 and 1801.67
TREATISE ON PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY.

§. 12.
We now move to the treatment of physical geography itself and divide
it up into:
∗ What the facts are about high and low tides in the atmosphere, and what causes them,
is still uncertain; Mr von Humboldt does mention that he observed them in America,
and Francis Balfour 68 before him. See pp. 201 f. of the Dissertations and Miscellaneous
Pieces Relating to the History [and Antiquities, the Arts, Sciences, and Literature] of Asia. By
William Jones,69 vol. IV, London [and Dublin, P. Byrne], 1793.
467
Natural Science
I. A general part, in which we examine the earth according to its parts

and all that belongs to it, the water, the air and the land.
II. A particular part, in which particular products and creatures of the
earth will be discussed.
9:184 FIRST PART.

first section.
Concerning Water.
§. 13.
The surface of the earth is divided into water and dry land. Here we shall
discuss in the first instance not the rivers, streams, and wells, but the sea
water as the mother of all waters, for the former are only products of the
earth and have their source in the sea. Nonetheless, we shall begin by
making a few comments about water in general.
§. 14.
The most universally present liquid capable of forming dropsb is water.
It is precipitated from the atmosphere as rain, enters the soil in this form,
wells out of it again in rivers, ponds, and lakes, forms the ocean, and
constitutes a component of nearly all other bodies. It is thus no wonder
that it was considered by Thales70 as the primary source of all other
substances. Even later, people considered this opinion confirmed by the
supposed fact that earth was separated out from it when distillations or
other experiments were done. The invalidity of these experiments was
amply demonstrated by the discovery of the errors occurring in them.
On the other hand, further experiments have led to the very probable
conjecture that water consists of hydrogen and oxygen in a mixture such
that in one hundred parts there are 15 of the former and 85 of the latter.
The extent to which the most recent experiments carried out with the
Galvanic-Voltaic battery will teach us otherwise with certainty remains
in doubt, at least for the time being. Moreover, it has been thought
possible to assume with some probability that water might well turn into
atmospheric air by means of chemical change.
Depending on the temperature, water appears to us in three forms,
namely ice, water, and vapour. Therefore, just as on the one hand one
is quite right to declare it to be a liquid body, so on the other can one
assert with equal justice that it is a solid body.
b tropfbar
468
Physical geography
It appears to us in this form up to 0 degrees on the Réaumur71 scale, or 9:185

32 degrees on the Fahrenheit thermometer, and then consists of crystals
that intersect at an angle of 60 degrees.
But if a larger mass of heat is added, then this hitherto solid body will
appear to us as a liquid or water, which form, however, it exchanges for
that of a vapour at a temperature of 80 degrees Réaumur or 212 degrees
Fahrenheit. This vapour is still present in the atmosphere even in the
clearest sky, and it makes the air cloudy and less transparent only when
it becomes denser, in the form of dew, frost, fog, or clouds.
Water can seldom or never be found completely pure in the nat-
ural state, since it is not only a solvent of salts particularly but also
of many other substances. As rain or snow it can be found in a form
least mixed with other substances. Less pure are the waters of wells
or springs, and among these, again, the hard waters are less pure than
the soft, since the former are impregnated with earthy neutral salts.
The admixture of foreign matter is greatest in mineral water; sea water
can be counted as a [kind of] mineral water. Completely pure water
can only be obtained by means of careful distillation and by itself is
not capable of becoming unwholesome, but is a completely transparent,
colourless, tasteless, odourless, and incombustible liquid, able to form
drops.
So much on this point. More can be found out about this in the
well-known physical and chemical works of Lavoisier,72 Girtanner,73
Hermstädt,74 Gren,75 Hildebrand,76 Hube,77 Grimm,78 Gehler and oth-
ers. Compare also Otto’s79 admirable System of a general Hydrography of
the Earth’s Surface, Berlin, 1800, 8vo, pp. 8–50,80 and, in connection with
the most recent Galvanic-Voltaic experiments, Voigt’s Magazine for the
Latest State of Nature Studies, Vol. 2, Part 2.81
§. 15.
[The Earth’s] water in general is like a large container and a deep valley,
in which the water found on earth has collected. The land is merely an
elevation above this. There is disproportionately more water than land
on earth, and the land, since it is surrounded by water, forms, as it were,
a great island.
The water in general that flows around the land is called the ocean 9:186
and the land as a whole is called the continent. This latter is difficult to
define, since it virtually does not exist, for the ocean surrounds it almost
everywhere like an archipelago.
Differing from the continent in this sense, this name is also given to
any connected [piece of] land of considerable size, which we distinguish
precisely in this way from a smaller [piece of] land surrounded by the
sea, or an island. If, therefore, we were to call a [piece of] land extending
469
Natural Science
approximately 450 German miles in every direction by this name, then

we should have three continents. (See Philipp’s Journey to New South
Wales in Forster’s82 Magazine of Noteworthy New Travel Descriptions, vol.
1, p. 6.83 ) The first consists of the three parts of the earth: Europe, Asia,
and Africa; the second of America; the third, finally, of New Holland
[Australia]. Alternatively, however, and with just as much justification,
we can call the land as a whole an island. See Dionysius,84 Periegesis,c
verse 4.
The surface of the earth has an area of more than nine million square
miles, of which the sea or the ocean amounts to 61/2, the land to less than
21/2 million square miles.
A[n expanse of] water that encompasses many islands is called an
archipelago,85 just as a[n expanse of] water surrounded by land is called
an inland or mediterranean sea. What is an inland sea in terms of
water, is an island in terms of land, since the former is surrounded by
land in the same way as the other is by water. Those [bodies of] water
that contain salt are called seas; some of the inland seas also contain salt,
and although they are separated from the ocean, they nonetheless have
a mutual affinity and are also called seas.
The ocean is the mother of all the waters of the earth, because it orig-
inally covered the earth, which subsequently emerged from its womb.
The division of the ocean is partly arbitrary but partly also in accor-
dance with nature. At the pole it is called the Arctic Ocean; further
down, the Great Atlantic, and between Asia and America the Pacific
or Calm Ocean. A [body of] water that extends into the land and is
9:187 surrounded by it, though connected with the sea in one place, is called a
gulf or bight. This, therefore, is nothing but an inland sea open at one
side, except that its length must be greater than its breadth, since, if it is
broader than it is long, it is called a bay, although these two things are
often confused. A gulf, from the point of view of the land, is the converse
of a peninsula, which is a [piece of] land extending into the sea, being
surrounded by it but still connected at one side to the land. Thus Italy
is a peninsula and the Adriatic Sea is a gulf. A smaller bay is also called a
bight. A strait or narrows is a [body of] water that is surrounded by land
on two sides but is connected to the water on two other sides. From the
point of view of the land, a strait is the converse of an isthmus, which
consists of a narrow tract of land surrounded by water on two sides. The
Mediterranean could properly be called a gulf of the ocean, as it is not
totally separated from it. But since the Straits of Gibraltar are so narrow
in relation to the size of this sea, it is regarded as separate from it.
The most noteworthy gulfs are:
c Periegesis: a description of a place or region.
470
Physical geography
I. In Europe.
A. The Mediterranean Sea, as a great gulf of the Ocean, in which
is to be found, apart from the Golfo d’Otranto, the Adriatic Sea
as a medium-sized gulf, and which also includes as smaller gulfs
the
a) Golfo di Venezia and
b) Golfo di Genua. Then
B. The Bay of Biscay north of Spain and west of France.
C. The Baltic Sea with the two small gulfs:
a) the Gulf of Bothnia, cutting deep into Sweden.
b) the Gulf of Finland, between Sweden and Russia.
D. The White Sea, a gulf of the Arctic Ocean near Archangel.
II. In Asia.
A. The Arabian Sea or the Red Sea, a western border of Asia in
relation to Africa.
B. The Persian Gulf, between Persia and the Arabian Peninsula, 9:188
into which flow the Euphrates and the Tigris.
C. The Bay of Bengal, between the two peninsulas of the Ganges.
D. The Gulf of Siam, between Malacca, Siam and Cambodia.
E. The Gulf of Penshinski, between Kamchatka and Tartary [Sea
of Okhotsk].
III. In Africa.
A. The Gulf of Guinea, on the western coast of Africa, adjacent to
Guinea.
B. The Gulf of Sidra, north of Tripoli.
C. The Gulf of Gabes, east of Tunis.
IV. In America.
A. The Gulf of Mexico, south of Florida.
B. The Bay of Campeche, north of the Yucatan Peninsula.
C. The Gulf of Honduras, southeast of the peninsula of the same
name.
D. The Gulf of Darien, east of the isthmus of Panama.
E. The Gulf of Panama, south of that isthmus.
F. The Gulf of California, between California and New Mexico.
G. Hudson Bay, between [parts of] New Britain.
V. In Australia, there is the Gulf of Carpenteria, situated in the north.
The most famous straits or narrows are:
I. In Europe.
A. The Straits of Gibraltar, called simply The Straits by the
Dutch, so that the sailors travelling to the Levant are known
as Straits Travellers. It is about four miles across, but seems to
the sailors as though it has been dug out, because the coasts are
very high and steep.
471
Natural Science
B. The Straits of Caffa connect the Sea of Azov with the Black
Sea.
C. The Straits of Constantinople connect the Black Sea with the
Sea of Marmora.
D. The Dardanelles are the channel between the Sea of Marmora
and the Mediterranean.
9:189 E. The Channel, called simply that, or la Manche, or Pas de Calais,
between France and England.
F. The St George’s Channel, also called the ‘upside down’ chan-
nel by the Dutch, between England and Ireland.
G. The Sound (which name signifies a shallows), between the
island of Zealand and Sweden.
H. The Great and Little Belt, the former between the island of
Zealand and Funen,d the latter between Funen and the Jutland
Peninsula.
II. In Asia.
A. The Straits of Babelmandab or Bab-el-mandeb, that is, the
Gate of Sorrows or of Tears, because many ships run aground
here. It connects the Red Sea with the Indian Ocean.
B. The Straits of Hormuz, once one of the most famous market-
places of the world, connects the Persian Gulf with the Arabian
Sea.
C. The Straits of Malacca, between the island of the same name
and the island of Sumatra.
D. The Straits of Sunda, between the islands of Java and Sumatra.
Hence also the name Sunda Islands and the Sea of Sunda. The
Straits of Macassar, between the islands of Borneo and Celebes,
may also be noted.
III. In Africa there is only the Strait of Mozambique between Africa
and the island of Madagascar.
IV. In America, that is
1. In North America.
A. The Davis Strait, off the west coast of Greenland. The fishermen
who go there to catch herring are called Davis Travellers.
B. The Hudson Strait, between Baffin Islande and Labrador.
C. The Bahama Strait, between eastern Florida and the island of
Cuba.
2. In South America.
A. The Straits of Magellan, 80 miles long, between the island of
del Fuego and Patagonia.
d Gedan reads “Amack”, a small low island in the sound south of Copenhagen.
e Gedan reads “mainland”.
472
Physical geography
B. The Le Maire Strait, between del Fuego and Staaten Island. Some 9:190
take the former, some take the latter route from the Atlantic to
the Southern Ocean.
V. In Australia.
The Providence Straits, between New Holland [Australia] and
New Guinea.
§. 16.
As for the figure or shape of water, water is like limitless space, and
actually has no shape; rather it gives shape to the land. However, it
has been observed that nearly all the rivers in America, Europe, and the
greater part of Africa flow into the Atlantic Ocean; and further that there
is only a small divide between America and Asia; indeed that if one were
to take Paris as a vantage point one would perceive nearly all the land
as though it were a single peninsula;f thus one may conjecture that in
all probability the Atlantic Ocean was once a great basin, and that the
water that was in it broke the dam, as it were, and in this way became
connected with the rest of the water.
Indeed, there is reason to assume that the water was limited by the
land and thereby acquired a shape which we shall take the opportunity to
discuss in greater detail in the section on the former state of the world.
If one compares the shore with the sea-floor, one finds that the floor
nearly always matches the neighbouring shore, so that if the shore is
steep the sea-floor will also be steep, and if the shore slopes down at an
angle then the sea-floor will incline similarly. That this is in fact the case
is clear from the generally accepted rule of sailors originating from the
famous seafarer Dampier,86 [which states] that where the shore is steep
it is easy to sail close to the land, whereas in places where it slopes down
gently it is necessary to stay a certain distance away. The further away
from the land, the deeper the sea becomes, for the land slopes down
gradually. As the sea is only a valley, the sea-bed is nothing other than a
continuation of the land and is exceedingly similar to it with respect to
the constitution of its floor, because, in the water too, one finds whole
stretches of mountains such that the water at the front part of a ship at
times has a depth of 20 fathoms,g while at the rear it is 200–300 fathoms 9:191
deep. The constituent parts of the sea-floor are very similar to those of
the land.
The tops of mountains in the water, if they are blunted and
broad and extend above the water, are called islands. Long
f Halbinsel. Adickes reads Halbkugel (hemisphere).

g Lot
473
Natural Science
sandbanks which cover the coast and thus hinder ships from approach-
ing the land, are called bars. Thus, for example, the Coromandel Coast
has no usable harbour because of the bars in front of it. A reef is a shallow
in the sea, containing a sandbank that begins at the land and stretches
far into the sea under the water. From all this it may be supposed that
a great revolution occurred on the earth, such that the present floor of
the sea consists of former lands now sunk down, and that it was one
and the same force that gave the floor of the sea a concave shape but
raised the rest of the land and gave it a convex shape.
But there are also great dissimilarities between the floor of the sea
and the land. Therefore one cannot agree with those who believe that
there is a complete similarity between the two. Thus in the sea there are
sandbanks and earth-banks such as Dogger Bank which extends from
England to Jutland.h This consists of a long hill which is steep on both
sides but where one can anchor nonetheless. There is nothing similar on
the land.
There are not nearly such impressive mountains in the sea as there
are on land, and again on land there are no such flattened areas as there
are in the water. The foregoing explains why there are so few harbours
in the world, because it is only in the rarest places that the shores are
steep, and one of the requirements of a harbour is that one can tie up
close to the land and be secure against storms and waves, and that on the
bottom there should be suitable ground to anchor in. For there are also
mud[banks] and shifting sands where the anchor sinks, or else the floor of
the sea is stony so that the anchor rope gets frayed away. The preferred
anchorages are on the coast, and these places are called roads, but it is
bad if the entire coast consists only of roads, like the Coromandel Coast.
The sea-floor is only suitable for anchoring if the bottom of the sea is not
stony but soft. Apart from a secure anchorage, a harbour requires that
one should be able to approach close to the land, and further that there
9:192 should be plenty of room inside it, but with a narrow opening towards
the sea, so that it can be conveniently defended and the breaking of the
sea does not disturb the shipping.
In Norway there are so many harbours that they cannot even all
be given a name. Altogether, the greatest number of harbours is to be
found in Europe, which may well be one of the main causes why trade
has blossomed most in this continent. It remains to be remarked that the
greatest number of steep shores are [to be found] in the west and south,
and that in the north and east there are fewer, which is probably a result
of the fact that the water or the current of the ocean, which was higher
h Gedan reads Gothland.
474
Physical geography
in ancient times, flowed from east to southi and the soil it carried settled
first on the westernj side.
Note 1. Bars mostly arise in areas in which sand-bearing streams flow into
the sea, for in this instance the former are held back by the latter, and this
causes a deposit of sand to form in one and the same place.
Note 2. The floor of the sea has this in common with the land, namely that
it is layered in the same way, and not infrequently there are the same soil
deposits as on the neighbouring land. This is so much the case that in the
instance of opposite shores, not too widely separated by the sea, these layers of
earth extend from one shore to the other; this can be seen as evidence of a
violent tearing apart of the land with the sea streaming in; even better
evidence, however, is the interlocking shape, as it were, of the coastlines, which
for good reason is more easily observed in the case of [the banks of] rivers.
§. 17.
As for the manner of exploring the depths [of the ocean], we note that this
is done by means of a weight attached to a thin rope, which the Dutch call
a Lot and which weighs thirty pounds. The weight itself has the shape
of a sugar loaf with a concave base. It must be heavier than the rope to
which it is attached so that one can know when it has reached the bottom.
It has been observed that the greatest depth of the sea is equal to that of
the highest mountains in the vicinity, minus approximately two thirds.
The greatest depth therefore would be about 2,000 Rhineland roods.
The fact that the Baltic is not deep results from the fact that neighbouring
Poland and Prussia are flat countries. Even presuming that the rope or
any heavy body did not break on account of its own weight, there still 9:193
remains a difficulty in measuring depth in this way, namely that it would
not be possible to make a rope one German mile in length, and that
additionally, the ship would mostly be moving even though it appears
to be standing still, and there are often currents at the bottom of the sea
that have a direction quite opposite to that at the surface of the ocean, so
that, instead of a perpendicular length to measure the depth, one often
obtains an angled measurement.
For there are often two different currents at one and the same place in
the sea, one that comes from the land, while the other owes its origin to
the moon through the ebb and flow of the tide. Thus one current goes
along the bottom of the sea and is not given any other direction by the
winds or other obstacles, while the other is on the surface of the sea.
By means of the plumb-line, it is also possible to discover the nature
of the sea-floor, because the hollow part of the weight can be smeared
i Adickes reads “west”. j Adickes reads “eastern”.
475
Natural Science
with tallow to which sand, shells and whatever else may be on the sea-
floor, attach themselves. An investigation of this kind, combined with
the known depth of the sea, allows other sailors to know, even at night,
which shore they are near; during the day they know this from the cor-
respondence between the shore drawn on the map and the one opposite
them, but at night they often sail further than they are able to see in the
daytime. But, since the bottom of the sea often also changes its figure,
one cannot always conclude from this with certainty how far one has
progressed, and for this reason one must have recourse to the depth as
well. If, for example, there is a sandy bottom twenty miles from shore,
and the sea-floor has the same composition forty miles out, then it is
necessary to know the depth in this case, in order not to be misled about
the distance from the shore. If it is deeper than at the place that is twenty
miles out, then one can conclude that one is further out.
Note. The greatest depth measured to date into which the plumb-line has
been lowered without reaching the bottom is 4,680 feet. That is, a depth almost
equal to the height of the highest point of the Sudetes Mountains. But we may
9:194 assume that the depth of the sea may well be four or five times greater in some
places if it is to equal or approach [the height of] our highest mountains.
§. 18.
More of a curiosity, though also of some practical use, are those divers
who, in order to bring up sunken objects, are lowered to the sea-floor
in a wooden bell fastened at its base with iron bands, and whose upper
part the water cannot reach because of the air it contains. In the middle
of this bell, there is a chain to which a person can hold on with his feet.
These divers are used partly to bring to the surface the pearls that are
found near California, on the coast of Mexico and off Ceylon, and partly
to discover the nature of the sea-floor.
Bells have been developed to the point that a group of twelve persons
can be lowered beneath the water. In this way, one can spend up to two
hours under water; indeed one can even read, but not talk, for noise here
is intolerable, so that a diver once actually fell into the sea when another
diver began to play a trumpet. The greatest discomfort arises not so
much from a lack of air as from the poisoning of this air by the vapours
given off by the people in the bell. The story is told of one of these divers
that he was capable of staying under water as long as he wanted, but that
once, when he was to bring up a golden bowl that had been thrown into
the water, he did not reappear and was presumably eaten by the sharks
about whose attacks he had previously complained.
476
Physical geography
Sunken objects can also be raised by attaching empty barrels to them,

which are then lifted up by the water. Apart from this, divers are only
given a cap of bakedk leather equipped with a long tube.
But the reason why human beings are not able to remain under water
for long is that the blood can only pass via the lung into the left ventricle of
the heart, which is separated from the right one by a wall, and from which
it flows through the great aorta into the other arteries and blood vessels.
While in the womb, these two chambers of the heart are connected with 9:195
one another by means of an opening called the foramen ovale. If this
connection could be retained, then our inability [to stay under water]
might perhaps be removed in this way. Thus children can live in the
womb even though they are immersed in water there. Some people have
undertaken the experiment of taking young dogs as soon as they were
born and placing them in warm milk, where indeed they did live for quite
a while.
Note. On divers and diving bells, further reading can be found in Gehler’s
Physical Dictionary.87 Compare also Wünsch’s88 Cosmological Conversations
Concerning Man, Leipzig, 1798, pt. 2, pp. 140 f.89
§. 19.
As far as the colour of sea water is concerned, seen from a distance and
in a [large] mass, it appears to be bluish green. In a glass, however, it is
quite clear. Fresh water has a stronger green colour, which is why, for
example, one can observe the fresh water of the Haff separated from that
of the Baltic at Pillau as if by a band of its own. Some seas, such as for
instance the Red, White, Black Sea, etc., did not, as some claim, acquire
their names from the colour of the water contained in them, but probably
from the clothes of the inhabitants who live in the vicinity. The Red Sea is
said to take its name from a red sand or the sparkling coral, and the Black
Sea from the shadow cast by the high mountains situated on the shores.
And even in this case, the names would not derive from the substances
contained in them, but from accidental external circumstances affecting
the colour of the water.
Sea water is transparent, which is caused by the salt, so that in places
where it is most salty, one can see the bottom at a depth of 20 fathoms,
and in the southern islands one can even see the turtles moving along
the bottom as though they were on a green meadow.
The transparent nature of sea water arises in the following way: Light
penetrates through a medium in which the particles are placed one
k gebrannt
477
Natural Science
behind another continuously, and recoils through empty space, as

Newton says;90 or, to put it more correctly, if the light is no longer
attracted to a body, it returns to the matter from which it emanated and
by which it is attracted more strongly than by an empty space, which has
9:196 no power of attraction at all. Consequently, the body becomes transpar-
ent in this way; yet matter, in so far as it is visible at all, cannot be quite
transparent, because otherwise all the rays would pass through it and not
be reflected back to the eye. Now, salt is dissolved soonest and in largest
quantities by water, and as a result, the particles of salt lie continuously
behind one another; in this way, sea water becomes transparent.
Sea water has this transparency only when it is quite still, for on some
occasions it is much more still and quiet than the water in rivers and lakes.
As soon as the surface moves only a little, it becomes quite dark, because
then the rays of light are not in a position to proceed unhindered.
Sea water is clearer than river water, because this not only carries a
lot of sediment with it which can be deposited only with difficulty, but
the mostly thick scum on its surface also causes the rays of light to be
reflected so that it must naturally become opaque. In addition, fresh
water contains much air divided into small bubbles and it is this that
makes fresh water non-transparent. Salt, however, drives the air away
and takes its place, so that a certain continuity arises in this way, just
as ground glass is not transparent, although each individual part of it
is. In this case, the air prevents it [i.e., transparency], but as soon as it
is given a greater degree of continuity, by means of oil or some other
liquid matter, it becomes more and more transparent.
Now, since the salt to some extent makes the water into a contin-
uum, sea water must be the most transparent. But if someone who is
under the water wants to look up, he has only to let a little oil out of
his mouth, which, rising to the surface, will open, as it were, a win-
dow for him there. Under the water, incidentally, sunlight looks like
moonlight.
In the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, between America and Europe,
there is a band of 200 to 300 miles which is made quite green by a
weed covered with whitish berries so that it looks like a meadow; a fairly
strong wind is required to enable a ship to pass through it unhindered.
The Spaniards call this weed Sargasso, Margasso, or sea-parsley. It is
found in the Mar del Nord near the Cape Verde Islands, and also near
9:197 the coast of California. It has also been observed in other places, though
not in the same quantities as in the areas mentioned. Since one and the
same wind blows in opposite directions from both west and east, that is
from both the American and the European coasts, currents are caused
from both sides which meet in the middle, causing a whirlpool, so that
this weed, carried by both streams, is turned around in this whirlpool
and is held together.
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Physical geography
At one promontory of Africa, near the Cape of Good Hope, a traveller

sailing to China found a whole stretch of the sea covered in pumice
stones three days in a row in the early morning, which disappeared as
the day progressed. This story has not yet been properly confirmed, but
the reason and cause for such a phenomenon would not be difficult to
discover. The pumice stones are slightly, though not much, lighter than
water. Around noon, however, the water becomes lighter as it is heated
by the heat of the sun, which is relatively great in those regions. In this
way, therefore, the pumice stones, being now relatively heavier, sink to
the bottom. But in the morning and during the night, the water cools
down again, making it heavier and the stones lighter so that they float
on the top.
On other coasts, there are many sea-plantsl that float, for example, on
the coast of Malabar, which mariners regard as a sign that they are near
land, so that, when they see it, they close their accounts and act in every
way just as though they had really landed.
Note 1. The further out to sea, the darker the colour. Its greenish
appearance seems to be a result of a clear sky. If, incidentally, the colour is not
caused by an accidental circumstance of this kind, then it is caused by some
essential difference or by the substances to be found in the sea water.
Note 2. Transparency is nothing other than the ability of a body to allow
light to pass through, and this seems to be more a characteristic of the inner
nature of the body than of the matter of which it is made, for here too it
depends very much on a homogeneous density and the simple refraction of the
rays of light caused thereby. We note here, however, that the transparency
of the sea water depends very much on its heaviness; mostly it refracts the rays
of the sun too much for them to penetrate much beyond forty-five fathoms,
with the result that at any greater depth under the surface of the sea it must be 9:198
as dark as in any other place where the sun does not shine at all.
§. 20.
In some places, the water sometimes appears quite fiery and shiny, such
that sailors who are sprayed by it appear to be covered as though with
sparks. When this kind of water was examined under a microscope, it
was found that the luminosity was due to certain worms very similar to
glow worms, which like them glow in the dark. This luminescence can
also arise partly from the slime of fish and from the hatching of fishes’
seed, or spawn. There are also many luminous insects, e.g., the lantern
fly. Incidentally, near the Moluccan Islands in the warm season, the sea
water at night has a whitish colour as though it consisted entirely of milk.
l Wasserpflanzen. Adickes reads Schlangen (snakes).
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Natural Science
Note. In his instructive Observations Made During a Voyage Round the World
on Physical Geography, etc., Berlin, 1783, 8vo, p. 5291 and elsewhere, Forster
mentions three kinds of sea water luminosity that he had discovered from his
own observations. He distinguishes an electric luminescence, a phosphoric
one, and one caused by living marine animals. The first usually extends in
fiery lines from the rear of the ship across the sea. The phosphoric
luminescence seems mainly to be a product of putrescent animal parts caused
by friction, because as soon as the water becomes completely calm, it stops.
The third and most beautiful kind of luminescence originates from an
enormous number of tiny gelatinous animals like little balls moving rapidly
among one another. But the so-called sea-nettles or medusae also give off a
fairly considerable light from their sensitive threads, irrespective of how dark
the rest of their bodies is. Compare also Gehler’s Physical Dictionary,92 the
article on Sea. Finally, some claim to have seen a special glow in the water of
the Baltic, which, particularly in the autumn, resembles the pale blue electric
spark and is said to herald a sudden east or north-east wind with wet weather,
and also to promise a rich catch of fish. See Gren’s Annals of Physics, Vol. II,
pt. 3,93 the essay by Wäsström.94
§. 21.
With reference to the saltiness of sea water, we note that the ocean is,
9:199 as it were, an exceedingly large reservoir of salt and the sea water is
ordinarily very salty, unless there are considerable rivers carrying fresh
water flowing into it, as for instance the River Plate, which has a width
of thirtym miles at its mouth.
The degree of salinity of sea water thus depends on the influx of fresh
water. If a sea evaporates less than the inflow of fresh water, then it is
less salty. The influx of the Baltic is greater than its evaporation, thus
the Baltic is less salty. The Mediterranean contains a very considerable
proportion of salt. In the Caspian Sea, the evaporation is greater than the
influx of fresh water, so this sea has a stronger salty taste. The evaporation
of the Dead Sea is so great that in the summer it dries out to an extent
of some miles, so that one can walk out into it for some considerable
distance, and for this reason it is very salty. We also observe that in
places where the temperature is very warm or very cold, the water must
ordinarily be saltiest.
The reason why the sea water is saltiest in the hottest regions is because
of the extremely strong evaporation, whereby the water disappears while
the salt remains behind. In the coldest regions, however, the cause is that
the inflowing water freezes into large ice-floes that float around like large
pieces of land.
m Gedan reads “eighty”.
480
Physical geography
Note. Data on the salt content of sea water vary greatly. The salt content of
the Mediterranean has been claimed to be one Lot to the pound, in other seas
two, three, or four Lot or more. Some have assumed the law that the salinity of
the sea water is greatest at the equator and less towards the poles. But the
salinity is not even always the same at one and the same place. The
observations made by Page95 on this matter are listed in Fabri’s Geistik,
p. 393.96 Furthermore, the salinity of the water in the depths is usually greater
than at the surface, as in the Straits of Constantinople, where the ratio is said to
be 72 to 62. Compare also Otto’s System of a General Hydrography [of the Earth’s
Surface], Berlin, 1800, 8vo, pp. 383 f.97
§. 22.
Such salinity is present in the ocean as well as in inland seas, among
which the lake in Russia on the Volga towards Archangel and near the
newly erected colony of Saratov is to be noted. At certain times, it is 9:200
covered with salt in just the same way as it is covered with ice in winter,
so that one can walk and drive over it.
The Asphalt Lake belongs here, as does the Dead Sea, which is really
only the Jordan with its banks broadened, since the Jordan flows into
this sea and has the same direction as it. When the sea dries out along
its banks in the summer, the putrid water in it spreads such a strong evil
odour that birds flying overhead are said to fall down and die. This is
caused by a [kind of] pitch which looks similar to coal.
The greatest observed degree of salinity is 1 Lot of salt to 14 Lot
of water. If more salt is added, it sinks to the bottom and is no longer
dissolved in the water.
Note 1. In his Natural-historical-physical-geographic Description of the Russian

Empire,98 Georgi mentions several such salt lakes, which often change their
nature and then, usually as a result of drying out and then most probably
because the wind subsequently blows away their sediment, once more contain
only fresh water once again. – Salt steppes.
Note 2. Bergman99 states that the saturation of water with salt is 30 per
cent of the latter (see his Description of the World, page 362100 ), but he assumes
that 500 times as much water is required to dissolve a particular quantity of
salt. It has been found in the meantime that in general 200 times as much water
is sufficient, and also that, on the whole, warm water does not dissolve much
more than cold.
Note 3. In relation to the Asphalt Lake, people claim to have observed that
the water contained in it possesses so great a heaviness or density that no living
body sinks in it, and this has been attributed to its being strongly saturated with
salt.
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Natural Science
§. 23.
101
The basis of salt consists of a calcareous earth or a mineral alkali and
a spirit of salt, which consists of a particular acid, saltpetre acid.n There
are three kinds of acids: vitriolic acid, saltpetre acid and common-salt
acid, or mineral, animal and vegetable acid, as well as three kinds of
fermentation: vinous, putrescent, and acetic fermentation. In common
salt, there is in addition to the acid also an alcali fixum or calcareous
9:201 earth present which is contained in sea water. Compare here the more
precise specifications in the works mentioned above and in other works
on chemistry.
There are three kinds of common salt: sea salt, rock salt, and well salt.
Salt is found in water as well as on dry land, that is in so-called salt wells
or mines. If we wish to examine the cause of the salt content of waters,
we must first ask: Which was the primal water, the fresh or the salt? If
one regards the whole matter with a philosophical eye, then the simpler
water was the earlier, from which the compound water could be formed
by the addition [of other material]; but fresh water is the simple one, and
that really seems to have been what happened. Where rivers run into the
sea there is sand,o and this is either petrified or precipitated.
But how does sea water become salty? It is believed that this was caused
by the gradual washing down of salt from plants and growing things
which carry a small amount of common salt; the rivers are then thought
to have carried it further into the sea and in this way it is supposed to
have accumulated there. If this were possible at all, however, the world
would have to have existed for millions of years, and the rivers would
have to be salty as well, since it is they which are supposed to wash the
salt down.
On the contrary, it is the sea which deposits salt on the land rather
than the land in the sea. In a hot climate, all iron rusts, even watches in
pockets. This is caused by the salt which rises into the air and falls from
the air again through rain onto the fields and plants.
Many believe that there are mountains of salt in the sea which are
dissolved by the water. But then the water would have to be saltier the
more the mountains were dissolved. The opposite is the case, [namely]
that the salt layers [in the earth] have their origin in the sea that was
there previously, but which subsequently ran off and left the salt behind.
Had the salt of the ocean really been on the earth first and then washed
down by the sea water, one would still find salt in all mines. At first sight
it is true that salt appears to have originated in sea water and to be
9:202 an original constituent part of the water which dissolved the salt in the
n Saltpetersäure (nitric acid). Adickes reads Salzsäure (acid of salt or hydrochloric acid).
o Sand. Gedan reads Salz (salt).
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Physical geography
primæval earth, for in the interior of the earth, there is also a large amount
of salt, as is proved, apart from the great salt mines, by the fire-spewing
mountains [volcanoes], which throw out a large quantity of calcareous
stone, salt and ash. It is true that this is not common salt, but an alkaline
salt; but there is always some alkaline salt present in common salt.
Note. The extent to which salt promotes fertility is undeniable. This may be
observed in the case of a field which, when it is left fallow for some years, bears
at least as much as if it had been manured in the normal manner. It is the salt
contained in the falling rain that brings this about. Halley102 was of the
opinion that everything, even fresh water, contains some fine salt particles, and
that these are left in the sea by the rivers, and only the fresh water or the actual
water particles evaporate again and fall as rain once more. But, by this
calculation, 2,500 years would be required to make the sea water even twice as
salty as river water. The salt that is present in river water cannot in the least be
perceived by taste and can at best be produced only by experiments. In general,
sea water is fifty times as salty as river water; thus a time period fifty times as
long, namely 125,000 years, would be required to make sea water as salty as it is
now. – On the Persian coast, the frequent rain leaves a crust that covers the
grass on the ground where the rain water has lain and the salt water is washed
down from the hills. – The important salt mines near Bochnia and Wieliczka
in Galicia. – The salt particles can be made to precipitate out of fresh water by
means of a solution of lead in so-called ‘separating acid’.p,103 Incidentally, it
appears that, since the water once covered the whole of the land, it has
[already] leached out all the land’s salt. Thus sea water only retains the salt
already contained in it, and in this way we avoid the question proved ad
absurdum by Lichtenberg:104 “Where does sea water get its salt from now?”
§. 24.
On long sea journeys, fresh water will ultimately go stale or even dry
up completely, and in the first case, it can cause very great harm, since
it gets long worms in it and is a real plague for the mariners, becoming
the cause of illnesses at sea. For this reason, people have long considered
how sea water can be made into fresh. An invention finally succeeded
after many learned men had turned their thoughts to it.
The main difficulty, however, is that for this purpose the ship has to 9:203
carry large quantities of coal. If it is not a merchant ship but one on an
exploratory voyage, then this would be possible, though not in the other
case.
Sea water can be made fresh by means of distillation, for which three
things are necessary: a retort, a condenser, in which the vapours rise
and are drawn together by the cold, so that they fall down in the form of
drops, and a receiver, into which the water that has been distilled flows.
p Scheidewasser
483
Natural Science
In nature, distillation takes place in exactly the same way, since river
water is distilled from sea water in just the same manner. The sun is
the fire; the ocean is the retort; and the highest region or the atmosphere
is the condenser, into which the vapours rise and collect in clouds. The
earth, finally, is the receiver into which the water flows. But since some
volatile salts also rise into the heights, it is not surprising that we do not
have any completely pure water.
The bitterness of sea water comes from the lime, since all the products
of sea water are calcareous, and if this lime combines with a little salt,
the bitterness mentioned occurs.
Later, an even more effective method of making sea water completely
fresh was invented in England as well as in France. But there is finally
one other way of separating the salt from sea water. On the sea shore,
a hollow or basin is dug out; sea water is allowed to flow into this; the
water is then evaporated by the sun, leaving the salt behind, as is done in
France. But since the salt obtained in this way is black, it must be purified.
It is then called bay salt, and the Spanish bay salt from Cadiz is similar
to that from Halle. That from Genoa is white too, but somewhat sour,
as a result of the soil. The northern countries produce no salt, because
the water is not salty to the same degree. On the Arctic Ocean, although
it is salty enough, no salt can be produced either, because warmer air is
required than is present there.
Note 1. The distillation of sea water has already been discussed. Originally –
9:204 and here I am ignoring the experiments of the ancients – people thought in
terms of ingenious experiments but in the end returned to a quite simple
process. Apart from distillation, other methods have also been tried to free sea
water from its salt. These include: 1. Filtration, in which a number of
containers were placed one above the other, and the sea water was allowed to
flow through the base, which was filled with sand. But the bitter taste of the
water still remained. 2. Freezing, in which salt particles remain behind when
the fresh water is turned to ice. Some bitterness still remains in this process,
however, and neither the natural nor artificial transformation of water into ice
is feasible everywhere and to the extent required. 3. Putrefaction. In this case,
the sea water is allowed to stagnate in covered containers and is subsequently
cleansed, either by distillation or by adding gravelstone, but this procedure does
not remove the bitter taste either. Compare Gehler, op. cit.,105 article “Sea”.
Note 2. The inhabitants of some coastal regions who have neither river
water nor adequate rain make do with natural sea water. Such is the power of
habit.
Note 3. The bitterness of sea water, which it also has apart from its salty
taste, was previously ascribed to an admixture of bitumen or earth wax, and
from the existence of this it is concluded that there must be coal seams on the
floor of the sea. But more recent experiments have proved that this is not the
case; rather that after the salt has been crystallized out of the sea water, a thick
solution remains, containing marine acid,106 magnesia, Glauber’s salt107 and
484
Physical geography
traces of selenite108 (cf. Gehler, op. cit.), which all remain behind after
distillation, so that in this way truly fresh water can be gained from sea water.
Here, and particularly in the Caspian Sea, there is a special bitterness, and as
Gmelin109 observes, one that comes from naphtha. Thus there is also much
bitumen in the so-called Dead Sea, the water of which thus also has a strong
bitter taste.
§. 25.
The difference of the sea air is so obvious and noticeable that people who
have got scurvy while at sea, need only rest their heads on land for most
of them to be cured. On the other hand, the sea air is often healthy for
people with other illnesses, and many are healed simply by a sea voyage.
For this reason Linnaeusq wanted to build a hospital on the sea.
The use[s] of the salt in sea water are manifold and very considerable.
Some of it evaporates, falls on the fields and makes them fertile. The 9:205
salinity also enables it to carry large loaded ships and large animals that
would sink in fresh water. It is easier to swim in sea water than in river
water, as was shown by Admiral Brodrick110 who, having lost his ship by
fire in the recent war between the Spanish and the English, was able to
survive a whole hour by swimming. He took his papers into his mouth,
a sailor took his clothes, and he was saved.
Bathing in sea water is healthy, but the sea is not, as some think, a
preservative against decomposition, because, as was observed during a
flood at high tide on the island of Sumatra, after the sea water had lain
on the land for fourteen days, it became so evil-smelling through lack
of motion that twice the garrison of the Dutch fort perished and they
finally had to abandon it.
Because salt water is heavier, the pressure of sea water is also very
great. Count Marsigli,111 who was more of a natural philosopher than
a general, had lowered a bottle 300 fathoms into the sea after fastening
a ring to it so that it could sink vertically. The pressure of the sea water
pushed the cork which closed its opening deep into the bottle, and indeed
forced a small quantity of water past it and through it; this water was fresh,
since the salt particles were unable to penetrate [along] with the water.
Such a column of water of 7,000 cubic feet would be a good press, even
if one cubic foot weighs only four pounds.
It should also be noted that salt is not essential to life, since many
peoples, such as the Caribs, live entirely without it.
Note. How great the difference of salty sea water can be in respect of its
gravity can be seen most clearly from the water of the Dead Sea, whose specific
weight in relation to ordinary water is in the ratio of 5 to 4. Normally this ratio
q Adickes reads Lind.
485
Natural Science
between ordinary sea water and rain water is only 1,030 to 1,000, according to
Muschenbroek.112 Towards the shores, sea water is lighter than further out,
on account of the greater admixture of water from rivers and streams.
§. 26.
On the question as to why sea water does not rise any higher since a great
inflow of water from rivers takes place daily, people have come to the
9:206 opinion, previously advanced by the ancients, that the seas have a sub-
terranean connection, and the water recedes through these subterranean
channels. The ancients always believed that the circulation of water must
take place beneath the earth; but ever since arithmetic has been applied
to physics, it has been found that this circulation takes place above the
earth, that is by means of distillation, except of course that it is not visible
to us. People learned to recognize that the evaporation of sea water is
far greater than the daily inflow from the rivers, since the rivers, which
are narrow in comparison with the width of the ocean over which the
evaporation extends, add relatively very little water. On the contrary, the
ocean would have to become smaller and decrease in volume, if there
were only the inflow from rivers and if the ocean had no other source of
water for its maintenance. To these other sources belong the rain and
snow, etc., which fall perpendicularly back into the sea, so that the ocean
basically evaporates by the same amount as it obtains through accession
from other sources.
In the ocean as a whole, the inflow from rivers is the same as the
evaporation, because the rivers cannot give more water than they receive
directly or indirectly through the evaporation of the sea. But some seas
are cut off from the ocean and have no connection with it, like the Caspian
for instance, and some again have small basins, like the Baltic, and in spite
of this they absorb many considerable rivers, for which reason their level
may be higher than that of the ocean. Since, on the other hand, there
are also seas which, while they are connected with the ocean and have
large bays, have no rivers flowing into them or only very few, and their
evaporation is greater than the inflow, so that seas of this type must have
a lower level than that of the ocean. The Mediterranean is one such sea.
If the Straits of Gibraltar were to be blocked, so that no inflow from the
Atlantic to the Mediterranean could take place, then it would necessarily
dry out, because of its assuredly very great evaporation on account of its
large surface area and the small inflow of rivers; the basin would become
smaller and smaller, although it would not dry up completely; rather,
this process would stop when the rivers added only just as much water as
evaporates again. It would remain at this level for ever. Now, however,
9:207 there is a constant stream from the ocean to the Mediterranean, which
486
Physical geography
replaces the greater loss through evaporation but is not great enough to
maintain the level of the Mediterranean at that of the Atlantic.
The Red Sea is said to be higher than the Mediterranean, and the
Atlantic Ocean higher than the Pacific. The isthmuses of Suez and
Panama separate seas that are unequal in level. But since the Atlantic
and Pacific Oceans meet at not too great a distance from there,113 the
reasons advanced by the Spaniards to demonstrate the impossibility of
breaking through the Isthmus of Panama are likely to be more of a polit-
ical than a physical nature, designed to prevent the connection of both
seas at this point in order to persuade the English and other maritime
powers to leave them in unchallenged possession of these their lands.
Nonetheless, the Atlantic Ocean might well be somewhat higher than
the Pacific Ocean, because a general current of water occurs from east
to west, which might in fact raise the water in the Atlantic somewhat.
Note. It was very natural that people originally supposed that all the seas had
subterranean connections. Thus for instance the Volga alone carries 21,600
million cubic feet of water into the Caspian Sea daily, and one may assume that
at least twice that amount is added by the inflow of the Rivers Emba, Jaik, etc.,
and by rain and snow. Despite this, the level of the sea has not risen, nor has
any outflow been detected. But the evaporation of this sea is said to be just as
great as this inflow, according to Gmelin’s observation (Voyage through Russia,
Part iii114 ), although others do not agree with him entirely. Almost exactly the
same takes place with the Mediterranean Sea. It ought to rise by twenty-six feet
per year through the influx of the Atlantic and the Nile alone. But the
evaporation here would amount to only about thirty inches a year, which is, in
any case, adequately replaced by the rain falling into it. There are other
phenomena that allow us to conclude that there is something more than mere
evaporation at work. Rather, one is forced to postulate a deeper outflowing of
water, in opposition to the inflow on the surface, which sheds light on the
theory of opposing currents, just as, on the other hand, this in turn serves to
elucidate these phenomena. – The Red Sea is said to be really several feet
higher than the Mediterranean, according to the most recent French
observations and calculations.
§. 27. 9:208
The motion of sea water is three-fold, namely:
1. in waves, caused by the wind,
2. in currents, and
3. in tides.
Now considering first the waves, it should be noted that the water
in them does not move on but constantly remains in one and the same
place, merely acquiring a to and fro motion, since the wind is not strong
enough to put such a large quantity of water into motion all at once.
487
Natural Science
It is only when it has been continuous for some time that this becomes
possible. This explains how it is that divers do not notice any effect of
the wind in the depths for two or three hours after it has sprung up.
It really seems as though the motion of the waves moves the water
along, since the following wave swells gradually; but it is only a rocking,
oscillating motion, now rising now falling. One may be convinced of
this if one throws chaff on to water and then a stone which creates
waves. Then it can be seen that the chaff always remains in the one place
regardless of the waves.
The same thing can be shown by the way in which distances covered
at sea are measured. For there is, apart from calculating the distance,
in which one compares the figure of the heavens with the time one
has spent travelling if, that is, one is travelling latitudinally towards the
equator or the poles, a second method of measuring the miles, which
is based precisely on [the fact that] the water in the sea always remains
in the same position. A board, also called a log, is thrown overboard,
to one end of which is tied a rope, and from the length of rope that is
unwound, together with the time since the board was thrown overboard,
one can judge the distance one has covered. If, therefore, the water did
not remain in the same position, then the board would also float along
with the ship, and there would be no fixed point from which one might
begin, and so one would not be in a position to establish the distance
travelled in this way. Admiral Anson115 measured the distance of his
journey and arrived at the island three weeks later than he should have,
because he was sailing into a current which pushed the log away from
him. He thought, however, that he was moving further away from the
log.
9:209 Waves are either long,116 short,117 or receding.118 The first are the
best and are found particularly in the Bay of Biscay. The intermediate
ones, however, because of the rocking motion imparted to the ship, bar-
rels, other goods, and even to the mariners, are very dangerous. Receding
waves, finally, are to be found where there are shallows; here the water
is pressed by the wind and, because the waves strike against rocks, they
are beaten back again.
Long waves [swells] are never on steep but [always] on flat coasts; and
in fact in the middle [of the sea], not near the coast. It is mostly calm at
the bottom of the sea. Wave motion usually occurs only on the surface
of the water. But where the water is not deep enough, such as in the
Baltic, the wind can move the water right to the bottom, which is how
short, or receding, waves come about.
Breakers can be caused through waves like this. These arise when a
wave breaks, which is due to the wind’s being on one side and the wave
being halted.
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Physical geography
The narrower the seas, the shallower they are. Consequently, the
waves in them do not have free play, but are broken off. Sandbanks
can be recognized by the shortness [choppiness] of the waves. All reefs
have cold air and fog. This circumstance is hard to explain, but essentially
it is the same cause as in the case of the short [choppy] waves. It depends
on the bottom. In the deep sea, there is a basement temperaturer which
may be encountered in the earth at a depth of seventy feet and which,
according to French observations, remains constant even at the greatest
depth. It amounts to 251/2 degrees on Fahrenheit’s119 thermometer.120
Now, the lower water is colder than the higher; on such a reef, therefore,
where the water is not deep, and the wind can move the water all the
way to the bottom, the wind must bring the water from the bottom to
the top. Since there is a higher temperature at the top than the basement
temperature below, the temperature of the air must become colder when
this colder water comes to the surface.
The true and greatest height of the waves cannot be known exactly;
but some maintain that they never exceed twenty-four feet, which mea-
sure divided by two gives a height of twelve feet over the surface of
the sea for the top, or the same distance under it for the trough of
the wave.
While discussing the motion of the waves, one might also mention 9:210
the motion of the water that occurs when a sailing ship cuts through the
water. This path made by the ship can be made out for a distance of five
hundred paces, and is very useful to the mariner because he can ascertain
from the depression remaining, how far from the straight course he is
being blown by the wind.
Note. Concerning the temperature of the sea water, it is very much more
constant than is the atmosphere in the first place over the land and not nearly
as changeable as this, which already emerges from the fact that, on the basis of
many experiments and observations, it fluctuates only between 26 and 68
degrees Fahrenheit, and goes below this only in the very coldest regions of the
earth. In the warmest climates, the water is constantly at a lower temperature
than the air, even at the surface, hence the cooling winds. The air and water
temperature correspond much more closely in the temperate zones, except that
here, the latter is often raised by a strong wind or storm, as can usually be
observed on the coasts of Prussia and Kurland, particularly in the case of a
north wind coming from the Swedish coasts. Under the appropriate
circumstances, therefore, even the proximity of the sea can bring about a more
tolerable temperature on the neighbouring land, even if only for a short
time.
r Kellerwärme
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Natural Science
§. 28.
When a storm has lasted for a long time, and the water on the floor of
the sea has thereby been brought into motion, the motion of the waves
from the bottom to the top continues even though the storm has long
since ceased. And this motion, which is very dangerous to mariners, they
call a hollow sea.121 When there is a wind, the motion of the sea cannot
so readily become dangerous for a ship because it is carried along by it.
But if the wind subsides while the motion continues, the ship is like a
ball unable to move forward and having to allow itself to be rocked in
one spot, with the result that in and on the ship everything is torn loose
and comes apart.
The hollow sea, therefore, is a wave motion after an earlier wind. It
was [formerly] assumed that if oil were poured onto the sea in such a
case, it would become calm, and it is true that oil is able to calm a small
9:211 quantity of water. If the sea water is quite calm, one can see various things
on the bottom on account of its being transparent, as already pointed
out. But as soon as the surface is set in motion only a little, the floor
is cloudy and dark as though clouds were passing overhead. In such a
case, divers use oil to advantage, and they take it down for this purpose,
mostly in their mouths. For, if they allow it to run out of their mouths, it
rises, calms a part of the moving surface, and a sort of window is formed
at this place, through which they receive light at the bottom. But what
is useful and sufficient under such circumstances and for such a purpose,
is probably not so under other circumstances. Muschenbroek recounts
that ships laden with oil came into a hollow sea and were smashed against
each other so that the oil poured over the sea, but despite this it did not
become calm.
Another type of wave motion is the surf. Water in the middle of the sea
has a motion which has a perpendicular, that is oscillating, motion, since
it both rises and falls at the same time. But approaching the land, the
waves are pushed back again, as though the heights of the perpendicular
were shortened. Thus, when one wave returns from the land, the other
rises up; as a result, the returning wave [backwash] combines with the
rising one, and so both pour further on to the land.
The cause of the surf is as follows. The waves on shores and coasts
cannot make the same play as the other waves, because they are stopped
by the land. Thus, the second wave catches up with the first one; as a
result, the second is already higher, but the third one catches up with
the second, and as a result is even higher, and so on in this manner until,
finally, the pressure of the last wave is the strongest and drives them all
s Faden
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Physical geography
back, and then the whole process begins anew. This the mariners call
surf, as already mentioned.
In Guinea, the largest wave is the seventh or eighth, the passage of
which the mariners have to await if they do not want to be engulfed along
with their boat. Perhaps it was this largest wave that the Romans called
fluctum decumanum.122
Note 1. Concerning wave motion of the sea, fuller information can be found
in Gehler, op. cit.,123 article on Waves and Sea. Otto’s System of a General 9:212
Hydrography of the Earth’s Surface, pp. 486 ff.124 In the Mediterranean Sea waves
do not easily rise to more than eight feet, but in the Baltic they are often
higher. A wave motion seldom exceeds a depth greater than fifteen feet, which
is why the pearl fishermen of the East Indies dare to dive under the sea even
when ships avoid leaving port because of strong wave action.
Note 2. The ancients, Aristotle125 and Pliny126 among others, already
mention oil as a means of calming the waves, and Franklin himself defended it
in our own time. So far, however, no firm conclusion can be reached about the
applicability of this means on a large scale, as can be seen from, for example,
von Zach, General Geographical Ephemerides, Vol. ii, pp. 516 f., cf. p. 575.127
Note 3. Among the Romans, every tenth wave really was considered to be
the largest, as Ovid,128 Metam[orphoses], xi, 530; Trist[ia], i, 2, 49; Sil[ius]
Ital[icus],129 [Punica], xiv, 124, show.130
Note 4. There is another particular phenomenon, the so-called Fata
Morgana,131 which I cannot pass over in complete silence. It is only recently
that people have really begun to discuss this matter, even though still not with
the attention it deserves. This Fata Morgana consists in the appearance of cities
and tracts of land and other similar things over the surface of the sea, from
which they appear to rise. Whether it is the particular wave motion of the sea,
or the peculiar nature of the neighbouring coasts, or a peculiar composition of
the atmosphere, or whether these circumstances combine to produce this
phenomenon has still to be demonstrated. How active superstition has been in
this matter can easily be imagined. Something similar over the land, the
[image] inversion,t has been observed in Egypt by the French, especially
Monge.132 The authors of individual essays in Gaspari’s and Bertuch’s
General Geographical Ephemerides, 1800,133 have provided more details
concerning the Fata Morgana.
§. 29.
The second motion of the water is brought about by sea currents. The
cause of currents is to be sought:
1. In the general motion of the ocean from east to west. This results
from the rotation of the earth on its axis from west to east, in which
the water is, as it were, spun back.
t Kippung
491
Natural Science
2. In evaporation.
9:213 3. In the wind.
4. In the tides which will be discussed separately below.
§. 30.
We have already seen above, in relation to evaporation, that the seas that
are connected to the ocean must be higher than the ocean if they have
small basins and a large inflow of rivers and thus evaporate less; while
those that have large basins and a smaller inflow, and so evaporate more,
must be lower than the ocean. Therefore in the straits by means of which
such inland seas are connected with the ocean, there must be found a
constant current not caused by any wind, by which the water flows from
the sea into the ocean if the sea is higher; or conversely, the water of the
ocean into the sea, if it is lower. If one knows the number and mass of the
rivers flowing into such a sea and its surface area, then one can deduce
approximately the direction the current must take, whether from the sea
into the ocean or the reverse. Such currents have only been observed at
the Straits of Gibraltar, by which the Mediterranean is connected to the
ocean, and at the Sound and the two Belts connecting the Baltic with
the North Sea.
Apart from this surface current, there is generally another one that is
found at the bottom of the sea and is encountered in every strait. This
lower current is always in the opposite direction to the one on the surface.
In his Natural History,134 Buffon seeks to deny this phenomenon entirely
because it seems to him incomprehensible. But experience teaches that it
is indeed the case. On the Sound, a boat was put out, to which a rope was
attached. The other end of the rope was attached to a barrel containing
some iron balls. When the barrel reached a certain depth, it could be
observed that the boat was pulled in a direction exactly opposite to that
of the upper current.
In the Straits of Gibraltar, the upper current flows in and the lower
one flows out. The opposite is the case in the Sound. The reason is this.
9:214 The Mediterranean is lower than the ocean, which forms the uppermost
current. The Baltic, on the other hand, is higher than the North Sea,
because the increase in water is more considerable than the evapora-
tion, and thus the upper current flows out. But because the water in the
Mediterranean is saltier than that in the ocean, on account of the evap-
oration, its specific gravity is also greater, and so the lower current flows
into the ocean; while the water in the North Sea, being heavier than that
in the Baltic, flows into the latter through the lower current.
Thus the lower current arises on account of the pressure of the water.
The column of water in the Mediterranean is heavier because it is saltier
than the column of the ocean; thus the heavier water drives the lighter
492
Physical geography
back through pressure. In the Baltic, it is the opposite for the same
reason.
If, then, the evaporation in an inland sea is greater than the inflow, the
upper current will flow in and the lower current out. But if the inflow of
fresh water is greater, the opposite is the case. The communication of
currents in all seas can be judged by this rule.
Note 1. Besides the reason given, the general current from east to west in
the tropics appears to be caused by the revolution of the moon, as well as by the
east wind that blows there almost constantly; and again precisely because of
this current it is faster to sail with it from America to the Moluccas than against
it from there to America. A second general current mentioned by earlier
natural philosophers, namely from the poles to the equator, but which
probably has no foundation, could, if it really existed, at best be explained by
the great evaporation at the equator, whereby the water there, which is
specifically heavier, would go to the bottom and make way for the lighter water
coming from the poles at the top. But the mere revolution of the earth on its
axis must surely prevent this.
Note 2. Apart from the Straits of Gibraltar and the Øresund,135 currents
flowing above and below each other in opposite directions have been observed
only at the Bosphorus in Thrace. Whether such currents exist in the open sea
still remains uncertain, though there really are opposing currents there, albeit
at some distance from one another.
§. 31.
If winds blow in the one direction for a long time, then the currents
caused by them will also move in one direction. But in the Pacific Ocean, 9:215
there is a current (also called streamu ), which takes a different direction
at the coast; and by the Sunda Islands the winds turn in the summer
from west to north, and in winter from north to west. The currents at
the Molucca Islands are extremely strong.
Seas situated between land masses often have very dangerous cur-
rents: for example, the Kattegat, where the current imperceptibly drives
the ships to the coast. This is why knowledge of the currents interests
mariners so much. In the Mediterranean, there are also currents of a
kind in the middle of the sea as well as along the coasts, which flow east-
wards to France and Spain near the Straits of Gibraltar; they also flow in
a circle around the Adriatic Gulf, towards the Levant and back around
the African coasts. The cause of this is perhaps as follows. Because it
is higher, the water from the Black Sea flows into the Mediterranean.
Since, with the possible exception of the Nile, there are no rivers flowing
into it from the African side, while there are many flowing into it from
u Strömung, Stromgang
493
Natural Science
the other side, the water [from the west side] resists [the water surging
in from the Black Sea136 ] and has to remain by the African coasts. But
once it has been brought into motion, it retains its momentum, and flows
constantly.
The best known current of this kind is the Gulf Stream, which begins
in the Gulf of Mexico, turns [somewhere] between the Bahama Islands
and Florida, turns northeast further away from the North American
coast, gradually reaching the coasts of Norway in this way, and then
flows from there north-west towards Greenland. The primary cause of
this current is to be found in the east wind which heaps up the water in
the Gulf of Mexico and in this way forces the water to flow out on this
side.
As mentioned, such currents place many a hindrance in the way of
mariners, but they are, nonetheless, also very beneficial, as will be dis-
cussed later.
§. 32.
Whirlpools or eddies are an effect of two currents. Near Messina, a
southern current comes up against a northern one; and one holds to
one, the other to the other side. Two such counter-currents produce a
9:216 so-called dead water, such as for instance the Sargasso Sea mentioned
above. The cause of this is two winds blowing in opposite directions. But
the sea throws everything that does not have the same motion as its own
to one side, where it is calmer.
The most notable whirlpools are: Charybdis near Cape Faro,v
between Sicily and Calabria;w Euripus between Negroponte and the
coasts of Boeotia; and the Maelstrom or Moskestream, off the coast of
Norway at 68 degrees latitude north.
Small boats might be swallowed up by these currents but not large
ships; rather, the ships themselves bring disorder into the whirlpool. But
if ships do suffer an accident in the maelstrom, this is caused by the fact
that the winds change at every moment and because ships run on to rocks
and are wrecked.
Note. These whirlpools or eddies consist of circular, spiral or
funnel-shaped motions of the sea at particular places, and their cause is just as
often cliffs under water as the tides, a deepening of the sea-floor etc., without
this being a reason for believing that stories of deep chasms, such as the diver
Cola Pesce137 claimed to have found under Charybdis (cf. Kircher, Mundus
subterr[aneus], Vol. i, p. 97138 ), are anything more than mere fables. The tides
have the most obvious effect on all three whirlpools mentioned here, except
v Capfaro. Adickes reads jetzt Calfaro [now Calfaro].

w Gedan reads Naples.
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Physical geography
that local conditions bring about variations in each case. Cf. Gehler, op. cit.,139
article on Whirlpools.
§. 33.
Newton has proved that in the entire universe there is never complete
rest but that bodies are always attempting to come closer together or
mutually attract one another.∗ He has also demonstrated that the weight
of bodies is nothing other than an attraction which is produced by the
whole body and not just by the centre point alone. Although the attrac-
tion of the moon is perceptible on only a very few bodies on our earth,
because they are closer to the earth than they are to the moon, it nonethe-
less really does manifest itself and is evident in the case of liquids, espe-
cially water.
If the attraction of the moon on the side of the earth facing it were 9:217
only as strong as it is at the centre and the side of the earth turned away
from it, then the water in the seas on this side would be at the same
level everywhere. But because the side of the earth turned towards the
moon is closer to it than the centre point of the earth is, and this in
turn is closer than the side turned away from the moon, the moon has a
stronger effect on the former than it does on the centre point, and it has
a greater effect on this than on the side turned away from the moon. For
this reason, the water rises on the side turned towards the moon, and
because it is attracted by the moon it is lighter in relation to the earth.
Now, the water at the sides of the earth, which is attracted equally
with its centre point, tries to put itself into equilibrium with the water
on the side facing [the moon]. But since the water on the sides is heavier
than that on the upper part, a smaller mass of water in those places will
weigh as much as a larger mass on the side opposite to the moon, since
the water there is less attracted by the moon, with the result that it will
swell up on the top side, but decrease on the middle sides. But the centre
point of the earth is attracted more by the moon than the side turned
away from the moon; therefore the centre point will move away from
the water, or, and this amounts to the same thing, the water will move
away from the centre point and swell up on the other side.
But since the moon apparently travels around the earth in twenty-four
hours, it will constantly pull this swollen water with it, so at any place
the water will rise and fall twice a day. Now, the moon, on account of
its motion around the earth, rises each day three quarters of an hour,
or more precisely forty-nine minutes, later than it did the previous day
∗ Princip. Philos. Natur. Cf. also I. Kant’s Collection of Shorter Writings [Sammlung einiger
bisher unbekannt gebliebner kleinen Scriften von Immanuel Kant], edited by F. T. Rink,
Königsberg, [F. Nicolovius,] 1800, 8vo, pp. 7 f. and Gehler, op. cit., articles on Rest and
Inertia.
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Natural Science
until it has gone around the earth in a month; as a result, the swelling
will have to occur three quarters of an hour later each day. But because
of its large quantity, the water will not be able to collect itself imme-
diately at the first effects of the attraction of the moon, so that it is
no wonder that this swelling is greatest three hours after the rising of
the moon.
The tide ought to have attained its greatest height when the moon is
9:218 in its meridian; if it were to stay there, this would indeed be the case;
but because it moves on again before the water has been able to collect
itself, the water is hindered in its confluence.
The tide is small in the broad ocean, for the large mass of water
cannot collect so easily on account of its larger area,x so that the tide on
the Pacific Islands is only six feet, while it is twenty feet high in Bristol.
Where there are large gulfs, there are great tides also. Seas that are cut
off from the ocean seldom have a tide.
Although the sun is further from the earth than the moon, the latter
being only about sixty semi-diameters of the earth, while the sun is 23,000
to more than 24,000 semi-diameters distant, its attraction is nevertheless
quite perceptible on the earth, because it has at least 10,000,000 times
greater a mass. At the time of the new moon, when the sun is in the same
region of the sky as the moon, or is in conjunction with it, and at the full
moon, when they are opposed to one another or stand at 180 degrees
to one another, the force of the attraction must have a combined effect,
and so the greatest swelling up and the lowest sinking of the water must
take place at this time. This happens when they are opposed, because
the water swells up equally on the side facing the moon as on the side
away from it. At the time of the quarter moon, however, the sun will
make its attraction manifest in those places where the water should sink
because of the attraction of the moon, so that the effect of the moon will
be reduced in this way, and thus there is the least swelling and falling of
the water at the time of the first and last quarter.
Now Newton has calculated that the moon would raise the level of
the water by ten feet, if it alone attracted it, and the sun under the same
circumstances would raise the water by two feet. Thus, at the conjunction
and opposition of the moon and the sun the water must rise and fall by
twelve feet, while in the quadratures, when they are ninety degrees apart
from one another, it will only rise and fall by eight feet. On the high
seas, this will occur only slowly and gradually, but in the gulfs, where
the land offers resistance, the water must naturally enter with a sort of
impetuousness. But we note that the highest tide does not take place
until three days after the conjunction or opposition.
x Zusammenhang
496
Physical geography
All this confirms that it really is the revolution of the moon that is 9:219
the cause of the rising of the water, which we call the flow tide, and of
its falling, which we call the ebb tide. The high tide at the time of the
new and full moon is called the spring tide, while at the time of the two
quarters it is called the dead or neap tide. But in fact the water is raised
by only about six feet even at the highest tide.
But it is low tide in some places when it is high tide not far away. Thus
it is low tide at Hamburg, when it is high tide at Heligoland, an island
only fifteen miles distant from the town. This results from the fact that
the tide is often delayed by the configuration of the surrounding land,
so that it cannot occur at the proper time. Despite this, high and low
tide occur at a particular time in any given place. London considers it to
be its great prerogative that ships from Scotland as well as from France
can sail in with the high tide and out at low tide. But this can easily be
explained by the fact that the tide flows from two seas at once as though
into a canal.
Low tide lasts longer in rivers than high tide, because the water in
them is greatly impeded. The Dead Sea, the Caspian, and the Baltic do
not have any tide, because they are cut off from the ocean and have too
small a surface by themselves. A tide does occur in Venice, but only very
insignificantly.
The attraction of the moon is as old as the moon itself, as it is a
gravitational force, which is why it penetrates to the centre. As a result,
the motion of the water at high and low tide extends to the bottom of
the sea, and produces effects such as the waves are incapable of effecting.
It is the prime cause of the greatest changes on the earth, and some
currents and whirlpools are, as already noted, the effect of the tides.
Thus Euripus, which may be observed from Euboea, is a tidal effect
because it constantly takes its direction from the position of the moon.
It becomes turbulent at certain times, and its waves move vigorously,
surge up and beat each other back, without there being the slightest
wind. The great dissimilarity of this phenomenon to that of the tides for
a long time prevented natural philosophersy from recognizing its true
cause. Indeed, according to a well-known legend, Aristotle is supposed 9:220
to have thrown himself into Euripus because he thought the cause of this
motion unfathomable.
Note. According to the report of Plutarch,140 Pytheas of Massilia141 was

the first to refer the tides to the revolutions of the moon, and had there not
been such a great discrepancy between the mere perception that something was
thus and the proof that it was necessarily so and could not be otherwise, it
y Naturforscher
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Natural Science
would have been amazing that Newton was the first to demonstrate the truth
of this observation. This proof rested on the concept of attraction. Cf. in this
connection: Philos. Nat. Princip. Mathem. auct. Is. NEWTON142 cum comment.
LE SUEUR et JACQUIER, Vol. iii, Geneva, 1760, 4to, where may also be
found the more detailed examinations of Dan. Bernouilli,143 MacLaurin,144 and
Euler.145 Further Gehler, op. cit., article Tides; Hube, Instruction in Nature
Study, Vol. iii, Leipzig, 1794.146 On the motions in Euripus relating to the
tides, cf. Fabri’s Geistik, pp. 410 f.
§. 34.
Apart from this force of attraction, which extends through the whole of
space, no other effect of a foreign force can be felt on our earth except
that of light. This appears to be only a vibrating motion of the aether,
just as sound originates in the trembling motion of the air. Only the sun
produces a noticeable change in this respect, since the light of the moon
is 300,000147 times weaker than that of the sun, and because it not only
absorbs many rays it borrows from the sun, but also reflects and disperses
a considerable number of them, its light does not produce the slightest
warmth, no matter how concentrated it may be. The effect of this force
of the sun and the other bodies probably extends, however, only as far
as the surface of the earth.
Note 1. If there is one thing about which natural philosophersz are still
unsure, it is the nature and essence of light, where it has still to be proved
whether it is to be attributed to a peculiar kind of matter, or if it is merely a
modification of heat, or an accident, an effect, etc., of other [forms of] matter.
Euler’s thesis, which is put forward in the paragraph above [§. 34], has
meanwhile almost entirely lost favour, and that of Newton has emerged as the
9:221 most probable from the most recent chemical investigations insofar as light
seems to be something material which has to be regarded as separate from heat.
More details may be found in Gehler, op.cit., article on Light in the work
proper and in the supplementary volume.
But whether heat itself can be assumed to be something material, or whether
a dynamic type of explanation is required in respect of it, is a question which
has by no means been decided. The most recent investigation on this subject
known to me is one undertaken by the learned Herr H. R. Mayer of
Göttingen, which may be consulted in the Göttingen Scholarly Notices,148 no. 84,
1801. If only the worthy author of this Physical Geography could have made
known his “Transition from the Metaphysics of Nature to Physics”! Then, as I
know for certain, many a profound observation would be found there.
But according to Herschel’s most recent observations, the sun sends us not
only rays of light but also rays of heat. See Bode’s Astronomical Annual for the
z Naturforscher
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Physical geography
Year 1803;149 Gren’s Journal of Physics, Continued by Gilbert.150 Especially

Herschel, Investigations on the Nature of the Sun’s Rays, trans. from the English
by Harding, 8vo, Zelle, 1801.151
Similar effects are manifested by electricity and magnetism which are more
or less related or connected with light, though nothing definite can yet be said
about their essential natures, no matter how excellent the introductory works
on them are; the most recent reports may be found in the frequently quoted
Annals of Gilbert and in Voigt’s Magazine, not to mention the most recent
physics handbooks and larger works.
Note 2. As far as the difference between the light of the sun and the moon is
concerned, it is different according to different conditions. The illumination of
the full moon on a clear night is actually 90,000 times less than the unhindered
light the earth receives from the sun. This applies, however, only to reflected
daylight. Direct sunlight is 277,000 times stronger than the light of the moon
according to Lambert,152 and 300,000 times according to Bouguer, and even
374,000 times according to Euler. See Voigt’s Manual of Popular Astronomy,
Weimar, 1799, 8vo, § 196.153
§. 35.
Now there follow in our considerations the notable features of the Arctic
Oceans, of which there are two, the northern one towards the North
Pole, and the southern one towards the South Pole. But the ice is not
restricted to the cold zone, it is often found up to the fiftieth degree of
latitude.
To this belongs above all pack ice, which is found there in large 9:222
separate pieces, thus known as ice fragments or icebergs, as well as
in extensive and connected masses, called ice fields. Whalers have the
opportunity to observe this ice in the Davis Straits. The icebergs often
tower 60 to 120 feet above the surface of the water and mostly extend
to a depth of 500 feet under the water. In general it is assumed that, at
most, only one eighth part of such an iceberg protrudes above the water.
Because the ice, when it melts, usually splits into pipes or block-like
shapes, these masses look like large cities from a distance, and the fog
(which results from the strong evaporation and could thus serve as an
unmistakable sign by which to recognize icebergs from a long way away)
with which they are constantly covered and which, as it were, constitutes
their sphere, prevents this optical illusion from being discovered and
perceived. Although ships only travel into these regions to catch whales,
and thus spend only the six months of summer there, it could be that
a ship might stray into those regions in the long night. If the mariners
now did not perceive the illusion and really thought the phenomenon
was what it seemed to their eyes, the wreck of the ship would be an
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Natural Science
inevitable consequence, if the fog, with which, as mentioned above, the

icebergs are always covered, did not warn the mariners by its exceptional
cold.
As far as the ice fields are concerned, these are so large that a period
of twenty-four hours is required to sail past them with full sails; and
so they are sometimes almost the size of the actual Kingdom of Prussia.
Sometimes there are straits like that of Gibraltar between two such fields,
and since they move only slowly or not at all, one can sail between them.
Ships can anchor in the bays of ice fields as in a harbour, and the sailors
then go fishing and hunting. There are also large pools on them, in
which fresh water is found, to which the sailors have recourse; often too
there are all kinds of animals, e.g., seals, polar bears, and so on, which
9:223 have gone there because of the fishing. When such fields separate from
the firm land to which they occasionally become attached, these animals
are transported away from the land before they notice it, and in this way,
foreign animals can be transported to foreign lands.
But ice like this soon breaks into a thousand pieces like a glass that is
rapidly cooled, or is so shattered when its tip is broken off that it breaks
into pieces. For this reason people take boats along when they go onto
ice fields.
The most damaging thing about these ice fields is that they often block
the shipping lanes when they break. If such an iceberg runs aground in
shallows or on sandbanks, then it stops the other ice from moving so that
it accumulates and is piled together.
The ice in these fields has a blue colour and is said to be very resistant
and long lasting. [According to some,] it has a margin consisting of even
harder ice around its outer rims; but according to others, and more
probably [correctly], the margin consists of ice that has been eaten away
by the lapping sea water, even though the ice may not be crumbly as a
result, and ships need to be very careful in order not to be smashed to
pieces on it.
Where does this ice come from and what does it consist of? Since salt
water cannot freeze, people usually say that it is obvious that it must be
frozen fresh water which is added to those oceans by the rivers of the
surrounding countries. This water now begins to freeze, and, because it
mostly extends to the land, the remaining water becomes connected to
the ice, and in this way it increases considerably.
But the more recent opinion on this matter, according to which pack
ice really is a product of sea water, is probably more correct. It is true
that, when melted, this ice produces only fresh water, but it is certain
that, in the course of freezing, the salt is separated from the sea water
by some chemical operation or other, just as sea water can freeze on the
high seas, though more slowly. The pack ice produced in this way is
increased in winter faster than the loss it sustains in summer by melting,
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Physical geography
and since it often remains in one and the same place for years, it is no
wonder that it often attains such great size.
As mentioned, these ice masses often extend down to the sea-floor, and 9:224
since, in addition, they are often washed and scoured out from under-
neath they fall over and push ships that are sailing between them to
the bottom; and although the ships are sometimes found again and the
mariners can save themselves with their boats over the icebergs, no safe
lanes can be maintained in these seas.
Another strange phenomenon of these seas is driftwood. This is driven
by a current flowing from northeast to southwest into Hudson Bay, the
Davis Straits and the other surrounding areas. It is full of wood worms
and there is no indication that it stood on the earth’s surface but a short
time ago.
All the coasts of the Arctic Ocean lack wood, as for instance in Novaya
Zemlya there is not even native scrub, yet these coasts and lands are not
without wood, since it is brought to them, as it were, by the currents.
There are many kinds of wood among this driftwood, even some that
grow only in warmer climates. In many areas it is washed ashore and
piled up in such quantities that the inhabitants trade with it; indeed it
is often pressed together by the ice to such an extent that it catches fire
and burns.
But the inhabitants of these regions do not use it for burning because it
is generally so rare; for that they use train oil from seals. Instead they use
it for supports for their huts which they cover with furs, and in addition
to make ribs for their boats, which they also cover with skins, and finally
for the shafts of their oars, etc.
But from where and from what areas does this wood come? It cannot
come from Siberia or the surrounding areas, as there are no trees there
except such as have a thickness of some six fingers at most. This is fur-
ther proved by the wood worms which are not found in these northern
regions. It probably comes from an as yet unknown or sunken region of
America, for even on our continent one can find many sunken forests,
often several one above the other. There is for example a fir forest, then
sand, then another fir forest, then mud. The presence of wood worm
is an additional indication that it must have been submerged for a very 9:225
long time.
It has been observed that the wood comes from warm countries, since
there is a north-easterly current out of the Arctic Ocean; this causes an
opposed current to move along the coasts, and it must be this stream
from south to north that carries the wood there. The currents of sea
water go from north to south in the centre and from south to north
along the coasts.
There is similar driftwood in the Antarctic Ocean, e.g., in the Straits
of Magellan, and on the Malvinas or Falkland Islands, where the ships
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Natural Science
from Europe land, there is a garrison that is supplied with wood from
the straits mentioned above.
It should be noted that the Arctic Oceans may perhaps be free of ice
towards the poles, since the current pushes the ice from north-east to
south-west into those areas where we now find it.
Note 1. On both hemispheres of our earth, the northern and the southern,
there is an Arctic Ocean, the temperature of the latter being not only no
warmer but in fact colder than the former. It is this circumstance in particular
that demands our attention. It is an observation confirmed by nearly all
travellers that there is [a] much harsher [climate] in the countries of the
southern hemisphere than in those of the northern hemisphere that are at the
same latitude. At sixty degrees north there is occasionally a temperature of
seventy-five to eighty degrees Fahrenheit, while the thermometer never stands
at more than five degrees above freezing at the same latitude south. Probable
causes of this phenomenon are: first, that the sun spends eight days longer in
the northern than in the southern signs of the zodiac; second, that the
southern hemisphere contains much less land than the northern. But a
considerably higher temperature develops over land, while over water it
remains much more uniform, usually varying only between twenty-six and
sixty-eight degrees Fahrenheit. That is the reason why pack ice may be found
at a much lower latitude [in the southern] than in the northern [hemisphere].
In general, however, individual blocks of ice can be observed from the fortieth
degree of latitude, and from there they increase in magnitude the closer they
approach the poles.
Note 2. The [theory that] pack ice has its origin in salty sea water and not
fresh river water, and that in freezing, salt particles are separated from the
9:226 water, is made all the more probable by the fact that the remaining, unfrozen
sea water increases in salt content.
Note 3. Apart from the thick fog and the conspicuous cold that these
icebergs and ice fields spread around them, they are visible to mariners by
means of a bright reflection, which is called the ‘ice shine’.
Note 4. In §. 31 above, we discussed the so-called Gulf Stream, and it is
precisely this that carries the driftwood. All the previous hypotheses mentioned
in the present paragraph on driftwood have had to yield to more recent
observations and investigations. According to these, large quantities of
driftwood are carried into the ocean current by the rivers in Louisiana, Florida,
the West Indies and the countries surrounding the Gulf of Mexico; in addition,
there is wood from various conifers, birches and lime trees, and Pernambuco
wood, Brazil wood and similar trees, which clearly betray its West Indian
origins. Through this current, it arrives in the northern seas and is deposited
on the coasts of Greenland, Spitsbergen, and elsewhere, indeed, even on those
of Ireland, Scotland and the islands close to these countries, and in Norway and
Iceland. Even the coasts of Siberia and Kamchatka are supplied in the same
way with wood from north-west America, perhaps even from some areas of
Siberia. Doubts have recently begun to be raised as to [the presence of] a
similar world economy in the southern hemisphere.
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Physical geography
second section. 9:227
Concerning the Land.

§. 36.
By the word land we understand everything that is raised above the level
of the sea, although sandbanks are also included, from which islands are
gradually formed by the washing up of matters from the water.
The land as a whole is divided into mainland and islands, even though
the former is nothing but a large island, of whose borders we have only
a vague idea.
It has been observed that the land tends to cluster together, so that
there is more land on one hemisphere, while on the other there is more
water; moreover, in the middle of the ocean there are almost no islands,
or at least no considerable ones.
Note. The land is also classified, according to Mining Councillor Voigt’s154
Practical Mountain Science, Weimar, 1797, 2nd edn., 8vo, pp. 3 f.,155 in terms of
its formation and resulting character into foothills,a Flötz mountains, volcanic
mountains, and alluvium. We shall return to this classification below and then
discuss in more detail the phenomena arising from these observed differences.
More about this, and about the internal structure of the land, as well as
different scholarly opinions on this matter, may be found in v. Beroldingen,156
Volcanoes Ancient and Modern, from a Physical and Mineralogical Perspective, 2
vols., 1791, 8vo.157 – Mitterpacher,158 Physical Geography, Vienna, 1789,
8vo.159 – v. Charpentier’s,160 Observations on Ore Deposits, etc.,
Leipzig, 4to.161
§. 37. 9:228
But on the mainland there are:
1. Lands whose extent and interior are known to us.
2. Lands which we know only in part.
3. Lands of which only the coasts are known.
4. Lands that have genuinely been seen but not found again.
5. Lands that were known to the ancients but which now appear to be
lost.
6. Finally, lands the existence of which is only conjectured.
To the first named [group] belongs Europe. Asia belongs to the sec-
ond, where little is known about, e.g., the land of Free Tartary, greater
and lesser Bukhara, where the seat of the Great Lama is, the lands on
the Caspian Sea and the Aral Sea, the whole of that part of Arabia Felixb
a Vorgebirg. Adickes reads Urgebirge (primary mountains).

b Glückliches Arabien
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Natural Science
in which Mecca and Medina are situated, and where non-Mohammedan

Europeans are not permitted to enter because in the opinion of the
Mohammedans162 the sacred air would be poisoned by them.
A more precise knowledge of Tibet in Asia would be one of the most
important [things to obtain]. Through this we would acquire the key to
all history. It is the highest country, it was probably inhabited earlier than
any other and may even be the ancestral seat of all culture and sciences.
In particular, the learning of the Indians almost certainly originated
in Tibet, just as all our arts appear to have come from Hindustan, e.g.,
agriculture, numbers, chess, etc. It is believed that Abraham dwelt on the
borders of Hindustan. Such an original home of the arts and sciences,
indeed, I would like to say, of humanity, certainly warrants a more careful
investigation.
Another subject that interests researchers into antiquity would be a
more exact knowledge of Egypt. Altogether, Africa warrants the most
careful investigation, and its interior appears to have been much better
known to the ancients than it is to us because they travelled by land more
[than we do]. Even many of the coasts of this continent are still unknown
to Europeans, and its centre escapes our sight entirely. Only Egypt is
known a little better, but even this exceedingly little.
Thus there is reason to assume [the existence of] a considerable lake
in Africa, into which the River Niger loses itself in its eastern, not, as
9:229 was formerly believed, its western, course. Incidentally, the largest and
most beautiful animals, as well as the finest plants, are to be found on
this continent. According to the timorous Portuguese, the most beautiful
interior regions of Africa are peopled with cannibals or eaters of human
flesh, who are even said to fatten people for the slaughter. But we ought
not to give credence to fables of this type so easily, as experience has
shown that these people only slaughter prisoners of war who have been
captured alive, and even then only with the greatest ceremony.
The number of names of countries and places on the map of Africa is
very considerable; but one would be very much mistaken if one were to
believe that, where there is a name, the thing is there also. Any country
about which little was known in any detail was said to be inhabited by
cannibals; however, in accordance with human nature, there cannot be
many, or, more likely, perhaps none at all.
The reason why the interior of Africa is as little known to us as the
lands of the moon is more the fault of us Europeans than of the Africans,
since we have allowed ourselves to be intimidated by the Negro [slave]
trade. It is true that the coast of Africa is visited by Europeans, but their
voyages thither are most brutal, since sixty to eighty thousand Negroes
are abducted from there to America each year. So it has come about that,
until fairly recent times, this continent was hardly known to Europeans
beyond thirty miles into the interior from the coast.
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Physical geography
Another country also still very little known to us is America, the north-
ern part of which, nearest to Russia, is as good as undiscovered, and in the
southern half of which, especially on the Brazilian coasts, there are still
many unknown areas. It is usually mountains that deter people from fur-
ther investigations, regardless of the fact that they actually form the true
foundation and are the first thing one encounters in a land, so that one
has good reason to assume [of a region] that the land which lies in front
of the mountains closer to the water was washed up there and deposited
against them. But the reason for the fact that people have stopped at the
coasts of Africa and at the outermost edges of other countries appears
to lie partly in the purpose of most of the voyages there, namely greed,
and partly in the barrenness of the shores.
Peru would perhaps never have been explored more closely because 9:230
of its inhospitable shores, had not the Spaniards had the good fortune
to enter this paradise of America from the landward side. Altogether,
southern America may one day stimulate our desire for knowledge and
extend our experience of the world.
Among those lands, only the coasts of which have been known for
some time, was that [country] in the southern hemisphere which has
been observed only from the shore and which von Rodenc,163 was the
first to mark on a map made in Berlin. This was precisely the area in
which many more lands were presumed to exist, of which some have
in fact subsequently been discovered; but it is now much less probable
that many more will be found there. In New Holland [Australia], which
by itself is almost as large as Europe, there are very wild inhabitants,
who did not even want to accept trinkets and red cloth the way other
savages do. What difficulties are involved in gaining a more detailed
knowledge of the interior if the inventiveness of the Europeans had not
found other means of reaching this goal! Altogether, the nations of the
southern hemisphere are on the lowest level of humanity and they have
no interest in anything other than the most sensuous pleasures. The
savages towards the north, although they live even closer to the pole,
display far greater talents and skill.
Among the countries that were formerly known, but subsequently as it
were have become lost again, or become less known, there is Greenland,
where, at the time of the election of Queen Margaret, there were various
cities and two monasteries, the bishop of which was present at the elec-
tion in which Margaret attained the three Nordic crowns of Denmark,
Norway, and Sweden.164 This country has been as good as forgotten as
a result of the Nordic wars and the obligations Margaret imposed on the
merchants who sailed there.
c Adickes reads von Rederns.
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Natural Science
Then, the Solomon Islands belong here, although they do not appear
to have been considerable. Perhaps what we today call George Island
[New Georgia] is one of them. The reasons why these islands are no
longer found today are first that the voyage of the Spaniards from Amer-
ica to the Philippine Islands in Asia used to pass through the southern
and the northern hemispheres, but now passes only through the latter;
9:231 second, because, when those islands were observed, the mariners were
unable to determine their positiond exactly.
Among the voyages that have been undertaken in our time to discover
new lands, those whose object was to examine whether Asia and America
are connected were among the most important. [There was] a worthy
enterprise of the Russian Government that attempted [to sail] north-east
from Kamchatka and around the tip of Russia. The English made similar
voyages to the south-west around America, to say nothing of the most
recent Spanish, French, and English voyages of discovery.
There are difficulties in voyaging right up to the pole, since even if it
were possible to get through to it, all the rules of navigation would cease
to apply at that point, because in that case, one would no longer have
any definite directions. We normally call that direction north which lies
towards the pole nearest to us. But there, the pole itself would be at the
zenith and no longer on the horizon. But since all the other directions
can be determined only in relation to north, and true north no longer
applies there, the other directions could no longer be regarded as such
either.165
The discovery of new lands extends the knowledge of man in respect
of the earth and promotes communality.e Its main purpose, however, is
the desire for knowledge on the part of human beings, disregarding the
minor advantages of the enjoyment gained by such discoveries. Indeed,
many voyages have in fact been undertaken purely out of a desire for
knowledge and not from any economic principle, such as those voyages
undertaken to establish the shape of the earth.
The most important discovery, but long vainly hoped for, would prob-
ably be that of a passage through the Arctic Ocean in the north. Through
this, we would have obtained a great deal of information and the world
would then have been opened up to us. The first efforts towards this
objective went towards the north-east and Novaya Zemlya, later ones
north-west to the area of Hudson Bay, while the most recent voyages
for this purpose have gone due north. Landvogt Engel166 devoted him-
self entirely to the investigation of a possible passage through the Arctic
9:232 Ocean. East of Spitsbergen there is said to be open sea. This agrees
d Lage. Adickes reads Länge (longitude). e Gemeinschaft
506
Physical geography
with the hypothesis,f for ice gathers chiefly in the vicinity of coasts and
prevents any possible passage.
Note 1. Europe can be considered as an entirely known land or continent,
since we know not only its outer boundaries, as we do with Africa, but also its
interior, at least for the most part. There are, however, even now, some aspects
which require considerable geographical clarification.
Note 2. In addition to what we have mentioned above as being very little
known in Asia, at least one fifth of Russian territory in that continent, as well as
the Kalmuck region, comes under this category. Certainly less than half of
China is known, even after the most recent journeys. The same is more or less
true of Japan, of many regions on this side of India, and of nearly everything on
the other side of it. We can hardly suppose that we know more than one
twelfth of Arabia. Indeed, we do not even know the whole north and east coast
of Asia, so that the known part of Asia hardly amounts to three-quarters of that
whole continent. We have obtained much information on Tibet from the
following publications: GEORGI’s Alphabetum Tibetanum, etc., Rome, 1762,167
4to; and SAM. TURNER,168 An Account of an Embassy to the Court of Teshoo
Lama in Tibet, London, 1800, 8vo;169 as well as on Ava170 and India generally
from the Asiatic Researches, published in Calcutta and reprinted in London; and
MICH. SYMES,171 An Account of an Embassy to the Kingdom of Ava, London,
1800.172 We owe a great extension of our knowledge of Asiatic Russia and the
neighbouring countries to Georgi, Sievers,173 Pallas,174 Reineggs,175 and
others. The best [information] on Arabia has been provided by Niebuhr176 in
his Description of Arabia, Copenhagen, 1772, 4to,177 and in his Description of
Travels, Copenhagen, 1774, 2 vols., 4to.178 What is known about Persia has
been very well compiled by Wahl179 in his Ancient and Modern Asia and Central
Asia, vol. 1, Leipzig, 1795, 8vo.180 Macartney’s181 journey to China has added
virtually nothing to our knowledge of that country; rather it has merely put
even more fables into circulation. In relation to the scientific, religious and
cultural situation in Tibet and India, the following writings deserve mention:
the Grammatica Samsordamica by FRATER PAULINUS A ST
BARTOLOMAEO, Rome, 1790;182 also his Systema Brahmanicum liturgicum
mytholog. civile, ibid., 1791, 4to,183 and Stäudlin’s184 Magazine for the History of
Religion, Morals and the Church, vol. 1, Part 1, pp. 88 f.185
Note 3. Our knowledge in relation to Egypt has recently been extended by
Norden,186 Niebuhr, Volney,187 Bruce,188 Sonnini,189 Browne,190 and
others, as well as and especially by the sojourn of the French in that country. A 9:233
very practical use of all this information, in so far as it was known up to that
time, was made by Hartmann191 in his Geography and History of Africa, vol. 1,
Hamburg, 1799, 8vo.192 Nubia and Abyssinia are countries still very little
known to us, in spite of Bruce’s report. The same is true to an even greater
degree of Monomotapa, Zanzibar, and Natal. Starting from the Cape, people
have only occasionally reached the Tropic [of Cancer]. From the Elephant
River to Benguela, even the coasts are hardly known. The same is true of the
coasts between Capes Blanco and Nun. In Guinea, people have not even
f Vermuthung
507
Natural Science
penetrated twenty miles from the seashore, if we exclude Mungo Park’s193

journey, which did not ultimately prove as informative as might have been
hoped. The southern regions of Morocco, Tunis[ia], Tripolis, Algier[ia], and
Barca are virtually unknown. Much may be expected of Hornemann.194 It
remains to be seen what the African Society in London will achieve through
him and others in the future, and, similarly, what the Franco-African
establishment of merchants and explorers will accomplish. Le Vaillant,195
Lemprière,196 and Barrow197 have provided the most recent reports, in
addition to those published by Mungo Park and the African Society in
England. Generally speaking, we cannot pride ourselves on knowing more than
one fifth of this important continent. Bruns,198 in his description of Africa, and
Hartmann in his work De Geographia Edrisii199 have collected many fine facts
and drawn conclusions therefrom. Rennell’s200 map of North Africa, London,
1798, is an excellent product of an acute talent for deduction. See von Zach,
General Astronomical Ephemerides,201 vol. 3, p. 53, and the reduced
accompanying map, as well as vol. 2, p. 158, and Mungo Park’s route.
Note 4. There is no need to be surprised at the large number of names on
our usual maps of Africa. They have been taken from Edrisi202 or the so-called
Geographus Nubiensis, from Leo the African203 and from more or less well
confirmed reports of merchants and caravans coming from the interior of the
country.
Note 5. Of America, we know hardly three fifths. The southern regions of
South America, that is almost half of this latter, are almost entirely unknown.
The same is true of North America beyond the sixtieth parallel, as well as of a
considerable part of the area between the fortieth and sixtieth parallel. It is to
be hoped that we shall get to know a significant part of South America better
through von Humboldt.204 See v. Zach, Monthly Correspondence,205 vol. 2, pp.
82 and 403 f. So far, we know little more than the coasts of the islands of the
9:234 Fifth Continent, and even these not completely. What has actually been
discovered here may be limited to around one fortieth part of the whole
continent.
Note 6. For this paragraph, compare Sprengel’s206 History of Geographical
Discoveries, Halle, 1783, 8vo;207 Forster’s History of Discoveries in the North,
Frankfurt, 1784, 8vo;208 and Gaspari, Complete Handbook of the Most Recent
Geography, Weimar, 1797, vol. 1, pp. 13 f.209 How much, incidentally, was
known already to the ancients which we do not know at all, e.g., Ophir, or of
which we know only extremely little, e.g., northern India. After all, Greenland,
which was discovered in the first half of the ninth century, had to be discovered
anew in later times. Whether there ever was an Atlantis, which is mentioned in
antiquity, and what of the ancient reports on it may be true, can now no longer
be established. America, too, was most probably discovered at the beginning of
the eleventh century. See Girtanner, On the Kantian Principle for Natural
History, pp. 147 f.210 And Buache211 believes, not without reason, that
there are still many undiscovered islands between Japan and California. See
Mémoires de l’Institut National des Sciences et Arts, pour l’an IV de la République,
vol. 1.212
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Physical geography
§. 38.
Lands are either inhabited or uninhabited. In the latter case, they are
called deserts. But this word must be used with qualification. Some
regions, such as that in America around Peru, in which you see only indi-
vidual tribes wandering about, but which really constitute the American
paradise, are uninhabited as a result of nothing other than the arbitrary
preference of human beings. It is not because nature has determined that
they should be uninhabited. In this case, such areas are more correctly
called wilderness. By contrast, in other places is found a red sand, a kind
of iron dust, unproductive even for pastures; these are called heaths,
since nothing grows there other than heather.
Deserts are really places that appear to have been determined and
arranged by nature in such a way that people cannot live there. These
are:
1. Sand deserts in which there is nothing but flying sand. [To this
group] belong, in Asia, the Gobi or Shamo Desert, between Mongolia
and the Kalmuck region; also the so-called salt desert that divides
Persia into two parts, the capital of one being Isphahan and the other 9:235
Kandahar; the Syrian Desert in Arabia; and the Tschanai Desert or
the great sand lake between Lesser Bukhara and Tibet. (See the map
of China with von Zach’s Ephemerides, vol. 1, pt. 1.213 )
The most notable desert in Africa is the Sahara Desert between
the Atlantic Ocean, Morocco, Nigritia, and Senegambia, which is
probably the largest of all, being 60,000 square miles in extent. In
America there is no such desert of significance.
Because no seed can get deeply enough into the earth on account of
the sand, it is blown away together with it, and it follows that nothing
can grow on such soil. In all deserts of this kind, no rivers or other
waters can be observed; on the contrary, those rivers that arise in
and around deserts carry the water away from them. Indeed if there
be any mountains in the vicinity and some rivers should snake down
from them, then they wind from one side to the other, away from
the desert. Thus arises the great dearth of water in such deserts, and
when people have taken the trouble to dig wells under the soil there,
it has been observed that the same salt that appears to be part of the
wind-blown sand is also present in the well water.
Efforts to transport water from distant and well-watered lands into
these deserts have also been in vain, because the canals by means of
which it is carried collapse and the water begins to stink, with all the
locusts and birds that fall into it when they throng to the water in
considerable numbers because of the great heat.
509
Natural Science
Now because the rivers always turn away from the desertsg and turn
their course[s] towards lower ground, these deserts must naturally be
elevated areas, and because, if there were a mountain there, the rain
water would run down from it, sink into the ground and would not
fail to emerge in a river or spring, the desert must be flat and without
any mountains; thus it must be an elevated plain. Conversely, as soon
9:236 as there is an elevated plain, we say that it is a desert. Sand deserts are
invariably surrounded by mountains, from which, however, they are
separated by an intervening valley.
2. If the greatest cold, by which all the works of creative nature are
killed, makes lands uninhabitable, then heat on the contrary does not
do so, for the most fruitful regions are found in the hottest places,
particularly for instance Bengal which is the richest region of all.
At seventy degrees of latitude and even before this, plants start to
become sparse and beyond seventy-five degrees there is little more
than reindeer and moss to be found, from which the reindeer become
very fat, although moss has no juice.
But since we notice that human beings find their nourishment more
in animals than in plants, and it is primarily the animals which thus
appear to be created for their nourishment, it is probable that the
harshness of the cold (insofar as this has its poles just as warmth does,
and seems to move around these, whereby the climate is changed after
a certain time, so that, for instance, the two points of greatest cold
do not remain at a fixed place) does not prevent man from inhabit-
ing even these and the most varied regions, since he finds his food
everywhere, just as the reindeer can live and exist in the very coldest
areas, in Novaya Zemlya and Spitsbergen. Man is therefore made for
the whole earth, and precisely because his body is formed by nature
in such a way that he can become habituated to any climate, indeed
can become accustomed to even the greatest differences of climate,
perhaps this is partly the reason for the origin of differing national
characters.
3. Steppes. These are regions where no forests or water are to be found,
but which apart from that mostly have fertile soil. Like sand deserts,
these too must be elevated plains, but instead of being surrounded by
mountains like the sand deserts, as we saw, they are enclosed between
two rivers. On them grow melons, the most beautiful flowers, cherries
and fine fruits, but all only on smaller shrubs, bushes, and stalks than
usual. From this it can be seen that the rising of the vapours from
9:237 springs is necessary, and not just rain alone. Forests provide humans
and animals with safety and protection; where the former are absent,
the latter are also. Among such steppes we reckon that of Bessarabia,
g Wüsten. Gedan reads Küsten (coasts).
510
Physical geography
between the Dnestr and the Danube, the Ochakovian, between the
Dnepr and the Dnestr, the Crimean, between the Dnepr and the Don,
that of Astrakhan, etc.
Note 1. If there was mention above of poles of cold, then this is in no way
meant to imply that the cold is to be considered a positive entity.
Note 2. Steppes and deserts are not always distinguished clearly enough,
just as the definition of these names themselves and the nature of the regions
indicated by them are often very different. For instance there are some things
that apply to the Astrakhan Steppe which otherwise are applicable only to a
desert, just as, again, one has to distinguish ordinary from salt steppes. From
Reineggs’s Description of the Caucasus, Part 1, p. 161,214 it can be seen that in
the steppe just mentioned there are lakes and drifting sand, which latter the
author considers a necessary requirement of salt-lakes, since, when strong
winds blow the sand out of the dried up lakes of this kind and into other
freshwater lakes or swamps, these become salty while the former become
fresh.
§. 39.
As we have already remarked, islands are nothing other than mountains,
the tops of which protrude over the surface of the sea. Large islands are
[generally] close to the continent and their coasts mostly run parallel
with the mainland. The largest are:
In Europe.
Great Britain and Ireland, together 6,083 square [German]

miles.
In Asia.
Borneo, 14,520 square miles.

Sumatra, 8,062 square miles.
In Africa.
Madagascar, 10,500 square miles.
In America.
Cuba, 6,000 square miles.

Domingo, 5,000 square miles.
Australia consists mostly of very considerable islands.
Where the land forms large gulfs, there is generally an archipelago 9:238
of islands, e.g., the Maldive and Philippine Archipelagos. It has been
remarked:
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Natural Science
1. that the mountains continue in an unbroken chain so that one does

not find high and low mountains suddenly right next to each other,
but that they rise and fall gradually;
2. that, as Dalrymple215 says, the most considerable islands lie near the
land, and that in the Pacific, as indeed in all oceans, the islands have
come about in part through the action of the sea water, and are thus
usually steep on the side on which they are added to in this way,
but very flat on the other side. It is therefore easy to see the reason
why the largest islands lie nearest the mainland, because it is on and
near the mainland that the highest mountains are to be found. And
these are the most capable of protruding above the surface of the
water.
Note. According to the above, islands are nothing other than mountains,
and although some have originated in the same way as the mountains, there are
a number of reasons why islands are produced. For, apart from the fact that
several of them have been produced by volcanic eruptions, such as the so-called
new island near Iceland in the year 1783, several islands in the Atlantic and the
Mediterranean, and perhaps Iceland itself; others [were created] by water
breaking through, such as Sicily, Helgoland and several islands in the
Mediterranean and the Archipelagus; others again [were created] by inundation
from the sea, e.g., the islands at the mouths of a number of rivers, and probably
some of the Philippines; finally, some are nothing other than the product of
polyps, the so-called coral-polyps or lithophytes. Several islands of this type are
already known to us in the South Sea, and probably the number as yet
unknown to us is far greater. Cf. Forster’s Observations Made During a Voyage
Round the World, Berlin, 1783, p. 126.216 The islands of this and the previous
types are listed in great detail by Fabri in his Geistik, pp. 41 ff. As a peculiar
type of island, floats or floating islands deserve mention. These consist of a turf
base mixed with roots and are found almost exclusively in land-locked lakes,
e.g., Lake Bamtin near Gerdauen in East Prussia, at Tivoli in the Lago di Bagni
or Solfatara, and in Lake Ralangen in Sweden. The survival of these islands is
very precarious and depends on several contingent circumstances.
9:239 §. 40.
Banks are nothing but islands covered with water and banks that pro-
trude are islands; or, in other words, banks are elevations under the
water above the bottom of the sea. Thus, everywhere where these are
found, there are also shallows. Within [the category of] banks, we distin-
guish rock and sandbanks. Shallows are sometimes harmful to mariners,
sometimes useful. The former is the case when ships run aground
on account of shallows, the latter when they can use the shallows for
512
Physical geography
anchoring; for the following conditions are required for a good anchor-
ing base:
1. that the rope of the anchor can reach the bottom and that the ship
be not deprived of all motion by it, i.e., that the rope must be able
to lie at an oblique angle and the sea be not too deep; also that the
angle of the rope should not be too oblique and the ship should not
suffer damage from too much violent motion; hence, the water must
not be too shallow, that is, it must have a depth of approximately ten
to twelve fathoms;
2. that the bottom itself should not be swampy or full of small stones,
or even consist of shifting sand, but should be of either coarse sand
or clay, since in the first and third cases the anchor would sink in too
deeply so that it could not be raised again or only with great difficulty;
in the second case, the rope would be frayed by the small stones, and
thus the ship left to the mercy of the waves and storms.
In Europe, Dogger Bank is the largest, and much fishing is carried out
there. The most notable rock banks are: that near Terreneuve, which
is almost a hundred miles long and where a great deal of fishing for cod
and stockfish takes place. (In general, much fishing takes place on nearly
all banks, because the fish dislike being on the bottom of the sea, both
because it is very dark there and because there is a moderate basement
temperature near the surface: so that one need only throw one’s line in
and pull it out again a moment later in order to catch the best fish of
this type.) This bank is visible from a considerable distance because the
waves are beaten back by the rocks and get into a turmoil. Above it there
is also a very cold fog. The cause of this is unknown, unless it be the 9:240
general cause previously mentioned.
Also, one should consider here the rock bank on which rest the Mal-
dive Islands, which number several thousand, for which reason the
kings of the Maldives call themselves Lords of the Thousand Islands.
Some straits between these islands are such that it is not possible to pass
between them.
The foremost of these islands is the island of Male.
The most famous sandbanks are the dunes on the English coasts.
Their very shape indicates that they were created by the action of the
ocean currents.
Finally, roads are those sandbanks that are found near harbours and
serve to protect them.
We should also note the so-called oyster-banks, coral and shell-
banks on which the most extensive pearl fishing takes place. The best
of this type are to be found in the Red Sea.
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Natural Science
§. 41.
With respect to land as such, three natural divisions are to be noted,
above all:
1. Ridges of land,
2. Basins, and
3. Platforms.
A land ridge is the place where the highest region of the land is to
be found. It is usually the backbone of the mountains, but it is also fre-
quently found with no precise relationship to the mountains. A general
characteristic for distinguishing such land ridges is that on them, the
rivers spread or part in all directions. It has been noted that such land
ridges endeavour to divide and enclose lands into basins. This is particu-
larly noticeable where political boundaries coincide with physical ones.
Bohemia is a country of this type. It obtains all its water from the sur-
rounding mountains which enclose it and this water is in turn drained by a
channel, the Elbe, so that if this opening were blocked off Bohemia would
become a water reservoir. The Elbe is like a trunk created by the various
9:241 separate roots of the river which originate in Bohemia. Presumably in
olden times the physical boundaries coincided better with the political
ones, before the advent of those numerous wars which should be seen as
a consequence of crossing physical boundaries.
All countries appear to have been basins originally, from which the
water later flowed into the ocean. Likewise, gulfs are basins, parts of
which have subsequently sunk. The ocean is the largest of these basins,
which is enclosed by Africa, America, and a series of mountains, which, as
the famous French geographer Buache notes, continue under the water
between America and Africa. The so-called Sahara Desert is a platform
the size of our continent. All sandy deserts are platforms of this type, just
as, conversely, these platforms are mostly sandy deserts.
Note. Land or earth ridges are usually found in the middle of the land,
whence they gradually slope towards the sea. This sloping is called its
inclination or declivity and its character and orientation result from the courses
of the rivers. A platform or plateau or mountain plain is basically nothing more
than such a mountain ridge, insofar as it consists merely of an elevation and is
not a genuine mountain range. The well-known land ridges and mountain
plains are:
In Europe, the Swiss Alps.

In Asia, mainly the region of Tibet.
In America, the area around the equator and towards the western coasts.
But it is very probable that there are other similar land ridges and mountain
plains not only in the interior of Africa, possibly around ten to fifteen degrees
514
Physical geography
north, but also in North America, and even in Europe, for instance where the
Don and the Volga have their source.
§. 42.
Mountains are elevations above the surface of the earth. They were
presumably created by the many fractures that have come about on the
surface of the earth. Just as, even now, in the Caucasus Range, there are
many mountains which consist of argillaceous matter, which, however,
because nature has now for the most part attained a mature condition,
cannot become so hard as the other mountains that have changed from 9:242
a liquid state to their present condition.
The mountains consist either of permanenth stone, these are the rock
mountains,i or else of earth and sand, which are the sand mountains.j
When there are many mountains together, they are called a range.
When such a range continues in a continuous line, whether straight or
crooked, it is called a mountain chain. A chain of mountains, however,
consists of a trunk and branches. The trunk of the mountains is that place
where many mountains are clustered together. Branches are mountains
which merely start from this line and take some other direction.
Switzerland appears to be the real trunk of all mountains in Europe. In
Sweden, a chain of mountains circles the whole country, as it were,k from
which many branches radiate, between which the rivers that flow from
the mountain chains and ridges and acquire increase from the mountains
on either side, pour into the Gulf of Finland. Another chain of mountains
extends from Cape Finisterre to the Pyrenees, from there to the Alps
and so forth. – Another chain of mountains surrounds half of America,
a further one encompasses a large part of Russia and the Arctic Ocean.
In general, one never finds a rock mountain in complete isolation, but
always several of them together. These become lower and lower towards
the sea, and on a relatively large island, if it is longer than it is wide, one
always finds a chain of mountains running along its greatest length, as,
e.g., in Sumatra, or, if it is as wide as it is long, one finds in the middle
a trunk of mountains, the branches of which stretch in all directions
towards the sea. The soil found on a number of these mountains appears
to have got there only accidentally, because one can find trees, shells and
other things of this type underneath it.
Note. The relationship of the mountain ranges on the continents outside
Europe is still very little known to us. But Asia is the best known. As for
h Ewigen. Adickes reads einzigen (single).

i Felsberge
j Sandberge
k Gleichsam. Adickes reads gleichfalls (also), meaning “Sweden also . . . ”.
515
Natural Science
Europe, it has been partly mentioned above that two mountain chains or
principal ranges of mountains have to be assumed, one in Switzerland, the
other where the Don, the Volga and the Dnepr rise. The first is to be found
among the sources of the Rhine, the Rhône, the Aare and the Etsch, thus
9:243 forming the centre point of the Alps, one part of which mountain range
extends south to the Mediterranean Sea; then beside this to the east there is the
subsequent branch of the Apennine Mountains, through Italy; another part
stretches north in the Jura and Vosges mountains on the left bank of the Rhine,
in the Cevennes, the Pyrenees and some branches of the latter all the way to
the Atlantic Ocean. Another northern arm forms the Black Forest, the Fichtel
Mountains, and the Thuringian Forest Mountains and finally ends in the
northernmost tip of this chain, the Harz Mountains. Side branches of the
Fichtel Mountains are the Bohemian Forest, the Erz Mountains, the Sudeten
Mountains, the Moravian Mountains and the Carpathians. Finally, an eastern
spur of the Alps runs through southern Germany and then divides into three
arms, of which one approaches the Carpathians to the north-east, the second
extends to the south-east along the Adriatic Sea, through Greece to the
furthest tip of Morea, and of this again the Rhodope, Pangaeus and Haemus
ranges are minor branches. The third arm also extends northwards up to the
vicinity of the Carpathians.
The second main core of the European mountains rises in the north in the
Sewo Mountains between Russia and Sweden, then runs between that country
and Norway, and it is this which has just been described as encircling Sweden.
A second arm turns south between the Don and the Volga towards the
Caucasus. A third arm extends to the north-east under the name of the Ural
Mountains as the border between Asia and Europe. Finally, on the western
side, another arm, not of mountains but rather as a land ridge, which is what
this range is, approaches the Carpathians.
The following authors above all have written about the relationships of
mountain ranges: BUACHE in the Mémoires de l’Académie des Sciences, Paris,
1752;217 Gatterer218 in his Summary of a Description of the Earth, Göttingen,
1775, Introd. to Pt. 2; and Fabri in his Geistik, pp. 95 f.
§. 43.
The following observations in relation to mountains are especially note-
worthy.
1. The upper air on mountains is said to be uncomfortable for breathing
because of its reduced density.l Since, however, several members of
the former Academy of Sciences in Paris spent over three weeks on
the highest mountains in Peru, the highest on earth, although the
air there was twice as thin as in Paris, so that it raised the mercury
l Dichtigkeit. Gedan reads Durchsichtigkeit (transparency).
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Physical geography
9:244 by only 14 , whereas it rises to 28 in Paris; [because of this] it was
thought that the reason for the difficulty in breathing arises from the
anxiety felt when thinking of the return journey, as well as from the
structure of the muscles which are weakened by the great amount of
motion and the strain on the lungs. People have tried to conclude that
the difficulty in breathing is caused not by the thinness of the air but
rather by fatigue, from the fact that eagles, which after all have to be
carried by the air, have been seen flying over the highest mountains.
Rather, the thinner air is a source of vigour.
2. The people who live around and on the mountains are said to be
very strong and brave and try to assert their freedom in every way
possible. But this probably results principally from the fact that in
such regions, it is very easy to defend oneself against large armies with
only a few people, and also because the mountain tops are uninhabited
and uninhabitable; even in the valleys [of mountainous regions], there
are fewer riches to be hoped for, so that no one is likely to want to
stay in such regions. Furthermore, the inhabitants of such mountain
countries are constantly on the move. Those peoples who live on
plants are the most free since they find food everywhere. Those who
derive their food from horses and their milk, like the Tartars, are
next. But less free are those who live on domestic animals and cattle-
breeding proper. And the greatest slaves of all, finally, are those people
who carry on agriculture, since they cannot find land suitable for this
purpose everywhere.
Thus it appears that the particular character of the inhabitants of
mountainous regions does not reside in the quality of the air prevailing
there. The noticeable difference between the Highland Scots and
English and the inhabitants of Lowland Scotland results from the
fact that the latter receive a very soft upbringing.
3. The air in such mountainous regions is said to be the cause of home-
sickness, especially of the Swiss, since these, when they are in other
countries, become melancholy, particularly when they hear their
national songs; indeed they pine away if they are not permitted to
return to their homeland. But this results partly from the idea people 9:245
have of the peace of mind which fills people in all countries where
the inhabitants live in relative equality; thus especially in Switzer-
land there is a peace of mind they believe can be found nowhere but
on the soil of their homeland. Another reason for this homesickness
consists in the greater effort such people have to make to earn their
living. This is also the cause of the homesickness among the Pom-
meranians and the Westphalians. It is also said that in no country is
suicide so common as in Switzerland, although, in general, this tends
to affect the rich more; but the Swiss are mostly poor. It has been
517
Natural Science
claimed, however, that the suicides in Switzerland are mainly such

people as have previously visited other countries and found a taste
for the delights there, and who take their lives because they have to
do without these pleasures in their homeland. This change in them-
selves is also the reason why they all unanimously assert that, on their
return, they did not find their homeland the way it was when they
left it. Thus they regard a subjective change as an objective one, since
they are not capable of perceiving the former.
The homesickness of the Swiss is a yearning or an endeavourm [for
a goal] they know to be impossible. It is always better to have no hope
than an uncertain one; because in that case one ceases to feel any long-
ing and attempts to accept within oneself a situation in which one has
nothing more to hope for. It is precisely for this reason that there is
nothing more arduous than to exert one’s strength while conscious
of the impossibility of attaining the purpose. Homesickness is partic-
ularly prevalent in poor regions ill-favoured by nature; because the
greater the simplicity of life, the stronger the effects of temperament
and desires. Dissatisfaction increases with the latter, especially if one
remembers a better way of life or sees how much better it is in other
places. Family bonds are stronger the poorer the family is, and the
more significant the deprivations nature has placed upon it. On the
9:246 other hand, the more one is burdened by self-interest, as is the case
with luxury, the less solidarity there is among people.
4. If one assumes the level of the Earth’s surface to be the level of the
sea, then it is very easy to find the height of mountains by means of
trigonometry. If, however, they are situated a long way from the sea,
this cannot be done so easily on account of the many errors that might
possibly slip in.
Thus, if one observes that the density of the air decreases with its
height above the earth, because in its higher regions it is not weighed
down by such a mass of air as at a greater depth, and that in conse-
quence the density of the air decreases by one unit for every seventy
feet, so Bernouilli has begun to calculate the height of the mountains
by means of a barometer, which is an instrument for discovering the
density and heaviness of the air. But it was later found that the density
and heaviness of the air do not decrease in accordance with a particu-
lar law, so that even if the upper air were brought to the place of the
lower and weighed down by an equal weight, it would still not attain
the density of the latter. Mariotte219 is of the opinion that the loss
in density of the air was equal to the increase in its elastic strength,
in that those parts of the earth that turn themselves into vapours and
m ein Bestreben
518
Physical geography
reside in the lower part of the air have a greater attractive power and
exert a greater restraint on the particles. But it transpired that this
law too was not applicable. These, then, are the difficulties which
make any measurement of the mountains based on this [method] very
uncertain. The best method is to make simultaneous observations on
the top of the mountain and at the seashore, and, by comparing them
with one another, to establish the height of the mountains.
5. The Pico on Tenerife is one of the most famous [mountains]. Accord-
ing to some, its height is 12,420 feet, and according to others it is
10,452 feet. It throws a shadow further than the tangent, that is, over
twelve miles, and the air in this region has a very dark appearance
from the reflectionn of the shadow.
6. A row of mountains nearly always has another such row opposite it.
The foremost mountains are called foothills, which usually consist of
stones thrown on top of one another without order. The succeeding 9:247
row of mountains is called the intermediate, and finally the third
is the main range. The intermediate mountain range is often metal
bearing, and the main range consists almost entirely of rock. But on
the other side they follow in the same sequence.
7. Isolated mountains always have a more forbidding appearance than
whole ranges, because the rows of mountains in the foreground are
the lowest, and those behind them, which are higher, cannot be seen
since they are obscured by the former.
Note 1. Several travellers have written powerful descriptions of the feelings

of constraint that are said to have assailed them on high mountains. In fact, the
density of the air at great heights is reduced, and it may well be that a small part
of this feeling results from this [fact]. But experiences of this kind for one or
only a few hours, on one or only a few occasions, do not resolve the issue, since
the rare impression and the magnitude of the view are infallibly able to arouse
this apprehension, and probably most strongly at that. That mountain air is
purer and healthier than air in flat areas under the same circumstances has been
confirmed by experience on many occasions. But as there are several effective
causes, it still has to be determined what part the thinner air plays in this.
Note 2. If it is an undeniable and frequently confirmed observation that
mountain dwellers are characterized by courage, then probably only a small
part of this can be accounted for by the air. The mostly thankless soil on
mountains – consider the Caucasus and its inhabitants – forces those who live
there to [undertake] the most arduous efforts to provide the necessities of life.
The scarcity of the latter and the resulting disputes and wars make the people
engage in an almost continuous physical activity. This makes them strong and
robust. But their limited desires and needs, as well as the feeling that they have
n Repercutirung
519
Natural Science
only themselves to thank for what they possess, combine with the foregoing
facts to give them self-confidence and courage.
Note 3. If one were to assume that only the Swiss suffer from homesickness,
and in their case more in respect of older times than the present, since their
intercourse is no longer exclusively limited to their mountains and valleys, then
one would be greatly mistaken; rather, the poorer the country, the more
arduous the maintenance of life, and the further removed the customs are from
luxury, the stronger the longing for their homeland will be on the part of its
9:248 distant inhabitants. Thus during her stay in London, Mme. von la Roche got
to know an educated young Icelander whose longing for his impoverished
homeland grew stronger the more intoxicating the pleasures and distractions of
the capital of the British Empire were. Thus the longing to return home was
particularly strong in all those who were introduced, as non-Europeanso or
so-called savages, into the middle of the most sensuous pleasures of our
continent. Even in the case of the captain who was captured as a young Negro
boy and who became famous in Holland for his learning, it is highly probable
that it was his longing for his homeland that made him leave Europe.
Need drives people in infertile regions closer together, and even if this need
ceases to be a necessity, once it has become dominant, it continues to exert an
all-powerful effect and is stronger than any other inclination. What a wise
institution of Nature! Without it those deserted areas would soon be
completely abandoned and be at best a refuge after a shipwreck.
Note 4. The first person to use a barometer for measuring heights was
Pascal220 in the middle of the seventeenth century. Mariotte and Boyle then
established the law known under the name of the former rather more than
twenty years later, [which states that] the density of the air is in direct
proportion to the pressure that it bears. According to his observations, the
barometer ought to fall by one unit in sixty-three feet. After him, Halley and
Scheuchzer221 carried out experiments of this type. Horrebow222 and de la
Hire223 claim to have observed that for the mercury to fall by one unit, an
elevation of almost seventy-five feet is necessary. Because the rule to date had
been found to be wrong so often, Bouguer thought he should bring the
specific elasticity of the air into consideration, according to which different
types of air offer different resistances despite equal temperature and density.
Bernouilli postulated the law that the compressive force was related to the
square of the speed of the internal motion of the particles divided by the
volume. Cassini224 assumed the density of the air to be proportional to the
square of the pressure. We owe the most recent investigations on this subject to
de Luc225 and Lichtenberg, just as we owe the experiments in this connexion
especially to the indefatigable Saussure.226 More detail about this can be found
in Gehler, op. cit., article on “Barometric measurement of altitude”. The
reason why the measurements of altitude by means of the barometer have
hitherto been so varied is probably that the density of the air at one and the
same place and at the same temperature is not proportional to the height of the
o Außer-Europäer
520
Physical geography
barometer. As a result, it will be necessary to determine the local density by

means of direct weighing, preferably by means of Gerstner’s227 air scales.
§. 44. 9:249
The air on the mountains is far colder than that in the lower regions so
that permanent ice and everlasting snow are characteristics of the highest
mountains.
At a height of approximately a quarter of a mile and higher, there is
no longer any change in the seasons, but permanent winter. From this it
can be seen that the volume of heat is not really produced [directly] by
the rays of the sun but rather by excitation of the earth’s heat by means
of the sun’s rays. Such terrestrial heat appears to be a characteristic
property of the earth, because at whatever depth people have dug to so
far, and to which the sun cannot penetrate, it has always been found
to be warm. The warmth is imparted to the air in the same manner as
electrical matter is to feathers. It appears to spread according to the cubus
diametrorum,228 and to be a fine and subtle matter which penetrates all
bodies and is uncommonly similar to the electrical [fluid], except that
effects are produced by the latter when it takes on a vibratory motion,
while the effects of fire or heat arise when it communicates itself from
one particle to another and is thereby transferred.
Perrault229 notes that it is warm when the vapours do not change their
figure and form. The Fahrenheit thermometer shows the temperature
at the boiling point of water as 212 degrees, the temperature of blood as
96 degrees and the highest summer temperature at 70 degrees.
That the coldness of the air and of the high mountains results from
the lack of terrestrial heat is shown by the fact that in the summer, on
the highest mountains the upper snow remains on the ground, while
snow melts on the lower. In the so-called torrid zone, high mountains
rise and there is eternal ice on their peaks. Thus the warmth in those
regions cannot be as great as it is described, indeed not even as great as on
the longest days in the temperate zones, because there the sun remains
above the horizon longer than in the torrid belt, where the night is always
twelve hours long, and it can thus become cooler there too than in the
more temperate regions where the nights are so extremely short during
the summer. Furthermore, that the heat in summer does not originate
directly from the rays of the sun is demonstrated by the fact that the 9:250
warmth never quite disappears, even during the longest nights.
The greatest heat does not occur at midday but soon after midday,
even though the sun is already somewhat weaker then than earlier on.
Rather, it is the conservation of the midday heat as such, together with
the increase it acquires subsequently, that creates the maximum heat. It
is for this reason therefore that the hottest time of the year is not at the
521
Natural Science
solstice, even though the sun has its greatest effect then on account of
its vertically falling rays. Rather, it does not occur until after it when the
warmth previously aroused in the earth is strengthened by that which
follows, even though this is weaker. Where ice and snow are present,
no specially perceptible warmth can be retained; on the contrary, this is
present in such places only insofar as it is an effect of the sun.
The same explanation applies to the cold which is greatest not at
midnight but at dawn because this is the time of day that is most remote
from the terrestrial warmth aroused by the rays of the sun.
Linnaeus thought that Paradise might have been situated on an island
in the tropics while all other land was covered by the primæval ocean. His
reason[ing] was that on high mountains all the different climates could
have been encountered so that all kinds of plants and animals might have
lived there: hot regions at the shore of the sea, temperate ones around
the middle of the mountains, and cold ones at the top. He derived a proof
for this hypothesis from the fact that, as he maintains, the water [level] is
dropping on the Swedish coasts;230 thus it must have been sinking up till
now and will continue to sink in such a manner that [eventually] no more
water will be visible. But since the mountain chain of the hot regions of
the earth is highest, it must have been the first to emerge when the water
began to sink.
Snow moves downwards from a height of about 12,000 feet. Thus, if
one knows at what time [of the year] the snow in a country melts, one
can deduce the approximate height of a mountain there.
Nor does the coldness on high mountains derive from the fact that the
rays that are reflected from the surrounding districts cannot fall upon
9:251 them. For the region of Quito in Peru is such that it can rightly be con-
sidered a mountain since it is situated about eight-and-a-half thousand
feet above the sea and between two rows of mountains and thus can be
regarded as a broad and high valley. Although the rays here are reflected
from infinitely many regions and fall upon this landscape, it is much
colder there than in those regions lower down, even though they are
immediately next to it, and thus the inhabitants are white.
Note. We have to regard heat as the proper precondition for the expansion
of every body. It is nowhere totally absent. No organization could take place
wherever it was absent; it would be a complete abolition of all organic life. And
because there is strictly no such thing as an inorganic body, the assumption of a
total lack of innate heat everywhere, which would have to be the case if we
were to regard it as something merely effected from outside, would necessarily
lead us to assume a nihilism which is contradicted by both reason and
experience. Warmth is thus something positive like light, and cold and
darkness are simply names for their apparent absence. But despite this, an
externally generated, greater or lesser excitation may well exist and it is
undeniable that this is brought about primarily by the rays of the sun. But
522
Physical geography
whether for this purpose a special kind of rays from the sun affects the other
heavenly bodies, as Herschel claims to have observed, and whether light is
generated or merely, like warmth, excited by means of other rays, we shall
have to leave until we have greater knowledge of the matter. People can
convince themselves of the fact that warmth can be excited by their own
bodies, not only by rubbing their own limbs during the most severe cold, by
which means even frozen people can be called back to life, but also by the more
comfortable state in which we are in the summer time if the thermometer
should briefly drop to a level which would require us to heat our rooms as a
precautionary measure in the spring. See Hildebrandt’s Encyclopaedia of
Chemistry, Erlangen, 1799, pp. 85 f.;231 Schelling’s232 Journal of Physics.233
Hildebrand very rightly remarks that we should not say of any body that it
is warm or cold but only that is it warmer or colder, because here everything
is relative to another body. It is for this reason that someone who comes in out
of the cold winter air will find a room pleasant, even warm, which another
person who has been in it for an hour finds freezing cold.
§. 45. 9:252
In the hot regions, snow melts at a height of 2,200 fathoms, further
[from the equator] at a height of 12,000 feet, and finally at the pole
perhaps never above the surface of the earth. Thus snow probably falls
from the clouds that are equallyp high above the earth. For this reason,
someone who was on such mountains would be able to experiment with
the nature of snow. There is also some probability that rain in summer
mostly derives from snow although sometimes also from rain clouds,
because in the upper regions there is always the same weather, which
is also why hail appears to be snow the outer layer of which has melted
away.
Because the snow on high mountains never melts, some have regarded
it as being as old as the world. But it has been found that it lies in many
separate layers one on top of another, the first of which is the loosest
while the following ones become firmer and firmer. Indeed it is possible
to recognize the annual growth of snow with certainty, just as the age of
a fish can be judged by the addition[s] to its scales, as may be observed
through a microscope; or that of a deer by its points. But it [the snow] is
melted by the terrestrial heat and flows down. It even happens that the
bottom layer of snow on the peak of a mountain evaporates and that the
vapours escape right through the remaining particles of snow. From this
it can be seen that even the snow from high mountain ranges gradually
disappears and different snow takes its place.
It often happens that, apart from other causes, the dust that the air
always carries and which settles on the snow, separates and precipitates
p Eben. Hartenstein and Adickes read oben (up there).
523
Natural Science
the snow, whereupon whole villages are buried in snow in less than a
minute. Several persons buried in this way have often been found after
a long time, and from their appearance one would judge that they had
been embalmed. Since this dry snow is mostly held together only by
a thin crust, this can be broken by a minor contingency, e.g., if a bird
should sit on it, whereupon the whole snow mass rolls down on account
of the steepness of the mountain. These snow masses crashing from the
heights of the mountains are called avalanches. But here we distinguish
9:253 between powder avalanches, which only cover the ground of the lower
regions lightly with snow, and rolling avalanches consisting of a single
mass, which bury and knock over houses, trees, in short everything that
stands in their way. When one snow particle attaches itself to another
and is set in motion, then several others combine with it, which then
finally grow to a considerable size before they reach the earth.
Avalanches of the first type are bad because it is difficult to escape
them. Occasionally it is possible to escape the latter type if one becomes
aware of them in time, for which purpose various measures have been
taken in Switzerland, e.g., planting trees that are pointed and bent in
one direction.
Sometimes water flows from high mountains into a valley that is itself
situated at a high altitude, in which, therefore, there is severe frost. The
water already freezes as it flows down. From this result ice sheets or
mantles of ice. There is permanent water underneath them, from which
often the largest rivers, such as the Rhine, arise. Such ice-mantles often
have a thickness of twenty feet and inside them there are large caves in
which it is uncommonly dark.
But in general the ice that is found in the mountainous regions
of Switzerland is called glacier ice. These glaciers often have strange
shapes, so that sometimes they have the appearance as though the waves
of the sea had suddenly frozen.
Finally the terrible ice mountains in the shape of a cake should
be noted which are produced by the outflow of water from great and
formidable mountains into the valleys between them.
Warmth is created chemically by adding one substance to another,
as well as mechanically when two bodies are rubbed together. In the
same manner, cold can be created by a chemical process, to a degree that
nature achieves only in the most northern regions and even there only
rarely, i.e., when quicksilver has been frozen to the point where it can
be hammered.
The water from the health spa in Aachen, which is very hot, has to
be placed over the fire for just as long as if it were cold if it is to be
9:254 boiled, and when it is to be cooled again in the air, it has to stand for a
much longer time than ordinary boiled water, up to fifteen hours. Here
there are chemical causes at work or else a principle of the fermentation
524
Physical geography
of warmth which gains nourishment from the air and thus encourages
fermentation. The situation is perhaps similar with glacier ice, which
contains, as it were, a principle of cold. If it is to be melted in water,
it takes a longer time than any other ice because it partly continues to
freeze. Moreover, glacier ice is also specially hard, and ice mountains in
Switzerland have a bluish appearance like those in Spitsbergen, but not
as strong.
If one takes a piece of this glacier ice down into the valley, it does not
melt despite the warmth, even if one allows it to lie in water for half a
day. This is presumably caused by the particular constituent parts that
are found in this ice. Langhanns,234 a country doctor in Switzerland,
prepared a [distilled] spirit from the glacier ice that had melted and
become water and seeped into the soil, and this spirit carried with it a
perceptible acid, which, however, disappeared again immediately once
one had tastedq the spirit.
Ice fieldsr can be created on the fields in the middle of summer by
taking ice in layers and strewing salt between them, then covering the
whole with soil. Then when the sun causes the ice to melt, the water forms
a closer combination with the salt and new ice forms again immediately.
We also note here landslides which occur when rivers, in their down-
ward course, wash away the soil from the rocks on which it rests. Occa-
sionally, however, there are mountains that have such a height that they
might well be covered in eternal snow, such as the Pico on Tenerife;
but one never finds snow and ice on them, or else only very rarely. This
results from the strong smoke and fire that rise from all such moun-
tains and drive away the snow with such violence that it does not even
have time to melt. From the top of Mount Etna one can enjoy the most
pleasant view in the whole world, not only over the city of Messina but
over the whole area and the island of Sicily. The purity of the air on
such mountains also means that one can see the starry sky from there far 9:255
more magnificently and beautifully than is imaginable. But mostly the
inhabitants of regions such as Etna are not susceptible to such attractions.
Note. Ice mountains and glaciers are basically one and the same; the most
considerable of these are to be found in Switzerland and in the Tyrol, as well as
on Spitsbergen. The largest one is considered to be that on the Bernina in [the
Canton of Grau-] Bünden, which is about a mile in circumference, a quarter of
a mile wide and almost 6,000 feet high. If a layer of ice melts from the bottom,
these glaciers develop wide and deep cracks, often accompanied by thunder-like
crashing [noises]; these crevasses are dangerous for people unaccustomed to the
area who walk there, since they are sometimes covered by a thin crust of snow
and thus become invisible. The ice of these glaciers is not only characterized by
q Gekostet. Adickes reads gekochet (boiled).

r Eisfelder. Adickes reads Eiskeller (ice cellars).
525
Natural Science
its colour, but also by its transparency and hardness, which latter even makes it
suitable for turning on a lathe. Its transparency seems to be a consequence of
the close connection of its parts, that is, of its firmness and hardness.
§. 46.
Thunder clouds are usually the lowest. This is why one is safe and free
from thunderstorms on very high mountains and one can see the bolts
of lightning going up and down at one’s feet. The clouds like to gather
around the mountains, probably on account of the electricity they con-
tain, and this is why the so-called Mount Pilatus has been given the name
Mons Pileatus, as its peak is cone-shaped and it is as though the clouds
form the remainder of the shape of the hat. Two Englishmen climbed
a mountain in their homeland just as a thunder cloud enveloped it. As
they tried to make their way through it, one of them was asphyxiated,
probably by the vapours contained in the clouds. A thunderstorm is also
said to look more frightening on high mountains because one can see
the blue of the sky beneath as well as above. If a pistol shot is fired on
such a mountain, the report is no louder than if someone were to break
a stick. But after a considerable time, the sound returns with a terrifying
crash, after it has been reflected back from every direction and corner
and has caused a hundredfold echo.
(Descriptions of such thunderstorms viewed from above from the tops
9:256 of the highest mountains may be found in many travelogues and journals,
particularly in that of Mr O. C. R. Zöllner, Weekly Conversations on the
Earth and its Inhabitants.235 )
§. 47.
Caves are only to be found in rock mountains and there are natural
as well as artificial ones. Among the latter we reckon principally what
are known as mines. When, in these caves, the layers of earth run hor-
izontally, they are called galleries; if they are vertical, they are called
shafts. In galleries, one finds rough stones and marble, rock salt, and
hard coal in England. They are often so large that there would be space
for whole towns inside them. In England, coal mines extend under the
sea so that the largest warships pass over them. But these coal mines are
supported by large pillars, consisting of the same material. Rock salt is
found particularly in Wieliczka in what used to be Poland. Finally, it
should be noted that as far as length is concerned, at least with galleries,
no end is to be found, even if one walks for a mile, as in Wieliczka,
and the boundaries are defined on both sides. Galleries are divided into
main and side galleries. All the galleries come together in the former,
and they are the property of the Crown; the others are the property of
526
Physical geography
private individuals. Metals are found in the shafts. The ends of these can
always be recognized as they are conical in shape.
Among natural caves, Martin’s Cave in Switzerland, into which light
penetrates directly in the summer-time, and another on Mount Pilatus
are to be noted. As cold is frequently caused by a wind bearing vapours,
it is no wonder that it is very cold in these caves, because a constant
wind blows in them. Apart from these, the famous Baumann Cave is to
be noted on account of its stalactites. Some people claim to have seen
in them the shape of a monk at the baptismal font surrounded by many
godparents; others have seen other shapes. In this cave there is a kind of
calcareous spar. Because the falling drops dissolve this immediately, the
drops petrify when the water has evaporated, and they tend to form into
tube-like shapes, like icicles. The same thing applies to marble. If mineral
spirit is present when the marble is being formed, then this causes the
colour of the marble to be more pronounced and everybody sees this or 9:257
that in it according to his imagination.
One other special cave should be mentioned, in which many names
have been scratched which are now raised above [the surface of] the
stone. This evidently seems to presuppose a material that has oozed out
of the stone as a result of the scratching and has hardened in the course of
time, from which people have properlys concluded that stone grows.236
In the Carpathian Mountains there is a cave in which the seasons are
opposite to those on the surface of the earth, so that when winter begins
above, the temperature in the cave becomes mild[er] and when there is
the most severe frost above, grass grows inside; indeed it becomes so
warm that the wild animals go into it. When, on the other hand, it is
warm on the surface of the earth, it starts to become cold in the cave,
until when it is at its warmest outside, icicles freeze down below that are
as thick as a pine tree,t which is why the Hungarians use them to keep
their drinks cool. There is nothing better for this purpose, however,
than wrapping the jug with the drink in wet cloths and hanging it in the
wind, because then it will not only stay cold but also, even if it is not
so already, it will become cold all the more surely. From this one could
well conclude that, when it gets cold at one end, the other end becomes
warm. The truth of this general formula would attain relative certainty
if it could only be proved that, when it gets warmer at one place, it in
fact gets colder at an opposite location. – In a smithy in which it has
become hot, thermometers [will] show cold, and a hot iron will become
even hotter at one end when the other is placed in cold water. Also, in
the summer, water was buried several feet under the earth and then a
big fire made on top of it, whereupon the water suddenly became very
s Füglich. Adickes reads fälschlich (wrongly).

t Tanne. Adickes read Tonne (Barrel).
527
Natural Science
cold. Consequently, fire made over another object seems to make what
is under it cold, while a fire which is placed underneath something seems
to warm it. This observation also seems to confirm the aforementioned
proposition.
As regards the air in caves, there are many vapours, some of which are
9:258 deleterious to the health, some beneficial. In some caves there is also very
warm air that is caused by a layer of iron pyrites which happens to have
been uncovered and which the open air has weathered. It is from such
pyrites that most of the sulphur we have is gained. De Merouu writes
that when people went into a mine the air was cold; further in, it became
warmer so that finally they believed there must be a fire down at the
bottom. However, if the heat were to increase in the same proportion,
it must have been several thousand times greater at the centre [of the
earth], as this was only at a small depth. In the Rammelsberg, which
forms part of the Harz Mountains, it is just as hot, yet a spring that
comes out of it is so cold that one cannot put one’s feet into the water.
This great cold is an effect of the water’s flowing through gypsum and
stone. The author mentioned above also notes that the heat in the mine
he spoke of only arose after the shafts had been dug which uncovered
the iron pyrites.
The most harmful vapour is the so-called mine damp,v which, taken
by itself, is deadly, but when mixed with other materials is good for the
health; indeed it is the best constituent of all those in the health spas.
A bird flying above a cave filled with mine gas dies instantly, as does a
human being who comes too close to it. This mine gas is often also found
in old wells, as was experienced in Lithuania during the excavation of
such a well some years ago. As a precautionary measure, a burning light
has to be lowered into the well; if it goes out, this can be regarded as
an indication of the presence of mine damp; if, however, it continues to
burn, it is free of gas.
Note. Caves are hollows, mostly in limestone mountains, with more or less
extensive vaults and passages. Such caves are sometimes caused by the action of
water, sometimes by the outbreak of subterranean fires. Their number on the
earth is exceedingly large, even if they are not all equally noteworthy. Among
the most notable besides the Baumann Cave in the Harz Mountains, are the
limestone cave near Slains in Northern Scotland, Fingal’s Cave on the island
of Staffa, the cave on Antiparos (cf. Rink, New Collection of Travelogues about the
Orient, Part 1, pp. 83 f.237 ), the cave on Crete or the Labyrinth (cf. the book
just quoted, pp. 24 f.), and the Dogs’ Grotto near Naples in Italy, famous on
account of its noxious warm vapours. The Labyrinth, among others, also
provides evidence of the growth of inscriptions scratched into the walls of such
u Adickes reads De Mairan. v Bergschwaden
528
Physical geography
caves (cf. the aforementioned Travelogues, p. 25). The cave in the Carpathian 9:259
Mountains mentioned above is the so-called Sczelicza Cave. Mine damp is
also known by the French name of mofette.
§. 48.
w
Professor Mallin, who was sent to [explore] Siberia by the St Peters-
burg Academy of Sciences, saw a well dug threex degrees from the Arctic
Circle, in which the soil was frozen solid; nonetheless, frequent obser-
vations have shown that in caves of 300 feet or deeper in all areas of the
world a moderate basement temperature is encountered like that in the
cellar of the Paris Observatory, even if this general observation has to
be qualified by the particular observations mentioned. If we conclude
from this that a certain heat is to be found everywhere in the earth, the
question arises as to what causes this heat.
It can certainly not be caused by the sun, because the heat excited
during the day is dissipated completely at night, just as that of the summer
is dissipated by the winter. But if the earth has attained the shape of
a spheroid through its rotation on its axis and because the equatorial
parts have to travel a far greater distance and experience far greater
centrifugal force than those at the poles, then the heaviness of these
latter is diminished, although, as Newton has shown, the centrifugal
force at the equator is only one 228th that of gravity. But for the matter
to retain the same weight, it had to rise up at the equator more than at
the poles so that it could retain an equilibrium with the matter at the
poles. Therefore, the earth must once have been in a liquid state, since
it is most unlikely that the earth was created just as it is now. But if it was
liquid, then its parts must have had a natural heat, since otherwise they
could not have been liquid and retained their cohesion. But when these
parts contracted, the hottest of them would presumably have sunk to the
centre, so that we may assume at the centre of the earth not an actual fire
but some other hot material, e.g., molten metals or something similar,
since a real fire could not maintain itself without the access of air. 9:260
Before we examine the interior of the earth more closely, however, we
must first acquaint ourselves better with two great phenomena: earth-
quakes and fire-spewing mountains.
§. 49.
There are caverns situated deep in the earth; this is shown in part by [the
occurrence of] earthquakes, and since these often extend over whole
w Adickes read Gmelin. x Gedan reads “five”.
529
Natural Science
continents, the caverns must be very deep. Earthquakes are sometimes

preceded by more, sometimes by fewer, indications, which are, however,
noticed only by the inhabitants of those countries where earthquakes are
frequent. The indications are as follows:
1. The people begin to get giddy. This cannot be caused by the rocking
of the earth, since the giddiness precedes the earthquake, but it is
presumably the result of certain vapours that rise from the earth.
2. The air becomes dreadfully quiet.
3. All the animals become restless beforehand. Animals in general have
a keener sense of smell than civilized humans. Indeed, the savage
already surpasses the latter in this [respect].
4. Rats and mice, as well as
5. all the creeping things on the sea shore, leave their hiding places and
crawl out.
Finally
6. meteors of various kinds appear in the higher [regions] of the atmo-
sphere.
These characteristics show that a change occurs in the air.
Earthquakes are not related to a particular climate, but they cause
havoc especially in places where mountain ranges run parallel with the
coasts.
Is the cause of earthquakes to be sought more on the surface of the
earth or deep in its interior? Physicists have not quite reached agreement
on this. Some explain their origin in terms of pyrites. For, if iron filings
are mixed with sulphur and buried, then this mass becomes hot and fire
breaks forth.238 But there is no [pure] iron in the ground. All sulphur is
melted from pyrites, and pyrites becomes heated by the air. But how is
9:261 the genesis of earthquakes to be explained by this relationship? A coal
deposit has been burning near Zwickau for a hundred years and may
well burn for many centuries more. Thus, how slowly does such a fire
progress and how quickly an earthquake. We should thus seek the cause
of this latter not on the surface of the earth but deeper inside it.
Our earth was previously liquid; there are hardly any bodies that do
not bear signs of their having formerly been liquid. All rocks, our very
bones, were originally liquid; the trees originated in a liquid juice. Now,
every liquid body begins hardening from the surface. Therefore it was
the crust of the earth that first became hard and thus it continued to its
centre point.
But is the earth now really hard right through? Or is it still liquid in
its interior? It is at least not improbable that there is a soft mass at the
centre of the earth. Indeed, it could be assumed that, if the earth were
completely solid, it would cease to be habitable. For vapours rise from its
interior that give the earth its fertility. If the earth were solid, no other
530
Physical geography
changes could occur on it than those that might be caused by the sun
and moon. But since our weather seems to be fairly irregular, i.e., is not
dependent on the sun and the moon, the cause must lie beneath our feet.
About earthquakes themselves we note:
First a rocking motion. This is particularly noticeable in houses of

several storeys, and on high towers and mountains, as these objects
describe a large arc when they rock. If the rocking lasts a long time,
they are shattered in their inner parts and fall over. Under these
circumstances the [surface of the] earth is, as it were, distended by
matter beneath it, and because it [the motion] always continues in
one direction, it is said that earthquakes keep [to] a particular line,
which is judged by the motion of chandeliers and the direction
in which chairs fall, as well as by other observations on a larger
[scale]. The sea too usually has a rocking motion as well, which
bears no relation to the tides, since, as the ground subsides on one
side, the [level of the] water falls on that side also, and because it
is now higher on the other side this also falls so that it regains its 9:262
equilibrium. This phenomenon is only perceptible in large bodies
of water. If the earthquake proceeds along the length of the streets
in a town, whole streets are destroyed, since the houses rock from
side to side and strike against each other repeatedly. If, on the
other hand, it proceeds across the width of the street, the houses
are preserved, as they move in unison.
Second we note that the tremors are only perceived over a certain
period and usually do not last more than one second. Such tremors
are much more dangerous and destructive than earthquakes of the
first kind, because they occur from bottom to top locally, and
because there is no pressure and counterpressure as there is in
a rocking motion. Even at sea these tremors are terrible and it
seems to mariners that they are being carried to the bottom of
the sea. Plains are not so exposed to the danger of earthquakes as
are mountainous countries, and this is why earthquakes have never
been observed in Poland or Prussia.
Furthermore, earthquakes gradually spread to far-distant places
in an uninterrupted line, so that they [may] proceed in a short time
from Lisbon to the island of Martinique. What is noteworthy [here]
is that they take a path almost identical with the line of mountain
ranges.
Note 1. It appears that, with every advance he makes in his intellectual
culture, man suffers a discernible reduction in the acuteness of his senses, and it
cannot be otherwise, since he lacks opportunities to use his sensory organs the
more he lives wholly in a world of isolated contemplation and meditation. It is
no wonder that the sailor can see a ship, or a hunter a bird, long before we can.
531
Natural Science
Moreover, we have reliable evidence that [some] people are able to distinguish
metals from one another simply by means of touch, or even by smell. Indeed,
among our educated classes there are still people who perceive the presence of
certain animals solely through their sense of smell; and how many are there
who can feel the approach of a thunderstorm despite the clearest sky, or the
greater amount of electrical components in the air? In view of the manifestly
9:263 greater acuity of the senses among animals, it should not surprise us if they,
and particularly some of them, are more vividly aware of the symptoms of an
imminent earthquake that we cannot perceive.
Note 2. Beds of pyrites, sometimes probably also large accumulations of
water forcing their way, seem to be the most important causes of earthquakes.
To assume a direct effect of the atmosphere [in causing] earthquakes as some
physicists seem to be doing, would presuppose more clear and definite
observations than we have to date. But more of that below! Among the
indicators of imminent earthquakes we also reckon water in wells and springs
becoming cloudy, and the emergence of a fine mist from the ground that
envelops the feet of people as they walk and makes them feel that they are
being held back. Even at great distances from the actual scene of earthquakes,
where these themselves do not reach, or at least where they are not felt, there
are phenomena which must subsequently be attributed to that natural event.
Thus for example, new springs emerged in Prussia at the time of the violent
earthquake in Lisbon in 1755. For the whole paragraph concerning
earthquakes, see I. Kant’s History and Natural Description of the Most Notable
Events of the Earthquake of the Year 1755, Königsberg, 1756 in 4[to];239 and ibid.,
Miscellaneous Writings, Halle, 1799, Vol. 1, pp. 521 f.
Note 3. The most curious thing as far as causes and reasons are concerned is
the rocking motion of the sea resulting from an earthquake, since the water
often moves even if intervening countries feel nothing of the earthquake. Light
is shed on this phenomenon too in the aforementioned essay.
§. 50.
Fire-spewing mountains [volcanoes] can be regarded as fiery maws
through the mouth[s] of which a discharge appropriate to them is shot
out.
The volcano that has been known the longest and since the most
ancient times, the father of all the others as it were, is Mount Etna. It
rises vertically to a height of 12,000 feet above sea-level. Its highest peak
is thus covered with snow and its base is several miles [in circumference].
Other, smaller mountains have emerged on its side as a result of many
eruptions, and all of these exceed Mount Vesuvius in size, each one
having its own crater. It has not spewed fire at all times, however, but
has been dormant for some centuries at a time. There are reports of
eruptions of Mount Etna as far back as Roman history goes.
9:264 Mount Vesuvius, on the other hand, was a beautiful mountain cov-
ered in forests in earlier times. It did not erupt from the foundation of
532
Physical geography
Rome to the time of Vespasian, and Pliny has left us a detailed report of
this (Epist[ulae], 6. 16); the towns of Herculaneum, Pompeii, and Stabiä,
which were only rediscovered deep underground during this century,
were buried in this eruption. Mount Vesuvius could well have erupted
in earlier times, however, particularly since it remained quiet for 500
years after the eruption in question and became covered in vegetation!
When this mountain is about to begin to erupt, a loud crashing and
rattling can be heard under the earth in and around Naples, like that of
a carriage. Thereupon a column of vapours rises from its orifice, which
in the day-time looks like a column of smoke and at night like one of
fire, but apart from that, as Pliny reports, it is shaped like a tree, since
at the beginning the smoke rises like a column, but is then blown in
all directions by the air. Thereupon, Mount Vesuvius spews forth an
indescribable amount of ash, and there follow many large stones, among
which pumice stones are also to be found. Not infrequently, an enormous
amount of hot water also flows out of it at the same time; finally, what
is called lava pours out, a molten and often metal-like substance, from
which Neapolitan goldsmiths are said to be able to extract a little gold
at times.
Mostly this lava appears in a porridge-like consistency but occasionally
it is so liquid that it advances several miles in a short time. Ultimately it
hardens, so that it can be used for street paving in Naples. The lava of
Mount Vesuvius and that of Mount Etna differ somewhat.
The ejectamenta of Mount Vesuvius are to be found chiefly on the
southern and western side; and because some wines require stony ground
for good growth, the finest wines are to be found on its northern and
eastern side, among these the so-called Lacrimae Christi.240 If Mount
Vesuviusy were not situated so close to the sea, it would cause far more
damage than is in fact the case.
The first reports we have of an eruption of Mount Vesuvius are from
the time when the town of Herculaneum was covered in its ash, but
probably depressed by an earthquake at the same time. This and the 9:265
other two towns mentioned earlier were rediscovered in [the course of]
an excavation, and in them were found many household utensils, among
them some paintings, the colours of which are mostly still quite well
preserved, except that it is not possible to make out any light or shadow on
them. Many of these paintings have been painted in the alfresco manner
or on lime-based plaster. Books are found here only very rarely, and
because they were written on papyrus and wound into rolls, and are
quite covered with ash,z the greatest care must be taken in unwinding
y Gedan reads Etna.

z ganz mit Asche bedeckt sind. Adickes reads durch die Asch ganz locker geworden sind (become
loosened by the ash).
533
Natural Science
them, so that a monk often has to spend three weeks unrolling just a few
inches. A labour extraordinarily well suited to monks. Also noteworthy
is the fact that the names given by the ancients to books are principally
taken from reeds, raffia, and the bark of trees.
Since the amphitheatre has now been found and no people are to be
seen in it, and since no people at all have been encountered in Hercu-
laneum, which means that they were all able to flee in time and even
take all the aged and the children along, we may suppose that they were
not in the amphitheatre at the time, as is also mentioned in the ancient
documents.
After digging was continued, even under the town, not through but
to one side of the lava, a much older layer of lava was discovered. A clear
proof, as it seems, that Mount Vesuvius must have erupted previously.
Since Mount Vesuvius mostly starts to erupt when Mount Etna ceases
to do so, the two mountains are probably connected.
Mount Hekla on the island of Iceland, which belongs more to America
than to Europe, and half of which is situated in the temperate zone, the
other in the Arctic zone,241 ejects a large quantity of ash and water which
comes from the astonishing quantity of snow that lies upon it. But no
one claims to have seen any lava on it.
Mount Cotopaxi in America, which belongs to the Cordillera Range,
maintains fixed intervals in respect to its eruptions. It and all similar
mountains may thus be regarded as kilns equipped with a single opening.
When the fire drives the air out by means of its elasticity, it cannot
9:266 continue to burn without this [air]; but air penetrates again and so the
fire begins to become active once more.
Volcanoes never stand completely isolated but are mostly connected
with several others. They are also found in the hot as well as the cold
zones, though not so often in the latter.
Since great caverns may be encountered on some mountains and occa-
sionally smoke in these, such mountains must previously have ejected
fire, but burnt out in later times, just as whole islands have burnt out
too. Traces of craters may be observed on the mountains near Cologne
and on the Rhine generally. In several of these craters, there are depres-
sions filled with water, whereas fire was once ejected here and may be
again in the future. In Hessen, too, there are many craters, and, as on the
Rhine, trass242 is sold in quantity, with which one can lay bricks under
water. But this is nothing other than the tuff of the Italians.
Before an eruption, everything in the mountains usually comes to the
boil, as it were. The smoke of volcanoes is said to be electric, since it cre-
ates the same kind of lightning bolts as do the clouds of thunderstorms.
Very often an eruption is accompanied by a cloud-burst.
The lava that flows out of Mount Etna contains the same mass as four
mountains like that of Mount Vesuvius. At night it glows like fire and
534
Physical geography
when it cools, it attains a hardness like stone, so that churches can be

built of it. But when new lava encounters such a church, the latter melts
away. Often, the stream of lava turns round an obstacle placed in its path,
especially if a way is cleared for it. Soil does not settle readily on the lava,
even though the area beneath mountainsa where ash is present is very
fertile and covered in trees the diameter of which is eighty inches.
But how did soil come to be on the older lava? The soil gradually
generated itself, for this happens even on the smoothest stone. The air
first carries up dust, and then more and more similar particles accumulate
there, until it turns into a real layer of soil, but this must take a very
long time. Brydon243 observed some lava not yet covered in soil and
concluded from this that it must still be very young, even though it had
been flowing since the Punic War.
When people dig a well in Catania, they come to five or six layers of 9:267
lava covered with soil, for the formation of which, it is believed, 16,000
years are required.
Moses gives [us] the age of mankind but not the age of the earth.
The earth may have been formed some thousands of years earlier, for
we should not allow ourselves to be prevented by Moses’s statements
from giving consideration to physical evidence. For God, a period like a
day is too long for creation; and for the formation of the earth it is too
little.
In Peru there are many volcanoes and several layers of lava covered
with soil, on which further devastation took place.
Note 1. Concerning Mount Vesuvius and [other] volcanoes, one can
consult, in addition to Hamilton’s244 reports,245 de Non,246 Voyage
pittoresque,247 or German excerpts from it that have appeared in Gotha, as well
as the several well-known writings on Herculaneum and the antiquities found
there. On the volcanic mountains on the Rhine, cf., among several others, G.
Forster’s248 Views of the Lower Rhine,249 etc.
Note 2. There are several reasons why it is highly probable that the age of
the earth is greater than it appears to be according to the statements of Moses,
as well as that of the human race too, as it now seems to be undeniably clear
from the two zodiacal circles found by the French in Dendera.b Cf. von Zach,
Monthly Correspondence, Vol. 2, pp. 493 f.250 Why is it that some natural
philosophersc still like to remain in the old style, regardless of the fact that they
can easily see that we are at a higher stage of culture than can be explained by a
human being who does everything through himself!
Note 3. I add here a few notes in connection with this paragraph, especially
from the Voyages physiques et lithologiques dans la Campanie, etc. par Scip.
Breislak,251 trad. du ms. italien par le Général Pommereul, Paris, 1801, 2 vols.252
a Unter den Bergen. Adickes reads und der Berg (and the mountain).
b Gedan reads Dendeva.
c Naturforscher
535
Natural Science
Stabiä was not buried by the ash of Mount Vesuvius, but was, even
according to Pliny’s report, destroyed by Sulla – Mount Vesuvius does not
eject a real flame, but what Pliny calls a flame are basically glowing stones. –
Volcanic tuff does not come from a muddy ejection, but from volcanoes that
erupted in earlier times. – Appius constructed his military road from dense
lava, of which a great deposit stretches from Sessa to Roche-Monsina. – At
various places on Mount Vesuvius, there are pieces of tuff with distinct
impressions of corals, clear proof that Mount Vesuvius began to burn below sea
9:268 level. But among the ejected volcanic substances there are also such as emit a
reddish or white light when rubbed in the dark.
§. 51.
If we ask about the cause of earthquakes, then some physicists are of the
opinion that they might be derived from chemical causes. They believe
that iron pyrites weathered in the air and rain that has subsequently fallen
upon it is the true cause of this phenomenon. But as iron pyrites is found
in only a few layers while earthquakes extend over such vast countries to
distant places, earthquakes are more probably derived from mechanical
causes.
The crashing and rattling [noise] in and around Naples is like [that
of] the wind, so that it could perhaps be [produced by] vapours which
blow through all subterranean caves and seek a way out to the surface
of the earth. The air can be highly compressed and thereby takes on
an electricald quality. It has even been calculated that air compressed by
another column of air one seventh of the semi-diameter of the earth,
would attain the same density as gold. But the difficulty would arise
as to whether the atmosphere would not then be augmented by the
subterranean vapours. However, it appears to lose as much as it gains
since the sulphur vapours swallow a very great quantity of air. In addition,
very much air is consumed by the transpiration253 of humans, animals,
and plants, and it has been observed that air makes up a very great part
of the weight of human beings.
Air, like water, is also filled with extraneous material to such an extent
that it cannot be said what weight is actually to be attributed to the
air. It is also very probable that everything which appears above our
heads was previously present under our feet. We even find volcanoes
in the sea, except that these are not so noticeable, since the smoke can
only break through the water with difficulty. In this way, two of the
Antilles Islands originated not very many years ago, and from this we
can draw conclusions about the manner in which all, or at least very
many, islands originated. Since the smoke, which is often seen at sea,
d elektrische. Hartenstein and Adickes read elastische (elastic).
536
Physical geography
as well as the pumice stones, which are sometimes said to float on the
water, allow us to suppose the existence of even more volcanoes in the 9:269
sea, we must necessarily arrive at mechanical causes as their underlying
reason.
The earth appears to have formed from the surface downwards, while
its interior is still a long way from being mature, so that [some] parts
are still attracted to the centre of the earth; some particles sink while
others rise; indeed it appears that the earth would cease to be habitable if
it were ever to arrive at its wholly complete state, since the probable
absence of any changes in the weather would mean that, under the sole
influence of the sun and the moon, plants of all kinds would hardly be
able to survive.
Inside this chaotic state of the earth’s interior, there must necessarily
be many cavities and passages under the thick matured crust, in which
air is trapped, and it appears to be this air which seeks a way out through
the volcanoes and drives a large mass of material out with it by its force.
This seems to be the cause of earthquakes, since these very probably
have a connection with volcanoes, as it has been observed that, when
an earthquake has ceased, Mount Etna begins to erupt. But one cannot
assert the converse, that where there are volcanoes, there must also be
earthquakes. Earthquakes and eruptions alternate; the latter evacuate the
subterranean fire and are beneficial in distant regions, even though they
wreak destruction in the areas closest to them.
Since no one has been able to discover the depth from which the
material of the volcanoes is thrown up, the crust of the earth must be
exceedingly thick.
If we now assume that it is equally thick everywhere, then we imme-
diately see the reason why earthquakes at sea are not as violent as those
on adjacent promontories. For there, the trapped air has to lift a very
great mass of water in addition to the crust of the earth, which is equally
thick everywhere, so that it shifts to places which cannot offer as much
resistance to it.
The fire erupts at the summit of the mountain. This is not the place
at which the cause of the eruption which first produced the mountain is
to be found. The mountain consists of layers that arose in water; there-
fore the mountain must have come about through eruptions. After the 9:270
ejection of the aqueous vapours and the substances of the subterranean
chaos has ceased, such mountains eject a fiery matter.
In Italy, there is a cinder mountain that arose through the eruption of
volcanoes. In the Caucasus, mountains are still being discovered which
well up out of the earth, as it were. Islands are still being encountered on
which layers quite different from the usual ones are found, e.g., a layer
of sand, then a layer of blue clay. Such islands must therefore have arisen
in a similar way. Thus, we only inhabit dreadful ruins.
537
Natural Science
§. 52.
Once the figure as well as the structure of a body have been considered,
its mixture, or the parts of which it is made up, must be examined. We
shall take this opportunity therefore to consider:
1. the relationship of the stone parts [to one another];

2. the strata of the earth themselves.
For it should be noted that in those places where earthquakes or other

devastations have not wrought any change, the materials are placed in a
certain order which, however, is not the same in all countries. It would
be possible to create a Geographia subterranea if every country were to
examine its soil; indeed, a Frenchman has already furnished the best
attempt of this kind.254
In fact, the earth is not to be regarded as a heap of rubble or lump
of mixed material; rather, it extends in beds or strata, and it is these
that make springs possible. For if the earth were only a rubble heap of
aggregated matter, there would be no springs. There are indeed islands
consisting of such aggregates, where, as a result, no springs are to be
found, e.g., the island of Ascension.
Nearly everywhere, a so-called top-soil covers our earth body; it arose
out of decayed vegetation and has increased since the time of the Romans,
from approximately the second century, by six feet, as has been observed
at place[s] where the non-metal bearing stones of a mine are thrown aside.
9:271 But since grain, which is mown each year and consumed by humans and
thus cannot rot, also forms part of the top-soil, this must be constantly
reduced, as has in fact been found with the ridges between the fields,
where the level of the field next to them has become somewhat lower.
Below the top-soil or growing soil comes the virgin soil, which is
usually very thin; then comes clay, which has yet to become top-soil; as
well as chalky soil, which appears to be composed of marine animals,
an alkaline component being present in all chalks; and this comes from
ancient crustaceans and shells.
After these layers of soil come all sorts of sand layers: gravelstone,
drifting sand, spring sand, and quicksand, thereafter a layer of subsoil.e
These layers lie one above the other and are of varying thickness, but
regardless of the thickness of a layer of soil at a [particular] place, the
same thickness extends as far as the layer does. The thickness of the layer
is called the bed as such; and, particularly in mines, the seam. Whereas
one bed has certain products, the next one has none; thus there must
have been a revolution when the bed was formed.
e Stammerde
538
Physical geography
The strata do not lie horizontally but follow the terrain. For the land
slopes so that the water finds its way through. If a stratum is 200 feet
deep at one place, that same stratum is to be found at the surface in some
distant region.
Stony mountains are called by the general name of rock mountains,f
although rock is a particular kind of stone, just as those stones from which
we make steps and stairs consist firstly of certain sparkling elements or
spar, then of a certain kind of slate, known as mica, and then finally of a
loose base.
Rock mountains are mostly found on the ridges which are those parts
of a mountain range where the peaks of the mountains converge into a
mass, as it were, and extend far beneath until they finally lose themselves
in the layers of earth.
The layers in the mountains are either entireg or composed of seams.
The veins in the mountains are fissures, and those which continue to an
endless depth have no opening [i.e., outcrop] at the other end and are
vertical. They are either hollow or filled with some material. For the
most part, the lapidifying juice wells into them and gradually hardens 9:272
and degenerates [or turns] into metals. It is for this reason that the most
precious metals such as gold and silver are found in these veined moun-
tains. Over and under these veins there is the remaining barren mountain
rock.h (For mountain rock is the name of the stone of which mountains
are chiefly composed.) The metals, particularly gold and silver, are not
connected to the rest of the rawi mountain rock directly, but by means
of a fine substance or material on both sides called selvedges;255 the
part above the vein is called the hanging-wall while that underneath is
called the foot-wall. The part of the rock which is closest to the vein
from the top, is called the roof, while that which approaches it most
from underneath is the floor of the vein. But quite often this vein runs
through the remaining mountains in a straight line, and for this reason
a vein whose direction is extended in the mind’s eye is called the strike,
while the direction it takes through the mountain towards the earth is
called its dip.256 The strike of the mountain is often uninterrupted.
In the Flötz mountains,257 the layers of stone are arranged in such a
way that they are horizontal or at an angle of [about] forty-five degrees
to the horizon, and have a ‘cleavage’ which is substituted in the Flötz
mountains [for the veins of the rock mountains] and which hasj its
beginning and end on either side of the mountain. They mostly surround
f There is no satisfactory English translation for the German term Felsgebirge.
g Adickes read gang- for ganz, in which case the translation becomes: “The layers in the
mountains are arranged either as veins or seams.”
h Gebirge
i Roh
j Haben. Adickes reads haben muss (must have).
539
Natural Science
the veined mountains, contain almost no metal, and if there should be

some, then it derives its character from those [metals] contained in the
veined mountains. For instance, if there is gold in the veined mountains,
then there will also be some in the Flötz mountains. In these, there
is usually first top-soil, then limestone, then blue-black slate, and also
marble, which is nothing other than a limestone that can be polished;
finally, hard black coal layers are reached and then a red earth. Impres-
sions of ferns, fish, etc., can be seen quite clearly in the slate of these
Flötz mountains, with the slate lying on top like a great pond.
The many relics of the ancient world show that the Flötz mountains
were formed at a time when the world was already inhabited and were
formed by erosion of material from the then still partially fluid veined
mountains, and that these latter must have been in existence long before.
This is further confirmed by the fact that the lower layer cannot have
been liquid for very long, and the higher layers must have been hardened
9:273 first, since the lower layer is thinner on the side where there was the
greatest pressure and thicker on the other.
After Gotthardk had established that stones which are very common in
one region are not to be found at all in another, he eventually discovered
that the materials of the earth are divided into circles, that the greater
part is metallic, the middle one enclosed by it consists of kinds of marl,
and the last, within which Prussia is also situated, is like sandstone.
Note. When a body is completely perfected and its parts have a permanent
and stable position, then these, and as a result the whole body itself, cannot
change internally. But since such manifold changes take place in the earth
itself, which are wrongly ascribed to the influences of the sun and the moon, we
suppose that it has not yet reached a state of perfection in its interior. Because
the magnetic needle points to the north from every point on the earth, the
cause of this must be sought in the interior or centre of the earth. But since
[magnetic north] is deviating from true north as a rule by two thirds of a degree
each year (in 1766 the needle pointed due north in Danzig, but is now twelve
degrees away from it), people conclude that its cause is changeable, and
therefore some processes are not yet complete in the interior of the earth.
HISTORY OF SPRINGS AND WELLS.

§. 53.
Concerning their Origin.
At present, the prevailing opinion among natural philosophersl as
to the causes of springs is that they result from rain and snow
k Adickes reads “Guettard”.258

l Naturforscher
540
Physical geography
water soaking into the layers of the earth and running out at a low
point.
The upper crust of the earth consists of layers of various materials
placed like leaves one on top of the other, of which more later. The rain
water soaks through the not very dense layers of sand, gravel, and loose
soil until it reaches a firm, clayey ground and can sink no further; it then
seeps on along the slopes of the layers at which it stops, makes various
channels and emerges at a low spot, and in this way a spring comes about 9:274
which continues for a long time even if the rain has long ceased, because
the water runs out of the spring only slowly, though it obtains a gradual
influx from a large surrounding area, and the sun cannot dry out this
moisture in the ground.
This is the opinion of Mariotte, Halley, and others. The objections
raised against it are these: that rain does not penetrate more than two
feet into dried-out soil, whereas, when a well is dug, water channels are
often found at more than 100 feet. The reply to this is that:
First after a long rainy period, water enters coal mines to a depth of
250 feet and other mines at 1,600 feet through cracks and fissures.
Second that, if one assumes a sloping clay layer,m ab, emerging on
the surface at a, above which there is a mountain, then the rain
water falling upon it runs through small channels it creates for
itself in the direction ab towards the mountain, and thus, if a well,
cd, were dug at the topmost point of the mountain, water channels
would be encountered, which, however, would be derived not from
the rain water falling on the mountain, but from that which had
fallen on the plain beyond the mountain and had seeped along
the sloping layer that runs through it.259 It is known that springs
may be encountered on high mountains, e.g., on the Blocksberg
[Brocken], and on Table Mountain at the Cape, etc. But on close
examination, one part of the mountain will be found to be higher
than the spring that rises on it.
Third that some springs continue to flow without diminution in the
greatest drought. This results from the depth of the layers, which,
once soaked full of water, always remain wet, since they supply
only a small part of their large volume to the springs.
On the other hand, a confirmation of this opinion lies in the fact that
in Arabia, where it rains but little, there are small springs even in very dry
sand, and that in a year in which there is little rain, most of the springs
suffer a general diminution of water, or even run dry, etc.
Descartes260 explained the origin of wells as follows: in the interior 9:275
of mountains, he says, there are large cavities; in these, through many
m Gedan reads “direction towards the mountain a b”.
541
Natural Science
passages leading to the sea, there is sea water; by means of the subter-
ranean heat, this is turned into vapour, and when this penetrates the
topmost layer of the earth, it forms a perpetual spring. A certain [anony-
mous] Jesuit and Peravet261 confirm this opinion of Descartes with
examples, but we can explain these without difficulty by our hypothesis
as well.
§. 54.
Particular Types of Springs and Wells.
Some wells flow periodically. Some of these can be explained by the
melting of the snow, others through hydraulic causes, still others, as
it appears, by the influence of the moon, which last [group] includes
several springs in Iceland which keep time with the ebb and flow of the
tide. Examples of the first type are common in Switzerland, Italy, France,
and other places; also the Bolderborn in the Sea of Paderborn, which
disappears every six hours and then returns with a roar. There are sweet
springs such as that near Toledo, which is sweet as sugar at the top but
acid at the bottom. In Germany there are some hundreds of acid springs;
these contain Crocus Martis.262 Some are bitter, many salty, even more
have iron particles and other minerals in them, quite a few bear gold.
Near Neusohl [Besterczo] in Hungary, in Saxony, and in Ireland, there
are springs that drip a vitriolic liquid impregnated with copper, which
contains the so-called ‘cement water’ by means of which iron can be
turned into copper.263 Some cover objects placed in them with stone.
A hot spring near Guanabalika in Peru flows into the adjacent field
and turns into stone. Some catch fire if one approaches them with a
light. There are also springs that have an oil or naphtha floating on
their surface, which attracts fire, as it were, because of the flammable
vapours they emit. Near Baghdad, about 100,000 pounds of naphtha per
day are scooped [from such a spring]. There are also very cold springs,
which possess this property of coldness because the veins from which
they obtain their inflow are very deep and thus cannot be warmed by
9:276 the sun, or because the water flows over gypsum. Very many springs in
mineral rich mountain regions contain very hot water, such as the warm
baths in Germany, Hungary, Italy, etc. In Iceland, there are various hot
wells, in one of which, called the geyser, which also spurts to a great
height, a piece of meat is cooked in half an hour. Similarly in Japan. All
these waters, e.g., in Karlsbad, have to stand for some hours before they
cool sufficiently to be tolerated by the body. Although it is so hot, it still
has to stand on the fire for just as long as ordinary cold water before it
boils. The reason lies in the mineral content, through which they absorb
air and become hot and at the same time heavier.
542
Physical geography
THE HISTORY OF RIVERS.

§. 55.
Concerning their Origin.
They arise out of streams, whose water unites; the streams come from
springs, and the latter from rain and snow.
When calculating the amount of water that a river pours into the sea
in a year, the quantity of rain and snow water falling on the surface of
the land which deposits its water into the catchment area of the river
will be found large enough not only to maintain the streams and the
rivers arising from them, but also to account for the dew, the growth of
plants, and what evaporates again from the land. This is confirmed by
[the fact that] the water disappears again after a long drought; that in
countries where there is little rain, such as in Arabia, there are also very
few rivers; that the mountainous regions, like Abyssinia, the Cordilleras
in Peru, etc., on which constant rain falls, also contain springs [that are
the source] of the most impressive rivers. Thus there is indeed a cycle of
sea water and the water of the rivers, but not such as is usually imagined;
that is, not from the sea under the dry land up to the high points and
from there back into the sea, but from the vapours rising from the sea of
distillation, as it were, and then transformed into clouds, rain, and snow
which fall onto the surface of the land.
§. 56. 9:277
Concerning the Motion and Slope of Rivers.
Since it is necessary for a river to have a continuous declivity of land all
the way from its sources to the sea, it is noteworthy that the land has a
uniform slope down to the sea over such long stretches as does South
America, for example; judging from the Amazon, the length of this slope
is probably 800 [German] miles. For, if the land occasionally had great
drops and depressions, the river would form many extensive lakes on its
way.
Not all rivers have an equally steep slope. In the Cordilleras, where
the Amazon has its source, many mountain torrents also arise which flow
into the Pacific Ocean. The latter slope is much steeper than the former.
The Seine, where it flows through Paris, has a slope of only one foot in
6,000, but the Loire has three times as much. Error of Varenius264 and
Kühn.n,265
n Gedan reads Kuhe.
543
Natural Science
The speed of a river is said to increase along the whole length of its
course; but because near its mouth it becomes broader and its slope also
almost ceases there, it flows more slowly there than anywhere else.
§. 57.
Particular Features of Note Concerning Rivers.
The direction of larger rivers usually forms a right angle with the direc-
tion of the highest mountains on which it has its sources, since this
is the shortest way of reaching the sea. But if there are two rows of
mountains, or at least two ridges, one on each side, then the river will
occupy the valley between them, into which the streams arising on both
sides flow. Near their source they have higher banks than at their mouths.
They also have fewer bends and the banks are higher where they form
a re-entrant angle (angle rentrant) than [where they form] an obtuse one
(angle saillant). For example, the bank a is higher than its opposite b, and
c is higher than d.266 This derives from the nature of a valley which,
between two unequally sloping sides, is deepest near the steepest slope.
Rivers gradually destroy the higher bank and deposit the earth and
sand which they have eroded on the lower one, hence the frequent
9:278 changes in the course of a river. For this reason, weirs are often built,
by which the river is [however] often thrown into even greater confu-
sion. From time to time, one finds dried riverbeds, on the Rhine, the
Gihon, and others. The branches through which the latter flowed into
the Caspian Sea are now blocked, and it now flows almost entirely into
Lake Aral.
§. 58.
Concerning the World’s Largest Rivers.
Those with the longest course are the Nile, Niger,o,267 Senegal, and
the Yenisei, which has its source at the borders of Mongolia and flows
into the Arctic Ocean, the Hwang Ho or Yellow River, the Amazon,
the Silverp River,q the Saint Lawrence River, and the Mississippi. In
addition, the Danube, Ob, and Ganges belong in this category.
o This is Gedan’s version. The original read “Niger or Senegal”.

p Silber.
q Various manuscripts appear to have “or the”.
544
Physical geography
§. 59.
Explanation of the Way a River Forms its Bed.
In the case of most rivers, one finds that their bed is often much higher
than the land on both sides, particularly near their mouths, such as with
the Rhine, the Po, etc. Occasionally, one sees them flowing through
narrow passes between two high banks that enclose them from both
sides like walls. The Amazon does this not far from its source as does
the Rhône when it flows from Switzerland into France, etc.
It is easy to envisage thatr in the original state of the earth before it
was fully formed, the waters flowed from the mountains into the val-
leys, and that they would not only have reached the sea, but would also
have flooded the dry land over a large area, because the many irreg-
ularities they found on the way often forced the rivers to fill up large
valleys and to divide into many branches. As, however, the water flows
fastest where the slope is steepest, there must have been faster currents in
some places than in others. Now, in this primæval state, the water must
have contained very much dissolved [or suspended] mud, and it cannot
have deposited this in the direction of its strongest flow but rather on
the side; for this reason it raised the ground on the sides until the banks 9:279
were high enough to contain all the water, and thus the river formed a
bed for itself.268
In those regions where it plunged down from heights or flowed down
a steep slope with raging speed, it hollowed out the ground and carried
the eroded mud into lower regions until it acquired a moderate speed
along its entire length. It is for this reason that one sees all rivers flow
between high banks near their source.
At times the banks are like steep walls, as is the case for example with
the Rhône where it turns from Switzerland into France, and the Amazon
near its source. Consequently, most rivers are navigables in most places
except in a few areas where the ground is rocky and cannot be hollowed
out so easily by the river.
What needs to be said concerning changes in the earth caused by rivers
will be included below.
§. 60.
Concerning Waterfalls and other Motions of Rivers.
The Rhine has various falls. That at Schaffhausen is seventy-five feet
vertically. The Velino in Italy falls 200 feet perpendicularly. The highest
r Adickes adds the word “since” here.

s Adickes adds wegen ihrer Schnelligkeit or “because of their speed”.
545
Natural Science
in the world is that of the river Bogota in South America, which plunges
1,200 feet vertically. But the Niagara River in North America is the
most terrifying, because this river is exceptionally wide and plunges 150
feet vertically.
The particular phenomena of waterfalls occur only where the river
flows over rocky ground, as can also be seen from the waterfalls of the
Nile. The Tunguska River in Western Tartary flows along a sloping
rocky bed for half a mile with such a loud roaring noise that it can be heard
five miles away. The Tigris and the Niger also have similar features.
Of those rivers that flow for a long distance under the earth and then
reappear, the Guadiana should be noted; it allegedly has this property,
as is claimed, because it flows only in deep valleys. The Greta, a river in
Yorkshire, really does flow under the ground for half a mile.
9:280 Some rivers peter out before they reach the sea. E.g., the branch of
the Rhine near Katwijk not far from Leyden, the Hotomnit in Chinese
Tartary, and many in Persia and in Arabia Felix.
Some rivers that have a very long course, e.g., the Amazon and the
Senegal, have high and low tide some miles from the sea. The motions
of some can be felt far out in the sea into which they flow, e.g., the
Amazon. Yet none has a particularly recognizable current in the water
it flows into, as has been claimed of the Danube in the Black Sea, of
the Rhône in Lake Geneva, and of the Rhine in Lake Constance, even
though the rivers cause the water of the ocean to be fresh for a long way
from the shore of the sea, especially the Amazon and the forty-mile-wide
River Plate. Finally, there are also rivers that make a way for themselves
through lakes.
§. 61.
Concerning the Flooding of Rivers.
Some burst their banks at a fixed time, particularly near their mouths,
and flood the surrounding countryside which lies lower than the course
of the rivers. The causes are the rains in the mountains where the rivers
rise, and melting snow.
The Nile is the principal among all such rivers. From the beginning of
summer, or in June, it rises and floods all Egypt; but the inhabitants have
contributed much to this by channelling the water by means of various
canals and raising canals on the fields. At this time of the year, Egypt is
a sea in which the towns and villages are islands. The river returns to its
banks at the beginning of September.
The cause of this flood is the rain that falls in the Egyptian mountains
at that time. Partly also the north wind that blows straight at the mouth
t Khotan
546
Physical geography
of the Nile and drives its water back. At the time of the flood, the plague
stops, even if it rages throughout the rest of the year. If the water rises
by only twelve ells, price increases are to be feared; if it rises sixteen,
there is surfeit; eighteen or twenty feet are too much. In former times,
the Nile is said to have flooded the land to a greater depth than it does
now, because the land has now been raised by the deposited silt. Since
the rain falls at fixed times in the torrid zones, it is not surprising that 9:281
the rivers flood at specific times, as do the Nile, Indus, and Ganges.
§. 62.
Concerning the Material Transported by Waters or Rivers.
Since the sources of waters contain either iron particles or loose soil
and salt particles as well as other minerals, it is no wonder that some
river water is lighter than others. Generally, smaller streams that run
into larger ones carry heavier water than these latter. The water of
the Neckar is heavier than that of the Rhine, and similarly, the Main,
which flows into the Rhine at Mainz, and the Moselle which enters
it at Coblenz, are heavier than the Rhine, as may be observed by sub-
merging vessels in it. The reason is that the water that flowed along
in a small stream mixed with earthy and other particles, can deposit its
materials more easily once it flows into a large channel. Furthermore,
the confluence of different types of water may promote the precipitation
of the materials which one or the other carries with it. The water of the
Thames has the reputation of keeping [fresh] best on long sea voyages,
and although it begins to smell it nonetheless cleanses itself. Perhaps
this derives from dissolved coal gas, which contains sulphur, which also
preserves wine.269
Various rivers transport gold deposits: in Europe, the Rhine and the
Rhône. These, as well as the Pactolus and the Tigris, were famous for
this in former times. Gold dust is now collected from streams on the
gold coast of Guinea, particularly after heavy rain. Whence it comes and
how it is produced.
third section. 9:282
The Atmosphere.
§. 63.
History of the Atmosphere.
The pressure of the atmosphere is the same as [it would be] if the earth
were covered by a sea thirty-two Rhineland feet deep. Since the air is
compressed by the air lying on top of it, it must be denser the closer
547
Natural Science
it is to the centre [of the earth]; indeed, if its increase in density were
to continue, then at a depth of seven German miles, it would exceed
that of water; and at a depth not even equal to one third the radius of
the earth it would already be denser than gold. This density of the air
could contribute greatly to the powerful tremors of the earth during
earthquakes if subterranean heating were added.
The atmosphere is divided into three regions; the lowest extends from
sea-level to the height at which snow does not melt in the summer. This
first region is not equally high in all regions of the earth. In the hot zone
at the equator, the height of the mountains on which the snow does not
melt is not less than three-quarters of a German mile; at the beginning
of the temperate zone, only half a mile; in the Alps only a quarter of a
mile; and almost equal to sea level at the pole.
The second region begins at the end of the first and extends to the
greatest height reached by clouds. The height of these latter has not been
determined exactly at any place on the earth. Sometimes the clouds are
high, sometimes low. In general, they do appear to rise more than one
German mile above sea level. If one were to extend this second region
9:283 to where the shining meteors originate, e.g., the Northern Lights, fire-
balls, etc., many German miles would be required to determine their
height.
The last region begins where the second ends and extends to the edge
of the atmosphere. This is determined by the height of the twilight,
which is found to be nine and a half German miles.
The air has the following properties:
First, it is humid. In fact, all air contains moisture, but if this is uni-
formly distributed then the air is clear and is regarded as dry. In
some areas it is excessively laden with humid vapours, as in swampy
and wooded areas, e.g., in the northern part of the Panama Isth-
mus. Or it is:
Secondly, very dry, as in Persia, Arabia, and the upper part of Egypt,
where the air has to be humidified by artificial fountains or water
sprayed about the rooms, because it would otherwise be harmful
to the lungs.
Third, it contains salts; e.g., acid of nitre270 which is absorbed from
the air by means of earth prepared for the purpose. Thus the salt-
covered fields in Persia and at the Cape presumably acquire their
salt from that which the rain has washed down from salty soil
and deposited on lower-lying fields. Perhaps also [there is] some
spirit of salt, hence the corrosive air on the Azores; similarly, the
wall saltpetre271 or aphronitrum which has settled from the air. At
times it also contains oily or even mineral parts in smaller or larger
quantities. Sea air has properties different from [those of] land air.
548
Physical geography
Fourth, some air is very pure; hence the still and clear light of the stars
in Persia, Arabia, and Chaldaea, by which astronomy is perhaps
facilitated in these regions, especially as one can sleep on the roof-
tops under the open sky throughout the summer months there.
Fifth, some air is famous for its being salubrious, some for being
insalubrious. Because of their stagnant humidity, all very wooded
and swampy lands are unhealthy and cause fevers, e.g., in Virginia
at the beginning of colonisation there; especially if great heat is
combined with this humidity, as in Porto Bello. If sea water stag- 9:284
nates in puddles on the land, as in Sumatra, or river water that
floods the land, as in Siam, this causes many illnesses and fevers.
Concerning endemic diseases (plague, leprosy, yellow fever),272
and naturally contagious diseases, such as chicken-pox and vene-
real disease.
Sixth, the air in some places seems to be intolerable to certain ver-
min and animals. There are no rats in Augsburg, Malta, Crete; no
venomous snakes in Gozzo, Faizzau ; in Ireland no venomous ani-
mals at all; no rats in the Einsiedel hunting lodge in Württemberg.
Kolb[e]273 reports that the Europeans arriving at the Cape lose the
vermin they have normally brought with them on their ships and
in their clothes and never get them back again. By contrast, the
Hottentots have a good supply of them because of their repulsive
way of life.
The blue colour of the atmosphere is most probably explained by the

whitish shimmer of the vapours seen against the black background of
empty space, and it must be a blue colour, as white on black, applied
lightly, makes blue.274
§. 64.
Concerning Winds in General.
Wind is to the air what a current is in relation to the sea. Like the sea,
it too is greatly limited by the direction of the land and the mountains.
Just as two currents opposing one another create a whirlpool, so do two
winds affecting one another from different directions create whirlwinds.
The principal causes of constant winds are the following:
First, when one part of the air is warmed more than another, e.g.,
over the land more than over the sea, then it makes way for the
latter, as it is lighter than the cooler air, and a wind is caused at
u One manuscript has “Iviza” in Kant’s own hand, no doubt referring to Ibiza.
549
Natural Science
the heated area, and this continues as long as the place continues
to receive extra heat.
Second, if a region of the air gradually cools down, it folds in on
9:285 itself, increases its tension and makes way for the warming air to
stream in against it. When it begins to cool down at the beginning
of autumn in the far north, southern air moves to the north as long
as the increase of warmthv lasts, and afterwards it returns again.
Third, in the casew of sudden brief storms, sulphureous and mineral
vapours, which break out of the earth and weaken the elasticity of
the air or begin to ferment, cause uneven winds to follow rapidly
one upon another, which at first restrain each other and create
windless conditions, but afterwards press against each other vio-
lently and cause terrible cloudbursts and raging storms. Similarly,
violent cloudbursts or hail cause a wind that can be very violent.
Mariners divide up the winds as follows: they take the cardinal direc-
tions north, east, south, and west. Then they divide each arc of the
horizon contained between two cardinal points into two equal parts.
These [directions] are called: north-east, south-east, north-west, and
south-west. The letters are written in such a way that north or south
always comes first. Then they divide these into quarter-arcs, and in front
of the previous name, they always place the cardinal point to which
they are closest, i.e.: north-north-east, east-north-east, east-south-
east, [south-south-east], south-south-west, west-south-west, west-
north-west, and north-north-west. The winds of the fourth order arise
when they halve the previous arcs again, retaining the previous name and
only indicating which of the cardinal directions they are closest to by the
little word “by”, e.g., west-north-west by west, or east-north-east by
east.x All these divisions amount to thirty-two winds.
§. 65.
Division of the Winds According to their Properties, Humidity,
Dryness, Warmth, Coldness, and Salubriousness.
The evening winds are damp in most regions, and they are so throughout
the world, except when they pass over burnt earth, as the evening wind
in Persia, which passes over Arabia.
v Gedan and Adickes agree that this should read “cold”.

w Gedan reads: “Concerning sudden brief storms. They (these?) are sulphurous and min-
eral vapours . . . ”
x Rink gives Westnordwest gen Westen, Ostnordost gen Osten. Adickes shows that it should
read: West gen Norden, Ost gen Norden [west by north, east by north].
550
Physical geography
Whether a west wind passes over a nearby or a distant sea, it is always

damp. On the other hand, the east wind, even if it passes over large seas,
is mostly dry.
In the Philippine Islands two changing winds dominate every year, a 9:286
north-east wind rules the autumn and winter months and then a south-
west wind the rest of the year. The former is dry, even though it blows
over the Southern Ocean. A similar phenomenon can be observed in the
East and West Indies, e.g., in the region of New Cartagena.
The south-west winds that blow over the Atlantic Ocean and otherwise
bring only wet weather, are [also] said to cause clear and dry weather.
On the other hand, only the west winds are humid. This even happens
on the Pacific Ocean, where the east winds bring clear weather, while
the west winds that cross the sea bring rainy weather. The causes will be
explained in what follows.
When a wind carries air with it that is cooler than the human body,
then it is cooling. But if the air carried along with it is hotter than
the human body, then it heats the body the more, the faster it blows.
Such hot winds may be encountered in the hot regions, such as the
Chamsin in Egypt, and especially the Samiely in Persia, Arabia and
Syria, which are the worst. They blow with a heat as though they came
out of a fiery furnace. The Samiel has a reddish appearance. It blows
principally in June until August and is felt especially in the Persian Gulf.
The Persians believe that it acquires its poisonous properties from a herb
called Golbat Samoar, which commonly grows in the desert of Kerman,
because the wind blows over this herb and carries its pollen along with
it. But it seems more likely that, since all these areas contain a great deal
of naphtha, especially in the soil, the acid of the salt particles which the
Persian wind carries with it bubbles up with these oily vapours, becomes
hot, and brings about the red colour. The Samiel kills very quickly when
it blows violently. Opinions on the sudden deaths of the Israelites and
the army of Sannacherib.
In Arabia and in the Egyptian sand deserts, there are winds that bury
travellers. This is how mummies are produced without embalming.
Winds coming from the tops of high mountains are all cold; hence even
in Guinea, the north-east wind (Terreno), which comes from the moun-
tains of the interior, brings great dryness and cold. When the currents
of wind oppose one another, this first causes calm, then sudden storm,
cloudbursts and thunderstorms. Thunderstorms mainly arise from the 9:287
coming together of two winds which mix clouds of different electricity,
and this is why the winds often change direction afterwards and thun-
derstorms commonly arise against the wind.
y Simoom
551
Natural Science
In the Indian or Ethiopian Ocean, two different winds follow one

another in the two halves of the year; at those times when one takes
over from the other, there is first calm, then a disorderly blowing from
all directions around the compass, finally storms, cloudbursts and thun-
derstorms, which, if they blow for only half an hour at most, are called
tornados; if, however, they blow for hours or even days, they are called
travados.
Not far from the coast of Sierra Leone, towards the west, there is a
region called the region of tornados, where storms and almost constant
rain and thunder alternate with [periods of] calm.
In the Gulf of Mexico, a black, flat cloud rises several degrees above
the horizon towards the north-west when the winds are changeable; this
is called the North Bank; thereupon a raging storm called the North sets
in from the north-west. All the low clouds are driven with great speed,
only the North Bank remains until the storm is past. Before this wind
called the North, there is usually a gentle south-west wind, after that,
calm air: thus one can see that the opposing air currents firstly impede
one another, then cause a turbulence in the upper air, where they drive
vapours together into a thick cloud, from which the North Bank arises,
and it can be seen that the air accumulating there breaks out below with
great force. The cloud itself must remain calm because it is in the centre
of this vortex. The misfortune is greatest when the wind jumps round to
the south. These winds are peculiar to December and June. The south
winds, which are common in June, July, and August, prevail when the
south-west winds chiefly blow in this region, but the back-flow of the
northern air occasionally opposes them.
The hurricanes (ouragans) in this same sea and along the surrounding
coasts drive clouds that look like pumps, whereas the Norths produce
a flat cloud. Their colour is hideous: 1) pale fire colour, 2) copper red,
and 3) black. First the wind comes from the south-east; then calm; then
[from the] south-west.
9:288 The prevailing hurricane at the Cape seems to break out of a cloud
called the bull’s-eye. It is wrongly believed that this cloud is no larger than
a bull’s-eye. It appears to be larger than a whole ox and usually spreads
over Table Mountain. It occurs when a north wind is followed by a
south wind, for reasons already mentioned; but the mountains against
which the winds strike must also be taken into consideration.
This is also true of other sudden storms. They mostly prevail in the
region of promontories, straits, and where there are many islands, and
at a time when the winds are more changeable, as in autumn and spring,
more than at any other time of the year.
Typhoons prevail in the China Sea and the Sea of Japan, and they are
usually caused by vapours breaking forth out of the sea; for at the place
in question, the sea bubbles and surges, the air is filled with sulphurous
552
Physical geography
vapours and the sky looks copper-coloured. The China Sea is warmer in
the winter than any of the neighbouring ones and this seems to confirm
the cause already specified. The typhoon remains in one place and does
not move away.
These have a great similarity to waterspouts. The seas in China and
the Red Sea frequently have these atmospheric phenomena. One can see
the water appearing to boil at one place and finally rising by a foot. A
[kind of] smoke rises up with a dark hissing noise, and then the clouds
seem to descend at these points and, together with the waterspouts,z to
adopt the shape of a funnel or a trumpet. The water whirls upwards in
this spout and falls down outside it. Ships caught by it are robbed of their
sails and driven before the wind.
§. 66.
The Speed of Winds.
A gentle wind goes no faster than a person walking; a relatively strong
wind goes like a horse at the gallop. A storm wind which tears up trees
travels at twenty-four feet per second. There are also storms that cover
sixty feet per second. These even overturn houses that they encounter.
§. 67. 9:289
Concerning Trade Winds.
A wind that is typical of a region for most of the year is called a trade
wind.
In the tropics, when one moves away from the shore, there is an
almost constant east wind around the entire earth. This does not come
about as a result of the air remaining behind when the earth turns from
west to east and offering resistance in the opposite direction, but from
the gradual warming of the earth by the sun from east to west; for, as just
mentioned, the air always streams in the direction that is most warmed
by the sun; as a result, it must always follow the apparent course of the
sun. Mariners can travel much faster from the East Indies to Europe than
in the other direction, because in the latter case they have the prevailing
east wind against them on the Ethiopian as well as on the Indian Ocean.
Mariners on the journey from the Cape to Europe have to be careful
that they do not sail past the island of St Helena, because once they have
passed it, they cannot get back again, since a strong east wind drives them
away, and they have to supply themselves with turtles and water on the
island of Ascension.
z Röhren
553
Natural Science
This is true of all the tropical seas: the Atlantic, Ethiopian, Pacific,
and Indian Oceans. The further [one moves] from the equator towards
the tropics, the more does this east wind deviate to a side direction from
north or south, depending on whether it is in the northern or southern
hemisphere; in the latter case it becomes a south-east wind, in the for-
mer a north-east wind. These winds also extend somewhat outside the
tropics, though generally not often beyond the thirtieth degree, where
a westerly trade wind begins which prevails as far as the fiftieth degree,
which is why, when sailing from England to America, sailors approach
the tropic and find the east wind there; when sailing back, however, they
make a short journey with a west wind between the fortieth and fiftieth
degrees of latitude.
The vents alisés [trade winds] are among the effects of this general
east wind and are such that they prevail constantly in a given region
even though they do not come from an easterly direction. For example,
9:290 on the coasts of Peru a constant south wind prevails which blows along
the coasts of Chile as far as Panama, which is caused by the air nearer
the South Pole flowing to the equator, while the general east wind is
prevented by the Cordilleras from having its effect there.
On the coasts of Guinea, there is an almost constant west wind because
the air over Guinea is heated more than [the air] over the sea, and so the
latter is obliged to flow over it in a diagonal direction from south-west
to north-east, since the largest expanse of land in Africa lies in the latter
direction, and the direction of the coasts then makes the winds come
from the west.
§. 68.
Concerning Sea Breezes and Land Breezes.
All countries of the torrid zone have changing winds on their coasts so
that during the day, a wind blows from the sea to the land and at night
from the land to the sea. For during the day, the sun heats the land more
than the water; thus the sea air, which has not been heated to the same
extent, will be denser than the land air, and will displace it. For this
reason the strength of the sea breeze increases until after twelve noon or
one o’clock, after which it becomes weaker and weaker and eventually
ceases in the evening. But then the sea air cools faster than the land air
over the heated ground; the former therefore contracts and makes way
for the latter, and as a result a land breeze blows over the sea.275
These winds are to be encountered on all islands of the hot zones of
the earth, in the Gulf of Mexico, in Brazil, on the African and East Indian
coasts. They are exceptionally useful, not only for cooling these lands
down, but also for sailing between the many islands.
554
Physical geography
§ 69.
Concerning the Monsoonsa or Periodic Winds.
Throughout the torrid zone, where whole countries spread from the
equator to the north or south, annually changing winds prevail in the
neighbouring seas: the moussons, or, as the English call them (by an 9:291
Indian word meaning season), monsoons; namely a south-west wind in
the months from April to September, and a north-east wind throughout
the remaining months. This occurs in the Bay of Bengal, the Persian
and Arabian Seas, in the Archipelagus, near the Philippine Islands, in
the Gulf of Mexico, and elsewhere. In the southern hemisphere it is the
change of the west wind that occurs; only in the months mentioned does
the north-west wind prevail, and in the other months it is the south-west
wind.
§. 70.
Cause of the Monsoons.
In explaining the cause of the monsoons, I am also giving a general theory
of all constant, periodic winds and of most changeable winds. For I am
saying that a wind blowing from the equator towards one of the two poles
acquires a secondary direction towards the west, once it has travelled a
certain distance. E.g., in our northern hemisphere, a south wind must
gradually turn into a south-west wind and on the southern side of the
equator, a wind going from the equator to the South Pole must become
a north-west wind. For, since the earth turns on its axis, the parts of its
surface describe larger parallel circles the closer they are to the equator,
and smaller ones the closer they are to the poles, and so long as there is
no wind the air covering the earth has the same motion everywhere as
that part of the surface of the earth on which it rests. Thus the equatorial
air will have greater speed of motion from west to east than the air at the
tropics, and this much greater than that between the polar circles, etc.
But this does not, in itself, create any wind, since the air on the surface
of the earth does not change its position. But as soon as the equatorial
air moves towards one of the poles, e.g., the North Pole, then this will
cause first and foremost a south wind. But this air moving to the north has
momentumb from west to east because of the rotation of the earth, which
is faster [at the equator] than at all the parallel circles that it reaches at
a distance from the equator; thus it will move over the places it reaches
a Moussons b einen Schwung
555
Natural Science
with its speed increased from west to east,c and consequently it will cause
a south-west wind when this is combined with its southern direction.
9:292 For precisely these reasons a north-west wind will arise from the
motion of equatorial air towards the South Pole. On the other hand,
when air flows towards the equator from an area distant from it, then in
our hemisphere, this will be a north wind in the first instance. But since
it comes from regions of the earth where, on account of the small par-
allels, it moved less fast from west to east than those parts of the surface
of the earth closer to the equator towards which it is moving, it will lag
behind, since it does not have such a strong motion from west to east
as the places it reaches; that is, it will appear to move from east to west,
which, combined with the northerly direction, will cause a north-east
wind in our hemisphere, and so a north wind in our hemisphere will
turn into a north-east wind the closer it approaches the equator, and
in the southern hemisphere, a south wind will change into a south-east
wind for precisely the same reasons.
This explains in the first place, the prevailing wind at the equator, since
the air there is denserd than in other places, especially at the time of the
equinoxes. Thus, the air at the poles and other regions between them
and the equator flows to the equator so that the north wind turns into a
north-east wind and the south wind into a south-east wind. These winds
can also be encountered between the tropics, each one in its hemisphere;
at the equator, however, they will turn into simple east winds because
they meet at an angle. Since, however, the sun warms the torrid zone
in our hemisphere more strongly from March to September, the lands
that are situated in or near it will be uncommonly warmed and the air
near the equator will occupy the position above this rarefied air; thus, a
south wind will arise that will turn into a south-west wind in accordance
with the aforementioned law; but in the other months, the sun does this
in the southern hemisphere, so that the air of the northern hemisphere
will flow across and create a north-weste wind. At the time when the
monsoons change, [either] calms or hurricanes will prevail.
9:293 §. 71.
More Laws Concerning the Alternation of the Winds.
In our northern hemisphere, when the winds change from north to
north-east, they usually complete the entire circle from left to right
c Gedan argues that this should read “from east to west”. Cf. the logic of the rest of this
paragraph.
d Verdickt in many manuscripts. Adickes argues that it should read verdünnt (less dense)
which also occurs in some of the manuscripts.
e Adickes suggests this should read “north-east”.
556
Physical geography
in this way, that is to the east, then to the south, and then to the west.
Those winds, however, that blow in an opposite direction from north to
west, almost never complete the whole circle.
In the southern hemisphere, since the sun moves from right to left,
this circular course is also the other way around, as Don Ulloa276 noted
in the Pacific Ocean.
This law appears to have its origin in the course of the sun, for the
north wind naturally turns into a north-east wind, but if the southern air
eventually opposes it, it becomes entirely easterly once more; then the
southern air begins to recede again and by combining with the east wind
becomes firstly south-east, then completely southerly, then south-west,
in accordance with the above-mentioned law, then completely west, as
a result of the resistance of the northern air.
The winds are most changeable halfway between each of the poles
and the equator. In the torrid zones and the adjacent areas, as well
as in the cold zone and its neighbouring areas, they are much more
constant.
Winds at different heights are frequently and usually different, but
they subsequently produce calms, and thereupon sudden storms or a
changed wind in the lower regions.
§. 72.
Concerning Rain and Other Atmospheric Occurrences.
It rains most in the torrid zone. Larger drops fall there as well, and with
greater violence. It rains nearly all the time in the Ethiopian mountains
and in the Cordilleras. The south-west winds cause the constant rains
that make the rivers swell up so much in parts of the torrid zone and the
adjacent regions in the northern hemisphere.
In Sierra Leona and some other areas of the coast of Guinea, the 9:294
rain falls in very large drops and produces heat. The Negroes run away
from the rain as though it were fire, and sleeping in clothing wet from
the rain is deadly, just as such clothes rot within a short time if put away
wet.
In some countries it does not rain at all; in others only rarely. The
lowland part of Peru, where Lima is situated, is entirely free from rain,
which is why people there have flat roofs on which they strew ashes to
soak up the dew, because a constant south wind blows there, which is the
same for them as a north wind is for us. It never rains in Upper Egypt.
In Quito, on the other hand, it rains for at least half an hour every day.
In the upper part of Egypt it is like a miracle if it rains once in seven
years. In desert Arabia, rains are likewise rare.
557
Natural Science
§. 73.
Concerning the Relationship of the Weather with
Climates and the Seasons.
All lands, even in cold zones, have more temperate air or weather the
closer they are to to the sea, which in its broad expanse never freezes
and is never heated as much as the land. For this reason, cold is no more
severe at the North Cape in the winter than in the southern part of
Lapland, and on the coast of Norway it is much less cold than in the
interior.
The eastern lands of a large continent have much more severe winters
than others that often lie much further north. Thus in that part of China
that is further south than Naples, it is so cold in winter that there is very
considerable frost. In North America at the latitude of France, the
winters are as harsh as in the northern part of Sweden.
In the southern hemisphere, it is colder than in the northern at the
same latitude. As mentioned above, in the middle of summer, at a latitude
equal to that of England, large ice fields which never melt float [in the
sea].
Even in Europe, it was much colder in former times than it is now.
In the Emperor Augustus’s time, the Tiber usually froze in the winter,
but now it never does. The Rhône froze in Julius Caesar’s time to such
9:295 an extent that loads could be carried across it; but now this is unheard
of. The Black Sea was frozen over thickly at the time of Constantine
Copronymus. Germany along the Rhine and France are described by
the ancients as being like Siberia today.
The reason for this was presumably the many forests which covered
most of the countries at that time and in which the snow melted very
late, so that cold winds blew from them. But now the forests have largely
been felled, while in the northern part of America and Asia they are still
immeasurably large, which might be one of several reasons for the cold
in those countries; but the nature of the soil can contribute much to this
as well, especially as in China and Siberia.
In the torrid zone, in that part situated in the northern hemisphere,
the winter is actually in the summer months, but only consists of a rainy
period, for the sun is really closest to them then, just as at that time there
is a very sultry air, e.g., in the region around Cartagena in America and
in Guinea. The rest of the time is called the good or dry season.
In Persia, particularly in the central part, and in Syria and Asia Minor,
the winter cold is often very severe. On the peninsula on this side of
the Ganges, the rainy period comes to the coast of Malabar some weeks
earlier than on the Coromandel coast, because the Ghats Mountains,
which divide this peninsula in half, hold the clouds that are driven by the
558
Physical geography
south-west wind back from the eastern side of the peninsula for a time,
and so one can travel from winter into summer in two or three days’
journey.
In the torrid zone of the southern hemisphere, all this is reversed. The
cause of the cold in the southern ocean, even when it is summer there,
doubtless comes from the great ice floes that are driven from the regions
around the South Pole into these seas. (See above pp. 502 [9:225] and
558 [9:294].)
fourth section. 9:296
History of the Great Changes that the Earth Has

Undergone and is Still Undergoing.
§. 74.
Concerning the Gradual Changes that are Still Continuing.
The figure of the earth is still changing, principally from the following
causes:
1. Through earthquakes. These have depressed some regions near the
sea and have raised up islands. Moro277 is of the unlikely opinion that
mountains arose for the most part in this way. Some certainly did
originate in this way.
2. Through rivers and rain. Rain washes the soil from the mountains
and high ground and carries the silt into the large streams, which [in
turn] carry it into a river. Initially, the river deposited it here and
there along its course and formed its channel, but now it carries the
silt along, and deposits it far and wide on the coasts at its mouth; and
in particular it will sometimes flood the lands near its mouth and form
new land. These occurrences are confirmed by many examples.
The Nile formed its whole Delta, indeed, according to the evidence
of the oldest writers, the whole of Lower Egypt, with its silt, since
there was a gulf there in ancient times. It is still doing so. Damietta
is now eight [German] miles from the coast; in the year 1243, it was
a seaport. Three hundred years ago, the town of Fua was situated at
one of the mouths of the Nile and it is now five miles inland from it. 9:297
Indeed, in the last forty years, the sea has receded half a mile from
the town of Rosetta. Now it can clearly be seen that all the land of
Lower Egypt is a product of the Nile.
Precisely the same thing can be observed on the Mississippi, the
Amazon, the Ganges, and so forth. In this way, the land becomes
lower and lower and after the ground has lost its declivity, the rain
water will not carry so much [silt] to the rivers, but runs into the soil
and dries out in puddles.
559
Natural Science
The rivers often fill their mouths with silt and thus become unnav-
igable, so that new islands and banks are formed in the mouths of
large rivers.
3. Through the sea. The sea is gradually receding from the coasts of
most countries. It is true that on some coasts it is encroaching a little,
but at others, on the other hand, in fact at most places, it is adding land.
In the eastern part of Gotland,f the land gains two or three fathoms
a year. In North Bothnia, Celsius278 has remarked that the sea has
dropped four and a half inches in ten years. For this reason, many
formerly good harbours can now admit only small ships. The dunes
in Holland and England, like the landspits in Prussia, are undoubtedly
sandhills thrown up by the sea, but now the sea never rises as high as
they are. One may form one’s own opinion as to whether this can be
sufficiently explained by [saying] that the sea deposits its mud carried
down by the rivers on the coast or whether the interior of the earth
has been settling down ever more firmly for many centuries, so that
the bottom of the sea sinks lower and lower because its bed is being
deepened and drawing away from the shore. Occasionally, the sea also
takes over the land.
People judge that many straits were created by the action of the sea
breaking through an isthmus, e.g., the Straits of Calais. Ceylon is
also said to have been formerly connected to the mainland, although
earthquakes may also have a share in this. At least the beasts of prey
that used to be in England can hardly be understood in any other way
than [by assuming] a connection of that country with France. The
Dollart, a lake in Friesland, came about through an incursion of the
9:298 sea. The Zuider Zee was for the most part formerly inhabited land
that was inundated by the sea.
4. Though winds and frost. The wind often drives sand from the high
mountains over low regions, or vice versa. In Brittany, a flood of
sand of this kind covered a considerable part of the land, so that
the tops of all the church spires were all that protruded from vil-
lages that had once been inhabited. In other countries, however, the
wind drives the sand into the sea and creates shallows or even new
land.
Frost often breaks off considerable parts of mountains, where rain
water is caught in cracks and then freezes in them. These fragments
roll into the valleys and often cause great devastation. These changes
are not of great significance.
5. Through human beings. They build dams against the sea and rivers
and thus create dry land, as can be observed at the mouth of the Po,
f Gedan reads “Holland”.
560
Physical geography
the Rhine, and other great rivers. They drain swamps, fell forests and
thus change the climate of countries considerably.
§. 75.
Memorials of the Changes the Earth has Undergone in the
Most Ancient Times.
A. Proofs that the Sea Formerly Covered the Whole Earth.
In all parts of the earth, even on the peaks of high mountains, one can
find large heaps of sea shells and other indications of the former sea-
floor. In the Touraine in France, there is an area of land occupying nine
square French miles, where one encounters a layer of sea shells thirty feet
thick under a thin covering of soil. They have [also] been found on all
mountains of the world, and on all islands, and they are sufficient proof
that the sea [formerly] covered all dry land; only in the Cordilleras have
they not yet been found. But as these are the steepest of all mountains,
the silt that is washed down from them by rain and torrents will long ago
have covered the layers of shells with a very thick layer of clay, which is
also found everywhere.
It is ridiculous when La Loubère,279 in his description of Siam, 9:299
attributes [the presence of] these shells to monkeys, who are said to
have carried the shells to the tops of high mountains simply to pass the
time, as they do at the Cape; or, as another [author] believes, that Asiatic
shells found on European mountains were brought back by the armies
who had taken part in the Crusades to the Holy Land.280
Other marine creatures are also found petrified, or in stone, in the
very middle of the rocks of which mountains ranges are formed. There
are often snakes’ tongues,281 or petrified sharks’ teeth, the spiral horn
of the narwhal, whales’ bones, parts of petrified marine insects, among
which must be included the Jews’ stones,282 asterids,283 pectunculi,284 etc.
Further proofs that the sea once covered the land are to be found in the
shape of mountains. A valley winding between two rows of mountains is
analogous to the channel of a river or the channel of a current in the sea.
The heights on both sides run parallel, like the banks of rivers, so that
the obtuse angle of one is opposite the acute angle of the other. This
proves that the tides in the universal ocean which [formerly] coveredg
the whole earth created marineh currents just as it does in the ocean
at present, and that these hollowed out and formed regular channels
between the mountain ranges.
g Gedan reads “covers”.

h Meerströme. Gedan reads mehr Ströme, or “more currents”.
561
Natural Science
§. 76.
B. Proofs that the Sea has Often been Changed into Dry Land,
and Back Into Sea Again.
The first thing that needs to be observed is the layers forming the Earth’s
upper crust. Various strata or layers of all sorts of materials such as clay,
finei sand, calcareous earth, coarse sand, shells, etc., are found like leaves,
as it were, on top of one another. Such layers are either horizontal or
inclined and they have the same thickness throughout their extent.
Now one often finds a layer of the sea-bed under the first layers, as can
be seen from buried marine plants and shells. This layer often consists of
a calcareous soil which is nothing other than shell grit; then there often
9:300 follows a layer in which plants and trees are concealed; and soon after
that the sea bed in alternating layers.
These layers do not lie on top of one another in order of their specific
gravity. In Flanders, Friesland, and elsewhere, one first finds indications
that the sea was once there, and beneath them, whole forests of buried
trees to a depth of forty or fifty feet. Here, as in the Lüneburgj region,
the roots [of the trees] lie towards the north-west and the tops to south-
east. In Modena, and four miles around it, one finds the paving of an
old town at a depth of fourteen feet underneath the uppermost layer;
then a firm layer of soil; then shells in a calcareous layer at a depth of
twenty-eight to forty feet; after that, at a depth of sixty feet, now chalk,
now earthy concretions. In 1464, in the Canton of Berne, a ship with
forty human skeletons was recovered from a pit one hundred ells deep.
A knife was found under a very deep stone in Uri, and likewise whole
human skeletons are found from time to time in mines. Cut trees have
been found in the ground in England.
No doubt rocks were once soft. In Sweden recently, a toad was found
sitting in a rock, several ells deep down a shaft; it was still alive, though
blind and without sensation. Pools of petrified fish, many imprints of
Indian plants, and occasionally elephants’ teeth, are found in slate moun-
tains; similarly elephant bones [are found] in Siberia.
§. 77.
C. The Theory of the Earth, or Grounds for its Ancient History.
Scheuchzer and many other physicists attribute these indications of
ancient changes to the Flood; but firstly, this covered the earth for too
short a time for it to have been able to cause these changes. A short time,
i Feinen. Rink and Rosenkranz-Schubert have ferner (further) also.

j Emended by Gedan from Lauenburg.
562
Physical geography
such as Noah’s Flood lasted, is not sufficient to have piled up enormous

banks of shells, deep layers of soil, or indeed even large rocks.
Occasionally, however, alternating layers of land and sea-bed are
found in the earth. There is often, as in the region of Modena, a stra-
tum under a layer of shells, which contains products of the dry land, and 9:301
under these in turn, one often finds marine remains, so it can be seen
that this transformation of land into sea, and of the latter back into dry
land, often followed one upon the other. In addition, the Flood seems
to have been merely a universal example of one of these changes, that is,
a change of the whole of the dry land into sea and of this back into dry
land.
There are undeniable indications that this really happened in some
regions of the earth, either before or after, and that many years elapsed
during such changes. The fact that many, indeedk all, islands must once
have been connected with the dry land, and that the land in between
them was changed into sea-bed, is evident from the animals that may
be found on them. For unless one wants to maintain that God cre-
ated the land animals separately on every island a long way from the
[main]land, e.g., on the Azores or the Ladrones Islands,285 it is impossible
to understand how they got across to the islands, especially the noxious
animals.
The question now is what is the cause of all these changes. Moro
believes that earthquakes were universal in the infancy of the earth; that
mountains were elevated out of the sea complete with shells; that else-
where the bottom of the sea sank deeper; that the salt of the sea was
leached out from calcined matter; and that eventually everything settled
down. Now, it is undeniable that there are whole mountains in Peru that
were elevated by earthquakes; but they are distinguished from others in
a marked way. The strata do not lie in order as they do elsewhere; nor is
it credible that shells and animal bones would have remained unscathed
during such a raging of the subterranean fires as is necessary to build
mountains. Furthermore, how do the numerous Indian marine and land
products reach these regions?
Burnetl,286 imagined the earth as being initially flat and smooth, with-
out either sea or mountains. Under the uppermost crust there was a large
accumulation of water. The equator was not oblique to the ecliptic, but
rather coincided with it. The uppermost crust collapsed and created
mountains, the bottom of the sea and dry land. But the changes which
occurred gradually cannot be explained in this way.
Woodward287 believed that the Flood dissolved the entire material of
the earth, metals, stone, soil, and so forth, which then gradually settled, 9:302
k Adickes adds “almost”.

l Emended (appropriately) by Gedan from “Bonnet”.
563
Natural Science
and this brought about the layers in the earth which enclose many foreign
bodies. But the position of the layers, which are not arranged according
to their specific gravities, the alternation of marine and terrestrial layers,
which shows that the changes did not occur once only but frequently
and alternately, and the [alleged] dissolution of all matter, which defies
common sense, [all this] contradicts these notions.
Whiston288 lived at a time when comets were coming into promi-
nence. He explained the creation of the earth, its initial ruin after the
Fall, the Flood, and the Last Judgement, all by means of comets. In his
opinion, the earth was itself initially a comet, and the atmosphere caused
the earth to be dark; but when this became clearer there was light; finally
the sun and the stars were created, or, rather, first became visible. The
earth’s internal water was covered by an earthen crust, and there was no
sea, thus also no rainbows. The tail of a comet touched the earth and
so it lost its initial fertility. Another comet touched the earth with its
atmosphere, and that produced the forty days of rain. The subterranean
waters broke forth, mountains arose, and the sea bed was created. Finally,
the water receded into the cavities of the earth. Apart from its arbitrary
nature and other inaccuracies in this opinion, it does not explain the
alternating changes of sea into dry land, and vice versa, which followed
[one another] over long periods of time.
In his Protogaea,289 Leibniz290 believed that the earth once burned,
that its crust was changed into glass, that all the sands are the remnants
of this glass, that the dust of these ground up into particles forms the
binding matter for various types of soil. This vitreous crust of the earth’s
sphere later collapsed, whereupon the mountains and the sea-bed were
created, the sea absorbed the salt of the calcined earth, and this is the
cause of its salinity.
Linnaeus was of the opinion that, when the earth was originally cov-
ered with water, God placed a single island, which rose into a mountain,
at the equator, and placed all the different kinds of animals and plants on
it according to the differences of warmth and cold which are appropri-
ate to the various heights. This island gained new land each year by the
action of the sea, as can be observed in Gotland, Dalland, etc., and all
9:303 dry land arose over the many subsequent centuries through deposition
from the sea. But this land that arose from the sea must have been flat
and even, as are all the lands that have been formed in this way; but one
finds that all lands of the earth are full of high mountains.
Buffon believed that the marine currents prevalent in the broad
expanses of water that covered the earth in the beginning created the
irregularities and the mountains, and that the sea receded gradually
in a way that he did not yet fully understand, and left these heights
dry.
564
Physical geography
§. 78.
[An] Attempt at a Thorough Explanation of the Ancient
History of the Earth.
It is certain
1. that the earth was [formerly] fluid throughout its whole mass, because
it has adopted a shape determined by the angular momentumm of all
its particles; and one encounters bands of earth lying on top of one
another in layers wherever one digs, even down to the greatest depths;
these cannot be explained in any way other than as the deposits of a
turbid and inchoate mass.
2. that everything must once have been at the bottom of the sea, and
that the soil was not raised all at once but gradually, and with many
reversions to the bottom of the sea, and that this lasted for long peri-
ods.
3. that mountains are higher the closer they are to the equator.
4. that under its uppermost crust the earth is hollow everywhere, even
under the bottom of the sea, and that frequent and universal subsi-
dences must have occurred, just as some are occurring even now.
5. that the sea receded to [those places] where the deepest subsidences
occurred, leaving the praecipitia291 dry.
6. that the subsidences occurred more frequently in the torrid zone than
elsewhere so that the greatest number of mountains, the largest seas,
and most islands and spits of land are to be found there.
7. that the landn sometimes subsided but after long periods it emerged
and became dry, when the bottom of the sea sank deeper into the
caverns underneath it.
§. 79. 9:304
From all this we can conclude the following:
In the beginning the earth was a wholly liquid mass, a chaos in which
all the elements, air, earth, water, etc. were commingled. It acquired a
spheroidal shape flattened at the poles; it began to harden, at the surface
first; on account of their lightness, the air and water moved from the
centre of the earth [to a position] under this crust. The crust sank and
everything was covered with water. At this time, sea shells reproduced
themselves in all the valleys, but the earth was not yet at rest. More and
m Drehungsschwung n das feste Land
565
Natural Science
more, its interior separated out the commingled earth,o and this rose to
[the position] under the uppermost crust, so that the [underlying] cavities
became larger. Because the areas where the Earth’sp depressions created
the deepest valleys were most weighed down with water, they sank down
deeper and the [receding] water left many raised areas; at that time, dry
land emerged and what had formerly been the bottom of the sea became
covered in most places with a layer of fertile soil by the action of streams
and rain. This292 lasted for long periods, and mankind spread more and
more widely; but, for the reasons already indicated, the subterranean
cavities became larger and larger, and finally, the uppermost vault of the
earth collapsed. This was the [Noachian] Flood, in which water covered
everything. After this, however, the bottom of the sea sank again and left
some land dry. This continued, so that now this, now that, region that
was previously at the bottom of the sea has been transformed into dry
land. Each time, the water rushing down from the now elevated ground
flooded the lower regions and covered them with layers of materials it
had washed down from the higher regions.
This revolution lasted for several centuries in some areas as the dry
land sank, because its vaults no longer stood firmly owing to the cavities
beneath, and it became covered by the sea. But after a long sojourn there,
the land was uncovered again when the bottom of the sea sank deeper
still. And in fact, one finds subterranean forests, e.g., in Friesland or in
Lüneburg, overthrown in such a way that it can be seen that the sea
to the north-west crashed over them and then withdrew. This is why
most of the subsidences occurred near the equator, because the largest
9:305 cavities must have formed there, as may readily be explained by the laws
governing the rotation of the earth.293
From this it can also be seen that, because of the mountains that
emerged here and there, the balance in the force of the earth’s rota-
tion around its axis was altered, the earth’s axis shifted, and what was
previously in a hot climate was moved into the temperate or cold zone,
which is why we have remains of Indian animals, shells, and plants in our
region; this also caused frequent flooding of previously dry lands and
exposure of lands that had once been at the bottom of the sea.
Should it not be the case that, since what had been the bottom of
the sea and was covered with water, became dry land after the Flood,
the greatest part of its salinity was leached out by the water so that the
salinity of the sea and the infertility of the dry land came about in this
way?
o Adickes shows that, on the basis of five manuscripts and by the sense of the passage, this
should read “air”.
p Adickes adds “first”, on the basis of five manuscripts.
566
Physical geography
appendix. 9:306
Concerning Navigation.
§. 80.
Concerning Ships.
The lading of a ship is reckoned in terms of ‘loads’. One load contains
two tons; one ton has 2,000 pounds. The burden of freight a ship can
carry is estimated in terms of half the weight of water that would fit
into the ship. For example, if a ship can hold 500 tons, at 2,000 pounds
per ton, then it can carry 250 loads.q A larger East Indiaman contains
800 loads. The largest Portuguese carracks used to be of up to 1,200
loads. We also note that the Indians, who are otherwise inexperienced
in maritime affairs, have invented a type of vessel called the flying proa,
which is considered to be the fastest in the world. Its cross-section is
straight on one side, curved on the other; on the side it has outriggers
which stop the wind from capsizing it.
§. 81.
Concerning the Art of Navigation.
Sailing slightly next to the wind is faster than completely with the wind,
for two reasons: first because if the wind is directly behind the ship, it
flees the wind, as it were; and also because one sail robs the other of
wind.
A mariner must know the prospect of the coast, all the depths of the
sea in all places, the nature of the anchoring ground, the cliffs, the surf 9:307
which predominates in an area, the prevailing winds, monsoons, storms,
etc.; but above all, he should
1. know the cardinal points exactly at all times; this is accomplished by
means of a compass if the deviation of the magnet is allowed for at the
same time; one must also try to correct one’s observations as often as
possible by observing the heavens.
2. He must know in which direction he can continue to sail on the open
sea on a given wind in order to reach a desired place. The direction
in which the place appears to him to be if he continues to sail on, is
not always the direction the ship must take. This occurs only when
both the place from which, and the one to which, he is sailing lie on
the same parallel or meridian. If, for example, someone wanted to sail
q Adickes argues that this should read “250 tons freight”.

r Corrected in Kant’s manuscript to “largest” (Adickes).
567
Natural Science
from Portugal to the mouth of the Amazon, and in the first instance
headed for the direction in which this is situated, then he would find
that the shortest line drawn from Portugal to Brazil294 would not
always intersect the meridians at the same angle, and would therefore
not always lie in the same direction. Thus, if the mariner were to
continue in the direction in which the beginning of this curved line
points, he would never reach the place he wanted to. For one cannot
travel along the shortest line drawn from one place to another if the
two places lie off the same parallel or meridian, for the ship would
have to change its direction of motion virtually every hour, which is
not possible. For this reason, people aim for that direction in which
the ship can continue [in one line], which, even though it is not the
shortest route, will bring it to its goal. This line is the parallel itself
if the two places happen to lie on the same parallel; but if they lie off
[the same] parallel or meridian, it is the loxodrome.295 This is shown
on maps by the rose with thirty-two curved lines, which intersect all
the meridians at the same angle. How this is used, and how to find
the loxodrome which will lead from one place to another, would take
too long to demonstrate [here].
3. The mariner must [also] know the longitude and latitude of every
place. The former is hardest to determine. For this, one uses eclipses
9:308 of the sun and moon, the covering of the stars by the moon, and
eclipses of the stars by the moon; but despite all this, significant errors
remain which cannot be avoided.
4. He must [be able to] estimate his way, and this is done by means
of a logline and an accurate hour-glass. He must also be mindful to
ascertain and correct for the error[s] caused by currents after a long
run.
5. Here we should also note a significant difference in the tally of days
of the sailor compared to that made on land. Anyone circumnavi-
gating the globe from east to west loses a day, or counts one day
fewer than those who have remained at home; and anyone sailing
from west to east will gain an equal amount. For if the former sails
thirty degrees west he comes to places where it is two hours earlier
than the place from which he set out; and thus he gradually loses
twenty-four hours, but if he travels the same distance from west to
east, the sun will be at noon two hours earlier, and thus he gradually
gains a day. In Macau, the Portuguese have Sunday at the time when
it is Saturday for the Spaniards in Manila, for the Spaniards sailed
from east to west and the Portuguese from west to east. Magellan296
was the first man to circumnavigate the globe from east to west.
When the Portuguese became displeased about the Spanish discover-
ies in the west, they asked the Pope to mediate in their dispute; so he
568
Physical geography
drew the famous demarcation line, east of which all discoveries were
to belong to the Portuguese, and west of which to the Spaniards.
This line of division was drawn 270 miles west of the Cape Verde
Islands.
[End of First Part.]
569
Immanuel Kant’s 9:309
Physical Geography.
Edited
Upon the Request of the Author
From his Manuscripts
and in part revised
by
Dr Friedrich Theodor Rink.
Volume Two.
9:311 Physical Description of the Earth.
SECOND PART.
PARTICULAR OBSERVATIONS
CONCERNING WHAT IS FOUND ON
THE EARTH.
first section.
Concerning Human Beings.
§. 1.
Differences in the Forms and Colour of Human Beings in
Various Parts of the Earth.
If we begin with the inhabitants of the polar regions, we find that their
colouring is similar to that which is characteristic of inhabitants in the
torrid zones. The Samoyeds, the Danish and Swedish Lapps, the Green-
landers, and the inhabitants of the polar regions of America have a brown
complexion and black hair. So, great cold seems to have the same effect
as great heat. Also, they have a very scanty beard like the people in the
torrid regions. Their bodies are like trees so far as stature is concerned.
They are small, have a wide and flat face, and a large mouth.
Their nearest neighbours in the temperate zone (with the exception
of the Kalmucks and their related tribes) have fair skin and hair and are
taller. Along the line of longitude running through Germany, and some
degrees on either side, are perhaps the tallest and most attractive of the
Earth’s peoples. In northern Mongolia, in Kashmir, Georgia, Mingrelia,
9:312 and Circassia, extending as far as the American-English colonies, the
people are fair, well built, and with blue eyes. The further south one goes,
the more do brown complexion, slimness and small stature predominate,
until one reaches the Indian yellow or Moorish figure of the torrid zones.
One can say that the only true Negroes are to be found in Africa and
New Guinea. They are characterized not only by a smoky black colour,
but also by black woolly hair, a broad face, flat nose, and pouting lips, as
well as by large and ungainly bones. In Asia, such dark-skinned people
are neither so intensely black nor woolly-haired, unless they happen
to be descended from the people who were brought over from Africa.
s Bildung
572
Physical geography
There are no native blacks in America; their facial colouring is coppery

and their hair smooth. But there are large numbers of descendants from
African slaves.
In Africa, those brown people who are descended from the Moors
are called Moorish. But the truly black people are the Negroes. These
Moors extend along the Barbary Coast as far as the Senegal. From there
to Gambia are the blackest Moors; but these are most beautiful, especially
the Jolofs. The Fulians are brown-black. They are not so black on the
Gold Coast, and have very thick lips. Those from the Congo and Angola,
as far as Cape Negro, are somewhat less so. The Hottentots are only
brown-black, but otherwise they have a rather Moorish figure. On the
other side, namely the East Coast, the Kaffirs are not true Negroes;
similarly the Abyssinians.
§. 2.
Some Peculiarities of the Black Colour of Humans.
1. Negroes are born white, except for their reproductive parts and a
circle round the navel, which are both black. Beginning from these
parts, the black colour spreads over the whole body in the first month
[after birth].
2. When a Negro burns himself, that area goes white. Long illnesses
also make Negroes go rather white; but a body that has become white
through illness in this way goes much blacker after death than it had
been previously.
3. Europeans who live in the torrid zones do not become Negroes, 9:313
even after many generations, but retain their European form and
colour. The Portuguese on Cape Verde, who are said to have been
changed into Negroes after 200 years, are in fact mulattos.
4. As long as they do not interbreed with whites, Negroes, even in Vir-
ginia, remain Negroes for many generations.
5. Whites and blacks produce mulattos when they interbreed. The chil-
dren conceived by these latter with whites are called Terceroons;
their children from a marriage with a white are called Quarteroons;
their children with a white Quinteroons; and the children of these
with whites are then called whites again. But if a terceroon marries a
mulatto, then this produces throw-back children.
Note. On this, as on many other things in this second part of Kant’s Physical
Geography, see Zimmermann’s297 Geographical History of Animals,298 and
Girtanner’s On the Kantian Principle for Natural History.299
6. In the Cordilleras, the inhabitants look like Europeans. In Ethiopia,

often even below the Tropic [of Cancer], they merely look brown.
573
Natural Science
7. There are occasionally so-called ‘white Moors’, or Albinos, born of

black parents. They are Moorish in figure, have frizzy, snow-white
hair, are pale, and can only see by moonlight.
8. Like all the inhabitants of the torrid zones, the Moors have a thick
skin, and for this reason when they are punished they are whipped
not with sticks but with split canes, so that the blood may find a way
out and not suppurate under the thick skin.
§. 3.
Opinions as to the Cause of this Colour.
Some believe Ham to have been the father of the Moors and to have
been punished by God with a black colour, which is now handed down
to his descendants. But no reason can be advanced as to why the black
colour should be more suited to be the sign of a curse than the white.
9:314 Many natural philosopherst believe that the colour originates in the
epidermis and the black matter with which it is tinted. Still others derive
it from the Corpore reticulari.300 Because the colour of human beings goes
through all shades of yellow, brown, and dark brown, finally becoming
black in the torrid zones, it is obvious that climate is the cause. But it is
certain that a large number of generations had to pass for it to become
handed down and now be hereditary.
It appears that the drying out of the vessels that carry the blood and
the serous fluid under the skin brings about the absence of beard and
the short curly hair on the head, and that the appearance of the black
colour is caused by the absorption of the light that passes through the
outermost skin into the dried-out passages of the Corporis Reticularis.
How the skin is able to acquire so accidental a thing as colour cannot
be explained quite so easily. But we can see from other examples that
there are many such things in nature. One can explain why some hens
go quite white by differences in food, air, and manner of rearing. If
one were to select only those chickens from the same parents that are
white and put them together, one would eventually get a white race that
would not easily revert to anything else. Do not English and Arabian
or Spanish horses raised on dry soil degenerate in such a way that they
finally produce foals of quite a different type? When dogs are brought
to Africa from Europe, they no longer bark and lose their hair, and
subsequently they produce similar offspring. Similar changes occur with
sheep, cattle, and other kinds of animals. That Moors may have a white
child from time to time occurs in the same manner as the occasional
white raven, crow, or magpie.
t Physiker
574
Physical geography
The fact that it is the temperature of the region, rather than a particular
parental lineage, that is responsible for this can be seen from the fact that,
in the very same country, those who live in the plains are much blacker
than those who live in the higher areas. Thus there are blacker people in
Senegal than in Guinea; and they are blacker in the Congo and Angola
than in Upper Ethiopia or Abyssinia.
Note. The best [information] on this has been contributed by Girtanner,

op. cit.
§. 4. 9:315
Human Beings Round the World Considered in Relation
to their Other Inborn Characteristics.
All oriental nations that lie to the east of the meridian of Bengal have
something of the figure of the Kalmucks about them. In its most extreme
form, this is as follows: a flat face, broad at the top and narrow at the
bottom, with hardly any nose protruding from the face, quite small eyes,
extraordinarily wide eyebrows, black hair, thin and scattered bundles
of hair instead of a beard, and short legs with fat thighs. The Eastern
Tartars, Chinese, Tonkinese, Arakans, Peguans, Siamese, Japanese, etc.,
fall into this category, though they are occasionally more beautiful.
Leaving out of account superstitious opinions about the origins of
certain features, one can only state the following with any certainty: that
in the region of Meliapur on the Coromandel Coast there are many
people with extremely fat legs, which some rational travellers attribute
to the nature of the water, just as goitre is said to be caused by the water in
the Tyrol and Salzburg, which contains calcareous stone. The giants in
Patagonia are figments of the imagination, at least as a [whole] tribe. It is
probably similar in the case of the tribe with large, coarse lips, supposed
to live in Senegal, who hold a cloth up in front of their mouths and do
not talk.
The people described by Pliny, with one eye, hunch backs, one foot,
without a mouth, races of dwarfs, and so on, also belong in this category.
The inhabitants of the coast of New Holland [Australia] have their
eyes half closed and cannot see into the distance without putting their
heads right back against their backs. They have been accustomed to this
on account of the many mosquitoes that are always flying into their eyes.
Some inhabitants spread an evil smell, such as the Moors of Sierra Leone
and the Mongols that live under Chinese rule.
Among the Hottentots, as Kolbe reports, many women have a natural
piece of skin301 on their pubic bone, which partly covers their genitals,
and which they are said to cut off from time to time. Ludolph302 also
575
Natural Science
reports this for many Ethiopian women. (Cf. Le Vaillant’s Trips.303 )

9:316 The people on Formosa, and in the centre of Borneo, etc., and whom
Rytschov304 also encountered among the Turkomen in his “Topogra-
phy of Orenburg”, who have a small hint of a monkey’s tail, do not appear
to be wholly fictitious.
In the torrid zones, humans mature more quickly in all aspects than
in the temperate zones, but they fail to reach the same [degree of] per-
fection. Humanity has its highest degree of perfection in the white race.
The yellow Indians have a somewhat lesser talent. The Negroes are
much lower, and lowest of all is part of the American races.
The Moors and other people of the tropics can in general run aston-
ishingly quickly. Like other savages, they usually have greater strength
than other, civilized people, which is due to the free movementu they
are allowed in childhood. The Hottentots can perceive a ship with the
naked eye at the same distance that a European can with a telescope.
Women in the hottest regions conceive children from the time that they
are nine or ten, and cease by the time they are twenty-five.
Don Ulloa notes that in Cartagena in America and the surrounding
regions the people become very clever very early, but their reason does
not continue to grow at the same rate thereafter. The inhabitants of
the hottest zone are exceptionally indolent. In some cases, this laziness
is tempered to an extent by the government and by force. If an Indian
sees a European walking somewhere, he supposes that he has to attend
to something; when he comes back, the Indian presumes that the man
has accomplished what he set out to do; but if he sees him go a third
time then he thinks that the European has lost his reason, whereas in
fact he has merely gone for a walk, which no Indian does, or is able to
conceive doing. The Indians are very cautious, and both these qualities
[viz. indolence and caution] are also characteristic of the inhabitants of
the far north. Their mental laziness is probably brought about by brandy,
tobacco, opium, and other strong things. [Belief in] magic derives from
timidity; and from magic comes superstition; similarly with jealousy.
Timidity made Indians behave like slaves in the days when they had
kings, and caused them to respect them as idols, just as their indolence
caused them to choose to go hungry in the forests rather than work
according to the commands of their lords.
9:317 Montesquieu305 is right in saying that it is precisely this gentlenessv
that makes death less frightening for the Indian or Negro, so that he is
often more afraid of many things that the European can survive than he
is of death [itself]. The Negro slave in Guinea will drown himself if he is
u Bewegung v Zärtlichkeit
576
Physical geography
going to be forced into slavery, and Indian women will burn themselves.
The Carib will take his life for a trivial reason. The Peruvian trembles
before his enemy, but when he is led to his death he is quite indifferent,
as though it were a matter of no significance. His excited imagination
often makes him take risks; but the excitement soon passes, and fear
returns. The Ostyaks, Samoyeds, Semljans, Lapps, Greenlanders, and
the inhabitants of the coasts of the Davis Straits are similarly timorous,
lazy, and superstitious, and share the love of strong drink. But they differ
in the matter of jealousy because their climate does not provide such a
strong stimulus to sensuality.
Perspiration that is too great or too little causes thick, viscous blood,
while very severe cold or very great heat causes the vessels and nerves
governing animal movementsw to become stiff and inflexible because of
the drying out of the body fluids.
In the mountains, people are long-lived, vivacious, brave, patriotic,
and freedom-loving.
If one enquires as to the causes of the formsx and temperament inher-
ent in a people, then one need only consider the variations of animals in
relation of formy and behaviour, for as soon as they are transported to a
different climate, different air and food, etc., make them to be different
from their descendants. A squirrel that is brown here will become grey
in Siberia. A European dog taken to Guinea will become misshapen and
bald, and so will its descendants. The descendants of the northern peo-
ples who went to Spain not only have bodies that are not nearly as strong
as they were originally, but also their temperament has changed into one
very different from that of a Norwegian or a Dane. The inhabitant of
the temperate zone, especially in its central part, is more beautiful in
body, harder working, more witty, more moderate in his passions, and
more sensible than any other kind of people in the world. Consequently,
these people have always taught the rest [of the world], and vanquished
them by the use of weapons. The Romans, Greeks, the ancient Nordic 9:318
peoples, Genghis Khan,306 the Turks, Tamburlaine, and the Europeans
after Columbus’s discoveries, have astounded all the southern countries
with their arts and their weapons.
Although a nation will slowly change to accommodate itself to the
temper of the climate to which it has moved, occasionally traces of its
previous place of residence can be found for a long time afterward. The
Spaniards still have characteristics of Arabian and Moorish blood. The
Tartar formz has spread through China and part[s] of the East Indies.
w Bewegungen y Gestalt
x Bildungen z Bildung
577
Natural Science
§. 5.
Concerning Bodily Changes that are Brought About
by People Themselves.
Most Oriental people find special pleasure in large ears. Those in Siam
and Arakan, some savages on the Amazon River, and the Moors, hang
weights from their ears such that they become unusually elongated. In
Arakan and Siam particularly, this is practised to the point that the holes
which the weights are hung in become so large that one can place several
fingers next to each other in them, and the earlobes hang down to the
shoulders. The Siamese, Tonkinese, and some others colour their teeth
black with a black varnish. The Malabars, Guzurates, Arabs, and the
Bengalis wear rings through the nose, while the natives of New Holland
[Australia] wear a wooden plug through the nose. The Negroes on the
River Gabona in Africa wear a ring in the nose and through the ears, and
cut a hole through the bottom lip in order to put the tongue through it.
Some Americans make many such holes in their skin in order to place
coloured feathers therein.
The Hottentots press their chidren’s noses flat, just as some other
peoples, e.g., the Caribs, make their foreheads broad by means of a
plate. One tribe on the River Amazon forces the heads of their children
into the shape of a sugar-loaf by means of binding. Chinese women are
continually pulling at [the hairs on] their eyelids to make them small.
By means of bindings and small shoes, the feet of their young girls are
forced to be no larger than the foot of a four-year-old.
The Hottentots remove one testicle from their sons in the eighth
year. The Turks have all signs of masculinity removed from their black
9:319 eunuchs. One tribe in America presses the heads of their children so far
into their shoulders that they seem to have no neck.307
§. 6.
The Different Foods of Human Beings Compared.
The Ostyaks, the Sea Lapps, and the Greenlanders live on fresh or dried
fish. A glass of codfish oil is nectar to a Greenlander. Those who live
further south, in Canada and the coasts of America, live from hunting.
None of the Mongolian and Kalmuck Tartars have any agriculture, but
live from stockbreeding, especially from horses and their milk; the Lapps
live on reindeer; the Moors and Indians on rice. The Americans live
chiefly on corn or Turkish wheat. Some nomadic blacks in the African
deserts eat locusts.
a Rosenkranz-Schubert reads Gambia; Rink reads Gaban; Gedan reads Gabon.
578
Physical geography
§. 7.
Differences Between Human Beings in Respect of Taste.
By taste, I mean here the judgement as to what is generally pleasing to the
senses: the perfection or imperfection of what moves our senses.b From
the variations in taste among people, it will be seen that an enormous
amount is based on prejudice.
1. Judgements of the Eyes. The Chinese have a dislike for large
eyes. For a perfect person, they require a large square face, broad ears,
a very wide forehead, a fat stomach and a harsh voice. Even if she has
seen all the decorations of European women, the Hottentot woman is
exceptionally beautiful in her own eyes and in those of her lover if she has
made six lines with red chalk on her face, two above the eyes, two on the
cheeks, one on the nose, and one on the chin. The Arabs puncture their
skin in figures which they stain with a blue colour. Other distortions
of the natural form,c in order to help beautify people, may readily be
anticipated.
2. Judgements of Hearing. If one compares the music of the Euro- 9:320
peans with that of the Turks, Chinese, and Africans, the differences are
very marked. Though they work hard at music, the Chinese find no
pleasure in ours.
3. Judgements of Taste. In China, and in the whole of Guinea, a
dog is considered one of the tastiest dishes, and everything except rats
and snakes is sold as food. In Sumatra, Siam, Arakan, and most places in
India, people do not care much for meat, but a dish of fish, which first has
to be made to stink, is the main meal. The Greenlanders love the taste
of cod-fish oil above all others. Chewing a betel leaf with the Areka nut
and a little chalk is the greatest delight to all East Indians living between
the tropics. The Hottentots know nothing about any pampering of the
taste. If necessary, worn-out shoe soles can provide them with a fairly
acceptable meal.
4. Judgements of Smell. All southern Europeans and the neigh-
bouring Indians take real delight in ‘Devil’s faeces’ or As[s]afoetida.308
All their dishes, even bread, are perfumed with it, and the water itself
smells of it. For the Hottentots, and also for some Indians, cow-manure
is the favourite smell and their sheep skins have to smell of it if they are to
be at all fashionable. A missionary was surprised that when the Chinese
see a ratd they rub it between the fingers and smell them with gusto.
But by the same token, I ask: Why do we now find the smell of musk
obnoxious, when everyone thought it smelt so good fifty years ago? How
b Adickes reverses the order of the statements in the two parts of this sentence.
c Bildung
d Some manuscript variants read Wanze (bug).
579
Natural Science
much does the judgement of others do to alter our tastes in accordance

with the times!
9:321 second section.

The Animal Kingdom.e
First Main Section.
Animals with Claws.
a. those with one claw, f or hoofed g animals.
1. The Horse.
Horses from Barbary have a long, fine neck, thin manes, are mostly grey
and four foot eight inches high.h The Spanish horses have a long thick
neck, denser manes, broader chests, a somewhat large head and are full
of fire. They are the best riding horses in the world. Those in Chile are
of Spanish descent (for there were originally no horses in America) and
much braver, swifter than the Spanish ones; hence the daring hunts in
Chile. The English horses are descended from the Arabian race. They
are fully four feet ten inches high,i but not as pleasant to ride as the
Spanish ones. Apart from that they are fairly safe and fast at running
and have curved heads. Danish horses are very strong, thick in neck
and shoulder, calm and teachable, and they are good coach horses. The
Neapolitan horses, descended from Spanish stallions and Italian mares,
are good gallopers, but spiteful and very daring.
Arabian horses can tolerate hunger and thirst, they are registered
according to their genealogy in their purest race breed. The secretary
of the Emir [is present] at the mating, he issues a signed statement, and
the foal is also accredited by means of a diploma. They only eat at night
and stop suddenly in the swiftest gallop if the rider falls off.
9:322 After them, Persian horses are the best. The wild horses of the Cos-
sacks are fast and have great stamina. One can tell from a foal whether
the sire was a good one or not.
The horses in the hottest and coldest regions turn out much worse,
those in the upland regions [being] better than those in the fertile lowland
regions. The horses from Öland are the smallest and nimblest of all.
e Rink, Rosenkranz-Schubert, and Hartenstein read Von den vierfüßigen Tieren, die
lebendige Junge gebären (On Viviparous Quadrupeds).
f Klaue.
g Behufte.
h Rink, Rosenkranz-Schubert, and Hartenstein give “four to eight feet”.
i Rink, Rosenkranz-Schubert, and Hartenstein give “four to eight feet”.
580
Physical geography
2. The Zebra.
Through no fault of its own, it is wrongly called the African Forest
Donkey, for in terms of its form,j colour, and speed it is the most beautiful
horse, except that it has somewhat long ears. It is found in various places
in Africa, in Abyssinia, on the Congo River all the way to the Cape. The
Mogul once bought one for 2,000 ducats.309 The East India Company
sent the Emperor of Japan a pair and received 160,000 Reichsthaler.
It has smooth hair, white and chestnut coloured stripes beginning on
the back and merging under the stomach; where the brown and white
run together, there is a yellow band. These knee-bands also go around
the thighs and the head.
3. The Donkey
The female donkey must be beaten immediately after mating, or else
it will eject the fertilizing fluid again straightaway. In Turkey and Per-
sia, donkey and horse skins are processed by means of tanning and the
pressing-in of mustard seed to become shagreen, made in all sorts of
colours. Of mules, the kind resulting from a male donkey and a female
horse, is in most common use at present and is larger than that resulting
from a horse stallion and a female donkey. Mules have the ears, head,
back, and tail of the father, but only the size and hair from the mother.
That is, they are only large donkeys with horse’s hair.
The Wild Donkey or Onager is found on some islands of the [Greek]
Archipelago and in the Libyan desert. It is slimmer and more nimble
than the tame donkey. Mules bred from it are the strongest.
b. animals with two claws. 9:323
These all have horns, except the pig.
1. The Ox Family.
In cold and damp countries, the common ox is the best. The Dutch take
large, lean cows from Denmark, which give twice the quantity of milk
when in Holland, particularly a breed that is derived from a foreign bull
and a local Dutch cow.
African oxen usually have a hump on their backs between the shoulder
blades. In Abyssinia, the oxen are of extraordinary size, like camels, and
extremely cheap. The elephant-ox is the same as the elephant in skin,
j Bildung
581
Natural Science
colour, and almost in size. It is mainly found in Abyssinia. The Hot-

tentot cows will not give milk unless one blows into their vagina with
a horn; the Persian cow [will] not [give milk] unless it can see its calf,
hence the stuffed skin of the calf is retained. Edam, Lüneburg, Aberdeen,
Lancashire, Chester, Swiss, and Parmesan are the best cheeses.
The English strip a thin piece of skin off the intestine of the ox and
make shapesk from it in which gold and silver are gradually beaten into
thin leaves.310 This secret is only understood in England.
Irish oxen have no horns and are small overall. Those in Guinea have
spongy flesh, just as they do in other very hot countries, which only
weighs a little despite having the appearance of being a considerable
quantity.
The cattle from the Barbary have a very different figurel with regard to
hair, horns, and other aspects of the body, compared with the European
variety.
The Buffalo has long black horns, is wild and is at home in Asia, Egypt,
Greece, and Hungary. They can be domesticated.311
The Aurochs312 is known in Poland and Prussia. It is also found on
the Senegal [River] in Africa.
9:324 2. The Sheep Family.

In Ireland, there are many sheep with four horns. Spanish sheep have
the finest wool, the next best are the English. In Ireland, Siberia, and
Lapland, they are covered in snow and chew the wool off each other. In
Guinea, the humans have wool and the sheep hair.
In England, where the sheep are a race of the Spanish ones (and now
also frequently in France), great care is taken to avoid degeneration.
Rams are often purchased from Spain often for as much as 100 Reich-
sthaler. The wide-tailed Arab sheep has a tail a yard wide and weighing
forty pounds even though it is quite short. It consists of fat, and the ram
does not have horns. The long-tailed Arab sheep, on the other hand,
has a tail three yards long; to transport it, a cart is attached behind the
sheep. The Syrian sheep has ear lobes that hang down almost to the
ground.
3. The Goat Family.

The Angora Goat in Anatolia has fine, shiny hair for making material.
The Camel Goat313 in America is 41/2 feet high, can be harnessed or
k Formen l Gestalt
582
Physical geography
ridden and loaded. It carries the silver out of the mines, never works
in the evening and only sighs, no matter how hard it is beaten. Camel
hair is the hair of small Persian, Turkish, Arab, and Angora goats. The
yarn from the camel hair is mostly mixed with wool. The Turks will not
allow any of these goats out of the country on pain of a high penalty.
Cordovan314 is made from goat’s leather.
The Ibex has horns that are two yards long and knotty. The knots indi-
cate the age. It is mainly encountered in the Swiss Alps and in Salzburg,
and is the greatest jumper of all goats, and as such, inhabits the highest
parts of the mountains and never loses its wildness if it is enticed to the
lowlands and captured.
Chamois goats with hooked horns bent backwards can be domesti-
cated. The African gazelle is one type of these.
The Musk Goat,315 mostly without horns, lives in China, Persia,
Africa, and has a musk-gland or navel pocket. The musk can be extracted 9:325
with a spoon. But this is diluted with the blood of the animal.
The Bezoar deer, almost like a goat, has been given this name on
account of a stomach ball called bezoar-stone.316 Among the other kinds
of goats, we note only the small pale-yellow Guinean goat.317 It is not
much larger than a rabbit and yet will jump very quickly over a twelve-
foot-high wall.
The Unicorn Goat318 has been discovered by Steller319 in Kam-
chatka. The Giraffe or Camelopard has a long neck, is the size of a
camelm and spotted like a leopard. It also has horns curving forwards.
4.
a. ruminants with fixed, branch-like horns.
1. The Deer Family.
It discards its antlers from February to May. The stags fight one another
with their antlers, break them and often get them so tangled that they are
captured on the battle ground. The rutting season is in September and
lasts six weeks. At this time, their fur is darker but their flesh stinks and is
inedible. Their antlers have a length of twenty, thirty, indeed, although
rarely, up to sixty-six points,n as did the one shot by King Frederick of
Prussia. Young, castrated stags do not grow antlers.
m Rosenkranz-Schubert reads “greatly exceeds a camel in size”.

n Rink and Rosenkranz-Schubert read “ells” (which cannot be correct).
583
Natural Science
2. Deer [Roebucks].
Like a dwarf family of deer with shorter antlers. Roebucks that are incom-
pletely castrated grow shrubby antlers, sometimes curly like a wig.
3. The Small Deer from Surinam

is not even as big as a small hare.320 Its foot set in gold is used for pushing
tobacco into a pipe.
9:326 b. those with shovel-like antlers.

The Elk.
It is found in the northern regions of Europe, Asia and America.
The Hottentots catch the elk by means of a noose tied to a bent-
over tree which straightens up on release. The strength of their legs is
extraordinary.321
c. those with mixed antlers.

1. The Fallow Deer. Dama.
It has a flat crown of antlers, is somewhat larger than a roebuck and
smaller than a stag.
2. The Reindeer
with a shovel-like crown of antlers. The females also have antlers, though
smaller ones. There are wild and tame reindeer. They constitute the
entire economy of the Lapps. In the winter, they dig up moss from
under the snow with their claws [hooves], this is their only food at that
time.
There is also another type of ‘two-clawed’ animals, without horns,
namely the pig family. Pigs do not ruminate, but have approximately
six teats more than the ruminating animals. Their fat is not mixed in
with the flesh, rather it is under the skin. The boar eats the young if
he can get at them, and sometimes – this is true of the female pig as
well – other animals also, even children in the cradle. Acorn feed is
the best for pigs. Bladder worm322 may be recognized by the small black
blisters occupying the bottom part of the tongue. Wild and domesticated
pigs often interbreed in the ‘Haiden’.323 This is why wild pigs are often
found with white patches, even though the wild pig is normally black. –
Aelian’s324 story of the wild pigs that tried to abduct a pirate on the coast
of the Tyrrhenian Sea.
584
Physical geography
Pig thieves hold burning sulphur under the nose of the pigs. In the
Black Forest, pigs are driven out of swamps by means of numerous poles
on which burning sulphur is attached. At Breisach, the peasants lift up 9:327
the back legs of pigs swimming across the Rhine and make them drown.
The wild boar is fierce.
Pigs have a very good taste in China. Domesticated pigs turn black in
the hot regions, even if they are brought in from Europe.
3. The Mexican Musk Pig.325

On its back, near the tail, it has a slit containing genuine and strong musk
in various clefts.
The Babirussa326 or Pig Stag in some Moluccan islands, especially
Buru,o is small, with smooth hair, a pig’s tail, and two tusks growing
from its upper jaw in a semi-circle towards the eyes.
c. animals with three claws. p

The Rhinoceros.
The thick, folded skin of this animal has no hair. It has on its nose a horn
which is small in proportion to its body; it is much larger than an ox and
lives in swamps. The older ones among these animals have two horns,
one behind the other on the nose. The rhinoceros licks the flesh off other
animals with its tongue; it also has an upper lip curved downwards like
a piece of cloth.
d. animals with four claws.

The Hippopotamus, or Nile Horse.
It looks like an ox from the front and like a pig from the back, has a
horse’s head andq a pig’s mouth, is brown-black and has very broad feet,
each of which is three feet in circumference. It also squirts water out of
its wide nostrils, and is just as fat and almost as tall as a rhinoceros. It
has four teeth protruding from its cheeks, similar in size to an ox-horn.
Because their colour is longer lasting, these are regarded as better than
ivory. The skin of the animal is bullet-proof in most places. The animal 9:328
weighs 30 hundredweight and neighs somewhat like a horse.327
o Rosenkranz-Schubert reads “Borneo”. q Gedan reads “or”.

p Klaue
585
Natural Science
e. animals with five claws.

The Elephant.
It is just as naked as the animals just mentioned, like them it lives in
swamps and is the largest land animal. Its skin is grey. Black and white
elephants are rare.
The elephant can twitchr its hide by means of a fleshy skin so that it
can catch flies in this way. Humans have similarly sinewy skin on the
forehead. The elephant has a short tail covered with long bristly hair,
which is used for cleaning tobacco pipes. It is fifteen feet and more high,
and like the two animals just mentioned, has small eyes. Its trunk is its
principal tool. It rips off food with it and puts it into its mouth. It sucks
up water with it and then lets it run into its mouth, it smells by means
of it and drinks only after it has made the water cloudy. It can lift up a
human with it and place him on its back, and fights with it. The Indians
arm it with sword blades. The elephant also uses its trunk as a kind of
breathing pipe when it swims and its mouth is under the water. It swims
so strongly that a boat with ten oars cannot escape from it. The two
largest teeth grow from the upper cheeks, each being up to ten spans
long and four thick,s many weighing three hundredweight. It fights with
these tusks and uproots trees; in so doing, it often breaks them or loses
them from old age, which is why so many tusks are found in the Indian
forests. The male organ is longer than a human. At its greatest width, it
measures two and a half feet. Its toes may be regarded as a horse’s hoof
with four incisions. Its front hoof is half a foot wide everywhere; the back
one, on the other hand, is oval, half a foot long and one foot wide. Its
ears are like two large calf-skins in appearance. Elephants cannot tolerate
9:329 the cold. In Africa, they are not more than twelve feet high, but in Asia
nearly eighteen. If they get into a tobacco field, they become intoxicated
and carry out crazy pranks. If they get into a Negro village at night, they
trample the houses down as though they were nutshells. Unprovoked,
the elephant does not do any damage.
Its skin is almost impenetrable, but has many cracks and splits, which,
however, close over again by means of an exuding slime. It is shot with
iron bullets between the eye and the ear, it is very teachable and clever,
which is why it is one of the most useful animals in the East Indies. It
runs much faster than a horse. If people want to kill it, they catch it in
deep pits, or, if they want to tame it, they attract it with a female into a
passage lined with reinforcing. The Negroes eat its flesh.
r Anziehen. Gedan reads zusammen ziehen (pull together).

s Adickes reads “ten feet long and four spans thick”.
586
Physical geography
Second Main Section.

Toed Animals.
a. animals with one toe.
The White American Ant-eater328 belongs here. It is similar to other
ant-eaters.
b. animals with two toes.

The Camel.
1. The Bactrian Camel has two hair humps on its back and an equal
number under its body. It is the strongest and largest camel. Its humps
are actually not fleshy elevations, but merely hard leather areas covered
with thick long hair. It drinks but little, carries up to ten hundredweight,
which are loaded onto its back after it has knelt down on the ground,
and can travel loaded ten miles a day. It can also learn to dance. Beautiful
materials are woven from its hair, which it sheds in three days in spring.
2. The Dromedary has only one hump on its back and chest, is smaller
and faster at running than the animal just described, is native to Syria
and Arabia and has hard pads on its knees. It can travel without tiring for 9:330
forty French or thirty German miles in a day and can go without water
for five days.
3. The Little Post Camel329 walks almost as fast as the previous one,
but it is more comfortable to ride.
4. The Peruvian Sheep-Camel330 is the size of a donkey and is raised
for its wool and meat.
c. animals with three toes.

a. The Sloth.
1. The slight White-Grey Sloth331 has a laughing face, thick white hair,
a fat waist, climbs onto trees, but is astonishingly slow and only saves
itself through its screaming. If it begins a long march, it covers at most
fifty paces in a day.
2. The Margraf-Sloth is one of the species.332 The disguised sloth
monkey has a dog’s head and two toes.333
b. The Ant-eater.
334
1. The Great Ant-bear has a very long and pointed snout, a round
tongue it can extend one and a half yards. It pulls the ants out of the ant
heap with this kind of living lime twig, but it has no teeth.
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Natural Science
2. The Medium Pale Ant-Bear335 and the one described above

single-toed one agree on their food.
d. animals with four toes.

a. Armadillo.336
1. The Armoured Ant-Bear on Formosa has scaly armour, into which it
can retreat in case of any attack. Other than that, it lives like the previous
ones.
2. The Small Formosan Devil or Oriental Scaly Armadillo has the
same way of life as the ant-eater but has a fine cuirass inside which it is
9:331 safe from all predatory animals. Some of these animals are six feet long,
and no bullet will penetrate their armour. The American Armadillo,
which lives in the remotest Indies, also belongs here. Its armour-plates
are shiny. It lives in water or on land.
b. Pig-Rabbit.
To this group belong the Guinea pig, which was brought to Europe
from America, the Brazilian Bush-Rat,337 the Surinam Rabbit and
the Javanese Half-Rabbit.338 They all have a grunting voice.
e. animals with five toes.

Man should properly occupy the first class of these, but his reason raises
him too far above animal kinds.
a. The Hare Family.

[The Hare] has a pointed nose but better hearing, is amorous and fearful.
These animals mate almost every four or five weeks, do not suckle their
young more than three to six days, cower when hunted, make a burrow
before they lie down, and seek it out again if they are driven from it.
Forest hares are stronger than field hares. In the North and in the Alps
there are white hares. Black hares are rare. Occasionally, hares have
been seen with horns and shovel-like antlers. The Rabbit is a dwarf
hare. They are common in Spain. Foxes, weasels, and polecats cause
great devastation among them.
588
Physical geography
b. Rodents.
The Squirrel collects nuts and fruit and in northern countries it turns
grey in the winter; hence the grey[coat]. The striped American squirrel
has seven white stripes lengthwise over its body.
The Flying Squirrel is smaller than the common one. The skin on
its side extends to become fur attached at the feet and it flies with this. 9:332
It is found in Russia, and, with some differences, in Virginia.339
The Marmot is larger than a rabbit. It sleeps or eats the whole day
long. The Sleeping Rat (lorex)340 is the size of a small squirrel. The
Hamster digs holes for itself under tree roots, and there it collects many
fruits of the field. The Scented Water Rat341 is the size of a mole and
has scented fur and kidneys.
c. The Rat and Mouse Family.

The Common Domestic Rat belongs here. There are fewer females
than males. Concerning the King Rat and how to avoid their depreda-
tions. The Water Rat, the Field Rat, the Domestic Rat, and Mouse
etc. are well known. The Surinam Æneas342 with a long curly tail, onto
which the young hold and climb onto the mother’s back, holding on
with their tails and can be carried to safety in this way. The mountain
mouse343 undertakes travels across the water like the squirrel
The American Marsupial Rat or Philander344 is almost 31 inches
long. The female carries the young in a pouch it has under its stomach.
How the females lie on their back, allow themselves to be loaded up with
all sorts of food and are then carried into the nest.
d. The Mole Family.

The Mole hunts only worms under the soil and is not blind.
e. The Family of Quadruped Birds.

The Bat, the Flying Cat, the Flying Rat, all these animals have hooks
on their feet. The Flying Dog in the East Indies.345 The largest flying
dog is in New Spain.
f. The Weasel Family.

Weasels have a bad smell. The Ermine is a white weasel. The Polecat
has a small pouch with stinking fluid like the rest of the weasels. The 9:333
Marmot smells good, and why? It is a Tree or Stone Marmot. The
Sable is a Siberian and Lapp animal. The Ichneumon, the Pharaoh’s
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Natural Science
Mouse,346 is as large as a cat, but with the appearance of a shrew, destroys

crocodiles’ eggs and catches mice, rats, and toads.
g. Porcupines.
1. The Common Hedgehog with ears and spines about and inch and a
half long. They burrow through the earth in soft and low places.
2. The Porcupine. A species with a bush on its head. Then
3. another with hanging pig’s ears has spines like quills which, by
shaking its elastic skin, it can shoot at an enemy in such a way that they
penetrate deep into the flesh at a distance of three paces. The famous
Piedra del Porco or Porcupine Bezoar [stone] comes from this animal.
This stone, which is produced in the gall bladder of the animal, is about
one inch in diameter, reddish and full of veins, and is set in gold to
be hung in water, to which it then imparts the power to cleanse blood.
Such a bezoar has been sold for up to 200t Reichsthaler. The bezoar is
worth ten times its weight in gold. It is dark brown and does not sink in
water. The Monkey Bezoar is pale green and also valuable. Similarly
in the stomachs of pigeons on the Nicobar Islands. In the stomachs of
oxen, horses, chamois, and particularly the bezoar goat such balls are also
formed, which are formed in layers one over the other like an onion, and
in the centre there is a small piece of undigested grass or hair.
h. The Dog Family.

Just as man can change varieties of fruit and other plants considerably
by his care and cultivation, so too he has done with some domestic
animals, especially with dogs. This is why tame dogs revert when they
run around wild. The [German] Shepherd Dog, which largely has its
natural freedom, seems to be the ancestral dog. From it are descended the
9:334 Farmer’s Dog, Greyhound, the Icelandic, Danish, the Great Tartar
Dog347 which can pull a cart. The Hound, Bloodhound, Dachshund,
Quail Hound, Gun Dogs, English Mastiff, etc.
Cross-breeds resulting from the mixture of two breeds, but also
become sterile; to this kind belongs the Bologna Dog, which comes
from a small poodle and a Spanish Quail Dog.348 The Pug actually
comes from the Bull-Dog. African dogs, especially in Guinea, cannot
bark. In the region of the Cape, there are wild dogs which even attack
lions if they are hunting in a pack, though they do nothing to humans,
but even leave them some of their kill. Black people think our dogs
can talk when they bark.u Dogs occasionally go mad. Their bite, indeed
t Rosenkranz-Schubert and Adickes read “2,000”.

u Bellen. Gedan reads wollen (want to).
590
Physical geography
even their saliva and the smell of their breath when they have reached
the highest point of their madness, is such a fast-working poison that it
can make people hydrophobic, mad, or even kill them.
i. The Wolf Family.

They have been made extinct in England; in the North they are white.
The Jackal belongs to this group. This is said to be the tracker dog
for the lion, because when it is heard roaring, the lion is not far away.
It is the size of a bull-dog and as fierce as a tiger. The Scythian Wolf is
black and longer, also fiercer than ours. Corsac [Tartar Fox]. – Hyena.
k. The Fox Family.

Red Foxes, which are black on the tail, ears and feet, look grey on the
stomach and otherwise reddish. The cross-fox has a black stripe running
from the mouth along the forehead, the back, and the tail; another stripe
running over the shoulders and front paws crosses this. The blue fox,
whose fur is ash-coloured or blue-grey. The black fox, whose fur is highly
prized. The brown fox also valued highly. The white fox does not have
lasting fur. The American silver fox. All foxes stink. But they have a
patch of stiff hair at the base of the tail, under which there is a small
gland which gives off a scent of blue violets. The stinking fox has a sac 9:335
under the tail; a few drops of the fluid from this is taken with water.
l. Half-Foxes.
Among these is the Spanish Genet-Cat349 with its scented fur. The
Civet-Cat350 has a sac three inches long and as wide under its behind
containing a sticky perfumed fluid. When this animal is in a cage, this
fluid is removed with a spoon every day. If the animal has too much of it,
it suffers pain. They are caught in traps in Africa and Asia like polecats.
Badgers sleep without food in their winter dens.
m. The Cat Family.

The Turks think very highly of the domestic cat. The pupil in its eye
contracts and expands more than in any other animal. The Tiger Cat
leaps into the faces of other animals and scratches their eyes out. It is
about the fiercest of all animals.
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Natural Science
n. The Lynx Family.

The back of the lynx is coloured red and black. It jumps upon animals
from trees. Wounds from its claws heal with difficulty.
o. Panther. Leopard.
The Panther is larger than an English mastiff, roars like a lion, has black
spots the shape of horseshoes, and its meat is pleasant. Its head is shaped
like that of a cat. The Cat-Pard351 is not much different from cats in
size. – Leopard. – Lynx. – Caracal. – American Tapir orv Anta.352
p. The Tiger Family.

The tiger has yellow patches, surrounded by black hair on a pale yellow
background. It jumps faster than any other animals of prey and climbs;
it is as large as a one-year-old calf and fiercer than the previous animals.
The largest tiger has black spots. – Tiger wolf.353 Hyena.
9:336 q. The Lion Family.

The lion has a mane, the lioness does not; it has a wrinkled forehead, a
face like that of a human and deep-set eyes, as well as a spiky tongue,
almost as though it were covered with cats’ claws, with which it can lick
the flesh off animals. It can withdraw its very sharp claws so that they
do not become worn down on the ground while it is walking. Its height
from its back to the ground is four and one-third feet. The lion does not
require any cunning or any particular speed to attack other animals. If
it is not waving its tail and shaking its mane, it is in a good mood and
one can walk past it with safety. Otherwise, the only means of escape
in times of emergency is to lie down on the ground. It is curious that
it will not harm women. Example of a woman in the time of Charles II
who cleaned the lions’ den in the Tower of London. Another [example]
that of the Duchess of Orléans, born Countess of the Palatinate. Negro
women often drive lions away with sticks. They are more dangerous to
whites than to blacks. But if it has once tasted blood it tears the animals
or the person to pieces in a moment. It kills an ox with one blow. It is not
found in America. It cannot tolerate the cold, and shivers constantly in
our regions. Its thick bones have only a narrow hollow for the marrow,
and Kolbe asserts that, if the marrow has been dried out in the sun, the
bones are so hard that fire could be struck with them. It is not afraid of
the cock’s crow but is afraid of snakes and fire.
v Gedan reads “and”.
592
Physical geography
r. The Bear Family.

The bear kills its enemies through blows and dangerous embraces. It is
a great thief of honey, climbs into trees and throws itself down rolled up
like a ball. It eats nothing for two months in the winter. In Poland, it is
taught to dance. The Polar Bear in Spitsbergen has a head like a dog.
Some are six feet high and fourteen feet long. They are strong swimmers
and drift on ice floes as far as Norway.
s. The Glutton [or Wolverine].

These animals are blackish or entirely black. In size they are like dogs
and are insatiable on account of their uncoiled intestines, and so, like the 9:337
wolf and the lion, they soon relieve themselves of their excrement.
t. The Monkey Family.

They are divided into Those Without Tails, Those With Short Tails
or Baboons, and Long-Tailed Monkeys or Guenons.
a. Monkeys Without Tails.

The Orang-Utan, or Man of the Forest, the largest of which are called
Pongos354 in Africa. They are to be found in the Congo, in Java, Borneo,
and Sumatra, always walk in an upright position and are six feet high. If
they are brought together with humans, they like to drink strong drinks,
make their beds tidily and cover themselves with a blanket. The females
have their monthly cleansing and are very melancholy. Opinion of the
Javanese concerning their origin. There is also a smaller type, called
chimpanzee by the English, not larger than a child of three years but
with many similarities to humans. They travel in whole herds and kill
the Negroes in the forests.
To this group of Monkeys Without Tails also belong the Ceylonese
Monkey and the Manomet with a pig-like tail.355 – The Long-Armed
Gibbon, a good-natured animal that spends most of its time in the trees.
b. Long-Tailed Monkeys or Guenons.

Some are bearded. The Bearded Guenon has a kind of white head ruff
and mimics humans. To this group also belongs the Black, Smooth
Guenon which hangs from anywhere with its tail. It is claimed that they
make real music among themselves.356 Others are also bearded, such as
the Leather-Yellow Musk-Monkey.357 This is small, has a good smell
and looks pious.
593
Natural Science
c. Baboons.
They have a head like a dog and can walk very quickly on two legs. They
steal from the fields and gardens. The Americans all believe that these
monkeys could talk if they wanted to, but they do not do so in order
not to be forced to work. They catch shells with their tails or place a
9:338 stone inside the opened shell. The Lap-Monkeys or Sanguinsw can
also be reckoned to belong here; the larger type has the colour and size
of a squirrel, the smaller that of a clenched woman’s fist. They are very
well-behaved, but also very obstinate and very delicate, so that, if any
are transported to Europe, most of them die on the way, no matter how
carefully they are wrapped individually in cotton.358
Third Main Section.

Animals with Flippers.
a. the otter family.
a. The River Otter
digs holes for itself from the banks of the rivers to the nearest forest;
lives on fish; but in winter in iced-over ponds. – Luther’s confusion of
the Forest Otter with the viper.
b. The Sea-Otter, Whose Back Legs are Like Flippers.

They have the most beautiful black of all furs. Even in Kamchatka a
fine skin is worth nearly 37 Thaler. They like to preen themselves, are
uncommonly fond of their young and are beaten to death. A vigorous
trade with their skins is carried on with China.
b. the beaver family.

The Beaver with an egg-shaped scaly tail. They are very common in
Canada around Hudson Bay. How they dam a stream and create a pond
over meadows. They fell trees with their teeth and drag wood from
three to ten feet long which they carry over the water to their home,
and the bark of which they eat in winter. When they are building the
dam, their tail serves them first as a wheel barrow, on which they place
the gluex and carry it to the right place; then as a mortar board with
9:339 which they compress the glue onto the trees and fix it. They are also
eaten. Castoreum359 does not consist of the testicles of the beaver; it is
found in special musk sacs inside its body. The Ditch Beaver.
w Rink and Hartenstein read Panguin. Rosenkranz-Schubert reads Pinche’s.

x Leim
594
Physical geography
c. marine animals with flippered y feet.

a. Seals.
Seals have a throat like a dog, their feet are stretched out behind them
and cannot be separated. On the Antilles Islands, some are up to twenty
feet long. The smallest are in the Arctic Ocean, [where] they are killed in
the thousands on ice floes. There are also silver-coloured seals in fresh
water. – Robben.z,360 – Train oil.
b. Walruses.
The Walrus has two blow holes on its forehead, is also called a sea-ox,
has long protruding teeth which are worked. Some are over two feet long
and eight inches thick. They lift themselves onto ice floes with these as
though they were hooks.
c. Sea Bear.
It is larger than the land bear, has front feet like cut off arm stumps in
which, however, the toes are hidden, and is caught not far from Kam-
chatka. They fight in packs when attacked and bite their own comrades
if they retreat. They eat nothing throughout the summer. – A kind of
seal.361
d. The Sea Lion.

It lives near America and near Kamchatka. In appearance it is like the
sea-bear, only it is much larger. Men only attack it when it is asleep. It
is very fierce and has little love for its young. Sea bears are seldom afraid
of it.
Fourth Main Section. 9:340

Egg-laying Quadrupeds.
amphibians.
a. The Crocodile
belongs here. It usually spends its time in rivers and on the land. It is
scaly, armoured and twenty or more feet long, indeed on the Gambia
River even up to thirty feet. It is incorrect [to say] that it moves both
jaws. Like other animals, it moves only the lower one, has no tongue and
y Unförmlich z Robben
595
Natural Science
lays eggs in the sand similar to goose eggs. Large Lizard. – Gecko. –
Hippopotamus.
b. The Alligator
is commonly confused with the crocodile and is in fact very similar, except
that it carries its tail differently and has a musk-sac, which is why it gives
off a musquash smell. It is found in Africa and America, is not as wild
and rapacious as the crocodile. In America, they are called the Cayman.
How their eggs are destroyed by birds and how they are captured.
c. The Turtle.
The largest species of turtle is found in various regions of the East Indies.
Thirty men could eat their fill from the eggs alone. The turtle goes onto
the land and lays up to two hundred and fifty eggs, each the size of a
ball. They have a three-folda heart. Their meat is delicious. Up to two
hundredweight of meat for pickling can be obtained from a single turtle.
9:341 Fifth Main Section.

First Paragraph.
marine animals.
a. The Whale and Other Related Animals.
Whales are divided into whales proper, the Fin Whale, Sword-Fish, the
Saw-Fish or Tooth-Fish, North-Caper, Sperm Whale or Cachelot,
and the Narwhal. The Greenland whale has a head that makes up one
third of its body length. It is much broader than the fin-whale, which has
a fin or flipper on its back, and also much larger than the North Caper,
which has only one blow hole. It lives in the northern regions near
Spitsbergen and Novaya Zemblya, while the north-caper lives around
the North Cape and the fin whales travel around much further south.
It feeds on a water insect that is the size of a spider and is very oily.
But the fin whale and the north-caper swallow whole tons of herrings.
Instead of teeth these animals have baleen, consisting of fish-bone, the
longest of them are up to two fathoms in length. The Sperm Whale
has teeth on the lower jaw. Its head takes up half of its body. It has
a narrow throat, blow holes out of which it blows water, and is warm-
blooded. They cannot remain under water for very long without taking in
air. They give birth to live young and suckle them. The Greenland whale
is shot with harpoons and killed with lances. At present it is much more
a Dreifach
596
Physical geography
shy than previously; it seeks refuge in drift-ice, and this is why whaling
is now carried on in drift-ice. It has a type of lice-like crabs. Ambergris
or grey amber is found in the stomachs of one kind of North-Caper,
called the Grampus. Others report this of the bladder of the Sperm
Whale. Some regard the Sperm Whale as the fish that swallowed Jonah.
The brain of the Sperm Whale is the so-called spermacerti. The Sword
Fish kills the whale for its tongue. The protruding tooth of the Saw Fish
has teeth on it like a saw. The Narwhal has a straight tooth protruding
from its upper jaw, many feet long and much harder than ivory. These 9:342
last lay eggs. – The most intensive whaling is in the Davis Straits and
near Spitsbergen. There are also whales in the Magellan Straits. – Ink
Fish. (Sepia octopodia.) – Warm blood.
b. The Manatee or Sea Cow.

This animal is encountered in the American and Kurile Islands near
Kamchatka and weighs up to thirty hundredweight. It has a hairless,
split skin like an old oak, never dives under the water, its back is always
above it, even though it holds its head under the water nearly all the time
in the course of its constant eating. It is very tame everywhere that it is
not pursued, has two arms very like human arms, and a tail like that of a
fish. It also has excellent meat that does not get maggots and the melted
fat from it surpasses all butter. It gives birth to live young and suckles
them.
c. The Shark or Sea-Wolf.

The largest type of these animals is called Lamia.362 They are twentyb
feet long, have three rows of teeth one behind the other and are much
more voracious than any land animal. Whole people, wrapped in sails are
swallowed by them, complete with the ballast. Everything that falls from
a ship, axe, hammer, caps, finds a place in their stomachs. Their mouth is
about a foot long under the snout, which is why they have to lie on their
sides when they want to take prey. On the coasts of Guinea, a person
falling into the water does not have to fear the danger of drowning so
much as sharks. It tears great pieces from the side of a whale; it is captured
with hooks on an iron chain and killed. Before it is lifted into the ship,
its tail is cut off, otherwise it will cut arms and legs into two pieces with
its tail. Some fish have intercourse in its stomach.c The Pilot Fish teases
it like swallows do owls. – (Squalus maximus.) – Jonah fish. – Shark or
Cachelot.363 – Fear of the shark. – Near the Sandwich Islands.
b Adickes reads “fifty to sixty”. c Magen
597
Natural Science
d. The Hammer Fish

is similar to the shark in size, strength and greed, but has a head that
looks like a hammer on both sides.
9:343 e. The Mantua Fishd

is a kind of large ray, which is very dangerous, particularly to the pearl
fishermen on the American coasts, as they wrap them in their widely
stretched skin as though it were a coat,e crush them to death and then
eat them.
f. The Brown Fish, the Dorado, the Dolphin, the Sturgeon,

the Catfish, and others are Predatory Fish.
The Dolphin is a very straight and fast fish, while the Dorado is a golden
yellow dolphin and the fastest of them all. The Beluga is a species of
Sturgeon, from the roe of which caviar is prepared. As they are large
fish, they have a great deal of roe; occasionally one will have up to a
hundredweight.
g. The Sea Devil f

is enclosed in a hard, impenetrable skin. It is a kind of ray, twenty to
twenty-five inchesg long, fifteen to eighteen wide and three thick, has
something like stumps of legs with hooks on them, horns on its head and
a tail like a whip with a hook on it.
marine wonders.
The Merman, the Mermaid
is found in all four continents. The imagination, which is inclined to
fables, has constructed a human being living in the sea out of it. But it
has little similarity with humans. Its head, which can be mistaken for a
human or fish head, with large ears, blunt nose and a wide mouth, is
attached to a body covered on the back with a wide, thick fur like that
of a flatfish and has hooks like a bat on the sides. Its front feet or fleshy
flippers are somewhat like those of a human. This animal has two teats
d Mantelisch f Seeteufel
e Mantel g Gedan reads “feet”.
598
Physical geography
on its breast and a fleshy tail. Because of its fat it is also called the Sea
Pig.
a few other unusual fish.

a. The Quiver Fish.
Also called the Cramp-Fish, Rajatorpedo, is found in the Indian Ocean,
almost [completely] round except its tail, as though it were inflated. Apart 9:344
from its eyes, it has two further holes which it can close by means of a
piece of skin like eyelids. If one touches it directly or by means of a long
stick, or even with a fishing line or rod, it makes one’s arm numb. But
it does not do this when it is dead. Some say that if one holds one’s
breath, the effect is not so great. It is edible. Fever is driven out with it
in Ethiopia. The cause of this power is unknown. It catches fish in this
way. (Gymnotus electricus.) Electric Eel.
b. Jellyfish.
They are transparent and like a lot of slime, in nearly all seas. One kind
is called Sea Nettle, because when it is touched, it causes a burning
sensation.
c. Black Fish.
Looks strange, with two arms, has an ink sac with which it makes the
water dark for its pursuers. – Squirt Fish.
d. Puffer Fish.
[This] is found at the Cape, blows itself up round like a sphere and cannot
be eaten as it is poisonous.
e. Flying Fish.
[These] are found only between the tropics. They fly with a type of fin-
feather, but only as long as they are wet. They are the shape and size
of herrings, often fall down on ships and are pursued unceasingly by
predatory fish and birds.
f. The Chinese Goldfish.

This is very popular with the Chinese because of its excellent gold and
other colours. It is the most beautiful fish in nature, about as long as a
599
Natural Science
finger, red from the head to half the length of its body, the rest including
the tail, which ends in a tuft, is vivid gold. The female is white, its tail
silver.
g. The Octopus, the World’s Largest Animal.

This is a marine animal, the existence of which is known only obscurely.
9:345 Pontoppidan364 reports that when sailors in Norway find that the
plumb-line they have thrown out gets higher and higher in the same
place, they gauge that the octopus is on the bottom. When it rises to
the surface, it occupies a huge area. It is said to have great tines that
protrude above it like trees. Sometimes it suddenly dives down into the
sea, and no ship should get too close to it then since the vortex it creates
would sink the ship. There is said to be good fishing above it. A young
octopus once became stuck in a river and died there.
The sea has still not revealed all its wonders. When the octopus raises
itself above the water, innumerable fish are said to roll down off it. Its
shape is unknown.
concerning types of fishing.

In China, fish are caught with a specially trained Cormorant [‘Crop
Goose’], which has a ring placed around its neck to stop it swallowing
the fish. It catches as many fish as it can in its beak. If one bird catches a
large fish, it gives the others a sign, and they then come and help it carry
the fish away. Such a goose is worth a lot. If it does not want to eat, it is
forced to do so by beatings. They have there another method of catching
fish in the moonlight, that is, with a boat on the side of which there are
white varnished boards. These boards shine in the moonlight like bright
water; they jump over it, and fall into the boat, where they are found in
the morning. Fish are caught here too by making them befuddled with
seeds of cocculae orientalis365 strewn onto the water.
cod fishing on the great bank at terre neuve.

The green or white codh is dried and pickled in salt. The dried ones are
called cod. It is a predatory fish, and rapidly swallows weapons,i ropes,
and other things that fall overboard from a ship. But it can extend its
stomach and spit out anything indigestible. On the Great Bank, up to
three hundred men fish per year, each of whom catches 25,000 cod. It all
takes place with fishing lines. The [initial] bait is a piece of herring and
h Kabeljau. i Waffen. Adickes reads Messer (knives).
600
Physical geography
afterwards the undigested food in the stomach of the cod. This fishing
proceeds very rapidly. Round about, there are astonishing numbers of 9:346
birds, such as gulls and penguins. They gather around the ships to eat
the livers that are thrown away. The penguin has blunt wings with which
it can splash on the water but not fly.
herring fishing.
The Herring comes from the northern regions near the North Cape to
the Orkney Islands in the spring. From there it moves along the coast of
Scotland and in the summer is near Yarmouth; in the autumn it comes as
far as the Zuiderzee and the Baltic. The profit of the Dutch alone after
deduction of all costs is at least six to seven million Reichsthaler annually.
Another Dutch writer estimates twenty five million income, and eight
million in expenditure, so that the country has a profit of seventeen
million Thaler; because one also has to count the profit the country
has from the fact that so many people are sustained by the work on the
fishing fleet. The English have also been engaged in fishing for herrings
since 1750, but not as profitably, as they do not know the techniques. –
Migration of the herrings caused by the small marine animal Ath.366 –
Previously near Bergen, now near Gothenburg. – The number of them
in Sweden is such that they are boiled down for train oil. – Kippers. –
The Dutch only pickle those they have caught that day without keeping
them overnight. – Anchovies. – Salmon fishing.
Second Paragraph.
shelled animals.
a. The Purple Shell Fish.
The purple of Tyre, which is the blood of a shell in the Mediterranean,
was extraordinarily expensive. It is said to have been discovered on a
dog, which ate the shell and dyed its mouth. In New Spain, there is such
a shell, which, however, contains only two or three drops of this juice,
which dyes things green initially, then bright red. There has also been
violet purple since antiquity.
b. The Pearl Shell. 9:347
The pearl bank near Basra on the Persian Gulf and those near Cali-
fornia produce the most beautiful pearls; the one at Cape Comorin in
Ceylon, the largest; similarly, New Spain produces large but poor and
immature pearls.j The pearl shells cannot be broken off if they are not
j Several manuscripts add: “They are immature eggs.”367
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Natural Science
properly round. Many countries have pearl shells in their rivers. Divers
proceed in different ways to collect them, either with a leather cap with
glass eyes and a tube which goes back up to the surface, or with a [div-
ing] bell, or free. At first, they get haemorrhages easily. In the year
1633, the King of Persia bought a pearl for one million four hundred
thousand livres. The annual profit from the Persian pearl fishing is five
hundred thousand ducats, but now it is being rested. In medicine, they
are of no more use than crab stones or egg shells. – The shells of all
marine animals are produced from a slime they exude and are [made of]
chalk. – Manufactured pearls.
c. Oysters.
Oysters are often so firmly attached to a rock bank that they seem to be of
a piece with it. Some grow to an extraordinary size. In Copenhagen, there
is an oyster-shell on display that weighs two Lot.k,368 They pinch with
uncommon force when they shut and reproduce very quickly. Example
on the Dutch coasts. One can also see oysters growing on trees as it were.
These attach themselves to the branch of a tree in times of flood when
the tree is under water and remain there. – Chamai,369 weighing more
than a hundredweight. – Colchester oysters and those from Holstein. –
Mussels.
d. Balane or Palane, Sea Dates.

These are oval shells in the shape of a date seed. They are found in the
Adriatic Sea near Ancona, are enclosed by a solid stone and this has to
be broken into two by hammers, then the animal is found alive inside.
This stone is porous, and the young fry penetrate into its holes and wear
out the stone with their movements to such an extent that it always has
room to open. Sometimes the holes become blocked, but the water can
9:348 still reach them through the spongy stone. Keyssler370 has found live
shells in hard marble on the Adriatic Sea. Their flesh and juice shine in
the dark, as with most oysters when they are freshly opened.
e. [Goose] Barnacles.
These are actually shells with a stalk that is the tongue of the animal.
With these, they attach themselves to trees on the shore and, because
the tongue looks like the neck and some curly hairs ending in tufts look
like the tail of a young duck, the story has arisen that they turn into the
Red Geese found in Scotland but of which no one knows where they
k Gedan changed “hundredweight” in the manuscripts to “Lot”.
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Physical geography
breed. But it is now known that these geese breed on the northernmost
islands.
f. Silk from Shells.

Some shells cling to the rocks with their tongues and create a fabric,
from which gloves, camisoles, etc. are woven in Taranto and Reggio,
as though it were a kind of rough silk. But the Pinna marina produces
much finer silk, and the byssus of the ancients371 is said to have been
made from it. They still make beautiful materials from it in Palermo.
g. The Nautilus.
is a snail which is similar to the blackfish in its interior. When it wants
to rise to the surface, it pumps the water from the chambers of its shell.
Then it rises, pours the water out and sits up in its ship. It spreads its two
legs, between which there is a delicate skin like a sail, places two arms
into the water in order to row with them and steers with its tail. If it sees
something frightening, it fills its chambers with water and sinks into the
depths.
h. Shell Coins.
Some types of shells are accepted as cash on nearly all the coasts of Africa,
in Bengal and other parts of India. Particularly in the Maldive Islands,
small shells are fished the size of the smallest part of a finger; these are
called cowrie shells in the East Indies and bolisl in Africa; the English
collect them from the Maldive Islands and use them as payment for small
things.
Sixth Main Section. 9:349

Some Noteworthy Insects, Among them:
i. the useful insects.
a. Cochineal.
This red colour, which is the most expensive of all, comes from a red
tree beetle which nests on nopal trees in New Spain and some islands, is
swept off with brushes, then dried and ground to a powder. The fruit of
the nopal [prickly pear] is a fig which is bright red and has a very good
taste. Its powder is called carmine. But often it is not properly pure.
Kermes or Purple seeds. It is a kind of gall or growth from the leaves
l Several manuscripts read Bourgier, whereas Kant’s presumed source read Bougian.
603
Natural Science
of a tree caused by an insect sting. Kermes actually means ‘small worm’

in Arabic, and it is these which give the red colour. Kermes is also used
in medicine.
If one adds to this the murex or purple snail, then one can see that all
the red dye used for dyeing the most valuable materials come from the
animal kingdom. – Coccus Polonicus on strawberry leaves. – Rubber
varnish beetle.372
b. Concerning Caprification.
On the Greek islands, certain wasps [ichneuma] are used to sting figs,
which then ripen much sooner and more completely.373 The cause will
be mentioned.
(See Tournefort,374 Travel to Levante, vol. 1375 )
c. Edible Locusts.
In Africa, various nations fry and eat large locusts. In Tonkin, they are
pickled in salt for future use. Ludolph, who discovered this, had the
large locusts that ravaged Germany in 1693 cooked like crabs, ate them,
preserved them in vinegar and pepper, and in the end even annoyed the
Council in Frankfurt with them.
Bees. – Silkworms.
9:350 ii. harmful insects.

a. The Tarantula Spider.
It is most poisonous in [the region of] Apulia. Anyone bitten by it has
now to laugh, now to cry, now to dance, now to be sad. Such a person
cannot tolerate black or blue. He is cured by music, especially on the
zither, oboe, trumpet, and violin, by which, if one finds the right tone
and most fitting melody, he is brought to dancing, to perspiring and
finally to health. Some have to be made to dance again the following
year. People stung by scorpions also love music, especially that of the
bagpipe and the drum.
Apart from that, there are also uncommonly large spiders in Guinea,
nearly as big as a man’s fist.
b. Nerve Worms (Colubrillæ).

In the East Indies and in Africa, people occasionally get a worm into the
calf of their leg, which finally eats its way so far in that it gets to be a yard
604
Physical geography
or more long. Its thickness varies from that of a silk thread to that of a
zither string. The worm lies under the skin and causes a swelling (Vena
Medinensis). People try to pull it out carefully, wind its head around a
stick and slowly wind it out in this way, If the worm breaks, death usually
follows.
c. The Nigua [or Jigger].

This kind of flea digs into the skin of people in the West Indies and, if
the whole of the little wart in which it sits is not dug out, it causes cold
fever, since the poison mixes with the other fluids in the body.
d. Some Other Harmful Insects.

In the Congo whole swarms of large ants move from place to place and
can eat a cow or a sick person entirely. The Comehens,m a kind of moth
in Cartagena in America, are so industrious that, if they get into a shop
with bits and pieces, they destroy it in a single night. The Logen is a small
bug in America which leaves a deadly poison behind if it is squashed on 9:351
the skin. People blow it off when they see it on their skin. Millipedes,
red grubs with forty feet, have a poisonous bite and cause great suffering
in the Indian countries. Mosquitoes are a particular kind of midge in the
East Indies, also in the low regions of the Panamanian Peninsula. The
greatest plague in Lapland is the one caused by the horsefly. – Small
ants in the Antilles. – Furia infernalis. – African ants with solid houses. –
Tape worm in fluked pork meat. – The blowing of sheep.
Seventh Main Section.

concerning other crawling animals.
a. The Snake.
In hot countries, there are numerous kinds of snakes of astonishing
length. In the swamps not far from the source of the Amazon River,
there are ones that can swallow a deer whole. In Whidah, an African
kingdom at the eastern end of the coast of Guinea, there is a very large
snake, which is harmless but pursues poisonous snakes, rats, and mice.
It is worshipped there as the highest deity. – Poisonous snakes can be
eaten. – They have hollow and movable teeth. – Vipers.
m Several manuscripts read Comege. n Adickes reads coya or coye.
605
Natural Science
b. The Rattlesnake.
It is the most harmful of them all. It has joints in its tail that rattle when
it moves in dry periods. It is very slow and fearless. Everybody believes
that it has magic power, or rather a narcotic or even attractive vapour it
exhales, and which makes birds, squirrels, and other animals fall into its
jaws. At least, it is much too slow to catch the fast animals it eats daily in
any other way. The savages eat it, as do pigs.
9:352 c. Adders.
The Cobra de capello or Hat-snake376 is so named because of a membrane
enveloping head and neck. It is said to have the famous snake stone in its
head, but others maintain that this is nothing other than a piece of dried
ox-bone prepared in a certain way. It adheres strongly to the tongue.
How snake poison is extracted from a wound and the wound cleansed.
The snake stone has the shape of a bean, is whitish in the centre, the rest
being sky-blue. Some claim that the Brahmins in India make it from real
snake stone, mixed with their heart, liver and teeth and a special earth.
At least certain parts of harmful animals tend to be good for the bite of
that animal, e.g., the skin of the hat-snake.
d. The Scorpion.
is no larger than a small finger in Italy, and wounds its enemy with its
tail, in which it has a hook. People use the squashed scorpion by putting
it on the wound in order to draw out the poison again. In an emergency
the Indians burn the bitten place. In India they are much larger. It is
well established that if one places a scorpion under a glass and then
blows tobacco smoke under it the scorpion will kill itself with its own
tail.
e. The Chamæleon.
An Asian and African animal, rather like a lizard. It feeds on insects, and
its tongue is eight inches long, that is, almost as long as the whole animal,
and with this it catches flies and ants like the ant-eater. Some physicistso
report that it changes its colour according to the coloured objects around
it, but that it has to force itself to do so. But in the general travel literature
it is reported that it changes its colour quickly and at will, and particularly
when it is happy, but not in accordance with the objects around it. They
o Physiker
606
Physical geography
change their colour according to their emotions. When they are happy,
their colour is flecked.
f. The Salamander.
The fact that it cannot be burnt is due to the thick slime that it spits out
as well as exudes from all its sweat pores and with which it dampens the 9:353
coals for quite a long time when it is placed upon them. But ultimately it
does burn. In all parts of the world, people claim that lizards are enemies
of snakes and warn people of snakes by their presence.
Eighth Main Section.

the avian kingdom.
a. The Ostrich and the Cassowary.
Both are chiefly Arabian and African birds. They carry their head higher
than a horse, have wings with which they cannot fly and run faster than
a horse. They only sit upon their eggs at night, have beautiful feathers
on the tail and a hump-back like elevation on the back. The Cassowary
is similar to the ostrich but has a sort of cartilage on the crop. Instead
of feathers, it has hair and hooves on the feet. It swallows iron and even
glowing coals, but does not digest the former.
b. The Condor.
is the largest of all flying animals, lives in America but is rarely encoun-
tered. Measured from one end of its wings to the other, it has a width of
six feet.p It can tear the intestines from an ox but only has feet like the
claws of a hen. It carries game to its nest, and often even children; but it
does not increase in numbers very much.
c. The Humming-Bird.
An American bird. This is the smallest of all birds, not quite as large
as a beetle. It has the most beautiful feathers, which shine in all man-
ner of colours. It sucks the nectar out of flowers. In the West Indies,
there is a type of spider that makes a web much thicker and firmer than
that of our spiders: the humming-bird becomes caught in this like a
midge.
p Adickes mentions that eight manuscripts read “sixteen feet” and one reads “sixteen
inches”.
607
Natural Science
9:354 d. The Bird of Paradise.

is only noted here because of the prejudice people have had, namely that
it has no feet. But the feet are cut off in order better to preserve the bird.
e. Golden Pheasants.
are to be regarded as the daintiest birds in the world because of their
golden feathers and other fine shades; they are valued very highly by the
Chinese.
f. Pelican.
[This] has a body as big as a sheep, a small head, a beak one and a half
feet long, and a bag at the head, into which will fit a bucket of water,
[and] with which it will fetch water from miles away and feed its young.
That it feeds its young with its own blood belongs in the same class as
the fable of the phœnix.
g. Some Peculiarities of the Avian Family.q

The birds of the torrid zones are more beautiful and brightly coloured,
but of worse song. Some hang their nests onto the thinnest twigs of the
trees hanging over water, so that they will be safe from the pursuit of
monkeys. The cuckoo lays its eggs in the nest of the warbler and does
not care for its young. Some have wings but cannot fly, e.g., the ostrich,
cassowary, and penguin. Some are used for fishing, like the cormorant;
others for hunting four-footed game, such as especially the falcons from
Circassia. This bird is taughtr by placing a piece of meat onto the stuffed
head of a game animal and pulling it along on wheels. After this they
become accustomed to stick their claws into the skin of the running
animal, tear it with their beak and confuse it. Others are trained to
hunt birds, such as the Icelandic falcon, etc. Concerning the trainings
of falcons. Concerning heron hawking. These falcons are given to a
soldier on guard duty to hold onto his hand for some days and nights
so that they cannot sleep, which completely changes their nature. In
China, on the coast of Guinea and near Porto Bello, wild geese and
ducks are caught by people swimming with their heads in a hollowed-out
pumpkin.
q Vogelgeschlecht
r Some manuscripts add at this point: “to approach its quarry without being noticed”.
s Abrichtung. Manuscripts give Abtragung, referring to the carrying of a falcon on the
wrist until tame.
608
Physical geography
Birds transplant many fruits by passing the indigestible seeds they 9:355
have eaten, which is how the mistletoe gets onto the oak and grows
there, also on lime and hazelnut trees. Some islands in the ocean serve
birds as a home, especially those that live on fish, so that some islands
are covered several inches deep in bird droppings. Such islands are on
the coasts of Chile, Africa, the Orkneys, and elsewhere. Some, when
they are encountered flying far from the land, indicate a storm; such
as a type of sea-eagle, which is in the habit of dropping tortoises from
a height, which is how Æschylus was killed.t There are no storks in
Italy, England, or eastern Tartary. Pigeon post is still [used] in Modena
and Aleppo. It was also used formerly during the sieges of Haarlem,
Zierikzee, Gertuidenberg, etc.; similarly the pigeon of Jonas Dousau,377
in Leyden.
concerning the wintering of birds.

People usually imagine that those birds which cannot find their food
in our northern climate travel to warmer countries and far distant cli-
mates for the winter. But the Lark, the Lapwing among others appear
quickly when there are a few warm days in the spring and disappear again
when it becomes cold. This proves that they remain here in the winter
as well. Quail are said to migrate across the Mediterranean, since the
bishop on the island of Capri near Naples receives the greatest part of
his income from the migration of the quail, and in the Mediterranean,
quail sometimes fall onto ships. These birds, however, are migratory
birds in the sense that they change the place they live, but not in the
sense that they travel to distant lands and over the sea. Their flight is
low and not prolonged. But frequently birds are blown into the sea by
the wind and the fog, lose their way and either die or save themselves on
ships. A sparrow-hawk was caught on a ship a hundred English miles off
Modena, which looked pitifully weak. The Viceroy of Teneriffe made a
present of a falcon to the Duke of Lerma, which returned to Teneriffe
from Andalusia and fell down half dead with the Duke’s rings. But what
shall other weak birds say against such a strong bird of prey! Why do
storks not fly across from France to England? Most birds hide in the 9:356
ground during the winter and live like ants and badgers without food.
Swallows hide in the water. Storks, geese, ducks, etc. are occasionally
found in remote moors in Poland and in other countries in swamps that
t The text is corrupt for this sentence, and Kant’s original meaning cannot be discerned
satisfactorily.
u Adickes reads Janus Dousa, referred to by Keyßler as a person running a pigeon post
service in Holland.
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Natural Science
remain unfrozen. In Prussia, a stork was fished out of the Baltic in the
winter; it came to life again in a room.
third section.
The Plant Kingdom.
i. concerning remarkable trees.
In the torrid zones, the trees are of heavier wood, higher growth, and
stronger sap. The northern ones are less dense, lower, and weaker. But
the animals and the people in the former regions are proportionately
much lighter in external appearance than in the latter.
a. Trees Which Provide People With Bread.

In many parts of India, and also on the Ladrones Islands [Mariana
Islands], there grows a tree which bears large bales of a floury fruit that
can be used as bread and is called breadfruit. The sago tree, which grows
on the Moluccan Islands, looks like a palm tree. It has a nutritious pith.
This is pounded with water, pressed, and filtered. The slimy part sinks
to the bottom, and from it is made rather poor bread, but better gruel.
Eaten with almond milk, it is good against dysentry. – Salep.378
b. Very Useful Trees of the Palm Variety.

Palms are of different kinds. They all have in common that they do not
have any real branches, but very large leaves growing on the stem, which
is covered with a scaly bark. The sap of one variety is drained like birch
9:357 sap, and, when it has fermented, it produces palm wine. This is to be
distinguished from the sparkling palm wine on the island of Palma. The
coconut tree belongs among the varieties of the palm. Its leaves, like
the leaves of other palms, serve as a covering for the houses. The bark
of the nut serves to make rope, the nut itself [is used] for containers,
and the milk inside it is a pleasant drink. The Maldive nut is divided
into four at the bottom and is more delicious than the others. – Palm
wines. – Maple. – Sugar maple.
c. The Tallow Tree of China.

It bears a pulse fruit with three nut-like kernels the size of peas, sur-
rounded by a bark of tallow, and containing a great deal of oil. The little
nuts are pounded, boiled, and the tallow scooped off; linseed oil and wax
are added and fine candles made from it.
610
Physical geography
d. The Wax Tree of China.

Small worms, not larger than fleas, attach themselves to the leaves of
this tree. They build cells, though much smaller than bee-cells. The wax
is harder, shinier, and more expensive than beeswax. The eggs of these
worms are collected and placed onto other trees.
e. The Soap Tree.

In Mexico, there is a tree that bears nut fruits, the shell of which contains
a sap that foams well and is good to use for washing.
f. A Tree that Gives Water for Drinking.

This is the wonderful tree which is said to be always covered as though
by a cloud, and water drips from its leaves, which is collected in cisterns
and is said to be sufficient for humans and animals during the droughts
that customarily occur in those areas. The trunk of this tree is said to be
two fathoms thick and forty feet high, while around the branches it has
a circumference of a hundred and twenty feet.
But in the Universal Travel Description,379 an eyewitness reports that
it gives off water only at night, and then twenty thousand barrelsv every
night [sic].
Most travellers, including Le Maire,380 assert that there are many
such trees together in a valley. This valley is said to be surrounded by
great forests, and the mountains round about throw their shadows into
it, so that the vapours thereby become thicker and form a dripping cloud; 9:358
on the island of St Thomas too, there are such trees, but they only give
off water in the middle of the day.
g. The Cotton Tree.

These trees bear an apple-like fruit, divided into compartments inside,
in which the cotton is to be found. Ceiba381 wool is the wool of another
tree, it is almost as fine as silk and it is almost impossible to process it.
h. The Varnish Tree.

This tree is encountered in China and on the Moluccas. It produces
varnish in just the same way as birches do sap. A small spiral shell is
placed in [a hole] scratched in its bark, and the sap collects in this shell.
v Tonnen
611
Natural Science
On timber, the varnish becomes harder than the wood itself. Afterwards,
a special oil varnish is painted over it.
i. Iron Wood.
There is also a wood so hard that anchors and swords are made from it.
k. Sweet-Smelling Timbers.
The yellow sandalwood most sought after for smoking in India comes
from the Sandalwood Tree. It is also pounded to a pulp, which the
Indians rub on their bodies to cool off.
l. Timbers for Dyeing.

To this group belongs above all the Pernambuc or Brazil Wood. The
centre of this wood serves as a red dye.
Campeche Wood,382 the inside of which gives a blue dye. Herbs for
dyeing. – Henna. – Alkanna,383 used for make-up by the Egyptians and
Moors, Sappan Wood.384 – Litmus.385
m. Balsam Trees.
The Balsam from Mecca is the most precious, but it is no longer to be
had. It is drained from the Balsam tree in Arabia. When fresh, its smell
causes nose bleeding. A present of it is made to the Grand Sultan each
year. Tolu balsam is imported from Mexico and is the closest to it. It
9:359 is white or yellow-gold in colour. Cinchona is blackish. Copaiva386 is
liquid and white.
n. Rubber Trees.
The so-called Dragon’s Blood, which is red, flows from a cut in
the Draco or Dragon Tree. It is produced in many parts of India.
Tragacinth,387 on the other hand, is white rubber curled like worms.
Gutta-Rubber388 comes from a tree similar to a pomegranate tree.
Gum Arabic rubber flows from an Egypotian or Arabian Anazia or
sloe.
The Rubber from Sanga (Senegal) is very similar to it; it has a cooling
power and is sucked like a candy by the people. It is also used on silk
fabrics to make them shine.
Copal Rubber sweats out of the cuts in Copal trees in Mexico.
612
Physical geography
o. Resinous Trees.
The Camphor Tree of Borneo produces camphor by sweating. It is
collected on cloths spread underneath. In Japan it is distilled from the
sawdust of the camphor tree, but it is inferior. It can also be distilled
from the roots of the cinnamon tree. Gum Benzoin or Asa dulcis389
flows from a cut tree in Ceylon and Siam and has a very sweet smell.
Manna390 comes from the leaves and the cut bark of a kind of ash-treew
in Calabria.
The best Turpentine comes from spruce and larch trees in Chios.
Mastic391 is pale and lemon yellow. Ordinary turpentine is produced
from spruce and pine trees. Gummi elasticum.
p. Medicinal Trees.
The Cascarilla de Loja or fever-bark is the bark of a tree not far from the
Amazon River and elsewhere in South America. It is a specific medicine
against fever; but it must be distinguished from the China-root or China
bark. Sassafras is the root of a tree in Florida. Guaiac (Gummi or Resina
Guajaci)392 is used in venereal and especially in goutish illnesses. Balsam 9:360
and rubber trees can also partly be reckoned among the medicinal plants.
Quassia.393 – Colombo.
q. Some Trees With Pleasant Fruits.

The Banana, a shrubby plant, bears fruit-like cucumbers growing out
of the stem, in a clump, up to forty or fifty. The Cola Tree in Africa and
the East Indies bears a chestnut-like bitter fruit which is highly prized.
It is somewhat bitter, but when it has been destoned, it makes any drink
very agreeable. For fifty such nuts, one can buy a pretty girl in Sierran
Leone, and ten of them are [enough for] a present for great lords. The
Cocoa Tree394 is eighteen to twenty feet high and grows with four to
five stems. The fruit is like a melon hanging from the stem and the
branches. Inside the compartments, there are many nuts like almonds.
Cocoa is constricting and of a cold nature. The Indians in Hispaniola
use it ground up in water for drinks. Pistachios are nuts eaten sugared,
but the young fruit is placed in vinegar and used as an accompaniment
to food.
Dates are the fruit of a kind of palm tree, similar to almonds, growing
in large bushes on the trunk, like bunches of grapes.
A drink prepared from cocoa and water is rather unpleasant and cool-
ing, which is why a certain Spaniard, drinking it for the first time, said
w Eschenbaum, corrected by Gedan from Eichenbaum (oak-tree).
613
Natural Science
it was more suited to oxen than humans. But in Spain, sugar, pepper,
vanilla, and ambergris are added to it, which makes the drink hotter and
better tasting.
The Coffee Tree in Arabia, that in the Levant, also in America,
Surinam, Martinique, etc., types in the East Indies, the Javanese coffee
tree. It is a tree similar to a cherry tree in respect of the leaves as well
as the appearance of the fruit. The dried fruit is rolled, whereupon the
bean-like kernel divides into two halves. Levantine coffee is dearer than
that from Martinique even in Arabia, and the Jews import large quantities
of the latter into Turkey. – Lotus. – Pisang. – Betel. – Almond Tree.
r. Spice Trees.
The Clove Tree is similar to a pear tree, the clove is its fruit.
9:361 The Nutmeg Tree is similar to an apple tree. Those nuts that are
swallowed by a bird called the Nut-Eater, and excreted again, are more
highly prized. Both these trees are encountered only on the islands
Ambon and Banda. They are being eradicated on the other Moluccan
islands.
Cinnamon Trees on the Island of Ceylon. The bark of young trees is
peeled off and produces cinnamon. The fruit does not contain so much
sweet-smelling oil, but a lot of fat. A few drops, at a cost of two penniesx
each, dropped on the tongue, are said to produce canker.
s. Other Remarkable Facts About Trees.

In Eastern Tartary, which is in the Kalmuck region, there are almost no
trees, only miserable shrubs, which is why the inhabitants of this area of
Tartary mostly live in tents. The Mangle Tree, called Mangellaer by
the Dutch, grows up from a root, then bends crooked, grows into the
soil again, sprouts roots there and then grown up again, etc.
The Banyan has, as it were, ropes or tough twigs hanging down from
its branches which take root in the soil and in this way make a region so
overgrown that it is not possible to get through. If it grows by water, it
spreads out into the water, over which the branches then hang. There is a
kind of wood or scrub in some parts of Italy, which, according to reports
by Keyssler and Venturi,y,395 cannot be made to burn nor to melt, not
even in the focus of a burning glass. It has the appearance of oak, but
it is somewhat softer, looks reddish, can easily be cut and broken, and
x Zwei Groschen
y Rink has Venturinis, but Adickes suggests Vitruvius since Keyssler quotes the Roman
architect.396
614
Physical geography
sinks in water. Altogether,z neither sand nor anything mineral has been
discovered in it. Some call it Larix. It has also been found near Seville
in Andalusia. –a Asbestos.397
One tree on Hispaniola is so poisonous that it is fatal to sleep in its
shadow. The apples it bears are a potent poison and the Caribs soak their
arrows in it.
The Calabash Trees in Africa and India bear a fruit, which, cut in
half, makes good cooking pots,b and after the neck has been removed,
good crockery.
The Areka-nut grows in bunches like pistachio nuts or dates, and 9:362
is used for Betel, which the Indians chew constantly. Crows’ Eyes, or
Nuces vomicæ, are kernels found in a fruit like a pomegranate on the
island of Ceylon. They kill everything that was born blind. Bird-lime is
made from the berry of the oak mistletoe. – The poison tree Boa Upas in
Java and Borneo. It stands quite alone in deserted areas. It can only be
approached to within a stone’s throw. Its pitch-like sap is nonetheless a
medicine against the bite of venomous animals.398
ii. concerning other plants.

a. Tea.
The leaves of the Tea-Shrub in China, broken off at the beginning of
spring, give Imperial Tea; the second and third type are progressively
inferior. The first type is dried in the sun and rolled with the hands.
The second is heated on plates over boiling water until the leaves shrink.
The third kind over coal fires. The best tea comes from the northern
provinces, which is why the Russians favour it. The Japanese turn the
tea into a powder before they drink it. – ‘Tile tea’.
b. Climbing Spice Plants.

Pepper climbs up poles or trees up to eighteen feet high. It grows like
blackcurrants. Is primarily encountered on the island of Sumatra and
other regions of the East Indies. Long Pepper grows on a shrub and is
more expensive. White pepper is not natural but is steeped in sea water
and dried in the sun. – Pepper from Guinea and Ceylon.
Cubeb399 also in Java and the Moluccas. This fruit grows in bunches.
Cardamon is the fruit of a reed-like shrub.
z Im Ganzen . . . Adickes shows that the text should read: Im Kauen spurt man weder Sand
noch einen anderen Geschmack von Mineralien (When one chews it, one cannot taste any
sand nor any other mineral).
a Here, the words “is distinct from” have been omitted by Gedan.
b Kochtöpfe. Adickes reads Kochlöffel (cooking spoons).
615
Natural Science
c. Betel.
Is the leaf of a climbing plant, which, with areka-nut and unslaked lime,
is constantly chewed by all Indians. This delicacy has a taste that draws
9:363 the mouth, colours the saliva red and the teeth black or black-brown. In
Peru, this leaf is used with a little earth for chewing.
d. Vanilla
is a climbing plant like the previous ones. The savages in Mexico keep its
manner of cultivation secret. It grows on very steep mountains. It need
not be planted in the soil, but merely tied to a tree, from which it draws
sap and then sends roots down into the soil. Vanilla is full of a balmy
thick juice in which there are tiny kernels. It is an excellent ingredient
of chocolate.
e. Reeds.
The Bamboo-Reed is especially noteworthy, being one of the most
useful plants in India. It grows as tall as the highest trees, and when it is
young, it has an edible kernel. Unsplit it is used for posts, split for boards
and floors, etc., and the skin which covers it inside is used as paper. In
Peru, there is a type of bamboo which is one and a half feet in diameter
with the bark an inch and a half thick. At full moon, it is full of water,
but during the new moon there is nothing or very little inside.
Sugar Cane is now encountered in both of the Indies and Africa.
Muscovade is made from the scum of boiling sugar. This is purified
with ox-blood or egg white. – Molasses. – Tafia. – Rum. – Muscovade is
actually raw sugar.
f. Pineapple.
This beautiful American fruit grows on approximately the same stem as
artichokes. It has the shape of a pine cone and the size of a melon. Its
smell is excellent and the taste seems to betoken all kinds of spices.
g. Roots.
Rhubarb comes from China and the Chinese part of Tartary. China-
root is an astringent and blood-cleansing medicine. It is also brought to
Europe in preserved form. The Ginseng root is the most highly prized
medicine, very many hundreds of Tartars in Chinese Tartary go to a
9:364 great deal of trouble to extract it. It is said to turn grey hair black. Small
pieces are cut off and boiling water poured over them. It fills the person
616
Physical geography
with new life, and, taken in too large doses, it causes feverish illnesses or
even madness. A certain kind of goat is said to be very fond of its foliage,
and their blood is thus regarded as being very healthy. Ginger is best
from the Malabar coasts.
iii. other remarkable peculiarities of plants.

The Hingish400 plant in Persia produces Asafœtida or Devil’s Dung. A
small slice is cut from the root, the exuded sap is removed, and thus a
further slice daily. It is used in cooking in many parts of India. Bread
even has to taste of it, and all streets smell of it, this is the most pleasant
smell for them.
Opium is derived from a certain kind of poppy, the heads of which
are scratched in a cross, and from here the thick sap oozes out. The
workers become dizzy during this work. Effect of opium. A clyster with
six ounces of raw opium gets rid of dysentry. Bhang401 is a kind of hemp;
the pressed leaves and the juice are used by the Indians instead of opium.
The Small Bean of Cartagena in America. A little of this is eaten in
the morning, and then for a long time nothing else is consumed. Then
no poison can harm the person for the whole day.
The Sensitive Plant (Planta sensitiva) drops all its leaves and branches
when touched, as though it had sensations.
The Bejuks are woody ropes growing on a kind of willow in America,
which the Indians use just as we use our jute ropes.
grapevines. c
Grapevines change a great deal if they are transplanted into other coun-
tries. The Champagne from the Canaries has its origins in vines from
the Rhine; similarly Vin de Cap. Madeira vines were transplanted from
Candia to Madeira. There are no wines in the torrid zone. There, strong
drinks are made from rice; the Americans make them from maize. Rice 9:365
requires a great deal of moisture if it is to succeed, and a long flooding of
the fields. Maize, or Turkish wheat, grows as a reed up to ten feet high.
Appendix of Relevant Remarks.

Anil402 is notable amongd dye-leaves. Indigo is pressed from its leaves
after they have been scored. It grows on the Malabar coast.
The Pietra fungifera of Naples looks like a stone, but is actually a mass
consisting of intertwined hardened roots and soil, in which there are
c Weine d Aus. Gedan reads wegen (because of).
617
Natural Science
mushroom spores. These are uncommonly subtle, yet very numerous.

Mushrooms can be grown from them if so desired. One only has to pour
warm water onto them and the morels are matured in six days. These
morels403 also get quite large.
Finally I shall consider the fable about the palingenesis of plants,
mentioned by Kircher.404 This opinion arose in the days when chem-
istry [first] began to blossom and all kinds of curiosa chemica experimenta
were made. The cause of this fable was the concretion and crystallisation
of salts, which simulate vegetation. Sal ammoniacum dissolved in Cham-
pagne or Burgundy wine gives the appearance of grapes; but it also does
this in water.
The Arbor Dianæ405 is made when mercury and silver are dissolved
separately in aqua fortise and these solutions are mixed and evaporated
over a gentle fire tof one third of their volume; they then look like a tree
with trunk, branches, and twigs.
The Barametz or Scythian Tree is a spongy plant found around
Astrakhan of which Keyßler, who has seen it in Dresden, says that it
assumes all shapes. But because it has been pressed into the shape of a
lamb,406 uneducated people have assumed that it grows like a lamb. It
is thus incorrect [to say] that it eats the grass around it and that wolves
pursue it.
9:366 fourth section.

The Mineral Kingdom.
i. the metals.
1. Gold
In Peru and other parts of America, gold is often either mined, or panned
out of the mud washed down by mountain torrents. It is found in many
parts of the world. Numerous rivers, especially those in Guinea, yield
gold dust after heavy rain showers. For by its scouring action the rain
washes gold dust out of the mountains and carries it into the rivers,
along with the rest of the mud. The gold from Madagascar is famous
for its toughness and fusibility. When it has been washed by means of
quicksilver from the sand with which it was mixed, it is then separated out
by squeezing the amalgam through leather. Platina del pinto407 in Brazil
is a white [form] of gold that is very difficult to fuse. The small golden
kernels in grapes allegedly found in Hungary are in fact seeds covered
e Scheidewasser f Adickes reads “by”.
618
Physical geography
with a golden-yellow liquid; similarly, the gold grown on a grapevine

and exhibited in Vienna. Hungary is rich in gold and silver mines. The
best gold is produced near Kremnitz.
2. Silver
is found in many places in the world. It occurs most commonly in the
mines at Potosi and on the Rio de la Plata in South America. Pieces
of silver ore without any selvedge can be found there, as thought they
had been smelted out. There one can also find the skeletons of Indians
who died many years ago and are now impregnated with silver. There
is hardly any silver in Asia, which is why great profits can be made in
China by exchanging silver for gold; for if the exchange ratio here is gold :
silver = 14 : 1, there it is 11 : 1.
3. Copper,
either from ore or by precipitation. The copper mine in Falun is one of
the most famous. There is an extraordinarily large amount of copper in
Japan. “Cement solution”408 is copper dissolved in vitriolic liquor, from 9:367
which copper is derived by precipitation, as in Neusohl in Hungary.
Brass is made from copper mixed with calamine. Calamine409 is a semi-
metal found very frequently in Poland.
4. Tin.g
The best kinds are found in England and Malacca. Tombac from China
and the neighbouring regions is a kind of white tin or white copper, which
is mixed with calamine, whereby it becomes more ductile.410 Tombac
boxes are made from this. – Pinchbeck. – Prince’s metal. – Mannheim
gold.411
5. Iron
is found everywhere, though some ironstones are richer than others.
Iron ore is not attracted to a magnet until it has been through the heat
of a furnace. Iron is found in all plants, in wood, even in human blood
and flesh, and small particles of iron can be found in the bones. The
Peruvians knew nothing about iron until the arrival of the Spaniards and
made their axes, chisels, etc., from copper. In Africa, in Senegal and in
g According to Gedan, one manuscript reads “tombac”.
619
Natural Science
Guinea, most European trade is done with iron bars, and the value of a
Negro is calculated in terms of iron bars.
i. semi-metals. 412
1. Quicksilver.
This is most common in the mines at Idria in Friuli and is at times
found quite pure there. Mostly it is in the form of cinnabar. The miners
in Idria and in Almada in Spain are subject to violent trembling and a
great thirst. When they are put in a bath, small balls of quicksilver come
out of their bodies. The rats and mice there have convulsions and die.
Some workers are so permeated by it that a copper coin will go white
if placed in their mouth or if they rub it with their fingers. It is stored
under wheat bran to prevent it from evaporating.
2. Antimony
or stibnite413 is blackish and similar to lead in appearance. It is brittle;
bullets made of it are poisonous.
9:368 3. Bismuth
is very brittle and yellowish.
4. Zinc
is whitish-blue and a kind of lead ore, but harder. In the smelting furnaces
in Goslar, it accumulates when lead ore is smelted, and it has to be scraped
off frequently.
5. Calamine
414
is a kind of zinc; brass is made by adding it to copper.
6. Arsenic
is half a metal, half a salt, because it is completely soluble in water.415
Cobalt416 and orpiment417 are varieties of h it.
h Rosenkranz-Schubert adds the words “metallic salts belonging to” at this point.
620
Physical geography
flammable minerals, and other liquid,

flammable mineral substances.
1. Naphtha
is white. It attracts flames. It wells up out of the earth near Baghdad and
Baku and Derbent in Persia.
(Cf. Reineggs’ Descript. of the Causasus, passim.418 )
2. Petroleum
is reddish or of a dark colour. It does not attract flames.
3. Mineral Tar
is very similar to the above. But it is thicker and more viscous and has a
very bad smell. It is also called ‘devil’s dirt’.
4. Amber
appears to have originated from hardened naphtha or mineral oil.
Keyßler reports that in those places where amber is mined in Italy,
petroleum also wells up; sea salt may have had an effect in its hardening,
as also a fine earth.419
5. Ambergris
was initially liquid and is frequently fished out of the sea in this state,
especially on the Chinese and Japanese coasts. But it is found in solid 9:369
form in the stomach of the whale. Grey ambergris is the finest and is
mixed with rice flour.420
6. Jet
or black amber, can be beautifully polished. Floats on water; can be found
in Cornwall in England and in Württemberg.
7. Mineral Pitch
or bitumen (asphaltum) seems to be hardened mineral tar; it is present
[in] dissolved [form] in sea water, particularly in the Dead Sea.
621
Natural Science
8. Stone Coal 421

is wrongly regarded as wood that has been permeated by petroleum,
although this is to be found occasionally. Rather, it is slate permeated
with mineral oil or earth, etc. It is most common near Newcastle in
England, but it occurs very generally. Jet is distinguished from it only in
that it has stony earth instead of a stony substance as its basis.
9. Sulphur
is a mixture of fourteen parts vitriolic acid and one part flammable
essence.422 Is mostly obtained from iron pyrites. Growths of pure sul-
phur are also found near volcanoes. Iron pyrites,i called pyrites by the
ancients, contains iron, is hard, and gives off sparks when struck with
steel. There is also copper pyrites andj marcasite,423 which is, how-
ever, different from the former. Sulphur is produced with this shale is
weathered.
Bitumina and Resinae. – Concerning peat-moors and their growth.
Solway Moor.
ii. concerning salts.

There are either acidic, alkaline, or neutral salts. To the former belongs
bitriol, which either contains copper and is blue, or contains iron and is
green.
Alum contains argillaceous earth424 as well as vitriolic acid;425 in
Solfatara,426 vitriol and alum are boiled in lead vessels, merely by the
heat of the ground.
9:370 Mineral and alkaline salts are very seldom found.
The sal ammoniacum in Egypt does not belong to the mineral kingdom,
but because there is little salt in Egypt, dried animal dung is burnt with
admixed straw. Sal ammoniacum is prepared from the resulting soot,
mixed with common salt. This is also done in Solfatara. –
Neutral salts are actually common salt.427 It is obtained from sea
water, salt springs, or salt mines, in many parts of the world. The most
famous are near Cracow. Saltpetre does not occur in nature, but the
alkaline component is added to it. This is why walls on which saltpeter
is to crystallize must be impregnated with alkaline salt.428 (A new way of
obtaining saltpetre.) – Natron. – Soda salt from plants; – on sea-coasts.
Large salt seam in Europe. Transylvania. – Borax in Tibet.
i Schwefelkies j Some manuscripts give “or”.
622
Physical geography
iii. concerning stones.

All stones were once liquid. Extraneous things are found not only in
the hard rock, but even in crystals in some natural history collections
there are tufts of deer hair, a drop of water, and other things too. It
is also possible to see drop-stones (stalactites) forming; and water satu-
rated with a saline essence, with subtlek and earthy parts, can give off a
lapidifying juice that makes broken stones grow together again. If this
lapidifying juice is saturated with many saline particles, it forms crystals,
or all kinds of these,l which are stones growing together at the corners.
After the lapidifying juice has petrified and become filled with mineral
parts, precious stones can be produced from it too. It is known that flint-
stones are still being produced in lumps of chalk, so the petrifaction
begins gradually from the centre. In this way, a saline water has first of
all caused the subtle earth-sediment to form concretions, but afterwards
it has gradually transformed it into flint by the increase of the saline
particles.
1. Concerning Precious Stones.

In general, these must be resistant to filing and must have something
excellent by way of brilliance or transparency and colour.
The diamond is the hardest of them all; it can only be polished with 9:371
its own powder; and it is the heaviest. It is a fable that it dissolves in
goat’s blood. A diamond of one grain is valued at six to ten thalers, and
its further value is equal to double the square of its weight. For example,
one of eighteen grains will be worth six hundred thalers. Its weight would
be fourm and a half carats. One carat would be one twenty-fourth of a
mark and is equivalent to four grains.
The Florentine diamond weighs one hundred and thirty-nine and a
half carats. The famous diamond that Pitt sold to the Ducal Regent
of France weighed one hundred and forty-four carats. King Augustus
offered him eight hundred thousand thalers. The pieces that were cut off
were worth thirty-six thousand thalers. In the treasure of the Mogul there
is [a diamond] of two hundred and seventy-nine carats. Diamonds are
found in east and west India, but most frequently in the Ghat Mountainsn
that run through the peninsula on this side of the Ganges. They lie in a
layer of red and yellow sand, like gravel. In the Kingdom of Golkonda
there is a mineral stratum over the diamond layer, which appears to con-
tain iron. They are also to be found in Visapur; in general, diamonds lie
k The word “and” has been added by Gedan.

l Diesen. Adickes suggests Drussen (druses), which is plausible.429
m Rink gives “forty”.
n Rink’s edition gives Galatian Mountains. Ghat Mountains is suggested by Gedan.
623
Natural Science
in red earth as their matrix, as does flint in chalk. They have been discov-
ered recently in large quantities, in Brazil, because they were previously
regarded as mere pebbles. Almost as expensive as the diamond is the
ruby, which is almost as [hard,o ] heavy and brilliant, but red and trans-
parent. If it is scarlet, it is called a ruby; if it is yellow-red, it is called a
hyacinth. – ‘Longelierte’430 coagulated, coagmented stones. – On polish-
ing diamonds. – Rose diamonds, table diamonds, thick stones. – How the
Indians keep diamonds and sell them wrapped in cotton. – Flammability
of the diamond; [but] not in the crucible. – Rubies go soft. – Diamond
powder. Emery. – Seventeen carats approach the weight of one ducat.
The carat holds four grains. – The Portuguese diamond weighs eleven
and two ninths ounces; the Russian one hundred and ninety-four and
three-quarter carats.
The sapphire is a pale blue stone, transparent and hard, of the same
value as the previous. The emerald is a fine green. The harder it is,
the higher its value. The great emerald of Charlemagne is still in the
monastery at Reichenau. It is larger than a folio, is two inches thick, and
9:372 weighs twenty-eight pounds. Each pound is to be reckoned to be worth
fifty thousand guilders and so the whole must be worth one million four
hundred thousand guilders.
The amethyst is transparent and violet blue, which colour can tend
towards red.
The topaz is yellow, either golden-yellow or whitish-yellow. It is not
as hard as the previous stone.
Turquoise is a greenish-blue stone. It is also found in France in the
shape of an animal bone, and it acquires its colour there by roasting.
The opal is of a semi-transparent milky colour, which, however, shows
all sorts of colours when it is held against the light.
The chrysolite is transparent and of a golden colour; if the colour
tends towards green, then it is called chrysoprase; if towards sea-green,
it is called beryl.
The reddish-yellow ruby is called hyacinth, but some are brownish-
yellow or honey-coloured, [and either] semi- or completely transparent.
2. Semi-Precious Stones.
[These] are not as hard as precious stones but harder than common ones.
Crystal or Rock Crystal in the Swiss mountains forms [clusters of]
‘shooting’ crystals,431 and is often very large.
Carnelian is very hard, red, semi-transparent. If it is flesh-coloured,
it is called Sard.
Agate is in many colours, sometimes white.
o Gedan omits this word, which, however, appears in seven of the manuscripts.
624
Physical geography
Chalcedon is in many coloursp and barely semi-transparent.

Onyx is an agate with white and black stripes
Sardonyx has white and yellow stripes or dots.
Lapis lazuli is blue with white spots and has flecks of gold.
Ultramarine, which is a blue paint as expensive as gold, is made from
this. – Tourmaline. – Onyx. – Jasper. – Labrador stone. – Porphyry.
– Granite.
3. Concerning Mosaics and Florentine Work.

Opus Mosaicum (Mosaics) are made out of poured glass of different
colours, poured in thin sheets and cut into fine pins resembling nee-
dles, put together in a mixture of calcined marble, gum, egg white and
oil in such a way that portraits are, as it were, dotted out of it. There 9:373
are two million such pins in a work of two square feet. Afterwards, it is
polished like a mirror. Eight artists spend two years on a piece of eighty
square feet.q They are common in St Peter’s in Rome. Florentine Work
is made in the same way out of precious stones.
4. Other Types of Stone.

Marian Glass is made of transparent, often large, leaves and does not
melt in the greatest fire.
Jasper is similar in hardness to flint-stones but is multi-coloured.
Asbestos is a watery stone, which can be spun when beaten and
washed; this is where the unburnable fabric comes from, and such paper
also.
Amianthus is one type of this with straighter and more pliable fibres.
Marble decomposes to lime in fire. It is either of uniform colour or
flecked or veined. Florentine Stone is a form of marble. Plaster of
Paris is burnt from it.
Quartz fills the cracks in rocks and without doubt had its origins in a
salt-impregnated water which carried small stones particles with[in] it.
Serpentine stone is flecked on a greenish background.
Porphyry is hard and red, but granular with flecks; it occasionally
also has other colours. Slate. – Soapstone. – Dripstone.432 – Types of
talc. – So-called Meerschaum, a pipe clay.
p Vielfarbig. Adickes reads milchfarbig (milk-coloured or milky).

q Some manuscripts read “inches”. Adickes argues that Kant’s sources warrant a reading
of “feet”.
625
Natural Science
5. A Few More Types of Stone and Earth.

Pumice Stone is a burnt-out black coal, of the best kind of bituminous
coal, and is therefore mostly found in volcanic regions.
The Mexican Sponge Stone. This is a very uncompacted stone found
on the rocks around the Gulf of Mexico. Water is filtered through it and
people claim that it is then very healthy. It is very expensive.
The Bologna Stone433 is small, whitish-grey, of uneven colour, has
sulphureous parts, it is not [very] solid, but is heavier than it should be
9:374 in proportion to its size. It is found in various parts of Italy, often the
size of an Italian walnut. As a result of calcination, it attains the property
of absorbing light during the day. Even the light of a burning candle
gives it power, but not the moon. It has a sulphurous smell. Balduin434
simulates it with a composite of English chalk and Spiritus nitri.435
Often stones are dug up which were not formed by nature but by
human beings, such as stone axes, weapons,r arrows, etc. Similarly, in a
certain place in Switzerland, a huge number of stone dice marked with
the signs for one to six.
iv. concerning soils.

The Sealing Soils (terræ sigillatæ) of Lemnus [Lemnos], Malta, and Lieg-
nitz are to be noted. They are all somewhat unctuous, stick strongly to
the tongue and are used for typhus and diarrhœa.
Umbra is a brown chalk from Umbra or Spoleto in Italy.
Eagle Stones, also called Rattle Stones, have a stone that rattles in
the centre.
There are sweet-smelling stones or Violet Stones, and also stink-
ing stones. In recent times a stone has been discovered which has the
particular property of attracting ash as a magnet attracts iron.436
v. concerning petrifaction.
Most river water contains mild petrifying parts. The [Holy] Roman
Emperor Francis I had a bridge post in Serbia pulled up, and it was
found that, although it had been there since Trajan’s times, the petri-
faction had hardly penetrated the depth of one finger into the wood.
From comparative observations of this kind it would be possible to draw
conclusions about the age of our planet, if all water had the same petrify-
ing power. Petrifaction is most frequently found in limestones, marble,
r Waffen. Adickes reads Messer (knives).
626
Physical geography
sandstones, slate, tuff,s and flint-stones. Petrified land animals or parts

of them have also been found. In Switzerland, a petrified ship with many
people on it was pulled out of the mountains. Antlers of deer, tusks of
elephants, etc. have been found in the earth; occasionally also teeth of
very large animals of which the originals are unknown. Bird nests with 9:375
their eggs have been found petrified; also snakes and toads. Petrified
marine animals. Snakes tongues are the teeth of the shark. In the copper
shale437 in Germany, there are perfect imprints of fish. Walrus teeth
have been found. ‘Ammons horns’ [ammonites] are petrified nautili. I
shall pass over the marine crustaceans, of which there is an uncommonly
large number among the petrified marine animals. Petrified wood is
common. Petrified roots in a marl-like type of stone are called Broken
Bones or Osteocolla.438 Imprints of leaves, fruits, almonds, dates, plums,
etc. The rarest thing is a melon from the mountain of Lebanon, in which
all the seeds, segments, and skins can still clearly be seen. There are also
petrifactions of which the origin is knownt to us, such as the so-called
Thunder Stones or Belemnites, which some regard as dactylos marinos,
and others as the spines from sea-porcupines. Jews’ Stones,439 which
resemble olives, also belong here. Toad Stones, Buffonites, are small
half-round, pale brown stones which some regard as being the molar
teeth of sharks.
vi. concerning the origin of minerals.

The body of the earth, as far as we have been able to reach by digging,
consists of strata, or layers, one over the other, now horizontally, now
inclined in some other direction, occasionally interrupted here and there.
These [layers] cannot have been caused in any way other than by the
settling of various kinds of mud in the great revolutions of the universal
and recurring floods. There are layers of all kinds of stone and slate,
marble and rock, soils, etc. The water that forms them, and which is still
forming one stone layer after another at the bottom of the Adriatic Sea,
doubtless formed many minerals and some kinds of stone through the
combining together of different materials from the interior of the earth,
which give rise to iron pyrites and acid vitriols, among others. They
appear to have been produced gradually in the rocks by the vaporization
of arsenical material, and acid and sulphureous vapours, combining with
a subtle metallic earth. This process is still continuing. Usually, one type
of ore lies within a stone or rock as its ‘mother’, and is not present in any
of the higher or lower layers, perhaps because it [the mother] strongly 9:376
s Tuff. Adickes suggests Topf- und Tropfstein (pot and dropstone).

t Adickes reads “unknown”.
627
Natural Science
attracts and unites all these vapours. Nature works slowly through the
centuries [starting] with a small layer. Thus, people who want to bring
about such creations quickly and suddenly, usually deceive themselves,
when they try to form metals from their principles, e.g., gold. It is true
that fake gemstones can be created, but they lack hardness and the precise
composition of the materials.
628
Physical geography
THIRD PART. 9:377

SUMMARY CONSIDERATION OF THE
MOST IMPORTANT PECULIARITIES OF
NATURE IN ALL COUNTRIES IN
GEOGRAPHICAL ORDER.
the first continent.
Asia.
china.
In the northern part of this great empire, the cold in the winter is more
severe than at the same parallel in Europe. This empire is without a doubt
the most populous and most cultivated in the entire world. There are
reckoned to be as many inhabitants in China as in a large part of the rest
of the world put together. Canals have been built through almost every
province; from these other, smaller ones go to the cities and smaller ones
still go to the villages. Over all these, there are some bridges with flying
buttresses built of stone and mortar, the middle part of which is high
enough to allow a ship with masts to sail through. The great canal from
Canton to Peking has no equal for length [anywhere] in the world. Ships
are raised by cranes from one canal to another or over waterfalls, not
with locks as we do. The Great Wall of China, counting all the curves,
is three hundred German miles long, four fathoms thick, five fathoms
high, or, as others report, five yards thick and ten yards high. It crosses
astonishing mountains and rivers with flying buttresses. It has already
been standing for one thousand eight hundred years. The Chinese cities
are all, as far as the site permits, laid out accurately in squares, divided
into four quarters by two main roads in such a way that the four gates 9:378
exactly face the four cardinal points. The wall of the city of Peking is
nearly one hundred feet high. The Porcelain Tower in Nanking is two
hundred feet high and divided into nine storeys. It has been standing
for four hundred years, consists of porcelain, and is the most beautiful
building in the Orient.
Customs and Character of the Nation.

The Chinese regard as beautiful someone who is tall and fat, has small
eyes, a broad forehead, short nose, large ears and, if a male, a coarse
voice and long beard. They pull the tufts of the beard out with a small
pair of tweezers, leaving only a few small bushes. The scholars never cut
the nails of their left hand, as a sign of their profession.
The Chinese is of an uncommonly serene disposition. He keeps to
himself and tries to explore the minds of others. They regard nothing as
more despicable than losing one’s temper. They are uncommonly artful
629
Natural Science
at deception. They can sew a torn piece of silk cloth together again so
well that not even the most observant merchant will notice it; and they
mend broken porcelain with copper wire drawn through it in such a way
that at first no one is aware of the break. He [the Chinese person] is not
ashamed if caught at deception, but only insofar as he has revealed a lack
of skill thereby.
He is vengeful but can be patient for a convenient opportunity. No one
duels. He loves gambling. He is cowardly, very industrious, very obse-
quious and devoted to compliments to an excessive degree; an obstinate
devotee of old customs and as indifferent as could be in respect of the
afterlife. Chinese women have feet that are no larger than those of a
three-year-old child as a result of being bound since childhood. They
lower their eyelashes,u never show their hands, and in general are white
and beautiful enough.
Eating and Drinking.

In China, everything is eaten, including dogs, cats, snakes, etc. Anything
edible is sold by weight, which is why they fill the crop of a chicken with
sand. A dead pig is worth more than a live one if it weighs more. Hence
9:379 the deception of poisoning live pigs and fishing them out again when
they have been thrown overboard. Instead of forks, they have two small
sticks of ebony. Nor do the Chinese have spoons. Unlike other Oriental
peoples, they sit on stools, not on the ground. At a banquet, each person
has his own little table. They consume all drinks warm, even wine, and
they eat the food cold. At a banquet, one person beats time, then all raise
their cups simultaneously and drink or act as though they were drinking.
The host gives the sign when they should begin to eat and when they
should stop. All this goes on in silence for three hours. Between the main
meal and the dessert, they walk in the garden. Then comedians come
and play silly tricks. They carry quail in their hands in order to warm
themselves as with a muff. Here, the Tartars make brandy from mare’s
milk and bottlev it over mutton, whereby it obtains a strong but repulsive
taste.
Compliments.
No one in China swears or curses. Everything hew says, when he
announces himself, when he pays a visit, the gestures he is to make and
the speeches he is to make, what the host then says or does, all this is
u Augenwimpern. Some manuscripts have Augen immer, which would require the sentence
to be translated as “They lower their eyes”.
v abziehen
w Adickes reads “a guest” instead of “he”.
630
Physical geography
laid down in officially published compliment books and not one word of
it may be omitted. Everyone knows how to decline something politely
and when it is time to go home. No one is obliged to uncover his head
in a greeting; that is regarded as impolite.
Agriculture, Fruits, and Manufactures.

The hills are terraced. Manure is brought from the cities by canal and dry
areas are put under water. Every piece of land is used, even the smallest.
The tallow tree has been mentioned above. It is reported of the wax
tree that an insect like a fly stings not merely through the leaves but
through the bark into the core or trunk, whence white wax like snow
oozes out in drops. The tea shrub. The bamboo reed, out of which they
make nearly all their implements, even small boats. From its bark is made
the varnished paper, which is very thin and smooth, but easily eaten by
worms. Thus their books always have to be copied. ‘Kutlang’,x or a 9:380
tough Chinese reed, of which anchor ropes are plaited, which do not rot
as quickly as those made of jute. The Varnish Tree, with the lacquer of
which the Chinese paint over everything they have in their houses. The
Ginseng or Man’s Root, thus called because it divides into two branches
like the loins of a man. The Emperor sends ten thousand Tartars out
into Chinese Tartary each year to collect these roots for him. They
can sell the rest. It is uncommonly expensive. Silk worms work on the
mulberry trees in the southern provinces without any attention. Their
[the Chinese] silk cloth is mostly decorated with the figures of dragons
woven in. Their ink is prepared from lamp black mixed with musk to
make it smell sweet. The Emperor works in the fields in public once a
year.
Concerning the Sciences, the Language, and the Laws.

Their astronomy is ancient and there had been an observatory in Peking
for many centuries before the arrival of missionaries. Their calendar was,
however, extremely inaccurate. The prediction of eclipses was hardly
accurate to the day, not to the minute as it is with us. They derive these
predictions from tables, so that it is not clear how their scholars can
possibly believe that during an eclipse, the moon or the sun is being
devoured by a dragon, whom they try to deprive of his booty by [beat-
ing] drums. But it could also be that this is an old superstition from
the time of ignorance, which the Chinese, as obstinate respecters of
ancient customs, retain, even though they are aware of its foolishness.
The knowledge of mathematics and other sciences served the preaching
x Adickes reads Rattan (i.e., a kind of climbing palm of the genus Calamus).
631
Natural Science
of the Gospel in China instead of miracles. The Chinese language has

only three hundred and thirty monosyllabic words, none of which are
inflected, but the different tones, aspirations and combinations add up
to three hundred and fifty thousand words. The characters of their writ-
ing do not represent sounds but the things themselves, and sometimes
they encompass several ideas at once. For instance, ‘Good morning,
Sir’ is expressed by a single sign. The inhabitants of Cochinchina and
Tonkin understand the writing of the Chinese but not their language. A
scholar has to know and be able to write at least twenty thousand char-
acters. They cure many illnesses by cauterization or by burning with hot
9:381 copper plates. Some emperors and others have long pursued the foolish
notion of the elixir of life. The art of printing is done as follows: The
pages of a well-copied book are glued to a long wooden board, and the
characters cut out. The Chinese have academic degrees. Candidates for
the degree of doctor are usually examined by the Emperor himself. They
fill the most important offices. Because all their archives were destroyed
by an emperor two thousand years ago, their ancient history consists
almost entirely of traditions only. Their first law is the obedience of
children to their parents. If a son raises his hand against his father, the
whole country gets into a commotion about it. All the neighbours are
subjected to an inquisition. He himself is condemned to be hacked into
ten thousand pieces. His house and even the street in which it stood are
torn down and not rebuilt. The second law is obedience and deference
towards the authorities.
The third law concerns politeness and compliments.
Theft and adultery are punished by bastinado [being beaten on the
soles of the feet]. Everyone in China has the liberty to throw away,
hang or drown any children who have become a burden to him. This
happens, since the country is so heavily populated, in order to encourage
marriages.440 Regardless of their industriousness, many thousands die of
starvation each year in one or other of the provinces. In Peking, there is
a newspaper printed daily reporting the praiseworthy or reprehensible
behaviour of the mandarins, together with their rewards or punishments.
Religion.
Religion is treated in a fairly unenthusiastic way. Many do not believe in
any god; others, who adopt a religion, do not bother themselves much
about it. The Fo Sect is the most numerous. By this Fo, they understand
an incarnate deity that presently dwells in the great Lama in Barantola,
Tibet, and is worshipped in him; after his death it enters into another
Lama. The Tartar priests of Fo are called Lamas; those in China Bonzes.
The Catholic missionaries describe the articles of faith concerning Fo
632
Physical geography
in such a way that it becomes evident that it is nothing other than Chris-
tianity degenerated into paganism. They are said to have three persons
in the deity, the second of whom is said to have given the law and to
have shed his blood for the human race. The great Lama is also said 9:382
to administer a kind of sacrament with bread and wine. Confucius441
or Con-fu-tse, the Chinese Socrates, is also honoured. There are also
some Jews in China, who, like those on the Malabar coast, went there
before the birth of Christ and now know little about Judaism any more.
The Fo Sect believes in the transmigration of souls. There is an opinion
among them that nothingness is the beginning and end of all things,
which is why lack of feeling and giving up all work for a time are viewed
favourably.y
Marriages.
Marriages are concluded by the parents without the two parties seeing
each other. The girls do not receive a dowry, but are sold instead. Anyone
who has a lot of money, buys as many wives as he likes. A confirmed
bachelor or old unmarried man is a rarity among them. The man can
send the wife back before he has touched her, if he is prepared to lose
the purchase price, but the woman cannot.
Products Exported.
Principally China tea, quicksilver, China root, rhubarb, reedsz and pro-
cessed silk, copper in small bars, camphor, fans, paintings, lacquered
wares, porcelain, sago, borax, lapis lazuli, tutenag.442 Indian birds’ nests
are nests of birds similar to sea swallows, made from the foam of the sea
mixed with a liquid produced by their beaks to form the nests. They are
white and transparent, are used in soups and have an aromatic taste.
(The most recent reports of the English since Macartney’s Embassy
have taught us to know China in many ways from a different side to that
of the previous missionary reports.443 But even in these reports there are
doubtless great exaggerations, though without fault [on the part] of the
Englishmen.)444
tonkin
formerly belonged to China. It is to the southeast of China and is its
closest neighbour. The heat here is greater in the month around the
longest day than below the Equator. Here, the monsoons mentioned in
connection with the torrid zones are regular, namely from the end of 9:383
y Gottselige Gedanken. Adickes reads gottselige Handlungen (actions pleasing to God).

z Rohr. Gedan reads rohe (raw).
633
Natural Science
April to the end of August there is a south-west wind, and rain follows;
from August to October there are frequent typhoons especially near the
full or New Moon with alternating south-west and north-east winds.
From November into April [there are] north-east winds and dry weather.
The tides are different from those in other continents. Low and high tide
last for twelve hours each. High tides are from the New Moon to the
first quarter; equally from the Full Moon to the last quarter are high
tides. The rest of the time they are low. At the time of the high tide,
the water begins to rise with the rising Moon and in the low tide, with
the sinking Moon. If the rains fail at the right time, the people sell their
children, their wives or even themselves. The country is populous. The
inhabitants are yellow and well proportioned, have smooth faces, believe
that it is a privilegea to have white teeth, and therefore dye their teeth
black in their twelfth or thirteenth year. The use of betel arek is very
common among them, as in the rest of India. They are more honest
in trading than the Chinese, and they also sell silk cloth and lacquered
objects, Indian birds’ nests and musk, etc.
They have much in common with the religion and laws of the Chinese.
cochin-china.
As in the army of Tonkin, so with the king’s army here, soldiers are
selected for the royal guard by taking those who can gobble the most
rice the fastest, for these are regarded as being the bravest. The nation
is sober and moderate. Their favourite food is rotten fish. They are
defiant, faithless, thieving, unjust, and very selfish. The country is poor.
The women are offered to mariners for money and the women are very
greedy for this change.
siam
and Other Countries, some of whom Pay Tribute
to this Kingdom.
The Malacca [Malay] Peninsula is rich in pepper. The capital Malacca
9:384 was formerly one of the wealthiest cities of the Orient because of the
famous Straits of Malacca. This is why the Malay language is so much
in vogueb everywhere.
In the Kingdom of Siam, the Menam River floods regularly in the
summer months. The white elephant (they rarely have more than one)
is fed from golden bowls, and the soul of some prince or other is said
a Rosenkranz-Schubert and Adickes suggest that the words der wilden Tiere (of wild ani-
mals) be added at this point.
b Im Schwange
634
Physical geography
to dwell in it; next to it, a black elephant is the most highly prized. The
Siamese court is the most splendid of all the black courts in Asia. The
houses are raised thirteen feet above the ground on six bamboo stilts
on account of the floods, and at those times, each one has a boat at the
door. The Siamese are frightened in danger, otherwise they are without
worries, sober, and quick to grasp things, but lazy at bringing anything
to a conclusion, defiant towards the humble and humble towards the
defiant, otherwise masters over their emotions. They are small but well-
formed, black with broad faces, have a pointed forehead and chin; they
have small dark eyes, short noses, and large ears; they take great trouble
to grow their finger-nails and some coat them with copper. They are not
given to gossiping.
They also have many ceremonies. Example: how they would not allow
the letter from their king to the King of France to spend the night in the
lowest floor of the house.
They share with the Cochin-Chinese a taste for spoilt and stinking
fish. Ballachare is a stew of pounded fish that have been indifferently
salted and has gone rotten. They use this as soya for sauces. They have
a similar dish made from small almost rotten crabs, which, pounded up,
become as fine as mustard.
Coconut oil is very repulsive to Europeans when it has stood for a
while; but they eat it all the time with a great appetite. As in the other
hot countries of the Indies in general, they do not eat much meat, just
as the Europeans living there also accustom themselves not to eat meat.
What they love best, however, is intestines. In trading, they are very
honest. They also use the cowries mentioned above for money, horn-
shaped shells, called here Moor’s teeth. There are six to eight hundred
to a penny. The people make a good living from beating gold. Like the
Chinese, in painting, they only draw monsters and impossible things.
The land in Siam is covered with a thick layer of loam on account
of the flooding of the rivers, and one would hardly find a single flint- 9:385
stone there. Among the things growing there, I remark only on the
aloe-wood so famous in the Orient, which was also known as paradise
wood, kalamabak, or aquila-wood, which is found in Siam as well as in
Cochin-China. It is of such varied quality that a pound of it sometimes
costs three Thaler, sometimes a thousand. It is used as incense in the
temples of idols.
The Portuguese call coarse Siamese tin, which is also found in China,
‘calin’, to which galmei is added and tutenag produced.
Their sciences are poor. It is to be noted that the doctors here
cure many illnesses by gentle rubbing and stroking. Otherwise, when
unknown illnesses occur, they convince the patient that he has a whole
deerskin or a ten-pound lump of meat in his stomach as a result of magic,
and they promise to purge it with medicine.
635
Natural Science
Astrologers are much sought after; if they are wrong in their predic-
tions, their reward is a significant number of beatings. In lawsuits, if a
proof is not readily possible, one can demonstrate one’s innocence in
a trial by fire or water, as used to be the case with us. The priests also
give the accused emetic pills with great cursing; anyone who vomits after
this is [deemed] innocent. In war, they are poor heroes. In the wars with
Pegu, both armies seek to avoid each other as long as possible. If they
do happen to meet, they fire over each other’s heads and if anyone is
accidentally hit, they say he has only himself to blame because he came
so close. The annual flooding brings the war to an end. They have nun-
neries and monasteries in even greater numbers than in Portugal. The
monks are called Talapoins. They teach that everything in the world,
both living and non-living, has a soul which passes from one body to
another. They even claim to remember this metempsychosis. The most
valuable possessions are burnt with a dead man, often [even] the wives,
so that he will meet them again in the other life, for in their opinion,
they are transported to heaven or hell after death. They reject divine
providence, but teach that vices are punished and virtues rewarded by
a fatal necessity. They are reluctant to spill blood, do not squeeze juice
out of plants, do not kill any animals, but only eat them when they have
9:386 died of natural causes. Hence their mild wars with the Peguans. The
Talapoins live by begging, they are full of love and virtue. They do not
actually revere a supreme being, but Sommona Cadam, once a Talapoin,
who is now supposed to be in the state of highest bliss, which they believe
people attain when, after many transmigrations usually into other bod-
ies, their soul combines with the world soul and is left over as a spark in
heavenly space. Sommona Cadam, however, is supposed to have arrived
there because of his great holiness. The godless are condemned to eternal
migrations into other bodies.
Their highest pleasure is lack of feeling. Their bodies are cremated.
pegu
belongs to Ava [in Burma] at present. The tides near the mouths of the
rivers of Pegu and Ava are extraordinarily violent. The King calls himself
Lord of the White Elephant, as does the King of Siam.
Apart from the trials by fire and water, accused persons are given
uncooked rice to chew under the threat that he must asphyxiate if he is
in the wrong. Parallels with the Hottentots, for these treat the wretched
people so roughly, stroke them with their hands and feet, and throw
them back and forth in such a way that the onlookers themselves become
frightened and there is a sorry spectacle. The worst punishment here,
as in other neighbouring countries, is to be given to the elephants for
636
Physical geography
their entertainment. The Peguan Talapoins are extolled as the kindest

people in the world. They live on food they have begged from the houses
and give what they do not need to the poor; they do good to all living
things without regard to any differences of religion. They believe that
god takes pleasurec in the different religions and considers all religions
that make people beneficent and full of love as good. They try very hard
to mediate in all disputes of the people.
The women like to be with Europeans and regard it as something to
be proud of, if they become pregnant to one of them. Their clothing is
offensive. In general, the people are fairly well-proportioned and amiable
though not brave.
arakan. 9:387
The inhabitants of this kingdom place a lead plate on the foreheads of

their children to make it broad. They regard this as a special mark of
beauty; they have small eyes, make their ears so large that they hang
down onto their shoulders, by from time to time stuffing larger and
larger balls of parchment into a hole they have drilled in their ears. They
are selfish in the highest degree. Like other people in the Indies, they do
not bring their fish to market until they stink. It rarely happens that a
woman is married as a virgin. If she has testimonies that she has already
had to do with a man, this is an important recommendation for marriage.
The bodies of the dead are burnt here, as in the previously mentioned
countries. Precious stones are obtained from this country. Buffalo, which
are very fierce in the wild state, are very well tamed for carrying loads
and other work.
assam.
North of Arakan and Pegu. In respect of what the country produces, this
is one of the best countries in Asia, having the best gum lacquer, gold,
and silver. The inhabitants produce a fine type of gun powder, which is
said to have been invented here. All the household goods, including the
animals, are buried with the dead, so that they may serve him in the next
life. The inhabitants of the northern part are beautiful, except that they
are affected by goitre. The main course at banquets is dogs’ meat. Salt
is produced artificially from a certain herb that grows in stagnant water,
and they leach it from the ash of this weed. The ancient Germans are
said to have obtained it in the same way.
c Gedan reads “does not take pleasure”.
637
Natural Science
indostan [hindustan].
Until recently, when the political system of the English brought about
such enormous revolutions in these areas, the Great Mogul was the sole
ruler of this large country, from the Tartar mountains to the Cape of
Comorin, the extreme point of the peninsula on the other side of the
Ganges, and from Persia to Arakan and Assam.445 While it is true that
9:388 there ruled many kings and rajahs on this peninsula, they had had to pay
tribute to the Mogul ever since the great Aurangzeb446 brought them
under his yoke; now some of them pay tribute to the English, indeed,
some of their large possessions have been incorporated into the East
India Company. The inhabitants of the peninsula are of the Moorish and
Arabian race, because 250 years ago, those people gained a firm foothold
there and spread everywhere. Hence their appearance is occasionally like
that of the African Moors.
1. Concerning the Peninsula This Side of the Ganges.

As in the northern part of the torrid zone generally, the alternation of
the monsoon is dominant there. In the in-between months, however,
before the changeable wind is fully established, there are terrible hur-
ricanes, combined with thunderstorms, that cause cruel damage, and in
the face of which no person can remain on his feet. The land and sea
breezes also change every day. The sea breezes blow from midday to
midnight, the land breezes the rest of the time. The rainy season does
not start until towards the end of June and lasts until about the end of
October on the Malabar coasts. At Coromandel, on the other hand, it
begins six weeks later and continues as many weeks longer. There are
more rivers on the western coast than on the eastern one. The rivers
are all very small, because they are tapped many times and diverted into
rice fields and also because they do not flow together to form large
rivers.
Near the Comorin foothills is the pearl bank, which is largely fished
by the Dutch.
Several thousand Jewish families live under the rule of the King of
Cochin on the Malabar coast; they arrived there perhaps at the time of
Nebuchadnezzar and know little of the prophets and Christ.
The most famous diamond mines are in Golconda and Visapur, some
of the most productive of which have closed so that this precious stone
does not become too common. The nizams or princes who live in the
Ghats Mountains were never subject to the Moghul.
In the Bay of Bombay, there is the strongest tide in the world, which
not even a horse is said to be able to escape.
638
Physical geography
2. Bengal 9:389
in general has very great artists. Their linen exceeds all imaginable fine-
ness. They are famous for the production of painted glasses, silk cloths,
a good mortar for building all manner of good medicines and Chinese
work.
3. Kashmir
is situated near the mountains, has a temperate climate like the most
pleasant countries of Europe, the inhabitants have similar colour and
skills, there are similar fruits, and it is regarded as an earthly paradise.
(Here there is a gap in Kant’s original manuscript, which I shall not
fill for the present, following the almost diplomatic exactness I have
adopted as my rule, for the reasons given in the Preface. Once again I
repeat: Kant would have delivered all this quite differently only a few
years ago; were it not for this, I too would have proceeded quite differ-
ently, but as it is – and Kant called for the publication of his Physical
Geography from me with an urgency I could not, durst not, resist.
Editor’s Note.)
moluccan islands.
They are under the rule of the three kings of Ternate, Tidore, and
Batjan, who are all Mohammedans. They have surrendered their ter-
ritorial jurisdiction to the Dutch, and no Dutchman can be punished
without the consent of his countrymen. The kings have made an agree-
ment with the Dutch to the effect that, for a considerable yearly sum,
they have permission to eradicate the nutmeg and clove trees on all their
islands, with the exception of Amboina and Banda, and to build forts in
various places to protect their trade. The inhabitants of the Moluccas
are lazy, cowardly, arrogant, deceitful, mendacious, they take vengeance
in a treacherous way and do not regard whoring as a sin. Here, as on the
Indian mainland, a coconut or other palm tree is everything in one. The
leaves are their tablecloth and their plates, to these are added the shells
[of the nuts]. Hollowed out bamboo is their drinking container. Sago 9:390
is their bread. Clove trees are allowed only on Amboina and nutmeg
only on Banda. Schulz writes of the inhabitants of Ternate, that they
are heroes in battle, but have a perpetual desire for revenge, are of a very
black colour and have long hair. The land on Amboina and the islands
belonging to it is the best, but otherwise the islands are poor and are not
worth the expenses to the Dutch, except for the spices. The clove tree is
like a pear tree, just as the nutmeg tree resembles an apple tree.
639
Natural Science
the island of celebes or macassar.

Celebes, or the northern part of the island, belongs to the King of
Ternate, while Macassar, the southern part, is under the direct pro-
tection of the Dutch. They have gold-bearing sand, calambac, sandal
wood, and coloured timbers. The inhabitants sprinkle opium dissolved
in water on their tobacco, or put a piece the size of a pin head into a
pipe; this makes them bold in battle. The Macassars appear to be the
only warlike nation living east of the Bay of Bengal. They are sought
after as body guards by other courts, like the Swiss. The colour of the
Macassars is blackish, the nose flat, and [appears] pushed in during their
youth. Their letters resemble Arabic, just as they are probably descended
from that nation. They appear to be of noble sentiment, are hot-headed
and quick-tempered and are not made for slavish subservience. They are
Mohammedans. They fire their arrows from blow pipes.
concerning the sunda islands.

Borneo
is among the largest of all known islands. The vapours that rise from
the soil after a flood, the stench of the [dead] vermin that then remain
behind, and the cold winds following upon great heat, make this island
an unhealthy place. The monsoons blow in such a way that from Octo-
ber into April, there are west winds with a lot of rain, from that time
until October, there are east winds and dry weather on the southern
9:391 coast. But there is hardly a day without a rain shower, since the change
from land to sea breezes takes place every day. The northern coast is
unvisited. High tide occurs only once every twenty-four hours, in the
daytime, because at night, the land breezes blow very strongly against the
tide. The inhabitants of the coasts are Mohammedans, heathens dwell
in the interior. These latter shoot their arrows from a blowpipe, like
the Macassars. These arrows are equipped with a sort of bayonet. The
inhabitants of Borneo are black but have long hair. The heathens in the
interior paint their bodies blue, pull out their front teeth and put in gold
ones. Gold is traded here in bars and dust. [They] also [trade] dragon’s
blood, monkeys and goat bezoar, the best camphor, birds’ nests, black
and white pepper; the latter is better because it has fallen from the tree of
its own accord and lain in the sun. In addition, there are diamonds here,
as well as the orang-utang. Here, they also believe in the dragon that is
supposed to swallow the Moon. The inhabitants of Borneo believe that
all illnesses come from an evil spirit, to whom they make a sacrifice such
as a small boat and let it float away down the river.
640
Physical geography
Java.
Five kings rule on this island. Batavia is built on the land belonging to
the King of Bantam. The King of Matarand is the most powerful. From
November into March there are west winds and wet weather, while from
May into October east winds and dry weather predominate. The Dutch
maintain forts in all the significant towns on Java, and with the exception
of the one at Palembang, provide all the princes with bodyguards to keep
them quiet.
The dominant religion is Mohammedanism. In the interior of the
country there are heathens.
The Javanese are yellow and have broad faces, high protruding chin-
bones, a flat nose, they are thieving, spiteful and slavish, now violent,
now frightened. When the Europeans want to get a statement out of
one of their slaves, they put a small split stick on his neck and he has to
say: ‘Black John, if I am guilty, pinch my neck until it is closed!’ normally
they will not have the heart to say this if they are guilty; or they give him 9:392
a heap of dry rice to chew and make him believe that he will asphyxiate
if he is lying; this belief will often extract the truth. Or they give him a
stick as long as a finger, mumble something over it, and make him believe
that, when it has been with a guilty person for a while, it will become
a finger’s width longer. He believes it and cuts some of it off. On Java,
there is much pepper to be found, sugar-cane and cardamon, which is a
spice that grows on a reed-like tree. There are also vines with grapes, but
wine cannot be made from them. Further, there are cubebs, a creeping
plant like pepper. Tamarind, a kind of tree like chestnuts, which bear
a pod fruit, benzoe, betel, and pinang or areka-nuts. There are orang-
utangs, although they are rare, rhinoceros, and snakes twenty-five feet
long that can swallow a human whole. Some report that a child, still alive,
was pulled from the stomach of such a snake. Among the great plagues
are cockroaches, a kind of beetle that eats everything, bites people while
they are asleep, and has a dreadful smell.
Sumatra.
This island is unhealthy. The weather usually goes suddenly from the
greatest heat to the most palpable cold. On the coasts, there are morasses
and swamps of dried-out sea water, which cause unhealthy, stinking fogs.
It is so common for foreigners to die here that they have lost almost all
fear of it. Atjeh is one of the kingdoms on the northern point of the
island. The rain falling during the wet monsoon is astonishingly heavy.
d Gedan reads Mataram.
641
Natural Science
The inhabitants of Sumatra are blackish, with flat faces, small noses, they
dye their teeth black and anoint their bodies with malodorous oil. On the
coasts they are Mohammedans, in the interior heathens, in addition to
betelareka, they also make much use of opium and hemp. The principal
product of the land is pepper, then rice and sugar-cane. Much gold is
found here, and it is washed in the streams more than in other places in
Asia.
Their proas [canoes] have frames as outriggers on each side on which
they place two men opposite in times of storm in order to prevent the
boat turning over.
9:393 The Islands of Nicobar and Andaman

are situated north of Sumatra. The inhabitants are tall and well-
proportioned and dark yellow in colour. They have the fruit of a tree
they use as bread, for they have no other cereals. Nor do they eat
much meat. They are falsely accused of being cannibals. In general,
the most reliable travellers, Dampier among them, have found this
cruel custom, which has been ascribed to many unknown peoples, to be
untrue.
The Land of the Papuans.

It has not yet been properly determined whether this is an island. The
inhabitants of the coast are black and live only on fish. Their religion
is said to consist in the veneration of a small stone with green and red
stripes. New Holland [Australia] was discovered by Dampier sixteen
degrees south of the equator. The inhabitants are black and have woolly
hair like the Negroes and are almost as ugly, they cannot open their eyes
properly and are as poor as any people on the earth.
Other Islands in this Sea.

The island of Bali close to Javae on the eastern side, also called Lit-
tle Java. The inhabitants are nearly all worshippers of idols. They are
whiter than the inhabitants of Java, faithful, industrious, brave, and their
women especially are very sensible, hard-working, good-hearted. Hence
the Chinese like to have the women as wives, while the Javanese take them
as slaves; both the Chinese and the Javanese take the men as slaves. The
evil custom prevails here that the women have to allow themselves to
be burnt with their dead husband. When in the year 1691 The Prince
e Some manuscripts have “Ceylon”, but this was corrected by Gedan.
642
Physical geography
of Bali died, two hundred and seventy of his four hundred wives were
stabbed with daggers, whereupon they released a dove they held in their
hands and cried out: ‘We are coming, Emperor!’; and then they were
burnt.
Genuine sandal-wood is only found in Solor and Timor and a few
nearby islands, the white as well as the yellow and the red.
ceylon 9:394
is situated only eight miles from the mainland of India. The Dutch are
now in possession of the coast and the Emperor of Ceylon of the interior
of the country. The old inhabitants are called Singhalese. They are
brown in colour but not ugly, they are courageous, lively and polite, of
a gentle disposition, thrifty but great liars; rice is their principal food.
Among their main trees are: 1. The Talipot,447 which has uncommonly
large leaves which grow like fans in long folds. When travelling, the
inhabitants wear them on their heads as protection against the sun and
rain. Every soldier has one of these leaves instead of a tent. The tree does
not bear fruit until the last year before it dries out. 2. The Neffule,448
from the sap of which they boil down brown sugar. 3. The Cinnamon
tree is found only on this island; the second layer of bark is cinnamon.
There are various species of cinnamon trees. Each tree dies when the
bark has been peeled off, and it has to be six years old before this can
be done. The whole of the excellent taste lies in the delicate thin skin
covering the bark on the inside, the oil of which penetrates into the bark
during drying. The wood, the leaves and the fruit do contain something
of the scent, but only very little. A species of bird, called the cinnamon
eater, propagates this tree by [spreading] the undigested seeds; the trees
also grow from new shoots on the stump of one hewn down. The scent
of these trees can be detected far out to sea. Camphor is made from its
roots.
This island has a large number of elephants, which the inhabitants
are skilled at capturing and taming. Leeches are an astonishing plague
during journeys here. The local paper consists of strips cut from the
leaves of the talipot and letters are scratched onto these with a stylus.
They revere a supreme deity, but also pray to the images of saints and
heroes. According to their claims, a footprint of their god Buddha can be
found on the top of Adam’s Peak; they revere this footprint. There are
some splendid and very old temples that must have been built at a time
when a very powerful monarch ruled over them. For now they do not
even know how to repair them. Married men here are not jealous. The
women throw their children away or give them away if they think they 9:395
were born at an unpropitious hour. The Pimberach snake449 swallows
643
Natural Science
a deer whole. The Demokalof spider is as big as a fist, hairy, shiny and
transparent, its bite causes insanity.450
the maldive islands.

In the language of the inhabitants, dives means an island, and Male
is the most important of all these islands, the royal capital. Maldives
is a combination of both words. The circumference of all these islands
adds up to more than two hundred German miles. They are divided
into thirteen atolls or groups of islands, each one being a province. Each
atoll is surrounded by a separate reef against which the waves break with
violence. When the King of the Maldives calls himself the king of twelve
thousand islands, this is an Asian exaggeration. Most of the islands are
uninhabited and only have trees on them. Others are only sand hills that
are under water at a strong high tide. There are no rivers, only well water.
Only four or five of the channels between the atolls are navigable, and
even these only with great danger on account of the raging rips and the
large number of cliffs. The heat here is very moderate. The rainy season
lasts from April to September, since the west winds blow then. The
remaining months always have very fine weather with east winds. The
Maldive people are beautiful even though olive coloured; they appear to
have descended from the Malabar people. They carefully bury cut off
hair and fingernails as parts belonging to the person as well as any other
parts. The main island, Male, lies at the centre of the other islands. A
kind of tree grows here with very light wood; divers tie boards of this
wood to objects at the bottom of the sea; [thereby] they bring up smooth
white stones, which in time go black and are then used for building and
other purposes.g
Their religion is Mohammedan. The Maldive Islanders will not eat
with anyone who is not their complete equal in rank, birth, and wealth.
Because this can only be ascertained with difficulty, anyone wishing to
invite strangers will normally send them a table with food to their house.
9:396 Here too, immoderate use is made of betel leaves and the areka-nut.
For pains in the eyes, when they have been in the sun for a long time, they
eat a cooked cock’s liver, and this helps, as some claim to have experienced
themselves. The nation is very lecherous. The King’s household looks
suitably splendid. Maldive coconuts are washed up by the sea and no one
knows where they come from; they are very rare. They are said to be a
medicament. Here is found the small Bolis shell, called cowrie in India;
f Gedan reads Democulo.

g Rink’s text appears to be fanciful here. However, Adickes states that some manuscripts
have the word Kanonen at this point, implying that canons were raised from the sea floor
by this.
644
Physical geography
thirty to sixty shiploads are sent mainly to Bengal, where they are used
for money. They are also valid in Africa. The inhabitants are artistic in
their work.
persia.
This country has violent changes of cold and heat, especially in the inte-
rior, in the regions of Tabriz and Shiraz, etc. There are many uninhabited
deserts, also salt deserts that are candied [as it were] with salt after rain
water has evaporated. There is not a single navigable river in the centre
of Persia, and there is probably no other country in the world so close to
the sea with so few rivers. From June to September, the air is generally
clear.
In the areas near the Persian Gulf, the wind coming over the desert
of Kernan is searingly hot and red. It is nothing other than the famous
Samiel. The island of Hormoz is covered with salt two fingers thick and
is very hot.
The Persian race is very mixed; that is of Arabs, Tartars, and Geor-
gians, whose women they often take. Thus there is no special charac-
teristic in their appearance other than the olive skin. The Gaures or
Guebes are the remnants of the old nation. Their prophet is Zoroaster.
They are frequently found in the southern provinces and worship fire.
The Persians are witty and well-behaved. They are uncommonly fond
of poetry, and it appeals even to those who know no Persian. The girls
become nubile in their eighth year and cease in their thirtieth. Astrology
enjoys great respect in Persia. The crown spends two million Thaler
on presents for those who are adept in it. Because astrologers are used
everywhere for the sick, they, along with doctors (with whom, however, 9:397
they live in constant disagreement), have connections in high places and
are able to discover secret things easily. One laudable thing in Persia is
that distinguished men of merit often hold public lectures in their old
age, in which they pass on to young men their knowledge and experi-
ence. Regarding their religion, they form a sect of the Mohammedan
[faith], but one which is greatly hated by the Turks. In their writings,
there are often much purer notions of Heaven and Hell than can be
read in the Koran. A charming fable is told here about three children,
one of whom died as a child, another was godless and the third pious.
Another fable is about the attempts of the angels to take on human form.
According to their doctrine, good works are signs of divine grace but do
not deserve blessedness. After death, the soul is said to acquire a delicate
aerial body.
Adam is said not to have actually sinned by eating from the forbid-
den tree. He was only advised against it, because he could not sweat out
this food the way he could the others. He was banished from Heaven
645
Natural Science
so that he would not defile it. As a general rule, their devotion dur-
ing the sermon is very bad, as some of them smoke tobacco, some talk,
etc. Dervishes and fakirs often run around here too. Towards the Per-
sian Gulf, there are so-called Johannine Christians, who know noth-
ing of Christ, except that they attach much importance to baptism and
greatly revere John. Naphtha flows from the rocks here. Shiraz wine is
said to be the finest in the world. It is only drunk in secret, but peo-
ple become intoxicated with opium in public, also with hemp, and a
drink of poppy-seeds. They smoke tobacco through water. Opium, of
which they make much use, is obtained from the poppy plant, ‘Hiltot’, by
scratching the seed head. Workers often become dizzy while doing this.
In Khorasan there are many mummies, but only sand mummies. Pearl
fishing brings in five million Thaler. The shell-bank is being rested
at present. It is excellent near the island of Bahrain. One of the best
products exported from Persia is silk. Tutia,451 a kind of earth that
is boiled in pots,h is ranked next. Dates and pistachio nuts are good
here. The Persians follow Galen in their cures and believe that he
learnt a great deal about it from Christ. He is said to have sent his
cousin Philipp to Christ and he profited greatly from Him. Avicenna452
9:398 (Ibn Sina) is their greatest philosopher and doctor. (See the present
state of Arabia and Greater Tartary according to the description of
Salomon.453 )
arabia.
This country has the Red Sea to its west, which appears to be red because
there are many coral-growths on its bottom. The winds on the Red Sea
are almost the same as those in the torrid zone described by us. Suez is
one of the best towns in this country, but Mocha [in the Yemen] is the
one most visited by Europeans.
Mohammed’s grave is in Medina. It is a square building, one hundred
paces long, thirty wide and rests on four hundred columns from which
hang four thousand lamps. The grave itself is enclosed by a silver grille
and the wall is covered on all sides with magnificent cloth studded with
diamonds, which are presents from Mohammedan princes. Mecca is
situated further south; in it is the Kaaba, an old building in the shape of
a cube, the roof of which is covered with red and white cloth, the walls
with damask, and which was regarded as holy even before Mohammed’s
time. The area around it is enclosed with a fence. It is to this place that
the pilgrimages are made. The most powerful sea lord in Arabia is in
Musquat. Most of the Arabs live in tents. The Shereefs of Mecca and
h Adickes suggests that the words “and settles on the sides” should be added at this point.
646
Physical geography
Medina are held in the highest esteem. Stealing is most hated and rare
in Arabia and among the Mohammedans generally.
The nomadic Arabians are divided into tribes which have their sheiks
or emirs. Some pay tribute to the Turks, but most of them do not.
The Arabs are of medium size, slim, blackish, have a fine voice, and
are brave. They like to puncture their skin with needles and then rub
caustic pigments into them. Many wear nose rings. They are honest,
earnest, amiable, and charitable. How their piracy on sea and land is
to be excused. The few wells in the desert regions make travelling very
onerous. But the service of camels facilitates it. Arabic is the language of
learning in the Orient. Like the Turks, they regard dogs as unclean and
avoid touching them. But they exclude greyhounds and tracker dogs.
Natural Characteristics of the Country. 9:399

The country is mostly sandy and dry.
The true date tree is actually native to Persia and Arabia. It is either
male or female. The former bears flowers and no fruit, the latter fruits
but no flowers. Concerning their pollination. The female tree does
not bear fruit until it has been pollinated by the pollen from the male.
The male has a type of pod which gives off pollen when it bursts open.
The syrup boiled from dates serves instead of butter. The coffee tree.
(See above.) The aloe, especially of Socotora. Here it is best and most
plentiful. Arabian balsam is obtained by incising a particular [kind of]
tree. At first it is so strong that one’s nose bleeds from it. Myrrh. Ob-
el-Mosch or the seed of the mosch is [made of] balsam kernels; they are
the seeds of a plant.
The rock with holes in it, from which water flowed after Moses struck
it with a staff, is still to be seen in the Sin Desert in Arabia. The Greeks
have had the monastery on Mount Sinai in their possession for a thousand
years. They have the best garden in Arabia there.
Religion.
Mohammed, who was born in Mecca, married a rich widow called
Khadija. He made known to her his intimate conversations with the
angel Gabriel in a cave under Mecca. He accused the Jews and Christians
of falsifying the Holy Scriptures. [He] issued his Koran in [successive]
sections. Ali, Osman, and Abubekr were soon his newly converted. Of
these, Osman corrected the Koran. Mohammed was amiable, eloquent,
and handsome. His manner of writing was so splendid that he often
referred to the beauty of his style as proof of his mission.
He admitted that he could not perform miracles. But he is reputed to
have split the moon into two parts, and that a ladle warned him not to
647
Natural Science
eat of it because it was poisoned. Many acts of deceit are also imputed
to him, which he did not commit. After the death of Khadija he married
Aischa, a daughter of Abubekr. Concerning his journey through the
seven heavens. The people of Medina began to adhere to him; and he
fled there during [the time of] persecution that he had experienced from
9:400 the government of Mecca. This flight of his constituted a special era for
the Mohammedans, beginning with the year six hundred and twenty-two
after the birth of Christ.
He married his daughter Fatima to his cousin Ali. He commanded
that during prayer, the worshipper should face Mecca. He took Mecca
by a surprise attack, conquered a large part of Arabia and died of poison
that he ate with a leg of mutton. The region of Mecca is holy. The well
Semsem.i All Mohammedans make a pilgrimage there, or should at least
send another in their place.
asiatic tatary.
This large country is wrongly called under the one name Tartary or
Tatary after the Tatars,454 who were one of the hordes that rose above
the others and became powerful at a certain time. – Crimea. Kuban.
Mingrelia. Imeretia. Georgia. Circassia. Daghestan. Lesghier.455
russian territory.
Siberia.
The inhabitants are Russian Christians though partly also
Mohammedans from the Bucharia, partly heathens of all kinds,
and these latter constitute the majority. The Mohammedans are polite
and of a friendly nature. They are the only ones in this country who
have a repugnance for drunkenness, for, as concerns the rest, Christians
as well as heathens: there is probably no other race of people where
drunkenness shows its dominance to the extent it does here. Siberia,
especially in the southern part, is good land; it has pastures and
forests everywhere to excess, and bears all manner of cereals, which,
however, does decrease towards the north and are not planted towards
the Chinese border due to the laziness [of the people]. It has silver,
gold, copper, iron, ‘Mary Glass’,j,456 marble, etc. In the silver mine at
Argunskaya, an average of fifteen pood457 of silver is produced annually.
Although pastures are sometimes very good, there are large steppes
i Gedan reports that some manusripts have Zrazem.

j Marienglas.
648
Physical geography
or deserts of dry grass, which the inhabitants set alight and burn for
miles.
In general, it is extraordinary that everywhere in these countries, and, 9:401
as other travellers assert, in Mongolian Tartary, the soil never thaws out
below a depth of three to four feet even in the hottest summer. Gmelin
found this in the middle of summer in a region further south than Berlin.
In the northern provinces, this frost in the depths never seems to end.
In Yakustk, a well was to be dug (for it should be noted that in the parts
of Siberia somewhat to the north there are no springs at all because the
soil is frozen right under the surface), but the earth was always frozen
thirtyk feet down and no end to be found to the frozen soil. Near the
Yugan River in the land of the Yakutes there are some ice lakes where
there is thick ice in the heat of the summer in the open air. During a
stay in winter in Yeniseisk, Gmelin experienced cold that brought the
Fahrenheit thermometer to one hundred and twenty degrees below 0.458
The quicksilver appeared to give off air but did not solidify. In Yakutsk,
fruits can be stored without damage in the cellars because the frost never
leaves there. Concerning the bones of mammoths in Siberia.
National Characteristics in Siberia

The Samoyeds, being the most remote inhabitants of this land in a
northerly direction, are small, plump, have smooth faces, a brown colour
and black hair. Their clothing is made of fish skins in the summer and
smoked furs in the winter. Their buildings consist of only one room with
a stove in the centre and a smoke hole at the top, which, when the wood
has finished burning, is closed with a piece of ice and serves as a window.
Their food is fresh and dried fish. As in the rest of northern Siberia,
they walk about on long boards when there is deep snow. Nearly all the
inhabitants of northern Siberia swallow the tobacco when they smoke.
The East Yaks spend their lives hunting and fishing. But they do this
with such laziness that they often find themselves in great need. They
make their clothes of sturgeon skins.
Of all the inhabitants of Siberia, the Tungusi, especially the conical, are
probably the most industrious. For, although they have no agriculture,
they are very skilled at all manner of handicrafts and are diligent at
hunting. While on the contrary, the Yakutes can hardly even take the
trouble to set up their traps in which they catch squirrels. All Tatars 9:402
that keep horses make an intoxicating drink from their fermented milk
or derive a brandy from it as well. All their thoughts, all their feast
days, are directed at nothing but drinking. If they have cows, they make
this drink from cows’ milk. It is to be noted that around Tobolsk as in
k Adickes reads “eighty”.
649
Natural Science
Persia, the cows will not give milk unless the calf or its stuffed skin is
present. It is also remarkable that in the winter, the reindeer here can
find the dry grass for themselves by scraping away the snow. Apart from
drinking, vice, and thus also venereal disease, prevails in the towns such
as Tobolsk, Yeniseisk, Nerchinsk, Yakutsk, and others, to such an extent
that there is no other country in the world in which so many people
are seen without noses as here. But their nature ultimately appears to
become so accustomed to it that they seldom die of it.
The laziness in these countries is astonishing. In Nerchinsk a man
would rather let his house fall over than prop it up. No wages can move
him to work, only force.
Religion.
If one excludes the Russians of these regions and the Mohammedans,
the other peoples have nothing to do with any god apart from Satan; for,
although they have a supreme deity, He lives in heaven and is far too far
away. But devils reign on Earth. All the villages have their shaman, who
conjures up the devil. These [shamans] behave as though they were mad,
make gruesome gestures, mumble words to themselves and then claim
to have interrogated the devil. Gmelin often had them perform magic
for him but discovered their deceit every time. In Yakutsk, he found a
woman shaman who was deceiving the people. She pretended to stick a
knife into her body, but she finally had the courage, when he was keeping
a very close watch on her, really to stab herself, pull something from her
omentum,l cut a piece off and eat it after frying it on the coals. She healed
herself in six days. They have depictions of the devil everywhere. The
devil of the East Yaks is very misshapen, that of the Yakutes [is] a stuffed
doll.
kamchatka, a peninsula.
This land is very famous because of the attempts of the Russians
to find a passage to the north. The inhabitants are more diligent at
9:403 hunting than the other inhabitants of Siberia, look better and have bet-
ter clothing. They occupy themselves with shooting sea-otters and other
furred animals and catch sea-cows, sea-lions, sea-bears and other marine
animals.
l Netz
650
Physical geography
the astrakhan tatars. m

The Astrakhan Tatars are also under Russian rule. The Tatar district
in Astrakhan is only inhabited by Tatars in the winter; in the summer
they camp. Apart from the Beluga, a type of sturgeon, the roe of which
is caviar, they also catch the sterlet, a fatter and more delicate fish, in
the Volga. Vines have been planted here, which are growing fairly well.
From March to the month of September, it does not rain here at all. The
Noga Tatars have a wrinkled, ugly face. On the eastern side of Astrakhan,
near the Caspian Sea, live the Karakalpaks, that is Tatars who derive
their name from the black trimming of their caps, and they are partly
under Russian protection. The Circassian Tatars are to be found west of
Astrakhan. Their country is a real nurseryn of beautiful women, who are
sold from there into Turkish and Persian lands. The country is beautiful
but there is more livestock breeding than agriculture. It is from here that
inoculation against chicken pox began because it preserves beauty.
mohammedan free tatary.

Usbeck gives three divisions of it.
1. Greater Bukhara with the towns of Samarkand and Bukhara, the
first of which was the seat of all the sciences in the Orient for a long
time. Balch has its own khan. The Bukharians are well-mannered, and
the inhabitants of the country trade a great deal. They are all under the
protection of the Great Mogul, who obtains his best soldiers from here.
2. Kharasm. The inhabitants of this country are well-mannered and
great robbers.
3. Turkestan, where the Turks originate. Westward of the Caspian
Sea, the Daghestan Tatars may be found, the ugliest of all and arch-
robbers.
mongolian tatars. 9:404
They live to the west and north of the Xamo or Xam [Gobi] desert.
Karakorum, a town in this desert, was the residence of Ghengis Khan,
one of the greatest conquerors in the world. The Mongols are called
stinking Tatars by the Chinese because of their bad smell. In their coun-
try and in that of the Kalmuks, there are no trees, only shrubs. Thus
they do not live in towns but in camps. The soil is said to be frozen
m This sub-heading is absent in some editions.

n Pflanzschule
651
Natural Science
everywhere even in the summer after a depth of a few feet. They live
from livestock breeding, especially horses, and herbs.
Kalmuks.
The Kalmuks inhabit the highest region of eastern Tatary as far as the
Jam mountains and have spread towards the east and north. They boast
of being the true descendants of the ancient Mongols. Their appearance
has been described above. Their chief ruler calls himself Kontaicha. His
power extends to Tangut, although some tribes have put themselves
under Russian protection. In the Kingdom of Tangut something of the
old sciences of the Mongols is still flourishing. In Barantola, or, as others
call it, in the Potala, resides the great high priest of the Mongolian Tatars,
a true replica of the Pope. The priests of this religion, who have spread
from this area of Tatary to the China Sea, are called Lamas; this religion
appears to be a [form of] Catholic Christianity that has degenerated into
the blindest paganism. They maintain that god has a son who came into
the world as a human being, where he lived as a mere beggar occupying
himself only with making the people blessed. In the end he is said to
have been raised to heaven. Gmelin heard this from the mouth of a
lama himself. They also have a mother of this saviour, and they make
images of her. One also sees the rosary there. Missionaries report that
they also assert that there is a trinity in the nature of the deity and that
the Dalai-Lama is said to administer a certain sacrament with bread and
wine, of which, however, no one else eats. This lama does not die, [but
rather] in their opinion, his soul lives on in another body which was
completely similar to the previous one. Some subordinate priests also
claim to be imbued with the spirit of this deity, and the Chinese call
9:405 such a person a living Fo. What has been said above, together with the
fact that the great Lama, whom they also call theo father, is the real
pope among the heathen and has his Patrimonium Petri, so to speak, in
Barantola, confirm the conjecture above. What some travellers claim,
namely that the adherents of this faith carry the excrement of the lama
as a fine powder around with them in boxes and spread some of it on
their food, is probably just slander.
manchu tatary.
The Manchus live in towns. The sciences and arts are cultivated by them
to some extent. These Tatars have conquered China and emperors of
this tribe still rule there. They are well-mannered and cultivate the land.
o Adickes adds the word “eternal” here.
652
Physical geography
The ginseng root grows in their deserts. They are of the Dalai-Lama
religion.
concerning the attempt to seek a passage from

the northern arctic ocean to india.
Russian monarchs have sent ships on this expedition since the time
of Peter I. Some of them sailed along the northern coasts of Asia,
but because one soon becomes frozen in the ice, attempts were made
to build ships in Kamchatka and to find a passage to the north-east.
Captain Bering459 failed at the Kurilie Islands, but nonetheless, impor-
tant discoveries were made, and people are now persuadedp that Asia and
America are not connected.
asiatic turkey.
This extensive country is fairly cold in some regions such as the moun-
tainous areas of Armenia, but it is hot on the plains by the seashore, such
as near Aleppo. Tournefort still found ice two fingers thick towards the
end of June near Erserum, and further [he found] that it snows there
sometimes. For this reason, there is almost no wood to be encountered
in this region. In the mountains of Lebanon there are only sixteen of
the majestic cedars of antiquity, which grew out of the snow. The soil
in this country is salty and in some places full of naphtha. Near Aleppo
there is a salt valley, where accumulated water leaves [a layer of] salt
when it dries. Some miles away from the Dead Sea, one also finds a crust 9:406
of salt on the fields, similarly also in the earth. The Turks, who own
these lands, are actually of Tataric descent, of handsome appearance,
hospitable, generous towards the poor and towards travellers in the sup-
plying of caravanserais. They are, however, rather given to laziness and
can sit with one another for hours without talking. Their dominant vice
is meanness. They are not supposed to drink any wine, but it is drunk
in secret. They do not have any [system of] aristocracy nor any duels.
Their belief in predestination. They never gamble for money. They
are Mohammedans of the so-called orthodox sect. Hatred towards the
Persians as heterodox Shiites. There are even more sects among them,
even sceptics and atheists. Mingrelia, Georgia, and Imeretia are the nurs-
eries of beautiful women. Mingrelia has a very high rainfall. The soil
there is so sodden that the cereals are thrown into the unploughed field
or at most turned over with a wooden plough. The Georgians are bad
Christians, unchaste, thieving, given to drink. The Armenians are among
the greatest merchants in the Orient.
p Rink added the words “and people are now persuaded”.
653
Natural Science
9:407 the second continent.

Africa.
the foothills of the cape of good hope.
The actual inhabitants are Hottentots. They are only as dark as gypsies,
but have black woolly hair like Negroes and a thin beard that is woolly
as well. Soon after birth, they push their children’s noses upwards and
inwards, and thus have an awkward snub nose and thick sausage lips.
Some of the women have a natural ‘pelt’q on the osse pubis, which cov-
ers their sexual organs, even though they wear a sheep skin over them.
Thevenot460 remarks on this in relation to many Egyptian and Moorish
women. (Cf. especially Le Vaillant’s First Trip to Africa461 on this sub-
ject.) They grow old, are fleet of foot and anoint their skin with mutton
fatr every day to protect the sweat pores from the very great drying out of
the air. But that it is done out of vanity can be seen from the fact that not
only do they rub the same salves into their hair, without ever combing it,
but also into their sheep skin, which they first rub vigorously with cow
dung (their favourite smell altogether), and then daily with sheep-fat and
soot. Their other adornments are rings of ivory around the arms and a
small stick with the tail of a cat or fox, which serves as a handkerchief.
Only the women wear rings of sheep leather wound around their legs.
They wear glass and brass buttons in their hair and copper rings around
the neck. On feast days they paint six big stripes over their eyes, cheeks,
nose and chins with red chalk.
In their battles, they are armed with spears, a parrying stick and a pike,
and they attack until their chieftain blows on a pipe, with strange gri-
9:408 maces, while they leap forward and then back again one by one. When
the chieftain blows on his pipe, the battle fighting stops. They are able to
hit their target with astonishing accuracy with their spears, and indeed
without looking directly at the object but above, below, or to the sides.
They have a great many religious acts even though they never really con-
cern themselves about what God, whom they call the supreme chieftain,
is. They revere the moon and perform dances in front of a species of
golden beetle, which they revere as a deity. If this [beetle] shows itself in
a village, then this means good fortune, and if it settles on a Hottentot,
then that person becomes a holy man. They do believe in a life after
death, but they never think about salvation or damnation. They appear
to have taken over some things from Judaism. According to their belief,
the first man was called Noh. They abstain from no meat except that of
q Fell
r At this point, some manuscripts have the words “rancid butter and soot, Kolbe believes”.
s Kinn. One manuscript has Knie (knee).
654
Physical geography
the pig, and fish without scales. But they never give any reason for this
other than that it is the custom among the Hottentots. The Hottentots
have a great deal of native wit and much skill in the preparation of many
things that are part of their equipment. They are honest, very chaste,
and hospitable but their offensive smell exceeds anything else. They can
all be smelled from a long way off. They rub their newly born children
with cow-dung and lay them in the sun. Everything of theirs has to smell
of cow-dung. They have lice in plenty and eat them to pass the time. All
Hottentots have to be deprived of one testicle after they are nine years
old. This and other ceremonies are concluded by two elders wetting the
entire assembly with their urine, which holy water they rub [into their
skin] vigorously. This also occurs when two people are married. The
boy is accepted among the men in his eighteenth year with many cere-
monies, and is wetted as just mentioned, and rubs this liquid into himself
with fat. Thereafter, he need have nothing to do with any woman and
can beat them without reprimand, even his mother. The women have
to look after the entire household. The man does nothing other than
smoke tobacco, drink and go hunting a little for pleasure. Their laziness
often brings them into great need, so that they eat the soles of their feett
or the leather rings on their fingers.u Among their ridiculous customs is
that a widow, who wants to marry for a second time, has to have a joint
removed from a finger. This begins with the first joint of the little finger
and continues thus if she marries several times.
As concerns their food, they are the greatest lovers of intestines. They 9:409
make cooking pots out of the earth of ant heaps; their spoon is a shell.
They fry [their food] between hot stones. The drink they delight in most
is brandy, from which, as from tobacco, they become almost crazed. The
cows here will not give milk unless the calf is present. But if it should
refuse, they blow into the [cow’s] uterus with a horn. They make butter
by shaking the milk in sacks made from raw ox hides, the rough side of
which is turned outwards.v But they use it only to grease themselves. No
people insist more stubbornly on its customs. Not a single Hottentot
has yet been moved to accept the Christian faith. If they have twins and
one is a girl, they bury it alive. When an old person without means can
no longer find his own food, they put him aside, give him some supplies
and let him starve. They keep many oxen trained for battle. Their huts
are similar to our hay-stacks and the village consists of a circle of huts.
In the middle they have the animals that cannot defend themselves. On
the outside, [they keep] oxen and dogs.
t Fußsohlen. Gedan suggests Fußsohlen von den Feldschuhen der Europäer (the soles of the
shoes of Europeans).
u Finger. Adickes reads Füße (feet).
v Adickes reads “inwards”.
655
Natural Science
Natural Features of the Country.

From May until September there are frequent rains with north-west
winds, from September to the month of March the opposite is the case.
Salt is left behind where the rain water dries out in puddles. Even a
vessel with an opening that catches the wind will [after a while] contain
a deposit of water that is salty. The good monsoon or south-east wind
blows strongly and has uncommon force. It maintains health. It is very
unhealthy in the in-between months. The cloud formation over Table
Mountain, called the Eye of the Ox, has been described above.
Products of the Country.

The water on the Cape is very fine. It does not lose its purity if it is
brought to Europe. Iron stone is found there, from which the Hottentots
smelt iron and forge their tools with stones. Cinnabar and some gold
is found there. The elephant is found here, whose dung the Hottentots
smoke as tobacco if need be. Lions, tigers, and leopards, whose flesh tastes
very good. The rhinoceros, whose horn, when hollowed out to form a
9:410 beaker, will crack from poison. The zebra, the buffalo, the hippopotamus,
porcupines, wild dogs that hunt in packs but do not harm people. Many
baboons, jackals, stink-badgers, which, when followed, give off such a
stench that humans and animals become unconscious from it. Large
tortoises, the thirst-snakes, the Cobra de capello, millipedes, the North-
Caper, dolphins and Dorados, sharks, the puffer fish, the electric ray.
There is here also the Gieleg root, and the Hottentots strive to find it.
The wine is good.
the land of natal

is inhabited by Kaffirs and has partly been purchased by the Dutch. The
Kaffirs have almost nothing in common with the Hottentots. They do
not anoint themselves as the latter do, have square houses [built] of clay,
are very black, have long smooth hair, sow and cultivate cereals,w which
the Hottentots do not do. They trade with the pirates. The animals and
plants here are the same as in the land of the Hottentots.
the sofala coast [of mozambique].

It is thus called because of the Portuguese town of this name. This
coast is regarded with much probability as the Ophir of [King] Solomon.
w Bauen Getreide. Adickes, on the basis of Kant’s source, Kolbe, suggests brauen Getränke
(brew drinks).
656
Physical geography
Elephant tusks and gold dust are found here. Mozambique belongs to the
Portuguese. Above this coast, the land belongs to the Arabs of Mascat and
some wild, [yet] hospitable nations up to the Straits of Bab-al-Mandeb
[between the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden].
the island of madagascar.

This island is regarded as the largest of all known islands. The French
rule a considerable part of the coast. The inhabitants are partly of black
descent, which are said to number about one million six hundred thou-
sand, [and] partly of Arabian [descent]. The blacks are tall and agile.
The women are beautiful and charming. No one worries about how a
girl behaved herself before marriage, as long as she is faithful afterwards.
In their wars, the victory depends entirely on the bravery of the leader,
whose bravery or retreat will produce the same [behaviour] by the peo-
ple as a consequence. They have circumcision, like most of the African 9:411
people on the coast. Apart from that, they have no deity other than a
cricket they feed in a basket, into which they put badx things for them.
This they call their ‘oly’. The oxen here all have humps of fat. The sheep
here have very wide tails that consist entirely of fat. There are here many
luminous flies, which, when they sit on a tree at night, make it appear
that the tree is on fire. One type of snake crawls into the anus of careless
people with great speed and kills them. One also encounters here a large
sea monster the size of an ox with feet like a crocodile, but bristly. There
is no gold on the island other than that which they obtain by trading
with the Arabs. But there are various precious stones there.
monomotapa [or mwana motapa]. 462

The emperor of this extensive empire rules over many subordinate kings.
Very rich gold and silver mines are encountered in the interior of the
country. The inhabitants are black, courageous, and fleet of foot. They
engage in magic a great deal. The Portuguese would have us believe that
among the soldiers of this emperor there are Amazons who burn off their
left breast and fight very bravely.
concerning the countries congo,

angola, and benguela.
The air in the Congo is temperate. Rain with north-west winds prevails
here from April to August, and there is fine weather with south-east
winds from September to April. Although the Sun is at its highest for
x Bösen. Adickes reads besten (best).
657
Natural Science
the inhabitants in these last months, the winds cool [the air] very con-
siderably. The soil is very fertile. Several types of corn, millet, and pulse
vegetables are grown. Bread is made from the cassava root. Bananas,
pineapple-fruit and others are also found here. The ‘Enseten’y tree is
one and the same as the banana tree. The ‘Mignaminga’ is said to have
poisonous leaves and wood. But anyone who has been poisoned by its
leaves is helped by the wood and vice versa. The missionaries report that
9:412 there are some birds here that have a speaking voice, such that there is
one which is said to be able to say for example, the name ‘Jesus Christ’
fairly plainly; others, whose screeching betrays wild animals. Elephants
are hunted here mostly for their tails, because the women decorate their
necks with its bristles. In the Congo, there are very voracious ants which
[can] eat a whole cow. Among the fish here there is the mermaid. Large
snake embba,z which swallows a sheep in one bite. The inhabitants of
these countries are black, though there are many mulattos among them,
especially in the Portuguese possessions of Angola and Benguela.
Benguela has very unhealthy air. The Europeans lose their healthy
colour here. For the most part the religion is Christian. The heathen
inhabitants here also engage a great deal with magic.
matamba and the anzikos, the jaggas.

The Anzikos are circumcised. According to missionary reports, human
flesh from fat slaves, properly butchered for the purpose, is on sale in
their markets. The Jaggas are an unusually widely dispersed people. They
are black, bold, and mark their faces with strokes branded in. They live
by robbing and do not even take the trouble to drain palm wine [from
the palm]; they chop the tree down and extract the juice in this way.
The women have to have two of their top, and an equal number of their
bottom, teeth extracted. It is said that they kill their children and instead
abduct adult persons from other countries. They are said to have moved
out of Sierra Leona, but now they have spread over a distance of more
than nine hundred miles. Matamba is also largely inhabited by Jaggas.
The Coast of Africa.

from the canary islands to the congo.
Canary Islands.
On the island of Hierro, there is the miraculous tree already described.
Sparkling palm wine is obtained on the island of Palma. The immortal
y Gedan reads “ensida”. z Adickes suggests “Embambe”.
658
Physical geography
tree is like Brazil wood, but does not rot, either in the earth or in water. 9:413
On Tenerife, the Pico is to be noted, and also the mummies wrapped
in goats’ skin. Madeira used to have a great deal of forest, but it is now
burned down. Madeira grape vines were transplanted from Crete. The
Vino Tinto is red and bad.
countries
from the ‘Green Foothills’ to the Gambia River.
On the north side of the Senegal, the people are descended from the
Moors and are not real Negroes. But on the south side, there are such
black Negroes as nowhere else in the world, except the Fulians. There
is talk of a people here with large red lips that never speak, have a
cloth in front of their mouths and carry on their affairs in silence. The
Mohammedan religion prevails on both sides of the Senegal. At Cape
Verde and its islands, the Sargasso floats over immeasurable depths.
These islands have the same inhabitants as the neighbouring mainland.
Most of the birds there have black skin and similar bones. The heat is
unbearable on the Senegal. The land of the Fulians, one of the adjacent
countries, has very beautiful, charming, black-brown women with long
hair. The industrious women take water into their mouths so that they
will abstain from gossiping. The ants here build mounds the shape of
nine-pins, covered with a sort of hard plaster of Paris, with only a single
door. The Jolofs, who live between the Gambia and the Senegal, are the
blackest and most beautiful Negroes. They show great skill at stealing.
One has to pay more attention to their feet than to their hands. The
worst disloyalty here is the sale of slaves. The King of Barsalli often
burns down his own villages, just to catch slaves and buy brandy with the
money. Parents sell their children and the children their parents. From
the Gambia, the Mohammedan religion stops and the heathens start.
concerning the countries at the mouth of the

gambia and along the coast of guinea.
On the Gambia, the people have flat noses, which the children are sup-
posed to get because they are carried on the backs of their mothers while
they work. Here there is also the problem with the ‘Colubrilles’, or long
worms, which eat their way into the skin. All the heathen inhabitants
along the coast mentioned have to do with crickets or the magic arts. 9:414
In the county along the Gambia, the priests make magic bits of paper
called ‘grisgris’. For this reason, the paper for writing them on is a very
common commodity. The soldiers are all dressed up in them. The front
and back of the head, shoulders and arms are decorated with them. Some
659
Natural Science
even have a whole magic cuirass, but they cost a lot of money. ‘Mumbo
Jumbo’ is a dress in which a bogey or a doll is dressed in order to frighten
the women. In Sierra Leone there is rain and thunderstorms only in
the summer months. The mountains echo the report of a cannon in a
terrifying way. High tide here comes from the west and south-west and
always returns thither. The inhabitants of Sierra Leone are not com-
pletely Negro black, but they have a very evil smell. In general, there are
here four kinds of trees of the palm type: date, coconut, areca, and cyprus
palm trees or wine trees, which produce the best palm juice. One cuts
off a branch and hangs a bottle on the stump. The wild animals in this
country eat only the Negroes, not the Europeans, as we are informed.
There is also an animal here, called the African lynx, as large as a hunting
dog, very furious and of the leopard type. The lion here is very large and
just as majestic as in any other place. The elephant here is not quite as
large as in India. It has been observed that it turns more easily to the
left than to the right and the Negro takes advantage of this. They have
here the goat, called antelope, approximately like the brocket [stag].a
The demoiselle [Numidian crane] or African peacock likes to be alone.
The ox-sucker is the size of a blackbird. The weaver birdb hangs its nest
in the delicate branches of trees hanging over the water. The opening is
always towards the east. The shark, the ‘Blaser’, cormorant, ‘Pantoufflier’,
the hammer fish, manatee, torpedo, tortoises, crocodile, hippopotamus,
grampus or north-caper are in this ocean and along these coasts. It must
be noted here that when mariners sail across the tropic or the equa-
tor, they undertake the sea baptism with all those who are crossing it
for the first time. The person [so] baptised must swear to maintain the
custom.
The Quaqua [Ivory] Coast has its name from the word ‘Quaqua’, which
the Negroes here are constantly saying and which means something like:
‘your servant’. These people file their teeth as sharp as awls.
9:415 The Negroes of the coast of Guinea are not unpleasantly shaped, they
do not have flat noses and are proud but also very spiteful and thieving.
Some travellers claim to have seen shiny yellow people who arrive here
as strangers. On the Gold Coast, the people let their fingernails grow
very long in order to pick up gold dust with them. The Mohammedan
marbuts give as the cause of the poverty of the Negroes that of the three
sons of Noah, one was a white man, the second a Moor, and the third a
Negro, and that the first two had deceived the last. But the heathens say:
God created black and white people and left them the choice, so that
the white man chose science and the black man gold. The blacks on the
coast train their women in such a way that they will seduce strangers, so
a Rosenkranz-Schubert adds the words “Among the noteworthy birds”.

b Fischervogel
660
Physical geography
that they will be able to punish them with money afterwards. Whores
are kept here publicly, who may not deny their favours to anyone, even if
he offers only a penny. In general, the Negroes here believe in two gods,
a white one and a black one, whom they call Demonio or Diabro; the
latter, they say, is spiteful and unable to provide any corn, fish or the like.
The white god has given everything to the Europeans. The sovereign
religion of all the Negroes on the coast of Africa from Sierra Leone to
the Gulf of Benin is the superstition about fetishes, from the Portuguese
word ‘fetiço’, that is magic. For the great god, so these people believe,
does not occupy himself with the government of the Earth and has placed
special powers in the priests or fetishers, so that they can communicate
a magic power to any object by means of magic words. Therefore they
carry some such fetish, e.g., a bone from a bird, a feather, a horn full of
dung, around with them for the preservation of their family. To swear in
their language is to make a fetish. They have fetish trees, fetish fish, fetish
birds. They curse that a fetish should execute them. They make vows by
the fetish. For this reason, almost every one of them abstains from some
kind of food. They have a [form of] circumcision and maintain beggars
through public taxes. Their kings cut a miserable figure at home and are
not much ahead of our cobblers. Kings are elected from all ranks, even
lackeys; on the other hand, their daughters are often married to slaves.
The king and his princes tendc their fields themselves, since otherwise
they would have to die of starvation. He has to give away most of his
tribute or spend it on entertaining at feasts. In some provinces, a creditor 9:416
will take something away from the nearest person and direct him to the
debtor, with whom he then has to pursue the case.
Their battles are ridiculous. They run at the enemy bent over or even
crawling, fire and run back like monkeys. Captured kings are sold to the
Europeans as slaves and are never ransomed. They cut the lower jaw
off their captives while they are alive and then decorate themselves with
them, as they do also with skulls.
The summer begins here in September and lasts six months, during
which time the greatest heat prevails. The rest of the time, when the sun
is at its highest, it remains cool because of the constant rain and fog. The
blacks are very much afraid of the rain, which is red and attacks the skin.
They also say here that the winters used to be colder and the summers
warmer in earlier times. Similarly, tornadoes are said to be not as violent
now as previously.
The ‘Harmattans’ are bitter cold north-east winds which last from
January to February. But they are peculiar to the Gulf of Benin. Most
gold dust is found in Axim and Jefata.d The salt in Guinea is very white
c Pflegen. Adickes reads pflügen (plough).

d Adickes suggests Fetu.
661
Natural Science
from a [single] boiling, but in the summer heat it becomes bitter and sour.
Among the fruits of the field, the ‘batates’,463 which resemble potatoes,
are very much in use in this as in some Indian countries. Cattle as well as
people here are of a lighter weight than might be expected on the basis
of external appearance. Dog meat is popular here. The dogs here are all
hairless and do not bark. A twenty-two-feet-long snake has been found,
inside which was a fully grown deer.
In the Kingdom of Whidah, otherwise called Fida, the Negroes are
not as black as they are on the Gold Coast. They are hard-working,
full of compliments, the most mischievous thieves in the whole world. A
ridiculous reward, that rich women imagine they are attaining when they
are dying, is that they bequeath their slaves to become public whores and
think they will be rewarded for this after death. Parents usually sell their
children as slaves. Many children bring much wealth. Circumcision is
practised here, as in other parts of Africa. It is a great impoliteness to
speak of death.
The great fetish of Whidah is a large snake that pursues rats and
venomous snakes. A pig once ate such a snake and the whole family of
9:417 pigs was eradicated. Snake houses are dedicated to it as temples. Girls are
made sacred to it and must subsequently be venerated by their husbands.
They are cowardly, and they have the absurd custom of turning to the
first person [they meet] in cases of debt.
The Kingdom of Benin is powerful. The King of Whidah has fur-
nished his palace, his equipment and his hospitality almost on a Euro-
pean scale. The King of Adda.e He sent ambassadors to France. The
inhabitants near the Gabon River wear rings in their ears, noses, lips;
others make a hole in the lower lip, through which they stick the tongue.
The king of this country carried on the smith’s trade in the time of
Bosmann.
egypt.
On account of its fertile soil and great heat in its lower part, the country
is very unhealthy, especially from the fiftieth day of the summer, since
south winds, called Hamsin or Chamsin, blow in very hot air. The
epidemics arising in this way cease suddenly as soon as the Nile beings
to burst its banks. Almost all people in Cairo have bad eyes. The Nile,
which was discussed above, would not flood so far into the country if the
water were not conducted there by means of canals. Among the several
arms of the Nile, only two are navigable, that of Damietta and that of
Rosetta.
e Gedan reads Ardrah.
662
Physical geography
The old inhabitants here are only yellow, but they become blacker and
blacker the closer they are to Nubia. The largest of the pyramids has a
square base, the side of which is six hundred and ninety three feet long
and the angled height amounts to the same. Attempts to search through
them. The mummies are found in the catacombs or graves to the west
from that place where ancient Memphis stood; the best of them were
anointed with Arabian balm and benzoe after the brains and entrails
had been removed; [then they were] placed in a salt brine for a while
and then had the inside filled with the best herbs and sweet smelling
things. Such a mummy costs four thousand Gulden. For the second kind,
inferior ingredients were taken, while for the third, only Jews’ pitch [was
used]. A Jew in Alexandria embalmed the bodies of those who died in
the plague into mummies. On the island of Tenerife one can also find
mummies in graves, sewn into goat skins, which have kept very well. 9:418
Of the plants, we note only the papyrus of the ancients, a kind of reed
from which the Egyptians derived their bread, their clothing and even
paper. In Cairo, there are also ovens in which hens’ eggs are hatched by
a temperate heat from smouldering cow or camel dung. Near Old Cairo,
there is a churchyard, of which the Copts believe that the dead bodies in
it move out into the air on Good Friday. How the Copts behave during
the reading of the Gospels. The crocodile is one of the worst enemies in
Egypt. The ichneumon does not eat through its intestines but destroys
its eggs. The ibis bird is peculiar to Egypt; it is very like a stork and
dies as soon as it crosses the border; it eradicates the locusts that come
from Ethiopia. The Gypsies are said to be originally descended from the
ancient inhabitants of Egypt, who later, during the victories of the Turks,
retreated into the deserts and lived by banditry, but eventually were
mostly eradicated and driven away. As in other Turkish lands, Christians
here are not allowed to ride on horses but [only] on donkeys.
abyssinia.
In the low regions of the country and on the coasts of the Red Sea near
Suakin, the heat is great to an unheard of degree; in the other, moun-
tainous areas, however, it is as temperate as in Italy or Greece. There
is seldom or never snow to be seen on the mountains. The rain, which
pours down here as though from jugs in the months of June, July, and
August, is associated with terrible thunderstorms and provides the Nile
with its increase. The country is as mountainous and rugged as Switzer-
land. Here there are all sorts of strange figures and shapesf of mountains.
This land undoubtedly has precious metals, but the inhabitants do not
f Figuren und Gestalten
663
Natural Science
search for them so that the greed of the Turks will not be aroused.
Albuquerque,464 who was sent from Portugal to the King of Abyssinia,
gave the advice, that, in order to weaken the power of the Turks, the Nile
should be diverted to another place or at least its water be reduced into
many side-streams to such an extent that the flood in Egypt could not
reach the level required for fertility. For, once the Nile has left Abyssinia,
no other streams run into it and there are many streams in Ethiopia that
9:419 do not reach the sea, just as [there are] in Greater Tartary; similarly in
Persia, as they divide into various branches and lose themselves in the
ground. Of the plants of the country, among which most of the European
ones are to be found, we note only the herb ‘asazan’,g which stupefies any
snake that touches it, and anyone who has eaten even just its root remains
safe from their bite for a whole day. The Ethiopian oxen are half as big
again as ours. The horses here are fine and courageous. Sheep, with tails
weighing ten to forty pounds, are common. The zebra, which is called
‘zekora’ here, the cameleopard or giraffe, which is described by Ludolph
as being so high that a person of small stature only reaches to its knee
and someone on horseback can ride through under its stomach.∗ The
country has countless monkeys, which may be the origin of the name: Sly
Monkey Land (‘Schlauer Affen Land’);465 there is a fable of Herodotus466
according to which a table could be found every morning at sunrise set
with roast game in the open field, of which the people believed that it
had got there by itself; it is possible that this fable was the reason for
calling a country of imaginary comfort and beauty ‘Schlaraffenland’. The
hippopotamus, the crocodile, etc. can be encountered here. Among the
birds, I note only the pipit, which gets its name from its screams that
it utters as soon as it sees a human and becomes aware of a wild animal
or snake at the same time, and leads the person to the place where it
is itself.h They have no domestic geese. What the Arabs tell of their
rock-bird as a fable, and which is confirmed by some travellers, is among
the curiosities of the ‘Schlaraffenland’. The locusts here are very large,
harmful but good for the health and pleasant to eat. Ludolph asserts
that John the Baptist ate them, as did the Children of Israel in the desert.
The Abyssinians are of Arabian descent, witty, well-proportioned but
pale black with woolly hair, honest, not quarrelsome. There are some
white Moors among them also; but the Kaffirs who live in their region
are not only ugly but also as ill proportioned and wicked as the other
Negroes.
∗ Cf. Le Vaillant’s Trip into the Interior of Africa.467 A skeleton of this animal was in the
splendid natural history cabinet of the Regent at The Hague.
g Adickes reads assazoe.

h The word “itself ” appears to have been added mistakenly.
664
Physical geography
Apart from that, there are also Arabs and Jews among them. The 9:420
religion is Christian, but, as well as many heathens, the Turks are a very
great danger to them in their country. Although they are Christians,
the Abyssinians nonetheless circumcise their children like the Copts.
Concerning Priest John.468
the north coast of africa.

The inhabitants are a mixture of autochthones, Arabs, and Vandals, and
thus are not particularly different from the Europeans. The products of
the country are like those of Egypt. The interior of Africa on the Senegal
is very little known.
the third continent. 9:421
Europe.
european turkey.
Bulgaria.
Near the mountain that separates this country from Serbia, there is a
warm bath and sixty paces from it, a cold one. In fact, there are many
warm baths here. Here also are found the great eagles, whose feathers
are usedi as arrows by the inhabitantsj of all Turkey and Tartary. The
Dobrudchin Tartars south of the mouth of the Danube are famous for
their hospitable nature, since every traveller is cordially invited by the
people of the villagers to be content with what they have [to offer] and is
received for up to three days with honey, eggs and bread free of charge.
greece.
Mount Athos in Macedonia, on which there are twenty-two monasteries.
It is said to cast a shadow as far ask the Island of Lemnos at the time of
the summer solstice. The Styx in Morea, the water of which is deadly
cold and so corrosive that it dissolves iron and copper. The Mainotes,
descendants of the ancient Macedonians,l have not been conquered by
the Turks to the present day. Of the Greek islands, Lemnos is famous for
its sealing clay [terra sigillata], which is dug up with much ceremony. Near
Negroponte469 is the famous Euripus. The Island of Milos or Melus
consists of a spongy and saturated rock, under which there is a constantly
i Gebraucht. Adickes reads Gekauft (bought).

j Bewohnern. Adickes reads Bogenmachern (bow makers).
k Adickes suggests adding “the market place of the town of Myrrhina on” here.
l Macedonier. Adickes reads Lacedämonier (Lacedaemonians, or Spartans).
665
Natural Science
active fire, such that it can be felt everywhere one puts one’s hand into the
9:422 holes of the rock. Some fields on this island smoke like chimneys. Alum
and sulphur are frequently found here. The air is unhealthy, but the
soil fertile. Antiperos has a grotto which is full of beautiful formations
of transparent, crystalline marble. The labyrinth at the foot of Mount
Ida on the Island of Crete is noteworthy; the principal passage in it is
twelve thousandm paces long, and without signposts, one easily becomes
lost. The Island of Santorini was raised by a violent eruption of the
subterranean fire from the bottom of the sea. In this way, four other
nearby islands rose up from the sea, which is almost unfathomably deep
here. Altogether, Greece and its islands are fruitful in figs, raisins and
good wine. The inhabitants have greatly declined from their previous
good character.
hungary.
This country is full of minerals in the soil. The ‘cement water’,470 the var-
ious mines, especially the gold mines of Cremnitz and Czemnitz, which
latter, particularly Schemnitz, yield the finest gold, but now neither of
them covers the costs of production. The hot and deadly springs, and
similarly the ice caves, are evidence of it. In the lower regions, where
the Danube forms swamps, the air is very unhealthy. The wine of this
country is the best in Europe.
italy.
The top of this country is separated from France and Switzerland from
west to east by a range of mountains, called the Alps (which word in
general designates a high mountain), and in the centre [it is] divided from
north to south by the Apennine Range. The European kinds of fruit were
nearly all transplanted from Italy, and they were brought to Italy from
Asia and Greece. Apricots from Epirus, peaches from Persia, lemons
from Media, pomegranates (mala punica) from Carthage. Chestnuts
from Kastanea in Macedonia, the best pears from Alexandria, Numidia,
Greece, the best plums from Armenia and Damascus. Lucullus brought
9:423 the first cherries from Pontus. When Alexander conquered Persia,
‘holosericum’, or material made from silk, was as dear as gold; later, silk
worms were brought to Greece.n The same occurred with wine. A long
time ago, Italy was much more heavily forested, colder and probably
also less populated than now. The inhabitants of Italy are now of very
m Adickes reads “twelve hundred”. n Adickes has Greece and Italy.
666
Physical geography
mixed blood, so that it is difficult to determine their character. They

are jealous, vengeful and secretive, but otherwise inventive, clever and
political.
Mount Cenis is the most famous of the Savoy mountains, over which
the entrance leads from Switzerland to Italy. One of the Piemontese
Mountains erupted in the year 1751. The Savoyards are poor but honest.
In the mountains, the men travel with marmots and a few things each
year and nearly all return home at the same time, which is the reason
why nearly all the women give birtho at the same time. In Savoy, [the
people have] uncommonly large goitres, especially the women.
Piemont is very fertile. Mount Roche Melon is the highest in the
French Alps. A pistol fired on the tops of the mountainsp there has a
report like a stick at the moment of breaking. The range of mountains
situated to the south of the Lucerne Valley is that over which Hannibal
made his path, which can still be seen today. White hares, white par-
tridges, and Nordic plants, as in Lapland, are found on the highest Alps.
The jumart471 is an animal conceived by a bull and a mare or a bull and a
she-ass; and the former is called a ‘baf ’.q Its head and tail look like those
of a bull. But the animal has no horns, only bulges in those places where
they ought to be; otherwise it is like the mother, but is not the size of a
mule. It runs very fast, is very strong but eats little. Stone oil, which is
scooped from the wells, on the water of which it is found in many places
in Italy, especially near Modena.
Near Bologna is the home of the well-known Bologna Stone472 which,
when it is calcined, absorbs light. But direct light has too strong an effect
on it and it disintegrates in it. Mention has already been made of the sea
dates or balanes,473 the type of shell in which a spongy stone is found.r
Here we merely note that their juice shines so brightly in the dark that
one can read by it. The muscadel wine near Montefiascone is the best. 9:424
The stones thrown out by Vesuvius often contain noble metals. The
steam baths near Naples are vaults of the Agnano Sea in which there is
an opening from which very hot steam emerges, which fills the caverns
and makes the animal bodies therein sweat. Solfatara is a small valley
in which there are steam holes. The stones, which lie around such an
opening, are always in motion and if one throws in a handful of small
stones, these are pushed up to a height of six yards. The Solfatara Valley
and Mount Vesuvius are connected with one another. The soil here is
o ins Wochenbett kommen

p Das Gebirge. Adickes reads das Berg Viso (Mount Viso).
q On the basis of Kant’s source (Büsching), Adickes here adds the words “and the latter
is called a ‘bif ’ ”.
r Adickes reads “the type[s] of shell which are found in spongy stone”.
667
Natural Science
hollows and the echo thunderous if a stone is thrown into a hole that has
been dug.
Apulia is sandy, without springs, where people and animals are
watered from natural and artificial cisterns. It rains very little here.
The wine is somewhat salty, but the watermelons are excellent. The
tarantula spider and the ‘tarantalotis’ have been treated already.474 The
strait between Sicily and today’s Calabria, which is called the Straits
of Messina, is noteworthy because of the current caused by the tides.
The northern current, which is determined by the coast of Italy, is
the strongest, so that ships cannot sail against it even with a strong
storm wind,t not even across it. Near Messina, just in front of the har-
bour, a vortex, called Charybdis, is caused by the two currents flowing
against one another. When there is no south wind, it is rough.u Malta is
entirely rocky and can provide its inhabitants with cereals for only half
a year.
france.
The soil of this country is of three types: 1. From Paris, Orléans, a
part of former Normandy, and further along this line, the soil is said
to be all sand and to contain no metal other than iron. This circle is
enclosed by another, to which belong 2. what was once Champagne,
Picardy, Touraine, and part of Normandy. This contains nothing but
marl. The third part finally encompasses the mountainous part of the
country, spreads through Germany and England and contains all manner
of quarries and metals. The wines of France: Vin de l’Ermitage, Frontinac,
9:425 Pontac, Champagne, and Burgundy are [well] known. The seven claimed
wonders of the Dauphiné have long since been controverted. The ‘fork
tree’ grows in Languedoc. Over the trunk grow a large number of straight
twigs, which are formed into three-pronged forks by pruning; afterwards
they are shaped further in a hot oven. The formerly so-called Royal
Canal of Languedoc is two hundred and fortyv French miles long, has
six feet of water and sixty-four corps d’écluses, some of which have two
to four locks. The canal cost thirteen million. Near a village in what
used to be Languedoc there is a spring with the water at a temperature
that will incubate eggs, despite which its water is brought to boil more
slowly on a fire than ordinary water, even though water drawn [from
s “Hollow” (hohl) is the reading of Gedan. Adickes shows that Kant’s source (Büsching)
might lead one to prefer “high” (hoch).
t Sturmwinde. Adickes reads Südwinde (south wind).
u Ruhig. Adickes reads unruhig (calm).
v Adickes and others read “forty” instead of “two hundred and forty”.
668
Physical geography
this well] retains this heat for eight hours. In the Clermont region, there
are petrifying springs, one of which has formed a proper stone bridge,
under which a stream flows. This spring has been divided into many
branches and its petrifying power has been largely removed. It can be
drunk without harm.
spain.
This country has only eight million inhabitants. At the time of the Moors
and Goths it probably had four times as many. Monastic life, the pop-
ulating of the Indies, the persecutions of the Jews and Mohammedans
and bad management are the causes of this. The Spaniards are nearly all
lean, to which the eating of many spices and hot drinks contributes.
There are seldom more blind people than here. The Asturians are
very famous because of their Gothic ancestry. Their horses are good.
Near Bejar in Estremadura there are two springs, of which one is
very cold, the other very warm. Andalusian horses are superior to all
others.
portugal
has, at a general estimate, two million inhabitants. As in Andalusia, peo-
ple here are accustomed to sleep at midday and to work in the mornings,
evenings and at night. The Portuguese obtain approximately twelve mil-
lion Thaler annually from Brazil, mostly from the gold and jewels found
there. In the Estrella Mountains, there is a lake that is always in a bub-
bling motion.
sweden 9:426
is poor in cereals. The people have learnt to bake bread from the bark
of birch and spruce trees, indeed from straw and roots. They have sil-
ver mines, and especially copper and iron mines; also some gold. The
country only has three million inhabitants. The island of Öland has
small and lively horses. The Trollhätta is a three-fold waterfall on the
Gothic Elbe [Gota Ålv]. Some cereals are harvested in the southern part
of Lapland. The horseflies are an intolerable hardship. Long foot-boards
on which one can catch a wolf running. Utility of the reindeer. Some own
several thousand of them. The Lapps are brown with black hair, wide
faces, sunken cheeks, pointed chins and are just as sluggish as [they are]
cowardly. They have their soothsayers’ drums in common with other
peoples in this climate.
669
Natural Science
norway
Together with the Faeroe Islands and Iceland.
The winter here is tolerable except occasionallyw in the mountains, where
sometimes great snowballsx crash down, crushing everything. Parts of
mountains also sometimes fall down. The eastern side is very different
from the western from the point of view of the climate. There are fre-
quent narrow inlets, about fifty to a hundred fathoms wide, but four
hundred deep, which the sea forms often up to eight miles into the
land, and a number of which are called ‘deep channels’ [fiords]. The
Norwegian shores are steep in most places. Much marble and other
kinds of stone, some gold and silver are found here, more copper and
iron. The maelstrom is caused by the tides except that its motion is
opposite to that along the coast. There is said to be no vortex in it at all,
only a high-risingy elevation of the water. Many, however, claim to have
seen such vortices, said to be like inverted cones three to four fathoms
in diameter and two fathoms in depth. This latter occurs at the time of
the spring flood. The Finnish Lapps mostly live from fishing.
The Faroes have a fairly temperate winter and summer; they consist
of bare rocks which, however, have a yard of soil on top of them. They
9:427 have a superfluity of sheep and geese. The island of Dimonz has the
quality that even white sheep brought there get quite black wool.
The island of Iceland is divided from east to west by a range of moun-
tains, some of which throw out fire, at which time the melting snow
causes terrible torrents that lay waste to the valleys. People note that,
when snow and ice block the crater of such a mountain, an outbreak of
fire is imminent. There are many hot springs, some of which spray their
water into the air boiling, and those who live near such springs boil their
food in pots hung into them. Sheep breeding is very considerable here.
These animals seek out their own food out of the snow in anya weather
in the winter.
russia.
The Asiatic countries are, in fact, separated geographically from the
European ones of this empire, the Yenisei River may represent the phys-
ical border, as Gmelin thinks, because to the east of this river the whole
appearance of the soil changes, since the entire region situated there is
w Adickes suggests that the word “occasionally” should be omitted.

x Adickes has Schneehaufen (heaps of snow), which suggests avalanches.
y Adickes prefers “high-spraying”.
z Adickes reads Lille Dimen.
a Jeder. Adickes reads gutter (good).
670
Physical geography
mountainous, just as there are different plants, strange animals such as

the musquash and others that may be encountered there. The Beluga
fish, which is frequently encountered in the Volga, swallows large stones
instead of ballast during the annual rise of the river in order to stay at
the bottom [of the river]. The sterlet and the sturgeon have little differ-
ence, except that the former has a more delicate taste. At the Troizkoi
Sergiewsk monastery and in the Kiev regionb there are some bodies that,
due to natural causes, have not decayed, but which are falsely claimed to
be martyrs.c
the fourth continent. 9:428
America
namely
i. south america.
Staaten Island or Statenland, which consists, as it were, of several
islands, is separated by the le Maire straits or narrows from neighbouring
Tierra del Fuego.d On account of the deserted and frightening aspect of
its mountains and its almost everlasting snow and rain, this small country
has the saddest appearance in the world. Lord Anson suggests sailing
south around Statenland. The land of the Patagonians or Magellan
Land, a chiefly very flat piece of land near the Strait of Magellan, was
said to have been inhabited by giants, of whom we now know that it
was a tall but by no means gigantic people. Formerly, their average size
was given as seven feet. The rich silver mines of Potosi, on the Silver
River, belong to the Spaniards. In Paraguay, the Jesuits have brought
the inhabitants (savages) to a civilized way of life such as they do not
have elsewhere in the Indies.
Chile has lively and bold inhabitants. The agility of certain women,e
who go to war and to the hunt, is extraordinary. The Spanish horses
here become fleeter and bolder. A race of natives whom the Spaniards
have not yet been able to conquer still lives in Chile. Peru is infertile
on the sea coast and intolerably hot. Also, it as good as does not rain
there at all; thus it was notable when in the year 1720 it rained for forty
days, destroying towns and villages. The mountainous part is temperate
and fertile. The Peruvians appear to have lost a great deal of the skill of 9:429
b Gegend. Adickes reads Gräbern (sepulchres).

c These supposedly miraculous sepulchres are still in existence.
d Adickes adds “which is actually many islands” here.
e Frauenzimmer. Adickes shows that the word should be Fangriemen, in which case the
translation becomes: “The skill of some people in using lassos in hunting and in war is
extraordinary.”
671
Natural Science
their forebears. There are still walls of palaces to be found that are built
of hewn flint-stone, although they did not at that time have any iron
for building,f only copper tools. At present, the lethargy of the nation
is astonishing. An incredible indifference in respect of punishments and
rewards may be observed among them, according to La Condomine’s475
report. The colour of these Indians is copper-red and they have no beard.
The soil in the low parts of Peru often greatly loses its fertility through
earthquakes. On both sides of the Amazon River, at some distance
from the Cordillera Mountains, the soil is uncommonly fertile, is as flat
as a lake, and a pebble on it as rare as a diamond. Those wanting to
cross these mountains from west to east have an extremely violent and
often deadly cold east wind blowing against them. The inhabitants of
the land by the Amazon River poison their arrows with so fast working
a poison that they can hardly see an animal that is only lightly wounded
with it fall over. The meat is harmless. Strange river crossings may be
observed here, in which certain types of naturally grown ropes, called
‘bejuks’, are stretched over a river and on this a horse hanging by a ring, or
people hanging on mats, are pulled across. In order to cross the Peruvian
mountains,g one makes use of specially trained donkeys, which step with
great skill and safety even in the most dangerous places. In Popayan,h
much gold dust is washed out of the soil, which is cut through by raging
torrents rushing down from the mountains. Puerto Bello on the Panama
Isthmus is one of the least salubrious towns in the world. In fact, the
low-lyingi land on this isthmus is astonishingly damp, forested and very
unhealthy on account of the intemperate heat. Childbirth in Puerto Bello
is almost lethal. The mosquitoes on these coasts torment the travellers
to an astonishing degree. Bats in Cartagena bleed humans and animals
while they sleep. The women in Latin America smoke tobacco almost
everywhere.
On Hispaniola there is a tree that bears poisonous apples, whose
shadow is dangerous and into the juice of which the savages dip their
arrows. The Manatee can be tamed here, and for this reason, some regard
it as the dolphin of the ancients. The land breezes fromj the Gulf of
9:430 Mexico are of great convenience in that, with them, one can easily sail
probably a hundred miles against the prevailing east wind. The sailors go
out to sea with the land breeze and back with the sea breeze. The large
country of Guyana, in which Walter Raleigh476 set off on discoveries
on the Orinoco River, is not known further in its interior. (Herr von
f Bauen. Adickes reads Behauen ([stone-]carving).

g Adickes adds “towards Panama” here.
h Adickes reads Paraguay.
i Niedrigen. Adickes reads inner (interior).
j Gedan and Adickes read “in”.
672
Physical geography
Humboldt’s observations promise us a new and rich harvest about this

region and a great part of especially South America.k ) This country has
much gold sand, but Eldorado,l where the gold is supposed to be almost
as common as the stones on the street, is a fiction; similarly, [although]
nearly all the Indians along the Orinoco talk of a race of people who,
according to their story, have a mouth on their chest and ears on their
shoulders, this is either invented or would lead [us] to expect a people,
who can move their heads through [some] artifice like many Indians.
The Dutch colony of Surinam also belongs to this land. The insects
here are manifold and often very large. Among these there is the walking
leaf, that is, a locust, which matures in a rolled up leaf and, after it has
fallen down onto the ground obtains wings and a shape similar to the
leaves. According to legend, frogs here are supposed to change into
fish. The lantern fly, which has a blister on its head that shines very
brightly in the dark, also lives here. If we proceed from there down the
Brazilian Coast, we find numerous Portuguese living there. Brazil wood
or the ‘arbatin’ tree constitutes one of the chief plants of this country,
although there are other and much more beautiful timbers here which we
shall mention shortly. Of the many nations of savages wandering around
the wildernesses of the interior of this country, the Tapeje are the best
known. They have no notion of God, no word that designates Him, go
naked, devour captured enemies, although not with such cruel torture
as the Canadians, drill a hole through their lips and put a kind of green
jasper into the opening, which, however, the women do not do; they
greatly enlarge the opening in the ear-lobe instead. The former also glue
feathers onto their faces, while the latter paint it with paints. A prisoner
taken in battle is cared for very well at first, is even given a woman to
sleep with, but afterwards he is killed and eaten, without, however, being
tortured. All strangers are well received. The humming bird is said to
sing very beautifully here, which it does not do in North America. No 9:431
cattle were to be seen in this area before the arrival of the Europeans,
and now they have multiplied to such an extent that forty thousand cattle
hides are said to have been exported from Paraguay annually, although
the dogs that have become wild have driven a lot of them away.m It is
also said that no European fruits were present in America previously.
But now there are whole forests of apple and pear trees in Peru and the
lands belonging to it. Brazil is full of snakes and monkeys; the parrots
there are the best, only in the East Indies are there grey ones. The pigs
k Words in parentheses added by Rink.

l Instead of Eldorado, Adickes has “Manca or el Dorudo, which is situated on Lake
Parima”.
m Adickes has “killed many of them”.
673
Natural Science
brought over from Europe have very fine and healthy meat here, as in
the other regions of the torrid zone of the Earth.
Cassava root, which, when eaten raw, is usually a poison, is nonetheless
eaten in this fashion without harm by some Brazilians. Many districts
that have water only in the rainy period, do nonetheless contain large
numbers of fish, without anyone knowing how they get there. The ‘pyro’n
bird is almost equal to the condor in size and savagery; and its claws are
sharper. Here there is also a bird the size of a Calicut rooster, which, like
the ostrich, can only run, but is faster than a greyhound.
The country of Paraguay is the place of birth of the famous Paraguay
herb,477 which is the leaf of a tree and when dried is used as an infusion
that is very strong and hot. Pater Montogao,478 and his missionaries
have spread many untruths about the large snakes of this country. In
the interior of the country there is talk of a race of Corsairs,p living at
forty-four degrees, who are said to be descended from some Spaniards
who came downq during the reign of Charles V. The savages of this
country are dangerous cannibals. The women prick their faces all over,
and the men paint themselves. The Spanish possessions here were for-
merly governed more or less entirely by the Jesuits. The Republic of
St Paul consists of stubborn rebels who cannot be put down. It is increas-
ing more and more by the influx of evil scoundrels. South of Buenos
Aires, the coast of America is completely uninhabited, and according to
the inquiry undertaken in 1746, it cannot be inhabited because a consid-
erable cold is experienced there even in the summer. Nonetheless, there
are said to be Europeans on an island made by some river here.
9:432 ii. north america.

The Eskimos, whom Captain Ellis479 encountered in 1746 in the sea of
Hudson Bay, were affable and clever. They travel with dogs as [do people]
in Siberia, only those there [in Canada] do not bark. They provide for
themselves on their travels with a skin full of train oil, out of which they
drink with delight. The Eskimos somewhat further south are a little
taller, but the French describe them as very repulsive in appearance, and
savage and spiteful in their customs. On their travels, they often get into
a state of great need, so that they find themselves obliged to eat their
women and children. Like the Greenlanders, they make their canoesr
with a cover of sealskin, and wear shirts of the sewn-together bladders of
n Adickes reads vyra.

o Adickes suggests Montoya.
p Corsaren. Adickes reads Cäsaren (Caesars).
q Herunter. Adickes reads herüber (across).
r Canoes. Adickes reads Camisöler (camisoles, i.e., jackets).
674
Physical geography
these animals, etc. Brandy, which they can hardly resist, is very harmful
to them. When they are old, the parents arrange a banquet and have
themselves strangled by their children, but they never die by their own
hand. Above the thirty-seventh degree of latitude, there are no people
to be found in America.
The lands that belong to Canada, the French as well as the English
part, are very cold in the winter in view of the situation of their climate.
The north-west winds bring bitters air and great cold. The further west
one goes, the colder the area. The Indians furthest to the west live on a
lake, where Europeans have not yet been. The Indians have bodies of a
dirty red colour and, what is peculiar, no hair on their bodies except on
their head and eyebrows, which latter, however, most of them pull out
themselves. The animal qualities of these savages are exceptional; they
[can] smell a fire at a much greater distance than one can see one, which
is why they do not tolerate any musk, but carryt only edible things.
Their power of remembering an area in which they have been once
and the exactness in discovering tracks of humans and animals is so great
as to be hard to comprehend. Among all these people it is possible to
manage with the languages of the Algonquin and Huron [tribes], which
are both very pure and emphatic. All these nations have no other chiefs
than those they elect themselves. The women here have great influence
on the affairs of state, but only the shadow of sovereignty. The Iroquois
represent the largest and as it were the ruling tribe; but in general, the 9:433
nations here are gradually becoming weaker. They do not have a crimi-
nal court. When someone has committed murder, they hardly know who
is to punish the deed. Usually, it is his own family. The greatest diffi-
culty is in escaping the vengeance of the family of the murdered man. A
family has to be compensated for the lost man by a prisoner. Thieves are
completely plundered in retaliation, but only those who have become
despondent and witches are killed and burnt. Their religious notions are
confused. The Algonquin call the supreme spirit the great hare and his
enemy the great tiger. Nothing is more raving than their dream obses-
sion. If someone dreams that he will kill a person, then he will certainly
kill him. Dream feast. The dream of a private person can often lead to
wars. In wars they try very much to spare their people and usually fight
one another only in raids and ambushes; they use ‘head beaters’ and
defend themselves desperately. Those taken captive are tied up but are
treated well at first and do not know whether they are to be slaughtered
or taken into a familyu to replace the loss of someone who was killed.
If the former is decided, the human sacrifice sings his death song and is
s Rauhe. Adickes reads heiterste (clearest).

t Führen. Adickes reads gern riechen (like to smell).
u Adickes suggests adding “of the victors” here.
675
Natural Science
torn to pieces with long tortures which often last several days, during
which the victim behaves as though he were insensitive and mocks his
executioners; finally he is cooked and eaten. This occurs more from the
desire to appease the spirit of the man killed by means of a vengeance
sacrifice than from appetite. Those killed in battle are never eaten;
the children and even the women prepare themselves for such fortitude.
The friendship of these savages is taken to extraordinary lengths. The
staff of peace or the calumet is customary among all these peoples and is
actually a tobacco pipe which is often fitted with some decorations, from
which the heads of the two parties smoke. The great inclination of these
people to independence can be seen in the education of the children,
who are punished by the parents only with words, with no abuse other
than spraying water into their faces. This seems to be the reason why no
Indian would consider adopting the European way of life, although the
latter often choose theirs. Further west on this continent, the nations are
little known. Some press their children’s heads between two lumps of
lime during their childhood and are called ‘flat heads’. Among the Algo-
nquin bullet heads are called thus because of the shape they artificially
9:434 give to their heads through art. The French, who know the western-
most Indians, report that among these, one hears talk of a great western
sea, and the journeys of the Russians [starting] from Kamchatka prove
that America is not far from there and that it is probably separated from
Chukotsky in Siberia by not very large straits and some islands. The
English Colonies on this continent are flourishing. In Virginia, the
winter only lasts three months and is fairly severe; the summer, on the
other hand, is very pleasant. Grape vines grow wild there, but no good
wine has come from there so far. One tree bears honey in a kind of pod.
The sap drained from thisv tree yields one pound of sugar from threew
pounds of juice, just as jaggery is boiled out of coconut juice and refined
in India. Pennsylvania and Maryland share most of the same agricul-
tural products. Here there is a great deal of timber in forests, much game,
which is mostly different from that of Europe. Carolina and Georgia
are situated furthest south and have already produced silk; likewise herbs
found in China. Some claim to have found the tea-shrub and ginseng
here.
When one travels up the St Lawrence River from its mouth to French
Canada, at first one has fairly empty lands on both sides. At Quebec,
however, and further up towards Lake Ontario and Lake Erie, there are
the finest lands in the world. Those who have travelled up the Mississippi,
find peoples of almost similar customs in a very fertile and forest-covered
land that is very cold in winter. All these peoples have been greatly
v Adickes suggests adding “and from another” here.

w Adickes reads “eight” here.
676
Physical geography
reduced [in numbers] since the arrival of the Europeans. With all these
nations, one finds that the use of copper is much older than that of iron.
In neighbouring Florida, the people are very courageous, they sacrifice
their first-born to the sun. The country has large pearls.
islands of the americas.

The Filibusters480 were initially pirates and had their bases in
St Christopher [St Kitts] and Dominique, the latter of which is now
in the possession of the English. In the greater part of Latin America
there are many Spanish horses, often also dogs that have become wild.
In [Santo] Domingo, both were present and had the habit of making a
great noise when they wanted to drink in order to frighten away preda- 9:435
tory animals.x The Negroes, who serve as slaves here, are very numerous,
and are often dangerous. Those from Senegal are the cleverest;y those
from Madagascar cannot be contained; those from Monomotapa soon
die, are mostly very stupid, but castratez with very great art, and also
are arrogant. Some like to eat dogs and are barked at by dogs. They
are very indifferent in the face of death, especially those from Sierra
Leonea often kill themselves for a very slight reason. The nation of the
Caribes is mostly distributed in the Antilles, and inhabitb St Vincent and
Dominique. They are strong and tall, paint their bodies red, prick many
holes in their lips and insert small sticks,c glass beads, and small stones
into them. Their forehead is almost as flat as a boardd and, as it were,
pushed in. Their mien appears melancholic. The caracoli or tin head-
decoration of these people is of a pure, beautiful and unknown metal,481
which they also wear on the nose and the lower lip.
They do not like to be called cannibals and cannot comprehend how
one can prefer gold to glass. They never eat salt, are sluggish, and cannot
withstand violence or hardship, have stubborn whims, and an uncom-
monly great pride. They are never converted to the Christian religion.
Their revenge knows no limits; Providencee is unknown to them. Their
Cacique has to excel in war, running, and swimming. They make little
x Reißende Tiere. Adickes has die Cagmanien (the caymans) instead.

y Adickes adds “the Negro creoles are more intelligent than their fathers”; for an omission
of Rink.
z Kastriren. Adickes reads cathiren, his source having cachiren. This suggests that the correct
meaning is “conceal themselves”.
a Adickes reads Castelmina.
b Adickes has “rule” (regieren).
c Klöppelchen. Adickes reads Knöchelschen (knuckle bones).
d Adickes has “flattened by a board”.
e Vorsehung. Gedan suggests Versöhnung (reconciliation).
677
Natural Science
use of the spearf but [use] arrows with hollowg points poisoned with the
juice of the manchineel tree, and clubs.
concerning the lands of the arctic ocean.

Although the lands of the Arctic Ocean belong in part to two other con-
tinents, we would like to include briefly something of them for the sake
of the comparison with America. All the people on the Arctic Ocean
have in common is that they are nearly all beardless. Yet, Ellis encoun-
tered Eskimo people on Hudson Bay and the related seas who were very
hairy in the face. The Chukotskis, the northernmost of all the Siberians,
are a brave people on the Arctic Ocean and hospitable; their trade, as is
the case generally in these regions, is fishing and hunting. The islands
9:436 of Novaya Zemlya, Spitsbergen, etc. are uninhabited, but one should
not think that they are quite as uninhabitable as the Dutch, who win-
tered there under Heemskerck,482 claim to have found them. Professor
Müller483 reports that each year, some Russians spend the winter in
those regions in order to hunt. Of the birds on Spitsbergen, I mention
only the kingfisher with its brilliantly shining gold feathers. The animal
that the Europeans hunt most here is the whale, though formerly good
profits were also made from walruses for the sake of their tusks. Further
west, the Lapps have exceptionally ugly faces, but they are not as small
as they have been described. In 1735, a giant seven Rhineland feet tall
could be seen in Paris, who was born in Lapland. The magic or rather
the deceptions of the black art are nearly the same here as in Siberia, but
more and more are being brought to an end. Some travellers observe
that in the summer here the horses from all the villages are released into
the wilderness to spend the season at liberty, as those from a [particular]
village will go to a [particular] place of their own accord and will not mix
with the others, and return to their stables in the winter by themselves.
The Greenlanders inhabit a country, the southern point of which is sit-
uated at no greater latitude than Stockholm, but which stretches north
for unknown distances. The eastern side of this land is less rugged than
the western side and has fairly high trees, contrary to the nature of this
region. The further west one travels in this region, the colder does one
find the area. Near the Hudson Straits, one [can] see[s] icebergs, fifteen
to one thousand eight hundred feet thick. Because the wind can hardly
move them, it probably takes centuries before they are driven into the
temperate zone where they melt. The icebergs standing on the land near
the high mountains in Spitsbergen are very similar to these and to the
f Spießgewehr. Adickes reads Schießgewehr (shotgun or musket).

g Hohlen. Adickes reads Hölzernen (wooden).
678
Physical geography
glaciers in the Alps,h which can give rise to interesting speculations. Here
it merely needs to be noted that the water of the Arctic Ocean is as salty
and heavy as any in the world, e.g., at Novaya Zemlya. An indescribable
quantity of wood can be seen floating in the sea in the Hudson Straits. A
certain author regards the fact that this wood is worm eaten to the core
as the most certain proof that it must come from warm lands, since this
does not occur in wood of cold regions.
h Gletschern der Alpen. Adickes and Gedan suggest gletschernden Alpen (glaciating Alps).
679
appendix i
Kant’s units of measurement
Given the plethora of units in the German-speaking part of Europe in Kant’s

day, it is difficult to ascertain exactly which reference standard he was using on
any given occasion. We may assume, however, that for the most part he used
Prussian measures.
As Kant explains in § 8 of the Physical Geography, one ‘geographical mile’ was
taken as 1/15 of a degree, measured along the Earth’s circumference. Therefore
there are 15 × 360 = 5,400 ‘geographical miles’ in the circumference of the Earth.
Taking the modern value of 7,927 English miles for the equatorial diameter of
the Earth, a geographical mile is thus 4.612 English miles. This figure may
be used for the purposes of comparing Kant’s astronomical data with modern
measurements, as is done in Appendix ii. (It will be noted that good agreement
is found for the diameter of the earth, which shows that the conversion factor of
4.612 is appropriate.) Also, since 7,927 is a known modern value, we may use it
to gauge the value of the eighteenth-century units of length employed by Kant,
even though we may not know exactly which standard he was referring to at any
particular point in his text.
Kant tells us (§ 8) that 1 geographical mile = 2,000 Rhineland roods

= 24,000 Rhineland feet
Therefore, 4.612 English miles = 24,000 Rhineland feet
Or, (5,280 × 4.162)/24,000 English feet = 1 Rhineland foot
That is, 1.015 English feet = 1 Rhineland foot
Or, 12.18 English inches = 1 Rhineland foot
It may be noted, however, that according to Ronald Zupko1 one Rhineland foot
(as used in Prussia) was equal to 12.36 English inches (or 1.030 English feet).
We have, therefore, a small discrepancy, but the information is adequate to gain
a reasonably accurate estimate of which standard of length Kant was using.
Again, referring to § 8 of the Physical Geography, Kant says that 1 geometrical
pace is 1/4,000 of a German mile and is taken to be 6 Rhineland feet.2 We
therefore have:
1 German mile = 6 × 4,000 Rhineland feet

= 6 × 4,000 × 1.030 English feet
= (6 × 4,000 × 1.030)/5,280 English miles
= 4.682 English miles
This agrees with Zupko’s conversion figure (4.68) for the German mile. If, how-
ever, we take one German foot to be 1.015 English feet, then we have a result
of 1 German mile = 4.614 English miles.
680
Appendix I
Units referred to by Kant
English Metric
Unit Locality Equivalents3 Equivalents
Barrel (Tunne) Hamburg 38.13 gallons 173.3 litres

Ell (measure of cloth) Prussia 26.26 inches 0.667 metres
Ell England 45 inches (11/4 1.143 metres
yards)
Foot (Fuss or Prussia 12.36 inches 0.314 metres
Werkschuhe)
Foot (pied) Paris 12.78 inches 0.325 metres
Inch Prussia 1.03 inches 0.026 metres
Lot (half ounce) Germany 0.526 ounces 14.91 grams
Fathom (Klafter) Prussia4 6 feet 4.16 1.88 metres
inches
Fathom (Toise) Paris 6 feet 2.71 1.95 metres
inches
Mile (geographical) 4.612 miles 7.422 kilometres
Mile (German) Prussia 4.68 7.53 kilometres
Mile (‘police’) Saxony 5.63 9.06 kilometres
Pace 21/2 feet 0.762 metres
Pace (geometric) 5 feet 1.524 metres
Pood Russia 36.07 pounds 16.36 kilograms
Pound Prussia 1.102 pounds 0.500 kilograms
Rood Prussia 12.36 feet 3.77 metres
Span5 9 inches 0.229 metres
Workshoe Frankfurt 11.20 inches 0.285 metres
(Werkschuhe) (Rhineland)
Workshoe Saxony 11.15 inches 0.283 metres
681
appendix ii
Astronomical data for the solar system

given by Kant
(with conversions to English miles) and
modern values for comparison
K = Kant’s figures for distances (in German miles) and time; E = English
mile equivalents; M = modern English mile data; T = modern data for time.
(1 German mile has been taken as equivalent to 4.612 English miles.)
Time for light

to travel from
Diameter Distance from sun Length of year sun (h:mm:ss)
K 193,871.35
Sun E 894,134.66
M 864,950
K 608 K 8,000,000 K 87.96 days K 0:03:08
Mercury E 2,804 E 36,900,000
M 3,032 M 36,000,000 T 87.97 days T 0:03:13
K 1,615 K 15,000,000 K 224.71 days K 0:05:52
Venus E 7,448 E 69,200,000
M 7,521 M 67,200,000 T 224.70 days T 0:06:02
K 1,720 K 24,000,000 K 365.24 days K 0:08:07
Earth E 7,932 E 111,000,000
M 7,926 M 92,957,200 T 365.24 days T 0:08:19
K 920 K 31,000,000 K 686.98 days K 0:12:22
Mars E 4,243 E 143,000,000
M 4,221 M 141,600,000 T 686.98 days T 0:12:40
K 18,920 K 110,000,000 K 11.86 years K 0:42:13
Jupiter E 87,259 E 507,000,000
M 88,846 M 483,800,000 T 11.86 years T 0:43:21
K 17,160 K 189,000,000 K 29.46 years K 1:17:08
Saturn E 79,142 E 872,000,000
M 74,897 M 890,800,000 T 29.46 years T 1:19:49
K 8,665 K 400,000,000 K 84.01 years K 2:26:00
Uranus E 39,996 E 1,844,000,000
M 31,763 M 1,784,800,000 T 84.01 years T 2:39:56
682
Notes
Notes to General Introduction

1. It is true that after drawing a similar distinction between material and formal
senses of the term “nature” in the Prolegomena, Kant goes on to consider only the
conditions on the possibility of cognition of nature in the material sense, but this
is due to the fact that Kant is interested here in the foundations of transcendental
philosophy – e.g., in establishing transcendental idealism – and not in pursuing
any specific natural science.
2. Kant understands a body as matter that has determinate extension, i.e., fills a
specific region in space.
3. Kant does not entirely ignore the life sciences. The Critique of the Power of Judg-
ment focuses on the possibility of teleology (via its compatibility with mecha-
nism) and thus on the nature of organisms, and the Anthropology in Pragmatic
Respect is obviously devoted to anthropology. Still, it is clear that he devotes
significantly less time to working out their details than he does to the natural
sciences.
4. Kant provides a number of different reasons for excluding chemistry and psychol-
ogy from the realm of science proper in the Metaphysical Foundations of Natural
Science.
5. For Kant’s acceptance of Lavoisier, see Michael Friedman’s Kant and the Exact
Sciences (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1992).
Notes to Chapter 1
1. “Brevis Demontratio Erroribus Memorabilis Cartesii et Aliorum circa Legem
Naturae,” Acta Eruditorum (1686): 161–163.
2. Size was often referred to in the ensuing discussions as volume, bulk, or mass, while
speed was often treated as equivalent to velocity. Technically, however, there are
important differences here. For size, or volume, is not the same as mass, as it is
understood in classical mechanics, given that bodies with the same volumes can
have different masses. There is also a difference between the speed and velocity
since, at least for Descartes, speed is not a vector-quantity, whereas velocity is.
For simplicity’s sake, we shall ignore the differences between these notions in the
following, and speak simply of mass and velocity.
3. Leibniz formulates the argument in “A Brief Demonstration” as follows: “In order
to show what a great difference there is between [motive force and quantity of
motion], I begin by assuming . . . that a body falling from a certain altitude acquires
the same force which is necessary to lift it back to its original altitude if its direc-
tion were to carry it back and if nothing external interfered with it . . . I assume
also . . . that the same force is necessary to raise the body A of 1 pound to the height
683
Notes to pages 3–11
CD of 4 yards as is necessary to raise the body B of 4 pounds to the height EF of

1 yard. Cartesians . . . admit both of these assumptions. Hence . . . the body A, in
falling from the height CD, should acquire precisely the same amount of force as
the body B falling from the height EF. For, in falling from C and reaching D, the
body A will have there the force required to rise again to C, by the first assumption;
that is, it will have the force needed to raise a body of 1 pound (namely, itself) to
the height of 4 yards. Similarly the body B, after falling from E to F, will there
have the force required to rise again to E, by the first assumption; that is, it will
have the force sufficient to raise a body of 4 pounds (itself, namely) to a height of
1 yard. Therefore . . . the force of the body A when it arrives at D and that of the
body B at F are equal.” (Math. Schriften, 6:117–118; Philosophical Papers and Letters,
trans. Leroy Loemker, 2nd edition [Dordrecht: D. Reidel Publishing Co., 1989],
pp. 296–297).
4. Leibniz, Philosophical Papers, p. 442.
5. The former represents the standard view, whereas the latter has been held or
argued for, in varying ways, by K. Lasswitz, “Sachliche Erörterung,” in Kant’s
gesammelte Schriften, vol. 1, ed. Königlich Preussischen Akademie der Wis-
senschaften (Berlin, 1902–), p. 523, i.e., in the Academy edition at 1:523 [all
further references to Lasswitz are to the Academy edition]; L. Laudan, “The
Vis Viva Controversy: A Post-Mortem,” Isis 59 (1968): 131–143; D. Papineau,
“The Vis Viva Controversy,” Studies in History and Philosophy of Science 8 (1977):
111–142.
6. See Manfred Kuehn, Kant: A Biography (New York: Cambridge University Press,
2001), pp. 87–95.
7. For example, Kant’s claim that mv2 cannot be confirmed experimentally is funda-
mentally flawed.
8. The twenty-five figures that Kant refers to in both the original and the Academy
edition of Thoughts on the True Estimation of Living Forces, were placed on two
separate pages at the end of the volume and Kant used footnotes in the main body
of the text to refer to these figures. For ease of use, I have inserted the figures into
the main body of the text, but retained the footnotes to reflect the exact location
of Kant’s reference to the figures.
9. Despite the 1746 imprimatur, Thoughts on the True Estimation of Living Forces
appeared in 1749. In 1746, Kant submitted the text to the university censorship
office; Johann Adam Gregorovius Sr. (1681–1749), dean of the philosophical fac-
ulty, approved its contents, and the local publisher Martin Eberhard Dorn printed
the first sheets of the book (see Lasswitz, “Anmerkungen,” 1:522). In 1747, before
the Easter book fair, Kant added the preface, the dedication (dated April 22,
1747), as well as §§ 107–113 to Chapter Two and §§ 151–156 to Chapter Three.
After August 1748, Kant left town for employment as a tutor in the household
of pastor Daniel Andersch (1701–71). Thoughts on the True Estimation of Living
Forces appeared in the summer of 1749. In a letter dated August 23, 1749, to
Ferdinand Mühlmann, Kant blames his absence from town for the delay in the
book’s publication. The letter, sans head, was first thought to address Albrecht v.
Haller (see 10:1), but was probably meant for Mühlmann; see Harald-Paul Fischer,
“Eine Antwort auf Kants Briefe vom 23. August 1749,” Kant-Studien 76 (1985):
79–89.
684
10. Bohlius was a physician and professor of medicine who attended to Kant’s father
during his illness. Johann Georg Kant had suffered a stroke in late 1744 and died
on March 24, 1746. The family had been listed as paupers in the tax register
since 1740; the father’s disability eroded the family’s finances further. Bohlius
had been a friend of the parents (Kant’s mother had died earlier). It is unknown
whether he received payment for his services.
11. The dedication is dated on Kant’s birthday; on April 22, 1747, Kant turned
twenty-three.
12. Compare this “declaration of independence” with Kant’s departures from Leib-
niz and Newton in the text; for instance, Kant’s deviation from Leibniz’s pre-
established harmony in § 4 (1:19), his critique of Leibniz’s formula of force in
§ 50 (1:59–60), his qualification of Newton’s first law in § 132 (1:155), and his
rejection of the second law of motion in § 124 (1:148).
13. Kant compares the philosophers he criticizes with the Greek general and states-
man Timoleon. Here Kant likens himself to Timoleon’s critics, while hoping
that the targets of his critique would treat him with the tolerance Timoleon
had shown to his accusers. Timoleon had freed Syracuse and turned it into a
democracy. In 337 bc, members of the assembly, Laphystius and Demaenetus,
used baseless charges concerning Timoleon’s military past to initiate legal pro-
ceedings against him. Other citizens advised the accused to stop the trial and
silence the critics, but he refused to do so. Nor did he defend himself in the
courtroom. When the incensed judges prodded him to punish the slanderers,
he merely remarked that he thanked the gods for granting him his wish: that he
would live to see the citizens enjoy free speech, and that this day had obviously
come.
14. When Kant was writing the preface, he was a twenty-two-year-old student from
an impoverished background who had not yet earned a university degree.
15. The Greek mountain of Parnassus is where the oracle at Delphi is located. Its
peak was said to be the seat of the Muses (the divine guardians of the arts and
intellectual life), and was dedicated to Apollo, the god of reason and the sun. The
Muses and Apollo – the arts and reason – are Kant’s judges; they have insight
into the truth, and it is their judgment that matters.
16. The “very odious consequences” (sehr verhaßte Folgen, 1:9) may be Kant’s allusion
to his failure to graduate, which arguably resulted from taking the “liberty” (Frei-
heit, 1:9) of speaking his own mind. Leibniz and his followers were controversial
figures in the eighteenth century; their sharpest critics were Pietist fundamen-
talists. In the text, Kant defends and radicalizes Leibnizian ideas. This may have
disappointed Martin Knutzen (1713–51), an avowed Pietist. For discussion of
Kant’s relation to his advisor, see Manfred Kuehn, “Kant’s Teachers in the Exact
Sciences,” in Kant and the Sciences, ed. E. Watkins (New York: Oxford University
Press, 2001), pp. 11–30.
17. Kant wrote these defiant words in early 1747 (see note 8 above), aware of his
impending departure from the university. Compare Seneca’s dictum, the motto
of the work.
18. See the Introduction to this chapter.
19. The “politeness of this century” (Höflichkeit dieses Jahrhunderts, 1:12) refers to
Kant’s day, while the “age of unrefined customs” (Zeit der Rauhigkeit der Sitten,
685
Note to page 19
1:12) refers to the century prior to Kant, particularly its first half, when the
Thirty Years War (1618–48) wiped out a third of the German population and
ravaged central Europe. Roving mercenary bands habitually tortured and massa-
cred non-combatants. To the extent academic life was possible then, it amounted
to a post-medieval form of Scholasticism. After the Reformation (1521–55),
the Scholastic tradition had merged with Protestant ideas to form an eclectic
neo-Aristotelianism at Prussian and Saxon universities. Since its hallmark was a
theological concern with dogmatic subtleties, the “age of unrefined customs”
prior to “the politeness of this century” was also an “age of distinctions” (Zeit
der Unterscheidungen, 1:12). The philosophers nowadays associated with this age,
such as Descartes, Leibniz, or Spinoza, did not teach at universities and were not
representative of the prevailing academic thought. In Kant’s day, Lutheran neo-
Aristotelianism was already a thing of the past. The last local proponents of this
fading standard were Johann Adam Gregorovius (1681–1749) and Johann David
Kypke (1692–1758). For this Lutheran neo-Aristotelianism, see Max Wundt, Die
deutsche Schulmetaphysik des 17. Jahrhunderts (Tübingen: Mohr, 1939).
20. The “estimation according to the power of two” (Schätzung nach dem Quadrat,
1:14) is Leibniz’s measure of force, the product of the quantity of matter (“mass”)
and the square of velocity. Living force (vis viva) is the direct precursor of kinetic
energy and closely related to work. Because force, mass, energy, work, and related
concepts have precise meanings, a summary clarification of their modern usage
may be useful.
Force is the push or pull experienced by a mass subject to changes in velocity.
The notion of “force” is based on Newton’s laws of motion and measured in
Newton (N). Newton’s second law (the law of acceleration) states that a given
force acting on a body causes it to accelerate in the direction of this force, and
that the magnitude of acceleration is inversely proportional to the mass of the
body. So force F is the product of mass m and acceleration a, or F = ma. Being
“inversely proportional” means that acceleration is larger on smaller masses and
smaller on larger masses.
Acceleration is the change of a body’s velocity with regard to time. Put differ-
ently, acceleration a is the quotient of force F and mass m, or a = F/m. Acceleration
in physics is about changes in velocity in general, increases as well as decreases
(contrary to the ordinary sense of the word). Gravity is a force producing accel-
eration. In a gravity well (e.g., a planet) with gravitational acceleration g, a body
with mass m is subject to the force F = mg, which is the body’s weight.
Weight is the measure of the gravitational force on a body’s mass. Weight
depends on the amount of gravitational force applied. A body’s weight depends
on the environment (a body of 100 kg on Earth weighs 17 kg on the Moon,
2,800 kg on the Sun and 0 kg in space). Weight w is the product of mass m and
gravitational acceleration g, or w = mg.
Mass is the measure of the amount of “matter” (energy) in a body. In contrast
to weight, a body’s mass does not depend on the environment; it is an inherent
property of a body. (A body’s mass remains the same everywhere except at veloc-
ities close to the speed of light.) Mass m is a function of the body’s density r and
its volume dV or m = rdV (and density r is a measure of a body’s mass m per
unit of volume V, or r = m/V).
686
Inertia is the force of resistance that all bodies have to any change in their state
of motion (such as a change in velocity, a change in direction, or a change from
rest to motion or vice versa). Inertial force is proportional to the body’s mass
(that is, whether one pushes a body on Earth or in space, its inertial resistance
remains the same).
Energy is an abstract quantity that takes on form as potential energy, kinetic
energy, or heat. Energy is measured in joule (J), calories (c, ca. 1/4 of a joule), or
kilowatt-hours (kwh, 3.6 × 106 J). The units refer to the work energy can do,
which translates into capacity for motion. Potential energy is capacity for work
(e.g., the energy stored in a pulled spring); kinetic energy is the energy of motion;
and heat is molecular motion (a calorie is the unit of energy required to raise the
temperature of 1 g water by 1 ◦ C). In general, energy concerns the action of force
through space. Because this involves the motion of a mass, the energy of motion,
or kinetic energy K, is the product of mass m and the square of velocity v, or
K = 1/2 mv2 . The idea of energy originated in Leibnizian force (both living and
active). The quantity K derives from Leibniz’s mv2 measure. (The 1/2 translates
into units.)
Work is the amount of energy change; work W is the product of force F applied
over a distance ds (the space through which F produces motion), or W = Fds.
With regard to a mass m, W is the same as dv/dt · (vdt), so work is a transfer
of force acting to displace a body. Power is the work done per unit time and the
unit of power is watt (equal to joule per second). Power P is energy E emitted (or
work W expended) in time dt, or P = dE/dt.
Momentum is the product of mass m and velocity v, or p = mv. By Newton’s
second law, a force F produces a change in momentum such that F = dp/dt. The
idea of momentum originated in the Cartesian quantity of motion. Quantity p
derives from Descartes’s mv measure.
21. With “dead pressure” (toter Druck, 1:14) Kant refers to Descartes’s quantity.
Descartes and his followers called the mv measure quantité de la motion; Leibniz
and his followers labeled it “dead pressure” or vis mortua (in contradistinction
to “living force” or vis viva). Kant’s distinction between the greater power of
genuine motion and the lesser power of dead pressure is spurious.
22. “The two Bernoullis” (die zwei Herren Bernoulli, 1:15) refers to the mathematician
Johann Bernoulli (1667–1748) and the physicist Daniel Bernoulli (1700–82) (see
also Lasswitz, “Sachliche Erläuterungen,” 1:523). Johann did pioneering work
in the calculus and contributed to hydrodynamics; Daniel, his second son, is the
founder of fluid dynamics. Both were proponents of Leibnizian dynamics and
defended living force.
23. Poleni studied currents and turbulences in liquids; the experimental analyses of
his De Castellis (1720) suggested the existence of kinetic energy quantifiable as
mv2 . Other Leibnizians cited Poleni’s research as key evidence for living forces.
S’Gravesande and Musschenbroek tried to reconcile the empirical pieces of evi-
dence for Leibnizian dynamics with Newtonian mechanics. That “the Leib-
nizians still have nearly all experiments on their side” (1:15) suggests to Kant
that their estimation is observable in nature (compare § 163). The Cartesian
estimation, by contrast, is valid for him in mathematics (see Chapter Two, pas-
sim). Kant assumes that nature and mathematics – or qualitative content and
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Notes to page 22
quantitative form – do not quite line up. What holds true for the one is not
necessarily true for the other. This contention reflects a Pietist consensus. In De
sensu veri et falsi (1721), Andreas Rüdiger (1673–1731) distinguished mathematics
as the science of the possible from (natural) philosophy as the science of the real
(II.iv.3). Other Pietists appropriated Rüdiger’s distinction; for instance, Christian
August Crusius (1715–75) argues in his so-called Physics (Anleitung über natürliche
Begebenheiten ordentlich und vorsichtig nachzudenken [Instructions for Reflecting on
Natural Occurences in an Orderly and Careful Fashion], 1749) that mathemati-
cal concepts differ from real objects, that mathematical hypotheses fail to capture
real causes, and that mathematical forces are distinct from physical forces. Simi-
larly, Kant employs a distinction between natural reality and mathematical form
to reconcile Leibniz’s “natural” dynamics and Descartes’s “mathematical” kine-
matics; they are compatible in that each is true in its own context. Accordingly,
Leibnizian force is the real quality in nature, visible in experience and demonstra-
ble by qualitative argument (Chapter One), but Cartesian pressure is the proper
quantity of motion insofar as it is verifiable by quantitative demonstration (Chap-
ter Two). Thus Kant grants here that the Leibnizians have “experiments on their
side,” while arguing in § 28 that “mathematical reasons will consistently confirm
Descartes’s law instead of supporting living forces” (1:41).
24. The term “entelechy” (entelecheia, entelceia) refers to what has (echein, cein)
its goal (telos, tlwv) within (en, n). For Aristotle, entelechies are the powers
of natural objects, governing the organization of objects and the realization of
their potentials. Concrete examples of entelechies – clearly anachronistic, but
illuminating their “obscure” (dunkel, 1:17) nature – would be DNA or software.
For Aristotle, this realization occurs in matter (hyle, ëÌlh) and is a type of motion.
Motions, for Aristotle, are an eternal feature of the world (De gen. et corr., 336a15)
and can be quantitative, such as growth, qualitative, such as change, or spatial,
which is the basic kind of motion (Phys., 260a27–29). The potential realized
by motion is a possibility or dynamis (dÅnamiv) (Phys., 202a6–11). In this sense,
possibility is posterior to actuality (energeia, nrgeia). Actuality or energeia is
dynamis put into operation, and entelechies are what direct this process. Aristotle
explains: “For action is the end; and the actuality is the action. Therefore even
the word ‘actuality’ (energeia, nrgeia) is derived from ‘action’ (ergon, rgon) and
means the same as ‘fulfillment’ (entelecheia, entelceia)” (Metaphysics, 1050a21–
23).
25. “Scholastics” (Schullehrer, literally, school teachers) denotes mainstream philoso-
phers prior to and contemporary with Leibniz, not only medieval thinkers. (See
note 18 above.)
26. Leibniz interpreted entelechies as goal-directed innate forces that govern natural
things, bringing about extension, order, change, movement, and organization.
The elements of natural things are substances. Leibniz defines substance as “a
being capable of action” in sec. 1 of Principles of Nature and Grace (1714). He
acknowledges his debt to Aristotelian thought (“the teachings of the Peripatet-
ics”) in the “Specimen Dynamicum,” part 1 of which appeared in Acta Erudi-
torum (April 1695): “Whatever there is in corporeal nature over and above the
object of geometry or extension reduces to a force striving toward change . . . this
view takes both the truth and the doctrines of the ancients into consideration.
688
Notes to page 22
Just as our age has already saved from scorn Democritus’ corpuscles, Plato’s
ideas, and the Stoics’ tranquility in light of the most perfect interconnection of
things, so now we shall make intelligible the teachings of the Peripatetics con-
cerning forms or entelechies, notions which seemed enigmatic for good reason,
and were scarcely perceived by their own authors in the proper way.” Leibniz’
mathematische Schriften, ed. Gerhardt (Berlin, 1849–63), 6:234–5; Philosophical
Essays, trans. Roger Ariew and Daniel Garber (Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing
Co., 1989), p. 118.
27. Leibniz’s phrase is from the opening paragraph of part 1 of the “Specimen
Dynamicum” (see Leibniz’ mathematische Schriften, 6:234): “Elsewhere we are
urged that in corporeal things there is something over and above extension, in
fact, something prior to extension, namely, that force of nature implanted every-
where by the Creator. This force does not consist in a simple faculty, with which
the schools seem to have been content, but is further endowed with a conatus or
nisus, attaining its full effect unless it is impeded by a contrary conatus” (Philosoph-
ical Essays, p. 118).
28. Leibniz introduces the term vis activa in “De primae philosophicae emendatione
et de notione substantiae,” published in the Acta Eruditorum (1694). He describes
active force in the “Specimen Dynamicum,” as follows: “Vis activa (which might
not inappropriately be called power [virtus], as some do) is . . . either primitive,
which is inherent in every corporeal substance per se . . . or derivative, which,
resulting from a limitation of primitive force through the collision of bodies with
one another, for example, is found in different degrees. Indeed, primitive force
(which is nothing but the first entelechy) corresponds to the soul or substantial
form.” Leibniz’ mathematische Schriften, 6:236; Philosophical Essays, p. 119.
29. The term vis motrix was used by, among others, the Newtonian John Keill (1671–
1721) in his Introductiones ad veram physicam et veram astronomiam (Leyden, 1725).
He defines moving force as potentia agenda ad motum efficientum, that is, as the
potential for acting toward efficient motion. Wolff adopted Keill’s vis motrix
and uses it synonymously with Leibniz’s vis activa in his Cosmologia generalis.
Wolff writes: “Since the active force [vis activa] of bodies is tied to local motion
(without which it would be impossible to conceive of corporeal motion), and
since all change happens through motion, the active force of bodies is the principle
of change . . . Because it is clearly tied to local motion, that active force of bodies
is called moving force [vis motrix].” Cosmologia Generalis, 2nd edition (Frankfurt
and Leipzig, 1737, orig. pub. 1731), in Gesammelte Werke, ed. J. Ecole, Abt. ii,
vol. 4 (Hildesheim: Olms, 1964), p. 118. While Leibniz viewed the action of
force as an activity of substances that has various guises, late in his career, Wolff
reduced dynamic action to bodily motion. This break with Leibnizian dynam-
ics was Wolff ’s reaction to Newton’s growing fame during this time as well as
to his own persecution. In the 1720s and early 1730s, a conservative climate
favored fundamentalism in Prussia. Although King Friedrich Wilhelm I (reign
1713–40) continued the policy of religious tolerance initiated by Friedrich I, he
was a Pietist convert. (Friedrich I had been the Elector of Brandenburg 1688–
1701 and the King of Prussia 1701–13.) Urged on by the Pietists, Friedrich
Wilhelm criticized Wolff for his allegedly heretical Leibnizian sympathies and
expelled him from Halle (1723). Kant objects to Wolff ’s quasi-Newtonian
689
reduction of active force to a mechanical vis motrix (compare § 12 and note

39 below).
30. Kant uses Abmessung and Dimension interchangeably (see also § 9, 1:23). Here,
the “second dimension” (zweite Abmessung) refers to time. Things coexist in space
and succeed one another in time.
31. The doctrine of physical influence (influxus physicus) involves the claim of
causal interaction among substances. The Scholastic thinker Francisco Suárez
(1548–1617) was an important adherent of the doctrine. In eighteenth-century
Germany, the theory was attributed (not quite accurately) to John Locke (1632–
1704) and popular among the Pietists. Physical influence, occasionalism, and the
doctrine of pre-established harmony were discussed as possible solutions to the
mind–body problem. According to occasionalism, proposed by Arnold Geulincx
(1624–69), causal processes are due to God’s intervention; there is neither inter-
action among substances nor a substantial power for internal changes – God
governs each event and acts on its occasion. According to the doctrine of pre-
established harmony proposed by Leibniz, there is no interaction, but substances
can still change their inner states – what looks to be interaction is in fact the mere
appearance of a divinely prearranged synchronicity of substances. According to
physical influence, finite substances can act on one another. Many proponents of
physical influence were critics of the Leibnizian–Wolffian position or not closely
allied to it, such as Martin Knutzen (1713–51), who developed an influxionist
theory in Commentatio de Commercio Mentis et Corporis (1735). See chapters 1 and
2 of Eric Watkins, Kant and the Metaphysics of Causality (New York: Cambridge
University Press, 2005) for a discussion of this doctrine in its historical context.
32. Kant does not identify the “certain acute author” (gewisser scharfsinniger Schrift-
steller). Various commentators suggest that this is an allusion to Martin Knutzen
(1713–51); see Benno Erdmann, Martin Knutzen und seine Zeit (Leipzig: Voss,
1876), pp. 84–85, 143; Erich Adickes, Kant als Naturforscher, vol. 1 (Berlin: De
Gruyter, 1924), p. 84n; and Eric Watkins, “Kant’s Theory of Physical Influx,”
Archiv für Geschichte der Philosophie 77 (1995): 286n. Juan Arana Canedo-Aguelle
adds to this that the phrase and its context highlight Kant’s distance from
Knutzen. See his Pensamientos sobre la verdadera estimación de las fuerzas vivas
(Bern: Lang, 1988), p. 338. Kuehn argues that Kant’s allusion to Knutzen is a
put-down, and adduces reasons for Kant’s hostility; see “Kant’s Teachers in the
Exact Sciences,” in Kant and the Sciences, ed. Watkins, pp.22–25.
Knutzen, associate professor of logic and metaphysics at Königsberg, was one
of Kant’s teachers. In Commentatio philosophica de commercio mentis et corporis per
influxum physicum explicando (defended as a doctoral thesis in 1734, published
in 1735 and then reprinted in a second edition as part one of Systema causarum
efficientium in 1745), Knutzen defends physical influence both as a general theory
of efficient causation and as an account of mind–body interaction.
33. An entity that is independent or “self-standing” (“ein jedwedes selbstständige
Wesen,” 1:21–22) does not depend on others, is not outwardly determined, and
has the source of its determinations within. The existence of an independent
entity thus does not require relatedness to others for its existence.
34. Kant understands a world (Welt, 1:22; mundus, 1:23) as the set of all contingent
things that are related to one another. This conception rests on the Wolffian
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idea of the nexus rerum or “connection of things.” Wolff defines “world” in

Vernünfftige Gedancken von Gott, der Welt und der Seele des Menschen, auch allen
Dingen überhaupt, 11th edition (Halle, 1751, orig. 1719) in Gesammelte Werke, ed.
J. Ecole, Abt. i, vol. 2 (Hildesheim: Olms, 1983) as “a series of changeable things
that are next to each other and follow on each other, but, in general, are connected
to each other” (§ 544 [p. 332]). (Compare also Wolff ’s Cosmologia Generalis [1731]
§ 48 and § 55, and Bilfinger’s Dilucidationes Philosophicae [1725] § 135.) This sense
of “world” corresponds to the usage of “universe” in the physical sciences today
(compare also note 38 below).
35. The claim of a causal bond between externally acting forces and the creation of
space follows from his remarks in §§ 1–8. Kant’s line of reasoning appears to be
this: Force (§ 1) emerges in nature as substantial powers to act or as active forces
(§§ 2–3) that exert effects on one another (§ 4), as mind–body interaction shows
(§ 5). Interaction occurs because substances are at places (§ 6). Thus the location
of substances presupposes the external action of their forces. At the same time,
such external action creates relations that determine location (§ 7) and produce
a network of locations and thus the world (§ 8).
36. Kant is referring to § 351 of Leibniz’s Essais de Théodicée sur la bonté de Dieu,
de la liberté de l’homme et l’origine du mal [Theodicy: Essays on the Goodness
of God, the Freedom of Man and the Origin of Evil] (1710), where Leibniz
responds to the claim made by Pierre Bayle (1657–1706) that the number of
spatial dimensions is arbitrary. In § 351 of the Theodicy, Leibniz says: “With the
dimensions of matter it is not thus: the ternary number is determined for it not
by the reason of the best, but by a geometrical necessity, because geometricians
have been able to prove that there are only three straight lines perpendicular
to one another which can intersect at one and the same point.” Theodicy, trans.
E. M. Huggard (LaSalle, IL: Open Court, 1985), p. 335; see Die philosophischen
Schriften von Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz, ed. C. I. Gerhardt (Berlin, 1875–90),
6:323.
37. The proof is spurious because the numbers 1, 2, 3 are not the only primes.
Contrary to Kant’s claim, the first three powers are not irreducible, for n3 =
n2+1 = n2 · n, and n2 = n1+1 = n · n. Kant tries to derive spatial structure from
numerical properties: Space has three dimensions, and numbers have, he thinks,
three basic powers n1 , n2 , n3 that generate all others (such as n4 ). If all higher
powers derived from the first three powers (which they do not), and if there
was an isomorphism of powers and structure (which is unproven), all spatial
measures, Kant thinks, would derive from three-dimensionality. But already n4
lacks a spatial correlate, and he abandons the proof.
38. Kant states the inverse-square law of force propagation in the general formula-
tion for free field radiation (1:24). Stated in this form, the law is original to Kant
and applies to various types of fields. How this law follows from the stipulated
force–space bond in § 9 (see note 34 above) becomes clear on reflection. That
a located force acts externally raises the question of how its action depends on
distance. One could represent a substance as a point, a three-dimensional space
as a sphere enclosing it, and the propagation of force as lines extending from
the point into the sphere. The lines in the sphere would pierce through, as they
would another, larger sphere enclosing the point. Visualizing the pierced nested
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Note to page 28
spheres shows that the lines move ever farther apart and that radiation – force
acting in space – decreases with distance. The rate of decrease is supplied by
basic geometry: The surface area of a sphere is determined by the square of the
radius; surface areas on expanding spheres increase as the squares of their radii;
hence radiation weakens as the inverse square of the distance from the center. As
Kant recognizes in the second to fourth claims of § 10 (1:24), a certain dynamic
decrease is tied to a certain spatial order. Put in modern terms, the inverse-square
rate obtains only in a three-dimensional Euclidean continuum.
Historically, the inverse-square law comes from Johannes Kepler (1571–1630).
In Astronomia Pars Optica (1604), Kepler demonstrates that the intensity of light
(which he likens to a “living force”) falls off with the square of the distance (prop.
9; the principle of photo measurement); see Gesammelte Werke, vol. 2, ed. M.
Caspar (Munich: Beck, 1937 ff.), p. 22. In a letter to David Fabricius (October
11, 1605), he writes that the inverse-square rule applies to gravity; cf. Werke, vol.
15, p. 241. In Astronomia Nova (1609), he suggests that the “magnetic” force (vir-
tus) of the Sun spreads out like light, cf. Werke, vol. 3, p. 25. Examining Kepler’s
harmonic law of planetary period and orbital distance, Edmund Halley (1656–
1742) and Christopher Wren (1632–1723) stipulated that an inverse-square rela-
tion governs planetary motions. In De Motu Corporum et Gyrum (1684), Newton
proved the link of the inverse-square law to the three Keplerian laws (allegedly
by repeating lost calculations done in 1666). In book 1 of the Principia (1687),
Newton demonstrates formally that the centripetal force of bodies moving in
eccentric conic sections is inversely as the square of the distance (reciproce in
ratione duplicata distantiae, prop. 11). In book 3, he proves empirically (with the
moon test) that the gravitational force governing Kepler’s elliptic orbits obeys
an inverse-square rule (prop. 4).
Kant’s use of the inverse-square law suggests his familiarity with the law of
gravitation, but he neither mentions Newton nor takes this law as basic. Instead,
gravitation is for Kant a derivative of interaction, which creates spatial structure.
He notes that “the kind of law by which substances act on each other” (1:24), in
other words, the regularities of interaction claimed in §§ 4–9, “must also deter-
mine the kind of union and composition of many substances” (1:24), i.e., their
gravitational acceleration. Next he notes that “the law according to which an
entire collection of substances (i.e., a space) is measured, or the dimension of
extension, will derive from the laws according to which the substances seek to
unite by virtue of their essential forces” (1:24). So the law of interaction entails
universal gravitation, and universal gravitation governs spatial order.
This makes Newton’s law of gravitation into a corollary of Kant’s force–space
bond. And if gravity generates space, as Kant contends, space will be different
from what Newton thought. Instead of a void in which gravity acts at a distance,
space is a relational field generated by dynamic action. The interactive force–
space bond is basic for Kant, not universal gravitation. Put differently, Kant
integrates universal gravitation into his metaphysical theory of force. In doing
so, he does what Newton expressly forbids: In § 10, Kant has identified the cause
of gravity (see also note 39 below).
39. Kant’s “more mature judgment” (reiferes Urteil, 1:25) would turn out to be an
approval of the reasoning stated in § 8 (note 33 above) and § 11. In 1755, he
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Note to page 29
repeats the argument in the New Elucidation, prop. 13: application 2 (1:414).
In the Inaugural Dissertation, sec. 4, § 21 (2:408), he adds that multiple worlds
are possible conceptually and metaphysically, that Wolff wrongly inferred the
opposite from “the notion of a complex or multiplicity” (notionem complexus s.
multitudinis, 2:408), and that multiple worlds are impossible only on the condition
“that only one necessary cause of all things should exist” (si unica tantum existat
causa omnium necessaria, 2:408).
40. “The most recent philosophy” (die neueste Weltweisheit, 1:25) refers to Wolff ’s
philosophy, specifically to the views Wolff defends in Cosmologia Generalis (1731);
cf. Lasswitz, “Sachliche Erläuterungen,” 1:525. In contrast to the early, Leib-
nizian features of Wolff ’s thought, illustrated in his German Metaphysics (1719),
his later views are more Newtonian (note 28 above). Wolff ’s shift from Leib-
nizian dynamics to Newtonian mechanics is at the heart of Kant’s critique. The
resulting unacceptable concepts concern the conception of force as a “perpet-
ual striving toward motion.” Here Kant may have in mind § 149 of Cosmologia
Generalis, where motive force is described as a continuous conatus toward dis-
placement (mutandi locum). Wolff ’s first “mistake” had been to redefine force
in terms of motion instead of an activity, as Kant “initially showed” (in §§ 2–3).
Wolff ’s “additional mistake” had been the “contradiction” between a claimed
indeterminacy of force regarding external things, and this notion of force (1:26).
Clearly, if force is a striving toward displacement, and if displacement occurs in
referential frames, i.e., with regard to external things, one cannot hold force
to be indeterminate with respect to direction. The criticized indeterminacy
of Wolffian force points to Kant’s general reservations about Wolff ’s New-
tonian shift. In Cosmologia Generalis § 147 (“Why active force does not exist”),
Wolff argues that neither matter nor any kind of bodily essence determines an
active force of bodies. An active force would be a principle of change, but it so
happens that bodies resist changes through their inertial forces. So a body cannot
be said to have active forces as it has inertial forces. Since inertia is resistance to
change (whereas active force would be the source of change), and since matter
contains nothing but extension and inertia, Wolff concludes in § 147 that matter
cannot determine any active force. For Wolff (following Newton), matter is inert
and passive – a view Kant rejects in True Estimation out of hand (§§ 1–3). For
Kant (following Leibniz), matter is essentially active. But for Wolff, a material
active force makes sense only as a corporeal motive force. In § 147 of Cosmologia
Generalis, he often melds the two terms into one, a vis activa sive motrix. He notes
in § 148 that motion is irreducibly real and neither matter nor bodily essence
determines it. Motion comes about by the application of force, but motive force
as such is left unexplained – there is nothing in bodies as such that would account
for it. As Newton’s first law states, changes of motion are caused by the external
application of forces. Hence the forces determining motion cannot be internal
components of the movable, i.e., matter. All that can be said of motive forces, for
Wolff, is that they consist “in a continuous striving” (in continuo conatu) toward
displacement (§ 149). And since active forces are nothing but motive forces, the
“mode of active force” (modus vi activae) is simply “speed” (celeritas, § 152). Any
modification of active force is a change in speed (§ 153). Speed determines the
“intrinsic status of active force” (status vi activae intrinsecus, § 154); it is, as it
693
were, the “limit” (limes) of motive force (§ 155). It is irrelevant whether Wolff ’s
specific claims make empirical sense; the problem, for Kant, is that such a New-
tonian account is shallow. They dwell on the kinematic surfaces without regard
for their dynamic foundation – about such foundations, as on the cause of gravity,
hypotheses are not to be feigned. In this respect, Kant’s problem with Wolff is an
issue over the proper perspective for examining nature. This issue is at the heart
of the conflict between Leibniz and Newton. In “An Account of the Book entitled
Commercium Epistolicum Collinii & aliorum, De Analysi promota; published by order
of the Royal-Society, in relation to the Dispute between Mr. Leibnitz and Dr. Keill,
about the Right of Invention of the Method of Fluxions, by some call’d the Differen-
tial Method,” Newton (referring to himself in the third person) defends himself:
“And after all this, one would wonder that Mr. Newton should be reflected on for
not explaining the Causes of Gravity and other Attractions by Hypotheses; as if
it were a Crime to content himself with Certainties and let Uncertainties alone.”
In Philosophers at War: The Quarrel between Newton and Leibniz, ed. A. Rupert
Hall (New York: Cambridge University Press, 1980, orig. pub. 1715, London),
appendix, p. 313.
41. Contrary to Wolff, who takes force as an indeterminate striving for displacement
(note 39 above), the chemist G. E. Hamberger (1697–1755) regards it as a deter-
minate endeavor. In Elementa physices methodo mathematica (1727), Hamberger
explains the impenetrability of bodies by stipulating an inherent force (vis insita)
acting equally and continuously in all directions (§§ 36–38).
42. With these examples – the motion of bullets and projectiles, sustained by living
force, and the motion of pushed and pulled bodies, propelled by dead pressure –
Kant prepares the ground for his reconciliation of the Leibnizian and Cartesian
estimations (Chapter Three). In § 15 he correlates the two dynamic measures
with two types of motion (1:28): an intrinsic, self-sustaining kind and an extrinsic,
propelled kind. The distinction is conceptually sound (active energy vs. passive
pressure), but physically confused. In kinematics, motion is either uniform (with
constant speed in a straight direction) or accelerated (with velocity changing in
magnitude or direction). In mechanics, momentum (from Descartes’s measure)
and energy (from Leibniz’s measure) are tied to mass (via Newton’s inertia).
Kant’s confused correlation indicates his relative unfamiliarity with Newton.
43. Kant apparently misunderstands this; Wolff did not point out the identity of dead
pressure with any type of motion, nor with a motion of Kant’s second kind (that
is, one driven by propulsion). Wolff defines dead pressure in Cosmologia Generalis
(1731) just as Leibniz had done in Specimen Dynamicum (1695). Leibniz writes:
“One force is elementary, which I also call dead force, since motion does not yet
exist in it, but only a solicitation [solicitatio] to motion, as with the ball in the tube,
or with a stone in a sling while it is still being held in by a rope.” Math. Schriften,
6:238; Philosophical Essays, p. 121. And Wolff writes: “We call a force dead that
consists only in the striving (conatu) toward a motion. We also call it elementary.”
Cosmologia Generalis, § 356, p. 259.
44. The locution of an “infinitely subtile space” refers to the notion of space as a
plenum, the idea that the actual space of the universe is not a void but instead
filled with a thin fluid, the so-called ether. As Kant notes in § 17, space consists
of “infinitely small masses,” “small parts,” or “little moleculas” (1:29). The spatial
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Notes to page 34
plenum is an Aristotelian assumption shared by both sides in the debate over force.
Both Cartesians and Leibnizians agree that space is not a void. Their disagree-
ment concerns rather the description of this spatial ether – whereas Descartes
thought it to be a passive material liquid, Leibniz interpreted it as a dynamic
force field.
Aristotle argues against a spatial void in Physics, 4.6–9 (213a12–217b28), in
Complete Works, vol. 1, ed. J. Barnes, trans. R. P. Hardie and R. K. Gaye (Prince-
ton: Princeton University Press, 1984), pp. 362–369. Descartes follows suit in
Principia Philosophiae (Amsterdam, 1644), part 2, art. 16–20, in Oeuvres, vol. 9.2,
ed. C. Adam and P. Tannery (Paris: Léopold Cerf, 1897–1913), pp. 49–52. Leib-
niz declares the plenitude of nature as his third principle in Principes de la Nature
et de la Grace, fondés en raison (1714; Phil. Schriften, 6:598). Descartes’s vortex
theory requires that ether be capable of transmitting celestial motions from one
place to another, propagating forces like waves in a medium. Leibniz’s principle
of plenitude, as well as his law of continuity, prohibits gaps in nature’s struc-
ture, thus ruling out a vacuum by definition. Newton, by contrast, rejected the
spatial plenum, assuming instead that space is “perfectly void of air and exhala-
tions.” Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica, vol. 2, ed. Alexandre Koyré
and I. Bernard Cohen (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1972, 3rd
edition, London, 1726), p. 586 (book 3, prop. 10, scholium: “Et propterea si in
caelos ascendatur aere & exhalationibus vacuos, planetae & cometae sine omnii
resistentia sensibili per spatia illa diutissime movebuntur”). Andrew Motte trans-
lates the sentence as follows: “And therefore, the celestial regions being perfectly
void of air and exhalations, the planets and comets meeting no sensible resis-
tance in those spaces will continue their motions through them for an immense
tract of time.” Vol. 2, trans. Andrew Motte (London, 1729, reprint: Berkeley:
University of California Press 1934), p. 419. The standard model of the phys-
ical sciences today involves a conception of space similar to Leibniz’s. Space is
not a void, but a field at the lowest energy state, filled with quantum vacuum
energy.
45. Kant refers to “De Viribus Corpori Moto Insitis et Illarum Mensura” [On Forces
in a Moving Body and their Measure] by G. B. Bilfinger [or Bülfinger] (1693–
1750). De Viribus appeared 1728 in Commentarii Academiae Petropolitanae [Pro-
ceedings of the Russian Academy at St. Petersburg]. The “observation” Kant
“always used as a rule in the investigation of truth” (1:32) is in De viribus, sec. 2
“Variae Dilucidationes,” § 16, p. 87. Bilfinger writes: “Sunt haec profecto plausibilia
utrinque: sed an simul vera esse possunt? In talibus casus soleo opem ex distinctionibus
repetere et unicuique parti aliquid tribuere; neque enim fieri solet, ut tota via aberrant
viri solentes, mutuo sibi adversantes. Alteri fere ex una parte, alteri verum assequuntur
ex alia.” [There are certainly opinions worthy of applause on either side – but can
they simultaneously really be true? In such cases I usually re-examine the work
with regard to [its] aspects and grant something to either side. For it does not often
happen that gifted men are utterly mistaken when they oppose one another. The
one camp usually unearths truth from the one side, and the other camp from the
other.]
46. The “single proposition of Descartes,” by which the quantity of motion is mea-
sured as the product of size or extension and speed, is first stated in Descartes’s
695
Principia Philosophiae (1644), part 2, § 36 (Oeuvres, 8:61–62). Descartes writes:

“Thus if one part of matter moves twice as fast as another which is twice as large,
we must consider that there is the same quantity of motion in each part; and if
one part slows down, we must suppose that some other part of equal size speeds
up by the same amount.” Philosophical Writings, vol. 1, trans. J. Cottingham (New
York: Cambridge University Press, 1985), p. 240.
47. Leibniz first states his measure of force in “A Brief Demonstration”: “It must
be said, therefore, that forces are proportional, jointly, to bodies (of the same
specific gravity or solidity) and to the heights which produce their velocity or
from which their velocities can be acquired. More generally, since no veloci-
ties may actually be produced, the forces are proportional to the heights which
might be produced by these velocities. They are not generally proportional to
their own velocities, though this may seem plausible at first view and has in fact
usually been held.” Math. Schriften, 6:117–119; Philosophical Papers and Letters,
p. 298.
48. Kant uses “pressure” in the Cartesian sense, as “dead pressure” or vis mortua. A
force “not greater . . . than that which it might exert . . . by pressure alone” (1:33)
is directly proportional to velocity. For Kant, the right measure of the force of
such bodies is not mv2 but mv (see § 15 and note 41 above).
49. Leibniz introduced the principle of continuity in 1687, in a letter to Bayle pub-
lished in Nouvelles de la République des Lettres (1687). This was a further response
to François de Catelan, whose reply to Leibniz’s “A Brief Demonstration” (see
note 46 above) had appeared with a translation of it in the Nouvelles. Leibniz’s
defense, titled Sur un principe general utile à l’explication des loix de la nature par
la consideration de la sagesse divine, pour server de replique à la response du R. P. D.
Malebranche, was a reply to Malebranche (Catelan was his secretary), formulated
as a letter to Bayle. There, Leibniz characterizes continuity as a “principle of the
general order.” Leibniz writes: “Lorsque la difference de deux cas peut estre diminuée
ou dessous de toute grandeur donnée in datis ou dans ce qui est pose, il faut qu’elle se puisse
trouver aussi diminuée au dessous de toute grandeur donnée in quaesitis ou dans ce qui
en resulte.” [When the difference between two cases can be diminished beyond
any given quantity in the data or in the given, it must be possible, too, to find it
diminished beyond any given quantity in what is sought or results from it.] Phil.
Schriften, 3:52.
This diminution, Leibniz argues, is illustrated in the comparison of motion
and rest: “Le même principe a lieu dans la physique, par exemple le repos peut estre con-
sideré comme une vistesse infiniment petite, ou comme une tardité infinite.” [The same
principle applies in physics; for instance, rest can be considered as an infinitely
small speed, or as an infinite slowness.] Phil. Schriften, 3:52–53. For Leibniz,
transitions of this sort indicate a pattern of nature, and in this sense, continuity is
an ontological principle. In the “Specimen Dynamicum,” Leibniz explicates it as
the dictum that “all changes comes about by stages” (omnis mutatio fiat per gradus;
cf. Math. Schriften, 6:241). The best-known formulation of the principle derives
from the Nouveaux Essais (1703–5). There, Leibniz states it as the principle that
“nature never does anything in leaps” (cf. Phil. Schriften, 5:49). The Latin version
of Leibniz’s principle of continuity – natura non facit saltus – was popularized by
Carl von Linné (1707–78) in Philosophia Botanica (1751). Kant uses the principle
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Note to page 40
for disproving Leibniz’s measure of force. Given the transition from motion to
rest, there is no clear point in time at which a body begins to move, “for rest
is no different from a very small motion” (§ 26, 1:37). Since Leibniz’s measure
applies to motion (§ 25, 1:36), a moving body has living force, and since there is
no difference between motion and its start, a body would have living force “when
it first begins to move” (§ 26, 1:37). But since a body at rest is agreed to exert only
dead pressure, continuity entails the opposite of Leibniz’s measure. Since the
principle of continuity is correct for Kant, Leibniz’s measure must accordingly
be false.
50. Kant presents two conclusions in § 27. First, dead pressure (“the estimation of
simple velocity,” 1:39) has nothing to do with the absence of motion. Second,
neither motion nor time is a sufficient reason for living force. Compared with
the quantifications used today, these claims are partly right and partly wrong.
In physics, motion (but not really time) is arguably a “sufficient reason” for liv-
ing force. Living force is the historical precursor to kinetic energy, and kinetic
energy is the energy of motion – without motion, no kinetic energy. The quan-
tity of kinetic energy K = 1/2 mv2 expresses the direct proportion of a body’s
kinetic energy K and the square of its velocity v2 (see note 19 above). Time, how-
ever, is relevant only indirectly in that kinetic energy needs motion and motion
needs time. Instead, time is tied to dead pressure, the precursor to momen-
tum. Momentum is mass in motion; the quantity of momentum is the product
of a force applied to mass and the time of application. Any change in momen-
tum results from an application of force. The quantity of force F = ma defines
F as the product of mass m and acceleration a. Acceleration is the change of
velocity v divided by time t, or a = v/t. So F = ma = m · (v/t). Algebraic rear-
rangement shows that m · (v/t) = (mv)/t. But the product mv is the quantity of
momentum p. Hence F = (mv)/t = p/t. If both sides of the equation F = p/t
are multiplied by time t, then F · t = p. So momentum is the product of mass
and velocity, which is equivalent to the product of force and time. In this sense,
time can be said to enter the “estimation of simple velocity” (mv or momen-
tum), without this being a sufficient reason for the “estimation by the square
of velocity” (1/2mv2 or kinetic energy) – and in this partial sense, Kant correctly
argues that time has little to do with living force. In the context of classical
mechanics, one could agree with Kant’s first conclusion that momentum does
not require the absence of motion, since momentum is mass in motion. But
one can only partly agree with his second conclusion, for although time is sec-
ondary to kinetic energy, motion is not, since kinetic energy is the energy of
motion.
In general, Leibniz’s formula expresses the spatial aspect of Newtonian force,
and Descartes’s formula expresses the temporal aspect of Newtonian force. Sim-
ply put, kinetic energy is force acting through space, and momentum is force
acting over time. The standard model today shows how all of these quantities are
connected. As space and time are aspects of spacetime, momentum and kinetic
energy are aspects of momentum-energy, the invariant measure of mass (con-
vertible to energy). It makes little sense to draw absolute distinctions of motion
and rest, since both are meaningful only relative to the spacetime floats that are
their referential frames.
697
51. With § 28, Kant completes laying the ground for his proofs in Chapter Two. He
first declares his method (Bilfinger’s rule), states his goal (to find an “intermedi-
ate position,” 1:32), and outlines the positions in the vis viva conflict (§§ 20–22).
He next argues that the measure of living forces would have to apply to free
motions, that they are to be defined in terms of time, and that the measure
cannot in fact apply to indeterminate intervals or time as such (§§ 23–25). The
measure of living forces is precluded by Leibniz’s principle of continuity, which
means that living forces, contrary to what Leibniz asserts, cannot come about
by motion (§§ 26–27). Kant infers that quantitative examinations of bodies in
motion support Descartes, not Leibniz (§§ 28–30). The remainder of Chapter
Two is a commentary on kinematic and static cases described in the literature
until 1741. See the Editor’s Introduction to this work for a summary of Kant’s
overall argument.
In physics, the conclusions Kant draws in § 28 – that a quantification of living
force is impossible (1:40), and that mathematics supports Descartes’s law only
(1:41) – are plainly false. The measures by Leibniz and Descartes are both quan-
tifiable aspects of force. Jean Le Rond d’Alembert (1717–83) recognized in his
Traité de Dynamique that living force and dead pressure represent distinct quan-
tities that find experimental support. With regard to living force (as a quantity),
d’Alembert discusses the conservation of living forces in Traité de Dynamique, vol.
1, ed. T. Hankins (New York: Johnson Reprint Corp., 1968, 2nd edition 1758,
orig. pub. 1743), p. 3. In the second edition of the Traité (1758), he differenti-
ates the two quantities in terms of the types of obstacles encountered: force vive
(living force) is quantifiable in retarded motion, and quantité de mouvement (dead
pressure) is quantifiable in the resistance of collisions (which misinterprets the
relation of living force and dead pressure); cf. “Discours Préliminaire,” in Traité
de Dynamique, p. xx. The first edition of the Traité appeared before Kant started
his research (1744/45), but apparently Kant did not know it. Kant’s rejection of
living force as a quantity in § 28 renders the remainder of Chapter Two prob-
lematic, since it is organized as a sustained argument in support of this mistaken
claim.
52. The next group of sections (§§ 30–36) concerns “the free fall of bodies by virtue
of their weight” (1:47, § 35); that is, “bodies falling through gravity” (1:48, § 37).
For Kant, the analysis of falling bodies “is in no way favorable to living forces”
(1:48–49, § 37). In fact, this is wrong. With respect to the examples described
(bodies rising and falling in Earth’s gravitational field), bodies in free fall move
with constant gravitational acceleration g = 9.8 m/s2 . Any body in free fall has
mechanical energy, which is the sum of kinetic energy and potential energy.
Kinetic energy KE is the energy of motion (“living force”). Potential energy is
determined by the position of a body relative to the ground; that is, potential
energy PE is the product of weight w and height h. Weight is the product of
mass m and g. So PE = m · h · g. The mechanical energy of a body dropped
from a certain height is initially (before it starts falling) only potential energy.
During the fall, the composition of the body’s mechanical energy changes, losing
potential energy (as the body nears the ground) and gaining kinetic energy (as
the body accelerates). At the end of the fall (when the body hits the ground), the
mechanical energy is only kinetic energy.
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Notes to page 42
53. The proposition Kant mentions in § 29 is from Leibniz’s “A Brief Demonstration”

(see note 46 above; Math. Schriften, 6:117). Leibniz repeats this proposition in
§ 17 of Discours de Métaphysique (1686; Phil. Schriften, 4:442–444) and in § 16
of the “Specimen Dynamicum” (Math. Schriften, 6:244–245). This proposition
was Leibniz’s main reason for the estimation by the square. Contrary to Kant’s
assessment (1:42), it is neither an erroneous application nor a mistake as such.
Leibniz’s proposition involves the correct insight that the work required for
accelerating a mass increases as the square of the velocity attained by the mass –
the acceleration of a mass to twice its velocity requires four times the work.
Leibniz’s insight rests on the law of free fall, which states that the average
velocity
√ v of a mass is proportional to the square root of the height h fallen, or
v = h, which is the same as that the square of velocity is proportional to the
height, or√v2 = h. This law is also known as the times-squared law, since it states
that v = 2as (v is velocity, s is distance, and g is gravitational acceleration; see
note vii), which is the same as s = 1/2 at2 (where t is time).
The discoverer of the times-squared law was Galileo Galilei (1564–1642). He
states it in Discorsi e dimostrazioni matematiche, intorno à due nuove scienze (1638),
day 3 (theorem 2); cf. Galileo, Two New Sciences, trans. H. Crew and A. de Salvio
(New York: Dover 1954), p. 174. Christian Huygens (1629–95) recognized the
application of this law to rising bodies. Leibniz credits Huygens in § 9 of the
“Specimen Dynamicum” (Math. Schriften, 6:240). Huygens writes to Descartes
(October 5, 1637): “L’invention de tous ces engines n’est fondée que sur un seul
principe, qui est que la mesme force qui peut lever un poids, par exemple, de cent
livres a la hauteur de deux pieds, en peut aussy lever un de 200 livres, a la hauteur
d’un pied, ou un de 400 a la hauteur d’un demi pied, & ainsy des autres, si tant est
qu’elle luy soit appliqué.” [The invention of all these machines is based only on a
single principle, i.e., that the same force that can lift, for instance, a weight of 100
pound to the height of two feet can also lift a weight of 200 pound to the height
of one foot, or a weight of 400 pound to the height of half a foot, etc., as long as
this force is applied to it.] Oeuvres complètes, vol. 1, ed. Société Hollandaise des
Sciences (The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff, 1880–1950), pp. 435–436.
54. In § 30 Kant refers to Descartes’s mention of the law of the equilibrium of a
straight lever that was first noted by Jordanus (1225–60) and later described by
Simon Stevin (1548–1620). The lever is one of the simple machines. A machine
is a device that performs work, such as increasing an applied force, or changing
its direction, or translating one type of motion or energy into another. There are
five simple machines: the pulley, the wheel on an axle, the lever, the screw, and
(the simplest machine) the inclined plane, which forms the wedge when doubled.
Dynamically, the lever involves three points. Force is applied at one point of the
bar, to overcome resistance at a second point of the bar. At a third point, the
bar rests on a fulcrum, the stationary support on which the lever turns. Types
of levers are the crowbar and the balance. A lever is in equilibrium when the
effort and the load are in balance; the law of equilibrium states that the effort E
multiplied by the length e of the effort arm equals the load L multiplied by the
length w of the load arm, or E · e = L · w. The law of the equilibrium is a law
of statics (the branch of mechanics that studies the equilibrium in bodies by the
interaction of forces).
699
Kant’s assumption that Leibniz derived the proposition (§ 29) from Descartes’s
rule of the lever is incorrect. Instead, Leibniz proceeds from Huygens’s applica-
tion of Galileo’s times-squared law (see note 52 above).
55. See the Editor’s Introduction to this work and note 46 above.
56. A steelyard (Schnellwaage, 1:43) is a lever (see note 53 above). Steelyards
were balances common in Kant’s day. Whereas a basic balance has hooks for
suspending scales at either end of the bar, a steelyard has a single hook at one
end. The other arm of a steelyard’s bar is inscribed with marks for units of weight.
A movable counterweight rides on the scaled arm. The whole bar is balanced on
a fulcrum. In mid-size steelyards, the fulcrum is usually a vertical post; in large
ones (hay- and cart-scales), it is part of a supporting framework; and in small
ones (portable merchant scales), it is a collapsible stand. In all steelyards, the
fulcrum is off-center. Objects to be weighed pull on the short arm from which
they hang, tilting the bar. Moving the counterweight out on the long arm lifts
the scale, righting the bar. Equilibrium is reached when the counterweight is at
the point where its product of weight and distance from the fulcrum equals the
product of the object’s weight and distance from the fulcrum. If the steelyard,
now horizontal, is calibrated correctly, the unit indicated by the counterweight
gives the weight of the suspended object. Some Prussian units were Gran (.063
g), Quentchen (3.65 g or 3.2 g), Lot (14.6 g or 12.8 g), Pfund (467.4 g; the unit
Kant uses), and Zentner (55 kg before the metric adjustment). Kant discusses the
mechanics of steelyards in §§ 30, 92–95, and 109.
57. In §§ 31–32 Kant is referring to Jacob Hermann (1678–1733), a mathematician
and natural philosopher associated with the Bernoullis. He wrote “De Mensura
Virium Corporum” [On the Measure of Forces in Bodies], which was published
in Commentarii Academiae Petropolitanae 1 (1728): 1–42. Here Kant discusses
Hermann’s proof in “De Mensura,” pp. 20–21.
58. Kant is probably alluding to the Cartesian Jean Mairan (1678–1771). Mairan
objects to Hermann’s proof (see note 56 above) in Dissertation sur l’estimation
et la mesure des forces motrices des corps [Treatise on the Measurement and
Quantity of the Forces of Bodily Motion] (2nd edition 1741, orig. pub. 1728),
pp. 44–64.
59. Whether the action of gravity on a body is proportional to space (Hermann) or to
time (Mairan) depends on what is meant by “action of gravity” (1:43). A problem
of the physics of the day consisted in its conceptual ambiguities; cf. Richard S.
Westfall, Force in Newton’s Physics (New York: American Elsevier, 1971), pp. 208–
209. By Newton’s law of universal gravitation, the gravity of two bodies is pro-
portional to the product of their masses and inversely proportional to the square
of their distance. That is, for two bodies with masses m1 and m2 separated by dis-
tance r, the gravitational force F is g ((m1 · m2 ): r2 ). For bodies of unequal mass, the
smaller mass is proportionally more subject to the pull of the larger. Applied to the
cases Kant discusses, which involve bodies such as stones falling down to Earth,
Newton’s law describes the total force involved. The stone, in Earth’s gravity well
and in relative motion toward its surface, accelerates by the times-squared law
(see note 52 above), thereby gaining kinetic energy and momentum. The “action
of gravity” on the stone’s energy depends on the height of the fall and thus
on space. The “action of gravity” on the stone’s momentum depends on the
700
velocity gained, hence on time. Kant’s case for Mairan, and against Hermann
(1:46), results from his error in § 28 (see note 50 above).
60. Gabrielle Émelie, Marquise du Chastelet (sometimes Chatelet) (1706–49), a tem-
porary ally of the Leibnizians, uses Hermann’s proof in her Institutions de Physique
[Principles of Physics] (1740), § 567, pp. 420–423. She also defends living forces
in her Réponse sur la question des forces vives [Response [to Mairan] on the Question
of Living Forces] (1741).
61. Mairan objected to living forces in his Dissertation (1728; note 57 above) and
Lettre a Madame [du Chastelet] sur la question des forces vives [Letter . . . on the
Question of Living Forces] (1741). Kant is probably referring here to Mairan’s
conception of time in § 14 of the Dissertation, p. 25.
62. Ferdinand Lichtscheid (1661–1707) constructs the proofs discussed in § 34 in
“Considerationes Quaedam circa Altitudines et Velocitates Pendulorum in Diversis Cir-
culis” [Certain Considerations Regarding the Heights and Speeds of Pendulums
in Various Arcs]. The paper appeared in Acta Eruditorum (1691): 494–500.
63. Kant refers to the fact that Lichtscheid’s paper (see note 61 above) concludes
with an endorsement by Leibniz. Leibniz writes: “Perplacesit quae Cl[arissimus].
D[omi]n[us]. Lichtscheid ingeniose excogitavit circa motus pendulorum non tan-
tum per Geometriam, sed et[iam] per experimenta examinandos.” [It may please
(the reader to know) what the illustrious Mr. Lichtscheid has ingeniously found
out with regard to the motion of pendulums, which he examined not so much
through geometry but instead through experiments.] Acta Eruditorum (1691):
500.
64. The next group of sections, §§ 38–57, is about elastic collisions. Collisions refer
to the actions of moving masses striking each other. Collisions can be elastic or
inelastic. An elastic collision conserves momentum and kinetic energy, while an
inelastic collision conserves only momentum (there, kinetic energy is converted
to heat, an internal energy on the molecular level). There are no perfectly elastic
collisions among ordinary objects, such as stones or projectiles; some kinetic
energy is always lost (i.e., converted). Perfectly elastic collisions – with the same
kinetic energy before and after impact – occur only on objects smaller than
molecules, such as atoms. Still, on the level of macroscopic bodies, some collisions
are evidently more elastic than others (e.g., billiard balls). Elasticity, in physics,
is the property of a material that allows the restoration of its original shape after
distortion. (An example of an elastic object would be a spring.)
In the context of elastic collisions, Kant claims in § 43 that the Leibnizians
“must either admit that all the proofs that they had until then agreed give the
reason for the motions arising from the impact of elastic bodies were false, or they
must grant that such a body produced the motions solely by a force proportional
to the simple combination of mass and velocity” (1:55). As with the previous
discussion of falling bodies, compressed springs, and swinging pendulums, Kant
asserts that the only quantifiable aspect of force in elastic collisions is momentum.
This error is implied by his declaration in § 28 against the mv2 -quantity in general
(see note 50 above).
65. Christopher Wren (1632–1723), John Wallis (1616–1703), and Christian
Huygens (1629–1695) submitted papers to the Royal Society in 1668–69, which
had inquired into exact formulation of the laws of impact.
701
66. Kant is referring to Wolff ’s Elementa mechanica.

67. The passage in question is in §11 of Herrmann’s De mensura virium corporum.
68. James Jurin (1684–1750) was a Cambridge-educated physician and both a mem-
ber and the secretary of the Royal Society. A Newtonian, he carried out investiga-
tions in physics and published an edition of Varenius’s Geography. He published
a book of his own, Dissertationes Physico-mathematicae, in London in 1730. Kant
is referring to a report on this book that was published in the Acta Eruditorum in
1735.
69. Kant is referring to Johann Bernoulli (the elder).
70. The ratio of B’s and A’s difference in mass to the sum of their masses can be
represented as (3 − 1) : (3 + 1) = 2 : 4, while the ratio of B’s velocities after and
before impact can be represented as x : 4.
71. That is, its velocity can be represented as x = 2.
72. The ratio of A’s velocity after impact to B’s velocity before impact can be repre-
sented as y : 4, and the ratio of twice the mass of B to the sum of the masses of A
and B as 2B : A + B, or 2 • 3 : (1 + 3) = 6 : 4.
73. That is, y = 6.
74. That is, F = mv, so FB + FA = (3mB 2vB ) + (1mA 6vA ) = 6 + 6 = 12.
75. The “angle of incidence” (angulus incidentiae) refers to the angle formed by the
vector of impact and the plane, not to the angle of the vector of impact and the
perpendicular. The “total sine” (sinus totius) is the sine of 90◦ = 1. Kant uses
terms from Wolff ’s Mathematical Lexicon (1716).
76. “Bernoulli’s case” is cited in Wolff ’s Elementa Mechanica (1748), § 327. It refers to
Johann Bernoulli’s prize essay Discours sur les loix de communication du mouvement
(1727), pp. 53–55.
77. That is, sin 30◦ = cos 60◦ = 1/2; since the body has 2v, the sine quantity is 2 •
sin 30◦ = 1.
78. See notes 46 and 47 above.
79. François de Catelan, Malebranche’s secretary, objected to Leibniz’s “A Brief
Demonstration” in notes that appeared in Nouvelles de la république des letters in
1686 and 1687. Leibniz resolved Catelan’s objections in “De causa gravitatis”
published in Acta Eruditorum (1690).
80. The Academy edition cites page 442.
81. Denis Papin was a correspondent of Leibniz and a professor of mathematics at
Marburg in the chair later held by Wolff. Kant refers to Papin’s “Mechanicorum
de viribus motricibus sententia, asserta a D. Papino adversus Cl. G. G. L[eibnitii]
objections,” published in Acta Eruditorum (1691).
82. Kant’s useage of the term “Moment” and its plural “Momente” is problematic,
since it is not used consistently or unequivocally. Huygens and Euler use a well-
defined concept in statics (a static moment or a moment of inertia, respectively),
but others seem to use the term, on different occasions, for a static moment,
a quantity of magnitude, or the measure of moving forces. Adickes, as editor
of Kant’s handwritten Nachlass, thus in the Academy edition at 14:122, asserts
that Kant, too, uses the term equivocally. In fact, at 14:127, he identifies seven
different uses: (1) cause, force, (2) magnitude of moving force, degree of effi-
cacy, (3) endeavor to communicate motion, differential of force or its efficacy,
(4) magnitude of motion (mv), (5) magnitude or degree of effected velocity,
702
(6) infinitely small degree, differential (of velocity), and (7) endeavor of a body
at rest to set itself in motion. Of course, Kant also uses “moment” colloquiually
to refer to a moment of time.
83. Kant is referring to Wolff ’s article “Principia dynamica” (1728).
84. Wolff ’s original text reads slightly different from Kant’s quote. “Quoniam
hic eadem est ratio massarum, quae in casu priori erat temporum, ratio vero
celeritatum eodum modo se habeat: perinde est, sive massae diversae et tempus
idem, sive massae sint eaedem et tempus diversum etc.”
85. Pieter van Musschenbroek (1692–1761) was a physician, natural philosopher, and
specialist in dynamics at Leiden. His main work was Epitome elementorum physico-
mathematicorum conscripta in usus academicos (Leiden, 1726). Johann Christoph
Gottsched translated the second, enlarged edition of the work as Grundlehren der
Naturwissenschaft (Leipzig, 1747).
86. Bonaventura Cavalieri was a student of Johannes Kepler and Galileo Galilei.
He wrote Geometria indivisibilis continuorum nova (Bologna, 1635). He created
a method of indivisibles for determining area or volume based on Archimedes’
method of exhaustion and Kepler’s idea of infinitesimals. Infinitesimals are arbi-
trarily small quantities, which were used before a rigorous conception of limits
was developed.
87. This is not an accurate quote. Musschenbroek writes in Grundlehren der Natur-
wissenschaft, trans. Gottsched, § 188: “Weil aber die Gewalt aus der druckenden
Kraft in den gedruckten Körper übergeht, so entsteht beständig in dem bewegten
Körper eine Kraft, die sich wie die Anzahl der Kräfte verhält, die ihm einige
Geschwindigkeit mittheilen.” [However, since power flows from the pressing
force into the pressed body, there is in the moved body a continuous production
of a force proportional to the sum of forces imparting a certain velocity to the
body.]
88. See note 52 above. Kant is referring to the article “De vi motrice” in Jurin’s
Dissertationes.
89. Kant refers to “Specimen Dynamicum.” The emphasis is Kant’s, not Leibniz’s.
The omitted end is “cum dupletur quidem celeritas, non tamen et corpus.”
90. Chastelet raised the objection in Institutions de Physique (Paris, 1740), pp. 442–
444.
91. Georg Friedrich Richter (1691–1742), professor of mathematics and philosophy
in Leipzig, advanced his objection in “Responsio ad viri Cl[arissimo] Jac[omi]
Jurini, Demonstrationes de mensura virium corporearum,” Acta Eruditorum
(1735).
92. This is the second section that is identified as § 113. Kant inserted it in the spring
or summer of 1747 after the rest of the book had been completed.
93. The distinction between mathematical and natural bodies is foreign to
Leibnizian–Wolffian perspectives. It evokes the Pietist distinction between math-
ematical and real (“philosophical”) bodies; see Christian August Crusius, Entwurf
der notwendigen Vernunftwahrheiten [Sketch of the Necessary Truths of Reason]
(Leipzig, 1745), § 115 and § 368.
94. “Intension” (Lat. intensio) is the inner potential of force in contrast to its outer
effect or extension; see Friedrich Kirchner, Wörterburch der philosophischen Grund-
begriffe, 5th edition (Heidelberg, 1907).
703
95. Kant quotes Johann Bernoulli, “De vera notione virium vivarum,” Acta Erudi-
torum (1735): 211 (§3). The citation is not literal and partly a paraphrase. The
original text says: “Hinc patet, vim vivam (quae optius vocaretur facultas agenda;
Gallice le pouvoir) esse aliquid reale et substantiale, quod per se subsistit, et, quan-
tum in se est, non dependet ab alio.” The sentence on dead force is not in the
original; it is Kant’s summary of § 4 of Bernoulli’s paper.
96. Kant mistakenly refers to Nicolaus Bernoulli. The described confirmation of
living forces is by Daniel Bernoulli in his “Examen principiorum mechanicae
et demonstrationes geometricae de compositione et resolutione virium,” in Acta
Petropolitanae 1 (1726): §§ 5–6.
97. Jacob Hermann’s conclusion – a “peculiar lapse” for Kant – is a mistaken cita-
tion. In actuality, Kant happens to reject precisely what Hermann criticizes too.
Lasswitz, in 1:153, silently corrects gMdt to gMudt. In “De mensura virium cor-
porum,” Hermann writes: “Cum incrementum istud vis vivae dV, nascatur a
gravitate g in corpus C agente, quod corpus iam habet celeritatem u, et massam
M, atque adeo motus quantitatem Mu, quantitatis huius motus necessario ratio
habenda est, nam in hoc statu in quo est mobile, celeritas ab ipso inseparabilis
est; componentur igitur incrementum vis vivae ex hisce tribus, nembe ex g, Mu,
et dt, eritque adeo necessario dV = gMudt, non vero, ut vulgo supponitur, dV =
gMdt.” Commentarii Academicae Petropolitanae 1 (1728): 24.
98. Apart from a few suggestions for experiments elsewhere, the gunshot test may
well be the only experiment Kant ever performed. The experimental setup leads
to the outcome stated but does not imply the interpretation suggested. A bullet
accelerates through the gas pressure caused by the combustion of the gunpow-
der. The bullet keeps briefly accelerating after leaving the muzzle, until the gas
pressure expanding from the barrel behind the bullet is equalized. (Next, air
drag will decelerate the bullet.) A bullet fired at a target close to the muzzle
(“several inches away”) will have slower velocity than a bullet fired at a target
some distance from the muzzle (“several steps”), therefore not penetrate a tar-
get as deeply. This correctly observed result does not admit the interpretation
suggested, since the motion of a bullet depends on the force of the combustion,
which forces the projectile on its path. Contrary to what Kant says (§ 130 1:153),
the test is not about “a freely and uniformly moving body”; hence the successive
acceleration of a bullet is not evidence for the stipulated “successive vivification”
of “intension.”
99. Erich Adickes, the early editor of the Academy edition, dismissed Kant’s qual-
ification of Newton as “unsound” and its dynamic context as “fantasy”; see
Kant als Naturforscher, vol. 1 (Berlin: De Gruyter, 1924), pp. 108–109. In fact,
Newton’s law of inertia does not hold without qualification. Kant claimed its
qualification for infinitely small velocities (§ 132); Einstein showed its qualifi-
cation for infinitely large velocities; cf. “Die Grundlagen der allgemeinen Rel-
ativitätstheorie,” Annalen der Physik 49 (1916): 769–822. Kant’s citation of the
law of inertia is not verbatim; it is a paraphrase similar to that found in Wolff ’s
Cosmologia generalis, § 309. Newton’s formulation, in the Philosophiae naturalis
principia mathematica (1687), is “Corpus omne perseverare in statu suo quiescendi
vel movendi uniformiter in directum, nisi quatenus a viribus impressis cogitur
statum illum mutare” (loc. cit. vol. 1, p. 53).
704
100. The example of wool bales absorbing blows of battering rams is factually cor-
rect, but Kant’s interpretation of the case is not. The wool bales, serving as an
obstacle, absorb the impacting force by decelerating the speed of the ram, by
deflecting the force vector and dissipating it into multiple directions, and by
changing the motion of the ram into molecular motion or heat.
101. Edme Mariotte (c. 1620–84) was a Jesuit priest and a natural philosopher and
one of the most important early members of the Academy of Sciences in Paris,
writing on experimental physics, mechanics, hydraulics, optics, plant physi-
ology, meteorology, surveying, and scientific method. He co-discovered the
inverse proportionality of pressure and volume in gases (the Boyle–Mariotte
Law). In the footnote, Kant refers to the experiments on collisions in liquids
that Mariotte describes in Traité du mouvement des eaux et des autres fluids (Paris,
1686).
102. See note 91 above.
103. Figure 26 is not contained in the original edition, but was added in the Academy
Edition.
104. Giovanni Battista Riccioli (1598–1671) was an astronomer and cartographer,
a critic of Copernicus, and the author of Almaggestum novum (Bologna, 1651).
Kant refers to his experiments with impacts on soft surfaces, described in this
work. Compare also note 22 above.
Notes to Chapter 2
1. The precise wording of the original prize essay question, posed in French, is:
“Si le mouvement diurne de la Terre a été de tout temps de la meme rapidité,
ou non? Par quels moyens on peut s’en assurer? Et en cas qu’il y ait quelque
inégalité, quelle en est la cause?”
2. French roods of six feet.
3. See Chapter 4 of this volume.
Notes to Chapter 3
1. Bernard le Bovier de Fontenelle (1657–1757) was a French mathematician and
astronomer who served as Permanent Secretary of the Academy of Sciences in
Paris, and later as Director. He was a popular writer on science, history, and
the origin of fables, as well as a poet. He is particularly remembered for his
Cartesian text, Entretiens sur la Pluralité des Mondes (1686).
2. Presumably, what Kant had in mind was a container being filled with river water
and evaporated to dryness. It would then be refilled with a second sample of
water and again evaporated. The process would be repeated ten times in all.
3. Johann Gottschalk Wallerius (1709–85) was a professor of chemistry, miner-
alogy, and pharmacy, in Uppsala from 1750 to 1761. At issue is his publica-
tion Observationes mineralogicae ad plagam occidentalem sinus Bottnici (Stockholm,
1752).
4. Kant is referring here to Eustachio Manfredi (1674–1739), an astronomer at
the Academy of Sciences in Bologna. Important publications include: “De aucta
maris altitudine,” which appeared in De Bononiensi scientiarum et atrium instituto
atque academia commentarii, vol. 2, part 2 (1746).
705
5. Nicolaus Hartsoecker (1656–1725) was a Dutch mathematician and scientist, who,

among other things, was the teacher of Tsar Peter I. He was known especially for
his popular expositions of the mechanical philosophy.
6. Hermann Boerhaave (1668–1738) was a professor of medicine, botany, and chem-
istry at the university in Leiden, often credited with founding the modern system
of teaching medical students at the patient’s bedside. His De Mercurio Experimenta
appeared in 1733 and 1736, and in German translation in 1753.
7. Stephen Hales (1677–1761) was a Cambridge-trained cleric and Vicar of Ted-
dington who was interested in chemistry, botany, anatomy, and physiology. He
published important experimental work on pneumatics and plant and animal phys-
iology. His principal works were Vegetable Staticks (1727) and Statical Essays: Con-
taining Haemastaticks (1733).
8. This town, today called Paslek, is about 50 miles south-east of Danzig (Gdansk),
and about 60 miles south-west of Königsberg (Kaliningrad).
Notes to Chapter 4
1. For a convenient summary of the astronomical data that Kant relied on as well as
contemporary values, see Appendix II.
2. The relevant works are Johann Lambert’s Kosmologische Briefe [Cosmological Let-
ters] and Pierre-Simon Laplace’s Méchanique céeleste [Celestial Mechanics].
3. Originally in a volume titled Kant’s Cosmogony (Glasgow, 1900). Reprinted, with a
new introduction by Milton K. Munitz (Ann Arbor: Ann Arbor Paperbacks, 1969).
4. Immanuel Kant. Universal Natural History and Theory of the Heavens, translated with
introduction and notes by Stanley L. Jaki (Edinburgh: Scottish Academic Press,
1981).
5. Immanuel Kant, Universal Natural History and Theory of the Heavens . . .
Translated by Ian Johnston, Vancouver Island University, available at Richer
Resources Publications and at http://records.viu.ca/∼johnstoi/kant/kant1.htm.
6. We have relied extensively on numerous sources for the information found in the
following factual notes. Of special mention are the “Sachliche Erkläuterungen” by
Johannes Rahts, which accompany the text of the Academy edition (1:547–557);
Gensichen’s additions (which were published in William Herschel über den Bau des
Himmels. Drey Abhandlungen aus dem Englischen übersetzt. Nebst einem authentischen
Auszug aus Kants Allgemeiner Naturgeschichte und Theorie des Himmels (Königsberg:
Friedrich Nicolovius, 1791)); Erich Adickes, Kant als Naturforscher (Berlin: De
Gruyter, 1924); Hans-Joachim Waschkies, Physik und Physikotheologie des jungen
Kant. Die Vorgeschichte seiner Allgemeinen Naturgeschichte und Theorie des Himmels
(Amsterdam: Gruner, 1987); and Jaki’s copious footnotes to his translation.
7. The Areopagus is a hill near the Acropolis in Athens associated with various trials
for murder, e.g., that of Orestes for killing his mother. The term came to be
used for any high court, real or metaphorical, that passed judgement on important
matters. Here, Kant may be referring to the arbiters of orthodox Lutheranism.
8. The term “naturalist” refers to those who see nature as the ultimate ground for
all things; later Kant uses it as a euphemism for atheist, e.g., at 1:223 he con-
trasts it with the “defender of religion”. It does not have the same meaning as
it does in its contemporary usage. Kant may have in mind materialists, such as
La Mettrie.
706
9. Kant continues to object to Epicure in this way as late as § 73 of the Critique of

the Power of Judgment (5:392–393).
10. Kant is quoting here from Übersetzung der Algemeinen Welthistorie die in Engeland
durch eine Geselschaft von Gelehrten ausgefertiget worden: nebst den Anmerkungen der
holländischen Uebersetzung auch vielen neuen Kupfern und Karten genau durchgesehen
und mit häufigen Anmerkungen vemehret, by Siegmund Jacob Baumgarten (Halle:
Gebauer, 1744), 1:80, though the italics are Kant’s addition. The original English
text is An Universal History from the Earliest Time to the Present compiled from
Original Authors and Illustrated with Maps, Cuts, Notes, Chronological and Other
Tables, vol. 1 (London: Batley, 1736). The original text reads: “However, we
cannot but think the essay of that philosopher, who endeavoured to account
for the formation of the world in a certain time from a rude matter, by the
sole continuation of a motion once impressed, and reduced to a few simple and
general laws; or of others, who have since attempted the same, with more applause,
from the original properties of matter, with which it was indued at its creation, is so
far from being criminal or injurious to GOD, as some have imagined, that it is
rather giving a more sublime idea of its infinite wisdom” (p. 35).
11. Kant uses the term “Schwung” to refer to the tangential force of a body in circular
motion that is accelerated by a centripetal force, that is, to the force a body has,
on his account, to continue in a straight line. The tangential and the centripetal
forces interact so as to produce the circular motion.
12. Thomas Wright of Durham (1711–86) was an English astronomer, mathemati-
cian, and instrument maker. He was best known for his publication of An Original
Theory or New Hypothesis of the Universe (1750), which explains the shape of the
Milky Way as due to an optical effect. He also speculated that faint nebulae were
distant galaxies.
13. Wright’s work was summarized in three instalments in the January 1, 5, and 8
issues of the Freye Urtheile und Nachrichten zum Aufnehmen der Wissenschaften
und der Historie überhaupt [Free Judgments and News for Mounting the Sciences
and History in General] (on pp. 1–5, 9–14, and 17–22). For detailed speculation
about Kant’s knowledge of this and other discussions of Wright’s views, see Jaki,
pp. 220–221.
14. After an early stint as vicar, James Bradley (1693–1762) was elected to the Royal
Society in 1718 and then held the Savilian chair of astronomy at Oxford from
1721 until 1742. Following Halley’s death, he was appointed Astronomer Royal.
Through his work with Samuel Molyneux, he discovered an aberrant motion,
proving that the Earth was in motion. He was also instrumental in providing a
specific measurement of the speed of light.
15. See James Bradley, “A letter to the Rt. Hon. George Earl of Macclesfield con-
cerning an apparent motion observed in some of the fixed stars,” December 31,
1747, published in Philosophical Transactions for the year 1748, pp. 39–41.
16. Pierre-Louis Moreau de Maupertuis (1698–1759) was a prominent French math-
ematician, philosopher, and scientist. In addition to defending Newton’s position
in the vis viva controversy against Cartesian opponents, Maupertuis was involved
in an expedition to Lapland to measure the length of a degree of the meridian
so as to establish that the Earth had an oblate rather than a prolate shape. In
mathematics and philosophy, he proposed and then applied broadly the principle
707
of least action, which Euler formulated in more precise mathematical terms. He

was elected to several academies of science in Europe, becoming president of the
Prussian Royal Academy of Sciences at the request of Frederick II. His Treatise
on the Figure of the Stars was originally published as Discours sur la figure des astres
in 1742. Kant is quoting (rather freely) from the Latin discussion of Ouvrages
divers in the Nova acta eruditorum, anno MDCCXL, pp. 221–229, specifically
pp. 224–226.
17. Christian Fürchtegott Gellert (1715–1769) was a popular German poet who
also served as an extraordinary professor of philosophy in Leipzig for most of
his career. His Fabeln und Erzählungen [Fables and Stories], published 1746–48,
contains short poems and stories with a morally uplifting intent. “Hans Nord”
is a poem that describes how a swindler, Hans Nord, cons a group of Londoners
out of money by promising to squeeze himself, both “head and leg”, into a jar
with a narrow neck, upon advance payment of eight “Groschen”.
18. Alexander Pope (1688–1744) is an important English poet, translator of Homer,
and editor of Shakespeare’s works. Kant is quoting from Brockes’ German trans-
lation of Epistle I of Pope’s Essay on Man, which reads as follows: “Seht jene große
Wunderkette, die all Theile dieser Welt/Vereinet und zusammenzieht und die
das große Ganz’ erhält”, which can be translated as: “See that great chain of mir-
acles that unifies and draws together all the parts of this world and that preserves
the great whole.” Pope’s original text has been reproduced above. Apparently,
Herder reported that Pope and Albrecht von Haller were Kant’s favourite poets
and that he liked to quote them at appropriate points in his lectures (Waschkies,
p. 585).
19. Christian Huygens (1629–95) was a Dutch astronomer, mathematician, and
physicist. He was the first to discover one of Saturn’s moons in 1655. Giovanni
Domenico Cassini (1625–1712), an Italian-French astronomer, discovered four
more moons (in 1671, 1672, and 1684).
20. Kant is referring to Kepler’s Second Law. Johannes Kepler (1571–1630) was a
German mathematician and astronomer whose observations and mathematical
calculations led to the statement of three laws describing the motions of the
planets in our solar system. The Second Law states that planets sweep out equal
areas in equal times.
21. Kant is referring to Kepler’s Third Law. Kepler’s third law states that the square
of the periodic times of the planets are to each other as the cubes of the mean
distances.
22. In 1657 Huygens discovered the actual shape of Saturn’s ring.
23. See notes 12 and 13 above.
24. Kant later replaces “the power of rotation” with “the tangential force of the
orbit”.
25. Kant should have doubled the numbers one and a half million and 4000. A star
that was 21,000 times further from the Sun than is the Earth and Orbits the Sun
due to the Sun’s gravitational force would need more than 3 million years for its
orbit and would change its position one degree in 8,000 years.
26. Philippe de la Hire (1640–1718) was first a painter and architect, then a professor
of mathematics at the Collège royale de France.
27. Giovanni Battista Riccioli (1598–1671) was an Italian astronomer, who per-
formed extensive observations of the moon.
708
28. At Kant’s request, Gensichen adds the following remark: “Professor Kant had
already delivered his description of the Milky Way as a system of moved suns
that is similar to our own planetary system six years before Lambert made known
a similar idea in his Cosmological Letters on the Arrangement of the Universe that
was first published in 1761. Thus the former deserves the right of first posses-
sion of a thing that no one had yet owned. Further, Lambert’s conception also
seems to be different from, and, it seems to me inferior to, Kant’s, because Lam-
bert divided the Milky Way into countless smaller parts and assumed that our
planetary system is to be found in one of the parts to which all stars beyond the
Milky Way should belong.” Johann Heinrich Lambert (1728–77) was a German
mathematician, physicist, and philosopher who corresponded with Kant after
1765. In addition to several significant articles on mathematics, reflection, per-
spective, and optics, he published Cosmologische Briefe über die Einrichtung des
Weltbaues [Cosmological Letters on the Arrangement of the Universe] in 1761,
Neues Organon [New Organon] in 1764, and Anlage zur Architectonic [Appendix
on Architectonics] in 1771.
29. It is unclear of which passage in Maupertuis’ oeuvre this sentence is supposed to
be a quote.
30. Kant is referring to William Derham (1657–1735). The title of the work is Astro-
Theology, or a demonstration of the being and attributes of God from a survey of the
heavens (1715). A German translation, Astrotheleologie, oder himmlisches Vergnügen
in Gott (Hamburg: Felginers Wittwe), appeared in 1732.
31. At Kant’s request, Gensichen adds this second remark: “Lambert seems to have
been uncertain about how to view the nebulous stars. For, although one might
infer on the basis of several passages in his letters that he viewed them as distant
Milky Ways, other passages certainly suggest that he viewed them, or at least the
glimmer in Orion, as light that the obscure central bodies that were illuminated
by its neighbouring suns reflected towards us. It seems to be certain that Lam-
bert suspected the existence of several Milky Ways, but it does not seem that he
viewed the nebulous stars as such distant Milky Ways. One can thus not prop-
erly call this description a daring thought Lambert made, as Erxleben does in
his physics, 1772, p. 540, and as it has remained in the later editions undertaken
by Herr Lichtenberg; and since this thought was already presented by Kant in
the year 1755, and, in fact, in a very specific way, there can be no more doubt
on whose side the priority of this kind of description lies.” Johann Christian
Polycarp Erxleben (1744–77) was a German physicist, minerologist, and veteri-
narian, who published, among other things, Anfangsgründe der Naturlehre [Basic
Concepts of the Doctrine of Nature] (1768), which Kant used for his lectures on
physics starting in 1776. Georg Christoph Lichtenberg (1742–99) was a popular
author and mathematician and the first professor in Germany for experimental
physics. In addition to collections of aphorisms (in his so-called “Waste Books”),
he published Vorlesungen zur Naturlehre [Lectures on the Doctrine of Nature]
(1784), which were explicitly based on Erxleben’s Anfangsgründe.
32. Rahts suggests “increase” rather than “decrease” here.
33. This quotation is from Epistle III of Pope’s Essay on Man. The German translation
can be translated into English as: “See forming nature move toward its great
purpose / Every mite of star dust stirs each other / Each one that is pulled pulls
the other to itself / So as to grasp the other in turn, to attempt to shape it. / Behold
709
matter in a thousand-fold way / Striving to a universal center.” Kant leaves off

the last half of the last line “ihr allgemeines Gut” (The general Good).
34. A line refers to a unit of length equal to 1/12 of an inch, or just over 2 millimetres.
35. The word “can” is a later addition of Kant’s.
36. The word “ultimately” is a later addition of Kant’s.
37. According to Gensichen, Kant amends his text as follows: “initially slowly
(through chemical attraction), but then in rapid steps (through so-called New-
tonian attraction)”.
38. Kant presumably means centripetal, not centrifugal force here.
39. The phrase “as it were” is a later addition of Kant’s.
40. Kant later amended this text as follows: “The elements of the lighter kind, by
contrast, which are more readily deflected from the straight line of their fall,
will change into orbital motions before they have penetrated so deeply to the
centre, because they are not permitted to penetrate so deeply into the space filled by the
elements, so that their motion turned sideways by this resistance of theirs, attains the
velocity required for a free orbit. Therefore, after having attained the tangential force
sufficient for free motion, they will remain hovering at greater distances, and cannot
penetrate so far through the filled space of the elements without their motion
through these being weakened by their resistance and they are unable to achieve
the high degree of velocity required for orbiting closer to the centre.” (Italics for
added text.)
41. Kant later replaces “hanging” with “floating”.
42. Kant may be referring to Newton’s discussion of the density of the planets in
Bk. iii, Prop. viii, Theor. viii, Cor. 3 and 4 of the Philosophiae Naturalis Principia
Mathematica. Kant’s personal library contained a copy of the second edition of
Newton’s Principia: Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica. Editio ultima
auctior et emendatior (Amsterdam, 1714).
43. Jaki suggests that Kant may have been influenced by Buffon on this point.
44. Jaki argues (p. 261) that Kant uncritically adopted Buffon’s reference to the
Principia in his Histoire naturelle (1:136) for this value.
45. Kant later replaces the phrase “where . . . formed”, with “with respect to the mag-
nitude of the space”.
46. In Kant’s time, a billion is a million million, not a thousand million.
47. Kant confuses radius and diameter here, such that the entire sphere of Saturn
should exceed the volume of the earth by 8,000 “billion” times.
48. The value Kant uses for water here diverges from that used by Newton in the
third edition of the Principia (Bk. iii, Prop. x, Theor. x).
49. Newton mentions the sight of stars through the tail of comets in the Principia
(Bk. iii, Prop. xli, Probl. xxi).
50. The phrase “by their very own attractive forces” is a later addition of Kant’s.
51. George Louis Leclerc Buffon (1707–88) was a French naturalist and philosopher,
Keeper of the King’s Garden in Paris, and author of an extremely influential
work titled Histoire Naturelle, which was published in 36 volumes from 1749
to 1788.
52. Equatorial zone.
53. Cassini’s observations between 1665 and 1692 led to agreement on nine hours
and fifty minutes as the rotation period of Jupiter.
710
54. See Kant’s “Examination of the Question Whether the Rotation of the Earth
on its Axis by which it Brings About the Alternation of Day and Night has
Undergone any Change Since its Origin and How One Can be Certain of This,
Which was set by the Royal Academy of Sciences in Berlin as the Prize Question
for the Current Year” in this volume.
55. Kant later starts his excerpt of this chapter with: “The origin of the ring that encir-
cles Saturn can be explained more intelligibly than many other natural appear-
ances if we assume that after the completion of its formation Saturn had a rotation
around its axis and the lightest material at its surface was raised above it through
the effects of heat.”
56. For detailed discussion of the possible historical origins of this value, see Jaki,
pp. 270–271.
57. Kant presumably has the polar and equatorial diameters in mind.
58. Huygen’s hypothesis is stated in Discours sur la cause de la pesanteur (1690).
59. Newton’s hypothesis is stated in Bk. iii, Prop. xix, Probl. iii of the Principia.
60. The theorem of Newton that is most immediately relevant here is from Bk. iii,
Theor. xix, Probl. iii of the Principia.
61. Jaki states (p. 275) that Cassini’s ratio is actually the same as Newton’s.
62. Rev. James Pound (1669–1724) was an English astronomer and a member of the
Royal Society.
63. Kepler’s Third Law.
64. Wolf Balthasar Adolph von Steinwehr (1704–71) was a German writer on science,
numismatics, theology, and philosophy, who published a German translation of
the Memoirs of the Academy of Science in Paris.
65. Jean-Jacques D’Ortous De Mairan (1678–1771) was a French mathematician,
physicist, and astronomer, who served in a variety of capacities at the Royal
Academy of Sciences in Paris and became editor of the Journal des Scavans. His
best known work, Traite physique and historique de l’Aurore Boreale, was published
in Paris in 1733 and reprinted in the Journal des Scavans in 1754.
66. Johann Friedrich Weitenkampf (1726–58) was a fellow student of Kant’s in
Königsberg, who went on, after further studies in Leipzig and Halle, to become
a pastor in Braunschweig. Two publications are at issue here, namely Gedanken
über wichtige Wahrheiten aus der Vernunft und Religion [Thoughts on Important
Truths of Reason and Religion] (Braunschweig/Hildesheim: Schröder, 1753–55)
and Das Lehrgebäude vom Untergange der Erde [Doctrine Concerning the End of
the World] (Braunschweig/Hildesheim: Schröder, 1754).
67. Albrecht von Haller (1708–77) was a Swiss physician, physiologist, and botanist,
who was also a popular poet at the time. Kant is quoting from “Unvollkommene
Ode über die Ewigkeit” [Incomplete Ode on Eternity], which was published
in the third edition of Versuch schweizerischer Gedichte [Essay on Swiss Poetry]
(Danzig, 1743).
68. This quotation from Epistle I of Pope’s Essay on Man reads as follows in the
original:
Who sees with equal eye, as God of all
A hero perish or a sparrow fall
Atoms or systems into ruin hurl’d
And now a bubble burst, and now a world.
711
69. Again, Kant quotes von Haller’s poem “Unvollkommene Ode über die
Ewigkeit”.
70. Joseph Addison (1672–1719) was a British poet and politician, who, along with
Richard Steele, founded The Spectator magazine. This poem was originally pub-
lished in The Spectator 453 (Aug. 9, 1712); Gottsched’s translation is in Der
Zuschauer, 9 vols. (Leipzig: Breitkopf, 1749–51). In the original, the poem reads
as follows:
When Nature fails, and day and night
Divide Thy works no more,
My ever grateful heart, O Lord,
Thy mercy shall adore.
Through all Eternity to Thee
A joyful song I’ll raise;
For, Oh! Eternity’s too short
To utter all Thy praise.
71. Stephen Hales (1677–1761) was an English chemist, physiologist, and inventor,
who studied the role of air and water in plant and animal life. The experiments
Kant refers to are reported in Hales’s Vegetable Staticks (1727), though Kant
may have been aware of them through Buffon’s French translation, which was
published in 1735.
72. This quotation is from Epistle I of Pope’s Essay on Man. The original reads:
He, who through vast immensity can pierce,
See worlds on worlds compose one universe,
Observe how system into system runs,
What other planets circle other suns,
What varied Being peoples every star,
May tell why Heaven has made us as we are.
73. The identity of this author and of the publication from which this quotation
stems are unknown. “Fontenelle” is Bernard le Bovier de Fontenelle (1657–
1757), a French writer and man of letters who served as perpetual secretary to
the Academy of Sciences in Paris for over forty years.
74. Alexander the Great.
75. This quotation is from Epistle II of Pope’s Essay on Man. The original
reads:
Superior beings, when of late they saw
A mortal man unfold all Nature’s law,
Admired such wisdom in an earthly shape,
And show’d a NEWTON as we show an ape.
76. This quotation is from Epistle I of Pope’s Essay on Man. The original reads:
Vast chain of being! which from God began;
Natures ethereal, human, angel, man,
Beast, bird, fish, insect, who no eye can see,
No glass can reach; from infinite to thee;
From thee to nothing.
77. This quotation is from the Third Book of Albrecht von Haller’s Über den Ursprung
des Übels [On the Origin of Evil] (1734).
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Notes to Chapter 5
1. Of course, to accept a professorship, one must give a fourth lecture, in Latin.
Kant is able to undertake this work in 1770, with his Inaugural Dissertation. For
more information on Kant’s pedagogical activities, see “Kant in the Classroom,”
www.manchester.edu/kant/Home/index.htm, 2010.
2. Both the second and third of these works are published in Kant’s Theoretical
Philosophy, 1755–1770 (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2003), pp. 1–45
and pp. 47–66.
3. See 10:3 for Kant’s letter to Frederick the Great.
4. It is incorrect to attribute this teaching to Descartes. In Principia philosophiae, ii,
prop. lvi Descartes ascribes motion to all the parts of fluid bodies.
5. Kant means to the reader’s left.
6. Hooke’s Law. Adickes suggests “spring” instead of “elastic body” as translation
of elastrum. See his Kant als Naturforscher (Berlin: De Gruyter, 1924–25), vol. ii,
p. 25.
7. Kant misleadingly states the relation between kh and xs. They are not in ratione
spatiorum compressionis sc et hc but in ratio of their lengths; for sc is not compressed
into hc but, upon pressing the body in position 1 into positions 2 and 3, the
following relation holds: kh:hc = xs:sc. Kant makes no use of Fig. 2.
8. Gabriel de la Hire, “Sur la condensation et dilatation de l’air”, in Mémoires de
l’Académie Royale des Sciences (Paris, 1705), pp. 144–146.
9. This theory of boiling is not original with Kant. For earlier versions of it, includ-
ing the one in the physics textbook Kant used in his lectures, see Adickes, Kant
als Naturforscher, vol. ii, p. 40.
10. Optice (1719 edn.), Query 22, p. 321; not in Opticks.
11. Opticks, Book ii, Part iii, Proposition x.
12. Leonhard Euler, Nova theoria lucis et colorum (1746), in Opera omnia (Geneva,
1942), ser. iii, vol. 5, pp. 1–46. Kant is attempting to reconcile Euler’s wave-
theory with Newton’s particle theory. Kant identifies the matter of heat with the
luminiferous ether and thus holds that light and heat are specific forms of subtile
matter manifesting themselves only in undulatory motion.
13. Guillaume Amontons (1663–1705), “Le thermometer réduit a une mésure fixe
et certaine”, Mémoires de l’Académie Royale des Sciences (Paris, 1740), pp. 111–125.
14. Hermann Boerhaave, Elementa chemiae (Leiden, 1732), vol. i, pp. 172–173. See
the note in chapter 3 above for more information.
15. Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit (1686–1736), “Experiments concerning the Degrees
of Heat of Boiling Liquors”, Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society (1724),
pp. 1–2.
16. Pierre Charles le Monnier (1717–99), “Observations d’histoire naturelles faites
dans les provinces méridionales de France pendant l’année 1739”, in Suite des
Mémoires de l’Académie Royale des Sciences (Paris, 1740), pp. 111–235.
17. Jean-Baptiste Baron de Secondat (1716–96), Observations de physique et d’histoire
naturelle sur les eaux minerals . . . [et] sur l’influence de la pesanteur de l’air
dans la chaleur des liqueurs bouillantes & dans leur congellation (Paris, 1750),
pp. 75–112.
18. Academia del Cimento (Florence), Saggi di natvrali esperienza (1666), “Esperienze
intorno alla compressione dell’ aqua”, pp. cciv et seq.
713
19. Newton (Opticks, Query 31, pp. 295–296) uses the term “repulsive force”, by
which “The Particles when they are shaken off from Bodies by Heat or Fer-
mentation, as soon as they are beyond the reach of the Attraction of the Body,
receding from it, and also from one another with great Strength, and keeping
at a distance, so as sometimes to take up above a Million of Times more space
than they did before in the form of a dense Body. Which vast contraction and
Expansion seems unintelligible, by feigning the Particles of Air to be springy or
ramous, or rolled up like Hoops, or by any other means than a repulsive Power.”
20. Reading (with Adickes, Kant als Naturforscher, vol. ii, p. 48) amotum instead of
(with the Academy edition) admotum.
21. Stephen Hales, Vegetable Staticks (London, 1727), chapter vi, “A Specimen of
an Attempt to Analyse the Air by Chymiostatical Experiments”, passim. (Kant
possessed a German translation of this work.)
22. Kant must have in mind “human stone” here.
23. Acid was believed to be the active principle in oils, so Kant thought that he had
already showed this in Proposition viii.
24. Vegetable Staticks, Experiments 76, 87, 99.
25. Jacques Cassini (1677–1756), “Sur les règles de la condensation de l’air”, Mémoires
de l’Académie Royale des Sciences (Paris, 1705), pp. 61–74, reports on his collab-
oration with Giacomo Filippo Maraldi (1665–1729), by which they discovered
deviations from Mariotte’s law at higher altitudes.
26. How a small flame can ignite a large fire without infringing the principle that
the cause and effect must be “equal” was the question for a prize essay sponsored
by the Paris Academy of Sciences in 1738. Among the contributors was Voltaire,
and the prize was won by Euler. Kant’s explanation follows Euler’s. See Adickes,
Kant als Naturforscher, vol. ii, pp. 67–68.
Notes to Chapter 6
1. One German mile was approximately 7.5 km.
2. Labarbinais le Gentil (1725–92) was a French traveller in the seventeenth century.
He described his travels in Nouveau voyage autour du monde etc. avec une description
de la Chine (Paris, 1728). Buffon’s reference to le Gentil was from Histoire naturelle
vol. i, pp. 172 ff. and pp. 521–522.
3. This experiment derives from Nicolas Lémery (1645–1715), a French pharmacist
and chemist who described his experiments in the proceedings of the Royal
Academy of Science in Paris.
4. Glückstadt is situated on the estuary of the Elbe near Hamburg. Husum is on
the west coast of the Jutland Peninsula.
5. Louis Carré was a French academician, physicist, mathematician, and stu-
dent of the science of music. His paper described investigations (under-
taken in the light of the Cartesian corpuscular philosophy) that attempted
to determine the refraction of a musket ball when fired obliquely into water
(1705).
6. This town is about forty miles north of Berlin. There are several lakes in the
vicinity.
7. Kant is referring here to a passage contained in the 24 January issue (1:420).
714
Notes to Chapter 7
1. Johann Hübner (1703–58) published Vollständige Geographie [Complete Geogra-
phy] in Hamburg in 1730–32.
2. Johann Jakob Scheuchzer (1672–1733) was a Swiss physician and natural scientist,
best known for his interpretation of fossils (specifically, a fossil salamander, which
he thought was the remains of a man drowned in the Noachian Flood). He
authored numerous works, including Natur-Histori des Schweizerlandes [Natural
History of Switzerland] (1716–18).
3. There are no significant lakes near Meiningen in Germany. There is, however,
a village, south of Lake Constance, near Feldkirch and Dornbirn, in Austria,
named Meiningen, which has a small lake nearby. Possibly Kant was referring to
this.
4. This town, today called Teplice, lies between Dresden and Prague on the south-
ern flanks of the Erzgebirge Range.
5. George Louis Leclerc Buffon (1707–88) was a French naturalist. His famous
Histoire Naturelle included material on mineralogy and a theory of the earth as
well as numerous descriptions of animals.
6. Count Luigi Ferdinando Marsigli (1658–1730) was an Italian military engineer,
geographer, antiquarian, and natural historian, who was the author of the first
treatise on oceanography, titled Histoire physique de la mer [Physical History of
the Sea] (1725).
7. Four thousand square rods, or twenty-five acres.
8. In modern Slovenia.
9. 25 July.
10. Bernhard Waren (1622–50) was a Dutch geographer, who published Geographia
generalis in 1650, which then served as the standard geographical text for over a
century. Further, slightly revised editions were issued in 1664 and 1671.
11. Johann Lulof (1711–68) was a Dutch astronomer and theologian, whose Intro-
ductio ad cognitionem atque usum utriusque globi was translated from Dutch into
German by Abraham Gotthelf Kästner in 1755.
12. John Ray (1627–1705) was an English geographer and naturalist, sometimes
referred to as the father of natural history, who published works in botany, zool-
ogy, and theology (in particular, about the role of the Flood in geological history).
13. See the note to the previous chapter for information on Gentil (note 2 in
Chapter 6).
14. Kant may have meant Glewstone in Herefordshire or Gilston, Herts.
15. Pierre Bouguer (1698–1758) was a French mathematician, geologist, and
astronomer.
16. For information on Mariotte, see note 101 to Chapter 1.
17. Kant is here referring to his essay On the Causes of Earthquakes on the Occasion of
the Calamity which befell the Western Countries of Europe Towards the End of Last
Year. See Chapter 6.
18. See note 85 to Chapter 1 on Musschenbroek.
19. Robert Boyle (1627–91) was an important British naturalist known for his work
in chemistry and physics, particularly his pneumatic investigations with the air
pump. He was a strong advocate of the empirical approach to natural philosophy
and of the so-called mechanical philosophy.
715
20. See notes to Chapters 3, 4, and 5 for information on Hales.

21. Jacques Gautier d’Agoty (?–1785) was a French painter and author of Nouveau
système de l’univers (1750), which was opposed to Newton’s views.
22. William Dampier (1652–1715) was an English traveller, who penned New voyage
round the world by captain William Dampier in 1699. A French translation was
published in 1701.
Notes to Chapter 8
1. Kant may have in mind Eberhard Christian Kindermann, who published Die
Geschwinde Reise auf dem Lufft-Schiff nach der obern Welt, welche jüngstlich fünff
Personen angestellt [The Rapid Voyage in an Airship to a Higher World, which
Five People Recently Made] (Berlin, 1750). It is considered the first work of
science fiction in Germany.
2. William Whiston (1667–1752) was an English historian, astronomer, theologian,
and mathematician who published, among other things, A New Theory of the Earth
in 1696. He was Newton’s successor at Cambridge, propounding a theory of the
Earth involving cometary impacts.
3. Gottfried Profe (1712–70) was the principal of the Gymnasium in Altona. Kant
is referring to an article of Profe published in the Schleswig-Holstein Anzeigen
(1755).
4. Sir Kenelm Digby (1603–65) was a British chemist (or alchemist), who worked
in the tradition of Paracelsis and van Helmont. He was active in controversies
about ‘weapon salves’ and ‘sympathetic powders’. He published “A late discourse
touching the cure of wounds by the powder of sympathy” in 1658, which was
translated into French in 1659. A pirate in his early career, he later become a
favourite at the court of Charles I and one of the founders of the Royal Society.
5. Pierre le Lorrain, known as the Abbé of Vallemont (1649–1721), composed
occultist books, including La Sphére du Monde selon l’Hypothèse de Copernic (1707).
6. Blocksberg is the highest peak in the Harz mountain range in northern Germany.
7. Since Kant is speaking here of the changing tides caused by the influence of the
Moon, this passage should more correctly read: and when they are close to a straight
line drawn through the Earth and the Moon.
8. Martin Lister (1638–1712) was an English zoologist who was remembered, inter
alia, for his suggestion that fossils were no more than peculiar stones (lapides sui
generis), formed in rocks without living creatures being involved in the process.
9. For information on Pierre Bouguer, see note 15 to Chapter 7.
10. This statement appears, at first sight, to contravene the inverse-square law
for gravitational attraction. But it can be shown that the difference between
the force exerted by a planet on one side of the Earth and the force exerted on its
opposite side is approximately inversely proportional to the cube of the distance
between the planet and the centre of the Earth. The height of the tide caused
by the influence of a heavenly body is proportional to its mass and decreases in
the ratio of the cube of its distance. Since Jupiter is an average of five times as
far from the Earth as the Sun is, and has a mass that is 1048 times smaller, the
effect it has on the tides is 1/125 × 1/1048 = 1/130,000 of that of the Sun.
11. A decimal scruple is one tenth of a decimal line, that is, one thousandth of a foot.
716
12. Pierre Gassendi (1592–1655) was an influential French philosopher and theolo-
gian. A critic of Aristotelian and Paracelsian ideas, he was important for his con-
tributions to the revival of classical Greek atomic theory in seventeenth-century
Europe.
13. Kant is referring to Nicolas-Claude Fabri de Peiresc (1580–1637) and to “Viri
illustris Nicolai Claudii Fabricii de Peiresc vita, per Petrum Gassendum” (Hagae,
1651), p. 106.
14. See note 3 to Chapter 6 on Lémery’s experiment.
15. Isidore Binet (1693–1774) was an Italian priest in the Capuchin order and wrote
“Ragionamento sopra la Cagione de terremoti Perugia” in 1751. It was reviewed
in German in 1756 and translated in the Hamburgisches Magazin. He was known
for his early work in seismology, notably his use of an instrument that recorded
Earth tremors by tracing movements of a pendulum bob on sand.
16. Johann Gottlob Krüger (1715–59) was professor of philosophy and medicine in
Helmstedt and published “Gedancken von den Ursachen des Erdbebens, nebst
einer moralischen Betrachtung” [Thoughts on the Causes of the Earthquake,
Along with a Moral Observation] in 1756.
17. Samuel Christian Hollmann (1696–1787) was named professor of philosophy in
Göttingen in 1734. In an article in the Göttingen Anzeigen von gelehrten Sachen
(1756) he suggested that holes might be dug down into the Earth to provide
escape routes for fire, in order to lessen the damage caused by earthquakes or
volcanoes.
18. Benjamin Franklin (1706–83) was an American physicist, politician and man of
letters. His main scientific work was concerned with studies of electrical phe-
nomena, including lightning discharges. He developed an influential ‘one-fluid’
theory of electricity.
Notes to Chapter 9
1. For a comprehensive guide to Kant’s lecturing activities both in general and
for particular courses, see Steve Naragon, “Kant in the Classroom”, www.
manchester.edu/kant/Home/index.htm, 2010.
2. For scholarly discussion of Kant’s theory of the winds, see Erich Adickes, Kant
als Naturforscher (Berlin: De Gruyter, 1924–5), Wolfgang Lefevre and Falk
Wunderlich, Kants Naturtheoretische Begriffe (1747–1780), http://knb.mpiwg-
berlin.mpg.de/kant/home, 2008, and Martin Schönfeld, The Philosophy of the
Young Kant (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000), pp. 77–8.
3. That is, a square each of whose sides is two miles in length.
4. Kant’s exposition here is peculiarly opaque. Possibly he is thinking of a cube with
a side of two miles and a volume of eight cubic miles. If one moves away one
mile from such a cube and this increase is repeated over the whole surface of the
cube, one would have a cube with a side of four miles and a volume of sixty-four
cubic miles. If, on the other hand, the volume of the first cube is increased by
one tenth, the increase in volume would be 0.8 cubic miles. The ratio of increase
in volume in the two cases is 0.8 to 64, i.e., one to eighty.
5. Brockhaus, 1830 edn., “Äthiopischer Ocean”: “ein Teil des großen Oceans unter
der Linie westlich von Afrika” (the word “Äthiopien” was originally used of Africa
as a whole).
717
6. Waren’s Geographia naturalis was reissued, along with a new appendix, by James
Jurin (1684–1750) in 1712.
7. Musschenbroek published his Essai de physique in London in 1739.
8. Khamsin is an oppressively hot desert wind that blows in north-east Africa in late
winter and early summer in a south-westerly direction.
10. I.e., the Equator.
11. The speed of the north wind in this example must be set at nine feet per second
and not at eighteen feet for a north-east wind to arise at the eighteenth degree of
latitude. At a speed of eighteen feet, the resultant motion would be north-north-
easterly, unless one were to assume that the wind had lost half of its speed during
its seventy-five (German) mile journey. But Kant makes no mention of any of
this.
12. George Hadley had proposed a similar explanation of the trade winds in 1735.
It is well established that Kant was not familiar with Hadley’s view.
13. Kant is referring to Mariotte’s Sur la nature de d’air, in Oeuvres de Mr. Mariotte
(Leiden, 1717), vol. i, pp. 160–1.
14. Johann Peter Eberhard (1727–79) was a professor of medicine, later of mathe-
matics and physics, at Halle who wrote numerous texts on applied mathematics,
hydraulics, engineering, mining, optics, natural history, and physiology. His most
important work is one that Kant used in his own physics lectures in the 1750s
and early 1760s, namely Erste Gründe der Naturlehre (1753).
15. Vernunftlehre.
16. Alexander Gottlieb Baumgarten (1714–62) was Professor of Philosophy at Frank-
furt an der Oder, who was doctrinally close to Leibniz and Wolff. Though best
known for his works in aesthetics, Kant used his Metaphysica (1739) for the vast
majority of his metaphysics lectures. For a partial English translation, see Eric
Watkins, Kant’s Critique of Pure Reason: Background Source Materials (Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press, 2009), ch. 3.
Notes to Chapter 10
1. More extensive information about Kant’s lectures on physical geography is pro-
vided in the Introduction to Chapter 16 below.
2. Bernhard Waren (1622–50) was a German geographer, to whom Kant also refers
in his second earthquake essay (Chapter 7 above).
3. See the notes above, in Chapters 4 and 6, for information on Buffon.
4. Johann Lulof (1711–68) was a Dutch astronomer and theologian, to whom Kant
also refers in his second earthquake essay (Chapter 7 above).
5. Allgemeine Historie der Reisen zu Wasser und zu Lande [Universal History of Voy-
ages at Sea and on Land] (Amsterdam, 1747–74), 21 vols.
6. Sammlung neuer und merkwürdiger Reisen zu Wasser und zu Lande [Collection of
New and Strange Voyages at Sea and on Land] (Göttingen, 1750–57), 11 parts.
7. Das Hamburgische Magazin oder Gesammelte Schriften aus der Natur, Vorsehung
und gesammten Wissenschaften [The Hamburg Magainze or Collected Words
from Nature, Providence and the Collected Sciences] (Hamburg, 1748–63),
26 vols.
718
8. Allgemeines Magazin der Natur, Kunst, u. Wissenschaften [Universal Magazine of

Nature, Art, and Sciences] (Leipzig, 1753–61), 12 vols.
9. Linnaeus’s hypothesis is presented in § 77 of the Physical Geography (9:302–3).
10. John Woodward (1665–1728) was an English physician, mineralogist, and geol-
ogist who published works on the natural history of the Earth and fossils. He
wrote extensively on a ‘catastrophist’ theory of the Earth in which the Noachian
Flood played a major role. He also founded the famous Woodward collection of
fossils, now held at Cambridge.
11. Thomas Burnet (1635–1715) was an English theologian, who also wrote a spec-
ulative treatise on cosmogony.
12. Kant refers to Whiston in his third essay on earthquakes (Chapter 8 above) at
1:465.
13. The hypothesis Kant mentions is found in Leibniz’s “Protogaea”, which resulted
from the latter’s investigations of mining in the Harz mountains.
14. See Kant’s discussion of Buffon’s hypothesis in the Physical Geography at 9:303.
15. See note 14 to Chapter 9 about Eberhard’s physics textbook.
16. Georg Friedrich Meier (1718–77) was a professor of philosophy in Halle who
popularized Baumgarten’s and Wolff ’s ideas. Kant probably used either his Ver-
nunftlehre (Halle, 1752) or his Auszug aus der Vernunftlehre (Halle, 1752) in his
logic lectures throughout his entire career. (Some sources suggest that he started
with Baumeister’s logic, which was popular in Königsberg at the time, but the
evidence is not definitive on this point and, given what Kant says in this announce-
ment, he could have used Baumeister’s logic only a few times, during the first
semesters he taught.)
17. Friedrich Christian Baumeister (1709–85) was a proponent of Wolff from Leipzig
who wrote on a broad range of philosophical topics. The work most relevant in
this context is his Institutiones Metaphysicae (Wittenberg, 1738).
18. See note 16 to Chapter 9 about Baumgarten’s textbook.
19. See note 85 to Chapter 1 on Musschenbroek.
20. Peter Kolb(e) (1675–1726) was a German naturalist and traveler after graduat-
ing from Halle. He was the first official astronomer in South Africa. His most
significant publication was Caput Bonae Spei Hodiernum (Nuremberg, 1719). He
also wrote on the nature of comets (1701).
21. Spanish for: strong, blustery wind.
Notes to Chapter 11
1. For a detailed discussion of Kant’s argument and its significance, see Marius Stan,
“Kant’s Early Theory of Motion: Metaphysical Dynamics and Relativity”, The
Leibniz Review 19 (2009): 29–61.
2. Remus was one of the legendary founders of Rome. With his twin brother,
Romulus, he is said to have been reared by a she-wolf. When Romulus built a
rampart around Rome, Remus supposedly jumped over it contemptuously, and
for this reason was killed by his brother.
3. The river by which Königsberg is situated, now called the Pregol’a.
4. James Bradley (1693–1762) was an English astronomer who was remembered
particularly for his discovery of the ‘proper motions’ of the stars, i.e., the
719
apparent slight annual changes in the positions of the stars close to the solar
system arising from the orbital motion of the Earth. See also note 14 to Chapter 4
above.
5. See note 82 to Chapter 1 for information on Kant’s use of the term “Moment” and
“Momenta”.
6. Kant may have been mistaken in attributing 2 instead of 3 to body B here and in
the rest of the paragraph.
7. See note 16 to Chapter 10 for Kant’s use of Meier’s logic book.
8. See note 17 to Chapter 10 for relevant information on Baumeister.
9. See note 14 to Chapter 9 for information on Eberhard’s textbook.
Notes to Chapter 13
1. Johann Bernoulli (1744–1807) was a mathematician and astronomer.
2. This was announced in the 12 November 1781 issue of the Königsbergische Frag-
und Anzeigungs-Nachrichten.
3. Joh. Heinr. Lamberts deutscher gelehrter Briefwechsel (Berlin-Dessau). The first vol-
ume appeared in 1781, the second in 1782, and the third in 1785.
4. J. H. Lamberts logische und philosophische Abhandlungen, 2 vols. (Berlin-Dessau,
1782/7).
5. This series was published in Berlin in 18 vols. from 1781 to 1787.
Notes to Chapter 14
1. The journal at issue is The Gentleman’s Magazine, vol. liv (August 1784): 563–4.
2. Franz Ulrich Theodosius Aepinus (1724–1802) was a German-Russian mathe-
matician, astronomer and physicist, whose most important work was concerned
with the studies of electricity and magnetism, though he also studied chemistry
and medicine. His early work was chiefly undertaken at Rostock. Later he became
a member of the Berlin Academy of Sciences and then moved to the St Petersburg
Academy.
3. Peter Simon Pallas (1741–1811) was a German scientist, who became a member of
the St Petersburg Academy in 1768 and participated in a celebrated expedition to
Siberia (1772–74), from which he brought back some splendid collections. With
his main work, Reisen in verschiedenen Provinzen des russischen Reiches [Travels in
Various Provinces of the Russian Empire], and in over one hundred scientific
papers, he made considerable contributions to zoology, botany, geography, and
ethnography, writing particularly on the structure of mountain chains.
4. Jean-Hyacinthe Magellan (1722–90) was a Portuguese scientific ‘intelli-
gencer’/‘industrial spy’. He was a significant figure in eighteenth-century science,
assisting the dissemination of scientific and technological information, in addition
to translating scientific books.
5. Sir Frederick William Herschel (1738–1822) was an Anglo-German astronomer,
who was remembered for his cosmological theories and his telescopic observations,
which included the discovery of the planet Uranus.
6. Giovanni Battista Beccaria (1716–81) was a professor of physics in Turin who car-
ried out investigations in electrostatics and suggested that the Earth’s magnetism
might be due to the circulation of an electric fluid around the Earth.
720
7. Georg Christoph Lichtenberg (1742–99) was a German physicist and professor

in Göttingen who was well known for his work on geodesy, geophysics, meteorol-
ogy, chemistry, statistics, and geometry, in addition to observational astronomy
and experimental physics, especially electrostatics. In 1777, he discovered the
basic process underlying xerographic copying. He was known for his philosoph-
ical aphorisms.
8. Sir William Hamilton (1730–1803) was an English scholar and diplomat (ambas-
sador to the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies) who observed volcanic phenomena in
Italy and was an active supporter of the excavations at Herculaneum and Pompeii.
9. Robert Hooke (1635–1702) was a noted English virtuoso, Curator of Experi-
ments for the Royal Society, and later Secretary. He was also an architect, and
expert experimentalist and inventor, in addition to writing on mechanics, optics,
microscopy, physiology, geology, etc. The work Kant is referring to is Micro-
graphia, or some physiological descriptions of minute bodies (1665).
10. Antonio de Ulloa y de la Torre Giral (1716–95) was a Spanish admiral who
accompanied the French expedition to South America (1736–45) to measure an
arc of meridian. His account of this journey included the first scientific descrip-
tion of plantinum from the sands of the Rio Pinto (Magdalena) in Columbia.
He reported a solar eclipse in 1778, in which it appeared that there was a lumi-
nous red point visible at the edge of the Moon as it passed before the Sun.
Ulloa thought there might be a hole in the Moon, through which the Sun’s
light could pass. Later, he was general manager of the mines of Huanca vélica
in Peru.
11. This work was published in Berlin in 1781. In it, the works of Hamilton, Campi,
Phlegraci are discussed.
12. Giovanni Maria della Torre (1713–82) was Director of the Royal Library and
Royal Printing Press for the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies. He published several
works on Vesuvius and its eruptions. Kant used his account of an eruption of
1779, published in German in 1783.
13. Christopher Clavius (1537–1612) was an Italian Jesuit mathematician,
astronomer, and philosopher. A supporter of the Aristotelian philosophy, he
became involved in controversies with Galileo, suggesting that the valleys and
mountains of the Moon were covered by a hypothetical transparent, crystalline
substance. A lunar crater, referred to in this passage, is named after him.
14. The Oxford English Dictionary gives five meanings for ‘alluvion’: 1. the wash or
flow of the sea against the shore, or of a river on its banks; 2. a flood, especially
when water is charged with much suspended matter; 3. the matter deposited by a
flood or inundation; 4. matter deposited by a river – or alluvium; 5. the formation
of new land by slow and imperceptible action of flowing water. The first or third
usages seem to fit best here.
15. See the notes above, to Chapters 4 and 6, for information on Buffon.
16. Adair Crawford (1749–95) was a physician and professor of chemistry in London
His magnum opus, Experiments and observations on animal heat and the inflammation
of combustible bodies . . . , was published in London in 1779.
17. Alexander Wilson (1714–86) was Professor of Astronomy at Glasglow University.
He supposed that the Sun consisted of a fiery envelope surrounding an opaque
interior so sunspots corresponded to gaps in the outer envelope.
721
18. Christiaan Huygens (1629–95) was a notable Dutch physicist and astronomer.
He was a staunch advocate of the corpuscular philosophy, working on heat, light,
mechanics, probability theory, horology, and navigation. He was the author of
Systema Saturnium (1659).
Notes to Chapter 15
1. See note 7 to Chapter 14 for a brief sketch of Lichtenberg’s biography.
2. Johannes Hieronymous Schröter (1745–1816) was trained as a lawyer, but soon
obtained a position in Lilienthal near Bremen that allowed him to pursue his
astronomical interests. Supported by the King of England (also Elector of
Hanover), he built an important observatory. Though he was well known in
his day as a topographic astronomer, few of his discoveries have stood the test of
time.
3. Johann Lulof (1711–68) was a Dutch astronomer and theologian who taught
moral philosophy, theology, and astronomy at Leiden. He also served as an
inspector of navigation. He was elected a member of the Berlin Academy of Sci-
ences, publishing numerous astronomical observations and physico-theological
works.
4. Giuseppe Toaldo (1719–97) was an Italian meteorologist and astronomer and a
professor of literature and later of astronomy, geography, and meteorology at
Padua.
5. David Williams (1738–1816) was well known on the basis of his numerous pro-
posals for reforming the church and pedagogy.
6. Johann Christian Gottlieb Schäffer was a physician in Regensburg. The publi-
cation to which Kant is referring here is Über Sensibilität als Lebensprincip in der
organischen Natur [On Sensibility as Life Principle in Organic Nature] (Frankfurt
am Main, 1793).
7. Jean-André de Luc (1727–1817) was a Swiss geologist who also performed useful
work with the barometer (for determining the heights of mountains) and with
thermometers. He was a critic of the ‘uniformitarian/fluvialist’ geology.
Notes to Chapter 16
1. See Chapter 10 above for an early announcement of Kant’s lectures on physical
geography.
2. The so-called Jäsche Logic is another exception, since Jäsche was heavily involved
in editing this manuscript for publication. It is noteworthy that Kant was able,
very late in his career, to submit the manuscript for Anthropology from a Pragmatic
Point of View for publication in 1798.
3. Gottfried Vollmer, a bookseller and publisher, had originally approached Kant
in 1797 with an offer to publish the lectures, but Kant declined. Despite this,
Vollmer published a compilation at Easter, 1801: Immanuel Kants physische
Geographie [Immanuel Kant’s Physical Geography], volume i, pts. 1 and 2 (Mainz
and Hamburg: Gottfried Vollmer, 1801). In 1802, Part 1 of Volume ii of the
Vollmer edition appeared, expressly claiming to be authorized. The resultant
argument is detailed in the Notes to the Academy edition, 510 ff., and by Erich
722
Adickes, Untersuchungen zu Kants physischer Geographie [Inquiries into Kant’s

Physical Geography] (Tübingen: Mohr, 1911), pp. 11–23. The other volumes
of Vollmer’s edition appeared as follows: Vol. ii, Part 2, 1803; Vol. iii, Part 1,
1803; Vol. iii, Part 2, 1804; Vol. iv, 1805. It appears that Vollmer’s edition was,
in fact, ‘pirated’. Later revised and enlarged editions also appeared until 1817,
the second edition avoiding the conflict on the matter of being authorized by
using the title Joh. Jak. Wilh. Vollmers physische Geographie nach Kantischen Ideen
[Joh. Jak. Wilh. Vollmers Physical Geography based on Kanitan Ideas].
4. Rink (sometimes spelled Rinck) was also an industrious collector, editor, transla-
tor, and publisher of Arabic manuscripts and of volumes in Abyssinia, the Nigritia,
and the Arabic, Syriac, and Ethiopian languages.
5. Erich Adickes, Untersuchungen zu Kants physischer Geographie; Kants Ansichten über
Geschichte und Bau der Erde [Kant’s Views on the History and Structure of the
Earth] (Tübingen: Mohr, 1911); and Ein neuaufgefundenes Kollegheft nach Kants
Vorlesung über physische Geographie [A Newly Discovered Book of Notes on Kant’s
Lectures on Physical Geography] (Tübingen: Mohr, 1913).
6. Fortunately, many of Adickes’s corrections were included in the Notes and Vari-
ants apparatus of the Academy edition, and they assist considerably in making
sense of certain passages that are otherwise scarcely intelligible.
7. Werner Stark’s investigations put the date of composition at 1757/59. See http:
//staff-www.uni-marburg.de/∼stark/albert.ine/ph f rin.htm.
8. Adickes, Untersuchungen, p. 286.
9. Unfortunately, five of the manuscripts that Adickes was able to use were lost after
World War Two.
10. See for example Anhang i in volume 26.1 of the Academy edition, as well as
“Immanuel Kant’s Lectures on Physical Geography. A Brief Outline of its Origin,
Transition, and Development: 1754–1805”, trans. Olaf Reinhardt, in Reading
Kant’s Geography, ed. Stuart Elden and Eduardo Mendieta (Albany: SUNY Press,
2011), pp. 69–86.
11. We have attempted to provide among the factual notes below a wide range of
sources. We do not claim to have provided an exhaustive list.
12. Jubilatemesse. The time of the Book Fair at Leipzig.
13. This is the first of Rink’s editorial notes, but for the present purposes it is being
treated, as in the Academy edition, as if it were Kant’s text.
14. In his well-known Systema naturae (1735), Carl von Linné (sometimes Carolus
Linnaeus) (1707–78) established an artificial classificatory system that was laid like
a ‘grid’ over his botanical data. Thereby, the whole might be comprehended. The
nature of this grid can still be seen in a very direct fashion in the Botanical Garden
at Uppsala, which is arranged according to Linnaeus’s classificatory system. Linné
also wrote on the animal and mineral kingdoms.
15. Konrad Mannert (1756–1834) was a professor of history in Altdorf, Würzburg,
Landshut, and Munich. He was the author of a fourteen-volume work on the
geographical writings of the Greeks and Romans and several works on Bavarian
History.
16. Jean-Baptiste Bourguignon D’Anville (1697–1782) was a French geographer,
cartographer and writer on geodesy. He published the first important map of
China, based on surveys by the Jesuits, and maps of Italy, Africa, Asia, India,
723
and the world. He was the author of Traité des mesures anciennes et modernes
(1769).
17. Edme Mentelle (1730–1815) was a French geographer, historian, and prolific
writer on these subjects, who sought to relate political history to the geography
of the globe. He constructed a large globe to demonstrate man’s geo-political
history.
18. Anton Friedrich Büsching (1724–93) was a prolific German writer on geography.
His Neue Erdbeschreibung [New System of Geography], with various contributors,
appeared in fourteen volumes from 1754 to 1792. The material concentrated par-
ticularly on European geography and utilized demographic statistics, his sources
being discussed critically.
19. Christof Daniel Ebeling (1741–1817) was the author the volume Erdbeschreibung
und Geschichte von Amerika [Description and History of America] in Büsching’s
series. He was also the editor of the Neue Sammlung von Reisebeschreibungen [New
Collection of Travelogues] (10 parts, 1780–90).
20. Ferdinand Gottlieb Canzler (1764–1813) was a professor in Göttingen, later in
Greifswald. He authored Abriß der Erdkunde [Summary of Geography] (1791)
and Allgemeines Litteraturarchiv für Geschichte, Geographie und Statistik [General
Literature Archive for History, Geography, and Statistics] (1794–98).
21. August Friedrich Wilhelm Crome (1753–1833) was a teacher of geography and
history at Dessau and later professor at Giessen. He wrote on European economic
geography, with statistical information presented graphically.
22. This section reflects the changes in meaning that the word “history” was under-
going in Kant’s day, and he uses several distinct terms in order to try to clarify
his meaning. In the seventeenth century, a history of nature (or natural his-
tory) referred to some empirical information, systematically ordered, about some
aspect of nature. But in Kant’s time, the phrase also held a temporal connotation.
23. Christian Friedrich Ludwig (1751–1823) was a German physician from Leipzig,
who wrote works on physiology, anatomy, ethnology, botany, mineralogy, etc.
24. Heinrich Eberhard Gottlob Paulus (1761–1851) was a German theologian and
professor of oriental languages at Jena, later at Würzburg.
25. Memorabilien: Eine philosophisch-theologische Zeitschrift der Geschichte und Philosophie
der Religionen, dem Bibelstudium und der morgenländischen Litterature gewidmet
von H. E. G. Paulus [Memorabilia: A philosophical-theological Periodical of the
History and Philosophy of Religions, the Study of the Bible, and of European
Literature, dedicated by H. E. G. Paulus], 8 vols. (Leipzig, 1791–96).
26. Georg August von Breitenbauch (1731–1817) was a Thuringian landholder with
interests in Arabic literature and the history and geography of the Orient and
Africa, and the European Middle Ages. He was the author of volumes on historical
geography, both of Europe and Asia, and on the classification of peoples.
27. See 9:161.
28. Sir Isaac Newton (1642–1727) was an outstanding British mathematician and
natural philosopher, celebrated for his treatise Philosophiae naturalis principia
mathematica [Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy] (1687), which pro-
vided the foundations for modern mechanics and astronomy, and for the Opticks
(1704), which gave an account of the author’s practical investigations in optics
and his theory of light, in addition to further remarks on natural philosophy and
724
astronomy. In addition, Newton is remembered for the invention of the calculus

(i.e., the method of fluxions).
29. In fact, no work by Gaspari has been specified by Rink so far in the text. The
volume to which he wished to refer is probably: Lehrbuch der Erdbeschreibung
zur Erläuterung des neuen methodische Schul-Atlasses. Zweyter Cursus [Textbook of
the Description of the Earth for the Explication of the New Methodical School
Atlas] (Weimar: Im Verlag des Industrie-Comptoirs, 1799).
30. Johann Ernst Ehregott Fabri (1755–1825) was a German writer of university
and secondary school texts. The Geistik, frequently referred to by Rink, was enti-
tled Abriß der natürlichen Darstellung für Akademien und Gymnasium [Summary
Representations of Nature for Academies and Secondary Schools] (1800). It con-
tained eleven sections: Introduction; “Geistik” [Study of the Land]; “Hydroistik”;
“Aeroistik”; “Pyroistik”; “Elektristik”; “Magnetistik”; Products; Peoples; Changes
of the Glove; and “Geogenien” [Theories of Creation].
31. The hypothesis of pole wandering had been published in the Posthumous Works
of the English natural philosopher Robert Hooke in 1705. For an analysis, see:
D. R. Oldroyd, “Robert Hooke’s methodology of science as exemplified in his
‘Discourse of Earthquakes’”, British Journal for the History of Science 6 (1972):
109–30.
32. For a consideration of the units of measurement utilized by Kant, see Appendix
i.
33. The French definition of the metre was one ten millionth of a quadrant of the
earth, determined along the meridian passing through Paris.
34. Franz Xaver von Zach (1754–1832) was a German astronomer and writer on
geodesy, in charge of the observatory at Gotha. With F. J. Bertuch (see note 66
below), he edited Geographische Ephemeriden (see next note). This led to the found-
ing of the Monatliche Correspondenz zur Beförderung der Erd- und Himmelskunde
[Monthly Correspondence for the Advancement of Geography and Astronomy],
which published up-to-date astronomical information.
35. F. X. von Zach, ed., Allgemeine geographische Ephemeriden. Verfasset von einer
Gesellschaft Gelehrten . . . , 51 parts (Weimar: Verlag des Landes Industrie-
comptoire, 1798–1816).
36. Johann Samuel Traugott Gehler (1751–95) compiled the Physikalisches
Wörterbuch [Physical Dictionary] (1787–95). With his brother, Johann Karl, he
published the Sammlungen für Physik und Naturgeschichte [Collections for Physics
and Natural History] from 1798.
37. J.S.T. Gehler, Physikalisches Wörterbuch, oder Versuch einer Erklärung der vornehm-
sten Begriffe und Kunstwörter der Naturlehre mit kurzen Nachrichten von der
Geschichte der Erfindungen und Beschreibungen der Werkzeuge, begleitet in alpha-
betischer Ordnung . . . , 6 vols. (Leipzig: Schwickert Verlag, 1795–98).
38. Adam Christian Caspari (1752–1830) was a German writer on geography, pub-
lishing Vollständiges Handbuch der neuesten Geographie [Complete Handbook of
Most Recent Geography] (1797 ff.).
39. The meridian through Ferro (or Hierro), the westernmost of the Canary Islands
and believed in Antiquity to mark the western limit of the world, was formerly
taken as zero for measurements of longitude. The island is 17◦ 39 46 west of
the Greenwich meridian. (See also Rink’s note.)
725
40. For example, at a latitude of 45◦ , the pole of the heavens is 45◦ above the horizon.
At the North Pole it is directly above the horizon, and so on.
41. At the Equator, the pole is lying on the ground, so to speak. Also, at the Equator,
the stars rise and set at 90 degrees to the horizon, rather than obliquely as at other
latitudes. The ‘ascensional difference’ of an object in the sky is the difference
between the right ascension and the oblique ascension, and is related to the
geographical latitude.
42. Or ‘climatic zones’.
43. Joseph Jérome Lefrançais de la Lande (1732–1807) was a French astronomer,
noted for his numerous observations and his work on the ‘three body’ problem
in celestial mechanics. He was also a popularizer of astronomy, with his great
catalogue listing 47,000 stars.
44. I.e., the altitude of the sun at midday is at its minimum value.
45. I.e., in the Tropics.
46. I.e., in Königsberg.
47. For a comparison of Kant’s astronomical data with modern figures, see
Appendix ii.
48. Sir Frederick William Herschel (1738–1822) was an Anglo-German astronomer,
remembered for his cosmological theories and his telescopic observations, which
included the discovery of the planet Uranus. When his book On the Structure
of the Heavens was published in German translation in Königsberg in 1791, an
extract of Kant’s Universal Natural History and Theory of the Heavens (Chapter 4)
was published in the same volume at Kant’s instigation.
49. W. Herschel, “On the discovery of four additional satellites of the Georgium
Sidus [= Uranus]. The retrograde motion of its old satellites announced; and
the cause of their disappearance at certain distances from the planet explained”,
Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, London 88 (1798): 47–79.
50. Giuseppe Piazzi (1746–1826) was an Italian astronomer of Palermo, noted for
his discovery of the asteroid, Ceres, and his publication of an important star
catalogue.
51. Barnabe Oriani (1752–1832) was an Italian astronomer and cartographer who
was one of the first to recognize an asteroid.
52. The original is “von Abend gegen Morgen”, which might normally be translated as
“from west to east”. But the moon in fact rises in the east and sets in the west.
53. Fredrik Mallet (1728–97) was a Swedish astronomer and geographer who worked
on mathematical geography in particular.
54. F. Mallet, Allgemeine oder mathematische Beschreibung der Erdkugel, auf Veranlas-
sung der Cosmographischen Gesellschaft. Aus dem Schwedischen übersetzt, von Lampert
Hinrich Röhl (Greifswald: A. F. Rose, 1774).
55. Albrecht Georg Walch (?–1822) was a schoolteacher in Henneberg who wrote
geographical textbooks, educational pamphlets, commentaries on ancient geog-
raphy, and a local history.
56. A. G. Walch, Ausführliche mathematische Geographie, ein Lesebuch für die Jugend
von Albrecht Georg Walch (Göttingen: J. C. Dietrich, 1794).
57. Abraham Gotthelf Kästner (1719–1800) was a Göttingen mathematician,
physicist, and astronomer, who wrote on the mathematical/physical aspects of
geography.
726
58. A. G. Kästner, Weitere Ausführung der mathematischen Geographie, besonders

in Absicht auf die sphäroidische Gestalt der Erde (Göttingen: Vandenhoeck and
Ruprecht, 1795).
59. Johann Heinrich Voigt (1751–1821) was a German scientific writer and editor of
Magazin für den neuesten Zustand der Naturkunde [Magazine for the Latest State
of Nature Study], 12 vols. (1797–1804).
60. J. H. Voigt, Lehrbuch einer populären Sternkunde nach dem gegenwärtigen Zustande
der Wissenschaft (Weimar: Verlag des Industrie-Comptoirs, 1799).
61. Johann Ebert Bode (1747–1826) was a distinguished German astronomer, well
known for ‘Bode’s Law’, an empirical formula claiming to summarize the dis-
tances between the planets and the sun.
62. J. E. Bode, Anleitung zur Kenntnis des gestirnten Himmels (Berlin and Leipzig:
C. F. Himburg, 1778).
63. Pierre-Simon de la Place (1749–1827) was a notable French mathematician and
physicist who wrote on the ‘nebular hypothesis’ (see Chapter 4), celestial mechan-
ics, and probability theory.
64. P.-S. Laplace, Darstellung des Weltsystems, durch Peter Simon La Place, . . . aus
dem Französischen übersetzt von Johann Karl Friedrich Hauff (Frankfurt am Main:
Varrentrapp and Wenner, 1797).
66. Friedrich Justin Bertuch (1747–1822) was a popular German writer on miscel-
laneous subjects. He was the editor of the Allgemeine geographische Ephimeriden
[General Geographical Ephemerides] after 1798.
67. F. X. von Zach, ed., Monatliche Correspondenz zur Beförderung der Erd- und
Himmels-Kunde, 28 vols. (Gotha: Beckersche Buchhandlung, 1800–13).
68. Francis Balfour (c. 1800) was an Anglo-Indian medical officer who was an early
member of the Asiatic Society of Bengal and carried out important philological
studies relating to Arabic and Persian.
69. Sir William Jones (1748–94) was an English jurist and man of letters, noted
for his writings on philology. As judge of the high court of Calcutta, he had
the opportunity to study Asian languages and customs and was the first English
scholar to master Sanskrit. As a result of his philological investigations, he sought
to discover the racial affinities of peoples (On the Origin and Families of Nations,
1792).
70. Thales (sixth century bc) was a pre-Socratic philosopher who regarded water as
the single elementary cosmic substance.
71. René-Antoine Ferchault de Réaumur (1683–1757) was a French mathemati-
cian, natural historian, experimental physicist, and metallurgist, who devised the
Réaumur scale for thermometry.
72. Antoine-Laurent Lavoisier (1743–94) was a celebrated French chemist, who gave
the definition of elements as substances that occur as the last terms of chemical
analysis. Establishing the composition of the air, he founded he oxygen theory of
combustion and acidity. He also helped to introduce new chemical nomenclature.
His Traité élémentaire de chimie [Elements of Chemistry] (1789) appeared in
German in 1792.
73. Christoph Girtanner (1760–1800) was a German medical man. He travelled in
France and spent time in Edinburgh, where he became acquainted with the
727
controversial (‘Brownian’) medical system of John Brown (which argued against

the practice of blood-letting). Girtanner published an exposition of Brown’s
ideas in German in 1799, which led to vigorous controversies on the subject in
Germany. He was an early advocate of the anti-phlogistic theories of Lavoisier
and a prolific writer on French affairs, taking a strongly anti-revolutionary line.
74. Sigismund Friedrich Hermbstädt (1760–1833) was a German professor of chem-
istry and technology in Berlin, head of the royal pharmacy, and later an admin-
istrator of the salt mines in Prussia. He was a prolific writer on the applications
of chemistry in trade and industry.
75. Friedrich Albrecht Carl Gren (1760–98) was a German writer on chemistry and
founder of Journal der Physik (1790–94), later the Annalen der Physik [Annals of
Physics]. He was an opponent of Lavoisier’s antiphlogistic chemistry, but helped
the introduction of Kant’s ‘dynamic system’ into German chemistry and physics.
76. Georg Friedrich Hildebrand (1764–1816) was a German chemist and medical
man, and professor in Erlangen. He was a supporter of Lavoisier’s anti-phlogistic
chemistry and of the application of Kant’s dynamic theory of matter in chemistry.
He was the author of a widely used chemical encyclopedia (1799–1818).
77. Johann Michael Hube (1737–1807) was a Polish naturalist who wrote the
Vollständiger und faßlicher Unterricht in der Naturlehre [Complete and Compre-
hensible Instruction in the Theory of Nature] (1793) and volumes on topics such
as the figure of the Earth, comets, the atmosphere, principles of agriculture, etc.
78. Johann Karl Philipp Grimm (1768–1813) was a professor in Breslau and author
of the Handbuch der Physik [Handbook of Physics] (1797–99).
79. Johann Friedrich Wilhelm Otto (1743–1814) was a German writer on physical
geography and oceanography. He was the author of Versuch einer physikalischen
Erdbeschreibung [Essay on Physical Geography] (1800).
80. J. F. W. Otto, System einer allgemeinen Hydrographie des Erdbobens (Berlin: G. C.
Nauch, 1800).
82. Johann Reinhold Forster (1729–98) was a polymathic German-British naturalist
and linguist who accompanied Captain Cook’s second voyage (1772–75). He was
a professor in Halle from 1780.
83. J. R. Forster, “Gouverneur Phillip’s Reise nach Neu-Süd-Wallis. Mit
Nachtrichten von den Kolonien in Port-Jackson und auf Norfolk Eiland”, Maga-
zin merkwürdiger neuen Reisebeschreibungen aus fremden Sprachen übersetzt und mit
erlauternden Anmerkungen begleitet 1 (1790): 1–200.
84. Periegets Dionysius (second century) was a Greek geographer from Alexandria,
who wrote a description of the then known world called Periegesis or De ortu situs.
85. The term “archipelago” is, of course, generally used today to refer to a group of
islands, rather than an expanse of water.
86. For information on Dampier, see note 22 to Chapter 7.
88. Christian Ernst Wünsch (1744–1828) was a German writer on physics, meteo-
rology, and anthropology. Initially a weaver, he began the study of medicine at
the age of twenty-eight, later becoming professor in Frankfurt on Oder.
89. C. E. Wünsch, Kosmologische Unterhaltungen über den Menschen, 2 vols. (Leipzig:
Breitkopf and Härtel, 1796–98).
728
90. In his Opticks, Newton developed a speculative theory to account for the colours
of thin films – his theory of ‘fits’. He proposed that, for some thicknesses of the
films, light might be put into a state of ‘easy transmission’ while for other
thicknesses there would be ‘easy reflection’. Thus under some circumstances
light might supposedly be reflected at a water–air interface, back from the air
into the water.
91. Johann Reinhold Forster’s . . . Bemerkungen über Gegenstände der physischen
Erdbeschreibung, Naturgeschichte und sittlichen Philosophie auf seiner Reise um
die Welt gesammelt. Uebersetzt und mit Anmerkungen von dessen Sohn und
Reisegefährten Georg Forster (Berlin: Haude and Spener, 1783). (The original
English Voyage Round the World was published in London in 1778.)
93. Annalen der Physik. This famous journal began publication under F. A. C. Gren’s
editorship in 1790, with the title Journal der Physik. In 1799, the title was changed
to Annalen der Physik, with L. W. Gilbert as editor.
94. Hartenstein reads “Wasserström”, but the author in fact appears as “Wäsström”
in the journal.
95. Pierre Marie François, Vicomte de Pagès (1748–93) was a French naval officer,
traveler, and author who wrote Voyages autour du monde et vers les deux poles,
pendant les années 1767, 1768, 1769, 1770, 1771, 1773, 1774 & 1776, which
appeared in German translation in 1786.
98. Rink gives the title mistakenly here as Naturhistor. physikal. geograph. Beschrei-
bung des russischen Reiches. The reference should be: J. G. Georgi, Geographisch-
physikalische und naturhistorische Beschreibung des russischen Reiches, 4 vols.
(Königsberg: F. Nicolovius, 1797–1802). Johann Gottlieb Georgi (1738–1802)
was a German, resident in St Petersburg, who wrote travelogues on his experi-
ences in Russia, Siberia, and China.
99. Torbern Olof Bergman (1735–84) was a distinguished Swedish chemist and
writer on the mineral kingdom. He proposed the first method for the systematic
analysis of minerals in the wet manner.
100. T. O. Bergman, Physikalische Beschreibung der Erdkugel, auf Veranlassung der
Cosmographischen Gesellschaft verfasset von Torbern Bergman. Aus dem Schwedis-
chen übersetzst von Lampert Hinrich Röhl . . . , 2 vols. (Greifswald: A. F. Röse,
1780). (Volume 1 has Weltbeschreibung [Description of the World] added to
the title.)
101. In eighteenth-century chemical theory, compound substances were commonly
thought of as being made up of a ‘basis’ (usually earthy) and some other
substance – heat, in the case of gases. For salts, the two component parts were the
‘basis’, or base, and an acidic substance. Thus, the class of eighteenth-century
bases was larger than that of modern chemical theory.
102. Sir Edmund Halley (1656?–1743) was an English astronomer (Astronomer
Royal) and geophysicist. He improved the barometer and proposed a method
for determining the age of the earth by considering the salinity of oceans.
103. This refers to aquafortis or nitric acid, which dissolves silver but not gold; so it
may be used to part one from the other.
729
104. Georg Christoph Lichtenberg (1742–99) was a German physicist and writer on
electrical theory. He was also the author of early works on the theory of the
unconscious. He was best known for his aphorisms.
106. I.e., hydrochloric acid.
107. The former name for sodium sulphate, named after the alchemist Johann Rudolf
Glauber (1604–68), who was the first person to prepare the substance artifi-
cially. Though from Germany, he moved to Amsterdam, where he founded a
‘Hermetic Institute’ and published his major work Furni novi philosophiae [New
Philosophical Furnaces] (1646–49).
108. A naturally occurring form of calcium sulphate.
109. Johann Georg Gmelin (1709–55) was a German naturalist and traveler, resi-
dent in Russia, and writer on explorations in Siberia, which he undertook with
Bering. Primarily a botanist, Gmelin’s work also encompassed zoology, geogra-
phy, ethnography, and the study of natural resources. In Siberia, he was specially
concerned with the search for the remains of mammoths.
110. Thomas Brodrick (1723–69) was an English vice-admiral who took part in
numerous campaigns, including voyages to the West Indies. In 1758 he sur-
vived the sinking of his flagship off Ushant after swimming naked in the water
for over an hour.
111. See note 6 to Chapter 7 for information on Marsigli.
112. Petrus van Muschenbroek (1692–1761) was a Dutch physicist, noted for his
investigations of electrical phenomena and for his invention of the ‘Leiden jar’,
which was an early form of capacitor. He also constructed the first thermometers
that utilized the thermal expansion and contraction of metallic rods.
113. This remark is surprising, given the considerable distance between Panama and
Tierra del Fuego.
114. Rink gives “Russia” in the title. The reference should be: J. G. Gmelin, Reise
durch Sibirien, von dem Jahr 1733, bis 1743 . . . , 4 vols. (Göttingen: A. Vandern-
hoecks, 1751–52).
115. George Anson (1697–1762), Baron of Soberton, was a British admiral and First
Lord of Admiralty. His celebrated expedition in the war against Spain, in which,
with great difficulty and loss, he circumnavigated the globe, but also captured a
Spanish treasure ship, is described by Walter and Robins under the title George
Anson’s Voyage round the World in the Years 1740–44 (1748). A German transla-
tion appeared in 1763.
116. Lang. Kant appears to be considering ocean swells.
117. Kurz. This seems to refer to choppy seas.
118. Zurückschlagend. Kant appears to be considering backwash waves.
119. Daniel Fahrenheit (1686–1736) was a Polish-Dutch physicist, remembered
chiefly for work in thermometry, notably the devising of the well-known
Fahrenheit scale.
120. Adickes read 521/2 degrees Fahrenheit, which makes much better sense. The
average water temperature at the bottom of the sea is 54◦ F.
121. I.e., having the troughs between the crests of the waves be very deep.
122. Tenth wave.
730

125. Aristotle (384–322 bc) was a celebrated Greek scientist and philosopher. His
chief contributions to ideas about the earth are to be found in his Meteorologica.
126. Pliny the Elder (Gaius Plinius Secundus) (c. 23–79) was the author of one of the
most popular ancient texts (Naturalis historiae) [Natural History], which gave a
compendious account of Roman knowledge and lore.
128. Ovid (Publius Naso Ovidius) (43 bc–17 ad) was a celebrated Latin poet, whose
Metamorphoses have been supposed by some (e.g., Robert Hooke) to provide
insight into the geographical and geological knowledge of the ancients.
129. Titus Carus Silius Carus (c. 25–101) was a Roman historian and author of Punica,
an account of the Second Punic War, in which Hannibal’s crossing of the Alps
was described.
130. These classical references are all correct.
131. A kind of mirage, most commonly seen in the Strait of Messina, formerly
attributed to fairy agency. Associated with Morgan, the legendary sister of King
Arthur.
132. Gaspard Monge (1746–1818) was a French chemist and professor of mathe-
matics at the École Polytechnique. He accompanied Napoleon on his Egyptian
expedition, where he was in charge of the search for and examination of antiq-
uities.
133. A. C. Gaspari and F. J. Bertuch, eds., Allgemeine geographische Ephemerides, 51
parts (Weimar: Verlag des Landes-industrie-comptoirs, 1798–1816).
134. G.-L. L. de Buffon, Histoire Naturelle, Générale et Particulière, avec la Description
du Cabinet du Roi, 44 vols. (Paris: Imprimerie Royale, 1749–1804). The first
volume (1749) provides, among other things, Buffon’s theory of the world,
which was later developed in his Épochs de la nature [Epochs of Nature]
(1778), which assumed that the earth originated from the impact of a comet
with the sun. He extended the earth’s timescale by experimental work on the
rate of cooling of metallic spheres, compared with a hypothetically cooling
earth.
135. The body of water between Denmark and Sweden.
136. Additional text supplied by Adickes.
137. Cola Pesce (thirteenth century) is a person mentioned by Kircher (Mundus
subterraneus, vol. 1, p. 98) as being knowledgeable on matters concerning the
sea. Apparently a sobriquet for ‘Nicholas the fisherman’, he was a man who
lived in Sicily in the reign of the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II, also King
of Sicily.
138. A. Kircher, Mundus subterraneus, in XII libros digestus . . . (Amsterdam: J.
Janssonium and E. Weyerstraten, 1665).
140. Plutarch (c. 46–126) was a Greek historian whose well-known Lives contain
parallel biographies of twenty-three Greek and twenty-three Roman notables.
It was utilized by Shakespeare in his Roman plays.
141. Pytheas of Massalia (Marseilles) (c. 330 bc) was an ancient traveler and geog-
rapher who explored in northern Europe, looking for the land of the midnight
sun. He is said to have discovered Thule, which may have been Iceland, and
731
perhaps the Baltic region. He described Brittain, and also travelled eastwards
to Asia.
142. Rink’s superfluous capitalization has been preserved at this point, and elsewhere
in similar cases.
143. Daniel Bernouilli (1700–82) was a notable Swiss mathematician, with numerous
contributions to mechanics, celestial mechanics, elasticity, heat, hydrodynamics,
and the theory of the tides.
144. Colin Maclaurin (1698–1746) was a Scottish mathematician, who, in his Treatise
on Fluxions (1742) developed Newton’s mathematical work. He was also noted
for his investigations on the theory of tides and the figure of the earth.
145. Leonhard Euler (1707–83) was a distinguished Swiss mathematician,
astronomer, and physicist, noted for his study of the mathematics of wave
motion. He was a prominent figure at the academies of science in St Petersburg
and Berlin.
146. J. M. Hube, Vollstandiger und fasslicher Unterricht in der Naturlehre in einer Reihe
von Briefen, 4 vols. (Leipzig: G. J. Göschen, 1794).
147. Hartenstein incorrectly reads 30,000.
148. This journal, founded in 1739, was published in 1801 under the title Göttingische
Anzeigen von gelehrten Sachen. The title Göttingische gelehrte Anzeigen, used by
Rink, was introduced in 1802.
149. J. H. Lambert and J. E. Bode, eds., Astronomisches Jahrbuch oder Ephemerides für
das Jahr 1803 (Berlin: Akademie der Wissenschaft).
150. From 1799 to 1824, the journal founded by F. A. C. Gren in 1790 with the title
Journal der Physik was edited by L. W. Gilbert and entitled Annalen der Physik.
It was published in Halle and Leipzig. Ludwig Wilhelm Gilbert (1769–1824)
was a professor of physics and chemistry in Berlin and in Leipzig from 1811.
151. Untersuchungen über die Natur der Sonnenstrahlen. See Sir William Herschel,
“Experiments on the solar and on the terrestrial rays that occasion heat, with a
comparative view of the laws to which light and heat, or rather the rays which
occasion them, are subject, in order to determine whether they are the same or
different”, Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, London (1800): 293–326,
437–538.
152. Johann Heinrich Lambert (1728–77) was a German philosopher, mathemati-
cian, astronomer, physicist, and cartographer, as well as a professor of law at
Basel and subsequently an academician in Berlin.
153. J. H. Voigt, Lehrbuch einer populären Sternkunde nach dem gegenwärtigen Zustande
der Wissenschaft; für Schul- und akademischen Unterricht, auch Selbstudium der Lieb-
haber; mit Beziehung auf einen vierzolligen Himmelsglobus, und einen Stern-Atlas
mit doppelten schwartzen Charten (Weimar: Im Verlage des Industrie Comptoirs,
1799).
154. Johann Carl Wilhelm Voigt (1752–1821) was a German mining geologist, stu-
dent of Werner (see note 257 below), and friend of Goethe. He was noted
for his mineralogical descriptions of the Fulda region and the Harz Mountains
and leader of the ‘Vulcanist’ theorists in Germany and opposed his teacher’s
‘Neptunist’ doctrines. He thought of coal as condensed petroleum.
155. J. C. W. Voigt, Praktische Gebirgskunde (Weimar: Im Verlag des Industrie
Comptoirs, 1792).
732
156. Franz Cölestin Freiherr von Beroldingen (1740–98) was a German writer on
geological topics. He was a supporter of the ‘Vulcanist’ theory and sought a
compromise with the ‘Neptunist’ position by suggesting that basalt was of vol-
canic origin, but had solidified under water.
157. F. C. Beroldingen, Die Vulkane älterer und neuren Zeiten, physikalisch und miner-
alogisch betrachtet (Mannheim: Schwann and Götz, 1791).
158. Ludwig Mitterpacher (1734–1814) was a Jesuit Austrian-Hungarian writer on
astronomy, natural history, and geography.
159. L. Mitterpacher, Physikalisch Erdbeschreibung (Vienna: C. F. Wappler,
1789).
160. Johann Friedrich Wilhelm Toussaint von Charpentier (1738–1805) was a
German geologist and professor of the Saxon Mining School from 1767,
who became chief of the mining department in Saxony. His Mineralogis-
che Geographie der kursächsischen Länder [Mineralogical Geography of the
Electorate of Saxony] (1778) contained a coloured geological map of the
region.
161. J. F. W. von Charpentier, Beobachtungen über die Lagerstätte der Erze hauptsächlich
aus den Sächsischen Gebirgen. Ein Beytrag zur Geognosie. Mit Kupfern (Leipzig:
S. L. Crusius, 1799).
162. Mohammed (c. 570–632) was the founder of Islam. He was succeeded by his
father-in-law, Abu Bekr, who authored the Koran, setting down the Prophet’s
revelations and sayings.
163. Sigismund Ehrenreich von Redern (1720–89) was curator of the Berlin Academy
of Sciences, who travelled to the East Indies with the intention of establishing
trading posts, becoming President of the Emden East India Company.
164. The crowns of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden were united to form one king-
dom in 1397.
165. All directions are south and none are east or west.
166. Samuel Engel (1702–84) was a city librarian in Berne who wrote on northern
Asia and America, and on the attempts to find a passage from the North Sea to
India.
167. We are unable to trace further details of this publication. A German named
J. G. Georgi lived at St Petersberg in the eighteenth century and travelled in
Russia and China.
168. Samuel Turner (1749?–1802) was an English soldier and traveler who visited
Tibet in 1783 and met the infant ‘Teshoo Lama’.
169. S. Turner, An Account of an Embassy to the Court of the Teshoo Lama in Tibet;
containing a Narrative of a Journey through Bootan and part of Tibet . . . (London:
G. and W. Nicol, 1800).
170. Burma.
171. Michael Symes (1753?–1809) was a British soldier and diplomat who went on a
mission to Ava (Burma) in 1795.
172. M. Symes, An Account of an Embassy to the Kingdom of Ava [Burma], sent by the
Governor-General of India in the Year 1795 (London: G. and W. Nicol, 1800).
A German translation is contained in vol. 4 of the fifty-volume series entitled
Bibliothek der neuesten und wichtigsten Reisebeschreibungen [Library of the Latest
and Most Important Travelogues] (1800–14).
733
Notes to page 507
173. Johann August Carl Sievers (?–1797 or 1798) took part, as a pharmacist of the
Academy of Sciences in St Petersburg, in Pallas’s expedition to Siberia (see next
note). He published Briefe aus Siberien [Letters from Siberia] in 1796.
174. Peter Simon Pallas (1741–1811) was a German scientist who became a mem-
ber of the St Petersburg Academy in 1768, and participated in a celebrated
expedition to Siberia (1772–74), from which he brought back some splendid
collections. With his main work, Reisen in verschiedenen Provinzen des russischen
Reiches [Travels in Various Provinces of the Russian Empire], and in more than
a hundred scientific papers, he made considerable contributions to zoology,
botany, geography, and ethnography, writing particularly on the structure of
mountain chains.
175. Jacob Reineggs (1744–93) was a doctor who travelled through Armenia and
Georgia (1778–81) and served as a Russian negotiator during the subjugation
of Georgia. Subsequently he lived as an imperial official in Petersburg. His All-
gemeine historisch-topographische Beschreibung des Kaukasus [General Historical-
topographical Description of the Causasus] appeared posthumously in 1796.
176. Carsten Niebuhr (1733–1815) was a German traveler and cartographer who
produced the best maps of his day for the Middle East. He also worked on the
interpretation of cuneiform inscriptions.
177. C. Niebuhr, Beschreibung von Arabien aus eigenen Beobachtungen und im Lande
selbst gesammelten Nachrichten abgefasset von Carsten Niebuhr (Copenhagen: N.
Möller, 1772).
178. C. Niebuhr, Reisebeschreibung nach Arabien und andern umliegenden Ländern
(Copenhagen: N. Möller, 1774).
179. Samuel Friedrich Günther Wahl (1760–1834) was a professor of oriental lan-
guages in Halle from 1808 and a prolific writer on the languages of Persia, India,
and China, and Arabic and Armenian.
180. S. F. G. Wahl, Altes und Neues Vorder- und Mittel-Asien oder pragmatische-
geographische, fysische und statistische Schilderung und Geschichte des persischen Reichs
von den ältesten Zeiten bis auf diesen Tag (Leipzig: S. L. Crusius, 1795).
181. George (Earl) Macartney (1737–1801) was a British soldier, diplomat, and Gov-
ernor of Madras. He acted as British plenipotentiary in China from 1792 to
1794. A description of his journey, written by George Staunton, appeared in
German translation in 1798.
182. The reference we have is: Paulinus a Sancto Bartholomaeo [J. P. Werdin],
Alphabeta Indica, id est Granthamicum seu Samscrdamico-malabaricum indostanum,
sive Venarense nagaricum vulgare et talinganicum (Rome: Typis Sac. Congre-
gationis de Propag. Fide, 1791). Paulinus a Sancto Bartholomaeo (Johannus
Philippus Werden) (1748–1806) was a German Catholic missionary who lived
in the East Indies from 1776 to 1789. He published on the manners and cus-
toms of the peoples amongst whom he lived, and also wrote on ancient oriental
languages, particularly Sanskrit, with discussion of their affinities to European
languages.
183. Paulinus a Sancto Bartholomaeo [J. P. Werdin], Systema Brahmanicum litur-
gicum, mythologicum, civile, ex monumentis indicis Musei Borgiani Velitris disserta-
tionibus historico-criticis illustravit fr. Paullinus a S. Bartholomaeo, carmelite discal-
ceatus, Malabariae missionarius . . . (Rome: A. Fulgonius, 1791).
734
184. Karl Friedrich Stäudlin (1761–1826) was a professor of theology in Göttingen.

He was the author of numerous books on church history, including one that
dealt with ecclesiastical geography.
185. Magazin für Religions-, Moral- und Kirchengeschichte.
186. Friedrich Ludwig (or Frederick Lewis) Norden (1708–42) was a Danish-English
naval officer, traveler, and artist, who accompanied Christian VI of Denmark
to Egypt in 1737–38. His work on the ruins of Thebes was published by the
Royal Society in 1741. After his death, Christian VI ordered Norden’s diaries
translated into French, as Voyage d’Égypte et de Nubie, 2 vols. (Copenhagen:
Imprimerie de la maison Royale des orphelins, 1755). An English translation
appeared in 1757 and a German one in 1779.
187. Constantin François Chasseboeuf, Comte de Volney (1757–1820) undertook
a journey through the Levant and Egypt, leading to the publication of Voyage
en Syrie et en Égypte (1787), considered at the time to be the most authoritative
source of information for that part of the world.
188. James Bruce (1730–94) was a Scottish traveler, diplomat, adventurer, student of
antiquities and man of letters. During his travels he experienced many hardships,
especially in North Africa and the Middle East and particularly in Egypt and
Abyssinia. His Travels were published in 1790.
189. Charles-Nicholas-Sigisbert Sonnini de Manoncourt (1751–1812) was a French
traveler, naturalist, and protégé of Buffon, who explored in Guiana and the west
coast of Africa. He also traveled extensively in Egypt and the countries of the
eastern Mediterranean. A prolific writer, his Voyage dans la haute et Basse-Égypte
[Journey in Upper and Lower Egypt] was published in 1799.
190. William George Browne (1768–1813) was a British traveler in North Africa
and the Middle East and a student of antiquities. He was the author of Travels
in Africa, Egypt, and Syria (1800).
191. Johann Melchior Hartmann (1764–1827) was a collaborator on Büsching’s Neue
Erdbeschreibung for which he wrote the section on Egypt. He also wrote a com-
mentary on Edrisi’s geography of Africa as well as works on theology and the
grammars of ancient languages.
192. J. M. Hartmann, Erdbeschreibung und Geschichte von Afrika. Das Paschalik
Aegypten (Hamburg: C. E. Bohn, 1799). This is Volume 12 of D. Anton Friederich
Büschings . . . Erdbeschreibung . . . , 13 vols. (Hamburg: C. E. Bohn, 1787–1816).
193. Mungo Park (1771–1806) was a Scottish physician and explorer. In 1795 he
undertook a journey up the Gambia River on behalf of the London African
Association. In 1805 he travelled up the Niger, but was drowned during this
second journey.
194. Friedrich Konrad Hornemann (1772–1800) was a German traveler who jour-
neyed from Cairo to Mourzouk in 1797–98, an account of his travels being
published in German, French, and English in 1802.
195. François le Vaillant (1753–1824) was a French explorer who participated in
explorations in the southern parts of Africa, inland from the Cape of Good
Hope. He was the author of a number of works containing his ornithological
observations.
196. William Lemprière (?–1834) was a British army medical officer attached to the
British garrison at Gibraltar. He was invited to Morocco in 1790 to attend the
735
Notes to page 508
son of the emperor, and as a result, travelled in that country. This led to the
publication of A Tour from Gibraltar to Tangier, Sallee, Mogadore, Santa Cruz,
Tarudant, and thence over Mount Atlas to Morocco (1791).
197. Sir John Barrow (1764–1848) was a British seaman, traveler, and travel writer,
who rose from humble origins to be Secretary of the Admiralty. He accompanied
Macartney’s embassy to China and acted as private secretary to Macartney in
the Cape Province. He published Travels in South Africa (1801–4).
198. Paul Jakob Bruns (1743–1814) was a German geographer and a prolific writer.
He was the author of Versuch einer systematischen Erdbeschreibung der entferntesten
Welttheile Afrika, Amerika, Asien, und Südindien [Essay Concerning a Systematic
Description of the Distant Continents Africa, Asia, America, and Southern
India] (1791–99).
199. J. M. Hartmann, Commentatio de Geographia Africae Edrisiana, in certimine lit-
terario civium Academiae Georgiae Augustae die 4. junii 1791 praemio . . . ornata
(Göttingen: J. C. Dietrich, n.d.).
200. James Rennell (1742–1830) was an English sailor and later cartographer, who
carried out important survey work in India and published the first approximately
correct map of the country. He assisted with the publication of Mungo Park’s
results and also carried out important studies of Atlantic winds and currents.
202. Edrisi (1099–1164) was a famous Arabian geographer, who wrote a “Description
of the Earth” in 1154 for Roger II of Sicily, with sixty-nine maps of the seven
‘climates’ (geographical provinces). This was commonly regarded as the most
important geographical text of the Middle Ages.
203. Leo Africanus (?–c. 1526) was a Moorish writer of Cordoba, who travelled in
northern Africa and western Asia from 1492 onwards. His description of Africa,
written in Italian and published in 1526, was for a long time the main source of
information on the Sudan.
204. Alexander von Humboldt (1769–1859) was a polymathic Prussian mining engi-
neer, naturalist, explorer, geologist, geophysicist, and one of the forerunners of
studies of ecology. In South and Central America, he made important studies of
volcanoes and earthquakes and the distributions of plants and animals according
to the climatic zones and rock and soil types where they occurred. He was also
interested in the economies of the regions he visited and the different ethnic
types, social customs and beliefs. He was the author of Cosmos, 5 vols. (1845–62),
which attempted a conspectus of the whole physical universe as then known.
206. Matthias Christian Sprengel (1746–1803) was a professor of history in Halle,
where he included statistical topics in his lectures. He wrote extensively on
geography and the history of exploration.
207. M. C. Sprengel, Geschichte der wichstigsten geographischen Entdeckungen . . . Ein
Grundriss zu academischen Vorlesungen (Halle: Verlag der Hemmerdeschen
Buchhandlung, 1783).
208. J. R. Forster, Geschichte der Entdeckungen und Schiffahrten im Norden. Mit neuen
Originalkarten versehen (Frankfurt an der Oder: C. G. Strauss, 1784).
209. A. C. Gaspari, Vollständiges Handbuch der neuesten Erdbeschreibung (Weimar: Im
Verlage des Geographischen Instituts, 1797).
736
210. C. Girtanner, Über das Kantische Prinzip für die Naturgeschichte. Ein Versuch diese
Wissenschaft philosophisch zu behandeln (Göttingen: Vandenhoek and Ruprecht,
1796).
211. Philippe Buache (1700–73) was a French geographer and cartographer, who
was noted for his study of hydrographic contour lines. He was a geographer to
the king and a member of the Academy.
212. J. N. Buache, “Observations sur l’existence de quelques isles peu connus, situées
dans la partie du grand ocean comprise entre le Japon et la Californie”, Mémoires
de l’Institut National des Sciences et Arts 1, Year 4 [1795/6]: 475–?
214. J. Reineggs, Allgemeine historisch-topographische Beschreibung des Kaukasus. Aus
dessen nachgelassen Papieren gesammelt und herausgegeben von Friedrich Enoch
Schröder, 2 vols. (Gotha: Gerstenberg and Dittner, 1796–97).
215. Alexander Dalrymple (1737–1808) was a Scottish sailor and traveler in Asiatic
and Pacific waters, becoming hydrographer to the Admiralty. He published a
chart of Bay of Bengal and Historical Collection of South Sea Voyages (2 vols.,
1770–71).
217. P. Buache, “Parallèle des fleuves des quatres parties du monde, pour servir
à déterminer les hauteurs des montagnes du globe physique de la terre, qui
s’exécute en relief au dôme du Luxembourg”, in Histoire de l’Académie Royale des
Sciences. Année M.D CCLIII . . . (Paris: Imprimerie Royale, 1757).
218. Johann Christof Gatterer (1727–99) was a historian at the university in
Göttingen. He proposed a natural classification of countries in his Abriss der
Geographie [Summary of a Description of the Earth] (Göttingen: J. C. Dietrich,
1775).
220. Blaise Pascal (1623–62) was a French mathematician and philosopher, who
investigated hydrostatic phenomena. He was remembered for devising an exper-
iment in which a mercury barometer was carried up a mountain, to show that
the height of the mercury column depended on the pressure of the atmosphere.
In philosophical circles, he is known for ‘Pascal’s Wager’, which is a pragmatic
argument for belief in God’s existence.
221. Johann Jacob Scheuchzer (1672–1733) was a Swiss naturalist, with special inter-
est in the natural history of Switzerland and also in fossils, the location of some
of which he attributed to the Noachian Flood.
222. Peter Horrebow (1679–1764) was a professor of astronomy for thirty years at
the university in Copenhagen. He evaluated Mariotte’s barometric formulae
and invented a new system for determining latitudes. He was the author of
Copernicus Triumphans (1725).
223. Gabriel-Philippe de la Hire (1677–1719) was a French architect, physicist,
astronomer, and writer on geodesy. He made observations on the barometer in
the cellars of the Paris Observatory.
224. Jacques Cassini (Cassini II) (1677–1756), was a French astronomer and geode-
sist. He served as the head of the Paris Observatory. He was the second member
of the Cassini ‘dynasty’ in Paris, noted for their work on the determination of
the figure of the Earth.
737
225. Jean André de Luc (1727–1817) was a Swiss geologist and physicist, who also
lived in Germany and Britain. He wrote on meteorology, but was remembered
chiefly for his ‘Neptunist’ opinions in geology. His work on barometric and
thermometric investigations of the atmosphere was published in translation by
Gehler in 1776–78.
226. Horace Bénédict de Saussure (1740–99) was a Swiss geologist, botanist, and
meteorologist, a professor in Geneva, and one of the founders of the art of
mountaineering. His major work was Voyages dans les Alpes [Travels in the Alps],
4 vols. (1779–96). He made barometric observations when he climbed Mont
Blanc in 1787.
227. Franz Joseph Ritter von Gerstner (1756–1832) was a German engineer and
author of treatises on mechanics, and memoirs on the construction of canals
and railroads.
228. “The cube of the diameter”. This form of words is puzzling. While an analogy
between a ‘subtle fluid’ of heat, and one of electricity, might be expected from
an eighteenth-century author, we have no knowledge of theories that invoked
an inverse-cube law.
229. Pierre Perrault (1611–80) was a French natural philosopher and chief founder
of experimental hydrology, who proved that rivers originated from rainfall. His
major work is De l’origine des fountains [On the Origin of Fountains] (1674).
230. The sea-level in the Baltic region was known to be falling in the eighteenth
century. The effect is attributed today to the eustatic rebound of the earth’s
crust in that region consequent upon the melting of ice at the end of the last ice
age.
231. F. Hildebrandt, Encyklopädie der gesammten Chemie (Erlangen: Walther, 1799).
(Rink’s spelling is Hildebrand.)
232. Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph von Schelling (1775–1854) was an influential Ger-
man ‘nature philosopher’ (Naturphilosoph) who sought to develop and extend
Kantian philosophy by regarding nature as a system of interacting polar forces,
in equilibrium in inanimate bodies, but in perpetual struggle in living organisms.
233. Journal der Physik.
234. Daniel Langhanns (?–1813) was a Swiss physician who wrote Beschreibung der
Natur und Kraft des Schweizer Gletscher-Spiritus [Description of the Nature and
Power of the Swiss “Glacier-Spirit”] (1759) as well as various medical works.
235. J. F. Zöllner and J. S. Langer, eds., Wöchentliche Unterhaltungen über die Erde
und ihre Bewohner, 10 vols. (Berlin, 1784–88). (The initials for Zöllner given by
Rink are mistaken.)
236. Kant was very likely referring here to the celebrated Labyrinth of Candie
near the town of Gortyna in Crete, whose curious characteristics had been
described by the French botanist J. P. de Tournefort in 1720: “Desription du
Labirinthe de Candie, avec quelques observations sur l’accroissement & sur
la génération des pierres”, Histoire de l’Académie Royale des Sciences. Année M.
DCC II, 2nd edn. (Paris, 1720), pp. 224–41. Tournefort used his observations
to argue for an organic growth of stone. He was one of the last to adhere to this
ancient belief.
237. F. T. Rink, Neue Sammlung der Reisen nach dem Orient. We have been unable to
locate details of this publication.
738
238. The seventeenth-century French chemist and mechanical philosopher Nicholas

Lémery performed the well-known experiment of an ‘artificial volcano’, using
the spontaneous combustion of a large quantity of iron filings and sul-
phur: “Explication physique & chymique des feux souterrains, des trem-
blemens de terre, des ouragans, des éclaires & du tonnere”, Histoire de
l’Académie Royale des Sciences. Année M. DCC . . . , 2nd edn. (Paris, 1719),
pp. 101–10.
239. See Chapter 7 of the present volume.
240. A strong, sweet red wine produced in southern Italy.
241. I.e., the Arctic Circle runs through Iceland.
242. A comminuted pumice used for making hydraulic cement.
243. Patrick Brydone (1736–1818) was an English traveler and author, who toured
Sicily in 1770, publishing an account of his experiences in 1773, with descrip-
tions of Italian volcanoes. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society and
wrote papers chiefly on electrical phenomena.
244. Sir William Hamilton (1730–1803) was an English scholar and diplomat
(ambassador to the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies). He was an observer of volcanic
phenomena in Italy, and an active supporter of the excavations at Herculaneum
and Pompeii.
245. Sir William Hamilton, Observations on Mount Vesuvius, Mount Etna, and other
Volcanoes: in a Series of Letters Addressed to the Royal Society, new edn. (London:
T. Cadell, 1774).
246. Baron Dominique Vivant de Non (1747–1825) was a French artist, archae-
ologist, museum official, and travel writer, who played an important part in
the development of the Louvre collection. Following his participation in the
Napoleon expedition to Egypt, he published Voyage dans la Basse et la Haute
Égypte [Journey in Upper and Lower Egypt] (1802).
247. D. V. Denon (Baron), Voyages en Sicile (Paris: Didot l’aı̂né, 1788).
248. Georg Forster (1754–94) was a German-British natural historian and traveler,
who accompanied his father, Johann Reinhold Forster, on Cook’s second voy-
age. He also wrote on botany.
249. G. Forster, Ansichten vom Niederrhein, von Brabant, Flandern, Holland, England
und Frankreich im April, Mai und Junius, 1790, 3 vols. (Berlin: Vossische Buch-
handlung, 1791–94).
250. F. von Zach, Monatliche Correspondenz zur Beförderung der Erd- und Himmels-
kunde (Gotha, 1800–13).
251. Scipione Breislak (1748–1826) was a writer (of German extraction) on Italian
geography and geology. He studied volcanic phenomena and was a leading
exponent of ‘Plutonist’ theory as well as an opponent of Werner’s ‘Neptunist’
doctrines, proposing a theory of the earth that envisaged it cooling from a
molten state.
252. S. Breislak, Voyages physiques et lythologiques dans la Campanie; suivis d’un mémoire
sur la constitution physique de Rome; avec la carte générale de la Campanie, d’après
Zannoni; celle des cratères éteints entre Naples et Cumes; celle de Vésuve, du plan
physique de Rome, etc. etc. Par Scipion Breislak: tr. du manuscrit italien, et accompagnés
de notes, par le général Pommereuil (Paris: Dentu, 1801).
253. The term “respiration” might be thought more appropriate here.
739
254. Kant was probably referring to the mineralogical map of France, prepared by
J. E. Guettard, with the assistance of A. L. Lavoisier.
255. A thin layer of clayey or earthy matter surrounding a metalliferous vein.
256. The terms “dip” and “strike” are somewhat different in modern geological
usage. Dip is defined as the maximum inclination of a stratum or other planar
feature to the horizontal. Strike is the direction or bearing of a horizontal line
on an inclined stratum or other structural feature, at right angles to the dip. It
is equivalent to a contour line on a bed, etc.
257. The term Flötz could be translated as “layered”. But since the term was an
important theoretical category in German theories of the earth in the eighteenth
century, and had no exact English equivalent, it is best to leave it untranslated, as
is commonly done by English-speaking historians of geology. For the relevant
German geological theory, see: A. G. Werner, Short Classification and Descrip-
tion of the Various Rocks translated with an introduction by Alexander M. Ospovat
(New York: Hafner Publishing Company, 1971). Abraham Gottlob Werner
(1749–1817) was a German mineralogist and writer on geognosy, renowned
for his ‘Neptunist’ theory of the earth and his teaching at the Freiburg Mining
Academy. He was one of the founders of stratigraphy.
258. Jean Étiene Guettard (1715–59) was a French geologist and botanist who pre-
pared the first (incomplete) mineralogical map of France. He wrote on the
processs of denudation, and recognized the puys of the Auvergne as former
volcanoes.
259. Kant appears to have been referring to a figured diagram at this point in his
lectures.
260. René Descartes (1596–1650) was a celebrated French philosopher, mathemati-
cian, and physicist, who developed an influential cosmological system in terms
of the mechanical philosophy, which included a theory of the earth.
261. Adickes reads “Perrault”, referring to his work De l’origine des fontaines (1694).
262. The term crocus referred to various yellow or brown powders obtained by the
calcination of metals. The ‘crocus of Mars’ was, therefore, an oxide of iron.
263. Kant here is tacitly acknowledging the possibility of transmutation, whereas
the reaction is in fact: copper salt + iron ⇒ iron salt + copper. It should be
recalled, however, that the modern definition of an element was not published
by Lavoisier until 1789; and Kant began his geography lectures well before that
date.
264. See note 10 on Varenius in Chapter 7.
265. Heinrich Kühn (1690–1769) was a German lawyer, mathematician, naturalist,
and writer on topics in physical geography, especially on rivers, fountains, and
groundwaters. He was the co-founder of the Danzig Natural History Society.
266. Again Kant must have referred to a diagram here.
267. Adickes points out that this would have been the state of knowledge at the time.
268. Here Kant appears to be giving an account of the formation of river terraces.
269. Adickes explains that, as wine is preserved by sulphur (dioxide) additives, so the
water of the Thames was thought to contain some similar additive and thus kept
well.
270. I.e., nitric acid.
271. See 9:200.
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272. Some manuscripts have only “yellow fever” in brackets. They also vary between
“endemic” and “epidemic” diseases. It seems (according to Adickes) that Kant
was distinguishing between: (1) endemic diseases, (2) epidemic diseases, and (3)
such diseases as come from “original contagions”.
273. Peter Kolb (or Kolbe or Kolben) (1675–1726) was a German explorer who trav-
elled inland from the Cape of Good Hope and gave some of the first descriptions
of the Hottentots (Khoikhoi peoples) in his travel writings.
274. This explanation foreshadows to some extent that of Goethe.
275. The preferred explanation today is that at night the land air cools more than
the sea air. The sea air therefore rises with respect to the land air and a breeze
from land to sea occurs in consequence.
276. See note 10 on Ulloa in Chapter 14.
277. Antoine Lazzaro Moro (1687–1764) was an Italian naturalist who, inspired by
his observation of the formation of a new volcanic island in the Mediterranean,
developed a ‘Vulcanist’ theory of the earth to account for the presence of fos-
sil shells in mountains. A German translation of his 1740 work De crostacei e
degli altri corpi marini che si truovano su’ monti [On Crustaceans and the other
Marine Bodies that are found on Mountains] appeared in 1751 (Venice: Angiolo
Geremia).
278. Anders Celsius (1701–44) was a Swedish astronomer and physicist, remem-
bered particularly for his work in thermometry. He was one of the first to draw
attention to the gradual fall in sea level on the Swedish coastline.
279. Simon de la Loubère (1642–1729) was a French diplomat and traveler, who
acted as French envoy in Siam in 1687, which led to his publication of Du
Royaume de Siam [The Kingdom of Siam] (1691), with extensive descriptions of
that kingdom. A German translation was published in 1800.
280. Kant was probably referring here to the suggestion of Voltaire that shells on
mountains in the Alps might have been left there by passing pilgrims.
281. Ammonites were frequently thought of, and represented as, snakes’ tongues in
the seventeenth century.
282. Fossil sea urchin spines.
283. Segments of crinoid stems.
284. A type of lamellibranch.
285. The Mariana Islands.
286. Bishop Thomas Burnet (1635–1715) was an English theologian who sought to
develop a theory of the earth in Cartesian terms, agreeable with the biblical
account of creation.
287. John Woodward (1665–1728) was an English natural historian and writer on
geology and botany. He was the author of a speculative theory of the earth,
intended to reconcile his observations of fossil shells with the biblical history of
the earth.
288. William Whiston (1667–1752) was an English mathematician, physicist, and
astronomer. He was the author of a Newtonian theory that supposed that the
Noachian deluge was caused by an impact by a comet.
289. G. W. Leibniz, “Protogaea autore G. G. L.”, Acta Eruditorum anno MDCXCIII
publicata, ed. O. Mencke (Leipzig), pp. 40–2. For a translation, see: D. R.
Oldroyd and J. B. Howes, “The first published version of Leibniz’s Protogaea”,
741
Journal of the Society for the Bibliography of Natural History 9 (1978): 56–60.
Also, for Leibniz’s full work: Claudine Cohen and Andre Wakefield, trans. and
eds., Protogaea: Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz (Chicago: University of Chicago Press,
2008).
290. Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz (1646–1716) was a German philosopher, mathe-
matician, linguist, historian, diplomat, engineer, and, in short, polymath genius.
In his Protogea he proposed a speculative theory of the earth.
291. Precipitated matter.
292. In the text, dieses refers back to the process. Gedan suggests it should read diese,
which would refer back to “layer” in the previous sentence.
293. Kant’s theory of the earth was also stated, somewhat more fully, in his paper of
1785 on the volcanoes of the moon: “Über die Vulkane im Monde”, Berlinische
Monatsschrift 5 (1785): 199–213, translated in Chapter 14 above. For commen-
tary, see: O. Reinhardt and D. R. Oldroyd, “By analogy with the heavens: Kant’s
theory of the earth”, Annals of Science 41 (1984): 203–21.
294. Many manuscripts have “Peru”, which Gedan has changed to “Brazil”. Adickes,
however, argues that Kant cannot have meant Peru and must have intended a
word with a similar sound. He suggests “Para”, an abbreviation of the better-
known Belém do Para.
295. A loxodromic line or rhumb is a line followed by a sailing vessel such that it
maintains a constant course towards a desired destination. It crosses all merid-
ians between the point of departure and arrival at the same angle. Such a route
is slightly longer than a great circle, but is easier to follow for the purposes of
simple navigation.
296. Ferdinand Magellan (1480?–1521) was a celebrated Portuguese explorer and
navigator, who, in 1519, sailed round South America and into the Pacific Ocean,
where he was killed in the Philippines. The voyage was completed by his second-
in-command.
297. Eberhardt August Wilhelm von Zimmerman (1743–1815) was a student of
medicine, mathematics, and natural science. From 1766 he taught at the Car-
olinum in Brunswick. He wrote on numerous topics, including anthropol-
ogy, the elasticity of water, elephants, the barometric determination of the
height of the Harz Mountains, etc. He advised on educational administration,
wrote against the French Revolution, and was raised to the hereditary nobility
in 1796.
298. E. A. W. Zimmermann, Geographische Geschichte des Menschen und der allge-
mein verbreiteten vierfüßigen Thiere, nebst einer hierher gehörigen zoologischen
Weltcharte . . . , 3 vols. (Leipzig: In der Weyganandschen Buchhanglung, 1778–
83).
299. Über das Kantische Prinzip für die Naturgeschichte, note 210 above.
300. The reticular layer.
301. Presumably Kant means “hard skin”, though he used the word Leder.
302. Hiob Ludolph (1624–1704) was the founder of the study of the Ethiopian lan-
guage and literature. He recognized that Ethiopia was erroneously ascribed to
the kingdom of Prester John.
303. François Le Vaillant, Reise in das Innere von Afrika, aus dem Französischen im
Auszuge übersetzt (1790).
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304. Peter Ivanovich Rytschkow (Rychkov) (1712–77) was the Russian Councillor
who took part in Pallas’s expedition to western Siberia until 1771. His Topogra-
phy of Orenburg or Complete Description of the Orenburg Government (in Russian)
appeared in German translation in 1772.
305. Jean Baptiste de Montesquieu (1716–96) was a French writer on physics and
author of the celebrated Ésprit des Lois (1748), which related human social patters
to environmental conditions.
306. Genghis Khan (1162–1227) was a celebrated Mongol warrior. At his death, his
empire stretched from the Yellow Sea to the Black Sea and included Korea,
Persia, Armenia, Turkestan, and parts of Siberia and China.
307. Apart from the works of Zimmermann and Girtanner mentioned above, com-
pare also Kant’s own Über die Menschenracen and Wünsch’s Kosmologische Betra-
chtungen.
308. A kind of hardened resinous gum, with an onion/garlic-like smell, produced
from the plant Narthex asafetida, and sometimes used in cooking.
309. If gold ducats, this might have been worth about £1,000, in the money of the
day; if silver ducats, about £300.
310. I.e. gold-beaters’ skin.
311. This is the water buffalo, formerly found in eastern Europe, as well as Asia.
312. The extinct Bovis primigenius.
313. The llama.
314. The kind of leather produced in the Cordova district of Spain.
315. Presumably the musk deer, Moschus mosichiferus.
316. A concretion found in the stomach or intestines of certain animals, particularly
ruminants, formerly believed to be a useful antidote against poisons.
317. Very likely the royal antelope, Neotragus pygmaeus.
318. Perhaps the saiga.
319. Georg Wilhelm Steller (1709–46) was a German doctor in St Petersburg, who
participated in an Academy expedition to Siberia and Kamchatka in 1737, and
accompanied Bering on his journey to the north-west coast of America in 1741–
42. He devoted two further years to the exploration of Kamchatka, but died on
his return journey. His important work, De bestiis maris [On Marine Animals],
appeared in 1751.
320. Almost certainly the Malay chevrotain, Tragulus gavanicus.
321. Kant is probably referring to the moose, Alces alces. He could have used
the word Hottentot to refer to people other than those of southwest
Africa.
322. The German word here is Finnen. It may refer to the organism causing trichi-
nosis.
323. We have been unable to determine what “Haiden” means.
324. Claudius Aelianus (c. 200) was a Greek military historian and sophist who lived
in Rome. He wrote De natura animalium [On the Nature of Animals], which
described oddities in the lives of humans and animals and editions of which were
published in Leipzig in 1780 and 1794.
325. A species of peccary, perhaps the white-lipped, or the collared, peccary.
326. A type of East Indian pig, Babirussa babyrussa, the male having distinctive
upward-curving tusks, one pair from each jaw.
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327. From this description, one may infer that Kant was thinking of the pygmy
hippopotamus from west Africa: Choeropsis liberiensis.
328. The tamandu or collared ant-eater. This actually has four toes, but one is con-
siderably enlarged.
329. No particular species is suggested by this name. Presumably, Kant was referring
to the Arabian baggage camel.
330. Presumably the alpaca or vicuna.
331. The three-toed sloth: Bradypus tridactylus.
332. Perhaps the unua or two-toed sloth, Bradypus didactylus.
333. Kant uses the word Faultieraffe, which means literally “disguised sloth monkey”.
He was perhaps referring to the capuchin monkey (Cebus fatuallus), though it
was incorrect to suppose that this animal had two toes.
334. The giant ant-eater.
335. The aardvark, Orycteropus afer.
336. The Asian pangolins and the South American armadillos are conflated in this
section. Of the two animals described here, one of them is probably the Chinese
pangolin, Manis pentadactyla, now almost extinct and only surviving in Formosa
(Taiwan).
337. The coypu, Myocastor coypus.
338. Perhaps the deer rat, but the identification is uncertain.
339. The Russian animal might be Petaurista, but this is found in chiefly in Southeast
Asia. The American animal would be a species of Glaucomys.
340. Perhaps some kind of ground squirrel, such as Spermophilus.
341. Ondatra zibethicus.
342. Unidentified.
343. Bergmaus, i.e., lemming.
344. Didelphys philander, or opossum.
345. A type of fruit bat, probably Pteropus giganteus.
346. An animal (Herpestes icheumon) related to the mongoose, not to be confused with
the ichneuman fly.
347. Perhaps the Borzoi.
348. The spaniel, or its forerunner.
349. Genetta genetta.
350. From the description this would appear to be the African civet, Civettictis civetta.
351. Perhaps the bobcat.
352. This appears to be an error on Kant’s part. A tapir cannot be regarded as
belonging to the panthers.
353. Perhaps the spotted hyena.
354. The use of this term, formerly used to refer to chimpanzees or gorillas, suggests
that Kant did not distinguish between these animals and the orang-utan.
355. Perhaps the pig-tailed macaque (Macaca nemestrina).
356. The description suggests the howler monkey. Guenons do not have prehensile
tails.
357. Doubtfully the golden lion tamarin.
358. Perhaps the squirrel monkey.
359. A red-brown oily substance obtained from the two sacs of the inguinal region
of the beaver. Formerly used for medicinal purposes.
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360. Pinnipedia: the zoological term used to refer to the mammalian group containing
both seals and walruses.
361. Perhaps the sea elephant.
362. A type of shark; but also the name formerly given to a fantastic sea monster.
363. The term “cachalot” is used today to refer to a type of whale, with teeth in the
lower jaw.
364. Erik Pontopidan (1698–1764) was the bishop of Bergen and later professor of
theology in Copenhagen. In his description of the natural history of Norway
(1753), he presented various tales about monstrous squids and octopuses, along
with information about the geography, minerals, and rocks of his country.
365. A poisonous climbing plant, found in Malabar and Ceylon (Sri Lanka).
366. The Athecata are a group of hydrozoan coelentrates.
367. Kant apparently shared this widely held view.
368. See Appendix i.
369. A type of bivalve mollusk, which includes the well-known giant clam.
370. Johann Georg Keyssler (1693?–1743), as a tutor to a noble family, travelled
widely, publishing his experiences in the form of letters. His travelogues empha-
sized curiosities and contained much uncritically collected material, including
court gossip.
371. Byssus: a fine and valuable ancient textile; also the tuft of fine silky filaments by
which some mollusks attach themselves.
372. The insect Coccus lacca is the source of shellac.
373. Caprificus = wild fig. Caprification = the process described by Kant.
374. Joseph Pitton de Tournefort (1656–1709) was a French botanist and physician
who wrote extensively on his journeys in the Levant. He believed in the organic
growth of stones.
375. J. P. de Tournefort, Relation d’un voyage du Levant, fait par Ordre du Roi contenant
l’histoire ancienne et moderne de plusieurs isles de l’Archipel, de Constantinople, des
côtes de la Mer Noire, de l’Arménie, de la Géorgie, des frontiers de Perse et de l’Asie
Mineure, avec les plans des villes. Enrichie de descriptions & de figures d’un grand
nombre de plantes rares, de divers animaux; et de plusieurs observations touchant
l’histoire naturelle . . . , 2 vols. (Paris: Inprimerie Royale, 1717).
376. The hooded cobra.
377. Janus Dousa (Johan van der Does) (1545–1604) was a Dutch statesman, poet,
and historian, who commanded the citizens of Leiden during the Spanish siege
of the city in 1573–74. He was the first Curator of the University of Leiden.
378. A starch or jelly made from the dried tubers of certain kinds of orchids.
379. Allgemeine Reisebeschreibung. Author unknown.
380. Jacques Joseph le Maire (fl. 1690) undertook journeys to the islands of the Indian
Ocean and to the French settlements in equatorial west Africa, as well as to the
Canary Islands.
381. The silk-cotton tree of the West Indies.
382. Logwood.
383. A red dye obtained from the plant Alkanna tinctoria.
384. Sappan: a red dye from the tropical Asian tree Caesalpiniae.
385. Orchil (or archil) is the kind of lichen (Roccella tinctoria) that yields the dye,
litmus. It should not be classified here as a ‘coloured wood’.
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386. A type of medicinal balsam, produced in South America.

387. A gum produced from several species of Astragalus.
388. A gum from the Malayan plant Isonandra gutta.
389. Also called ‘gum benzoin’. This camphor-containing substance is obtained from
the tree Styrax benzoin, which grows in Sumatra and elsewhere in Southeast Asia.
390. A juice obtained from the manna ash (Fraxinus ornus), different from the biblical
manna, which is an exudation from the plan Tamarix gallica.
391. A resinous exudation from the Mediterranean plant Pistacia lentiscus, related to
the cashew nut.
392. A resin obtained from the tree Guiacum officinale, occurring in Central America
and the West Indies.
393. A bitter extract from the South American plant Quassia amara, used for medicinal
purposes.
394. A tree from tropical West Africa belonging to the Sterculiaceae.
395. Giovani Battista Venturi (1746–1822) was an Italian physicist, noted for his
studies of hydrodynamics. He also examined the geological material in the note-
books of Leonardo da Vinci, publishing his results in 1797.
396. Pollio Vitruvius (?-c.15 bc) was a celebrated Roman architect and architectural
historian, author of a highly influential volume, De Architectura [On Architec-
ture], which included a section on hydraulics.
397. An allegedly incombustible flax, not the carcinogenic mineral.
398. The semi-fabulous ‘upas’ (Antiaris toxicarum) was said to be a large Javanese
tree producing a poisonous substance such that it was surrounded by a belt of
desert. Condemned criminals were required to collect its poisonous juice. The
belief derived from the fact that there is a tract of land in Java that is the crater
of a volcano, and which continually emits carbonic acid, such that the area does
not support life. Also, the upas tree does indeed produce a juice that is a deadly
poison.
399. The berry of the climbing plant, Cubeba officianalis, native of Java.
400. The Hindu word for asafoetida.
401. Indian hemp or Cannabis sativa.
402. The indigo shrub, Indigofera tinctoria.
403. Morel: an edible fungus, Morchella esculenta.
404. Athanasius Kircher (1602–80) was a polymathic Jesuit German naturalist, who
wrote on, among numerous other things, the theory of the earth (with specu-
lations about its interior), and Noah’s Flood. He placed Atlantis on one of his
maps.
405. A tree-like growth of silver amalgam.
406. The ‘Scythian lamb’ is a kind of fern (Cibotium barometz), with woolly stems and
leaves, which, when prepared (for medicinal purposes) in a particular manner,
is thought to resemble a lamb.
407. Platino de(l) Pinto was a term used in South America to refer to platinum or
‘white gold’.
408. In metallurgy, a ‘cement’ is a finely divided metal, obtained by some process of
precipitation.
409. A zinc ore, consisting chiefly of zinc carbonate. There is also an unclearly defined
zinc ore, ‘cadmia’ or ‘tutia’, probably zinc oxide or carbonate.
746
410. Tombac is an alloy of copper and zinc, not tin, used in the east for making gongs
and bells. It is known in the west as ‘Prince’s metal’.
411. An alloy of copper and zinc, resembling gold, also known as ‘pinchbeck’, after
its eighteenth-century inventor Christopher Pinchbeck. As the substance might
be mistaken for gold, the word ‘pinchbeck’ came to mean spurious or sham.
412. A term commonly used in the eighteenth century for metals other than those
traditionally associated with the planets, or which seemed (like bismuth, for
example) to have imperfect metallic qualities.
413. Antimony sulphide, the chief ore of antimony.
414. Actually zinc carbonate.
415. Kant is probably referring here to ‘white arsenic’ or arsenious oxide, which is
somewhat soluble in water.
416. Early chemists found cobalt, bismuth, and arsenic in close association.
417. The yellow sulphide of arsenic.
418. J. Reineggs, Allgemeine historisch-topographische Beschreibung des Kaukasus. Aus
dessen nachgelassenen Papieren gesammelt und herausgegeben von Friedrich Enoch
Schröder, 2 vols. (Gotha: Gerstenberg and Dittner, 1796–97).
419. The text may be corrupt here. Amber is fossilized resin.
420. The substance was formerly used in both cooking and perfumery.
421. I.e., as opposed to charcoal, brown coal, or lignite.
422. Kant refers here to ‘phlogiston’, the well-known eighteenth-century hypothet-
ical entity held responsible for the combustibility of substances that supposedly
contained the ‘principle’.
423. The term “marcasite” usually refers to a form of iron sulphide or iron pyrites.
But it is often copper bearing and known as copper pyrites, serving as an ore of
copper.
424. Alumina (aluminium oxide) was formerly known as argil, it being an important
chemical component of clays. The term “marlaceous” might also be used here,
since some eighteenth-century chemist believed that alum contained lime.
425. I.e., sulphuric acid.
426. A volcanic vent, emitting sulphureous vapours.
427. This statement is mistaken.
428. An efflorescence of calcium nitrate is formed in limestone in the course of the
nitrogen cycle, particularly in farmyards and stables. It was collected on a large
scale in Europe in the eighteenth century for the manufacture of gunpowder.
Potash was needed to convert this calcium nitrate to potassium nitrate.
429. A druse is a mass of crystals lining the inside of a rock cavity.
430. The meaning of this term is not known to us.
431. ‘To shoot’ = ‘to crystallize’.
432. I.e., stalactite.
433. A natural form of barium sulphite, having phosphorescent properties.
434. Christianus Adophus Baldwin (or Balduin) (1632–82) was a German chemist
or alchemist from Grosshein in Saxony, best known for his discovery of the
phosphorescent substance, calcium nitrate.
435. This gives, on drying, anhydrous calcium nitrate, a phosphorescent substance
known as ‘Balduin’s phosphorus’.
436. Kant was probably referring to mineral tourmaline.
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437. The Kupferschiefer is a well-known layer of the Permian sequence in Germany,

consisting of a stratum about two feet thick. It is a black, marly shale, bitumi-
nous, and containing fine granules of copper pyrites. Besides being formerly
an important source of copper in Germany, it is also well known for its rich
contents of fossil fish.
438. A deposit of calcium carbonate, formed as an incrustation on roots and stems
of plants.
439. The fossilized spines of a large kind of sea urchin, found in Syria, and formerly
used as a medicament.
440. It is difficult to understand the point being made by Kant here. Perhaps he is
suggesting that people would undertake marriage in China because they did not
have to rear all the children born to them.
441. Confucius (Kung Fu-Tzu) (c. 551–479 bc) was a Chinese philosopher who
stressed the importance of relations of authority, obedience, and mutual respect,
within the family and between the ruler and subject. He urged loyalty, submis-
sion, and benevolence.
442. A whitish alloy, chiefly of copper, zinc and nickel.
443. See G. L. Staunton, An Historical Account of the Embassy to the Emperor of China,
undertaken by order of the King of Great Britain; Including the Manners and Customs
of the Inhabitants; and Preceded by an Account of the Causes of the Embassy and Voyage
to China. Abridged principally from the papers of Earl Macartney, . . . (London: J.
Stockdale, 1797).
444. This paragraph has presumably been added by Rink.
445. According to Adickes there is a marginal note by Kant in one of the manuscripts
mentioning that the Mogul is now a powerless titular ruler under the control
of his vassals.
446. Aurangzeb (1618–1701) was a Mogul emperor in India who gained the throne
by imprisoning his father. The Mogul empire reached its greatest extent under
his rule, but declined thereafter.
447. A type of fan palm.
448. There appears to be a transcription error here. Kant was undoubtedly referring
to the kitul palm, which is used for making ‘jaggery’ in Sri Lanka.
449. Tiger snake.
450. Possibly, this refers to the tarantula spider.
451. Also known as calamine.
452. Avicenna (Ibn Sina) (980–1037) was an Arab philosopher, theologian, and physi-
cian who sought to bring about a synthesis of Islamic teaching and Greek philos-
ophy. He was the author of an Aristotelian treatise on the formation of stones.
453. Thomas Salmon (Salomon) (1679–1767) was an English traveler and volumi-
nous writer, who accompanied Anson on his circumnavigation of the globe. He
was the author of The Modern Gazetteer; or a Short View of the Several Nations of
the World (1746); The Universal Traveller; or a Compleat Description of the Several
Nations of the World (1752–53); and Modern History; or the Present State of All
Nations (1731). One section of this last work dealt with Persia, Arabia, and Asiatic
Tartary, and appeared in German as Die heutige Historie, oder der gegenwärtige
Staat von Arabien und der großen Tartarey, samt deren daran grenzenden Ländern
(1747).
748
454. Apart from this point in the text Rink writes “Tatary” but we shall use “Tartary”
where this word occurs.
455. The principal inhabitants of Daghestan.
456. Marienglas: selenite, a form of gypsum.
457. A Russian unit of weight equivalent to 16.4 kg. See Appendix i.
458. This information appears to be incorrect, as –125◦ F is well below the freezing
point of mercury.
459. Vitus Jonassen Bering (1681–1741) was a Danish navigator who joined the Rus-
sian navy and was employed by Peter the Great to explore the eastern extremity
of Siberia. In 1728 he sailed through the Strait named after him. He reached
Alaska on a later voyage and died on Bering Island, off Kamchatka.
460. Jean de Thevenot (1633–67) spent seven years travelling through England,
Germany, Italy, Anatolia, and Egypt. A second journey (1664) took him to Asia
Minor, Persia, and India. He died in Armenia on his return journey.
462. The former name of the area north of Sofala up to the Zambesi, called Mwana
Motapa on some more recent maps.
463. Convolvulus batatas, or the sweet potato.
464. Alfonso de Albuquerque (1453–1515), also known as Alfonso the Great, was
a Portuguese soldier and conqueror of Goa, who laid the foundations of the
Portuguese empire in the East. He had grandiose schemes for Portuguese hege-
mony, including ideas such as setting the Persians against the Turks and divert-
ing the Nile into the Red Sea in order to devastate Egypt.
465. Possibly referring to his source, Ludolph, Kant is engaging here in folk etymol-
ogy, seeing Schlaraffenland as a corruption of Schlauer Affen Land. The word is
in fact derived from the Middle High German – slûraffe – a lazy or thoughtless
person; hence a fairy-tale land of lazy indulgence with an abundance of good
things.
466. Herodotus (c. 484–425 bc) was a Greek historian and traveler, celebrated for his
account of the Greco-Persian wars, which historical work also contained much
geographical information.
467. Reise in das Innere von Afrika.
468. The name Prester John refers to a legendary ruler of a Christian kingdom,
thought by some in the Middle Ages to be located beyond Persia and Arme-
nia, and by others to be in Ethiopia. When in the fourteenth century western
Christendom came in contact with the kingdom of Ethiopia there was hope that
the ruler might participate in the Crusades. The Portuguese opened relations
with Ethiopia in 1520, and several of the travel writings that resulted referred
to Prester John. What Kant had to say about him here we can only speculate.
469. Euboea.
471. An imaginary beast.
473. Acorn shells, a type of cirripede.
474. See 9:350.
475. Charles-Marie de la Condamine (1701–74) was a French mathematician, nat-
ural historian, and traveller. In 1731, he sailed on a French naval ship to the
749
eastern Mediterranean, visiting Algiers, Alexandria, Palestine, Cyprus, Smyrna,

and Constantinople. He presented his observations to the Academy in 1732:
“Observations mathémathiques et physiques faites dans un voyage de Lev-
ant en 1731 et 1732”. Subsequently, he participated in the important mission
Académiciens du Pérou, undertaken to investigate the shape of the earth.
476. Sir Walter Raleigh (1552?–1618) was a British sea captain, courtier, and buc-
caneer, who wrote History of the World (1614).
477. Mate or Ilex paraguayensis, the South American tea-herb.
478. Patermontoya (Antonio Ruiz de Montoya) (1585–1652) was a Jesuit priest and
lexicographer, resident in the Viceroyalty of Peru. His Tesoro de la Lengua Guarni
[Thesaurus of the Guarni Language] provided the first dictionary of the group
of native languages still spoken in modern Paraguay.
479. Henry Ellis (1721–1806) was an English traveler and hydrographer. His Voyage
to Hudson’s Bay for Discovering a North-West Passage (1748) contained magnetic
and meteorological observations and studies of the customs of the Eskimos.
480. Filibusters were piratical adventurers who preyed on the Spanish colonies of
the West Indies in the seventeenth century.
481. Probably an alloy of copper, silver, and gold.
482. Jacob van Heemskerck (1567–1607) was a Dutch explorer, remembered for
his Arctic voyage of 1596–97 in search of a northern passage to India. After
rounding Novaya Zemlya, his ship became trapped in the ice, and he had to
winter with his crew on the island in a hut made of driftwood. His was the first
European group to survive an Arctic winter.
483. Gerhard Friedrich Müller (1705–83) was a professor of history at the St Peters-
burg Academy of Sciences. Wrangles there led him to join Gmelin’s expedition
to Kamchatka between 1733 and 1743. He founded the first learned journal
in Russian, which contained many historical articles by him. In 1766 he was
appointed archivist of the ministry of foreign affairs.
Notes to Appendix i
1. R. E. Zupko, British Weights and Museums: A History from Antiquity to the Sev-
enteenth Century (Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1977), p. 171.
2. Kant also says that according to an older convention the geometrical pace was
equal to five feet. This derives from an old Roman measure of length, where a
man’s stride (or pace), in marching, was taken as a unit. It was equal to about
two and a half feet. The ‘geometrical pace’ was taken as the distance between
two footfalls of the same leg, that is about five feet.
3. From Zupko.
4. As for other German units in the eighteenth century, the reference standard
varied from place to place. Kant did not specify which locality he intended.
So the data given here are obtained by reference to the Prussian foot, with six
Prussian feet to the Klafter (or fathom).
5. Distance between thumb and little finger of an extended hand.
750
Glossary
German–English
Abfälle decrease
Abhängigkeit dependence
Abmessung dimension
Abriß general outline
Absicht intention
Absonderung separation
abstrakte Mechanik theoretical mechanics
Abwiegung deviation
Aggregat aggregate, aggregation
Aktion action, effect
Aktivität activity
anbringen produce
Anfangsgeschwindigkeit initial velocity
Anlauf impact, strike
anlaufen approach, collide
anständiger more appropriate
anstoßen collide
Anstrengung effort
antreibende Gewalt driving power
antreibende Kraft driving force
Antrieb impetus, propulsion
anwenden apply
Anziehung attraction
arbeiten work
Arm arm, beam
Art mode, kind
aufbehalten conserve
Aufhebung removal
Auflösung dissolution
aufspringen snap open
Auftritte phenomena
Augenblick instant, moment
aus dem ganzen All out of the whole universe
aus dem ganzen Inbegriff sum total
Ausbildung development
Ausdehnung extension
außer external
Außer-Europäer non-Europeans
751
Glossary German–English
äußerlich external
Aussicht perspective
Ausspannung eruption
ausüben apply, exert
Ausübung exercise, exertion
Auswickelung evolution, unfolding
auszuwickeln evolve
Balken arm, beam

Bassin basin
Baustücke building blocks
Bebung quaking
Beginnen activities
Begriff concept
Beispiel example
beiwohnen inhere
belebt filled with life
Bemühung endeavour
Bergschwaden mine-damp
Berührung contact
Beschaffenheiten characteristics
Bestimmung determination, factor
Bestrebung striving
bewegende Kraft motive force, moving force
Beweggrund motive
bewegliche Fläche movable float
Bewegung motion
Beweis proof
Beweisthum evidence
Beziehung relation
Bild image
Bildungsgesetze laws of formation
Bogen arc, bow
Centerfliehkraft centrifugal force

Centralgesetz fundamental laws
Centralkörper central bodies
Centralkraft central force
Centrifugalkraft centrifugal force
Cirkelbogen arc
Dasein existence
Dauer duration
Diagonallinie diagonal
Dichtigkeit density
die Waage halten counterbalance
Dimension dimension
752
draußen external
Drehungsschwung tangential force, rotational force
Druck pressure
Druck der Schwere gravitational pressure
Dünnigkeit thinness
Dunkelheit darkness
durchdringen penetrate
Effekt effect, action

Eigenschaft property
Einbildung illusion
Einbildungskraft imagination
eindringen penetrate
eindrücken impress
ein einmal eingedrückter Schwung tangential force once impressed
Einerleiheit always the same
einfach simple
einfache Geschwindigkeit unit velocity
einfacher Körper body with unit mass
Einfall idea
Einfallswinkel angle of incidence
einnehmen occupy
Einöde wilderness
Einrichtung arrangement
Einschränkung qualification, limitation
Einsicht insight
einteilen divide
Einwurf objection
Eisblink ice shine
elastisch elastic
Ende end
endliche Mattigkeit final exhaustion
Endzweck final purpose
Entelechie entelechy
Entfernung distance
entgegensetzen oppose
entgegenwirken counteract
Entwickelung development
Entwurf outline
Erfahrung experience
Erfahrungserkenntnisse knowledge from experience
erfolgen result
Ergebnis result
erhalten conserve
erkennen recognize
Erkenntnis insight, knowledge
Erschütterung shock, vibration
753
Erstarrung rigidification
erste Gründe first principles
Erwägung reflection
Erweis proof
etwas Scheinbares apparent
extendierter Begriff extensive mental picture
Fall case, fall

Falschheit mistake
Feder spring
federhart elastic
Federkraft elastic force
Fehler mistake
Fehltritt mistake
Felde des Weltraumes field of space
Felsberg rock mountain
fest solid
Festigkeit firmness, solidity
Fläche area, plane
fliehende Kraft centrifugal force
Flötz Flötz
Flüssigkeit fluid
Folge implication, consequence
Folgerung implication, consequence
forttreibende Wirkung repelling activity
Gattung species, type

Gebäude edifice, structure
gebogen concave
Gedanke thought
Gegend direction, region
Gegendruck counterpressure
Gegenstand object
Gegenstoß rebound
Gegenwirkung reaction
gemeinschaftlich common
Gemenge mix
geneigt inclined
Geometer mathematician
Geometrie geometry
Geschwindigkeit velocity
Gestalt figure
Gewalt force, power
gewechselt reciprocal
Gewicht weight
Gewimmel plethora
Gewißheit certainty
754
geworfener Körper projectile

Glanz brilliance
gleichförmig uniform
Gleichgewicht balance
Gleichgewicht des Umschwunges rotational balance
Gleichheit equality
Gluth ember
Gott God
Grad degree, unit
Gravität gravity
Grenze border, limit
Größe greatness, quantity
Grund cause, ground, reason
Grundlage foundation
Grundsatz principle
Grundstoff basic material
Grundwesen primitive being
Harmonie harmony
Hauptplan der Räume main plane of the spaces
Hauptstück chapter
Hebel lever
Hebelarm lever arm
heben raise
herauswickeln evolve
hervorbringen produce
Hinabsteigen descent
hinderlich sein impede
Hindernis impediment, obstacle
Hindernis der Schwere gravitational obstacle
hineinlegen insert, put in
hinzusetzen add, append
Höhe height
hohl concave
Idee idea
in Wirksamkeit zu setzen being active
Inbegriff essence, sum
ineinander wirken interact
innerer Zustand internal state
Irrsterne planets
Irrtum mistake
kalkartige Erde calcareous earth

Kalkstein calcareous stone
Konklusion conclusion
Kontinuität continuity
755
Körper body
Körperchen particle
Kraft force
Kraft der Umwendung power of rotation
Kräftemaß measure of force
Kreisbewegung circular motion
Kreislinie circle
krummlinig curvilinear
Kugel ball, bullet, sphere
Lage position
lebendige Kraft living force
Lebendigwerdung vivification
Lebensprinzip life principle
Leere empty, void
Lehnsatz lemma
Lehre doctrine, result
Lehrgebäude system
Lehrsatz theorem
Loth fathom
Lücke gap
Mangel defect
Mannigfaltigkeit diversity
Maschine machine
Maß measure
Masse mass
Mäßigung measure
Materie matter
Mathematik mathematics
Mattigkeit dullness, exhaustion
Mechanik mechanics
Mechaniker mechanist
Meerwirbel eddies
Meinung opinion, view
Menge set, sum
Meßkunst geometry
Metaphysiklehrer metaphysician
mitteilen communicate, give, impart
Mitteilung transfer
Mittelraum medium, spatial plenum
Mitwirkungen concurrent actions
Monade monad
Natur nature
Naturding thing in nature
Naturforscher natural scientist
756
Naturkraft natural force

Naturlehre physics, natural science
Naturlehrer physicist, natural philosopher, natural
scientist
Naturwissenschaft natural science
Neigung dip, inclination
Notion notion
Oberfläche surface
Ordnung order
Ort location, place
Parallelogramm parallelogram
perpendicular perpendicular, vertical
Perpendikel plumb-line
Pfund pound
Phänomen phenomenon
physischer Einfluß physical influence
planetarischer Weltbau planetary system
Planetengebäude planetary structure
planetischer Weltbau planetary system
planetisches Gebäude planetary structure
planetisches System planetary system
Potenz power
Probe example
Probierstein touchstone
Produkt product
Quadrat square
Quadratoquadrat square of the square
Quantität quantity
Raum space, distance

Raumesinhalt volume
rechtwinkliges Parallelogram rectangle
Regel rule
Regung movement
Relation relation
Repercutirung reflection
Revolution revolution
Rhede road
richtig right
Richtung direction
Ruhe rest
Ruhepunkt fulcrum
Ruhestand state of rest
Salzgeist spirit of salt (= hydrochloric acid)
757
sammeln (sich) concentrate

Satz proposition
Scheidung dissolution, separation
Schein illusion, semblance
scheinbar evident, obvious
Scheinbarkeit plausibility
Scheitelpunkt zenith
Schiefe der Ekliptik obliquity of the ecliptic
schießende Kraft shooting force
Schlamm sediment
schlecht simple
schlicht simple
Schluß argument, conclusion, inference
Schlußkünstler logician
Schlußkunst logic
Schlußrede argument
Schlußsatz conclusion
Schnelligkeit speed, velocity
Schnellwaage steelyard
schräg at a slant, inclined, oblique
Schräge dip, inclination
Schuh foot
Schullehrer scholastic
Schutzwehr defence
Schwankung motion, shaking
Schwerdrückung gravitational pressure
Schwere gravity
Schwimmbrüche floats
Schwung motion, rotation, tangential force
Schwungskraft tangential force
Seite side
Seitenbewegung lateral motion
Seitenkraft lateral force, lateral force vector
selbständig self-sufficient
senkrecht at a right angle, perpendicular, vertical
Senkungskraft lowering force, sinking force
Sinne senses
sondern separate
Sonnenbau solar system
Sonnenwelt solar system
spannen compress, tense, tighten
Spannung compression
Spannungskraft tensile force
Spitzfindigkeit sophistry
Stärke strength
Stelle location, place
Stoff matter
758
Stoß des Insectes impulse of the insect

Stoß collision, impact, strike
Strahl ray
Strudel whirlpool
Substanz substance
Substrat foundation
System der Sonne solar system
Tätigkeit activity
Teil fraction, part
teilen divide
Teilkraft component force
Tendenz tendency
tonartig argillaceous
tote Kraft dead force
toter Druck dead pressure
Trabant satellite
Trägheit inertia
Trägheitskraft inertial force
Trennung separation
Triangel triangle
Triebfeder driving force
Triebwerk mechanism
Übereinstimmung agreement
Übermaß excess
Übertragung transfer
Umfang extent
umgekehrtes doppeltes Verhältnis inverse-square relation
Umschwungskraft rotational force
Umwendung orbiting, revolution
Umwendungskraft rotational force
unbegrenzt unimpeded
unbestimmt indeterminate
Unding impossibility
unendlich kleines Zeitteilchen infinitely short period
ungereimt absurd
Universum universe
Unmöglichkeit impossibility
unschätzbar immeasurable
Unterfangen endeavour
Untersuchung investigation
Unvernunft lack of reason
unverwirrt unimpeded
Ursache cause
Urstoff original material
Urteil judgement
759
verbinden combine
Verbreitung diffusion, spreading
Vereinigung union
Verfahren procedure
Verfassung des Weltbaues constitution of the universe
Verhältnis relation
Verminderung reduction
Vermögen capacity, power
vernichten destroy
Vernunft reason
Vernunfterkenntnisse rational knowledge
verrücken shift, move
Verstand understanding, common sense
Versuch experiment
Verteidigung defence
verüben exert
verwirrt perturbed
Veränderung change
Vielheit plurality
vierfacher Körper body with four units of mass
Vollkommenheit perfection
Vorbegriff preformed conception
Vorbegriffe preliminary concepts
Vordersatz premise
vorherbestimmte Harmonie pre-established harmony
Vorrath store
Vorstellung representation
Vorwurf object, project, subject matter
vorzüglich pre-eminent
Waagarm lever arm

Waagbalken balance bar
Waage balance, pair of scales
waagrecht horizontal
Waagschale scale
Wärme heat
Wechsel change
Weite distance
Welt universe, world
Weltbau planetary system, universe, world
structure
Weltgebäude galaxies, solar system, universe
Weltgebäude im Großen structure of the universe
Weltkörper heavenly bodies
Weltmaterie universal matter, universe, worldly
matter
Weltraum universe
760
Weltsystem solar system, world system

Weltverfassung world constitution
Weltweiser philosopher
Weltweisheit philosophy
Weltwissenschaft cosmology
Werkmeister architect
Werkschuh foot
Wesen entity, essence
wesentlich essential, fundamental
Widerhalt support
Widerstand resistance
Widerstand der Schwere gravitational resistance
Winkel angle
winkelrecht at a right angle
wirken act
wirkende Kraft active force
wirklich actual, real
Wirklichkeit reality
wirksam effective
Wirksamkeit activity, efficacy
Wirkung activity, effect
Wirkungsgesetze laws of causation
Wissen knowledge
Wissenschaft science
Würfel cube
Wurzel root
Zahl number, quantity

Zeit time interval, time
Zentralkraft centrifugal force, centripetal
force
Zentrifugalschwung centrifugal momentum
Zerlegung analysis
zerstören destroy
Zerteilung analysis
zertrennen divide
Zertrennung division
Zeug material
Zeugungen creations
Ziel end, goal
Zirkelkreisen circular orbits
Zirkellauf circular motion
zu ihrem Besten for their good
zudrücken compress
zum Wirken for action
Zurückstoßung rebound
zurücktreiben repel
761
Glossary English–German
zurückwirken react
Zusammendrückung compression
Zusammensatz composition
Zusammensetzung composition
Zusammenstoß collision
Zustand state
Zwischenraum interstice
Zwischenzeit intermediate period
English–German
absurd ungereimt
act (v.) wirken
action Aktion
active force wirkende Kraft
activity Aktivität, Tätigkeit
actual wirklich
add hinzusetzen
aggregate Aggregat
agreement Übereinstimmung
analysis Zerlegung, Zerteilung
angle (n.) Winkel
angle of incidence Einfallswinkel
apparent etwas Scheinbares
apply anwenden, ausüben
approach (v.) anlaufen
arc Bogen, Cirkelbogen
architect Werkmeister
area Fläche
argument Schlußrede, Schluß
arm (n.) Arm, Balken
arrangement Einrichtung
at a right angle winkelrecht
at a slant schräg
attraction Anziehung
balance (n.) Gleichgewicht, Waage

balance bar Waagbalken
ball Kugel
basic material Grundstoff
basin Bassin
beam Arm, Balken
body Körper
border Grenze
brilliance Glanz
building blocks Baustücke
bullet Kugel
762
capacity Vermögen
case Fall
cause Ursache, Grund
central bodies Centralkörper
central force Centralkraft
centrifugal force Centerfliehkraft, Centrifugalkraft, fliehende Kraft
centrifugal momentum Zentrifugalschwung
certainty Gewißheit
change Veränderung, Wechsel
chapter Hauptstück
characteristic Beschaffenheit
circle Kreis, Kreislinie
circular motion Kreisbewegung, Zirkellauf
circular orbits Zirkelkreisen
collide anstoßen, anlaufen
collision Zusammenstoß, Stoß
combine verbinden
common gemeinschaftlich
common sense Verstand
communicate mitteilen
component force Teilkraft
composition Zusammensatz, Zusammensetzung
compress zudrücken, spannen
compression Spannung, Zusammendrückung
concave gebogen, hohl
concentrate sich sammeln
concept Begriff
conclusion Konklusion, Schluß, Schlußsatz
concurrent actions Mitwirkungen
consequence Folgerung
conserve aufbehalten, erhalten
constitution of the universe Verfassung des Weltbaues
contact (n.) Berührung
continuity Kontinuität
cosmology Weltwissenschaft
counteract entgegenwirken
counterbalance die Waage halten
counterpressure Gegendruck
creations Zeugungen
cube Würfel
curvilinear krummlinig
darkness Dunkelheit
dead force tote Kraft
dead pressure toter Druck
decrease (n.) Abfälle
defect Mangel
763
defence Schutzwehr, Verteidigung

degree Grad
density Dichtigkeit
dependence Abhängigkeit
descent Hinabsteigen
destroy vernichten, zerstören
determination Bestimmung
development Ausbildung, Entwickelung
deviation Abwiegung
diagonal Diagonallinie
diffusion Verbreitung
dimension Abmessung, Dimension
dip (n.) Neigung, Schräge
direction Richtung, Gegend
dissolution Auflösung, Scheidung
distance Entfernung, Weite, Raum
diversity Mannigfaltigkeit
divide (v.) einteilen, teilen, zertrennen
division Zertrennung
doctrine Lehrgebäude, Lehre
driving force Triebfeder, antreibende Kraft
driving power antreibende Gewalt
dullness Mattigkeit
duration Dauer
eddies Meerwirbel
edifice Gebäude
effect (n.) Effekt, Wirkung
effective wirksam
effort Anstrengung
elastic elastisch, federhart
elastic force Federkraft
ember Gluth
empty Leere
end Ende, Ziel
endeavour/endeavor Bemühung, Unterfangen
entelechy Entelechie
entity Wesen
equality Gleichheit
eruption Ausspannung
essence Inbegriff, Wesen
essential wesentlich
evidence Beweisthum
evident scheinbar
evolution Auswickelung
evolve auszuwickeln, herauswickeln
example Beispiel, Probe
excess Übermaß
764
exercise Ausübung
exert verüben, ausüben
exhaustion Mattigkeit
existence Dasein
experience Erfahrung
experiment Versuch
extension Ausdehnung
extent Umfang
external außer, äußerlich, draußen
fathom (n.) Loth

field of space Felde des Weltraumes
figure Gestalt
final exhaustion endliche Mattigkeit
final purpose Endzweck
firmness Festigkeit
first principles erste Gründe
floats Schwimmbrüche
fluid Flüssigkeit
foot Schuh, Werkschuh
force (n.) Kraft, Gewalt
foundation Grundlage, Substrat
fraction Teil
fulcrum Ruhepunkt
fundamental wesentlich
galaxies Weltgebäude
gap Lücke
geometry Geometrie, Meßkunst
goal Ziel
God Gott
gravitational obstacle Hindernis der Schwere
gravitational pressure Druck der Schwere, Schwerdrückung
gravitational resistance Widerstand der Schwere
gravity Gravität, Schwere
greatness Größe
ground Grund
harmony Harmonie
heat Wärme
heavenly bodies Weltkörper
height Höhe
horizontal waagrecht
idea Idee, Einfall

illusion Einbildung, Schein
image Bild
imagination Einbildungskraft
765
immeasurable unschätzbar
impact (n.) Anlauf, Stoß
impede hinderlich sein
impediment Hindernis
impetus Antrieb
implication Folge, Folgerung
impossibility Unding, Unmöglichkeit
impress eindrücken
inclination Neigung, Schräge
inclined geneigt, schräg
indeterminate unbestimmt
inertia Trägheit
inertial force Trägheitskraft
inference Schluß
infinitely short period unendlich kleines Zeitteilchen
inhere beiwohnen
initial velocity Anfangsgeschwindigkeit
insert hineinlegen
insight Einsicht, Erkenntnis
instant Augenblick
intension Intension
intensity Intensität
intention Absicht
interact ineinander wirken
intermediate period Zwischenzeit
internal state innerer Zustand
interstice Zwischenraum
inverse-square relation umgekehrtes doppeltes Verhältnis
investigation Untersuchung
judgement Urteil
knowledge Wissen, Erkenntnis
lack of reason Unvernunft

lateral force Seitenkraft
lateral motion Seitenbewegung
laws of causation Wirkungsgesetze
laws of formation Bildungsgesetze
lemma Lehnsatz
lever Hebel
lever arm Hebelarm, Waagarm
life principle Lebensprinzip
limit Grenze
limitation Einschränkung
living force lebendige Kraft
location Ort, Stelle
766
logic Schlußkunst
logician Schlußkünstler
lowering force Senkungskraft
machine Maschine
mass Masse
material Zeug
mathematician Geometer
mathematics Mathematik
matter Materie, Stoff
measure Maß, Mäßigung
measure of force Kräftemaß
mechanics Mechanik
mechanism Triebwerk
mechanist Mechaniker
medium Mittelraum
metaphysician Metaphysiker, Metaphysiklehrer
mine damp Bergschwaden
mistake Falschheit, Fehler, Fehltritt, Irrtum
mix Gemenge
mode Art
moment Augenblick, Moment
momentum Moment
monad Monade
motion Bewegung, Schwung, Schwankung
motive Beweggrund
motive force bewegende Kraft
movable float bewegliche Fläche
movement Regung
moving force bewegende Kraft
natural force Naturkraft

natural science Naturwissenschaft, Naturlehre
natural scientist Naturforscher
nature Natur
notion Notion
number Zahl
object Gegenstand, Vorwurf

objection Einwurf
oblique schräg
obstacle Hindernis
obvious scheinbar
occupy einnehmen
opinion Meinung
oppose entgegensetzen
orbiting Umwendung
767
order Ordnung
original material Urstoff
outline Entwurf
part Teil
particle Körperchen
penetrate durchdringen, eindringen
perfection Vollkommenheit
perpendicular perpendicular
perspective Aussicht
perturbed verwirrt
phenomena Auftritte
phenomenon Phänomen
philosopher Weltweiser
philosophy Weltweisheit
physical influence physischer Einfluß
physicist Naturlehrer
physics Naturlehre
place Ort, Stelle
plane Fläche
planetary structure Planetengebäude, planetisches Gebäude
planetary system planetarischer Weltbau, planetischer Weltbau,
planetisches System, Weltbau
planets Irrsterne
plausibility Scheinbarkeit
plethora Gewimmel
plumb-line Perpendikel
plurality Vielheit
position Lage, Position
pound Pfund
power (n.) Gewalt, Vermögen, Kraft, Potenz
power of rotation Kraft der Umwendung
pre-eminent vorzüglich
pre-established harmony vorherbestimmte Harmonie
premise Vordersatz
pressure Druck
primitive being Grundwesen
principle Grundsatz
procedure Verfahren
produce (v.) anbringen, hervorbringen
product Produkt
project (v.) Vorwurf
projectile geworfener Körper
proof Beweis, Erweis
property Eigenschaft
proposition Satz
propulsion Antrieb
768
quaking Bebung
qualification Einschränkung
quantity Quantität, Größe
raise heben
ray Strahl
react zurückwirken
reaction Gegenwirkung
real wirklich
reality Wirklichkeit
reason Vernunft, Grund
rebound Gegenstoß, Zurückstoßung
reciprocal gewechselt
recognize erkennen
rectangle rechtwinkliges Parallelogram
reduction Verminderung
reflection Erwägung, Repercutirung
region Gegend
relation Beziehung, Relation, Verhältnis
removal Aufhebung
repel zurücktreiben
repelling activity forttreibende Wirkung
representation Vorstellung
resistance Widerstand
rest Ruhe
result (v.) erfolgen
result (n.) Ergebnis
revolution Umwendung, Revolution
right richtig
rigidification Erstarrung
rock mountain Felsberg
root Wurzel
rotation Schwung
rotational balance Gleichgewicht des Umschwunges
rotational force Drehungsschwung, Umschwungskraft,
Umwendungskraft
rule (n.) Regel
satellite Trabant
scale Waagschale
scholastic Schullehrer
science Wissenschaft
sediment Schlamm
self-sufficient selbständig
semblance Schein
senses Sinne
separate sondern
769
separation Absonderung, Trennung, Scheidung

set Menge
shaking Schwankung
shift verrücken
shock Erschütterung
shooting force schießende Kraft
side Seite
simple einfach, schlecht, schlicht
sinking force Senkungskraft
snap open aufspringen
solar system Sonnenbau, Sonnenwelt, System der Sonne,
Weltgebäude, Weltsystem
solid fest
solidity Festigkeit
sophistry Spitzfindigkeit
space Raum
species Gattung
speed Schnelligkeit
sphere Kugel
spreading Verbreitung
spring Feder
square Quadrat
square of the square Quadratoquadrat
state Zustand
state of rest Ruhestand
steelyard Schnellwaage
store (n.) Vorrath
strength Stärke
strike Stoß, Anlauf
striving Bestrebung
structure Gebäude
structure of the universe Weltgebäude im Großen
subject matter Vorwurf
substance Substanz
sum Inbegriff, Menge
sum total aus dem ganzen Inbegriff
support Widerhalt
surface Oberfläche
system System, Lehrgebäude
tangential force Schwungskraft, Drehungsschwung, Schwung

tendency Tendenz
tense (v.) spannen
tensile force Spannungskraft
theorem Lehrsatz
theoretical mechanics abstrakte Mechanik
thinness Dünnigkeit
770
thought Gedanke
tighten spannen
time interval Zeit
touchstone Probierstein
transfer Mitteilung, Übertragung
understanding Verstand
unfolding Auswickelungen
uniform gleichförmig
unimpeded unverwirrt, unbegrenzt
union Vereinigung
universal matter Weltmaterie
universe Universum, Weltbau, Weltgebäude, Weltraum
velocity Geschwindigkeit, Schnelligkeit

vertical senkrecht
vibration Erschütterung
vivification Lebendigwerdung, Vivification
void Leere
volume Raumesinhalt
weight Gewicht
whirlpool Strudel
wilderness Einöde
work (v.) arbeiten
world constitution Weltverfassung
world structure Weltbau
world system Weltsystem
worldly matter Weltmaterie
zenith Scheitelpunkt
771
Index of names
Abraham, 504 Bernoulli, Johann III, 416, 518

Abubekr, 647, 648 Bernoulli, Nicolaus, 131
Addison, Joseph, 186, 712 Beroldingen, Franz Cölestin, Freiherr
Adickes, Erich, 435, 436, 438, 690, 702, von, 503, 733
704, 706, 717, 723 Bertuch, Friedrich Justin, 467, 491, 727
Aelianus, Claudius, the Sophist, 584, Biester, Johann Erich, 418
743 Bilfinger, Georg Bernhard, 71–6, 87–9,
Aepinus, Franz Ulrich Theodosius, 418, 691, 695, 698
420, 720 Binet, Isidore, 373, 717
Aeschylus, 609 Bode, Johann Ebert, 453, 465, 467, 498,
Aischa (wife of Mohammed; daughter of 727
Abubekr), 648 Boerhaave, Hermann, 178, 320, 706
Albuquerque, Alfonso de, 664, 749 Bohlius, Johann, 12, 684
Alexander the Great, 297, 666 Bosman, Willem, 662
Ali (son-in-law of Mohammed), 647, Bouguer, Pierre, 328, 352, 355, 357,
648 365, 369, 436, 499, 520, 715
Amontons, Guillaume, 320, 321, 713 Boyle, Robert, 359, 361, 520, 715
Anson, George (Baron of Soberton), Bradley, James, 183, 202, 219, 256, 401,
488, 671, 730, 748 707, 719
Appius, 536 Breislak, Scipione, 535, 739
Aristotle, 5, 22, 436, 491, 497, 688, 695, Breitenbauch, Georg August von, 452,
731 724
Augustus (Caesar), 558 Brocke, Barthold Heinrich, 270, 708
Aurangzeb (Mogul Emperor), 638, 748 Brodrick, Thomas, 485, 730
Avicenna (Ibn Sina), 646, 748 Browne, William George, 507, 735
Bruce, James, 507, 735
Baldwin (Balduinus), Christianus Bruns, Paul Jakob, 508, 736
Adolphus, 626, 747 Buache, Philippe, 508, 514, 516, 737
Balfour, Francis, 727 Buffon, George Louis Leclerc, Comte
Barrow, Sir John, 508, 736 de, 183, 207, 238, 290, 346, 350,
Baumeister, Friedrich Christian, 393, 356, 388, 392, 423, 424, 425, 436,
408, 719 492, 564, 710
Baumgarten, Alexander Gottlieb, 385, Büsching, Anton Friedrich, 436, 724
393, 718 Burnet, Thomas, 392, 563, 719, 741
Beccaria, Giovanni Battista, 420, 421,
422, 720 Caesar, Julius, 558
Bergman, Torbern Olof, 481, 729 Canzler, Ferdinand Gottlieb, 724
Bering, Vitus Jonassen, 653, 730, 743, Carré, Louis, 334, 714
749 Cassini, Jaques (Cassini II), 520, 737
Bernoulli, Daniel, 20, 498 Catelan, François de, 89, 696, 702
Bernoulli, Johann, 6, 14, 20, 53–5, 66, Celsius, Anders, 560, 741
81–2, 90, 112, 116–18, 120, Charlemagne, 624
129–31, 414 Charles V, 674
772
Index of names
Charpentier, Johann Friedrich Wilhelm Francis I (Holy Roman Emperor),

Toussaint von, 503, 733 626
Chastelet (Gabrielle Émelie, Marquise Franklin, Benjamin, 373, 717
du Châtelet), 6, 44, 53, 62–3, 83, Frederick II of Prussia, 182, 409
108–9, 112, 113–16, 701 Frisi, Paolo, 156
Christ, 633, 638, 646, 648, 658
Clavius, Cristopher, 421 Gabriel (Angel), 647
Cola Pesce, 494, 731 Galen, 646
Confucius (Kung Fu-Tzu), 633, 748 Galilei, Galileo, 2, 699
Copronymus, Constantine, 558 Gaspari, Adam Christian, 457, 467, 491,
Crawford, Adair, 418, 424, 721 508
Crome, August Friedrich Wilhelm, 724 Gassendi, Pierre, 365, 371, 717
Gatterer, Johann Christof, 516, 737
D’Alembert, Jean Le Rond, 3, 698 Gautier, Jacques, 362, 716
D’Anville, Jean-Baptiste Bourguigon, Gedan, Paul, 436
723 Gehler, Johann Samuel Traugott, 457,
Dalrymple, Alexander, 512, 737 469, 477, 480, 484, 491, 495, 498,
Dampier, William, 362, 473, 642, 716 520, 725
De la Hire, Gabriel-Philippe, 316, 520, Gellert, Christian Fürchtegott, 204, 708
713, 737 Genghis Khan, 577, 743
De la Lande, Joseph Jérome Lefrançais, Gensichen, Johann Friedrich, 186
726 Gentil, Labarbinais le, 331, 350, 356,
De Quincey, Thomas, 165 714
Democritus, 198 Georgi, Johann Gottlieb, 481, 507, 729
Derham, William, 203, 709 Gerstner, Franz Joseph von, 521, 738
Descartes, René du Perron, 1–5, 6, 20, Gilbert, Ludwig Wilhelm, 499, 732
34, 36, 38, 41–2, 44, 55, 61, 71, 74, Girtanner, Christoph, 469, 508, 727
82, 83, 90, 92, 99, 103, 105, 128, Glauber, Johann Rudolf, 484, 730
145, 147, 150, 151, 183, 199, 309, Gmelin, Johann Georg, 485, 487, 649,
312, 400, 541, 542 650, 652, 670, 730
Digby, Kenelm, 368, 716 Gottsched, Johann Christoph, 103, 273,
Dorn, Martin Eberhard, 11 703
Dousa, Janus (Johan van der Does), 609, Gren, Friedrich Albrecht Carl, 469,
745 480, 499, 728
Driest, Johann Friedrich, 186 Grimm, Johann Karl Philipp, 469, 728
Guettard, Jean-Étienne, 740
Ebeling, Christof Daniel, 724
Ellis, Henry, 674, 678, 750 Hales, Stephen, 178, 276, 323, 324, 360,
Epicure (Epicurus), 194, 198, 706 706, 712
Euler, Leonhard, 4, 310, 319, 498, 499, Haller, Albrecht von, 186, 267, 273,
713, 732 306, 708, 711
Halley, Sir Edmund, 483, 520, 541, 729
Fabri, Johann Ernst Ehregott, 449, 481, Ham (son of Noah), 574
498, 512, 516, 725 Hamberger, Georg Erhard, 29, 57, 58,
Fatima (daughter of Mohammed), 328, 694
648 Hamilton, Sir William, 420, 535
Flamsteed, John, 202 Harding (translator of Herschel), 499
Fontenelle, Bernard le Bovier de, 168, Hartmann, Johann Melchior, 507, 508,
169, 705 735
Forster, Georg, 535, 739 Hartsoeker, Nicholas, 176
Forster, Johann Reinhold, 470, 728 Hartung, Johann Heinrich, 337
773
Index of names
Hastie, William, 187 144–55, 327, 392, 396, 405, 564,

Hector, 90 685, 686, 687, 688, 689, 690, 694,
Herodotus, 173, 436, 664 695, 696, 697, 699, 742
Herrmann, J., 6, 14, 20, 42, 43, 44, 47, Lessing, Gotthold Ephraim, 4
49–52, 82, 90, 120, 131 Leucippus, 198
Herschel, Sir Frederick William, 183, Lichtscheid, Ferdinand, 6, 45, 46,
187, 418, 420, 421, 422, 424, 465, 701
498, 523, 720, 726 Lind, James, 485
Hevelius, Johannes, 203 Linnaeus, Carolus (Carl von Linné),
Hildebrand, Georg Friedrich, 469, 523 xvii, 392, 448, 485, 522, 564, 719,
Holstein, Friedrich Karl Ludwig von, 723
435 List(er), Martin, 369, 716
Hooke, Robert, 420, 721 Lucretius, 198, 282
Hornemann, Friedrich Konrad, 508, Ludolph, Hiob, 575, 604, 664, 742,
735 749
Horrebow, Peter, 520, 737 Ludwig, Christian Friedrich, 724
Hube, Johann Michael, 469, 728 Lulof, Johann, 350, 388, 429, 718
Hübner, Johann, 341, 715
Humboldt, Alexander von, 508, 673, Macartney, George (Earl), 507, 633,
736 734
Huygens, Christian, 48, 215, 219, 251, MacLaurin, Colin, 498, 732
253, 425, 708 Magellan, Ferdinand, 568, 742
Magellan, Jean-Hyacinthe, 420, 720
Jaki, Stanley, 187 Mairan, Jean Jacques d’ Ortus de, 44,
John the Baptist, 664 53, 62, 82, 83, 87, 113–16, 259,
Johnston, Ian, 187 700, 701, 711
Jones, Sir William, 727 Mallet, Friedrich, 436, 467, 726
Jurin, James, 6, 53, 107, 108, 109, 110, Mannert, Konrad, 723
114, 122, 136, 144, 377, 381, 701 Maraldi, Giacomo Filippo, 325, 714
Mariotte, Edme, 325, 352, 378, 384,
Kepler, Johannes, 212, 692 518, 520, 541, 705
Keyssler, Johann Georg, 602, 614, 745 Marsigli (or Marsili), Luigi Ferdinando,
Khadija (wife of Mohammed), 647, 648 346, 436, 485, 715
Kindermann, Eberhard Christian, 368 Maupertuis, Pierre Louis, 183, 707
Kircher, Athanasius, 494, 618, 746 Mayer, H. R., 498
Knutzen, Martin, 4, 309, 386, 685, 690 Meier, George Friedrich, 393, 408,
Kolb (Kolbe or Kolben), Peter, 394, 719
549, 575, 592, 719, 741 Mentelle, Edme, 724
Merou, Jean-Jacques d’Ortous de
Lambert, Johann Heinrich, 187, 414, Mairan, 528
415–17, 499, 709 Mitterpacher, Ludwig, 503, 733
Langhanns, Daniel, 525, 738 Mohammed, 646, 647
Laplace, Pierre-Simon de, 187 Monge, Gaspard, 491, 731
Lavoisier, Antoine-Laurent, xvii, 469 Monnier, Pierre Charles le, 320,
Le Maire, Jacques Joseph, 611, 745 713
Le Vaillant, François, 508, 576, 654, 735 Montesquieu (Secondat), Jean Baptiste
Leibniz, Gottfried Wilhelm, 1–3, 5–7, de, 576, 743
14, 16, 17, 19, 20, 22–3, 27, 34–8, Moro, Antoine Lazzaro, 436, 559, 563,
41, 42, 44–5, 46–9, 53, 54, 55–61, 741
63–8, 71, 76–84, 89–96, 98–9, Moses, 258, 535, 647
103–5, 106, 107–8, 110, 111–12, Muschenbroek, Petrus van, 394, 486,
113, 116, 120, 128, 131, 133, 139, 490, 730
774
Index of names
Nebuchadnezar, 638 Rennell, James, 508, 736

Newton, Sir Isaac, 3, 14, 55, 134, 141, Riccioli, Giovanni Battista, 151, 708
161, 183, 184, 201, 207, 208, 217, Richter, Georg Friedrich, 6, 109–10,
226, 233, 235, 236, 237, 252, 253, 144, 703
269, 286, 288, 289, 300, 301, 310, Rin(c)k, Friedrich Theodor, 434, 435,
319, 321, 368, 370, 371, 396, 403, 436, 437, 444, 723
453, 454, 478, 495, 496, 498, 529,
724 s’Gravesande, Willem Jacob, 20, 151,
Niebuhr, Carsten, 507, 734 687
Noah, 563, 660 Salmon (Salomon), Thomas, 646, 748
Norden, Friedrich Ludwig (or Sannacherib, 551
Frederick Lewis), 507, 735 Saussure, Horace Bénédict de, 520,
738
Oriani, Barnabe, 726 Schelling, Friedrich Willhelm Joseph
Osman, 647 von, 461, 523, 738
Otto, Johann Friedrich Wilhelm, 469, Scheuchzer, Johann Jacob, 343, 520,
481, 491, 728 562, 715
Ovid (Publius Naso Ovidius), 106, 436, Secondat, Jean-Baptiste, Baron de, 321,
491, 731 713
Seneca, 14, 685
Pallas, Peter Simon, 420, 507, 720 Sievers, Johann August Carl, 507, 734
Papin, Denis, 94, 95, 96, 98, 100, 702 Silberschlag, Johann Esaias, 409, 412
Park, Mungo, 508, 735, 736 Sonnini de Manoncourt,
Pascal, Blaise, 520, 737 Charles-Nicholas-Sigisbert, 507,
Paulus, Heinrich Eberhard Gottlob, 735
452, 724 Sprengel, Matthias Christian, 508, 736
Peiresc(ius), Nicolas-Claude Fabri de, Stark, Werner, 435, 438, 723
371, 717 Steinwehr, Wolf Balthasar Adolph von,
Perrault, Pierre (Peravet), 521, 738 178, 256
Peter I, 653, 705 Steller, Georg Wilhelm, 583, 743
Petersen, Johann Friedrich, 182 Sulla, 536
Piazzi, Giuseppe, 726 Symes, Michael, 507, 733
Pliny the Elder (Gaius Plinius
Secundus), 436, 491, 533, 536, 575, Thales of Miletus, 468, 727
731 Thevenot, Jean de, 654, 749
Plutarch, 497, 731 Timoleon, 14, 685
Poleni, Giovanni, 20, 151, 687 Toaldo, Guiseppe, 431, 722
Poll, 372 Torre, Giovanni Maria della, 421, 721
Pontoppidan, Erik, 600 Tournefort, Joseph Pitton de, 604, 653,
Pope, Alexander, 186, 211, 225, 270, 738, 745
294, 301, 306, 568, 708 Trajan, 626
Pound, James, 253, 711 Turner, Samuel, 507, 733
Profe, Godfredus, 365, 368, 716 Tycho, 202
Pytheas of Massalia (Marseilles), 497,
731 Ulloa, Y de la Torre Giral, Antonio de
(Don Antonio de Ulloa), 420, 421,
Raleigh, Sir Walter, 672, 750 557, 576, 721
Ray, John, 350, 715
Redern (Roden), Sigismund Ehrenreich Vallemont, Abbé de (Pierre Le Lorrain
von, 505, 733 de Vallemont), 368, 716
Reineggs, Jacob, 507, 511, 621, 734 Varenius, Bernhardus, 350, 377, 388,
Remus, 400, 719 436, 543, 701
775
Index of names
Venturi, Giovani Battista, 614, 746 Whiston, William, 183, 368, 392, 564,
Vespasian, 533 716
Virgil, 90, 98 Wilhelm, Johann Jakob, 434
Vitruvius, Pollio, 746 Williams, David, 431, 722
Voigt, Johann Carl Wilhelm, 503, 732 Wilson, Alexander, 425, 721
Voigt, Johann Heinrich, 467, 727 Winkler, Johann Heinrich, 328
Vollmer, Gottfried, 434, 442, 443, 722 Wolff, Christian Freiherr von, xiv, 5, 6,
Volney, Constantin François 14, 31, 48, 81, 90, 99–103, 118–20,
Chasseboeuf, Comte de, 507, 328, 374, 400, 408, 689, 691, 692,
735 693, 694
Voltaire (François-Marie Arouet), 327, Woodward, John, 392, 436, 563, 719,
714, 741 741
Wren, Christopher, 48, 692, 701
Wahl, Samuel Friedrich Günther, 507, Wright, Thomas (of Durham), 183,
734 201, 202, 215, 278, 707
Walch, Johann Ernst Immanuel, 467,
726 Zach, Franz Xaver von, 457, 467, 491,
Wallerius, Johann Gottschalk, 175, 508, 509, 535, 725
705 Zimmerman, Eberhardt August
Wallis, John, 48, 701 Wilhelm von, 573, 742
Weitenkampf, Johann Friedrich, 263, Zoroaster, 645
711 Zweig, Arnulf, 414
776
Index of places
Aachen, 524 Aquapendente, 350

Aare River, 516 Arabia, 382, 395, 507, 509, 541, 543,
Abo, 344 548, 549, 550, 551, 557, 612, 614,
Abyssinia, 507, 543, 575, 581, 663–5 646–8
Acapulco, 395 Arabia Felix, 503, 546
Adam’s Peak, 643 Arabian Ocean, 382
Adda, 662 Arabian Peninsula, 471
Adriatic Gulf, 493 Arabian Sea (Red Sea), 394, 471, 472,
Adriatic Sea, 470, 471, 516, 602, 627 555
Africa, 162, 345, 349, 352, 354, 437, Arakan, 578, 579, 637, 638
470, 471, 472, 473, 479, 504, 505, Aral Sea, 503
507, 508, 509, 511, 514, 554, 572, Archangel, 471, 481
573, 574, 578, 582, 583, 586, 591, Archipelagus, 512, 555
593, 596, 603, 604, 609, 613, 615, Arctic Circle, 358, 529
616, 619, 645, 654–65 Arctic Ocean, 389, 451, 452, 470, 471,
Agnano Sea, 667 484, 499, 501, 502, 506, 515, 544,
Aleppo, 609, 653 595, 653, 678–9
Alexandria, 663, 666 Armenia, 653, 666, 734, 743, 749
Algier (Algieria), 508 Ascension, 538, 553
Almada, 620 Aschersleben, 409
Alps, 350, 351, 352, 514, 515, 516, 548, Asia, 162, 437, 470, 471, 472, 473, 503,
583, 588, 666, 667, 679 504, 506, 507, 509, 511, 514, 515,
Alsace, 351 516, 558, 572, 582, 584, 586, 591,
Amazon River, 391, 543, 544, 545, 546, 619, 629–53
559, 568, 578, 605, 613, 672 Asia Minor, 354, 558
Amboina, 341, 639 Asphalt Lake, 481
Ambon, 614 Assam, 637, 638
America (see also North America and Astrakhan, 511, 618, 651
South America), 162, 352, 357, Atjeh, 641
395, 437, 470, 471, 472, 473, 478, Atlantic Ocean, 362, 386, 395, 473, 478,
493, 501, 504, 505, 506, 508, 509, 487, 509, 516, 551
511, 514, 515, 534, 554, 573, 576, Atlantis, 508
578, 580, 584, 588, 592, 595, 596, Augsburg, 359, 549
605, 607, 614, 617, 618, 653, 678–9 Australia (see New Holland)
Anatolia, 582 Ava, 507, 636
Andalusia, 609, 615, 669 Axim, 661
Andaman, 642 Azores Islands, 351, 354, 548, 563
Angola, 573, 575, 657, 658
Angoulême, 345 Baffin Island, 472
Antarctic Ocean, 501 Baghdad, 542, 621
Antilles Islands, 536, 595 Bahama Islands, 494
Antiparos, 528 Bahama Strait, 472
Apennine Mountains, 516, 666 Baku, 621
Apulia, 604, 668 Balch, 651
777
Index of places
Bali, 642 Cadiz, 484

Baltic Sea, 471 Cairo, 662, 663
Banda, 341, 614, 639 Calabria, 494, 613, 668
Bantam, 641 Calais, 335
Barantola, 632, 652 California, 471, 476, 478, 508, 601
Barbary, 573, 580, 582 Cambodia, 471
Barca, 508 Canada, 578, 594, 675, 676
Barsalli, 659 Canary Islands, 658
Basra, 601 Candia, 617
Batavia, 641 Canton, 629
Baumann Cave, 527, 528 Canton of Berne, 562
Bavaria, 332, 350, 352 Cape Blanco, 507
Bay of Bengal, 471, 555, 640 Cape Comorin, 601
Bay of Biscay, 471, 488 Cape Faro, 494
Bay of Bombay, 638 Cape Finistère, 334, 346
Bay of Campeche, 471 Cape Negro, 573
Bengal, 429, 471, 510, 555, 575, 603, Cape Nun, 507
639, 640, 645 Cape of Good Hope, 394, 458, 479,
Benguela, 507, 657, 658 654–5
Bergen, 601 Cape St Vincent, 334, 346
Berlin, 4, 156, 245, 409, 412, 416, Cape Verde Islands, 478, 569
420 Capri, 609
Bernina (mountain range), 525 Carolina, 676
Bessarabia, 510 Carpathian Mountains, 527, 529
Black Forest, 516, 585 Cartagena, 558, 576, 605, 672
Black Sea, 472, 477, 493, 494, 546, 558 Carthage, 666
Blocksberg (Brocken), 368, 541 Caspian Sea, 480, 485, 487, 503, 544,
Bochnia, 483 651
Boeotia, 494 Catania, 535
Bogota, 546 Caucasus, 515, 516, 519, 537
Bohemia, 344, 421, 514 Celebes, 472, 640
Bohemian Forest, 516 Ceres, 726
Bolderborn, 542 Cevennes (mountain range), 516
Bologna, 175, 667 Ceylon, 476, 560, 601, 613, 614, 615,
Bordeaux, 320, 321 643
Borneo, 472, 511, 576, 593, 613, 615, Chaldaea, 549
640 Champagne, 617, 618, 668
Bosphorus, 493 Chamsin, 551, 662
Brabant, 351 Charybdis, 494, 668
Brandenburg, 344 Chile, 331, 341, 554, 580, 609, 671
Brazil, 362, 502, 554, 568, 618, 624, Chimborazo (mountain), 453
669, 673 China, 382, 452, 479, 507, 509, 558,
Breisach, 585 577, 579, 583, 585, 594, 600, 608,
Bristol, 496 611, 615, 616, 619, 629–34, 635,
Brittany, 560 652, 676
Buenos Aires, 674 China Sea, 552, 553, 652
Bukhara Chinese Tartary, 546, 616, 631
Greater, 651 Chios, 613
Lesser, 503, 509 Chukotsky, 676
Town of, 651 Circassia, 572, 608, 648
Bulgaria, 665 Clermont, 669
Buru, 585 Cleve, 351
778
Index of places
Coblenz, 547 England, 333, 341, 350, 352, 371, 472,

Cochinchina, 632 474, 484, 508, 526, 554, 558, 560,
Cologne, 351, 534 562, 582, 591, 609, 619, 621, 622,
Comorin, 638 668
Congo, 573, 575, 593, 605, 657, 658 Epirus, 666
Copenhagen, 602 Equator, 162, 247, 342, 377, 378, 379,
Cordillera Mountains, 357, 534, 543, 380, 381, 382, 383, 395, 454, 455,
554 456, 458, 459, 460, 461, 462, 463,
Cork, 345, 349 481, 548, 554, 555, 556, 557, 564,
Cornwall, 621 565, 566, 633, 660
Coromandel Coast, 474, 558, 575 Erserum, 653
Cracow, 622 Erz Mountains, 516
Cremnitz, 666 Estrella Mountains, 669
Crete, 528, 549, 659, 666 Ethiopia, 378, 573, 599, 663, 664
Crimean, 511 Ethiopian Ocean, 377, 552
Cuba, 472, 511 Etsch, 516
Czemnitz, 666 Euboea, 497
Euripus, 494, 497, 665
Dalland, 564 Europe, 20, 327, 331, 336, 347, 349,
Damascus, 666 350, 351, 352, 353, 358, 435, 437,
Damietta, 559, 662 451, 470, 471, 473, 474, 478, 503,
Danube River, 511, 544, 546, 665, 666 505, 507, 511, 513, 514, 515, 516,
Danzig, 540 520, 534, 547, 553, 558, 574, 584,
Dardanelles, 472 585, 588, 594, 616, 622, 629, 639,
Davis Straits, 472, 499, 501, 577, 597 656, 665–71, 674, 676
Dead Sea, 480, 481, 485, 497, 621, 653
Del Fuego (see Tierra del Fuego) Faeroe Islands, 670
Della Grotta, 350 Faizza, 549
Denmark, 505, 581 Falkland Islands, 501
Derbent, 621 Falun, 619
Desert of Kerman, 452, 551 Ferro, 459
Dimon, 670 Fez, 345, 348
Dnepr River, 511, 516 Fichtel Mountains, 516
Dnestr River, 511 Fingal’s Cave, 528
Dogger Bank, 474, 513 Finland, 344, 347
Dogs’ Grotto, 528 Flanders, 562
Dollart, 560 Flores Meridian, 459
Domingo (Santo Domingo), 511, 677 Florida, 471, 472, 494, 502, 613, 677
Dominique, 677 Formosa, 576, 588
Don River, 511, 515, 516 France, 332, 345, 348, 350, 371, 378,
Dresden, 618 471, 472, 484, 493, 497, 542, 545,
Duchy of Carniola, 348 558, 560, 561, 582, 609, 624, 662,
666, 668–9
East Indies, 491, 553, 577, 586, 589, Frankfurt, 604
596, 603, 604, 605, 613, 614, 615, Free Tartary, 503
673 Friesland, 560, 562, 566
Egypt, 172, 173, 378, 504, 546, 548, Friuli, 620
551, 557, 559, 582, 622, 662–3 Fua, 559
Elbe River, 344, 514 Funen, 472
Elbing, 413
Eldorado, 673 Gabon River, 578, 662
Elephant River, 507 Galicia, 483
779
Index of places
Gambia, 573 Gulf of Panama, 471

Gambia River, 595, 659–62 Gulf of Penshinski, 471
Ganges River, 471, 544, 547, 558, 559, Gulf of Siam, 471
623, 638 Gulf of Sidra, 471
Genoa, 484 Gulf of Venice, 176
George Island, 506 Guyana, 672
Georgia, 572, 648, 653, 676
Gerdauen, 512 Haarlem, 609
Germany, 17, 120, 172, 332, 333, 347, Haemus (mountain range), 516
371, 412, 436, 516, 542, 558, 572, Halle, 409, 484
604, 627, 668, 690, 709 Hamburg, 186, 388, 497
Gertuidenberg, 609 Hanover, 371
Ghats Mountains, 558, 638 Harz Mountains, 516, 528
Gibraltar, 349, 470, 471, 486, 492, 493, Helgoland, 512
500 Herculaneum, 533, 534, 535
Gihon River, 544 Hertford, 350
Glowson, 350 Hessen, 534
Glückstadt, 333 Hierro, 658
Gobi Desert, 509, 651 Hindustan, 382, 504, 638–9
Gold Coast, 547, 573, 660, 662 Hispaniola, 613, 615, 672
Golfo di Genua, 471 Holland, 333, 520, 560, 581
Golfo di Venezia, 471 Hormoz, 645
Golkonda, 623 Hotomni River, 546
Gothenburg, 601 Hudson Bay, 471, 501, 506, 594, 674,
Gothic Elbe, 669 678
Gotland, 560, 564 Hudson Straits, 678, 679
Gozzo, 549 Hungary, 542, 582, 618, 619, 666
Great Bank, 600 Husum, 333
Great Britain, 511 Hwang Ho (Yellow River), 544
Great Wall of China, 629
Greece, 516, 582, 663, 665–6 Iceland, 330, 332, 336, 341, 502, 512,
Green Foothills, 659 534, 542, 670
Greenland, 472, 494, 502, 505, 508 Idria, 620
Greenwich Meridian, 459 Imeretia, 648, 653
Greta, 546 India, 507, 508, 579, 603, 606, 610, 612,
Guadiana, 546 615, 616, 617, 623, 634, 638, 643,
Guanabalika, 542 644, 653, 660, 676
Guinea, 377, 491, 507, 547, 551, 554, Indian Ocean, 341, 382, 394, 395, 472,
557, 558, 575, 576, 577, 579, 582, 553, 554, 599
590, 597, 604, 605, 608, 615, 618, Indus, 547
620, 659–62 Ireland, 345, 349, 362, 472, 502, 511,
Gulf of Benin, 661 542, 549, 582
Gulf of Bothnia, 175, 471 Isfahan, 452
Gulf of California, 471 Italy, 177, 331, 332, 341, 343, 350, 352,
Gulf of Carpenteria, 471 354, 362, 453, 470, 516, 528, 537,
Gulf of Darien, 471 542, 545, 606, 609, 614, 621, 626,
Gulf of Finland, 471, 515 663, 666–8
Gulf of Gabes, 471
Gulf of Guinea, 471 Jam Mountains, 652
Gulf of Honduras, 471 Japan, 382, 452, 507, 508, 542, 613, 619
Gulf of Mexico, 394, 471, 494, 502, 552, Japanese Seas, 382
554, 555, 626, 672 Java, 472, 593, 615, 641, 642
780
Index of places
Jefata, 661 Lombardy, 343

Jordan River, 481 London, 256, 369, 497, 508, 520, 592
Jura Mountains, 516 Lorraine, 351
Jutland, 474 Louisiana, 502
Jutland Peninsula, 472 Lucerne Valley, 667
Kalmuck, 507, 509, 614 Macassar, 640

Kamchatka, 471, 502, 506, 583, 594, Macau, 568
595, 597, 650, 653, 676 Macedonia, 665, 666
Kandahar, 452, 509 Madagascar, 383, 472, 511, 618,
Karakorum, 651 657
Karlsbad, 542 Madeira, 617, 659
Kashmir, 435, 572, 639 Madrid, 344
Kastanea, 666 Maelstrom (Moskestream), 494
Kattegat, 493 Magdeburg, 371, 409, 412
Katwijk, 546 Magellan Land, 671
Kharasm, 651 Main River, 547
Kiev, 671 Mainz, 547
Kurile Islands, 597 Malabar, 479, 558, 617, 633, 638
Kurland, 489 Malacca, 471, 619, 634
Malacca Peninsula, 634
Labrador, 472 Malaga, 352
Labyrinth, 528, 666 Maldives, 513, 644
Ladrones Islands, 563, 610 Male, 513
Lake Aral, 544 Malta, 549, 626, 668
Lake Como, 348 Malvinas (see Falkland Islands)
Lake Constance, 546 Manila, 395, 568
Lake Drausen, 179 Mar del Nord, 478
Lake Erie, 676 Martin’s Cave, 527
Lake Geneva, 546 Martinique, 531, 614
Lake Meiningen, 348 Maryland, 676
Lake Ontario, 676 Matamba, 658
Lake Ralangen, 512 Mecca, 504, 612, 646, 647, 648
Lake Zirknitz, 348 Mecklenburg, 345
Languedoc, 668 Media, 666
Lapland, 452, 558, 582, 605, 667, 669, Medina, 504, 646, 647, 648
678 Mediterranean, 344, 346, 350, 354, 356,
Le Maire Straits, 671 389, 470, 471, 472, 480, 481, 486,
Lebanon, 99, 168, 627, 653 487, 491, 492, 493, 512, 516, 601,
Leipzig, 412 609
Lemnos, 626, 665 Meiningen (see also Lake Meiningen),
Levant, 471, 493, 614 344, 348
Leyden, 546, 609 Meliapur, 575
Libyan Desert, 581 Menam River, 634
Liegnitz, 626 Messina, 494, 525, 668
Lilienthal, 722 Mexico, 476, 611, 612, 616
Lima, 357, 557 Milan, 345, 347
Lisbon, 327, 330, 331, 333, 337, 338, Milos (Melus), 665
344, 345, 349, 350, 353, 365, 531, Mindanao, 394
532 Mingrelia, 572, 648, 653
Lithuania, 528 Mississippi River, 391, 544, 559,
Loire, 543 676
781
Index of places
Mitau, 413 Nile River, 172, 391, 448, 487, 493,

Mocha, 646 544, 546, 547, 559, 662, 663
Modena, 562, 563, 609, 667 Normandy, 668
Moluccan Islands, 479, 585, 610, 614, North America, 351, 435, 472, 508,
639 515, 546, 558, 673, 678–9
Mongolia, 509, 544, 572 North Cape, 558, 596, 601
Monomotapa, 507, 657, 677 North Pole, 358, 383, 461, 462, 499,
Montefiascone, 667 555
Moravia, 421 North Sea, 175, 335, 345, 347, 351,
Moravian Mountains, 516 394, 492
Morea, 516, 665 Norway, 335, 344, 347, 474, 494, 502,
Morocco, 508, 509 505, 516, 558, 593, 600, 670
Moscow, 459 Novaya Zemlya, 501, 506, 510, 678,
Moselle, 547 679
Mt. Athos, 665 Nubia, 507, 663
Mt. Cenis, 667 Numidia, 666
Mt. Cotopaxi, 534
Mt. Etna, 372, 525, 532, 533, 534, Ob River, 544
537 Ochakovian Steppe, 511
Mt. Hekla, 534 Ophir, 508
Mt. Ida, 666 Orinoco River, 672
Mt. Parnassus, 15 Orkney Islands, 601
Mt. Pic du Midi, 320 Orléans, 668
Mt. Pilatus (Mons Pileatus), 526,
527 Pacific Ocean, 384, 394, 395, 487, 493,
Mt. Roche Melon, 667 543, 551, 557, 742
Mt. Vesuvius, 333, 345, 353, 532, 533, Pactolus River, 547
534, 535, 667 Palembang, 641
Musquat, 646 Palermo, 603
Palma, 610, 658
Nanking, 629 Panama, 394, 471, 487, 548, 554, 672
Naples, 333, 345, 359, 373, 528, 533, Panamanian Peninsula, 605
536, 558, 609, 617, 667 Pangaeus, 516
Natal, 507, 656 Paraguay, 671, 673, 674
Neckar, 547 Paris, 316, 320, 347, 402, 473, 516, 529,
Negroponte, 494, 665 543, 668, 678
Nerchinsk, 650 Parnassus (see Mt. Parnassus)
Netherlands, 351, 371, 394 Patagonia, 472, 575
Neuchâtel, 344, 348 Pegu, 636–7
Neusohl (Besterczo), 542, 619 Peking, 629, 631, 632
New Britain, 471 Pennsylvania, 676
New Cartagena, 551 Persia, 382, 395, 452, 471, 507, 509,
New Guinea, 473, 572 546, 548, 549, 550, 551, 558, 581,
New Holland (Australia), 383, 470, 473, 583, 617, 621, 638, 645–6, 647,
505, 575, 578, 642 650, 664, 666
New Mexico, 471 Persian Gulf, 471, 472, 551, 601, 645,
New Spain, 589, 601, 603 646
Newcastle, 622 Persian Ocean, 382
Niagara River, 546 Peru, 331, 341, 352, 354, 357, 360, 362,
Nicobar Islands, 590, 642 363, 369, 505, 509, 516, 522, 535,
Niger River, 504, 544, 546 542, 543, 554, 557, 563, 616, 618,
Nigritia, 509 671, 672, 673
782
Index of places
Philadelphia, 460 Salzburg, 575, 583

Philippine Islands, 506, 551, 555 Samarkand, 651
Picardy, 351, 668 Samiel, 551
Pico Mountain, 519, 525, 659 Sandwich Islands, 597
Piemont (Piedmont), 667 Santorini, 354, 666
Piemontese Mountains, 667 Saratov, 481
Plate River, 480, 546 Sargasso Sea, 494
Po River, 545, 560 Savoy, 667
Poland, 371, 475, 526, 531, 582, 593, Savoy Mountains, 667
609, 619 Saxony, 172, 362, 456, 542
Polar Circles, 462, 463, 555 Schaffhausen, 545
Pompeii, 533 Schleswig-Holstein, 333
Pontus, 666 Scotland, 497, 502, 517, 528, 601,
Popayan, 672 602
Porto Bello, 549, 608 Sczelicza Cave, 529
Portugal, 327, 333, 334, 345, 346, 349, Sea of Azov, 472
351, 352, 354, 362, 568, 636, 664, Sea of Japan, 552
669 Sea of Marmora, 472
Potosi, 619, 671 Sea of Paderborn, 542
Potsdam, 412 Seine River, 347, 543
Pregel River, 401 Senegal, 575, 612, 619, 677
Preussisch-Holland, 179 Senegal River, 544, 546, 573, 582, 659,
Providence Straits, 473 665
Prussia, 172, 177, 179, 332, 409, 436, Senegambia, 509
475, 489, 500, 512, 531, 532, 540, Serbia, 626, 665
560, 582, 610 Sessa, 536
Pyrenees, 515, 516 Setubal, 349
Seville, 615
Quaqua Coast, 660 Sewo Mountains, 516
Quebec, 676 Shiraz, 645
Quito, 522, 557 Siam, 471, 549, 561, 578, 579, 613,
634–6
Ravenna, 175 Siberia, 501, 502, 529, 558, 562,
Red Sea (see also Arabian Sea), 176, 471, 577, 582, 648–50, 674, 676,
472, 477, 487, 513, 553, 646, 657, 678
663 Sicily, 373, 494, 512, 525, 668
Regensburg, 433 Sierra Leone, 552, 575, 660, 661, 677
Reggio, 603 Silver River, 671
Reichenau, 624 Sin Desert, 647
Rhine River, 172, 176, 332, 351, 516, Slains, 528
524, 534, 544, 545, 546, 547, 558, Smyrna, 356
561, 585, 617 Sofala Coast, 656
Rhodope (mountain range), 516 Solfatara, 622, 667
Roche-Monsina, 536 Solomon Islands, 506
Rome, 625 Solor, 643
Rosetta, 559, 662 South America, 362, 472, 508, 543, 546,
Roussillon, 352 613, 619, 671–4
Russia, 452, 471, 481, 506, 507, 515, South Pole, 383, 458, 460, 462, 499,
516, 589, 670–1 554, 555, 556, 559
South Sea, 512
Sahara Desert, 509, 514 Southern Ocean, 383, 391, 473, 551,
Saint Lawrence River, 544 559
783
Index of places
Spain, 334, 346, 349, 350, 352, 354, 471, Tartar Mountains, 638
493, 577, 582, 588, 614, 620, 669 Tartary (see also Chinese Tartary and
Spitsbergen, 502, 506, 510, 525, 593, Free Tartary), 471, 614, 646, 648,
596, 597, 678 649, 664, 665
Spoleto, 626 Temperate Zone, 174, 378, 381, 463,
St. Christopher (St. Kitts), 677 489, 521, 534, 548, 572, 576, 577,
St. George’s Channel, 472 678
St. Helena, 553 Templin, 335, 344, 345
St. Mark’s Square, 175 Tenerife, 609, 659, 663
St. Michael, 354 Ternate, 639
St. Thomas, 611 Terreneuve, 513, 600
St. Vincent, 677 Thames, 547
Staaten Island (Statenland), 473, 671 The Great Belt (Strait), 472
Stabiä, 533, 536 The Little Belt (Strait), 472
Staffa, 528 The Sound, 472, 492
Strait of Mozambique, 472 Thebes, 172
Straits of Babelmandab, 472 Thrace, 493
Straits of Caffa, 472 Thuringian Forest (mountain range),
Straits of Calais, 560 516
Straits of Constantinople, 472, 481 Tiber River, 558
Straits of Macassar, 472 Tibet, 504, 507, 509, 514, 622, 632
Straits of Magellan, 472, 501 Tierra del Fuego, 671
Straits of Malacca, 472, 634 Tigris River, 471, 546, 547
Straits of Messina, 668 Timor, 643
Straits of Sunda, 472 Tivoli, 512
Styx River, 665 Tobolsk, 649, 650
Suakin, 663 Toledo, 542
Sudeten Mountains, 516 Tonkin, 604, 632, 633, 634
Sudetes Mountain, 476 Torrid Zone, 382, 391, 463, 521, 547,
Suez, 646 554, 555, 556, 557, 558, 565, 572,
Suez Isthmus, 487 573, 574, 576, 608, 610, 617, 633,
Sumatra, 472, 485, 511, 515, 549, 579, 638, 646, 674
593, 615, 641, 642 Touraine, 561, 668
Sunda Islands, 472, 493, 640–2 Transylvania, 622
Surinam, 584, 614, 673 Tripoli, 471
Swabia, 332, 343, 350 Tripolis, 508
Sweden, 341, 344, 347, 471, 472, 505, Tropic of Cancer, 507, 573
512, 515, 516, 558, 562, 601, 669 Tropic of Capricorn, 383
Switzerland, 332, 342, 344, 345, 347, tropics, 380, 381, 383, 391, 462, 463,
351, 372, 515, 516, 517, 524, 525, 493, 522, 553, 554, 555, 556, 576,
527, 542, 545, 626, 627, 663, 666, 579, 599
667 Tschanai Desert, 509
Syracuse, 14 Tuam, 362
Syria, 551, 558, 587 Tunguska River, 546
Syrian Desert, 509 Tunis (Tunisia), 471, 508
Turin, 420
Table Mountain, 541, 552, 656 Turkestan, 651
Tabriz, 645 Turkey, 581, 614, 653, 665
Tagus River, 349, 356 Tyrol, 332, 350, 525, 575
Tangut, 652 Tyrolean Mountains, 350
Taranto, 603 Tyrrhenian Sea, 584
784
Index of places
Ulm, 343 White Sea, 471

Umbra, 626 Whitehaven, 350
Ural Mountains, 516 Wieliczka, 483, 526
Uri, 562
Xamo Desert (Gobi Desert), 651
Velino River, 545
Venice, 175, 176, 497 Yakutsk, 649, 650
Vesuvius, 536 Yarmouth, 601
Vienna, 619 Yenisei River, 544, 670
Virginia, 549, 573, 589, 676 Yeniseisk, 649, 650
Visapur, 623, 638 Yorkshire, 350, 546
Vistula River, 172 Yucatan Peninsula, 471
Volga River, 481, 487, 515, 516, 651, Yugan River, 649
671
Vosges Mountains, 516 Zanzibar, 507
Zealand, 472
West Indies, 347, 502, 551, 605, 607 Zierikzee, 609
Westphalia, 351, 371 Zuiderzee, 601
Whidah (Fida), 605, 662 Zwickau, 530
785
Index of subjects
a priori ageing
cognition, xiii, xv, 52 concept of, 170
principles, xv of the Earth, 168, 173, 179, 180,
acceleration, 150, 160, 213, 255, 686, 181
694, 697, 698, 699, 700, 704, of the universe, 174, 271
707 aggregate, 538
accident, 345 of forces, 31, 73
of matter, 197, 198, 199, 498 of particles, 312, 313
of nature, 282, 574 see also composite
acid, 180, 343, 482, 483, 484, 525, 542, air
548, 551, 714, 729 and fire, 275, 276, 309, 318, 529
as active principle, 324–5 density of, 323, 325, 353, 359, 376,
kinds of, 482 377, 412, 429, 516, 518, 519,
vitriolic, 327, 333, 424, 622, 520, 548, 554, 556
627 elasticity of, 180, 196, 276, 318,
action 323, 359, 376, 412, 520, 550
absolute, 110 nature of, 196, 323–5
and location, 28 pressure of, 320, 321, 377, 430
and reaction, 59, 64, 396, 397, 403, properties of, 196, 548–9
407 resistance of, 378, 520
and rest, 23, 24, 29, 32, 133, 397, separation of, 171
403, 404, 407 subterranean, 332, 335, 348, 352,
complete, 62, 91 353, 369, 528
concept of, 22, 101 Almighty, 265, 285, 292
internal, 31, 32, 298 see also Architect, Author, Creator,
measurement of, 113 Deity, Divine, God, Highest
moment of, 23, 24, 35, 36 Being, and Providence
of a force, 27, 31, 45, 61, 79, 138 analogy
of a lever, 91 argument from, 183, 185, 217, 219,
of a spring, 44, 47, 50, 55, 98, 108, 220, 221, 238, 260, 264, 268,
109, 149 300, 302
of gravity, 78–9, 81, 91, 113, 142, Kepler’s, 212
152–3, 700 animals, 580–610
of the soul, 24–5, 298, and earthquakes, 335
299 and epidemics, 433
of water, 162, 513, 528, 560, 564, and human nourishment, 510
566, 618 and mating, 580, 581, 588
quantity of, 31, 32, 91 beautiful, 504, 581, 594, 599
reciprocal, 25, 287, 333, creation of, 269
456 destruction of, 170, 258, 269
actuality domestic, 517, 582, 583, 584, 585,
of motion, 38–40 589, 590, 591
aether, 318, 319, 320, 322, 324, 326, influence of the environment on,
412, 713 577
786
Index of subjects
marine, 392, 423, 480, 538, 595, force of, 204, 217, 226, 287, 320,
596, 598, 600, 601, 602, 627 432, 498
petrified, 341, 392, 561, 627 laws of, 197, 253, 453
respiration of, 352 see also gravity
senses of, 530, 532 Author, 194, 195
transportation of, 500, 577, 582, see also Almighty, Architect,
594 Creator, Deity, Divine, God,
venomous, 549, 615 Highest Being, and
see also creatures Providence
anthropology, xv, xvi, 434, 445, 446 axis
antinomies, 426 cause of rotation around, 157, 243,
Architect, 222 244, 245
see also Almighty, Author, Creator, of the Earth, 156, 160, 252, 292,
Deity, Divine, God, Highest 378, 454, 456, 457, 461, 462,
Being, and Providence 529, 555, 566
architectonic, 446 of the Moon, 163
arithmetic, xv, xvi, 486 shifting of, 246, 247
art
of deduction, 48 barometer, 320, 359, 381, 384, 429,
of guessing, 85 430, 432, 518, 520, 722, 729,
of navigation, 567–9 737
of printing, 632 beauty, 94, 172, 181, 637, 647, 651
of thinking, 83 of the Earth, 168, 171, 278
astrology, 645 of the universe, 186, 194–5, 197,
astronomy, 219, 253, 401, 549, 631 260, 263, 267, 280–2, 285,
atheist, 194, 198, 653 292, 297, 305
atmosphere, 558–9 bodies
and earthquakes, 335, 357, 359, celestial, 184, 194, 268, 271, 274,
368, 371, 532 275, 289, 291, 296, 305, 306,
and fluidity, 376 308, 369, 424, 425
and rain, 343, 357, 468, 564 elastic, xvi, 6, 47, 48–51, 52, 53, 59,
and volcanoes, 358, 361 68–9, 110, 145–6, 315–17,
and water, 468, 484 406, 408
and wind, 276, 343, 378, 380, 431 force of, 5, 22–33, 34, 40, 56, 59,
influence of the Moon, 426, 429, 135, 318
432 hard, xvi, 49, 51, 405, 406
kinds of, 413 inelastic, xvi, 51–2, 53–4, 63–8, 70
of comets, 185, 240 natural, 121–2
of Saturn, 249 shape of, 143
of the Moon, 421, 466 soft, xvi, 6, 140
of the Sun, 275, 276, 467 solid, 97, 144, 313–15, 333, 334,
pressure of, 321, 346, 547 465, 466, 468
temperature of, 376–8 body
weight of, 321 concept of, 121
wind, 376–8 human, 16, 551
see also air boiling, 317, 318, 319, 320, 325,
atom, 198, 233, 269, 282, 297, 425, 360
701 moment of, 318
see also corpuscles and particles burning, 181, 186, 234, 242, 272, 275,
attraction 277, 317, 324, 325, 326, 355, 371,
concept of, 262, 498 372, 373, 378, 429, 530, 534, 536,
equality of, 228 614, 632, 636, 642, 675
787
Index of subjects
capacity of the existence of God, 198, 250,

attractive, 213, 266 281
creative, 263 chance, 197, 198, 199, 280, 282, 291,
of a body, 90, 122, 131, 135, 319 292
of nature, 196, 282 see also accident
of understanding, 16, 222, 340 chaos
see also faculty of thinking and as initial state of the universe, 182,
power 228
cause regularity in, 199, 200, 228, 250
and effect (see equality: of cause and terrestrial, 170, 171, 330, 565
effect) character
common, 226, 345, 357 of fluidity, 313
efficient, 91, 92, 93, 105 of laws, 70, 215
external, 104, 121, 122, 125, 126, of living force, 130
128, 129, 135, 136, 146, 147, of people, 452, 510
156, 160, 161, 245, 262, 358 three-dimensional, 27
first, 199, 200, 287, 290, 376, 380 chemistry, xvi, xvii, 433, 442, 482, 618,
natural, 195, 196, 286, 636, 671 683
of change in Earth’s rotation, 156, choice, 290
163 God’s, 209, 233, 264, 284, 288,
of earthquakes (see earthquakes: 291
cause of ) Christianity, 633
of eccentricity of orbits (see Roman Catholic, 652
eccentricity of orbits: cause of ) conversion to, 655, 677
of elasticity (see elasticity: cause of ) occidental vs. oriental, 452
of force (see force: cause of ) civil society, 452
of gravity (see gravity: cause of ) civilization, 576, 671
of motion (see motion: cause of ) classification, xvii, 448
of salinity of sea water (see salinity climate, 389, 558–9
of sea water: cause of ) hot, 482, 489, 566
of tides (see tides: cause of ) temperate, 249, 303, 639
quantity of (see quantity: of cause) coexistence, 262
total, 2 cognition
universal, 247 faculty of, 307
see also ground and origin obscure, 307
caverns universal, xiv, 299
air in, 276, 348, 352, 353 see also knowledge
of the Sun, 277 cohesion, 151, 153, 255, 312, 315, 317,
origin of, 330 406, 529
center cold
of the Earth, 340, 529, 530, 537, causes of, 23, 358, 524, 527
565, 716 celestial bodies, 274
of the solar system, 297, 300 effects of, 317
of the universe, 265 regions, 480, 489, 510, 679
centrifugal force, 80, 170, 217, 229, 245, winds, 558, 640
248, 251, 253, 255, 257, 259, 264, collision
454, 456, 529 elastic, 6, 55, 58–9, 83, 110, 145
centripetal force, 212, 692, 707 inelastic, 6, 54, 63–4, 66–7, 68
certainty moment of, 52, 403
empirical, 431 colour
geometrical, 84 of humans, 572–5
mathematical, 330 of sea water, 477, 479
788
Index of subjects
comets conflagration, 177, 327, 332, 337, 342,

and extraordinary events, 181 343, 344, 351, 352, 353, 354–5,
and Noachian flood, 564 362, 371
as defects of nature, 285 see also fire and phoenix of nature
atmosphere of (see atmosphere: of connection
comets) and order, 28, 197, 217, 250
constitution of, 227 and worlds, 26, 28
density of, 238, 242 harmonious, 28, 197, 199, 250
mass of, 185, 241 of planets, 214, 215
orbits of, 212, 214, 222, 239, 241, of substances, 5, 25, 26
467 spatial, 26, 28
origin of, 238–43 systematic, xiv, 262, 264, 446
same in kind as planets, 184, conservation, xiii, 6, 55, 133, 146
238 law of, 1, 2
size of, 242 constitution
common sense, 331, 400, 451, of a force, 125
564 of comets (see comets: constitution
community of )
of influence, 226 of matter, 279
of motion, 226, 241 of space (see space: constitution of )
of people, 388, 506 of suns, 186
of the Highest Being, 279 of the Earth, 168, 170
composite of the universe, 200, 201, 204, 208,
forces, 76, 88 214, 215, 280, 284
motions, 20, 73, 80, 81, 86 systematic, 183, 211–14, 215–23,
see also aggregate 241, 248, 261, 262, 266, 268,
compression 269
of a spring, 50, 51, 55, 59, 81–2, 97, contact
112, 114 forces, 70, 309
of bodies, 65, 66, 67, 315, point of, 141, 322
316 with people, 446, 447
compulsion, 282, 292 contingency, 131–2, 143, 181, 690
conatus, 689, 693 continuity
concept law of, 38, 92, 111, 126, 134, 155,
mathematical, 88, 94, 129, 397, 405–6, 696
453–67 corpuscles, 312, 314, 689
metaphysical, 22, 31 see also atom and particles
of action (see action: concept of ) cosmogony, xiii, 164, 187, 198, 300,
of ageing (see ageing: concept of ) 424
of attraction (see attraction: concept cosmology, xvi, 201, 446
of ) cosmos, 57, 404
of body (see body: concept of ) see also universe and world
of finite time, 111 creation
of force, 25, 122 as continuous process, 262, 264,
of inelastic body, 64 266, 267
of inertia, 405–6 biblical story of, 203, 258, 409, 564
of kinetic energy, 2 center of, 265, 266, 268, 279
of matter, xiii duration of, 168, 217
of motion, 397, 407–8 extent of, 221, 222, 270, 296, 297
of science, xiv–xv of matter, 228
pure, xviii of plants and animals, 201
see also ideas and representation of the universe, 205
789
Index of subjects
creation (cont.) destiny, 270, 363, 400

plan of, 220 determinations
see also origin of force, 36, 39, 63, 125, 130, 147
Creator, 215, 270, 298, 340, 689 of motion, 38, 88, 122, 283
see also Almighty, Architect, Author, essential, 280, 305
Deity, Divine, God, Highest of nature, xvi, 282, 286, 293, 304
Being, and Providence see also properties
creatures dimensions
natural ratio of bodily properties of force, 39, 40
of, 209, 301 of space (see space: dimensions of )
origin of, 198 direction
rational, 291, 292, 301 and force, 29, 53, 76–7, 82, 136,
relationship to God, 251, 279 212
see also animals and plants oblique, 76–7, 86
Critique of Pure Reason, xiii, xiv, xv, xvii of force, 29–30
current of motion of earthquakes, 328, 330,
of air, 377, 380, 381 337, 350, 531
of water, 161, 487 of orbit, 186, 201, 212, 226, 230,
custom, 388, 452, 520, 629–30, 631, 231, 235, 241, 243, 244,
642, 655, 662 287
cylinder, 147, 148, 149, 150 of tides, 157, 161, 475
of winds, 374, 377, 382, 384–5,
dead, 84 478, 493, 550, 554, 555, 556,
force, 5, 30, 36–7, 38, 39, 40, 41, 557
87, 125, 126, 148 dispersion
pressure, 19, 30, 31, 32, 35, 58, 86, of cometic vapors, 242
87, 88, 133 of matter at the beginning of the
death universe, 198, 262, 268
fear of, 342 distillation, 468, 469, 483, 484, 485,
life after, 632, 636, 645, 654 486, 543
defect, 285 Divine
deficiency, 162, 239, 269 existence, 263
Deity, 263, 279, 282, 605, 632, 643, idea, 228, 251, 304
650, 652, 654, 657 omnipotence (see omnipotence)
see also Almighty, Architect, presence, 261, 265, 266
Author, Creator, Divine, God, properties, 263, 282
Highest Being, and providence (see Providence)
Providence punishment, 327
density reason, 197, 228
of air (see air: density of ) understanding, 304
of comets (see comets: density of ) will, 288
of planets, 184, 232–8 wisdom, 292, 363
of water, 548 works, 271
dependence see also Almighty, Architect,
on God, 197, 250, 279 Author, Creator, Deity, God,
reciprocal, 262, 287 Highest Being, and
see also independence Providence
description division
natural, xvii, 337–64 logical, 448
desire of day and night, 303
for happiness, 363 of knowledge, 448
for knowledge, 215, 307, 505, 506 of matter, 312
790
Index of subjects
duration entity
indefinite, 110 composite, 26
of a world, 269, 270 independent, 25, 690
of creation (see creation: duration epidemic, 433, 662, 741
of ) equality
of force, 129 of action and reaction, 59, 396,
of motion, 38, 110, 111, 133 403, 407
of orbit, 213, 219 of attraction (see attraction: equality
see also permanence of )
dynamics, 103, 128, 132 of cause and effect, 48, 51, 69, 403
Leibnizian, 107 of forces, 72, 81, 116, 214, 229,
232, 239, 292, 408
earthquakes, 327–36, 337–64, 365–73, of time, 116
529–32, 536–7 equilibrium
cause of, 328, 332, 335, 530, 536, and gravity, 79, 206
537 laws of, 171, 348, 381
fear of, 330, 332 essence
motion of, 331, 337, 347, 353, 355, of matter, 217
356, 357, 531 of nature, 270, 363
prediction of, 369 eternity, 31, 263, 264, 265, 266, 267,
eccentricity of orbits 269, 271, 272
cause of, 184, 238–43, 250 evaporation
law of, 222, 240 of planets, 256, 257
eclipse of water, 174, 480, 486, 492
plane of, 207 evil, 303, 327, 331, 363, 368
prediction of, 631 exhalations, 321–3, 358, 361
education, 181, 182, 676 see also vapors
effect existence
and action, 120 of a world spirit, 180
equal to cause, 2, 326 of God, 208, 250, 282, 327
elasticity of human beings, 297
and living force, 50, 59 of many worlds, 26
and mathematics, 65 see also actuality
cause of, 53 experience
of air (see air: elasticity of ) confirmation from, 132, 134, 374,
of fire, 317, 534 378, 380, 384, 429
see also bodies, force, matter knowledge from, 445, 448
electricity, 180, 328, 373, 499, 521, 526, of motion, 161, 342
532, 534, 536, 551 special, 56
elements, 170, 171, 228, 230, 266, 305, experiments
565 Galvanic-Voltaic, 468, 469
see also bodies, collision, force, of Boerhaave, 178
matter of Carré, 334
empirical of Galileo, 2
certainty (see certainty: empirical) of Hales, 178, 276, 323
intuition, xv of Lémery, 372
endeavor of Newton, 319
to act, 23, 29, 30 of the Florentine Academy,
to expand, 66 321
energy, 2, 5, 686, 687, 694, 695, 697, extension, 1
698, 699, 700, 701 and force, 22, 26, 27, 105
entelechy, 22, 65, 688, 689 see also space
791
Index of subjects
faculty of thinking, 299 mathematics of, 40, 41, 64, 94,

faith, 194 121
Christian, 655 moment of, 150, 702
fermentation motive, 2, 3, 22, 245, 432
kinds of, 482 of inertia, 397, 400, 403, 404
subterranean, 333, 344, 353, 357, quantity of, 55–6
359, 371 repulsive, 182, 198, 229, 323
fire tangential, 200, 214, 223, 229, 244,
elasticity of (see elasticity: of fire) 247, 254, 255, 256, 257, 259,
force of, 312, 319, 320, 323, 324 262, 268, 274, 283, 284, 287,
lunar, 421, 422 292
matter of, 309, 317–26 tensile, 59, 105, 108, 109, 116, 150
solar, 276 vivification of, 6, 126–8, 132, 133,
subterranean, 335, 341, 346, 347, 134, 135
351, 352, 355, 357, 361, 368 see also living force
see also heat and phoenix of nature freedom
flame, 274, 275, 276, 277, 309, 319, of God’s choice, 284
325–6, 333, 621 of motion, 161, 214, 237, 238, 357
see also fire of understanding, 15, 79
fluidity friction, 2, 157, 480
and atmosphere (see atmosphere: fulcrum, 42, 89, 96, 98, 699, 700
and fluidity)
and living force, 144–5 geography
see also bodies different kinds of, 386, 388, 449
force geometry
absolute, 109, 110 definition of, xvi
action of (see action: of a force) God’s use of, 285
active, 2, 5, 22, 23–4, 25 higher, 212
attractive (see attraction: force of ) see also certainty and necessity
Cartesian, 81, 122 God
cause of, 93 and creation of the world, 168, 222,
concept of, 686 262, 270
conservation of, xiii, 6, 55, 146 and geometry (see geometry: God’s
contact (see contact: forces) use of )
centrifugal (see centrifugal force) choice of (see choice: God’s)
centripetal (see centripetal force) dependence of nature on (see
dead (see dead: force) dependence: on God)
definition of, 22, 29, 122, 127 direct hand of, 57, 186, 194, 227,
descending, 229 281, 284, 292
dimensions of (see dimensions: of existence of (see existence: of God)
force) immutability of, 1
direction (see direction: and force) infinity of, 262
duration of (see duration: of force) perfection of, 186, 269, 273, 305
elastic, 49, 52, 53, 60, 61, 62, 64, presence of (see Divine: presence)
97, 118, 275, 276, 302, 318, understanding of (see Divine:
320, 324, 407 understanding)
extension (see extension: and force) vengeance of, 327, 363
finite, 78, 79, 81, 109, 142, 406 wisdom of (see Divine: wisdom)
indeterminacy of, 29, 693 see also Almighty, Architect,
infinite, 81, 263 Author, Creator, Deity,
lowering, 213 Divine, Highest Being, and
magnitude of, 51, 52, 59 Providence
792
Index of subjects
government natural, xvii, xviii, 163, 388, 442,

Divine, 194 443, 450
of laws of nature, 196 of earthquakes, 330, 354
gravity human
action of (see action: of gravity) being, 18, 157, 168, 172, 183, 197,
and equilibrium (see equilibrium: 270, 298, 307, 360, 445, 446,
and gravity) 572–80
and living force, 77, 139 body (see body: human)
cause of, 428, 692, 694 concepts, 222
law of, 370, 429, 454 ideas, 298, 299
moment of, 406 knowledge, 16, 20, 33
quantum of, 213 nature, 181, 299, 301, 307, 504
specific, 247, 249, 319, 492, race, 160, 169, 345, 361, 363, 364,
562 535, 633
see also acceleration, force, pressure, reason, 22, 34, 42, 117, 128,
and resistance 194
ground soul, 24, 300, 307
and consequent, xiv spirit, 265
complete, 27 survival, 160
God as, 282 understanding, 14, 15, 16, 17, 48,
internal, 32 84, 85, 268
mechanical, 201 see also humans and race
of dead force, 37 humans
of heat and cold, 23 different tastes of, 579–80
see also cause form and color of (see color: of
humans)
happiness see also human
desire for (see desire: for happiness) hypothesis
harmony Hartsoecker, 176
pre-established, 25, 685, 690 Huygens’s, 251
reciprocal, 282 nebular, 184
universal, 147 Newton’s, 252
heat
as a condition of life, 277, 297 ideas
ground of (see grounds of heat and human (see human: ideas)
cold) role in science (see science: role of
in the Earth, 337, 344, 348, 355, ideas in)
360, 361, 372 see also concept and representation
matter of, 313, 318, 319, 424 idols, 576, 635, 642
of the Sun, 184, 185, 196, 242, imagination
342 and space (see space: and
Highest Being imagination)
community of the (see community: figment of, 575
of the highest being) impact, 29, 48, 49–52, 53, 58–9, 60, 61,
see also Almighty, Architect, 62, 64, 65, 66, 67–8, 69–71, 75, 79,
Author, Creator, Deity, 82, 96, 98, 118, 140, 146, 162, 163,
Divine, God, and Providence 262, 333, 346, 347, 397, 402, 403,
history 404, 405, 406, 407–8, 701,
ancient, 354, 392, 451, 562, 565, 702
632 see also collision
and geography, 447, 448, 449, 450, impulse
451 of light, 319
793
Index of subjects
inclination division of (see division: of

angle of, 90, 514 knowledge)
independence, 25, 195, 197, 199, 281, from experience (see experience:
282, 690 knowledge from)
see also dependence from reason, 445
indeterminacy human (see human: knowledge)
of concepts, 65, 111–12 of the world, 437, 445, 446
of time, 38, 40, 111–12 see also cognition
inertia
concept of (see concept: of intertia) language, 401, 402, 632, 634,
force of (see force: of inertia) 647
infinite latitude, 162, 249, 379, 389, 394, 402,
number, 46, 354, 363, 458 459, 460, 499, 502, 510, 558, 568,
quantity, 80, 135 675
reason, 197 law
space (see space: infinite) Descartes’s, 1, 2, 35, 38, 41, 71, 74,
striving, 30 92
time, 31, 81 Galileo’s, 2
understanding, 282 Leibniz’s, 37, 59, 104, 111,
see also infinity 128
infinitesimals, 703 of conservation (see conservation:
method of, 105 law of )
infinity of continuity (see continuity:
motion to (see motion: to infinity) law of )
of attractive force, 186, 217 of mechanics, 326
of creation, 194, 229, 260–73 of the density of planets, 233
of God (see God: infinity of ) of eccentricity of orbits (see
of space, 185, 260–73 eccentricity of orbits: law of )
of time, 185, 260–73 of equality of cause and effect (see
see also infinite equality: of cause and
inhabitants of other planets, 183, effect)
294–306 of gravity (see gravity: law of )
intension, 122–4, 125, 126, 127–8, 132, see also laws and necessity
135, 137, 139, 141, 149, 703, laws
704 character of (see character: of laws)
intention, 186, 196, 215, 221, 228, 280, Newton’s, 217, 253
284, 288, 289, 304, 305, 338, 363 of attraction (see attraction: laws of )
interaction of equilibrium (see equilibrium:
least, 230 laws of )
of substances, 281 of inelastic collision, 66, 68
intuition, xiv, xv of mathematics, 94, 121
of mechanics, 38, 93, 122,
judgment 397
and taste, 579–80 of metaphysics, 94
last, 564 of motion, 199
power of, 19, 299 of nature, 183, 195, 196, 236, 258,
justice, 306, 363 281, 282, 283, 284, 285, 291,
292, 314, 319, 340
knowledge of order, 28
as a system, 446 of rational thought, xvi
desire for (see desire: for see also law and necessity
knowledge) leap, 92, 591, 654, 696
794
Index of subjects
lever mass
action of (see action: of a lever) and living force (see living force:
nature of, 42 and mass)
lice, 296, 655 determinate, 142
life infinitely small, 31, 141, 142
after death (see death: life after) of a comet (see comets: mass of )
and the Sun, 215, 277 of a planet and relationship to its
of a human being, 168, 298 density, 232–8
of nature, 180 quantity of, 118, 140, 142
light, 185, 203, 216, 220, 221, 223, 243, soft, 151, 153, 154, 530
259–60, 261, 262, 275, 277, 303, mathematics
309, 318–19, 325, 326, 362, 428, and Descartes’s law, 41–2
429, 477, 479, 498, 499, 692, and elasticity (see elasticity: and
713 mathematics)
living force and free motion, 129
and elasticity (see elasticity: and and living force (see living force:
living force) and mathemtics)
and fluidity (see fluidity: and living concepts of (see concept:
force) mathematical)
and gravity (see gravity: and living jurisdiction of, 86, 125
force) laws of (see laws: of mathematics)
and mass, 140–4 of force (see force: mathematics of )
and mathematics, 3, 40–2 role in science, xvi
and resistance, 137–9 see also arithmetic and geometry
and soft bodies, 140 matter
character of (see character: of living as cause of representation, 24,
force) 25
contingency of, 131 concept of (see concept: of matter)
origin of, 126 constitution of (see constituion: of
see also force matter)
location creation of (see creation: of matter)
and action (see action: and location) dispersion of, 184, 197, 204
concept of, 25 division of (see division: of matter)
of the soul, 24, 25 elastic, 309, 313, 314, 317, 318,
see also position 319, 322
logic elementary, 234, 241, 243, 261,
Kant’s lectures on, 393, 408 265, 268, 290
of probability, 34 essence of (see essence: of matter)
longitude, 389, 459, 460, 568, 725 gravitational, 113
liquid, 161, 163, 478
machine of fire (see fire: matter of )
bodily, 299 of heat (see heat: matter of )
God in the, 281 properties of, 195, 199, 283
of nature, 53 quantity of, 236, 425
magnetism, 328, 359, 372, 499, subtle, 174, 521
540 vegetable, 178
magnitude mechanical philosophy, 309, 705,
finite, 154 715
of force (see force: magnitude of ) mechanics
of intension, 132 principles of, 50, 80, 396
map, 362, 377, 384, 423, 476, 504, 505, laws of (see laws: of mechanics)
508, 509, 568 Wolff ’s, 48, 49, 81
795
Index of subjects
medicine, 602, 604, 613, 615, 616, 635, morality

639 and geography, 437, 449, 452
medium decline of, 168
and light, 477 see also vice and virtue
resistance of, 134, 144 motion
meridian, 458, 459, 460 absolute, 80, 110, 136, 396, 397
Metaphysical Foundations of Natural accelerated, 150, 213, 255, 694
Science, xiii, xv, xvi, xvii, 397 actuality of (see actuality: of motion)
metaphysics analysis of, 76, 396
as science, xiv apparent, 219, 457, 707
concepts from (see concept: cause of, 22, 122, 287
metaphysical) circular, 6, 76–81, 186, 201, 214,
dependence of natural science on, 231, 239, 241, 243, 244, 260
xvi, 94 community of (see community: of
Kant’s lectures on, 374, 385, motion)
393 compound, 6, 71–6
laws of (see laws: of metaphysics) concept of (see concept: of motion)
of morals, xiv duration of (see duration: of
of nature, xiv, xv motion)
subject of, 57 free, 6, 31, 32, 35, 127, 128, 129,
meteor, 412, 413, 433, 530, 548 131, 133, 134–5, 136, 139,
meteorology, 433 145, 160, 206, 256
see also weather impressed, 226, 262
method laws of (see laws: of motion)
inferential, 142 of earthquakes (see earthquakes:
mathematical, 227 motion of )
of infinitesimals (see infinitesimals: of waves, 318, 333, 334, 487–91
method of ) orbital, 214, 217, 223, 229, 230,
of the True Estimation of Living 232, 235, 239, 245, 249, 256,
Forces, 83–4 271, 283
mind origin of, 284
highest, 199 perpetual, 90, 91, 93, 94, 163, 177
human, 15 propagation of, 326
mind–body relation, 24–5 quantity of, 1, 2, 53
minerals real, 86, 88, 110, 111
origin of, 627–8 simple, 81, 283
miracle, 49, 186, 258, 264, 281, 368, to infinity, 5, 29, 78, 124, 128,
413, 632, 647 134–5
moment uniform, 39, 101
infinitely small, 143, 405, 406 see also acceleration, momentum,
of action (see action: moment of ) rest, speed, and velocity
of boiling (see boiling: moment of ) music, 579, 593, 604
of collision (see collision: moment
of ) nadir, 458, 462
of force (see force: moment of ) natural philosophy, 1, 2, 3, 4, 183
of gravity (see gravity: moment of ) naturalism, 208
of pressure, 35, 51, 97, 112, 113 naturalist, 169, 173, 177, 195, 196,
of velocity, 97 706
momentum, 1, 5, 16, 78, 97, 138, 139, nature
318, 380, 494, 555, 565, 687, 694, ageing of, 168, 169, 174, 180
697, 700, 701 as simple, 57, 204, 208
monad, 29 capacity of (see capacity: of nature)
796
Index of subjects
defects of, 285 and God, 194, 208, 292

definition of, xv–xvi lack of, 26
dependence on God, 282 laws of (see laws: of order)
determinations of (see of nature (see nature: order of )
determinations: of nature) see also law
doctrine of, xvi, xvii, xviii, 24, 57, organisms, 170, 683, 738
64, 65, 141, 253, 273 see also animals, creatures, and
essence of (see essence: of nature) plants
first state of, 194, 198, 225–32 origin
human (see human: nature) common, 197, 259, 281, 305
laws of (see laws: of nature) of caverns (see caverns: origin of )
life of (see life: of nature) of comets (see comets: origin of )
machine of (see machine: of nature) of creatures (see creatures: origin
metaphysics of (see metaphysics: of of )
nature) of different national characters, 510
of air (see air: nature of ) of islands, 503
of matter, 1 of living force (see living force:
of solidity, 313–15 origin of )
of the lever (see lever: nature of ) of minerals (see minerals: origin of )
of vapors, 321 of moons, 243–8
order of, 183, 197, 204, 265 of mountains, 425, 515
phoenix of (see phoenix of nature) of rivers, 543
purpose of, 195, 240, 295 of rotation around an axis, 243–8
systematic constitution of, 214, 248 of Saturn’s rings, 248–59
see also universe of springs and wells, 540–2
necessity of the solar system, 243
geometric, 49, 131 of the universe, 227, 237, 285,
independent, 282 287
irrational, 292 see also cause, creation, and ground
of the laws of nature, 183
of three-dimensionality, 27, 28 paganism, 633, 652
new elucidation, 309, 692 part, 26, 31, 57, 65, 66–7, 74, 75, 94,
number 120, 144, 151, 222, 226, 248, 261,
infinite (see infinite: number) 262, 267, 281, 317, 363, 455
powers of, 27 see also whole
properties of, 27 particles
elementary, 198, 229, 232, 239,
omnipotence, 269, 270, 273 244, 246, 313, 317
Only Possible Argument, 186 pendulum, 45, 454, 701, 717
ontology, xvi perception, 258, 445, 497
optical illusion, 241, 428, 499 perfection
optimism, 327 of rational beings, 279
Opus postumum, xiii of the universe, 194, 199
orbit perihelion, 223, 466
direction of (see direction: of orbit) permanence
duration of (see duration: of orbit) of a world, 264
eccentricity of (see eccentricity of of motion, 124, 125, 129,
orbits) 133
of comets (see comets: orbits of ) petrification, 341, 482, 527, 561, 623,
order 626, 627, 669
and connection (see connection: philosophy
and order) as science, xvii
797
Index of subjects
philosophy (cont.) power

mechanical (see mechanical of judgment (see judgment: power
philosophy) of )
natural (see natural philosophy) of nature, 194, 208
Newtonian, 200, 204 of number (see number:
task of, 450 powers of )
transcendental, xiv of thought, 299
phoenix of nature, 186, 272 see also action, capacity, and
phoronomy, 55 force
physical influence, 24, 690 prediction
Physical Monadology, xiii, 309 of earthquakes (see earthquakes:
physics prediction of )
definition of, xiv, xvi of eclipses (see eclipse: prediction
plan of )
of revelation (see revelation: of the duration of Saturn’s rotation
plan of ) on its axis, 251, 254
of the universe, 57, 58, 199, 205, of weather, 430
220 pre-established harmony (see harmony:
plane pre-established)
inclined, 46, 47, 77, 79, 89, 90, 91, presence
92 Divine (see Divine: presence)
of eclipse (see eclipse: plane of ) of corporeal substances, 412
perpendicular, 75 pressure
planets air (see air: pressure of )
connection of (see connection: of atmospheric (see atmosphere:
planets) pressure of )
density of (see density: of dead (see dead: pressure)
planets) gravitational, 78, 81, 92, 93, 113,
evaporation of (see evaporation: of 134, 139, 141, 152, 154
planets) moment of (see moment: of
mass of (see mass: of a planet and pressure)
relationship to its principle
density) active, 174, 180, 325, 360
plants Descartes’s, 42, 55
creation of, 178, 201 elastic, 319, 323
destruction of, 269 inner, xv, xvi
growth of, 174, 196, 361, 543 of causality, xv, xvi
marine, 392, 562 of civil society, 452
see also vegetables of fire, 319
plenum, 134, 694, 695 of unity, 3
point see also law
of contact (see contact: point of ) principles
of view, 200, 216, 298, 359, 400, a priori (see a priori: principles)
446, 670 mathematical, xvi
politics metaphysical, xvi
and geography, 388, 437, 449, Newtonian, 156, 212
452 of mechanics (see mechanics:
position, 24, 55, 82, 196, 201, 216, 219, principles of )
226, 246, 247, 248, 255, 303, 315, theological, 452
317, 353, 371, 379, 400, 429, 454, probability
461, 488, 556 degrees of, 268
see also location logic of (see logic: of probability)
798
Index of subjects
of there being many worlds, 268 race

well founded, 306 and animals, 577
propagation human (see human: race)
of light, 319 white, 574, 576
of motion (see motion: propagation reality, 84, 87, 111, 151, 688
of ) see also actuality
of pressure of the aether, 319 reason
properties Divine (see Divine: reason)
Divine (see Divine: properties) human (see human: reason)
essential, 195, 228, 250, infinite (see infinite: reason)
282 knowledge from (see knowledge:
geometric, 131 from reason)
of a thing, 27 lack of, 198, 280, 303
of air (see air: properties of ) pure, 445
of comets, 240 sufficient, 40, 84, 86, 93, 213
of extension, 27 tribunal of, 371
of forces, 132 reciprocal
of natural bodies, 121 action (see action: reciprocal)
of number (see number: properties attraction, 264
of ) dependence (see dependence:
of thinking beings, 301 reciprocal)
of winds, 391 harmony (see harmony: reciprocal)
see also determinations relationship, 262, 281
propulsion, 75, 124, 135, 694 regularity
Providence, 195, 209, 270, 282, 304, in chaos (see chaos: regularity in)
330, 332, 360, 361, 363, 364, 636, lack of, 195, 335, 358
677 see also law and order
psychology, xiv, xv, xvi, 298, 683 religion, 194, 195, 196, 200, 258, 281,
purpose 388, 452, 632, 637, 641, 642, 644,
God’s, 199, 233, 363 645, 647–8, 650, 652, 653, 658,
lower and higher, 338, 363 659, 661, 665, 677
of human beings, 298 representation
of living things, 298 mathematical, 86
of nature (see nature: purpose of ) matter as cause of (see matter: as
of the laws of nature, 199 cause of representation)
see also intention and plan of perfection, 251, 260
see also concept and ideas
quality, xiv, 269, 275, 536, 688 repulsion, 65, 98, 180, 197, 204, 229,
quantity 261, 279
determinate, 36, 39, 133 resistance
finite, 78, 111, 135, 138, 141 gravitational, 78, 79, 81, 93, 112,
indeterminate, 36 115
of action (see action: quantity of ) infinitely little, 23, 100, 284
of cause, 69 lack of, 54, 129, 153
of effort, 30 of a medium (see medium:
of mass (see mass: quantity of ) resistance of )
of matter (see matter: quantity of ) of air (see air: resistance of )
of resistance, 151 quantity of (see quantity: of
see also magnitude resistance)
quantum rest
of gravity (see gravity: absolute, 110, 396, 402, 403
quantum of ) and action (see action: and rest)
799
Index of subjects
rest (cont.) shape

and force, 22, 35, 54, 105, 106, 122 change of, 65, 143
first state of, 233 irregular, 203
relationality of, 254, 312, 379, 396, of Saturn, 253
400, 401 of the Earth, 453, 454, 506
see also motion of water, 473
revelation simple
Divine, 168, 222, 258, 263, 269, laws of nature, 196
272, 273, 285 motion (see motion: simple)
plan of, 222 nature as (see nature: as simple)
revolution velocity, 32, 39, 40, 41, 48, 52, 69,
around the Sun, 464 75, 84, 125, 128, 129, 133,
daily, 207 138, 139, 143
of the Moon, 493, 497 sin, 306, 327, 639
see also orbit skin, 572, 574, 575, 581, 584, 585, 586,
rigidity, 299 590
rings of Saturn color of (see color: of humans)
origin of (see origin: of Saturn’s slavery, 504, 577
rings) smell, 530, 532, 547, 579–80
rivers solidity
and the ageing of the Earth, 165, explanation of, 309
173 nature of (see nature: of solidity)
and the level of the oceans, 174, of the Earth, 156, 161, 163,
176 170
origin of (see origin: of rivers) soul
action of (see action: of the
salinity of sea water soul)
cause of, 173, 174, 564 influence of matter on, 24, 299
differences in, 480, 481 location of (see location: of the
science soul)
concept of (see concept: of science) see also spirit
dependence on metaphysics (see space
metaphysics: dependence of absolute, 202, 396
natural science on) and force, 26–7, 262, 412, 692
empirical, xiv and imagination, 27
natural, xiii, xv, xvi, xviii, 180, 251, constitution of, 227
300, 362, 368, 373, 381, 385, dimensions of, 5, 27–8, 691
393, 408 empty, 31, 124, 184, 200, 220, 226,
Newtonian, 204, 212–14 227, 238, 261, 266, 272, 283,
philosophy as (see philosophy: as 286, 288, 478
science) equality of, 100, 116
role of ideas in, xiv infinite, 185, 215, 260–73, 280
role of mathematics in (see mathematical, 401
mathematics: role in science) occupation of, 228, 237, 313, 377,
unity of, xiv 401, 412, 424, 683
sensation, 279, 299, 412, 562, 617 relationality of, 26, 401
sense science of, 28, 448–9, 450
common (see common sense) uniformity of, 100
inner and outer, 445 whole of, 226, 227, 265, 267, 288,
of smell (see smell) 424, 498
senses see also extension, geometry, and
of animals (see animals: senses of ) location
800
Index of subjects
speed thinking
of winds, 553 art of (see art: of thinking)
see also motion and velocity faculty of (see faculty of thinking)
spirit see also reason and human
domination of, 306 understanding
human (see human: spirit) three-dimensionality, 5, 26–8, 39, 692
powers of, 299 tides
see also soul and world-spirit and whirlpools, 494, 497
steelyard, 42, 89, 90, 92, 106, cause of, 157, 368
700 direction of (see direction: of tides)
striving time
infinite (see infinite: striving) equality of (see equality: of time)
see also conatus and finite, 78, 79, 81, 111, 112, 126, 128
endeavor indeterminacy of (see
sublime, 220, 267, 297, 301, 302, 305, indeterminacy: of time)
707 whole of, 450
substance see also duration
and connection (see connection: of topography, 447
substances) trade
and interaction (see interaction: of and geography, 452
substances) transmutation, 174, 740
presence of corporeal (see presence: tsunami, 337
of corporeal substances) see also waves
see also entity
superstition, 431, 467, 491, 576, 631, uniformity
661 of direction, 241, 287
system of motion (see motion: uniform)
knowledge as a (see knowledge: as a of space (see space: uniformity of )
system) universe
of classification, xvii ageing of the (see ageing: of the
of stars, 221, 262, 278 universe)
of the world, 197, 292 beauty of the (see beauty: of the
planetary, 226–32, 246, 257, 260, universe)
261, 274, 277, 286, 289, 306, center of the (see center: of the
307 universe)
science as a, xiv constitution of the (see constitution:
see also connection of the universe)
creation of the (see creation: of the
taste universe)
differences of (see humans: different intitial state of the (see chaos: as
tastes of ) initial state of the universe)
telescope, 185, 220, 247, 251, 252, 256, origin of the (see origin: of the
302, 420, 576 universe)
temperature perfection of the (see perfection: of
and color, 575 the universe)
basement, 489, 513, 529 plan of the (see plan: of the
of atmosphere (see atmosphere: universe)
temperature of ) see also nature and world
testimony, 447, 450
theology vapor
and geography, 437, 449, and flame, 333
452 of comets, 242
801
Index of subjects
vapors influence of the Moon on, 426–33

elasticity of, 229, 422 lack of regularity in, 335, 358, 531
nature of (see nature: of vapors) prediction of (see prediction: of
of comets, 242 weather)
see also evaporation weight
vaults, 171, 335, 340, 344, 353, 355, of atmosphere (see atmosphere:
356, 368, 372, 528, 566, 667 weight of )
see also caverns specific, 162, 228, 233
vector see also gravity
radius, 212 whole
vegetables, xvii, 178, 180, idea of the, 448
658 nature as a, xv, 337, 425
velocity of space (see space: whole of )
finite, 111, 124, 154 of time (see time: whole of )
infinitely slow, 122, 131, 133, 134, prior to its parts, 446
139 well-ordered, 197
moment of (see moment: of world as a, 452
velocity) will
simple (see simple: velocity) Divine (see Divine: will)
see also motion and speed see also choice
vibration, 326, 498, 521 winds
vice and virtue, 279, 299, 306, 650, 653 and atmosphere (see atmosphere:
see also morality and wind)
vis viva, 3, 5, 7, 130, 698, 707 cold (see cold: winds)
see also living force direction of (see direction: of winds)
viscosity, 180 speed of (see speed: of winds)
volcanoes wisdom
and atmosphere (see atmosphere: Divine (see Divine: wisdom)
and volcanoes) work, 222, 251, 266, 267, 273, 361, 576,
volume, 237, 289, 317, 318, 320, 321, 594, 633, 659, 669, 687
323, 465, 486, 521, 683, 686 world
vortices, 57, 670 and connection (see connection:
and worlds)
war, 364, 409, 485, 504, 535, 636, 640, duration of the (see duration: of a
671, 677, 685 world)
water knowledge of the (see knowledge:
action of (see action: of water) of the world)
and atmosphere (see atmosphere: more than one actual (see existence:
and water) of many worlds)
density of (see density: of water) perfect, 200
evaporation of (see evaporation: of permanence of a (see permanence:
water) of a world)
shape of (see shape: of water) system of (see system: of the world)
waves see also nature and universe
motion of (see motion: of waves) world-spirit, 165, 180, 636
tidal, 349
weather zenith, 358, 458, 462, 463, 506
decline in, 168 zodiac, 185, 218, 220, 241, 259–60, 261,
in different regions, 558–9 277, 502, 535
802

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IMMANUEL KANT

The purpose of the Cambridge Edition is to offer translations of the

Eric Watkins is Professor of Philosophy at the University of

General editors: Paul Guyer and Allen W. Wood

Theoretical Philosophy, 1755–1770

LEWIS WHITE BECK,

This publication is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception

First published 2012

Printed in the United Kingdom at the University Press, Cambridge

Library of Congress Cataloguing in Publication data

isbn 978-0-521-36394-5 Hardback

Cambridge University Press has no responsibility for the persistence or

General editors’ preface page vii

1 Thoughts on the true estimation of living forces and assessment of the

2 Examination of the question whether the rotation of the Earth on its

3 The question, whether the Earth is ageing, considered from a physical

4 Universal natural history and theory of the heavens or essay on the

5 Succinct exposition of some meditations on fire (1755) 309

6 On the causes of earthquakes on the occasion of the calamity that befell

7 History and natural description of the most noteworthy occurrences of

8 Continued observations on the earthquakes that have been

10 Plan and announcement of a series of lectures on physical geography

12 Review of Silberschlag’s work: Theory of the fireball that appeared on

13 Notice of Lambert’s correspondence (1782) 414

14 On the volcanoes on the Moon (1785) 418

15 Something concerning the influence of the Moon on the weather

16 Physical geography (1802) 434

of the most accomplished Kant scholars and translators to produce

of Kant’s works, Kant’s gesammelte Schriften, edited by the Royal Prus-

The present volume in the Cambridge Edition of the Works of

This volume will come as something of a surprise to someone accustomed

To evaluate Kant’s contributions to natural science properly, how-

of a thing in accordance with an inner principle of causality” (A419/

Taking this important distinction between the different kinds of doc-

Leibniz’s explicit argument, which is presented in his Discourse on

not only as a metaphysical principle of unity (in contrast to Descartes’s

statement of his views (VIII–X). He ended with a brief assessment of

of the range of relevant mechanical cases. In §§ 30–36, Kant argues

‘proof ’ of his theory and a discussion of objections that he anticipates

This translation, which is the ﬁrst one to be published in English, is

my most Revered Patron.

Nihil magis praestandum est, quam ne pecorum ritu sequamur

Before concluding this preface, we still have to familiarize ourselves with

epoch whatsoever. Surmounted obstacles of weight, displaced mat-

In these prefatory comments I shall not relate what I intend to accom-

Scholastics exploited when, in investigating the grounds of heat or cold,

n a hot- or cold-making force q active force

will do so only gradually. However, in the succeeding moments it cannot

v Zusammenfassung x alle Verbindung und Relation

connectionz with them. Now since there can be no location without

plurality of dimensions in space derives from the law according to which

j Anstrengung l todter Druck

which it is communicated, and of persisting inﬁnitely if no impediment

the actions of both on the little molecules of space are proportional to

of mathematics, have more claim to be convincing. Like many other

v fremde Absichten x Wettstreit des Verstandes

∗ In the formula of the Leibnizian measure of forces.

I place the body at this point) is a determination that is a ground of the

g nur einzeln genommen

k Grundsätze o alles das Wunderbare

of its fall from A to B. Thus, says Herr

one assume that it presses on spring A only in the ﬁrst part of B

A and B are perfectly equal in all respects, and it therefore makes no

But if we merely reﬂect that thread AB is more strongly opposed to