Clergyman's

But if we investigate the subject by the balance, a case occurs in which, without any addition or subtraction of matter, a substance will appear more or less heavy; namely, by its contraction or expansion.
- John Rey

Hammer a piece of cold iron for a considerable time; you will unite its parts and diminish its bulk, and then it will appear heavier when put into the balance.
- John Rey

Hammer a piece of cold iron for a considerable time; you will unite its parts and diminish its bulk, and then it will appear heavier when put into the balance.
- John Rey

Hammer a piece of cold iron for a considerable time; you will unite its parts and diminish its bulk, and then it will appear heavier when put into the balance.
- John Rey

e must not only inquire whence these seven ounces are derived, but, moreover, whence that which has replaced the loss of weight, necessarily arising from the enlargement of volume of the tin, by its conversion into calx, and from the vapours and exhalations that have escaped.
- John Rey

Thus, the motion of the orbits of the planets from east to west, having its cause in a higher heaven, is called by all violent, without, however, its doing them any injury. Moreover, they who argue thus condemn themselves, since they are compelled to admit, that not only the motion of water and air, but their very abiding places, are held by violence:—that of the latter, under fire, and that of the former, above earth.
- John Rey

Thus, the motion of the orbits of the planets from east to west, having its cause in a higher heaven, is called by all violent, without, however, its doing them any injury. Moreover, they who argue thus condemn themselves, since they are compelled to admit, that not only the motion of water and air, but their very abiding places, are held by violence:—that of the latter, under fire, and that of the former, above earth.
- John Rey

God, creating the universe, neither made it perfectly like Himself, nor perfectly unlike, for He, being One, has made the world as not one, from the diverse multiplicity of its innumerable parts, ordaining, nevertheless, that they should collect into a certain unity by their exact contiguity. The upper world has no connexion with this subject; the lower, and elementary world, owes this contiguity to the weight divinely impressed on its parts, aided by the subtle fluidity of some of its simple bodies. It is by this quality, with which the matter of the four elements is more or less invested, that they are separated from one another, and each transported to its proper place, as the generation of compounds, and the beauty of the universe requires.
- John Rey

This opinion is defective, to say no worse of it, in many respects. First, in attributing life to lead. Secondly, in supposing that the presence of the celestial heat makes it light, and its absence heavy. Thirdly, because it assigns the same reason for the increased weight of lead by calcination, and of animals by death. There is nothing of the kind. For as to life, how can lead possess it, since it is a homogeneous body, without difference of parts, without organs, and without any vital effect or action? If it move downwards, so does ceruse, which is only its corpse; if it be cooling , so is ceruse. Then how could it preserve this life, under a million of forms, that it may be made to assume and to cast off, yet always continuing to be lead? How, in the furnace , where it may be kept in fusion a day, a month, or a whole year? It must have a very tenacious soul to undergo so much without being dislodged!
- John Rey

This opinion is defective, to say no worse of it, in many respects. First, in attributing life to lead. Secondly, in supposing that the presence of the celestial heat makes it light, and its absence heavy. Thirdly, because it assigns the same reason for the increased weight of lead by calcination, and of animals by death. There is nothing of the kind. For as to life, how can lead possess it, since it is a homogeneous body, without difference of parts, without organs, and without any vital effect or action? If it move downwards, so does ceruse, which is only its corpse; if it be cooling , so is ceruse. Then how could it preserve this life, under a million of forms, that it may be made to assume and to cast off, yet always continuing to be lead? How, in the furnace , where it may be kept in fusion a day, a month, or a whole year? It must have a very tenacious soul to undergo so much without being dislodged!
- John Rey