were _One_; Only
there were some Actions in some of them, which proceeded from their
Organical Parts; concerning which Actions he could not yet determine
whether they were Essential, or deriv'd from something without. Thus he
continu'd, considering nothing but the Nature of Bodies, and by this
means he perceiv'd, that whereas at first sight, _Things_ had appear'd
to him innumerable and not to be comprehended; _Now,_ he discovered the
whole Mass and Bulk of Creatures were in Reality only _One_.

Sec. 40. He continu'd in this Opinion a considerable time. Then he
consider'd all sorts of Bodies, both Animate and Inanimate, which one
while seem'd to him to be _One_; and another, _a great many_. And he
found that all of them had a Tendency either upward, as Smoak, Flame,
and Air, when detain'd under Water; or else downward, as Water, pieces
of Earth, or Parts of Animals and Plants; and that none of these. Bodies
were free from one or other of these Tendencies, or would ever lye
still, unless hinder'd by some other Body, and interrupted in their
course; as when, for instance, a Stone in its fall is stopp'd by the
solidity and hardness of the Earth, when 'tis plain it would otherwise
continue still descending; so Smoak still continues going upwards, and
if it should be intercepted by a solid Arch, it would divide both to the
right and left, and so soon as it was freed from the Arch, would still
continue ascending; and pass through the Air, which is not solid enough
to restrain it. So when a Leathern Bottle is fill'd with Air and stopp'd
up close, if you hold it under Water; it will still strive to get up,
till it returns to its place of Air; and then it rests, and its
reluctancy and propensity to ascend, ceases.

Sec. 41. He then enquir'd whether or no he could find any Body that was at
any time destitute of both these Motions, or a Tendency toward them, but
he could find none such, among all Bodies which he had about him. The
reason of this Enquiry was, because he was very desirous to know the
Nature of Body; as such, abstracted from all manner of Qualities, from
whence arises Multiplicity or Diversity of Kinds. But when he found this
too difficult a Task for him, and he had examin'd those Bodies which had
the fewest Qualities, and could find, none of them void of one of these
two, _viz._ Heaviness or Lightness; he proceeded to consider the Nature
of these two Properties, and to examin whether they did belong to Body
_quatenu