Fire and heat

Use in the book

An elemental fragment calls fire the essential principle of generative force; another expressly calls heat a substance and identifies it with fire, opposing cold as its absence. The ascending and descending sequence of ether, fire, air, water, and earth pictures transformations rather than modern chemical elements. In the verbal judgment, men can say cold things with fire and weak things strongly. The energetic manner does not remedy the poverty of what is said.

Places to read

1. I, p. 51, entry 1, ¶1Fire is assigned a generative function among the elements.
2. I, p. 238, entry 1, ¶7Heat as substance is identified with fire.
3. I, p. 220, entry 10, ¶1Fire occupies a place in an ascending and descending elemental series.
4. II, p. 479, entry 3, ¶3Fire in delivery does not supply good reasons.

Translation in this edition

The English translation keeps “fire” and “heat” rather than replacing the historical material account with energy. The contrast of saying cold things with fire deliberately preserves the paradox.

Cold

French: froid.

At I.238 cold is defined within a historical hypothesis as absence of fire; this is not a modern thermodynamic definition. This inserted movement material carries the Nollet and editorial-omission qualifications explained in the main article.

Places to read: I, p. 238, entry 1, ¶7.

Flame

French: flamme.

At I.219 flame is called the body of fire, within a series distinguishing a medium from its bodily appearance.

Places to read: I, p. 219, entry 4, ¶1.

Electrical fire

French: électrique.

The fire called electrical acts without showing itself and can be made to appear, chiefly through a transparent substance like a clear word. The English translation preserves both the historical designation and the surprising verbal comparison. The passage supplies no modern explanation of electricity, and the name is not rewritten as a description of combustion.

Places to read: II, p. 905, entry 6, ¶3.