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(10.) Besides the qualities of magnitude and impenetrability, there are several other general properties of bodies contemplated in mechanical philosophy, and to which we shall have frequent occasion to refer. Those which we shall notice in the present chapter are,

1. Divisibility.

2. Porosity—Density.

3. Compressibility—Elasticity.

4. Dilatability.

(11.) Divisibility.—Observation and experience prove that all bodies of sensible magnitude, even the most solid, consist of parts which are separable. To the practical subdivision of matter there seems to be no assignable limit. Numerous examples of the division of matter, to a degree almost exceeding belief, may be found in experimental enquiries instituted in physical science; the useful arts furnish many instances not less striking; but, perhaps, the most conspicuous proofs which can be produced, of the extreme minuteness of which the parts of matter are susceptible, arise from the consideration of certain parts of the organised world.