Cause Principle Unity

On magic
or around a centre. Rather, it occurs along an infinity of lines from the
same centre, for while some parts of the body are ejected and emitted
outward from the body’s convex surface and perimeter, others are reciprocally
received and absorbed. Bodies grow and are invigorated when
the inflow of beneficial things is greater than their outflow, and they age
and weaken and become sluggish when the inflow of extraneous things
is greater than the outflow of natural things. This is the reason why corruption
and change occur in things, including all changes or alterations and
disintegrations … 11
There is no controversy over the evidence for the first two types of
motion, and, as a result, the understanding and classifications of them are
well known. But a more careful consideration of the third type will be
found to be not only needed and helpful, but also necessary. The situation
is especially clear in things which have very strong sensible qualities. For
instance, fire warms in every direction and not just on one side or another.
For, as soon as it is lighted, it sends out its light and flames in every direction.
Likewise, a sound and a voice penetrate equally in all directions, if
they occur in a medium which is open on all sides. In the same way, it is
quite clear that the sense of smell is activated by the continuous emission
of small parts from an odoriferous body. This could not happen unless that
body’s substance were to flow out and emit its parts in all directions. The
same thing happens in the case of reflections and other such observable
occurrences. Innumerable other accidental things are caused by certain
parts flowing out, and sometimes these parts travel an enormous distance
from a very small observable source, as is clear when a small amount of
something emits a smell for many years.
In addition to these observable qualities or powers which are emitted
from bodies spherically, there are other, more spiritual and less heavy ones
which act not only on the body and on the senses, but also on the interior
spirit. The more powerful ones touch the powers of the soul and cause
various effects and passions, as is commonly thought to be true of many
stones, herbs and minerals. This is also clear in fantasies and in cases where
the eye has actively or passively been hit. An example is the basilisk 12 who,
by looking at a man a long way off, can kill him with the sharpness of
its vision.
11 There is a break in Bruno’s text at this point.
12 The basilisk, also called a cockatrice, was a legendary monster resembling a lizard which was said to
have been hatched by a snake from a cock’s egg. Its breath and glance were supposedly fatal.
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