The First Principles of Natural Things

until it reached its ultimate orbit. We show how these changes were as countless as the circular paths through which it passed, or as numerous as the various distances of these circles from the sun and the Earth's differing speeds in its annual and daily rotations original: "annual and diurnal circumvolution". In short, we describe how the Earth underwent a new change every day and hour. It was necessary for the Earth to undergo these changes before it could be fully developed, or be composed of so many series of things arising both simultaneously and one after another. These changes allowed it to be enriched with such variety that it became complete in all its kingdoms—mineral, vegetable, and animal—and could nurture, unfold, and expand seeds, thereby adorning its own surface in such a delightful and varied way.

In this early state of the Earth, while it was revolving on its axis and orbiting the sun more rapidly than it does now—and while, because it was nearer to its parent sun, it measured out shorter days and years—we show how it must have been under the influence of a perpetual spring. Swedenborg theorized that the early Earth's proximity to the sun and its rapid rotation created a constant, global spring-like climate essential for the origin of life. This season was uniquely suited for the process of generation and growth; without it, no seeds could have grown, and no plant or animal life could have originated.

Regarding the magnet and its forces, the reader is referred to the entire Second Part of our treatise. There, I attempt to demonstrate that magnetic force arises from the motion of the "first element" and the "second" (or magnetic) element, which together form the solar and planetary vortices original: "vortices"; in Swedenborg’s physics, these are swirling motions of subtle matter that carry planets and particles.. I argue that magnetism consists of effluvia original: "effluvia"; in 18th-century science, these were thought to be invisible flows of particles emanating from physical bodies. which are capable of moving around their own axes. When these particles are set into a gyrating or spiral motion, they act as the subtle element we call magnetism.

Consequently, through these rotations, little vortices are created, and these vortices link together from one pole of the magnet (or its sphere) to the other pole. This is how magnetism is created, as well as its power to join with other objects when similar particles spreading through another body are brought into contact with it. We also show that the magnet itself, in terms of its internal structure, consists of a straight or regular alignment of its parts extending from one polar side to the other. Because of this, a sphere is formed externally, connected on both sides to its axis by mechanical necessity. These particles, or "effluvia," are purely iron; iron is rendered magnetic when those parts are brought...