INSTANT

, otherwise called a Moment, an infinitely small part of duration, or in which we perceive no succession, or which takes up the time of only one idea in our mind.

It is a maxim in mechanics, that no natural effect can be produced in an Instant, or without some definite time; also that the greater the time, the greater the effect. And hence may appear the reason, why a burt<*>en seems lighter to a person, the faster he carries it; and why, the faster a person slides or scates on the ice, the less liable it is to break, or bend.