bold to borrow the best Part of the Observations in his Work 'T is also remarkable how Pag. 249 252 255 256 257 259. he falls foul upon a very famous and reverend Divine for taking the same Philosophick Liberty which he himself assumes in many Places of his Essay As for his darling Notion though none of his own of Specifick Gravity 't is notoriously false in Fact and Nature for the Strata Layers or Bedâ— of Sediments out of which Steno Scillâ— Grandius Ramazzini and others will have the Earth made up do not lie according to their different Weights or according to the Statick Laws of descent of Solids in Fluids for the Strata of Marble and other Stone of Lead and other Metals lye often near the top or Superficies having many lighter Strata under them and if all the Strata thro the whole Globe could possibly be viewed and examined I am confident the respective Order of specifick Gravity would not hold in any two together and who can fancy that the Parts of Ferns Mosses and other Plants of Shells Teeth and other Bones should equiponderate with those of Metallick Fossils nay oftentimes subside below them and whoever views the Dimensions Weight Figure and Place of those vast Natural Columns call'd the Devil 's Causy in Ireland will be soon convinced of the Weakness of this Hypothesis Their Origine therefore must be accounted for some other way than what Coluâ—na Steno Scilla Boccone Grandius and others copying after them have deliver'd concerning the Deluge and Inundations Strata Crusts or Sediments according to the Laws of Specifick Gravity neither are the many Phenomena relating to their Situation explicable by any Theories of the Earth as yet publish'd I know not what Dr. Hooke may do when he comes to print his Lectures upon this Subject which the Virtuosi expect and very earnestly crave of him Much also may be perform'd by the Learned Mr. Edward Lhwyd Keeper of the Oxford Museum who hath been very diligent and accurate in his Observations on these Bodies and whose Candor and Modesty joyned with his exquisite Judgment render him capable of such an Undertaking As to the Origine of subterraneous Plants either digg'd out of Earthen Beds or lodged within Stony Substances or else impress'd upon them which Steno in his Prodroms translated by Mr. Oldenburgh Pag. 93 94 95. will needs derive the same way with those of Shells Teeth Bones and other Parts of Animals buried in the like Strata or Sediments of the Deluge Mr. Lhwy'd of Oxford has rais'd many invincible Objections against this Stenonian Hypothesis in the last Edition of Camden's Britannia Pâ—g 692 693. and Mr. Ray in his second Preface to the Synopsis of British Plants argues very Philosophically against this Opinion reviv'd of late with great Assurance and in a positive manner but Mr. Whiston hath done very wisely in taking no notice of the many insuperable Difficulties which have been uâ—g'd against the bringing in of these Bodiâ—s and the forming our present Crusts and Layers of Earth out of a general Deluge He hath saved himself much Sweaâ— and Pains in having Recourse only to two or three late Books and in consulting Copies instead of Originals which would have given more Strength and Beauty to his Work and would have look't more masterly however the Gentleman hath performâ—d very well in the main and hath shewn a profound and clear Knowledge in Physical Science though not in the History of Learning nor in that of Nature Hiâ— Conjectures are admirable but his Quotations and References are not coâ—mendable being injurious to those eminent Philosophers who were the first Iâ—ventors and yet passed over in Silence as though there had been no such Writers many of their Observations being attributed by the Author of the New Theory to one of his own Acquaintance who may do as much for him another time but I would not willingly accuse Mr. Whiston of any ungenerous dealing having discover'd a noble Genius in the Formation of his System and therefore I conclude with respect to him and with Charity to all Mankind The Contents of the first Part. CHap. 1. The Philosophical meaning of these Words In the beginning God created the Heavens and the Earth and what may be concluded from them Chap. 2. Of God the supream and efficiâ—nt Cause and why Moses proves not the Being of a God expresly by way oâ— Argument â—ut implicitly by describing of the several Degrees of Perfection and the Subordinations of Life Chap. 3. Of the Creation of second Causes and the manner of their Production and ways of working Chap. 4. Of Light and Darkness the common Principles of mix'd Bodies what they were in Mass and how their Division made the first Production Chap. 5. Of Light the formal Cause of all mix'd Productions what it was whilst in Mass. Chap. 6. Of Darkness the material Cause of all mix'd Productions what it was in Mass how it was reduâ—'d into Form Of the Power of Matter and Motion Of Sympathy and Antipathy Chap. 7. Of the Spirit of God moving upon the Face of the Waters what is philosophically meant by it Of the â—irst division of the Waters and the clearing of the sublunary Firmament Chap. 8. The Division of the lower Waters into subterranean superterrâ—nean and nubiferous and by what Gradations the dry Land appear'd Chap. 9. Of the Primeval or Antediluvian Figure oâ— the Earth Chap. 10. Of the constituent Pâ—rts oâ— the Earth and â—irst of the volatile Part of it or the central Fire its natural Vses Chap. 11. Of the sixt Part of the Earth and first of the Inequality of its Surface their Natural Causes and Vses Chap. 12. Of Mountains their original Cause consistences and natural Vses being the first dry Land that appear'd Chap. 13. Of Mountain Heaths c. Chap. 14. Oâ— the Plains and Valleys c. Chap. 15. Of the Channel of the Sea c. Chap. 16. Of the â—luid Part of this terraqueous Globe and â—irst of the Sea c. Chap. 17. Of those preternatural Accidentâ— that disturb and interrupt the Course of Nature in this Material World c. Chap. 18. Of the central Damps Their Causes Natures and dreadful Effects upon this Globe Câ—ap 19. Of terrene Damps and their dreadful Effects upon this Globe c. Chap. 20. Of Noah's Flood its Causes the Season of the Year when it happen'd the Effects and Alterations it made upon the Earth Chap. 21. Of the season of the Year when the Deluge happen'd Chap. 22. Of the Alterations which Noah's Flood made in and upon the Earth The Contents of the second Part. CHap. 1. Of the Plastick Spirit in Matter and its natural Products Chap. 2. Of the grand Cover of the Earth the sympathetical Vnion of the plastick and vivisick Spirit and the Production of Vegetables the first and lowest Degree of Life Chap. 3. Of reducing the confus'd Mass of Light or the etherial Flame into a Body which made the Sun of reducing
those lighter Fogs and waâ—erish Mists into a Body which made the Moon how by clearing of the superlunary Firmament or the Planetary Spheres the Stars appear'd and what the Sun Moon and Stars contribute towards the Production of sensitive or locomotive Animals and why the Creation of these second Causes made the fourth Production Chap. 4. Of the Production of the second Degree of Life and first of oviparous Animals as Fish and waterish Insects Chap. 5. Of the second Genus oâ— oviparous Animals viz. the Aerial And first of Fly-Insects secondly of Serpents thirdly of Birds and why Moses makes the waterish and aerial Animals congenial Chap. 6. Of the terrene or viviparous Animals Chap. 7. Of the Creation of Man the sixth Production The Conclusion Wherein is shewn the meaning and signisicancy of these Words And God saw every thing that he had made and behold it was very good A Discourse concerning the Terrestrial Paradise shewing how Adam was introduced into it The Time he continued in it and how he and Eve employed that Time A Discourse concerning the Conflagration of this material World the Local Hell its outmost Boundaries or Abraham's Gulph A short Treatise of Meteorology with some Observations concerning the Changes and Alterations of the Weather Chap. 1. Of Vapourâ—â—nd Exhalations c. Chap. 2. Of the efficient Causes oâ— all Meteors and first of Heat Chap. 3. Of Cold the other efficient Cause of Meteors Chap. 4. Of the Air or Medium wherein all Meteors are generated Chap. 5. Of fiery Meteors c. Chap. 6. Of Comets c. Chap. 7. Of Thunder its Causes and Effects Chap. 8. Of vaporous Meteors and first of Dews and Hoar Frosts Chap. 9. Of Rain Hail and Snow Chap. 10. Oâ— Hail and Snow with Observations Chap. 11. Of Frost and Thaw Chap. 12. Oâ— the Sphere of Rarefaction Chap. 13. Of Wind Helms and Arches Chap. 14. Prognostications of the Change and Alteration of Weather from the setting and rising of the Sun The Author living at a great Distance from the Press desires the Reader â—o pâ—â—don those following Mistakeâ— PAge 5. line 13. read further p. 25. l. 6. r. Philosophically p. 27. l. 9. r. Anteperistatical p. 30. l. 10. r. Nutritius p. 44. l. 25. r. Fluidity p. 67 l. 1. r. Nature p. 91. l. 4. r. Sublunary p. 121. l. 24. r. Litoralâ—s p. 13â— l. 25. r. Assimilation p. 139. l. 10. r. learned p. 155. l. 28. r. Zodiack A Scheme wherein the Several Phaenomena of this Terraqueous Globe are Explained ABCDEFG A The Central Fire disseminating a Vital heat through the whole Cortex or Shel of the Globe B The Mountains â—rom the Centre to the Surface C Heaths D Plains E The Channel of the Sea The flatt Strata or Beds of Matter with their Acclivities to the â—ountains and Declivities to the Seas together with their Elevations and Depressions thus described The winding and turnings of the greater Veins Dividing the several Classes of Matter described thus through which the whole Mass of sâ—â—terranean Water Circulates Their Lesser Fibres or Rami Factions filling all the flat Strata with feeders of Water which breaking out upon the Surface of the Earth cause Spring c. described thus F The Seas with the Rivers flowing into them from the Tops of the Mountains swelling them into a Ciâ—bosity and causing in them a Continual Fermentation G Vapors Arising from the Seas which being Attracted by the Coldness of the Mountains fixeth there Forming an Atmosphere round the whole Globe PART I. CHAP. I. â—he Philosophical meaning of these Words In the beginning God created the Heavens and the Earth and what may be concluded from them MOSES in his Philosophical Description of the Creation lays it down as a granted Principle or a grand Thesis â—â—at the Heavens and the Earth with 〈◊〉 their Parts Furniture and variety 〈◊〉 Natures contained in them were â—â—eated de novo and that God the â—â—pream Being Un-created and Indeâ—endent Almighty in Power and Inâ—â—nite in Wisdom and all Perfections â—as the efficient cause That the time when the World was Created was in the beginning of Time or when Time first began to have a Being for before the World was Created there was duration or Stabilis Aeternitas as the Schoolmen express it but Time being an equal mensuration of Motion it and Motion began together From this grand Thesis we may conclude First against Aristotle who endeavour'd by many Arguments to prove that the World as it now stands in Matter and Form was Eternal which Hypothesis advanceth the World into an equality with God makes it its own efficient Cause Uncreated and Independent In the Second place this Mosaick Thesis concludes against Plato and his Followers who tho' he did positively assert that God made the World yet he did conceive that the Matter on which it did consist was Eternal and Pre-existent By which Hypothesis he concludes God to be an impotent cause not able to create the World without Matter and Stuff to work upon These mistaken Principles in Philososophy were occasion'd from the Observation of the regular course of Nature not considering that there might be other causes which might produce effects in an other way than cou'd ever come within the compass of their narrow observation for how Spiritual Causes produce their effects its impossible for us whilst we continuâ— in this dark state of Matter wherein we have but a very short and narrow prospect to understand In the Third place it concludes against Democritus and his Followers who did not only conceit that Matter was Eternal and Pre-existent but that the World had no efficient cause but what was from Chance or the casual motion of Matter which consisting of infinite numbers of Atoms or little Corpuscles of different Figures Natures and Qualities which rainged about in a vast and infinite space until at the last by Divisions Separations and Mixtures occasioned by their contrary and mixt Qualities and the innate Power of Sympathy and Antipathy they at last setled into the Form and Figure of this World which it can no more alter or vary from than the active Fire be taught to change its Nature and descend and Gravation to ascend and fly upward No doubt but this Hypothesis waâ— grounded upon an experimental Observation of the several Kinds of Matter of different Natures which being mixt together in a Glass or any transparent Vessel will separate and divide themselves proprio mâ—tu tho never so jumbled and mix'd together I shall not in this place shâ—w you the absurdity of this Hypothâ—sis but rather chuse in the following Chapters to give some account what Feats Matter and Motion will produce by vertue of their contrary Qualities and the power of Sympathy and Antipathy and how far God Almighty might make uâ—e of thâ—se towards the forming the materrial part of this World We may hence farther conclude that although neither the World as it stands nor the Matter on which it consists did
the Earth we find them lying upon Flaâ—s with a Dibb and Rise the Rise towards the tops of Mountains and the Dibb towards the main Ocean as the Waters left them and forc'd them up when they drew down into their proper Channel The whole Mass of Terrene Matter being thus Compact and Cemented together by the pressures of the circumambient ambient Waters as we press Brick and Tyle in their several Moulds the Central â—ire did by its heat bake and consolidate those Stones Metals Mines and Minerals that were of a fiery nature as well as those of an unctuous and pinguid quality into their several degrees of Consolidation and Induration whilst the Anteperistical Cold together with those petrifying juices of Salt and Nitre which then did abound in all the lax and undigested Strata did petrify those Strata of a Terrene Nature into their several degrâ—es of Induration and Lapidifaction By these Natural Gradations the Earth became fixt upon its Center and â—he Waters a fluid body moving and circulating about it and they both made one Terraqueous Globe of a Spherical and Mathematical Rotundity all the Lines from the Superficies to the Centre being of an equal length Thus the space between the surface of the Waters and the Moon 's Vortex was clear'd of all those Fogs and Mists which ranged about in it And being fill'd with their Air Moses calls it the Firmament of Heaven which made the second Production viz. of space wherein the Under-agents or second Causes had room to work and produce effects of a higher and more noble Nature and Quality CHAP. VIII The division of the lower Waters into Subterranean Superterranean and Nubiferous and by what Gradations the dry Land appeared THO' this great Embrio was ready for birth and to breath in fresh Air yet it could not be deliver'd from this great Bag of Water wherein it was enclos'd by any innate Power it had in it self without a Supernatural assistance The Almighty was pleas'd therefore to play the Midwife and to deliver it by breaking of this great body of Water and by dividing of the sweet from those of a Saline and Brakish Nature For as soon as the intermediate Matter which made the Shell of the Earth was rednâ—'d into Form and Order and the several Strata or Layers of Stones Metals Minerals and Subterrene Earths with their cross-cutting and dividing Dykes Rakes Ryders Veins and Strings or Side-branches had receiv'd from the heat of the Central fire and the petrefying Juices of Salt and Nitre their several degrees of Incrustation Induration and Lapidifaction the thirsty Matter gradually suckt in the thin sweet Water until all its Veins Dykes Cavities and Pores were fill'd and saturated with it The Salt Water being the Sedement of the whole Mass and likewise being too thick to penetrate and pass through the straâ—t Pores and Strainers of the solid and condensed Matter did gradually draw down to its Channel And all the Veins and Pores of the Earth being now Saturated with sweet Water the Subterranean Lympheducts or underground Water-works began first to bubble up and play from the tops of the highest Mountains from whence thâ— Rivers took their first rise and began to form their courses to the Sea and by their rapidity and weight continually pressing in upon her from all sides swell'd her up into a Gibbosity and forâ—'d her into a constant flux and reflux which reciprocation of Motion causing in her a boyling Fermentation the sweet Water does disentangle it self from the Salt and being lighter riseth up in Fumes and Vapours which fly abroad until they be condens'd into Clouds which falling down in showers of sweet Water upon the Earth becomeâ— the Succus Nutritivus of the fleshy paâ—t of it giving not only a vital nourishment to the several Kinds of Animals living on the outer Coat or Skin of it but repairing the Subterranean Waters by preserving them from wasting The Waters being now divided into Superterranean Subterranean and Nubiferous the dry Land appear'd and was gradually prepar'd for being an habitable World CHAP. IX Of the Primeval or Antidiluvian Figure of the Earth DR Burnet in his Theory of the Earth conceits and endeavours to perswade the World that the Primeval Earth was Spherically or Mathematically round without Seas Mountains or any inequalities upon its Surface Which Hypothesis or rather ingenious Conceit seems in the first place to be inconsistent with the Original State of this Materiâ—l Globe which being design'd for a placâ— of Habition for several Kinds of Animals of â— mixt and compounded Constitution whose vital â—lame is nourish'd and maintain'd by a continual respiration of a soft and vaporous Air which must not only be frequently fann'd with the brisk gales and blasts of a cleansing Wind but also moistned and sweetned with showers frequently falling through it All which have their Original cause from the constant flux and reflux of the Sea and those inequalities upon the surface of the Earth Without which there would neither have been an Atmosphere Wind Rain or Air but the Superficies of the Earth would have been by the Sun's Beams continually beating upon it Baked and Incrusted into the hardness of Brick and Tyle This Hypothesis seems also inconsistent with the different Natures of those Animals with which the Almighty Creator has been pleas'd to stock it some of which being only produc'd in a Warm and Fertile Soil others only in a Cold and Sterile So some Animals delight only to breath a warm and soft Air others a more bleak and piercing Thus Strawberries and Gilliflowers will not thrive upon the tops of cold and barren Mountains nor Mountain Vegetables in the most fertile Soil or best prepar'd warm Beds This will be made more clear and evident when we shall give account of the natural uses of the Flux and Reflux of the Sea and those inequalities and irregularities of the Earth's Surface Once more to suppose the Earth to have been of an even and Spherical Supersicies seems inconsistent with the different Kinds and Natures of that Matter of which it consists some of which being hard others soft some fix'd others â—luid it cann't be imagin'd that all this variety of Matter would settle in a Figure Spherically and Mathematically round From these Arguments we may without being guilty of any great presumption conclude against Dr. Burnet's Hypothesis that as the Antediluvian Earth consisted of the same Matter with this present Earth and produc'd the same Species of Animals of the same natures and qualities it was of the same Figure that now we find it in a Terraqueous Globe of a Physical Rotundity with Seas Mountains c. And thâ—t these irregularities and Inequalities of this Terrestrial Globe did not Date their Original from that Disruption which was occasion'd by the Deluge as Dr. Woodward positively asserts Part 2d page 80. is evidâ—nt from part 6. Page 246. where he undertakes to prove that the Face of the Earth
Clay c. which divide the several Strata we presently raise their Feeders And if any who being prompt'd either to gratifie his Natural Curiosity or gain some considerable Advantage to himself would raise a new River upon dry Ground let him go to the Foot of some Hill or Rising Ground and begin a Level-Drift which by cross-cutting of the several Strata of that Rising Earth he will Tap and fet at Liberty all the Feeders and if he drive on till he shall cross-cut with the Drift one Branch of those greater Dikes he will Raise a considerable River which may turn to his great Advantage CHAP. XVII Of those Preternatural Accidents that Disturb and Interrupt the Course of Nature in this Material World c. HAving in the former Chapters given an Account of the Originals Causes Consistences and Natural Uses of the several Parts of this Natural Globe as well Fix'd as Fluid It will not be improper to subjoin an Account of such Preternatural Accidents as sometimes have disturb'd and may for the future interrupt the regular Course of Nature and at the last so far destroy the Frame and Fabrick of this Material Part of it as to render it uncapable of being an Habitable World And these are Earthquakes Hurricanes Volcano's violent Eruptions of the Subterranean Waters as at Noah's Flood Stagnations of the Subterranean Air causing the Springs and Mineral Feeders to sink down into the Interior â—arts of the Earth Interruption of the Circulation of Vapours and Rains upon the Earth as in the days of Elisha the Prophet violent and Preternatural Thunders such as destroy'd Sodom and Gomorrah These and the like are the Accidental Distempers that have happen'd in the Body of the Earth and they seem Analagous to those Fevers Agues Convulsions c. which interrupt the Healthful Constitutions of our own Bodies and are sometimes destructive of 'em And as all the Diseases and Distempers our Bodies are subject to have their Original from Accidental Heats or Colds which either Sublimates and Exalts our Animal Spirits into a Feverish degree of Volatility or by Cold and Aguish Damps depresseth them into a degree of Stagnation So all those Accidental and Preternatural Disturbances that happen in the Course of Nature have their original Cause from the several Kinds and Natures of Damps which are Either Central Subterrene or Aerial And are of Quality Either Hot Cold Sweet or Foul. CHAP. XVIII Of the Central Damps Their Causes Natures and Dreadful Effects upon this Globe THE Subterranean Vault being filled with a confus'd Mass of undigested Matter Consisting of Sublimat'd Sulphur Bitumen and Nitre whenever it happens that there ariseth a War between these angry Volatiles and their Fluid Neighbours viz. the Subterranean Water and Air which Circulates through those greater Veins that environ this large Vault and do not only Feed and Nourish that Infernal Smother but keep and confine it within its own Boundaries that it break not forth in violent Eruptions upon the fixt Body of the Earth As soon as this Intestine War commenceth these Active Volatiles of Sublimated Sulphur Bitumen and Nitre collect and aggregate into great Bodies And when these discharge in the Central part of the Vault the Nitre which is the principal Cause of the grand Effort or Flatus dilates and expands its self on all sides upwards and downwards Indifferently And this violent Effort or Flatus causeth an universal Concussion of the whole Globe When the Damp gathers towards the Circumference of the Vault and there dischargeth it self the grand Flatus hath its Tendency upwards and sometimes causeth a Concussion of one half of the Globe without any Eruption of Fire When the Damp Fires upon some Class of the Superincumbent Strata it either splits them making Cracks and Chasms in the Exterior parts of the Earth for some Miles in length which at the instant of the Shock openeth and in the Interval between the Shocks closeth again Of this Kind was that â—rack or Chasm which open'd and â—â—allow'd up the Tents of Korah Dathan and Abiram and no doubt but the Shock struck a Terror into the whole Camp Or if the grand Flatus be very Strong and Vehement it either elevates the whole Class above the Superficies of the Earth forming a new Mountain or else it sinks down into the Vault and the vacant place is immediately fill'd with Water not from Dr. Woodward's Abyss but from the Veins of the Earth which break into it When the Damp fires near or upon some of the great Joints or Clifts of the Earth the Flatus pursues all the Windings and Turnings of these Joints and Clifts until it break forth in Dreadful Hurricanes either under the Sea occasioning most Horrible Disorders and Perturbations raising its Surface into Prodigious Waves Tossing and Rowling them about in most strange Whirlpools Overturning and Swallowing up Ships in an instant And upon the dry Land Overturning Cities Towns Blowing up Mountains c. Tho' these Effects of the Subterranean Nitre when Rarified and Dilated by the Central Flame be very Dreadful yet if these Fissures and Spiracles through which they get a Vent and break out upon the Earth had been Perpendicular as Dr. Woodward Conceits they wou'd have Destroy'd the whole Surface of it For then every one of these lesser Damps or Squibs which daily take Fire in the Subterranean Vault wou'd have broken out upon us And the greater Damps being Fired wou'd have Blown up not only the Inhabitants of the Earth but their Houses with its Superficies into the Air for the deeper the Fissure or Spiracle is if it be Perpendicular in a streight Line the more Strength and Impetuosity it gives to the Flatus as we observe in Guns and Fuzees Again The very Sulphurous Exhalations which wou'd have ascended through these Perpendicular Fissures without interruption wou'd with their Noisome Smell have Sufâ—ocated and Stifled those Animals that Live by Respiration and wou'd have afforded Matter for continual Thunder in the Air. It was then most agreeable with the State of this Habitable Globe that these Fissures or Joints of the Earth shou'd have their Position from the Surface to the Câ—nter in crooked Lines with various windings and turnings openings and closings not only for securing us from those dangerous Effects of the Central and Terrene Damps but also for the better and more commodious Communication of the Subterranean Waters through the Flat Strata of Matter And Lastly That the Subterranean Waters by following of the windings and â—urnings of these greater Fissures might have a longer Journey to the Sea and thereby supply the Inhabitants of the Earth with sweet Waters at a more Commodious and Convenient Distance These Phenomena of Central Damps and that they are the only cause of all those Universal Earth-quakes that have happen'd in this Natural World being wholly new and the World not yet accquainted with them may at first sight seem only the
upon the Mountains from whence it takes its Rise and these as Geographers give Account are that vast Ridge of Mountains which for their Height bear the Name of Montes Lunae as iâ— their lofty Tops wash'd their Headâ— in the Moon 's Waterish Vortex Others are of Opinion that the Yearly Over-flowing of that River is caus'd by those great Rains which fall every Spring in the higher Ethiopia But if either the Dissolution of Snow or Inundations caus'd by the falling of those Spring-Rains were the true Reason c. they wou'd also cause the otheâ— Rivers in those Countries to Overflow their Banks at the same time which is so far from being Observable that when Nilus Over-flows the otheâ— Rivers are at a very low Ebb. The Cause then of this Yearly Overflowing of Nilus which begins about the 17th of Iune and continues until the 6th of October seems to be a Subterranean Damp which Yearly Stagnates the Circulation of Air in these vast Rocks and open Strata from whence those Rapid Springs and Feeders slow which are the Heads of that Famous River The Subterranean Air being Dampt the Springs and Mineral Feâ—ders are forc'd to stand back and fill all those vast Concavities and Hollows for several Miles upon â—he Side-rise and some Miles upon the Top-rise of those Rocks and Metals until the weight of so vast a quantity of Water which may be compar'd to a lâ—sser Sea breaks the Damp or Damm of Stagnated Air and then the River begins to Over-flow anâ— continues until the Waters be spent and the Damp gathers again It s observ'd that when the River Nilus begins to Over-Flow its Banks that great Plagues break out in Cairo which seems to be occasion'd by those gross Vapours and Mineral Exhalations that arise from so vast a quantity of Stagnated Water which whilst by its Motion its Purging of it self and recovering of its Sweetness fly about corrupt the Air and cause Infections This Subterranean Damp is likewise the cause of the Horary Over-â—lowing of the Spring at Gigleswick in Yorkshire for this Spring bâ—ing the feeder of a Lime-stone Rock near Thirty Yards Perpendicular in Height which breaks out at the Foot of it so oftâ—n as the Circulation of the Air in the Rock is dampt the Spring runs very slowly and when the weight of the Water has broken the Damp it Over-flows and this Flux and Reflux is once in every Hour I observ'd my self that before the Waters began to Flow there was a knocking in the Rock and this was caused by the pressing of the Water upon the Damp before it broke The same is the cause of that Drumming in the Well at Bautry which the Inhabitants of the Town told me never happâ—n'd but against the change of Government This Well is observ'd to be â—or the most part Dry which is occasion'd by the feeders standing back the drumming noise is occasion'd by the Waters pressing upon the Damp and the Hollows of the Well for as soon as the Damp is broken the Well fills wiâ—h Water and the Drumming is over This occasions the Report of Under-ground Spirits which Miners call Mineral Spirits and they observe that these Spirits give notice by Knocking or Groaning before the Mineral Vein be discover'd I have observ'd my self that in a new Collerie when the Workmen were near the Coal and only the Kell which kept the feeder of it unbrokâ—n there wou'd have been a sort of Knocking Sighing or Groaning heard in the Vein which was only occasion'd by the weight of the Water lying in the Coal and pressing forward for more room and liberty for as soon as the Coal was prick'd the Water rose in the Pit the Knocking was over and the Mineral Spirit Conjur'd Of this kind also is that Damp which the Miners sometimes meet with in their sinking of deep Pits and new Works where a Cloud of Breath or Sweat perspiring from the Bodies of the Workmen will stiâ—le the Circulation of the Air and not suffer the Candles to Burn. This Damp will steal 〈◊〉 Breath insensibly from the Workmâ—â— and stiâ—le ' em There is yet another kind of Damp the Miners complain of which they call the foul or stinking Damp and this is caused by the breaking out of corrupted Air from old crusted Works This if not prevented will Kill and Stifle the Workmen The Aerial Damps will be treated upon in Meteorologie Having given an Account of the Causes Natures and Effects of Damps and such Preter-natural Accidents as have and may disturb and interrupt the regular Course of Nature we cannot but make an Enquiry into the Causes of Noah's Flood the Season of the Year when it happen'd and the Alterations and Devastations it made upon the Earth CHAP. XX. Of Noah's Flood its Causes the Season of the Year when it happen'd the Effects and Alterations it made upon the Earth If these two Learn'd Men viz. Dr. Burnet and Dr. Woodward had understood better the Structure of the Terraqueous Globe the Natural Consistences of it the Causes Natures and Effects of Damps and that those Subterranean Waters which Circulate through the Veins of the Earth bears proportion to Seventy two Oceans they woâ—'d have discover'd such a quantity of Water as wou'd have caus'd an Universal Deluge without the Conceit of a Central or Subterranean Abyss Which Hypothesis tho' manag'd with the greatest Artisice of Invention and Oratory when seriously enquir'd into will be found to have very little of Truth in the bottom of it for it seems not only inconsistent with the Original Settlement of Matter as we have observ'd already but also with Dr. Woodward's Hypothesis concerning the re-settling of the fluid Matter dissolv'd by the Deluge which he positively asserts to have been according to the Rules of Specifick Gravity the heaviest subsiding the lowest This Hypothesis if taken for granted we must necessâ—rily conclude from it that all those kinds of ponderous Ore and heaviest Rocks of Iron Stone Marble c. would have sunk down into the Central Vault and fill'd it up That the rest of the Fix'd Matter being by some degree lighter would have spread their Solid Strata uppermost And that the Fluid Waters being by several degrees lighter than the Fix'd Matter would have cover'd the whole Terreâ—e Globe and consequently wou'd have caus'd an Universal and perpetual Deluge upon the Earth But suppose it possible to improve the strength of Imagination to such a height as to fancy that there was Originally and is still a vast Abyss of Hot Water contain'd in the Center of the Earth it cannot be so easily apprehended by what Power or Means this vast substance of Water shou'd be put into so high a degree of Fertâ—entation and Commotion as to cause an Universal Disruption and Dissolution of the Earth as Dr. Woodward conceits for although that Fire placed under a Pot sill'd with Water will by emitting of its fiery Globuli and mingling them with the Water cause so
General Quarter Sessions of the Peace for the County of Surrey holden at Darking on Tuesday the Fifth day of April 1692 and in the Fourth Year of Their Majesties Reign By the Honourable Hugh Hare Esq One of Their Majesties Justices of the Peace for that County The Second Edition Corrected An Historical Relation of the Conspiracy of Iohn Lowis Count Deffieschi against the City of Genoua in the Year 1547. Written in Italian by Augustin Mascardi Gentleman of the Bed Chamber to Pope Urban the Eighth Done into English by the Honourable Hugh Hare Esq An Account of the Isle of Iersey the Gâ—eatest of the Islands that are now the only remainder of the English Doâ—inions in France with a New and Accurate Mapp of the said Island By Ph. Falle M. A. Rector of St. Saviour in the said Island and Chaplain in Ordinary to His Majesty Mr Falle's Sermon before the English Gâ—â—â—ison in Iersey April the 10th 1692. One Sermon at Whitehall Decemb. the 30th 1694. One Sermon before the Lord Mayor April the 21th 1695. A Discourse of Natural and Reveal'd Religion in several Essays By Mr. T. Nourse The Anatomy of 〈◊〉 Earth Dedicated to all Miners By Tho. Robinson Rector of Outby in Cumberland The History of the Campagne in Flanders for the Years 1692 1693 1694 and 1695. All Written by Edward â— Auergne M. A. Rector of St. Brelade in the Isle of Iersey and Chaplain to His Majesties Regiment of Scots Guards * Note that Steno proves the Earth to have been twice fluid twice plain and dry twice scabrous and craggy the first was at the original Chaos the second at the Flood This says he is manifest from some Beds of the higher Hills containing no Heterogeneous Bodies because form'd before there wâ—re any Animals or Plants or other mix'd Solids and so presâ—rv'd in their simple antediluvian Stâ—â—e by the Heighth of their Siâ—uation which might secure them against the Load of many adventitious or factitious Bâ—ds falling for the most part on the Vallies and low Places where they make up all the compound Strata which inâ—rust tâ—â— presâ—nt Earth and separate it from the primitive oâ—e whose Beds are more simple not stuffed up with such diâ—â—â—â—ent Bodies as make up the postdiluvian Strata or Sediments This agrees with what Mr. Whiston delivers in mâ—ny Places of his New Theory To which we may add that the simple antediluvian Beds on the high Mountains destitute of Heterogeneous Solids may be lâ—id open by the washings away of the incumbent Diluvian Sediments or compound Beds by the Torrents of Rains which carry down those Câ—usts and Bodies along with them Dr. â—urnetâ— inconsistences The Cause of this Globes Atmosphere Dr. Woodard's contradiction of himself â— Vse 2. Vse 3. Vse 4. Vse 5. Vse 1. Vse 2. Vse The cause of Hills 1. The Cause of different Soils and Natures of Vegetables 2. The different Qualities of the Air. 3. The occasion of Springâ— c. 4. Of the breaking out of Mâ—nes c. 5. Of the productâ—on of Trees c. The Cause of Mountainâ— 1. Vse Their Consistences 2. Vse Their Natural Uses 3. Vse 4. Vse 5. Vse 6. Vse 7. Vse The position of Mountains The Cause of Gills Dales and Vallieâ— The Ingredâ—ents of Coal Lesser Mountains The Cause of the Chanel of the Sea The Nature and Quality oâ— the Sea 〈…〉 〈…〉 The Cause of the Seas Gibbosity The Cause of the Flux The Cause of its Reflux The Cause of Spring-tides and Dead-tides The Cause of the Seas Fermenâ—ation The effectâ— and Uses of the Seas Fermentation The Cause of the Saltness of the Sea Itâ— Uses The proportion which the Subterranean Water bears to the Sea Of the greater Veins of the Earth c. To raise new Riverâ— upon dry Ground A Subterranean contest between Fire and Water A Concussion of the whole Globe A Concussion of half the Globe A Local Earthquake New Mountains and Pondâ— Of Hurricains and their Effects Dr. Woodwards notion of perpendicular Fissures is a mistake in observation Of Burning Mountains Vulcano's Her damps in Colleries Their Effects Violent Eruptions of Water Of water Damps An Air Damp. A sweet Daâ—â— The over-flowing of Nilus The over-flowing of the Gigleswick Spring The drumming Wâ—ll aâ— Bautâ—y Mineral Spirits Foul. Air. The meaning of these words the Fountains of the great Deep were broken up The Cause of the Aerial Damp and its Effects What is meant by the opening of the Windows of Heaven The meaning of the Wind which God caused to pass over the Earth and its effects What the Rain-bows appearing in the Clouds did signifie A Refutation of Dr. Woodward's Hypothesis c. The time when the Deluge commenced Dr. Woodwaâ—d'â— Hypothesiâ— concerning the effects of the Dâ—lâ—ge Refuted The Alterations which thâ— Deluge made upon the Eaâ—â—h The time when these alterations were made Gen. 4. Verse 22. Part the 4th Page 188. Fabius Columna Dr. Hook Steno Scylla Boccâ—â—e Raâ— and many others Gen. 2.6 First Secondly First Secondly Thirdly Secondly Thirdly Secondly Thirdly Fourthly Fourthly The Laws of Divine Impression The Laws of natural Instinct The Laws of external Sense
extends them to the Universal Body of Mankind So notwithstanding that Moses wriâ— these Books for the instruction of that People in the first place he undoubtedly deâ—â—gn'd them for the information of others living in a State of Ignorance And therefore although he does noâ— expresly by way of Argument prove the Being of a God and that he waâ— the Supreme Cause of the World's Creation Atheism being not then heard of in the World yet he does it implicitly by describing of those several Degrees and Subordinations of Life in the World and by shewing how eveâ—y inferior Rank of Creatures is subservient to its Superior and how every inferior Species is concatenated and link'd to its Superior by intermediates all which is so visible and obvious in the Frame of the World that an easie Philosopher without any great difficulty or hard Study may ascend Gradatim first from those common Minerals of Salt Sulphur and Mercury to the several degrees and kinds of Oars and Metals from these to the fertile Soil from it to the several degrees of Life and Perfection in Vegetables as Grass Herbs Plants Shrubs Trees c. and from these to the Zoophyta or Plant-Animals which concatenates the highest degree of Vegetation to the lowest degree of Sensation from the several degrees of Sensation in Brutal Animals to Man which is an intermediate Animal that links and couples Heaven and Eearth together from Man to tâ—e several degrees of Light Life and Perfection in the Angelick Nature and from the Intellectual Nature to God the Fountain of Light Life and Perfection who as an Universal Soul actuates the whole World by giving of the several degrees of Life and Perfection to all the Creatures in the Animal World as they are plac'd in Orbs or Spheres nearer or at a greater distancâ— from his Divine Essenâ—e Thus in God all Creatures Live Move and have their Beings and by these gradations we may either ascend up to Heaven where God Almighty resides in Infinite Glory and Perfectioâ— or from thence descend to the hidden and dark Regions of Matter CHAP. III. Of the Creation of Second Causes and the manner of their Producton and ways of Working THE grand reason why Plato and Aristotle and â—he rest of the Natural Philosophers did assume it as a granted Principle that Nothing waâ— made out of Nothing and that every thing produced had necessarily some pre-existent Matter out of which it was so formed was as I have already hinted because they cou'd not observe in the ordinary course of Nature any thing produced de novo therefore â—hey concluded it impossible that any such Production cou'd ever be or â—appen in Nature But from particular Experiments or Observations to establish a general Conclusion especially concerning the impossibility of any thing 's Existence is no regular and warrantable way of argumentation for there may be Agents of another Sort and Powers which can produce Effects in another way than cou'd ever come within the compass of our observation for we see and cannot but make it an observation that one sensitive Animal by the power of Sensation can do more and produce greater effects than all the Vegetables can produce by the power and strength of Vegetation And one Man by the Power of his Natural Reason can produce more noble Effects than all the Brute Animals by the Strength of Sensation so one Angel by the Power and Vigour of his Spiritual and Intellectual Natures can produce effects more great and wonderful than all the Men in the World can by the power of Reason tho' never so exalted and sublimated for we read in 2 Kings 19. Chap. and 15. Verse that an Angel in one night went out and smote in the Camp of th' Assyrians one Hundred and fourscore and five thousâ—nd but how or by what means this Angelick power was exercised it is not within the compass of shallow Reason to conceive Yet we may reasonably conclude from it that if an Angel by the Power of his Intellectual Nature can do more than aâ—l the Men in the World so God Almighty by his Divine Essence can produce greater and far more wonderful effects than the whole Angelick Nature even such as is impossible either for us or them to understand But Moses having to hiâ— great improvements in Natural Philosophy the Advanâ—ages of the Patriarchal Traditionâ— and a Divine Revelation and being best acquainted with God Almighty's Power in producing Effects doth not only positively asserâ— that God was the Maker and Builder oâ— this World but that he Created iâ— and the Matter on which it doth consist out oâ— Nothing and that by uttering of thaâ— Almighty Word sâ—at not audibly for then there was no sensible Auditor in Being but mentally that is by an Act of Volition sic volo sic â—ubeo being oâ—ly a Prerogative of Almighâ—y Power The Second Causes which this Almighâ—y Power Created out of Nothing and which he made use of as instrumental iâ— all Productions of a mixt Constitution may be considered either as they are Essential or Accidental The Essential Causes were Light and Darkness the External and Accidental Causes were Motion Time and Place without which all Natural Productions are Physically impossible God having created these Second Causes by another Imperious VVord set them on working and he gave them also a Rule or Model to work by which is most commonly called the Course of Nature and when these new Agents had produced any effect he view'd it and gave it his Divine approbation in these Words God saw that it was good i.e. that it was agreeable with that Rule and Model he had given them to work by which words tho' they be spoken ad Hominem yet undoubtedly Moses intended by them to instruct and inform Mankind that the World was not made by Chance or the casual Motion of blind Atoms as some since have Atheistically asserted but by Wisdom Councel and Deliberation And this establish'd Course of Nature or these Laws and Rules which the Divine Wisdom gave to the Second Causes to work by he never interrupts or varies from but upon great and extraordinary occasions when he is pleas'd to give some Demonstrations of his Almighty Power and Universal Providence by which he governs the World at his Will and Pleasure then he can either divert the Natural Causes from their usual course or by them produce Supernatural Effects as the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah by extraordinary Thunder and Lightning the Destruction of all living Creatures upon the face of the Earth by an Universal Deluge or he can stop them in their Natural Course as when he caus'd the Sea to divide and stand still and the Sun to move backwards CHAP. IV. Of Light and Darkness the common Principles of mix'd Bodies what they were in Mass and how theiâ— division made the first production ALL the Natural Philosophers wanting the assistance of a Divine Revelation did agree in this that there cou'd be no Production
Products of Fancy or meer Conjecture yet if Seriously and Impartially enquir'd into will be fouâ—d Grounded upon such Reason as cannot without a prejudic'd Opinion be easily deny'd For it cannot be imagin'd by any who have made it their business to understand the Structure of the Earth those â—everal Classes of Solid and Dense Matter on which it consists the windings and turnings of those Dikes and Partitions which divide them and are the Subterranean Water Courses that there shou'd be Magazines of Subterranean Gunpowder lodg'd in Infernal Cavities round the whole Globe and that there shou'd be Trains laid from one Collection to another and that all these Trains shou'd take Fire through all the Subterranean Rivers in one instant of Time Neither can it reasonably be suppos'd that there shou'd be a Concussion of the whole or half or any considerable part of the Globe by one Subterranean Flatus but what is from the Central Vault Again The Consistences of the greatest part of the Earth being rather of a Gold Terrene and Mercurial than of a Bituminous Nitrous and Sulphureous Quality it cannot be suppos'd that those parts of the Earth which afford no quantities of this Natural Gunpowder shou'd suffer a Concussion or Earthquake but from these Central Damps Besides those Miners who have sunk deepest into these Occult Regions do from their own Experience assure us that there are no Grotto's or Cavities above an Hundred Fathoms deep unless in those Mountainous Countries where the Consistences are of a Sulphurous and Nitrous Quality affording plenty of Natural Gun-powder which being Fir'd cause all those Vulcano's we Read of in History CHAP. XIX Of Terrene Damps and their Dreadful Effects upon this Globe c. TErrene Damps have their Original either from Heat or Cold and are either Fiery or Waterish Those which have their Original from Fire are of the same Nature with those Central Damps we have given Account of As all Local Earth-quakes do more frequently happen in the Mountainous Countries than in the Plains and Valleys because all the greater Dikes Joints and Veins of the Earth contract and meet there And the Flatus which is the occasion of the Shock makes its way by what passage soever it can get Vent But these Mountainous Couâ—tries especially which yield great store of Sulphur Bitumen and chiefly Nitre these Minerals affording the greatest plenty of Natural Gun-powder are most injur'd by those dreadful Shocks because those Mountains whose Natural Consistences are of so Hot and Fiery a Quality are commonly very Cavernous and their greater Joints and Fissures as well as strong Strata having by frequent Concussions and Earthquakes lost their Natural Feeders are become the most proper Receptacles for those Fiery Stores to be lodg'd in until either the Central Fire or their own Natural Heat being contracted into a Point Discharge first the lowest Damp and the rest by Trains like so many Subalterns discharge in Course and sometimes for several Months together till the Subterranean Gun-powder be all spent And these Burning Mountains such as Aetna Vesuvius Hecla and others are only so many Spiracles or Vulcano's serving for the discharge of these Subterranean Damps which disgorgeth Flames of Fire and Stones of great Weight and Substance Showers of Sand and Rivers of melted Minerals and yet these Mountains by those Vulcano's lose nothing of their Height or Magâ—itude all these Eruptions being Recruited out of the great Magazine of Natural Gun-powder contain'd in the Infernal Vault Besides these Damps of a Fiery Natore contain'd in the Interior parts of the Earth there are others which sometimes happens in the Exterior parts of it such as those Fiery Damps in Colleries are only the Perspirations of Sulphur and Nitre out of the Cole Wall or Mine Collected into a Body and these either take Fire at a Candle or like so many dry Exhalations receiv'd into the Body of a Cloud and discharge like Thunder shakes the Earth about the Collery kills the Miners and have other Dreadful â—ffects To these we may add those Preter-natural Ebullitions and Eruptions of Subterranean Waters which Moses calls the Breaking up of the Fountains of the great Deep And these whenever they happen upon the Earth as at Noah's Flood are occasion'd by an Universal Fermentation and Dilation of the Central Fire which gaining ground upon their Fluid Neighbours force them into a most Rapid Motion through all the Subterranean Veins and consequently causeth those vâ—olent Eruptions of Water in all the Springs Rivers Joints and Fissures of the Earth Sometimes the Circulation of the Subterranean Waters stagnates and sinks down into the Interior parts of the Earth the Springs and Rivers dry up as in the days of Elisha and this is occasion'd by the stifling and damping of the Central Heat the Circumambient Waters prevailing upon it Sometimes the Circumbient Air which Circulates in the Exterior parts of the Earth especially the Caverns Joints and Concavities of Rocky Stones and other Metals and is the only cause of the Eruption and Motion of Springs Rivers c. Damps and Stagnates which forceth the Springs and Eruptions of Waters to stand back and fill those Caverns and Joints from whence they flow until the weight of the Waters break the Damp or rather Damm of Stagnated Air and then follows Eruptions and Overflowings of Springs Rivers c. This kind of Damps I have met with sometimes in Colleries where the Water made way for it self in such Joints and open Closers as it met with in the under Cills especially Lime-stone which is of all Stone the most Jointy and Open. And when the Air in these open Joints and Cavities was dampt the Waters stood back in the Working and forc'd the Mines out of the Pit until the weight broke the Damp and then the Waters Drain'd This Damp most frequently happens in the Summer Months when the Ambient Air is Thick with Hot and Piery Exhalations and the Effluvia of sweet Blossoms especially of Peas and Beans And this the Miners call the sweet Damp. This Stagnation and Damping of the Subterranean Air is in all probability the cause of the Annual Over-flowing of the River Nilus the Horary Overflowing of the Spring at Gigleswick in York-shire the Drumming in the Well at Bautry c. And these being by Men of Learning reckon'd among the Magnalia Naturae we shall enquire more particularly into the Causes of them And first of the Over-flowing of Nilus Nilus is one of the Noblest Rivers in the World and is famous not only for the long Course it takes through Ethiopia and Egypt which is suppos'd to be Three thousand Miles before it empty's it self into the Miditerranean Sea but also for its Over â—lowing and Fertilizing that Low and Level Country supplying in it the want of Rain 'T is believ'd by Men of great Learning that this Yearly Over-flowing of that Country is ocâ—â—sâ—on'd by the great quantities of Snow dissolv'd
strikes down these fiery Globuli with greater force upon the Earth and Waters and consequently they rise higher and èlevate the Vapours with them So that the Atmosphere is higher or lower in several parts of the Earth as the Sun riseth higher or lower in the Meridian and its Beams are darted down in a more direct or oblique Line And as the lowness of our Northern Atmosphere causeth the Sterility and Barrenness of the Northern Mountains so the height of the Southern Atmosphere causeth those Mountains in the Aequinoctial and Southern Regions to be more Fertile and Productive CHAP. II. Of the â—fficient Causes of all Metors and first of Heat BY Heat is not to be understood the Element of Fire which Aristotle and his Followers conceited to be under the Concave of the Moon there being no such Element there but by Heat is meant that Internal Heat and Fermentation which is in the Body of the Earth and that Natural Fire which is originally and essentially in the Body of the Sun the Vehicle of External Heat which Streams out from every part of that Fiery Globe giving Heat Light and enlivening Vegetations to the whole Material World being within the Compass of its Fiery and Luminous Atmosphere These Streams of Heat and Light which is only the shadow of Heat being Darted through the Regions of the Air in Strait Lines and single Rayes are not perceivably Hot or Cold no more than the Light of a Candle without the Sphere of its Heat but being doubled by multiplyed Reflections and Reboundings from the solid Surface of the Earth does increase its Heat as the Reflections are multiplyed and rebounded which makes it hotter against a Wall than upon the plane Ground and in the Vallies than upon the Mountains We must therefore distinguish between those single Rayes of Heat which dart through the Air in instants which are neither perceivably hot or cold and the Heat upon the Superficies of the Earth which being contracted by an Artificial Glass is Râ—al Fire The Essential Qualities of Heat are Calefaction Elevation Rarefaction Liquefaction and Consolidation as it meets with Matter Predisposed to receive its Effects CHAP. III. Of Cold the other efficient Cause of Meteors BY Cold is not meant a bare privation of Heat as former Philosophers did conceit but a real Body of a Subtile Sublimated and Homogenous Nature and of a cold and frigid Quality It s proper place of Existence is between this Earths Atmosphere and the Atmosphere of the Moon which is our next Neighbouring Globe and by the rising and falling of this main Body of Cold are caused the several Changes and Alterations of the Weather with us The Cause of its Rising and Falling is the pressures of these two Atmospheres between which it is plac'd When the waterish Atmosphere of the Moon presseth it down it causeth Storms and Tempests here upon this Globe And when it Rises it causes the same in the Moon The Rising and Falling of this Main Body of Cold is sometimes also occasion'd by its Dilating and Contracting of it self Now as the Suns Beams are hotter in their Reflections upon the Earth than in the Sun it self so these Cold Rays which are darted from this Main Body of Cold being increas'd and multiply'd by Reflection from the Mountains and Rivers are much colder than the Main Body of Cold in its own Sphere These Reflected Globuli of Cold may be term'd the Lower or Ground-cold because in Summer it penetrates the Earth and in Winter it seldom rises higher than the Tops of the highest Mountains unless when it joins with the Main Body and then it causeth great Storms of Frost and Snow c. This Lower or Ground-cold is commonly the Rear-guard and Van-guard of the Sun always going before and following it and it s most perceivable in the Evening and Morning Twilights especially by Birds and Aerial Animals whose Bodies do so sympathize with the Air that they can more quickly perceive the Change of Weather especially the rising of a Storm or Rain or Snow than any of the Terrene Animals and this they commonly discover by their Flying high or low or Flocking together or sometimes by different Notes or Voices This occasion'd the Ancient Augurs to conceit them prophets c. The Essential Qualities and Effects of Cold in general are Frigefaction Congelation and sometimes Petreâ—action and when the lower Cold is Contracted either by Art or Proprio motu it Starves and Freezes as the Fire Burns and Scorcheth This lower Cold contracts and dilates it self as it meets with Opposition from the contrary Quality of Heat and Fire The Effects of the lower Cold when it enters the Earth By Antiperistasis it Fires Damps in Collieries Mines burning Mountains and Vulcano's When it lyes upon the Earth it causeth Dews and hoar Frosts it sucks out Damps and corrupted Air out of Under-ground Works c. CHAP. IV. Of the Air or Medium wherein all Meteors are Generated THE Air is a Vast Medium or Expansion fill'd with Rarify'd Vapours and Exhalations which like Water would Stagnate unless by a Daily addition of Rarify'd Vapours or Wind it were put into a Flux and Reflux as the Sea is the addition of Rivers continually flowing into it from all sides When the Air is Calm then are the Meteors Generated when by the Wind the Air is put into a violent Flux and Reflux they are Broken and Dispapear CHAP. V. Of Fiery Meteors c. THE Lower Cold which follows the Sun in the Evening Twilight continues its Operation for some Hours after its Beams are out of sight and no longer the middle of the Night being for the most part a Calm as well in Winter as Summer during which time of its Operation it causeth all those Fiery Meteors which the former Philosophers gave several Names to as falling Stars Rods Beams Ignes Fatui or Will with Wisp c. according as they differ'd in Matter Magnitude and manner of Appearance some Consisting of a hot and dry Exhalation others of an Exhalation mix'd with a Viscous and Unctious Matter a Third of a simple and unmix'd Exhalation All these are Generated in the Lower Regions of the Air the Matter of them being drawn up out of the Earth Waters and Bituminous Boggs and Mosses by the Sun's Influence upon them especially in the Spring Months For then the Subâ—erranean Heat draws out to communicate with its Main Body for as at this time all Animals renew their Hair clear their Blood from gross Humours so doth this great Animal the Earth purge her self of gross Humours by Mushrooms and other Pinguid Evaporations for then the Subâ—erranean Heat drawing out to communicate with the External Heat brings forth of the Earth these Mineral Spirits and Pinguid Perspirations in so plentiful a measure which being taken up into the Air are Condens'd into Clouds and fall down again upon the Earth in such Fertilizing Showers that the Psalmist tells us the Clouds at this Season
drop down Fatness These Hot and Fiery Exhalations which are flying about scatter'd and dispers'd in the Lower Reâ—ion of the Air being seiz'd on by the evening Cold are forc'd in Defence of â—hemselves to unite their Forces and being united do Fire upon their Grand Enemy viz. Cold. Some Fire in a Round Figure like a Fireball which the Meteorologists call a Falling Star some in a long Train either Strait or Crooked and these they call'd by the name of Rods or Beams others being simple and unmix'd Exhalations flash out in Lightning like Gun-powder upon a Table others being mix'd with a Viscous and Unctious kind of Matter Fire near the Earth are mov'd by the Motion of the Air or an easie and soft Wind or are drawn down in pursuit of their Enemy Cold to Waters Mosses Boggs and Heaths still Burning like a Candle in a Lanthorn till their Unctious Matter be Exhaust'd and then they leave a Liquid Jelly upon the Earth This Meteor they call Will with Wisp or Ignis Fatuus or Fool 's Fire because Ignorant People conceiting it to be a Spirit keep their Eyes upon it until they lose their way and then are apt to give a dreadful Account of a Spirit they met with which misled them If any of these Fiery Exhalations escape the Evening Cold the Morning Cold about break of Day before it be drawn down to the Waters Fires them by causing them to pursue the same Method of Self-defence they took in the Evening CHAP. VI. Of Comets c. AMongst the Fiery Meteors all the former Philosophers reckon'd Comets to be the most Remarkable And they gave such Dismal Accounts of the Dreadful Effects of them that their very Appearance put the World under a great Consternation But in my Opinion the World according to the Old Proverb was more affraid than hurt by them For that Comets are Fiery Meteors and have such dreadful Effects following their Appearance is a Mistake in Meteorology so palpable that it needs no Confutation That which we call a Comet being no more than a Star of a Fiery and Luminous Body in Conjunction with an other Star of an Opake and Waterish Substance or a Vast Coelestial Cloud which by receiving into its Body the Bright Rays of the Luminous Star becomes Translucent and appears to us in the Form and Figure of a Luminous or Fiery Globe and by emitting Beams or Streams of Light it appears to be a Fiery and Burning Meteor which by the Meteorologists is call'd a Comet If this Conjunction and Interposition be Centrical it sends forth its Beams of Light on every Side and this we call a Bearded Comet If the Interposition be not Centrical but the Luminous Star be higher or lower or on one side it sends forth a Beam or Stream of Light upward or downward or to one side and this Beam or Stream of Light is call'd the Tail of the Comet The Appearance of this Comet continues until their different Motions have separated them A demonstration of this you may have several Evenings when a black waterish Cloud interposeth between us and the Body of the Sun if the Interposition be Centrical the Sun's Beams stream out every way if the Sun be higher it sends forth its Beams of Light downward if lower upward or to one side according to the Interposition of the Cloud Against this Hypothesis it may be Objected that there is no such thing in Nature as an Opake Waterish Coelestial Body To which I answer That thâ— Moon is an Opake Globe of a Waterish Substance and if its Natural Course and Motion was not within the compass of the Suns Atmosphere it would be to us invisible So there may be for any thing that we know Thousands of Opake Globes within the Vast Expansion of the Coelestial Spheres which are never visible to us but when they fall into Conjunction or Oppositon with a Luminous Star And when these Opake Globes are of a Round and Waterish Substance they appear to us in the Form of Comets Again it is most probable that all these New Stars which have appear'd for some time and then disappear'd which Astronomers have given such Remarkable Accounts of are only Opake Globes made visible for sometime by their being in Conjunction or Opposition to a Luminous Star and when their different Motions have separated them the Opake Star hath disappear'd CHAP. VII Of Thunder its Causes and Effects OF all Fiery Meteors there are none so dreadful as Thunder which being an Aerial Fire Damp the Nature and Notion of it will be best illustrated by comparing it to an Aerial Battle between these Two powerful and irreconcilable Enemies Fire and Water The Army of Fire consists of Hot and Fiery Exhalations raised out of the Earth and Bituminous Bogs by the Influence and Heat of the Sun especially out of the South-east full East and North-east Parts of this Globe Those vast and spacious Continents affording most of those hot and fiery Soldiers The General that Commands in Chief and which leads them forth into the Field is a Sulphurous and East Wind. The Army of Water consists of cold and moist Vapours raised out of the Southern and Western Ocean Their General that leads them forth to Battâ—e is a cold moist West Wind For it s to be observ'd that for some time beforâ— the Thunder begins and whilst it continues the Blasts of Wind always blow from contrary Points and the Clouds gather and march up in the full Face of the Wind which always Blows from an East Quarter These Two Armies being Form'd into two Wings and two Main Bodies First Fire being the more Active and Volatile sends forth a Detachment of fiery Chariots from the South-east Wing which being met with by an other Detachment of Vaporous Clouds from the South-west Wing the Battle begins And those hot and fiery Exhalations that we see riding in Chariots of Fiery Clouds like Pillars of Translucent Smoke being inclos'd and surrounded with this Vaporous Cloud are forc'd to unite all their Forces together that Vis Vnita being Fortior they may the better be able to defend themselves and destroy the Enemy No sooner then the Forces on both Sides are united but the Fiery Exhalations discharge upon the Waterish 〈◊〉 in Fire and Lightning The Thundring Noise we hear is occasion'd by the Opposition they met with and the Breach of the Cloud which falls down in great and dreadful Showers of Rain upon the Earth the Drâ—ps of Water being greater or less aâ— the Breach of the Cloud is at a higher or lower distance from the Earth After the Thundering Battel is thus begun the other Wings engage and we hear the Thundering Sound of the Battel both South-east and North-west The Bâ—ttel by this time growing very hot the Main Bodies engage and then nothing is to be heard but a Thundering Noâ—se with continual Flashes of Lightning and dreadful Showers of Rain falling down from the broken Clouds And sometimes
Patriarchal Traditions concerning the Creation of the World the Beginnings of things and the Genealogies of Men which being best known to Adam who coming immediately out of God's Hand did undoubtedly deliver it to his Son Seth Seth to Enos and so from Father to Son to Abraham from whom Iethro descended by a second Marriage During his Time of Residence in Midian which was forty Years and most of that Time being spent in Contemplation It s generally believed he wrote this System of the Creation with the rest of his Book called Genesis by the Assistance and Direction of his Father-in-Law who could not be ignorant of the Patriarchal Traditions himself being descended from a Patriarch of special Note After these Gradations and Improvements in all Kinds of humane Learning Wisdom and Philosophy God took him into his own Service and was pleased by a sort of Perâ—onal Communication to impart to him as well the manner how all things began to exist as how the Manners of Mankind were to be exercised so that he may be reasonably supposed to found the Authority of his Writings as well as of his Government over God's People upon Divine Revelation In this most excellenâ— System Philosophy Divinity and Mystery seem to be so closely interwoven that it wou'd be a Matter of great Difficulty if not Impossibility for any unless such as are well skill'd in the Cabalistical Traditions and Mythology to unravel the Contexture and distinguish its parts And some of the most learned Rabbies are of opinion that God directed Moses and the rest of the holy Pen-Men frequently to make use of Metaphors Allegories and other Sche matical Forms which must needs be attended with some Darkness and Obscurity these being as it were a Veil drawn over the Face of Divine Truth and this might occasion Solomon to joyn the Words of the Wise and their dark Sayings together And this was not only the Practice of the sacred Writers but of the learned Heathens especially their Priests and Philosophers who undoubtedly did imitate Moses herein but for different Ends and Purposes for it did highly concern the Pagan Priests to hide and conceal their Mysteries from the Light which like bastard Eagles would not endure the Tryal of it But the holy Spirit might direct the holy Pen-men to observe their Style for Reasons of greater and more weighty Moment For the Divine Wisdom might see it fit in the Infancy of the World to discover his Will and Mind in some things very suitable to the Capacities of the Men of that Age And to reserve other things of great moment veil'd under Allegories and mystical Expressions until the Minds of Men were more opened and enlarged for discovering of those brighter Beams of Divine Truth Yet that the Glories that were after to appear might not be wholly clouded he order'd it so that such a thin Veil shou'd be drawn over the Matter as shou'd not more set off the Beauty than stir Men up to a diligent Search after those Divine Truths If then a modest Attempt be made to ground a Philosophical Discourse upon some of these veiled Mysteries with Submission to Men of greater Learning and better skill'd in mystical Philosophy I presume that it will not be judg'd an Effect either of Pride or Vain-glory. Preliminary Postulata I Know that it 's much out of Fashion to beg Principles in this Philosophizing Age yet considering that this Schematical Account which Moses has given of the Creation is as well Philosophical and Mystical as Historical and ad hominem I presume that these following Postulata being grounded upon such reason as cannot be denyed will easily be granted me as first That this Natural World was created in a Natural Way by the Agency of second Causes God Almighty concurring with them by his Direction and Approbation in these Words He saw that it was good That the work of the Creation cou'd not in a natural way be compleated in so short a time as six days for as it cannot be easily imagined that all the Solid Strata and Beds of Iron cou'd be digested into such good order as we find them in and receive their several Degrees of Consolidation in that time Neither can it be Suppos'd that all these different natures in the Vegetative and Animal Sphere of life shou'd grow up to such a degree of Perfection that Adam cou'd eat Ripe fruit in Paradise of six days Production And that all the Beasts of later birth cou'd in that time get Strength to appear before him It may then be taken for a granted Principle that by the six days work is meant the six distinct Productions and by the Evening and the Morning is meant the Principles of Activity and Passivity which were the Instrumental Causes of these Productions That Paradise in a literal sense may signify a local place or Garden of Pleasure in a Philosophical sense all those Rational and Sensual Pleasures our Natures are capable of in this Material World In a Mystical sense it signifies Heaven or those Intellectual Pleasures our Natures shall be capable of when they are Spiritualiz'd and Exalted That Adam and Eve in a literal sense signify the first Individual Persons that were of that Species In a Philosophical Sense they signify a Generation of Men and Wâ—men in a Mystical sense they signify Reason and Sense or the Superior and Inferior Faculties of the Soul That by the Serpent in a literal Sense is signified a subtile insinuating Brute whose speckled Skin being beautified with all the Variety of Natural Paint made it a fit Object to work upon the visive Fâ—culty in a Philosophical Sense it may signifie natural Concupiscence And in a mystical Sense it may signifie the Devil By the Tree of Life in a literal Sense may be signified an individual Tree producing Fruit and preserving Life By the Tree of Knowledg in a literal Sense may be understood a Tree bearing Fruit of a poisonous Quality and destructive of Life in a Philosophical Sense they may signifie the whole Species of Vegetables both of a wholesome and poisonous Nature in a mystical Sense they may denote eternal Life and eternal Death Adam's giving of Names to the Beasts signifies the Exercise of his natural Reason by distinguishing of their Natures Lastly by Eve's eating of the forbidden Fruit may be understood the Desire of natural Concupiscence to gratifie her Senses with their beloved Objects ADVERTISEMENT WITH Additional Remarks SInce the writing of the following Discourse a new Theory of the Earth hath been publish'd by a thoughtful young Divine who agrees in some Notions with me this therefore is to assure the Reader that my Manuscript laid all the last Winter in London and was printed off before I had a Sight of the aforesaid Book which several of my Friends can testifie if there should be occasion thro' whose Hands these Papers have passed Another thing ought to be taken notice of and that is my referring several Hypotheses and
pre-exisâ— yet it was an immediate consequent of Eternity and the natural product of the Divine Essence and Attributes viz. Power Wisdom and Goodness according to that Model and Idea pre-conceiv'd in the Divine Understanding For it cannot be imagin'd that thâ— Divine Essence wou'd for some time sit still and wrap up it's self in sloth and idleness but did always display its self in a vigorous activity Besides the natural tendency of Infinite Power is Action of Infinite Wisdom is Counsel of Infinite Goodness is Beneficence We cannot therefore but conclude from these Natural Arguments that God would from all Eternity follow the inclinations of his own Divine Perfections From this grand Thesis we may yet futher conclude that this Universal Fabrick of the World was not created at one stroke by an imperious Fâ—at for tho this might have been consistent with Infinite Power yet it would not have been agreeable with Infinite Wisdom which consists in Deliberation Counsel and Contrivance Moses therefore tells us that God first created the Heavens and then the Earth Like as some mighty Monarch designing to build a spacious and most glorious Palace first forms the Model of it in his mind and having prepar'd his Materials sets on work his Under-agents who first of all lay the Foundations and compleat his own Royal Apartments then the Apartments of his chief Ministers of State after that Chambers for his Domesticks and last of all Lodgings for his out Servants and the Work being finish'd according to the Model which he gave his Architects to work by he gives it his Approbation In like manner the Great and Almighty Monarch of the Universe may be supposed first to have laid the Foundations of those Super-Coelestial Regions of unaccessable Light the Royal Chambers of his own most Glorious Presence where he sits in great Majesty attended with an innumerable retinue of the most Noble Angels his Courtiers After these he creates the highest of the Coelestial Spheres in which he placed Thousands of Royal Mansions where the Arch-Angels and Brighter Cherubins the chief Ministers of State in that Coelestial Kingdom keep their residence And these are the Morning Stars which Iob tells us by way of Synecdoche that met together and the Sons of God that did shout for joy After these God created the inner or lower Spheres in which he placed innumerable numbers of bright lucid and Aetherial Globes wherein the inferior Angels and Domestick Officers do inhabit and these the Scripture stiles Ministring Spirits And these differ in Office Power and Light as they are placed in Spheres nearer or at a distance from the Regions of Light For as one Star differeth from another Star in Glory Light Purity and Magnitude So do their Heavenly Inhabitants And so shall it be in the Resurrection from the Dead for as Men improve here in Vertue Goodness and the Divine Life and Light so shall they be placed nearer or at a distance from God the Fountain of Life and Light After the finishing of these Inner Courts of this Royal Palace last of all God created this Material Globe or Outer Court and made it the Center of the Universe And it 's built of the Rubbidge Dross and Sediment of the whole Creation and inhabited with the meanest of Creatures and lowest degree of Life and Perfection which may most properly be called God's out Servants over which he has placed Man Deputy Lord Governour This Material Globe tho it appears in its own dimensions to be oâ— great Magnitude to us who bear not so much proportion to it as a Mole-hill does to the greatest Mountain yet being compared to the whole Universe if the computation of the best Philosophers be true it will scarce bear proportion to the Ninety six thousand part of it It cannot therefore be imagined that the Wise Creator who never made any thing in vain but to the best endâ— and wisest Purposesâ— should be so fond of a piece of dull stupid Matter as to create all those innumerable numbers of Bright Lucid Aetherial Globeâ— the least of which exceeding this Mole-hill in Magnitude by several Diameters for no other end or purpose than distinguishing of Days Months Seasons and Years and for casting a dark glimmering light to us poor Mortals As God Almighty finished any part of the Creation he gave it a motion and this motion it performs naturally and insensibly without labour or difficulty as our Blood circulates through our Veins and our Vital Spirits glide in the Nerves through the whole Body The Almighty having now finished the Creation which made up but one Royal Palace containing in it innumerable Mansions fit for the Subjects of so great a Monarch to live in He sits at the Helm of this Floating Universe and Steers all its motionâ— with a steddy and unerring hand And it can be no more labour to God to govern and actuate this World who as an Universal Soul is diffuâ—'d in it and is vitally present in every part of it than for a Man 's rational Soul by Will and Cogitation to move a Finger or a Toe or any other part of his Body tho at the greatest distance from its Seat CHAP. II. Of God the Supream and Efficient Cause and why Moses proves not the being of a God expresly by way of Argument but implicitly by describing of the several degrees of Perfection and the Subordinationâ— of Life WHen Moses writ this excellent System of the Creation Politheism and Idolatry had prevailed over the generality of Mankind and Abraham's Posterity were become Worshippers of Egyptian Gods as appears by their making of a Molten Calf at Horeb. Yet notwithstanding this multitude of Inferior Deities which the World had set up for Divine Worship the generality of Mankind did universally believe that there was one Supreme God who was the efficient Cause and Almighty Creator of this World consisting of the Heavens and the Earth and that this God was the Father and Governour of all the rest The Philosopher might therefore justly conclude it superfluous to prove by strength of Argument a Tenet or rather an Article of Faith to which the common Suffrage of Mankind did so universally consent and agree And if it be suppos'd that Moses writ this System of the Creation with the rest of his Book which gives an account of the Patriarchal Genealogies on purpose for the benefit and instruction of the Israelites who in all probability could not but be ignorant of the Traditions and Religion of their Ancestors the â—pse dixit of so great a Philosopher a Man so eminent for these mighty and unparallel'd Miracles and Wonders which th' Almighty wrought by his Hand upon Egypt before their eyes were sufficient to convince them not only of a bare credibility but of the Truth and Certainty of this Divine Thesus that there was a God and that he created the Heavens and the Earth But as God did not limit and consine his Favours wholly to Abraham's Posterity but
before the Deluge was not smooth even and uniform but unequal and distinguish'd with Mountains Valleys as also with Seas Lakes and Rivers CHAP. X. Of the constituent parts of the Earth And first of the Volatile part of it or the Central Fire its natural Uses THE Constituent parts of this Terraqueous Globe are reducible to three different Classes of Matter viz. Volatile Fix'd and Fluid and these bear equal proportion one to another and in the Structure of the Earth do occupy the same proportion of place The Volatile Matter consisting of sublimated Sulphur Nitre and Bitumen keeps possession of the Central part and as all Matter of the same kind and affinity which having an appetite to Union naturally affects a round and globular Figure so the Central Fire may be suppos'd to be of the same Form That Figure wherein the Excentral Fire appears is only accidental occasion'd by the compressures of the circumambient Air. That vast subterranean Vault wherein this volatile Globe of Central Fire is contain'd which the Miners call thâ— Belly of the Earth may be suppos'd to be either of a round or circular or of an aequilateral multangular Figure occasion'd by the solid Strata of Stones spreading and vaulting themselves about it The natural Uses of this Central Fire seem to be Analogous to that vital Flame which is seated in the Heâ—rt or Center of all Animals for as that by its Vital heat â—nlivens the whole Body so this Central â—ire by that Vital warmth it disseminates through the whole mass of Matter enlivens it and gives as well to the several Strata of Stones Metals Minerals and other subterranean Earths their degrees of Consolidation as to the several kinds of Ores their different degrees of Purity and Perfection As the Vital Flame does not only cause the Ebullition and Pulsisick Faculty in the Exterior paâ—ts of the Body but also the Circulation of the whole Mass of Blood through all the greater and lesser Veins of it so the Central Fire is as well the cause of the Ebullition of Springs Thermae and Mineral Feeders which break out upon the tops of Mountains and the exterior parts of the Earth as of the constant Circulation of the whole Mass of Subterranean Water through those Dykes Rakes and Fissures which from the Mountains do divide and spread themselves through the whole Body of the Earth and are the greater and lesser Veins of it Again as the Vital Flame gives the tincture and colour to the Blood Flesh and all the Heterogeneous parts of the Body so the Central Fire by the different degrees of concoction and boyling up of Matter gave to the several kinds of it their different Tinctures and Colours this might be illustrated by several Analogous Experiments and Observations as in the boiling of Quincâ—s and other Fruits so likewise in Bâ—king of Bread c. The Central Fire by running a perpetual Round within the Boundaries of its own Infernal Vault carries the Shell of the Earth about with it and is the cause of its Diurnal Motion Lastly It is the Earth's Aequilibrium that keeps it fix'd upon its Center CHAP. XI Of the fixt part of the Earth And first of the Inequalities of its Surface their Natural Causes and Uses THE fixt part of this Terraqueous Globe which we call the Earth may be describ'd either as to its Exterior parts or Interior consistences of it The Exterior parts consist of Mountains Heaths Dales Plains Valleys with the Channel of the Sea The Interior consistences of it are the Strata or Beds of Stones Metals Mines Minerals and Subterranean Earths all lying upon Flats with a Dibb and Rise Or they are Dikes Rakes Riders Veins and Strings either cross-cutting and dividing the several kinds of Stones Metals Mines Minerals c. of a different kind or cross-cutting and dividing those of the same Species as all Metallick Rakes c. Of the Inequalities of the Earths Surface THese Irregularities and Inequalities upon the Superficies of the Earth are occasion'd by the Elevations and Depressions of the solid Strata and these are cau'd either by the greater Dikes which divide one Species of Stones c. from those of a different kind and these greater Dikes make Channels and Water-courses for the greater Rivers which following their windings and turnings till they empty themselves into the Sea cause all those pleasant Dales which at last when the Mountains wear out dilate themselves into spacious Plains and Valleys The lesser Dikes and Joynts which divide the Stones c. of the same kind by throwing them up and down cause all those lesser Hills which as well delight the Eye with a grateful variety of Objects as refrigerate and cherish the whole Body with a more cool clear and wholsome Air. There is not any thing in this Natural World that contributes more towards the making of it Habitable then these inaequalities upon its Surface For First they occasion all these different Kinds and Natures of Soil which produce the several Species of Vegetables suitable to the several Natures of those Animals that feed upon them The Earth's Surface being God's Storehouse wherein is provided Food and Nourishment agreeable to the Nature of every Animal and every living Creature by a Natural Instinct knows its proper Food and Nourishment and when and where to find it They occasion all those different qualities of the Air as Warm Cold Thick Thin Moist and Dry for as God has provided Food suitable to the several Natures to feed on so He has provided Air suitable to their Natures to Breath in Those Inequalities upon the Earth occasion all those Springs Mineral Feeders and Medicinal Waters which break out in Rapid Streams from the Tops of Mountains and the Skirts of lesser Hills so that as God has provided convenient Food for every Animal to feed upon and agreeable Air to breath in He has likewise by causing of Springs to break forth and bubble up at the Foot almost of every Hill provided convenient Water for every Animal to quench its Thirst with Whereas if the Earth had been of an Even and Spherical Supersicies cover'd with one solid Strata or incrusted Cover of Earth I doubt we should have been forc'd to have Digg'd as deep as Dr. Burnet and Dr. Woodward's Abyss before we shoâ—'d have met with Water sufficient to have quench'd our Thirst and it s also doubtful that when we had found it it wou'd not have been Sweet and Wholsome These Inequalities also cause the sâ—veral Strata of Stones Mines and Oâ—es c. having a Natural Rise to brâ—ak â—oâ—th at Day so that the Ingeâ—â—ouâ—â—â—d Industrious Miner may meet with not only Stone for Building of Houses Coals for his Fires but the several Kinds of Ore to enrich his Coffers with These Inequalities also produce all those Pleasant and most Profitable Copises and Thickets of all Kinds of Trees which delight most to grow
Valley as far depress'd before the Surface of the Earth as the Mountains and mountainous Heaths are advanc'd above it Its Consistences are of a Terrene Nitrous Mercurial and Saline Quality which is the reason the Sea-sand will by a violent Heat run into a Glassy Substance And why the most precious Pearls are found in that part CHAP. XVI Of the fluid Part of this Terraqueous Globe and First of the Sea c. THE Sea is that Vast Body of Salt Waâ—er contain'd in its proper Channel It s the Sediment of the whole Mass of Water and therefore is Thicker and Heavier than either the Subterranean or Aerial Waters which is the reason why it can neither penetrate the straight Pores of Solid Matter and so intermix with its sweet Feeders nor be elevated in Vapours by the Sun's Inâ—luence and fall down in Brackish Showers which would be destructive as well of Plants and Herbs as Men and Beasts The Seas are in a continual Flux and Reflux The cause of which is the Rapidity and Weight of the Rivers continually pressing in upon it from all sides and the Sea-waters being not only Thicker but of a different Nature from the Thin and Sweet River-water and having a Natural Appetite to Union will not easily suffer the Rivers to Incorporate with them which is the true reason why the Rivers swells her up on both sides of the Shoar untâ—l the weight of the Salt-water over-balancing the weight of the Sweet-waters causeth the Sea to break in the middle and by the greater weight and strength of her Waâ—es forceth the Invaders to retreat and â—all back until the Salt-water has lost its weight and Strength and this is the cause of its Flux The Salt-water having thus lost iâ—s weight and strength the Rivers redouble their Force and by the Rapidity of their Motion and weight of their Waves forceth the Salt-waters to a gradual and orderly Retreat and to swell up into such a height of Gibbosity that its weight again over-balanceth the weight and strength of the Rivers and this is the cause of its Reflux Thus the Flux and Reflux of the Sea is occasion'd by the continual strife between the Fresh-water and the Salt and the Spring-Tides and Dead-Tides are occasion'd by the gradual Increase and Decrease of the Reciprocation of their Motion as we observ'd in the Spring or Balance of a Clock in giving her back Stroaks at every Tenth This continual Strife between the Fresh-water and the Salt causeth a conconstant Heat and Fermentation in the Sea and this Boiling Fermentation causeth the Sweet River-water to fly up in Mists and Vapours which causeth an Atmosphere to be round the whole Terraqueous Globe and when these Mists and Vapours are condensed into Clouds they fall down in Showers of sweet Rain upon the Surface of the Earth Thus tho' the Sea affords no Sweet-water yet it is the only Medium which preserves and maintains a constant communication and circulation between the Subterranean and Aerial Waters The Saline Quality of the Sea is occasion'd by her being boiled up into a Sediment by the Central Fire as well as those Rocks of Mineral Salt that abound in her Channel This Saltish Quality of the Sea does not only preserve that vast Body of Water from Corrupting but by causing her Water to be thicker and heavier than those in the Fresh Rivers it makes them more able to bear Burthens of much greater weight and fitter to maintain a Correspondence and Communication of Trade between Land and Land tho' at the greatest distance Tho' the Sea and Main Ocean seems to contain a vast quantity of Water yet it being compar'd to the Subterranean Waters which circulate through the Veins of that great Body and are contain'd in the Strata and Pores of dens'd Matter it will scarce bear the same proportion to them that One does to Seventy-two for if the Computation of those Learned Men be true who give Account that the Sea and Main Ocean cover but one half of the Globe and that the Channel of the Sea is but one German Mile Deep the Shallows being compar'd to the Deeps then it would necessarily follow that if the Earth were Mathematically Round it would cover the whole Globe only half a German Mile which bears but Proportion to the Circumference of the Earth as Half a Mile does to Twenty one thousand six hundred Miles Again the Diameter of Twenty-one thousand six hundred Miles being Seven thousand two hundred of which if we allow a Semidiameter to the Center or Belly of the Earth there will remain Three thousand six hundred Miles for the Shell or Body of it to which Three thousand six hundred the Fluid part or Superterranean Water can bear no less Proportion than One to an Hundred which Computations being granted and indeed they cannot â—easonably be deny'd in the whole Body of the Earth there will be found Thirty-six German Miles of Fluid Matter which bears proportion to the Seventy-two Superterranean Seas or Oceans To strengthen this Hypothesis we may further add that in sinking of Pits the deeper we sink we raise the more Water and that Stone or Mine of Coal which at Three Fathom Deep runs six Tubs of Water in one Hour containing Thirty Gallons a-piece at Six Fathom it will double the Number and so on till the Water be Invincible as in Hogsheads full of Water the highest Tap runs slowly because there is little weight of Water upon it but the middle or lowest Tap will run double and treble the Quantity in the same time there being double and treble the weight of Water upon it Again If we do further add that besides the Water that circulates in the Veins of the Earth there is so much of Water Intermix'd and Incorporated with the Fixt and Solid Matter that if Stone Metal or Coal when it s Digg'd out of its Living Strata or Beds be immediately expos'd to the Sun or Fire it will in a short time want of Weight above an Hundredth part the Fluid part being Exhal'd The greater Dikes or Veins in the Earth are Principally Four The First divides and changes the Mountain-Strata from the Mountain-Heaths The Second divides those several Strata of Stone c. of which the Mountain-Heaths Consist from those of the Plains and Valleys The Third divides those Beds and Layers of Matter on which the Plains and Valleys consist from the Channel of the Sea The Fourth Runs under the Channel of the Sea whose Side-Branches causeth all those Submarine Quick-Sands which are the warm Beds wherein the Sea-fish scatter their Eggs for the Propagation of their several Kinds As this so all the rest of the greater Dikes and Veins have their Side-Branches filling all the Strata of Stones Metals Minerals and Subterranean Earths with Water so that where-ever we sink into the Body of the Earth as soon as we prick with our Digging Instruments those Kells of
Essence or Fountain of Life As the highest degree of Vegetation in the Zoophâ—â—a makes a near Approach to the lowest degree oâ— Sâ—nsation in the Insects So The highest degree of Sensation in Apes c. makes a near Approach to the lowest degree of Rationalitâ— in Idiots c. As the Highest degree of Rationality in the Heros and Speritualizd Rationals makes a near Approach to the Boni Genii or lowest order of Angels So the highest degree of Intellectuallity in the Angelick Nature makes a near Approach to the Divine Essence PART II. CHAP. I. Of the Plastick Spirit in Matter and its natural Products THE Plastick and Vivifick Powers being the first Principles of Life in this Natural World which forms the first Lines and kindles the first Sparks of the vital Flame It will be necessary in order to our present Design which is to give a short Account of the Originals Degrees and Propagations of Life in this Natural World to describe the Natural Operations and Products of these two first Principles and to shew how they act Severally as well as in Consort The Plastick Spirit in this World of Matter is a Subtle Saline Volatile which whilst Matter was in a Fluid Substance diffus'd it self through all the Lax Strata and consistences of it And â—s that Acid aâ—â— Sâ—line Humour in the Stomachs of Animals together with the Vital Flame by several degrees of Concoction and Depuration separates the more Pure and Spirituous parts of the Nourishment from the Crasâ—er and more Excrementitious parts of it or as that Acid and Saline Rennet separates and coagulates the more Pure Spirituous and Oyly parts of the Milk from the Waterish and more Terreâ—e so this subtle and Acid Volatile together with that Subterranean Flame which desseminates its warm and enliveâ—ing Influence not only through all the greater Veins Branches and Ramifactions of the Earth but also pervades the smallest Pores of the Densest Matter did separaâ—e collect and coagulate the more Simple Pure and Homogeneous parts of Maâ—â—er from the Crasser parts of it And as the Mass of Fluid and waterish Matter receiv'd its degrees of Consolidation these purer and Pneumatical Coagulations were concreted in those Solid as well as Laxer Strata wherein we find them And the Magnitude and Figure of these concreted Coagulations corrâ—sponds with those Moulds of Crasser Matter from whence they were Extracted and wherein they are enclos'd and compress'd These we find lodg'd either in the Exterior or Interior Parts of the Earth Those concreted Coagulations which we meet with in the Outer Coat or grand Cover of the Earth are of an irregular Figure and they are lodg'd in that part in disorder and confusion And these are either the common Pebles which are of a Terrene Saline or Pinguid Quality Or They are common Flints Pyritae and Marchasites of a Pneumatical and Fiery Quality Or They are Agates Onyxes Jaspers Cornelians c. Of a Mercurial and Waterish Quality which are more or less Transparent This outer Coat or Surface of the Earth consisting of Sand Gravel Clay Bituminous Peat-Earth and other kinds of Matter of an Heterogeneous Nature affords the greatest variety of these Homogeneous Concretions And these are all of the same Nature and Quality with that Courser and Crasser Matter from which they were Extracted and Coagulated Those more Simple and Homogeneous Concretions which we meet with lodged in the Interior Strata of Solid Matter which are of an Irregular Figure are Either of a Liquifiable or Calcinable Quality Those that are not of a Liquifiable Nature are those which the Miners call the Kernels of Stones For as the Spirit of Nature at the first setling of Matter reduc'd all the Constituent parts of the Earth to several Classes and every Class of Matter leading to some Mine or Mineral so every Bed or Layer of Stone or Metal has its proper Kernels by which the Ingenious Miner may be directed what Mine or Mineral â—â—ey lead to whether to Coal Rudle Iron Stone Lead or other Metallick Ores and these coagulated Concretions are commonly lodg'd in the midle of such solid Strata Those Homogeneous and more Pneumatical Concretions of an irregular Figure which are of a Liquifiable Quality are the several Kinds of Metallick Ores and these are lodg'd in those Rakes Veins Riders and Strings which cross-cut and divide those Solid Strata of a Hot Quality and the highest degree of Concoction The Male Parent of all these is Sulphur which being either White or Yellow gives the Tincture or Colour to all Metals The Female Parent is Quick-silver which is the cause of their Liquifaction Flexibility and Ductility All Solid Bodies consist of two several Natures Tangible and Pneumatical the Pneumatical Substance is the Native Spirit of the Body which distinguisheth the several Kinds of them I define therefore all Metallick Ores to be the more Simple Homogeneous Corpuscles of such Stones and Cills as are of a Hot Quality and the highest degree of Concoction coagulated and concreted in those Rakes Veins c. which cross-cut and divide those Cills The more Homogeneous that Metals are the less of Dross they have in them The more of this Native Spirit they have in the Tangible parts they are the more Liquifiable Flexible and Ductile for the cause of Liquifaction is the Detention of the Spirits which play within the Body and open it so that the greater plenty of Spirits any Tangible Matter has in it it 's the more Flexible and therefore when the Tangible parts are Jejune of Spirits or easily Emit them they are Fragile and will not easily Liquiâ—ie When the Tangible parts of Matter are Ductile or Tensile it 's occasion'd by the Appetite which the Native Spirits have to Union and Aversness to Discontinue Secondly That the Metallick Ores are the Homogeneous and Pneumatical Corpuscles of Stones and Cills of a Hot Qâ—ality and the like coagulated and concreted by the Plastick Spirit of Mâ—tter is evident from the Experience of Mineralists who find the greatest plenty of Ore in the Veins of such Cills as are of the highest degree of Induration and Concoction for where the Cills are weak and soft and have not receiv'd a right degree of Heat and Temper their Veins are only fill'd with Sparr Soyl Clay or Vein-stone like unripe Nuts whosâ— soft and weak Shells are only fill'd with a Milky Pabulum having little of Kernel in them Again in the Third place that Ores are the Pneumatical Corpuscles of Sulphur and Quickâ— silver coagulated and concreted into Clods and Nodes and lodg'd in the Veins will be apparent to those who will take the pains to observe thâ—t the more Rich any Vâ—in is of Ore the less Spangled with Sulphur and Quick-silver are those Cills and Mâ—tals they cross-cut and divide and so on the contrary the more spangl'd the Stones are the less Ore in the Vein And the Reason why those Metallick Spangles are collected coagulated and concreted in those Rakes and
Veins is because they lay most open and ready to receive them and this is the reason too why we meet with float Ore lying in flat Beds in those upper Cills which lye open These being Ebullitions or Overflowings of Vein Ore As that Hypothesis of the Theorist wherein he conceits that there was no Metallick Ores or Minerals in the Antediluian Earth contradicts the Account which Moses gives of Tubal-Cain who was as he tells us an Instructer of every Artificer in Brass and Iron This Tubal-Cain living before the Deluge So Dr. Woodward's Hypothesis that the Metallick and Mineral Matter which is now found in the Perpendicular Intervals of the Strata was all of it Originally and at the time of the Deluge lodg'd in the Bodies of the Strata being interspers'd or scatter'd in single Corpuscles in the Sand or other Matter whereof the Strata mainly consisted seems inconsistent with Reason and his own Notions of Specifick Gravity For First It cannot be easily imagin'd by what Art or Chymistry the Metallick or Mineral Matter which interspers'd and scatter'd in single Corpuscles in the Strata of Solid Stone especially the Corpuscles being smaller than those of the smallest Sand cou'd be separated and made fit for use Again if the Mass of Fluid Matter after the Deluge was over did resettle according to the Rules of Specifick Gravity the heaviest subsiding the lowest as the Dr. asserts why did not these small Grains of ponderous Ore subside the lowest being heavier than the Corpuscles of those Strata wherein they were lodg'd And to assert that they were born up by the Waters of the Abyss rising up towards the Surface as the Dr. supposeth is as inconsistent with Gravitation and Levity as for Feathers tâ— sink and Lead to swim These Hypotheses being inconsistent both with Scripture and Reason we shall take it for granted that all these coagulated Concretions of Metallick Ores were by the Plastick Spirit in Matter lodg'd in the Veins of the several Strata lying most open and being most ready to receive them And that the State of the Antediluvian Earth did not differ as to its Constituent parts from this Postdiluvian Earth Having given an Account of the Originals Natures and Causes of such concreted Coagulations as are of an Irregular Figure I proceed to Describe the Natures and Causes of those of a more Regular Form And these are the Kernels or Catheads which we meet with in Coal Metals or Stone Metals which being either of a Saline or Pinguid Quality and consisting of the smallest Grit gave way to the Plastick Spirit to Form them into more Regular Shapes and Figures and these are either Globular Oval Triangular Quadrangular c. as the Matter coagulated had a Natural Tendency to such a Form or Figure and they lie in these Beds of Metals either in Layers or in disorder and confusion Besides these Irregular and Regular Concretions there are others of a more Uniform Shape and Figure and these may most properly bear the name of Form'd Stonâ—s They are found lodg'd either in Beds of Pinguid and Luxuriant Soil or in such Bâ—ds of Stone Chalk Sand Gravel and Eâ—rths as are of a Sâ—line Quality Those we meet with lodg'd in Beds of Pinguid and Luxuriant Soil have the forms and shapes of Worms Serpents Snails and other Tâ—rrene Insâ—cts which perhaps cou'd never come within the compass of our Observation Those we meet with in the Solid Strata of Stones Chalk Sand Gravel and Earth of a Saline Quality have the Forms of Cockels Mussâ—ls Oystâ—rs and other Marine Insects which probably Mankind hâ—s never yet been acquainted with and not withsâ—anding that these Shells have the Foâ—ms of those Marine Insects they represâ—nt yet thâ—y never were the spoilâ— of Marine Bâ—dies But form'd in those Stones and Eâ—rths where we find them lodg'd And it seems most probable that they receiv'd these Forms and Shapes at the Creation of this Material Globe whâ—n Mâ—tter was in a Fluid and Wateâ—ish Mass and whâ—n there was a commixture of Light and Darkness of the Plastick and Vivisick Powers for then the Vivifick Spirit of Nature disseminated the Specifick Forms of those Animals of the lowest degree of Life in those waterish Funds and Promptuaries of Matter in which they were Form'd and increas'd into that Shape and Figure we now find them in And if God Almighty had not by dividing the Light from Darkness the Vivisick from the Plastick Power and by Consolidating the Exterior Strata of Matter Cursed the Earth these Terrene and Marine Insects which we find petrefi'd and entomb'd in Marble Limestone and Chalk or bury'd in Beds of Sand Gravel or Earth might have increas'd to higher degres of Perfection as well as those Subterranean Toads Frogs Asks and Clocks which we meet with in the Cavities and joints of such Stones as have lost their Natural Feeders But of these the following Chapters will give a more full Account CHAP. II. Of the Grand Cover of the Earth the Sympathetical Union of the Plastick and Vivifick Spirit and the Production of Vegetables the first and lowest Degree of Life THE Outer Cover of the more Solid parts of the Earth which we call the Surface and Fertile Soil being as we have observ'd the Universal Fund or Promptuary or the Common Matrix wherein was desseminated the Specifick Forms of the lowest Degree of Life and Vegetation whilst others of a higher Degree Danc'd about it like Atoms in a Morning Sun 's Beam It will be necessary in the first place to give a fuller Description of the Natures and Qualities of it and to shew by what Degrees of Heat and Vital Incubations it was Modified and prepar'd to answer that Imperious Word Let the Earth bring forth When the Waters were divided and the Sea drawn down to its proper Channel they left behind them a Feculent Mud and Sedement which being like to a universal Qâ—ag of a Lax and Waterish Substance consisting of the several Kinds of Matter of an Heterogeneous Nature and saturated with great plenty of Mineral Spirits of all Qualities These Mineral Spirits by a Natural Motion and Tendency rising up to the Surface as we observe Cream riseth up to the top of Milk or as Oyl sloateth above Water the warm Influence of the Aetherial Flame moving upon it Thicknâ—d these Mineral Spirits into a Liquid Gelly or a Pinguid and Unctious Slime And this we call the naked Skin of the Earth or Fertile Soil This Skin or Fertile Soil before it got any Coat or Cover upon it was not only Tinctur'd and Colour'd with all those wateâ—ish Colours of Green Red Yellow c. but also was spotted and speckl'd with great variety of other Colours occasion'd by a commixture of these Mineral Spirits And these gave not only the Tinctures and Colours to the common and waterish Herbs as Grass Plants and Flowers but gave also the different Complexions to Birds Beasts and Men. And as the several Colours and
Complexions were occasion'd by the mixture and temperament of the Mineral Spirits so were their different Natures and qualities for a cunning Chymist will Extract out of Herbs and Plants the several Kinds of Mineral Spirits as well as out of the Mineral it self The Virgin Matter being thus Modifi'd and prepar'd by the warm Influence and Enlivening Vegetations of the Aetherial Flame and its naked Skin Adorn'd and Beautifi'd with her great variety of Natural Paints Those Seminal Forms or Plastick Souls which were disseminated in her warm and moist Womb and Sympathetically united to their belov'd Matter began to exert their Plastick Powers and put forth spungy Strings and Roots not only to fasten them to the Earth but to suck in such Juices as were most proper for their Food and Nourishment which by their Seminal Vertues being digested into the Substance of a Plant Herb or Tree of such an Order Figure and Temperament it became an Individual of that numerous Species of Vegetables which began first to peep out of the Earth as Corn out of the Furrows and afterwards gradually increas'd to the highest Degree of Perfection and Maturity its Nature was capable of Thus the naked Skin of the Earth was cover'd with a Coat or Green Livery Beautifi'd and Adorn'd with Flowers of several kinds of Colours and as the Passive Matter increas'd in Degrees of Heat and Modification it produc'd Vegetables of higher Degrees of Life and Perfection as all kinds of Trees from the lowest Shrub to the tallest Cedar or most robust Oak That these Productions were not brought forth all at once but gradually as the Passive Matter receiv'd higher Degrees of Heat and Modification is apparent from our observing of those Annual Productions which every Season bringeth forth For there are some Vegetables of a Cold and Waterish Quality whose Natural Spirits are more Fine Light and Active which require only a smaller Degree of Heat to raise them and these are the Productions of those Early Months Ianuary February and March And these come to their Perfection and Maturity before April and May which present us with an other Crop and order of Vegetables and for this same reason Iune Iuly and August go further and presents us still with different shows of Plants Herbs and Flowers And thus as the Sun increaseth in Heat and the passive Matter in degrees of Modification we are presented with higher and more noble Productions The Seminal Forms of Vegetables being now united to their material Vehicles and being grown up to their several Degrees of Perfection and Maturity they retain'd Seed in themselves and did Propagate their several Kinds by scattering of their ripe Seed upon the Fertile Soil which like the warm and moist Womb of a fruitful Mother dissolves them first into a Liquid Jelly and then divides their parts into their several uses That the Seminal Forms of Vegetables were Originally disseminated in the Earth as in an Universal Fund or Promptuary will be yet further evident by those Ocular Observations which has been frequently made of Productions without Seed for take some quantity of Earth digg'd several Fathoms under Ground and expose it to the Sun and Rain and it will Spontaneously without any Seed bring forth common Grass and several Herbs and Plants Again we observe that particular Soils will produce without Propagation by Seed Herbs and Plants peculiar to that kind of Soil and Earth as Pavements do Naturally produce Knot-Grass c. If it be object'd that the smaller Seeds are disseminated over all by the Winds and the greater Seeds scatter'd by Birds that feed upon them I answer that its commonly observ'd when Earth is brought out of the Indies or other Remote Countries for Ballast to Ships and cast forth upon some Ground in Italy or other Countries at a great distance it will put forth Foreign Herbs to us unknown And it cannot be imagin'd that the Winds shou'd blow the Seeds of these Plants from the Indies or that the Birds shou'd cross the Seas and scatter them at so great a distance To these I might farther add those try'd Experiments of Transmutation Transmigration and Degeneration of Herbs and Plants Having describ'd the Original of Vegetables the first and lowest Degree of Life and shewn that tho' the manneâ— of their Propagation be now by Seed yet when Seed is wanting the Fertile Soil will bring forth common Grass and other Plants in the Natural way by a Spontaneouâ— Generation Thus the Evening and the Morning or the Sympathetical union of the Active Form and Passive Matter produc'd the first and lowest Degree of Life which made the Third Production CHAP. III. Of reducing the Confus'd Mass or Light of the Aetherial Flame into a Body which made the Sun of reducing those higher Fogs and waterish Mists into a Body which made the Moon how by clearing of the Superlunary Firmament or the Planetary Spheres the Stars appear'd And what the Sun Moon and Stars contribute towards the Production of Sensitive or Locomotive Animals and why the Creation of these Second Causes made the Fourth Production Tho' the Earth was now Gay and Trim with a new Green Livery of Grass Adorn'd with Painted Flowers and pleasant Copices or Thickets of Young Trees the Passive Matter was yet too Cold and Waterish to draw down out of the Second Degree of Life any of the Sensitive Forms to Actuate and Inform it The Almighty Power did therefore contract this dilated Aetherial Flame of Light into a Body which Moses calls the Sun that those Enlivening Heats and Vital Incubations which flow from it might be more Strong and Vigorous and Penetrate deeper into the Cold Matter And God plac'd this Coelestial Fire at such a convenient distance from the Earth that it might neither be too much scorch'd by being too near it nor frozen by being at too great a distance from it but that it might receive such a temperate Heat from it as to excite its Seminal Vertues and draw up its Juices into them and thereby Ripen its Natural Fruits God gave to the Earth also a Diurnal Motion that by a just and regular turning about upon its own Cenâ—re it might have the benefit of Day and Night every Four and twenty Hours so that no part of the Earth might be too much heated by theSun's presence upon it or too long benighted by his absence from it because as one side is Warm'd and Cherish'd by its Rays it withdraws and turns to it its other side and so by this just and regular turning about of the Earth and an equal distribution of Day and Night the active Animals get leave to rest the over-heated Air to cool and the gasping Earth to recover its fainting Vertues which a continu'd Day wou'd soon Exhaust and Extinguish God gave also the Sun an Annual Motion and has directed it into such a commodious Course that it sheds forth its Enlivening Light Heat and Influence over all the parts of the Earth and by turns
random Shots flie about kill both Men and Beasts fire and throw down Houses split great Trees and Rocks and tear the veâ—y Earth For it is no more impossible for the more Earthy Part of an Exhalation to be on a sudden Petresied into Stone which we call the Thunder-bolâ— in the Body of a Cloud than that Laxâ— Matter should be Petrefied into a Stone in the Body of the Earth the Antiperistatical Cause being the same in both â—â—ese tâ—o Irreconcilâ—ble Enemies still keep the Field until one of them be utterly destroy'd If the fiery Exhalations keep the Field the East Wind blows still hot and sulphurous If the Vapours get the Victory the West Wind blows cold and moist the Sky is clear the Air is cold the Battel is over and the Earth Buâ—ies the Dead and gets the Spoil If any should think this Account of Thunder to be rather Figment and Romance than true Natural Philosophy I advise him when ever he sees the Thunder Packs rising White and Translucent in a South-east Point when he feels the Air hot â—nd Sulphurous with some contrary Blasts of Wind coming whistling from the West that he haste make on to the Top of Crossfelt or some other high Mountain that gives a Prospect to both East and West and he may be inform'd both as to the truth and manner of this Aerial Battle CHAP. VIII Of Vaporous Meteors and first of Dews and Hoar Frosts DEws are Vapours Condens'd upon the Surface of the Earth by the Evening and Morning Cold these being the times of the Dews falling I have observ'd that sometimes about Mid afternoon the under-ground Cold being impatient of a long Summers Days Confinement has broke out and condens'd the Vapours into a Dâ—w which by the first Reflection of the Sun was taken up into the Air and a viscous Matter left upon the Grass like Cobwebs or fine Threds which we call Tela Beatae Mariae and these Vapours being condens'd into a Cloud will fall down again in a Shower of Rain about Sun-setting But the usual time whâ—n the Evening Dews fall is immediately after the Sun is Set for then the Lower Cold lyeth upon the Ground and as the Sun goes down it riseth The Morning Dews begin to fall about break of Day For about that time the Waters being colder than the Mountains draw down the Lower Cold from the Mountains to them And it bringing the Vapours along with it sits Regent upon the Waters in thick Foggs and waterish Mists until the Influence of the Sun by warming of the Waters either scattereth and disperseth the Vapours or forceth them to rise up to the Mountains or the cool Regions of the Air leaving only Dews upon the Ground behind them These Dews when the Cold is contracted and freezing become Hoar Froâ—ts for a dilated Cold causeth Dews and a contracted Cold Frosts In the Spring Months when the Subterranean Heat draws out from its Winter Quarters to join with the external Heat of the Atmosphere it brings out of the Earth with it some of the finer Mineral Spirits and the Sun-beams being then Powerful and Attractive do suck up these Mineral Spirits with the sweet Efluvia and Perspirations of Herbs and Flowers which the Evening and Morning Cold condenseth into Honey-dews or Manna In these Months the Sun's Beams are so strong and vigorous that they will draw up Frog-spawn which being receiv'd into the Body of a warm â—loud will presently be Form'd into little Frogs which will fall down upon the Earth in these Fertilizing Spring Showers Sometimes they will suck up Blood which will fall down in Showers of Rain especially after Bloody Battels fought at great distances So Corn c. will fall down in Rain But these are Magnalia Naturae CHAP. IX Of Rain Hail and Snow RAin Hail and Snow are the same as to their Matter The difference among them is only Accidental Hail being only Drops of Rain frozen in their falling down from a broken Cloud by a contract'd Body of the Lower Cold Snow being Vapours frozen before they be Condens'd into a Cloud Of Rain Rain is either general or particular higher or lower Observations concerning Rain When the Evening Dew falls before Sun-set and the Sun draws it up again the Evening Cold condenseth it into a Cloud and it falls down in a Shower of Rain in the Evening Twilight When the Evening Cold condenseth not the Vapours into Dews but draws them up to the Tops of the Mountains and thence into the Cold Regions of the Air they fall down in Rain about break of Day When the Morning Cold condenseth not the Dews but draws up the Vapours to the Tops of the Mountains and thence into the Cold Regions of the Air they fall down in Rain about Ten a Clock or sooner and so continues a general Rain for some Hours together the Evening and Morning Vapours being join'd When the Air is Calm and the Waters colder than the Mountains the Vapours draw down to the Waters and there they lie in a thick Fogg or Mist until the Sun by warming of the Waters causeth them to rise about Nine or Ten a Clock if the Morning Cold dilate it self it raiseth the Vapours to the middle of the Mountains where they continue in a thick Fogg the Mountain Tops being clear until the Vapours be all spent in a mizling kind of Rain When the Morning Cold divides it self into many little contracted Bodies these lesser Bodies of contracted Cold condense the Vapours and they fall down in particular Showers some not Mountain height so that one may sometimes go through a Shower of Rain if he please which will fall upon the Skirts of the Mountains when at the same time 't is clear both above and below the Shower Thus a Man may be above the Clouds and the Rain When the Morning Cold draws the Mists and the Foggs â—rom the Waters gradatim or in Sops as we call it to the Tops of the Mountains and they Trall there too and fro sometimes rising and then falling again the Dispute being between the Water-cold and the Mountain cold whether should get the Prize If at the last these Tralling Mists or Vapours be lifted up into the Cold Regions of the Air and be there Condens'd by some of those lesser Bodies of Cold which are flying about they fall down in particular Showers within an Hour or less after they be taken up so quiâ—k is the return of Vapours into Showers of Rain CHAP. X. Of Hail and Snow OBSERVATIONS WHen these lesser Bodies of contracted Cold are so placed one above another having distances of warm Air betwixt them as oftentimes it happens in very hot Weather for the greater the Heat is the more narrowly do these lesser Bodies of Cold contract themselves if any of the higher Bodies of Cold condense the Vapours into a Cloud and it break and fall down in drops of Rain through a Body of more contracted Cold it freezeth these