power of the Omnipotent God and instrumentality of an inexplicable multitude of Clouds amassed together wherewith it was filled changed into Water so that the upper and lower Air might seem to be transmuted into an Ocean not by the strength of Nature but of him to whose Will and Power all things are subject And he is so confident that this Deluge in which the Water was raised fifteen Cubits above the highest Mountains was not nor could be effected by natural Causes but by the right hand of the Most High God only that he saith No man can deny it but he who doth not penetrate how far the power of Nature can extend and where it is limited To conclude this Hypothesis hath the Suffrages of most Learned Men. But because the Scripture assigning the Causes or Means of the Inundation makes no mention of any conversion of Air into Water but only of the breaking up the Fountains of the Great Deep and the opening of the Windows of Heaven I suppose those Causes may be sufficient to work the Effect and that we need not have recourse to such an Assistance As for those that make the Deluge Topical and restrain it to a narrow compass of Land their Opinion is I think sufficiently confuted by the fore-mentioned ingenious Author to whom therefore I refer the Reader I shall not undertake the Defence or Confutation of any other Hypothesis only tell you which at present seems to me most probable and that is theirs who for a partial cause of the Deluge assign either a change of the Center of the Earth or a violent depression of the Surface of the Ocean and a forcing the Waters up from the subterraneous Abysse through the Channels of the Fountains that were then broken up and opened First then let us consider what Causes the Scripture assigns of the Flood and they are two 1. The breaking up the Fountains of the great Deep 2. The opening of the Windows of Heaven I shall first treat of this last By the opening of the Windows of Heaven is I suppose to be understood the causing of all the Water that was suspended in the Air to descend down in Rain upon the Earth the effect hereof here mentioned being a long continuing Rain of Forty nay perchance One Hundred and Fifty Days And that these Treasuries of the Air will afford no small quantity of Water may be made appear both by Scripture and Reason 1. By Scripture which opposes the Waters that are above the Heavens or Firmament to those that are under them which if they were not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and in some measure equal it would never do Gen. 1.6 God is said to make a Firmament in the midst of the Waters and to divide the Waters which were under the Firmament from the Waters which were above the Firmament And this was the work of a whole day and consequently no inconsiderable thing By the Heavens or Firmament in this place is to be understood the inferiour Region of the Air wherein the Fowls fly who Gen. 1.20 are said to fly above the Earth in the open Firmament of Heaven though elsewhere it be taken for the Celestial Regions wherein the Sun and Moon and Stars are placed 2. The same may be made appear by Reason grounded upon Experience I my self have observed a Thunder-Cloud in passage to have in less than two hours space powred down so much Water upon the Earth as besides what sunk into the parched and thirsty ground and filled all Ditches and Ponds caused a considerable Flood in the Rivers setting all the Meadows on flote And Dr. Wittie in his Scarborough Spaâ— tells us of great Spouts of Rain that ordinarily fall every year some time or other in Summer that set the whole Countrey in a Flood Now had this Cloud which might for ought I know have moved Forty Miles forward stood still and emptied all its Water upon the same spot of ground it first hung over what a sudden and incredible Deluge would it have made there and yet what depth or thickness of Vapours might remain uncondensed in the Air above this Cloud who knows Now it is to be considered that not only the Air above the Dry Land but also all that covers the whole Ocean is charged with Vapours which are nothing else but diffused Water all which was brought together by Winds or what other Means seem'd good to God and caused to distil down in Rain upon the Earth And you may easily guess that it was no small quantity of Water that was supplyed this way in that it sufficed for a Rain that lasted more than Forty Days as I shall afterwards shew if I understand the Text a right And that no ordinary Rain neither but Catarracts or Spouts of Water for so the Septuagint interprets the words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And the Catarracts or Spouts of Heaven were opened I return now to the first Cause or Means of the Deluge assigned by the Scripture and that is the breaking up of all the fountains of the great Deep By the great Deep in this place I suppose is to be understood the Subterraneous Waters which do and must necessarily communicate with the Sea For we see that the Caspian and Mediterranean Seas to mention no others receive into themselves many and great Rivers and yet have no visible Out-lets nay this latter receives also abundance of Waters from the great Ocean running in at the Streights of Gibraltar and therefore by Subterraneous Passages must needs discharge their Waters into the Abyss of Waters under the Earth and by its intervention into the Ocean again By the breaking up of the Fountains of the Great Deep is I conceive meant the making great Issues and Apertures for these Subterraneous Waters to rush out You will say how could that be sith the Water keeps its level and cannot ascend to a greater height above the common Center than the Superficies of the Sea is much less force its way remove Obstacles and break open Passages I answer According to them that hold that all Rivers come from the Sea by Subterraneous Passages it is no more than daily happens For they must needs grant thaâ— the Water in the Subterraneous Channels is raised as far above the level of the Ocean as are the Heads and Fountains of great Rivers Which considering the height of their first Springs up the Mountains the length of their Courses and swiftness of their Streams for a great part of the way is very considerable a constant declivity being necessary to their descent And therefore 〈◊〉 can by no means assent to the Learned Doctor Plot if I understand him alright That the Valleys are as much below the Surface of the Sea as Mountains are above it For how then could Rivers descend down to the Sea through those Valleys the Sea would rather run into them and make Siâ—uses or else if they were enclosed the Water would stagnate there and make Pools
thereto requested The mention of these Principles I say gives me an opportunity of making such a Digression because I take them to have been the Effects of the first Creation spoken of in the first and second Verses of Genesis In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth And the earth was without form and void and comprehended in the word Earth By the word Chaos the Ancients understood a huge Mass of Heterogeneous Bodies or the Principles and Seeds of natural Bodies confusedly and disorderly mingled together in one lump for so Ovid describes it in the beginning of the first of his Metamorphosis Quem dixere Chaos rudis indigestáque moles Nec quicquam nisi pondus inors congestáque côdem Non bene junctarum discordia semina rerum I suppose therefore that God Almighty did at first create this terrestrial Globe containing the Seeds and Principles of all natural visible sublunary Bodies variously and confusedly commixt together which the Ancients called by the name of Chaos partly of solid and more ponderous partly of fluid and lighter parts the solid and more ponderous naturally subsided the fluid and watry as being more light got above them That the Waters did at first cover the Earth seems to me clear from the testimony of the Scripture For in the History of the Creation in the first Chapter of Genesis Vers 2. It is said Darkness was upon the face of the deep and the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters intimating that the Waters were uppermost And in Ver. 9. And God said Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together into one place and let the dry land appear Whence I think it is manifest that before that time the Land was covered with Water And that this gathering together of Waters was not into any subterraneous Abyss is likewise clear from the Text For it is said that God called this Collection of Waters Seas as if it had been on purpose to prevent such a Mistake So Psalm 104.6 It is said of the Earth at the Creation Thou coveredst it with the deep as with a garment the waters stood above the mountains And again Ver. 9. That they turn not again to cover the earth The more solid and ponderous parts tho they were of various Figures and perhaps Magnitudes were all called by the common name of Earth and the fluid by the name of Water This solid part of the Earth was made up of the Principles of many simple Bodies variously commix'd and irregularly disperst one among another yet tho they seem to be thus disorderly mingled as tho they had been carelesly shaken and shuffled together yet I do believe there was some Order observed by the most wise Creator in the Disposition of them The fluid part of this Globe as we said and as of its own nature it must needs do covered the solid till it pleased God to separate them and by providing great Receptacles for the Waters to gather them together into one place Whether this were done by the immediate Application and Agency of his Almighty Power or by the Intervention and Instrumentality of second Causes I cannot determine It might possibly be effected by the same Causes that Earthquakes are viz. Subterraneous Fires and Flatuses We â—e what incredible effects the Accension of Gunpowder hath It rends Rocks and blows up the most ponderous and solid Walls Towers and Edifices so that its force is almost irresistible Why then might not such a proportionable quantity of such Materials set on fire together raise up the Mountains themselves how great and ponderous soever they be yea the whole Superficies of the dry Land for it must all be elevated above the Waters And truly to me the Psalmist seems to intimate this Cause Psalm 104.7 For after he had said The waters stood above the mountains he adds At thy rebuke they fled at the voice of thy thunder they hasted away Now we know that an Earthquake is but a subterraneous Thunder and then immediately follows The mountains ascend the valleys descend c. If there might be a high Hill raised up near the City Troezen out of a plain Field by the force of a subterraneous Fire or Flatus as Ovid tells us Est prope Pitthaeam tumulus Troezena sine ullis Arduus arboribus quondam planissima campi Area nunc tumulus nam res horrenda relatu Vis fera ventorum coecis inclusa caverniâ— Expirare aliqua cupiens luctatáque frustra Liberiore frui coelo cum carcere rima Nulla fuit toto nec pervia flatibus esset Extentam tumescit humum ceu spiritus oris Tendere vesicam solet aut derepta bicorâ—â— Terga capri tumor ille loci permansit alti Collis habet speciem longóque induruit aâ—â— A Hill by Pitthaean Traezen mounts uncrown'd With Sylvan Shades which once was level ground For furious Winds a story to admire Pent in blind Caverns strugling to expire And vainly seeking to enjoy th' Extent Of freer Air the Prison wanting vent Puffs up the hollow Earth extended so As when with swelling Breath we Bladders blow The humour of the place remained still In time grown solid like a lofty Hill A parallel Instance hereto we have of later date of a Hill not far from Puzzuolo Puteoli beside the Gulph of Baiae which I my self have view'd and been upon It is by the Natives called Monte di cenere and was raised by an Earthquake Sept. 29. 1538. of about one hundred foot perpendicular altitude though some make it much higher according to Stephanus Pighius it is a Mile Ascent to the top and four Miles round at the foot We indeed judged it not near so great The People say it bears nothing nothing of any use or profit I suppose they mean else I am sure there grows Heath Myrtle Mastick tree and other Shrubs upon it It is a spungy kind of Earth and makes a great sound under a Mans feet that stamps upon it The same Earthquake threw up so much Earth Stones and Ashes as quite filled up the lacus Lucrinus so that there is nothing left of it now but a fenny Meadow If such Hills I say as these may be and have been elevated by subterraneous Wild-fire flatus or Earthquakes Si parvis liceat componere magna if we may compare great things with small why might not the greatest and highest Mountains in the World be raised up in like manner by a subterraneous Flatus or Wild-fire of quantity and force sufficient to work such an effect that is that bears as great a proportion to the superincumbent weight and bulk to be elevated as those under these smaller Hills did to theirs But we cannot doubt this mâ—y be done when we are well assured that the like hath been done For the greatest and highest Ridge of Mountains in the World the Andes of Peru have been for some hundreds of Leagues in length violently shaken and many alterations made therein
was a Dove sent out of the Ark by Deucalion which returning again into the Ark was a sign of the continuance of the Flood but flying quite away and not returning any more was a sign of Serenity and that the Earth was drained Indeed Ovid and other Mythologistâ— make Deucalion's Flood to have been universal and it 's clear by the Description Ovid gives of it that he meant the generaâ— Deluge in the days of Noah And that by Deucalion the Ancients together with Ovid understood Noah Kircher in his Arca Noâ— doth well make out First For that the Poeâ— Apollonius makes him the Son of Prometheus in his third Book 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Where Prometheus the Son of Iapetus begaâ— the Renowned Deucalion 2. Berosus affirmâ— Noah to have been Scythian And Luciâ— in his Book De Dea Syria tells us thaâ— many make Deucalion to have been so too 3. The Scripture testifies that men were generally very corrupt and wicked in the days oâ— Noah And Andro Teius a very ancient Writer testifies that in Deucalion's time therâ— was a great abundance of wicked men which made it necessary for God to destroy Mankind 4. The Scripture saith that Noah was a Just Man and Perfect in his Generation And Ovid saith of Deucalion that Non illo melior quisquam nec amantior aequi Vir fuit aut illâ Pyrrhâ uxore ejus reverentior ulla Deorum And a little after Innocuos ambos cultores numinis ambos 5. Apollonius saith of Deucalion 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the first ruled over men Which may very well be attributed to Noah the Father and Restorer of Mankind whose right the Kingdom was 6. The sending out of a Dove to try whether the Waters were abated and the Flood gone off is we have seen by Putarch attributed to Deucalion 7. Lucian in his Timon and in his Book de Dea Syria sets forth the Particulars of Deucalion's after the example of Noah's Flood 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. Deucalion was the only man that was left for a second Generation for his Prudence and Piety sake And he was saved in this manner He made a great Ark and got aboard it with his Wife and Children And to him came Swine and Horses and Lions and Serpents and all other living Creatures which the Earth maintains according to their kindâ— by pairs and he received them all and they hurt him not for there was by Divine Instincâ— a great friendship among them and they sailed together in the Ark so long as the Wâ—ters prevailed And in his Timon he saith that Noah laid up in the Ark plenty of aâ— Provisions for their sustenance By all this it appears that the Notion oâ— a general Flood was every where currenâ— among the people especially in those Couâ—treys where the Ark rested and where Noaâ— afterward lived And hence it was that thâ— Apameans whether of Mesopotamia or Syriâ— or Bythinia for there were three Cities â— Name coined Moneys in honour of thâ— Emperours Septimius Severus and Philippâ— Arabs having on the Reverse the Figure â— an Ark with a Man and a Woman standinâ— before it and a Man and a Woman lookinâ— out of it and two Doves above it one flâ—ing with a Branch of a Tree in its Moutâ— another resting upon it The Figurâ— whereof and a Learned Discourse thereupoâ— out of Falconerius may be seen in Kircheâ— Arca Noae Which Moneys though theâ— were coined long after our Saviour's time anâ— the divulgation of the Scriptures yet beinâ— done by Ethnicks do shew that the Story â— the Deluge was known and famous anâ— generally credited among them as being near the place where Noah lived and conversed after the Flood Howbeit I do not deny that there was such a particular Flood in Thessaly as they call Deucalion's which happened Seven Hundred and Seventy Years or thereabouts after the general Deluge I acknowledge also a more ancient Flood in Attica in the time of Ogyges about Two Hundred and Thirty Years before Deucalion's by which the Countrey was so marred that it lay waste and uncultivated without Inhabitants for almost Two Hundred Years Other particular Deluges and Irruptions or Inundations of the Seas besides these we read of in Histories which I shall not stand to enumerate He that desires an Account of them may consult Sr. Walter Raleigh's History of the World p. 89. Howbeit the Consideration of them may be of use to us when we shall come to treat of the Effects of the Flood upon the Earth So I dismiss this first particular and proceed to the second What were the instrumental Causes or Means of the Flood Whether was it effected by natural or supernatural Means only Whether was God no further concerned in it than in so ordering second Causes at first as of themselves necessarily to bring it in at such a time First Those that hold this Deluge was altogether miraculous and that God Almighty created Waters on purpose to serve this occasion and when they had done their work destroyed them again dispatch the Business and loose or cut the Knot in a few words And yet this Hypothesis is not so absurd and precarious as at first sight it may seem to be For the World being already full there needed not nor indeed could be any Creation of Water out of nothing but only a Transmutation of some other body into Water Now if we grant all natural Bodies even the Elements themselves to be mutually transmutable as few men doubt and some think they can demonstrate why might not the Divine Power and Providence bring together at that time such natural Agents as might change the Air or Aether or both together into Water and so supply what was wanting in Rains and extraordinary Eruptions of Springs To them that argue the Improbability oâ— such a change from the great quantity oâ— Air requisite to the make of a little Water it may be answered That if Air and alâ—â— Bodies commixt with it were together changed into Water they must needs make a bulk of Water of equal quantity with themselves unless we will grant a Peripatetical Condensation and Rarefaction and hold that the same Matter may have sometimes a greater sometimes a lesser quantity or extension This Cause the conversion of Air into Water the Learned Jesuite Athanasius Kircher in his Book De Arca Nooe alledges as the undoubted instrumental Cause or Means of the Deluge in these words Dico totum illud aereum spatium usque ad supremam regionem aeris praepotentis Dei virtute in aquas per inexplicabilem nubium coacervatarum multitudinem quâ replebatur conversum esse cujus ubertas tanta fuit ut Aer supremus cum inferiori in Oceanum commutatus videri potuerit non naturae viribus sed illius cujus voluntati imperio cuncta subsunt That is I affirm That all that Aereal space that reaches up to the supreme Region of the Air was by the
Borracio's This may be the cause that the vast Ridge and Chain of Mountains in Peru are continually water'd when the great Plains in that Countrey are all dry'd up and parch't This Hypothesis concerning the Original of Springs from Vapours may hold better in those hot Regions within and near the Tropicks where the Exhalations from the Sea are most plentiful most rarify'd and Rain scarce than in the Temperate and Frigid ones where it rains and snows generally on the Vertices of the Mountains yet even in our European Climates I have often observ'd the Firs Pines and other Vegetables near the Summits of the Alps and Appennines to drop and run with Water when it did not rain above some Trees more than others according to the density and smoothness of their Leaves and Superficies whereby they stop and condense the Vapours more or less The Beams of the Sun having little force on the high parts of Mountains the interrupted Vapours must continually moisten them and as in the head of an Alembick condense and trickle down so that we owe part of our Rain Springs Rivers and conveniencies of Life to the operation of distillation and Circulation by the Sun the Sea and the Hills without even the last of which the Earth would scarce be habitable This present year in Kent they have had no Rain since March last therefore most of their Springs are dry at this very day aâ— I am assur'd from good hands The high spouting of Water even to three Fathoms perpendiculâ— out of innumerable holes on the Lake Zirkniâ— in Carniola after Rains on the adjacent Hills exceeds the spirting Gips or natural Jet d'eaâ— we have in England Novemb. 12. 1691. Tancred Robinson I have read of some Philosophers whâ— imagined the Earth to be a great Animal anâ— that the ebbing and flowing of the Sea wâ— the respiration of it and now methinks iâ— this Doctrine be true we have found onâ— the Circulation of its Blood or somethinâ— like it For the Water must upon this supposition move in proportion to its bulâ— faster through the Veins of this round Anâ—mal than the blood doth through those â— other living Creatures But let us suppose that the Rivers â— daily carry down to the Sea half an Oceaâ— of Water and that the Rain supplies all thaâ— as our Opinion is and see what we can iâ—fer from thence I think it will be granted that ordinarily communibus annis the Rain that falls in a whole year amounts not to above one quarters continual Rain Now if this suffices for a daily effusion of half an Ocean it is clear that if it should rain without any intermission all the year round the Rivers would pour out two Oceans into the Sea daily And so in forty days continual Rain there would distil down upon the Earth eighty Oceans of Water A prodigious quantity indeed and scarce credible which if the Water be carried off as fast as it comes on infers a Circulation of a quantity of Water equal to the whole Ocean twice in twenty four hours Supposing then thar so much Water daily descends upon the Earth I argue thus The Water falling upon the Earth must have some time to run down to the Sea and according to the small declivity of the Continent suppose the Mountains pared off and the Land levelled a considerable one too and we see it actually hath so that the Floods in great Rivers follow some days after the falls of Rain upon the higher grounds And so tho at the time of the general Deluge the Waters hastned down to the Sea as fast as the declivity of the Earth would permit yet they breaking out of the Fountains of the Abyss and falling down from the Clouds abundantly faster than they could run down the gentle declivity of the Earth it deserves to be considered whether by the end of forty days there might not have been water enough amassed to cover the Mountains fifteen Cubits high And yet rhe Scripture doth not in plain terms say that ever the waters of the Flood arose fifteen Câ—bits above the tops of the highest Mountains as Mr. Warren well observes Moreover to me it doth not seem clearly to limit the time of the Rains descent to forty days but it may import that the Rain had continued so long before the Ark was lifted up above the Earth and that it ceased not till one hundred and fifty days were over for so long the Waters are said to have prevailed upon the Earth Gen. 7.24 that is continued and increased whereas had the Rain ceased and the Fountains been stopped at forty dayâ— end the declivity of the Land would in aâ— likelihood have sunk the Waters much by the end of one hundred and fifty days which it was so far from doing that notwithstanding the help of the Wind the topâ— of the Mountains were not seen till the beginning of the tenth Month that is till twâ— hundred and seventy days were past Neither yet did the Mountains help but ratheâ— hinder the descent of the Waters down to the Sea straitning it into Channels obstructing its passage and forcing it to take Circuits till it got above the Ridges and tops of them As to this Argumentation and Inference the case is the same if we hold that the Water circulates through the Veins of the Earth For supposing the Rivers pour forth half an Ocean daily and granting that in times of Floods their Streams are but double of their usual Currents though I verily believe they are more than quadruple and that the effusions of the Fountains be in like measure augmented it will follow that the daily discharge of the Rivers will amount to two Oceans Now at the time of the general Deluge both these Causes concurred For there being a constant Rain of forty eight days there must on that account be a continual Flood and the Fountains of the great Deep being broken up they must in all likelihood afford as much Water as the Rain which whither it would not suffice in forty natural days to produce a Flood as big as that of Noah notwithstanding the continual descent and going off of the Waters I propose to the consideration of the Ingenious Especially if we allow as is not unreasonable to suppose that the Divine Providence might not first cause a contrary Wind to stop and inhibit the descent of the Waters as afterwards he raised an assisting one to carry them off I have but one thing more to add upon this Subject that is that I do not see how their Opinion can be true who hold that some Seas are lower than others as for Example the Red Sea than the Mediterranean For it being true that the Water keeps its level that is holds its superfices every where equidistant from the Center of Gravity or if by accident one part be lower the rest by reason of their fluidity will speedily reduce the superficies again to an equality The waters of all Seas communicating
Works of God were persected or finished in six days it is necesary or necessarily follows that the World shall continue in this State six Ages that is six thousand years For the great Day of God is terminated in a Circle of six thousand years as the Prophet intimates who saith A thousand years in thy sight O Lord are but as one day Pag. 26. lin 25. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. He acutely calls the Death of the Elements their change into better Pag. 32. Lin. 18. Cùm tempus advenerit c. When the time shall come that the World again to be restored or to recover it self shall perish these things shall beat or mall themselves by their own strength the Stars shall run or fall foul upon one another and all the matter flaming whatever now shines according to its settled Order or Disposition shall then burn Pag. 33. lin 25. Resoluto mundo Diis in unum confusis When the World shall be dissolved and the Gods confounded into one Atque omnes pariter Deos perdet Nox aliqua Chaos And in like manner a certain Night and Chaos shall destroy all the Gods Pag. 34. lin 10. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. That there shall sometime be a change of the World into the Nature or Substance of Fire Pag. 36. lin 5. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Then God not mitigating his anger but aggravating it shall destroy by fire the whole Race of Mankind Pag. 5. lin 45. In plenum c. In summ it is observed that the measure of all Mankind becomes daily less and that there are few taller than their Parents the burning heat consuming the Luxury of the Seeds Ibid. Terra malos c. The Earth breeds now Men bad and small Pag. 107. lin 20. Non procul c. Not far from the Mountain called Paterno where the Bononian Stone is gotten about an Italian Mile distant the name of the place is slipt out of my memory is a huge hanging Mountain broken by the violence of the Torrents caused by the confluence of Waters descending from the Neighbouring Mountains after frequent Showers throwing down great heaps of Earth from it In the upper part of this broken Mountain are seen many Beds or Floors of all kind of Sea-shells much Sand interposing between Bed and Bed after the manner of stratum super stratum or Layer upon Layer as the Chymists phrase it The Beds of Sand interceding between these Rows of Shells were a yard thick or more These Shells were all distinct or separate one from another and not stuck in any stone or cemented together so that they might be singly and separately viewed and handled with ones Hands The Cause whereof was their being lodged in a pure Sand not intermixt with any Mud or Clay which kept the Shells entire for many Ages Yet were all these Shells by reason of the length of time they had lain there easily resoluble into a purely white Calx or Ash Pag. 133. lin 17. Prodigiosi c. Prodigious and lasting Defects of the Sun such as happened when Caesar the Dictator was slain and in the War with Anthony when it was continually pale and gloomy for a whole year Pag. 185. lin 5. Ego non audeo tempora dinumerare c. I dare not calculate times neither do I think that concerning this matter any Prophet hath predicted and defined the Number of Years What therefore the Lord would not have us to know let us willingly be ignorant of FINIS A Catalogue of Books Printed and Sold by Samuel Smith at the Prince's Arms in S. Paul 's Church-Yard THE Honourable Robert Boyl's New Experiments Phisico-Mathematical touching the Spring and Weight of the Air and its Effects Quarto Considerations touching the Usefulness of Experimental Natural Philosophy c. Quarto An Experimental History of Cold. Quarto An Essay about the Origine and Virtues of Gems Oct. Experiments relating to Flame and Air and about Explisions Octavo Essays of the strange subtilty and nature of Essâ—uviums Octavo Observations about the Saltness of the Sea with a Dialogue about the positive and privative nature of COld Oct. Suspicions about the hidden Qualities of the Air c. against Hobbs Octavo Experiments c. about the Mechanical Origine or Production of divers particular Qualities Octavo The Sceptical Chymist or Chymico-Physical Paradoxes and Experiments about the producâ—bleness of Chymical Principles Octavo The Natural History of human Blood and the Spirit of that Liquor Octavo Experiments about the parosity of Bodies in two Essays Octavo The natural Experimental History of Mineral Waters Octavo Of Speciâ—ick Medicines and the Advantages of the Use of Simple Medicines Octavo Great Effects of languid and unheeded motion with the Causes of the Salubrity and Insalubrity of the Air and its Effects Octavo Medicina Hydrostatica or Hydrostaticks applyed to the Materia Medica shewing how divers Bodies used in Physick may be discovered whether Genuine or Adulterate Octavo 1690. * 2 Pet. 3. * Minut. Felix * Lib. 7. * L. 2. c. 6. * L. 2 c. 6. * Arcae Noael l. 2. c. 4. * Hist Nat. Stafford p. 79. * Swoln Throats †De Subtilit Exerc 60. Sect. 2. * De Arca Noae p. 192 * Dissert De Glossopetra * Hist nat Oxf. p. 117. Ovid. Metamorph lib. 15. * De fide Orthod l. 2. c. 10. Observat Physical c. Du Moulin ‖ Apud Lactant. l. 7. c. 23. * Lib. 5. †Praep. Evang. l. 15. Hom. II. Hakewil's Apol. l. 4. c. 13. sect 5. * Bishop Wilkin'sVnivers Charact. De Sacrif l. 1. c. 1. I. * Doctor Witchcot II. * Daniel 12.2 * Philosophic Transact Numb 89. * Meteor lib. 5. c. 7. Artic. 3. Philos Trans num 192.
Ice with several â—nags or Fangs issuing out of them which â—ow they could be supported in the Air till â—hey amounted to that bulk and weight is a â—hing worthy to be more curiously consiâ—ered For either they must fall from an â—ncredible height the Vapours they encounâ—red by the way condensing and as it were â—rystallizing upon them into Ice and in time â—ugmenting them to that bulk or else there must be some strange and unknown faculty â—n the Air to sustain them But to leave â—hem it is certain that the Vapours after they are mounted up to a considerable height in the Air are congealed and turneâ— into the immediate component Principles â— Snow in which form I conceive they acquiâ— a lightness and are apt to ascend highâ— than they could do should they retain tâ— form of a humid Vapour as we see Ice iâ— lighter than Water out of which it is frozâ— But whether this be the reason of thâ— ascent or not I am sure of the matter of faâ— that these Snow-Clouds do ascend far aboâ— the highest Tops of the Alps in the Grisâ— Countrey in the beginning of the Sprinâ— it snowed very fast during my whole passaâ— for six hours and yet the Clouds seemed â— be as far above my head as they do here iâ— England and a great height they must bâ— for the Snow to gather into so great flake and to continue so long falling nay it maâ— be three times so long Moreover we sâ— that the highest Pikes and Summits of the Mountains are covered with Snow 2. In the Spring-time when the Snow disolves some of these Rivers that flow doâ— from the Alpine Mountains run with a fâ— Stream and overflow their Banks in cleâ— Sun-shine Weather though no Rain falls â— I my self can witness and therefore I prâ—sume that all the rest do so too as the Iâ—habitants affirmed But in the Summer timâ— after the Snow hath been some time melted their Streams decay again notwithstanding any Vapours condensed upon them proportionably to the Droughts neither are there any Floods but upon falls of Rain 3. That the Snow dissolved and soaking into the Earth is the Original of the Alpine Springs a probable Argument may be taken from the colour of the Water of those Rivers which descend from the Alps at least on this Northern side which I observed to be of a Sea-green even to a great distance from their Heads which whence can it proceed unless from the Nitrous Particles of the Snow-water of which they consist Another also from the Bronchocele or gutturine tumour an Endemial Disease of the Natives of those parts which Physicians and Naturalists atrribute to the Water they drink not without good reason because say they it consists of melted Snow which gives it that malignant quality Scaliger speaking of this Disease saith Id ab aqua fit è nivibus liquefactis quae multum terrestris crudi continet But because Julius Palmarius may possibly be in the right who imputes this Disease to the Steams of the Minerals especially Mercurial wherewith these Mountains abound which infect the Waters and render them noxious to the nervous part I shall not insist upon this particular What Mr. Halley saith of Springs thâ— they are perpetual and without dimiâ—â—tion even when no Rain falls for a lonâ— space of time If he understands it generaâ—ly of all Springs I add that are accounteâ— quick ones too I deny his assertion thâ— some there may be of that nature I granâ— a reason whereof may be given viz. thâ— the out-let is too small to empty the Waâ— of all the Veins and Earth that lye above in a long time In our Native Countrâ— of England there are living and lastiâ— Springs rising at the feet of our small Hâ— and Hillocks to which I am sure the Vâ—pours contribute very little which is so oâ—vious to every man that I think I need 〈◊〉 spend time to prove it Yet must I not dissemble or deny that the Summer-time the Vapours do ascenâ— or are carried up in that form by the sidâ— of the Mountains to their highest tops aâ— above them for there falls no Snow theâ— in the heat of Summer and that which lye there is for the most part dissolved Bâ— that Rain falls plentifully there I my sâ— can witness having been on the two higheâ— Tops of the Mount Jura which keeps thâ— Snow all Winter on the one called Thuiri â—n a Thunder Shower and on the other calâ—ed la Dolaz in a smart and continuing Rain So that I will not deny but in Summer-â—ime the Vapours may contribute somewhat â—o the Springs as I have elsewhere intimated And now that I am discoursing of these â—hings give me leave to set down an Observation I made in the last Great Frost the biggest that was ever known in the memory of Man which I had before met with in Books but did not give firm credit to that â—s that notwithstanding the violence of the Frost all the Springs about us brake out â—nd ran more plentifully than usually they did at any other time which I knew not what to impute to unless perchance the close â—topping the Pores of the Earth and keepâ—ng in that part which at other times was â—ont to vapour away which Account I neither then could nor can yet fully acâ—uiesce in To this I will here add an Abstract of â— Letter written by my Honoured Friend Dr. Tancred Robinson YOV may peradventure meet with somâ— opposition against your Hypothesis 〈◊〉 Fountains tho indeed I am more and more coâ—firm'd in your Opinion of them and the â— of the Mountains Father Tachart in his Second Voyage to Siam says when he went up the Top of the Table Mountain at the Capâ— of Good Hope the Rocks and Shrubs we perpetually dropping and feeding the Spriâ— and Rills below there being generally Cloâ— hanging on the sides near the Top. The sâ— observation hath been frequently made by â— English Merchants in the Madera and Canâ— Islands especially in their Journies up to â— Pike of Teneriff in which at such and sâ— heights they were always wet to the skin the droppings of the great Stones yet no Râ— over head the same I have felt in paâ— over some of the Alps. The Trees which the Islands of Ferro and St. Thomas are sâ— to furnish the Inhabitants with most of tâ— Water stand on the sides of vast Mountaiâ— Vossius in his Notes on Pomponius Mela firms them to be Arborescent Ferula's I â—lieve there is something in the many Relatiâ— of Travellers and Voyagers concerning thâ— Trees but then I fancy they are all mistakâ— when they say the Water issues out of â— Trees The Vapors stop't by the Mountains condense and distil down by the Boughs There being no Mountains in Aegypt may be one reason why there is little or no Rain in that Countrey and consequently no fresh Springs therefore in their Caravans they carry all their Water with them in great