are such Fountains observ'd so everlasting and subject to no Alteration Therefore we may lawfully judge the Cistern that furnishes VVater at the same rate to this Source to be perpetual never failing and not temporary CHAP. IV. Of the Ancient State and Form of the Countrey on this and the other side of the River Po. THerefore having discuss'd the Opinions which take most among our Countrymen of the Nature of this hidden Source it may be thought fit that I should now tell my own But before I do that I think it worth while to enquire and as far as Conjecture will allow to discover what was in those times the outward Face of this Countrey which we inhabit seeing by the digging of these VVells in the Land of Modena 't is known enough that the Situation of this Countrey which is called Gallia Cispadana and Transpadana was very low and deprest in old times in comparison of what 't is now Plato when he brings in Critias speaking writes that there are two things which bring great and sudden Changes in the Earth and totally abolish the Monuments of the most ancient Countreys The VVorld felt the first Calamity in the Universal Deluge the other being reserved against the Day of Judgment and the Destruction of wicked Mâ—n as Peter says when a New Heaven and a New Earth shall appear 'T is most certain that the Face of the whole Earth was most notably changed in that Universal Drowning and Overturning of all things But some think that such a Change follow'd that the state of the VVorld before the Flood was quite different from what 't was afterwards which yet I cannot assent to There is lately come from England a Book whose Title is The Sacred Theory of the Earth by Thomas Bâ—â—net This Learned Man endeavours to demonstrate that the Earth before the Deluge in its first Original had another Form than now it appears to have so that there were neither Seas nor Isles nor Mountains nor Valleys nor Rivers any where but the whole Body of the VVaters lodg'd in the Caverns of the Earth Now he feign'd such a Face of the Earth to the end that it may be perceiv'd without the Creation of new VVaters from what Store-house a quantity of VVater may be drawn sufficient to cover the Face of the Earth tho' it had Mountains which we must imagine to have been higher by far than the present ones So that according to his Reasoning neither Rains how great soever nor Theoâ—â— Rabbah of Moses viz. Abyss of VVaters hid in the Caverns of the Earth could be sufficient for that Universal Deluge But he thinks that the Mountains Valleys Seas Isles and Rocks might have appeared in that great cleaving of the whole Body of the Earth pieces of it being broke off here and there and swallow'd up in the great Gulph while those which stood in their former state made a shew of Isles Mountains and Rocks but these which were wholly covered by the VVaters had the Name of Sea and Lakes and so the Earth appeared after the Deluge all broken torn and of a quite different Aspect This Fancy however it may be taken for new yet certainly is not the Fiction of our Times but more ancient by far Franciscus Patritius a Man famous enough for Learning in a certain Book of his Of the Rhetorick of the Ancients written in Italian and Printed at Venice by Franciscus Senensis Anno 1562. The first Dialogue has a pleasant Story which he says Iulius Strozza had from Count Balthazzar Castillon and he had from a certain Abyssine Philosopher in Spain This wise Abyssinian did say That in the most ancient Annals of Aethiopia there is a History of the Destruction of Mankind and the breaking of the Earth That in the beginning of the World the Earth was far bigger than now 't is and nearer to Heaven perfectly round without Mountains and Valleys yet all Cavernous within like a Spunge and that Men dwelling in it and enjoying a most pure Aether did lead a pleasant Life and that the Earth brought forth excellent Corn and Fruits without Labour But when after a long Flux of Ages Men were puft up with Pride and so fell from their first Goodness the Gods in Anger did shake the Earth so that a great part of it fell within its own Caverns and by this means the Water that before was shut up in dark Holes was violently squeez'd out and so Fountains Lakes Rivers and the Sea it self took its Original But that Portion of the Earth which did not fall into these Caverns but stood higher than the rest made the Mountains That the Isles and Rocks in the midst of the Sea are nothing but Segments of the Earth remaining after the sudden fall of its Mass. I am willing for the satisfaction of the Curious to give the Author 's own words as more tending to our purpose In the first Ages said the Reverend Old Man after the last Renovation of the VVorld the Earth we dwell on was not of that Form nor so little as 't is at present but far greater and of a perfect roundness because then it did take up as much place as it now takes up with the whole VVater and Air together So that between it and Heaven there was not any thing interpos'd but a most pure Fire which is called Aether being of a most pure and vital Heat The Earth then was of so large an Extent and so near to Heaven But within and in the Surface 't was very Cavernous within which were scattered the Elements of Air and VVater and towards the Center was scattered a Fire to warm the places remotest from Heaven and therefore obscure and cold Because the other Caverns nearer the Surface of the Earth were illuminated from Heaven by the Openings above and by its VVarmth filled with Life and all these Caverns were inhabited by Men and other Animals for the use of which the VVater and Air were scattered over the Caverns The Earth then was like a Spunge and Men dwelt within it their Life was very happy and without any Evil because there was not among Men either War or Sedition Nor did they live inclos'd in Cities as they do now for fear of wild Beasts and other Men but they liv'd promiscuously and the Earth produc'd its Fruits for their Necessity without any Labour of theirs Further the Mildness of the Air and Aether were so great that the Seasons did not vary as they do now And knowing then the Truth and the Vertues of all things they found they were good they knew also the Vertues of the Stars their Senses being nourished in a most pure Aether from whence they had the Knowledge of things Celestial and Elemental 'T is come to our Knowledge that in the most ancient Annals of Aethiopia among many others were found Aegypt Aethiopia Persia Assyria and Thracia Now hearken O Count says the Aethiopian attentively what occasioned the Fall of the Earth
being puft up with a conceit of their own Knowledge the Gospel appeared Foolishness surely the Apostle does not hereby condemn him that studies to know the nature of things with their causes c. Vt varios usus meditando extunderet artes Which is Natural Philosophy for Solomon the wisest of Kings is in the Scripture commended for this or him that studies the nature of and way to manage his own Spirit and its Thoughts c. which is Metaphysicks and Moral Philosophy both in their places very subservient to Religion but he condemns the Abyssinian Philosophy or the imposing of Poetical Fictions instead of solid Truth on the understandings of People Now that we have view'd the Theorist's strongest holds and I hope beat him out of them I think it will not be worth while to seek him out any where else as to his pretences to Sacred Authority we come next to view his Philosophical holds I hope though it be War time we may view them without danger from Canons or Grenades or at the worst they will be but Paper ones and will do no great hurt and this comes in course for after the Author has made the best he can of this place in St Peter he distrusts the strength of his own Argument for in the beginning he confesses that the meaning of these words seems not to be so express and open that the form of the Antedâ—luvian Earth may be thence concluded therefore he has recourse to his Abyssinian Philosophy a very good second as we shall find Dignum patellâ operculum He supposes the Chaos to have been made up of Particles different as to shape bulk weight c. and that the grossest solid Particles by their weight falling downward suddenly toward the Center formed the Kernel of his Primogenial Earth and that immediately there followed a new division of the remaining part into two and no more viz. Fluid and Volatile or Air and Water of which the thinnest and lightest part keeping uppermost made the Air and the grosser the Water out of which were separated the Oily parts which being lighter floated above it and last of all he supposes another purgation of the Air from its Earthy Particles which falling upon the Oily Particles were by their viscidity entangled and thus hindred from descending into the Abyss and these Earthy Particles he supposes by the heat of the Sun to have been burnt â—nto a hard crust which made the Shell of the Primogenial Earth This is the substance of the Hypothesis from which as a Corollary tho' not heeded by the Theorist we may infer a new sett of Principles viz. Oil and Earth unknown to the Learned World before this Abyssinian Philosophy Now may Paracelsus keep to himself his three Principles Salt Sulphur and Mercury Aristotle his four Elements Des Cartes his three Principles of Materia subtilis globuli secundi elementi materia tertii elementi and the most experienc'd Van Helmont his Axiom Of Water and Seminal Principles all things are made tho' experience taught him and others since him that not only Oil but also Salt Earth c. are made of Water which is known à posteriori or by the effect or experiment the Foundation of all the Knowledge we have of Nature But as for the Antediluvian World since it doth not so much concern us now I shall leave the consideration of its Principles to the Abyssinian Philosophers who demonstrate all things à priori And yet in these separations the Theorist is not so Philosophical as he pretends to be for his division of the Chaos into Fluid and Volatile Water and Air this is purely Abyssinian or Fictitious the Air being own'd by all Philosophers Eluid as well as Water nay rather more But the Fifth and Last Separation of the Earth from the Air is contradictory to common sense as well as his own Laws of Gravitation for how could it come to pass that there remain'd so much Earth in the Air which is 1000 times lighter than Water after the four Separations mention'd as to be sufficient to make up the crust of the Antediluvian Earth Why was it not carried down toward the Center as fast as the Water or at least the Oil The simile of Snow and Hail falling down from the Air will not answer the case in hand for they rise into the middle Region of the Air in form of a Vapour much rarify'd by which â—â—refaction the Surface of every particle of Water being made larger the body becomes lighter than so much Air and so ascends till it come to the middle Region where by its cold 't is condens'd and so falls down in Rain Hail or Snow according to the different degrees of cold that I may not seem to say this gratis I shall illustrate â—t with an experiment that will quadrate better with what I have said than the Theorist's Simile let us suppose a small Carps Bladder with the Air squeezed out and the Mouth close tyed to be thrown into a wide mouth'd Glass full of Water it will sink to the bottom but if the Vessel and all be put into the Pneumatick Engine or Air-Pump and a Receiver fitted to it upon exhausting the Air from the Receiver that little which remains inclosed in the Bladder will expand iâ— self very much and so both togetheâ— will make an aggregate lighter than Water upon whicâ— it will rise to the top because it has more Surface expos'd to its Pressure than it had before Now if the Theorist can prove that his Earthy Particles were thus capable of expansion and dilation this Assertion of his tho' but the Opinion of one Dr. shall have place among the probable ones otherwise we will take it for no other than Abyssinian or Fictitious But suppose it to be true we have no reason to think Fabulous or Strange Pliny's and Livy's Stories of Showers of Flesh Stones c. seeing the whole Earth the Mother of All did this Shower down out of the Air. And since our Author is Arbitrary in supposing I think he might as well have suppos'd the Abyss to have been shut up in a Bag of Raw Hides which would have supported the Earth from falling into his Abyss till by being bak'd into a hard crust it had been able to support it self and this will better fit his Interpretation of Ps. 33. 7. where the Sea is by him said to be gathered as in a Bag for the hard crust of the Earth might be better compar'd to a Bottle than to a Bag. I would not have the Theorist think I put a jest upon him in mentioning this of the Raw Hides because notable Feats past belief in the laying of Foundations have been perform'd by this means a memorable instance of which is to be seen to this day in the English Church at Vtrecht where is a great Massy Pillar that was thus founded the account I had of it when I was at Vtrecht was this when
the Bishop of Vtrecht was building the Church as they digg'd to lay the Foundation of this Pillar they came to a Quick-Sand that swallowed up every thing that was put upon it so that the raising of it was look'd upon as unpracticable till the Bishop proposing a great reward to any that could bring the Foundation to bear a Friezlander found out the way and being overjoyed at the discovery he told it to his Wife which his Son hearing told it to his Play-fellows in the Street by this means it came to the Bishop's Ears so that when the Ingineer came to demand his Reward he refus'd to pay him saying he knew it already which so incens'd the cruel Friezelander that he kill'd his Child and Wife for divulging his Secret and the Bishop for defrauding him of his Reward in memory of this there is a Picture of an Ox upon the Pillar with this Inscription Accipe posteritas quod per tua saeculaa nerres Taurinis cutibus fundo solidata columna est Upon a Pillar at the end of the Church are twenty or thirty Hexameter Verses giving an account of the whole Story The Theorist needs not object that the heat of the Sun which is suppos'd to bake the Earth into a hard crust might burn the Hides for the Water in the Abyss will secure him from this fear a confirmation of which may be seen in Buchanan's History where he gives an account of a way practis'd in these times for boiling of Meat in raw Hides by which they became hard like Iron and were not burnt But if we admit that the after-birth of the Earthy Particles did in the order suppos'd by the Theorist fall upon the Oil and there were by the heat of the Sun bak'd into a hard crust how will this agree with the Scripture Gen. 1. 9 Let the Dry Land appear and it was so ver 10. And God called the Dry Land Earth c. How was the Earth hardened by the heat of the Sun that was not yet made For the Earth was made on the third and the Sun on the fourth ver 16. God made two great Lights the greater 〈◊〉 Rule the Day and the lesser to Rule the Night But suppose the Sun could do this under the Line how came it to be so soon bak'd under the Poles where according to the Theory's supposition of the Poles of the Ecliptick and Aequator coinciding the Sun could never rise above the Horizon Seeing now tho' the Sun shines half a year to these places the Air is always very cold and the Earth covered with Snow But let us suppose the Earth to have been thus hardened by the heat of the Sun and Winds then it must be granted that it hardened sooner under the Line than towards the Poles and that before the crust was hard enough to support it self from falling into the Abyss it had acquired some considerable weight by reason of which pressing on the Surface of the Abyss it would according to the nature of all Fluids give way and rise towards the Poles where by reason of the greater rawness of the Crust the Water would meet with less resistance and so break the continuity of the Egg-shell for I do not see by any thing the Theorist advances how the Water which in the natural Ballance alters its place with the 1 200000 of its weight more on one side than on another should in this case hold firm except by the above mentioned supposition of the raw Hides Methinks I see the Oil'd Cake or Crust thus falling in at the sides and rising towards the Poles and so the whole Fabrick of the Egg-shell spoil'd and therefore Gentlemen I will by your leave take the liberty to entertain you with another Hypothesis while the Theorist is making a surer and better foundation than Water for his Primogenial Earth or Egg-shell but first crave leave to make an end of this search The Theorist does not tell in what proportion the Earth was mixt with the Oil for Nature does all her Work in proportion this the Apothecaries know in making their Plaisters where according to the Rule of Art there is of Oil and Wax each an ounce and of Powders half an ounce for a soft Plaister and for the hardest Plaister there is one ounce of Oil two ounces of Wax and Powders six drachms which being cold makes a Mass hard almost like a Stone but this seeing it melts again with the heat will not answer the end the good Women know a certain proportion of Butter and Flower which tho' I am ignorant of yet seeing it bakes into a very hard substance might do here were it not very brittle The Theorist may think this a ridiculous comparison yet this I may be bold to say and can make out if needful that a good Woman that makes Butter'd Cakes to sell them again does more service to the Publick than the Doctor has done by his Theory But he does very well to decline this as being a thing impracticable except he had been then on God Almighty's Council or dispens'd out the Ingredients for if he had been then present and but a bare Spectator he could have done no more than now i. e. to make a Conjecture good for nothing But farther the Oil must have been of some depth to incorporate so great a quantity of Earth now the Theory does not tell where so great a quantity of Earth did stop in the Oil whether near the surface in the middle or near the bottom if they settled to the confines of the Oil and Water the heat of the Sun even under the Torrid Zone could not reach so far as to bake it into a hard Crust except he be suppos'd to have been far more vigorous in his Actions in his own and the World's Infancy than he is how in his old declining Age for at Sea within the Tropicks we do not find now that the Sun-beams penetrate much below the surface of the Water this is known by the experience of the Seamen when under the Line they let down their Plumets for after they have been some time under Water 200 fathom deep they bring them up so cold that one cannot long hold his hand upon them which observation the Mariners have improved to the cooling of their Liquors better than we do here with Ice and Snow It will be most convenient therefore in my judgment to suppose this forming of the Crust on or near the surface of the Oil but by this means 't is very likely there would be a great quantity of Oil under that never incorporated with the Earth or was never bak'd so that when the Egg-shell broke the Sea would be covered with it like so much fat Broth which there being no more Earth to Rain out of the Air to incorporate with it must have continued so to this day except consum'd with the superfluous Waters after the Deluge Yet further the Egg-shell or Crust was made before the
Fishes and Fowls were produc'd out of the Water which was on the Fifth day Gen. 1. 20. And God said let the Waters bring forth abundantly the living Creature that hath life and the Fowls c. ver 23. And the Evening and the Morning were the fifth Day Now how can this be consistent with a Crust of the Earth encompassing the Abyss in which there must be no opening or hiatus Or else how could the Crust when it was first forming be kept from falling in In which case this Abyss must be a very improper place for Fishes to live in far more for their encreasing and multiplying for 't is observ'd now in Fish-Ponds if the Water be quite Frozen that the Fish dye for want of Air and therefore in Holland where they have a great many Fish Ponds about their Houses and great Frosts they break the Ice from time to time lest their Fish should dye for want of Air. 'T is remarkable that the Plants were produc'd the same day with the Earth before the Sun and Moon but the living Creatures viz. the Fishes and Fowls were not made till after the fourth day in which the Luminaries were made that they might have the benefit of the Sun and Moon to direct them by their Light in their removing to and fro to seek their Food but the Plants which receive their Nourishment standing still in the Ground had not so great need of that Light and therefore were made before From this we may infer that the order kept in this short History is not only to comply with the weak capacities of the Ignorant People but to tell the Matter of Fact and that there is no less reason for the Order of all the other parts of the History tho' the Theorist has the confidence to ridicule it as being fitted only to the capacities of Ignorant Slaves newly come out of Aegypt But supposing Fishes might live there for 1600 years as the Faetus does in the Mothers Womb shut up in darkness from the Air and the Prolifick heat of the Sun how can our Theorist give an account of the production of Fowls out of the Water that is consistent with the Scripture for the Earth was made the third day and firm enough to produce Plants how or at what â—ent got the Fowls out into the open Air Suppose they could make their way through the Egg-shell in places nearer the Poles where 't was still but like Mudd or was our Oil'd Cake not strong enough by this time to keep the Birds from flying out if not surely they would be so daub'd with Oil or Earth that they would never be able to raise themselves out of the Mudd or when raised to fly But again if the Fishes were thus inclos'd within the Crust how could the Blessing of God upon Man take place Ver. 28. viz. That he should have Dominion over the Fishes of the Sea seeing for 16 hundred years they were so far remov'd from his Habitation likely some hundreds of miles the whole Crust of the Earth being interpos'd between him and them and expand it self with heat which would be derogatory from the subtlety of the Cartesian Aether upon which he and Seignor Spoletti the Venetian Ambassadour's Physician were pleas'd to honour me with a visit at my Chamber the Experiment was this I had a Glass Pipe such as they make the Baroscopes of blown into the shape of a round ball at the end that was Hermetically seal'd and bended into a Syphon whose legs were parallel but distant from another three inches so that the leg on which the Ball stood was nine inches long but the other two feet long the shorter Leg and the intermedial Pipe I fill'd quite with Water to the lower end of the great Leg so that there was no Air left in the space then I put into it some filings of Steel about a drachm and an half and after the filings were laid along in the intermedial Pipe I put to it Oil of Vitriol 30 or 40 drops which mixing with the Water for otherwise strong Oil of Vitriol does not work upon the filings did immediately corrode the Iron and sent up to the Ball so great a quantity of this generated Air as to fill it and half the shorter Leg in a very little space in which it was remarkable that applying my warm hand to the Ball it did expand it self in an instant so much as to drive out the Water at the longer Pipe but on with-drawing my hand it contracted it self into half the Ball where it has stood ever since December last year now it 's November another thing very remarkable in this is a considerable heat that is to be observ'd ever since on the top of the Ball such as is observed in the great end of fresh Eggs and this tho' the Water the other half be very cold and at the same time some of the Vapours got out into the open Air. At the first it had a saltish taste on the top of the Ball which I could not observe in the Summer but now in November I observe it very remarkable with the heat and so it appeared to a young Gentleman that was with me at that time Before I come to apply this to the subject in hand it will be necessary to remark from Scripture Gen. 7. 11. that there were then and still are great Cavities in the Bowels of the Earth full of Water to which agree the Testimonies of the Authors mentioned in Ramazzini These Cavities seeing the Scripture says nothing to the contrary we may suppose to have been made from the beginning not as Deformities but for noble and excellenâ— uses and that by taking off the upper Crust from some parts of the Earth and laying it on others the everlasting Mountains and a Bed for the Ocean were fram'd at the same time and thus a passage was open'd for the Waters that before encompass'd the Earth to run into these Cavities 't is not material for our purpose whether this was all done in one day as the Theory objects or whether the Water could run so fast away from the Inland places as to leave them quite bare it is enough if in that day the dry land did appear as doubtless a great part of it did The Theorist thinks this a very laborious Work as if it were a hard thing for the Author of Nature who tells his Servants that if they had Faith but as a grain of Mustard-Seed they might remove Mountains into the Sea to remove the Mountains out of the Sea 2. That this Abyss did communicate with the Ocean which is a consequence of the first and supported by the Testimonies of Ram. p. 125 158. 3. That in these Cavities might be generated Minerals and Metals Ram. p. 32. and that by the colluctation of several contrary Salts in the Abyss might be generated an Air and sometimes so suddenly as to make Explosions of which and the first Supposition Earthquakes
and the rocking of the Earth seem to be a pregnant instance Vid. Brit. Bac. P. 73. Where 't is related that the Earth rose nine foot high and was thrown some distance off which sure was from an Exhalation or Wind pented in and suddenly expanded 5. We may allow also that there were Mountains in the beginning which seems to be plain by Psal. 90. 2. in which the formation of the Earth and the Mountains are mention'd as coaeval and therefore are called everlasting Mountains Gen. 49. 26. This may be by good consequence also inferr'd from the second chapter of Gen. wherein 't is said there were Rivers one of which viz. Euphrates is to this day known by the name that it had then from whence we may safely conclude that the same Rivers had the same Mountains from which they descended that they have now Now if we suppose that at the time of the Deluge there happen'd such a conflict of contrary Salts Acid and Alcali as we have now mention'd in the Bowels of the Earth there would be an Air generated which in many places being penned up might cause Earthquakes and at the same time some of this Exhalation might escape into the open Air from which might proceed the great Rains of forty days continuance accompanied likely with great Thunder Lightning c. to strike the greater terror into the Wicked that in their fright they might not find the way to the Ark they had formerly so much despis'd and that if they had thought of such things they might be hindred by the great Rains by the Air inclos'd in the â—owels of the Earth we may as it happens in our Experiment imagine that the Water of the Abyss was dislodg'd and so came out to overflow the Earth by which we may interpret the opening of the great depths and this at the passages by which the Abyss and Ocean did communicate which so swell'd by degrees till the top of the highest Mountains were covered Further we may infer that the Antediluvian Air being infected with the Mineral Seams and in a great measure compos'd of them might occasion that shortning of Man's Life which happen'd quickly after the Deluge which tho' it did not so visibly affect the stronger Constitutions of Noah and his Sons might lay such a foundation of infirmities in their Posterity as might in Moses days shorten their Life to 70 or 80 years We may suppose likewise that as in our Experiment when the heat of the Effervescence was over the Water fell in the greater Pipe and rose in the shorter so when this Ebullition was over in the Bowels of the Earth the Waters returned by degrees into the Bowels of the Earth and so the Ocean into the bounds set to it by God as in Psal. 104. 6. Thou coverest it with the deep as with a garment The Waters stood above the Mountains ver 7. At thy rebuke they fled at the voice of thy thunder they hasted away ver 8. They go up by the Mountains they go down by the Valleys unto the place which thou hast founded for them ver 9. Thou hast set a bound that they may not pass over that they turn not again to cover the Earth One might represent the whole of this to the Eye thus let there be a round Ball to represent the Earth with a hole at the end standing for the North Pole at a which Kircher supposes the Ocean to circulate thro' the Earth of glass f f f full of risings to represent the Mountains b b b let the Ball be fill'd with Water and at the hole insert a Pipe g g g which cement to the Neck throw in by this Pipe some filings of Steel after which some Oil of Vitriol and keep the Ball inclining so that the steams arising may not get out at the hole but being pented in may drive out the Water at the Pipe which if the Ball were the Center of the Earth would over flow all the surface of the Glass and cover the Mountains of it but this being wanted we may imagine another glass c c c divided in two as you see so that they may be cemented together when the other glass ball is inclos'd all the Water that runs out at the mouth of g g g will over-flow the Hills b b b c. This is the substance of what I have to say of my Hypothesis which if furnish'd with a good Library with large Indexes it were easie to make swell into a Volume big enough to deserve the title of a Theory among which I might perhaps find even in the Relicts of the Fidler Orpheus himself so much esteemed by our Theorist or at least among the other PLACITA PHILOSOPHORVM enough to favour it Sed non equidem hoc stude o bullatis ut mihi nugis Pagina turgescat dare pondus idonea fumo And with this I leave the Theory at present hastning to make an end Of Perpetual Lamps THere has been much written of Perpetual Lamps said to be found in Burying places of the old Romans which at first seems past all belief for how can it be that a Lamp should have fuel for some hundreds of years to maintain it in life And if it had fuel how could it in those close Vaults escape being suffocated in its own smoke I believe that the appearing of some light by the Work-mens Tools hitting against some hard Stone or Brick in the dark and so striking fire might give rise to the first report which Fame that never loses by going has increas'd almost to a Miracle For they say of them that upon the Air 's coming to them they contrary to all other fires do presently die Or they might have met with such an Observation as a noble Lord told me he had communicated to him when at Rome by a Gentleman of that place who made it and it was this that searching Roma Subterranea for Antiquities he came to a Brick-wall which ordering to be digg'd thro' he found to be the Wall of a Vault or Burying-place in which before the Light was brought in he observ'd something like a Candle burning which he lost sight of as soon as the Candle was brought in and therefore removing it again and directing himself by his Hand kept between the Light and his Eye he found it and by the description I had of it from that noble person it was of the nature of Mr. Boyl's Glacial Noctiluca for it was solid and in a fortnights time did run per deliquium But whatever be of truth in it the Ingenious have made many Conjectures about the salving of this wonderful Phaenomenon Des Cartes has attempted it by applying his Principles to it but seeing they are Abyssinian i. e. precarious and the explication hardly intelligible we pass it in silence Athanasius Kircher 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 has given us his conjecture which seeing it depends upon a Mechanical Principle is by far more intelligible than any
be explained by Possibilities Seeing I am come so far that I must at length tell what I think of the Nature of this admirable Spring I believe I have done the part of a good Guesser if by sounding this Ford I can tell things probable and agreeable to the Laws of Nature instead of things certain VVe may therefore conjecture that the Sea in this our Countrey had secret Commerce with the Appennine to which it was adjacent in the beginning of the World and that it still has and that it laid a Foundation by several subterraneous Passages in its Bowels for several Storehouses of Waters of which this may be believed to be one from whence these Fountains derive their Original and that the Water is expanded over all this Vein of Sand in which such a Spring is discovered But when the Stop is taken away and the Flood-gates are opened it rises on high as in Aqueducts And this Thought of mine as it does not contradict Nature so it shuns those Difficulties which the foremention'd Opinion of an Immense Space through which a subterraneous River flows does incur That a great abundance of VVaters may secretly flow a long way through Sand is neither against Reason nor Experience seeing 't is the Property of Sand easily to drink up VVater and therefore has the Name of Sinking Sand. Pliny and Solinus say that the Nile the greatest of Rivers being swallowed up in the Sands runs hid a great way tho' nothing of that is known in our Times Seneca also testifies that some Rivers fall into Caves some are by degrees consumed and never appear again The most Learned Kircher says that in Westphalia near the Village Altembechem there is a certain sandy Plain in which every Day the Water breaks out with great Violence so as to overflow the whole Countrey and afterwards sinking into the Sand disappears the Surface of the Sand remaining dry The River Guadiana in Spain as some relate who have observ'd it when it has come to a certain Plain is gradually swallowed up and without noise of the Earth which is a most certain Proof that this River does not fall into a Gulph but runs away by these Beds of Sand. In like manner I do believe that the VVater descends by secret Passages from a Cistern in the Roots of the adjacent Mountains that communicates with the Sea till it come into this deep sandy Plain mixt with much Gravel so that there is no need to conceive any Plain of great width and depth by which these subterraneous waters may constantly run down but a few intersperst spaces may suffice because of the Mixture of Sand and Gravel Helmont says that Sand is Original Earth and the Seat of the VVaters but that the rest of the Earth is the Fruit of this Original Earth and that not without Reason seeing the reducing of this Sand into VVater is more difficult than of any other Body This same Author makes this Sand the last Bounds of digging beyond which to proceed were lost Labour because of the continual Conflux of Sand and VVater But he thinks that this Sand is extended from the Shell of the Earth to the Center and abundance of Water lodges in it so that the Water which is kept in it is a thousand times bigger than what is in the whole Ocean All Seas Rivers and Fountains even in the top of the Mountains owe their Original to this invisible Ocean so that the Water does every where follow the vital Sand. Telesus seems to have been of the same Judgment who said the bottom of the Sea was a Fountain of that Interiour Ocean which agrees with that Opinion of Plato concerning the Gulph from whose Bosom all Waters go out and into which they all fall back again Whatever be of Truth in this Opinion of an Invisible Ocean lurking in the Sand which Helmont conceiv'd ingeniously and upon probable enough Arguments yet I think none will deny but Water may run a long way through Beds of Sand and when some Passage is open may be rais'd again especially if it be urg'd by Water descending from a higher Ground And I think that 't is probable the matter is so in our Fountains to wit the Water flows out of some Cistern plac'd in the neighbouring Mountains by subterraneous Passages where the Earth is firm and hard but when it has come into the Plain it expatiates far over the Sand and in the way is lifted up to this height when a Hole is made with an Auger according to the Laws of Hydrostaticks And I think this is a more expeditious and easie way of explicating the Nature of this never-enough-admired Spring than to imagine a great Vault of which there are no Marks and a Town with a whole Countrey hanging over it To give some Specimen how â—his flowing of the Water may be according to my Explication Suppose as in Fig. 2. that there is a Cistern in the Bowels of the Apennine drawing Water from the Sea and that the Water is carry'd by subterraneous Pipes from the same Cistern and spread over this deep and sandy Plain A B C mixt with much Gravel which sandy Plain being brought into much lesser Bounds the Water is forc'd to run down by a more narrow space than it had in the beginning and to follow its Course till it come into the Sea or some great Gulph Therefore Wells EFGH being digg'd without any Choice in all the Tract lying upon this Spring and a Hole being made by the Auger the Water of necessity must be lifted up on high being forc't by another which descending from a higher Ground presses on that which goes before and drives it up By this means these Waters receive a plentiful Supply from their Father Apennine as does the Well of Waters which flows from Lebanon of which there is mention in the Sacred History But 't is by far more probable that the Water is sent from the Sea into such a Cistern than from Showers or melted Snows seeing Rain and Snow-waters run away for the most part by Rivers above Ground neither can they enter into the ground so deep as Seneca also testifies That there is no Rain so great which wets the ground above Ten Foot For as he says when the Earth is glutted if any more fall it shuts it out And truly how could it come to pass that they should flow at the same rate as well in moist as in dry Seasons if the Rain-Water came hither and they did not rather get their VVaters from the Sea which being strained through the Sand and deprived of all Salt they return to the Sea again with Interest Truly I could never yet understand how that secret Cistern from which VVaters are sent to these Fountains should not be unconstant if they received Moisture for a time from the Rains and Snows and sometimes increase sometimes decrease and therefore according to the Increase and Decrease of the Pressure
pregnant for when such Substances are sprinkled with Water they grow hot like Quick lime and raise divers Exhalations which the Mineral Waters do testifie that break out hot to which you may add there are many Store houses of Fire which may not a little alter the subterraneous Region which happens not in great Plains as is the Countrey on this and the other side of the Po. Indeed the most Learn'd Mr. Boyle has gathered many things of the Temper of the Air under Ground all which yet he says he had from such as made Observations on many Mines where he also relates that in the same places and at the same times of the Year there is found a different temper of the subterraneous Regions because of the different Nature of Salts And he says That from some Mines are felt hot Effluvia in the Summer-time And 't is observed that not only out of the Caverns of the Mountains hot Exhalations breath in the Summer-time but also frequently a most cold Air. In Etruria near the Lake of the Vulsinenses near the Town Martha is a little Cave at the foot of a most high Mountain which is not above 6 or 8 Feet deep but in the side of the Cave at a little Chink the Wind blows so cold that it may be compar'd to the Coldness of the North Winds The Fathers of the Order of the Mimims of St. Francis de Paula who have a Church with a Monastery near it use this Cave as a Vault for their Wine and in the Summer-time draw their Wine from thence as cold as if it had been in Snow yea if they keep their Summer Fruits there sometime they draw them out sprinkled with a cold Dew as I have observed during my stay with them in the Dog days But in the great Plains where all the Earth is solid and does not keep so many kinds of Salts or Fires inclos'd if we might go down deeper by digging a greater Certitude might be had of this subterraneous Temperature But in these VVells of ours I perceived this Reciprocation of Heat and Cold sensible enough as often as I descended into them at different times but that there might happen no Deception by the Senses being preposses'd with Heat or Cold I observed it manifestly by a Thermometer exactly sealed But whatever is the nature of Cold or Heat for 't is not proper in this place to enquire whether they are bare Qualities or Corpuscles causing such a Sensation in us Antiperastis as I think ought not to be banish'd out of the Schools for it may be explained right enough both ways Whether therefore according to the Diversity of Climates and Countreys there be a different Temper of the Air under Ground yet 't is certain that the Thermometer being let down does speak with distinct Notes that there is at least in the first Region of the Earth whatever be of the deeper and Central parts of the Earth this Reciprocation of Heat and Cold according to the different Changes of the Year and always in a quality opposite to that which the external Air in which we live hath So that here may be used that Sentence of the Noble Hippocrates Lux orco tenebrae Iovi Lux Iovi tenebrae orco But before we come out of these VVells it will be fit to give the Reasons of some Phaenomena that are observ'd in the digging of them It was said before that there is a great Rest in the Air in the VVinter-time so that the Candles continue burning there is no smoaky Exhalation and they easily draw their Breath but in the Summer-time there is raised a thick Cloud the Lights are put out and the Diggers are almost kill'd But from whence this VVhen rather in the Winter-time because of the Heat more intense at that time and equal to the Summers Heat it might seem consonant to Reason that in a moist place a smoaky Exhalation should be rais'd which should trouble the Air and put out the Lights but in the Summer by reason of the Cold which lodges in these VVells not much unlike the Cold in the VVinter it would seem reasonable that the Air should be more pure nor so intangled with gross Vapours as to be unfit for Respiration VVhether 't is that the Heat which in the VVinter-time is in these Wells by reason of an Antiperistasis being greater hath force to dissipate these Vapors but in the Summer-time by reason of the Cold they cannot be dissolved Or rather that the Exhalations in the Winter that are raised by the Heat in these VVells are lighter than the external and thicker Air and so do ascend more easily but in the Summer are heavier than the external Air and therefore stagnating there cause a difficulty of breathing and put out the Lights when kindled But here I cannot but wonder why in the Mines though of great depth as are those in Hungary the Miners continue any time of the Year with their Candles lighted and that in any season nor do they feel so great an Inconvenience in breathing But in our Wells that are in the open Air and communicate with the open Air not by turnings but in a streight Line the VVorkmen in the Summer-time are almost suffocated and their Lights put out so that in the Dog-Days there is no hiring of them to work Perhaps this falls out because the Mines in the Mountains and dry places have not so gross an Air but such as is sufficient for Respiration but these being digg'd in a Champion Countrey and moist Ground send forth Streams more plentifully so the Air being filled with them is unfit for Respiration I deny not but in the Mines the Miners are sometimes troubled with shortness of Breath partly by reason of their own Breaths and partly because of the Metallick Exhalations yea are sometimes killed so that to prevent the Danger of being stifled they use Air-Pumps for taking up the fowl Air and letting in fresh a Description of which you may see in Agricola Beside they dig a Pit some distance from the Mine tending downwards from which a Mine is extended to the place where the Diggers work which serves for a Wind Pipe and by bringing in fresh Air and driving the old to the Mouth of the Pit does much refresh the VVorkmen and frees them from the danger of being stifled but that is only done in the deeper Mines as Agricola and Mr. Boyle relate The Lights therefore are put out in the Summer-time in these VVells and the Diggers are seiz'd with a great Difficulty of breathing because the Air in it is fill'd with gross Vapours which thick and ponderous Vapors cannot ascend in the hotter and lighter Air but are to lodge there by reason of their weight But the Vital Light requires of necessity a thinness and empty spaces in the Air in which it may lay down its Fulginous Effluvia and needs fresh Air for its Food otherwise it quickly dies It was observed before