Selected quad for the lemma: fire_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
fire_n	body_n	earth_n	element_n	4,634	5	9.8975	5	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A45273	The celestial worlds discover'd, or, Conjectures concerning the inhabitants, plants and productions of the worlds in the planets written in Latin by Christianus Huygens, and inscrib'd to his brother, Constantine Huygens ...; Kosmotheōros. English	Huygens, Christiaan, 1629-1695.; Huygens, Constantijn, 1628-1697.	1698 (1698)	Wing H3859; ESTC R5990	59,610	157

and Journeys which how far they are common to the Inhabitants of those Worlds with us I shall strait examine But first I shall enquire whether now we have given them one we may not venture upon the other four Senses to make them as good Men as our selves And truly Hearing puts in hard Hearing and almost perswades me to give it a share in the Animals of those new Countries And 't is of great consequence in defending us from sudden accidents and especially when Seeing is of no use to us it supplys its place and gives us seasonable warning of any imminent danger Besides we see many Animals call their fellows to them with their Voice which Language may have more in it than we are aware of tho we don't understand it But if we do but consider the vast uses and necessary occasions of Speaking on the one side and Hearing on the other among those Creatures that make use of their Reason it will scarce seem credible that two such useful such excellent things were designed only for us For how is it possible but that they that are without these must be without many other Necessaries and Conveniences of Life Or what can they have to recompense this want Then if we go still farther and do but meditate upon the neat and frugal Contrivance of Nature in making this same Air by the drawing in of which we live by whose Motion we sail and by whose means Birds fly for a conveyance of Sound to our ears and this Sound for the conveyance of another man's Thoughts to our Minds can we ever imagin that she has left those other Worlds destitute of so vast Advantages A Medium to convey Sound to the Ear. That they don't want the means of them is certain for their having Clouds in Jupiter puts it past doubt that they have Air too that being mostly formed of the Particles of Water flying about as the Clouds are of them gathered into small Drops And another proof of it is the necessity of breathing for the preservation of Life a thing that seems to be as universal a Dictate of Nature as feeding upon the Fruits of the Earth As for Feeling Touch. it seems to be given upon necessity to all Creatures that are cover'd with a fine and sensible Skin as a Caution against coming too near those things that may injure or incommode them and without it they would be liable to continual Wounds Blows and Bruises Nature seems to have been so sensible of this that she has not left the least place free from such a perception Therefore it 's probable that the Inhabitants of those Worlds are not without so necessary a Defence and so fit a Preservative against Dangers and Mishaps Smell and Tast And who is there that doth not see the inevitable necessity for all Creatures that live by feeding to have both Tast and Smell that they may distinguish those things that are good and nourishing from those that are mischievous and harmful If therefore we allow the Planetary Creatures to feed upon Herbs Seeds or Flesh we must allow them a distinguishing Tast and Smell too that they may chuse or refuse any thing according as they find it likely to be advantagious or noxious to them I know that it hath been a question with many whether there might not have been more Senses than those five If we should allow this Their Senses not very different from ours it might nevertheless be reasonably doubted whether the Senses of the Planetary Inhabitants are much different from ours I must confess I cannot deny but there might possibly have been more Senses but when I consider the Uses of those we have I cannot think but they would have been superfluous The Eye was made to discern near and remote Objects the Ear to give us notice of what our Eyes could not either in the dark or behind our back Then what neither the Eye nor the Ear could the Nose was made which in Dogs is wonderfully nice to warn us of And what escapes the notice of the other four Senses we have Feeling to inform us of the too near approaches of before it can do us any mischief Thus has Nature so plentifully so perfectly provided for the necessary preservation of her Creatures here that I think she can give nothing more to those there but what will be needless and superfluous Yet the Senses were not wholly design'd for use but Men from all and all other Animals from some of them reap Pleasure as well as Profit as from the Tast in delicious Meats from the Smell in Flowers and Perfumes from the Sight in the contemplation of beauteous Shapes and Colours from the Hearing in the sweetness and harmony of Sounds from the Feeling in Venery unless you please to count that for a particular Sense by it self Since it is thus They have Pleasure arising from the Senses I think 't is but reasonable to allow the Inhabitants of the Planets these same advantages that we have from them For upon this consideration only how much happier and easier a man's Life is render'd by the enjoyment of them we must be obliged to grant them these Blessings except we would ingross every thing that is good to our selves as if we were worthier and more deserving than any else But moreover that Pleasure which we perceive in eating or in copulation seems to be a necessary and provident Command of Nature whereby it tacitly compels us to the preservation and continuance of our Life and Kind It is the same in Beasts So that both for their happiness and preservation it 's very probable the rest of the Planets are not without it Certainly when I consider all these things how great noble and useful they are when I consider what an admirable Providence it is that there 's such a thing as Pleasure in the World I can't but think that our Earth the smallest part almost of the Universe was never design'd to monopolize so great a Blessing And thus much for those Pleasures which affect our bodily Senses but have little or no relation to our Reason and Mind But there are other Pleasures which Men enjoy which their Soul only and Reason can relish some airy and brisk others grave and solid and yet nevertheless Pleasures as arising from the Satisfaction which we feel in Knowlege and Inventions and searches after Truth of which whether the Planetary Inhabitants are not partakers we shall have an opportunity of enquiring by and by There are some other things to be consider'd first in which it 's probable they have some relation to us That the Planets have those Elements of Earth Air and Water as well as we I have already made not unlikely Let us now see whether they may not have Fire too which is not so properly call'd an Element as a rapid Motion of the Particles in the inflammable Body But be it what it will there are many

Arguments for their not being without it All the Planets have Fire For this Earth is not so truly call'd the Place of Fire as the Sun and as by the heat of that all Plants and Animals here thrive and live so no doubt is it in the other Planets Since then Fire is caused by a most intense and vigorous Heat it follows that the Planets especially those nearer the Fountain of it have their proportionate degrees of Heat and Fire And when there are so many ways of its Production as by the collection of the Rays of the Sun by the reflection of Mirrors by the striking of Flint and Steel by the rubbing of Wood by the close loading of moist Grass by Lightning by the eruptions of Mountains and Volcanos it 's strange if neither Art should have produc'd it nor Nature effected it there by one of these many means Then how useful and necessary is it to us By it we drive away Cold and supply the want of the Sun in those Countries where his oblique Rays make a less vigorous Impression and so keep a great part of the Earth from being an uninhabited Desart which is equally necessary in all the Planets whether we allow them Succession of Seasons or a perpetual Spring and Aequinox for even then the Countries near the Pole would receive but little advantage from the Heat of the Sun By the help of this we turn the night into day and thereby make a considerable addition to the shortness fo our Lives Upon all these accounts I must not let this Earth of ours enjoy it all alone and exclude all the other Planets from so advantageous and so profitable a Gift But perhaps it may be asked as well concerning Brutes as rational Creatures and of their Plants and Trees too whether they are proportionably larger or less than ours The bigness of their Creatures not rightly guest at by the bigness of the Planets For if the Magnitude of the Planets was to be the Standard of their measure there would be Animals in Jupiter ten or fifteen times larger than Elephants and as much longer than our Whales And then their Men must be mere Goliahs in respect of our Pygmiships Now tho I don't see any so great absurdity in this as to make it impossible yet there is no reason to think it is really so seeing Nature has not always ty'd her self to those Rules which we have thought more convenient for her for example the magnitude of the Planets is not answerable to their distances from the Sun but Mars tho more remote is far less than Venus and Jupiter turns round his Axis in ten hours when the Earth which is much less than him spends 24. But since Nature perhaps some body will say has not observ'd such a Regularity in the proportion of things for ought we know we may have a Race of Pygmies about the bigness of Frogs and Mice possess'd of the Planets But I shall show that this is very improbable by and by In the Planets are many sorts of rational Creatures as well as here There may arise another Question whether there be in the Planets but one or more sorts of rational Creatures possess'd of different degrees of Reason and Sense There is something not unlike this to be observ'd among us For to pass by those who have human Shape altho some of them would very well bear that enquiry too if we do but consider some sorts of Beasts as the Dog the Ape the Beaver the Elephant nay some Birds and Bees what Sense and Understanding they are masters of we shall be forc'd to allow that Man is not the only rational Animal For we discover somewhat in them of Reason independent on and prior to all teaching and practice But still no body can doubt but that the Understanding and Reason of Man is to be prefer'd to theirs as being comprehensive of innumerable things indued with an infinite memory of what 's past and capable of providing against what 's to come That there is some such rational Creature in the other Planets which is the Head and Sovereign of the rest is very reasonable to believe for otherwise were many endued with the same Wisdom and Cunning we should have them always doing mischief always quarrelling and fighting one another for Empire and Sovereignty a thing that we feel too much of where we have but one such Creature But to let that pass our next Enquiry shall be concerning those Animals in the Planets which are furnish'd with the greatest Reason whether it 's possible to know wherein they employ it and whether they have made as great advances in Arts and Knowlege as we in our Planet Which deserves most to be consider'd and examin'd of any thing belonging to their nature and for the better performance of it we must take our rise somewhat higher and nicely view the Lives and Studies of Men. And in those things wherein Men provide and take care only of what 's absolutely necessary for the preservation of their Life in defending themselves from the Injuries of the Air in securing themselves against the Incursions of Enemies by Walls and against Fraud and Disturbances by Laws in educating their Children and providing for themselves and them In all these I can see no great reason that Man has to boast of the preeminency of his Reason above Beasts and other Animals For most of these things they perform with greater ease and art than us and some of them they have no need of For that sense of Virtue and Justice in which Man excels of Friendship Gratitude and Honesty of what use are they but either to put a stop to the Wickedness of Men or to secure us from mutual Assaults and Injuries a thing wherein the Beasts want no Guide but Nature and Inclination Then if we set before our eyes the manifold Cares the disturbances of Mind the restless Desires the dread of Death that are the result of this our Reason and compare them with that easy quiet and harmless Life which other Animals enjoy we should be apt to wish a change and conclude that they especially Birds liv'd with more pleasure and happiness than Man could with all his Wisdom For they have as great a gusto of bodily Pleasures as we let the new Philosophers say what they will who would have them go for nothing but Clocks and Engines of Flesh a thing which Beasts so plainly confute by crying and running away from a stick and all other actions that I wonder how any one could subscribe to so absurd and cruel an Opinion Nay I can scarce doubt but that Birds feel no small pleasure in their easy smooth sailing through the Air and would much more if they but knew the advantages it hath above our slow and laborious Progression Men chiefly differ from Beasts in the study of Nature What is it then after all that sets human Reason above all other and makes us