was fain to make the best shift he could which is a very bad one and still the worse by his management But so far is the Theorist mistaken in this point that supposing the great agitation of the vapours yet it is certain that their true course would be quite contrary to what he asserts namely from East to West and not towards the North and South parts of the World for they would be carried that way by a wind which would continually blow from East to West This I think I am able to prove demonstratively thus Since therefore this is clearly agreeable both to reason and observations there is no further doubt to be made of it The wind therefore in the Torrid Zone of the primitive earth blowing continually from East to West must of necessity carry with it all those bodyes which swim in it and are of the same density with it self All the vapours and exhalation therefore that can be drawn either from the abyss or earth by the heat of the Sun since they swim in an Air of the same density with themselves must be carryed from East to West by the motion of the winds which is alwayes directed that way And now I hope it will be plain even to the Theorist himself tho men are seldom convinced of the falshood of their own notions that the vapours which are raised by the Sun under the Torrid Zone of the primitive earth could never have reached either of the Poles and therefore most part of the Inhabitants of the earth must still have been without water since 't is impossible any supplies could be brought to them from the AEquator CHAP. VI. Of the Figure of the Earth THE Theorist as he thinks having found a sufficient stock of waters for the supply of all the Rivers in the earth does now enter upon the solution of another great difficulty which is to shew how in a smooth and regular earth the waters could run and what way they would take their course after their arrival at the Poles in vapour for since there were no Hills nor Mountains nor high Lands in the first Earth the vapours falling in the Frigid Zones and towards the Poles there it seems they would stand in Lakes and Pooles having no descent one way more than another The Theorist therefore to take off the objection will have the earth not to be of an exact Spherical but an Oval figure in which he sayes it is manifest that the Polar parts are higher than the AEquinoctial that is more remote from the Centre as appears by his figure and this he tells us will do the business For by that means the vapours which fall at the extream parts of the earth will have a continual descent towards the middle parts thereof and by consequence it will be a sufficient descent for the running of Rivers Now I will readily grant that the figure of the earth is not Spherical but Spheroidical but I can see no reason why it should be an oblong Spheroid and not a broad one for it may be of a Spheroidical figure tho the Axis of it were shorter than the Diameter of its equator and if it were so I would fain know by what means the vapours would flow from the Poles to the Equator But the Theorist gives us an account how the Earth came to be formed after the fashion of an oblong Spheroid 'T is true sayes he if the Earth were as fluid a substance as it was in the Creation and stood immovable without turning round its own Axis it would certainly settle it self into a Spherical figure but because it turned very swiftly round its Axis the Fluid by that agitation would indeavour to recede from its Centre of motion and form it self into a figure very nearly Oval as we see in the Sea or in any Lake when the waters are driven by the wind upon the Land the Waves extend themselves in length so in our watery Globe which is turned about its own Axis the whole bulk of water under the equator being much more agitated than that which is towards the Poles where the fluid in its diurnal motion describes lesser circles it will indeavour to recede from the Centre of its motion and because it cannot get quite off and fly away by reason of the Air which every way presses upon it and the straitness of its Orb in these places neither could it flow back without a great check and resistance from the same Air it could not otherwise free it self than by flowing towards the sides for waters which are hindered in their motion will take the easiest course they can have Now from this detrusion of the waters towards the side the parts towards the Poles must come to be much increased and those towards the equator discharged of abundance of water which otherwise would have layen upon them and by consequence the earth must have been of an Oblong or an Oval figure I come now to examin the Theorists reasons by which he proves the Earth to be of an Oblong Spheroidical figure He tells us that the fluid under the aequator being much more agitated than that which is towards the Poles which describes in its diurnal motions lesser arches and because it cannot quite get off and fly away by reason of the Air which every way presses upon it it could no other wayes free it self than by flowing towards the sides and consequently form the Earth into an Oval figure That the Reader may observe how excellent the Theorist is at drawing conclusions I will put this reasoning in other words thus All Bodies by reason of the Earths diurnal rotation do endeavour to recede from the Axis of their motion but by reason of the pressure of the Air and the straightness of the Orb they cannot recede from the Axis of their motion therefore they will move towards the Poles where they will come nearer to the Axis of their motion as if you would suppose a Body at the AEquator which doth endeavour to recede from the Axis of its motion but because it cannot quite fly off and get away therefore it will move towards the Poles that is it will come nearer to the Axis of its motion than if it had stayed at the AEquator It seemes to me that the Theorist in this part has endeavoured to give us a proof of his great skill in Logicks for he from a possible supposition has endeavoured directly to prove its contradictory that is because all Bodies do endeavour to recede from the Axis of their motion therefore they will endeavour to go to the Axis of their motion But I will now examin his Argument more particularly and first I will grant to the Theorist that all Bodies turned round about any Centre do endeavour to recede from it and fly off in the tangent For this is both evident to reason and experience but since the Air does alwayes move round the Earth it is plain that
Air is not able to produce any such effect for if the Air made really any alterations in the vibrations of a Pendulum it would produce a quite contrary effect than what is observed for Pendulums near the AEquator would move faster than they would do in places of greater Latitude the Air in the one place being more rarified is much thinner and siner than it is in the other and therefore gives less resistance to Bodies which move in it In this reasoning we have supposed the Earth to have been at first fluid as the Theorist has done before us but if we will put the case that the Earth was at first partly fluid and partly dry as it is at present yet because we find that the land is very near of the same Figure with the Sea only raised a little higher that it might not be overflowed composing with it the same solid and I have already shewed that the Surface of the Ocean is spheroidical and not spherical there is no doubt to be made but that the Land was formed into the same Figure by its wise Creator at the beginning of the World for if it were otherwise then would the Land towards the AEquator have been overflowed with water which as I have already proved must have been higher at the AEquator than at the Poles and therefore the Sea would rise there and spread it self like an inundation upon all the Land But for a further confirmation of the spheroidical Figure of the Earth let us consider some of the other Planets especially Iupiter who turns round his own Axis in the space of ten hours It may easily be observed that his Axis is considerably shorter than the Diameter of his AEquator and that in the proportion of seven to eight is the observations of Mr. Flamstead and Mons. Casini do testify and therefore we need not doubt but that the Earth which is a Planet like the rest and turns round its Axis as they do is of the same Figure But the Theorist in his Latin Edition of the Theory as also in his Answer to Mr Warren seems to insinuate that the only way to find the true Figure of the Earth is by measuring of it and by that means to find what proportion the degrees of the Meridian in different Latitudes have to one another for if they were exactly equal one to another and also equal to the degrees of Longitude counted upon the AEquator then without doubt the Figure of the Earth would be Spherical but if otherwise Spheroidical Now tho I have already determined the Earths Figure from other Principles Yet to comply with the Theorist in this point I will give him an account of a Book whose extract I have seen in the Acta Eruditorum Lipsiae publicata for the year 1691. written by one Ioh. Casp Eisenschmidt a German who calls himself Doctor of Philosophy and Physick The Title of the Book is Diatrihe de Figura Telluris Elliprico-Sphaeroide And it is Printed at Strasburg in the Year 1691. The Learned and deep-thinking Author of this Book after he has Answered at least has endeavoured to Answer the Arguments of Archimedes and others by which the Figure of the Earth was proved to be Spherical doth embrace the Opinion of the Theorist and asserts that its Poles are higher or further distant from the Centre than its AEquator To prove this he sets down an account of the different magnitudes of degrees of the Meridian according to the observations made of them in different Latitudes and comparing them one with another he found that they continually decreased as the Latitudes increased and indeed as he sayes in the same proportion as appears by the following Table which I have inserted from the above named Extract Observers The Latitude of the Places observed The Magnitude of a Degree in Roman Miles Eratosthenes 27° 100 Ricciolus 44½° 80 Mons. Piccard 49° 74 Fernellius 49½° 73½ Snellius 52° 71⅓ From this he concludes that a plane cutting the Earth along its Axis would not be a Circle but an Ellipsis whose longer Axis would pass through the Poles and coincide with the Axis of the Earth but its lesser Axis would be the common Section of the AEquator with the Ellipsis and from thence he infers that the Earth is not of a Spherical but an oblong Spheroidical Figure After that he disputes against Mr. Newtons Hypothesis which makes the Earth of a direct contrary Figure and thinks that the accurate Observations by him related are by far to be preferred to the Hypothesis upon which Mr. Newtons Calculus is grounded So far is this Argument drawn from Observations from destroying Mr. Newtons Hypothesis that it would most evidently confirm it if the Observations were exact enough which I believe they are not I cannot but wonder at the strange Logicks of our Modern Philosophers who are able to draw any conclusion they have a mind for from any Principles that can be given them No man that looks narrowly into their Books can want Instances in this matter But in case this is not so well observed I have furnished the Reader with two examples of this sort The one is the Theorists way by which he proves the Earth to be of an Oblong or Oval Figure from the Principles of a Centrifugal force which all Bodies have that are on it Now I think I have plainly shown that the true Conclusion he ought to have inferred from this Hypothesis is that the Earth had a quite contrary Figure from what he fancyed it had But Mr. Eisenchmidt has given us a yet plainer proof of this thing for because he found that the Degrees of Latitude near the aequator were bigger than those which were near the Pole he very innocently concludes that the Earth had its Axis longer than the Diameter of its Equator but if he had understood the first six Elements of Euclid or indeed those of common sense he might easily have demonstrated the contrary it is strange that when there is but one Right and one Wrong Opinion in this Point that he should be so unlucky as to hit upon the false one to maintain it CHAP. VII Of the Dissolution of the Primitive Earth HITHERTO I have refuted the Theorists for Motion Position and Figure of the Primitive Earth I am now to consider his method of Dissolving the Fabrick he has raised and to Examin how and by what causes the first Earth which had all the Beauty of Youth and Blooming Nature Fresh and Fruitful and not a Wrinkle or Scar on all its Body came to be dissolved how the Fabrick was broke and the Frame of the whole torn in pieces how it came to be a shattered and confused heap of Bodies as we now see it placed in no order one to another nor with any correspondency or regularity of parts as the Theorist represents it to be He tells us that one would soon imagin that such a structure as that of the first Earth
from the Abyss in places near the Equinoctial as he supposes yet it is impossible that it should ever reach the Poles there to form the Springs from which the Rivers were to run Or if Vapours were once brought to the Poles by whatever cause we can imagin yet it is impossible that they should ever run back from the Poles to the AEquator since according to him the Earth was perfectly smooth and uniform without any upper grounds from whence the water was to descend to the lower places of the Earth 5 thly The Figure of the Earth which the Theorist rightly affirms not to have been exactly Spherical because at the Commencement of the Diurnal rotation it being Fluid all the parts of it would endeavour to recede from the Axis of their motion but as he has guessed that it did settle into an Oblong Spheroidical or Oval Figure on no other account that I know of but because he thinks such a one would best answer his design so I think I have clearly enough demonstrated that the Earth has formed it self into a quite contrary Figure whose Axis is shorter than the Diameter of the AEquator and I have proved from Observations that the Earth is really of such a Figure 6 thly The causes the Theorist has assigned for the breaking of the outward Crust which he affirms to be done by the great heat of the Sun But this I have clearly proved to be a cause altogether insufficient for such an effect since the heat of the Sun could never reach so far into so thick a Crust as to be great enough to raise water into Vapours But lastly granting the Crust to have been broken and to have fallen down into the Abyss yet I have proved from the Theorists own Principles that there could follow no Universal Deluge there being not so much water in the Abyss as was sufficient to cover the face of the whole Earth Throughout the whole Examination I have observed the Theorists advice and have considered only the substance of the Theory without making any excursions upon things that are accidental and collateral which as he sayes do not destroy his Hypothesis These are the main foundations on which his Theory is built and since I have proved them all to be not only precarious but impossible his whole Hypothesis must fall with them Perhaps many of his Readers will be sorry to be undeceived for as I believe never any Book was fuller of Errors and Mistakes in Philosophy so none ever abounded with more beautiful Scenes and surprising Images of Nature but I write only to those who might perhaps expect to find a true Philosophy in it They who read it as an Ingenious Romance will still be pleased with their Entertainment FINIS SOME REMARKES ON M r. WHISTON'S Theory of the Earth THO' I think it impossible to give a True and Mechanical account of that great Deluge of waters which once overflowed the Face of the whole Earth it being a work not to be performed without the extraordinary contrivance of the Divine power yet I cannot but acknowledge that Mr. Whiston the Ingenious Author of this new Theory of the Earth has made greater discoveries and proceeded on more Philosophical Principles than all the Theorists before him have done In his Theory there are some very strange coincidents which make it indeed probable that a Comet at the time of the Deluge passed by the Earth It is surprizing to observe the exact correspondence between the Lunar and Solar year upon the supposition of a circular Orbit in which the Earth moved before the Deluge It cannot but raise admiration in us when we consider that the Earth at the time of the Deluge was in its Perihelion which would be the necessary effect of a Comet that passed by at that time in drawing it from a Circular to an Elliptical Orbit This together with the consideration that the Moon was exactly in such a place of its Orbit at that time as equally attracted with the Earth when the Comet passed by seems to be a very convincing Argument that a Comet really came very near and passed by the Earth on the day the Deluge began But notwithstanding this I believe it will be evident by the following considerations that a Comet could never have produced those various effects that Mr. Whiston has attributed to it and it will also further appear that the Deluge was the immediate work of the Divine power and that no secondary causes without the interposition of Omnipotence could have brought such an effect to pass But first I will make some Remarks on the Origin of the Primitive Earth and method by which Mr. Whiston supposes it was formed Mr. Whiston's first Hypothesis is that the antient Chaos the Origin of our Earth was the Atmosphere of a Comet but this supposition tho he endeavours to prove it by several Arguments doth not seem probable for the reasons following First the Scriptures represent the Primitive Antient Chaos as a very dark and obscure Body for they say that it was without form and Void and that Darkness was upon the face of the Deep this will further appear by the next verse where God is said to have made light upon the first day of the Creation which is a clear proof that there was none before that time but that the whole Chaos was originally a dark and confused heap of Bodies Now it is certain by the Testimonies of all those who have made any Observations about Comets that their Atmospheres are very bright and luminous Fluids through which the beams of the Sun diffuse themselves very freely and many of them are again reflected back to us and indeed if we consider their pellucidness and the vast quantity of Light which passes through them without reflection it is not easy to imagine how they should appear so lucid to our Eyes Nor do I believe that it is possible to find among all the pellucid Bodies of our Earth any one which being placed at the same distance from us as the Atmosphere of Comets are would appear so bright or reflect the light so strongly as they do For it is easy to be observed that diaphanous Bodies are not so luminous nor do they reflect light in such a quantity as it is reflected from opake Bodies It cannot be said that the light by which we perceive a Comet is only reflected from the top of its Atmosphere and that it doth not pass through the Body of it to illuminate all the other parts of it which are therefore involved in thick darkness for it is evident that light passes clearly through the whole Body of the Atmosphere and illuminates the central solid which strongly reflects the light to us back again I know Mr. Whiston supposes that this great darkness mentioned in the Scripture proceeded from the subsiding of the vast Dense and heavy Fluid or large Abyss which he sayes encompassed the central solid and was it self covered over
as happened from pure Mechanical principles and causes and the true reason why there remain no records or traditions of facts done in the time beyond four or five thousand years is because there has happened a Deluge the memory of which is still preserved and this Deluge being the necessary consequence of natural causes did sweep away all mankind and with them the memorials of all former ages only a couple of ignorant country people some way or other saved themselves from the universal Catastrophe and from their ofspring the earth was again replenished and arts and sciences invented which our forefathers before that deluge understood more perfectly than we do now This they will tell you is their hypothesis and they will not be beaten easily from it since it may be defended as well as any other Philosophical Theory which pretends to give an account of the origination of the World and is as precarious as their own system of principles which they pretend is very possible since several Philosophers have shew'd various ways how there might have happened so universal a deluge from Mechanical principles and the necessary laws of motion Thus we see how these flood-makers have given the Atheists an argument to uphold their cause which I think can only be truely answer'd by proving an universal Deluge from Mechanical causes altogether impossible And therefore I design to shew that the most ingenious Theories fram'd upon that account come far short of the design of the Framers and that the great and wonderful effects which they indeavour to explain could never have risen from the causes they assign This I intend to do by shewing that their Theories are neither consonant to the established laws of motion nor to the acknowledged principles of natural Philosophy of that Philosophy I mean which is founded upon observations and calculations both which are undoubtedly the most certain principles that a Philosopher can build upon It is in vain to think that a system of Natural Philosophy can be framed without the assistance of both for without observations we can never know the appearances and force of nature and without Geometry Arithmetick we can never discover whether the causes we assign are proportional to the effects we pretend to explain This the various systems of the Philosophers do evidently shew which are by far more distant from the truth than they are from one another And I hope it will appear yet plainer by the following examination of Dr. Burnet's Theory of the Earth Which tho it has been published many years and has been animadverted upon by several yet it has not been so fully refuted as it might have been nor has any one shew'd the greatest mistakes in it Nay Mr. Erasmus Warren who has wrote the greatest Volum against it in my opinion has spoken the least sense about it He begins his discourse with a saying of an old Heathen that Philosophy is the greatest gift that ever God bestowed on man Which I will not deny since he has been at so much pains to make a Panegyrick on the usefulness of it But it is plain to any who will be at the pains to read his Book that God has thought fit to bestow but very little of that great gift upon him And that the world may not think that this is said out of ill nature and without grounds I will give them a tast of his Philosophy Geometry or Geography call it which you please He designs to calculate how much colder the Poles would be if the earth were of an Oval figure than if it were perfectly Spherical To do which he supposes that a Circle formed into a moderate Oval will have its Poles at least a fortieth part farther distant from the aequator than if it were perfecty spherical Now according to this proportion allowing the earth to be 7000. miles in Diameter and adding a fourth part to render it Oval viz. 1750 miles thickness the earth at each Pole must bear above fourteen degrees latitude more than if it had been round So that the hypothesis which removes its Poles so much farther from the Sun must also allow the cold thereabouts to be proportionably augmented And though in the hundred and fourth degree of latitude as we must call it on each side of the aequator that is at the very Poles there might have been a perpetual day c. This is the first time I ever heard that there could be more than ninety degrees between the pole and the aequator but he thinks he has fairly made it out that there can be a huâ—dred and four degrees between them therefore there must be four hundred sixteen degrees in the whole circumference and then every right angle being only proportioonal to ninety degrees there must be more than four right angles about one point and therefore the Corollary of the 13 th of the first of Euclid must be false Thus has that subtle Philosopher not only subverted Dr. Burnet's Theory but also Euclid's demonstrations and that by an argument which the dull Mathematicians could never discover But I will leave Euclid to his mercy and answer that part of his argument that concerns the Theory which is easily done if he will consider that the difference between the poles of the earths distance from the Sun and the aequator of the earths distance from the Sun even tho the earth were ten times more Oval than he would have it is so very inconsiderable that it does almost bear the same proportion to the whole that a point does to a line for the Mathematicians know that the diameter of the earth is but a point in respect of its distance from the Sun and therefore two lines drawn from the Suns centre to any two points of it are very near in a proportion of equality so that upon the account of a greater or lesser distance of the parts of the earth from the Sun there can be no sensible alteration of heat or cold But I am afraid this is a little too far beyond Mr. Warren's capacity however to surprize him a little more I will tell him he is so far out in his account of the cold at the poles that tho the North pole be much colder in the Winter than it is in the Summer yet is it some hundred thousands of miles nearer to the Sun in Winter than in Summer If he pleases to consult the Astronomers they can demonstrate the truth of this to him I beg Mr. Warren's pardon for bringing him into this place I ought to have been favourable to him he being one of my Associates against Dr. Burnet But I was willing to produce him as an instance to shew how unfit a man who understands no Geometry is to write a book of Natural Philosophy But to return to the Theory I cannot but acknowledge that there was never any book of Philosophy written with a more lofty and plausible stile than it is the noble and
than half the Sun could never appear but its Centre would continually turn round in their Horizons never rising higher nor falling lower the nearer one came to the aequator so much higher would he have the Sun in his meridian but in the same place it would alwayes be at a constant height at twelve of the Clock In the aequator the Sun throughout the whole year would alwayes be vertical when it comes to the meridian and there only would there be an intense and perpetual Summer when at the poles and in places near them there would be an eternal Winter without any intermission of Frost and Snow The Sun also would alwayes Rise and Set in the same points of their Horizons and therefore there would be no alteration in the Earth but upon the account of day and night and no sort of changes in the year which would alwayes keep the same tenour and face the annual motion of the earth being of no use These are the effects which the Learned Kepler has shewed would necessarily follow from the position of the Earths axis which besides that it makes the Earths Annual circuit round the Sun of no sort of use and advantage to it And this I suppose cannot well agree with the infinite wisdom of its Maker it brings with it such a train of consequences which if men would consider I believe there would be few so fond of changes as to be willing to have the present oblique position altered for the perpendicular one of the Theorist which would render this whole Island no better than a wilderness and the greatest part of the Earth not habitable For under the AEquinoctial to whose inhabitants the Sun would continually at twelve of the Clock shine perpendicularly and even throughout the Torrid Zone there would be an intolerable scorching heat In the Frigid Zone the cold could not be indured and the greatest part of the two temperate Zones would not have a sufficient quantity of heat to ripen their fruits All men in England are sensible that the heat we have in Summer is but just great enough to bring our Corn and Fruits to perfection and therefore if the heat we have in Summer were no greater than it is now about the 10 th of March or the 11 th of September the Ground would not be able to produce any vegetables to supply us with food so that all of us must have changed our Climate for some more fertile Soil which receives more of the Suns influence This may serve to shew how vain and false the Theorist's assertion is that the primitive earth had its axis perpendicular to the plane of the ecliptick and that this position is so far from being the best it could have that it may be justly reckoned among the worse sort of positions I come now to shew the great advantages we reap by the present position of the Earth and how apt it is to serve the ends for which it was designed by its wise contriver Kepler in the above mentioned book tels us that the earth was designed a place for those things which are liable to Generation and Corruption and therefore it was by no means fit that the Sun should shine upon every part of it throughout the year with an equal tenour and force but there ought to be such alterations and changes of his heat as are necessary to produce the design'd effects for it is plain that different degrees of heat are requir'd for the production and ripening of most Plants the heat that is requisite for the first growth of a vegetable not being sufficient for the ripening and perfecting the seed thereof and that degree of heat which is necessary for bringing the seed to perfection would quite wither the green and tender herb Now all this is obtained by the present position of the Earth and the inclination of its Axis to the plane of the Ecliptick for from thence arises the variety of Seasons and different degrees of heat and cold We perceive in the Spring time that we have the heat of the Sun still increasing in such a measure as the Plants require for their nutrition and growth At last the Sun arrives at his greatest meridian height and then the Plants bring forth their Seeds which grow every day more and more perfect and then are fully ripe and fit for food and when the Sun has performed his work in our part of the World he returns again to the tropick of Capricorne to make room for the Snow and Ice which comes in the Winter for the moistening and preparing the earth for a new Crop And tho in the Torrid Zone they never have any Snow or Ice yet at the time of the year when the Sun is vertical to them there falls such a quantity of rain as not only cools the Air and makes the Heat of the Sun tolerable but also fattens the ground and prepares it for the production of fruits But there is one more considerable advantage which we reap by the present position of the earth which I will here insert because I do not know that 't is taken notice of by any And it is that by the present inclination of the earths axis to the plane of the ecliptick we who live beyond forty five degrees of Latitude have more of the Suns heat throughout the year than if the Sun shined alwayes in the equator that is if we take the summ of the Suns actions upon us both in Summer and Winter they are greater than its heat would be if it moved always in the equator or which is the same thing the aggregate of the Suns heat upon us while it describes any two opposite parallels is greater than it would be if in these two dayes it described the equator whereas in the Torrid Zone and even in the temperate almost as far as forty five degrees of Latitude the summ of the Suns heat in Summer and Winter is less than what it would be were the axis of the Earth perpendicular to the plane of the ecliptick I know Dr. Bently in his last Lecture for the Confutation of Atheism asserts that tho the axis had been perpendicular yet take the whole year about we should have had the same measure of heat we have now But I am not surprised to find an error of this nature asserted by one who as it appears is not very well skilled in Astronomy for in the same Lecture he confidently saies that 't is matter of fact and experience that the Moon alwaies shews the same Face to us not once wheeling about her own Centre whereas 't is evident to any one who thinks that the Moon shews the same face to us for this very reason because she does turn once in the time of her period about her own Centre But it were to be wished that great Criticks would confine their Labours to their Lexicons and not venture to guess in those parts of Learning which are capable
the flood had its axis perpendicular to the plane of the ecliptick it is says he the immediate result of gravity or libration that a body freely left to its self should settle in such a posture as best answers to its gravitation and this earth whereof we speak being uniform and every way equally ballanced there is no reason why it should incline at one end more than at the other towards the Sun as if you will suppose a Ship to stand North and South under the equator if it was equally built and equally ballanced it would not incline to one Pole more than to the other but keep its axis parallel to the axis of the earth so those great Ships that sail about the Sun once in so many years whilst they are uniformly built and equally poised keep steady and even with the axis of their orbits but if they loose that equality and the centre of their gravity change the heavier end will incline more towards the centre of their motion and the other end will recede from it so particularly our earth which makes one in that airy fleet when it escaped so narrowly being shipwrackt in the great Deluge was however so broken and disordered that it lost its equal poise and thereupon the centre of its gravity changing one Pole became more inclined towards the Sun and the other more removed from it in which skew posture it hath stood ever since Here the Theorist puts his false reasoning in fine words and dresses it out in gayety according to the present mode that it may go the smoother off but at the same time he shews us how little he is skilled either in Astronomy or Geometry for he tells us in one place that the earth stands inclined to the Sun or the Ecliptick but how a sphere can be inclined to a plane passing through its centre is far beyond my Geometry to conceive I am sure he will find no such thing said by the Geometers or the Astronomers before him but he may be easily pardoned for this small error because he meant well viz. that the axis of the earth was inclin'd to the plane of the Ecliptick with which it makes an angle of 66°½ But he has committed a far greater blunder than this which is not so easily to be forgiven him for a World-maker ought at least to understand something of Astronomy and of the Copernican system which he embraces but it is plain that he does not know the Elements of that system since he asserts that one Pole of the earth is more inclined to the Sun than the other this is a position I never heard was given to the earth before I wish he would inform us which of the two Poles is most inclined to the Sun for I am sure Copernicus Kepler and Gallileo the first revivers of the Pythagorean system never said any such thing they held that both Poles were equally removed from the plane of the ecliptick the axis which joins them making with it an angle of 66°½ and keeping a position alwayes parallel to it self and therefore whatever inclination one Pole had at any time of the year to the Sun the opposite Pole would have the same inclination at the opposite time of the year and therefore both Poles are equally inclined to the Sun 'T is true indeed that if one hemisphere were heavier than the other the heaviest Pole would alwayes look towards the Sun to which it gravitates and by consequence there would be no parallelisme observed in the axis of the earth for if there were a Globe swimming in water one of whose Poles were heavier than the other it is demonstrable that the heaviest side would alwayes be towards the centre of the earth but since the earth does alwayes keep its axis parallel to it self and by that means makes the variety of seasons which otherwise would not happen I think it a demonstration that the Theorist's opinion in this point is false and ridiculous For if at the Deluge the earth had lost its equal poise and its Centre of gravity had been altered as he will have it the true effect of this alteration would be that the Pole which was next to the Centre of gravity had been alwayes turned towards the Sun and the people living near it had injoyed a perpetual Summer and one continued day without any night whilst those in the opposite Pole had lived in perpetual darkness Frost and Snow having but one eternal Winter without any vicissitude of seasons These therefore being the necessary consequences of such a change of gravity in the earth as the Theorist imagines and since none of them did ever happen to it but the earth does still keep its axis parallel to it self I think it is demonstratively evident that the earth received no such shock by the Deluge as was sufficient to alter the Centre of its gravity and consequently the position of its Poles in respect of the Sun 'T is true a sphere put in aequilibration and made turn round about a point without any other motion necessarily keeps all its diameters parallel to themselves and by consequence the axis which is one of them must also be parallel to its self for since the time of its revolution is determined it will perform its period in that time with the least motion possible which is only when all the diameters of the sphere in all parts of its orbit are parallel to themselves as is demonstrated by the Geometers Nature generally taking the shortest courses in all its operations at least it takes that one and determinate method for performing its work which the Philosophers call the unicum in naturâ I wonder therefore why some should make a third motion for the Earth whereby it keeps its axis alwayes parallel to it self for this is rather the effect of rest than any new motion for it is not the parallelism but the declination of the axis from exact parallelism by which the Stars seeme to move tho very slowly according to the series of the signs which ought to be called a new motion But I will pass from this Subject and consider the Theorists Argument for the right position of the Earth drawn from its aequilibration which he sayes is the immediate result and common effect of gravity or libration For a Body sayes he freely left to its self in a fluid medium will settle it self in such a posture as will best answer to its gravity and the Earth being uniformly ballanced there is no reason why it should incline at one end more than at the other towards the Sun This he illustrates by the similitude of a Ship equally ballanc'd and placed North and South under the equator But after all this Argument and Similitude I can see as yet no reason why the axis of the Earth should be perpendicular to the plane of the Ecliptick more than any other of its diameters for it is demonstarted by the
consist of a hundred Figures but if we should imagin all the spaces between the Surfaces filled up with solid and not diaphanous matter as it really is so in the Crust of the Earth the heat upon the surface must be much less than what it would be by the former proportion From thence we may conclude that if the heat of the Sun upon the Surface of the Antediluvian Earth was not much greater than it is now it could never reach so far into the Crust as to be able to raise Vapours from the Abyss or if it was so great as to be able to raise Vapours from thence that is if it was then as great upon the Surface of the Abyss as it is generally upon the Surface of the present Earth it must have been almost infinitely greater upon the Surface of the Antediluvian World Certainly there could be no necessity for a Deluge in that case except it were to cool the Earth again after such an excessive heat which must have destroyed all the Animals Plants and Trees which were upon the earth and have turned them into Glass But perhaps it may be urged that the heat of the Sun does generate and prepare Metals which ly hid in its bowels To which I answer that I have already brought a sufficient demonstration that the heat of the Sun does pass but a very little way within the earth and therefore the Opinion that Metals are generated by the Suns influence must be false for they generally lye far hid within the bowels of the earth and therefore without the reach of the Suns influence But notwithstanding all this should I grant to the Theorist that the heat of the Sun had reached the Abyss and had raised the Vapours so that the crust of the Earth fell down and was broken in pieces yet I cannot see how from thence there could follow any universal Deluge or indeed any Deluge at all tho the Theorist does endeavour to explain it thus When the Earth sayes he was broken and fell into the Abyss a good part of it was covered with water by the mere depth of the Abyss it fell into and those parts of it that were higher than the Abyss was deep and consequently would stand above it in a calm water were notwithstanding reached and overtopp'd by the waters during the agitation and violent commotion of the Abyss for it is not imaginable sayes he what the commotion of the Abyss would be upon this dissolution of the Earth nor to what height its waves would be thrown when these prodigious fragments were tumbled down into it If you would suppose a stone of ten thousand weight taken up into the Air a Mile or two and then let fall into the middle of the Ocean it is Credible that the dashing of the water upon that impression would rise as high as a Mountain but if you will suppose a mighty Rock or a heap of Rocks to fall from that height or a great Island or Continent these would expel the waters out of their places with such a force and violence as would fling them above the highest Clouds This is in short the method the Theorist has found out for making an universal Deluge But if I can prove from his own Principles that long before the Deluge happened all the Waters in the Abyss were drawn up by the heat of the Sun to supply the Rivers that were necessary to water the Earth I would fain know what would become of his Deluge or how he can make in that case the fall of the Crust to be the cause of an Universal Flood for by all the conception that I can have of it the water which was upon the surface of the Earth by the fall would rush into the Abyss and it would be so far from making any Flood that it would leave the surface of the Earth and make dry Land appear where formerly there was none To prove this I must first enquire what proportion the quantity of waters which the Sea receives from the Rivers of the Earth in any time bears to the quantity of water in the Ocean and by consequence I will Calculate the time the Rivers would take to fill the Ocean if it were empty and they ran as they do now or which is the same thing I will find what time the Sea would take to empty it self into the Rivers supposing that it was not recruited again by the continual course of fresh waters which run into it that is if the Abyss did formerly supply all the Rivers with water before the flood and none of them ran into it again as the Theorist supposes they did not I am to find what time it would take to empty it self on the surface of the Earth And if I can prove that it would quite empty it self on the surface long before the Deluge happened I think from thence it would necessarily follow that there would be no Deluge at all by the fall of the Crust To begin therefore I will suppose as the Theorist has done in his second Chap. Book first that one half of the surface of the Terraqueous Globe is Sea and the other Land and that if we take the Sea one place with another it is a quarter of a mile deep Now the surface of the whole Earth being 170981012 Italian miles the surface of the Sea is 85490506 square miles which being multiplyed by ¼ th the Sea being ¼ th of a mile deep the product is 21372626½ Cubical miles which is the quantity of water contained in the whole Ocean Now to Calculate the water the Ocean receives from the Rivers we must consider some great river whose breadth depth and swiftness are best known such is the Po which passes through Lombardy and waters a large Country of 380 miles in Length Ricciolus in his Geographia Reformata tells us that its breadth before its division into a great many Channels by which it falls into the Sea is a hundred Bononian Perches or a thousand feet and its depth is one Perch or ten Feet and therefore its perpendicular Section from one side to the other is a hundred square Pearches or 40000 square Feet Its swiftness also is so great that the course of the water is about four Italian miles in an hour or which is the same thing 2000 Italian Perches for there are 500 Perches in a mile The Po therefore carries into the Adriatick 200000 Cubical Perches of water in the space of an hour and therefore the quantity of water it brings into the Sea in a day is 4800000 Cubical Perches or 380000000 Cubical Feet of water but one Cubical mile contains 125000000 Cubical Perches and therefore if the Po takes one day to bring into the Adriatick 4800000 Cubical Perches of water it will require twenty six dayes to carry into the Sea 125000000 Cubical Perches or one Cubical mile or which comes to the same thing twenty six Rivers every one of which is of the