Valley as far depress'd before the Surface of the Earth as the Mountains and mountainous Heaths are advanc'd above it Its Consistences are of a Terrene Nitrous Mercurial and Saline Quality which is the reason the Sea-sand will by a violent Heat run into a Glassy Substance And why the most precious Pearls are found in that part CHAP. XVI Of the fluid Part of this Terraqueous Globe and First of the Sea c. THE Sea is that Vast Body of Salt Waâ—er contain'd in its proper Channel It s the Sediment of the whole Mass of Water and therefore is Thicker and Heavier than either the Subterranean or Aerial Waters which is the reason why it can neither penetrate the straight Pores of Solid Matter and so intermix with its sweet Feeders nor be elevated in Vapours by the Sun's Inâ—luence and fall down in Brackish Showers which would be destructive as well of Plants and Herbs as Men and Beasts The Seas are in a continual Flux and Reflux The cause of which is the Rapidity and Weight of the Rivers continually pressing in upon it from all sides and the Sea-waters being not only Thicker but of a different Nature from the Thin and Sweet River-water and having a Natural Appetite to Union will not easily suffer the Rivers to Incorporate with them which is the true reason why the Rivers swells her up on both sides of the Shoar untâ—l the weight of the salt-Salt-water over-balancing the weight of the sweet-Sweet-waters causeth the Sea to break in the middle and by the greater weight and strength of her Waâ—es forceth the Invaders to retreat and â—all back until the Salt-water has lost its weight and Strength and this is the cause of its Flux The Salt-water having thus lost iâ—s weight and strength the Rivers redouble their Force and by the Rapidity of their Motion and weight of their Waves forceth the salt-Salt-waters to a gradual and orderly Retreat and to swell up into such a height of Gibbosity that its weight again over-balanceth the weight and strength of the Rivers and this is the cause of its Reflux Thus the Flux and Reflux of the Sea is occasion'd by the continual strife between the Fresh-water and the Salt and the Spring-Tides and Dead-Tides are occasion'd by the gradual Increase and Decrease of the Reciprocation of their Motion as we observ'd in the Spring or Balance of a Clock in giving her back Stroaks at every Tenth This continual Strife between the Fresh-water and the Salt causeth a conconstant Heat and Fermentation in the Sea and this Boiling Fermentation causeth the Sweet River-water to fly up in Mists and Vapours which causeth an Atmosphere to be round the whole Terraqueous Globe and when these Mists and Vapours are condensed into Clouds they fall down in Showers of sweet Rain upon the Surface of the Earth Thus tho' the Sea affords no sweet-Sweet-water yet it is the only Medium which preserves and maintains a constant communication and circulation between the Subterranean and Aerial Waters The Saline Quality of the Sea is occasion'd by her being boiled up into a Sediment by the Central Fire as well as those Rocks of Mineral Salt that abound in her Channel This Saltish Quality of the Sea does not only preserve that vast Body of Water from Corrupting but by causing her Water to be thicker and heavier than those in the Fresh Rivers it makes them more able to bear Burthens of much greater weight and fitter to maintain a Correspondence and Communication of Trade between Land and Land tho' at the greatest distance Tho' the Sea and Main Ocean seems to contain a vast quantity of Water yet it being compar'd to the Subterranean Waters which circulate through the Veins of that great Body and are contain'd in the Strata and Pores of dens'd Matter it will scarce bear the same proportion to them that One does to Seventy-two for if the Computation of those Learned Men be true who give Account that the Sea and Main Ocean cover but one half of the Globe and that the Channel of the Sea is but one German Mile Deep the Shallows being compar'd to the Deeps then it would necessarily follow that if the Earth were Mathematically Round it would cover the whole Globe only half a German Mile which bears but Proportion to the Circumference of the Earth as Half a Mile does to Twenty one thousand six hundred Miles Again the Diameter of Twenty-one thousand six hundred Miles being Seven thousand two hundred of which if we allow a Semidiameter to the Center or Belly of the Earth there will remain Three thousand six hundred Miles for the Shell or Body of it to which Three thousand six hundred the Fluid part or Superterranean Water can bear no less Proportion than One to an Hundred which Computations being granted and indeed they cannot â—easonably be deny'd in the whole Body of the Earth there will be found Thirty-six German Miles of Fluid Matter which bears proportion to the Seventy-two Superterranean Seas or Oceans To strengthen this Hypothesis we may further add that in sinking of Pits the deeper we sink we raise the more Water and that Stone or Mine of Coal which at Three Fathom Deep runs six Tubs of Water in one Hour containing Thirty Gallons a-piece at Six Fathom it will double the Number and so on till the Water be Invincible as in Hogsheads full of Water the highest Tap runs slowly because there is little weight of Water upon it but the middle or lowest Tap will run double and treble the Quantity in the same time there being double and treble the weight of Water upon it Again If we do further add that besides the Water that circulates in the Veins of the Earth there is so much of Water Intermix'd and Incorporated with the Fixt and Solid Matter that if Stone Metal or Coal when it s Digg'd out of its Living Strata or Beds be immediately expos'd to the Sun or Fire it will in a short time want of Weight above an Hundredth part the Fluid part being Exhal'd The greater Dikes or Veins in the Earth are Principally Four The First divides and changes the Mountain-Strata from the Mountain-Heaths The Second divides those several Strata of Stone c. of which the Mountain-Heaths Consist from those of the Plains and Valleys The Third divides those Beds and Layers of Matter on which the Plains and Valleys consist from the Channel of the Sea The Fourth Runs under the Channel of the Sea whose Side-Branches causeth all those Submarine Quick-Sands which are the warm Beds wherein the sea-Sea-fish scatter their Eggs for the Propagation of their several Kinds As this so all the rest of the greater Dikes and Veins have their Side-Branches filling all the Strata of Stones Metals Minerals and Subterranean Earths with Water so that where-ever we sink into the Body of the Earth as soon as we prick with our Digging Instruments those Kells of
Spring-heads and the Sea Fish to the Submarine Qâ—ick-sands wherein they scatter their Eggs. The manner how they Propagate is first by Digging up the Sand where they intend to make their Nests and then not by Copulation or Penetration of parts but playing Cheek for Chole and by Sympathetical Touches the Female whones her Eggs and the Male his Spawn which mixing together falls down into these prepar'd Nests which they cover up with Sand thereby securing it from the Winter Floods After this they return to their Winter Holds leaving their Eggs to be Hatch'd by the Subterranean Heat which continues in the Springs and Quick-sands until the April following and then the Young Frie being Hatch'd creep out of their warm Nests and Swim down the Waters in numerous Swarms or Shoals After the Production of all the Subordinate Kinds of Fish God last of all Created great Whales by which words Moses intimates to us that all the rest of the waterish Animals were produc'd by the ordinary Concurrence of Second Causes but God to shew his Great Power in the Deep Waters as well as upon the Dry Land did seem to give a Preter-natural Assistance to the Production of an Animal of so great a Body which in the Atlantick Ocean when they appear to Mariners upon the Waters appear like little Islands or Mountains and these are the Leviathans that God made to take their Pastime in the Deep He made them Lords also over all the Fish which He gave to them for Meat For as every Superior Rank or Species of Terrene Animals Feed upon their Inferior and Man upon all so every Superior Species of Fish live upon their Inferior and so the Whale being Lord over all the rest lives upon its Underlings CHAP. V. Of the Second Genus of Oviparous Animals viz the Aerial And First of Fly Insects Secondly of Serpents Thirdly of Birds and why Moses makes the Waterish and Aerial Animals Congenial AS it seems preposterous to Create any Species of Animals before Meat suitable to their Natures to Live upon was provided for them so it seems most probable and agreeable with the Ends of Nature that Grass Plants Herbs and the whole Set of Vegetables shou'd be the first Spring and Summers Product That the Replenishing of the Waters with all Kinds of Fish the Production of the following Winter and that the next Spring shou'd begin with the Production of Aerial Animals these â—iving and Feeding upon the first Products of the Earth and Waters Again since the several Degrees of Modification of Matter and the Animal Life increaseth as the Enlivening Influence of the Sun grows Hotter and more Powerful it necessarily follows that the several Kinds of Flying Insects being the lowest Degree of Life under this Genus shou'd be the first Product for as soon as the Fertile Soil had receiv'd a degree of Heat from the approaching Sun the Earth began to revive the Young Plants began to peep out of their Winter Beds and the tender Leaves of Trees began to break their Autumn Buds The East Wind blowing then Dry by it's soft and easie Blasts did Condense the Morning and Evening Dews into viscous and clammy Strings which like Cobwebs hang upon every Thorn and spread themselves upon the Young Grass till the Sun advancing towards the Meridian sent down a warm Reflection upon the Earth and caus'd all these fine and tender Threads to draw together and fashion themselves into little Nests in which by a higher Degree of Heat were form'd little Eggs which by another Degree of Heat took Life and did Fly about in the open Air some Feeding upon Dews others upon Leaves others upon Corruption in the Air others were Blood-suckers Besides these Generated of Dews there are Infinite numbers of other Kinds of Insects which are Generated of Slime and Corruption and these are either Daily or Weekly Productions some of which Transmute from one Species to another as those Insects which we call Caterpillars the first Summer the next Summer will become Butterflies So Cod-bates in April and Iune will Transmute into those kind of Flies we call Clegs which are Blood-suckers To shew particularly the Kinds Natures and Numbers of all these Transmutable Insects wou'd be a Task Invincible Thus were the several Kinds of Flying Insects produc'd having their Colours Natures and Qualities from Flowers Plants Herbs Trees or corrupted Water and Slime and their Shapes and Figures from their Plastick Forms these being the lowest Degree of Life a small Degree of Heat produc'd ' em Of the Production of Serpents AFter the Production of these Flying Insects the East Wind still blowing Warm and Dry those standing Puddles of Stagnated and Corrupted Water being drain'd and leaving behind a Poisonous Slime on which by the Sun's Influence were form'd poisonous Eggs which by higher Degrees of Heat were Hatch'd into Life and by sucking in and feeding upon such Poisonous Matter as they cou'd meet with â—uitable to their Natures they got strength Feet and Wings and became Serpents of several Kinds some Creepers as Adders and Snakes some with Feet as the Asp and Viper some with Horns as the Cerafles some with Wings as the Basilisk and Dragon and the like Altho that these have all of them Head Heart Blood Nerves Senses and other parts agreeable with the most perfect Animals and tho' that some of them be the most Subtile amongst the Irrationals yet by reason of their disparity with Quadrupedes they are accounted amongst the imperfect Animals and of a lower Degree of Life Of the several Kinds of Birds AFter this the Cold and Waterish Earth being drain'd and warm'd by the increasing Influence of the Sun the Mountains Heaths Dales Valleys Water-sands and the Sea-shore were Cover'd with a Luxuriant Plastick and Prolifick Slime which drew down by way of Sympathy out of the warm Regions of the Air the Specifick Forms of Birds or Aerial Animals which being united to this Luxuriant and Plastick Slime there were Form'd innumerable numbers of Eggs upon the Mountains Heaths Valleys and all parts of the Earths Surface and no sooner were these Eggs Form'd but the warm Influence of the Sun sat on Brood upon them until they were Hatch'd into little Chickens Those Hatch'd upon the Sea-shore became Sea-Birds those by the sides of Rivers feeding upon Fresh-water Fish and those Hatch'd hy the sides of Lakes and Ponds became Amphibious Birds feeding both upon Fish and Herbs as Geese Swans Ducks c. Those Hatch'd upon Mountains and Heaths feeding upon Mountain Vegetables Heath Birds those upon the Plains and Valleys became Domesticks feeding both upon Grass and Corn and those in the Woods Singing Birds and Birds of Prey as the Eagle and the rest of those Tyrants of the Air. After this manner were the Aerial Animals produc'd and the reason why Moses makes the Aerial and Waterish Animals Congenial is First The parity of their Production being both from Eggs. Secondly The Affinity of that Matter on which they
Clay c. which divide the several Strata we presently raise their Feeders And if any who being prompt'd either to gratifie his Natural Curiosity or gain some considerable Advantage to himself would raise a new River upon dry Ground let him go to the Foot of some Hill or Rising Ground and begin a Level-Drift which by cross-cutting of the several Strata of that Rising Earth he will Tap and fet at Liberty all the Feeders and if he drive on till he shall cross-cut with the Drift one Branch of those greater Dikes he will Raise a considerable River which may turn to his great Advantage CHAP. XVII Of those Preternatural Accidents that Disturb and Interrupt the Course of Nature in this Material World c. HAving in the former Chapters given an Account of the Originals Causes Consistences and Natural Uses of the several Parts of this Natural Globe as well Fix'd as Fluid It will not be improper to subjoin an Account of such Preternatural Accidents as sometimes have disturb'd and may for the future interrupt the regular Course of Nature and at the last so far destroy the Frame and Fabrick of this Material Part of it as to render it uncapable of being an Habitable World And these are Earthquakes Hurricanes Volcano's violent Eruptions of the Subterranean Waters as at Noah's Flood Stagnations of the Subterranean Air causing the Springs and Mineral Feeders to sink down into the Interior â—arts of the Earth Interruption of the Circulation of Vapours and Rains upon the Earth as in the days of Elisha the Prophet violent and Preternatural Thunders such as destroy'd Sodom and Gomorrah These and the like are the Accidental Distempers that have happen'd in the Body of the Earth and they seem Analagous to those Fevers Agues Convulsions c. which interrupt the Healthful Constitutions of our own Bodies and are sometimes destructive of 'em And as all the Diseases and Distempers our Bodies are subject to have their Original from Accidental Heats or Colds which either Sublimates and Exalts our Animal Spirits into a Feverish degree of Volatility or by Cold and Aguish Damps depresseth them into a degree of Stagnation So all those Accidental and Preternatural Disturbances that happen in the Course of Nature have their original Cause from the several Kinds and Natures of Damps which are Either Central Subterrene or Aerial And are of Quality Either Hot Cold Sweet or Foul. CHAP. XVIII Of the Central Damps Their Causes Natures and Dreadful Effects upon this Globe THE Subterranean Vault being filled with a confus'd Mass of undigested Matter Consisting of Sublimat'd Sulphur Bitumen and Nitre whenever it happens that there ariseth a War between these angry Volatiles and their Fluid Neighbours viz. the Subterranean Water and Air which Circulates through those greater Veins that environ this large Vault and do not only Feed and Nourish that Infernal Smother but keep and confine it within its own Boundaries that it break not forth in violent Eruptions upon the fixt Body of the Earth As soon as this Intestine War commenceth these Active Volatiles of Sublimated Sulphur Bitumen and Nitre collect and aggregate into great Bodies And when these discharge in the Central part of the Vault the Nitre which is the principal Cause of the grand Effort or Flatus dilates and expands its self on all sides upwards and downwards Indifferently And this violent Effort or Flatus causeth an universal Concussion of the whole Globe When the Damp gathers towards the Circumference of the Vault and there dischargeth it self the grand Flatus hath its Tendency upwards and sometimes causeth a Concussion of one half of the Globe without any Eruption of Fire When the Damp Fires upon some Class of the Superincumbent Strata it either splits them making Cracks and Chasms in the Exterior parts of the Earth for some Miles in length which at the instant of the Shock openeth and in the Interval between the Shocks closeth again Of this Kind was that â—rack or Chasm which open'd and â—â—allow'd up the Tents of Korah Dathan and Abiram and no doubt but the Shock struck a Terror into the whole Camp Or if the grand Flatus be very Strong and Vehement it either elevates the whole Class above the Superficies of the Earth forming a new Mountain or else it sinks down into the Vault and the vacant place is immediately fill'd with Water not from Dr. Woodward's Abyss but from the Veins of the Earth which break into it When the Damp fires near or upon some of the great Joints or Clifts of the Earth the Flatus pursues all the Windings and Turnings of these Joints and Clifts until it break forth in Dreadful Hurricanes either under the Sea occasioning most Horrible Disorders and Perturbations raising its Surface into Prodigious Waves Tossing and Rowling them about in most strange Whirlpools Overturning and Swallowing up Ships in an instant And upon the dry Land Overturning Cities Towns Blowing up Mountains c. Tho' these Effects of the Subterranean Nitre when Rarified and Dilated by the Central Flame be very Dreadful yet if these Fissures and Spiracles through which they get a Vent and break out upon the Earth had been Perpendicular as Dr. Woodward Conceits they wou'd have Destroy'd the whole Surface of it For then every one of these lesser Damps or Squibs which daily take Fire in the Subterranean Vault wou'd have broken out upon us And the greater Damps being Fired wou'd have Blown up not only the Inhabitants of the Earth but their Houses with its Superficies into the Air for the deeper the Fissure or Spiracle is if it be Perpendicular in a streight Line the more Strength and Impetuosity it gives to the Flatus as we observe in Guns and Fuzees Again The very Sulphurous Exhalations which wou'd have ascended through these Perpendicular Fissures without interruption wou'd with their Noisome Smell have Sufâ—ocated and Stifled those Animals that Live by Respiration and wou'd have afforded Matter for continual Thunder in the Air. It was then most agreeable with the State of this Habitable Globe that these Fissures or Joints of the Earth shou'd have their Position from the Surface to the Câ—nter in crooked Lines with various windings and turnings openings and closings not only for securing us from those dangerous Effects of the Central and Terrene Damps but also for the better and more commodious Communication of the Subterranean Waters through the Flat Strata of Matter And Lastly That the Subterranean Waters by following of the windings and â—urnings of these greater Fissures might have a longer Journey to the Sea and thereby supply the Inhabitants of the Earth with sweet Waters at a more Commodious and Convenient Distance These Phenomena of Central Damps and that they are the only cause of all those Universal Earth-quakes that have happen'd in this Natural World being wholly new and the World not yet accquainted with them may at first sight seem only the
upon the Mountains from whence it takes its Rise and these as Geographers give Account are that vast Ridge of Mountains which for their Height bear the Name of Montes Lunae as iâ— their lofty Tops wash'd their Headâ— in the Moon 's Waterish Vortex Others are of Opinion that the Yearly Over-flowing of that River is caus'd by those great Rains which fall every Spring in the higher Ethiopia But if either the Dissolution of Snow or Inundations caus'd by the falling of those Spring-Rains were the true Reason c. they wou'd also cause the otheâ— Rivers in those Countries to Overflow their Banks at the same time which is so far from being Observable that when Nilus Over-flows the otheâ— Rivers are at a very low Ebb. The Cause then of this Yearly Overflowing of Nilus which begins about the 17th of Iune and continues until the 6th of October seems to be a Subterranean Damp which Yearly Stagnates the Circulation of Air in these vast Rocks and open Strata from whence those Rapid Springs and Feeders slow which are the Heads of that Famous River The Subterranean Air being Dampt the Springs and Mineral Feâ—ders are forc'd to stand back and fill all those vast Concavities and Hollows for several Miles upon â—he Side-rise and some Miles upon the Top-rise of those Rocks and Metals until the weight of so vast a quantity of Water which may be compar'd to a lâ—sser Sea breaks the Damp or Damm of Stagnated Air and then the River begins to Over-flow anâ— continues until the Waters be spent and the Damp gathers again It s observ'd that when the River Nilus begins to Over-Flow its Banks that great Plagues break out in Cairo which seems to be occasion'd by those gross Vapours and Mineral Exhalations that arise from so vast a quantity of Stagnated Water which whilst by its Motion its Purging of it self and recovering of its Sweetness fly about corrupt the Air and cause Infections This Subterranean Damp is likewise the cause of the Horary Over-â—lowing of the Spring at Gigleswick in Yorkshire for this Spring bâ—ing the feeder of a Lime-stone Rock near Thirty Yards Perpendicular in Height which breaks out at the Foot of it so oftâ—n as the Circulation of the Air in the Rock is dampt the Spring runs very slowly and when the weight of the Water has broken the Damp it Over-flows and this Flux and Reflux is once in every Hour I observ'd my self that before the Waters began to Flow there was a knocking in the Rock and this was caused by the pressing of the Water upon the Damp before it broke The same is the cause of that Drumming in the Well at Bautry which the Inhabitants of the Town told me never happâ—n'd but against the change of Government This Well is observ'd to be â—or the most part Dry which is occasion'd by the feeders standing back the drumming noise is occasion'd by the Waters pressing upon the Damp and the Hollows of the Well for as soon as the Damp is broken the Well fills wiâ—h Water and the Drumming is over This occasions the Report of Under-ground Spirits which Miners call Mineral Spirits and they observe that these Spirits give notice by Knocking or Groaning before the Mineral Vein be discover'd I have observ'd my self that in a new Collerie when the Workmen were near the Coal and only the Kell which kept the feeder of it unbrokâ—n there wou'd have been a sort of Knocking Sighing or Groaning heard in the Vein which was only occasion'd by the weight of the Water lying in the Coal and pressing forward for more room and liberty for as soon as the Coal was prick'd the Water rose in the Pit the Knocking was over and the Mineral Spirit Conjur'd Of this kind also is that Damp which the Miners sometimes meet with in their sinking of deep Pits and new Works where a Cloud of Breath or Sweat perspiring from the Bodies of the Workmen will stiâ—le the Circulation of the Air and not suffer the Candles to Burn. This Damp will steal 〈◊〉 Breath insensibly from the Workmâ—â— and stiâ—le ' em There is yet another kind of Damp the Miners complain of which they call the foul or stinking Damp and this is caused by the breaking out of corrupted Air from old crusted Works This if not prevented will Kill and Stifle the Workmen The Aerial Damps will be treated upon in Meteorologie Having given an Account of the Causes Natures and Effects of Damps and such Preter-natural Accidents as have and may disturb and interrupt the regular Course of Nature we cannot but make an Enquiry into the Causes of Noah's Flood the Season of the Year when it happen'd and the Alterations and Devastations it made upon the Earth CHAP. XX. Of Noah's Flood its Causes the Season of the Year when it happen'd the Effects and Alterations it made upon the Earth If these two Learn'd Men viz. Dr. Burnet and Dr. Woodward had understood better the Structure of the Terraqueous Globe the Natural Consistences of it the Causes Natures and Effects of Damps and that those Subterranean Waters which Circulate through the Veins of the Earth bears proportion to Seventy two Oceans they woâ—'d have discover'd such a quantity of Water as wou'd have caus'd an Universal Deluge without the Conceit of a Central or Subterranean Abyss Which Hypothesis tho' manag'd with the greatest Artisice of Invention and Oratory when seriously enquir'd into will be found to have very little of Truth in the bottom of it for it seems not only inconsistent with the Original Settlement of Matter as we have observ'd already but also with Dr. Woodward's Hypothesis concerning the re-settling of the fluid Matter dissolv'd by the Deluge which he positively asserts to have been according to the Rules of Specifick Gravity the heaviest subsiding the lowest This Hypothesis if taken for granted we must necessâ—rily conclude from it that all those kinds of ponderous Ore and heaviest Rocks of Iron Stone Marble c. would have sunk down into the Central Vault and fill'd it up That the rest of the Fix'd Matter being by some degree lighter would have spread their Solid Strata uppermost And that the Fluid Waters being by several degrees lighter than the Fix'd Matter would have cover'd the whole Terreâ—e Globe and consequently wou'd have caus'd an Universal and perpetual Deluge upon the Earth But suppose it possible to improve the strength of Imagination to such a height as to fancy that there was Originally and is still a vast Abyss of Hot Water contain'd in the Center of the Earth it cannot be so easily apprehended by what Power or Means this vast substance of Water shou'd be put into so high a degree of Fertâ—entation and Commotion as to cause an Universal Disruption and Dissolution of the Earth as Dr. Woodward conceits for although that Fire placed under a Pot sill'd with Water will by emitting of its fiery Globuli and mingling them with the Water cause so
violent an Ebullition and Commotion in it as to raise the Cover and overturn it yet it cannot be suppos'd that either that uniform and constant Fire or Heat disseminated through the Body of the Earth or the external Heat of the Sun 's warm Influence can produce any such Effects because Fire and Nitre do Naturally exert their power upwards and side-way but never downward but when it is so pent up that it can get no other Vent And when even Gun-powder is forc'd to make its Effort upon the Waters the strength of its Flatus does little Execution being presently stiâ—l'd We shall therefore suspend further Enquiry about this matter until Dr. Woodward's larger Volume be made publick and endeavour to find out some other Causes by which that Universal Deluge which happen'd in Noah's time might be effected in an other way and grounded upon fair probabilities of Reason and Certainty First then no doubt but God Almighty was the Principal Cause the Sins of Mankind the provoking Cause and the Subterranean Superterranean and Nubiferous Waters were the immediate Instruments of it But how all these divided Waters shou'd be re-united and gather'd into such a Body as was sufficient to cover all the Tops of the Mountains Fifteen Cubits high as Moses gives Account is the only matter of difficulty to be â—ncounter'd In Order to which I shall not Entertain you with a long Story of the Opinions of Learn'd Men about it not undertake to shew you upon what improbable Grounds and inconsistences the Theorist and Dr. Woodward have establish'd their Hypothesis of it but having discover'd a Vast and Porâ—entous Body of Water Circulating in the Veins of the Earth bearing Proportion as I have observ'd to Seventy-two Oceans and several Oceans of Water more floating in the Clouds and rarisied into thin Air thaâ— it might be a sit Medium for Respiration c. my Adventure shall be â—irst to shew how and by what Cause the Subterranean VVater was rais'd above Ground and the thin Air was condens'd into VVater how both join'd with the Sea and caus'd the Deluge And then Secondly I shall give Account how the Waters again divided how all things return'd to their Natural Course and by what Gradations the dry Land appear'd And more than this is not necessary to make and establish a clear Hypothesis of the Universal Deluge First then we may conclude from Arguments of the greatest probability imaginable that the collection and reuniting of such a quantity of Water as was sufficient to Drown the World was caus'd by an Universal Damp that happen'd at that time in the whole Course of Nature For First all the Central Fire by a Preternatural Fermentation and Dilation of those angry Volatiles on which it consists gain'd ground upon its Fluid Neighbours those Subterranean Waters which circulate in the Body of the Earth and forcing them into a most rapid Ebullition and Commotion caus'd most violent Eruptions in all the Veins Joints Fissures and Hyatus's as well under the Channel of the Sea as in all the parts of the Earth's Surface These violent Eruptions of the Submarine and Subterranean Waters which Moses calls the breaking up of the Fountains of the great Deep swell'd up the Sea into such a height of Gibbosity that it forc'd the Rivers to stand back and rise as high as their Fountain Heads which covering all the dry Land excepting the Tops of the highest Mountains the Aerial Damp caus'd by the Moon 's waterish Vertex pressing down the Vortex or Atmosphere of this Terraqueous Globe did not only interrupt the Communication of the Subterranean and Aerial Waters by causing the raising and circulation of Vapours to cease but also by condensing the moist Air into waterish Clouds which falling down in continual Spouts for Forty Days and Nights together the Air being without Motion consequently neither able to break nor support them the Tops of the highest Mountains were cover'd Fifteen Cubits as Moses gives Account Gen. 7.15 and these portentous Rains which fell in Spouts Moses expresseth by the opening of the Windows of Heaven Gen. 7.11 Thus the divided Waters being reuniâ—â—d as they were in the Creation and the circulation of Vapours broken by the stagnation and damping of the Aerial Regions the whole Surface of the Earth was cover'd until God caus'd a Wind to pass over the Earth which breaking the Aerial Damp the Rain ceased the Subterranean Waters sunk down into their Veins recover'd the Ground which the Central Fire had gain'd from them The Rivers forc'd the Sea to retreat back to her own Channel and returning to her regular Flux and Reflux the Vapours arose and repair'd the Air again wiâ—h Clouds and Moisture and all things return'd to their Natural Course Iâ— cannot be imagin'd how the Heart of Noah and his Family was reviv'd when the Sun began to shew its Face again and the Rain-Bow appear'd in a broken Cloud For Noah being undoubtedly as well a Natural Philosopher as a Priest in his Family the appearance of a Rain-Bow which after a long Storm is an infallible sign of Fair-weather cou'd not but encourage him with hopes that the Damp was broken and the Storm over God therefore made a Covenant with Noah and his Posterity that there shou'd never be an Universal Deluge upon the Earth Gen. 9.23 and to establish this Covenant withâ—him he made the Rain-Bow being a Waterish Meteor and after a Storm a sign of Fair-weather a most proper and significant Sign and Seal of that Covenant viz. a Sign commemorative of the past Deluge and a Seal confirmative that there shou'd never be any more Flood to destroy the Earth And no more than this seems to be meant by the appearance of the Rain-Bow in the Cloud CHAP. XXI Of the Season of the Year when the Deluge happen'd DR Woodward declares his Opinion that the Deluge comâ—enc'd in the Spring Season in the Month we call May but upon what Reason he grounds this Conceit I cannot easily apprehend For the Fruits of the Earth being then but Growing and the former Autuâ—n Seeds being destroy'd by the by past Winter Nature wou'd have been forc'd to a Spontaneous Production of the several kinds of Vegetables as had lost their Seeds And wheâ— the several Species of Animals which were preserv'd from the Flood had liberty to go abroad and seek Food they wou'd not easily have found it in November and December which Months according to his Hypothesis were the Season when the Waters abâ—ted and the Beasts ordeâ—'d to leave the Ark and seek their own Food where â—hey cou'd find it It seems then most probable that the Universal Deluge commenc'd in that Month we call August when the Seeds of all Vegetables were full Ripe and ready to Sow themselves in the Fertile Soil that when the Deluge was over and the dry Land had for some time appear'd and had receiv'd Heat and Incrustation from the warm Influence
Veins is because they lay most open and ready to receive them and this is the reason too why we meet with float Ore lying in flat Beds in those upper Cills which lye open These being Ebullitions or Overflowings of Vein Ore As that Hypothesis of the Theorist wherein he conceits that there was no Metallick Ores or Minerals in the Antediluian Earth contradicts the Account which Moses gives of Tubal-Cain who was as he tells us an Instructer of every Artificer in Brass and Iron This Tubal-Cain living before the Deluge So Dr. Woodward's Hypothesis that the Metallick and Mineral Matter which is now found in the Perpendicular Intervals of the Strata was all of it Originally and at the time of the Deluge lodg'd in the Bodies of the Strata being interspers'd or scatter'd in single Corpuscles in the Sand or other Matter whereof the Strata mainly consisted seems inconsistent with Reason and his own Notions of Specifick Gravity For First It cannot be easily imagin'd by what Art or Chymistry the Metallick or Mineral Matter which interspers'd and scatter'd in single Corpuscles in the Strata of Solid Stone especially the Corpuscles being smaller than those of the smallest Sand cou'd be separated and made fit for use Again if the Mass of Fluid Matter after the Deluge was over did resettle according to the Rules of Specifick Gravity the heaviest subsiding the lowest as the Dr. asserts why did not these small Grains of ponderous Ore subside the lowest being heavier than the Corpuscles of those Strata wherein they were lodg'd And to assert that they were born up by the Waters of the Abyss rising up towards the Surface as the Dr. supposeth is as inconsistent with Gravitation and Levity as for Feathers tâ— sink and Lead to swim These Hypotheses being inconsistent both with Scripture and Reason we shall take it for granted that all these coagulated Concretions of Metallick Ores were by the Plastick Spirit in Matter lodg'd in the Veins of the several Strata lying most open and being most ready to receive them And that the State of the Antediluvian Earth did not differ as to its Constituent parts from this Postdiluvian Earth Having given an Account of the Originals Natures and Causes of such concreted Coagulations as are of an Irregular Figure I proceed to Describe the Natures and Causes of those of a more Regular Form And these are the Kernels or Catheads which we meet with in Coal Metals or Stone Metals which being either of a Saline or Pinguid Quality and consisting of the smallest Grit gave way to the Plastick Spirit to Form them into more Regular Shapes and Figures and these are either Globular Oval Triangular Quadrangular c. as the Matter coagulated had a Natural Tendency to such a Form or Figure and they lie in these Beds of Metals either in Layers or in disorder and confusion Besides these Irregular and Regular Concretions there are others of a more Uniform Shape and Figure and these may most properly bear the name of Form'd Stonâ—s They are found lodg'd either in Beds of Pinguid and Luxuriant Soil or in such Bâ—ds of Stone Chalk Sand Gravel and Eâ—rths as are of a Sâ—line Quality Those we meet with lodg'd in Beds of Pinguid and Luxuriant Soil have the forms and shapes of Worms Serpents Snails and other Tâ—rrene Insâ—cts which perhaps cou'd never come within the compass of our Observation Those we meet with in the Solid Strata of Stones Chalk Sand Gravel and Earth of a Saline Quality have the Forms of Cockels Mussâ—ls Oystâ—rs and other Marine Insects which probably Mankind hâ—s never yet been acquainted with and not withsâ—anding that these Shells have the Foâ—ms of those Marine Insects they represâ—nt yet thâ—y never were the spoilâ— of Marine Bâ—dies But form'd in those Stones and Eâ—rths where we find them lodg'd And it seems most probable that they receiv'd these Forms and Shapes at the Creation of this Material Globe whâ—n Mâ—tter was in a Fluid and Wateâ—ish Mass and whâ—n there was a commixture of Light and Darkness of the Plastick and Vivisick Powers for then the Vivifick Spirit of Nature disseminated the Specifick Forms of those Animals of the lowest degree of Life in those waterish Funds and Promptuaries of Matter in which they were Form'd and increas'd into that Shape and Figure we now find them in And if God Almighty had not by dividing the Light from Darkness the Vivisick from the Plastick Power and by Consolidating the Exterior Strata of Matter Cursed the Earth these Terrene and Marine Insects which we find petrefi'd and entomb'd in Marble Limestone and Chalk or bury'd in Beds of Sand Gravel or Earth might have increas'd to higher degres of Perfection as well as those Subterranean Toads Frogs Asks and Clocks which we meet with in the Cavities and joints of such Stones as have lost their Natural Feeders But of these the following Chapters will give a more full Account CHAP. II. Of the Grand Cover of the Earth the Sympathetical Union of the Plastick and Vivifick Spirit and the Production of Vegetables the first and lowest Degree of Life THE Outer Cover of the more Solid parts of the Earth which we call the Surface and Fertile Soil being as we have observ'd the Universal Fund or Promptuary or the Common Matrix wherein was desseminated the Specifick Forms of the lowest Degree of Life and Vegetation whilst others of a higher Degree Danc'd about it like Atoms in a Morning Sun 's Beam It will be necessary in the first place to give a fuller Description of the Natures and Qualities of it and to shew by what Degrees of Heat and Vital Incubations it was Modified and prepar'd to answer that Imperious Word Let the Earth bring forth When the Waters were divided and the Sea drawn down to its proper Channel they left behind them a Feculent Mud and Sedement which being like to a universal Qâ—ag of a Lax and Waterish Substance consisting of the several Kinds of Matter of an Heterogeneous Nature and saturated with great plenty of Mineral Spirits of all Qualities These Mineral Spirits by a Natural Motion and Tendency rising up to the Surface as we observe Cream riseth up to the top of Milk or as Oyl sloateth above Water the warm Influence of the Aetherial Flame moving upon it Thicknâ—d these Mineral Spirits into a Liquid Gelly or a Pinguid and Unctious Slime And this we call the naked Skin of the Earth or Fertile Soil This Skin or Fertile Soil before it got any Coat or Cover upon it was not only Tinctur'd and Colour'd with all those wateâ—ish Colours of Green Red Yellow c. but also was spotted and speckl'd with great variety of other Colours occasion'd by a commixture of these Mineral Spirits And these gave not only the Tinctures and Colours to the common and waterish Herbs as Grass Plants and Flowers but gave also the different Complexions to Birds Beasts and Men. And as the several Colours and
at him And a Panick Fear having seiz'd them they beâ—ame all his Vassals â— will not undertake to determine the time that Adam might spend in Walking round the Woods and Plains of Paradise whilst he took a View of all the Creatures distinguish'd their Tribes and gave Names and Offices to them according to their several Natures and Qualiâ—ies I presume that it can hardly be imagin'd that one Day could be sufficient for so great â—â—ask As Adam's Ambition was to exercise and improve his Rational Faculties by Enquiring into the Natures and Qualiâ—ies of the Sensitive Animals no doubt but Eve being no less desirous to improve her Wisdom and Knowledge than her Master Adâ—m did spend that time during his absence not only in gratifying her External Seâ—ses with the fragrant Smell of the fair Flowers of Paradise and Tasting its sweet Fruit but in making Enquiries into the Natures and Kinds of Fruits and Simples in distinguishing their several Sorts and giving Names to them according to their Natures And certainly it was not her Ambition to be like God in so Divine a Perfection as Wisdom and Knowledge made her Forfeit not only the Fair Fields and pleasant Wâ—lks of Paradise but Life and Immortality but her taking a course and method to that End contrary to the express Command of her Creator And although it be most probable that a Natural Serpent having a speckled Skin Beautify'd and Adorn'd with all the variety of Natural Paint in the most fresh and lively Colours was her Officious Favorite and presented to her Royal Hand this Beautiful and Lovely Fruit Yet doubtless it was her own Natural Serpent or Concupisence did frame and suggest to her a Discourse to this effect Hath not our Bountiful Creator made this World with all this great variety of Creatures in it on purpose for the Entertainment of your External Senses with the satisfaction of Enjoying their beloved Objects as well as the Intâ—rnal Faculties of the Rational Soul with the Entertainments of Wisdom and Philosophy If you Taste not then this Lovely Fruit you evacuate God's Design in Creating of it Again If God did not design that you should Eat of this Fruit He would not have made it so Beautiful and Desireable it 's Inconsistent with the Natural Goodness of your Creator to lead you into the Fire and oblige you not to Burn to Inflame your Affection with a strong Desire and not to gratifie it Further You cannot but observe that God has made all Poysonous and hurtful Creatures of a less comely if not of a frightful Aspect and you have a strong Antipathy against them but this Charming Complexion tempts you to taste of it To which the Considerative or Rational Faculty reply'd Our Bountiful Creator has given us liberty to eat of all the Trâ—es in the Garden but this is forbidden upon pain of Death This is a grand mistake of the Divine Intention saith Concupiscence which was by your Eating of this Fruit to Improve your Knowledge and â—herefore he gave it the Name of the Tree of Knowledge For as you have discover'd the Natural differences amongst the Sensiâ—ive Animals and have given Names to them your Creator certainly expects that you should understand the Natures and differences amongst Fruits and Vegetables oâ—herwise you will never be compleatly Skill'd in your Natural Philosophy This proud thought of being Wife and a Natural Philosopher so tickl'd Adam or Reason that he condescended that his Bride Eve or Concupiscence shâ—u'd take a Taste to Cure her longing And she finding it a Fruit as wâ—ll grateful to the Taste as pleasant to the Eye perswades Adam to a further condescention until a second Consideraâ—ion made him feel the miserable Efects of it as well in his Conscience as in the Constitution of his Body which his Reason being asham'd of he fled â—rom the Presence of God who usually as it 's believ'd by some learn'd Authors came down in the Evening to Discourse with the young Philosopher who finding himself Naked or at a loss for Arguments to defend his Guilt and Shame endeavouâ—'d to cover it with the thin Figg-leaves of Excuses A DISCOURSE Concerning the CONFLAGRATION OF THIS Material World THE Local Hell IT S OUTMOST BOUNDARIES OR Abrahams Gulph A DISCOURSE Concerning the CONFLAGRATION OF THIS Material World HAving in the former part of the History of Matter giveâ— an Account of such Preternatural Accidents as have disturbed and sometimes in all Ages Interrupted the Regular Course of Nature And having demonstrated that these Preternatural disturbances were occasion'd by that Natural Strife that happens between the contrary Qualities of Heat and Cold Fire and Water And having also shewn how Water by uniting her forces in the Time of Noah chang'd this Terraqueous Globe for some time into a Waterish Planet by effecting an universal Deluge which covered the Tops of the highest Mountains Fifteen Cubits And how the Central Fire has â—requently threatned not only by Universal Concussions and Earthquakes to unhinge its Foundations but also by Extraordinary and most Violent Eruptions of Fire and Vulcano's to break the Structure and Temperament of it and turn it into a Globe of Fire or Fiery Planet Now as a great many Learned Men in all Ages have been inquisitive into the Natural Causes of this Universal Deluge and the Difficulty they met with being to find Water sufficient to effect it without a Miracle So a great many Leâ—rned undertakers have been no less Industrious to find Fire sufficient to dry up the Seas and Rivers and then to Effect an Universal Conâ—lagration of this Material World These two Difficulties in my Opinion might have been â—asily remov'd if they had understood better the Structure of the Earth and the Nature and Quality of that Matter which makes up the Constituent parts of it It will be necessary therefore in order to our Establishing a Well-grounded Hypothesis concerning the Universal Conâ—lagration in a Natural way to Resume what we have formerly Observed concerning Matter in General which we have divided into Three Classes viz. Volatile Fixt and Fluid and to shew that these Three different Class's of Matter bear equal Proportions one to an other and in the Structure of the Earth occupie the same proportion of Place The Volatile Class which we call the Central Fire consisting of Aethereal Nitrous Sulphurous and Bituminous Particles bears proportion to one Third part of the Diameter And this Class makes the Earths Equilibrium and by running a perpetual Round within the Circle of its own Infernal Vault Carries about with it this Crust or Shell of fixt and fluid Matter whereupon we live once in every Twentâ— four hours and this we call the Diurâ—al Motion of the Earth The fixt and fluid Matter being intermixt like the Flesh Blood and Bones or Heterogeneous parts of a Compounded Body bears propoâ—tion to the other Two parts of the Diameter The fixt Class of Matter Consists of Parts Combustible Calcinable Liquifiable and Inflammable
General Quarter Sessions of the Peace for the County of Surrey holden at Darking on Tuesday the Fifth day of April 1692 and in the Fourth Year of Their Majesties Reign By the Honourable Hugh Hare Esq One of Their Majesties Justices of the Peace for that County The Second Edition Corrected An Historical Relation of the Conspiracy of Iohn Lowis Count Deffieschi against the City of Genoua in the Year 1547. Written in Italian by Augustin Mascardi Gentleman of the Bed Chamber to Pope Urban the Eighth Done into English by the Honourable Hugh Hare Esq An Account of the Isle of Iersey the Gâ—eatest of the Islands that are now the only remainder of the English Doâ—inions in France with a New and Accurate Mapp of the said Island By Ph. Falle M. A. Rector of St. Saviour in the said Island and Chaplain in Ordinary to His Majesty Mr Falle's Sermon before the English Gâ—â—â—ison in Iersey April the 10th 1692. One Sermon at Whitehall Decemb. the 30th 1694. One Sermon before the Lord Mayor April the 21th 1695. A Discourse of Natural and Reveal'd Religion in several Essays By Mr. T. Nourse The Anatomy of 〈◊〉 Earth Dedicated to all Miners By Tho. Robinson Rector of Outby in Cumberland The History of the Campagne in Flanders for the Years 1692 1693 1694 and 1695. All Written by Edward â— Auergne M. A. Rector of St. Brelade in the Isle of Iersey and Chaplain to His Majesties Regiment of Scots Guards * Note that Steno proves the Earth to have been twice fluid twice plain and dry twice scabrous and craggy the first was at the original Chaos the second at the Flood This says he is manifest from some Beds of the higher Hills containing no Heterogeneous Bodies because form'd before there wâ—re any Animals or Plants or other mix'd Solids and so presâ—rv'd in their simple antediluvian Stâ—â—e by the Heighth of their Siâ—uation which might secure them against the Load of many adventitious or factitious Bâ—ds falling for the most part on the Vallies and low Places where they make up all the compound Strata which inâ—rust tâ—â— presâ—nt Earth and separate it from the primitive oâ—e whose Beds are more simple not stuffed up with such diâ—â—â—â—ent Bodies as make up the postdiluvian Strata or Sediments This agrees with what Mr. Whiston delivers in mâ—ny Places of his New Theory To which we may add that the simple antediluvian Beds on the high Mountains destitute of Heterogeneous Solids may be lâ—id open by the washings away of the incumbent Diluvian Sediments or compound Beds by the Torrents of Rains which carry down those Câ—usts and Bodies along with them Dr. â—urnetâ— inconsistences The Cause of this Globes Atmosphere Dr. Woodard's contradiction of himself â— Vse 2. Vse 3. Vse 4. Vse 5. Vse 1. Vse 2. Vse The cause of Hills 1. The Cause of different Soils and Natures of Vegetables 2. The different Qualities of the Air. 3. The occasion of Springâ— c. 4. Of the breaking out of Mâ—nes c. 5. Of the productâ—on of Trees c. The Cause of Mountainâ— 1. Vse Their Consistences 2. Vse Their Natural Uses 3. Vse 4. Vse 5. Vse 6. Vse 7. Vse The position of Mountains The Cause of Gills Dales and Vallieâ— The Ingredâ—ents of Coal Lesser Mountains The Cause of the Chanel of the Sea The Nature and Quality oâ— the Sea 〈…〉 〈…〉 The Cause of the Seas Gibbosity The Cause of the Flux The Cause of its Reflux The Cause of Spring-tides and Dead-tides The Cause of the Seas Fermenâ—ation The effectâ— and Uses of the Seas Fermentation The Cause of the Saltness of the Sea Itâ— Uses The proportion which the Subterranean Water bears to the Sea Of the greater Veins of the Earth c. To raise new Riverâ— upon dry Ground A Subterranean contest between Fire and Water A Concussion of the whole Globe A Concussion of half the Globe A Local Earthquake New Mountains and Pondâ— Of Hurricains and their Effects Dr. Woodwards notion of perpendicular Fissures is a mistake in observation Of Burning Mountains Vulcano's Her damps in Colleries Their Effects Violent Eruptions of Water Of water Damps An Air Damp. A sweet Daâ—â— The over-flowing of Nilus The over-flowing of the Gigleswick Spring The drumming Wâ—ll aâ— Bautâ—y Mineral Spirits Foul. Air. The meaning of these words the Fountains of the great Deep were broken up The Cause of the Aerial Damp and its Effects What is meant by the opening of the Windows of Heaven The meaning of the Wind which God caused to pass over the Earth and its effects What the Rain-bows appearing in the Clouds did signifie A Refutation of Dr. Woodward's Hypothesis c. The time when the Deluge commenced Dr. Woodwaâ—d'â— Hypothesiâ— concerning the effects of the Dâ—lâ—ge Refuted The Alterations which thâ— Deluge made upon the Eaâ—â—h The time when these alterations were made Gen. 4. Verse 22. Part the 4th Page 188. Fabius Columna Dr. Hook Steno Scylla Boccâ—â—e Raâ— and many others Gen. 2.6 First Secondly First Secondly Thirdly Secondly Thirdly Secondly Thirdly Fourthly Fourthly The Laws of Divine Impression The Laws of natural Instinct The Laws of external Sense
those lighter Fogs and waâ—erish Mists into a Body which made the Moon how by clearing of the superlunary Firmament or the Planetary Spheres the Stars appear'd and what the Sun Moon and Stars contribute towards the Production of sensitive or locomotive Animals and why the Creation of these second Causes made the fourth Production Chap. 4. Of the Production of the second Degree of Life and first of oviparous Animals as Fish and waterish Insects Chap. 5. Of the second Genus oâ— oviparous Animals viz. the Aerial And first of Fly-Insects secondly of Serpents thirdly of Birds and why Moses makes the waterish and aerial Animals congenial Chap. 6. Of the terrene or viviparous Animals Chap. 7. Of the Creation of Man the sixth Production The Conclusion Wherein is shewn the meaning and signisicancy of these Words And God saw every thing that he had made and behold it was very good A Discourse concerning the Terrestrial Paradise shewing how Adam was introduced into it The Time he continued in it and how he and Eve employed that Time A Discourse concerning the Conflagration of this material World the Local Hell its outmost Boundaries or Abraham's Gulph A short Treatise of Meteorology with some Observations concerning the Changes and Alterations of the Weather Chap. 1. Of Vapourâ—â—nd Exhalations c. Chap. 2. Of the efficient Causes oâ— all Meteors and first of Heat Chap. 3. Of Cold the other efficient Cause of Meteors Chap. 4. Of the Air or Medium wherein all Meteors are generated Chap. 5. Of fiery Meteors c. Chap. 6. Of Comets c. Chap. 7. Of Thunder its Causes and Effects Chap. 8. Of vaporous Meteors and first of Dews and Hoar Frosts Chap. 9. Of Rain Hail and Snow Chap. 10. Oâ— Hail and Snow with Observations Chap. 11. Of Frost and Thaw Chap. 12. Oâ— the Sphere of Rarefaction Chap. 13. Of Wind Helms and Arches Chap. 14. Prognostications of the Change and Alteration of Weather from the setting and rising of the Sun The Author living at a great Distance from the Press desires the Reader â—o pâ—â—don those following Mistakeâ— PAge 5. line 13. read further p. 25. l. 6. r. Philosophically p. 27. l. 9. r. Anteperistatical p. 30. l. 10. r. Nutritius p. 44. l. 25. r. Fluidity p. 67 l. 1. r. Nature p. 91. l. 4. r. Sublunary p. 121. l. 24. r. Litoralâ—s p. 13â— l. 25. r. Assimilation p. 139. l. 10. r. learned p. 155. l. 28. r. Zodiack A Scheme wherein the Several Phaenomena of this Terraqueous Globe are Explained ABCDEFG A The Central Fire disseminating a Vital heat through the whole Cortex or Shel of the Globe B The Mountains â—rom the Centre to the Surface C Heaths D Plains E The Channel of the Sea The flatt Strata or Beds of Matter with their Acclivities to the â—ountains and Declivities to the Seas together with their Elevations and Depressions thus described The winding and turnings of the greater Veins Dividing the several Classes of Matter described thus through which the whole Mass of sâ—â—terranean Water Circulates Their Lesser Fibres or Rami Factions filling all the flat Strata with feeders of Water which breaking out upon the Surface of the Earth cause Spring c. described thus F The Seas with the Rivers flowing into them from the Tops of the Mountains swelling them into a Ciâ—bosity and causing in them a Continual Fermentation G Vapors Arising from the Seas which being Attracted by the Coldness of the Mountains fixeth there Forming an Atmosphere round the whole Globe PART I. CHAP. I. â—he Philosophical meaning of these Words In the beginning God created the Heavens and the Earth and what may be concluded from them MOSES in his Philosophical Description of the Creation lays it down as a granted Principle or a grand Thesis â—â—at the Heavens and the Earth with 〈◊〉 their Parts Furniture and variety 〈◊〉 Natures contained in them were â—â—eated de novo and that God the â—â—pream Being Un-created and Indeâ—endent Almighty in Power and Inâ—â—nite in Wisdom and all Perfections â—as the efficient cause That the time when the World was Created was in the beginning of Time or when Time first began to have a Being for before the World was Created there was duration or Stabilis Aeternitas as the Schoolmen express it but Time being an equal mensuration of Motion it and Motion began together From this grand Thesis we may conclude First against Aristotle who endeavour'd by many Arguments to prove that the World as it now stands in Matter and Form was Eternal which Hypothesis advanceth the World into an equality with God makes it its own efficient Cause Uncreated and Independent In the Second place this Mosaick Thesis concludes against Plato and his Followers who tho' he did positively assert that God made the World yet he did conceive that the Matter on which it did consist was Eternal and Pre-existent By which Hypothesis he concludes God to be an impotent cause not able to create the World without Matter and Stuff to work upon These mistaken Principles in Philososophy were occasion'd from the Observation of the regular course of Nature not considering that there might be other causes which might produce effects in an other way than cou'd ever come within the compass of their narrow observation for how Spiritual Causes produce their effects its impossible for us whilst we continuâ— in this dark state of Matter wherein we have but a very short and narrow prospect to understand In the Third place it concludes against Democritus and his Followers who did not only conceit that Matter was Eternal and Pre-existent but that the World had no efficient cause but what was from Chance or the casual motion of Matter which consisting of infinite numbers of Atoms or little Corpuscles of different Figures Natures and Qualities which rainged about in a vast and infinite space until at the last by Divisions Separations and Mixtures occasioned by their contrary and mixt Qualities and the innate Power of Sympathy and Antipathy they at last setled into the Form and Figure of this World which it can no more alter or vary from than the active Fire be taught to change its Nature and descend and Gravation to ascend and fly upward No doubt but this Hypothesis waâ— grounded upon an experimental Observation of the several Kinds of Matter of different Natures which being mixt together in a Glass or any transparent Vessel will separate and divide themselves proprio mâ—tu tho never so jumbled and mix'd together I shall not in this place shâ—w you the absurdity of this Hypothâ—sis but rather chuse in the following Chapters to give some account what Feats Matter and Motion will produce by vertue of their contrary Qualities and the power of Sympathy and Antipathy and how far God Almighty might make uâ—e of thâ—se towards the forming the materrial part of this World We may hence farther conclude that although neither the World as it stands nor the Matter on which it consists did
the Earth we find them lying upon Flaâ—s with a Dibb and Rise the Rise towards the tops of Mountains and the Dibb towards the main Ocean as the Waters left them and forc'd them up when they drew down into their proper Channel The whole Mass of Terrene Matter being thus Compact and Cemented together by the pressures of the circumambient ambient Waters as we press Brick and Tyle in their several Moulds the Central â—ire did by its heat bake and consolidate those Stones Metals Mines and Minerals that were of a fiery nature as well as those of an unctuous and pinguid quality into their several degrees of Consolidation and Induration whilst the Anteperistical Cold together with those petrifying juices of Salt and Nitre which then did abound in all the lax and undigested Strata did petrify those Strata of a Terrene Nature into their several degrâ—es of Induration and Lapidifaction By these Natural Gradations the Earth became fixt upon its Center and â—he Waters a fluid body moving and circulating about it and they both made one Terraqueous Globe of a Spherical and Mathematical Rotundity all the Lines from the Superficies to the Centre being of an equal length Thus the space between the surface of the Waters and the Moon 's Vortex was clear'd of all those Fogs and Mists which ranged about in it And being fill'd with their Air Moses calls it the Firmament of Heaven which made the second Production viz. of space wherein the Under-agents or second Causes had room to work and produce effects of a higher and more noble Nature and Quality CHAP. VIII The division of the lower Waters into Subterranean Superterranean and Nubiferous and by what Gradations the dry Land appeared THO' this great Embrio was ready for birth and to breath in fresh Air yet it could not be deliver'd from this great Bag of Water wherein it was enclos'd by any innate Power it had in it self without a Supernatural assistance The Almighty was pleas'd therefore to play the Midwife and to deliver it by breaking of this great body of Water and by dividing of the sweet from those of a Saline and Brakish Nature For as soon as the intermediate Matter which made the Shell of the Earth was rednâ—'d into Form and Order and the several Strata or Layers of Stones Metals Minerals and Subterrene Earths with their cross-cutting and dividing Dykes Rakes Ryders Veins and Strings or Side-branches had receiv'd from the heat of the Central fire and the petrefying Juices of Salt and Nitre their several degrees of Incrustation Induration and Lapidifaction the thirsty Matter gradually suckt in the thin sweet Water until all its Veins Dykes Cavities and Pores were fill'd and saturated with it The Salt Water being the Sedement of the whole Mass and likewise being too thick to penetrate and pass through the straâ—t Pores and Strainers of the solid and condensed Matter did gradually draw down to its Channel And all the Veins and Pores of the Earth being now Saturated with sweet Water the Subterranean Lympheducts or underground Water-works began first to bubble up and play from the tops of the highest Mountains from whence thâ— Rivers took their first rise and began to form their courses to the Sea and by their rapidity and weight continually pressing in upon her from all sides swell'd her up into a Gibbosity and forâ—'d her into a constant flux and reflux which reciprocation of Motion causing in her a boyling Fermentation the sweet Water does disentangle it self from the Salt and being lighter riseth up in Fumes and Vapours which fly abroad until they be condens'd into Clouds which falling down in showers of sweet Water upon the Earth becomeâ— the Succus Nutritivus of the fleshy paâ—t of it giving not only a vital nourishment to the several Kinds of Animals living on the outer Coat or Skin of it but repairing the Subterranean Waters by preserving them from wasting The Waters being now divided into Superterranean Subterranean and Nubiferous the dry Land appear'd and was gradually prepar'd for being an habitable World CHAP. IX Of the Primeval or Antidiluvian Figure of the Earth DR Burnet in his Theory of the Earth conceits and endeavours to perswade the World that the Primeval Earth was Spherically or Mathematically round without Seas Mountains or any inequalities upon its Surface Which Hypothesis or rather ingenious Conceit seems in the first place to be inconsistent with the Original State of this Materiâ—l Globe which being design'd for a placâ— of Habition for several Kinds of Animals of â— mixt and compounded Constitution whose vital â—lame is nourish'd and maintain'd by a continual respiration of a soft and vaporous Air which must not only be frequently fann'd with the brisk gales and blasts of a cleansing Wind but also moistned and sweetned with showers frequently falling through it All which have their Original cause from the constant flux and reflux of the Sea and those inequalities upon the surface of the Earth Without which there would neither have been an Atmosphere Wind Rain or Air but the Superficies of the Earth would have been by the Sun's Beams continually beating upon it Baked and Incrusted into the hardness of Brick and Tyle This Hypothesis seems also inconsistent with the different Natures of those Animals with which the Almighty Creator has been pleas'd to stock it some of which being only produc'd in a Warm and Fertile Soil others only in a Cold and Sterile So some Animals delight only to breath a warm and soft Air others a more bleak and piercing Thus Strawberries and Gilliflowers will not thrive upon the tops of cold and barren Mountains nor Mountain Vegetables in the most fertile Soil or best prepar'd warm Beds This will be made more clear and evident when we shall give account of the natural uses of the Flux and Reflux of the Sea and those inequalities and irregularities of the Earth's Surface Once more to suppose the Earth to have been of an even and Spherical Supersicies seems inconsistent with the different Kinds and Natures of that Matter of which it consists some of which being hard others soft some fix'd others â—luid it cann't be imagin'd that all this variety of Matter would settle in a Figure Spherically and Mathematically round From these Arguments we may without being guilty of any great presumption conclude against Dr. Burnet's Hypothesis that as the Antediluvian Earth consisted of the same Matter with this present Earth and produc'd the same Species of Animals of the same natures and qualities it was of the same Figure that now we find it in a Terraqueous Globe of a Physical Rotundity with Seas Mountains c. And thâ—t these irregularities and Inequalities of this Terrestrial Globe did not Date their Original from that Disruption which was occasion'd by the Deluge as Dr. Woodward positively asserts Part 2d page 80. is evidâ—nt from part 6. Page 246. where he undertakes to prove that the Face of the Earth
where the solid Beds of Stone are weak and broken and lye near day and where they may easily thrust their Roots into their broken Joints and suck in the Mineral Spirits c. CHAP. XII Of Mountains their Original Cause Consistences and Natural Uses being the first Dry Land that appear'd THE Mountains are the Ebullition oâ— Matter occasion'd by the Central Fire when it was in its â—ull Strength and Vigour They consist of such Strata of Stones Metals Raggs Chivers Cills c. as are of a Hot quality and these are like so many Hot-beds wherein the several kinds of Ore receiv'd their Conceptions as well as their different degrees of Concoction and Perfection as hereafter will be more fully shewn The Mountains consisting of such Matter as is of a Hot quality and being bound with strong Cills which having a quicker Rise than those upon the Plains do lift up their Heads above the rest of the Earth and became not only the great Pillars and Supporters of the whole Fabrick but the first Sea-Banks that broke the Circulation of the Waters and were the first dry Land that appear'd The Tops of the Mountains reaching aâ— high as the cold Regions of the Air and having but the advantage of a single Râ—flection of the Sun 's Globuli have always a Cold and Condensing Air upon them and striking a Level with the Gibbosity of the Sea do by the Sympathy between Cold and Cold attrâ—ct the Vapours to them which either fall down in Showers of Rain being Condens'd by the rising of the Ground Cold or are rarifi'd into Wind by the falling of the Sphere of Rarefaction which term will be hereafter explain'd when we describe the Nature of Winds All the greatest Dikes and Divisâ—ons of the Earth as I have already observ'd do contract themselves and meet in the Mountains as the Veins do in the Necks of Animals and these being the greater Veins of the Earth by dividing into lesser Veins and Branches maintain and preserve a constanâ— Communication or Circulation of Water through the whole Body And this is the only Reason why the Heads of all the greatest Rivers in the World have their Rise from the Tops or Sides of the highest Mountains which by following of the Windings and Turnings of these greater Dikes or Veins and by receiving into them the lesser Dike-Feeders are increas'd from small Rivulets into large and Navigable Rivers which at the last empty themselves into the Main Ocean The Declivity of the Mountains gives Rapidity of Motion to the Rivers which does not only preserve their Sweetness for the benefit of Men and Beasts but also by pressing upon the Sea from all sides swells her up into a Gibbosity and is the only cause of her Flux and Reflux which the following Chapters will give account of As the Declivity of the Mountains gives Rapidity of Motion to the Rivers so it gives Motion to the Winds and Air For as the Condensation of Vapours causeth an Inundation in the Waters so the Rarefaction of the Vapours and Exhalations causeth an Inundation and Overflowing in the Air And those Lateral blasts of Wind that come so strong upon us are only Waves of the Air and the roaring Noise we oftentimes hear upon the Mountains is only the breaking forth of the Winds upon the still Body of the Air and there putting of it into a rapid Motion which is increas'd by the Descent of the Mountains for Air and Water are the same in Specie differing only in degrees of Thinness and Fludity As the Mountains are the great Pillars and Supporters of the Earth their Foundations all meeting in the Center and Forming that Vast Subterranean Vault which keeps the Central Fire from breaking forth so they are the greatest Ornament of its Superficies giving not only a most pleasant Prospect over the Plains and Valleys but terminating the Visive Faculty with a grateful variety of Objects The Mountains have their Natural Position either in Ridges or Clusters those we see in Clusters intermixt with great Dales Gills and Valleys were at the first settling of Matter all of an even Superficies but their Joynts and divisions consisting of Raff Ragg Chiver and such confus'd Matter without strong Cills or Strata of Stones to bind them together were by great Storms and Tempests of Rain c. but especially by Noah's Flood broken and driven down into the Valleys and from thence into the next adjacent Sea And this is the Reason why some Mountains have a Perpendicular Rise why their Ribs and Sides lye Naked and Frightful threatning to fall upon us and these great Dikes and Joynts are either fill'd with Ponds of Water which afford great plenty of Fish or they are become pleasant Valleys Gills and Dales having a Fâ—uitful Soil and the warmest Sun by reason of its Beams being Reflected from all sides of the Mountains CHAP. XIII Of Mountain Heaths c. THE Mountain Heaths lye upon the Skirts of Mountains towards the Sea their Consistences and several Strata are rather of a Pinguid Bitumious and Nitrous than of a Hot and Sulphureous Quality and they generally lead to Mines of Coals which are the Pneumatick parts of such Strata of Stones and Metals as are their upperCovers the principal and more Pneumatical Ingredients whereof are Bitumen Sulphur and Nitre Bitumen gives the Flame Nitre blows it up and Sulphur gives the Heat Thâ—ir crosâ—-cutting and dividing Dikeâ— consist of tough Clay and a mixture of confus'd Matters These Mountain Heaths were the second dry Land that appear'd for as the Sea did gradually draw down into its Channel its unruly Waves drove up these lesser Hills we see upon the Skirts of the Mountains and forc'd their Strata of Stones Metals c. to have a Rise towards them thereby making a Channel so Spacious as might contain so Vast a Body of Water and keep its Proud Waves within their proper Limits Their Stones Metals c. had their degrees of Incrustation and Lapidifaction from the Central Fire CHAP. XIV Of the Plains and Valley c. THE last dry Land that appear'd was the Plains and Valleys which by the Depression of their Strata sank down into the Channel of the Sea the Consistences of these are rather of a Terrene and Nitrous than â— Pinguid Quality They afford us the best Free-stone as White Grey Red and Yellow these Tinctures and Colours they receiv'd from those different degrees of Concoction they had from the Central Fire and the degrees of Lapidifaction and Induration they receiv'd from the Anteperistical Cold and Petrefying Juices Their Strata have an easie Dibb towards the Sea sometimes not a Yard at fifty for as the Waters divided their Strength abated and the Flat Strata laid more level CHAP. XV. Of the Channel of the Sea c. AS the Valleys sink down gradually into the Channel of the Sea so the Channel is only a spacious
gives all Countries their Yearly Seasons And this gradual Increase and Decrease of Heat answers all the Ends of Nature both in the Vegetive and Animal World much better than the constant Temperature and Equality of Heat which the Theorist supposeth to have been in the Anâ—ediluvian Earth After the Creation of the Sun God reduc'd all those vast Fogs and waterish Mists that rang'd about in the Planetary Spheres into a Body which Moses calls the Moon and he design'd it as a Reverend and Learn'd Divine of our own has observ'd to be for a Vicarious Light to the Sun to supply his absence and perform his Office in the lower World He plac'd the Moon in the lowest of the Coelestial Spheres at such a convâ—nient distance from the Earth that the warm Influence of the Sun being reflected from it might carry down with it some of its Coelestial Moisture He gave also to the Moon so commodious a Motion which it performs in every 28 or 29 Days that when the Sun is Southward it moves Northward and when the Sun moves Northward it's Motion is Southward by which Motion the Cold and Darkness of the long Winter Nights are moderated and these remote Regions under the Poles comforted with the Sun's Influence at Second-hand when they want it at the First Thus by reducing of those waterish Fogs into the Body of the Moon the upper Firmament or the Planetary Spheres were clear'd and the Planâ—ts with the rest of the Stars Created in the Morning of the World began to appear and to send down their Aetherial and Invisible Influences upon this Globe which were obstructed and interrupted by the Interposition of these waterish Mists And the Creation of the Sun and Moon and the Clearing of the Planetâ—ry Spheres God made use of as 〈…〉 or necessary Second Causes towâ—rd â—he Production of the Second Dâ—â—ree of Life and therefore these made the Fourth Production CHAP. IV. Of the Production of the Second Degree of Life and first of Oviparous Animals as Fish and waterish Insects HAving already observ'd that whilst the Earth was a Fluid and Waterish Mass and there was a commixâ—ure of Light and Darkness the Plastick and Vivifick Spirits the Specifick Forms of Vegetation and the lowest Forms of Animals were disseminateâ— in the Exterior Strata of this waterish Mass and if God had not Curs'd the Earth by dividing Light from Darkness the Material and Formal Principles of Life the Luxuriant Matter wou'd have teem'd foâ—th such numbers of Animal Productions that the Surface of the Earth and Waters wou'd not have maintain'd them This Hypothesis is grounded not only upon the form'd Stones we meet with lodg'd in the Interior Strata of the Earth which having the shapes and representations of Terrene and Marine Insects cou'd proceed from no other Original than a Plastick Spirit but also upon those Subterranean Animals as Toads Frogs Asks and Clocks which we sometimes meet with inclos'd in the Cavities and Hollows of Stone as well as in their dry Joints I have found a large Toad six Yards under Ground inclos'd in the very middle of a hard Stone where the Joint that led to it was so straight that it wou'd not receive the thinnest Knife so likewise great numbers of Asks Clocks and Beetles in the dry Joints of Stones which cou'd have no other generation but what was from a Plastick Spirit modifying a Subterranean Vapour collected into that Cavity or dry Joint the Vivifick Flame kindl'd a Spark of Life in them which by sucking in such Subterranean Vapours as abounded in the Joints of these dry Stones which had lost their Natural Feeders were increaâ—'d to that bulk we found them in no doubt but the Stamina Vitae of these Subterrene Animals are preserv'd by continual Sleeping and the Air they breath is purely Subterranean like Embrios in the Womb which live by the Respiration of their Mothers And it may seem very probable that these under-ground Animals have liv'd in these Joints and Cavities ever since the Deluge and perhaps long before for as nothing preserves the Vital Flame more than Sleep so nothing wastes and spends it more than Action To these I might add the Production of Eels Worms Marine and Waterish Insects as the Vrtica Marina c. which being Zoophyta or Plant Animals and not Locomotive cou'd have no other Production than what was meerly Aequivocal or Spontaneous and from Matter modifi'd and prepar'd for recâ—iving of the Vital Spark Besides these Invisible Productions I shall add one more visible and apparent Take a strong Horse-hair and put it into the Water warm'd by the Influence of the Sun especially in May oâ— Iune and within some few Hours it will take Life move at both Ends and in a short time its probable that it might become one of those several kinds of Eels we meet with in the Waters Notwithstanding that all these Productions had their first Original from such Matter as was most proper and capable to be modisied by the Plastick Spirit of Nature yet being produc'd they sometimes propagate their several Kinds by univocal Generation these Marine Insects which are not Locomotive being only excepted From these Praeliminary Instances and a great many more Ocular Observations which might easily be produc'd I conclude that as the several Forms of Vegetables were disseminated in the upper Covers of the Earth so were the Specifick Forms of several kinds of Fish as well those which the Natuâ—alists call Pelagiae as those they call Lâ—turales desseminated in the Waâ—â—râ— or Submarine and fresh-water Quicksands and as the Water receiv'd higher Dâ—grees of Modificâ—tion they produc'd Fish of a higher Degree of Life in obedience to that Command laid upon them Let the Waters bring forth abundantly The Second Causes which concurr'd in the Production of these Waterish Animals were First the Coelestial Influences Secondly The Water which being Modified by the Plastick Spirit and the Coelestial Influences became waterish Vehicles or Bodies for their Specifick Forms to act in Thirdly The Submarine and Waterish Quick-sands in which their Eggs were Generated Fourthly The Subterranean Heat which abounding most in these Submarine Quick-sands or waterish Nests did Hatch these Eggs into Life Fifthly An Innate Power in the Plastick Form which discriminated their Kinds The Original Production of all kinds of Fish being from their Invisibe and Vital Forms disseminated in Waterish Quick-sands as soon as they came to Perfection and Maturity they retain'd Seed in themselves by which they Propagated their own Kinds The time of their Propagation is with us about September for then being grown strong and lusty with their Summers Feeding and the Influence of the Moon and the rest of the Aetherial Bodies being then more strong and powerful upon the Waters Again about that time the Subterranean Heat rises towards the Surface of the Earth and breaks out in Springs and Quick sands which is the reason why about that time the Fresh-water Fish draw up to the
The fluid Class consists of Water which is either Subterranean or Superterranean The Subterranean Water either circulates through the larger Veins of the Earth or pervades the Strait Pores of the Densest Matter That which Circulates through the Larger Veins does not only by being Transmuted into Air feed and nourish the Central Flame but also hampers it and keeps it within the Limits and Boundaries of its own Infernal Kingdom That which pervades the Strait Pores of Dense Matter does as well feed and nourish the Pneumatical and Native Spirits of that Matter as shackles them by keeping of them within their little Cells which otherwise would break out and set on fire the more Combustible part of it The Superterraneous Waters do by maintaining a constant Communication between the Subterranean and Airâ—al Waters and by the falling of Plentiful Showers of Rain upon the Earths Surface preserve it from being either over-crufted or set on Fire by the External Heat of the Suns Influence upon it By these Divisions and Computations it is apparent that one Third part of this Globe is Volatile another Third part Combustible and Inflammable and only a Third part Fluid Which Third part preserves the Harmony and Conspiracy of its Parts which makes the Cement and Temperament of the whole Body and if this should once be broken and the Volatile and Fluid suffered to act their Antipathies upon each other the whole Frame and Structure would presently be dissolved and all things shusled into thâ—ir Original Chaos and Confusion Now as in all Compounded Bodies which have any degree of Liâ—e or Vital Cement in them the Vital Flame is fed and nourished by the Radical Moisture which as it wasts and consumes the Exterior Parts of the Body become Dry Withered and more Combustible and at the last the whole Body is thrown into a Feverish Burning which continues until the Vital Flame be Extinguish'd and the Native Spirits fly out So in this great Body of the Earth the Central Fire which is the Vital Flame of it by continual feeding upon the Fluid Matter does gradually wast and consume it And this is not only observable in our Sinking of Pits where we generally meet with the upper Strata or Beds of Stone and Cole drained from their Waterish Feeders their Native Spirits Exhal'd but also several Ancient Springs sunk down in their Veins Large Rivers decreâ—s'd in their Water Courses and the Seas in sâ—veral Countries to have lost Ground as in Aegypt and Holland which undoubtedly in former Ages have been in the possession of the Main Ocean From these general Desiccations of the Fluid part of the Globe we conclude that according to the Natural Course of things in this World the Volatile Matter as the Central Fire will in process of time so far gain ground upon the Fluid part of it as to breâ—k out upon the Combustible and Inflammable part and by setting them first on fire the whole Globe will be turn'd into a fiery Planet from whose Scorching and fiery Atmosphere the Fluid Matter shall be forc'd to fly and range about it thick â—ogs and Waterish Mists until they fix and settle in a Waterish Vortex â—ividing the Coelestial Regions from the Smoaky and Flaming Atmosphere of this Burning Globe and it s most probable that by that vast Gulph which Father Abraham told Dives was placed between Heaven and Hell is only meant these Fogs and Waterish Mists which shall divide the outmost Boundaries of them through which the Damned Souls may probaly see hear and have some Interlocution with thosâ— in the Coelestial Regions tho' all this shall only inflame and aggravate their Torments whâ—n they shall see Abraham Isaac and Iacob in the Kingdom of Heaven and themselves shut out by this unpassable Gulph Having already mâ—de it apparent thâ—t when the confus'd Chaos of Matter settled into the Form of this Habitable Globe the Volatile part of it by a Natural tendency of Motion settled in the Central parts And that the Central Vault wherein this Volatile and Fiery Matter is contain'd bears Proportion to a Third part of the whole seems to be most probable as well from Scripture as Natural Reason For the Scripture represents Hell as a Lake of Fire Mat. 9.43 Rev. 20.10 15. And this Lake of Fire or Local Hell is commonly called Infernus which signifies a place Infra nos i. e. below the Cortex or Outer coat of the Fix'd Matter whereon we Live it s also call'd Taâ—tarus which signifies the Pit of Hell or that Infernal Dungeon fillâ—d with Fire and Brimstone that Burns and Scorcheth but casts no Light And that this Infernal Lake of Fire was in the Central part of the Earth was not only the Opinion of the Roman Church which had undertaken to give the Dimensions of it but agrees with the Opinions of most of the Ancient Fathers and Doctors of Christianity It is also agreable with the Opinions of our own Doctors who assert that at the Day of Judgment when the Sentence against the Wicked shall be pronounced in these Words Depart from me ye Cursed into everlasting Fire the Central Fire shall break out and cause an Universal Conflagration of this Material World for then the Central Hell shall be enlarged and the Aerial Regions which are now the Devils Territories shall be fill'd with Smoak and Fire and the Damned confin'd to that everlasting Smother where the Worm shall never die and the Fire shall never be quenched by which words its more than probable that this Terraqueous Globe shall be changed into a Fiery Planet that the Aerial Heavens shall become a Flaming Atmosphere and that this shall be the Eternal State of this World He that would desire further Satisfaction in this particular may consult Dr. Hackwel and Mr. Ray's Discourses concerning the Conflagration of this World my intention being only to shew that it is most probable that there is a Central Vault of large Dimensions filled with Volatile Matter consisting of Nitre Bitumen and Sulphur and that it is as probable that this may break out and set the Earth on Fire as its possible for a Man to Die of a Burning Fever A Short TREATISE OF Meteorology With some Observations concerning the Changes and Alterations of the Weather A Short TREATISE OF Meteorology CHAP. I. Of Vapours and Exhalations c. VApours and Exhalations are the Perspirations of this Terraqueous Globe and are caus'd as well by the Internal Heat and Fermentation of it as the External Influence of the Sun which by opening of its Pores sucketh them out and raiseth them up into the Regions of the Air. These Vapours and Exhalations are the Material Cause of the several Kinds of Meteors that are generated within the Compass of the Atmosphere which extends as high as the fiery Globuli of the Sun make their Rebound from the solid Surface of the Earth and Fluid Superficies of the Waters and no higher The higher the Sun ascends in the Meridian it
strikes down these fiery Globuli with greater force upon the Earth and Waters and consequently they rise higher and èlevate the Vapours with them So that the Atmosphere is higher or lower in several parts of the Earth as the Sun riseth higher or lower in the Meridian and its Beams are darted down in a more direct or oblique Line And as the lowness of our Northern Atmosphere causeth the Sterility and Barrenness of the Northern Mountains so the height of the Southern Atmosphere causeth those Mountains in the Aequinoctial and Southern Regions to be more Fertile and Productive CHAP. II. Of the â—fficient Causes of all Metors and first of Heat BY Heat is not to be understood the Element of Fire which Aristotle and his Followers conceited to be under the Concave of the Moon there being no such Element there but by Heat is meant that Internal Heat and Fermentation which is in the Body of the Earth and that Natural Fire which is originally and essentially in the Body of the Sun the Vehicle of External Heat which Streams out from every part of that Fiery Globe giving Heat Light and enlivening Vegetations to the whole Material World being within the Compass of its Fiery and Luminous Atmosphere These Streams of Heat and Light which is only the shadow of Heat being Darted through the Regions of the Air in Strait Lines and single Rayes are not perceivably Hot or Cold no more than the Light of a Candle without the Sphere of its Heat but being doubled by multiplyed Reflections and Reboundings from the solid Surface of the Earth does increase its Heat as the Reflections are multiplyed and rebounded which makes it hotter against a Wall than upon the plane Ground and in the Vallies than upon the Mountains We must therefore distinguish between those single Rayes of Heat which dart through the Air in instants which are neither perceivably hot or cold and the Heat upon the Superficies of the Earth which being contracted by an Artificial Glass is Râ—al Fire The Essential Qualities of Heat are Calefaction Elevation Rarefaction Liquefaction and Consolidation as it meets with Matter Predisposed to receive its Effects CHAP. III. Of Cold the other efficient Cause of Meteors BY Cold is not meant a bare privation of Heat as former Philosophers did conceit but a real Body of a Subtile Sublimated and Homogenous Nature and of a cold and frigid Quality It s proper place of Existence is between this Earths Atmosphere and the Atmosphere of the Moon which is our next Neighbouring Globe and by the rising and falling of this main Body of Cold are caused the several Changes and Alterations of the Weather with us The Cause of its Rising and Falling is the pressures of these two Atmospheres between which it is plac'd When the waterish Atmosphere of the Moon presseth it down it causeth Storms and Tempests here upon this Globe And when it Rises it causes the same in the Moon The Rising and Falling of this Main Body of Cold is sometimes also occasion'd by its Dilating and Contracting of it self Now as the Suns Beams are hotter in their Reflections upon the Earth than in the Sun it self so these Cold Rays which are darted from this Main Body of Cold being increas'd and multiply'd by Reflection from the Mountains and Rivers are much colder than the Main Body of Cold in its own Sphere These Reflected Globuli of Cold may be term'd the Lower or Ground-cold because in Summer it penetrates the Earth and in Winter it seldom rises higher than the Tops of the highest Mountains unless when it joins with the Main Body and then it causeth great Storms of Frost and Snow c. This Lower or Ground-cold is commonly the Rear-guard and Van-guard of the Sun always going before and following it and it s most perceivable in the Evening and Morning Twilights especially by Birds and Aerial Animals whose Bodies do so sympathize with the Air that they can more quickly perceive the Change of Weather especially the rising of a Storm or Rain or Snow than any of the Terrene Animals and this they commonly discover by their Flying high or low or Flocking together or sometimes by different Notes or Voices This occasion'd the Ancient Augurs to conceit them prophets c. The Essential Qualities and Effects of Cold in general are Frigefaction Congelation and sometimes Petreâ—action and when the lower Cold is Contracted either by Art or Proprio motu it Starves and Freezes as the Fire Burns and Scorcheth This lower Cold contracts and dilates it self as it meets with Opposition from the contrary Quality of Heat and Fire The Effects of the lower Cold when it enters the Earth By Antiperistasis it Fires Damps in Collieries Mines burning Mountains and Vulcano's When it lyes upon the Earth it causeth Dews and hoar Frosts it sucks out Damps and corrupted Air out of Under-ground Works c. CHAP. IV. Of the Air or Medium wherein all Meteors are Generated THE Air is a Vast Medium or Expansion fill'd with Rarify'd Vapours and Exhalations which like Water would Stagnate unless by a Daily addition of Rarify'd Vapours or Wind it were put into a Flux and Reflux as the Sea is the addition of Rivers continually flowing into it from all sides When the Air is Calm then are the Meteors Generated when by the Wind the Air is put into a violent Flux and Reflux they are Broken and Dispapear CHAP. V. Of Fiery Meteors c. THE Lower Cold which follows the Sun in the Evening Twilight continues its Operation for some Hours after its Beams are out of sight and no longer the middle of the Night being for the most part a Calm as well in Winter as Summer during which time of its Operation it causeth all those Fiery Meteors which the former Philosophers gave several Names to as falling Stars Rods Beams Ignes Fatui or Will with Wisp c. according as they differ'd in Matter Magnitude and manner of Appearance some Consisting of a hot and dry Exhalation others of an Exhalation mix'd with a Viscous and Unctious Matter a Third of a simple and unmix'd Exhalation All these are Generated in the Lower Regions of the Air the Matter of them being drawn up out of the Earth Waters and Bituminous Boggs and Mosses by the Sun's Influence upon them especially in the Spring Months For then the Subâ—erranean Heat draws out to communicate with its Main Body for as at this time all Animals renew their Hair clear their Blood from gross Humours so doth this great Animal the Earth purge her self of gross Humours by Mushrooms and other Pinguid Evaporations for then the Subâ—erranean Heat drawing out to communicate with the External Heat brings forth of the Earth these Mineral Spirits and Pinguid Perspirations in so plentiful a measure which being taken up into the Air are Condens'd into Clouds and fall down again upon the Earth in such Fertilizing Showers that the Psalmist tells us the Clouds at this Season
drops of Rain into Hail-Stones I have observ'd a Shower of Rain upon the Mountains the same a Shower of Hail upon the Skirts of the Mountains the same dissolved again into a Shower of Rain in the Vallies I have observ'd also a Shower of Hail at one end of the Town the same a Shower of Rain at the other end the contracted Body of Cold that caused the Hail being not a Quarter of a Mile in Circumference Of Snow When the Lower Cold riseth and the Upper Cold falleth and so straitens the Sphere of Rarefaction that the Wind blows thin as out of a contracted Mouth the Vapours are frozen in-Snow before they be condensed into a Cloud and the shower of Snow only at first covers the Tops of the Mountains but as soon as the Lower Cold riseth Mountain height and joyns with the Upper Cold the Snow falls down into the Vallies and covers the Earth OBSERVATIONS When the Wind has blown for some time S. E. or full S. or S. W. we must expect a great and general Rain for these Winds blowing from such Regions where the Atmosphere rises high bring over with them the greatest Quantity of Vapours which our Mountanous Country condenseth into Clouds which fall down in great and general Rains And this is the reason why those Countries where most of the Vapours rise have the least of Rain which want is supplied by great Dews which the Evening and Morning Cold condenseth upon the Ground For where the Atmosphere riseth high the Lower and Higher Cold never meet which is the cause of their want of Rain When the Wind blows N. or N. E. or full E. we have seldom Rain but great Flights of Snow For the Atmosphere in those Parts being very low especially in Winter and the Mouth of the Sphere of Rarefaction very strait the Wind that blows from these Quarters is so very thin and freezing that those few Vapours which are brought from those places for the most part fall down in Snow CHAP. XI Of Frost and Thaw c. FRost and Thaw are the Effects of quite diâ—ferent Causes the one being occasion'd by the Influence of Heat the other of Cold and these two contrary Qualities do not give ground one to another without great struggle and contest The first beginning of Freezing is at the Waters and this we call a Water Frost it s the Effect or Operation of the Morning Cold which drawing down to the Waters in the Morning Twilight and carrying the Vapours along with it leaves a Waterish Hoar Frost upon the Ground behind it These Vapours lie upon the Waters until Nine a Clock for by that time the Influence of Heat having warm'd the Waters forceth them to remove their Quarters first to the cold Tops of the Mountains and thence to the cooler Regions of the Air from whence they fall down in Showers of Rain about Twelve a Clock this Frost only gains the Waters Vallies and Plains The Second Morning the Cold doubles its Force and Glaceates the Waters congeals the Earth and riseth to the middle of the Mountains their Tops still continuing in the possession of Heat This degree of Cold is over-powered by the Influence of Heat about Two a Clock and falls down in Rain in the Evening Twilight The Third Morning the Cold trebles its force and gains the Tops of the Mountains And the Influence of Heat commonly recovers this lost Ground a little before the Sun set and in the Morning Twilight it falls down in a shower of Snow covering only the Tops of the Highest Mountains The Upper and Lower Cold being now united the Frost keeps its possession of the Earth and Waters sometimes for a Month or more together and in some Countries lying at a distance from the Sea the whole Winter Quarter the Wind all the time blowing Cold and Thin the Mouth of the Sphere of Rarefaction being straitned by the joyning of the Higher and Lower Cold. During the Time that the Earth and Waters continue in the possession of Frost and Snow the Subterranean Heat breaks out of the Springs and Mineral Feeders and joyning with the Heart of the Sun Regeâ—es the Spring-heads and part of the Rivers gaining them intirely into its possession But the general Frost continues until the Vapours rising from the Southern or Western Ocean recover the Wind into some of the Solar Quarters which opening the Sphere of Rarefaction the Wind blows warm and moist For as the same Breath from an open Mouth warms ones Fingers so from a contracted Mouth it will cool his Porridge The general Frost in the Northern Countries near the Pole and in Countries at a distance from the Sea seldom Regeles until the Subterranean Heat break forth and joyn with the Heat of the approaching Sun and then the Frost and Snow is dissolved in a very short time and the Spring comes on much sooner than in those Countries where the Regelation is more gradual Thus as a constant Intercourse of Day and Night gives the Active Animals liberty by Rest and Sleep to recover their wasted Strength and Spirits so an Annual return of Frost and Snow recovers and repairs the Strength and Spirits of the Earth which had been spent in the preceeding Summers Productions For in this Natural World all things are repair'd by corrupting preserv'd by perishing and reviv'd by dying As the Operation of Cold did gradually gain ground upon the Influence of Heat so by the same methods and degrees Heat recovers its lost ground the Fresh or Thaw beginning first at the Waters and from thence riseth up to the Plains and Vallies and last of all the Tops of the Mountains which are for sometime kept in the possession of Frost and Cold after the lower parts of the Earth be regeled are gained CHAP. XII Of the Sphere of Rarefaction THE Sphere of Rarefaction is a Sphere of Heat wherein the Suns Reflections meet and unite themselves in their own defence against the Upper and Lower Cold. And being placed in a middle between them it riseth or falleth openeth or closeth as it prevails upon them or as they open or close rise or fall This Sphere of Heat by Rarefying of Vapours and Exhalations causeth Wind. That Heat is the cause of Wind is apparent from the Experience of such People who to cause Wind usually set Chaff Seeds or Straw on Fire And when Houses or Towns are accidentally thus set on Fire the Heat of the Flame by Rarefying of the Vapours and Exhalations round about will raise the Wind to so great a height as will make it a matter of great difficulty to quench the Flame CHAP. XIII Of Wind Helms and Arches WInd is the Nitrous part of Vapour and Exhalation Rarified and Dilated by the Sphere of Rarefaction The Winds are either higher or lower as the Sphere of Rarefaction riseth or falleth they are thicker or thinner as it openeth or closeth they are Moist Hot or Dry as they have more or less of Vapour or