Physico-theology

[a] It is not unlikely that the Psalmist might mean, at least have an Eye to, the Works of the Creation in this Text, the Word ‎‏מעשה‏‎ being the same that in Psal. 19. 1. is translated God’s Handy-work, which is manifestly applied to the Works of Creation, and properly signifieth Factum, Opus, Opisicium, from ‎‏עשה‏‎ Fecit, Paravit, Aptavit. And saith Kircher, significat talem affectionem, quâ aliquid existit vel realiter, vel ornatè, velut non sit in pristino statu quo fuit. Concord, p. 2. col. 931.

[b] ‎‏דרש‏‎ Quasivit, perquisivit, sciscitatus est, Buxtor. in verb. Et simul importat curam, & solicitudinem. Conrad. Kirch. ib. p. 1. col. 1174.

[c] Quod si omnes mundi partes ita constitute sunt, ut neque ad usum meliores potuerint esse, neque ad speciem pulchriores; videamus utrùm ea fortuita sint, an eo statu, quo cohærere nullo modo potuerint, nisi sensu moderante divinâque providentia. Si ergo meliora sunt ea quæ Naturâ, quàm illa, quæ Arte perfecta sunt, nec Ars efficit quid sine ratione; ne Natura quidem rationis expers est habenda. Qui igitur convenit, signum, aut tabulam pictam cùm adspexeris, scire adhibitam esse artem; cumque procul cursum navigii videris, non dubitare, quin id ratione atque arte moveatur: aut cùm Solarium, &c. Mundum autem, qui & has ipsas artes, & earum artifices, & cuncta complectatur, consilii & rationis esse expertem putare? Quod si in Scythiam, aut in Britanniam, Sphæram aliquis tulerit hanc, quam nuper familiaris noster effecit Posidonius, cujus singulæ conversiones idem efficiunt in Sole, &c.——quod efficitur in cœlo singulis diebus & noctibus; quis in illâ barbarie dubitet, quin ea Sphæra sit perfecta Ratione? Hi autem dubitant de Mundo, ex quo & oriuntur, & fiunt omnia, casune ipse sit effectus,—an Ratione, an Mente divinâ? Et Archimedem arbitrantur plus valuisse in imitandis Sphæræ conversionibus, quàm Naturam in efficiendis, præsertim cùm multis partibus sint illa perfecta, quam hæc simulata, solertius, &c. Cic. de Nat. l. 2. c. 34, 35.

[d] And a little before he saith of Nature it self, Omnem ergo regit Naturam ipse [Deus] &c.

[e] Mundus codex est Dei, in quo jugiter legere debemus, Bernard. Serm.

Arbitror nullam gentem, neque Hominum societatem, apud quos ulla Deorum est religio, quidquam habere sacris Eleusiniis aut Samothraciis simile: Ea tamen obscurè docent quæ profitentur: Natura verò opera in omnibus animantibus sunt perspicua. Galen. de Us. Part. l. 17. c. 1.

[f] Philosophia est Catechismus ad Fidem. Cyril. 1. contr. Jul.

[a] Mundi pars est Aer, & quidem necessaria: Hic est enim qui cœlum terramque connectit, &c. Senec. Nat. Qu. l. 2. c. 4.

[b] Ipse Aer nobiscum videt, nobiscum audit, nobiscum sonat; nihil enim eorum sine eo fieri potest, &c. Cic. de Nat. Deor. l. 2. c. 33.

[c] As the Air is of absolute Necessity to Animal Life, so it is necessary that it should be of a due Temperament or Consistence; not foul, by reason that suffocateth: not too rare and thin, because that sufficeth not; with Examples of each of which, I shall a little entertain the Reader. In one of Mr. Hawksbee’s Compressing Engines, I closely shut up a Sparrow without forcing any Air in; and in less than an Hour the Bird began to pant, and be concerned; and in less than an Hour and half to be sick, vomit, and more out of Breath; and in two Hours time was nearly expiring.

Another I put in and compressed the Air, but the Engine leaking, I frequently renewed the Compressure; by which means, (although the Bird panted a little after the first Hour,) yet after such frequent Compressures, and Immission of fresh Air, it was very little concerned, and taken out seemingly unhurt after three Hours.

After this I made two other Experiments in compressed Air, with the Weight of two Atmospheres injected, the Engine holding tight and well; the one with the Great Titmouse, the other with a Sparrow. For near an Hour they seemed but little concerned; but after that grew fainter, and in two Hours time sick, and in three Hours time died. Another thing I took notice of, was, that when the Birds were sick and very restless, I fancied they were somewhat relieved for a short space, with the Motion of the Air, caused by their fluttering and shaking their Wings, (a thing worth trying in the Diving-Bell). I shall leave the ingenious Reader to judge what the cause was of both the Birds living longer in compressed, than uncompressed Air; whether a less quantity of Air was not sooner fouled and rendred unfit for Respiration, than a greater.

From these Experiments two Things are manifested; one is, that Air, in some measure compressed, or rather heavy, is necessary to Animal Life: Of which by and by. The other, that fresh Air is also necessary: For pent up Air, when overcharged with the Vapours emitted our of the Animal’s Body, becomes unfit for Respiration. For which Reason, in the Diving-Bell, after some time of stay under Water, they are forced to come up and take in fresh Air, or by some such means recruit it. But the famous Cornelius Drebell contrived not only a Vessel to be rowed under Water, but also a Liquor to be carried in that Vessel, that would supply the want of fresh Air. The Vessel was made for King James I. It carried twelve Rowers, besides the Passengers. It was tried in the River of Thames; and one of the Persons that was in that submarine Navigation was then alive, and told it one, who related the Matter to our famous Founder, the Honourable, and most Ingenious Mr. Boyl. As to the Liquor, Mr. Boyl saith, he discovered by a Doctor of Physick, who married Drebell’s Daughter, that it was used from time to time when the Air in the submarine Boat was clogged by the Breath of the Company, and thereby made unfit for Respiration; at which time, by unstopping a Vessel full of this Liquor, he could speedily restore to the troubled Air such a proportion of vital Parts, as would make it again for a good while fit for Respiration. The Secret of this Liquor Drebell would never disclose to above one Person, who himself assured Mr. Boyl what it was. Vid. Boyl. Exp. Phys. Mech. of the Spring of the Air, Exp. 41. in the Digres. This Story I have related from Mr. Boyl, but at the same time much question whether the Virtues of the Liquor were so effectual as reported.

And as too gross, so too rare an Air is unfit for Respiration. Not to mention the forced Rarefactions made by the Air-Pump, in the following Note; it is found, that even the extraordinary natural Rarefactions, upon the tops of very high Hills, much affect Respiration. An Ecclesiastical Person, who had visited the high Mountains of Armenia, (on which some fancy the Ark rested) told Mr. Boyl, that whilst he was on the upper part of them, he was forced to fetch his Breath oftner than he was wont. And taking notice of it when he came down, the People told him, that it was what happen’d to them when they were so high above the Plane, and that it was a common Observation among them. The like Observation the same Ecclesiastick made upon the top of a Mountain in the Cevennes. So a learned Traveller, and curious Person, on one of the highest Ridges of the Pyrenees, call’d Pic de Midi, found the Air not so fit for Respiration, as the common Air, but he and his Company were fain to breath shorter and oftner than in the lower Air. Vid. Phil. Transact. No. 63, or Lowthorp’s Abridg. Vol. 2. p. 226.

Such another Relation the learned Joseph Acosta gives of himself and his Company, that, when they passed the high Mountains of Peru, which they call Periacaca, (to which he saith, the Alps themselves seemed to them but as ordinary Houses, in regard of high Towers,) He and his Companions were surprized with such extreme Pangs of Straining and Vomiting, (not without casting up of Blood too,) and with so violent a Distemper, that he concludes he should undoubtedly have died; but that this lasted not above three or four Hours, before they came into a more convenient and natural Temperature of the Air. All which he concludes proceeded from the too great Subtilty and Delicacy of the Air, which is not proportionable to humane Respiration, which requires a more gross and temperate Air, Vid. Boyl, ubi supra.

Thus it appears, that an Air too Subtile, Rare and Light, is unfit for Respiration: But the Cause is not the Subtilty or too great Delicacy, as Mr. Boyl thinks, but the too great Lightness thereof, which renders it unable to be a Counterbalance, or an Antagonist to the Heart, and all the Muscles ministring to Respiration, and the Diastole of the Heart. Of which see Book 4. Chap. 7. Note 1.

And as our Inability to live in too rare and light an Air may discourage those vain Attempts of Flying and Whimsies of passing to the Moon, &c. so our being able to bear an heavier State of the Air is an excellent Provision for Mens Occasions in Mines, and other great Depths of the Earth; and those other greater Pressures made upon the Air, in the Diving-Bell, when we descend into great Depths of the Waters.

[d] That the Inhabitants of the Air, (Birds and Insects,) need the Air as well as Man and other Animals, is manifest from their speedy dying in too feculent, or too much rarefied Air; of which see the preceding and following Note (f). But yet Birds and Insects (some Birds at least) can live in a rarer Air than Man. Thus Eagles, Kites, Herons, and divers other Birds, that delight in high Flights, are not affected with the Rarity of the Medium, as those Persons were in the preceding Note. So Insects bear the Air-Pump long, as in the following Note (f).

[e] Creatures inhabiting the Waters need the Air, as well as other Animals, yea, and fresh Air too. The Hydrocanthari of all Sorts, the Nymphæ of Gnats, and many other Water-Insects, have a singular Faculty, and an admirable Apparatus, to raise their back Parts to the top of the Waters, and take in fresh Air. It is pretty to see, for Instance, the Hydrocanthari come and thrust their Tails out of the Water, and take in a Bubble of Air, at the tip of their Vaginæ and Tails, and then nimbly carry it down with them into the Waters; and, when that is spent, or fouled, to ascend again and recruit it.

So Fishes also are well known to use Respiration, by passing the Water through their Mouths and Gills. But Carps will live out of the Water, only in the Air; as is manifest by the Experiment of their way of Fatting them in Holland, and which hath been practised herein England, viz. they hang them up in a Cellar, or some cool Place, in wet Moss in a small Net, with their Heads out, and feed them with white Bread soaked in Milk for many Days. This was told me by a Person very curious, and of great Honour and Eminence, whose Word (if I had leave to name him) no Body would question: And it being an Instance of the Respiration of Fishes very singular, and somewhat out of the way, I have for the Reader’s Diversion taken notice of it.

[f] By Experiments I made my self in the Air Pump, in September and October, 1704; I observed that Animals whose Hearts have two Ventricles, and no Foramen Ovale, as Birds, Dogs, Cats, Rats, Mice, &c. die in less than half a Minute counting from the very first Exsuction; especially in a small Receiver.

A Mole (which I suspected might have born more than other Quadrupeds) died in one Minute (without Recovery) in a large Receiver; and doubtless would hardly have survived half a Minute in a small Receiver. A Bat (although wounded) sustained the Pump two Minutes, and revived upon the re-admission of the Air. After that, he remained four Minutes and a half and revived. Lastly, After he had been five Minutes, he continued gasping for a time, and after twenty Minutes I re-admitted the Air, but the Bat never revived.

As for Insects: Wasps, Bats, Hornets, Grashoppers, and Lady-Cows seemed dead in appearance in two Minutes, but revived in the open Air in two or three Hours time, notwithstanding they had been in Vacuo twenty four Hours.

The Ear-wig, the great Staphylinus, the great black lowsy Beetle, and some other Insects would seem unconcerned at the Vacuum a good while, and lie as dead; but revive in the Air, although some had lain sixteen Hours in the exhausted Receiver.

Snails bear the Air Pump prodigiously, especially those in Shells; two of which lay above twenty four Hours, and seemed not much affected. The same Snails I left in twenty eight Hours more after a second Exhaustion, and found one of them quite dead, but the other revived.

Frogs and Toads bear the Pump long, especially the former. A large Toad, found in the House, died irrecoverably in less than six Hours. Another Toad and Frog I put in together, and the Toad was seemingly dead in two Hours, but the Frog just alive. After they had remained there eleven Hours, and seemingly dead, the Frog recovered in the open Air, only weak, but the Toad was quite dead. The same Frog being put in again for twenty seven Hours, then quite died.

The Animalcules in Pepper-Water remained in Vacuo twenty four Hours. And after they had been exposed a Day or two to the open Air, I found some of them dead, some alive.

[g] That the Air is the principal Cause of the Vegetation of Plants, Borelli proves in his excellent Book De Mot. Animal. Vol. 2. Prop. 181. And in the next Proposition, he assureth, In Plantis quoque peragi Aeris respirationem quandam imperfectam, à quâ earum vita pendet, & conservatur. But of this more when I come to survey Vegetables.

Some Lettice-Seed being sown upon some Earth in the open Air, and some of the same Seed at the same time upon other Earth in a Glass-Receiver of the Pneumatick Engine, afterwards exhausted of Air: The Seed exposed to the Air was grown up an Inch and half high within Eight Days; but that in the exhausted Receiver not at all. And Air being again admitted into the same emptied Receiver, to see whether any of the Seed would then come up, it was found, that in the Space of one Week it was grown up to the Height of two or three Inches. Vid. Phil. Trans. No. 23. Lowth. Abridg. Vol. 2. p. 206.

[h] In volucribus pulmones perforati aerem inspiratum in totam ventris cavitatem admittunt. Hujus ratio, ut propter corporis truncum Aere repletum & quasi extensum, ipsa magis volatilia evadant, faciliusque ab aere externo, proper intimi penum, sustententur. Equidem pisces, quò leviùs in aquis natent, in Abdomine vesicas Aere inflatas gestant: pariter & volucres, propter corporis truncum Aere impletum & quasi inflatum, nudo Aeri incumbentes, minus gravantur, proindeque levius & expeditiùs volant. Willis de Anim. Brut. p. 1. c. 3.

[i] Fishes by reason of the Bladder of Air within them, can sustain, or keep themselves in any Depth of Water: For the Air in that Bladder being more or less compressed, according to the Depth the Fish swims at, takes up more or less Space; and consequently, the Body of the Fish, part of whose Bulk this Bladder is, is greater or less according to the several Depths, and yet retains the same Weight. Now the Rule de Insidentibus humido is, that a Body, that is heavier than so much Water, as is equal in Quantity to the Bulk of it, will sink, a Body that is lighter will swim; a Body of equal Weight will rest in any part of the Water. By this Rule, if the Fish, in the middle Region of the Water, be of equal Weight to the Water, that is commensurate to the Bulk of it, the Fish will rest there, without any Tendency upwards or downwards: And if the Fish be deeper in the Water, the Bulk of the Fish becoming less by the Compression of the Bladder, and yet retaining the same Weight, it will sink, and rest at the Bottom. And on the other side, if the Fish be higher than the middle Region, the Air dilating it self, and the Bulk of the Fish consequently increasing, but not the Weight, the Fish will rise upwards and rest at the top of the Water. Perhaps the Fish by some Action can emit Air out of its Bladder——, and, when not enough, take in Air,——and then it will not be wondred, that there should be always a fit Proportion of Air in all Fishes to serve their Use, &c. Then follows a Method of Mr. Boyl to experiment the Truth of this. After which, in Mr. Lowthorp’s Abridgment, follow Mr. Ray’s Observations. I think that——hath hit upon the true Use of the Swimming-Bladders in Fishes. For, 1. It hath been observed, that if the Swimming-Bladder of any Fish be pricked or broken, such a Fish sinks presently to the Bottom, and can neither support or raise it self up in the Water. 2. Flat Fishes, as Soles, Plaise, &c. which lie always grovelling at the Bottom, have no Swimming-Bladders that ever I could find. 3. In most Fishes there is a manifest Chanel leading from the Gullet——to the said Bladder, which without doubt serves for the conveying Air thereunto.——In the Coat of this Bladder is a musculous Power to contract it when the Fish lifts. See more very curious Observations relating to this Matter, of the late great Mr. Ray, as also of the curious anonymous Gentleman in the ingenious Mr. Lowthorp’s Abridgment, before cited, p. 845. from Phil. Trans. N. 114, 115.

[k] Among the Engines in which the Air is useful, Pumps may be accounted not contemptible ones, and divers other Hydraulical Engines, which need not to be particularly insisted on. In these the Water was imagined to rise by the power of Suction, to avoid a Vacuum, and such unintelligible Stuff; but the justly famous Mr. Boyl was the first that solved these Phænomena by the Weight of the Atmosphere. His ingenious and curious Observations and Experiments relating hereto, may be seen in his little Tract, Of the Cause of Attraction by Suction, and divers others of his Tracts.

[l] It would be endless to specify the Uses of the Air in Nature’s Operations: I shall therefore, for a Sample only, name its great Use to the World in conserving animated Bodies, whether endowed with animal or vegetative Life, and its contrary Quality of dissolving other Bodies; by which means many Bodies that would prove Nuisances to the World, are put out of the Way, by being reduced into their first Principles, (as we say), and so embodied with the Earth again. Of its Faculty as a Menstruum, or its Power to dissolve Bodies; I may instance in Crystal Glasses, which, with long keeping, especially if not used, will in Time be reduced to a Powder, as I have seen. So divers Minerals, Earths, Stones, Fossil-Shells, Wood, &c. which from Noah’s Flood, at least for many Ages, have lain under Ground, so secure from Corruption, that, on the contrary, they have been thereby made much the stronger, have in the open Air soon mouldered away. Of which last, Mr. Boyl gives an Instance (from the Dissertation de admirandis Hungar. Aquis) of a great Oak, like a huge Beam, dug out of a Salt Mine in Transylvania, so hard, that it would not easily be wrought upon by Iron Tools, yet, being exposed to the Air out of the Mine, it became so rotten that in four Days it was easy to be broken, and crumbled between one’s Fingers. Boyl’s Suspic. about some hid. Qual. in the Air, p. 28. So the Trees turned out of the Earth by the Breaches at West-Thurrock and Dagenham, near me, although probably no other than Alder, and interred many Ages ago in a rotten oazy Mold, were so exceedingly tough, hard, and found at first, that I could make but little Impressions on them with the Strokes of an Ax; but being exposed to the Air and Water, soon became so rotten as to be crumbled between the Fingers. See my Observations in Philos. Transact. Nᵒ. 335.

[m] By reflecting the Light of the heavenly Bodies to us, I mean that Whiteness or Lightness which is in the Air in the Day-time, caused by the Rays of Light striking upon the Particles of the Atmosphere, as well as upon the Clouds above, and the other Objects beneath upon the Earth. To the same Cause also we owe the Twilight, viz. to the Sun-beams touching the uppermost Particles of our Atmosphere, which they do when the Sun is about eighteen Degrees beneath the Horizon. And as the Beams reach more and more of the airy Particles, so Darkness goes off, and Day light comes on and encreaseth. For an Exemplification of this, the Experiment may serve of transmitting a few Rays of the Sun through a small Hole into a dark Room: By which means the Rays which meet with Dust, and other Particles flying in the Air, are render’d visible; or (which amounts to the same) those swimming small Bodies are rendered visible, by their reflecting the Light of the Sun-beams to the Eye, which, without such Reflection, would it self be invisible.

The Azure Colour of the Sky Sir Isaac Newton attributes to Vapours beginning to condense, and that are not able to reflect the other Colours. V. Optic. l. 2. Par. 3. Prop. 7.

[n] By the Refractive Power of the Air, the Sun, and the other heavenly Bodies seem higher than really they are, especially near the Horizon. What the Refractions amount unto, what Variations they have, and what Alterations in time they cause, may be briefly seen in a little Book called, The Artificial Clock-Maker, Chap. 11.

Although this inflective Quality of the Air be a great Incumbrance and Confusion of Astronomical Observations;——yet it is not without some considerable Benefit to Navigation; and indeed in some Cases, the Benefit thereby obtained is much greater than would be the Benefit of having the Ray proceed in an exact straight Line. [Then he mentions the Benefit hereof to the Polar Parts of the World.] But this by the by (saith he.) The great Advantage I consider therein, is the first Discovery of Land upon the Sea; for by means hereof, the tops of Hills and Lands are raised up into the Air, so as to be discoverable several Leagues farther off on the Sea than they would be, were there no such Refraction, which is of great Benefit to Navigation for steering their Course in the Night, when they approach near Land; and likewise for directing them in the Day-time, much more certainly than the most exact Celestial Observations could do by the Help of an uninflected Ray, especially in such Places as they have no Soundings. [Then he proposes a Method to find by these means the Distance of Objects at Sea.] V. Dr. Hook’s Post. Works. Lect. of Navig. p. 466.

[o] Cum Belgæ in novâ Zemblâ hybernarent, Sol illis apparuit 16 diebus citiùs, quàm revera in Horizonte existeret, hoc est, cùm adhuc infra Horizontem depressus esset quatuor circiter gradibus, & quidem aere sereno. Varen. Geog. c. 19. Prop. 22.

[These Hollanders] found, that the Night in that place shortened no less than a whole Month; which must needs be a very great Comfort to all such Places as live very far towards the North and South Poles, where length of Night, and want of seeing the Sun, cannot chuse but be very tedious and irksome. Hook Ibid.

[By means of the Refractions] we found the Sun to rise twenty Minutes before it should; and in the Evening to remain above the Horizon twenty Minutes (or thereabouts) longer than it should. Captain James’s Journ. in Boyl of Cold. Tit. 18. p. 190.

[p] Aer—in Nubes cogitur: humoremque colligens terram auget imbribus: tum effluens huc & illuc, ventos efficit. Idem annuas frigorum & calorum facit varietates: idemque & volatus Alitum sustinet, & spiritu ductus alit & sustentas animantes. Cic. de Nat. Deor. l. 2. c. 39.

[a] Ventus est aer fluens, is Seneca’s Definition, Na. Qu. l. 5. And as Wind is a Current of the Air, so that which excites or alters its Currents may be justly said to be the Cause of the Winds. An Æquipoise of the Atmosphere produceth a Calm; but if that Æquipoise be more or less taken off, a Stream of Air, or Wind, is thereby accordingly produced either stronger or weaker, swifter or slower. And divers things there are that may make such Alterations in the Æquipoise or Balance of the Atmosphere, viz. Eruptions of Vapours from Sea or Land; Rarefactions and Condensations in one Place more than another; the falling of Rain, pressure of the Clouds, &c. Pliny, l. 2. c. 45. tells us of a certain Cavern in Dalmatia, called Senta, in quem, saith he, dejecto levi pondere, quamvis tranquillo die, turbini similis emicat procella. But as to Caves it is observed, that they often emit Winds more or less. Dr. Connor, taking notice of this matter, specifies these, In regno Neapolitano ex immani Cumanæ Sibyllæ antro tenuem ventum effluentem percepi. The like he observed at the Caves at Baiæ, and in some of the Mines of Germany, and in the large Salt-Mines of Cracow in Poland. Ubi, saith he, opifices, & ipse fodinæ dominus Andreas Morstin, Nob. Polonus, mihi asseruerunt, quòd tanta aliquando Ventorum tempestas ex ambagiosis hujus fodinæ recessibus surgere solebat, quod laborantes fossores humi prosternebat, nec non portas & domiciliæ (quæ sibi in hâc fodinâ artifices exstruunt) penitùs evertebat. Bern. Connor. Dissert. Med. Phys. p. 33. Artic. 3.

And as great Caves, so great Lakes sometimes send forth Winds. So Gassendus saith the Lacus Legnius doth, E quo dum exoritur fumus, nubes haud dubiê creanda est, quæ sit brevi in tempestatem sævissimam exoneranda. Gassend. Vit. Peiresk. l. 5. P. 417.

But the most universal and constant Alterations of the Balance of the Atmosphere are from Heat and Cold. This is manifest in the General Trade-Winds, blowing all the Year between the Tropicks from East to West: if the Cause thereof be (as some ingenious Men imagine) the Sun’s daily Progress round that part of the Globe, and by his Heat rarefying one part of the Air, whilst the cooler and heavier Air behind presseth after. So the Sea and Land Breezes in Note (d). And so in our Climate, the Northerly and Southerly Winds (commonly esteemed the Causes of cold and warm Weather), are really the Effects of the Cold or Warmth of the Atmosphere: Of which I have had so many Confirmations, that I have no doubt of it. As for Instance, it is not uncommon to see a warm Southerly Wind, suddenly changed to the North, by the fall of Snow or Hail; to see the Wind in a frosty, cold Morning North, and when the Sun hath well warmed the Earth and Air, you may observe it to wheel about towards the Southerly Quarters; and again to turn Northerly or Easterly in the cold Evening. It is from hence also, that in Thunder-Showers the Wind and Clouds are oftentimes contrary to one another, (especially if Hail falls) the sultry Weather below directing the Wind one way; and the Cold above the Clouds another way. I took Notice upon March the 10ᵗʰ 1710/1, (and divers such like Instances I have had before and since) that the Morning was warm, and what Wind stirred was West-South-West, but the Clouds were thick and black (as generally they are when Snow ensues): A little before Noon the Wind veered about to North by West, and sometimes to other Points, the Clouds at the same time flying some North by West, some South-West: About one of the Clock it rained apace, the Clouds flying sometimes North-East, then North, and at last both Wind and Clouds settled North by West; At which time Sleet fell plentifully, and it grew very cold. From all which I observe, 1. That although our Region below was warm, the Region of the Clouds was cold, as the black, snowy Clouds shewed. 2. That the struggle between the warmth of ours, and the cold of the cloudy Region, stopped the airy Currents of both Regions. 3. That the falling of the Snow through our warmer Air melted into Rain at first; but that it became Sleet after the superiour Cold had conquered the inferiour Warmth. 4. That, as that Cold prevailed by Degrees, so by Degrees it wheeled about both the Winds and Clouds from the Northwards towards the South.

Hippocrates, l. 2. De Vict. Orat. Omnes Ventos vel à nive, glacie, vehementi gelu, fluminibus, &c. spirare necesse judicat, Bartholin. de usu Nivis, c. 1.

[b] It is well observed in my Lord Howards Voyage to Constantinople, that at Vienna they have frequent Winds, which if they cease long in Summer, the Plague often ensues: So that it is now grown into a Proverb, that if Austria be not windy, it is subject to Contagion. Bohun of Wind, p. 213.

From some such Commotions of the Air I imagine it is, that at Grand Cairo the Plague immediately ceases, as soon as the Nile begins to overflow; although Mr. Boyl attributes it to nitrous Corpuscles. Determ. Nat. of Effluv. Chap. 4.

Nulla enim propemodum regio est, quæ non habeat aliquem flatum ex se nascentem, & circa se cadentem.

Inter cætera itaq; Providentiæ opera, hoc quoq; aliquis, ut dignum admiratione suspexerit. Non enim ex unâ causâ Ventos aut invenit, aut per diversa disposuit: sed primum ut aera non sinerent pigrescere, sed assiduâ vexatione utilem redderens, vitaiemq; tracturis. Sen. Nat. Quæst. l. 5. c. 17, 18.

All this is more evident, from the Cause assigned to malignant epidemical Diseases, particularly the Plague, by my ingenious, learned Friend, Dr. Mead; and that is, an hot and moist Temperament of the Air, which is observed by Hippocrates, Galen, and the general Histories of Epidemical Diseases, to attend those Distempers. Vid. Mead of Poisons, Essay 5. p. 161. But indeed, whether the Cause be this, or poisonous, malignant Exhalations or Animalcules, as others think, the Winds are however very salutiferous in such Cases, in cooling the Air, and dispersing and driving away the moist or pestiferous Vapours.

[c] July 8. 1707, (called for some time after the Hot Tuesday,) was so excessively hot and suffocating, by reason there was no Wind stirring, that divers Persons died, or were in great Danger of Death, in their Harvest-Work. Particularly one who had formerly been my Servant, a healthy, lusty, young Man, was killed by the Heat: And several Horses on the Road dropped down and died the same Day.

In the foregoing Notes, having Notice of some Things relating to Heat, although it be somewhat out of the way, I hope the Reader will excuse me, if I entertain him with some Observations I made about the Heat of the Air under the Line, compared with the Heat of our Bodies. J. Patrick, who, as he is very accurate in making Barometrical and Thermometrical Instruments, had the Curiosity for the nicer adjusting his Thermometers, to send two abroad under the Care of two very sensible, ingenious Men; one to the Northern Lat. of 81; the other to the Parts under the Æquinoctial: In these two different Climates, the Places were marked where the Spirits stood at the severest Cold and greatest Heat. And according to these Observations he graduates his Thermometers. With his Standard I compared my Standard Thermometer, from all the Degrees of Cold, I could make with Sal Armoniack, &c. to the greatest Degrees of Heat our Thermometers would reach to. And with the same Thermometer (of mine) I experimented the greatest Heat of my Body, in July 1709. First in an hot Day without Exercise, by patting the Ball of my Thermometer under my Armpits, and other hottest Parts of my Body. By which means the Spirits were raised 284 Tenths of an Inch above the Ball. After that, in a much hotter Day, and indeed nearly as hot as any Day with us, and after I had heated my self with strong Exercise too, as much as I could well bear, I again tried the same Experiment, but could not get the Spirits above 288 Tenths; which I thought an inconsiderable Difference, for so seemingly a very different Heat of my Body. But from some Experiments I have made (altho’ I have unfortunately forgotten them) in very cold Weather, I imagine the Heat of an healthy Body to be always much the same in the warmest Parts thereof, both in Summer and Winter. Now between those very Degrees of 284 and 288, the Point of the equatorial Heat falleth. From which Observation it appears, that there is pretty nearly an equal Contemperament of the Warmth of our Bodies, to that of the hottest Part of the Atmosphere inhabited by us.

If the Proportion of the Degrees of Heat be desired from the Freezing-Point, to the Winter, Spring, and Summer Air, the Heat of Man’s Body, of heated Water, melted Metals, and so to actual Fire; an Account may be met with of it, by my most ingenious Friend, the great Sir Isaac Newton, in Phil. Transact. Nᵒ. 270.

[d] In hoc Providentia ac Dispositor ille Mundi Deus, aera ventis exercendum dedit,——non ut nos classes partem freti occupaturas compleremus milite armato, &c. Dedit ille ventos ad custodiendam cœli terrarumq; temperiem, ad evocandas supprimendásq; aquas, ad alendos satorum atq; arborum fructus; quos ad maturitatem cum aliis causis adducit ipsa jactatio, attrahens cibum in summa, & ne torpeat, promovens. Dedit ventos ad ulteriora noscenda: fuisset enim imperitum animal, & fine magnâ experientiâ rerum Homo, si circumscriberetur natalis soli fine. Dedit ventos ut commoda cujusq; regionis fierent communia; non ut legiones equitemq; gestarent, nec ut perniciosa gentibus arma transveherent. Seneca, ibid.

[e] Sea-Breezes commonly rise in the Morning about nine a Clock.——They first approach the Shore gently, as if they were afraid to come near it.——It comes in a fine, small, black Curle upon the Water, whereas all the Sea between it and the Shore (not yet reached by it) is as smooth and even as Glass in Comparison. In half an Hours time after it has reached the Shore, it fans pretty briskly, and so encreaseth gradually till twelve a Clock; then it is commonly strongest, and lasts so till two or three, a very brisk Gale.——After three it begins to die away again, and gradually withdraws its force till all is spent; and about five a Clock——it is lulled asleep, and comes no more till next morning.

And as the Sea Breezes do blow in the Day, and rest in the Night; so on the contrary [The Land-Breezes] blow in the Night, and rest in the Day, alternately succeeding each other.——They spring up between six and twelve at Night, and last till six, eight, or ten in the Morning. Dampier’s Disc. of Winds, ch. 4.

[f] One Thing more I believe some of my Friends will expect from me is, that I shew the Result of comparing my own Observations of the Winds, with others they know I have from Ireland, Switzerland, Italy, France, New-England, and some of our Parts of England. But the Observations being some of them but of one Year, and most of the rest of but a few Years, I have not been able to determine any great Matters. The chief of what I have observed is, that the Winds in all these Places seldom agree, but when they most certainly do so, it is commonly when the Winds are strong, and of long continuance in the same Quarter: And more I think in the Northerly and Easterly, than other Points. Also a strong Wind in one Place, is oftentimes a weak one in another Place, or moderate, according as Places have been nearer or farther distant. Vid. Phil. Trans. Nᵒ. 297, and 321. But to give a good and tolerable Account of this or any other of the Weather, it is necessary to have good Histories thereof from all Parts; which, as yet we have but few of, and they imperfect, for want of longer and sufficient Observations.

[a] Clouds and Rain are made of Vapours raised from Water, or Moisture only. So that I utterly exclude the Notion of Dry, Terrene Exhalations, or Fumes, talked much of by most Philosophers; Fumes being really no other than the humid Parts of Bodies respectively Dry.

These Vapours are demonstratively no other than small Bubbles, or Vesiculæ detached from the Waters by the Power of the Solar, or Subterraneous Heat, or both. Of which see Book 2. Chap. 5. Note (b). And being lighter than the Atmosphere, are buoyed up thereby, until they become of an equal Weight therewith, in some of its Regions aloft in the Air, or nearer the Earth; in which those Vapours are formed into Clouds, Rain, Snow, Hail, Lightning, Dew, Mists, and other Meteors.

In this Formation of Meteors the grand Agent is Cold, which commonly, if not always, occupies the superior Regions of the Air; as is manifest from those Mountains which exalt their lofty Tops into the upper and middle Regions, and are always covered with Snow and Ice.

This Cold, if it approaches near the Earth, presently precipitates the Vapours, either in Dews; or if the Vapours more copiously ascend, and soon meet the Cold, they are then condensed into Misting, or else into Showers of small Rain, falling in numerous, thick, small Drops: But if those Vapours are not only copious, but also as heavy as our lower Air it self, (by means their Bladders are thick and fuller of Water,) in this Case they become visible, swim but a little Height above the Earth, and make what we call a Mist or Fog. But if they are a Degree lighter, so as to mount higher, but not any great Height, as also meet not with Cold enough to condense them, nor Wind to dissipate them, they then form an heavy, thick, dark Sky, lasting oftentimes for several Weeks without either Sun or Rain. And in this Case, I have scarce ever known it to Rain, till it hath been first Fair, and then Foul. And Mr. Clarke, (an ingenious Clergyman of Norfolk, who in his Life-time, long before me, took notice of it, and kept a Register of the Weather for thirty Years, which his learned Grandson, Dr. Samuel Clarke put into my Hands, he, I say) saith, he scarce ever observed the Rule to fail in all that Time; only he adds, If the Wind be in some of the easterly Points. But I have observed the same to happen, be the Wind where it will. And from what hath been said, the Case is easily accounted for, viz. whilst the Vapours remain in the same State, the Weather doth so too. And such Weather is generally attended with moderate Warmth, and with little or no Wind to disturb the Vapours, and an heavy Atmosphere to support them, the Barometer being commonly high then. But when the Cold approacheth, and by condensing drives the Vapours into Clouds or Drops, then is way made for the Sun-beams, till the same Vapours, being by further Condensation formed into Rain, fall down in Drops.

The Cold’s approaching the Vapours, and consequently the Alteration of such dark Weather I have beforehand perceived, by some few small Drops of Rain, Hail, or Snow, now and then falling, before any Alteration hath been in the Weather; which I take to be from the Cold meeting some of the straggling Vapours, or the uppermost of them, and condensing them into Drops, before it arrives unto, and exerts it self upon the main Body of Vapours below.

I have more largely than ordinary insisted upon this part of the Weather, partly, as being somewhat out of the way; but chiefly, because it gives Light to many other Phænomena of the Weather. Particularly we may hence discover the Original of Clouds, Rain, Hail and Snow; that they are Vapours carried aloft by the Gravity of the Air, which meeting together so as to make a Fog above, they thereby form a Cloud. If the Cold condenseth them into Drops, they then fall in Rain, if the Cold be not intense enough to freeze them: But if the Cold freezeth them in the Clouds, or in their Fall through the Air, they then become Hail or Snow.

As to Lightning, and other enkindled Vapours, I need say little in this Place, and shall therefore only observe, that they owe also their Rise to Vapours; but such Vapours as are detached from mineral Juices, or at least that are mingled with them, and are fired by Fermentation.

Another Phænomenon resolvable from what hath been said is, why a cold, is always a wet Summer, viz. because the Vapours rising plentifully then, are by the Cold soon collected into Rain. A remarkable Instance of this we had in the Summer of 1708, part of which, especially about the Solstice, was much colder than usually. On June 12, it was so cold, that my Thermometer was near the Point of hoar Frost, and in some Places I heard there was an hoar Frost; and during all the cool Weather of that Month, we had frequent and large Rains, so that the whole Month’s Rain amounted to above two Inches Depth, which is a large Quantity for Upminster, even in the wettest Months. And not only with us at Upminster, but in other Places, particularly at Zurich in Switzerland, they seem to have had as unseasonable Cold and Wet as we. Fuit hic mensis——præter modum humidus, & magno quidem vegetabilibus hominibusque damno. Multum computruit Fœnum, &c. complains the industrious and learned Dr. J. J. Scheuchzer: Of which, and other Particulars, I have given a larger Account in Phil. Trans. Nᵒ. 321.

In which Transaction I have observed farther, that about the Equinoxes we (at Upminster at least) have oftentimes more Rain than at other Seasons. The Reason of which is manifest from what hath been said, viz. in Spring, when the Earth and Waters are loosed from the brumal Constipations, the Vapours arise in great Plenty: And the like they do in Autumn, when the Summer Heats, that both dissipated them, and warmed the superior Regions, are abated; and then the Cold of the superior Regions meeting them, condenseth them into Showers, more plentifully than at other Seasons, when either the Vapours are fewer, or the Cold that is to condense them is less.

The manner how Vapours are precipitated by the Cold, or reduced into Drops, I conceive to be thus: Vapours being, as I said, no other than inflated Vesiculæ of Water; when they meet with a colder Air than what is contained in them, the contained Air is reduced into a less Space, and the watery Shell or Case rendered thicker by that means, so as to become heavier than the Air, by which they are buoyed up, and consequently must needs fall down. Also many of those thickned Vesiculæ run into one, and so form Drops, greater or smaller, according to the Quantity of Vapours collected together.

As to the Rain of different Places, I have in some of our Transactions assigned the Quantities; particularly in the last cited Transaction, I have assigned these, viz. the Depth of the Rain one Year with another, in English Measure, if it was to stagnate on the Earth, would amount unto, at Townely in Lancashire, 42½ Inches; at Upminster in Essex 19¼ Inches; at Zurich in Switzerland 32¼ Inches; at Pisa in Italy 43¼ Inches; at Paris in France 19 Inches; and at Lisle in Flanders 24 Inches.

It would be endless to reckon up the bloody and other prodigious Rains taken notice of by Historians, and other Authors, as præternatural and ominous Accidents; but, if strictly pried into, will be found owing to natural Causes: Of which, for the Reader’s Satisfaction, I will give an Instance or two. A bloody Rain was imagined to have fallen in France, which put the Country People into so great a Fright, that they left their Work in the Fields, and in great haste flew to the Neighbouring Houses. Peirise (then in the Neighbourhood) strictly enquiring into the Cause, found it to be only red Drops coming from a sort of Butterfly that flew about in great Numbers at that Time, as he concluded from seeing such red Drops come from them; and because these Drops were laid, Non supra ædificia, non in devexis lapidum superficiebus, uti debuerat contingere, si è cœlo sanguine pluisset; sed in subcavis potius & in foraminibus.——Accessit, quòd parietes iis tingebantur, non qui in mediis oppidis, sed qui agrorum vicini erant, neque secundum partes elatiores, sed ad mediocrem solùm altitudinem, quantam volitare Papiliones solent. Gassend in vit. Peiresk. L. 2. p. 156.

So Dr. Merret saith also, Pluvia Sanguinis quàm certissimè constat esse tantùm Insectorum excrementa: Pluvia Tritici quàm nihil aliud esse quàm Hederæ bacciferæ grana à Sturnis devorata excretaque comparanti liquidissimè patet. Pinax rerum, &c. p. 220.

The curious Worm tells of the raining of Brimstone, An. 1646. Maii 16. Hic Hafniæ cùm ingenti pluviâ tota urbs, omnesque ita inundarentur plateæ, ut gressus hominum impediret, Sulphureoque odore aërem inficeret, dilapsis aliquantulum aquis, quibusdam in locis colligere licuit Sulphureum pulverem, cujus portionem servo, colore, odore, & aliis verum Sulphur ferentem. Mus. Worm. L. 1. c. 11. Sect. 1.

Together with the Rain we might take notice of other Meteors, particularly Snow; which although an irksome Guest, yet hath its great Uses, if all be true that the famous T. Bartholin saith of it, who wrote a Book de Nivis usu Medico. In which he shews of what great Use Snow is in fructifying the Earth, preserving from the Plague, curing Fevers, Colicks, Head-Aches, Tooth-Aches, Sore Eyes, Pleurisies, (for which Use he saith his Country-Women of Denmark keep Snow-Water gathered in March), also in prolonging Life, (of which he instanceth in the Alpine Inhabitants, that live to a great Age,) and preserving dead Bodies; Instances of which he gives in Persons buried under the Snow in passing the Alps, which are found uncorrupted in the Summer, when the Snow is melted; which sad Spectacle he himself was an Eye-Witness of. And at Spitzberg in Greenland, dead Bodies remain entire and uncorrupted for thirty Years. And lastly, concerning such as are so preserv’d when slain, he saith they remain in the same Posture and Figure: Of which he gives this odd Example, Visum id extra urbem nostram [Hafniam] quum, 11 Feb. 1659. oppugnantes hostes repellerentur, magnâque strage occumberent; alii enim rigidi iratum vultum ostendebant, alii oculos elatos, alii ore diducto ringentes, alii brachiis extensis Gladium minari, alii alio situ prostrati jacebant. Barthol. de usu Niv. c. 12.

But although Snow be attended with the Effects here named, and others specified by the learned Bartholin; yet this is not to be attributed to any peculiar Virtue in the Snow, but some other Cause. Thus when it is said to fructify the Earth, it doth so by guarding the Corn or other Vegetables against the intenser cold of the Air, especially the cold piercing Winds; which the Husbandmen observe to be the most injurious to their Corn of all Weathers. So for Conserving dead Bodies, it doth it by constipating such Bodies, and preventing all such Fermentations or internal Conflicts of their Particles, as would produce Corruption.

Such an Example as the preceding is said to have happened some Years ago at Paris, in digging in a Cellar for supposed hidden Treasure; in which, after digging some Hours, the Maid going to call her Master, found them all in their digging Postures, but dead. This being noised abroad, brought in not only the People, but Magistrates also, who found them accordingly; Ille qui ligone terram effoderat, & socius qui palâ effossam terram removerat, ambo pedibus stabant, quasi sua quisque operâ affixus incubuisset; uxor unius quasi ab opere defessa in scamno, solicito quodam vultu, sedebat, inclinato in palmam manûs genibus innitentis capite; puerulus laxatis braccis in margine excavatæ foveæ defixis in terram oculis alvum exonerabat; omnes in naturali situ, carneæ tanquam statuæ rigidi, apertis oculis & vultu vitam quasi respirante, exanimes stabant. Dr. Bern. Connor, Dissert. Med. Phys. p. 15.

The Doctor attributes all this to Cold; but I scarce think there could be Cold enough to do all this at Paris, and in a Cellar too. Bur his following Stories are not improbable, of Men and Cattle killed with Cold, that remained in the very same Posture in which they died; of which he gives, from a Spanish Captain, this Instance, that happened two Years before, of a Soldier who unfortunately straggled from his Company that were foraging, and was killed with the Cold, but was thought to have fallen into the Enemies Hands. But soon after their return to their Quarters, they saw their Comrade returning, sitting on Horseback, and coming to congratulate him, found him dead, and that he had been brought thither in the same Posture on Horseback, notwithstanding the jolting of the Horse. Ibid. p. 18.

[b] Of this Opinion was my late most ingenious and learned Friend, Mr. Ray, whose Reasons see in his Physico-Theolog. Discourses, Disc. 2. ch. 2. p. 89, &c. So also my no less learned and ingenious Friends, Dr. Halley, and the late Dr. Hook, many of the French Vertuoso’s also, and divers other very considerable Men before them, too many to be specified here.

[c] An Polycletum quidem admirabimur propter partium Statuæ—convenientiam ac proportionem? Naturam autem non modò non laudabimus, sed omni etiam arte privabimus, quæ partium proportionem non solùm extrinsecus more Statuariorum, sed in profundo etiam servavit? Nonne & Polycletus ipse Naturæ est imitator, in quibus saltem eam potuit imitari? Potuit autem in solis externis partibus in quibus artem consideravit. With much more to the like Purpose, Galen. de Us. Part. l. 17. c. 1.

[a] It is not worth while to enumerate the Opinions of the Aristotelians, Cartesians, and others, about the Nature of Light, Aristotle making it a Quality; Cartes a Pulsion, or Motion of the Globules of the second Element, Vid. Cartes Princip. p. 3. §. 55, &c. But with the Moderns, I take Light to consist of material Particles, propagated from the Sun, and other luminous Bodies, not instantaneously, but in time, according to the Notes following in this Chapter. But not to insist upon other Arguments for the Proof of it, our noble Founder hath proved the Materiality of Light and Heat, from actual Experiments on Silver, Copper, Tin, Lead, Spelter, Iron, Tutenage, and other Bodies, exposed (both naked and closely shut up) to the Fire: All which were constantly found to receive an Increment of Weight. I wish he could have met with a favourable Season to have tried his Experiments with the Sun-beams as he intended. Vid. Boyl Exp. to make Fire and Flame ponderable.

[b] Astro-Theol. Book 7.

[c] Gen. i. 3. And God said, Let there be Light, and there was Light.

[d] It may not be ungrateful to the Curious, to take notice of the Velocity of these two Things.

According to the Observations of Mersennus, a Bullet-shot out of a great Gun, flies 92 Fathom in a Second of Time, (Vid. Mersen. Balist.) which is equal to 589½ Feet English, and according to the Computation of Mr. Huygens, it would be 25 years in passing from the Earth to the Sun. But according to my own Observations made with one of her Majesty’s Sakers, and a very accurate Pendulum-Chronometer, a Bullet, at its first Discharge, flies 510 Yards in five half Seconds, which is a Mile in a little above 17 half Seconds. And allowing the Sun’s Distance to be, as in the next Note, a Bullet would be 32½ Years in flying with its utmost Velocity to the Sun.

As to the Velocity of Sound, see Book 4. Chap. 3. Note 28. according to which rate there mentioned, a Sound would be near 17½ Years in flying as far as the distance is from the Earth to the Sun. Confer here the Experiments of the Acad. del Ciment. p. 140, &c.

[e] Mr. Romer’s ingenious Hypothesis about the Velocity of Light, hath been established by the Royal Academy, and in the Observatory for eight Years, as our Phil. Trans. Nᵒ. 136. observe from the Journ. des Scavans; our most eminent Astronomers also in England admit it: But Dr. Hook thinks with Monsieur Cartes, the Motion of Light Instantaneous, Hook Post. Works, pag. 77. And this he endeavours to explain, pag. 130, &c.

What Mr. Romer’s Hypothesis is, may be seen in the Phil. Transact. before-cited: As also in the before commended Sir Isaac Newton’s Opticks: Light is propagated from luminous Bodies in time, and spends about seven or eight Minutes of an Hour in passing from the Sun to the Earth. This was first observed by Romer, and then by others, by means of the Eclipses of the Satellites of Jupiter. For these Eclipses, when the Earth is between the Sun and Jupiter, happen about seven or eight Minutes sooner than they ought to do by the Tables; and when the Earth is beyond the ☉, they happen about seven or eight Minutes later than they ought to do: The reason being, that the Light of the Satellites hath farther to go in the latter Case than in the former, by the Diameter of the Earth’s Orbit. Newt. Opt. L. 2. Part. 3. Prop. 11.

Now forasmuch as the Distance between the Sun and the Earth (according to the Computations in my Astro-Theology, B. 1. ch. 3. Note 2.) is 86051398 English Miles; therefore, at the rate of 7½ Minutes, or 450 Seconds in passing from the Sun, Light will be found to fly above 191225 Miles in one Second of Time.

[f] Dr. Hook Post. Works. Lect. of Light, pag. 76.

[g] For the proof of this vast Extent of Light, I shall take the Computation of the same great Man, pag. 77. If, saith he, we consider first the vast Distance between us and the Sun, which from the best and latest Observations in Astronomy, is judged to be about 10000 Diameters of the Earth, each of which It about 7925 English Miles; therefore the Sun’s distance is 7925000 Miles; and if we consider that according to the Observations, which I published to prove the Motion of the Earth, [which were Observations of the Parallax of some of the fixt Stars in the Head of Draco, made in 1699] the whole Diameter of the Orb, viz. 20000, made the Subtense but of one Minute to one of the fixt Stars, which cannot therefore be less distant than 3438 Diameters of this great Orb, and consequently 68760000 Diameters of the Earth: And if this Star be one of the nearest, and that the Stars that are of one Degree lesser in Magnitude (I mean not of the Second Magnitude, because there may be many Degrees between the first and second) be as much farther; and another sort yet smaller be three times as far; and a fourth four times as far, and so onward, possibly to some 100 Degrees of Magnitude, such as may be discovered by longer and longer Telescopes, that they may be 100 times as far; then certainly this material Expansion, a part of which we are, must be so great, that ’twill infinitely exceed our shallow Conception to imagine. Now, by what I last mentioned, it is evident that Light extends it self to the utmost imaginable Parts, and by the help of Telescopes we collect the Rays, and make them sensible to the Eye, which are emitted from some of the almost inconceivably remote Objects, &c.——Nor is it only the great Body of the Sun, or the vast Bodies of the fixt Stars, that are thus able to disperse their Light through the vast Expansum of the Universe; but the smallest Spark of a lucid Body will do the very same Thing, even the smallest Globule struck from a Steel by a Flint, &c.

[a] That there is such a Thing as Gravity, is manifest from its Effects here upon Earth; and that the Heavenly Bodies attract or gravitate to one another, when placed at due Distances, is made highly probable by Sir Isaac Newton. This attractive or gravitating Power, I take to be congenial to Matter, and imprinted on all the Matter of the Universe by the Creator’s Fiat at the Creation. What the Cause of it is, the Newtonian Philosophy doth not pretend to determine for want of Phænomena, upon which Foundation it is that that Philosophy is grounded, and not upon chimerical and uncertain Hypotheses: But whatever the Cause is, that Cause penetrates even to the Centers of the Sun and Planets, without any Diminution of its Virtue; and it acteth not according to the Superficies of Bodies (as Mechanical Causes do) but in proportion to the Quantity of their solid Matter; and lastly, it acteth all round it at immense Distances, decreasing in duplicate proportion to those Distances, as Sir Isaac Newton saith, Princip. pag. ult. What useful Deductions, and what a rational Philosophy have been drawn from hence, may be seen in the same Book.

This Attraction, or Gravity, as its Force is in a certain proportion, so makes the Descent of Bodies to be at a certain rate. And was it not for the Resistence of the Medium, all Bodies would descend to the Earth at the same rate; the lightest Down, as swiftly as the heaviest Mineral: As is manifest in the Air-Pump, in which the lightest Feather, Dust, &c. and a piece of Lead, drop down seemingly in the same Time, from the top to the bottom of a tall exhausted Receiver.

The rate of the Descent of heavy Bodies, according to Galileo, Mr. Huygens, and Dr. Halley (after them) is 16 Feet one Inch in one Second of Time; and in more Seconds, as the Squares of those Times. But in some accurate Experiments made in St. Paul’s Dome, June 9. 1710, at the Height of 220 Feet, the Descent was scarcely 14 Feet in the first Second. The Experiments were made in the Presence of some very considerable Members of the Royal Society, by Mr. Hawksbee, their Operator, with glass, hollow Balls, some empty, some filled with Quick-silver, the Barometer at 297, the Thermometer 60 Degrees above Freezing. The Weight of the Balls, their Diameters, and Time of the Descent is in this Table.

The Reason why the heavy, full Balls fell in half the Time of the hollow ones, was the Resistence of the Air: Which Resistence is very ingeniously and accurately assigned by Dr. Wallis, in Philos. Trans. Nᵒ. 186. And the cause of the Resistence of all Fluids, (as Sir Isaac Newton, Opt. Q. 20.) is partly from the Friction of the Parts of the Fluid, partly from the Inertia thereof. The Resistence a spherical Body meets with from Friction, is as the right Angle under the Diameter, and the Velocity of the moving Body: And the Resistence from the Vis Inertia, is as the Square of that Product.

For a farther Account of the Properties and Proportions, &c. of Gravity in the Fall or Projection of Bodies, I shall refer to the larger Accounts of Galilæus, Torricellius, Huygens, Sir Isaac Newton, &c. or to the shorter Accounts of Dr. Halley in Philos. Trans. abridged by Mr. Lowthorp, Vol. I. p. 561. or Dr. Clarke in his Notes on Rohault, Phys. 2. c. 28. §. 13, 16. And for the Resistence of Fluids, I refer to Dr. Wallis before-cited, and the Act. Erudit. Lips. May 1693. where there is a way to find the Force of Mediums upon Bodies of different Figures.

[b] That the heavenly Bodies move round their own Axes, is, beyond all doubt, manifest to our Eye, in some of them, from the Spots visible on them. The Spots on the Sun (easily visible with an ordinary Glass) do manifest him to revolve round his own Axis in about 25¼ Days. The Spots on ♃ and ♂ prove those two Planets to revolve also from East to West, as Dr. Hook discover’d in 1664, and 1665. And ♀ also (although near the strong Rays of the Sun) hath, from some Spots, been discovered by Mr. Cassini, in 1666, and 1667, to have a manifest Rotation. V. Lowth. Abridg. Vol. 1. p. 382, and 423, 425. And such Uniformity hath the Creator observ’d in the Works of Nature, that what is observable in one, is generally to be found in all others of the same kind. So that since ’tis manifest the Sun, and three of his Planets whirl round, it is very reasonable to conclude all the rest do so too, yea, every Globe of the Universe.

[c] The Earth’s Circumference being 25031½ Miles, (according to Book II. Chap. 2. Note (a).) if we divide that into 24 Hours, we shall find the Motion of the Earth to be nearly 1043 Miles in an Hour. Which, by the by, is a far more reasonable and less rapid Rate, than that of the Sun would be, if we suppose the Earth to stand still, and the Sun to move round the Earth. For according to the Proportions in Note (e), of the preceding Chapter, the Circumference of the Magnus Orbis is 540686225 English Miles, which divided by 24 Hours, gives 22528364 Miles in an Hour. But what is this to the Rapidity of the fixt Stars, if we suppose them; not the Earth, to move? Which is a good Argument for the Earth’s Motion.

[d] Nihil majus, quàm quòd ita stabilis est Mundus, atque ita cohæret ad permanendum, ut nihil nè excogitari quidem possit aptius. Omnes enim partes ejus undique medium locum capessentes, nituntur æqualiter: maximè autem corpora inter se juncta permanent, cum quodam quasi vinculo circumdata colligantur: quod facit ea natura, quæ per omnem mundum omnia Mente, & Ratione conficiens, funditur, & ad medium rapit, & convertit extrema, Cic. de Nat. Deor. l. 2. c. 45.

[e] Eâdem ratione Mare, cùm supra terram sit, medium tamen terræ locum expetens, conglobatur undique æqualiter, neque redundat unquam, neque effunditur. Id. paulo post.

[f] That there is no such Thing as positive Levity, but that Levity is only a less Gravity, is abundantly manifested by the acute Seig. Alph. Borelli de Mot. à Grav. pend. cap. 4. See also the Annotations of the learned and ingenious Dr. Clark on Rohaulti Phys. p. 1. c. 16. Note 3. Also the Exper. of the Acad. del Cimento, p. 118, &c. Dr. Wallis’s Disc. of Gravity and Gravitation before the Royal Society, Nov. 12. 1674. p. 28, &c.

[g] I have before in Note (a), Chap. 3. shewn what Vapours are, and how they are rais’d. That which I shall here note, is their Quantity: Concerning which the before-commended Dr. Halley hath given us some curious Experiments in our Phil. Transact. which may be met with together in Mr. Lowthorp’s Abridg. Vol. II. p. 108. and 126. Mr. Sedileau also at Paris observed it for near three Years. By all their Observations it appears, that in the Winter Months the Evaporations are least, and greatest in Summer, and most of all in windy Weather. And by Monsieur Sedileau’s Observations it appears, that what is raised in Vapours, exceeds that which falleth in Rain. In the seven last Months of the Year 1688, the Evaporations amounted to 22 Inches 5 Lines; but the Rain only to Inches 6⅓ Lines: In 1689, the Evaporations were 32 Inches 10½ Lines; but the Rain 18 Inches 1 Line: In 1690, the Evaporations 30 Inches 11 Lines; the Rain 21 Inches ⅓ of a Line. Vid. Mem. de Math. Phys. Ann. 1692. p. 25.

If it be demanded, What becomes of the Overplus of Exhalations that descend not in Rain? I answer, They are partly tumbled down and spent by the Winds, and partly descend in Dews, which amount to a greater quantity than is commonly imagined. Dr. Halley found the descent of Vapours in Dews so prodigious at St. Helena, that he makes no doubt to attribute the Origine of Fountains thereto. And I my self have seen in a still, cool Evening, large thick Clouds hanging, without any Motion in the Air, which in two or three Hours Time have been melted down by Degrees, by the cold of the Evening, so that not any the least Remains of them have been left.

[h] See Book II. Chap. 3. Note (c).

[a] Licet——oculis quodammodo contemplari pulchritudinem earum rerum, quas Divinâ Providentiâ dicimus constitutas. Ac principio Terra universa cernatur, locata in media mundi sede, solida, & globosa——vestita floribus, herbis, arboribus, frugibus. Quorum omnium incredibilis multitudo, insatiabili varietate distinguitur. Adde huc Fontium gelidas perennitates, liquores perlucidos Amnium, Riparum vestitus viridissimos, Speluncarum concavas altitudines, Saxorum asperitates, impendentium Montium altitudines, immensitatesque Camporum: Adde etiam reconditas Auri——venas——Qua verò, & quàm varia genera Bestiarum?——Qui Volucrum lapsus, atque cantus? Qui Pecudum pastus?——Quid de Hominum genere dicam? Qui quasi cultores terra constituti, &c.——Qua si, ut animis, sic oculis videre possemus, nemo cunctam intuens terram, de Divinâ Ratione dubitaret. Cic. de Nat. Deor. l. 2. c. 39.

[b] I cannot here omit the Observations that have been made in these later Times, since we have had the Use and Improvement of the Microscope, concerning the great Difference, which by the help of that, doth appear betwixt Natural and Artificial Things. Whatever is Natural, doth by that appear adorned with all imaginable Elegance and Beauty.——Whereas the most curious Works of Art, the sharpest, finest Needle doth appear as a blunt, rough Bar of Iron, coming from the Furnace or the Forge. The most accurate Engravings or Embossments seem such rude, bungling, deformed Works, as if they had been done with a Mattock, or a Trowel. So vast a Difference is there betwixt the Skill of Nature, and the Rudeness and Imperfection of Art. Bp. Wilk. Nat. Rel. L. 1. Ch. 6.

[a] Although the Terraqueous Globe be of an orbicular Figure, yet it is not strictly so, 1. On account of its Hills and Vallies. But there are inconsiderable to the Earth’s Semidiameter; for they are but as the Dust upon a common Globe. But, 2. Our modern Astronomers assign a much greater Variation from a globous Form, namely, that of a prolate Sphæroid, making the Polar about 34 Miles shorter than the Equatorial Diameter. The Cause of which they make to be the centrifugal Force of the diurnal Rotation of the Globe.

This Figure they imagine is in Jupiter, his Polar being to his Equatorial Diameter, as 39⅗ to 40⅗. But whether it be so or no, I confess I could never perceive, although I have often viewed that Planet through very good, and long Glasses, particularly a tolerable good one of 72 Feet in my Hands: And although by Reason of cloudy Weather, and (at present) Jupiter’s Proximity to the Sun, I have not been of late able to take a review of that Planet; yet Saturn (so far as his Ring would permit,) and Mars appear perfectly round thro’ Mr. Huygens’s long Glass of 126 Feet, which by Will he bequeathed, with its whole Apparatus, to our R. S. by whose Favour it is now in my Hands. And moreover, I believe it difficult, next to impossible, to measure the two Diameters to a 40ᵗʰ Part, by reason of the smallness of Jupiter’s apparent Diameter, and by reason he is moving all the time of measuring him.

As to what is alledged from lengthening the Pendulums of Clocks, to make them keep the same Time under the Equator, as they do in our Climes; I have shewn from the like Variations in the Air-Pump, that this may arise from the rarity of the Air there, more than here. V. Phil. Trans. Nᵒ. 294. But if the Degrees of a Meridian grow larger, the more we go towards the Line, (as Mr. Cassini affirms they do, by an 800ᵗʰ Part in every Degree, in Phil. Trans. Nᵒ. 278.) then there is great reason to conclude in behalf of this Sphæroidal Form.

The natural Cause of this Sphericity of our Globe, is (according to Sir Isaac Newton’s Principles) that Attraction, which the infinite Creator hath stamp’d on all the Matter of the Universe, whereby all Bodies, and all the Parts of Bodies mutually attract themselves and one another. By which means, as all the Parts of Bodies tend naturally to their Center, so they all betake themselves to a globous Figure, unless some other more prevalent Cause interpose. Thus Drops of Quick-silver put on a spherical Form, the Parts thereof strongly attracting one another. So Drops of Water have the same Form, when falling in the Air; but are Hemispherical only when they lie on a hard Body, by reason their Gravity doth so far over-power their self-attracting Power, as to take off one half of their Sphericity. This Figure is commonly attributed to the Pressure of the circumambient Air: But that this can’t be the cause, is manifest from the Air-Pump; the case being the very same in an exhausted Receiver, as in the open Air, and not any the least Alteration of the Figure that I could perceive, in all the Trials I have made.

[b] It would be frivolous as well as endless to reckon up the various Opinions of the Ancients about the Figure of the Terraqueous Globe; some of them may be seen in Varen. Geogr. l. 1. c. 3. init. or Johnston’s Thaumat. c. 1. Artic. 3. But among the variety of Opinions, one of the principal was, That the visible Horizon was the Bounds of the Earth, and the Ocean the Bounds of the Horizon, that the Heavens and Earth above this Ocean, was the whole visible Universe; and that all beneath the Ocean was Hades, or the invisible World. Hence, when the Sun set, he was said tingere se Oceano; and when any went to Hades, they must first pass the Ocean. Of this Opinion were not only the ancient Poets, and others among the Heathens, but some of the Christian Fathers too, particularly Lactantius, St. Augustine, and others, who thought their Opinion was favoured by the Psalmist, in Psal. xxiv. 2. and cxxxvi. 6. See Bp. Usher’s Ans. to a Jes. Chall. p. 366. &c.

[c] Neither do these constant Trade-Winds usually blow near the Shore, but only on the Ocean, at least 30 or 40 Leagues off at Sea, clear from any Land; especially on the West Coast, or Side of any Continent: For indeed on the East Side, the Easterly Wind being the true Trade-Wind, blows almost home to the Shore, so near as to receive a check from the Land-Wind. Dampier’s Winds, Ch. 1.

And not only the general Trade-Winds, but also the constant coasting Trade-Winds, are in like manner affected by the Lands. Thus, for Instance, on the Coast of Angola and Peru. But this, saith the curious Captain Dampier, the Reader must take notice of, That the Trade-Winds that blow on any Coast, except the North Coast of Africa, whether they are constant, and blow all the Year, or whether they are shifting Winds, do never blow right in on the Shore, nor right along Shore, but go slanting, snaking an acute Angle of about 22 Degrees. Therefore, as the Land tends more East or West, from North or South on the Coast; so the Winds do alter accordingly. Ibid. Ch. 2.

[a] It is not difficult to make a pretty near Computation of the Bulk of the Terraqueous Globe, from those accurate Observations of a Degree made by Mr. Norwood in England, and Mr. Picart, and Mr. Cassini in France. Whose Measures do in a surprizing manner agree. But Mr. Cassini’s seeming to be the most accurate (as I have shewn in my Astro-Theology, B. 1. Ch. 2. Note (a).) I have there made use of his Determinations. According to which the Diameter of the Earth being 7967,72 English Miles, its Ambit will be 25031½ Miles; and (supposing it to be Spherical) its Surface will be 199444220 Miles; which being multiplied into ⅓ of its Semidiameter, gives the Solid Content, viz. 264856000000 Miles.

[a] With the Copernicans, I take it here for granted, that the Diurnal and Annual Revolutions are the Motions of the Terraqueous Globe, not of the Sun, &c. but for the Proof thereof I shall refer the Reader to the Preface of my Astro-Theology, and B. 4. Chap. 3.

[b] Every thing that is moved, must of Necessity be moved by something else; and that thing is moved by something that is moved either by another Thing, or not by another Thing. If it be moved by that which is moved by another, we must of Necessity come to some prime Mover, that is not moved by another. For it is impossible, that what moveth, and is moved by another, should proceed in infinitum. Aristot. Phys. l. 8. c. 5.

Solum quod seipsum movet, quia nunquam deseritur à se, nunquam ne moveri quidem definit; quinetiam cæteris quæ moventur, hic fons: hoc principium est movendi. Principii autem nulla est origo: nam ex principio oriuntur omnia; ipsum autem nullâ ex re aliâ nasciepotest: nec enim esset id principium, quod gigneretur aliunde. Cicer. Tusc. Quest. l. 1. c. 23.

Cogitemus qui fieri possit, ut tanta magnitudo, ab aliquâ possit naturâ, tanto tempore circumferri? Ego igitur assero Deum causam esse, nec aliter posse fieri. Plato in Epinom.

[c] Among the Causes which Cleanthes is said in Tully to assign for Men’s Belief of a Deity, one of the chief is, Æquabilitatem motûs, conversionem Cœli, Solis, Lunæ, Siderumque omnium distinctionem, varietatem, pulchritudinem, ordinem: quarum rerum aspectus ipse satis indicaret, non esse ea fortuita. Ut siquis in domum aliquam, aut in gymnasium, aut in forum venerit; cùm videat omnium rerum rationem, modum, disciplinam, non possit ea sine causâ fieri judicare, sed esse aliquem intelligat, qui præsit, & cui pareatur: multo magis in tantis motibus, tantisque vicissitudinibus, tam multarum rerum atque tanrarum ordinibus, in quibus nihil unquam immmensa & infinita vetustas mentita sit, statuat necesse est ab aliquâ Mente tantos naturæ motus gubernari. Cir. de Nat. Deor. l. 1. c. 5.

Homines cœperunt Deum agnoscere, cùm viderent Stellas, tantam concinnitatem efficere; ac dies, noctesque, æstate, & hyeme, suos servare statos ortus, atque obitus. Plutarch de placit. l. 1. c. 6.

[d] We need not be sollicitous to elude the History of these Miracles, as if they were only poetical Strains, as Maimonides, and some others fancy Joshua’s Day to have been, viz. only an ordinary Summer’s Day; but such as had the Work of many Days done in it; and therefore by a poetical Stretch made, as if the Day had been lengthened by the Sun standing still. But in the History they are seriously related, as real Matters of Fact, and with such Circumstances as manifest them to have been miraculous Works of the Almighty; And the Prophet Habakkuk, iii. 11. mentions that of Joshua as such. And therefore taking them to be miraculous Perversions of the Course of Nature, instead of being Objections, they are great Arguments of the Power of God: For in Hezekiah’s Case, to wheel the Earth it self backward, or by some extraordinary Refractions, to bring the Sun’s Shadow backward 10 Degrees: Or in Joshua’s Case, to stop the diurnal Course of the Globe for some Hours, and then again give it the same Motion; to do, I say, there Things, required the same infinite Power which at first gave the Terraqueous Globe its Motions.

[e]

[f] Diei noctisque vicissitudo conservat animantes, tribuens aliud agendi tempus, aliud quiescendi. Sic undique omni ratione concluditur, Mente, Consilioque divino omnia in hoc mundo ad salutem omnium, conservationemque admirabiliter administrari. Cicer. de Nat. Deor. l. 2. c. 53.

[g] The acute Dr. Cheyne, in his ingenious Philos. Princ. of Natural Religion, among other uses of Day and Night, saith, the Night is most proper for Sleep; because when the Sun is above the Horizon, Sleep is prejudicial, by reason the Perspirations are then too great. Also that Nutrition is mostly, if not altogether, performed in Time of Rest; the Blood having too quick a Motion in the Day: For which Reason, weak Persons, Children, &c. are nourished most, and recruit best by Sleep.

[a] It is a manifest Sign of the Creator’s Management and Care, in placing the Terraqueous Globe at that very Distance it is from the Sun, and contempering our own Bodies and all other Things so duly to that Distance. For was the Earth farther from the Sun, the World would be starved and frozen with Cold: And was it nigher we should be burnt, at least the most combustible Things would be so, and the World would be vexed with perpetual Conflagrations. For we see that a few of the Rays of the Sun, even no more than what fall within the Compass of half an Inch or an Inch in a Burning-Glass, will fire combustible Bodies, even in our own Climate.

[b] Astro-Theology, Book vii. Chap. 7.

[a] The most eminent Author I have met with, that finds fault with the Distribution of the Earth and Waters, and indeed with the whole present Structure of the Globe, is the learned and eloquent Theorist, Dr. Burnet, who frequently exclaims on this Point, Tellus nostra, si totam simul complectamur, non est ordinata & venusta rerum compages——sed moles aggesta vario, incertoque situ partium, nullâ ordinis aut venustatis habitâ ratione. Theor. Sacr. l. 1. c. 7. Ecquis autem à Deo hæc ita facta? &c. ib. Quo autem Herculeo labore opus effet ad excavandum terram in tantum hiatum?——Si immediatè à causâ primâ effectus fuisset hic alveus, aliquem saltem ordinem, mensuram, & proportionem notare voluisset in ipsius formâ, & partium dispositione;——sed confusa omnia, &c. ib. c. 8. Tellus nostra cùm exigua sit, est etiam rudis: Et in illâ exiguitate multa sunt superflua, multa inelegantia. Dimidiam terræ superficiem inundat Oceanus; magnâ ex parte, ut mihi videtur, inutilis. And then he goes on to shew how this Part of the Creation might be mended, ib. c. 10. All this is to me surprizing from an Author of great Ingenuity, who seems in his Book to have a just Opinion of, and due Veneration for God. But certainly such Notions are very inconsistent with the Belief of God’s creating, especially his governing and ordering the World. But suppose the Terraqueous Globe was such a rude, confused, inconvenient Mass, as he pretends, yet it is well enough for a sinful World. But besides, what others have long ago abundantly answered, the following Survey, will, I hope, sufficiently manifest it to be the Work of a wise and beneficent, as well as omnipotent Creator.

[b] Some have objected against the Distribution of the Earth and Waters, as if the Waters occupied too large a part of the Globe, which they think would be of greater Use, if it was dry Land. But then they do not consider that this would deprive the World of a due Quantity of Vapours and Rain. For if the Cavities which contain the Sea, and other Waters, were deeper, although the Waters were no less in Quantity, only their Surfaces narrower and lesser, the Evaporations would be so much the less, inasmuch as those Evaporations are made from the Surface, and are, consequently, in proportion to the Surface, not the Depth or Quantity of Water.

[c] I took notice before in Book I. Chap. 3. Note (a). That the Vapours constituting Clouds and Rain, are Vesiculæ of Water detached by Heat. The manner of which I conceive to be thus; Heat being of an agile Nature, or the lightest of all Bodies, easily breaks loose from them; and if they are humid, in its Passage, carries along with it Particles, or little Cases of the Water; which being lighter than Air, are buoyed up thereby, and swim in it; until by knocking against one another, or being thickened by the Cold, (as in the Note before-cited,) they are reduced into Clouds and Drops.

Having mentioned the manner how Vapours are raised, and there being more room here than in the Note before-cited, I shall, for the Illustration of Natures Process, take notice of three Things observable to our purpose, in Water over the Fire. 1. That the Evaporations are proportional to the Heat ascending out of the Water. A small Heat throws off but few Vapours, scarce visible: A greater Heat, and ascending in greater Quantities, carries off grosser, larger, and more numerous Vesiculæ, which we call a Steam: And if the Heat breaks through the Water with such a Fury, as to lacerate and lift up great Quantities or Bubbles of Water, too heavy for the Air to carry or buoy up, it causeth what we call Boyling. And the Particles of Water thus mounted up by the Heat, are visible Sphærules of Water, if viewed with a Microscope, as they swim about in a Ray of the Sun let into a dark Room, with warm Water underneath; where some of the Vapours appear large, some smaller Sphærules, according (no doubt) to the larger and lesser Quantities of Heat blowing them up and carrying them off. 2. If these Vapours be intercepted in their Ascent by any Context, especially cold Body, as Glass, Marble, &c. they are thereby reduced into Drops, and Masses of Water, like those of Rain, &c. 3. These Vapours in their Ascent from the Water, may be observed, in cold frosty Weather, either to rise but a little above the Water, and there to hang, or to glide on a little above its Surface: Or if the Weather be very cold, after a little ascent, they may be seen to fall back again into the Water; in their Ascent and Descent describing a Curve somewhat like that of an Arrow from a Bow. But in a warmer Air, and still, the Vapours ascend more nimbly and copiously, mounting up aloft, till they are out of Sight. But if the Air be warm and windy too, the Vapours are sooner carried out of Sight, and make way for others. And accordingly I have often observed, that hot Liquors, if not set too thin, and not frequently stirred, cool slower in the greatest Frosts, than in temperate Weather, especially if windy. And it is manifest by good Experiments, that the Evaporations are less at those times than these; less by far in the Winter than the warmer Months.

[c] As our Northern Islands are observed to be more temperate than our Continents, (of which we had a notable Instance in the great Frost in 1708/9, which Ireland and Scotland felt less of, than most Parts of Europe besides; of which see Book IV. Chap. 12. Note (c).) so this Temperature is owing to the warm Vapours afforded chiefly by the Sea, which by the preceding Note must necessarily be warm, as they are Vapours, or Water inflated by Heat.

The Cause of this Heat I take to be partly that of the Sun, and partly Subterraneous. That it is not wholly that of the Sun, is manifest from Vapours, being as, or more copiously raised when the Sun Beams are weakest, as when strongest, there being greater Rains and Winds at the one time than the other. And that there is such a thing as Subterraneous Heat, (whether Central, or from the meeting of Mineral Juices; or such as is Congenial or Connatural to our Globe, I have not Time to enquire; but I say, that such a Thing is,) is evident not only from the Hot-Baths, many fiery Erruptions and Explosions, &c. but also from the ordinary Warmth of Cellars and Places under Ground, which are not barely comparatively warm, but of sufficient Heat to raise Vapours also: As is manifest from the smoking of perennial Fountains in frosty Weather, and Water drawn out of Pumps and open Wells at such a Time. Yea, even Animals themselves are sensible of it, as particularly Moles, who dig before a Thaw, and against some other Alterations of the Weather; excited, no doubt, thereunto by the same warm Vapours arising in the Earth, which animate them, as well as produce the succeeding Changes of the Weather.

[d] Besides the Trade-Winds, which serve to mitigate the excessive Heats in the Torrid Zone; the Clouds are a good Screen against the scorching Sun-Beams, especially when the Sun passeth their Zenith; at which Time is their Winter, or coolest Season, by reason they have then most Clouds and Rain. For which Service, that which Varene takes notice of, is a great Providence of God, viz. Pleraque loca Zonæ Torridæ vicinum habent mare, ut India, Insulæ Indicæ, Lingua Africæ, Guinea, Brasilia, Peruvia, Mexicana, Hispania: Pauca loca Zonæ Torridæ sunt Mediterranea. Varenii. Geogr. l. 2. c. 26. Prop. 10. §. 7.

[e] That Springs have their Origine from the Sea, and not from Rains and Vapours, among many other strong Reasons, I conclude from the Perennity of divers Springs, which always afford the same quantity of Water. Of this sort there are many to be found every where. But I shall, for an Instance, single out one in the Parish of Upminster, where I live, as being very proper for my purpose, and one that I have had better Opportunities of making Remarks upon above twenty Years. This in the greatest Droughts is little, if at all diminished, that I could perceive by my Eye, although the Ponds all over the Country, and an adjoining Brook have been dry for many Months together; as particularly in the dry Summer Months of the Year 1705. And in the wettest Seasons, such as the Summer and other Months were, preceding the violent Storm in November 1703. (Vid. Philos. Trans. Nᵒ. 289.) I say, in such wet Seasons I have not observed any Increment of its Stream, excepting only for violent Rains falling therein, or running down from the higher Land into it; which discoloureth the Waters oftentimes, and makes an increase of only a Day’s, or sometimes but a few Hours Continuance. But now, if this Spring had its Origine from Rain and Vapours, there would be an increase and decrease of the one, as there should happen to be of the other: As actually it is in such temporary Springs as have undoubtedly their Source from Rain and Vapours.

But besides this, another considerable Thing in this Upminster Spring (and Thousands of others) is, that it breaks out of so inconsiderable an Hillock, or Eminence of Ground, that can have no more Influence in the Condensation of the Vapours, or stopping the Clouds, (which the Maintainers of this Hypothesis suppose) than the lower Lands about it have. By some Critical Observations I made with a very nice portable Barometer, I found that my House stands between 80 and 90 Feet higher than the Low-Water Mark in the River of Thames, nearest me; and that part of the River being scarce thirty Miles from the Sea, I guess, (and am more confirmed from some later Experiments I made nearer the Sea) that we cannot be much above 100 Feet above the Sea. The Spring I judge nearly level with, or but little higher than where my House stands; and the Lands from whence it immediately issues, I guess about 15 or 20 Feet higher than the Spring: and the Lands above that, of no very remarkable Height. And indeed, by actual Measure, one of the highest Hills I have met with in Essex, is but 363 Feet high; (Vid. Phil. Trans. Nᵒ. 313. p. 16.) and I guess by some very late Experiments I made, neither that, nor any other Land in Essex, to be above 400 Feet above the Sea. Now what is so inconsiderable a rise of Land to a perennial Condensation of Vapours, fit to maintain even so inconsiderable a Fountain, as what I have mentioned is? Or indeed the High-lands of the whole large County of Essex, to the maintaining of all its Fountains and Rivulets?

But I shall no farther prosecute this Argument, but refer to the late learned, curious and industrious Dr. Plot’s Tentamen Phil. de Orig. Font. in which he hath fully discussed this Matter.

As to the manner how the Waters are raised up into the Mountains and Higher Lands, an easy and natural Representation may be made of it, by putting a little Heap of Sand, Ashes, or a little Loaf of Bread, &c. in a Bason of Water; where the Sand will represent the dry Land, or an Island, and the Bason of Water the Sea about it. And as the Water in the Bason riseth to, or near the top of the Heap in it, so doth the Waters of the Sea, Lakes, &c. rise in the Hills. Which case I take to be the same with the ascent of Liquids in capillary Tubes, or between contiguous Planes, or in a Tube filled with Ashes: Of which the industrious and compleat Artificer in Air-Pumps, Mr. Hawksbee, hath given us some, not contemptible Experiments, in his Phys. Mech. Exp. pag. 139.

Among the many Causes assigned for this ascent of Liquors, there are two that bid the fairest for it, viz. the Pressure of the Atmosphere, and the Newtonian Attraction. That it is not the former, appears from the Experiments succeeding, as well, or better in Vacuo, than in the open Air, the ascent being rather swifter in Vacuo. This then being not the Cause, I shall suppose the other is; but for the Proof thereof, I shall refer to some of our late English Authors, especially some very late Experiments made before our most famous R. S. which will be so well improved by some of that illustrious Body, as to go near to put the Matter out of doubt.

[f] See Book III. Chap. 4.

[g] The Danube in a sober Account, performs a Course of above 1500 Miles, (i.e. in a strait Line) from its Rise to its Fall. Bohun’s Geogr. Dict.

[h] Tractus sc. Longitudo [Nili] est milliarium circiter 630 Germ. sive Ital. 2520, pro quibus ponere licet 3000 propter curvaturas. Varen. Geogr. l. 1. c. 16. p. 27.

[i] Varene reckons the Course of the Niger, at a middle Computation, 600 German Miles, that is 2400 Italian.

[k] That of the Ganges he computes at 300 German Miles. But if we add the Curvatures to these Rivers, their Chanels are of a prodigious Length.

[l] Oritur, flumen (quod plerumque Amazonum, &c.) haud procul Quito in montibus——Cùm per leucas Hispanicas 1356. cursum ab occidente in orientem continuârit, ostio 84 leucas lato——in Oceanum præcipitatur. Chr. D’Acugna Relatio de flumine Amaz. in Act. Erud. Aug. 1683.

[a] Non dat Deus beneficia? Unde ergò ista qua possides?——Unde hæc innumerabilia, oculos, aures & animum mulcentia? Unde illa luxuriam quoque instruens copia? Neque enim necessitatibus tantummodò nostris provisum est: usque in delicias amamur. Tot arbusta, non uno modo frugifera, tot herba salutares, tot varietates ciborum, per totum annum digestæ, ut inerti quoque fortuita terræ alimenta præberent. Jam animalia omnis generis, alia in sicco, &c.——ut omnis rerum naturæ pars tributum aliquod nobis conferret. Senec. de Benef. l. 4. c. 5. ubi plura vide.

Hic, ubi habitamus non intermittit suo tempore Cœlum nitescere, arbores frondescere——cum multitudinem pecudum partim ad vescendum, partim ad cultus agrorum, partim ad vehendum, partim ad corpora vestienda; hominemque ipsum quasi contemplatorem cœli ad deorum, ipsorumque cultorem.——Hæc igitur, & alia innumerabilia cùm cernimus, possumusne dubitare, quin his præsit aliquis vel Effector, si hæc nata sunt, ut Platoni videtur: vel si semper fuerint, ut Aristoteli placet, Moderator tanti operis & muneris? Cicer. Tusc. Quæst. l. 1. c. 28, 29.

[b] Sunt & gentium differentiæ non mediocres——quæ contemplatio aufert rursus nos ad ipsorum animalium naturas, ingenitasque iis vel certiores morborum omnium medicinas. Enim verò rerum omnium Parens, nullum animal ad hoc tantum ut pasceretur, aut alia satiaret nasci voluit: artesque salutares iis inseruerit. Plin. N. H. l. 27. c. 13.

[c] This was no very easy Question to be answered by such as held, that all Things were made for Man, as most of the Ancients did; as Aristotle, Seneca, Cicero and Pliny, (to name only some of the chief). And Cicero cites it as the celebrated Chrysippus’s Opinion, Præclare enim Chrysippus, Cætera nata esse Hominum Causâ, & Deorum. De fin. bon. & mal. l. 3. And in his De Nat. Deor. l. 2. fin. he seriously proves the World it self to have been made for the Gods and Man, and all Things in the World to have been made and contrived for the Benefit of Man (parata & inventa ad fructum Hominum, are his Words). So Pliny in his Preface to his 7ᵗʰ Book saith, Nature made all Things for Man; but then he makes a doubt, whether she shewed her self a more indulgent Parent, or cruel Step-Mother, as in Book IV. Chap. 12. Note (b). But since the Works of God have been more discovered, and the Limits of the Universe have been found to be of infinitely greater Extent than the Ancients supposed them; this narrow Opinion hath been exploded. And the Answer will be found easy to these Questions, Why so many useless Creatures? In the Heavens, Why so many fixt Stars, and the greatest part of them scarce visible? Why such Systems of Planets, as in Jupiter, Saturn, &c. (See my Astro-Theology.) In the Earth and Waters, Why so many Creatures of no use to Man?

[d] Nec minùs clara exitii documenta sunt etiam ex contemnendis animalibus. M. Varro author est, à cuniculis suffossum in Hispaniâ opidum, à talpis in Thessaliâ: ab ranis civitatem in Galliâ pulsam, ab locustis in Africâ: ex Gyaro, Cycladum insulâ, incolas à muribus fugatos; In Italiâ Amyclas à serpentibus delatas. Citra Cynamolgos Æthiopas latè deserta regio est, à scorpionibus & solpugis gente sublatâ: & à scolopendris abactos Trerienses, author est Theophrastus. Plin. Nat. Hist. l. 8. c. 29.

To these Instances may be added, the Plague they sometimes suffer from a kind of Mice (they call Leming, Leminger, Lemmus, &c.) in Norway, which eat up every green Thing. They come in such prodigious Numbers, that they fancy them to fall from the Clouds; but Ol. Magnus, rather thinks they come from some of the Islands. Hist. l. 8. c. 2. If the Reader hath a mind to see a large Account of them, with a Dispute about their Generation, a handsome Cut of them, with the Prayers, and an Exorcism against them used in the Church of Rome, I shall refer him, (it being too tedious to recite in these Notes) to Musæum Wormian. l. 3. c. 23.

Quare patimur multa mala à creaturâ quam fecit Deus, nisi quia offendimus Deum?——De pœnâ tuâ peccatum tuum accusa, non judicem. Nam propter Superbiam instituit Deus creaturam istam minimam & abjectissimam, ut ipsa nos torqueret, ut cùm superbus fuerit homo, & se jactaverit adversus Deum,——cùm se erexerit, Pulicibus subdatur. Quid est, quòd te inflas humanâ superbiâ?——Pulicibus resiste, ut dormias. Cognosce qui sis. Nam propter superbiam nostram domandam——creata illa quæ molesta sunt: populum Pharaonis superbum potuit Deus domare de Ursis, de &c. Muscas & Ranas illis immisit, ut rebus vilissimis superbia domaretur. Omnia ergo per ipsum——facta sunt; & fine ipso factum est nihil. August. Tract. 1. in S. Johan.

But although the infinitely wise Creator hath put it in the Power of such vile Animals to chastise us, yet hath he shewed no less Wisdom and Kindness in ordering many, if not most of them so, as that it shall be in the Power of Man, and other Creatures to obviate or escape their Evils. For, besides the noble Antidotes afforded by Minerals, Vegetables, &c. many, if not most of our European venemous Animals carry their Cure, as well as Poison, in their own Bodies. The Oil, and I doubt not, the Body of Scorpions too, is a certain Remedy against its Stroke. A Bee, Wasp, or Hornet crushed and rubbed, and bound upon the Place, I have always found to be a certain Cure for the Sting of those Creatures. And I question not, but the Flesh, especially the Head of Vipers, would be found a Remedy for their Bites.

Our Viper-Catchers have a Remedy in which they place so great Confidence, as to be no more afraid of the Bite [of a Viper], than of a common Puncture, immediately curing themselves by the Application of their Specifick. This though they keep a great Secret, I have upon strict Enquiry found to be no other than Axungia Viperina, presently rubbed into the Wound. This Remedy the learned Doctor tried himself with good Success in a young Dog that was bitten in the Nose. Vid. Mead of Poisons, p. 29.

And as to the means to escape the Mischief of such noxious Animals, besides what may be effected by the Care, Industry and Sagacity of Man; some of them are so contrived and made, as to give Warning or Time to Creatures in danger from them. Thus, for Instance, the Rattle-Snake, the most poisonous of any Serpent, who darts its poisonous Vapours to some distance, and in all Probability was the Basilisk of the Ancients, said to kill with its Eyes, this involuntarily gives warning by the Rattle in its Tail. So the Shark, the most rapacious Animal of the Waters, is forced to turn himself on his Back, (and thereby gives an Opportunity of Escape) before he can catch his Prey.

[e] Hæc sola Naturæ placuerat esse remedia parata vulgo, inventu facilia, ac sine impendio, ex quibus vivimus. Posteà fraudes hominum & ingeniorum capturæ officinas invenire istas, in quibus sua cuique homini vœnalis promittitur vita. Statim compositiones & misturæ inexplicabiles decantantur. Arabia atque India in medio æstimantur, ulcerique parvo medicina à Rubro mari imputatur, cùm remedia vera quotidie pauperrimus quisque cœnet. Plin. l. 24. c. 1.

Non sponte suâ ex tellure germinant Herbæ, quæ contra quoscunque morbos accommodæ sunt; sed eæ voluntate Opisicis, ad nostram utilitatem producta sunt. Basil. Ascet. Tom. 2.

Consult here, Book X. Note (z), (aa), (bb).

[f] Among poisonous Vegetables, none more famous of old than Hemlock, accounted at this Day also very dangerous to Man, of which there are some dismal Examples in our Phil. Trans. Wepfer, &c. But yet this Plant is Food for Goats, and its Seeds to Bustards; and as Galen saith, to Starlings also. Neither is this, so pernicious a Plant, only Food, but also Physick to some Animals. An Horse troubled with the Farcy, and could not be cured with the most famed Remedies, cured himself of it in a short Time, by eating Hemlock, of which he eat greedily. Vid. Phil. Trans. Nᵒ. 231. And a Woman which was cured of the Plague, but wanted Sleep, did with very good Effect eat Hemlock for some time; till falling ill again of a Fever, and having left off the Use of this Remedy, he [Nic. Fontanus] endeavoured to procure her Rest by repeated Doses of Opium, which had no Operation, till the Help of Cicuta was again called in with desired Success. Mead of Pois. p. 144.

And not only Hemlock, but many other, if not most Plants accounted poisonous, may have their great Use in Medicine: Of which take the Opinion of an able Judge, my ingenious and learned Friend Dr. Tancred Robinson, in a Letter I have of his to the late great Mr. Ray, of Nov. 7. 1604, viz. According to my Promise, I here send you a few Observations concerning some Plants, seldom used in Medicine, being esteemed poisonous, which if truly corrected, or exactly dosed, may perhaps prove the most powerful and effectual Medicines yet known. Having then given an Account of some of their Correctives, he gives these following Examples, viz. 1. The Hellebores incorporated with a Sapo, or Alkaly-Salts alone, are successful Remedies in Epilepsies, Vertigo’s, Palsies, Lethargies, and Mania’s. Dos. a ℈j. to ʒss. 2. The Radic. Assari, Cicutæ, and the Napellus, in Agues and periodical Pains. Dos. ℈j. to ʒss. 3. The Hyoscyamus in Hæmorrhagies, violent Heats and Perturbation of the Blood, and also in all great Inflammations. Dos. ℈j. to ʒss. 4. The Semen Stramonia is a very good Anodyne, useful in Vigilia’s, Rheumatisms, Hysterick Cases, in all the Orgasms of the Blood or Spirits, and where-ever there is an Indication for a Paregorick. Dos. ℈j. to ʒss. 5. Elaterium thus corrected, may be given from gr. x. to xv. in Hydropical Cases, without any sensible Evacuation or Disturbance. So may the Soldanella and Gratiola in greater Doses. 6. Opium corrected as afore-mentioned, loses its Narcotick Faculty, and may be given very safely in great Doses, and proves more than usually prevalent in Convulsive Cases, Fluxes, Catarrhs, and all painful Paroxysms, &c.

[g] It is of the most general Use of any Provision all over the West-Indies, especially in the hotter Parts, and is used to Victual Ships. Dr. Sloan’s Nat. Hist. of Jamaica, Vol. 1. Chap. 5. §. 12.

[h] I have shewn in the Phil. Trans. that the Pediculus fatidicus, Mortisaga, Pulsatorius, or Death-Watch there described, feedeth upon Dust; but that this Dust they eat, is powdered Bread, Fruits, or such like Dust, not powdered Earth; as is manifest from their great Diligence and Curiosity in hunting among the Dust. See more in Phil. Trans. Nᵒ. 291.

[i] Vid. Book IV. Chap. 11.

[a] It is not to be doubted, that although Vegetables delight in peculiar Soils, yet they owe not their Life and Growth to the Earth it self, but to some agreeable Juices or Salts, &c. residing in the Earth. Of this the great Mr. Boyl hath given us some good Experiments. He ordered his Gardener to dig up, and dry in an Oven some Earth fit for the Purpose, to weigh it, and to set therein some Squash Seeds, (a kind of Indian Pompion). The Seeds when sown were watered with Rain or Spring-water only. But although a Plant was produced in one Experiment of near 3 l. and in another of above 14 l. yet the Earth when dried, and weighed again, was scarce diminished at all in its Weight.

Another Experiment he alledges is of Helmont’s, who dried 200 l. of Earth, and therein planted a Willow weighing 5 l. which he watered with Rain or distilled Water: And to secure it from any other Earth getting in, he covered it with a perforated Tin Cover. After five Years, weighing the Tree with all the Leaves it had born in that time, he found it to weigh 169 l. 3 Ounces, but the Earth to be diminished only about 2 Ounces in its weight. Vid. Boyl’s Scept. Chym. Part 2. pag. 114.

[b] Τοὺς δὲ τόπους ζητεῖ τοὺς ὀικείους, οὐ μόνον τὰ περιττὰ——Τῶν δένδρων, &c. Τὰ μὲν γὰρ φιλεῖ ξηροὺς, τὰ δὲ ἐνύδρους, τὰ δὲ χειμερινοὺς, τὰ δὲ προσήλους, τὰ δὲ παλισκίους, καὶ ὅλως, τὰ μὲν ὀρεινοὺς, τὰ δὲ ἑλώδεις.——Ζητεῖ γὰρ τὰ πρόσφορὰ κατὰ τὴν κράσιν, ἕτι δὲ ἀσθενῆ, καὶ ἰσχυρὰ, καὶ βαθύῤῥιζα, καὶ ἐπιπολαιόῤῥιζα, καὶ ἔστις ἄλλη διαφορὰ κατὰ τὰ μέρη·——Πάντα γὰρ ταῦτα, ἔτι δὲ τὰ ὅμοια ζητεῖ τὸ ὅμοιον, καὶ τὰ ἀνόμοια μὴ τὸν αὐτὸν, ὅταν ᾖ τις παραλλαγὴ τῆς φύσεως. Theophrast. de Caus. Plant. l. 2. c. 9.

[c]

[a] Altho’ Minerals, Metals and Stones lie in Beds, and have done so ever since Noah’s Flood, if not from the Creation; yet it is greatly probable that they have Power of growing in their respective Beds: That as the Beds are robbed and emptied by Miners, so after a while they recruit again. Thus Vitriol, Mr. Boyl thinks, will grow by the Help of the Air. So Alum doth the same. We are assured (he saith) by the experienced Agricola, That the Earth or Ore of Alum, being robbed of its Salt, will in tract of Time recover it, by being exposed to the Air. Boyl’s Suspic. about some Hid. Qual. in the Air, p. 18.

[b] As to the Growth of Metals, there is great Reason to suspect that also, from what Mr. Boyl hath alledged in his Observations about the Growth of Metals: And in his Scept. Chym. Part 6. pag. 362. Compare also Hakewil’s Apol. pag. 164.

And particularly as to the Growth of Iron, to the Instances he gives from Pliny, Fallopius, Cæsalpinus, and others; we may add, what is well known in the Forest of Dean in Gloucestershire: That the best Iron, and most in Quantity, that is found there, is in the old Cinders, which they melt over again. This is the Author of the Additions to Gloucestershire in Cambd. Brit. of the last Edition, p. 245. attributes to the Remissness of the former Melters, in not exhausting the Ore: But in all Probability it is rather to be attributed to the new Impregnations of the old Ore, or Cinders, from the Air, or from some seminal Principle, or plastick Quality in the Ore it self.

[c] As for the Growth of Stone, Mr. Boyl gives two Instances. One is that famous Place in France, called Les Caves Goutieres: Where the Water falling from the upper Parts of the Cave to the Ground, doth presently there condense into little Stones, of such Figures as the Drops, falling either severally, or upon one another, and coagulating presently into Stones, chance to exhibit. Vid. Scept. Chym. pag. 360.

Such like Caves as these I have my self met with in England; particularly on the very Top of Bredon-Hill in Worcestershire, near the Precipice, facing Pershore, in or near the old Fortress, called Bembsbury-Camp; I saw some Years ago such a Cave, which (if I mis-remember not) was lined with those Stalactical Stones on the Top and Sides. On the Top they hung like Icicles great and small, and many lay on the Ground. They seemed manifestly to be made by an Exsudation, or Exstillation of some petrifying Juices out of the rocky Earth there. On the Spot, I thought it might be from the Rains soaking through, and carrying with it Impregnations from the Stone, the Hill being there all rocky. Hard by the Cave is one or more vast Stones, which (if I mistake not) are incrustated with this Sparry, Stalactical Substance, if not wholly made of it. But it is so many Years ago since I was at the Place, and not being able to find my Notes about it, I cannot say whether the whole Stone is (in all Probability) Spar, (as I think it is,) or whether I found it only cased over with it, notwithstanding I was very nice in examining it then, and have now some of the Fragments by me, consisting, among other shining Parts, of some transparent angular ones.

The other Instance of Mr. Boyl, is from Linschoten, who saith, that in the East-Indies, when they have cleared the Diamond Mines of all the Diamonds, In a few Years Time they find in the same Place new Diamonds produced. Boyl. Ibid.

[d] It is not only agreeable to Reason, but I am told by Persons conversant in digging of Wells throughout this County of Essex, where I live, that the surest Beds in which they find Water, are Gravel, and a coarse, dark coloured Sand; which Beds seldom fail to yield Plenty of sweet Water: But for Clay, they never find Water therein, if it be a strong, stiff Clay; but if it be lax and sandy, sometimes Springs are found in it; yet so weak, that they will scarcely serve the Uses of the smallest Family. And sometimes they meet with those Beds lying next, under a loose, black Mould, (which, by their Description, I judged to be a sort of oazy, or to have the Resemblance of an ancient, rushy Ground,) and in that Case the Water is always naught, and stinks. And lastly, Another sort of Bed they find in Essex, in the clayie-Lands, particularly that part called the Rodings, which yields Plenty of sweet Water, and that is a Bed of white Earth, as though made of Chalk and white Sand. This they find, after they have dug through forty, or more Feet of Clay; and it is so tender and moist, that it will not lie upon the Spade, but they are forced to throw it into their Bucket with their Hands, or with Bowls; but when it comes up into the Air, it soon becomes an hard white Stone.

Thus much for the Variety of Beds wherein the Waters are found. That it is in these Beds only or chiefly the Springs run, is farther manifest from the forcible Eruption of the Waters sometimes out of those watery Beds. Of which see Chap. 4. Note (k). This Eruption shews, that the Waters come from some Eminence or other, lying at a Distance, and being closely pent up within the watery Stratum, by the clayie Strata, the Waters with force mount up, when the Strata above are opened.

[e] V. Dr. Woodward’s Essay, Part 2. Steno’s Prodr. &c.

[f] Id. ib. pag. 28. and 74. But Dr. Leigh in his Nat. History of Lancashire, speaking of the Coal-pits, denies the Strata to lie according to the Laws of Gravitation, saying the Strata are a Bed of Marle, afterwards Free-Stone, next Iron-Stone, then Coal, or Kennel-Mine, then some other Strata, and again Coal, &c.

But upon a stricter Enquiry into the Matter, finding I had reason to suspect that few, if any, actually had tried the Experiment, I was minded to bring the Thing to the Test of Experiment my self; and having an Opportunity, on April 11. 1712. I caused divers Places to be bored, laying the several Strata by themselves; which afterwards I weighed with all Strictness, first in Air, then in Water, taking Care that no Air-bubbles, &c. might obstruct the Accuracy of the Experiment. The Result was, that in my Yard, the Strata were gradually specifically heavier and heavier, the lower and lower they went; and the upper which was Clay, was considerably specifically lighter than the lower Stratum; which was first a loose Sand, then a Gravel. In which Stratum principally the Springs run that supply my Well.

But in my Fields, where three Places were bored (to no great Depth) I found below the upper (superficial Stratum) a deep Bed of Sand only, which was of different Colours and Consistence, which I weighed as before, together with the Virgin-Mould; but they were all of the same, or nearly the same specifick Gravity, both out of the same Hole, and out of different Holes, although the Sand was at last so gravelly, that it hinder’d our boring any deeper.

Upon this, fearing lest some Error might be in the former Experiments, I try’d them over again; and that with the same Success.

After this, I made some Experiments in some deep Chalk-Pits, with the Flints, Chalk, &c. above and below; but the Success was not so uniform as before.

Acquainting our justly renowned R. S. with these Experiments, they ordered their Operator to experiment the Strata of a Coal-Pit; the Success whereof may be seen in Philos. Trans. Nr. 336.

[a] Nemo dixerit terram pulchriorem esse quòd cavernosa sit, quòd dehiscat in multis locis, quòd disrupta caveis & spatiis inanibus; iisque nullo ordine dispositis, nullâ formâ: nec quæ aliud contineant quàm tenebras & sordes; unde graves & pestifera exhalationes, terræ motus, &c. Burnet ubi supr. c. 7.

[b] The Zirchnitzer Sea in Carniola, is of great Use to the Inhabitants of that Country, by affording them Fish, Fowls, Fodder, Seeds, Deer, Swine, and other Beasts, Carriage for their Goods, &c. Vid. Phil. Trans. Nr. 191, &c. or Lowth. Abridg. Vol. 2. p. 306, &c. where you have put together in one View, what is dispersed in divers of the Transactions. This Sea or Lake proceeds from some subterraneous Grotto, or Lake, as is made highly probable by Mr. Valvasor, Ibid.

The Grotto Podpetschio may be another Instance, that the very subterraneous Lakes may be of Use, even to the Inhabitants of the Surface above: Of which see Lowth. ubi supr. pag. 317. Sturmius also may be consulted herein his Philos. Eclect. Exercit. 11. de Terræ mot. particularly in Chap. 3. some of the most eminent Specus’s are enumerated, and some of their Uses.

[c] Crebri specus [remedium] præbent. Præconceptum enim spiritum exhalant: quod in certis notatur oppidis, quæ minùs quatiuntur, crebris ad eluviem cuniculis cavata. Plin. Hist. Nat. lib. 2. cap. 82.

[d] Woodward’s Essay, Part 3. Consect. 13.

[a] Though there are some that think Mountains to be a Deformity to the Earth, &c. yet if well considered, they will be found as much to conduce to the Beauty and Conveniency of the Universe, as any of the other Parts. Nature (saith Pliny) purposely framed them for many excellent Uses; partly to tame the Violence of greater Rivers, to strengthen certain Joints within the Veins and Bowels of the Earth, so break the Force of the Sea’s Inundation, and for the Safety of the Earth’s Inhabitants, whether Beasts or Men. That they make much for the Protection of Beasts, the Psalmist testifies, The highest Hills are a Refuge for the wild Goats, and the Rocks for Conies. The Kingly Prophet had likewise learnt the Safety of those by his own Experience, when he also was fain to make a Mountain his Refuge from the Fury of his Master Saul, who prosecuted him in the Wilderness. True indeed, such Places as these keep their Neighbours poor, as being most barren, but yet they preserve them safe, at being most strong; witness our unconquered Wales and Scotland.——Wherefore a good Author doth rightly call them Natures Bulwarks, cast up at God Almighty’s Charges, the Scorns and Curbs of victorious Armies; which made the Barbarians in Curtius so confident of their own Safety, &c. Bishop Wilkin’s World in the Moon, pag. 114.

[b] Ray’s Wisdom of God, &c. pag. 251. Dissolution of the World, pag. 35.

[c] Theophrastus having reckoned up the Trees that delight most in the Hills, and others in the Valleys, observeth, Ἅπαντα δὲ ὅσα κοινὰ τῶν ὀρῶν καὶ τῶν πεδίων, μείζω μὲν καὶ καλλίω τῄ ὅψες τὰ ἐν τοῖς πεδιοις γινε ται. κρείττω δὲ χρήσες τῶν ξύλων καὶ τῶν καρπῶν, τὰ ὀρεινά. Theoph. Hist. Pl. l. 3. c. 4. Ἅπαντα δὲ ἐν τοῖς ὀικείοις τόποις καλλίω γίνεται, καὶ μᾶλλον ἐυσθενεῖ·——Τὰ μὲν γαρ φιλει τοὺς ἐφίδρους καὶ ἑλώδεις.——Τὰ δὲ, τοὺς ἐυτκεπεῖς καὶ ἐυηλιους. Ib. l. 4. c. 1.

[d] Wisdom of God, p. 252.

[e] Ubi supra.

[f] Many have taken Notice, that some of the greatest Eminences of the World run generally East and West, of which take the late ingenious and learned Dr. Nichols’s Account, [Confer. with a Theist, Part 2. pag. 191.] To go no farther than our own Country, all our great Ridges of Hills in England run East and West; so do the Alps in Italy, and in some Measure the Pyrenees; so do the Mountains of the Moon in Africk, and so do Mount Taurus and Caucasus. This he saith is a wise Contrivance to prevent the Vapours, which would all run Northwards, and leave no Rains in the Mediterranean Countries.

[g] That the Generation of many of the Clouds is owing to the Hills, appears from the Observations of the ingenious and learned Dr. Joh. Jam. Scheuchzer of Zurich, and Mr. Joach. Frid. Creitlovius cited by him. They observed at Sun-rising, divers Clouds detached by the Heat of the Sun, from some of the Tops of the Alps, &c. upon all which their Observations, the Conclusion is, Mirati summam Creatoris sapientiam, qui & id quod paulò antè nulli nobis usui esse videbatur, maximis rebus destinaverat, adeóque ex illo tempore dubitare cœpi, num Nubes essent futura, si istiusmodi Montes & Petræ non darentur. Hypothesi hâc stante, elucesceret permagna utilitas, imò necessitas, quam Helviticæ Alpes non nobis tantùm accolis sed & vicinis aliis regionibus præstant, dispensando, quas gignunt Nubes, Ventos, Aquas. Scheuch. Iter. Alpin. 2. p. 20.

[h] Let us take here Ol. Mag. Observation of his Northern Mountains, Montes excelsi sunt, sed pro majori parte steriles, & aridi; in quibus ferè nil aliud pro incolarum commoditate & conservatione gignitur, quàm inexhausta pretiosorum Metallorum ubertas, quâ satìs opulenti, fertilesque sunt in omnibus vitæ necessariis, forsitan & superfluis aliunde si libet conquirendis, unanimique robore, ac viribus, ubi vis contra hæc naturæ dona intentata fuerit, defendendis. Acre enim genus hominum est, &c. Ol. Mag. Hist. L. 6. Præf. See also Sir Robert Sibbald’s Prodr. Nat. Hist. Scot. p. 47.

[i] See Book I. Chap. 3. Note (b).

[k] Monsieur Blundel, related to the Parisian Academy, what Device the Inhabitants the lower Austria, (which is encompassed with the Mountains of Stiria) are wont to use to fill their Wells with Water. They dig in the Earth to the Depth of 25 and 20 Feet, till they come to an Argilla [clammy Earth]——which they bore through so deep, till the Waters break forcibly out; which Water it is probable comes from the neighbouring Mountains in subterraneous Chanels. And Cassinus observed, that in many Places of the Territory of Modena and Bologna in Italy, they make themselves Wells by the like Artifice, &c. By this Means the same Seig. Cassini made a Fountain at the Castle of Urbin, that cast up the Water five Foot high above the level of the Ground. Ray’s Disc. 1. pag. 40. ubi plura.

Upon Enquiry of some skilful Workmen, whose Business it is to dig Wells, &c. whether they had ever met with the like Case, as these in this Note, they told me they had met with it in Essex, where after they had dug to 50 Foot Depth, the Man in the Well observed the clayie Bottom to swell and begin to send out Water, and stamping with his Foot to stop the Water, he made way for so suddain and forcible a Flux of Water, that before he could get into his Bucket, he was above his Waste in Water; which soon ascended to 17 Feet height, and there stayed: And although they often with great Labour endeavoured to empty the Well, in order to finish their Work, yet they could never do it, but were forced to leave it as it was.

[l] As the Hills being higher, are naturally disposed to be drier than the Valleys; so kind Nature hath provided the greater Supplies of Moisture for them, such at least of them as do not ascend above the Clouds and Vapours. For, besides the Fountains continually watering them, they have more Dews and Rains commonly than the Valleys. They are more frequently covered with Fogs; and by retarding, stopping, or compressing the Clouds, or by their greater Colds condensing them, they have larger Quantities of Rain fall upon them. As I have found by actual Experience, in comparing my Observations with those of my late very curious and ingenious Correspondent, Richard Townley, Esq; of Lancashire, and some others, to be met with before, Chap. 2. Note (a). From which it appears, that above double the Quantity of Rain falleth in Lancashire, than doth at Upminster. The Reason of which is, because Lancashire hath more, and much higher Hills than Essex hath. See Book II. Chap. 5. Note (e).

[m] Accusandi sanè meâ sententiâ hìc sunt Sophistæ, qui cùm nondum invenire, neque exponere opera Naturæ queant, eam tamen inertiâ atque inscitiâ condemnant, &c. Galen. de Us. Part 1. l. 10. c. 9.

[n] Vide quàm iniqui sint divinorum munerum astimatores, etiam quidam professi sapientiam. Queruntur quòd non magnitudine corporis æquemus Elephantes, velocitate Cervos, levitate Aves, impetu Tauros; quòd solidior sit cutis Belluis, decentior Damis, densior Ursis, mollior Fibris; quòd sagacitate nos narium Canes vincant, quòd acie luminum Aquilæ, spatio ætatis Corvi, multa Animalia nandi facilitate. Et cùm quædam nè coire quidem in idem Natura patiatur, ut velocitatem corporis & vires pares animalibus habeamus; ex diversis & dissidentibus bonis Hominem non esse compositum, injuriam vocant; & in negligentes nostri Deos querimoniam jaciunt, quòd non bona valetudo, & vitiis inexpugnabilis data sit, quòd non futuri scientia. Vix sibi temperant quin eousque impudentiæ provehantur, ut Naturam oderint, quòd infra Deos sumus, quòd non in æquo illis stetimus. Seneca de Benef. l. 2. c. 29.

[o] Quanto satiùs est ad contemplationem tot tantorumque beneficiorum reverti, & agere gratias, quòd nos in hoc pulcherrimo domicilio voluerunt (Dii) secundos fortiri, quòd terrenis præfecerunt. Then having reckoned up many of the Privileges and Benefits, which the Gods, he saith, have conferred upon us, he concludes, Ita est: carissimos nos habuerunt Dii immortales, habentque. Et qui maximus tribui honos potuit, ab ipsis proximos collocaverunt. Magna accepimus, majora non cepimus. Senec. Ibid.

[p] Naturam maximè admiraberis, si omnia ejus opera perlustraris. Galen. de Us. Part. I. 11. conclus.

[q] Rom. ix. 20, 21.

[r] Neither are they [noxious Creatures] of less Use to amend our Minds, by teaching us Care and Diligence, and more Wit. And so much the more, the worse the Things are we see, and should avoid. Weezels, Kites, and other mischievous Animals, induce us to a Watchfulness: Thistles and Moles to good Husbandry; Lice oblige us to Cleanliness in our Bodies; Spiders in our Houses; and the Moth in our Clothes. The Deformity and Filthiness of Swine, make them the Beauty-Spot of the Animal Creation, and the Emblems of all Vice——The truth is, Things are hurtful to us only by Accident; that is, not of Necessity, but through our own Negligence or Mistake. Houses decay, Corn is blasted, and the Weevel breeds in Mault, soonest towards the South. Be it so, it is then our own Fault, if we use not the Means which Nature and Art have provided against these Inconveniencies. Grew’s Cosmol. c. 2. §. 49, 50.

[s]

[a]

[a] Ex sensibus ante cætera Homini Tactus, deinde Gustatus: reliquis superatur à multis. Aquilæ clariùs cernunt: Vultures sagaciùs ordorantur, liquidiùs audiunt Talpæ obrutæ terrâ, tam denso atque surdo naturæ elemento. Plin. Nat. Hist. l. 10. c. 69.

[b] Subjacent Oculi, pars corporis pretiosissima, & qui lucis usu vitam distinguant à morte. Plin. Nat. Hist. l. 11. c. 37.

[c] Fœminæ aliquæ Megarenses solis oculis discernere valebant inter Ova quæ ex Gallinâ nigrâ, & quæ ex albâ nata sunt, is what is affirmed (how truly I know not) by Grimald. de Lumin. & Color. Pr. 43. §. 60.

[a] In Dissectionibus anatomicis vix aliquid admirabilius, aut artificiosius structurâ Oculi humani, meo quidem judicio, occurrit: ut meritò, per excellentiam, Creatoris appelletur Miraculum. Gul. Fabr. Hildan. Cent. 2. Observ. 1.

So likewise that accurate Surveyor of the Eye, Dr. Briggs, whose Ophthalmography I have met with since my penning this part of my Survey. His Character of this curious piece of God’s Work is, Inter præcipuas corporis animati partes, quæ magni Conditoris nostri sapientiam ostendunt, nulla sanè reperitur, quæ majori pompâ elucet quàm ipse Oculus, aut quæ elegantiori formâ concinnatur. Deum enim aliæ partes vel minori satellitio stipantur, vel in tantam venustatem haud assurgunt; Ocelli peculiarem honorem & decus à supremo Numine efflatum referunt, & nunquam non stupendæ suæ Potentia characteres repræsentant. Nulla sanè pars tam divino artificio & ordine, &c. Cap. 1. §. 1.

[b] It is a good Reason Frier Bacon assigns for the Sphæricity of the Eye: Nam si esset planæ figuræ, species rei majoris oculo non posset cadere perpendiculariter super eum——Cùm ergò Oculus videt magna corpora, ut ferè quartam cœli uno aspectu, manifestum est, quòd non potest esse planæ figuræ, nec alicujus nisi sphæricæ, quoniam super sphæram parvam possunt cadere perpendiculares infinitæ, quæ à magno corpore veniunt, & tendunt in centrum Sphæræ: Et sic magnum corpus potest ab oculo parvo videri. For the Demonstration of which he hath given us a Figure. Rog. Bacon. Perspect. Distinct. 4. Cap. 4.

Dr. Briggs saith, Pars antica, (sive Cornea,) convexior est posticâ: hâc enim ratione radii meliùs in pupillam detorquentur, & Oculi fundus ex altarâ parte in majorem (propter imagines rerum ibidem delineandos) expanditur. Ibid. §. 2.

[c] Suppose the Eye had the Retina, or back part flat for the Reception of the Images, as in Fig. 1. ABA: it is manifest, that if the Extremes of the Image AA were at a due focal distance, the middle B would be too nigh the Crystalline, and consequently appear confused and dim; but all Parts of the Retina lying at a due focal distance from the Crystalline, as at ACA, therefore the Image painted thereon is seen distinct and clear. Thus in a dark Room, with a Lens at a Hole in the Window, (which Sturmius calls his Artificial Eye, in his Exercit. Acad. one of which he had made for his Pupils, to run any where on Wheels). In this Room, I say, if the Paper that receives the Images be too nigh, or too far off the Lens, the Image will be confused and dim; but in the Focus of the Glass, distinct, clear, and a pleasant Sight.

[d] Blemmyis traduntur capita abesse, Ore & Oculis pectori affixis. Plin. Nat. Hist. l. 5. c. 8. Occidentem versus quosdam sine cervice Oculos in humeris habentes. Ib. l. 7. c. 2. From these, and other such like Fables, in this last cited Chapter of Pliny, no doubt our famous Romancer Sir J. Mandevile, had his Romnantick Stories related in his Travels.

[e] See Book V. Chap. 2. Note (e).

[f] Galen deserves to be here consulted, who in his Book De Usu Partium, from many Considerations of the Hand, such as what is here mentioned, as also its Structure, Site and Use, largely proves and reflects upon the Wisdom and Providence of the Contriver and Maker of that Part.

[g] Thus in Hares and Conies, their Eyes are very protuberant, and placed so much towards the sides of their Head, that their two Eyes take in nearly a whole Sphere: Whereas in Dogs, (that pursue them) the Eyes are set more forward in the Head, to look that way more than backward.

[h] Sed lubricos Oculos fecit [Natura] & mobiles, ut & declinarent siquid noceret; & aspectum, quo vellent, facile converterent. Cicer. de Nat. Deor. l. 2. c. 57.

[i] The Eyes of Spiders, (in some four, in some six, and in some eight) are placed all in the fore-front of their Head, (which is round, and without any Neck) all diaphanous and transparent, like a Locket of Diamonds, &c. neither wonder why Providence should be so anomalous in this Animal, more than in any other we know of. For, 1. Since they wanting a Neck, cannot move their Head, it is requisite that Defect should be supplied by the multiplicity of Eyes. 2. Since they were to live by catching so nimble a Prey as a Fly is, they ought to see her every way, and to take her per saltum, (as they do) without any Motion of the Head to discover her: Which Motion would have scared away so timorous an Insect. Power’s Micros. Observ. pag. 11.

The Eyes of the Cameleon resemble a Lens, or Convex Glass, set in a versatile globular Socket, which she turneth backward, or any way, without moving her Head; and ordinarily the one a contrary, or quite different way from the other. Dr. Goddard in Phil. Tran. Nᵒ. 137.

But what is more extraordinary in this Motion [of the Cameleon’s Eye] is to see one of the Eyes move, whilst the other remains immoveable; and the one to turn forward, at the same time that the other looketh behind; the one to look up to the Sky, when the other is fixed on the Ground. And these Motions to be so extreme, that they do carry the Pupilla under the Crest which makes the Eye-brow, and so far into the Canthi, or Corners of the Eyes, that the Sight can discern whatever is done just behind it, and directly before, without turning the Head, which is fastned to the Shoulders. Mem. for a Nat. Hist. in Anatom. Dissect. at Paris. Diss. of Camel. pag. 22.

[k] Snails send out their Eyes at a distance, they being contained in their four Horns, like atramentous Spots, fitted to the end of their Horns, or rather to the ends of those black Filaments or optick Nerves, which are sheathed in her Horns, as Dr. Power wordeth it. Obs. 31. pag. 36. So the ingenious Dr. Lister. Exercit. Anat. Cochl. & Limac.

[l] Vid. l. 8. c. 3. Note (a).

[m] Severinus is of Aristotle’s, Pliny’s, and Alb. Magnus’s Opinion, that the Mole hath no Sight; G. Seger denies any Humour to be therein, but thinks they may probably see, because Nature made nothing in vain. But Borrichius saith, their Eyes have appendiculam nerveam in cerebrum euntem, cujus beneficio globuli illi [the little Eyes] extra pellem facilè poterant exseri, retrahique pro arbitrio——In illis oculorum globulis humor aqueus copiose satis natabat; cæterorum non nisi tenue vestigiem. Blas. Anat. Anim. c. 35.

Et quoniam Natura hoc vitæ genus ipsi destinavit, etiam perquàm exiguos Oculos——dedit eo concilio, ut ii, pretiosissima corporis pars, à terræ pulvere nè affligerentur. Ii insuper pilis recti, &c. Humores illis oculis insunt, & tunica nigra, uvea, se prodit. Ad hos tramite alio nervus venit. Schneider in Blas. ibid.

Some time since I made divers accurate Dissections of the Eyes of Moles, with the help of Microscopes, having a doubt whether what we take to be Eyes, were such or no. And upon a strict Scrutiny I plainly could distinguish the Vitreous and Crystalline Humours, yea, the Ligamentum Ciliare, and the atramentaceous Mucus. The Pupil I could manifestly discern to be round, and the Cornea copped, or conical: The Eye is at a great distance from the Brain, the Optick Nerve very slender and long, reaching from the Eye through the intermediate Flesh, and so passeth to the Brain, along with the pair of Nerves reaching to the Nose, which are much the largest that are in all the Animal. These Creatures, I imagine, have the Faculty of withdrawing their Eyes, if not quite into the Head, (as Snails) yet more or less within the Hair, as they have more or less Occasion to use or guard their Eyes.

Galen saith, Moles have Eyes, the Crystalline and Vitreous Humours, encompassed with Tunicks. De Us. Part. l. 14. c. 6. So accurate an Anatomist was he for his Time.

[n] Pliny tells us of a sort of Heron with but one Eye, but ’twas only by hear-say. Inter Aves Ardeolarum genere, quos Leucos vocant, altero oculo carere tradunt. Nat. Hist. l. 11. c. 37. So the King of the Nigræ that hath but one Eye, and that in his Forehead, l. 6. c. 30. Which Fables I take notice of more for the Reader’s Diversion, than any Truth in them.

[o] Supra, Note (i).

[p] The most celebrated Anatomists differ greatly about the Reason why we see not double with two Eyes. This Galen, and others after him, generally thought to be from a Coalition or Decussation of the Optick Nerves, behind the Os Sphenoïdes. But whether they decussate, coalesce, or only touch one another, they do not well agree. The Bartholines expressly assert they are united, non per simplicem contactum vel intersectionem in homine, sed totalem substantiæ confusionem, Anat. l. 3. c. 2. And whereas Vesalius, and some others had found some Instances of their being disunited; they say, sed in plerisque ordinarie confunditur interior substantia, ut accuratâ disquisitione deprehendi.

But our Learned Dr. Gibson, (Anat. l. 3. c. 10.) saith, they are united by the closest Conjunction, but not Confusion of their Fibres.

But others think the Reason is not from any Coalescence, Contact, or crossing of the Optick Nerves, but from a Sympathy between them. Thus Monsieur Cartes is of Opinion, that the Fibrillæ constituting the medullary Part of those Nerves, being spread in the Retina of each Eye, have each of them corresponding Parts in the Brain; so that when any of those Fibrillæ are struck by any part of an Image, the corresponding Parts of the Brain are thereby affected, and the Soul thereby informed, &c. but see more hereafter under Note (oo), from Cartes himself.

Somewhat like this is the Notion of our judicious Dr. Briggs, who thinks the Optick Nerves of each Eye consist of Homologous Fibres, having their rise in the Thalamus Nervorum Opticorum, and thence continued to both the Retinæ, which are made of them; And farther, that those Fibrillæ have the same Parallelism, Tension, &c. in both Eyes; and consequently when an Image is painted on the same corresponding, sympathizing Parts of each Retina, the same Effects are produced, the same Notice or Information is carried to the Thalamus, and so imparted to the Soul, or judging Faculty. That there is such an Ὁμοιοπάθεια between the Retina, &c. he makes very probable from the ensuing of double Vision upon the Interruption of the Parallelism of the Eyes; as when one Eye is depressed with the Finger, or their Symphony interrupted by Disease, Drunkenness, &c. And lastly, That simple Vision is not made in the former way, viz. by a Decussation or Conjunction of the Optick Nerves, he proves, because those Nerves are but in few Subjects decussated, and in none conjoined otherwise than by a bare Contact, which is particularly manifest in Fishes; and in some Instances it hath been found, that they have been separated without any double Vision ensuing thereupon. Vid. Brig. Ophthalmogr. cap. 11. & 5. and Nov. Vis. Theor. passim.

What the Opinion of our justly eminent Sir Isaac Newton is, may be seen in his Opticks, Qu. 15. Are not the Species of Objects seen with both Eyes, united where the Optick Nerves meet before they come into the Brain, the Fibres on the right side of both Nerves uniting there, &c. For the Optick Nerves of such Animals as look the same way with both Eyes, (as of Men, Dogs, Sheep, Oxen, &c.) meet before they come into the Brain; but the Optick Nerves of such Animals as do not look the same way with both Eyes, (as of Fishes and of the Cameleon) do not meet, if I am rightly informed. Newt. Opt. Q. 15.

[q] Nigra est [Uvea] ut radios (ab Oculi fundo ad anteriorem ejus partem reflexos) obumbret; nè hi (ut ait clar. Cartesius) ad Oculi fundum retorti ibidem confusam visionem efficerent. Alia forsan ratio hujus nigredinis statuatur, quòd radii in visione superflui, qui ab objectis lateralibus proveniunt hoc ritu absorbeantur. Ita enim è loco obscuro interdiu objecta optimè intuemur, quia radii tunc temporis circumfuso lumine non diluuntur. Brigg’s Ophthal. c. 3. §. 5.

[r] Admirandum Dei artificium ex diversorum animalium comparatione indies evadit manifestiùs. Mirantur omnes Trochlearem in oculis Hominum & Quadrupedum, & quidem jure: sed admirationem omnem superat, quòd sine Trochleâ oculum movens in Avibus novum genus Trochleæ longè artificiosiùs Nictitandi Membranæ dederit. Blas. Anat. Animal. p. 2. c. 4. ex Stenon.

[Musculum Trochlearem] per intermedium trochleam traductum, nunquam intueor, quin admirabundus mecum, Ὁ Θεὸς, exclamem ὀυ μόνον ἀεὶ γεωμετρεῖ, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἀεὶ μηχανᾶται. I. C. Sturmii Exercit. Acad. 9. de Vis. Org. & Rat. c. 3. §. 4. p. 446.

[s] Observare est quod Quadrupedes, qui oculos in terram pronos, ac pendulos gerunt, Musculum peculiarem habent, quo Oculi globus suspenditur——Hoc Musculo Bos, Equus, Ovis, Lepus, Porcus, &c. præditi sunt: hoc etiam Canis instruitur, sed alio modo conformatum habet. Willis de An. Brut. p. 1. c. 15.

Of this Opinion also was Bartholine Anat. l. 3. c. 8. and divers other eminent Anatomists.

But Dr. Briggs is of Opinion that the Adnata, and the other Muscles sufficiently answer all those Ends ascribed to that Muscle by former Anatomists, and thinks Probabiliùs itaque esse hunc Musculum nervi Optici actionem (per vices) confirmare, nè à prono Brutorum incessu & copioso affluxu humorum debilitetur, Ophthal. c. 2. §. 2.

The Musculus Suspensorius being in the Porpess, as well as Brutes, Dr. Tyson thinks the Use of it is not to suspend the Bulk of the Eye; but rather by its equal Contraction of the Sclerotis, to render the Ball of the Eye more or less Spherical, and so fitter for Vision. Tyson’s Anat. of the Porpess, p. 39.

[t] Musculus obliquus inferior oritur à peculiari quodam foramine in latere Orbitæ ocularis facto, (contra quam in cæteris, &c.) quo fit ut ex unâ parte à Musculo trochleari, ex alterâ verò ab hujus Musculi commodissimâ positione, Oculus in æquilibrio quodam constitutus, irretorto obtutu versus objecta feratur, nec plus justo accedat versus internum externumve canthum; quæ quidem Libratio omnino nulla fuisset, absque hujus Musculi peculiari originatione (cujus ratio omnes hucusque Anatomicos latuit). And so this curious Anatomist goes on to shew farther the stupendous Artifice of the great Creator in this Position of the Oblique Muscles. Brigg’s Nova Vis. Theor. p. 11. meo libro.

[u] Besides those particular Motions which the Eye receives from the Oblique Muscles, and I may add its Libration also in some Measure, some Anatomists ascribe another no less considerable Use to them; namely, to lengthen and shorten the Eye (by squeezing and compressing it) to make it correspond to the Distances of all Objects, according as they are nigh or far off. Thus the ingenious Dr. Keil; The Aqueous Humour being the thinnest and most liquid, easily changeth its Figure, when either the Ligamentum Ciliate contracts, or both the Oblique Muscles squeeze the middle of the Ball of the Eye, to render it Oblong when Objects are too near us. Keil’s Anat. Chap. 4. Sect. 4. See Note (y).

[w] Quis verò opifex præter Naturam, quâ nihil potest esse callidiùs, tantam solertiam persequi potuisset in Sensibus? quæ primùm Oculos membranis tenuissimis vestivit, & sepiit; quas primum perlucidas fecit, ut per eas cerni posset: firmas aurem, ut continerentur. Cic. de Nat. Deor. l. 2. c. 57.

[x] Boyl of Final Causes.

[y] It is easy to be observed, that the Pupil openeth in dark Places; as also when we look at far distant Objects, but contracts by an Increase of Light, and when the Objects are nigh. This Motion of the Pupil some say, is effected by the circular and strait Fibres of the Uvea, and some attribute it to the Ligamentum Ciliare. Yet I have no great doubt but that they both concur in that Action, and that the Ligamentum Ciliare doth, at the same time the Pupil opens or shuts, dilate or compress the Crystalline, and bring it nigher unto, or carry it farther off the Retina. For the Structure of the Ligamentum Ciliare, and its two Sorts of Fibres, drawn with the Help of a Microscope, I shall refer to Mr. Cowper’s Anat. T. 11.

[z] In Bove, Caprâ, Equo, Ove, & quibusdam aliis elliptica est (Pupilla) ut eo magis in hisce forsan animalibus, quæ prono incessu victum in agris quæritant, radios laterales ad mala & incommoda utrinque devitanda admittat. Briggs’s Ophthal. c. 7. §. 6.

Homini erecto, aliisque, &c. caput erigere, & quaquaversus circumspicere solitis, plurima simul objecta, tum suprà, tum infrà, tum è latere utroque——visu excipiuntur; quapropter Oculi Pupilla rotunda esse debet.——Attamen bovi, &c. caput ferè semper pronum——gerentibus, tantùm quæ coràm, & paulo à latere obversantur, intuitu opus est: quapropter Pupilla——oblonga est, &c. Willis de Anim. Brut. p. 1. c. 15.

[aa] Thus Cats (their Pupils being erect, and the shutting of their Eye-lids transverse thereunto) can so close their Pupil, as to admit of, as it were, one only single Ray of Light; and by throwing all open, they can take in all the faintest Rays. Which is an incomparable Provision for these Animals, that have occasion to watch and way-lay their Prey both by Day and Night.

[bb] There is besides this large opening of the Pupil, in some nocturnal Animals, another admirable Provision, enabling them to catch their Prey in the Dark; and that is a Radiation of the Eyes: Of which Dr. Willis thus; Hujus usus est Oculi Pupillam, quasi jubare insito, illuminare, ut res noctu, & in tenebris positas conspicere valeat: quare in Fele plurimùm illustris est: at Homini, Avibus, & Piscibus deest. This Illumination he speaks of, is from the Tapetum, in the Bottom of the Eye, or the shining of the Retina, round the optick Nerve.

Besides which, he saith, the Iris hath a Faculty also, in some, of darting out Rays of Light, so as to enable them to see in the Dark: Of which he tells this Story; Novi quendam cerebro calidiori præditum, qui post uberiorem vini generosi potum in nocte atratâ, sive tenebris profundis, literas distincte legere potuit. Cujus ratio videtur esse, quòd spiritus animales velut accensi, adeòque ab hâc Iride irradiantes, jubare infito Medium illuminabant. Willis Ibid.

Such another Thing, Pliny tells us, was reported of Tiberius Cæsar: Ferunt Tib. Cæs. nec alii genitorum mortalium, fuisse naturam, ut expergefactus noctu paulisper, haud alio modo quam luce clarâ, contueretur omnia. Nat. Hist. l. 11. c. 37.

So Dr. Briggs: Virum sanè calidæ indolis novi in Comitatu Bedfordiensi degentem, qui oculis felineis——donatus est: adeò ut epistolam——mirè admodùm in loco obscuro (ubi eadem mihi vix apparuit) perlegit. Hujus verò Oculi (nisi quod Pupillas insigniores obsinuere) ab aliorum formatione neutiquam discrepabant. Ophthal. c. 5. §. 12.

[cc] The Tunica Aranea is taken notice of by Frier Bacon, who calls it, Tela Aranea, and saith, in hâc continetur——glaciale vel Crystallinum. Rog. Bacon’s Perspect. Distinct. 2. c. 3. The wrinkling of this, and the Cornea (as the Skin is of old Persons) he thinks is the Cause of the Obscurity of the Sight in such Persons. Bacon Ib. par. 2. cap. 2. But this Tunick some deny, and others allow of: Dr. A. M. of Trinity-College, Dublin, (in his Relat. of Anat. Obs. in the Eyes of Animals, in a Letter to Mr. Boyl, Ann. 1682. annexed to his Anat. Account of the Elephant burnt in Dublin, p. 57.) affirms the Tunica Aranea, and saith, I have often seen it before ’twas exposed to the Air one Minute, notwithstanding what Dr. Briggs saith to the contrary, &c. But Dr. Briggs his Opinion is, Humor Crystallinus, nisi aeri diutiùs expositus, vel lenitèr coctus (instar lactis) cuticulam non acquirit: quæ verò impropriè, Tunica Aranea dicitur, cùm si tantùm adventitia, ut in Oculo Bovis recens execto appareat. Briggs’s Ophthalm. c. 3.

The Crystalline Humour being of a double Substance, outwardly like a Gelly, towards the Center as consistent as hard Suet, upon occasion whereof its Figure may be varied; which Variation may be made by the Ligamentum Ciliare; Dr. Grew doth, upon these Accounts, not doubt to ascribe to the Ligamentum Ciliare, a Power of making the Crystalline more Convex, as well as of moving it to, or from the Retina. See Grew’s Cosmolog. Sacr. l. 1. c. 4. Now it is certain by the Laws of Opticks, that somewhat of this is absolutely necessary to distinct Vision, inasmuch as the Rays proceeding from nigh Objects do more diverge, and those from distant Objects less: Which requires either that the Crystalline Humour should be made more Convex, or more flat; or else an Elongation, or shortning of the Eye, or of the Distance between the Crystalline Humour and the Retina.

But although Dr. Briggs (so good a Judge) denies the Tunica Crystallina, contrary to the Opinion of most former Anatomists; yet there is great Reason to conclude he was in a Mistake, in my Opinion, from the Observations of the French Anatomists, of the Crystalline of the Eye, of the Gemp or Chamois, who say, The Membrana Arachnoïdes was very thick, and hard, so that it was easily separated from the Crystallinus, p. 145.

The same Anatomists also favour the Surmise of Dr. Grew, This [Contraction of the Fibres of the Ligamentum Ciliare on one side, and Dilatation on the other] would make us think that these Fibres of the Ligamentum Ciliare, are capable of Contraction, and voluntary Dilatation, like that of the Fibres of the Muscles; and that this Action may augment, or diminish the Convexity of the Crystallinus, according as the Need which the Distance of the Objects may make it to have on the Eye, to see more clearly and distinctly. Anat. Descrip. of a Bear, p. 49.

Since my penning the foregoing Notes, having as critically as I could, dissected many Eyes of Birds, Beasts and Fishes, I manifestly found the Membrana Arachnoïdes, and will undertake to shew it any one, with great Ease and Certainty. It is indeed so transparent, as not to be seen distinct from the Crystalline. But if the Cornea and Uvea be taken off before, or the vitreous Humour behind it, and the out-side of the Crystalline be gently cut, the Arachnoïdes may be seen to open, and the Crystalline will easily leap out, and part from the Ligamentum Ciliare; which otherwise it would not do: For it is by the Arachnoïdes braced to the Ligamentum Ciliare. This Membrane or Tunick, in the Ox, is so substantial and strong, though thin, that it yields to, or sinks under the sharpest Lancet, and requires (for so thin and weak a Membrane in appearance) a strong Pressure to pierce it.

[dd] As Birds and Fishes are in divers Things conformable, so in some sort they are in their Eye; to enable it to correspond to all the Convergences, and Divergences of the Rays, which the Variations of each of the Mediums may produce. For this Service the Tunica Choroeides, (in Fishes) hath a musculous Substance at the Bottom of it, lying round the optick Nerve, at a small Distance from it; by which Means I imagine they are able to contract, and dilate the Choroeides, and thereby to lengthen and shorten the Eye: For the helping in which Service, I imagine it is that the Choroeides, and Sclerotica, are in a great Measure parted, that the Choroeides may have the greater Liberty of acting upon the Humours within.

But in Birds, I have my self found, that although the Choroeides be parted from the Sclerotica; yet the Choroeides hath no Muscle, but instead thereof, a curious pectinated Work, seated on the optick Nerve, represented in Fig. 2. In which c.a.e.b.d. represents the Choroeides and Sclerotica: a.b. the Part of the optick Nerve, that is within the Eye: v.v.v. the vitreous Humour: a.f.g.b. the Pecten: h.i. the Crystalline. For the Reception of this Pecten, the optick Nerve comes farther within the Eye, than in other Creatures. The Structure of this Pecten, is very like that of the Ligamentum Ciliare; and in the Eye of a Magpy, and some others, I could perceive it to be musculous towards the Bottom. This Pecten is so firmly fixed unto, or embodied in the vitreous Humour, that the vitreous Humour hangs firmly to it, and is not so easily parted from it. By which Means all the Motions of the Pecten are easily communicated to the vitreous Humour, and indeed to all contained in the Choroeides. And forasmuch as the Crystalline is connected to the vitreous Humour, therefore also the Alterations in the vitreous Humour affect also the Crystalline; and the Crystalline is hereby brought nearer unto, or farther from the Retina, as occasion is. Besides all which Observables in the Choroeides, and inner Eye, I have also found this farther remarkable in the Sclerotica, and outer-part of the Eye of Birds, viz. That the fore-part of the Sclerotica is horny and hard, the middle-part thin and flexible, and Braces intervene between the fore and hind-part, running between the Choroeides and Sclerotica; by which Means the Cornea, and back-part of the Eye, are brought to the same Conformity, that the rest of the Eye hath.

The great End and Design of this singular and curious Apparatus in the Eyes, both of Birds and Fishes, I take to be, 1. To enable those Creatures to see at all Distances, far off, or nigh; which (especially in the Waters) requireth a different Conformation of the Eye. In Birds also, this is of great Use, to enable them to see their Food at their Bill’s End, or to reach the utmost Distances their high Flights enable them to view; as to see over great Tracts of Sea or Land, whither they have occasion to fly; or to see their Food or Prey, even small Fishes in the Waters, and Birds, Worms, &c. on the Earth, when they sit upon Trees, high Rocks, or are hovering high in the Air. 2. To enable those Animals to adapt their Eye to all the various Refractions of their Medium. Even the Air it self varies the Refractions, according as it is rarer or denser, more or less compressed; as is manifest from the learned and ingenious Mr. Lowthorp’s Experiment in Phil. Trans. Nᵒ. 257. and some other Experiments since of the before-commended Mr. Hawksbee, both in natural, rarify’d and compressed Air; in each of which, the Refractions constantly varied in exact Proportion to the Rarity or Density of the Air. Vid. Hawksbee’s Exp. pag. 175, &c.

Besides this Conformity in general, between the Eyes of Birds and Fishes, Du Hamel tells us of a singular Conformity in the Cormorant’s Eye, and that is, that the Crystalline is globous, as in Fishes, to enable it to see and pursue its Prey under Water: Which J. Faber, in Mr. Willoughby saith, they do with wonderful Swiftness, and for a long Time. Will. Ornithol. p. 329.

[ee] The Crystalline Humour, when dry’d, doth manifestly enough appear to be made up of many very thin spherical Laminæ, or Scales lying one upon another. Mr. Lewenhock reckons there may be 2000 of them in one Crystalline, from the outermost to the Center. Every one of these Scales, he saith, he hath discovered to be made up of one single Fibre, or finest Thread wound, in a most stupendous Manner, this way, and that way, so as to run several Courses, and meet in as many Centers, and yet not to interfere, or cross one another, in any one Place. In Oxen, Sheep, Hogs, Dogs and Cats, the Thread spreads into three several Courses, and makes as many Centers: In Whales five; but in Hares and Rabbets only two. In the whole Surface of an Ox’s Crystalline, he reckons there are more than 12000 Fibres juxtaposited. For the right and clear Understanding of the Manner of which admirable Piece of Mechanism, I shall refer to his Cuts and Descriptions in Philos. Trans. Nᵒ. 165. and 293. The Truth hereof I have heard some ingenious Men question; but it is what I my self have seen, and can shew to any Body, with the Help of a good Microscope.

[ff] S. Malpighi observed the Middle of the optick Nerve of the Sword-Fish, to be nothing else but a large Membrane, folded according to its Length in many Doubles, almost like a Fan, and invested by the Dura mater; whereas in Land-Animals it is a Bundle of Fibres. V. Phil. Trans. Nᵒ. 27.

[gg] Certissimum est, quòd in omnibus Oculis humanis (quos saltem mihi dissecare contigit) Nervus opticus Pupillæ è diametro apponitur, &c. Briggs’s Ophthal. c. 3. §. 15. Ita Willis de Anim. Brut. p. 1. c. 15.

Nervi Optici in nobis, item in Cane, Fele (& in cateris forsan animalibus calidis) ad fundum Oculi delati Pupilla regioni prospiciunt, dum interim in aliis Quadrupedibus, uti etiam in Piscibus & Volueribus, obliquè semper Tunica Sclerotidi inseruntur. Unde, &c. Willis Ib. c. 7. §. 11.

[hh] This Pair is united at its Rise; whence is commonly drawn a Reason why one Eye being mov’d towards an Object, the other is directed also to the same. Gibson’s Anat. Book III. Chap. 11. So Bartholine Anat. Libellus 3. c. 2.

[ii] Among all the other Security the Eye hath, we may reckon the Reparation of the aqueous Humour; by which Means the Eye when wounded, and that in all Appearance very dangerously too, doth often recover its Sight: Of which Bern. Verzascha gives divers Examples ancient and modern. One is from Galen, of a Boy so wounded, that the Cornea fell, and became flaccid, but yet recovered his Sight. Other such like Instances also he gives from Realdus Columbus, Rhodius, and Tulpius; and one that he cured himself in these Words, Ego in Nobilissimi viri filiolâ similem casum observavi: hæc dum levibus de causis cum fratre altercaret, iste iracundiâ percitus cultellum Scriptorium apprehendit, & sororis oculo vulnus infligit, inde humor aqueus effluxit. Vocatus præsentem Chirurgum jussi sequens collyrium anodynum & exsiccans tepidè sæpiùs admovere. ℞ aq. Plantag. ℥iv. Rosar. Sanicul. Euphras. ana Trochisc. alb. Rhaf. cum Opio ℈ii. Tutiæ pp. ℈i. Croci orient. ℈ss. M. Hoc Collyrium inflammationem compescuit, vulnus siccavit & sanavit. Hinc post aliquot menses Humor aqueus succrevit. Nam visus, sed dibilior, cum summo parentum gaudio redivit. B. Verzaschæ Observ. Medicæ. Obs. 14.

Another Cure of this kind, was experimented by Dr. Daniel Major, upon a Goose, Ann. 1670, the aqueous Humour of both whose Eyes they let out, so that the Eyes fell, and the Goose became quite blind: But without the Use of any Medicine, in about two Days Time, Nature repaired the watery Humour again, the Eyes returned to their Former Turgency, and the Goose was in a Week after produced seeing before twenty eight or thirty Spectators. Ephem. Germ. T. 1. Add. ad. Obs. 117.

From the same Cause, I doubt not, it was that the Eye of a Gentleman’s Daughter, and those of a Cock, when wounded, so that the Cornea sunk, were restored by a Lithuanian Chymist, that passed for a Conjurer, by the Use of a Liquor found in May, in the Vesiculæ of Elm. Of which see Mr. Ray’s Catal. Cantab. in Ulmus from Henr. ab Heers.

[kk] Palpebræ, quæ sunt tegumenta Oculorum, mollissimæ tactu, nè lederent aciem, aptissimæ factæ, & ad claudendas Pupillas, nè quid incideret, & ad aperiendas; idque providit, ut identidem fieri posset cum maximâ celeritate. Munitæque sunt Palpebræ tanquàm vallo pilorum: quibus & apertis Oculis, si quid incideret, repelleretur, & somno conniventibus, cùm Oculis ad cernendum non egerimus, ut qui, tanquàm involuti, quièscerent. Latent prætereà utiliter, & excelsis undique partibus sepiuntur. Primùm enim superiora Superciliis obducta sudorem à capitæ, & fronte destuentem repellunt. Genæ deinde ab inferiore parte tutantur subjectæ, leviterque eminentes. Cicer. de Nat. Deor. L. 2. c. 57.

Tully, in the Person of a Stoick, having so well accounted for the Use of the Eye-Lids, I shall for a further Manifestation of the Creator’s Contrivance and Structure of them, take notice of two or three Things: 1. They consist of a thin and flexible, but strong Skin, by which means they the better wipe, clean, and guard the Cornea. 2. Their Edges are fortified with a soft Cartilage, by which means they are not only enabled the better to do their Office, but also to close and shut the better. 3. Out of these Cartilages grow a Pallisade of stiff Hairs, of great Use to warn the Eye of the Invasion of Dangers, to keep off Motes, and to shut out too excessive Light, &c. and at the same time to admit of (through their Intervals) a sufficient Passage for Objects to approach the Eye. And it is remarkable, that these Hairs grow but to a certain, commodious Length, and need no cutting, as many other Hairs of the Body do: Also, that their Points stand out of the way, and in the upper-lid bend upwards, as they do downwards in the lower lid, whereby they are well adapted to their Use. From which last Observables, we may learn how critical and nice the great Author of Nature hath been, in even the least and most trivial Conveniencies belonging to Animal Bodies; for which Reason I have added it to Tully’s Remarks. And more might have been added too, as particularly concerning the curious Structure and Lodgment of the Right Muscle, which opens the Eye-Lids; and the Orbicularis, or Circular one, that shuts them; the nice Apparatus of Glands that keep the Eye moist, and serve for Tears; together with the Reason why Man alone, who is a social Animal, doth exhibit his social Affections by such outward Tokens as Tears; the Nerves also, and other Organs acting in this Ministry. I might also speak of the Passages for discharging the superfluous Moisture of the Eyes through the Nostrils, and much more of the like kind. But it would take up too much Room in these Notes; and therefore it shall suffice to give only such Hints as may create a Suspicion of a noble Œconomy and Contrivance in this (I had almost said) least considerable part of the Eye. But for Particulars I shall refer to the Anatomists; and for some of these Things, particularly to Dr. Willis’s Cereb. Anat. and de Anim. Brut. and Mr. Cowper’s Elegant Cuts in the 11ᵗʰ Tab. of his Anatomy.

To the Eye-Lids we may add another Guard afforded the Eyes of most Quadrupeds, Birds, and Fishes, by the nictitating Membrane, which Dr. Willis gives this Account of, Plurimis [Animalibus] quibus Musculus suspensorius adest (which Limitation he needed not to have added) etiam alter Membranosus conceditur, qui juxta interiorem oculi canthum situs, quando elevatur, Oculi globum ferè totum obtegit. Hujus usus esse videtur, ut cùm Bestiæ inter gramina, &c. capita sua propter victum capessendum demergunt, hic Musculus Oculi Pupillam, nè à stipularum incursu seriatur, oculit, munitque. De Anim. Brut. p. 1. c. 15.

This Membrane Man hath not, he having little Occasion to thrust his Head into such Places of Annoyance, as Beasts and other Animals; or if he hath, he can defend his Eyes with his Hands. But Birds (who frequent Trees and Bushes) and Quadrupeds, (Hedges and long Grass) and who have no part ready, like the Hand, to fence off Annoyances; these, I say, have this incomparable Provision made for the Safety of their Eyes. And for Fishes, as they are destitute of Eye-Lids, because in the Waters there is no occasion for a Defensative against Dust and Motes, offensive to the Eyes of Land Animals, nor to moisten and wipe the Eyes, as the Eye-Lids do, so the Nictitating-Membrane is an abundant Provision for all their Occasions, without the Addition of the Eye-Lids.

And now, if we reflect, are these the Works of any Thing but a wise and indulgent Agent?

[ll] Although the Hardness and Firmness of the Adnata, or Sclerotica in Birds, is a good Guard to their Eyes, yet I do not think it is made thus, so much for a Defence, as to minister to the lengthning and shortning the Eye, mentioned before in Note (cc).

[mm] Cochleis oculorum vicem Cornicula bina pratentu implent. Plin. Nat. Hist. l. 11. c. 37. See more of the Eyes of Snails before in Note (k); and in Note (l), I said that I suspected Moles also might thrust out, or withdraw their Eyes more or less within the Hair or Skin.

[nn] The diligent Sturmius was fully persuaded there could not be any speculative Atheism in any one that should well survey the Eye. Nobis, saith he, fuit persuasissimum. Atheismum, quem vocant speculativum, h. e. obsirmatam de Deitate in Universo nullâ persuasionem, habere locum aut inveniri non posse in eo homine, qui vel unius corporis organici, & speciatim Oculi fabricam attento animo aspexerit. Sturm. Exerc. Acad. 9. De Vis. Organ. & Rat. in Epilogo.

[oo] The glorious Landskips, and other Objects that present themselves to the Eye, are manifestly painted on the Retina, and that not erect, but inverted as the Laws of Opticks require; and is manifest to the Eye from Monsieur Cartes’s Experiment, of laying bare the vitreous Humour on the back part of the Eye, and clapping over it a Bit of white Paper, or the Skin of an Egg; and then placing the fore-part of the Eye to the Hole of the Window of a darkned Room. By which means we have a pretty Landskip of the Objects abroad invertedly painted on the Paper, on the back of the Eye. But now the Question is, How in this Case the Eye comes to see the Objects erect? Monsieur Cartes’s Answer is, Notitia illius ex nullâ imagine pendet, nec ex ullâ actione ab objectis veniente, sed ex solo situ exiguarum partium cerebri, è quibus Nervi expullulant.——E.g. cogitandum in Oculo——situm capillamenti nervi optici——respondere ad alium quendam partis cerebri——qui facit ut Anima singula loca cognoscat, quæ jacent in rectâ, aut quasi rectâ lineæ; ut ita mirari non debeamus corpora in naturali situ videri, quamvis imago in oculo delineata contrarium habeat. Dioptr. c. 6. But our most ingenious Mr. Molyneux answereth thus, The Eye is only the Organ or Instrument, ’tis the Soul that sees by means of the Eye. To enquire then how the Soul perceives the Object erect, by an inverted Image, is to enquire into the Soul’s Faculties——But erect and inverted are only Terms of Relation to up and down; or farther from, or nigher to the Center of the Earth, in Parts of the same Thing.——But the Eye, or visive Faculty takes no notice of the internal Posture of its own Parts, but useth them as an Instrument only, contrived by Nature for the Exercise of such a Faculty.——Let us imagine, that the Eye (on its lower Part) receives an Impulse [by a Ray from the upper part of the Object] must not the visive Faculty be necessarily directed hereby to consider this Stroke, as coming from the top rather than the bottom [of the Object] and consequently be directed to conclude it the Representation of the top? Hereof we may be satisfied, by supposing a Man standing on his Head. For here, though the upper Parts of Objects are painted on the upper Parts of the Eye, yet the Objects are judged to be erect. What is said of Erect and Reverse, may be understood of Sinister and Dexter. Molyneux’s Dioptr. Nov. Part I. Prop. 28.

[a] I presume it will not be ungrateful to take notice here of the admirable, as well as useful Sagacity of some deaf Persons, that have learnt to supply their want of Hearing by understanding what is said by the Motion of the Lips. My very ingenious Friend Mr. Waller, R. S. Secr. gives this Account, There live now and have from their Birth, in our Town, a Man and his Sister, each about fifty Years old, neither of which have the least Sense of Hearing,——yet both of these know, by the Motion of the Lips only, whatever is said to them, and will answer pertinently to the Question proposed to them——The Mother told me they could hear very well, and speak when they were Children, but both lost that Sense afterwards, which makes them retain their Speech; though that, to Persons not used to them, is a little uncouth and odd, but intelligible enough. Phil. Trans. No. 312.

Such another Instance is that of Mr. Goddy, Minister of St. Gervais in Geneva, his Daughter. She is now about sixteen Years old. Her Nurse had an extraordinary Thickness of Hearing; at a Year old, the Child spake all those little Words that Children begin to speak at that Age.——At two Years old, they perceived she had lost her Hearing, and was so Deaf, that ever since, though she hears great Noises, yet she hears nothing that one can speak to her.——But by observing the Motions of the Mouth and Lips of others, she hath acquired so many Words, that out of these she hath formed a sort of Jargon, in which she can hold Conversation whole Days with those that can speak her own Language. I could understand some of her Words, but could not comprehend a Period, for it seemed to be but a confused Noise. She knows nothing that is said to her, unless she seeth the Motion of their Mouths that speak to her; so that in the Night, when it is necessary to speak to her, they must light a Candle. Only one thing appeared the strangest part of the whole Narration: She hath a Sister, with whom she hath practised her Language more than with any other: And in the Night, by laying her Hand on her Sister’s Mouth, she can perceive by that what she saith, and so can discourse with her in the Night. Bishop Burnet’s Let. 4. p. 248.

[b] I cannot but admire that our most eminent modern Anatomists should not agree, whether there be any Muscles in the outward Ear of Man or not. Dr. Keil saith there are two; Dr. Drake the same Number; and Dr. Gibson makes them to be four. So also doth Monsieur Dionis, and so did the ancient Anatomists: But Dr. Schelhammer expressly denies there are any, and saith, Seduxit autem reliquos Brutorum Anatome, in quorum plerisque tales Musculi plures inveniuntur; putârunt autem fortassis ignominiosum Homini, si non & his instructus esset, & minùs inde perfectum animal fore. Schel. de Auditu p. 1. c. 1. §. 7. But Valsalva, who wrote very lately, and is very accurate in his Survey of the Ear, saith, Musculi auriculæ posteriores quandoque quatuor, quandoque duo; sed ut plurimùm tres adnotantur; & quando solùm duo se manifestant, tunc unus ex illis duplicato tendine versùs Concham deferri solet. Horum musculorum in numero varietatem non solùm in diversis; verùm etiam in eodem subjecto quandoque vidi——Ex quibus differentiis subortæ sunt Auctorum discrepantiæ in horum Musculorum numero, & positu:——quod non evenisset, si pluries in diversis Corporibus iidem Musculi quæsiti essent. Ant. Mar. Valsalva de Aur. Human. c. 1. §. 6. But Dr. Drake thinks some of Valsalva’s Muscles the Product of Fancy. Mr. Cowper makes them to be three, one Attollent, and two Retrabent Muscles. See Anat. Tab. 12.

[c] Inter cætera [animalia aurita] maximè admirabilis est auris leporinæ fabrica, quod cùm timidissimum animal sit, & prorsus inerme, natura id tum auditu acurissimo, tanquam hostium exploratore ad perfentienda pericula, tum pedibus ceu armis ad currendum aptis munisse videtur. A. Kircher’s Phonurg. l. 1. §. 7. Technas. 2.

[d] Moles have no protuberant Ear, but only a round Hole between the Neck and Shoulder; which Situation of it, together with the thick, short Fur that covers it, is a sufficient Defensative against external Annoyances. The Meatus Auditorius is long, round and cartilaginous, reaching to the under part of the Skull. Round the inside runs a little Ridge, resembling two Threads of a Skrew; at the Bottom whereof is a pretty Inlet, leading to the Drum, made, on one side with the aforesaid cochleous Ridge, and on the other, with a small Cartilage. I observed there was Cerumen in the Meatus.

As to the inner Ear, it is somewhat singular, and different from that of the other Quadrupeds, and much more from Birds, although I have met with some Authors that make it agreeing with that of Birds. There are three small Bones only (all hollow) by which the Drum (to use the old Appellation) or the Membrana Tympani (as others call it) acteth upon the Auditory Nerve. The first is the Malleus, which hath two Processes nearly of equal Length; the longer of which is braced to the Membrana Tympani, the shorter to the side of the Drum or Os Petrosum; the back part of it resembles the Head and Stalk of a small Mushroom, such as are pickled. On the back of the Malleus lies the next small Bone, which may be called the Incus, long, and without any Process, having somewhat the Form of the short Scoop wherewith Water-men throw the Water out of their Wherries. To the end of this the third and last small Bone is tacked by a very tender Brace. This little Bone bears the Office of the Stapes, but is only forked without any Base. One of these Forks is at one Fenestra, or Foramen, the other at another; in which Fenestra I apprehend the Forks are tacked to the Auditory Nerve. These Fenestra (equivalent to the Fenestra Ovalis, and Rotunda in others) are the Inlets into the Cochlea and Canales Semicirculares, in which the Auditory Nerve lieth. The Semicircular Canales lie at a distance from the Drum, and are not lodged (as in other Animals) in a strong, thick Body of Bone, but are thrust out, within the Skull, making an Antrum, with an handsome Arch leading into it, into which a part of the Brain enters.

One Leg of the Malleus being fastned to the Membrana Tympani, and the Incus to the back of the Malleus, and the top of that to the top of the Stapes, and the Forks or Branches of the Stapes to the Auditory Nerve, I observed that whenever I moved the Membrane, all the little Bones were at the same time moved, and consequently the Auditory Nerve thereby affected also.

I hope the Reader will excuse me for being so particular in this Organ only of the Mole, a despised Creature, but as notable an Example of God’s Work, as its Life is different from that of other Quadrupeds; for which Reason it partly is that I have enlarged on this part differing from that of others, and which no Body that I know of, hath taken much notice of, and which is not discoverable without great Patience and Application; and partly because by comparing these Observations with Book VII. Chap. 2. Note (d), we may judge how the Sense of Hearing is performed.

[e] Among many Varieties, both in the inner and outer Ear, those which appear in the Passage into the Rock-Bone, are remarkable. For in an Owl, that perches on a Tree or Beam, and hearkens after the Prey beneath her, it is produced farther out above than it is below, for the better Reception of the least Sound. But in a Fox, that scouteth underneath the Prey at Roost; it is for the same Reason, produced farther out below. In a Pole-Cat, which hearkens strait forward, it is produced behind, for the taking of a forward Sound. Whereas in a Hare, which is very quick of Hearing, and thinks of nothing but being pursued, it is supplied with a bony Tube, which as a natural Otocoustick, is so directed backward, as to receive the smallest and most distant Sound that comes behind her. Grew’s Cosmolog. Sacr. lib. 1. c. 5. §. 6.

[f] The Texture of the Tragus and Antitragus, is softer than that of the Helix, which serveth gently to blunt, not forcibly to repel the Sound in the Concha.

[g] Dr. Gibson’s Anatomy, Chap. 22. Book III.

Those whose Ears are cut off, have but a confused way of Hearing, and are obliged either to form a Cavity round the Ear with their own Hands, or else to make use of a Horn, and apply the end of it to the inner Cavity of the Ear, on order to receive the agitated Air. ’Tis likewise observed, that those whose Ears jut out, hear better than flat-eared Persons. Monsieur Dionis’s Anat. Demonstr. 8.

[h] Gibs. Ibid.

[i] It would nauseate the Reader to reckon up the Places famed for the Conveyance of Whispers, such as the Prison of Dionysius at Syracuse, which is said to encrease a Whisper to a Noise; the clapping ones Hands to the Sound of a Cannon, &c. Nor the Aquaducts of Claudius, which carry a Voice sixteen Miles, and many others both Ancient and Modern. If the Reader hath a mind to be entertained in this way, he may find enough in Kircher’s Phonurgia. But it may not be irksome to mention one or two of our own in England. Among which, one of the most famed is the Whispering-Place in Gloucester Cathedral, which is no other than a Gallery above the East-end of the Choir, leading from one side thereof to the other. It consisteth, (if I mistake not) of five Angles, and six Sides, the middle-most of which is a naked, uncovered Window, looking into a Chapel behind it. I guess the two Whisperers stand at about twenty five Yards Distance from one another. But the Dome of St. Paul’s, London, is a more considerable Whispering-Place, where the ticking of a Watch (when no Noise is in the Streets) may be heard from Side to Side; yea, a Whisper may be sent all round the Dome. And not only in the Gallery below, but above, upon the Scaffold, I tried, and found that a Whisper would be carried over one’s Head round the top of the Arch, notwithstanding there is a large Opening in the middle of it into the upper part of the Dome.

[k] Auditus autem semper patet: ejus enim sensu etiam dormientes egemus: A quo cùm sonus est acceptus, etiam è somno excitamur. Flexuosum iter habet, nè quid intrare possit, si simplex, & directum pateret; provisum etiam, ut siqua minima bestiola conaretur irrumpere, in sordibus aurium, tanquàm in visco, inhæresceret. Cicer. de Nat. Deor. l. 2. c. 57.

It deserves a particular Remark here, that in Infants in the Womb, and newly born, the Meatus Auditorius is shut up very closely, partly by the Constriction of the Passage, and partly by a glutinous Substance, whereby the Tympanum is guarded against the Water in the Secundine, and against the Injuries of the Air as soon as the Infant is born.

[l] It is remarkable, that in most, if not all Animals, whose Ears are tunnelled, or where the Meatus Auditorius is long enough to afford Harbour to Ear-wigs, or other Insects; that, I say, in the Ears of such, Ear-wax is constantly to be found. But in Birds, whose Ears are covered with Feathers, and where the Tympanum lies but a little way within the Skull, no Ear-wax is found, because none is necessary to the Ears so well guarded, and so little tunnelled.

[m] The Ear-wax was thought by the old Anatomists to be an Excrement of the Brain: Humor biliosus à cerebro expugnatus, the Bartholines say of it, l. 3. c. 9. But as Schelhammer well observes, Nil absurdius, quàm cerebri excrementum hoc statuere. Nam & ratio nulla suadet, ut in cerebro fieri excrementum tale credamus:——neque viæ patent per quas ab eo seclusum in meatum auditorium possit inde penetrare. As to its Taste, Casserius gives Instances of its being sweet in some Creatures. But Schelhammer says, Ego verò semper, cum amaritie aliquid dulcedinis in illo deprehendi. Vid. Schel. de Audit. p. 1. c. 2. §. 10. But I could never distinguish any Sweetness in it; but think it insipid mixed with a Bitterness.

[n] Cerumina amara Arteriolis exudantia. Willis de Anim. Brut. par. 1. c. 14. In the Skin——are little Glands, which furnish a yellow and bitter Humour. Monsieur Dionis’s Dem. 18. An handsome Cut of those Glandulæ ceruminosæ is in Dr. Drake, from Valsalva.

Pliny attributes a great Virtue to the Ear-wax; Morsus hominis inter asperrimos numeratur: medentur sordes ex auribus: ac ne quis miretur, etiam Scorpionum ictibus Serpentiumque statim impositæ. Plin. Nat. Hist. l. 28. c. 4. And that it hath an healing Quality, and may be accounted a good Balsam, I my self have experienced.

[o] That there is such a Thing as the innate Air, (talked of much by most Authors on this Subject) Schelhammer very justly, I think, denies, by Reason there is a Passage into the inner Ear from the Throat, through which the innate Air may pass out, and the outward Air enter in. V. Par. Alt. p. 2. c. 1. §. 10. When by stopping our Breath, and Straining, we force the external Air into the Ear, it may be heard rushing in; and if much be forced in, it may be felt also to beat against the Tympanum. When the Passage to the Throat is by any Means stopp’d, as by a Cold in the Head, &c. the Hearing thereby becomes dull and blunt; by Reason the Communication between the outward and inward Air are obstructed: But when by strong Swallowing, or such-like Motion of the Throat, the Passage is opened, we perceive it by a sudden Smack or Crack, and we immediately hear very clearly; the load of feculent Air being at that Time discharged from the inner Ear.

It is a wise Provision, that the Passage for the Air into the Ear, is from the Throat; Ut non statim quivis aer externus irrumpere queat (as Schelhammer saith, Par. Ult. c. 4. §. 8.) sed nonnihil immutatus, ac temperatus, calore ex medio ventre exspirante; imò fortassis non facilè alius, nisi ex pulmonibus.

[p] Valsalva hath given us a more accurate Description of the Tuba Eustachiana, or Passage to the Palate, than any other Author, to whom I therefore refer, De Aur. Human. c. 2. §. 16, &c.

The chief Use hereof, he thinks, is to give way to the inner Air, upon every Motion of the Membrana Tympani, the Malleus, Incus and Stapes. This Passage, if it be shut up, Deafness ensues: Of which he gives two Instances: One a Gentleman, who lost his Hearing by a Polypus in the Nose reaching to the Uvula; the other a Yeoman, labouring with an Ulcer above the left Side of the Uvula; which when he stopt with a Tent dipped in Medicine, he lost his Hearing in the left Ear, and recovered it, as soon as the Tent was out. Ibid. c. 5. §. 10.

[q] Os [petrosum] ex quo interiores [Labyrinthi] cavitatum parietes conflati sunt, album, durissimum, necnon maximè compactum. Id autem à Naturâ ita comparatum esse videtur, ut materia ætherea Sonorum objectorum impressionibus onusta, dum prædictis impingitur Parietibus, nihil aut saltem ferè nihil motûs sui amittat, atque adeò illum qualem ab Objectis sonoris accepit, talem communicet spiritui animali contento intra expansiones rami mollioris Nervorum auris. Dr. Raym. Vieussens of Montpellier, in Phil. Trans. Nᵒ. 258.

[r] The Tympanum of the Ear, or as Valsalva and the Moderns, the Membrana Tympani was taken notice of as early as Hippocrates’s Time. In Birds, it is strained towards the outward Parts; in other Animals towards the Brain, or inner Parts. Monsieur Dionis saith, It is not equally fastened to the whole Circumference of the bony Circle, in which it is inchased; for on the upper Side it hath a free disengaged Part, by which some can give vent to the Smoak in their Mouth. Demonstr. 8. That there is some Passage I doubt not, but I question whether Monsieur Dionis ever saw the disengaged Part he mentions. I have my self carefully searched divers Subjects, and do not remember to have seen any such Passage; and I perceive it escaped the diligent Schelhammer’s Eye. Valsalva also by injecting in through the Tuba Eustachiana, could not force any Liquor into the Meatus Auditorius; but yet he imagines he found the Passage out in another Place of the Drum, in some morbid, and one sound Head. Valsalv. de Aur. Hum. c. 2. §. 8. Mr. Cowper also affirms there is a Passage by the upper Part of the Membrane. Anat. Ap. Fig. 8.

[s] Dr. Vieussens, before-named, discovered a Membrane, tenuissimæ raræque admodùm texturæ intra cavitatem Tympani; as he describes it. Whose use he saith is, 1. Occludens Labyrinthi januam impedit nè naturalis purissimus ac subtilissimus Aer intra cavitates——communicationem——habeat cum aere crasso. 2. Labyrinthi basin calefacit, &c. ubi supra. Probably this double Membrane may be such, or after the same Manner as it is in the Tympanum of Birds: Of which see my Observations in Book VII. Chap. 2. Note (d).

[t] The four little Bones being treated of by all that have concerned themselves about this Sense of Hearing, since their Discovery, I shall take Notice of only two Things concerning them. 1. The Discovery of them is owing wholly to the Diligence and Sagacity of the latter Ages; of which Schelhammer gives this Account from Fallopius, Hæc Officula antiquis Anatomicis——ignota fuere; primusque qui in lucem produxit [Malleum & Incum] fuit Jac. Carpensis; primus quoque procul omni dubio Anatomicæ artis, quam Vesalius posteà perfecit, restaurator. Tertium [Stapedem] invenit ac promulgavit primus Joh. Phil. ab Ingrassia, Siculus, Philosophus ac Medicus doctissimus. Quartum, Thomâ Bartholin. teste, viro longè celeberrimo, Fran. Sylvio debetur Schel. ubi supr. c. 3. §. 9. 2. Their Difference in Animals: In Man, and Quadrupeds, they are four, curiously inarticulated with one another; with an external and internal Muscle to draw, or work them, in extending, or relaxing the Drum; but in Fowls the Case is very different: His unum Ossiculum solùm largita est Natura, quod Collumellam fortè appellaveris: teres enim est & subtilissimum, basi innitens latiori, rotundæ. Huic adnexa est cartilago valde mobilis, quæ in Tympanum videtur terminari. Id. Ib. §. 8. In the Ears of all the Fowl that I could examine, I never found any more than one Bone, and a Cartilage, making a Joynt with it, that was easily moveable. The Cartilage had generally an Epiphyse, or two, one on each Side.——The Bone was very hard and small, having at the end of it a broad Plate, of the same Substance, very thin, upon which it rested, as on its Basis. Dr. Al. Moulen in Phil. Trans. Nᵒ. 100.

These are the most material Things I find observed by others, concerning the Ears of Fowls, and some of them hardly, I believe, observed before. To which I shall subjoyn some other Things I have my self discovered, that I presume escaped the Eyes of those most curious and inquisitive Anatomists. Of which the last cited Book VII. Chap. 2. Note (d).

[u] Videtur quòd Tympanum Auditionis instrumentum præliminare, & quasi præparatorium fuerit, quad Soni impressionem, sive species sensibiles primo suscipiens, eas in debitâ proportione, & aptâ conformitate, versùs Sensorium, quod adhuc interiùs situm est, dirigat: simili officio fungitur respectu Auditûs, ac tunicæ Oculi Pupillam constituentes, respectu Visûs; utræque Membranæ Species sensibiles refringunt & quasi emolliunt, easque Sensorio non nisi proportionatas tradunt, cui nudo si adveniant, teneriorem ejus crasin facilè lædant, aut obruant. Reverà Tympanum non audit, sed meliori tutiorique Auditioni confert. Si hæc pars destruatur, Sensio adhuc aliquamdiu, rudi licèt modo, peragi possit; quippe experimento olim in Cane facto, &c.——Janitoris officio ut Tympanum rectè defungi possit, expansum ejus pro datâ occasione stringi, aut relaxari debet, veluti nimirùm Oculi Pupilla——Quapropter huic Auris Tympano, non secus ac bellico, machinæ sive tæniæ quædam apponuntur, quæ superficiem ejus modò tensiorem, modò laxiorem reddant: hoc enim efficiunt tria Ossicula, cum Musculo, &c. Willis’s de Anim. Brut. c. 14.

For this Opinion of Dr. Willis, Dr. Schelhammer is very severe upon him, deriding the Refractions he speaks of; and therefore seriously proves that they are the Humours, not Tunicks of the Eye, that refract the Rays of Light; and then jeeringly demandeth, Whether the sonorous Rays are refracted by passing through a different Medium? Whether the Convexity or Concavity of the Drum collects those Rays into a focal Point, or scatters them? &c. And then saith, Ob has rationes à clariss. Viri, ac de re Medicâ præclarè meriti, sententiâ non possumus non esse alieniores; in quo uti ingenium admiror, quoties medicamentorum vires, aut morborum causas explicat, sic ubi forum suum egressus, Philosophum agit, ac vel Partium usum, vel Chymicarum rerum naturam scrutetur, ejus haud semel non modò judicium desidero, verùm aliquando etiam fidem. This is so severe and unjust a Censure of our truly famous Countryman, (a Man of known Probity) that might deserve a better Answer; but I have only Time to say, that although Dr. Schelhammer hath out-done all that wrote before him, in his Book de Auditu, and shewed himself a Man of Learning and Industry; yet as our Countryman wrote more than he, (though perhaps not free from Errors too) so he hath manifested himself to have been as curious and sagacious an Anatomist, as great a Philosopher, and as learned and skilful a Physician, as any of his Censurers, and his Reputation for Veracity and Integrity, was no less than any of theirs too. But after all this terrible Clamour, Dr. Schelhammer prejudicately mistaketh Dr. Willis’s Meaning, to say no worse. For by utræque Membranæ refringunt, Dr. Willis plainly enough, I think, means no more than a Restriction of the Ingress of too many Rays; as his following explicatory Words manifest, viz. refringunt, & quasi emolliunt, easque Sensorio non nisi proportionatas tradunt. But indeed Dr. Schelhammer hath shewn himself a too rigid Censor, by making Dr. Willis say, the Ear-Drum hath such like Braces as the War-Drum, viz. Quod porrò de machinis seu tæniis Tympani bellici adducit, dicitque idem in Tympano auditorio conspici, id prorsus falsissimum est. I wonder Dr. Schelhammer did not also charge Dr. Willis with making it a Porter, since he saith in the same Paragraph, Janitoris officio, &c. But Dr. Willis’s Meaning is plain enough, that the little Bones and Muscles of the Ear-Drum do the same Office in straining and relaxing it, as the Braces of the War-Drum do in that. And considering how curious and solemn an Apparatus there is of Bones, Muscles, and Joynts, all adapted to a ready Motion; I am clearly of Dr. Willis’s Opinion, that one great Use of the Ear-Drum is for the proportioning Sounds, and that by its Extension and Retraction, it corresponds to all Sounds, loud or languid, as the Pupil of the Eye doth to several Degrees of Light: And that they are no other than secondary uses assigned by Dr. Schelhammer, as the principal or sole Uses of keeping out the external colder Air, Dust, and other Annoyances; but especially that, ob solius aerís interni potissimùm irrumpentis vim, hunc motum Tympani ac Mallei esse conditum, ut cedere primùm, deinde sibi restitui queat; as his Words are, P. ult. c. 6. §. 13.

It was no improbable thought of Rohault, nos attentos præbere, nil aliud est, nisi Tympanum, ubi ita opus est facto, contendere aut laxare, & operam dare ut illud in eâ positione intentum stet, in quâ tremulum aeris externi motum commodissimè excipere possit. Roh. Phys. p. 1. c. 26. §. 48.

The Hearing of deaf Persons more easily by Means of loud Noises, is another Argument of the Use of the Straining or Relaxation of the Tympanum in Hearing. Thus Dr. Willis (ubi supra) Accepi olim à viro fide digno, se mulierem novisse, quæ licèt surda fuerit, quousque tamen intra conclave Tympanum pulsaretur, verba quævis clarè audiebat: quare Maritus ejus Tympanistam pro servo domestico conducebat, ut illius ope, colloquia interdum cum Uxore suâ haberet. Etiam de alio Surdastro mihi narratum est, qui prope Campanile degens, quoties unà plures Campanæ resonarent, vocem, quamvis facilè audire, & non aliàs, potuit.

Abscisso Musculo [Processus majoris Mallei] in recenti aure, relaxatur [Tympani Membrana]. Valsalv. de Aur. Hum. c. 2. §. 5.

Upon considering the great Difference in Authors Opinions, about the Use of the Parts, and Manner how Hearing is performed, as also what a curious Provision there is made in the Ear, by the four little Bones, the Muscles, Membrane, &c. I was minded (since I penned this Note) to make enquiry my self into this Part, and not to rely upon Authority. And after a diligent search of various Subjects, I find we may give as rational and easie an Account of Hearing, as of Seeing, or any other Sense; as I have shewn in my last cited Note (d) Book VII. Chap. 2. with relation to Birds. And as to Man and Beasts, the Case is the same, but the Apparatus more complex and magnificent. For whereas in Birds, the auditory Nerve is affected by the Impressions made on the Membrane, by only the Intermediacy of the Collumella; in Man, it is done by the Intervention of the four little Bones, with the Muscles acting upon them; his Hearing being to be adjusted to all kinds of Sounds, or Impressions made upon the Membrana Tympani. Which Impressions are imparted to the auditory Nerve, in this Manner, viz. First they act upon the Membrane and Malleus, the Malleus upon the Incus, and the Incus upon the Os Orbiculare and Stapes; and the Stapes upon the auditory Nerve: For the Base of the Stapes (the same as the Operculum in Birds) not only covers the Fenestra Ovalis, within which the auditory Nerve lieth, but hath a Part of the auditory Nerve spread upon it too. It is manifest that this is the true Process of Hearing; because, if the Membrane be mov’d, you may see all the Bones move at the same Time, and work the Base of the Stapes up and down in the Fenestra Ovalis, as I shewed in this Chapter, Note (d) concerning the Mole; and as it may be seen in other Ears carefully opened, if the Parts remain in situ.

[w] I do not confine the Labyrinth to the Canales Semicirculares, or any other Part, as the elder Anatomists seem to have done, who by their erroneous and blind Descriptions seem not well to have understood there Parts; but with those much more curious and accurate Anatomists, Monsieur de Vernay, and Dr. Valsalva; under the Labyrinth, I comprehend the Canales Semicirculares, and the Cochlea, together with the intermediate Cavity, called by them the Vestibulum.

[x] In the semicircular Canals, two Things deserve to be noted. 1. That the three Canals are of three different Sizes, Major, Minor, and Minimus. 2. Although in different Subjects, they are frequently different; yet in the same Subject they are constantly the same. The Reason of all which, together with their Uses, Valsalva ingeniously thinks is, that as a Part of the tender auditory Nerve is lodged in these Canals, so they are of three Sizes, the better to suit all the Variety of Tones; some of the Canals suiting some, and others, other Tones. And although there be some Difference as to the Length and Size of these Canals, in different Persons; yet, lest there should be any discord in the auditory Organs of one and the same Man, those Canals are always in exact Conformity to one another in one and the same Man. V. Valsal. ubi supr. c. 3. §. 7. and c. 6. §. 4. 9.

[y] Hic posterior Nervus extra cranium delatus, in tres ramos dividitur, qui omnes motibus patheticis——inserviunt. Primus——musculis Auris impenditur. Proculdubio hujus actione efficitur, ut animalia quævis, à subito soni impulsu, aurs, quasi sonum nimis citò transeuntem captaturas erigant. Ramus alter——versus utrumque oculi angulum surculos emittit: qui musculis palpebrarum attollentibus inseruntur; quorum certè munus est ad subitum soni appulsum oculos confestim aperire, eosque velut ad Excubias vocare.——Tertius——ramus versus Linguæ radicem descendens, musculis ejus & ossis Hyoeideos distribuitur, adeóque organa quædam vocis edendæ actuat, &c. Willis’s Cereb. Anat. c. 17.

[z] Hujusmodi Nervorum conformatio in Homine usum alium insigniorem præstas, nempe ut Vox, &c. Willis Ibid.

[aa] Among the Uses to which the Wit of Man hath employ’d Sounds, we may reckon the Instruments useful in convocating Assemblies, managing Armies, and many other Occasions, wherein Bells, Trumpets, Drums, Horns, and other sounding Instruments are used; the Particularities of which it would be tedious to recount: As that the biggest Bell in Europe is reckoned to be at Erfurt in Germany, which they say may be heard twenty four Miles; with much more to the same Purpose. I shall therefore only for a Sample take notice of the Speaking-Trumpet; the Invention of which is commonly ascribed to our eminent Sir Samuel Morland; but was more probably Ath. Kircher’s; at least he had contrived such an Instrument, before Sir Samuel hit upon his. Kircher in his Phonurg. saith, the Tromba published last Year in England, he had invented twenty four Years before, and published in his Misurgia; that Jac. Albanus Ghibbesius, and Fr. Eschinardus ascribe it to him; and that G. Schottus testifieth he had such an Instrument in his Chamber in the Roman College, with which he could call to, and receive Answers from the Porter. And considering how famed Alexander the Great’s Tube was, which is said might be heard 100 Stadia, it is somewhat strange that no Body sooner hit upon the Invention. Of this Stentorophonick Horn of Alexander, there is a Figure preserved in the Vatican, which for Curiosity sake, I have from Kircher represented in Fig. 3. He saith its Diameter was five Cubits, and that it was suspended on a Supporter.

For the Make of the Speaking-Trumpet, and the Reason why it magnifies Sounds, I shall refer to Kircher; especially to Sir Samuel Morland’s Tuba Stentorophonica, Published in 1672.

[bb] That the Air is the Subject, or Medium of Sound, is manifest from the Experiments in rarefied and condensed Air. In an unexhausted Receiver, a small Bell may be heard at the Distance of some Paces; but when exhausted, it can scarce be heard at the nearest Distance: And if the Air be compressed, the Sound will be louder, proportionably to the Compression or Quantity of Air crouded in, as I have often tried my self, and may be seen in Mr. Hawksbee’s curious Experiments, p. 97. Also his Experiments in Phil. Trans. Nᵒ. 321.

Kircher saith, he took one of these Trumpets of fifteen Palms length, along with him to the Mons Eustachianus, where he convocated 2200 Persons to Prayers, by means of the unusual Sound, at two, three, four, and five Italian Miles Distance.

With these Bellowing Trumpets, I shall join some Bellowing-Caves for the Reader’s Diversion. Ol. Magnus describes a Cave in Finland, near Viburg, called Smellen, into which, if a Dog, or other Living Creature be cast, it sends forth so dreadful a Sound, that knocks down every one near it. For which Reason they have guarded the Cave with high Walls, to prevent the Mischiefs of its Noise. Vid. Ol. Magn. Histor. l. 11. c. 4. Such another Peter Martyr saith is in Hispaniola, which, with a small Weight cast into it, endangers Deafness at five Miles Distance. And in Switzerland, Kircher saith, in the Cucumer-Mountain is a Pit that sends out both a dreadful Noise and a great Wind therewith; and that there is a Well in his Country 3000 Palms deep, whose Sound is equal to that of a great Gun. Vid. Kirch. Phonurg.

Ol. Magnus speaking of the vast high Mountains of a Northern Province, call’d Angermannia saith, Ubi bases eorum in profundissimo gurgite stantes, casu aliquo, vel proposito Nautæ accesserint, tantum horrorem ex altâ fluctuum collisione percipiunt, ut nisi præcipiti remigio, aut valido vento evaserint, solo pavore ferè exanimes fiant, multoque dierum curriculo, ob capitis turbationem, pristinæ mentis, & sanitatis compotes vix evadant. Habent bases illorum montium in fluctuum ingressu & regressu tortuosas rimas, sive scissuras, satis stupendo naturæ opificio fabricatas, in quibus longâ varagine formidabilis ille Sonitus quasi subterraneum tonitru generatur. Ol. Magn. l. 2. c. 4. See also Chap. 12.

Neither doth this succeed only in forced Rarefactions and Condensations of the Air, but in such also as are natural; as is evident from David Frœdlichius in Varenius, upon the highest Eminencies of Carpathus, near Kesmarckt in Hungary. The Story of Frœdlichius is this, Ego Mense Junii 1615. tum adolescens, sublimitatem horum montium, cum duobus comitibus Scholaribus, experiri volens, ubi, cùm in primæ rupis vertice, magno labore, me summum terminum assecutum esse putarem, demum sese obtulit alia multo altior cautes, ubi pervasta eaque vacillantia saxa (quorum unum, si loco à viatore dimovetur——aliquot centena——rapit, & quidem tanto cum fragore, ut illi metuendum sit nè totus Mons corruat, eumque obruat) enixus essem, iterum alia sublimior prodiit, &c. donec summo vitæ periculo ad supremum cacumen penetraverim. Ex declivioribus montibus cùm in subjectas valles,——nil nisi obscuram noctem, aut cœruleum quid, instar profundi aeris, quod vulgò sudum cœlum appellatur, observare potui, mihique videbar, si de monte caderem, non in terram, sed recte in solum me prolapsurum. Nimiá enim declivitate, species visibiles extenuatæ & hebetatæ fuerunt. Cum verò altiorem montem peterem, quasi intra nebulas densissimas hærebam——Et cùm non procul à summo vertice essem de sublimi quiescens prospexi & animadverti iis in locis, ubi mihi antea videbar intra nebulas hæsisse, compactas atque albas sese movere nubes, supra quas, per aliquot milliaria, & ultra terminos Sepusi commodus mihi prospectus patuit. Alias tamen etiam nubes altiores, alias item humiliores, necnon quasdam æqualiter à terrâ distantes vidi. Atque hinc tria intellexi, 1. Me tum transivisse principium media Aeris regionis. 2. Distantiam nubium à terrâ, non esse æqualem.——3. Distantiam nubium——non 72 Mill. Ger. ut quidam——sed tantum dimidiatum Mill. Ger. In summum montis verticem cùm pervenissem, adeò tranquillum & subtilem aërem ibi offendi, ut nè pili quidem motum sentirem, cùm tamen in depressioribus ventum vehementem expertus sim: unde collegi summum cacumen istius montis Carpathici ad Mill. Germ. à radicibus suis imis exsurgere, & ad supremam usque aëris regionem, ad quam Venti non ascendunt, pertingere. Explosi in eâ summitate Sclopetum: quod non majorem sonitum primò præ se tulit, quàm si ligillum vel bacillum confregissem; post intervallum autem temporis murmur prolixum invaluit, inferioresque montis partes, convalles & sylvas opplevit. Descendendo per nives annosas intra convalles, cùm iterum Sclopetum exonerarem, major & horribilior fragor, quàm ex tormento capacissimo inde exoriebatur: hinc verebar nè totus mons concussus mecum corrueret: duravitque hic sonus per semiquadrantem horæ usque dum abstrusissmas cavernas penetrâsset, ad quas aër undiq; multiplicatus resiliit.——In his celsis montibus, plerumq; ningit grandinatve mediâ astate, quoties nempe in subjectâ & vicinâ planitie pluit, utì hoc ipsum expertus sum. Nives diversorum annorum ex colore & cortice duriore dignosci possunt. Varen. Georg. Gen. l. 1. c. 19. Prop. ult.

The Story being diverting, and containing divers Things remarkable, I have chosen to note the whole of it (altho’ somewhat long) rather than single out the Passages only which relate to the diminishing the Sound of his Pistol, by the Rarity of the Air at that great Ascent into the Atmosphere; and the magnifying the Sound by the Polyphonisms or Repercussions of the Rocks, Caverns, and other Phonocamptick Objects below in the Mount.

But ’tis not the Air alone that is capable of the Impressions of Sound, but the Water also, as is manifest by striking a Bell under Water, the Sound of which may plainly enough be heard, but it is much duller, and not so loud; and it is also a fourth deeper, by the Ear of some great Judges in Musical Notes, who gave me their Judgments in the matter. But Mersenne saith, a Sound made under Water, is of the same Tone or Note, if heard under Water; as are also Sounds made in the Air, when heard under Water. Vid. Mersen. Hydraul.

Having mentioned the hearing of Sounds under Water, there is another Curiosity worth mentioning, that also farther proves Water to be susceptible of the Impressions of Sound, viz. Divers at the bottom of the Sea, can hear the Noises made above, only confusedly. But, on the contrary, those above cannot hear the Divers below. Of which an Experiment was made, that had like to have been fatal: One of the Divers blew an Horn in his Diving-Bell, at the bottom of the Sea; the Sound whereof (in that compressed Air) was so very loud and irksome, that stunned the Diver, and made him so giddy, that he had like to have dropt out of his Bell, and to have been drowned. Vid. Sturmii Colleg. Cur. Vol. 2. Tentam. 1.

[cc] As to the Distance to which Sound may be sent, having some doubt, whether there was any Difference between the Northern and Southern Parts, by the Favour of my learned and illustrious Friend Sir Henry Newton, her Majesty’s late Envoy at Florence: I procured some Experiments to be made for me in Italy. His most Serene Highness the Great Duke, was pleased to order great Guns to be fir’d for this purpose at Florence, and Persons were appointed on purpose to observe them at Leghorne, which they compute is no less than 55 Miles in a strait Line. But notwithstanding the Country between being somewhat hilly and woody, and the Wind also was not favouring, only very calm and still, yet the Sound was plainly enough heard. And they tell me, that the Leghorne Guns are often heard 66 Miles off, at Porto Ferraio; that when the French bombarded Genoa, they heard it near Leghorne, 90 Miles distant: and in the Messina Insurrection, the Guns were heard from thence as far as Augusta and Syracuse, about 100 Italian Miles. These Distances being so considerable, give me Reason to suspect, that Sounds fly as far, or nearly as far in the Southern, as in the Northern Parts of the World, notwithstanding we have a few Instances of Sounds reaching farther Distances. As Dr. Hearn tells us of Guns fired at Stockholm in 1685, that were heard 180 English Miles. And in the Dutch War, 1672, the Guns were heard above 200 Miles. Vid. Phil. Trans. Nᵒ. 113. Also there is this farther Reason of Suspicion, that the Mercury in the Barometer riseth higher without than within the Tropicks, and the more Northerly, still the higher, which may encrease the Strength of Sounds, by Note (bb).

[dd] As to the Velocity of Sounds, by Reason the most celebrated Authors differ about it, I made divers nice Experiments my self, with good Instruments; by which I found, 1. That there is some, although a small Difference in the Velocity of Sounds, with or against the Wind: which also is, 2. Augmented or diminished by the Strength or Weakness of the Wind. But that nothing else doth accelerate or retard it, not the Differences of Day or Night, Heat or Cold, Summer or Winter, Cloudy or Clear, Barometer high or low, &c. 3. That all kinds of Sounds have the same Motion, whether they be loud or languid, of Bells, Guns, great or small, or any other sonorous Body. 4. That they fly equal Spaces in equal Times. Fifthly and Lastly, That the Mean of their Flight is at the Rate of a Mile in 9¼ half Seconds, or 1142 Feet in one Second of Time. Vid. Phil. Trans. Ibid.

[ee] Timothy a Musician could excite Alexander the Great to Arms with the Phrygian Sound, and allay his Fury with another Tone, and excite him to Merriment. So Ericus King of Denmark, by a certain Musician, could be driven to such a Fury, as to kill some of his best and most trusty Servants. More of this Power of Musick over the Affections, may be seen in Ath. Kirch. Phonurg. L. 2. §. 1. Also in Is. Vossius de Poematum cantu, & Rythmi viribus.

And not only upon the Affections, but also on the Parts of the Body. Musick is able to exert its Force, as appears from the Gascoigne Knight, Cui Phormingis sono audito Vesica statim ad Urinam reddendam vellicabatur. Such another we have in Aᵒ. 1. Ephem. Nat. Curios. Observ. 134. Also Morhoff de Scyph. vitr. per cert. human. vocis sonum fracto: where there is not only the Account of the Dutchman at Amsterdam, one Nich. Peter, that brake Romer-Glasses with the Sound of his Voice; but also divers other Instances of the Powers and Effects of Sound. But to the Story of the Gascoigne Knight, Mr. Boyl, from Scaliger, adds a pleasant Passage, That one he had disobliged, to be even with him, caused at a Feast, a Bag-pipe to be played, when he was hemmed in with the Company; which made the Knight bepiss himself, to the great Diversion of the Company, as well as Confusion of himself. Boyl’s Essay of the Effect of Lang. Motion. In the same Book are other Matters that may be noted here. One whose Arm was cut off, was exceedingly tormented with the discharge of the great Guns at Sea, although he was at a great Distance on Land. And a great Ship-Commander observed his wounded Men, with broken Limbs, suffered in like manner at the Enemies Discharges. An ingenious Domestick of his own would have his Gums bleed at the tearing of Brown-Paper. And an ingenious Gentleman of Mr. Boyl’s Acquaintance confessed to him, that he was inclined to the Knight of Gascoigne’s Distemper, upon hearing the Noise of a Tap running. The dancing to certain Tunes, of Persons bit with the Tarantula, he was assured of by an ingenious Acquaintance at Tarentum, who saw several, among the rest a Physician, affected with that Distemper. And many other Accounts of this kind, seemingly credible, are related in Morhoff, Kircher, and many others; although Dr. Cornelio questions the Matters of Fact relating to the cure of the Tarantula-bite, in Phil. Trans. Nᵒ. 83. Mr. Boyl also saith, a sober Musician told him, he could make a certain Woman weep, by playing one Tune, which others would be little affected at. And he saith, that he himself had a kind of shivering at the repeating two Verses in Lucan. And I add, that I very well know one to have a sort of chill about his Præcordia and Head, upon reading or hearing the 53ᵈ Chapter of Isaiah; as also David’s Lamentations for Saul and Jonathan, 1 Sam. i.

Neither are our own Minds and Bodies only affected with Sounds, but inanimate Bodies are so also. Of which many Stories may be met with in Kircher, particularly a large Stone that would tremble at the Sound of one particular Organ-Pipe; in Morhoff also, who among many other Relations hath this, Memini cùm ipsi [clarif. Willisio] de experimento Vitri per vocem fracti narrarem, ex eo audivisse, quod in adibus Musicis sibi vicinis aliquoties collapsum pavimentum fuerit; quod ipse sonis continuis adscribere non dubitavit. Morhoff. cap. 12. Mersenne also, among many Relations in his Harmon. and other Books, tells a far more probable Story, of a particular Part of a Pavement, that would shake, as if the Earth would open, when the Organs played, than what he relates about Antipathy, in his Quæst. Comment. in Genes. viz. That the Sound of a Drum made of a Wolf’s Skin, will break another made of Sheep’s Skin: That Hens will fly at the Sound of an Harp strung with Fox-Gut-Strings, and more to the same purpose. Mr. Boyl also, in his last cited Book tells us, Seats will tremble at the Sound of Organs; and that he hath felt his Hat do so too under his hand, at certain Notes both of Organs, and in Discourse, that he tried an Arch that would answer to C fa-ut, and had done so an 100 Years; and that an experienced Builder told him any well-built Vault will answer some determinate Note. And at Eastbury-House near Barking, I my self discovered the Porch, (having firm Brick-Walls,) not only to sound when struck on the Bottom, but also to give almost as loud a Sound, when I sounded the same Note with my Voice.

[ff] Willis, ubi supra.

[gg] Ille Deus est——qui non calamo tantùm cantare, & agreste, atque inconditum carmen ad aliquam tantùm oblectationem modulari docuit, sed tot artes, tot vocum varietates, tot sonos, alios spiritu nostro, alios externo cantu edituros commentus est. Senec. de Benef. l. 4. cap. 6.

[a] Piece of Ambergrease suspended in a Pair of Scales, that would turn with a very small Part of a Grain, lost nothing of its Weight in 3½ Days; neither did Assa fœtida in 5½ Days; but an Ounce of Nutmegs lost 5½ Grains in 6 Days; and Cloves 7⅘ Grains. Boyl’s Subtil. of Effluv. c. 5.

[b] Nares, eò quòd omnis Odor ad superiora fertur, rectè sursum sunt: Et quòd Cibi & Potionis judicium magnum earum est, non sine causâ vicinitatem Oris secutæ sunt. Cicero de Nat. Deor. l. 2. c. 56.

[c] Had not the Contriver of Animal Bodies been minded that his Work should have all the Signatures of Accuracy, this Sense might have been performed with a bare Aperture of the Nose; but that nothing might go imperfect out of his Hand, he hath made a part of the Nose easily moveable, and given a Set of Muscles to lift up, and open and shut the Nostrils; and so adjust it to every Occasion of this Sense.

[d] Odorem non aliud, quàm infectum Aera, intelligi posse. Plin. Nat. Hist. l. 9. c. 7.

[e] For a further Guard against the Ingress of noxious Things, the Vibrissi, or Hairs placed at the Entrance of the Nostrils serve, which, in some measure, stop the Entrance of Things improper, or however give Warning of them, but at the same Time allow an easy Passage to the Breath and Odours.

[f] Multò præclarius emicat [Olfactus] in brutis animalibus, quàm in homine: ista namque hoc solo indice, herbarum, aliorumque corporum priùs ignotorum virtutes certissimè dignoscunt, quin & victum suum absentem, vel in abstruso positum, Odoratu venantur, ac facillimè investigant. Quòd autem minùs sagaces sunt hominum nares, illud non facultatis hujus abusui (prout nonnulli volunt) ascribi debet, verùm in causâ est ipsius Organi defectus: hoc enim circa victûs humani criteria (ubi ratio, & intellectus adsunt) non ita accuratum requiritur: Proptereà enim inferiores potentiæ in homine, à naturâ minùs perfectæ existunt, ut superiorum cultui & exercitio relinqueretur locus. Willis de Anim. Brut. cap. 13.

[g] Thus the chief Use of Hounds is to hunt; and other Dogs, to be a Watch and Guard to our Houses by Night. For which Services (particularly in Hounds) their Olfactory Nerves are not only remarkably large, (like as they are in other Brutes,) but their Branches and Filaments are, in the Laminæ of the Nostrils, both more and larger than I have seen in any other Creature whatsoever. Also there are more Convulsions of the Laminæ than I ever remember to have found in any other Animal.

The Sagacity of Hounds is prodigious, of which see an Instance in Book IV. Chap. 11. Note (hhh).

[h] See Book VII. Chap. 2. Note (e).

[i] Vid. Plin. Hist. Nat. l. 8. cap. 27. Quæ animalia quas herbas ostenderunt.

[a] τὰ δὲ εἴδη τῶν χυλῶν, &c. Saporum genera,——dulcis, pinguis, austerus, acerbus, acris, salsus, amarus, acidus. Theophr. de Caus. Plant. l. 6. c. 1. What may the Cause of the difference of Tastes, he saith is hard to assign, πότερον γὰρ τοῖς πάθεσι, &c. Utrum affectionibus Sensuum——an figuris, quibus singuli constant, ut Democritus censet. id. ib. Δημόκριτος δὲ, &c. Democritus——dulcem esse saporem qui rotundus: acerbum qui figurâ magnâ; asperum qui multis angulis, &c. id. ib. &c. But of the Diversities and Causes of Tastes, see Dr. Grew, Lect. 6. and Dr. Willis de Anim. Brut. c. 12.

[b] Intellectus Saporum est cæteris in primâ linguâ: Homini, & in palato. Plin. l. 11. c. 37.

The Opinions of Anatomists concerning the Organ of Taste, are various. Bauhin, T. Bartholin, Bartholette, Vestinge, Deusinge, &c. place it in the laxer, fleshy Parts of the Tongue. Our famous Wharton, in the Gland at the Root of the Tongue: Laurentius in the thin Tunick covering the Tongue; but the Learned Malpighi with great Probability concludes, because the outward Cover of the Tongue is perforated, under which lie papillary Parts, (of which Mr. Cowper, hath very good Cuts in his Anat. Tab. 13.) that in these the Taste lieth. Malpighi’s Words are, Quare cùm dictis meatibus insignibus occurrant papillaria corpora, probabilius est in his ultimo, ex subintranti sapido humore titillationem, & mordicationem quandam fieri, quæ Gustum efficiat. Malpig. Op. Tom. 2. De Linguâ, pag. 18.

Præcipuum ac ferè solum Gustatûs organon est Lingua; cui aliquatenus subobscure tamen Palatum, & superior Gulæ pars consentiunt: in omnibus verò fibræ nervosæ immediata sensionis instrumenta sunt. Quare observare est, Linguam præ aliâ quâvis parte insigniter fibrosam esse, etiam texturâ valdè porosâ constare, in eum nempe finem, ut particulæ rei sapidæ copiosiùs ac penitiùs intra Sensorii meatus admittantur——Nervi autem qui fibris Linguæ densissimè intertextis famulantur, ac saporum impressiones τῷ πρώτῳ αἰσθητηρίῳ communicant, sunt——Nervi è paribus tum quinto, tum nono; & ubique cum densâ propaginum serie per totam ejus compagem distributi. Willis ibid.

[c] Gustatus, qui sentire eorum quibus vescimur genera debet, habitat in eâ parte Oris, quâ esculentis & poculentis iter natura patefecit. Cicer. de Nat. Deor. l. 2. c. 56. Vid. quoque supr. Note (b), Chap. 4.

[d] Multa hujus [quinti paris] Nervi propagines Masticationis operi destinantur; ideoque quoniam alimenta ingerenda non modo Gustus, ast etiam Olfactûs & Visûs examen subire debent, ab eodem Nervo, cujus rami ad Palatum & Fauces missi, Manducationis negotium peragunt, propagines aliæ, velut exploratrites, ad Nares & Oculos feruntur, nempe ut isthæc aliorum sensuum organa, etiam ad objecta Gustûs melius dignoscenda probationum auxiliis quibusdam instruantur. Willis Nerv. Descrip. & Usus. cap. 22.

[e] See Book V. chap. 8.

[a] Malpighi is of this Opinion, that as Taste is performed by the Papillæ in the Tongue, so is Feeling by such like Papillæ under the Skin. From several Dissections, and other Observations, he thus concludes, Ex his & similibus videbatur animus abundè certior redditus, earundem Papillarum pyramidalium copiam, quas aliàs in Linguâ descripsi, in locis præcipuè acquisitiori Tactui dicatis reperiri, eodem progigni nervoso & cuticulari corpore, simulque circumvolvi reticulari involucro, & extimam cuticulam, veluti ultimum terminum attingere.——Microscopio quilibet in manûs dorso pro sudore orificia quædam miro ordine dispersa intueri potest, circa quæ frequentia quædam capitula assurgunt; hæc verò sunt Papillarum fines, dum à cute assurgentes interpositum superant rete, simulque extimam cuticulam. Hæc repetitis sectionibus deprehendi; ex quibus non improbabiliter deducam, sicuti ex elatioribus——papillis——in Linguâ, Gustûs Organon elicitur,——ita ex copiosâ harum Papillarum congerie——in organis, ubi maximè animalia Tactûs motione afficiuntur,——adæquatum Tactûs organum sufficientèr haberi. Malpig. de extern. Tact. Org. p. 26. Consul. quoque ejusd. Vit. p. 28.

These Observations of Malpighi, our late curious and diligent Mr. Cowper hath confirmed, and given us very elegant Cuts both of the Skin, and the Papillæ, and the Nerves, Glands, &c. under it, from Microscopical Observations. Vid. Cowper’s Anat. Introd. and Tab. 4.

[b] Although the Eye be the usual Judge of Colours, yet some have been able to distinguish them by their Feeling. Quidam fuit qui venit ad M. Duc. Hetruriæ aulam qui colores per Tactum cognoscebat. Pro experimento velum sericum, uniformiter textum, & pluribus coloribus tinctum, offerebatur, & veracitèr de colore to singulis partibus judicabat. Grimald. de Lum. & Col. prop. 43. §. 59.

[c] Tactus autem toto corpore æquabilitèr fusus est, ut omnes ictus, omnesque nimios & frigoris, & caloris appulsus sentire possimus. Cicer. ubi supr.

Tactus sensus omnibus est, etiam quibus nullus alius; nam & Ostreis, & terrestribus Vermibus quoque. Existimaverim omnibus sensum & Gustatûs esse. Cur enim alios alia sapores appetunt? in quo vel præcipua Naturæ architectio. Plin. Nat. Hist. l. 10. c. 71.

[a] The Uses assign’d to Respiration by all the Anatomists before Malpighi’s Discoveries of the Structure of the Lungs, are so various, and many of them so improbable, that it would be frivolous to recount them. But the more eminent modern Anatomists assign these Uses. Willis thus sums up his Opinion, Præcipua Pulmonum functio, & usus sunt, sanguinem & aerem per totas partium compages, intimosque recessus, atq; ductus quosque minutissimos traducere, & ubique invicem committere; in cum nempe finem, ut sanguis venosus à circuitu redux, & chymo recenti dilutus,——tum perfectiùs misceatur & velut subigatur, tum potissimùm ut secundùm omnes suas partes ab aëre nitroso de novo accendatur. Pharmaceut. p. 2. S. 1. c. 2. §. 2. Mayow saith rightly, that one grand Use of Expiration is, Ut cum aëre expulso, etiam vapores è sanguine exhalantes, simul exsufflentur. And as for Inspiration, that it coveyeth a nitro-aerial ferment to the Blood, to which the Animal-Spirits are owing, and all Muscular-Motion. Mayow de Respir. p. 22. &c. meâ Edit.

Somewhat of the Opinion of these two last cited, if I mistake not (it being long since I read their Tracts, and have them not now at hand,) were Ent, Sylvius, Swammerdam, Diemerbroek, and my Friend Mr. Ray in an unpublished Tract of his, and in his Letters now in my Hands.

But our Dr. Thurston, for good Reasons, rejects these from being principal Uses of Respiration, and thinks, with great Reason, the principal Uses to be to move, or pass the Blood from the right to the left Ventricle of the Heart. Upon which account Persons hanged, drowned, or strangled by Catarrhs, so suddenly die, namely, because the Circulation of their Blood is stopped. For the same Reason also it is, that Animals die so soon in the Air-Pump. Among other Proofs he instanceth in an Experiment of Dr. Croon, Profess. Gresh. which he made before our R. S. by strangling a Pullet, so that not the least Sign of Life appear’d; but by blowing Wind into the Lungs through the Trachea, and so setting the Lungs a playing, he brought the Bird to Life again. Another Experiment was once tried by Dr. Walter Needham, before Mr. Boyl, and others at Oxford, by hanging a Dog, so that the Heart ceased moving. But hastily opening the Dog, and blowing Wind into the Ductus Pecquetianus, he put the Blood in Motion, and by that means the Heart, and so recovered the Dog to Life again. V. Thurston de Respir. Us. p. 60, and 63. meâ Edit.

Such an Experiment as Dr. Croon’s my Friend, the late justly renowned Dr. Hook shewed also our R. S. He cut away the Ribs, Diaphragm, and Pericardium, of a Dog; also the top of the Wind-Pipe, that he might tie it on to the Nose of a Pair of Bellows; and by blowing into the Lungs, he restored the Dog to Life; and then ceasing blowing, the Dog would soon fall into dying Fits; but by blowing again, he recovered; and so alternately would die, and recover, for a considerable Time, as long, and often as they pleased. Philos. Trans. Nᵒ. 28.

For the farther Confirmation of Dr. Thurston’s Opinion, the ingenious Dr. Musgrave cut off, and close stopped up the Wind-Pipe of a Dog with a Cork, and then threw open the Thorax; where he found the Blood stagnating in the Lungs, the Arteria Pulmonaris the right Ventricle and Auricle of the Heart, and the two great Trunks of the Cava, distended with Blood to an immense Degree; but at the same Time, the Vena Pulmonaris, the left Ventricle and Auricle of the Heart in a manner empty, hardly a spoonful of Blood therein. Philos. Trans. Nᵒ. 240. Or both the Experiments may be together met with in Lowth. Abridg. Vol. 3. p. 66, 67.

This Opinion of our learned Thurston, the late learned Etmullerus espoused, who being particular in reckoning up the Uses of Respiration, I shall therefore the more largely cite him. Respiration, saith he, serves, 1. Ad Olfactum. 2. Ad Screatum & Sputationem. 3. Ad Oscitationem, Tussim, Sternutationem, Emunctionemque. 4. Ad liquidorum Sorbitionem, Suctionemve. 5. Ad Loquelam, Cantum, Clamorem, Risum, Fletum, Flatum, &c. 6. Ad facum Alvi, Urinæ, Fœtûs Molæve, necnon Secundinarum expulsionem. 7. Ad promovendi Ventriculi, Intestinorum, Lacteorumque vasorum, &c. contenta. 8. Ad halitus aqueos Sanguinis è pulmonibus, aëris ope, exportandos. 9. Ad Diapnoën. 10. Ad exactiorem Chyli, Lymphaque, necnon Sanguinis——miscelam. 11. Ad conciliandum sanguini——coccineam rubedinem, &c. 12. Nec merosè negabimus, aërem——pulmones, & sanguinem illos transcurrentem, minùs calida reddere, &c. 13. Quod denique aër sanguini singulis Respirationibus aliquantillâ sui parte, admixtus, paucissimas quasdam in spiritum animalium elaboratione particulas simul contribuat. All these Uses, although of great Consequence, yet he thinks rather conduce to the Well-Being, than the Being of the Animal; because without any of them, the Animal would not so speedily die, as it doth by Strangling, or in the Air-Pump. He therefore assigns a 14ᵗʰ, and the principal Use of Respiration to be, For the passing of the Blood through the Lungs, that is thrown into them by the Heart. Etmull. Dissert. 2. c. 10. §. 1. & 16.

But the late Dr. Drake, with great Ingenuity and Address, (like a Person so considerable for his Years, as he was in his Time,) not only establish’d this Notion of Respiration, but also carries it farther, making it the true Cause of the Diastole of the Heart; which neither Borelli, Lower, or Cowper, much less any before those great Men, have well accounted for. That the Heart is a Muscle, is made evident beyond all doubt by Dr. Lower. And that the Motion of all Muscles consists in Constriction, is not to be doubted also. By which means the Systole is easily accounted for. But forasmuch as the Heart hath no Antagonist-Muscle, the Diastole hath puzzled the greatest Wits. But Dr. Drake with great Judgment, and much Probability of Reason, maketh the Weight of the Incumbent Atmosphere to be the true Antagonist to all the Muscles which serve both for ordinary Inspiration and the Constriction of the Heart. The Particulars of his Opinion may be seen in his Anatomy, l. 2. c. 7. And in Philos. Trans. 281.

And I remember when I was at the University, my most ingenious and learned Tutor Dr. Wills, when he read Anatomy to us, was of Opinion, that the Lungs were blown up by the Weight of the incumbent Air, and represented the manner of Respiration in this manner, viz. He put a Bladder into a Pair of Bellows, turning back the Neck of the Bladder, and tying it fast, so that no Air might enter in between the Bladder and Bellows. This being done, when the Bellows were opened, the Bladder would be blown up by the Weight of the incumbent Air; and when shut, the Air would be thereby pressed forcibly out of the Bladder, so as to blow the Fire. This Experiment I take Notice of here; because (besides the Illustration it gives to Respiration) that great Genius seems to have had a truer Notion of this Phænomenon, than was very common then, viz. about the Year 1677 or 78; as also, because I have in some Authors met with the same Experiment, without mention of Dr. Wills, whose I take it to have been.

Another Use of great Consideration, the already commended Dr. Cheyne assigns; namely, to form the elastick Globules of which the Blood principally consists, without which there would be a general Obstruction in all the capillary Arteries. Cheyne’s Phil. Prin. of Nat. Rel. or Harris’s Lex. Tech. in Lungs.

[b] Gen. ii. 7. vi. 17. and vii. 15.

[c] Because it would be endless to specify the curious Mechanism of all the Parts, concurring to the Formation of the Voice; I shall therefore for a Sample note only two Things, 1. There are thirteen Muscles provided for the Motion of the five Cartilages of the Larynx, Gibs. Anat. l. 2. c. 14, a Sign of the careful and elaborate Provision that is made for the Voice. 2. It is a prodigious Faculty of the Glottis, in contracting and dilating itself with such Exquisiteness, as to form all Notes. For (as the ingenious Dr. Keil saith) supposing the greatest Distance of the two Sides of the Glottis, to be one tenth Part of an Inch in sounding 12 Notes, (to which the Voice easily reaches;) this Line must be divided into 12 Parts, each of which gives the Aperture requisite for such a Note, with a certain Strength. But if we consider the Sub-division of Notes, into which the Voice can run, the Motion of the Sides of the Glottis is still vastly nicer. For if two Chords sounding exactly Unisons, one be shortened, ⅟₂₀₀₀ Part of its Length, a just Ear will perceive the Disagreement, and a good Voice will sound the Difference, which is ⅟₁₉₆ Part of a Note. But suppose the Voice can divide a Note into 100 Parts, it follows that the different Apertures of the Glottis actually divide the tenth Part of an Inch into 1200 Parts, the Effect of each of which produces a sensible Alteration upon a good Ear. But because each Side of the Glottis moves just equally, therefore the Divisions are just double, or the Sides of the Glottis, by their Motion do actually divide one tenth Part of an Inch into 2400 Parts. Keil’s Anat. c. 3. Sect. 7.

[d] Among the Instruments of Speech, the Tongue is a necessary one; and so necessary, that it is generally thought no Speech can be without it. But in the third Tome of the Ephem. Germ. is published, Jac. Rolandi Aglossostomographia, sive Descriptio Oris sine Linguâ, quod perfecte loquitur, & reliquas suas functiones naturalitèr exercet. The Person described is one Pet. Durand, a French Boy of eight or nine Years old, who at five or six lost his Tongue by a Gangrene, occasioned the Small-Pox. Notwithstanding which, he could (as the Title saith) speak perfectly, as also taste, spit, swallow, and chew his Food; but this latter he could do only on that Side he put it into, not being able to turn it to the other Side his Mouth.

In the same Tract, Chap. 6. is this Observation of ventriloquous Persons, Memini me à quodam sat celebri Anatomico audivisse, dum de duplicaturâ Mediastini ageret, si Membrana ista duplex naturalitèr unita in duas partes dividatur, loquelam quasi ex pectore procedere, ut circumstantes credant Dæmoniacum hunc, aut Sternomythum.

[e] The Variation of the Wind-pipe is observable in every Creature, according as it is necessary for that of the Voice. In an Urchin, which hath a very small Voice, ’tis hardly more than membranous. And in a Pigeon, which hath a low and soft Note, ’tis partly cartilaginous, and partly membranous. In an Owl, which hath a good audible Note, ’tis more cartilaginous; but that of a Jay, hath hard Bones instead of Cartilages; and so of a Linnet: Whereby they have both of them a louder and stronger Note, &c.

The Rings of the Wind-pipe are fitted for the Modulation of the Voice: For in Dogs and Cats, which in the Expression of divers Passions use a great many Notes, (as Men do,) they are open and flexible, as in Man. Whereby all, or any of them are dilated, or contracted, more or less, as is convenient for a higher or deeper Note, &c. whereas in some other Animals, as in the Japan-Peacock, which useth hardly more than one single Note, they are entire, &c. Grew’s Cosmolog. Sacr. Book I. Chap. 5. §. 9, 10.

[f] It is a farther manifest Indication of singular Design in the cartilaginous Rings of the aspera Arteria, that all the Way where they are contiguous to the Oesophagus, they are membranous, to afford an easie Passage to the Food; but after that, in the Bronchi; they are, some compleatly annular, some triangular, &c. And another observable is, the lower Parts of the superior Cartilages, receive the upper Parts of the inferior, in the Bronchi; whereas in the aspera Arteria, the Cartilages run and remain parallel to one another; which is a noble Difference or Mechanism in this (in a Manner) one and the same Part, enabling the Lungs and Bronchi to contract themselves in Expiration, and to extend and dilate themselves in Inspiration.

[g] I shall not here intrench so much upon the Anatomist’s Province, to give a Description of the Lungs, although it be a curious Piece of God’s Workmanship; but refer to Seignior Malpighi, the first Discoverer of their Vesiculæ in 1660, in his two Letters to Borelli de Pulmon. Also to Dr. Willis’s Pharm. Rat. p. 2. S. 1. c. 1. de Respir. Orig. & Us. who as he wrote after Malpighi, so hath more accurately described those parts; and to Mr. Cowper’s Anat. Tab. 24, 25. And if the Reader hath a Mind to see what Opposition Seignior Malpighi’s Discoveries met with at Home and Abroad, and what Controversies he had on that Account, as also his Censures of Dr. Willis’s Descriptions and Figures, he may consult Malpighi’s Life written by himself, pag. 4 to 21.

That the Lungs consist of Vesiculæ, or Lobuli of Vesiculæ admitting of Air from the Bronchi, is visible, because they may be blown up, cleansed of Blood, and so dried. But Mr. Cowper saith, he could never part the Lobuli, (so as to make Dr. Willis’s Fig. 1. Tab. 3. & 4.) so that probably the Vesiculæ are contiguous to one another throughout each Lobe of the Lungs. And not only Air; but Diemerbroeck proves, that the Vesiculæ admit of Dust also, from two asthmatick Persons he opened; one a Stonecutter’s Man, the Vesiculæ of whose Lungs were so stuffed with Dust, that in cutting, his Knife went as if through an Heap of Sand; the other was a Feather-driver, who had these Bladders filled with the fine Dust or Down of Feathers.

[h] There is a considerable Difference between Dr. Willis, and Etmuller, viz. Whether the Vesiculæ of the Lungs have any muscular Fibres or not? Etmuller expressly saith, Nullas Fibras musculosas, multo minùs rubicundam Musculorum compagem (sunt enim Vesiculæ albidæ & fere diaphanæ) in ipsis reperiri. ubi supr. c. 6. §. 2. And afterwards, §. 3. Pulmones esse molles flexilesque musculosis fibris ceu propriæ explicationis organis destitutos. But Dr. Willis as expressly alerts they have musculous Fibres, and assigns an excellent Use of them; Cellulæ istæ vesiculares, ut nixus pro expiratione contractivos edant, etiam fibras, utì per Microscopium planè conspicere est, musculares obtinent, ubi supr. §. 16. And in the next §, Ut pro datâ occasione majorem aëris copiam exsufflent, aut materiam extussiendam ejiciant, fibris muscularibus donatæ, sese arctiùs contrahunt, contentaque sua penitùs exterminant. Et enim ordinariæ pectoris Systolæ, quas musculorum relaxationes ex parte efficiunt, aërem forsan totum à Tracheâ & Bronchiis, haud tamen à Vesiculis, quâque vice ejiciunt: propter has (quoties opus erit) inaniendas, & totius Pectoris cavitas plurimùm angustatur, & cellulæ ipsæ vesiculures à propriis fibris constrictis coarctantur.

[i] Circa hos motus [Scil. Pectoris dilatationem, &c.] divini Conditoris mechanicen, ad regulas Mathematicas planè adaptaram, satis admirari non possumus; siquidem nullâ aliâ in re manifestùs Ὁ Θεὸς γεωμετρεῖν videtur. Quippe cùm pectoris, tum ampliato, tum coarctatio à quibusdam Musculis (quorum munus unicum est contrahere) perfici debeat; res ita instituitur, ut Costæ quæ thoracis, volut parallelogrammi oblongi versus cylindrum incurvati, latera efformant, in figuram modò quadratam, cum angulis rectis, pro pectoris ampliatione; modò in rhomboeidem, cum angulis acutis pro ejusdem contractione, ducantur, &c. Willis, ubi supr. §. 28.

Galen having spoken of the Parts ministring to Respiration, concludeth, Nihil usquam à Naturâ ullo pacto per incuriam, fuisse præteritum, qua cùm omnia præsentiret & provideret, quæ sunt necessaria illa, quæ causa alicujus extiterunt, confecutura, omnibus instaurationes parare occupavit, cujus apparatus copiosa facultas admirabilem Sapientiam testantur. De us. part. l. 5. c. 15. See also l. 6. c. 1.

[k] For the Structure of the Intercostals, Midriff, &c. I shall refer to Dr. Willis, and other Anatomists. Bur Dr. Drake taxeth Dr. Willis with an Error in fancying there is an Opposition in the Office of the Intercostals, by reason that the Fibres of the external and internal Intercostals decussate; that therefore the external serve to raise the Ribs, the internal to draw them down. But Dr. Drake is of Steno’s, and Dr. Mayow’s Opinion, that notwithstanding the Decussation of their Fibres, the Power they exert upon, and the Motion they effect in the Ribs, is one and the same. Drake’s Anat. l. 2. c. 7. and l. 4. c. 5. Mayow de Respir. c. 7.

[l] Although Dr. Drake and some others deny the Intercostals being Antagonist-Muscles, as in the preceding Note, yet they, and most other Anatomists that I have met with, attribute a considerable Power to them in the act of Respiration, as they do also to the Subclavian and Triangular Muscles: but the learned Etmuller denies it for these three Reasons, 1. Quia respirando nullam in illis contractionem sentio. 2. Quia——sibi invicem non adducuntur, &c. 3. Quia Costæ omnes ab aliis modò enarratis musculis moventur, idque simul, &c. Intercostales itaque, necnon Subclavios Musculos Costis, parietum instar, ad complenda interstitia intercostalia, pectusque integrandum, ac Costas connectendas, intertectos esse, probabiliter concludo; quo munere triangulares etiam——fungi, rationi consentaneum est. Etmul. Dissert. 2. cap. 4. §. 6.

But as to the Use of the Triangular Muscle in Respiration, we may judge of it, from its remarkable Size, and Use in a Dog; of which Dr. Willis gives this Account from Fallopius: In Homine parvus adeò & subtilis iste [Musculus] est, ut vix pro Musculo accipi queat: in Cane per totum os pectoris protenditur, & cartilagines omnes, etiam verarum Costarum sterno inosculatas, occupat: Cujus discriminis ratio divinam circa Animalium fabricas Providentiam planè indigitat. Quippe cùm hoc animal, ad cursus velocissimos & diu continuandos natum, quo sanguis, dum intensiùs agitatur, ritè accendatur eventileturque, aërem celerrimè & fortiter uti inspirare, ita etiam exspirare debet——idcirco propter hunc actum firmiùs obeundum (cujus in Homine haud magnus est usus) musculus caninas molem ingentem & tanto operi parem fortitur. Willis ubi supr. §. 32.

[m] Ray’s Wisdom of God in the Creation, p. 343.

[n] Mr. Cheselden, an ingenious and most accurate Anatomist, having somewhat particular in his Observations about the Circulation of the Blood through the Heart of the Fœtus, I shall present the Reader with some of his Observations, which he favoured me with the Sight of. The Blood (saith he) which is brought to the Heart by the ascending Cava, passes out of the right Auricle into the left, through a Passage called Foramen Ovale, in the Septum [common to them both] without passing through the right Ventricle (as after the Birth) while the Blood from the descending Cava passeth through the right Auricle and Ventricle into the pulmonary Artery, and thence into the Aorta through the Duct, betwixt that and the pulmonary Artery, called Ductus Arteriosus, whilst a small Portion of the Blood, thrown into the pulmonary Artery passeth through the Lungs, no more than is sufficient to keep open the pulmonary Vessels. Thus both Ventricles are employed in driving the Blood through the Aorta to all Parts of the Fœtus, and to the Mother too. But after the Birth, the Blood being to be driven from the Aorta through the Fœtus alone, and not the Mother too, one Ventricle becomes sufficient, whilst the other is employed in driving the Blood through the Lungs, the Ductus Arteriosus being shut up by means of the Alteration of its Position, which happens to it from the raising the Aorta by the Lungs when they become inflated. After that the Blood is thus driven into the Lungs, in its return it shuts the Valve of the Foramen Ovale against the Foramen it self, to whose Sides it soon adheres, and so stops up the Passage. The Ductus Arteriosus, or Ductus Arteriosus in Ligamentum versus, is seldom to be discerned in adult Bodies, but the Figure of the Foramen Ovale is never obliterated.

[o] It hath been generally thought to be not improbable, but that on some Occasions the Foramen Ovale may remain open in Man. In a Girl of four or five Years of Age, Dr. Connor found it but half closed, and in the Form of a Crescent. And he thinks somewhat of this kind might be in the Person whose Skeleton was found to have no Joynts in the Back-Bone, Ribs, &c. Of which a Description, with Cuts, may be found in Phil. Trans. Nᵒ. 215. and more largely in his Dissert. Med. Phys. de stupendo Ossium coalitu, where he adds to the Girl, in whom the For. Ov. was not shut, a like Observation of another Girl he opened at Oxford of three Years Old, In quâ Foramen Ovals ferè erat occlusum, in medio tamen, exili foramine, per quod Turundam facilè transmisi, erat pervium, pag. 30. So Mr. Cowper (than whom none more accurate and a better Judge) saith, I have often found the Foramen Ovale open in the Adult. Anat. Append. Fig. 3. But Mr. Cheselden is of a different Opinion. Of which in the following Note.

From somewhat of this Cause I am apt to think it was that the Tronningholm Gardiner escaped drowning, and some others mentioned by Pechlin. His Stories are, Hortulanus Tronningholmensis etiamnum vivens, annos natos 65, pro illâ ætate satis adhuc valens & vegetus, cùm ante 18 annos, alii in aquas delapso opem ferre vellet, forte fortunâ & ipse per glaciem incautiùs procedens, aquas incidet 18 ulnas profundas: ubi ille, corpore erecto quasi ad perpendiculum, pedibus fundo adhæsit. Constitit sic per 16 horas, antequàm produceretur in auras. Dixit autem, simul ac infra aquarum superficiem fuit demersus, statim obriguisse totum, &, si quem tum habuit motum & sensum, amisisse, nisi quod sonantes Stockolmii campanas etiam sub aquis obscuriùs percipere sibi sit visus. Sensit etiam, statim sese velut vesiculam ori applicâsse, adeò ut aqua nulla os penetraverit, in aures verò transitum, etiam sentiente illo, habuerit; atque inde auditum suum debilitatum aliquandiu esse. Hoc statu dum 16 horas permansit frustrà quæsitus, tandem repertum, conto in caput infixo, cujus etiam sensum se habuisse dixit, fundo extraxerunt, sperantes ex more aut persuasione gentis revicturum esse. Itaque pannis linteisque productum obvolvunt, ne aër admitti possit perniciosus futurus subito illapsu: custoditum sic satis ab aëre sensim sensimque tepidiori loco admovent mox calidis adoriuntur fasciis, fricant, radunt, & sufflaminatum tot horis sanguinis corporisque motum negotiosâ illâ operâ reducunt: denique antapoplecticis & genialibus liquoribus vitæ reddunt & pristinæ mobilitati. Retulit is atque ostendit se etiamnum in capite circumferre vestigia violentiæ à conto illatæ, & cephalalgiis vexari gravissimis. Et propter hunc ipsum casum, religiosè à popularibus, & hujusce rei testibus probatum, Serenissimæ Reginæ matris munificentiâ & annuo stipendio est donatus——& Serenis. Principi——oblatus, vivus sui testis——Consignatam manu habes Historiam D. Tilasii, Biblioth. Reg. Præfecti, qui testatus est se prænovisse mulierem, quæ tres ipsos dies sub aquis hæsit, & similem in modum, quo Hortulanus ille, resuscitata, adhuc dum lucis plenâ fruitur usurâ. Accedit Nob. Burmanni——fides. qui confessus est,——se in pago Boness parochiæ Pithoviæ concionem frequentâsse funebrem, in quâ, dum acta recenseret Præco Senis cujusdam septuagenarii Laur. Jonæ——audiverit ex ore Concionatoris, vivum eum, adolescentum 17 annorum, aquis submersum, 7 demum hebdomadâ (rem prodigiosam!) extractum ad se rediisse vivum & incolumem. Pechlin. de Aer. & Alim. def. c. 10.

Shall we to this Cause, or to the Ossification, or more than ordinary Strength of the Wind-Pipe, attribute the Recovery to Life of Persons hanged? Of which Pechlin gives an Instance that fell under his own Knowledge, of a Woman hanged, and in all Appearance dead, but recovered by a Physician accidentally coming in, with a plentiful Administration of Spir. Sal. Armon. Pechl. ib. c. 7. And the Story of Anne Green, executed at Oxford, Dec. 14. 1650. is still well remembered among the Seniors there. She was hanged by the Neck near half an Hour, some of her Friends in the mean Time thumping her on the Breast, others hanging with all their Weight upon her Legs, sometimes lifting her up, and then pulling her down again with a sudden Jirk, thereby the sooner to dispatch her out of her Pain: as her printed Account wordeth it. After she was in her Coffin, being observed to breath, a lusty Fellow stamped with all his Force on her Breast and Stomach, to put her out of her Pain. But by the assistance of Dr Peity, Dr. Willis, Dr. Bathurst, and Dr. Clark, she was again brought to Life. I my self saw her many Years after, after that she had (I heard) born divers Children. The Particulars of her Crime, Execution and Restauration, see in a little Pamphlet, called News from the Dead, written, as I have been informed, by Dr. Bathurst, (afterwards the most vigilant and learned President of Trinity-College, Oxon,) and published in 1651. with Verses upon the Occasion.

[p] The Sea-Calf hath the Foramen Ovale, by which means it is enabled to stay long under the Water, as the Paris. Anatomists. Of which see in Book VI. Chap. 5. Note (c).

But the fore-commended Mr. Cheselden thinks the Foramen Ovale is neither open in amphibious Creatures, nor any adult Land-Animals. When I first (saith he) applied my self to the Dissection of Human Bodies, I had no distrust of the frequent Accounts of the Foramen Ovale being open in Adults: but I find since, that I mistook the Ostium Venarum Coronariarum for the Foramen. The like I suppose Authors have done, who assert that it is always open in amphibious Animals: for we have made diligent Enquiry into those Animals, and never found it open. Neither would that (as they imagine) serve these Creatures to live under Water, as the Fœtus doth in Utero, unless the Ductus Arteriosus was open also.

This Opinion of Mr. Cheselden hath this to render it probable, that the Ostium Venarum Coronariarum is so near the Foramen Ovale, that without due regard, it may be easily mistaken for it. Such therefore as have Opportunity of examining this Part in amphibious Animals, or any other Subject, ought to seek for the Ostium, whenever they suspect they have met with the Foramen.

[q] Of the singular Conformation of the Heart and Lungs of the Tortoise, which is an amphibious Animal. See Book VI. Chap. 5. Note (b).

[r] Acts xvii. 25.

[a] That the Muscles are compounded of Fibres, is visible enough. Which Fibres, the curious and ingenious Borelli saith, are cylindraceous; not hollow, but filled with a spungy, pithy Substance, after the manner of Elder, as he discovered by his Microscopes. Borel. de Mot. Animal. Part 1. These Fibres, he saith, are naturally white; but derive their Redness only from the Blood in them.

These Fibres do in every Muscle, (in the Belly at least of the Muscle,) run parallel to one another, in a neat orderly Form. But they do not at all tend the same Way, but some run aslant, some longways, &c. according to the Action or Position of each respective Muscle. The Particulars of which, and of divers other Observables in the Muscles, would, besides Figures, take up too much room in these Notes; and therefore I must refer to the Anatomists, particularly Steno, Borelli, Cowper, &c.

[b] The infinite Creator hath generally exerted his Art and Care, in the Provision made by proper Muscles and Nerves, for all the different Motions in animal Bodies, both involuntary, and voluntary. It is a noble Providence that most of the vital Motions, such as of the Heart, Stomach, Guts, &c. are involuntary, the Muscles acting whether we sleep or wake, whether we will or no. And it is no less providential that some, even of the vital Motions, are partly voluntary, partly involuntary, as that for Instance, of Breathing, which is performed both sleeping and waking; but can be intermitted for a short Time on occasion, as for accurate hearing any Thing, &c. or can be encreased by a stronger Blast, to make the greater Discharges of the Blood from the Lungs, when that any Thing overcharges them. And as for the other Motions of the Body, as of the Limbs, and such as are voluntary, it is a no less Providence, that they are absolutely under the Power of the Will; so as that the Animal hath it in his Power to command the Muscles and Spirits of any part of its Body, to perform such Motions and Actions as it hath Occasion for.

[c] Quid dicam de Ossibus? quæ subjecta corpori mirabiles commissuras habent, & ad stabilitatem aptas, & ad artus finiendos accommodatas, & ad motum, & ad omnem corporis actionem. Cicer. de Nat. Deor. l. 2. c. 55.

By Reason it would be endless to mention all the Curiosities observable in the Bones, I shall for a Sample, single out only an Instance or two, to manifest that Design was used in the Structure of these Parts in Man.

The first shall be in the Back-Bone, which (among many others) hath these two Things remarkable. 1. Its different Articulations from the other Joynts of the Body. For here most of the Joynts are flat, and withal guarded with Asperities and Hollows, made for catching and holding; so as firmly to lock and keep the Joynts from Luxations, but withal to afford them such a Motion, as is necessary for the Incurvations of the Body. 2. The difference of its own Joynts in the Neck, Back and Loins. In the Neck, the Atlas, or upper Vertebra, as also the Dentata, are curiously made, and joynted (differently from the rest) for the commodious and easie bending and turning the Head every way. In the Thorax, or Back, the Joynts are more close and firm; and in the Loins, more lax and pliant; as also the Spines are different, and the Knobs and Sockets turned the quite contrary way, to answer the Occasions the Body hath to bend more there, than higher in the Back. I shall close this Remark with the ingenious Dr. Keil’s Observation.

The Structure of the Spine is the very best that can be contrived; for had it been all Bone, we could have had no Motion in our Backs; had it been of two or three Bones articulated for Motion, the Medulla Spinalis must have been necessarily bruised at every Angle or Joynt; besides, the whole would not have been so pliable for the several Postures we have occasion to put our selves in. If it had been made of several Bones without intervening Cartilages, we should have had no more Use of it, than if it had been but one Bone. If each Vertebra had had its own distinct Cartilages, it might have been easily dislocated. And lastly, The oblique Processes of each superior and inferior Vertebra, keep the middle one that it can neither be thrust backwards nor forwards to compress the Medulla Spinalis. Keil’s Anat. c. 5. §. 8.

Compare here what Galen saith of the Articulations, Ligaments, Perforation, &c. of the Spine, to prove the Wisdom and Providence of the Maker of animal Bodies, against such as found fault with Nature’s Works; among which he names Diagoras, Anaxagoras, Asclepiades and Epicurus. V. Galen. de Us. Part. L. 12. init. and Chap. 11, &c. also L. 13. init.

2. The next Instance shall be in one or two Things, wherein the Skeletons of Sexes differ. Thus the Pelvis made in the Belly by the Ilium, Ossa Coxendicis and Pubis, is larger in a Female than Male Skeleton, that there may be more room for the lying of the Viscera and Fœtus. So the Cartilage bracing together the two Ossa Pubis, or Sharebones, Bartholine saith, is twice thicker and laxer in Women than Men: As also is the Cartilage that tieth the Os Sacrum to its Vertebra; and all to give way to the Passage of the Fœtus.

Another considerable Difference is in the cartilaginous Production of the seven long Ribs, whereby they are braced to the Breast-Bone. These are harder and firmer in Women than in Men; the better to support the Weight of the Breasts, the sucking Infant, &c.

[d] It is remarkable in the Joynts, and a manifest Act of Caution and Design, 1. That altho’ the Motion of the Limbs be circular, yet the Center of that Motion is not in a Point, but an ample Superficies. In a Point, the Bones would wear and penetrate one another; the Joynts would be exceedingly weak, &c. but the Joynts consisting of two large Superficies, Concave and Convex, some furrowed and ridged, some like a Ball and Socket, and all lubricated with an oily Substance, they are incomparably prepared both for Motion and Strength. 2. That the Bones next the Joynt are not spungy, as their Extremities commonly are, nor hard and brittle, but capped with a strong, tough, smooth, cartilaginous Substance, serving both to Strength and Motion.

But let us here take notice of what Galen mentions on this Subject. Articulorum unusquisque Eminentiam Cavitati immissam habet: Veruntamen hoc fortasse non adeò mirabile est: Sed si, consideratâ omnium totius corporis ossium mutuâ connexione, Eminentias cavitatibus suscipientibus æquales semper inveneris; Hoc mirabile. Si enim justo amplior esset Cavitas, laxus sanè & infirmus fieret Articulus; si strictior, motus difficulter fieret, ut qui nullam versionem haberet; ac periculum esset non parvum, eminintias ossium arctatas frangi: sed horum neutrum factum est.——Sed quoniam ex tam securâ constructione periculum erat, nè motiones difficiliùs fierent, & eminentiæ ossium extererentur, duplex rursus auxilium in id Natura molita est. 1. Cartilagine os utrumque subungens, atque oblinens: alterum, ipsis Cartilaginibus humorem unctuosum, velut oleum, superfundens; per quem facilè mobilis, & attritu contumax omnis articulatio Ossium facta est.——Ut undique diligenter Articulus omnis custodiretur, Ligamenta quædam ex utroque osse produxit Natura. Galen de Us. Part. l. 1. c. 15.

[e] For the affording this oily or mucilaginous Matter, there are Glandules very commodiously placed near the Joynts, so as not to suffer too great Compression by the Motion of the neighbouring Bones, and yet to receive a due Pressure, so as to cause a sufficient Emission of the Mucilage into the Joynts. Also another Thing considerable is, that the excretory Ducts of the mucilaginous Glands have some Length in their Passage from the Glands to their Mouths; which is a good Contrivance, to prevent their Mouths being oppressed by the Mucilage, as also to hinder the too plentiful Effusion thereof, but yet to afford a due Expressure of it at all Times, and on all Occasions, as particularly in violent and long-continued Motions of the Joynts, when there is a greater than ordinary Expence of it. See Cowper’s Anat. Tab. 79.

[f] There is no doubt to be made, but that the Muscles receive their Motion from the Nerves. For if a Nerve be cut, or straightly bound, that goes to any Muscle, that Muscle shall immediately lose its Motion. Which is doubtless the case of Paralyticks; whose Nerves are some of them by Obstructions, or such like Means, reduced to the same State as if cut or bound.

And this also is the cause of that Numness or Sleepiness we find oftentimes, by long sitting or lying on any Part.

Neither is this a modern Notion only: For Galen saith, Principium Nervorum omnium Cerebrum est, & spinalis Medulla.——Et Nervi à Cerebro animalem virtutem accipiunt——Nervorum utilitas est facultatem Sensûs & Motûs à principio in partes diducere. And this he intimates to have been the Opinion of Hippocrates and Plato. De Us. Part. l. 1. c. 16. & passim.

[g] Dr. Willis thinks, that in the Brain the Spirits are elaborated that minister to voluntary Motion; but in the Cerebellum, such as effect involuntary, or natural Motions; such as that of the Heart, the Lungs, &c. Cerebri Anat. c. 15.

[h] See Book V. Chap. 8.

[i] To the foregoing, I shall briefly add some Examples of the special Provision made for the Motion of some Animals by Temporary Parts. Frogs and Toads, in their Tadpole-state, have Tails, which fall off when their Legs are grown out. The Lacerta aquatica, or Water-Newt, when Young, hath four neat ramified Fins, two on a Side, growing out a little above its Fore-Legs, to poise and keep its Body upright, (which gives it the Resemblance of a young Fish,) which fall off when the Legs are grown. And the Nymphæ and Aureliæ, of all or most of the Insects bred in the Waters, as they have particular Forms, different from the Insects they produce; so have also peculiar Parts afforded them for their Motion in the Waters: Oars, Tails, and every Part adapted to the Waters, which are utterly varied in the Insects themselves, in their mature State in the Air.

[k] Jam verò alia animalia gradiendo, alia serpendo ad pastum accedunt, alia volando, alia nando. Cic. de Nat. Deor. l. 2. c. 47.

Compare also what Galen excellently observes concerning the Number of Feet in Man, and in other Animals; and the wise Provision thereby made for the Use and Benefit of the respective Animals. De Us. Part. in the beginning of the third Book.

[l] As I shall hereafter shew, that the indulgent Creator hath abundantly provided for the Safety of Animals by their Cloathing, Habitations, Sagacity and Instruments of Defence; so there appears to be a Contemperament of their Motion with these Provisions. They that are well armed and guarded, have commonly a slower Motion; whereas they that are destitute thereof, are swifter. So also timid helpless Animals are commonly swift; thus Deer and Hares: But Animals endowed with Courage, Craft, Arms, &c. commonly have a slower Motion.

[m] See Book VII. Chap. 1.

[n] See Book VII. Chap. 1. the end.

[o] See Book IX. Chap. 1. Note (c).

[p] Siquis unquam alius Opifex, æqualitatis & proportionis magnam habuit providentiam, certè Natura habuit in animalium corporibus conformandis; unde Hippocrates eam rectissimè justam nominat. Galen. de Us. Part. l. 2. c. 16.

[q] The Make of the Bodies of some Water-fowl, seems to contradict what I here say, the Heads and long Necks of some, as of Swans, Ducks and Geese; and the hinder Parts of others, as of the Doucker and More-hen, and some other Kinds, seeming to be too heavy for the rest of their Body. But instead of being an Argument against, it is a notable Instance of, the divine Art and Providence, these Things being nice Accommodations to their way of Life. Of such as have long Necks, see Book VII. Chap. 2. Note (i).

And as for such whose hinder Parts seem to over-balance their foremost Parts, whereby they fly with their Bodies in a manner erect, this also is an excellent Accommodation to their way of Life, which is Diving rather than Flying. Vid. Book VII. Chap. 4. Note (k).

[r] See Book V. Chap. 2. Note (h).

[a] Est etiam admiratio nonnulla in bestiis aquatilibus iis, quæ gignuntur in terrâ: veluti Crocodili, fluviatilesque Testudines, quædamque Serpentes ortæ extra aquam, simul ac primùm niti possunt, aquam persequuntur. Quin etiam Anatum ova Gallinis sæpe supponimus——[Pulli] deinde eas [matres] relinquunt——& effugiunt, cùm primùm aquam, quasi naturalem domum, videre potuerunt. Cic. de Nat. Deor. l. 2. c. 48.

[a] Benigna circa hoc Natura, innocua & esculenta animalia fœcunda generavit. Plin. Nat. Hist. l. 8. c. 55.

[b] Captain J. Strong gave me this Account, together with a Quill-Feather of the Cuntur or Condor of Peru. On the Coast of Chili, they met with this Bird in about 33° S. Lat. not far from Mocha, an Island in the South-Sea,——they shot it sitting on a Cliff, by the Sea-side; that it was 16 Feet from Wing to Wing extended; that the Spanish Inhabitants told them they were afraid of these Birds, lest they should prey upon their Children. And the Feather he gave me (saith the Doctor) is 2 Feet, 4 Inches long; the Quill-part 5¾ Inches long, and 1½ Inch about in the largest Part. It weighed 3 dr. 17½ gr. and is of a dark brown Colour. Dr. Sloane in Phil. Trans. Nᵒ. 208.

To this Account, the Doctor, (in a Letter to Mr. Ray, March 31, 1694, with other Papers of Mr. Ray’s, in my Hands,) adds the Testimony of Jos. Acosta, l. 4. c. 7. and Garcilass. de la Vega, who l. 8. c. 19. saith, There are other Fowls, call’d Cuntur, and by the Spaniards corruptly Condor. Many of these Fowls having been kill’d by the Spaniards, had their Proportion taken, and from End to End of their Wings measured 15 or 16 Feet.——Nature, to temper and allay their Fierceness, deny’d them the Talons which are given to the Eagle; their Feet being tipp’d with Claws like a Hen: However, their Beak is strong enough to tear off the Hide, and rip up the Bowels of an Ox. Two of them will attempt a Cow or Bull, and devour him: And it hath often happened, that one of then alone hath assaulted Boys of ten or twelve Years of Age, and eaten them. Their Colour is black and white, like a Magpie. It is well there are but few of them; for if they were many, they would very much destroy the Cattle. They have on the forepart of their Heads, a Comb, not pointed like that of a Cock; but rather even, in the Form of a Razor. When they come to alight from the Air, they make such an humming Noise, with the fluttering of their Wings, as is enough to astonish, or make a Man deaf.

[c] Eccles. i. 4.

[d] The Divine Providence doth not only appear in the Longævity of Man, immediately after the Creation and Flood; but also in their different Longævity at those two Times. Immediately after the Creation, when the World was to be peopled by one Man, and one Woman, the Age of the greatest Part of those on Record, was 900 Years, and upwards. But after the Flood, when there were three Persons by whom the World was to be peopled, none of those Patriarchs, except Shem, arriv’d to the Age of 500; and only the three first of Shem’s Line, viz. Arphaxad, Salah, and Eber, came near that Age; which was in the first Century after the Flood. But in the second Century, we do not find any reached the Age of 240. And in the third Century, (about the latter End of which Abraham was born,) none, except Terah, arriv’d to 200 Years: By which Time the World was so well peopled, (that Part of it, at least where Abraham dwelt,) that they had built Cities, and began to be cantoned into distinct Nations and Societies, under their respective Kings; so that they were able to wage War, four Kings against five, Gen. xiv. Nay, if the Accounts of Anian, Berosus, Manetho, and others, yea, Africanus be to be credited; the World was so well peopled, even before the Times we speak of, as to afford sufficient Numbers for the great Kingdoms of Assyria, Ægypt, Persia, &c. But learned Men generally, with great Reason, reject these as legendary Accounts. If the Reader hath a Mind to see a Computation of the Increase of Mankind, in the three first Centuries after the Flood, he may find two different Ones of the most learned Archbishop Usher, and Petavius; together with a Refutation of the so early Beginning of the Assyrian Monarchy; as also Reasons for placing Abraham near 1000 Years after the Flood, in our most learned Bishop Stillingfleet’s Orig. Sacr. Book III. Chap. 4. §. 9.

[e] That the common Age of Man hath been the same in all Ages since the World was peopled, is manifest from prophane, as well as sacred History. To pass by others: Plato lived to the Age of 81, and was accounted an old Man. And those which Pliny reckons up, l. 7. c. 48. as rare Examples of long Life, may for the most Part be match’d by our modern Histories; especially such as Pliny himself gave Credit unto. Dr. Plot hath given us divers Instances in his History of Oxfordshire, c. 2. §. 3. and c. 8. §. 54. and History of Staffordshire, c. 8. §. 91, &c. Among others, one is of twelve Tenants of Mr. Biddulph’s, that together made 1000 Years of Age. But the most considerable Examples of aged Persons among us, is of old Parre of Shropshire, who lived 152 Years 9 Months, according to the learned Dr. Harvey’s Account; and Henry Jenkins of Yorkshire, who lived 169 Years, according to the Account of my learned and ingenious Friend Dr. Tancred Robinson; of both which, with others, see Lowth. Abridg. Phil. Trans. V. 3. p. 306. The great Age of Parre of Shropshire, minds me of an Observation of the Reverend Mr. Plaxton, that in his two Parishes of Kinardsey and Donington in Shropshire, every sixth Soul was 60 Years of Age, or upwards, Phil. Trans. Nᵒ. 310.

And if we step farther North into Scotland, we shall find divers recorded for their great Age: Of which I shall present the Reader with only one modern Example of one Laurence, who married a Wife after he was 100 Years of Age, and would go out to Sea a Fishing in his little Boat, when he was 140 Years old; and is lately dead of no other Distemper but mere old Age, saith Sir Rob. Sibbald, Prodr. Hist. Nat. Scot. p. 44. and l. 3. p. 4.

As for Foreigners, the Examples would be endless; and therefore that of Joh. Ottele shall suffice, who was as famous for his Beard, as for being 115 Years of Age. He was but two Brabant Ells ³⁄₉ high; and his long grey Beard was one Ell ¼ long. His Picture and Account may be seen in Ephem. Germ. T. 3. Obs. 163.

As for the Story Roger Bacon tells, of one that lived 900 Years by the Help of a certain Medicine, and many other such Stories, I look upon them as fabulous. And no better is that of the Wandring Jew, named Joh. Buttadæus, said to have been present at our Saviour’s Crucifixion; although very serious Stories are told of his being seen at Antwerp, and in France, about the Middle of the last Century but one; and before in Ann. 1542, conversed with by Paul of Eitsen, Bishop of Sleswick; and before that, viz. in 1228, seen and convers’d with by an Armenian Archbishop’s Gentleman; and by others at other Times.

If the Reader hath a Mind to see more Examples, he may meet with some of all Ages, in the learned Hakewill’s Apol. p. 181. where he will also find that learned Author’s Opinion of the Causes of the Brevity and Length of humane Life. The Brevity thereof he attributeth to a too tender Education, sucking strange Nurses, too hasty Marriages; but above all, to Luxury, high Sauces, strong Liquors, &c. The Longævity of the Ancients he ascribes to Temperance in Meat and Drink, anointing the Body, the Use of Saffron and Honey, warm Clothes, lesser Doors and Windows, less Physick and more Exercise.

[f] The Proportions which Marriages bear to Births, and Births to Burials, in divers Parts of Europe, may be seen at an easy View in this Table:

Which Table I made from Major Graunt’s Observations on the Bills of Mortality; Mr. King’s Observations in the first of Dr. Davenant’s Essays; and what I find put together by my ingenious Friend Mr. Lowthorp, in his Abridgment, Vol. 3. p. 668. and my own Register of Upminster. That from Aynho Register in Northamptonshire, I had from the present Rector, the learned and ingenious Mr. Wasse: And I was promised some Accounts from the North, and divers others Parts of this Kingdom; but have not yet received them: Only those of Leeds and Harwood in Yorkshire, from my curious and ingenious friend Mr. Thoresby.

[g] The preceding Table shews, that Marriages, one with another, do each of them produce about four Births; not only in England, but in other Parts of Europe also.

And by Mr. King’s Estimate, (the best Computations I imagine of any, being derived from the best Accounts; such as the Marriage, Birth, Burial-Act, the Poll Books, &c. by his Estimate, I say,) about 1 in 104 marry. For he judgeth the Number of the People in England, to be about five Millions and a half; of which about 41000 annually marry. As to what might be farther remarked concerning Marriages, in regard of the Rights and Customs of several Nations, the Age to which divers Nations limited Marriage, &c. it would be Endless, and too much out of the Way to mention them: I shall only therefore, for the Reader’s Diversion, take Notice of the Jeer of Lactantias, Quare apud Poetas salacissimus Jupiter desiit liberos tollere? Utrum sexagenarius factus, & ei Lex Papia fibulam imposuit? Lactant. Instit. l. 1. c. 16. By which Lex Papia, Men were prohibited to marry after 60, and Women after 50 Years of Age.

[h] Major Graunt, (whose Conclusions seem to be well-grounded,) and Mr. King, disagree in the Proportions they assign to Males and Females. This latter makes in London, 10 Males to be to 13 Females; in other Cities and Market-Towns, 8 to 9; and in the Villages and Hamlets, 100 Males to 99 Females. But Major Graunt, both from the London, and Country Bills, saith, there are 14 Males to 13 Females: From whence he justly infers, That Christian Religion, prohibiting Polygamy, is more agreeable to the Law of Nature than Mahumetism, and others that allow it, Chap. 8.

This Proportion of 14 to 13, I imagine is nearly just, it being agreeable to the Bills I have met with, as well as those in Mr. Graunt. In the 100 Years, for Example, of my own Parish-Register, although the Burials of Males and Females were nearly equal, being 636 Males, and 623 Females in all that Time; yet there were baptized 709 Males, and but 675 Females, which is 13 Females to 13.7 Males. Which Inequality shews, not only, that one Man ought to have but one Wife; but also that every Woman may, without Polygamy, have an Husband, if she doth not bar her self by the want of Virtue, by Denial, &c. Also this Surplusage of Males is very useful for the Supplies of War, the Seas, and other such Expences of the Men above the Women.

That this is a Work of the Divine Providence, and not a Matter of Chance, is well made out by the very Laws of Chance, by a Person able to do it, the ingenious and learned Dr. Arbuthnot. He supposeth Thomas to lay against John, that for eighty two Years running, more Males shall be born than Females; and giving all Allowances in the Computation to Thomas’s side, he makes the Odds against Thomas, that it doth not happen so, to be near five Millions of Millions, of Millions, of Millions to one; but for Ages of Ages (according to the World’s Age) to be near an infinite Number to one against Thomas. Vid. Phil. Trans. Nᵒ. 328.

[i] The foregoing Table shews, that in England in general fewer die than are born, there being but 1 Death to 1¹²⁄₁₀₀ Births. But in London more die than are born. So by Dr. Davenant’s Table, the Cities likewise and Market-Towns bury ⁷⁄₁₀₀ to one Birth. But in Paris they out-do London, their Deaths being 1½ to one Birth: The Reason of which I conceive is, because their Houses are more crowded than in London. But in the Villages of England, there are fewer die than are born, there being but 1 Death to 1¹⁷⁄₁₀₀ Births. And yet Major Graunt, and Dr. Davenant, both observe, that there are more Breeders in London, and the Cities and Market-Towns, than are in the Country, notwithstanding the London-Births are fewer than the Country; the Reason of which see in Graunt, Chap. 7. and Davenant ubi supr. p. 21.

The last Remark I shall make from the foregoing Table, shall be, that we may from thence judge of the Healthfulness of the Places there mentioned. If the Year 1698 was the mean Account of the three Marcks, those Places bid the fairest for being most healthful; and next to them, Aynho and Cranbrook for English Towns.

[k] Quid loquar, quanta ratio in bestiis ad perpetuam conservationem earum generis appareat? Nam primum aliæ Mares, aliæ Fœminæ sunt, quod perpetuitatis causâ machinata natura est. Cic. de Nat. Deor. l. 2. c. 51.

[l] Altho’ Aristotle held the Eternity of the World, yet he seems to have retracted that Opinion, or to have had a different Opinion when he wrote his Metaphysicks; for in his first Book he affirms, that God is the Cause and Beginning of all Things; and in his Book de Mundo he saith, There is no doubt, but God is the Maker and Conservator of all Things in the World. And the Stoicks Opinion is well known, who strenuously contended that the Contrivance and Beauty of the Heavens and Earth, and all Creatures was owing to a wise, intelligent Agent. Of which Tully gives a large Account in his second Book de Nat. Deor. in the Person of Balbus.

[m] I have before in Note (g), observed, that the ordinary rate of the Doubling or Increase of Mankind is, that every Marriage, one with another, produces about four Births; but some have much exceeded that. Babo, Earl of Abensperg, had thirty two Sons and eight Daughters, and being invited to hunt with the Emperor Henry II. and bring but few Servants, brought only one Servant, and his thirty two Sons. To these many others might be added; but one of the most remarkable Instances I have any where met with, is that of Mrs. Honywood, mentioned by Hakewill, Camden, and other Authors; but having now before me the Names, with some Remarks (which I received from a pious neighbouring Descendant of the same Mrs. Honywood) I shall give a more particular Account than they. Mrs. Mary Honywood was Daughter, and one of the Co-Heiresses of Robert Atwaters, Esq; of Lenham in Kent. She was born in 1527, married in February 1543, at sixteen Years of Age, to her only Husband Robert Honywood, of Charing in Kent, Esq; She died in the ninety third Year of her Age, in May 1620. She had sixteen Children of her own Body, seven Sons and nine Daughters; of which one had no issue, three died young, and the youngest was slain at Newport Battle, June 20, 1600. Her Grand-Children in the second Generation, were one hundred and fourteen; in the third two hundred and twenty eight; and nine in the fourth Generation. So that she could say the same that the Distick doth, made of one of the Dalburg’s Family of Basil:

Mrs. Honywood was a very pious Woman, afflicted, in her declining Age, with Despair, in some measure; concerning which, some Divines once discoursing with her, she in a Passion said, She was as certainly damned as this Glass is broken, throwing a Venice-Glass against the Ground, which she had then in her Hand. But the Glass escaped breaking, as credible Witnesses attested.

[a] Pastum animantibus largè & copiosè natura eum, qui cuique aptus erat, comparavit. Cic. de Nat. Deor. l. 2. c. 47.

Ille Deus est,——qui per totum orbem armenta dimisit, qui gregibus ubique passim vagantibus pabulum præstat. Senec. de Benef. l. 4. c. 6.

[b] Tritico nihil est fertilius: hoc ei natura tribuit, quoniam eo maximè alat hominem; utpote cùm è modio, si sit aptum solum——150 modii reddantur. Misit D. Augusto procurator—ex uno grano (vix credibile dictu) 400 paucis minùs germina. Misit & Neroni similiter 340 stipulas ex uno grano. Plin. Nat. Hist. l. 18. c. 10.

[c] Sed illa quanta benignitas Natura, quòd tam multa ad vescendum, tam varia, tam jucunda gignit: neque ea uno tempore anni, ut semper & novitate delectemur & copiâ. Cic. de Nat. Deor. l. 2. c. 53.

[d] Swammerdam observes of the Ephemeron Worms, that their Food is Clay, and that they make their Cells of the same. Upon which occasion he saith of Moths, that eat Wool and Fur, There are two Things very considerable, 1. That the Cells they make to themselves, wherein they live, and with which (as their House, Tortoise-like) they move from Place to Place, they make of the Matter next at hand. 2. That they feed also on the same, therefore when you find their Cells, or rather Coats or Cases to be made of yellow, green, blue or black Cloth, you will also find their Dung of the same Colour. Swammerd. Ephem. vita. Published by Dr. Tyson, Chap. 3.

[e] Job xxxviii. 41. Psal. cxlvii. 9.

[f] Aristot. l. 9. c. 31. Hist. Animal.

[g] Pliny affirms this of the Crow as well as Raven: Cæteræ omnes [i.e. Cornices] ex eodem genere pellunt nidis pullos, ac volare cogunt, sicut & Corvi, qui——robustos suos fœtus fugant longiùs. Nat. Hist. l. 10. c. 12.

[h] Var. Hist.

[i] Chap. 9.

[k] Admiranda Naturæ dispensatio est, ut aliter, alioque modo, tempore, & industriâ colatur terra septentrionalis, aliter Æthiopia, &c. Quoad Aquilonares, hoc certum est, in plerisque agris Vestrogothorum, parte objectâ Meridionali plagæ, Hordeum spatio 36 Dierum à femine projecto maturum colligi, hoc est à fine Junii usque medium Augusti, aliquando celerius. Ea namque maturitas ex soli naturâ, aërisque clementiâ, ac humore lapillorum fovente radices, Soleque torrente, necessariò provenit, ut ita nascatur, ac maturetur, talesque spicæ sex ordines in numero aristæ habent. Ol. Mag. Hist. l. 15. c. 8. Prata & pascua tantâ luxuriant graminum ubertate ac diversitate, ut necessum sit inde arcere jumenta, nè nimio herbarum esu crepent, &c. Id. ib. l. 19. c. 36.

[l] Among the many noble Contrivances for Food, I cannot but attribute that universal Aliment, Bread, to the Revelation, or at least the Inspiration of the Creator and Conservator of Mankind; not only because it is a Food used in all, or most Parts of the World; but especially because it is of incomparable Use in the great Work of Digestion, greatly assisting the Ferment, or whatever causes the Digestion of the Stomach. Of which take this Example from the noble Mr. Boyle. “He extracted a Menstruum from Bread alone, that would work on Bodies more Compact than many hard Minerals, nay even on Glass it self, and do many Things that Aqua-fortis could not do——Yet by no means was this so corrosive a Liquor as Aq. fort. or as the other acid Menstruum”. Vid. the ingenious and learned Dr. Harris’s Lex. Tech. verbo Menstruum, where the way of preparing it may be met with.

[m] Psal. civ. 26.

[n] The Insects that for the most part discolour the Waters, are the small Insects of the Shrimp-kind, called by Swammerdam, Pulex aquaticus arborescens. These I have often seen so numerous in stagnating Waters in the Summer-Months, that they have changed the Colour of the Waters to a pale or deep Red, sometimes a Yellow, according to the Colour they were of. Of this Swammerdam hath a pretty Story told him by Dr. Florence Schuyl, viz. Se aliquando Studiis intentum, magno quodam & horrifico rumore fuisse turbatum, & simul ad causam ejus inquirendam excitatum; verùm se vix eum in finem surrexisse, cùm Ancilla ejus pœne exanimis adcurreret, & multo cum singultu referret, omnem Lugduni [Batavorum] aquam esse mutatam in sanguinem. The Cause of which, upon Examination he found to be only from the numerous Swarms of those Pulices. V. Swamm. Hist. Insect. p. 70.

The Cause of this great Concourse, and Appearance of those little Insects, I have frequently observed to be to perform their Coït; which is commonly about the latter end of May, and in June. At that Time they are very venereous, frisking and catching at one another; and many of them conjoined Tail to Tail, with their Bellies inclined one towards another.

At this Time also they change their Skin or Slough; which I conceive their rubbing against one another mightily promoteth. And what if at this Time they change their Quarters? Vid. Book VIII. Chap. 4. Note (f).

These small Insects, as they are very numerous, so are Food to many Water-Animals. I have seen not only Ducks shovel them up as they swim along the Waters, but divers Insects also devour them, particularly some of the middle-sized Squillæ aquaticæ, which are very voracious Insects.

[o] Besides the Pulices last mentioned, there are in the Waters other Animalcules very numerous, which are scarce visible without a Microscope. In May, and the Summer Months, the green Scum on the top of stagnating Waters, is nothing else but prodigious Numbers of these Animalcules: So is likewise the green Colour in them, when all the Water seems green. Which Animalcules, in all Probability, serve for Food to the Pulices Aquatici, and other the minuter Animals of the Waters. Of which I gave a pregnant Instance in one of the Nymphæ of Gnats, to my Friend the late admirable Mr. Ray, which he was pleased to publish in the last Edition of his Wisdom of God in the Creation, p. 430.

[p]

And afterwards,

And after the same manner he discourseth of Thirst, and divers other Things. Vid. Lucret. l. 4. v. 831, &c.

Against this Opinion of the Epicureans, Galen ingeniously argues in his Discourse about the Hand. Non enim Manus ipsæ (saith he) hominem artes docuerunt, sed Ratio. Manus autem ipsæ sunt artium organa; sicut Lyra musici——Lyra musicam non docuit, sed est ipsius artifex per eam, quâ præditus est, Rationem: agere autem non potest ex arte absque organis, ita & una quælibet anima facultates quasdam à suâ ipsius substantiâ obtinet,——Quòd autem corporis particulæ animam non impellunt,——manifeste videre licet, si animalia recèns nata confideres, quæ quidem priùs agere conantur, quàm perfectas habeant particulas. Ego namque Bovis vitulum cornibus petere conantem sæpenumero vidi, antequam ei nata essent cornua; Et pullum Equi calcitrantem, &c. Omne enim animal suæ ipsius Animæ facultates, ac in quos usus partes suæ polleant maximè, nullo doctore, præsentit.——Quâ igitur ratione dici potest, animalia partium usus à partibus doceri, cùm & antequam illas habeant, hoc cognoscere videantur? Si igitur Ova tria acceperis, unum Aquilæ, alterum Anatis, reliquum Serpentis, & calore modico foveris, animaliaque excluseris; illa quidem alis volare conantia, antequàm volare possint; hoc autem revolvi videbis, & serpere affectans, quamvis molle adhuc & invalidam fuerit. Et si, dum perfecta erunt, in unâ eâdemque domo nutriveris, deinde ad locum subdialem ducta emiseris, Aquila quidem ad sublime; Anas autem in paludem;——Serpens verò sub terrâ irrepet——Animalia quidem mihi videntur Naturâ magis quàm Ratione artem aliquam [τεχνικὰ artificiosa] exercere: Apes fingere alveolos, &c. Galen de usu. Part I. c. 3.

[q] Alia dentibus prædantur, alia unguibus, alia rostri aduncitate carpunt, alia latitudine [ejusdem] ruunt, alia acumine excavant, alia sugunt, alia lambunt, sorbent, mandunt, vorant. Nec minor varietas in Pedum ministerio, ut rapiant, distrahant, teneant, premant, pendeant, tellurem scabere non cessent. Plin. Nat. Hist. l. 10. c. 71.

[r] Because it would be tedious to reckon up the Bones, Glands, Muscles, and other Parts belonging to the Mouth, it shall suffice to observe, that, for the various Services of Man’s Mouth, besides the Muscles in common with other Parts, there are five Pair, and one single one proper to the Lips only, as Dr. Gibson reckons them: But my most diligent and curious Friend the late Mr. Cowper, discovered a sixth Pair. And accordingly Dr. Drake reckons six Pair, and one single one proper to the Lips, l. 3. c. 13.

[s] Galen deserves to be here consulted, who excellently argues against the casual Concourse of the Atoms of Epicurus and Asclepiades, from the provident and wise Formation of the Mouths of Animals, and their Teeth answerable thereto. In Man, his Mouth without a deep Incisure, with only one canine Tooth on a side, and flat Nails, because, saith he, Hic Natura certò sciebat, se animal mansuetum ac civile effingere, cui robur & vires essent ex sapientiâ, non ex corporis fortitudine. But for Lions, Wolfs and Dogs, and all such as are called Καρχαρόδοντες, (or having sharp, serrated Teeth) their Mouths are large, and deep cut; Teeth strong and sharp, and their Nails sharp, large, strong and round, accommodated to holding and tearing. Vid. Galen. de Us. Part. l. 11. c. 9.

[t] Among Insects the Squillæ aquaticæ, as they are very rapacious, so are accordingly provided for it: Particularly the Squilla aquatica maxima recurva (as I call it) who hath somewhat terrible in its very Aspect, and in its Posture in the Water, especially its Mouth, which is armed with long, sharp Hooks, with which it boldly, and greedily catcheth any thing in the Waters, even one’s Fingers. When they have seized their Prey, they will so tenaciously hold it with their forcipated Mouth, that they will not part therewith, even when they are taken out of the Waters, and jumbled about in one’s Hand. I have admired at their peculiar way of taking in their Food; which is done by piercing their Prey with their Forcipes (which are hollow) and sucking the Juice thereof through them.

The Squilla here mentioned, is the first and second in Mouffet’s Theat. Insect. l. 2. c. 37.

[u] For an Instance of Insects endued with a Spear, I shall, for its Peculiarity, pitch upon one of the smallest, if not the very smallest of all the Gnat-kind, which I call, Culex minimus nigricans maculatus sanguisuga. Among us in Essex, they are called Nidiots, by Mouffet Midges. It is about ⅒ of an Inch, or somewhat more long, with short Antennæ, plain in the Female, in the Male feather’d, somewhat like a Bottle-Brush. It is spotted with blackish Spots, especially on the Wings, which extend a little beyond the Body. It comes from a little slender Eel-like Worm, of a dirty white Colour, swimming in stagnating Waters by a wrigling Motion; as in Fig. 5.

Its Aurelia is small, with a black Head, little short Horns, a spotted, slender, rough Belly, Vid. Fig. 6. It lies quietly on the top of the Water, now and then gently wagging it self this way and that.

These Gnats are greedy Blood-Suckers, and very troublesome, where numerous, as they are in some Places near the Thames, particularly in the Breach-Waters that have lately befallen near us, in the Parish of Dagenham; where I found them so vexatious, that I was glad to get out of those Marshes. Yea, I have seen Horses so stung with them, that they have had Drops of Blood all over their Bodies, where they were wounded by them.

I have given a Figure (in Fig. 7.) and more particular Description of the Gnats, because, although it be common, it is no where taken notice of by any Author I know, except Mouffet, who, I suppose, means these Gnats, which he calls Midges, c. 13. p. 82.

[w] Hornets and Wasps have strong Jaws, toothed, wherewith they can dig into Fruits, for their Food; as also gnaw and scrape Wood, whole Mouthfuls of which they carry away to make their Combs. Vid. infr. Chap. 13. Note (c).

[x] Monsieur de la Voye tells of an ancient Wall of Free-Stone in the Benedictines-Abby at Caen in Normandy, so eaten with Worms, that one may run ones Hand into most of the Cavities: That these Worms are small and black, lodging in a greyish Shell, that they have large flattish Heads, a large Mouth, with four black Jaws, &c. Phil. Trans. Nᵒ. 18.

[y] Pro iis [Labris] cornea & acuta Volucribus Rostra. Eadem rapto viventibus adunca: collecto, recta: herbas ruentibus limumque lata, ut Suum generi. Jumentis vice manûs ad colligenda pabula: ora apertiora laniatu viventibus. Plin. Nat. Hist. l. 11. c. 37.

[z] Parrots have their Bills nicely adapted to these Services, being hooked, for climbing and reaching what they have occasion for; and the lower Jaw being compleatly fitted to the Hooks of the upper, they can as minutely break their Food, as other Animals do with their Teeth.

[aa] Thus in Woodcocks, Snipes, &c. who hunt for Worms in moorish Ground, and, as Mr. Willughby saith, live also on the fatty unctuous Humour they suck out of the Earth. So also the Bills of Curlews, and many other Sea-Fowl, are very long, to enable them to hunt for the Worms, &c. in the Sands on the Sea-shore, which they frequent.

[bb] Ducks, Geese, and divers others, have such long broad Bills, to quaffer and hunt in Water and Mud; to which we may reckon the uncouth Bill of the Spoon-Bill: but that which deserves particular Observation in the Birds named in these two last Notes is, the Nerves going to the end of their Bills, enabling them to discover their Food out of Sight; of which see Book VII. Chap. 2. Note (e).

[cc] The Picus viridis, or Green-Woodspite, and all the Wood-Peckers have Bills, curiously made for digging Wood, strong, hard, and sharp. A neat Ridge runs along the top of the green Wood-Pecker’s Bill, as if an Artist had designed it for Strength and Neatness.

[dd] The Loxia, or Cross-Bill, whose Bill is thick and strong, with the Tips crossing one another; with great Readiness breaks open Fir-cones, Apples, and other Fruit, to come at their Kernels, which are its Food, as if the crossing of the Bill was designed for this Service.

[ee] The Sea-Pie hath a long, sharp, narrow Bill, compressed side-ways, and every way so well adapted to the raising Limpets from the Rocks (which are its chief, if not only Food) that Nature (or rather the Author of Nature) seems to have framed it purely for that Use.

[ff] Those animals which have Teeth on both Jaws, have but one Stomach; but most of those which have no upper Teeth, or none at all, have three Stomachs; as in Beasts, the Paunch, the Read, and the Feck; and in all granivorous Birds, the Crop, the Echinus and the Gizard. For as chewing is to an easie Digestion, so is swallowing whole to that which is more laborious. Dr. Grew’s Cosmol. Sacr. c. 5. §. 24.

[gg] J. Peyer saith, the Teeth are made of convolved Skins hardened; and if we view the Grinders of Deer, Horses, Sheep, &c. we shall find great Reason to be of his Mind. His Observations are, Mirum autem eos (i.e. Dentes) cùm primùm è pelliculis imbricatim convolutis & muco viscido constarent, in tantam dirigescere soliditatem, quæ ossa cuncta superet. Idem fit etiam in Ossiculis Ceraforum, &c.——Separatione factâ, per membranas conditur Magma locellis, quos formant laminæ tenues, ac duriusculæ ad Dentis figuram anteà divinitùs compositæ. J. Peyer Merycol. l. 2. c. 8.

[hh] Qui autem (i.e. Dentes) renascuntur, minimè credendi sunt à facultate aliquâ plasticâ Brutorum denuò formari, sed latentes tantummodo in conspectum producuntur augmento molis ex effluente succo. Id. ibid.

[ii] From these, and other like Considerations of the Teeth, Galen infers, that they must needs be the Work of some wise, provident Being; not Chance, nor a fortuitous Concourse of Atoms. For the Confirmation of which he puts the Case, That suppose the order of the Teeth should have been inverted, the Grinders set in the room of the Incisors, &c. (which might as well have been, had not the Teeth been placed by a wise Agent) in this case, what Use would the Teeth have been of? What Confusion by such a slight Error in their Disposal only? Upon which he argues, At siquis choream hominum 32 (the Number of the Teeth) ordine disposuit, eum ut hominem industrium laudaremus; cùm verò Dentium choream Natura tam bellè exornârit, nonne ipsam quoque laudabimus? And then he goes on with the Argument, from the Sockets of the Teeth, and their nice fitting in them, which being no less accurately done, than what is done by a Carpenter, or Stone-Cutter, in fitting a Tenon into a Mortice, doth as well infer the Art and Act of the wise Maker of Animal Bodies, as the other doth the Act and Art of Man. And so he goes on with other Arguments to the same Effect. Galen. de Us. Part. l. 11. c. 8.

[kk] A curious Account of this may be found in an Extract of a Letter concerning the Teeth of divers Animals. Printed at Paris, in M. Vaugnion’s Compleat Body of Chirurg. Oper. Chap. 53.

[ll] As it hath been taken notice of, that various Animals delight in various Food; so it constantly falls out, that their Teeth are accordingly fitted to their Food; the rapacious to catching, holding and tearing their Prey; the herbaceous to Gathering and Comminution of Vegetables: And such as have no Teeth, as Birds, their Bill, Craw and Gizard, are assisted with Stones, to supply the defect of Teeth. But the most considerable Example of this Kind is in some Families of the Insect-Tribes, as the Papilio-Kind, &c. who have Teeth, and are voracious, and live on tender Vegetables in their Nympha, or Caterpillar-State, when they can only creep; but in their mature Papilio-State, they have no Teeth, but a Proboscis, or Trunk to suck up Honey, &c. their Parts for gathering Food, as well as their Food being changed, as soon as they have Wings to enable them to fly to it.

[mm] It is remarkable in the Teeth of Fishes, that in some they are sharp, as also jointed, so as to fall back, the better to catch and hold their Prey, and to facilitate its Passage into the Stomach: So in others they are broad and flat, made to break the Shells of Snails and Shell-Fish devoured by them. These Teeth, or Breakers, are placed, in some, in the Mouth; in some, in the Throat; and in Lobsters, &c. in the Stomach it self; in the bottom of whose Stomachs are three of those Grinders, with peculiar Muscles to move them.

[nn] What is there in the World can be called an Act of Providence and Design, if this temporary Defect of Teeth be not such; that Children, for Instance, should have none whilst they are not able to use them, but to hurt themselves; or the Mother; and that at the very Age when they can take in more substantial Food, and live without the Breast, and begin to need Teeth, for the sake of Speech; that then, I say, their Teeth should begin to appear, and gradually grow, as they more and more stand in need of ’em.

[oo] It would be endless to particularize here, and therefore I shall refer to the Anatomists; among the rest, particularly to Galen, for the sake of his Descant upon this Subject. For having described the great Accuracy of the Contrivance and Make of these Parts, he saith, Haud scio an hominum sit sobriorum ad Fortunam opificem id revocare: alioqui quid tandem erit, quod cum Providentiâ atque Arte efficitur? Omnino enim hoc ei contrariaum esse debet, quod casu ac fortuitè fit. Galen. de Us. Part. l. 11. c. 7. ubi plura.

[pp] The Bore of the Gullet is not in all Creatures alike answerable to the Body or Stomach. As in the Fox, which both feeds on Bones, and swallows whole, or with little chewing; add next in a Dog, and other ossivorous Quadrupeds, ’tis very large, viz. to prevent a Contusion therein. Next in a Horse, which though he feeds on Grass, yet swallows much at once, and so requires a more open Passage. But in a Sheep, Rabbit, or Ox, which bite short, and swallow less at once, ’tis smaller. But in a Squirrel, still lesser, both because he eats fine, and to keep him from disgorging his Meat upon his descending Leaps. And so in Rats and Mice, which often run along Walls with their Heads downwards. Dr. Grew’s Comp. Anat. of Stom. and Guts. Chap. 5.

[qq] Of this see Dr. Willis’s Pharm. Rat. Part 1. Sect. 1. c. 2. Steno also, and Peyer Mery, l. 2.

The Description these give of the muscular Part of the Gullet, the late ingenious and learned Dr. Drake saith is very exact in Ruminants, but not in Men. In Men, this Coat (the second of the Gullet) consists of two fleshy Lamellæ, like two distinct Muscles. The outward being compared of strait longitudinal Fibres.——The inner Order of Fibres is annular, without any observable Angles.——The Use of this Coat, and these Orders of Fibres is to promote Deglutition; of which the Longitudinal,——shorten the Oesophagus, and so make its Capacity larger, to admit of the Matter to be swallowed. The Annular, on the contrary, contract the Capacity, and closing behind the descending Aliment, press it downwards. Drake’s Anat. vol. 1. l. 1. c. 9.

[rr] See Willis, ibid. Cowper’s Anat. Tab. 35. and many other Authors.

[ss] Promptuarium autem hoc, alimentum universum excipiens, ceu Divinum, non Humanum sit opificium. Galen. de Us. Part. l. 4. c. 1.

[tt] How great a Comprehension of the Nature of Things, did it require, to make a Menstruum, that should corrode all sorts of Flesh coming into the Stomach, and yet not the Stomach it self, which is also Flesh? Dr. Grew’s Cosmol. Sacr. c. 4.

[uu] The Food of the Castor being oftentimes, if not always, dry Things, and hard of Digestion, such as the Roots and Bark of Trees, ’tis a wonderful Provision made in that Creature’s Stomach, by the digestive Juice lodged in the curious little Cells there. A Description of whose admirable Structure and Order may be found in Blasius from Wepser; concerning which he saith, In quibus Mucus reconditus, non secus ac Mel in Favis.——Nimiram quia Castoris alimentum exsuccum, & coctu difficillimum est, sapientissimus & summè admirandus in suis operibus rerum Conditor, D. O. M. ipsi pulcherrimâ istâ & affabrè factâ structurâ benignissimè prospexit, ut nunquam deesset Fermentum, quod ad solvendum, & comminuendum alimentum durum & asperum par foret. Vid. Blas. Anat. Animal. c. 10. Confer etiam Act. Erud. Lips. Ann. 1684. p. 360.

Most of our modern Anatomists and Physicians attribute Digestion to a dissolving Menstruum; but Dr. Drake takes it to be rather from fermentative, dissolving Principles in the Aliment it self, with the Concurrence of the Air and Heat of the Body; as in Dr. Papin’s Digester. Vid. Dr. Anat. vol. 1. c. 14.

[ww] All carnivorous Quadrupeds have the smallest Ventricles, Flesh going farthest. Those that feed on Fruits, and Roots, have them of a middle Size. Yet the Mole, because it feeds unclean, hath a very great one. Sheep and Oxen, which feed on Grass, have the greatest. Yet the Horse (and for the same Reason the Coney and Hare) though Graminivorous, yet comparatively have but little ones. For that a Horse is made for Labour, and both this, and the Hare, for quick and continued Motion; for which, the most easie Respiration, and so the freest Motion of the Diaphragme is very requisite; which yet could not be, should the Stomach lie big and cumbersome upon it, as in Sheep and Oxen it doth, Grew, ib. Chap. 6.

[xx] The Dromedary hath four Stomachs, one whereof is peculiarly endowed with about twenty Cavities, like Sacks, in all Probability for the holding of Water. Concerning which, see Book VI. Chap. 4. Note (a).

[yy] To assist in which Office, they swallow small angular Stones, which are to be met with in the Gizards of all granivorous Birds; but in the Gizard of the Iynx, or Wryneck, which was full only of Ants, I found not one Stone. So in that of the Green Wood-Pecker (full of Ants and Tree-maggots) there were but few Stones.

[zz] In most carnivorous Birds, the third Ventricle is Membranous; where the Meat is concocted, as in a Man: Or somewhat Tendinous, as in an Owl; as if it were made indifferently for Flesh, or other Meat, as he could meet with either. Or most thick and tendinous, called the Gizard; wherein the Meat, as in a Mill, is ground to Pieces. Grew, ubi supra, Chap. 9.

[aaa] It would be much too long a Task to insist upon it here as it deserves, and therefore concerning the whole Business of Rumination, I shall refer to J. Conr. Peyeri Merycolog. seu de Ruminantibus & Ruminatione Commentar. where he largely treateth of the several Ruminating Animals, of the Parts ministring to this Act, and the great Use and Benefit thereof unto them.

[bbb] There are too many Particulars to be insisted on, observable in the Passages of the Chyle, from the Guts to the Left Subclavian Vein, where it enters into the Blood; and therefore I shall only, for a Sample of this admirable Oeconomy, take notice of some of the main and more general Matters. And,

1. After the Food is become Chyle, and gotten into the Guts, it is an excellent Provision made, not only for its Passage through the Guts, but also for its Protrusion into the Lacteals, by the Peristaltick Motion and Valvulæ conniventes of the Guts. 2. It is an admirable Provision, that the Mouths of the Lacteals, and indeed the Lacteals primi generis themselves are small and fine, not wider than the Capillary Arteries are, lest by admitting Particles of the Nourishment grosser than the Capillaries, dangerous Obstructions might be thereby produced. 3. After the Reception of the Aliment into the Lacteals primi generis, it is a noble Provision for the Advancement of its Motion, that in the Mesenterick Glands, it meets with some of the Lymphæ-Ducts, and receives the Impregnations of the Lympha. And passing on from thence, it is no less Advantage. 4. That the Lacteals, and Lymphæ-Ducts meet in the Receptaculum Chyli, where the Aliment meeting with more of the Lympha, is made of a due Consistence, and Temperament, for its farther Advancement through the Thoracick Duct, and so into the Left Subclavian Vein and Blood. Lastly, This Thoracick Duct it self is a Part of great Consideration. For (as Mr. Cowper saith) If we consider in this Duct its several Divisions and Inosculations, its numerous Valves looking from below upwards, its advantagious Situation between the great Artery and Vertebræ of the Back, together with the Ducts discharging their refluent Lympha from the Lungs, and other neighbouring Parts, we shall find all conduce to demonstrate the utmost Art of Nature used in furthering the steep and perpendicular Ascent of the Chyle. Anat. Introduct.

[ccc] These, although noble Contrivances and Works of God, are too many to be insisted on, and therefore I shall refer to the Anatomists, particularly Dr. Willis Pharmaceut. Dr. Cole, in Phil. Trans. Nᵒ. 125. and Mr. Cowper’s elegant Cuts in Anat. Tab. 34, 35. and Append. Fig. 39, 40.

[ddd] In the Thornback, and some other Fishes, it is a very curious Provision that is made to supply the Paucity and Brevity of the Guts; by the Perforation of their single Gut, going not strait along, but round like a Pair of Winding Stairs; so that their Gut, which seems to be but a few Inches long, hath really a Bore of many Inches. But of these, and many other noble Curiosities and Discoveries in Anatomy, the Reader will, I hope, have a better and larger Account from the curious and ingenious Dr. Dowglas, who is labouring in those Matters.

[eee] Quibus bestiis erat is cibus, ut alius generis bestiis vescerentur, aut vires natura dedit, aut celeritatem: data est quibusdam etiam machinatio quædam, atque solertia, &c. Cic. de Nat. Deor. l. 2. c. 48.

[fff] Among Reptiles that have a strange Faculty to shift for Food, &c. may be reckoned Eels, which, although belonging to the Waters, can creep on the Land from Pond to Pond, &c. Mr. Mosely of Mosely, saw them creep over the Meadows, like so many Snakes from Ditch to Ditch; which he thought, was not only for bettering their Habitation, but also to catch Snails in the Grass. Plot’s Hist. of Staffordshire, c. 7. §. 32.

And as early as the Year 1125, the Frost was so very intense, that the Eels were forced to leave the Waters, and were frozen to Death in the Meadows. Vid. Hakewill’s Apol. l. 2. Chap. 7. S. 2.

[ggg] Enumerare possum, ad pastum capessendum conficiendúmque, quæ sit in figuris animantium & quam solers, subtilisque descriptio partium, quámque admirabilis fabrica membrorum. Omnia enim quæ intus inclusa sunt, ita nata, atque ita locata sunt, ut nihil eorum supervacaneum sit, nihil ad vitam retinendam non necessarium. Dedit autem eadem Natura belluis & sensum, & appetitum, ut altero conatum haberent ad naturales pastus capessendos; altero secernerent pestifera à salutaribus. Cic. de Nat. Deor. l. 2. c. 37. See Book IV. Chap. 4.

[hhh] It would be endless to give Instances of my own and others Observations of the prodigious Sagacity of divers Animals in Hunting, particularly Hounds, Setting-Dogs, &c. one therefore shall suffice of Mr. Boyl’s, viz. A Person of Quality——to make a Trial, whether a young Blood-Hound was well instructed,——caused one of his Servants——to walk to a Town four Miles off, and then to a Market-Town three Miles from thence.——The Dog, without seeing the Man he was to pursue, followed him by the Scent to the abovementioned Places, notwithstanding the Multitude of Market-People that went along in the same Way, and of Travellers that had occasion to cross it. And when the Blood-Hound came to the chief Market-Town, he passed through the Streets, without taking notice of any of the People there, and left not till he had gone to the House, where the Man he sought rested himself, and found him in an upper Room, to the wonder of those that followed him. Boyl. Determ. Nat. of Effluv. Chap. 4.

[iii] There are many Stories told of the Craft of the Fox, to compass his Prey; of which Ol. Magnus hath many such, as, feigning the barking of a Dog, to catch Prey near Houses; feigning himself dead, to catch such Animals as come to feed upon him; laying his Tail on a Wasp-Nest, and then rubbing it hard against a Tree, and then eating the Wasps so killed: Ridding himself of Fleas, by gradually going into Water, with a Lock of Wool in his Mouth, and so driving the Fleas up into it, and then leaving it in the Water; By catching Crab-Fish with his Tail, which he saith he himself was an Eye-Witness of; Vidi & ego in Scopulis Norvegia Vulpem, inter rupes immissâ caudâ in aquas, plures educere Cancros, ac demum devorare. Ol. Mag. Hist. l. 18. c. 39, 40. But Pliny’s fabulous Story of the Hyæna out-does these Relations of the Fox, Sermonem humanum inter pastorum stabula assimulare, nomenque alicujus addiscere, quem evocatum foràs laceret. Item Vomitionem hominis imitari ad sollicitandos Canes quos invadat. Plin. Nat. Hist. l. 8. c. 30.

[kkk] This do Ducks, Woodcocks, and many other Fowls, which seek their Food in dirty, moorish Places. For which Service they have very remarkable Nerves reaching to the end of their Bills. Of which see Book VII. Chap. 2. Note (e).

[lll] Swine, and other Animals that dig, have their Noses made more tendinous, callous, and strong for this Service, than others that do not dig. They are also edged with a proper, tough Border, for penetrating and lifting up the Earth; and their Nostrils are placed well, and their Smell is very accurate, to discover whatsoever they pursue by digging.

[mmm] The Mole, as its Habitation is different from that of other Animals, so hath its Organs in every respect curiously adapted to that way of Life; particularly its Nose made sharp, and slender, but withal tendinous and strong, &c. But what is very remarkable, it hath such Nerves reaching to the end of its Nose and Lips, as Ducks, &c. have, mentioned above in Note (kkk). Which Pair of Nerves I observed to be much larger in this Animal than any other Nerves proceeding out of its Brain.

[nnn] Predacious Creatures, as Wolfs, Foxes, &c. will discover Prey at great Distances; so will Dogs and Ravens discover Carrion a great way off by their Smell. And if (as the Superstitious imagine) the latter flying over and haunting Houses be a sign of Death, it is no doubt from some cadaverous Smell, those Ravens discover in the Air by their accurate Smell, which is emitted from those diseased Bodies, which have in them the Principles of a speedy Death.

[ooo] Thus Hawks and Kites on Land, and Gulls and other Birds that prey upon the Waters, can at a great Height in the Air see Mice, little Birds and Insects on the Earth, and small Fishes, Shrimps, &c. in the Waters, which they will dart down upon, and take.

[ppp] Mr. Ray gives a good Account of the Nidification of the Chrysaëtos caudâ annulo albo cinctâ. Hujus Nidus Ann. 1668. in sylvosis prope Derwentiam, &c. inventus est è bacillis seu virgis ligneis grandioribus compositus, quorum altera extremitas rupis cujusdam eminentiæ, altera duabus Betulis innitebatur,—Erat Nidus quadratus, duas ulnas latus.—In eo pullus unicus, adjacentibus cadaveribus unius agni, unius leporis, & trium Grygallorum pullorum. Synops. Method. Avium, p. 6. And not only Lambs, Hares, and Grygalli, but Sir Robert Sibbald tells us, they will seize Kids and Fawns, yea, and Children too: Of which he hath this Story of an Eagle in one of the Orcades Islands, Quæ Infantulum unius anni pannis involutum arripuit (quem Mater tessellas ustibiles pro igne allatura momento temporis deposuerat in loco Houton-Hed dicto) cumque deportâsse per 4 milliaria passuum ad Hoiam; quâ re ex matris ejulatibus cognitâ, quatuor viri illuc in naviculâ profecti sunt, & scientes ubi Nidus esset, infantulum illæsum & intactum deprehenderunt. Prod. Nat. Hist. Scot. l. 3. p. 2. p. 14.

[qqq] See in Book VII. Chap. 1. Note (l). the Characteristicks of the Wood-Pecker-kind.

[rrr] The Contrivance of the Legs, Feet and Nails [of the Opossum] seems very advantagious to this Animal in climbing Trees (which it doth very nimbly) for preying upon Birds. But that which is most singular in this Animal, is the Structure of its Tail, to enable it to hang on Boughs. The Spines, or Hooks——in the middle of the under side of the Vertebræ of the Tail; are a wonderful Piece of Nature’s Mechanism. The first three Vertebræ had none of these Spines, but in all the rest they were to be observed.——They were placed just at the Articulation of each Joynt, and in the middle from the Sides.——For the performing this Office [of hanging by the Tail] nothing, I think, could be more advantagiously contrived. For when the Tail is twirled or wound about a Stick, this Hook of the Spinæ easily sustains the Weight, and there is but little labour of the Muscles required, only enough for bowing or crooking the Tail. This, and more to the same purpose, see in Dr. Tyson’s Anat. of the Oposs. in Phil. Trans. No. 239.

[sss] See before Chap. 2. Note (z), (aa), (bb).

[ttt] Quid dicam quantus amor bestiarum sit in educandis custodiendisque iis, qua procreaverint, usque ad eum finem, dum possint seipsa defendere? And having instanced in some Animals, where this Care is not necessary, and accordingly is not employed, he goes on, Jam Gallinæ, avesque reliquæ, & quietum requirunt ad pariendum locum, & cubilia sibi, nidosque construunt, eosque quàm possunt mollissimè substernunt, ut quàm facillime ova serventur. Ex quibus pullos cùm excluserint, ita tuentur, ut & pennis foveant, ne frigore lædantur, & si est calor, à sole se opponant. Cic. de Nat. Deor. l. 2. c. 51, 52.

To this natural Care of Parent-Animals to their young, we may add the Returns made by the young of some towards the old ones. Pliny saith of Rats, Genitores suos fesses senectâ, alunt insigni pietate. Nat. Hist. l. 8. c. 57. So Cranes, he saith, Genitricum senectam invicem educant. L. 10. c. 23.

This St. Ambrose takes Notice of in his Hexameron, and Ol. Magnus after him, Depositi patris artus, per longævum senectutis plumis nudatos circumstans soboles pennis propriis fovet,——collatitio cibo pascit, quando etiam ipsa naturæ reparat dispendia, ut hinc inde senem sublevantes, fulcro alarum suarum ad volandum exerceant, & in pristinos usus desueta membra reducant. For which Reason this Bird is denominated Pia. Vid. Ol. Mag. Hist. l. 19. c. 14.

Hereto may be added also the conjugal Στοργὴ of the little green Æthiopian Parrot, which Mr. Ray describes from Clusius. Fœmellea senescentes (quod valdè notabile) vix edere volebant, nisi cibum jam à mare carptum, & aliquandiu in prolobo retentum, & quasi coctum rostro suo exciperent, ut Columbarum pulli à matre ali solent. Synops. Meth. Av. p. 32.

[uuu] The most timid Animals, that at other Times abscond, or hastily fly from the Face of Man, Dogs, &c. will, for the sake of their young, expose themselves. Thus among Fowls, Hens will assault, instead of fly from such as meddle with their Brood. So Partridges, before their young can fly, will drop frequently down, first at lesser, and then at greater Distances, to dodge and draw off Dogs from pursuing their young.

[www] The Opossum hath a curious Bag on purpose for the securing and carrying about her young. There are belonging to this Bag two Bones (not to be met with in any other Skeleton) and four Pair of Muscles; and some say Teats lie therein also. Dr. Tyson, Anat. of the Oposs. in Phil. Trans. Nᵒ. 239. where he also, from Oppian, mentions the Dog-Fish, that upon any Storm or Danger, receives the young Ones into her Belly, which come out again when the Fright is over. So also the Squatina and Glaucus, the same Author saith, have the same Care for their young, but receive them into different Receptacles.

[xxx] See Book VIII. Chap. 6.

[yyy] See Chap. 13. Note (c).

[zzz] There is manifestly a superintending Providence in this Case, that some Animals are able to suck as soon as ever they are born, and that they will naturally hunt for the Teat before they are quite gotten out of the Secundines, and parted from the Navel-String, as I have seen. But for Chickens, and other young Birds, they not being able immediately to pick till they are stronger, have a notable Provision made for such a Time, by a part of the Yolk of the Egg being inclosed in their Belly, a little before their Exclusion or Hatching, which serves for their Nourishment, till they are grown strong enough to pick up Meat. Vid. Book VII. Chap. 4. Note (a).

[aaaa] Qui [Infantes] de ope nostrâ ac de divinâ misericordia plus merentur, qui in primo statim nativitatis sua ortu plorantes ac stentes, nil aliud faciunt quam deprecantur. Cypr. Ep. ad Fid.

[bbbb] I might name here some of the Species of Birds, the whole Tribe almost of Insects, and some among other Tribes, that are able to subsist for many Months without Food, and some without Respiration too, or very little; But it may suffice to instance only in the Land-Tortoise, of the Structure of whose Heart and Lungs: See Book VI. Chap. 5. Note (b).

[cccc] Inediam diutissimè tolerat Lupus, ut & alia omnia carnivora, licèt voracissima; magnâ utique naturæ providentiâ; quoniam esca non semper in promptu est. Ray’s Synops. Quadr. p. 174.

To the long Abstinence mentioned of Brute-Animals, I hope the Reader will excuse me if I add one or two Instances of extraordinary Abstinence among Men. One Martha Taylor, born in Derbyshire, by a Blow on the Back fell into such a Prostration of Appetite, that she took little Sustenance, but some Drops with a Feather, from Christmas 1667. for thirteen Months, and slept but little too all the Time. See Dr. Sampson’s Account thereof in Ephem. Germ. T. 3. Obs. 173.

To this we may add the Case of S. Chilton, of Tinsbury, near Bath, who in the Years 1693, 1696, and 97, slept divers Weeks together. And although he would sometimes, in a very odd manner, take Sustenance, yet would lie a long Time without any, or with very little, and all without any considerable Decay. See Phil. Trans. Nᵒ. 304.

[dddd] They are admirable Instincts which the Sieur de Beauplan relates of his own Knowledge, of the little Animals called Bohaques in Ukraine. They make Burroughs like Rabbets, and in October shut themselves up, and do not come out again till April.——They spend all the Winter under Ground, eating what they laid up in Summer.——Those that are lazy among them, they lay on their Backs, then lay a great handful of dry Herbage upon their Bodies, &c. then others drag those Drones to the Mouths of their Burroughs, and so those Creatures serve instead of Barrows, &c. I have often seen them practise this, and have had the Curiosity to observe them whole Days together.——Their Holes are parted like Chambers; some serve for Store-Houses, others for Burying-Places, &c. Their Government is nothing inferior to that of Bees, &c. They never go abroad without posting a Centinel upon some high Ground, to give notice to the others whilst they are feeding. As soon as the Centinel sees any Body, it stands upon his Hind-Legs and whistles. Beauplan’s Description of Ukraine, in Vol. I. of the Collection of Voyages, &c.

A like Instance of the Northern Galli Sylvestres, see in Chap. 13. Note (g).

As for the Scriptural Instance of the Ant, see hereafter Book VIII. Chap. 5. Note (d).

[eeee] I have in Autumn, not without Pleasure observed, not only the great Sagacity and Diligence of Swine, in hunting out the Stores of the Field-Mice; but the wonderful Precaution also of those little Animals, in hiding their Food beforehand against Winter. In the Time of Acorns falling, I have, by means of the Hogs, discovered, that the Mice had, all over the neighbouring fields, treasured up single Acorns in little Holes they had scratched, and in which they had carefully covered up the Acorn. These the Hogs would, Day after Day, hunt out by their Smell.

[a] Concerning the Cloathing of Animals, Aristotle observes, That such Animals have Hair as go on Feet and are viviparous; and that such are covered with a Shell, as go on Feet, and are oviparous, Hist. Anim. l. 3. c. 10.

[b] Cujus [Hominis] causâ videtur cuncta alia genuisse Natura, magnâ & sævâ mercede contra tanta sua munera: ut non sit satìs æstimare, Parens melior homini, an tristior Noverca fuerit. Ante omnia unum Animantium cunctorum alienis velat opibus: cæteris variè tegumenta tribuit, testas, cortices, coria, spinas, villos, setas, pilos, plumam, pennas, squamas, vellera. Truncos etiam arboresque cortice, interdum gemino, à frigoribus, & calore tutata est. Hominem tantum nudum, & in nudâ humo, natali die abjicit ad vagitus statim & ploratum, nullumque tot animalium aliud ad lacrymas, & has protinus vita principio. Plin. Nat. Hist. l. 7. Proœm.

Let Seneca answer this Complaint of Pliny, although perhaps what he saith might be more properly noted in another Place: Quisquis es iniquus æstimator fortis humana, cogita quanta nobis tribuerit Parens noster, quanto valentiora animalia sub jugum miserimus, quanto velociora assequamur, quàm nihil sit mortale non sub ictu nostro positum. Tot virtutes accepimus, tot artes, animum denique cui nihil non eodem quo intendit momento pervium est, Sideribus velociorem, &c. Senec. de Benef. l. 2. c. 29.

[c] Mirantur plurimi quomodo tutè, & sanè vivant homines in horrendis frigoribus plagæ Septentrionalis; hancque levem quæstionem ultra 30 annos audieram in Italia, præsertim ab Æthiopibus, & Indis, quibus onerosus videtur vestitus sub Zonâ terridâ.——Quibus respondetur,——Gaudet Indus multiplici plumarum genere, magìs forsan pro tegumento, quàm necessitate: rursus Scytha villoso vestitu——Ita sub polo Arctico adversùs asperrimas hyemes——opportuna remedia faciliter administrat [Natura]. Ligna videlicet in maxima copia, & levissimo pretio, & demum Pelles diversorum animalium, tam sylvestrium quàm domesticorum. Then he gives a Catalogue of them, and saith, Quarum omnium experti pellifices ita ingeniosè noverunt mixturas componere, ut pulcherrimum decorum ostendat varietas, & calidissimum fomentum adjuncta mollities. Ol. Mag. Hist. l. 6. c. 20.

To this Guard against the Cold, namely, of Fire and Cloathing; I hope the Reader will excuse me, if I take this Opportunity of adding some other Defensatives Nature, (or rather the great Author of Nature,) hath afforded these northern Regions: Such are their high Mountains, abounding, as Ol. Magnus saith, through all Parts; also their numerous Woods, which besides their Fire, do, with the Mountains, serve as excellent Screens against the Cold, piercing Air and Winds. Their prodigious Quantities of Minerals, and Metals, also afford Heat, and warm Vapours, Mineræ septentrionalium regionum satìs multæ, magnæ, diversæ, & opulentæ sunt, saith the same curious, and (for his Time,) learned Archbishop, l. 6. c. 1. and in other Places. And for the Warmth they afford, the Volcano’s of those Parts are in Evidence; as are also their terrible Thunder and Lightning, which are observ’d to be the most severe and mischievous in their metalline Mountains, in which large Herds of Cattle are sometimes destroy’d; the Rocks so rent and shatter’d, that new Veins of Silver are thereby discover’d; and a troublesome Kind of Quinsie is produc’d in their Throats, by the stench, and poisonous Nature of the sulphureous Vapours, which they dissolve, by drinking warm Beer and Butter together, as Olaus tells us in the same Book, Chap. 11.

To all which Defensatives, I shall, in the last Place add, the warm Vapours of their Lakes, (some of which are prodigiously large, of 130 Italian Miles in Length, and not much less in Breadth;) also of their Rivers, especially the Vapours which arise from the Sea. Of which Guard against severe Cold, we have lately had a convincing Proof in the great Frost, in 1708, wherein, when England, Germany, France, Denmark; yea, the more southerly Regions of Italy, Switzerland, and other Parts suffer’d severely, Ireland and Scotland felt very little of it, hardly more than in other Winters; of the Particulars of which, having given an Account in the Phil. Trans. Nᵒ. 324. I shall thither refer the Reader. But it seems this is what doth ordinarily befal those northern Parts; particularly the Islands of Orkney, of which the learned Dr. Wallace gives this Account: Here the Winters are generally more subject to Rain than Snow; nor doth the Frost and Snow continue so long here, as in other Parts of Scotland; but the Wind in the mean Time will often blow very boisterously; and it Rains sometimes, not by Drops, but by spouts of Water, as if whole Clouds fell down at once. In the Year 1680, in the Month of June, after great Thunder, there fell Flakes of Ice near a Foot thick. Wall. Account of Ork. Chap. 1. p. 4. From which last Passage I observe; That although in those Parts, the Atmosphere near the Earth be warm, it is excessively cold above; so as to freeze some of those Spouts of Water in their Descent, into such great, and almost incredible Masses of Hail. And whence can this Warmth proceed, but from the Earth, or Sea, emitting Heat sufficient to stave off the Cold above? Consult Book II. Chap. 5. Note (c).

[d] Sicut enim si innata sibi [i.e. Homini] aliqua haberat arma, illa ei sola semper adessent, ita & si artem aliquam Natura fortitus esset, reliquas sanè non haberet. Quia verò ei melius erat omnibus armis, omnibusque artibus uti, neutrum eorum à naturâ ipsi propterea datum est. Galen. de Us. Part. l. 1. c. 4.

[e] Concerning insensible Perspiration, Sanctorius observes, That it much exceeds all the Sensible put together. De Stat. Med. Aph. 4. That as much is evacuated by insensible Perspiration in one Day, as is by Stool in fourteen Days. Particularly, that, in a Night’s Time, about sixteen Ounces is commonly sent out by Urine, four Ounces by Stool; but above forty Ounces by insensible Perspiration, Aphor. 59, 60. That if a Man eats and drinks 8 l. in a Day, 5 l. of it is spent in insensible Perspiration, §. 1. Aph. 6. And as to the Times, he saith, Ab assumpto cibo 5 horis 1 l. circiter perspirabilis——exhalare solet, à 5a ad 12am 3 l. circiter; à 12a ad 16am vix selibram, Aph. 56.

And as to the wonderful Benefits of insensible Perspiration, they are abundantly demonstrated by the same learned Person, ubi supra; as also by Borelli in his second Part, De Mot. Animal, Prop. 168. who saith, Necessaria est insensibilis Transpiratio, ut vita Animalis conservetur.

[f] Animantium verò quanta varietas est? Quanta ad cam rem vis, ut in suo quæque genere permaneant? Quaram aliæ coriis tectæ sunt, aliæ villis vesticæ, aliæ spinis hirsutæ: plumâ alias, alias squamâ videmus obductas, alias esse cornibus armatas, alias habere effugia pennarum. Cic. de Nat. Deor. l. 2. c. 47.

[g] From Malpighi’s curious Observations of the Hair, I shall note three Things. 1. Their Structure is fistulous, or tubular; which hath long been a Doubt among the curious. Fistulosum [esse Pilum] demonstrant lustratio pilarum à caudâ & collo Equorum, &c.——præcipuè setarum Apri, quæ patentiorem ex fistulis compositionem exhibent. Est autem dictus Apri pilus Cylindricum corpus quasi diaphanum——fistularum aggere conflatum, & speciem columnæ striatæ præ se fert. Componentes fistulæ in gyrum situatæ in apice patentiores redduntur; nam hians pilus in geminas dividitur partes, & componentes minimæ fistulæ——libersores redditæ manifestantur, ita ut enumerari possunt; has autem 20, & ultra numeravi.——Expositæ fistulæ——tubulosæ sunt, & frequentibus tunicis transversaliter situatis, veluti valvulis pollent. Et quoniam Spinæ, in Erinaceis præcipui, &c. nil aliud sunt, quam duri & rigidi pili, ideo, &c. And then he describes the Hedgehog’s Spines, in which those Tubes manifestly appear; together, with medullary Valves and Cells; not inelegant, which he hath figur’d in Tab. 16. at the End of his Works.

That which this sagacious, and not enough to be commended Observer, took notice of in the Structure of Hair, and its Parity to the Spines; I have my self observ’d in some Measure to be true, in the Hair of Cats, Rats, Mice, and divers other Animals; which look very prettily when view’d with a good Microscope. The Hair of a Mouse, (the most transparent of any I have view’d,) seems to be one single transparent Tube, with a Pith made up of a fibrous Substance, running in dark Lines; in some Hairs tranversly, in others spirally, as in Fig. 14, 15, 16, 17. These darker medullary Parts, or Lines, I have observ’d, are no other than small Fibres convolved round, and lying closer together than in other Parts of the Hair. They run from the Bottom, to the Top of the Hair; and I imagine, serve to the gentle Evacuation of some Humour out of the Body; perhaps the Hair serves as well for the insensible Perspiration of hairy Animals, as to fence against Cold and Wet. In Fig. 14, 16, is represented the Hair of a Mouse, as it appears through a small Magnifier; and in Fig. 15, 17, as it appears when view’d with a larger Magnifier.

Upon another Review, I imagine, That although in Fig. 14, 15, the dark Parts of the Pith seem to be transverse; that they, as well as in the two other Figures, run round in a screw-like Fashion.

[h] See Book VII. Chap. 1. Note (d) (e).

[i] See Chap. XIV. Note (c).

[k] It is a Sign some wise Artist was a Contriver of the Cloathing of Animals; not only as their Cloathing varies, as their Way of Living doth; but also because every Part of their Bodies is furnish’d with proper suitable Cloathing. Thus divers Animals, that have their Bodies cover’d for the most Part with short, smooth Hair; have some Parts left naked, where Hair would be an Annoyance: And some Parts beset with long Hair; as the Mane and Tail; And some with stiff, strong Bristles; as about the Nose; And sometimes within the Nostrils; to guard off, or give warning of Annoyances.

[l] The Feathers being placed from the Head towards the Tail, in close and neat Order, and withal preened and dressed by the Contents of the Oil-Bag, afford as easie a Passage through the Air, as a Boat new cleaned and dressed finds in its Passage through the Waters. Whereas, were the Feathers placed the contrary, or any other way (as they would have been, had they been placed by Chance, or without Art) they would then have gathered Air, and been a great Encumbrance to the Passage of the Body through the Air. See Book VII. Chap. 1. Note (b).

[m] In Book VII. Chap. 1. Note (e). there is a particular Account of the Mechanism of their Vanes, from some nice Microscopical Observations, and therefore I shall take no farther Notice of it here.

[n] Vid. Borell. de Mot. Animal. Prop. 182. Vol. I.

[o] See Book IX.

[p] For a Sample of this Branch of my Survey, let us chuse the Tegument of Earth-Worms, which we shall find compleatly adapted to their Way or Life and Motion, being made in the most compleat Manner possible for terebrating the Earth, and creeping where their Occasions lead them. For their Body is made throughout of small Rings, and these Rings have a curious Apparatus of Muscles, enabling those Creatures with great Strength to dilate, extend, or contract their Annuli, and whole Body; those Annuli also are each of them armed with small, stiff, sharp Beards, or Prickles, which they can open, to lay hold on, or shut up close to their Body: And lastly, Under the Skin there lies a slimy Juice, that they emit, as Occasion is, at certain Perforations between the Annuli, to lubricate the Body, and facilitate their Passage into the Earth. By all which Means they are enabled with great Speed, Ease, and Safety, to thrust and wedge themselves into the Earth; which they could not do, had their Bodies been covered with Hair, Feathers, Scales, or such like Cloathing of the other Creatures. See more concerning this Animal, Book IX. Chap. 1. Note (a).

[q] Aristotle, in his Hist. Anim. l. 3. c. 12. names several Rivers, that by being drank of, change the Colour of the Hair.

[r] For an Example; Let us take the Cloathing of the Tortoise and Viper; because, by an incurious View, it rather regrateth, than pleaseth the Eye: But yet, by an accurate Survey, we find the Shells of the Former, and the Scales of the Latter, to be a curious Piece of Mechanism, neatly made; and so compleatly, and well put, and tack’d together, as to exceed any human Composures: Of the Latter see more in Book IX. Chap. 1. Note (c).

[s] It would be endless to enter into the Particulars of the beautiful Birds and Insects of our European Parts; but especially those inhabiting the Countries between the Tropicks, which are observed as much to exceed our Birds in their Colours, as ours do theirs in their Singing.

[t] The Wryneck, at a Distance, is a Bird of mean Colour; neither are indeed its Colours radiant, or beautiful, singly considered: But when it is in the Hand we see its light and darker Colours so curiously mixed together, as to give the Bird a surprizing Beauty. The same is also observable in many Insects, particularly of the Phalæna kind.

[a]