t
fib-
l
T H E
Geleftial Worldsi
DISCOVER’D;
O R,
;":V
CONJECTURES
£
Concerning the
INHABITANTS,
Plants and Productions
of THE
W orlds in the Planets.
Written in Latin by
CHRISTIANAS HUYGENS ,
And infcrib’d to bis Brother
CONSTANTINE HUTGENSl
*' <•
Late Secretary to his Majefty King William . The Second Edition 5 CorreBed and Enlarged. !
LONDON:
Printed for James Knapton, at the Crown in St. Pauls Church-Yard. Mdccxxii.
y
r
):
I
I
i
.)
/
TO THE
READER.
HIS Book was juft finifhed.
JL and defigned for the Prefs, when the Author, to the great !ofs of the Learned World, was feized by a Difeafe that brought him to his Death. However he took care in hislaft Will of its Publication, defi¬ ring his Brother, to whom it was writ, to take that T rouble upon him. But he was fo taken up with Bufinefs and Removals, (as being Secretary in Holland to the King of Great Britain') that he could find no time for it till a I ear after the Death of the Author : When it fo fell out, that the Printers being fomewhat tardy, and this Gen- tleman dying, the Book was left with¬ out either Father or Guardian. Yet it
A 2
now
IV
To the Reader.
now ventures into the Publick, in the fame Method that it was writ by the Author, and with the fame In- fcription to his Brother, tho’ dead ; in confidence that this laft Piece of his will meet with as kind a Recep¬ tion from the World as all the other Works of that Author have. ’Tis true there are not every where Ma¬ thematical Demonftrations •, but where they are wanting, you have probable and ingenious Conjectures, which is the molt that can be reafo- nabiy expeCted in fuch matters. What belongs to, or has any thing to do with Aftronomy, you will fee demonftrated, and the reft ingeni- oufly and fhrewdly guefs’d at, from the Affinity and Relation of the heavenly Bodies to the Earth. For your farther Satisfaction read on, and farewel.
THE
V
-
— .
THE
PUBLISHER
TO THE
READER.
I Doubt not lilt 1 (hall incur the Cen¬ tres of learned Men for gutting this Book into Englilh* becaufe 5 thef ll fay 5 it renders Philofophy cheap and vulgar , and , which is worfe^fur- nifhes a fort of injudicious People with a fmattering of Notions , which Ic¬ ing not able to make a proper ufe of they pervert to the Injury of Religion and Science . I confefs the Allegati¬ on is too true : but after Bifhop Wil¬ kins, Dr. Burnet* Mr. Whifton and others y to fay nothing of the ancient Philofophers, who wrote in their own
A $ Tongues
vi The Publifher’s Preface*,
Tongues • I fay, after thefe great Au¬ thors have treated on as learned and abflrufe Subjects in the fame Language, 1 hope their Example will he allowed a fufficient excufe for printing this Book in Englifh*
Concerning this Edition I can fay 5 that I have taken care to have the Cutts exactly done , and have placed each Figure at the Page of the Book that refers to it, which 1 take to he more convenient to the Reader than putting them all at the End .
I have keen careful to procure the heft Paper • that I might in fome meafure come up to the Beauty of the Latin Edition, though this hear hut half the Price of it .
cAnd I hope the Tranflator has exprejfed the Authors Senfe aright i and has not committed Faults he~ yond what an ingenuous Reader can pardon *
t
NEW
CONJECTURES
Concerning the
Planetary Worlds,,
THEIR
INHABITANTS
AND
PRODUCTIONS.
Written by Christianus Huy¬ gens, and infcribed to his Brother Constantine Huygens.
BOOK the Firft.
A Man that is of Copernicus’s Opinion, that this Earth of ours is a Planet, carry’d round and enlighten’d by the Sun, like the reft of the Planets, cannot but fometimes think, that it’s
A 4 not
Book i.
a Conjectures concerning
Book i. not improbable that the reft of the Planets have their Drefs and Fur¬ niture, and perhaps their Inhabitants too as well as* this Earth of ours: Efpecially if he confiders the later Difcoveries made in the Heavens fince Copernicus* s time, viz . the Attendants of Jupiter and Saturn , and the champaign and hilly Coun¬ tries in the Moon, which are a ftrong Argument of a Relation and Kin between our Earth and them, as well as a Proof of the Truth of that Syftem. This has often been our Talk, I remember, good Brother^ over a large Telefcope, when We have been viewing thofe Bodies, a Study that your continual Bufinefs and Abfence have interrupted for many Years. But we were always apt to conclude, that ' twas in vain to enquire after what Nature is doing there, feeing there was no likelihood of ever coming to any Certainty of the Enquiry. Nor could I ever find that any Philofophers, either antient or modern, have attempted any thing upon this Subjeft. At the very Birth
of
the Planetary Worlds.
of Aftronomy, when the Earth wasBookx* firft afferted to be Spherical, and to ' befurrounded with Air, even then ‘lyTa’W there were fome Men fo bold as to talk’d of affirm, there were an innumerable Company of Worlds in the Stars .the pU- But later Authors, fuch as Cardinal^5’ hut Cufanus , Brmus, Kfplev, (and if we farther, may believe him, Tycho was of that opinion too) have furnifhed the Pla¬ nets with Inhabitants. Nay, Cttfa- nus and Brunus have allowed the Sun and fixed Stars theirs too* But this was the utmoft of their Boldnefs ; nor has the ingenious French Author of the Dialogues about the Plurality of Worlds carried this Matter any farther. Only fome of them have coined fome Stories of the Men in the Moon, juft as probable as Luci¬ an's true Hiftory ; among which X muft count Kypler' s, which he has di¬ verted us with in his Aftronomicai Dream. But a while ago thinking fomewhat ferioufly of this matter (not that I count my felf quicker- lighted than thofe great Men, but that I had the Happinefs to live after
mod
__ .
0
4 conjectures concerning
Booki.moft of them) the Enquiry appear** not fo impracticable,* nor the Way fo ftopt up with Difficulties, but that there was very good room left for probable Conjectures. As they came into my Head, I put them down into common Places, and fhall now try to digeft them into fome Method for your better Con¬ ception of them, and add fomewhat of the Sun and fix’d Stars, and the Extent of that Univerfe of which our Earth is but an inconfiderable Point. I know you have fuch an Efteern and Reverence for any thing that belongs to the Heavens, that I perfwade my felf you will read what I have written with fome Pleafure : I’m fure I writ it with a great deal ; but as often before, fo now, I find the Saying of Jrchytas true, even to the Letter, That the? a Man were admit¬ ted into Heaven to view the wonder - ful Fabrick of the World , and the Beauty of the Stars$ yet what would otherwise be Rapture and Extafe , would be but a melancholy Amazement if he had not a Friend to communi¬ cate
the Planetary Worlds . f
/V £0. I could wifh indeed thatBooki- all the World might not be my Judges, but that I might chufe my Readers, Men like you, not igno¬ rant in Aftronomy and true Philofo- phy ; for with fuch I might promife my felf a favourable hearing, and not need to make an Apology for da¬ ring to vent any thing new to the World, But becaufe I am aware what weak Hands it’s likely to fall into, and what a fevere Sentence I may expeQ: from thofe whofe Igno¬ rance or Zeal is too great ; it may be worth the while to guard my felf beforehand againft the A {faults of thofe fort of People*
There's one fort who knowing Tk nothing of Geometry or Mathema- ticks, will laugh at it as a whimfical caviikr* and ridiculous Undertaking, It’s incredible Thing to them to talk of meafuring the Diftance and Magni¬ tude of the Stars : And for the Mo¬ tion of the Earth, they count it, if not a falfe, at lea ft a precarious Opinion ; and no wonder then if they take what’s built upon fuch a flippery Foun¬ dation
6 Conjectures concerning
Book i .
t/W
Thefe Con¬ jectures do not con¬ tradict the holy Scrip¬ tures.
dation for the Dreams, of a fanciful Head and a diftemperM Brain, What fhould we anfwer to thefe Men, but that their Ignorance is the Caufe of their Diflike, and that if they had ftudied thefe things more, and view¬ ed the Works of Nature nicely, they would have fewer Scruples ? But few People having had an opportunity of profecuting thefe Studies, either fot want of Parts, Learning or Leifure5 we cannot blame their Ignorance ; and if they refolve to find fault with us for fpending time in fuch Matters, becaufe they do not underhand the Ufe of them, we mull appeal to pro- perer Judges,
The other fort, when they hear us talk of new Lands, and Animals, and Creatures endued with as much Reafon as themfelves, will be ready to cry out, that we let up our Con¬ jectures againfl: the Word of God, and broach Opinions direflily oppo- iite to Holy Writ. For we do not there read any thing of theProdu&i- on of fuch Creatures, no not fo much as that they exift ; nay rather we
read
the Planetary Worlds. 7
read the quite contrary. For* ThatBookx* only mentions this Earth with its A- nimals and Plants, and Man the Lord of them : To fuch Perfons I anfwer, what has been often urged by others before me : That it’s evident, God had no defign to make a particular Enumeration in the Holy Scriptures, of all the Works of his Creation,
When therefore it is plain that un¬ der the general Name of Stars or Earth at the Creation, are compre¬ hended all the Heavenly Bodies, even the Attendants upon Jupiter and Sa¬ turn, why muft all that Multitude of Beings which the Almighty Cre¬ ator has been plcafed to place upon them, be excluded the Privilege, and not fuffered to have a Share in the Expreffion ? And thefe Men them- felves can’t but know in what Senfe it is that all things are faid to be made for the Ufe of Man, not cer¬ tainly for us to look at through a Telefcope, for that’s very abfurd.
Since then the greateft part of God’s Creation, that innumerable multi¬ tude of Stars, is placed out of the
reach
8
Book i® reach of any Man’s Eye; and many them it’s likely, of the be ft Glades, fo that they don’t feem to belong to tis; is it fuch an unreafonable Opi¬ nion to think, that there are fome reafonable Creatures who fee and admire thofe glorious Bodies at a nearer diftance ?
Thh En- But perhaps they’ll fay, it does not TZttu- become us to be fo curious and inqui- rims * fitive in thefe Things which the Su-
preme Creator feerns to have kept for his own Knowledge : For fince he has not been pleafed to make any farther Difcovery or Revelation of them, it fee ms little better than prefumption to make any inquiry into that which he has thought fit to hide. But thefe Gentlemen muft be told, that they take too much upon themfelves when they pretend to appoint how far and ! no farther Men fhall go in their Searches, and to let bounds to other Menslnduftry, as if they knew the Marks that God has placed to Know¬ ledge : or as if Men were able to pafs thofe Marks. If our Forefathers had been at this rate fcrupulous, we might
have
Conjeifures concerning
the Planetary Worlds. 9
have been ignorant ftill of the Mag- Book*, nitude and Figure of the Earth, or that there was fuch aPlace as America-.
We fhould not have known that the Moon is inlightned by the Sun’s Rays, nor what the Caufes of the Eclipfes of each of them are, nor a multitude of other Things brought to light by the late Difcoveries in Aftronomy.
For what can a Man imagine more abftrufe, or lefs likely to be known, than what is now as clear as the Sun? Whence it follows, that vigorous In- duftry, and piercing Wit were given Men to make Advances in the Search of Nature, and there’s no Reafon to put any Stop to fuch Enquiries. I muft acknowledge that what I here intend to treat of is not of that Na¬ ture as to admit of a certain Know¬ ledge ; I can’t pretend to affert any thing as pofitively true (for how is it poflible) but only to advance a pro¬ bable Guefs, the Truth of which eve¬ ry one is at his own liberty to exa¬ mine. If any one therefore fhall gravely tell me, that I have fpent my Time idly in a vain and fruitlefs En¬ quiry
ID
cau
certain.
Conjectures concerning
Book inquiry after what by my own ac- knowledgment I can never come to be fore of; The Anfwer is, that at this rate he would put down all Na¬ tural Philofophy as far as it concerns it feif In fearching into the Nature conje- of Things: In fuch noble and fub» ^^Mime Studies as thefe, 7tis a Glory to J t/e not arrive at Probability, and the Search it felf rewards the Pains. But there are many degrees of Probable, feme nearer Truth than others, in the de¬ termining of which lies the chief ex- Theft s^.ercife of our Judgment. But befides dies useful t\\Q Nobleneis and Pleafure of the Studies, may not we be fo bold as to fay, they are no fmall help to the Ad¬ vancement of Wifdom and Morality? fo far are they from being of no ufe at all* For here we may mount from this dull Earth, and viewing it from on high, confider whether Nature has laid out all her Coft and Finery upon this fmall Speck of Dirt* So, like Travellers into other diftant Coun¬ tries, we fhall be better able to judge of whaPs done at home, know how to make a true Eftimate of, and fet
its
»
.Hi
f
\
. 1.
t
the Planetary Worlds . 1 i
ks own Value upon every Thing. Booki® We fhall be lefs apt to admire what this World calls Great, fhall nobly, defpife thofe Trifles the generality of Men fet their Affections on, when we know that there are a multitude of fuch Earths inhabited and adorn¬ ed as well as our own. And we fhall worfhip and reverence that God the Maker of all thefe things \ we fhall admire and adore his Provi¬ dence and wonderful Wifdom which is difplayed and manifdled all over the Univerfe, to the Confufion of thofe who would have the Earth and all things formed by the fhuffiing Concourfe of Atoms, or to be with¬ out beginning* But to come to our Purpofe. , % r. 5 -
And now becaufe the chief Argu-Coperni- ment for the Proof of what we in- c„ss Sy~
item ex**
tend will be taken from the Difpofi - plained . tion of the Planets, among which without doubt, the Earth muff be counted in the Copernican Syftem,! fhall here firft of all draw two Fi¬ gures. The fir ft is a Defcription of
B the
is, Conjectures concerning
Book i. the Orbs the Planets move in, in that
vy~ys-' order that they are placed round the Sun, drawn as near as can be in their true Proportions, like what you have feen in my Clock at home. The fecond {hows the Proportions of their Mag¬ nitudes in refpeff of one another and of the Sun, which you know is upon that fame Clock of mine too. In the firft the middle Point or Center is the Place of the Sun, round which, in an order that every one knows, are the Orbits of Mercury, Venus, the Earth with that of the Moon about it ; then thofe of Mars , Jupiter and Saturn : and about the two kill the fmall Cir¬ cles that their Attendants move in % about Jupiter four, and about Saturn five. Which Circles as well as that of the Moon are drawn larger than their true Proportion would admit, other- wife they could not have been feenj You may ealily apprehend the Vaft- nefs of thefe Orbits by this, that the diftance of the Earth from the Sun is ten or twelve thoufand of the Earth’s Diameters. Almoll all thefe Circles are in the fame Plane, declining very
little
the Planetary Worlds. 1 3
little from that in which the Earth Booki. moves, call’d The Plane of the Eclip - tick . This Plane is cut obliquely by the Axis upon which the Earth turns it felf round with refped to the Sun in 24 Hours, whence arife theSuccef lions of Day and Night : The Axis of the Earth always keeping the fame Inclination to the Ecliptick (except a fmall Change belt known to Aftro- nomers) while the Earth itfelf is car¬ ried in its yearly Courfe round the Sun, caufes the regular Order of the Seafons of the Year: as you may fee in all Aftronomers Books. Out of which I fhall tranfcribe hither the Periods of the Revolutions of the Pla¬ nets, viz. Saturn moves round the Sun in 29 Years, 174 Days, and 5 1 Hours : Jupiter finiihes his Courfe in 1 1 Years, 317 Days, and 15 Hours:
Mars his in about 687 Days® Our Year is 36 5 Days 6 Hours: Venus* s 224 Days 18 Hours: and Mercury's 88 Days. This is the now common¬ ly received Syftem? invented by Co¬ pernicus^ and very agreeable to that frugal Simplicity Nature fhows in all
B 2 her
i4 Conjectures concerning
Book i .her Works. If any one is refolved to flncl fault with it, let him firft be lure mmts for he underftands it. Let him firft fee the Truth the Books of Aftronomers with onU/ how much greater Eafe and Plain- nefs all the Motions of the Stars, and Appearances in the Heavens are ex¬ plained and demonftrated in this than either in that of Ptolomy or Ty¬ cho. Let him confider that Difcove- ry oiKjpier, that the Diftances of the Planets from the Sun, as well of the Earth as the reft, are in a fix’d cer¬ tain proportion to the Times they fpencl in their Revolutions. Which Proportion it’s fince obferved that their Satellites keep round Jupiter and Saturn . Let him examine what a contradictory Motion they are fain || to invent for the Solution of the Po- I lar Star’s changing its Diftance from |j the Pole. For that Star in the end of the little Bear’s Tail which now de- fcribes fo fmall a Circle round the Pole, that it is not above two De- I grees and twenty Minutes, was ob- | lerved about 1820 Years ago, in the jj Time of Hipparchus, to be above 12:
and I
/
Sair.
the Planetary JVorlds. i j
and will within a few Ages more be Booki® 45 Degrees diftant from it: and af- ter 25000 Years more will return to the fame Place it is npw in. Now if with them we allow the Heavens to be turned upon their own Axis, at this rate they mull haye a new Axis eve¬ ry Day : a Thing mod abfurd, and repugnant to the Nature of all Mo¬ tion. Whereas nothing is eafier with Copernicus than to give us Satisfacti¬ on in this Matter, Then he may im¬ partially weigh thofe Anfwers that Galil#usfiafJendus,Kjpler^ and others have given to all Objections propofed, which have fo fatisfied all Scruples, that generally all Aftronomers now¬ adays are brought over to our Side, and allow the Earth its Motion and Place among the Planets. If he can¬ not be fatisfied with all this, he is
either one whofe Dulnefs can’t com-
* >>
prehend it , or who has his Belief at another Man’s Difpofal.
In the other Figure you have the Globes of the Planets, and of the Sun, reprefented to your Eyes as placed near one another. Where
B 3 I have
Conjectures concerning
Booki.Ihave obferved the fame Proportion* of their Diameters to that of the Sun* portion of that I publifhed to the World in my the Mag* - Book of The Appearances of Saturn :
ThTpiaf namely, the Diameter of the Ring nets, in round Saturn is to that of the Sun as refpect of as to 2 7 ; that of Saturn himfelf
ther, and about as $ to 37 ; that or Jupiter tU sun , as 2 to 1 1 j that of Mars as i to 1665 of the Earth as 1 to in*, and of Venus as 1 to 84 : to which I fhall now add that of Mercury obferved by Hevelius in the Year 1661, but cal¬ culated by my felf, and found to be as 1 to 2 90.
If you would know the way that we came to this Knowledge of their Magnitudes, by knowing the Propor¬ tion of their Diftances from the Sun* and the Meafures of their Diameters* 1 you may find it in the Book before - mentioned : And I cannot yet fee any Reafon to make an Alteration in thofe I then fettled, altho’ I will not The La- fay they are without their Faults, meite For I can’t yet be of their Mind* ~ who think the Ufe of Micrometers* than Mi- as they call them, is beyond that of
vroweters* ■ " nn«
the Planetary Worlds ,
our Plates, but mull flill think thatBooki. thofe thin Plates or Rods of which I there taught the Ufe, not to detradl from the due Praifes of fo ufeful an Invention, are more convenient than the Micrometers.
In this proportion of the Planets it is worth while to take notice of the prodigious Magnitude of the Sun in comparifon with the four innermoft, which are far lets than Jupiter and Sa¬ turn. And his remarkable, that the Bodies of the Planets do not increafe together with their Diilances from the Sun, but that Venus is much big¬ ger than Mars.
Having thus explained the two The Earth Schemes, there's no Body I fuppofe.^% but fees, that in the firffc the Earth is IhTpiP made to he of the fame fort with the nets, and reft of the Planets. For the very Po-^f/*’ fition of the Circles fhows it. And that the other Planets are round like it, and like it receive all the Light they have from the Sun, there’s no room (fince theDifcoveries made by Telefcopes) to doubt. Another Thing they are like it in is, that they are mo-
B 4 ved
i S Conjectures concerning
Booki.ved round their own Axis-, forfince ’tis certain that Jupiter and Saturn are, who can doubt it of the others ? Again, as the Earth has its Moon mo¬ ving round it5 fo Jupiter and Saturn have theirs. Now fince in fo many Things they thus agree, what can be more probable than that in others they agree too ; and that the other Planets are as beautiful and as well flock’d with Inhabitants as the Earth? Or what (hadow of Reafon can there be why they ftiould not ?
If any one fhould be at the Diffefti- on of a Dog, and be there fhewn the Intrails, the Heart, Stomach, Liver, Lungs and Guts, all the V eins, Arte¬ ries and Nerves ; could fuch a Man reafonably doubt whether there were the fame Contexture and Variety of Parts in a Bullock, Hog, or any other Beaft,tho’ he had never chanc’d to fee the like opening of them ? I don’t be¬ lieve he would. Or were we tho¬ roughly fatisfy’d in the Nature of one of the Moons round Jupiter , fhould not we ftraight conclude the fame of the reft of them ? So if we could be
affur’d
the Planetary Worlds. 19
allur’d in but one Comet, what it was Booki, that is the Caufe of that ftrange Ap- pearance, flaould we not make that a Standard to judge of all others by ?
’Tis therefore an Argument of no Argu~ fmall Weight that is fetch’d from Re- ™mn , lation and Likenefs ; and to reafon similitude, from what we fee and are fare of, to °f what we cannot, is no falfe Logick.w*^‘ This mult be our Method in this Treatife, wherein from the Nature and Circumftances of that Planet which we fee before our Eyes, we may guefs at thofe that are farther diftant from us.
And, Fir ft, ft is more than probable The pla~ that the Bodies of the Planets are fo lid like that of our Earth, and that#** w'lth they donft want what we call Gravi-^J Gr4" ty, that Virtue, which like a Load- lfone attrafts whatfoever is near the Body to its Center. And that they have fuch a Quality, their very Fi¬ gure is a Proof*, for their Roundnefs proceeds only from an equal preffure of all their Parts tending to the fame Center. Nay more, we are fo skilful now-a-days, as to be able to tell how
much
ConjeBures concerning
Book i. much more or lefs the Gravitation in worv' Jupiter or Saturn is than here • of which Difcovery and its Author you may read my Ejjay of the Caufes of Gavitation •
But now to carry the Search far- ther5 let us fee by what Steps we mull: rife to the attaining forne knowledge in the deeper Secrets concerning the State and Furniture of thefe new Earths. And5 firft, how likely is it that they may be flock’d with Plants Have a- and Animals as well as we ? I fuppofe no Body will deny but that there’s flaws, fomewhat more of Contrivrance?fome» what more wonderful in theProdufti- on and Growth of Plants and Ani¬ mals, than in Lifeiefs Heaps of inani¬ mate Bodies, be they never fo much larger as Mountains, Rocks, or Seas are. For the Finger of God, and the Wifdom of Divine Providence, is in them much more clearly manifefted than in the other. One of Democri¬ tus's or Cartels Scholars may venture perhaps to give fome tolerable Expli¬ cation of the Appearances in Heaven and Earth, allow him but his Atoms
and
21
the Planetary Worlds.
and Motion :> but when he comes to Bookf . Plants and Animals, he’ll find himfelf non-plus’d, and give you no likely account of their Production. For every Thing in them is fo exaftly adapted to fome Defign, every part of them fo fitted to its proper XJfe„ that they manifeft an Infinite Wif- dorn, and exquifite Knowledge in the Laws of Nature and Geometry, as, to omit thofe Wonders in Genera¬ tion, we fhall by and by fhow ^ and make it an Abfurdity even to think of their being thus happily jumbled to¬ gether by a chance Motion of I don’t know what little Particles. Now fhould we allow the Planets nothing but vaft Deferts, lifelefs and inanimate Stocks and Stones, and deprive them of all thofe Creatures that more plain¬ ly fpeak their Divine Architect, we fhould fink them below the Earth in Beauty and Dignity a Thing very unreasonable, as I laid before.
Well then, we have gain’d the Point thus far, and the Planets may be allowed fome Creatures capable of moving themfelves, not at all inferior
to
a % Conjectures concerning
Booki. to ours *5 and thefe are Animals. And if this be allowed, italmoft neceffari- 1 y follows, that there mull be Herbs Not to be for Food for them* And as for the 7ofZ?ke Growth and Nourifhment of all ours. thefe, 9tis no doubt the fame with ours, feeing they have the fame Sun to warm and enliven them as ours have,
But perhaps fome Body may fay, we conclude too fait. They will not deny indeed but that there may be Plants and Animals on the Surface of the Planets, that deferve as well to be provided for by their Creator as ours do : but why muft they be of the fame Kind with ours : Nature feems to love variety in her Works, and may have made them widely different from ours either in their matter or manner of Growth, in their outward Shape, or their inward Contexture; fhe may have made them fuch as neither our Underffanding nor Imagination can conceive. That’s the Thing we fhall now examine, and whether it be not more likely that fhe has not obferv’d fuch a Variety as they talk of. Nature
feems
the Planetary Worlds. 23
feems moft commonly, and in mod ofBoofei. her Works, to affe£t V ariety, ’tis true ; ^VNJ But they fhould confider ’tis not the Bufinefs of Men to pretend to fettle how great this Difference and Variety muft be. Nor does it follow, becaufe it may be Infinite, and out ofour Com- prehenfionand Reach, that therefore Things in reality are fo. Forfuppofe God fhould have pleafed to have made all Things in the reft of the Planets juft as he has here, the Inhabi¬ tants of thofe Places (if there are any fuch) would admire hisWifdomand Contrivance no lefs chan if they were widely different ; feeing they c'an’t come to know what’s done in the other Planets. Who doubts but that God, if he had pleafed, might have made the Animals in America and " other diftant Countries nothing like ours ? yet we fee he has not done it.
They have indeed fome difference in their Shape, and 7tis fit they fhould* to diftinguifh the Plants and Animals of thofe Countries from ours, who live on this fide the Earth ; but even in this Variety there is an Agreement,
an
H
Planets have Wa¬ ter,
Conjetiures concerning
an exa£fc Correfpondence in Figure and Shape, the fame ways df Growth, and new Productions, and of conti¬ nuing their own Kind, Their Ani¬ mals have Feet and Wings like ours, and like ours have Hearts, Lungs5 Guts, and the Parts ferving to Gene¬ ration ; whereas all thefe Things, as well with them as us, might, if it had pleafed Infinite Wifdom, have been order’d a very different Way. 5Tis plain then that Nature has not exhibited that Variety in her Works that fhe could, and therefore we miift not allow that Weight to this Argu¬ ment, as upon the Account of it to make every Thing in the Planets quite different from what is here. 5Tis more probable that all the Difference there is between us and them, fprings from the greater or lels diftance and influence from that Fountain of Heat and Life the Sun } which will caufe a Difference not fo much in their Form and Shape, as in their Matter and Contexture.
And as for the Matter whereof the Plants and Animals there confift, the?
It
the Planetary iVorlds. 2 y
It is impoffible ever to come to the Book i.' Knowledge of its Nature, yet this we may venture to alTert (there being fcarce any Doubt of it) that their Growth and Nourifhment proceeds from fome liquid Principle,, For all Philofophers argee that there can be no other way of Nutrition; fome of the Chief among them having made Water to be the Original of allThings :
For whatfoever’s dry and without Moifture, is without Motion too * and without Motion, it’s impoffible there fhould be any Increafe. But the Parts of a Liquid being in continual Motion one with another, and infr* nuating and twifting themfelves into the fmalleft Places, are thereby very* proper and apt to add not themfelves only, but whatfoever elfe they may bring along with them, to the Increafe and Growth of Bodies. Thus we fee that by the Means of Water the Plants grow, bloffom, and bear Fruit ; and by the Addition of that only, Stones grow together out of Sand. And there's no doubt but that Metals, Cryftals, and Jewels,
have
% 6 Conjectures concerning
Book i . have the fame Method of ProduQT
^YVon : Tho? in them there lias been no opportunity to make the fame Obser¬ vation, as well by reafon of their {low Advances, as that they are common¬ ly found far from the Places of their Generation; thrown tip I fuppofe by Some Earthquakes, or Convulsi¬ ons. That the Planets are not with¬ out Water, is made not improbable by the late Observations : For about Jupiter are obferved iome Spots of a darker Colour than the reft of his Bo¬ dy, which by their continual change Show themfelves to be Clouds: For the Spots of Jupiter which belong to him, and never remove from him, are quite different from thefe, be¬ ing fometimes for a long time not to be Seen for thefe Clouds^ and a- gain, when thefe difappear, Showing themfelves. And at the going off of thefe Clouds, fome Spots have been taken notice of in him, much bright¬ er than the reft of his Body, which remained but a little while, and then were hid from our Sight. Thefe Monfieur Cajjini thinks are only the
RefteQT
the Planetary Worlds. 2 7
S • S
Refleftion from the Snow that covers Booki® the Tops of the Hills in Jupiter: But I fhould rather think that it is only the Colour of the Earth, which happens to be free from thofe Clouds that com¬ monly darken it.
Mars too is found not to be without his dark Spots, by means of which he has been obferved to turn round his own Axis in 24 Hours and 40 Minutes; the Length of his Day : but whether he has Clouds or no, we have not had the fame opportunity of obferying as in Jupiter , as well becaufe even when he is neared the Earth, he appears to us much lefs than Jupiter , as that his Light not coming fo far, is fo brisk as to be an Impediment to exaffc Obfer- vations : And this Reafon is as much ftronger in Venus as its Light is. But fmce 7tis certain that the Earth and Jupiter have their Water and Clouds, there is no Reafon why the other Pla¬ nets ftiould be without them. I can’t Bui not j fay that they are exaQdy of the fame^/**
; nature with our Water ; but that they I fhould be liquid their Ufe requires, as their Beauty does that they fhould be
C clean
18 Conjectures concerning
Book i . clear. For this Water of ours, in Jupi- ter or Saturn , would be frozen up in* ftantly by reafon of the vaft diftance of the Sun, Every Planet therefore muft have its Waters offuch a temper, as to be proportioned to its Heat : Ju¬ piter's and Saturn's muft be of fuch a Nature as not tobeliabletoFroft ; and Venus's and Mercurfs of fuch, as- not to be eafily evaporated by the Sun. But in all of them, for a continual fupply of Moifture, whatever Water is drawn up by the Heat of the Sun into Vapours, muftneceffarily return back again thi¬ ther. And this it cannot do but in Drops, which are caufed as well there as with us, by their afcending into a higher and colder Region ofthe Air,out: of that which, by reafon ofthe Refle-J dion ofthe Rays of the Sun from the] Earth, is warmer and more tempe-J rate.
Here then we have found in thefe. new Worlds Fields warm’d by the: kindly Heat of the Sun, and water’d : with fruitful Dews and Showers : That: there muft be Plants in them as well! for Ornament as Ufe, we have fhewm
jufti
the Planetary Worlds.
juft now. And what Nourishment, Booki. what manner of Growth fhall we al- low them ? Probably, there can be no Piants better, nay no other, than what we here grow and experience 5 by having their Roots faft-*^™*** ned into the Earth, and imbibing its there as nourishing Juices by their tender Fi-^ ars bres. And that they may not be only like fo many bare Heaths, with no¬ thing but creeping Shrubs and Bullies, we may allow them feme nobler and loftier Plants, Trees, or Somewhat like them : Thefe being the greateft, and, except Waters, the only Ornament that Nature has bellowed upon the Earth, For not to (peak of thefe ma¬ ny ufes that are made of their Wood, there’s no one that is ignorant either of their Beauty or Pleafantnefs. Now what way can any one imagine for a continual Produ&ion and Succeffion of thefe Plants, but their bearing Seed ?
A Method fo excellent, that it*s the only one that Nature has here made ufe of, and fo wonderful, that it feems to be defigned not for this Earth alone.
In line, there’s the fame reafon to think that this Method is obferved in thofe
C 2 di-
concerning
o
g o Conjectures
Booki.diftant Countries, as there was of its being followed in the remote Quar¬ ters of this fame Earth,
The fame ’Tis much the fame in Animals as
UU(! °f . ’tis in Plants, as to their manner of mats. Nourilhment, and Propagation ot their
Kind. For fince all the living Crea¬ tures of this Earth, whether Beafts, Birds, Filhes, Worms, Or Infers, uni- verfally and inviolably follow the fame conftant and fix’d Inftitution of Na¬ ture ; all feed on Herbs, or Fruits, or the Flefh of other Animals that fed on them : fince all Generation is perform¬ ed by the impregnating of the Eggs, and the Copulation of Male and Fe¬ male: Why may not the fame Rule be obferved in the Planetary Worlds? For *tis certain that the Herbs and A- nimals that are there would be loft, their whole Species deflroyed without fome daily new Productions : except there be no fuch thing there as Mis¬ fortune or Accident : except the Plants are not like other humid Bodies, but can bear Heat, Froft, and Age, with¬ out being dry’d up, kill’d or decay’d : except the Animals have Bodies as hard
and
the Planetary Worlds, 3 1
and durable as Marble; which I think Book u are grofs Abfurdities. If we fhould '-'"V*'"' invent fome new Way for their co¬ ming into the World, and make them drop like Soland Geefe from Trees, how ridiculous would this be to any one that con fiders the vaft Difference between Wood and Flefh? Or fuppofe we fhould have new ones made every Day out of fome fuch fruitful Mud as that of Nile, who does not fee how con¬ trary this is to all that’s reafonable ?
And that ’ds much more agreeable to the Wifdom of God, once for all to create of all forts of Animals, and.di- {tribute them all over the Earth in fuch a wonderful and inconceivable way as he has, than to be continually obliged to new Productions out of the Earth? And what miferable, what help- lefs Creatures muft thefe be, when there’s no one that by his Duty will be obliged, or by that ftrange natural fondnefs, which God has wifely made a neceflary Argument for all Animals to take care of their own, will be moved to aflift, nurfe or educate them ?
C j As
3a
Book i. As for what I have faid concerning
^/Y\J their Propagation, I cannot be fo po fitive ; but the other Thing, namely., that they have Plants and Animals, I think I have fully proved, viz. from hence, that otherwife they would be inferiour to our Earth. And by the fame Argument, they mu ft have as great a Variety of both as we have. What this is, will be beft known to him that confiders the different Ways our Animals make ufe of in moving from one Place to another. Which may be reduc’d, I think, to thefe ; either that they walk upon two Feet or Four ; or like Infers, upon Six5 nay fometimes Hundreds ; or that they fly in the Air bearing up, and wonderfully fleering themfelves with their Wings; or creep upon the Ground without Feet ; or by a violent Spring in their Bodies, or paddling with their Feet, cut them¬ felves a Way in the Waters. I don’t believe, nor can I conceive, that there fhould be any other Way than thefe mentioned. The Animals then in the Planets muft make ufe of one or more of thefe, like our amphibious Birds,
which
Conjectures concerning
the Planetary Worlds. 3 3
which can fwim in Water as well as Booki. walk on Land, or fly in the Air } or like our Crocodiles and Sea-Horfes, mu ft be Mongrels, between Land and Water. There can no other Method be imagined but one of thefe. For where is it pofiible for Animals to live, except upon fuch a folid Body as our Earth, or a fluid one like the Water, or Hill a more fluid one than that, fuch as our Air is? The Air 1 confefs may be much thicker and heavier than ours, and fo, without any Difadvantage to its Tranfparency, be fitter for the vo¬ latile Animals. There may alio be ma¬ ny forts of Fluids ranged over one ano¬ ther in Rows as it were. The Sea per¬ haps may have fuch a fluid lying on it, which tho’ ten times lighter than Wa¬ ter, may be a hundred Times heavier than Air^ whofe utmoft Extent may not be fo large as to cover the higher Places of their Earth* But there’s no Reafon to fufpeft or allow them this, fince we have no fuch Thing } and if we did, it would be of no Advantage to them, for that the former Ways of moving would not be hereby at all in-
C 4 creas’d :
54 Conjectures concerning
Booki. creas’d : But when we come to med- die with the Shape of thefe Creatures, and confider the incredible Variety that is even in thofe of the different parts of this Earth, and that America has fome which are no where eife to be found, I muff then confefs that I think it beyond the Force of Imagination to arrive at any knowledge in theMatter? or reach to Probability concerning the Figures of thefe Planetary Animals. Altho* confidering thefe Ways of Mo¬ tion we e’en now recounted, they may perhaps be no more different from ours than ours (thofe of ours I mean that are moft unlike) are from one another.
If a Man were admitted to a Sur¬ vey of Jupiter or Venus , be would no doubt find as great a Number and Va¬ riety as he had at home. Let us then, that we may make as near a Guefs at, and as reafonable a Judgment of the Matter as we can, confider the many Sorts, and the admirable Difference in „ the Shapes of our own Animals : run- rutytfA- Ding over fome or the Chief of them nimais in (for ’twould be tedious to fet about a thtsEarth. genera] Catalogue) that are notori-
oufly
1
the Planetary Worlds. gy
oufly different from one another, either Book i. in the Figure or fome peculiar Property belonging to them ; as they belong to the Land, or the Water, or the Air. A- mong the Beafts we may take notice of the great Diftance between the Horfe, the Elephant, the Lion, the Stag, the Camel, the Hog, the Ape, the Porcupine, the Tortoife, the Came* leon : in the Water, of that between the Whale, and the Sea-Calf, the Skait,
: thePike, the Eel, the Ink-Fifh, thePour- : contrel, the Crocodile, the Flying-fifh, theCramp-fifh, the Crab, the Oifter, and the Purple-Fifh : and amongBirds, i of that between the Eagle, the OftriCh,
I the Peacock, the Swan, the Owl, and i theBat : and in Infefts, of that between the Ants, the Spider, the Fly, and the Butterfly *5 and of that Prodigy in their wonderful change from Worms. In this Roll I have pafs’d by the creeping Kind as one Sort, and skip’d over that vafl: Multitude of lefs different Ani¬ mals that fill the intermediate Spaces.
But be they never fo many, there is no reafon to think that the Planets cannot Any n& match them. For tho1 we in vain guefs ufi in th*
Planets .
3<S
Book i.
The fame in Plants .
Conje£fures concerning
at the Figures of thofe Creatures, yet we have difcover’d fomewhat of their manner of Life in general j and of their Senfes we (hall fpeak more by and by.
The more confiderable Differences in our Plants ought to be thought on, as well as the other. As in Trees, that between the Fir and the Oak, the Palm, the Vine, the Fig, and the Co¬ co-Nut Tree, and that in the Indies, from whofe Boughs new Roots fpring, j and grow downwards into the Earth, jj In Herbs, the Difference is notable be¬ tween Grafs, Poppy, Colewort, Ivy, Pompions, and the Indian Fig with thick Leaves growing up without any Stalk, and Aloe. Between every one of which again there are many iefs differing Plants not taken notice of. Then the different Ways of railing i them are remarkable, whether from 1 Seeds, or Kernels, or Roots, or by ' grafting or inoculating them. And I yet in all thefe, whether we confider ‘ the Things themfelves, or the Ways of their Produffion, I make no doubt but that the Planetary Worlds have as wonderful a Variety as we.
But
. the Planetary Worlds, 3 7
But (till the main and moft agreea- Booki. ble Point of the Enquiry is behind, which is the placing forne Spectators An-tmais in thefe new Difcoveries, to enjoy inthePU- thefe Creatures we have planted them nets- with, and to admire their Beauty and Variety. And among all, that have never fo {lightly meddled with thefe Matters, 1 don’t find any that have fcrupied to allow them their Inhabi¬ tants : not Men perhaps like ours, but fome Creatures or other endued with Reafon. For all this Furniture and Beauty the Planets are flock’d with feem to have been made in vain, with¬ out any Delign or End, unlefs there were feme in them that might at the lame time enjoy the Fruits, and adore the wife Creator of them. But this alone would be no prevaling Argu¬ ment with me to allow them fuch Creatures. For what if we Ihouid lay, that God made them for no other De- fign, but that he himfelf might fee (not as we do ’tis true ^ but that he that made the Eye fees, who can doubt ?) and delight himfelf in the
Contemplation of them? For was not
Man
Conjectures concerning
Book i. Man himfelf, and all that the whole c/VV World contains, made upon this very ! account ? Thac which makes me of this Opinion, that thofe Worlds are not without fuch a Creature endued with Reafon, is, that otherwife our Earth would have too much the Advantage of them, in being the only part of the Univerfe that could boaft of fuch a Creature fo far above, not only Plants and Trees, but all Animals whatfoe- ver : a Creature that has fomething Divine in him, that knows, and un- derftands, and remembers fuch an in* numerable number of Things ; that deliberates, weighs and judges of the Truth: A Creature upon whofe Ac¬ count, and for whofe Ufe, whatsoever the Earth brings forth feems to be pro¬ vided. For every Thing here he con- 1 verts to his own Ends. With the Trees, Stones, and Metals, he builds himfelf Houfes : the Birds and Fi (lies he fuftains himfelf with : and the Wa¬ ter and Winds he makes fubfervient to his Navigation ^ as he doth the fweet Smell and glorious Colours of the Flow* * ers to his Delight. What can there be
the Planetary Worlds. 39
in the Planets that can make np for its Booki, .Defects in the want of fo noble an A- : nimai ? If we fhould allow Jupiter a greater Variety of other Creatures,
I more Trees, Herbs and Metals, all thefe would not advantage or dignify that Planet fo much as that one Ani¬ mal doth ours by the admirable Pro¬ ductions of his penetrating Wit. If I -am miitaken in this, I do not know when to truft my Reafon, and muffc allow my felf to be but a poor judge in the true Eftimate of Things.
Nor let any one fay here, that there’s vices of fo much Villany and Wickednefs in f™d™nce Man that we have thus magnified , to their be - that it’s a reafonable Doubt, whether ™gtorthe0f he would not be fo far from being the the Planet Glory and Ornament of the Planet they.tin~, that enjoys his Company, that heJi*^- would be rather its Shame and Dif- grace. For firft, the Vices that moft Men are tainted with, are no hin¬ drance, but that thofe that follow the Didates of true Reafon, and obey the Rules of a rigid Virtue, are ftill a Beauty and Ornament to the Place that has the Happinefs to harbour them.
BefideSj
(
40 Conjectures concerning
Book i. Befides, the Vices of Men themfelveg ^Ware of excellent Ule, and are not per¬ mitted and allowed in the World with- • out wife Defign, For fince it has fdi pleafed God to order the Earth, and every Thing in it as we fee it is (for it's abfurd to fay it happen’d againft: his Will or Knowledge) we muft not think that fo great a Diverfity of Minds; were placed in different Men to no End or Purpofe : but that this mixture off bad Men with Good, and the Come-- quents of fuch a Mixture, as Misfor¬ tunes, Wars, Afflictions, Poverty, and! the like, were permitted for this very good End, viz, the exercifing our: Wits, and fharpening our Inventions ; by forcing us to provide for our owm neceflary Defence againft our Enemies0 ’Tis to the Fear of Poverty and Mifery that we are beholden for all our Arts and for that natural Knowledge which was the ProduQ: of laborious Induftry and which makes us that we cannot: but admire the Power and Wifdom of the Creator, which otherwife we; might have patted by with the fames indifference as Beafts* And if Mem
were
)
the Planetary Worlds. 41
< were to lead their whole Lives in an Booki. 1 undifturbed continual Peace, in no fear vTV c of Poverty, no danger of War, I 5 doubt they would live little better d than Brutes, without all knowledge 3 or enjoyment of thofe Advantages 1 that make our Lives pafs on with Plea- l fure and Profit. We fhould want the r wonderful Art of Writing, if its great r Ufe and neceffity in Commerce and War had not forced out the Invention.
' ’Tis to thefe we owe our Art of Sail- t ing, our Art of Sowing, and moft of thofe Difcoveries of which we are Ma¬ tters ; and almoft all the Secrets in experimental Knowledge. So that thofe very Things on account of which the Faculty of Reafon feems to have been accufed, are no fmall helps -to its Advancement and Perfection. For thofe Virtues themfelves, Fortitude and Conftancy, would be of no ufe if there were no Dangers, no Adver- fity, no Afflictions for their Exercife and Trial.
If we fhould therefore imagine in the Planets fome fuch reafonable Crea¬ ture as Man is, adorn’d with the fame
Vir-
42, Conjectures
Book i. Virtues, and liable to the fame Vice s, it would be fo far from degrading or vilifying them, that while they want fuch a one, I muft think them infe¬ rior to our Earth.
rm/o» But if we allow thefe Planetary In- diff/reZ* habitants fome fort of Reafon, muft it from needs, may fome fay, be the fame with what’th ours? Certainly it mufti whether we confider it as applied to Juft ice and Morality, or exercifed in the Princi¬ ples and Foundations of Science. For Reafon with us is that Which gives us a true Senfe of Juftice and Hdnefty, Praife, Kindnefs and Gratitude : ’tis That that teaches us to diftinguifh uni- verfally between Good arid Bad ; and renders us capable of Knowledge and . Experience in it. And can there be : i any where any other Sort of Reafon ! than this ? or can what We call juft J and generous, in Jupiter or Mars be thought unjuft Villany ? This is not i at all, I don’t fay probable, but pofft- I ble. For the Aim and Defign of the \ Creator is every where the Preferva- * tion and Safety of his Creatures. Now f when fuch Reafon as we are Matters m
of, I
the Planetary Worlds, 43
of, is neceffary for the prefervation of Book 1. Life, and promoting of Society (a thing -/yv that they are not without, as we fhall fhow) would it not be ftrange that the Planetary Inhabitants fhbuld have fuch a perverfe Sort of Reafon given them, as would neceflarily deftroy and con- ' found what it was defigri’d to maintain and defend ? But allowing Morality and Pa (lions with thofe diftant Inha¬ bitants to be fomewhat different from ours, and fupppfing they may act by other Principles in what belongs to Friend fh ip and Anger, Hatred, Ho- nefty, Modefty, and Comehnefq yet ftill there would be no doubt, but that in the Search after Truth, in judging of the Confequences of Things, in Reafon ing, particularly in that Sort which belongs to Magnitude or Quan- I tity, about which their Geometry (if they have fuch a Thing) is employ’d, there would be no doubt, I fay, but 3 that their Reafon here muft be exa£t- ! ly the fame, and go the fame Way to ( work with ours, and that what’s true I in one part will hold true over the i whole Univerfe ; fo that all the diffe-
D fence
44
concerning
Conjectures
Book i. rence muft lie in the Degrees of Know¬ ledge, which will be proportional to the Genius and Capacity of the Inha¬ bitants,
They have gut \ perceive I arii got fomewhat
mjes. t00 £ar < Let us er)qujre a Ifttie
concerning the bodily Senfes of thefe Planetary Perfons ; for without fuch, neither will Life be any Pleafure to them, nor Reafon of any Ufe. And I think it very probable, that all their Animals, as well their Beafts as ratio¬ nal Creatures, are like ours in all that relates to the Senfes : For without the Power of Seeing we fhould find it im- poffiblefor Animals to provide Food for themfelves, or be fore-warn’d of any approaching Danger, fo as to guard themfelves from it. So that where-ever we plant any Animals, except we wou’d have them lead the Life of Worms or Moles, we muft allow them Sight:, than which nothing can conduce more ei¬ ther to the Prefervation or Pleafure of i their Lives, Then if we confider the :
Tight*
I
wonderful Nature of Light, and the
amazing Artifice in the fit framing the Eye for the Reception of it, we cannot
but
::
the Planetary Worlds. 45-
but fee that Bodies fo vaftly remote Book i. could not be perceived by us in their ^VXI proper Figures and juft Diftances, any other way than by Sight. For this 1 Senfe, and all others that we know of, i muft proceed from an external Motion.
Which in the lenfe of Seeing muft come either from the Sun, the fix’d Stars, or Fire : whofe Particles being put into a very quick Motion, communicate it to the Celeftial Matter about, whence his convey’d in a very fhort time to themoft diftant parts, juft like Sound through the Air. If it were not for this Motion of the intermediate JEthe- rial Matter, we fhould be all in Dark- [ nefs, and have Sight neither of Sun nor t Stars, nor any thing elfe, for all other . Light muft come to us by Reflection from them. This Motion perceived I by the Eyes is called Light® And the : nice Curiofity of this Perception is ad¬ mirable, in that it is caufed by the fmalleft Particles of the luminous Bo* dy brought to us by that fine Matter* which at the fame time determine the Coaft from whence the Motion comes; i and in that all thefe different Roads of
D 2 Motion*
4 6
s concerning
Booki. Motion, thefe Waves crofting and in- terferirig with one another, are yet no hindrance to every one’s free Paffage. All thefe Things are fo wifely, fo won¬ derfully contrived, that it’s above the Power of humane Wit, to invent or frame any thing like them •, nay, it is very difficult fo much as to imagine and comprehend them. For what can be more amazing, than that one fmall Part of the Body fhould be lb devifed and framed, as by its means to fhow us; the Shape, the Pofition, the Diitance,, and all the Motions, nay, and all the: Colours, of a Body that is far remote: from us, that it may appear the more: diftmft ? And then the artful Com-i pofition of the Eye, drawing anexacF picture of the Obje£ts without it, upo the concave Side of the Choroides, i even above all Admiration, nor is ther any Thing in which God has mor plainly manifefted his excellent Geo metry. And thefe Things are not only | contriv’d and fram’d with fo great Wif- i dom and Skill,asnotto admit of better,! but to any one that confiders them at- ii tentively, they feem to be of fuch a Na- |
tur«ii
the Planetary Worlds. 47
tare as not to allow any other Method. Book?* For it’s impofiible that Light flhould re- prefent Objefts to us at fo vaft a di- ftance, except by fuch an intervening Motion j and it’s as impoffible that any other Compofition of the Eye fhould be equally fitted to the Reception of fuch Imprelfions. So that I cannot but think them greatly miftaken, that maintain thele Things might have been contri¬ ved many other Ways. It’s likely then, and credible, that in thefe Things the Planets have an exatl correfpondence with us, and that their Animals have the fame Organs, and ufe the fame way of Sight that we do. They mud have Eyes therefore, and two at leaft we muft grant them, otherwife they would not perceive thofe Things clofe to them, nor hardly be able to walk about with Safe¬ ty. And if we muft allow them to all Animals for the Prefervation of their Life, how much more muft they that make more, and more noble Ufes of them, not be deprived of the Bleffing of fo advantageous Members ? For by them we view the various Flowers, and the elegant Features of Beauty ; with
D j them
4$ Conjectures concerning
Book i c them we read, we write, we contem- plate the Heavens and Stars, and mea- fare their Difhnces, Magnitudes, and Journeys : which how far they are common to the Inhabitants of thofe Worlds with us, I fhall prefently ex¬ amine. But firft I fhall enquire whe¬ ther now we have given them one, we ought alfo to give them the other
Hearing, four Senfes. And indeed as to Hear¬ ing many Arguments perfwade me to give it a Share in the Animals of thofe new Worlds* For \is of great confe- quence in defending us from fudden. Accidents , and, especially when See-* ing is of no ufe to us, it fupplies its; Place, and gives us feafonabie warn-' ing of any imminent Danger, Befides, we fee many Animals call their Fel~: low to them with their Voice, which1 Language may have more in it tham we are aware of, tho’ we don't under- ftand it. But if we do but confider the. vaft Ufes and necefifary Occafions of Speaking on the one fide, and Hearing on the other, among thofeCreatures that make ufe of their Reafon, it willfcarce feem credible that two fuch ufeful, fuch
ex:
the Planetary Worlds, 4 9
excellent Things were defigned only Booki; for us. For how is it poffible but that they that are without thefe, muft be without many other Neceflaries and Conveniences of Life? Or what can they have to recompenfe this Want?
Then, if we go ftill farther, and do but meditate upon the neat and frugal Contrivance of Nature in making the fame Air, by the drawing in of which we live, by whole Motion we fail, and by whofe Means Birds fly, for a Conveyance of Sound to our Ears ; and this Sound for the Conveyance of ano¬ ther Man’s Thoughts to our Minds :
Can we ever imagine that fhe has left thofe other Worlds deftkute of fo vaft Advantages? That they don’t want a Medium the Means of them is certain, for their t0 €onvey having Clouds in Jupiter puts it paft IITeJL doubt that they have Air too; that being moftly formed of the Particles of Water flying about, as the Clouds are of them gathered into fmall Drops. And another Proof of it is, the neceffity of breathing for the prefervation of life, a Thing that feems to be as univerfal a Dictate of Nature, as feeding upon the Fruits of the Earth. D 4 As
5 o Conjectures concerning
Book i. As for Feeling, it feems to be given upon neceffity to all Creatures that are Toiich' cover’d with a fine and fenfible Skin3 as a Caution againft coming too near thofe Things that may injure or in¬ commode them: and without it they would be liable to continual Wounds, Blows and BruifeSc Nature feems to have been fo fenfible of this, that Die has not left the leaft place free from fuch a Perception. Therefore iPs pro¬ bable that the Inhabitants of thole Worlds are not without fo neceffary a Defence, and fo fit a Prefervative a- gainft Dangers and Mifhaps. smell and ■ And who is there that doth not feu the inevitable neceffity for all Crea¬ tures that live by feeding to have both Tafteand Smell, that they may diftin- guifti thofe Things that are good and nourilliing, from thofe that are mif- chievous and harmful? If therefore we allow the Planetary Creatures to ieed upon Herbs, Seeds, or Flefh, wq mu ft allow them Tafte and Smell, that they may chufe or refute any Thing according as they find it likely to be advantageous or noxious to them.
1 ~ I know
the Planetary Worlds. 3 1
I know that it hath been a Queftion Booki. with many, whether there might not have been more Senfes than thefe five.
If we fhould allow this, it might m- Their Sen- verthelefs be reafonably doubted, whe-£“ ther the Senfes of the Planetary Inha -rent from bitants are much different from ours/m*
I mull confefs, I cannot deny but there might poffibly have been more Senfes 5 but when I confider the Ufes of thofe we have9 I cannot think but they would have been fuperfluous.
The Eye was made to difcern near and remote Obje£ts, the Ear to give us notice of what our Eyes could not, either in the Dark or behind our Back :
Then what neither the Eye nor the Ear could, the Nofe was made (which in Dogs is wonderfully nice) to warn us of. And if any thing efcapes the no¬ tice of the other four Senfes, we have Feeling to inform us of the too near Approaches of it before it can do us any mifchiefo Thus has Nature fo plenti¬ fully, fo perfedly provided for the ne- ceffary prefervation of her Creatures here, that I think fhe can give no¬ thing more to thofe there, but what
Conjectures concerning
Book i. will be needlefs and fuperfluous. Yet the Senfes were not wholly defigned for ufe : but Men from ail, and all other Animals from feme of them, reap Pleafure as well as Profit, as from the Tafte in delicious Meats ; from the Smell in Flowers and Perfumes; from the Sight in the Contemplation of beauteous Shapes and Colours ; from the Hearing in theSweetnefs and Har¬ mony of Sounds; from the Feeling in Copulation, unlefs you pleafe to count that for a particular Senfe by it felf. They w Since it is thus, i think kis but reafo- $ leaf ure nable to allow the Inhabitants of the V^the Plants thefe fame Advantages that we senfe*. have from them. For upon this Confi- deration only, how much happier and eafier a Man’s Life is rendred by the enjoyment of them, we muft be ob~ i iiged to grant them thefe Bleffings, 1 except we would engrofs every thing that is good to our felves, as if we were worthier and more deferving than any elfe. But moreover, that Pleafure which we perceive in Eating or in Copulation, feems to be a neceffa- ry and provident Command of Na¬ ture,
I
the Planetary Worlds. f 5
ture, whereby it tacitly compels m to Booki. the prefervation and continuance of our Life and Kind. It is the fame in Beads. So that both for their Happi- nefs and Prefervation it’s very proba¬ ble the reft of the Planets are not with¬ out it. Certainly when I confider all thefe Things, how great, noble, and ufeful they are when I confider what an admirable Providence it is that there’s fuch a Thing as Pleafure in the World, I can’t but think that our Earth, the fmalleft part almoft of the Univerfe, was never defign’d to mo¬ nopolize fo great a Blefling. And thus much for thofe Pleafures which afteft our bodily Senfes, but have little or no relation to our Reafon and Mind.
But there are other Pleafures which Men enjoy, which their Soul only and Reafon can relifh : Some airy and brisk, others grave and folid, and yet neverthelefs Pleafures, as arifing from the Satisfaction which we feel in Knowledge and Inventions, and Searches after Truth, of which whe¬ ther the Planetary Inhabitants are not partakers, we fhall have an opportuni¬ ty of enquiring by and by® There
14U the Planets fa&veFire,
jzj. Conjectures concerning
Book i. There are fome other things to be C/Y\) confider’d firft, in which it’s probable they have fome relation to us* That the Planets have thole Elements of Earth, Air and Water, as well as we, 1 have already made not unlikely* Let us now fee whether they may not have Fire alfo : which is not fo properly call’d an Element, as a very quick Motion of the Particles in the inflama- ble Body. But be it what it will, there are many Arguments for their not being without it. For this Earth is not fo truly call’d the Place of Fire as the Sun : and as by the Heat of that all Plants and Animals here thrive and live ; fo, no doubt, it is in the other Planets. Since then Fire is caufed by a moft intenfe and vigorous Heat, it follows that the Planets, efpecially thole nearer the Fountain of it, have their proportionate degrees of Heat and Fire. And fince there are fo ma¬ ny ways of its Production, as by the collection of the Rays of the Sun, by the reflection of Mirrors, by the lin¬ king of Flint and Steel, by the rub¬ bing of Wood, by the clofe loading of
moift
the Planetary Worlds , 5 5
ttioift Grafs, by Lightning, by the Booki. eruptions of Mountains and Volcanos, it’s ftrange if neither Art fhould have produced it, nor Nature effected it there by one of thefe many means.
Then how ufeful and neceifary is it to us ? By it we drive away Cold, and fupply the want of the Sun in thofe Countries where his oblique Rays make a lefs vigorous Impreffion, and fo keep a great part of the Earth from being an uninhabited Defart : which is equally neceffary in all the Planets, whether we allow them Succeffion of i Seafons, ora perpetual Spring and cE~ quinox : for even then the Countries near the Pole would receive but little Advantage from the Heat of the Sun,
By the help of this we turn the Night into Day, and thereby make a confi- derable addition to the fhortnefs of our Lives. Upon all thefe Accounts we ought not to think this Earth of ours enjoy jt all alone, and exclude all the other Planets from fo advantage¬ ous and fo profitable a Gift.
But perhaps it may be asked as well concerning Brutes as rational Crea¬ tures,
5 6 Conjectures concerning
Bookstores, and or their Plants and Trees too, whether they are proportionably The big - larger or lefs than ours. For if the ntfelf Magnitude of the Planets was to be the creatures Standard of their meafure, there would r "it be Animals in Jupiter ten or fifteen
ly guefl at . , - l
by the times larger than Elephants, and as nefs of the much longer than our W hales, and aMU' then their Men mull be all Giants in refpeft to us. Now tho7 I don’t fee any fo great Abfurdity in this as to make it impofiibie, yet there isnorea- fon to think it is really fo, feeing Na¬ ture has not always ty3d her felf to thofe Rules which we have thought more convenient for her: For exam* pie, the Magnitude of the Planets is not anfwerable to their diftances from the Sun :> but Mars^ tho7 more remote* is far lefs than Venus : and Jupiter turns round his Axis in ten Hours, when the Earth which is much lefs than him, 1 pends 24. But fince Na¬ ture, perhaps fome will fay, has not obferved fuch a Regularity in the pro¬ portion of Things, for ought we know there may be only a Race of Pygmies 1 about the Bignefs of Frogs and Mice,
pot
the Planetary Worlds. 57
fefs’d of the Planets. But I {hall (how Book f 9
that this is very improbable by and
by.
There may arife another (^ueftion, whether there be in the Planets but nets are one fort of rational Creatures, or iffoTts of there be not feveral forts poffefled of rational different degrees of Reafon and Senfe.^^TL There isfomething not unlike this to here. be obferved among us. For to pafs by thofe who have human Shape (altho1 fome of them would very well bear that Enquiry too) if we do but confider fome forts of Beafts, as the Dog, the Ape, the Beaver, the Elephant, nay fome Birds and Bees, what Senfe and Underhand- ing they are matters of, we {hall be forced to allow, that Man is not the only rational Animal. For we difco- ver fomewhat in them of Reafon in¬ dependent on, and prior to all Teach¬ ing and Practice.
But hill no Body can doubt, but that the Underftanding and Reafon j ofMan is to be preferred to theirs, as I being comprehenfive of innumerable ' Things, indued with an infinite memo- j ry of what’s paft, and capable of pro¬ viding
5$ Conjectures concerning
Book i. viding againft what’s to come. Tha t there is feme fuch Species of rational Creatures in the other Planets, which, is the Head and Sovereign of the reft, is very reafonable to believe : for o- therwife, were many Species endued with the fame Wifdom and Cunning* we fliould have them always doing Mifchief, always quarrelling and fight¬ ing one with another for Empire and Sovereignty, a Thing that we feel too much of where we have but one fuch Species. But to let that pafs, our next Enquiry fhall be concerning thofe Ani¬ mals in the Planets which are furnifh- ed with the greateft Reafon, whether it’s poffible to know wherein they em* ploy it, and whether they have made as great Advances in Arts and Know¬ ledge as we in our Planet. Which de- ferves moffc to be confidered and ex- t amined of any thing belonging to their Nature and for the better Perform¬ ance of it we mult take our Rife fome- what higher, and nicely view the Lives and Studies of Men.
And in thofe things wherein Men provide and take care only of what’s
the Planetary Worlds, $9
abfolutely neceffary for the prefervati-Booksu on of their Life ; in defending them- v/YV felves from the Injuries of the Air ; in fecuring themfelves againd the Incur- fions of Enemies by Walls; and a* gainft Fraud and Didurbances by Laws ; in educating their Children, and providing for themfelves and them : In all thefe I can fee no great reafon that Man has to hoaft of the Pre-eminency of his Reafon above Beads and other Animals. For mod ' of thefe Things they perform with greater Eafe and Art than we, and fome of them they have no need of For that Senfe of Virtue and Juftice in which Man excels, of Friendfhip, Gratitude and Honedy, of what ufe are they, but either to put a flop to the Wickednefs of Man, or to fecure us from mutual Affaults and Injuries,
Things wherein the Beads want no Guide but Nature and Inclination ;?
Then if we fet before our Eyes tlie manifold Cares, the Didurbances of Mind, the redlefs Defires, the dread of Death, that are the refult of this Our Reafon *5 and compare them with
E that
6o
Book i. that eafy, quiet, and harmlefs Life which other Animals enjoy, we fhould be apt to wifh a Change, and conclude that they, efpecially Birds, lived with more Pleafure and Happinefs than Man could with all his Wifdom. For they have as great a Relifh of bodily Pleafures as we, let the new Philofo- phers fay what they will, who would have them to be nothing but Clocks and Engines of Flefh; a Thing which Beafts fo plainly confute by crying and running away from a Stick, and all other Actions, that I wonder how any one could fubfcribe to fo abfurdi and cruel an Opinion, Nay, I can, fcarce doubt but that Birds feel no* Email Pleafure in their eafy, frnooth. failing through the Air • and would [i much more if they but knew the Ad-1 vantages it hath above our flow and! Menchief- laborious Progreffion. What is it:
then after all that fets human Reafom Beafts m above all other, and makes us prefera-j tht study 5je to the reft of the Animal World?! ij a ^isjothing in my Mind fo much as the Contemplation of the Works of God; and the Study of Nature, and the im¬ proving!
Conjectures concerning
the Planetary Worlds „ 6 1
proving thofe Sciences which may Booki , bring us to fome knowledge in their w<VVJ Beauty and Variety. For without Knowledge what would be Content
Iplation ? And what difference is there between a Man, who with a carelefs fupine Negligence views the Beauty s and Ufe of the Sun, and the fine gol¬ den Furniture of the Heaven, and one i who with a learned Nicenefs fearches i into their Coorfes *5 who understands ? wherein the Fix’d Stars, as they are ] call’d, differ from the Planets, and f what is the Reafon of the regular Vi- | ciffitude of the Seafons j who by found Reafoning can meafure the Magnitude and Diftance of the Sun and Planets ? i Or between fuch a one as admires per¬ haps the nimble Activity and ft range Motions of fome Animals, and one that knows their whole Structure, un¬ derftands the whole Fabrick and Ar¬ chitecture of their Compofition } If therefore the Principle we before laid down be true, that the other Planets are not inferiour in Dignity to ours, what follows but that they haveCrea- They havi tures not to ftare and wonder at the f{*rono*
E 2 Works y'
Conjectures concerning
Book i. Works of Nature only, but who em- ploy their Reafon in the Examination andKnowledge ofthem,and have made as great Advances therein as we have ? They do not only view the Stars, but they improve the Science of Aftrono- my : nor is there any thing can make us think this improbable, but that fond Conceitednefs of every Thing that we call our own,and that Pride that is too natural to us to be eafily laid down. But I know feme will fay. We are a little too bold in thefe Ailertions of the Planets, and that we mounted hi¬ ther by many Probabilities, one of which, if it chance to be falfe, and contrary to our Suppofition, would, like a bad Foundation, ruin the whole Building, and make it fall to the « Ground. But I would have them to < know, that all I have faid of their Knowledge in Aftronomy, has Proofs enough, antecedent to thofe we now produced. For fuppoling the Earth,, as we did, one of the Planets of equal! Dignity and Honour with the reft,, who would venture to fay, that no i where elfe were to be found any that:
the Planetary W irids. 6 $
; enjoy’d the glorious Sight of Nature’s Booki* Theatre ? Or if there were any Fellow- : Spectators, yet we were the only ones : that had dived deep into the Secrets ; and Knowledge of it? So that here’s a ! Proof not fo far fetch’d for the Aftro* i nomy of the Planets, the fame which * we ufed for their having rational Crea- l tures, and enjoying the other Advan- i cages we before talk’d of; which ferves ; at the fame time for the Confirmation of our former Conjectures. But if Amazement and Fear at the Eclipfes of the Moon and Sun gave the firft oc~
: cafion to the Study of Aftronomy, as probably they did, then it's almoft im~
I poffible that Jupiter and Saturn flhould | be without it; the Argument being of much greater force in them, by rea~ fon of the daily Eclipfes of their Moons, and the frequent ones of the Sun to their Inhabitants. So that if a | Ferfon difmterefted in his judgment*
: and equally ignorant of the Affairs of i all the Planets, were to give his Opi¬ nion in this Matter, I don't doubt he 1' would give the Caufe for Aftronomy : to thofe two Planets rather than us.
E 3 This
6 4
Book i .
W'y'-’W
And all its fubfervi -
Geometry and A- rithme - 2 kk :
And Wri¬ ting*
ConjeBures concerning
This Suppofition of their Knowledge and Ufe of Aftronomy in the Planeta¬ ry Worlds, will afford us many new Conjeftures about their manner of Life, and their State as to other things.
For, Firft : No Obfervations of the Stars that are neceffary to the Know¬ ledge of their Motions, can be made without Inftruments ; nor can thefe be made without Metal, Wood, or fame fuch folid Body. Here’s a ne- ceflity of allowing them the Carpen¬ ters Tools, the Saw, the Ax, the Plane, the Mallet, the File : and the making of thefe requires the Ufe of Iron, or fome equally hard Metah Again, thefe Inftruments can’t be with¬ out a Circle divided into equal Parts, or a ftrait Line into unequal. Here’s a neceffity for introducing Geometry and Arithmetick. Then the Necef¬ fity in fuch Obfervations of marking down the Epochas or Accounts of Time, and of tranfmitting them to Pofterity, will force us to grant them the Art of Writing; perhaps very dif¬ ferent from ours which is commonly ufed, but I dare affirm not more inge¬ nious*
the Planetary Worlds*
nious or eafy. For how much more Booki, ready and expeditious is our Way, than by that multitude of Characters ufed inChina j and how vaftly preferable to Knots tied in Cords, or the Pictures in ufe among the barbarous People of Mexico and Peru ? There’s no Nation in the World but has fame way or other of writing or marking down their Thoughts : So that it’s no won¬ der if the Planetary Inhabitants have been taught it by that great Schooi- \ miftrefs Neceflity, and apply it to the Study of Aftronomy and other Scien¬ ces. fn Aftronomical Matters the Ne¬ ceflity of it is moreover apparent from hence, that the Motion of the Stars is as hwere to be fancied and guefs’d at in different Syftems, and thefe Syftems to be continually improved and cor¬ rected, as later and more exaCt Obfer- vations fhall convince the old ones of Faults: all which can never be deli¬ ver’d down tofucceedingGenerationsf unlefs we make ufe of Letters and Figures.
Sut after all thefe large and liberal Allowances to Them, they will ftill
E 4 be
Conjectures concerning
Booki.bebehind-hand with us, For we have fo certain a Knowledge of the true o/ gyftem an(l Frame of the Univerfe^ we have fo admirable an Invention of Telefcopes to help our failing Eye- light in the view of the Bignefs and different Forms of the Planetary Bo¬ dies, in the difcovery of the Moun¬ tains, and the Shadows of them on the Surface of the Moon, in the bringing to light an innumerable multitude of Stars otherwife invifible, that we rauft neceffarily be far their Matters in that Knowledge. Hence it is almoft necef- fary (except we have a Mind to flat¬ ter and complement our felves as the only People that have the Advantage of fuch excellent Inventions) either to allow the Planetary Inhabitants fuch fharp Eyes as not to need them, or elfe the ufeofGlaffes to help the Defi¬ ciency of their Sight, And yet I dare not affert this, left any one fhould be fo difturbed at the Extravagancy of fuch an Opinion, as to take the mea- Cure of my other Con jeftures by it, and hifs them all off, upon the account of this alonea
the Planetary F/orlds. 6 7
But fome Body snay perhaps objeQ:, Booki. and that not without reafon at firft light, that the Planetary Inhabitants it’s encelmt likely are deftitute of all refined Know- contrary ) ledge, juft as the Americans were before ^
1 they had Commerce with the Eurofe-
Ians. For if one confiders the Ignorance of thofe Nations, and of others in Afia and Africa equally barbarous, it will appear as if the main Defign of the Creator in placing Men upon the Earth r was that they might live, and, in a
!juft fenfe of all the Blellings and Plea- fure they enjdy, worfhip the Foun- f tain of their Ha ppinefs; but that fome ; few went beyond the Bounds of Na¬ ture in their Enquiries after Know¬ ledge, There does not want an Am fwer to thefe Men. For God could not but forefee the Advances Men would make, in their enquiring into the Heavenly Bodies : that they would difcover Arts ufeful and advantageous to Life : that they would crofs the Seas* and dig up the Bowels of the Earth, Nothing of all this could happen contra¬ ry to the Mind and Knowledge of the Infinite Author of all Things. And if
68
Booki.he forefaw thefe Things would be9 he fo appointed and cleitin’d them to humane kind. And the Studies of Arts and Sciences cannot be fa id to be con¬ trary to Nature, frnce in the feareh thereof they are employ’d : efpecially if we confider how great the natural de¬ fire and love of Knowledge, rooted in all Men is. For its impartible this fhould have been given them upon no Defign or Account. Bul they will urge, that if fuch a Knowledge is natural, if we were born for it, why are there fo very few, efpecially in Aftronomy, that profecute thefe Stu¬ dies ? For Europe is the only Quarter of the Earth in which there have been any Advancements made in A- ftronomy. And as for the Judicial A- ftrology, which pretends to foretel what is to come, it is fuch a wretched and oftentimes mifehievous piece of Madnefs, that Ido not think it ought to be fo much as named here. And even in Europe, not one in a hundred Thoufand meddles with thefe Studies. Befides, its Original and Rife is fo late, that many Ages were part before
Conjectures concerning
the Planetary Worlds. 6 9
the very firft Rudiments of Aftronomy Booki* or Geometry (which is neceffary to the ^ v ~ learning of it) were known. For eve- ry Body is acquainted aimoft with its firft Beginnings in Egypt and Greece .
Add to this, that his not yet above fourfcore Years frnce the bungling E- picycles were difcarded, and the true and eafy plain Motion of the Planets was difcovered. For the Satisfaction of thefe Scruples, to what we faid before,concerning the Fore-knowledge of God, may be added this ; That God never defigned we fhould come into the World Aftronomers or Philofo- phers thefe Arts are not infufed into us at our Birth, but were or¬ dered, in long Trafts of Time, by degrees to be the Rewards and Re- fult of laborious Diligence ; efpecial- ly thofe Sciences which are now in debate, are fo much the more difficult and abftrufe, that their late Invention and flow Progrefs are fo far from being a Wonder, that it is rather ftrange they were ever difcover’d at all. There are but few, I acknowledge one or two perhaps in an Age, that purfue them,
or
7o Conjectures concerning
Book i. or think them their Bufinefs : but their Number will be very confiderable if we take in tnofe that have lived in all the Ages in which Aftronomy hath flou¬ rished : and no Body can deny them thatHappinefs andContentment which they have pretended to above all others. In fine, it was fufficient that fo fmall a Number fliould make it their Study* fo that the Profit and. Advantage of their Inventions might but fpread it felf over all the World. Since then the Inhabitants of this Earth, let them be never fo few, have had Parts and Genius fufficient for the Attainment of this Knowledge; and there’s no reafon to think the Planetary Inhabitants lefs ingenious or happy than our felves ; we have gain’d our Point, and ;tis probable that they are as skilful Aftronomers as we can pretend to be. So that now we may venture to deduce feme Con' fequences from fuch a Supposition.
We have before fhow’d the neceffa- ry Dependence and Connexion, not only of Geometry and Arithmetick, but of Mechanical Arts and In fl: ru¬ men ts with this Science. This leads
us
«
the Planetary Wi orlds. 7 1
us naturally to the Enquiry how they Book 1. j can ufe thefe Inftruments and Engines for the Obfervation of the Stars, how they can write down fuch their Obfer- vations, and perform other Things which we do with our Hands. So that we muft neceffarily give them ! Hands, or fome other Member, as con- Tfoy havt venient for all thofe Ufes, inftead 0[Han them. One of the ancient Philofophers laid fuch Strefs upon the Ufe and Con- veniency of the Hands, that he made no fcruple to affirm, they were the Caufe and foundation of all our Knowledge. By which, I fuppofe, he meant no more, than that without their Help and Affiftance Men could never arrive to the Improvement of their Minds in natural Knowledge : And indeed not without Reafon. For fup¬ pofe inftead of them they had had Hoofs like Horfes or Bullocks given them, they might have laid indeed the Model and DelignofCitiesand Houfes in their Head, but they would never have been able to have built them.
They would have had no Subje£t of Difcourfe but what belong d to their
Vi-
Conjee:
tunes concerning
Book i. Vi&uals, Marriages, or Self-preferva- tion. They would have been void of ail Knowledge and Memory 5 and in¬ deed would have been but one degree diftant from brute Beads. What could we invent or imagine that could be fo exaftly accommodated to all the de- fign’d U fes as the Hands are ? Elephants can lay hold of, or throw any thing with their Probofcis, can take up even the fmalleft Things from the Ground' and can perform fuch furprifing Things with it, that it has not very improper¬ ly been calPd their Hand, tho’ indeed it is nothing but a Nofe fomewhat lon¬ ger than ordinary. Nor do Birds ihow lefs ArtandDefignintheUle of their Bills in the picking up their Meat, and the wonderful Compofureof their Mefts. But all this is nothing to thofe Conveniences the Hand is fo admirably fuited to ; nothing to that amazing Contrivance in its Capacity of being flretched, or contracted, or turned to any Part as Occafion fihall re- • quire. And then, to pafs by that nice) Senfe that the Ends of the Fingers are; endued with, even to the feeling and
di«
the Planetary iVorlds.
cliftinguifhing moft forts of Bodies inBooki.' the Dark, what Wifdom and Art is^VXi Ihow’d in the Difpofition of theThumb
I and Fingers, fo as to take up or keep fad hold of any Thing we pleafe? Ei¬ ther then the Planetary Inhabitants mull have Hands, or fomewhat equal¬ ly convenient, which it is not eafy to conceive , or elfe we mull: fay that Na¬ ture has been kinder not only to us5but even to Squirrels and Monkeys than them.
That they have Feet alfo fcarce any And Feet* one can doubt, that docs but confider what we faid but juft now of Animals I different Ways of going along, which 1 it’s hard to imagine can be perform’d j any other ways than what we there re- counted. And of all thofe, there’s none can agree fo well with the ftate of the Planetary Inhabitants, as that that we here make ufe of Except (what is not very probable, if they live in So- , ciety, as I fhail ffaow they do) they have found out the Art of flying in , fome of thofe Worlds.
' The Stature and Shape of Men here That thef j does fhow forth the Divine Provi- ar^htfz
dence
i
74
Conjectures concerning
Booki.dence fo much in its being fo fitly adapted to itsdefign’d Ufes, that it is not without reafon that all the Philo- fophers have taken notice of it, nor without Probability that the Planetary Inhabitants have their Eyes and Coun¬ tenance upright, like us, for the more convenient and eafy Contemplation and Obfervations of the Stars. For if the Wifdom of the Creator is foobfer- vable, fo Praife- worthy in the Pofition of the other Members \ in the conveni¬ ent Situation of the Eyes, as Watches in the higher Region of the Body; in the removing of the more uncomely Parts out of light as ’twere j we can¬ not but think he has almoft obfer- ved the fame Method in the Bodies, of thofe remote Inhabitants. Nor it follows does it follow from hence that they not ^f'muft be of the fame Shape with us. 1 they have For there is fuch an infinite poffible the Jame variety of Figures to be imagined, that both the Structure of their whole Bo¬ dies, and every part of them, both out- fide and infide, may be quite different from ours. How warmly and conveni¬ ently are fome Creatures cloath’d withi
WoblJ
Shape with us.
the Planetary Worlds. 7 y
Wool, and how finely are others deck- Book i. ed and adorn’d with Feathers ? Per- ^YNJ haps among the rational Creatures in the Planets there may fome fuch diftin- dtion be obferv’d in their Garb and Co¬ vering a Thing in which Beafts feem to excel Men in here. Unlefs per¬ haps Men are born naked, for this reafon to put them upon employ¬ ing and exercifing their Wits, in the inventing and making that Attire that Nature had made neceffary for them.
And ’tis this Neceffity that has been the greateft, if not only occafion of all the Trade and Commerce, of all the Mechanical Inventions and Difcove- ties that we are Mafters of. Befides*
: Nature might have another great Con- veniency in her Eye, by bringing Men into the World naked, namely, that they might accommodate themfelves* to all places of the World, and go thicker or thinner cloth’d, according as the Seafon and Climate they liv’d in > requir’d. There may ftill be conceiv¬ ed a greater difference between us and the Inhabitants of the Planets ; for I there are fome fort of Animals, fuch
F as
Conjectures concerning
Book i. as Oyfters, Lobfters, and Crab-fifh, whofe Flefh is on the infide of their Bones as ’twere. But that which hin¬ ders me from afcribing fuch a kind of Frame and Composition to the Plane¬ tary Inhabitants, is that Nature feems to have done it only in a few of the meaneft Sort of Creatures, and that hereby they would be deprived of that quick eafy motion of their Hands and Fingers, which is fo ufeful and necef- to them, otherwife I Should not be much affefled with the odd Shape and Figure.
a rational For ’tis a very ridiculous Opinion,, soul may that the common People have got, : hotter “ that his impoffible a rational Soul shape than [ hould dwell in any other Shape than : tHrs' ours. And yet as filly as ’tis, it has! been the occafion of many Philofo- phers allowing the Gods no others Shape ; nay, the Foundation of a Se&i! among the Chriftians, that from hence : have the Name of Jntbropomorphites, This can proceed from nothing bus) the Weaknefs, Ignorance, and Prejuf dice of Men •, the fame as that othe.j concerning humane Shape, that it ill
tin
the Planetary Worlds. 7 7
the handfomeft and mod excellent ofBooki. all others, when indeed it’s nothing | but a being accuftomed to that Figure
!that makes us think fo, and a Conceit that we and all other Animals natu¬ rally have, that no Shape or Colour can be fo good as our own. Yet fo power¬ ful are thefe, that were we to meet with a Creature of a much different ! Shape from Man, with Reafon and Speech, we fhould be much furprifed and fhocked at the Sight. For if we try to imagine or paint a Creature like a Man in every Thing elfe, but that has aNeck four times as long, and great round Eyes five or fix times as big, and farther diftant, we cannot look upon’t without the utmoft Averfion, altho7 at the fame time we can give no ac¬ count of our Difiike,
When I juft now mentioned th erhePiam- Stature of the Planetary Inhabitants,^^
I hinted that ’twas improbable they than w$. fhould be lefs than we are. For it’s likely, that as our Bodies are made in fuch a proportion to our Earth, as to render us capable of tra¬ velling about it, and making Obferva-
F 2 tions
Conjectures concerning
Booki.tions upon its Bulk and Figure, the c/YNJ fame Order is obferv’d in the Inhabi¬ tants of the other Planets, unlefs in this Particular alfo, which is very con- fiderable, we would prefer our felves to all others. Then feeing we have before allowed them Aftronomy and Obfervations, we muft give them Bo¬ dies and Strength fufficient for the ru¬ ling their Inftruments, and the erefting their T ubes and Engines. And for this the larger they are the better. For if we fhould fuppofe them Dwarfs not above the Bignefs of Rats or Mice, they could neither make fucli Obferva- tions as are requifite*, nor fuch Inftru¬ ments as are neceifary to thofe Obfer- vations. Therefore we muft fuppofe them larger than, or at leaft equal to, our felves, efpecially in Jupiter and s Saturn, which are fo vaftly bigger 1 than the Planet which we inhabit.
They live Aftronomy, we faid before, could m society. never fubfift without the writing
down the Obfervations : Nor could the Art of Writing (any more than the Arts of Carpenters and Founders) ever be found out except in a Society
of
the Planetary Worlds. 79
of reafonable Creatures, where theBooki. Neceflities of Life forced them upon In- vention : So that it follows from hence,
(as was before faid) that the Plane¬ tary Inhabitants mud: in this be like us, that they maintain a Society and Fellowship with, and afford mutual Afliftances and Helps to one another. Hereupon we muft allow them a fet¬ tled, not a wandring Scjthian way of i living, as more convenient for Men in Such Circumftances. But what fol¬ lows from hence ? Muft they not have every thing elfe proper for fuch a man- : ner of living granted them too? Muft they not have their Governours,
Houfes, Cities, Trade and Bartering?
1 Why fhould they not, when even the t barbarous People of America and other I Places were at their firft Difcovery ) found to have fomewhat of that na¬ ture in ufe among them, I don’t fay, that Things muft be the fame thereas they are here. We have many that 1 may very well be fpared among ratio* i nal Creatures, and were defign’d only | for the prefervation of Society from all i Injury, and for the curbing of thofe
F 1 Men
So
Book i .Men who make an ill ufe of their Rea- {on to the Detriment of others. Per¬ haps in the Planets they have fuch plen¬ ty and affluence of all good Things, as they neither need or defire to fteal from One another 5 perhaps they may be ib juft and good as to be at perpetual Peace, and never to lie in wait for, or take away the Life of their Neigh¬ bour : perhaps they may not know what Anger or Hatred are \ and if fo9 they muft be much happier than we. But it's more likely they have fuch a mixture ofGood with Baa,of Wife with Fools, of War with Peace, and want not that School miftrefs of Arts Pover- verty. For, as was before fhown, feme good ufe may be made of thefe things, but if not, there is no Reafon why we fhould prefer their Condition ! to our own.
They enjoy What I am now going to fay may i feom fomewhat more bold, and yet is society, not lefs likely than the former. For if thefe Nations in the Planets live in Society, as I have pretty well fhow’d they do, bis fomewhat more than pro¬ bable that they enjoy not only the
Profit, ,
Conjectures concerning
the Planet ary Worlds. 81
i
I
t
Profit, but the Plea fares arifing from Booki. Society: fuch as Converfation, A- mours, Jetting, and Shews, Other- wife we fhould make them live with¬ out Diverfion or Merriment ; we fhould deprive them of the great Sweetnefs of Life, w hich it can’t well be without, and give our felves fuch an Advantage over them as Reafon will by no means admit of.
Rut to proceed to a farther Enquiry into their Bufinefs and Employment, let’s confider what we have not yet mention’d, wherein they may bear any Likenefs to us. And firft we have good Reafon ro believe they build themfelves Houles, becaufe we are fare they are not without their Showers.
For in Jupiter have been obferved Clouds, big no doubt with Vapours and Water, which hath been proved by many other Arguments, not to be wanting in that Planet. They have Rain then, for otherwife how could all the Vapours drawn up by the Heat of the Sun bedilpofed of? And Winds, for they are caufed only by Vapours diffolved by Heat, and it’s
F 4 plain
8 ^ Conjectures concerning
Book i. plain that they blow in Jupiter by the continual Motion and Variety of the Str Cloud5 about him. To proted them-
Huts, or live in Holes of the Earth. But why may we notfuppofe the Pla¬ netary Inhabitants to be as good Ar¬ chitects, have as noble Houfes, and as ftately Palaces as our felves ? Unlefs we think that every Thing which belongs to our felves is the moll beautiful and perfed that can he. And who are we, but a few that live in a little Corner of the World, upon a Ball ten Thoufand times lefs than Jupiter or Saturn ? And yet we muft be the only skilful People at Building j and all others muft be our Inferiours in the Knowledge of uniform Symetry ! and not be ab!e to raife Towers and Pyramids as high, magnificent, and beautiful, as our felves. For my part,
I fee no reafon why they may not be as great Matters as we are, and have the Ufe of all thofe Arts fubfervient to it, as Stone'Cutting and Brick- ma-
king.
fecure 'em lelves trom taeie, ana tnat tney may ma~P^s their Nights in Quiet and Safety, they muft build themfelves Tents or
the Planetary Worlds. 83
king, and whatfoever elfe is neceffary Booki. for it, as Iron, Lead and Glafs ; or or- namental to it, as Gilding and Pidure*
If their Globe is divided like ours, into Sea and Land, as it’s evident it is (elfe whence could all thofe Va¬ pours in Jupiter- proceed ?) we have great Reafon to allow them the Art of Navigation, and not vainly ingrofs fo great, fo ufeful a Thing to our felves. Especially confidering the great Ad van¬ tages Jupiter and Saturn have for Sail¬ ing, in having fo many Moons to di- red their Cotrrfe, by whofe Guidance they may attain eafily to the Know¬ ledge that we are not Matters of, of the Longitude of Places. And what a Mul¬ titude of other Things follow from this Allowance? If they have Ships, they mutt have Sails and Anchors,
Ropes, Pullies, and Rudders, which are of particular Ufe in direding a Ship’s Courfe againft the Wind, and in fail¬ ing different Ways with the fame Gale.
And perhaps they may not be without the Ufe of the Compafs too, for the magnetical Matter, which continually paffes thro’ the Pores of our Earth*
8 4 Conjectures concerning
Book i. is of fuch a Nature, that it5s very pro- bable the Planets have fomething like xavigati- it. But there’s no doubt but that they on, and an muft have the Mechanical Arts and firvkmT Aftrdnomy, without which Naviga¬ tion can no more fubfift, than they can without Geometry.
But Geometry (lands in no need of being prov’d after this manner. Nor doth it want Adi fiance from other Arts which depend upon it, but we may have a nearer and fhorter A durance of their not being without it in thofe Earths. For that Science is of fuch An¬ gular Worth and Dignity, fo peculiarly irUploys the Underftanding, and gives it fuch a full Gomprehenfion and infal¬ lible certainty of Truth, as no other Knowledge can pretend to : it is more¬ over of fuch a Nature, that its Princi¬ ples and Foundations muft be fo im- ! mutably the fame in all Times and Places, that we cannot without In- juftice pretend to monopolize it, and rob the reft of the Univerfe of fuch an incomparable Study. Nay Nature it fclf invites us to be Geome¬ tricians, it prefents us with Geo¬ metrical
’As Geo¬ metry.
the Planetary Worlds. 8 5
metrical Figures, with Circles andBooki. Squares, with Triangles, Polygones, and Spheres, and propofes them as it were to our Confideration and Study, which abftradting from its Ufeful- nefs, is moll delightful and ravifhing,.
Who can read Euclid 5 or Apollonius^ about the Circle, without Admiration?
Or Archimedes of the Surface of the Sphere, and Quadrature of theParabo- la without Amazement ? or confider the late ingenious Difcoveries of the Moderns with Boldnefs and Uncon- cernednefs ? And all thefe Truths are as naked and open, and depend upon the fame plain Principles and Axioms in Jupiter and Saturn as here, which makes it not improbable that there are in the Planets feme who partake with us in thefe delightful and pleafant Stu¬ dies. But what’s the greateft Argu¬ ment with me, that there are fuch, is their Ufe, I had almolt faid Neceflity, in mod Affairs of humane Life, Now we are got thus far, what if we fhould venture fomewhat farther, and fay, that they have our Inventions of the Tables of Sines, of Logarithms, and
Algebra ?
$6 Conjectures concerning
Book i. Algebra ? I know it would found ve~ w^nrw ry odd, and perhaps a little ridiculous, and yet there’s no reafon but the think¬ ing our felves better than all the World, to hinder them from being as happy in their Difcoveries, and as ingenious in their Inventions as we our felves are,
They have It’s the fame with Mufick as with MujieL Qeometry? it’s every where immutably
the fame, and always will be fo. For all Harmony confifts in Concord, and Concord is all the World over fix’d ac¬ cording to the fame invariable Meafure and Proportion. So that in all Nations the Difference and Diftance of Notes is the fame, whether they be in a con¬ tinued grad ual Progreffion,or the V oice makes skips over one to the next. Nay very credible Authors report, that there’s a fort of Bird in America , that can plainly fing in order fix mufical Notes : Whence it follows, that the Laws of Mufick are unchangeably fix’d by Nature, and therefore the fame Reafon holds for their Mufick, as we e’en now fhewed for their Ge¬ ometry. For why, fuppofing other
the Planetary Worlds.
Nations and Creatures, endued withBooki. Reafon and Senfe as well as we, fhould not they reap the Pleafures arifing from thefe Senfes as well as we too? I don’t know w hat Effect this Argument, from the immutable Nature of thefe Arts, may have upon the Minds of others; I think it no inconfiderable or contemptible one, but of as great Strength as that which I made uie of above to prove that the Planetary In¬ habitants had the Senfe of Seeing.
But if they take delight in Harmo¬ ny, there is no doubt but that they have invented Mufical Inftruments.
For they could fcarce help lighting upon fome or other by chance ; the Sound of a tight String, the Noife of the Winds, or the whittling of Reeds, might have given them the hint*
From thefe fmall Beginnings they perhaps, as well as we, have advan¬ ced by degrees to the Ufe of the Lute^
Harp, Flute, and many ftring’d In¬ ftruments. But altho’ the Tones are certain and determinate, yet we find among different Nations a quite diffe¬ rent manner and rule for Singing as
Cmjdfures concerning
Book i. formerly among the Dorians 7 Phrygi* wW ans, and Lydians, and in our Time among the French , Italians , and jtoi. In like manner it may fo hap¬ pen, that the Mufick of the Inhabi¬ tants of the Planets may widely differ from all thefe, and yet be very good* But why we fhould look upon their Mufick to be worfe than ours, there’s no reafon can be given ; neither can we well prefume that they want the Ufeof Half-Notes and Quarter-Notes* feeing the Invention of Half Notes is fo obvious, and the Ufe of them fo asree- able to Nature, Nay, to go a Step far- * ther, what if they fhould excel us in the : Theory and praTick part of Mufick, . and outdo us in Conforts of vocal and I inftrumental Mufick, fo artificially compos’d, that they fhew their Skill by ; theMixtures of Difcords and Concords? . ! and of this laft fort ’tis very likely the I 5 th and 3d are in ufe with them.
This is a very bold Affertion, but it | may be true for ought we know, and |:l the Inhabitants of the Planets may pof- * fibly have a greater infight into the Theory of Mufick than has yet been 1
dif 5
the Planetary Worlds. 8 g
difcover’d among us. For if you ask Book j» any of our Muficians, why two or more perfeft Fifths cannot be uied regularly in Compofition *5 tome fay his to avoid that Sweetnefs and Lufhioufnefs which arifes from the Repetition of this plea* fing Chord. Others fay, this mull be avoided for the fake of that Variety of Chords that are requifite to make a good Compofition and thefe Reafons are brought by Cartes and others. But an Inhabitant of Jupiter or Venus will perhaps give you a better Reafon for this, viz. becaufe when you pafs from one perfeft Fifth to another, there is fuch a Change made as immediately alters your Key, you are got into a new Key before the Ear is prepared for it, and the more perfect Chords you ufe ofthe fame kind in Confecu- lion, by fo much the more you offend the Ear by thefe abrupt Changes.
Again, one of thefe Inhabitants per¬ haps can fhow how it comes a bout, that in a Song of one or more Farts, the Key cannot be kept fo well in the fame a- greeable Tenour, unlefs the intermedi¬ ate Clofcs and Intervals be fo temper’d,
as
9 o Conjectures concerning
Booki.as tovary from their ufual Proports- v<v^ ons, and thereby to bear a little this way or that, in order to regulate the Scale. And why this Temperature is beft in the Sy ftem of the Strings, when out of the Fifth the fourth Part of a Comma is ufually cut off ^ This fame thing I have formerly fhe w’d at large.
But tor the regulating the Tone of the Voice (as I before hinted) that may admit of a more eafy proof, and we fhall give you an Effay of it, fince I have mentioned a thing that is not mere I- magination only : I fay therefore, if any Perfon ftrike thofe Sounds which the Muficiansdiftinguifh by thefe Let¬ ters, C, F, D,G,C, by thefe agreeable Intervals, altogether perfed, inter¬ changeable, afcending and descending with the Voice : Now this latter found C will be one Comma, or very fmall j portion lower than the firft founding of C. Becaufe of thefe perfed Intervals, which are as 4 to 3, $ to 6, 4 to 3,
2 to 3, an account is made in fuch a Proportion, as 160 to 162. that is, as 80 to 81, which is what they call a Comma. So that if the fame Sound
fliould
the Planetary Worlds . 9 i
filould be repeated nine times, theBooki* Voice would fall near the Matter a greater Tone, whofe proportion is as 8 to 9. But this the Senfeof the Ears by no means endures, but remembers the firft Tone, and returns to it again. Therefore we are compelfd to ule an i occult Temperament, and to fmg thefe t imperfeft Intervals, from doing which I lefs Offence arifes. And for the moft [ part, all Singing wants this Tempera- ; ment, as may be collefted by the afore*
!: faid Computations. And thefe things we have offer’d to thofe that have iome Knowledge in Geometry.
We have (poke of thefe Arts and Inventions, which it is very probable 1 the Inhabitants of the Planets partake of in common with us, befides which it feems requifite to take in many other Things that ferve either for the Ufe or Pleafure of their Lives. But what thefe Things are we fhall the better ac¬ count for, by laying before us many of thofe Things which are found among us. I have before mention’d the Varie¬ ty of Animals and Vegetables, which very much differ from each other,
G among;
9 a Conjectures concerning
Book i. among which there are fome that dif- fer but little ; and I have faid, that there are no lefs differences in thefe Things in the Planetary Worlds.
I ihall now take a fhort view of the Benefits we receive both from thofe Herbs and Animals, and fee whether we may not with very good reafon con¬ clude that the Planetary Inhabitants reap as great and as many from thofe that their Countries afford them.
And here it may be worth our while to take a Review of the Variety and Multitude of our Riches. For Trees i and Herbs do not only ferve us for Food, they in their delicious Fruits, thefe in their Seeds, Leaves and Roots • but Herbs moreover furnifh us with Phy fick, and Trees with Timber for our Houfes and Ships. Flax, by the means of thofe two ufeful Arts of \ Spinning and Weaving, affords us ! Clothing. Of Hemp or Matweed ;l we twift our felves Thread and fmall j Ropes, the former of which we em¬ ploy in Sails and Nets, the latter in making larger Ropes for Mails and l Anchors. With the fweet Smells and 1
beau-
the Planetary Worlds * 9 3
beauteous Colours of Flowers we feaft Books© our Senfes : and even thofe of them that offend our Noftrils, or are mif- vantages chievous to our Bodies, are feldom reaP . without excellent Ufes : or were mad Q^ndAnP perhaps by Nature as a Foil to fet off, and make us the more value the Good by comparing them with thefe. What k vaft Advantages and Profit do we reap from the Animals? The Sheep give us Clothing, and the Cows afford us Milk: and both of them their FJeih for our Suftenance. ' Affes, Camels, and Horfes do, what if we wanted them we muff do our felves, carry our Burdens ; and the laft of them we make ufe of, either themfelves to car¬ ry us, or in our Coaches to draw us*
In which we have lb excellent, fo ufe- ful an Invention of Wheels, that I can’t fuppofe the Planets to enjoy Soci¬ ety and all its Confequences, and be without them. Whether they are Py¬ thagoreans there, or feed upon Fleffi as we do, I dare not affirm any Thing*
Tho’ it fee ms to be allowed Men to feed upon whatfoever may afford them Norn iffi men t, either on Land, or in
G 2 Wa-
j
9 4 Conjectures concerning
Book i. Water, upon Herbs, and Pomes, Milk, Eggs, Honey, Fifh, and no lefs upon the Flefh of many Birds and Beafts. But it is a furprifing thing! that a ra¬ tional Creature Ihould live upon the Ruin and Deftruftion of fuch a num¬ ber of other his Fellow-Creatures ! And yet it does not feem at all unnatural, fince not only he, but even Lions, Wolves, and other ravenous Beafts, prey upon Flocks of other harmlefs Things, and make mere Fodder of them \ as Eagles do of Pidgeons and Hares ; and large Filh of the helplefs little ones. We have different forts of Dogs for Hunting, and what our own Legs cannot, that their Nofe and Legs can help us to. But the Ufe and Pro¬ fit of Herbs and Animals are not the only Things they are good for, but they raife our Delight and Admiration when we confider their various Forms and Natures, and enquire into all their dif¬ ferent ways of Generation : Things fo infinitely multifarious, and fo delight¬ fully amazing, that the Books of na¬ tural Philofophers are defervedly filled with theirEncomiums. For even in the
very
the Planetary Worlds. py
very Infers, who can but admire the Books, fix-corner’d Cells of the Bees, or the artificial Web of a Spider, or the fine Bag of a Silk- worm, which laft affords us, with the Help of incredible Indu- ftry, even Shiploads of foft delicate Clothing. This is a fhort Summary of tbofe many profitable Advantages the animal and herbal World ferve us with.
But this is not all* The Bowels of the Earth likewife contribute much to Man’s Happinefsi For what Art and Cunning does he employ in finding, in digging, in trying Metals, and in melting, refining, and tempering them ?
What Skill and Nicety in beating, And from drawing or diffolving Gold, fo as with Metals% inconfiderabie Changes to make every Thing he pleafes put on that noble Luftre? Of how many and admirable Ufes is iron? and how ignorant in all Mechanical Knowledge were thofe Nations that were not acquainted with it, fo as to have no other Arms but BowsjClubs^ndSpearSjmadeofWood.
There’s one Thing indeed we have, which it’s a Queftion whether it has
G 3 done
96
Book f. done more harm or good, and that is Gun-powder made of Nitre and Brim- ftone. At firft indeed it feem’d as if we had got a more fecure Defenfe than former Ages againft ail Ailaults, and could eafily guard our Towns, by the wonderful Strength of that Invention, againft ailhoftile Invafions: but now we find it has rather encouraged them, and at the fame time been no fmail Qc- cafion of the Decay of Valour, by ren- tiring it and Strength almoft ufelefs in War. Had the Grecian Emperor who faid, Virtue was ruin'd only when Slings and Rams firft came into ufe, liv’d in our Days, he might well have complain’d ; efpecially of Bombs, a- gainft which neither Art nor Nature is of fufficient Proof : but which lays every Thing, Caftles and Towers, be they never fo ftrong, even with the Ground. If for nothing elfe, yet up¬ on this one account, I think we had better have been without the Difco ve¬ ry. Yet, when we were talking of our Difcoveries, it was not to be pafs’d over, for the Planets too may have their mifchievous as well as ufe- ful Inventions; We
Conjectures concerning
the Planetary Worlds . pj
We are happier in the Ufes forBooki. which the Air and Water ferves us ; both of which helps us in our Navi¬ gation, and furnifhes us with a Strength fufficient, without any Labour of our own, to turn round our Mills and En¬ gines ; Things which are of ufe to us in fo many different Employments, For with them we grind our Corn, and fqueeze out our Oil; with them we cut Wood, and mill Cloth, and with them we beat our Stuff for Paper. An incomparable Invention ! Where the naftieft ufelefs Scraps of Linen are made to produce fine white Sheets.
To thefe we may add the late difcove- ry of Printing, which not only pre- ferves from Death Arts and Know¬ ledge, but makes them much eafier to be attained than before. Nor mu ft we forget the Arts of Engraving and Painting, which from mean Begin¬ nings have improved to that Excel¬ lence, that nothing that ever fprung from the Wit of Man can claim Pre¬ eminence to them. Nor is the way of melting and blowing Glaffes, and of polifhing and fpreading Quick-filver
G 4 over
Conjectures concerning
Book i. over Looking-Glaffes, unworthy of be- ✓W ing mention’d, nor above all, the admi¬ rable ufes that Glaffes have been put to in natural Knowledge, fince the Inven¬ tion of the Telefcope and Microfcope. And no lefs nice and fine is the Art of making Clocks, feme of which are fo final! as to be no weight to the Bear¬ er , and others fo exa£t as to meafure * The ah- out the Time in as fmall Portions as thor Tth any one can defire: the Improvement 'pendulum of both which the World owes to my forelocks Inventions.
Trom the i might add much here of the late difiovenes Difcoveries, moft of them of this A ge tJ' ^ which have been made in all forts of Natural Knowledge as well as in Geo- merry and Aftronomy, as of the Weight and Spring of the Air, of the Chymical Experiments that have fhown us a way of making Liquors that fhall fhine in the Dark, and with gentle moving .fhall burn ofthemfelves. 1 might mention the Circulation of the Blood through the Veins and Arteries, which was underftood in¬ deed before $ but now, by the help of the Microfcope, has an ocular de¬ mon-
the Planetary Worlds. pp
monftration in the Tails of fomeBooki. Fillies : of the Generation of Animals, which now is found to be perform’d no other wife than by the Seed of one of the fame kind ; and that in the Seed of the Male are difcover’d, by the help of Glaffes, Millions of fpright- ly little Animals, which it’s probable are the very Offspring of the Animals themfelves : a furprifing thing, and never before now known 1
Thus have I put together all The pl*- the fe late Difcoveries of our Earth and now, tho’ perhaps fome of them thefefame , may be common to the Planetary In habitants with us, yet that they fhould venlions, , have all of them is not credible. But then they may have fomewhat to make up that Defeft, others as good and as ufeful, and as wonderful, that we want.
We have allow’d that they may have rational Creatures among them, and Geometricians, and Muficians: We have prov’d that they live in Societies, have Hands and Feet, are guarded with Houfes and Walls : Wherefore if a Man could be carried thither by fome powerful Genius, fome Mercury, l don’t
doubt
too Conjectures concerning
Booki. doubt ’t would be a very curious fight,
V'Vv* curious beyond all Imagination, to fee \i the odd ways, and the unufual manner jj of their fetting about any thing, and their ftrange methods of living. But fince there’s no hopes of our going fuch a Journey, we muft be content- 1 ed with what’s in our Power : we may fuppofe our felves there, and in¬ quire as far as we can into the Aftro- nomy of each Planet, and fee in what manner the Heavens prefent them- felves to their Inhabitants. We fhall make fome Obfervations of the Emi¬ nence of each of them, in refpeQ: of their Magnitude, and number of Moons they have to wait on them j and fhall propofe a new Method of coming to fome Knowledge of the in¬ credible diftance of the fix’d Stars. But firft after this long and deep Thoughtfulnefs we will give our felves a little Reft, and fo put an end to this Book.
New
101
the Planetary Wi orlds.
M . Book 2."
eel JSiezo Conjectures concerning the
Planetary Worlds.
j|
BOOK the Second,
v WAS a pretty many Years JL ago that I chanc’d to light ; upon Athanaftus KjrcheAs Book, call’d j Toe Ecflatkk Journey , .which treats of the nature of the Stars, and of the Things that are to be found in the Su- | perficies of the Planets: I wondered to I fee nothing there of what I had often I thought not improbable, but quite « other Things, nothing but a Heap of idle unreafonable Stuff : which I was the more confirm’d in, when, after the writing of the former part,I ran over the Book again. And I thought mine were very confiderable and weighty Mat¬ ters if compar’d with/Or^r’s. That other People may be fatisfied in this, and fee how vainly thofe, who caft off the only Foundations of Probability in fuch Matters, which we have all the way made ufe of, pretend to philofo-
phize
102 Conjectures concerning
Book 2. phize in this cafe, f think it will not . be befide the Purpofe to beftow fome. few Refleftions upon that Book.
KirdierV That ingenious Man fuppofmg him-
EcflZyVx^ carried by fome Angel thro’ the, vaft Spaces of Heaven, and round the: Stars, tells us, he faw a great many? things, fome of which he had out of the Books of Aftronomers, the reft are the Product of his own Fancy and 1 houghts. But, before he enters up¬ on his Journey, he lays down thefe two Things as certain j that no Motion, muft be allowed the Earth, and that: God has made nothing in the Planets, no not fo much as Herbs, which has either Life or Senfe in it. Leaving then the Syftem of Copernicus, he chu- - fes Tycho for his Guide. But when lie iuppofes all the fix’d Stars to be i Suns, and round each of them places 1 their Planets, here (againft his Will I iuppofe) he has unawares made an in¬ finite number of Copernican Syftems. All which, befide their own Motion, he abfurdly makes to be carried, with an incredible fwiftnefs, in twenty four Hours round the Earth. Since nioft
oi
the Planetary Worlds. io|
idf thefe Worlds are out of the Reach Book:iJ lof any Man’s fight, as he owns they ijare, I cannot think for what purpofe :he makes fo many Suns to fhine upon idefolate Lands (like our Earth in every thing, he fays, only that they have nei¬ ther Plants nor Animals) where there’s ) no one to w horn they fhould give light. jAnd from hence he ftill falls into more land more Abfurdities. And becaufe > he could find no other ufe of the Pla~ inets, even in ourSyftem, he is forc’d ::to beg Help of the Aftrologers \ and [would have all thole vaft Bodies made [ upon no other account than that the [whole , Univerfe might be prelerved l and continue fee u re by their means* land that they might govern the Mind ; of Man by their various and regular i Influences. Accordingly, to gratify ( Aftrology, he fays that Venus was the imoll pleafant Place, every thing fine and handfome, its Light gentle, its ) Waters fweet and purling, and it felf ibefet all about with fhining Chryftals.
In Jupiter he found whole feme and 'fweet Gales, delicate Waters, and a i Land fhining like Silver. For from
thefe
io4 Conjectures
Book2.thefe two Planets it feems, Men have
^V’Vall that is happy and healthful poured down upon them ; and all that renders them handfome and lovely, wife and! grave, is owing to their Influences. Mercury had I don’t know what Airi- nefs and Brisknefs in it ^ whence Mem derive, when they are firft born, all their Wit and Cunning. Mars was nor¬ thing but infernal, flunking, blacki Flames and Smoke : and Saturn was all . melancholy, dreadful, nafty , and dark : for thefe are the Planets (I don’t know why, but all Fortune-tellers hate them} that bring all the Plagues and Mifchiefssli that we feel upon us, and would exer- cife their Spite ftiil more, unlefs they/ were fometimes mitigated and correct¬ ed by the benign and kind Influences of the other Planets. All this and fuchi like Stuff his Genius teaches him.j Which he makes give a ferious An- fwer to this idle Queftion, Whether a jew or Heathen could be duly and rightly baptized in the Waters of Ve* mis ? Of him too he learns that the Heaven of the fix’d Stars is not made; of folid Matter, but of a thin fluid, .
where-
the Planetary Worlds. ioy
wherein an innumerable company of Book 2. Stars and Sans lie floating here and there, not chain’d down to any Place, j (thus far he’s in the right) and defcri- bing in the Space of a Day thefe pro¬ digious Circles round the Earth. He 1 forgets here, if there werefuch a Mo*
I tion,with what an incredible fwiftnefs t they would fly off from every part of : their Orbits. But I fbppofe the In- ! telligences that he has plac’d in them are to take care of that, thofe Angels that prefide over, and' regulate their Motions. And in that he follows a company of Doftors that harbour’d that idle fancy o {Ariftotle upon no Ac¬ count or Confideration. But Coperni¬ cus has freed thofe Intelligences of all that Labour and Trouble, only by bringing in the Motion of the Earth : which, if upon no other Account, eve¬ ry one that is not blind purpofcly, muft own to be neceffary upon this. 1 dare fay Kjrcher , if he had dar’d freely to fpeak his Mind, could have afforded us better fort of Things than thefe.
But when he could not have that li¬ berty, I think he might as well have
io<5 Conjectures concerning
Book2.1et the whole Matter alone. But e- nough of this j let’s have have done with this famous Author : And now that we have ventur’d to place Specta¬ tors in the Planets, let us examine each of them, and fee what their Years, Days, and Aftronomy are.
TheSyftem To begin with the innermoft and
6lauil<l~ neareft the Sun : We know that Mer-
Mercury. cury is three times nearer that vaft Bo¬ dy of Light than we are. Whence it follows that they fee him three times bigger, and feel him nine times hotter than we do. Such a degree of Heat would be intolerable to us, and fet a- fire all our dry’d Herbs, our Hay and Straw that we ufe. And yet there is no doubt but that the Animals there, are made of fuch a Temper, as to be but moderately warm, and the Plants fuch as to be able to endure the Heat. The Inhabitants of Mercury , it’s likely, have the fame opinion of us that we have of Saturn , that we mull be intol- lerably cold, and have little or no Light, we are fo far from the Sun. There’s rea- fon to doubt, whether the Inhabitants of Mercury, tho’ they live fo much near¬ er
the Planetary Worlds. 107
'
jj fer the Sun, the Fountain of Life and Vi- Book 2. jj gour, are much more airy and ingeni- > ous than we. For if we may guefs at them by what we fee here, we {hall not be obliged to grant it The Inha¬ bitants of Africa and Brafil , that have got for their Share the hotteft Places in the Earth, being neither fo wife nor lb induftrious as thofe chat belong to colder and more temperate Climates j they have fcarce any Arts orKnowledge among them ; and thofe of them that live upon the very Shore, understand little or no Navigation. Nor can I be willing to make all that vaft number that mud inhabit thofe two large Pla¬ nets, Jupiter and Saturn^ and have luch noble Attendance, mere dull Block¬ heads, or without as much Wit as our Selves, tho’ they are fofar more diftant from the Sun. The Aftronomy of thofe that live in Mercury , and the appear¬ ance of the Planets to them, oppofite at certain times to the Sun, may be eafily conceived by the Scheme of the Cofern ican Syftem in the former Part. At the times of thefe Oppofiti- ons Venus and the Earth rauft needs
H ap*
io8
Book2. appear very bright and large to them., i/YV For if Venus fhines fo glorioufly to us, when file is new and horned, fhe mud; neceflarily in oppofitioh to the Sun,, when fhe is fill], be at leaft fix or fe- ven times larger, and a great deall nearer to the Inhabitants of Mercury,, and afford them Light fo ftrong and! bright, that they have no reafon too complain of their want of a Mooflv, What the Length of their Days are, or' whether they have different Sealonsi in the Year, is not yet difcovered, be¬ cause we have not yet been able to ob- ferve whether his Axis have any incli¬ nation to his Orbit, or what Time be; fpends in his diurnal Revolution about: his own Axis. And yet feeing Marsy the Earth, Jupiter and Saturn , have;, certainly fuch Succeffions, there’s no* reafon to doubt but that he has his 1 Days and Nights as well as they. But his Year is fcarce the fourth part fo >; long as ours.
The Inhabitants of Venus have much the fame Face of Things as thofe in Mercury 9 only they never fee him in oppofition to the Sun, which is occa-
fioned
Conjectures concerning
the Planetary Worlds. i o p
fioned by his never removing above Book 2.' 38 degrees, or thereabouts, from it, ts~v~sj The Sun appears to them larger by half in his Diameter, and above twice in his Circumference, than to us : and by confequence affords them but twice as much Light and Heat, fo that they are nearer our Temperature than Mercury. Their Year is com- pleated in feven and a half of our Months, fn the Night our Earthj when ’tis on the other fide of the Sun from Venus , mull needs feem much larger and lighter to Venus than fhe doth ever to us ; and then they may eafily fee, if their Eyes be not weaker than ours, our conftant Attendant the Moon. 1 have often wonder’d that when I have view’d Venus when Hie is neareil to the Earth, and refembled an Half-moon, juft beginning to have fomething like Horns, through a Te- lefcope of 4 5 or 60 Foot long, fhe al¬ ways appeared to me all over equally lucid, that I can’t fay I obferved fo much as one Spot in her, tho’ in Jupi¬ ter and Mars, which feem much iefs to us, they are very plainly perceiv’d.
H 2 For
1 1 6 Conjectures concerning
Book 2. For if Venus had any fuch Thing as Sea; 3
wyw and Land, the former muft neceffarily fliow much more obfcure than the: I other, as anyone may fatisfy himfelf, ! that from a very high Mountain will but look down upon our Earth. If thought that perhaps the too brisk; Light of Venus might be theoccafioni of this equal appearance ; but when I ufed an Eye-glafs that wasfmok’d for the Purpofe,it was ftill the fameThing. What then, has Venus no Sea, or do the Waters there refletf the Light more than ours do, or their Land lefs ? Or rather (which is mod probable in my Opinion) is not all that Light we fee reflected from an Atmofphere fur¬ rounding Venus, which being thicker and more folid than that in Mars or Jupiter, hinders our feeing any thing of the Globe it felf, and is at the fame r time capable of fending back the Rays that it receives from the Sun } For it is certain that if we looked on the Earth from the outfide of the At¬ mofphere, we fhould not perceive fuch a difference as we do from a Mountain j but by reafon of the inter-
pofed
Ill
the Planetary Worlds.
pofed Atmofphere, we fhould obferve Books, very little Difparity between Sea and Land. ’Tisthe fame Thing that hin¬ ders us from feeing the Spots in the Moon as plain in the Day as in the Night, becaufe the Vapours that fur- round the Earth being then enlightned by the Rays of the Sun, are an Impe¬ diment to our Profpeft.
But Mars , as I faid before, has fome m um . Parts of him darker than other fome*
By the conftant Returns of which his Nights and Days have been found to be of about the fame length with ours.
But the Inhabitants have no perceiva¬ ble Difference between Summer and Winter, the Axis of that Planet having very little or no Inclination to his Orbits as has been difcover’d by the Motion of his Spots. Our Earth muff appear to them a! mo ft as Venus doth to us, and by the Help of a Telelcope will be found to have its Wane, Increafe, and Full, like the Moon : and never to re¬ move from the Sun above 48 Degrees^ by whofe Difcovery they fee it, as well as Mercury and Venus , fometimes pafs over the Sun’s Disk. They as feldom fee
H 5 Venus
1 1 % Conjectures concerning
Books. Venus as we do Mercury. 1 am apt to UYV believe, that the Land in Mars is of a blacker Colour than that of Jupiter or the Moon, which is the reafon of his appearing of a Copper Colour, and his reflecting a weaker Light than is pro¬ portionable to his distance from the Sun. His Body, as I obferved before, the’ farther from the Sun, is lefs than Venus. Nor has he any Moon to wait upon him, and in that, as well as Mer¬ cury and Venus , he mult be acknow¬ ledged inferiour to the Earth. His Light and Heat is twice, and feme- times three times lefs than ours, to which 1 fuppofe the Conftitution of Ills Inhabitants is anfwerable.
Jupiter If our Earth can claim pre-eminence
the fore- mention'd Planets, for ha- m'tnent o/v ing a Moon to attend upon it, (for \ tbePia- jts Magnitude can make but a fmall for %»^dmerence) how much buperiour mult and atten-*Jupiter and Saturn be to thofe three dams. ancj t{je Earth alfo ? For whether we oonfider their Bulk, in which they far exceed all the others, or the Number of Moons that wait upon them, it's very probable that they are the chief* the
P«-
the Planetary Worlds, 1 1 3
primary Planets in our Syftem, in Books, companion with which the other four o'YVJ are nothing, and Icarce worth menti¬ oning. For the eafier Conception of their vaft Difparity, I have thought fit to add a Scheme of our Earth, with the Moon’s Orbit, and the Globe of the Moon itfelf, and the Syftems of Jupiter and Saturn 9 where I haver^. 3; drawn every thing as near the true Proportion as poflible* Jupiter you fee is adorned with four, and Saturn with five Moons, all placed in their re- fpeftive Orbits. The Moons about Ju¬ piter we owe to Galileo, his well known : and any one may imagine he was in no fmall Rapture at the JDifco- very. The outermoft but one, and brighteft of Saturn s Jit chanc'd to be my lot, with a Telefcope not above 1 2 foot long, to have the firft fight of in the Year 1655. The reft we may thank the induftrious Cajjini for, who ufed the Glades of JofCampanus's grinding, firft of 56, and afterwards of 1 36 foot long.
He has often, and particularly in the Year 1672, ftiew’d me the Third and Fifth. The Firft and Second he gave
H 4 me
H4
Conjectures concerning
Books. me notice of by Letters in the Year i3/V'X/ 1684 5 but they are fcarct ever to be feen, and I can’t pofitively fay, I had e- verthat Happinefs; but am as fatisfied that they are there, as if I had , not in the leaft fufpe&ing the Credit of that worthy Man. Nay, I am afraid there are One or Two more ftill behind, and not without reafon. For between the Fourth and Fifth there’s a Diftance not at all proportionable to that between all the others : Here, for ought 1 know, there may be a Sixth; or perhaps there may be another without the Fifth that may yet have efcaped us : for we can never fee the Fifth but in that part of his Orbit, which is towards the Weft : for which we fhall give you a very good reafon.
Perhaps when Saturn comes into the Northern Signs, and is at a good height from the Horizon (for at the writing of this he is at his lowelt) you may happen to make fome new Difcoveries, good Brother, if you would but make ufe of your two Te- lefcopes of 170 and 210 Foot long j the iongelt, and the beft I believe now
the Planetary Worlds .
nf
in the World. For tho’ we have not Book a • yet had an opportunity of obferving the Heavens with them (as well by reafon of their Unweildinefs, as for the Interruption of our Studies by your x4bfence) yet I am fatisfied of their Goodnefs by our trial of them one Night, in reading a Letter at a vaft diftance by the Help of a Light. I cannot but think of thofe times with Pieafure, and of our diverting Labour in poliftiingand preparing fuchGlafles, in inventing nev/ Methods and En¬ gines, and always pulhing forward to itill greater and greater Things® But to return to the Figures, of which there remains fomething further to be faid.
I have there made the Diameter Tkepro- of Jupiter about two third parts of our?°,rt”n°f diftance from the Moon : for the Dia-*** o/™- meterof Jupiter is above twenty times and bigger than that of the Earth ; which ^ tlpis °sP is about a thirtieth part of the Moon’s teffltes, to diftance. The Orbit of the outermoft of Jupiter ’s Satellites is to that of the round the Moon round the Earth, as 8 and } is Earth° to i® And each of thefe Moons, by the Shadow they make upon Jupiter 9
can-
s i 6 Conjectures concerning
Book2. cannot be lefs than our Earth. Their Periods, that I may not omit them, odsof] a- are according to tajjims Account Piter’* thefe, That of the inmoft is one:
MoonSt day, 1 8 hours, 28 minutes, and 36 feconds* The Second (pends 3 days, 13 hours, 13 min. <52 feconds in going round him. The Third 7 days,
3 hours, 59 min. 40 fee. The Fourth 1 6 days, 18 hours, 5 min. 6 fee. The Biftance of the innermoft from Jupiter himfelf is 2 £ of his Diameters. That of the Second is 4 and a half : Of the Third 7 and one fixth part : Of the Fourth 12 and two thirds, of the fame Diameters. The Innermoft of Sa« 'And 5a- turn's Satellites moves round him in 1 ^urn*’ day, 2 1 hours, 18 min. 3 1 fee. The Second in 2 days, 17 hours, 41 rain, s 27 fee. The Third in 4 days, 13 1 hours, 47 min. 16 fee. The Fourth in 15 days, 22 hours, 41 min. 11 fee. The Fifth 11179 days, 7 hours, 53 min. 57 fee. Their Diftances from the Cen¬ ter of Saturn are, that of the firft al- moft one, that is 39 fortieth parts of the Diameter of his Ring ; that of the fecondone and a quarter of thofe Dia¬ meters j
the Planetary Worlds <
1 17
meters ; of the third one and three Book 2 « quarters of them , of the fourth four, or according to my Calculation, but 3 and a half*, of the 5th 12, which were found with vaft Pains and La¬ bour.
Now can any one look upon, and compare thefe Syftems together, with¬ out being amazed at the vaft Magni¬ tude and noble Attendance of thefe two Planets, in refpect of this little Earth of ours? Or can they force themfelves to think, that the wife Creator has difpofed of all his Ani¬ mals and Plants here, has furnifh'd and adorn’d this Spot only, and has left all thefe Worlds bare and deftitute of In¬ habitants, who might adore and wor- fhip him ; or that all thofe prodigious Bodies were made only to twinkle to, and be ftudied by fome few per¬ haps of us poor Mortals ?
I do not doubt but there will be This pro- fome who will think we are very much miftaken about the Magnitude cording to of thefe Planets. For will you pretend «*»»»<*»•» to make them who are taken up in ad- tbm™a~ miring the Largenefs of this Globe,
its
1 1 § Conjectures concerning
Books. its multitude of Nations, Cities, and Empires *, can you pretend I fay to make them ever believe that there are Places in companion of which the Earth is as inconfiderable as this Fi¬ gure would make it ? But they ought to be informed, that thefe Proportions are thofe which the be ft Aftronomers of this Age have agreed upon. For if the Earth be diftant from the Sun ten or eleven thoufand of its own Diame¬ ters, according to the Accounts of Mon- fieur Cajftni in France , and Mr. Flam - fted in England, wherein they made ufe of very exaft Obfervations of the Parallaxes of Mars; or if, according to a very probable Conjefture of mine, it be diftant twelve thoufand, then the Magnitudes of the other Orbs will ve-
The appa¬ rent mag¬ nitude of the Sun in Jupiter, and a way of finding what Light they there m-
jey*
vy near anfwer the Proportions here fettled.
But to return to Jupiter* The Sun appears to them who are upon it five times lefs than to us, and confequent- ly they have but the five and twen* tieth part of the Light and Heat that we receive from it. But that Light is not fo weak as we imagine, as is
plain
the Planetary Worlds. s 19
plain by the Brightnefs of that Planet Books, in the Night; and alfo from hence, that when the Sun is fo far eclipfed to us, as that only the 25th part of his Disk remains uncovered, he is not fenfibly darken’d. But if you have a mind exa£Hy to know the Quantity of Light that Jupiter enjoys, you may take a Tube of what Length you pleafe. Let one end of it be clofed \yith a Plate of Brafs, or any fuch thing, in the mid¬ dle of which there mult be a Hole, whofe Breadth muft have the fame proportion to the length of the Tube, as the Chord of 6 Minutes bears to the Radius 5 that is, about as one is to 570*
Let the Tube be turned fo to the Sun, that no Light may fall upon a white Paper placed at the End of it, but what comes through the little Hole at the other end of the Tube. The Rays that comes through this will reprefent the Sun upon the Paper of the fame Brightnefs that the Inhabitants of Jupiter fee it in a clear Day* And if removing the Paper you place your Eye in the fame Place, you will fee the Sun of the fame Magnitude and
Bright-
i
©
120
ConjeBures concerning
Book2.Brightnefs as you would were you in Jupzter.
And in If you make the Hole twice as little
Saturn. breadth, you will fee the fame in Saturn, And altho5 his Light be but the hundredth part of ours, yet you fee it makes him fhine tolerably bright in a dark Night. But in both thefe Planets, if there ever be any cloudy Days, it mult be very dark in compa- rifon of us ; yet without doubt the Inhabitants have no more reafon to complain of the want of Light, than our Owls and Batts, to whom the Twilight or the Night itfelf is more agreeable than the Brightnefs of the Day.
in Jupiter But iris a little ftrange, that when
their days js f0 much bigger than our Pla-
&T6 fl'ZJG L C'O
Hours . net, their Days and Nights fhould be
but five of our Hours. By this we may fee that Nature lias not obferv’d that proportion that their Bulk fee ms to require, feeing in Mars the Days are very little different from ours. But in the length of their Years, that is, in the Revolution of the Planets round the Sun, there is an exa£t proportion to
their
the Planetary Worlds. t it
heir diftances from the Sun followed. Books,’ For as the Cubes of their Diftances, fo '^V>! are the Squares of their Revolutions, as Kjpier firft found out. Which pro¬ portion the Moons of Jupiter and Sa- turn keep in their Courfes round thofe Planets. As the Years and Days in Always &f Jupiter are different from ours in this the refpe£t, fo are the Days in another; len& * namely, that they are all of the fame length. For they there enjoy a perpe¬ tual Equinox, their Axis having little or no inclination to their Orbit, as the Earth’s has, as has been difcovered by Telefcopes. The Countries that lie near their Poles have little or no Heat^ by reafon the Rays of the Sun fall fo obliquely upon them ; but then they are freed from the Inconveniency that ours are troubled with, of tedious long half-year Nights, and have the con* ftant returns of Day and Night every five Hours- Indeed fuch fhort Days would not be agreeable to us, but we think our felves much better done by, that ours are more than twice as long, tho’ upon no other account, but that whatever is our own, we are apt to imagine, muff be belt. The
tii
Books. The reft of the Planets are fo near %^V"Wthe Sun ( Mars himfelf never being above iS degrees from it) that in Ju¬ piter they have the fight only of Sa¬ turn e But we cannot deny but that their four Moons ftand them in greater (lead than our one doth us, if Were only that they feldOm know any fuch Thing as to be without Moonfhiny Nights. And they are of great Advan¬ tage to them, as we faid before, in their Navigation, if they have any fuch thing. Not to mention the plea- fant Sights of their frequent Conjun¬ ctions and Eclipfes, Things that they are feldom a Day without.
Saturn enjoys all thofe Pleafures and Advantages in a {till higher Degree, as well for his five Moons, as for the de¬ lightful ProfpeCt that the Ring about him affords his Inhabitants Night and Day. But we will give an account of their Aftronomy, as we have done of the reft of the Planets.
They fee And firft of all we fhall obferve the fix'd what we might have remark’d before, ITwJda, but which will be more ft range here, that the fix’d Stars appear to them of
the
Conjectures concerning
. s
the Planetary Worlds. i % ■$
the fame Figure and Magnitude* and Books; with the fame degree of Light that they do to us : and this, by reafon of their immenfe diftance, of which we {hall have occafion to fpeak by and by. In comparifon with which the Space that a Bullet-fhot out of a Gannon could travel in 2.5 Years* wouid be almoft nothing.
Their Aftronomers have all the fame Signs of the Bear, the Lion* O- rion, and the reft, but not turning up¬ on the fame Axis with us : for that’s different in all the Planets*
•v* •
As Jupiter can fee no Planet but Sa¬ turn, fo Saturn knows of no Planet but Jupiter ; which appears to him much as Venus doth to us, never re¬ moving above 37 Degrees from the 1 Sun. The Length of their Days I can- ; not determine : But if from the Di- : ftance and Period of his innermoft At¬ tendant, and comparing it with the innermoft of Jupiter' s, a Man may venture to give a Guefs, they are very little different from Jupiter's, 10 Hours or fomewhat lefs. But whereas in Jupiter thefe are equally divided be-
I tween
f*4
Book2.
v/VV
Conjectures concerning
tween Light and Darknefs, the Inha¬ bitants of Saturn muft perceive a more fenfible difference than we, efpecially between Summer and Winter. For our Axis inclines to the Plane of the Eclip- tick but 2 3 degrees and a half but there’s above 31: Upon this Account his Moons muft decline very much from the Path that the Sun feems to move in, and his Inhabitants can never have j a full Moon but juft at the Equinoxes * Two of which fall out in 30 of our Years* 5Tis this Pofition of the Axis j too that is the Caufe of thofe delight¬ ful Appearances, and wonderful Prof- pefts that its Inhabitants enjoy : For the better underftanding of which I lhall draw a Figure of Saturn with his Ring about him : in which the Proportion between the Diameters of the Globe and Ring is as 9 to 4. And 1 the empty Space between them is of the fame Breadth with the Ring itfelf. J All Oblervationsconfpire to prove that 1 That is of no great Thicknefs, altho’ if ii we fhould allow it fix hundred Ger - • wan Miles, I think, confidering its Diameter, we fihould not overdo the Matter* Sur »
/
' v&v.*
■ ■
v.'.y • • •>
■ ’ •; * * '
■. v-' •. v
• • ' ■'
tv. -., ■•■vy V
i',: :
* '*r
■5’
V
Saturn us
. ' A
X
^/\iruL
Worlds.
Suppofe then, agreeable to what has Books." been faid, the Globe of Saturn , whofe Poles are A, B. GN is the F^' 4m Diameter of the Ring, as you view it Tideways, reprefenting a narrow O- val. Thofe that live about the Poles within the Arches CAD, E B F, each of which are 54 Degrees, (if the Cold will fuffer any Body to live there) never have a Sight of the Ring.
From all other parts it is continually to rhe be feen for fourteen Years and nine^j^C Months, which is juft half their Year, in Saturn. The other Half it is hid from their View. Thofe then that dwell between the Polar Circle C D, and the Equator T V, all that time that the Sun en¬ lightens the Part oppofite to them; have every Night the Sight of a Piece of it H G L, much in the Shape of a fhining Bow, which comes from the Horizon, but is darken’d in the Mid¬ dle by the Shadow of Saturn G H, which reaches mod commonly to the outermoft Rim of itl But after Mid¬ night that Shadow by little and little begins to move towards the right Hand to thofe in the Northern, but the Left
I 2 to
i a 6 Conjectures concerning
Book 2. to thofe in the Southern Hemifphere. In the Morning it difappears, leaving behind it a Likenefs indeed of a Bow, but much paler and weaker than our Moon is in the Day time. For they, as I faid before, have an Atmofphere, or an Air lurrounding them enlighten’d by the Sun. Otherwife Night and Day they would have their Ring, their Moons, and all the fix’d Stars, equally confpicuous. Another thing that muft make the Sight of their Ring very curious, is, that by fome Spots in It, it is difcover’d to turn round upon it felf: A thing that thofe that are fo near cannot but take notice ofj when we that live at this Diftance can defcry a great Inequality, the infide of it be¬ ing brighter much than the outfide is. When the Shadow of the Globe falls upon that part of the Ring G H, the Shadow of the Ring at the fame time darkens another Part of the Globe a- bout PF, which otherwife would have the Sun upon ir. So that there is always a Zone of the Globe P Y F E, fometimes of a larger extent than at others, which is depriv’d of the Sight
both
the Planetary Worlds. i ij
both of the Sun and Ring for a confi- Books, derable time, the latter of which hides fome part of the Stars from it too. And certainly an amazing Thing it mu ft be, all of a fudden to have the Sun in¬ tercepted and to become as dark as Midnidght, without feeing any Caufe of fuch an Accident. All which time their Moons are their only Com¬ fort. The other half of the Year the Hemifphere T B V enjoys the fame Light that T A U before did, and then this undergoes thofe long E- clipfes that That before fuffer’d. At the Equinoxes, when the Sun is in the fame Plane with the Ring, the Inhabi¬ tants of Saturn cannot well perceive it: no not even we with our Glades, by reafon of its Darknefs. This happens when Saturn , view’d from the Sun, is advanced one and twenty degrees and a half in Virgo or Pifces , as I have fhow’d formerly in my Syftem of Sa¬ turn: Where there is an Account gi¬ ven of the Ridings of the Sun above the Ring, throughout all the Satur¬ nian Year.
With
Conjectures concerning
Books. With Saturn in this Scheme you wYv have the Globes of the Earth and Moon drawn in their true proportion, to put you in mind again of a Thing worth remembring, viz. how very fmall our Habitation is when compar’d with that Globe or the Ring about it. And now any one, I fuppofe, can frame to himfelf a Pifture of the Night in Saturn, with two Arches of the Ring, and five Moons fhining about, and adorning him. This then is what I had to fay to the primary Planets.
We are now come a little lower, to make an enquiry into the Attendants of thefe Planets, efpecially our own. And here we fhall not only confider their Aftronomy, but fhall alfo fearch into their Furniture and Ornament, if they are found to have any fuch thing, which we have deferred confi- dering till now.
fs"be fafd 3lerc one would think that
the when the Moon is fo near us, and by Mom. the Means of a Telefcope may be fo nicely and exactly obferv’d, it fhould afford us Matter for more probable
“ Con-
the Planetary Worlds. 1 19
Conjectures than any of the other re* Books, mote Planets. But it is quite other- wife, and I can fcarce find any thing to fay of it, becaufe I have not a Pla¬ net of the fame Nature before my Eyes, as in all the primary ones l have. For they are of the fame kind with our Earth •, and feeing all the ACtions, and every thing that is here, we may make a reafonable Conjecture at what we cannot fee in thofe Worlds. \
But this we may venture to fay, The without fear, that all the Attendants */ of Jupiter and Saturn are of the fameSsa- Nature with our Moon, as going round turn °f ^ them, and being carried with them;^ round the Sun juft as the Moon is with our Moon . the Earth. Their Likenefs reaches to other Things too, as you’ll fee by and by. Therefore whatfoever we can withreafon affirm or conjecture ofour Moon (and we may fay a little of it) muft be fuppos’d with very little Alte¬ ration to belong to the Satellites of Ju¬ piter and Saturn , as having no reafon to be at all inferior to that.
The Surface of the Moon then is The Mem found, by the lea ft Telefcopes of about
I 4 th VCCtaiiit,
1 5 © Conjectures concerning
Bookz. three or tour Foot, to be diverfified U'VN* with long Trafts of Mountains, and again with broad Valleys. For in thofe Parts oppofite to the Sun you fnay fee the Shadows of the Moun¬ tains, and often difcover the little round V alleys between them, with a Hillock or two perhaps rifing out of them. Kjpler from the exafit round- nefs of them would prove that they are fome vaft work of the rational Inhabitants. But I can’t be of his mind, both for their incredible Large- nefs, and that they might eafily be occafioned by natural Caufes. Nor can I find any thing like Sea there, tho’ he and many others are of the con¬ trary Opinion I know. For thofe vaft Countries which appear darker than the other, commonly taken for and called by the Names of Seas, are difco- ver’d with a good long Telefcope, to be full of little round Cavities ; whofe Shadow falling within themfelves, makes them appear of that Colour : and thofe large Champains there in the Moon you will find not to be always even and frnooth, if you look carefully
the Planetary Worlds. 131
upon them : neither of which two Books. Things can agree to the Sea, There- ‘ fore thole Plains in her that leem brighter than the other Parts, mu ft confift, I fuppofe, of a whiter fort of Matter than they. Nor do I believe that there are any Rivers, for if there mr ?w were, they could never efcape our^n* Sight, efpecially if they run between the Hills as ours do. Nor have they any Clouds to furnifti the Rivers with Nor Water: For if they had, we fhould c/r/Ws’ fometimes fee one part of the Moon darken’d by them, and fometimes another, whereas we have always the fame Profpedt of her.
’Tis certain moreover, that the^^» Moon has no Air or Atmofphere {m^an^ateK rounding it as we have. For then we could never fee the very outermoft Rim of the Moon fo exaftly as we do, when any Star goes under it, but its Light would terminate in a gradual faint Shade, and there would be a fort of a Down as it were about it; not to mention that the Vapours of our At¬ mofphere confift of Water, and con- fequently that where there are no Seas
or
es concerning
Books. or Rivers, there can be no Atmof- phere. This is that notable difference between the Moon and us that hin¬ ders all probable Conje&ures about it. If we could but once be fure that there were Seas and Rivers in it, it would be no weak Argument to prove that it has alio all other Furniture which belongs to our Earth, and the Opinion of Xe¬ nophanes might be true, that it has its Inhabitants, Cities, and Mountains. But as \is} I cannot imagine how any Plants or Animals, whofe whole nou- rifhment comes from liquid Bodies, can thrive in a dry, waterlefs, parch’d Soil.
The con - What then, Is it credible that this jetiun of great Ball was made for nothing but
and Ani- to give us a little Light in the Night- tnaU very time, or to raife our Tides in the Sea ? dubious, jyjay tjlsre not ge f0 me People there
that may have the Pleafure of feeing our Earth turn upon itfelf, prefenting them! lometimes with a Profpe£t of Europe and Africa , and then of Afia and America ; fometimes half of it bright, and fometimes full ? And muff all thofe Moons round Jupiter and Sa¬ turn
the Planetary Worlds. 133
turn be condemned to the fame Ufe-Book2® iefnefs ? I do not know what to fay concerning it, becaufe I know of no¬ thing like them to found a Conjecture upon. And yet kis not improbable that thofe great and noble Bodies have fomewhat or other growing and living upon them, though very dif¬ ferent from what we fee and enjoy here. Perhaps their Plants and Ani¬ mals may have another fort of Non- rifhment there. Perhaps the Moifture of the Earth there is but juft fufficient to caufe a Mift or Dew, which may be very fuitable to the G rowth of their Herbs. This I remember is Plutarch9 s Opinion, in his Dialogue upon this Subje£t. For in our Earth a very little Water drawn from the Sea into Dew, and falling down again upon the Herbs, would be fufficient for all our Needs, without any Rain or Show¬ ers. But thefe are mere Gueffes, or rather Doubts, but yet they are the beft we can make oft his, and all thofe Jupiter^ other Moons : for, as I faid before, they are all of the fame nature, which is Moomturn proved likewife by this, that as our
Moon to them •
1 54 Con^Ctures concerning
Book2.Moon can afford us the Sight never
l/Y\;but of one Side of her, fothey turn al¬ ways the fame Face to their primary Planets. It may perhaps feem ftrange, how we fhould come to know this ; but ’tis no hard matter, after that Obfer- vation which I juft now made, that the outermoft of Saturn's Moons can never be feen but when fhe is on the Weft- fide of her Planet. The reafon of which is plainly this, that one Side of her is darker, and does not reflett the Light fo much as the other, which when it is turned towards us, we can¬ not fee by reafon of its weak Light. This always happening when ’tis Eaft of him, and never on the other Side, is a manifeft proof that fhe always keeps the fame Side toward Saturn. Now fince the outermoft of Saturn’s and our Moon carry themfelves thus to the Planets round which they move, who can well doubt it of all the reft round Jupiter and Saturn ? And there’s a very good reafon for it, namely, that the matter of which thofe Moons con- fift, being heavier, and more folid on the Side that is averfe from us, than on
that
the Planetary Worlds. i 3 $
that which we have the Sight of, doesBooka. confequently fly with a greater force from the Centre of its Orbit : for other- wife, according to the Laws ofMotion, it fhould turn the fame Side always, not to its Planets, but to the fame fix’d Stars.
This Pofition of the Moons, in re- fpeQ: of their Planets, muft occafion a great many very furprizing Appear¬ ances to their Inhabitants, if they have any, which is very doubtful, but may for the prefent be fuppos’d.
An enquiry into our Moon may ferve for all the reft. Its Globe is divided into two Parts, in fuch a manner, that thofe who live on one Side never lofe the fight of us, and thofe on the other , never enjoy it. Except only fomefew who live on the Confines of each of thefe, who lofe us, and fee us again by turns. The Earth to them muft feem TheAnr^ much larger than the Moon doth to nomy of us, as being in Diameter above four ^ lnhaz times bigger. But that which is moft* Mom furprizing, is, that Night and Day they fee it always in the very fame part of the Heaven, as if it never moved : fome of them as if ’twas fal¬ ling
Book2, ling upon their Heads : others fome- what above the Horizon, and others always in the Horizon, hill turning upon it felf, and prefenting them eve¬ ry twenty four Hours with a View of all its Countries, even of thofe that lie near the Poles (I could wifh my felf in the Moon only for the fight of them) yet unknown and undifcovered by us* They have it in its monthly Wane and Increafe,they fee it half, and horn¬ ed, and full, by turns, juft as we do the Body of the Moon. But the Light that they receive of us is five times larger than what we receive from them. So that in dark Nights that part that hath the Advantage of being towards us, receives a very glorious Light from us, tho’ Kjpler thought otherwife* Their Days are always of the fame Length with their Nights ; and the Sun riling and fetting to them but once in one of our Months, makes the time both of their Light and Darknefs to be equal to 1 5 of our Days. If their Bodies were of the fame Materials with ours, thofe that have the Sun pretty high in their Horizon, would be almoft roaft-
ConjcBures concerning
the Planetary Worlds. t 37
ed in fuch long Days. For the Sun is Books* not farther from them than he is from us. This will be the Cafe of thofe that live upon the Borders of the two He- mifpheres we mentioned ^ but thofe that live under the Poles of the Moon will be juft about as hot as our Whale- fiflhers about Ijland and Nova Zjtnla are, in the Summer-time i who are in fo little danger of being roafted, that in the middle of their Summer, in their Days of three Months length, they ve¬ ry often find it extreme Cold. I call thofe the Poles of the Moon, round which the fix’d Stars feem to turn to its Inhabitants, which are different from ours, and alfo from thofe of the Ecliptick, although they move round thefe latter, at the diftance of five De¬ grees, in a period of nineteen Years.
Their Year they count by the Motion of the Stars, and their return to the Sun, and kis the fame with ours.
They can eafily do it, becaufe they have the Stars Day and Night, not- withftanding the Light of the Sun : for they have no Atmofphere (which is the only reafon that we don’t every
Day
1 3 $ Conje&ures concerning
Books. Day enjoy the fame Sight) to hinder their Obfervations. Nor have they any Clouds to obftruft their View, fo that it is ealier for them to find out the Courfes of the Planets, but more difficult to make a true Syftem of them. For they will be apt to lay a Wrong Foundation, by fuppofing that their Earth Hands Hill, which will lead them into more dangerous Errors than This may ever it did us. All that I have faid i‘a£j’le‘ed belongs as well to Jupiter's and Sa- Moon$ a- turn's Satellites as to our Moon, in re- hoat Jupi— fpe£f of the Planets they move round.- satum. The Length of their Day and Night is always equal to the Time of their Re¬ volution : For example, the fifth Moon moves round Saturn in 80 Days, and the Days and Nights there are equal to Forty of ours. Both their Summer and Winter (Saturn moving round the Sun in thirty Years) are fifteen Years long. Therefore it is impoffible but that their way of living mult be very different from ours, having fuch tedi¬ ous Winters, and fuch long watching and fleeping times.
Having
the Planetary Worlds . *35^
Having thus explain’d the primary Book^. and fecondary Planets round the Sun, we fliould next let about the third Sort, the Sun and fix’d Stars ; but before we do that, it would be worth while to fee before you at once, in a clearer and more plain Method than hitherto, the Magnificence and Fabrick of the Solar Syftem. Which we can’t poffibly do in fo final! a Space as one of our Leaves will but admit of, becaufe the Bodies of the Planets are fo prodigious¬ ly fmall in companion of their Orbs*
But what is wanting in Figure fhall be made up in Words. Going back then to the firft Scheme, fuppofe another like it, and proportionable, drawn up- Fig. to on a very large finooth Plain ; whofe outermoft Circle reprefenting the Orb of Saturn 9 mu ft be conceived three hundred and fixtv Foot in Semidiame¬ ter. In which you rtiuft place the Globe and Ring of Saturn of that Bignefs as the 2d Figure (hows you. ^ Let all the other Planets be fuppofed every one in his own Orbit, and in the middle of all the Sun, of the fame Bignefs that That Figure reprefents*
K namely^
1 4.0 Conjectures concerning
Books, namely, about four Inches in Diame- usy'S* ter. And then the Orbit or Circle in which the Earth moves, which the Aftronomers call the Magnus Orbis , mu ft have about fix and thirty Foot in Semidiameter. In which the Earth muft be conceived moving, not bigger than a grain of Millet* and her Com¬ panion the Moon fcarcely perceivable, moving round her in a Circle a little more than two Inches Diameter, as in the Figure here adjoined, where the Line A B reprefents a fmall portion of that Circle which the Earth moves in 5 the fmall Circle therein Cis the Earth, and the Circle DE the Path of the Moon round it, in which the Body of the Moon is D.
The outermoft of Saturn's Moons moves in an Orbit whofe Semidiame¬ ter is 29 Inches *5 that of Jupiter in a fomewhat fmaller, whofe Semidiame¬ ter is 19 and a quarter.
And thus we have a true and exa£l Defcription of the Sim’s Palace, where the Earth will be Twelve thoufand of its Semidiameters diftant from him, which in German Miles makes above
feven-
the Planet arj IV orlds. i 4 1
feventeen Millions. But perhaps we Books* may have a clearer Coffiprehenfion of this vaft Length, by comparing it with foixie very fwift Motion after the Ex¬ ample ofHe/IodtliQ Poet, who imagin’d that an Anvil let fall from the Top of Heaven, reach’d the Earth the tenth Day of its journey, and in ten more ar¬ riv’d at the Bottom of Hell, the end of it: fo making the Earth the mid-way between Heaven and Hell. I (han’t make ufe of the Anvil, but of fome- thing as good, namely, a Bullet (hot out of a great Gun, which may travel per¬ haps in a Moment, or Pulfe of an Ar¬ tery, about a hundred Fathom, as fs proved by thole Experiments that Merfennus in a Treatife of his relates • by which the Sound was found to ex¬ tend itfelf eighty hundredth parts in the fame time. I fay then, that fuppofing^ ima a Bullet to move with this Swiftnefs menfe dP from the Earth to the Sun, it would fpend 25 Years in its Paffage. To make Sun and a Journey from Jupiter to the Sun, PilTetsiy would require 1 2 5 5 and from Saturn u rau ’ thither 250 Years. This account de* pends upon the meafure of the Earth’s
K 2 Dk-
142. Conjectures concerning
Book2. Diameter, which, according to the ac- curate Obfervarions of the French, is 6 538 5 94 times fix Paris Feet, one De¬ gree being 57060 of that Meafure. This fhows us how vaft thole Orbs muft be, and how inconfiderable this Earth, the Theatre upon which all out- mighty Defigns, all our Navigations, and all our Wars are tranfa&ed, is when compared to them. A very fit Confideration, and Matter of Reflecti¬ on, for thofe Kings and Princes who facrilice the Lives of fo many People, only to flatter their Ambition in being Matters of fome pitiful Corner of this fmall Spot. But to return to the matter in hand, now we have given you an account of the Sun’s proportion to thofe Orbs and Bodies, we’ll fee what more we can fay of him.
No ground And fome have thought it not im- fircmje- probable but that the Sun himfelf has Sun. alio his Inhabitants. But upon what reafon I cannot imagine, there being lefs ground for a Probability in him than in the Moon. For we are not yet fure, whether he be a folid or liquid Globe } aitho’, if my Notion of Light
the Planetary Worlds. 143
be true, upon that account I fhould ra- Books® ther think him liquid : which his Roundnefsand equal diftribution of his Light to all parts are an Argument for.
For that very fmall inequality on his Surface, which is difcovered by the Te- iefcopes, (and that not always neither) which makes Men fancy they fee boil¬ ing Seas and belching Mountains of Fire, is nothing but the trembling Mo¬ tion of the Vapours our Atmofphere is full of near the Earth ; which is like wife the Caufe of the Stars twinkling. Nor The Facu- could I ever have the Luck to difcern la£ in the thofe bright Spots in the Sun which they boaft as much of as they do of his dark ones, which latter I have very of¬ ten feen ; fo that I have very good Rea- fon to doubt whether there be any thing in the Sun brighter than the Sun stfelf. For by the mod exafl: Obfer va¬ rious, I could never find any fuch pre¬ tended to be feen any where but juft a- bout his dark Spots ; and it is no great wonder that thofe Parts which are fo near the darker, fhould appear fome- what brighter than the reft. That the By reaim Sun is extremely hot and fiery, is be-
K j yond
tants like ours can
Sun,
144 Conjectures concerning
Book2.yond all difpute, and fuch Bodies as ours could not live one Moment in fuch a Furnace. We mud fuppofe a new fort hve m the of Animals then, fuch as we have no Idea or Likenefs of among us, fuch as we can neither imagine nor conceive : which is as much as to fay, that we can make no Suppofition at all about them. No doubt that glorious and vaft Body was made for fome noble End and Ufe, and fram’d with excellent Defign. And I think we all very well know and feel its Ufefulnefs in that effufion of Light and Heat to all the Planets round it ^ in the Prefer v a tion and Happinefsofall living Creatures, and that not only in our Ball, but in thofe vaft Globes of Jupiter and Saturn, not contemptible when compared with its own. Thefe are fuch great, fuch wife Ends, that it is not ftrangethat the Sun fhould have been made, if it had been only upon their account. For, as for Kjpler7 s Fan¬ cy, that he hath another Office, namely, to help on the Motion of the Planets in their own Orbs, by turning about his own Axis (which he would fain eftablifh in his Epitome of the Coper-
mean
the Planetary W or Ids. 145*
^/V^Syftem) I (hall give good Rea^Book2<? fons why I cannot affent to it
Before the Invention of Telefcopes, V36 Hd it feerned to contradict ( LOpemJCUS S many Opinion, to make the Sun one of the Sum- fix’d Stars. For the Stars of the firft Magnitude being efteem’d to be about three Minutes Diameter ; and Coper* nicus (obferving that tho4 the Earth changed its Place, they always kept the fame diftance from us) having ven¬ tur’d co fay that the Magnus Orbis was but a Point in refpecf of the Sphere in which they were placed, it was a plain Confequence that every one of them that appeared any thing bright, mull be larger than the Path or Orbit of the Earth : which is very abfurd. This is the principal Argument that Tycho Brahe let up againft Copernicus . But when the Telefcopes took away thofe Rays of the Stars which appear when we look upon them with our naked Eye, (which they do beft when theEye- glafs is black’d with Smoke) they feem- ed juft like little (Fining Points, and then that Difficulty vanifhed, and the Stars may yet be fo many Suns. Which is
K 4 the
1 46
Books.
They are not dll in the fame Sphere*
Conjectures concerning
the more probable, becaufe their Light is certainly their own : for it’s impoffi- ble that ever the Sun fhould fend, or they reflect it at fuch a vaft Diftance, This is the Opinion that commonly goes along with Copernicus Syfterm And the Patrons of it do alfo with rea- fon fuppofe, that all thefe Stars are not in the fame Sphere, as well becaufe there’s no Argument for it, as that the Sun, which is one of them, cannot be brought to this Rule. But it’s more likely they are fcatterM and difpers’d all over the immenfe Spaces of the Heaven, and are as far diftant perhaps from one another, as the neareft of them are from the Sun*
Here again too I know Kjfler is of another Opinion in his Epitome of Co~ fernicuFs Syftem, that we mention’d above. For tho5 he agrees with uss that the Stars are diffus’d through all the vaft Expanfe of the Heavens, yet lie cannot allow that they have as large an empty Space about them as our Sun has. For then ftwas his Opinion, we fhould fee but very few, and thofe of Yery different Magnitudes : Farr fee¬ ing
the Planetary Worlds. 147
ingthe large ft of all appear fo j mall to Book2« us9 that we can fcarce obferve or me a- jure them with our heft Inftruments • how muft thofe appear that are three or four times farther from us f Why 9 fuppofing them no larger than thefe,they muft feem three or four times lefts , and jo on 5 till a little farther they will not be to be feen at all : Thus we fhall have the fight of but very few Stars y and thofe very different one from ano- nother y Whereas we have above a Thoufand, and thofe not confiderably bigger or lefs than one another* But this by no means proves what he would have it; and his Miftake was chiefly, that he did notconfider the Nature of Fire and Flame which may be feen at fuch distances, and at fuc-h final] Angles as all other Bodies would totally difap- pear under. A thing that we need go no farther than the Lamps fet along the Streets to prove. For altho* they are a hundred Foot from one another, yet you may count Twenty of them in a continued Row with your Eyes, and yet the twentieth Part of them fcarce makes an Angle of fix Seconds* Cer¬ tainly
1 48 Conjetfures concerning
Book 2 • tainly then the glorious Light of the V*Y*\J Stars mu ft do much more than this j fo that it’s no wonder we fhould fee a Thoufand or two of them with our bare Eyes, and with a Telefcope dis¬ cover twenty times that number. But Kfpler had a private Deiign in making the Sun thus fuperiour to all the other Stars, and planting it in the Middle of the World, attended with the Planets: For his Aim was hereby to ftrengthen his Cofmographical Myftery, that the Diftances of the Planets from the Sun are in a certain proportion to the Dia¬ meters of the Spheres that are infcri- bed within, and circumfcribed about Euclid'3 s Regular Bodies. Which could never be fo much as probable, except there were but one Chorus of Planets moving round the Sun, and fo the Sun were the only one of his kind.
But that whole Myftery is nothing ' but an idle Dream taken from Pytha¬ goras or Plata7 s Philofophy. And the Author himfelf acknowledges that the Proportions do not agree fo well as they fhould, and is fain to invent two
or
the Planetary Worlds. 149
or three very filly Excufes for it. And Books® he ufes yet poorer Arguments to prove virv that the Univerfe is of a fpherical Fi¬ gure, and that the Number of the Stars mult necelTarily be finite, becaufe the Magnitude of each of them is fo. But what is worft of all is, that he fettles the Space between the Sun and the Concavity of the Sphere of the fix’d Stars, to be fix hundred thoufand of the Earth’s Diameters. For this rea- fon, which he has no Foundation for, that as the Diameter of the Sun is to that of the Orbit of Saturn , which he makes to be as i to 2000, fo is this Dia¬ meter to that of the Sphere of the fix¬ ed Stars® I cannot but wonder how fuch things as thefe could fall from fo ingenious a Man, and fo great an A- ftronomer. But I muft be of the fame Opinion with all the greateft Philofo- phers of our Age, that the Sun is of the fame Nature with the fix’d Stars. And this will give us a greater Idea of the World, than all thofe other Opinions*
For then why may not every one ofT^ stars thefe Stars or Suns have as great a Re- tinue as our Sun, of Planets, with their them like
Moons, mr Sm'
ijo Conjectures concerning
Book2. Moons, to wait upon them ? Nay,
yvw there’s a manifeft reafon why they fhould. For if we imagine our felves placed at an equal distance from the Sun and fix’d Stars ; we fhould then perceive no difference between them. For, as for all the Planets that we now fee attend the Sun, we fhould not have the leaft glimpfe of them, either becaufe their Light would be too weak to affect us5 or that all the Orbs in which they move would make up one lucid Point with the Sun. fn this Station we fhould have no occafion to imagine any difference between the Stars, and fhould make no doubt if we had but the Sight, and knew the Na¬ ture of one of them, to make that the Standard of all the reft. We are then plac’d near one of them, namely, our Sun, and fo near as to difcover fix other Globes moving round him, fome of them having others performing them the fame Office. Why then may not we make ufe of the fame Judgment that we would in that cafe \ and con¬ clude, that our Star has no better at¬ tendance than the others ? So that
what
the Planetary Worlds. t jt
what we allowed the Planets, upon Books® the account of our enjoying it, we mu ft i^VNi likewife grant to all thofe Planets that furround that prodigious number of Suns. They mull have their Plants and Animals, nay and their rational Crea¬ tures too, and thofe as great Admirers., and as diligent Obfervers of the Hea¬ vens as our feives^and mu ft confequent- ly enjoy whatfoever is fubfervient to, and requifite for fuch Knowledge.
What a wonderful and amazing Scheme have we here of the magnifi¬ cent Vaftnefs of the Univerfe ! So ma¬ ny Suns, fo many Earths, and every one of them flock’d with fo many Herbs, Trees, and Animals, and a- dom’d with fo many Seas and Moun¬ tains! And how muft our Wonder and Admiration be encreafed when we confider the prodigious Diflance and Multitude of the Stars?
That their Diflance is fo immenfe,