The Hartlib Papers

Dear Sir.

I shall not I hope altogether forgett that Charge which you haue binn pleased to Lay vpon mee in refference to the Consideration of all winy Liquors, theire affections and the seuerall distempers incident to them with my thoughts aboute the preserueing of them soe as may best retard the Quicknes of theire Motion and hinder their discrassy and Corruption./

To which end an exact scrutinye into the Aire its Quality Temperament and Motion and an Inquirie of the efficacie & force that this hath vpon all such bodies will bee in some Measure necessary.

And this putts mee in minde to leaue one request with you (vizt) to begg your assistance and Countenance on all occasions to Mr. Streete when hee shall at anie tyme waite on you, who both as to his vndertaking and to the modesty & simplicity of his spiritt doth verie much emulate our soe much Iointe esteemed freind Mr. Mercator, who though hee may differ from the former in reference to his Method or to some of the profounder parts of Learneing. Yett I thinke it verie possible to reconcile them in the Maine, and cannot but expect something extraordinary in the asserting & perfecting of the Theory of the Plannetts wilbe brought forth betweene them, which I should the more gladly see by how much most Schollers Complaine of it as of a thing hitherto wanting, by how much alsoe I guesse That haueing the examples of soe Manie who haue already attempted the same thing in vaine: They will finde themselues the more Constrained to lay downe some new Choice, singular, & vndeniable Hypothesis for the better Invitation of the Admittance of their opinion among learned Men, although such a worke be noe lesse necessarie alsoe for other reasons./

For if wee assert not the theory of the Plannetts rightly & vpon such grounds as are indubitably demonstrable, Wee shall neuer be free from Errors and disagreements in opinion aboute their Motions and the right Calculation of them.

And if wee mistake in either of these Wee must mistake of the true place in the Heavens in which each Plannett is or constantly ought to bee, And if Wee at all erre in our Iudgment of their due places, it is impossible Wee should assert their seuerall aspects and the Mutuall Influences and vertues they haue (through this) one vpon another, And soe the Phisicall vse of their Motions falles to the ground wholy or att least becomes subiect to verie much vncertainty./.

And truly if there bee noe such vse att all of the Motions of these bodyes as that which I may call Phisicall (vizt) for predicting & for (in some Measure) determininge the affections dispositions and alterations that are introduced into seuerall thinges here either imediately or into the Aire imediately by reason of the Course of these superior bodyes; It would very much lessen and depretiate with me, That Toyle, Costs, paines, watchings & continuall exercises & endeavors that haue binn vsed for the gaininge of exact observations in Astronomy; Seeing when wee haue donn all and obteined all beyong the meere bare Knowledge of them Wee cann propound noe end, benefitt, vse or Advantage, That may recompence the Trouble & paines bestowed vpon them (at Least vpon some of them) nor soe much as anie reall or perticular relation betweene vs and them, And if soe Wee Know them only to Know them./

But Wee shall at present presume the contrary and therefore shall Craue Leaue to say; That allthough seuerall objections are Commonly brought against any such vse or application of these bodyes or of their power Influence or Motions which are occasioned partly by the superstition & Paganisme incident to this kinde of Doctrine, partly by the Imposture, ignorance and want of Learneing generally obserued in the Persons professing this Knowledge partly by the Manifest mistakes & vncertainty, That there is in the predictions of this Nature and partly by the

Secondly it may further Admitt of a Demonstration, for if the Extreame Motions of Phyisicks bee generation and Corruption and the meane Motions Rarefaction and Condensation, Allowing then these bodies to haue a share in promoteing the meane, Motions, (vizt) of Rarefaction and Condensation, Wee shall or may soone be convinced that their effects then vpon all other things heere cannot but be exceeding considerable./

For the better vnderstanding of which I shall offer a little more Largely to you my Conceptions (vizt)

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That to speake properly and simply <I take> generation and Corruption to bee the extreames of Motions, rather then Motions themselues, for the scope Intentions or effects of all Physicall Motions (strictly soe taken) is only to one of these ends (vizt) either for generation or Corruption, And these two are they alsoe which Lymitt and bound all Motion for beyond these Meets there is noe Physicall progression, And therefore these two must be the true Termini as well a quo as ad quem of all such Motion; seeing all things are Corrupted to bee generated and all things generated are at Length Corrupted.

But if these bee rather the Termini & extreames of Motions then Motion itselfe wee must acknowledge there are Motions which Nature vseth as meanes betweene these two extreames, which Meanes Motions must bee as opposite alsoe one to another as the two extreames, otherwise wee should neuer be at a Certainty, which way Nature intends by her Motion, otherwise alsoe, Wee must say one and the same Course or one and the same thing in Nature may simply and of it selfe bee the imediate cause of generation and Corruption of Life and of death of hardnes & softnes etc. which is absurd and impossible./

Now as these two Motions of Rarefaction and Condensation are oppositt one to the other as is required, soe doe they square to all other the Instruments & Phoenomena in Nature (vizt) The one Answearing to heate, the other to cold, The one to hardnes Compactnes and Aridity, The other to gentlenes, softnes, sweetnes, Maturity etc.

For which reasons therefore as well as for many other, which might bee vrged (if insisted on) Wee doe Conclude (submitting it neuertheless to bee examined) That generation and Corruption Rarefaction and Condensation is the simplest plainest & truest Analysis, That cann bee found in Nature for all Physicall Motions, as vnto some of which all Motion purely Physicall may (as wee humbly conceiue) without straining be imediately referred, and as by and through which all may likewise with as little difficulty bee Resolued./

And hauing layd this as a second Argument wee say thirdly That it cannot bee denied but all the affections & dispositions of Moisture, heate, Cold, drought, The Course of all Windes, Showres, Thundering or whatsoever else is vsed by Nature to produce these two generall and vniversall effects of Rarefaction and Condensation doe in a great Measure if not) wholy depend vpon and are altogether Regulated by the Course Motion Position Scituations or Aspects of the Superior & Celestiall Bodyes or Plannetts, And therefore etc:

Fouerthly Wee say that every Plannett hath its owne proper light, And as the light of the Sunn is one thing, the light of the Moone another soe every Plannett hath its distinct light differing from all the other, Now wee must either say that this Light is a bare quality, and that the vtmost vse, and end of it is only to Illuminate, And there is noe other (which were to low a conceite for Learned Men) or else that there is noe Light but is accompanied further with some power vertue or Tincture that is proper to it, which if granted it will informe vs Then that every Light hath its owne property, its owne Tincture and Colour, Its owne specifique vertue and power and that according to the seuerall Bodies of Light there are seuerall Properties Tinctures & Powers, And that as one Starr differs from another in glorie (according to the Apostles) soe one starr and one Plannett differs from another in its vertue in its Colour in its Tincture, and in its Propertie./

And consequently That those Eminent Starres & Plannetts That are in the Heavens are not to bee Considered by vs as sluggish inergeticall Bodyes or as if they were sett only to bee as bare Candles to vs, but as bodyes full of proper Motion of peculiar operation and of life, The Sunn not only shining vpon the rest of the Plannetts, but by its Quickening warmeth awakeing stirring and raiseinge the Motions Properties & Powers that are peculiar to them, According therefore to the Angles they make with the Sunn, and according as they are more or less enlightened by him, according alsoe as they are at the same tyme more directly or more obliquely, more remotely or more neerely scituated and placed in respect to vs soe must the effects of the Powers vertues & Tinctures, that are proper to them be more or less felt by vs./

Fifthly for the Manner of the Plannetts transmitting theise their Properties and powers and of their affecting other bodyes at soe remote distance, There is nothing begged or required in it, that is insuperable to a Mans apprehension or beleife seeing./

1:   Wee affirme not anie property, operation, vertue or power to be Transmitted from any of the said Plannetts, but what doth discend with its Light and is the reall propertie of its Light.

2:   Noe Man Iudgeth That the Light of any Plannett or of the Sunn itselfe is refracted or by anie other meanes weakened hindered or impaired by the Aether (or that substance which fills vpp the space betweene one Plannett and another through which it passeth, But that it doth discend whole directly and inrefracted vnto or vpon our Atmosphere./

3:   But whatsoever is receiued by the Atmosphere is alsoe[altered] receiued by the thinn & subtile Aire that is contiguous to the Atmospheare, And this Aire therefore cannot but bee capable of being moved, stirred altered & impressed by these Properties, vertues & Lights, as Penetrating each part of it./

4:   Not only the Aire by reason of its Thinnes & subtlety is capable of being thus penetrated moved and altered by these planetarie vertues and lights But for asmuch also as our spiritts and the spiritts likewise of all mixt bodies are really of an Aerious ætheriall Luminous production & Composition These spiritts therefore of ours and the spiritts of all other Bodyes must necessarily noe Less suffer an impression from the same Lights and cannot bee Less subiect to an Alteration, Motion, Agitation, and infection through them and by them, then the other (vizt) the Ayre Butt rather as our spiritts are more neare and more Analogous to the Nature of light then the [catchword: Ayre]

5.   As a further confirmation or proofe of this in refference at Least to ourselues I shall offer to your Consideration the Accidents that oft happen to Men by the meare Ayre as Convulsions Cramps, Blastings, Lamnes Colds, Many of which indure a Mans Life tyme.   And which (with many bitter Infirmities that sometymes seize vpon a man, while standing walkeing or Lying in the Ayre) are rarely or neuer felt or discerned at the Instant of their approach or insults vpon a Man, nor yett accompanied with the sense of any excesse in the Ayre for heate or cold at that tyme and therefore not well referrable to any Cause in the Ayre, if not to the power of those Propertyes and operations of the Celestiall bodyes that wee speake of. And this I submitt to the Iudgement of Common experience./

Lastly: As the Sunn shineing in the rest of the Plannetts doth not as wee sayd only barely illuminate their bodyes, but besides this through the power, vertue and activity it hath doth also raise excite awaken and stirr vpp the seuerall Properties and dispositions that are in those seuerall and respectiue Bodyes, whereby they are more Liuely and effectually brought forth vpon vs, soe wee are to suppose it is in refference to this our Plannett which is the Earth, which is not only enlightened, warmed, Cherished, and Fructified by the Power vertue and Influence of the Sunn, But hath its proper Magneticke Planetarie vertue alsoe firminted, stirred agitated and awakened in it, which it Remitts backe with the Reflected Light of the Sunn, And together with this Magneticke Planetary Property of the Earth, which is stirred and raised by the Sunn) are awakened also the seminall dispositions, Odors and Ferments that are Lodged in and proper vnto the Perticular Regions or Places, which doe likewise Emitt and diffuse through the Ayre as their seuerall and respectiue, benigne, gratefull, soe their seuerall Malignant, congelatiue & fracedenous Natures, & qualityes./

And hence therefore though the Aire its Temperament disposition & quality in generall is to bee looked at according to the Motions, Influences and aspects of the seuerall superior bodyes, Yett the Perticular healthfulnes & vnhealthfulnes of Places, the evill disposition of the Ayre, Evenings, nights, & earely in the Mornings in some parts more then in others The superabundant Moisture excessive Windes droughts or other seasons proper to one Country, and not to bee obserued in another Neighbouring to it all these are rather to be allowed and referred to those Odors vapous and exhalations that are through the power of the Sunn or other Plannetts drawne forth from their Perticular seates into the Ayre, then any direct Influence or Property disseminated through the Ayre from the Plannetts themselues./

And thus I haue hinted as well as I may at the solutions of all the Phoenomena Pertaining to this matter that I can thinke of./

And if this be soe then wholy to neglect this Phisicall vse (and Consideration) of the Motion of these bodyes and either to reject it because of the superstition that hath binn Mixt with it or to exclude it from all Manner of Care and from all other scruting as a thing not worth our Inquiry or search at all after, is as greate an extreame on the other hand and a mistake that must not pass vntaxed amonge Learned Men.

You did not expect I am sure I should haue adventured into soe Perticular an Apology for Astrologie, nor did I intend it when I begunn my Letter nor doe I now ayme to Iustifie any thinge further then what may properly if not necessarily fall into the Consideration of Naturall Philosophy Beeing indeed much induced to thinke that were the Theory of the Plannetts soe exactly stated soe perfectly or soe vndeniably demonstrated, that wee might be sure, Wee rightly vnderstand the place Course and Position of each of their bodyes in the Heavens. This other Doctrine of their Phisicall vse with the weight dignity extent considerablenes or inconsiderablenes of it would soone confirme & demonstrate it selfe by the evidence and proofe of it selfe especially if any will please to take the paines to Calculate these Motions for his owne priuate vse and according to the Meridian he is in and soe compare them with his owne observations of the chainge and alteration of the Ayre from day to day which doubtless as it was the way at first taken by the Antients to finde out their efficacie (I meane the making such a constant observation and Keeping such a Diary) soe the doeing of that againe & giueing vs first an History or Diary of the observations of the weather and its changes in all respects and then an Account of the seuerall Places Motions or aspects each day of the seuerall Bodyes of the Heavens with the Agreements doubts or disagreements that these bare one to another, and that must necessarily rise therevpon, would bee that, That could not but proue both satisfactory and delightsome to vs in this great pointe aboute their Phisicall power & vse./

And the Commodity of this in our occonomicall or Civill Concerns in Husbandrie in Gardeninge in Phisicke and to the producing many other very stupendious effects cannot possiblely be soe well Credited or discerned as it would if some such plaine foundation & demonstration of the power of those bodies in generall were Laid, which mee thinkes Wee should be much the more incouraged to vndertake haueing an Advantage giuen vs in this Age beyond what most Ages euer had by the vse of those rare Instruments that they call Thermometers[altered] or Weather glasses./

And truly when I consider that things of the greatest consequence doe oft tymes depend vpon the most Comon observations and that Matters of the Highest Improuement doe receiue their begining from meane small ordinary experiments I would haue noe Man who hath Leisure oppertunity and tyme to thinke it a slight thing to busie himselfe in Collecting observations of this Nature, It being much more Comendable for a Man to preserue the History of his owne tyme though but in the observation of the Motions of this Kinde, then to say vpon every occasion that offers it selfe, this is the Hotest or this is the coldest or this is the rainest or this is the most seasonable or vnseasonable weather that euer he felt, whereas it may perhaps be noething soe./

And if there were noe other vse, yett observations of this Nature would much conduce to Compleate the Naturall Histry of any place as wee may obserue by that Learned Auther who writt Historiam Naturalem Brasiliæ and who to proue not only the habitablenes but Healthfulnes of that Clymate & Country exhibits the Account of every dayes Weather obserued by him for many yeares together & soe the Agreement of it to that Temper which wee Account healthfull./

But the Instituteing and perfecting of accurate obseruations of this Nature by the helpe of seuerall large & exact Thermometers, placed in seuerall Roomes or exposed after some Conuenient Manner to the Ayre itselfe would be a more noble & vsefull an vndertaking then ordinary./

I say the doeing this accurately, by large and exact glasses by placing seuerall of them either together or at some fitt distance one from another. It being much to bee Lamented and that which I cannot but Complaine to myselfe of that noe Improuement considerable hath as I cann Learne binn

 1^st None hath hitherto giuen vs the best Proportions betweene the Diameter of the head & the Diameter of the bodyes or Cylinder, although this bee indeed the very first Consideration & that which is most necessary in the vse of these Instruments, for as by how much the bigger the Cylinder is, and by how much the Lesser the head, by soe much the more slow and imperceptible the Ayres alteration & Motion wilbe, soe by how much the bigger the head and smaller the Cylinder is, by soe much the more quick subtile and discernable will every small difference of the Ayre appeare which therefore being on both sides capable of an extreame ought to be Regulated necessarily according to some Meane./

  2: Admitting a meane or convenient Proportion betweene these two Diameters to be as one to sixteene or one to twenty Fower Wee in the next place doe noe Lesse want the fittest proportion for the Length of the Cylender which must doubtless alsoe be varied answearably as Wee vary the Proportion of its Diameter, the smaller Cylinder in proportion to its head requiring the greater Length, the bigger Cylinder on the Contrary the shorter Length./

  3: I haue not hitherto seene any Cylinder that hath binn well graduated, twelue or sixteene Degrees being the most that are sett vpon the Common Weather glasses, whereas to the making of accurate observations it would require a Cylinder to bee divided into at least Three Hundred & Sixty parts though I thinke it neither vnreasonable nor vnpracticable to haue one Divided into a Thousand parts allowing but Tenn degrees to each inch which is noe vnvsuall Division seeing such a one will much better discover not only the small but the more suddaine & remarkable Changes of the Weather (which are of Cheifest vse) then any others that are Comon and ordinary./

  4^ly Although noe Liquor ought to bee vsed in these glasses that is subject to Frost yett Wee haue Little or noe account what those Liquors are that might bee best or fittest for the accurate makeing of those experiments, whether those whose property[altered] it is somewhat to attract the Ayre & soe to preserue themselues in at Least their first quantity as oleum Sulphuris per Campanam, ole vitroli Liquor salis Tartari, and or 2^ly whether those whose parts are Finest subtleest & neerest of Kinn to the Ayre, such as is spirite of Wine, spirite of Terebinth well rectified and according as their is occasion still fresh supplied or 3^dly whether those that are of a Middle Nature as strong spirite of vinegar or 4^thly whether insteed of these and beyond these it may not be best to vse only well refined quicksilver./

All which seuerall Perticulars as they are necessary and ought to bee first ascertained yett they are but preluminary to the experiments themselues./

In the making of the experiments themselues therefore it would be convenient, First that seuerall Thermometers of one proportion, Length & graduation in their Cylinders in all respects as neere as may bee, were sett in one Frame together either with one & the same or with variety of Liquors 2^ly That seuerall of these Frames were sett in seuerall Roomes and that some were exposed imediatly to the Ayre itselfe, yett soe as it may be conueniently sheltered from the Actuall rayes of the Sunn and from the Iniury of Stormes raine & windes./

In the History it selfe there cannot be too much Care & exactnes, Prouided the Ayre of the Chimney Cranny of a Wall or doore, breath of people or other such accidents doe not interpose to [deletion]<decieue> a Mans obseruation which must be circumspectly foreseene & considered./

The Proportion betweene the warmth of the day and night in constant Weather the Agreement or disagreement of the Motion of the Ayre with the Motions of the superior bodies in all vncertaine changeable & inconstant Weather, The efficacy or inefficacy through these in foretelling of Windes and Raine, The Ayre its perticular disposition vnder Thunder, vnder tymes of Mildewes or blastings, eminent Eclipses Conjunctions with many other the like perticulars which will of themselues bee incident to an Ingenious diligent apprehensiue Person may bee the subject of this History./.

I shall not digress so farr as to tell you, what other things may be done by the helpe of this excellent Instrument, this being not pertinent to our present purpose./.

Yett it is certaine that Drebble that greate singular Learned Mechanicke did by the helpe of this Instrument make a Dyall continually to moue of itselfe Regularly shewing both the [tyme of? MS torn] the day & other Motions of the Heavens, did alsoe make an Automatous Instrument of Musicke: and found out a Furnace which he could governe to any degree of heate, But whether these haue died with him or how farr the Meditations of others haue wrought vpon them I shall humbly refer to a more Leasurable Inquiry. And if you cann informe mee amonge any of your acquaintance or Correspondents I should bee glad to heare and to Learne anie thing of this Nature or relating to the further vse experiment or improuement of this rare Little Instrument, or to the further clearing ventilating or discussing the Theory or Doctrine of the Plannetts or the Phisicall vse & power of these bodyes that Wee haue thus breifely made an Assay

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