An Account of Some Books

An Account of some Books. I. DISCOURS PHYSIQUE DE LA PAROLE, par M. DE CORDEMOY, à Paris in 12°. which is now a printing in English at London for Mr. John Martin in 12°. This Author, after he had in a former discourse, (whereof an account was given Numb. 17: p. 306. under the Title of Le discernement du Corps & de l'Ame) proposed the way of Knowing on's selfe, shewing, that it consists only in discerning in our selves the Operations of the Soul, and those of the Body; doth now propose the means of knowing others, which is Speech. He explicateth, what it is, and endeavors exactly to distinguish, what it borrows from the Soul, and what from the Body. In this disquisition, he reasons upon nothing but what he hath found in himselfe, and as if he had never yet been assur'd, there were any other men besides himselfe, he stays in the very beginning upon this consideration, viz. Whether it be necessary, that all Bodies, which he sees to be like his, be united to such Souls as his? resolv'd not to believe it, unless he have such evident signes of it, that he can doubt no longer thereof. He examines, what the most surprising things are, that Bodies do, and as long as he can impute the cause of it to the disposition of their organs, he thinks he may assure, they have no Soul: But after having found in the sole frame and position of the parts of the Body, how to render a reason of the noise, sounds, difference of voices, and even of words, pronounced by Echo's and Parrots, he finds himself at last oblig'd to admit Souls in all such Bodys, as resemble His, and to acknowledge it not possible, that they should thus speak to purpose as they do, without being endow'd with Reason. Next, having found, that to Speak, is nothing but to give signs of our thoughts, he takes notice of some of those signs. The first, he considers, are the motions of the Face, and those sounds, which ordinarily accompany the different states of the Body; observing, that naturally they are joyn'd to Passions, which the soul feels feels on the occasion of changes in the Body: taking also notice, that this manner of expressing on's self is the first of Languages, and the most Universal, since there is no Nation but understands it. Besides these Natural signs of the Passions of the soul, he discovers that there are others, that are instituted, by which she can express whatsoever she conceiveth. He shews the agreement and difference of some of these signs in order to make his deduction from thence to be understood. Here he takes occasion to consider, How one may invent a Language; How a man may understand that of a Country, where no man understands his; and then, how Children learn to speak; admitting here the force of Reason in them from their infancy, to make them discern the signification of every word; but what surprises him most of all is, the order they follow therein, forasmuch as 'tis altogether like that of the Grammar; even the Rules of this seeming to have been learnt from little Children. Then he distinguishes, what it is, that the Body contributes to Speech; examining in a Speaker, how the Air enters into his Lungs; why it makes a sound in issuing out of the Wind-pipe? What diversity the Muscles cause in sound? What parts of the mouth are employed to make it terminate in a voice? What is the configuration of every of them in these different terminations? What is the change of the Throat, Tongue, Teeth, Lips in all the Articulations? Which gives him to understand, what Speech is as to the Body. Then he observes the effect, which sound produces in the Ear and Brains of the Hearer; and finds, that it is by reason of the Agreement, which is between the Brain and the other parts of every Animal, that it can be so differently agitated by different sounds. And having considered the use of the Nerves, which communicate themselves from the Ear to all the parts that serve to the forming of speech, he discovers the reasons of many effects, that are thought surprising, as to see certain Birds imitating the song of others, the sound of our Musical Instruments, and often our very Words. Hence also he draws Reasons to convince him, that Brutes need no Soul to make a noise, nor to be moved by a voice, nor to imitate the sound of our words: Whereas he finds, that in Men the motion of the Parts, which serve for the Voice, or of those that are are agitated thereby, is always accompanied by some thoughts or other; and that in speech there are always two things inseparably joined, viz. the Formation of the voice, which cannot proceed but from the Body, and the signification or Idea joined with it, which cannot come but from the soul. II. DE INFINITIS SPIRALIBUS INVER- SIS, INFINITISQUE HYPERBOLIS,, alisq; Geometricis, Auth. F. Stephano de Angelis, Veneto. Patavii, in 4°. This Author treateth here concerning the Figures mentioned in the Title (measuring their Areas) very accurately and geometrically, as also concerning several other things, conducing to the perfection of Geometry. He mentions one of these Spirals to be the Line described by a Heavy body, falling towards the Center of the earth, supposing the Earth's Motion; where also he touches the controversy betwixt himself and Riccioli; of which we discoursed more at large in the next foregoing Number. III. Michaelis Angeli Ricci Exercitatio Geometrica; in 4° printed at Rome. This Book is reprinted in London, for Mos. Pitts in Little-Brittain and annex'd to Logarithmotechnia N. Mercatoris, printed for the same; of which latter we intend to entertain the Reader in our next, (God permitting.) It was thought fit to be so reprinted, partly, by reason of its scarsetness, there being but a few printed for the Author in Italy, but chiefly, by reason of the excellency of the Argument, which is, de Maximis & Minimis, or the Doctrine of Limits: Wherein (according to the account of the Intelligent Mr. F. C.) the Author shews a deep Judgement in discovering a Medium to reduce the lately found out Analytical Doctrine de Maximis & Minimis to pure Geometry. The Tract itself is very small, being but little more than two sheets of Paper; wherein is demonstrated the Doctrine of Caravaggio de Applicationibus, who affirms, that he, who is ignorant therein, may mispend his time about Equations, in searching for for that which cannot be found. He delivers also a method of drawing Touch-lines to all the Conick Sections, and divers other Curves, concerning which, the Author speaking of Apollonius, saith: Si quis ipsius Constructionem, atque demonstrationem 34. prop. 1. lib. Conicorum cum nostris comparabit, nonnihil fortasse proficiet in Arte dilatandi Propositiones & Demonstrationes. Nam quod Ille de Quadraticat tantum Hyperbole, Ellipsis, & Circulo statuit, Nos ad omnes porrigitimus Hyperbolas, Ellipses Circulosque Infinitos: And p. 12. the like for infinite Parabolas: And these are some of those matters handled by the Author, which p. 7. he affirms to be of excellent use, Ad inveniendas plurium linearum Tangentes, figurarum Centra gravitatis & Quadraturas: Herein, agreeing with des Cartes in his Geometry, p. 40. where speaking of the same matter, he saith; Nec verebor dicere, Problema hoc non eorum modo, qua scio, utilissimum & generalissimum esse, sed etiam corum, qua in Geometria scire unquam desideraverim. This excellent Author promiseth some other Treatises in his Preface to an Abbot, where he saith; Si hoc assicuar, ut tibi ceterisque amicis, earundem disciplinarum intelligentibus, probetur, minus est imposterum, quam ob rem humanissimis tuis hortationibus oblucter, cum Author mihi esse perseverabis edendi alia, qua tecum jampridem communicavi, de Praeceptis universae Artis Analyticae Geometrica methodo breviter & expedito demonstratis, una cum Animadversione Erratorum, qua in ipsis tradendis magni nominis Authores errasse deprehendi; faciliusque obtinebis, ne dintius premam apud me, quacunque de Geometria disputata, & literis consignata, in certas redegii Propositiones, & ex his illam pricipue a Torricello & a Te quoq; tantopere commendatam, qua integram doctrinam 30. Propositionum Archimedis, Lucæ Valerii, & aliorum, una complectitur. Besides, he promiseth (which matter yet hath already been well handled by La Lovera in his Elementa Tetragonismica, Tolosæ, A. 1551. and by Hugenius in the same year in a small Tract, intitul'd Theoremata de Quadratura Hyperboles, Ellipsis, & Circuli, ex dato portionum gravitatis centro;) duas alias, quibus totam peni J. Caroli dela Faille, de Centro gravitatis partium Circuli & Ellipsoes doctrinam (justo vol. ab ipso explicatam) absolvo. But then, p. 7. he promiseth Fustum opus, ubi dabimus novum fo- (740) Idorum Conicorum seriem, qui sefi exhibent infinitas, uti vocant, Hyperbolas, infinitas Parabolas, infinitas Ellipses, & analogiam servando, Circulos etiam infinitos: unde Lectoribus manifeste appre- rebit, de Conicis me multo plus adinvenisse quam ceteros, eoquo in- geniosissimos viros, qui communem tantum Hyperbolam, Parabolam, Ellipsin, & Circulum (figuras, Conici, in nostra nova serie pra- dicta, secundi gradus) agnoverunt; alias, tertii & quarti, & cate- rorum, non item: nisi quod de Parabolis infinitis, per puncta in Pla- no descriptis, paucia, licet cognitione dignissima, tradidere nonnulli; quos inter dno praecleres ingenio viros, Fermatus ac Torricellius, inventorum praestantia & numero commendabiles, ac veteribus prox- imi, qui novum insuper excogitarunt Hyperbolarum Infinitarum ge- nus. Neque pratercundum puto, quam plures Apollonii Propositiones atque demonstrationes aptari Sectionibus nostris, & per omnia con- gruere, affectasque multipliciter Equationes, harum Sectionum ope resolvi facillime & determinari posse. IV. LA VENERIE ROYALE du Sr. de SALNO- VE, in 4°. a Paris. The Author of this Book, having (as himself declares) prac- tised both the Art Military and that of Hunting for the space of 35 years under the active Reigns of those two Great Kings in France, HENRY IV. and LOUIS XIII. affirms, that he de- livers only from his own experience the true Rules of Hunting: in the performing of which, he doth, from the different kinds of Game, divide his Book into 6 parts, teaching, what belongs to the Hunting of the Stagg (where he inserts the peculiar manner of Stag-hunting in Piemont) the Hare, Roe-buck, Wolf, Wild-boar, and the Fox; describing withal, the peculiar and approv'd reme- dies for all manner of diseases of all sorts of Hunting-dogs; and ad- ding his observations of all the various sounds, and his instruc- tions for all the Terms of Hunting. All which he concludeth with directions, how to stock Forests with great Deere, and with an E- numeration of all the considerable Woods and Forests in France, together with their Games, Lodges, Relays, &c. In the SAVOY, printed by T.N. for John Martyn, Printer to the Royal Society, and are to be sold at the Bell a little without Temple-Bar, 1668.