An Account of Some Books

Body: Not to say, how little it savors of the rankness of the Kidneys, and how much it resembles that, which it was, before 'twas taken into the Body. And methinks, the conveyance of the Milk into the breast hath much affinity with this of the Urine into the Bladder; the sudden pressing whereof into the Papps after the Nurtles drinking ordinary Milk could no more be explained by the ordinary doctrine of Circulation, than this of the urine into the Bladder, till the shorter cut was hit upon by the Ductus thoracici; though ordinarily it may be stray'd in from the Arteries, as the Serum also in the Kidneys; onely in a Milk-floud Nature finds some other Channel there, as here in a Water-floud. Lastly, Sometimes things are shed forth at the Niples, almost as much surprizing as this, we have spoken of, at the Neck of the Bladder. But I am perhaps too prolix in my reflexions, of which I desire you to believe I have as mean thoughts, as the Candidst of Readers shall. I am, &c. Wooabridge, sept, 18. 1668. II. Joh. Hevelii COMETOGRAPHIA. Printed at Danzig A. 1668. in large Folio. In this curious and learned Volume the Illustrious Author hath with great industry endeavoured to explain the whole Nature of Comets, their Place, Parallaxes, Distances from the Earth, Beginning and End, the several Appearances of their Heads and Trayns, together with their admirable motion; And all this by means of one constant and fit Hypothesis, by which he judgeth that all the Phænomena and Questions touching Comets, hitherto known, may be rationally and conveniently explained and demonstrated: All illustrated by 38 Schemes in Folio, engraven by the Author himself; as the whole Book hath been Printed at his own charges. To which is added both a particular explication of the Comets, which appear'd A. 1652, 1661, 1664, 1665; and an History of all the Comets, recorded by Historians, Philosophers and Astronomers from the Noachical Deluge unto this day, enriched with the Authors Notes and Animadversions, and a general Table, representing, as it were, in one view, the most remarkable particulars observed in all Comets, viz. concerning the time of their first apparition, their duration, place, motion direct or retrograde, slow or swift; the bigness, figure and colour of their Heads, and the bigness, shape and position of their Tylles. He begins his enumeration and History of the Comets from A. 1656, after the Creation of the World, or from A. 2292, before the Nativity of our Lord; where the Reader will meet with a great and pleasant variety of the shapes, colors, brightness, magnitudes, &c. of Comets, together with the various consequences, noted by Authors and Men of an Astrological and Divinatory Genius. He reckons up about 250 Comets in number; not as if there had not been many more, but because no more have been Registered in Ages, either negligent of, or less knowing in such matters. He also takes notice of more Comets than one appearing at once, whereof there are to be found such Examples, that several times have been seen two, sometimes three, and twice four together; which latter he observes to have happened A. 1599 and A. 1618. He notes some of the form of a Wheel, some of that of an Horn, others of the shape of a Sword, Dagger, Zable, Javelin, Hallebard, Dragon, Beard, Flaming Pillar, Timber-beam, Dish, Shield, Tube, Pyramid; others with two or three Tylles; others, Trayn-less; others so resplendent, as to enlighten the Night considerably, yea as bright as the Sun, obscuring all other Stars; some round, some oval, some square; others having their Train discontinued and interrupted in one or more places, as if it were absorbed by the Sky, and emerged again; others having Tylles like Peacocks; others such, as extended themselves into the length, some of 30, some of 40, 45, 60, 70, 100 degrees and above. He takes notice, that before the Noble Tycho no Comet hath been exactly and fully observed or described; and he gives a large account not only of the Comets of the said Tycho's Observation, which appear'd A. 1577, 1590, but also of that, which was seen A. 1607, (accurately described by Longomontanus and Kepler) and of those of 1618, especially that famous one of the same year, which at first was 71 Semi-diameters of the Earth distant from the Earth, but at last farther from it than the Sun, in regard it had towards the end a lesser Parallax, than he: besides that it had had an extraordinary Trayn, sometimes 45, 60, 75, yea 104 degr. long; as also that for some time it shone all night, and now and then seem'd to break out into Lightning. To all which he adds the Observations of the Comets seen A. 1647, 1652, 1661, 1664, 1665, of which the last four were diligently observ'd and are exactly described by himself. As for the Theory, whereby the Author renders an Account of all the Phenomena of Comets, he supposeth, that they all move in a Streight Line, by which supposition (first suggested by Kepler) and no other, that he can imagine, he esteems that all the Appearances of them, how insoluble soever else they seem, may very easily be explicated, especially supposing the Sun in the Center of the Universe, and the Annual motion of the Earth; though he suggests also a way of saving the said Rectilinear motion even without destroying the Systeme of Ptolemy. But yet he would not be understood so strictly in asserting that streight motion, but that Comets may more or less deviate from that streightness, both in appearance, and really; the former arising from the various sight of them, and their various distance from the Earth and the Sun, and the Annual motion of the Earth; the latter, from the matter of their Bodies and Nucleus's (as he calls the substance of their Head) not increasing nor decreasing uniformly on all sides. To which he adds the consideration of a motion impress'd, and that of an Inclination of the Cometick Disk to the Sun, as two other Causes, why Comets may now and then, especially about the beginning and end of their appearance, somewhat digress from their streight course. Where he alleges, that he hath much laboured to give an account of Comets by a Circular motion, but could not possibly satisfie himselfe in it, nor answer the Phenomena of most, though perhaps that Hypothesis may serve to salve some of them. But then, to explaine that Trajectory rectilinear motion, he subjects the Comet of A. 1652. to a very rigid calculus, to shew, how that line is to be delineated, and how that way is applicable to all other Comets. Further, to render a Cause of this motion, he supposeth, that, as all Celestial Bodies move about their Axes, their Atmosphere wheeling perpetually round about with them; so the matter, which exhaleth from the Sun and the other Planets, not only issues out of them in a straight way, but also, whilst those Bodies, together with their Atmosphere, move round, turns constantly about with them, till it desert the said Atmosphere. To which he adds, that the matter of those exhalations are of the like nature with our Terrestrial Vapors, in that they are apt to condense, and after a while to be dissolved, and to return again to their first principles. Having supposed this, he assumes farther, that Bodies turn'd round, the longer they move, and the greater the Circle is, they move in, the greater impetus and vehemence they acquire, tending always to recede from the Center to the Circumference, and being separated and set at liberty from their vertiginous or circular motion, they continue to be moved (as long as no stop intervenes,) but no more in that circularly, but in a straight line, viz. in the Tangent of the Circle. After this manner he concludeth, That as soon as vapors exhale or are expelled out of a Celestial Body, whether it be the Sun or other Planets, into the Atmosphere encompassing it (which that they do, he endeavours to prove) they still acquire more and more force to move from the Center or the Planet to the Circumference (by virtue of the swift circumrotation of the Atmosphere, which together with its Body or Planet is turn'd round about,) till at last, being ejected out of their Circle into the free Sky, and more and more supplyed with the accession of the like matter, they make up the Bodies of Comets, and then move in a straight line, obverting one side to the Sun, as Clouds do theirs to our Earth. Having laid down this, he deduceth thence the explication of the Phænomena, and Questions, hitherto observed and raised in and about Comets, viz. How they increase in bulk, and commonly with much quickness near the Sun? Why they are made up of several Kernels? Why not all Cometick matter is moved towards the same quarter of the Heavens? How it comes to pass, that at one and the same time more Comets than one are produced, and that they meet one another, and by their mutual concourse change one anothers motion, or break into parts and so constitute several Stars? Why all Comets are not visible to us? Why there are more Comets in one Age, than another? Why they do not always move equal spaces in equal times; nor always in a Line precisely straight, (there being almost none such in Nature but sometimes with an Inclination of its Diske, so as to make a Parabola, yet never the Segment of a Circle? How they observe two motions, an External, and Internal or Natural? How one of the flat sides of the Cometick Diske respecteth the Sun, as the Magnetick Needle does the North-Pole? Why the Motion of Comets is swiftest, where the Sun-beams fall perpendicularly on it? Why the motion of a recent Cometick matter is made spirally? Why that Spiral is not the same in all Comets? Why one Comet moves much swifter than another? Why the motion of one and the same Comet increaseth and decreaseth? How a new Comet issues out of its Atmosphere? That the densest Comets move swiftest. That, though the motion of Comets be unequal, yet 'tis not irregular. Whether Comets always are most vigorous in the middle of their way? When Comets describe a Semi-parabola only? Why Comets are almost never perceiv'd by Us, when they first emerge out of their Atmosphere? That the motion of Comets hath a conformity with that of Ships. That the Sun does the same in the deviation of Comets, what a Pilot or Ship-master doth by the means of Cables in the direction of Sayling. That Comets, like Ships, describe sometimes an entire, sometimes a Semi-parabola. That it appears by the inflexion of the Trajectory line, whether the way of the Comet be Circular or Elliptick or Parabolical. Why this motion is rather Parabolical, than Hyperbolical? That the greatest deviation of Comets from the line of direction is scarce of two degrees; though 'tis not altogether improbable, but that in some it may be a little greater, especially in those, that traverse through a much vaster space of the Heavens, than others, and are of a very long duration: That the matter and figure of a Comet, and the impetus at first impressed, make much to its motion: That Comets, which come out of larger Atmospheres, and from about their Equator, and are of a compact body, are swiftest, and especially those, that have their rise from the Sun. How the motion of the Spots of the Sun may be compared with that of Comets? How the greatest velocity and tardity of the motion of Comets may be limited? That there is a Libratory motion in Comets as well as in the Moon, &c. The Curious are hereby advertised, that the Author hath thought fit to lodge with the Publisher a number of Copies both of this Cometography, and of all his former Works, viz. the Selenography, Mercurius in sole visus, Venus in sole visa, Epistle de motu Librario Luna, and the Prodromus and Mantissa concerning the two Comets of An. 1664, and An. 1665. All which Books being order'd by the Author to be vended here, for an Exchange into the longest and best Telescope, that can be made by English Artists; those that are desirous to be furnish'd with them, may please to address themselves to the Publisher, who is ready to give them further information herein. II. Renati Des Cartes EPISTOLÆ; Pars I. & II. Londini A. 1668. in 4°. Though some few of these Letters were by the Author himself written in Latin, yet the far greater part of them having been by him written in French, they are now come abroad all Translated into Latin, for the benefit of those, that are unskilful in the other Language. They contain very many Philosophical questions and matters, of all sorts, and an Explication of many difficulties, to be met with in the other Works of the Illustrious Author; and were written to some of the most Eminent persons for knowledge and learning of this Age. The intelligent Reader will find here an incredible and exceedingly delightful variety of Subjects, Geometrical, Arithmetical, Musical, Optical, Mechanical, Physiological, Medical, Metaphysical and Moral. There is a Third part of the same Authors Letters yet remaining un-translated, which is like to follow very shortly, with some other Tracts, concerning Man, and the Union of the Rational Soul with the Body; whereof the former was written by Descartes himself, the latter by the Ingenious D. Dela Forge, upon Cartesian Principles. III. Scrutinium Chymicum VITRIOLI, Auth. Joh. Georgio Triumphio, Saxone, Med. Licentiato. Fene 1667. Consisting but of 8 or 9 sheets in 4°. This Author endeavours in this small Tract to shew the Nature, Difference, Choice, Qualities and Vertues, (especially in Physick) of Vitriol, together with the various ways of preparing both dry and liquid Medicins out of that Mineral Juice. The way of making Vitriol used at Goslar in Germany (the Authors Native Country) we shall thence extract and give here verbatim, as follows; Fit & Goslariense Vitriolum per cocturam. Postquam enim terra vitrulata ex vicino monte Rammelo in officinas colctorias delata est, facta lignivio, in abeo plumbeo totum Vulcano negotium committunt. Hic postquam fideliter suam navavit operam, perque definitum coctioni tempus crepitantes subministra vit flammas, liquor ille coctus exhaustur, inque cadis lignos insignis peripheria & altitudinis transmittitur. Super hæc vasa lignea adornantur, transirum in morem, trabecula perforata. His foraminibus adaptantur, & firmantur calamis arundinis, qui ad fundum inque vasis immittuntur. Ubi itaque congelat, post aliquod temporis intervallum adherent calamis crystalli vitriolati, eximium præbentes oculis fulmen, pelluciditate sua cum Sapphirina gemma decertantes. Here he examins, why Vitriol will onely be boyled in Leaden Vessels, and alledges divers opinions concerning it. He alfo mentions an Experiment, which seems pretty, if true; viz. that Vitriol, placed close to Amber, will lose its colour and pungency. He takes notice, when he sets forth the praises and uses of this Mineral, that it alone may well make up the fourth part of an Apothecaries Shop, and cure the fourth part of Diseases. A Paracelsian affeation! He forgets not the Sympathetick Powder, made of this substance; nor its vertue in stopping pertinacious Hemorrhagies; alledging an Example of a Country-man, who having been sorely wounded in his Skull, so that the bleeding could not be stopp’d any other way, had by the application of this vitriolate powder present help, and soon after a perfect cure of his wound. R. Vitrioli Goslar. in Solis radius ad album calcinati uncias viii, pulv. Gummi tragac. purissimi i. unciam. Misc. invicem diligenter, ut siæ pulvis subtilissimus sympatheticus. IV. Francisci de le Boe Sylvii PRAXIS MEDICÆ Idea nova, Lib. i. Lugd. Batav. in 12° 1667. This Treatise was not long since transmitted to the Publisher by the Author himself, and there is perhaps as yet never an other Exemplar of it in England; which is therefore intimated here, that our Stationers may be invited to fend for some Copies of it over, the Book seeming to be both very ingenious, and considerable. There are in this first part of the Idea considered those Distempers, which respect the diseased Functions Natural, as in the second part he intends to consider those, which regard the diseased Animal Functions, and in the third, such as belong to those, that are appointed for Generation. Of every Distemper he endeavours to discover its nature, causes, concomitants, remedies, of which last he delivers a great number of prescriptions, which he varieth according to the various tempers and humors of Patients. He intermixes abundance of Philosophical Speculations and Remarks, among which are some concerning Fermentation; the noxiousness of all such things, as either destroy or dull the Acid spirit of the Body in the work Of Nutrition; the dominion of the three Humors in the Body of Animals, viz. the Gall, the Pancreatick Juice, and the Saliva, and their Mixture, ei- ther immediate or mediate, with the Blood returning to the Heart; as also their great influence, when they are vitiated, in disturbing the Effervescence of the Blood, as well as their power and vertue, when they are tempered together in a due proportion, to cause a regular motion in the blood, and to convert meat into good nourishment: Farther, about the Change of the Chyle into Blood, and where that change is begun, where advanc'd, and where perfected: About the alteration made in the whole body of Ani- mals by the Spermatick Aura, as to their Voice, fatness, sweetness, &c. About Respiration, and how that may cease for a while in Syncope's and Hy- pochondriacal Suffocations without death; about Sneezing, the Hickocke, Yawning, Pandiculation, and their Causes: The alteration, which the blood of the left Ventricle receiveth in the Lungs by the inspired Air, and the Saliva, or some other glandulous liquor: Of the Pulse; of the Plenty of Animal Spirits and its cause; of the return of Feverish fits by inter- vals, together with the cause thereof, &c. ERRATA. Upon a second and more leisurable perusal of some of the former Translations, there are found left the following faults, of which some may be so material as to prejudice the sense; viz. p.641. l.12.23. the Author of the Book, there spoken of, thinks it more su- itable to the tenor of that Book, to change those words, A new method analytical for giving the Aggregat of an infinite or indefinite converging Series, into these, A new method Ana- lytical, whereby in general he gives the termination of a converging series conditionally, and in two particular cases does the same absolutely. Compare N. 37. p.734. l.27.et seq. Besides, p. 654.l. 24. leg. MDCLVIII. p.745. l. 22. for 70 oids r. 70. Combs. p. 746.l. 24. tam aperta. p. 749.l. 6. ducatur pro dictatur p. 750. l. 9. ang lum solidum. l.20. Est quidem. p. 754. l.32. elegantis. p. 755. l. 31. 0000485203,---p.756. l. 1. AHGN. p. 758. l. 11. capiana. ibid. l.20. 813b', &c. ibid. l. 23. completes. ibid.l.28. ADEJ. p.764. l.8. leg. = oLoi, numerus. p.778. l.ult. seu p.o fin. Some literal and Grammatical faults, as quadratura pro quadrat ra 3 p. 753. l. 12 homogeneorum pro homo- genarium, p. 778. l.39. and such like, the Reader will be pleas'd to mend himself. FINIS. In the SAVOTY, 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.