Chapter I. Knowledge may be acquired by Astronomy to a certain Extent

Tat a certain power, derived from the sthereal nature, is diffused over and pervades the whole atmosphere of the earth, is clearly evident to all men. Fire and air, the first of the sublunary elements, are encompassed and altered by the motions of the ether. These elements in their turn encompass all inferior matter, and vary it as they themselves are varied; acting on earth and water, on plants and animals *.

* The following extract from an old geographical work, framed

on the rules of Ptolemy, explains the system on whieh this action of ‘the ssther is made to depend :—

The Sun, always acting in connection with the Ambient, contributes to the regulation of all earthly things: not only by the revolution of the seasons does he bring to perfection the embryo of animals, ‘the buds of plants, the spring of

“ Chap. 2. The world is divided into two parts, the elemental re- “‘ gion, and the ethereal. The elemental region. is constantly ‘S subject to alteration, and comprises the four elements; carth, ‘“‘ water, air and fire. The zthereal region, which philosophers call “ the fifth essence, encompasses, by its concavity, the elemental; ‘* its substance remains always unvaried, and consists of ten spheres; ‘“‘ of which the greater one always spherically environs the next * smaller, and so on in consecutive order.—First, therefore, around ‘* the sphere of fire, Gop, the creator of the world, placed the sphere ‘“‘ of the Moon, then that of Mercury, then that of Venus, then that *¢ of the Sun, and ‘afterwards those of Mars, of Jupiter, and of Sa- ‘‘ turn. Each of these spheres, however, contains but one star: and “ these stars, in passing through the zodiac, always struggle against “ the primum mobile, or the motion of the tenth sphere ; they are also “* entirely lumihous. In the next place follows the firmament, which “< is the eighth or starry sphere, and which trembles or vibrates (tre- “‘ pidat) in two small circles at the beginning of Aries and Libra “ (as placed in the ninth sphere); this motion is called by astrono- “ mers the motion of the access‘and recess of the fixed stars.” (Probably in order to account for the precession of the equinoxes.} ‘¢ This is surrounded by the ninth sphere, called the chrystalline or “* ‘watery heaven, because no star is discovered in it. Lastly, the “< primum mobile, styled also the tenth sphere, encompasses all the “* before-mentioned zethereal spheres, and is continually tarned upon “ the poles of the world, by one revolution in 24 hours, from the east ‘* through the meridian to the west, again coming round to the east. ‘“< At the same time, it rolls all the inferior spheres round with it, by ‘‘ its own force ; and there is no star in if. Against this primum mo- “‘ bile, the motion of the other spheres, running from the west “ through the meridian to the east, contends. Whatever is beyond “ this, is fixed and immoveable, and the professors of our orthodox “ faith affirm it to be the empyrean heaven which Gop inhabits with “ the elect.”—Cosmographia of Peter Apianus (named Benewitz), dedicated to the Archbishop of Saltzburg, edited by Gemma Frisius, and printed at Antwerp. ans

waters, atid the alteration of bodies, ‘but by his daily ptogress algo he operates other changes in light, heat, moisture, dryness and cold; dependent ugon his situation with regard to. the zenith, - The Moon, being of. al] the heavenly bodies the nearest to the Earth, also dispenses much influence; and things ani- Mate and. inanimate sympathize and vary with ber, By the changes of her illumination, rivers swell and are reduced; the tides of the sea are ruled by her risings and settings; aud plants and animals are expanded or collapsed, if not entirely at least partially, as she waxes or wanes. The stats ikewsse (as well the fixed stara as the planets), it performing their revolutions *, produce many impressions on the Ambient. They cause heats, winds, and storms, to the influence of which earthly things are conformably subjected. , And further, the mutual configurations of all these hea-. venty bodies, by commingling the influence with which each is séparately invested, produce a multiplicity of changes. . The power of the Sun however predominates, because it is more generally distributed; the others either co-operate with his power or diminish its effect: the Moon more fre-- ently and more plainly perforins this at her conjunction, at her first and last quarter, and at her opposition : the stars act also to a similar purpose, but at longer intervals and. more obscurely than the Moon; and their operation principalty depends upon the mode of their visibility, their occultation and their declination. From these premises it follows not only that all bodies, which may be already compounded, afe subjected to the motion of the stars, but also that the impregnation and

* It will be recollected that the Ptolemaic astronomy attributes motion and a regular course to those stars which we now call fixed, but which the Greeks merely termed «#Acarsi, undeviating.

growth of the weeds from which all bodies proveed, are Framed and moulded by the quality existing in the Acabient at the time of sach impregnation and prowth. Anil it is ‘upon this principle that the more observant husbandmen and shepherds are accustomed, by drawing their infereaces from the particular breezes which may happen at seedetirte and at the impregnation of theit cattle, to form predictions as to the quality of the expected prodace. In short, how ever unieatned ia the philosophy of nature, these men can foretel, solely. by their previous observation, all the mort peneral and usual effects which result from the plainer and mote visible. configurations of the San, Moon, and stars, It is daily seen that even most illiterate persons, with no other aid than their own experienced observation, are capa bie of predicting events which may be consequent on the tore extended influence of the Sun and the more simple order of the Ambient, and which may aot be open to varia= ‘tion by any complex configurations of the Moon and stars towards the Sun. There are, moreover, among the brate creation, avitnals who evidently form prognostication, and use this wonderful instinct at the changes of the several seasons of the year, spting, summer, autumn and winter} and, algo, at the changes of the wind. — ‘ In producing the changes last mentioned, the Sun iteclf is chiefly the operating and visible cause. .There are, however, other events which, although they are not indicated in so simple @ manner, but dependent on a slight complication of causes in the Ambient, afe also foreknown by persons who have applied theit observation to that end. Of this kind, are tempests and gales of wind, produced by certein _ aspects of the Moon, or the fixed stars, towards the Suny accotding to their eeveral courses, and the approach of which is usually foreseen by mariners. At the same time, prognostication made by persons of this class must be fre~ quently fallacious, owing to their deficiency in sckence and

‘their consequent inability to give necessary consideration to the ‘time and place, or to the revolutions of the planets; all which circumstances, when exactly defined and understood, certainly tend towards accurate foreknowledge. When, therefore, a thorough knowledge of the motions _ of the stars, and of the Sun and Moon, shall have been acquired, and when the situation of the place, the time, and all the configurations actually existing at that place. and time, shall also be duly known; and such knowledge be yet further improved by an acquaintance with the natures of _ the heavenly bodies—not of what they are. composed, but of the effective influences they possess; as, for instance, that heat is the property of the Sun, and moisture of the Moon, and that other peculiar properties respectively appertain to the rest of them ;—when all these qualifications for prescience may be possessed by any individual, there seems no obstacle to deprive him of the insight, offered at once by nature and his own judgment, into the effects arising out of the quality of all the various influences compounded together. So that he will thus be competent to predict the peculiar constitution of the atmosphere in every season, as, for instance, with regard to its greater heat or moisture, or other similar qualities; all which may be. foreseen by the visible position or configuration of the stars and the Moon _towards the Sun. . . Since.it is thus clearly practicable, by an accurate knowledge of the points above enumerated, to make predictions concerning the proper quality of the seasons, there also seems no impediment to the formation of similar prognostication concerning the destiny and disposition of every human being. . For. by the constjtution of the Ambient, _ even at the time of any individual’s primary conformation, the general quality of .that individual’s temperament may be perceived; and the corporeal shape and mental capacity with which the person will be endowed at birth may be