An essay on the first principles of natural philosophy. Wherein the use of natural means, or second causes, in the oeconomy of the material world, is demonstrated from reason, experiments of various kinds, and the testimony of antiquity : in four books illustrated with copper-plates / by the Reverend William Jones.

  • Jones, William, 1726-1800.
Date:
1762
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Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: An essay on the first principles of natural philosophy. Wherein the use of natural means, or second causes, in the oeconomy of the material world, is demonstrated from reason, experiments of various kinds, and the testimony of antiquity : in four books illustrated with copper-plates / by the Reverend William Jones. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    214/306 (page 192)
    This fame Arijlotle informs us, that an aftronomical fyftem, contrary to his own, was maintained by thofe of the Italic fedt, who were called Pythagoreans: for thefe, fays he, aflert that fire is in the midft of the world, and that the earth, moving as one of the ftars, performs a circuit round this centre, by means of which the changes of day and night are brought to pafs. And the fame author adds that many others befide the Pythagoreans^ judged it impro¬ per to place the earth in the centre of the world. ^ Archimedes delivers it as the opinion and dodrine of Arijlarchus Samius^ that ‘‘ all the fixt ftars and the fun are “ without motion : that the earth is carried round the fun in the circumference of a circle, of which the fun itfelf is the centre: and that the (phere of the fixt ftars is fo im- menfe, that the circle of the earth’s annual orb bears no greater proportion to it, than the centre of any Iphere “ bears to its whole furface Laertius ^nA~Stohaus afcribe the fame dodrine to Phi- ^ T * , lolaus. By the latter of thefe we are informed, that he ‘‘ placed fire in the middle of the vrorld, at the centre, and ^‘called it. the focus or hearth of the univerfe. f ” Froni this philofopher Plato is reported to have borrowed much p. 38 of the Englijh tranflation-Thus far we muft agree with this learned author^ that if the ancients had a knowlcge of the circulafion, their expreffions upon the fubje<S'are at leaft defedlive, if not unintelligible. And it hath happened tn many inftances, that the truth hath never been fufficiently cleared up and eftablifhed, until it hath been exprefsly difputcd. Certain it is, that the Gaknijis did abfolutely deny a circulation: in oppofition to whofe fyftem, the truth was either reftored or difcovered by the folid reafonings and experiments of Harvey. . _ ., * Zva4i7iu<; et mQA tjh Sf E^n rov' IIi>§ f4Vc*f (pxm, St ytjf t» Tvv tv-ntv xvxXx r» f/nn* ti xxf no/'Skfl/f S’ et* xcti Sh> ttj r>i¥ rb fjkiovu tnrchoiivcCff. Ariji. dc Ccelo. L. Z. C. 1 t Archhn. Arenar. Lib. i. J Tev^ evr*^ tv ttxvt^ Stob. tv In his chapter wncc4 &c. he obferves of the mathematicians, that toine fol¬ lowed Plato i ‘while othen averted the fun to be in the middle of the world— Tuii Tcv V of I