Salusbury, Thomas, Mathematical collections and translations (Tome I), 1667

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              <s>
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              a natural Curioſitie, do frequentlie for my Recreation viſit that
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              place, and confer with theſe perſons; which for a certain prehe­
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              minence that they have above the reſt we call ^{*}
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              Overſeers
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              : whoſe
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              diſcourſe hath oft helped me in the inveſtigation of not only won­
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              derful, but abſtruce, and incredible Effects: and indeed I have been
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              at a loſſe ſometimes, and deſpaired to penetrate how that could
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              poſſibly come to paſſe, which far from all expectation my ſenſes
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              demonſtrated to be true; and yet that which not long ſince that
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              good Old man told us, is a ſaying and propoſition, though com­
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              mon enough, yet in my opinion wholly vain, as are many others,
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              often in the mouths of unskilful perſons; introduced by them, as
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              I ſuppoſe, to ſhew that they underſtand how to ſpeak ſomething
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              about that, of which nevertheleſſe they are incapable.</s>
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              * Proti.</s>
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              The Opinion of
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              Common Artificers
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              are often falſe.
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              <s>SALV. </s>
              <s>It may be Sir, you ſpeak of that laſt propoſition which
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              he affirmed, when we deſired to underſtand, why they made
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              ſo much greater proviſion of ſupporters, and other proviſions,
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              and reinforcements about that Galeaſſe, which was to be launcht
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              than is made about leſſer Veſſels, and he anſwered us, that they did
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              ſo to avoid the peril of breaking its Keel, through the mighty
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              weight of its vaſt bulk, an inconvenience to which leſſer ſhips are
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              not subject.</s>
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              Great Ships apter
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              than others to break
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              their Keels in
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              Launching, accor­
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              ding to ſome.
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              </s>
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              <s>SAGR. </s>
              <s>I do intend the ſame, and chiefly that laſt concluſion,
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              which he added to his others, and which I alwaies eſteemed a vain
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              conceit of the Vulgar, namely, That in theſe and other Machines
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              we muſt not argue from the leſſe to the greater, becauſe many
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              Mechanical Inventions take in little, which hold not in great. </s>
              <s>But
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              being that all the Reaſons of the Mechanicks, have their founda­
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              tions from Geometry; in which I ſee not that greatneſſe and
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              ſmalneſſe make Circles, Triangles, Cilinders, Cones, or any other
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              ſolid Figures ſubject to different paſſions: when the great Ma­
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              chine is conformed in all its members to the proportions of the
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              leſſe that is uſeful, and fit for exerciſe to which it is deſigned; I
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              cannot ſee why it alſo ſhould not be exempt from the unlucky,
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              ſiniſter, and deſtructive accidents that may befall it.</s>
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              <s>SALV The ſaying of the Vulgar is abſolutely vain, and ſo
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              falſe, that its contrary may be affirmed with equal truth, ſaying,
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              That many Machines may be made more perfect in great than lit­
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              tle: As for inſtance, a Clock that ſhews and ſtrikes the Houres,
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              may be made more exact in one certain ſize, than in another leſſe.
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              </s>
              <s>With better ground is that ſame concluſion uſurped by other more
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              intelligent perſons, who refer the cauſe of ſuch effects in theſe
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              great Machines different from what is collected from the pure, and
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              abſtracted Demonſtrations of Geometry, to the imperfection of
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              the matter, which is ſubject to many alterations, and defects.
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              </s>
              <s>But here, I know not whether I may without contracting ſome </s>
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