Wilkins, John, A discovery of a new world : or a discourse tending to prove, that 'tis probable there may be another Habitable World in the Moon ; with a discourse concerning the Probability of a Passage thither; unto which is added, a discourse concerning a New Planet, tending to prove, that 'tis probable our earth is one of the Planets

Table of handwritten notes

< >
< >
page |< < (106) of 370 > >|
118106That the Moon may be a World. only one ſmall part of her Body enlightned,
then the Earth B will have ſuch a part of its
viſible Hemiſphere darkned, as is proportio-
nable to that part of the Moon which is en-
lightned;
and as for ſo much of the Moon, as
the Sun-Beams cannot reach unto, it receives
Light from a proportional part of the Earth
which ſhines upon it, as you may plainly per-
ceive by the Figure.
You ſee then that Agreement and Simili-
tude which there is betwixt our Earth and the
Moon.
Now the greateſt difference which
makes them unlike, is this, that the Moon en-
lightens our Earth round about, whereas our
Earth gives Light to that Hemiſphere of the
Moon which is viſible unto us, as may be cer-
tainly gather’d from the conſtant appearance
of the ſame ſpots, which could not thus come
to paſs, if the Moon had ſuch a Diurnal mo-
tion about its own Axis, as perhaps our
Earth hath.
And though ſome ſuppoſe her
to move in an Epicycle, yet this doth not ſo
turn her Body round, that we may diſcern
both Hemiſpheres;
for according to that Hy-
potheſis (ſay they) the Motion of her Eccen-
centrick doth turn her Face towards us, as
much as the other doth from us.
But now, if any Queſtion what they do for
a Moon who live in the upper part of her Bo-
dy?
I anſwer, the ſolving of this, is the moſt
uncertain and difficult thing that I know of,
concerning this whole matter.
But yet unto me
this ſeems a probable Conjecture.
That the upper Hemiſphere of the Moon
doth receive a ſufficient Light from thoſe

Text layer

  • Dictionary

Text normalization

  • Original
  • Regularized
  • Normalized

Search


  • Exact
  • All forms
  • Fulltext index
  • Morphological index