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

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7665That the Moon may be a World.
The Stoicks held that Planet to be 11Plut. Fe
placit. phil.
l 2. c. 25.
ed by Fire and Air, and in their Opinion, the
Variety of its Compoſition cauſed her ſpots;
being not aſhamed to ſtile the ſame Body a
Goddeſs, calling it Diana, Minerva, &
c. and
yet affirm it to be an impure Mixture of
Flame and Smoke, and Fuliginous Air.
But this Planet cannot conſiſt of Fire (ſaith
Plutarch) becauſe there is not any Fewel to
maintain it.
And the Poets therefore have
fained Vulcan to be lame, becauſe he can no
more ſubſiſt without Wood or other Fewel,
than a Lame Man without a Staff.
Anaxagor as thought all the Stars to be of an
Earthly Nature, Mixed with ſome Fire;
and
as for the Sun, he affirmed it to be nothing
elſe but a ſieryStone;
for which later Opinion
22Foſephus
l. 2. com.
App. Au-
guſte de ci-
vit. Dei.
l. 18. c. 41.
the Athenians ſentenc'd him to Death, thoſe
Zealous Idolaters counting it a great Blaſphe-
my to make their God a Stone, whereas not-
withſtanding, they were ſo ſenſeleſs in their
adoration of Idols, as to make a Stone their
God.
This Anaxagor as affirm'd the Moon to
be more Terreſtrial than the other Planets,
but of a greater Purity than any thing here
below, and the Spots, he thought, were no-
thing elſe, but ſome cloudy parts, intermin-
gled with the Light which belonged to that
Planet;
but I have above deſtroyed the Sup-
poſition on which this Fancy is grounded.
Pli-
ny thinks they ariſe from ſome droſſie ſtuff,
33Nat. Hiſt.
l. 2. c. 9.
mixed with that moiſture which the Moon
attracts unto her ſelſ;
but he was of their Opi-
nion, who thought the Stars were nouriſhed
by ſome Earthly Vapours, which you

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