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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22242That the Earth may be a Planet. are noted in a Cæleſtial Globe, he ſhall ſcarce
find any in the Sky which are not marked
with the Globe;
nay, he may obſerve many
in the Globe, which he can ſcarce at all diſ-
cern in the Heavens.
Now this number of the Stars, is common-
ly diſtributed into 48 Conſtellations;
in each
of which, though we ſhould ſuppoſe ten
thouſand Stars, (which can ſcarce be con-
ceived) yet would not all this number equal
that of the Children of Iſrael.
Nay, 'tis
the aſſertion of Clavius, that Abraham's Po-
11In prim. c.
Sphæræ.
ſterity, in ſome few Generations, were far
more than there could be Stars in the Firma-
ment, though they ſtuck ſo cloſe that they
touched one another:
And he proves it thus;
A great Circle in the Firmament, does con-
tain the diameter of a Star of the firſt Mag-
nitude 14960 times.
In the Diameter of
the Firmament, there are contained 4760
Diameters of ſuch a Star:
Now if we mul-
tiply this for a Diameter, the Product will
be 71209600, which is the full number of
Stars, that the eighth Sphere (according to
Ptolomy's grounds) would contain, if they
ſtood ſo cloſe that they touched one ano-
ther.
The Children of Iſrael were reckoned, at
22Num.1.46 their going out of Egypt, 603550, of ſuch
as were one and twenty Years old, and up-
wards, and were able to go to War;
be-
ſides Children, and Women, and Youths,
and old Men, and the Levites;
which in
probability, did always treble the other

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