1towards the Sun it is bounded by the lucid horns of the Moon,
and on the other part, its confining term is the obſcure tract of the
twilight; whoſe relation makes us think the candor of the Moons
Diſcus to be ſo much the clearer; the which happens to be
fuſcated in the oppoſite part, by the greater clarity of the
cents; but if this modern Author had eſſaied to make an
poſition between the eye and the primary ſplendor, by the ridg of
ſome houſe, or ſome other ſcreen, ſo as to have left viſible only
the groſe of the Moon, the horns excluded, he might have ſeen
it all alike luminous.
and on the other part, its confining term is the obſcure tract of the
twilight; whoſe relation makes us think the candor of the Moons
Diſcus to be ſo much the clearer; the which happens to be
fuſcated in the oppoſite part, by the greater clarity of the
cents; but if this modern Author had eſſaied to make an
poſition between the eye and the primary ſplendor, by the ridg of
ſome houſe, or ſome other ſcreen, ſo as to have left viſible only
the groſe of the Moon, the horns excluded, he might have ſeen
it all alike luminous.
The ſecondary
light of the Moon
appears in form of
a Ring, that is to
ſay, bright in the
extreme
rence, and not in
the midſt, and why.
light of the Moon
appears in form of
a Ring, that is to
ſay, bright in the
extreme
rence, and not in
the midſt, and why.
SIMPL, I think, now I remember, that he writes of his
making uſe of ſuch another Artifice, to hide from us the falſe
Incidum.
making uſe of ſuch another Artifice, to hide from us the falſe
Incidum.
SALV. Oh! how is this (as I believed) inadvertency of his,
changed into a lie, bordering on raſhneſſe; for that every one
may frequently make proof of the contrary. That in the next
place, at the Suns Eclipſe, the Moons Diſcus is ſeen otherwayes
than by privation, I much doubt, and ſpecially when the
clipſe is not total, as thoſe muſt neceſſarily have been, which
were obſerved by the Author; but if alſo he ſhould have
red ſomewhat of light, this contradicts not, rather favoureth our
opinion; for that at ſuch a time, the whole Terreſtrial
ſphere illuminated by the Sun, is oppoſite to the Moon, ſo that
although the Moons ſhadow doth obſcure a part thereof, yet this
is very ſmall in compariſon of that which remains illuminated.
That which he farther adds, that in this caſe, the part of the
limb, lying under the Sun, doth appear very lucid, but that
which lyeth beſides it, not ſo; and that to proceed from the
ming of the ſolar rayes directly through that part to the eye, but
not through this, is really one of thoſe fopperies, which diſco
ver the other fictions, of him which relates them: For if it be
requiſite to the making a ſecondary light viſible in the lunar
cus, that the rayes of the Sun came directly through it to our
eyes, doth not this pitiful Philoſopher perceive, that we ſhould
ver ſee this ſame ſecondary light, ſave onely at the Eclipſe of the
Sun? And if a part onely of the Moon, far leſſe than half a
gree, by being remote from the Suns Diſcus, can deflect or
viate the rayes of the Sun, ſo that they arrive not at our eye;
what ſhall it do when it is diſtant twenty or thirty degrees, as it is
at its firſt apparition? and what courſe ſhall the rayes of the Sun
keep, which are to paſſe thorow the body of the Moon, that
they may find out our eye? This man doth go ſucceſſively
dering what things ought to be, that they may ſerve his purpoſe,
but doth not gradually proceed, accommodating his conceits to
the things, as really they are. As for inſtance, to make the light
changed into a lie, bordering on raſhneſſe; for that every one
may frequently make proof of the contrary. That in the next
place, at the Suns Eclipſe, the Moons Diſcus is ſeen otherwayes
than by privation, I much doubt, and ſpecially when the
clipſe is not total, as thoſe muſt neceſſarily have been, which
were obſerved by the Author; but if alſo he ſhould have
red ſomewhat of light, this contradicts not, rather favoureth our
opinion; for that at ſuch a time, the whole Terreſtrial
ſphere illuminated by the Sun, is oppoſite to the Moon, ſo that
although the Moons ſhadow doth obſcure a part thereof, yet this
is very ſmall in compariſon of that which remains illuminated.
That which he farther adds, that in this caſe, the part of the
limb, lying under the Sun, doth appear very lucid, but that
which lyeth beſides it, not ſo; and that to proceed from the
ming of the ſolar rayes directly through that part to the eye, but
not through this, is really one of thoſe fopperies, which diſco
ver the other fictions, of him which relates them: For if it be
requiſite to the making a ſecondary light viſible in the lunar
cus, that the rayes of the Sun came directly through it to our
eyes, doth not this pitiful Philoſopher perceive, that we ſhould
ver ſee this ſame ſecondary light, ſave onely at the Eclipſe of the
Sun? And if a part onely of the Moon, far leſſe than half a
gree, by being remote from the Suns Diſcus, can deflect or
viate the rayes of the Sun, ſo that they arrive not at our eye;
what ſhall it do when it is diſtant twenty or thirty degrees, as it is
at its firſt apparition? and what courſe ſhall the rayes of the Sun
keep, which are to paſſe thorow the body of the Moon, that
they may find out our eye? This man doth go ſucceſſively
dering what things ought to be, that they may ſerve his purpoſe,
but doth not gradually proceed, accommodating his conceits to
the things, as really they are. As for inſtance, to make the light