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HAving discourst the modern Help•• vseful knowledge hath for deep Re∣search, I am next
(2.) To recount what Aids it hath re∣ceived from our better acquaintance with the Phaenomena. For this I must consider NATURAL HISTORY more par∣ticularly,
which is the Repository wherein these are lodg'd. How this may be com∣piled in the best order, and to the best ad∣vantage, is most judiciously represented by the Immortal Lord Bacon; and to shew how highly It hath been advanced in modern Times, I need say little more, than to amass in a brief Recollection, some of the Instan∣ces of newly-discovered Phaenomena, which are scatter'd under the Heads of the Arts and Instruments I have discours'd, with the Addition of some others: As,
In the HEAVENS, those of the Spots and Dinettick motion of the Sun, the moun∣tanous protuberances and shadows in the bo∣dy of the Moon, about nineteen Magnitudes more of Fixed Stars, the Lunulae of Iupi∣ter, their mutual Eclipsing one another, and its turning round upon its own Axis; the Ring about Saturn, and its shadow upon the Body of that Star; the Phases of Ve∣nus, the increment and decrement of Light among the Planets, the appearing and dis∣aprearing of Fixed Stars, the Altitude of Comets, and nature of the Via Lactea. By these Discoveries, and more such, the History of the Heavens hath been rectified and augmented by the Modern Advancers of Astronomy, whom in their place I have
cited. In the AIR Its Spring, the more ••ccurate History and Nature of Winds and Meteors, and the probable height of the Atmosphere, have been added by the Lord Bacon, Des Cartes, Mr. Boyle, and others. In the EARTH, New Lands by Colum∣bus, Magellan, and the rest of the Disco∣verers; and in these, new Plants, new Fruits, new Animals, new Minerals, and a kind of other World of Nature, from which this is supplied with numerous con∣veniences of Life, and many thousand Fa∣milies of our own little one are continually fed and maintained. In the WATERS, the great Motion of the Sea, unknown in elder Times, and the particular Laws of flux and reflux in many places, are disco∣ver'd. The History of BATHES aug∣mented by Savonarola, Baccius, and Blan∣thellus; of METALS by Agricola; and the whole SVBTERRANEOUS WORLD described by the universally Learned Kircher. The History of PLANTS much improved by Matthi∣olus, Ruellius, Bauhinus, and Gerard, be∣sides the late Account of English Vegita∣bles publish'd by Dr. Merret, a worthy Member of the ROYAL SOCIETY. And another excellent Virtuoso of the same
Assembly, Mr. Iohn Evelyn, hath very considerably advanced the History of Fruit and Forest-Trees, by his Sylva and Pomona; and greater things are expected from his Preparations for Elysium Britannicum, a no∣ble Design now under his hands: And cer∣tainly the inquisitive World is much in∣debted to this generous Gentleman for his very ingenious Performances in this kind, as also for those others of Sculpture, Picture, Architecture, and the like practical, use∣ful things with which he hath inrich'd it. The History of ANIMALS hath been much inlarged by Gesner, Rondeletius, Al∣drovandus, and more accurately inquir'd into by the Micrographers: And the late Travellers, who have given us Accounts of those remote parts of the Earth, that have been less known to these, have described great variety of Living Creatures, very dif∣ferent from the Animals of the nearer Regi∣ons; among whom the ingenious Author of the History of the Caribbies deserves to be mentioned as an Instance. In our own BODIES Natural History hath found a rich heap of Materials in the above-men∣tioned Particulars of the Venae Lacteae, the Vasa Lymphatica, the Valves and Sinus of the Veins, the several new Passages and
••landules, the Ductus Chyliferus, the Ori∣••ination of the Nerves, the Circulation of ••he Blood, and the rest. And all the main Heads of Natural History have receiv'd ••ids and increase from the famous Verulam, who led the way to substantial Wisdom, and hath given most excellent Directions for the Method of such an HISTORY of NATURE.