a correct tide table, shewing the true time of the high-waters at london-bridg, to every day in the year, 1683 by j. flamsteed ... flamsteed, john, 1646-1719. 1683 approx. 21 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 1 1-bit group-iv tiff page image. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2009-03 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a39641 wing f1134 estc r546 13166639 ocm 13166639 98255 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a39641) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 98255) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 417:4) a correct tide table, shewing the true time of the high-waters at london-bridg, to every day in the year, 1683 by j. flamsteed ... flamsteed, john, 1646-1719. 1 sheet ([1] p.) printed for j. baker ..., london : [1683] date of publication from wing. reproduction of original in bodleian library. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng tides -england -london -tables. broadsides -england -17th century. 2007-12 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2008-01 spi global keyed and coded from proquest page images 2008-05 judith siefring sampled and proofread 2008-05 judith siefring text and markup reviewed and edited 2008-09 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion a correct tide table , shewing the true times of the high-waters at london-bridg , to every day in the year , 1683. by j. flamsteed , m. r. d january februar . march april may june july august septemb. octob. novemb. decemb. h. m. h. m. h. m. h. m. h. m. h. m. h. m. h. m. h. m. h. m. h. m. h. m. 1 m 0 9 1 52 0 34 2 ☉ 13 2 38 3 35 3 ☉ 45 4 19 4 59 5 25 7 2 7 32 a 0 43 2 19 1 7 2 35 2 58 3 52 4 0 4 34 5 18 5 48 7 34 8 4 2 m 1 16 2 43 1 37 2 55 3 17 4 9 4 15 4 49 5 ☉ 38 6 14 8 8 8 ☉ 36 a 1 46 3 5 2 3 3 14 3 35 4 25 4 33 5 5 6 1 6 43 8 43 9 10 3 m 2 14 3 24 2 27 3 22 3 53 4 ☉ 42 4 46 5 22 6 26 7 15 9 18 9 43 a 2 39 3 42 2 49 3 50 4 11 5 0 5 2 5 41 6 55 7 48 9 53 10 17 4 m 3 1 4 ☉ 0 3 ☉ 9 4 8 4 29 5 19 5 19 6 1 7 23 8 25 10 ☉ 26 10 50 a 3 22 4 18 3 28 4 25 4 47 5 39 5 38 6 23 7 57 9 2 11 1 11 24 5 m 3 42 4 36 3 44 4 44 5 8 6 0 5 58 6 ☉ 48 8 34 9 39 11 35 11 57 a 4 1 4 55 4 2 5 5 5 29 6 22 6 17 7 15 9 12 10 17         6 m 4 19 5 16 4 20 5 27 5 ☉ 51 6 45 6 39 7 43 9 50 10 54 0 7 0 29 a 4 39 5 39 4 38 5 49 6 15 7 8 7 3 8 14 10 29 11 31 0 38 1 0 7 m 4 ☉ 59 6 2 4 57 6 15 6 40 7 33 7 28 8 50 11 9 1 8 1 28 a 5 20 6 27 5 18 6 42 7 6 7 59 7 55 9 26 11 46 0 ☉ 6 1 36 1 55 8 m 5 41 6 54 5 41 7 11 7 33 8 25 8 ☉ 23 10 2     0 36 2 2 2 20 a 6 5 7 22 6 7 7 40 7 59 8 52 8 53 10 38 0 22 1 8 2 26 2 43 9 m 6 30 7 54 6 33 8 10 8 27 9 21 9 24 11 18 0 ☉ 55 1 36 2 47 3 ☉ 4 a 6 58 8 26 7 3 8 42 8 56 9 50 9 58 11 57 1 26 2 2 3 8 3 22 10 m 7 27 8 59 7 32 9 13 9 24 10 ☉ 20 10 31     1 53 2 26 3 26 3 40 a 7 56 9 32 8 4 9 43 9 52 10 50 11 7 0 33 2 19 2 48 3 45 3 58 11 m 8 27 10 ☉ 6 8 ☉ 36 10 13 10 21 11 20 11 43 1 7 2 41 3 7 4 ☉ 4 4 15 a 8 59 10 39 9 10 10 42 10 49 11 50     1 38 3 1 3 25 4 23 4 33 12 m 9 31 11 13 9 42 11 10 11 16     0 19 2 ☉ 6 3 20 3 44 4 42 4 50 a 10 4 11 43 10 14 11 38 11 44 0 20 0 51 2 31 3 39 4 2 5 2 5 8 13 m 10 37     10 45     ☉   0 51 1 23 2 53 3 56 4 20 5 24 5 28 a 11 11 0 13 11 15 0 5 0 12 1 20 1 52 3 13 4 14 4 40 5 46 5 46 14 m 11 ☉ 43 0 40 11 44 0 30 0 38 1 46 2 19 3 32 4 33 5 ☉ 1 6 10 6 7 a     1 5     0 55 1 5 2 12 2 44 3 50 4 52 5 25 6 35 6 28 15 m 0 14 1 29 0 13 1 ☉ 17 1 29 2 37 3 ☉ 5 4 8 5 13 5 48 7 1 6 52 a 0 43 1 51 0 39 1 39 1 52 3 0 3 25 4 26 5 37 6 15 7 27 7 14 16 m 1 10 2 12 1 3 2 0 2 14 3 20 3 44 4 46 6 ☉ 2 6 42 7 54 7 ☉ 38 a 1 35 2 31 1 26 2 20 2 35 3 39 4 4 5 4 6 30 7 12 8 22 8 4 17 m 1 58 2 47 1 47 2 39 2 56 3 ☉ 59 4 22 5 26 7 0 7 42 8 49 8 30 a 2 19 3 3 2 7 2 56 3 15 4 18 4 40 5 49 7 31 8 13 9 17 8 56 18 m 2 39 3 ☉ 18 2 ☉ 26 3 13 3 34 4 38 5 0 6 15 8 3 8 43 9 ☉ 44 9 24 a 2 56 3 32 2 43 3 29 3 53 4 59 5 21 6 42 8 37 9 14 10 11 9 53 19 m 3 12 3 46 2 58 3 46 4 12 5 20 5 43 7 ☉ 12 9 11 9 44 10 38 11 24 a 3 27 4 0 3 13 4 4 4 31 5 44 6 8 7 43 9 44 10 14 11 6 11 54 20 m 3 41 4 14 3 28 4 22 4 ☉ 51 6 9 6 33 8 17 10 17 10 43 11 33     a 3 55 4 29 3 43 4 41 5 14 6 34 7 2 8 51 10 48 11 11 11 59 0 25 21 m 4 ☉ 9 4 45 3 58 5 2 5 38 7 3 7 30 9 26 11 19 11 ☉ 39     0 53 a 4 23 5 2 4 14 5 26 6 5 7 32 8 2 10 0 11 48     0 26 1 22 22 m 4 38 5 21 4 31 5 ☉ 50 6 22 8 3 8 ☉ 34 10 34     0 5 0 52 1 ☉ 48 a 4 53 5 42 4 48 6 18 7 3 8 34 9 9 11 9 0 16 0 29 1 16 2 14 23 m 5 9 6 6 5 9 6 48 7 34 9 7 9 43 11 41 0 ☉ 42 0 52 1 39 2 38 a 5 28 6 31 5 31 7 20 8 7 9 40 10 18     1 5 1 14 2 2 2 59 24 m 5 48 7 0 5 55 7 53 8 39 10 ☉ 14 10 54 0 12 1 28 1 36 2 23 3 19 a 6 9 7 32 6 23 8 28 9 13 10 47 11 28 0 39 1 48 1 56 2 44 3 38 25 m 6 32 8 ☉ 7 6 ☉ 54 9 4 9 47 11 22     1 6 2 8 2 15 3 3 3 55 a 6 58 8 43 7 26 9 41 10 20 11 54 0 1 1 30 2 26 2 34 3 21 4 14 26 m 7 26 9 22 7 59 10 16 10 52     0 32 1 ☉ 52 2 42 2 51 3 39 4 33 a 7 56 10 2 8 37 10 51 11 26 0 26 1 0 2 12 2 58 3 8 3 57 4 53 27 m 8 28 10 42 9 16 11 26 11 ☉ 58 0 57 1 26 2 30 3 13 3 24 4 17 5 13 a 9 3 11 22 9 55         1 24 1 50 2 47 3 27 3 40 4 36 5 36 28 m 9 ☉ 40     10 34     0 29 1 50 2 13 3 3 3 42 3 ☉ 57 4 57 5 59 a 10 18     11 11 0 31 0 59 2 14 2 33 3 17 3 57 4 14 5 19 6 24 29 m 10 58     11 47 1 ☉ 0 1 26 2 35 2 ☉ 51 3 31 4 12 4 32 5 41 6 ☉ 52 a 11 37         1 28 1 51 2 55 3 8 3 44 4 28 4 51 6 6 9 20 30 m         0 22 1 53 2 15 3 13 3 23 3 58 4 ☉ 44 5 13 6 33 7 46 a 0 15     0 54 2 16 2 38 3 29 3 38 4 13 5 3 5 37 7 3 8 20 31 m 0 51     1 22     2 58     3 51 4 27     6 3         a 1 23     1 48     3 17     4 5 4 43     6 30         m stands for morning , a afternoon , ☉ for sunday . note , that when by reason of long droughts in summer , or continual hard frosts in winter , the fresh waters are low , as also when the wind blows hard at n. or n. w. the tides may hold up longer than the times shewed in the table . that when the contrary winds blow , or by reason of great rains , the freshes are increased , it holds not out so long : yet have i very seldom found the difference above half an hour . the table may be made to serve places under-written , by adding h. m. for tinmouth-haven , hartlepool , and amsterdam , 0 30 brest . 1 0 silly . 1 45 bridlington-peer and humber . 2 0 pensans , weymouth , hamburg , and hull . 3 30 lanion and foulness . 4 10 bridgwater , lands-end and texel . 4 45 portland , harflew , and without the vlie . 5 40 subtracting h. m. for leith , maes and goury's gut. 0 15 gravesend , rochester and rammikins . 1 0 buoy of the nore , and flushing-head . 1 20 shooe-beacon , portsmouth , redsand , ostend . 2 30 spithead , harwich , dover , calice and dublin . 3 0 orsordness , gunfleet , hastings , shoreham and diep 4 0 needles and yarmouth peer . 4 40 s. hellens and haver de grace . 5 30 london : printed for j. baker , at the three pigeons in s. paul's church-yard . a phylosophical essay treating of the most probable cause of that grand mystery of nature, the flux & reflux, or flowing and ebbing of the sea philipot, thomas, d. 1682. 1673 approx. 21 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 11 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2005-03 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a54673 wing p1999 estc r2125 12369519 ocm 12369519 60532 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a54673) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 60532) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 221:7) a phylosophical essay treating of the most probable cause of that grand mystery of nature, the flux & reflux, or flowing and ebbing of the sea philipot, thomas, d. 1682. [4], 14 p. printed by t.m. for t. passinger ..., london : 1673. dedication signed: thomas philipot. reproduction of original in british library. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng tides -early works to 1800. 2004-07 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2004-09 spi global keyed and coded from proquest page images 2004-10 emma (leeson) huber sampled and proofread 2004-10 emma (leeson) huber text and markup reviewed and edited 2005-01 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion a phylosophical essay , treating of the most probable cause of that grand mystery of nature , the flux & reflux : or , flowing and ebbing of the sea. london , printed by t. m. for l. passinger , at the three bibles on the middle of london-bridge , 1673. to the learned and judicious , sir john marsham , of whoornes-place in kent , knight and baronet , one of the six clerks of his majesties high court of chancery . sir , when the sun opens the curtains of the east , and guilds and enamels the fringes of the firmament , with his early beams , the lesser lights resigne themselves up to his , and muffle themselves up in their own obscurity , as being vanquisht with an excess of splendor ; so the meaner and pettier censures shall look faint and dim , if you , that are the great luminary in the orb of learning , shall shed a propitious beam and influence upon this crude essay , which will not only rescue it from the virulency of detraction , but so foment and improve it , that it will bourgeon and flourish under your protection ; so that though it owe its birth to my pen , it will entitle its verdure and perfection to your candid acceptance of it ; now it is offer'd up to yours , from the hands of him , who is , sir , your most affectionate servant , thomas philipot . a brief discourse of the most probable cause of that grand mystery of nature , the flux & reflux of the sea. there is a huge variety of opinions , that entitle themselves to have unwound the cause of this grand mistery of nature , the flux and reflux of the sea ; but they are erected upon untenable principles , and so entwin'd and complicated , that i may say of them , as florus did of the mountainous inhabitants of the alpes , pluris erat invenire quam vincere ; it is a greater difficulty to trace out , and unravell them , than to subvert , or dismantle them . the first opinion , is , of leonardus lessius , who affirmes , that the motion of reciprocation or replication , commonly styl'd , the flux and reflux of the sea , entitles its primitive and original causality , to the supernaturall guidance and managery of an angel ; but if the strength of man be seen in his reason , and the strength of reason evidenced in his judgment , and the strength of judgment manifested in his knowledg , all these three by this frail opinion must be destroyed ; for , who will ever attempt by a noble winnowing and industrious pursuit and inquest after the more eminent , but cloudy and abstruse causes of nature , to unlock the mysteries of them , which are laid up in her gloomy cabinet , when he can affirm , that their operation owes its original emanation , or efflux , to the supernatural conduct of an angel , and this at last will become the common sanctuary to shelter a universal ignorance ? indeed , i do not deny , but the hand of gods speciall providence is sometimes stretched out and extended to support nature when she is feeble and faint in her operations , or else to knit and twist extraordinary causes with extraordinary effects , when she is not able to perfect and perform this union , and then only when she is defective either in her strength or in her light ; but to do it always , and assert that these extraordinary efforts of gods , special providence● are visibly manifested at all times , and in all seasons , is to ravel and discompose the chain of second causes , whose operations are still interwoven with the concourse and concomitance of the first . but the irregularity of this opinion will further appear by this question , why have not the baltick , euxine , and caspian , seas this flux and reflux of waters , by this angelical motion ; since they are as capable of it , as other parts of the ocean abroad , that daily receive it ? besides , it is absurd to imagine that seas divided by such vast intervals , should at one and the same instant swell into tides , and fall into ebbings , by the transport and managery of one single angel , and yet these waters being equally mov'd , should produce such different fluxes and refluxes . and now i hope by this time wise men will laugh at this opinion , not in applause , but contempt , of the vanity of it . the second opinion , is , that of our country man lidiat who avers , that the rlux and reflux of the sea , owes its primitive efficiency to subterraneous fires , fed and fomented by a stock either of sulphurous or else of bituminous matter ; but this position of his meets with so many ruinous and destructive difficulties , that it is almost impossible to reconcile it to truth ; for it is by all agreed , that the flux and reflux of the sea , is periodical in its revolution , and so determined , fix'd and certain : but if this opinion of his should be assented to , where there is not this collection of sulphurous and bituminous matter ( as on the coast of norway , and other places ) there would be no tydes at all . besides , where this stock of combustible matter is wholly wasted and empair'd , the flux and reflux of the sea , must wholly cease : but then 2 dly . why should not the dead-sea in palestine , or the lake asphaltites , that has such an eminent congestion of bitumen transfus'd through the bowels of it , be capable of prodigious tides ? but this we know is contradicted by all experience . 3 dly . why should not the baltick sea that is replenish'd with many bituminous particles ( as appears from the generation of amber , which most do conclude to be a coagulum or concretion of salt , sulphur and bitumen , and which is frequently found upon the coast of liesland , curland , and prussia ) have these tides and ebbings which every one knows to be contrary to all observation ? 4 thly . why do not the tides upon the coasts of sicily and naples , swell to a very important height , since both their circumambient shores , abound with such a copious quantity of sulphur ? but this we know is evidently false , the sea not swelling upon those coasts to a diameter of above three or four foot when it is at the highest . but last of all , if you ask lidiat , what superior cause produces these subterraneous fires , he will tell you , that is the reflexion of the beams of the sun upon the convex superficies of the sea ? to this i answer , that by the consent of many eminent philosophers , the rays of the sun never operate by penetration upon that watery body above fifteen cubits , and so impossible , where the sea is of any considerable depth , to produce these subterraneous fires . and thus , i think , i have sufficiently disarm'd his opinion . the third opinion is , that the flux and reflux of the sea , is caus'd by some prodigious eddies and whirlepools , that suck and transport the sea from the north to the south ; and from the south to the north ; that there is such a vast whirl-pool upon the coast of norway , is most certain , which is by mariners stiled , the navel of the sea : but , that there is such an one in the southern hemisphere to refund back the sea by a motion of replication , no observations either of ramusius , linschoten , or the more curious de-leat have ever discovered to us , whose searches and inquisitions into the mysteries of the east-indian and west-indian seas , were never yet cavil'd or quarrel'd at : besides , if there were any such in those parts , upon the reciprocal return of the southern waters towards the north , that multitude of angry circles , which discompose , by reason of that voluminous whirlpoole , the face of the norwegian sea , would every 24 hours disband , and be smooth , as the aspect of peace , and even as the margent of a poole , when it is not disordered into wrinkles by the rough breath of a ruder tempest . but this is contradictory to the daily observation of the inhabitants that confined upon the fringes of this stupendous whirlepoole . thus , i think likewise , this opinion , that is supported by such feeble crutches , is at last overturned . the fourth opinion . but as some have found out a navel , so kepler hath found out the lungs of the sea : for he asseveres the terrestrial globe to be but one great animal , and that the flux and reflux of the sea does proceed from the sistole and diastole , or the contraction and expansion of dits spatious lungs : but then i ask ; first , whether does this motion result , either from air , or some spirit ? or secondly , does it issue either from a sensitive or rational soul ? and thirdly , i enquire upon what coast these prodigious lungs are situated ? and until the abettors of this wild opinion ( if there be any such ) do give some satisfactory answers to these queries , this opinion is demolished by a bare negation of it . the fifth opinion , is , of picus mirandula , that this increase and decrease of waters , is caused per mutuas & benevolas aquarnmd allicientias ; that is , by a motion of aggregation or simpathetical connexion , by which water does vigorously endeavour to unite and conbince with water . but if this were granted , streams would seek to entwine with streams and lakes twist with lakes , till at last , long before this the world must have suffered under the angry baptisme of a publique deluge . secondly ; where there is this motion of aggregation or connexion , the tides would swell to an important height , as in the caspian , euxine and baltick seas , where all geographers that have display'd to us the topography of those places , have discover'd to us that a multitude of huge rivers do daily disembogue themselves : and on the other side , those seas that do not swell with the additional supplies of very few or no rivers , as the norwegian ocean , and others , would have very little or no tides at all ; both which are evidently false , and repugnant to daily observation : therefore this opinion of his , establish'd upon such fraile principles , does easily shrink and languish into its own ruine . the sixth opinion does aver , that the sea does entitle the causality of its flux and reflux to some currents that either set from east to west , or from north to south : but if this were assented to , the red-sea , the euxin-sea and the baltick-sea , would improve themselves to a huge increase of tides , considering all three are fed by a communication of perpetual currents : but this is manifestly false , for the red-sea and euxine have little or no tides , and the baltick-sea none at all ; therefore i wave this opinion as altogether erroneous . the seventh opinion entitles the motion of the earth , to be the cause of the motion of the sea ; those who abet this opinion , affirm three things . first , that the earth and sea have but one center to render the whole globe more regularly and uniformly orbicular , and so more apt for that motion they are designed to receive . secondly , they assert , that every part and particle of this spherical body is so tyed and threaded together by a magneticall union , that it is impossible that the least atome should start out of its natural situation , being fastened and fettered to its station by so inexpugnable a magnetism . thirdly , that its motion is circular ; now the flux and reflux of the sea , is motus transversus , or a motion of reciprocation and rejection , like water that is justled and thrown from side to side in a paile or bowl : now , if it should move circularly , every part would move so evenly & magnetically , that there would be no flux or reflux of the sea at all . secondly , since the euxine , baltick and caspian seas are such considerable parts of this globous body , they must move equally with it if it move at all ; and then why have they not the same flux and reflux as other seas have , since they have the same aptitude , or natural intrinsique capacity , to receive this motion as other seas have ? but that they have not flux or reflux at all is demonstratively true . but whether this opinion be so or no i refer to the scrutiny of the judicious reader : indeed , i could wish that those who defend the motion of the earth , would produce more vigorous arguments to fortify and secure their thesis , meerly to subvert the popes infallibility ; one of whom , not many years since , by a signal determination and definition ex cathedra , blasted it for impious , and heretical , and condemned the obstinate assertors of it , to his truest purgatory , the inquisition . the eight opinion , is , that the sun is the sole , primary and efficient cause of this flux and reflux ; that the sun is a partiall , concurrent or concomitant cause , i affirme ; but that it is the sole and principal , i deny , and that upon these foundations ; for , if it should be , the tides in the vast wilderness of the northern seas , would upon the apogaeum , or recesse of the sun , shrink and contract themselves , for want of his vigorous excitation to a considerable decrease ; and again , upon his perigaeum , or nearest approach , swell to an important magnitude ; both which are evidently false , for it is generally observ'd , that about the autumnall aequinox , and sometimes after , the tides in those seas abovesaid , are improv'd and increast to an extraordinary height ; & on the contrary , about the summer solstice , they suffer a sensible and visible diminution and decrease , rather than any augmentation : both which were absurd to imagine , if the sun was the sole efficient cause . secondly , why should not the caspian , euxine , & baltick seas , be capable of this motion , since they are also expos'd to the impressions of the sun either perpendicular , or by vibration , when he is in or near his ●●irgaeum ; but this they have not , is evident ; and therefore the sun is not the prime , sole and efficient cause of the flux and reflux of the sea. the nineth opinion , is , that the moon is the principal cause of this marine motion , that it is a subservient , concurrent and concomitant cause i shall grant , but that it is the sole efficient i shall never affirme , for if it were it would universally and equally move all seas , especially when they are under its perigaeum , and then the baltick , euxine and caspian seas would be capable of this flux & reflux likewise , but that they are not is apparently evident ; i know it is objected that the moon hath a principal efficiency in the flowings of the sea , because it is observ'd , that when she is in her sextile & in her full , shell-fish do swell and increase to an unusual bull● and corpulency : but to this i answer , that this is produc'd not by any direct causality of the moon , but only by accident ; for those great tides , which intervene at those times transport with them a large quantity of mud & sullage , which treasure up a fat slimie unctuous juice which shellfish greedily sucking in , by the supply of so luscious an aliment , inlarge themselves to that dimension they arrive at at those seasons . the tenth opinion . which i adhere to is , that there is a vitriolated , volatile or armoniack salt or spirit , that is wrap'd up in the bowels of the sea and lies there clasped up and imprison'd in the embraces of the fixed and nitrous sa●● , which upon its excitation , by the agitation of the superficies of the sea , and the opening of it by the combined and complicated impressions of the sun and moon , dislodges from its inclosure , and ●●●ors it-self up to the watry margent , and drags along with it , that heap of waters we stile the flux , ( though i do not deny but that it is something aided and assisted in this operation by an elater or spring of air , that being rescued from its compression and confinement , ascends up with it , ) and upon closing and contracting its face upon the recess of those two great luminaries , shrinks back again , and with it pulls along , that mass of waters it before had eleuated , and this produces the reflux . and this opinion is supported by three experiments : the first is that of zuingerus a modern chymist cited by fremondus in his book of meteors , who observ'd that some sort of chymicall oile of vitriol did ascend and descend in times proportionate and adaequate to the flux and reflux of the sea. the second is that of athanasius kircherus in his mundus subterraneus , who there discovers to us , that an infusion of sal armonick lodg'd in an open vessel and plac'd obliquely to receive the influence of the moon , when she was in her sextile , did increase and decrease as if it held an equal correspondence , by an uninterrupted chain of atoms , with the flowings and ebbings of the marine waters . the third is that of gre atricks , glasses , upon whose sides if you beat with important onsets , they resist their impression , but break it at the top , and it flies in pieces with much violence and tumult ; and the reason is , because the armoniack or volatile salt , that lay impriso●d , and cloister'd up , in the claspings , and circumscription of the nitrous or fixed salt , finding it self , enfranchis'd and redeem'd from the strict enclosures of those two rigid adversaries , sallies out , with an impetuous eagerness , and that eruption occasions that disorder and concussion . but i know it will be objected , why have not the euxine , baltick and caspian seas their flux and reflux likewise , since it is probable their waters imprison as great a stock of vitriolated , volatile , or armonick salt as other seas are entrusted with that have the same vicissitudes ; to this i answer that it is as probable they have not ; but suppose they had , yet its volatile spirit is check'd & depres'd by that multitude of vast and deep rivers , that perpetually disgorge themselves into those seas above said ; and it is likewise possible , that there is a considerable quantity of sulphur , bitumen , fixed & nitrous salt , conducted along with there currents , whose fixing quality may improve the depression of the vitriolated and armoniack particles , and so benum their volatility that it is almost impossible for the united influences of the sun & moon , to excite their so stupified vigour . but if it be enquir'd how it happens , since so many capacious streams disembogue themselves into those seas , that the neighbouring territories , doe not suffer under a constant inundation ? i answer , that the water that is treasur'd up in the cells and caverns of the earth , which it is probable here are more than ordinary copious , entice and allure back the marine waters , per motum nexus by a motion of adherence , aggregation , union and connexion , and so by a continual circulation , reimburse , and new stock the rivers , with additional streams which are daily paid in so profuse a tribute , to the vast exchecquer of their watry soveraign . and thus have i as compendiously as might be wound up this essay , yet i am not so confident to believe but that posterity may by new discoveries , & scrutinies for arts are not yet solstice , nor knowledg in its zenith ) improve it to greater advantage of the publique , than could be expected from this faint result of my pen ; in the interim i shall desire the reader , to acquiesce in that amicable and ingenuous determination of the poet , — si quid novisti●ectius istis , candidus imperti , si non hic utere mecum . finis . may it please the king's most excellent majesty halley, edmond, 1656-1742. 1687 approx. 24 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 8 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2009-03 (eebo-tcp phase 1). b03739 wing h451a estc r177810 53299107 ocm 53299107 179866 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. b03739) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 179866) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 2807:2) may it please the king's most excellent majesty halley, edmond, 1656-1742. 12 p. s.n., [london : 1687] caption title. place and date of publication suggested by wing (2nd ed.). reproduction of original in: british library. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng celestial mechanics -early works to 1800. lunar theory -early works to 1800. tides -early works to 1800. 2008-04 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2008-06 spi global keyed and coded from proquest page images 2008-08 john pas sampled and proofread 2008-08 john pas text and markup reviewed and edited 2008-09 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion may it please the king' 's most excellent majesty . i could not have presumed to approach your majesties royall presence with a book of this nature , had i not been assured that , when the weighty affairs of your government permit it , your majesty has frequently shewn your self enclined to favour mechanical and philosophical discoveries : and i may be bold to say , that if ever book was worthy the favourable acceptance of a prince , this wherein so many and so great discoveries concerning the constitution of the visible world are made out , and put past dispute , must needs be grateful to your majesty ; especially being the labours of a worthy subject of your own , and a member of that royall society founded by your late royall brother , for the advancement of natural knowledge , and which now flourishes ●nder your majesties most gracious protection . but being sensible of the little leisure which care of the publick leaves to princes , i believed it necessary to present with the book a short extract of the matters conteined , together with a specimen thereof , in the genuine solution of the cause of the tides in the ocean ; a thing frequently attempted , but till now without success : whereby your majesty may judge of the rest of the performances of the author . the sole principle upon which this author proceeds to explain most of the great and surprising appearances of nature , is no other than that of gravity , whereby in the earth all bodies have a tendency towards its center ; as is most evident : and from undoubted arguments it s proved , that there is such a gravitation towards the centers of the sun , moon and all the planets . from this principle , as a necessary consequence , follows the sphaerical figure of the earth and sea , and of all the other caelestial bodies : and tho' the tenacity and firmness of the solid parts support the inequalities of the land above the level ; yet the fluids , pressing equally and easily yeilding to each other , soon restore the aequilibrium , if disturbed , and maintain the exact figure of the globe . now this force of descent of bodies towards the center is not in all places alike , but is still less and less , as the distance from the center encreases : and in this book it is demonstrated , that this force decreases as the square of the distance increases ; that is , the weight of bodies and the force of their fall is less , in parts more removed from the center , in the proportion of the squares of the distance . so as for example , a tun weight on the surface of the earth , if it were raised to the height of 4000 miles , which i suppose the semidiameter of the earth , would weigh but ¼ of a tun or 5 hundred weight : if to 12000 miles or 3 semidiameters from the surface , that is 4 from the center , it would weigh but 1 / 16 part of the weight on the surface , or a hundred and quarter : so that it would be as easy for the strength of a man , at that height , to carry a tun weight , as here to carry a hundred and quarter . and in the same proportion does the velocities of the fall of bodies decrease : for whereas on the surface of the earth all things fall 16 foot in a second , at one semidiameter above this fall is but 4 foot ; and at 3 semidiameters , or 4 from the center it is but 1 / 16 of the fall at the surface , or but one foot in a second : and at greater distances both weight and fall become very small , but yet at all given distances is still some thing , tho' the effect become insensible . at the distance of the moon ( which i will suppose 60 semidiameters of the earth ) 3600 pounds weigh but one pound , and the fall of bodies is but 16 / 3600 of a foot in a second , or 16 foot in a minute ; that is , a body so far off descends in a minute no more than the same at the surface of the earth would do in a second of time. as was said before , the same force decreasing after the same manner is evidently found in the sun , moon and all the planets ; but more especially in the sun , whose force is prodigious ; becoming sensible even in the immense distance of saturn : this gives room to suspect that the force of gravity is in the celestial globes proportional to the quantity of matter in each of them : and the sun being at least ten thousand times as bigg as the earth , its gravitation or attracting force , is found to be at least ten thousand times as much as that of the earth , acting on bodies at the same distances . this law of the decrease of gravity being demonstratively proved , and put past contradiction ; the author with great sagacity inquires into the necessary consequences of this supposition ; whereby he finds the genuine cause of the several appearences in the theory of the moon and planets , and discovers the hitherto unknown laws of the motion of comets and of the ebbing and flowing of the sea. each of which are subjects that have heretofore taken up much larger volumes , but truth being uniforme and alwaies the same , it is admirable to observe how easily and how satisfactorily solutions are given in very abstruse and difficult matters , when once true and genuine principles are obtained : and on the other hand it may be wondred that , notwithstanding the great facility of truth , and the perplexity and nonconsequences that alwaies attend erronious suppositions , these great discoveries should have escaped the acute disquisitions of the best philosophical heads of all past ages , and be reserved to be recorded to posterity , among the glorious acquisitions your nations justly promise themselves , during the course of your majesties happy reign over us : the theory of the motion of the primary planets is here shewn to be nothing else , but the contemplation of the curve lines which bodies cast with a given velocity , in a given direction , and at the same time drawn towards the sun by its gravitating power , would describe . or , which is all one , that the orbs of the planets are such curve lines as a shot from a gun describes in the air , being cast according to the direction of the piece , but bent into a crooked line by the supervening tendency towards the earths center : and the planets being supposed to be projected with a given force , and attracted towards the sun , after the aforesaid manner , are here proved to describe such figures as answer punctually to all that the industry of this and the last age has observed in the planetary motions . so that it appears that there is no need of solid orbs and intelligences , as the ancients imagined , nor yet of vortices or whirlpools of the celestial matter , as des cartes supposes ; but the whole affair is simply and mechanicall performed , upon the sole supposition of a gravitation towards the sun ; which cannot be denied . the motion of comets is here shewn to be compounded of the same elements , and not to differ from planets , but in their greater swiftness , whereby overpowering the gravity that should hold them to the sun , as it does the planets , they flie off againe , and distance themselves from the sun and earth , so that they soon are out of sight : and the fewness and inaccuracy of the observations antiquity has left us , are not sufficient to determine whether the same comet ever return again . but this author has shewn how geometrically to determine the orb of a comet from observations , and to finde his distance from the earth and sun , which was never before done . the third thing here done is the theory of the moon , all the inequalities of whose motion are proved to arise from the same principles , only here the effect of two centers operating on or attracting a projected body comes to be considered ; for the moon tho' principally attracted by the earth and moving round it , does together with the earth move round the sun once in a year , and is according as she is nearer or farther from the sun , drawn by him more or less than the center of the earth , about which she moves ; whence arise several irregularities in her motion , of all which the author in this book , with no less subtilty than industry , has given a full account . and tho' by reason of the great complication of the problem , he has not yet been able to make it purely geometrical , t is to be hoped , that in some farther essay he may surmount the difficulty , and having perfected the theory of the moon , the long desired discovery of the longitude ( which at sea is only practicable this way ) may at length be brought to light , to the great honour of your majesty and advantage of your subjects . all the surprizing phenomena of the flux and reflux of the sea are in like manner shewn to proceed from the same principle ; which i design more largely to insist on , since the matter of fact is in this case much better known to your majesty than in the foregoing . if the earth were alone , that is to say , not affected by the actions of the sun and moon , it is not to be doubted but the ocean being equally pressed by the force of gravity towards the center , would continue in a perfect stagnation , always at the same hight , without ebbing or flowing ; but it being not to be denied that the sun and moon have a like principle of gravitation towards their centers , and that the earth is within the activity of their attractions , it will plainly follow that the equality of the pressure of gravity towards the center will thereby be disturbed ; and tho' the smallness of these forces , in respect of the gravitation towards the earths center , renders them altogether imperceptible by any experiments we can devise , yet the ocean being fluid and yeilding to the least force , by its rising shews where it is less prest , and where it is more prest by its sinking . now if we suppose the force of the moons attraction to decrease as the square of the distance from its center increases ( as in the earth and other celestial bodies ) we shall find , that where the moon is perpendicularly either above or below the horizon , either in zenith or nadir , there the force of gravity is most of all diminished , and consequently that there the ocean must necessarily swell by the coming in of the water from those parts where the pressure is greatest , viz. in those places where the moon is near the horizon : but that this may be the better understood , i thought it needful to add the following figure , where m is the moon , e the earth , c its center , and z the place where the moon is in the zenith , n where in the nadir . now by the hypothesis , it is evident that the water in z being nearer , is more drawn by the moon than the center of the earth c , and that again more than the water in n , wherefore the water in z has a tendency towards the moon , contrary to that of gravity , being equal to the excess of the gravitation in z above that in c : and in the other case , the water in n , tending less towards the moon that the center c , is left behind , by as much as is the difference of the gravitations towards the moon in c and n. this rightly understood , it follows plainly that the sea , which otherwise would be spherical , upon the pressure of the moon , must form it self into a spheroidal or oval figure , whose longest diameter is where the moon is vertical , and shortest where she is in the horizon ; and that the moon shifting her position as she turns round the earth once a day , this oval of water shifts with her , occasioning thereby the two floods and ebbs observable in each 25 hours . and this may suffice as to the general cause of the tides ; it remains now to shew how naturally this notion accounts for all the particulars that has been observed about them ; so that there can be no room left to doubt but that this is the true cause thereof . the spring tides upon the new and full moons , and neap tides on the quarters are occasioned by the attractive force of the sun in the new and full conspiring with the attraction of the moon and producing a tide by their united forces : whereas in the quarters the sun raises the water where the moon depresses it , and the contrary ; so as the tides are made only by the difference of their attractions . that the force of the sun is no greater in this case , proceeds from the very small proportion the semidiameter of the earth bares to the vast distance of the sun. it is also observed that caeteris paribus the aequinoctial spring tides in march and september , or near them , are the highest , and the neap tides the lowest ; which proceeds from the greater agitation of the waters , when the fluid sphaeroid revolves about a great circle of the earth , than when it turns about in a lesser circle ; it being plain that if the moon were constituted in the pole and there stood , that the spheroid would have a fixt position , and that it would be always high water under the poles , and low water every where under the aequinoctial : and therefore the nearer the moon approaches the poles , the less is the agitation of the ocean : which is always greatest where the moon is in the aequinoctial , or farthest distant from the poles . whence the sun and moon , being either conjoyned or opposite in the aequinoctial , produce the greatest spring tides ; and the subsequent neap tides , being produced by the tropical moon in the quarters , are always the least tides ; whereas in june and december the spring tides are made by the tropical sun and moon , and therefore less vigorous ; and the neap tides by the aequinoctial moon , which therefore are the stronger ; hence it happens that the difference between the spring and neap tides , in these months , is much less considerable than in march and september . and the reason why the very highest spring tides are found to be rather before the vernal and after the autumnal equinox , viz. in february and october , than precisely upon them , is because the sun is nearer the earth in the winter months , and so comes to have a greater effect in producing the tides . hitherto we have considered such affections of the tides as are universal , without relation to particular cases ; what follows from the differing latitudes of places , will be easily understood by the following figure . but the motions hitherto mentioned are somewhat altered by the libration of the water , whereby tho' the action of the luminaries should cease , the flux and reflux of the sea would for some time continue : this conservation of the impressed motion diminishes the differences that otherwise would be between two consequent tides , and is the reason why the highest spring-tides are not percisely on the new and full moons , nor the neapes on the quarters ; but generally they are the third tides after them , and sometimes later . all these things would regularly come to pass , if the whole earth were covered with sea very deep ; but by reason of the sholeness of some places , and the narrowness of the streights by which the tides are in many cases propagated ; there arises a great diversity in the effect , and not to be accounted for without an exact knowledg of all the circumstances of the places , as of the position of the land , and the breadth and depth of the channels by which the tide flows ; for a very slow and imperceptible motion of the whole body of the water , where it is ( for example ) 2 miles deep , will suffice to raise its surface 10 or 12 feet in a tides time ; whereas if the same quantity of water were to be conveied upon a channel of 40 fathoms deep , it would require a very great stream to effect it , in so large inlets as are the channel of england and the german ocean ; whence the tide is found to set strongest in those places where the sea grows nar●owest ; the same quantity of water being to pass through a smaller passage : this is most evident in the streights between portland and cape de hague in normandy , where the tide runs like a sluice ; and it would be yet more between dover and calais , if the tide coming about the island from the north did not check it . and this force being once impressed upon the water , continues to carry it about the level of the ordinary hight in the ocean , particularly where the water meets a direct obstacle , as it is at st. malo's ; and where it enters into a long channell , which running far into the land , grows very streight at its extremity ; as it is in the severn-sea at chepstow and bristol . this sholeness of the sea and the intercurrent continents are the reason that in the open ocean the time of high water is not at the moons appulse to the meridian , but always some hours after it ; as it is observed upon all the west coast of europe and africa , from ireland to the cape of good-hope : in all which a s. w. moon makes high water ; and the same is reported to be on the west side of america . but it would be endless to accont for all those particularities , which are consequences of this hypothesis ; as why lakes , such as the caspian sea ; and mediterranian-seas such as the black-sea , the streights and baltick , have no sensible tides : for lakes having no communication with the ocean , can neither encrease nor diminish their water , whereby to rise and fall ; and seas that communicate by such narrow inletts and are of so immense an extent , cannot in a few hours time receive or empty water enough to raise or sink their surface any thing sensibly . lastly to demonstrate the excellency of this doctrine , the example of the tides in the port of tunking in china , which are so extraordinary and differing from all others wee have yet heard of , may suffice . in this port there is but one flood and ebb in 24 hours ; and twice in each month , viz. when the moon is near the equinoctial , there is no tide at all , but the water is stagnant ; but with the moons declination there begins a tide which is greatest when she is in the tropical signs : only with this difference , that when the moon is to the northward of the aequinoctial , it flows when she is above the earth , and ebbs when she is under , so as to make high water at moons setting , and low water at moons rising : but on the contrary the moon being to the southward makes high water at rising and low water at setting , it ebbing all the time she is above the horizon . as may be seen more at large in the philosophical transaction num. 162. the cause of this odd appearance is proposed by mr. newton , to be from the concurrence of two tides ; the one propagated in six hours out of the great south-sea , along the coast of china ; the other out of the indian-sea , from between the islands , in twelve hours , along the coast of malacca and cambodia . the one of these tides , being produced in north latitude , is , as has been said , greater , when the moon being to the north of the equator is above the earth , and less when she is under the earth ; and contrarywise the other tide that comes out of the indian-sea , being raised in south latitude , is greater when the moon declining to the south is above the earth , and less when she is under the earth : so that of these tides alternately greater and lesser , there comes alwaies successively two of the greater and two of the lesser together every day ; and the high-water falls alwais between the times of the arrival of the two greater floods , and the low-water between the arrival of the two lesser floods . and the moon coming to the equinoctial , and the alternate floods becoming equal , this tide ceases and the water stagnates : but when she has passed to the other side of the equator , those floods which in the former order were the least , now becoming the greatest , that that before was the time of high water now becomes the low-water , and the converse . so that the whole appearence of these strange tides , is without any forcing naturally deduced from these principles , and is a great argument of the certainty of the whole theory . if by reason of the difficulty of the matter , there be any thing herein not sufficiently explained , or if there be any material thing observable in the tides that i have omitted , wherein your majesty shall desire to be satisfied , i doubt not but if your majesty shall please to suffer me to be admited to the honour of your royal presence , i may be able to give such an account thereof as may be to your majesties full content . the mutations of the seas: or, a manifest reason given for all the mutations observed in the seas and this by ways so natural, plain, and easie, that every man may understand the manner, and must conclude it to be so. by john bryantson. bryantson, john. 1683 approx. 73 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 20 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2007-01 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a29938 wing b5249a estc r218169 99829786 99829786 34229 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a29938) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 34229) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 2025:4) the mutations of the seas: or, a manifest reason given for all the mutations observed in the seas and this by ways so natural, plain, and easie, that every man may understand the manner, and must conclude it to be so. by john bryantson. bryantson, john. [2], 34 p. printed by george larkin in scalding alley in the poultrey [to be sold by william gadbury, without the bars in white-chappel], london : 1683. bookseller's name from colophon. reproduction of the original in the bodleian library. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng tides -early works to 1800. 2006-05 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2006-06 apex covantage keyed and coded from proquest page images 2006-07 andrew kuster sampled and proofread 2006-07 andrew kuster text and markup reviewed and edited 2006-09 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion the mutations of the seas : or , a manifest reason given for all the mutations observed in the seas . and this by ways so natural , plain , and easie , that every man may understand the manner , and must conclude it to be so . by john bryantson london : printed by george larkin in scalding alley in the poultrey . 1683. to the reader reader , in the following paper you have the solution of one of the greatest secrets in nature , a manifest reason given for all the mutations observed in the seas , and that by ways so natural , plain and easie , that you and every man may understand the manner , and must conlcude it to be so . as first , a reason is given why we have two tides upon all shores in 24 hours . secondly , why those tides fall exactly so many minutes later every day , as the moon doth . thirdly , by what meanes these tides are made to increase & decrease every seven days & why they are always highest when the moon is in conjunction or opposition with the sun , and lowest when in a quadrature , or 90 degrees distant . fourthly , the true cause why the spring-tides are higher in march and september then ordinary and fiftly , why upon some shores the waters rise to a very great height , when on neighbouring shores they are hardly discernable , with other observations about the flux and reflux of the seas . and all these seemingly different motions of the seas ▪ solv'd by one most easie , simple , and before ( for any thing i know ) unthought-of motion of the earth . but now i must tell you that i am a seaman , and then method and order will not be expected ; being rarely found amongst men of my profession ; and i shall not scruple to confess , that i have had some trouble to patch it up as it is , finding by this little tryal , that tho men unlearned may sometimes think of such things as these not unsuccessfully , yet they shall not without a great deal of trouble and disadvantage be able to communicate their thoughts to others , as you may too plainly see by this ; but ( i hope ) in a little time you may see what is here wanting made good by an able pen. in the mean time i have promised you much , and with more then usual confidence , perswading my self that the hopes of being made acquainted with this great secret , will engage you to take a little pains more then ordinary to understand my meaning , which if you once do , you and i shall quickly be agreed ; you will then say ● that you know the true cause of the ebbing and flowing of the sea. if you think that i have made more words then needed about some things , impute it to my fear that otherways i should not be understood , or to my ignorance not knowing the most expressive words , the shortest way . if in other things i am as much or more too short , be so kind as to excuse me by thinking what your self would do in the same case ; and in this i am sure you will be of my mind , that is , that he that knows he does not speak well , should say as little as he can . and upon that account i have not troubled you , nor concerned my self with any thing that i could any ways avoy'd . amongst many other defects you will find that my ignorance in the mathematicks , as well as other parts of learning , has forc't me instead of terms of art ( which would have been much better understood ) to make use of such words and terms as being known to me , i thought might best express my thoughts to others : perhaps you will think that a very little time and pains in that study might have enabled me to have set this off much more advantagiously , i am of the same mind , but the circumstances i stand in have not yet afforded me that time . but i tell you again , you shall find the thing it self to be true , and then surely you will not be angry with me for these things for if a man should tel me that he would presently bring me to a place where lay un-own'd & before concealed treasure , if now the way he led me was none of the cleanest , & withal much about , & incumbred with bryars and thorns , yet if at last he put me in possession of the promis'd and much desir'd riches , i would certainly , by acknowledging the kindness , prevent his making excuses for not staying to inform himself better in the way before he undertook to be my guide . the same upon the same conditions is expected from you , by john bryantson . the mutations of the seas : or , a manifest reason given for all the mutations observed in the seas . the arguments brought by learned men to prove that the earth may have motion has so far prevailed , that it will not be look'd upon as an extravagancy now to assert it ; so that i do not fear but that the motion i suppose the earth to have ( when well considered ) will willingly be admitted ; for if it may have any , it may have this . but because the motion and hypothesis upon which it is founded , is altogether new ; it will ( i think ) be convenient , to endeavour to lesson a little ( if i can ) the strangeness of it to prevent your throwing the paper by as a rash and wide conjecture , before you understand my meaning . for i question not but that you will be supriz'd when you shall hear me say , that the moon and sun give the earth motion , as they are carried round our globe , but content your self , and in two or three hours time ( if you have but patience to read so long , and be not altogether a stranger to the heavenly motions ) you will find the motion i suppose the earth to have to be so far from any thing you have yet heard or fancied to your self , and such agreeableness between that and the motions of the seas , that what but just before you thought strange , if not fabulous , you will then think not only easy but reasonable . in the mean time you may consider that the tides keep such equal pace so exactly observe the motions of the moon , ( even to a minute of time ) that no wit or reason of man is able to exclude the effects of that planet . it is most certain , ( and very wise and learned men in all ages , have been compelled to acknowledge it ) that the moon by some secret vertue must give the seas motion . so that the matter may safely , be brought to this short issue , one of these two things must of necessity follow : either the moon must at the same time move the seas all over the world , and the earth be yet immovable ; or else give the earth motion , and by that means , at the same time universally move the seas . now if all those learned men that have assign'd the soveraignty of the seas to the moon ( upon the considera ion of the manifest agreement that is found to be between the motions of the ocean and that luminary ) have thought it not impossible for the moon to give the seas motion ; why may it not be thought at least as possible for the moon to give the earth motion , and by consequence at the same time universally move the seas ? as at the same time to move the seas all over the world , and let the earth stand still . and so much the rather , since it is certainly true , that nature in all her opperations makes use of the most facil and simple means . for take a boat , set the head and stern north and south , place in this boat 15 or 20 vessels of water , now if you should bid one to move the water in all those vessels at the same time with a constant regular motion , you would think him no wise man , if he should attempt to do it any other wayes than by giving the boat motion . nay he could not otherwayes do it without a great deal of help . but if with one hand onely he shall lift up the side of the boat a little , and then depress that side as much below the level as before he rais'd it , and shall for some time continue thus to move it from east to west , and west to east ; he shall with as much ease , and at least with as constant a motion , at the same time move all the waters in all those vessels , as he can by any other wayes move all the water in any one of them . so it must be confest that the moon by onely giving the earth ( the containing vessel ) motion , may at the same time , and with as much ease move all the waters in the indian , atlantick , paci●●tick , nd all other seas , as by any other ways , or means that may or can be thought of , move all the water in any one of those seas . besides , nature commonly makes use of some inward principle , for opperations that are to be constant and regulat , as the motions of the seas are known to be ; but if it should be granted that the moon might by some occult quallity , some unknown principle , give the seas motion , and the earth be yet immovable , the difficulty would remain ; for no satisfactory reason has or can be given , how by any influence or opperation the moon may or can be supposed to have upon the waters 〈◊〉 should cause those different vicissitudes that are found in the tide of the seas . then if the appearance cannot be solv'd ( as in truth they cannot ) by any influence the moon may or can have upon the waters . and that the same mutations must of necessity ensue upon the motion of the earth , and that it is as possible for the moon to move the earth and seas together , as to move the seas alone , and besides much the more facil and shorter way , why should it appear so strange a paradox to affirm that the moon gives the earth motion ? nay who can doubt but that the moon by some inward principle gives the earth motion ? and then you shall have this advantage into the bargain , that you shall not be to seek for a principle ; for the magnetick vertue or force of attraction upon solid bodies has been long known ; and you cannot deny the earth to be a magnetick globe , except you will deny that to be in the whole , which more or less is manifestly to be seen in almost every part , but most wonderfully in the load-stone which is apart of the true primary and integral substance of the earth ▪ now since there has alwayes been acknowledged to be a very great affinity between the moon and earth , and likeness of parts , i think the moon may reasonably enough be concluded to be so too ; and then these two great magnates hanging in the thin air , must easily admit of motion , so that i cannot see where the difficulty should be , or what should hinder but that the moon may give the earth , and the earth the moon ( if the moon may be thought to have need of it ) motion . if you shall think the distance too great , consider that if a small loadstone will give a librated needle a very swift motion at the distance of six or seven foot , or more , what distance may be thought great enough to give bounds to the attractive vertue of load-stones so immensly great as the terestrial globe and moon . and besides it is not improbable but that the moon may consist of such parts , that the appetite and desire of union may be much greater between the earth and moon , then between the loadstone and iron . nay who can tell but that the more in ten parts of this our globe may be indewed with a much more powerfull attractive vertue then any piece of stone yet found , or perhaps that may be found upon or near the surface of the earth . i shall add , that though perhaps the excellent use that is made of the load-stone in navigation may seem to some men sufficiently to answer the ends of its creation , yet it cannot be denyed but that the world was grown old before the use of it was known ; so that nature may be said to have indued the magnet with those admirable vertues , from the beginning of the world till within a few years last past , to no purpose ( for i think there was little use made of it before ) but now if you shall look upon the terrestrial globe and the rest of the superior bodies , to be nothing else ( as it is certain that the earth is nothing else ) but great magnates or load-stones , you cannot think but that wise nature lodg'd these wonderfull vertues in them for far more wonderful uses , and that it would be unreasonable to think that those vertues have not been kept in exercise ever since the creation . and you shall not need to trouble your head to think how , for you shall be forc't to acknowledge that , by this magnetick vertue the earth and seas have alwayes been kept in motion . then if you consider the many benefits that we enjoy ( which we could by no means want ) by the daily tides you must confess it to be a very wonderful work of providence , and that as the same has been from the beginning , so it must continue so long as the sun and moon indure . and then if those bodies called planets be magnetick globes or worlds ( as surely that man never thought it worth his pains to consider whether or no they might not reasonably enough be esteemed so , or else his understanding must be yet in its leading strings that thinks otherwise ) and inhabited , then such a motion as i suppose the earth to have will be necessary for them too ; which they may very well have , for mercury and venus ( which are but the sun's moons ) may give the sun , and the sun them motion . and the like friendly offices may mutually pass between jupiter and saturn , and the stars or moons that move about them . and neighbouring stars may give mars motion . onely there must be difference in the mutations that shall happen in their respective seas , in point of time , as well because some of them have more moon 's , as that some of those moon 's take more some less time in discribing their circles then our moon about our globe , &c. but further 't is very probable that by the force of attraction all those mundan bodies not onely keep their first designed distances , by having a dependancy upon each other , but describe their several circles . and then men need not vex themselves with thinking what matter the planets orbs consist off , for they may safely take their determinate courses through the fluid air without any danger of loosing their way or interfearing on with another , and too besides much labour might otherwise be sav'd , but enough and perhaps to much of this . the earth then being a magnetick globe or loadstone , it 's certain that the same vertues that are in the loadstone , are and must of necessity be much more powerful in the earth . now amongst many other vertues truly admirable in the magnet these following are well known to be peculiar to it . first , that every minute particle of a loadstone will constantly look with its determinate parts towards the same and determinate parts of the universe . secondly , that theforce of the magnet is sent by infinite right lines through the stone , the principle vertue residing in the middle , the more remote from the centre , the more faint and weak the vertue . thirdly , that the greater stone draws , more forceably than the less , the compass of it's vertues or of its activity is greater . let these faculties be supposed to be ( as they certainly are ) in the earth it will then be requisite to fix those lines and points of attraction . now i know that a loadstone or piece of iron toucht with a stone ) librated with a thred or any other way : so that it be left at liberty to move , will presently direct it self and point north and south , but the stone in this way respect the poles of the universe , for it is known that the needle varies . direction in the same place , as here at london , sometimes easterly sometimes westerly in a certain period of time ; and this cannot be in respect of the poles of the earth . and ( i think ) none has been so curious as strictly to examen whether or no the poles of the stone had their position north and south in the mine , so that perhaps it might be their east and west ; for the earth being at liberty to move in the yielding air , and its poles of equal force ( as the poles of no piece of stone are and being with equal force drawn by either of the poles of the universe , it may be direct its self to neither of them but to a point equally distant between them , that is east and vvest . as we see that two loadstones placed at a convenient distance north and south from a needle , shall draw that needle that before would willingly alwayes point north and south to point , now east and vvest and is the same as if those loadstones were in those poynts . more might be said to countenance this , and perhaps you will think much more against it , let it be so for i could as willingly as any man , for reasons that it may be have not been thought off by many , let the poles keep the places alwayes . assign'd them but when you shall know upon what grounds i have been perswaded to think that the earth has east and vvest points of attraction , you will find that i have reason for it , nay you will think that it must be so , and then you may take your liberty to judge , whether it may with more reason be thought that the position of the poles in the terrestrial ( lobe is indeed east and vvest . or letting the poles be north and south , the earth may yet be endued with some such-like magnetick attractive vertue in certain and determinate east and west poynts ( if it may be thought to have any attractive force in fixt east and west points it will serve me . then without more ado , i will now suppose that infinite right lines of attraction ( like as in the magnet ) run through the earth from east to west as in the figure . after what manner the earth is moved so as to make two tides upon all shores in 24 hours . where let a. b. c. d. be the terestrial globe , a. c. the the meridian , b. d. the horizontal lines , e. f. the orb of the moon , g. h. i. k. l. line drawn at every 15 degrees , between the horizontal and meridian lines in the terrestrial globe to the same points in the moons orb. if you shall now attempt to give the globe motion by plucking at any of these lines , and keep your hand to the same point in the moons orb it will be in vain , for you shall not give it motion from east to west , or the contrary . but if plucking by the line e. you shall hold your hand , as high as g. in the orb of the moon , you will easily give it a little motion from east to west . and if you shall yet carry your hand higher to h and i plucking yet by the line e , you shall in using but the same or less strength give the globe a greater motion at h then at g. and i. then at h. so the moon in the horizon , cannot give the earth motion , but as she rises above it she successively every moment drawn by lines more upright ( i know not what other name to give them ) from the centre of the point of attraction , or from all those lines or points that from all parts of the eastern hemisphere of the terrestrlal globe dart out rays of attraction . but now according to this rule the moon should give the earth a greater motion at k then at i and greater yet , at l then at k. but nature has wisely provided for this by bending ( as i may say ) the moon forces against her self . for the moon by infinite beams , or rays of attraction ; has influence upon that whole hemisphere of the terrestrial globe that respects the moon in her diurnal motion . so that the moon no sooner leaves the horizon but she begins to have influence upon the western side of the globe and though the beams of attraction near the meridian , are but weak and the moon at a great distance glances at them but oqliquely yet that litale impediment is enough ( when the moon is but a little above the horizon ( where she could not if this obstruction were not give the earth but very little motion ) to keep this motion from being either sudden , or great , and that now and at all times it may be most easie , constant , and regular for as the moon in rising above the horizon , has every moment greater advantage of giving the earth motion , so the influence she has upon the contrary side of the globe is every moment greater , but yet notwithstanding this the motion is increast till the moon is 45 degrees above the horizon . let a. b c. d. be the terrestrial globe , a. c. the horintal b. d. the meredian lines — those lesser lines infinite lines of attraction , e. g. the moon 's orb , h. i. k. l. m. n. o. p. lines drawn from the eastern and western poynts of attraction in the globe of the moon , to different poynts in the restrial globe . now supposing the moon in the horrizon ; and then she draws by the lines h i. ( you may imagine innumerable lines of attraction more either from the moon to the earth , or from the earth to the moon ; 't is the same thing for magnetisme must be from a propension or mutual iuclination in both bodies ) the moon in this place can give the earth no motion ( for as i said before ) she is now in the centre of the poynt of attraction , and so can give the earth no motion ; but about an hour after this the moon will be 15 degrees above the horizon , and then she draws by the lines k. l. now you may observe that the line l. reaches 15. degrees west from the mer idian , and then the moon must have influence upon all those western points of attraction that are between that poynt and the meridian . and on the contrary the line k. terminates in a poynt 15. degrees west trom the opposite poynt of the meridian , so that the moon can have no influence upon all those eastern points of attraction that are between the termination of the line k. and the meridian . but the magnetick vertue being weak in poynts so remote from the centre , the moon notwithstanding this impediment , by the advantage of drawing by lines a little more upright from all those other more powerful poynts gives the earth little motion from east ▪ to west . and for the same reason continues and increases the motion as she rises till she is south east ; and then she draws by the lines m. n. both these lines terminate in poynts equally distant between the horizantal and meredian line ▪ that is in the north east and south west poynts of the globe , where note , that when the moon comes to be vertical to either of those poynts she gives the earth as great a motion as she does at the poynt she is now in . so that now the contest is at the highest , for though the moon here is more advantageously plac't : to give the earth motion from east to west , then at any time since she appeared above the horizon , yet the advantage she has gained upon the western-side of the globe , is now so great that here the motion of the earth is arrested so that as the moon from this poynt move towards the meredian the earth declynes again , for as the moon in rising above the horizon gradually increastthemotion of the earth till she was south-east , so now after the same proportion it is abated as the moon from the south east move towards the meridian . the nearer the moon aproaches the meredian the more advantage she has of drawing from the western poynt of attraction , and just so much as she gains upon that side she must lose upon the contrary : so that the earth now must move back again from west to east , and by the same easie degrees as it was rais'd returns to its place , as all other magnetick bodies do , when that which forces them from their designed stations or desired places , is either removed to such places as renders it less powerful or altogether ineffectual . but to proceed . the earth now has had but three hours motion from east to west , nor will it ever have a greater motion then now from east to west , or the contrary ; yet hereafter the motion will constantly be six hours from east to west , and from west to east : for observe that the first three hours of the motion is alwayes that three hours time in which the earth is returning to its place from which the moon before had made it vary . as now all the time the moon is moving from the south-east to the meridian , the earths motion ( for the reason before said ) will be back again from west to east ; and when the moon has reacht the meridian , then will the earth be at its level , and just as it was six hours before , when the moon was in the horizon , for now the moon being equally plac't between the points of attraction , draws by the lines o. p. and so must have the same advantage of drawing from the one as from the other . but now though the earth be at its level , yet the motion ceases not , for as you can no sooner say the moon is in the meridian , but that she is out of it again , so this motion is not interrupted for a moment of time . the moon no sooner leaves the meridian , but by the same easie motion that she rais'd the eastern-side of the globe , she now attracts and turns up the western side , and by that means continues the motion from west to east , till she is south-west ; for the moon must gain just as much advantage as she moves west from the meridian till she is south-west , by approaching every moment nearer the western point of attraction , and being further removed from the contrary ; as she lost for the same reason , in moving from the south-east , to the meridian . then now the earth has had six hours motion from west to east , for it began three hours before the moon reacht the meridian , by letting fall the eastern side of the globe , and was continued till the moon was three hours past the meridian , by turing up of the contrary side . and now the motion will be back again the next six hours from east to west , for look how much advantage the moon gained by drawing by lines successively more upright as she moved from the horizon to the south-east , so much she now must lose by drawing by lines more declining as she moves from the south-west to the horizon . so that as the moon from the south-west declines towards the horizon , the motion of the earth must be back again from east to west ; and when the moon shall be in the horizon , then will the earth be at its level , and just as it was when the moon was in the opposite point of the heavens . but now as when the moon was in the meridian the motion ceases not , for the moon without the least stay draws down the western side of the globe , and after the same manner and for the same reason continues the motion from east to west , for six hours , that is , till the moon is three hours beneath the horizon or north-west : the same order is observ'd as the moon moves round the globe , for the next six hours the motion will be back again from west to east . if i have not exprest my self so as to make you master of my thoughts , take a loadstone made spherical , set it upon its poles , and carry another with a very easie motion in a circle round it , and you may see ( i doubt not ) this motion very exactly , and as the saying is , to the life represented . and that you may not think me so much wanting as wholly to neglect a tryal , you may know that when i had well considered the excellent agreement between the motion of the earth ( as i had supposed it ) and the seas , it came presently in my mind that by making a light globe , and setting it upon its poles so tenderly ballanc't that it might but just have a tendancy the same way , i might inform my self by the help of a loadstone , which would admirably suppply the moons place , by drawing by invisible lines what motion the stone , carried in a circle round the globe , would give it , and how it would agree with the motion i had suppos'd the earth to have , but unexpected and succeeding , troubles kept me at least three years otherways imploy'd ; but then i made a globe about seven inches in diameter , with three small osier hoops , representing the equator , horizantal , and meridian lines , through the centre of this ; srom east to west , i fixt an axis of such wyer as mariners , needles are made of , and upon the ends of the vvyer ( which did but just appear through the hoops ) i riveted two thin pieces of iron ( each about an inch long ) pointed . i carried this globe to a mathematical instrument-maker that was master of a stone ( for i had none of my own ) and upon tryal found that holding the stone either in the east or west points , or meridian-line , it gave it no motion ( which i never doubted ) but if it varied never so little from those points , either from east to west , or the contrary , it gave the globe motion accordingly ; but for want of an arch to keep the stone in all points at the same distance from the globe , i could not precisely observe at what point between the horizontal and meridian lines , it had its greatest motion , which was the chief thing i made the tryal for . but the satisfaction i received by this , made me resolve upon a second , with a globe more artificially made , but unwelcom accidents have kept me from an opportunity to this day . if any man shall think it worth his trouble , i doubt not but that he may adjust such a globe as i have been speaking of , so as to represent this motion exactly enough ; only let the equator be made in all parts of an equal weight , for that that i made was so heavy in the east and west points , that when the stone came near the meridian , the globe would decline with a motion somewhat too quick , except i held the stone very near , and then it carried the globe round with it . it s not to be questioned but , that this motion of the earth must make two tides upon all shores , every 24 hours , or in the space of time the moon is moving round our globe . as before , let the moon be in the horizon east , and this to be the first time of her going round our globe the earth and all seas now without motion , when the moon takes her first steps above the horizon she at the same time gives the earth motion by turning it a little in the centre from east to west , this must cause an inequality in the surface of the water , and that presently produces a motion ; so that now the indian , atlantick , and paciffick seas first began to move , and at the same time take their course west , the waters leaving the now higher western , and failing upon the lower eastern shores , and this motion is continued till the moon is south-east , and then is it high-water and the first flood upon all eastern & low-water and the first ebb upon all western shores. now this tide was but three hours for it wanted three hours from a preceding motion , but hereafter every tide will be exactly six hours . for now as the moon from the south-east moves towards the meridian , the earth returns to its level , moving back again from west to east ; and now all seas take their first journey east , leaving the eastern and falling upon the forsaken western shores ; and when the moon has reacht the meridian , then will the earth and seas be at their first level , but now the ▪ motion seakes not , for as the moon in her never-ceasing motion leaves the meridian and hastes away to the west , so the motion of the earth and seas eastward is continuedfor three hours longer ▪ that is , till the moon is south-west , the moon giving the earth just as much motion now from east to west ; then this tide was exactly six hours . and now the seas will take their course west again , for as the moon from the south-west declines towards the horizon she lets fall the western side of the globe , and then all seas haste away to wash and fill the empty eastern shores. and this motion is continued till the moon is 45 degrees beneath the horizon , or north-west , and then it will be high-water , and the second flood upon the eastern ; and low-water , and the second ebb upon the western shores. the next six hours the motion of the earth and waters will be back again from west to east , that is till the moon is north-east , and then will they have had two flood upon the western and as many ebbs upon the eastern shore ▪ and when about three hours after this , the moon shall be in the horizon , that is , the same point of the heavens she was in when the motion began , then shall the earth and seas be at their level , the waters being just as high upon all shores now as then . but though the waters now are neither higher nor lower upon the shores then when the motion began , yet now it will be called half flood upon the eastern , and half ebb upon the western shores , for that three hours before by a preceeding motion of the earth , the waters were so much higher upon the latter , and so much lower upon the former , then they were 24 hours before . then the three hours flood and ebb that was then wanting upon those shores , is now made good . so that in the space of 24 hours there has been two compleat tides upon all shores. this is an order establisht by nature , plain and without mystery , it s but a gentle rocking of the earth in the centre from east to west , and west to east , and though it may be hard to say precisely how much motion from east to west , or the contrary , the moon gives the earth , yet without troubling your head , you may conclude it to be very little ; for let it be supposed that upon indifferent shores the water , rises ten foot ( which yet is more then some will allow ) five foot of this is not to be acconuted for , the first three hours of every flood is but the return of the same water that by a contrary motion of the earth first fell from those shores. for if the earth was to keep its level without motion , the waters would be constantly as high upon all shores as they are when we say it is half flood or ebb , abating but so much as by the advantage of falling upon shores that have a smooth and easie assent , or into bays that open with wide mouths and after are contracted into narrow corners , or for some other manifest cause they are made to mount . now then what motion can you imagine the earth to have to be little enough to swell the waters five , nay ten foot upon those shores where the seas are two or 3000 miles or more over , as they commonly are ; i am in the mind you will say , ( and you may safely do it ) that this motion must be so little as to be almost altogether insensible . so that though i have made a great many words about it , and talkt of six hours motion , from east to west , and west to east , yet when you have well considered the matter , you may ( without any prejudice to your judgment ) very well suppose the earth always to have had this motion , though you knew it not . as shall be abundantly confirmed to you by all that follows , for , the moon giving the earth this motion , the tides must fall exactly so many minutes later as the moon doth . the other motions of the seas may as well be thought to depend upon the motion of the sun as moon ; butin this the moon seems to have all the sway , and has so far outrivald the sun , that men in all ages have willingly assign'd the empire of the ocean to the moon , upon the account of the most exact agreement that is found between the moon and seas in this motion of retardation , which is thus : the moon comes later to the same point of the heavens one day with another by about forty eight minutes , and the tides observe the same . when the moon is in conjunction with the sun , it is always high water at london-bridge , at three a clock , but now the same tide will fall later every day as the moon doth , so that when the moon is in quadrature with the sun , the same tide will fall six hours later , that is , at nine a clock ; and so every seven days the same tide will fall later by six hours till the moon is in conjunction again , and then the same tide will fall out at three a clock as before . if the moon comes later to the same point of the heaven , 10 , 15 , or 20 minutes this day ( as it sometimes falls out so ) then the day before , the tides observe the same all the world over ; and that so precisely , that no rule can be given to know the time of high-water but by knowing the true time of the moons coming to the south . and which is more , if strong winds keep back or accellerate the tides ( as oftentimes it happens ) half an hour or more , yet the very next tide ( if it be a calm ) shall observe the due time , it should have done , notwithstanding this interruption . then the question may well be askt whether or no the seas universally may be made thus exactly to keep time with the motion of the moon by any other ways or means whatever then by the motion of the earth ; but no man can doubt but that if the moon give the earth motion after the manner that i have supposed it , but that the seas must observe the same even to a minute of time : for if the moon shall be south-east , south-west , north-west or north-east , ( at which points the motion of the earth and seas from east to west , or west to east always begins ) this day at 12 a clock , if to morrow the moon comes later to these points 20 or 30 minutes , its certain that the motion of the earth cannot begin till then , and by consequence it must be high water so many minutes later . this is so manifest , that to say more would be needless . and therefore i shall now let you know by what means the motion of the earth and seas are abated and increased every seven days . i said before that the moon and sun by a powerful magnetick attractive vertue gave the earth motion . i shall now add , that by reason of the exceeding swift motion of the moon , the sun sometimes comes to be so posited as directly to oppose the moon in the motion , and sometimes to assist with all his forces . but that you may the better understand what i say , and at the same time fancy to your self , how much the sun contributes to , or impedes the motion as he comes to be every day diversly posited , i will now examine how much the sun may be concerned in the action , which may easily be gathered from this , that when the moon is 90 degrees from the sun , the sun then directly opposes the moon in the motion ; and yet then the tides here at london commonly rise about 12 foot . at new and full moon the sun lends his utmost assistance , and then they rise about 16 foot , now if when the sun directly opposes the moon , the tides rise 12 foot , and whenhe assists with all his forces they rise but 16. its certain that if the sun did neither hinder nor assist , the moon alone would give the earth so much motion as should constantly make the tides rise here 14 foot : so that the suns interest can be but as two to 14. i do not pretend to be precise in this , for perhaps there may be ( especially at some times of the year ) more then four foot difference between the neap and spring tides here , and it may be the neap and spring tides rise not commonly so high as i speak of ; but this is not so far from the truth , but that it may serve to make a pretty near estimate ; then now if you understood after what manner i suppos'd the earth was mov'd , and at what points it had it's greatest motion , you will easily know how that motion comes to be abated or increast , which is thus suppose the moon in the horizon east , and in conjunction with the sun this day , then the tides must be at the highest , for now the moon and sun being carried round the earth in the same point , they with their united forces must give it as great a motion as at any time they can ; for the next day , it will be three quarters of an hour later before the moon reaches the horizon ; and then the sun will be about 12 degrees above it : so that this day when the moon shall be south-east ( the place of greatest advantage of giving the earth motion ) the sun will be 12 degrees nearer the meridian , at which point the sun cannot altogether so powerfully assist the moon , as the day before when they were both at the same time in the south-east point ; so that this day the motion of the earth is a very small matter abated . and for the same reason the motion every day abates , till the moon is in the quarter ; for about three days after change , when the moon shall be in the horizon , the sun will be 45 degrees above it , then this day all the time the moon is moving from the horizon to the south-east , the sun is moving from the south-east to the meridian ; in all which points , especially near the meridian , the sun but faintly assists the moon , and in the meridian not at all . but the next three days the sun does not only less assist , but every day more then other opposes the moon in the motion ; for about five days after conjunction , when the moon shall be in the horizon , the sun at the same time will be about 60 degrees above it ; then this day when the moon is south-east , the sun will be declined 12 degrees west from the meridian : so that all the time the sun was moving from the meridian to that point , the sun opposed the moon , by drawing from the contrary point of attraction . the next day the impediment will be greater , and when the moon shall be in the quarter , or 90 degrees from the sun , then will the sun directly oppose the moon all the time of the motion : for then when the moon is in the horizon , the sun must be in the meridian ; so that all the time the moon is moving from the horizon to the south-east , the sun is moving from the meridian to the south-west : and so directly opposes the moon with all his forces ; the sun having in all those points the same advantage of giving the earth motion from west to east , that the moon has of giving it motion from east to west : now if the sun did attract with equal force , the earth must this day be without motion ; but the moon ( by reason of her nearness ) being much more powerful , gives the earth motion , notwithstanding this opposition . then now the tides are at the lowest , the earth having now the least motion it can at any time have . for now for the same reason that the motion was abated from the moons being in conjunction till she was in the first quarter , it will now be increast till she is in opposition . the next day after the quarter , when the moon shall be in the horizon , the sun will be 12 degrees west from the meridian ; then this day when the moon shall be south-east , the sun will be declined 12 degrees from the south-west , at which point the sun cannot so much impede this motion as the day before . and now every day the impediment will be less , and accordingly the motion of the earth and seas will be increast , but especially three days before the moon comes into opposition , for then the sun does not only less oppose , but for some part of the time ( every day more then other ) assists the moon in the motion . and when the moon shall be in opposition , the motion will be the same it was when in conjunction ; for then when the moon is in the horizon east , the sun will be in the horizon west ; and as the moon rises above the horizon , and gives the earth motion from east to west , the sun at the same time declines beneath the horizon , and assists the moon in the motion altogether as powerfully as when in conjunction . as the moon attracts or turns up the eastern side of the globe , the sun at the same time pulls down the vvestern side , which is the same thing as if they had been both in the same point , and the motion will be as great , and the tides as high , as at the new moon , the same order is observ'd till the moon comes into conjunction again , for as the motion was abated from new moon to the first quarter , so now for the same reason and after the very same proportion it will again be abated till the moon is in the last quarter , and then increast as before for the next seven days , &c. now let any man that takes pleasure in these things consider well with himself how much every day the motion of the earth ought to be abated or increast , ( allowing the sun to have such an interest as i spake of before ) and i dare promise him all the satisfaction in it can be expected ; for upon examination he shall find the increasing and decreasing of the tides to corrospond as exactly with it as he can desire , and much more excellently then i can express it . three days before new and full moon , you shall find the sun very aptly plac't to assist the moon in the motion , and acordingly you will find the tides to increase . three days after new and full moon the sun not much less assists the moon ( tho every day less then other ) then upon the same day , and then you will find the tides to decrease but leisurely . three days before either of the quarters , you must think the sun notably impedes the motion , the tides then decrease a pace . three days after the quarter , the tides increase but slowly , the sun those days less opposing , but not at all assisting the moon . there is yet a fourth motion of the seas ; that is , that these spring tides are made to increase and decrease every quarter of a year . this motion of the seas has not i think been much taken notice of here , only learned men have observ'd that the spring tides are usually higher in march and september , then ordinary . but in the mediteranean sea it has been known long since , that the spring tides are constantly lower when the sun is in either of the tropicks , and higher when in the equator ; and he that shall observe it upon any shore that lies open to the ocean in any part of the world , ( i believe ) will find it so ; but this place is by no means fit for these inquiries , for in december land-floods many times makes the tides higher then usual , at other times they are pestred with ice , and that keeps them back , besides strong winds at sea often makes the tides higher or lower then ordinary , when perhaps its calm here . and then in june , tho the spring tides are lower then then usual , yet it has been thought to be only for want of fresh water coming down so plentifully as at other times ; and indeed reason and experience tell us that when land-floods happen at the new or full moon , the spring-tides must be and are then higher then at that time of the year they are accustomed to be ; and by consequence when the rivers are empty , the tides must be and are then lower . but then it s well known that the waters in european rivers are usually lower in september then in june , and yet the spring-tides are then commonly highest , but by reason of the aforesaid frequent interruptions this has not been taken notice of , though its discernable enough here to a curious observer . and the reason why the spring-tides are higher at these times then ordinary , is very plain , and may in a few words be dispatcht . for suppose the moon to be in conjunction with the sun in the first degrees of cancer , they now in their diurnal motion describe the least circle ( except when in capricorn , and then it is the same ) about the earth ; and then must give the earth the least motion . this you cannot question , for if you were to give a wheel motion upon its axis , you would not lay your hand upon the nave , or near it , but upon the rim , the greatest circle , since you might with using but the same strength at the rim give it a greater motion then in any lesser circle . 't is the same with the sun and moon , about 14 days after this , the sun will be in the middle of cancer , and the moon about the middle of capricorn in opposition with the sun , ( which is the same thing as if they were in the same circle ) and describe circles so much greater ▪ and by that advantage give the earth a greater motion , so that this spring tide must be a little higher then that that happened 14 days before . and so every time the moon shall be in conjunction or opposition with the sun , they will yet describe greater circles , and by that means give the earth a greater motion ; and accordingly the spring-tides will increase till the sun has reacht the equator . and then being carried directly over the body of the earth in the greatest circle , they must needs be thought to give the earth and seas the greatest motion . so that now the spring-tides are at the very highest ; for now they will for the same reason decrease again , till the sun is in capricorn , and the next quarter increase , &c. and this without doubt is the only cause why the spring-tides are higher in march and september , and lower in june and december . i have endeavoured to inform my self how much the spring-tides are higher when the sun is in the equator , then when in the solstices ; and by the nearest observation i could make here at london , there is the difference of near two foot , but i am not so well satisfied in it as i desire . it will not be amiss to give you notice here that you shall hardly meet with two men that agree at what time the spring tides are at the highest ( i mean those spring tides that happen at new and full-moon ) some saying upon the day the moon is in conjunction or opposition , some the next day , others will have it the third tide after , by which it should seem the time is not fixt . i am in the mind that for one half of the year the tides may increase a day or more after full and change , but not the other half ; that is , from june to september , and from december till march ; my reason for it is this , in these quarters the sun is returning from the tropicks to the equators , and then though the sun a day after full and change do less assist the moon in giving the earth motion then upon the day ; yet it is so very little less , that the disadvantage is more than recompenc'd by the moons discribing the day after ( having a very swift motion ) a greater circle about the earth . as the sun goes from the equator to the tropick , it is quite contrary ; for then the day after full and change the moon describes a lesser circle than the day before ; and then the tides should not increase after new and full-moon , at least not so long . i have made some agreeable observations about this , but have not had time for a strict inquiry ; though i have long thought of it . those that live near this , or any other river that ebbs and flows , may easily inform themselves whether this be so or no. but now besides these alterations of the seas , it must follow upon this motion of the earth : first , that when the tides rise highest , they must fall lowest ; secondly , that the tides in all seas must set east and west ; and thirdly , that the motion of the seas must begin at the same time all over the world. the first of these you may at your pleasure observe , and you shall alwayes find that the highest spring . tide makes the lowest ebb. and all experimene'd men know the tides set directly east and west upon all the utmost eastern and western shores in the world. and i think that learned men are agreed , that the motion begins at the same time in all seas . thus much is certain , that when the moon is south-west , or in the opposite point of the heavens , that is north-east , it is alwaies high-water upon all the utmost open western shores of europe and affrica , from nova zembla to the cape of good-hope . and that when the moon is south-east or north-west , it is high-water upon the utmost eastern shores of america . so that when it is high-water upon the first named , it must be low-water upon the other shores. when they have the first of ebb upon the western shores of europe and affrica , they must have the first of flood upon the opposite eastern shores of america . by which it is plain that the motion begins at the same time in all these seas ; and that what we call the ebbing and flowing of the sea , is nothing but the falling of the waters from off the western , upon the eastern shores , and the same back again every 6 hours . but further , when it is high-water upon the western shores of europe and affrica , it is high-water at the same time upon the western shores of italy , and upon the shores of syria at the bottom of the mediteranean sea , and ( take good notice of it ) when it is high-water upon those shores , it is low-water at venice and on the contrary . now this i take to be a very forceable argument to prove the motion of the earth , as i have supposed it , and then the motion must begin at the same time in all seas ; for it is unconceivable how this should otherwise happen : but if you shall fancy the terraqueous globe to have a little motion from west to east , you will then say that it must make high-water upon all the first named shores , and low-water at venice . but then let the eastern side be turned up , and it must make high-water at venice , and low-water upon all the other shores. the instances that may be taken out of this and other seas to confirm this motion of the earth , are every where so many and so obvious , that they cannot escape your notice if you will but take the least pains to inquire into these things . nor can you ( i think ) meet with any thing that shall seem to contradict it . a reason now should be given , why upon some shores they have almost no tides , when upon others they have great and almost incredible floods . i will onely name some of those places that are most remarkable for great tides , or the contrary , without attempting to give a reason why it is so , being almost confident that when you have observed those places well , you will say that the earth having such a motion , it must of necessity be so . i will begin in the north parts of europe , in some bays upon the shores of nova zembla , it flows 12. or 14 foot , but in some places upon the neighbouring shores of lapland they have no tides at all ; and where they have most which is ( as i remember ) near the bay of st. nicholas , one two , or three foot . pet and jackman searching for a passage by the north ▪ east to india , found the waters in some of the bays upon this coast to be black , and like a standing pool , without motion . note that there are bays upon those shores that have the same forms that those have upon the other shores where they have very great tides . upon the western shores of norway about 10 or 12 foot , but upon the southern shores , of norway they hardly exceed one foot or two ; in the baltick sea no tides . in the bay of bristow 50 foot . at the town of orange in normandy , they 〈◊〉 rise somemes 80 foot . in the bay of biscay 18 , 20 , or 24 foot . upon the western shores of affrica 10 , 12 , or 14 foot . but upon the southern shores of guiney and benin they have very little tides , every ruffling gale of wind disorders them in many places there . in davis's streight ( in some places near the entrance ) it flows about 30 foot , at port-nelson , ( which lies opposite to the mouth of the streights ) where sir thomas button wintred , 15 foot : but in the south-part of the same bay , where ( as i take it ) hadson wintred , but one foot , observe this bay well . in the bay of foundy , north-ward from new-england , which place i had never heard spoken of for great tides , ( though i had been twice in north america ) but about two or three years since i saw a draught of the sea coasts thereabouts described in very large form , where this bay was represented in such a figure that i concluded that if the earth had such a motion as i before had supposed , that then in this bay there must be great tides . not long after i met with a master of a ship that traded into those parts , who upon my asking told me , that it flow'd there 12 or 13 fathom , but because i knew the man to be one that lov'd to make things that were strange seem wonderful , i did not rely upon his testimony , but inquir'd of others , who agreed that it flow'd there above 60 foot ; i now and alwayes mean spring-tides ; and in bays or mouths of rivers ; for where the land is not indented , the waters never rise so high . in other bays upon the eastern shores of north america , two or three fathom ; upon the eastern shores of south america , 10 or 12 foot , according to the largness of the seas , which are there very unequal . and because this may be a rule for other places , you may observe that from cape frio ( which is in the south-east parts of brasile ) to the streights of magallan , the land trenches away south-west . now when the first of flood falls upon the south-east shores of brasile , the waters rise considerably higher upon the shores , ( as they do upon all other shores ) then the surface of the sea at a very little distance is , now the waters that next follow these , not finding it easie to mount this height , and yet being prest forwards by succeeding waters , are part of them forc't to follow the trenching of the land at a distance from the shore . so that if in all this tract of land any promontory or head-land that juts it's self farther into the sea then ordinary , to catch or arrest these waters in their passage , happens to lie on the western-side of any bay or mouth of rivers , the tide in those bays or rivers shall be proportionably higher ; but if the land on the eastern side be strecht farther out then the tides in those bays or rivers , will accordingly be abated . it ebbs and flows up the river of plate ( says mr. purchas ) an 100 miles . in the river galegos near the entrance of the streights ) and upon the shores of fuego it flows 60 foot . in the bay that lies between the city of martaban and pegae , in the gulf of bengalia in india , the tides set in with a great deal of fury , and are said to rise there sometimes 40 foot . in the bay of cambaja , great tides , but they rise not so high , nor is the motion so violent as in the former : in the red-sea very little tides : what tides they have upon the shores of new guiney , i cannot learn , but without doubt very notable in that great bay , upon the western-shore . the greatest tides in the mediteranean sea , are said to be upon the coast of syria , where ( i think ) they rise seven or eight foot . at the bottom of the gulf of venice , 5 foot ; upon the western shores of italy , not above a foot : the waters run through the streight of sylla , and caribdis , six hours east , six hours west , with a great deal of violence , without rising or falling , or but very little ; the like happens between all the islands in this sea , only the course of the waters is not so rapid , the passage not being so streight . now take a globe , set it upon its poles , the horizon to cut the equator at the points before spoken of , and look upon any of these places , or any other place that you know ; or that report has made famous for great tides , or otherways ; and if the place be upon a western shore , as the town of orange in normandy , then imagine the globe to have a little motion , ( you had best fancy it to be exceeding little indeed , and your self not near , or else the very fear of being overwhelm'd with the falling waters that must be crowded into this place , will make you tremble ) from west to east , but if the place be upon an eastern shore , as the bay of foundy , then from east to west ; and the reason why these things are so , will appear so manifestly , that it must be delightful to consider it ; but it would add to the pleasure , if you had the figures of those places you had a mind to examine , described in the largest forms . take notice , that in all those places where i have said there is great tides , that the bottoms of those places are sandy and smooth ; which may indeed contribute to the raising of the waters there , but cannot so properly be said to be the cause of the extraordinary tides in those places ; as the great tides are the cause of that ; for where ever the tides sets with a direct course into the mouths of bays or rivers , they must have there alwayes sandy smooth bottoms . except in large bays or rivers that have narrow mouths , and in them the quite contrary may happen ; for the greatest swelling of the waters shall be near the entrance , and least of all in the extremities of those bays ; and they may have very uneven bottoms , &c. in a word , there is nothing of mystery in these things ; nothing but what is consonant to the laws , principles , and ordinary workings of nature , and most agreeable to reason , nothing but what you may imitate , and at your pleasure see exactly represented ( what alterations happens upon the account of rivers excepted ) by placing in a boat ( as i said before ) 10 or more vessels of water , of different sizes and figures ; let one of those vessels be long and very narrow , and stand as the boat north and south : now make a mark upon the western side of any of those vessels , even with the surface of the water , and then in three minutes time lift up the eastern-side of the boat so high till you raise the water half an inch above that mark ; and then in the like space of time as you rais'd it , let it return to its place , and ( without letting the motion cease ) in three minutes more ( depress that side as much below the level as before you raised it , that is till the water be fallen half an inch below that mark upon the western shore ; and now in other six minutes raise it to its first height , and if you shall con tinue thus to move it , you shall constantly give the boat six minutes ▪ motion from east to west , and from west to east , and it will be said to ebb and flow upon that shore where you made the mark , a full inch. and you shall have two tides upon al shores every 24 minutes ; and you may make those tides to fall later by three quarters of a minute every 24 minutes , and to increase and decrease in what periods of time you please . nay if a hand , a sun , on the contrary side of the boat , did sometimes hinder , sometimes assist you , the motion of the boat and waters must be abated and increast accordingly ; or if you should remove your hand 23 degrees on either side of the equator ( if i may so call it ) of the boat , you shall not in using but the same strength give the boat so great a motion at the greatest declination as in the middle the greatest circle ; and if you have the figure of those shores described in some of these vessels , where they have very great or almost no tides , you shall see the very same alterations upon those shores . and when you give the boat the greatest motion , you must have the highest spring tides and the lowest ebbs. the waters must run directly east and west , and the motion must begin at the same time in all those little seas . and whatever other accidents happens in the flux or reflux of the sea , you may plainly see , even those irregular motions ( as they are call'd ) observ'd in the euripus its self ( as did i not think that upon such a motion of the earth as i have supposed the reason of those alterations would manifestly appear , i should have made some words about it . ) and the motion of the waters shall be in proportion to the largeness of the vessels , only it shall be insensible in that narrow vessel that stood north and south in the boat. then it will not at all seem strange to you that the alterations observ'd in other parts of the ocean are not discernable in the baltick sea. and i know that you think it would be the same thing if that sea was plac't at either of the poles , or at the equator : and that if the mediteranean sea stood as the baltick ; north and south , that there would be very little or no tides in that sea ; but to be sure there could be none where now they have the greatest tides , that is , upon the shores of syria ▪ at venice , and at the streights mouth . and that if the baltick sea was plac't east and west , the tides would be discernable enough in the extremities of that sea. to conclude , i lately met with a couple of observations about the ebbing and flowing of the sea in the philosophical transactions of the truly royal society , not yet spoken of the first is : that the water neither flows nor ebbs alike , in respect of equal degrees , but its velocity increaseth with the tide till just mid-water or half-flood , at which time its velocity is at the strongest ; and then decreaseth proportionably till high-water or full sea. if you have understood what i have said , you cannot but know that the first three hours of every flood and ebb is that three hours time in which the earth is returning to its level ; then the business is to know whether it may be thought that the moon le ts fall the side of the globe with a motion somwhat quicker , then she raises it . or , that the waters falling upon the empty shores , must be thought to rise faster the first three hours , then they can when the shores and rivers are half full . i must leave this to the determination of wiser men . the other observation is indeed very notable , which is , that the morning tides for one half of the year are higher by a foot ( where it flows 18 or 20 foot ) then the evening tides ; and on the contrary the other half year . it would trouble a good head to give a satisfactory reason how this should happen , if the earth has not such a motion as i have been speaking of ; but that being alow'd , the cause of this odd effect is manifest enough . nay i am perswaded that the solving of this doubt would give much reputation to the hypothesis , but because it would ingage me to speak of things that at this time i do not care for medling with , i shall now let it alone , but if the learned shall think there is more in what i have already said , then meer conjecture ( as i am under a strong delusion if there be not ) then upon some other occasion you may know more of my thoughts about this . till that be known , farewel . finis . to be sold by william gadbury , without the bars in white-chappel . 