4 Section I. Portion IV. Part I. Book I.

A decorative headpiece features intricate floral patterns and symmetrical scrollwork, common in 17th-century scientific printing.

THE FIRST CHAPTER OF THE FIRST BOOK

CONCERNING THE PRIMARY PRINCIPLES OF

METEORS, FROM THE FOURTH PORTION

OF THE FIRST SECTION OF THE FIRST PART.

In which various opinions of philosophers, both ancient and modern,

concerning the name and essence of the Meteor are treated.

Decorative initial Q Although I have spoken quite extensively throughout the entire seventh book of our treatise on physics concerning the various natures of meteors, both physical and metaphysical—and also throughout the thread of the History of the Preternatural Events of Both Worlds original: "De præternaturali vtriusque mundi historia" in the second portion of the first section of the third part—nevertheless, in this place, a profound contemplation of the subject currently at hand and the necessity of our project compels me to penetrate into their centers with a somewhat more accurate investigation. For whoever desires to reach the very heart original: "meditullia," referring to the innermost core of meteors, and does not attempt to lead such a business to a happy conclusion, will indeed confess that he has not reached the smallest secret of GOD and nature. First, therefore, before I descend into the depths of a work of such great difficulty, I shall briefly and clearly explain what the Philosophers, both Ancient and modern, have thought regarding the general naming, essence, and origin of the meteor.

The Greeks assigned the name "meteor" original: "meteori," from the Greek meteoros, meaning "raised up" or "suspended in the air" because of the sublimity of its position in the region of the air. But among our own people, meteors are called "impressions" original: "impressiones"; in early modern science, atmospheric phenomena were thought of as "stamped" or "impressed" upon the air because they are mostly seen to be impressed and formed on high, that is, in the upper regions of the air. Yet truly, this kind of naming is attributed to them not from their essence or constitution, but rather from their location. With respect to their consistency, however, philosophers call them "imperfectly composed" and "imperfectly mixed" original: "corpora imperfecte composita & imperfecte mista" bodies; or (as some wish) they are so called because of their sudden generation, seeing as they are observed to be formed in an instant or a moment of time. Others maintain that they are called "imperfectly composed" bodies because their composition does not seem to occur according to a change of substance, but rather through an alteration of qualities. Certain others call them "imperfectly mixed" insofar as they are compared to animate and perfectly mixed bodies. Finally, there are others who assertively say that these impressions are called "imperfect mixtures" because a "perfect form" is not acquired in them, nor is a great alteration of parts found in such a composition; rather, the parts of things only lightly altered are confounded amongst themselves. And this is the reason why the parts of such an imperfect mixture are so easily dissipated from one another and dissolved into their primary elements, from which they were previously coagulated without any perfect mixing or transmutation having taken place.

Regarding the existence of these impressions, everyone agrees that two things are required for it: One, namely, that in which they are made, which is the air—serving as the medium or the lowest spirit of the world, which is the matrix The "matrix" here refers to a womb-like environment where things are generated or nurtured. of all meteors; the other, that from which they are made, and they conclude that this is vapor or, as others prefer, smoke original: "fumum", fundamentally rising from either the earth or the water. In this upward motion, they identify celestial heat as the more principal and primary agent, and the air as the secondary agent. Then, they believe that this matter, thus raised upward, is united and given form through the nature of a coagulum A "coagulum" is an agent that causes liquid to thicken or curdle; here it refers to the force that turns gas/vapor into a visible atmospheric event. that is partly celestial and partly elementary.

However, some seem to disagree regarding the material cause. While one scholar chooses only vapor as the universal matter of meteors, others assert that vapor and exhalation are their material subjects. They say that vapor is hot and moist, and thus they believe that "aqueous meteors" such as rain or snow proceed from its substance. On the other hand, they wish for "ignited impressions" such as lightning or comets to arise from exhalation, because it is hot and dry according to the nature of fire. For this reason, they have made smoke the common matter of meteors instead of vapor, since smoke, because it participates in the nature of every element, is sometimes hot and dry, and sometimes hot and moist; thus its matter is as fit for the procreation of aquatic impressions as it is for fiery ones. But truly, Robert of Lincoln original: "Robertus Lincolniensis," referring to the medieval English philosopher Robert Grosseteste (c. 1175–1253)., supported by the authority of Aristotle, seems to include "exhalation" under the dimension of "vapor," since, according to the opinion of the said Aristotle, he established that vapor is threefold: namely, hot and dry; hot and moist; and cold and moist. He asserted that the first is extracted materially from the earth or earthy things, the last from water or watery things, and the middle one from both, but with the watery part dominating. Hence, it followed that he defined vapor as a subtle substance from any one or two of the lower elements—