TER

710

TER

As the sine of Z. AFT, 60 minutes.8,2418553

Is to the base AT 1 semidiameter.....0,0000000

So is radius.10,0000600

To the hypothenuse TF, 57 semidiameters.1,7581447.

Betas the Sun’s horizontal parallax is 41times smallerthan that for which the preceding calculation is made, 57^3^;,must be multiplied by 417- r \f B °gy|j, and the product 239o6 T , 0 ! > B ‘y i S. rare the number of the Earth’s semidiameters that the Earth isdistant from the Sun at a mean rate, and 23906 t '^^j multipliedby 3977, the number of English miles in the Earth ’s semidiameter,the product is equal to 95074936 English miles, the quantity thatthe Sun is distant from the Earth , when he is half way betweenhis apogee and perigee. 2. E. D. Now since the Sun’s ap-parent diameter, at his mean distance from the Earth , is knownto be equal to 32' 3",3, the number of English miles containedin this diameter may be found by the following proportion: Asthe horizontal parallax of the Sun, 8”,62853, is to the apparentsemidiameler thereof, 16' 1”,65, so is the Earth ’s semidiameter,reckoned as unity, to lll-^y, the number of times the solarsemidiameter or diameter exceeds that of the Earth . And 7954,the number of English miles contained in the Earth ’s diameter xby 11 l-j^ty, the number of times the Sun’s diameter is greater thanthe Earth’s,=886473^ the number of English miles in the Sun’sdiameter. And as spherical bodies are to each other as the cubes oftheir semidiameters, the third power of 11 l-f^ or 1384462, is thenumber of times the Sun is bigger than the Earth . From theabove calculations it must be evident to every intelligent mindthat the Sun is upwards of a million of times bigger than theEarth , and that his distance from it is not less than 95 millionsof English miles ; and it is in opposition to the known laws ofmotion to suppose that a body so much larger than the Earth , andat such a vast distance from it, cotdd revolve round it; besidessuch an opinion is not founded upon any analogy in nature, therebeing nothing similar to it yet discovered. For if the Sun re-volves round the Earth , he must perform (he revolution in 24hours, in which time he must travel about 295 millions of English miles, i. e. upwards of 12 millions per hour!!! What has just beensaid is as demonstrable and certain as the rules of trigonometrywhich no mariner has as yet doubted, they in no one instancehaving ever lead him astray; and can any impartial inquirer aftertruth suppose that trigonometrical operations could fail in theirapplication to the celestial bodies, when they, connected with theinvention of logarithms, have been the means of raising the scienceof navigation to such a pitch of perfection as is unprecedented inthe annals of mankind ? But without admitting the Earth ’s annualmotion, the different phxnomena of the heavenly bodies cannotbe accounted for in any rational manner ; for how much more pro-bable is it to allow that the stationary and retrograde motions ofthe inferior and superior planets are only caused by the Earth ’sannual motion, (especially when allowing such a motion they canbe mathematically demonstrated to move round the Sun in -ellipticorbits nearly circular, without any irregularity,) than to supposethat the Sun, accompanied with the planets as satellites movinground him, and these planets again with their respective satellitesmoving round their primaries in stated periods, as well as the stars,should all be carried round the Earth in the course of about aday ; Besides how extremely improbable it is, upon this hypo-thesis, that the Sun should have planets moving round him, whilelie moves round the Earth , whose orbits are immensely largerthan his own, and consequently include the Earth within them.And to assert that none of the planets revolved round the Sun,but that they all had the Earth for their common centre, wouldbe to give the direct lie to the numerous observations of astrono-mers, and also would charge the most noble science of the mathe-matics with giving false conclusions. That the Earth turns roundher axis is consequent upon the admission of her annual motion;but we will offer an argument in its favour drawn from the dailyphatnomena of the fixed stars. It is a well known circumstancethat they constantly preserve the same situation with respect to eachother; so that the constellation of the Great Bear is always nearthat of the Little Bear, the constellation of Auriga always nearto that of the Bull, that of Perseus to that of Andromeda , &c. &c.This is a very presumptive evidence in favour of their being fixedbodies; for what reason can be given that the whole host of what

are called fixed stars should be endued with a periodic revolutionof precisely the same length, i. e. 23h. 56m. 4s. and that a fewonly, called planets, comets, and satellites, should have a peculiarmotion of their own ; for the motion of the stars must be eitherapparent or real. They, moreover, all appear to move round thenorth and south poles of the heavens every 23h. 56m. 4s. whichis precisely the time the Earth takes in turning round her axis, ifshe has any such motion at all; and also, if she has any such ro-tation, it is demonstrable, from the pluenomena of the terrestrialtropics and polar circles, that she performs it upon an axis inclined23“ 2!>' upon her orbit. But if what we have hinted above betrue, that the diurnal motion of the stars is not real but apparent;it is evident to every reflecting mind, that their motion must beprecisely similar to that which makes them appear to move; forif the deviation of even a minute of a degree was possible to beproved to exist in their motion different from the direction of theEarth ’s axis, it would be sufficient to prove that the motion of thestars was not caused by the rotation of the Earth upon her axis.But what will add the last degree of probability to the abovearguments, is the consideration of the nature of a rotatory motion.In such a motion, the north and south poles, which are the twoextremities of the Earth ’s axis, and quiescent, those parts of theEarth near these two points performing little circles round them,in a sidereal day, while those which are farther distant perform cir-cles of greater radii, according to their distance from the pole towhich they are the nearest, in precisely the same time. All thisis perfectly plain from the parallels of latitude on the globe ; thosenear the poles having circles of less radii than those near theequator, and, consequently, as a parallel of latitude runs throughthe whole 360 degrees of longitude, those in the former case mustcontain fewer miles than those in the latter, which is known to bethe case from the repeated observations of every seaman whokeeps an account of his ship’s course. But the whole starryheavens put on precisely this appearance of a rotatory motion ; forthey all appear to move round two imaginary points in the heavens,denominated the north and south poles of the heavens; and thosestars which are near the two poles move round them in little cir-cles every 2.3h. 56m. 4s. while those that are at a greater distancemove in larger ones in the same time; and the whole of the starspreserve the same relative positions with respect to each other, ex-actly similar to the places on the terraqueoOs globe which do notvary from each other in the time of a diurnal rotation. Besidesthe north and south poles of the Earth are exactly directed to thenorth and south poles of the heavens, the equator of the Earth tothe equinoctial of the heavens, the circles of latitude and longitudeon the earth to their corresponding ones in the heavens, the polarcircles of the Earth to the polar circles of the heavens, the tropicsof the Earth to their similar ones in the heavens, the ecliptic ofthe Earth to the ecliptic of the heavens, &c. &c. .Cc. for a mostcomplete demonstration of which take the following observationof astronomers, that the number of degrees, minutes, and seconds,a fixed star is from either pole of the heavens, so many degrees,minutes, and seconds, precisely must be the situation of that placefrom either pole of the terraqueous globe through the zenith ofwhich the said star will every day pass. For example, let it berequired to find to what parts of the Earth the a Cygni will beevery day in the zenith. For the resolution of this questionnothing is necessary but to know the declination of the star, whichin this example is 44° 36' 49" N. ; therefore every place of theEarth through which this parallel of latitude passes will have thisstar in the zenith once every 23h. 56m. 4s. By a reference to themap of the world we find that this parallel of latitude passes verynear the following places, viz. Marmande, Cahors , Entragne s >Gap, and Entbrun, in France ; Tenda, Ullo, and Ravenna, >!*ltalv ; Zara, Mostar , Pacha, Nagodin, Widin, and Baba Gulbin European Turkey ; &c. &c. &c. from which it follows thatthese places describe round the tellurian pole a similar circle withthat of the « Cygni round the pole of the heavens; consequentlythe diurnal motion of « Cygni is not a real but an apparent m 0 'lion; and what is said of one star is with the same reason said o.all; therefore the diurnal motion of all the fixed stars is only a P'parent; and from this circumstance we have the fullest evidentpossible that the Earth turns upon her axis to produce this simn a jappearance in the heavens, and likewise that she has an annuamotion round her orbit, 2. E. D.

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