It made you understand what
cold is, what the cause of the _primum mobile_, what the first
principle of the sun, how it moves the firmament, all stars, the
moon, the sea, the surface of the earth, what occasions the ebb,
flood, thunder, lightning, rain, wind, and how all things wax and
multiply, &c.,--as every one can be informed of by Drebbel's own
works; we refer the curious to his book, entitled _Eeuwige
Beweginghe_ (Perpetual Motion)."
Can this instrument have been a kind of Orrery?
"He built a ship, in which one could row and navigate _under
water_, from Westminster to Greenwich, the distance of two Dutch
miles; even five or six miles, as far as one pleased. In this
boat, a person could see under the surface of the water, and
without candlelight, as much as he needed to read in the Bible or
any other book. Not long ago, this remarkable ship was yet to be
seen lying on the Thames or London river.
"Aided by some instruments of his own manufacture, Drebbel could
make it rain, lighten, and thunder at every time of the year, so
that you would have sworn it came in a natural way from heaven.
"By means of other instruments, he could, in the midst of summer,
so much refrigerate the atmosphere of certain places, that you
would have thought yourself in the very midst of winter.
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