The Theory of Concentric Spheres: Edmund Halley, Cotton Mather, &John Cleves SymmesAuthor(s): Conway ZirkleSource: Isis, Vol. 37, No. 3/4 (Jul., 1947), pp. 155-159Published by: The University of Chicago Press on behalf of The History of Science SocietyStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/225568 .

Accessed: 14/06/2014 02:38

Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at .http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp

.JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range ofcontent in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new formsof scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.

.

The University of Chicago Press and The History of Science Society are collaborating with JSTOR to digitize,preserve and extend access to Isis.

http://www.jstor.org

This content downloaded from 195.78.108.51 on Sat, 14 Jun 2014 02:38:44 AMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

A Note on the Latin Translators of Ibn Ezra 155

to consider folios 83v-87r of the Bibliotheque Na- tionale Latin manuscript 10270 as perhaps belong- ing to Peter of Abano; the explicit reads: "De revo- lutionibus nativitatum liber primus translatus de greco in latinum."

The statements describing four of the treatises forming part of the magnificent manuscript, which now bears the codex-number 5 in the Bibliotheque de l'Universite in Ghent, need clarification. The attribution (on page 30ia) of the original of the Liber de occultis and Liber de significationibus septem planetarum to Abraham ibn Ezra is quite doubtful. On the other hand, the doubt expressed (on pages 298b and 299b) as to the authorship of the Liber de questionibus and Liber de electionibus can be removed at once. Sometime before I326, Arnoul de Quinquempoix translated into Latin the French version which had been made from the Hebrew original of the two treatises, as he clearly asserts in the prologue (quoted in The Astrological Works . . . , p. 47). Apparently he did so with- out realizing that Peter of Abano had done likewise in 1293 under the titles Liber interrogationum and Liber electionum.

On pages 295, 298, 299, 300, Thorndike lists four relevant manuscripts in the National-Bibliothek of Vienna with a reference to F. Saxl's Verzeichnis astrol. und mythologischer illustrierter HS. des lat. Mittelalters, II (Heidelberg, I927), p. I58. As is

pointed out in The Beginning of Wisdom .

p. 26 note 38, A. Z. Schwarz described seven Vienna manuscripts containing Latin translations of Abra- ham ibn Ezra's treatises in the Abhandlungen zur Erinnerung an H. P. Chajes (Vienna, I932),

p. 205. In the concordance (on page 302), Thorndike

left a blank for the Tractatus de Nativitatibus, which Louis de Angulo translated in I448 through the intermediary of a Catalan version. It is extant in the manuscripts of Lyons, fonds latin 329, folios 2I4-226, and of Paris, fonds latin 732I, folios 87-I i6. Thorndike gives a recent reference (on page 293) for another work by Louis, which is en- tirely independent of the treatises by Abraham ibn Ezra and which is entitled De figura seu imagine mundi; a description of it dated I788 is quoted in The Astrological Works . . ., p. 54.

There was a real need for a competent scholar to undertake the classification and completion of the scattered bibliographies dealing with an important aspect in the history of medieval science. Professor Lynn Thorndike's compilation in Isis fills that lacuna, and offers a plethora of valuable material based on a remarkable proficiency in Latin paleog- raphy and reflecting a keen understanding of vast documentation.

The University of Texas

THE THEORY OF CONCENTRIC SPHERES: EDMUND HALLEY, COTTON MATHER, & JOHN CLEVES SYMMES

By CONWAY ZIRKLE

IN his most interesting article, "The Theory of Concentric Spheres," (Isis, 33:507-5x4), Dr. William Marion Miller traces the history of John Cleves Symmes' weird fantasy that "the earth is hollow, habitable within; containing a number of solid, concentrick spheres; one within the other, and that it is open at the pole twelve or sixteen degrees." Dr. Daniel Norman (Isis 34:29) reports that this notion still exists among the semi-literate and has been used recently in some of the pot-boilers of Ed- gar Rice Burroughs. Dr. George Sarton (Isis 34:30) calls attention to the fact that once such an error has been introduced it can never be completely eradicated and, recently, Mr. I. Bernard Cohen

(Isis 35:333) quotes a passage in Edna Kenton's The Book of Earths (I928) in which she raises the question as to where Symmes got his ideas. Several Indian tribes believed that the earth was hollow and at least three Americans have developed "concave" cosmogonies, i.e., Symmes (I 8I8), Cyrus Read Tweed (I870) and Marshall B. Gardner (1913). The object of the present note is to make available in Isis some further data concerning the origin and development of this hypothesis.'

1We may cite two post-Symmesian accounts of a subter- ranean country on a literary level somewhat higher than the romances of Edgar Rice Burroughs. In I864 Jules Verne published Voyage au centre de la terre, an opus sufficiently

This content downloaded from 195.78.108.51 on Sat, 14 Jun 2014 02:38:44 AMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

I56 Conwazy Zirkle

Strangely enough, the earliest description of the world's being composed of concentric spheres known to the writer is to be found in a serious and worthy contribution of one of the world's greatest scientists.

Of course the idea of an underworld is at least as old as the myths of Pluto - Odysseus and Orpheus preceded our modern travellers by many centuries - and Dante developed the locale most effectively. It would seem that a knowledge of the sphericity of the earth, combined with a belief in an underworld, would lead logically to a view that the world is composed of concentric spheres. To the best of the writer's knowledge, however, the earliest precise hypothesis assuming such a structure grew out of a very different background. Apparently it was in- vented to explain changes in the position of the mag- netic poles.

A hundred years before Symmes, Cotton Mather (I663-1728) published The Christian philosopher (London, 1721). Here in Chapter 24, Of Mag- netism, we have a very clear description of the con- centric spheres. The following quotation is from Selections from Cotton Mather, edited by Kenneth B. Murdock (New York, 1926).

Behold, the Disposition of the magnetical Vertue, as it is throughout the whole globe of the Earth at this day:

But now to solve the Phoenomena! We may reckon the external Parts of our Globe as a

Shell, the internal as a Nucleus, or an inner Globe included within ours; and between these a fluid Medium, which having the same common Center and Axis of diurnal Ro- tation, may turn about with our Earth every four and twenty Hours: only this outer Sphere having its turbinating Motion some small matter either swifter or slower than the internal Ball, and a very small difference becoming in length of Time sensible by many Repetitions; the internal Parts will by degrees recede from the external and not keep- ing pace with one another, will appear gradually to move, either Eastwards or Westwards, by the difference of their Motions. Now if the exterior Shell of our Globe should be a Magnet, having its Poles at a distance from the Poles of diurnal Rotation; and if the internal Nucleus be-likewise a Magnet, having its Poles in two other places, distant also from the Axis, and these latter, by a slow and gradual Motion, change their place in respect of the external, we may then give a reasonable account of the four magnetical Poles, and of the Changes of the Needle's Variations. Who can tell but the final Cause of the Admixture of the mag- netical Matter in the Mass of the terrestrial Parts of our Globe, should be to maintain the concave Arch of this our Shell? Yea, we may suppose the Arch lined with a mag- netical Matter, or to be rather one great concave Magnet, whose two Poles are fixed in the Surface of our Globe? Sir

described by its title, and a little later (I87I), Bulwer- Lytton described an escapist Utopia in The Coming Race and located the happy land in a well-lighted and well- populated region underground. Modern pulp "scientific- tion" describes many journeys to such a country.

Isaac Newton has demonstrated the Moon to be more solid than our Earth, as nine to five; why may we not then sup- pose four Ninths of our Globe to be Cavity? Mr. Halley allows there may be Inhabitants of the lower Story, and many ways of producing Light for them. The Medium itself may be always luminous; or the concave Arch may shine with such a Substance as does invest the Surface of the Sun; or they may have peculiar Luminaries, whereof we can have no Idea: As Virgil and Claudian enlighten their Elysian Fields: the latter:

Amissum ne crede Diem; sunt altera nobis Sydera; sunt Orbes alii; Lumenque videbis Purius, Elysiumque magis mirabera Solem.

The Diameter of the Earth being about eight thousand English Miles, how easy 'tis to allow five hundred Miles for the Thickness of the Shell! And another five hundred Miles for a Medium capable of a vast Atmosphere, for the Globe contained within it!

But it's time to stop, we are got beyond Human Penetra- tion; we have dug as far as 'tis fit any Conjecture should carry us!

While there is some doubt as to where Symmes got his concept, there is no doubt as to the source of Cotton Mather's inspiration. It was an essay by the great astronomer, Edmund Halley (I656-1742). In I692 Halley published an arti- cle, "An account of the cause of the change of the variation of the magnetical needle with an hypoth- esis of the structure of the internal parts of the earth: as it was proposed to the Royal Society in one of their later meetings," in the Philosophical Trans- actions of the Royal Society of London (I7: 563- 578). This paper was one of a series in which Halley presented careful, quantitative data on the motion of the magnetic poles. His explanation of the phenomenon which today seems so wild was a seri- ous attempt to organize the multitudes of observed facts into a logical system. The following quotations give the essential portion of his hypothesis:

Now considering the Structure of our Terraqueous Globe, it cannot be well supposed that a very great part thereof can move within it, without notably changing its Center of Gravity and the Equilibre of its Parts, which would produce very wonderful Effects in changing the Axis of Diurnal Rotation, and occasion strange alteration in the Sea's Surface by Inundations and Recesses thereof, such as History never yet mentioned. Besides, the solid parts of the Earth are not to be granted permeable by any other than fluid Substances, of which we know none that are any ways Magnetical. So that the only way to render this Motion intelligible and possible, is, to suppose it to turn about the Center of the Globe, having its Center of Gravity fixt and immovable in the same common Center of the Earth: and there is yet required that this moving internal Substance be loose and detached from the external parts of the Earth whereon we live; for otherwise, were it affixed thereto, the whole must necessarily move together.

So then the External Parts of the Globe may well be reckoned as the Shell, and the Internal as a Nucleus or

This content downloaded from 195.78.108.51 on Sat, 14 Jun 2014 02:38:44 AMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

The Theory of Concentric Spheres 157

inner Globe, included within ours, with a fluid Medium between. Which having the same common Center and Axis of diurnal Rotation, may turn about with our Earth each 24 Hours; only this outer Sphere having its turbinating Motion some small matter either swifter or slower than the internal Ball. And a very minute difference in length of time, by many repetitions becoming sensible, the Internal parts will by degrees recede from the External, and not keeping pace with one another, will appear gradually to move either Eastwards or Westwards by the difference of their Motions.

Now supposing such an Internal Sphere having such a Motion, we shall solve the two great difficulties we encoun- tered in my former Hypothesis. For if this exterior Shell of Earth be a Magnet, having its Poles at a distance from the Poles of Diurnal Rotation; and if the Internal Nucleus be likewise a Magnet, having its Poles in two other Places, distant also from the Axis; and these latter by a gradual and slow Motion change their place in respect of the Exter- nal; we may then give a reasonable account of the four Magnetical Poles I presume to have demonstrated in No. 148 of these Transactions, as likewise of the changes of the Needle's Variations which till now hath been unattempted. (Pp. 567-568.)

If this be allowed me, 'tis plain that the fixt Poles are the Poles of this External Shell, or Cortex of the Earth, and the other two the Poles of a Magnetical Nucleus included and moveable within the other. It likewise follows that this Motion is Westwards, and by consequence that the afore- said Nucleus has not precisely attained the same degree of Velocity with the exteriour Part in their Diurnal Revolu- tion; but so very nearly equals it that in 365 Revolves the difference is scarce sensible. This I conceive to arise from the Impulse whereby this diurnal Motion was imprest on the Earth, being given to the External Parts, and from thence in time communicated to the Internal; but not so as perfectly to equal the Velocity of the first Motion impressed on, and still conserved by the superficial Parts of the Globe. (P. 570.)

But to return to our Hypothesis, In order to explain the change of the Variations, we have adventured to make the Earth hollow, and to place another Globe within it; and I doubt not but this will find Opposers enough. I know 'twill be objected, That there is no Instance in Nature of the like thing; that if there was such a middle Globe, it would not keep its place in the Center, but be apt to deviate there- from, and might possibly chock against the concave Shell, to the ruin, or at least endammaging thereof; That the Water of the Sea would perpetually leak through, unless we suppose the Cavity full of Water; That were it possible, yet it does not appear of what use such an inward Sphere can be of, being shut up in Eternal Darkness, and therefore unfit for the Production of Animals or Plants; with many more Objections, according to the Fate of all such new Propositions.

To these, and all other that I can foresee, I briefly answer, That the Ring environing the Globe of Saturn is a notable Instance of this kind, as having the same common Center, and moving along with the Planet, without sensibly ap- proaching him on one side more than the other. And if this Ring were turned on one of its Diameters, it would then describe such a Concave Sphere as I suppose our External one to be. And since the Ring, in any Position given, would

in the same manner keep the Centre of Saturn, in its own, it follows that such a Concave Sphere may move with an- other included in it, having the same common Centre. Nor can it well be supposed otherwise, considering the Nature of Gravity, for should these Globes be adjusted once to the same common Centre, the Gravity of the parts of the Con- cave would press equally towards the Centre of the inner Ball, which Equality must necessarily continue till some external force disturb it, which is not easie to imagine in our case. This perhaps I might more intelligibly express, by saying that the inner Globe being posited in the Centre of the exteriour, must necessary ascend which way soever it moves, that is, it must overcome the force of Gravity press- ing toward the common Centre, by an impulse it must re- ceive from some outward Agent; but all outward efforts being sufficiently fenced against by the Shell that surrounds it, it follows that this Nucleus being once fixt in the com- mon centre, must always there remain.

As to the leaking of the Water through this Shell, when once a passage shall be found for it to run through, I must confess it is an Objection seemingly of weight; but when we consider how tightly great beds of Chalk or Clay, and much more Stone, do hold Water, and even Caves arch'd with Sand; no Man can doubt but the Wisdom of the Crea- tor has provided for the Macrocosm by many more ways than I can either imagine or express, especially since we see the admirable and innumerable Contrivances wherewith each worthless Individual is furnisht both to defend itself, and propagate its Species. What Curiosity in the Structure, what Accuracy in the Mixture and Composition of the parts, ought not we to expect in the Fabrick of this Globe, made to be the lasting Habitation of so many various Species of Animals, in each of which there want not many Instances that manifest the boundless Power and Goodness of their Divine Author: and can we then think it a hard supposition, that the Internal Parts of this Bubble of Earth should be replete with such Saline and Vitriolick Particles as may contribute to petrefaction, and dispose the transuding Water to shoot and coagulate into Stone, so as continually to for- tifie, and if need were to consolidate any breach or flaw in the Concave Surface of the Shell.

And this perhaps may not without Reason be supposed to be the final Cause of the admixture of the Magnetical Mat- ter in the Mass of the Terrestrial parts of our Globe, viz. To make good and maintain the Concave Arch of this Shell: For by what the excellent Mr. Newton has shown in his Principia Philosophiae it will follow that according to the general Principle of Gravity, visible throughout the whole Universe, all those Particles that by length of time, or other- wise, shall moulder away, or become loose on the Concave Surface of the External Sphere, would fall in, and with great force descend on the Internal, unless those Particles were of another sort of Matter capable by their stronger tendency to each other, to suspend the Force of Gravity; but we know no other substances capable of supporting each other by their mutual Attraction but the Magnetical, and these we see miraculously to perform that Office, even where the power of Gravity has its full effect, much more with the Globe where it is weaker. Why then may we not sup- pose these said Arches to be lined through-out with a Mag- netical Matter, or rather to be one Great Concave Magnet, whose two Poles are the Poles we have before observed to be fixt in the Surface of our Globe.

Another Argument, favouring this Hypothesis, is drawn from a Proposition of the same Mr. Newton, where he

This content downloaded from 195.78.108.51 on Sat, 14 Jun 2014 02:38:44 AMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

Conway Zirkle

determines the Force wherewith the Moon moves the Sea in producing the Tides: His Words are, Densitas Lunae est ad densitatem Terrae ut 68o ad 387 seu 9 ad 5 quam- proxime. Est igitur corpus Lunae densius ac magis terestre quam Terra nostra. P. 466. Now if the Moon be more solid than the Earth, as 9 to 5, why may we not reasonably suppose the Moon, being a small Body, and a Secondary Planet, to be solid Earth, Water and Stone and this Globe to consist of the same Materials, only four Ninths thereof to be Cavity, within and between the Internal Spheres; which I would render not improbable.

To those that shall enquire into the use these included Globes can be, it must be allowed that they can be of very little service to the Inhabitants of this outward World; nor can the Sun be serviceable to them, either with his Light or Heat. But since it is now taken for granted, that the Earth is one of the Planets, and they are all with Reason supposed Habitable, though we are not able to define by what sort of Animals; and since we see all the parts of the Creation abound with Animate Beings, as the Air with Birds and Flies, the Water with the numerous varieties of Fish, and the very Earth with Reptiles of so many sorts all whose ways of living would be to us incredible did not daily Ex- perience teach us. Why then should we think it strange that the prodigious Mass of Matter, whereof this Globe does consist, should be capable of some other improvement than barely to serve to support its Surface? Why may not we rather suppose that the exceeding small Quantity of solid Matter, in respect of the fluid Ether, is so disposed by the Almighty Wisdom as to yield as great a Surface for the use of living Creatures as can consist with the conveniency and security of the whole? We ourselves, in Cities where we are pressed for Room, commonly build many Stories one over the other, and thereby accommodate a much greater multitude of Inhabitants.

But still it will be said, that without Light there can be no living, and therefore all this apparatus of our inward Globes must be useless; to this I answer, that there are many ways of producing Light which we are wholly igno- rant of the Medium itself may be always luminous after the manner of our Ignes fatui. The Concave Arches may in several Places shine with such a substance as invests the Sur- face of the Sun nor can we, without a boldness unbecoming a Philosopher, adventure to assert the impossibility of pecul- iar Luminaries below, of which we have no sort of Idea. I am sure the Poets Virgil and Claudian have gone before me in this Thought, inlightning their Elysian Fields with Sun and Stars proper to those infernal, or rather internal, Regions.

Virg. Aeneid, 6. Largior hic compos Aether et lumine vestit

Purpurea; Solemque suum sua Sidera norunt.

and Claudian, lib. 2 De Raptu Proserpinae. Amissum ne crede diem, sunt altera

nobis Sidera, sunt orbes aiii, lumenque

videbis Purius, Elysiumque magis mirabere

Solem. And though this be not to be esteemed as an Argument, yet I may take the Liberty I see others do, to quote the Poets when it makes for my purpose.

Lastly, to explain yet farther what I mean, I have ad- ventured to adjoin the following Scheme, wherein the Earth is represented by the outward Circle, and the three inward Circles are made nearly proportionable to the Magnitudes of the Planets Venus, Mars and Mercury, all which may be included within the Globe of Earth, and all the Arches more than sufficiently strong to bear their Weight. The Concave

NO~~~~~~.

FIG. I. - Facsimile reproduction of the original illustration accompanying Halley's paper (Philosophical Transac- tions; Vol. XVII, opposite p. 555). Copies of this, al- though considerably reduced, were published in the 1 819 abridged edition of the Philosophical Transactions (Vol.

III: plate Ix, Fig. x8) and in the Miscellanea Curiosa (Vol. I: Plate Ix, Fig. 3). A comparison of this figure with the illustration in Isis (3 3:507) shows graphically the resemblances and differences in Halley's and Symmes' conceptions of the concentric spheres.

This content downloaded from 195.78.108.51 on Sat, 14 Jun 2014 02:38:44 AMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

The Theory of Concentric Spheres

of each Arch, which is shaded differently from the rest, I suppose to be made up of Magnetical Matter and the whole to turn about the same common Axis p.p. only with this difference, that the Outer Sphere still moves somewhat faster than the Inner. Thus the Diameter of the Earth being about eight thousand English Miles, I allow five hundred Miles for the thickness of its Shell, and another space of five hun- dred Miles for a Medium between, capable of an immense Atmosphere for the use of the globe of Venus: Venus again I give a Shell of the same thickness, and leave as great a space between her Concave and Mars; so likewise from Mars to Mercury, which latter Ball we will suppose solid, and about two thousand Miles Diameter. Thus I have showed a possibility of a much more ample Creation, than has hitherto been imagined; and if this seem strange to those that are unacquainted with the Magnetical System, it is hoped that all such will endeavour, first, to inform them- selves of the Matter of Fact, and then try if they can find out a more simple Hypothesis, at least a less absurd, even in their own Opinions. And whereas I have adventured to make these Subterraneous Orbs capable of being inhabited, 'twas done designedly for the sake of those who will be apt to ask cui bono, and with whom Arguments drawn from Final Causes prevail much. If this short Essay shall find a kind acceptance, I shall be encouraged to enquire farther, and to Polish this rough Draft of a Notion till hitherto not so much as started in the World, and of which we could have no Intimation from any other of the Pihoenomena of Nature.

Since this was written, a Discovery I have made in the Coelestial Motions seems to render a farther account of the Use of the Cavity of the Earth, viz. to diminish the Specifick Gravity thereof, in respect of the Moon; for I think I can demonstrate that the Opposition of the aether to the Mo- tions of the Planets in long time becomes sensible; and con- sequently the greater Body must receive a less Opposition than the smaller, unless the Specifick Gravity of the smaller do proportionably exceed that of the greater, in which case only they can move together; so that the Cavity I assign in the Earth may well serve to adj ust its weight to that of the Moon, for otherwise the Earth would leave the Moon behind it, and she become another primary Planet. But this I design to explain by a Discourse apart more at large. (PP- 572-578.)

This essay of Halley's was condensed and re- printed several times in the abridged editions of the Philosophical Transactions. The writer has been able to examine three of these versions, i.e., the fourth edition (2:6i6-620, I73), the fifth edi- tion: (2:6I9-623, I749) and the edition of I8I9 (3: 472-478). It was also reprinted in full in Volume I of the Miscellanea Curiosa, containing a collection of some of the principal phaenomena in nature, which consisted of the "most valuable" dis- courses read and delivered to the Royal Society. This shorter work went through several editions and printings from I705 to I726 and was widely distributed, so' Halley's hypothesis was probably

known to a great many people. It does not seem to have been too well received although some of Halley's contemporaries accepted it. William Der- ham endorsed the doctrine without describing it in a somewhat ambiguous footnote in his famous Physico-Theology -sixteen editions between I 7 I 3 and I1798 (Bk. V: Ch. I: note 2I in the early editions, note w in the later) - and Cotton Mather (I72I) approved the doctrine in the quotation cited earlier. The majority of Halley's contemporaries, particu- larly the French, were much more interested in his chart showing the deviations of the magnetic needle and in his proof that these deviations were not con- stant. They paid little attention to Halley's explana- tion of the causes of the changes. Halley himself stated in I7I4 (Phil. Trans. Roy. Soc. London 29:I65-I68) that he saw no cause to retract what he had published previously, but his tone seemed to be a trifle defensive. Two years later he had occa- sion to extend his hypothesis.

On March 6, I7I6, there was a spectacular dis- play of the aurora borealis, visible throughout north- ern and western Europe. Halley was asked by the Royal Society to describe the phenomenon and he obliged with an article, "An account of the late surprising Appearance of the Lights seen in the Air, on the sixth of March last; with an Attempt to ex- plain the Principal Phaenomena thereof," published in the Philosophical Transactions (29: 407-428). After describing the display in detail, Halley sought to explain it. He showed that the various guesses in vogue at the time were inadequate and then of- fered his own hypothesis, i.e., that the northern lights were caused by an escape of the luminous material which gave the internal spheres perpetual daylight. This material would naturally escape where the outer sphere was thinnest, which was of course in the far north, for Sir Isaac Newton had just shown that the earth is flattened at the poles and, according to Halley, the flattening was due to a thinning of the outer sphere.

John Wells Peck, ("Symmes' theory," Ohio Arch. Hist. Pub. i 8: 28-42, I909) states that James McBride, one of Symmes' earliest followers, knew of Halley's hypothesis and cited it in his book, Symmes) theory of concentric spheres (Cincinnati, I826). Thus within eight years of Symmes' mani- festo, Halley's serious hypothesis of I692 was being used to support a crack-pot notion.

University of Pennsylvania

This content downloaded from 195.78.108.51 on Sat, 14 Jun 2014 02:38:44 AMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions