idenote: On the Harmony of the Spheres]

43.

A sound is produced by the movement of the air in friction against a
dense body, and should it be produced by two weighty bodies it is owing
to the atmosphere which surrounds them, and this friction consumes the
bodies, so that it follows that the spheres in their friction, owing to
there being no atmosphere between them, do not generate sound. And if
this friction were a fact, during the many centuries the spheres have
revolved they would be consumed by the immense velocity expended daily;
and even if they produce sound, the sound could not travel, {160}
because the sound caused by percussion under water is scarcely
noticeable, and it would be less than noticeable in the case of dense
bodies. The friction of polished bodies produces no sound, and similar
result would be produced in the contact or friction of the spheres; and
if the spheres are not polished in their contact and friction, it
follows that they are rough.

Again, their contact is not continuous; this being the case a vacuum is
produced, which it has been proved does not exist in nature. Therefore
we conclude that friction would have consumed the ends of each sphere,
and in proportion as a sphere has a greater velocity in the centre than
at the poles, it would be consumed to a higher degree at the centre
than at the poles; and then the friction would cease, and the sound
would cease also, and the spheres would cease to revolve unless one
sphere revolved eastward and the other northward.

44.

Worlds gravitate in the midst of their own elements. The yellow or
yolk of an egg remains in the middle of the albumen without moving on
either side, and is lighter or heavier or equal to this albumen; and if
it is lighter it ought to rise above all the albumen and stop in
contact with the shell of the egg; and if it is heavier it ought {161}
to sink; and if it is equal to it, it can stand at one of the ends as
well as in the centre or below.

[Sidenote: The Earth appears a Star]

45.

The object of my book is to prove that the ocean, with the other seas,
by means of the sun causes our world to shine like the moon and to
appear as a star to other worlds; and this I will prove.

[Sidenote: The Earth a Star]

46.

In your discourse you must prove that the earth is a star like the
moon, and thus you will bear witness to the glory of our universe! And
thus you must discourse on the size of many stars.