Page:A trip to the moon (IA triptomoon00mcde).pdf/23

 gave me, in the Preferment of one to great Posts of Trust, who had only propos'd to make the Rays of Light palpable to the Hands; out of which, when his Design was perfected, he intended that an Apartment for the King shou'd be built; and altho' the failing in a Project was to be punish'd with Death, where the Projectors were such Fools as to confess their Disappointment, yet this Man requir'd such a long Time, and so great Expences, that he was sure to outlive his Proposals. He had, however, amus'd the King with an odd Account of the Means he wou'd make use of, and made them so unintelligible by the help of the Mathematicks, that he was believ'd to mean honestly, and a Pension was settled on him for effecting his Design. The Rays of Light were to be let into a dark Room, one by one, thro' Holes equal to their Bulk, which he affirmed he was well acquainted with. Here was a Mathematical Demonstration of an Hour long, which I omit for the Reader's sake. They were then to be refracted ninety-nine times by passing thro' different Mediums, which wou'd weaken their Force so much, that they might be at length fix'd in a Liquor which he had prepar'd for that purpose; and when the vacant Interstices of the Liquor were fill'd with them, (for he asserted that there was a Vacuum) by Chymical Operations, he wou'd gather them into Vessels to be reserv'd, till he got enough of all Colours for erecting the Building. The Cement which he propos'd for them, was Cartesius's subtle Matter, which might be gather'd by Sheets daub'd with a bituminous Substance, compounded of the Effluvia of certain Bodies, whose Virtues he was well acquainted with. Those Sheets were to be hung in the open Air till the subtle Matter had cover'd them; then they were to be boil'd in Vessels hermetically seal'd 'till the subtle Matter had stuck to the Tops of them, whence it might be taken and laid by for use. This short