"We have also divers mechanical arts, which you have not; and stuffs
made by them; as papers, linen, silks, tissues; dainty works of
feathers of wonderful lustre; excellent dies, and, many others; and
shops likewise, as well for such as are not brought into vulgar use
amongst us as for those that are. For you must know that of the things
before recited, many of them are grown into use throughout the kingdom;
but yet, if they did flow from our invention, we have of them also for
patterns and principals.
"We have also furnaces of great diversities, and that keep great
diversity of heats; fierce and quick; strong and constant; soft and
mild; blown, quiet; dry, moist; and the like. But above all, we have
heats, in imitation of the Sun's and heavenly bodies' heats, that pass
divers inequalities, and (as it were) orbs, progresses, and returns,
whereby we produce admirable effects. Besides, we have heats of dungs;
and of bellies and maws of living creatures, and of their bloods and
bodies; and of hays and herbs laid up moist; of lime unquenched; and
such like. Instruments also which generate heat only by motion. And
farther, places for strong insulations; and again, places under the
earth, which by nature, or art, yield heat. These divers heats we use,
as the nature of the operation, which we intend, requireth.
"We have also perspective-houses, where we make demonstrations of all
lights and radiations; and of all colours: and out of things uncoloured
and transparent, we can represent unto you all several colours; not in
rain-bows, (as it is in gems, and prisms,) but of themselves single.
We represent also all multiplications of light, which we carry to great
distance, and make so sharp as to discern small points and lines. Also
all colourations of light; all delusions and deceits of the sight, in
figures, magnitudes, motions, colours all demonstrations of shadows.
We find also divers means, yet unknown to you, of producing of light
originally from divers bodies. We procure means of seeing objects afar
off; as in the heaven and remote places; and represent things near as
afar off; and things afar off as near; making feigned distances. We
have also helps for the sight, far above spectacles and glasses in use.
We have also glasses and means to see small and minute bodies perfectly
and distinctly; as the shapes and colours of small flies and worms,
grains and flaws in gems, which cannot otherwise be seen, observations
in urine and blood not otherwise to be seen. We make artificial
rain-bows, halo's, and circles about light. We represent also all
manner of reflexions, refractions, and multiplications of visual beams
of objects.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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