THE SUN'S SPOTS. 865 



The spots on the Sun, as I have already shown in the 



appareret ilia claritas quse nobis: considerate enim corpore 

 Solis, tune habet quandam quasi terram centraliorem, et 

 quandam luciditatem quasi ignilem circumferentialem, et in 

 medio quasi aqueam nubem et aerem clariorem, quemadmodum 

 terra ista sua elementa." " Blackness of colour is no proof 

 of the inferiority of the Earth's substance ; for to an inhabi- 

 tant of the Sun, if such there be, the same brilliancy of 

 appearance would not be presented as to us: if we con- 

 sider the Sun's body, we shall conclude that it consists of a 

 certain earthy substance in the centre, surrounded by a 

 luminous matter, partaking, perhaps, of the nature of fire, 

 and in the midst a sort of aqueous clouds and brighter 

 atmosphere, resembling the elements of which the Earth 

 consists." To this are appended the words Paradoxa and 

 Hypni; by the last of which, he probably understands 

 (evvTrvia) certain speculations, vague and bold hypotheses. 

 In the long Treatise, Exercitationes ex Sermonibus Curdinalis 

 (Opera^ p. 579.) I again find the following comparison: 

 " Sicut in Sole considerari potest natura corporalis. et ilia de 

 se non est magnse virtutis" (notwithstanding the attraction 

 of masses or gravitation!) "et non potest virtutem suam aliis 

 corporibus communicare, quia non est radiosa. Et alia natura 

 lucida ilia unita, ita quod Sol ex unione utri usque naturae habet 

 virtutem qua3 sufficit huic sensibili mundo. ad vitani inno- 

 vaudain in vegetabilibus et animalibus, in elementis et mine- 

 ralibus per suam influentiam radiosam. Sic de Christo, qui 

 est Sol justitia? . ." "As in the Sun may be supposed 

 to exist a corporeal nature, which of itself is of no great 

 efficacy, and cannot communicate its virtue to other bodies, 

 because it is not radiant, and another nature united with this ; 

 so that the Sun, from the union of the two natures, has a 

 virtue which suffices for this sensible world, to renew life in 

 vegetables and animals, in elements and minerals, by its own 

 radiant influence. So from Christ, the Sun of Justice . 

 Dr. Clemens thinks that all this must be more than a mere 

 felicitous presentiment. It appears to him unlikely that 

 Cusa, in the expressions " Consider ato corpore Solis;'' " in 

 Sole considerari potest . . ." " could have appealed to 



