260 APPENDICES. 



between the earth and the roof of the sky. The 

 space above the firmament is occupied by the blest ; 

 and that below by the angels in their character of 

 ministering spirits. 



A few examples of the way by which Cosmas 

 arrived at these astonishing conclusions may not be 

 amiss. In Genesis v. 1, it is written, "This is the 

 book of the generations of Adam ; " expressions evi- 

 dently intended to comprise every thing contained in 

 the heaven and the earth. But as Cosmas con- 

 tended, if the doctrine of the Antipodes were 

 Scriptural and true, the sky would surround and 

 contain the earth ; and therefore Moses would only 

 have said " This is the book of the generation of the 

 sky." As many of the sacred ,writers had employed 

 the term " the heavens and the earth " to denote the 

 whole creation, Cosmas introduces them all Abraham, 

 David, Isaiah, &c., &c., even including Melchisedec, as 

 having delivered their testimony against the existence 

 of the Antipodes. Moreover, as the earth was said in 

 Scripture to be firmly fixed in its foundations, 

 Cosmas inferred that it could not by any possibility 

 be suspended in the air, forgetful of the declaration, 

 " God stretcheth out the north over the empty place, 

 and hangeth the earth u/pon nothing " (Job xxvi. 7) ; 

 and quite innocent of the fact that certain heathen 

 writers several centuries previous had discovered 

 this scientific truth. E.g., Ovid says, " The earth, like 

 a ball resting upon no support, hangs like a heavy 

 weight upon the air beneath " (Fasti, vi. 8). And 

 Lucan, a Spanish poet, murdered by Nero, pointedly 

 speaks of " The earth being poised in empty air" 

 (Pharsalia, v. 94). But Cosmas, undeterred by such 



