<s>SALV. </s><s>I &longs;ee that you under&longs;tand the bu&longs;ine&longs;&longs;e very well. </s><s>I be <lb/>
lieve that you do likewi&longs;e comprehend, that, in regard the &longs;tar B <lb/>
is lower than C, the angle which is made by the rayes of the <lb/>
&longs;ight, which departing from the two places A and E, meet in C, <lb/>
to wit, this angle A C E, is more narrow, or if we will &longs;ay more <lb/>
acute than the angle con&longs;tituted in B, by the rayes A B and <lb/>
E <emph type="italics"/>B.<emph.end type="italics"/></s>

<s>SIMP. </s><s>This I likewi&longs;e under&longs;tand very well.</s>

<s>SALV. </s><s>And al&longs;o, the Earth beine very little and almo&longs;t in&longs;en <lb/>
&longs;ible, in re&longs;pect of the Firmament <emph type="italics"/>(or Starry Sphere<emph.end type="italics"/>;) and con <lb/>
&longs;equently the &longs;pace A E, paced on the Earth, being very &longs;mall in <lb/>
compari&longs;on of the immen&longs;e length of the lines E G and E F, pa&longs; <lb/>
&longs;ing from the Earth unto the Firmament, you thereby collect that <lb/>
the &longs;tar C might ri&longs;e and a&longs;cend &longs;o much and &longs;o much above the <lb/>
Earth, that the angle therein made by the rayes which depart <lb/>
from the &longs;aid &longs;tationary points A and E, might become mo&longs;t a <lb/>
cute, and as it were ab&longs;olutely null and in&longs;en&longs;ible.</s>

<s>SIMP. </s><s>And this al&longs;o is mo&longs;t manife&longs;t to &longs;en&longs;e.</s>

<s>SALV. </s><s>Now you know <emph type="italics"/>Simplicius<emph.end type="italics"/> that A&longs;tronomers and Ma <lb/>
thematicians have found infallible rules by way of Geometry and <lb/>
Arithmetick, to be able by help of the quantity of the&longs;e angles <lb/>
<emph type="italics"/>B<emph.end type="italics"/> and C, and of their differences, with the additional knowledg <lb/>
of the di&longs;tance of the two places A and E, to find to a foot the <lb/>
remotene&longs;&longs;e of &longs;ublime bodies; provided alwayes that the afore <lb/>
&longs;aid di&longs;tance, and angles be exactly taken.</s>

<s>SIMP. </s><s>So that if the Rules dependent on <emph type="italics"/>Geometry<emph.end type="italics"/> and <emph type="italics"/>A&longs;tro <lb/>
nomy<emph.end type="italics"/> be true, all the fallacies and errours that might be met with <lb/>
in attempting to inve&longs;tigate tho&longs;e altitudes of new Stars or Co <lb/>
mets, or other things mu&longs;t of nece&longs;&longs;ity depend on the di&longs;tance A E, <lb/>
and on the angles B and C, not well mea&longs;ured. </s><s>And thus all tho&longs;e <lb/>
differences which are found in the&longs;e twelve workings depend, not <lb/>
on the de&longs;ects of the rules of the Calculations, but on the errours <lb/>
committed in finding out tho&longs;e angles, and tho&longs;e di&longs;tances, by means <lb/>
of the In&longs;trumental Ob&longs;ervations.</s>

<s>SALV. True; and of this there is no doubt to be made. </s><s>Now <lb/>
it is nece&longs;&longs;ary that you ob&longs;erve inten&longs;ely, how in removing the Star <lb/>
from B to C, whereupon the angle alwayes grows more acute, the <lb/>
ray E B G goeth farther and farther off from the ray A B D in <lb/>
the part beneath the angle, as you may &longs;ee in the line E C F, <lb/>
who&longs;e inferiour part E C is more remote from the part A C, than <lb/>
is the part E B, but it can never happen, that by any what&longs;oever <lb/>
immen&longs;e rece&longs;&longs;ion, the lines A D and E F &longs;hould totally &longs;ever from <lb/>
each other, they being finally to go and conjoyn in the Star: and <lb/>
onely this may be &longs;aid, that they would &longs;eparate, and reduce them <lb/>
&longs;elves to parallels, if &longs;o be the rece&longs;&longs;ion &longs;hould be infinite, which