| Boyle, Robert New experiments physico-mechanicall, touching the spring of the air and its effects 1660 |
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since we are informed, that in the German
Experiment, commended at the begin
ning of this Letter, the Ingenious Tryers
of it found, That their Glass Vessel, of
the capacity of 32 measures, was lighter
when the Air had been drawn out of it,
then before, by no less then one ounce
and (3/10) that is, an ounce and very near a
third: But of the gravity of the Air, we
may elsewhere have occasion to make fur
ther mention.
Taking it then for granted that the Air
is not deyoid of weight, it will not be
uneasie to conceive, that that part of the
Atmosphere wherein we live, being the
lower part of it, the Corpuscles that com
pose it, are very much compress'd by the
weight of all those of the like nature that
are directly over them, that is, of all the
Particles of Air, that being pil'd up up
on them, reach to the top of the Atmos
phere.
And though the height of this
Atmosphere, according to the famous
Kepler, and some others, scarce exceeds
eight common miles; yet other eminent
and later Astronomers, would promote
the confines of the Atmosphere, to ex
ceed six or seven times that number of
miles.
And the diligent and learned
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