conſequently might have contracted a Degree of Heat two thouſand Times ſtronger than that of red hot Iron; and would have been ſoon diſpers'd in Vapour, had it not been a firm, denſe Body. The gueſſing the Courſe of Comets began then to be very much in vogue: The celebrated Bernoulli concluded by his Syſtem, that the famous Comet of 1680, would appear again the 17th of May 1719. Not a ſingle Aftronomer in Europe went to Bed that Night; however they needed not to have broke their Reſt, for the famous Comet never appear'd. There is at leaſt more Cunning, if not more Certainty, in fixing its Return to ſo remote a Diſtance as five hundred and ſeventy five Years. As to Mr. Whiſton, he affirm'd very ſeriouſly, that in the Time of the Deluge a Comet overflow'd the terreſtrial Globe; and he was ſo unreaſonable as to wonder that People laugh'd at him for making ſuch an Aſſertion. The Ancients were almoſt in the ſame way of Thinking with Mr. Whiſton, and fancied that Comets were
