OF The ELEMENT of the EARTH.

 T

he Earth is of great worth in its quality, and dignity: in this Element, the other three, especially the fire, rest. It is the most excellent Element to conceale, and discover those things which are intrusted to it: it is grosse, and porous¹, heavy in respect of its smallnesse, but light in respect of its Nature; it is also the Center of the world, as also of the other Elements; through its Center passeth the axell tree of the world, and of both poles. It is porous, as wee said, as a spunge, and brings forth² nothing of it selfe, but all things whatsoever³ the other three distil⁴, and project into it, it receives, keeps all things that are to be kept, brings to light all things that are to be brought to light. It brings forth (as wee said before) nothing of it selfe, but it is the receptacle of other things, and it is that, in which every thing that is brought forth, doth abide⁵, and by heat of motion is putrefied in it, and is multiplied by the same, the pure being separated from the impure⁶: That which is heavy in it is hid, and the heat drives that which is light unto its superficies. It is the nurse, and matrix of all seed, and commixtion. It can indeed[Pg 84] doe nothing else, then preserve the seed, and what is made of it, till it be ripe. It is cold, dry, tempered with water; visible without, and fixed⁷; but within invisible, and volatile⁸. It is a virgin⁹, and the Caput Mortuum left after the creation of the world, which shall hereafter at divine pleasure bee calcined, after extraction of its moisture, that of it a new Crystalline Earth may be created. Also this Element is divided into a pure part, and an impure. The water makes use of the pure to bring forth things, but the impure remains¹⁰ in its globe. This Element is the hiding place, and mansion¹¹ of all treasure. In its Center is the fire of hell, preserving this fabrick of the world in its being; and this by the expression of water into the aire. That fire is caused, and kindled¹² by the primum Mobile, and the influences of the Stars: the heat of the Sunne tempered with the aire meets with this heat for the ripening¹³, and drawing up of those things, which are already conceived in its Center. Moreover the Earth partakes of fire, which is the intrinsecall part of it, neither is it purified but in the fire: and so every Element is purified with its intrinsecall part. Now the Intrinsecall part, or inside of the Earth, or its Center is the highest purity mixed with fire, where nothing can rest: It is as it were an empty place, into which all the other Elements doe project their vertues, as hath been spoken in the book of the Twelve Treatises¹⁴. And thus much of the Element of Earth, which wee have called a Spunge, and the receptacle of other things, which serveth for our purpose.

1 porous   

adj.可渗透的，多孔的

参考例句：

• He added sand to the soil to make it more porous.他往土里掺沙子以提高渗水性能。
• The shell has to be slightly porous to enable oxygen to pass in.外壳不得不有些细小的孔以便能使氧气通过。

2 forth   

adv.向前；向外，往外

参考例句：

• The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。
• He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。

3 whatsoever   

adv.（用于否定句中以加强语气）任何；pron.无论什么

参考例句：

• There's no reason whatsoever to turn down this suggestion.没有任何理由拒绝这个建议。
• All things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you,do ye even so to them.你想别人对你怎样，你就怎样对人。

4 distil   

vt.蒸馏；提取…的精华，精选出

参考例句：

• You can distil fresh water from the sea.你可以用蒸馏法从海水中提取淡水。
• The writer managed to distil his ideas into one succinct article.作家努力把他的想法浓缩成一篇简练的文章。

5 abide   

vi.遵守；坚持；vt.忍受

参考例句：

• You must abide by the results of your mistakes.你必须承担你的错误所造成的后果。
• If you join the club,you have to abide by its rules.如果你参加俱乐部，你就得遵守它的规章。

6 impure   

adj.不纯净的，不洁的；不道德的，下流的

参考例句：

• The air of a big city is often impure.大城市的空气往往是污浊的。
• Impure drinking water is a cause of disease.不洁的饮用水是引发疾病的一个原因。

7 fixed   

adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的

参考例句：

• Have you two fixed on a date for the wedding yet?你们俩选定婚期了吗？
• Once the aim is fixed,we should not change it arbitrarily.目标一旦确定，我们就不应该随意改变。

8 volatile   

adj.反复无常的，挥发性的，稍纵即逝的，脾气火爆的；n.挥发性物质

参考例句：

• With the markets being so volatile,investments are at great risk.由于市场那么变化不定，投资冒着很大的风险。
• His character was weak and volatile.他这个人意志薄弱，喜怒无常。

9 virgin   

n.处女，未婚女子；adj.未经使用的；未经开发的

参考例句：

• Have you ever been to a virgin forest?你去过原始森林吗？
• There are vast expanses of virgin land in the remote regions.在边远地区有大片大片未开垦的土地。

10 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

11 mansion   

n.大厦，大楼；宅第

参考例句：

• The old mansion was built in 1850.这座古宅建于1850年。
• The mansion has extensive grounds.这大厦四周的庭园广阔。

12 kindled   

（使某物）燃烧，着火( kindle的过去式和过去分词 )； 激起（感情等）； 发亮，放光

参考例句：

• We watched as the fire slowly kindled. 我们看着火慢慢地燃烧起来。
• The teacher's praise kindled a spark of hope inside her. 老师的赞扬激起了她内心的希望。

13 ripening   

v.成熟，使熟( ripen的现在分词 )；熟化；熟成

参考例句：

• The corn is blossoming [ripening]. 玉米正在开花[成熟]。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• When the summer crop is ripening, the autumn crop has to be sowed. 夏季作物成熟时，就得播种秋季作物。 来自《简明英汉词典》

14 treatises   

n.专题著作，专题论文，专著( treatise的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Many treatises in different languages have been published on pigeons. 关于鸽类的著作，用各种文字写的很多。 来自辞典例句
• Many other treatises incorporated the new rigor. 许多其它的专题论文体现了新的严密性。 来自辞典例句