His Excellency seem'd to think the Difficulties I rais'd merited Consideration, and after some Pause, asked the Projector, if he could solve them.
"As to the first Objection, my Lord, _said he_, I answer, that altho' the second Region may be endow'd with Coldness proper for the Production of Meteors, yet may it not be unsupportable; neither can we suppose, that the Air above, which if not destin'd to the same End, is of the same Nature, but on the contrary, we may rather suppose it exempt from all Extremes, consequently our Passage thro' this cold Region being performed, which we have Reason to conclude but short, for this condens'd Air which encompasses the Earth on every Part, weighs about 108 _Liparia_'s on a Square Inch (_Liparia_ is near a Sixth of our Pound) and we may very easily compute from thence, what Space of this Air we have to pass, by computing what is necessary to support this Globe of Earth, we shall find the Ætherial altogether temperate.
"As to the second Objection, I anwer, that the Subtlety of the Air I look upon no Obstacle; for the Air near the Earth, especially in dry Places, where there are no impure Exhalations, by the intense Heat of the Sun, it is perhaps as thin, and as much rarified, as the Ætherial. This I suppose from the Tenuity of the Air on the top of the Mountain _Tenera_, where 'tis said none can inhabit on that account. But I have my self flown to the top of this Mountain, and carry'd with me a wet Spunge, thro' which I drew my Breath for some time, but by Degrees I became habituated to this Tenuity, and respired with Ease; nay, after staying there some few Days, I found the denser Air, on my Descent, caus'd a Difficulty in my Respiration: From whence I concluded, that, by Degrees, the thinnest Air may become Natural; and as I felt no Hunger while on the Mountain, I may suppose the same Air we breathe may also nourish us. And this is no vain Imagination, for the _Aker_ (that is, Viper) we see live by the Spirit included in the Air, which is the Principle of Life in all; but in case I am out in this Conjecture, we may carry Provisions with us.
"As to the resting our selves, I affirm from the Principles of sound Philosophy, that when once out of the Reach of the magnetick Power of the Earth, we shall no longer gravitate, for what we call Gravity, is no other than Attraction, consequently we may repose our selves in the Air, if there is Occasion, which I believe there will not; for as we shall then have no Weight to exhaust the Spirits, there can be no Need of refreshing them either with Meat or Sleep."