The Origin of Matter

The fire-aether and air-aether break up and divide as a result of collision with one another. These have the earth-aether that goes with them.

This earth-aether has 2 kinds.

1. Those that combine upon collision becaues of their shapes

2. Those solid ones that break and shatter others.

The earth-aether eventually move with the same speed as the air-aether that they are traveling in.

• If its initial motion were quicker, its collisions with them would slow it down by transferring its agitation to them.
• If its initial motion were slower, it would be forced to go as fast as them

This is similar to how boats that float on water follow the course of the water they are in.

• The big, heavy, and bulky boats always have much more force than the water to continue their motion, even though they receive their motion solely from the water.
• Very light bodies, such as the lumps of white scum floating along the shores during storms, have less force to continue moving.

Let 2 rapid rivers of equal force join together at some point to mix and then separate shortly afterwards.

• The massive boats of River 1 will be able to pass easily into River 2
• The lightest bodies will swerve away from it and will be thrown back by the force of the water towards wherever it is the least rapid.

• Massive Boat H will take the course A-E-G.
• Massive Boat I will take the course C-E-F.

This is unless both meet at E at the same time. In such a case, the larger and stronger will break the other.

By contrast, floating light bodies must be pushed by the water to take the path A-E-B ending at B where the water is not strong.

Bodies can be joined together upon meeting at E.

These turn with the water that carries them, joining to compose large balls as K and L.

• L goes to E
• K goes to B

This depends on their solidity, size, and massiveness of their particles.

No matter where the particles that could not take the form of the air-aether or fire-aether may have been initially, the larger and more bulky of them soon had to take their course toward the outer circumference of the gravitational territory [heaven] that contained them.

Subsequently, they passed from one into another of these gravitational territories without ever remaining long in the same territory.

The less massive ones, on the other hand, had each to be pushed toward the centre of the gravitational territory containing it by the course of the matter in that territory.

And given the shapes that I attributed to them, when they collided with one another they had to join together and compose large balls.

• These rotate, having a motion tempered by all the motions their individual particles, had they been separate.

So, some tend to move toward the circumference of these heavens, and others toward their centres.

Those that range toward the centre of any gravitational territory to be the planets and those that pass across different heavens to be comets.