The same laws of attraction supposed, I say, that the exterior body S will, by radii drawn to O, the common centre of gravity of the interior bodies P and T, describe round that centre areas more proportional to the times, and an orbit more approaching to the form of an ellipsis having its focus in that centre, if the innermost and greatest body be agitated by these attractions as well as the rest, than it would do if that body were either at rest as not attracted, or were much more or much less attracted, or much more or much less agitated.
This may be demonstrated after the same manner as Prop. LXVI, but by a more prolix reasoning, which I therefore pass over. It will be sufficient to consider it after this manner. From the demonstration of the last Proposition it is plain, that the centre, towards which the body S is urged by the two forces conjunctly, is very near to the common centre of gravity of those two other bodies. If this centre were to coincide with that common centre, and moreover the common centre of gravity of all the three bodies were at rest, the body S on one side, and the common centre of gravity of the other two bodies on the other side, would describe true ellipses about that quiescent common centre. This appears from Cor. 2, Prop. LVIII, compared with what was demonstrated in Prop. LXIV, and LXV.
Now this accurate elliptical motion will be disturbed a little by the distance of the centre of the two bodies from the centre towards which the third body S is attracted. Let there be added, moreover, a motion to the common centre of the three, and the perturbation will be increased yet more. Therefore the perturbation is least when the common centre of the three bodies is at rest; that is, when the innermost and greatest body T is attracted according to the same law as the rest are; and is always greatest when the common centre of the three, by the diminution of the motion of the body T, begins to be moved, and is more and more agitated.
COR. And hence if more lesser bodies revolve about the great one, it may easily be inferred that the orbits described will approach nearer to ellipses; and the descriptions of areas will be more nearly equable, if all the bodies mutually attract and agitate each other with accelerative forces that are as their absolute forces directly, and the squares of the distances inversely: and if the focus of each orbit be placed in the common centre of gravity of all the interior bodies (that is, if the focus of the first and innermost orbit be placed in the centre of gravity of the greatest and innermost body; the focus of the second orbit in the common centre of gravity of the two innermost bodies; the focus of the third orbit in the common centre of gravity of the three innermost; and so on), than if the innermost body were at rest, and was made the common focus of all the orbits.