"The question, then, the solution of which... was completed by no one, is this: Having three, four or more lines given in position, it is first required to find a point from which as many other lines may be drawn, each making a given angle with one of the given lines, so that the rectangle of two of the lines so drawn shall bear a given ratio to the square of the third (if there be only three); or to the rectangle of the other two (if there be four), or again, that the parallelepiped constructed upon three shall bear a given ratio to that upon the other two and any given line (if there be five); or to the parallelepiped upon the other three (if there be six);or (if there be seven) that the product obtained by multiplying four of them together shall bear a given ratio to the product of the other three, or (if there be eight) that the product of four of them shall bear a given ratio to the product of the other four. Thus the question admits of extension of any number of lines."
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Note: this is a restatement of Pappus' Problem.
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/La_G%C3%A9om%C3%A9trie
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La Géométrie
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