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Pliny's Natural history. In thirty-seven books

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THE LIBRARY

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THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA

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PRESENTED BY

PROF. CHARLES A. KOFOID AND MRS. PRUDENCE W. KOFOID

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CASE

PLINY'S NATURAL HISTORY.

IN

THIRTY-SEVEN BOOKS.

n '

A TRANSLATION

ON THE BASIS OF THAT BY DR. PHILEMON HOLLAND, ED. 1601.

WITH CRITICAL AND EXPLANATORY NOTES.

VOL. I.

bp tf)e WUcnurtan Club.

PRINTED FOE THE CLUB

BY

GEOKGE BAKCLAY, CASTLE STEEET, LEICESTER SQUARE.

1847-48.

184-1 v.l-3

PURSUANT to a Resolution to the following effect, passed at a meeting of the Committee held on Wednesday, 3rd February, 1847 : —

" The best thanks of the Club are hereby presented to —

JONATHAN COUCH, Esq. F.L.S., the Superintending Editor of this Publication, and Translator of the Work.

Also to the following Gentlemen, viz. : —

In the Department of Astronomy, SIR JOHN F. W. HERSCHEL, BART. F.R.S.

In the Department of Classical Literature,

Rev. GEORGE MUNI-ORD, M.A. W. G. V. BARNEWALL, Esq. M.A. Rev. T. FULCHER, B.A.

In the Departments of Antiquities and Geography,

JONATHAN COUCH, Esq. F.L.S. C. J. B. ALDIS, Esq. M.D. OCTAVIUS A. FERRIS, Esq. CHARLES MOXON, Esq.

For the Editorial Assistance rendered by them in the preparation of the accompanying Work."

PREFACE,

INCLUDING A

MEMOIR OF THE AUTHOR.

fAIUS PLINIUS SECUNDUS, usually called the Elder, to distinguish him from his nephew of the same name, who was equally eminent in letters, but in a dif- ferent field, was born of an illustrious family of Verona, in the 23rd year of the Christian era. According to the custom of Roman youths, he served in the army, where he was honoured with the regards of Titus, son of Vespasian, and afterwards emperor, to whom he dedicated his great work on the " History of Nature."

To one of his inclinations and tastes, the military career was probably little suited ; yet every Roman was called on to enter it, whatever department of the public service he might afterwards occupy. With the army in Germany he acquired distinction. On his return to Rome he was enrolled in the College of Augurs — a post which favoured his philosophic in-

VI PREFACE.

quiries ; and he was subsequently appointed Procu- rator, or Vice-Governor, in Spain.

It has been remarked, that none labour more strenuously in any favourite pursuit than those whose time appears absorbed in the necessary affairs of life ; none are so idle as those whose business is slight enough to afford leisure for every occupation. Of this truth history furnishes no example more striking than is visible in the varied pursuits, the diligence, and the research of Pliny ; while there can be no doubt also but that his public services acquired additional value from the wide range which his mind embraced, and the rich stores of knowledge which it was his habit to accumulate and arrange.

Such was the spirituality of his nature, that bodily requirements — much more bodily indulgences — seemed extinct in him. His relaxation from official business was a change of labour. The greater portion of his nights was devoted to study ; his very meals were an abstraction ; for, lest he should forget the higher aim of existence, his amanuensis read to him in their pro- gress ; and, instead of walking, he drove in the cha- riot — his secretary beside him — to save time and escape distraction from his contemplations. So nume- rous and valued were his extracts, remarks, and an- notations, that Lartius Lutinius offered the philoso- pher a sum equivalent to more than three thousand pounds sterling for the possession of them ; but they were more nobly bequeathed to his beloved and distin- guished nephew. In the vast realms of Nature and Art no object was indifferent to him ; in the province of the Fine Arts, the accuracy of his judgment and the fidelity of his details seemed only to be outmea-

PREFACE. Vll

sured by the extent of his acquirement ; and as a his- tory, a critique, and a catalogue, nothing more pre- cious in letters than his 34th, 35th and 36th books, has escaped the ruin in which the fall of the Roman empire had nearly involved all of enlightenment that had grown up and flourished with it. To his huma- nity and scientific curiosity combined, he became one of the most memorable martyrs that stand on record. The events of the day that closed his mortal career, in the 79th year of the Christian era, are minutely and touchingly detailed to Tacitus the historian, in one of the most elegant of the epistles penned by a nephew who was the worthy inheritor of the wealth, the fame, and the virtues of his uncle. The body was found three days after its destruction by the eruptions of Vesuvius, and interred at Misenum, in face of the fleet which he had quitted for the prosecution of his phy- sical investigations. For the emulation of those who delight to

" Look from nature up to nature's God,"

as the best eulogy that can be pronounced on Pliny himself, and, at the same time, as a sentiment evincing his nephew's exalted mind, the subjoined extract of the memorable letter cannot be too often and too long remembered : — " Equidem beatos puto, quibus Deo- rum datum est, aut facere scribenda, aut scribere legenda ; beatissimos vero quibus utrumque."

No impulse short of an intense love of nature could have actuated a man so deeply engaged in the high offices of the state to snatch at every fragment of his time — as his nephew, in a letter to a friend, de- scribes him — and appropriate it to forming a digest of

Vlll PREFACE.

the scattered rays of natural knowledge. The subject was scarcely popular with his countrymen ; and its materials were to he sifted from Greek writers of every school, with a toil and patience which few can duly estimate. The abstracts thus made filled one hundred and sixty closely written volumes, and though the sentiments, or, as we should now term them, the theories, of his authors were not a little discordant, he was well able to separate their matter from their opinions ; and, if sometimes found to have hastily adopted hypotheses for facts, it must be remembered that there existed then no standard for the test of fact — that what he had abstracted had the sanction of venerable names — and that the period of sound criticism comes in only when vast stores of facts and incidents have been collected ; and Pliny was then the most dili- gent accumulator for a riper age. To him belongs the glory of having harvested the materials for future science. Where attempts at explanation were made, occult causes, in the ignorance of experiment, were the only resource ; and even the great Galileo took refuge in " Nature's abhorrence of a vacuum," for the only solution he could give of an operation which now admits of such rational explanation. Even the errors of these authors are a portion of the " History of Nature," and Pliny's record of them becomes valuable, where otherwise his narrative tempts only to a smile.

The light of modern science clears away the mist ; yet few, even of ourselves, are privileged, from our higher sphere of advancement, to look down con- temptuously on the erroneous conjectures or super- stitious feelings exemplified in this cyclopaedia of the Roman naturalist : for too many such failings are still

PREFACE. IX

visible amongst ourselves, and these from a wrong and sometimes cherished bias in us, which were only an inability to penetrate more deeply in themselves.

To Pliny's especial honour be it mentioned (and instances of the merit will be frequently referred to in the notes), wherever a rational explanation of natural appearances can be given, he uniformly prefers it to the traditionary and the vulgar, however the latter may have been interwoven with the religion of the state, to which, on other occasions, he paid the homage which it required : a practice like this demanded no ordinary courage, when it might easily have provoked the charge of scepticism and profanity ; and his escape from this may not, perhaps, unreasonably be traced to the support he obtained for his remarks from Greek authors, to whom, in points of speculation, the Romans peculiarly deferred.

By many it was feared, that if what the people were accustomed to worship as deities were shewn to their understandings as only natural influences, they might sink into atheism, and the little restraint winch this worship exercised over their morals have been en- tirely dissipated. The Rationalism of the philosophers thus appeared a formidable evil ; and the prevalence of the notion that certain remarkable natural causes pro- ductive of great good or great evil, according to our limited judgment, were deities themselves, is amply illustrated by the fact, that it was triumphantly asked of the first Christians to shew their God ; and much of the contempt, persecution, and reproach of atheism they incurred, may have had its origin in this seeming incapacity to conform to this demand.

To modern eyes, Pliny's mode of conducting his

X PREFACE.

investigations has changed its aspect ; and his credu- lity is gravely urged against him as a crime which his exposure of much error and superstition is not thought sufficient to outweigh. Some of the matters which he announces, it is true, might well have shaken the strongest tendency to belief : and Herodotus, when re- porting similar occurrences which had been narrated to him, is known to have carefully separated between what was given on the authority of others, and on his own responsibility. On the other hand, it must be borne in mind, that a proneness to belief in the case of natural wonders was the feature -of the age ; and had these been omitted, the author would have incurred censure on this ground — an accusation, the reverse, doubtless, of what is now advanced, but which would, nevertheless, have affected his character for fidelity.

There is, moreover, reason to believe that he has softened down much of the wonderful which he ex- tracted from other authors, and the following coinci- dence may be regarded as giving confirmation to this estimate of Pliny's discretion. When Aulus Gellius landed at Brundusium, on his passage from Athens to Rome, he found on the book-stalls some bundles of Greek works, which he read with eager curiosity. But, with every disposition to credit the authorities, he calls some of the narratives of Aristeas, Isigonius, Ctesias, Onesicritus, Polystephanus, and Hegesias, unheard of and incredible. Accordingly, in making extracts from these volumes, which bore marks of having been much read, it would appear that he passed by those incidents which were most absurd, and selected such only as he deemed worthy of further inquiry. The selections thus made are found remarkably to corre-

PREFACE. XI

spond with those which Pliny has introduced in his own work.

Narratives of similar stamp and character gained equal credit in Europe during the middle ages : the famous traveller, Maundeville, believed what he nar- rated, and found, as he expected, readers ready to be- lieve him ; and the more so, perhaps, for the marvels which the history of his tour contains. Indeed, in the infancy of observation, when the Causes of Natural Phenomena were little known, so much was seen as to render every thing probable, and so little understood, that any explanation was alike satisfactory.

Rapid as is the foregoing sketch of the great natu- ralist's life and character, enough, it is hoped, has been glanced at to commend the revival of the volume be- fore us, and to secure for its author among ourselves a reverence as great as is the undying interest given by his name to the cities of Herculaneum and Pompeii, which perished with him.

The following translation may be regarded as that of Dr. Philemon Holland, who flourished in the reign of Elizabeth, and is the only writer who has given a complete rendering of Pliny's works in English. Some liberties have been taken with the original translation. An attempt has been made to reduce its verbosity, and to approximate it more closely to the brevity and terse- ness of the Latin text ; while the Editor has been at the same time studious of not interfering unnecessarily with the simplicity of style by which writers of that day were distinguished. The notes are given by various members of the Club, to whom application has been severally made by the general Editor, according to the department in which each may be found most

Xll

PREFACE.

competent. The contributions have received the approval of the Committee, and been specially ac- knowledged in each volume.

The first and thirty-third books of Pliny were translated by Dr. Bostock in 1828, as specimens of a new version, which, but for his death, would in all probability have been completed. Of the notes ap- pended to these sample chapters, such use has been made as subserves the purposes of our republishing Pliny in English ; but, in the main, they are found to be more critical than explanatory.

SSternerfan

Bone Ticket of Admission to the Amphitheatre, found at Pompeii

THE FIRST BOOK

NATURAL HISTORY

BY C. PLINIUS SECUNDUS.

The Preface to Vespasian\ his [friend'] C. Plinius Secundus sendeth greeting.

HESE Books, containing the History of Nature, which a few days since I brought to Light (a new work among the Romans, your Citizens), I purpose by this Epistle of mine to present and conse- crate unto you, most gentle Prince (for this Title2 ac- cordeth fittest unto you, seeing that the Name of [Most mighty3] sorteth well with the Age of your Father:) which haply might seem boldness and presumption in me, but that I know how at other Times you were wont to have some good Opinion of my light Matters*. Where, by the Way, you must give me Leave to soften a little the Verses which

1 Titus. 8 Suavissimm. 3 Maxim-its.

" Namque tu solebas, Mcas esse aliquid putare nugas"

14 Pliny s Epistle to T. Vespasian. [BooK 1.

I borrow of my Tent-fellow, Catullus (to this Term of Camps1 you are no Stranger) : for he, as you know well, changing the former Syllables of his Verses2, one for another, made himself somewhat more harsh than he would seem to be unto the fine Ears of his familiar Friends, the Veranioli and Fabulli. And I would be thought by this my intrusive Writing to you, to satisfy one point, which, as you com- plained in your Answer of late to another bold Letter of mine, I had not performed, that is, that all the World might see (as it were upon Record) how the Empire is managed by you and your Father equally : and notwithstanding this Imperial Majesty whereunto you are called, yet is your Manner of conversing with your old Friends affable, and the same that always heretofore it had been. For although you have triumphed with him for your noble Victories, ful- filled the Office of Censor, and also six times that of Consul3, shared the Authority of Tribune, Patrons, and Protectors of the Commons of Rome, together with him : although, I say, you have otherwise shewed your noble Heart in honouring and gracing both the Court of the Emperor your Father, and also the whole State of the Knights and Gentlemen of Rome, whilst you were Captain of the Guard, and Grand Master of his House and royal Palace (in all which Places you demeaned yourself in respect to the Good of the Com- monwealth), yet to all your Friends, and especially to my- self, you have borne the same Countenance as in former Times, when we served under the same Colours, and lodged together in one Tent. In all the Greatness to which you are elevated, there is no other Change seen in your Person but this : That your Power is now commensurate with your Will, and you are able now to perform that Good which you have ever intended.

1 Conterranewn.

2 It seemeth that Pliny read thus in Catullus :

" Tuputare namque, Nugus esse aliquid meas solebas" which, indeed, was but an hard composition and couching of the words.

3 Sexies, or rather Septies; out of Suetonim.

BOOK I.] Pliny s Epistle to T. Vespasian . 15

And however this great Majesty resplendent in you on every Side, in regard of those high Dignities, may induce the World at large to reverence your Person, yet 1 for my part am aided only with the strength of Confidence to shew my Duty in a more familiar manner than others : and, therefore, this my Boldness you will impute unto your own Courtesy ; and if it be a Fault in me, you will seek your Pardon from yourself. I have laid Bashful ness aside, but to no Purpose. For although your Gentleness and Humanity induce me to draw near to your Presence, yet you appear in other re- spects in great Majesty : for the Sublimity of your Mind, your high Attainments, set me as far behind as if the Lictors marched before you. Was there ever any Man, whose Words passed from him more powerfully, and who more truly might be said to flash forth as Lightning the Force of Eloquence ? What Tribune was ever known more effectu- ally to move the People with agreeable Language ? How admirably you thundered out the Praise of the worthy Acts of your Father ! What a Testimony of Love to your Bro- ther! How skilful in Poetry! How ingeniously you find means to imitate your Brother1 in this respect2! But who is able boldly to give sufficient Estimate of these Gifts ? How may any One enter into the due Consideration of them with- out Fear of the exact Judgment of your Wit, especially being challenged therunto as you are ? For the case of such as publish a Work in general is unlike theirs who dedicate it by Name to yourself. For had I set forth this my Book without any personal Dedication, I might have said, Sir, why should a mighty Commander and General3 busy him- self to read such Matters ? These Treatises were written for the lower Classes, for rude Husbandmen and Peasants of the Country, for the Mass of Artisans, and those who had Leisure for studying them. Why should you make yourself

1 For Domitian Vespasian was reputed an excellent Poet.

2 The sense of the passage, as seen by supplying the ellipsis of the original, is this : " With what testimony of love you set forth the praises of your brother to the full." — Wern. Club.

'A Iraperator.

16 Pliny s Epistle to T. Vespasian. [BooK L

a Censor of this Work? When I first thought of this Enter- prise of mine, I never reckoned you in the Number of those Judges that should stoop to pass sentence upon these Writ- ings. It is a common case, and incident to Men of deep Learning, that their Judgment be rejected in this behalf. Even that illustrious Orator, M. Tullius, who for Wit and Learning had not his Fellow, useth the Benefit of this Liberty : and (whereat we may well marvel) maintaineth the Action by an Advocate, taking Example (for his Defence) from Lucilius : for in one Part of his Works thus he saith, / wish not the learned Persius to read these Books of mine ; but I prefer Lcelius Decimus. Now if such a one as Lucilius, who was the first that durst control the Writings of others, had reason thus to say ; if Cicero borrowed the same Speech in his Treatise of the Republic1, how much greater Cause have I to decline the Censure of a competent Judge? But I am cut off from this refuge, in that I expressly make choice of you in this Dedication of my Work : for it is one Thing to have a Judge, either selected by Plurality of Voices, or cast upon a Man by drawing Lots ; arid another Thing to choose and nominate him from all others : and there is great Difference between that Provision which we make for a Guest solemnly bidden and invited, and the sudden Entertainment which is ready for a Stranger who

1 This work of Cicero, entitled " De Republica," is more than once referred to by Pliny. The high standard of morals which it upheld caused it to be much respected by the most eminent Fathers of the Latin Church : insomuch that it is thought to have suggested to St. Augustine the idea of his celebrated work, " De Civitate Dei." During the. dark ages, however, the Treatise " De Republica " was so completely lost, that upon the revival of letters, not a single manuscript of it could be any where discovered. At length, about thirty years since, a large portion of it was found by Angelo Ma'i, then Librarian of the Vatican, in a parch- ment manuscript. The parchment had been washed, and again used for a manuscript ; but the original writing was so far from having been en- tirely effaced by the ablution, that the large Roman letters were soon rendered legible again by the aid of a peculiar process. The recovered portion of this valuable work, being about one-third of the entire Trea- tise, was printed in London in one volume, 8vo. 1823. — Wern. Cluib.

BOOK l.J Pliny s Epistle to T. Vespasian. 17

cometh to our House unlocked for. Cato, that professed Enemy of Ambition, who took as great Contentment in those Estates and Dignities which he refused as in them which he enjoyed, attained to such a good Name of upright- ness, that when in the hottest Contention about the Election of Magistrates, they that contested for these Offices put into his Hands their Money upon Trust, as an Assurance of their Integrity and Fidelity in this respect; they professed that they did it in Testimony of their Opinion of his Equity and Inno- cence : whereupon ensued that noble and memorable Exclam- ation of M. Cicero in these Words : " Oh ! happy M. Portius, whom no Man would ever venture to solicit to any thing contrary to right!" When L. Scipio, surnamed Asiaticus, appealed to the Tribunes, and besought their lawful Favour (among whom, C. Gracchus was one, a Man whom he took for his mortal Enemy), he exclaimed, "That his very Ene- mies, if they were his Judges, could not choose but give Sen- tence on his Side." Thus every Man maketh him the supreme Judge of his Cause, whom himself hath chosen : which Man- ner of Choice the Latins call an Appeal (Provocatio). As for yourself, who are set in the most eminent Place, and endued with the highest Eloquence and deepest Learning, it is no Wonder if those who do their Duty unto you approach with the utmost Respect and Reverence: in which regard, exceeding Care above all Things would be had, that what- soever is said or dedicated unto you, may become your Per- son, and be worthy your Acceptance. And yet the Gods reject not the humble Prayers of country Peasants, yea, and of many Nations, who offer nothing but Milk unto them : and such as have no Incense, find grace with the Oblation of a Cake made only of Meal and Salt ; and never was any Man blamed for his Devotion to the Gods, if he offered ac- cording to his best Ability.

I may be more challenged for my inconsiderate Boldness, in that I would seem to present these Books unto you, com- piled of such slender Matter : for in them can be comprised no great Ability (which otherwise in me was ever meagre), neither admit they any Digressions, Orations, and Discourses,

18 Pliny s Epistle to T. Vespasian. [BooK I.

nor wonderful Incidents and variable Issues ; nor any other Circumstances that may be agreeable to rehearse, or pleasant to hear. The Nature of all Things in this World, that is to say, Matters concerning our ordinary Life, are here deli- neated ; and that in barren Terms, without any Show of Phrases : and what I have noted concern the commonest Points thereof, so that I am to deliver the Matter either in rustic, or foreign, nay, even barbarous Language, such as may not well be uttered, but with Apology to the Reader. Moreover, the Way that I have pursued hath not been trodden before by other Writers ; being indeed so strange, that no one would willingly travel therein. No Latin Author among us hath hitherto ventured upon the same Argument, no Grecian whatsoever hath handled all : and that because most study rather to pursue Matters of Delight and Plea- sure. It may be confessed, that others have made profession of doing so, but they have done it with such Subtilty and Deepness, that their Efforts lie as if buried in Darkness. I, therefore, take upon me to gather a complete Body of Arts and Sciences (which the Greeks call lyptuxXcwra/ds/og), that are either altogether unknown or have been rendered doubtful through too great Refinement of Ingenuity ; other Matters are dealt with in such long Discourses, that they are ren- dered tedious to the Readers. It is a difficult Enterprise to make old Matters new, to give Authority and Credit to Novelties, to polish that which is obsolete, to set a Lustre upon that which is dim, to grace Things disdained, to procure Belief to Matters doubtful, and, in one Word, to reduce all to their own Nature. And to make the Attempt only, although it be not effected, is a fair and magnificent Enterprise. I am confidently of opinion, that the greatest Credit belongs to those learned Men who have forced their Way through all Difficulties, and have preferred the Profit of instructing to the Grace of pleasing, the Gratification of mere Desire of pleasing the present Age; and this I have aimed at, not in this Work only, but in other of rny Books. And I wonder at T. Livius, a very celebrated Writer, who, in a Preface to one of his Books of the Roman History,

BOOK I.] Pliny s Epistle to T. Vespasian. 19

which he compiled from the Foundation of Rome, thus pro- tested : That he had gotten Glory enough by his former Writing, and might now be at ease, but that his Mind was so little able to abide Repose, that it could not subsist but in labour. But, surely, in finishing those Chronicles, he should have respected the Glory of a People of Conquerors, who had advanced the Honour of the Roman Name, rather than displayed his own Praise : his Merit had been the greater to have continued his History for Love of the Subject, rather than his private Pleasure; to have preferred the Gratification of Rome to his own mere Pleasure. As touching myself (forasmuch as Domitius Piso saith, " That Books ought to be Treasuries, and not bare Writings"), I will be bold to say, that in Thirty-six Books I have comprised 20,000 Things that are worthy of Consideration, and these I have collected out of about 2000 Volumes that I have diligently read (and of which there are few that Men otherwise learned have ventured to meddle with, for the deep Matter therein con- tained), and those written by one hundred several excellent Authors ; besides a Multitude of other Matters, which either were unknown to our former Writers, or Experience has lately ascertained. And yet we cannot doubt but there are many Things which we have overlooked : for we are Men, and employed in a Multiplicity of Affairs ; and we follow these Studies at vacant Times; that is to say, by Night Season only ; so that you may know, that to accomplish this we have neglected no Time which was due to your Service. The Days we assign to your Person ; we sleep only to satisfy Nature, contenting ourselves with this Reward, that whilst we study (as Varro saith) these Things, we gain so many Hours to our Life ; for surely we live then only when we are awake. Considering those Occasions and Hindrances, I had no Reason to promise much ; but as you have embol- dened me to dedicate my Books to you, yourself supply what- ever in me is wanting ; not that I place Dependency on the Worth of the Work ; so much as that by this Means it will be better esteemed, for many Things there be that appear

20 Pliny s Epistle to 1\ Vespasian. [BooK I.

the more precious only because they are consecrated in the sacred Temples.

We, indeed, have written of you all — your Father, your- self, and your Brother, in an adequate Volume, which we compiled touching the History of our Times, beginning at the Place where Aufidius Bassus ended. If you inquire of me, Where that History is ? I answer, That it is long since finished, and by this Time is justified and approved by your Deeds : otherwise I was determined to leave it unto my Heir, and I gave Order that it should be published only after my Death, to remove the Suspicion that it had been written to obtain some selfish End. And by so doing, I do both them a great Favour, who, perhaps, were inclined to publish the like Chronicle ; and Posterity, also, who, I well know, will compete with us as we have done with our Pre- decessors. A sufficient Argument of this my Mind you shall have by this, that in the Front of these Books now in Hand, I have set down the Names of those Writers whose Help I have used in the compiling of them : for I am of Opinion, that it is the Part of an honest Man, and one that has a Claim to any Modesty, to confess by whom he hath pro- fited ; and not as many of those Persons have done, whom I have alleged for my Authors. For, to tell you the Truth, in conferring them together about this Work of mine, I have met with some of our modern Writers, who, Word for Word, have copied out whole Books of old Authors, and never vouchsafed so much as the Naming of them ; but have taken their Labours to themselves. And this they have not done in the Spirit to imitate and match them, as Virgil did Homer: much less have they shewed the Simplicity and Openness of Cicero, who, in his Books on the Common- wealth, professeth himself to follow Plato; in his consola- tory Epistle written to his Daughter, he saith, " I follow Crantor" and Pancetius likewise, in his Treatise concerning Offices. Which Volumes of his (as you know well) deserve not only to be handled, but read daily, and committed en- tirely to Memory. It is the Part of a base and servile Mind

BOOK I.] Pliny s Epistle to T. Vespasian. 21

to choose rather to be taken in a Theft, than to bring Home borrowed Goods, or to repay a due Debt ; especially when the Interest thereof hath gained a Man as much as the Principal.

In the Titles and Inscriptions of Books, the Greeks have a happy Art. Thus one has been entitled K»j£/ov, whereby they would give us to understand of a Honeycomb: others1 Kygag A^aXSs/ag, that is to say, the Horn of Plenty ; so that whosoever readeth these goodly Titles must hope for some great Matters ; and as the Proverb goes, look to drink there a Draught of Hen's Milk2. You shall have, moreover, their Books set out with these glorious Inscriptions ! The Muses, The Pandects3, Enchiridion4, As/^wv5, r/vax/<rr/oi/6: so that one might even consent to forfeit a Recognisance or Obligation in a Court of Law, to turn over the Leaf. But let a Man enter into them, and behold, what a Nothing shall he find within ! As for our Countrymen, they are gross in Compa- rison of them in giving Titles to their Books : for they come with their Antiquities, Examples, and Arts ; and those also be such Authors as are of finest Invention amongst them. Valerius, who (as I take it) was named AntiaSj both for that he was a Citizen of Antium, and also because his Ancestors were so called, was the first that gave to a Book the Title of Lucubratio, or Night Study. Varro terms some of his Satires Sesculyxes and Flex'ibulce. Diodorus, among the Greeks, laid aside such empty Titles, and entitled his Book, JBiblio- theca, or, a Library. Apion7, the Grammarian, whom Tiberius

1 To wit, Helius Melissus.

3 " Lac gallinaceum summa felicitate olim usurpabatur." — STBABO, lib. xiv. " Eos, qui Sami fcecunditatem laudabant, ei proverbium accommo- dasse tradit, quo aiunt <p'.gi*> ogvduv ><«>.«." — DAUBCHAMPIUS. — Wern. Club.

" Proverbium de re singular! et admodum rara." — Note in Valpy, p. 18. — Wern. Club.

3 Containing all things, as Tyro Tuttius did.

4 A Manual to be carried always in Hand.

5 Meadow. 6 A Table or Index.

7 Apion, sometimes called Appion, was an Egyptian, but he had a great desire to be regarded as of Greek extraction. His works were numerous, and among them was one on all the wonders he had seen or

22 Pliny s Epistle to T. Vespasian. [BOOK I.

CcBsar called the Cymbal of the World (whereas, indeed, he deserved to be rather named the Drum of public Fame), was so vainglorious, that he professed to confer Immortality on all those whom he mentioned in his Writings. I am not ashamed I have not devised a prettier Title for my Book ; yet because I would not be thought altogether to condemn the Greeks, I am willing to be regarded in this Behalf like those excellent Masters in Greece for Painting and Statuary, whom you shall find in these Reports of mine, to have enti- tled their rare and perfect Pieces of Work (which the more we look upon, the more we admire) with Half-Titles and im- perfect Inscriptions, in this Manner : Apelles worked at this Picture*: or,Polycletus undertook this Image: as if they were but begun and never finished, and laid out of their Hands : which was done (no doubt) to this End, that for all the Diversity of Men's Judgments scrutinising their Work, yet the Artificer thereby had Recourse to an Apology, as if he meant to have amended any Thing therein amiss, in Case he had not been prevented. These noble Workmen, therefore,

heard of in Egypt. It seems to have been his practice to regard every thing in proportion to the wonders it would enable him to relate. He is the sole authority for some curious facts in Natural History ; which Pliny seems to have taken from him. Aulus Gellius admits that he was prone greatly to embellish the truth ; and Josephus has given evidence of his emptiness and scurrility, which he poured out abundantly against the Jews, to whom he bore a mortal antipathy. He had an opportunity of displaying this in an address before the Emperor Caligula, when he repre- sented their refusal to worship him as a god as a proof of their disaffec- tion to his person and government ; by which he excited the indignation of the emperor against the illustrious Philo and his companions. His notoriety for reviling and noisy opposition was such as to cause his name to be selected by a Christian writer of the third century, who assumed the name of Clement of Rome, as the fictitious opponent of St. Peter, in a disputation concerning the Christian religion : as mentioned by Eusebius and Lardner. His conceit appears from what Pliny says of him ; and it would have been to him the deepest mortification, could he have been told that he would only be known to posterity through the mention made of him by his opponents. He is sometimes called Plistonicus and Poly- histor.— Wern. Club. 1 Apelles faciebat.

BOOK I.] Pliny s Epistle to T. Vespasian. 23

shewed great Modesty, that the Inscriptions on their Works were as if they had been their last Pieces, and their Perfec- tion was hindered by their Death : for there were not known ( I believe ) above three which had their absolute Titles written upon them in this Form : Ille fecit, or, This Apelles finished : and those Pictures I will specify in the proper Place. By which it appeared evidently, that the said three Pictures were so fully finished, that the Workman was highly satisfied with their Perfection, and feared the Censure of no Man: no Marvel, then, if all three were so much admired throughout the World, and every Man desired to be Master of them.

For myself, I confess that many more Things may be added, not to this Story alone, but to all the Books that I have published before : which I say, because I would antici- pate those Fault-finders and Scourgers1 of Homer (for surely that is their very Name) ; because I hear say there be certain Stoic Philosophers, professed Logicians, and Epicureans also (for at the Hands of Critics I never looked for any other), who are in Labour to be delivered of somewhat against my Books which I have published on Grammar : and the Space of Ten Years has produced nothing but Abortion, when the Elephant is not so long in producing her young one. But this does not trouble me ; for I am not ignorant that a Woman wrote against Theophrastus*, though he was a Man of such Eloquence that from thence he obtained his divine Name, Theophrastus : from whence arose this Proverb, "Then go choose a Tree to hang thyself."3 I cannot refrain, but I

1 Homeromastiges.

* Her name was Leontium, and she studied philosophy under Epi- curus, where she became more celebrated for her talents than her virtue. The elegancy of her style is praised by Cicero. — Wern. Club.

3 There is a passage in Plutarch's " Life of Antony," which shews how lamentably the antients were addicted to the crime of suicide, and at the same time illustrates this proverb. It is thus translated by Langhorne :— " Once, in an assembly of the people, he (Timon of Athens) mounted the rostrum, and the novelty of the thing occasioned an universal silence and expectation : at length he said, ' People of Athens, there is a fig-tree in my yard, on which many worthy citizens have hanged themselves ; and

24 Pliny s Epistle to T. Vespasian. [BoOK I.

must set down the very Words of Cato the Censor, so perti- nent to this purpose ; whereby it may appear, that even Cato himself, who wrote of Military Discipline, who had been trained to War under Scipio Africanus, or rather, in- deed, under Hannibal; who, in the end, could not endure Africanus himself, but was able to control him in martial Affairs ; and who, besides having the Conduct, as Imperator, of the Roman Army, achieved the Superiority over his Ene- mies in the Field, and returned with Victory : this Cato could not avoid such Slanderers ; but knowing that there would be many of them ready to purchase to themselves some Reputation by reproving the Knowledge and Skill of others, brake out into a certain Speech against them : and what was it ? "I know well" (says he, in that Book) "that if these Writings be published to the World, many will step forth to cavil at them, and those soonest who are themselves void of all Praise. But I let their Words flow by." It was well said by Plancus, when being informed that Asinius Pollio was framing certain Orations against him, which should be published either by himself or his Children, after the Decease of Plancus, that they might not be answered by him ; he remarked : " That none but Bugbears1 fight with the Dead :" with which Word he gave those Orations such a Rebuff, that (by the Judgment of the Learned) none were

as I have determined to build on the spot, I thought it necessary to give this public notice, that such as choose to have recourse to this tree for the aforesaid purpose, may repair to it before it is cut down.'" — Wem. Club.

1 Bugbears. Larvae. — It was supposed that the soul of man, when freed from the bonds of the body, and not obliged to perform its func- tions, became a kind of demon, and this was denominated generally Lemur. Of these Lemures, those who were kind to their families, and preserved them in peace, were called Lares familiar es, or domestic Lares; but those who, for punishment of their crimes committed during life, were condemned to continual wandering, without finding a place of rest, frightening good men and plaguing the wicked, were denominated Larvce. The sarcasm consisted in comparing Asinius Pollio to such a perturbed spirit. In the singular number, Larva signifies a mask, used to terrify children. — Wern. Club.

BOOK I.] Pliny s Epistle to T. Vespasian,

25

accounted more Impudent than they. Therefore, feeling myself secure against these Busy-bodies, (and verily Cato hath given such Fellows a proper Name when he called them Vitilitigatores, by a Term elegantly compounded of Vices and Quarrels: for to say a Truth, what do they else but pick Quarrels and make Brawls?) I will proceed in my intended Purpose.

To conclude my Epistle : knowing that for the Good of the Commonwealth you ought to be spared in any private Business of your own, and especially in perusing these long Volumes of mine ; to prevent such a Trouble, therefore, I have adjoined to this Epistle, and prefixed before these Books, the Summary or Contents of every one : and care- fully have I endeavoured, that you should not need to read them throughout to ascertain their Contents ; whereby alt others also, after your Example, may ease themselves of the like Labour: and as any Man is desirous to know this or that, he may readily find in what Place to meet with the same. This Plan I learned of Valerius Sorranus, one of our own Latin Writers, who hath done the like before me in those Books which he entitled

Brass coin of T. Vespasian, in the possession of Mr. Coticft.

IN THE SECOND BOOK

IS CONTAINED THE

DISCOURSE OF THE WORLD, OF CELESTIAL IMPRESSIONS AND

METEORS, AS ALSO OF THOSE THAT APPEAR IN THE

AIR, AND UPON EARTH.

CHAP.

1 . Whether the World be limited ?

and whether there be but one ?

2. The Form of the World.

3. The Motion of Heaven.

4. Why the World is called Mun-

dus?

5. Of the Four Elements.

6. Of the Seven Planets.

7. Concerning God.

8. The Nature of the fixed Stars

and Planets : their Revolution.

9. The Nature of the Moon.

10. The Eclipse of Sun and Moon:

also of the Night.

11. The Magnitude of Stars.

12. The divers Discoveries of Men

and their Observations of the Celestial Bodies.

13. Of Eclipses.

14. The Motion of the Moon.

15. General Rules concerning Pla-

nets and Lights.

16. The Reason why the same

Planets seem higher or lower at sundry times.

17. General Rules concerning the

Planets.

18. What is the Cause that Planets

change their Colours ?

19. The Course of the Sun: his Mo-

tion : and whence proceedeth the Inequality of Days.

20. Why Lightnings are assigned

to Jupiter.

CHAP.

21. The Distances between the

Planets.

22. The Harmony of Stars.

23. The Geometry of the World.

24. Of Stars appearing suddenly.

25. Of Comets and other prodi-

gious Appearances in the Sky : their Nature, Situa- tion, and Kinds.

26. The Opinion of Hipparchus of

the Stars, Torches, Lamps, Pillars or Beams of Fire, burning Darts, Gapings of the Sky: with Instances.

27. Strange Colours appearing in

the Sky.

28. Flames seen in the Sky.

29. Circles or Garlands in the Sky.

30. Of Celestial Circles and Gar-

lands of short Duration.

31. Of many Suns.

32. Of many Moons.

33. Of Nights as light as Day.

34. Of Meteors resembling fiery

Shields.

35. A wonderful Appearance in

the Sky.

36. The extraordinary Shooting of

Stars.

37. Of the Stars named Castor and

Pollux.

38. Of the Air.

39. Of certain set Times and Sea-

sons.

Contents of the Second Book.

27

CHAP.

40. The Power of the Dog- Star.

41. The Influences of Stars accord-

ing to the Seasons and De- grees of the Signs.

42. The Causes of Rain, Wind, and

Clouds.

43. Of Thunder and Lightning.

44. Whereupon cometh the Re-

doubling of the Voice, called Echo.

45. Of Winds again.

46. Considerations on the Nature

of Winds.

47. The Kinds of Winds.

48. Of sudden Blasts.

49. Other strange Kinds of Tem-

pests.

50. In what Regions there fall no

Thunderbolts.

5 1 . Divers Sorts of Lightnings, and

wondrous Accidents by them occasioned.

52. The Observations [of the Tus-

cans in old Time] about Lightning.

53. Of causing Lightning.

54. General Rules concerning

Lightning.

55. What Things are not struck

by Lightning.

56. Of monstrous Showers of

Milk, Blood, Flesh, Iron, Wool, Brick, and Tile.

57. The rattling of Armour : and

the Sound of Trumpets heard from the Sky.

58. Of Stones falling from the

Sky.

59. Of the Rainbow.

60. Of Hail, Snow, Frost, Mists,

and Dew.

61. Of Shapes represented in the

Clouds.

62. The particular Properties of

the Sky in certain Places.

63. The Nature of the Earth.

64. The Figure of the Earth.

CHAP.

65. Of the Antipodes: and whe-

ther there be such. Also, of the Roundness of the Water.

66. How the Water resteth upon

the Earth.

67. Of Seas and Rivers of Naviga-

tion.

68. What Parts of the Earth be

habitable.

69. That the Earth is in the Midst

of the World.

70. Whence proceedeth the In-

equality in the Rising of the Stars. Of the Eclipse : where it is, and why.

71. The Reason of Daylight upon

Earth.

72. A Discourse thereof according

to the Gnomon : also of the first Sun-dial.

73. Where and when no Shadows

are cast.

74. Where the Shadows fall oppo-

site twice in the Year.

75. Where the Days are longest,

and where shortest.

76. Likewise of Dials.

77. The divers Observations and

Acceptations of the Day.

78. Reasons of the Difference of

Nations.

79. Of the Earthquake.

80. Of Openings in the Earth.

81. Signs of an Earthquake.

82. Helps against approaching

Earthquakes.

83. Strange Wonders seen only

once in the Earth.

84. Miraculous Accidents of Earth-

quakes.

85. In what Parts the Seas went back

86. Islands appearing new out of

the Sea.

87. What Islands have thus shewed,

and at what Times.

88. Into what Lands the Seas have

forcibly broken.

28

Contents of the Second Book.

CHAP.

89. What Islands have been joined

to the Continent.

90. What Lands Jmve become all

Sea.

91. Of Lands that have been swal-

lowed up of themselves.

92. What Cities have been over-

flowed by the Sea.

93. Wonderful Things of Lands.

94. Of Lands that always suffer

Earthquake.

95. Of Islands that float continu-

ally.

96. In what Countries it never

raineth : also, of Miracles, as well of the Earth as other Elements, accumulated to- gether.

97. The Reason of the Sea- tides,

as well ebbing as flowing, and where the Sea floweth extraordinarily.

CHAP.

98. Wonderful Things in the Sea.

99. The Power of the Moon over

Sea and Land.

100. The Power of the Sun : and

why the Sea is salt.

101. Also of the Nature of the

Moon.

102. Where the Sea is deepest.

103. Remarkable Observations of

the Waters, of Fountains, and Rivers.

104. Remarkable Things in Fire

and Water jointly together : also of Maltha.

105. Of Naphtha.

106. Of Places that burn continu-

ally.

107. Wonders of Fire alone.

108. The Dimension of the Earth,

in length and breadth.

109. The harmonical Circumfer-

ence of the World.

In Sum, there are in this Book, of Histories and Observations, Four Hundred and Eighteen in Number.

LATIN AUTHORS ABSTRACTED IN THIS BOOK :

M. Varro, Sulpitius Gallus, Tiberius Ccesar the Emperor, Q. Tubero, Tullius Tiro, L. Piso, T. Livius, Cornelius Nepos, Statins, Sebosus, Ccelius Antipater, Fabianus, Antias, Mutianus, Cecina (who wrote of the Tuscan Learning), Tarquitius, L. Aquila, and Sergius Paulus !.

FOREIGN AUTHORS :

Plato, Hipparchus, Timceus, Sosigenes, Petosiris, Necepsus, Pythagoras, Posidonius, Anaximander, Epigenes, Gnomonicus, Euclides, Cceranus Philo- sophus, Eudoxus, Democritus,Crisodemus, Thrasyllus, Serapion, Diccearchus, Archimedes, Onesicritus, Eratosthenes, Pytheas, Herodotus, Aristoteles, Ctesias, Artemidorus Ephesius, Isidorus Characenus, Theopompus.

1 Sergius Paulus. There can be no doubt that this writer on Natural Philosophy— whose works are lost— is the same person that is mentioned in the 13th Chapter of the Acts of the Apostles; and from the nature of his pursuits we are enabled to perceive the reason why, at one time, he was the patron of Elymas the Sorcerer. The greater portion of the Im- postors-of those days were accustomed to found their claims to regard on their acquaintance with some branches of Philosophy, in which Sergius Paulus was an inquiring student. We do not find the name of the Sorcerer among the numerous authors referred to by Pliny.— Wern. Club.

THE SECOND BOOK

HISTORY OF NATURE

WRITTEN BY

C. PLINIUS SECUNDUS.

CHAPTER I. Whether the World be finite, and but one.

HE World1, and that which, by another Name. Men have thought Good to call Heaven (under the Compass of which all Things are covered), we ought to believe, in all Reason, to be a Divine Power, eternal, immense, without Beginning, and never to perish. What is beyond the Compass

1 The Author manifests a philosophic, as well as pious spirit, in begin- ning his work with a reference to Divine power ; but in giving this idea of the nature of the world, and representing it as a separate and inde- pendent divinity, he adopts an ancient speculative opinion derived from the Oriental philosophy, in preference to the popular opinion of his country, which is selected by Ovid in his Introduction to the " Metamorphoses;" and which ascribed the creation of the world to an already existing or eternal God — " whichever God he was :" though not to the highest in rank of the Heathen Mythology ; for the latter is represented as descended from pre- viously existing, or humanly deified, parents, and consequently was of a subsequent age. The knowledge of the Great Eternal having been left

30 History of Nature. [ BOOK II.

thereof, neither is it fit for Men to search, nor within Man's Understanding to conceive. Sacred it is, everlasting, infi- nite, all in all, or rather itself all and absolute : limited, yet seeming infinite : in all Motions, certain ; though in Appear- ance uncertain : comprehending in itself all both without and within : Nature's Work, and yet very Nature itself. It is Madness that some have thought in their Mind to mea- sure it ; yea, and durst in Writing set down the Dimensions thereof: that others again, by Occasion hereupon taken, or on this founded, have taught, That there are Worlds in- to slip from the minds of learned Heathens, through their speculations into occult causes, and the wrapping up of religion from the inquiries of the vulgar, as being too high for their comprehension, they were led to the conception of what, in fact, was no more than a mere abstraction, and destitute of all proper personality : a simple, unconscious fatality, with little volition : and, in truth, no better than a diffusive aether, or, as it would now be denominated, galvanic influence. The philosophy of Pythagoras was derived from the East; "But it was this," says Lord Bacon (" Natural History," 10th century), " which did first plant a mon- strous imagination, which afterwards was, by the school of Plato and others, watered and nourished. It was, that the world was one, entire, perfect, living creature ; insomuch as Apollonius of Tyana, a Pythagorean prophet, affirmed that the ebbing and flowing of the sea was the respira- tion of the world, drawing in water as breath, and putting it forth again. They went on, and inferred, that if the world were a living creature, it had a soul and spirit ; which also they held, calling it ' spiritus mundij the spirit or soul of the world. By which they did not intend God (for they did admit of a deity besides), but only the soul, or essential form, of the universe. This foundation being laid, they might build upon it what they would; for in a living creature, though never so great (as, for example, in a great whale), the sense and the effects of any one part of the body instantly make a transcursion throughout the whole body. So that by this they did insinuate, that no distance of place, nor want nor indisposition of matter, could hinder magical operations ; but that, for example, we mought here in Europe have sense and feeling of that which was done in China ; and likewise we mought work any effect without and against matter; and this not holden by the co-operation of angels or spirits, but only by the unity and harmony of nature." This was the occult cause, to which all the otherwise unaccountable operations of nature might easily be referred. We have a curious instance of such a method of explanation at the end of the ninety-third chapter of this book. — Wern.Club.

BOOK II.] History of Nature. 3 1

numerable : as if we are to believe so many Natures as there are Heavens : or if all were reduced to one, yet there should be so many Suns and Moons, with the Rest also of those immeasurable and innumerable Stars in that one : as though in this plurality of Worlds we should not always meet with the same Question still at every Turn of our Thought, for Want of some End to rest upon : or, if this infiniteness could possibly be assigned to Nature, the Work-mistress of all ; the same might not be understood more easily in that one Heaven which we see ; so great a Work as it is. Now surely it is more than Madness to quit this, and to keep seeking without, as if all Things within were well and clearly known already : as if any Man could take the Measure of another Thing, who knoweth not his own : or the Mind of Man might see those Things which the World itself may not receive.

CHAPTER II. Of the Figure of the World.

THAT the Form of the World is round1, in the Figure of a perfect Globe, its Name in the first Place, and the Consent of all Men agreeing to call it in Latin Orbis (a Globe), as also many natural Reasons, evidently shew. For not only because such a Figure every Way falleth and bendeth upon itself, is able to uphold itself, includeth and containeth itself, having need of no joints for this purpose, as finding in any Part thereof no End or Beginning : or because this Form agreeth best to that Motion, whereby continually it must turn about (as hereafter will appear) : but also because the Eyesight doth approve the same ; because, look which Way soever you will, it appeareth convex, and even on all sides; a Thing not incident to any other Figure.

1 That it was an oblate spheroid, flattened at the poles, was little likely to be known by observers, however acute, whose opinion of the uninhabitable nature of the frigid and torrid zones would lead them to limit their practical inquiries to the temperate. The good sense of Pliny induced him to prefer the opinion of the rotundity of the globe, to that of Epicurus, that it was an extended plane. — Wern. Club.

32 History oj Nature. [^OOK **•

CHAPTER III. The Motion of the World.

THAT the World thus framed, in a continued Circuit, with unspeakable Swiftness turneth round in the Space of four-and-twenty Hours, the ordinary Rising and Setting of the Sun leaves no Room to doubt. Whether it being in Height exceedingly great, and therefore the Sound of so huge a Frame, whilst it is whirled about unceasingly, cannot be heard with our Ears, I cannot easily imagine : no more, by Hercules ! than 1 may vouch the Ringing of the Stars that are driven round therewith, and roll their own Spheres : or determine, that as the Heaven movetb, it represents a plea- sant and incredibly sweet Harmony : although to us within, by Day and Night, it seemeth to roll on in Silence. That there is imprinted on it the Figures of living Creatures, and of all Kinds of Things besides without Number, as also that the Body thereof is not all over smooth and slippery (as we see in Birds' Eggs), which excellent Authors have termed Tenerum, is shewn by Arguments ; for by the Fall of natural Seeds of all Things from thence, and those for the most Part mixed one with another, there are produced in the World, and in the Sea especially, an immense Number of monstrous Shapes. Besides this, our Sight testifieth the same ; for in one Place there appeareth the Resemblance of a Chariot, in another of a Bear, or a Bull, and of a Letter (A), and prin- cipally the middle Circle over our Head, where it is more white than the Rest.

CHAPTER IV. Why the World is called Mundus.

FOR my own Part, I arn ruled by the general Consent of all Nations. For, the World, which the Greeks, by the Name of Ornament, called Ko<r/y,o$, we, for the perfect Neat- ness and absolute Elegance thereof, have termed Mundus. And we have named the Sky Calum, because it is engraven,

BOOK II.] History of Nature. 33

according as M. Varro interpreteth it. Arid the Order of Things therein contributes to this, and especially the defined Circle called Signifer, or the Zodiac, divided by the Forms of Twelve living Creatures, through which is the Sun's Track ; preserving the same Course for so many Ages.

CHAPTER V. Of the four Elements l.

I SEE no doubt regarding the Number of the Elements, that they are four. The highest, Fire : from whence are those bright Eyes of so many shining Stars. The next, Spirit, which the Greeks and our Countrymen by one Name called Air : this Element is vital, and it soon passeth through all, and is intrinsically mixed in the Whole : by the Power whereof, the Earth hangeth suspended in the midst, together with the fourth Element, of Water. Thus, by a mutual em- bracing of each other, divers Natures are linked together : and so the light Elements are restrained by the heavier, that they do not fly off: and, on the contrary, the massier are held up, that they fall not down, by means of the lighter, which seek to mount aloft. So, through an equal Endeavour to the Contrary, each of them holds its own, bound as it were by the restless Circuit of the World itself: which, run- ning evermore upon itself, the Earth falleth to be lowest, and in the Middle of the Whole : and the same hanging steadily by the Pole of the Universe, poiseth those Ele- ments by which it hangeth. Thus it alone resteth un- movable, whilst the whole Frame of the World turneth

1 The idea here conveyed of the existence of four elements, which enclose each other, each heavier one in succession subsiding below the other, is more fully expressed by Ovid, in his account of the creation of the world at the beginning of the first book of his " Metamorphoses." The opinion was generally entertained, of these elements being the con- stituents of all things, until modern chemical analysis demonstrated that themselves are compounded of other and more simple elements. Yet the language of the ancient opinion has not altogether ceased from use, even at the present time. — Wern. Club.

C

34 History of Nature. [BoOK II.

about it : and as it is united by all, so all of them rest upon the same.

CHAPTER VI.

Of the seven Planets.

BETWEEN the Earth and Sky, there hang in the Air above- named, seven Stars, divided one from another at distinct Distances ; and these, on account of their variable Motion, we call Wandering Planets ; whereas, indeed, none wander less than they. In the midst of them the Sun taketh his Course, as being the greatest and most powerful of all : the very Ruler, not of Times and Seasons only, and of the Earth, but also of the Stars and Sky itself. We ought to believe this Sun1 to be the very Life and (to speak more plainly) the Soul of the whole World, and the principal Governance of Nature; and, considering his Operations, nothing less than a divine Power. He it is that giveth Light to all Things, and scatters their Darkness : he hideth the other Stars ; he or- dereth the Seasons in their alternative Course ; he tempereth the Year, which ariseth ever fresh again for the Good of the World. He disperseth the Sadness of the Sky, and cleareth the Cloudiness of the Mind of Man ; to other Stars, likewise, he lendeth his own Light. Most excellent and glorious he is, as seeing all, and hearing all ; as, I see, is the Opinion of Homer* (the Prince of Learning) regarding him alone.

1 We find the ascription of Divinity to be the last resource in ex- plaining the operation of a hidden cause in nature. A false divinity was, therefore, the foundation of errors in philosophy ; and the latter again reacted on the former. — Wern. Club.

3 Pliny here refers to a passage in the eleventh hook of the " Odys- sey," where Ulysses descends into Hell, and meets with Tiresias, who, in recounting the future fortunes of the hero, says : " You shall find feeding the oxen and fat sheep of the sun, who sees and hears all things:" or, more diffusively, by Pope ; where —

u Graze numerous herds along the verdant shores ; Though hunger press, yet fly the dangerous prey ; The herds are sacred to the god of day, Who all surveys with his extensive eye, Above, below, on earth and in the sky." Wern. Club.

BOOK II.] History of Nature. 35

CHAPTER VII. Of God.

I SUPPOSE, therefore, that to seek after any Shape of God1, and to assign a Form and Image to him, is a Proof of Man's Folly. For God, whosoever he be (if haply there be any other, but the World itself), and in what Part soever resident, all Sense He is, all Sight, all Hearing : He is the whole of the Life and of the Soul, all of Himself. And to believe that there be Gods innumerable, and those according to Men's Virtues and Vices, as Chastity, Concord, Understanding, Hope, Honour, Clemency, Faith ; or (as Democritus was of Opinion) that there are two Gods only, that is, Punishment and Benefit : these Conceits render Men's idle Negligence the greater. But frail and wearisome mortal Men, remembering their own Infirmity, have digested these Things apart, to the End that each one might from thence choose to worship that whereof he stood most in need. And hence it is, that in different Nations we find the Gods named diversely : and in the same Region there are innumerable Gods. The infernal Powers, likewise, and Diseases, yea, and many Plagues, have been ranged in Divisions, and reckoned for Gods ; which, with

1 In this chapter the author openly asserts his disbelief of the truth of the established system of religion of his country ; and his manner of doing this sufficiently shews the confidence he felt, of finding sympathy in his scepticism among the learned and refined classes of society. This system was, indeed, singularly destitute of evidence ; and the reasons he gives for his disbelief shew it to have been as absurd to the eye of examination as it was unsupported by argument. That the chief deities of the Hea- then were no more than deceased men who had benefited the world in their lives, or at least acquired human respect, is asserted by many other ancient authors ; but it is to be regretted that the author should so far join in the error as from it to find occasion for thereby mixing up with it the flattery of a court. The treatise of Cicero, " On the Nature of the Gods," and the remarks of Pliny, are proofs that the ancient Heathens were not slow to discern the errors of the popular system of religion, though they were incapable of discovering or appreciating the true. — Wern. Club.

36 History of Nature. [BooK II.

trembling Fear, we have desired to pacify. This Superstition hath caused a Fane to be dedicated to Fever, in the Palatine Mount, by Order of the State ; and likewise an Altar to Orbona, near the Temple of the Lares: besides another erected to Bad Fortune on the Esquiline. By this it may be conceived that there are a greater Number of Gods in Hea- ven than of Men upon Earth, since every one makes as many Gods as he pleases, fitting himself with Junoes and Genii for his Patrons. There are certain Nations that account Beasts, and even some filthy Things, for Gods ; yea, and many other Matters more shameful to be spoken : swearing by stinking Meats, by Garlic, and such-like. But, surely, to believe that Gods have contracted Marriage, and that in so long a Time no Children should be born to them : also that some are aged, and ever grey-headed : others, again, young and always Children : that they be black of Complexion, winged, lame, hatched of Eggs, living and dying on each alternate Day ; are mere childish Fooleries. But it exceedeth all Im- pudency to imagine Adulteries among them : and presently, also, scolding, and Malice ; and more than that, how there be Gods that are Patrons of Theft and Wickedness. He is a God to a Man that helpeth Him : and this is the true Way to everlasting Glory. In this Way went the Romans in old Time : and in this Track, at this Day, goeth, with heavenly Pace, Vespasian Augustus, with his Children ; the most mighty Ruler of the whole World : relieving the afflicted State of the Empire. And this is the most ancient Manner of Requital to such Benefactors, that they should be enrolled with the Gods. And hereof came the Names as well of all other Gods, as of the Stars (which I have mentioned before), in Recognisance of Men's good Deserts. As for Jupiter and Mercury, and others ranged among the Gods, who doubteth that they were called otherwise among themselves ? and who confesseth not how these be celestial Denominations, to ex- press and interpret their Nature ?

To suppose that the sovereign Power, whatsoever it is, should exercise Care over Mankind, is ridiculous. For can we choose but believe that the Godhead must be polluted

BOOK II.] History of Nature. 37

with so base and manifold a Ministry ? And hardly can it be judged, whether it be better for Mankind to believe that the Gods have Regard of us, or that they have none ; con- sidering that some Men have no Respect and Reverence for the Gods, and others so much that their Superstition is a Shame to them. These are devoted to them by foreign Cere- monies .- they wear their Gods upon their Fingers in Rings, yea, they worship Monsters : they forbid some Meats ; and yet they devise others. They impose upon them hard Charges, riot suffering them to rest and sleep in quiet. They choose neither Marriages, nor Children, nor any one Thing else, but by the Allowance of sacred Rites. Others are so godless, that in the very Capitol they use Deceit, and for- swear themselves even by the Thunder of Jupiter. And as some speed well with their Irreligion, so others suffer from their own holy Ceremonies.

Between these Opinions, Men have found out a Medium of Divine Power, to the End that there should be a still more uncertain Conjecture regarding God. For throughout the whole World, in every Place, at all Times, and in all Men's Mouths, Fortune alone is called upon : she only is named ; she alone is blamed and accused. None but she is thought upon ; she only is praised, she only is rebuked ; yea, and worshipped with railing : and even when she is taken to be mutable : and of the most sort supposed also to be blind : roving, inconstant, uncertain, variable, and favouring the Unworthy : whatever is spent and lost, whatever is gotten : A and in all Men's Accounts she makes up the Book. Even the very Chance of Lots is taken for a God, by which God himself is shewn to be uncertain.

There is another Sort that reject Fortune, but attribute Events to their Stars, and the ascendant of their Nativity : affirming that the same shall ever happen which once hath been decreed by God : so that he for ever after may remain at Rest. And this Opinion now takes deep Root, insomuch as both the learned and the ignorant Multitude agree to it.

1 " Won and gotten," to balance " spent and lost."

38 History of Nature. [BooK II.

From hence proceed the Admonitions of Lightnings, the Foreknowledge by Oracles, the Predictions of Aruspices, yea, and other contemptible Things, as Auguries of Sneezing, and stumbling with the Foot. Divus Augustus Ccesar hath recorded that his left-foot Shoe was untowardly put on be- fore the right, on that very Day when he had like to have suffered in a Mutiny among his Soldiers.

Thus all these Things entangle silly Mortals, so that this only point remaineth certain — that Nothing is certain : nei- ther is there any Thing more wretched and proud than Man. For all living Creatures beside take Care only for their Food : wherein Nature's Goodness of itself is sufficient : which one Point is to be preferred before all good Things whatsoever, inasmuch as they never think of Glory, Riches, Ambition, nor, beyond all the rest, of Death. However, the Belief that in these Matters the Gods have care of Men's Estate, is profitable to the Course of Life : as also that the Punishment of Malefactors will come, though late (whilst God is busily occupied in so huge a Frame of the World), but that it never misseth in the End : and that Man was not made so near in Degree unto God, for this, that he should be almost as base as the brute Beasts. Moreover, the chief Comfort that Man hath, for his Imperfections in Nature, is this, that even God himself cannot do all Things. For nei- ther is He able to work his own Death, if even He desired it, as He hath given to Man as his best Gift when he is weary of the Miseries of his Life ; nor endow Mortals with ever- lasting Life ; nor recall the Dead to Life again ; nor bring to pass that one who lived did not live ; nor he that bore honourable Offices, has not borne them. Nay, He hath no Power over Things past, save only Oblivion : no more than He is able to effect (to come with Arguments to prove our Fellowship therein with God) that twice ten should not make twenty : and many similar Things. Whereby is evidently proved the Power of Nature, and how it is she only which we call God. I thought it not impertinent thus to digress to these Points, by Reason of ordinary Questions regarding the Essence of God.

BOOK II.] History of Nature. 39

CHAPTER VIII. Of the Nature of Planets, and their Circuit.

LET us return now to the Rest of Nature's Works. The Stars, which we said were fixed in the World, are not (as the common Sort thinketh) assigned to every one of us ; namely, the bright for the rich ; the less for the poor : the dim for the weak and feeble : neither shine they out more or less, according to the Fortune of every one, nor arise they each one together with that Person unto whom they are appro- priated ; and die likewise with the same : nor yet as they set and fall, do they signify that any Body is dead. There is not so great a Society between Heaven and us, that, together with the Necessity of our Death, the Light of the Stars should fade. When they are thought to fall, they do but shoot from them a Quantity of Fire out of that Abundance of Nutriment which they have gotten by the Attraction of Moisture unto them : like as we also observe in lighted Lamps with the Liquor of Oil1. The celestial Bodies, which frame the World, and are compact together, have an im- mortal Nature : and their Power extendeth much to the Earth : which by their Operations, Light and Greatness, might be known, though they are so subtle ; as we shall in due Place make Demonstration. The Mariner likewise of the heavenly Circles shall be shewn more fitly in our "Geogra- phical Treatise of the Earth ;" forasmuch as the Consideration thereof appertaineth wholly thereunto : only we will not put off the Devisers of the Zodiac, wherein the Signs are placed.

The Obliquity of this, Anaximander the Milesian is reported to have observed first, and thereby opened the Pas- sage to Astronomy, and the Knowledge of these Things : and this happened in the fifty-eighth Olympiad. Afterwards Cleostratus marked the Signs therein ; and those first of Aries and Sagittarius. As for the Sphere itself, Atlas devised it long before. For the present we will leave the Body of

1 See note 2, p. 63.

40 History of Nature. [BooK II.

the starry Heaven, and treat of all the rest between it and the Earth.

The Planet which they call Saturn* is the highest, and therefore seemeth to be least : also he performeth his Revo- lution in the greatest Circle of all : and it is certain, that in thirty Years' Space he retnrneth again to the Point of his first Place. Moreover, the Motion of all the Planets, and also of the Sun and Moon, go a contrary Course to that of the starry Heaven ; namely, to the left hand [i. e. eastward] ; whereas the said Sky itself always hasteneth to the right [i. e. westward]. And whereas in that continual turning with exceeding Celerity, those Planets be lifted up aloft, and hurried by it into the West, and there set : yet by a contrary Motion of their own, they pass every one through their several Ways eastward ; and this because that the Air, roll- ing ever one Way> and to the same Part, by the continual turning of the Heaven, should not grow stagnant whilst the Globe thereof resteth idle ; but should be minutely divided by the violent adverse Action of these Stars. The Planet Saturn is of a cold and frozen Nature, but the Circle of Jupiter is much lower than it, and therefore his Revo- lution is performed with a more speedy Motion, in twelve Years. The third, of Mars, which some call Hercules, is fiery and ardent, by Reason of the Sun's Vicinity, and run- neth his Race in about two Years. And it is by the exceed- ing Heat of Mars, and the Cold of Saturn, that Jupiter, who is placed betwixt, is well tempered of them both, and so be- cometh salutary. Next to them is the Course of the Sun, consisting of 360 Parts [or Degrees] : but that the Observa- tion of the Shadows which he casteth may return again to their former Marks, five Days be added to every Year, with the fourth Part of a Day over and above. Whereupon, in every fifth Year one odd Day is added to the Rest ; to the End that the Reckoning of the Seasons may agree with the

1 The planets since discovered — two of them, Herschel, or Uranus, and the new, and as yet unnamed, star, still more remote than it, and the others exceedingly small — must have been beyond the reach of ancient observation, from ignorance of the telescope.— Wern. Club.

BOOK II.] History of Nature. 41

Course of the Sun. Beneath the Sun there is a large Star called Venus, which wandereth this Way and that, by turns ; and by her Names testifieth her Emulation of the Sun and Moon. For while she anticipateth the Morning, and riseth Orientally, she taketh the Name of Lucifer, as a second Sun hastening the Day. Contrariwise, when she shineth from the West, lengthening the Daylight, and supplying the Place of the Moon, she is named Vesper. This Nature of hers, Pythagoras of Samos first found out, about the 42nd Olympiad ; which was the 142nd Year after the Foundation of Rome. Now this Planet, in Greatness, exceedeth all the other Stars : and so shining also, that the Beams of this Star only cast Shadows upon the Earth. And hereupon cometh such great Diversity of the Names thereof; for some have called it Juno, others Isis, and others the Mother of the Gods. By the natural Efficacy of this Star all Things are generated on Earth. For whether she rise in the East or West, she sprinkleth all the Earth with prolific Dew, and not only filleth the same with Seed, but stirreth up to in- crease the Nature of all living Creatures. This Planet goeth through the Circle of the Zodiac in 348 Days, departing from the Sun never above 46 Degrees, as Timceus was of Opinion. Next unto it, but Nothing of that Bigness and Power, is the Star Mercury, of some called Apollo : carried along in an inferior Circle, after the like Manner, but in a swifter Course by nine Days ; shining sometimes before the Sun rising, at others after his setting, never farther distant from him than 23 Degrees, as both the same Timceus and Sosigenes teach. And therefore these two Planets have a peculiar Consideration from others, and not common with the rest above-named. For those are seen from the Sun a fourth, yea, and third Part of the Sky : oftentimes also in Opposition against the Sun. And all of them have other greater Circuits of full Revolution, which are to be spoken in of the Discourse of the great Year1.

1 The enumeration of the planets here given is on the Ptolemaic sys- tem of astronomy, which supposes the earth to be fixed in the centre of

42 .History of Nature. [BooK II.

CHAPTER IX. Of the Moons Nature.

BUT the Moon, being the last of all, most familiar with the Earth, and devised by Nature for the Remedy of Dark- ness, exceedeth the Admiration of all the rest. She with her changing in many Shapes, hath troubled much the Minds of Beholders, angry because that of this Star, the nearest of all, they should be the most ignorant; growing as it doth, or else wasting continually. One while she bended into Horns ; another while divided in the half, and again moulded into a rounded Figure : spotted sometime, arid soon after, on a sudden, exceeding bright : one while large and full, and sud- denly nothing to be seen. Sometime shining all Night long, and at others late ere she riseth ; she also helpeth the Sun's Light some Part of the Day; eclipsed, and yet visible in that Eclipse. The same at the Month's End lieth hidden, at which Time (it is supposed) she laboureth not. At one Time she is below, and presently aloft : and that not after one Manner, but one while reaching up to the highest Hea- ven, and another while close to the Mountains ; now mounted to the North, and again brought down to the South. Which several Motions in her, the first Man that observed was Endymion : and hence sprung the Report that he was ena- moured of the Moon. We are not thankful, as we ought to be, to those who by their Labour and Care have given us Light in this Light ; but we are delighted rather (such is the wicked Disposition of Man) to record in Chronicles, Blood- shed and Murders: that Men's mischievous Deeds should be known, while we are ignorant of the World itself. The Moon being next to the Centre, and therefore of least Com- pass, performeth the same Course in seven-and-twenty Days, and one-third Part of a Day : which Saturn, the highest Planet, runneth (as we said before) in thirty Years. After

their orbits ; and which, in ancient times, was commonly received without dispute.— Wern. Club.

BOOK 1 1 .] History of Nature. 43

this, remaining in conjunction with the Sun two Days, forth she goeth, and by the thirtieth Day, at the most, returneth to the same Point again : the Mistress, if I may so say, and the Teacher of all Things that may be known in the Sky. By her means are we taught that the Year ought to be divided into twelve Months : forasmuch as the Moon over- taketh the Sun so many Times before he returneth to the Point where he began his Course. Likewise that she loseth her Light (as the Rest of the Planets) by the Brightness of the Sun when she approacheth near. For she shineth by bor- rowing of him her Light, much like to that which we see in the Reflexion of the Sunbeams from the Water. And here- upon it is that she, by her more mild and imperfect Power dissolveth, and also increaseth, so much Moisture ;x which the Sunbeams may consume. Hence it cometh also, that her Light is not equal in Sight, because it is only when she is opposite to the Sun that she appeareth full : but in all other days she sheweth no more to the Earth than she con- ceiveth from the Sun. In Time of Conjunction, she is not seen at all : for that whilst she is turned away, all the Draught of Light she casteth back again from whence she received it. That these Stars are fed with earthly Moisture, is evident by the Moon ; which, so long as she appeareth by the Half, never sheweth any Spots, because as yet she hath not her full Power of Light sufficient to draw Humour unto her. For these Spots be nothing else but the Dregs of the Earth, caught up with other Moisture among the Vapours.2

1 Lucretius supposes that all animals, and all the stars, are fed by exhalations from earth and air. Lucian also expresses the same idea. And as Pliny was of an adverse sect to the Epicureans, and consequently did not derive it from them, we may suppose the opinion to have been gene- rally received. See the beginning of chapter Ixviii. — Wern. Club.

2 The reader will, of course, accept of these remarks and explanations, as well of the moon as of the other planets, as descriptive of the condition of the astronomical philosophy of the day ; which it is, at least, amusing to compare with the results of modern observation. — Wern. Club.

44 History of Nature. [BooK II.

CHAPTER X. Of Eclipses of the Sun and Moon : and of the Night1.

THE Eclipse of the Moon and Sun is a Thing throughout the universal Contemplation of Nature most marvellous, and resembling a Prodigy, and shews the Magnitude and Shadow of these two Planets. For it is evident that the Sun is hidden by the Intervention of the Moon ; and the Moon again by the Opposition of the Earth : as also that the one doth equal the other, in that the Moon, by her Interposition, bereaveth

1 The opinions of the ancients on the subject of Eclipses were two- fold:— that of the vulgar was built on the supposition that certain sorce- rers, working by magic art, were able to draw this planet from her orbit, even to the earth, to accomplish their nefarious purposes in inflicting injury on particular persons or on communities. They were supposed to have a further object in view, by compelling her to deposit on some appropriate herbs a foam that was useful in magic arts : as we learn from Apuleius and Lucan. Horace represents his witch Canidia as thus en- gaged, in his 5th and 17th Epodes. Under these circumstances the moon was supposed to labour in agony ; and the method taken to relieve her throes, and prevent her total extinction, was by making such a clamour that the verse or influence might not ascend to her sphere ; and by not hearing, her dread might be relieved. Livy speaks of this clamour as an ordinary occurrence (lib. xxvi.) ; but it does not seem to have been an official proceeding. Another opinion was founded on the doctrines of Divinity, and therefore formed a portion of the religion of the state : the phenomena being regularly observed, reported, and registered by consti- tuted officers. According to this idea, every unusual appearance in the sky was a portent of some coming event — usually of an awful nature — and which it became the priesthood to avert, by those processions, sacri- fices, and supplications, that were appointed in the sacred books, as appro- priate to each appearance. It was no small effort of courage, as well as skill, in the philosophers whose names are given by Pliny, to venture to inquire into the nature and causes of phenomena which must have appeared inscrutable to one portion of the public, and too sacred to be meddled with to the other. The operation of both opinions appears in the narrative that Plutarch gives of the proceedings of Paulus Emilius, preparatory to the battle with the Macedonians, where, while the aid of the philosopher, Sulpitius Gallus, was used to remove their fears, his own office of augur was not neglected to work on their superstitious confidence.— Wern. Club.

BOOK II.] History of Nature. 45

the Earth of the Sun's Rays, and the Earth again doth the like by the Moon. Neither is the Night any Thing else but the Shade of the Earth. The Figure of this Shadow resem- bleth a Pyramid pointed forward, or a Top turned upside down : namely, when it falleth upon it with its sharp End, and goeth not beyond the Heights of the Moon ; for no other Star is in that Manner darkened : and such a Figure as this always endeth in a Point. And that Shadows grow to No- thing in a great Distance, appeareth by the exceeding high Flight of some Birds. So the Confines of these Shadows is the utmost Bound of the Air, and the Beginning of Mther. Above the Moon all is pure and lightsome continually. And we in the Night see the Stars as other Lights from out of Darkness. For these Causes also the Moon is eclipsed only in the Night. But the Reason why the Sun and Moon are not both in the Eclipse at set Times and Monthly, is the Obliquity of the Zodiac, and the wandering Turnings of the Moon (as hath been said): and because these Planets do not always in their Motion meet just in the Points of the ecliptic Line, that is, in the Head or Tail of the Dragon.

CHAPTER XI. Of the Magnitude of Stars.

IT is this Reason that lifteth up Men's Minds into Hea- ven : and as if they looked down from thence, discovereth unto them the Magnitude of the three greatest Parts of Nature. For the Sun's Light could not wholly be taken away from the Earth, by the Moon coming between, if the Earth were bigger than the Moon. But the Immensity of the Sun is more certainly known, both by the Shadow of the Earth and the Body of the Moon : so that it is needless to inquire into the Magnitude thereof, either by the Proof of Eyesight, or by Conjecture of the Mind. How immea- surable it is, appeareth by this, that Trees which are planted in Limits from East to West, cast Shadows equal in Propor- tion ; although they are many Miles asunder in Length : as if the Sun were in the Midst of them all. This appeareth

46 History of Nature. [BooK II.

also at the Time of the Equinox in all Regions of the same Meridian, when the Sun shineth directly over Men's Heads, and causeth no Shadow. In like Manner, the Shadows of them that dwell northerly under the solstitial Circle, fall all at Noontide, northward, but at Sunrising, westward ; which could not be possible unless the Sun were far greater than the Earth. Moreover, when he riseth, he surpasseth in breadth the Mountain Ida, encompassing the same at large both on the right Hand and the left, which only is from being so far distant. The Eclipse of the Moon sheweth also the Magnitude of the Sun, by an infallible Demon- stration ; as his own Eclipse declareth the Littleness of the Earth. For as there are of Shadows three Forms, and it is evident, that if the dark material Body which casteth a Sha- dow be equal in Bigness to the Light, then the Shadow is fashioned like a Pillar, and hath no Point at the End : if it be greater, it yieldeth a Shadow like a Top standing upon the Point, so as the lower Part thereof is narrowest, and then the Shadow likewise is of infinite length : but if the Body be less than the Light, then is represented a pyramidal Figure, falling out sharp-pointed in the Top ; which Manner of Shadow appeareth in the Moon's Eclipse : it is, without doubt, therefore, that the Sun is much larger than the Earth, as the same is seen by the silent Proofs of Nature itself. For why, in dividing the Times of the Year, departeth the Sun from us in the Winter? even because by means of the Night's length he may refresh the Earth, which otherwise he would have burnt up : for, notwithstanding this, he burneth it in some measure, from his excessive Greatness.

CHAPTER XII.

The Inventions of Men in the Observation of the Heavens.

THE first Roman that published the true Reason of both Eclipses was Sulpitius Gallus, who afterwards was Consul with M. Marcellus: but at that Time being a Tribune, the Day preceding that on which King Perseus was vanquished by Paulus, he was brought by the General into open Audi-

BOOK II.] History of Nature. 47

ence before the whole Army, to foretel the Eclipse which was about to happen : whereby he delivered the Army from Anxiety; and presently after he compiled a Book of the same. But among the Greeks, Thales Milesius1 was the first that investigated it ; who, in the fourth Year of the 48th Olympiad did foreshew the Sun's Eclipse that happened in the Reign of Halyattes, and in the 170th Year after the Foundation of the City of Rome. After them, Hipparchus compiled his " Ephemerides," containing the Course and Aspects of both these Planets, for six hundred Years en- suing : comprehending also the Months according to the Reckonings of sundry Nations, the Days, the Hours, the Situation of Places, the Aspects, and Latitudes of divers Towns and Countries ; as the World will bear him witness : and that no less assuredly, than if he had been privy to Nature's Counsels. Great Persons and excellent these were, doubtless, who, above the Reach of the Capacity of mortal Men, found out the Reason of the Course of such mighty Stars and divine Powers : and whereas the Mind of Men was before at a Loss, fearing in these Eclipses of the Stars some great Violence, or the Death of the Planets, they secured them in that behalf : in which dreadful Fear stood Stesickorus and Pindarus the Poets (notwithstanding their lofty Style), and particularly at the Eclipse of the Sun, as will appear by their Poems. As for the Moon, Mortals imagine that at that Time by Charms she is enchanted, and therefore help her by dissonant ringing of Basins. In this Terror, Nicias, the General of the Athenians (as a Man igno- rant of the Cause), feared to set sail with his Fleet out of

1 The minuteness of observation displayed by these illustrious philo- sophers, from whom Pliny has borrowed his materials, appears to imply the existence of instruments of no small accuracy, though we have no account of their possessing such. Of the telescope, we have evidence that they were ignorant.

As the account given by Pliny of ancient astronomy will be read chiefly for its curiosity, we have no need to do more than refer to modern treatises on the subject for correction of what is mistaken. — Wem. Club.

48 History of Nature. [Boo* II.

the Harbour, and thus greatly distressed the State of his Country. Be ye prosperous, then, for your excellency, O noble Interpreters of the Heavens ! capable of Nature's Works, and the Devisers of that Reason whereby ye have subdued both Gods and Men. For who is he that, seeing these Things, and the ordinary Labours (since that this Term is now taken up) of the Stars, would not bear with his own Infirmity, and excuse this Necessity of being born to die ? Now, for this present, I will briefly and summarily touch those principal Points which are acknowledged concerning the said Eclipses, having lightly rendered a Reason thereof in the proper Places : for neither doth such proving and argu- ing of these Matters belong properly to our purposed Work ; neither is it less Wonder to be able to yield the Reasons and Causes of all Things than to be constant in some.

CHAPTER XIII. Of Eclipses.

IT is certain, that all Eclipses in 222 Months have their Revolutions, and return to their former Points : as also that the Sun's Eclipse never happeneth but either in the last of the old, or first of the new, Moon ; which they call the Con- junction : and that the Moon is never eclipsed but in the full, and always somewhat anticipateth the former Eclipse. Moreover, that every Year both Planets are eclipsed at cer- tain Days and Hours under the Earth. Neither be these Eclipses seen in all Places when they are above the Earth, by Reason sometimes of cloudy Weather, but more often, for that the Globe of the Earth hindereth the Sight of the Con- vexity of the Heaven. Within these two hundred Years it was found out by the Sagacity of Hipparchus, that the Moon sometime was eclipsed twice in five Months' Space, and the Sun likewise in seven. Also that the Sun and Moon twice in thirty Days were darkened above the Earth : though this was not seen equally in all Quarters, but by Men in divers Places : and that which is most surprising in this Wonder, is, that when it is agreed that the Moon's Light is dimmed

BOOK II.] History of Nature. 49

by the Shadow of the Earth, at one Time this Eclipse hap- peneth in the West, and at another in the East : as also, by what Reason it happeneth, that seeing after the Sun is up, that Shadow which hideth the Light of the Moon must needs be under the Earth : it fell out once, that the Moon was eclipsed in the West, and both Planets were seen at once above the Ground. For that in twelve Days both these Lights were missing, and neither Sun nor Moon were seen : it happened in our Time, when both the Vespasians (Emperors) were Consuls, the Father the third Time, and the Son the second.

CHAPTER XIV. Of the Moons Motion.

IT is clear that the Moon, always in her increasing, hath her Horns turned from the Sun toward the East : but in her decrease, contrariwise westward ; and also that she shineth (the first Day of her Appearance) three quarters and the twenty-fourth Part of one Hour, and so riseth in Proportion the second Day forward unto the full : likewise decreasing in the same Manner to the Change. She is also always hidden in the Change within fourteen Degrees of the Sun. By which Argument we collect, that the Magnitude of the other Planets is greater than that of the Moon, because they ap- pear when they be but seven Degrees off. But the Cause why they shew less, is their Altitude : like the fixed Stars, which by Reason of the Sun's Brightness are not seen in the Daytime : whereas, indeed, they shine as well by Day as Night: and that is manifestly proved by Eclipses of the Sun, and by exceeding deep Pits1, for so they are to be seen by Daylight.

1 In the absence or imperfection of optical instruments, this expedient was necessarily resorted to, for the purpose here stated ; but the improve- ment of the telescope has superseded this contrivance. There was for- merly, at the Royal Observatory at Greenwich, a well of this kind, a hundred feet in depth, with a winding staircase of stone leading to the bottom ; it is now arched over. — Wern. Club.

D

50 History of Nature. [Boox II.

CHAPTER XV.

General Rules concerning the Motions and Lights of other

Planets.

THOSE three Planets which we say are above the Sun, are hidden when they go their Course with him. They rise in the Morning, and never depart farther than eleven De- grees. Afterwards meeting with his Rays, they are covered : and in their triple Aspect retrograde, they make their Morn- ing Stations 120 Degrees off, which are called the first : and by and by, in a contrary Aspect, 180 Degrees off, they rise in the Evening, and appear as Evening Stars. In like Sort approaching from another Side within 120 Degrees, they make their evening Station, which also they call the second, until he overtake them within twelve Degrees ; and so hide them : and these are called the Evening Settings. The Planet Mars, as he is nearer to the Sun, feeleth the Sun- beams by a quadrant Aspect, from ninety Degrees : where- upon that Motion took the Name called the first and second Nonagenary, from both Risings. The same Planet keepeth this stationary Residence six Months in the Signs : whereas otherwise, of his own Nature, he would do it but two Months. But the other Planets in both Stations continue not four Months each. The other two inferior Planets are hidden after the same Manner in the evening Conjunction : and leaving the Sun in as many Degrees, they make their morn- ing Rising : and from the farthest Bounds of their Distance, they follow after the Sun : and after they have once over- taken him, they set again in the Morning, and so outgo him. And by and by keeping the same Distance, in the Evening they rise again unto the same Limits which we named before, from whence they return to the Sun, and by the evening Setting they be hidden. The Star Venus like- wise maketh two Stations, according to the two Manners of her Appearance, Morning and Evening, when she is in far- thest Bounds of her Distance. But Mercury keepeth his Stations so small awhile, that they cannot be observed. This

BOOK II.] History of Nature. 5 1

is the Order, as well of the Appearances of the Planets as of their Occultations and their mere Motion, enfolded within many strange Wonders. For they change their Magnitudes and Colours, and sometimes they approach to the North, sometimes they go back toward the South, and, all on a sud- den, they appear one while nearer to the Earth, and another while to the Heaven : wherein, if we shall deliver many Points otherwise than former Writers, yet we confess, that for these Matters we are beholden unto them, who first made Demonstration of seeking out the Ways thereto : and there- fore let no Man despair of profiting and going forward in Knowledge from Age to Age. For, these strange Motions fall out upon many Causes. The first is by Reason of those Circles in the Stars, which the Greeks call Absides : for we are compelled to use the Greek Terms. Each one of the Planets hath a particular Circle by itself, and these different from those of the starry Heaven : because the Earth from those two Points which they call Poles, is the Centre of the Heaven, as also of the Zodiac, situated obliquely between them. All which Things are certainly known to be so be- yond Question by the Compass. And therefore from every Centre there arise their own Absides, and so they have diverse Circuits and different Motions, because of necessity the interior Absides must be shorter.

CHAPTER XVI.

Why the same Planets seem sometimes higher, and sometimes

lower.

THE highest Absides, therefore, from the Centre of the Earth are of Saturn, in the Sign Scorpio : of Jupiter in Virgo : of Mars in Leo : of the Sun in Gemini : of Venus in Sagittarius: of Mercury in Capricorn: and in the Middle of the said Signs : and contrariwise the said Planets in the same Degrees of the opposite Signs are lowest and nearest to the Centre of the Earth. So it happeneth that they seem to move more slowly when they go their highest Circuit : not for that natural Motions do either hasten or slacken, which

52 History of Nature. [Boon. ii.

be certain and several to every one, but because the Lines which are drawn from the Top of the Absis must needs approach each other about the Centre, as the Spokes in Wheels : and the same Motion, by Reason of the Nearness of the Centre, seemeth in one Place greater, in another less. The other Cause of their Sublimities is, for that in other Signs they have the Absides elevated highest from the Centre of their own eccentric Circles. Thus Saturn is in the greatest Height in the 20th Degree of Libra, Jupiter in the 15th of Cancer, Mars in the 28th of Capricorn, the Sun in the 29th of Aries, Venus in the 1 6th of Pisces, Mercury in the 15th of Virgo, and the Moon in the 4th of Taurus. The third Reason of their Altitude is not taken from their Circles, but understood by the Convexity of the Sky, for that these Planets seem to the Eye, as they rise and fall, to mount up or settle downward through the air. To this is united an- other Cause also, which is, the Zodiac Obliquity and Latitude of the Planets, in Regard of the Ecliptic : for through it the Stars which we called wandering do take their Course. Neither is there any Place inhabited upon Earth, but that which lieth under it. For all the Rest without the Poles are desert. Only the Planet Venus goeth beyond the Circle of the Zodiac, two Degrees : which is supposed to be the effi- cient Cause, that certain living Creatures are bred even in the desert Parts of the World. The Moon likewise rangeth throughout all the Breadth of it, but never goeth out of it. Next after these the Star Mercury hath the largest Scope in the Zodiac, but yet so, as of twelve Degrees (for that is the Breadth thereof) he wandereth but eight, and those not equally, but two in the midst, four above, and two beneath. Then the Sun in the midst, goeth always between the two Extremities of the Zodiac ; but in his declining Course he seemeth to wind unequally, after the Manner of Serpents. Mars leaveth the ecliptic Line four half Degrees, Jupiter two Degrees and a half, Saturn two, like as the Sun. Thus you see the Manner of the Latitudes, as they descend south- ward, or ascend northward. And upon this is the Reason grounded of the third Opinion of them, who imagine that

BOOK II.] History of Nature. 53

the Planets do rise and mount from the Earth upward into Heaven. For very many have thought, although untruly, that they climb in this Manner. But to the End that they may be confuted, we must lay open an immense Subtlety, which containeth all those Causes and Reasons abovesaid. First, therefore, this is admitted, that these Stars in their Evening Setting are nearest to the Earth, both in Latitude and Altitude : and when they be farthest from the Earth, as well in Latitude as Elevation, they appear in the Morning before the Sun : as also that then they are Stationaries in the middle Points of the Latitudes, which they call Ecliptics. Likewise it is acknowledged, that so long as the Planets are near to the Earth, their Motion increaseth : and as they de- part on hi«:h it decreaseth. And this Reason is confirmed principally by the Elevations of the Moon. And it is beyond a Doubt, that every Planet in its Morning Rising riseth every Day higher than the former. The superior three above the Sun diminish from their first Stations unto the second. Which being so, it will plainly appear, that every Planet rising before the Sun ascendeth to the Latitudes : so that from the Time they begin, their Motion increaseth by little and little more sparely. But in the first Stations, they are at the highest Altitude : for then first the Numbers begin to be withdrawn, and the Planets to go backward ; whereof a particular Reason may be given in this Manner : the Planets being smitten in that Part whereof we spoke, they are both restrained by the triangular Beams or trine Aspect of the Sun, to hold on a direct Course, and are raised up aloft by the fiery Power of the said Sun. This cannot im- mediately be understood by our Eyesight : and so they are supposed to stand, and hence the Name of Stations is de- rived. Then proceedeth forward the Violence of the Sun's Beams, and the Vapour thereof, by Repercussion, forceth them to go backward. And much more is this perceived in their Evening Rising, when the Sun is wholly against them, and they be driven to the very Top of their Absides, and so not seen at all, because they are at the highest, and are carried on by their least Motion, which is so much the

54 History of Nature. [ BOOK II.

less, when it happeneth in the highest Signs of their Absides. From the evening Rising the Latitude descendeth, for now the Motion less diminisheth, but yet increaseth not before the second Stations : because they are forced to descend by Rea- son of the Sunbeams coming from the other Side ; and the same Force beareth them downward to the Earth, which by the former triangular Aspect raised them aloft toward Hea- ven. Of so much Importance is it whether these Beams come from beneath or above. The same happeneth much more in the Evening Setting. This is an Explanation of the Motions of the superior Planets; but the Theory of the rest is more difficult, and hath by no Man before us been delivered.

CHAPTER XVII.

General Rules concerning the Planets.

FIRST, therefore, let us set down the Cause why Venus never departeth from the Sun more than forty-six Degrees, and Mercury not above twenty-three : and why oftentimes they retire back unto the Sun within that Space. To be resolved in this Point, we must remark, that both of them have their Absides turned opposite to the rest, as being seated under the Sun : and so much of their Circles is under- neath, as the forenamed were above ; and therefore farther off they cannot be, because the Curvature of their Absides in that Place hath no greater Longitude. Therefore both Margins of their Absides, by a like Proportion, keep Mean, and their Course is limited : but the short Spaces of their Longitudes they compensate by the wandering of their Lati- tudes. But what is the Reason that they reach not always to forty-six Degrees, and to twenty-three? They do so truly: but here the Explanation fails. For it is apparent, that their Absides also move, because they never overpass the Sun. And therefore when their Margins from either Side are per- ceived to fall upon the very Point, then the Planets also are understood to reach unto their longest Distances : but when their Margins be short so many Degrees, the Stars them- selves are thought to return more speedily in their Retro-

BOOK II.] History of Nature. 55

gradation than in their direct Course forward, though their utmost Extremity is ever the same. And from hence is the Reason understood of the contrary Motions of these two Planets. For the superior Planets move most swiftly in the Evening Setting, but these most slowly. They be highest above the Earth, when they move slowest ; and these, when they go swiftest : for as in the former the Nearness of the Centre hasteneth them, so, in these, the Extremity of the Circle : they, from their Morning Rising, begin to slacken their Celerity ; but these to increase it : they return back from their Morning Station to their Evening Mansion ; but Venus, contrariwise, is retrograde from the Evening Station to that of the Morning. But, she from the Morning Rising beginneth to climb the Latitude : but to follow the Altitude and the Sun from the Morning Station : as being most swift and at the highest in the Morning Setting. Moreover she beginneth to digress in Latitude, and to diminish her Motion, from the Morning Rising : but to be retrograde, and to digress in Altitude, from the Evening Station. Again, the Planet Mercury rising in the Morning, beginneth both Ways to climb, but to digress in Latitude from the Evening Rising : and when the Sun hath overtaken him within the Distance of fifteen Degrees, he standeth still for four Days almost immovable. Presently, he descendeth from his Altitude, and goeth back from the Evening Setting to that of the Morning. This Star only, and the Moon, descend in as many Days as they ascend. But Venus ascendeth up to her Station in fifteen Days and a little more. Again, Saturn and Jupiter are twice as long descending, and Mars four Times. So great Variety is in their Nature, but the Reason thereof is evident. For they which go against the Vapour of the Sun do also descend with Difficulty. Many Secrets more of Nature, and Laws whereunto she is obedient, might be shewn about these Things. As, for Example: the Planet Mars, whose Course, of all others, can be least observed, never maketh Station but in quadrate Aspect : and Jupiter, in triangular Aspect ; and very seldom separated from the Sun sixty Degrees, which Number maketh six angled Forms of

56 History of Nature. [BooK II.

the Heaven (that is, it is the sixth Part of the Heaven) : neither doth Jupiter shew his rising in any, save only two Signs, Cancer and Leo. The Planet Mercury seldom hath his Evening Rising in Pisces, but very often in Virgo ; and the Morning Rising in Libra. In like Manner, the Morning Rising is in Aquarius, but very seldom in Leo. Neither becometh he retrograde in Taurus and Gemini : and in Cancer, not under the twenty-fifth Degree. As for the Moon, she entereth not twice in Conjunction with the Sun in any other Sign but Gemini : and sometime hath no Con- junction at all, and that only in Sagittarius. As for the last and first of the Moon, to be seen in the same Day or Night, happeneth in no other Sign but in Aries, and few Men have had the Chance to see it. And hereupon came Linceus to be so famous for his Eyesight. Also, the Planets Saturn and Mars appear not in the Heaven at the most 170 Days: Jupiter 36, or at least ten Days wanting : Venus 69, or when least, 52 : Mercury 13, or at least, 17.

CHAPTER XVIII. What is the Cause that the Planets alter their Colours ?

THE Reason of the Planet's Altitudes is it that tetnpereth their Colours, for they take the Likeness of the Air, into which they enter ; and the Circle of another Planet's Motion coloureth them as they approach either Way, ascending or descending. The colder setteth a pale Colour, the hotter a red, and the windy a fearful Hue. Only the Points and Conjunctions of iheAbsides, and the utmost Circumferences, shew a dark black. Each Planet hath a several Colour; Saturn is white, Jupiter clear and bright, Mars a fiery red, Venus glowing, when Lucifer; when Occidental, or Vesper, resplendent ; Mercury sparkling, the Moon pleasant, the Sun when he riseth, burning, afterwards radiating1. Upon

1 Many of the colours here mentioned are only optical deceptions, but that of the planet Mars must proceed from something inherent in the planet itself, or the atmosphere by which it is surrounded ; for while

BOOK II.] History of Nature. 57

these Causes the Sight is entangled, and discovereth those Stars also which are fixed in the Sky. For one while a Number of them appear about the Half-moon, when in a clear and calm Night she gently beautlfieth them ; and at another they are seen but here and there, insomuch that we may wonder how they are fled upon the full Moon, which hideth them ; or when the Beams either of the Sun or other abovesaid have dazzled our Sight. Yea, the Moon herself perceiveth the Sun's Beams, as they come upon her : for those Rays that come sidelong, according to the Convexity of the Sky, give but an obscure Light to the Moon, in Com- parison of them that fall directly with straight Angles. And, therefore, in the quadrangular Aspect of the Sun she ap- peareth divided in Half; in the triangular she is well near environed, but her Circle is half empty ; but in Opposition she appeareth full. And again, as she is in the Wane, she representeth the same Forms, decreasing by Quarters as she increased : with like Aspects as the other three Planets above the Sun.

CHAPTER XIX.

The Reason of the Suns Motion, and the Inequality of Days.

THE Sun himself hath four Differences in his Course : twice in the Year, in Spring and Autumn, making the Night equal to the Day ; for then he falleth on the Centre of the Earth, in the eighth Degree of Aries and Libra. Twice likewise he exchangeth the Compass of his Race : to lengthen the Day from the Bruma, or Midwinter, in the eighth De- gree of Capricorn; and again to lengthen the Night from the summer Solstice, being in as many Degrees of Cancer. The Cause of unequal Days is the Obliquity of the Zodiac: when the one Half of the World is at all Times above and under the Earth. But (hose Signs which mount upright in their

it reflects to us a red tinge, the light it obtains from the sun is the same with that which comes to us from the sun, and in which the prismatic rays produce a colourless mixture.— Wern. Club.

58 History of Nature. [BooK II.

Rising, hold Light in a longer Tract, and make the Days longer: whereas they which arise obliquely pass away in shorter Time.

CHAPTER XX.

Why Lightnings are attributed to Jupiter.

MOST Men are ignorant of that Secret which, by great Study of the Heavens, Men of deep Learning have found out : namely, that it is the Fires of the three uppermost Planets, which, falling to the Earth, carry the Name of Lightnings ; but those especially which are seated in the midst, because participating in the excessive Cold and Mois- ture from the upper Circle, and the immoderate Heat from the lower, by this Means he dischargeth the Superfluity : and hereupon it is commonly said, that Jupiter darteth Lightnings1. Therefore, as out of burning Wood a Coal of Fire flieth forth with a Crack, so from a Star is spit out this celestial Fire, carrying with it Presages of future Things : so that it sheweth Divine Operations, even in these Portions which are cast away as superfluous. And this most com- monly happeneth when the Air is troubled; either because the collected Moisture stirreth that Abundance to fall ; or because it is disquieted, as it were, with a Birth from a pregnant Star.

1 Much of the religious system of the ancients was founded on the persuasion that every appearance of lightning and thunder, as well as other aerial phenomena, were direct manifestations of Divine interposition in the affairs of men ; and a college of officers (augurs) was appointed to observe, record, report, and explain such appearances, for the guidance of the state in its most important proceedings. From a slight expression of Pliny in the course of this chapter, it appears that he hesitated to deny this popular idea in a direct manner : in apprehension, perhaps, of laying himself open to the charge of infidelity. But by implication, he expresses his disbelief of what was so generally credited; for the ascribing to the natural effect of Jupiter as a planet, what was believed by the priests and the state to be a voluntary action of Jupiter, the supreme deity, can be regarded as little better than a subterfuge. For a natural explanation of thunder and lightning, such as it is, the reader is referred to chapter xliii. of this book ; and for other curious particulars, to the chapters l.-lv. — Wern. Club.

BOOK II.] History of Nature. 59

CHAPTER XXI. The Distances of the Planets.

MANY have endeavoured to find out the Distance and Elevation of the Planets from the Earth, and have set down in Writing, that the Sun is distant from the Moon eighteen Degrees, as the Moon is also from the Earth. But Pytha- goras, a Man of much Sagacity, hath collected, that there are 126,000 Stadia1 from the Earth to the Moon, and a double Distance from her to the Sun, and from thence to the twelve Signs three Times so much. Of which Opinion was also our countryman, Gallus Sulpitius.

CHAPTER XXII. Of the Music of the Planets.

BUT Pythagoras at the same Time uses the Terms of Music, by calling the Space between the Earth and the Moon a Tone ; saying, that from her to Mercury is Half a Tone : and from him to Venus about the same Space. But from her to the Sun so much and a Half more : but from the Sun to Mars a Tone, that is to say, as much as from the Earth to the Moon. From him to Jupiter Haifa Tone: likewise from him to Saturn Half a Tone : and so from thence to the Zodiac so much and a Half more. Thus are composed seven Tunes, which Harmony they call Diapason; that is to say, the Universality of Consent. In this, Saturn rnoveth by the Doric Tune ; Mercury by Phthongus, Jupiter by the Phrygian, and the Rest likewise : a Subtlety more pleasant than needful2.

1 The Stadium differed in different countries ; but the standard may be fixed at a furlong ; as may be seen in chapter xxiii. One hundred and twenty-five paces make a stadium. In the larger numbers, therefore, it has been sometimes judged best to translate the equivalent expressions into miles. — Wern. Club.

2 Ideas of the harmony of creation seem to have entered deeply into the opinions of Pythagoras, on the system of creation, and especially on

60

History of Nature.

[BooK II.

CHAPTER XXIII. The Geometry of the World.

A STADIUM maketh of our Paces 125, that is to say, 625 Feet. Posidonius saith, that from the Earth it is no less than forty Stadia to that Height wherein thick Weather, Winds, and Clouds are formed. Above this, the Air is pure, clear, and light, without any troubled Darkness. But from the cloudy Region to the Moon is 2,000,000 Stadia : from thence to the Sun, 5000. By means of which Interval it cometh to pass, that so exceeding great as the Sun is, he burneth not

the order and distances of the planets, the motions of which he appears to have compared to the graceful and measured dances of the ancients to the sound of the harp. But, as often happens, when philosophers confine their views of Nature to a single aspect, what has a shadow of truth in itself becomes, when thus interpreted, egregious trifling. The supposition enounced is, that not only are the motions performed according to musical time, but the intervals between the chords (of each planet's path) are properly measured by their relative tones. The following diagram, taken from the notes to Dalechamp's edition of Pliny, will more clearly repre- sent the ideas of this eminent Greek philosopher : —

12THESPH,

TERRA THE EARTH

The tone or unit of Pythagoras is taken for 125,000 stadia, or 15,625 miles. — Wern. Club.

BOOK If.] History of Nature. 61

the Earth. Many there be, however, who have taught that the Clouds are elevated to the Height of 900 Stadia. These Points are undiscovered, and beyond Man's Reach ; but they may now be delivered to others, as they have been taught : in which, notwithstanding, one infallible Reason of a geome- trical Collection cannot be rejected, if a man would search deep into these Matters. Neither need a Man to seek an exact Measure hereof (for to desire that is a foolish Idleness), but only to make an Estimate of Probability. For, whereas it is clear by the Course of the Sun, that the Circle through which he passeth containeth three hundred, threescore, and almost six Degrees ; and it is a Rule that the Diameter formeth a third Part of the Circumference, and little less than a seventh Part of a third : it is plain, that deducting one Half thereof (because the Earth, situated in the Centre, cometh between), about the sixth Part of this great Circuit which he maketh about the Earth (so far as our Mind doth comprehend), is the very Height from the Earth up to the Sun, but the twelfth Part to the Moon, because she runneth so much a shorter Circuit than the Sun ; whereby it ap- peareth, that she is in the Midst between the Earth and the Sun. It is a Wonder to see how far the Presumption of the Heart of Man will proceed when instigated by some little Success, as in the abovenamed Matter. The Reason whereof ministereth plenteous Occasion of Impudency, for they who dared to give a Guess at the Space between the Sun and the Earth are so bold as to do the like from thence to Heaven. For, presuming that the Sun is in the Midst, they have at their Fingers' Ends the very Measure of the whole World. For how many seven Parts the Diameter hath, so many twenty-two Parts hath the whole Circle : as if they had got- ten the certain Measure of the Heaven by the Plumb-line. The Egyptians, according to the Reckoning which Petosiris and Necepsos have invented, do collect, that every Degree in the Circle of the Moon, which is the least (as hath been said) of all other, containeth thirty-three Stadia, and somewhat more; in Saturn^ the greatest of all, double as much ; and in the Sun, which we said was the midst, the Half of both Mea-

62 History of Nature. [BooK II.

sures. And this Computation hath very great Importance, for he that will reckon the Distances between the Circle of Saturn and the Zodiac, by this Calculation shall multiply an infinite Number of Stadia.

CHAPTER XXIV. Of Sadden Stars.

THERE remain yet a few Points concerning the World : for in the very Heaven there be Stars that suddenly appear, whereof there are many Kinds1.

CHAPTER XXV.

Of Comets and Celestial Prodigies , their Nature, Situation, and Kinds.

THESE Stars which the Greeks call Cometas, our Romans term Crinitas (hairy) : dreadful, with bloody Hair, and shagged like the Bush of Hair upon the Top of the Head. The same Greeks call those Stars Pogonias*, which from the lower Part have a Mane hanging down like a long Beard. Those

1 This important fact in astronomy, that stars have suddenly appeared, remained for a time visible in a fixed position, and then have either be- come of less apparent brightness or disappeared altogether, is established by the observations of modern as well as ancient astronomers ; and to ascertain beyond doubt whether such a phenomenon might be repeated, was the first motive for which a map of the heavens and a catalogue of the known stars were constructed. Hipparchus (chap, xxvi.) is the first that is known to have observed this phenomenon ; a detection of the occurrence is no slight proof of the minuteness of inquiry of the ancient astronomers. But it is to be remarked, that Pliny classes meteors and shooting stars, not only with comets, but also among the more permanent or fixed stars. — Wern. Club.

2 The various names and comparisons here applied to what, for the most part, are mere meteoric appearances have probably a reference to the classification by which the augurs divided them, for the purposes of divination ; for certainly a strong imagination is required to discern any likeness between these aerial appearances and those material objects from which they derive their names. — Wern. Club.

BOOK II.] History of Nature. 63

named Acontice, shake like a Spear, signifying great Swift- ness. This was it whereof Tiberius Ccesar, the Emperor, wrote an excellent Poem in his fifth Consulship ; the last that ever was seen to this Day. The same, if they be shorter and sharp-pointed at the Top, are called Xiphias, which are the palest of all, and glittering like a Sword, but without any Rays: which another Kind of them, named .Disceus (resem- bling a Disc or Quoit, whereof it beareth the Name, but in Colour like to Amber), putteth forth here and there out of its Margin. Pitheus is in the Form of Tuns environed in the Cavity of a smoky Light. Ceratias resembleth a Horn : and such an one appeared when Greece fought the Battle of Salamis. Lampadias is like to burning Torches : and Hip- peus to Horses' Manes, very swift in Motion, and revolving in a Globe. There is also a white Comet with silver Hair, so bright and shining that it can hardly be looked at ; and in Man's Shape it sheweth the very Image of a God. More- over, there be blazing Stars that become all shaggy, com- passed round with a hairy Fringe like a Mane. One of these, appearing in the Form a Mane, changed into that of a Spear, in the hundred and eighth Olympiad, and the three hundred and ninety-eighth Year from the Foundation of Rome. It hath been observed, that the shortest Time of their Appear- ance is seven Days, and the longest eighty Days. Some of them move like the Planets ; others are immovably fixed. Almost all are seen under the very North Star ; some in no certain Part thereof, but especially in that white which hath taken the Name of the Milky1 Way. Aristotle saith2, that

1 Galaxy.

3 The author is here referring to those appearances which are now denominated shooting stars ; and which, in ancient times, were believed to be the very things the modern name denotes. St. John refers, figura- tively, to this idea (Book of Revelation, vi. 13): " And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth." Modern opinion has varied greatly with regard to the nature and cause of these appearances ; and the diversity of explanation is a proof how little satisfactory any of them is judged to be. There have been times, chiefly in the autumn, and at long intervals, when these meteors have been particularly abundant, and it appears that Aristotle refers to such a luminous shower ; the rarity of which may be

64 History of Nature. [BooK II.

many are seen together; a Thing that no Man but he hath known, so far as I can learn. They signify boisterous Winds, and very hot Weather. They are seen also in Winter, and about the South Pole : but in that Place without any Beams. A terrible one likewise was seen by the People in Ethiopia and Egypt, which the King who reigned in that Age, named Typhon. It resembled Fire, and was twisted like a Wreath, hideous to the Sight ; and not to be counted a Star, but truly a Ball of Fire. Sometimes the Planets and other Stars are spread over with Hairs ; but a Comet J is never seen in the West Part of the Heaven.

A fearful Star, for the most Part, this Comet is, and not easily expiated2 : as it appeared by the late civil Troubles when Octavius was Consul : as also a second Time by the War of Pompey and Ccesar. And in our Days about the Time that Claudius Ccesar was poisoned, and left the Empire to Domitius Nero ; in the Time of whose Reign there was another almost continually seen, and always terrible. It is thought to be material for Presage, to observe into what Quarters it shooteth, or what Star's Power and Influence it receiveth : also what Similitudes it resernbleth, and in what Parts it first shineth out. For if it be like unto Flutes ( Tibice}, it portendeth somewhat to Musicians : if it appear in the obscene Organs of the Signs, it threatens filthy Per-

concluded from Pliny's incredulity. Modern theory would refer this abundance of shooting stars to a very limited period of the month of No- vember ; but on the only occasion in which the Editor was an observer of a very remarkable quantity, the observation was made on the second or third day of October ; when, in a ride of more than two hours, the sky was never free from them ; although no more than three were visible at any one time. — Wern. Club.

1 Dalechamp remarks, that in this observation Pliny has mistaken the meaning of Aristotle, whom he is copying. The latter says, that a comet disappears, or is dissipated, before it sinks so low as the horizon.— Wern. Club.

2 This expiation was the business of the priests ; and in the affair of a comet could only be judged to have taken effect when the awful manifest- ation had disappeared: and consequently not until after a considerable period. — Wern. Club.

BOOK II.] History of Nature. 65

sons. It regards Men of Talents and Learning, if it put forth a triangular or four-square Figure, with even Angles, to any Situations of the fixed Stars. It sprinkleth Poison, if seen in the Head of the Dragon, either North or South.

In one only Place of the whole World, namely, in a Temple at Rome, a Comet is worshipped : even that which by Divus Augustus Ccesar himself was judged fortunate to him: who, when it began to appear, acted in Person as Overseer in those Games which he made to Venus Genetrix, not long after the Death of his father, Ccesar, in the College by him erected. For, that Joy of his he testified in these Words : In those very Days of my Games, there was seen a Comet for seven Days together, in that Region of the Sky which is under the North Star. It arose about the eleventh Hour of the Day, bright and clear, and evidently seen in all Lands. By that Star it was signified (as the common Sort believed) that the Soul of (Julius) Csesar was received among the Divine powers of the immortal Gods. In which regard, that Mark of a Star was set on the Head of the Statue of Julius Caesar, which soon after we dedicated in the Forum. These Words he published abroad : but in a more inward Joy to himself, he interpreted that this Comet1 was made for

1 It is a strong proof of the popular bias at that time, as well as of the political tact of Augustus, that he was so far able to dissipate the appre- hensions usually entertained on the appearance of a comet, as to convert the phenomenon into a prognostic of especial good to his government ; and to associate with it, what he wished them to believe of the Divine adoption of his deceased uncle, the Dictator. The latter had, indeed, al- ready given him some examples of the art of overruling a portent, when its understood meaning did not correspond with his wishes ; and Suetonius observes, that no ominous presage could ever deter or divert him from the prosecution of his designs. That this celestial phenomenon, which appeared about an hour before sunset, and was seen for seven successive days, excited much attention, appears from Ovid (" Metamorphoses," b. xv.), who speaks of it as if he wished to avoid the dreaded name of Comet, a word which, in the original, Pliny also does not use : — " Dumque tulit, lumen capere, atque ignescere sensit, Emisitque sinu. Luna volat altius ilia, Flammiferumque trahens spatioso limite crinem Stella micat."

66 History of Nature. [BooK II.

him, and that himself was born in it. And if we may con- fess a Truth, a happy Presage that was to the whole World. Some there he who believe that these Stars be perpetual, and go their Course round ; but are not seen, unless they be left

" (She) bore it upwards to its native skies : Glowing with newborn fire she saw it rise : Forth springing from her bosom, up it flew, And kindling as it soar'd, a (sparkling star it) grew ; Above the lunar sphere it took its flight, And shot behind it a long trail of light."

But the particular object of Augustus seems to have been to connect this appearance of a star with his family in their claim of Divine honour, as being directly descended from the goddess Venus, whose particular ensign this was. Dalechamp mentions a Roman coin, bearing on the obverse the head and inscription of the deified Caesar, and, on the reverse, a temple of Venus, with a star, and a statue of Caesar in the augural dress, and an

(From a Coin in the British Museum.)

altar for offerings and vows, with the inscription, " Divo Julio." It was because of this alleged consanguinity to the goddess, that at his funeral the Repository was made in the form of the temple of this divinity. The origin of this story of the star of Venus may be traced to a Phoenician or Trojan source ; for we find, in the Fragments of Sanchoniatho, the fol- lowing account : — " But travelling about the world, she found a star fall- ing from the sky ; which she, taking up, consecrated in the Holy Island Tyre. And the Phoenicians say, that Astarte is she who is amongst the Greeks called Aphrodite:' — (Bishop Cumberland's Trans, p. 36.) This Tyrian or Trojan deity was the Marine Venus, and is to be distinguished from Venus Urania, the heavenly, the greatest ; who, according to Cicero, (N. D. iii. 23.) and other authority, was the Syrian Astarte, and the Ashteroth of sacred Scripture ; whose ensigns were : on her head, the horns of a bull ; about her, thunderbolts ; and round her, many stars. Lucian, describing her statue, which he had seen, says : " She had a splen- did stone on her head, which was called xvx»b, which in the night gave much light to the temple, but shone weakly in the day-time, and looked like fire. Nor were these, the Roman deities Venus and Juno, the only powers that were designated by a star. The prophet Amos (chap. v. 26)

BOOK II.] History of Nature. 67

by the Sun. Others, again, are of opinion, that they are pro- duced casually by some Humour and the Power of Fire, and thereby do consume away.

CHAPTER XXVI.

The Opinion of Hipparchus concerning the Stars. Also, historical Examples of Torches, Lamps, Beams, Fiery Darts, Opening of the Firmament.

HIPPARCHUS, the aforesaid Philosopher (a man never sufficiently praised, as being he that more than any other proved the Affinity of Stars with Men ; affirming also, that our Souls were Parcel of Heaven), discovered and observed a new Star produced in his Time, and by the Motion thereof on the Day it first shone, he was led into a doubt, whether it happened not very often that new Stars should arise ? and whether those Stars also moved not, which we imagine to be fixed ? The same Man went so far, that he attempted (a Thing even hard for God to perform) to deliver unto Pos- terity the exact Number of the Stars. He brought the said Stars within the Compass of Rule, by devising certain In- struments to take their several Places, and set out their Magnitudes : that thereby it might be easily discerned, not only whether the old died, and new were born, but also whether they moved, and which Way they took their Course? likewise, whether they increased or decreased? Thus he left the Inheritance of the Sky unto all Men, if any one haply could be found able to enter upon it as lawful Heir.

There be also certain flaming Torches shining out in the Sky, though they are never seen but when they fall. Such an one was that which, at the Time that Germanicus Ccesar exhibited a Show of Gladiators, passed at Noontide in the

refers to a male deity, that, so early as the days of Moses, was worshipped in a portable shrine by the people of Israel, and by them probably derived from Egypt. A star thus became associated with the idea of Divine benignity ; and how widely so, appears from the history of the Magi, who came from the East to Jerusalem, to seek out the Desire of all Nations, in pursuance of a prophecy that must have been of the highest antiquity. — Wern. Club.

68 History of Nature. [BooK II.

Sight of all the People. And there are two Sorts of them. One is Lampades, which they call plain Torches ; and the other, Bolides, or Lances, such as the Mutinians saw in their Calamity. They differ, in that those Lamps or Torches form long Trains, of which the forepart only is on Fire. But Bolis burneth all over, and draweth a longer Tail. There shine out, after the same Manner, certain Beams, which the Greeks call Docus ; which appeared when the Lacede- monians, being vanquished in a Sea-fight, lost the Dominion of Greece. The Firmament also is seen to open ; and this they name Chasma.

CHAPTER XXVII.

Of the strange Colours of the Shy.

THERE appeareth in the Sky also a Resemblance of Blood1, and (than which Nothing is more dreadful to Mortals) a burning, falling from Heaven to Earth : as it happened in the third Year of the hundred and seventh Olympiad, when King Philip terrified all Greece. And these Things I suppose to come at certain Times by Course of Nature, like other Things; and not, as the most Part

1 Showers of blood have been recorded in chronicles of various ages ; and in those turbulent times it was never difficult to find some public evil which such unwonted phenomena might be supposed to have fore- told. By modern inquiry these appearances have been ascribed to the excrements of a mighty swarm of butterflies — to the extraordinary abun- dance of an animalcula, called Oscellatoria Vubesuns — and to the red vegetable Protococcus Nivalis, swept up by winds from the snow, on which it naturally grows. None of these explanations, however, appear to an- swer so completely to Pliny's account, as the following; to which the Editor was once a witness. On the 15th of February, 1837, when the weather had long been damp, misty, and rather windy — the direction of the wind being South of West — at a quarter of an hour after five in the evening, there came in a mist, of a bright red colour ; which attracted attention, through a window, by the glare of light it diffused. On pro- ceeding to examine it in the open air, it was observed to have become of a pink colour ; and presently passing into violet, it settled into a grey ; in which tint it remained until the evening hid it from view. No refraction of sunbeams can be allowed to account for this appearance ; for the sun had long before been hidden by intervening hills from the valley in which this beautiful coloured mist appeared.— Wern. Club.

BOOK II.] History of Nature. 69

think, of sundry Causes, which the Wit of ingenious Men is able to devise. They have, indeed, been Forerunners of ex- ceeding great Miseries ; but I suppose those Calamities to have happened, not because these Appearances were seen, but these were procreated to foretell the Accidents that ensued afterward. Now, it is because they fall out so seldom, that the Reason of them is hidden, as is the Case with the Rising of Planets abovesaid, the Eclipses, and many other Things.

CHAPTER XXVIII.

Of the Flame of Heaven.

LIKEWISE there are seen Stars with the Sun1 all Day long : yea, and very often about the Compass of the Sun, other Flames, like unto Garlands of Ears of Corn : also, Circles of various Colours, such as those were when Augustus C&sar, in the Prime of his Youth, entered the City of Rome after the Decease of his Father, to take upon him his great Name.

CHAPTER XXIX.

Of Celestial Crowns.2

ALSO the same Garlands appear about the Moon, and the brighter Stars which are fixed in the Firmament. Round

1 The only star seen near the sun at mid-day is the planet Venus : — " No stars beside their radiance can display In Phoebus' presence, the dread lord of day ; E'en Cynthia's self, the regent of the night, Is quite obscur'd by his emergent light ; But Venus only, as if more divine, With Phoebus dares in partnership to shine."

Wern. Club.

3 None of the appearances in this and the following chapters, to the 37th, can be regarded as unusual ; and the explanation of them is to be found in the fact, of the refraction of the light by peculiar conditions of the air. Records of those things would scarcely have been found in the books of the augurs, if some political object had not been mixed with the report of the occurrences. It is well known that during the Republican days of Rome, the reckoning of dates by the years of the consuls was the common order of chronology. The consulship of L. Opimius and Q. Fabius Maximus was in the 630th year of Rome, and 123 years before

70 History of Nature. [Boox II.

about the Sun there was seen an Arch, when Lu. Opimius and Q. Fabius were Consuls ; and a Circle, when L. Porcius and M. Acilius were Consuls.

CHAPTER XXX. Of Sudden Circles.

THERE appeared a Circle of red Colour, when L. Julius and P. Rutilius were Consuls. Moreover, there are strange Eclipses of the Sun, continuing longer than ordinary ; which happened when Ccesar the Dictator was slain. In the Wars of Antony also, the Sun continued almost a whole Year, with a pale and wan Colour.

CHAPTER XXXI. Many Suns.

AGAIN, many Suns are seen at once, neither above nor beneath the Body of the true Sun, but obliquely: never near, nor directly against, the Earth ; neither in the Night, but when the Sun either riseth or setteth. Once they are reported to have been seen at Noon-day in the Bosphorus, and they con- tinued from Morning to the Evening. Three Suns together our Ancestors have often beheld ; as, for instance, when Sp. Posthumius with Q. Mutius, Q. Martins with M. Porcius, M. Antonius with P. Dolabella, and Mar. Lepidus with L. Plancus, were Consuls. And our Age hath seen the like in the Time of Divus Cl. Ccesar s Sovereignty and joint-Consul- ship, with Cornelius Orfitus, his Colleague. More than three we never to this Day find to have been seen together.

the Christian era. That the former of these consuls was capable of any violence or fraud, to secure political preponderance, appears from his his- tory in connexion with the Gracchi. He was openly accused of forging portents ; and when one of his lictors had knocked down Tiberius Grac- chus, whose person as tribune was sacred, in the riots that followed he offered a reward, of its weight in gold, for the head of his opponent. The bribe was successful : the head was found to weigh 171bs. 8oz. ; and to shew his pious gratitude for the result, as well, perhaps, as to divert public attention, he built a temple to Concord.— Wern. Club.

BOOK I L] History of Nature. 7 1

CHAPTER XXXII. Many Moons.

THREE Moons also appeared at once, when Cn. Domitius and C. Fannius were Consuls ; and these most Men call Night Suns.

CHAPTER XXXIII.

Daylight in the Night.

OUT of the Firmament by Night, there was seen a Light1, when C. Coelius and Cn. Papyrius were Consuls ; and often- times besides, so as the Night seemed as light as the Day.

CHAPTER XXXIV. Burning Shields.

A BURNING Shield ran sparkling from the West to the East, at the Sun's Setting, when L. Valerius and C. Marius were Consuls.

CHAPTER XXXV.

A strange Sight in the Shy.

BY Report there was once seen, and never but once, when Cn. Octavius and C. Scribonius were Consuls, a Spark to fall from a Star : and as it approached the Earth it waxed greater, and after it came to the Bigness of the Moon, it shone out and gave Light, as in a cloudy Day : then, being retired again into the Sky, it became a burning Lamp (Lampas). This, Licinius Syllanus, the Pro-consul, saw, together with his Attendants.

1 This remarkable phenomenon is rarely noticed in modern times, and is in itself rare ; but one or two instances have been related by living witnesses. On one occasion, in a very dark night, two or three indivi- duals, scarcely able to grope their way, were surprised at finding them- selves able to see every object as clearly as in a moderate daylight. They were so much astonished and alarmed at the sudden brightness, that, being engaged in an exploit, in which they had no desire of recognition, they were glad to hurry off with hasty expedition.— Wern. Club.

72 History of Nature. [BooK II.

CHAPTER XXXVI. The extraordinary Shooting of Stars in the Sky.

STARS are also seen to shoot hither and thither, but never to any purpose : for, from the same Quarter where they appear, there rise terrible Winds, and after them Tem- pests both by Sea and Land.

CHAPTER XXXVII. Of the Stars called Castor and Pollux1.

I HAVE seen myself, in the Camp, from the Sentinels in the Night-watch, the Resemblance of Lightning to fix on the Spears set before the Rampart. They settle also upon the Yards, and other Parts of the Ship, at Sea : making a Kind of vocal Sound, and shifting their Places as Birds do which fly from Bough to Bough. They are dangerous when they come singly, for they sink those Ships on which they alight ;

1 Luminous meteors are mostly seen at night ; since daylight is too powerful to allow them to be seen. They have not been studied as the subject deserves ; and hence the futility of the explanations generally given to their causes. There is little doubt, that they differ greatly in nature. Some are undoubtedly electric; as may be judged from their sudden explosion, sometimes with signs of great violence. The appear- ances termed Castor and Pollux, and among modern sailors Corbisant, or Corpo Santo, is exceedingly rare on land, and in the British seas ; but common in warmer latitudes than Britain. Light of, perhaps, the same nature, is sometimes seen on the ears of animals, as the horse, when tra- velling in stormy weather. Pliny speaks of being himself an eye-witness to the settling of meteors on the military spears ; and there is a record of a similar appearance in the sixth volume (p. 38) of Hearne's edition of Leland's Itinerary: "In the yere of our Lord 1098, Corborant, admiral to the Soudan of Perce, was faught with at Antioche, and discumfited by the Christianes. The night cumming on yn the chace of this bataile, and waxing dark, the Christianes beying 4 miles from Antioche, God willing the saufte of the Christianes, shewid a white starre or molette of fy ve pointes on the Christen host, which to every manne's sighte did lighte and arrest upon the standard of Alboy the 3rd, there shining excessively." — Wern. Club.

BOOK II.] History of Nature. 73

or they set them on Fire if they fall upon the Bottom of the Keel. But if the Pair appear, they are salutary, and foretel a prosperous Voyage ; for by their coming, it is supposed that the dreadful and threatening Meteor called Helena, is driven away. And therefore it is, that Men assign this mighty Power to Castor and Pollux, and invocate them as Gods at Sea. Men's Heads, also, in the Evening are seen to shine round about ; which presageth some great Matter. Of all these Things there is no certain Reason to be given ; but they are hidden in the Majesty of Nature.

CHAPTER XXXVIII. Of the Air.

HITHERTO we have treated of the World itself, and the Stars. It remaineth now to speak of other memorable Things observed in the Sky. For even that Part also have our Forefathers called Cesium, or the Sky, which otherwise they name the Air : even all that Portion which seeming like a void and empty Place, yieldeth this vital Spirit whereby all Things do live. This Region is seated beneath the Moon, and far under that Planet (as I observe it is, in Manner, by all Men agreed upon). And mingling together an infinite Portion of the superior celestial Nature of Air, with very much of earthly Vapours, it doth participate con- fusedly of both. From hence proceed Clouds, Thunders, and those terrible Lightnings. From hence come Hail, Frosts, Rain, Storms, and Whirlwinds : from hence arise most of the Calamities of mortal Men, and the continual War that Nature maketh with herself. For these gross Exhalations, as they mount upward to the Heaven, are beaten back by the Violence of the Stars : and the same again draw up to them those Matters, which of their own Accord ascend not. For thus we see, that Showers of Rain fall, Mists arise, Rivers are dried up, Hail-storms came down amain, the Sunbeams scorch the ground, and drive it every where to the midst : but the same again unbroken, and not loosing their Force, rebound and take up with them whatso-

74 History of Nature. [BoOK II.

ever they are able. Vapours fall from aloft, and return again on high: forcible Winds come empty, but return with a Booty. So many living Creatures draw their Breath from above : but the same laboureth contrariwise, and the Earth infuseth into the Air a Spirit as if it were empty. Thus, while Nature goeth to and fro, as forced by some Engine, by the Swiftness of the Heaven the Fire of Discord is kindled. Neither can she stand to the Fight, but being continually carried away she is rolled about, and as she spreadeth about the Earth, with an immeasurable Globe of the Heaven, so ever and anon through the Clouds she frameth another Sky. And this is that Region where the Winds reign. And there- fore their Kingdom principally is there where they execute their Forces. For Thunderbolts and Lightnings most Men attribute to their Violence. Nay, and so it is supposed that sometimes it raineth Stones, which may be taken up first by the Wind ; and many similar Appearances. Wherefore many Matters besides are to be treated of together.

CHAPTER XXXIX. Of Ordinary Sedsons.

IT is manifest that of Seasons, as also of other Things, some Causes be certain ; others, casual ; or, such as yet the Reason thereof is unknown. For who doubteth that Sum- mers and Winters, and those alternative Seasons which we observe by yearly Course, are occasioned by the Motion of the Planets? As, therefore, the Sun's Nature is understood by tempering and ordering the Year, so the rest of the Stars have every one their peculiar Power, and the same effectual to perform their own Nature. Some are fruitful to bring forth Moisture, that is turned into liquid Rain : others to yield an Humour either congealed into Frosts, or gathered and thickened into Snow, or else frozen into Hail : some afford Winds ; others Warmth : some hot and scorching Vapours ; some, Dews ; and others, Cold. Neither ought these Stars to be esteemed no more than they shew in Sight, seeing that none of them is less than the Moon ; as may

BOOK 1 1 .] History of Nature. 75

appear by the Reason of their exceeding Height. All of them, then, every one in its own Motion, exercise their several Natures : which appeareth manifestly by Saturn especially, who setteth open the Gates for Rain and Showers to pass. And not only the seven Wandering Stars possess this Power, but many of them also that are fixed in the Fir- mament ; so often as they be either driven by the Approach of those Planets, or provoked by the Casting and Influence of their Beams : like as we find it happeneth in the seven Stars called Suculce, which the Grecians, of Rain, name Hyades (because they ever bring foul Weather). Howbeit some of their own Nature, and at certain set Times, do cause Rain ; as the Rising of the Kids. The Star Arcturus very rarely appeareth without some tempestuous Hail1.

CHAPTER XL. The Power of the Dog- Star.

WHO knoweth not, that when the Dog-Star ariseth, the Heat of the Sun is fiery and burning? the effects of which Star are felt exceeding much upon the Earth. The Seas at his Rising do rage, the Wines in Cellars are troubled, stand- ing Waters are moved. A wild Beast there is in Egypt, called Orix~, which the Egyptians say, doth stand full against

1 It is scarcely necessary to warn the modern reader, that throughout these observations on the weather, an influence is ascribed to the rising of certain stars, from no better cause than the coincidence of the occurrences. —Wern. Club.

2 Pliny mentions this animal in book x. c. 73 ; and again in book xi. c. 46 ; but modern naturalists have failed to identify it with any creature known at the present time. Indeed, there is reason to believe that more than one creature has been thus designated by the ancients ; for it has been described as having only one horn; which would make it either a species of rhinoceros, or the animal resembling a stag or horse, so often spoken of under the name of Unicorn. It has also been compared to an ox ; and four horns have been ascribed to it. But, more precisely, it is said to be white, with horns and a beard ; which renders it probable that it was of the goat kind. As the religion of the ancient Heathens was merely ceremonial, the imputing to the creature, in the practice of sneezing, an act of adoration to Anubis, or the Dog- Star, one of the chief deities of the

76 History of Nature. [BooK II.

the Dog-Star when it riseth, looking wistly upon it, and tes- tifieth by sneezing, a Kind of Worship. As for Dogs, no Man doubteth but all the Time of the canicular Days they are most ready to run mad.

CHAPTER XLI.

That the Stars have their several Influences in sundry Parts of the Signs, and at divers Times.

MOREOVER1, the Parts of certain Signs have their peculiar Force, as appeareth in the autumnal Equinox, and in Mid- Winter ; at which Time we perceive that the Sun maketh Tempests. And this is proved, not only by Rains and Storms,

Egyptians, will appear less absurd than at the first mention would appear. For a similar reason Pliny ascribes religion to elephants, and even poultry.

In his 28th book, the Author (ch. 2) has some observations on the superstition of the Romans, relative to the act of sneezing ; and it is not a little remarkable, that a similar practice, of imprecating a bless- ing in such case, is not even now uncommon among ourselves. — Wern. Club.

1 In this chapter there is a confusion of cause and effect that is diffi- cult to unravel ; and which can only be accounted for by involving what are undoubtedly natural influences — in modern times easily explained — with occult causes, the bounds of which the ancients were not able to define. The influence of the sun's heat on currents of air, constituting winds and tempests, and even its simple action on the texture of a membrane, are thus confounded with the powers which the Signs of the Zodiac were supposed to exert on the functions of the organs or re- gions of the human body. According to this philosopy, each of the twelve signs exerted a peculiar influence on a distinct portion ; beginning with the head, which was governed by Aries; and proceeding downward by regular spaces, each opposite sign in the Annual Circle became the monarch of its season, until the Twins, opposite to Aries, displayed their power over the feet. To the reproach of modern science, these imaginary influences, which derived their origin in popular opinion, from a supposed sympathetic connexion of the spirit pervading these signs — a portion of the great soul of the world (Note to ch. 1), and therefore a portion of a very ancient idolatry — maintains its place in the popular almanacs, published under the superintendence of a public company especially instituted for the promotion of an improved literature. — Wern. Club.

BOOK II.] History of Nature. 77

but by many Experiments in Men's Bodies, and Accidents to Plants in the Country. For some Men are struck by the Planet, and blasted : others are troubled at certain Times in their Bowels, Sinews, Head, and Mind. The Olive Tree, the White Poplar, and Willows, turn their Leaves about at Midsummer, at the Solstice. And contrariwise, in Mid- winter, the Herb Pennyroyal flowereth fresh, even as it hangs dry within the House. At which Time all Parch- ments are so stretched with the Wind that they burst. A Man might marvel hereat who marketh not by daily Expe- rience, that one Herb called Heliotropium1, looketh toward the Sun, ever as he goeth, turning with him at all hours, notwithstanding he be shadowed under a Cloud. It is cer- tain also, that the Bodies of Oysters, Mussels, Cockles, and all Shell-fishes, grow and waste by the Power of the Moon ; and some have found out by diligent Search, that the Fibres in the Livers of Rats and Mice answer in Number to the Days of the Moon's Age : also that the very little Creature, the Emmet, feeleth the Power of this Planet, and always in the Change of the Moon ceaseth from Work. It is the more Shame to Man to be ignorant, especially seeing that he must confess, that some labouring Beasts have certain Diseases in their Eyes, which with the Moon do grow and decay. How- beit the excessive Greatness of the Heaven and exceeding Height thereof, divided as it is into seventy-two Signs, make for him, and serve for his Excuse. These Signs are the Resemblances of Things, or living Creatures, into which the skilful Astronomers have digested -the Firmament. For Ex- ample, in the Tail of Taurus there be seven, which they have named Veryilice*; in the Forehead other seven called SuculcB : and Bootes who followeth after the great Bear (Septentriones).

1 This plant is again referred to (b. xxii. c. 21) as a good country- man's weather-glass. It is a question whether it belong to the genus Heliotropium of Linnaeus, or be not rather the Caltha PalustriSj or Marsh Mary gold. — Wern. Club.

3 Better known by the name of Pleiades. — Wern. Club.

78 History of Nature. [BooK It.

CHAPTER XLIL The Causes of Rain, Showers, Winds, and Clouds.

I CANNOT deny, but without these Causes there arise Rains and Winds : for it is certain there is exhaled from the Earth a Mist, sometimes moist, at other Times smoky, by Reason of hot Vapours. Also, that Clouds are produced by Vapours which are gone up on high, or else of the Air gathered into a watery Liquor : that they be thick, and of a bodily Consistence, we collect by no doubtful Argument, considering that they overshadow the Sun, which otherwise may be seen through Water; as they know well that dive to any good Depth,

CHAPTER XLIII. Of Thunder and Lightning.1

I WOULD not deny, therefore, that the fiery Impressions from Stars above, may fall upon these Clouds, such as we oftentimes see to shoot in clear and fair Weather : by the forcible Stroke whereof, good Reason it is. that the Air should be mightily shaken, seeing that Darts when they are discharged, make a Noise as they fly. But when they en- counter a Cloud, there ariseth a Vapour with a dissonant Sound (as when a red-hot Iron maketh an Hissing when thrust into Water), and Smoke rolls up in Waves. Hence Storms are bred. And if this Flatus, or Vapour, do struggle within the Cloud, Thunder is given out ; if it break through still burning, then flieth out the Thunderbolt : if it be a

1 An attempt to explain the cause of thunder and lightning could scarcely be otherwise than futile, in the entire absence of a knowledge of the existence of such a matter as electricity. But any attempt at a natural explanation was an effort of courage, and far in advance of the popular opinion. On this account the Author is entitled to pardon, when, at the conclusion of the chapter he finds himself disposed to make some conces- sion, in admitting it to be possible, that some of these phenomena were premonitory, and direct from the gods. — Wern. Club.

BOOK II.] History of Nature. 79

longer Time in struggling, then Lightning-flashes are seen. With these the Cloud is cloven ; with the other, burst in sunder. The Thunders are the Blows given by the Fires beating hard upon the Clouds : and therefore presently the fiery Rifts of those Clouds do flash and shine. It is possible, also, that the Wind, elevated from the Earth, being repelled, and kept down by the Stars, and so restrained within a Cloud, may thunder, while Nature choketh the rumbling Sound all the while it striveth ; but sendeth forth a Crash when it breaketh out, as we see in a Bladder puffed up with Wind. Likewise it may be, that the same Wind or Spirit is set on Fire by Attrition, as it violently passeth headlong down. It may also be stricken by the Conflict of the Clouds, as if two Stones hit one against another ; and so the Flashes sparkle forth. But all these are Accidents. And from hence come those insignificant and vain Lightnings, which have no natural Cause. With these are Mountains and Seas smitten : and of this Kind be all other Explosions that do no Hurt to living Creatures. Those that come from above, and of fixed Causes, yea, and from their proper Stars, foretel future Events. In like Manner, it may be that the Winds, or rather Blasts, proceed from a dry Exhalation of the Earth, void of all Moisture : neither will I deny that they arise from Waters breathing out an Air, which neither can thicken into a Mist, nor gather into Clouds : also they may be driven by the Impulsion of the Sun, because the Wind is conceived to be Nothing else but the flowing of the Air, and that by many means. For some we see to rise out of Rivers, Snows, and Seas, even when they be still and calm : as also others out of the Earth, which Winds they name Altani. And those verily when they come back again from the Sea, are called Tropcei: if they go onward, Apogcei.

CHAPTER XLIV. What is the Reason of the Resounding of the Echo.

BUT the Windings of Hills, and their close Turnings, their many Tops, their Ridges also bending like an Elbow,

80 History of Nature. [BooK II.

and arched, as it were, into Shoulders, together with the Hollows of Vallies, do cut unequally the Air that reboundeth from them : which is the Cause of reciprocal Voices called Echoes, answering one another in many Places.

CHAPTER XLV. Of Winds again.

THERE are, again, certain Caves1 which breed Winds with- out end : such as that one which is in the Edge of Dalmatia, gaping with a wide Mouth, and leading to a deep Cavern : into which, if there be cast any Matter of light Weight, be the Day never so calm, there ariseth presently a Tempest like a Whirlwind. The Place's Name is Senta. Moreover, in the Province Cyrenaica there is reported to be a Rock con- secrated to the South-wind, which without Profanation may not be touched with Man's Hand ; but if it be, presently the South-wind doth arise and cast up Heaps of Sand. Also in many Houses there be hollow Places devised by Man's Hand for the Receipt of Wind ; which being enclosed with Shade, gather their Blasts. Whereby we may see how all Winds have a Cause. But great Difference there is between such Blasts and Winds. As for these, they be settled, and conti- nually blowing ; which, not some particular Places, but whole Lands do feel ; which are not light Gales nor stormy Puffs of the Sea, named Aurce and Procellce, but properly

1 That there is an intimate connexion between the interior of the earth and the atmosphere, operating in the production or direction of the nature or force of winds, is exceedingly probable ; although the particular instances here given are either imaginary, or strangely misinterpreted. A simple change in the pressure of the atmosphere — a meteorological phenomenon of which the ancients were ignorant, from not being aware that air possessed positive weight — will account for many of these sudden gusts from caverns ; and for those hollow murmurs that have been popu- larly remarked in hilly countries, before the approach of a storm ; and the utility of these outbursts will appear when we remember, that with- out them, poisonous exhalations, as marsh miasmata, and carbonic acid gas, would be suffered to accumulate, to the destruction of a neighbour- hood.— Wern. Club.

BOOK II.] History of Nature. 81

called Winds, by the masculine Name Venti : which, whether they arise by the continual Motion of the Heaven, and the contrary Course of the Planets ; or whether this Wind be that Spirit of Nature that engendereth all Things, wandering to and fro, as it were, in some Womb ; or rather the Air, beaten and driven by the unlike Influences of the Planets, and the Multiplicity of their Beams : or whether all Winds come from their own nearer Stars ; or rather fall from them that be fixed in the Firmament : plain it is, that they are guided by an ordinary Law of Nature, not altogether unknown, although it be not yet thoroughly known.

CHAPTER XLVI. The Natures and Observations of the Winds.

MORE than twenty of the old Greek Writers have re- corded their Observations of the Winds. I marvel so much the more, that the World being so at Discord, and divided into Kingdoms, that is to say, dismembered ; so many Men have employed their Care to seek after these Things, so diffi- cult to be found out ; and the more especially in Time of Wars, and amid those Places where was no safe Abode ; and especially when Pirates, those common Enemies to Mankind, held well near all Passages of Communication : I marvel, also, that at this Day each Man in his own Tract of Country obtaineth more Knowledge of some Things by their Com- mentaries, who never set Foot there, than he doth by the Skill and Information of home-born Inhabitants ; whereas now in Time of such blessed and joyous Peace, and under a Prince who taketh such Delight in the Progress of the State and of all good Arts, no new Thing is learned by farther Inquisition ; nay, nor so much as the Inventions of old Wri- ters are thoroughly understood. And verily it cannot be said, that greater Rewards were in those Days given, consi- dering that the Bounty of Fortune was dispersed : and in truth, most of these learned Men sought out these Secrets for no other Regard than to do good to Posterity. But now Men's Customs are waxed old and decay : and notwith-

F

82 History of Nature. [BooK II.

standing that the Fruit of Learning be as great as ever it was, yet Men are become idle in this behalf. The Seas are open to all, an infinite Multitude of Sailors have discovered all Coasts whatsoever ; they sail through and arrive fami- liarly at every Shore ; but all is for Gain, nothing for the Sake of Knowledge. Their Minds altogether blinded, and bent upon nothing but Covetousness, never consider that the same might with more Safety be performed by Science. And therefore, seeing there be so many thousand Sailors that hazard themselves on the Seas, I will treat of the Winds more curiously than, perhaps, would otherwise be necessary to the present Work.

CHAPTER XLVII. Many Sorts of Winds.

THE Ancients observed four Winds1 only, according to so many Quarters of the World (and therefore Homer nameth no more) : a feeble Reason this, as soon after it was judged. The Age ensuing added eight more, and they were on the other Side in their Conceit, too subtle and concise. The modern Sailors have found a Mean between both : and they put unto that short Number of the first, four Winds and no more ; which they took out of the latter. Therefore every Quarter of the Heaven hath two Winds to itself. From the equinoctial Sun-rising bloweth the East Wind, Sub- solanus: from the Rising thereof in Midwinter the South-east, Vulturnus. The former of these two the Greeks call Apeliotes, and the latter Eurus. From the Midday riseth the South Wind : and from the Sun-setting in Midwinter the South-west, Africus. They also name these two, Notus and Libs. From the equinoctial going down of the Sun, the West Wind,

1 The impression of this precise number of winds appears to have been popular ; and is referred to in the Book of Revelation by St. John, vii. 1 : " I saw four angels standing on the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth." Pliny evidently supposes that the winds were not simply determined according to the quarter from which they blew, but by separate and inherent qualities of heat, moisture, violence, health, or sickness. — Wern. Club.

BOOK II.] History of Nature. 83

JFavonius, cometh : but from that in Summer, the North- west, Corns: and by the Greeks they are termed Zephyrus and Argestes. From the North bloweth the North Wind, Sep- tentrio: between which and the Sunrising in Summer is the North-east Wind, Aquilo, named Aparctias and Boreas by the Greeks. A greater Reckoning than this for Number is brought in by some, who have thrust in four more between : namely, Thracias between the North and the Summer Setting of the Sun ; in like Manner Ccecias, in the midst between the North-east, Aquilo, and that of the Sunrising in the equi- noctial, Sub-solanus. Also, after the Sunrising in Summer, Phceniceas in the midst, between the South-east and the South. Last of all, between the South and the South-west, Lybo- notus, just in the midst, compounded of them both, namely, between the Meridian and the Sun-setting in Winter. But here they did not end. For others have set one more, called Mese, between the North-east Wind Boreas and Ccecias: also JSuronotuSj between the South and South-west Winds. Besides all these, there be some Winds peculiar to every Nation, and which pass not beyond one certain Region : as, namely, Scyros among the Athenians, declining a little from Argestes; a Wind unknown to other Parts of Greece. In some other Place it is more aloft, and the same then is called Olympias (as coming from the Mountain Olympus). But the usual Manner of Speech understandeth by all these Names Ar- gestes only. Some call Ccecias by the Name of Hellespontias, and give the same Winds in sundry Places divers Names. In the Province, likewise, of Narbonne, the most notorious Wind is Circius, and for violence inferior to none, driving directly before it, very often, the Current at Ostia into the Ligurian Sea. The same Wind is not only unknown in all other Parts of the Heaven, but reacheth not so much as to Vienna, a City in the same Province. As great and bois- terous a Wind as this is otherwise, yet it meets with a Re- straint before it come thither, and is kept within narrow Bounds by the Opposition of a small Hill. Fabianus also avoucheth, that the South Winds enter not so far as into Egypt. Whereby the Law of Nature sheweth itself plainly, that even Winds have their Times and Limits appointed.

84 History of Nature. [BooK II.

To proceed, then, the Spring openeth the Sea for Sailors: in the Beginning whereof, the West Winds mitigate the Win- ter Weather at the Time when the Sun is in the 25th Degree of Aquarius, and that is the sixth Day before the Ides of February. And this Order holdeth for the most Part with all other Winds, which I will set down one after another : so that in every Leap Year we anticipate and reckon one Day sooner, and then again keep the same Rule throughout all the four Years following. Some call Favonius (which begin- neth to blow about the seventh Day before the Calends of March) by the Name of Chelidonius, upon the Sight of the first Swallows1: but many name it Orinthias, coming the seventy-first Day after the shortest Day in Winter ; by occa- sion of the coming of Birds : which Wind bloweth for nine Days. Opposite to Favonius is the Wind which we called Sub-solanus. Unto this Wind is attributed the Rising of the Vergilice, or Seven Stars, in as many Degrees of Taurus, six Days before the Ides of May ; which Time is a southerly Constitution : and to this Wind the North is contrary. Moreover, in the hottest Season of the Summer the Dog-star ariseth, when the Sun entereth into the first Degree of Leo, which commonly is the fifteenth Day before the Calends of August. Before the Rising of this Star for eight Days' Space, or thereabout, the North-east Winds blow ; which the Greeks call Prodromi, or Forerunners. And two Days after it is risen, the same Winds hold still more stiffly for the Space of forty Days, which they name Etesia. The Sun's

1 Ovid (" Fasti ") says, on the day which is equivalent to about the 25th of February:—

" Fallimur ? an veris praenuntia venit hirundo ? Et metuit, nequa versa recurrat hyems ? "

" Am I deceived ? is that the swallow's wing ? That flits along, the herald of the spring. Fearful of cold, she still seeks shelter here ; And dreads that winter may reclaim the year."

In Sardinia it is noted on the last day of the same month, in the " Calendar of the Transactions of the Royal Academy of Brussels." But these are early appearances ; and in general this bird arrives in Italy in the first ten days of March.— Wern. Club.

BOOK II.] History of Nature. 85

Vapour, redoubled by the Hotness of that Star, is thought to be assuaged by them : and no Winds keep their set Times better than they. Next after them come the South Winds again, which are usually up, until the Star Arcturus riseth, and that is eleven Days before the autumnal Equinox. With it entereth Corns, and thus Corns beginneth the Autumn ; and to this Vulturnus is contrary. After that Equinox about four-and-forty Days, the Vergilice go down and begin Win- ter, which Season usually falleth upon the third Day before the Ides of November. This is the Winter North-east Wind, which is far unlike to that in Summer, opposite and contrary to Africus. Seven Days before the Midwinter Day, and as much after, the Sea is allayed and calm for the Sitting and Hatching of the Birds Halciones1, from which these Days took the Name Alcionis: the Time behind belongs to Winter. And yet these boisterous Seasons, full of Tempests, shut not up the Sea : for Pirates at first forced Men, with Peril of Death, to run headlong upon their Death, and to hazard themselves in Winter Seas ; and now Covetousness compels them to do the like.

The coldest Winds of all other are those which, we said, blow from the North, and together with them their Neigh- bour, Corns. These Winds allay all others, and drive away Clouds. Moist Winds are Africus, and especially the South Wind of Italy, called Auster. Men report also, that Ccecias in Pontus gathereth to itself Clouds. Corns and Vulturnus are dry, but only when they cease. The North-east and the North produce Snow. The North Wind also bringeth Hail, as doth Corns. The South Wind is exceeding hot. Vulturnus and Favonius be warm. They also be drier than the East :

1 Ovid relates the fable of the origin of the Halcyon, or Alcyon, " Metamorphoses," book xi. fable 10; and Pliny describes the bird in his book x. c. 32. 2Elian also speaks of it, book i. c. 36 ; and he describes the wonders of the nest, b. ix. c. 17, in a manner which the ancients gene- rally appear to have regarded as substantially true; but it is scarcely necessary to remark, that modern observation has not corroborated this belief in any particular. In book xxxii. c. 8, Pliny speaks of a medicine which was supposed to be prepared from the nest of the Alcyon, or King- fisher.— Wern. Club.

86 History of Nature. [BOOK II.

and generally all Winds from the North and West are drier than from the South and East. Of all Winds the Northern is most healthful : the Southern Wind is noisome, and the rather when it is dry ; haply, because that when it is moist it is the colder. During the Time that it bloweth, living- Creatures are thought to be less hungry. The Etesice give over ordinarily in the Night, and arise at the third hour of the Day. In Spain and Asia they blow from the East : but in Pontus, from the North : in other Quarters, from the South. They blow also after the Midwinter, when they be called OrinthicB ; but those are more mild, and continue fewer Days. Two there be that change their Nature with their Place : the South Wind in Africa bringeth fair Weather, and the North Wind there is cloudy. All Winds keep their Course in Order for the more Part, or else when one ceaseth the contrary beginneth. When some are laid and the next to them arise, they go about from the left Hand to the right, according to the Sun. Of their Manner and Order monthly, the fourth Day after the Change of the Moon doth most commonly determine. The same Winds will serve to sail contrary Ways, by means of setting out the Sails : so as many Times in the Night, Ships in sailing run one against another. The South Wind raiseth greater Billows than the North : for that the South Wind ariseth below, from the Bottom of the Sea ; the other descends from on high. And, therefore, after Southern Winds, Earthquakes are most hurtful. The South Wind in the Night Time is more boisterous, the Northern Wind in the Day. The Winds blowing from the East con- tinue longer than those from the West. The Northern Winds give over commonly with an odd Number : which Observa- tion serveth to good use in many other Parts of natural Things, and therefore the male Winds are judged by the odd Number. The Sun both raiseth and also allayeth the Winds. At rising and setting he causeth them to blow : at Noontide he represseth them in Summer. And therefore at Mid-day or Midnight commonly the Winds are allayed ; for both Cold and Heat, if they be immoderate, do consume them. Also, Rain doth lay the Winds : and most commonly from thence they are looked for to blow, where Clouds break and lay

BOOK II.] History of Nature. 87

open the Sky. And Eudoxus is of opinion (if we list to ob- serve the least Revolutions) that after the End of every fourth Year, not only all Winds, but, for the most Part, other Tempests and Constitutions of the Weather, return again to the same Course as before. And always the Lustrum1 or Com- putation of the five Years, beginneth at the Leap Year, when the Dog-star doth arise. And thus much concerning general Winds.

CHAPTER XLVIII.

Of Sudden Blasts.

Now will we speak of sudden Blasts : which being raised (as hath been said before) by Exhalations of the Earth, and cast down again, in the meanwhile appear of many Fashions, enclosed within a thin Course of Clouds. For such as be wan- dering and rushing in Manner of Land-floods (as some Men were of opinion, as we have shewed), bring forth Thunder and Lightning. But if they come with a greater Force and Violence, and cleave a dry Cloud asunder, they breed a Storm, which of the Greeks is called Ecnephias: but if the Breach be not great, so that the Wind be constrained to re- volve in his Descent without Fire, that is to say, Lightning, it makes a Whirlwind called Typhon, that is to say, the vibrated Ecnephias. This snatches with it a Piece broken out of a congealed cold Cloud, turning and rolling it round, and with that Weight inaketh its own Fall more heavy, and changeth from Place to Place with a vehement Whirling. It is the greatest Danger that Sailors have, breaking not only their Yards, but also wrecking the very Ships to twisted Fragments : and yet a small Matter is the Remedy for it, namely, the casting of Vinegar out against it as it cometh ; which is of very cold Nature. The same Storm beating upon a Thing is itself smitten back again with Violence, and snatcheth up whatever it meeteth in the Way aloft into the Sky, carrying it back, and swallowing it up on high. But if it break out from a greater Hole of the said Cloud, by it so

1 This space of time came round at the beginning of every fifth year ; at which period, originally, the census was taken, and the taxes fixed until the recurrence of the same period.— Wern. Club.

88 History of Nature. [BOOK II.

borne down, and yet not altogether so broad, as the above- named Storm Procella doth, nor without a Crack, they call this boisterous Wind Turbo, which overthroweth all that is near it. The same, if it be more hot and catching Fire as it rageth, is named Prester; burning and laying along whatsoever it encountereth.

CHAPTER XLIX.

Other prodigious Kinds of Tempests.

No Typhon cometh from the North, nor any Ecnephias with Snow, or while Snow lieth on the Ground. If this tem- pestuous Wind when it broke the Cloud, burned fiercely, having Fire of its own before, and catched it not afterward, it is true Lightning; and diifereth from Prester only as Flame from a Coal of Fire. Again, Prester spreadeth widely with a Flash ; the other gathereth into a Globe with Violence. Vor- tex differeth from Turben in flying back : and as much as a Crash from a Crack. The Storm Procella differs from them both in Breadth, and rather scattereth than breaketh the Cloud. There riseth also a dark Mist, resembling a mon- strous Beast ; and this is ever a terrible Cloud to Sailors. Another, likewise, is called a Pillar1, when the Humour is so thick and congealed that it standeth compact of itself. Of the same Sort also is that Cloud which draweth Water to it, as it were, into a long Pipe.

CHAPTER L. In what Lands Lightnings fall not.

IK Winter and Summer seldom are there any Lightnings, because of contrary Causes : for in Winter the Air is con- densed, and thickened with a deeper Course of Clouds : and all the Exhalations from the Earth being chilled and frozen hard, extinguish what fiery Vapour soever otherwise they receive : which is the Reason that Scythia, and other frozen Countries

1 The Author clearly means what, in modern times, is denominated a Water-spout : a phenomenon not uncommon in the Mediterranean Sea, and in other warm climates ; but exceedingly rare, if at all occurring, in northern regions. — Wern. Club.

BOOK II.] History of Nature. 89

thereabout, are free from Lightnings. And Egypt1, likewise, from a contrary Cause, is exempt from Lightnings, the Rea- son being its excessive Heat : for the hot and dry Exhalations of the Earth gather into very slender, thin, and weak Clouds. But in the Spring and Autumn, Lightnings are more rife ; because in both those Seasons the Causes as well of Summer as Winter are corrupt. And this is the Reason that Light- nings are common in Italy ; for the Air being more mov- able, by Reason of a milder Winter and a cloudy Summer, is always of the Temperature of Spring or Autumn. In those Parts, also, of Italy, which lie off from the North, and in- cline to Warmth (as, namely, in the Tract about Rome and Campania), there is Lightning in Winter and Summer alike, which happeneth in no other Part thereof.

CHAPTER LI. Sundry Sorts of Lightnings, and Wonders thereof.

VERY many Kinds of Lightning are set down by Authors. Those that come dry burn not, but only disperse. They that come moist do not burn, but blast and embrown. A third Kind there is, which they call Bright and Clear; and that is of a wonderful Nature, whereby Tuns are drawn dry, and their Sides, Hoops, and Heads never touched, nor any other Token thereof is left behind. Gold, Copper, and Silver2 are

1 The circumstance that Egypt is naturally exempt from lightning, must have greatly heightened the terrors of the Seventh Plague with which God visited this land in the days of the Exodus. But though very rare, thunder and lightning are not unknown in Egypt, at least in modern times. Thevenot mentions a man who was killed by light- ning at Cairo, when he was there ; — but such a circumstance had never been known before. Rain, and even hail, have also been seen; but all these phenomena are less severe than in other countries. — Wern. Club.

2 The facts here mentioned must have appeared as unaccountable as stupendous, before the modern discoveries of Franklin and others, relative to the attractions of the electric fluid : the existence of which, as an agent of Nature, was not dreamt of in the philosophy of Pliny and the ancient observers. — Wern. Club.

90 History of Nature. [BoOK II.

melted in the Bags, and the Bags themselves unscorcbed ; and not even the Wax of the Seal defaced. Martia, a noble Lady of Rome, being great with Child, was struck with Lightning : the Child she went with was killed within her, and she survived without any Harm. Among the Catiline Prodigies it is found upon Record, that M. Herennius (a Counsellor of the incorporate Town Pompeianum) was in a fair and clear Day smitten with Lightning.

CHAPTER LII. Of Observations touching Lightning.

IT is held in the Writings of the ancient Tuscans1, that there be nine Gods that send forth Lightnings, and those of eleven Sorts : for Jupiter (say they) casteth three at once. The Romans have observed two of them, and no more; attri- buting those in the Day-time to Jupiter, and those of the Night to Summanus or Pluto. And these verily be more rare, for the Cause before-named ; namely, the Coldness of the Air above. In Etruria, they suppose that some Lightnings break out of the Earth, which they call Infera, or Infernal ; and such be made in Midwinter. And these they take to be earthly, and of all most mischievous and exe- crable : neither be those general and universal Lightnings, nor proceeding from the Stars, but from a very near and more troubled Cause. And this is an evident Argument for Distinction, that all such as fall from the upper Sky strike obliquely : but those which they call earthly, smite straight. But the Reason why these are thought to issue from the Earth is, because they fall from out of a Matter nearer to the Earth ; forasmuch as they leave no Marks of a Stroke

1 This people was famed for the study of prognostications from natural appearances : an art they had probably derived from Egypt or Assyria, and which the neighbouring nations learned from them. It consisted in minutely observing every unusual occurrence, and in deducing thence, according to rules known only to the proper authorities, the will of the gods, or the indications of a fixed necessity. This science is farther spoken of in the seventh book. — Wern. Club.

BOOK II.] History of Nature. 91

behind: which are occasioned by Force not from beneath, but coming full against. Such as have searched more closely into these Matters are of opinion that these Lightnings come from the Planet Saturn, as the burning Lightning from Mars; and with such Lightning was Volsinii (a very wealthy City of the Tuscans), entirely burnt to Ashes. The Tuscans call those Lightnings familiar which presage the Fortune of some Race, and are significant during their whole Life ; and such are they that come first to any Man, after he is newly entered into his own Family. However, their Judg- ment is, that these private Lightnings do not portend for above ten Years : unless they happen either upon the Day of first Marriage, or on a Birth-day. Public Lightnings be not of Force above thirty Years, except they chance at the very Time that Towns or Colonies be erected and planted.

CHAPTER LIII. Of calling out Lightnings.

IT appeareth upon Record in Chronicles, that by certain Sacrifices and Prayers1, Lightnings may be either compelled

1 There are many proofs of imposture in these ancient ceremonies ; but when modern science is able to produce some of the effects ascribed to these Etrurian priests, it seems just to conclude that they may have pos- sessed the secret of a method of drawing the electric fluid from the sky. The danger attending a failure in the requisite proceedings, as in the case of Tullius Hostilius, would necessarily confine the practice to an instructed few ; whose credit for sanctity would, therefore, be highly exalted. Ovid, in his third book of the " Fasti," obscurely intimates the acquaintance of Numa with such arts : —

" Jupiter hue veniet, valida perductus ab arte . . .

.... quid agant, quae carmina dicant, Quoque trahant superis sedibus arte Jovem."

" To thee, by powerful art compelled, Shall Jupiter approach . . .

.... And then they tell

What deeds, what powerful charms, the Man must use, To draw the God compell'd from seats above."

The secret consisted in Numa's being a scholar of Pythagoras, and studying " Quae sit rerum Natura."

Wern. Club.

92 History of Nature. [BooK II.

or obtained by Entreaty. There is an ancient Report in Etruria, that such a Lightning was procured by Entreaty, when there entered into the City Volsinii (after all the Terri- tory about it was destroyed) a Monster, which they named Volta. Also, that another was called forth by P or senna, their King. Moreover, L. Piso (a Writer of good Credit) reporteth in his first Book of Annals, that Numa before him performed the same Act many a Time : and when Tullius Hostilius would have imitated him (for that he observed not all the Ceremonies accordingly), he was himself struck with Lightning. And for this Purpose, we have sacred Groves, Altars, and Sacrifices. And among the Jupiters surnamed Statores, Tonantes, and Peretrii, we have heard that one also was called Elicius. Men's Opinions are various con- cerning this Point, and every Man according to his own Liking. To believe that Nature may be compelled, is a very audacious Opinion : but it is as senseless on the other Side to make her Benefits of no effect ; considering that in the Interpretation of Lightning, Science hath thus far proceeded as to foretell when they will come at a prescribed Day : and whether they will frustrate the Dangers pronounced, or rather open other Destinies, which lie hidden in innumerable public and private Experiments of both Kinds. And there- fore (since it hath so pleased Nature) let some of these Things be certain, others doubtful : some proved, and others con- demned. As for us, we will not omit the Rest which in these Matters are worth Remembrance.

CHAPTER LIV. General Rules of Lightning.

THAT the Lightning is seen before the Thunderclap is heard, although they come indeed jointly together, is cer- tain. And no Wonder, for Light is more rapid than Sound. And yet Nature doth so modulate, that the Stroke and Sound shall accord together. But when there is a Noise1,

1 Ovid refers to this also, as the popular opinion. But silent lightning in a clear sky was judged to be unaccountable, except as coming from the gods. Hence Horace, though disposed to the doctrines of Epicurus, found

BOOK 1 1 .] History of Nature. 93

it is a Sign of the Lightning proceeding of some natural Cause, and not sent by some God : and yet a Breath cometh before the Thunderbolt : and hereupon it is, that every Thing is shaken and blasted before it is smitten : neither is any Man struck, who either saw the Lightning before, or heard the Thunderclap. Those Lightnings that are on the left Hand are supposed to be prosperous, for that the East is the left Side of the World : but the Coming thereof is not so much regarded as the Return : whether it be that the Fire leap back after the Stroke given ; or whether after the Deed done and Fire spent, the Spirit abovesaid retire back again. In that respect the Tuscans have divided the Heaven into sixteen Parts. The first is from the North to the Sun's Rising in the Equinoctial Line : the second, to the Meridian Line, or the South : the third, to the Sun-setting in the Equinoctial : and the fourth taketh up all the Rest from the said West to the North Star. These Quarters again they have parted each into four Regions : of which eight from the Sun-rising they called the Left ; and as many again from the contrary Part, the Right. Those Lightnings are most dreadful which from the Sun-setting reach into the North : and therefore it is of much importance from whence Light- nings come, and whither they go : the best Thing observed in them, is when they return into the easterly Parts. And, therefore, when they come from that principal Part of the Sky, and return again into the same, it portends the highest Good : and such was the Sign given (by report) to Sylla the Dictator. In all other Parts of the World, they be less fortunate or dreadful. They believe that there be Light- nings, which to utter abroad is held unlawful ; as also is to give Ear unto them, unless they be declared either to Parents or to a Friend. How great is the Folly of this Observation was found at Rome upon the blasting of Juno's Temple by Scaurus, the Consul, who soon after was President of the Senate. It lightneth without Thunder, more in the Night

his confidence staggered by this phenomenon ; and Suetonius informs us, that it was viewed by Titus as a portent of evil to himself, just before his death; and his spirits became proportionally depressed. — Wern. Club.

94 History of Nature. [BoOK II.

than by Day. Of all Creatures, Man only it doth not always kill ; the Rest it despatcheth instantly. This Honour we see Nature hath given to him ; whereas many great Beasts sur- pass him in Strength. All other Creatures smitten with Lightning fall down upon the contrary Side ; Man only (un- less he turn upon the Parts stricken) dieth not. Those that are smitten from above upon the Head, sink down directly. He that is struck watching, is found dead with his Eyes close shut: but whoever is smitten sleeping, is found with his Eyes open. A Man thus coming by his Death, may not by Law be burned : Religion hath taught that he ought to be buried in the Earth. No living Creature is set on Fire by Light- ning, unless it is breathless first. The Wounds of them that be smitten with Lightning are colder than all the Body besides.

CHAPTER LV.

What Things are not Smitten with Lightning.

OF all those Things which grow out of the Earth, Light- ning blasteth not the Bay-tree ; nor doth it enter at any Time above five Feet deep into the Ground : and, therefore, Men fearful of Lightning, suppose the deeper Caves to be the most safe : or else Booths made of Skins of Beasts, which they call Sea-Calves1; for of all Creatures in the Sea, this alone is not subject to the Stroke of Lightning : like as of all Birds, the Eagle (which for this Cause is feigned to be the Armour-bearer of Jupiter, for this Kind of Weapon). In Italy, between Tarracina arid the Temple of Feronia, they gave over in Time of War to build Towers ; for not one of them escaped being overthrown with Lightning.

1 Seals (Phocae) are the creatures here intended ; and, probably, not any particular species. Suetonius informs us, that Augustus Caesar, who was greatly afraid of thunder, was accustomed to carry the skin of a seal along with him, wherever he went. Tiberius always wore a crown of bay-leaves on his head, with the same object. — Wern. Club.

BOOK II.] History of Nature. 95

CHAPTER LVI.

Of strange and prodigious Rain1, of Milk, Blood, Flesh, Iron, Wool, Tiles, and Bricks.

BESIDES these Things in this lower Region under Hea- ven, we find recorded on Monuments that it rained Milk and Blood when M. Acilius and C. Porcius were Consuls. And many Times beside it rained Flesh ; as, namely, whilst L. Volumnius and Serv. Sulpitius were Consuls : and what of it the Fowls of the Air carried not away, never putrified. In like Manner, it rained Iron in Lucania, the Year before that in which M. Crassus was slain by the Parthians; and

1 A coloured mist has been mentioned, in a note to chap, xxvii. Ruysch mentions a flight of butterflies in 1543, which sprinkled the herbage, roofs of houses, and human clothing, with drops of their dung, like blood. A similar circumstance in England, recorded by Pennius, was supposed to have presaged the plague. There are sufficient modern proofs that living fishes, frogs, and other creatures or materials, have fallen in showers : in the former instance, remote from the sea or any great river. These things can only be explained by supposing them to have been first taken up by some whirlwind, or sudden gust ; and it is not unlikely that the ashes of a volcano were the materials of some of these showers. Ovid, by poetic license, accumulates all the bad omens on record or in tradition, hi the alarming prognostications of the death of Julius Caesar (" Meta- morphoses," b. xv.) ; and it may be a principal reason why Pliny specifies the times of these occurrences, to shew that Ovid's narrative is only a poetic fiction.

The following translation of a paragraph in the " Museum Wormi- anum" (p. 17, De Terris Miracvlusis), is a specimen of the manner in which such extraordinary events were regarded, even at a very modern date : — " In the year 1619, when the preposterous fashion of neck-bands, kerchiefs, and other female ornaments of linen, dyed of cerulean blue, in- vaded Denmark, and in spite of the remonstrances of the ministers of God obstinately persisted, by adding pride to luxury, Almighty God, that he might by all means declare how abhorrent this sin was to him, and recall mortals to repentance by a miracle, in many places of Scania rained down abundantly a kind of earth of a blue colour, very similar to a sort sold by the dealers in spices. A small quantity of this was given to me at the time by my good friend, Dr. Fincking, professor of medicine at Copenhagen, &c." It probably proceeded from Hecla. — Wern. Club.

96 History of Nature. [BooK II.

together with him all the Lucani his Soldiers, of whom there were many in his Army. That which came down in this Rain resembled in some sort Sponges : and the Aruspices gave Warning to take Heed of Wounds from above. But in the Year that L. Paulus and C. Marcellus were Consuls, it rained Wool about the Castle Carissa, near to which, a Year after, T. Annius Milo was slain. At the Time that the same Mito pleaded his own Cause at the Bar, there fell a Rain of Tiles and Bricks, as is related in the Records of that Year.

CHAPTER LVII.

Of the Rustling of Armour, and the Sound of Trumpets heard from Heaven.

IN the Time of the Cimbrian Wars, we have been told that Armour was heard to rustle, and the Trumpet to sound, out of Heaven. And this happened very often, both before and after those Wars. But in the third Consulship of Marius, the Amerines and Tudertes saw Men in Arms in the Sky1, rushing one against another, from the East and West ; and those of the West were discomfited. That the very Firmament itself should be on Fire is no Wonder, for often it hath been seen when Clouds have caught any great deal of Fire.

CHAPTER LVIII.

Of Stones falling from the Sky*.

THE Greeks greatly celebrate Anaxagoras Clazomenius, who, by the Learning that he had in Astronomy, foretold in

1 This was probably the Aurora Borealis, or Northern Lights; a phenomenon rarely seen so far to the South. It is, perhaps, the same that is referred to by Josephus, in his narrative of the terrors sent by God before the fatal siege of Jerusalem. The account of what was seen in the county of Cumberland, immediately preceding the invasion of England by the Pretender, will shew how nearly aerial appearances may approach to realities. — Wern. Club.

2 For a long time the fall from the sky, of what are denominated Meteorolites, was deemed too preposterous to be believed ; but since the

BOOK II.] History of Nature. 97

the second Year of the Seventy-eighth Olympiad, what Time a Stone would fall from the Sun : and the same happened accordingly, in the Daytime, in a Part of Thracia, near the River .ZEgos ; which Stone is shewed at this Day as big as a Wain-load, carrying a burnt Colour : at which Time a Comet also burned by Night. Which if any Man believe that it was fore-signified, he must needs also confess, that this fore- telling by Anaxagoras was more miraculous than the Thing itself: and that it destroyed the Knowledge of Nature's Works, and confounds all Things, if we should believe that either the Sun were a Stone, or that ever any Stone were in it. But, that Stones fall often, no Man will make any doubt- In the public Place of Exercise in Abydos, there is one at this Day upon the same Cause preserved, and held in great Reverence : it is but of small size, yet it is reported to be the same that Anaxagoras foretold to be about to fall in the midst of the Earth. There is one revered also at Cassandria, which was called Potidsea, a Colony from thence deducted. I myself have seen another in the Territory of the Vocantians, which was brought thither but a little before.

CHAPTER LIX. Of the Rainbow.

THOSE which we call Rainbows, are seen often without any Wonder, or betokening Portent : for they foretel not so much

facts are no longer doubted, the instances recorded by Pliny become valuable evidences of their antiquity. A still more ancient instance is found in the Book of Joshua, x. 11, where, in the conquest of Canaan, the Lord threw down great stones from heaven on the enemy, and dis- comfited them. The miraculous nature of this last transaction does not remove it from the class of natural occurrences ; for Nature itself is only an instrument in the hands of its Creator. With regard to the prognos- tication of Anaxagoras, it can only be taken to signify the high reputation of this philosopber ; which led the public to believe that they could not attribute too much to his insight into the occurrences of Nature. There is reason to suppose that some of the images which were said to have fallen down from Jupiter (Acts of the Apostles, xix. 35) were derived from tbis source. — Wern. Club.

98 History of Nature. [BooK 1 1 .

as rainy or fair Days, in a Manner that we can trust them. But it is manifest that the Sunbeams striking upon an hollow Cloud, when their Edge is repelled, are beaten back against the Sun : and thus ariseth a Variety of Colours by the Mix- ture of Clouds, Air, and fiery Light. Certainly, they never are known but opposite to the Sun ; nor at any Time other- wise than in Form of a Semicircle ; nor yet in the Night Season, although Aristotle saith1 there was a Rainbow seen by Night : however he confesseth, that it could not possibly be but at the full of the Moon. They happen for the most Part in Winter, chiefly from the Autumnal Equinox, as the Days decrease. But as Days grow longer after the Spring Equinox, they be not seen, no more than about the Summer Solstice, when the Days are longest. But in Bruma, that is to say, when they be shortest, they appear often. The same appear aloft when the Sun is low ; and below, when he is aloft. Also, they be of narrower Compass when the Sun either riseth or setteth, but their Body spreadeth broad : and at Noon they are narrower, but wider in Circumference. In Summer they be not seen about Noon, but after the Autumnal Equinox at all hours ; and never more than two at once. The Rest of the same Nature, I see few Men do make any doubt of.

CHAPTER LX. Of Hail , Snow, Frost, Mist, and Dew.

HAIL is formed of Rain, congealed into Ice : and Snow of the same Humour grown together, but not so hard. Frost is made of Dew frozen. In Winter Snows fall, and not Hail. It haileth oftener in the Daytime than in the Night ; yet Hail sooner melteth by far than Snow. Mists be not seen either in Summer, or in very cold Weather. Dews shew not either in Frost or in hot Seasons, neither when there is Wind ; but

1 A rainbow by night is so far from being rare, that it is only the difference of climate that will explain why Aristotle and Pliny speak so doubtfully about it. It is usually void of colour. — Wern. Club.

BOOK II.] History of Nature. 99

only after a calm and clear Night. Frosts dry up moisture ; for when the Ice is thawed the like Proportion of Water is not found.

CHAPTER LXI.

Of the Shapes of Clouds.

A VARIETY of Colours and Shapes are seen in Clouds, according as the Fire intermingled therein is either more or less.

CHAPTER LXII. Of the Properties of Weather in various Places.

MOREOVER there are many Properties of the Weather peculiar to certain Places. The Nights in Africa be dewy in Winter; in Italy, about Locri and the Lake Velinus, there is not a Day but a Rainbow is seen. At Rhodes and Syracuse, the Air is never so cloudy, but one Hour or other the Sun shineth out. But such Things as these shall be related more fitly in due Place. Thus much of the Air.

CHAPTER LXIII. Of the Nature of the Earth.

THE Earth followeth next : unto which alone of all Parts of the World, for her especial Benefits, we have given the reverend Name of Mother1. For like as the Heaven is the

1 The earth was so commonly termed Mother by Greek and Roman writers, in prose and verse, that it is unnecessary to refer to particular in- stances. And it is not to be regarded as merely a poetic metaphor or idle declamation, for it was their belief that the earliest origin of mankind was from the ground, by an inherent property ; as explained by Lucre- tius in his Second Book on the " Nature of Things : " so that each primi- tive nation arose from its own soil. And even the renewal of the earth with inhabitants after the flood, from the stones cast by Deucalion and Pyrrha, was not popularly regarded as a fable ; although it is probable that a mystical meaning was also supposed to be couched in the narrative. But by Pliny this idea of maternity was extended more widely through his adoption of the Pythagorean notion of the earth's being a living

100 History of Nature. [BooK 11.

(Mother) of God, even so is she of Men. She it is that taketh us when we are coming into the World, nourisheth us when we are new born : and once being come abroad, ever sustaiueth us: and at the last, when we are rejected of all the World besides, she embraceth us : then most of all, like a kind Mother, she covereth us all over in her Bosom : by no Merit more sacred than by it, wherewith she maketh us sacred !; even bearing our Tombs and Titles, continuing our Name, and extending our Memory against the Shortness of our Age: whose last Power we, in our Anger, wish to be heavy unto our Enemy2, and yet she is heavy to none; as if we were ignorant that she alone is never angry with any Man. Waters ascend into Clouds; they harden into Hail, swell into Waves, and hasten headlong into Torrents. The Air is thickened into Clouds, and rageth with Storms. But She is bountiful, mild, and indulgent ; ready at all Times to attend, as a Handmaid, upon the Good of Mortals. See what she breeds being forced ! nay, what she yieldeth of her own accord ! what odoriferous Smells, and pleasant Tastes ! what Juices, what soft Things, what Colours ! how faithfully doth she repay, with Usury, that which was credited out unto her ! Finally, what Things doth she nourish for our sake ! for hurtful Creatures, when the vital Breath was to blame in giving them Life, she could not refuse to receive, after they

being; and as such, feeling and producing, by a kind of intelligence, all the effects of pleasure or pain that can be ascribed to a sensitive being. — Wern. Club.

1 To few things were the ancients more sensitive than to the honour or unhappiness of interment after death. In various parts of the sacred Scriptures the exposure of the inanimate body is threatened as a dreadful calamity ; as in the instance of Goliath to David (1 Sam. xvii. 44) ; and its infliction was felt to be a reproach, by both Israelites and Philistines, in the case of Saul (1 Sam. xxxi. 12, 13). The instance of Elpenor, in the eleventh book of the " Odyssey," and of Antigone, in the celebrated Greek play of " Sophocles," are proofs how strongly the same feeling existed in Greece. An ancient law of the Romans said : " Where the body is interred, let the spot be sacred." — Wern. Club.

a " Sit tibi terra levis" was the earnestly expressed wish of the Romans over the ashes of their friends ; and that it might lie heavy on their foes, was an equally grave denunciation.— Wern. Club.

BOOK II.] History of Nature. 101

were sown in her ; and being once bred, to sustain them. That they proved venomous the Fault was to be laid upon the Parents that engendered them, and not to her. For she entertaineth no more a Serpent l after it hath stung a Man : nay, she requireth punishment for them that are slow and negligent of themselves to seek it. She bringeth forth mecli- cinable Herbs, and evermore produces Something good for Man. Moreover, it may be believed, that in compassion to us, she appointed Poisons2, that when we were weary of Life, cursed Famine (most adverse of all others to the Merits of the Earth) should not consume us with pining Consump- tion ; that lofty Precipices should not dash our Bodies to pieces ; nor the preposterous Punishment by the Halter dis- tort our Necks, and stop that Breath which we seek to be rid of: last of all, that we might not seek our Death in the Sea, and so be Food for Fishes ; nor yet the Edge of the Sword mangle our Body, and so inflict extreme Pain. It is, there- fore, in Compassion to us that she hath brought forth that by which, in one gentle and easy Draught, we might die without any Hurt of our Body, and without diminishing one Drop of our Blood : without grievous Pain, and like them that be athirst: that being in this Manner dead, neither Fowl of the Air, nor wild Beast, prey upon our Bodies, but

1 We have not met with any thing to support this strange opinion of Pliny, unless the following from Sir T. Browne's " Vulgar Errors " may be thought to do so :— " Some veins of the earth, and also whole regions, not only destroy the life of venomous creatures, but also prevent their productions." — Wern. Club.

2 It was among the most awful of the customs of the Heathen, that suicide was resorted to by even the most excellent men, on very slight occasions. Not only are there instances where diseases of no great severity were regarded as authorising this last resource, but on the least disappointment or failure of success in a public undertaking it was consi- dered as a point of honour, and an instance of commendable courage ; of which the case of the illustrious stoic Brutus, at Philippi, is an eminent instance. Pliny seems not to have imagined that no substance in nature is really a poison, and that the plants and minerals so denominated are only injurious when wrongly or too powerfully administered ; their more concentrated strength, when properly used, only rendering them the better instruments of good.— Wern. Club.

102 History of Nature. [BooK II.

that he should be reserved for the Earth, who perished by himself and for himself: and, to confess the Truth, the Earth had bred the Remedy of all Miseries, however we have made it a Poison to our Life. For in the same Manner we also employ Iron, which we cannot possibly be without. And yet we should not do justly to complain, if she had brought it forth to do hurt. Surely to this only Part of Nature we are unthankful, as though she served not Man's Turn for all Dainties ; not for Reproach to be misused. She is thrown into the Sea, or to let in Arms of the Sea, eaten away with Water. With Iron Tools, with Wood, Fire, Stone, Burthens of Corn, she is tormented every Hour : and all this much more for our Pleasures than to serve us with Food and Necessaries. And yet these Misusages which she abideth above, and in her outward Skin, may seem in some Sort tolerable. But we pierce into her very Bowels in search of Veins of Gold and Silver, Copper and Lead. And to seek out Gems and some little Stones, we sink Pits deep in the Ground. Thus we pluck the very Bowels from her to wear on our Finger one Gem to fulfil our Pleasure, How many Hands are worn with digging, that one Joint of our Finger may shine ! Surely, if there were any infernal Spirits be- neath, ere this Time these Mines (to feed Covetousness and Luxury) would have brought them above Ground. Do we wonder, then, if she hath brought forth some Things hurt- ful ? But savage Beasts (I think) preserve her ; they keep sacrilegious Hands from doing her Injury. Dig we not amongst Dragons and Serpents ? and, together with Veins of Gold, handle we not the Roots of poisonous Herbs ? Never- theless, this Goddess we find the more appeased for all this Misusage, because the End of all this Wealth tendeth to Wickedness, to Murders, and Wars, and her whom we drench with our Blood, we cover also with unburied Bones. Which, nevertheless, as if she did reproach us for this Fury, she herself covereth in the End, and hideth even the Wick- edness of Mortals. Among other Imputations of an un- thankful Mind, I may allege this also, that we be ignorant of her Nature.

BOOK II.] History of Nature. 103

CHAPTER LXIV. Of the Form of the Earth.

THE first Thing that offereth itself to be considered, is her Figure, in which by a general Consent we all agree. For surely we utter nothing more commonly than the round Ball1 of the Earth ; and confess that it is a Globe enclosed within two Poles. But yet the Form is not that of a perfect Globe, considering so great Height of Mountains, and such Extent of Plains; nevertheless, if the Compass thereof might be taken by Lines, the End of those Lines would meet just in Circuit, and prove the Figure to be an accurate Circle. And this the very Consideration of natural Reason doth convince, although there were not those Causes which we alleged about the Heaven. For in it the hollow Convexity declineth upon itself, and on every Side resteth upon the Centre thereof, which is that of the Earth. But this being solid and compact, ariseth as if it swelled, and is stretched without. The Heaven inclineth toward the Centre, but the Earth goeth from the Centre ; whilst the World, with con- tinual Volubility and turning about it, driveth the huge Globe thereof into the Form of a round Ball.

1 The Egyptian Cosmogony, as delivered by Diodorus Siculus, de- scribes the earth as "rolled within itself, and turned continually;" although a subsequent idea was founded on its being merely an extended surface, where the earth was inclosed within a field of waters, which was again encompassed with darkness and impenetrable mist. But after what Pliny has said in this, and the immediately following chapters, on the form of the earth, and the proofs he has given of its being a globe, it seems surprising that a contrary opinion should have prevailed, even to comparatively modern times; and especially among men accustomed to regard every thing delivered by the ancients as unquestionably true. This perversity can only be accounted for by having made a religious dogma of the contrary idea, on the authority of some ill-understood passages of Scripture.— Wern. Club.

104 History of Nature. [BooK II.

CHAPTER LXV.

Of the Antipodes, whether there be any such. Also of the Roundness of Water.

THERE is here great Debate between learned Men ; and contrariwise of the ignorant Multitude : for they hold, that Men are overspread on all Parts upon the Earth, and stand one against another, Foot to Foot : also that the Summit of the Heaven is alike unto all : and in what Part soever Men be, they still tread after the same Manner in the midst. But the common Sort ask, How, then, it happeneth, that they who are opposite against us, do not fall into Heaven ? as if there were not a Reason also ready, That the Antipodes again should wonder why we also fell not off? Now there is Reason that cometh between, carrying a Probability with it, even to the untaught Multitude, that in a Globe of the Earth, with many Ascents, as if its Figure resembled a Nut of the Pine Tree; yet, nevertheless, it may be well inhabited in every Place. But what Good doth all this, when another great Wonder ariseth ? namely, that itself hangeth, and falleth not with us: as if the Power of that Spirit1 especially enclosed in the World were doubted: or that any Thing could fall when Nature is repugnant thereto, and affordeth no Place whither to fall : for as there is no Seat of Fire, but in Fire ; of Water, but in Water ; of Air and Spirit, but in Air ; even so there is no Room for Earth but in Earth, see- ing all the Elements besides are ready to repel it from them. Nevertheless, it is wonderful still how it should become a Globe, considering so great Flatness of Plains and Seas. Of which Opinion, Dicearchus (a Man of the first Rank in Learning,) is a Favourer ; who, to satisfy the curious Inquiry of Kings, had a Commission to take the Measure of Moun- tains : of which he said that Pelion, the highest, was a Mile- and-a-half high by the Plumb-line; and collected thereby,

1 What we now know to arise from the power of gravity, Pliny as- cribes to the Anima Mundi, or vivifying effect of the soul of the world ; with him, an answer to all difficulties.— Wern. Club.

BOOK II.] History of Nature. 1 05

that its Proportion was Nothing in Comparison of the uni- versal Rotundity of the Whole. But to me this was an uncertain Guess of his, since I am not ignorant that certain Tops of the Alps, for a long Tract, arise not under fifty Miles in Height.

But this is it that the common People resist the most, if they should be forced to believe that the Form of Water also gathereth itself round at the Top. And yet there is Nothing in the Nature of Things more evident to the Sight ; for the Drops every where, not only as they hang, appear like little round Balls ; but also if they light upon Dust, or rest upon the Down of Leaves, we see them keep a perfect Roundness. Also in Cups that are filled brimful, the middle Part in the Top swelleth most. Which Things, considering the Thinness of the Fluid, and its Softness settling upon itself, are sooner found out by Reason than the Eye. And this is more won- derful, that when Cups are filled to the full, if a very little more Liquor be added, the overplus will run over all about : but it falleth out the contrary, if you put in any solid Weights, even if it were to the Weight of Twenty Denarii. The Reason is, that Things received within, lift up the Li- quor aloft to the Top, but poured upon the Tumour that beareth aloft above the Edges, it must needs glide off. The same is the Reason why the Land cannot be seen by them that stand on the Deck of a Ship, but very plainly at the same time from the Top of the Masts. Also as a Ship goeth off from the Land, if any Thing that shineth be fastened on the Top of the Mast, it seemeth to go down into the Sea by little and little, until at last it is hidden entirely. Last of all, the very Ocean, which we confess to be the utmost Bound environing the whole Globe : by what other Figure could it hold together, since there is no Bank beyond it to keep it in? And this also cometh to be a Wonder how it happeneth, although the Sea grow to be round, that the utmost Edge thereof falleth not down ? Against which, if that the Seas were plain, and of the Form they seem to be, the Greek Philosophers, to their own great Joy and Glory, prove by geometrical Demonstration, that it cannot possibly be that the Water should fall. For seeing that Waters run naturally

106 History of Nature. [BOOK II.

from above to the lower Parts, and that all Men confess that this is their Nature, and no Man doubteth that the Water of the Sea hath always come on any Shore so far as the Sloping would have suffered : doubtless it appeareth, that the lower a Thing is, the nearer it is to the Centre ; and that all the Lines which from thence are sent out to the next Waters, are shorter than those which from the first Waters reach to the utmost Extremity of the Sea. Hereupon the whole Water, from every Part thereof, bendeth to the Centre, and there- fore falleth not away, because it inclineth naturally to the inner Parts. And this we must believe, that Nature, the Work-mistress, framed it so : to the End that the Earth, which being dry could not by itself, without some Moisture, keep any Consistence ; and the Fluid, likewise, which could not abide, unless the Earth upheld it, might mutually em- brace one another ; the one opening all the Creeks, and the other running wholly into the other, by the Means of secret Veins within, without, and above, like Bands to clasp it ; yea, and so break out at the Tops of the Hills : whither being partly carried by a Spirit, and partly expressed by the Weight of the Earth, it mounteth, as it were, in Pipes : and so far is it from Danger of falling away, that it leapeth up to the highest and loftiest Things. By which Reason it is evident, why the Seas do not increase, although so many Rivers daily run into them.

CHAPTER LXVI. How the Water is united to the Earth.

THE Earth, therefore, in its whole Globe, is in the midst thereof hemmed in with the Sea, that flows round about it. And this needeth not to be sought out by Argument, for it is known already by Experience.

CHAPTER LXVII. Navigation upon the Sea and great Rivers.

FROM Gades and the Pillars of Hercules, the whole of the West Sea is at this Day sailed over in the whole Compass of

BOOK 1 1 .] History of Nature. 107

Spain and France. But the North Ocean was for the most Part discovered, under the Conduct of Divus Augustus Casar1, who, with a Fleet, compassed Germany, and as far as to the Cape of the Cimbrians : and from thence having viewed the vast Sea, or taken Knowledge thereof by Report, he passed to the Scythian Climate and those cold Coasts abounding with too much Moisture. For which Cause tKere is no likelihood, that in those Parts the Seas are at an End, where the Power of Moisture predominates. And near it, from the East, out of the Indian Sea, that whole Part under the same Clime which bendeth toward the Caspian Sea, was sailed throughout by the Macedonian Armies, when Seleucus and Antiochus reigned, who commanded that Seleucida and Antiochida should bear their Names. About the Caspian Sea, also, many Coasts of the Ocean have been discovered ; and by Piecemeal, rather than all at once, the North of one Side or other hath been sailed or rowed over. But to put all out of Conjecture, there is a great Argument collected by the Palus Maeotis, whether it be a Gulf of that Ocean (as many have believed) or an overflowing of the same, divided from it by a narrow Piece of the Continent. In another Side of Gades, from the same, West, a great Part of the South Gulf, round about Mauritania, is at this Day sailed. And, indeed, the greater Part of it, as well as of the East, also the Victories of Alexander the Great encompassed on every Side, as far as to the Arabian Gulf. Wherein, when Cams Ccesar the son of Augustus warred in those Parts, the Marks are reported to have been seen remaining from the Spaniards' Shipwreck. Hanno, likewise, in the Time that the Power of Carthage flourished, sailed round from Gades to the utmost Bounds of Arabia2, and set down that Voyage in Writing :

1 This can only refer to an expedition, mentioned by Suetonius in his life of the Emperor Claudius, of Drusus, the son of Livia ; who, while commanding in the Rhetian and German wars, was the first of the Romans that navigated the Northern Ocean. — Wem. Club.

2 The only fragment of the geographical knowledge of the Cartha- ginians that has come down to our times is the " Periplus" of Hanno. It is printed in Hudson's " Geographic Veteris Scriptores Graeciae," 4 vols.

108 History of Nature. [BooK II.

like as also Himilco, at the same Time, was sent out to dis- cover the remote Coasts of Europe. Moreover, Cornelius Nepos writeth, that in his Time a certain Eudoxus1, when he fled from King Lathyrus, departed out of the Arabian Gulf,

8vo. Leipsic ; and has been investigated by three competent geographers. First, by Bougainville, who conceives Hanno to have reached the Gulf of Benin ; next, by Major Rennell, who carries his course only to a little beyond Sierra Leone ; and lastly, by M. Gosselin, who insists upon termi- nating it about the river Nun. According to these authorities, Pliny has greatly extended the voyage of Hanno, when he says he reached the utmost bounds of Arabia. Herodotus does not seem to have been informed of this voyage of Hanno, he merely says (" Melpomene," xliii.) : — " The Cartha- ginians affirm, that they ascertained that Libya is surrounded by the sea." — Wern. Club.

1 Strabo has thrown some discredit on the voyage of Eudoxus to make the circuit of Africa : but he does not seem to adduce any argument strong enough to controvert the general belief of antiquity, that repeated at- tempts were made by Eudoxus to explore the unknown coasts of the African continent. He was a native of Cyzicus, and employed first by Ptolemy Euergetes, and afterwards at his own instigation, in several maritime expeditions. A digest of the narratives of Strabo respecting these voyages of Eudoxus, may be seen in Murray's " Encyclopedia of Geography," p. 14.

That the circumnavigation of Africa was really accomplished, even prior to the time of Herodotus, we learn from " Melpomene," xlii. " For Libya is clearly surrounded by the sea, except so much of it as borders on Asia ; this, Neco, king of the Egyptians, was the first we know of to demonstrate. That prince, having ceased his excavations for the canal leading out of the Nile into the Arabian Gulf, despatched certain natives of Phoenicia on shipboard, with orders to sail back through the Pillars of Hercules, even into the North Sea, and so make good their return into Egypt. The Phosnicians of consequence having departed out of the Ery- threan Sea, proceeded on their voyage in the Southern Sea : when it was autumn, they would push ashore, and sowing the land, whatever might be the part of Libya they had reached, await the harvest time : having reaped their corn, they used to continue their voyage : thus, after the lapse of two years, having in the third doubled the Pillars of Hercules, they came back into Egypt ; and stated what is not credible to me, but may be so, perhaps, to some, that in their circumnavigation of Libya they had the sun on the right. Thus was Libya first known to be surrounded by the sea." — LAURENT'S Herodotus.

" Herodotus," says Murray, " seems inclined to credit this information, unless on the ground of one general statement, -<- that they had the sun

BOOK II.] History of Nature. 109

and held on his Course as far as Gades. And Ccelius Antipater, long before him, reporteth, that he saw the Man who had sailed from Spain to Ethiopia, in pursuit of Merchandise. The same Nepos maketh Report concerning the compassing about of the North, that unto Qu. Metellus Celer (Colleague to-C. Afranius in the Consulship, but at that Time Proconsul in Gaul) certain Indians were given by a King of the Sue- vians1, who, as they sailed out of India, for Traffic, as Mer-

on the right ; which being the very thing that should have happened, and disbelieved only through his ignorance, strongly fortifies our inclina- tion to credit the story." — Wern. Club.

1 At an early period the Phoenicians, and probably the Greeks, did not scruple to entrap, and sell for slaves, strangers and others who had never kindled their resentment. In the fourteenth book of the " Odys- sey," Ulysses represents himself as having narrowly escaped a snare of this kind; and as the whole narrative is an artful fiction, intended to have the appearance of truth to an Ithacan peasant, the practice of kidnapping slaves could not then have appeared incredible to any inhabitant of that island : —

" A false Phoenician, of insidious mind, Versed in vile arts, and foe to humankind, With semblance fair invites me to his home ; I seized the proffer (ever fond to roam) : Domestic in his faithless roof I stay'd, Till the swift sun his annual circle made. To Libya then he meditates the way ; With guileful art a stranger to betray, And sell to bondage in a foreign land : Much doubting, yet compell'd, I quit the strand. * * * * *

* * but Jove's intent

Was yet to save the oppress'd and innocent." — POPE.

Tacitus ("Agricola," cap. xxviii.) mentions an instance of shipwrecked persons having been treated as pirates, and sold into slavery. He is speak- ing of a cohort of the Usipians serving in Britain, who, having left the island in three light galleys, became the sport of winds and waves. In this distress they sailed round the extremity of the island, and, through want of skill in navigation, were wrecked on the Continent, where they were treated as pirates, first by the Suevians, and afterwards by the Fri- sians. Being sold to slavery, and in the way of commerce turned over to different masters, some of them reached the Roman settlements on the banks of the Rhine, and there grew famous for their sufferings, and the

110 History of Nature. [BooK II.

chants, were driven by tempestuous Weather, and cast upon Germany. Thus the Seas flowing on every Side about this divided Globe, bereave us of a Part of the World : so that neither from thence hither, nor from hence thither, is there a Passage. The Contemplation of this, serving to discover the Vanity of Men, seenieth to require that I should submit to the Eye, how great this is, whatever it be ; and wherein there is nothing sufficient to satisfy the Appetite of every Man.

CHAPTER LXVIII.

What Portion of the Earth is habitable.

Now, in the first Place, it seems to be computed as if the Earth were the just Half of the Globe, and that no Portion of it were cut off by the Ocean: which notwithstanding, clasping round about all the midst thereof, yielding forth and receiving again all other Waters, and what Exhalations go out into Clouds, and feeding the very Stars, so many as they be, and of such great magnitude ; what a mighty Space will it be thought to take up, and how little can there be left for men to inhabit ! Surely the possession of so vast a Mass must be excessive and infinite. Add to this, that of that which is left, the Heaven hath taken away the greater Part. For whereas there be of the Heaven five Parts, which they

bold singularity of their voyage. — See the " Agricola " of Tacitus, cap. xxviii., translated by Murphy.

It would even appear that such distressed strangers were deemed a proper sacrifice to the gods : Herodotus reports it as a tradition (book ii.) that when Hercules, in his journeyings, arrived in Egypt, the Egyptians crowned him with a garland, and designed to sacrifice him to Jupiter, if he had not delivered himself by his great strength. The objection of the historian to this story, on the ground of the unbloody sacrifices of the Egyptians, is sufficiently answered by the fact that they were in the habit of sacrificing red-haired men to their evil deity. Again, in his fourth book, he says, that the Taurians, a people of Scythia, were accustomed to sacrifice to a virgin all strangers that suffered shipwreck on their coast, and all Grecian sailors they were able to seize. The people of Israel, on the con- trary, were commanded by their law kindly to welcome strangers; for they themselves had been strangers in a foreign land. — Wern. Club.

BOOK II.] History of Nature. 1 1 1

call Zones1 : all that lieth under the two utmost, on both Sides about the Poles, namely, the one which is called Sep- tentrio, or the North, and the other over against it, named the South, is overcharged with extreme Cold and perpetual Frost. In both Zones it is always dim, and because the Aspect of the milder Planets is diverted from thence, the Light that is, sheweth but little, and appeareth white with the Frost only. But the Middle of the Earth, in which the Sun keepeth his Course, scorched and burnt with Flames, is pre- sently parched with its hot Gleams2. Those two only on either Side, between this burnt Zone and the two frozen, are Temperate : and even those have not a Passage one to the

1 The poetical account of Ovid, in his " Metamorphoses," expresses the belief of the ancients in this division. — Wern, Club.

2 Whatever acquaintance with the remote regions of the earth the Phoenicians and Carthaginians might have acquired, was concealed from the rest of mankind with mercantile jealousy ; and every thing relative to the course of their navigation was not only a mystery of trade, but a secret of state. Hence the ignorance of geography manifested by Pliny and other writers, long after these celebrated voyagers had effected the circumnavigation of Africa. Polybius, whose history was written about 150 years B. c., and who was particularly distinguished by his attention to geographical researches, affirms that it was not known, in his time, whether Africa was a continued continent stretching to the south, or whether it was encompassed by the sea. Strabo mentions, indeed, the voyage of Eudoxus, but treats it as a fabulous tale : and Ptolemy, the most inquisitive and learned of all the ancient geographers, was equally unacquainted with any parts of Africa situated a few degrees beyond the Equinoctial Line ; for he supposes that this great continent was not surrounded by the sea, but that it stretched, without interruption, to- wards the South Pole ; and he so far mistakes its true figure, that he describes it as becoming broader and broader as it advances towards the South.

The notion of the ancients concerning such an excessive degree of heat in the Torrid Zone as rendered it uninhabitable, and their persisting in this error long after they began to have some commercial intercourse with several parts of India lying within the Tropics, is very extraordinary. Pliny, in this chapter, falls in with both these errors : and Cicero (" Som- nium Scipionis") holds the same opinion, — and other authorities might be adduced. — See the Notes to Robertson's " History of America," where he attempts to account for the apparent inconsistency of the ancients with respect to their theory and experience. — Wern. Club.

1 12 History of Nature. [BooK II .

other, by .Reason of the burning Heat of the Planet. Thus the Heaven hath taken from the Earth three Parts : and what the Ocean hath plucked from it besides, is uncertain. And even that one Portion remaining unto us, I know not whether it be not even in greater Danger. For the same Ocean entering (as we will shew) into many Creeks, keepeth a Roaring against the other Seas within the Earth, and so near cometh unto them, that the Arabian Gulf is not from the Egyptian Sea above 115 Miles: the Caspian likewise from the Pontic no more than 375. And the same floweth between, and entereth into so many Arms, as thereby it divideth Africa, Europe, and Asia asunder. What a Quan- tity of the Land it taketh up may be reckoned at this Day by the Measure of so many Rivers and Marshes. Add thereto the Lakes and Pools : and take also from the Earth the high Mountains, bearing their Heads aloft into the Sky, so as hardly the Eye can reach their Heights; with the Woods and steep Descents of the Valleys, the Wildernesses, and Wilds left desert for a thousand Causes. These, so many Pieces of the Earth, or rather as most have written, this little Point of the World (for surely the Earth is nothing else in Comparison of the whole) is the only Matter and Seat of our Glory : here we seek for Honours, here we exercise our Dominion : here we covet Wealth : here all Mankind is set upon Turbulence : here we raise Wars even between Citizens of the same Country : and with mutual Murders we make more Room in the Earth^ And to let pass the public Fury of Nations abroad, this is it wherein we drive out our Neigh- bours on our Borders, and by Stealth dig Turf from our Neighbour's Soil to put it unto our own : and when a Man hath extended his Lands, and gotten Countries to himself far and near, what a goodly deal of the Earth doth he enjoy ! but if he extends his Bounds to the full of his Covetous- ness, what Portion thereof shall he hold when at last he is dead?

BOOK II.] History of Nature. 113

CHAPTER LXIX. That the Earth is in the midst of the World.

THAT the Earth is in the midst of the whole World, appeareth by undoubted Reasons : but most evidently by the equal Hours of the Equinox. For, unless it were in the midst, the Instruments called Dioptrce have proved that Nights and Days could not be found equal : and those In- struments, above all other, confirm the same : seeing that in the Equinox, by the same Line, both Rising and Setting of the Sun are seen ; but the Summer Sun rising, and the Win- ter setting, by their own several Lines. Which could by no means happen if the Earth resteth not in the Centre.

«

CHAPTER LXX.

Of the Unequal Rising of the Stars: of the Eclipse, both where and how it cometh.

THERE are three Circles closed within the Zones afore- named, which distinguish the Inequalities of the Days : which are, the (Summer) Solstitial Tropic, from the highest Part of the Zodiac, in regard of us, toward the North Clime ; and against it, another called the Winter Tropic, toward the Southern Pole : and in like Manner the Equinoctial, which goeth in the midst of the Zodiac Circle. The Cause of the rest, which we wonder at, is in the Figure of the Earth itself, which, together with the Water, is, by the same Arguments, known to be like a Globe : for so, doubtless, it cometh to pass, that with us the Stars about the North Pole never set ; and those contrariwise of the South, never rise. And again, those which are here be not seen of them, by Reason that the Globe of the Earth swelleth up in the midst between. Again, Trogloditine, and Egypt bordering upon it, never see the North Pole Stars : neither hath Italy a Sight of Canopus, or that which they name Berenice's Hair. Likewise another, which, under the Empire of Augustus, men surnamed Ccesaris

H

1 14 History of Nature. [BooK 1 1 .

Thronon*: which yet are remarkable Stars. And so evidently bendeth the Convexity of the Earth, that Canopus at Alex- andria seemeth to the Beholders elevated above the Earth almost one-fourth Part of a Sign ; but at Rhodes, the same appeareth almost to touch the very Horizon, and in Pontus, where the Elevation of the North Pole is highest, it is not seen at all : yea, and this same Pole at Rhodes is hidden, but more in Alexandria. In Arabia it is all hid at the first Watch of the Night in November ; but at the second, it is visible. In Meroe, at Midsummer, in the Evening, it ap- peareth for a while ; but some few Days before the Rising of Arcturus it is seen with the very Dawning of the Day. Sailors, by their Voyages, come to the Knowledge of these Stars most of any other, by Reason that some Seas are oppo- site unto some Stars ; but others lie flat and incline forward to others : so that also those Pole Stars appear suddenly, as rising out of the Sea, which lay hidden before under the winding Compass of a Ball. For the Heaven (Mundus) riseth not aloft in this higher Pole, as some Men have said ; for if so, these Stars should be seen in every Place : but those that to the nearest Observers are supposed to be higher, the same seem to them afar off to be immersed in the Sea. And as this North Pole seemeth to be aloft to those that are situated directly under it, so to them that be removed so far as the other Devexity or Fall of the Earth, those abovesaid Stars rise up aloft there, while these decline downward which here were mounted on high. Which Thing could not possibly fall out but in the Figure of a Ball. And hence it is, that the Inhabitants of the East perceive not the Eclipses of the Sun and Moon in the Evening, no more than those that dwell West in the Morning : but those that be at Noon in the South they often see. At the Time that Alexander the Great obtained his famous Victory at Arbela, it is said that the Moon was eclipsed at the second Hour of the Night : but this Eclipse was at the Time of her Rising in Sicily. The Eclipse

1 Ccesaris Thronon: a new name affixed to an old constellation by some flattering Greek ; but of which no further clue remains. The name is not found in any other writer. — Wern. Club.

BOOK II.] History of Nature. 115

of the Sun which happened before the Kalends of May, when Vipsanus and Fonteius were Consuls (and that was not many Years past) was seen in Campania between the seventh and eighth Hours of the Day : but Corbulo (a Commander then in Armenia) made Report, that it was seen there between the tenth and eleventh Hours of the same Day : which was be- cause the Compass of the Globe discovereth and hideth some Things to some, and other to others. But if the Earth were level, all Things should appear at once to all Men ; for neither would one Night be longer than another, nor would the Day of twelve Hours appear equal to any but to those that are seated in the midst of the Earth, which now in all Parts agree toge- ther alike.

CHAPTER LXXI.

What is the Reason of the Daylight upon the Earth?

AND hence it is, that it is neither Night nor Day at one Time in all Parts of the World ; because the Opposition of the Globe bringeth Night, and the Circuit thereof the Day. This is known by many Experiments1. In Africa and Spain there were raised by Annibal, high Watch-towers : and in Asia, for the Fear of Pirates, the like Help of Beacons was erected. Wherein it was observed oftentimes, that the Fires giving Warning before (which were set on Fire at the sixth Hour of the Day), were descried by them that were farthest off in Asia, at the third Hour of the Night. Philonides, the Courier of the same Alexander, despatched in nine Hours of the Day 1200 Stadia, as far as from Sicyone to Elis : and from thence again (although he went down Hill all the Way) he returned oftentimes, but not before the third Hour of the Night. The Cause was, because he had the Sun with him in his Setting out ; and in his Return to Sicyon he went against it, and ere he came home, left it in the West behind. Which is the Reason also, that they who by Daylight sail Westward in the shortest Day of the Year, pass along more Way than those who sail all the Night long at the same Time, because the others accompany the Sun.

1 These effects of longitude are either greatly exaggerated or untrue. -— Wem. Club.

116 History of Nature. [BoOK II.

CHAPTER LXXII.

The Gnomonic Art of the same Matter : and also of the first

Dial

ALSO the Instruments serving for the Hours will not serve for all Places : but in every 300 Stadia, or 500 at the farthest, the Shadows that the Sun casteth are changed ; and therefore the Shadow of the Style in the Dial, which they call the Gnomon, in Egypt, at Noon, in the equinoctial Day, is little more in length than half the Gnomon. But in the city of Rome the Shadow wanteth the ninth Part of the Gnomon. In the Town of Ancona it is longer by a thirty- fifth Part. But in that Part of Italy which is called Venice, at the same Time and Hour the Shadow and the Gnomon are of one Length.

CHAPTER LXXIII. Where and when there be no Shadows.

IN like Manner they say, that in the Town of Syene (which is above Alexandria fifty Stadia), at Noon, in the midst of Summer, there is no Shadow : and that for Experi- ment thereof, a Well that was sunk in the Ground was lighted to the Bottom ; whereby it appeareth that the Sun at that Time is directly over that Place. Which also at the same Time happeneth in India, above the River Hypasis, as Onesi- critus hath written. And it is known that in Berenice, a City of the Trogloditse, and from thence 4820 Stadia in the same Country, at the Town of Ptolemais (which was built at first on the Border of the Red Sea, for the Pleasure of hunt- ing Elephants), the same is to be seen forty-five Days before the Summer Solstice, and as long after : so that for the Space of ninety Days all Shadows are cast toward the South. Again, in the Island of Meroe, which is the capital Place of the Ethiopian Nation, and is inhabited 5000 Stadia from Syene, upon the River Nile, twice in the Year the Shadows disappear ; which is, when the Sun is in the eighteenth De- grees of Taurus , and in the fourteenth of Leo. In the Coun-

BOOK II.] History of Nature. 1 1 7

try of the Oretes, in India, there is a Mountain named Maleus, near which the Shadows in Summer are cast into the South, and in Winter to the North. There, for fifteen Nights only, the Constellation Septentrio is to be seen. In the same India, at Patales (a famous Port), the Sun riseth on the right Hand, and Shadows fall to the South. While Alex- ander was there, Onesicritus, an Officer of his, wrote that it was observed there, that the North Star was seen the first Part only of the Night : also that in such Places of India where there were no Shadows, the North Star did not appear : and that those Quarters were called Ascia*9 where they kept no Reckoning of Hours.

CHAPTER LXXIV.

Where Twice in the Year the Shadows fall in contrary Directions.

BUT throughout all Trogloditice, -Eratosthenes hath writ- ten, that the Shadows twice a- Year, for forty-five Days, fall in contrary Directions.

CHAPTER LXXV. Where the Day is longest, and where shortest.

IT cometh thus to pass, that by the variable Increment of the Daylight, the longest Day in Meroe doth comprehend twelve equinoctial Hours, and eight Parts of one Hour: but in Alexandria, fourteen Hours ; in Italy, fifteen ; in Britain, seventeen, where, in Summer, the Nights being light, by infallible Experience shew that which Reason forceth to be- lieve : namely, that at Midsummer, as the Sun approacheth near to the Pole of the World, the Places of the Earth lying underneath, have Day continually for six Months: and con- trariwise, Night, when the Sun is remote as far as Bruma. And this, Pythias of Massiles hath written of Thule2, an Island distant Northward from Britain six Days' sailing ; and

1 That is, without shadow.

2 This is judged to be Iceland. The geography of Britain will be found in the fourth book. — Wern. Club.

118 History of Nature. [BoOK II.

some affirm the same of Mona, which is an Island distant from Camalodunum, a Town of Britain, about two hundred Miles.

CHAPTER LXXVI.

Of the Horologium, or Dial.

THIS Understanding of Shadows, and what is named Gnonomice, Anaximenes the Milesian, the Disciple of Anaxi- mander above-named, discovered : and he was the first also that shewed in Lacedsemon the Horologe (or Dial1) which they call Sciotericon.

CHAPTER LXXVII. How the Days are observed.

THE very Day itself Men have, after divers Manners, observed. The Babylonians count for Day all the Time be- tween two Sun-risings ; the Athenians between the Set- tings ; The Umbrians from Noon to Noon : but all the common Sort from Daylight until it be dark : the Roman Priests, and those that have defined a Civil Day, and likewise the Egyptians and Hipparchus, from Midnight to Midnight2. That the Spaces between Lights are greater or less betwixt Sunrisings, near the Solstices, than the Equinoctials ap- peareth by this : that the Position of the Zodiac, about the Middle Parts thereof, is more oblique ; but toward the Sol- stice more direct.

CHAPTER LXXVIII. The Reason of the Difference of Nations.

HEREUNTO we must annex such Things as are linked to celestial Causes. For it is beyond doubt that the Ethiopians,

1 The Greeks were accustomed to regard as discoverers those who first made any thing known to their nation. But the dial was in use at the palace of Ahaz at Jesusalem, nearly 150 years before the time that Pliny mentions. — Wern. Club.

2 The Jews began their day from the first appearance of stars in the evening ; believing this to mark the period when creation began to be set in order, and time to be measured.— Wern. Club.

BOOK II.] History of Nature. 1 19

by Reason of the Sun's Vicinity, are scorched with the Heat thereof, like to them that be burnt, having their Beards and Hair curled. Also, that in the opposite Climate of the World to it, in the frozen Regions, the People have white Skins, Hair growing long, and straight, and yellow; but they be fierce by Reason of the rigorous Cold : howbeit, the one, as well as the other, in this Change, are dull : and the very Legs argue the Temperature. For in the Ethiopians the Juice is drawn upward again by the Nature of Heat : but among the northern Nations the same is driven to the infe- rior Parts, because Moisture is apt to fall downward. Here are bred hurtful wild Beasts : but there are found Crea- tures of a Variety of Shapes ; and especially Fowls and Birds of many Forms : they are tall of Stature, as well in one Part as the other : in the hot Regions, by occasion of the natural Tendency of Fire ; in the other, through the Nourishment by Moisture. But in the Midst of the Earth there is an whole- some Mixture from both Sides ; the whole Tract is fruitful for all Things, and the Habit of Men's Bodies of a balanced Constitution. In the Colour, also, there existeth a great Temperature. The Manners of the People are gentle, their Senses clear, their Capacity fertile and capable of all Things within the Compass of Nature. They also bear sovereign Rule, and sway Empires, which those uttermost Nations never had : yet true it is, that even they who are out of the Temperate Zones may not consent to be subject nor accommodate themselves unto these : for such is their savage Nature that it urgeth them to living solitary by themselves.

CHAPTER LXXIX.

Of Earthquakes*.

THE Babylonians were of Opinion, that Earthquakes and Chasms, and all other Occurrences of this Nature, are occa-

1 The definition of an earthquake is, — the transit of a wave of elastic compression in any direction, from vertically upwards, to horizontally in any azimuth, through the surface and crust of the earth, from any centre of impulse (whether producing flexure or fracture), or from more than

120 History of Nature. [BOOK IF.

sioned by the Influence of the Planets : bat of those three only to which they attribute Lightnings. And it is effected by the Means of their keeping their Course with the Sun, or meeting with him : and especially when this Concurrence is about the Quadratures of the Heaven. And if it be true, as it is reported, of Anaximander, the Milesian Natural Philo- sopher, his Foreknowledge of Things was excellent and wor- thy of Immortality : for they say he forewarned the Lacede- monians to look well to their City and Dwelling-houses, for that an Earthquake approached ; which fell out accord- ingly : when not only their whole City was shaken, but also a great Part of the Mountain Taygetus, which projected like

one ; and which may be attended with tidal and sound waves, dependent upon the former, and upon circumstances of position as to sea and land.— MALLET : Transactions of Royal Irish Academy, vol. xix.

The causes, and many of the attending phenomena, are as much a matter of conjecture now as when Pliny wrote ; but he does not even deem worthy of notice the popular supposition, that the giants who had rebelled against the gods were buried beneath these mountains, where by their struggles they gave occasion to those commotions : nor that the shop of Vulcan was beneath Etna, of which the crater was the chimney. It is more remarkable that he makes no reference to the idea of Pytha- goras (Ovid's " Metamorphoses," b. xv.), that the phenomena of volcanic eruption was a vital action of the earth, regarded as an animal ; for that the earth was such we find Pliny expressing a decided opinion. But the concluding explanation of the poet, however, was that which best suited his inquiries.

Ceremonies concerning Earthquakes. — Whilst it was a maxim of the state religion, that earthquakes were caused by the displeasure of some divinity, it was still necessary that each occurrence of such phenomenon should be fully announced by the proper officers, before the religious observances appropriate to the case could be required ; and thus was se- cured a guard against such alarms as might agitate the public mind, if any neglect might seem to arise. The ceremonies were by public an- nouncement ; and they were so imperative upon all, that any one engaging in ordinary work at the time of these feriae would be judged to have violated them. The salutation to the divine power that may have caused the shock was, " Si Deo, si Dea," &c., to obviate the danger of an error regarding which god, or which sex of these deities, had caused the calamity. And this was of importance, because if a wrong name were called, so far from being pacified, the real author might become still more offended. — From Aulus Gellius.— Wern. Club.

BOOK If.] History of Nature. 121

the Poop of a Ship, being broken from the Rest, came down, and with the Fall covered over the other Ruins. There is re- ported another Conjecture byPherecydes, who was the Teacher of Pythagoras; and the same was likewise of divine character; for, by drawing Water out of a Well he both foresaw and foretold an Earthquake there. Which, if they be true, how far off, I pray you, may such Men seem to be from God, even while they live upon Earth ? But I leave these Things free for every Man to weigh according to his Judgment : and for my own Part, I suppose that, without Doubt, the Winds are the proper Cause. For the Earth never quakes but when the Sea is still, and the Weather so calm that Birds, in their flying, cannot hover in the Air; because all the Spirit which should bear them up, is withdrawn : nor yet at any Time, but after the Winds are laid ; namely, when the Blast is hidden within the Veins and Caves of the Earth. Neither is this Shaking in the Earth any other Thing than is Thunder in the Cloud : nor the Chasm thereof aught else, but, like the Cleft out of which the Lightning breaketh, when the Spirit enclosed within struggleth and stirreth to go forth at Liberty.

CHAPTER LXXX. Of Chasms of the Earth.

VARIOUSLY, therefore, the Earth is shaken, and thereupon ensue wonderful Effects. In one Place the Walls of Cities are laid prostrate : in another they are swallowed up in a deep Chasm : here are cast up mighty Heaps of Earth ; there are poured out Rivers of Water; sometimes Fire doth burst forth, and hot Springs : and again the Course of Rivers is turned away backward. There goeth before and cometh with it a terrible Noise : one while a Rumbling more like the lowing of Beasts : and then again it resembleth a Man's Voice, or the clattering and rustling of Armour and Weapons; accord- ing to the Quality of the Matter that receiveth the Noise, or the Fashion either of the hollow Caverns within, or the Cranny by which it passeth ; whilst in a narrow Way it soundeth with a more slender Tone : and the same keepeth an hoarse Din in winding Caves ; rebounding again in hard

122 History of Nature. [BooK II.

Passages ; roaring in moist Places ; waving and floating in standing Waters ; boiling against solid Things. And there- fore, oftentimes a Noise is heard without an Earthquake : and never doth it shake after exactly the same Manner, but trembleth and vibrateth. The gaping Chink sometimes re- maineth wide open, and sheweth what it hath swallowed up ; and at other Times it closeth up the Mouth, and hideth all : and the Earth is brought together so again that there remain no Marks to be seen : notwithstanding many a Time it hath devoured Cities, and drawn into it a whole Tract of Country. Maritime Regions, most of all, feel Earthquakes : neither are the hilly Countries without this Calamity. I myself have known by examination, that the Alps and Apennines have oftentimes trembled. In the Autumn and Spring there happen more Earthquakes than at other Times, the same as Lightnings. And, therefore, Gallia and Egypt least of all be shaken : for in Egypt the continual Summer1, and in Gallia the Winter, is against it. Also, Earthquakes are more rife by Night than by Day. But the greatest Shocks are in the Morning and Evening. Toward Daylight there be many : and if by Day, it is usually about Noon. They are also when the Sun and Moon are eclipsed, because then Tempests are laid to Rest: but especially, when after much Rain there followeth a great Heat; or after Heat, much Rain.

CHAPTER LXXXI. Signs of Approaching Earthquakes.

SAILORS also perceive it by an undoubting Conjecture, when the Waves swell suddenly without any Gale of Wind, or when they feel a Shock. And then do the Things quake

1 It has been contended that the internal actions of the earth, causing or affected by volcanic motion, are intimately connected with changes in the atmosphere and the variety of the seasons ; giving rise also to epidemic diseases, both in man and animals, and even in vegetables : and on the other hand, that the actions of the earth, in earthquakes and volcanoes, are connected with what we now denominate the electric state of the atmosphere. Several coincidences of this kind have been remarked; and in either case they are applicable to Egypt above other countries. — Wern. Club.

BOOK II.] History of Nature. 123

which are within the Ships, just as those in Houses, and with their rustling give Warning beforehand. Birds, likewise, sit not quietly without Fear. In the Sky, also, there is a Sign, for there goeth before, either in Daytime, or soon after the Sun is gone down in Serenity, a thin Streak or Line of a Cloud stretched out in great Length. Moreover, the Water in Wells1 is more troubled than ordinary, and not without an offensive Smell.

CHAPTER LXXXII. Helps against approaching Earthquakes.

BUT there is a Remedy for the same, such as Caverns in many Places do yield : for they discharge the Wind that was conceived there before : a Thing observed in certain Towns, which because they stand hollow, and have many Sinks dug to convey away their Filth, are less shaken. And in the same Towns, those Parts which be pendant are the safer : as is well seen in Naples, in Italy, where that Quarter thereof which is solid is subject to such Casualties. And in Houses the Arches are most safe, and the Angles of Walls, and those Posts which, in shaking, will jog to and fro every Way. Walls made of Brick or Earth take less Harm when they be shaken in an Earthquake. And a great Difference there is in the Manner of Earthquakes ; for the Motion is after many Sorts. The safest is, when Houses as they rock keep a trem- bling and warbling Noise : also when the Earth seemeth to swell up in rising : and again to settle down with an alterna- tive Motion. It is harmless, also, when Houses run on End together by a contrary Stroke, and jut one against another: for the one Motion doth withstand the other. The bending downward in Manner of waving, and a rolling like to surging Billows, is that which is so dangerous ; or when the whole

1 A consideration of the fact here expressed might have mitigated the wonder felt by Pliny at the prognostication of approaching earthquakes, referred to in chapter Ixxix. Their prescience only proved a close ob- servance of Nature by these illustrious inquirers, and how far they were in advance of the philosophy of the day. — Wern. Club.

124 History of Nature. [ BOOK II.

Motion forceth itself to one Side. These Tremblings of the Earth give over when the Wind is vented out : but if they continue, then they cease not for forty Days : yea, and many Times it is longer, so that some of them have lasted for the Space of a Year or two.

CHAPTER LXXXIII. Portentous Earthquakes, seen only once.

THERE happened once (which I found in the Books of Tuscan Science) within the Territory of Modena (whilst L. Martins and Sex. Julius were Consuls) a mighty Portent of the Earth : for two Mountains rushed together, and with the utmost Clamour assaulted one another, and then retired again. It fell out in the Daytime : and between them there issued flaming Fire and Smoke, mounting up into the Sky : while a great Number of Roman Knights, a Multitude of Servants, and Passers-by, stood and beheld it from the Mml- lian Way. With this Conflict all the Villages upon them were dashed in Pieces ; and very much Cattle that was within died therewith. And this happened the Year before the social War ; which I doubt whether it were not more pernicious to the Land of Italy than the Civil Wars. That was no less wonderful a Prodigy, which was known also in our Age, in the last Year of Nero the Emperor (as we have shewn in his Acts), when Meadows and Olive-rows (notwithstanding the great public Road lay between) passed across into one another's Place, in the Marrucine Territory, within the Lands of Vectius Marcellus, a Roman Knight, Procurator under Nero in his Affairs.

CHAPTER LXXXIV. Wonders of Earthquakes.

THERE happen together with Earthquakes, Inundations of the Sea ; which is infused into the Earth with the same Wind, or else received into the hollow Receptacle as it set- tleth down. The greatest Earthquake within the Remem- brance of Man, was that which happened during the Reign

BOOK II.] History of Nature. 125

of Tiberius Ccesar, when twelve Cities of Asia were over- turned in one Night. But Earthquakes were most frequent in the Punic War, when within one Year there were an- nounced at Rome seven-and-fifty l. In which Year, indeed, when the Carthaginians and Romans fought a Battle at the Lake Thrasymenus, none of either army perceived the Oc- currence of a great Earthquake. Neither is this a simple evil Thing, nor doth the Danger consist only in the Earth- quake itself, but that which it portendeth is as bad or worse. Never did the City of Rome experience an Earthquake, but it proved a Warning of some unhappy Event to follow.

CHAPTER LXXXV. In what Places the Seas have gone back.

THE same Cause is to be rendered of some new Piece of Ground, when the before-named Wind within the Earth, able to inflate and raise the Ground, was still not of Power sufficient to break forth and escape. For there groweth firm Land not only by that which Rivers bring in (as the Islands Echinades, which were raised up by the River Achelous ; and also by the Nile the greater Part of Egypt, into which, if we believe Homer, from the Island Pharus there was a Course by Sea of a Day and Night's Sailing), but also by the retiring of the Sea; as the same Poet hath written of the Circeice. The like is said to have happened both in the Haven of Ambracia, for the Space of ten thousand Paces ; and also in that of the Athenians for five thousand Paces, near Piraeeum : also at Ephesus, where formerly the Sea flowed near to the Temple of .Diana. Indeed, if we believe Herodotus, it was all a Sea from above Memphis to the Ethiopian Mountains : and likewise from the Plains of Arabia. It was Sea also about Ilium, and all Teuthrania ; and where the River Meander now runneth by Meadows2.

1 Announced by the augurs, and therefore a strong proof of the agita- tion of the public mind. — Wern Club.

2 The records of all nations afford proof of similar facts, which are still more extensively shewn by the discoveries of modern geology. It

126 History of Nature. [BooK II.

CHAPTER LXXXVI. The Reason of Islands rising out of the Sea.

THERE be Lands also that are produced after another Manner, and emerge on a sudden in some Sea : as if Nature struck a Balance with herself, by giving again in one Place that which her gaping Gulfs had swallowed up in another.

CHAPTER LXXXVII. What Islands have sprung up, and at what Times1.

THOSE Islands, long since famous, Delos and Rhodes, are recorded to have risen out of the Sea : and afterwards, others that were less, namely, Anaphe, beyond Melos ; Nea, between Lemnus and Hellespont ; Alon£, between Lebedus and Teos ; and Thera, and Therasia, among the Cyclades ; which latter shewed in the fourth Year of the 135th Olym- piad. Moreover, among the same Islands, 130 Years after, Hiera, which is the same as Automate. And two Stadii from it, after 110 Years, Thia, in our own Time, upon the eighth Day before the Ides of July, when M. Junius Syllanus and L. Balbus were Consuls.

CHAPTER LXXXVIII. What Lands the Seas have broken in between.

IN our own Presence, and near to Italy, between the JEtolian Islands ; and also near to Crete, there was one that shewed itself with hot Fountains out of the Sea, for 1500

was a part of the teaching of Pythagoras, as we learn from Ovid (book xv.) ; and by him it seems to have been made a portion of his doctrine of the metempsychosis. — Wern. Club.

1 What are denominated eruptions of elevation have occurred in various ages, and in almost every quarter of the world. The latest, and, perhaps the most precise, account, of such an elevation of an island from the bottom of the sea, is that of Graham's Island, in 1831, in the Medi- terranean Sea, between Partellaria and Sciacca ; of which many parti- culars are given in several publications of that date : and popularly in London's "Magazine of Natural History," vol. iv.— Wern. Club.

BOOK II.] History of Nature. 127

Paces: and another in the third Year of the 143rd Olympiad, within the Tuscan Gulf, which latter burned with a violent Wind. It is recorded, also, that when a great Multitude of Fishes floated about it, those Persons died presently that fed thereof. So they report, that in the Campain Gulf the Pithecusae Islands appeared. And soon after, the Mountain Epopos in them (at which Time there suddenly shone out a flaming Fire from it) was laid level with the plain Country. Within the same, also, there was a Town swallowed up by the deep Sea ; and in another Earthquake there appeared a standing Pool : but in another, by the Fall of some Moun- tains, there grew the Island Prochyta: for after this Manner, also, Nature hath formed Islands. Thus, she disjoined Sicily from Italy, Cyprus from Syria, Euboea from Bceotia, Ata- lante and Macris from Euboea, Besbycus from Bithynia, Leucostia from the Promontory of the Syrenes1.

CHAPTER LXXXIX. What Islands became joined to the Main.

AGAIN, she hath taken Islands from the Sea, and joined them to the Main Land ; as, for Instance, Antissa to Lesbos, Zephyria to Halicarnassus, Aethusa to Myndus, Dromiscos and Pern£ to Miletus, and Narthecusa to the Promontory Parthenius. Hybanda, once an Island of Ionia, is now dis- tant from the Sea 200 Stadia. As for Syria, Ephesus hath it now in the midland Parts far from the Sea. So Magnesia, neighbour to it, hath Derasitas and Sophonia. Epidaurus and Oricum have ceased to be Islands.

CHAPTER XC. What Lands have been turned wholly into Sea.

NATURE hath altogether taken away some Lands ; the chief of which was where now is the Atlantic Sea, but which

1 To this may be added, Britain from France. But, in truth, to dis- ruptions of this kind we owe, for the most part, the present distribution of the geography of the world. — Wern. Club.

128 History of Nature. [BooK II.

was formerly a Continent for a mighty Space of Ground ; if we may credit Plato. And soon after, in our Mediter- ranean Sea, all men may see at this Day how much hath been immersed ; as, Acarnania by the inward Gulf of Am- bracia ; Achaia within that of Corinth ; Europe and Asia within Propontis and Pontus. And besides, the Sea hath broken through Leucas, Antirrhium, Hellespont, and the two Bosphori.

CHAPTER XCI. What Lands have swallowed up themselves.

AND now to pass over Arms of the Sea and Lakes, the Earth hath devoured and buried herself: as, for Example, that very high Mountain, Cybotus, with the Town Curites ; Sipylus in Magnesia : and in the same Place before that, the most noble City called Tantalus : the Territories of Galanis and Gamale in Phcenice, together with the Cities themselves. Phogium, also, a very high Hill in Ethiopia, as if the very Shores were not to be trusted, but they also must work mischief.

CHAPTER XCII. What Cities have been swallowed up by the Sea.

THE Sea of Pontus hath overwhelmed Pyrrha and Antyssa, about Maeotis ; and Elice, and Bura in the Gulf of Corinth : whereof the Marks are to be seen in the deep Water. Out of the Island Cea more than 30,000 Paces of Ground were lost suddenly, with very many Men. In Sicily, also, the Sea came in and took away half the City Thindaris, and all between Italy and Sicily. The like it did in Bosotia and Eleusina.

CHAPTER XCIII. Of the Wonders of the Land.

LET us speak no more of Earthquakes, and any Thing else of that Kind ; for we will rather speak of the Wonders

BOOK II.] History «/ Nature. 129

of the Earth than of the mischievous Freaks of Nature. And surely the History of celestial Things was not more hard to be related : the Wealth is such of Metals, in such Variety, so rich, so fruitful, rising still one under another, for so many Ages ; notwithstanding that daily there is so much consumed throughout the World, with Fires, Ruins, Shipwrecks, Wars, and fraudulent Practices : yea, and so much spent in luxury by so many Men living ! yet how many Sorts of Gems there be still so painted ! In precious Stones, what Variety of Colours! 'and how bespotted ! And among them, the Bril- liancy of some one excluding all else but Light! The Virtue of medicinable Fountains : the continual Burning for so many Ages of Fire issuing forth in so many Places : the deadly Exhalations in some Places, either emitted from Pits when they were sunk, or else from the very Position of the Ground ; present Death in one Place to the Birds only (as at Soracte, in a Quarter near the City) ; in others, to all other living Creatures, save only Man : yea, and sometime to Men also, as in the Territories of Sinuessa and Puteoli. Which damp Holes1, breathing out a deadly Air, some call Charonece Scrobes, or Charon's Ditches. Likewise in the Hirpines' Land, that of Amsanctus, a Cave near the Temple of Me- phitesy into which as many as enter die presently. After the like Manner, at Hierapolis in Asia there is another such, fatal to all except the Priest of the great Mother. In other Places there be also Caves possessing a prophetical Power : by the Exhalation of which Men are intoxicated, and so

1 The nature of the air now denominated carbonic acid gas, which, when attempted to be inhaled, is destructive to animal life, was unknown, except in these effects, to the ancients. It is to this that the well-known Grotto del' Cane in Italy, as well as sometimes deep, moist, and stagnant pits among ourselves, owe their fatal qualities. The inhalations at Delphi were probably artificial ; and those who visited the prophetic cave of Trophonius were observed to be ever afterward affected with constitu- tional gloom ; which, however, might be the effect of the drugs that were given them to drink, under the name of the "Waters of the Mnemosme." In chap. ciii. a reference is made to a natural spring producing similar effects.— Wern. Club.

1 30 History of Nature. [BoOK 1 1 ,

foretell Things to come ; as at Delphi, that most renowned Oracle. In which Things, what other Reason can any mortal Man assign, than the divine Power of Nature diffused through all, which breaketh forth at Times in sundry Sorts?

CHAPTER XCIV. Of Lands always trembling.

SOME Parts of the Earth there be that tremble under Men's Feet as they go ; as in the Territory of the Gabians, not far from Rome, where there be almost 200 Jugera of Ground, which tremble as Horsemen ride over them : and the same in the Territory of Reate.

CHAPTER XCV. Of Islands ever floating.

SOME Islands are always floating1 ; as in the Country about Caecubum, Reate above-named, Mutina, and Statonia. Also in the Lake Vadimonis, and near the Waters Cutyliae, there is a dark Grove, which is never seen in one Place for a Day and Night together. Moreover, in Lydia, the Isles Calaminae are not only driven to and fro by Winds, but also many be thrust about with long Poles, which Way a Man will : a Thing that saved many a Man's Life in the War against Mithridates. There are other little ones also in the River Nymphaeus, called Saltuares (or Dancers), because in any Concert of Musicians, they are moved at the Stroke of the Feet, as keeping their Time. In the great Lake of Italy, called Tarquiniensis, two Islands carry about with them Groves : one while appearing triangular, another while round, when they close one to the other by the Drift of Winds, but never four-square.

It is believed there is something similar in the north of England. — Wern. Club.

BOOK II.] History of Nature. \ 3 1

CHAPTER XCVI.

In what Lands it never raineth. Also, Wonders of the Earth, and other Elements heaped together.

PAPHOS hath in it a famous Temple of Venus: upon a certain Floor and Altar whereof it never raineth1. Likewise in Nea, a Town of Troas, it never rains about the Image of Minerva. In the same, also, the Beasts killed for Sacrifice, if they be left there, never putrify. Near to Harpasa, a Town in Asia, there stands a craggy and awful Rock, movable with one Finger, but if you thrust it with your whole Body, it will stiffly resist2. In the Peninsula of the Tauri and City Parasinum, there is a kind of Earth that healeth all Wounds, But about Assos, in Troas, there grows a Stone by which all Bodies are consumed, and thereupon it is termed Sarco- phagus. There be two Mountains near the River Indus : the Nature of the one is to hold fast all Manner of Iron, and of the other, to reject it : andr therefore, if the Sole of a Man's Shoes be clouted with Nails, in the one of them a Man can- not pluck away his Foot, and in the other he cannot take any footing. It is noted, that in Locri and Crotone the Pes- tilence was never known, nor any Danger by Earthquake. And in Lycia, after an Earthquake, it is fair Weather for forty Days. In the Territory of Arda, if Corn be sowed, it never groweth. At the Altars Murtiae in the Veientian Country, and in Tusculanum, and the Wood Cyminia, there be certain Places, wherein whatever is pitched into the Ground can never be plucked up again. In the Crustumin Country all the Hay there growing is hurtful in the same Place : but if removed, it is good and wholesome.

1 Tacitus alludes to the same circumstance, b. xviii. — Wern. Club.

2 The Logan stone, near the Land's End, in Cornwall, is a well-known example of the same thing. The simple fact is, that a very large stone is poised very nearly on its centre of gravity, while the limit of oscillation is narrow.— Wern. Club.

1 32 History of Nature. [BooK 1 1 .

CHAPTER XCVI1.

What is the Reason of the Ebb and Flow of the Sea : and where it is that they keep no Order.

OF the Nature of Waters much hath been said ; but that the Tide of the Sea should flow and ebb, is a very wonderful Thing indeed. The Manner thereof is various, but the Cause is in the Sun and Moon. Between two Risings of the Moon they flow twice and twice go back, and always in the Space of four-and- twenty Hours. And first as she riseth aloft together with the World, the Tides swell ; and presently again, as she goeth from the Height of the Meridian Line and inclineth Westward, they subside : again, as she moveth from the West, under our Horizon, and approacheth to the Point contrary to the Meridian, they flow, and then they are received back into the Sea until she rise again : and never keepeth the Tide the same Hour that it did the Day before : for it giveth Attendance upon the Planet, which greedily draweth with it the Seas, and evermore riseth to Day in some other Place than it did yesterday. Nevertheless, the Tides keep just the same Times between, and hold always six Hours a-piece : I mean not of every Day and Night or Place indifferently, but only the Equinoctial. For in regard of Hours, the Tides of the Sea are unequal : forasmuch as by Day and Night the Tides are more or less one Time than another : in the Equinoctial only they are equal in all Places. A powerful Argument this is, and full of Light, to convince the Dulness of those who are of opinion, that the Planets being under the Earth lose their Power : and that their Virtue beginneth when they are above only. For they shew their Effects as well under as above the Earth, as well as the Earth which worketh in all Parts. And plain it is, that the Moon performeth her Operations as well under the Earth as when we see her visibly above : neither is her Course any other beneath than above our Horizon. But yet the Altera- tion of the Moon is manifold, and first every seven Days: for while she is new, the Tides be but small, until the first

BOOK 1 1 .] History of Nature. \ 33

Quarter : and as she groweth bigger they flow more, so that at the full they swell most of all. From that Time they be- come more mild : and in the first Days of the decrease unto the seventh, the Tides are equal. Again, when she is divided on the other Side they are increased. And in the Conjunc- tion they are equal to the Tides of the full. And evidently it appeareth, that when she is Northerly and removed far- ther from the Earth, the Tides are more gentle than when she is gone Southerly : for then she worketh nearer Hand, and putteth forth her full Power. Every eight Years, also, and after the hundredth Revolution of the Moon, the Seas return to the Beginning of their Motions, and to the like Increase : by Reason that she augmenteth all Things by the yearly Course of the Sun : forasmuch as in the two Equi- noctials they always swell most, yet more in that of the Autumn than the Spring ; but nothing to speak of in Mid- winter, and less at Midsummer. And yet these Things fall not out in these very Instants of the Times which I have named, but some few Days after ; like as neither in the full nor in the change, but afterward : nor yet immediately as the Heaven either shevveth us the Moon in her rising, or hideth her from us at her setting, or as she declineth from us in the middle Climate, but later almost by two equinoctial Hours. Forasmuch as the Effect of all Influences in the Heaven reach not so soon unto the Earth, as the Eyesight pierceth up to the Heaven : as appeareth by Lightnings, Thunders, and Thunderbolts. Moreover, all Tides in the main Ocean overspread arid cover much more within the Land than in other Seas : either because in the whole it is more violent than in a Part : or for that the open Greatness thereof feeleth more effectually the Power of the Planet, working forcibly as it doth widely at Liberty, than when the same is restrained within those Straits. Which is the Cause that neither Lakes nor little Rivers ebb and flow in like Manner. Pythias of Massiles writeth, that above Britain the Tide floweth in Height eighty Cubits. But the more inward Seas are shut up within the Lands, as in a Harbour. Nevertheless, in some Places a more spacious Liberty there is that yieldeth

134 History of Nature. [ BOOK II.

to the Power [of the Moon] : for there are many Examples of those who, in a calm Sea, without Wind and Sail, by a strong Current only, have passed from Italy to Utica in three Days. But these Motions are found about the Shores more than in the deep Sea; just as in our Bodies the extreme Parts have a greater Feeling of the Beating of Arteries, or in other Words, the vital Spirits. Yet notwithstanding in many Estuaries of the Sea, because of the unequal Risings of the Planets in every Coast, the Tides are diverse, and disagreeing in Time ; but not in their Cause ; as particularly in the Syrtes. And yet some there be that have a peculiar Nature ; as the Firth Taurominitanum, which ebbeth and floweth oftener than twice: and that other in Eubcea, called likewise Eu- npus, which hath seven Tides forward and back in a Day arid Night. And the same Tide three Days in a Month standeth still, namely, in the seventh, eighth, and ninth Days of the Moon's Age. At Gades1, the Fountain near the Chapel of Hercules is enclosed about like a Well, which sometimes riseth and falleth with the Ocean ; and at other Times it doth both at contrary Seasons. In the same Place there is

* Cadiz, on the Atlantic coast of Spain, was founded in a very remote age by the Phoenicians, under the conduct of one of their most illustrious chiefs, Melcartus ; whose name is significant of a royal race ; and who has been denominated the Tyrian Hercules, from a supposition that his labours were somewhat similar to those of the son of Alcmena. The city was at this time called Gadira, and in it was a temple devoted to this first of celebrated navigators, but retaining the marks of primitive purity of worship, in having no- image. (Silius Italicus, quoted in Cumberland's " Sanchoniatho.") The Phoenicians were accustomed to select for their colonies such islands as this Spanish peninsula then was, both for pru- dential and religious reasons ; and the city long continued the centre of trade to the British islands and northern regions ; while at the same time it was unknown to the rest of the world. There is even reason to believe, that during the Roman dominion of Europe an intercourse was main- tained between Cadiz and the independent Britons — scarcely known to any beside the merchants engaged in it. From an expression of Pliny in chap, cviii. of this book, it would appear that there were at this place two pillars, properly termed the "Pillars of Hercules :" though the name has since been applied to the mountains at the entrance of the Mediterranean Sea.— Wern. Club.

BOOK II.] History of Nature. 135

another Spring that agrees with the Motions of the Ocean. On the Bank of Betis there is a Town, the Wells whereof, as the Tide floweth, ebb; and as it ebbeth, flow; but in the intermediate Times they do not move. Of the same Nature there is one Well in the Town Hispalis ; while the Rest be as others are. And the Sea Pontus evermore floweth out into Propontis, but the Sea never retireth back again within Pontus.

CHAPTER XCVIII.

Wonders of the Sea.

ALL Seas are cleansed at the full Moon; and some besides at certain Times. About Messala and Nylse, there is thrown upon the Shore Dregs like Beasts' Dung ; from which arose the Fable, that the Sun's Oxen were there kept in Stall. Hereunto addeth Aristotle (that I may not omit any Thing that I know), that no living Creature dieth but in the Ebb of the Sea1. This is observed much in the Ocean of Gaul, but found only in Man by Experience.

CHAPTER XCIX.

What Power the Moon hath over Things on Earth and in the Sea.

BY which it is truly guessed, that not in vain the Planet of the Moon is supposed to be a Spirit : for this is it that saturates the Earth in her approach, filling Bodies full; and in her retiring emptying them again2. And hereupon it is,

1 " I was not so curious as to entitle the stars upon any concern of his death, yet could not but take notice that he died when the moon was in motion from the meridian ; at which time, an old Italian, long ago, would persuade me that the greatest part of mankind died : but herein I confess I could never satisfy my curiosity, although from the time of tides in places upon or near the sea there may be considerable deductions ; and Pliny hath an odd and remarkable passage concerning the death of men and animals upon the recess or ebb of the sea.*1 — Sir THOMAS BROWN'S Worhs, by WILKIN, vol. iv. p. 40. — Wem. Club.

a In this, to chap, ci., is an account of the effects which were supposed to be produced by the influence of the moon on natural bodies ; and that

136 History of Nature. [BooK II.

that with her growth all Shell-fish increase : and those Crea- tures which have no Blood, most of all do feel her Spirit. Also, the Blood in Men doth increase or diminish with her Light ; and the Leaves of Trees and the Fodder (as shall be said in a convenient Place) feel her Influence; which, ever- more the same, pierceth effectually into all Things.

CHAPTER C. The Power of the Sun, and why the Sea is salt.

THUS by the fervent Heat of the Sun all Moisture is dried up : for we have been taught that this Planet is masculine, burning and sucking up the Humidity of all Things. Thus the broad and spacious Sea hath the Taste of Salt sodden into it : or else it is because, when the sweet and thin Substance is drawn out of it, which the fiery Power of the Sun very easily draweth up, all the sharper and grosser Parts thereof

which was believed to be the cause of the tides requires no further re- mark, than that the cause and effect are acknowledged, and that the mode of influence is the only subject of error. The moon's influence in causing shell-fish and vegetables to increase and decrease, was believed by Aris- totle, and maintained its place in the popular opinion until a late date. But in tropical countries it is regarded as beyond all doubt, that the bright shining of the moon has a deleterious effect on all bodies exposed to it ; and the fact is implicitly credited by many Europeans who have in- quired into it. Thus, slaughtered cattle so exposed, are believed to pass into speedy putrefaction ; its influence on eyes when asleep, causes blind- ness, and on the head a tendency to delirium or death. The antiquity and extent of these opinions appear from Psalm cxxi. ; where the writer expresses his trust, that " the sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by night." But the influence is not always hurtful : at least on vegetation ; for, in the blessing of Moses at the time of his death, on the tribe of Joseph, he speaks of" the precious things put forth by the moon" (Deut. xxxiii. 14). Dr.Prichard ("Egyptian Mythology," p. 156) says: " The idea that the moon exerts an influence favourable to propagation, is so strange and absurd, that we are at a loss to imagine how it can have arisen ; and it is truly astonishing to find that similar fictions were ex- tended through a great part of the Pagan world. Young maids among the Greenlanders are afraid to stare long at the moon, imagining that they incur a danger of becoming pregnant." Sec chap. ci.~ Wern, Club.

BOOK II.] History of Nature. 137

remain behind : and hereupon it is, that the deep Water to- ward the Bottom is less salt than that at the Top. And this is a truer Reason of that unpleasant Taste it hath, than that the Sea should be a Sweat issuing out of the Earth con- tinually : or, because overmuch of the dry Element is min- gled in it without any Vapour : or else because the Nature of the Earth infecteth the Waters with some strong Medi- cine. We find among Examples that there happened a Pro- digy to Dionysius, Tyrant of Sicily, when he was expelled from his Power, which was : that the Sea-water, in one Day, in the Harbour became fresh.

CHAPTER CI. Also, of the Moons Nature.

ON the contrary, they say that the Moon is a Planet feminine, tender and nightly; that it dissolveth Humours, drawing the same, but carrying them not away. And this appeareth evidently because that the Carcasses of wild Beasts which are slain, she putrifieth by her Influence, if she shine upon them. When Men also are found asleep, the dull Numbness thereby gathered she draweth up into the Head : she thaweth Ice, and with a moistening Breath relaxeth all Things. Thus you see how Nature's turn is served, and is always sufficient ; while some Stars thicken the Elements, and others again resolve the same. But as the Sun is fed by the salt Seas, so the Moon is nourished by the fresh Waters.

CHAPTER CII. Where the Sea is deepest.

FABIANUS saith, that the Sea, where it is deepest, ex- ceedeth not fifteen Stadii. Others again report, that in Pon- tus the Sea is of an unmeasurable Depth over against the Nation of the Coraxians, at the Place they call Bathea Ponti, whereof the Bottom could never be sounded at the Distance of three hundred Stadii from the Continent.

138 History of Nature. [BooK II.

CHAPTER CIII. The Wonders of Waters^ Fountains, and Rivers.

OF all Wonders this is among the greatest, that some fresh Waters close by the Sea spring forth as out of Pipes : for the Nature of the Waters also ceaseth not from mira- culous Properties. Fresh Waters are borne on the Sea, as being, no doubt, the lighter : and, therefore, the Sea-water (which naturally is heavier) beareth up whatsoever is brought into it. Also, among fresh Waters, some there be that float over others. As in the Lake Fucinus, the River that runneth into it ; in Larius, Addua ; in Verbanus, Ticinus ; in Benacus, Mincius; in Sevinus, Ollius ; in Lemanus, the River Rho- danus. As for this River beyond the Alps, and the former in Italy, for many a Mile as they pass they carry forth their own Waters from thence as Strangers, and none other ; and the same no larger than they brought in with them This is reported likewise of Orontes, a River in Syria, and of many others. Some Rivers again there be, which, upon an Hatred to the Sea, run under the Bottom thereof; as Arethusa, a Fountain in Syracuse : wherein this is observed, that what- soever is cast into it cometh up again at the River Alpheus, which, running through Olympia, falleth into the Sea-shore of Peloponnesus. There go under the Ground, and appear above the Ground again, Lycus in Asia, Erasinus in Argolica, Tigris in Mesopotamia. And at Athens, the Things that are immersed in the Fountain of ^Esculapius are cast up again in Phalericus. Also in the Atinate Plains, the River that becomes buried under the Earth 20,000 Paces off, appeareth again; as doth Tirnavus in the Territory of Aquileia. In Asphaltites (a Lake in Judea which produceth Bitumen) no- thing will sink ; nor will it in Arethusa, in the greater Ar- menia : and the same, though it be full of Nitre, produceth Fish. In the Salentines' Country near the Town Manduria there is a Lake full to the Bank, out of which, if there be laden as much Water as you will, it decreaseth not ; nor is it augmented, though any Quantity be poured in. In a River

BOOK II.] History of Nature. 139

of the Cicones, and in the Lake Velinus in the Picene Terri- tory, if Wood be thrown in it becomes covered over with a stony Bark. Also in Surius, a River of Colchis, the like is to be seen : insomuch that the Bark which overgroweth it is as hard as a Stone. Likewise in the River Silarus beyond Surrentum, not Twigs only that are dipped therein, but Leaves also, grow to be Stones ; and yet the Water thereof otherwise is wholesome to be drunk. In the Outlet of the Reatin Marsh, a Rock groweth bigger; and in the Red Sea there be Olive-trees and other Shrubs, that grow up green. There be also very many Springs which have a wonderful Nature for their boiling Heat : and that also upon the very Mountains of the Alps ; and in the Sea between Italy and uEnaria : as in the Bay Baianus, and the River Liris, and many others. For in very many Places you may draw fresh Water out of the Sea ; as about the Islands ChelidonisB and Aradus : and in the Ocean about Gades. In the hot Waters of the Patovans there grow green Herbs : in those of the Pisanes there breed Frogs : and at Vetulonii in Etruria, not far from the Sea, Fishes also are bred. In the Territory Casinas there is a River called Scatebra, which is cold, and in Summer Time more abounding in Water than in Winter : in it, as also in Stymphalis of Arcadia, there are brought forth River Mussels. In Dodone, the Fountain of Jupiter being exceedingly chill, quencheth lighted Torches when dipped therein ; but if you hold the same near it when they nre extinguished, it setteth them on Fire again. The same Spring at Noontide evermore wanteth Water, for which Cause they call it Anapavomenos : by and by it beginneth to rise until it be Midnight, and then it hath great Abundance : and from that Time again it subsideth by little and little. In Illyricum there is a cold Spring, over which, if there be spread any Clothes, they catch Fire and burn. The Foun- tain of Jupiter Amman in the Daytime is cold, and all Night it is boiling hot. In the Troglodytes Country there is a Fountain of the Sun, called the Sweet Spring, which about Noon is exceeding cold ; but by and by and gradually it

140 History of Nature. [Boox II.

groweth warm, and at Midnight it is offensive for Heat and Bitterness. The Fountain of the Po, at Noon in Summer, intermitteth to boil, and is then ever dry. In the Island Tenedos there is a Spring, which, after the Summer Solstice, evermore from the third Hour of the Night to the sixth, doth overflow. And in the Island of Delos, the Fountain Inopus falleth and riseth after the same Sort as the Nile doth, and together with it. Over against the River Timavus there is a little Island in the Sea, having hot Springs, which ebb and flow in Time and Manner as the Tide of the Sea. In the Territory of the Pitinates, beyond the Apennines, the River Novanus, at every Midsummer Time, is in Flood ; but in Midwinter is dry. In the Faliscan Country the Water of the River Clitumnus maketh the Cattle white that drink of it. And in Boeotia, the River Melas maketh Sheep black : Cephyssus running out of the same Lake, causeth them to be white : and Penius, again, giveth them a black Colour : but Xanthus, near to Ilium, coloureth them reddish; and hereupon the River took that Name. In the Land of Pon- tus there is a River that watereth the Plains of Astace, upon which, those Mares that feed give black Milk for the Food of that Nation. In the Reatin Territory there is a Fountain called Neminia, which, according to its issuing forth out of this or that Place, signifieth the Change in the Price of Vic- tuals. In the Haven of Brundusium there is a Well that yieldeth to Sailors Water which will never corrupt. The Water of Lincestis, called Acidula (or Sour), maketh Men drunken no less than Wine. Also, in Paphlagonia, and in the Territory of Gales. Also in the Isle of Andros there is a Fountain in the Temple of Father Bacchus, which upon the Nones of January always runneth with Water that tasteth like Wine ; as Mulianus verily believeth ; who was a Man that had been thrice Consul : the Name of the Spring is Dios Tecnosia. Near Nonacris, in Arcadia, is the River Styx ; differing from the other Styx neither in Smell nor Colour : drink of it once, and it is present Death. Also, in Berosus (an Hill of the Tauri), there be three Fountains, the

BOOK 1 1 .] History of Nature. \ 4 1

Water whereof whosoever drinketh is sure to die of it, reme- diless, and yet without Pain. In a Country of Spain, called Carrinensis, two Springs run near together, the one rejecting and the other swallowing up all Things. In the same Coun- try there is another Water which sheweth all Fishes within it of a golden Colour; but if they be taken out of that Water, they be like other Fishes. In the Cannensian Territory, near the Lake Larius, there is a large Fountain, which every Hour continually swelleth and falleth down again. In the Island Sidonia, before Lesbos, there is a hot Fountain that runneth only in the Spring. The Lake Sinnaus, in Asia, is infected with the Wormwood growing about it. At Colo- phon, in the Cave of Apollo Clarius, there is a Channel with Water: they that drink of it foretell strange Things like Oracles ; but they live the shorter Time for it. Rivers run- ning backward even our Age hath seen in the latter Years of the Prince Nero, as we have related in the Acts of his Life. Now, that all Springs are colder in Summer than Winter, who knoweth not? as also these wondrous Works of Nature, that Brass and Lead in the Lump sink down in Fluid, but if they be spread out into thin Plates they float : and let the Weight be all one, yet some Things settle to the Bottom ; and others, again, are borne above : that heavy Burdens be re- moved with more Ease in Water. Likewise that the Stone Thyrreus, however large, doth swim when entire: but broken into Pieces, it sinketh. Bodies newly dead fall to the Bottom of the Water, but when swollen they rise again. Empty Ves- sels are not so easily drawn out of the Water as those that be full : Rain-water for Salt-pits is more profitable than any other : and Salt cannot be made unless fresh Water be min- gled : Sea-water is longer before it freezes, but it is sooner made hot. In Winter the Sea is hotter, and in Autumn salter. The whole Sea is made still with oil : and therefore the Divers under the Water scatter it with their Mouths, be- cause it allayeth the rough Nature thereof, and carrieth a Light with it. No Snows fall where the Sea is deep. And, whereas all Water runneth downward, yet Springs leap up; even at the very Foot of ^Etria, which burneth so far as that

142 History of Nature. [BooK II.

for fifty, and even an hundred, Miles, Balls of Fire cast out Sand and Ashes1.

CHAPTER CIV.

The Wonders of Fire and Water jointly together, and of Maltha.

Now let us relate some Wonders of Fire also, which is the fourth Element of Nature. But first, out of Waters. In a City of Comagene, named Samosatis, there is a Pond yielding forth a burning, slimy Mud (called Maltha2). When it meeteth with any Thing sqlid it sticketh to it ; and if it be touched it followeth them that flee from it. By this means the Townsmen defended their Walls when Lucullus assaulted it ; and his Soldiers were burned in their own Armour. It burns even in Water. Experience hath taught, that Earth only will quench it

CHAPTER CV. Of Naphtha.

OF the like Nature is Naphtha : for so is it called about Babylonia, and in the Austacenes' Country in Parthia ; and it runneth in the Manner of liquid Bitumen. There is great Affinity between Fire and it ; for Fire is ready to leap unto it immediately, if it be near it. Thus (they say) Medea burnt her Husband's Concubine, by Reason that her Crown anointed therewith was caught by the Fire after she had approached to the Altars with the Intention to sacrifice3.

1 Many of the phenomena here related are merely exaggerations of the truth ; and many, however strange, are easily explained : as the inter- mitting springs, and those which kindle into fire : the latter owing this pro- perty either to the extrication of hydrogen gas or naphtha. — Wcrn. Club.

2 This is evidently a natural mineral pitch ; to which the artificial sub- stance bearing the same name, and described in b. xxxvi. c. 24, could only have been similar in its effects, especially of combustion. — Wern. Club.

3 There are many things in the history of Medea which shew her to have been a skilful chemist, and possessed of a high degree of knowledge of the science of the age in which she lived. — Wern. Club.

BOOK II.] History of Nature. 143

CHAPTER CVI. Of Places continually burning.

BUT amongst the Wonders of Mountains, JStna burneth always in the Nights : and for so long Continuance of Time yieldeth sufficient Matter to maintain those Fires : in Winter it is full of Snow, and covereth the Ashes cast up with Frosts. Neither in it alone doth Nature rage, threatening the con- suming of the whole Earth by Fire. For in Phaselis the Mountain Chimaera likewise burneth, and that with a con- tinual Fire both Night and Day : Ctesias of Gnidos writeth, that the Fire thereof is inflamed with Water, but quenched with Earth. In the same Lycia the Mountains Hephaestii being touched with a flaming Torch, do so burn that the very Stones of the Rivers and the Sand in the Waters are set on Fire ; and the same Fire is maintained with Rain. They report that if a Man make a Furrow with a Staff that is set on Fire by them, there follow Gutters of Fire. In the Bactrians' Country, the Top of the Cophantus burneth by Night. Amongst the Medians, also, and the Caestian Nation, the same Mountain burneth : but principally in the Confines of Persis. At Susis, indeed, in a Place called the White Tower, the Fire proceeds out of fifteen Chimneys, and the greatest of them, even in the Daytime, carrieth Fire. There is a Plain about Babylonia1, in Manner of a Fish-pond, which, for the Quantity of an Acre, burneth likewise. Also, near the Mountain Hesperius in Ethiopia, the Fields in the Night-time shine like Stars. The like is to be seen in the Territory of the Megapolitans, although the Field there be pleasant within, and not burning the Boughs of the thick Grove above it. And near a warm Spring the hollow,

1 These natural fires were objects of idolatrous veneration by the in- habitants of this country, from a very early period : and opinions of a similar nature have continued in the East to the present day. Zoroaster, if not the author, is believed to have been the great reformer of this doc- trine ; which by some is supposed to have had its origin in times before the Flood.— Wern. Club.

144 History of Nature. [BooK II.

burning Cavity, called Crater Nymphsei, always portendeth some fearful Misfortunes to the Apolloniates, the Neigh- bours thereby, as Theopompus hath reported. It increaseth with Showers of Rain, and casteth out Bitumen, to be com- pared with that Fountain or Water of Styx that is not to be tasted ; otherwise weaker than all Bitumen besides. But who would wonder at these Things ? In the Midst of the Sea, Hiera, one of the ^Etolian Islands near to Italy, burned together with the Sea for certain Days together, during the Time of the social War, until a Legation of the Senate made Expiation. But that which burneth with the greatest Fire is a Hill of the Ethiopians called Theonochema ; which sendeth out the fiercest Flames in the hottest Sun- shine. In so many Places with so many Fires doth Nature

burn the Earth.

i

CHAPTER CVII. Wonders of Fires by themselves.

MOREOVER, since the Nature of this Element of Fire alone is to be so fruitful, that it produceth itself, and groweth from the least Sparks, what may be thought will be the End of so many funeral Fires of the Earth1? What a Nature is that which feedeth the most greedy Voracity in the whole World without Loss of itself? Add thereto the infinite Num- ber of Stars, the immense Sun ; moreover, the Fires in Men's Bodies, and those that are inbred in Stones ; the Attrition, also, of certain Woods one against another ; yea, and those within Clouds, the Original of Lightnings. Surely it ex- ceedeth all Miracles that any one Day should pass in which all Things are not set on Fire, when the concave Mirrors also, set opposite to the Sunbeams, set Things a-burning sooner than any other Fire. What should I speak of innu-

1 This natural, but awful, inquiry, is best answered in the words of the apostle Peter, 2nd Epist. iii. 7 : — " But the heavens and the earth which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men." — Wern. Club.

BOOK IT.] History of Nature. \ 45

merable small Matters, which naturally are poured out in Abundance ? In Nymphaeum there cometh a Flame out of a Rock, which is set a-burning with Rain. There is the like at the Waters called Scantiae. But this is but feeble when it passeth, neither endureth it long in any other Mat- ter. There is an Ash-tree covering this fiery Fountain, which, notwithstanding, is always green. In the Territory of Mu- tina, there riseth up Fire also, upon Days devoted to Vulcan. It is found written, that if a Coal of Fire fall upon the arable Fields under Aricia, the Soil presently is on Fire. In the Sabines Territory, as also in that of the Sidicines, Stones anointed will be set on Fire. In aTown of the Salentines, called Egnatia, if Wood be laid upon a certain hallowed Stone there, it will immediately flame out. Upon the Altar of Juno Lacinia, standing in the open Air, the Ashes lie immovable, blow what stormy Winds that will on every Side. Besides, there be Fires that suddenly arise, both in Waters and even about the Bodies of Men. Valerius Antias reporteth, that the Lake Thrasymenus once burned all over : also, that when Servius Tullius, in his childhood, lay asleep, a Flame shone out of his Head l : likewise, as L. Martins made an Oration to the Army after the two Scipios were slain in Spain, and exhorted his Soldiers to revenge their Death, his Head was, in like Manner, in a Flame. More of this, and more dis- tinctly, will we write by-and-by. For now we exhibit the Wonders of all Things intermingled together. But my Mind being passed beyond the Interpretation of Nature, hasteneth to lead, as it were, by the Hand, the Minds of the Readers throughout the whole World.

1 There are instances in modern, as well as in ancient times, of such luminous appearances proceeding from the human body : most commonly when it is in a state of emaciation or chronic disease. Its cause is, the excretion of phosphoric vapour mixed with the perspiration. This lu- minous appearance has been largely interpreted by superstition. — Wern. Club.

1 46 History of Nature. [ BOOK 1 1 .

CHAPTER CVIIl. The Measure of the whole Earth in Length and Breadth.

THIS our Part of the Earth of which I speak, floating, as it were, within the Ocean (as hath been said), lieth out most in Length from East to West, that is, from India to the Pil- lars of Hercules, consecrated at Gades : and as my Author, Artemidorus, thinketh, it containeth 8578 Miles. But, ac- cording to Isidorus, 9818. Artemidorus addeth, more- over, from Gades within the Circuit of the sacred Promon- tory to the Cape Artabrum, where the Front of Spain beareth out furthest, in Length 891 Miles. This Measure runneth two Ways. From the River Ganges and the Mouth thereof, where it dischargeth itself into the East Ocean, through India and Parthyene to Myriandrum, a City of Syria, situ- ated upon the Gulf of Isa, 5215 Miles. From thence by the nearest Voyage, to the Island Cyprus, to Patara in Lycia, Rhodes, and Astypatsea (Islands lying in the Carpathian Sea), to Taenarus in Laconia, Lilybseum in Sicily, Calaris in Sar- dinia, 3450 Miles. Then to Gades 1450 Miles. Which Measures being put together, make, from the said Sea, 8578 Miles. The other Way, which is more certain, lieth most open by Land, from Ganges to the River Euphrates, 5021 Miles. From thence to Mazaca, in Cappadocia, 244 Miles ; and thence through Phrygia and Caria to Ephesus, 498 Miles. From Ephesus, through the ^Egean Sea, to Delos, 200 Miles. Then to Isthmus, 212 Miles. From thence by Land, arid by the Laconian Sea and the Gulf of Corinth, to PatraB in Peloponnesus, 202J Miles : to Leucas, 86J Miles, and as much to Corcyra. Then to Acroceraunia, 132£ Miles : to Brundusium, 86£ Miles : so to Rome, 360 Miles. Then to the Alps, as far as the Village of Cincomagus, 518 Miles. Through Gaul to the Pyrenean Mountains, unto Illiberis, 556 Miles ; to the Ocean and Sea-coast of Spain, 332 Miles. Then the Passage over to Gades, 1\ Miles. Which Measure, by Artemidorus9 Estimation, maketh in all 8685 Miles. Now

BOOK II.] History of Nature. 147

the Breadth of the Earth, from the Meridian Point to the North, is collected to be less almost by One-half; that is, 5462 Miles. Whereby it appeareth plainly, how much of the one Side the Heat of Fire, and on the other Side frozen Water hath stolen away. For I am not of opinion that the Earth goeth no further than this ; for then it would not have the Form of a Globe ; but that the Places on either Side be uninhabitable, and therefore not discovered. This Measure runneth from the Shore of the Ethiopian Ocean, where now it is inhabited, to Meroe, 550 Miles. From thence to Alexandria, 1240 Miles; to Rhodes, 583 Miles; to Gnidus, 84J Miles; to Cos, 25 Miles; to Samus, 100 Miles; to Chius, 84 Miles ; to Mitylen£, 65 Miles ; to Tenedos, 28 Miles ; to the Promontory Sigaeum, 12J Miles ; to the Mouth of Pontus, 312J Miles; to Carambis, the Promontory, 350 Miles; to the Mouth of Maeotis, 312J Miles; to the Haven of Tanais, 265 Miles : which Voyage may be made shorter (with the Vantage of sailing directly) by 89 Miles. From the Haven of Tanais, the most diligent Authors have set down no Measure. Artemidorus was of opinion, that all be- yond was not discovered, allowing that about Tanais the Sarmatian Nations inhabit ; who lie to the North. Isidorus hath added hereto 1200 Miles, as far as to Thule : which is grounded upon bare Conjecture. I understand that the Bor- ders of the Sarmatians are known to have no less an Extent than this last-mentioned cometh to. And otherwise, how much must it be that would contain such innumerable Na- tions, shifting their Seats every now and then. Whereby I judge that the Over-measure of the Clime inhabitable is much greater. For I know certainly, that from Germany very great Islands have been discovered not long since. And thus much of the Length and Breadth of the Earth, which I thought worth the writing. Now the universal Circuit thereof, Eratosthenes, who was learned in all Kind of Lite- rature, and in this Knowledge better qualified than others ; and whom I see of all Men approved, hath set down to be 252,000 Stadia. This Measure, by the Romans' reckoning, amounteth to 31,500 Miles. A wondrous bold Attempt ! but

1 48 History of Nature. [ BOOK 1 1 .

yet so exquisitely calculated, that it were a Shame not to be- lieve him. Hipparchus, a wonderful Man, both for con- vincing him, and for all his other Diligence, addeth more- over little less than 25,000 Stadia.

CHAPTER CIX. The harmonica! Measure of the World.

ANOTHER Kind of Faith may be given to Dionysodorus ; for I will not withhold a very great Example of Grecian Vanity. This Man was a Melian, famous for his Skill in Geometry : he died very aged in his own Country : his near Kinswomen, who were his Heirs, solemnised his Funerals. These Women, as they came some few Days after to perform the Obsequies thereto belonging, are said to have found in his Monument an Epistle of this Dionysodorus, written in his own Name, To them above ; to this Effect : that he had gone from his Sepulchre to the Bottom of the Earth, and that it was thither 42,000 Stadia. Neither wanted there Geome- tricians who made this Interpretation, that this Epistle was sent from the Centre of the Earth ; to which Place down- ward from the uppermost, the Way was longest; and the same was just half the Diameter of the Ball : whereupon followed this Computation, that they pronounced the Circuit to be 255,000 Stadia. The harmonical Proportion which forceth this Nature of Things to agree unto itself, addeth unto this Measure 7000 Stadia, and maketh the Earth to be the 96,000th Part of the whole World.

IN THE THIRD BOOK

ARE COMPREHENDED THE

REGIONS, NATIONS, SEAS, TOWNS, PORTS, MOUNTAINS, RIVERS,

WITH THEIR MEASURES, AND PEOPLE, EITHER AT THIS

DAY KNOWN, OR IN TIMES PAST ;

AS FOLLOWETH :

CHAP.

1. Of Europe.

2. The Length and Breadth of

Boetica (a Part of Spain, con- taining Andalusia, and the Realm of Grenada).

3. That nearer Part of Spain

(called by the Romans Ilis- pania Citerior).

4. The Province of Narbonensis

(wherein is Dauphine, Lan- guedoc, and Provence).

5. Italy, Tiberis, Rome, and Cam-

pania.

6. The Island Corsica.

7. Sardinia.

8. Sicily.

9. Lipara.

10. Of Locri, and the Frontiers of Italy.

In this Book are described twenty-six Islands within the Adriatic and Ionian Seas : their principal Cities, Towns, and Nations. Also the chief and famous Rivers : the highest Hills : particular Islands : Towns and Countries that have perished. In Sum, here are comprised Histories and Observations to the Number of 326.

CHAP.

11. The second Gulf of Europe.

12. The fourth Region of Italy.

13. The fifth Region.

14. The sixth Region.

15. The eighth Region.

16. Of the River Po.

1 7. Of Italy beyond the Po, counted

the eleventh Region.

18. Venice, the tenth Region.

19. Of Istria.

20. Of the Alps, and Alpine Na-

tions.

21. Illyricum.

22. Liburnia.

23. Macedonia.

24. Noricum.

25. Pannonia and Dalmatia.

26. Mcesia.

LATIN WRITERS ABSTRACTED:

Turannius Graccida, Cor. Nepos, T. Livius,Cato Censor ius, M. Agrippa, M. Varroj Divm Augustus the Emperor, Varro Attacinus, AnHas, Hyginus, L. Vetus, Mela Pomponius, Curio the Father, Coelius Aruntius, Sebosus, Lidnius Mutianus, Fabricius Thuscus, L. Atteius Capttd, Verrius Flaccus, L. Piso, C. JElianus, and Vuleriamis.

FOREIGN AUTHORS:

Artemidojiis, Alexander Polyhistor, Thitcydides, Theophrastiis, Isidorus, Theopompm, Metrodorus Scepsius, Callicratcs, Xenophon, Lampsaccuns, Diodorus SyracMsanus, Nymphodorus, CaUiphanes, and Tinwgenes.

THE THIRD BOOK

HISTORY OF NATURE

WRITTEN BY

C. PLINIUS SECUNDUS.

THE PREFACE.

we have written of the Position and Wonders of the Earth, Waters, and Stars : also of the Proportion and Measure of the whole World. Now we proceed to the Parts thereof; although this also be judged an infinite Piece of Work, and not lightly to be handled without some Reprehension : and yet in no kind of Enterprise is Pardon more due ; since it is little Wonder, if he who is born a Man knoweth not all Things belonging to Man. And therefore, I will not follow one Author particularly, but every one as I shall think him most true in each Part. Be- cause it hath been common, in a Manner, to them all, to de- scribe the Situations of those Places most exactly, from whence themselves proceeded : and, therefore, neither will I blame nor reprove any Man. The bare Names of Places shall be simply set down ; and that with as much Brevity as I can : the Excellency, as well as the Causes, being deferred to their several Treatises : for now the Question is touching the Earth in general. And, therefore, I would have Things to be taken as if the Names of Countries were put down void of Renown, and such only as they were in the Beginning,

BOOK III.] History of Nature. 151

before any Acts were done ; and as if they had indeed an Enduement of Names, but respective only to the World and Nature of Things.

The whole Globe of the Earth is divided into three Parts, Europe, Asia, and Africa. The Beginning we take from the West and the Straits of Gades, where the Atlantic Ocean breaking in, is spread into the inland Seas. Entering there, Africa is on the right Hand, Europe on the left, and Asia between them. The Bounds confining these are the Rivers Tanais and Nil us. The Mouth of the Ocean of which I spoke lyeth out in Length fifteen Miles, and in Breadth five, from a Village in Spain called Mellaria to the Promontory of Africa called the White, as Turannius Graccula, who was born there, writeth. T. Livius and Nepos Cornelius have reported, that the Breadth, where it is narrowest, is seven Miles, and ten Miles where it is broadest. From so small a Mouth spreadeth so vast an Expanse of Waters ; nor doth such exceeding Depth lessen the Wonder. In the very Mouth of it are many Shelves of white Sands, to the great Terror of Ships passing that Way. And therefore, many have called those Straits the Entry of the Mediterranean Sea. Near to the Sides of this Gullet, are set two Mountains, one on each Side, as Barriers to shut all in : which are, Abila for Africa, and Calpe for Europe, the Limits of the Labours of Hercules. For which Cause, the Inhabitants of those Parts call them the Pillars of that God ; and they believe, that by Ditches digged within the Continent, the Ocean, before excluded, was let in ; and so the Face of the Earth was changed.

CHAPTER I.

Of Europe 1 .

AND first, of Europe, the Nurse of that People which is the Conqueror of all Nations ; and of all Lands by many

1 This claim of superiority is advanced by the Roman, in the con- sciousness of his country's power and greatness; and although 1800 years

1 52 History of Na ture. [BooKllI.

Degrees the most beautiful : which many rightly have made not the third Portion of the Earth, hut the half, the whole Globe being divided into two Parts : from the River Tanais to the Straits of Gades. The Ocean, then, at this Space abovesaid entereth into the Atlantic Sea, and with a greedy Current drowneth those Lands which dread his coming ; but those Shores that resist, with its windings it eateth and hollo weth continually, excavating many Creeks in Europe, wherein four remarkable Gulfs are to be seen.

Of these the first, from Calpe, the remotest Promontory (as is abovesaid) of Spain, is bent with an exceeding great Compass, to Locri ; and as far as the Promontory Brutium. Within it lieth Spain, the first of Lands ; that Part, I mean, which, in regard of Rome, is the further off, and is named also Boetica. And presently from the End of Virgitanus, the hither Part, otherwise called Tarraconensis, as far as the Pyrenean Mountains. That further Part is divided into two Provinces through the Length : for on the North Side of Boetica lieth Lusitania, divided from it by the River Ana.

This River beginneth in the Territory Larninitanus of the nearer Spain, one while spreading out itself into Pools, then again gathering into narrow Brooks : or altogether hidden under Ground, and taking Pleasure to rise up oftentimes, falleth into the Atlantic Ocean. But the Part named Tarra- conensis, lying close to the Pyrenean Mountain and running along all the Side thereof, and, at the same Time, stretching out itself across from the Iberian Sea to the Gallic Ocean, is separated from Boetica and Lusitania by the Mountain

have passed, and that greatness has departed like a dream, European superiority still exists. A prophecy from the remotest ages (Gen. ix. 27) — delivered under circumstances in which its fulfilment was exceedingly unlikely — has proclaimed, that the God whom Pliny did not know shall enlarge Japhet, the father of European nations ; — that he shall dwell in the tents of Shem, and Canaan shall be his servant. And, accordingly, we see the inhabitants of Europe spreading out, and exerting a mastery, in the most distant climes ; in the strength of their superiority in the arts of life, in science, the freedom of their political institutions, and, above all, in religion. The superiority must continue so long as this foundation of it shall exist. Esto perpetua. — Wern. Club.

BOOK III.] History of Nature. 153

Salarius and the Cliffs of the Oretanes, Carpetanes, and Asturians.

Bcetica, so called from the River Bcetis, that cutteth it in the midst, excelleth all the other Provinces in Produce, arid a certain plentiful and peculiar Beauty. Therein are held four judicial Assemblies; the Gaditan, Cordubian, Astigitan, and Hispalensian. All the Towns in it are in (Oppida) Num- ber 175; whereof eight are Colonies; free Boroughs (Muni- cipia), eight ; Towns endued with the ancient Franchises of Latiuni, twenty-nine : with Freedom, six; Confederate, four; Tributary, 120. Of which those that be worth the naming, or are more current in the Latin Tongue, be these under- written : from the River Ana the Coast of the Ocean, the Town (Oppidum) Ossonoba, surnamed also Lusturia. Two Rivers, Luxia and Urium1, run between the Mountains Ariani : the River Bretis: the Shore Corense : with a winding Creek. Over against which lieth Gades, to be spoken of among the Islands. The Promontory of Juno : the Haven Besippo. The Towns Belon and Mellaria. The Straits out of the Atlantic Sea. Carteia, called Tertessos by the Greeks ; and the Mountain Calpe. Then, within the Shore, the Town Barbesula, with the River. Also, the Town Salbula ; Suel- Malacha, with the River of the Confederates. Next to these, Menoba, with a River: Sexi-firmum, surnamed Jiilium : Selaubina, Abdera, and Murgis, the Frontier of Boetica. All that Coast M. Agrippa thought to have had their Beginning from the Carthaginians (Poeni). From Ana there lieth against the Atlantic Ocean, the Region of the Bastuli and the Turduli.

M. Varro saith, that there entered into all Parts of Spain, the Iberians, Persians, Phoenicians, Celts, and Carthaginians (Posni) : for Lusus, the Companion of Father Liber, or Lyssa, (which signifieth the frantic Fury of those that raged with him), gave the Name to Lusitania; and Pan was the Governor of it all. But those Things which are reported of Hercules and Perene, or of Saturn, I think to be fabulous

1 These rivers are now called Oilier and Tin to.

154 History of Nature. [Boox III.

Tales in a high Degree. Boetls, in the Tarraconensian Pro- vince, rising, not as some have said, at the Town Mentesa, but in the Forest Tugrensis, which the River Tader watereth, as it doth the Carthaginian Country at Ilorcum1, shunneth the Funeral Pile of Scipio : and, turning into the West, maketh toward the Atlantic Ocean, adopting the Province, is at first small, but receiveth many other Rivers, from which it taketh away both their Fame and their Waters. And first being entered from Ossigitania into Boetica, running gently with a pleasant Channel, it hath many Towns, both on the left Hand and the right, seated upon it. The most famous between it and the Sea-coast, in the Mediterranean, are Segeda, surnamed Augurina : Julia, which is also called Fidentia : Virgao, otherwise Alba : Ebura, otherwise Cere- alis: Illiberi, which is also Liberini: Ilipua, named likewise Laus. Artigi, or Julienses : Vesci, the same as Faventia : Singilia, Hegua, Arialdunum, Agla the Less, Baebro, Castra Vinaria, Episibrium, Hipponova, Ilurco, Osca, Escua, Suc- cubo, Nuditanum, Tucci the Old, all which belong to Basti- tania, lying toward the Sea. But within the Jurisdiction of Corduba, about the very River standeth the Town Ossigi, which is surnamed Laconicum : llliturgi, called also Forum Julium: Ipasturgi, the same as Triumphal^ ; Sitia : and four- teen Miles within the Country, Obulco, which is named Pontificense\ And presently Ripepora. a Town of the Con- federates, Sacili, Martialum, Onoba. And on the right Hand Corduba, surnamed Colonia Patritia: and then beginneth Bcetis to be navigable. The Towns Carbulo, Decuma, the

* The river makes a bend to avoid the funeral pile of Cneius Stipio, concerning the manner of whose death there is some difference of opinion. Apianus, in " Iberic," p. 263, says, that the victorious forces of Hasdrubal drove him, with a band of his followers, into a certain castle, where they were all destroyed by fire. Livy tells us (lib. xxv. 36), that " Cneius Scipio, according to some accounts, was killed on the hill, in the first as- sault : according to others, he fled into a castle standing near the camp : this was surrounded with fire, and the doors, which were too strong to be forced, being then burned, they were taken ; and all within, together with the general himself, were put to death." The modern name of Ilorcum is Lorquinum, in the province of Murcia. — Wern. Club.

BOOK III.] History of Nature. \ 55

River Singulis, falling into the same Side of Bcetis. The Towns of the Jurisdiction Hispalensis are these : Celtica Axa- tiara, Arruci, Menoba, Ilipa, surnamed Italica. And on the left Hand, Hispalis, a Colony, surnamed likewise Romulensis. Opposite to it, the Town Osset, which is also called Julia Con- stantia: Vergenturn, which also is JuliiGenitor; Hippo Caura- siarum, the River Menoba, which also entereth into Bcetis on the right Side. But within the Estuaries of the Boetis there is the Town Nebrissa, surnamed Veneria and Colobona : also Colonies, as Asta, which is called Regia. And in the midland Part Asido, which is also Caesariana. The River Singulis breaking into the Boatis in the order I have said, runneth by the Colony Astigitania, surnamed also Augusta Firma, and so forward it is navigable. The Rest of the Colonies belonging to this Jurisdiction are free : namely, Tucci, which is surnamed Augusta Gemella : Itucci, called also Virtus Julia: Attubi, called Claritas Julia : Urso, which is Genua Urbanorum : and among these was Munda, taken together with Pompeys Son. Free Towns, Astigi the Old, Ostippo. Stipendiary, Callet, Calucula, Castra Gemina, llipula the Less, Merucra, Sacrana, Obulcula, Oningis. Coming from the Coast, near the River Menoba, itself navigable, there dwell not far off the Alonti- gicili, and Alostigi. But this Region, which, without the forenamed, reacheth from the Boetis to the River Ana, is called Beturia : divided into two Parts, and as many Sorts of People : the Celtici, who border on Lusitania, and are within the Jurisdiction Hispalensis: and the Turduli, who inhabit close upon Lusitania and Tarraconensis : and they resort to Corduba. It is clear that the Celtici came from the Celtibe- rians, out of Lusitania, as appeareth by their Religion, Tongue, and Names of Towns, which in Bcetica are distin- guished by their Surnames ; as Seria, which is called Fama Julia: Ucultuniacum, which now is Curiga : Laconimurgi,. Constantia Julia ; Terresibus is now Fortunales ; and Callen- sibus, Emanici. Besides these, in Celtica Acinippo, Arunda, Arunci, Turobrica, Lastigi, Alpesa, Ssepona, Serippo. The other Beturia, which we said belonged to the Turduli and to the Jurisdiction of Corduba, hath Towns of no base Ac-

156 History of Nature. [BooK III.

count, Arsa, Mellaria, and Mirobrica: and the Regions Osrutigi and Sisapone. Within the Jurisdiction of Gades, there is a Town of Roman Citizens called Regina : of Latins, there are Laepia, Ulia, Carisa, surnamed Aurelia, Urgia, which is like- wise named Castrurn Julium : also, Csesaris Salutariensis. Stipendiaries there be, Besaro, Belippo, Berbesula, Lacippo, Besippo, Callet, Cappagum, Oleastro, Itucci, Brana, Lacibi, Saguntia, Andorisippo. The whole Length of it M . Agrippa hath set down 463 Miles, and the Breadth 257. But because the Bounds reached to Carthage, which Cause occasioneth oftentimes Errors in computing the Measure ; at one Place in the Limits of the Provinces, and in another the Paces in journeying being either more or less ; also, considering that the Seas in so long a Time have encroached here upon the Land, and the Banks again gotten there of the Sea ; or that the Rivers have either turned crooked or gone straight : be- sides, that some have begun to take their Measure from this Place, others from that, and gone divers Ways : it is by these Means come to pass, that no two agree together.

CHAPTER II. The Length and Breadth of Bcetica.

THE Length of Bcetica at this day, from the Bound of the Town Castulo to Gades, is 475 Miles : and from Murgi on the Sea-coast, more by twenty-two Miles. The Breadth from the Border of Carteia is 224 Miles. And who would believe that Agrippa (a Man so diligent, and in this Work principally so careful) did err, when he purposed to set out a View of the whole World for the City, and Divus Augustus with him ? For he finished the Portico begun according to the Designation and Memorials appointed by the Sister of M. Agrippa.

CHAPTER III. The nearer Spain.

THE old Form of the nearer Spain is somewhat changed, as also of many other Provinces, as Pompey the Great in the

BOOK III.] History of Nature. 157

Trophies which he erected in Pyrenaeus, testifieth, that 846 Towns between the Alps and the Borders of the further Spain, were by him brought to Obedience. Now the whole Province is divided into seven Jurisdictions : the Car- thaginian, the Tarraconensian, Caesar Augustanian, Cluni- ensian, Asturian, Lucensician, and of Bracarum. There are besides Islands, which we set aside without naming them, and excepting the Cities that are annexed to others, the Province itself containeth 294 Towns. In which Colonies there be twelve Towns, of Roman Citizens thirteen, of old Latins seventeen, of Allies one, stipendiary 136. The first in the Frontiers be the Bastulians : behind them, in such Order as shall be said, those receding Interiorly, the Men- tesani, Oretani, and the Carpetani, upon the River Tagus. Near to them, the Vaccaei, Vectones, Celtiberi, and Arrebaci. The Towns next to the Borders, Urci and Barea, assigned to Bcetica : the Country of Mauritania, then Deitania : after that, Contestania, and New Carthage, a Colony. From the Promontory of which, called Saturn s Cape, the Passage over the Sea to Caesaries, a City in Mauritania, is 187 Miles. In the residue of that Coast is the River Tader : the Free Colony Illici, of which the Bay took the name Illicitanus. To it are annexed the Icositani : soon after, Lucentum, a Town of the Latins. Dranium, a Stipendiary ; the River Sucro, and what was sometime the Frontier Town of Con- testania. The Region Edetania, which retireth to the Cel- tiberians, having a pleasant Pool bordering along the Front of it. Valentia, a Colony lying three Miles from the Sea. The River Turium ; and just as far from the Sea, Saguntum, a Town of Roman Citizens renowned for their Fidelity. The River Idubeda, and the Region of the Ilergaoni. The River Iberus, rich by Commerce and Navigation, which beginneth in the Cantabrian's Country, not far from the Town luliobrica, and holdeth on its course 430 Miles, and, for 260 of them, from the Town Varia, carrieth Vessels; in regard of which River, the Greeks named all Spain Iberia. The Region Cossetania, the River Subi, the Colony Tarraco, built by the Scipios, like as Carthage of the Poani. The

1 58 History of Nature. [BooK 111.

Country of the Illergetes, the Town Subur, the River Ru- bricatum ; from thence the Lacetani and Indigetes. After them in this order following : retiring within at the Foot of Pyrenaeus, the Ausetani, Itani, and Lacetani : and along Pyrenaeus, the Cerretani, and then the Vascones. But in the Borders, the Colony Barcino, surnamed Faventia : Towns of Roman Citizens, — Baetulo, Illuro, the River Lar- num, Blandee : the River Alba, Emporiae: two there be of these, of the old Inhabitants, and of Greeks, who were descended from the Phocaeans. The River Tichis; from whence to Pyrenaea Venus on the other side of the Pro- montory, are forty Miles. Now, besides the forenamed, shall be related the principal places as they lie in every Jurisdiction. At Tarracon there plead in Court four and forty States. The most famous among them are, of Roman Citizens, the Dertusani and Bisgargitani : of Latins, the Ausetani and Cerretani, surnamed Juliani : they also who are named Augustani, the Sedetani, Gerundenses, Ges- sorienses, Teari, the same with Julienses. Of Stipendiarii, the Aquicaldenses, Onenses, and Baetulonenses. Caesar Au- gusta, a free Colony, upon which the River Iberus floweth, where the Town before was called Salduba : these are of the Region Sedetania, and receiveth 152 States, and among these, of Roman Citizens, the Bellitani and Celsenses ; and out of the Colony, the Calaguritani, surnamed also Nascici. The Ilerdenses of the Surdaon's Nation, near to whom runneth the River Sicoris : the Oscences, of the Region Ves- cetania, and the Turiasonenses. Of old Latins, the Cas- cantenses, Erganicenses, Gracchuritani, Leonicenses, Ossi- gerdenses : of Confederates, the Tarragenses. Stipendiarii, the Arcobricenses, Andologenses, Arocelitani, Bursaonenses, Calaguritani, surnamed Fibularenses, Complutenses, Ca- renses, Cincenses, Cortonenses, Dammanitani, Larrenses, Iturisenses, Tspalenses, Ilumberitani, Lacetani, Vibienses, Pompelonenses, and Segienses. There resort to Carthage for Law sixty-two several States, besides the Inhabitants of the Islands. Out of the Colony Accitana, the Gemellenses, also Libisosona, surnamed Foroaugustana, which two are

BOOK III.] History of Nature. 159

endued with the Franchises of Italy : out of the Colony Salariensis, the Citizens of Old Latium, Castulonenses, whom Ccesar calleth Venales. The Setabitani, who are also Au- gustani, and the Valerrienses. But of the Stipendiarii, of greatest name be the Babanenses, the Bastiani, the Con- saburenses, Dianenses, Egelestani, Ilorcitani, Laminitani, Mentesani, the same as Oritani ; arid Mentesani, who other- wise are Bastuli ; Oretani, who also are called Germani ; the Chief of the Celtiberians, the Segobrigenses, and the Toletani of Carpetania, dwelling upon the River Tagus : next to them, the Viacienses and Virgilienses. To the Juris- diction of Cluniensis the Varduli bring fourteen Nations, of which it is necessary to name none but the Albanenses ; the Turmodigi four, among whom are the Segisamonenses, Sagisainejulienses. To the same Jurisdiction the Carietes and the Vennenses go out of five Cities, of which the Ve- lienses are. Thither repair the Pelendones, with four States of the Celtiberians, of whom the Numantini were famous ; as in the eighteen Cities of the Vaccsei. the Intercatienses, Pallantini, Lacobricenses, and Caucenses: for in the four States of the Cantabrici only Juliobrica is named. In the ten Cities of the Autrigoni, Tritium and Vironesca. To the Arevaci the River Areva gave name. Of them there be seven Towns : Saguntia and Uxama, which Names are often used in other Places ; besides Segovia and Nova Augusta, Termes, and Clunia itself, the very utmost bound of Cel- tiberia. All the rest lie toward the Ocean ; and of the above-named, the Verduli, together with the Cantabri. To these there are joined twelve Nations of the Astures, divided into the Augustanes and Transmontani, having a stately City, Asturica. Among these are Giguri, Pesici, Lancienses, and Zoclae. The number of the whole Multitude ariseth to 240,000 Polls of free Men. The Jurisdiction Lucensis com- priseth sixteen Nations (besides the Celtici and Lebuni) of base Condition, and having barbarous Names ; but of Free- men, almost 166,000. In like manner, twenty-four Cities, having 275,000 Polls of Bracari; of whom, besides the Bracari themselves, the Vibali, Celerini, Galleeci, ^Equesilici,

1 60 History of Nature. [ BOOK III.

and Quinquerni, may be named without Disdain. The length of the hither Spain, from Pyrenaeus to the Bound of Castulo, is 607 Miles, and the Coast thereof somewhat more. The Breadth from Tarracon to the Shore of Alarson, 307 Miles ; and from the Foot of Pyrenseus where, between two Seas, it is Pointed with the Straits, and so opening itself by little and little until it come to touch the farther Spain, it is as much, and addeth somewhat more to the Breadth. All Spain is full of Metal, as Lead, Iron, Copper, Silver, and Gold : the hither part thereof aboundeth with Specular Stone,1 and Bostica, particularly, with Vermillion. There are also Quarries of Marble. Unto all Spain, Vespasianus Augustus, the Emperor, tossed with the Tempests of the Commonwealth, granted the Franchises of Latium. The Mountains Pyreuaei define the Boundaries of Spain and Gaul, their Promontories projecting into two opposite Seas.

CHAPTER IV. The Province Narbonensis.

THAT Part of Gallia which is washed by the Mediter- ranean Sea is called the Province Narbonensis, named for- merly Braccata ; divided from Italy by the River Varus and the Alps, most Friendly Mountains to the Roman Empire ; and from the other Parts of Gaul, on the North side, by the Mountains Gehenna and Jura. For Tillage of the Ground, for reputation of Men, regard of Manners, and for Wealth, worthy to be set behind no other Provinces whatever ; and, in one word, to be counted Italy more truly than a Pro- vince. In its Borders lyeth the Country of the Sardoni ; and within, the Region of the Consuarani. The Rivers be Tecurn and Vernodubrum ; the Towns, llliberis (a poor relic of a City that was once Great), and Ruscio, inhabited by the Latins. The River Atax, springing out of Pyrenaeus, runneth through the Lake Lubrensis: Narbo Martins, a Colony of the Tenth Legion, twelve Miles distant from the

' i. e. Talc. See Lib. xxxvi. cap. 22.

BOOK III.] History of Nature. 161

Sea : Rivers Araris nnd Liria. Towns in the other Parts scattered here and there, by reason of Pools lying before them : Agatha, in Times past belonging to the Massilians, and the Region of Volscae Tectosages. Also, where Rhoda of the Rhodians was, whereof Rhodanus took its name, the most fruitful River of all Gallia, running swiftly out of the Alps through the Lake Lemanus, and carrying with it the slow Araris ; and Isara running as fast as itself, together with Druentia ; of which the two small Mouths are called Lybica; of which the one is Hispaniensum, the other Metapinum : there is a third, which is the most Wide and Large, named Massalioticum. Some write that the Town Heraclea likewise stood at the Mouth of Rhodanus. Beyond the Ditch, out of Rhodanus, which was the Work of C. Marius and beareth his Name, there was remarkable Pool ; moreover, the Town Astromela, and the maritime Tract of the Avsetici ; and above, the stony Plains, the Me- morial of the Battles of Hercules. The Region of the Anatilii, and within, of the Desuviates and Caviarae. Again, from the Sea, Tricorium ; and within, the Region of the Tricolli, Vocantii, Segovellauni, and presently of the Allo- broges ; but in the Borders, Massilia of Greek Phocaeans confederate : the Promontory Citharista, Zaopartus, and the Region of the Camatullici. After them the Suelteri ; and above them, Verucines; but in the Coast, Athenopolis of the Massilians ; Forum Julii, a Colony of the ninth Legion, which also is called Parensis and Classica : in it is the River Argenteus, the Region of the Oxubii and Ligaunii ; above whom are the Suetri, Quariates, and Adunicates : but in the Borders, a Latin Town, Antipolis. The Region of the Deciates, the River Varus gushing out of a Mountain of the Alps, called Acema : in the middle Part thereof, the Colonies Arelate of the sixth Legion, Bliterae of the seventh, and Arausia of those belonging to the second . In the Territory of the Caviarae, Valentia and Vienna, of the Allobroges. Latin Towns, Aquas Sextiae of the Saiyi, and Avenio of the Caviarae, Apta Julia of the Vulgienties, Alebecerriorum of the Apollinares, Alba of the Helvi, Augusta of the Tricos-

162 History of Nature. [BOOK III.

tines ; Anatilia, Aeria, Bormannico, Comacina, Cabellio, Carcasum of the Volscan Tectosages ; Cessero, Carpen- toracte of the Menines ; the Cenicenses, Cambolecti, who are named Atlantici, Forum Voconii, Glanum, Livii, Lu- tevani, who are the same as the Foro-neronienses : Ne- rnausum of the Arecomici, Piscense, Ruteni, Sanugenses, and Tolosani of the Tectosages. The Borderers upon Aquitane, Tasco-dumetari, Canonienses, Umbranici : two capital Towns of the confederate City of the Vocontians, Vasco and Lucus Augusti ; but Towns of no importance nineteen, as twenty-four annexed to the Nemausienses. To this Charter Galba the Emperor added of the Alpine Inhabitants, the Avantici and Eproduntii, whose Town is named Dima. Agrippa saith that the Length of the Province Narbonensis is 270 Miles, and the Breadth 248.

CHAPTER V. Italy, Tiber, Rome, Campania.

NEXT to them is Italy ; and the first of it the Ligurians : then Hetruria, Umbria, Latium, where are the Mouths of Tiberis and Rome, the Head of the whole Earth, sixteen Miles distant from the Sea. After it is the maritime Country of the Volscians, and Campania : then Picentium, Lu- canum, and Brutium, the furthest Point in the South, to which, from the moonshaped Mountains of the Alps, Italy shooteth out to the Seas. From it is the Sea-coast of Graecia, and soon after, the Salentini, Pediculi, Apuli, Peligni, Ferentani, Marrucini, Vestini, Sabini, Picentes, Galli, Urnbri, Tusci, Veneti, Carni, lapides, Istri, and Liburni.

Neither am I ignorant that it might be thought justly a point of an unthankful and stupid Mind, if briefly in this sort, and cursorily, that Land should be spoken of which is the Nurse of all Lands. She also is the Mother, chosen by the Power of the Gods, to make even Heaven itself more Glorious ; to gather into One the scattered Empires, to soften the Fashions of other Countries ; and whereas the

BOOK III.] History of Nature. 163

Languages of so many Nations were repugnant and savage, to draw them together by commerce of Speech, to a Con- ference; to endue Man with Humanity; and briefly, that of all Nations in the World there should be one only Country. But so noble are all the Places that a Man shall come to, so excellent is every thing, and each State so famous, that I am at a loss what to say. The City of Rome, the only fair Face therein worthy to stand upon so stately a Neck, what Work would it ask to be described as it ought l ? The very Tract of Campania by itself, so pleasant and happy, how should it be described? So that it is evident in this one Place there is the Work of rejoicing Nature. Besides this, the whole Temperature of the Air is evermore so vital, the Fields so fertile, the Hills so open to the Sun, the Forests so harmless, the Groves so shady, the kinds of Wood so bounteous, the Mountains so breezy ; the Corn, the Vines, the Olives so fertile ; the Sheep so enriched with such noble Fleeces.; such Necks to the Oxen ; so many Lakes, such abundance of Rivers and Springs watering it throughout ; so many Seas and Havens, that it is the very Bosom lying open to receive the Commerce of all Lands ; and as of itself earnestly desiring to lie far into the Sea to help all Mankind. Neither do I speak now of the Natures and Manners of the Men ; nor of the Nations subdued by their Tongue and Hand. Even the Greeks (a Nation of all other most given to praise themselves) have given their judgment of her, in that they called a certain Part thereof Great Greece. But that which we did in the mention of the Heaven, namely, to touch some known Planets and a few Stars, the same must

1 The Romans were proud of the glory of their city ; and believed it to be the only one worthy the regard of the gods :—

" Jupiter arce sua cum totum spectat in orbem,

Nil nisi Romanum, quod tueatur, habet." — OVID, Fasti, lib. i.

From his high citadel when Jove surveyed

The extended earth beneath his sovereign sway,

Nought but the Roman widely spread he spied. Worthy t'engage his care. — Wern. Club.

164 History of Nature. [BooK III.

we do in this Part : only I pray the Readers to remember that I hasten to rehearse every particular Thing through the whole Globe.

Italy is fashioned like to an Oak leaf, being much larger in Length than in Breadth: to the left Side bending with the Top, and ending in the Figure of an Amazonian Shield : and where, from the middle Extension, it is called Cocin- thos, it putteth forth through two moonshaped Promontories two Horns : the one, Leucopetra, on the right Hand ; the other, Lacinium, on the left. In Length it reacheth from the Foot of the Alps to Prsetoria Augusta, through the City of Rome, and so to Capua, with a course leading to Rhegium, a Town situated upon the Shoulder thereof: from which beginneth the bending, as it were, of the Neck, and beareth 1020 Miles. And this Measure would be much more if it went as far as Lacinium ; but such an Obliquity might seem to decline out too much to one Side. Its Breadth is various ; being 410 Miles between the two Seas, the Higher and the Lower, and the Rivers Varus and Arsia. The middle portions of this Breadth, which is much about the City of Rome, from the Mouth of the River Aternus running into the Adriatic Sea, unto the Mouths of Tiber, 136 Miles; and somewhat less from Novum Castrum by the Adriatic Sea, to Alsium, and so to the Tuscan Sea : and in no Place ex- ceedeth it in Breadth 300 Miles. But the full Compass of the whole, from Varus to Arsia, is 20,049 Miles. It is distant by Sea from the Lands round about, that is, from Istria and Liburnia, in some Places 100 Miles; from Epirus and Illyricuni, 50 Miles ; from Africa, less than 200, as Varro affirmeth ; from Sardinia, 120 Miles ; from Sicily, a Mile and a half ; from Corey ra, less than 70 ; from tssa, 50. It goeth along the Seas even to the Meridional Line of the Heaven ; but if a Man examine it very exactly, it lieth between the Sun-rising in Mid-winter, and the Point of the Meridian.

Now we will describe the Circuit of this Country, and reckon the Cities : wherein it is necessary to be premised, that we shall follow our Author Divus Augustus, and the Description by him made of all Italy ; arranged into eleven

BOOK III.] History of Nature. 1 65

Regions. The Maritime Towns I will set down in the order as they stand, according to their vicinity one to another. But as in so running a Speech, the rest cannot be so orderly described, therefore in the Inland part thereof I will follow him as he hath digested them in Letters, but mentioning the Colonies by Name which he hath delivered in that number. Neither is it easy to follow thoroughly their Positions and Origins, considering the Ingaun Li- gurians (to say nothing of all the rest) were endowed with Lands thirty times. To begin with the River Varus, there- fore, there is the Town Nicsea, built by the Massilians ; the River Po ; the Alps ; the People within the Alps, of many Names, but chiefly the Capillati : the Town Vediantiorum, the City Cemelion (or a Town belonging to the State of the Vedianti, called Cemelion) ; the Port of Hercules Monoscus ; the Ligustian Coast. Of the Liguri, the most renowned beyond the Alps are the Sally i, Deceates, and Oxubii : on this Side, the Veneni, and, descended from the Caturiges, the Vagienni, Statilli, Vibelli, Magelli, Euburiates, Cas- monates, Veliates, and those whose Towns we will declare in the next Coast. The River Rutuba, the Town Albium, Intemelium, the River Merula, the Town Albium Ingaunum, the Port Vadum Sabatium, the River Porcifera, the Town Genua, the River Feritor ; the Port Delphini, Tigulia : within, Segesta Tiguliorum : the River Macra, which limiteth Liguria. But on the back of all these Towns above-named is Apenninus, the highest Mountain of all Italy, reaching from the Alps, with a continual ridge of Hills, to the Straits of Sicily. From the other Side of this to Pad us, the richest River of Italy, all the Country shineth with noble Towns : Liberna, Dertona a Colony, Iria, Barderates, In- dustria, Pollentia, Cartea, which also is named Polentia; Foro Fulvii the same as Valentinum ; Augusta of the Va- gienni : Alba Pompeia, Asta, and Aquae Statiellorum. This is the ninth Region, according to the Arrangement of Au- gustus. The Coast of Liguria lieth between the Rivers Varus and Macra, 211 Miles. To it is adjoined the seventh,

166 History of Nature. [BooK III.

wherein is Hetruria, from the River Macra : and itself, with the Names often changed. In old Time the Pelasgi drove the Umbri from thence : and by them the Lydi did the like, of whose King they were named Tyrrheni: but soon after, of their Ceremonies in Sacrificing, in the Greek Language Thusci. The first Town of Hetruria is Luna, with a famous Harbour ; then the Colony Luca, lying from the Sea : and nearer to it is Pisae, between the River Auser and Arnus, which took the Beginning from Pelops and the Pisi, or Atintani, a Greek Nation. Vada Vollaterranea, the River Cecinna. Populonium of the Hetrusci, in Times past situate only upon this Coast. After these, the Rivers Prille, and, soon after, Umbro, navigable : so forward the Tract of Umbria, and the PortTelamon : Cossa Volscientium, planted by the People of