Chapter 238

321The author probably means to speak of all the atmospheric phænomena that have been mentioned above.

322Marcus has made some remarks on this subject which may be read with advantage; Ajasson, ii. 245-6.

323The diminutive of Sus.

324Abὕω, pluo.

325The Hædi were in the constellation Auriga.

326We have the same account of the Oryx in Ælian, lib. vii. cap. 8.

327Our author again refers to this opinion, viii. 63, and it was generally adopted by the ancients; but it appears to be entirely unfounded.

328“cum tempestatibus confici sidus intelligimus.”

329“afflantur.” On this term Hardouin remarks, “Siderantur. Sideratio morbi genus est, partem aliquam corporis, ipsumque sæpe totum corpus percutientis subito: quod quum repentino eveniat impetu, e cœlo vi quadam sideris evenire putatur.” Lemaire, i. 317.

330Cicero alludes to these opinions in his treatise De Divin. ii. 33; see also Aul. Gellius, ix. 7.

331The heliotropium of the moderns has not the property here assigned to it, and it may be doubted whether it exists in any plant, except in a very slight and imperfect degree: the subject will be considered more fully in a subsequent part of the work, xxii. 29, where the author gives a more particular account of the heliotrope.

332“conchyliorum;” this term appears to have been specifically applied to the animal from which the Tyrian dye was procured.

333“soricum fibras;” Alexandre remarks on these words, “fibras jecoris intellige, id est, lobos infimos ...;” Lemaire, i. 318; but I do not see any ground for this interpretation.

334It does not appear from what source our author derived this number; it is considerably greater than that stated by Ptolemy and the older astronomers. See the remarks of Hardouin and of Brotier; Lemaire. i. 319.

335The Vergiliæ or Pleiades are not in the tail of the Bull, according to the celestial atlas of the moderns.

336“Septemtriones.”

337The doctrine of Aristotle on the nature and formation of mists and clouds is contained in his treatises De Meteor. lib. i. cap. 9. p. 540, and De Mundo, cap. 4. p. 605. He employs the termsἀτμὶς,νέφος, andνεφέλη, which are translatedvapor,nubesandnebula, respectively. The distinction, however, between the two latter does not appear very clearly marked either in the Greek or the Latin, the two Greek words being indiscriminately applied to either of the Latin terms.

338It is doubtful how far this statement is correct; see the remarks of Hardouin, Lem. i. 320.

339The words in the original are respectivelyfulmenandfulgetrum; Seneca makes a similar distinction betweenfulmenandfulguratio: “Fulguratio est late ignis explicitus; fulmen est coactus ignis et impetu jactus.” Nat. Quæst. lib. ii. cap. 16. p. 706.

340“Præsertim ex tribus superioribus planetis, uti dictum est, cap. 18.” Hardouin, in Lemaire, i. 322.

341Our author’s opinion respecting the origin of winds nearly agrees with that of Aristotle; “nihil ut aliud ventus (ἄνεμος) sit, nisi aër multus fluctuans et compressus, qui etiam spiritus (πνεῦμα) appellatur;” De Meteor. This treatise contains a full account of the phænomena of winds. Seneca also remarks, “Ventus est aër fluens;” Nat. Quæst. lib. 3 & 5.

342Aristotle informs us, that the winds termed apogæi (ἀπόγαιοι) proceed from a marshy and moist soil; De Mundo, cap. 4. p. 605. For the origin and meaning of the terms here applied to the winds, see the remarks of Hardouin and Alexandre, in Lemaire, i. 323.

343This is mentioned by Pomp. Mela.

344“In domibus etiam multis manu facta inclusa opacitate conceptacula....” Some of the MSS. havemadefactaformanu facta, and this reading has been adopted by Lemaire; but nearly all the editors, as Dalechamps, Laët, Grovonius, Poincinet and Ajasson, retain the former word.

345The terms in the original are “flatus” and “ventus.”

346“illos (flatus) statos atque perspirantes.”

347“qui non aura, non procella, sed mares appellatione quoque ipsa venti sunt.” This passage cannot be translated into English, from our language not possessing the technical distinction of genders, as depending on the termination of the substantives.

348“Septem nimirum errantibus.” Hardouin, in Lemaire, i. 306.

349In his account and nomenclature of the winds, Pliny has, for the most part, followed Aristotle, Meteor. lib. ii. cap. 4. pp. 558-560, and cap. 6. pp. 563-565. The description of the different winds by Seneca is not very different, but where it does not coincide with Aristotle’s, our author has generally preferred the former; see Nat. Quæst. lib. 5. We have an account of the different winds, as prevailing at particular seasons, in Ptolemy, De Judiciis Astrol. 1. 9. For the nomenclature and directions of the winds, we may refer to the remarks of Hardouin, Lemaire, i. 328et seq.

350Odyss. v. 295, 296.

351In giving names to the different winds, the author designates the points of the compass whence they proceed, by the place where the sun rises or sets, at the different periods of the year. The following are the terms which he employs:—“Oriens æquinoctialis,” the place where the sun rises at the equinox, i. e. the East. “Oriens brumalis,” where he rises on the shortest day, the S.E. “Occasus brumalis,” where he sets on the shortest day, the S.W. “Occasus æquinoctialis,” where he sets at the equinox, the W. “Occasus solstitialis,” where he sets on the longest day, the N.W. “Exortus solstitialis,” where he rises on the longest day, the N.E. “Inter septemtrionem et occasum solstitialem,” between N. and N.W., N.N.W. “Inter aquilonem et exortum æquinoctialem,” between N. and N.E., N.N.E. “Inter ortum brumalem et meridiem,” between S. and S.E., S.S.E. “Inter meridiem et hybernum occidentem,” between S. and S.W., S.S.W.

352“Quod sub sole nasci videtur.”

353This name was probably derived from the town Vulturnum in Campania.

354Seneca informs us, that what the Latins name Subsolanus, is named by the GreeksἈφηλιώτης; Quæst. Nat. lib. 5. § 16. p. 764.

355“quia favet rebus nascentibus.”

356“... semper spirantes frigora Cauri.” Virgil, Geor. iii. 356.

357The eight winds here mentioned will bear the following relation to our nomenclature: Septemtrio, N.; Aquilo, N.E.; Subsolanus, E.; Vulturnus, S.E.; Auster, S.; Africus, N.W.; Favonius, W.; and Corus, N.W.

358The four winds here mentioned, added to eight others, making, in the whole, twelve, will give us the following card:—N. Septemtrio.N.N.E. Boreas or Aquilo.E.N.E. Cæcias.E. Apeliotes or Subsolanus.E.S.E. Eurus or Vulturnus.S.S.E. Euronotus or Phœnices.S. Notos or Auster.S.S.W. Libonotos.W.S.W. Libs or Africus.W. Zephyrus or Favonius.W.N.W. Argestes or Corus.N.N.W. Thrascias.We are informed by Alexandre, Lemaire, i. 330, that there is an ancient dial plate in the Vatican, consisting of twelve sides, in which the names of the twelve winds are given both in Greek and in Latin. They differ somewhat from those given above, both absolutely and relatively; they are as follows:—Ἀπαρκτίας, Septemtrio.Βορέας, Aquilo.Καικίας, Vulturnus.Ἀφηλιώτης, Solanus.Εὖρος, Eurus.Εὐρόνοτος, Euronotus.Νότος, Auster.Λιβόνοτος, Austroafricus.Λὶψ, Africus.Ζέφυρος, Zephyrus.Ἰάπυξ, Corus.Θρασκίας, Circius.

358The four winds here mentioned, added to eight others, making, in the whole, twelve, will give us the following card:—

N. Septemtrio.N.N.E. Boreas or Aquilo.E.N.E. Cæcias.E. Apeliotes or Subsolanus.E.S.E. Eurus or Vulturnus.S.S.E. Euronotus or Phœnices.S. Notos or Auster.S.S.W. Libonotos.W.S.W. Libs or Africus.W. Zephyrus or Favonius.W.N.W. Argestes or Corus.N.N.W. Thrascias.

We are informed by Alexandre, Lemaire, i. 330, that there is an ancient dial plate in the Vatican, consisting of twelve sides, in which the names of the twelve winds are given both in Greek and in Latin. They differ somewhat from those given above, both absolutely and relatively; they are as follows:—

Ἀπαρκτίας, Septemtrio.Βορέας, Aquilo.Καικίας, Vulturnus.Ἀφηλιώτης, Solanus.Εὖρος, Eurus.Εὐρόνοτος, Euronotus.Νότος, Auster.Λιβόνοτος, Austroafricus.Λὶψ, Africus.Ζέφυρος, Zephyrus.Ἰάπυξ, Corus.Θρασκίας, Circius.

359This wind must have been N.N.W.; it is mentioned by Strabo, iv. 182; A. Gellius, ii. 22; Seneca, Nat. Quæst. v. 17; and again by our author, xvii. 2.

360We may learn the opinions of the Romans on the subject of this chapter from Columella, xi. 2.

361corresponding to the 8th day of the month.

362... lustro sequenti ...; “tribus annis sequentibus.” Alexandre, in Lemaire, i. 334.

363corresponding to the 22nd of February.

364aχελιδὼν, hirundo.

365This will be either on March 2nd or on February 26th, according as we reckon from December the 21st, the real solstitial day, or the 17th, when, according to the Roman calendar, the sun is said to enter Capricorn.

366“quasi Avicularem dixeris.” Hardouin, in Lemaire, i. 334.

367Corresponding to the 10th of May.

368According to the Roman calendar, this corresponds to the 20th July, but, according to the text, to the 17th. Columella says, that the sun enters Leo on the 13th of the Calends of August; xi. 2.

369“quasi præcursores;” Hardouin, in Lemaire, i. 335. Cicero refers to these winds in one of his letters to Atticus; xiv. 6.

370ἐτησίαι, abἔτος, annus.

371This will be on the 13th of September, as, according to our author, xviii. 24, the equinox is on the 24th.

372This corresponds to the 11th of November; forty-four days before this will be the 29th of September.

373Or Halcyonides. This topic is considered more at length in a subsequent part of the work; x. 47.

374The author, as it appears, portions out the whole of the year into fourteen periods, during most of which certain winds are said to blow, or, at least, to be decidedly prevalent. Although the winds of Italy are less irregular than those of England, Pliny has considerably exaggerated the real fact.

375On this subject the reader may peruse the remarks of Seneca, Nat. Quæst. v. 18, written in his style of flowery declamation.

376The greatest part of the remarks on the nature of the winds, in this chapter, would appear to be taken from Aristotle’s Treatise De Meteor., and it may be stated generally, that our author has formed his opinions more upon those of the Greek writers than upon actual observation.

3779A.M.

378In the last chapter Ornithias is said to be a west wind.

379This obviously depends upon the geographical situation of the northern parts of Africa, to which the observation more particularly applies, with respect to the central part of the Continent and the Mediterranean. See the remarks of Alexandre, in Lemaire, i. 340.

380The influence of the fourth day of the moon is referred to by Virgil, Geor. i. 432et seq.“Sin ortu quarto,” &c.

381This refers to the genders of the names of the winds, analogous to the remark in note346, p. 71.

382Eudoxus was a native of Cnidus, distinguished for his knowledge in astrology and science generally; he was a pupil of Plato, and is referred to by many of the ancients; see Hardouin’s Index Auctorum, in Lemaire, i. 187, and Enfield’s Hist. of Phil. i. 412, with the very copious list of references.

383“flatus repentini.”

384Cicero refers to an opinion very similar to this as maintained by the Stoics; De Div. ii. 44.

385“procella.”

386“ἐκ νέφους, ex nube, erumpente spiritu.” Hardouin, in Lemaire, i. 343. Perhaps it most nearly corresponds to the term “hurricane.”

387aτύφω, incendo, ardeo. We have no distinct term in our language which corresponds to the account of the typhon; it may be considered as a combination of a whirlwind and a hurricane.

388Plutarch, Sympos. Quæst. iii. 5, refers to the extraordinary power of vinegar in extinguishing fire, but he ascribes this effect, not to its coldness, but to the extreme tenuity of its parts. On this Alexandre remarks, “Melius factum negassent Plinius et Plutarchus, quam causam inanem rei absurdissimæ excogitarent.” Lemaire, i. 344.

389The terms here employed are respectively “turbines,” “presteres,” and “vortices.”

390πρηστὴρ, aπρήθω, incendo. Seneca calls it “igneus turbo;” Nat. Quæst. v. 13. p. 762. See also Lucretius, vi. 423.

391Plutarch.

392A water-spout. We have a description of this phænomenon in Lucretius, vi. 425et seq.

393“fulmen.”

394This has been pointed out by Alexandre, Lemaire, i. 346, as one of the statements made by our author, which, in consequence of his following the Greek writers, applies rather to their climate than to that of Italy. The reader may form a judgement of the correctness of this remark by comparing the account given by Aristotle and by Seneca; the former in Meteor. iii. 1. p. 573, 574, the latter in Nat. Quæst. ii. 32et seq.

395“fulgur.” The account of the different kinds of thunder seems to be principally taken from Aristotle; Meteor. iii. 1. Some of the phænomena mentioned below, which would naturally appear to the ancients the most remarkable, are easily explained by a reference to their electrical origin.

396“quod clarum vocant.”

397This account seems to be taken from Aristotle, Meteor. iii. 1. p. 574; see also Seneca, Nat. Quæst. ii. 31. p. 711. We have an account of the peculiar effects of thunder in Lucretius, vi. 227et seq.

398This effect may be easily explained by the agitation into which the female might have been thrown. The title of “princeps Romanarum,” which is applied to Marcia, has given rise to some discussion among the commentators, for which see the remarks of Hardouin and Alexandre, in Lemaire, i. 348.

399Sometimes a partial thunder-cloud is formed, while the atmosphere generally is perfectly clear, or, as Hardouin suggests, the effect might have been produced by a volcanic eruption. See Lemaire, i. 348.

400Seneca gives us an account of the opinions of the Tuscans; Nat. Quæst. ii. 32; and Cicero refers to the “libri fulgurales” of the Etrurians; De Divin. i. 72.

401According to Hardouin, “Summanus est Deus summus Manium, idem Orcus et Pluto dictus.” Lemaire, i. 349; he is again referred to by our author, xxix. 14; Ovid also mentions him, Fast. vi. 731, with the remark, “quisquis is est.”

402The city of Bolsena is supposed to occupy the site of the ancient Volsinium. From the nature of the district in which it is situate, it is perhaps more probable, that the event alluded to in the test was produced by a volcanic eruption, attended by lightning, than by a simple thunder-storm.

403“Vocant et familiaria ... quæ prima fiunt familiam suam cuique indepto.” This remark is explained by the following passage from Seneca; Nat. Quæst. ii. 47. “Hæc sunt fulmina, quæ primo accepto patrimonio, in novo hominis aut urbis statu fiunt.” This opinion, as well as most of those of our author, respecting the auguries to be formed from thunder, is combated by Seneca;ubi supra, § 48.

404This opinion is also referred to by Seneca in the following passage; “privata autem fulmina negant ultra decimum annum, publica ultra trigesimum posse deferri;”ubi supra.

405“in deductione oppidorum;” according to Hardouin, Lemaire, i. 350, “quum in oppida coloniæ deducuntur.”

406The following conjecture is not without a degree of probability; “Ex hoc multisque aliis auctorum locis, plerique conjiciunt Etruscis auguribus haud ignotam fuisse vim electricam, licet eorum arcana nunquam divulgata sint.” Alexandre in Lemaire, i. 350.

407Alexandre remarks in this place, “An morbus aliquis fuit, qui primum in agros debacchatus, jam urbi minabatur, forsitan ab aëris siccitate natus, quem advenientes cum procella imbres discusserunt?” Lemaire, i. 350.

408For a notice of Piso, see Lemaire, i. 208.

409We have an account of the death of Tullus Hostilius in Livy, i. 31.

410“ab eliciendo, seu quod precationibus cœlo evocaretur, id nomen traxit.” This is confirmed by the following lines from Ovid, Fast. iii. 327, 328:—“Eliciunt cœlo te, Jupiter: unde minoresNunc quoque te celebrant, Eliciumque vocant.”

410“ab eliciendo, seu quod precationibus cœlo evocaretur, id nomen traxit.” This is confirmed by the following lines from Ovid, Fast. iii. 327, 328:—

“Eliciunt cœlo te, Jupiter: unde minoresNunc quoque te celebrant, Eliciumque vocant.”

“Eliciunt cœlo te, Jupiter: unde minores

Nunc quoque te celebrant, Eliciumque vocant.”

411“beneficiis abrogare vires.”

412“ictum autem et sonitum congruere, ita modulante natura.” This remark is not only incorrect, but appears to be at variance both with what precedes and what follows.

413The following remark of Seneca may be referred to, both as illustrating our author and as showing how much more correct the opinions of Seneca were than his own, on many points of natural philosophy; “... necesse est, ut impetus fulminis et præmittat spiritus, et agat ante se, et a tergo trahat ventum....;” Nat. Quæst. lib. ii. § 20. p. 706.

414“quoniam læva parte mundi ortus est.” On this passage Hardouin remarks; “a Deorum sede, quum in meridiem spectes, ad sinistram sunt partes mundi exorientes;” Lemaire, i. 353. Poinsinet enters into a long detail respecting opinions of the ancients on this point and the circumstances which induced them to form their opinions; i. 34et seq.

415See Cicero de Divin. ii. 42.

416“Junonis quippe templum fulmine violatum ostendit non a Jove, non a Deis mitti fulmina.” Alexandre in Lemaire, i. 354. The consulate of Scaurus was in the year of Rome 638. Lucan, i. 155, and Horace, Od. i. 2. refer to the destruction of temples at Rome by lightning.

417Obviously because faint flashes are more visible in the night.

418We have an explanation of this peculiar opinion in Tertullian, as referred to by Hardouin, Lemaire. i. 355; “Qui de cœlo tangitur, salvus est, ut nullo igne decinerescat.”

419Although it has been thought necessary by M. Fée, in the notes to Ajasson’s trans., ii. 384, 385, to enter into a formal examination of this opinion of the author’s, I conceive that few of our readers will agree with him in this respect.

420Suetonius informs us, that Augustus always wore a seal’s skin for this purpose; Octavius, § 90.

421The eagle was represented by the ancients with a thunderbolt in its claws.

422There is strong evidence for the fact, that, at different times, various substances have fallen from the atmosphere, sometimes apparently of mineral, and, at other times, of animal or vegetable origin. Some of these are now referred to those peculiar bodies termed aërolites, the nature and source of which are still doubtful, although their existence is no longer so. These bodies have, in other instances, been evidently discharged from distant volcanoes, but there are many cases where the substance could not be supposed to have proceeded from a volcano, and where, in the present state of our knowledge, it appears impossible to offer an explanation of their nature, or the source whence they are derived. We may, however, conclude, that notwithstanding the actual occurrence of a few cases of this description, a great proportion of those enumerated by the ancients were either entirely without foundation or much exaggerated. We meet with several variations of what we may presume to have been aërolites in Livy; for example, xxiv. 10, xxx. 38, xli. 9, xliii. 13, and xliv. 18, among many others. As naturally may be expected, we have many narratives of this kind in Jul. Obsequens.

423The same region from which lightning was supposed to proceed.

424We have several relations of this kind in Livy, xxiv. 10, xxxix. 46 and 56, xl. 19, and xliii. 13. The red snow which exists in certain alpine regions, and is found to depend upon the presence of the Uredo nivalis, was formerly attributed to showers of blood.

425This occurrence may probably be referred to an aërolite, while the wool mentioned below, i. e. a light flocculent substance, was perhaps volcanic.

426Armorum sonitum toto Germania cœloAudiit.—Virgil, Geor. i. 474, 475.“ ... in Jovis Vicilini templo, quod in Compsano agro est, arma concrepuisse.” Livy, xxiv. 44.

426

Armorum sonitum toto Germania cœloAudiit.—Virgil, Geor. i. 474, 475.

Armorum sonitum toto Germania cœlo

Audiit.—Virgil, Geor. i. 474, 475.

“ ... in Jovis Vicilini templo, quod in Compsano agro est, arma concrepuisse.” Livy, xxiv. 44.

427See Plutarch, by Langhorne; Marius, iii. 133.

428See Livy, iii. 5 & 10, xxxi. 12, xxxii. 9,et alibi.

429I have already had occasion to remark, concerning this class of phænomena, that there is no doubt of their actual occurrence, although their origin is still unexplained.

430The life of Anaxagoras has been written by Diogenes Laërtius. We have an ample account of him by Enfield in the General Biography,in loco; he was bornB.C.500 and diedB.C.428.

431There is some variation in the exact date assigned by different authors to this event; in the Chronological table in Brewster’s Encyc. vi. 420, it is said to have occurred 467B.C.

432Aristotle gives us a similar account of this stone; that it fell in the daytime, and that a comet was then visible at night; Meteor. i. 7. It is scarcely necessary to remark, that the authority for this fact must be referred entirely to Aristotle, without receiving any additional weight from our author. The occurrence of the comet at the same time with the aërolite must have been entirely incidental.

433“Deductis eo sacri lapidis causa colonis, extructoque oppido, cui nomen a colore adusto lapidis, est inditum, Potidæa. Est enimποτὶDoriceπρὸς, ad, apud;δαίομαι, uror.” Hardouin, in Lemaire, i. 361. It was situated in the peninsula of Pallene, in Macedonia.

434The Vocontii were a people of Gallia Narbonensis, occupying a portion of the modern Dauphiné.

435“Manifestum est, radium Solis immissum cavæ nubi, repulsa acie in Solem, refringi.”

436Aristotle treats of the Rainbow much in detail, principally in his Meteor. iii. 2, 3, 4, and 5, where he gives an account of the phænomena, which is, for the most part, correct, and attempts to form a theory for them; see especially cap. 4. p. 577et seq.In the treatise De Mundo he also refers to the same subject, and briefly sums up his doctrine with the following remark: “arcus est species segmenti solaris vel lunaris, edita in nube humida, et cava, et perpetua; quam velut in speculo intuemur, imagine relata in speciem circularis ambitûs.” cap. 4. p. 607. Seneca also treats very fully on the phænomena and theory of the Rainbow, in his Nat. Quæst. i. 3-8.

437Vide supra, also Meteor. iii. 2, and Seneca, Nat. Quæst. i. 3.

438Aristotle, Meteor. iii. 5. p. 581, observes, that the rainbow is less frequently seen in the summer, because the sun is more elevated, and that, consequently, a less portion of the arch is visible. See also Seneca, Nat. Quæst. i. 8. p. 692.

439Aristotle treats at some length of dew, snow, and hail, in his Meteor. i. cap. 10, 11 & 12 respectively.

440When water is frozen, its bulk is increased in consequence of its assuming a crystalline structure. Any diminution which may be found to have taken place in the bulk of the fluid, when thawed, must be ascribed to evaporation or to some accidental circumstance.

441“Velini lacus ... præcipiti cursu in gurgitem subjectum defertur, et illo aquarum lapsu, dispersis in aëra guttis humidis, ... iridis multiplicis phænomenon efficit....” Alexandre, in Lemaire, i. 365.

442We have an example in Martial, v. 34. 9, of the imprecation which has been common in all ages:Mollia nec rigidus cespes tegat ossa, nec illiTerra gravis fueris;and in Seneca’s Hippolytus,sub finem:... istam terra defossam premat,Gravisque tellus impio capiti incubet.

442We have an example in Martial, v. 34. 9, of the imprecation which has been common in all ages:

Mollia nec rigidus cespes tegat ossa, nec illiTerra gravis fueris;

Mollia nec rigidus cespes tegat ossa, nec illi

Terra gravis fueris;

and in Seneca’s Hippolytus,sub finem:

... istam terra defossam premat,Gravisque tellus impio capiti incubet.

... istam terra defossam premat,

Gravisque tellus impio capiti incubet.

443The author refers to this opinion, xxix. 23, when describing the effects of venomous animals.

444inertium; “ultione abstinentium,” as explained by Alexandre, in Lemaire, i. 367.

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