Page:The Natural History of Pliny.djvu/125

 Cliap. 63.] KATUEE OF THE EARTH. 91 by frozen dew*. During the winter snow falls, but not bail ; bail itself falls more frequently during the day than tbe night, and is more quickly melted than snow. There are no mists either in the summer or diu-ing the greatest co] d of wmter. There is neither dew nor hoar formed during great beat or winds, nor unless the night he serene. Fluids are dnmmsbed in bulk by being frozen, and, when the ice is melted, Ave do not obtain the same quantity of fluid as at firsts (61.) The clouds are varied in their colour and figure accord- ing as the fire which they contain is in excess or is absorbed by them. CHAP. 62. (62.)— THE PECULIARITIES OE THE WEATHEE IIT DIEFEEENT PLACES. « There are, moreover, certain peculiarities in certain places. In Africa dew falls during the night in summer. In Italy, at Locri, and at the Lake Velinum, there is never a day in which a rainbow is not seen^ At Ehodes and at Syracuse the sky is never so covered with clouds, but that the sun is visible at one time or another ; these things, however, will be better detailed in then- proper place. So far respectmg the air. CHAP. 63. (63.)— NATXJEE OE THE EARTH. Next comes the earth, on which alone of aU parts of na- ture we have bestowed the name that implies maternal vene- ration. It is appropriated to man as the heavens are to God. She receives us at our birth, nourishes us when born, and ever afterwards supports us ; lastly, embracing us m her bosom when we are rejected by the rest of nature, slie then covers us with especial tenderness ; rendered sacred to us, inasmuch as she renders us sacred, bearing our monuments 1 Aristotle treats at some length of dew, snow, and hail, m his Meteor, i. cap. 10, 11 & 12 respectively. ,^ 2 WTien water is frozen, its bulk is increased m consequence ot its as- suming a crystalUne structure. Any diminution which may bo found to have taken place in the bulk of the fluid, wlien thawed, must be ascribed to evaporation or to some accidental circumstance. 3 " Yelini lacus prtecipiti cursu in gurgitcm subjectum defertur, et iUo aquarura lapsu, dispersis in aera guttis humidis, ..... iridis multi- pheis phaenomenon efficit " Alexandre, in Lcmaire, i. 365.