---
title: "Causes of Natural Phenomena · Quaestiones naturales"
author: "Plutarch"
translator: "R. Brown, rev. William W. Goodwin"
languages: [grc, en]
shelf: "Philosophy"
url: https://scriptura.si/works/plutarch-natural-phenomena/
cite: "Plutarch, tr. R. Brown, rev. William W. Goodwin, Causes of Natural Phenomena · Quaestiones naturales. Scriptura (scriptura.si), https://scriptura.si/works/plutarch-natural-phenomena/"
---

# Causes of Natural Phenomena · Quaestiones naturales

*Plutarch, tr. R. Brown, rev. William W. Goodwin*

Questions about nature: why sea water does not nourish trees, why octopuses change colour.

> Greek: ed. Grēgorios N. Vernardakēs, from the Perseus Digital Library (canonical-greekLit, tlg0007.tlg125, CC BY-SA 4.0).

> English: R. Brown, rev. William W. Goodwin, from the Perseus Digital Library (tlg0007.tlg125.perseus-eng2). Notes are not included.

> Rows follow the references the two texts share (chapters and sections), cut where both reach the end of a sentence.

## Contents

1. [Sections 1–19](https://scriptura.si/works/plutarch-natural-phenomena/1.md)
2. [Sections 20–39](https://scriptura.si/works/plutarch-natural-phenomena/2.md)

## 1. Sections 1–19

Source: https://scriptura.si/works/plutarch-natural-phenomena/1/ · cite a paragraph as https://scriptura.si/works/plutarch-natural-phenomena/1/#p-N

[¶0] 1. Is it not for the same reason that it nourishes not earthly animals? For Plato, Anaxagoras, and Democritus think plants are earthly animals. Nor, though sea-water be aliment to marine plants, as it is to fishes, will it therefore nourish earthly plants, since it can neither penetrate the roots, because of its grossness, nor ascend, by reason of its weight; for this, among many other things, shows seawater to be heavy and terrene, because it more easily bears up ships and swimmers. Or is it because drought is a great enemy to trees? For sea-water is of a drying faculty; upon which account salt resists putrefaction, and the bodies of such as wash in the sea are presently dry and rough. Or is it because oil is destructive to earthly plants, and kills things anointed with it? But sea-water participates of much fatness; for it burns together with it. Wherefore, when men would quench fire, we forbid them to throw on sea-water. Or is it because sea-water is not fit to drink and bitter (as Aristotle says) through a mixture of burnt earth? For a lye is made by the falling of ashes into sweet water, and the dissolution ejects and corrupts what was good and potable, as in us men fevers convert the humors into bile. As for what woods and plants men talk of growing in the Red Sea, they bear no fruit, but are nourished by rivers casting up much mud; therefore they grow not at any great distance from land, but very near to it.

> Greek: 1. διὰ τί τὸ θαλάττιον ὕδωρ οὐ τρέφει τὰ δένδρα; πότερον διʼ ἢν αἰτίαν οῦδὲ τῶν ζᾠων τὰ χερσαῖα; ζῷον γὰρ ἔγγειον τὸ φυτὸν εἶναι, οἱ περὶ Πλάτωνα καὶ Ἀναξαγόραν καὶ Δημόκριτον οἴονται· οὐ γὰρ διότι τοῖς ἐναλίοις φυτοῖς τρόφιμόν ἐστι καὶ πότιμον ὥσπερ τοῖς ἰχθύσιν, ἤδη καὶ τὰ ἐν τῇ χέρσῳ φυτά τε καὶ δένδρα τρέφει· οὔτε γὰρ ἐνδύεται ταῖς ῥίζαις ὑπὸ πάχους οὔτʼ ἀναφέρεται ὑπὸ βάρους· ὅτι δʼ ἐμβριθές ἐστι καὶ γεῶδες, ἄλλοις τε πολλοῖς ἀποδείκνυται καὶ τῷ μᾶλλον ἀνέχειν καὶ ὑπερείδειν τὰ πλοῖα καὶ τοὺς κολυμβῶντας· ἢ μάλιστα μὲν βλάπτεται ξηρότητι τὰ δένδρα ξηραντικὸν δὲ τὸ θαλάττιον; ὅθεν πρός γε τὰς σήψεις οἱ ἅλες βοηθοῦσι, καὶ τὰ σώματα τῶν λουσαμένων ἐν θαλάττῃ ξηρὰν εὐθὺς ἴσχει καὶ τραχεῖαν τὴν ἐπιφάνειαν. ἢ τὸ μὲν ἔλαιον τοῖς φυτοῖς πολέμιον καὶ φθείρει τὰ προσαλειφόμενα; μετέχει δὲ πολλῆς ἡ θάλαττα λιπαρότητος· διὸ συνεξάπτει, καὶ παραινοῦμεν εἰς τὰς φλόγας μὴ ἐμβάλλειν θαλάττιον ὕδωρ. ἢ γέγονεν ἄποτον καὶ πικρὸν τὸ ὕδωρ, ὡς Ἀριστοτέλης φησίν, ἀναμίξει κατακεκαυμένης γῆς; καὶ γὰρ ἡ κονία γίγνεται, γλυκέος ὕδατος εἰς τέφραν ἐμπεσόντος, ἡ δὲ διάλυσις ἐξίστησι καὶ φθείρει τὸ χρηστὸν καὶ πότιμον, ὡς ἐν ἡμῖν οἱ πυρετοὶ τὸ ὑγρὸν εἰς χολὴν τρέπουσιν. ἃ δʼ ἱστοροῦσιν ἐν τῇ Ἐρυθρᾷ θαλάσσῃ βλαστάνειν ὑλήματα καὶ φυτά, καρπὸν μὲν οὐδένα φέρει τρέφεται δὲ τοῖς ποταμοῖς πολλὴν ἐμβάλλουσιν ἰλύν· ὅθεν οὐ πρόσω τῆς γῆς ἀλλὰ πλησίον ἔχει τὴν γένεσιν.

[¶1] 2. WHETHER is it because (as Laitus thinks) showers, parting the earth by the violence of their fall, make passages, whereby the water may more easily penetrate to the root? Or cannot this be true; and did Laitus never consider that marsh-plants (as cat’s-tail, pond-weeds, and rushes) neither thrive nor sprout when the rains fall not in their season; but it is true, as Aristotle said, rain-water is new and fresh, that of lakes old and stale? And what if this be rather probable than true? For the waters of fountains and rivers are ever fresh, new always arriving; therefore Heraclitus said well, that no man could go twice into the same river. And yet these very waters nourish worse than rain-water. But water from the heavens is light and aerial, and, being mixed with spirit, is the quicker passed and elevated into the plant, by reason of its tenuity. And for this very reason it makes bubbles when mixed with the air. Or does that nourish most which is soonest altered and overcome by the thing nourished?—for this very thing is concoction. On the contrary, inconcoction is when the aliment is too strong to be affected by the thing nourished. Now thin, simple, and insipid things are the most easily altered, of which number is rain-water, which is bred in the air and wind, and falls pure and sincere. But fountain-water, being assimilated to the earth and places through which it passes, is filled with many qualities which render it less nutritive and slower in alteration to the thing nourished. Moreover, that rain-water is easily alterable is an argument; because it sooner putrefies than either spring or river-water. For concoction seems to be putrefaction, as Empedocles says,—
When in vine wood the water putrefies,
It turns to wine, while under bark it lies. Or, which may most readily be assigned for a reason, is it because rain is sweet and mild, when it is presently sent by the wind? For this reason cattle drink it most greedily, and frogs in expectation of it raise their voice, as if they were calling for rain to sweeten the marsh and to be sauce to the water in the pools. For Aratus makes this a sign of approaching rain,
When father frogs, to watery snakes sweet food,
Do croak and sing in mud, a wretched brood.

> Greek: 2. διὰ τί μᾶλλον ὑπὸ τῶν ὑετίων ἢ τῶν ἐπιρρύτων ὑδάτων τὰ δένδρα καὶ τὰ σπέρματα πέφυκε τρέφεσθαι; πότερον, ὡς Λαῖτος ἔλεγε, τῇ πληγῇ τὰ ὄμβρια διιστάντα τὴν γῆν πόρους ποιεῖ καὶ διαδύεται μᾶλλον εἰς τὴν ῥίζαν ἢ τοῦτο μὲν οὐκ ἀληθές, ἀλλʼ ἔλαθε τὸν Λαῖτον ὅτι καὶ τὰ λιμναῖα φυτά, τύφη καὶ φλέως καὶ θρύον, ἀναυξῆ καὶ ἀβλαστῆ μένει, μὴ γενομένων ὄμβρων καθʼ ὥραν τὸ δὲ τοῦ Ἀριστοτέλους ἀληθές, ὅτι πρόσφατόν ἐστι καὶ νέον ὕδωρ τὸ ὑόμενον ἕωλον δὲ καὶ παλαιὸν τὸ λιμναῖον; ἢ καὶ τοῦτο πιθανὸν μᾶλλον ἢ ἀληθές ἐστι; τὰ γὰρ πηγαῖα καὶ ποτάμια νάματα πρόσφατα μέν ἐστι καὶ νεογενῆ· ποταμοῖς γὰρ δὶς τοῖς αὐτοῖς οὐκ ἂν ἐμβαίης ὥς φησιν Ἡράκλειτος, ἕτερα ἐπιρρεῖ ὕδατα τρέφει καὶ ταῦτα τῶν χεῖρον. ἆρʼ οὖν κοῦφόν ἐστι τὸ ἐκ Διὸς ὕδωρ καὶ ἀερῶδες καὶ πνεύματι μεμιγμένον ὁδηγεῖται τε καὶ ἀναπέμπεται ταχέως εἰς τὸ φυτὸν ὑπὸ λεπτότητος, διὸ καὶ πομφόλυγας ποιεῖ τῇ ἀναμίξει τοῦ ἀέρος· ἢ τρέφει μὲν μάλιστα κρατούμενον ὑπὸ τοῦ τρεφομένου ʽ τοῦτο γάρ ἐστι πέψις· ἀπεψία δὲ τοὐναντίον, ὅταν ἰσχυρότερα τοῦ παθεῖν καὶ μεταβάλλον τὰ λεπτὰ καὶ ἁπλᾶ καὶ ἄχυμα μᾶλλον, οἷόν ἐστι τὸ ὄμβριον ὕδωρ; γεννώμενον γὰρ ἐν ἀέρι καὶ πνεύματι καθαρὸν καὶ ἀμιγὲς κάτεισι· τὰ δὲ πηγαῖα καὶ τῇ γῇ καὶ τοῖς τόποις ὁμοιούμενα, διʼ ὧν ἔξεισι, πολλῶν ἀναπίμπλαται ποιοτήτων, διʼ ἃς ἧττόν ἐστιν εὔτρεπτα καὶ βράδιον αὑτὰ παρέχει τῇ πέψει μεταβάλλειν εἰς τὸ τρεφόμενον· τῶν δʼ ὀμβρίων τὸ εὔτρεπτον αἱ σήψεις κατηγοροῦσιν, εὐσηπτότερα γάρ ἐστι τῶν ποταμίων καὶ φρεατιαίων ἡ δὲ πέψις ἔοικεν εἶναι σῆψις, ὡς Ἐμπεδοκλῆς μαρτυρεῖ λέγων οἶνος ὑπὸ φλοιοῦ πέλεται σαπὲν ἐν ξύλῳ ὕδωρ ἢ πάντων ἑτοιμότατόν ἐστι καὶ ῥᾷστον αἰτιάσασθαι τὸ γλυκὺ τῶν ὀμβρίων καὶ χρηστόν, ἐκπεμπόμενον εὐθὺς ὑπὸ τοῦ πνεύματος; διὸ καὶ τὰ θρέμματα τούτων ἀπολαύει προθυμότερον, καὶ οἱ βάτραχοι προσδοκῶντες ὄμβρον ἐπιλαμπρύνουσι τὴν φωνὴν ὑπὸ χαρᾶς, ὥσπερ ἥδυσμα τοῦ λιμναίου τὸ ὑέτιον προσδεχόμενοι καὶ σπέρμα τῆς ἐκείνων γλυκύτητος ἓν γὰρ καὶ τοῦτο ποιεῖται σημεῖον ὑετοῦ μέλλοντος Ἄρατος εἰπών
ἦ μάλα δείλαιαι γενεαί, ὕδροισιν ὄνειαρ,
αὐτόθεν ἐκ λίμνης πατέρες βοόωσι γυρίνων.

[¶2] 3. WHETHER (as many think) to nourish them the more, and fatten them the better? For salt by its acrimony sharpens the appetite, and by opening the passages brings meat more easily to digestion. Therefore Apollonius, Herophilus’s scholar, would not have lean persons, and such as did not thrive, be fed with sweet things and gruel, but ordered them to use pickles and salt things for their food, whose tenuity, serving instead of frication or sifting, might apply the aliment through the passages of the body. Or is it for health’s sake that men give sheep salt to lick, to cut off the redundance of nutriment? For when they are over fat, they grow sick; but salt wastes and melts the fat. And this they observe so well, that they can more easily flay them; for the fat, which agglutinates and fastens the skin, is made thin and weak by the acrimony. The blood also of things that lick salt is attenuated; nor do things within the body stick together when salts are mixed with them. Moreover, consider this, whether the cattle grow more fruitful and more inclined to coition; for bitches do sooner conceive when they are fed with salt victuals, and ships which carry salt are more pestered with mice, by reason of their frequent coition.

> Greek: 3. διὰ τί παραβάλλουσι τοῖς θρέμμασιν ἅλας οἱ νομεῖς; πότερον, ὡς οἱ πολλοὶ νομίζουσι, πλήθους τροφῆς ἕνεκα καὶ τοῦ παχύνειν; τήν τε γὰρ ὄρεξιν ἡ δριμύτης ἐκκαλεῖται καὶ τοὺς πόρους ἀναστομοῦσα μᾶλλον ὁδοποιεῖ τῇ τροφῇ πρὸς τὴν ἀνάδοσιν· διὸ καὶ τοὺς ἰσχνοὺς καὶ τοὺς ἀτρόφους Ἀπολλώνιος ὁ Ἡροφίλειος ἐκέλευε μὴ γλυκεῖ μηδὲ χονδρῷ τρέφειν ἀλλὰ τοῖς ταριχευτοῖς καὶ ὑφαλμυρίζουσιν, ὧν ἡ λεπτότης, ὥσπερ ἐντρίχωμα γενομένη, τὰ σιτία τοῖς σώμασι διὰ τῶν πόρων προστίθησιν. ἢ μᾶλλον ὑγιείας ἕνεκα καὶ συγκοπῆς πλήθους τὸν ἅλα λείχειν ἐθίζουσι τὰ βοσκήματα; νοσεῖ γὰρ ἄγαν πιαινόμενα, τὴν δὲ πιμελὴν τήκουσιν οἱ ἅλες καὶ διαχέουσιν ὅθεν εὐμαρῶς καὶ ῥᾳδίως ἀποδέρουσιν αὐτὰ σφάξαντες· ἡ γὰρ κολλῶσα καὶ συνδέουσα τὸ δέρμα πιμελὴ λεπτὴ καὶ ἀσθενὴς γέγονεν ὑπὸ τῆς δριμύτητος. λεπτύνεται δὲ καὶ τὸ αἷμα τῶν τὸ ἅλας λειχόντων οὐδὲ πήγνυται τὰ ἐντός, ἁλῶν μιγέντων. σκόπει δέ, μὴ καὶ γονιμώτερα καὶ προθυμότερα πρὸς τὰς συνουσίας· καὶ γὰρ αἱ κύνες κύουσι ταχέως τάριχος ἐπεσθίουσαι, καὶ τὰ ἁληγὰ τῶν πλοίων πλείους τρέφει μῦς διὰ τὸ πολλάκις συμπλέκεσθαι.

[¶3] 4. Is it because they contain much spirit, by reason of their confusion and mixture with the air? And the spirit moving the humor sends it more upwards. Or is it because heat fighting against cold causes thunder and lightning? Whence it is that it thunders very little in winter, but in spring and autumn very much, because of the inequality of temper; and the heat, concocting the humor, renders it friendly and commodious for plants. Or does it thunder and lighten most in the spring for the aforesaid cause, and do the seeds have greater occasion for the vernal rains before summer? Therefore that country which is best watered with rain in spring, as Sicily is, produces abundance of good fruit.

> Greek: 4. διὰ τί τῶν ὀμβρίων ὑδάτων εὐαλδέστερα τοῖς σπέρμασι τὰ μετὰ βροντῶν καὶ ἀστραπῶν, ἃ δὴ καὶ ἀστραπαῖα καλοῦσι; πότερον ὅτι πνευματώδη διὰ τὴν τοῦ ἀέρος ταραχὴν καὶ ἀνάμιξιν, τὸ δὲ πνεῦμα τὴν ὑγρότητα κινοῦν μᾶλλον ἀναπέμπει καὶ ἀναδίδωσιν ἢ βροντὰς μὲν καὶ ἀστραπὰς ποιεῖ τὸ θερμὸν ἐν τῷ ἀέρι πρὸς τὸ ψυχρὸν μαχόμενον, διὸ χειμῶνος ἣκιστα βροντᾷ μάλιστα δʼ ἔαρος καὶ φθινοπώρου διὰ τὴν ἀνωμαλίαν τῆς κράσεως, ἡ δὲ θερμότης; πέπτουσα τὸ ὑγρὸν προσφιλὲς ποιεῖ τοῖς βλαστάνουσι καὶ ὠφέλιμον· ἢ μάλιστα μὲν ἔαρος βροντᾷ καὶ ἀστράπτει διὰ τὴν εἰρημένην αἰτίαν, τὰ δʼ ἐαρινὰ τῶν ὑδάτων ἀναγκαιότερα τοῖς σπέρμασι πρὸ τοῦ θέρους, ὅθεν ἡ πλεῖστον ὑομένη τοῦ ἔαρος χώρα καθάπερ ἡ ἐν Σικελίᾳ πολλοὺς καὶ ἀγαθοὺς καρποὺς ἀναδίδωσιν;

[¶4] 5. INDEED, at first the olive is bitter, and the grape acid; one whereof afterward turns fat, and the other vinous. But the harshness in dates and the austere in pomegranates turn sweet. Some pomegranates and apples have only a simple acid taste. The pungent taste is frequent in roots and seeds. Is it because a salt taste is never natural, but arises when the rest are corrupt? Therefore such plants and seeds as are nourished receive no nourishment from salt; it serves indeed some instead of sauce, by preventing a surfeit of other nourishment. Or, as men take away saltness and bitingness from the sea-water by distilling, is saltness so abolished in hot things by heat? Or indeed does the taste (as Plato says) arise from water percolated through a plant, and does even sea-water percolated lose its saltness, being terrene and of gross parts? Therefore people that dig near the sea happen upon wells fit to drink. Several also that draw the sea-water into waxen buckets receive it sweet and potable, the salt and earthy matter being strained out. And straining through clay renders sea-water potable, since the clay retains the earthy parts and does not let them pass through. And since things are so, it is very probable either that plants receive no saltness extrinsically, or, if they do, they put it not forth into fruit; for things terrene and consisting of gross parts cannot pass, by reason of the straitness of the passages. Or may saltness be reckoned a sort of bitterness? For so Homer says:
Out of his mouth the bitter brine did flow,
And down his body from his head did go.
Plato also says that both these tastes have an abstersive and colliquative faculty; but the salt does it less, nor is it rough. And the bitter seems to differ from the salt in abundance of heat, since the salt has also a drying quality.

> Greek: 5. διὰ τί τῶν χυμῶν, ὀκτὼ τῷ γένει ὄντων, ἕνα μόνον, τὸν ἁλμυρόν, ἀπʼ οὐδενὸς καρποῦ γεννώμενον ὁρῶμεν; καίτοι καὶ τὸν πικρὸν ἡ ἐλαία φέρει πρῶτον καὶ τὸν ὀξὺν ὁ βότρυς,· εἶτα μεταβάλλων ὁ μὲν γίνεται λιπαρὸς ὁ δʼ οἰνώδης· μεταβάλλει δὲ καὶ ὁ στρυφνὸς ἐν ταῖς φοινικοβαλάνοις καὶ ὁ αὐστηρὸς ἐν ταῖς ῥόαις εἰς τὸν γλυκύν· ἔνιαι δὲ ῥόαι καὶ μῆλα τὸν ὀξὺν ἁπλῶς φέρουσιν, ὁ δὲ δριμὺς ἐν ταῖς ῥίζαις καὶ σπέρμασι πολύς ἐστι. πότερον οὖν οὐκ ἔστιν ἁλμυροῦ γένεσις ἀλλὰ φθορὰ τῶν ἄλλων τὸ ἁλμυρόν, διὸ καὶ πᾶσιν ἄτροφον τοῖς. ἀπὸ φυτῶν καὶ σπερμάτων τρεφομένοις, ἥδυσμα δʼ ἐνίοις γίνεται τῷ τὸ πλήσμιον ἀφαιρεῖν τῶν τρεφόντων· ἤ, καθάπερ τῆς θαλάττης ἕψοντες ἀφαιροῦσι τὸ ἁλυκὸν καὶ δηκτικόν, ἐν τοῖς θερμοῖς ὑπὸ θερμότητος ἐξαμαυροῦται τὸ ἁλμυρόν· ἢ χυμὸς μέν ἐστιν, ὡς Πλάτων εἶπεν, ὕδωρ ἠθημένον διὰ φυτοῦ, διηθουμένη δὲ καὶ θάλαττα τὸ ἁλμυρὸν ἀποβάλλει; γεῶδες γὰρ καὶ παχυμερές ἐστιν, ὅθεν ὀρύττοντες παρὰ τὸν αἰγιαλὸν ἐντυγχάνουσι ποτίμοις λιβαδίοις, πολλοὶ δὲ καὶ κηρίνοις ἀγγείοις ἀναλαμβάνουσιν ἐκ τῆς θαλάττης ὕδωρ γλυκὺ διηθούμενον, ἀποκρινομένου τοῦ ἁλυκοῦ καὶ γεώδους· ἡ δὲ διʼ ἀργίλου προδιαγωγὴ παντάπασι τὴν θάλατταν διηθουμένην πότιμον ἀποδίδωσι τῷ κατέχειν ἐν ἑαυτῇ καὶ μὴ διιέναι τὸ γεῶδες. οὕτω δὲ τούτων ἐχόντων, εἰκός ἐστι τὰ φυτὰ μήτʼ ἔξωθεν ἀναλαμβάνειν ἁλμυρίδα μήτʼ, ἂν ἐν αὐτοῖς λάβῃ γένεσιν, ἐκκρίνειν εἰς τὸν καρπόν· οἱ γὰρ πόροι διὰ λεπτότητα τὸ γεῶδες καὶ παχυμερὲς οὐ διηθοῦσιν. ἢ τῆς πικρότητος εἶδος τὴν ἁλμυρότητα θετέον, ὡς Ὅμηρος
στόματος δʼ ἐξέπτυσεν ἅλμην
πικρήν, ἥ οἱ πολλὸν ἀπὸ κρατὸς κελάρυζε; καὶ ὁ Πλάτων φησὶν ἀμφοτέρους ῥύπτειν καὶ ἀποτήκειν τοὺς χυμούς, ἧττον δὲ ταῦτα ποιεῖν τὸν ἁλυκὸν καὶ οὐ τραχὺν εἶναι· δόξει δὲ τὸ πικρὸν τοῦ ἁλυκοῦ ξηρότητος ὑπερβολῇ διαφέρειν, ἐπεὶ ξηραντικόν ἐστι καὶ τὸ ἁλυκόν.

[¶5] 6. WHETHER (as Laitus said) that by the tenuity of the dew the moisture of the skin is fretted away? Or, as smut and mildew fall upon moistened seeds, so, when the green and tender parts on the superficies are fretted and dissolved by the dew, is a certain noxious taint carried and imparted to the most bloodless parts of the body, as the legs and feet, which there eats and frets the superficies? For that by Nature there is a corrosive faculty in dew sufficiently appears, in that it makes fat people lean; and gross women gather it, either with wool or on their clothes, to take down their flesh.

> Greek: 6. διὰ τί τοῖς συνεχῶς διὰ τῶν δεδροσισμένων δένδρων βαδίζουσι λέπραν ἴσχει τὰ ψαύοντα τῆς ὕλης μόρια τοῦ σώματος; πότερον, ὡς Λαῖτος ἔλεγε, τῇ λεπτότητι τὸ δροσῶδες ὑγρὸν ἀποξύει τοῦ χρωτός· ἤ, καθάπερ ἐρυσίβη τοῖς ὑγραινομένοις ἐγγίγνεται σπέρμασιν, οὕτως ὑπὸ τῆς δρόσου τῶν ἐπιπολῆς χλωρῶν καὶ ἁπαλῶν ἀναχαρασσομένων καὶ ἀποτηκομένων ἄχνη τις ἀπιοῦσα τοῦ σίνοντος ἀναπίμπλησι προσχεομένη τοῖς ἀναιμοτάτοις μέρεσι τῆς σαρκός, οἷα κνῆμαι καὶ πόδες, καὶ ἀμύσσει καὶ δάκνει τὴν ἐπιφάνειαν; ὅτι γὰρ φύσει τι δηκτικὸν ἔνεστι τῇ δρόσῳ, μαρτυρεῖ τὸ τοὺς πίονας ἰσχνοτέρους ποιεῖν· αἱ γοῦν πίονες γυναῖκες; ἱματίοις ἢ ἐρίοις ἁπαλοῖς ἀναλαμβάνουσαι τῆς δρόσου δοκοῦσι συντήκειν τὴν πολυσαρκίαν.

[¶6] 7. WHETHER, because the river-air, which is at all times heavy and slow, being in winter more condensed by the cold, does more resist sailing? Or is it long of the water rather than the air? For the piercing cold makes the water heavy and thick, as one may perceive in a water-clock; for the water passes more slowly in winter than in summer. Theophrastus talks of a well about Pangaeum in Thrace, how that a vessel filled with the water of it weighs twice as much in winter as it does in summer. Besides, hence it is apparent that the grossness of the water makes ships sail slower, because in winter river-vessels carry greater burthens. For the water, being made more dense and heavy, makes the more renitency; but the heat hinders the sea from being condensed or frozen.

> Greek: 7. διὰ τί τὰ πλοῖα χειμῶνος ἐν τοῖς ποταμοῖς πλεῖ βράδιον, ἐν δὲ τῇ θαλάττῃ οὐ παραπλησίως; πότερον ὁ ποτάμιος ἀὴρ ἀεὶ δυσκίνητος ὢν καὶ βαρὺς ἐν δὲ χειμῶνι μᾶλλον παχυνόμενος διὰ τὴν περίψυξιν, ἐμποδών ἐστι τοῖς πλέουσιν· ἢ τοῦτο μᾶλλον τοῦ ἀέρος πάσχουσιν οἱ ποταμοί; ἐλαύνουσα γὰρ ἡ ψυχρότης τὸ ὕδωρ ποιεῖ βαρὺ καὶ σωματῶδες, ὡς ἔστιν ἐν ταῖς κλεψύδραις καταμαθεῖν· βράδιον γὰρ ἕλκουσι χειμῶνος ἢ θέρους· ἐν δὲ Θρᾴκῃ περὶ τὸ Πάγγαιον ἱστορεῖ Θεόφραστος εἶναι κρήνην, ἀφʼ ἧς ταὐτὸ γέμον ἀγγεῖον ὕδατος ἱστάμενον χειμῶνος ἕλκειν διπλάσιον σταθμὸν ἢ θέρους. ὅτι δʼ ἡ πυκνότης τοῦ ὕδατος τὴν βραδυτῆτα ποιεῖ τοῦ πλοῦ, δῆλόν ἐστι τῷ πλείονα γόμον φέρειν τὰ ποτάμια πλοῖα τοῦ χειμῶνος· τὸ γὰρ ὕδωρ μᾶλλον ἀντερείδει πυκνότερον καὶ βαρύτερον γιγνόμενον, τὴν δὲ θάλατταν ἡ θερμότης κωλύει πυκνοῦσθαι, διʼ ἣν οὐδὲ πήγνυται· μάλκη γὰρ ἔοικεν εἶναι πύκνωσις.

[¶7] 8. WHETHER that motion expels and dissipates the heat of other liquors as a thing adscititious, and the winds do rather excite and increase the innate heat of the sea? Its transparentness is an argument of heat; and so is its not being frozen, though it is terrene and heavy.

> Greek: 8. διὰ τί, τῶν ἄλλων ὑγρῶν ἐν τῷ κινεῖσθαι καὶ στρέφεσθαι ψυχομένων, τὴν θάλατταν ὁρῶμεν ἐν τῷ κυματοῦσθαι θερμοτέραν γιγνομένην; ἦ τῶν μὲν ἄλλων ὑγρῶν ἐπεισόδιον οὖσαν καὶ ἀλλοτρίαν ἐξίστησιν ἡ κίνησις τὴν θερμότητα καὶ διαφορεῖ, τὴν δὲ τῆς θαλάττης σύμφυτον οὖσαν ἐκριπίζουσι μᾶλλον οἱ ἄνεμοι καὶ τρέφουσι; μαρτύρια δὲ τῆς θερμότητος ἡ διαύγεια καὶ τὸ μὴ πήγνυσθαι, καίπερ οὖσαν γεώδη καὶ βαρεῖαν.

[¶8] 9. Is it that the bitterness of the sea is not devoid of all sweetness, as receiving so many rivers into it; but, since the sun exhales the sweet and potable water thereof, arising to the top by reason of its levity, and since this is done in summer more than in winter, when it affects the sea more weakly by reason of the debility of its heat, that so in winter a great deal of sweetness is left, which tempers and mitigates its excessive poisonous bitterness? And the same thing befalls potable waters; for in summer they are worse, the sun wasting the lightest and sweetest part of them. And a fresh sweetness returns in winter, of which the sea must needs participate, since it moves, and is carried with the rivers into the sea.

> Greek: 9. διὰ τί τοῦ χειμῶνος ἧττον πικρὰ γίγνεται γευομένοις ἡ θάλαττα; τοῦτο γάρ φασι καὶ Διονύσιον ἱστορεῖν τὸν ὑδραγωγόν. ἦ ὅτι παντελῶς μὲν ἔρημος οὐκ ἔστι γλυκύτητος οὐδʼ ἄμοιρος ἡ πικρότης, ἅτε δὴ ποταμοὺς τοσούτους ὑποδεχομένης τῆς θαλάττης· τοῦ δʼ ἡλίου τὸ γλυκὺ καὶ πότιμον ἐξαιροῦντος ὑπὸ κουφότητος ἐπιπολάζον καὶ μᾶλλον ἐν τῷ θέρει τοῦτο ποιοῦντος, ἐν δὲ τῷ χειμῶνι μαλακώτερον ἁπτομένου διʼ ἀσθένειαν θερμότητος, ὑπολειπομένη μοῖρα πολλῆς γλυκύτητος ἀνίησι τὸ ἀκράτως πικρὸν καὶ φαρμακῶδες; τοῦτο δʼ ἡσυχῆ καὶ τοῖς ποτίμοις συμβέβηκε· θέρους γὰρ πονηρότερα γίγνεται, τὸ κουφότατον καὶ γλυκύτατον τοῦ θερμοῦ διαφοροῦντος, ἐν δὲ χειμῶνι νέον ἐπιρρεῖ καὶ πρόσφατον, οὗ μετέχειν ἀνάγκη καὶ τὴν θάλατταν, σειομένην ἅμα καὶ τῶν ποταμῶν ἐπιδιδόντων.

[¶9] 10. WHETHER that heat is good against cold? Or that it quenches heat, by diluting the wine and destroying its strength? Or that the aqueous and aerial part of wine (which is therefore prone to mutation) is stayed by the throwing in of terrene parts, whose nature it is to constipate and condense? Moreover, salts with the sea-water, attenuating and colliquating whatever is foreign and superfluous, suffer no fetidness or putrefaction to breed. Besides, the gross and terrene parts, being entangled with the heavy and sinking together, make a sediment or lees, and so make the wine fine.

> Greek: 10. διὰ τί τῷ οἴνῳ θάλασσαν παραχέουσι καὶ χρησμόν τινα λέγουσιν ἁλιεῖς κομισθῆναι προστάττοντα βαπτίζειν τὸν Διόνυσον πρὸς τὴν θάλατταν, οἱ δὲ πόρρω θαλάττης ἐμβάλλουσι γύψον Ζακυνθίαν ὀπτήσαντες; πότερον ἡ θερμότης βοηθεῖ πρὸς τὴν περίψυξιν, ἢ αὐτὴ ἐξίστησι μάλιστα τὸν οἶνον ἀποσβεννύουσα καὶ φθείρουσα τὴν δύναμιν· ἢ τὸ ὑδατῶδες καὶ πνευματῶδες τοῦ οἴνου πρὸς μεταβολὴν ἐπισφαλέστατʼ ἔχον ἵστησι τὰ γεώδη πεφυκότα στύφειν καὶ κατισχναίνειν, οἱ δʼ ἅλες μετὰ τῆς θαλάττης λεπτύνοντες καὶ ἀποτήκοντες τάλλότριον καὶ περιττὸν οὐκ ἐῶσι δυσωδίαν οὐδὲ σῆψιν ἐγγίγνεσθαι· πρὸς δὲ τούτοις, ὅσον ἐστὶ παχὺ καὶ γεῶδες, ἐμπλεκόμενον τοῖς βαρυτέροις καὶ συγκατασπώμενον ὑποστάθμην ποιεῖ καὶ τρύγα τὸν δʼ οἶνον ἀπολείπει καθαρόν;

[¶10] 11. OF all the senses, smelling causes nauseousness the most, and of all the passions of the mind, fear. For men tremble and shake and bewray themselves upon apprehension of great danger. They that sail in a river are troubled with neither of these. And the smell of sweet and potable water is familiar to all, and the voyage is without danger. On the sea an unusual smell is troublesome; and men are afraid, not knowing what the issue may be. Therefore tranquillity abroad avails not, while an estuating and disturbed mind disorders the body.

> Greek: 11. διὰ τί μᾶλλον ναυτιῶσι τὴν θάλατταν πλέοντες ἢ τοὺς ποταμούς, κἂν ἐν γαλήνῃ πλέωσι; ἦ ὅτι μάλιστα ναυτίαν κινεῖ τῶν αἰσθήσεων ἡ ὄσφρησις, τῶν δὲ παθῶν ὁ φόβος; καὶ γὰρ τρέμουσι καὶ φρίττουσι καὶ κοιλίας ἐξυγραίνονται φαντασίαν κινδύνου λαβόντες· τούτων δʼ οὐδέτερον ἐνοχλεῖ τοῖς διὰ ποταμοῦ πλέουσιν· ἡ γὰρ ὄσφρησις παντὶ ποτίμῳ καὶ γλυκεῖ συνήθης ἐστὶν ὁ δὲ πλοῦς ἀκίνδυνος, ἐν δὲ τῇ θαλάττῃ τὴν τʼ ὀσμὴν ἀηθείᾳ δυσχεραίνουσι καὶ φοβοῦνται, μὴ πιστεύοντες τῷ παρόντι περὶ τοῦ μέλλοντος· οὐδὲν οὖν ὄφελος τῆς γαλήνης, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἡ ψυχὴ σάλον ἔχουσα καὶ θορυβουμένη συγκινεῖ καὶ ἀναπίμπλησι τὸ σῶμα τῆς ταραχῆς.

[¶11] 12. Is it for that the winds, slipping the smooth oil, have no force, nor cause any waves? This may be probably said in respect of things external; but they say that divers take oil in their mouths, and when they spout it out they have light at the bottom, and it makes the water transparent; so that the slipping of the winds will not hold good here for an argument. Therefore it is to be considered, whether the sea, which is terrene and uneven, is not compacted and made smooth by the dense oil; and so the sea, being compact in itself, leaves passes, and a pellucidity penetrable by the sight. Or whether that the air, which is naturally mixed with the sea, is lucid, but by being troubled grows unequal and shady; and so by the oil’s density, smoothing its inequality, the sea recovers its evenness and pellucidity.

> Greek: 12. διὰ τί τῆς θαλάττης ἐλαίῳ καταρραινομένης γίγνεται καταφάνεια καὶ γαλήνη; πότερον, ὡς Ἀριστοτέλης φησί, τὸ πνεῦμα τῆς λειότητος ἀπολισθάνον οὐ ποιεῖ πληγὴν οὐδὲ σάλον· ἢ τοῦτο μὲν πιθανῶς εἴρηται πρὸς τὰ ἐκτός, ἐπεὶ δὲ φασι καὶ τοὺς κατακολυμβῶντας, ὅταν ἔλαιον εἰς τὸ στόμα λαβόντες ἐκφυσήσωσιν, ἐν τῷ βυθῷ φέγγος ἴσχειν καὶ δίοψιν, οὐκ ἔστιν ἐκεῖ πνεύματος ὄλισθον αἰτιάσασθαι; σκόπει δὴ μὴ τὴν θάλατταν γεώδη καὶ ἀνώμαλον οὖσαν ἐξωθεῖ καὶ διαστέλλει τῇ πυκνότητι τοὔλαιον, εἶτʼ ἀνατρεχούσης εἰς αὑτὴν καὶ συστελλομένης ἀπολείπονται πόροι μεταξὺ ταῖς ὄψεσι διαύγειαν καὶ καταφάνειαν διδόντες. ἢ φύσει μέν ἐστι φωτεινὸς ὑπὸ θερμότητος ὁ τῇ θαλάττῃ καταμεμιγμένος ἀήρ, γίγνεται δὲ ταραχθεὶς ἀνώμαλος καὶ σκιώδης· ὅταν οὖν τὴν ἀνωμαλίαν ἐπιλεάνῃ πυκνότητι τοὔλαιον, ἀπολαμβάνει τὴν ὁμαλότητα καὶ τὴν διαύγειαν;

[¶12] 13. Is not that the cause which Theophrastus assigns,—that heat (to wit) shuns the cold, and is constrained by it on every side? Hence the waters are hottest in the bottom of the sea. And so it is on land; for springs are hotter in winter, and then lakes and rivers send up most vapors, because the heat is compelled to the bottom by the prevailing cold. Or it may be, nets do not rot at that time more than at another; but being frozen and dried in the cold, since they are therefore the more easily broken by the waves, they are liable to something like putrefaction and rottenness. And they suffer most in the cold (as strained cords are aptest to break in such a season), because then there be most frequent storms at sea. Therefore fishermen guard their nets with certain tinctures, for fear they should break. Otherwise a net, neither tinged nor daubed with any thing, might more easily deceive the fish; since line is of an air color, and is not easily discerned in the sea.

> Greek: 13. διὰ τί χειμῶνος μᾶλλον ἢ θέρους τὰ τῶν ἁλιέων σήπεται δίκτυα, καίτοι τὰ γʼ ἄλλα μᾶλλον ἐν τῷ θέρει τοῦτο πάσχει; πότερον, ὡς Θεόφραστος οἴεται, τῷ ψυχρῷ τὸ θερμὸν ὑποχωροῦν ἀντιπεριίσταται καὶ θερμότερα ποιεῖ τὰ ἐν βάθει τῆς θαλάττης, ὥσπερ τῆς γῆς· διὸ καὶ τὰ πηγαῖα τῶν ὑδάτων χλιαρώτερα τοῦ χειμῶνός ἐστι καὶ μᾶλλον ἀτμίζουσιν αἱ λίμναι καὶ οἱ ποταμοί· κατακλείεται γὰρ εἰς βάθος ἡ θερμότης ὑπὸ τοῦ ψυχροῦ κρατήσαντος· ἢ σῆψις μὲν οὐκ ἔστι τῶν δικτύων, ὅταν δὲ φρίξῃ καὶ παγῇ διὰ τὸ ψῦχος ἀναξηραινόμενα καὶ θρυπτόμενα μᾶλλον ὑπὸ τοῦ κλύδωνος σήψει τινὶ καὶ μυδήσει πάσχει παραπλήσιον; καὶ γὰρ πονεῖ μᾶλλον ἐν κρύει, καθάπερ τὰ νεῦρα συντεινόμενα σπαράττεται, πλεονάκις ἐκταραττομένης διὰ τὸν χειμῶνα τῆς θαλάττης· διὸ καὶ στύφουσιν αὐτὰ ταῖς βαφαῖς καὶ πυκνοῦσι, φοβούμενοι τὰς ἀναλύσεις· ἐπεὶ μὴ βαφέντα μηδὲ χρισθέντα, μᾶλλον ἂν ἐλάνθανε τοὺς ἰχθῦς, ἐνάερον γὰρ τὸ τοῦ λίνου χρῶμα καὶ ἀπατηλὸν ἐν θαλάττῃ.

[¶13] 14. Is it because hay rained upon is never well made? For the grass is cut down green and not dry, wherefore it putrefies when wet with rain water. But when before harvest it rains upon corn, this is a help to it against the hot south winds; which otherwise would not let the grain fill in the ear, but by their heat would hinder and destroy all coalition, unless by watering the earth there came a moisture to cool and moisten the ear.

> Greek: 14. διὰ τί Δωριεῖς εὔχονται κακὴν χόρτου συγκομιδήν; ἦ κακῶς μὲν συγκομίζεται χόρτος ὑόμενος; κόπτεται γὰρ οὐ ξηρὸς ἀλλὰ χλωρός, ὥστε σήπεται ταχὺ διάβροχος γενόμενος· ὑόμενος δὲ πρὸ τοῦ θέρους ὁ σῖτος βοηθεῖται πρὸς τὰ θερμὰ καὶ νότια πνεύματα· ταῦτα γὰρ οὐκ ἐᾷ πυκνωθῆναι συνιστάμενον ἐν τῷ στάχυι τὸν καρπόν, ἀλλʼ ἐξίστησι καὶ διαχεῖ τῇ θερμότητι τὴν πῆξιν, ἂν μὴ βεβρεγμένης τῆς γῆς ὑγρότης παραμένῃ ψύχουσα καὶ νοτίζουσα τὸν στάχυν.

[¶14] 15. Is it because a stronger grain needs more nourishment, and a weaker a light and thin one? Now barley is weaker and laxer than wheat, therefore it affords but little nourishment. And, as a farther testimony to this reason, wheat, that is ripe in three months, grows in dryer ground; because it is juiceless, and stands in need of less nourishment, and therefore is more easily brought to perfection.

> Greek: 15. διὰ τί πυροφόρος ἡ πίων καὶ βαθεῖα χώρα, κριθοφόρος δὲ μᾶλλον ἡ λεπτόγεως; ἦ ὅτι τῶν σπερμάτων τὰ ἰσχυρὰ πλείονος τροφῆς δεῖται τὰ δʼ ἀσθενῆ λεπτῆς καὶ ἐλαφρᾶς,· ἀσθενέστερον δʼ ἡ κριθὴ καὶ μανότερον· ὅθεν οὐ φέρει τὴν πολλὴν τροφὴν καὶ βαρεῖαν; μαρτυρεῖ δὲ τῷ λόγῳ τούτῳ πυροῦ τὸν τρίμηνον ἐν τοῖς ὑποξήροις φύεσθαι βέλτιον, ἀνοτώτερον ὄντα καὶ τροφῆς ἐλάττονος δεόμενον· διὸ καὶ συντελεῖται τάχιον.

[¶15] 16. Is the reason (as we said) because wheat takes up more nourishment; and barley cannot bear so much, but is choked with it? Or does wheat, because it is hard and ligneous, thrive better when it is softened and loosened in a moist soil; and barley at the first in a dry soil, because of its rarity? Or is the one temperament congruous and harmless to wheat, because it is hot; and the other to barley, because it is cold? Or are men afraid to sow wheat in a dry soil, because of the ants, which presently lie in wait for it; but they cannot so easily deal with barley nor carry it away, because it is a larger grain?

> Greek: 16. διὰ τί λέγεται σῖτον ἐν πηλῷ φύτευε, τὴν δὲ κριθὴν ἐν κόνει; πότερον, ὡς εἰρήκαμεν, ὁ μὲν δύναται πλείονος τροφῆς κατακρατεῖν ἡ δʼ οὐ φέρει τὸ πολὺ καὶ κατακλύζον, ἢ πυκνὸς ὢν ὁ πυρὸς καὶ ξυλώδης φύεται βέλτιον ἐν ὑγρῷ μαλαττόμενος καὶ χυλούμενος, τῇ δὲ κριθῇ διὰ μανότητα σύμφορον ἐν ἀρχῇ τὸ ξηρότερον, ἢ διὰ θερμότητα σύμμετρος καὶ ἀβλαβὴς; ἡ κρᾶσις ψυχρότερον δʼ ἡ κριθή· ἢ φοβοῦνται τὸν πυρὸν ἐν ξηρῷ τρίβειν διὰ τοὺς μύρμηκας, εὐθὺς γὰρ ἐπιτίθενται, εἰς δὲ κριθὰς ἧττον φέρονται, δυσβάστακτοι γάρ εἰσι καὶ δυσπαρακόμιστοι διὰ μέγεθος;

[¶16] 17. Is it that the males are stronger in those parts, as well as in others, than the females? Or is it that the females spoil the hair of their tails by their staling?

> Greek: 17. διὰ τί τῶν ἀρρένων ἵππων μᾶλλον ἢ τῶν θηλειῶν τὰς τρίχας εἰς τὴν ὁρμιὰν λαμβάνουσι; πότερον, ὡς τοῖς ἄλλοις τὸ ἄρρεν τοῦ θήλεος μέρεσι, καὶ ταῖς θριξὶν εὐτονώτερόν ἐστιν· ἢ μᾶλλον διὰ τὸ οὖρον οἴονται τὰς τρίχας τῶν θηλειῶν βρεχομένας γίγνεσθαι χείρονας;

[¶17] 18. Is it because all fishes of the soft kind cannot endure cold, by reason of their nakedness and tenderness? For they are covered neither with shell, skin, or scale, though within they have hard and bony parts. Hence the Greeks call them soft fish. Therefore they easily perceive a storm coming, since they are so soon affected by the cold. When the polypus gets to shore and embraces the rocks, it is a sign the wind is rising; but the cuttle-fish jumps up, to shun the cold and the trouble of the bottom of the sea; for, of all soft fishes, she is the tenderest and soonest hurt.

> Greek: 18. διὰ τί τευθὶς φαινομένη σημεῖόν ἐστι μεγάλου χειμῶνος; ἦ πάντα φύσει τὰ μαλάκια δύσριγα διὰ γυμνότητα τῆς σαρκὸς καὶ ψιλότητα, μήτʼ ὀστράκῳ μήτε δέρματι μήτε λεπίδι σκεπομένης ἀλλʼ ἐντὸς ἐχούσης τὸ σκληρὸν καὶ ὀστεῶδες, διὸ καὶ κέκληται μαλάκια; ταχὺ δὴ προαισθάνεται διʼ εὐπάθειαν τοῦ χειμῶνος· ὅθεν ὁ μὲν πολύπους εἰς γῆν ἀνατρέχει καὶ τῶν πετριδίων ἀντιλαμβανόμενος σημεῖόν ἐστι πνεύματος ὅσον οὔπω παρόντος, ἡ δὲ τευθὶς ἐξάλλεται, φεύγουσα τὸ ψῦχος καὶ τὴν ἐν βάθει ταραχὴν τῆς θαλάττης· καὶ γὰρ ἔχει μάλιστα τῶν μαλακίων εὔθρυπτον καὶ ἁπαλὸν τὸ σαρκῶδες.

[¶18] 19. WHETHER, as Theophrastus writes, because it is an animal by nature timorous; and therefore, being disturbed, it changes color with its spirit, as some men do, of whom it is said, an ill man ever changes color? But though this may serve as a reason for changing its color, it will not for the imitation of colors. For the polypus does so change its color, that it is of the color of every stone it comes nigh. Hence that of Pindar, Mind the color of the marine beast, and so converse cunningly in all cities; and that of Theognis:
Put on a mind like th’ polyp fish,—
And learn so to dissemble,—
Which of the rock whereto it sticks
The color doth resemble.
And they say, that such as are excellent at craftiness and juggling have this in their eye,—that they may the better cheat them they have to deal withal,—ever to imitate the polypus. Some think the polypus can use her skin as a garment, and can put it on or off at pleasure. But if fear occasions this change in the polypus, is not something else more properly the cause? Let us consider what Empedocles says, that effluvia proceed from all things whatever. For not only animals, plants, the earth and sea, but stones, and even brass and iron, do continually send out many effluvia. For all things corrupt and smell, because there runneth always something from them, and they wear continually; insomuch that it is thought that by these effluvia come all attractions and insultations, some supposing embraces, others blows, some impulses, others circuitions. But especially about the sea rocks, when they are wet and cool by the waves (as is most likely), constantly some small particles are washed off, which do not incorporate with other bodies, but either pass by the smaller passages, or pass through the larger. Now the flesh of the polypus, as one may judge by the eye, is hollow, full of pores, and capable of effluvia. When therefore she is afraid, as her spirit changes she changes herself, and by straitening and contracting her body, she encloses the neighboring effluvia. And, as a good token of this argument, the polypus cannot imitate the color of every thing he comes near, nor the chameleon of any thing that is white; but each of these creatures is assimilated only to those things to whose effluvia it has pores proportionable.

> Greek: 19. διὰ τί τὴν χρόαν ὁ πολύπους ἐξαλλάττει; πότερον, ὡς Θεόφραστος ᾤετο, δειλόν ἐστι φύσει ζῷον ὅταν οὖν ταραχθῇ τρεπόμενον τῷ πνεύματι, συμμεταβάλλει τὸ χρῶμα καθάπερ ἄνθρωπος· διὸ καὶ λέλεκται τοῦ μὲν γάρ τε κακοῦ τρέπεται χρώς· ἢ τοῦτο πρὸς τὴν μεταβολὴν πιθανῶς λέλεκται πρὸς δὲ τὴν ἐξομοίωσιν οὐχ ἱκανῶς; μεταβάλλει γὰρ οὕτως, ὥστε τὴν χρόαν αἷς ἂν πλησιάζῃ πέτραις ὁμοιοῦν· πρὸς ὃ καὶ Πίνδαρος ἐποίησε
ποντίου θηρὸς χρωτὶ μάλιστα νόον
προσφέρων πάσαις πολίεσσιν ὁμίλει
καὶ Θέογνις
πουλύποδος νόον ἴσχε πολυχρόου, ὃς ποτὶ πέτρῃ,
τῇ προσομιλήσῃ, τοῖος· ἰδεῖν ἐφάνη.
τοῦτο δὴ καὶ τοὺς πανουργίᾳ καὶ δεινότητι ὑπερφέροντας ἔχειν τὸ ἐπιτήδευμα λέγουσιν, ὡς ὑπὲρ τοῦ λαθεῖν καὶ διαφυγεῖν τοὺς πλησίον ἑαυτοὺς ἀεὶ ἀπεικάζειν πολύποδι. ἢ καθάπερ ἐσθῆτι τῇ χρόᾳ νομίζουσι χρῆσθαι, ῥᾳδίως οὕτως ᾗ βούλεται μετενδυόμενον; ἆρʼ οὖν τὴν μὲν ἀρχὴν αὐτὸς ἐνδίδωσι τοῦ πάθους δείσας, τὰ δὲ κύρια τῆς αἰτίας ἐν ἄλλοις ἐστί; σκόπει δή, κατʼ Ἐμπεδοκλέα γνοὺς ὅτι πάντων εἰσὶν ἀπορροαὶ ὅσσʼ ἐγένοντο· οὐ γὰρ ζῴων μόνον οὐδὲ φυτῶν οὐδὲ γῆς καὶ θαλάττης, ἀλλὰ καὶ λίθων ἄπεισιν ἐνδελεχῶς πολλὰ ῥεύματα καὶ χαλκοῦ καὶ σιδήρου· καὶ γὰρ φθείρεται πάντα καὶ ὄδωδε τῷ ῥεῖν ἀεί τι καὶ φέρεσθαι συνεχῶς· καὶ γὰρ ἕλξεις ἢ ἐπιπηδήσεις ποιοῦσι ταῖς ἀπορροαῖς, οἱ μὲν ἐμπλοκὰς αὐτῶν οἱ δὲ πληγὰς οἱ δʼ ὤσεις τινὰς καὶ περιελάσεις ὑποτιθέμενοι. μάλιστα δὲ τῶν παράλων πετρῶν ἐπιρραινομένων καὶ ψηχομένων ὑπὸ τῆς θαλάττης, ἀπιέναι μέρη καὶ θραύσματα πολλὰ καὶ λεπτὰ εἰκὸς συνεχῶς, ἃ τοῖς χρώμασιν ἀλλήλων διαφέροντα τοῖς μὲν ἄλλοις οὐ προσίσχεται σώμασιν ἀλλὰ λανθάνει περιολισθάνοντα τῶν πυκνοτέρους ἐχόντων πόρους ἢ διεκθέοντα τῶν μανοτέρους. ὁ δὲ πολύπους τήν τε σάρκα προσιδεῖν αὐτόθεν ἀνθρηνιώδης καὶ πολύπορος καὶ δεκτικὸς ἀπορροῶν ἐστιν· ὅταν δὲ δείσῃ, τῷ πνεύματι τρεπόμενος καὶ τρέπων οἷον ἔσφιγξε τὸ σῶμα καὶ συνήγαγεν, ὥστε προσδέχεσθαι καὶ στέγειν ἐπιπολῆς τὰς τῶν ἐγγὺς ἀπορροάς· καὶ γὰρ ἡ τραχύτης μετὰ τῆς μαλακότητος ἕλικας παρέχουσα τοῖς ἐπιφερομένοις μέρεσι μὴ σκεδαννυμένοις ἀλλʼ ἀθροιζομένοις καὶ προσμένουσι, σύγχρουν ἀπεργάζεται τὴν ἐπιφάνειαν τοῖς ἐγγύτατʼ οὖσιν. τεκμήριον δὲ τῆς αἰτίας μέγα τὸ μήτε τοῦτον πᾶσιν ἐξομοιοῦσθαι τοῖς πλησίον μήτε τὸν χαμαιλέοντα τοῖς λευκοῖς χρώμασιν, ἀλλὰ μόνοις ἑκάτερον, ὧν ταῖς ἀπορροαῖς πόρους συμμέτρους ἔχουσιν.

## 2. Sections 20–39

Source: https://scriptura.si/works/plutarch-natural-phenomena/2/ · cite a paragraph as https://scriptura.si/works/plutarch-natural-phenomena/2/#p-N

[¶0] 20. THE reason seems to be the heat and cold of these animals. For the hart is cold, and the boar is very hot and fiery; therefore the one flies from, the other defends himself against, his pursuers. Now when great store of heat comes to the eyes (as Homer says, with horrid bristles, and eyes darting fire), tears are sweet. Some are of Empedocles’s opinion, who thought that tears proceed from the disturbance of the blood, as whey does from the churning of milk; since therefore boar’s blood is harsh and black, and hart’s blood thin and watery, it is consentaneous that the tears, which the one sheds when excited to anger, and the other when dejected with fear, should be of the same nature.

> Greek: 20. διὰ τίνʼ αἰτίαν τὸ τῶν ἀγρίων συῶν δάκρυον ἡδὺ τὸ δὲ τῶν ἐλάφων ἁλμυρόν ἐστι καὶ φαῦλον; αἰτία δὲ θερμότης καὶ ψυχρότης τούτων, καὶ ψυχρὸν μὲν ὁ ἔλαφος περίθερμον δὲ καὶ πυρῶδες ὁ σῦς· ὅθεν τὸ μὲν φεύγει τὸ δʼ ἀμύνεται τοὺς ἐπιόντας, ὅτε καὶ μάλιστα διὰ τὸν θυμὸν ἐκβάλλει τὸ δάκρυον πολλῆς γὰρ ἐπὶ τὰ ὄμματα θερμότητος φερομένης, ὡς εἴρηται φρίξας εὖ λοφιήν, πῦρ ὀφθαλμοῖσι δεδορκώς· γλυκὺ γίγνεται τὸ ἀποτηκόμενον. ἔνιοι δέ φασιν, ὥσπερ γάλακτος ὀρρόν, τοῦ αἵματος ταραχθέντος, ἐκκρούεσθαι τὸ δάκρυον, ὡς Ἐμπεδοκλῆς. ἐπεὶ τοίνυν τραχὺ καὶ μέλαν τὸ τῶν κάπρων αἷμα διὰ θερμότητα λεπτὸν δὲ καὶ ὑδαρὲς τὸ τῶν ἐλάφων, εἰκότως καὶ τὸ ἀποκρινόμενον ἐν τοῖς θυμοῖς καὶ τοῖς φόβοις ἑκατέρου τοιοῦτον.

[¶1] 21. “The wild sow farrowing, that night falls no rain?” Is it because of plentiful feeding, as in very truth fulness doth produce wantonness? For abundance of nourishment breeds abundance of seed both in animals and plants. Now wild sows live by their own toil, and that with fear; the tame have always food enough, either by nature or given them. Or may it not be ascribed to their rest and exercise? For the tame do rest and go not far from their keepers; the wild get to the mountains, and run about, by which means they waste the nutriment, and consume it upon the whole body. Therefore either through continual converse, or abundance of seed, or because the females feed in herds with the males, the tame sows call to mind coition and stir up lust, as Empedocles talks of men. But in wild sows, which feed apart, desire is cold and dull for want of love and conversation. Or is it true, what Aristotle says, that Homer called the wild boar χλούνης, because he had but one stone? For most boars spoil their stones (he says) by rubbing them against stumps of trees.

> Greek: 21. διὰ τί τῶν ὑῶν αἱ μὲν ἥμεροι, πλεονάκις τίκτουσι καὶ κατʼ ἄλλον ἄλλαι χρόνον, αἱ δʼ ἄγριαι καὶ ἅπαξ καὶ περὶ τὰς αὐτὰς ἅπασαι σχεδὸν ἡμέρας; αὗται δʼ εἰσὶν ἀρχομένου θέρους· διὸ καὶ λέλεκται μηκέτι νυκτὸς ὕειν, ᾗ κεν τέκῃ ἀγροτέρη σῦς. ἦ διὰ πλῆθος τροφῆς, ὄντως ἐν πλησμονῇ Κύπρις; ἀφθονία γὰρ τροφῆς τὸ γόνιμον περίττωμα ποιεῖ καὶ φυτοῖς καὶ ζῴοις· αἱ μὲν οὖν ἄγριαι διʼ αὑτῶν καὶ μετὰ φόβου τὴν τροφὴν ζητοῦσι, ταῖς δʼ ἡμέροις ὑπάρχει διὰ παντὸς ἡ μὲν αὐτοφυὴς ἡ δʼ ἐκ παρασκευῆς. ἢ τὸ τῆς σχολῆς καὶ ἀσχολίας ἅμα συμβαῖνον αἴτιον; αἱ μὲν γὰρ ἀργοῦσι, μὴ βουλόμεναι πόρρω πλανᾶσθαι τῶν συφορβῶν, αἱ δʼ ὀρειβατοῦσαι καὶ περιθέουσαι τὴν τροφὴν διαφοροῦσι καὶ καταναλίσκουσιν εἰς τὸ σῶμα πᾶσαν· ὥστε διὰ τὸ ἀεὶ συνεῖναι ἢ μὴ γίνεσθαι περίττωμα …, ἢ καὶ τὸ συντρέφεσθαι καὶ συναγελάζεσθαι τὰ θήλεα τοῖς ἄρρεσιν, ἀνάμνησιν ποιεῖ τῶν ἀφροδισίων καὶ συνεκκαλεῖται τὴν ὄρεξιν ὡς ἐπʼ ἀνθρώπων Ἐμπεδοκλῆς ἐποίησε τῷ δέ τι καὶ πόθος εἴτε διὰ πέψεως ἀμμίσγων· ἐν δὲ τοῖς ἀγρίοις, ἀποτρόφοις οὖσιν ἀλλήλων, τὸ ἄστοργον καὶ δυσεπίμικτον ἀμβλύνει καὶ ἀνασβέννυσι τὰς ὁρμάς. ἢ καὶ τὸ λεγόμενον ὑπʼ Ἀριστοτέλους ἀληθές ἐστιν, ὅτι χλούνην Ὅμηρος ὠνόμασε σῦν τὸν μόνορχιν; τῶν γὰρ πλείστων φησὶ προσκνωμένων τοῖς στελέχεσι θρύπτεσθαι τοὺς ὄρχεις.

[¶2] 22. BECAUSE the flesh of those parts of the body which concoct aliment the best is sweetest; and that concocts best which transpires most by motion and exercise. But the bear uses the fore-feet most in going and running, and in managing of things, as it were with hands.

> Greek: 22. διὰ τί τῆς ἄρκτου φασὶ τὴν χεῖρα γλυκυτάτην ἔχειν σάρκα καὶ φαγεῖν ἡδίστην; ἦ ὅτι τὰ πέττοντα τὴν τροφὴν μάλιστα τοῦ σώματος παρέχει τὸ κρέας ἥδιστον; πέττει δὲ κάλλιστα τὸ διαπνέον, κινούμενον μάλιστα καὶ συγγυμναζόμενον, ὥσπερ ἡ ἄρκτος τῷ μέρει τούτῳ πλεῖστα κινεῖται· καὶ γὰρ ὡς ποσὶ τοῖς ἐμπροσθίοις βαδίζουσα χρῆται καὶ τρέχουσα καὶ ὡς χερσὶν ἀντιλαμβανομένη.

[¶3] 23. WHETHER the dogs, as Empedocles says, “with noses find the steps of all wild beasts,” and draw in those effluvia which the beasts leave in the ground; but the various smells of plants and flowers lying over the footsteps do in spring-time obscure and confound them, and put the dogs to a loss at winding them? Therefore about Etna in Sicily no man keeps any hunting dogs, because abundance of wild marjoram flourishes and grows there the year round, and the perpetual flagrancy of the place destroys the scent of the wild beasts. There is also a tale, how Proserpine, as she was gathering flowers thereabout, was ravished by Pluto; therefore people, revering that place as an asylum, do not catch any creature that feeds thereabout.

> Greek: 23. διὰ τί δυστίβευτος ἡ τοῦ ἔαρος ὥρα; πότερον αἱ κύνες, ὥς φησιν Ἐμπεδοκλῆς, κέμματα θηρείων μελέων μυκτῆρσιν ἐρευνῶσαι τὰς ἀπορροὰς ἀναλαμβάνουσιν, ἃς ἐναπολείπει τὰ θηρία τῇ ὕλῃ, ταύτας δὲ τοῦ ἔαρος ἐξαμαυροῦσι καὶ συγχέουσιν αἱ πλεῖσται τῶν φυτῶν καὶ τῶν ὑλημάτων ὀσμαί, ὑπὲρ τὴν ἄνθησιν ὑπερχεόμεναι καὶ κεραννύμεναι, περιποτῶσι καὶ διαπλανῶσι τὰς κύνας τῆς τῶν θηρίων ὀσμῆς ἐπιλαβέσθαι; διὸ περὶ τὴν Αἴτνην ἐν Σικελίᾳ φασὶ μηδένα κυνηγεῖν· πολὺ γὰρ ἀναφύεσθαι καὶ τεθηλέναι διʼ ἔτους ἴον ὀρεινὸν ἐν τοῖς λειμῶσι, καὶ τὸν τόπον εὐωδίαν ἀεὶ κατέχουσαν ἁρπάζειν τὰς τῶν θηρίων ἀναπνοάς. λέγεται δὲ μῦθος, ὡς τὴν Κόρην ἐκεῖθεν ἀνθολογοῦσαν ὁ Πλούτων ἀφαρπάσειε, καὶ διὰ τοῦτο τιμῶντες καὶ σεβόμενοι τὸ χωρίον ὡς ἄσυλον οὐκ ἐπιτίθενται τοῖς ἐκεῖ νεμομένοις.

[¶4] 24. WHETHER for the foresaid cause? For the full moons bring down the dews; and therefore Alcman calls dew the daughter of Jove and Luna in a verse of his, “Fed by the dew, bred by the Moon and Jove.” For dew is a weak and languid rain, and there is but little heat in the moon; which draws water from the earth, as the sun does; but because it cannot raise it on high, it soon lets it fall.

> Greek: 24. διὰ τί περὶ τὰς πανσελήνους ἥκιστα ταῖς ἰχνοσκοπίαις ἐπιτυγχάνουσιν; διὰ τὴν εἰρημένην αἰτίαν; δροσοβόλοι γὰρ αἱ πανσέληνοι· διὸ καὶ τὴν δρόσον ὁ Ἀλκμὰν Διὸς θυγατέρα καὶ Σελήνης προσεῖπε ποιήσας Διὸς θυγάτηρ ἔρσα τρέφει καὶ δίας Σελάνας· ἡ γὰρ δρόσος ἀσθενής ἐστι καὶ ἀδρανὴς ὄμβρος, ἀσθενὲς δὲ καὶ τὸ τῆς σελήνης θερμόν· ὅθεν ἕλκει μὲν ἀπὸ γῆς ὥσπερ ὁ ἥλιος, ἄγειν δʼ εἰς ὕψος μὴ δυναμένη μηδʼ ἀναλαμβάνειν μεθίησιν.

[¶5] 25. WHETHER is it because the wild beasts leave off going far abroad by reason of the cold, and so leave but few signs of themselves? Therefore some say, beasts spare the neighboring places, that they may not be sore put to it by going far abroad in winter, but may always have food ready at hand. Or is it because that for hunting the track alone is not sufficient, but there must be scent also? And things gently dissolved and loosened by heat afford a smell, but too violent cold binds up the scent, and will not let it reach the sense. Therefore they say that unguents and wine smell least in winter and cold weather; for the then concrete air keeps the scent in, and suffers it not to disperse.

> Greek: 25. διὰ τί τὸ δρόσιμον γενόμενον διὰ τοῦ ψύχους δυστίβευτον; πότερον ὅτι τὰ θηρία πόρρω τῶν κοιτῶν ὀκνοῦντα προϊέναι διὰ τὸ κρύος οὐ πολλὰ ποιεῖ σημεῖα· διὸ καί φασιν αὐτὰ φείδεσθαι τῶν πλησίον, ὅπως μὴ κακοπαθῇ πλανώμενα μακρὰν τοῦ χειμῶνος ἀλλʼ ἀεὶ ἐγγύθεν ἔχῃ νέμεσθαι· ἢ δεῖ μὴ μόνον ἔχειν ἴχνη τὸν στιβευόμενον τόπον ἀλλὰ κινεῖν τὴν ὄσφρησιν, κινεῖ δὲ λυόμενα καὶ χαλώμενα μαλακῶς ὑπὸ θερμότητος, ἡ δʼ ἄγαν περίψυξις πηγνύουσα τὰς ὀσμὰς οὐκ ἐᾷ ῥεῖν οὐδὲ κινεῖν τὴν αἴσθησιν· ὅθεν καὶ τὰ μύρα καὶ τὸν οἶνον ἧττον ὄζειν ψύχους καὶ χειμῶνος λέγουσιν· ὁ γὰρ ἀὴρ πηγνύμενος ἵστησι τὰς ὀσμὰς ἐν αὑτῷ καὶ οὐκ ἐᾷ ἀναδίδοσθαι;

[¶6] 26. DOGS eat grass, to make them vomit bile. Swine seek craw-fish, because the eating of them cures the headache. The tortoise, when he has eaten a viper, feeds on wild marjoram. They say, when a bear has surfeited himself and his stomach grows nauseous, he licks up ants, and by devouring them is cured. These creatures know such things neither by experience nor by chance. Whether, as wax draws the bee, and carcasses the vulture afar off by the scent, do craw-fish so draw swine, wild marjoram the tortoise, and ants the bear, by smells and effluvia accommodated to their nature, they being prompted altogether by sense, without any assistance from reason? Or do not the temperaments of the body create appetites in animals, while diseases create these, producing divers acrimonies, sweetnesses, and other unusual and absurd qualities, the humors being altered; as is plain in women with child, who eat stones and earth? Therefore skilful physicians take their prognostic of recovery or death from the appetites of the sick. For Mnesitheus the physician says that, in the beginning of a disease of the lungs, he that craves onions recovers, and he that craves figs dies; because appetites follow the temperament, and the temperament follows diseases. It is therefore probable that beasts, if they fall not into mortal diseases, have such a disposition and temper, that by following their temper they light on their remedies.

> Greek: 26. διὰ τί τὰ ζῷα τὰς βοηθούσας δυνάμεις, ὅταν ἐν πάθει γένηται, ζητεῖ καὶ διώκει καὶ χρώμενα πολλάκις ὠφελεῖται; καθάπερ αἱ κύνες ἐσθίουσι πόαν, ἵνα τὴν χολὴν ἐξεμῶσιν· αἱ δʼ ὕες ἐπὶ τοὺς ποταμίους καρκίνους φέρονται, βοηθοῦνται γὰρ ἐσθίουσαι πρὸς κεφαλαλγίαν· ἡ δὲ χελώνη φαγοῦσα τὴν σάρκα τοῦ ἔχεως ὀρίγανον ἐπεσθίει· τὴν δʼ ἄρκτον λέγουσιν ἀσωμένην τοὺς μύρμηκας ἀναλαμβάνειν τῇ γλώττῃ καὶ καταπίνουσαν ἀπαλλάττεσθαι· τούτων δʼ οὔτε πεῖρα καὶ περίπτωσις γέγονεν αὐτοῖς. πότερον οὖν, ὥσπερ τὰ κηρία τὴν μέλιτταν τῇ ὀσμῇ καὶ τὰ κενέβρεια τὸν γῦπα κινεῖ καὶ προσάγεται πόρρωθεν, οὕτως οὖν καὶ σῦς οἱ καρκίνοι καὶ τὴν χελώνην ἡ ὀρίγανος, αἱ δὲ μυρμηκιαὶ τὴν ἄρκτον ὀσμαῖς καὶ ῥεύμασι προσφερέσι καὶ οἰκείοις ἕλκουσιν, οὐ λογισμῷ τοῦ συμφέροντος ἀγούσης τῆς αἰσθήσεως· ἢ τὰς ὀρέξεις ἐπιφέρουσι τοῖς ζῴοις αἱ τῶν σωμάτων κράσεις, ἃς αἱ νόσοι ποιοῦσι, διαφόρους δριμύτητας ἢ γλυκύτητας ἤ τινας ἄλλας ἐντίκτουσαι ποιότητας ἀήθεις καὶ ἀτόπους, τῶν ὑγρῶν τρεπομένων; ὡς δῆλόν ἐστιν ἐπὶ τῶν γυναικῶν, ὅταν κύωσι, καὶ λίθους καὶ γῆν προσφερομένων διὸ καὶ τῶν νοσούντων ταῖς ὀρέξεσιν οἱ χαρίεντες ἰατροὶ προΐσασι τοὺς ἀσώτως ἢ σωτηρίως ἔχοντας· ἱστορεῖ γοῦν Μνησίθεος ἰατρὸς ἐν ἀρχῇ πνευμονίας τὸν ἐπιθυμήσαντα κρομμύων σῴζεσθαι τὸν δὲ σύκων ἀπόλλυσθαι, διὰ τὸ ταῖς κράσεσι τὰς ὀρέξεις τὰς δὲ κράσεις τοῖς πάθεσιν ἕπεσθαι. πιθανὸν οὖν ἐστι καὶ τῶν θηρίων τὰ μὴ παντελῶς ὀλεθρίοις μηδʼ ἀναιρετικοῖς περιπίπτοντα νοσήμασι ταύτην τὴν διάθεσιν καὶ κρᾶσιν ἴσχειν, ὑφʼ ἧς ἐπὶ τὰ σῴζοντα φέρεται καὶ ἄγεται ταῖς ὀρέξεσιν ἕκαστον αὐτῶν.

[¶7] 27. Is it because the changing of the sweet must into wine is concoction, but cold hinders concoction, because this is caused by heat? Or, on the contrary, is the proper taste of the grape sweet, and is it then said to be ripe, when the sweetness is equally diffused all over it; but does cold, not suffering the heat of the grape to exhale, and keeping it in, conserve the sweetness of the grape? And this is the reason that, in a rainy vintage, must ferments but little; for fermentation proceeds from heat, which the cold does check.

> Greek: 27. διὰ τί τὸ γλεῦκος, ἂν ὑπὸ ψύχους περιέχηται τὸ ἀγγεῖον, γλυκὺ διαμένει πολὺν χρόνον; πότερον ὅτι πέψις ἐστὶ τοῦ γλεύκους ἡ εἰς τὸ οἰνῶδες μεταβολὴ κωλύει δὲ τὴν πέψιν ἡ ψυχρότης, ὑπὸ θερμοῦ γὰρ ἡ πέψις· ἢ τοὐναντίον, οἰκεῖός ἐστι τῆς σταφυλῆς χυμὸς ὁ γλυκύς, διὸ καὶ πεπαίνεσθαι λέγεται τὸ γλυκὺ κιρνώμενον ἡ δὲ ψυχρότης οὐκ ἐῶσα διαπνεῖν ἀλλὰ συνέχουσα τὸ θερμόν, τὴν γλυκύτητα διατηρεῖ τοῦ γλεύκους; αὕτη δʼ ἐστὶν αἰτία καὶ τῶν τρυγωμένων ὄμβρῳ τὸ γλεῦκος ἧττον ἀναζεῖν· ἡ γὰρ ζέσις ὑπὸ θερμότητος τὴν δὲ θερμότητα κατέχει καὶ συστέλλει τὸ ψυχρόν.

[¶8] 28. Is it because his teeth stand so far within his head, that he cannot well come at the thread? For his lips, by reason of their thickness and largeness, meet close before. Or does he rather rely on his paws and mouth, and with those rend the toil, and with this defend himself against the hunters? His chief refuge is rolling and wallowing; therefore, rather than stand gnawing the toil, he rolls often about, and so clears himself, having no occasion for his teeth.

> Greek: 28. διὰ τί τῶν θηρίων ἡ ἄρκτος ἥκιστα διεσθίει τὰ δίκτυα, καίτοι καὶ λύκοι καὶ ἀλώπεκες διεσθίουσι; πότερον ἐνδοτάτω τοὺς ὀδόντας ἔχουσα τοῦ χάσματος ἥκιστα πρὸς τὰ λίνα ἐξικνεῖται, προεμπίπτει γὰρ τὰ χείλη διὰ πάχος καὶ μέγεθος· ἢ μᾶλλον ἰσχύουσα ταῖς χερσὶ ῥήγνυσι καὶ διασπᾷ τὸν βρόχον· ἢ καὶ ταῖς χερσὶν ἅμα χρῆται καὶ τῷ στόματι, ταῖς μὲν διασπῶσα τὸ λίνον τῷ δʼ ἀμυνομένη τοὺς διώκοντας; οὐδενὸς δʼ ἧττον αὐτῇ βοηθοῦσιν αἱ περικαλινδήσεις· διὸ μᾶλλον ἢ διασπᾶν τὰ λίνα πραγματευομένη πολλάκις ἐκκυβιστᾷ καὶ σῴζεται, ἀμὴ καὶ δέοι ἡ τῶν ὀδόντων.

[¶9] 29. IT is not (as some are of opinion) that heat is a quality, and cold only a privation of that quality, and so that an entity is even less a cause than a non-entity. But we do it because Nature has attributed admiration to what is rare, and she puts men upon enquiry how any thing comes to pass that seldom happens. As Euripides saith,
Behold the boundless Heaven on high,
Bearing the earth in his moist arms,—
what wonders he brings out by night, and what beauty he shows forth by day!... The rainbow and the varied beauty of the clouds by day, and the lights which burst forth by night...

> Greek: 29. τίς ἡ αἰτία, διʼ ἣν τὰ ψυχρὰ τῶν ὑδάτων οὐ θαυμάζομεν ἀλλὰ τὰ θερμά, καίτοι δῆλον ὅτι θερμότης αἰτία τούτων ὡς ψυχρότης ἐκείνων; οὐ γὰρ, ὡς ἔνιοι νομίζουσιν, ἡ μὲν θερμότης δύναμίς ἐστιν ἡ δὲ ψυχρότης στέρησις θερμότητος· ἐπεὶ πλειόνων αἴτιον ἐφαίνετο τὸ μὴ ὂν τοῦ ὄντος. ἀλλʼ ἔοικε τῷ σπανίῳ τὸ θαυμάσιον ἡ φύσις νέμουσα πῶς; γίγνεται ζητεῖν τὸ μὴ πολλάκις γιγνόμενον.
ὁρᾷς τὸν ὑψοῦ τόνδʼ ἄπειρον αἰθέρα
καὶ γῆν πέριξ ἔχονθʼ ὑγραῖς ἐν ἀγκάλαις
ὅσα μὲν ἔρχεται φέρων θεάματα νυκτός, ὅσον δὲ μεθʼ ἡμέραν κάλλος ἀναδείκνυσιν; οἱ δὲ πολλοὶ τὴν τούτων φύσιν οὐ θαυμάζουσιν, ἴριδας δὲ καὶ ποικίλματα νεφῶν ἡμέρας καὶ σέλα ῥηγνύμενα πομφόλυγος δίκην νυκτὸς … κεκόσμηται.

[¶10] 30. Is it because very fat goats (τράγοι) are less able to procreate, nay, scarce able to use coition, by reason of their fatness Seed is the superfluity of the aliment which is allotted to the body: now, when either an animal or a plant is of a very strong constitution and grows fat, it is a sign that all the nourishment is spent within, and that there is little and base excrement, or none at all.

> Greek: 30. διὰ τί τῶν ἀμπέλων τὰς ἀκάρπους, τοῖς δʼ ἀκρέμοσι καὶ ἔρνεσιν εὐτροφούσας τραγᾶν λέγομεν; ἦ ὅτι τῶν τράγων οἱ σφόδρα πίονες ἧττόν εἰσι γόνιμοι καὶ μόλις ὑπὸ πιμελῆς ὀχεύουσι; τὸ γὰρ σπέρμα περίττωμα τῆς τροφῆς ἐστι τῆς τῷ σώματι προστιθεμένης· ὅταν οὖν ἢ ζῷον ἢ δένδρον εὐεκτῇ καὶ παχύνηται, τοῦτο σημεῖόν ἐστι τοῦ τὴν τροφὴν ἐν ἑαυτῷ καταναλισκομένην μηθὲν ἢ μικρόν τι καὶ ἀγεννὲς περίττωμα ποιεῖν.

[¶11] 31. Is it as baldness happens to great wine-bibbers, the heat of the wine evaporating the moisture? Or, as Empedocles saith, “the putrefied water in the wood becomes wine beneath the bark,”... thus, when the vine is outwardly irrigated with wine, it is as fire to the vine, and destroys the nutritive faculty. Or, because wine is obstructive, it gets into the roots, stops the passages, and so hinders any moisture from coming to the plant to make it grow and thrive. Or, it may seem contrary to Nature that that should return into the vine which came out of it; for whatsover moisture comes from plants can neither nourish nor be again a part of the plant.

> Greek: 31. διὰ τί ἄμπελος οἴνῳ ῥαινομένη, μάλιστα τῷ ἐξ αὑτῆς, ἀναξηραίνεται; πότερον, ὥσπερ ἐν τοῖς πολυπόταις γίνεται φαλάκρωσις, ὑπὸ θερμότητος τοῦ οἴνου τὸ ὑγρὸν ἐξατμίζοντος· ἢ φὺ … τὸ οἰνῶδές ἐστιν, ὥς φησιν Ἐμπεδοκλῆς οἶνον ὑπὸ φλοιοῦ πέλεσθαι σαπὲν ἐν ξύλῳ ὕδωρ· ὅταν οὖν ἔξωθεν οἴνῳ βρέχηται, γίγνεται πῦρ ἐπὶ πῦρ τῇ ἀμπέλῳ καὶ τοῦ τρέφοντος … δύναμιν ἐξίστησιν ἡ κρᾶσις· ἢ στυπτικὴν φύσιν ἔχων ὁ ἄκρατος ἐνδύεται ταῖς ῥίζαις, καὶ τοὺς πόρους συναγαγὼν καὶ πυκνώσας οὐ διίησι τὸ ὕδωρ εἰς τὸ φυτόν, ᾧ εὐθαλεῖν καὶ βλαστάνειν πέφυκεν ἢ καὶ τοῦτο μᾶλλον εἰκὸς εἶναι τῇ ἀμπέλῳ παρὰ φύσιν, τὸ ἐξ αὐτῆς ἀπιὸν εἰς αὐτὴν ἐπανιὸν πάλιν δέχεσθαι; τῆς γὰρ ἐν τοῖς φυτοῖς ὑγρότητος ἤνθει καί τι τρέφειν μηδὲ προστίθεσθαι μηδὲ μέρος εἶναι τοῦ φυ … Cur inter omnes arbores sola palma contra impositum onus adsurgit?

[¶12] 32. Is it that the fiery and spiritual power which it hath, being once provoked and (as it were) angered, putteth forth itself so much the more, and mounteth upward? Or is it because the weight, forcing the boughs suddenly, oppresseth and keepeth down the airy substance which they have, and driveth all of it inward; but the same afterwards, having resumed strength again, maketh head afresh, and more eagerly withstandeth the weight? Or, lastly, is it that the softer and more tender branches, not able to sustain the violence at first, so soon as the burden resteth quiet, by little and little lift up themselves, and make a show as if they rose up against it?

> Greek: 32. Utrum quod ignea et spirabilis facultas, qua maxime pollet, quum tentatur et irritatur, sese exercens magis et magis erigit? An quoniam pondus ramos subito urgens, aerem omnem qui in hi est, oppressum cedere retro cogat, qni deinde resumptis paullo viribus, adversum onus aerius rursus instat: An molles et tenerae virgae impetum non sustinentes, quum onus quiescit, paullatim se erigunt, et speciem, quaei contra illud adsurgant, praebent?

[¶13] 33. Is it because it is more cold, and withal hath less air in it? Or because it containeth much salt from the earth mingled therewith?—now it is well known that salt above all other things causeth leanness. Or because standing still, and not exercised with running and stirring, it getteth a certain malignant quality, which is hurtful to both plants and animals, and is the cause that it is neither well concocted nor able to feed and nourish any thing? Hence it is that all dead waters of pools are unwholesome, for that they cannot digest and despatch those harmful qualities which they borrow of the evil property of the air or of the earth.

> Greek: 33. Quare aqua de puteis hausta minus alit quam quae de fonte aut caelo manat? An quia frigidior magis sit et parum quoque aeris habeat: An quod salis multum immixta sibi de terra habeat; sal autem maciem, si quid aliud, facit: An quod pigra nec cursu exercita, qualitatem aliquam malam adquirat, quae stirpibus et animantibus contraria, in causa est quod nec bene concoquatur nec nutrire quicquam possit: Hinc et stagnantes aquae minus probae cenaentur, quod injuriae quae vel ab aeris mala qualitate vel a terra accipiunt, digerere nequeant.

[¶14] 34. Let us likewise bestir our feet,
As fast as Western winds do fleet. Is it not because this wind is wont to blow when the sky is very well cleansed, and the air is exceeding clear and without all clouds?—for the thickness and impurity of the air doth not a little impeach and interrupt the course of the winds. Or is it rather because the sun, striking through a cold wind with his beams, is the cause that it passeth the faster away?—for whatsoever of cold is drawn in by the force of the winds, when the same is overcome by heat, as it were its enemy, we must think, is driven and set forward further and with greater celerity.

> Greek: 34. Cur Zephyrus ventorum omnium celerrimus vulgo fertur, et Homerus: Nos quoque cum Zephyri curramus flatibus una? An quod aere perpurgato et minime nebuloso, fiare soleat? aeris enim densitae et impuritas ventorum cursum non mediocriter impedit. An quod sol radiis suis fiatum frigidum perstringens, quo velocius feratur, auctor est? Quicquid enim frigidi ventorum vi contrahitur, id a calore veluti hoste supcratum, longius et citius propelli credendum est.

[¶15] 35. WHETHER is it because the passages of their vital spirits are exceeding strait, and, if it chance that smoke be gotten into them and there kept in and intercepted, it is enough to stop the poor bees’ breath,—yea, and to strangle them quite? Or is not the acrimony and bitterness (think you) of the smoke in cause—for bees are delighted with sweet things, and in very truth they have no other nourishment; and therefore no marvel if they detest and abhor smoke, as a thing for the bitterness most adverse and contrary unto them. Therefore honey-masters, when they make a smoke for to drive away bees, are wont to burn bitter herbs, as hemlock, centaury, etc.

> Greek: 35. Cur apes fumum ferre nequeant? Quod meatus spiritus vitalis sane quam angustos habeant. At is fumo interceptus et conclusus angit et propemodum ad mortem apes adigit. An acredo amaritudoque fumi in causa eεt: gaudent enim dulcibus apes neqae alio nutrimento uluntur: itaque ut contrariam et noxiam rem propter amaritudinem, fumum detestantur. Qua de causa mellarii quum fumum abigendis apibus faciunt, amaras herbae, ut cicutam et centanrium, incendere solent.

[¶16] 36. Is it not because it is a creature that wonderfully delighteth in purity, cleanliness, and elegancy, and withal hath a marvellous quick sense of smelling? Because therefore such unclean dealings between man and woman are wont to leave behind much filthiness and impurity, the bees both sooner find them out and also conceive the greater hatred against them. Hereupon it is that in Theocritus the shepherd pleasantly sendeth Venus away unto Anchises to be well stung with bees for her adultery:
Now to mount Ida, to Anchises go,
Where mighty oaks and cypresses do grow;
Where hives and trees with honey sweet abound,
And both with humming noise of bees resound.
And Pindar saith: “Thou little creature, who honey-combs dost frame, and with thy sting hast pricked false impure Rhoecus for his lewd villanies.”

> Greek: 36. Cur apes citius pungunt qui stuprum dudum fecerunt? An quod animal est munditiae et elegantiae perquam studiosum; praeterea olfactus sensu valet plurimum? Quum itaque impuri congressus propter impudicitiam et immoderatam libidinem soleant esae immundiores: et citius ab apibus deprehenduntur et odium vehementius adversus illos concipiunt. Unde apud Theocritum jocose Venus ad Anchisen a pastore ablegatur, uti apum aculeis propter adulterium commissum pungatur:
Te confer ad Idam,
confer ad Anchisen, ubi quercus atque cypirus
crascit, apum strepit atque domus mellifiua bombis.
Et Pindarus: Parvula favorum fabricatrix, quae Rhoecum pupugisti aculeo, domans illius perfidiam.

[¶17] 37. Is it because he can comprehend nothing by imagination nor call a thing to mind, which are gifts and virtues proper to man alone; and therefore, seeing he cannot discern the party that offered him injury, he supposeth that to be his enemy which seemeth in his eye to threaten him, and of it he goes about to be revenged? Or is it that he thinks the stone, while it runs along the ground, to be some wild beast, and according to his nature he intendeth to catch it first; but afterwards, when he seeth himself deceived and put besides his reckoning, he setteth upon the man? Or rather, doth he not hate the man and the stone both alike, but pursueth that only which is next unto him?

> Greek: 37. Cur lupae certo anni tempore omnes intra duodecim dies pariunt? An quia neque cogitatione comprehendere quicquam nec reminisci (quibus solus homo virtutibus valet) potest? itaque quum mente non discernat a quo injuria fuerit illata, id tantum. quod ob oculos minaciter versatur, inimicum esse existimat deque eo vindictam sumere parat. An lapidem, dum per terram mittitur, ferarn aliquam esse autumans, pro ingenio hanc prius capere conatur, deinde quum viderit se opinione sua frustrari, hominem rursus invadit? An quod ad id quod missum fuerit, et hominem ipsum aequaliter odit, et id quod proximius est, insectatur?

[¶18] 38. ANTIPATER in his History of Animals affirms, that shewolves exclude forth their young ones about the time that mast trees shed their blossoms, for upon the taste thereof their wombs open; but if there be none of such blooms to be had, then their young die within the body and never come to light. Moreover, he saith, those countries which bring not forth oaks and mast are never troubled nor spoiled with wolves. Some attribute all this to a tale that goes of Latona; who being with child, and finding no abiding place of rest and safety by reason of Juno for the space of twelve days, went to Delos, and, being transmuted by Jupiter into a wolf, obtained at his hands that all wolves for ever after might within that time be delivered of their young.

> Greek: 38. Quare canes relicto homine qui jecit, lapidum morsu insectantur? Antipater in libro de Animalibus partum lupas projicere adaerit, quum glandiferae arbores fiorem abjiciunt, quo gustato, uteri illarum reserantur: quum ejus copia non est, partum in ipso corpore emori, nec in lucem venire posse: praeterea regiones illas a Iupis non vastari, quae glandium quercuumque feraces non sunt. Quidam ad fabulam Latonae referunt; quae quum uterum ferret nec uspiam tuta prae Junone esae posset, duodecim diebus, quibus in Delum proficiscebatur, in lupum a Iove mutata, ut deinceps omnes lupae eo ipso tempore parere possint, impetravit.

[¶19] 39. Is it because depth is the mother of darkness, so that it doth dim and mar the sunbeams before they can descend so low as it? As for the uppermost superficies of the water, because it is immediately affected by the sun, it must needs receive the white brightness of the light; the which Empedocles verily approveth in these verses:
A river in the bottom seems
By shade of color black;
The like is seen in caves and holes,
By depth, where light they lack.
Or, since the bottom of the sea and of great rivers is often full of mud, doth it by reflection of the sunbeams represent the like color that the said mud hath? Or is it more probable that the water toward the bottom is not pure and sincere, but corrupted with an earthy quality,— as continually carrying with it somewhat of that by which it runneth and wherewith it is stirred,—and the same settling once to the bottom causeth it to be more troubled and less transparent?

> Greek: 39. Cur aqua in summa parte alba, in fundo vero nigra spectatur? An quod profunditae nigredinis mater est, ut quae solis radios prius quam ad eam descendant, obtundat et Iabefactet? Superficies autem, quoniam continuo a sole afficitur, candorem luminis recipiat oportet. Quod ipsum et Empedocles approbat:
et niger in fundo fiuvii color exstat ab umbra,
atque cavernosis itidem spectatur in antris.
An limo plerumque oppletus fluminum marisque fundus, talem de se colorem per solis refiexum parit, quali utique is praeditus est? An probabilius est, aquam minime, quae illis est, puram et sinceram esse, sed terrea qualitate (utpote quae continuo, qua currit vel agitatur, aliquid ex ea advehat) imbutam, quum ad fundum residet, turbidiorem et minus perspicuam efficit?