PART XIIL

ET I CU R US.
Other account, they may be fupplied, forafmuch
as there is fomthing continually flowing from beneath into them. And though thefe flibter- raneous Rivulets ( as it “Were, ) might be made up of the feveral Seeds, which are difperfed through the Earth, yet muft thefe Seeds be fup¬ plied by the Sea, which foaks iuto the Earth.
Whence it comes to pafs, as was faid, that thofe Rivulets, difperfing themfclves into leifer ftreams, and running down into lower hollow Receptacles, and meeting there, at laftjoyn to¬ gether in great Channels, and make large Rivers, which continually renew and fupply theira- menfe Sea.
But fince, there is not any River more won¬ derful than A'ito,for that every Summer it over- floweth and watereth we mufl: not
therefore omit to fay, that this may happen by reafon of the Etejian^mds which at that feafon blowing towards the mouths of Nilus^ and drive up Sands thither, fo as Nilus cannot but flop, and fwell, and rifing above its Channel,overflow the Plain whicli lies beneath.
Perhaps alfo it happens, for that the Etefian Winds blowing from the North carry the Clouds into the South beyond zyEgypt^ which, meeting at fome very high Mountains, are there, crouded together, and fqueeze forth Rain, by which Niltis is increafed.
It may happen alfo, that the exceeding higji Mountains of Ethiopia^ may be cover’d with SnoWi which being dilfolved by the Sun’s excef- five heat, fills the Channel of Nilus.
CHAP. IV.
Of the Preperties of fame Waters^ and of Ice.
Blit that we may feleft befides fome proper¬ ties of Water, which feern wonderful to the Vulgar, I omit at prefent that Property, which is of kin to thofe we laft mentioned ; That although the Water fo eaCly diifolves Salt, and admits to be imbued by it ; yet there are fome fweet Fountains, which fpring out of the midftoftheSea. For this plainly happens hence. That the Water burfting forth from the bottom of the Sea, rifeth up with fo great ve- hemency, that it drives away on all fides the Sea-water, and neither fuffers it, nor its Salt to be mingled with it.
Wonderful is that Fountain in Epirus, over which Flax or a Taper is no fooner put,but it is prefently fet on fire and flames. Itfeems,that from the Earth which is beneath it, fo many Seeds of Heat arc breathed forth, as that,though they are not, able to heat the Water in their paf- fage through it •, yet as fdon as ever they get out of it into the open A ir^ running into the Flax and Tapers, they alfociate themfelves with the fiery Seeds, wherewith fuch things abound, and break forth into flame*, in the fame manner, as When putting flame to a Candle newly extin- guifh’d, yeu may fee it light before the flame touches it.
But what Ihall we fay of that Fountain, which is imported to be at the Temple of Jupiter Ham- inon,Qo\d iii the day-time, and hot in the night ?
Certainly, the Earth about this . Fountain, tho"*
it be loofer than other Earth, ,yet being com- prefs’d by the cold of night, it ftriks out,or fqueezeth forth, and trafmits into the Water, many Seeds of Fire which it contains, whereby the Water groweth hot *, but being lopfened, by the Heat of Day, it fucks back again^as it were the fame Seeds, whereby the Water becometh cold.
It may likewife come to pafs, that the Wa-* ter which is made hot through the fame Seeds, which are reprelfed in the night-time^hy.reaibA, of the cold Air, may become cpld. in the day¬ time, the beams of the Sun paflipg lo through- the Water, that they afford to thofe Seeds a free: vent into the Air . Juft as Ice is dilfolved by the fame piercing and rarifying Beajns ^ ,an(i though the Effe.dfs are contrary,, yet maytlteyi proceed from the fame Caufe, as the melting of ;Wax, and hardningof Clay.
’Tis from the fime Caufe, that Water in Wells is Hot in the Winter, Cold in the Sum¬ mer. For in Summer, the Earth is rarify’d by Heat, and exhaled! the Seeds ofHeat-which are in her 5 by which means the Water, which 4 kept clofe within her, becomes colder* But in Winter the Earth is comprefs’d afid condens’d with Coldj whence, if (he hath any Heat, ftie •fqueezeth it forth into the Wells.
Thefe put me in mind to fpeak.Qf Ice, by which the Water, forgetting, as it were, its.- natural fluidity, grows folid and hard. Her^ we muft conceive, that thofe Bodies only ar? capable of being made Iplid, which are mgde up of Parts of little Bodies, that have plain Sur¬ faces ; bccaufcjby exclufion of Vacuity, the Parts cohere beft with one another - whereas if thofe little Bodies be round, or joyned to round, or intermingled with plain, there is a^Uafuum con¬ tained round about them, , into which the round may roll, and the plain bend ; whence folfowetli foftnefs, and ( unlefs there be fome hooks that ftay it, )fluxibility.
Ice therefor is made, either when the round little Bodies, which caufe Heat, are thruft out of the Water,and the plain which are in the fame Water X. part weereof are acute-angled, part obtufe-angled, ) are thrufl; up clofe together ; dr, when thofe little Bodies are brought thi¬ ther from without, ( and that for the moft.part from the Air, when it is made cold by them, ) - which being clofely preffed, and thrufting out all the round that they meet, bring folidity in¬ to the Water.
CHAP. V.
Of things Terrejlrial Inanimate.
OUr Method leading us to fpeak of thofe things which, are generated of Earth and Water ^ it is in the firft place mapifeft, that thofe things are eitbrr Animate or Inanimate. Animate things are thofe, which have Senfe, and arc vulgarly called Animals ; Inanimate things are thofe which want Senfc, whence, under this Name are comprehened all thofe, to which the Name of Animal is not applyed.
F € e e 2 Of
5^0 EPICURUS. PAilT XIIL
Of this fort are, Firft, certain inoift things which are grown confiftent, as we fee Salt, Sul¬ phur, and ili-fcented Bitumen generated in the Earth. Now thefe are the chief caufe, not on¬ ly of fubterraneous Heat , and ignivomous ^uptionS, as that of ^tna^ already fpoken of •, butalfo of peftiferous Exhalatious, which being carried on high caufe Avernous Lakes and Di- feafes. Wherefore we will fpeak more amply of thefe, when we treat of Meteors. Concern¬ ing Amber, which attradeth Straws, welhah fay fomthing hereafter.
Of this fort alfo are Metals, which were firll found out' upon occafion offome Woods being burnt by Lightning, or fome other Fire,- which being quite burnt up, the Mdals were melted and ftuck to the roots, and thereupon dazled the Eye with’ their fplendor, and were obferv’d to retain the fame Figure with the things in which they flowed. Whence Men conjedured. That the fome Metals, being melted by the force of Fire, might be formed into any Figure, even, acute, or pointed^ and by reafon ofthe folidi- ty they had acquired, might be made fit to mal- leate, or to ftrike, or for other ufes.
Moreover, not only Lead, but alfo Gold and Silver lay negleded,as being found lefs commo¬ dious for thofe ufes, and Brafsonly was in ef- teem, of which were made Darts,Swords, Axes, Ploughfharcs, and the like until Iron came to be found out* of which then, they chofe rather to make thefe things, by reafon it was of great¬ er hardnefs.
Of this fort alfo are Stones, whereof many are daily generated,many broke off from Rocks, but the man bodies of Rocks and Stones were made from the beginning ; for by thb means, as we faid formerly. Mountains were firft occa- lion’d \ and fomtimcs we find , that the Earth endofeth in her Bowels, Caverns, Rocks, and broken Stones , as well as Rivers, Channels, and Winds.
Now as Stones are ordinarily difeerned by their hardnefs and folidity, fo in the firft rank, as it were, may be reckoned Adamants, not damnifi’d by blows, ( for a tryal of them being made upon Anvils, they fplit the Iron, ) and huge Flints, out of which, by the fti oke of Iron, Fire fly eth, for they contain Seeds of Fire clofe hidden in their Veins , neither doth the cold force of the Iron hinder, but that being ftirred up by its ftroke, they meet together in one Bo¬ dy or Spark.
Laftly,of the inanimate kind are Plants, that is. Herbs and Trees; for the Soul is not with¬ out Senfe. And we fee, that of animate Beings, which from thence are called Animals and living Creatures, fome have a moving and defiderative Soul ; others a difcurfive; But Plants neither have Senfe, nor either of thofe Souls, and there¬ fore cannot be called Animate things.
Somthing indeed they have common with li¬ ving Creatures, that is. Nutrition, Augmenta¬ tion, Generation i but they perform thefe things by theimpulfeof Nature, not by thediredion of a Soul,and therefore are only Analogicallyjor for vcfemblance-fake, faid to live and die as A nimals. Whence alfo whatfoever may be faid of them, may be underftood by Parity, and in fome proportion, by thofe things which lhall be faid of living Creatures.
1 vyould add, that the original of Sowing and Grafting was, upon the oblervation Men took, that Berries and Acorns Ihedding, and falling to the ground, fprung up again, and begot new jPlants, like thofe of which fort they themfeyes Were. But it is enough to have hinted this.
CHAP. VI.
Ofthe Loadjlone in particular^
But we muft infift a little longer upon a thing inanimate indeed, yet very admirable ; i mean, the Herculean Stone, which we call alfo Magnet, for that it was firft fonnd in Magneftcu- It is much wondred at, by reafon of its Angu¬ lar Power ( or Virtue, ) in attrading Iron.
To explicate this Power, we muft iuppofe three or four Principles ; One is. That there is a continual effluxion of little Bodies out of all things .• As, out of coloured and lucid Bodies, flow fuch as belong to Colour and Light *, From hot and cold Bodies, fuch as belong to heat and cold Bodies *, From odorous Bodies, fuch as be¬ long to fmell • and fo of the reft.
A Second is. That there is no Body fo folid, but hath little vacuities contained within it,as is manifeft by all Bodies, through which paflTeth Moifture,^ or Sweat,)Light,Sound,Heat,orCold.
T-he Third, That thefe effluent little Bodies are not alike adaptable to all things. The Sun, by emiffion of his Beams, hardens Clay, melts Snow ; Fire refolves Metal, contrads Leather; Water makes hot Iton harder, Leather fofter ; The Olive-tree is bitter to theTafteofMan, pleafing to Goats ; Mar/oram is fweet to the fmell of Man, hateful to Swine,
The Fourth, That the little Vacuities are not of the fame compafs in all things, wherefore neither can the fame be accommodated to all lit¬ tle Bodies. This is manifeft from the contex¬ tures of the Senfe, for the little Bodies which affed thefe, move not thofe ; or thofe which affed fome one way, affed others another •, as alfo from the contextures of all things elfe, for what will penetrate one, will not penetrate a- nother.
From thefe it is underftood, that the Load- ftone may attrad Iron ( and Amber, Straw, ) upon a double account. For Firft,We may ima¬ gine the Atoms that flow out of the Stone,fo to fuit with thofe which flow out of the Iron, that they eafily knit together ; wherefore being dafh- edon both fides on the Bodies of the Iron and the Stone, and bounding back into the middle, they entangle with one another, and draw the Iron along with them.
But forafmuch as we fee, that the Iron, which is attraded by the Stone, is itfelf able to attrad other Iron ; Whether lhall we fay, that fome of the particles flowing out of the Stone, hitting againft the Iron, bound back, and thefe are they which catch hold of the Iron. Others, infinua- ting into it, pafs with fwiftnefs through the empty Pores, and being dalhed againft the Iron that is next, into which they could not all enter, although they had penetrated it ; from thence leaping back to the firft Iron, they made other complications like the former ; and if any hap-