PART Xllt

CHAP. IX.
Of Clouds,
NExt thefe are the aerial Meteors, which arc made nearer us in the Air. We (hall begin with the Clouds *, than which nothing is generated above in the Air, or fecn more fre¬ quently.
A Cloud therefore may be generated and have its beings by fame accumulation as it were of the Jir^ the liCtnds driving it^ fo as that a Cloud is nothing but a thickning of the j4ir . u4gain by implication of fame Atoms cohering mutually to one another ^and fit to produce fuch a compound j and this when they firft come together into little Bodies of Clouds, and thofe are gathered together into greater bulks, fo as at laft they become greateft of all.
They moft commonly feem to rife at the tops of Hills, for that the firft little compounds arc fo fubtle as that they efcape the fight, and are carryed on by the wind, until being by little and Icttle condenfed, they appear oo the tops of the Hills which by reafon thereof feem to fmoak.
If any (hall doubt. From whence there can come fo great a conflux of Atoms as is fufficient to make fuch great bulks ofClouds,let him con- fider, that if no other way, yet they may at leaft come from without, out of the imme nfity of the Univerfe were there is an infinite multitude of th^. And this becaufe there is alio wed to the principles a free palTagc in and out, thorough the vents of theWorld,as was formerly declared.
Moreover, a Cloud may be generated by the gathering together of effluxions and exhalations^ out of the Earth and Water ^ and carried upwards. For, that there are many little Bodies drawn out of the whole Sea,appeareth by Garments which being hung upon the (hor§grow moyft. Befides ^5 ^ce, that every where out of Rivers, arife mifts and exhalations and vapours, in fuch abun¬ dance, as that being carried upwards they dark¬ en the Skye, and by little and little meeting together turn into Clouds. °
Neither doth any thing hinder, but that thefe co- agmentations may be made many other ways.
chap X. of the Winds, and of Prefers,
Wind »may be genarated, firft, when the Atoms or little Bodies leap out of fome con¬ venient places and fly tlmough the Air, thtre being a m^e vehement efflufion made from fame heaps phich are proper for fuch kind ofemijjions • * When in a narrow Vacuum there are many little Bo¬ dies, there followeth Wind ’, and contrary,the Air is quiet and calm, when in a great Va¬ cuum there are but a few little Bodies.
For, as in a market place or ftreet, as long as the people are but few, they walk without any trouble ; but when they run into feme narrow place, they juftle and quarrel with oneanotheri fo in this fpace which encompalfeth us, when *ia^ Bodies crowd into one little place they muft neceflarily juftle one another,and be thruft forward, and driven back and entangled and Iqeezed ' of which as made the wipd, when they which contefted yceld and having been long
tofsM up and down uncertainly,fhrink.- But whea a tewBodies ftir up and down in a larg fpace they can neither drive nor be driven impetuoufly..
Again, Wind may be caufed when the Airis driven on and agitated either by exhalations coming from cheEarth and Water ,or by theSim’s prelTing upon it from above ; for it is manifeft, that where the Air is agitated and ftirred, there I IS caufed wind,fo as wind feems to be nothing dfc ! but the waves of the Air. Whence we may con- I ceive that the wind fom what refcmbles water troubled,and that the more violent winds come I from being ftirred byfome more vehement caufe,
^ after the fame manner as torrents rage and make , waftc,when there happens a vaft defluxion of wa- I ters by great (bowers falling upon theMountains.
i the fiery,and
thofe which burn, from which the name is tak¬ en, are a kind of Thunder.) They ‘ may be oenc- rated either from the depieffion^ofacLud after various falhions towards inferior places ‘whilft ^ It ts carried down and driven on by abundance ^ of wind, which fouls it4elf about, and tears away the fidcs of the Clouds, the wind alfo ^Quvech on the Cloud immediately from wkb- ^out,orfrom the wind (landing round about ^ whereas the Air preffing upon.it from abwe" t /^‘thal theAir wWch is driven on and dif- I r abaut hindring by reafon oHts aenlity, the great abundance of wind knowetb not which way it may fpread itfeJf, and being driven back, as well by the fides as from. above, it ncceffarily thrufts the Cloud downwards men this Prefer is thrufidewn upon the land ft cau/eth whtrl-wtndsl when upon the Sea,wiirlymls, Whirle-winds are kfs frequently feen, bccanf« the mountains fhatch them away before they come within our light ; whirl-pools more fre^ qucntly,by reafon of the wide fmoothnefs of drc
^ Cloud like a
pillar defeend from Heaven, and pufti it down
^•*11**' force of an arm or fill, ua!
till the violence of the wind bi caking thorough It, the Sea works and bolls, and the (hips incur a danger almoft inevitable.
CHAP. XI.
Of Thunder.
IT was not withcmt reafon that 1 faid, there are alfo fiery Prefters, which are not different fromThunder.For,7K>w>i(i^ feems to be caufed by the manifold conglomeration of blafts, fwelling with fiery littleBodies, ‘within the bulks of theCloadj and by the evolution and firong enkindling of them, and breaking of the Clouds $ the fire, which is jh forcibly darted to infer iour places, according as that breaking forth is fomtimes direSed towards a higff mountain, ( which kind of places are oftnefi firuejk with Thunder, ) fomtimes towards other things,
nature of Thunder is fiery is ma- Laert, nifeft,cven bccaufeit often burneth thehoufes upon which It is darted, and for that it leaveth behind it a ftcnch like brimftone. That it is generated within the Clouds* is evident for that It neverThunders when the sky is clear-, but the Clouds firft gather together all along the Air, and darken the sky, and there arifeth a foul night,as It were, of (bowers. Laftly, that many little Bodies or (eeds^ as it were, of fire, arc contiliied within a Cloud may be argued, as
well