26 PLIJfY's IN'ATUEAL HISTORY. [Book II. 



I 



do they, perish in connexion with particular persons, nor 

 does a falling star indicate that any one is dead. We are 

 not so closely connected with the heavens as that the shining 

 of the stars is affected by our death \ "When they are sup- 

 posed to shoot or fair^, they throw out, by the force of their 

 fire, as if from an excess of nutriment, the superabundance 

 of the humour Avhich they have absorbed, as we observe to 

 take place from the oil in our lamps, when they are bm-ning^. 

 The nature of the celestial bodies is eternal, being inter- 

 woven, as it were, with the world, and, by this union, ren- 

 dering it solid ; but they exert their most powerful influence 

 on the earth. This, not-sAdthstanding its subtilty, may be 

 knoA^Ti by the clearness and the magnitude of the efiect, as 

 we shall point out in the proper place'*. The account of the 

 circles of the heavens will be better imderstood when we 

 come to speak of the earth, since they have all a reference to 

 it ; except w^hat has been discovered respecting the Zodiac, 

 which I shall now detail. 



Anaximander the Milesian, in the 58th olympiad^, is said 

 to have been the first w^ho understood its obliquity, and thus 

 opened the road to a correct knowledge of the subject^. 



1 There are certain metapliorical expressions, which, have originated 

 from this opinion, adopted by the moderns; " his star is set;" " the 

 star of his fortune," &c. 



2 Ovid, when he compares Phaeton to a faUuig star, remarks, con- 

 cerning tliis meteor, — 



" Etsi non cecidit, potuit ceeidisse videri." Metam. ii. 322. 



3 Manihus supposes that comets are produced and rendered luminous 

 by an operation very similar to the one described in the text ; i. 815 et seq. 

 Seneca, in the commencement of his Nat. Qusest., and in other parts of 

 the same treatise, refers to tliis subject. His remarks may be worth 

 perusing by those who are curious to learn the hypotheses of the ancients 

 on subjects of natural science. We may remark, that Seneca's opinions 

 are, on many points, more correct than our author's. 



^ The author probably refers to that part of his work in wliich he 

 treats on agricultm-e, particTilarly to the l7th and 18th books. 



5 The sera of the Olympiads commenced in the year 776 before Christ ; 

 each olympiad consists of 4 years ; the 58tli olympiad will therefore 

 include the hiterval 548 to 544 B.C. The 21st vol. of the " Universal 

 History " consists entirely of a " clironological table," and we have a 

 useful table of the same kind in Brewster's Encycl., article "Chronology." 



^ " rerura fores apcruisse .... tradittu*." An account of the astro- 

 nomy of Anaximander is contained in Brewster's Encycl., article " Astro- 

 nomy," p. 587, and in the article " Anaximander" in the supplement to 



