^4* ^'* ^^^ Changes of Temperature and Soil 



and houfes. Such efieds of the wind are indeed obferved 

 at prefent, particularly in the countries on the Northern Sea 

 and the Bay of Bifeay, but feldum in thofe parts of the Con- 

 tinent fpoken of by the ancients. 



Varro, Diodorus Siculus, Ovid, Pomponius Mela, Seneca, 

 Petronius, Pliny the elder, Tacitus, Appian, Dio Caffius, 

 and Herodian, all agree in faying that the feverity of the 

 climate and weather which in their time prevailed in Gaul, 

 Germany, Pannonia, Thrace, Mcefia, and Dacia, would 

 hardly admit either vines, olives, or any kind of fruit-trees j 

 and that, in cultivating them, it was ncceflary to cover them 

 with dung or with earth to pref^rve them throughout the 

 winter. Tacitus, however, adds, that thefe countries pro- 

 duced, in abundance, various kinds of grain, where the peo- 

 ple gave themfelves the trouble to improve and manure theif 

 fields by means of marl or chalk, which deliroyed the cold 

 and the moillure. This circumftance is exprcfsly remarked 

 by Varro : Agros ftercorarent Candida fojjiti a creta. He af- 

 terwards adds, that in thefe countrie? there was neither rock 

 fait nor fea fait: the preparation of the latter required a 

 ftronger heat than exilled in thofe climates *. The inha- 

 bitants fupplied the want ot fait by faline aflies from certain 

 kir^ds of wood burnt for that purpofe, and which were 

 drenched with fait water. Pliny and Tacitus give the fame 

 account. 



It is obferved by Herodotus, Strabo, and Tacitus, that 

 the oxen in the European part of Scythia and the country 

 of the Celto-Scythians had no horns, or horns exceedingly 

 irnall ; which they afcribed to the feverity of the cold and 

 the climate. Herodotus confirms this idea in a negative 



* This, indeed, proves nothing in regard to the climate ; but it (hews 

 the want of knowledge and indcftry. The pafTage in Varro De Re Ruf- 

 trca, i. 7. !s as follows; Ubi falem nee fojjitium ncc maritimum haberent ; 

 Jed ex quihufila>n Ugnh carbonibus Jalfii pro eo uteifntur. It is probable 

 that they boiled their fait, as was done in former times in fome pans of 

 Europe ; that is, poured the faline liquor over glowing pieces »f wood, 

 and coUcded the iaii which adhered (o the charcoal. Cf. 



manner 



