14 



the obtuse ; those of air are, the soft, the smooth, 

 the light, and the attenuated ; and those of earth 

 are, the hard and the rough, the heavy and the 

 thick. 



Of these four bodies, however, fire and earth are 

 the transcendencies and summits [or extremities] 

 of contraries. Fire, therefore, is the transcendency 

 of heat, in the same manner as ice is of cold : 

 hence, if ice is a concretion of moisture and frigi- 

 dity, fire will be the fervour of dryness and heat. 

 On which account, nothing is generated from ice, 

 nor from fire *. 



Fire and earth, therefore, are the extremities 

 of the elements, but water and air are the media, 

 for they have a mixed corporeal nature. Nor is it 

 possible that there could be only one of the ex- 

 tremes, but it is necessary that there should be a 

 contrary to it. Nor could there be two only, for 

 it is necessary that there should be a medium, 

 since media are opposite to the extremes. 



Fire, therefore, is hot and dry, but air is hot and 

 moist ; water is moist and cold, but earth is cold 

 and dry. Hence, heat is common to air and fire ; 

 cold is common to water and earth; dryness to 

 earth and fire; and moisture to water and air. 



* The substance of nearly the whole of what Ocellus here says, 

 and also of the two following paragraphs, is given by Aristotle, in 

 his Treatise on Generation and Corruption. 



