92 THE WISDOM OF THE ANCIENTS. 



and of its own accord ; for after that the included 

 spirit begins to feed and nourish itself, it makes no 

 haste to be gone, but is, as it were, linked to its 

 earth : and this is pointed at by Proserpina her eat 

 ing of pomegranate ; which, if she had not done, 

 she had long since been recovered by Ceres with her 

 torch, compassing the earth. Now, as concerning 

 that spirit which is in metals and minerals, it is 

 chiefly perchance restrained by the solidity of mass : 

 but that which is in plants and animals, inhabits a 

 porous body, and hath open passage to be gone in 

 a manner as it lists, were it not that it willingly 

 abides of its own accord, by reason of the relish it 

 finds in its entertainment. The second condition 

 concerning the six months custom, it is no other 

 than an elegant description of the division of the 

 year, seeing this spirit mixed with the earth ap 

 pears above ground in vegetable bodies during the 

 summer months, and in the winter sinks down 

 again. 



Now as concerning Theseus and Perithous, and 

 their attempt to bring Proserpina quite away ; the 

 meaning of it is, that it oftentimes comes to pass, 

 that some more subtle spirits descending with 

 divers bodies to the earth, never come to suck of any 

 subaltern spirit, whereby to unite it unto them, and 

 so to bring it away. But, on the contrary, are coagu 

 lated themselves, and never rise more, that Proser 

 pina should be by that means augmented with in 

 habitants and dominion. 



All that we can say concerning that sprig of gold 



