302 PHYSICAL SCIENCE BK. vn 



thought accidental, whether you consider their vast- 

 ness or their brightness that surpasses in size and 

 brilliance all other stars. Their appearance has, in 

 truth, an exceptional distinction ; they are not cribbed 

 and cabined within narrow bonds, but let loose to 

 roam freely, to range over the region of many stars. 



XXVIII 



1 ACCORDING to Aristotle, comets give indications of 

 storm and disturbances that bring wind and rain. 

 Well, then, are you of opinion it is not a star because 

 it foretells what is coming ? True the comet is not 

 a sign of storm in the same way as it is a sign of 

 coming rain when 



The oil splutters, and rotten fungus covers the wick ; 



or in the same way as it is a forecast of a raging 



sea if 



the sea 



Coots 1 sport on land ; her haunts in the marshes 

 Are deserted by the heron, and she soars above the heights of 

 cloud : 



2 but in the same way as the equinox is a sign of the turn 

 of the year toward cold or heat, or as the predictions 

 of the Chaldaean soothsayers who tell what sorrow or 

 joy is determined at birth by the natal star, are 

 indications of coming events. To convince you of 

 the truth of this, I must warn you that the rising of a 

 comet does not convey a threat of wind and rain in 

 the immediate future, as Aristotle says, but casts 

 suspicion over the whole year. Hence it is plain 

 that the comet has not derived prognostications 

 from its immediate surroundings to reveal for the 



1 Perhaps cormorants : the identity of the bird is difficult to determine. 



