3 i8 PHYSICAL SCIENCE 



examination, he could easily have found to be erroneous. 

 He affirms, for instance, more than once, that while 

 lightning melts metals, it freezes wine, and he gravely 

 alleges that when the wine is thawed and imbibed, it 

 either kills or drives mad those who partake of it (79, 97). 

 He asserts that the waters of certain rivers have the 

 power of dyeing whole flocks of sheep, black fleeces being 

 changed into white, and white into black (137), that some 

 waters are so dense that even the heaviest objects will 

 not sink in them (138); that the heat of the sun in the 

 Nile valley is so great as to melt silver and the joints of 

 statues (173). When he proceeds to explain the reason 

 of such abnormalities he expresses no hesitation, but 

 delivers his opinion with the assurance of a professor 

 who has obtained the experimental demonstration in 

 his laboratory. 



It is remarkable that although some progress had been 

 made in astronomy, especially by Greek philosophers, 

 before the beginning of the Christian era, the conclusions 

 arrived at by these observers regarding the relations of 

 the earth to the other heavenly bodies met with but little 

 acceptance for many centuries, even among reflecting 

 minds. Lucretius, for example, still believed the earth 

 to be the centre of the Universe to which all the heavier 

 materials had converged, while the fire-laden ether escaped 

 to the outer boundaries of space, sun, moon, and stars 

 occupying an intermediate place. He did not think that 

 the sun can be much larger than it looks to be to our 

 senses, nor was he quite sure whether it is the same sun 

 which, passing under the earth, reappears in the morning, 

 or if at the close of each day the sun is extinguished and a 

 new collection of fires makes a fresh sun in the morning. 

 He was quite aware of the different views of Chaldaean 

 sages and astronomers, but in such questions he could see 

 no reason why one theory should be better than another. 1 



Seneca, however, had, on the whole, a more advanced 

 appreciation of the relations of the earth to the heavenly 

 bodies. He believed the sun to be larger than our globe, 



1 De Rer. Nat. v. 564, 650, 680, 727. 



