260 ESSAY 



moonshiny night, therefore, is one, on which 

 dew forms plentifully; hence the expressions 

 ' roscida* and * rorifera luna' employed by Virgil 

 and Statius ; and hence also an opinion, held, 

 as appears from Plutarch, even by philosophers 

 among the ancients, that the moon communi- 

 cates moisture to the bodies, which are exposed 

 to its light *. 



Animal substances are among those, which 

 acquire dew in the greatest quantity. To do 

 this, indeed, they must previously become colder 

 than the atmosphere ; but, having acquired the 

 moisture of dew, in addition to their own, they 

 will, on the following day, be in that condition, 

 which is known, by experience, to favour putre- 

 faction most powerfully in hot climates* 



The immediate cause assigned here, for the 

 quick putrefaction of animal substances, which 

 have been exposed to the moon's rays in a hot 

 country, is the same as that given by Pliny and 

 Plutarch ; but they attributed the origin of this 



atmosphere is then calmer than it had been before sunset. 

 This calmness of the air very commonly, if not always, pre- 

 cedes the dissipation of th6 clouds. 



* Akin to this opinion of the ancients respecting the 

 humefying quality of the moon, is one, which has been held, 

 by modern writers as well as ancient, upon that planet's 

 being a cause of cold to the bodies, which receive its rays . 

 though I know of no author who has taken notice of this 

 affinity. 



