CONCERNING WEATHER SIGNS, 29-31 



a sign of wind when the sea 1 has a swell or promon- 

 tories moan or there is loud noise on the beach. 

 Now the north wind has less force as it ceases to 

 blow, the south wind as it begins. A mock sun, in 

 whatever quarter it appears, indicates rain or wind. 



The fifteenth 2 day after the winter solstice is 

 generally marked by southerly winds. If there is a 

 northerly wind, everything gets dried 3 up, if a 

 southerly, there is abundant moisture. If, while a 

 south wind is blowing, glued articles make a cracking 

 sound, it indicates a change to a south 4 wind. If 

 the feet swell, there will be a change to a south 

 wind. This also sometimes indicates a hurricane. So 

 too does it, if a man has a shooting pain in the right 

 foot. 5 The behaviour 6 of the hedgehog is also 

 significant : this animal makes two holes wherever 

 he lives, one towards the north, the other towards 

 the south : now whichever hole he blocks up, it 

 indicates wind from that quarter, and, if he closes 

 both, it indicates violent wind. 



If a mountain ... , 7 it indicates wind from the 

 north. If at sea during a wind there is a sudden 

 calm, it indicates a change or an increase of wind. 

 If promontories 8 seem to stand high out of the sea, 

 or a single island looks like several, it indicates a 

 change to south wind. If the land looks black from 

 the sea, it indicates a north wind, 9 if white, a south 

 wind. A halo 10 about the moon signifies wind more 

 certainly than a halo about the sun : but in either 

 case, if there is a break in the halo, it indicates 

 wind, which will come from the quarter in which the 

 break is. If the sky is overcast in whatever quarter 



7 I have marked a lacuna after opos. Furl, renders si mons 

 versus aquilonem extenditur, venti signum est, with what 

 meaning I cannot see. 8 cf. Arist. Meteor. 3. 4 ad inif. 



9 fitpeiov add. Furl. ie cf. 51. 



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