32 THE GREEK SCHOOL PHILOSOPHY. 



fall of snow there must be a fall of rain ; so that if 

 it snowed in those regions it must rain too." I need 

 not observe that Herodotus was not aware of the 

 difference between the climate of high mountains 

 and plains in a torrid region; but it is impossible 

 not to be struck both with the activity and the co- 

 herency of thought displayed by the Greek mind in 

 this primitive physical inquiry. 



But I must not omit the hypothesis which Hero- 

 dotus himself proposes, after rejecting those which 

 have been already given. It does not appear to me 

 easy to catch his exact meaning, but the statement 

 will still be curious. "If," he says, "one who has 

 condemned opinions previously promulgated may 

 put forwards his own opinion concerning so obscure 

 a matter, I will state why it seems to me that the 

 Nile is flooded in summer." This opinion he pro- 

 pounds at first with an oracular brevity, which it is 

 difficult to suppose that he did not intend to be 

 impressive. " In winter the sun is carried by the 

 seasons away from his former course, and goes to 

 the upper parts of Libya. And there, in shoi% is 

 the whole account; for that region to which this 

 divinity (the sun) is nearest, must naturally be most 

 scant of water, and the river-sources of that country 

 must be dried up." 



But the lively and garrulous Ionian immediately, 

 relaxes from this apparent reserve. "To explain 

 the matter more at length," he proceeds, " it is thus. 

 The sun, when he traverses the upper parts of Libya, 



