BOOK I 



star. Regular effect of seasons. (xlii, iii) Irregular 

 seasons. Rain storms. Showers of stones, their 

 reason. Thunder-bolts and Ughtnings. (xUv-viii) 

 Echo — its reason. Winds — their kinds, natures and 

 behaviour. (xUx, 1). Cloud-burst, typhoon, whirl- 

 winds, presteres, tornadoes, other portentous kinds of 

 storms. (U-vi) Thunder-bolts — what countries im- 

 mune from them and why ; their kinds, their pecu- 

 Uarities ; Tuscan and Roman observances connected 

 with ; method of calUng down ; general properties ; 

 what objects never struck. (Ivii) Showers of milk, 

 blood, flesh, iron, wool, bricks. (Iviii) Portents. (Ux) 

 Stones faUing from the sky — Anaxagoras as to. (Ix) 

 Rainbow. (Ixi). Nature of hail, snow, frost, cloud, 

 dew. (Ixii) Local pecuUarities of the sky. (Ixiii-v) 

 Nature of the earth ; its shape ; antipodes — do they 

 exist ? (Ixvi-viii) Water — how Unked with eartli ? 

 Rivers — their reason. Is the earth surrounded by 

 the ocean ? What portion of the earth is inhabited ? 

 (Ixix). The earth at the centre of the world. (Ixx) 

 ObUquity of zones. InequaUty of cUmates. (Ixxii) 

 EcUpses — where invisible, and why ? (Ixxiii) Reason 

 for dayUght on earth ; gnomonics of dayUght. 

 (Ixxv-vii). Absence of shadows — where and when ? 

 where twice yearly ? where shadows travel in 

 opposite direction ? Where days are longest and 

 shortest ? (Ixxviii) The first clock. (Ixxix) How 

 days are observed. (Ixxx) Racial difference and 

 latitude. (Ixxxi-vi) Earthquakes. Chasms. Signs 

 of impending earthquake. Precautions against 

 impending earthquakes. Records of unique earth 

 portents. Marvels of earthquake. (Ixxxvii-xciv) 

 Retreat of sea, where occurred ? Emergence of 

 islands — reason for; instances and dates of. Dis- 



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