BOOK XVIII. Lxviii. 270-273 



an important cause of the suxnmer heat. On July 

 20 the Eagle sets in the morning for Egypt, and the 

 breezes that herald the seasonal winds begin to blow, 

 uhich in Cacsar's opinion is perceived in Italy on 

 July 23. The Eagle sets for Attica on the morning 

 of that day, and the Royal Star in the breast of the 

 Lion rises, according to Caesar, on the morning of 

 July 30. On August 6 one-half of Arcturus dis- 

 appears ; and on August 11 the setting of the Lyre 

 brings the beginning of autumn, according to 

 Caesar's note, but a true calculation has discovered 

 that the date of this is really August 8. 



In this interval of time the crisis for the vines Late summer 

 occurs, the constellation which we have called ^^^Zn^a^ds!" 

 Little Dog deciding the fate of the grapes, as it is 

 the date at which they begin to be ' charred ', as it 

 is called, as though thev had been scorched up by a 

 blighting red-hot coal. Hail and stonny weathcr do 

 not compare with this disaster, nor any of the disasters 

 w hich have ever caused high market prices, inasmuch 

 as these arc misfortunes affecting single farms, whereas 

 charring afFects a wide expanse of country — although 

 the remcdv would not be difficult if mankind did not 

 prefer slandering Nature to benefiting thomselves. 

 The story goes that Democritus, who was the first 

 person to reaUse and point out the alUance that unites 

 the heavens with the earth, when the wealthiest of 

 his fellow-citizens despised his devotion to these 

 studies, foresaw, on the principle which we have 

 stated and shall now explain more fully, that the rising xvil. 11. 

 of the Plciads would be followed by an increase in 

 the price of oil, which at the time was very cheap 

 because of the crop of oUves expected ; and he 

 bought up all the oil in the whole of the country, to 



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