BOOK 1 1 .] History of Nature. \ 33 



Quarter : and as she groweth bigger they flow more, so that 

 at the full they swell most of all. From that Time they be- 

 come more mild : and in the first Days of the decrease unto 

 the seventh, the Tides are equal. Again, when she is divided 

 on the other Side they are increased. And in the Conjunc- 

 tion they are equal to the Tides of the full. And evidently 

 it appeareth, that when she is Northerly and removed far- 

 ther from the Earth, the Tides are more gentle than when 

 she is gone Southerly : for then she worketh nearer Hand, 

 and putteth forth her full Power. Every eight Years, also, 

 and after the hundredth Revolution of the Moon, the Seas 

 return to the Beginning of their Motions, and to the like 

 Increase : by Reason that she augmenteth all Things by the 

 yearly Course of the Sun : forasmuch as in the two Equi- 

 noctials they always swell most, yet more in that of the 

 Autumn than the Spring ; but nothing to speak of in Mid- 

 winter, and less at Midsummer. And yet these Things fall 

 not out in these very Instants of the Times which I have 

 named, but some few Days after ; like as neither in the 

 full nor in the change, but afterward : nor yet immediately 

 as the Heaven either shevveth us the Moon in her rising, or 

 hideth her from us at her setting, or as she declineth from us 

 in the middle Climate, but later almost by two equinoctial 

 Hours. Forasmuch as the Effect of all Influences in the 

 Heaven reach not so soon unto the Earth, as the Eyesight 

 pierceth up to the Heaven : as appeareth by Lightnings, 

 Thunders, and Thunderbolts. Moreover, all Tides in the 

 main Ocean overspread arid cover much more within the Land 

 than in other Seas : either because in the whole it is more 

 violent than in a Part : or for that the open Greatness thereof 

 feeleth more effectually the Power of the Planet, working 

 forcibly as it doth widely at Liberty, than when the same is 

 restrained within those Straits. Which is the Cause that 

 neither Lakes nor little Rivers ebb and flow in like Manner. 

 Pythias of Massiles writeth, that above Britain the Tide 

 floweth in Height eighty Cubits. But the more inward Seas 

 are shut up within the Lands, as in a Harbour. Nevertheless, 

 in some Places a more spacious Liberty there is that yieldeth 



