66 PLimr's nattjeal histoet. [Book IL 



pale kind ; they shine like a sword and are without any rays ; 

 while we name those Discei\ which, being of an amber colour, 

 in conformity with their name, emit a few rays from their 

 maFgin only. A kind named Pitheus^ exhibits the figure of 

 a cask, appearing convex and emitting a smoky light. The 

 kmd named Cerastias^ has the appearance of a horn ; it is 

 like the one which was visible when the Greeks fought at 

 Salamis. Lampadias'' is like a burning torch ; Hippias*^ is 

 like a horse's mane ; it has a very rapid motion, like a circle 

 revolving on itself. There is also a white comet, with silver 

 hair, so brilliant that it can scarcely be looked at, exhibiting, 

 as it were, the aspect of the Deity in a himian form. There 

 are some also that are shaggy, having the appearance of a 

 fleece, surrounded by a kind of crowTi. There was one, 

 where the appearance of a mane was changed into that of a 

 spear ; it happened in the 109th olympiad, in the 398th year 

 of the City*. The shortest time during which any one of 

 them has been obser\'ed to be visible is 7 days, the longest 

 180 days. 



CHAP. 23. — THEIB NATUEE, SITUATION, AND SPECIES. 



Some of them move about in the manner of planets^, others 

 remain stationary. They are almost all of them seen towards 

 the north", not indeed in any particular portion of it, but 



1 a diffKos, orbis. 



2 a TTiOos, dolium. Seneca describes this species as " magnitudo vaati 

 rotundique ignis dolio similis j " Nat. Qusest. lib. i. § 14. p. 964. 



' a K6(0as, comu. * a Xa/nrds, fax. 



fi ab tTTTros, equus. Seneca mentions the fax, the jaculum, and the 

 lampas among the prodigies that preceded the civil wars j Phars. i. 

 528 et seq. 



6 Alexandre remarks, that these dates do not correspond, and adds, 

 "Desperandum est de Pliniana chronologia; nee satis interdum scio, 

 utrum libraries, an scriptorem ipsum incusem, . . . . " Lemaire, i. 295. 

 According to the most approved modem chronology, the middle of the 

 109th olympiad corresponds to the 211th year of the City. 



7 " errantium modo ; " this may mean, that they move in orbits like 

 those of the planets and exhibit the same phsenomena, or simply that 

 they change their situation with respect to the fixed stars. 



* Seneca remarks on this point, " Placet igitxir nostris (Stoicis) cometas 

 .... deoso aeri creari. Ideo circa Septemtrionem frequentissime 

 apparent, quia iHic plurimi est aeris frigor." Qusest. Nat. i. 7. Aristotle, 



