142 pliitt's natubal histoet. [Book n. 



of the earth^ ? What must be the nature of that thing, 

 which, in all parts of the world, supplies this most greedy 

 voracity without destroying itself? To these fires must be 

 added those innumerable stars and the great sun itself. There 

 are also the fires made by men^, those which are innate in 

 certain kinds of stones, those produced by the friction of 

 wood^, and those in the clouds, which give rise to lightning. 

 It really exceeds all other wonders, that one single day 

 should pass in which everything is not consumed, especially 

 when we reflect, that concave mirrors placed opposite to the 

 Sim's rays produce flame more readily than any other kind of 

 fire ; and that numerous small but natural fires abound every- 

 where. In Nymphaeum there issues from a rock a fire which 

 is kindled by rain ; it also issues from the waters of the Scan- 

 tia''. This indeed is a feeble flame, since it passes ofl", re- 

 maining only a sliort time on any body to which it is applied : 

 an ash tree, which overshadows this fiery spring, remains 

 always green^. In the territory of Mutina fire issues from 

 the ground on the days that are consecrated to Vulcan'. 

 It is stated by some authors, that if a burning body falls 

 on the fields below Aricia^, the ground is set on fire ; and 

 that the stones in the territory of the Sabines and of the 

 Sidicini*, if they be oiled, bum with flame. In Egnatia^, a 



* " Tot rogis terrse ?" in reference to the remark in a former chapter, 

 **natura terras cremat." 



2 " Humani ignes," according to Hardouin, *' Hi nostri ignes, quos vitse 

 U8U8 requirit, ut Txillius ait de Nat. Deor. ii. 67 ;" Lemaire, L 457. 



3 This is the mode which many savage tribes employ for exciting flame. 



* It is not known whether the Scantia was a river or a lake, or where 

 it was situated ; see Alexandre in Lemaire, i. 457. 



* This may have been owing to the emission of an inflammable gas 

 which biirns at a comparatively low temperature, as was observed on a 

 former occasion. 



6 These are said by Columella, xi. 3, to occur in August ; the state- 

 ment as to the fire occurring on these particular days we may presume 

 is erroneous, 



7 Aricia was a town in Campania, near the modem Lake of Ncmi : 

 this place, as well as the other places mentioned by our author, were 

 probably of volcanic origin, 



8 Sidicinum was a town in Campania, also called Teanum ; probably 

 the modem Teano. 



^ Egnatia was a town in Calabria, on the coast of the Adriatic : the 

 circumstance mentioned by our author is ridiculed by Horace, ia his well- 



