i?i the Temperature of JVinter. 55 



serves also that the Cephissiis is a small stream, and ab- 

 sorbed before it reaches the sea, except after the mel- 

 ting of snow, or a heavy rain. In describing the. dress 

 of the modern Greeks, he mentions in addition to their 

 ordinary garments, a long vest, which they hang on their 

 shoulders, lined with wool or fur for cold weather.... 

 FoL 2. p. 110, 119. 



This author further states that when the mountains in 

 Attica are covered with snow, the Vv'oodcocks descend 

 into the plain ;' and if the ground continues froze and 

 the weather severe, they enter the gardens, and are so 

 tame as sometimes to be taken, by the hand....j^. 127. 

 See also p. 163. On his journey to Delphi, in the be- 

 ginning of July, he found the summits of the mountains 

 white with snow ; and Parnassus is covered vdth peren- 

 nial snow..../?. 260, 270. This confirms the account 

 which Homer gives of the climate of Dodona, which he 

 calls very cold....//iac/. 11. v. 750. 



All these authorities prove beyond a question that the 

 climate of Greece and Asia Minor, in modern days, cor- 

 responds well with the representations given of it in an- 

 cient history.* 



There is a passage in VXwvj^ ,Nat. Hist. lib. ii. 50,. 

 which, after assigning reasons why there is no thunder 

 in cold countries in winter,! expressly declares that the 

 climate of Italy is always mild. " Mobilior aer mitiore 

 hyeme, et estate nimbosa, semper quodam modo vernat 

 vel autumnat," — always exhibiting the verdure of spring 

 or the mildness of autumn. He says, chapter 47th of the 

 same book, that the swallows appear by the 24th of 

 February. This account corresponds with what has been 



* There is a passage of Herodotus, in Euterpe, which indicates 

 that snow sometimes fell in his native country, Halicarnassus ; for he 

 asserts that a fall of snow must be followed, in five days, by rain.. 

 This remark represents the climate of that country nearly as it is at 

 present. 



t Herodotus, in Melpomene, mentions the same fact, in descri- 

 bing Scythia. This is known to be correct at this day. In northern 

 climates, there is no thunder in v/inter — but in Italy and Greece, 

 thunder is known only in winter or spring. This fact, correspond- 

 ing with the statements of Herodotus and Pliny, proves the climates 

 of Italy and Greece to be the same as in their days. 



