Pllrii'es Naturall Hiftorie. i| 



^ arejandfucbasmencahnotwind themrclves outoftbiit as welhriaytney now be deli vettcl t<^ 

 others^as they have been taught to us:in which notwithftandingjOne infallible reafon of a Geo- 

 raetdcall colledtion which never liethjcannot be rcjededjif a man would fearch deep into rhefd 

 inatters . Neither need a man to fceke a juft raealure hereof (for to defire that, \kre in maniier ai 

 point of fond and foolifh idleneflCjas if men had nothing els to doe) but opeiy to make an efti- 

 mate^ and refolvc upon a guefle and conje6lure thereof. ForjVOheras ic is plaine and apparent 

 the courfe of the Sunnc^that the circle through which he pafleth, doth containe three hundred 

 threefcore, and almpft fixe degrees.- and alwaies the dimetrcnt line ior diameterjtaketh a third 

 part of the circumferencejand little leffe than a feventh part of a third; it is plain ^that deducing 

 ohehalfe thereof (by reafon that the earth^ficuate as a centre^ eommeth bfctweene) the fixt pars 



B well neere of this great circuit which he maketh about the carth(fo farre as our mind doth com- 

 prehend)is the Very heigch from the earth up to the Sunnej but the twelfth part to the Moonej 

 becaufe fhe runneth fo much a (borter eompaffe than the Sunnerwhereby it appeareth^that fhe 

 is inthemiddeft betweenethe earth and the Sunne.A wondcritistofee howfarretheprefump- 

 tcoos mind and heart of man will proceed^and namely being irivited and drawne on by fome lit- 

 tle fuecefleaas in the abovenamed matter.The reafon whereof miniftreth plenteous occafion of 

 impudencie, for they who dared once to givea gueffe at the ipace betweene the Sunne and the 

 earthjare lb bdld to doe the like from thence to heaven. For prtfumingjthat the Sunne isiathe 

 niiddeft^they have attheir fingers ends by and by the very meafure alfo of the whole world. For 

 looke how many feven parts the dimetrent hath/o many 22 parts or thereaboutjhath the whole 

 C circleiasif they had gotten the juil and certaine meafure of the heaven bylevell^and the plumb 

 Of perpendicular line* The ^Egyptians according to the reckoning which Petojiris and liecepfis 

 have invented3doecolle6ij That every degree inthef circle of the Moone_, which is the leafi: (as< 

 hath been faid)of all other, containeth 33 fladia, andfomewhatmore:inJr^///r;?e thegreateft 

 of all the reftjduple fo muchjand in the Sunne: which we faid was the middefljthe halfe of both 

 meafurcs, And this computation hath very great importance, for he that will reckon the diftan- 

 G€s betweene the circle of Safum and the Zodiake, by this calculation fhall multiplie an infi? 

 nite number of Stadia. 



Chap. XXIIII, :^offuddaine]ldrm, . _ 



t> •T^Herc rcmaine yet fome few points as touehing the world ; for in the very heaven there be® 

 ftarres that fuddainely arife and appeare^whereof be many kinds* 



Chap. XXV. 



1^ of Comets or hUzwg flars^andcdejliall prodigies ^ thsii" nature jfiudiim^ 



and diverfeforts» 



Hefe blazing iiarrcs the Greekes (rail C(7Wfif4^jOur Romanes O^W/^^ 

 to be feene, with bloudie haires^and all over rough and fliagged in the top like 

 the bufli of haire upon the head. The fame Greekes call thole ihrres Pogomas^ Vogoma^ 

 which from the nether part have a maine hanging do tojin fallhion of aiong 

 beard. As for thole named ^<r<?^?//>_, they brandilli and (bake like a Ipeare Qt \AcomiaH 

 dartjfignifying great fwiftnefle. This wasit,whereaf ^T/^cr/^^ C^far theEmpe- 

 lour wrate an excellent Poeme in his fift Confulfhip^the laflthat ever was fecnc to this day.The 

 fame,if they be fhorter and fharpe pointed in the top, they uie to call Xi^hia : and of all other xyphitu, 

 palefl they be, and glitter like a fword,but without any raies or beames : which,another kind of 

 them,named -D//?^^/^(reiembling a difh or coit,whereof it beareth the name, but in colour like j^if^^us^ 

 to amber) putteth forth here and there out of the brimmes and edges thereof As iotPitheu^y phheul 

 itisfecneinformeof tunnesjenvironned within a'finokielight,asif itvijerc a concavities C7?r4- ceratias, 

 lias refcmbleth an home : and Cuch a one appeared when the whole manhood of Greece fought 

 p the battaile of Sz\m\\s.Lampadtas is like to burning lojchtsi^ndiHtpfem to horfe maines^rndft /^'^^/w/''^'^''^^ 

 fwiftin motion,and turning round.Therc isalfo a white Comet with filver haircs, fo bright anii: ^'-^^*^- 

 fhining,that hardly a man can endure to looke upon it, and in mans fhape it fheweth the veric:^ 

 image of a god. Moreover,there be blazing f^arres that become all fbaggie, compaflcd roUodil^ 

 withhairie fringCjapd akind of maine. One heretofore appearing in the forme of a main^chan- 



C ij ged 



