Plinies Naturail Hiftdrial 



A teftjthey cbaGncc very often. The fame appcar^alofc, when the Sunne is low j and below, vsheti 

 he^is aloft. Alfoj they be of narrower compaflfe, when the Sunne either rifeth or fetteth^ bu£ 

 their body fpreadcth broad : and at noone narrower it is and fmall, yet greater and wider in cir- 

 eiimference. In Summer time they be not feene about noon-tide, but atter the Autumne Equi- 

 noaialljatall houresjandnever rnoie at once than twaine. The reft of the fame nature, I fee 

 few men doe make any doubt of. 



Chap, lx. 



B ^^M^^"^^ ingcndrcd of Raine congealed into an Ice : and Snow of the fame humor growne 

 P^^togither,but not fo hard. As forFroftjit is made of dewe frozen. In winter Snowesfallj 

 *^^^andnotHaile. Ithailethoftncrintheday timethaninthe night, yet haile fooner mel-. 

 tcth by farre than fiiow. Mifts be not feene neither in Summer,nor in the cold weather . Dewes 

 (hew not either in froft,or in bote feafons 5 neither when winds be up, but only after acalme and 

 cleere night. Froftes drie up wet and moifture ^for when the yce is thawed and melted, the like 

 quantitie of water in proportion is not found* 



Chap, lXIo 

 ^ of the jhafes efcloudu 



SVndry colours and diuers iliapes are feene in clouds, according as the fire interiuinglcd ther^ 

 in, is eithct more or leflei 



Ch AP. LXII, 



^ of the^ro^erties of leather in divers fUces, 



Oreover, many properties there be of the Weather, peculiar to certainc places: the 

 nights in Afficke,be dewie in winter.ln Italic, about Locri and the lake Velinus, there is 

 not a day but a Rainbow is feene . At Rhodes and Syracuf^, the aire is never fo dimme 

 and cloudie,but one houre or other the Sunne lliineth out. But fuch things as thefe (hall be re-. 

 D la ted more fitly in due place. Thus much of the Aire, 



GhAP. LXIII. 



of :Eurth dfjd the nature thereof 



He Earth followetli next : unto which alone of all parts of the world, for hes 

 Angular bencfites wee have given the reverent and worfhipfull name of Mo- 

 ther.For like as the Heaven is the(mother)of God3even fo is {he of men.Shes 

 it is that taketh us when we ace comming into the world, nourifheth us when 

 we are new born : and once being come abroad, ever fuftaineth & beareth us 

 ^ up : and at the lafi when we are rejeded and forlorne of all the world befidcs, 



fheembraceth usithen raoftof all other timesjike a kind mother,fhecovereth us all over in her 

 bofome : by no merit more facr ed than by it,wherwith flie maketh us holy and facredjcven bea- 

 ring our tumbes, monuments, and titles, continuingournamej and extending our memoric, 

 thereby to make recompence and weigh againfl the fliortnefTc of our age: whofe lafl power wea 

 in our anger v^ifli to be heavie unto our enemie^and yet fhe is hcavie to none, as if we were ig- 

 norant thatflie alone is never angry with any man.Waters afcend upjand turn into cloudsjthey 

 congealc and harden into haile,f\\'ell they doe into waves and billowes, and downe they haflea 

 headlong into brookes and land flouds.Thc aire is thickened with cloudsjand rageth with winds 

 and ftormes.But fhe is bountifull,raild,tender over us and indulgent,readie at all times to attend 

 and wait upon the good of mortal! men.See what flie breeds beingforced Inay,what fhec yeel- 

 deth of herownc accord 1 what odoriferous fniels, and pleafant favours! what holefome jui- 

 ces and liquours, what foftthings to content our feeling, what lovely colours doth (hee give tO 

 pleafe our eie,how faithfully and juftly doth fhe repay with ufurie that which was lent and credi- 

 ted out unto horlFinally, whatfioreof all things doth fhecfeed and nourifh for our fake 1 Alas 



Diij poore 



