86 
pliny's nattjbal histobt. 
[Book 11. 
The eclipse of the moon affords an undoubted argument 
of the sun's magnitude, as it also does of the small size of 
the earths Por there are shadows of three figures, and it is 
evident, that if the body which produces the shadow be equal 
to the light, then it will be thrown off in the form of a pillar, 
and have no termination. If the body be greater than the 
light, the shadow will be in the form of an inverted cone^ 
the bottom being the narrowest part, and being, at the sami 
time, of an infinite length. If the body be less than thi 
light, then we shall have the figure of a pyramid^, termina- 
ting in a point. Now of this last kind is the shadow which 
produces the eclipse of the moon, and this is so manifest that 
there can be no doubt remaining, that the earth is exceeded 
in magnitude by the sun, a circumstance which is indeed in- 
dicated by the silent declaration of nature herself. Eor why 
does he recede from us at the winter half of the year^ ? That 
by the darkness of the nights the earth may be refreshed, 
which otherwise would be burned up, as indeed it is in cer- 
tain parts ; so great is his size. 
CHAP. 9. (12.) — AK ACCOUNT OF THE OBSEKYATIOI^S THAT 
HATE BEEIS" MADE ON THE HEAYENS BY DIPEEBEKT IN- 
DIYinUALS. 
The first among the [Romans, who explained to the people 
at large the cause of the two kinds of eclipses, was Sul- 
picius Grallus, who was consul along with Marcellus ; and 
whether, in this passage, Phny refers to the Ida of Crete or of Asia Minor. 
But the discussion is unneces^||iry, as the statement of the author is equally 
inapphcable to both of them. Mela appears to refer to this opinion in 
the following passage, where he is describing the Ida of Asia Minor ; 
" ipse mens orientem solem aUter quam in aliis terris solet aspici, 
ostentat." hb. i. cap. 18. 
^ " Ut dictum est superiore capite, quo Plinius falso contendit Terram 
esse Luna minorem." Alexandre in Lemaire, ii. 253. The words of the 
text, however, apply equally to the comparative size of the earth and the 
sun, as of the earth and the moon. 
2 " turbo rectus literally an upright top. ^ "meta." 
^ This has been pointed out as one of our author's erroneous opinions 
on astronomy. The earth is reaUy about nearer the sun in our winters 
than in our summers. The greater degree of heat produced by his rays 
in the latter case depends upon their falling on the surface of the earth 
less obliquely. This is the principal cause of the different temperatures 
pf the equatorial and polar rQfi'lons. 
