CONTENTS. • 
OF THE FIRST VOLUME. 
BOOK I. 
DEDICATION. Page 
C. Plinius Secundus to his friend Titus Yespasian 1 
BOOK 11. 
^^j,^ AN ACCOTJKT OF THE WOKLD AND THE ELEMENTS. 
1. Whether the world be finite, and whether there be more than 
one world ... 13 
2. Of the form of the world 16 
3. Of its nature ; whence the name is derived ib. 
4. Of the elements and the planets 18 
5. Of God 20 
6. Of the nature of the stars ; of the motion of the planets ... 25 
7. Of the eclipses of the moon and the sun 34 
8. Of the magnitude of the stars 35 
9. An account of the observations that have been made on the 
heavens by different individuals 36 
10. On the recurrence of the ecUpses of the sun and the moon ... 38 
11. Of the motion of the moon 40 
12. Of the motions of the planets and the general laws of their 
aspects ih, 
13. Why the same stars appear at some times more lofty and at 
other times more near 42 
14. Why the same stars have difierent motions 47 
15. G-eneral laws of the planets 48 
16. The reason why the stars are of different colours 49 
17. Of the motion of .the sun and the cause of the irregularity of 
the days 50 
18. Why thunder is ascribed to Jupiter 51 
19. Of the distances of the stars ... 52 
20. Of the harmony of the stars ih, 
21. Of the dimensions of the world 53 
22. Of the stars which appear suddenly, or of comets ... 55 
23. Their nature, situation, and species ... ... 56 
