Chap. 63.] 
NATUEE or THE EARTH. 
91 
by frozen dew*. During the winter snow falls, but not bail ; 
bail itself falls more frequently during the day than the night, 
and is more quickly melted than snow. There are no mists 
either in the summer or during the greatest coJ.d oi winter. 
There is neither dew nor hoar formed during great beat or 
winds, nor unless the night be serene. Fluids are diminished 
in bulk by being frozen, and, when the ice is melted, we do 
not obtain the same quantity of fluid as at first^. 
(61.) The clouds are varied in their colour and figure accord- 
ing as the fire which they contain is in excess or is absorbed 
by them. 
CHAP. 62. (62.) — THE PECTJLIAEITIES OE THE WEATHEK Ilf 
DIEEEEEKT PLACES. 
There are, moreover, certain peculiarities in certain places. 
In Africa dew falls during the night in summer. In Italy, 
at Locri, and at the Lake Yelinum, there is never a day 
in which a rainbow is not seen^. At Ehodes and at Syracuse 
the sky is never so covered with clouds, but that the sun is 
visible at one time or another ; these things, however, will 
be better detailed in their proper place. So far respecting 
the air. 
CHAP. 63. (63.) KATTJEE OF THE EAETH. 
Next comes the earth, on which alone of all parts of na- 
ture we have bestowed the name that implies maternal vene- 
ration. It is appropriated to man as the heavens are to Grod. 
She receives us at our birth, nourishes us when born, and 
ever afterwards supports us ; lastly, embracing us in her 
bosom when we are rejected by the rest of nature, she then 
covers us with especial tenderness ; rendered sacred to us, 
inasmuch as she renders us sacred, bearing our monuments 
^ Aristotle treats at some length of dew, snow, and hail, in his Meteor, i. 
cap. 10, 11 & 12 respectively. 
2 When water is frozen, its bulk is increased in consequence of its as- 
suming a crystalline structure. Any diminution which may be found to 
have taken place in the bulk of the fluid, when thawed, must be ascribed 
to evaporation or to some accidental circumstance. 
3 " Yehni lacus prsecipiti cursu in gurgitem subjectum defertur, 
at illo aquarum lapsu, dispersis in aera guttis humidis, iridis multi- 
pHcis phsenomenon efficit " Alexandre, in Lemaire, i. 365, 
