[ *3i ] 
Upon this hypothefis, fine face will fignify the ex- 
clusion, not of the rain, duft, &c. as it is explained 
by the commentators, who follow this reading ; bur 
that of the grofs body of the fun’s rays ; and fo will 
coincide with fine foie diem, in the other copies. 
As I quoted * Ladtantius (De Officio Dei, c. viii.) 
to prove the ufe of glafs in windows in his time, viz. 
the third century, I hold myfelf obliged to take no- 
tice of the cenfure, which Cortius and Longolius pals 
upon this father, and which is as far from being can- 
did, as the authorities they appeal to are from proving 
it true. Thefe gentlemen, in their notes on Pliny 
(L. ii. Ep. 17.), boldly pronounce the father mif- 
taken (peccavit Ladtantius) with regard to the paflage 
I produced from him : and they fupport this charge, 
by referring to Lipfius on Seneca de Prov. C. iv. & 
Epifi. po. and to Pliny Hift. Nat. L. xxxvi. c. 16. 
Now, whoever confults Lipfius on the places here 
referred to by thefe editors, will find nothing therein, 
but obfervations relating to the lapis fpecularis, viz. 
the reafon of its name j the countries where it was 
found ; its ufe in window-fences, for dining-rooms, 
bed-chambers, baths, porticos, and even in orchards 
and gardens. This is what nobody ever denied, and 
what even Ladtantius himlelf intimates, in the *f* 
paffiage before us. How, therefore, this can afiedt 
that father’s teftimony, relating to the ufe of glafs in 
windows, exceeds my imagination to conceive. And 
* Phil. Tranf. Vol. L. Part II. p. 608. 
f Manifeftius eft, mentem cfle, quae ea, quae funt oppofita, 
tranfpiciat, quafi per feneftras lucerne vitro, aut lapide fpeculari 
obdu&as. 
S 2 
as 
