Alberti, Leone Battista, Architecture, 1755

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              with, but when Neceſſity or Opportunity will
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              allow of it to be deſired above all Things.
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              </s>
              <s>That Region therefore is to be choſen, which
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              is moſt free from the Power of Clouds and all
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              other heavy thick Vapours. </s>
              <s>Thoſe who ap­
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              ply themſelves to theſe Enquiries have obſerv­
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              ed, that the Rays and Heat of the Sun act
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              with more Violence upon cloſe denſe Bodies,
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              than upon thoſe of a looſer Contexture, upon
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              Oil more than Water, Iron more than Wool;
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              for which Reaſon they ſay the Air is moſt
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              groſs and heavy in thoſe Places, which are moſt
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              ſubject to great Heats. </s>
              <s>The
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              Ægyptians
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              con­
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              tending for Nobility with all the other Nati­
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              ons in the World, boaſted, that the firſt Men
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              were created in their Country, becauſe no
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              Place was ſo fit to plant the firſt Race of Men
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              in, as there, where they might live the moſt
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              healthily; and that they were bleſſed by the
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              Gods with a Kind of perpetual Spring, and a
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              cónſtant unchangeable Diſpoſition of Air above
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              all the Reſt of the Word. </s>
              <s>And
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              Herodotus
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              writes, that among the
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              Ægyptians,
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              thoſe chief­
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              ly who lived towards
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              Libia,
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              are the moſt
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              healthy, becauſe they enjoy continual gentle
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              Breezes. </s>
              <s>And to me the Reaſon why ſome
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              Cities, both in
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              Italy
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              and in other Parts of the
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              World, are perpetually unhealthy and peſti­
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              lential, ſeems plainly to be the ſudden Turns
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              and Changes in the Air, from Hot to Cold,
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              and from Cold to Hot. </s>
              <s>So that it very much
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              concerns us to be extremely careful in our Ob­
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              ſervation, what and how much Sun the Regi­
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              on we pitch upon is expoſed to; that there be
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              neither more Sun nor more Shade than is ne­
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              ceſſary. </s>
              <s>The
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              Garamantes
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              curſe the Sun, both
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              at it's Riſing and it's Setting, becauſe they are
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              ſcorched with the long Continuation of it's
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              Beams. </s>
              <s>Other Nations look pale and wan, by
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              living in a Kind of perpetual Night. </s>
              <s>And
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              theſe Things happen not ſo much, becauſe ſuch
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              Places have the Pole more depreſſed or oblique,
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              tho there is a great deal in that too, as becauſe
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              they are aptly ſituated for receiving the Sun and
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              Winds, or are skreened from them. </s>
              <s>I ſhould
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              chuſe ſoft Breezes before Winds, but even
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              Winds, though violent and bluſtering, before a
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              Calm, motionleſs, and conſequently, a heavy
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              Air. </s>
              <s>Water, ſays
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              Ovid,
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              corrupts, if not mov­
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              ed: And it is certain the Air, to uſe ſuch an
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              Expreſſion, wonderfully exhilerated by Moti­
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              on: For I am perſuaded, that thereby the Va­
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              pours which riſe from the Earth are either diſ­
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              ſipated, or elſe growing warm by Action are
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              concocted as they ſhould be. </s>
              <s>But then I
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              would have theſe Winds come to me, broken
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              by the Oppoſition of Hills and Woods, or tir­
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              ed with a long Journey. </s>
              <s>I would take heed
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              that they did not bring any ill Qualities along
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              with them, gathered from any Places they
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              paſſed through. </s>
              <s>And for this Reaſon we
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              ſhould be careſul to avoid all Neighbourhoods
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              from which any noxious Particles may be
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              brought: In the Number of which are all ill
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              Smells, and all groſs Exhalations from Marſhes,
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              and eſpecially from ſtagnating Waters and
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              Ditches. </s>
              <s>The Naturaliſts lay it down for cer­
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              tain, that all Rivers that uſe to be ſupplied by
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              Snows, bring cold ſoggy Winds: But no Water
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              is ſo noiſome and pernicious, as that which
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              rots and putri
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              ies for want of Motion. </s>
              <s>And
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              the Contagion of ſuch a Neighbourhood will
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              be ſtill more miſchievous, according as it is
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              more or leſs expoſed to unwholeſome Winds:
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              For we are told, that the very Winds them­
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              ſelves are in their own Natures ſome more
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              wholeſome than others. </s>
              <s>Thus
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              Pliny
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              from
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                <emph type="italics"/>
              Theophraſtus
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              and
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              Hippocrates
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              informs us, that
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              the
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              North
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              is the beſt for reſtoring and preſerv­
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              ing of Health; and all the Naturaliſts affirm,
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              that the
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              South
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              is the moſt noxious of all to
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              Mankind; nay further, that the very Beaſts
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              may not ſafely be left in the Fields while that
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              Wind blows; and they have obſerved, that at
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              ſuch Times the Stork never flies, and that the
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              Dolphins in a
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              North
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              Wind, if it ſtands fair to­
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              wards them, can hear any Voice, but in a
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                <emph type="italics"/>
              South,
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              they are more ſlow in hearing it, and
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              muſt have it brought to them oppoſite to the
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              Wind. </s>
              <s>They ſay too, that in a
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              North
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              Wind
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              an Eel will live ſix Days out of Water, but
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              not ſo in a
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              South,
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              ſuch is the Groſſneſs and un­
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              wholeſome Property of that Wind; and that
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              as the
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              South
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              Wind brings Catarrhs and Rheums,
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              ſo the
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              North-Weſt
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              is apt to give Coughs. </s>
              <s>They
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              likewiſe find Fault with the Neighbourhood of
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              the
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              Mediterranean,
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              upon this Account chiefly,
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              becauſe they ſuppoſe, that a Place expoſed to
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              the Reflection of the Sun's Rays, does in ef­
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              fect ſuffer two Suns, one ſcorching them from
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              the Heavens, and the other from the Water;
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              and ſuch Places upon the Setting of the Sun
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              feel the greateſt and moſt ſenſible Alrerations
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              in the Air when the cold Shadows of Night
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              come on. </s>
              <s>And there are ſome who think, that
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              the
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              Weſtern
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              Reverberations or Reflections of
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              the Sun, either from the Sea or any other
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              Water, or from the Mountains, moleſt us moſt </s>
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