1That they be firm, ſolid, durable, in a Man
ner eternal, as to Stability: And as to Grace
fulneſs and Beauty, delicately and juſtly adorn
ed, and ſet off in all their Parts. Having laid
down theſe Principles as the Foundations of
what we are to write, we proceed to our Subject.
ner eternal, as to Stability: And as to Grace
fulneſs and Beauty, delicately and juſtly adorn
ed, and ſet off in all their Parts. Having laid
down theſe Principles as the Foundations of
what we are to write, we proceed to our Subject.
CHAP. III.
Of the Region, of the Climate or Air, of the Sun and Winds, which affect the Air.
The Ancients uſed the utmoſt Caution
to ſix upon a Region that had in it
nothing noxious, and was furniſhed with all
Conveniences; and eſpecially they took parti
cular Care that the Air was not unwholeſome
or intemperate; in which they ſhewed a great
Deal of Prudence; for they knew that if the
Earth or Water had any Defect in them, Art
and Induſtry might correct it; but they affirm
ed, that neither Contrivance nor Multitude of
Hands was able ſufficiently to correct and a
mend the Air. And it muſt be allowed, that,
as what we breathe is ſo conducive to the
Nouriſhment and Support of Life, the purer
it is, the more it muſt preſerve and main
tain our Health. Beſides, how great an In
fluence the Air has in the Generation, Pro
duction, Aliment, and Preſervation of Things,
is unknown to nobody. It is even obſerved,
that they who draw a pure Air, have better
Underſtandings than thoſe who breathe a heavy
moiſt one: Which is ſuppoſed to be the Rea
ſon that the Athenians had much ſharper Wits
than the Thebans. We know that the Air,
according to the different Situation and Poſiti
on of Places, affects us ſometimes in one Man
ner, and ſometimes in another. Some of the
Cauſes of this Variety we imagine we under
ſtand; others by the Obſcurity of their Natures
are altogether hidden and unknown to us. We
ſhall firſt ſpeak of the manifeſt Cauſes, and
conſider afterwards of the more occult; that
we may know how to chuſe a Region com
modious and healthful. The Ancient Theo
logiſts called the Air Pallas. Homer makes
her a Goddeſs, and names her Glaucopis, which
ſignifies an Air naturally clear and tranſparent.
And it is certain, that Air is the moſt healthy,
which is the moſt purged and purified, and
which may moſt eaſily be pierced by the Sight,
the cleareſt and lighteſt, and the leaſt Subject
to Variations. And on the contrary we af
firm the Air to be peſtiferous, where there is a
continued Collection of thick Clouds and ſtink
ing Vapours, and which always hangs like a
great Weight upon the Eyes, and obſtructs
the Sight. The Occaſion of this Difference
proceeds from ſeveral Cauſes, but chiefly I
take it, from the Sun and Winds. But we are
not here to ſpend Time in theſe phyſical En
quiries, how the Vapours by the Power of the
Sun are raiſed from the moſt profound and
hidden Parts of the Earth, and drawn up to
the Sky, where gathering themſelves together
in vaſt Bodies in the immenſe Spaces of the
Air, either by their own huge Weight, or by
receiving the Rays of the Sun upon their rari
fied Parts, they fall and thereby preſs upon the
Air and occaſion the Winds; and being after
wards carried to the Ocean by their Drought,
they plunge, and having bathed and impregna
ted themſelves with Moiſture from the Sea,
they once more aſcend through the Air, where
being preſſed by the Winds, and as it were
ſqueezed like a Sponge, they diſcharge their
Burthen of Water in Rains, which again
create new Vapours. Whether theſe Conjec
tures be true, or whether the Wind be occaſi
oned by a dry Fumoſity of the Earth, or a hot
Evaporation ſtirred by the Preſſure of the Cold;
or that it be, as we may call it, the Breath of
the Air; or nothing but the Air itſelf put into
Agitation by the Motion of the World, or by
the Courſe and Radiation of the Stars; or by
the generating Spirit of all Things in its own
Nature active, or ſomething elſe not of a ſepa
rate Exiſtence, but conſiſting in the Air itſelf
acted upon and inflamed by the Heat of the
higher Air; or whatever other Opinion or
Way of accounting for theſe Things be truer
or more ancient, I ſhall paſs it over as not
making to my Purpoſe. However, unleſs I am
miſtaken, we may conceive from what has been
ſaid already, why ſome Countries in the World
enjoy a pleaſant chearful Air, while others,
cloſe adjoyning to them, and as it were laid
by Nature in the ſame Lap, are ſtupified and
afflicted with a heavy and diſmal Climate.
For I ſuppoſe, that this happens from no other
Cauſe, but their being ill diſpoſed for the O
peration of the Sun and Winds. Cicero tells
us, that Syracuſe was ſo placed, that the Inha
bitants never miſſed ſeeing the Sun every Day
in the Year; a Situation very ſeldom to be met
to ſix upon a Region that had in it
nothing noxious, and was furniſhed with all
Conveniences; and eſpecially they took parti
cular Care that the Air was not unwholeſome
or intemperate; in which they ſhewed a great
Deal of Prudence; for they knew that if the
Earth or Water had any Defect in them, Art
and Induſtry might correct it; but they affirm
ed, that neither Contrivance nor Multitude of
Hands was able ſufficiently to correct and a
mend the Air. And it muſt be allowed, that,
as what we breathe is ſo conducive to the
Nouriſhment and Support of Life, the purer
it is, the more it muſt preſerve and main
tain our Health. Beſides, how great an In
fluence the Air has in the Generation, Pro
duction, Aliment, and Preſervation of Things,
is unknown to nobody. It is even obſerved,
that they who draw a pure Air, have better
Underſtandings than thoſe who breathe a heavy
moiſt one: Which is ſuppoſed to be the Rea
ſon that the Athenians had much ſharper Wits
than the Thebans. We know that the Air,
according to the different Situation and Poſiti
on of Places, affects us ſometimes in one Man
ner, and ſometimes in another. Some of the
Cauſes of this Variety we imagine we under
ſtand; others by the Obſcurity of their Natures
are altogether hidden and unknown to us. We
ſhall firſt ſpeak of the manifeſt Cauſes, and
conſider afterwards of the more occult; that
we may know how to chuſe a Region com
modious and healthful. The Ancient Theo
logiſts called the Air Pallas. Homer makes
her a Goddeſs, and names her Glaucopis, which
ſignifies an Air naturally clear and tranſparent.
And it is certain, that Air is the moſt healthy,
which is the moſt purged and purified, and
which may moſt eaſily be pierced by the Sight,
the cleareſt and lighteſt, and the leaſt Subject
to Variations. And on the contrary we af
firm the Air to be peſtiferous, where there is a
continued Collection of thick Clouds and ſtink
ing Vapours, and which always hangs like a
great Weight upon the Eyes, and obſtructs
the Sight. The Occaſion of this Difference
proceeds from ſeveral Cauſes, but chiefly I
take it, from the Sun and Winds. But we are
not here to ſpend Time in theſe phyſical En
quiries, how the Vapours by the Power of the
Sun are raiſed from the moſt profound and
hidden Parts of the Earth, and drawn up to
the Sky, where gathering themſelves together
in vaſt Bodies in the immenſe Spaces of the
Air, either by their own huge Weight, or by
receiving the Rays of the Sun upon their rari
fied Parts, they fall and thereby preſs upon the
Air and occaſion the Winds; and being after
wards carried to the Ocean by their Drought,
they plunge, and having bathed and impregna
ted themſelves with Moiſture from the Sea,
they once more aſcend through the Air, where
being preſſed by the Winds, and as it were
ſqueezed like a Sponge, they diſcharge their
Burthen of Water in Rains, which again
create new Vapours. Whether theſe Conjec
tures be true, or whether the Wind be occaſi
oned by a dry Fumoſity of the Earth, or a hot
Evaporation ſtirred by the Preſſure of the Cold;
or that it be, as we may call it, the Breath of
the Air; or nothing but the Air itſelf put into
Agitation by the Motion of the World, or by
the Courſe and Radiation of the Stars; or by
the generating Spirit of all Things in its own
Nature active, or ſomething elſe not of a ſepa
rate Exiſtence, but conſiſting in the Air itſelf
acted upon and inflamed by the Heat of the
higher Air; or whatever other Opinion or
Way of accounting for theſe Things be truer
or more ancient, I ſhall paſs it over as not
making to my Purpoſe. However, unleſs I am
miſtaken, we may conceive from what has been
ſaid already, why ſome Countries in the World
enjoy a pleaſant chearful Air, while others,
cloſe adjoyning to them, and as it were laid
by Nature in the ſame Lap, are ſtupified and
afflicted with a heavy and diſmal Climate.
For I ſuppoſe, that this happens from no other
Cauſe, but their being ill diſpoſed for the O
peration of the Sun and Winds. Cicero tells
us, that Syracuſe was ſo placed, that the Inha
bitants never miſſed ſeeing the Sun every Day
in the Year; a Situation very ſeldom to be met
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