Selected quad for the lemma: water_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
water_n	body_n	earth_n	element_n	7,308	5	10.1853	5	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A01313	A goodly gallerye with a most pleasaunt prospect, into the garden of naturall contemplation, to behold the naturall causes of all kynde of meteors, as wel fyery and ayery, as watry and earthly, of whiche sort be blasing sterres, shooting starres, flames in the ayre &c. tho[n]der, lightning, earthquakes, &c. rayne dewe, snowe, cloudes, springes &c. stones, metalles, earthes &c. to the glory of God, and the profit of his creaturs.	Fulke, William, 1538-1589.	1563 (1563)	STC 11435; ESTC S102684	57,855	146

it changeth their collours frō black to whyte frō white to black Vitruuius wryteth that in Arcadia is a water called Nonacrinis whiche no vessell of syluer brasse or Irō can hold but it breaketh in pieces and nothynge but a mules hoofe wyll holde it and conteyne it In Illyria garmētes y t are holdē ouer amost cold well ar kindled set on fyre In the Ile of Andros where the tēple of Bacchus stoode is a well that the fift day of Ianuary flowed wyne Isidore sayeth there is a well in Italy that healeth the woundes of y t eyes In the Ile of Chios is a well that maketh men dulwitted that drinke therof There is another that causeth men to abhorre lust Lechnus a spryng of Arcadia is good against abortions In Scicilia are two spryngs of which one maketh a woman fruictfull and the other barren In Sardania be whote welles that heale sore eyes In an Ile of Pontus the ryuer Astares ouerfloweth the fieldes in whiche the shéepe that be fedde doth geue black mylke In Aethiopia is a lake whose water is lyke oyle Also manye sprynges of oyle haue brooken foorth of the earth which cōmeth of the viscositie or fatnes of y e same earth The lake Clitorie in Italye maketh men that drynke of it to abhorre wyne The lake Pentasium as Solinus saith is deadly to serpentes wholsom to mē Seneca wryteth of certeyn lakes that wyll beare men which can not swymm And that in Siria is a lake in whiche brickes do swymme and no heuy thing wyll sinke It is said that the ryuer Rhene in Germany wyll drowne basterd childrē that be cast in it but dryue alonde them that be lawfully begotten The ryuer Hypanis in Schithia eueryday bryngeth foorth litle bladders out of whiche flyes do come that die the same nyght Matrona the ryuer of Germany as y e common people saith neuer passeth day but he taketh some praye ¶ Of the Sea THe sea in this treatise hath place as a mixed substaunce for els the elemēt of waters being simple were not here to be spoken of The sea is the naturall place of the waters into which all ryuers and other waters are receiued at the length And here it is to be vnderstanded y t the very proper naturall place of the water were to couer al the earth for so be the elementes placed The earth lowest roūd about the earth the water about the water the ayre and about the ayre the fyre But God the most mighty and wyse creator of all thinges that the earth might in som partes be inhabited of men and beastes cōmaunded the waters to be gathered into one place that the drie londe might appeare and called the drie land earth and the gathering of waters he called seas In the sea are these two thinges to be considered the saltnes the ebbinge and flowyng ¶ Of the saltnes THe saltnes of the sea accordinge to Aristotles mynde is caused by y e sunn that draweth from it all thinne swete vapors to make rayne leauing the reste as the setling or bottom whiche is salt But men of oure tyme peraduenture more truely do not take this for the only and sufficient cause to mak so great a quantitie of water salt but say that the sea by Gods wysdome is gathered into such valleys of the earth as were other wyse barren vnfruictful such carthes are salte the sea water then mixed with that earth must néedes be salt els ryuers by Aristotles mynde should be salt as well as the sea The Reader maye chuse whiche opinion is most probable ¶ Of the ebbing and flowyng THe ebbing and flowing of the sea as Aristole semeth to teach is by reason of Exhalations that be vnder the water whiche dryue it to and fro according to contrary boundes and limites as vpwarde and downwarde of wyde and narrowe déepe and shallowe This opinion of Aristotle also as more subtile thē true experiēce teacheth men to mislike to ascribe the cause of ebbing flowyng to the course of the moone which ruleth ouer moysture as the sunne doth ouer-heate for frō the new Moone to the full all humors do encrease and from the ful to the newe moone decrease agayne Also the very true tyme of the ebbing and flowyng may be knowen by the course of the Moone with whome as the ladye of moysture we will close vp the fourth booke of moiste and watry impressiōs ❧ The fift booke of earthly Meteores or bodies perfectly mixed THis last treatise conteyneth suche bodies whose chief matter is the earth are called ꝑfectly mixed because they ar not easly resolued in to the chiefe matter wherof they ar generated These are deuided into foure kyndes The first be diuerse sortes of earth the second be liquors concreat the third be metalls and metalliques the fourthe be stoones This deuision is not altogether perfect both for that ther be many of these mineralls whiche partake of two kyndes also for that the names of some of these kyndes may be sayde of other Yet mindyng as plainly as can be to declare the thynges them selues the controuersye and cauillation of names shall not greatly trouble vs. Especially seyng we pretende not to teache Philosophers but such as nede a ruder plainer instruction They may therfor be cōtēt w c this diuisiō which shal not serue them to dispute of these matters but to vnderstād y e truth of these thinges that they desyre Of these fowr therfore we will speake orderly and generally not mynding to intreate of euery particuler kynde for that were infinit but to open suche vniuersall causes as they whiche haue witte may learne if they list to apply vnto al particulers ¶ Of earthes THe earth is an element one of the foure cold and drie moste grosse and solyde moste heauy and weighty the lowest of all other in place When I saye an element I meane a simple body vncompounded This earth is no Meteore but as it was shewed in the water to y e end ther should be generatiō of things there is no element that we can haue whiche is pure and symple but all are mixed and cōpounde Our fyre is grosse and compounde so is our ayer our water and our earth But the earth notably and aboue the rest is mixed For the puer and naturall earth is drye and cold but we sée much to be moist and much to be hoat The naturall earth is blacke of collor but we sée many earthes white many yelowe and many redde So that first the greatest part of y e earth is mixed with water that maketh it to cleane together with ayer and some fyre which make an oyly fatt or claymy earth as is claye made c. Another great part is dryed not into the natural drienes of the first qualitie

cloudes into waters c. ¶ Why they be called perfectly mixed The last sort namely earthly Meteores are called perfectly mixed because they wil not easely be chaunged and resolued from that forme which they are in as be stones metalles and other mineralles According to the qualitie of the matter they are diuided into moist drie impressions consisting either of vapores or exhalations vapores are called moist and exhalations drie whiche termes must be well noted because they must be much vsed ¶ Of the general cause of al Meteores and first of the materiall cause The mater whereof the moste part of Meteores dooth consiste is either water or earth for out of y e water proceade vapors and out of the earth come exhalations Vapor as the Philosopher sayeth is a certain watrie thing and yet is not water so exhalation hath a certain earthly nature in it but yet it is not yearth For the better vnderstanding of vapors vnderstande that they be as it were fumes or smokes warme moist whiche will easely be resolued into water muche like to the breath that proceadeth out of a mans mouth or out of a pot of water standing on y e fiere These vapors are drawen vp from the waters and warry places by the heate of the Sunne euen vnto the midle region of the ayre and there after diuerse maner of meating with coldnes many kynde of moist Meteors are generated as sometime cloudes and rayne sometime snowe and hayle and that suche vapors are so drawen vp by the Sunne it is playne by experiēce for if there be a plash of water on a smothe and hard stoone standing in the heate of the sunne it wyl soone be drye whiche is none otherwyse but y t the sonne draweth vp the water in thinne vapores for no man is so fonde to saye that it can sinke into stoone or metall and it is as greatfoly to thinke it is consumed to nothyng for it is a general rule that that whiche is once a thing can not by chaunging become nothyng wherefore it followeth that the water on the stoone as also on the earth is for the moste part drawen vp when the stoone or earth is dried Exhalations are as smokes that be hoat and drie whiche because they be thinne lygther then vapors passe the lowest and midle region of the ayre and are caried vp euen to the highest region where for the excessiue heat by nearenes of the fier they are kindled and cause many kinde of impressions They ar also sometimes viscose ▪ that is to say clāmy by reason wherof thei cleuing together not being dispersed are after diuerse soortes set on fier and appeare somtims like Dragōs somtim like Goats somtime like cādels somtime like speares By y t which is spokē of vapors exhalations it is euidēt y t out of y e fier the ayer no matter wherof meteores shold consist can be drawē because of their subtiltie thinnes For al exhalatiō is by making a grosser body more thinne but y e fier we mean y e elemētal fier not the fire of the kitchē chimney is so subtil thin y t it cannot be made thinner likewise the ayre is so thin y t if it be made thinner it is chāged into fire as the fire if it wer made thicker wold becom aire so the aire being made grosser wold be turned into water Wherfor to cōclude this part y e great quantitie of matter that causeth these meteores is takē out of y e earth and the water As for y e aire the fire they ar mixed with this matter as with al other things but not so abundauntly that they may be sayd the material cause of any Meteore though without them none can be generated The efficient cause of all Meteores is that cause whiche maketh them euen they are not to nyghe to the direct beames nor to farre of from them there is a moderate heate drawyng out great aboundaunce of matter so that in those contries many Meteores of many sortes as generated as in the farre North partes are few but watrie impressions Also in Autumne Sprynge are oftener Meteores séen then in Sommer and Wynter except it be in such places where the Sommer and Wynter are of the temper of Spryng and Autūne Let this be sufficient for the efficient causes of impressions as well first and principall as second and particular Concerning the formall and finall cause we haue litle to saye because the one is so secret that it is knowen of no mā y e other so euidēt y t it is playne to all men The essentiall forme of all substaunces Gods wisdome comprehendeth the vniuersall chiefe and last end of all thinges is the glory of God Mydle endes if they may be so called of these impressions are manifold profites to Gods creatures to make the earth fruitfull to purge the ayre to sett forth his power to threathen his vengeaunce to punyshe the worlde to moue to repentaunce all the which are referde to one end of Gods eternall glory euer to be praysed Amen ¶ Of the places in whiche they are generated THe places in whiche Meteors are caused be either the ayre or the earth in y e aire be generated rayne hayle snow dew blasing starres thonder lightning c. In the earth be welles springs earthquakes metalls minerals c. made and as it were in their mothers belly begotten fashioned But for the better vnderstanding hereof such as haue not tasted y e principles of Philosophie must cōsider y e ther be iiij elemēts Earth water Ayre Fire one cōpassing another round about sauing y t the waters by Gods cōmaundement ar gathered into one place y t the land might apeare The highest is y e spere of the fire which toucheth the hollownes of the Moones heauen the next is the ayre whiche is in the hallownes of the fyer the ayre within his hollownes comprehendeth the water and the earth whiche bothe make but one Spheare or Globe or as the commen sort may vnderstande it one Bal. So eche elemēt is w cin another as y e skales of a perle ar on aboue another or to vse a grosse similitude as y e pieles of an oniō ar one w c in āother after y e same sort frō y e highest heuē to y e earth y t is lowest one part y t is greater compasseth roūd about another that is lesser But for this present purpose it is to be knowen y t the ayer is diuided into thre regions y e hyghest the midle and the lowest The hyghest because it is next to the region of y e fier is exceading hoate the lowest beinge next the earth and the waters is temperat and by repercussion or striking back of the sunne beames waxeth hoate and by absence of them is made colde being subiect to Wynter and Sommer The midle region of y e ayre is always exceading

cold partly because y e sonne beames can not be cast back so highe and partly because the cold that is there betwene y e heate aboue and the heate beneath it is so kept in that it can not get out so that it must nedes be excessiuely colde For the water and the earthe being both colde elementes after the sunnesetting in the nighte season dooe coole y e aire euen to the midle regiō But in the morning the sunne rysing warmeth y e ayre so farre as his beames whiche are beaten back from the earth the water can extende and reache whiche is not so highe as the midle region and by heate on both sides is inclosed and kept sauing that a litle thereof falleth downe in the night which the next day with much more is driuen backe againe Wherefore this region being so colde is darke and cloudye in so much that some doting Diuines haue imagined purgatorie to be there in the mydle region of the ayre In the hyghest region be generated Cometes or blasing starres and suche lyke of diuerse sortes In the midle region cloudes rayne stormes wyndes c. In the lowest region dewe frost horefrost mistes bryght rods candels burning about graues gallowses where ther is store of clamy fatty or oyly substaunce also lightes and flammyng fiers séene in fieldes c. ¶ And thus muche for the generall causes of all Meteores ❧ The seconde Booke of fyery Meteores A Fiery impression is an exhalation sett on fire in the highest or lowest region of the ayre or els apearing as though it were set on fire and burning They are therfore diuided into flames and aparitions Flames are they whiche burne in deade and are kindled with fire These are discerned by iiij wayes by the fashion of them by their place by the abūdaunce of their matter by the wante of their matter Their placing is after the aboundaunce scarsetie of the matter wher of they consist for if it be great heauie and grosse it cannot be caried so farre as the midle region of the aire and therfore is set on fire in the lowest region if it be not so great light and full of heat it passeth the midle region ascendeth to the highest where it is easely kindled set on fire According to their diuerse fashiōs they haue diuers names for they ar called burning stoble torches daunsing or leapinge Goates shooting or falling starres or candels burning beames roūd pillers spears shieldes globes or bowles fierbrandes lāpes flying dragōs or firedrakes pointed pillors or broched steples or blasing stars called Cometes The time whē these impressiōs doth most apere is y e night season for if they were caused in y e day time thei cold not be séen no more then y e starres be séen because the light of y e sunne which is much greater dimmeth y e brightnes of thē being lesser ¶ Of the generation of the impression called burned stoble or sparcles of fire THe generation of this Meteore is this whan the matter of the Exhalation is in all partes a lyke thynne but not compacted or knit together then some parte of it being caried vp into the highest region by the fiery heate is set on fier before another part that commeth vp after it and so being kindled by lytle and lytle it flyeth abrooode lyke sparkles out of a chymney in so much that the common people suppose that an infinit number of starres fal down where as it is nothing els but the Exhalation that is thinne kindled in many partes sparkling as when sawe dust or coole dust is cast into the fyre ¶ Of Torches TOrches or fyer brandes are thus gen●rated when the matter of the exhalation is long and not broad being kyndled at one end therof in the highest region of the ayre it burneth lyke a Torche or fyer brande and so continueth till all the matter be burned vp and then goeth out none otherwyse then a Torche when all the stuffe is spent must nedes burne no lōger ¶ Of dansyng or leaping Goates DAnsyng Goates are caused when the exalation is diuided into twoo partes as when twoo torches be séen together the flame appeareth to leape or daūce frō one parte to the other much lyke as balls of wylde fyer daunce vp and downe in the water ¶ Of shotyng and falling Starres A Flying shooting or falling Sarre is when the exhalation being gathered as it were on a round heape and yet not throughly compacted in the hyghest parte of the lowest region of the ayer beynge kyndled by the soden colde of the mydle region is beaten backe and so appeareth as though a Starre should fall or slyde from place to place Sometyme it is generated after another sort for there is an exhalatiō long and narrowe whiche being kyndled at one ende burneth swiftly the fyer ronning from ende to ende as when a silke thread is set on fyer at the one end Some saye it is not so much set on fyer as that it is direct vnder some Starre in the firmament and so receiuing light of that starre semeth to our eyes to be a starre In deade some times it may be so but that is not so alwayes nor yet most cōmenly as it may be easely demonstrated The Epicurians as they are verye grosse in determining the chief goodnes so they are very fonde in assigning the cause of this Meteor For they say y t the starres fall out of the firmamēt and that by the fall of them both thonder and lyghtning are caused for the lightening say they is nothyng els but the shyning of that starre that falleth which falling into a watrie clowde and being quēched in it causeth that great thonder euen as whoat yron maketh a noyce if it be cast into colde water But it is euident that y e starres of the firmament can not fall for God hath set them fast for euer he hath geuen them a commaundement whiche they shal not passe And though they shold fall into the cloude yet could they not rest there but with their weyght being dryuen downe would couer the whole yearth For the least starre that is séen in the firmamēt is greater then all the earth Here wyl steppe foorth some mery fellow which of his conscience thinketh them not to bée aboue thrée yardes about and saye it is a loude lye for he can sée within the cōpasse of a bushell more thē xx starres But if his bushell were on fyre xx myle of I demaunde how bygge it would séem vnto him He that hath any wyt wil easely perceiue that starres being by al mennes confessiō so many thousand myles distant from the earth must neades be very great that so farre of should be séen in any quantitie Thus muche for the shootyng or fallynge Starres ¶ Of burnyng Candels WHen the Exhalation caried vp into the hyghest part of the ayre is in al partes thereof of equall and lyke thynnes also

but as a thing ones mixed and after dryed ether by to cold as sand grauell c. or els by heate as chalke oker c. And yet somwhat more plainly and particularly to discourse vpen these causes admitting the naturall collour of the earth to be black of y e water to be blewe of the ayre to be whyte of the fyre to be ruddy it followeth that vpon the mixtion of these collours or chief domination of them al thinges hath their collour The grosse substaunce of the earth therefore beinge diuersly myxed with other elementes and those myxtures againe being eftsones altered by dyuerse and sometime cōtrary qualities hath brought forth so manye kyndes of earth as claye marle chalke sand grauell c. Claye is mixed with fat moisture takyng his colloure of the mixture with redde from whyte but beyng colde it is not so fructfull as marle whiche is not alwayes so moiste as it Chalke is an earth by heat cōcocted after diuerse mixtions and dried vp Oker both yelow redde with suche like are of the same nature with mixtiō of redde more or lesse Sande and grauell are dried erthes as it were froasen by colde grauell is grosse and apparent sand though it be finer is of the same generation cōsisting of many small bodies which ar cōgeled into stones Sād semeth to be clay dried by cold and coacted together into small stones wherof some ar through shining which were the moyst partes the thicke were of the grosse parte The same is grauel but of greater stoones consisting The lyke iudgement is to be geuen of all other kyndes of earth whose generation by the similitude of these wyll not be very harde to fynde out They that lyst to knowe the diuerse kyndes of earthes must haue recourse to Plinius Cardane and other wryters that recite a great nomber of them but these are the chief and most commen kyndes ¶ Of liquors concreat WE take not lyquors cōcreat so largely as the worde dothe signifie for than should we comprehende bothe the other kyndes followyng But onely those liquors called in latin Succi which are as it were midle betwene metals stones of whiche some being fat only do burne as brimstone séecoles geate bitumen c. and the kyndes of all these other some doth not burne as salt alū coperus saltpeter c. and the kindes of these Of the first sort which are generated of earthy ayry vapors fumes Exhalations the chief most notable is brimstone which semeth to be the matter of all drie whot qualities y t ar in earthly Meteores The rest are generated of such lyke vapors as brymstone is but thē they be diuersly mixed As y e coles haue much earth mixed with brimstone Gette séemeth to be all one but better concocted then coles Of amber is great contentiō whether it be a mineral or y e sperme of an whale for it is foūd in the sea cast vp on the shore Now y e whales séede being of the very same qualities is takē more lesse cōcreate of diuers hardnes som al most as hard as amber som softer som liquid Yet Cardan plainly defineth that amber is a minerall Whether he haue reason or experiēce cōtrary to y e vulgar opinion let them consider that list to cōtende These minerals that will resolue with fyre it is apparent that they were concreat with colde In that they burne it is manifest they haue a fatte and clāmy substaūce mixed with them As the other kynde hath not whiche wyll not resolue so well with fyre as w c water whiche be salt coperus saltpeters c. these burne not being watry earthy not fatt vnctuus nor clammy These be of diuerse collours black as coles and geat because ther is much earthy substaunce mixed with their sulphureus matter Some be shere as saltt and alume hauing a substaunce watry dryed and concreat Coperus is greane because it hath muche colde matter that is blwe mixed with it Salt the most cōmen and necessary of all these liquors concreat that be moist not fatty hath two maner of generations one naturall and the other artificiall The naturall generation is when it is first generated in the earth after commeth the water of the sea and is infected with it out of whiche the salt is againe artificially gathered Of these liquors concreat be those strange wells and sprynges infected of whiche was spoken in the latter ende of the fourth booke Most notably brimstone causeth the whot bathes and burneth in aetna of Scicilia and Vesuuius of Italye casting vp the pumise stones of whiche is no place here to entreate ¶ Of Metalles MEtalles be substaunces perfectlye myxed that wyll melte with heate and be brought into all manner of fashions that a man wyl Of these the Alcumistes saye there be seuen kyndes to aunswere to the seuen Planetes Gold syluer copper tynne lead Iron quicksyluer that they cal Mercury But sauing their authorities quicksyluer is no more a metall then brymstone whiche is as necessarye to the generation of metall as quicsyluer is For they all agrée that all metalles are generated of sulphur that is brymstone whiche because it is whot they call the father and Mercury that is quicksiluer whiche because it is moyst they call the mother So by as good reason may they call brymstone a metalle as Mercury Then there remaineth but six perfect metalls Gold Syluer Copper Tinne Lead and Iron ¶ Of Golde THat moste vnprofitable and hurtfull of al metalls golde which most men disprayse and yet all men would haue is of all other metalles the rarest it is only ꝑfect all other be corruptible Gold neuer corrupteth by rust because it is pure from poysonus infection most solide that it receiueth not the ayre into it which causeth all thinges to corrupt It is perfectly concocted with sufficient heate and mixture of Sulphur all other metalls either are not so well concocted or els they haue not the due quātitie of brimstone This opiniō hath also place among the Alcumistes y t because nature in al her workes seketh the best ende she entēdeth of al metals to make gold ▪ but being let either for wante of good mixture or good cōcoction she bringeth forth other metals in deede not so precius but much more profitable the lesse pretius the more ꝓfitable for ther is more vse to the necessitie of mannes life in Iron and lead then is in golde syluer But either the bewtie or the perfectiō or at lestwyse the rarenes of gold siluer haue obteineth the estimatiō of al men so y t for them is sold al maner of things holy prophane bodely spirituall What paynes doth not men take to wynn gold euery man hath one way or other to hunt after it but y e Alcumist despising all other wayes as slow vnnaturall vnprofitable laboreth ether to helpe nature

or any other sterre specially about Iupiter or Venus for their greate bryghtnes It is called of the Greeks a compassed platte of the Latines a crowne or garlande The matter wherin it is made is a cloude of equall thicknes or thinnes cōming directly vnder y e body of the sunn the Moone or other sterres into whiche the lyght of the heauenly body is receyued and so appeareth rounde because the sterre is rounde or as a stoone caste into the water maketh many round circles dilatyng in breadth vntyll the violence of the mouyng is ended so is it in the ayre the lyght beames percynge it causeth broade Circles to be delated whiche appeare whyght purple black redde gréene blewe and other collors according to the disposition of y e cloudes mater The cause of suche collours is shewed before in the peculiar treatie of collours This circle is oftener séen about the Moone then about the Sunne because the heate of the Sunne draweth the vapors to hyghe where it can not be made Also because the nyght is a more quiet tyme then the daye from wynde it is more often in the nyght thē in the daye Syldome about other sterres because their lyght beams ar to weake often to perse a cloud yet oftner about smal sters then the Sunne because the lyght of y e Sunne perceth the cloude more forcively then that this Halon can many tymes be cause Otherwhyles it is séen about a candell which must be in a very thicke and grosse ayre of suche proportionate thicknes that it may receiue the lyght as the cloude doth frō the sterres as in smoky places or whotehouses This kynde of Circle is sometimes lyke a raynbowe sauynge that it is a whole circle vnlesse the sterre vnder whiche it is caused be not all rysen or els the cloude in whiche it is séen be not al come vnder the sterre or after it hath come vnder some parte thereof be dissolued from the rest These Circles be signes of tempest and wyndes as wytnesse bothe Virgile and Aratus The wynde shall blowe from that quarter where the circle first beginneth to breake The cause whereof is this that the circle is broken by the wynde that is aboue whiche is not yet come downe towardes vs but by this effecte aboue we may gather both that it wyll come and also from what quarter A great Circle about the Moone betokeneth great colde and frost to follow after But if it vanyshe awaye and be dissolued altogether it is a signe of fayre weather If it be brooken in many partes it signifieth tempest If it wax altogether thicker darker it is a fore warnyng of rayne One alone after Ptolomee pure and whyte vanyshing away by lytle litle is a token of fayre weather Twoo or thrée at once portendeth tempest if they be ruddy they shewe wynde to come and toward snowe they séeme as it were kroken and rockye Being darke or dymme they signifie all these forsayde euentes with more force and abundaunce it is oftener caused in Autumne and spring then in wynter or sommer the cause is the temperatnes of the tyme. The cause why it apeareth somtime greater and sometyme lesser is in the qualititie of the matter whiche as it is grosse or thynne wyll more or lesse be dylated and stretched abroade and also as some wil haue it of the weakenes of mens syght Of whiche Aristotle bryngeth an example in one Antipho whiche dyd alwayes sée his owne image before hym in the ayre as in a glasse whiche he affyrmeth to haue béen for the weakenes of his syght beames that coulde not pearce the ayre so that they weare reflected agayne to hym selfe And thus muche for Halone and the causes signes or tokens of it ¶ Of the Raynbowe THe Raynbowe is the aparition of certain collours in a cloude opposite against the sunne in fashion of halfe a Circle Possidonius sayde it was the sunnes lookyng glasse wherein his image was represented and that the blewe colloured was the proper collour of the cloude the redde of the sunne all the other collours of commixtion It differeth manifoldly from Halone for the raynbowe is alwayes opposite against the sunne but Halone is directly vnder it They differ not onely in place but also in fashion the raynbowe is but halfe a Circle the Halon is a whole Cyrcle Lykewyse they vary in colloure for the raynebowe is more dymme and of purple collour the Halone whyter and bryghter Also in continuaunce for the raynebowe may cōtinue longer then Halone The image of the raynbowe may be séen on a walle y e sunn striking through a sixe pointed stoone called Iris or anye other Christall of the same fashion also through some glasse wyndowe Halone is séen aboute candelles in smoky places as are bathes kychenes The manner of the generation of the raynbowe is suche there is opposit againste the sunne a thycke watrye cloude whiche is alreadye resolued into dewye droppes of rayne as for a grosse similitude is séen on the potlidde when the water in the vessell hath sodden or is very whote the lydde wylbe al full of small droppes of water whiche come frō the water in the vessell fyrst by heat resolued into smoke after when it cannot goe at large it is resolued agayne Wherfore vpon such a cloude the sunne beames strykynge as vppon a smoothe glasse doe expresse the image of y e sunne vnperfectly for the great distāce Or els the sunne beames strike into an hollow cloude where they are refracted or broken and so cometh to the eyes of hym y e beholdeth the raynbowe The similitude thereof is séen whē men sayle or rowe in boates the sunne shyneth vpon the water whiche casteth on the vessels syde the collours image of the raynbowe Lykewyse water in an vrinall holdē against the sunne receyueth the lyght sheweth collours on the walle There be two kindes of rainbowes one of the sunne another of the Moone the one by daye the other by nyght the raynbowe of the sunne often but of the Moone very seldome in so muche that it can be but twyse at the mooste in fiftye yeares and that when the Moone is in the East or West full in perfect opposition It hath not béen many tymes séen sence the wryting of histories yet some tymes and for the rarenes is takē for a great wonder Yet is it in collour nothyng so beutiful as the sunnes but for the moste part whight as mylke other diuersities of collours are scant perceyued When it appeareth it is sayd to signifie tempest The tyme of the raynbowe is often after the poynt of Autumne both for the placing of the sunne in competent lownes and also for abundance of matters seldome or neuer is the raynbowe séen about the middest of sommer There may be many raynbowes at one tyme yet commenly but one pryncipall of