The name. He strongly grasps the serpent round, With both his hands; himself the serpent folds Beneath his breast, and round his middle holds; Yet gravely he, bright shinging in the skies, Movés on, and ‘treads on Nepa’s® breast and eyes.
The Septentriones’ are followed by— Arctophylax,® that’s said to be the same ~ Which we Bodtes call, who has the name, 1 The tail of the Greater Bear..
2 That is, in Macedon, where Aratus lived: % The true interpretation of this passage is as follows. Here in Macedon, says Aratus, the head of the Dragon does not entirely immerge © itself in the ocean, but only touches the superficies of it. By ortws and ‘obitus I doubt not but Cicero meant, agreeable to Aratus, those parts -which arise to view, and those which are removed from sight. | 4 These are two northern constellations. Engonasis, (in some cata- logues called Hercules,) because he is figured kneeling év -yévacty, on his ‘knees; "Evydvacw xadcovo’, as Aratus says, they call Engonasis.
5 The crown is placed under the feet of Hercules in the “Atlas Coelestis;” ‘but Ophiuchus, (Og:obx0s) the Snake-holder, is placed in the map by ‘Flamsteed as described here by Aratus; and their heads almost meet.
6 The Scorpion. Ophiuchus, though a northern constellation, is not ‘far from that part of the, zodiac where the Scorpion is, which is one of the six southern signs. 7 The wain of seven stars.
: 8 The wain-driver. This northern constellation is, in our present maps, ~on with a club in his right hand behind the Greater Bear.: G2 84 OF THE NATURE OF THE GODS. Because he drives the Greater Bear along Yoked to a wain.
Besides, in Bodtes,— A star of glittering rays, about his waist, Arcturus called, a name renown’d, is placed.?
Beneath which is The Virgin of illustrious form, whose hand Holds a bright spike. XLII. And truly these signs are so regularly disposed, that a divine wisdom evidently appears in them:— Beneath the Bear’s? head have the twins their seat, Under his chest the Crab, beneath his feet The mighty Lion darts a trembling flame.* The Charioteer— On the left side of Gemini we see,4 And at his head behold fierce Helice; On his left shoulder the bright Goat appears.
But to proceed— This is indeed a great and glorious star. On th’ other side the Kids, inferior far, _ Yield but a slender light to mortal eyes.
Under his feet— | The horned Bull,5 with sturdy limbs, is placed; his head is spangled with a number of stars; These by the Grecks are called the Hyades, ? Tn some modern maps Arcturus, a star of the first magnitude, is placed in the belt that is round the waist of Bodtes. Cicero says subter precordia, which is about the waist; and Aratus says ird Cévp, under the belt.
2 Sub caput Arcti, under the head of the Greater Bear.
3 The Crab is, by the ancients and moderns, placed in the zodiac, as here, betwixt the Twins and the Lion; and they are all three northern signs. iid z) The Twins are placed in the zodiac with the side of one to the northern hemisphere, and the side of the other to the southern hemi- sphere. Auriga, the Charioteer, is placed in the northern hemisphere near the zodiac, by the Twins; and at the head of the Charioteer, is Helice, the Greater Bear, placed; and the Goat is a bright star of the first magnitude placed on the left shoulder of this northern constellation, and called Capra, the Goat; Hedi, the Kids, are two more stars of the same constellation.. f * A constellation; one of the northern signs in the zodiac, in which the Hyades are placed, — c OF THE NATURE OF THE GODS. 85.
from raining, for vew is to rain; therefore they are injudiciously called Sucule by our people, as if they had their name from ts, a sow, and not from vo.
Behind the Lesser Bear, Cepheus' follows with extended. hands,— For close behind the Lesser Bear he comes. Before him goes— Cassiopea? with a faintish light; But near her moves (fair and illustrious sight!) Andromeda,? who with an eager pace, Seems to avoid her parent’s mournful face.* With glittering mane the Horse > now seems to tread, So near he comes, on her refulgent head; With a fair star, that close to him appears, A double form 6 and but one light he wears; By which he seems ambitious in the sky An everlasting knot of stars to tie.
Near him the Ram, with wreathed horns, is placed; by whom— The Fishes? are; of which one seems to haste Somewhat before the other, to the blast Of the north wind exposed. XLIV. Perseus 1 is described as placed at the feet of Andro- meda:— And him the sharp blasts of the north wind beat. Near his left knee, but dim their light, their seat 1 One of the feet of Cepheus, a northern constellation, is under the tail of the Lesser Bear.
2 Grotius, and after him Dr. Davis, and other learned men, read Cassiepea after the Greek Kaoclerea, and reject the common reading, Cassiopea.
3 These northern constellations here mentioned have been always placed together as one family with Cepheus and Perseus, as they are in our modern maps.
4 This alludes to the fable of Perseus and Andromeda.
> Pegasus, who is one of Perseus and Andromeda’s family.
6 That is, with wings.
'% Aries, the Ram, is the first notthern sign in the zodiac: Pisces, the Fishes, the last southern sign; therefore they must be near one another, as they are in a circle or belt. In Flamsteed’s “ Atlas Coelestis” one of the Fishes is near the head of the Ram, and the other-near the Urn ot Aquarius, | 86 OF THE NATURE OF THE GODS.
The small Pleiades’ maintain. We find, Not far from them, the Lyre? but slightly j join’d. Next is the winged Bird,? that seems to fly Beneath the spacious covering of the sky.
Near the head of the Horse‘ lies the right hand of Aquarius, then all Aquarius himself.® Then Capricorn, with half the form of ee: Breathes chill and piercing colds from his strong breast, And in a spacious circle takes his round; When him, while in the winter solstice bound, The sun has visited with constant light, He turns his course, and shorter makes the night.¢ Not far from hence is seen— The Scorpion? rising lofty from below; By him the Archer,’ with his bended bow; —. Near him. the Bird, with gaudy feathers spread; And the fierce Eagle ® hovers o’er his head.
Next comes the Dolphin;"— __‘Then bright Orion,!! who obliquely moves; he is followed by— The fervent Dog,!3 bright with refulgent stars: next the Hare follows®—: ‘1-fhese are called Virgilie by Cicero, by Aratus the Pleiades, TlAniddes; and they are placed at the neck of the Bull; and one of Perseus’s feet touches the Bull in the “ Atlas Coelestis.”..
2 This northern constellation is called Fides by Cicero; but it must be the same with Lyra; because Lyra is placed in our maps as Fides is here.
3 This is called Ales Avis by Cicero; and I doubt not but the northern constellation Cygnus is here to be understood, for the description and place of the Swan in i " Atlas vacentia ” ave the same which Ales Avis has here. = _ * Pegasus.
> The Water-bearer, one of the s six southern signs in the zodiac; he is described in our maps pouring water out of an urn, and leaning with one hand on the tail of Capricorn, another southern sign.
6 When the sun is in Capricorn, the days are at the shortest; and when in Cancer, at the longest. i 7 One of the six southern signs..
_ 8 Sagittarius, another southern sign. 9 A northern soupalistion.
40 A northern constellation...© A southern constellation. i 12. This is Canis Major, a southern constellation. Orion and the Dog are named together by Hesiod, who flourished ma, hundred years ele Gicero or Aratus.. 4 33 A southern constellation, placed a as here in the “Alas Conlestis.”
OF THE NATURE OF THE GODS. 87 Unwearied in his course. At the Dog’s tail Argo! moves on, and moving seems to sail; O’er her the Ram and Fishes have their place; 2; The illustrious vessel touches, in her pace, The river’s banks; * ‘eihiidh you may see winding and extending itself to a great length. The Fetters * at the Fishes’ tails are hung.
By Nepa’s > head behold the Altar stand,® Which by the breath of southern winds is fann’d; near which the Centaur 7— Hastens his mingled parts to join beneath — The Serpent,® there extending his right hand, To where you see the monstrous Scorpion stand, Which he at the bright Altar fiercely slays. Here on her lower parts see Hydra ® raise Herself; whose bulk is very far extended.
Amidst the winding of her body ’s placed The shining Goblet;!° and the glossy Crow! Plunges his beak into her parts below. Antecanis beneath the Twins is seen, Call’d Procyon by the Greeks,}” ~ Can any one in-his senses imagine that this disposition of. the stars, and this heaven so beautifully adorned, could ever have been formed by a fortuitous concourse of atoms? Or what other nature, being destitute of intellect and reason, could possibly have produced these effects, which not only 1 A southern constellation, so called from the ship Argo, in which Pee and the rest of the Argonauts sailed on their expedition to olchos.
2 The Ram is the first of the northern signs in the zodiac; and the last southern sign is the Fishes; which two signs, meeting in the zodiac, cover the constellation called Argo.
_ % The river Eridanus, a southern constellation.
* A southern constellation.
5 This is called the Scorpion in the orginal of Aratus.: 6 A southern constellation. 7 A southern constellation.
8 The Serpent is not ne in Cicero’s translation; but it is in the original of Aratus.
10 The Goblet, or Cup, a southern ieiatienia | 2 Antecanis, a southern constellation, i is the Little Dog, and called Antecanis in Latin, and cama in popony because he rises Peon the other Dog, SHE a ‘oy yo: SROT OL GL i ” 88 OF THE NATURE OF THE GODS.
required reason to bring them about, but the very character of which could not be understood and appreciated without the most strenuous exertions of well directed reason?
XLY. But our admiration is not limited to the objects here described. What is most wonderful is, that the world is so durable, and so perfectly made for lasting that it is not to be impaired by time; for all its parts tend equally to the centre, and are bound together by a sort of chain, which sur- ' rounds the elements; this chain is nature, which being dif- fused through the universe, and performing all things with | judgment and reason, attracts the extremities to the cenire.
If, then, the world is round, and if on that account all its parts, being of equal dimensions and relative proportions, mutually support and are supported by one another, it must follow that as all the parts incline to the centre (for that is the lowest place of a globe) there is nothing whatever which - can put a stop to that propensity, in the case of such great weights. For the same reason, though the sea is higher than the earth, yet because it has the like tendency, it is collected everywhere, equally concentres, and never overflows, and is never wasted. | The air, which is contiguous, ascends by its lightness, but diffuses itself through the whole; therefore it is by nature joined and united to the sea, and at the same time borne by the same power towards the heaven, by the thinness and heat of which it is so tempered as to be made proper to supply life, and wholesome air for the support of animated beings. This is encompassed by the highest region of the _ heavens, which is called the sky, which is joined to the extremity of the air, but retains its own heat pure and un- mixed.
XLVI. The stars have their revolutions in the sky, and are continued by the tendency of all parts towards the centre; their duration is perpetuated by their form and figure, for they are round; which form, as I think has been before ob- served, is the least liable to injury; and, as they are composed of fire, they are fed by the vapours which are exhaled by the sun from the earth, the sea, and other waters; but when these vapours have nourished and refreshed the stars, and the whole sky, they are sent back to be exhaled again; so that very little is lost or consumed by the fire of the stars and the flame OF THE NATURE OF THE GODS, | 89 of the sky. Hence we Stoics conclude, which Paneztius! is said to have doubted of, that the whole*world at last would be consumed by a general conflagration; when all moisture being exhausted, neither the earth could have any nourish- ment, nor the air return again, since water, of which it is formed, would then be all consumed; so that only fire would subsist; and from this fire, which is an animating power and a Deity, a new world would arise and be re-established in the same beauty.
I should be sorry to appear to you to dwell too long upon this subject of the stars, and more especially upon that of the planets; whose motions, though different, make a very Just agreement. Saturn, the highest, chills; Mars, placed in the middle, burns; while Jupiter, interposing, moderates their excess, both of light and heat. The two planets beneath Mars’ obey the sun. The sun himself fills the whole universe with his own genial light; and the moon, illuminated by him, influences conception, birth, and maturity. And who is there who is not moved by this union of things, and by this con- currence of nature agreeing together as it were for the safety of the world, and yet I feel sure that none of these reflections have ever been made by these men.
XLVII. Let us proceed from celestial to terrestrial things. ‘What is there in them which does not prove the principle of an intelligent nature? First, as to vegetables; they have roots to sustain their stems, and to draw from the earth a nourishing moisture to support the vital principle which those roots contain. They are clothed with a rind or bark, to secure them more thoroughly from heat and cold. The vines, we see, take hold on props with their tendrils, as if with hands, and raise themselves as if they were animated; it is even said, that they shun cabbages and coleworts, as noxious and pestilential.to them, and if planted by them, will not touch any part.
But what a vast variety is there of animals? and how wonderfully is every kind adapted to preserve itself! Some are covered with hides, some clothed with fleeces, and some guarded with bristles; some are sheltered with feathers, some with scales; some are armed with horns, and some are fur- nished with wings to escape from danger. Nature hath also 1 Paneetius, a Stoic philosopher,? Mercury and Venus.
90 OF THE NATURE OF THE GODS.
liberally and plentifully provided for all animals their proper food; I could expatiate on the judicious and curious forma- tion and disposition of their bodies for the reception and digestion of it, for all their interior parts are so framed and disposed, that there is nothing superfluous, nothing that is not necessary for the preservation of life. Besides, nature has also given these beasts appetite and sense; in order that by the one they may be excited to procure sufficient suste- nance, and by the other they may distinguish what is noxious from what is salutary. Some animals seek their food walking, some creeping, some flying, and some swimming; some take it with their mouth and teeth; some seize it with their claws, and some with their beaks; some suck, some graze, some bolt it whole, and some chew it. Some are so low, that they can with ease take such food as is to be found on the ground; but the taller, as geese, swans, cranes, and camels, are assisted by a length of neck. ‘To’ the elephant is given a hand,’ without which, from his unwieldiness of body, he would scarce have any means of attaining food.
XLVIII. But to those beasts which live by preying on others, nature has given either strength or swiftness. On some animals she has even bestowed artifice and cunning; as on spiders, some of which weave a sort of net to entrap and ‘destroy whatever falls into it, others sit on the watch unob- _ served to fall on their prey and devour it. The naker, by the Greeks called Pinna, has a kind of confederacy with the prawn for procuring food. It has two large shells open, into which when the little fishes swim, the naker, having notice given by the bite of the prawn, closes them immediately. ‘Thus, these little animals, though of different kinds, seek their food in common; in which it is matter of wonder whether they associate by any agreement, or are naturally joined together from their beginning...There is some cause to admire also the provision of nature in the case of those aquatic animals which are generated on Jand,.such as crocodiles, river-tortoises, and a carbhini kind of serpents, which | seck the water as soon as they are able to ~ 1 The proboscis of the elephant i is p Medi called a hand, because it is as useful to him as one. “They breathe, drink, and smell, with a napa not be ndrinnah mar alee a a 4 terme suey, b. viii. ¢. 10. —_ Davis..
4 OF THE NATURE OF THE GODS, 9} drag themselves along. We frequently put, duck-eges under hens, by which, as by their true mothers, the ducklings are at first hatched and nourished; but when they see the water, they forsake them and run to it, as to their natural abode; so strong is the impression of nature in animals for their own preservation.
- XLIX. I have read that there is a bird called Platalea, _ Shoveler, that lives by watching those fowls which dive into the sea for their prey, and when they return with it; he squeezes their heads with his beak, till they drop it, and then seizes on it himself; it is said likewise that he is in the habit of filling his stomach with shell-fish, and when they are digested by the heat which exists in the stomach, they cast them up, and then pick out what is proper nourishment. The sea-frogs, they say, are wont to cover themselves with sand; and moving near the water, the fishes strike at them, as at a bait, and are themselves taken and davoured by the frogs.
Between the kite and the crow there is a kind of natural war, and wherever the one finds the eggs of the other, he breaks them.
But who is there who can avoid being struck ily woniee at that which has been noticed by Aristotle, who has enriched us with so many valuable remarks. When the cranes’ pass the sea in search of warmer climes, they fly in the form of a triangle. By the first angle they repel. the resisting air; on each side, their wings serve as oars to facilitate their flicht; and the basis of their triangle is assisted by the wind in their stern, Those which are behind, rest their necks and heads on those which precede; and as the leader has not the same relief, because he has none to lean upon, he at length flies behind. that he may also rest, while one of those which have been eased, succeeds him; and through the whole — each regularly takes histurn.: —: I could produce many instances of this kind, but these. may suffice. Let us now proceed to things more familiar to us. The care of beasts for their own preservation, their cir- cumspection while feeding, and theix manner of taking rest’ in their lairs, are ponerany known, Lee still ers are aT to'be admired. ~~ 1 The passage of Aristotle’s works, to which: Civero — alludes is entirely lost; but Plutarch gives a similar account,, 92 OF THE NATURE OF THE GODS.
L. Dogs cure themselves by a vomit, the Egyptian Ibis by a purge; from whence physicians have lately, I mean but few ages since, greatly improved their art. It is reported that panthers, which in barbarous countries are taken with poisoned flesh, have a certain remedy' that preserves them from dying; and that in Crete, the wild goats, when they are wounded with poisoned arrows, seek for an herb called dit- tany, which when they have tasted, the arrows (they say) drop from their bodies. It is said also that deer, before they fawn, purge themselves with a little herb called hartswort.? Beasts, when they receive any hurt; or fear it, have recourse to their natural arms: the bull to his horns, the boar to his tusks, and the lion to his teeth. Some take to flight, others hide themselves; the cuttle-fish vomits blood,* the cramp-fish benumbs; and there are many animals that, by their intoler- able stink, oblige their pursuers to retire.
LI. But that the ‘beauty of the world might be eternal, great care has been taken by the providence of the Gods te perpetuate the different kinds of animals, and vegetables, and trees, and all those things which sink deep into the earth, and are contained in it by their roots and trunks; in order to which, every individual has within itself such fertile seed that many are generated from one; and in vegetables this seed is inclosed in the heart of their fruit, but in such abund- ance, that men may plentifully feed on it, and the earth be always replanted.
With regard to animals, do we not see how aptly they are formed for the propagation of their species? Nature for this end created some males and some females. ‘Their parts are perfectly framed for generation, and they have a wonderful propensity to copulation. When the seed has fallen on the matrix, it draws almost all the nourishment to itself, by | which the foetus is formed; but as soon as it is discharged from thence, if it is an animal that is nourished by milk, almost all the food of the mother turns into milk, and the animal, - 1 Balbus does not tell us the remedy which the panther makes use of; but Pliny is not quite so delicate; he says, excrementis hominis sibi medetur, 2 Aristotle says, they purge themselves with this herb after they fawn; Pliny says‘both before and after. ea" athe cuttle-fish has a bag at. its neck, the black blood of which the Romans used for ink; it was called atramentum., OF THE NATURE OF THE GODS, 93 without any direction, but by the pure instinct of nature, immediately hunts for the teat, and is there fed with plenty. What makes it evidently appear that there is nothing in this fortuitous, but the work of a wise and foreseeing Nature, is, that those females which bring forth many young, as sows and bitches, have many teats, and those which bear a small number, have but few. What tenderness do beasts show in preserving and raising up their young till they are able to defend themselves! They say, indeed, that fish, when they have spawned, leave their eggs; but the water easily supports them, and produces the young fry in abundance.
LII. It is said, likewise, that tortoises and crocodiles, when they have laid their eggs on the land, only cover them with earth, and then leave them, so that their young are hatched and brought up without assistance; but fowls and other birds seek for quiet places to lay in, where they build their nests in the softest manner, for the surest preservation of their eggs; which, when they have hatched, they defend from the cold by the warmth of their wings, or screen them from the sultry heat of the sun. When their young begin to be able to use their wings, they attend and instruct them, and. then their cares are at an end.
Human art and industry are indeed necessary towards the preservation and improvement of certain animals and vege~- tables; for there are several of both kinds, which would perish without that assistance. There are likewise innu- merable facilities (being different in different places) supplied to man to aid him in his civilization, and in procuring abundantly what he requires. The Nile waters Egypt, and after having overflowed and covered it the whole summer, it retires, and leaves the fields softened and manured for the reception of seed. The Euphrates fertilizes Mesopotamia, into which, as we may say, it carries yearly new fields.’ The Indus, which is the largest of all rivers,’ not only improves and cultivates the ground, but sows it also; for it is said to carry with it a great quantity of grain. [I could mention 1 The Euphrates is said to carry into Mesopotamia a large quantity of citrons, with which it covers the fields.
2 Q. Curtius, and some other au'hors, say the Ganges is the largest river in India; but Ammianus Marcellinus concurs with Cicero in calling the river Indus the largest of all rivers, 94 OF THE NATURE OF THE GODS.
many other countries remarkable for something singular, and many fields, which are, in their own es exceedingly fertile.
LIL. But how bountiful is nature, that Rok provided for us. such an abundance of various and delicious food; and this varying with the different seasons, so that we may be con- stantly pleased with change, and satisfied with abundance! How seasonable and useful to man, to beasts, and even to vegetables, are the Etesian winds’ she has bestowed, which _ moderate intemperate heat, and render navigation more sure and speedy!. Many things must be omitted on a subject so copious; and still a great deal must be said; for it is impos- sible to relate the great utility of rivers, the flux and reflux of the sea, the mountains clothed with grass and trees, the salt-pits remote from the sea-coasts, the earth replete with salutary medicines, or, in short, the innumerable designs of nature necessary for sustenance and the enjoyment of life. ‘We must not forget the vicissitudes of day and night, ordained for the health of animated beings, giving them a time to Jabour and a time to rest. Thus, if we every way examine the universe, it is apparent, from the greatest reason, that the whole is admirably governed by a divine providence, for the safety and preservation of all beings.
If it should be asked for whose sake this mighty fabric was raised, shall we say for trees and other vegetables, which, though destitute of sense, are supported by nature? That wotld be absurd. Is it for beasts? Nothing can be less ‘probable than that the Gods should have taken such pains for beings void of speech and understanding. For whom, then, will any one presume to say that the world was made? Un- ‘doubtedly for reasonable beings; these are the Gods and men, who are certainly the most perfect of all beings, as nothing is equal to reason; it is therefore credible that the universe, and all things in ‘it, were made for the Gods and for men.
But we may yet more easily comprehend that the Gods have taken great care of the interests and welfare of men, if we examine thoroughly into the structure of the body,.and the form and perfection of human nature. There are three things absolutely necessary for the support of life; to eat, to ' These Etesian winds return periodically once a year, and blow at certain seasons, and for a certain time.
OF THE NATURE OF THE GODS. 95 drink, and to breathe; for these operations the mouth is most aptly framed, which, by the assistance of the nostrils, draws in the more air.
LIV. The teeth are there placed to divide ‘and grind the food. The fore-teeth, being sharp and opposite to each other, cut it asunder, aiid the hind-teeth (called the grinders) chew it; in which office the tongue seems to assist. At the root of the tongue is the gullet, which receives whatever is swallowed; it touches the tonsils on each side, and terminates at the interior extremity of the palate. When by the motions of the tongue the food is forced into this passage, it descends, and those parts of the gullet, which are below it, are dilated, and those above are contracted. There is another passage, called by physicians the rough artery,” which reaches to the lungs, for the entrance and return of the air we breathe; and as its orifice is jomed to the roots of the tongue a little above the part to which the gullet is annexed, it is furnished with a sort of coverlid,’ lest, by the accidental falling of any food into it, the respiration should be stopped.
As the stomach, which is beneath the oullet, receives the meat and drink, so the lungs and the heart draw in the air from without. The stomach is wonderfully composed, con- sisting almost wholly of nerves; it abounds with membranes and fibres, and detains what it receives, whether solid or liquid, till it is altered and digested. It sometimes contracts, sometimes dilates. It blends and mixes the food together, so that it is easily concocted and digested by its force of heat, and by the animal spirits is distributed into the other parts of the body.
LY. As to the lungs, they are of a soft and spongy sub- stance, which renders them the most commodious for respira- tion; they alternately dilate and contract to receive and return the air, that what is the chief animal sustenance may be always fresh. The juice,* by which we are nourished, being - 1 Some read mollitur, and some molitur; the latter of which iy Manucius justly prefers, from the verb solo, molis; from whence, says he, molares dentes, the grinders.
. # The weasand, or wind-pipe.
3 The epiglottis, which is a seditiestiniiad flap in the shape of a tongue, and therefore called so.
4 Cicero is here giving the opinion of the ancients concerning the passage of the chyle till it is converted to blood, 96 OF THE NATURE OF THE GODS.
separated from the rest of the food, passes the stomach and intestines to the liver, through open and direct passages, which lead from the mesentery to the gates of the liver (for so they call those vessels at the entrance of it). There are other passages from thence, through which the food has its course when it has passed the liver. When the bile, and those humours which proceed from the kidneys, are separated from the food, the remaining part turns to blood, and flows to those vessels at the entrance of the liver, to which all the passages adjoin. The chyle, being conveyed from this place through them into the vessel called the hollow vein, is mixed together, and, being already digested and distilled, passes into the heart; and from the heart it is communicated through a great number of veins to every part of the body.
It is not difficult to describe how the gross remains are detruded by the motion of the intestines, which contract and dilate; but that must be declined, as too indelicate for dis- course. Let us rather explain that other wonder of nature, the air, which is drawn into the lungs, receives heat both by _ that already in and by the coagitation of the lungs; one part is turned back by respiration, and the other is received into a place called the ventricle of the heart." There is another ventricle like it annexed to the heart, into which the blood flows from the liver through the hollow vein; thus by one ventricle the blood is diffused to the extremities through the veins, and by the other the breath is communicated through the arteries; and there are such numbers of both dispersed through the whole body that they manifest a divine art.
Why need I speak of the bones, those supports of the body, whose joints are so wonderfully contrived for stability, and to render the limbs complete with regard to motion and to every action of the body? Or need I mention the nerves, by which the limbs are governed,—their many interweavings, and their proceeding from the heart,’ from whence, like the veins and arteries, they have their origin, and are distributed through the whole corporeal frame?
1 What Cicero here calls the ventricles of the heart are likewise called auricles, of which there is the right and left. ANY 2 The Stoies and Peripatetics said that the nerves, veins, and arteries come directly from the heart. According to the anatomy of the moderns, - they come from the brain.
* OF THE NATURE OF THE GODS. 97 LVI. To this skill of nature, and this care of providence, so diligent and so ingenious, many reflections may be added, -which show what valuable things the Deity has bestowed onman. He has made us of a stature tall and upright, in order that we might behold the heavens, and so arrive at the knowledge of the Gods; for men are not simply to dwell here as inhabitants of the earth, but to be, as it were, spectators of the heavens and the stars, which is a privilege not granted to any other kind of animated beings. The senses, which are the interpreters and messengers of things, are placed in the head, as in a tower, and wonderfully situated for their proper uses; for the eyes, being in the highest part, have the office . of sentinels, in discovering to us objects; and the ears are conveniently placed in a high part of the person, being appointed to receive sound, which naturally ascends. The nostrils have the like situation, because all scent likewise ascends; and they have, with great reason, a near vicinity to the mouth, because they assist us in judging of meat and drink. The taste, which is to distinguish the quality of what we take, is in that part of the mouth where nature has laid open a passage for what we eat and drink; but the touch is equally diffused through the whole body, that we may not receive any blows, or the too rigid attacks of cold and heat, without feeling them: and as in building the architect averts