astime. Let us grant ourselves this
indulgence, and go through the probabilities relating to the same
subjects which follow next in order.

Water which is mingled with fire, so much as is fine and liquid (being
so called by reason of its motion and the way in which it rolls along
the ground), and soft, because its bases give way and are less stable
than those of earth, when separated from fire and air and isolated,
becomes more uniform, and by their retirement is compressed into itself;
and if the condensation be very great, the water above the earth becomes
hail, but on the earth, ice; and that which is congealed in a less
degree and is only half solid, when above the earth is called snow, and
when upon the earth, and condensed from dew, hoar-frost. Then, again,
there are the numerous kinds of water which have been mingled with one
another, and are distilled through plants which grow in the earth; and
this whole class is called by the name of juices or saps. The unequal
admixture of these fluids creates a variety of species; most of them are
nameless, but four which are of a fiery nature are clearly distinguished
and have names. First, there is wine, which warms the soul as well
as the body: secondly, there is the oily nature, which is smooth and
divides the visual ray, and for this reason is bright and shining and of
a glistening appearance, including pitch, the juice of the castor berry,
oil itself, and other things of a like kind: thirdly, there is the class
of substances which expand the contracted parts of the mouth, until they
return to their natural state, and by reason of this property create
sweetness;--these are included under the general name of honey: and,
lastly, there is a frothy nature, which differs from all juices, having
a burning quality which dissolves the flesh; it is called opos (a
vegetable acid).

As to the kinds of earth, that which is filtered through water passes
into stone in the following manner:--The water which mixes with the
earth and is broken up in the process changes into air, and taking this
form mounts into its own place. But as there is no surrounding vacuum it
thrusts away the neighbouring air, and this being rendered heavy, and,
when it is displaced, having been poured around the mass of earth,
forcibly compresses it and drives it into the vacant space whence the
new air had come up; and the earth when compressed by the air into an
indissoluble union with water becomes rock. The