BOOK X.
SECONDARY MECHANICAL SCIENCES.
(CONTINUED.)
HISTORY
OF
THERMOTICS AND ATMOLOGY.
Et primum faciunt ignem se vortere in auras
Aëris; hinc imbrem gigni terramque creari
Ex imbri; retroque a terrâ cuncta revorti,
Humorem primum, post aëra deinde calorem;
Nec cessare hæc inter se mutare, meare,
De cœlo ad terram de terrâ ad sidera mundi.
Lucretius, i. 783.
Water, and Air, and Fire, alternate run
Their endless circle, multiform, yet one.
For, moulded by the fervor’s latent beams,
Solids flow loose, and fluids flash to steams,
And elemental flame, with secret force,
Pursues through earth, air, sky, its stated course.