Εἰ τούτων ἐφικτὸς ὁ λόγος σοι, καὶ τὴν περὶ ταῦτα σύνεσιν ἔγνως, σκέψαι καὶ φυτῶν διαφοράς, μέχρι καὶ τῆς ἐν φύλλοις φιλοτεχνίας πρὸς τὸ ἥδιστόν τε ἅμα ταῖς ὄψεσι καὶ τοῖς καρποῖς χρησιμώτατον. σκέψαι μοι καὶ καρπῶν ποικιλίαν καὶ ἀφθονίαν, καὶ μάλιστα τῶν ἀναγκαιοτάτων τὸ κάλλιστον. καὶ σκέψαι μοι καὶ δυνάμεις ῥιζῶν καὶ χυμῶν καὶ ἀνθέων καὶ ὀδμῶν, οὐχ ἡδίστων μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ πρὸς ὑγίειαν ἐπιτηδείων, καὶ χρωμάτων χάριτας καὶ ποιότητας. ἔτι δὲ λίθων πολυτελείας καὶ διαυγείας· ἐπειδή σοι πάντα προὔθηκεν, ὥσπερ ἐν πανδαισίᾳ κοινῇ, ὅσα τε ἀναγκαῖα, καὶ ὅσα πρὸς ἀπόλαυσιν, ἡ φύσις· ἵν’, εἰ μή τι ἄλλο, ἐξ ὧν εὐεργετῇ, γνωρίσῃς θεόν, καὶ τῷ δεῖσθαι γένῃ σεαυτοῦ συνετώτερος. ἐντεῦθεν ἔπελθέ μοι γῆς πλάτη καὶ μήκη, τῆς κοινῆς πάντων μητρός, καὶ κόλπους θαλαττίους ἀλλήλοις τε καὶ τῇ γῇ 2 περι ηγουμ.] om περι cd ‘tres Colb. Or. 1’ 26. 8 και καρπων] om και c || ποικιλίαν] + τε e || 9 και σκεψαι] om και cdef || 10 χυμων] χυλων def 1. τῷ καιρῷ σύμμετρον] ‘proportioned to the time’ for which the food is required. 26. Plants, stones, earth, and its springs—its medicinal waters—are full of wonders ; the stability of the earth, its adaptation of mountain and plain to the convenience of its inhabitants. 6. τῆς ἐν φύλλοις φιλ.] ‘the artistic skill displayed in the leaves.’ They are ‘profitable to the fruits’ by shading them, as Elias says. Cp. Bas. Hex. v κατέσχισται τὸ τῆς ἀμπέλου φύλλον, ἵνα καὶ πρὸς τὰς ἐκ τοῦ ἀέρος βλάβας ὁ βότρυς ἀντέχῃ καὶ τὴν ἀκτῖνα τοῦ ἡλίου διὰ τῆς ἀραιότψτος δαψιλῶς ὑποδέχηται. 9. δυνάμεις ῥίζῶν] Wisd. vii 20, — a passage which Gr. has had in view for some time. 12. ποιότητας] rather a curious word to join with χάριτας. The point pern, lies in the plur.; ‘the charms of the colours and their varieties of quality.’ 13. πανδαισίᾳ] ‘α perfect feast,’ from δαίς. 15. εὐεργετῇ] 2nd per. sing. pres. ind. pass. 18. ἀλλ. κ. τῇ γῇ συνδ.] It is hard to see what Gr. means by this expression. The bays may be said to be connected with the land by the way they run up into it and affect its whole character. Gr. is no doubt thinking of the deeply indented coast of the Aegean. They are con- nected with each other, apparently, because the coasting vessels pass along from bay to bay, rounding the headlands, and plying between the towns that lie in the gulfs. Cp. ἑ 27. συνδεομένους, καὶ ἀλσῶν κάλλη, καὶ ποταμούς, καὶ πηγὰς δαψιλεῖς τε καὶ ἀενάους, οὐ μόνον ψυχρῶν καὶ ποτίμων ὑδάτων, καὶ τῶν ὑπὲρ γῆς, ἀλλὰ καὶ ὅσαι ὑπὸ γῆν ῥέουσαι, καὶ σήραγγάς τινας ὑποτρέχουσαι, εἶτ’ ἐξωθούμεναι βιαίῳ τῷ πνεύματι καὶ ἀντιτυπούμεναι, εἶτ’ ἐκπυρούμεναι τῷ σφοδρῷ τῆς πάλης καὶ τῆς ἀντιθέσεως, ὅπη παρείκοι κατὰ μικρὸν ἀναρρήγνυνται, καὶ τὴν τῶν θερμῶν λουτρῶν χρείαν ἐντεῦθεν ἡμῖν χαρίζονται πολλαχοῦ τῆς γῆς, καὶ μετὰ τῆς ἐναντίας δυνάμεως ἰατρείαν ἄμισθον καὶ αὐτόματον. εἰπὲ πῶς καὶ πόθεν ταῦτα — τί τὸ μέγα τοῦτο καὶ ἄτεχνον ὕφασμα — οὐχ ἧττον ἐπαινετὰ τῆς πρὸς ἄλληλα σχέσεως, ἢ καθ’ ἕκαστον Θεωρούμενα; πῶς γῆ μὲν ἕστηκε παγία καὶ ἀκλινής; ἐπὶ τίνος ὀχουμένη, καὶ τίνος ὄντος τοῦ ὑπερείδοντος; καὶ τίνος ἐκεῖνο πάλιν; οὐδὲ γὰρ ὁ λόγος ἔχει, ἐφ’ ὃ ἐρεισθῇ, πλὴν τοῦ θείου θελήματος. καὶ πῶς 1 συνδεδεμένους de || 2 μόνων a || 5 om καὶ ἀντιτυπούμεναι e || 7 αναρργνυται b: νυηται e || I 5 O] ᾦ d 3. ὑπὸ γῆν] a special feature of Asia Minor. Σήραγγες are ’holes? ’passages, Gr.'s theory of hot springs is that the water is heated by the violence with which it is forced out of its underground pas- sages, by blasts of air which it en- counters. These dash it from side to side and drive it with intense pressure through narrow apertures, until it assumes a very high temperature ἐκπυρούμεναι). Ὅπη παρείκοι, ‘wherever possuble.' I do not know whence Gr. obtained this theory. It is not in Arist. Meteor. or de Mnndo, although Arist. has much to say about underground currents of wind, as well as of underground streams. Arist. rightly connects hot springs with volcanic action. But cp. Bas. Hex. iv ἐκ τῆς αὐτῆς τοῦ κινοῦντος αἰτίας ζέουσα γίνεται... καὶ πυρώδης. 8. μ. τ. ἐναντίας δ.] generally understood to mean ’along with the ’ This is of course an impossible interp. of the words. The μετὰ is, as frequently in Gr., used in that general sense which includes the instrumental, — like its modern representative μέ; cp. ἑ 13 σκοπεῖ μετὰ τῆς ἰδ’. ἀσθενείας, § 2 I προσβ. μετὰ τῶν αἰσθήσεων, ἑ 28 μεθ’ οὗ λόγος. So here it will mean ‘with their contrary (i. e. corrective) force.' 10. ἄτεχνον ὕφ’.] a kind of oxymoron. Gr. uses ὑφαίνειν in a wide way, without any notion of ‘weaving'; e.g. § 24 συνυφαίνων τὴν ᾠδήν. 11. ἐπαινετά] agrees with ταῦτα, the question τί τὸ μέγα κτλ. being parenthetical. τῆς σχές. depends on ἐπαιν., ’ to be praised for, in reference to, their correlation to each other. ’ 14. οὐδέ γὰρ ὁ λόγος κτλ.] ‘reason knows of nothing for it (the earth) to rest upon.' ἡ μὲν εἰς ὀρῶν κορυφὰς ἀνηγμένη, ἡ δὲ εἰς πεδία καθεζομένη, καὶ τοῦτο πολυειδῶς καὶ ποικίλως, καὶ ταῖς κατ’ ὀλίγον ἐναλλαγαῖς μεθισταμένη, πρός τε τὴν χρείαν ἐστὶν ἀΦθονωτώρα, καὶ τῷ ποικίλῳ χαριεστέρα; καὶ ἡ μὲν εἰς οἰκήσεις νενεμημένη, ἡ δὲ ἀοίκητος, ὅσην αἱ ὑπερβολαὶ τῶν ὀρῶν ἀποτέμνονται, καὶ ἄλλη πρὸς ἄλλο τι πέρας σχιζομένη καὶ ἀποβαίνουσα, τῆς τοῦ θεοῦ μεγαλουργίας ἐναργέστατόν ἐστι γνώρισμα;