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IT is not (as some are of opinion) that heat is a quality, and cold only a privation of that quality, and so that an entity is even less a cause than a non-entity. But we do it because Nature has attributed admiration to what is rare, and she puts men upon enquiry how any thing comes to pass that seldom happens. As Euripides saith, Behold the boundless Heaven on high, Bearing the earth in his moist arms,— what wonders he brings out by night, and what beauty he shows forth by day!... The rainbow and the varied beauty of the clouds by day, and the lights which burst forth by night...
XXX. WHY ARE VINES WHICH ARE RANK OF LEAVES, BUT OTHERWISE FRUIT- LESS, SAID τραγᾶν?
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Is it because very fat goats (τράγοι) are less able to procreate, nay, scarce able to use coition, by reason of their fatness Seed is the superfluity of the aliment which is allotted to the body: now, when either an animal or a plant is of a very strong constitution and grows fat, it is a sign that all the nourishment is spent within, and that there is little and base excrement, or none at all.
XXXI. WHY DOES THE VINE IRRIGATED WITH WINE DIE, ESPECIALLY THE VERY WINE MADE FROM ITS OWN GRAPES?
