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Having determined these principles let us explain the cause of the
appearance in the sky of burning flames and of shooting-stars, and of
âtorchesâ, and âgoatsâ, as some people call them. All these phenomena are one
and the same thing, and are due to the same cause, the difference between
them being one of degree.
The explanation of these and many other phenomena is this. When the sun
warms the earth the evaporation which takes place is necessarily of two kinds,
not of one only as some think. One kind is rather of the nature of vapour, the
other of the nature of a windy exhalation. That which rises from the moisture
contained in the earth and on its surface is vapour, while that rising from the
earth itself, which is dry, is like smoke. Of these the windy exhalation, being
warm, rises above the moister vapour, which is heavy and sinks below the
other. Hence the world surrounding the earth is ordered as follows. First
below the circular motion comes the warm and dry element, which we call
fire, for there is no word fully adequate to every state of the fumid
evaporation: but we must use this terminology since this element is the most
inflammable of all bodies. Below this comes air. We must think of what we
just called fire as being spread round the terrestrial sphere on the outside like
a kind of fuel, so that a little motion often makes it burst into flame just as
smoke does: for flame is the ebullition of a dry exhalation. So whenever the
circular motion stirs this stuff up in any way, it catches fire at the point at
which it is most inflammable. The result differs according to the disposition
and quantity of the combustible material. If this is broad and long, we often
see a flame burning as in a field of stubble: if it burns lengthwise only, we see
what are called âtorchesâ and âgoatsâ and shooting-stars. Now when the
inflammable material is longer than it is broad sometimes it seems to throw
off sparks as it burns. (This happens because matter catches fire at the sides in
small portions but continuously with the main body.) Then it is called a
âgoatâ. When this does not happen it is a âtorchâ. But if the whole length of
the exhalation is scattered in small parts and in many directions and in breadth
and depth alike, we get what are called shooting-stars.
The cause of these shooting-stars is sometimes the motion which ignites the
exhalation. At other times the air is condensed by cold and squeezes out and
ejects the hot element; making their motion look more like that of a thing
712
zurĂŒck zum
Buch The Complete Aristotle"
The Complete Aristotle
- Titel
- The Complete Aristotle
- Autor
- Aristotle
- Datum
- ~322 B.C.
- Sprache
- englisch
- Lizenz
- PD
- Abmessungen
- 21.0 x 29.7 cm
- Seiten
- 2328
- Schlagwörter
- Philosophy, Antique, Philosophie, Antike, Dialogues, Metaphysik, Metaphysics, Ideologie, Ideology, Englisch
- Kategorien
- Geisteswissenschaften
- International
Inhaltsverzeichnis
- Part 1; Logic (Organon) 3
- Categories 4
- On Interpretation 34
- Prior Analytics, Book I 56
- Prior Analytics, Book II 113
- Posterior Analytics, Book I 149
- Posterior Analytics, Book II 193
- Topics, Book I 218
- Topics, Book II 221
- Topics, Book III 237
- Topics, Book IV 248
- Topics, Book V 266
- Topics, Book VI 291
- Topics, Book VII 317
- Topics, Book VIII 326
- On Sophistical Refutations 348
- Part 2; Universal Physics 396
- Physics, Book I 397
- Physics, Book II 415
- Physics, Book III 432
- Physics, Book IV 449
- Physics, Book V 481
- Physics, Book VI 496
- Physics, Book VII 519
- Physics, Book VIII 533
- On the Heavens, Book I 570
- On the Heavens, Book II 599
- On the Heavens, Book III 624
- On the Heavens, Book IV 640
- On Generation and Corruption, Book I 651
- On Generation and Corruption, Book II 685
- Meteorology, Book I 707
- Meteorology, Book II 733
- Meteorology, Book III 760
- Meteorology, Book IV 773
- Part 3; Human Physics 795
- On the Soul, Book I 796
- On the Soul, Book II 815
- On the Soul, Book III 840
- On Sense and the Sensible 861
- On Memory and Reminiscence 889
- On Sleep and Sleeplessness 899
- On Dreams 909
- On Prophesying by Dreams 918
- On Longevity and the Shortness of Life 923
- On Youth, Old Age, Life and Death, and Respiration 929
- Part 4; Animal Physics 952
- The History of Animals, Book I 953
- The History of Animals, Book II translated 977
- The History of Animals, Book III 1000
- The History of Animals, Book IV 1029
- The History of Animals, Book V 1056
- The History of Animals, Book VI 1094
- The History of Animals, Book VII 1135
- The History of Animals, Book VIII 1150
- The History of Animals, Book IX 1186
- On the Parts of Animals, Book I 1234
- On the Parts of Animals, Book II 1249
- On the Parts of Animals, Book III 1281
- On the Parts of Animals, Book IV 1311
- On the Motion of Animals 1351
- On the Gait of Animals 1363
- On the Generation of Animals, Book I 1381
- On the Generation of Animals, Book II 1412
- On the Generation of Animals, Book III 1444
- On the Generation of Animals, Book IV 1469
- On the Generation of Animals, Book V 1496
- Part 5; Metaphysics 1516
- Part 6; Ethics and Politics 1748
- Nicomachean Ethics, Book I 1749
- Nicomachean Ethics, Book II 1766
- Nicomachean Ethics, Book III 1779
- Nicomachean Ethics, Book IV 1799
- Nicomachean Ethics, Book V 1817
- Nicomachean Ethics, Book VI 1836
- Nicomachean Ethics, Book VII 1851
- Nicomachean Ethics, Book VIII 1872
- Nicomachean Ethics, Book IX 1890
- Nicomachean Ethics, Book X 1907
- Politics, Book I 1925
- Politics, Book II 1943
- Politics, Book III 1970
- Politics, Book IV 1997
- Politics, Book V 2023
- Politics, Book VI 2053
- Politics, Book VII 2065
- Politics, Book VIII 2091
- The Athenian Constitution 2102
- Part 7; Aesthetic Writings 2156