As among the Selauons, as ſayth Ariſtotle in li. de coelo & mundo. And hée telleth the reaſon why, & ſayth, That in cold Countries, the Mothers of women be diſpoſed to conceiue ſuch children. Therefore they beare children with white ſkinnes, that haue long, yeolowe, ſoft, and ſtraight haire. The contrarie is in hot countries. Where women beare children that haue blacke cripſe and little haire, as in the Negroes Countrie. Then colde ſheweth it ſelfe in the bodie, that colde hath the maſtery within. For in the bodies that colde hath the maſterie ouer, the coulour is white, the haire ſoft and ſtraight, the wit hard and forgetful, little appetite, much ſléep, heauie in going and ſlow, as ſaith Conſtantinus. li. 1. Chap.17. This ſhall not alway be vnderſtood to be in euery colde néedelye, but in compariſon to the complection of the heate, that hath maſtery, and in proportion of the hot land to the colde region, authours ſay theſe things, and haue lefte them written in theyr bookes to them that come after. This that is ſayd ſufficeth of the properties of colde at this preſent time. For other properties be known to the contrary of that is ſaid afore of heate.
¶Of drought. Chap. 3.
DRought is an Element quality paſſiue, able to ſuffer: and is brought in, now by heate, and now by colde. But it followeth more with heate then with colde. For drought is the file of heate. Drought is ſaide as it were without moiſture: For drought and moiſture be contrary. The principal effect of drought is to make drie: as the effect of moyſture is to make wet, and hath many ſecondarie effectes: as to make thicke, rough, and to cauſe ſlow mouing, to conſume, to deſtroy, and ſlay. And that propertie that drieth, draweth principallye the moyſt parts from the vtter partes, towarde the middle: And for that a moiſt thing ſhonlde not all to ſhedde the ſubſtaunce of it ſelfe by fleeting, drought putteth it ſelfe as it were a bounde, to lette the fleeting and ſhedding: As we ſee in Cliffes in the Sea brimmes, the drineſſe of the Grauell ſetteth abound to the Sea, and where the kindly drineſſe of the earth hath the maſterie: it ſuffereth not the ſleeting ſurges or violent waues of the Sea to paſſe any father, as ſaith Gregorie ſuper. Iob.38.[1]Qui poſuit mari terminum, &c. He hath ſet boundes about the waters, vntill the day and night come to an end. And Hierome ſuper Ieremy ſaith the ſame.[2]Poſuit arenam terminum mari, &c. Feare ye not me ſaith the Lord,[3] or will you not be afraide at my preſence, which haue placed the ſande for the boundes of the Sea, by the perpetuall decree that it cannot paſſe it, and though the waters thereof rage, yet can they not preuaile, though they roare, yet can they not paſſe ouer it. And the Philoſopher ſaith the ſame more plainely.
Then drines that is not perfectly bound in his alone equalitie, reboundeth and thickeneth the moiſt qualitie, that is in it ſuperfluous, faſtned and congeled, and is a ſtedfaſt héeding of the fléeting thereof. For drineſſe is the euill or enimy of heate, that is ſtirred vp by moouing, eyther by working, it diſſolueth and diſpearſeth the moiſture, or by ouerworking it conſumeth it altogethers, thus ſpread in the limmes, it draweth forth moiſtneſſe and humour, and maketh the body drie, and ſhriueleth the ſkinne together like a withered ſkinne.
Alſo drineſſe hath ſomtime moiſture: for if it mooueth towarde the middle, it conſtraineth and draweth the limmes togethers: And ſo by conſtraining the wetneſſe is wrongen out, the which before was ſhedde through the bodie, and ſo the bodye ſéemeth to be wet, that was before drie. Alſo we ſée vpon the kindlye drie hilles, hearbes growe that bée moiſt of kinde, as the hearbes that bée called Simbalaria[4], Vermicularia[5], Craſſula[6], and other. And this is no wonder. For the drineſſe that taketh héede by kinde to ſaue the Hill, and kéepe it in his drineſſe, and that by drineſſe that is like thereto, and by the vertue attractiue, of drawing, it draweth too nouriſhing, and ſeedeth things that is drieng.
