Page:The Works of Aristotle - Vol. 6 - Opuscula (1913).djvu/105

The presence of sand under the sea is explained by the fact that earth always has a fresh flavour,^[1] and when water stands it will be prevented from undergoing any change,^[2] and will form an enclosed mass of water in the place where it is, and the air will not draw it up; the particles of earth, therefore, gain the upper hand and become salty, and gradually acquire heat.^[3] (Now earth is found in its natural state in fresh running water, because there the water is sweet and light.)^[4] And because the dryness of the earth gains the upper hand in the water, it changes it into an earthy nature, or something like it, and makes both the earth and water crisp; and this process of drying goes on as long as the earth remains in its place and there is water still left, and it splits up the soil into small particles; and for this reason the earth near the sea is always sandy. The same thing happens on plains which have nothing to protect them from the sun, and which are far from fresh water; the sun has dried up the particles of fresh moisture and that which is of the nature of earth has remained; and because the sun shines continually upon an exposed place of this kind, the parts of the soil become separated and sand is thus formed. A further proof of this is that if we dig deep down in a desert, we shall find natural soil. Natural soil, therefore, will be the basis of sand, and will only become 824^a sand accidentally and under certain circumstances, namely, when the sun's rays dwell on it for a long time and it is far removed from fresh water. The saltness of the sea is to be accounted for in a similar way; for the basis of all water is fresh water, and saltness is accidental, occurring only under the circumstances which we have mentioned. The fact that the earth is below the sea and the sea naturally and necessarily above the earth is a self-evident proof of

1. i. e. the earth is naturally fresh and sweet in the sense that water is 'fresh'. Three points are raised in this somewhat confused passage, (1) why does water, which is naturally fresh, become salt? (2) what changes earth, which is naturally coherent and moist, into sand? (3) why do the two changes, of fresh into salt water, and earth into sand, take place together?
2. i. e. change into another element; here into air.
3. The cause of the saltness of the sea is discussed in Meteor. 356^b ff., where the conclusion is that it is due to the heat of the earth.
4. The words seem to be a note explaining partes terrae.