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CHAP. 46. (47.)—THE DIFFERENT KINDS OF WINDS1.

The ancients reckoned only four winds (nor indeed does Homer mention more2) corresponding to the four parts of the world; a very poor reason, as we now consider it. The next generation added eight others, but this was too refined and minute a division; the moderns have taken a middle course, and, out of this great number, have added four to the original set. There are, therefore, two in each of the four quarters of the heavens. From the equinoctial rising of the sun3 proceeds Subsolanus4, and, from his brumal rising, Vulturnus5; the former is named by the Greeks Apeliotes6, the latter Eurus. From the south we have Auster, and from the brumal setting of the sun, Africus; these were named Notos and Libs. From the equinoctial setting proceeds Favonius7, and from the solstitial setting, Corus8; these were named Zephyrus and Argestes. From the seven stars comes Septemtrio, between which and the solstitial rising we have Aquilo, named Aparctias and Boreas9. By a more minute subdivision we interpose four others, Thrascias, between Septemtrio and the solstitial setting; Cæcias, between Aquilo and the equinoctial rising; and Phœnices, between the brumal rising and the south. And also, at an equal distance from the south and the winter setting, between Libs and Notos, and compounded of the two, is Libonotos. Nor is this all. For some persons have added a wind, which they have named Meses, between Boreas and Cæcias, and one between Eurus and Notos, named Euronotus10.

There are also certain winds peculiar to certain countries, which do not extend beyond certain districts, as Sciron in Attica, deviating a little from Argestes, and not known in the other parts of Greece. In other places it is a little higher on the card and is named Olympias; but all these have gone by the name of Argestes. In some places Cæcias is named Hellespontia, and the same is done in other cases. In the province of Narbonne the most noted wind is Circius; it is not inferior to any of the winds in violence, frequently driving the waves before it, to Ostia11, straight across the Ligurian sea. Yet this same wind is unknown in other parts, not even reaching Vienne, a city in the same province; for meeting with a high ridge of hills, just before it arrives at that district, it is checked, although it be the most violent of all the winds. Fabius also asserts, that the south winds never penetrate into Egypt. Hence this law of nature is obvious, that winds have their stated seasons and limits.

1 In his account and nomenclature of the winds, Pliny has, for the most part, followed Aristotle, Meteor. lib. ii. cap. 4. pp. 558–560, and cap. 6. pp. 563–565. The description of the different winds by Seneca is not very different, but where it does not coincide with Aristotle's, our author has generally preferred the former; see Nat. Quæst. lib. 5. We have an account of the different winds, as prevailing at particular seasons, in Ptolemy, De Judiciis Astrol. 1. 9. For the nomenclature and directions of the winds, we may refer to the remarks of Hardouin, Lemaire, i. 328 et seq.

2 Odyss. v. 295, 296.

3 In giving names to the different winds, the author designates the points of the compass whence they proceed, by the place where the sun rises or sets, at the different periods of the year. The following are the terms which he employs :—"Oriens æquinoctialis," the place where the sun rises at the equinox, i. e. the East. "Oriens brumalis," where he rises on the shortest day, the S.E. "Occasus brumalis," where he sets on the shortest day, the S.W. "Occasus æquinoctialis," where he sets at the equinox, the W. "Occasus solstitialis," where he sets on the longest day, the N.W. "Exortus solstitialis," where he rises on the longest day, the N.E. "Inter septemtrionem et occasum solstitialem," between N. and N.W., N.N.W. "Inter aquilonem et exortum æquinoctialem," between N. and N.E., N.N.E. "Inter ortum brumalem et meridiem," between S. and S.E., S.S.E. Inter meridiem et hybernum occidentem," between S. and S.W., S.S.W.

4 "Quod sub sole nasci videtur."

5 This name was probably derived from the town Vulturnum in Campania.

6 Seneca informs us, that what the Latins name Subsolanus, is named by the Greeks ᾿αφηλιώτης; Quæst. Nat. lib. 5. § 16. p. 764.

7 "quia favet rebus nascentibus."

8 "....semper spirantes frigora Cauri." Virgil, Geor. iii. 356.

9 The eight winds here mentioned will bear the following relation to our nomenclature: Septemtrio, N.; Aquilo, N.E.; Subsolanus, E.; Vulturnus, S.E.; Auster, S.; Africus, N.W.; Favonius, W.; and Corus, N.W.

10 The four winds here mentioned, added to eight others, making, in the whole, twelve, will give us the following card:—

N. Septemtrio.S. Notos or Auster.
N.N.E. Boreas or Aquilo.S.S.W. Libonotos.
E.N.E. Cæcias.W.S.W. Libs or Africus.
E. Apeliotes or Subsolanus.W. Zephyrus or Favonius.
E.S.E. Eurus or Vulturnus.W.N.W. Argestes or Corus.
S.S.E. Euronotus or Phœnices.N.N.W. Thrascias.

We are informed by Alexandre, Lemaire, i. 330, that there is an ancient dial plate in the Vatican, consisting of twelve sides, in which the names of the twelve winds are given both in Greek and in Latin. They differ somewhat from those given above, both absolutely and relatively; they are as follows:—

᾿απαρκτίας, Septemtrio.νότος, Auster.
βορέας, Aquilo.αιβόνοτος, Austroafricus.
καικίας, Vulturnus.αὶψ, Africus.
᾿αφηλιώτης, Solanus.ζέφυρος, Zephyrus.
εῦρος, Eurus.᾿ιάπυξ, Corus.
εὐρόνοτος, Euronotus.θρασκίας, Circius.

11 This wind must have been N.N.W.; it is mentioned by Strabo, iv. 182; A. Gellius, ii. 22; Seneca, Nat. Quæst. v. 17; and again by our author, xvii. 2.

The Natural History. Pliny the Elder. John Bostock, M.D., F.R.S. H.T. Riley, Esq., B.A. London. Taylor and Francis, Red Lion Court, Fleet Street. 1855.

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