of animals imposed by geologic phenomena, such as earthquakes, floods, etc.
This book also discloses an occasional vein of credulity not to be expected from
the author's other works, in that he apparently believes Aristotle's story of
the flies which were born and lived only in the smelting furnace ; and further,
the last paragraph in the book is devoted to underground gnomes. This we
reproduce in the footnote on page 217.
De Natura eorum quae Effluunt ex Terra. This work of four books,
comprising 83 folio pages, first appears in the 1546 collection. As the title
indicates, the discussion is upon the substances which flow from the earth,
such as water, bitumen, gases, etc. Altogether it is of microscopic value and
wholly uninteresting. The major part refers to colour, taste, temperature,
medicinal uses of water, descriptions of rivers, lakes, swamps, and aqueducts.
