Chapter VIII: The Waters

Footnote 818:

_Expos. in hex._, in: Migne, _Pat. lat._, vol. clxxviii, cols.
741–747.

Footnote 819:

_De sex d. op._, pp. 54–55.

Footnote 820:

_De phil. mundi_, II, 2.

Footnote 821:

William of Conches went on to explain in this connection (_De phil.
mundi_, II, 4) why the heavens are blue, a phenomenon which some
observers had attributed to the presence of waters. “What do we see up
there, dense and the color of water? It is not fire, for if the air is
invisible because of its great rarity (_subtilitas_), so also must
fire be invisible, fire which is so much more rare than air.
Furthermore, it is not the color of fire.” William asserted that you
see nothing at all and that the impression of seeing water is an
optical illusion. Unless some other color interposes, a ray of light
on entering the eye takes the color of water from the aqueous humor
contained in the eye.

Footnote 822:

Haskins, _Michael Scot_, 1921–1922, p. 272; idem, _Studies_, 1924, p.
296.

Footnote 823:

_Otia imper._, vol. i, p. 894.

Footnote 824:

Paraphrase by White, _Warfare_, 1920, vol. i, p. 95, note.

Footnote 825:

_De universo_, I, 38 (Orléans edit., 1674, p. 598, col. 2G, as cited
and translated by Stegmann, _Anschauungen_, 1913, p. 19, note 3).

Footnote 826:

_Causae et curae_, I (Kaiser’s edit., p. 23). See above, p. 425, note
101.

Footnote 827:

_Solutiones_, quaest. 2, in: Migne, _Pat. lat._, vol. cxcvii, cols.
1040–1041.

Footnote 828:

_Otia imper._, vol. i, p. 893.

Footnote 829:

_Expos. in hex._, in: Migne, _Pat. lat._, vol. clxxviii, cols.
743–744.

Footnote 830:

Psalm cxlviii, 4–5.

Footnote 831:

See above, pp. 186–187.

Footnote 832:

_Hist. schol._, Gen. 5. See Norlind, _Problem_, 1918, p. 39.

Footnote 833:

_De sacramentis_, bk. I, pt. I, ch. 22. See Norlind, _op. cit._, p.
44.

Footnote 834:

_De imag. mundi_, I, 5. See also _Im. du monde_, II, 9; Bartholomew
Anglicus, _De prop. rerum_, VIII, 3. The symbolism of the microcosm is
in one instance curiously inverted in the _Causae et curae_, I
(Kaiser’s edit., p. 23) of Hildegard of Bingen, who compares the water
with the body and the earth with the heart of man. On the other hand,
in _Subtilitates_, II, 3 (in: Migne, _Pat. lat._, vol. cxcvii, col.
1212) she asserts that “rivers are sent forth from the sea like the
blood in the veins of the human body” (Thorndike, _Magic_, 1923, vol.
ii, p. 132). See also above, pp. 147–150.

Footnote 835:

_De imag. mundi_, I, 45.

Footnote 836:

_De phil. mundi_, III, 14. See also Werner, _Kosm. Wilhelm von
Conches_, 1873, p. 374.

Footnote 837:

_Dialogus_, IX, in: Migne, _Pat. lat._, vol. clvii, col. 631.

Footnote 838:

_Hist. schol._, Gen. 14.

Footnote 839:

_Otia imper._, vol. i, p. 892.

Footnote 840:

See above, p. 60, and Norlind, _Problem_, 1918, pp. 38–40.

Footnote 841:

Norlind, _op. cit._, p. 38, notes, gives the following interesting
quotations: “Quae videlicet aquae circumfusae globo terrae ipsum
quodammodo sustentant, quod est mirabile in oculis nostris” (Gerhohus,
_Expos. in psalmos_, ad Ps. cxxxv, 6, in: Migne, _op. cit._, vol.
cxciv, col. 901). “Quod autem terra super aquas fundata esse dicitur,
nostram scientiam excedit. Mihi autem non videtur mirabilius, terram
super aquas esse fundatam, quam aquas, quae eiusdem ponderis sunt,
super terras in aere volare” (Bruno Astensis, _Expos. in psalmos_,
cxxxv, in: Migne, _op. cit._, vol. clxiv, col. 1194). Bruno adds an
allegorical explanation (_loc. cit._): “Possumus autem per terram
Ecclesiam intelligere quae super multos populos fundata est, qui per
aquas significantur, etc.”

Footnote 842:

“Movebitur aliquis super hoc quod dicit propheta ‘Dominum firmasse
terram super aquas.’ Ex hoc enim videbitur haberi posse aquas esse
inferiores terra, cum tamen Alfraganus dicat, unam esse sphaeram
aquarum et terrae. Sancti igitur expositores referunt illud prophetae
ad cotidianum usum loquendi quo dici solet Parisius fundatam esse
super Secanam. Rei tamen veritas est, quod paradisus terrestris
superior est aquis, cum etiam lunari globo superior sit” (_De nat.
rer._, II, 49). See also below, p. 462, note 34.

Footnote 843:

_Expos. in hex._, in: Migne, _Pat. lat._, vol. clxxviii, col. 748.

Footnote 844:

See above, p. 151.

Footnote 845:

“Verumtamen ut animalia terrena habitaculum et receptaculum haberent,
aqua in concavitates terrae recessit et apparuit superficies terrae
arida et separata. Estque terra cum aquis in se contentis sicut
sphaera terrae solum” (_De sphaera_, Baur’s edit., p. 12). Günther,
_Studien_, vol. iii (?), 1879, p. 160, interpreted the last sentence
to indicate that Robert believed that waters were contained in the
interior of the earth and that it was to these waters that he here
refers. Though this is possible, it is more likely from the context
that the words “aquis in se contentis” are a reference to the seas
(Stegmann, _Anschauungen_, 1913, p. 15).

Footnote 846:

_Livre du trésor_, I, 35, 36, 39, as cited by Boffito, _Intorno alla
“Quaestio de aqua et terra,”_ Memoria I, _La controversia_, 1902, pp.
113–114.

The fact that the waters do not completely cover the lands also had
puzzled the Moslems, who anticipated Robert Grosseteste in ascribing
this apparent reversal of the normal operation of the laws of nature
to God’s wish to preserve a dry area whereon man and animals might
thrive. Averroës had given a more proximate cause, maintaining that
the stars are more numerous in the northern hemisphere than in the
southern and that through their attraction of the land, as well as
through the evaporative power of their heat and of that of the sun,
the lands were uncovered. On the theory of eccentric spheres of earth
and water see Kretschmer, _Phys. Erdk._, 1889, pp. 67–74; Norlind,
_Problem_, 1918, pp. 48–54; and more especially Boffito’s elaborate
discussion of the history of this theory and of ancient, Arabic, and
Christian doctrines of the relations of land and water in general
(Boffito, _op. cit._). For the theory as developed in the sixteenth,
seventeenth, and eighteenth centuries see Wisotzki, _Zeitströmungen_,
1897, pp. 39–57. The matter was discussed in a small treatise,
_Quaestio de aqua et terra_, which has been attributed to Dante but is
of doubtful authenticity (see above, p. 410, note 98). This is an
argument against the possibility of eccentric spheres; the “emergent
land” of the northern hemisphere is ascribed to the attractive force
of the stars of that hemisphere.

Footnote 847:

In _De imag. mundi_, I, 39, we find a definition of the word ocean:
“Oceanus dicitur, quasi ocior annis, vel quasi zonarum limbus.”

Footnote 848:

II Esdras, vi, 42, 47, 50, 52.

Footnote 849:

Roger Bacon, _Opus majus_, Bridges’ edit., pt. iv, vol. 1, 1897, p.
291. See Kretschmer, _Phys. Erdk._, 1889, pp. 141–142, for an
explanation of Bacon’s theory of the distribution of land and water.

Footnote 850:

_De nat. rer._, II, 16.

Footnote 851:

Neckam believed that the level of the sea is higher than that of the
lands, upon which the waters are prevented from encroaching only by
the divine power. “Mare vero superius est litoribus, ut visus docet.
Unde divinae jussioni attribuendum est, quod metas positas a Domino
non transgreditur mare” (_De nat. rer._, II, 49; _De laud. div. sap._,
III, 127–142). This curious doctrine persisted until the eighteenth
century; see Wisotzki, _op. cit._, pp. 39–57. “Mare etiam e litoribus
ascendere videtur, secundum judicium visus. Fidem etiam facit
proposito, videlicet quod aqua in sphericam formam tendat, guttae
pluvialis concavatio in petra. Nisi enim rotunda esset gutta, non
esset concavatio rotunda. Ros enim matutinus, qui rotundus est, verum
esse docet quod diximus. Per rotunditatem autem perfectio
intelligitur. Unde mens humana, per aquam designata, tendere habet ad
perfectionem” (_De nat. rer._, II, 14). See above, p. 369, note 35.

Footnote 852:

Adelard of Bath, _Quaest. nat._, 53 (54); _De imag. mundi_, I, 45, 47;
Peter Alphonsi, _Dialogus_, IX, in: Migne, _Pat. lat._, vol. clvii,
col. 631.

Footnote 853:

_Quaest. nat._, 53 (54).

Footnote 854:

_De imag. mundi_, I, 45.

Footnote 855:

_loc. cit._

Footnote 856:

_Im. du monde_, II, 13.

Footnote 857:

“Salsuginis causam in calore solis planetarumque pono. Cum enim per
torridam mediamque zonam verus feratur occeanus perque eandem licet
indirectus versetur cursus planetarum a tanto stellarum calore ipsum
mare calefieri necesse est, ex quo et eiusdem caloris effectivam
salsuginem accipere consequens est. Quod autem hec ita se habeant
illud asserit quod in maritimis illis quae illi occeano propinquiora
sunt, sine omni artificio aqua marina ad solem super rupes siccata in
sal convertitur. In longinquioribus vero maribus ut sal habeas ipsam
aquam marinam utpote iam a vi caloris remotam; ideoque minus coctam
[_decoctam_ in MS] igni adhibere et recoquere necesse est. Sed et
dulces quasdam aquas in sal verti caloris artificiosa decoctione sepe
visum est. Huc etiam [_Hinc et_ in MS] illud accedit quod estate
quidem omnis aqua [_aqua_ omitted in MS] marina salsior est quam hyeme
quod si quis operam dederit re ipsa experiri potit” (_Quaest. nat._,
51 (52)).]

Footnote 858:

_De phil. mundi_, III, 16.

Footnote 859:

_De nat. rer._, II, 1; _De laud. div. sap._, III, 75–80.

Footnote 860:

_Otia imper._, vol. i, p. 974.

Footnote 861:

C. B. Jourdain, _Dissertation_, 1838, p. 75. Hildegard of Bingen
speaks of the tides thus: “Et quoniam in oriente magna profunditas
arenae et litoris est, idcirco mare superhabundando et se dilatando
ibi non effluit; in occidente autem et in austro ac in aquilone tanta
profunditas arenarum et litoris non est. Ideo ibi multotiens effluit
magnas et latas effusiones ibi faciens, cum ab igne procellarum in
insaniam commovetur, ut praedictum est. Unde ibi multa inutilia et
sordida in se colligit atque putredines hominum, pecorum, avium et
vermium sibi attrahit. Et idcirco fontes et flumina, quae de partibus
istis de mari effluunt, tam sana et tam bona non sunt sicut illa, quae
de orientali mari effluunt” (_Causae et curae_, I, Kaiser’s edit., p.
24).

Footnote 862:

In this connection it is interesting to note that the Chinese in
antiquity and during the Middle Ages had developed an understanding of
the tides “in advance of anything that seems to have been known at
that time in Europe” (A. C. Moule, _The Bore on the Ch’ien-T’ang River
in China_, in: T’oung Pao, ou archives concernant l’histoire, les
langues, la géographie, et l’ethnographie de l’Asie orientale, vol.
xxii, Leiden, 1923, pp. 135–188, reference on p. 173).

Footnote 863:

_De mundi univ._, p. 19.

Footnote 864:

_ibid._, p. 46.

Footnote 865:

_ibid._, p. 47.

Footnote 866:

Robert’s theories of the tides are interpreted by Almagià, _Dottrina_,
1905, pp. 456–457. Almagià’s exposition, though probably essentially
correct, seems more clean-cut than the original upon which it is
based.

Footnote 867:

See above, p. 163.

Footnote 868:

_De nat. locorum_, Baur’s edit., pp. 69–70.

Footnote 869:

_De impress. element._, Baur’s edit., p. 88.

Footnote 870:

“Cuius summae difficultatis rationem multi astruere conantur per hoc,
quod quartae mundi oppositae sunt eiusdem commixtionis, et ideo
faciunt eosdem effectus. Sed ista ratio deficit tamen, quia falsa est,
eo quod aliquae sunt imagines stellarum in una quarta et in alia,
quoniam, quando planeta est super unam quartam mundi, tunc terra
interponitur inter corpus eius et aliam quartam. Propterea, si hoc
esset verum, peteretur principium. Quaeritur enim causa, quare sunt
oppositae quartae eiusdem commixtionis et per consequens eiusdem
effectus. Et ideo reflexio radiorum solvit istud, quoniam radii
lunares multiplicantur ad caelum stellarum, quod est corpus densum.
Ideoque per medium eius non possumus videre caelum, quod est valde
luminosum, sicut dicit Alpetragius et Messalahe. Et alii radii reflexi
cadunt in quartam oppositam ad angulos aequales” (_De nat. locorum_,
Baur’s edit., p. 70).

Footnote 871:

See above, pp. 18–19 and, on William of Conches’ related views, p.
173.

Footnote 872:

Bibliothèque Nationale MSS., fonds latin, no. 8865, fol. 55vo.

Footnote 873:

In the dialogue constituting the _Quaestiones naturales_ Adelard’s
nephew asks if the following theory is true: “Aiunt enim verum
occeanum per torridam fluentem brachia immense quantitatis fluentia ab
orientali et occidentali plaga in articam et in antarticam refundere
regionem. Illis igitur vi magna confluentibus redundationem hanc fieri
dicunt ut ictus nobis accessum pariat, cessio vero recessum.” To this
Adelard replies: “Philosophorum dictis invidere non ausim; illud tamen
audacter affirmem: si ita ut aiunt maxima conveniunt brachia, semel
comixtis undis secundo ictum non fieri neque enim convenit iterum eas
separari; vel certe si iterum collidantur minor erit secundus ictus
quam primus et tertius quam secundus itaque et quandoque minimus,
deinde nullus. Videant igitur illi quid dixerint; ego pro me breviter
respondebo. Recursus itaque brachiorum colligo; eorundem etiam
obviationibus non contradico; non tamen ea conflui vel collidi
concedo. Impotentie autem huius causam in ipsius terre situ facio. Cum
enim ipsa brachia sibi obviare atque confluere impetuose festinent,
fit tandem cum montium interpositione tum ipsius terre situ quodam
elatiore ut ab eodem cursu dum deficiunt referantur. Itaque fit ut quo
ea paternus motus ac naturalis impellit, ab eodem loci ipsius reducat
situs. Licet non ignorem quosdam esse qui hunc motum nili mari idest
caribdi dicant estuare. Quod si verum esset in maribus illis que
torride zone viciniora sunt vis talis nec minus valeret; nunc vero
illa omni fere tali carent agitatione; eo videlicet quod ab illa causa
quam supra scripsimus procul remota sunt” (_Quaest. nat._, 52 (53)).

It is not altogether clear as to what is meant by the last two
sentences of this quotation, which is here given as in the printed
text (see the Bibliography under Adelard, II) without collation from
the manuscripts (see Haskins, _Studies_, 1924, p. 26). If the word
_nili_ is a corruption of _lunae_, they may possibly be interpreted as
a denial of the lunar control theory of the tides. A passage from the
_Disputationes adversus astrologos_ of Giovanni Pico della Mirandola
according to Duhem, _Système_, vol. iii, 1915, p. 116, cites a certain
“Adelandus” as giving expression to views closely allied to those
expressed in the preceding quotation. If Adelard is meant by
“Adelandus,” as Duhem assumes (_ibid._, pp. 116–117), Pico’s citation
may well refer to this chapter of the _Quaestiones naturales_.
Adelandus, in any case, is made categorically to deny the possibility
of lunar control over the tides. Incidentally, it may be added that
Duhem was unfamiliar with the text of the _Quaestiones naturales_ at
the time that he wrote the third volume of his _Système du monde_ and
that Almagià’s otherwise exhaustive monograph on the history of
theories of the tides gives us nothing on Adelard. Examination of the
manuscripts (Haskins, _loc. cit._) might throw light on the problem.
The phrase “mari idest caribdi,” in the next-to-the-last sentence of
the quotation above, is not found in the manuscript copy of the
_Quaestiones naturales_ referred to in the Bibliography under Adelard,
II. Gollancz’s translation of this phrase, “one sea, the Caribbean” is
an obvious absurdity (Gollancz, _Dodi ve-Nechdi_, 1920, p. 141).

Footnote 874:

_De phil. mundi_, III, 14.

Footnote 875:

See above, pp. 84–85.

Footnote 876:

_De nat. rer._, II, 17.

Footnote 877:

In the _De imagine mundi_, I, 40, there is extraordinary confusion
regarding the entire subject of the tides. There are said to be two
tides daily, corresponding to the rising and setting of the moon. When
the moon waxes, the height of the tides becomes greater; when it
wanes, the height diminishes. When the moon at the time of the
equinoxes is nearest to the earth, the floods rise to their highest;
at the time of the solstices they rise less high on account of the
distance of the moon. There is also said to be a tidal cycle of
nineteen years. So far, these ideas were drawn from Bede; but in the
succeeding chapter (41) there comes an echo of Paul the Deacon’s
description (_Hist. gentis Langobard._, I, 6, as cited by Almagià, _La
dottrina_, 1905, p. 51) of the great whirlpool, which “in exortu lunae
majori aestu fluctus involvit et revomit.”

Footnote 878:

_Philippis_, VI, 500–551. See above, pp. 137–138.

Footnote 879:

“Nobis humanam qui sortem vivimus infra,
Rem satis est sciri, nesciri causa sinatur.”
—_Philippis_, VI, 550–551.

William the Breton in another connection (_Philippis_, VIII, 43–99)
discusses the tides near Mont St. Michel in Brittany. His information
appears to have been fairly correct, and he notes among other details
that there is exceptionally high water at the times of the vernal and
autumnal equinoxes. He makes no attempt to explain the cause of the
ebb and flood, asserting that this transcends the knowledge of man. He
puts forth, however, the singular suggestion that it is just as likely
that the tides may cause the motion of the moon as vice versa, because
the sea was created before the moon:

“Rursus an a luna maris hec inflatio fiat,
An magis a pelago fluat hec variatio lune,
Cum pelagus luna constet prius esse creatum,
Posteriusque sui nunquam sit causa prioris,
Nullaque res habitum trahat a non ente vel actum.”
—_Philippis_, VIII, 73–77.

Footnote 880:

_Top. Hiber._, II, 3.

Footnote 881:

_ibid._, II, 14.

Footnote 882:

_ibid._, II, 1–2.

Footnote 883:

See _United States Tide Tables_ for 1919, also _British Islands
Pilot_, U. S. Hydrographic Office [Publications] nos. 145, 146,
Washington, D. C., 1917. See also: A. Defant, _Die Gezeiten und
Gezeitenströmungen im Irischen Kanal_, Akademie der Wissenschaften in
Wien, Sitzungsberichte, mathematisch-naturwissenschaftliche Klasse,
Abteilung IIa, vol. cxxix, 1920, pp. 253–308.

Footnote 884:

_Top. Hiber._, II, 2.

Footnote 885:

_ibid._, II, 3.

Footnote 886:

“In the British Museum (Cotton MS. Julius D. 7, fol. 45vo) there is a
tide table of the thirteenth century giving the time of ‘fflod at
london brigge’ for each day of the lunar month, and the hours of
moonlight (quantum luna lucet in nocte)” (A. C. Moule, _The Bore on
the Ch’ien-T’ang River in China_, in: T’oung Pao, ou archives
concernant l’histoire, les langues, la géographie, et l’ethnographie
de l’Asie orientale, vol. xxii, Leiden, 1923, pp. 135–188, reference
on p. 155).

Footnote 887:

_Top. Hiber._, II, 3.

Footnote 888:

_ibid._, II, 28.

Footnote 889:

_Otia imper._, vol. i, p. 1003.

Footnote 890:

See above, p. 279.

Footnote 891:

_Expug. Hiber._, I, 36.

Footnote 892:

See above, p. 351.

Footnote 893:

Schröder, _Sanct Brandan_, 1871 (under Brandan in the Bibliography),
p. 19.

Footnote 894:

For references to the Liver Sea and to classical allusions to a
clotted sea, see Moritz, _Geogr. Kenntnis_, 1904, p. 24, note 2;
Konrad Kretschmer, _Die Entdeckung Amerika’s in ihrer Bedeutung für
die Geschichte des Weltbildes_, Berlin, 1892, p. 85, note 1; and more
especially the full data in Graf, _Miti, leggende_, vol. i, 1892, p.
106 and notes on pp. 186–187, and in Nansen, _Northern Mists_, 1911,
vol. i, pp. 181–182 and p. 182, note 1. Benjamin of Tudela places the
clotted sea in the Far East (_Itinerary_, Adler’s transl., 1907, p.
66, and above p. 272). In early French literature the sea is often
referred to as _la mer betée_ (see Frahm, _Das Meer_, 1914, pp.
76–77).

Many theories have been adduced to explain the origins of this
persistent rumor of a clotted sea. It may have arisen through
distorted reports of floating masses of seaweed or of the Sargasso
Sea. It has also been suggested that experiences in dead water such as
that described by Fridtjof Nansen (_Farthest North_, New York, 1897,
vol. i, p. 196) may have contributed to the formation of the legend.
Such dead water, Nansen explains, is caused by the presence of a layer
of fresh water from melted ice over the surface of the sea water. See
Frahm, _loc. cit._; Koch, _Das Meer_, 1910, pp. 21–22. For another
explanation see Paul Masson, _Pythéas et le poumon marin_, in:
Bulletin de la Section de Géographie, vol. xxxvii, Paris, 1923, pp.
55–66.

Footnote 895:

Schröder, _Sanct Brandan_, 1871 (under Brandan in the Bibliography),
p. 27.

Footnote 896:

Ezekiel, xl, xli.

Footnote 897:

Revelation, xxi, 11.

Footnote 898:

Schröder, _op. cit._, p. 26.

Footnote 899:

_Otia imper._, vol. i, p. 921.

Footnote 900:

Liebrecht, _Gervasius von Tilbury_, 1856, p. 94, note 24. Later
tradition sometimes had it that the Emperor Frederick II was the king
who sent Nicholas the Fish to explore these waters. See Haskins,
_Science_, 1922, p. 686; the same, _Studies_, 1924, p. 262; and
Liebrecht, _loc. cit._

Footnote 901:

_Romans d’Alix._, Michelant’s edit., 1846, pp. 259–260. This is an
interpolation into the part of the poem called by Meyer the “third
branch.” It is not by Lambert li Tors, author of the “third branch,”
but was derived from the _Historia de praeliis_ (Meyer, _Alexandre le
Grand_, 1886, vol. ii, p. 216). See above, p. 381, note 26. Alexander
Neckam (_De nat. rer._, II, 21) and Roger Bacon also refer to
Alexander’s visit to the sea floor. See Thorndike, _Magic_, 1923, vol.
ii, pp. 263–264, 654–655.

Footnote 902:

_De mundi univ._, p. 22.

Footnote 903:

_De phil. mundi_, III, 17–18.

Footnote 904:

_Quaest. nat._, 56 (57), 57 (58).

Footnote 905:

_Sermones in cantica_, xiii; translation from Eales, _Life and Works
of St. Bernard_, vol. iv, 1896, p. 67.

Footnote 906:

Haskins, _Science_, 1922, p. 690; idem, _Studies_, 1924, p. 267. See
above, p. 100 and p. 402, note 64.

Footnote 907:

_Causae et curae_, I (Kaiser’s edit., pp. 24–30).

Footnote 908:

See above, pp. 185 and 326–327, p. 436, note 17, p. 439, note 44; also
Thorndike, _Magic_, 1923, vol. ii, pp. 132–133.

Footnote 909:

See above, p. 439, note 44.

Footnote 910:

See above, pp. 211–212.

Footnote 911:

_De phil. mundi_, III, 19. See also _De imag. mundi_, I, 47. Hildegard
of Bingen also believed that the interior of the earth is warmer in
winter than in summer. She attributed this circumstance, however, to
the fact that “in hieme sol supra terram sterilis est et sub terram
calorem suum figit, quatinus terra diversa germina servare possit”
(_Causae et curae_, I, Kaiser’s edit., p. 30). See also
_Subtilitates_, II, 9, in: Migne, _Pat. lat._, vol. cxcvii, col. 1213.

Footnote 912:

_De imag. mundi_, I, 48.

Footnote 913:

_ibid._, I, 49.

Footnote 914:

Haskins, _Michael Scot_, 1921–1922, pp. 272–273; idem, _Studies_,
1924, pp. 296–297.

Footnote 915:

_Top. Hiber._, II, 7.

Footnote 916:

_Gesta Danorum_, Praefacio, Holder’s edit., p. 6.

Footnote 917:

_Otia imper._, vol. i, p. 961.

Footnote 918:

_Top. Hiber._, II, 7.

Footnote 919:

_loc. cit._

Footnote 920:

_Otia imper._, vol. i, pp. 987, 990.

Footnote 921:

J. G. Frazer, _The Golden Bough: A Study in Magic and Religion_, Part
I, _The Magic Art and the Evolution of Kings_, London, 1911, vol. i,
p. 301.

Footnote 922:

_De nat. rer._, II, 3–7; see also _De laud. div. sap._, III, 171–328.

Footnote 923:

“Sic et sapientia hujus saeculi mentes candore innocentiae fulgentes
nonnunquam in pejus commutat, sapientia autem vera mentes tenebris
vitiorum involutas reddit serenas” (_De nat. rer._, II, 3).

Footnote 924:

_Gesta Danorum_, Praefacio, Holder’s edit., p. 6.

Footnote 925:

_Letter of Prester John_, 27–30, in: Zarncke, _Priester Johannes_, in:
Abhandlungen, vol. vii, 1879, pp. 912–913.

Footnote 926:

_Romans d’Alix._, Michelant’s edit., 1846, p. 350.

Footnote 927:

_Otia imper._, vol. i, p. 974.

Footnote 928:

_ibid._, p. 892.

Footnote 929:

_Top. Hiber._, I, 7. See above, p. 339.

Footnote 930:

On another unusual type of river, the gold-bearing stream, as
understood in the Middle Ages (but not discussed by Giraldus
Cambrensis), see below, p. 479, note 318.

Footnote 931:

_Top. Hiber._, II, 2.

Footnote 932:

_Itin. Kamb._, I, 8.

Footnote 933:

_ibid._, I, 2.

Footnote 934:

_ibid._, II, 11.

Footnote 935:

_The British Islands Pilot_, United States Hydrographic Office
[Publication] no. 145, Washington, D. C., 1917, p. 375, testifies to
the changeable character of the sands and channels of the Dee estuary.

Footnote 936:

See above, pp. 235–237.

Footnote 937:

Isidore, _De nat. rer._, 43, in: Migne, _Pat. lat._, vol. lxxxiii,
col. 1013.

Footnote 938:

Bede, _De nat. rer._, 43 (Giles’s edit., p. 117).

Footnote 939:

_Expos. in hex._, in: Migne, _Pat. lat._, vol. clxxviii, cols.
779–780.

Footnote 940:

_Sermo XXI in Feria quarta Pentecostes_, in: Migne, _Pat. lat._, vol.
clxxviii, cols. 518–521.

Footnote 941:

On the flood of the Nile see also above, p. 300.

Footnote 942:

_Top. Hiber._, I, 8.

Footnote 943:

_ibid._, III, 2.

Footnote 944:

_ibid._, III, 3.

Footnote 945:

_Itin. Kamb._, I, 1.

Footnote 946:

_ibid._, I, 2.

Footnote 947:

_loc. cit._

Footnote 948:

_ibid._, II, 9.

Footnote 949:

_Top. Hiber._, II, 9.

Footnote 950:

_Otia imper._, vol. i, p. 1001.

Footnote 951:

“Navim non patitur, quinimo tota supereminet nisi sit bituminata, et
hoc forte propter homines intus viventes. Siquis vivum aliqua arte
immiserit statim super exilit” (_loc. cit._). Gervase seems here to
have derived from Bede (_De locis sanctis_, 12, in Tobler, _Itinera_,
vol. i, 1877, pp. 227–228) a hazy conception of the actual properties
of the waters of the Dead Sea. The opposite theory, however, had been
expressed by Antonius Martyr two centuries earlier than Bede: “Nor do
sticks float, nor can a man swim, but whatever is cast into it sinks
to the bottom” (White, _Warfare_, 1920, vol. ii, p. 228).

Footnote 952:

_Otia imper._, vol. i, p. 966.

Footnote 953:

_ibid._, p. 982. See below, p. 449, note 49.

NOTES