ABSTRACT
I And a different kind of section, which giveth information Fol. 249a. concerning the winter. Now, in the days of winter, the sphere of the sun is cast towards the south, for in this direction is · the course of the degrees of its operation. And the heat thereof is remote from the north, and cold winds rise and blow strongly, and because the sphere of the sun is lowered from the heat of the fire of the celestial aether, the sun is unable to warm the coldness of the winds of snow and ice which blow and cool all the face of the earth, and they I also Page 529 cool and reduce the heat of the sun. And in order that the cold itself may not destroy men, and trees, and animals, and bring to an end everything which is on the earth, the subterranean winds are stilled. And God commandeth the fire which is beneath them, and it blazeth forth, and the heat thereof riseth up, and ascendeth through the channels and tubes which are in the earth, and it passeth into the veins of the trees, and it melteth the cold which abideth in the trees, and in the waters, and in the dust of the ground, and through that fervent heat which ascendeth from the interior of the earth, the waters of the springs are melted. And instead of an icy blast there ascendeth from the interior of them the vapour of heat, and that heat goeth up from below, and warmeth the
