§14.9Διὰ τί μακρόβιοι μᾶλλόν εἰσιν οἱ ἐν τοῖς θερμοῖς τόποις οἰκοῦντες;
Why are those who live in hot places longer-lived?
ἢ διὰ τὸ ξηροτέραν ἔχειν τὴν φύσιν, τὸ δὲ ξηρότερον ἀσαπέστερον εἶναι καὶ πολυχρονιώτερον, τὸν δὲ θάνατον οἷον σῆψίν τινα εἶναι;
Is it because they have a drier nature, and that which is drier is less subject to putrefaction and more long-lasting, while death is a kind of putrefaction?
ἢ διότι ὁ μὲν θάνατός ἐστι ψύξις τοῦ ἐντὸς θερμοῦ, καταψύχεται δὲ πᾶν ὑπὸ τοῦ περιέχοντος καὶ ψυχροτέρου;
Or is it because death is the cooling of the internal heat, and everything is cooled by the surrounding and colder environment?
ἔστιν δὲ ὁ περιέχων ἀὴρ ἐν μὲν τοῖς ἀλεεινοῖς τόποις θερμός, ἐν δὲ τοῖς ψυχροῖς ψυχρός, ὥστε θᾶττον καὶ μᾶλλον φθείρει τὸ ἐν αὐτοῖς θερμόν.
But the surrounding air is hot in warm places, and cold in cold places, so that the latter destroys the internal heat more quickly and to a greater extent.
§14.10Διὰ τί οἱ ἐν τοῖς θερμοῖς τόποις μακροβιώτεροι;
Why are those in hot places longer-lived?
ἢ ὅτι μᾶλλον τὸ θερμὸν καὶ τὸ ὑγρὸν σώζουσιν;
Is it because they preserve their heat and moisture better?
ὁ γὰρ θάνατος ἡ τούτων φθορά.
For death is the destruction of these.
§14.11Διὰ τί ἐν τοῖς ἑλώδεσι τόποις ὑπνωδέστεροι γινόμεθα;
Why do we become more drowsy in marshy places?
ἢ διότι κατεψυγμένοι μᾶλλον ἐν αὐτοῖς ἐσμέν, ἡ δὲ κατάψυξις ἡσυχία τις οὖσα παρασκευάζει ὕπνον, ὁ δὲ ὕπνος ἐν τῷ ἡσυχάζειν παραγίνεται.
Is it because we are more chilled in them, and chilling, being a kind of rest, induces sleep, while sleep comes during rest?
§14.12Διὰ τί οἱ ἐν τοῖς πλοίοις εὔχροοι, ἐπὶ ὕδατος διαιτώμενοι, μᾶλλον τῶν ἐν τοῖς ἕλεσιν;
Why do those on ships, though they live on water, have a better complexion than those in marshes?
ἢ ἡ ὥρα καὶ τὸ εὔπνουν αἴτιον;
Is it the air and the ventilation that is the cause?
ὠχροὺς δὲ τὸ ὕδωρ ποιεῖ, ὅταν σήπηται, ὃ πάσχει δι’ ἀκινησίαν· διὸ ἐν τοῖς ἑλώδεσιν ὕπωχροι.
For water makes people pale when it putrefies, which it does because of immobility; hence those in marshes are pale.
§14.13Διὰ τί ἐν τοῖς χειμερινοῖς χωρίοις πνίγη σφοδρὰ γίνεται πολλά, καὶ μᾶλλον ἢ ἐν τοῖς ἀλεεινοῖς;
Why does severe and frequent stifling heat occur in wintry regions, even more than in warm ones?
πότερον διὰ τὴν ὑγρότητα τοῦ ἀέρος;
Is it because of the moisture of the air?
ἀπὸ γὰρ τῆς αὐτῆς θερμότητος ὕδωρ θερμότερον γίνεται τοῦ ἀέρος, ὥστε καὶ ὁ ἀὴρ ὑγρότερος τοῦ θερμοῦ.
For from the same heat, water becomes hotter than air, so that the air also, being more moist, becomes hotter than heat itself.
ἢ οὐδὲ ἔστι ξηρότερος ὁ ἀὴρ ἐν τοῖς τόποις τοῖς τοιούτοις, ἀλλὰ φαίνεται παρὰ τὸ ἐναντίον, ὥσπερ ὁ ἐκ νεφέλης ἥλιος παρὰ τὸ ἐκ τῆς σκιᾶς θιγγάνεσθαι.
Or is the air not even drier in such places, but only appears so by contrast, just as the sun emerging from a cloud seems hotter because of one's having just been touched by the shadow?
§14.14Διὰ τί οἱ πρὸς μεσημβρίαν οἰκοῦντες μᾶλλόν εἰσι μελανόφθαλμοι;
Why are those who live toward the south more dark-eyed?
ἢ γλαυκὰ μέν ἐστι τὰ ὄμματα δι' ὑπερβολὴν τοῦ ἐντὸς θερμοῦ, μέλανα δὲ διὰ τὴν τούτου ἀπουσίαν, ὥσπερ καὶ Ἐμπεδοκλῆς φησιν.
Is it that eyes are blue-gray through an excess of internal heat, but dark through its absence, as Empedocles also says?
καθάπερ οὖν τῶν πρὸς ἄρκτον οἰκούντων γλαυκὰ 〈τὰ〉 ὄμματά ἐστι τῷ τὸ ἐντὸς θερμὸν κωλύεσθαι διεκπίπτειν διὰ τὸ ἐκτὸς ψυχρόν, οὕτω τῶν πρὸς μεσημβρίαν οἰκούντων τὸ μὲν ὑγρὸν διὰ τὸ περιέχον θερμὸν οὐκ ἐκπίπτει, τὸ δὲ θερμὸν μηδενὸς ἀντιφράττοντος ἐκπίπτει, τὸ δὲ λειπόμενον ὑγρὸν μέλαν ποιεῖ· τῇ γὰρ τοῦ φωτὸς ἀπουσίᾳ τὸ λειπόμενόν ἐστι σκοτῶδες.
Just as, then, the eyes of those who live toward the north are blue-gray because the internal heat is prevented from escaping by the external cold, so in those who live toward the south, the moisture does not escape because of the surrounding heat, but the heat escapes since nothing blocks it, and the remaining moisture makes the eye dark; for by the absence of light, what remains is dark.
ἢ τοῖς τοῦ λοιποῦ σώματος χρώμασιν ὁμοιοῦται τὸ ἐν τῷ ὀφθαλμῷ χρῶμα;
Or is the color in the eye made to resemble the colors of the rest of the body?
διὸ τῶν πρὸς ἄρκτον λευκῶν ὄντων γλαυκὰ τὰ ὄμματα (τοῦ γὰρ λευκοῦ τοῦτο ἐγγὺς τὸ χρῶμα), καὶ τῶν πρὸς μεσημβρίαν μελάνων ὄντων μέλανα καὶ τὰ ὄμματα.
Therefore, since those toward the north are white, their eyes are blue-gray (for this color is close to white), and since those toward the south are dark, their eyes also are dark.
§14.15Διὰ τί οἱ ἐν τοῖς θερμοῖς τόποις σοφώτεροί εἰσιν ἢ ἐν τοῖς ψυχροῖς;
Why are those in hot places wiser than those in cold places?
πότερον διὰ τὸ αὐτὸ δι’ ὅπερ καὶ οἱ γέροντες τῶν νέων;
Is it for the same reason that old men are wiser than the young?
οἱ μὲν γὰρ διὰ τὴν ψυχρότητα τοῦ τόπου ἐπανιούσης τῆς φύσεως αὐτῶν θερμότεροί εἰσι πολύ, ὥστε λίαν μεθύουσιν ἐοίκασιν, καὶ οὐκ εἰσὶ ζητητικοί, ἀλλὰ ἀνδρεῖοι καὶ εὐέλπιδες· οἱ δὲ ἐν τοῖς ἀλεεινοῖς νήφουσι διὰ τὸ κατεψῦχθαι.
For the latter, because of the coldness of the place, are much hotter as their nature recoils inward, so that they resemble those who are excessively drunk, and they are not inquisitive but brave and hopeful; whereas those in warm places are sober because they are chilled.
πανταχοῦ δὲ οἱ φοβούμενοι τῶν θαρρούντων μᾶλλον ἐπιχειροῦσι ζητεῖν, ὥστε καὶ εὑρίσκουσι μᾶλλον.
And everywhere those who are afraid attempt to seek more than those who are confident, so that they also find more.
ἢ διὰ τὸ πολυχρονιώτερον τὸ γένος εἶναι τοῦτο, τοὺς δὲ ὑπὸ τοῦ κατακλυσμοῦ ἀπολέσθαι, ὥστε εἶναι καθάπερ νέους πρὸς γέροντας τοὺς ἐν τοῖς ψυχροῖς τόποις πρὸς τοὺς ἐν τοῖς θερμοῖς οἰκοῦντας.
Or is it because this race is more ancient, while the others were destroyed by the flood, so that those in cold places are like young men compared to old men in relation to those who live in hot places?
§14.16Διὰ τί οἱ μὲν ἐν τοῖς θερμοῖς τόποις δειλοί εἰσιν, οἱ δὲ ἐν τοῖς ψυχροῖς ἀνδρεῖοι;
Why are those in hot places cowardly, while those in cold places are brave?
ἢ ὅτι ἐναντίως τοῖς τόποις καὶ ταῖς ὥραις ἡ φύσις ἔχει, διὰ τὸ ὁμοίως ἐχόντων διακναίεσθαι ἂν ταχέως;
Is it because nature is in a state contrary to the localities and seasons, since if they were in a similar state, they would be quickly worn away?
ἀνδρεῖοι δέ εἰσιν οἱ τὴν φύσιν θερμοί, δειλοὶ δὲ οἱ κατεψυγμένοι.
Those who are hot by nature are brave, while those who are chilled are cowardly.
συμβαίνει δὴ τοὺς μὲν ἐν τοῖς θερμοῖς ὄντας καταψύχεσθαι (ἀραιοῦ γὰρ ὄντος αὐτοῖς τοῦ σώματος τὸ θερμὸν αὐτῶν ἔξω διεκπίπτει), τοὺς δ’ ἐν τοῖς ψυχροῖς ἐκτεθερμάνθαι τὴν φύσιν διὰ τὸ ἐκ τοῦ ἐκτὸς ψύχους πυκνοῦσθαι τὴν σάρκα, πυκνουμένης δὲ ἐντὸς συστέλλεσθαι τὸ θερμόν.
It happens, indeed, that those in hot places are chilled (for since their body is porous, their heat escapes outward), while those in cold places are heated in their nature because the flesh is condensed by the cold from without, and as it is condensed, the heat is compressed within.