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elements, since all beings possess a quality of more and less and cannot be distinguished as to which are elements of which. Therefore, it is necessary for the element to be both a body and a simple body, and possessing in actuality the extreme qualities, I mean heat, cold, moisture, dryness. For these qualities alone change the entire substance through and through; but none of the other qualities does this. For neither does white, when approaching a body, whiten it completely, as the hot heats and the cold cools, nor does any of the others. The elements that are contrary in two qualities are contrary to one another, as water is to fire, being cold and moist, to fire being hot and dry; and earth to air, being cold and dry, to air being hot and moist. And since contraries could not be joined to one another without some intermediary bond being placed to connect them, the creator placed water in the middle of earth and air, which are contraries, giving it two qualities, coldness and moisture, by which it was able, by joining with the extremes, to bind them. For by its coldness it is allied to earth; and by its moisture it is joined to air. Again, between water and fire, which are also contraries, he placed air, allied by its moist quality to water, and by its hot quality to fire; and thus he joined the contraries to one another through certain intermediaries that bind both themselves and the things being bound. For such a bond is best. Each of them, therefore, by one quality is joined to the one before it, and by the other to the one after it; for example, water is cold and moist; but by its coldness it is joined to earth, which is before it in the ascent; and by its moisture to air, which is after it. Likewise also air by its moisture is joined to water, which is before it; and by its heat to fire, which is after it. And fire by its heat is joined to air, which is before it; but by its dryness to earth by a bending back and a turning toward the extreme; and so also earth by its coldness to water; but by its dryness to fire by a bending back. For in order that the elements should have not only the relation of descent and ascent, upwards and downwards, but also a cyclical one, he somehow bent back and turned the extremes toward one another; I mean fire and earth. For fire too, having lost only its heat, becomes earth; and this is clear from thunderbolts; for fire, when it is brought down and cooled from its swift flight, turns to stone. Wherefore every thunderbolt is borne with stone and sulphur; and sulphur is like cooled fire, no longer hot in actuality but in potentiality, but dry also in actuality. But only the elements have their qualities in actuality; but all other things have them in potentiality, unless they approach an element. And in order that neither the elements nor the compounds made from them might ever fail, the creator wisely contrived that the elements both change into one another and into the compounds, and again the compounds are resolved into the elements. and thus being constituted from a continuous generation from one another, they are preserved for all time. For earth, when it becomes mud, becomes water; and water, when thickened and compressed, becomes earth; and when heated and vaporized, becomes air; and air, when gathered and thickened, becomes water; but when dried, it changes into fire; and so also fire, when extinguished and having lost its dryness, turns into air. For air is the extinguishing of fire and the vapor of heated water. From both, therefore, it is clear that its generation is from heat; for both heated water and extinguished fire become air. It is, therefore, hot according to its own nature; but it is cooled by its proximity to water and earth; so that its lower parts near the earth are cold; and its upper parts near fire are hot. And this happens because of the soft and impressionable nature of air; for it quickly departs from its own nature and changes. But Aristotle says there are two kinds of air: the vaporous, that from the exhalation of water; and the smoky, that from the extinguishing of fire; and that the smoky is hot; but the vaporous, where it is generated, is also hot,

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στοιχεῖα, πάντων τῶν ὄντων τὴν κατὰ τὸ μᾶλλον καὶ ἧττον ποιότητα κεκτημένων καὶ οὐ δυναμένων διακριθῆναι ποῖα ποίων ἐστὶ στοιχεῖα. ἀνάγκη τοίνυν εἶναι τὸ στοιχεῖον καὶ σῶμα καὶ ἁπλοῦν σῶμα καὶ κατ' ἐνέργειαν ἔχον ἄκρας τὰς ποιότητας, λέγω δὲ θερμότητα ψυχρότητα ὑγρότητα ξηρότητα. αὗται γὰρ μόναι τῶν ποιοτήτων ὅλην δι' ὅλου μεταβάλλουσι τὴν οὐσίαν· τῶν δὲ ἄλλων ποιοτήτων οὐδεμία τοῦτο δρᾷ. οὔτε γὰρ τὸ λευκὸν πλησιάζον σώματι λευκαίνει αὐτὸ διόλου, ὡς τὸ θερμὸν θερμαίνει καὶ τὸ ψυχρὸν ψύχει, οὔτε τῶν ἄλλων οὐδέν. ἐναντία δὲ ἀλλήλοις ἐστὶ τὰ στοιχεῖα τὰ κατὰ τὰς δύο ποιότητας ἐναντία, ὡς τὸ ὕδωρ τῷ πυρί, ψυχρὸν ὂν καὶ ὑγρόν, θερμῷ ὄντι καὶ ξηρῷ· καὶ ἡ γῆ τῷ ἀέρι, ψυχρὰ οὖσα καὶ ξηρά, τῷ θερμῷ καὶ ὑγρῷ. ἐπειδὴ δὲ τὰ ἐναντία συνάπτεσθαι ἀλλήλοις οὐκ ἐδύνατο μὴ μέσου τινὸς δεσμοῦ τεταγμένου τοῦ συνδέοντος αὐτὰ ἔταξεν ὁ δημιουργὸς ἐν μέσῳ μὲν τῆς γῆς καὶ τοῦ ἀέρος, ἐναντίων ὄντων, τὸ ὕδωρ, δοὺς αὐτῷ δύο ποιότητας, ψυχρότητα καὶ ὑγρότητα, καθ' ἃς ἐδύνατο τοῖς ἄκροις συναπτόμενον συνδεῖν αὐτά. τῷ μὲν γὰρ ψυχρῷ συνοικειοῦται τῇ γῇ· τῷ δὲ ὑγρῷ συνάπτεται τῷ ἀέρι. πάλιν μέσον τοῦ ὕδατος καὶ τοῦ πυρός, ἐναντίων ὄντων καὶ αὐτῶν, ἔταξε τὸν ἀέρα, τῇ μὲν ὑγρᾷ ποιότητι οἰκειούμενον τῷ ὕδατι, τῇ δὲ θερμῇ τῷ πυρί· καὶ οὕτω τὰ ἐναντία συνῆψεν ἀλλήλοις διὰ μέσων τινῶν τῶν συνδεόντων καὶ ἑαυτὰ καὶ τὰ συνδούμενα. ὁ γὰρ τοιοῦτος δεσμὸς ἄριστός ἐστιν. ἕκαστον οὖν αὐτῶν κατὰ μὲν τὴν ἑτέραν ποιότητα συνῆψε τῷ πρὸ αὐτοῦ, κατὰ δὲ τὴν ἑτέραν τῷ μετ' αὐτό· οἷον τὸ ὕδωρ ψυχρόν ἐστι καὶ ὑγρόν· ἀλλὰ κατὰ μὲν τὸ ψυχρὸν τῇ γῇ συνάπτεται, οὔσῃ πρὸ αὐτοῦ κατὰ τὴν ἄνοδον· κατὰ δὲ τὸ ὑγρὸν τῷ ἀέρι, ὄντι μετ' αὐτό. ὁμοίως καὶ ὁ ἀὴρ κατὰ μὲν τὸ ὑγρὸν συνάπτεται τῷ ὕδατι, πρὸ αὐτοῦ ὄντι· κατὰ δὲ τὸ θερμὸν τῷ πυρὶ μετ' αὐτὸν ὄντι. καὶ τὸ πῦρ δὲ κατὰ μὲν τὴν θερμότητα συνάπτεται τῷ ἀέρι πρὸ αὐτοῦ ὄντι· κατὰ δὲ τὴν ξηρότητα τῇ γῇ κατ' ἐπίκλασιν καὶ ἐπιστροφὴν τὴν πρὸς τὸ ἄκρον· οὕτω δὲ καὶ ἡ γῆ κατὰ μὲν τὸ ψυχρὸν τῷ ὕδατι· κατὰ δὲ τὸ ξηρὸν τῷ πυρὶ κατ' ἐπίκλασιν. ἵνα γὰρ μὴ μόνον τὴν πρὸς τὸ ἄνω καὶ τὸ κάτω κάθοδόν τε καὶ ἄνοδον τὴν σχέσιν ἔχῃ τὰ στοιχεῖα ἀλλὰ καὶ τὴν κατὰ κύκλον ἐπέκαμψέ πως καὶ ἐπέστρεψε τὰ ἄκρα πρὸς ἄλληλα· λέγω δὲ τὸ πῦρ καὶ τὴν γῆν· καὶ γὰρ τὸ πῦρ ἀποβαλὸν τὴν θερμότητα μόνην γίνεται γῆ· τοῦτο δὲ δῆλον ἐκ τῶν κεραυνῶν· καταφερόμενον γὰρ τὸ πῦρ καὶ ψυχόμενον ἐκ τῆς ὑπεροπτήσεως ἀπολιθοῦται. διὸ πᾶς κεραυνὸς μετὰ λίθου καὶ θείου φέρεται· ἔστι δὲ τὸ θεῖον ὥσπερ πῦρ ἀπεψυγμένον, οὐκέτι θερμὸν κατ' ἐνέργειαν ἀλλὰ δυνάμει, τὸ δὲ ξηρὸν καὶ ἐνεργείᾳ. μόνα δὲ τὰ στοιχεῖα κατ' ἐνέργειαν ἔχει τὰς ποιότητας· τὰ δ' ἄλλα πάντα δυνά μει ἐὰν μὴ πλησίασῃ στοιχείῳ. ἵνα δὲ μηδέποτε ἐπιλίπῃ μήτε τὰ στοιχεῖα μήτε τὰ ἐξ αὐτῶν συγκρίματα σοφῶς ὁ δημιουργὸς ἐτεχνάσατο ὥστε τὰ στοιχεῖα καὶ εἰς ἄλληλα μεταβάλλεσθαι καὶ εἰς τὰ συγκρίματα, καὶ πάλιν τὰ συγκρίματα εἰς τὰ στοιχεῖα ἀναλύεσθαι. καὶ οὕτως ἐξ ἀλληλογονίας διαρκοῦς συνιστάμενα σῴζεται διὰ παντός. γῆ μὲν γὰρ πηλωθεῖσα γίνεται ὕδωρ· ὕδωρ δὲ πυκνωθὲν καὶ πιληθὲν γίνεται γῆ· θερμανθὲν δὲ καὶ ἐξατμισθὲν γίνεται ἀήρ· ἀὴρ δὲ συναχθεὶς μὲν καὶ πυκνωθεὶς γίνεται ὕδωρ· ξηρανθεὶς δὲ εἰς πῦρ μεταβάλλει· οὕτω δὲ καὶ τὸ πῦρ σβεσθὲν μὲν καὶ ἀποβαλὸν τὴν ξηρότητα ἐξαεροῦται. ἔστιν γὰρ ἀὴρ σβέσις πυρὸς καὶ ἀτμὸς ὕδατος θερμανθέντος. ἐξ ἀμφοτέρων οὖν δῆλον ὡς ἐκ θερμότητος ἡ γένεσις αὐτῷ· καὶ γὰρ θερμανθὲν τὸ ὕδωρ καὶ σβεσθὲν τὸ πῦρ ἀὴρ γίνεται. ἔστιν οὖν κατὰ μὲν τὴν οἰκείαν φύσιν θερμός· ψύχεται δὲ τῇ γειτνιάσει τῇ πρὸς τὸ ὕδωρ καὶ τὴν γῆν· ὡς τὰ μὲν κάτω μέρη αὐτοῦ τὰ πρὸς τῇ γῇ ψυχρὰ εἶναι· τὰ δὲ ἄνω καὶ πρὸς τῷ πυρὶ θερμά. συμβαίνει δὲ τοῦτο διὰ τὸ μαλακὸν καὶ εὐπαθὲς τοῦ ἀέρος· ταχέως γὰρ ἐξίσταται τῆς οἰκείας φύσεως καὶ μεταβάλλεται. Ἀριστοτέλης δὲ δύο γένη τοῦ ἀέρος εἶναι φησίν· τὸ μὲν ἀτμῶδες, τὸ ἐκ τῆς ἀναθυμιάσεως τοῦ ὕδατος· τὸ δὲ καπνῶδες, τὸ ἐκ τῆς σβέσεως τοῦ πυρός· καὶ τὸ μὲν καπνῶδες θερμὸν εἶναι· τὸ δὲ ἀτμῶδες ἔνθα μὲν τίκτεται θερμὸν καὶ αὐτό,