Note 85 — Chapter III
Reading edition
Etym., 13, 7. Almost side by side with this explanation of rain is another which says that rains “arise from an exhalation from land and sea, which being carried aloft falls in drops on the lands, being acted upon by the sun’s heat, or condensed by strong winds,” 13, 10, 2. Lightning is explained as caused by the collision of clouds (13, 9, 1); thunder, by their bursting (13, 8); the rainbow, by the sun shining into a hollow cloud (13, 10, 1).