Note 189 — PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE. (continued 2)
Francis Adams translation
It may appear a singular idea that the earth is supported on air, and yet it was very generally held by the learned men of antiquity. The poet Lucan thus alludes to this doctrine:
“Dum terra fretum terramque levabit Aer.” Pharsal., i., 89.
And in like manner Ovid:
“Nec circumfuso pendebat in aere tellus Ponderibus librata suis.” Met., I., 11.
Bentley remarks, in his note on the passage in Lucan, “Omnis poetarum chorus hoc prædicat ut et philosophorum veterum.”