sive, quod ingenitum terra spirante vaporem umidior sicca superatur spiritus aura, nubila cum longo cessant depulsa sereno et solis radiis arescit torridus aer, apta alimenta sibi demissus corripit ignis materiamque sui deprendit flamma capacem, et, quia non solidum est corpus, sed rara vagantur principia aurarum volucrique simillima fumo, in breve vivit opus coeptusque incendia fine subsistunt pariterque cadunt fulgentque cometae.
Maybe the earth breathes forth an inborn vapour, and this damper breath is overpowered by an arid air; when clouds are banished for long periods of clear weather so that air grows hot and dry under the rays of the sun, fire then descends and seizes its apt sustenance and a flame takes hold of the matter that suits its nature; and since there is no solid body, but only the wandering elements of the breezes, tenuous and most like to drifting smoke, the action is short-lived and the fires last no longer than the moment of their beginning: the comets perish as they blaze.
final_alignments\Manilius_Astronomica_Book1.json