See, in Plato’s Critias, t. vii. p. 153. the eulogium of its beauty and fertility. At present “the plain of Attica, if we except the olive-tree, is extremely destitute of wood, and we observed, on our return, the peasants driving home their asses laden with Passerina hirsuta for fuel.”—Sibthorp in Mitchell, Knights, p. 155. But the description by no means applies to the whole country. At the foot of Cithæron there are still forests four hours in length.—Sibth. in Walp. Mem. i. 64. Footnote 193: This is accounted for by the dryness and purity of the atmosphere; for, as Pliny remarks, “hortensiorum odoratissima quæ sicca; ut ruta, mentha, apium, et quæ in siccis nascantur.”—Hist. Nat. xxi. 18. p. 46. Footnote 194: Ἀργύρου πηγή τις αὐτοῖς ἐστι, βησαυρὸς χθονός.—Æschyl. Pers. 238. In all countries the waters of mining cantons are bad.—Hippocr. de Aër. et Loc. § 35. Comparative barrenness may, however, upon the whole, be considered as characteristic of Attica. Indeed, Plato,[195] in a very curious passage, likens to a body emaciated by sickness the hungry district round the capital, where the soil has collapsed about the rocks. But from this innumerable advantages have arisen. The earth being light and porous permits whatever rain falls immediately to sink and disappear, as in Provence,[196] which, more than any other part of Europe, resembles Attica. Hence, except in some few inconsiderable spots,[197] no bogs, no marshes exist to poison the air with cold effluvia: a ridge of mountains protects it against the northern blasts: mild breezes from the ocean prevail in almost all seasons: snow seldom lies above a few hours on the ground. The atmosphere, accordingly, kept constantly free from terrene exhalations, is buoyant and sparkling as on the Libyan desert, when, at noon, every elevated rock appears to be encircled by a luminous halo.[198] In air so pure the act of breathing is a luxury which produces a smile of satisfaction on the countenance; the mind performs its operations with ease and rapidity; and life, everywhere sweet, appears to have a finer relish than in countries exposed to watery and unwholesome fogs. It was perfectly philosophical, therefore, in Plato,[199] to regard Attica as a place designed by nature to bring the human intellect to the greatest ripeness and perfection, a quality extended by Aristotle to Greece at large. The same atmospheric properties were favourable to health and long life, warding off many disorders common in other parts of the country. Footnote 195: Critias, t. vii. p. 154. Words. Athens and Attica, 62. Footnote 196: Coray, Notes sur Hippoc. De Aër. et Loc. § 126. t. ii. p. 403. Footnote 197: Vide Sch. Aristoph. Lys. 1032. Footnote 198: Aristid. i. 187. Jebb. Aristophanes appears to speak of the brilliance of its atmosphere in the following verse (Ran. 155): ὅψει τι φῶς κάλλιστον, ὥσπερ ἐνθάδε.