ON THE ELEMENTS.

...we might more perfectly contemplate the splendor of His eternal light, and love Him, since we were created most perfect. Thus, God divided His works into four parts: Fire, Air, Water, and Earth. Each of these is distinguished by its own virtues, according to the measure and proportion of its own subtlety. In early natural philosophy, "subtlety" refers to how refined, thin, or "spirit-like" a substance is. Fire surpasses the others, possessing a more excellent power, by which it can bestow upon the others a splendor that rivals its own. There is nothing to which it does not grant life. Without it, most things are dead, as we experience daily, but especially in winter. Winter was viewed as the season where the lack of the Sun's "vital fire" led to the dormancy or death of nature. Behold this element, how industriously it illuminates the Air! And it leads the air to a similar clarity, dispelling all darkness from it. In this way, it bears witness to how much darkness the air was previously oppressed by. Moreover, it purges the air from all waste-like moisture original: "humore excrementitio." This refers to superfluous or impure fluids that must be refined or "cooked" away by heat. and earthly fumes. It also renders the air free from thickness, and makes it so that, through its subtlety, it can penetrate even the most solid things. To put it briefly, Fire makes the Air similar to itself in every way, so that there is scarcely any difference between...