• The region of fire. Brunetto Latini, Tresor , Ch. CVIII :⁠— “After the zone of the air is placed the fourth element. This is an orb of fire without any moisture, which extends as far as the moon, and surrounds this atmosphere in which we are. And know that above the fire is first the moon, and the other stars, which are all of the nature of fire.” ↩
• Milton, Paradise Lost , V 469:⁠— “One Almighty is, from whom All things proceed, and up to him return, If not depraved from good; created all Such to perfection, one first matter all, Endued with various forms, various degrees Of substance, and, in things that live, of life; But more refined, more spiritous, and pure, As nearer to him placed, or nearer tending Each in their several active spheres assigned, Till body up to spirit work, in bounds Proportioned to each kind. So from the root Springs lighter the green stalk; from thence the leaves More aery; last, the bright consummate flower Spirits odorous breathes: flowers and their fruit, Man’s nourishment, by gradual scale sublimed, To vital spirits aspire, to animal, To intellectual; give both life and sense, Fancy and understanding: whence the soul Reason receives, and reason is her being, Discursive or intuitive.” ↩