XI.
WHY ARE THEY SICKER THAT SAIL ON THE SEA THAN THEY THAT SAIL IN FRESH RIVERS, EVEN IN CALM WEATHER?
OF all the senses, smelling causes nauseousness the most, and of all the passions of the mind, fear. For men tremble and shake and bewray themselves upon apprehension of great danger. They that sail in a river are troubled with neither of these. And the smell of sweet and potable water is familiar to all, and the voyage is without danger. On the sea an unusual smell is troublesome; and men are afraid, not knowing what the issue may be. Therefore tranquillity abroad avails not, while an estuating and disturbed mind disorders the body.
Quaestiones Naturales. Plutarch. ed. William W. Goodwin. Boston. 1874.
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