WHAT IS THE CAUSE OF THE WORLD’S INCLINATION.
Diogenes and Anaxagoras affirm that, after the world was composed and
the earth had produced living creatures, the world out of its own
propensity made an inclination towards the south. Perhaps this may be
attributed to a wise Providence (they say), that thereby some parts
of the world may be habitable, others uninhabitable, according as the
various climates are affected with a rigorous cold, or a scorching
heat, or a just temperament of cold and heat. Empedocles, that the air
yielding to the impetuous force of the solar rays, the pole received an
inclination; whereby the northern parts were exalted and the southern
depressed, by which means the whole world received its inclination.