Bern, Burgerbibliothek, Cod. 402

heating these with steam, they receive the cooking while the moisture is mixed in at the same time, which is also useful for strength. Some edible things are cooked in this way when one wishes the moisture to be consumed, whence the term "suffocation" original: "τὸ πνίγειν" — likely referring to stewing or steaming in a covered vessel is not ill-applied. For they enclose [the food] by covering it and shaping the steam, so that a certain separation from the original state occurs, along with a generation. For moisture comes from the dry with heat, while this comes from the moisture, except that in the former case, the fire is mixed in, while in this case, it is a property of the breath being exhaled and departing. The heat present in living bodies is more mixed in, and it creates a living being of its own. For instance, that which is alive and fertile already becomes [a source of] similar things. Furthermore, the heat from the sun is related to this. For it is also fertile for both animals and plants, not remaining unmixed with the air, but rather occurring within it. It possesses a certain symmetry with its softness and fineness for the sake of generating, not like the heat of fire, which is hard and suffocating. For this reason, seeds that are scorched do not sprout, but when warmed by the sun to excess—for they say that in Babylon and in hotter places, [the grain] even jumps on the threshing floor, just like things being roasted—they generate and sprout. Fire, then, has such differences according to its heat, and [these differences] exist both by itself and when mixed with others and in other things. From this cause, we may also solve the puzzle: why the stomach melts coins, puzzle A small, stylized sketch of a scorpion or similar insect is drawn in the right margin near the top of the page. but boiling water, being hotter, does not melt them. For