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The text assembles a systematic survey of the natural world, opening with cosmological and geographical discussions and proceeding through plants, animals, minerals, and human uses of natural substances. It synthesizes reports from earlier authors, travelers, and craftsmen, combining empirical observation, hearsay, and learned commentary to describe physical phenomena, medicinal remedies, technologies, and curiosities. Organized as an encyclopedic sequence of books and chapters, it catalogues facts and theories, cites authorities, and balances practical instruction with natural-philosophical reflection.
Fabianus638 informs us that the greatest depth of the sea is 15 stadia639. We learn from others, that in the Euxine, opposite to the nation of the Coraxi, at what is called the Depths of the Euxine640, about 300 stadia641 from the main land, the sea is immensely deep, no bottom having been found.