CHAP. 106. (103.)—THE WONDERS OF FOUNTAINS AND
RIVERS.
It is very remarkable that fresh water should burst out
close to the sea, as from pipes. But there is no end to the
wonders that are connected with the nature of waters. Fresh
water floats on sea water, no doubt from its being lighter;
and therefore sea water, which is of a heavier nature[1], supports better what floats upon
it. And, in some places,
different kinds of fresh water float upon each other; as that
of the river which falls into the Fucinus; that of the Addua
into the Larius; of the Ticinus into the Verbanus; of the
Mincius into the Benacus; of the Ollius into the Sevinus;
and of the Rhone into the Leman lake[2] (this last being
beyond the Alps, the others in Italy): all which rivers passing
through the lakes for many miles, generally carry off no more
water than they bring with them. The same thing is said to
occur in the Orontes, a river of Syria, and in many others
Some rivers, from a real hatred of the sea, pass under it,
as does Arethusa, a fountain of Syracuse, in which the substances are found that
are thrown into the Alpheus; which,
after flowing by Olympia, is discharged into the sea, on the
shore of the Peloponnesus[3]. The
Lycus in Asia[4], the
Era-
sinus in Argolis, and the Tigris[5] in Mesopotamia, sink into the
earth and burst out again. Substances which are thrown
into the fountain of Æsculapius at Athens[6] are cast up at
the fountain of Phalerum. The river which sinks into the
ground in the plain of Atinum[7] comes up again at the
distance of twenty miles, and the Timavus does the same
in Aquileia[8].
In the lake Asphaltites, in Judæa, which produces bitumen,
no substance will sink, nor in the lake Arethusa[9], in the
Greater Armenia: in this lake, although it contains nitre,
fish are found. In the country of the Salentini, near the
town of Manduria, there is a lake[10] full to the brim, the
waters of which are never diminished by what is taken out
of it, nor increased by what is added. Wood, which is
thrown into the river of the Cicones[11], or into the lake Velinus
in Picenum, becomes coated with a stony crust, while in the
Surius, a river of Colchis, the whole substance becomes as
hard as stone. In the same manner, in the Silarus[12], beyond
Surrentum, not only twigs which are immersed in it, but
likewise leaves are petrified; the water at the same time
being proper for drinking. In the stream which runs from
the marsh of Reate[13] there is a rock, which continues to
increase in size, and in the Red Sea olive-trees and green
shrubs are produced[14].
There are many springs which are remarkable for their
warmth. This is the case even among the ridges of the
Alps[15], and in the sea itself, between Italy and Ænaria, as in
the bay of Baiæ, and in the Liris and many other rivers[16].
There are many places in which fresh water may be procured
from the sea, as at the Chelidonian Isles, and at Arados, and
in the ocean at Gades. Green plants are produced in the
warm springs of Padua, frogs in those of Pisa, and fish in
those of Vetulonia in Etruria, which is not far from the sea.
In Casinas there is a cold river called Scatebra, which in summer is more full
of water[17]. In this, as in the river Stymphalis,
in Arcadia, small water-mice are produced. The fountain
of Jupiter in Dodona, although it is as cold as ice, and
extinguishes torches that are plunged into it, yet, if they be
brought near it, it kindles them again[18]. This spring always
becomes dry at noon, from which circumstance it is called
Anapauo/menon[19] it then increases and becomes full at midnight, after which it again
visibly decreases. In Illyricum
there is a cold spring, over which if garments are spread
they take fire. The pool of Jupiter Ammon, which is cold
during the day, is warm during the night[20]. In the country
of the Troglodytæ[21], what they call the Fountain of the Sun,
about noon is fresh and very cold; it then gradually grows
warm, and, at midnight, becomes hot and saline[22].
In the middle of the day, during summer, the source of
the Po, as if reposing itself, is always dry[23]. In the island
of Tenedos there is a spring, which, after the summer solstice, is full of
water, from the third hour of the night to
the sixth[24]. The fountain Inopus, in the island of Delos,
decreases and increases in the same manner as the Nile,
and also at the same periods[25]. There is a small island in
the sea, opposite to the river Timavus, containing warm
springs, which increase and decrease at the same time with
the tides of the sea[26]. In the territory of Pitinum, on the
other side of the Apennines, the river Novanus, which
during the solstice is quite a torrent, is dry in the winter[27].
In Faliscum, all the water which the oxen drink turns
them white; in Bœotia, the river Melas turns the sheep
black; the Cephissus, which flows out of a lake of the same
name, turns them white[28]; again, the Peneus turns them
black, and the Xanthus, near Ilium, makes them red, whence
the river derives its name[29]. In Pontus, the river Astaces
waters certain plains, where the mares give black milk, which
the people use in diet. In Reate there is a spring called
Neminia, which rises up sometimes in one place and sometimes
in another, and in this way indicates a change in the produce
of the earth[30]. There is a spring in the harbour of Brundisium
that yields water which never becomes putrid at sea. The
water of the Lyncestis, which is said to be acidulous, intoxicates like
wine[31]; this is the case also in Paphlagonia[32] and in
the territory of Calenum[33]. In the island of Andros,
at the
temple of Father Bacchus, we are assured by Mucianus,
who was thrice consul, that there is a spring, which, on the
nones of January, always has the flavour of wine; it is called
Dio\s Qeodosi/a[34]. Near Nonacris, in Arcadia, the Styx[35], which
is not unlike it either in odour or in colour, instantly destroys those who
drink it. Also in Librosus, a hill in the
country of the Tauri, there are three springs which inevitably produce death,
but without pain. In the territory
of the Carrinenses in Spain[36], two springs burst out close
together, the one of which absorbs everything, the other
throws them out. In the same country there is another
spring, which gives to all the fish the appearance of gold,
although, when out of the water, they do not differ in any
respect from other fish. In the territory of Como, near the
Larian lake, there is a copious spring, which always swells
up and subsides again every hour[37]. In the island of Cydonea[38], before Lesbos, there is a warm fountain, which flows
only during the spring season. The lake Sinnaus[39], in Asia,
is impregnated with wormwood, which grows about it. At
Colophon, in the cave of the Clarian Apollo, there is a pool,
by the drinking of which a power is acquired of uttering
wonderful oracles; but the lives of those who drink of it are
shortened[40]. In our own times, during the last years of
Nero's life, we have seen rivers flowing backwards, as I have
stated in my history of his times[41].
And indeed who can be mistaken as to the fact, that all
springs are colder in summer than in winter[42], as well as
these other wonderful operations of nature; that copper and
lead sink when in a mass, but float when spread out[43]; and
of things that are equally heavy, some will sink to the bottom, while others
will remain on the surface[44]; that heavy
bodies are more easily moved in water[45]; that a stone from
Scyros, although very large, will float, while the same, when
broken into small pieces, sinks[46]; that the body of an animal,
newly deprived of life, sinks, but that, when it is swelled
out, it floats[47]; that empty vessels are drawn out of the water
with no more ease than those that are full[48]; that rain-water
is more useful for salt-pits than other kinds of water[49];
that salt cannot be made, unless it is mixed with fresh water[50];
that salt water freezes with more difficulty[51], and is more readily
heated[52]; that the sea is warmer in winter[53] and more salt
in
the autumn[54]; that everything is soothed by oil, and that
this is the reason why divers send out small quantities of it
from their mouths, because it smoothes any part which is
rough[55] and transmits the light to them; that snow never
falls in the deep part of the sea[56]; that although water generally has a tendency downwards, fountains rise
up[57], and that
this is the case even at the foot of Ætna[58], burning as it does,
so as to force out the sand like a ball of flame to the distance
of 150 miles?
1. The specific gravity
of sea water varies from 1c˙0269 to 1c˙0285. The
saline contents of the water of the English Channel are stated to be 27 grs.
in 1000. Turner's Chem. p. 1289, 1290.
2. The modern names of the rivers and
lakes here mentioned are the
Liris, communicating with the Lago di Celano; the Adda, with the Lago
di Como; the Ticino, with the Lago Maggiore; the Mincio, with the
Lago di Guarda; the Oglio, with the Lago di Sero; and the Rhone with
the Lake of Geneva. There may be some foundation for the alleged fact,
because the specific gravity and the temperature of the lake may differ a
little from that of the river which passes through it.
3. According to Brotier, "fons ille olim
nobilissimus, nunc ignobile
est lavacrum, cujus aqua marino sapore inficitur." He conceives that
there is no actual foundation for this so frequently repeated story; and
conjectures that it originated from the similitude of the names, the
fountain in Sicily and the river in the Peloponnesus being both named
Alpheus. He goes on to mention some examples of springs of fresh
water rising up on the sea-coast; Lemaire, i. 438. The allusion to the
fountain of Arethusa, by Virgil, in the commencement of the 10th eclogue,
is well known to all classical scholars. The lines of Virgil have been
elegantly imitated by Voltaire, in the Henriade, ix. 269, 270.
4. This is mentioned by Ovid, Met. xv. 273, 274.
5. This is again referred to by our author,
vi. 31; also by Strabo, and
by Seneca, Nat. Quæst. iii. 26.
6. Pausanias.
7. The river here referred to is the Tanager,
the modern Rio Negro. See
the remarks of Hardouin and Alexandre in Lemaire, i. 439.
8. From a note in Pomsinet, i. 302, we learn that there has been
some
doubt respecting the locality of this river. It is mentioned by Virgil,
Æn. i. 244, and it forms the subject of Heyne's 7th Excursus, ii. 124 et
seq. Virgil also speaks of the Timavus, Ec. viii. 6; and Heyne, in a note,
gives the following description of it: "Timavus in ora Adriæ, non longe
ab Aquileia fluvius ex terra novem fontibus seu capitibus progressus,
brevi cursu, in unum alveum collectus, lato altoque flumine in mare
exit." i. 127, 128.
9. This remark is not to be
taken in its full extent; the water of these
lakes contains a large quantity of saline and other substances dissolved
in it, and, consequently, has its specific gravity so much increased, that
various substances float on it which sink in pure water.
10. According to Hardouin, this is now called
the Lake of Andoria, near
the town of Casalnuovo; Lemaire, i. 439. Poinsinet calls it Anduria,
i. 303.
11. The petrifying quality of this river
is referred to by Ovid, Met. xv.
313, 314; Seneca quotes these lines when treating on this subject, Nat.
Quæst. iii. 20.
12. Aristotle, Strabo, and
Silius Italicus, viii. 582, 583, refer to this property of the Silarus; but,
according to Brotier, it does not appear to be
known to the present inhabitants of the district through which it flows.
Lemaire, i. 440.
13. In a subsequent part of the work, xxxi. 8, our author
remarks,
"Reatinis tantum paludibus ungulas jumentorum indurari." We may
presume that the water contained some saline, earthy or metallic substance,
either in solution, or in a state of minute division, which would produce
these effects. It does not appear that anything of this kind has been
observed by the moderns in this water.
14. The coral beds with which the Red Sea abounds may have
given
rise to this opinion: see the remarks of Alexandre in loco. Hardouin
informs us, that this clause respecting the Red Sea is not found in any
of the MSS. Lemaire, i. 441. A similar observation occurs in a subsequent part
of the work, xiii. 48.
15. There are thermal springs in the Alpine valleys, but not any in the
elevated parts of the Alps themselves.
16. The volcanic
nature of a large portion of the south of Italy and the
neighbouring islands may be regarded as the cause of the warm springs
which are found there.
17. This river may be supposed to have been principally supplied by
melted snow; it would appear to be colder, because its temperature would
be less elevated than the other streams in the neighbourhood.
18. The statement, if correct, may be
referred to the discharge of a quantity of inflammable gas from the surface of
the water. The fact is men-
tioned by Lucretius, vi. 879, 880, and by Mela.
19. "Quasi alternis requiescens, ac meridians: diem
diffindens, ut Varro
loquitur, insititia quiete." Hardouin in Lemaire, i. 443. He says that
there is a similar kind of fountain in Provence, called Collis Martiensis.
20. There has been considerable
difference of opinion among the commentators, both as to the reading of the text
and its interpretation, for
which I shall refer to the notes of Poinsinet, i. 307, of Hardouin and
Alexandre, Lemaire, i. 443, and of Richelet, Ajasson, ii. 402.
21. We have an account of the Troglodytsæ in a subsequent
part of the
work, v. 5. The name is generally applied by the ancients to a tribe of
people inhabiting a portion of Æthiopia, and is derived from the circumstance
of their dwellings being composed of caverns; a trwglh\ and du/nw.
Alexandre remarks, that the name was occasionally applied to other tribes,
whose habitations were of the same kind; Lemaire, i. 443. They are referred to
by Q. Curtius as a tribe of the Æthiopians, situated to the south
of Egypt and extending to the Red Sea, iv. 7.
22. Q. Curtius gives nearly the
same account of this fountain.
23. The Po derives its water from
the torrents of the Alps, and is therefore much affected by the melting of the
snow or the great falls of rain,
which occur at different seasons of the year; but the daily diminution of
the water, as stated by our author, is without foundation.
24. "Fontem ibi intermittentem frustra qusæsivit cl. Le Chevalier,
Voyage
de la Troade, t. i. p. 219." Lemaire, i. 444.
25. Strabo, in allusion to this circumstance,
remarks, that some persons
make it still more wonderful, by supposing that this spring is connected
with the Nile. We learn from Tournefort, that there is a well of this
name in Delos, which he found to contain considerably more water in
January and February than in October, and which is supposed to be connected with
the Nile or the Jordan: this, of course, he regards as an idle
tale. Lemaire.
26. Hardouin informs us, that these warm springs are
called "i bagni di
Monte Falcone," or "di S. Antonio." They are situate so very near the
sea, that we may suppose some communication to exist, which may produce the
alleged effect. Lemaire.
27. According to
Hardouin this is the modern Torre di Pitino; he conceives that the river here
mentioned must be the Vomanus. The effect
here described is, to a certain extent, always the case with rivers which
proceed from mountains that are covered with snow. Lemaire, i. 445.
28. Seneca, Nat. Quæst. iii. 25, makes the same
remark: the fact would
seem to be, that in certain districts the cattle are found to be for the most
part white, and in other places black; but we have no reason to suppose
that their colour has any connexion with the water which they employ.
29. This is asserted by Aristotle, Hist. Anim. iii.
12. We have a similar
statement made by Ælian respecting the Scamander; viii. 21.
30. "Annonæ mutationem significans."
31. The peculiar nature of the water of the Lyncestis is referred to by
many of the ancients: we may suppose that it was strongly impregnated
with carbonic acid gas. See Ovid, Met. xv. 329–331; also Aristotle,
Meteor. ii. 3, and Seneca, Nat. Quæst. iii. 20.
32. Vitruvius and Athenæus.
33. Calenum was a town in Campania; this peculiar
property of its
water is referred to by Val. Maximus, i. 8, 18.
34. Literally, Jovis cultus; as interpreted by Hardouin,
"tanquam si
dixeris, divinum Jovis munus hunc fontem esse." Lemaire, i. 447.
35. Seneca affirms its poisonous
nature; Nat. Quæst. iii. 25. Q. Curtius
refers to a spring in Macedonia of the same name, "quo pestiferum virus
emanat." x. 10.
36. There appears to be some uncertainty respecting
the locality of this
district; see the remarks of Hardouin, Lemaire, i. 447.
37. "Hunc fontem describit eximie Plinius jun.
lib. iv. epist. ult. Est
ad orientalem Larii lacus plagam, Lago di Como, x mill. pass. a Como."
Hardouin, Lemaire, i. 448.
38. Our author, in a subsequent passage, v.
39, speaks of Cydonea, "cum
fonte calido."
39. According to Hardouin,
i. 448, there is a considerable variation in
the MSS. with respect to this name: he informs us that "Sunao\s urbs
est Magnæ Phrygiæ Ptolemæo, v. 2."
40. Tacitus gives an account of this oracle as having been visited by
Germanicus; Ann. ii. 54.
41. Our author refers to this history in the
First book of the present work.
42. "Comparatos scilicet cum
aëris externi temperie." Alexandre in
Lemaire, i. 448.
43. Thin leaves or films of
metal have little affinity for water, and have,
generally, bubbles of air attached to them; so that, when placed upon
the water, the fluid is prevented from adhering to them, and thus they
remain on the surface.
44. Depending not upon their absolute, but their
specific gravity.
45. Being partly supported by the water.
46. The stone may have floated in consequence
of its being full of pores:
these are more quickly filled with water when it is broken into small
pieces. It was probably of the nature of pumice or some other volcanic
product.
47. This is well known to depend upon the commencement of the
decomposition of some part of the viscera, by which there is an evolution
of gaseous matter.
48. This is an erroneous statement;
it is not easy to ascertain what was
the source of the error.
49. Rain, as it falls
from the clouds, is nearly pure; and rivers, or receptacles of any kind, that
are supplied by it, are considerably more free from
saline impregnations than the generality of springs.
50. This
statement is altogether incorrect.
51. When salt water freezes, it is
disengaged from the saline matter which
it previously held in solution; a greater degree of cold is therefore required
to overcome the attraction of the water for the salt, and to form
the ice, than when pure water is congealed.
52. "Celerius accendi." We can scarcely suppose that by this term our
author intended to express the actual burning or inflaming of the water,
which is its literal and ordinary meaning. This, however, would appear
to be the opinion of Hardouin and Alexandre; Lemaire, i. 449. Holland
translates it, "made hot and set a-seething," i. 46; Poinsinet, "s'éhauffe
le plus vîte," i. 313; and Ajasson, "plus prompte à s'échauffer," ii.
217.
53. The temperature of the ocean, in
consequence of its great mass and
the easy diffusion and mixture of its various parts, may be conceived to be
longer in becoming raised or depressed than any particular portion
of the land, where contemporary observations may be made.
54. The evaporation that is going on during the heats of summer, and
the heavy rains which in many countries fall during the autumn, may
produce the effects here described, in confined seas or inlets.
55. The statement is true to a certain extent, as is proved by the
well-known experiments of Franklin and others; but the degree of the effect
is considerably exaggerated. See the observations of Hardouin, Brotier,
and Alexandre; Lemaire, i. 450, 451.
56. In the Mediterranean the warm vapours
rising from the water and
its shores may melt the snow as it descends; but this is not the case in
the parts of the main ocean which approach either to the Arctic or the
Antarctic regions.
57. The theory of springs is well understood, as depending upon the
water tending to rise to its original level, so as to produce an equilibrium
of pressure.
58. When we consider the great
extent of the base of Ætna, and that
the crater is in the form of an inverted cone, we shall perceive that there
is ample space for the existence of springs in the lower part of the mountain,
without their coming in contact with the heated lava.