Chapter XXVIII: Book XXXI (1)

REMEDIES DERIVED FROM THE AQUATIC PRODUCTIONS.

CHAP. 1. (1.)—REMARKABLE FACTS CONNECTED WITH WATER.

We have now to speak of the benefits derived, in a medicinal point of view, from the aquatic productions; for not here even has all-bounteous Nature reposed from her work. Amid waves and billows, and tides of rivers for ever on the ebb and flow, she still unceasingly exerts her powers; and nowhere, if we must confess the truth, does she display herself in greater might, for it is this among the elements that holds sway over all the rest. It is water that swallows up dry land, that extinguishes flame, that ascends aloft, and challenges possession of the very heavens: it is water that, spreading clouds as it does, far and wide, intercepts the vital air we breathe; and, through their collision, gives rise to thunders and lightnings,[2921] as the elements of the universe meet in conflict.

What can there be more marvellous than waters suspended aloft in the heavens? And yet, as though it were not enough to reach so high an elevation as this, they sweep along with them whole shoals of fishes, and often stones as well, thus lading themselves with ponderous masses which belong to other elements, and bearing them on high. Falling upon the earth, these waters become the prime cause of all that is there produced; a truly wondrous provision of Nature, if we only consider, that in order to give birth to grain and life to trees and to shrubs, water must first leave the earth for the heavens, and thence bring down to vegetation the breath of life! The admission must be surely extorted from us, that for all our resources the earth is indebted to the bounteousness of water. It will be only proper, therefore, in the first place to set forth some instances of the powerful properties displayed by this element; for as to the whole of them, what living mortal could describe them?

CHAP. 2. (2.)—THE DIFFERENT PROPERTIES OF WATERS.

On all sides, and in a thousand countries, there are waters bounteously springing forth from the earth, some of them cold, some hot, and some possessed of these properties united: those in the territory of the Tarbelli,[2922] for instance, a people of Aquitania, and those among the Pyrenæan[2923] Mountains, where hot and cold springs are separated by only the very smallest distance. Then, again, there are others that are tepid only, or lukewarm, announcing thereby the resources they afford for the treatment of diseases, and bursting forth, for the benefit of man alone, out of so many animated beings.[2924]

Under various names, too, they augment the number of the divinities,[2925] and give birth to cities; Puteoli,[2926] for example, in Campania, Statyellæ[2927] in Liguria, and Sextiæ[2928] in the province of Gallia Narbonensis. But nowhere do they abound in greater number, or offer a greater variety of medicinal properties than in the Gulf of Baiæ;[2929] some being impregnated with sulphur, some with alum, some with salt, some with nitre,[2930] and some with bitumen, while others are of a mixed quality, partly acid and partly salt. In other cases, again, it is by their vapours that waters are so beneficial to man, being so intensely hot as to heat our baths even, and to make cold water boil in our sitting-baths; such, for instance, as the springs at Baiæ, now known as “Posidian,” after the name of a freedman[2931] of the Emperor Claudius; waters which are so hot as to cook articles of food even. There are others, too,—those, for example, formerly the property of Licinius Crassus—which send forth their vapours in the sea[2932] even, thus providing resources for the health of man in the very midst of the waves!

CHAP. 3.—REMEDIES DERIVED FROM WATER.

According to their respective kinds, these waters are beneficial for diseases of the sinews, feet, or hips, for sprains or for fractures; they act, also, as purgatives upon the bowels, heal wounds,[2933] and are singularly useful for affections of the head and ears: indeed, the waters of Cicero are good for the eyes.[2934] The country-seat where these last are found is worthy of some further mention: travelling from Lake Avernus towards Puteoli, it is to be seen on the sea-shore, renowned for its fine portico and its grove. Cicero gave it the name of Academia,[2935] after the place so called at Athens: it was here that he composed those treatises[2936] of his that were called after it; it was here, too, that he raised those monuments[2937] to himself; as though, indeed, he had not already done so throughout the length and breadth of the known world.

Shortly after the death of Cicero, and when it had come into the possession of Antistius Vetus,[2938] certain hot springs burst forth at the very portals[2939] of this house, which were found to be remarkably beneficial for diseases of the eyes, and have been celebrated in verse by Laurea Tullius,[2940] one of the freedmen of Cicero; a fact which proves to demonstration that his servants even had received inspiration from that majestic and all-powerful genius of his. I will give the lines, as they deserve to be read, not there only, but everywhere:

Great prince of Roman eloquence, thy grove,
Where erst thou bad’st it rise, is verdant now:
Thy villa, from fair Academia[2941] nam’d,
From Vetus now its finish’d graces takes.
Here, too, fair streams burst forth, unknown before,
Which with their spray the languid eyes relieve.
The land, I ween, these bounteous springs reveal’d,
To honour Cicero, its ancient lord.
Throughout the world his works by eyes are scann’d;
May eyes unnumber’d by these streams be heal’d.

CHAP. 4.—WATERS PRODUCTIVE OF FECUNDITY. WATERS CURATIVE OF INSANITY.

In Campania, too, are the waters of Sinuessa,[2942] remedial, it is said, for sterility in females, and curative of insanity in men.

CHAP. 5.—WATERS REMEDIAL FOR URINARY CALCULI.

The waters of the island of Ænaria are curative of urinary calculi,[2943] it is said; and the same is the case with the cold spring of Acidula,[2944] four miles distant from Teanum[2945] Sidicinum, the waters at Stabiæ, known as the Dimidiæ,[2946] and those in the territory of Venafrum,[2947] which take their rise in the spring of Acidula. Patients suffering from these complaints may be cured also by drinking the waters of Lake Velia;[2948] the same effects being produced by those of a spring in Syria, near Mount Taurus, M. Varro says, and by those of the river Gallus in Phrygia, as we learn from Callimachus. In taking the waters, however, of this last, the greatest moderation is necessary, as they are apt to cause delirium; an effect equally produced, Ctesias tells us, by the waters of the Red Fountain[2949] in Æthiopia.

CHAP. 6.—WATERS CURATIVE OF WOUNDS.

The tepid waters of Albula,[2950] near Rome, have a healing effect upon wounds. Those of Cutilia,[2951] again, in the Sabine territory, are intensely cold, and by a kind of suction penetrate the body to such a degree as to have the effect of a mordent almost. They are remarkably beneficial for affections of the stomach, sinews, and all parts of the body, in fact.

CHAP. 7.—WATERS PREVENTIVE OF ABORTION.

The waters of Thespiæ[2952] ensure conception to females; the same, too, with those of the river Elatus[2953] in Arcadia. The spring Linus,[2954] also in Arcadia, acts as a preservative of the fœtus and effectually prevents abortion. The waters of the river Aphrodisius, on the other hand, in the territory of Pyrrhæa,[2955] are productive of sterility.

CHAP. 8.—WATERS WHICH REMOVE MORPHEW.

The waters of Lake Alphius remove white morphew,[2956] Varro tells us; who also mentions the fact that one Titius,[2957] a personage who had held the prætorship, had a face to all appearance like that of a marble statue, in consequence of this disease. The waters of the river Cydnus,[2958] in Cilicia, are curative of gout, as would appear from a letter addressed by Cassius[2959] of Parma to Marcus Antonius. At Trœzen, on the contrary, all the inhabitants are subject to diseases of the feet, owing to the bad quality of the water there. The state of the Tungri,[2960] in Gaul, has a spring of great renown, which sparkles as it bursts forth with bubbles innumerable, and has a certain ferruginous taste, only to be perceived after it has been drunk. This water is strongly purgative, is curative of tertian fevers, and disperses urinary calculi: upon the application of fire it assumes a turbid appearance, and finally turns red. The springs[2961] of Leucogæa, between Puteoli and Neapolis, are curative of eye diseases and of wounds. Cicero, in his work entitled “Admiranda,”[2962] has remarked that it is only by the waters of the marshes of Reate[2963] that the hoofs of beasts of burden are hardened.

CHAP. 9.—WATERS WHICH COLOUR THE HAIR.

Eudicus informs us that in Hestiæotis[2964] there are two springs; one of which, Cerona, renders sheep black that drink of it, while the other, called Neleus, turns them white: if, again, a sheep should happen to drink their waters mixed, its fleece will be mottled. According to Theophrastus, the water of the Crathis,[2965] a river of Thurii, makes sheep and cattle white, while that of the river Sybaris turns them black.

CHAP. 10.—WATERS WHICH COLOUR THE HUMAN BODY.

And not only this, but human beings even, Theophrastus tells us, are sensible of this difference: for persons who drink the water of the Sybaris, he says, become more swarthy and more hardy, the hair inclining to curl: while those, again, who drink of the Crathis become fair and more soft-skinned, with the hair growing straight and long. So, too, in Macedonia, persons who wish the produce to be white, drive their cattle to the river Haliacmon, while those who desire a black or tawny colour, take them to water at the Axius. Upon the same authority, too, we learn that in certain localities, as in the country of the Messapii, for instance, all the productions, the cereals even, grow of a tawny colour; and that at Lusi,[2966] in Arcadia, there is a certain fountain in which land-mice live and dwell. The river Aleos, which passes through Erythræ, promotes the growth of hair upon the body.

CHAP. 11.—WATERS WHICH AID THE MEMORY, OR ARE PRODUCTIVE OF FORGETFULNESS.

At the Temple[2967] of the god Trophonius, in Bœotia, near the river Hercynnus, there are two fountains,[2968] one of which aids the memory, while the other is productive of forgetfulness: hence the names which they respectively bear.

CHAP. 12.—WATERS WHICH SHARPEN OR DULL THE SENSES. WATERS WHICH IMPROVE THE VOICE.

Near the town of Cescum, in Cilicia, runs the river Nus,[2969] the waters of which, according to Varro, sharpen the intellect; while those of a certain spring in the island of Cea dull the senses. At Zama, in Africa, there is a spring, the waters of which render the voice more musical.[2970]

CHAP. 13.—WATERS WHICH CAUSE A DISTASTE FOR WINE. WATERS WHICH PRODUCE INEBRIETY.

Eudoxus says that persons who drink the water[2971] of Lake Clitorius take a distaste for wine, and Theopompus asserts that the waters of the springs already[2972] named are productive of inebriety. According to Mucianus,[2973] there is a fountain at Andros, consecrated to Father Liber, from which wine flows during the seven days appointed for the yearly festival of that god, the taste of which becomes like that of water the moment it is taken out of sight of the temple.

CHAP. 14.—WATERS WHICH SERVE AS A SUBSTITUTE FOR OIL.

Polyclitus says, that the water[2974] of the river Liparis,[2975] near Soli, in Cilicia, is used as a substitute for oil, and Theophrastus mentions a spring of that name in Æthiopia, which is possessed of similar properties. Lycus says, that at Tasitia[2976] there is a fountain of it, the water of which emits light: the same is asserted, too, of a spring at Ecbatana. According to Theopompus, there is a lake at Scotussa,[2977] the waters of which heal wounds.

CHAP. 15.—SALT AND BITTER WATERS.

Juba says, that in the country of the Troglodytæ there is a lake, called the “Lake of Insanity,”[2978] from its highly noxious properties: thrice a day it becomes salt and bitter, and then again fresh, the same taking place as many times during the night. It is full, he says, of white serpents, twenty cubits long.[2979] He mentions, also, a certain spring in Arabia, which rises from the ground with such remarkable force, as to throw back any object pressed down upon it, however weighty.

CHAP. 16.—WATERS WHICH THROW UP STONES. WATERS WHICH CAUSE LAUGHTER AND WEEPING. WATERS WHICH ARE SAID TO BE CURATIVE OF LOVE.

Theophrastus makes mention of the fountain of Marsyas, near the city of Celænæ, in Phrygia, which throws up masses of stone. Not far from it are two other springs, called Clæon[2980] and Gelon by the Greeks, from the effects which they respectively produce. At Cyzicus is a fountain known as that of Cupido, the waters of which, Mucianus believes,[2981] cure those who drink thereof of love.

CHAP. 17.—WATERS WHICH PRESERVE THEIR WARMTH FOR THREE DAYS.

At Crannon[2982] there are certain hot springs, though not at boiling heat, the water of which, mixed with wine, preserves it warm in the vessels for a period of three days. The same is the case, too, with the springs of Mattiacum[2983] in Germany, beyond the river Rhenus, the water of which retains its boiling heat three days. The margin of these springs is covered with pumice, formed by the action of the water.

CHAP. 18.—OTHER MARVELLOUS FACTS CONNECTED WITH WATER. WATERS IN WHICH EVERYTHING WILL SINK. WATERS IN WHICH NOTHING WILL SINK.

If any of the above-mentioned facts have the appearance of being incredible to a person, I would have him know that there is no department of Nature which presents greater marvels than this, independently of the numerous peculiarities which have been already mentioned[2984] in an earlier part of this work. Ctesias informs us that, in India, there is a lake of standing water, upon which nothing[2985] will float, every object instantly sinking to the bottom. Cælius says that in the waters of Lake Avernus,[2986] in our own part of the world, the very leaves of the trees even will sink; and, according to Varro, these waters are fatal to such birds as fly towards them.

On the other hand, again, in the waters of Lake Apuscidamus,[2987] in Africa, nothing will sink; the same, too, Apion tells us, with the fountain of Plinthia in Sicily, as also a certain lake in Media, and the well of Saturn. The spring of Limyra[2988] not unfrequently makes its way through the neighbouring localities, and when it does so, is always portentous of some coming event. It is a singular thing too, that the fish always accompany its waters on these occasions; the inhabitants of the adjoining districts being in the habit of consulting them by offering them food. When the fishes seize it with avidity, the answer is supposed to be favourable; but if, on the other hand, they reject the food, by flapping it with their tails, the response is considered to be unfavourable. The river Holcas, in Bithynia, runs close to Bryazus,[2989] the name of a temple and of a divinity there worshipped; persons guilty of perjury, it is said, cannot endure contact with its waters, which burn like flame.[2990]

The sources, too, of the Tamaricus,[2991] a river of Cantabria, are considered to possess certain powers of presaging future events: they are three in number, and, separated solely by an interval of eight feet, unite in one channel, and so form a mighty stream. These springs are often dry a dozen times in the day, sometimes as many as twenty, without there being the slightest trace of water there: while, on the other hand, a spring close at hand is flowing abundantly and without intermission. It is considered an evil presage when persons who wish to see these springs find them dry: a circumstance which happened very recently, for example, to Lartius Licinius,[2992] who held the office of legatus after his prætorship; for at the end of seven days after his visit he died.

In Judæa there is a river[2993] that is dry every Sabbath day.

CHAP. 19.—DEADLY WATERS. POISONOUS FISHES.

There are other marvels again, connected with water, but of a more fatal nature. Ctesias states in his writings, that there is a spring in Armenia, the fishes in which are black,[2994] and, if used as food, productive of instantaneous death. I have heard the same, too, with reference to the waters near the sources of the river Danuvius,[2995] until a spring is reached which is near its main channel, and beyond which this poisonous kind of fish is not to be found. Hence it is that this spot is generally looked upon as the source of the river. The same, too, is reported of the Lake of the Nymphs, in Lydia. Near the river Pheneus, in Achaia, there flows from the rocks a spring known as the Styx, the waters of which, as already[2996] stated, are instantly fatal. And not only this, but there are also small fish in it, Theophrastus says, which are as deadly as the water, a thing that is not the case with the fish of any other poisonous springs. Theopompus says, that at the town of Cychri, in Thrace, the waters are deadly; and Lycus states, that at Leontium[2997] there is a spring, the waters of which are fatal at the end of a couple of days to those who drink thereof. Varro speaks also of a spring upon Mount Soracte, some four feet in breadth, the waters of which bubble forth at sunrise, as though they were boiling; birds, he says, which only taste thereof, fall dead close by.

And then, besides, we meet with this insidious circumstance, that in some cases, waters of this nature are inviting even in their appearance; those at Nonacris, in Arcadia, for example, the water of which fountain possesses no apparent quality to excite mistrust, though, owing to its intense coldness, it is generally looked upon as highly injurious, seeing that it petrifies as it flows. It is otherwise with the waters of Tempe, in Thessaly, their baneful properties inspiring universal terror, and possessing the property of corroding copper even and iron, it is said. This stream runs a short distance only, as already stated;[2998] and it is truly marvellous that, according to general report, the banks of its source[2999] are surrounded with the roots of a wild carob,[3000] always covered with purple flowers, while the margin is clothed with a green herbaceous plant of a peculiar species. In Macedonia, not far from the tomb of the Poet Euripides, is the confluence of two streams, the water of one of which is extremely wholesome, that of the other fatal.

CHAP. 20.—WATERS WHICH PETRIFY, THEMSELVES, OR CAUSE OTHER OBJECTS TO PETRIFY.

At Perperena,[3001] there is a spring which petrifies[3002] the ground wherever it flows, the same being the case also, with the hot waters at Ædepsus, in Eubœa; for there, wherever the stream falls, the rocks are continually increasing in height. At Eurymenæ,[3003] chaplets, when thrown into the waters of a certain fountain there, are turned to stone. At Colossæ there is a river, into the water of which if bricks[3004] are thrown, when taken out they are found changed into stone. In the mines of Scyros, the trees petrify that are watered by the river, branches and all. In the caverns of Mount Corycus, the drops of water that trickle down the rocks become hard in the form of a stone.[3005] At Mieza, too, in Macedonia, the water petrifies as it hangs from the vaulted roofs of the rocks; but at Corycus it is only when it has fallen that it becomes hard.

In other caverns, again, the water petrifies both ways,[3006] and so forms columns; as we find the case in a vast grotto at Phausia, a town of the Chersonesus[3007] of the Rhodians, the columns of which are tinted with various colours. These instances will suffice for the present.

CHAP. 21. (3.)—THE WHOLESOMENESS OF WATERS.

It is a subject of enquiry among medical men, which kind of water is the most beneficial. They condemn, and with justice, all stagnant, sluggish, waters, and are of opinion that running water is the best, being rendered lighter and more salubrious by its current and its continuous agitation. Hence it is that I am much surprised that persons should be found to set so high a value as they do, upon cistern water. These last give as their reason, however, that rain-water must be the lightest water of all, seeing that it has been able to rise[3008] aloft and remain suspended in the air. Hence it is, too, that they prefer snow-water to rain-water, and ice, again, to snow, as being water subtilized to the highest possible degree; on the ground that snow-water and ice-water must be lighter than ordinary water, and ice, of necessity, considerably lighter. It is for the general interest, however, of mankind, that these notions should be refuted. For, in the first place, this comparative lightness which they speak of, could hardly be ascertained in any other way than by the sensation, there being pretty nearly no difference at all in weight between the kinds of water. Nor yet, in the case of rain-water, is it any proof of its lightness that it has made its way upwards into the air, seeing that stones,[3009] it is quite evident, do the same: and then, besides, this water, while falling, must of necessity become tainted with the vapours which rise from the earth; a circumstance owing to which it is, that such numerous impurities[3010] are to be detected in rain-water, and that it ferments[3011] with such extreme rapidity.

I am, surprised, too, that snow[3012] and ice should be regarded as the most subtilized states of this element, in juxtaposition with the proofs supplied us by hail, the water of which, it is generally agreed, is the most pernicious of all to drink. And then, besides, there are not a few among the medical men themselves, who assert that the use of ice-water and snow-water is highly injurious, from the circumstance that all the more refined parts thereof have been expelled by congelation. At all events, it is a well-ascertained fact that the volume of every liquid is diminished by congelation; as also that excessive dews[3013] a reproductive of blight in corn, and that hoar-frosts result in blast; of a kindred nature, both of them, to snow. It is generally agreed, too, that rain-water putrefies with the greatest rapidity, and that it keeps but very badly on a voyage. Epigenes, however, assures us that water which has putrefied seven times and as often purified[3014] itself, will no longer be liable to putrefaction. As to cistern-water, medical men assure us that, owing to its harshness, it is bad for the bowels and throat;[3015] and it is generally admitted by them that there is no kind of water that contains more slime or more numerous insects of a disgusting nature. But it does not, therefore, follow that river water is the best of all, or that, in fact, of any running stream, the water of many lakes being found to be wholesome in the very highest degree.

What water, then, out of all these various kinds, are we to look upon as best adapted for the human constitution? Different kinds in different localities, is my answer. The kings of Parthia drink no water but that of the Choaspes[3016] or of the Eulæus, and, however long their journies, they always have this water carried in their suite. And yet it is very evident that it is not merely because this water is river-water that it is thus pleasing to them, seeing that they decline to drink the water of the Tigris, Euphrates, and so many other streams.

CHAP. 22.—THE IMPURITIES OF WATER.

Slime[3017] is one great impurity of water: still, however, if a river of this description is full of eels, it is generally looked upon as a proof[3018] of the salubrity of its water; just as it is regarded as a sign of its freshness when long worms[3019] breed in the water of a spring. But it is bitter water, more particularly, that is held in disesteem, as also the water which swells the stomach the moment it is drunk, a property which belongs to the water at Trœzen. As to the nitrous[3020] and salso-acid[3021] waters which are found in the deserts, persons travelling across towards the Red Sea render them potable in a couple of hours by the addition of polenta, which they use also as food. Those springs are more particularly condemned which secrete mud,[3022] or which give a bad complexion to persons who drink thereof. It is a good plan, too, to observe if water leaves stains upon copper vessels; if leguminous vegetables boil with difficulty in it; if, when gently decanted, it leaves an earthy deposit; or if, when boiled, it covers the vessel with a thick crust.[3023]

It is a fault also in water,[3024] not only to have a bad smell,[3025] but to have any flavour[3026] at all, even though it be a flavour pleasant and agreeable in itself, or closely approaching, as we often find the case, the taste of milk. Water, to be truly wholesome, ought to resemble air[3027] as much as possible. There is only one[3028] spring of water in the whole universe, it is said, that has an agreeable smell, that of Chabura, namely, in Mesopotamia: the people give a fabulous reason for it, and say that it is because Juno[3029] bathed there. Speaking in general terms, water, to be wholesome, should have neither taste nor smell.

CHAP. 23.—THE MODES OF TESTING WATER.

Some persons judge of the wholesomeness of water through the agency of a balance:[3030] their pains, however, are expended to little purpose, it being but very rarely that one water is lighter than another. There is, however, a more certain mode of ascertaining the difference in quality, that water being the better of the two which becomes hot and cold with the greatest rapidity: in addition to which, not to keep poising a balance,[3031] after water has been drawn up in vessels, if it is good, it should gradually become warmer, they say, when placed upon the ground. Which water, then, of the several kinds will be most likely to be good and wholesome? Well-water, no doubt if we are to judge from the general use made of it in cities: but only in the case of wells in which it is kept in continual agitation by repeated drawing, and is refined by the earth acting as a filter. These conditions are sufficient to ensure salubrity in water: in regard to coolness, the well must be in a shaded spot, and the water kept exposed to the air. There is, however one thing above all to be observed, a point, too, of considerable importance with reference to the continuance of the flow—the spring must issue from the bed of the well, and not from the sides. To make water cold to the touch may be effected artificially even, either by forcing it to rise aloft or by making it fall from a height, and so come in collision with the air, and become incorporated[3032] therewith: for in swimming,[3033] we find, when we hold our breath, the water is felt to be all the colder.

It was the Emperor Nero’s invention[3034] to boil water, and then enclose it in glass vessels and cool it in snow; a method which ensures all the enjoyment of a cold beverage, without any of the inconveniences resulting from the use of snow. Indeed, it is generally admitted that all water is more[3035] wholesome when it has been boiled; as also, that water when it has once been heated, will become more intensely[3036] cold than before—a most ingenious discovery.[3037] The best corrective of unwholesome water is to boil it down to one half. Cold water, taken internally, arrests hæmorrhage. By keeping cold water in his mouth, a person may render himself proof against the intense heat of the bath. Many a person knows by his own every-day experience, that water which is the coldest to drink is not of necessity the coldest to the touch, this delightful property being subject to considerable fluctuations.[3038]

CHAP. 24.—THE MARCIAN WATERS.

The most celebrated water throughout the whole world, and the one to which our city gives the palm for coolness and salubrity, is that of the Marcian[3039] Spring, accorded to Rome among the other bounties of the gods: the name formerly given to the stream was the “Aufeian,” the spring itself being known as “Pitonia.” It rises[3040] at the extremity of the mountains of the Peligni, passes through the territory of the Marsi and through Lake Fucinus, and then, without deviating, makes directly for Rome: shortly after this, it loses itself in certain caverns, and only reappears in the territory of Tibur, from which it is brought to the City by an arched aqueduct nine miles in length. Ancus Marcius, one of the Roman kings, was the first[3041] who thought of introducing this water into the City. At a later period, the works were repaired by Quintus Marcius Rex: and, more recently, in his prætorship, by M. Agrippa.[3042]

CHAP. 25.—THE VIRGIN WATERS.

It was he, too, who brought the Virgin[3043] Waters from the bye-road situate at the eighth milestone from the City, which runs for two miles along the Prænestine Way. Near these waters is the stream of Hercules, which the former shun, to all appearance, and have thence obtained[3044] the name of “Virgin Waters.” On instituting a comparison between the waters of these streams, the difference above-mentioned[3045] may be immediately detected, the Virgin water being as much cooler to the touch, as the Marcian water is in taste. And yet, for this long time past, the pleasure of drinking these waters has been lost to the City, owing to the ambition and avarice of certain persons who have turned[3046] them out of their course for the supply of their country-seats and of various places in the suburbs, to the great detriment of the public health.

CHAP. 26.—THE METHOD OF SEARCHING FOR WATER.

It will not be out of place to append here an account of the method employed in searching for water. Water is mostly to be found in valleys, whether formed by the intersection of declivities or lying at the lower part of mountains. Many persons have been of opinion that all places with a northern[3047] aspect are naturally provided with water: a point upon which it will not be amiss to explain the diversities presented to us by Nature. On the south side of the mountains of Hyrcania it never rains; and hence it is that it is only on the north-east side that they are wooded. As for Olympus, Ossa, Parnassus, the Apennines, and the Alps, they are covered with wood on every side, and abundantly watered with streams. Some mountains, again, are wooded on the south side, the White[3048] Mountains in Crete, for example. On this point, therefore, we may come to the conclusion that there is no rule which in all cases holds good.

CHAP. 27.—SIGNS INDICATIVE OF THE PRESENCE OF WATER.

The following are indications of the presence of water:—rushes, reeds, the plant mentioned with reference to this point already,[3049] or frogs sitting squatted on a spot for a long time together. As to the wild[3050] willow, alder, vitex, reed, and ivy, all of which grow spontaneously on low grounds in which there is a settling of rain water from higher localities, considered as indications of the presence of water, they are all[3051] of them of a deceptive nature. A sign much more to be depended upon, is a certain misty exhalation, visible from a distance before sunrise. The better to observe this, some persons ascend an eminence, and lie flat at full length upon the ground, with the chin touching the earth. There is also another peculiar method of judging upon this point, known only to men of experience in these matters: in the very middle of the heats of summer they select the hottest hours of the day, and observe how the sun’s rays are reflected in each spot; and if, notwithstanding the general dryness of the earth, a locality is observed to present a moist appearance, they make no doubt of finding water there.

But so intense is the stress upon the eyes in doing this, that it is very apt to make them ache; to avoid which inconvenience, they have recourse to other modes of testing. They dig a hole, for instance, some five feet in depth, and cover it with vessels of unbaked pottery, or with a copper basin well-oiled; they then place a burning lamp on the spot, with an arch-work over it of leaves, and covered with earth on the top. If, after a time, they find the pots wet or broken, the copper covered with moisture, or the lamp extinguished, but not from want of oil, or if a lock of wool that has been left there is found to be moist, it is a sign of the presence of water, beyond all doubt. With some persons it is the practice to light a fire on the spot before they dig the hole, a method which renders the experiment with the vessels still more conclusive.

CHAP. 28.—DIFFERENCES IN WATERS, ACCORDING TO THE NATURE OF THE SOIL.

The soil itself, too, gives indications of the presence of water, by presenting white spots, or an uniformly green appearance: for where the stratum is black the springs are mostly not of a permanent nature. The presence of potter’s clay always puts an end to all hopes of finding water, and the excavation is immediately abandoned; an eye being carefully kept to the strata[3052] of the earth, to see whether, beginning with black mould, it successively presents the appearances above-mentioned. The water is always fresh that is found in argillaceous soils, but in a stratum of tufa it is colder than elsewhere; this, indeed, being a soil which is highly approved of, as having a tendency to make the water pure and extremely light to the stomach, and, by its action as a filter, to withhold all impurities. The presence of sand[3053] gives indications of springs of but limited extent, and of water impregnated with slime; while that of gravel announces the presence of water of excellent flavour, but not to be depended upon for permanence. Male[3054] sand, fine sea[3055]-sand, and charcoal[3056] earth, yield a constant supply of water of a highly wholesome quality; but it is the presence of red stones that is the most to be depended upon, and the water found there is of the very finest quality. Craggy localities at the foot of mountains, and silicious soils, are equally good; in addition to which, the water found there is cooler than elsewhere.

In boring for water, the soil should always become more and more humid, and, the deeper the descent, with the greater facility the implements should penetrate. In deep-sunk wells, the presence of sulphureous[3057] or aluminous substances is fatal to the sinkers; a danger that may be guarded against by letting down a lighted lamp, and ascertaining whether the flame is extinguished. When such is found to be the case, it is the practice to sink vent-holes on each side of the well, both right and left, in order to receive and carry off the noxious exhalations. Independently of these evils, the air becomes heavier, from the great depth merely of the excavation, an inconvenience which is remedied by keeping up a continual circulation with ventilators of linen cloth. As soon as water is reached, walls are constructed at the bottom, but without cement,[3058] in order that the springs may not be intercepted.

Some waters, the sources of which do not lie on elevated ground, are coldest at the beginning of spring, being maintained by the winter rains in fact. Others, again, are coldest at the rising of the Dog-star—peculiarities, both of them, to be witnessed at Pella in Macedonia; for in front of that city there is a marsh-spring, which at the beginning of summer is cold, while in the more elevated parts of the city the water is ice-cold[3059] in the hottest days of summer. The same is the case, too, at Chios, the water-supply of the harbour and of the city occupying the same relative positions. At Athens, the water of the Fountain Enneacrunos[3060] is colder in a cloudy summer than the well there in the garden of Jupiter; while on the other hand, this last is ice-cold during the drought of a hot summer. For the most part, however, wells are coldest about the rising of Arcturus.[3061]

(4.) The water-supply of wells never fails in summer, but in all cases it falls low during four days at the rising of the constellation above-mentioned. Throughout the whole winter, on the other hand, many wells entirely fail; as in the neighbourhood of Olynthus, for example, where the water returns in the early days of spring. In Sicily too, in the vicinity of Messana and Mylæ, the springs are entirely dry throughout the winter, while in summer they overflow and form quite a river. At Apollonia in Pontus there is to be seen, near the sea-shore, a fountain which overflows in summer only, and mostly about the rising of the Dog-star; should the summer, however, not be so hot as usual, its water is less abundant. Certain soils become drier in consequence of rain, that in the territory of Narnia for example: a fact which M. Cicero has mentioned in his “Admiranda,” with a statement that drought is there productive of mud, and rain of dust.[3062]

CHAP. 29.—THE QUALITIES OF WATER AT THE DIFFERENT SEASONS OF THE YEAR.

Every kind of water is freshest in winter, not so fresh in summer, still less so in autumn, and least of all in times of drought. River-water, too, is by no means always the same in taste, the state of the bed over which it runs making a considerable difference. For the quality of water, in fact, depends upon the nature of the soil through which it flows, and the juices[3063] of the vegetation watered by it; hence it is that the water of the same river is found in some spots to be comparatively unwholesome. The confluents, too, of rivers, are apt to change the flavour of the water, impregnating the stream in which they are lost and absorbed; as in the case of the Borysthenes, for example. In some instances, again, the taste of river-water is changed by the fall of heavy rains. It has happened three times in the Bosporus that there has been a fall of salt rain, a phænomenon which proved fatal to the crops. On three occasions, also, the rains have imparted a bitterness to the overflowing streams of the Nilus, which was productive of great pestilence throughout Egypt.

CHAP. 30.—HISTORICAL OBSERVATIONS UPON WATERS WHICH HAVE SUDDENLY MADE THEIR APPEARANCE OR SUDDENLY CEASED.

It frequently happens that in spots where forests have been felled, springs of water make[3064] their appearance, the supply of which was previously expended in the nutriment of the trees. This was the case upon Mount Hæmus for example, when, during the siege by Cassander,[3065] the Gauls cut down a forest for the purpose of making a rampart. Very often too, after removing the wood which has covered an elevated spot and so served to attract and consume the rains, devastating torrents are formed by the concentration of the waters. It is very important also, for the maintenance of a constant supply of water, to till the ground and keep it constantly in motion, taking care to break and loosen the callosities of the surface crust: at all events, we find it stated, that upon a city of Crete, Arcadia by name, being razed to the ground, the springs and water-courses, which before were very numerous in that locality, all at once dried up; but that, six years after, when the city was rebuilt, the water again made its appearance, just as each spot was again brought into cultivation.

(5.) Earthquakes also are apt to discover or swallow[3066] up springs of water; a thing that has happened, it is well known, on five different occasions in the vicinity of Pheneus, a town of Arcadia. So too, upon Mount Coryeus,[3067] a river burst forth; after which, the soil was subjected to cultivation. These changes are very surprising where there is no apparent cause for them; such as the occurrence at Magnesia,[3068] for instance, where the warm waters became cold, but without losing their brackish flavour; and at the Temple[3069] of Neptune in Caria, where the water of the river, from being fresh, became salt. Here, too, is another fact, replete with the marvellous—the fountain of Arethusa at Syracuse has a smell of dung, they say, during the celebration of the games at Olympia,[3070] a thing that is rendered not improbable by the circumstance,[3071] that the river Alpheus makes its way to that island beneath the bed of the sea. There is a spring in the Chersonesus of the Rhodians[3072] which discharges its accumulated impurities every nine years.

Waters, too, sometimes change their colour; as at Babylon, for example, where the water of a certain lake for eleven days in summer is red. In the summer season, too, the current of the Borysthenes[3073] is blue, it is said, and this, although its waters are the most rarefied in existence, and hence float upon the surface of those of the Hypanis;[3074]—though at the same time there is this marvellous fact, that when south winds prevail, the waters of the Hypanis assume the upper place. Another proof, too, of the surpassing lightness of the water of the Borysthenes, is the fact that it emits no exhalations, nor, indeed, the slightest vapour even. Authors that would have the credit of diligent research in these enquiries, assure us that water becomes heavier after the winter-solstice.

CHAP. 31. (6.)—THE METHOD OF CONVEYING WATER.

The most convenient method of making a watercourse from the spring is by employing earthen pipes, two fingers in thickness, inserted in one another at the points of junction—the one that has the higher inclination fitting into the lower one—and coated with quick-lime macerated in oil. The inclination, to ensure the free flow of the water, ought to be at least one-fourth of an inch to every hundred feet; and if the water is conveyed through a subterraneous passage, there should be air-holes let in at intervals of every two[3075] actus. Where the water is wanted to ascend[3076] aloft, it should be conveyed in pipes of lead: water, it should be remembered, always rises to the level of its source. If, again, it is conveyed from a considerable distance, it should be made to rise and fall every now and then, so as not to lose its motive power. The proper length for each leaden pipe is ten feet; and if[3077] the pipe is five fingers in circumference its weight should be sixty pounds; if eight feet, one hundred; if ten, one hundred and twenty; and so on in the same proportion.

A pipe is called “a ten-finger”[3078] pipe when the sheet of metal is ten fingers in breadth before it is rolled up; a sheet one half that breadth giving a pipe “of five fingers.”[3079] In all sudden changes of inclination in elevated localities, pipes of five fingers should be employed, in order to break the impetuosity of the fall: reservoirs,[3080] too, for branches should be made as circumstances may demand.

CHAP. 32.—HOW MINERAL WATERS SHOULD BE USED.

I am surprised that Homer has made no[3081] mention of hot springs, when, on the other hand, he has so frequently introduced the mention of warm baths: a circumstance from which we may safely conclude that recourse was not had in his time to mineral waters for their medicinal properties, a thing so universally the case at the present day. Waters impregnated with sulphur are good for the sinews,[3082] and aluminous waters are useful for paralysis and similar relaxations of the system. Those, again, which are impregnated with bitumen or nitre, the waters of Cutilia,[3083] for example, are drunk as a purgative.[3084]

Many persons quite pride themselves on enduring the heat of mineral waters for many hours together; a most pernicious practice, however, as they should be used but very little longer than the ordinary bath, after which the bather should be shampooed[3085] with cold water, and not leave the bath without being rubbed with oil. This last operation, however, is commonly regarded as altogether foreign to the use of mineral baths; and hence it is, that there is no situation in which men’s bodies are more exposed to the chances of disease, the head becoming saturated with the intensity of the odours exhaled, and left exposed, perspiring as it is, to the coldness of the atmosphere, while all the rest of the body is immersed in the water.[3086]

There is another mistake, also, of a similar description, made by those who pride themselves upon drinking enormous quantities of these waters;[3087] and I myself have seen persons, before now, so swollen with drinking it that the very rings on their fingers were entirely concealed by the skin, owing to their inability to discharge the vast quantities of water which they had swallowed. It is for this reason, too, that these waters should never be drunk without taking a taste of salt every now and then. The very mud,[3088] too, of mineral springs may be employed to good purpose; but, to be effectual, after being applied to the body, it must be left to dry in the sun.

It must not be supposed, however, that all hot waters are of necessity medicated, those of Segesta in Sicily, for example, of Larissa, Troas, Magnesia, Melos, and Lipara. Nor is the very general supposition a correct one, that waters, to be medicinal, must of necessity discolour copper or silver; no such effect being produced by those of Patavium,[3089] or there being the slightest difference perceptible in the smell.

CHAP. 33.—THE USES OF SEA-WATER. THE ADVANTAGES OF A SEA-VOYAGE.

Sea-water also is employed in a similar manner for the cure of diseases. It is used, made hot, for the cure of pains in the sinews, for reuniting fractured bones, and for its desiccative action upon the body: for which last purpose, it is also used cold. There are numerous other medicinal resources derived from the sea; the benefit of a sea-voyage, more particularly, in cases of phthisis, as already[3090] mentioned, and where patients are suffering from hæmoptosis, as lately experienced, in our own memory, by Annæus Gallio,[3091] at the close of his consulship:[3092] for it is not for the purpose of visiting the country, that people so often travel to Egypt, but in order to secure the beneficial results arising from a long sea-voyage. Indeed, the very sea-sickness that is caused by the rocking of the vessel to and fro, is good for many affections of the head, eyes, and chest, all those cases, in fact, in which the patient is recommended to drink an infusion of hellebore. Medical men consider sea-water, employed by itself, highly efficacious for the dispersion of tumours, and, boiled with barley-meal, for the successful treatment of imposthumes of the parotid glands: it is used also as an ingredient in plasters, white plasters more particularly, and for emollient[3093] poultices. Sea-water is very good, too, employed as a shower-bath; and it is taken internally, though not without[3094] injury to the stomach, both as a purgative and as an expellent, by vomit and by alvine evacuation, of black bile[3095] or coagulated blood, as the case may be.

Some authorities prescribe it, taken internally, for quartan fevers, as also for tenesmus and diseases of the joints; purposes for which it is kept a considerable time, to mellow with age, and so lose its noxious[3096] properties. Some, again, are for boiling it, but in all cases it is recommended to be taken from out at sea, and untainted with the mixture of fresh water, an emetic also being taken before using it. When used in this manner, vinegar or wine is generally mixed with the water. Those who give it unmixed, recommend radishes with oxymel to be eaten upon it, in order to provoke vomiting. Sea-water, made hot, is used also as an injection; and there is nothing in existence preferred to it as a fomentation for swellings of the testes, or for chilblains before they ulcerate. It is similarly employed, also, for the cure of prurigo, itch-scab, and lichens. Lice and other foul vermin of the head, are removed by the application of sea-water, and lividities of the skin are restored to their natural colour; it being a remarkably good plan, in such cases, after applying the sea-water, to foment the parts with hot vinegar.

It is generally considered, too, that sea-water is highly efficacious for the stings of venomous insects, those of the phalangium and scorpion, for example, and as an antidote to the poisonous secretions of the asp, known as the “ptyas;”[3097] in all which cases it is employed hot. Fumigations are also made of it, with vinegar, for the cure of head-ache; and, used warm as an injection, it allays griping pains in the bowels and cholera. Things that have been heated in sea-water are longer than ordinary in cooling. A sea-water bath is an excellent corrective for swelling[3098] of the bosoms in females, affections of the thoracic organs, and emaciation of the body. The steam also of sea-water boiled with vinegar, is used for the removal of hardness of hearing and head-ache. An application of sea-water very expeditiously removes rust upon iron; it is curative also of scab in sheep, and imparts additional softness to the wool.

CHAP. 34.—HOW ARTIFICIAL SEA-WATER MAY BE MADE IN PLACES AT A DISTANCE FROM THE SEA.

I am by no means unaware that these details may very possibly appear superfluous to persons who live at a distance from the sea; but scientific research has made provision against this objection, by discovering a method of enabling every one to make sea-water[3099] for himself. It is a singular fact in connexion with this discovery, that if more than one sextarius of salt is put into four sextarii of water, the liquefying properties of the water will be overpowered, and the salt will no longer melt. On the other hand, again, a mixture of one sextarius of salt with four sextarii of water, acts as a good substitute for the efficacy and properties of the very saltest sea-water. The most reasonable proportion, however, is generally thought to be eight cyathi of salt, diluted in the quantity of water above mentioned; a preparation which has been found to have a warming effect upon the sinews, without in any degree chafing the body.

CHAP. 35.—HOW THALASSOMELI IS MADE.

There is also a composition made to ripen for use, known as “thalassomeli,”[3100] and prepared with equal parts of sea-water, honey, and rain-water. For this purpose, also, the water is brought from out at sea, and the preparation is kept in an earthen vessel well pitched. It acts most efficiently as a purgative, and without in the least fatiguing the stomach; the taste, too, and smell of it, are very agreeable.

CHAP. 36.—HOW HYDROMELI IS MADE.

Hydromeli,[3101] also, was a mixture formerly made with pure rain-water and honey, and was prescribed for patients who were anxious for wine, as being a more harmless drink. For these many years past, however, it has been condemned, as having in reality all the inconveniences of wine, without the advantages.

CHAP. 37.—METHODS OF PROVIDING AGAINST THE INCONVENIENCE OF DRINKING SUSPECTED WATER.

As persons out at sea often suffer great inconvenience from the want of fresh water, we will here describe some methods of obviating it. Fleeces are spread round the ship, and on becoming moistened with the exhalations arising from the sea, the water is wrung from them, and found to be quite fresh. Hollow balls of wax, also, or empty vessels sealed at the mouth, upon being let down into the sea in a net, become filled with water that is fresh and potable. On shore, too, sea-water may be made fresh, by filtering it through argillaceous earth.

By swimming in water of any kind, sprains of the limbs in man or beast are reduced[3102] with the greatest facility. Persons when travelling, are sometimes apprehensive that the use of water, the quality of which is unknown to them, may prove injurious to their health: as a precaution against this, they should drink the suspected water cold, immediately after leaving the bath.

CHAP. 38.—SIX REMEDIES DERIVED FROM MOSS. REMEDIES DERIVED FROM SAND.

Moss which has grown in water[3103] is excellent as a topical application for gout; and, in combination with oil, it is good for pains and swellings in the ankles. The foam that floats[3104] upon the surface of the water, used as a friction, causes warts to disappear. The sand,[3105] too, of the sea-shore, that more particularly which is very fine and burnt white by the heat of the sun, is used remedially for its desiccative properties, the bodies of dropsical or rheumatic patients being entirely covered with it.

Thus much with reference to water itself; we will now turn to the aquatic productions, beginning, as in all other instances, with the principal of them, namely, salt and sponge.

CHAP. 39. (7.)—THE VARIOUS KINDS OF SALT; THE METHODS OF PREPARING IT, AND THE REMEDIES DERIVED FROM IT. TWO HUNDRED AND FOUR OBSERVATIONS THEREUPON.