Vitruvius: DE ARCHITECTVRA

[1] De septem sapientibus Thales Milesius omnium rerum principium aquam est professus, Heraclitus ignem, Magorum sacerdotes aquam et ignem, Euripides, auditor Anaxagorae, quem philosophum Athenienses scaenicum appellaverunt, aera et terram, eamque e caelestium imbrium conceptionibus inseminatam fetus gentium et omnium animalium in mundo procreavisse, et quae ex ea essent prognata, cum dissolverentur temporum necessitate coacta in eandem redire, quaeque de aere nascerentur, item in caeli regiones reverti neque interitiones recipere et dissolutione mutata in eam recidere, in qua ante fuerant, proprietatem. Pythagoras vero, Empedocles, Epicharmos aliique physici et philosophi haec principia esse quattuor proposuerunt: aerem, ignem, terram, aquam, eorumque inter se cohaerentiam naturali figuratione e generum discriminibus efficere qualitates.

[1] Of the seven sages Thales the Milesian professed water to be the principium of all things; Heraclitus, fire; the priests of the Magi, water and fire; Euripides, a hearer of Anaxagoras—whom the Athenians called a stage philosopher—air and earth, and that this earth, inseminated from the conceptions of heavenly rains, generated the offspring of the nations and of all animals in the world; and that the things begotten from it, when they are dissolved, compelled by the necessity of times, return into the same; and that the things which are born from air likewise return to the regions of the sky, nor admit perishments, and, the dissolution being changed, fall back into that property in which they had been before. Pythagoras indeed, Empedocles, Epicharmus, and other physicists and philosophers proposed that these principia are four: air, fire, earth, water; and that their coherence among themselves, by natural configuration, out of the discriminations of kinds, effects the qualities.

[2] Animadvertimus vero non solum nascentia ex his esse procreata, sed etiam res omnes non ali sine eorum potestate neque crescere nec tueri. Namque corpora sine spiritus redundantia non possunt habere vitam, nisi aer influens cum incremento fecerit auctus et remissiones continenter. Caloris vero si non fuerit in corpore iusta conparatio, non erit spiritus animalis neque erectio firma, cibique vires non poterunt habere coctionis temperaturam.

[2] We have observed, indeed, not only that things being born are procreated from these, but also that all things cannot, without their power, either grow or be sustained. For bodies, without a redundancy of spirit, cannot have life, unless the inflowing air, together with increase, continually effects augmentations and remissions. But if there is not a just proportion of heat in the body, there will be no animal spirit nor firm uprightness, and the powers of food will not be able to have the temperature of coction.

Item si non terrestri cibo membra corporis alantur, deficientur et ita a terreni principii mixtione erunt deserta.

Likewise, if the members of the body are not nourished by terrestrial food, they will be deficient, and thus will be left deserted from the mixture of the terrestrial principle.

[3] Animalia vero si fuerint sine umoris potestate, exsanguinata et exsucata a principiorum liquore interarescent. Igitur dÃvina mens, quae proprie necessaria essent gentibus, non constituit difficilia et cara, uti sunt margaritae, aurum, argentum ceteraque, quae neque corpus nec natura desiderat, sed sine quibus mortalium vita non potest esse tuta, effudit ad manum parata per omnem mundum. Itaque ex his, si quid forte defit in corpore spiritus, ad restituendum aer adsignatus id praestat.

[3] Animals indeed, if they were without the power of humor (moisture), exsanguinated and juiceless, would wither away, bereft of the liquor of the principles. Therefore the divine mind did not constitute as difficult and costly those things which would be properly necessary for peoples—like pearls, gold, silver, and the rest, which neither the body nor nature desires—but those without which the life of mortals cannot be secure it poured forth, ready to hand, throughout the whole world. And so from these, if by chance any spirit is lacking in the body, the air, assigned for restoring, supplies it.

Apparatus autem ad auxilia caloris solis impetus et ignis inventus tutiorem efficit vitam. Item terrenus fructus escarum praestans copiis supervacuis desiderationibus alit et nutrit animales pascendo continenter. Aqua vero non solum potus sed infinitas usu praebendo necessitates, gratas, quod est gratuita, praestat utilitates.

The apparatus, moreover, devised as aids against the assaults of the heat of the sun and of fire, makes life safer. Likewise the terrestrial produce of foods, furnishing supplies in superfluous abundance to desiderations, sustains and nourishes living beings by feeding them continuously. Water, moreover, not only for drink, but by providing necessities without number for use, affords welcome utilities, because it is gratuitous.

[4] Ex eo etiam qui sacerdotia gerunt moribus Aegyptiorum, ostendunt omnes res e liquoris potestate consistere. Itaque cum hydria aqua ad templum aedemque casta religione refertur, tunc in terra procumbentes manibus ad caelum sublatis inventionis gratias agunt divinae benignitati.

[4] From this also, those who bear priesthoods in the manners of the Egyptians show that all things consist from the power of liquid. And so, when a hydria of water is carried back to the temple and the shrine with chaste religion, then, prostrating themselves on the ground, with hands raised to heaven, they render thanks for the discovery to the divine benignity.

Cum ergo et a physicis et philosophis et ab sacerdotibus iudicetur ex potestate aquae omnes res constare, putavi, quoniam in prioribus septem voluminibus rationes aedificiorum sunt expositae, in hoc oportere de inventionibus aquae, quasque habeat in locorum proprietatibus virtutes, quibusque rationibus ducatur, et quemadmodum ante probetur, scribere.

Since therefore it is judged by both physicists and philosophers and by priests that all things consist from the power of water, I thought, since in the previous seven volumes the principles of buildings have been set forth, that in this one it is proper to write about the discoveries/sourcing of water, what virtues it has in the properties of places, by what methods it is conducted, and how beforehand it is tested.

Caput Primum

Chapter One

[1] Est enim maxime necessaria et ad vitam et ad delectiones, et ad usum cotidianum Ea autem erit facilior, si erunt fontes aperti et fluentes. Sin autem non profluent, quaerenda sub terra sunt capita et colligenda. Quae sic erunt experienda, uti procumbatur in dentes, antequam sol exortus fuerit, in locis, quibus erit quaerendum, et in terra mento conlocato et fulto prospiciantur eae regiones; sic enim non errabit excelsius quam oporteat visus, cum erit inmotum mentum, sed libratam altitudinem in regionibus certa finitione designabit.

[1] For it is most necessary both for life and for delectations, and for quotidian use. It will, however, be easier, if the springs are open and flowing. But if they do not flow forth, the heads are to be sought under the earth and collected. These must be tested thus: let one lie prone upon the teeth, before the sun has arisen, in the places in which there must be seeking, and, with the chin placed and propped on the ground, let those regions be looked out upon; for thus the sight will not err higher than is fitting, since the chin will be unmoving, but it will designate the balanced elevation in the regions with a definite delimitation.

Tunc, in quibus locis videbuntur umores concrispantes et in aera surgentes, ibi fodiatur; non enim in sicco loco hoc potest signum fieri.

Then, in the places where the humors are seen crisping and rising into the air, let it be dug there; for this sign cannot be produced in a dry place.

[2] Item animadvertendum est quaerentibus aquam, quo genere sint loca; certa enim sunt, in quibus nascitur. In creta tenuis et exilis et non alta est copia; ea erit non optimo sapore. Item sabulone soluto tenuis, sed inferioris loci invenietur; ea erit limosa et insuavis.

[2] Likewise it must be noted by those seeking water, of what kind the places are; for there are certain kinds in which it arises. In chalk the supply is tenuous and exiguous and not deep; it will be of not the best savor. Likewise, in loose sand the supply is tenuous, but it will be found in a lower-lying place; it will be muddy and unsavory.

Terra autem nigra sudoris et stillae exiles inveniuntur, quae ex hibernis tempestatibus collectae in spissis et solidis locis subsidunt; haec habent optimum saporem. Glarea vero mediocres et non certae venae reperiuntur; hae quoque sunt egregia suavitate. Item sabulone masculo harenaque carbunculo certiores [et stabiliores] sunt copiae; eaeque sunt bono sapore.

But in black earth faint sweats and slender droplets are found, which, collected from the winter tempests, settle down in thick and solid places; these have the best savor. In gravel, however, middling and not certain veins are discovered; these too are of excellent suavity. Likewise, in coarse sand and in sand with carbuncle the supplies are more certain [and more stable]; and these are of good savor.

Rubro saxo et copiosae et bonae, si non per intervenia dilabantur et liquescant. Sub radicibus autem montium et in saxis silicibus uberiores et affluentiores; eaeque frigidiores sunt et salubriores. Campestribus autem fontibus salsae, graves, tepidae, non suaves, nisi quae ex montibus sub terra submanantes erumpunt in medios campos ibique arborum umbris contectae praestant montanorum fontium suavitatem.

In red rock they are both copious and good, if they do not slip away and liquefy through intervening seams. But under the roots of mountains and in siliceous rocks they are more abundant and more affluent; and these are colder and more salubrious. In the plains, however, the springs are saline, heavy, tepid, not pleasant, except those which, sub-seeping from the mountains beneath the earth, erupt into the midst of the plains, and there, covered by the shades of trees, they present the suavity of mountain springs.

[3] Signa autem, quibus terrarum generibus supra scriptum est, ea invenientur nascentia: tenuis iuncus, salix erratica, alnus, vitex, harundo, hedera aliaque, quae eiusmodi sunt, quae non possunt nasci per se sine umore. Solent autem eadem in lacunis nata esse, quae sidentes praeter reliquum agrum excipiunt ex imbribus et agris per hiemem propterque capacitatem diutius conservant umorem. Quibus non est credendum, sed quibus regionibus et terris, non lacunis, ea signa nascuntur, non sata, sed naturaliter per se procreata, ibi est quaerenda.

[3] The signs, moreover, by which, for the kinds of soils written above, they will be found to be springing up, are: the slender rush, the erratic willow, the alder, the vitex, the reed, the ivy, and others of that sort, which cannot be born by themselves without moisture. The same are wont also to be born in hollows, which, being low-lying beyond the rest of the field, receive run-off from the rains and from the fields during winter and, on account of their capacity, conserve the moisture for a longer time. In these one must not put trust; but in those regions and soils, not in hollows, where these signs arise—not sown, but naturally procreated of themselves—there is the place to be sought.

[4] In quibus si eae significabuntur inventiones, sic erunt experiundae. Fodiatur quoquoversus locus latus ne minus pedes quinque, in eoque conlocetur circiter solis occasum scaphium aereum aut plumbeum aut pelvis. Ex his quod erit paratum, id intrinsecus oleo ungatur ponaturque inversum, et summa fossura operiatur harundinibus aut fronde, supra terra obruatur; tum postero die aperiatur, et si in vaso stillae sudorisque erunt, is locus habebit aquam.

[4] In places where such findings will be signified, they must thus be tested. Let a spot be dug, in every direction, of width not less than feet five, and in it let there be placed, about sunset, a bronze or leaden scaphium or a basin. Of these, whichever is prepared, let it be anointed on the inside with oil and set down inverted, and the top of the trench be covered with reeds or foliage, and above it be buried with earth; then on the next day let it be opened, and if there are drops and “sweat” in the vessel, that place will have water.

[5] Item si vasum ex creta factum non coctum in ea fossione eadem ratione opertum positum fuerit, si is locus aquam habuerit, cum apertum fuerit, vas umidum erit et iam dissolvetur ab umore. Vellusque lanae si conlocatum erit in ea fossura, insequenti autem die de eo aqua expressa erit, significabit eum locum habere copiam. Non minus si lucerna concinnata oleique plena et accensa in eo loco operta fuerit conlocata et postero die non erit exusta, sed habuerit reliquias olei et enlychni ipsaque umida invenietur, indicabit eum locum habere aquam, ideo quod omnis tepor ad se ducit umores.

[5] Likewise, if a vessel made from clay, not baked, is placed in that trench, covered in the same manner, if that place has water, when it is opened the vessel will be damp and will already be dissolved by the moisture. And if a fleece of wool is set in that trench, and on the following day water is squeezed out of it, it will signify that that place has a supply. No less, if a lamp well-contrived, full of oil, and lit is placed there covered, and on the next day it is not burned up, but has remnants of oil and of the wick, and the lamp itself is found moist, it will indicate that that place has water, for this reason: that every tepid warmth draws the moistures to itself.

Item in eo loco ignis factus si fuerit et percalfacta terra et adusta vaporem nebulosum ex se suscitaverit, is locus habebit aquam.

Likewise, if in that place a fire has been made, and the earth, thoroughly heated and scorched, has raised from itself a nebulous vapor, that place will have water.

[6] Cum haec ita erunt pertemptata et, quae supra scripta sunt, signa inventa, tum deprimendus est puteus in eo loco, et si erit caput aquae inventum, plures circa sunt fodiendi et per specus in unum locum omnes conducendi.

[6] When these things have been thoroughly tested in this way and the signs which have been written above have been found, then a well must be sunk in that place; and if a head of water shall have been found, several are to be dug around and, through galleries, all are to be conducted into one place.

Haec autem maxime in montibus et regionibus septentrionalibus sunt quaerenda, eo quod in his et suaviora et salubriora et copiosiora inveniuntur. Aversi enim sunt solis cursui, et in his locis primum crebrae sunt arbores et silvosae, ipsique montes suas habent umbras obstantes et radii solis non directi perveniunt ad terram nec possunt umores exurere.

These things, moreover, are especially to be sought in mountains and in northern regions, because in these they are found both more pleasant, more salubrious, and more copious. For they are averted from the course of the sun, and in these places, in the first place, there are frequent trees and wooded tracts, and the mountains themselves have their own obstructing shades, and the rays of the sun do not reach the ground directly, nor can they sear the moistures.

[7] Intervallaque montium maxime recipiunt imbres et propter silvarum crebritatem nives ab umbris arborum et montium ibi diutius conservantur, deinde liquatae per terrae venas percolantur et ita perveniunt ad infimas montium radices, ex quibus profluentes fontium erumpunt fructus. Campestribus autem locis contrario non possunt habere copias. Nam quaecumque sunt, non possunt habere salubritatem, quod solis vehemens impetus propter nullam obstantiam umbrarum eripit exhauriendo fervens ex planitie camporum umorem, et si quae sunt aquae apparentes, ex his, quod est levissimum tenuissimumque et subtili salubritate, aer avocans dissipat in impetum caeli, quaeque gravissimae duraeque et insuaves sunt partes, eae in fontibus campestribus relinquuntur.

[7] And the intervals of the mountains most of all receive the rains; and because of the density of the forests the snows there are preserved longer by the shades of the trees and the mountains; then, having melted, they are percolated through the veins of the earth, and so they come to the lowest roots of the mountains, from which, flowing forth, there burst out the fruits of springs. But in campestral places, by contrast, they cannot have supplies in abundance. For whatever waters there are cannot have healthfulness, because the vehement impulse of the sun, owing to no hindrance of shades, snatches away by draining off the moisture boiling up from the flatness of the fields; and, if there are any waters apparent, from these the lightest and thinnest part, with its subtle healthfulness, the air, calling it away, dissipates into the rush of the sky, while the parts that are heaviest, hardest, and unpleasant are left in the campestral springs.

Caput Secundum

Chapter Two

[1] Itaque, quae ex imbribus aqua colligitur, salubriores habet virtutes, quod eligitur ex omnibus fontibus levissimis subtilibusque tenuitatibus, deinde per aeris exercitationem percolata tempestatibus liquescendco pervenit ad terram. Etiamque non crebriter in campis confluunt imbres, sed in montibus aut ad ipsos montes, ideo quod umores ex terra matutino solis ortu moti cum sunt egressi, in quamcumque partem caeli sunt proclinati, trudunt aera; deinde, cum sunt moti, propter vacuitatem loci post se recipiunt aeris ruentis undas.

[1] And so, the water which is collected from rains has more salubrious virtues, because it is selected from all the springs by the lightest and most subtle tenuities, then, by the exercise of the air, percolated, by the storms’ liquefying, it arrives at the earth. And also rains do not frequently flow together in the plains, but on mountains or at the very mountains, for the reason that the moistures, set in motion from the earth at the morning rising of the sun, when they have gone forth, to whatever part of the sky they are inclined, they thrust the air; then, when they are set in motion, on account of the vacuity of the place they take in behind them the waves of the rushing air.

[2] Aer autem, qui ruit, trudens quocumque umorem per vim spiritus impetus et undas crescentes facit ventorum. A ventis autem quocumque feruntur umores conglobati ex fontibus, ex fluminibus et paludibus et pelago, cum tempore solis colligunt et exhauriunt et ita tollunt in altitudinem nubes. Deinde cum aeris unda nitentes, cum perventum ad montes, ab eorum offensa et procellis propter plenitatem et gravitatem liquescendo disparguntur et ita diffunditur in terras.

[2] But the air that rushes down, by pushing the moisture wherever through the force of its breath, produces the impetuses and the increasing waves of winds. And by the winds, wherever they are borne, the moistures massed together from springs, from rivers and marshes and the sea, with the time of the sun gather and are drawn off, and thus they lift the clouds to altitude. Then, as they press with the wave of air, when the mountains are reached, by collision with them and by squalls, on account of fullness and heaviness, by liquescing they are scattered, and thus it is diffused upon the lands.

[3] Vaporem autem et nebulas et umores ex terra nasci haec videtur efficere ratio, quod ea habet in se et calores fervidos et spiritus inmanes refrigerationesque et aquarum magnam multitudinem. Ex eo, cum refrigeratum noctu sol oriens impetu tangit orbem terrae et ventorum flatus oriuntur per tenebras, ab umidis locis egrediuntur in altitudinem nubes. Aer autem cum a sole percalefactus cum rationibus tollit ex terra umores, licet ex balineis exemplum capere.

[3] But that vapor and mists and moistures are born from the earth this reasoning seems to effect, namely that it has in itself both fervid heats and immense breaths, coolings, and a great multitude of waters. From this it happens that, when, the earth having been cooled by night, the rising sun with its rush touches the orb of the earth, and blasts of winds arise through the darkness, from the wet places clouds go forth into the heights. Moreover, when the air has been thoroughly heated by the sun, by these processes it lifts up from the earth the moistures; one may take an example from baths.

[4] Nullae enim camerae, quae sunt caldariorum, supra se possunt habere fontes, sed caelum, quod est ibi ex praefurniis ab ignis vapore percalefactum, corripit ex pavimentis aquam et aufert secum in camararum curvaturas et sustinet, ideo quod semper vapor calidus in altitudinem se trudit. Et primo non remittit propter brevitatem, simul autem plus umoris habet congestum, non potest sustinere propter gravitatem, sed stillat supra lavantium capita. Item eadem ratione caelestis aer, cum ab sole percepit calorem, ex omnibus locis hauriendo tollit umores et congregat ad nubes.

[4] For no vaults, those of the hot-rooms, can have fountains above them; but the air, which there from the praefurnia, heated through by the vapor of the fire, snatches up water from the pavements and carries it with itself into the curvatures of the vaults and holds it, because warm vapor always thrusts itself upward. And at first it does not release it on account of the shortness; but as soon as it has more humor heaped up, it cannot sustain it because of the weight, but drips upon the heads of those bathing. Likewise, by the same reasoning, the celestial air, when it has received heat from the sun, by drawing it up lifts the humors from all places and gathers them to the clouds.

Ita enim terra fervore tacta eicit umores, etiam corpus hominis ex calore emittit sudores.

For thus the earth, touched by heat, ejects humors; likewise the human body, from heat, emits sweats.

[5] Indices autem sunt eius rei venti, ex quibus qui a frigidissimis partibus veniunt procreati, septentrio et aquilo, extenuatos siccitatibus in aere flatus spirant; auster vero et reliqui, qui a solis cursu impetum faciunt, sunt umidissimi et semper adportant imbres, quod percalefacti ab regionibus fervidis adveniunt, ex omniibus terris labentes eripiunt umores et ita eos profundunt ad septentrionales regiones.

[5] But the indices of this matter are the winds: of which those procreated from the coldest parts, Septentrio and Aquilo, breathe blasts extenuated by dryness in the air; but Auster and the rest, who make their onset from the course of the sun, are most humid and always bring rains, because, having been thoroughly heated from fervid regions, as they arrive, gliding over all lands they snatch away the moistures and thus pour them out toward the septentrional regions.

[6] Haec autem sic fieri testimonio possunt esse capita fluminum, quae orbe terrarum chorographiis picta itemque scripta plurima maximaque inveniuntur egressa ad septentrionem. Primumque in India Ganges et Indus ab Caucaso monte oriuntur; Syria Tigris et Euphrates; Asiae item, Ponto Borysthenes, Hypanis, Tanais; Colchis Phasis; Gallia Rhodanus; Celtica Rhenus; citra Alpis Timavos et Padus; Italia Tiberis; Maurusia, quam nostri Mauretaniam appellant, ex monte Atlante Dyris, qui ortus ex septentrionali regione progreditur per occidentem ad lacum Eptagonum et mutato nomine dicitur Agger, deinde ex lacu Eptabolo sub montes desertos subterfluens per meridiana loca manat et influit in Paludem quae appellatur, circumcingit Meroen, quod est Aethiopum meridianorum regnum, ab hisque paludibus se circumagens per flumina Astansobam et Astoboam et alia plura pervenit per montes ad cataractam ab eoque se praecipitans per septentrionalem pervenit inter Elephantida et Syenen Thebaicosque in Aegyptum campos et ibi Nilus appellatur.

[6] That these things happen thus can have as testimony the heads of rivers, which, mapped in chorographies of the world and likewise recorded, are found, very many and very great, to have gone forth toward the north. And first, in India the Ganges and the Indus rise from Mount Caucasus; in Syria the Tigris and the Euphrates; in Asia, by the Pontus, the Borysthenes, the Hypanis, the Tanais; in Colchis the Phasis; in Gaul the Rhodanus; in Celtic land the Rhenus; on this side of the Alps the Timavus and the Padus; in Italy the Tiber; in Maurusia, which our people call Mauretania, from Mount Atlas the Dyris, which, having arisen from the northern region, advances through the west to Lake Heptagonus and, its name changed, is called the Agger, then from Lake Heptabolus, flowing beneath the desert mountains, it streams through southern places and flows into the Marsh which is called, it encircles Meroë, which is the kingdom of the southern Ethiopians, and, winding itself from these marshes through the rivers Astansoba and Astoboa and many others, it reaches through the mountains to a cataract, and, hurling itself down from there, through the north it arrives between Elephantine and Syene and the Thebaic plains into Egypt, and there it is called the Nile.

[7] Ex Mauretiana autem caput Nili profluere ex eo maxime cognoscitur, quod ex altera parte montis Atlantis alia capita item profluentia ad occidentem Oceanum, ibique nascuntur ichneumones, crocodili, aliae similes bestiarum pisciumque naturae praeter hippopotamos.

[7] Moreover, that the head of the Nile flows forth from Mauretania is most clearly known from this: that on the other side of Mount Atlas there are other heads likewise flowing out toward the Western Ocean, and there are born ichneumons, crocodiles, and others similar of the nature of beasts and of fishes, except hippopotami.

[8] Ergo cum omnia flumina magnitudinibus in orbis terrarum descriptionibus a septentrione videantur profluere Afrique campi, qui sunt in meridianis partibus subiecti solis cursui, latentes penitus habent umores nec fontes crebros amnesque raros, relinquitur, uti multo meliora inveniantur capita fontium, quae ad septentrionem aut aquilonem spectant, nisi si inciderint in sulphurosum locum aut aluminosum seu bituminosum. Tunc enim permutantur aut calidae aquae aut frigidae odore malo et sapore profundunt fontes.

[8] Therefore, since in the descriptions of the orb of lands, by their magnitudes, all rivers are seen to flow forth from the Septentrion, and the African plains, which are in the meridian parts, subject to the sun’s course, have their moistures hidden deep and have not frequent springs and have rivers rare, it remains that much better heads of springs are found which face toward the Septentrion or Aquilon, unless they should fall into a sulphurous place or aluminous or bituminous. For then they are transmuted, and the springs pour forth either hot waters or cold, with a bad odor and taste.

[9] Neque enim calidae aquae est ulla proprietas, sed frigida aqua, cum incidit percurrens in ardentem locum, effervescit et percalefacta egreditur per venas extra terram. Ideo diutius non potest permanere, sed brevi spatio fit frigida. Namque si naturaliter esset calida, non refrigeraretur calor eius.

[9] For there is no property of hot water, but cold water, when running it falls upon and passes through a burning place, effervesces and, thoroughly heated, goes out through veins outside the earth. Therefore it cannot remain for long, but in a short span it becomes cold. For if it were naturally hot, its heat would not be refrigerated.

Sapor autem et odor et color eius non restituitur, quod intinctus et commixtus est propter naturae raritatem.

However, its savor and odor and color are not restored, because it has been steeped and commixed on account of the rarity of its nature.

Caput Tertium

Chapter Three

[1] Sunt autem etiam nonnulli fontes calidi, ex quibus profluit aqua sapore optimo, quae in potione ita est suavis, uti nec fontalis ab Camenis nec Marcia saliens desideretur. Haec autem ab natura perficiuntur his rationibus. Cum in imo per alumen aut bitumen seu sulphur ignis excitatur, ardore percandefacit terram, quae est supra se; autem fervidum emittit in superiora loca vaporem, et ita, si qui in îs locis, qui sunt supra, fontes dulcis aquae nascuntur, offensi eo vapore effervescunt inter venas et ita profluunt incorrupto sapore.

[1] But there are also some hot springs, from which water of the best savor flows forth, which in drinking is so suave that neither the spring-water from the Camenae nor the leaping Marcia would be desired. These, moreover, are perfected by nature by these processes. When in the depth, through alum or bitumen or sulphur, a fire is excited, by its ardor it superheats the earth which is above itself; and it sends up to higher places a fervid vapor, and thus, if in those places above springs of sweet water are born, struck by that vapor they effervesce among the veins and so flow forth with incorrupt savor.

[2] Sunt etiam odore et sapore non bono frigidi fontes, qui ab inferioribus locis penitus orti per loca ardentia transeunt et ab eo per longum spatium terrae percurrentes refrigerati perveniunt supra terram sapore odore coloreque corrupto, uti in Tiburtina via flumen Albula et in Ardeatino fontes frigidi eodem odore, qui sulphurati dicuntur, et reliquis locis similibus. Hi autem, cum sunt frigidi, ideo videntur aspectu fervere, quod, cum in ardentem locum alte penitus inciderunt, umore et igni inter se congruentibus offensa vehementi fragore validos recipiunt in se spiritus, et ita inflati vi venti coacti bullientes crebre per fontes egrediuntur. Ex his autem qui non sunt aperti, sed a saxis continentur, per angustas venas vehementia spiritus extruduntur ad summos grumorum tumulos.

[2] There are also cold springs with an odor and savor not good, which, having arisen deep from lower places, pass through burning regions and, from that, running through a long stretch of earth and cooled, come up above ground with their savor, odor, and color corrupted, as on the Tiburtine Way the river Albula, and on the Ardeatine Way cold springs with the same odor, which are called sulphurated, and in other similar places. These, however, although they are cold, seem to boil to the sight, because, when they have fallen deep down into a burning place, with moisture and fire agreeing with each other, by their collision, with a vehement crash they receive into themselves strong blasts of air; and thus inflated by the force of wind, being forced, they go out bubbling frequently through the springs. From those, moreover, which are not open but are contained by rocks, through narrow veins the vehemence of the breath is extruded to the very tops of mounds of earth.

[3] Itaque qui putant se altitudine, qua sunt grumi, capita fontium posse habere, cum aperiunt fossuras latius, decipiuntur. Namque uti aeneum vas non in summis labris plenum sed aquae mensurae suae capacitatis habens tribus duas partes operculumque in eo conlocatum, cum ignis vehementi fervore tangatur, percalefieri cogit aquam, ea autem propter naturalem raritatem in se recipiens fervoris validam intflationem non modo implet vas, sed spiritibus extollens operculum et crescens abundat, sublato autem operculo emissis inflationibus in aere patenti rursus ad suum locum residit: ad eundem modum ea capita fontium cum sunt angustiis conpressa, ruunt in summo spiritus aquae bullitus, simul autem sunt latius aperti, examinati per raritates liquidae potestatis residunt et restituuntur in libramenti proprietate.

[3] And so those who think they can have the heads of springs at the altitude at which the mounds are, when they open the trenches more broadly, are deceived. For just as a bronze vessel, not filled at the very rims but holding two parts out of three of its capacity of water, and a lid set upon it, when it is touched by the vehement heat of fire, forces the water to be thoroughly heated; and it, moreover, because of its natural rarity, receiving into itself a strong inflation of the heat, not only fills the vessel, but, with the spirits lifting the lid and swelling, overflows; but when the lid is removed, the inflations having been let out into the open air, it settles back again to its own place: in the same manner those heads of springs, when they are compressed by narrownesses, at the top the bubbling of the water’s spirits rushes; but as soon as they are opened more widely, brought to equilibrium through the rarefactions of the liquid power, they settle and are restored to the property of balance.

[4] Omnis autem aqua calida ideo [quod] est medicamentosa, quod in pravis rebus percocta aliam virtutem recipit ad usum. Namque sulphurosi fontes nervorum labores reficiunt percalefaciendo exurendoque caloribus e corporibus umores vitiosos. Aluminosi autem, cum dissoluta membra corporum paralysi aut aliqua vi morbi receperunt, fovendo per patentes venas refrigerationem contraria caloris vi reficiunt, et hoc continenter restituuntur in antiquam membrorum curationem.

[4] All hot water is medicinal for this reason [that], when thoroughly cooked among corrupt substances, it receives a different efficacy for use. For sulphurous springs restore the strains of the nerves by heating through and by burning with heats, driving out from the bodies the noxious humors. Aluminous ones, however, when the limbs of bodies have received loosening by paralysis or by some force of disease, by fomenting, through open veins they restore by refrigeration with a power contrary to heat, and by this they are continually restored to the former cure of the limbs.

Bituminosi autem interioris corporis vitia potionibus purgando solent mederi.

But bituminous ones are accustomed to remedy the disorders of the interior of the body by purging with potions.

[5] Est autem aquae frigidae genus nitrosum, uti Pinnae Vestinae, Cutiliis aliisque locis similibus, quae potionibus depurgat per alvumque transeundo etiam strumarum minuit tumores. Ubi vero aurum, argentum, ferrum, aes, plumbum reliquaeque res earum similes fodiuntur, fontes inveniuntur copiosi, sed hi maxime sunt vitiosi. Habent enim vitia aquae calidae sulphur alumen bitumen, eademque, per potiones cum in corpus iniit et per venas permanando nervos attingit et artus, eos durat inflando.

[5] There is, moreover, a kind of cold water of a nitrous sort, as at Pinna Vestina, at the Cutiliae, and in other similar places, which by potions purges, and by passing through the bowel even diminishes the swellings of strumous tumors. But where gold, silver, iron, bronze, lead, and other things of like kind are mined, springs are found in abundance, yet these are most vitiated. For they have the defects of hot water—sulphur, alum, bitumen—and these same, when by draughts it has entered the body and, by persisting through the veins, touches the nerves and the joints, harden them by inflating.

Igitur nervi inflatione turgentes e longitudine contrahuntur et ita aut nervicos aut podagricos efficiunt homines, ideo quod ex durissimis et spissioribus frigidissimisque rebus intinctas habent venarum raritates.

Therefore the nerves, swollen by inflation, are contracted from their length, and thus make men either nervic or podagric, because they have the rarefactions of the veins imbued with the hardest, most compact, and coldest substances.

[6] Aquae autem species est, quae cum habeat non satis perlucidas et ipsa uti flos natat in summo, colore similis vitri purpurei. Haec maxime considerantur Athenis. Ibi enim ex eiusmodi locis et fontibus in asty et ad portum Piraeum ducti sunt salientes, e quibus bibit nemo propter eam causam, sed lavationibus et reliquis rebus utuntur, bibunt autem ex puteis et ita vitant eorum vitia.

[6] But there is a species of water which, since it is not sufficiently pellucid and itself, as a kind of “bloom,” floats on the surface, is in color like purple glass. These are especially observed at Athens. For there, from such places and springs, spouting fountains were conducted into the asty and to the port Piraeus, from which no one drinks for that reason, but they use them for lavations and for other purposes; they drink, however, from wells and thus avoid their defects.

Troezeni non potest id vitari, quod omnino aliud genus aquae non reperitur, nisi quot cibdeli habeant; itaque in ea civitate aut omnes aut maxima parte sunt pedibus vitiosi. Cilicia vero civitate Tarso flumen est nomine Cydnos, in quo podagrici crura macerantes levantur dolore.

At Troezen that cannot be avoided, because absolutely no other kind of water is found, except for as many as have cibdeli; and so in that city either all, or the greatest part, are diseased in their feet. But in Cilicia, in the city of Tarsus, there is a river named Cydnus, in which the gouty, soaking their legs, are relieved of pain.

[7] Sunt autem et alia multa genera, quae habent suas proprietates, ut in Sicilia flumen est Himeras, quod a fonte cum est progressum, dividitur in duas partes; quae pars profluit contra Etruriam, quod per terrae dulcem sucum percurrit, est infinita dulcedine, quae altera parte per eam terram currit, unde sal foditur, salsum habet saporem. Item Paraetonio et quod est iter ad Ammonem et Casio ad Aegyptum lacus sunt palustres, qui ita sunt salsi, ut habeant insuper se salem congelatum. Sunt autem et aliis pluribus locis et fontes et flumina lacus, qui per salifodinas percurrentes necessario salsi perficiuntur.

[7] There are moreover many other kinds, which have their own properties, as in Sicily there is the river Himera, which, when it has advanced from its source, is divided into two parts; the part which flows toward Etruria, because it runs through the sweet juice of the earth, is of infinite sweetness, while the other part, which runs through that land whence salt is dug, has a salty savor. Likewise at Paraetonium and on the route which is the journey to Ammon and at Casium toward Egypt there are marshy lakes, which are so salty that they have congealed salt upon themselves on the surface. There are moreover in many other places both springs and rivers lakes, which, running through salt-mines, are necessarily made salty.

[8] Alii autem per pingues terrae venas profluentes uncti oleo fontes erumpunt, uti Solis, quod oppidum est Ciliciae, flumen nomine Liparis, in quo natantes aut lavantes ab ipsa aqua unguntur. Similiter Aethiopiae lacus est, qui unctos homines efficit, qui in eo nataverint, et India, qui sereno caelo emittit olei magnum multitudinem, item Carthagini fons, in quo natat insuper oleum, odore uti scobe citreo; quo oleo etiam pecora solent ungui. Zacyntho et circa Dyrrachium et Apolloniam fontes sunt, qui picis magnam multitudinem cum acqua evomunt.

[8] Others, however, flowing through the fat veins of the earth, burst forth as springs smeared with oil, as at Soli, which is a town of Cilicia: a river by the name Liparis, in which those swimming or washing are anointed by the water itself. Similarly, there is in Ethiopia a lake which makes men oily who have swum in it, and in India [a lake] which in clear weather emits a great quantity of oil; likewise at Carthage a spring in which oil floats on the surface, with an odor like citron shavings; with which oil even livestock are accustomed to be anointed. At Zacynthus and around Dyrrachium and Apollonia there are springs which vomit forth a great multitude of pitch together with the water.

Babylone lacus amplissima magnitudine, qui limne asphaltitis appellatur, habet supra natans liquidum bitumen; quo bitumine et latere testaceo structum murum Sameramis circumdedit Babylonem. Item Iope in Syria Arabiaque Numidarum lacus sunt inmani magnitudine, qui emittunt bituminis maximas moles, quas diripiunt qui habitant circa.

At Babylon there is a lake of very great size, which is called the asphalt lake, and it has liquid bitumen floating on its surface; with this bitumen and with baked brick Semiramis built the wall and encircled Babylon. Likewise at Joppa in Syria, and in Arabia and among the Numidians, there are lakes of immense size that emit very large masses of bitumen, which those who live around seize.

[9] Id autem non est mirandum; nam crebrae sunt ibi lapidicinae bituminis duri. Cum ergo per bituminosam terram vis erumpit aquae, secum extrahit et, cum sit egressa extra terram, secernitur et ita reicit ab se bitumen. Etiamque est in Cappadocia in itinere, quod est inter Mazaca et Tyana, lacus amplus, in quem lacum pars sive harundinis sive alii generis si dimissa fuerit et postero die exempta, ea pars, quae fuerit exempta, invenietur lapidea, quae autem pars extra aquam manserit, permanet in sua proprietate.

[9] Nor is that to be wondered at; for there are frequent quarries of hard bitumen there. Therefore, when through bituminous ground the force of water bursts forth, it draws it along with itself; and when it has gone out beyond the earth, it is separated, and thus rejects the bitumen from itself. And there is also in Cappadocia, on the road which is between Mazaca and Tyana, a large lake, into which, if a piece either of reed or of some other kind has been dropped and on the following day taken out, that part which has been taken out will be found stony, while the part that has remained outside the water remains in its own proper nature.

[10] Ad eundem modum Hierapoli Phrygiae effervet aquae calidae multitudo, e quibus circum hortos et vineas fossis ductis inmittitur; haec autem efficitur post annum crusta lapidea. Ita quotannis dextra ac sinistra margines ex terra faciundo inducunt eam et efficiunt in his crustis in agris saepta. Hoc autem ita videtur naturaliter fieri, quod in îs locis et ea terra, quibus is nascitur, sucus subest coaguli naturae similis; deinde cum commixta vis egreditur per fontes extra terram, a solis et aeris calore cogitur congelari, ut etiam in aeris salinarum videtur.

[10] In the same manner at Hierapolis of Phrygia a multitude of hot waters effervesces, and, with ditches drawn around gardens and vineyards, it is sent in; this, however, after a year becomes a stony crust. Thus each year, by making margins on the right and on the left from earth, they lead it along and make enclosures in the fields in these crusts. And this seems to happen naturally, because in those places and in that soil in which it is produced, a juice lies beneath of a nature similar to coagulum; then, when the mingled force goes out through springs beyond the earth, by the heat of the sun and of the air it is compelled to congeal, as is seen also in the brine of the salt-works.

[11] Item sunt ex amaro suco terrae fontes exeuntes vehementer amari, ut in Ponto est flumen Hypanis. A capite profluit circiter milia XL sapore dulcissimo; deinde, cum pervenit ad locum, qui est ab ostio ad milia CLX, admiscetur ei fonticulus oppido quam parvolus. Is cum in eum influit, tunc tanta magnitudine fluminis facit amaram, ideo quod per id genus terrae et venas, unde sandaracam fodiunt, est aqua manando perficitur amara.

[11] Likewise there are springs issuing from the bitter sap of the earth, exceedingly bitter, as the river Hypanis is in the Pontus. From its head it flows for about 40 miles with a most sweet taste; then, when it comes to the place which is 160 miles from the mouth, a little spring is mixed into it, exceedingly tiny indeed. When that flows into it, then it makes the river, so great in magnitude, bitter, because through that kind of earth and the veins from which they dig sandarach, the water, by percolating, is rendered bitter.

[12] Haec autem dissimilibus saporibus a terrae proprietate perficiuntur, uti etiam in fructibus videtur. Si enim radices arborum aut vitium aut reliquorum seminum non ex terrae proprietatibus sucum capiendo ederent fructus, uno genere essent in omnibus locis et regionibus omnium sapores. Sed animadvertimus insulam Lesbon vinum protropum, Maeoniam Catacecaumeniten, Lydiam Tmoliten, Siciliam Mamertinum, Campaniam Falernum, in Terracinam et Fundis Caecubum reliquisque locis pluribus innumerabili multitudine genera vini virtutesque procreari.

[12] Moreover, these are perfected with dissimilar savors from the property of the soil, as is seen also in fruits. For if the roots of trees or of vines or of the remaining seeds did not, by taking up the juice from the properties of the soil, bring forth fruits, the savors would be of one kind in all places and regions. But we observe that the island Lesbos [produces] protropum wine, Maeonia the Catacecaumenitan, Lydia the Tmolite, Sicily the Mamertine, Campania the Falernian, at Terracina and at Fundi the Caecuban, and in many other places besides, with an innumerable multitude, kinds of wine and their virtues are begotten.

Quae non aliter possunt fieri, nisi, cum terrenus umor suis proprietatibus saporis in radicibus sit infusus, enutrit materiam per quam egrediens ad cacumen profundat proprium loci et generis sui fructus saporem.

These things cannot come to be otherwise, unless, when the terrene humor, with its properties of flavor, has been infused into the roots, it nourishes the material, through which, going forth to the summit, it pours forth the flavor of the fruit proper to its place and to its kind.

[13] Quodsi terra generibus umorum non esset dissimilis et disparata, non tantum in Syria et Arabia in harundinibus et iuncis herbisque omnibus essent odores, neque arbores turiferae, neque piperis darent bacas, nec murrae glaebulae, nec Cyrenis in ferulis laser nasceretur, sed in omni terra regionibus eodem genere omnia procrearentur. Has autem varietates regionibus et locis inclinatio mundi et solis impetus propius aut longius cursum faciendo tales efficit terrae umorisque qualitates nec solum in his rebus, sed etiam in pecoribus et armentis haec non ita similiter efficerentur, nisi proprietates singularum terrarum in generibus ad solis potestatem temperarentur.

[13] But if the earth were not dissimilar and disparate in kinds of humors, odors would not be only in Syria and Arabia in the reeds and rushes and all grasses, nor would there be frankincense-bearing trees, nor would pepper give its berries, nor clods of myrrh, nor would laser be born in Cyrene in giant-fennels; rather, in every land in its regions all things of the same kind would be engendered. These varieties, however, in regions and places, the inclination of the world and the impetus of the sun—by making its course nearer or farther—bring about, producing such qualities of earth and of humor; and not only in these matters, but also in flocks and herds, these effects would not be produced so similarly, unless the properties of the several lands in their kinds were tempered to the sun’s power.

[14] Sunt enim Boeotiae flumina Cephisos et Melas, Lucanis Crathis, Troia Xanthus inque agris Clazomeniorum et Erythraeorum et Laodicensium fontes. Ad flumina cum pecora suis temporibus anni parantur ad conceptionem partus, per id tempus adiguntur eo cotidie potum, ex eoque, quamvis sint alba, procreant aliis locis leucophaea, aliis locis pulla, aliis coracino colore. Ita proprietas liquoris, cum inît in corpus, proseminat intinctam sui cuiusque generis qualitatem.

[14] For in Boeotia there are the rivers Cephisus and Melas, in Lucania the Crathis, at Troy the Xanthus, and in the fields of the Clazomenians and Erythraeans and Laodiceans there are springs. When the herds are made ready for the conception of offspring at their seasons of the year, during that time they are driven daily to them to drink, and from that, although they are white, they procreate in some places leucophaean, in other places dark, and in others of raven-black color. Thus the property of the liquid, when it goes into the body, proseminates an imbued quality of its own particular kind.

Igitur quod in campis Troianis proxime flumen armenta rufa et pecora leucophaea nascuntur, ideo id flumen Ilienses Xanthum appellavisse dicuntur.

Therefore, because on the Trojan plains, near the river, reddish herds and leucophaean flocks are born, for that reason the Ilians are said to have called that river Xanthus.

[15] Etiamque inveniuntur aquae genera mortifera, quae per maleficum sucum terrae percurrentia recipiunt in se vim venenatam, uti fuisse dicitur Terracinae fons, qui vocabatur Neptunius, ex quo qui biberant inprudentes, vita privabantur; quapropter antiqui eum obstruxisse dicuntur. Et Chrobsi Thracia lacus ex quo non solum qui biberint, moriuntur, sed etiam qui laverint. Item in Thessalia fons est profluens, ex quo fonte nec pecus ullum gustat nec bestiarum genus ullum proprius accedit; ad quem fontem proxime est arbor florens purpureo colore.

[15] And there are also found mortiferous kinds of waters, which, running through the baleful juice of the earth, take into themselves a venenate force, as there is said to have been at Terracina a spring which was called the Neptunian, from which those who unwitting had drunk were deprived of life; wherefore the ancients are said to have stopped it up. And at Chrobsi in Thrace there is a lake, from which not only those who have drunk die, but even those who have bathed. Likewise in Thessaly there is a flowing spring, from which no herd-beast at all tastes, nor does any kind of wild beast approach nearer; next to which spring there is a tree flowering with a purple color.

[16] Non minus in Macedonia quod loci sepultus est Euripides, dextra ac sinistra monumenti advenientes duo rivi concurrunt. In unum, viatores pransitare solent propter aquae bonitatem, ad rivum autem, qui est ex altera parte monumenti, nemo accedit, quod mortiferam aquam dicitur habere. Item est in Arcadia Nonacris nominata terrae regio, quae habet in montibus ex saxo stillantes frigidissimos umores.

[16] No less in Macedonia, where Euripides is buried, two streams, approaching on the right and on the left of the monument, run together. Into the one, travelers are accustomed to lunch because of the goodness of the water; but to the stream which is on the other side of the monument, no one approaches, because it is said to have mortiferous water. Likewise, in Arcadia there is a region of land named Nonacris, which has in the mountains the most frigid moisture dripping from the rock.

Haec autem aqua Stygos Hydor nominatur, quam neque argentum neque aeneum nec ferreum vas potest sustinere, sed dissilit et dissipatur. Conservare autem eam et continere nihil aliud potest nisi mulina ungula, quae etiam memoratur ab Antipatro in provinciam ubi erat Alexander, per Iollam filium perlata esse et ab eo ea aqua regem esse necatum.

This water, moreover, is named Stygos Hydor, which neither a silver nor a brazen nor an iron vessel can sustain, but it bursts and is dissipated. To conserve and contain it nothing else can, except a mule’s hoof; and it is also recorded by Antipater that, carried in such a hoof through his son Iollas, it was conveyed into the province where Alexander was, and that by him the king was slain by that water.

[17] Item Alpibus in Cotti regno est aqua; qui gustant, statim concidunt. Agro autem Falisco via Campana in campo Corneto est lucus, in quo fons oritur; ubique avium et lacertarum reliquarumque serpentium ossa iacentia apparent.

[17] Likewise, in the Alps, in the kingdom of Cottius, there is a water; those who taste it collapse at once. Moreover, in the Faliscan territory, on the Campanian Way, in the plain of Corneto, there is a grove in which a spring arises; everywhere the bones of birds and of lizards and of the remaining serpents lie visible.

Item sunt nonnullae acidae venae fontium, uti Lyncesto et in Italia Velino, Campania Teano aliisque locis pluribus, quae hanc habent virtutem, uti calculos, in vesicis qui nascuntur in corporibus hominum potionibus discutiant.

Likewise there are some acid veins of springs, as at Lyncestus and in Italy the Velinus, at Teanum in Campania, and in many other places, which have this virtue: that by potions they break up the calculi that arise in the bladders in the bodies of men.

[18] Fieri autem hoc naturaliter ideo videtur, quod acer et acidus sucus subest in ea terra, per quam egredientes venae intinguntur acritudine, et ita, cum in corpus inierunt, dissipant quae ex aquarum subsidentia in corporibus et concrescentia offenderunt. Quare autem discutiantur ex acidis eae res, sic possumus animadvertere. Ovum in aceto si diutius positum fuerit, cortex eius mollescet et dissolvetur.

[18] But this seems to happen naturally for this reason: that a sharp and acid juice lies beneath in that earth, through which the veins, as they go out, are dipped with acridity; and thus, when they have entered the body, they dissipate the things which they have encountered, formed from the subsidence of waters in the bodies and their concretion. And why these things are broken up by acids, we can observe thus. If an egg has been placed in vinegar for a longer time, its shell will soften and be dissolved.

Item plumbum, quod est lentissimum et gravissimum, si in vase conlocatum fuerit et in eo acetum suffusum, id autem opertum et oblitum erit, efficietur, uti plumbum dissolvatur, et fiet cerussa.

Likewise, lead, which is the most pliant and the heaviest, if it has been placed in a vessel and vinegar poured over it, and this has been covered and plastered over, it will come about that the lead is dissolved, and ceruse will be produced.

[19] Eisdem rationibus aes, quod etiam solidiore est natura, similiter curatum si fuerit, dissipabitur et fiet aerugo. Item margarita. Non minus saxa silicea, quae neque ferrum neque ignis potest per se dissolvere, cum ab igni sunt percalefacta, aceto sparso dissiliunt et dissolvuntur.

[19] By the same methods bronze, which is even of a more solid nature, if it has been treated similarly, will be dissipated and will become verdigris. Likewise, the pearl. No less do siliceous rocks, which neither iron nor fire can by itself dissolve, when they have been thoroughly heated by fire, with vinegar sprinkled on, crack apart and are dissolved.

Ergo cum has res ante oculos ita fieri videamus, ratiocinemur isdem rationibus ex acidis propter acritudinem suci etiam calculosos e natura rerum similiter posse curari.

Therefore, since we see these matters come to pass thus before our eyes, let us ratiocinate by the same reasonings that from acids, on account of the acridity of the juice, even the calculous, by the nature of things, can similarly be cured.

[20] Sunt autem etiam fontes uti vino mixti, quemadmodum est unus Paphlagoniae, ex quo eam sine vino potantes fiunt temulenti. Aequiculis autem in Italia et in Alpibus natione Medullorum est genus aquae, quam qui bibunt, efficiuntur turgidis gutturibus.

[20] There are also springs as if mixed with wine, as there is one in Paphlagonia, from which those drinking it without wine become temulent. At the Aequiculi in Italy and, in the Alps, among the nation of the Medulli, there is a kind of water, by drinking which they are rendered with turgid throats.

[21] Arcadia vero civitas est non ignota Clitor, in cuius agris est spelunca profluens aqua, e qua qui biberint, fiunt abstemii. Ad eum autem fontem a epigramma est in lapide inscriptum: haec sententiae versibus graecis: eam non esse idoneam ad lavandum, sed etiam inimicam vitibus, quod apud eum fontem Melampus sacrificiis purgavisset rabiem Proeti filiarum restituissetque earum virginum mentes in pristinam sanitatem. Epigramma autem est id, quod est subscriptum:

[21] In Arcadia, moreover, there is a not-unknown city, Clitor, in whose fields there is a cave with water flowing forth, from which, whoever shall have drunk, become abstemious. At that spring, moreover, an epigram is inscribed on a stone: this is the purport in Greek verses: that it is not suitable for washing, but even inimical to vines, because at that spring Melampus, by sacrifices, had purged the rabies of the daughters of Proetus and had restored the minds of those virgins to their pristine sanity. The epigram, moreover, is that which is written below:

Also, HTML cannot represent Greek accents and dialectical marks. With Latin, however, paragraphs are rendered in a single line of text. This prevents a 'hashed-up' appearance as with some ASCII text editors.-->

[22] Item est in insula Cia fons e quo qui inprudentes biberint, fiunt insipientes, et ibi est epigramma insculptum ea sententia: iucundam eam esse potionem fontis eius, sed qui biberit, saxeos habiturum sensos. Sunt autem versus hi:

[22] Likewise, on the island Cia there is a spring from which those who drink unwittingly become foolish, and there is an epigram inscribed there with this sentiment: that the draught of that spring is pleasant, but whoever shall drink will have stony senses. However, the verses are these:

[23] Susis autem, in qua civitate est regnum Persarum, fonticulus est ex quo qui biberint amittunt dentes. Item in eo est scriptum epigramma quod significat hanc sententiam: egregiam esse aquam ad lavandum, sed ea si bibatur, excutere e redicibus dentes. Et huius epigrammatos sunt versus graece:

[23] But at Susa, in which city is the kingdom of the Persians, there is a little fountain, from which whoever drink lose their teeth. Likewise on it an epigram is inscribed which signifies this sense: that the water is excellent for washing, but if it be drunk, it shakes the teeth from their roots. And the verses of this epigram are in Greek:

[24] Sunt etiam nonnullis locis fontium proprietates, quae procreant qui ibi nascuntur egregiis vocibus ad cantandum, uti Tarso, Magnesiae, aliis eiusmodi regionibus. Etiamque Zama est civitas Afrorum, cuius moenia rex Iuba duplici muro saepsit ibique regiam domum sibi constituit. Ab ea milia passus XX est oppidum Ismuc, cuius agrorum regiones incredibili finitae sunt terminatione.

[24] There are also, in some places, properties of springs which produce those who are born there with excellent voices for singing, such as at Tarsus, at Magnesia, and in other regions of that sort. And likewise Zama is a city of the Africans, whose walls King Juba enclosed with a double wall, and there he established a royal house for himself. From it, at a distance of 20 miles, is the town Ismuc, whose fields’ regions are defined by an incredible termination.

Cum esset enim Africa parens et nutrix ferarum bestiatum, maxime serpentium, in eius agris oppidi nulla nascitur, et si quando adlata ibi ponatur, statim moritur; neque id solum, sed etiam terra ex his locis si alio translata fuerit, et ibi. Id genus terrae etiam Balearibus dicitur esse. Sed aliam mirabiliorem virtutem ea habet terra, quam ego sic accepi.

For Africa, being indeed the parent and nurse of wild beasts, especially of serpents, yet in the fields of that town none is born; and if ever one be brought and set there, it dies immediately. Nor is that the only thing, but earth from those places also, if it be transferred elsewhere, brings about the same there. A soil of that kind is said to exist even in the Balearics. But that earth has another, more marvelous virtue, which I have thus received.

[25] Gaius Julius Masinissae filius, cuius erant totius oppidi agrorum possessiones, cum patre Caesare militavit. In hospitio meo est usus. Ita cotidiano convictu necesse fuerat de philologia disputare.

[25] Gaius Julius, son of Masinissa, whose were the land-possessions of the whole town, campaigned with his father Caesar. He made use of my hospitality. Thus, in quotidian companionship it had been necessary to dispute about philology.

Interim cum esset inter nos de aquae potestate et eius virtutibus sermo, exposuit esse in ea terra eiusmodi fontes, ut, qui ibi procrearentur, voces ad cantandum egregias haberent, ideoque semper transmarinos catlastros emere formonsos et puellas maturas eosque coniungere, ut, qui nascerentur ex his, non solum voce egregia sed etiam forma essent non invenusta.

Meanwhile, since there was between us a discourse about the power of the water and its virtues, he expounded that in that land there are such springs that those who are begotten there have voices excellent for singing; and therefore they always buy handsome overseas catlastros and mature girls and join them, so that those born from these may be not only of excellent voice but also not uncomely in form.

[26] Cum haec tanta varietas sit disparibus rebus natura distributa quod humanum corpus est ex aliqua parte terrenum, in eo autem multa genera sunt umorum, uti sanguinis, lactis, sudoris, urinae, lacrimarum: ergo si in parva particula terreni tanta discrepantia invenitur saporum, non est mirandum, si tam in magnitudine terrae innumerabilis sucorum reperientur varietates, per quarum venas aquae vis percurrens tincta pervenit ad fontium egressus, et ita ex eo dispares variique perficiuntur in propriis generibus fontes propter locorum discrepantiam et regionum qualitates terrarumque dissimiles proprietates.

[26] Since so great a variety has been by nature distributed among disparate things—because the human body is in some part terrene, and in it there are many genera of humors, such as blood, milk, sweat, urine, tears—therefore, if in a small particle of the earthy such great discrepancy of savors is found, it is not to be wondered at if, upon the magnitude of the earth, innumerable varieties of juices are discovered, through whose veins the force of water, running through, comes tinted to the egresses of fountains; and thus, from this, springs are made unequal and various in their proper genera on account of the discrepancy of places, the qualities of regions, and the dissimilar properties of soils.

[27] Ex his autem rebus sunt nonnulla, quae ego per me perspexi, cetera in libris graecis scripta inveni, quorum scriptorum hi sunt auctores: Theophrastos, Timaeus, Posidonios, Hegesias, Herodotus, Aristides, Metrodorus, qui magna vigilantia et infÃnito studio Iocorum proprietates, aquarum virtutes ab inclinatione caelique regionum qualitates ita esse distributas scriptis dedicaverunt. Quorum secutus ingressus in hoc libro perscripsi quae satis esse putavi de aquae varietatibus, quo facilius ex his praescriptionibus eligant homines aquae fontes, quibus ad usum salientes possint ad civitates municipiaque perducere.

[27] Among these matters there are some which I myself have inspected; the rest I found written in Greek books, whose writers are these authors: Theophrastus, Timaeus, Posidonius, Hegesias, Herodotus, Aristides, Metrodorus, who with great vigilance and infinite zeal have consigned to writings that the properties of places and the virtues of waters, from the inclination of the sky and the qualities of regions, are thus distributed. Following their lead, in this book I have written out what I judged sufficient concerning the varieties of water, in order that more easily from these prescriptions men may choose springs of water which, bubbling forth for use, they may be able to conduct to cities and municipalities.

[28] Nulla enim ex omnibus rebus tantas habere videtur ad usum necessitates, quantas aqua, ideo quod omnium animalium natura, si frumenti fructu privata fuerit, arbustivo aut carne aut piscatu aut etiam quaelibet ex his reliquis rebus escarum utendo poterit tueri vitam, sine aqua vero nec corpus animalium nec ulla cibi virtus potest nasci nec tueri nec parari. Quare magna diligentia industriaque quaerendi sunt et eligendi fontes ad humanae vitae salubritatem.

[28] For among all things nothing seems to have such necessities for use as water, for the reason that the nature of all animals, if it should be deprived of the fruit of grain, will be able to sustain life by using tree-fruit or flesh or fishing, or even any of the remaining things of foods; but without water neither the body of animals nor any virtue of food can be born, nor maintained, nor prepared. Wherefore with great diligence and industry fountains are to be sought out and chosen for the salubrity of human life.

Caput Quartum

Chapter Four

[1] Expertiones autem et probationes eorum sic sunt providendae. Si erunt profluentes et aperti, antequam duci incipiantur, aspiciantur animoque advertantur, qua membratura sint qui circa eos fontes habitant homines; et si erunt corporibus valentibus, coloribus nitidis, cruribus non vitiosis, non lippis oculis, erunt probatissimi. Item si fons novos fossus fuerit, et in vas corinthium sive alterius generis, quod erit ex aere bono, ea aqua sparsa maculam non fecerit, optima est.

[1] The experiments and probations of them are to be provided thus. If they will be outflowing and open, before they begin to be led, let those who dwell around those springs be looked at and let notice be taken of what constitution they are; and if they will be with strong bodies, with bright complexions, with legs not defective, with eyes not bleary, they will be most approved. Likewise, if a spring has been newly dug, and, in a Corinthian vessel or another kind which will be of good bronze, that water, when sprinkled, does not make a stain, it is the best.

Itemque in aeneo si ea aqua defervefacta et postea requieta et defusa fuerit, neque in eius aenei fundo harena aut limus invenietur, ea aqua erit item probata.

Likewise, in a bronze vessel, if that water has been boiled and afterwards has settled and been decanted, and neither sand nor silt is found on the bottom of that bronze vessel, that water will likewise be proved.

[2] Item si legumina in vas cum ea aqua coiecta ad ignem posita celeriter percocta fuerint, indicabunt aquam esse bonam et salubrem. Non etiam minus ipsa aqua, quae erit in fonte, si fuerit limpida et perlucida, quoque pervenerit aut profluxerit, muscus non nascetur neque iuncus, neque inquinatus ab aliquo inquinamento is locus fuerit, sed puram habuerit speciem, innuitur his signis esse tenuis et in summa salubritate.

[2] Likewise, if legumes, thrown into a vessel with that water and set to the fire, shall have been quickly cooked through, they will indicate the water to be good and salubrious. Likewise, no less, the water itself which will be in the spring, if it is limpid and pellucid, and wherever it shall have come or flowed forth, moss will not grow nor will rush grow, nor will that place have been defiled by any defilement, but will have had a pure appearance; by these signs it is intimated to be tenuous and in the highest salubrity.

Caput Quintum

Chapter Five

[1] Nunc de perdustionibus ad habitationes moeniaque, ut fieri oporteat, explicabo. Cuius ratio est prima perlibratio. Libratur autem dioptris aut libris aquariis aut chorobate, sed diligentius efficitur per chorobaten, quod dioptrae libraeque fallunt.

[1] Now about the leadings (perductions) to habitations and walls, how they ought to be done, I will explain. The primary rationale of this is leveling. Leveling is done by dioptrae or by water-levels or by the chorobates, but it is effected more precisely by the chorobates, because the dioptrae and the levels can mislead.

Chorobates autem est regula longa circiter pedum viginti. Ea habet ancones in capitibus extremis aequali modo perfectos inque regulae capitibus ad normam coagmentatos, et inter regulam et ancones a cardinibus conpacta transversaria, quae habent lineas ad perpendiculum recte descriptas pendentiaque ex regula perpendicula in singulis partibus singula, quae, cum regula est conlocata, ea quae tangent aeque ac pariter lineas descriptionis, indicant libratam conlocationem.

But the chorobates is a rule about twenty feet long. It has ancones—elbows/brackets—at the extreme heads fashioned in an equal manner and, on the heads of the rule, coagmented according to the square; and between the rule and the ancones there are crosspieces compacted on pivots (cardines), which have lines correctly drawn at the perpendicular, and from the rule hang plumb-lines (perpendicula), one in each section; which, when the rule is set in place, those that touch the lines of the marking equally and alike indicate a level placement.

[2] Sin autem ventus interpellaverit et motionibus lineae non potuerint certam significationem facere, tunc habeat in superiore parte canalem longum pedes V, latum digitum, altum sesquidigitum, eoque aqua infundatur, et si aequaliter aqua canalis summa labra tanget, scietur esse libratum. Ita eo chorobate cum perlibratum ita fuerit, scietur, quantum habuerit fastigii.

[2] But if the wind has interrupted and, through the movements of the line, they cannot make a sure indication, then let it have on the upper part a channel 5 feet long, a finger wide, a finger-and-a-half deep, and let water be poured into it; and if the water touches the top lips of the channel equally, it will be known to be level. Thus, with that chorobates, when it has been thoroughly leveled in this way, it will be known how much slope it has had.

[3] Fortasse, qui Archimedis libros legit, dicet non posse fieri veram ex aqua librationem, quod ei placet aquam non esse libratam, sed sphaeroides habere schema sed ibi habere centrum, quo loci habet orbis terrarum. Hoc autem, sive plana est aqua seu sphaeroides, necesse est: extrema capita regulae sit pariter sustinere regulam aquam; sin autem proclinatum erit ex una parte, quae erit altior, non habuerit regulae canalis in summis labris aquam. Necesse est enim, quocumque aqua sit infusa, in medio inflationem curvaturamque habere, sed capita dextra ac sinistra inter se librata esse.

[3] Perhaps one who reads the books of Archimedes will say that a true leveling from water cannot be made, because it pleases him that water is not level, but has a spheroidal schema and has its centrum there where the globe of the earth has its place. But this, whether the water is flat or spheroidal, is necessary: the extreme ends of the rule let the water equally sustain the rule; but if it shall be inclined on one side, the side which will be higher will not have the water of the rule’s channel on the top lips. For it is necessary that, wherever water is poured in, it have in the middle a swelling and a curvature, but that the right and left ends be balanced with each other.

Exemplar autem chorobati erit in extremo volumine descriptum. Et si erit fastigium magnum, facilior erit decursus aquae; sin autem intervalla erunt lacunosa, substructionibus erit succurrendum.

The exemplar of the chorobates will be described at the end of the volume. And if the slope is great, the course of the water will be easier; but if the intervals are lacunose, assistance must be furnished by substructions.

Caput Sextum

Chapter Six

[1] Ductus autem aquae fiunt generibus tribus: rivis per canales structiles, aut fistulis plumbeis, seu tubulis fictilibus. Quorum hae sunt rationes. Si canalibus, ut structura fiat quam solidissima, solumque rivi libramenta habeat fastigata ne minus in centenos pedes semipede eaeque structurae confomicentur, ut minime sol aquam tangat.

[1] But conduits of water are made in three genera: by rills through masonry channels, or by leaden pipes, or by earthenware tubes. Of which these are the rationes. If by channels, let the structure be made as solid as possible, and let the bed of the rill have its levels pitched with a gradient not less than half a foot in every one hundred feet; and let those structures be contrived so that the sun touches the water as little as possible.

Cumque venerit ad moenia, efiiciatur castellum et castello coniunctum ad recipiendam aquam triplex immissarium, conlocenturque in castello tres fistulae aequaliter divisae intra receptacula coniuncta, uti, cum abundaverit ab extremis, in medium receptaculum redundet.

And when it has come to the walls, let a castellum be constructed, and, joined to the castellum for receiving the water, a triple inlet; and let three pipes be placed in the castellum, equally divided within the connected receptacles, so that, when it has abounded from the outer ones, it may flow back into the middle receptacle.

[2] Ita in medio ponentur fistulae in omnes lacus et salientes, ex altero in balneas vectigal quotannis populo praestent, ex quibus tertio in domus privatas, ne desit in publico; non enim poterint avertere, cum habuerint a capitibus proprias ductiones. Haec autem quare divisa constituerim, hae sunt causae, uti qui privatim ducent in domos vestigalibus tueantur per publicanos aquarum ductus.

[2] Thus in the middle the pipes will be placed into all basins and fountains; from another, into the baths, let them render a vectigal yearly to the people; from which, a third into private houses, lest there be a lack in the public: for they will not be able to divert it, since they will have from the heads their own ducts. But why I have established these as divided, these are the causes: namely, that those who will conduct privately into houses may, by vectigals, safeguard the water-ducts through the publicans.

[3] Sin autem medii montes erunt inter moenia et caput fontis, sic erit faciendum, uti specus fodiantur sub terra librenturque ad fastigium, quod supra scriptum est. Et si tofus erit aut saxum, in suo sibi canalis excidatur, sin autem terrenum aut haraenosum erit, solum et parietes cum camara in specu struantur et ita perducatur. Puteique ita sint facti, uti inter duos sit actus.

[3] But if there are middle hills between the walls and the head of the spring, it must be done thus: let conduits be dug under the ground and be leveled to the gradient which has been written above. And if it is tufa or rock, let a channel be cut in it; but if it is earthy or sandy, let the floor and the walls with a vault be built in the conduit, and so let it be carried through. And let the shafts be made such that between two there is an actus.

[4] Sin autem fistulis plumbeis ducetur, primum castellum ad caput struatur, deinde ad copiam aquae lumen fistularum constituatur, eaeque fistulae castello conlocentur ad castellum, quod erit in moenibus. Fistulae ne minus longae pedum denûm fundantur. Quae si centenariae erunt, pondus habeant in singulas pondo MCC; si octogenariae, pondo DCCCCLX; si quinquagenariae, pondo DC; quadragenariae pondo CCCCLXXX; tricenariae pondo CCCLX; vicenariae pondo CCXL; quinûm denûm pondo CLXXX; denûm pondo CXX; octonûm pondo C; quinariae pondo LX. E latitudine autem lamnarum, quot digitos habuerint, antequam in rotundationem flectantur, magnitudinum ita nomina concipiunt fistulae.

[4] But if it will be conducted by leaden pipes, first let a castellum be built at the head; then, according to the supply of water, let the lumen (caliber) of the pipes be determined; and let those pipes be set from castellum to castellum, to the castellum which will be within the walls. Let the pipes be cast not less than 10 feet in length. If they are “hundreds” (centenariae), let them have a weight of 1,200 pounds each; if “eighties” (octogenariae), 960 pounds; if “fifties” (quinquagenariae), 600 pounds; if “forties” (quadragenariae), 480 pounds; “thirties” (tricenariae), 360 pounds; “twenties” (vicenariae), 240 pounds; “fifteens” (quinûm denûm), 180 pounds; “tens” (denûm), 120 pounds; “eights” (octonûm), 100 pounds; “fives” (quinariae), 60 pounds. Moreover, from the width of the metal sheets—how many fingers they have before they are bent into roundness—the pipes take in this way the names of their sizes.

Namque quae lamna fuerit digitorum quinquaginta, cum fistula perficietur ex ea lamna vocabitur quinquagenaria similiterque reliqua.

For whichever lamina is of fifty digits, when a pipe is completed from that lamina it will be called a fifty-grade (quinquagenaria), and similarly the rest.

[5] Ea autem ductio, quae per fistulas plumbeas est futura, hanc habebit expeditionem. Quodsi caput habeat libramenta ad moenia montesque medii non fuerint altiores, ut possint interpellare, sed intervalla, necesse est substruere ad libramenta, quemadmodum in rivis et canalibus. Sin autem non longa erit circumitio, circumductionibus, sin autem valles erunt perpetuae, in declinato loco cursus dirigentur.

[5] But that conduction which is to be through leaden pipes will have this procedure. If the head has level-gradients toward the walls, and the intervening hills are not higher so as to be able to interrupt, but there are gaps, it is necessary to build up substructures to the level, just as in rivulets and canals. But if the circuit will not be long, then by circumductions; but if the valleys are continuous, the courses will be directed along a declivity.

Cum venerint ad imum, non alte substruitur, ut sit libratum quam longissimum; hoc autem erit venter, quod Graeci appellant coelian. Deinde cum venerit adversus clivum, ex longo spatio ventris leniter tumescit; exprimatur in altitudinem summi clivi.

When they have come to the bottom, one does not build up high with substructures, so that the leveling may be as long as possible; this, moreover, will be the belly, which the Greeks call coelian. Then, when it has come against the slope, from the long span of the belly it gently swells; let it be pressed out to the altitude of the top of the slope.

[6] Quodsi non venter in vallibus factus fuerit nec substructum ad libram factum, sed geniculus erit, erumpet et dissolvet fistularum commissuras. Etiam in ventre colluviaria sunt facienda, per quae vis spiritus relaxetur. Ita per fistulas plumbeas aquam qui ducent, his rationibus bellissime poterunt efficere, quod et decursus et circumductiones et ventres et expressus hac ratione possunt fieri, cum habebunt a capitibus ad moenia ad fastigii libramenta.

[6] But if the belly has not been made in the valleys nor the substructure made to the level, but there is a little knee, it will burst forth and loosen the joints of the pipes. Also in the belly relief-openings (colluviaria) must be made, through which the force of the spirit (air-pressure) may be relaxed. Thus those who conduct water through leaden pipes will be able by these methods most excellently to accomplish that both descents and circumductions and bellies and forced elevation can be produced in this way, when they will have levelings from the heads to the walls according to the pitch of the gradient.

[7] Item inter actus ducentos non est inutile castella conlocari, ut, si quando vitium aliqui locus fecerit, non totum onus neque opus contundatur et, in quibus locis sit factum, facilius inveniatur; sed ea castella neque in decursu neque in ventris planitia neque in expressionibus neque omnino in vallibus, sed in perpetua aequalitate.

[7] Likewise, at intervals of 200 actus it is not useless to place castella, so that, if ever some place should produce a defect, neither the whole burden nor the work be crushed, and in which places it has happened it may be found more easily; but let those castella be neither on the descent, nor on the belly’s level plain, nor at the expressions, nor at all in the valleys, but on a perpetual equality.

[8] Sin autem minore sumptu voluerimus, sic est faciendum. Tubuli crasso corio ne minus duorum digitorum fiant, sed uti hi tubuli ex una parte sint lingulati, ut alius in alium inire convenireque possint. Coagmenta autem eorum calce viva ex oleo subacta sunt inlinienda, et in declinationibus libramenti ventris lapis est ex saxo rubro in ipso geniculo conlocandus isque perterebratus, uti ex decursu tubulus novissimus in lapide coagmentetur et primus ex librati ventris; ad eundem modum adversum clivum et novissimus librati ventris in cavo saxi rubri haereat et primus expressionis ad eundem modum coagmentetur.

[8] But if we wish it at lesser expense, it must be done thus. Let the tubes be made with a thick wall not less than two fingers, and let these tubes be tongued on one side, so that one may enter into and fit together with another. Their coagments are to be smeared with quicklime wrought with oil, and on the declivities of the libration of the belly a block of red stone is to be set at the very knee and bored through, so that from the downward run the last tube may be jointed in the stone and the first from the leveled belly; in the same way, against the slope, let the last of the leveled belly adhere in the cavity of the red stone, and let the first of the expression be jointed in the same way.

[9] Ita librata planitia tubulorum ad decursus et expressionis non extolletur. Namque vehemens spiritus in aquae ductione solet nasci, ita ut etiam saxa perrumpat, nisi primum leniter et parce a capite aqua inmittatur et in geniculis aut versuris alligationibus aut pondere saburra contineatur. Reliqua omnia uti fistulis plumbeis ita sunt conlocanda.

[9] Thus the leveled plane of the tubes for the descents and for the discharge will not be lifted up. For a vehement spirit (air) is wont to arise in the conduction of water, such that it even bursts through rocks, unless the water is first introduced gently and sparingly from the head, and at the knees or turnings it is held fast by bindings or by the weight of ballast. All the remaining items are to be set in place as with leaden pipes.

Item cum primo aqua a capite inmittitur, ante favilla inmittetur, uti coagmenta, si qua sunt non satis oblita, favilla oblinantur.

Likewise, when at first the water is introduced from the head, beforehand cinder-ash is to be introduced, so that the joints, if any are not sufficiently plastered over, may be smeared over with the ash.

[10] Habent autem tubulorum ductiones ea commoda. Primum in opere quod si quod vitium factum fuerit, quilibet id potest reficere. Etiamque multo salubrior est ex tubulis aqua quam per fistulas, quod per plumbum videtur esse ideo vitiosum, quod ex eo cerussa nascitur; haec autem dicitur esse nocens corporibus humanis.

[10] The ductings of little tubes have these advantages. First, in the work, if any flaw has been made, anyone can repair it. And water from little tubes is much more salubrious than through lead-pipes, for through lead it seems for this reason to be vitiated, that from it ceruse is produced; and this is said to be harmful to human bodies.

Ita quod ex eo procreatur, <si> id est vitiosum, non est dubium, quin ipsum quoque non sit salubre.

Thus, what is produced from it, <si> if it is vitiated, there is no doubt that it too is not salubrious.

[11] Exemplar autem ab artificibus plumbariis possumus accipere, quod palloribus occupatos habent corporis colores. Namque cum fundendo plumbum flatur, vapor ex eo insidens corporis artus et inde exurens eripit ex membris eorum sanguinis virtutes. Itaque minime fistulis plumbeis aqua duci videtur, si volumus eam habere salubrem.

[11] But we can take an exemplar from the plumbers, who have the body’s colors taken over by pallors. For when, in melting, lead is blown, the vapor from it, settling upon the body’s limbs and from there burning, snatches from their members the powers of the blood. Therefore water by no means seems to be conducted in leaden pipes, if we wish to have it healthful.

Saporemque meliorem ex tubulis esse cotidianus potest indicare victus, quod omnes, et structas cum habeant vasorum argenteorum mensas, tamen propter saporis integritatem fictilibus utuntur.

And that a better savor comes from the tubules the quotidian victuals can indicate, since all, even when they have tables arranged with silver vessels, nevertheless make use of earthenware on account of the integrity of the taste.

[12] Sin autem fontes, unde ductiones aquarum, faciamus, necesse est puteos fodere. In puteorum autem fossionibus non est contemnenda ratio, sed acuminibus sollertiaque magna naturales rerum rationes considerandae, quod habet multa variaque terra in se genera. Est enim uti reliquae res ex quattuor principiis conposita.

[12] But if, however, we are to produce springs, whence we may make conduits of water, it is necessary to dig wells. In the excavations of wells, moreover, method is not to be scorned, but with acumen and great ingenuity the natural reasons of things must be considered, because the earth has within itself many and various kinds. For, like the remaining things, it is composed from four principles.

Et primum est ipsa terrena; habetque ex umore aquae fontes; item calores, unde etiam sulphur, alumen, bitumen nascitur; aerisque spiritus inmanes, qui, cum graves per intervenia fistulosa terrae perveniunt ad fossionem puteorum et ibi homines offendunt fodientes, ut naturali vaporis obturant eorum naribus spiritus animales; ita, qui non celerius inde effugiunt, ibi interimuntur.

And first is the earthy substance itself; and it has, from the moisture of water, springs; likewise heats, whence also sulfur, alum, and bitumen are begotten; and monstrous breaths of air, which, when heavy, come through the fistulous interstices of the earth to the digging of wells and there strike the men who are digging, so that by the natural vapor the animal spirits in their nostrils are stopped up; thus, those who do not flee from there more quickly are slain there.

[13] Hoc autem quibus rationibus caveatur, sic erit faciendum. Lucerna accensa demittatur; quae si permanserit ardens, sine periculo descendetur. Sin autem eripietur lumen a vi vaporis, tunc secundum puteum dextra ac sinistra defodiantur aestuaria; ita quemadmodum per nares spiritus ex aestu dissipabuntur.

[13] But by what methods this may be guarded against, it must be done thus. Let a lamp, when lit, be lowered; if it remains burning, one will descend without danger. But if the light is snatched away by the force of the vapor, then, along the shaft on the right and on the left, vents are to be dug; thus, just as through the nostrils, the breaths will be dissipated from the heat-vents ().

Cum haec sic explicata fuerint et ad aquam erit perventum, tunc saepiatur a structura, nec obturentur venae.

When these things have been thus set forth and the water has been reached, then let it be fenced in with masonry, and let the veins not be obstructed.

[14] Sin autem loca dura erunt aut nimium venae penitus fuerint, tunc signinis operibus ex tectis aut superioribus locis excipiendae sunt copiae. In signinis autem operibus haec sunt facienda. Uti harena primum purissima asperrimaque paretur, caementum de silice frangatur ne gravius quam librarium, calx quam vehementissima mortario mixta, ita ut quinque partes harenae ad duos respondeant.

[14] But if the places are hard or the veins are too deep, then the waters are to be received by signine works from roofs or higher places. In signine works the following must be done. First let sand be prepared that is most pure and very rough; let rubble from flint be broken so that it is not heavier than a pound; let the most active lime be mixed into the mortar, in such a way that five parts of sand correspond to two.

Eorum fossa ad libramentum altitudinis, quod est futurum, calcetur vectibus ligneis ferratis.

Let their trench be tamped to the level of the height that is to be, with iron‑shod wooden rammers.

[15] Parietibus calcatis, in medio quod erit terrenum, exinaniatur ad libramentum infimum parietum. Hoc exaequato solum calcetur ad crassitudinem, quae constituta fuerit. Ea autem si duplicia aut triplica facta fuerint, uti percolationibus transmutari possint, multo salubriorem [et suaviorem] aquae usum efficient; limus enim cum habuerit, quo subsidat, limpidior fiet et sine odoribus conservabit saporem.

[15] With the walls rammed, in the middle, that which will be earthen, let it be emptied out to the lowest level-line of the walls. This having been leveled, let the floor be rammed to the thickness that shall have been established. But if these have been made double or triple, so that by percolations they can be transmuted, they will make the use of the water much more healthful [and more agreeable]; for when the mud has had where to settle, it will become more limpid and will preserve its savor without odors.

Si non, salem addi necesse erit et extenuari.

If not, salt will have to be added and the water attenuated.

Quae potui de aquae virtute et varietate, quasque habeat utilitates quibusque rationibus ducatur et probetur, in hoc volumine posui; de gnomonicis vero rebus horologiorum rationibus insequenti perscribam.

What I could about the virtue and variety of water, and what utilities it has and by what reasons it is conducted and proved, I have set down in this volume; but indeed about gnomonic matters, the ratios of horologia, I will write out fully in the following.