Increase so in the greatest Droughts such as we observ'd in these last Years in which the whole Region on this and the other side of the Po did exceedingly want Water they suffe no Decrease Moreover these Waters are very warm in Winter so that they send forth a Smoak but in Summer they are very cold Some Days after the Eruption is made when the Water has setled they usually cover the Well with a Marble Stone and as it were seal it and afterwards convey the Water by Earthen Pipes from the same into Vessels of Marble or of Stone from which afterwards the Water is by other Conduits continually Bed of Clay is about 11 Feet and sometimes 't is full of Cockle-shells it ends therefore about the depth of 39 Feet after that there appears another Bed of marshy Earth about 2 Foot thick compos'd of Rushes Leaves of Plants and Branches This marshy Bed being taken away by the Diggers another Bed of Clay of the same thickness with the former presents it self which terminates in the depth of about 52 Foot which being digg'd up another Bed of marshy ground not unlike the former is seen which being removed another Bed of Clayie Ground of the same nature with the former two but not so thick appears which lies upon another Bed of marshy Earth which at last terminates on that last Plain in which the Auger is fix'd which is soft and sandy and mixt with much Gravel and sometimes full of Sea-Products These several Beds with their Intervals are observ'd in all the Wells as well within the Walls of the City as in the Suburbs in a constant Order Seeing in digging they often fall on Stocks of Trees as I have frequently observed which gives great trouble in the boring to the Undertakers 't is a manifest Proof that this Ground was once expos'd to the Air but I could never observe those Stocks of Trees in the Beds of Chalk but in the marshy ones only or in that space which lies between the Foundation and the beginning of the Clay There have been also found in the greatest Depths of these Wells great Bones Coals Flints and pieces of Iron I do willingly pass by many things here which the common People report of extraneous things cast up by the Violence of the Waters at their first breaking forth as Leaves of Oaks Chesnut Millet Bean-husks and many other things contenting my self with telling those things only of which I have been an Eye-witness or have heard from Persons worthy of Credit These are the things which belong to the History of the Wells of Modena and which I have observ'd as I had occasion CHAP. II. That these are not Standing but Running Waters upon this occasion some things are brought in from the Hydrostaticks SEing the Nature and Original of this hidden Source deserves to be as much enquir'd into as that of the Nile did formerly let us pass through these Subterraneous VVaters with the Sails of our Reason seeing we cannot do it otherwise First we may freely affirm That these Waters are not standing as they are when shut up in a Hogshead but are in conâ—inual motion and that pretty quick For the Noise of that waâ—er which is heard before the Perâ—oration in the bottom of the Wells â—oes make it manifest enough Neither can any object that even stagnant VVaters are subject to great Commotions as is known of the Vulsinian Lake Thrasumenus and Benacus of which the chief of the poets says Teque adeo assurgens aestu Benace marino O Benacus which like the Ocean roars For that is not constant yea these Lakes for the most part are very still But the Noise of the VVater before the Terebration is constantly heard which I always perceiv'd distinctly as oft as I descended into these Wells and to this agree the Undertakers of these Wells who by the noise of the VVater guess that they have done with digging But seeing the VVate rises so suddenly to the height 〈◊〉 68 Feet casting forth Sand and Stones with force 't is most certain that these Subterraneous VVaters descend from a high place and are continually prest on by others that follow Neither do I think that such a sudden rising of the VVater can be attributed to the weight of the superincumbent Earth which drives the VVater upward by its Pressure I know indeed that VVater may be elevated above its Surface when 't is driven up by some force lying upon it as Scaliger writing against Cardan demonstrates by the Example of a Cylindrical Vessel with Pipes on both sides and a Plug fitted exactly to its Capacity into which being full of VVater if you force down the Plug it will raise the VVater in the Pipes above the Surface of the VVater that is in the Vessel But if by the weight of the incumbent Earth these VVaters were elevated the Earth so superincumbent would be broke off from the rest which is altogether improbable there appearing no Marks of it Beside by what way could it come to pass that these Waters should be so excellent as to surpass all others if they were without Motion and kept as it were captive For every body knows that standing Waters do no less differ from those that are moved than dead Bodies differ from live ones seeing we commonly call such as run Living Waters These Waters therefore do move and stand not still here but run down constantly either to the Sea or are swallowed up in some Gulph But whilst I conclude these VVaters to be running an Objection of no small Value does occur and 't is this If the VVaters run away so violently there seems to be no Reason why these Wells being digged they should rise upwards But it may be demonstrated by a Physical Experiment that the Water cannot ascend in such as case For let there be a Vessel full of Water at whose side near the bottom a Pipe is inserted at right Angles pierc't with many Holes EFG and in the lower part let it have a Slit HI If now you give the Water free vent to run out not only it will not ascend at the Holes but neither will it descend at the Slit but will all run out at the wide Mouth of the Pipe and it will be pleasant to see the Water hang out at the Slit and not fall till at the latter end the Vessel being almost empty the Water will no more run out at the wide Mouth but will all run down through the Slit. If therefore this Experiment hold the supposed running of the Waters to places farther off and their manifest ascent into these Wells at the same time seem not to agree with the Laws of Hydrostaticks For if they flow freely and without stopping without doubt they cannot rise on high which is confirmed by what the most Learned Scaliger says in his Exercitations who enquiring whether VVaters may run under other waters says That near the River Oâ—tus there is a Well on a
in Timavus and yet the Waters remain fresh For the Sea does not beat back the Waters of Timavus nor stop his Course in the Surface but meeting the Subterraneous River swallowed up in the foresaid Valley forces it to flow back and throw out its Waters by these Nine Mouths and from hence is the prodigious Increase of the River Timavus But when the Sea ebbs and gives leave to that Subterraneous River to run Timavus also at the same time when that great Regurgitation of the Water ceases runs quietly enough and with all his Sweetness into the Adriatick Neither Kircher nor Falloppius determine what Sea they suppose to flow into these Cavities for the Mediterranean does not rise high enough to answer the case seeing it flows but a Foot at the most which is in the Adriatick if they meant the Atlantick which in some places is observ'd to rise 9 Fathom in many to 2 1 2 to 3 or 5 yet perhaps that will not answer the case neither for it has a great way to come before it can come to reach the place and when it has swelled to the height there considering the Nine Mouths of Timavus are in a Mountanous Countrey which may be justly supposed elevated far above the Sea when at the highest this Solution of the Phenomen will not hold It seems to me more rational to explain it thus I suppose the Water comes from St. Cantians to run under Ground in a Canale 〈◊〉 which it fills quite so that there is no passage for the Air that way till it come to the Basin a b c which it fills so as to overflow into the Sea below and that this Basin is not much lower than the Mouth of Timavus for thus the Ascent of the Water into these Nine Mouths will be more easily procured I suppose likewise that this Basin a b c has another Passage g h by which the outer Air communicates with the Water in this Basin and by which the Water in the Flux of the Sea runs out at h then the Water that overflowâ— and fall into the Sea when it is at the Ebb because the Air gets out at the Holes below near the Surface when the Surface of the Sea k k k is elevated by the Waters flowing into this lower Basin through Subterraneous Passages and the Holes near its Surface by which the Air got out before being now stopt the Air is crowded between the Surface k k k below and that in the Basin and thus acquires a greater Elasticity than the Air that presses the Surface within the Pipe g h and therefore according to the Laws of Hydrostatisks the Water in that Pipe must ascend Now if the Sea flow two Eathom below it may raise the Waters in the Pipes g h near as much so that it may run out at h. I think the flowing of Springs and Lakes such as the Ingenious Mr. VValker told me is reported to be found in Cornwall on the top of a Hill and in other places may be explained very well after this manner Our Countrey-man Falloppius gives a Reason of this surprizing Phaenomenon of Nature not much differing from this whose words I thought fit to add here But you must note that although the River thâ—n aboâ—nd with Water yet that Water is fresh as â—tis also when it decreases for 't is always fresh but from whence does that come You must understand that in the Country of Carni there is a Castle called St. Cantians from whence rises a great quantity of Water which when it has scarcely appear'd is swallow'd up by the Earth and appears no more Now the Village of St. Cantians is 14 Miles distant from the River Timavus I believe therefore that the Water flowing from the Mountain in abundance is the Cause of the Increase of Timavus for I think that this Water flows plentifully by these Subterraneous Passages which meeteth with other secret Passages by which the Sea runs into the Mountain next to the River and that so there is a Congress made and dashing of the Sea Water against the other which runs down from the Mountain farther off and seeing the flowing of the Sea is more forcible than the fresh Water for the Salt Water is more gross than the fresh it happens that the fresh Water flowing from the high Mountains yields to the other when it meets with it from whence it comes that when in cannot run to the Sea it recoils up to the top of the Mountain and from hence 't is that all the Mountain abounds with Water and the Timavus increases and decreases Such Phaenomena of Nature sporting it self may be more easily observ'd in the Mountainous Countries than elsewhere seeing the Mountains because of their solid Texture have empty Spaces and Kettles which serve not only for Cisterns of Water but also for Receptacles of Fire as in Sicily which therefore Aristotle calls full of Caverns So Virgil describing Aristaeus going down into the secret places of Paeneus a River in Thessaly running between Olympus and Ossa wrote these Verses Iamque domum mirans genetricis humida regna Speluncisque lacus clausos lucosque sonantes Ibat ingenti motu stupefactus aquarum Omnia sub magna labentia flâ—mina terra Spectabat diversa locis In English thus He wandring goes thro' Courts and Chrystal Realms Loud Groves and Caves which Water overwhelms And with tumultuous Waves â—stonisht found All the great River's running under Ground There are many of these Subterraneous Rivers in this and other Countries There is one very remarkable at Bourdeaux in France which runs under the Church of St. Sorine and it seems under or near a Pillar of that Church in which there is made a hole large enough to put in ones Head which has another hole at the bottom going down thro the Pillar to the River to which if you apply your Ear you may hear the noise of the Water falling down even at the time when the Organs which make a great Noise are playing There is upon the Right Hand a broad pair of Stairs with a great Arched Gate that take down to this Subterraneous River from which they force Water into a Marble Cistern that stands in the Church-yard covered with another great Stone yet open on the sides at which the ignorant People take up Water believing by the Insinuation of the Crafty Priests that 't is by the Gift of St. Sorin an Excellent Collyrium for soreâ— Eyes This Water as they force into the Cistern by the Pipes laid under ground on the Waxing of the Moon so they let it gradually out by other Pipes on the Wane of the Moon which makes the People think that it depends on the Course of the Moon Populus vult decipi Let us hear Seneca speaking to the purpose There are also under the Earth less known Laws of Nature but as sure believe the same to be below that is above There are also great Caves there are great Vaults
are such Fountains observ'd so everlasting and subject to no Alteration Therefore we may lawfully judge the Cistern that furnishes VVater at the same rate to this Source to be perpetual never failing and not temporary CHAP. IV. Of the Ancient State and Form of the Countrey on this and the other side of the River Po. THerefore having discuss'd the Opinions which take most among our Countrymen of the Nature of this hidden Source it may be thought fit that I should now tell my own But before I do that I think it worth while to enquire and as far as Conjecture will allow to discover what was in those times the outward Face of this Countrey which we inhabit seeing by the digging of these VVells in the Land of Modena 't is known enough that the Situation of this Countrey which is called Gallia Cispadana and Transpadana was very low and deprest in old times in comparison of what 't is now Plato when he brings in Critias speaking writes that there are two things which bring great and sudden Changes in the Earth and totally abolish the Monuments of the most ancient Countreys The VVorld felt the first Calamity in the Universal Deluge the other being reserved against the Day of Judgment and the Destruction of wicked Mâ—n as Peter says when a New Heaven and a New Earth shall appear 'T is most certain that the Face of the whole Earth was most notably changed in that Universal Drowning and Overturning of all things But some think that such a Change follow'd that the state of the VVorld before the Flood was quite different from what 't was afterwards which yet I cannot assent to There is lately come from England a Book whose Title is The Sacred Theory of the Earth by Thomas Bâ—â—net This Learned Man endeavours to demonstrate that the Earth before the Deluge in its first Original had another Form than now it appears to have so that there were neither Seas nor Isles nor Mountains nor Valleys nor Rivers any where but the whole Body of the VVaters lodg'd in the Caverns of the Earth Now he feign'd such a Face of the Earth to the end that it may be perceiv'd without the Creation of new VVaters from what Store-house a quantity of VVater may be drawn sufficient to cover the Face of the Earth tho' it had Mountains which we must imagine to have been higher by far than the present ones So that according to his Reasoning neither Rains how great soever nor Theoâ—â— Rabbah of Moses viz. Abyss of VVaters hid in the Caverns of the Earth could be sufficient for that Universal Deluge But he thinks that the Mountains Valleys Seas Isles and Rocks might have appeared in that great cleaving of the whole Body of the Earth pieces of it being broke off here and there and swallow'd up in the great Gulph while those which stood in their former state made a shew of Isles Mountains and Rocks but these which were wholly covered by the VVaters had the Name of Sea and Lakes and so the Earth appeared after the Deluge all broken torn and of a quite different Aspect This Fancy however it may be taken for new yet certainly is not the Fiction of our Times but more ancient by far Franciscus Patritius a Man famous enough for Learning in a certain Book of his Of the Rhetorick of the Ancients written in Italian and Printed at Venice by Franciscus Senensis Anno 1562. The first Dialogue has a pleasant Story which he says Iulius Strozza had from Count Balthazzar Castillon and he had from a certain Abyssine Philosopher in Spain This wise Abyssinian did say That in the most ancient Annals of Aethiopia there is a History of the Destruction of Mankind and the breaking of the Earth That in the beginning of the World the Earth was far bigger than now 't is and nearer to Heaven perfectly round without Mountains and Valleys yet all Cavernous within like a Spunge and that Men dwelling in it and enjoying a most pure Aether did lead a pleasant Life and that the Earth brought forth excellent Corn and Fruits without Labour But when after a long Flux of Ages Men were puft up with Pride and so fell from their first Goodness the Gods in Anger did shake the Earth so that a great part of it fell within its own Caverns and by this means the Water that before was shut up in dark Holes was violently squeez'd out and so Fountains Lakes Rivers and the Sea it self took its Original But that Portion of the Earth which did not fall into these Caverns but stood higher than the rest made the Mountains That the Isles and Rocks in the midst of the Sea are nothing but Segments of the Earth remaining after the sudden fall of its Mass. I am willing for the satisfaction of the Curious to give the Author 's own words as more tending to our purpose In the first Ages said the Reverend Old Man after the last Renovation of the VVorld the Earth we dwell on was not of that Form nor so little as 't is at present but far greater and of a perfect roundness because then it did take up as much place as it now takes up with the whole VVater and Air together So that between it and Heaven there was not any thing interpos'd but a most pure Fire which is called Aether being of a most pure and vital Heat The Earth then was of so large an Extent and so near to Heaven But within and in the Surface 't was very Cavernous within which were scattered the Elements of Air and VVater and towards the Center was scattered a Fire to warm the places remotest from Heaven and therefore obscure and cold Because the other Caverns nearer the Surface of the Earth were illuminated from Heaven by the Openings above and by its VVarmth filled with Life and all these Caverns were inhabited by Men and other Animals for the use of which the VVater and Air were scattered over the Caverns The Earth then was like a Spunge and Men dwelt within it their Life was very happy and without any Evil because there was not among Men either War or Sedition Nor did they live inclos'd in Cities as they do now for fear of wild Beasts and other Men but they liv'd promiscuously and the Earth produc'd its Fruits for their Necessity without any Labour of theirs Further the Mildness of the Air and Aether were so great that the Seasons did not vary as they do now And knowing then the Truth and the Vertues of all things they found they were good they knew also the Vertues of the Stars their Senses being nourished in a most pure Aether from whence they had the Knowledge of things Celestial and Elemental 'T is come to our Knowledge that in the most ancient Annals of Aethiopia among many others were found Aegypt Aethiopia Persia Assyria and Thracia Now hearken O Count says the Aethiopian attentively what occasioned the Fall of the Earth
once in half a year going in at the South Pole and coming out again at the North. Tho' all this be true supposing also that within the Bowels of this Earth there is exercised something like an Animal O Economy and that one may not without Reason imagine divers Ebbings and Flowings of VVaters seeing as Seneca says the whole Earth is not folid but hollow in a great many parts yet I cannot allow as some do that this is a great broad River from which these Fountains break forth This Opinion of a great River has so firmly possest the Minds of all Men that if a little Earth quake happen the Inhabitants are in great Foar lest the Town which otherwise is greatly shaken with Earthquakes should be swallow'd in a moment of time imagining it to be plac't on the arch'd Roof of a great River I confess the Conjectures are not slight on which may be grounded the Opinion of such a Subterraneous River which gives Water to these Fountains especially the Noise of the VVaters in the bottom of the Well before the Perforation and the assurance Men have that in every place where a Well is digg'd Water will boil up casting up Sand Pebbles and many other things which seem to evidence its being some great River or at least some great Receptacle But one Reason to wit the super-exceeding Greatness of this imaginary River which must be admitted of Necessity is of so great weight that it overturns all Conjectures that would seem to confirm the Opinion of so great a River running under this Ground For Europe has no River so big as this subterraneous River must be to which neither the Po nor the Rhine nor the Danube are to be compared 'T is known well enough by what we have before said and all the Inhabitants are convinced that not only within the Compass of the City which is a Mile in Diameter in any place may be made a Fountain which will constantly send forth Water but also without the Town for some Miles without having any regard to the Situation such Fountains may be made but especially by the Aemilian way as also beyond the River Scultenna a great plenty of these Springs and Fountains is observ'd Therefore the breadth of this subterraneous River unless its Course were along this way in which case it would be extended 4 Miles should be extended 6 or 7 Miles But who can believe that under this Plain on which this City is plac'd a River of so great Extent should continually flow with so great a weight lying upon it I will not deny that from South to North the Source is not so much extended seeing these Fountains are not observ'd above 4 Miles which whether it be for want of Experience or that this is truly its Bounds I dare not affirm But if we will suppose a subterraneous River which hath a Channel of 4 Miles every one I think will doubt it Nor will he so easily give Credit to this Opinion especially seeing this Arch that must keep up so great a VVeight 68 Feet deep is not of Flint or Pumice-stone but altogether made up of Earth gathered by degrees Truly if this Prodigy of Nature were situated in a Mountainous Region I should not be much against admitting the greatest Subterraneous width For if we take notice of the Caves and Subterraneous Recesses which are fam'd in Geographers we shall find them to be made amongst the Rocky and steep Caverns of the Earth seeing Rocks and Stones are the Bones and Strength of it From whence Ovid says Magna parens terra est lapides in corpore terrae Ossa reor dici The Earth is our great Mother and the Stones Therein contain'd I take to be her Bones VVe find the Corycaean Cave in Cilicia of which Pliny Solinus and others write that being a very large Promontory with a wide Mouth and full of Woods within 't was 52 Miles broad so as to be very light and both a Cave and a Port to have been plac'd in the Mountain Corycus The River Tigris which we have often mention'd hides its Head and as often rises again but only when he sees himself stopt with a Chain of Mountains For disdaining that any stop should be put to his Swiftness from which he takes his name he finds himself a way by the wide Bowels of the Mountains and runs hid till being swell'd with the accession of VVaters he runs out into the open Plain The River Timavus famous enough among the old Poets about whose true place whether 't was near Padoua or Tergeste in Istria there were so many Contentions among the Learned of the last Age as may be seen in Leander Albertus Bernardinus Scardeomus Iohannes Candidus though he seem to draw all his Water from â—ine Fountians as Breasts sticking out in the Mountain Timavus yet he borrows them from another place viz. a Subterraneous River discharging it self by the Cavernous VVindings of the Mountains into the Sea for which he is so proud as to be called the Father and Fountain of the Sea Seeing we have made mention of Timavus and wonderful things are told of him by VVriters viz. That he Ebbs and Flows according to the Motion of the Sea and that he increases so much as to overflow the adjacent Country but in the ebbing of the Sea he runs gently enough and carries with himself the Sweetness of his VVaters even to the Ocean without mixture Ut Doris amara suam non intermiceat undam Ecgl. 10. That Doris mix not her salt Waâ—â—es with thine As the chief of the Poets did formerly say of Alphaeus Therefore I am willing to 〈◊〉 the Contemplation of so curious things The most Learned Kircher does very well explain the Cause of this prodigious Increase and how the River keeps its VVaters free from Saltness even to its Mouth For he says That a great abundance of VVater is cast out from the Bowels of a Mountain near a Village called St. Cantians about 14 Miles distance from the Nine Fountains of Timavus and that there 't is swallowed up by a manifest Gulph nor does it appear more He thinks therefore that the VVater being swallow'd up by hidden Channels runs into the Sea and that therefore in the flowing of the Sea the Salt VVater drives back the Fresh that meets it with great Violence as being of less Force and so this Subterraneous River is stopt in its Course which not finding room to which it may retire breaks violently out at the foremention'd Fountains in the Mountain Timavus communicating with the same Subterraneous River Vnde per or a novem vasto cum murmure montis It mare praeruptum pelago praemit arva sonanti Aen. I. 1. Whence through Nine Mouths a Sea from Mountains raves Which the whole Country drowns in foaming Waves By this means 't is not hard to understand how according to the Ebbing and Flowing of the Sea there appears so proportionate a Vicissitude of Ebbing and Flowing
come When the timorous join'd themselves together there arose Counsellors and when they were called into Judgment there arose Judges This now Noble Sir is the great History which the wise Abyssinian told the Count worthy to be had in great Veneration and highly to be esteem'd Helmont seems to have entertain'd an Opinion about the Face of the Earth before the Deluge not unlike to this his Words are these From whence I conceive the Earth to have been in one piece and undivided for asmuch as 't was be-water'd with one Fountain and lastly to have had no Isles but the whole Globe was Sea on one side and Earth on the other This was the Face of the World before the Deluge after which the Earth did open into several shapes and out of the Abyss of these Chinks did the Waters break out But let us leave the Opinion no less disagreeing with the Interpretation of the Sacred Scriptures than with Nature it self Scaliger speaking of the Asserters of that Opinion about the Generation of the Mountains says That they piously dote who have told that the Earth was pulled out of and sav'd from the Deluge Yet 't is certain that the Earth in that Universal Deluge did not suffer an ordinary Change so that the Fortune of things being changed Thetis and Vesta chang'd their places from whence Ovid says Quodque fuit campus vallem decursus aquarum Fecit eluvie mons est deductus in aequor E'que paludosa siccis humus aret arenis In English thus Torrents have made a Valley of a Plain High Hills by Deluges born to the Main Steep standing Lakes suckt dry by thirsty Sand And on late thirsty Earth now Lakes do stand I believe it has not happened otherwise to this Countrey of ours For I conceive that in the first beginning of the World all this Plain than which Italy has not a greater and which the Po does now divide into Gallia Cispadana and Transpadana was once a Sea and a part of the Adriatick So in the Universal Deluge the Mountains being par'd off and bar'd so that they lookt like Bodies extenuated by a Disease as Plato wrote of the Atlantick Island we have reason to think that this Bay of the Sea was filled with Sand and so became a Valley and afterwards in process of time by continual Descent of Waters from the Apennine and the Alps and other particular Deluges such as was that which happen'd Anno 590. in Gallia Cisalpina than which 't is thought there has not been a greater since the Days of Noah as Paâ—â—â—vinâ—us says in his Fifth Book of the Antiquities of Verona this Ground did grow up by degrees and by many Lays or Beds to the height we do now see it of Both Ancient and Modern Writers judge the same of the most famous and greatest Plains in the Earth as in Egypt c. which Aristottle says formerly was a part of the Sea and Herodot calls it the Gift of the Nile seeing the Etymology of Nile is derived from Limus Slime which he likewise says of the Countreys about Ilium Teuthrania and Ephesus to wit that they were sometime a part of the Sea Yea the same Herodot hath left it in Writing that if the Nile turn'd its Course into the Arabick Gulph it would at length cover it all with Slime Polybius says that the Lake Maeotis and the Euxine Sea are constantly fill'd with plenty of Sand which great Rivers do continually bring into it and that the time would be when they should be made even with the Continent taking an Argument from the Taste of the Water viz. That as Maeotis is sweeter than the Pontick so the Pontick is sweeter than the Euxine Modern Writers think no less of the great and plain Countreys among whom is the most Learned Kircher who in his Mundus Subterraneus says from the Arabick Antiquities and other Observations That the great Plain which lies between the Arabick and Persian Gulph before the common Deluge was covered with sea-Sea-waters And he also thinks That the Sandy Desarts of Tartary were formerly the place of Waters and all one with the Caspian Sea and afterwards in length of time to have been rais'd to a greater height and turned into great Fields Neither need we to go so far off for Examples We understand by History that Ravenna as well as Venice was plac'd in the Sea but seeing now 't is 5 Miles from the Sea no body knows how much Land has accrew'd to it by the retiring of the Sea a Prodigy truly worthy of Wonder that where Ships did sail before now there are Groves of Pine-trees Upon the same account may we call the Land of Ferrara the Gift of Eridanus by reason of the slimy Water which this Royal River did by many Mouths discharge into the Adriatick for some Ages by which it came to pass that a Colony of Fishes was by a true Metamorphosis chang'd into an Habitation of Men for which Ovid says Vidi factas ex aequore terras Et procul à pelago conchae jacuere marinae I 've seen the Seas oft turned to a Plain And Lands were tilled where was before the Main Tho' I dare not absolutely say that all the Countrey which lies between the Apennine and the Alps was a Sea formerly yet by what is observ'd in the digging of the Wells Oyster-shells and other Sea Products being found in their greatest Depth it may be not without Ground conjectured that the Adriatick did at least come thus far or that the Bays communicating with the Sea did stagnate here Yet 't is without doubt from the Writings of the Ancients that between the â— Aemilian Way in the middle of which is seated Modena and the Po there was a Lake reaching from the Adriatick even to Placentia which from the Neighbourhood of the Po they called Padusa into which many Rivers descending from the Apennine discharg'd a great quantity of Waters Virgil makes mention of this Lake in these Verses Piscosove amne padusae Dant sonitum rauci per stagna loquacia cygni Or murmuring Swans that sound their fanning Wings Padusa's Fishy Banks upon or Ecchoing Springs But Iohn Baptista Aleottus in his most Learned Book against Caesar Mengolus of Ravenna shews by strong Reasons and Authorities that no River from Splacentia to the Coast of the Adriatick Sea did come into the Channel of the Po but that they all discharged themselves into this Padusa for which he brings the Authority of Strabo who writes That this Lake was a great Hindrance to Hannibal when he would have pass'd his Army into Etruria which Lake being not long after by the Diligence of M. Scaurus the Surveyor dried up was turned into most fruitful Fields many Rivers being brought within their own Banks to enter into the Po as Tarus Parma Entia Gabellus Scultenna the Rheine and other Rivers of no small Note Upon this account we may reasonably think that the Po was not so famous of old
be explained by Possibilities Seeing I am come so far that I must at length tell what I think of the Nature of this admirable Spring I believe I have done the part of a good Guesser if by sounding this Ford I can tell things probable and agreeable to the Laws of Nature instead of things certain VVe may therefore conjecture that the Sea in this our Countrey had secret Commerce with the Appennine to which it was adjacent in the beginning of the World and that it still has and that it laid a Foundation by several subterraneous Passages in its Bowels for several Storehouses of Waters of which this may be believed to be one from whence these Fountains derive their Original and that the Water is expanded over all this Vein of Sand in which such a Spring is discovered But when the Stop is taken away and the Flood-gates are opened it rises on high as in Aqueducts And this Thought of mine as it does not contradict Nature so it shuns those Difficulties which the foremention'd Opinion of an Immense Space through which a subterraneous River flows does incur That a great abundance of VVaters may secretly flow a long way through Sand is neither against Reason nor Experience seeing 't is the Property of Sand easily to drink up VVater and therefore has the Name of Sinking Sand. Pliny and Solinus say that the Nile the greatest of Rivers being swallowed up in the Sands runs hid a great way tho' nothing of that is known in our Times Seneca also testifies that some Rivers fall into Caves some are by degrees consumed and never appear again The most Learned Kircher says that in Westphalia near the Village Altembechem there is a certain sandy Plain in which every Day the Water breaks out with great Violence so as to overflow the whole Countrey and afterwards sinking into the Sand disappears the Surface of the Sand remaining dry The River Guadiana in Spain as some relate who have observ'd it when it has come to a certain Plain is gradually swallowed up and without noise of the Earth which is a most certain Proof that this River does not fall into a Gulph but runs away by these Beds of Sand. In like manner I do believe that the VVater descends by secret Passages from a Cistern in the Roots of the adjacent Mountains that communicates with the Sea till it come into this deep sandy Plain mixt with much Gravel so that there is no need to conceive any Plain of great width and depth by which these subterraneous waters may constantly run down but a few intersperst spaces may suffice because of the Mixture of Sand and Gravel Helmont says that Sand is Original Earth and the Seat of the VVaters but that the rest of the Earth is the Fruit of this Original Earth and that not without Reason seeing the reducing of this Sand into VVater is more difficult than of any other Body This same Author makes this Sand the last Bounds of digging beyond which to proceed were lost Labour because of the continual Conflux of Sand and VVater But he thinks that this Sand is extended from the Shell of the Earth to the Center and abundance of Water lodges in it so that the Water which is kept in it is a thousand times bigger than what is in the whole Ocean All Seas Rivers and Fountains even in the top of the Mountains owe their Original to this invisible Ocean so that the Water does every where follow the vital Sand. Telesus seems to have been of the same Judgment who said the bottom of the Sea was a Fountain of that Interiour Ocean which agrees with that Opinion of Plato concerning the Gulph from whose Bosom all Waters go out and into which they all fall back again Whatever be of Truth in this Opinion of an Invisible Ocean lurking in the Sand which Helmont conceiv'd ingeniously and upon probable enough Arguments yet I think none will deny but Water may run a long way through Beds of Sand and when some Passage is open may be rais'd again especially if it be urg'd by Water descending from a higher Ground And I think that 't is probable the matter is so in our Fountains to wit the Water flows out of some Cistern plac'd in the neighbouring Mountains by subterraneous Passages where the Earth is firm and hard but when it has come into the Plain it expatiates far over the Sand and in the way is lifted up to this height when a Hole is made with an Auger according to the Laws of Hydrostaticks And I think this is a more expeditious and easie way of explicating the Nature of this never-enough-admired Spring than to imagine a great Vault of which there are no Marks and a Town with a whole Countrey hanging over it To give some Specimen how â—his flowing of the Water may be according to my Explication Suppose as in Fig. 2. that there is a Cistern in the Bowels of the Apennine drawing Water from the Sea and that the Water is carry'd by subterraneous Pipes from the same Cistern and spread over this deep and sandy Plain A B C mixt with much Gravel which sandy Plain being brought into much lesser Bounds the Water is forc'd to run down by a more narrow space than it had in the beginning and to follow its Course till it come into the Sea or some great Gulph Therefore Wells EFGH being digg'd without any Choice in all the Tract lying upon this Spring and a Hole being made by the Auger the Water of necessity must be lifted up on high being forc't by another which descending from a higher Ground presses on that which goes before and drives it up By this means these Waters receive a plentiful Supply from their Father Apennine as does the Well of Waters which flows from Lebanon of which there is mention in the Sacred History But 't is by far more probable that the Water is sent from the Sea into such a Cistern than from Showers or melted Snows seeing Rain and Snow-waters run away for the most part by Rivers above Ground neither can they enter into the ground so deep as Seneca also testifies That there is no Rain so great which wets the ground above Ten Foot For as he says when the Earth is glutted if any more fall it shuts it out And truly how could it come to pass that they should flow at the same rate as well in moist as in dry Seasons if the rain-Rain-Water came hither and they did not rather get their VVaters from the Sea which being strained through the Sand and deprived of all Salt they return to the Sea again with Interest Truly I could never yet understand how that secret Cistern from which VVaters are sent to these Fountains should not be unconstant if they received Moisture for a time from the Rains and Snows and sometimes increase sometimes decrease and therefore according to the Increase and Decrease of the Pressure
some Alteration should appear in these Fountains But the Beds of Clay which divide the impure from the most pure VVaters as most strong Fences do hinder the Rain VVaters from being mix'd with these subterraneous VVaters And Plato thought that a clayie Ground was the last Bounds of digging in the search of VVell-waters obliging every one to dig to the Chalk and if there was no VVater found in that Depth he suffer'd as much to be taken from the Neighbours as they had need of to which Pliny subscribes saying That when Potters Clay appears there is no more hopes of getting Water nor need Men dig longer which yet agrees not with what is observed here As I have deduc'd the Original of this VVater from the Sea so I do not deny that many Fountains owe their Originals to Rains and melted Snow yet with this difference that the Fountains which have their Spring from the Sea by hidden Passages continue perpetual but those which rise from Showers and temporary Springs at some time of the year are diminished and quite dry up as happens in great Droughts such as Baccius mentions to have been Anno 1556. in which not only all the Fountains but also great Rivers dried up The Countrey on this and the other side of the Po did experience such a Season almost for two Years together viz. in 1687. and 88 in which time the Lands were unpleasant because of the Drought and VVells were digg'd in other places but to no purpose yet little alteration was to be observed in these our Fountains nor yet in the moistest Season of all which made the Year 1690. fatal for Dearness of Provision and Epidemick Diseases so that these our Fountains seem to be of the same nature with that Fountain in Tyanus consecrated to Iupiter of which Philostratus says That it suffer'd neither Increase nor Decrease and therefore by the Natives is called Vnquenchable Or like the VVell of Aesculapius which as Aelius Aristides a most famous Orator relates was a VVell of Pergamus a City of Asia of such a nature that it was always full to the brim and how much soever was drawn from it it never decreas'd Neither have we Reason only to think that many Fountains take their Original from the Sea but also many Lakes communicate with it The Lake of the Vulsinians whose Depth is not yet found out for discovering of which I have seen between Narthana and Bisentina Ropes let down for some Hundreds of Fathoms but in vain This Lake I say both Summer and VVinter discharges it self by the River Martha perpetnally into the Tyrrhenian Sea neither does it receive any Rivers and the Mountains which encompass it are never white with Snow Beside in the same Lake when the Air was very calm and the surface of the VVater was smooth I observed often intestine Motions like Currents in the Ocean which was known by the Fishermens Nets which being sunk under Water were snatcht violently from their hands an evident Proof of some hidden Commerce with the Sea Iulius Obsequens in his Book of Prodigies relates That the Lake Albinus in the Consulate of Valerius and M. Valerius was suddenly raised up when no Rain fell from Heaven neither could there be known any Cause of so sudden a swelling I cannot be ignorant that the Original of Fountains and Rivers from the Sea is called in question Gaspar Bartholinus who follows the glorious Footsteps of his Ancestors Printed a Treatise at Hafnia wherein he endeavours to prove that Opinion to be absurd which deduces the Original of Fountains and Rivers from the Sea so that all Fountains as well temporary as perpetual according to him owe their Original to Rain Suppose as he ingeniously endeavours to prove that for maintaining the Perpetuity of the Fountains in a dry Season a Collection of the Water of the precedent Rains in some Receptacle within the Cavity of the Mountains is sufficient But truly I cannot see how in some Fountains their Regularity and equal flowing can hold out for so long a time as is observ'd in ours for so many Ages seeing in whatever Season either dry or moist there appears no sign of Increase or Decrease But Scaliger answers to those things which use to be objected against the Opinion of the Original of the Fountains and Rivers from the Sea in opposition to Cardan saying There is no reason why the Sea-water before it come to the Mountains does not break out every where in these words But O Cardan he whom in the 2d of Genesis the Divine Man says to have finisht all things was so good an Architect so wise a Water-Bailif that Julius Frontinus is nothing to him He therefore did so skilfully join the Pipes of his Aqueducts and fit them for bearing the Burthen as to free you from this fear But truly this Difficulty which is objected about the sufficient strength of the subterraneous Passages gives no less trouble excepting the greater distance to the Asserters of the other Opinion who attribute the Original of Fountains and Rivers to Rains But how Water is furnisht to the Fountains from the Sea which being heavy of its own nature must flow back into the Sea from whence it came making as it were a Circle is not agreed upon among those who admit the Original of Fountains to be from the Sea as may be seen in Gaspar Schottus who rehearses many Opinions of the Ancients and Moderns and examines them So true is it what Aristotle says That 't was an old Doubt why seeing so great a quantity of Water runs to the Sea it does not thereupon become bigger Some think that the sea-Sea-water ascends above its own Original by the attractive force of the Earth some by shaking and the Sea-tide some by force of the inclosed Spirit which drives up the Water to the top of the highest Mountains others do attribute it to the Pressure of the Air which by perpetually breaking down the Surface lifts the VVater up on high some recur to the Divine Providence There are others who say That the sea-Sea-water flows with a natural Motion whether from the bottom of the Sea or the sides to the Springs of Fountains plac'd in the most high Mountains because the Sea is higher than the Earth as the same Schottus thinks But I like better the Opinion of Des Cartes of which was also our Countrey-man Falloppius who thinks that the Sea-water by reason of the subterraneous Heat is raised in form of a Vapor to the highest Mountains and there by reason of the ambient Rocks condens'd into Water as is usual in Chymical Distillations so that the Mountains are like Heads of the Alembicks by the Cold of which the exalted Vapors are condensed into Water which afterwards breaks out into Springs Iulius Caesar Recupitus tells in his History of the burning of Vesuvius that at the same time it did send forth two Streams one of Fire towards the shoar another of Water on the other
the World these Waters had flown as they do now the force of the water would easily have thrown off that weight as it happens sometime when the boring is delay'd Then one will say When and how had this admirable Source its Original To this I may answer That there are no Monuments of this nor can it be absolutely known when these waters began to flow yet 't is certain that this Accumulation of the Ground hath not happen'd but after great Land-Floods they leaving a great deal of Mud here otherwise as I was saying the force of the water would have thrown off the weight Therefore I am inclin'd to believe that after the Plain was thus rais'd some new ways were open'd by a great Earthquake so that the waters might flow from the Cistern placed in the adjacent Mountains which receives them by a continal evaporation from the Sea and so might flow from that sandy Ground and so to have kept their Course for many Ages before the wit of Man reach'd hither and open'd the Veins of the Earth with the Auger as with a Launce And 't is known by many Observations that some Fountains die by Earthquakes and some rise as Ovid says Lib. 15. Met. Hic fontes natura novos emisit illic Clausit antiquis tam multa tremoribus orbis Flumina prosiliunt aut excaecata residunt In English thus Here Nature in her Changes manifold Sends forth new Fountains there shuts up the old Streams with impetuous Earthquakes heretofore Have broken forth and sunk or run no more CHAP. VI. The Progress and End of these Waters is enquired into and a Reason is given of those things which are observ'd in the digging of the Wells 'T IS worth the Enquiry What is the Progress of these our waters that flow under ground and whether they go But here I stick and there is no place but for Conjecture I have often enquir'd of the Undertakers Whether they felt the Auger to be carried by Violence to any side but I could understand nothing certain of them But seeing the length of this Source is far greater than its breadth I think it more agreeable to truth that these waters flow from East to VVest according to the lenghth of the Aemilian way which Tract of Ground is six Mile long and but four broad as far as I have had occasion to observe but when it has pass'd the way we may judge that either 't is sunk into these Wells of the Earth or by secret turnings and windings falls into the Sea according to the Laws by which the water circulates in the Body of the Earth which we read described by Ecclesiastes in these words All Rivers enter into the Sea yet it does not overflow the Rivers return to the place from whence they came thither they return again And the Heathen Poets as Lucretius in these Verses Lib. 1. Debet ut in mare de terris venit humor aquai In terr as itidem manare ex aequore salso As Rivers run from Earth and fill the Main So some through secret Pores returâ— again But also is proved by the most grave and modern VVriters with many Reasons as Arias Montanus Varenius Vossius Becher and many others whom the most famous Lanzon Physician of Ferrara cites in his Animadversions full of variety It may be doubted and that not without reason whether the course of these waters must be for ever And truly seeing from the times of the Roman Common-wealth even to this Age there hath been so great an accumulation of the Earth as well in the City as in the adjacent Lands and in the Channels of Rivers there is no place left of doubting but the course of these Fountains will at length cease the Causes continuing the same to wit while the next Rivers take away with them the spoil of the Mountains and therewith cover the Plains that lie under Therefore as these Fountains for a far better use did rise many Feet above the Surface of the Earth but now rarely reaches its Surface so we must think that the time will come in which these waters must stand in their VVells having no descent by which to run down And these Changes which succeed in great length of time and without a VVitness if we consider the present state of things hardly deserve Credit yet the thing it self speaks that they have truly happened and will still follow But because to use Aristotile's words the things are done in great length of time in respect of our Life they are hid from us and the ruine of all Nations does happen before the change of these things is told from the beginning to the end But this is the common Fate of Cities that are plac'd in the Plains that after many Ages they are almost half buried or as the Egyptian Priest in Plato says of the Cities of Greece are carried by the force of the Rivers into the Sea though on the other hand Towns which are plac'd on the tops of the mountains their Foundations being par'd do tell the Injuries of Time A sure Proof that there is nothing constant and firm in this world but that we must look for the City that is on high and is to continue for ever But why these Fountains seeing they are supposed to take their Original from the Sea have no ebbing or flowing as some Fountains of which Writers take notice as is that which Pliny the Younger mentions in the Land of Como which ebbs and flows three times in a Day I think this to happen because water is furnisht to these Fountains from the Sea by the Ascent of Vapors which evaporation though it be not always equal because of the subterraneous Fires sometimes weaker sometimes stronger yet 't is enough if it be such as is sufficient to keep the Cistern full always to the same height on which depends the Equality of Flux of these our Fountains for so many Ages whatever come of the water that sometimes overflows and is dispersed another way But why some Fountains at certain times flow and at other times ebb many Causes are brought of which I mean those which draw their Source from the Sea the Cause is the ebbing and flowing of the Sea by force of which it comes to pass that as the Sea ebbs and flows these Fountains are sometimes observed full and sometimes empty We said that in the Winter-time a great Heat was perceiv'd in these Fountains and in the Summer time a great Cold as appears also by the Theâ— mometer let down to several Depths and the Table before marked shews Which Observations seem not a little to favour the Defenders of an Antiperistasis and so much the rather that these Observations were not made in a Mountanous but in a Champion Countrey For I do not think it safe to try it in Mines and the Caverns of the Mountains because of the Metallick Exhalations and divers Salts and kinds of Marcasites with which they are
be inserted into it and shut in the Extremity and let F G H I be the Glass Pipes erected perpendicularly but M the Pipe pouring out water Therefore in the Pipe F G according to what was said before the water will rise to O i. e. to parts 5. for the height of the Pipe M pouring out the water is suppos'd 2. and the height of the water contain'd in the Vessel is as 8. But if the Pipe F G be transferred to H I the Orifice where it was fastned being stopt the water will be raised higher i. e. to N to almost 7 degrees which would likewise happen if at the same time two Glass Pipes F G H I stood upright and the Pipe M should pour out water the Vessel being always full for this different height of waters is perceiv'd well enough in every case One may try the same not only when the Pipe that pour'd out the water is longer or shorter but also when many Pipes of different lengths and with proportion to the height of the water contain'd in the Vessel send forth water at the same time and many Glass Pipes are interjected seeing many cases may be fain'd according to every ones Fancy But seeing there is no small Undulation in the Glass Pipes because the water running out at M falls back upon its self this Inconveniency will in some measure be shunned if the Pipe F H be something bended that so both the Glass Pipes and the Pipes sending forth the water be inclin'd to one side for in this case there will happen less Undulation and the different heights of the water may be more easily viewed The Reason of this Phaenomenon I judge to be that the Impetus of the Water running from the Cistern out at M withdraws some of the water from the Pipe F G so that it cannot rise so high and the same Impetus coming to H I finding now no Vent makes it rise higher even to N. This new Observation I communicated to the same Boccabadatus who as he did not a little wonder at the novelty of the thing so being a most ingenious and exact Searcher into natural things he did not cease to enquire into the Cause of it yea afterwards he told me he had the Demonstration of it which he said he would insert into his Work which he is to publish about Mechanick Force I thought fit to propose this Phaenomenon to the Lovers of Hydrostaticks thinking it worthy of the consideration of the more acute VVits to the end it may be discovered from whence this Diversity of Pressures proceeds CHAP. VIII About the Goodness and Excellency of the Wells of Modena THerefore having sail'd over these Subterraneous Waters according to the best of my Understanding as far as I could in a dark Navigation in which neither the Stars nor the Needle did guide me it remains that I furl my Sails and hasten to the Land Georg. 4. But that I may not pass over with a dry Foot the nature of these Fountains so far as they are useful to Men and lest as the Custom is of those that are thirsty I drink quietly I shall touch only at some things relating to this Subject though it seem to be beyond my purpose 'T is an old Dispute what in the Class of Simple Waters is most wholsom seeing some prefer Rain-waters others prefer Fountain-waters in some places River-waters are most preferred in others Well-waters Hippocrates seem'd to prefer Rain-waters to all others for these he called the sweetest the thinnest and the clearest of all seeing what is thinnest and lightest of the water is exalted and drawn up by the Sun Yet 't is certain Hippocrates spoke of Rain waters in the Summer-time which they call Horaiae i. e. Early seeing among waters that want Art he commends these which in the Summer time fall down from the Sky when it thunders but these that fall in Storms he pronounces bad Celsus Galen Avicenna Paulus and others following Hippocrates judge the same On the other hand Pliny does greatly discommend Rain-waters yea he is so angry that he thinks the O pinion which commends them to endanger Men's Lives neither does he think it an Argument of Levity that they have been raised to Heaven seeing Stones also have been rais'd to Heaven and further VVaters when they fall from the Clouds may be infected by the Exhalations of the Earth so that Fountain-water to him seems preferable to them when Plenty of them may be had But if the thing be duly considered there will be no place left to dispute for all Rain-waters as also Fountain-waters being not of the same Goodness seeing every Countrey has not the same Atmosphere nor the same Ground thro' which the water passes seeing also according to Theophrastus such as the Earth is such is the Water it often happens as Coâ—taeus adverts that in some places for the Purity of the Air the Rain-waters are better but in other places the Fountain or River-waters are the best as the water of the River Nile whose much wish'd-for Inundation keeps all Egypt every Year solicitous But 't is no wonder that the water of the Nile excels in Goodness all others seeing running a long way over a Countrey burnt with the heat of the Sun 't is concocted and is tossed by sudden Falls from the highest Mountains and attenuated Hence Athenaeus testifies That when Philadelphus King of Egypt betroth'd his Daughter Berenice to Antiochus King of Assyria he willed her to take with her the Water of the Nile Yet when other things do not agree it seems the Fountain-waters ought to be preferred to Rain-waters and all others for Rain-waters are drawn from all sorts of Filth Dung and Dead Bodies themselves and though Hippocrates judged them best yet he adds That they have need of being boil'd and strain'd Wherefore 't is not without Reason that some do disprove making of Syrup of Poppeys with Rain-water and they think that Hippocrates spoke according to Reason and not Experience So among the Moderns the most experienc'd Etmuller says That Rain-water kept always something Earthy behind it though distilled a hundred times But so will any Water do as well as Rain water But Well-waters seeing they have no Motion but when they are stirred and in the bottom have much Slime and Rain-waters being gathered of Snow and Rains and running over divers kinds oâ— Earths and are therefore by Hippocrates call'd disagreeing cannot have that Purity and Simplicity which the fountain-Fountain-waters have which are concocted by the Heat pent up in the Bowels of the Earth and are strain'd through the same Earth Therefore our most pure fountain-Fountain-waters as they have the first place in the Rank of plain waters so they yield to none of the most famous Fountains of our Times for as much as the Marks by which the most sincere Waters and fittest for Humane Use are commended do appear in these in a most eminent manner The chief Quality that is wanted
is deservedly oppos'd to Avicenna who thought that Rain-waters were soon corrupted because they were thinner For rather from thinness of the Substance one might argue that their Substances are less subject to Corruption as is known of distilled waters and Spirits of VVine which truly is thinner than VVine and not only does not putrifie it self but also preserves other Bodies free from Corruption Seeing then Experience it self makes it plain that those which are most simple do less putrifie but those which have a greater Heterogenity because of the Disagreement of the Internal Parts and a continual Fermentation are more easily corrupted Therefore I am easily induc'd to believe that the Curruption of the water is rather to be attributed to its Pravity than Goodness But the Reason why the Rain waters sooner putrifie may be this that when by the Heat of the Sun the water is rais'd from the Earth all sorts of Filth are raised with it and a great quantity of Volatile Salts is mixed with it which made Becher say That all Rain-waters being putrified and distilled did give an ardent Spirit But if promptitude to Putrefaction were a Sign of Goodness why may we not say the same of Eatables which naturally do soon putrifie such as are Fleshes Fishes VVorts early Ripe Fruits and the like viz. That these Aliments are better than those which do not so soon putrifie seeing they are sooner alter'd by the concocting Faculty Weaker Foods have a shorter Life Hippocrates as Valesius interprets says they make Men's Lives shorter and such as cat these Meats are infirm and weak and cannot live so long So Bread of Wheat well fermented and well bak'd gives a most excellent Nourishment and long Life to sound Bodies and Bread of all Food does least putrefie Upon which account 't is that Levinus Lemnius commendeth it For says he Bread long kept does indeed grow mouldy and grows dry but does not putrefie Therefore 't is not a little to the Praise of our Fountains that they do not corrupt so that having other Marks of Goodness they are to be reckon'd the best of Waters 'T is an old Commendation of Waters if Pulse be quickly boil'd in them as Pliny Athenaeus Vitruvius Galeus Paulus and among the Modern Physicians Langius Costaeus Bruvierinus and others do testifie But 't is known that this also is common to unwholsom Waters for the difficulty of boiling some Pulse is not always by the Fault of the Waters but very often of the Grains themselves as they have grown in this or the other Ground as Theophrastus testifies when he said That there are many places which always bring forth Pulse that are easily boil'd others there are which bring forth Grains hard to be boil'd Yea Plutarch says That of two Furrows join'd together one brings forth a hard Crop the other not The Women themselves know that well enough who if they have Pulse that are not easily boil'd use to macerate them a Night in water with a Sack full of Ashes by which means the close Texture of the Grain is open'd by the force of the Salt in the Ashes And I think none will look upon the water so made lixivial as simple or will commend it for daily drinking in whole Bodies Yet I cannot deny that salt and crude waters very far distant from the best may be for some sickly Natures or in a neutral state of Health instead of Medicine which Hippocrates hath taught expresly in these words But whatever are salt and crude are not fit for all to drink of yet there are some Natures to whom such Waters are convenient to be drunk Whatever were hard to be boiled the Greek call'd Ateramnia transferring likewise the same word to a stubborn and inflexible Mind So Grains hard to be boil'd were call'd 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 such as are those which Theophrastus says grow in a thick tough Earth and as it were clayie as at Philippi when the Pulse which Egypt bears both by reason of the nitrous Soil and the Heat are easily boil'd Likewise water in which Grains were hardly boil'd was called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which word Hippocrates us'd to signifie the crudity of water in many occasions of which Erotianus hath in his Onomasticon made a Collection Therefore as the Difficulty of the Pulses being boil'd is not always the Fault of the waters so their being easily boil'd is not a Mark of their Goodness which sometimes is proper to the Seeds sometimes to the VVaters yea more effectual in some waters that are not of the best seeing in nitrous and lixivious water Pulse Roots and Worts are sooner boil'd Upon this account in Rain-waters as being full of Saline Particles all kind of Grains are sooner boil'd than in Fountain-water which is more pure and defecated Upon this account Horatius Augenius preferring Rain-water to others for making of Ptisan when he had taken notice that Barley did sooner boil in this than in Spring-water of his own accord confesses That the Rain-VVaters are not sincere which made him go into this Opinion as a Paradox That the purer the water is and less mixt the less 't is fit for the use of Life But in our Fountain-waters Pulse of all sorts is easily enough boil'd and any other kind of Aliments which as I dare not discommend in them so I think is no way to be taken for a Mark of the best But certainly that is a greater Criterion for judging of the Goodness of plain VVaters which as Vitruvius says is taken from the Habit of Men's Bodies that live about those waters to wit if they be robust clear Complexions sound and not blear-ey'd Now 't is known enough that both Citizens and such as live in the Suburbs here are of a good Habit of Body and subject to none of these Distempers and the good Health which those of Modena enjoy beyond other Towns on this side the Po is not so much to be ascribed to the wholsomness of the Air as to the goodness of the Waters as in Egypt where their long Life according to Alpinus is attributed to the water of the Nile Seeing therefore in the most strict Censure the waters of these Fountains are not only innocent but wholsom truly this City has nothing in which it may envy any other as to this point yea seeing its waters are carried to the neighbouring places in the Summer-time the Nucerian water is now out of use to the great benefit of the sick So in the Summer-time they run to these Fountains in all kinds of Fevers for the use of water that I may not say the abuse is grown so frequent that it seems the only Febrifuge and chiefly to the Fountain which is called Abyssus as to the VVell of Esculapius of which we spoke before VVherefore I need not fear to make use of what Claudian says of Aponus That they are at least amongst our Countrey-folks Commune Medentum Auxilium praesens numen inempta salus Physicians common Aid a present Help A Powerful Deity and an unpurchas'd Health And so much may suffice concerning the Nature and Properties of the VVells of Modena and if I have said something like probable 't is well but if not then both for the Dignity and the Difficulty of the matter Volutatum est dolium in Cranio FINIS Theor. l. 1. p. 114. Tell. Th. l. 1. c. 5. Tell. Th. c. 5. p. 35 36 37. ☞ Ram. p. 58 76. Fig. 1. Exer. 100. De motu Anim P. 1. prop. 215. ☜ ☜ Ep. 2. Lib. 4. Lib. 5. Hist. Nat. c. 9. c. 35. Lib. 3 Quaest. Nat. c. 28. Cant. 4. L. 3. Quae. Nat. c. 7. De Leg. Dial. 8. Lib. 7. De re Metallica In Lucul 5 Aph. 26. Lib. 31. N. 11. c. 3. One may rather say Saline In Thal. De Bonit aq c. 1.
the most curious things which appear in the Digging of the Wells and when the Water springs up are remarked But that I may not keep the Reader longer in Suspence you must know for a certain Truth which many Thousands of Experiments have already confirmed That in any place within or without the City for some Miles round one may open a Spring which shall constantly send forth most pure Water And seeing every Citizen may take out of this great Stock as much VVater for his private Uses as he pleases without fear of wronging the Publick or being Fin'd for it Therefore when any will have a Spring in his own House he calls some VVorkmen and having agreed for the Price which for the most part does not exceed the Sum of Forty Crowns he shews them the place which he thinks most fit and they without further consideration dig a Well in a place mark'd out for them and when they have come to the depth of about 63 Foot they pierce the bottom with a great Auger which when it has been driven down 5 Foot deep immediately the VVater gushes out with so great Force throwing up Stones and Sand that almost in a Moment all the VVell is filled to the top and the VVater flows out thence constantly Moreover that which in digging these Wells gives the greatest Trouble to the VVorkmen is the great abundance of VVaters flowing from the sides by which they are sometimes much troubled till they come to the depth of 28 Foot where first the Potters Clay begins to appear And therefore to keep off these VVaters which are none of the cleanest when they first break Earth they make a VVell pretty large drawing out the VVaters that flow together on every side till they come to the Bed of Clay then they build upon it as on a solid Foudation a VVall round about of Lime and well-burnt Bricks made for the purpose that so the VVell may be narrower and they carefully plaster the outer Surface of it with Clay well wrought pressing it with their Feet and thus they continue to do till they come to the Surface of the Earth For by this means they hinder the Influx of VVaters from the sides which being done as if all were safe and there were no more fear of the VVater coming from the sides they carry on their digging to the lowermost place so successfully that from the appearing of the Clay they observe no more water to drop yea which is wonderful they are forc'd sometimes to moisten the Earth with VVater that it may be more easily digged 'T is also no small Disadvantage to the Diggers before they come to the beginning of the Chalky or Clayie Ground that the soft Earth falls in upon them by the Force of the Side-VVaters which Impediment is not overcome but with great Labour But when at length they come to the Bed of Clay and from thence to the greatest Depthâ— there is nothing to hinder them form getting by the usual boring the usual Eruption of VVater For no Case is remembred in any place whatsoever within the City or without the City for some Miles in which upon opening a Hole and giving Vent to the inclosed VVaters they did not immediately spring up on high For the Diggers do with as great Assurance and Confidence fasten down their Augers in the bottom of the VVells as one being to draw VVine would pierce a Hogshead when 't is full I was often present when this Phlebotomy if I may so call it was practis'd and I always observed the VVater to break out almost with the same Force which at the first is muddy and full of Sand but the next Day it appears clear enough But when the VVater has broke out and the Borer is pulled out sitting on the Arms of the Auger immediately two or three VVorkmen that are about the Mouth of the VVell draw out the VVater with all possible Diligence for seeing at that time the Force of the VVater drives out much Sand and Gravel they say that by this means the Course of the VVater is promoted and the VVells are made to send forth VVater more plentifully neither can the Stuff settling to the bottom stop the Hole The Diggers of the VVells say That some new-made Fountains have thrown up sometimes so much VVater with the Gravel and Sand that the Ground giving way on every side and threatning the Ruine of the adjacent Buildings they have been forc'd to fill up the Fountain again with Earth and hewn Stones But the Pebble Stones which are thrown up by the force of the VVater differ not much from those which are seen in the adjacent Rivers neither are they small but some of them weigh 3 or 4 Ounces Some of these are adorn'd with Veins of Gold and pretty hard others are harder and like the Rudiments of Pebble Stones In some places where the Situation of the City is lower the VVater arises above the Plain from whence it runs easily down but in higher places it stops below the Surface of the Plain so that 't is necessary to make Conduits under Ground thro' which it falls into the publick Canals which afterwards meet into one Canal that is Navigable and by which they Sail conveniently enough even to Venice For this Canal falls into the Scultenna and the Scultenna into the Po. The Number of these Fountains is very great so that now almost every House has one and their Numbers being increas'd the old Fountains become fewer as may be seen in the most Illustrious Family of the Sadalets now belonging to the Castelvitrys where the Pipes that now send forth no more VVater are higher than those that at present do These Fountains also are in the Gardens about the Town and in the adjacent Villages some of which rise above the Surface of the Earth Moreover the Diggers of the VVells say that they have on Trial found them seven Miles from the City beyond Scultenna For having made an hole with an Auger they say the VVater did boil up freely enough throwing up Sand and Gravel VVherefore the Limits of this hidden Spring are not known enough yet 't is reasonable to think that it is extended farther from East to VVest than from North to South seeing in this Tract they are not found extended above four Miles This is remarkable that when the Hole is bor'd and the VVater begins to break out the next Fountains cease from running for some time yet after a little time they run again I have been told by a Person of Credit that when a VVell was bor'd in the Cloysters of the Nuns of St. Francis des Sales he saw in another VVell near it the VVater sunk in a moment which afterward ascended till both the VVells being in an Equilibrium the VVater settled in the same Horizontal Surface I have often observed this Decrease but not with so great Swiftness in which the VVater did not sink so deep on a sudden but rather
high Hill and that at the bottom a Stream runs swiftly and with great Noise Altho' all this seems to be true and obvious to the Senses yet the further Progress of these waters may in our case consist with the rising in these Wells which may be demonstrated in the same First Figure For if you put your Finger to the Mouth of the Pipe D yet so as not to stop it altogether the Water will leap out on high at the same time by the holes E F G and flow down by the Slit H and withal at the Mouth of the Pipe the one Action not hindring the other and so according as there is more or less of the Orifice of the Pipe stopt with your Finger more or less Water will be raised by the said Holes but it will never be rais'd to that height it would be if the Mouth were quite stopt It does not therefore disagree with the Laws of Hydrostaticks if these Subterraneous Waters are running and go further that at the fame time they should be raised to the height of 68 Feet in the Wells yet so as not to exceed the height of the Cistern from whence they come because the Passage at which they flow out is not large enough 'T is convenient that some Account be given of these Phaenomena observ'd hither to by none that I know seeing there is no part of Philosophy more curious yet less cultivated than Hydrostaticks First therefore 't is no wonder that the Water while it has a free Course and Passage through the wide Mouth of the Pipe does not run also at the Holes yea of necessity it must be so For the Water has a free Descent neither does it meet with any Obstacle to make it rise as it does in Pipes bended upwards so neither will it descend by the Cleft because of the Pressure and the Force it has acquir'd in descending like a solid Body which suffer it not to turn from its Course in the same manner as Bodies thrown are carricd in a Horizontal Line for some space while the Force continues But the Reason why the Orifice of the Pipe being straightned the Water presently leaps on high and runs down through the Slit in my Opinion is this That when the lower parts of the Water are pressed by the upper as the most famous Mr. Boyle has made evident in his Hydrostatical Paradoxes and are urged with Violence to run out the Passage being straitned by applying the Finger to the Mouth of the Pipe some of the Water when it cannot overcome the Obstacle seeks a Passage to it self where it can From whence it comes to pass that the less the Water runs out at the Mouth of the Pipe with the greater Force it runs out at these Holes But when the Pressure is abated and the Vessel is almost empty none runs out at the Mouth of the Pipe but what remains runs slowly through the Slit being the shorter way From hence it appears that the direct Pressure must be estimated by the weight of the Pillar of Water whose Base is equal to the Horizontal Surface it rests on and its Height equal to the perpendicular Depth of the Water For Example In a Vessel constituted in a Horizontal Plain any part of the bottom that can be assigned may be a Base to a Pillar of water of the same Height with the whole water in the Vessel And in the foregoing Figure when it flows freely through the Pipe C D 't is prest by a Pillar of water which has the same Base with the Orifice of the Pipe CD which Pillar of water forces it self by a lateral Pressure into the Pipe and so to run out by the force of which Pressure it comes to pass that all the water in the Vessel runs out by this Imaginary Pillar Many things are said of this Pressure of the water by Hydrostatical VVriters to wit that the under parts are prest by the upper and the upper parts are prest by those that are under Moreover they are prest side ways by one another which Diversity of Pressures they endeavour to prove by several Experiments and in effect every one may experience this lateral pressure in himself when he is in the watery up to the Neck for he will feel a pressure on every side and some difficulty of Breathing which yet is not to be thought to proceed only from the lateral pressure of the water but another Cause For when the Expansion of the Chest is necessary to Respiration 't is not so easily perform'd in the water Element as in the Air by reason of its Grossness For as Fishes need a greater force for swimming than Birds for flying as Borellus demonstrates by reason of the grosser Body of the water which must be moved out of its place and circulate into that left by the Fish So a Man sunk in the Water up to the Neck needs a greater force for opening his Chest than if he were in the Air. And from hence it is that Inspiration in the Water is more difficult than Expiration This happens only because the pressure is unequal for the pressure of the Pillar of Air and Water on the Chest without exceeds the pressure of the Pillar within the Chest that is only of Air so much as the weight of the Pillar of Water which covers the Chest exceeds the weight or pressure of the Pillar of Air within the Lungs and of the same height with the Water about the Chest for Fluids press only according to the perpendicular heights and not the grosness of their Pillars as is plain in Syphons in whose Legs tho' of different thickness the Liquor rises but to the same Horizonal Height Likewise all do agree that not only the bottom but also the sides of the Vessel are prest which pressure some say is considerable but others not Tho. Cornelius thinks it to be equal to the perpendicular Pressure For supposing the Water to press by inclin'd Lines and that a Body sliding down by inclin'd Lines acquires as great a Velocity as if it fell down by a Perpendicular equal to the height of the Plain he thinks the lateral Pressure to be equal to the Perpendicular On the other Hand Becher in his Physica Subterranea says That the Water presses directly on the bottom but far less on the sides which Conjecture he grounds on this That the little Ramparts of Earth sustain the Pressure of the Ocean it self that it overflows not the adjacent Fields yea he endeavours to make it out by a Mechanical Experiment that the Pressure of the Water is only upward and downward If Mr. Becher had considered that Hydrostatical Axiom viz. That Fluids press only according to their perpendicular Altitudes he would not have been frighted by the Extent of the great Sea at Amsterdam from owning so evident an Hydrostatical Truth as this is That the Lateral Pressure of Fluids is equal to the Perpendicular For suppose the Banks there
Posture from the bottom by striking the water with his hands toward the bottom he makes that Syphon more prest and therefore the Swimmer being plac'd in the other must of necessity ascend Just as when the Scale is put in an Aequilibrium if I hit the Scale in the hollow part that will be deprest and the other lifted up The same Reason holds when he ascends or descends by Lines inclin'd to the Horizon Therefore whether he ascend or descend or whatever way he move he ought to be under no dolorous Pressure how deep soever the Water be For seeing according to the most ingenious Borellus Bodies do not appear heavy but when they are in rest aâ— appears in an Example given by him of two Sacks of Wool one of which being put on the other does not exerce its weight or press it but when 't is resting and not when it descends Therefore the Swimmer descending in the Water perpendicularly ought not to suffer any Pressure in the VVater descending with the same Swiftness But when he is carry'd up by the same way seeing by his Body he thrusts upward the VVater lying upon him which he does not by his own Strength but by the help of the Collateral Syphon and therefore needs no help of his Muscles to overcome the Resistance of the superincumbent VVater neither ought he to have the sense of a dolorous Pressure to which the Circulation of the Ambient Fluid coming in behind does not a little contribute by not suffering any part of the Body to be mov'd out of its place Upon the same Account he ought not to feel any dolorous Pressure if he ascend or descend by inclin'd Lines or stick without Motion to the bottom For the other Collateral Syphon being more prest does always exerce its Force and the subjacent VVater lifts up the Diver that is specifically lighter than its self upward The Author here supposes the Body to be specifically lighter than Water which I judge to proceed from the Air inclosed in the Chest for when that is out the Body sinks by its own weight and this gave perhaps the first rise to Anatomists to discover whether a Child was Still-born or not for if its Lungs do swim in the Water 't was not Still born but has breathed the Air but if they sink then they conclude the Child to have been Still-born As for the Divers rising or falling by the Motion of his Hands 't is the same Case as in an Oar when the Blade of it moves with greater force than the Water it makes resistance to the Oar which therefore not advancing the Boat of necessity must So when a Man presses the Water quickly downward it makes resistance to his Hands and therefore the Water not giving way fast enough the Body must be thrust upward just as in the Air if a Man between two Chairs did forcibly thrust them down with his two Hands he must be lifted up because they do not give way The Author says the Pressure is not felt when the Diver is ascending or descending because the Water being in motion does not press upon the Body But it might be made manifest that it does and Experience makes it beyond Contradiction that they feel no Pressure when the Water is at rest and the Divers do own that they feel a Pressure rather in the going down in the Diving-Bell than afterward as the Honourable Mr. Boyle told me be had communicated to him by the Laird of Melgum who practis'd this way of Diving in these Words The Compression of the Air being such as going down did hurt me but below and staying there was as familiar to me as that above CHAP. III. That these Fountains cannot be derived from a Subterraneous River SEing then that it is clear enough from what was said before that the flowing of these VVaters toward the Sea may consist with their rising here and in any place it seems to follow that there is a great subterraneous River under it from which these Fountains do spring And truly this is the common Opinion among us which yet I cannot assent to I am not ignorant that there are some Rivers that hide their Head under Ground and after some time do rise again Some again there are that never rise above Ground as it happens in the Veins of the Body some do appear in the Surface and some do never Of this Seneca speaks very well Nature governs the Earth as it does our Bodies in which are Veins and Arteries and Nature hath so formed it like our Bodies that our Ancestors have call'd them Veins Pliny says That the Nile is often swallowed up in Gulphs and after a long time is spew'd up again They report the same of Niger a River of Aethiopia which rising out of the same Lake that the Nile does and running towards the VVest when it meets with a Chain of Mountains it finds hidden ways and appearing again on the other side of the Mountains discharges it self into the Atlantick Ocean In like manner Tigris in Mesopotamia being stopt by the Mountain Cancasus hides it self under Ground and is lost in a great Cave but afterward breaking out near to Babylon is mixt with Euphrates To say nothing of Alphaeus a River in Achaia whom the Poets feign to pass a great way not only under Ground but also under the Sea it self and to rise again in the Fountain called Arethusa This is known by the Offals of the Sacrifice which being thrown down the River were every fifth Summer at the time of the Olympiack Games cast up by this Fountain And also the Seas themselves are thought to communicate by occult Passages as the Mediterranean with the Red Sea and the Caspian with the Euxine as the most Learned Kircher makes out by good Conjectures Father Avril a Iesuit in his Travels into Tartary says that 't is more probable that it discharges its self into the Persian Gulph of which this is his main Proof That they who inhabit about the Persian Gulph do every Year at the end of Autumn observe a vast quantity of Willow-Leaves Now in regard this sort of Tree is altogether unknown in the Southerin part of Persia which borders upon that Sea and for that quite the contrary the Northern part which is bounded by the Sea of Kilan or the Caspian-Sea has all the Sea-Coasts of it shaded with these Trees we may assure our selves with Probability enough that these Leaves are not carried from one end of the Empire to the other but only by the Water that rowls them along thro' the Caverns of the Earth So far Father Avril Who further for establishing a Circulation of VVaters from Pole to Pole describes a great VVhirlpool under the North Pole of which also Olaus Magnus and Helmont have written by which a great quantity of VVaters is absonb'd which falling into the Bowels of the Earth is return'd by the South Pole Some say that this changes its Course
and wide Places formed by the Mountains hanging over them Then although we must confess that in some places Rivers of great bigness flow under the Earth we must not therefore believe that in this great Plain on this side the Po there is so great a subterraneous Cavity and that Fields of so great a largeness could stand without Ruine for so long time I must add moreover that the Depth of this River in respect to its Breadth ought not to be small because Nature builds all her Caves and Subterraneous Passages Archwise which all must have a Depth proportionable to the Breadth otherwise they lose their Force and commonly they are of a Circular Figure or coming near to it i. e. As deep as they are broad which in this case must be at least 4 Mile But this Cavity is of no Depth almost yea but a few Feet viz. As much as the Auger had made in boring For passing an Iron Rod throw the Hole the bottom is presently found as I have often try'd with others that have been with me Moreover seeing the Diggers in the very Terebration often fall on Stocks of Trees as my self have often observed we must confess therefore that these Trees have been before in open Air And seeing in the bottoms of these Wells are often found Bones Coals and Pieces of Iron we are likewise forc'd to believe that People have formerly liv'd on that Ground or we must think that this great River at that time had a Cover of 6 or 8 Foot and that this our Plain did afterwards grow higher by the daily Descent of Waters from the Apennine and the paring off of the upper Ground But the above mention'd Difficulties do still occur But let us suppose this great River runs this way and that hitherto he has suffer'd a Bridge from whence I pray comes so great a plenty of Water to fill this great Cavity which we must always suppose to be full to make the Water rise up in the Wells Seeing to sustain the Royal Dignity of the Po scarcely so many Rivers running into it from the Apennine and the Alps are sufficient And on the other hand we may affirm that the Po comes far short of this Subterraneous River Lastly If this River must be 4 Miles broad I do not see why in all the Extent of this Source the Depth of the Wells is always found the same for the Wells which are digg'd near the sides of this great Arch would be deeper than those elsewhere But there is almost no difference in the Depth of these Wells We cannot therefore give way to the Vulgar Opinion of this Subterraneous River notwithstanding the Conjectures mentioned which we shall shortly Answer And far less must we believe that there are many Subterraneous Streams flowing from the same Cistern and distinguish'd by Intervals which give Water continually to these Fountains For how can it be seeing there are so many thousands of Fountains and continually such Wells are made both in the City and Suburbs that the Undertakers never fell upon such Interstices in the boring As I have often told and which one can never admire enough there is no need of any Caution here no need of Diligence in choosing a place seeing any place markt out either in the City or without for many Miles is fit for the Building of these Wells and all the Difficulty in digging these Wells is in keeping out the Side-waters which sometimes flow in in great quantity so that they need a Wall of Bricks to keep it out But when the VVorkmen have come to this last Bottom then as having got their wish they begin their Perforation with as great Assurance of getting VVater by their Auger as if they had Moses his Rod. Neither is the Opinion of some to be entertain'd who think that the subterraneous Spaces from which these VVaters flow were formerly the Channels of Scultenna and Gabellus between which two Rivers Modena is now plac'd which Rivers as they imagine after they had descended from the Apennine did join their Waters in this place and therefore through length of Time the Mountains decreasing and the Fields rising the Water rises to this height in these Wells when they are digg'd or in a hole made with Sand wet with Water which is supply'd from these Rivers by hidden Passages And the Sand it self that they may give Credit to so plausible a Thought they give an Example for they say That near a Stream a Hole being made in the Sand tho' dry on the Surface the VVater appears which also by the Observation of Pliny the younger is known to be done in the Sea-shore For after this Author with his accustomed Elegancy in a Letter to Plin. Gallus described the Pleasantness of his Countrey-Village by the Sea-side in the end of his Epistle he makes this Relation as worthy to be taken notice of It has Wells or rather Fountains for the Nature of all that Shore is wonderful in whatever place you move the Ground you meet with Water and that so fresh as not to have the least saltness from the Vicinity of the Sea By these words the most Learned Man seems to give some Specimen of our Fountains seeing there also in whatever place the Ground is digg'd there is Moisture Yet 't is gather'd by the same Pliny's words that the VVaters of these VVells did not spring up I believe the same will happen in any Sea-Coast except some Bed of Clay intervene for the VVaters do easily follow the Sand Therefore 't is no wonder that in any place of Pliny's Countrey-House the VVater appears fresh being strain'd through the Sand from the nearest Sea and so depriv'd of its Saltness But 't is no way probable that the Case is so in our Ground For tho' I do not deny that these Rivers did formerly run in deeper Channels yet that that they give VVater to this Spring I can no ways be induc'd to believe For these Springs are perpetual neither do they know any Increase or Decrease when yet these Rivers not only in Summer but also sometimes in VVinter have their Sands dry as we have seen of late Years by reason of the hot Season seeing all the VVells except these tho' digg'd deep gave no VVater in the Neighbouring Countreys to the great loss both of Men and Cattel But the flowing of a most pure VVater from these Fountains is so uniform and constant that 't is improbable they should depend on the unconstant and unequal state and course of these Rivers for the VVater decreasing in the deeper Veins the Pressure would also decrease and so these Fountains would be diminished Moreover seeing the Countrey of Rhegium Parma and all on this side the Po is plac'd in the same Plain and many Rivers descending from the Apennine glide over these Countries I do not see why they do not enjoy the same Prerogative when VVells are digg'd deep in them But no where that I know of
and the Ruine of Mankind The Men of Assyria knowing all things and by means of their VVisdom doing VVonders were well pleased with it from this Self conceit grew in them a great Love of themselves by which the Flower of their VVisdom being darkned by degrees they waxed proud and began to think themselves Gods and to compare themselves to Saturn that then had the Government of the VVorld who as he is slow to Anger and ripe in Counsel was not at all moved at the first But when their Pride increas'd he in Anger depriv'd them of the Influxes of his Mind from which Privation there grew in them Ignorance from which flow Pride and Insolence and they began to seek how to get up into Heaven and dethrone him which when Saturn saw being in his great VVisdom unwilling to defile his Hands with Humane Blood of himself resigned the Government and gave it into the Hand of Iupiter his Son who after he had taken on him the Government of the VVorld being born to Action made a League with his Brother Pluto who Reign'd in the Roots of the VVorld toward the Center The one began to shake it terribly below and the other to thunder upon it from above with which terrible shaking and thundering the Earth open'd in many places and broke so that it fell into its own Caverns which by that were raised and filled up From whence it came to pass that it both became less and infinitely further off from Heaven and was buryed in its self with all the things contained in it And the Elements which stood highest were by its weight and restriction squeez'd out the lighter and purer did fly higher and drew nigher to Heaven but of them which were shut up in the Ruins and were before lodg'd in the Caverns part remain'd below and part chang'd their place And it came to pass that where the great Bulk of Earth fell and could not be swallowed up of the Caverns it remained on high and afterwards being prest hard together by its own weight and condens'd by the Cold because of its distance from Heaven became Mountains and Rocks and where in the fall great pieces of thick Earth were swallowed up the VVaters were by this discovered from whence came Seas and Lakes Rivers and Fountains great and little Isles and Rocks scattered up and down the wide Sea The Gold the Silver and other Metals which in the beginning had been most fair and precious Trees were covered in the Ruins But there are some Remains of the Seeds shak'd off at that time which now are digg'd with so great Labour being neither so pure nor of great Vertue as formerly And the Diamonds Carbuncles Rubies Emeralds and Chrysoliths Saphires Topazes and other Jewels which be now found are the thickning of the Rocks of the first Age and they are in memory of these first times to this day had in great Esteem admir'd and reverenced as the most ancient things The Porphyres the Alabasters Serpentines and other fair Marbles of different Colours are no other than some Particles of the Virgin Earth which was nearest to Heaven and in the Fall were thickned and united either by their own Weight or some other or by Cold From whence 't is that by the Searchers after Metals and Marble there have been found many both Sea and Land Animals turn'd into Stone and Volatils yea many times Mens Bodies that have been all taken hence inclos'd in their first shape in most solid Stone without any opening And from hence 't is that there are seen so many thousands of Fishes Oysters and Cockles congealed and Figure of divers Animals which some through ignorance of things paâ— admir'd so much These terrible things did at that time hapâ—pen on the Earth but the Animals and Men that were founâ— Dwellers in the Caves remain'â— all bury'd by the Earth falling oâ— them and an infinite numbeâ— of those who dwelt in the outeâ— parts by the terrible shaking beâ— neath and the frightful Noisâ— above died of Fear and amonâ— the others all the Assyrians Iâ— the other Countries few remained alive and these also contiâ—nued either by the Fall or throâ— Fear many Days in a Transeâ— and without Pulse But afteâ— they were recover'd they conâ—tinued astonisht and full of greaâ— Fear that shortned their owâ— Life which at the first was veâ—ry long and their Childrens There was also among Men a Stupidity which made them ignorant of all things and was the Effect of the first Astonishment after the Fall of their first Fathers and yet if they seem'd to know any thing they saw it through a thick Cloud Moreover since the Fall if a Man had the Truth revealed to him by chance Fear made him keep it secret for in all remain'd a Memory the Knowledge of Truth being the occasion of their Parents Pride and that of their Ruine For if any had the Boldness to discover it he darkned it a thousand ways for fear of being reproved and severely punisht by another For this Reason the Sciences have been taught in dark Sayings in Fables in Figures and Numbers in Sacred Rites and in a thousand other hidden ways And from thence 't is belike that Princes and others who would be powerful in the Earth have chosen to follow the Opinion of the common People and have persecuted with all Rigour those that would tell the Truth Fear therefore having possessed all Men by which they were disperst such as remain'd began to join themselves together and to beget Children to help them and defend them they encompast themselves with Fences and Ditches in which time they reverenc'd and perform'd Obedience to the Aged After this as the number of their Posterity increas'd and the Ties of Affinity decreas'd they divided their Goods that were hitherto common and so parted Friendship After which all things went into Confusion every one robbing cheating and killing another and inventing new Tricks to defraud his Neighbour From this as Boldness grew in those that were of fiercer Spirits and more ingenious to hurt others became more fearful which Fear sharpned their Wit so that consulting together they found out the Name of Peace and Justice Afterward they contrived a long Chain of Words with which tying Justice and Peace by the Feet by the Arms by the Middle and by the Neck in a thousand ways they thought to keep her that she should not depart from their State committing the keeping of these Chains which they call'd Laws into the Hands of wary Men and of their own Temper which they called Judges and Magistrates By these Artifices did the timorous secure their Lives and Goods from the Injuries of the more powerful till at length one that was bolder than the rest associating himself with the fearful and weak became their Patron These also were thrust from their place After this rate have the Societies of Men been managed hitherto and so they are at present and will be for the time to
nor had the Name of Royal till by the Accession of so many Rivers he had enlarg'd his Power And therefore Herodot a most ancient Writer deny'd that there was any River found called Eridanus which was no small matter of admiration to Pliny that when Herodot wrote his History at Thurium in Italy he knew no River by the Name of Eridanus But seeing Herodot as Pliny relates made his History 310 Years after the founding of Rome we may thence conjecture That the Po did at that time run with less Glory and in a straiter Channel or that the Historian spoke of another River There is distinct enough mention made of this Lake in the forecited Iohan. de Argenta and especially in Leander Albertus in his Description of Italy who measures the Length of this Lake from Lamon by Ravenna even to Scultenna and tells all the Rivers which within this space descended from the Mountains into this Lake and there ended their Course and that Hercules the first Duke of Ferrara suffered the Bononians to bring the Rheine within his Banks that so he might enter into the Po by which it came to pass that many Valleys of Ferrara and also Bononia were turned into most fruitful Lands But when afterward the Rheine had broke over his Banks in the time of Hercules the Second when the Fields were again turn'd into Water and many Contentions arose among the Bononians and Ferrarians at length the same Prince granted that the Rheine might be again brought into the Po. Therefore we must observe that the Situation of this Countrey in which Modena is now plac'd was very low seeing this Countrey border'd upon Padusa into which so many Rivers did run of the lowness of which Rushes Coals Bones Stocks of Trees found in the Depths of 63 Feet are most sure Proofs all which make it evident that this Ground was sometime exposed to the Air and that it had no other Aspect than now the Valleys of Como have Therefore 't is not without cause that Cluverius in his Description of Italy thinks a certain place oâ— Pliny deserves amendment For Pliny when he had described certain Islands floating in several places like the Cyclades as in the Caecuban Lands the Reatine the Lake of Vadimon writes that the same is observ'd in the Land of Modena But Cluverius for Matiensis plac'd Mutinensis forasmuch as one may see such floating Islands made of Slime and Reeds in the Valleys of Como Yet 't is out of all question that the Situation of this Town together with the adjacent Lands in the space of 1800 Years has grown 14 Foot for in this Depth Causways of Flint and Shops of Artificers are found by digging which certainly then was the Plain of the Town when the Colony of the Romans was brought hither Further when I was writing this there was found a Piece of Adrian the Emperours Coin of Corinthian Brass in the Depth of 18 Feet History testifies that Mantuae at that time was not far from the Marshes for Appianus Alexandrinus tells us that Marcus Antonius and Pansa in the Siege of Mutina did fight amongst the Fenns and in Grounds overgrown with Reeds and afterwards near Mutina in a little Isle of the River Labinius when at that time the Land of Modena was extended so far the Triumviri met and establisht that horrible Banishment of their Countrymen when yet in this our Age there are no Vestigies either of Fenns or Islands only most pleasant Fields are to be seen So that with the Prince of Poets we may cry out Tantum aevi long inqua valet mutare vetustas Such wondrous Changes great length of time does bring Yet this growing up of the Ground which is observ'd by the great Depth of these Wells I do not speak of the deeper parts whether Humane Industry cannot reach was but slowly made and by Slices as it were through length of time as the several Lays of Earth do witness which are observed in all Wells constantly in an equal Order and Distances when they are digged so that this growing up of the Ground so well distinguish'd and so remarkable in the digging of all Wells ought to be thought rather the Product of so many Ages than the tumultuary and confus'd Work of the common Deluge This doubtless then was the Face of the Countrey on this and the other side of the Po which being formerly covered with Waters and not habitable now is remarkable for its Largeness and the Fertility of its Fields and has in it many Towns and Cities For if we turn over old Authors we shall find no mention made of Towns or Cities below Brixillus and Cremona near the Po even to the Adriatick but as many as were and yet are in the Region on this side the Po were built either near the Roots of the Apennine or not far from them as Bononia Modena Regium Parma c. But we may infer both from what was said before and also from the little that this Sandy Bed through which these Subterraneous Waters do run wants of being in the same Level with the Sea that the Sea did cover this Countrey in the beginning of the World For if according to the Observation of Aleottus de Argenta a most diligent Hydrographer whom we before cited the Rheine from the Foot of the Hills near Bononia to the Po into which it does now no more run has a Declivity of 123 Feet 7 Inches and the Po from thence to the Sea has a Descent of 15 Foot 7 Inches and therefore the whole Declivity of the Rheine and perpendicular Height to the Sea-shore will be 139 Foot omitting the smaller measures the Plain out of which these Fountains spring and that Mutina stands on which is distant about 10 Mile from the Roots of the Mountains will differ no more than 20 or 40 Foot from the Level of the Sea as one may conjecture seeing I have not leisure to examine these matters exactly nor is it any great matter But if we might dig further down other Beds would doubtless appear till we meet at last with the Plain which was formerly the bottom of the Sea But 't is better to search into other things and to get out of these profound Abysses if we can go no further CHAP. V. What is the Nature and Condition of this hidden Spring AS in the Works of Art 't is not so safe from the Similitude of Effects which fall under our Eye nor without fear of a Mistake to infer the same Artifice of Mechanical Parts as may be seen by the Example of two VVatches which tho' they have the same outward Form and exactly perform the same Operations as to time yet may have the inward Structure quite different so 't is less safe to make the same Judgments of the curious VVorks of Nature and to determine what Instruments it uses and what is its ways of working VVherefore 't is much as Aristotle says if things obscure and hid to our Senses
side that looks to the Plain of Nola the Fire not only keeping time with the Waters but also producing them For 't is to be thought that by force of the violent Heat diffus'd over the Mountains so great a quantity of Waters was exhaled from some Cistern that held the Sea-water that it was sufficient for making a Torrent Perhaps it might be as convenientby deduc'd from the Rarefaction of the Air inclos'd within the Bowels of the Mountains pressing down the Surface of the Water and so forcing it out another way Neither do the Beds of Stone and Chalk which Bartholine objects withstand the lifting of the Vapors upward For supposing the Mountains are as all confess them to be cavernous within such Beds as these might afford this use to stop the Vapors lifted upward by force of the Heat and let them fall down by various Chinks as Veins to which these Beds especially such as are gravelly and stony are passable from whence the Fountains arise which are called Mouths of the Veins Therefore 't is a more ready way and more agreeable to the Laws of Nature to draw the Original of Fountains which are perpetual and subject to no Alteration from the Sea by the continual Ascent of Vapors in the great Receptacles of Nature And 't is reasonable to think it so in our Case both from the old state of the Countrey on this side the Po and also the perpetual Fires that the Neighbouring Mountains maintain which at their wide Mouths sometimes throw up much Fire and Ashes with Stones with so great a Noise and Crashing that it is heard sometimes 12 Miles off which truly is not new seeing Pliny mentions this who writes That in the Land of Modena the Fire comes out on set Days and tells it as a Prodigy that two Mountains met together Smoke and Fire coming out and that in the Day time a great multitude of Roman Horsemen and Travellers were looking on But that is especially seen in Mount Gibbius where there are many Fountains from which Petroleum flows An Account of some very remarkable ones I had from my Brother who saw them and was confirmed to me by Seignior Spoletti Physician to the late Ambassadors from Venice and Professor of Physick at Padoua when he was at my Chamber They be seen on a side of one of the Apennine Mountains half way betwixt Bologna and Florence near a place called Petra Mala about Five Miles from Fierenzola 't is in a spot of Ground of three or four Yards Diameter which incessantly sends up a Flame rising very high with no Noise Smoak or Smell but gives a very great Heat and has been observed to be thus in all times except of great Rains which put it out for a while but when that is over it burns with greater violence than before the Sand about it when turn'd up sends forth a Flame but within 3 or 4 Yards round about it there are Corn Fields The People that live near to it believe that there is a deep Hole there but he found it to be firm Ground There are 3 or 4 more of those near but they do not burn so vehement by as this When I was thinking on a more exact History of these Fountains of Petroleum than is in Writers I understood by Letters from Malliabecchius to whom as Prince of the Learned whatever happens new in Learning is presently brought that the most Learned D. Olinger the Kings Professor at Copenhagen had lately Published a Book which he found among some Manuscripts under the Name of Franciscus Areostus of the Oil of Mount Zibinius or the Petroleum of Modena which Book that most Renowned Author Dedicated to the same Malliabecehius with a Preface to the Reader A great Reproach of our floth who stay till some rise from the remotest Countreys to illustrate our Matters by our own Writings Though I derive the Original of our Fountains from the Sea first then from some Cistern of VVater plac'd in our Mountains into which the Vapors sent up by the inclos'd Heat are returned in form of VVaters I would not thence infer that this Cistern is plac'd in the tops of the Apennine Mountains but I believe rather that 't is plac'd in the Foot of the Mountain than in the top for though as I show'd before 't is not always necessary that the VVaters though inclos'd within Pipes should reach to the height of their Cistern which happens as often as their Passage being stratinted they have not free Liberty to flow out as in Fig. 1. But if we should place this Cistern in the tops of the Apennine Mountains probably the VVaters might rise higher in them when yet they do not rise to the surface of the Ground But I cannot certainly conjecture in what part whether near the foot of the Mountain or in their inner parts this Cistern of VVaters is plac'd by the Divine Architect I have spar'd no Labour nor Experiences to find out the Head of this Spring and therefore I diligently viewed not only the Plain towards the Mountains but the Mountains themselves and could find no Marks of it I observ'd indeed some small Lakes but such as dry up in the Summer and so become Pasture for Cattel of the number of which is the Lake Paulinus 25 Miles distant from this I thought best therefore to fetch the Original of these Waters from another source viz. From some secret Cistern of water plac'd in the inner parts of the Apennine Mountains And it is certain that the inner parts of the Mountains are cavernous and that there are in them Cisterns of water from whence Fountains and Rivers draw their Original Lucan feign'd to himself a great Cistern of water in the heart of the Apennine from which all the Rivers of Italy did flow that run into both the Seas I am willing to bring in here his Verses seeing to reason in so abstruse matters with the Philosophers or to conjecture with the Poets is the same thing Fontibus his vastis immensos concipit amnes Fluminaque in gemini spargit divortia ponti In laevum cecidere latus veloxque Metaurus Crustuminumque rapax junctus Sapis Isauro Quoque magis nullum tellus se solvit in amnem Erldanus fract as deducit in aequora silvas Dexterior a petens montis declivia Tybrim Vnda facit Hence from vast Fountains do great Rivers flow And into double Seas divorce do slide In several Channels down on the left side Metaurus swift and strong Crustumium flow Isapis join'd to Isaurus Sonna too And Aufidus the Adriatick beats Eridanus than which no River gets More Ground Whole Forests rowls into the Sea o'return'd But seeing 't is known enough by what we have related in the History of these Fountains that this Spring is not so old as the world seeing the last Plain in which the Auger was fastned was formerly in the open Air as the Trees in it make evident If in the beginning of
in water and which contains the rest by way of Excellency is that it partake most of the nature of the Air. So Pliny hath written That wholsom water ought to be most like to the Air. On which Account Cassiodorus commended the Virgin Water so famous then at Rome that running most purely it resambled the Air. For water ought to be pure like the Air light and clear free of smell and taste thin and susceptible of Heat and Cold. But the waters of these Fountains are such for they are clear like the Air free of smell and taste do most quickly receive any other quality and being weigh'd are lighter than any others Though Physicians do not seem to value much the Argument taken from the Lightness and the Divine Master calls these light which are soon hot and soon cold And Pliny writes That 't is in vain to examine by the Balance the goodness of the Waters seeing it seldom happens that one is lighter than the other which Brasavolus try'd in several kinds of Waters before Hercules the Second Duke of Ferrara Yet seeing there are not wanting more subtile ways of knowing even the least difference of weight in waters according to the Doctrine of Archimedes Levity is not altogether to be neglected for Levity signifies the absence of the Terrestrial parts and is a sure Proof of greater simplicity Truly 't is without doubt that if there were two Vessels of the same capacity and full of the same water and in one of these divers kinds of Salts were dissolved in a certain quantity though the water did not grow in bulk yet the one will be of greater weight than the other and will be filled with strange qualities wherefore Gravity and Levity are not to be slighted I will not deny that some waters naturally light are worse than others that are heavier because of the evil qualities of the Soil through which they pass Athenaeus says That the waters of Amphiaraus and Eâ—treria being compar'd together do not differ in weight yet the one is wholsom and the other not So Titâ—aresius a River of which Homer speaks running into Penaeus is not mixt with it but swims over it like Oil Yet Pliny says his waters are deadly And he says That Penaeus refuses to suffer his silver-colour'd waters to be mix'd with the others deadly waters If we infuse a whole Glass of Antimony in water otherwise light no weight will be added to it to judge of but none is ignorant what Disorders it raises in the Body And it is necessary to confess these things to be true of the lightness of the water considered alone but if with other marks of goodness there be lightness join'd it will be no small accession to its goodness Herodotus describes a Fountain of Aethiopia the water of which he says was of such lightness that nothing could swim in it no not a Stick nor what was lighter than a Stick and such as used those waters were called Macrobii i. e. Long-liv'd Gelen himself commends the lightness of the water for a probable conjecture of its goodness But if the lightness be alone says he 't will not be a sufficient mark of good water which one may also say of all the other Signs seeing none of it self and separately is a sufficient Mark of its goodness But a surer Mark of the goodness of water is if it be not heavy in the Bowels for this is truly the lightest and this kind of lightness is more to be esteemed than that which may be try'd with the Scale For we must not presently because 't is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. e. Deprived of all quality so as to be pure clear void of smell and taste give Sentence and pronounce it innocent but we must bring another Proof viz. How they affect the Bowels for it may be that it has all external Marks of Goodness yet has a more secret Noxiousness which cannot be found out by the external Sense This therefore will be the true and safer judgment of waters which is brought from Experience it self And truly that water is to be thought light by the Effect which makes not the Bowels feel any weight in passing for which kind of lightness the waters of Modena are very commendable as not weighting the Stomach when one drinks a full Draught of them but easily pass through the whole Body and are voided by Sweat and Urine But above all these Hippocrates chiefly commends these Fountains whose waters come forth of deep Springs which are cold in Summer and warm in Winter but all these things are observed in these Fountains seeing they rise 68 Foot high and in Summer are very cold but in Winter are warm yea exhale some small Vapors Neither must we refer the Heat which is found in these waters in the Winter-time to metallick Exhalations or a mixture of Salts with an acid Mineral seeing that is perceiv'd only in the Winter-time by an Antiperistasis All know that there are as many differences of Waters as of Places for Fountain and Well-waters do easily drink up the different qualities of the Ground through which they pass which are innumerable yet those waters are thought more wholsom that run through thick Sand and Gravel because they carry nothing from such a matter upward which cannot be said of that which runs through Clay and soft Sand. But the waters of these Fountains flow a long way through Sand which is called Male a Proof of which is a great abundance of Dross Sand and Gravel which these Fountains use to throw up at their first coming forth Moreover these waters according to my Observation and of many others continue without Corruption for a long time For it is found by Experiment in long Navigations that the water of Neuceria did stink but ours continued pure I am not ignorant 't is a Question among Physicians no less curious than worthy to be known Whether the sudden Corruption of the water be a mark of its Goodness or Badness Perhaps Hippocrates himself gave cause of doubting who after he had commended Rain water says They soon putrifie except they be boil'd and strained again Galen Paulus Avicenna and some of the Ancients amongst the Moderns Ioubertus Salius Augenius Bruvierinus and many others take the waters readiness to putrifie for a sign of goodness providing other Notes agree For the chief Property of water is say they that they be quickly altered by any external Cause and from thence they think its inclinableness to Putrefaction to arise But these which continue long free of Corruption say they partake of an aluminous nature Such are the waters of Tyber which are kept in Earthen Vessels for Months and Years under Ground without Corruption On the other hand there are some who think an inclinableness to Putrefaction among the faults of water among whom is Costaeus who says That it is a mark of the best water that they do not so easily corrupt And