Castelli, Benedetto, Of the mensuration of running waters, 1661

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1becauſe that indeed it would not both by Purlings and by Brea­
ches occaſion ſome inconvenience; eſpecially, in the beginning:
but becauſe I hold this for the incomodities of it, to be a far leſs
evil than any of the reſt; and becauſe that by this means there is
no occaſion given to them of Ferrara, to explain that they are
deprived of the hope of ever ſeeing the Po again under the Walls
of their City: To whom, where it may be done, it is but reaſon
that ſatisfaction ſhould be given.
It is certain that Po was placed by Nature in the midſt of this
great Valley made by the Appennine Hills, and by the Alps, to
carry, as the Maſter-Drain to the Sea, that is the grand receptacle
of all Waters; thoſe particular ſtreams which deſcend from
them.
That the Reno by all Geographers, Strabo, Pliuy, Solimas,
Mella, and others is enumerated among the Rivers that fall into
the ſaid Po.
That although Po ſhould of it ſelf change its courſe, yet would
Reno go to look it out, if the works erected by humane ind uſtry
did not obſtruct its paſſage; ſo that it neither is, nor ought to
ſeem ſtrange, if one for the greater common good ſhould turn it
into the ſame.
Now at Stellata it may go ſeveral waies into Po, as appeareth
by the levels that were taken by my Order; of all which I ſhould
beſt like the turning of it to la Botta de' Ghiſlieri, carrying it
above Bondeno to the Church of Gambarone, or a little higher or
lower, as ſhall be judged leaſt prejudicial, when it cometh to the
execution, and this for two principal reaſons: The one becauſe
that then it will run along by the confines of the Church P tri­
mony, without ſeparating Ferrara from the reſt of it; The other
is, Becauſe the Line is ſhorter, and conſequently the fall greater;
for that in a ſpace of ten miles and one third, it falleth twenty ſix
feet, more by much than is required by Artiſts; and would go
by places where it could do but little hurt, notwithſtanding that
the perſons interreſſed ſtudy to amplifie it incredibly.
On the contrary, there are but onely two objections that are
worthy to be examined; One, That the Drains and Ditches of
S. Bianca, of the Chanel of Cento, and of Burana, and all thoſe
others that enter into Po, do hinder this diverſion of Reno, by the
encreaſing of the waters in the Po. The other is that Po riſing
about the Tranſom of the Pilaſter-Sluice, very near 20 feet, the
Reno would have no fall into the ſame; whereupon it would riſe
to a terrible height, at which it would not be poſſible to make, or
keep the Banks made, ſo that it would break out and drown
the Meadowes, and cauſe miſchiefs, and damages unſpeakable
and irreparable; as is evident by the experiment made upon

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