1ſee with our Eyes, that Water naturally tends
downwards; that it cannot ſuffer the Air to
be any where beneath it; that it hates all Mix
ture with any Body that is either lighter or
heavier than itſelf; that it loves to fill up every
Concavity into which it runs; that the more
you endeavour to force it, the more obſtinate
ly it ſtrives againſt you, nor is ever ſatisfied till
it obtains the Reſt which it deſires, and that
when it is got to its Place of Repoſe, it is con
tented only with itſelf, and deſpiſes all other
Mixtures; laſtly, that its Surface is always an
exact Level. There is another Enquiry relat
ing to Water, which I remember to have read
in Plutarch; namely, whether upon digging a
Hole in the Earth, the Water ſprings up like
Blood out of a Wound; or whether it diſtills
out like Milk engendering by Degrees in the
Breaſt of a Nurſe. Some are of Opinion, that
perpetual Springs do not run from any full
Veſſel from whence they have their ſupply,
but that in the Places from whence they flow,
the Water is continually engendering of Air,
and not of all Sorts of Air, but only of ſuch as
is moſt apt to be formed into Vapour, and that
the Earth, and eſpecially the Hills, are like
Spunges, full of Pores, through which the Air
is ſucked in and condenſed and ſo turned into
Water by the Cold: For Proof of which they
alledge, that the greateſt Rivers ſpring from
the greateſt Hills. Others do not agree with
this Opinion, obſerving that ſeveral Rivers, and
particularly the Pyramus, one of no ſmall Note,
being navigable, does not take its Riſe from
any Hill, but from the Middle of a Plain. For
this Reaſon, he who ſuppoſes that the Ground
imbibes the Moiſture of the Rain, which by
its Weight and Subtilty penetrates through the
Veins and ſo diſtills into the Cavities of the
Earth, may perhaps be not much miſtaken in
his Conjecture: For we may obſerve, that thoſe
Countries which have leaſt Rain, have the
greateſt Scarcity of Springs. Libya is ſaid to
have been ſo called quaſi Lipygia, as wanting
Rain, by which means it is ſcantily ſupplied
with Water. And, indeed, who can deny,
that where it Rains much, there is the greateſt
Plenty of it? It is alſo to our preſent Purpoſe
to obſerve, that a Man who digs a Well never
meets with Water, till he has ſunk it to the
Level of the next River. At Volſconio, a Town
ſtanding upon a Hill in Tuſcany, they dug a
Well no leſs then two hundred and twenty
Foot deep before they came to any Vein of
Water, not meeting with any till they came
to the Level of the Springs which riſe from the
Side of the Hill; and you will generally find
the ſame Obſervation hold good of all Wells
dug upon Hills. We find by Experiment that
a Spunge will grow wet by the Humidity of
the Air, upon which I have made a Pair of
Scales to determine the Heavineſs or Dryneſs
of the Air and Winds. I cannot indeed deny
that the Moiſture of the nocturnal Air is at
tracted from the Superficies of the Earth, and
ſo conſequently may return again into its Pores,
and be eaſily converted once more into Hu
mour; but I cannot pretend to determine any
thing certain with Relation to this Queſtion,
finding ſo much Variety among Authors upon
the Subject, and ſo many different Conſiderati
ons offering themſelves to the Mind when we
think upon it. Thus it is certain that in many
Places, either by ſome Earthquake, or even
from no apparent Cauſe, Springs have burſt out
of a ſudden, and continued a great While, and
again, that others have failed in different Sea
ſons, ſome growing dry in Summer, others in
Winter, and that thoſe which have dried up
have afterwards again afforded great Plenty of
Water: Nay, and that Springs of freſh Wa
ter not only ariſe from the Earth, but have
been found even in the Middle of the Sea; and
it has been affirmed, that Water alſo iſſues from
the Plants themſelves. In one of thoſe Iſlands
which are called Fortunate, we are told there
grows a Sort of Cane as high as a Tree, ſome
black, ſome white; from the black comes a
bitter Juice, and from the white diſtills a fine
clear Water, very beautiful to the Eye and good
to drink. Strabo, a very grave Author, ſays
that in the Mountains of Armenia, they find a
Sort of Worms bred in the Snow, which are
full of a Water excellent to drink. At Fiezole
and Urbino, though both Towns ſtanding up
on Hills, there is Plenty of Water to be had
for the leaſt digging, which is becauſe thoſe
Hills are formed of a ſtony Soil mixed with a
Chalk. We are told further, that there are
certain Clods of Earth which within their
Coats contain a Quantity of the fineſt Water.
Amidſt all this wonderful Variety, the Know
ledge of the Nature of Springs cannot be other
wiſe than extremely difficult and obſcure.
downwards; that it cannot ſuffer the Air to
be any where beneath it; that it hates all Mix
ture with any Body that is either lighter or
heavier than itſelf; that it loves to fill up every
Concavity into which it runs; that the more
you endeavour to force it, the more obſtinate
ly it ſtrives againſt you, nor is ever ſatisfied till
it obtains the Reſt which it deſires, and that
when it is got to its Place of Repoſe, it is con
tented only with itſelf, and deſpiſes all other
Mixtures; laſtly, that its Surface is always an
exact Level. There is another Enquiry relat
ing to Water, which I remember to have read
in Plutarch; namely, whether upon digging a
Hole in the Earth, the Water ſprings up like
Blood out of a Wound; or whether it diſtills
out like Milk engendering by Degrees in the
Breaſt of a Nurſe. Some are of Opinion, that
perpetual Springs do not run from any full
Veſſel from whence they have their ſupply,
but that in the Places from whence they flow,
the Water is continually engendering of Air,
and not of all Sorts of Air, but only of ſuch as
is moſt apt to be formed into Vapour, and that
the Earth, and eſpecially the Hills, are like
Spunges, full of Pores, through which the Air
is ſucked in and condenſed and ſo turned into
Water by the Cold: For Proof of which they
alledge, that the greateſt Rivers ſpring from
the greateſt Hills. Others do not agree with
this Opinion, obſerving that ſeveral Rivers, and
particularly the Pyramus, one of no ſmall Note,
being navigable, does not take its Riſe from
any Hill, but from the Middle of a Plain. For
this Reaſon, he who ſuppoſes that the Ground
imbibes the Moiſture of the Rain, which by
its Weight and Subtilty penetrates through the
Veins and ſo diſtills into the Cavities of the
Earth, may perhaps be not much miſtaken in
his Conjecture: For we may obſerve, that thoſe
Countries which have leaſt Rain, have the
greateſt Scarcity of Springs. Libya is ſaid to
have been ſo called quaſi Lipygia, as wanting
Rain, by which means it is ſcantily ſupplied
with Water. And, indeed, who can deny,
that where it Rains much, there is the greateſt
Plenty of it? It is alſo to our preſent Purpoſe
to obſerve, that a Man who digs a Well never
meets with Water, till he has ſunk it to the
Level of the next River. At Volſconio, a Town
ſtanding upon a Hill in Tuſcany, they dug a
Well no leſs then two hundred and twenty
Foot deep before they came to any Vein of
Water, not meeting with any till they came
to the Level of the Springs which riſe from the
Side of the Hill; and you will generally find
the ſame Obſervation hold good of all Wells
dug upon Hills. We find by Experiment that
a Spunge will grow wet by the Humidity of
the Air, upon which I have made a Pair of
Scales to determine the Heavineſs or Dryneſs
of the Air and Winds. I cannot indeed deny
that the Moiſture of the nocturnal Air is at
tracted from the Superficies of the Earth, and
ſo conſequently may return again into its Pores,
and be eaſily converted once more into Hu
mour; but I cannot pretend to determine any
thing certain with Relation to this Queſtion,
finding ſo much Variety among Authors upon
the Subject, and ſo many different Conſiderati
ons offering themſelves to the Mind when we
think upon it. Thus it is certain that in many
Places, either by ſome Earthquake, or even
from no apparent Cauſe, Springs have burſt out
of a ſudden, and continued a great While, and
again, that others have failed in different Sea
ſons, ſome growing dry in Summer, others in
Winter, and that thoſe which have dried up
have afterwards again afforded great Plenty of
Water: Nay, and that Springs of freſh Wa
ter not only ariſe from the Earth, but have
been found even in the Middle of the Sea; and
it has been affirmed, that Water alſo iſſues from
the Plants themſelves. In one of thoſe Iſlands
which are called Fortunate, we are told there
grows a Sort of Cane as high as a Tree, ſome
black, ſome white; from the black comes a
bitter Juice, and from the white diſtills a fine
clear Water, very beautiful to the Eye and good
to drink. Strabo, a very grave Author, ſays
that in the Mountains of Armenia, they find a
Sort of Worms bred in the Snow, which are
full of a Water excellent to drink. At Fiezole
and Urbino, though both Towns ſtanding up
on Hills, there is Plenty of Water to be had
for the leaſt digging, which is becauſe thoſe
Hills are formed of a ſtony Soil mixed with a
Chalk. We are told further, that there are
certain Clods of Earth which within their
Coats contain a Quantity of the fineſt Water.
Amidſt all this wonderful Variety, the Know
ledge of the Nature of Springs cannot be other
wiſe than extremely difficult and obſcure.
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