Alberti, Leone Battista, Architecture, 1755

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THE City of Smyrna, where Trebonius was
beſieged
and relieved by Dolabella, is ſaid to have
been
extremely beautiful, both for the Straitneſs
of
the Streets, and its many noble Structures;
but
not having Drains to receive and carry away
its
own Filth, it offended the Inhabitants abo­
minable
with ill Smells. Siena, a City in Tuſ­
cany
, not having Drains wants a very great
Help
to Cleanlineſs; by which Means the
Town
not only ſtinks every Night and Morn­
ing
, when People throw their Naſtineſs out of
the
Windows, but even in the Day Time it is
ſeen
lying about the Streets.
Drains are of
two
Sorts; one carries away the Filth into
ſome
River, Lake or Sea; the other is a deep
Hole
dug in the Ground, where the Naſtineſs
lies
till it is conſumed in the Bowels of the
Earth
.
That which carries it away, ought
to
have a ſmooth ſloping Pavement, ſtrong
compacted
, that the Ordure may run off freely,
and
that the Structure itſelf may not be rotted
by
the Moiſture lying continually ſoaking
upon
it.
It ſhould alſo lie ſo high above the
River
, that no Floods or Tides may fill it with
Mud
and choak it up.
A Drain that is to
lie
open and uncover'd to the Air, need have
no
other Pavement but the Ground itſelf; for
the
Poets call the Earth Cerberus, and the Phi­
loſophers
, the Woolf of the Gods, becauſe it de­
vours
and conſumes every Thing.
So that
whatever
Filth and Naſtineſs is brought into
it
, the Earth rots and deſtroys it, and prevents
its
emitting ill Steams.
Sinks for the Recep­
tion
of Urine, ſhould be as far from the Houſe
as
poſſible; becauſe the Heat of the Sun makes
it
rot and ſmell intolerably.
Moreover, I can­
not
help thinking that Rivers and Canals, eſ­
pecially
ſuch as are for the Paſſage of Ships,
ought
to be included under the Denomination
of
Roads; ſince many are of Opinion, that
Ships
are nothing but a Sort of Carriages, and
the
Sea itſelf no more than a huge Road.
But
there
is no Neceſſity to ſay any thing more of
theſe
in this Place.
And if it happens that
the
Conveniences we have here treated of, are
not
found ſufficient, our Buſineſs is to ſtudy
how
to mend the Faults, and make whatever
other
Additions are needful: The Method of
doing
which, we ſhall ſpeak of in due Time.
CHAP. VIII.

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