Alberti, Leone Battista, Architecture, 1755

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            <p type="main">
              <s>
                <pb xlink:href="003/01/098.jpg" pagenum="80"/>
              Bridge, or rather a very long Arch; ſo that
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              in the Conſtruction of it we ought to obſerve
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              all the ſame Rules that we have juſt now been
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              laying down concerning Bridges. </s>
              <s>The Anci­
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              ents had ſo high a Notion of the Serviceable­
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              neſs of Drains and Sewers, that they beſtowed
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              no greater Care and Expence upon any Struc­
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              ture whatſoever, than they did upon them; and
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              among all the wonderful Buildings in the City
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              of
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              Rome,
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              the Drains are accounted the nobleſt.
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              </s>
              <s>I ſhall not ſpend Time to ſhew how many Con­
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              veniences ariſe from good Drains; how clean
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              they keep the City, and how neat all Buildings
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              both publick and private, or how much they
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              conduce to the Clearneſs and Healthineſs of
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              the Air.</s>
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            <p type="main">
              <s>THE City of
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              Smyrna,
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              where
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              Trebonius
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              was
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              beſieged and relieved by
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              Dolabella,
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              is ſaid to have
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              been extremely beautiful, both for the Straitneſs
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              of the Streets, and its many noble Structures;
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              but not having Drains to receive and carry away
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              its own Filth, it offended the Inhabitants abo­
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              minable with ill Smells.
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              Siena,
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              a City in
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              Tuſ­
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              cany,
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              not having Drains wants a very great
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              Help to Cleanlineſs; by which Means the
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              Town not only ſtinks every Night and Morn­
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              ing, when People throw their Naſtineſs out of
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              the Windows, but even in the Day Time it is
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              ſeen lying about the Streets. </s>
              <s>Drains are of
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              two Sorts; one carries away the Filth into
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              ſome River, Lake or Sea; the other is a deep
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              Hole dug in the Ground, where the Naſtineſs
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              lies till it is conſumed in the Bowels of the
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              Earth. </s>
              <s>That which carries it away, ought
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              to have a ſmooth ſloping Pavement, ſtrong
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              compacted, that the Ordure may run off freely,
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              and that the Structure itſelf may not be rotted
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              by the Moiſture lying continually ſoaking
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              upon it. </s>
              <s>It ſhould alſo lie ſo high above the
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              River, that no Floods or Tides may fill it with
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              Mud and choak it up. </s>
              <s>A Drain that is to
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              lie open and uncover'd to the Air, need have
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              no other Pavement but the Ground itſelf; for
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              the Poets call the Earth
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              Cerberus,
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              and the Phi­
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              loſophers, the
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              Woolf of the Gods,
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              becauſe it de­
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              vours and conſumes every Thing. </s>
              <s>So that
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              whatever Filth and Naſtineſs is brought into
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              it, the Earth rots and deſtroys it, and prevents
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              its emitting ill Steams. </s>
              <s>Sinks for the Recep­
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              tion of Urine, ſhould be as far from the Houſe
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              as poſſible; becauſe the Heat of the Sun makes
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              it rot and ſmell intolerably. </s>
              <s>Moreover, I can­
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              not help thinking that Rivers and Canals, eſ­
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              pecially ſuch as are for the Paſſage of Ships,
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              ought to be included under the Denomination
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              of Roads; ſince many are of Opinion, that
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              Ships are nothing but a Sort of Carriages, and
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              the Sea itſelf no more than a huge Road. </s>
              <s>But
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              there is no Neceſſity to ſay any thing more of
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              theſe in this Place. </s>
              <s>And if it happens that
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              the Conveniences we have here treated of, are
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              not found ſufficient, our Buſineſs is to ſtudy
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              how to mend the Faults, and make whatever
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              other Additions are needful: The Method of
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              doing which, we ſhall ſpeak of in due Time.</s>
            </p>
            <p type="head">
              <s>CHAP. VIII.</s>
            </p>
            <p type="head">
              <s>
                <emph type="italics"/>
              Of the proper Structure for a Haven, and of making convenient Squares in
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              the City.
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              </s>
            </p>
            <p type="main">
              <s>Now if there is any other Part of the
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              City that falls in properly with the Sub­
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              ject of this Book, it is certainly the Haven,
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              which may be defined a Goal or proper Place
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              from whence you may begin a Voyage, or
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              where having performed it you may put an
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              End to the Fatigue of it, and take Repoſe.
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              </s>
              <s>Others perhaps would ſay that a Haven is a Sta­
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              ble for Ships; but let it be what you will, ei­
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              ther a Goal, a Stable, or a Receptacle, it is cer­
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              tain that if the Buſineſs of a Haven is to give a
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              Reception to Ships out of the Violence of Storms,
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              it ought to be made in ſuch a Manner as to be
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              a ſufficient Shelter for that Purpoſe: Let its
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              Sides be ſtrong and high, and let there be
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              Room enough for large Veſſels heavy laden to
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              come in and lie quiet in it. </s>
              <s>Which Conveni­
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              ences, if they are offered to you by the natu­
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              ral Situation of the Place, you have nothing
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              more to wiſh for; unleſs, as at
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              Athens
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              where
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                <emph type="italics"/>
              Thucidides
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              ſays there were three Havens made
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              by Nature, it ſhould happen that you are
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              doubtful among ſuch a Number, which to
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              chuſe. </s>
              <s>But it is evident from what we have
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              already ſaid in the firſt Book, that there are
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              ſome Places where all the Winds cannot be,
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              and others where ſome actually are continually
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              troubleſome and dangerous. </s>
              <s>Let us therefore </s>
            </p>
          </chap>
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