ARTIFICIAL SPRINGS. 485 
ering together of rain-water after the manner of nature, and 
the most closely according to her fashion that Iam able; and 
I am well assured that by following the formulary of the 
Supreme Contriver of fountains, I can make springs, the water 
whereof shall be as good and pure and clear as of such which 
be natural.” *  Palissy discusses the subject of the origin 
of springs at length and with much ability, dwelling specially 
on infiltration, and, among other things, thus explains the fre- 
quency of springs in mountainous regions: “ Having well 
considered the which, thou mayest plainly see the reason why 
there be more springs and rivulets proceeding from the moun- 
tains than from the rest of the earth; which is for no other 
cause but that the rocks and mountains do retain the water of 
the rains like vessels of brass. And the said waters falling 
upon the said mountains descend continually through the earth, 
and through crevices, and stop not till they find some place 
that is bottomed with stone or close and thick rocks; and they 
rest upon such bottom until they find some channel or other 
manner of issue, and then they flow out in springs or brooks 
or rivers, according to the greatness of the reservoirs and of the 
outlets thereof.” + 
After a full exposition of his theory, Palissy proceeds to 
describe his method of creating springs, which is substantially 
the same as that lately proposed by Babinet in the following 
terms: “Choose a piece of ground containing four or five 
acres, with a sandy soil, and with a gentle slope to determine 
the flow of the water. Along its upper line, dig a trench five 
or six feet deep and six feet wide. Level the bottom of the 
trench, and make it impermeable by paving, by macadamizing, 
by bitumen, or, more simply and cheaply, by a layer of clay. 
By the side of this trench dig another, and throw the earth 
from it into the first, and so on until you have rendered the 
* (Huvres de Palissy, Des Eaux et Fontaines, p. 157. 
+Id., p. 166. Palissy’s method has recently been tried with good success 
in various parts of France, 
