122 Analysis of Scientific Books. 



pour in upon them, and which generally more resembles pea-soup 

 than water, contaminating the cisterns, clogging the pipes, and 

 fouling every article which comes in contact with it. It is true 

 that those persons who are not provided with a well generally send 

 to some neighbouring pump, where excellent and pure spring- 

 water, very abundant when from sufficient depths, may be copi- 

 ously obtained ; yet we are surprised that, in the present plethoric 

 state of capital, no company has been formed to supply houses 

 with pure spring-water; a few overflowing wells would afford 

 ample supply, and iron-pipes for its conveyance are liable to no 

 kind of objection. 



But the ancients were not only curious in the purity of the water ; 

 they also cooled and iced it in various ways ; indeed the custom of 

 preserving snow for summer use probably prevailed among the 

 oriental nations from the earliest ages *, and was certainly long 

 familiar to the Greeks and Romans, who preserved snow in pits 

 covered with branches, straw, or coarse cloths. In the time of 

 Seneca ice so preserved was not only sold in the shops in Rome, 

 but hawked about the streets, and at this day the inhabitants are 

 similarly supplied, the ice being carried into the city in the night- 

 time in carts covered with straw. 



" It is curious to remark," says Dr. Henderson, " especially 

 when we consider the character of the age in which they were 

 written, the loud lamentations of Seneca with respect to this very 

 natural and harmless species of luxury. ' To what a pitch,' he 

 exclaims, ' have our artificial wants brought us, that common 

 water, which nature has caused to flow in such profusion, and 

 destined to be the common beverage of man and other animals, 

 should, by the ingenuity of luxury, be converted into an article of 

 traffic, and sold at a stated price I The Lacedemonians banished 

 perfumers from their city and territory, because they wasttd their 

 oil. What would they have done, if they had seen our shops and 

 storehouses for snow, and so many beasts of burthen employed in 

 carrying this commodity, dirtied and discoloured by the straw in 

 which it is kept ? Yon may behold certain lean fellows, wrapped 

 up to the chin to defend them from the cold, and pale and sickly 

 in appearance, who not only drink, but even eat snow, putting 

 lumps of it into their cups during the intervals of drinking. Do 

 you imagine this to be thirst ? It is a true fever, and of the most 

 malignant kind.' Even Pliny is disposed to grudge his cotempo- 

 raries this simple indulgence. ' Some persons,' he says, ' drink 

 snow, others ice ; rendering, in this way, the hardships of the 

 mountainous regions subservient to the gratification of the palate : 



* " As the cold of snow in the time of harvest, so is a faithful messenger 

 to tliem that send hjra : for he refresheth the soul of his masters."— Proverbs, 

 chap. XXV. ver. 13. 



