SPRINGS 49 



following account of a spring that flowed near his 

 Laurentine villa : 



" There is a spring which rises in a neighboring 

 mountain, and running among the rocks is received 

 into a little banqueting-room, artificially formed for 

 that purpose, from whence, after being detained *& 

 short time, it falls into the Larian Lake. The 

 nature of this spring is extremely curious: it ebbs 

 and flows regularly three times a day. The increase 

 and decrease are plainly visible, and exceedingly 

 interesting to observe. You sit down by the side 

 of the fountain, and while you are taking a repast 

 and drinking its water, which is exceedingly cool, 

 you see it gradually rise and fall. If you place a 

 ring or anything else at the bottom when it is dry, 

 the water creeps gradually up, first gently washing, 

 finally covering it entirely, and then, little by little, 

 subsides again. If you wait long enough, you may 

 see it thus alternately advance and recede three suc- 

 cessive times." 



Pliny suggests four or five explanations of this 

 phenomenon, but is probably wide of the mark in 

 all but the fourth one : 



"Or is there rather a certain reservoir that con- 

 tains these waters in the bowels of the earth, and, 

 while it is recruiting its discharges, the stream in 

 consequence flows more slowly and in less quantity, 

 but, when it has collected its due measure, runs on 

 again in its usual strength and fullness." 



There are several of these intermitting springs in 



