SPRINGS 



haps all to be explained on the principle of the 

 siphon. 



In the Idyls of Theocritus there are frequent 

 allusions to springs. It was at a spring and a 

 mountain spring at that that Castor and Pollux 

 encountered the plug-ugly Amycus : 



" And spying on a mountain a wild wood of vast 

 size, they found under a smooth cliff an ever-flowing 

 spring, filled with pure water, and the pebbles be- 

 neath seemed like crystal or silver from the depths ; 

 and near there had grown tall pines, and poplars, 

 and plane-trees, and cypresses with leafy tops, and 

 fragrant flowers, pleasant work for hairy bees," etc. 



Or the story of Hylas, the auburn-haired boy, 

 who went to the spring to fetch water for supper 

 for Hercules and stanch Telamon, and was seized 

 by the enamored nymphs and drawn in. The spring 

 was evidently a marsh or meadow spring: it was in 

 a " low-lying spot, and around it grew many rushes, 

 and the pale blue swallow-wort, and green maiden- 

 hair, and blooming parsley, and couch grass stretch- 

 ing through the marshes." As Hercules was tramp- 

 ing through the bog, club in hand, and shouting 

 "Hylas!" to the full depth of his throat, he heard 

 a thin voice come from the water, it was Hylas 

 responding, and Hylas, in the shape of the little 

 frog, has been calling from our marsh springs ever 

 since. 



The characteristic flavor and suggestion of these 

 55 



