v EARTH'S RESERVOIR 117 



and is filtered in its passage back. 1 Being dashed 

 about as it passes through the endless, winding 

 channels in the ground, it loses its salinity, and, 

 purged of its bitterness in such a variety of ground 

 as it passes through, it eventually changes into pure, 

 fresh water. 



VI 



SOME suppose that all the water that the earth 

 drinks in from rain is sent out again into the 

 rivers. They set down by way of proof the fact 

 that there are fewest rivers in the localities where 

 there is least frequent rain. On that account, they 

 say, the deserts of Ethiopia are destitute of streams, 

 and few springs are found in the interior of Africa, 

 because there is always a blazing sky and almost 

 perpetual summer. Therefore there are ugly 

 stretches of sandy waste, without tree and without 

 inhabitant, sprinkled at rare intervals by showers 

 that they immediately swallow up. On the other 

 hand, it is well known that there are abundant 

 streams and rivers in Germany and Gaul and 

 next to them in Italy, because they enjoy a moist 

 climate, and even the summer is not without 

 rainfall. 



VII 



A GREAT deal can obviously be urged in reply to i 

 this. First of all, as a diligent digger among 

 my vines, I can affirm from observation that no 



1 The .ordinary text, as Koeller saw, is evidently wrong. It runs : " For 

 by a secret path the sea water enters the ground and becomes visible, and 

 returns stealthily, and is filtered, etc." No author can be supposed to have 

 written such a sentence. The restoration must be conjectural. I have 

 adopted what seems simplest and most in keeping with the context. 



