BOOK II. cvi. 226-228 



of Manduria in the Salentine district is full to the 

 brim, and is not reduced when water is drawn out of 

 it nor increased when water is poured into it. In 

 the river of the Cicones " and in the Vehne Lake of 

 Picenum,'' wood thrown into the water gets covered 

 with a film of stone, and in the river Surius in Colchis 

 this goes so far that the stone in most cases is covered 

 with bark still lasting." Similarly in the Sele beyond 

 Sorrento not only twigs but also leaves immersed in 

 the river become petrified, though apart from this 

 its water is healthy to drink. Rock forms in the 

 outlet of the marsh at Rieti, and olive trees and 

 green bushes grow in the Red Sea. 



But the nature of a great many springs is of re- Remarkabu 

 markably high temperature, and this is found even ■'P'"'"^** 

 on the ridges of the Alps, and actually in the sea, 

 for instance in the Gulf of Baiae between Italy and 

 the Island of Ischia, and in the river Garighano and 

 many others. In fact fresh water may be drawn 

 from the sea in a great many places, as at the Swallow 

 Islands and at Aradus and in the Gulf of Cadiz. 

 Green grass grows in the hot springs of Padua, frogs 

 in those of Pisa, fishes at Vetulonia in Tuscany near 

 the sea. A river in the district of Casino called the 

 Bubbhng Water is cold, and is fuller in summer; 

 water voles are born in it, as they are in the Stymphahs 

 of Arcadia. The Fountain of Jupiter at Dodona, 

 though it is cold and puts out torches dipped in it, 

 sets them ahght if they are bi-ought near to it when 

 they are out. The same spring always stops flowing 

 at noon, on account of which it is called the Wait-a- 

 bit ; later it rises again and towards midnight flows 

 abundantly, thereafter gradually ceasing again. A 

 cold spring in Illyria sets fire to clothes spread out 



355 



