Chap. 106.] WONDERS OF FOUNTAINS AND EIYEBS. 131 



CHAP. 106. (103.) — THE WONDERS OF FOUNTAINS AND 

 RIVERS. 



It is very remarkable that fresh water should burst out 

 close to the sea, as from pipes. But there is no end to the 

 wonders that are connected with the nature of waters. Fresh 

 water floats on sea water, no doubt from its being lighter ; 

 and therefore sea water, which is of a heavier nature*, sup- 

 ports better what floats upon it. And, in some places, 

 different kinds of fresh water float upon each other ; as that 

 of the river which falls into the Fucinus ; that of the Addua 

 into the Larius ; of the Ticinus into the Verbanus ; of the 

 Mincius into the Benacus ; of the Ollius into the Sevinus ; 

 and of the Ehone into the Leman lake^ (this last being 

 beyond the Alps, the others in Italy) : all which rivers passing 

 through the lakes for many miles, generally carry off no more 

 water than they bring with them. The same thing is said to 

 occur in the Orontes, a river of Syria, and in many others 



Some rivers, from a real hatred of the sea, pass under it, 

 as does Arethusa, a fountain of Syracuse, in which the sub- 

 stances are found that are thrown into the Alpheus ; which, 

 after flowing by Olympia, is discharged into the sea, on the 

 shore of the Peloponnesus^. The Lycus in Asia^, the Era- 



* The specific gravity of sea water varies from 1'0269 to 1-0285. The 

 saline contents of the water of the Enghsh Channel are stated to be 27 grs. 

 in 1000. Turner's Chem. p. 1289, 1290. 



2 The modem names of the rivers and lakes here mentioned are the 

 Liris, communicating with the Lago di Celano ; the Adda, with the Lago 

 di Como ; the Ticino, with the Lago Maggiore ; the Mincio, with the 

 Lago di Guarda ; the OgHo, with the Lago di Sero ; and the Rhone with 

 the Lake of Geneva. There may be some foundation for the alleged fact, 

 because the specific gravity and the temperature of the lake may differ a 

 httle from that of the river which passes through it. 



3 According to Brotier, " fons ille olim nobHissimus, nunc ignobile 

 est lavacrum, cujus aqua marino sapore inficitur." He conceives that 

 there is no actual foundation for this so frequently repeated story ; and 

 conjectures that it originated from the simihtude of the names, the 

 fountain in Sicily and the river in the Peloponnesus being both named 

 Alpheus. He goes on to mention some examples of springs of fresh 

 water rising up on the sea-coast ; Lemaire, i. 438. The allusion to the 

 fountain of Arethusa, by Virgil, in the commencement of the 10th eclogue, 

 is well known to all classical scholars. The lines of Virgil have been 

 elegantly imitated by Voltaire, in the Henriade, ix. 269, 270. 



* This is mentioned by Ovid, Met. xv. 273, 274. 



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