Chap. 28.] 
DirrEEENCES IN WATEK8. 
489 
CHAP. 27. SIGNS INDICATIVE OE THE PRESENCE OE WATEE. 
The following are indications of the presence of water : — . 
rushes, reeds, the plant mentioned with reference to this point 
already, or frogs sitting squatted on a spot for a long time 
together. As to the wild^^ willow, alder, vitex, reed, and ivy, 
all of which grow spontaneously on low grounds in which, 
there is a settling of rain water from higher localities, con- 
sidered as indications of the presence of water, they are all^^ of 
them of a deceptive nature. A sign much more to be depended 
upon, is a certain misty exhalation, visible from a distance 
before sunrise. The better to observe this, some persons ascend 
an eminence, and lie flat at full length upon the ground, with 
the chin touching the earth. There is also another peculiar 
method of judging upon this point, known only to men of 
experience in these matters : in the very middle of the heats 
of summer they select the hottest hours of the day, and observe 
how the sun's rays are reflected in each spot ; and if, notwith- 
standing the general dryness of the earth, a locality is observed 
to present a moist appearance, they make no doubt of finding 
water there. 
But so intense is the stress upon the eyes in doing this, that 
it is very apt to make them ache ; to avoid which inconveni- 
ence, they have recourse to other modes of testing. They dig 
a hole, for instance, some five feet in depth, and cover it with 
vessels of unbaked pottery, or with a copper basin well-oiled ; 
they then place a burning lamp on the spot, with an arch-work 
over it of leaves, and covered with earth on the top. If, after a 
time, they find the pots wet or broken, the copper covered with 
moisture, or the lamp extinguished, but not from want of oil, or 
if a lock of wool that has been left there is found to be moist, 
it is a sign of the presence of water, beyond all doubt. With 
some persons it is the practice to light a fire on the spot before 
they dig the hole, a method which renders the experiment with 
the vessels still more conclusive. 
CHAP. 28. DIFEEKENCES IN WATEES, ACCOEDING TO THE NATUEE 
OE THE SOIL. 
The soil itself, too, gives indications of the presence of 
28 In B. xxvi. c. 16. 29 a galix erratica.'' 
2^ Surely not the reed, as he has mentioned it above as one of the in- 
dications to be depended upon. In one MS. it appears to be omitted, and 
with justice, probably. 
